ã€ŠWay of the Knightsã€‹


 Chapter 1 - How?

    Chapter 1: How?

    ---

    On a small corner of the enormous gxy, a world existed.

    It was a vastnd, filled with endless mountains, great bodies of water, wondrous vistas and the likes. It truly is a magnificent piece of world even though it was filled with rich history and great dangers.

    It is called, The Grand Ancestral ne.

    On the central part of the Grand Ancestral ne, a lone kingdom stood strong for millenniums.

    It is called, The Final Haven Kingdom.

    Located amidst the vast expanse of forest filled streams, hills, poisonous swamps,irs of demonic beasts and etc. The empire stood tall and remained.

    This ce might be thest haven for humans, thus it''s name.

    The Kingdom, though surrounded by enormous walls that protected it''s citizens, are still under the constant threat of destruction from beast hordes.

    Even so, humans can''t abandon this ce. It''s citizens can''t abandon this ce. Since this is thest remaining ce for humans to live in.

    ***

    The Kingdom is divided to three main parts.

    The Outer Ring where most of the regr citizens lived. This ce is undoubtedly the most popted location in the Kingdom. Most of the families lived here in a very humble manner. Some relied on farming, other through clothing, smithing, cooking, trading, or even entertaining. They mightck wealth but they are filled with dreams that eventually, there will be a day when they too could live asfortably as the nobles.

    The Inner Ring, where most of the Nobles gathered. This is where the important figures of the kingdom resided or those who have a very impressive background. These nobles had a fair share of wealth and able to live asfortably as they could, but they also knew that being born as a Noble has it''s responsibilities

    Last but not the least. The Royal Pce. Where the Royal Family resided. It is a tradition of their ancestors and their idea to build this ce. It serves as a the beacon of hope, pride and protection for it''s citizens, telling them that their King is there to shoulder the heavens for their safety.

    The reason for their belief, is because their beloved King is a very strong Knight.

    Knights are those people who had superhuman strength. They have strengths that could rival that of a god. They were the ones who protected the safety of the kingdom. It could even be said that being a Knight is the most honorable profession in the entire kingdom. And this is why almost everyone wanted to be a Knight.

    ***

    On the southern part of the Outer Ring of the kingdom. There is a humble abode below a hill.

    This is a rather discreet location for someone to live, but it is peaceful in here. The abode was made out of bricks, traces of smoke could be seen on it''s chimney. The house is divided into separate doors, one for the living room, one for the kitchen, one leads towards the yard at the back, one leads to the masters bedroom and one lead towards the children''s room, a total of five doors.

    Inside the children''s room, a youngster wore an agonized expression. He was at least thirteen or fourteen years old. He had a tanned skin, and a very lean body, it could even be said that he''s skinny. His straight brows were furrowed and his jaw were clenched, his tiny hands were gripping the sheets, showing that he was suffering from something.

    "Nnn¡­"

    A soft but pained sound escaped his thin lips. His head felt like it was being pounded with many bricks. The throbbing sensation was coursing through his body, it was too painful that he wanted to lose consciousness but the pain was not letting him do so. It was incredibly agonizing for a small child to experience a pain like this.

    If anyone was here, they would be totally confused as to what is going on with the boy. From the looks of it, he might be experiencing some nightmares, but how could a normal nightmare hurt like this? Another weird thing is that, a faint light was covering the boy''s head.

    It was very hard to recognize but if one paid attention closely, the light formed a shape.

    A Crown-like shape.

    However this phenomena disappeared quickly along with the agonized expression of the child. After a couple of peaceful breaths, the child opened his eyes only to witness an unfamiliar ceiling. His vision adjusted for a second before he felt a throb on his head. Raising his shaking hands on his head, he managed to utter his first word after waking up¡­

    "Fuck¡­"

    His raspy yet pitched voice echoed inside the room. The child massaged his temples for a while and this proved to be effective since the residual pain from the earlier torture was receding. He managed to open his eyes once more and roam his vision around.

    "Where¡­is this?"

    He spoke with a great effort, his brows were once again furrowed as he tried to recall the events before his passed out. He closed his eyes and concentrated, and when he managed to trace down thest memory he had, his body shivered and his eyes abruptly flew wide open.

    "How!? How is this possible!?" His voice almost sounded hysterical at this point.

    "I died! I knew I did! I ignited my entire cultivation base in hopes of burying the Abyssal Emperor with me so I shouldn''t be alive! What''s going on?"

    His voice carried a surprised reaction. It was no surprise that he acted this way, anyone would react this way if they experienced the same thing as he did.

    The child concentrated once more and tried his best to recall everything. His eyes opened and once again roamed inside the room he was in. Suddenly, a very old memory of his started ying in his head. There were several pictures in that memory that seemed to ovep with the image that he was seeing inside this room right now.

    Unknowingly, tears started falling in his immature face. These tears weren''t formed because of sadness and instead, it was because of profound sense of joy, happiness and excitement. His heart threatened to leap out of his heart because of it''s fierce beating. Every fiber in his body was screaming with joy. His mouth opened and closed multiple times but failed to utter any sound, it was after a long period of silence that he manage to say something.

    "I''m back¡­" he whispered breathlessly.

    "Holy shit, I really am back¡­" his words sounded like he was trying to convince himself about a very obvious thing.

    "Hahaha! Fuck! I, Vendrick Valorheart, am back! Shit! Hahahaha!" His hystericalugh echoed inside the room, seemingly announcing to whole world the news of his return. He quickly calmed down and tried to rationalize his thoughts.

    "I never thought that this is possible. After the demise of the kingdom, everyone died except me. After crawling through the remains, I roamed the Grand Ancestral ne in search of a way to raise my strength in order to avenge my family and friends. I eventually seeded and ascended to the Divine Realm where I seek more power to revive them. But the Eternal Division Wall was breached, and the Divine Realm was attacked by the Abbysals."

    "Many humans died under their ws, because of desperation, I raised my strength without holding back. I eventually had the strength face the Abyssal Emperor but he was too strong, during thest act of madness, I forcefully broke through the same stage as he did and ignited myself in order to take him down with me. I never expected that it will lead me to this scenario¡­where I''m back to start over."

    It was difficult to express just how awesome he felt this time. There''s a lot of things that''s going on in his mind. All the memories he made, all of the adventures he took, all of the dangers he faced, the enemies he slew and so much more, add the fact that he will be able to once more and this time, better. Thinking about it just sends his heart into a frenzy.

    "Partner¡­where are you?"

    Vendrick or ''Raven'' as his nickname, softly called out with his eyes closed.

    He had not forgotten the one thing that apanied him all throughout his journey. He searched and searched, his vision seemingly prated the deepest and most secretive part of his body.

    His very own soul.

    There he saw, a dimmed light flickering to existence. It was very faint but it signifies that it''s there. Seeing this image brought immense joy in his heart. His eyes might be closed but his gaze softened as he silently watched over it. It was gaze, like that of a doting brother.

    As a response to his gaze, the silhouette deep in his soul shook and flickered multiple times. It seems to be sentient and expressing gratefulness and joy upon noticing his gaze.

    "Thankfully you''re still with me¡­Divine Crown."

 Chapter 2 - Reunion With Parents

    Chapter 2: Reunion with parents.

    ---

    This crown and Raven shared a very long history.

    It was the one who never left him no matter what happened.

    Right after the destruction the kingdom was the time he encountered it. At first he waspletely oblivious of it''s uses, but when his blood was infused to it, they became inseparable.

    It was this divine tool that allowed to reach the heights that he never thought nor dreamed of. It allowed him to see higher peaks and experience the view from the top, albeit briefly.

    "You''re visibly weakened, which means I am right. It was you who sent me back. No worries. I will find a way to restore you, and we will face that ugly son of a bitch for round two."

    He whispered softly as he withdrew his vision away from the thing. He decided that he won''t be disturbing it right now since it needed to slumber, he will slowly nourish it once he began cultivating, that will help for it''s recovery to hasten.

    While his mind was drifting somewhere else, he didn''t notice the faint traces of a heavenly scent that was creeping up inside his room. Once he inhaled the scent, he immediately felt a strong mncholic feeling. It was a foreign yet familiar. Tears began forming in the corners of his eyes once more but he wiped it immediately. No time for an emotional reunion, he just wanted to be happy.

    *Grrrrlll*

    "It seems that my stomach wants to be happy too." A foolish grin could be seen on his immature face.

    Indeed, the scent that he smelled earlier was due to his dear mother''s cooking.

    He stood up from his bed and neatly arranged it. He then wore his indoor sandals and began walking towards the kitchen ording to his memories. It didn''t take long before he managed to get there, he opened the door to take a peek at his mother.

    Just from the view of her back, one could immediately tell that she is a fair woman. She radiated a mature aura as well as a dense motherly love. She was humming a tune while she was cooking, Raven almost cried when he heard this since this tune was very familiar to him.

    It was the tune that his mother uses whenever she thought of him. Whenever she cooks for him, each time she lulls him to bed, each time she sewn the damages on his clothing, anything that she does for him will always be apanied by this tune.

    This tune was also the same tune he hummed to her when she ''fell asleep'' and sent her to the ''dreand'', she ''slept'' with a smile on her face.

    Raven fiercely shook his head, he shook off all the distractions and vowed in his heart: ''Never. Again.''

    He silently crept up to her and wrapped his slim arms around her waist. His mother was surprised but she turned her head towards him, he just showed his cheeky grin and said: "Hi." Which made her chuckle.

    She stopped whatever she was doing for now and ruffled his hair.

    "How is you''re sleep little guy? Do you feel hurt anywhere?"

    Her voice sounded sweet, almost ethereal even. Her deep onyx eyes looked at him with love and tenderness as she asked about his condition.

    "I''m good now Mom, and also hungry." He patted his stomach as he showed a cheeky grin once more. His mother chuckled and pinched his cheeks saying:

    "I''m not done yet, go with your dad first and I''ll call you guys when food is ready." Raven nodded and kissed her cheeks. She just shook her head and went back to cooking.

    Raven felt weird. He found it somewhat embarrassing to act like a kid but he is one. This was always how he acted whenever he''s with them. He had almost forgotten what it feels like but it feels natural to him as well.

    ''Whatever. I''ll act ording to how I feel. I''m a kid now after all, just an old soul.''

    Wearing a foolish grin, he skipped around and went towards the back of their house where the yard is. He found another door and gently opened the door and saw a bare chested man holding a broadsword horizontally.

    Like him, his father also had a ck hair, albeit longer than what he had. His shoulders were broad and most of his facial features were inherited from him, even his temperament. This father of his was performing casual swings of his sword, but Raven could tell that there''s a profound meaning behind these ''casual'' swings.

    He was after all an old soul, his vision was trained into the point where he could easily point the weakness of a low grade battle art without any difficulties, if he seriously consider it he could even give them instructions that would allow them to see the path beyond them.

    With one nce, Raven could see multiple seals around his father''s body. They were ced on his hands, shoulders, spine, thighs, legs and feet. These seals adjusted the weight around the area where they are ced. Each time his father swung his sword, the seals will adjust the weight on his limbs, making it extremely challenging to perform even a casual swing.

    This is a very old way of training but it was definitely effective, but with his father''s current cultivation realm, this won''t be enough. He sighed and looked for a towel to help his father wipe of his sweat. He went into a corner and saw it, he also found an unfinished work of his mother.

    It was his father''s military uniform, there was a hole on both of the sleeves. He could see that she was on the middle of sewing it since there was a ball of thread and a set of needles beside it.

    Seeing this, Raven''s eyes shone. It was fated that since he experienced rebirth, he will disrupt the original timeline and destiny of those who were around him, and since it was gonna happen anyway, would it really matter if he started now orter?

    He secretly stashed the needles on his pocket and picked up a towel and entered the back yard.

    "Dad!" He eximed as he went inside. His father looked towards his way and smiled, he stabbed his sword on the ground and waited for him toe closer. As Raven did, his father ced his hand on his head and ruffled his hair.

    "You fine now little brat?" His father''s voice was deep and full of vigor as he asked about his well being.

    "Mn! I''m fine now!" He nodded in confirmation, he beckoned his father and said: "Sit, I''ll wipe your sweat, Mom would pinch my ears if I won''t do it."

    "Hahaha, then I''ll be on your care." His father grinned and sat down with his back facing him.

    Raven grinned and wiped his back carefully. He slipped his other hand on his pocket and ced needles between his teeth. He withdraw one and wedge it swiftly on his nape. His father lost consciousness right away, not even knowing what happened. He ced the towel down and lift up his sleeves.

    "Alright old man, I''m gonna give you one hell of a boost. p the faces of those pigs in the army for me and show them what real talent plus hardwork means."

    Saying this, the pupils in his eyes changed. A golden corona appeared on it''s outeryers, it''s barely noticeable unless someone was really paying attention. His vision changed along with the appearance of this golden corona as well.

    His vision was boosted by ten times, he could now see everything in a 180¡ã angle clearly. If he chooses to, he could focus his vision onto a straight line and zoom in closely. A smile formed in his lips, he lifted one needle after another and poked it onto the acupuncture points on his father''s head and spine.

    Once he''s done, he deactivated his vision and slumped onto the ground while panting, good thing his father was still unconscious or else his cover will be blown. Now he only had to wait until the treatment was done.

    "Old Sam, you''re book is really amazing. Thanks to it, my father''s true potential will awaken and his foundations will be extremely solid. I just need to think of a solid n so that I could give him a Cultivation Techniques plus some Combat Arts that suited him the best. Then he will really be unstoppable."

    Ravenughed in delight as he could see the foul air that''s drifting off from his father''s orifices. This treatment that he did to him was not only to cure any lingering damages on his body but also liberate his true potential. If it weren''t for the fact that he is trying to hide the knowledge of his rebirth to everyone, this process would be so much easier. Nheless, he seeded in the end.

    "Alright it''s done, time to wake him up and act.." He whispered as he silently crept up on his back.

 Chapter 3 - Creed Of The Sun Warriors

    Chapter 3: Creed of the Sun Warriors.

    ---

    "Dad¡­" Raven shook his father''s shoulders, "Wake up!"

    He raised his voice a bit and his father''s body shook for a moment. He wore a confused expression as he stared at his son. Raven told him that he fell asleep while he was wiping his sweat. His fatherughed and stood up, he wiped a non-existent sweat on his forehead as he thought:

    ''Crap! How can this be! Is this the rumored Signs of Aging? I''m not even forty yet!''

    Ravenughed mischievously in his head, the two then ced the incident behind their backs and talked about random stuff when his mother''s voice echoed inside the house.

    "Boys, food''s ready!"

    Raven yfully climbed at his father''s back and they both entered the house merrily. His mother shook her head while listening to their antics, she served them food and the family shared a healthy meal.

    Raven felt immensely blessed at this moment. He never felt this kind of emotion even when he found a secret inheritance, broke through the next realm of his cultivation and so on. This simple bliss can''t be traded with any kind of treasure in this world.

    Their day went along smoothly, after eating dinner, Raven helped his mother with the dishes and went to his room. The reunion with his parents turned out great but he had other priorities as well. He sat on top of his bed and regted his breathing. Once he entered his the meditative state, he roused his body and performed a thorough scan of his body.

    "Hahh¡­" Raven breathed out a mouthful of foul air. "My body is very weak and the foundation is okay. I can''t really me my old self for cultivating ording to what was taught to us, but that raised a point that the Kingdom really is in danger if this continues..."

    "My body is not in thorough danger, although some of my body parts received some hidden injuries, I can heal that with some simple medicinal baths."

    After his scan, he found out that there were some traces of blood clots on some parts of his body, there also some residues of bruises on his left shoulder, lower back, inner thigh and right leg. This is due to uneven absorption of Qi and losing concentration during cultivation. Thankfully, he could just heal then through. Unfortunately, his body still can''t contain Qi, if so then this would''ve been easier to heal.

    He didn''tin too much though, he massaged the bruises that he could reach, he also did the same towards some areas where the blood clots are, this will allow them to loosen up until he could find the real cure. His mind wandered for a bit before he fell asleep.

    ***

    Raven woke early, energized and refreshed. It''s been a long while since he slept like a log. His body might be young but it didn''t contain too much of that youthful vigor as he easily felt tired. He shook off the distracting thought in his mind and walked outside of his room to eat breakfast.

    His parents told him that they are going out a bit to resupply, this will leave him alone for quite sometime. He told them that he will be fine and will just y on top of the hill. The two nodded and left the house shortly after.

    "Okay, time for a bit of treasure hunt." Raven grinned and took one of his father''s wooden sword and left home. He also took some stuff that he''s gonna need and ced it on a small pouch that he carried over his bag. He had a bit of time before theye back home so he wasn''t on a rush.

    He traced the hill ording to his memories and found the spot that he was looking for. He kneeled onto the ground and used his petite hands to clean of a certain piece of soil beneath him.

    There he saw a strange contraption made out of a dark colored metal. It was hidden well in a patch of growing moss and soil, it was thanks to his memory that he was able to locate this with ease. The contraption has some engravings that were mostly faded due to time. Raven knew that it was some sort of an ancientnguage, the engraving tranted as: ''Creed''

    Raven took out a piece of paper and brush. He concentrated and wrote down a sentence ording to that ancientnguage. What he wrote tranted into: ''Long may the sun shine.''

    He then gently ced the paper on top of the metal, then a fantastic scene happened. Few inches away from the metal, the ground seemingly caved in and revealed a set of stairs leading downwards. He smiled and walked down with no fear.

    The stairs lead onto an underground cave, Raven became irritated as each step he made felt like he was being wrapped in spider webs. He took out a torch in his bag and lit up to burn those pesky webs away from his body as he marched on.

    He eventually ended up on the spacious area of the cave. The cave was filled with crystals that shone with faint light, giving off enough visibility for anyone to continue. As he went deeper, traces of old scent wafter through his nose. He then arrived at the main location of the cave and saw what he was looking for.

    "Creed of the Sun Warriors." He saw a huge g with an image of a sun on it''s center. Beneath it, there are some tables and chairs and some left over documents, Raven didn''t pay any attention to that and instead walked towards one of the rooms. The door was old but it could be activated just like the entrance so it didn''t give him any resistance.

    There he saw a skeleton with a suitcase made out of wood on hisp. Raven walked forward and performed an ancient salute that only members of the creed knows about, he silently whispered: "The Sun awaits o'' great warrior. Return to it''s embrace."

    Like a mysterious magic, the bones shattered and disappeared, not even leaving a dirt behind. The suitcase fell on the floor, Raven picked it up and sat down to inspect it.

    The suitcase is made out of Ashwood Tree which boasts toughness and elegance, it is also covered in ck leather casing which had a sun symbol on the center. The lock had a broken which was due to the erosion of time, Raven released the basic locks of the suitcase.

    A faint light emerged as he opened it, inside there were neatly arranged jade slips, elixirs, and an old and dirty bandage.

    Raven smiled and closed the suitcase, he then bowed at the chair where the skeleton used to sit and left the cave. After leaving, he closed the entrance and took out the shovel from his bag. He started digging few meters away from the entrance of the cave. He also wedged the suitcase on the dirt to shape it, this is so that his father would believe his lies when he inspected this. He also smothered some dirt on the surface of the suitcase, just to be sure.

    After doing all of this, he marched back home and ced his tools where they belong. He then ced the suitcase on top of the table and opened it once more. He picked up a random jade slip and ced his consciousness inside. A sudden wave of memories gushed out of his brain, informing him about the contents of the jade slip.

    [Violent Sun Scripture] this is a cultivation technique that could only be used by the main descendants of Sun Warrior n could use. Judging by the contents of the jade slip, Raven ranked it as an A+ rank Cultivation Technique.

    [Eternal Sun Sword Art] was the other technique that he saw. This one, like the the previous technique, is only passed down to main descendants of the n. Raven smiled as he ranked this technique with A.

    [zing Meteor Steps] is another good technique that he saw. A movement technique that boasted speed like a meteor streaking the skies when cultivated to it''s prime. This technique receives a A+ ranking from him.

    Out of all the jade slips in here, there three main one''s are the only thing that caught his interest, the rest were trash. Next, he looked over the elixirs that are sealed along with the jade slips. There were some old papers attached with them. He picked up the paper and read it''s contents.

    "The one with a blue cork is the ''Elixir of a 100 Herb Cure''. It could heal any damages below Golden Knight Realm. The one with the red cork is the ''Physique Cleansing Elixir'' which could strengthen your body. Anyone who''s below Golden Knight Realm of cultivation should be careful when consuming this. Dilute it with warm water if needed. One drop of any elixir to a basin of water, that would be the safest way.. Dilute it further if your realm is lower."

 Chapter 4 - Gift To Dad

    Chapter 4: Gift to Dad

    ---

    "Amazing. As expected of the Sun Warriors n." Raven sighed as he read the note.

    The Final Haven Kingdom has a rich history. There were many humans who were born and died in this ce. The Royal Family had changed from era to era as well, and the during the Dark Sky Era, it was the Sun Warriors n that rose to fame and protected the kingdom from verge of destruction.

    Their reignsted for quite sometime, but as they say, whatever rises will ultimately fall. Try as they may, the Sun Warriors n declined but their legacy was still passed down. With Raven''s guesses, thest descendant of the Sun Warriors n was that skeleton that held this suitcase. s, such is the cycle of life.

    Nevertheless, their techniques will shine once more, and it will be his father that will do so.

    "We''re home!" Speaking of which. Raven woke up from his stupor and looked at the door. There he saw his parents carrying some groceries from the market.

    "Mom! Dad! Look, I found a treasure!" Raven ced an excited expression while calling them out. His parents smiled and walked towards him. They didn''t find it weird that he brought something home again, it wasn''t the first time that he did so anyway.

    "Oh? What''s this?" Luis, his father, asked while ruffling his head.

    "It says here that these are elixirs, I think a long lost one. Here''s the letter written in Dark Sky Era''snguage." He said while handing the letter down to his dad.

    At first, Luis wasn''t really impressed, he was just faking it for the sake of his son. But as he read the letter, his expression turned into excitement. His eyes shone as he eyed the elixirs.

    "Where did you find this?" Luis asked.

    "On the hill." Raven blinked, "I tripped onto something, when I looked closely it wasn''t a rock but the handle. I dug it and brought it here." A lie that he made up.

    "What about these?" Luis pointed at the jade slips.

    "I don''t know." Raven shrugged, "I mean, It''s obviously jade slips but I think they''re more than that. Must be some kind of tool from the same era as well." A white lie that he told this time around.

    Luis picked up one random jade slip. He observed it closely and pondered. After a while. He decided to experiment and send his energy onto the jade slip. After some time, his eyes snapped open and his face wore an expression of shock with a mixture of tion as well.

    He hurriedly picked up another one and did the same, after going through each jade slip, the whole inheritance of the Sun Warriors n are now printed on his mind. His heart was beating furiously due to extreme excitement.

    "What''s wrong with you?" Raven''s mother suddenly appeared and asked Luis.

    "Eva! Here, send your energy inside, you will know why." Evangeline was confused but followed his instructions anyway. After a while, her eyes also went wide, she could now understand why her husband was making that expression.

    "Haha! You really discovered a treasure this time around!" Luis said while ferociously rubbing the head of Raven.

    "What does it contain?" Raven asked innocently while snickering inside his mind.

    "It''s a secret for now¡­" Luis said sternly.

    "Boo¡­" Raven puffed his cheeks and pouted.

    "Well, it''s a powerful technique. But you can''t use it unless you reach Soldier Realm. Until then, you can''t tell anyone about this okay?" Luis consoled his son. He was fully aware that he shouldn''t be lying to his own son, he was the one who found it after all. He lied because he wanted to protect his son from danger.

    He too could approximately tell just how strong the techniques were. If somehow, the news were leaked, it would expose his beloved son into danger which was thest thing that he wanted for him. Of course, Raven understood this, he was just acting so that he could protect the secret about his rebirth as well.

    Seeing that his son was still sulking, he sighed and said: "Okay how about this. Tell me what do you want as a present, I''ll buy it for you."

    Hearing this, Raven''s eyes shone and turned his head towards him, he then asked: "Really?"

    "Mn!" Luis nodded his head in confirmation and said: "Really."

    "Buy me a Gravity Suit!" He eximed as he looked at his father with puppy eyes.

    "Gravity Suit?" Luis repeated, wanting to confirm if he heard it correctly.

    "Mn!" Raven nodded and continued, "For my training."

    Luis pondered for a while and nodded. "Okay, I''ll buy you a Gravity Suit tomorrow."

    "Yey!"

    After that promise, Luis kept the suitcase on his spatial ring and the family shared dinner. After helping his mom with the dishes. He returned back in his room and meditated.

    "I can''t use any of those elixirs yet. Even if we dilute it multiple times, the energies contained in it will just damage my body instead of curing it. Dang it, why do have such a weak body at this age?"

    Raven whined in displeasure. His body was the main reason why he wasn''t able to practice further even though he really wanted to.

    The path towards strength is a long one. It is necessary to build up a solid and stable foundation as he go, or else it will greatly hinder him once he reached the higher realm.

    Most kids at his age just started to enter the first step towards Knighthood, which was the Fighter Realm.

    The Fighter Path is divided into separate Realms: Skin Toughening, Muscle Training, Organ Washing, Bone Tempering and Marrow Cleansing.

    All of this realms is further divided into 4 stages: Early, Middle, Late and Peak Stages.

    Skin Toughening Realm, just like the name suggests, is to use the surrounding Qi to nourish the skin and make it more durable. In early stages of this realm, one''s skin could be as durable as leather while on theter stages, their skin would be as tough as a mature tree. This is precisely the realm where Raven is currently.

    The process of cultivation is painful. Raven remembered that it would feel like countless of needles were poking every fiber of skin. One slip of concentration and they could hurt themselves, like what happened to him. One should be very careful and not ignore these damages since it cou umte over time and greatly hinder their process.

    This is the main reason why he wasn''t able to cultivate so far. He wanted to cure these damages first and the cultivate afterwards. This step is necessary to build a solid foundation and enable him to reach greater heights in the future.

    "Speaking of cultivating, school starts next week. I wonder how are my brothers faring so far."

    Raven felt a deep sense of nostalgia once more. During the great war for survival, all of his friends died miserably while protecting the kingdom. He personally witnessed their deaths and some of them even died in his arms. He can''t possibly forget those moments, specially when his best friends used their own bodies to shield him from the grasp of death. Raven felt the world crumble as he witnessed that and cursed his pathetic self while running away in search for a ce to hide.

    He repeatedly cursed himself for being weak and med himself for their deaths. He even asked why he was the only one who survived, it could''ve been someone who''s far more talented that he is but he was the only one.

    When his memories reached here, a group of people suddenly appeared in his mind. It was the ck Curtain Guild.

    The ck Curtain Guild is a group of people who were evicted by the Royal Family from the Kingdom. It was due to their atrocious deeds and immoral actions that led to their banishment, yet they haven''t given up on the kingdom and longed to return.

    Due to the geographical advantage of the Kingdom, it might be thest remaining spot for humanity to develop themselves, anywhere else is just terrible. Raven himself could agree to this as well.

    Due to some mysterious method, the ck Curtain Guild could use the demonic beasts and gather them to attack the city, they have often used this as means to probe the current strength of the kingdom. Sometimes, they will even use this opportunity to ambush and kill some important figures of the kingdom in order to eliminate future threats.

    Raven was also aware that the forces of this evil guild had already prated the kingdom. It was just a pity that he wasn''t paying close attention before so he couldn''t really point fingers, but he had a vague idea on his mind. If they made a mistake in his presence then they should kiss goodbye towards their future ns.

    "ck Curtain Guild. You guys better prepare yourselves. Every debt has it''s collector. It won''t take me long before I could march in front of your gates and erase you in this world."

    Raven said while pulling up the sheets of his bed and drifting to sleep.

 Chapter 5 - Hevenly Cloud Institute

    Chapter 5: Heavenly Cloud Institute

    ---

    "Tsk¡­"

    Inside the bathroom, Raven could be seen naked and sitting cross legged while being submerged in a hot bath.

    The water could be seen swirling about even though he wasn''t making any movements. There''s also some floating herbs and flowers that could be seen in the water itself. Raven had been submerged in this medicinal bath for about an hour now, the efficacy were mostly absorb by his body already and not much was left.

    The surface of his skin had already turned red from the heat, but beneath the redness of skin was the efficacy of the bath working it''s magic. The residues from the bruises and the blood clots that he got from cultivating are mostly gone, he figured that after this bath, he should be able to get rid of those and start his formal practice.

    It has been a week since his treasure hunt. Not much had happened to him except running here and there to gather herbs for his medicinal bath and spending time with his family. The same can''t be said for his father though.

    The night he received the inheritance of the Sun Warriors n, he immediately started converting his cultivation to match it along with the use of those elixirs that Raven found as well. He could now tell just how tyrannical and how fierce this inheritance was.

    His Energy Essences had practically doubled over the course of one week. It also contained a tinge of fire attribute which was extremely suitable for him. He also found out that he is very close on achieving a breakthrough in his cultivation. Luis gave the credit to the inheritance when in truth, this was the result of Raven''s treatment.

    He also learned the mainbat art and main movement art of the inheritance and his tion grew to the peak. With this, he could confidently say that he was unmatched on a same realm when ites to raw power. This will help him to solidify his position on the army.

    Raven was of course happy for his father. The Gravity Suit that he asked for was fulfilled, his father also threw in a D ranked Spatial Ring along with some bonus allowance as well. Not a bad trade for something that he obtained for free.

    ***

    "Hoo¡­"

    Raven stood up from the basin of water. All of the medicinal efficacy was been absorbed his body now and the hidden injuries are cured. He could now continue cultivating once more.

    He dried his body and took out the Gravity Suit. The appearance was like that of a one piece suit, it had a zipper ran from the neck down to the abdomen. It was dark colored and covered most of his body aside from the fingers of his hand and toes, as well as his head. On the wrist part of the suit, there was rune that could be activated which functioned as the device to control the gravity on his body.

    What''s more is that the gravity forms from the inside of his body and not outside so he does not have to worry about dragging others with him to suffer the weight.

    Raven adjust the gravity. He started with 1.5 times normal gravity and felt some resistance, he then pushed it to 2.5 and decided to maintain that weight. This was enough to make it difficult for him to move but not enough to actually hinder his movement.

    He took out some garments and ced it on top of his gravity suit. When he''s done, he briefly checked himself out on the mirror and nodded in satisfaction.

    After eating his breakfast, he went outside to meet his father. He saw him waiting for him in front of a horse carriage. He smiled and walked towards him, they waved goodbye at Eva and rode the carriage away.

    That''s right, it''s time for Raven to go the Heavenly Cloud Institute and for Luis to resume his duties at the army.

    All along the journey, Raven was peeking out of the carriage and taking in the familiar view of the Kingdom''s Outer Ring. The bustle and noises of regr people warmed his heart, though he didn''t know who most of them were, he can''t help but be thankful that these people are alive and well.

    He still can''t believe that he got to see this view once more, he felt eternally thankful that he had gotten the chance of experiencing rebirth. This time, he will do things right and prevent the destruction of the kingdom. A responsibility that wasn''t forced on to him but one that he will willingly shoulder, for this kingdom was his home.

    ***

    The Heavenly Cloud Institute is the only academic tform that is present on the entire kingdom.

    Almost ny percent of the important figures of kingdom studied and graduated from this institute. It boasted sole hegemony for this matter and a power that cannot be offended, even by the Royal Family.

    The institute is divided into three massive divisions, namely the Outer, Inner and Core Divisions. The locations of which, follows the division of the kingdom as well.

    Each kid, as long as they desired to be stronger and walk the path towards knighthood, will end up at the Outer Division regardless of their background. Commoners, nobles and even a royalty would end up the same.

    That is not to say that their background is worthless here, it''s just that the institute favors talent over background, which was the reason why everyone starts at the same line. So long as they prove that they are worthy to be nurtured, then it doesn''t matter where they came from, they will receive endless care and resources from the institute.

    "I''m off Dad! Be safe at work!"

    Raven yelled as soon as he stepped out of the carriage, Luis waved and watched until his son''s shadow entered the institute, only then he climbed back inside the carriage and moved along.

    Inside the Institute, Raven saw many buildings that have multiple functions. He also saw multiple paths leading everywhere and some students walking about and running some errands.

    A serene and mncholic smile appeared his face, after showing the proof of enrollment, the guard let him through and now he was walking towards the dormitories. There weren''t too many people where he was going, checks out since he wasn''t going towards those enormously huge buildings that saw he earlier.

    The road ahead of him lead towards a dense amount of greenery, after walking for quite sometime, he ended up arriving at his destination.

    Behind all of the shrubs and tall trees, lies a three tiered stone house that was painted with a wooden color. Beyond this house was a vast field of grass and assional flowers and hills. One could see some training equipments built around the house and it even has it''s own pond.

    Raven felt a bit emotional as he gazed at this stone house. There were too many fond memories that were forged in this ce, he could even see some silhouettes of him and his brothers having fun in this area. They sweated,ughed, got angry, cried, fought and trained together all for the sake of making their parents proud and pursue their dreams of bing a Knight, s¡­

    "Hey! What are you dawdling for!?"

    Off to a distance, Raven saw a silhouette of someone who''s very familiar to him. From the way he clothed himself, one could easily tell that this guy is a young master. He had brown hair, straight brows, a slightly buffed body and fair skin tone.

    "What''s wrong? Is it the Demon Lord?"

    Another familiar voice echoed. The new guy had dark hair like Raven does. He was slightly taller than the previous guy, his clothes are ordinary and his temperament might be childish but it also carried a noble air.

    Raven grinned from ear to ear, he ced both of his hands on his waist and puffed his chest out while saying: "Rejoice mortals. I, Demon King Raven, had graced you with my presence!"

    The faces of the two guys ahead of twitched, they were trying their best not tough uproariously and carried along with Raven''s antics.

    "Hoh¡­" the guys with the brown hair smiled and raised both of his fist, turning them into a w. "Well met Demon Lord. I, Paul also known as the Ravager of Thousand Mountains, hereby challenge you!"

    "My name is Mark, Spear of One Hundred Suns! Challenge thee as well!" The other kid said, wanting to join the fun.

    "Oh. Well met Paul, Ravager of Thousand Tits and Mark, Piercer of One Hundred Hymens. I, the almighty Demon Lord, ept your challenge." Raven said in a haughty tone.

    He could swear that he almost saw a visible tick on the corner of their foreheads which made himugh uproariously. The two guys ahead of him charged in a ferocious manner, Raven charged as well and made sure to hold back his strikes, this is just how him and his brothers yed for fun. Even though he was being attacked by both guys, he didn''t mind it.. This just shows how much he missed these brothers of his.

 Chapter 6 - Class

    Chapter 6: ss

    ---

    "Hahahahaha!"

    Three guysnded on the ground whileughing and catching air. The stacked up on one another, Paul being one the lowestyer, Mark on the secondyer and Raven on top of the two of them.

    "The Triplets have gathered." Paul raised and held out his fist towards them, Mark grinned bumped his fist with him and Raven felt emotional. He shook his head and met theirs.

    "The Triples have gathered." Mark and Raven repeated. They stood up and walked towards the stone house while discussing random things under the sun.

    It didn''t took long before the time for ss will start. They hurriedly took a bath, ate and walked towards their designated ss room. Upon entering the ssroom they found out that there are already other students in there, they found some spots at the back and sat together.

    "Man¡­" Paul pursed his lips and said, "I''m so not looking forward to this."

    "Well, I just can''t give up after all. Same goes for both of you right?" Mark sighed, his chest felt heavy but he held on.

    Raven''s memories shed before his eyes, he thought to himself: ''I remember how this conversation went, it''s ends up in a depressing mood. Well not if I could prevent it.''

    "It''s very simple really." Raven''s words startled the both of them. "If normal effort doesn''t work, then we''ll double it, if that still doesn''t work then we triple it. Stubbornness is key, also knowledge."

    Paul and Mark smiled, they nodded their heads in agreement and chatted about random things. They were rudely interrupted when the ss door swung open and an old man walked in.

    He was supporting his curved back with a cane, he wore a thin and clear looking sses while wearing some white robe that only teachers of the institute could wear. He radiated a strict aura but it also carried a wizened air. He eyed each student inside the ssroom and cleared his throat.

    "Wee to Heavenly Cloud Institute''s Fighter ss-3. I will be your instructor, Magnum Lee, feel free to call me Instructor Lee, Teacher Lee or even Old Lee, you can even call me by my first name, this old man does not care." His voice sounded gritty and deep, but he delivered his words mellowly.

    "Well, that''s about it for me. Now it''s your turn to introduce yourselves, starting in front, stand up and tell us about yourselves." Old Lee said as he pointed at a student using his cane.

    The student seemed unnerved at first but he stood up and began introducing himself: "M-my name is Silva Ford, 13 years old, from Water Smander Family." After this, he sat down and ced a hand on his chest.

    Old Lee nodded and pointed at the student next to him. The ss introduction went on until one girl stood which caused almost all of the guys eye''s to lit up in expectation.

    A beautiful maiden, that would be the most urate way to address her. Her hair was long and almost reached her buttocks, it fall naturally like it was a ck waterfall. She had a pearl white skin, perfectly curved brows, vermillion lips and deep onyx colored eyes. She had a figure to die for and most men would inevitably develop a deep admiration for her.

    "Hi everyone, my name is Luna Moonsong. 13 years old as well, and I came from Moon Worshipping n."

    Her name might be really redundant, specially when she mentioned her n as well, nevertheless no one would ever be tired of hearing her sweet and charming voice, they would even shower her with praises because of the way she confidently introduced herself.

    Seeing her, Raven''s heart shook. Countless of pictures emerged from his memories, he smiled wryly and shook his head. Suddenly, he felt an elbow beside him. He turned his head and saw Paul wearing a teasing smile in his face. Heughed and ignored him, he focused on what''s happening in front of him.

    "My name is Ellen Redcrest, 13 from Vermillion Sky n."

    "My name is Anne Fiore, 13 from Western Star n."

    As the introductions went on, two more beauties introduced themselves and became the sole focus of everyone in here. Many boys thought that if they could at least hold their hand then they could die in peace. As more and more students introduced themselves, it was now the Triplets'' turn.

    "My name is Paul Gregory. 13 from Eternal Defense n."

    "I''m Mark Anderson. 13 from Marching Warlords n."

    And finally, it was Raven''s turn, everyone''s gaze fell on him but he didn''t feel any nervousness.

    "I''m Vendrick Valorheart, Raven''s fine. 13 years old and I don''t belong to any ns." He calmly stated as he sat down.

    Raven could see some people leaned towards each other and whispered something. Even though he can''t hear them, he had a faint guess as to what they were talking about.

    "Hey, it''s them right?"

    "Mn! No doubt about it."

    "To think that they still have the audacity to be here."

    "How embarrassing."

    "Yeah! Specially thatst guy, it seems that the rumors are true!"

    "Shh, tone it down. He might hear you."

    "Such a disgrace. Such a disappointment."

    Raven watched all of this with a bored expression in his face, but the same can''t be said for his brothers beside him. He nced at them and saw that their expressions became frosty and their hands are clenched beneath their desks.

    "Ahem." Old Lee interrupted everyone and continued: "Thank you everyone. Now we will begin with the lessons."

    "All of you are in this Fighter ss, so your goal is became official Fighters as fast as you can. Remember that this institute does not care about anyone''s background, we don''t discriminate, not even for a royalty."

    As Old Lee said this, his gaze became stern and met the students'' eyes. Some lowered their heads in shame.

    "Anyways. To be an official Fighter, you have to strengthen yourselves and break through to several realms. When you reach Bone Tempering Realm or even the fabled Marrow Cleansing Realm, then you can file for a promotion and be sent to the Inner Division of the Institute."

    "The Final Haven Empire is vast and it''s citizens are many, but that does not mean that we are at peace. Our kingdom is always expecting an attack from a beast horde. Many soldiers die each year and we are in constant need for some people to rece them and keep our kingdom''s safety."

    "Some of you went on this school in hopes to be a Knight. This old man can''t me you, being a Knight is the noblest upation in our kingdom after all. But for you to be one, you guys need to be an official Fighter first."

    "I''m telling you now, if any of you became an official Fighter before the school year ends, then the school will let you participate on the ''Righteous Bestowal Ritual''."

    Gasps could be heard from the crowd of students, it was then followed by myriad of reactions. Paul and Mark were shocked, same could be said for everyone else, except for Raven, who was clearly bored.

    "Our kingdom has a very rich history¡­"

    Old Lee started babbling away about multiple things like history, demonic beasts, famous people and many more things.

    Raven''s attention were divided between Old Lee and his daydream. His mind was upied by many things. For an instance, what could he do to help his brothers out of their predicaments.

    He knew that the path of Knighthood is extremely thorny for them. It wasn''t their fault, it was because of the ignorance of the people of the kingdom and the way how they set their metrics for talent.

    At the age of 12, all kids will have their talents measured by their elders or parents. They use Talent Measuring Crystals and have the kids inject their blood in it, the crystal will show beams of colorful light, after which the talent will be shown.

    Their talent will be measured ording to how many beams of light showed up and what color it represented. The colors are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue. But this is the most stupid way to measure someone''s talent, it even goes to say that it will destroy their future.

    In reality, one shouldn''t look at how many beams of light, and instead focus on what the lights formed into the Talent Measuring Crystals.

    Raven shook his head in disappointment, this is the main reason why the kingdom is in decline. Many youths had their futures destroyed because of this simple ignorance. If it weren''t for the fact that he was trying to cover up his rebirth, he would totally charge up to the royal pce and give an earful of sermon to the King and Royal Tutors because of this stupidity. s, he could only wait until he could do that.

    For now, he should focus on raising his strength.. When he reached a certain spectrum of strength, then he would be able to do so, it won''t take long anyway.

 Chapter 7 - Marked By The Hawk

    ---

    "Hurghh¡­" Paul stood up stretched his numbing legs. "Finally, ss is over. I almost lost consciousness with how much he talked."

    Mark and Raven did the same thing as well. The triplets watched as the students left and the ssroom became empty, they eventually left as well and went back to the stone house.

    "So, did you guys have any luck with your cultivation during winter break?" Mark decided to check as they walked back.

    Paul heaved a sad sigh and said: "Nothing, still at the early stages of Skin Toughening."

    Mark simrly sighed, he didn''t need to tell them anything as this was a universal sign.

    "No luck for me as well. I just finished curing the hidden injuries of my body and I was just thinking of continuing my trainingter when wee home." Raven non-chntly said, his expression changed as he noticed something ahead of them which caused him to frown.

    It wasn''t only him but his brothers also frowned. The reason was because there are some ''fans'' blocking the way. Nevertheless they still marched forward until they met them face to face.

    "Well, well, look who it is." A very bulky person appeared before them. "If it isn''t the ''very impressive'' young masters! I''m such a huge fan. Can we please have a moment to talk?" He snickered, clearly disdaining the triplets.

    "Let us through." Paul''s voice were frosty, he narrowed his eyes and met the bulky guy''s disdaining eyes. They were too familiar with this since it wasn''t the first time that something like this happened.

    "Oh, scary, I am so scared." The bulky guy faked a shiver and snickered once more, the guys behind himughed coldly while cracking their knuckles. "What do I do? Will this young master help me move? I''m afraid, so afraid that I can''t seem to move." The bulky guy grinned maliciously.

    "You-" Mark was about to charge towards them but he was startled when he saw Raven''s hands before him. Paul was shocked as well, but he allowed his bother to speak on their behalf.

    "Tell me your name." Raven''s question was cold and sharp, like a venomous dagger aimed at everyone''s throats. Everyone who heard him felt their hearts stop for a split second. This was specially true for the bulky guy who received it.

    Seeing Raven''s gaze towards him ignited fury in his heart. That gaze was like that of someone who was looking at an ant.

    "You want to know who I am!?" The bulky guy was furious as he puffed out his chest and introduced himself, "Listen carefully! My name is Randy Nevill! I hailed from the Bright Jewel n! You better remember me!" He roared in exasperation.

    Raven''s face was still showing an expression of disinterest but he still replied: "Oh? A son of a merchant right? I see." A mocking smile appeared on Raven''s face.

    A paper and a brush appeared on his hand, he started writing while still looking coldly at Randy.

    For some reason, Randy and hisckeys felt a chill when they saw his smile. They have no clue as to what''s about to happen but their instincts are telling them that it won''t end up good.

    "Didn''t you want me to remember you?" A sneer formed on Raven''s face. He ced a two fingers on his mouth and blew a whistle. Not even a secondter, arge bird appeared out of nowhere andnded on his shoulders. This was no ordinary bird, but a domesticated demonic beast known as the Mirage Hawk!

    Everybody''s eyes widened, some of the more knowledgable one''s showed traces of fear when this bird arrived. They silently backed away, clearly indicating that they didn''t want to be involved in this. Raven slowly rolled up the paper into a scroll without breaking any eye contact from the ant before him.

    No one spoke, everyone watched each of his movements, it felt like he was the only one that exists at this current moment. Once he was done cing the rolled up paper on thepartment that was attached on the hawk''s feet. He threw a treat on it''s beak and everyone saw how swiftly the hawk caught it a swallowed it.

    It let out a keening cry before disappearing before everyone''s sight. Everyone''s eyes constricted, time seemingly resumed as an idea suddenly surfaced on their brains. Upon realizing what happened, all of them began sweating from head to toe as they looked at Raven with a visible fear in their eyes.

    This goes specially true for Randy and hisckeys. As part of a merchant n, they were aware of many things, specially when ites to dealing with influential people.

    "Y-you¡­" Randy visibly shook, his face turned incredibly pale as he pointed his shaking finger at Raven.

    "What''s wrong?" Raven sneered, "Weren''t you proud of your background earlier? Where did that go?"

    Randy wanted to p himself so bad until his family can''t recognize him. He never hated himself so much like this in the past. He couldn''t say anything since he knew that it won''t change anything. He was doomed. His n was doomed. His knees softened, and with a loud thud, he knelt on the floor with a pale face.

    Raven looked down at him and said: "How does it feel being marked by the Hawk?"

    "And for the record¡­" Raven waved his hand and a dart flew towards the wall on his left. Everyone jumped fright as they saw the wall shifted and reveal a pale faced instructor who did not dare to even move a muscle, the dart that Raven threw flew just a few centimeters away from his face that''s why. "You have been watching since the beginning. Do you honestly think that you can escape my gaze?"

    The instructor''s body shook, his face became paler and paler, he too felt his knees go weak and Raven''s next words almost sapped the life out of him.

    "Prepare your speech well ande up with a solid excuse. I''d like to see if you still have the audacity to test my patience." Raven snorted and left. Paul and Mark woke up from their stupor and hurriedly caught up with him.

    The whole hallway became silent to the point that even a pin''s drop could be heard. Everyone else that weren''t included in the fray heaved a sigh of relief when they saw his silhouette disappear.

    "What the hell was that all about!?" A random student eximed all of a sudden.

    "Shh!" One of his friends ced a cover on his mouth and said: "Tone it down, and remember. Do. Not. Provoke. That. Guy. Or those two who were following him."

    "Who is he?" That random student asked in hushed tone.

    "Have you heard about the Kingdom''s Hawk?" His friend solemnly asked.

    "Of course! He was the most talented person in the entire Intelligence Department of the Army! His cultivation might be low but when he rose to position, he uprooted the camps of ck Curtain Guild that managed to infiltrate the kingdom in less than a week! He also uprooted many evildoers in the Outer Ring, causing the mortality rate to go down. ''Evil shall tremble when they are marked by the Hawk'' that is how he does things. But what''s the connection?"

    "God you''re dumb!" His friend facepalmed and exined and decided to give him more clues, "Do you remember what that guy said to that bulky guy over there when the bird on his shoulder disappeared?"

    "He said ''How does it feel¡­'' oh shit¡­" that student''s eyes constricted as he realized something when he was repeating Raven''s words.

    "Got it!? And for the record. The one his left is the son of the Institute''s Dean while the one on his left is the son of a general." His friend cautiously said as he pulled him out there.

    Since they were talking as they walked, the remaining students overheard their conversation. All of them shook and swore in their minds. This goes specially well to the kneeling people that previously crossed Raven.

    They really kicked an iron board this time around.

    ***

    "Hah¡­" When Raven stepped outside of the building, he lifted both of his arms and stretched out. There was a yful smile on his lips. He nced at his sworn brothers and saw that their heads down and there was a shameful expression on their faces.

    "What''s wrong you two?" Raven asked.

    "We just¡­" Paul wanted to say something but he could only sigh in defeat, "Sorry, we''re useless."

    Mark clenched his fist hard and gritted his teeth, he didn''t say anything, he too feel the same way but it''s not so easy to admit it.

    "Don''t mind it. They started it anyway." Raven wore a carefree smile on his face. On normal times, they would totally ept this as it is but today''s a bit different.

    "But Raven, you can only use that once a year!"

 Chapter 8 - Spirit Entity

    ---

    "But Raven, you can only use that once a year!"

    This was Mark who spoke this time around. As a son of a General, he also knew about a lot of things when ites to influential people. This goes specially well with his brothers'' backgrounds.

    "I know." Raven said in a ''matter-of-fact'' tone of voice. He shrugged his shoulders and continued: "I didn''t want to use it, but I gotta make an example out of everyone so that they will leave us alone."

    The instructors of the institute might say that their backgrounds are not important in this ce but it does not erase the fact that they still have it. What Raven did was the perfect example of it.

    Just because he was inside the Institute does not mean that just about anyone could push him over and he had to swallow all of the grievances that he encounters. If this was the previous version of himself, then he might''ve done so, but it''s different now.

    Hearing what Raven said made the two extremely depressed, they felt powerless each time a situation like this urs.

    "Don''t sweat it." Raven chuckled, he then swung both of his arms on their shoulders, "Let''s go home and eat, I''m hungry." He then proceed to drag them back to their territory.

    ***

    The dormitory of the triplets are a little bit differentpared to other ones here at the institute.

    This was because this whole, three tiered house is exclusive for their use only. Unlike other students who had to share rooms with a lot of people, these brothers had a whole territory all for themselves.

    This is not a differential treatment. They weren''t the only one''s who had something like this. The institute wees this idea, but of course, the students had to rent the plot ofnd during their stay. Those can''t afford it could use the regr dorms instead.

    Paul is the son of this Institute''s Dean, and although his rtionship with his father isn''t the warmest now, he was still given some simple liberties like this vast plot ofnd inside the school, and other misceneous things.

    Mark is a son of a general, and even though his father doesn''t care much about him, he still has his mother who sent several resources for his protection.

    As for Raven, his father is the most talented Marshal of the Intelligence Department of the Army. He might not be have resources or guards but he had the power to ''mark'' someone once a year. Let''s just say that those who were ''marked'' by the Kingdom''s Hawk has to wash their hands as soon as they can because if they don''t, then their endings will not be pretty.

    These three brothers might have a very impressive backgrounds but in reality this hardly matters. What about money? What about resources? What about background? What about respect? All of those were provided to those who were strong enough to hold them. They might be protected now but who could say so after 5 years? Or 10 years?

    The only thing that could really provide them safety, is to be powerful. Unfortunately, fate hasn''t been so kind to them.

    Back in the stone house, the triplets had already ced the matter of earlier on the back of their heads. They were now sitting around the table and had just finished eating. Raven''s thoughts shed and suddenly said:

    "Can I see the results of your Talent Measuring Crystals again?"

    Paul and Mark became confused but took out their crystals and dropped blood on it. Raven saw as each of the crystals they took out shone with a faint light.

    Raven concentrated at Paul''s results first. The crystal showed beams of red light, the lights then converged into something that resembled a constetion. Raven searched through his brain and found the constetion''s description.

    "Impressive. Snake-tailed ck Tortoise." His let out a breath of cold air, no wonder why. So this was the Spirit Entity of Paul. This was why he was able to receive blows from anyone who is at least two whole realms above him in his past life. It turned out that he was a possessor of this entity.

    "Snake-tailed ck Tortoise?" Paul repeated, clearly confused.

    "I''ll tell you about itter. I''ll take a look at Mark''s result first." Raven then concentrated at Mark''s crystal.

    Simr to Paul, it also shown with a red light, it then also converged into a constetion that shone with multiple pulses.

    "Primal Lightning Serpent! How rare." Raven sucked in another breath of cold air. It was no wonder that Mark had never feared any lightning based attacks in his past life. It was totally because of this Spirit Entity!

    "Exin please." Mark scratched his head in confusion.

    "Well, how should I start." Raven pondered. "Okay so to start it off, the way on how our elders measure our talents arepletely wrong. Utter bullshit even in my opinion."

    Their eyes bulged upon hearing this im. They started to get nervous specially when they heard his follow up exnation.

    "Don''t you guys find it weird? The Final Haven Empire had been standing for a very long time, and countless of people had their talents tested and had walked the path of Knighthood before us. If what they say is true, that 80% of our poption had Red Colored talent, then how could''ve those remaining 20% of people defended the entire kingdom that''s being attacked not only by beast horde but by the ck Curtain Guild as well?"

    "If their methods about measuring out talents are correct, then the kingdom won''t be able to stand for as long as it did today. Am I right?"

    Paul and Mark''s pupils constricted sharply when they mulled over what he said. They have never thought about it before but his words do make sense.

    The poption of the kingdom might be millions in number butpared to the size of the beast horde and their strength, it''s just a dream for them hold out for this long. It had to be known that a beast horde that is numbered between 500,000-750,000 is considered a small sized horde, and there are multiple attacks each year.

    While there might some tools that aid them in battle, there''s just too many of them. Add the fact that they have to be on guard for the ck Curtain Guild as well, it''s really a mystery why the kingdom is still standing strong until today.

    "Well we could point fingers as many times as we could but we have no proof, and it does not matter even if we know since what can we do? Our backgrounds might be impressive but it''s nothingpared to the murky waters of this kingdom."

    "Anyway. Like I was saying, the methods that they use to test our talents are wrong. They shouldn''t care about the color but on the Spirit Entity that forms afterwards."

    "Spirit Entity?" Paul repeated.

    "Right. We humans had a long history and those who have ascended are remembered by the starry skies of the Spirit World in a form of a constetion. These constetions exists in a mysterious ce which could only be reached by dreaming."

    "When a child is born, a certain constetion will brighten and give it''s blessings. When that child reaches 12, it will then show on this crystal and each person has a different one." Raven exined some more.

    "So that means, the Snake-tailed ck Tortoise is my Spirit Entity?"

    "And the Primal Lightning Serpent is mine?"

    "Correct." Raven nodded in agreement.

    "Okay cool, but what about it? I mean what''s in it for us knowing all of this?" Paul asked.

    "It provides you with direction. Which means that you get to know what kind of cultivation technique you should use and what attributes you could possibly had." While he was saying this, Raven was writing something on a piece of paper. Paul and Mark watched, confused by what he was doing.

    He continued writing for a while until he used up two papers. He then handed a paper to each of them and said: "Here, try it for yourselves."

    Paul and Mark raised their brows, they have read the contents of the paper he gave them and was even more confused. They figured that he won''t do anything to harm them so they tried it anyway. They closed their eyes and followed what was written on the papers.

    Then a very astonishing scene happened. Raven watched as a fierce suction of Qi appeared out of nowhere. They greedily sucked in these energies as it nourished their skin. After a while, their skin shone and Raven saw how they shed their old skins and was reced by a new and tougher one. Raven grinned as he watched their breakthroughs.

    It was then that their eyes snapped wide open. Both of them showed shocked expressions and looked at Raven who''s showing at toothy grin while making a victory sign with his fingers.

    "Holy..." - Paul.

    "Shit...." - Mark.

 Chapter 9 - Myriad Limb

    ---

    "Raven¡­what the hell was that?" Paul asked, unsure of what he was feeling right now. Mark also wore a wonderful expression on his face as well.

    "A cultivation technique. Impressive right?" He replied while smiling.

    "Where did you find this? No that''s not important. Why would you casually toss something this valuable to us?" Mark was feeling very distressed right now.

    "Cause your my brothers duh!? Who else do you think would receive that aside from you guys?" Raven said in a ''matter-of-fact'' tone.

    Both of them were stunned as he heard him say this, they find it very hard to tell what they truly feel. While it might be true that they have been friends for years now, they can''t say if they are at the level where they could casually toss something like this with each other.

    "You know what brother? We''re extremely ttered. But how about Uncle Luis? Aunt Eva? Why didn''t you give this to them instead?"

    "Weren''t you guys listening earlier? Each person has a different Spirit Entity, those techniques aren''t suitable for them. And for the record, Dad already has one. I gave it to himst week." Raven said while opting to not say about the whole Sun Warriors n thing.

    "But-"

    "Okay stop!" Raven held out his hand and prevented Mark from continuing any further. "Don''t ask too many questions and don''t refuse the things that I give you. I have my reasons for it alright? Besides, didn''t you guys want to be stronger? I''m giving you a chance now since you guys took me as a brother." He smiled warmly as he spoke.

    Paul bit his lips and Mark clenched his hands, they both nodded and didn''t asked anything further. What if their brother has a secret? To hell with it! They swore to never betray him and stay at his side from now on.

    "Don''t resist. I''ll give you the entire technique and it''s name now." Raven held out his hand and pressed it on their foreheads. He roused his soul and used it to impart the techniques that he wanted to give them. Paul and Mark were stunned to find out that they have new sets of memories in their minds. They gave it sometime before it naturally arranged themselves, which enable them to view fully.

    Raven gave the [Eternal Defender''s Scripture] to Paul. This technique heavily boasts about physique and heavy blows. He then gave Mark the [Lightning Sovereign''s Scripture], this technique could make him an absolute terror specially on open areas.

    He withdrew his hand and allowed them to mull over the techniques on their own. He then withdrew to the side and took out a Talent Measuring Crystal for himself. He inject his blood and observed the changes on the crystal with patience. Seconds passed and the crystal finally showed what he was looking for.

    "Well, well." He said, a wry smile appeared in his face as he looked at the results. "So that''s why, it is actually the Myriad Limb Entity huh?"

    Raven had finally known why he faced too much difficulties when cultivating back then. It turns out that he had lose out from the advantage of his Spirit Entity and forced his way through a beaten path. Speaking of his Spirit Entity, he actually found records about it''s existence on one of his adventures.

    Stories said that it was failed product of a nasty experiment. The inspiration of it''s creation was from another mythical creature known as the Hecatoncheres, a primordial that is said to have a 50 heads and 50 pairs of arms.

    The insane person who created the Myriad Limb decided to create something that has 100 arms and legs while giving it a simple sentience which they could control with no problems. Unfortunately, the experiment failed, before it was fully formed the creature attracted a heavenly tribtion and it''s creator died in the process. The creature was born but it was treated as an ursed thing and was sealed away due to it''s vile aura.

    It was until one day, someone slipped past it''s prison, broke the seal and asked the creature to help him. The creatureplied and followed the man only to find out that it was a trap and the man betrayed it. The people of the city wanted it dead so they burned it. Unexpectedly, the creature didn''t fought back, it only wept sadly and epted it''s fate. It was then that the clouds have parted and a golden stairway descended. A fair woman descended and took the Myriad Limb with her to leave the mortal ne. Nobody knows it''s fate afterwards.

    ''I have few choices for a cultivation technique. Jade Sovereign''s Scripture, Golden Bodhisattva''s Mantra, and Prime Emperor''s Scripture. All of them are good, the first one specializes on absurd amounts of energy capacity to the point that it can blot the heavens. The second one focuses on body and virtue, and is a natural nemesis of evil, that being said, I don''t think I''m fit to be a Buddhist. As for the third one, it strengthens body, energy and spirit all of the same time, that being said it is extremely hard to cultivate.''

    Raven thought very hard. After a while of deliberation, his eyes shed with a resolute light.

    ''I''ll pick the [Prime Emperor''s Scripture] , doesn''t matter if it''s hard I can bear it. The concept of strengthening my body along with my energy and spirit is too good to pass. Even though it''s too profound for the current me, I''ll just lose out on cultivation speed and that''s it.''

    Raven did not waste any more time and circted the form. The [Prime Emperor''s Scripture] is divided into 3 paths or chapters: Mortal, God and Demon.

    The Mortal Chapter represents his Energy, it attracts and refine energies. The God Chapter nourishes his Spirit and the Demon Chapter tempers his body.

    His focus right now is the Demon Chapter of the cultivation technique since the beginning stages of knighthood focuses on one''s body anyway. As for the Mortal Chapter he could start that when he reaches the Soldier Realm, the next stage after Marrow Cleansing Realm. As for the God Chapter, he could start it simrly at the Soldier Stage but he needs to experience the Righteous Bestowal Ritual first.

    As he circted the Demon Chapter, Raven felt the creeping itch on every fiber of his skin. Even though he felt like stopping for a while, he didn''t do since this is a necessary process to temper his body.

    Paul and Mark had already woken up from their initial processing of their new memories for the techniques Raven gave them. They wanted to express their gratitude but they saw the him cultivating seriously and decided to not interrupt him, they got into their positions and stabilized their cultivations since they''ve just broken through mid-stage Skin Toughening Realm

    Raven was experiencing agony right now. Unlike what happened to Paul and Mark where there''s a great suction of Qi, that didn''t happen to him.

    His was like a constant stream. Strings of Qi could be seen gathering around him and forming ayer before his skin. If one had a better eyesight, they would able to see that these Qi are vibrating in a ferocious manner, causing his old skin to be destroyed. Once they do so, the destroyed part of his body will absorb the Qi and regenerate a new and tougheryer of skin.

    This process took an hour before a change ured on Raven''s body. Each part of his skin emitted a brilliant light and his body shook. The shedding of old skin did not happen to him since the old skin of his was destroyed on a molecr level due to Qi vibrations. Like this he too stepped onto mid-stage Skin Toughening Realm.

    He didn''t end up his session, he decided to consolidate his new realm by letting his new skin greedily suck in Qi from his surroundings. He didn''t wait too long before the skin got saturated, signifying the end of stabilization. Raven exhaled a mouth full of foul air. He stood up and heard his bones crack from staying in one position for too long.

    He clenched his hand and felt the new found strength coursing through his body, he smiled and took out a needle from his spatial ring and attempted to poke his skin. He found out that he was met with strong resistance. This is due to his breakthrough, his skin is as tough as a leather hide now which increased his defence.

    It also has an impressive sticity and vigor. His strength also risen up to top everything off, sending him into jolly mood.

    "Finished?" He turned around to see his brothers grinning at him. He smiled and nodded, he sat with them and said:

    "You guys should have ess to the foundational skill on your n right?"

    Both of them nodded which honestly didn''t surprise him. He smiled and said: "Good! Paul you get the Foundational Pole Arm Art and the Foundational Shield Interception Art as well. Mark you can choose between the pole arm art or Foundational Sword Art, anything''s fine. Oh! And also grab the Foundational Movement Art as well.. Tomorrow we will begin our intense training regimen."

 Chapter 10 - Training

    ---

    The triplets woke up early and head outside.

    They were in front some training dummies holding out their weapons. Paul was holding out a circr shield on his left hand and a simple wooden spear on the right. Mark was holding a wooden broad sword that has a straight arm guard. Raven was unarmed but both of his fists were wrapped in an old looking bandages that covered both of his armspletely.

    Paul and Mark were weirded out by this but they didn''t say anything, they believed that Raven has his own ideas in his mind.

    "Bro? Are we seriously going to hit dummies all day?" Paul asked. They don''t have any sses today and for the rest of the week at that.

    The institute''s sses are only once a week and the rest could be spent however the students want. Everything that''s being taught in the ssroom are just general knowledge and theoretical ways, they don''t actively facilitate on the student''s training, another thing that really has to change ording to Raven''s opinion.

    "Yep! But these dummies aren''t gonna be the normal ones." Raven grinned fiendishly and told them, "I tampered with these guys right here. Once I turn this on, thee will start attacking you."

    "Oh! Such a genius idea!" Paul was honestly impressed but Mark seemed a little unnerved by Raven''s grin. This wasn''t the first time that he showed this kind of grin, he was even having some spooky shbacks as of the moment.

    Raven walked behind the dummy and activated the rune that he ced, Paul and Mark saw the dummy shiver and it''s hollow eyes brightened. Raven held it''s head and aimed it at the excited Paul.

    After staring at him for a while, Paul saw the dummy''s eyes turned red which was also the signal for Raven to release it''s head. Paul watched as the dummy took a very familiar stance and charged at him with red eyes.

    "Shit!" Paul grimaced as he was caught unprepared, he was toote to raise his shield and the dummy''s punchnded square on his face. It didn''t stop though, it readied another strike aiming at the other side of his face, luckily Paul was able to move his shield in time but he didn''t expected that the dummy will kick him afterwards.

    Mark shivered as he Paul being beaten up by a training dummy, he nced at Raven and saw that he was still wearing his fiendish grin. All of the hairs on his body stood up as he realized that Raven had already activated dummy that was holding a wooden sword and he just released it''s head.

    "Damn! You''re a demon!" Mark spat harshly while ring at Raven, but he soon had to concentrate since the dummy already arrived at him.

    Ravenughed maliciously, he ced both of his hips. "This will be the fastest way for you to learn. Remember the Foundational Arts and the stances, that would be the key to prevent the dummies from hurting you."

    Raven turned around and started his own training as well. Unlike them, he won''t be training against a dummy not because he didn''t want to but because he had to make his body remember the Foundational Fist Arts first. He also nned on using the Basic Leg Arts as well but he would do so at some other time.

    This time around, he pushed the gravity suit to emte 4 times normal gravity, which made his body curl in heaviness. He ced a determined expression and straighten his back. He went into a horse riding stance while both of his arms are ced in his waist. He held this stance for a solid minute before performing a straight jab.

    Hu!

    The sound of air movement echoed, he slowly ced back his right arm on his waist and waited for a solid minute, after which he punched again. Raven repeated this actions multiple times, soon minutes turned into a whole hour, and an hour turned into hours.

    Raven''s clothes had already been soaked in sweat, his arms were tired and shaking, nheless his body is still standing straight and the fiery determination on his eyes had never faded even for a second during these training. He had long since forgotten how many straight punches he threw and no matter how many he did never mattered to him. His thoughts were simple, observe how his body reacted under pressure and perfect this one movement. Nothing else matters, not even the fact that he was hungry, well he can''t even recall when he felt the sensation anyway.

    His punches went through a transformation as well. When he started, his punches will only make a soft sound each time it was thrown, after hours of unceasing effort, each of his punches now produce a pping sound which will definitely hurt if itnded.

    Throwing onest punch, Raven concluded today''s training was over. He let out a long exhale and stood properly. He turned off the gravity suit and took off his upper garments, he also unzipped the suit up until his belly and left it hanging on his side. He took out a towel on his spatial ring and a gallon of water. He emptied the whole thing in one go and took out some snacks as well.

    He turned around and saw how his brothers were faring. He almost choked on the jerky that he was chewing as he saw them lying on the ground and on the verge of passing out. Heughed slightly and walked towards them.

    "Hey! Still breathing?" He jokingly said.

    "D-damn you. We thought we. . .were brothers." Paul said while panting, his clothes were all dirty, his hair was a mess and his face were slightly bruised.

    "Honestly. . .those things are better than my dad when ites to beating." Mark whined while panting as well. Both of his hands were shaking, even the webbings between his thumb and pointing finger are bleeding. His face were also bruised as well as some parts of his body.

    "Well, you have to learn how to grow under pressure. You will experience tougher situationspared to this." He said while helping them sit up.

    "Says the one who did nothing but threw punches all day." Paul can''t help but to feel slightly sour. They too were watching his training, they thought that he will just do that for sometime but no, he ended up doing it all day.

    "Hey! Don''t underestimate the way how I train." Raven smiled and pointed at the suit hanging on his waist. "You guys should know what this is right?"

    Paul and Mark widened their eyes to look, well they have to since they can''t even open it normally because of the bruises.

    "Oh! A Gravity Suit! When did have this?" Mark eximed upon realizing it. He never thought that Raven had one of this not because it''s rare, but it was extremely unpopr.

    "Exactly, I had this under my clothes ever since I came here. It was always set on 2.5 times normal gravity and I never took it off. When I was training earlier, I pushed it to 4 times normal gravity and stayed like that the whole time. Now can you do that?"

    Paul and Mark were stumped for words. They thought about how long he stayed like that, and didn''t even took a single break, and still managed to persevere for 6 hours. That thought sent shivers down their spine and also made them ashamed by their inferiority at the same time.

    "Don''t think like that." Raven said, seemingly knowing what they were thinking. "That won''t help you in the long run. Find ways on how to improve instead and concentrate on it. Here let me help you guys."

    Raven stood up and picked up the spear and shield that Paul was using. He then activated the dummy and stood before it.

    "When you see an enemy be on guard, do not think they won''t attack since they aren''t charging. If you have a shield, raise it to your chest and brace the ground for a better footing."

    Without further ado, he started giving lessons to them. Just as when he finished speaking, the dummy charged and threw out a punch. Raven easily maneuvered the shield to intercept it and the blow didn''t even make his body budge. Paul instantly found out why. This was because of how he stood.

    Raven was crouching slightly while the shield is raised. His left foot forward and his right foot behind it. When the attack connected, it just made a loud ''nk'', Raven used this to send poke the dummy straight in the chest but he didn''t used the pointed end of the spear and used the blunt end to push it slightly.

    "Seek chances to counter attack. Do not prolong the battle if you could, you never know if the enemy has a back up." He withdrew the spear and the dummy charged once more.

    Raven made sure that each of his movement were solid and slow, he was deliberately doing this for them. Paul on the other hand, was experiencing his own eureka moment. Being the one who saw both the Foundational Pole Arm Arts and the Foundational Shield Intercepting Art made him knowledgable of the movements that Raven was doing.

    Raven finished demonstrating for Paul he also demonstrated the Foundational Sword Arts for Mark and the movement arts for both of them to see.

    Undoubtedly, both guys were etching the lessons deep within their minds.

 Chapter 11 - Air Projectile Chambers

    ---

    The first week of the school year for Heavenly Cloud Institute passed like a blink of an eye.

    Paul, Mark and Raven''s training kicked up by a several notches. The two were getting more and more proficient with their weapons and could handle the unceasing attacks of the dummies now

    During the first day of the training, Paul had lost count on how many times he had cursed the dummy because of fury. During the whole time he was forced to defend again and again while cursing continuously because he was hurt. Now, Paul''s face developed a tinge of sharpness.

    Because of Raven''s pointers, he now had an idea on how he should improve himself and came a long way from it. He could now effectively block the attacks, intercept blows and even parry certain attacks to create an opening for his spear. Speaking of which, the way he handles his spear made a great progress too, his attacks aren''t as diverse yet and just normal pokes but the ces where he aimed are particrly deadly. Raven taught him how to aim for the vital spots that could easily cripple the enemy.

    As for Mark, he too matured during the first week of their training. The way he handled his sword had impressively came a long way. His attacks were swift and deadly, he was also nimbler and more flexible than Paul. With Raven''s pointers, his view of the sword hadpletely changed and he even developed a slight obsession with it.

    Both of them also made sure to give some time to learn the Foundational Movement Arts as well. Overall, Paul and Mark won''t have any troubles dealing with someone who''s strength isn''t greater than them.

    Raven on the other hand, still continued his intense training like what he did on day one. His progress was astonishing to the fact that each punch he threw always carried a loud pping sound in the the air. One time, Paul and Mark saw him casually testing this kind of punch on a tree, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as they saw how easily the bark shattered and flew everywhere. They thought that unless their defences are as tough as a tree, there will be no way in hell that they will be able to endure that kind of punch.

    ***

    ss went on normally like before. Old Lee talked about some few interesting things such as the previous Royal Families and their traits. He also touched on their deeds ording to the history and few more things like theoretical ways on how to raise their strengths.

    Uneventfully, the ss ended and the triplets left the ssroom. As expected, rumors about what happenedst time had already spread amongst the crowd. The few people who had deeper connections learned about the fate of Randy and the ck Jewel n.

    When Marshal Valorheart received Raven''s letter, he immediately ordered his men to move and arrest the Patriarch of the Bright Jewel n. Upon their raid, they saw few smuggled items from their operations which already is considered as a huge crime. Add the fact that they are delving with very and illegal abuse of women made everyone shook out of pure rage.

    The Patriarch of the n almost died right on the spot when he saw the Kingdom''s Hawk standing before him with his terrifying gaze. Randy was also there when the arrest ured and he even fainted on the spot. When the n realized that it was his fault, all they could do was to give him hateful res since pretty much each person in the n was sent in prison.

    Oh and as for their assets? Winner takes all. When the royal court sentenced them as guilty, not even a scrap could be seen on their treasury, everything was seized by the Marshal and his men. 50% was donated to the military, 30% was divided amongst his men, Marshal got to keep 10% and thest 10% was sent to his little hatchling who made all of this possible, Raven.

    With barely an effort on his side, Raven suddenly found out that he was loaded and would not be running out of money for quite sometime. Anyone would feel ted at this scenario.

    As for the teacher who asked Randy to provoke him and his brothers, he resigned from his job and went missing. Raven never cared about his well being. That being said, Raven still knew who he was working for and the whole reason why he did this. He''s already marked by his father so there''s no way that he will be sleeping in peace from now on.

    ***

    "Bro, what''s all this?"

    Back at their ce, Paul and Mark was dumbfounded when they saw Raven tinkering some stuff once more.

    He was on top of adder holding, some carving tools. His face was slightly dirty because of chipped woods scattering whenever he carved.

    He was in front of wooden column, there are several of this columns that formed at least three separate sections or rooms even. Each wooden column has some inscription runes carved in them, neither Paul nor Mark could understand what these runes are for but for some reason they''re feeling some bad vibes about it.

    Raven seemed to not hear them and still carved away the runes. It took him a while before stopping with a sigh and climbed down thedder. Only then he became aware that they were here.

    "Oh! Wee back!" Raven said surprised.

    "Wee back my ass!" Paul retorted, "We''ve been standing here for fifteen minutes calling you and you just noticed?"

    "Ahahaha! My bad, my bad!" Ravenughed as he scratched the back of his head.

    "What''s this for Raven?" Mark said while pointing at his creations.

    "Oh this?" Raven grinned fiendishly once more, "Tort-*Ahem* Training Chambers."

    "Hey, you were about to say Torture Chambers aren''t you?" Paul red at him.

    Raven''s eyes widened and ced an ''offended'' expression, "How dare you! My intentions are clean!"

    Paul and Mark could only look at him with dead eyes. Raven onlyughed upon seeing this, he stopped messing around and exined the real purpose of this new creation of his.

    "Air Projectile Chambers, due tock of necessary tools, it''s only a D-rank Training Room in my opinion. This is used to train you''re nerves when ites to dodging." Raven walked towards one of the chambers.

    Each chambers has five wooden columns, each column has numerous inscriptions carved on to them. Each corner of the chamber has a column making it a rectangr shape. The fifth column is a shorter onepared to the rest, but this is where the main controls for chamber was ce.

    "This where you activate the chamber, ce your hand onto this rune and turn it once. Upon activation, you will be screened inside. The chamber will form projectiles made out of air and aim towards you. It will depend on you whether you dodge or block it."

    "Turning this rune twice will make the chamber go towards Level 2, which will produce more projectiles and the speed will kick up. The maximum will be Level 15, but you guys aren''t ready for that yet. Nowe, get in and try it."

    Raven had a sweet smile during his exnations, it may seem harmless but Paul and Mark knew better. Nevertheless, they still bravely marched towards the chambers and prepared themselves for the worst.

    Their thoughts are simple, this is something that their brother created to help them be stronger. Why do they need to be afraid? Isn''t just some pain? They could just grit their teeth and persevere, it''s not like this is going to kill them.

    Raven''s expression softened seeing their determined looks. This is what he always admired towards his brothers. Their determination and thirst to be stronger. He always looked up to them during his past life and they always protected him. Now he will use everything at his disposal to make sure that they grow strong enough to trample anyone who threatened the safety of their family and this kingdom.

    He gently wiped the tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes and activated the chambers for them.

    Paul and Mark saw how the entire chamber lit up and screens of light boxes them inside. Each of them heard the sound of air forming. After which, they a whistle which made their vignce shoot through the roof. They hurriedly dodged the projectiles and felt it disperse behind them.

    Their minds reeled as they realized that from start to finish, they never saw how the air projectile was formed nor where it was targeted, it was basically their instincts that tell them where they were.

    Thinking of this, they realized how hard this is going to be for them, but instead of being afraid, there was a trace of craziness and anticipation on their faces.

    "Bring it on!"

 Chapter 12 - Breakthrough!

    ---

    Another week passed, and the triplets have been incredibly busy with their training.

    The sheer density of how they train is immense. After eating their breakfast, they will immediately hit the Air Projectile Chambers. After doing this for about four hours, they will take a break and recover their lost energies.

    After lunch, they will then switch to the Automated Training Dummies and constantly spar with it until the sun was down. Their stamina was squeezed until the veryst drop that they can''t even move a muscle afterwards and have to rely on Raven to drag them inside the house. He will then throw them in a basin that has medicinal liquid. They will wake up minutes after, energized but still mentally exhausted.

    They will cultivate and absorb the medicinal liquids on their bodies, they will use it to cure their bruises and battered skin. After eating dinner, they will pass out and sleep deeply.

    As for Raven, he stayed at the Air Projectile Chamber longer than they do. He was enduring the blows of a Level 3 setting, which allowed the chamber to produce air projectiles ina quicker speed andunch at a faster manner as well. That''s approximately 9 attacks in one breath that he has to endure.

    Unlike Paul and Mark, who either dodged or block the attacks. He endured it while holding a stance, then only premise is that he will only attack the projectile that is thrown in front of him. As for those that was aimed on his back or his sides, he allowed them tond on his body and endure it.

    Raven could dodge everything that was thrown to him if he wanted to, not even a Level 4 setting could stop him. But he chose to endure it and allow these blows to forge his body.

    As a result of this suicidal training, even though his cultivation didn''t have any breakthrough, his defence were being upgraded constantly. It won''t be noticeable at first nce but in battle between the same realm, he is an absolute terror.

    ***

    Inside their stone house, the triplets are currently soaking in a medicinal bath. Paul and Mark had their eyes closed and currently doing their best to absorb every bit of the healing properties on the water.

    To them, this might be their most favorite time of the day. Each time they soak their bodies in the medicinal bath, they could feel every single fiber in their body screaming in joy as they greedily suck the efficacy on the water.

    The feeling was so blissful that they can''t fully express it in words. If Raven could read their thoughts he would just smile.

    The medicinal bath that he prepared is a special one. It wasn''tposed of expensive herbs and flowers, it''s just one of the long lost medicines that is recorded in Sacred Alchemy Records, an extremely popr book during the Sacred Leaf Era.

    The Sacred Alchemy Records was treated like a heavenly scripture by the people of Sacred Leaf Era since this was a time when Alchemy was extremely popr and the most noble profession. Everything that''s recorded in this book were said to extremely miraculous. Take this medicinal liquid for example.

    Raven made this using simple and cheap herbs, flowers, and fruit essences. It''s name is Body Restoration Liquid. If he brought all of the ingredients to make this in the market, at most he would only spend 7 gold coins, which is extremely affordable for anyone.

    It''s effects was best shown after a heavy duty or a intense training. The more battered one''s body, the more effective it gets. The version that he was using to them is the lowest grade, F-rank Body Restoration Liquid, which is enough for anyone within Skin-Toughening to Muscle Training Realm cultivators.

    If he decided to splurge money, then he could also create an A-Rank Body Restoration Liquid which could even be effective to those at the Soldier Realm.

    While Paul and Mark was concentrating on absorbing the essences, Raven was just chilling while whistling to a tune. Even without his permission, the Demon Chapter of the [Prime Emperor''s Scripture] is circting on it''s own and devouring the medicinal efficacy like a maniac. He also didn''t need to focus on circting it since the Demon Chapter does it for him anyway. So times like this are like a rxation time for him.

    In the middle of his rxation, he felt something that made his eye twitch. His eyes abruptly changed and a golden ring surfaced around his pupils. He gazed at his brothers and smiled.

    "Saturate the firstyer of your skin and focus the rest on the secondyer!" He manipte his voice to not be too loud nor quiet.

    Paul and Mark heard his words and made their decision. Suddenly, the atmosphere inside the bathroom changed. Qi strings suddenly appeared and was gravitating towards their bodies, upon contacting with their skin the Qi will be sucked and forced into the Second Layer of their skin and be nourishments.

    This bout of fierce Qi absorptionsted for a good amount of time before another change abruptly happened.

    Paul and Mark''s body shook and after a while, ayer of ck and disgusting dirt surfaced out of their skin. This discharge happened for a solid minute before stopping. Their eyes opened and emitted a faint light.

    "Congrattions on your breakthroughs. You might wanna clean up first though." Raven chuckled as he stepped outside of the bathroom while pinching his nose.

    Paul and Mark was in a gleeful mood that they didn''t even cared how smelly they were, they dly cleaned themselves up as well as cleaning and airing out the bathroom as well. When they got out, both of them were smiling and silently feeling the increase of strength in their bodies.

    Along with the discharge of the impurities on their skin, theirplexions turned a little bit better. Paul was already a looker to begin with. Now, the brown shade of his hair went up a notch and became glossier and softer, the outlines of his prominent jaw became sharper and his skin hugged the muscles on his body closer.

    As for Mark, his skin tone went up by a notch. He wasn''t as built as Paul but his body was more defined and sculpted, his hair even grew a bit longer and started to reach the end of his nape. With these changes, his aura became more refined and manly.

    "Ah. . .the feeling of breakthroughs, so addicting." Paul sighed in wonder.

    Mark didn''t say anything but he was grinning from ear to ear. Both of them can''t even fathom just how their life had changed in just two weeks with Raven. Before the school year started, they weren''t even close to breaking through, two weekster they are now officially standing at the Late-stage of Skin Toughening Realm. What kind of concept was that?

    Many would think that they broke through quickly and their foundations aren''t solid enough. To that Raven would be the first one to say no.

    In truth, Raven never allowed them to actively absorb Qi during this two weeks and the only thing that they are allowed to absorb was the medicinal efficacy on their baths, which means that was a natural breakthrough and their foundations are as solid as it could get. If they really are on a rush, then they don''t need two weeks to step into this realm, they could''ve done it in just a week.

    "Must be nice." Raven snickered and looked at them while smiling.

    "If you''re nning to riling us up to fight you then sorry, not working." Paul grinned as he jokingly said. Raven''s eyes widened as he wore a ''how could you'' expression.

    "Seriously though, all of this was because of you." Mark said sincerely, Paul nodded and smiled as well.

    "Our next target is the Peak-stage of Skin Toughening. To achieve that, you must let the Qi naturally overflow to the thirdyer of your skin. And since you guys just broke through, you could raise the tempo of your trainings as well. I''m gonna upgrade the training dummies for you tomorrow so that you could thoroughly master the Foundational Skills." Raven exined.

    "Alright, we''ll do that. But how about you? Why haven''t you had you break through yet?" Paul asked while frowning, Mark was also confused since technically, Raven should be cultivating much faster than they are.

    "Oh my, in a rush are we? It seems that you guys forgot how long has it been before you broke through the mid-stage." Raven teased as he saw both of them blush. That''s right, they were too ted to remember that it took them a whole year of ceaseless training with no luck.

    "I''m just messing with you." Ravenughed and exined, "Well, my technique is a bit different. It is divided into three parts. For now I am focusing on the body part and It''s a bit troublesome since like a deep well that needs to filled.. But don''t worry, I''ll catch up in no time."

 Chapter 13 - Lavender Field (I)

    ---

    Midnight came and it was peaceful. Ocean of sparkling stars could be seen in the night sky, the moon was round and showing it''s full beauty.

    As the noises of the crickets echoed everywhere, one person could be seen in the middle of a vast field of grass. He was sitting on the ground on a lotus position and even though the night was cold, his body was soaked in sweat and there''s a look of pain in his face.

    This person was of course, Raven.

    The original n was that he was only going to meditate through the night, he''s been recing it for sleep ever since he rebirth. This would help his mind to stay as peaceful as he wanted it to be. However this night was a bit different.

    During his meditation, he suddenly felt his body became extremely saturated. Normally, he would use his full efforts to suppress this feeling and condense the energies on his skin, but now he had no other choices, his skin can''t hold the energies anymore therefore he needs to breakthrough.

    He swiftly rushed outside when this happened and that led to the current situation.

    On a microscopic view of Raven''s body, specifically his skin, one could see the Qi he stored up being restless. They vibrated all at the same time and was drilling towards the secondyer of his skin. This process was incredibly painful, yet it was also the most effective way to increase the toughness of his skin.

    As the process took longer, every single Qi particles on his body reaches the secondyer of his skin at the same time and wrecked havoc in there. Raven''s body suddenly emitted ck smoke, and this came from every pore on his skin. This process took about ten minutes until there are no smoke left, instantly his skin started respiring and sucking Qi everywhere. Since his previous reserves went through the secondyer and cleaned it, most of it was spent during that process.

    Now that the process is finished, he needs to absorb more to replenish and settle down his breakthrough.

    It took him another five minutes before his body was saturated and his cultivation base stabilized. He heaved a sigh of relief since the pain had already subsided. He wore a serene smile and went back to their bathroom to clean himself once more.

    While the impurity discharge in his body aren''t as abrupt and forceful like Paul and Mark was at least it was less messypared to that. The only reason why he was dirty is because he was still wearing his clothes and the gravity suit, those trapped some of the impurities that should''ve vanish onto the air.

    After cleaning himself, he washed his clothes and left it to dry. Thanks to the materials of the gravity suit, he didn''t need to wait that long before it dries.

    Raven was way too energized to calm down and continue meditating for the rest of the night, he figured that this must because of his youth. He walked outside of their house once more and ran up to the nearest hill on their property and lied down. He gazed at the stars and admired it for a while.

    He roamed his gaze down, he managed to get a wonderful view beneath him. When his eyesnded on the patch of forest not too far away from their ce, he noticed a faint light in it''s depths. Unfortunately, even after activating his ocr technique, he still didn''t manage to see it clearly, so he figured that he might as well go.

    After running down the hill, he entered the general direction as to where that light he saw was. On his way, he was also trying to remember if he has a memory of anything that is rted to this and so far, he can''t remember any.

    His movement was like that of a phantom, no sound nor any ripples could be felt, even his breathing was extremely faint that it''s almost unnoticeable. After some time of wandering inside, he unknowingly stepped outside of the forest and ended up in a mysterious ce which oddly enough, unfamiliar to him.

    This ce was filled with fragrantvenders. Wherever his eyesnded was covered with a violet tinge. He took a deep waft of this heavenly fragrance and felt rxed, he immediately thought ''How could such a beautiful ce exists in here without me knowing?''

    Thankfully, there was a paved road of stones avable or else he would have no other choice but to step on these beautifulvenders. He followed the stone path and eventually reached a ce that shook his serene spirit.

    The ce where arrived must be the center of this ce. There was a vast altar made out of crystal, under the light of the moon, this altar shone like a cidke of wonder. There were also four pirs erected on top of the altar. As he walked closer, he could see that there is a silhouette lying down on the middle of the altar.

    He moved in closer to see if his guess was right and he found out that it is. It was really her.

    She who had a long hair that gently draped towards her back like a waterfall. She who had the face that could melt the hearts of millions. Her figure that could even cause the downfall of a nation and a charm that could tempt the gods.

    ''So that''s how it is. This was the reason huh?''

    It finally dawned into Raven now. Some of his deep and unanswered questions melted like a snow under the bright sun. He couldn''t help but to have mixed feelings as he looked at this fairy looking maiden. His heart thumped furiously in his chest but he didn''t let it get through his sanity.

    Feeling his gaze, the fairy maiden''sshes trembled a bit. Her eyes opened and Raven saw that deep onyx eyes that captivated him from back and then and even now.

    He saw her eyes widened as she hurriedly sat up and backed away. She gripped her hands and asked: "Who are you?"

    Raven''s heart thumped wildly as he heard this melodic voice, a crimson shade appeared in his cheeks but his expression didn''t change. He replied to her question: "My name is Vendrick, Raven''s fine."

    The fairy maiden''s face looked like she was pondering, her face lit up showing that she finally remembered and said: "Oh so it''s you. I-I never thought I would see a ssmate here but. . ."

    "I don''t mean to offend you but this isn''t a ce where you should be. I don''t know how you got here but it''s best that you leave and stay far away as possible. . . Please." She sounded very afraid. She did her best to send him away as gentle as she could, but when she looked towards him, she only saw that his eyes were glued at her.

    There was something in his eyes that captivated her, causing her to stare back at him. Her heart searched for that mysterious ''something'' but was unable to do so. But she knows one thing from that gaze, this man is different.

    It was at this moment that something ured deep inside her that cause her expression to twist. She let out a soft yet painful moan as she gripped her chest tightly.

    "Please. . . Leave while you still can! Hurry! I. . . Can''t. . . I . . . Don''t want to hurt you!"

    She sounded very desperate as she tried her best to squeeze out every single word. Suddenly, the altar beneath them shook, the pirs suddenly brightened as chains suddenly appeared connecting her limbs to each pir.

    With a loud rumble, a shrill scream escaped from the maiden''s mouth. Her body was suddenly pulled by the chains and erupted with a sh of brilliance.

    Raven watched as the golden lines appeared at her body, it formed some strange tribal signs and thumped with a golden brilliance. Her ck hair transformed into a golden color, her eyes turnedpletely golden as well. Wings of light unfurled from her back and golden halo emerged just above her head.

    Her countenance became extremely cold and uncaring. She floated above the tform while the ethereal chains from the pir prevented her from escaping. Her eyes suddenly lost brilliance as a shrill scream escaped from her mouth again.

    Her energy skyrocketed and suddenly, golden swords and chains appeared all over her body. Her screams became even more demented that Raven could almost liken it to a raging siren. It sounded pained, furious, unwilling, and sad all at the same time.

    Raven stared at the figure before him, unknowingly, he was already biting his lips so hard that it was starting to bleed. Everything was clear to him now. It took him a total of two lifetimes before he finally understood what was going on.

    Raven was so focused on his realization that he was unaware that the golden swords and chains was aiming for him already.

    "Look out!"

 Chapter 14 - Lavender Field (end)

    ---

    Boom!

    A ground shaking explosion ured.

    Raven woke up from his stupor only to find out that there was an elderly person standing before him while erecting a thick barrier. He found out that they were at least a few meters away from where the altar was. Apparently, this person took him and retreated back while protecting both of them.

    "Old Lee." He whispered, but the old man didn''t hear him, he stared fixated at the screaming maiden on the tform with a sad expression on his face.

    "Mistress! Fight it! Don''t lose to it! Steel your heart and remember who you are!" Old Lee roared on top of his lungs. Sadly his voice didn''t reach the maiden''s heart as she still wailed away filled with anguish, fury and sadness.

    "Mistress. . ." Old Lee sadly whispered, his heart was bleeding as he stared at her condition. It was during these moments that he felt that he was so useless.

    "Allow me."

    Old Lee''s body shook when he heard this insane remark. That''s right, it was Raven who spoke just now.

    "Young man, I am incredibly ttered and highly appreciative of your willingness to help my mistress but what you just said is downright insane." Old Lee shook his head and refused to move from where he was. The truth is deep in his heart he knew that it''s pointless.

    This wasn''t the first time that something like this happened and every single time it was a disaster. His mistress will lose every single trace of her sanity and this. . .this creature will emerge. It wails and will attack anything or anyone on sight. If she does not see any living being in front of her, then she will just cry tears of blood. The scenario was just too heartbreaking even for a veteran like him.

    "Don''t worry Old Lee." Unexpectedly, Raven only smiled at his remark and patted his shoulder. "I''ll turn her back. I won''t die."

    "You-!" Before Old Lee could even say something, Raven already walked past his barrier and marched towards her.

    His gaze was filled with a profound sense of sadness, bitterness and relief. He was biting his lips as get closer and closer to the wailing maiden.

    ''So this is why you didn''t ept me back then.''

    ''This is the reason why you constantly pushed me away even though it''s obvious that you want me too.''

    ''For the longest of time, I thought that you were thinking that we''re worlds apart and your family won''t agree to us.''

    ''I''m such a bastard, a fool, an idiot! How could I judge you like that?''

    Thankfully his back was facing Old Lee, blocking his face full of tears and agony. The maiden was roaring threateningly as he stepped closer. Raven paid it no mind and just looked at her eyes with a deep longing and loving expression.

    The once he stepped onto a certain threshold, the maiden condensed countless of golden swords and thick golden chains once more. As these things materialized, Raven raised his hands and roused his soul.

    Old Lee''s heart was about jump from his throat, he was preparing to take the boy back but the next scenario left him petrified.

    Raven''s hand shone with a blue flickering light. Weak as this might look but if a speck of this lightnded onto someone, they will feel a deep burning sensation on the very depths of their souls. That''s right, this light was his own Soul Fire. The very essence and vitality of his own soul.

    Raven''s hand swiftly form one hand seal after another while taking one step closer each time a seal was formed. Unknowingly, the maiden''s howl and attacks froze and she only stood there looking at him with a confused expression on her face.

    Just a step away from her, Raven stopped and lifted his hands. He reached for her face and brought his forehead to touch with hers. His voice suddenly boomed with a heavenly tremble.

    "Forbidden Spirit Seal: Salvation."

    Old Lee watched as the clouds parted and a beam of light shone on the two people. This light brought unspeakablefort and unquestionable holiness. The light embraced the previously wailing maiden andforted it with unspeakable love and understanding.

    For the first time ever in it''s existence, the cold and uncaring maiden smiled and shed tears of joy. The golden tribal marks receded on the maiden''s body but it did not disappear. It instead floated behind her and formed an image of an 8-winged Angel that has an iparable grace and beauty. The angel''s gaze softened and lifted her hand, she ced a finger on Raven''s forehead and retreated it back.

    Her silhouette faded a bit, momentster she became a constetion and receded back to the maiden''s body. The maiden''s consciousness returned and so is her original appearance. Her eyes fluttered open and saw Raven''s face too close for her ownfort.

    "Kyah!" Her mind nked out a bit as she instinctively pushed him back while cing her soft and delicate hands on her chest.

    Ravennded on his butt and let out a pained cry, he pouted and was about to say something but Old Lee interrupted him.

    "Mistress!" His body basically flickered on to existence in front of her.

    "Grandpa Lee!" The maiden was about to jump in his embrace but she suddenly remembered something and stopped.

    "Mistress! Thank goodness you are fine! Oh thank the heavens for opening their eyes!" Old Lee was incredibly emotional that he didn''t notice the maiden''s hesitation.

    "Mn!" The maiden bit her lip and nodded.

    "Allow me to introduce you to. . .uh-excuse me young man what''s your name again?"

    "Vendrick Valorheart, Raven''s fine." He said while rolling his eyes.

    "Yes! Yes! Ahem, this is Raven! The one who saved you just now." Old Lee said while drying up his tears of joy.

    "Eh?" The maiden was confused, she looked at him and saw that his face was pale and his breathing is a little bitbored. She knew that Old Lee won''t lie to her so she stood up and bowed properly at him. "Thank you so much for helping me."

    "Young Master, thank you so much for helping my young mistress on her curse. This truly is a big favor that wouldn''t go unrewarded. If you have any requests, the you can tell me, as long as it''s within my power, I''ll provide it to you." Old Lee bowed as he said emotionally.

    Unexpectedly, Raven stayed silent and just stared at the maiden. The maiden and Old Lee saw this and was a bit perplexed, they have no inkling of clue on what''s going on in his head. After a while of silence, Raven sighed and stood up, he then spoke:

    "Remove that hairpin of yours, that might be a precious heirloom to you, it will only kill you."

    Old Lee and the maiden''s eyes bulged as he heard his words. They were finding it hard to believe his words. Seeing the maiden hesitate, Old Lee decided to probe even further.

    "I apologize for the offence but old me just want to know, why is it so?"

    Raven shook his head and said: "You guys are very stubborn. You are the ones who caused her to suffer like this. I believed you guys received a warning but you didn''t listen." His words carried a deep irritation that was very obvious to them.

    In truth however, that hardly matters. When they heard him speak like this, it was like a bomb exploded in their heads which caused them to reel in shock. Old Lee''s gaze became sharp and threatening, the maiden suddenly became very afraid and was looking at him cautiously.

    "Who are you and how did you know of this?" Old Lee seemingly went under an earth shaking change, his voice became incredibly frosty and he was even gripping his cane tightly right now.

    Raven however paid no regards to Old Lee''s animosity and just continued staring at the maiden. His gaze was sharp but also carries a trace of concern.

    "You''re still not strong enough to unlock that part of yours. Take my advice and remove it. And for the record, don''t misunderstand me. I helped because I could but I also see through it that who I save shouldn''t be harming themselves because of stupid reasons or t out ignorance."

    "Besides, I just spent 10 years of my life expectancy just to perform the seal. I don''t like my efforts going down the drain because of simple selfishness."

    Raven''s words stunned both of them, but before they could even speak, Raven was already leaving the ce. They stood there unmoving, still confused about this whole matter.

    Meanwhile, Raven was finally out of thevander fields. He trekked the road back home with a sad expression on his face. He can''t help but to be a bit empty inside. The memories of his past life was constantly ying in his mind, each memory caused his heart to twitch in pain.. Upon his return, he closed the door behind him and plopped face first in his bed.

 Chapter 15 - Jubileus

    ---

    Raven woke up the next day and acted like nothing happened. He joined his brothers for breakfast and informed them about the news of his breakthrough.

    After eating breakfast, they headed out to school only to find out that Old Lee was absent absent and a different instructor will be in charge of their sses today. The instructor said that Old Lee had to do some very important errand and that he will be back next week to continue teaching them.

    This made several students sigh in relief. During the time of their stay here, they actually grown to like the his teaching style. The ss was serene and very informative. Old Lee will always try to answer each of the student''s questions to best of his abilities, furthermore he was humble too. If a student asked about a question that he doesn''t know the answer to, he will tell it to them truthfully and will even try to research it for them.

    The ss also found out that there are several students missing, and by several they mean the beauties of this ss: Luna, Ellen and Anne. They were puzzled as to why but decided to not ask questions. After all, those three are geniuses and have a bright future ahead of them so it was understandable that these mundane ss is useless to them.

    Ellen and Anne had Green-grade talent while Luna had an astonishing Blue-grade talent, one that couldn''t be seen in thousands of people.

    To this, Raven had no interest at all. After all, he knew why these people are missing.

    The ss ended once again and the triplets went back to their training, and because of their breakthrough, all of them took the intensity of it by a couple of notches. For some reason, Paul and Mark felt that there''s something bothering their brother but since he didn''t want to talk about it, they stayed silent and focused on being their own training.

    Just like before, after each training, they will soak in a basin filled with F-rank Body Restoration fluids. Then they will eat dinner and pass out on their beds. Their lives went on like this until one night...

    Raven was meditating on top of a hill. Ever since the incident, he changed his meditation spot from his room to here. He wasn''t really expecting much from this. In fact he didn''t even know why he decided to do it here. He wondered if it was because of the stars above him but he was toozy to bother.

    Suddenly, Raven felt a wind blew on his back. He was on the middle of meditating so he was extremely sensitive to the changes in his surroundings. Other people might not be aware of their presence but not him. He could tell that there are two people behind him even if his back was facing them and his eyes were close.

    "What do you need?" His voice was serene, akin to a cidke. His eyes were still closed but he could feel the two people behind his back move in front of him and took a deep bow.

    "We are terribly sorry if we have offended youst time. My Grandpa Lee only wanted to protect me because of what happened, please do not me him."

    That''s right, it was Old Lee and the maiden once more. Raven sighed as he heard the apology of the maiden. He opened his eyes and gazed at them with a serene expression.

    "Sit down."

    He pointed in front of him and took something out of his spatial ring. The twoplied and sat down in front of him. No one spoke, Raven just continued taking out one item after another from his spatial ring. After a while of uncanny silence, Raven spoke.

    "Her name was Jubileus." His words caused the hearts of the two trembled, without a doubt they knew where this conversation was going.

    "She was born in the Angelic n. Mortals that worshipped the Angels and devoted their lives to them. In return, the angels blessed them with their powers and a few chosen ones could even be angels themselves. She was one of those."

    As the two listened to the tale, they also watched him tinker something in front of them. The maiden was totally captivated by the tale but Old Lee was more interested on whatever he was making.

    "She was a woman of purity. Her beauty was unparalleled, her demeanor was akin to an untainted ss and her talents are incredible. Not too long after her birth, she was immediately taken in as a disciple of an Archangel. At five years old, she formed her wings and had the strengthparable to a Soldier Realm expert. At the age of 10 she formed her second pair of wings which made her as strong as a Golden Knight."

    "When she turned 20, she formed her third pair of wings, making her strengthparable to a Knight King. It was also this time that a massive war against opposing forces happened and she participated in it. She managed to finish the mission that was given to her but with a price."

    As he continued with his tale, the object that he was tinkering was forming more and more, Old Lee can''t even hear whatever he was saying and was just thoroughly captivated by his intriguing skills.

    "She lost her powers and went back to being a mortal. She was injured and lost, unsure of what to do, she became afraid. It was then that another mortal found her unconscious in the middle of a forest and saved her. When she woke up, they got to know each other and spend few years of mundane but peaceful lives."

    "Jubileus fell in love with this mortal, and so did he. But she knew they can''t be together since she wasn''t like him. Her angelic powers might be gone but it does not mean that it will stay like that forever. She knew that there will be a time where she has to leave his side, or else her enemies will find him and kill him."

    "And that time came sooner that she expected. Her powers grew back and her wings returned, she wasn''t even able to tell anything to him before she was summoned back at her home. She felt happy that she was back. Everyone''s happy cause she''s back. But her happiness felt hollow because of the guilt of leaving the man she loved."

    "Time passed and her longing for the man grew each day until one day she made up her mind. She used her powers to condense a chain that would bind her wings and suppress her angelic powers. She then used it to fall back to the mortal realm and search for her lover. They met, confessed their love and lived together. Soon Jubileus and her lover found out that she was pregnant. They were ecstatic and impatiently waited for the child''s birth."

    "Monthster, it was finally the day of herbour. She gave birth to a healthy girl, to which made her incredibly contented, however before she got the chance to give a name. Her powers surged and the fourth pair of wings emerged. Her powers proved to great to be suppressed by the chains she made and thus it broke, letting her beloved know what she truly is. Before she could even exin anything, she was immediately summoned back to her home, once again leaving her lover and now her unnamed child."

    "Upon her return, her n was surprised about her new powers, but they also found out about the mortal. It was deemed forbidden for an ascended to copte with a mortal. They seized her but she fought back, she wanted to be with her husband and her child, because of her power, no one was able to stop her from doing what she wanted. But s, she wasn''t the most powerful in her home. A Supreme 10-winged angel descended and captured her."

    "Upon knowing her unbridled acts, the Supreme was furious and sentenced her to prison. The supreme then descended into the mortal realm and killed her husband as well as her child iming that their existence was a mistake and they shall not be allowed to exist."

    The maiden was shedding tears when the story got up to this point. Old Lee however could care less.

    "Jubileus was heart broken. Fury, sadness, despair gripped her heart. Her maddening wails echoed everywhere and due to her madness, her power red as 13 golden swords emerged as well as a heavenly chain. She then waged war against her own n, killing everyone on sight not even sparing anyone so long as they stood on her way. She cried tears of blood and constantly mourned the loss of those she failed to protect. The Supreme faced her but her rage was unquenchable. As the battle raged on, Jubileus drove the Supreme to the verge of dying."

    "Afraid of her world shattering rage, he performed onest act at the cost of his life.. And that is to seal her within an item and trap her until the end of time."

 Chapter 16 - AutoPrint Tables

    ---

    "That''s. . ." The maiden taken aback, her hands silently clutched her chest and her thoughts became increasingly messy.

    "Right." Raven continued, "It was the same hairpin that was been passed down to your mother''s lineage."

    "How did you. . ." Before she could even continue, Raven interrupted her and said:

    "I read a lot of books." He rolled his eyes as his hands were furiously rushing through whatever it is that he was making.

    "What Jubileus didn''t know is that her husband wasn''t a simple man. He might be extremely weak but he was highly intelligent, when he knew that his wife is an angel, he immediately seek audience with an oracle and asked her to shelter their child. The oracle then helped him hide the existence of their child, the oracle then made a fake baby out the hairs of the original child to fool the Supreme Angel."

    "The man died but their child lived. When Jubileus was sealed, the oracle found the hairpin and decided to give it to their child as she grew up. But when the child reached the certain age, the hairpin flew out and sucked half of the child''s blood, it then fused with her and the incarnation of Jubileus emerged."

    The maiden shook in disbelief, the hands that were clutching her chest trembled ever so slightly, a bit of rity appeared in her mind.

    "Unfortunately, Jubileus can''t even recognize her own child, she was blinded by her rage and corroded the child with it. Jubileus, possessing her own child, killed the oracle and not just her. But the whole vige where the child grew up. As the body of the child reached it''s limits, Jubileus retreated to the hairpin, leaving the child in sorrow. No matter how much she tried to throw away the hairpin, it will always find it''s way back to her side. Left with no choice, she chained herself each time Jubileus takes over. And the cycle continued on and on, until it happened to you."

    As Raven finished telling the tale, his hands also stopped working on the thing in front of him. He looked over towards the maiden and stared at her intently.

    "Believe me or not, I will still advice you to separate with the hairpin. Jubileus is no more but you are herte descendant. As she takes over your body, your bloodline will be purified but also leaves you injured. Now that she is gone, little by little her power will leak out from the hairpin. Though it might be just a pinch of her incredible powers, it is still enough to send you to your death. You will die from indigestion of those energies."

    With this, Raven left her on her own ord and started activating his creation. The maiden just now realized that she had totally forgotten about this, but Old Lee hasn''t since from the very beginning, he was enamored by this sight.

    What he created was a small rectangr table filled with numerous carvings. There was a smallerpartments attached to it''s sides. He then took out an ink and and brushes, proceeded to ce it on thepartments and took out a piece of paper and ced it on top of the table. He ced a hand on a rune by the left side of the table and concentrated.

    Under the watchful gazes of the the two, the table started absorb qi from the surroundings and made a loud ''nk''. The brush lifted on it''s own and dipped on to the ink, after which, the brush started writing something on the paper even without him touching it.

    The two pairs of eyes sparkled as they saw this magical scene. Raven didn''t even do anything aside from cing his hand on the rune and it started moving on it''s own. What''s more is that the writing style wasn''t bad too! In fact it even looked like an official document that only trained secretaries could duplicate. Old Lee started to imagine many things that this little creation could achieve, unknowingly, he was started to get a little hopeful.

    The writing stopped and the brush silently retread back to where it was, Raven removed the paper and nudged the table slightly towards Old Lee''s side.

    Old Lee was shocked, he pointed at himself and asked: "For me?"

    Raven nodded and said: "This will solve a lot of your problems when writing a report. I call this Auto-Print Table. You could use it to write three different things at the same time, provided that you can equally split your attention do so."

    Old Lee''s eyes shined as he decided to test it out. He took out a piece of paper and ced on the table, mimicking what Raven did, he proceeded to activate the creation. He fell in love as soon as he got to use it. The results were even much better than what he anticipated. He filled the entire paper with words in under a minute with this thing, and to think that he could write three things at the same time? This is just something that he was looking for.

    Not to mention three, Old Lee could split his attention to five different parts if he wanted to. But this alone will cut a lot of his documenting problems in half.

    "It seems that we are indebted to you once more." The maiden said while bowing, she tugged the sleeves of Old Lee, he thenughed embarrassingly and bowed as well.

    "Young master. Would you be interested in joining our n? Our patriarch would be incredibly happy to have you." Old Lee offered politely, the maiden beside him didn''t say anything.

    "Oh, you mean ''That'' person?" Their eyes constricted as he talked like this, "No thanks, besides it is not my aim be an escort."

    "What are you. . ."

    "Your identities aren''t a secret to me." Raven said non-chntly. "You might fool a lot of people but I''m not one of them. They might not be able to see the mark on your foreheads but I do."

    Old Lee reeled and in shock and so did the maiden.

    "How did you. . ."

    "Luna." The maiden shook as he said her name, "I''ll call you that for the time being. It''s very simple actually. The Moon Worshipping n, the Sun Warriors n and the Heavenly Star n, ceased to exist for thousands of years now. Who are you fooling by using a surname of the first mentioned n?"

    Their bodies shook once more and looked at him with wide eyes. It had to be known that this was just the second time that they met him but his knowledgepletely blown them away.

    "I want to say: ''Impressive, as expected from the son of the Kingdom''s Hawk'' but who am I fooling here? It''s obvious that your intelligence is way above your peers. Tell me young man, just what are your intentions?" Old Lee sighed and looked straight into Raven''s eyes.

    "Oh, stop ttering me, I just read a lot of books." Raven waved his hands jokingly, but a whileter his expression turned earnest and he stared back at Old Lee''s eyes. "This is my home Old Lee, what other intentions could I possibly have?"

    The two were taken aback by his words, after a while Old Leeughed loudly and shook his head. Luna on the other hand was confused, yet she had this feeling that this person in front of them isn''t a bad guy. His words might be misleading sometimes but his intentions are clean, it was weird, she had never encountered someone like him before.

    "Still you have helped us and we owed you a huge favor. How could we repay the favor?" Old Lee asked.

    Raven thought a bit and said: "Well, I have a lot of ns for myself and my brothers. If you could give us a ss Exemption Pass and some Deadly Beast Area Tickets then that should be enough for now."

    Old Lee thought for a bit and seemed to realized what he''s nning to do. He took out something from his spatial ring and tossed it towards him. Raven caught it and was extremely impressed by this old man''s sincerity.

    "I''ll take it. Thanks for this." Raven smiled at him, Old Lee nodded and smiled as well. Raven then paid attention to Luna. He then said: "Remove the hairpin for now. It will find it''s way back to you when you are strong enough. Don''t thirst for power, we are still young. If you want to then I could help you get stronger, just visit us again during daytime and I''ll guide you."

    With this said, Raven stood up and left the two alone. Once his silhouette disappeared from the view, Luna sighed and closed her eyes. Her body suddenly shone and her soft hands gently withdrew from her chest. After which, a hairpin suddenly floated out of her body covered with a warm and gentle barrier of light. The hairpin floated on top of her palms and lost it''s brilliance.

    A sigh escaped from Old Lee but he was surprised when Luna, instead of cing the hairpin on her spatial ring, wore the thing. She then took out a mirror from her ring and looked at Old Lee asking:

    "Does it look good?"

    The answer she got was a uproariousugh from Old Lee, she pouted as a small blush appeared on her face.

 Chapter 17 - Steel

    ---

    "Hey bro! Where are we going?" Paul wore an excited smirk as he asked about their ns for today.

    It''s been two days since thest visit of Luna and Old Lee. Though he didn''t show anything on the surface, Raven was actually looking forward to Luna visiting them in hopes of training with her. Sadly, she didn''t show up. He then decided to bring his brothers somewhere and have a change of pace.

    "To the market, you guys have using nothing but wood as weapons so far, it''s about time to introduce you to some steel." Raven inly said.

    Paul and Mark were visibly excited. How could they not be? During this past weeks that they have been training, they already lost count on how many wooden weapons that they broke and shattered, this really made them feel upset and fed up, but now that''s about to change.

    Raven called for a carriage, the triplets stepped inside and had a little conversation before arriving to the market. Once the carriage stopped, they went outside and got a little bit drowned by the sheer activity and noises of the ce.

    The Outer Ring of the kingdom is the most popted ce in it, most of the people who lived here aremoners and some few nobles who liked the bustle of the ce. The triplets saw just how many people are walking from one ce to another just to get by their everyday lives. Some were lifting bags of rice, some were dragging their carts full of assorted wares, some were shouting in hopes of attracting customers and some were even taking their livestock towards the trade.

    It took them sometime before they finally recovered from this shock. Raven walked forward while being followed by the two. It was his who knew this ce like the back of his hand. Having lived two lifetimes, he had been here multiple times and knew just where the good stuff were.

    They arrived on a forked road, Raven walked towards the left and they arrived at simple building that is located at a rather, discreet location.

    It was a five storey building, it was painted with a ck metallic sheen that shone under the bright sun. There were a two way ss doors and a sign saying: Jonathan''s Steel Crafts. Raven smiled and pushed the doors open.

    As the triplets went in, they immediately sense the temperature change. It was warmer in this ce, the kind of heat that you could feel but won''t make you sweat, and it feels like it seeps down to your soul.

    Inside the shop, the triplets were greeted by shining steel weapons and armors that are on disy. Some were hanging by the wall while others are stored behind ss casings with lights highlighting them. Paul and Mark didn''t wait for Raven and immediately went towards the shining disys, to this Raven could onlyugh.

    As the triplets dispersed inside the store, Raven walked forward to the one''s behind ss casings. The one that he was looking currently is a two handed axe called: ''Terror Silver Axe''.

    Without anyone noticing, his eyes shed and a golden circle appeared. His vision prated the ss casings and zoomed towards the finer details of the axe.

    ''This axe should be made out of Deep Sea Sunken Silver, one that is quite old too. It looks like it was quenched using an oil from a Whale King. 379 Gold Cards for this one isn''t a bad price.'' Raven judged in his mind. He withdrew his gaze from the axe and walked towards another weapon.

    ''Mountain Shifting Spear. Should be made out of Geocentric Metals. The spearhead looked like it was soaked in the blood of a Demonic Mountain Lion, with a strength equivalent to Soldier Realm expert, for 15 days, resulting in a reddish hue and a tinge of bloody aura. 439 Gold Cards, not a bad deal. I''ll rmend this to Paul of he can''t find anything that suits him.''

    ''Oh? This one''s rare. This should be made out of the fangs of some Three-eyed Serpents. Once the dagger was made, it was also soaked in the posion of the same serpent for 30 days, I wonder how many they have to kill before gathering enough materials? Poisonous Serpent Dagger huh? Only 350 Gold Cards? Is it discounted?''

    Raven searched for a while and saw nothing that said it was, he then told himself that he will really consider buying this after getting what he wanted first. He was abruptly disturbed whe he heard rushing footsteps behind him. He looked over and saw Mark and Paul acting a bit frantic and confused.

    "Bro! What should we get? There a lot of good stuff in here that I''m having a hard time choosing! If it weren''t for my old man freezing my allowance I will totally buy all of them." Paul said like a whining baby.

    "Same deal with me. The stuff that my mom sent to me aren''t even as good as these one''s." Mark said feeling helpless as well.

    Raven let out a giggle and said: "Alright I''ll help you guys choose. Let''s go with Paul''s choices first."

    The two were lead by Paul as he pointed the things that he really liked. In total, he pointed out 7 different spears and 5 shields as his choices, Raven was a bit dumbfounded when he heard this. He only had enough time to inspect three things but this guy went over to 12 items in total. Raven inspected the items one by one and gave his opinion.

    "Purple Aegis Shield and ck Iron Spear are good choices for you." As he heard Raven said this, Paul didn''t even ask anything and just straight bought the things. Raven and Mark were a bit dumbfounded and could onlyugh it off.

    Raven then looked at Mark, thetter nodded and pointed out the things that he wanted to buy, his choices however, shocked Raven a bit.

    "All of your choices are short swords."

    "I know, I''ve been using wooden broad swords for quite sometime, it was fine but I always feel a slight difort when using them. It was only now that I figured out that it should be their length that makes it awkward for me. So I ended up looking for short swords, but there''s a lot of good things here." Mark could only sigh in helplessness as exined himself.

    Raven''s quite surprised by this. When he decided to train his brothers, he did it on the basis of his previous life, back then Paul used a spear and shield while Mark always used a broad sword, this made him think that this should be the weapons that they need to focus on but it seems that he miscalcted this time.

    ''Perhaps I should''ve asked them for their opinions on their weapons. Oh well, Paul doesn''t seem to mind so only Mark will adjust. Shouldn''t be that hard for him.''

    In total, Mark had pointed out 7 short swords. They are all made out of decent materials and their prices are reasonable too. Raven thought very hard and after a while, his eyes gleamed and said:

    "Say, what are your thoughts about dual wielding?" He asked with a smile in his face, Mark''s eyes widened as he felt like a lightning struck his head. How could he forget about that?

    Mark had always dreamed about dual wielding ever since he was a kid. He used to climb on top of a tree and snap two branches, treating them like two swords as he whacked them in the air. Somewhere along the line, he totally forget about all this which made him pissed now that he thought about it. It seems like his brother really knows him best.

    "I''ll do it! You''ll help me right?" Mark said and asked at the same time. Raven patted his shoulders and pointed at the ones he should get.

    "Rumbling Cloud Sword and Red Lightning Sword are the ones you should get." Mark nodded at his words and proceed to order the swords.

    Meanwhile, Raven still haven''t picked for himself. He was actually experiencing a dilemma. During his past life, he used a sword and a shield. Though he wasn''t talented at using them, he still had the memories of him using it, which is why he could effectively give an advice to his brothers. But now, his situation was quite different.

    He knew that he should switch up his choices. After knowing that his Spirit Entity is the Myriad Limb, he had this vision that he could totally rely on his limbs to destroy his opponents. This was also why he chose the [Prime Emperor''s Scripture] his cultivation technique due to it''s Demon Chapter and how it focused on his body.

    The only downfall is that no Knight had ever went into abat unarmed. Meaning that fist weapons and leg weapons are super rare in this kingdom. He had already roamed his gaze all over the store but he only found two fist type weapons and they were trash tiered.

    ''What should I do then?''

 Chapter 18 - Chief Jonathan

    ---

    Unsure of what to do, Raven thought of asking the store clerk.

    "Hi miss!" Thedy at the counter gave him a look as he continued: "I was wondering if there are knuckles, arm guards and leg guards that have better quality than the ones in here."

    "Well¡­" thedy smiled wryly and exined, "Young Master''s choices are really rare. There''s almost no Fighter nor Knight that uses those." She hesitated for a while before saying: "Allow me to talk to Chief, many he made something like those¡­"

    She then bowed and excused herself, Raven nodded in appreciation and waited for her. Meanwhile, he heard footsteps behind him and saw Paul and Mark, they already finished their purchase and came to him.

    "What did you buy?" Mark asked.

    "Nothing yet, theyck better quality of the weapons I prefer to use, I asked the clerk for help and currently waiting for her." Raven exined.

    Paul could seen roaming his eyes on the weapons avable, he made a weird expression in his face as he asked: "Are you really going rely on just your limbs to fight?"

    Mark was enlightened when he heard this, he also looked weirdly at Raven for making this kind of choice.

    Both of them found it weird that during the entire length of their training together, they have never saw use a weapon. They know that he could, he even was the one who taught them how to but he trained with his fist, and just a few days earlier he was training his legs. They never imagined that he would really decided on going unarmed.

    "We''ll see, I just feel that I could pull it off. Anyway, I might take a long time here so go look for armors, oh and if you see any gravity suits, buy one as well." Raven waved his hands to send them off, Paul and Mark nodded and left to view some armors.

    Raven waited for at least ten minutes before the clerk return, he looked at her and saw that she was wearing a peculiar expression.

    "Young Master, our Chief invited you over." Thedy beckoned and led the way, Raven shrugged and followed her.

    They went up to the back of the building, Raven could feel the heat rising as they move closer to the forges. He also heard the faint hammering sounds getting louder as they moved closer. Thedy opened the metallic door and hot air immediately blew in Raven''s face.

    The sound of hammering rang in his ears, each strike seemed to resonate with their hearts, whenever the hammer strikes, their hearts will tremble. In front of the billowing forge, there was a bulky figure who was the source of these sounds.

    He had a worn out bandana on hos forehead, his white hair was neatly tied up to a bun. His figure screamed extreme masculinity as his stern face concentrated towards his work. He was bare chested, countless of scars and burnt marks could be seen on it''s surface yet each muscle of his screamed in vigor.

    "Chief, this is the child that I was talking about." Thedy softly said as she retreated to the side.

    The hammering stopped, the old man threw his craft back to the kiln and ced the materials on the table. He reached for a towel to wipe off his sweat and turned around.

    Raven smiled, he almost blurted out: ''Good to see you again old friend.'' Good thing he didn''t. He bowed and introduced himself: "Greetings Chief Jonathan, my name is Vendrick Valorheart, Raven''s my nickname. It is a pleasure to meet you."

    The old man didn''t say anything, he stepped forward and crouched in front of him, clearly inspecting his body.

    "Shirt, off." His voice was gritty and forceful, yet Raven didn''t mind. He took off his top as well as his gravity suit. There was a gleam on Jonathan''s eyes when he saw the suit, but it was almost untraceable. He then ced a hand on his shoulders.

    But for Raven, this isn''t simply a ''cing'' a hand. It was more like ''a mountain was pushing his shoulder''s down''.

    Raven knew he was being tested, though he had no idea why Jonathan was doing this, he knew what kind of character he had during his past life. Raven resisted the push, he could clearly feel the pressure gradually increasing but it wasn''t on the level that could make him fall over.

    Jonathan''s eyes shed, there was a trace of appreciation on his wizened face as he gradually add pressure to the boy''s body. His appreciation became more and more obvious the longer Raven endured. The pressure that he was giving to Raven was enough topletely tten a Late-stage Skin Toughening Realm but Raven didn''t even look like he was struggling with it. The pressure added to Peak-stage and Raven started to tremble, yet he was still standing.

    Jonathan stopped testing him, he then ced a hand on Raven''s legs. He ''gently'' squeezed it but Raven felt that his leg was being squeezed by metal cuffs instead. Jonathan inspected him for a while before standing up and going to one of the corners of the room.

    He picked up four items in total. Two arm guards and two leg guards. He handed it over to him and Raven inspected it immediately.

    The design of the arm guards were simple, it shone with a ck metallic finish and had a hollowed tube-like shape which he slip his entire arms in. Judging by the length of the arm guard, it should reach halfway through his shoulders. The tips had a retractable ws that could be activated using his fingers, and there are some lumps that traced his knuckles, there also a spherical orb that is ced on the area where the back of his palms were.

    As for the leg guards, it looked more like some leggings that had protected majority of his legs, it followed the same color as the other. The metal was ced on the knee caps down to the sole, leaving the thigh and foot unprotected, even so this is better than what he was looking for.

    "Woah." Raven let out an astonished voice, "Flexible Metal! This kind of metal is hard to forge since too much heat willpletely disintegrate it and not enough heat will only make it bend without shaving off the impurities. This should be quenched not in oil but using Liquid Ice to prevent it from going out of shape! What an awesome craftsmanship!" Raven praised as he inspected it closely.

    Thedy and Jonathan looked surprised when he said this. It was understandable since most of kids these days are too focused on cultivation and had no time learning other things, like metals used for cksmithing, or the herbs and ingredients used for alchemy. It was nice to see that there''s still other kids who are curious enough to study other things as well.

    Raven wore the items that was given to him. Just like he was expecting, the arm guards reached halfway through his shoulders, the cloth of the leg guards reached until his inner thigh. He opened and closed his hands and felt if there were any difort, he also stretched his legs to do the same and so far, he had noints. He focused and threw full forced punch.

    Pa!

    A loud p rang inside the room and he wasn''t done yet. He lifted his leg and performed a simple kick that also produced the same sound as his fist. Thedy''s eardrums trembled a bit causing her vision to blur, Jonathan was fine but both of them were dumbfounded by what he did. No wonder he was looking for these kind of weapons! It turns out that he was really proficient in this kind of fighting style.

    "What''s the name of these Chief?" Raven asked Jonathan, but he only shook his head. Judging from his personality, he meant to say that he hadn''t given any name to these yet. He then smiled and said: "Then I''ll call it , Flexible Brawler Set."

    Chief Jonathan anddy nodded, seemingly satisfied with this name. The name was simple since the appearance of the set was simple too. Naming it grandly won''t really make it stronger since the strength of the weapon isn''t on it''s name but on who''s wielding it.

    "I really like these Chief! How much?" Raven asked but he saw Jonathan shook his head and said:

    "You can have it. It''s rotting here anyway." Proving that he is a man of few words. Thedy smiled warmly as she heard this. Raven was shocked, but recalling the old man''s character, he should''ve known that he will say this.

    "How can that be? Such a fine craftsmanship shouldn''t go unrewarded!" Raven eximed as he stepped closer to Jonathan.. He then lifted his fingers and pointed at his legs. "I know more Gold Cards won''t really change anything so how about I heal your calves instead?"

 Chapter 19 - Treatment

    ---

    Jonathan anddy became ck jawed when they heard his words.

    "How did you know about this?" Thedy asked on behalf of Jonathan.

    "He hid it pretty well but I noticed that there''s a problem with the way he walks. It is toobored, even standing should be hard for him. I had a bit of dealing with medicine, that''s how I knew." Raven told a white lie without any changes on his expression.

    The two just stared at him intently, but Raven''s next words shook them their cores¡­

    "If you don''t get treated, then your legs will lose their bnce, the early signs are numbness on your calves since they are the source of it, next it will crawl up to your knees afterwards your crotch. Once it reaches that area, your entire lower body will crippled." Raven solemnly stated.

    Thedy let out an audible gasp, she looked over to Jonathan and saw his body trembling a bit. This was a clear sign that what this boy said might probably be true. He should''ve already felt the numbness on his calves but he was just ignoring it.

    People used to say that a human have three hearts. One was on the chest and the other two are on the calves. If one could control these hearts to their limits, then they could exert a force that exceedsmon sense. To cksmiths, calves are one of the most important parts of their body that they pay attention to, in a sense, it''s even more important than their arms.

    When a professional cksmith lifts his hammer, the momentumes from his lower body and released by their hands that gripped the hammer. It was also their lower bodies that helped them withstand the furious blows of their own strikes. If a cksmith''s lower body was injured, then it could have a huge impact on their jobs.

    "Miss, please stand in front of him and hold his shoulders to keep him from falling. I''ll start with the treatment." Raven didn''t asked for a permission and instead moved over to Jonathan''s back. Seeing him move, thedy also stepped forward and did what he said. Jonathan on the other hand could only sigh and ept this.

    Raven rolled up the pants of Jonathan and inspected the damage. He clicked his tongue when he saw that the damage is just one step away from being serious.

    He closed his eyes and concentrated, now that he broke through to Late-stage of Skin Toughening Realm his body could now store a little bit of Qi. He recalled a technique on his mind and used it.

    Thedy who was watching his actions saw that the boy''s hand lit up and was covered by a faint blue light. He then ced his hand on his calves and massaged his calves, Jonathan felt coolness at first but that feeling was reced by hotness afterwards.

    It came to the point where Raven''s hands felt like two molten metals that are sundering his calves. Jonathan wore an agonized expression and thedy was distressed, but Raven didn''t stop the treatment, the pain was a natural reaction since his energies are forcefully hastening the activity of these muscles, allowing them to heal the damages that was guing it for a while.

    After treating him for 15 minutes, Raven withdrew his hands and wiped away the sweat on his forehead, Jonathan was barely conscious after the whole ordeal. The treatment sapped all of his energies so he need to recover, but before he did so. He left a instruction for thedy.

    "Let him rest and don''t allow him to forge anything within this week. He could do some light work after one week but he shouldn''t work for more than 6 hours each day, that goes for one month. Once that passed, then he could return to his usual workload."

    Thedy expressed her thanks and led the old man onto his room, Raven just caught his breath and walked out after them. When he arrived at the lobby, he saw Paul and Mark waiting there for him.

    "Took you long enough! I''m starting to get bored." Paul whined as he saw him.

    "Got what you need?" Mark asked. Raven nodded and told them that they could leave the store.

    The triplets roamed around the market some more and bought many things before riding a carriage back home. Inside carriage, the two asked Raven to show what he got and heplied. The two looked unimpressed by the appearance of the Flexible Brawler Set so Raven exined why he bought it.

    "Flexible Metal is considered as an extremely rare resource, the reason being that it needs to be nourished by two energy filled mountains to exist and it takes approximately 10-15 years of nourishment before they could be harvested. Plus the procedure of forging it is extremely strict."

    "A sessful forging would result in a kind of product that is basically weightless but provides heavy defence. Not even someone at Soldier Realm could hope to break it by force."

    "So, this thing is more of an armor instead of weapon?" Mark asked.

    Raven didn''t deny it and nodded. "Knuckles, Arm guards and Leg guards could hardly qualify as a weapon anyway. That''s because the fighting style of those who used it rely on their bodies instead of weapons. At the same time, they aren''t considered as real deal armors as the defences that they provide iscking."

    "So, what should they be called if not a weapon nor armor?" Paul asked while scratching his head in confusion.

    "Beats me." Raven shrugged, the two were dumbfounded by his attitude. "It doesn''t matter really, so long as I''m satisfied and I could use it."

    The two could only smiled wryly on his words, they then decided to talk about something else while waiting for the carriage to arrive to their home.

    ***

    Somewhere along the corners of the kingdom, there is a strange ce hidden away from the crowds prying eyes. This ce was dark, more specifically, no ordinary light could exist in this ce. If anyone brought amp or any type of normal light source in here, they will just be distinguished.

    The air in here was cold, the type that seeps into one''s soul causing it to shudder. In the middle of this dark ce, one would see five ck robed humans holding out antern that''s made out of a human skull. Inside thentern, there is a red liquid and a pale ''candle'' that is lit with dark red me. In truth, the red liquid inside thentern was blood and the ''candle'' was actually a finger.

    The five people who wore dark robes stood inside of a huge ult circle. It was designed in a pentagram that looked like it was drawn from blood.

    "Greetings Emissaries." A deep voice could be heard.

    "Greetings Demon Prince." The other dark robed figures greeted back. The one called Demon Prince waved his hand signifying them to sit down. As all of them took their seats, a circr table and chairs magically appeared. No one reacted, it seems that they were used to this scenario.

    Each chair looked like it was made out of human bones with the skull on the top. The table was painted red, well, stained with blood. There is a simr skullntern on the middle but this one burned brightlypared to the one''s they have.

    "First Emissaries, please tell us your report."

    "As you wish Demon Prince." The First Emissary nodded and continued: "ording to our scouts. The security of the walls remained as tight as like it was before. It will be a bad idea for us to start another horde. Spies said that the Hawk returned as well so we should be more careful."

    "We have better news as well. It seems that the Royal Family''s youngest decided to run away from home. This will be a good chance for us specially that the King is Absent."

    "Another one is that the ''Mole'' was sessfully nted, we should be getting more and more news about the happenings inside because of it."

    "I heard that something happened to one of our branches?" The Demon Prince inly said.

    The First Emissary shuddered but still confirmed it in the end: "Correct Demon Prince, more precisely it was the ck Jewel n. Rumors said that one of their offsprings provoked the ire of Hawk''s hatchling, causing them to be ''Marked'' and erased by the Hawk."

    "But this confirmed one thing, and that is Hawk''s hatchling is in the institute and one word from the Demon Prince could erase him. As for the ck Jewel n, our forces refrained from doing any actions since they haven''t confirmed about their connection with us."

    Listening to the First Emissiary''s report brought no joy nor anger to the Demon Prince, he just sat in there and yed with the drink in his hand. After a while of silence, the deep voice of the Demon Prince echoed.

    "If you could take care of the kid without raising too much attention then do so. As for the missing royalty, don''t bother. Erase the ck Jewel, we have no use for them. Increase the size of the horde for the time being. Some emissaries should assist our mole inside. I expect good things from you." With this said, the Demon Prince disappeared to his seat.

    The five emissaries bowed and said: "You''re wish is ourmand, Demon Prince."

 Chapter 20 - A *Bigger* Problem

    ---

    "So, how do you like your new toys?" Raven teased after a rigorous day of training. It had to be known that he was asking them this while dragging them back to the house by their cors.

    "My arms¡­they hurt¡­heavy¡­" Paul said whiningly, seemingly hallucinating. The arm that he used to hold the shield is visibly swelling from the training. The hand that held the spear on the other hand was trembling here and there, the webbing are slightly bleeding and swelling as well.

    "I need to train my left arm, it can''t hold the sword properly." Mark said weakly, his right hand was fine but his left hand wasn''t, it swelled like a sponge filled with water. It was also visibly trembling from time to time.

    "Don''t worry, we have time. You''ll get used to it." By the time he said this, he then threw both of them inside of the medicinal basin, he turned around to take off his clothes and jumped in himself. The two already passed out from exhaustion but he knew that they''ll wake up in just a bit.

    Unbeknownst to the two, this type of heavy training had already stretched their stamina over and over again. It won''t take long before they are able to withstand an all day training without losing consciousness.

    The bathroom was silent for about an hour before the two regained their consciousness, they hurriedly took off their clothes and absorbed the efficacy of the medicinal bath. The absorptionsted for thirty minutes before stopping.

    "Oh right! We have sses tomorrow right? Man¡­" Paul said while stretching.

    "Right, I almost don''t want to go and just focus on training." Mark sighed.

    "Hoho¡­" Ravenughed mischievously which made the two look over his direction. "Funny you say that¡­take a look at this." He then tossed a token to Mark.

    Paul and Mark looked closely at the token and suddenly, their eyes bulged in shock.

    "Where the hell did you get this!!!" Both of them eximed. Raven ced a finger on his left ear and replied:

    "I picked it up on the way home." Paul and Mark''s face darkened, how were they supposed to believe him?

    The Heavenly Cloud Institute value all kinds of talent. The instructors know that the kids in their school wanted to be stronger so they will focus more heavily on training instead of theoretical studies and history. This is why they set the sses once a week only. However, there exists a way on how to allow them be exempted to sses entirely so that they could focus on their training alone.

    And that is by applying for a ss Exemption Passes.

    The applicant student will have to be tested by the instructorspletely and if they passed, they will be allowed to be exempted in ss, there are different kinds of passes: weekly, monthly and yearly. The Weekly Pass is in the form of a letter, the Monthly Pass is in the form a te and finally, the Yearly Pass is in the form of a token.

    Undoubtedly, what Raven passed to them is a ss Exemption Token.

    Their shock is totally understandable, after all one had to basically answer a year''s worth of theoretical studies and historical knowledge just to get this. It is rumored that only five of these tokens exists each school year. And now Raven was iming that he picked it up on the street? How is that possible?

    "Now, now." Raven chuckled, "This just shows that I, your handsome brother, am really capable right? Praise me mortals! Go ahead!" Heughed mischievously.

    "Dude! This is noughing matter! Not even I could save from expulsion if they knew you stole this!" Paul said solemnly.

    "What do you mean stole?" Raven wore an offended expression, "How rude of you! That was given to me by Old Lee."

    "Old Lee? Isn''t that our instructor? How could he possibly have this with him?" Mark asked confused.

    "He''s not ordinary person. I''ll say that much." Raven said mysteriously, Paul and Mark was a bit stunned as they heard this. "Anyways, I got it cleanly okay! I didn''t steal it. You guys could rx and focus on the training. I''ll be making more things that could make us stronger."

    With this the two was already convinced and went to their rooms to sleep.

    ***

    Somewhere over the vast territory of the institute, a small and humble abode could be seen hidden behind a series of hills. This ce was akin to an oasis in the middle of a raging dessert. The abode was simple yet carried a trace of elegance. It is surrounded by all sorts of flora and fauna which allowed the air to be fragrant and even sweet at the same time.

    In front of the abode, a girl could be seen sitting cross legged. Her beauty eclipsed even the prettiest flower of this ce, she radiates a gentle and approachable aura yet distant and proud at the same time. Her ck hair was akin to a waterfall, and her figure could cause many men''s heart to shudder.

    This is Luna, meditating in front of her home inside the institute.

    Ever since that day, when she was freed of her torment, she discovered tons of changes that had happened to her. For one, her cultivation slowed down at a very rming rate. She knew this was because of her removing her connection with the hairpin. She can''t really do anything about this since, just like that guy said, she will die if she insisted on fusing with it.

    Another is that she was very conflicted right now. One of the main reasons why she can''t stay home was because of her torment, yet now she was already cured, she finds herself reluctant to go home. She loved it here, her lifestyle is humble yet honest at the same time. She didn''t have to wear any masks of deceit on so on. Plus her childhood friends are here.

    Speaking of which...

    Luna felt a slight distortion on her surroundings, she opened her eyes and saw two silhouettes approaching from a distance.

    One was a crimson haired beauty. She wore a tight fitted shirt that hugged her figure and shorts that went halfway through her thigh. She''s also wearing a sleeveless jacket and her hair was gathered into a ponytail. This is Ellen Redcrest of the Vermillion Sky n.

    As for the other, she was a blonde beauty. Her hair was tied up in braid and there was a white flower on her ear. She wore a green shirt where the sleeves reached her elbows, she also has a wore a skirt that reached her knees while also wearing some leggings. This is Anne Fiore of the Western Star n.

    Seeing them made Luna''s eyes shine. She stood up and waved her hands. As the two girls went closer, she lept towards them and encased them in a tight hug while asking: "Ellen, Anne! Howe you guys are here?"

    "To molest you!" Ellen said yfully while running her hands on her waist and started tickling her. Luna giggled and escaped her clutches.

    "We asked permission from Professor Lee and he agreed." Anne said chuckling.

    "Come, let''s go inside." Luna grabbed their hands and led them inside her house.

    The interior of the house was just as humble as what it looked like outside. Shiny stone floors, marbled walls and wooden furnitures. The windows are open so that the fragrant scent of the flowers outside could seep in. Luna led them to sit down while she went to her kitchen to serve some tea and sandwiches. Once she''s done, she went to the living room and sat down with them.

    "So, how are you doing so far? Any diforts?" Anne said while receiving the tea.

    Luna smiled and said: "Never been better. I don''t have those whispers and malicious thoughts in my head anymore. I also don''t feel any burden in chest."

    "That''s good, it seems that you really are cured now." Ellen said while munching on a sandwich.

    "Mn¡­" Luna nodded dazedly, she was actually hesitating if she should tell them that her cultivation had slowed down and the other stuff as well. Anne noticed this so she immediately asked:

    "Is there something that want to tell us?" Concern was present in her voice.

    Luna fidgeted and decided to tell them. "It''s nothing much really. I told you that I separated with the hairpin right? I just noticed that after I did that, my cultivation speed seemed to decrease at an rming rate. I''m not sure about what to think¡­"

    "Oh! Well that certainly is concerning¡­" Anne frowned as she heard Luna''s confession. The girls didn''t hide many things from each other, they have been good friends since they were little and that bond naturally made them closer. Of course Ellen and Anne also knew her predicament, if it weren''t for their safety then they would stick together as much as they could.

    "Nope!" Luna and Anne were startled when they heard Ellen eximed. "There''s a ''bigger'' problem aside from that!"

    Her face was a bit savage as she made a w using her hand grabbed¡­Luna''s chest.

    "Kya~" - Luna

    "Oh my¡­" - Anne

 Chapter 21 - Visit

    ---

    "What''s with this huh!" Ellen squeezed ''it'' while still wearing a savage expression. "What''s up with this! Three weeks! In this three weeks that we didn''t see each other! This!"

    Ellen twisted ''it'' while whispering ''Oh! What suppleness!'' In her head and continued: "This grew bigger again! How is that possible! How is that fair!"

    Luna blushed fiercely as she pped away Ellen''s hand while ring at her. Anne just ced a hand on her mouth and produced a ''Fufufufu'' sound. Ellen''s expression was downcast as the hand that Luna pped was still opening and closing.

    "Meanie!" Luna pouted while covering her chest, Anne watched this with an amused expression on her face.

    "I''m not mean! That!" Ellen pointed at Luna''s chest once more and continued:"That ''Is'' mean! Seriously what gives!? How did they grow again!? What''s you''re secret!" Ellen mmed her hand on the table and pulled her face closer to Luna.

    "N-nothing¡­" Luna meekly said, "It just grew¡­naturally."

    "Gu¡­" Ellen felt like she was stabbed in the gut, there was pained expression on her face as she sat back down with a nk look on her face. "Oh merciful gods! How could you do this to me! Am I really such a sinner?"

    Luna blushed even more from her words, Anne justughed and said: "Okay stop with the drama. We''re still growing, maybe you''re just ate bloomer."

    Ellen seemed to have recovered her spirits back and said: "Yup, that should be right. I''m still thirteen anyways..."

    Anne shook her her inwardly and thought: ''Oh you poor girl. ''WE'' are still thirteen. If you could grow some, then both of us would as well. I wonder what should I tell her next time¡­''

    "Going back to our topic. Can''t you just ask that person about this situation as well?" Anne said.

    Luna shook her head when she heard this, she then said: "That person already did so much for me. We can''t even repay him properly for what he has done."

    "Easy, then just marry him!" Ellen said non-chntly¡­

    "Ellen!" Luna eximed in shock. Her face turned even redder. Anne shook her head in helplessness, this woman is too brazen.

    "Alright, alright! Geez!" Ellen waved her hands in defeat. "Isn''t it just cultivation speed? Didn''t that savior of yours said that the hairpin is providing you with energies? Then it should be given that it will really slow down if you take it out."

    "I know that¡­" Luna sighed, how could she have missed something so simple? But s, that''s not the point. "But the thing is if this continues then I feel that I won''t be able to absorb any Qi at all."

    Instantly, the atmosphere inside the room became solemn, even the bored expression of Ellen disappeared and reced by seriousness. She abruptly stood up and grabbed Luna and Anne''s hand.

    "Then we have to find that person. We can''t have you be crippled." Ellen said with a forceful voice, Anne smiled but Luna was a bit perplexed.

    On one hand she knew why Ellen was doing this, but at the same time, she feels incredibly ashamed of asking for his help once more.

    "Let go Ellen¡­" she said meekly.

    "No will do! We are going to that person and he will fix this or else!"

    "Ellen¡­" Luna called out again.

    "No! Whether you like it or not, he will help you!"

    "Ellen listen¡­"

    "Come on! Don''t be so stub-"

    "Do you even know where he is!?" Luna said in a pitched voice. Undoubtedly, this made Ellen stop in her tracks. She then turned around Luna with a blushing face and shook her head.

    Luna sighed while Anne burst toughters. Ellen bit her lip in embarassment, it seems that she let her emotions get the best of her. In her mind, Luna can''t really me her for doing this. This is just her personality, her forcefulness, rash behavior, sharp tongue and fiery temper is how they knew that she cared. If she didn''t show any of this, then there something wrong with her.

    "I get it¡­I''ll lead the way." Luna said as she stepped forward, Anne and Ellen could only follow her.

    ***

    "Luna¡­are you sure that the one who saved you lives in this ce?"

    The girls had been walking for a while now, at first they walked through the main roads of the Institute when suddenly, she entered a narrow stone road that led to a forest. This isn''t to say that the girls are scared of the eeriness in the forest, it''s just that this ce¡­is quite familiar to them.

    Luna didn''t say anything. She just silently walked forward and followed the narrow stone road. Eventually, the girls got out of the forest and saw the three storey stone house in front of them. Anne became silent and so does Ellen.

    The girls stood before the main door of the stone house. Luna took the initiative to knock but it no one answered. She knocked once more but the result was the same.

    "Is he not home?" Luna thought, it was this moment that they heard a loudmotion beyond the door, more precisely behind the house. It sounded like a pained grunt, and base from themotion that happened, the injury shouldn''t be light.

    Luna became a little bit panicked and hurriedly followed a stone path leading towards the back of the house. Anne and Ellen also followed behind her. When the girls reached the back, all they saw was arge cloud of dust and a silhouette of someone, lying on the floor.

    The boy''s clothes were ragged and dirty, his chest heaved up and down and there was a pained expression in his face. There was a shield on his left hand and a spear on his right. Luna was about to rush forward when the boy sudden sat up and shouted:

    "That hurts you fucking dummy! I will end you!" His resentful roar was filled with intense passion. The boy suddenly heard gasps behind him which made him turn his head around.

    The boy''s mouth went wide, so wide that one could fit a whole egg out of it. The girls and the boy stared at each other for quite sometime. Luna was about to say something when the boy stood up like lightning and roared once more.

    "Mark! Visitors! We have visitors!" And just like magic¡­

    Boom!

    A loud sound shook the girls. Another silhouette flew out of nowhere andnded on ground kicking up another cloud of dust. The girls heard a coughing fit from this person before he recovered and looked at the boy.

    "What the hell is your-! Oh¡­" The boy was aboutsh out when his eyesnded on the girls. He then quickly regainedposure and stood up while patting dirt away from his clothes.

    "Hello uh¡­ssmates. How can we help you?" He asked after he ''cleaned'' himself up.

    "Uhm, hello. We-I mean, I''m looking for Raven? Is he here?" Luna asked politely after bowing.

    Mark and Paul was stunned, they looked at each other and Mark saw Paul shrugged. He then looked behind him and said: "Follow us and please¡­don''t step in that line." He pointed to an obvious markings on the ground.

    Luna and the girls followed them, it didn''t took them long enough before they saw Raven.

    The girls saw, what might be the most bizzar yet amazing thing they have yet to see in their whole stay in this institute. They saw a bunch of wooden poles nted on the ground, on the opposite sides of the ce, there were a total of four mounted crossbows that were constantly aiming shooting and reloading on it''s own.

    The arrows that were being shot weren''t normal arrows, they were made out ofpressed air that hits like a boulder. The girls knew that if they have gotten hit by any of these arrows, they will immediately pass out from pain.

    Raven''s shadow flew here and there in the middle of this fierce barrage. He hands were tied behind him and his gaze were sharp. He jumped from one wooden beam after another to dodge the arrows with his whole effort.

    Boom!

    But their speed was very fast that it''s quite a hassle for him to dodge all of them so he will kick the one''s that he can''t dodge instead. Each contact results in a loud explosion yet no matter how fierce the sh was, Raven was still able to stabilize his body and gracefullynd on one of the wooden beams even without the help of his hands.

    The girls were dazed, specially Anne and Ellen. How is this possible? How was he able to do this? They already had a good idea of who he was but that still doesn''t erase the point that this guy, who''s the same age as they are, is moving like a professional fighter already!

    Luna and the boys might be the only one''s who weren''t too surprised by this.

    "Raven! Someone''e looking for you!" Paul ced both of his hand on the corners of his mouth to project his voice.

    "Hmm?"

    Boom!

    They heard a hum from Raven and because he was distracted for a second, an arrownded straight to his left shoulder. Unexpectedly, his body didn''t even flinch when it was hit. It seems like an arrow that could instantly knock out a Peak-stage Skin Toughening expert, is nothing but a minor inconvenience for him.

    As Raven''s eyesnded on Luna, he let out an audible ''Oh!'' Before jumping down the beams andnded in front of them. With a loud ripping sound, he broke the constraints on his hands and greeted:

    "Hi!"

 Chapter 22 - Dumb Dumb

    ---

    "Hi!"

    There was a cheeky grin on his face as he greeted. Anne and Ellen looked a bit perplexed when they saw this.

    Just a moment ago, this person was basically dancing with death, and now he was here in front of them acting like nothing happened and could even smile. Just who the hell was this monster.

    "Hello, I apologize for disturbing you once more. It''s just that I wish to discuss something and I think you are the only person who could answer it." Luna lied graciously. "These are my best friends by the way, Anne and Ellen. We are ssmates so I assume that you should know about them."

    In truth, if it weren''t for Ellen literally dragging her out of her house, she won''t even dare toe here and disturb him. The favor that she received from his was already immense, anymore and it won''t sit well in her conscience. The two girls behind her bowed, surprisingly Ellen''s fiery temper didn''t explode. Anne and Luna started wonder if there''s something wrong with her.

    "No need to be so formal¡­" Raven waved his hand and continued: "We''re ssmates so helping each other is normal. Come, let''s move locations."

    Before he walked, Raven crouched and picked up some pebbles. He then turned around threw them onto the tform where the automated crossbows were. Magically, the crossbows stopped shooting when they were hit by those pebbles. The girls could only watch his back with amazement. Was he a freaking sorcerer? How the hell did he do that?

    The girls followed him as they went inside their home. At first they were expecting the interior to be extremely messy. But it seems that they were wrong. The interior of the house was sparkling clean, not even a speck of dust could be seen. There are some decorative paintings and memoirs on the wall, shelves that had old books and a long table where the boys usually gather.

    "Paul, Mark, help me serve some snacks." The two nodded and went to the kitchen. Raven beckoned the girls to sit then he said: "It''s been a while Lele, how''s Aunt Sabrina?"

    "She''s doing okay! And please don''t call me Lele!" Ellen replied with a bit of annoyance. Anne and Luna was a bit shocked, they weren''t expecting these two to know each other.

    "Then I''ll call you Ele-"

    "Stop!" Ellen mmed the table in annoyance and red at him. "Don''t you dare!"

    "Hahaha¡­chill."

    "You guys knew each other?" Anne said curiously.

    "Hmph!" Ellen let out a cold snort while Ravenughed.

    "She''s my cousin. She just grew up in the Vermillion Sky n." He exined with a trace of mncholy in his eyes.

    "Oh so that''s how it was¡­" Anne replied enlightened. It was then that Paul and Mark emerged from the kitchen bringing some food and drinks. They too sat on the table next to Raven, the boys were sneakily smelling themselves thinking if they should clean themselves first, but knowing that their training isn''t over yet, they decided not to.

    "So, what seems to be the problem?" Raven then nced at Luna who had been lowering her head for a while now. He knows her character too well, the way she fidgets whenever she''s ufortable and act meekly if she''s ashamed, all of this are familiar to him.

    "I-It''s not really a¡­big deal¡­I-It''s just." Luna''s voice was faint and stuttering, the rest weren''t even able to hear the words she says aside from Raven.

    "Ah god I can''t bear this!" Ellen suddenly blurted. "What''s she trying to say is that ever since you ''cured'' her! Her cultivation speed has dropped in an rming rate! She even thought that if this continued then she won''t even be able to progress an inch! That''s why were here!"

    Anne sighed and thought: ''Sometimes, her attitude really does help a lot.'' While Luna sank even further to her seat. Paul and Mark looked at each other, confused about this whole situation.

    ''Cured? Who, what, when, where and how?'' These are their thoughts when they heard Ellen''s outburst. It seems that their brother had some dealings with thedies without them knowing.

    "Oh¡­" Raven nodded. "That certainly is a concern." But his face still have that friendly expression.

    "Is it possible for you to help her once more? There should be a way right?" Anne asked on behalf of her friend as well.

    "Well, allow me to check first. Let me take a look at the hairpin." Raven faced Luna to tell her this. She nodded and took the hairpin out, Raven held it and roused his spirit. The hairpin brightened and a bright yellow light emerged from it. The light converged and condensed into an image of a 8-winged angel that had her faced blurred, even so one could see a faint smile on her lips. After a few seconds, the image of the angel transformed into a constetion.

    Everyone was shocked as they saw this, just as when they were about to ask questions, Raven gently pushed the lights back from the hairpin and handed it back to her.

    "There''s no problem with this. Give me your hand." Raven ced the hairpin on the table, Luna ced her hand on top of Raven''s palm. A faint blush crept onto her face which didn''t escaped Anne''s sharp eyes. He gripped it a bit and pushed his thumb at the center of her palm.

    Luna visibly shook, she felt shivers all over her body as she felt something ran through it abruptly. She was about to flinch when Raven''s firm grip prevented her from doing so. She gazed at his serious face and became a little bit dazed.

    Everyone heard Raven sighed as he released his grasp, he smiled wryly and said: "I think I know what''s the problem now."

    The girls focused at him and perked their ears, this goes specially well for Anne and Ellen who had been skeptical about his skill right from the very beginning. If it weren''t for Luna''s sake, they won''t take the chance to believe him, but when he summoned the thing inside the hairpin, their skepticism disappeared.

    "You¡­" Raven looked at Luna. "You don''t have any cultivation techniques aren''t you?"

    Paul and Mark were confused. Meanwhile, Anne was shocked, Ellen was dumbfounded and Luna''s eyes widened before her face reddened and her body sank even further down to her seat.

    "Hold on¡­" Anne said while pinching the bridge of her nose. "Could you exin further?"

    "Ever since she fused with the hairpin, it has always been providing her with the purest forms of energies that she uses for cultivation. What''s more is that it automatically circtes within her and settles down on it''s own. Since she didn''t need to actively do it then why should she right?"

    "But the hairpin was removed, and thus the energy supply stopped as well. She had been circting her energies ording to the path her body remembered, seemingly forgetting that it was the hairpin that did if for her AND also provided her the energies she needed to do so. And like I said since it''s gone, then there''s no energies for her to circte."

    "The one that she had been circting before was the residual energies from the hairpin. And because he she didn''t have any cultivation techniques, then it really is no wonder that her cultivation will slow down into a screeching halt."

    As Raven stated his exnation, the atmosphere inside the room became extremely strange. On one side, the boys were trying their hardest not tough while the girls were ring at the embarrassed Luna.

    "You!" Ellen couldn''t take it, she lept from her chair and pinched Luna''s cheek, stretching it and forming different polygons from it. "YOU BIG CHESTED DUMB DUMB!"

    "Owssshhhh¡­" Luna cried while holding Ellen''s hands. "Hellen! Stahp phet! Ih hurrrsss¡­"

    "Must be nice huh? Must be real nice huh!? You spoiled woman! Getting free stuff must be real nice huh!? So nice that it makes you a BIG DUMB DUMB!" Ellen absolutely can''t hear her cries for mercy and just continued molesting her cheeks.

    "Hahahaha¡­" Ravenughed while watching the scene, Paul and Mark joined in as well.

    Luna''s cries echoed inside the room, Anne could only shake her head and massage her temples from all the chaos while Ellen was still teaching Luna''s cheek their lesson. When she''s done, Luna''s face was swelling, it looked like she was always pouting in displeasure. Tears were running down from her eyes and she red hatefully at Ellen.

    Raven unconsciously stared at her with a gentle gaze, it looked like he was memorizing each and every details of her adorable face right now. He only stopped he felt a nudge on his leg. He looked at Mark who was looking at him with a face that says: ''You''re too obvious bro!''

    "I''m sorry, we embarrassed ourselves in front of you¡­" Anne performed a slight bow while sitting down. Raven just waved his hand and said:

    "No worries. In fact, I already knew that something like this would happen."

    "You do?'' Anne raised her brow and asked.

    "Yes." Raven nodded, he then faced Luna and said: "Didn''t I tell you that I will help you be stronger so that you can handle that power? I even told you to visit us during day time so that I could guide you. I thought you were already aware of this problem and solved it that''s why you didn''te."

    There was another bout of absolute silence inside the room. Luna blushed even more and warily took a nce at Ellen, who was now ring at her even more so than before. She saw her stood up and said: "You! You stupid woman! You!!!"

    "Waaaa~" - Luna.

    "Haaaaah¡­" - Anne.

 Chapter 23 - Food

    ---

    Running away from Ellen''s frightening attacks, Luna actually hid behind Raven''s chair unconsciously while tugging the hem of his clothes.

    Raven shook his head and raised his finger to block the charging red head. Unexpectedly, Ellen can''t even make his finger bend no matter how she forced it.

    "Calm down Lele. Or would you want me to announce many secrets of your childhood to them?" Shockingly, the raging tempest calmed down and just hatefully snorted at him. Luna heaved a sigh of relief while Anne was a bit surprised.

    "How rare¡­" she whispered.

    "What is?" Mark asked.

    "For her to calm down just like that." Anne exined, "Normally when that happens she won''t stop until she get her hands satisfied from attacking. I never saw her back down like that. This friend of your is really capable."

    Paul and Mark was a bit stunned. Paulmented and thought: ''How could you brother! How dare you show off and hog all the beauties for yourself!'' While Mark on the other hand: ''Well, this is Raven that we''re talking about.''

    They could only sigh and munch on food and drink their tea in silence. For some reason, they felt a bit out of ce here.

    It was then that the two suddenly felt their energies became chaotic. Paul''s eyes widened and looked at the tea he just consumed, he looked at Mark and saw that he was looking at him too. Anne noticed this sudden change which caused her to be rmed.

    "Are you guys fine?" She asked after seeing their twisted expressions. Raven''s ears twitched and two golden corona''s appeared on his eyes without anyone noticing it. He quickly saw their expressions and the drinks that they consumed. His eyes shone as he quickly picked them up by their cors and said: "Oops, can''t have you guys messing up the house."

    He then dragged them away and ran outside. The girls were shocked and followed behind them, when they got outside. They saw Raven helping them sit down properly. After doing this, he retreated back to the side of the girls and saw their puzzled expressions.

    "What''s happening Avi?" Ellen was the only one who call him like this. Raven shrugged and said:

    "Breakthrough." Using his deadpan voice, he exined the situation for them. The girls were enlightened and nodded.

    "I see, but I never saw them actively cultivate though?" Anne couldn''t help but ask.

    "It''s the food." Raven pointed. "It was prepared by a Special Chef. It contained energies that could be absorbed by the body. They had already reached the point of extreme saturation of Qi so now''s the time for a break through." He exined patiently to them.

    Seeing Raven casually sit down to watch over them, the girls also followed. Though Raven might look extremely rxed, he was actually very vignt right now. He knew that his brothers were caught unprepared for this breakthrough, so if anything goes awry, he won''t hesitate to rush forward and help them. He even reverted the gravity suit to normal gravity just to be sure he could reach them quickly.

    Though it wasn''t visible, the atmosphere around the two became extremely chaotic. Paul and Mark could hear rumbling noises inside their bodies like something was about to wake up from the depths of their bodies. There was an agonized expression in their faces as they cultivated. Ellen saw this and couldn''t help but ask:

    "Are they doing fine? Why do they look like they''re in pain? Isn''t it just a breakthrough?"

    "No worries they are fine." Raven shrugged as he paid attention to them.

    Suddenly, Paul and Mark''s aura red. Their bodies sucked Qi like a whale inhaling air. The girls were dumbfounded by this scene, almost all of their pores were open and absorbing Qi and a frightening pace. Even their hair was being lifted in the air and fluttering due to the immense surge of energies.

    "What the hell? Isn''t just a breakthrough? What''s with all of thismotion?" Ellen was staring wide eyed at this scenario, Anne and Luna felt the same way as well. They''ve had their share of breakthrough experiences as well and those didn''t kick up amotion like this one, not even close.

    "What do you mean? It''s precisely a breakthrough¡­" Raven said with a smile in his face, the girls were bbergasted and wanted more exnation but it seems that they won''t have it. They could only wait until this whole process was finished.

    After the furious suction of Qi, it became awfully quiet. Afterwards, the girls heard sound of something breaking from their bodies. After that sound, their skins glowed brilliantly forming a thin curtain that adhered to their bodies. Next thing they knew, the boys were standing and roaring in the air. This was just them showing their tion from their breakthrough¡­

    It was then that they heard Raven said:

    "Familiarize yourselves with that new found power of yours, we will test thatter."

    Paul and Mark nodded and sat back down. As they meditated, Raven and girls could see some faint blue lights flickering on the surface of their skin. It was like fireflies dancing in the night. Ellen being the hot headed and impatient person that she is, couldn''t take it anymore and asked:

    "Avi, just what is happening here? Isn''t just a normal breakthrough to Early-stage of Skin Toughening? Why in the world would something like this happen?"

    Anne and Luna were also looking at him clearly asking for answers as well. Raven was a bit stunned when she heard her say this, a yful smile appeared in his face as he said:

    "Who said it was a breakthrough to Early-stage?" He even ce a shocked expression as he asked this question back.

    "Mid-stage then? But how can that be?" Anne was the one who guessed this time. However Raven still had that yful smile in his face.

    "To correct you, it''s Peak-stage Skin Toughening, they now have the ability to close and open their pores at will to contain and release Qi, making it possible for them to learn some true Battle Arts and Movement Arts."

    The girls let out an audible gasps, they looked at him and his brothers like they were some sort of monsters. Paul and Mark had already finished stabilizing their cultivation bases and already joined them.

    "Congrattions, congrattions!" Raven pped and ced an amused face as they sat down. Paul was shamelesslyughing while Mark just smiled. "Barely a month''s passed since cultivating but already on Peak-stage of Skin Toughening? How does it feel to be a genius?"

    Paul and Mark knew that this is one of Raven''s yful antics once again, Mark was blushing in shame while Paul justughed uproariously and said:

    "Hahaha! Good! Feels good! My old man will surely be shocked if I let him know. I bet he won''t smack me again for being useless! Hahahaha!"

    "Oh the Dean? Hoh, he sure would extremely be happy and proud! Say, what are your thoughts about applying for ther genius ss by end of the semester?"

    Paul looked shocked a bit and so does Mark, they looked at his yful smile and felt their confidence being provoked.

    "I''ll apply for it of course! I''ll even pass with flying colors!" Paul roared.

    "Hoho~ how about this brother here? Do you have the same ns?" Raven then asked Mark. He saw him nodded and say:

    "Challenge epted. Doing that will allow me to regain my reputation back. If I pass, then my family won''t be mocked by those people because of me and my ''talents''." Raven saw him gripping his fist tightly. A gratified smile appeared in his face as he dered.

    "Alright, I''ll help you. But be prepared. Since our goal is the Genius ss then of course we have to step into Marrow Cleansing Realm. For now however, the training resumes¡­"

    Raven smiled and stood up, he then started walking away from the group. The girls were puzzled by the boys weren''t.

    "Where''s he going?" Ellen asked.

    "Hmm? Well he probably got riled up with our breakthrough and decided to have one as well." Paul scratched his head while exining.

    "That could happen too?" Anne eximed.

    Mark nodded and said: "He''s just like that. Mysterious and also a freak of nature."

    "Couldn''t agree more." Paul added.

    As they talked Raven had already sat down and started his breakthrough. They all saw how he started perspiring to the point where his clothes are fully drenched in sweat. Even though he was sitting quite far from where they are, they could feel a strange heat touching their skins. At this distance it was nothing but aforting heat, but the same thing can''t be said for what Raven was enduring right now.

    It felt like he was soaking in magma. His skin was starting to turn red and it was even wriggling constantly. Suddenly, his aura red and looked like a visage of fire. It was so intense that his clothes started burning, weirdly it only burned his clothes not the hairs on his body or his spatial ring at that.

    The girls were shocked, Ellen and Anne''s hands immediately covered Luna''s eyes while the boys covered their eyes for them.. It was quite the funny scene.

 Chapter 24 - Mournful Nether Flame

    ---

    Raven was streaking.

    Mark and Paul was trying their best to hide his bare body from the view of thedies.

    "Damn, I didn''t know that this could happen! He didn''t even warn us!" Paul cursed.

    "Right! He should''ve warned us if he''s going to be naked from cultivating." Ellen cursed as well.

    "No that''s not it. He didn''t warn us that he''s going to call that me!" Mark corrected her.

    "me? Isn''t that his aura?" Anne asked confused. Though she and the girls couldn''t see anything, they caught a brief nce of the me that they were talking about before it melted his clothes.

    "No it''s not." Paul said. "The technique he''s cultivating is rather¡­dangerous. That me was called. Norfor-Mort-god damn it! What was it again Mark?"

    "It''s Mournful Nether me idiot!" Markshed out. "It''s a fabled me that was said to be so cold that it burns. This me is present in hell and was used to burn the souls of those whose sins are either very, ****, child abuse and abduction for eternity." He exined.

    The girls let out an audible gasps, Luna then chimed in and said: "Mournful Nether me! Hell! Aren''t those ces just myths? And even if they weren''t how could he call the mes that burn in that ce?"

    "We don''t know¡­" Mark shook his head and admitted. He could only stare at his brother and pray for his safety.

    "From what you said, then this me should be extremely dangerous then!" Anne eximed, "Is he going to be fine?"

    "He should be." Paul said unsure, "He pulled off tons of crazy shit before so he should be fine." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as well. Ellen could feel Paul''s hands trembling since he was covering her eyes. She bit her lip and couldn''t help but to pray for her cousin''s safety as well.

    Since they have their eyes covered whatever''s happening to Raven ispletely oblivious to them. If they could see it however, they would probably be scared to look further. Raven''s skin had already turnedpletely red from the heat, they could even see some of his being burnt from the heat of the me, the only reason why they haven''t moved yet is because they could still feel Raven''s aura, in fact instead of weakening, it''s actually getting even fiercer.

    As the momentum of his aura peaked, the mes were extinguished. Paul and Mark breathed a sigh of relief when he started absorbing Qi from his surroundings, this signified that the difficult times were over.

    Raven''s skin started regenerating, the redness of his body gradually lessened and even his body hairs started growing back as well. His skin was still had that healthy wheat color, the way it hugged his muscles gave the illusion of him being buffed. The toughness of his skin is akin to a mature tree, if his opponents doesn''t have the strength to snap a tree in half then they could dream about hurting him. This is the frightening power of the Demon Chapter that focuses on his body.

    Raven exited his cultivation, he noticed that his clothes turned to ashes which annoyed him, his gravity suit actually got burned with the rest his clothes as well. He could only sigh and thought that it was such a waste while summoning new clothes from his spatial ring. Good thing that the me only targeted his body not his items, or else he would''ve been devastated. After changing into a new set of clothes, he turned around walked back with the rest.

    By now, Paul and Mark had already released their hands from the girls'' eyes. Paul berated him as he sat down.

    "Can''t you warn us next time when something like that is gonna happen? Specially if we have visitors!"

    "Hahahaha!" Ravenughed and scratched his head. "My bad, my bad. I didn''t expect that the Mournful Nether me would descend either."

    "Why can''t you just use a different cultivation technique instead? The method you choose is just way too dangerous." Mark frowned and spoke his mind.

    "Don''t sweat it. I''m already at this stage anyway." Raven waved his hand andughed some more.

    "Can you summon those mes at will?" Paul asked warily.

    "Nope! That just appeared because my skin needs to be refined by it." Raven exined briefly. Paul breathed a sigh of relief, he thought: ''At least he couldn''t use it to his future creations.''

    "From what I know, Hell is just a mythical ce right? None had ever confirmed their existence before. So how¡­" Luna couldn''t hold back her curiosity anymore and started asking him. But before she could continue, Raven cut her off and began with his exnation.

    "Just because none had ever confirmed it, does not mean it doesn''t exist. Take Jubileus for example, she is an angel, an 8-winged Angel at that, her existence should be mythical too but aren''t you her descendant?"

    "Jubileus?" Mark raised his brow and repeated.

    "Descendant?" Anne did so as well.

    "Oh right you guys didn''t know about it yet. So she is¡­" Raven then started using his ''story-telling technique'' to everyone. He exined who is Jubileus, her adventures, the story of her fall, when she met her husband, her return and all the way until the part when the Supreme Angel sealed her.

    By the time that he finished exining, the girls felt a little bit emotional, even the boys were the same as well.

    "But everything''s fine now. She already departed with a smile in her face and became a Spirit Entity. Remember the constetion that appeared when I checked the hairpin? That''s her. She''s already been remembered by the starry skies of the Spirit World."

    "Hold on¡­" Anne paused and asked: "Spirit Entity? Starry skies of the Spirit World? What are those now?"

    "Humans had a long history but a the world that we lived had even longer one. Somewhere along this universe, there exist a world called the Spirit World. It is said that it''s starry skies remembers every formidable beings that had ever existed, or those that had many stories to tell. Upon their departure the Spirit World will remember them in the form of a constetion."

    "Upon our birth, one of those constetions will shine and when we turn ten, the blessing of those constetions will manifest. For some reasons, people call this nowadays as ''Talent''."

    The girls were dumbfounded by this information bomb, while the boys aren''t too much, after all they had already heard this from him. The girls had no reason to doubt him anymore. Raven had already shown them enough proof earlier that he wasn''t lying when ites to this things.

    "What about the colors then? Me and Anne had Green-grade talents while Luna has Blue. What does that signifies then?" Ellen asked.

    "Nothing." Raven tly said. "If you''re thinking that those colors will signify the cultivation speed of a person then you are wrong. Utterly mistaken. Those colors doesn''t represent that."

    "What? How can that be?"

    "How? Aren''t us the best proof of that? You girls shouldn''t be ignorant about what others call us behind are backs no?" Raven raised his brows and asked back.

    "The Disappointment Triplets." Ellen said reluctantly.

    "Exactly." Raven nodded, "They call us that because we have ''Red-grade Talents'' right? But how could you exin our cultivation being higher that you do when you have better ''talents''?" The girls couldn''t say anything.

    "So that means that the way our elders measure talent is wrong?" Anne probed.

    "Exactly. I don''t know what happened why it was changed but one things for sure. If this continues, then the kingdom is in grave danger. Sooner orter, it will ultimately face destruction." Raven dered solemnly.

    Everyone shuddered from his words. They could tell that Raven wasn''t saying this just to scare them, his words had basis behind it and the scenario that he was describing will most likely happen.

    "Then we should inform them about this right? If the adults know this then we could change the destiny of the kingdom! We could be stronger!" Ellen asked with passion. But she was met with a cold snort from Raven.

    "Do you even understand what you''re saying?" Raven raised his brows and asked: "Okay let''s say that we tell them. Would the adults believe the ramblings of thirteen year olds? And even if they believe us, do you honestly think that they will spread the word after confirming it? How could you assure me that they won''t use this new found knowledge to groom themselves and overthrow the Royal Family? If you tell me that they won''t do that, then I could only say that you are as naive as a newborn!"

    Ellen and the rest paled from his words. They couldn''t be med, their minds might be more maturedpared from their peers, it does not change the fact that they are still kids. The world of adults are far moreplicated than what they could imagine. Only Raven could let them realise this.

    "Taking a step back and say that the adults from your ns really did spread the word and enlightened the masses. Don''t you think you are forgetting a more serious threat?" Raven''s voice became even more solemn when it reached this point.

    "ck Curtain Guild."

    These words made the rest of them shiver in fear.

 Chapter 25 - 3 Paths

    ---

    Everyone here were already aware of the ck Curtain Guild.

    Remember, Paul is the youngest child of the Heavenly Cloud Institute''s Dean. Mark''s father is a General of the Military, Anne simrly is one as well. Ellen the daughter of a Royal Guard, Raven''s father is the Kingdom''s Hawk and Luna had a very formidable background.

    As children of influential people, their knowledge about the kingdom is far greater that what other people knew about. They have been raised with the intent to inherit their parents'' mantles and this is just a small preparation for them. In due time, they will face responsibilities that are heavier than a mountain and if they aren''t prepared for it, then they might be the cause of a grave problem.

    "I''m not gonna point fingers, but my dad is one of the sharpest thorn on their side. Though nobody had confirmed it, there might very well be some forces of the guild that had prated in our kingdom, the worst case scenario being them coborating with some influential people. If this topic reaches them, then we are just helping them to destroy our home. We will be the biggest sinners of this kingdom."

    Raven solemnly stated, no one spoke, they just lowered their heads and contemted. Everything that he said was right.

    "The only way for our voices to have weight in them is to be stronger ourselves. Again, don''t tell anyone, and I mean ANYONE aside from the people that is present today about what I said right now. That''s my only condition to allow you girls to train with us."

    Raven calmly looked at the girls while saying this. Without any ado, all of them nodded to his conditions.

    "Very well. So long as you uphold your bargain then so shall I." Raven smiled and started. I''ll begin with exining what are the 3 paths for cultivation first."

    Everyone frowned as his words, Mark was the one asked: "3 Paths?"

    "Yes." Raven nodded in agreement, "There are 3 paths on how a person a mortal could be stronger. This is a rather forgotten subject but one that you have to know."

    "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue. Earlier I told you that these colors doesn''t represent cultivation speed, but it does not mean that they are irrelevant. These colors represent the affinity of a person to walk down the three paths I mentioned earlier."

    "Ever since the heyday of our existence, no one was born a cripple. Everyone has a way to cultivate and be stronger. With how advance and how persistent our ancestors were, they are able to forge paths in order for everyone to have the capabilities to survive in this harsh environment. Those paths are: Body Path, Energy Path and Spirit Path."

    Everyone was silent and gobsmacked when they heard this promation. They couldn''t help it, this news was phenomenal! Never in their wildest dreams would they think that this was possible! Not even their parents or anyone they know aside him knew of this! And there he is, casually discussing this shocking news to them like he was telling a story.

    "The paths that I mentioned were simple enough to understand. The Body Path focuses on one''s body. Skin Toughening, Muscle Training, Organ Refining, Bone Forging and Marrow Tempering. These are called as the Fighter Stages and were also derived from the Body Path that I mentioned. A practioner that walked through the Body Path could eventually grow strong enough to shatter a whole mountain with a punch. Create a great tsunamis with a shout and cross one city after another with just a skip of their feet. It is said that when an expert of Body Path dies, their bodies won''t rot right away, the constant tempering of their bodies allowed them to possess an astonishing vitality that even their bones could be considered as a treasure."

    The rest felt their imaginations go wild with his exnations, they wondered how awesome could that be if they could be like the ones he mentioned. With just their pure and raw strength, they will be able to shatter thends, overturn the seas and even influence the skies. But their imaginations were stopped by Raven''s exnations again.

    "Next is the well known Energy Path. This is the one the our kingdom currently uses and referred to as the Path of Knighthood. It starts as soon as we step into the Soldier Realm. From that point, we no longer use Qi but instead Energy Essences, also known as the Breath of the World. It is said that those who walked through the Path of Knighthood could condense armaments that could elevate their strengths into monstrous levels. It could allow them the face hordes of beasts, defend and entire ce with a solid barrier and those who reached the pinnacle could even influence the Laws of the World for their bidding. The reason why this path is so popr was because it was considered as the ''safest'' way towards strengthening one''s self."

    These people weren''t really surprised about this, they have heard this story already only, Raven''s exnation was clearer and more detailed.

    "Andst but certainly not the least, the mysterious yet fearsome Spirit Path. This might be the most unpopr path ever created because of it''s strict requirements. One of those requirements is that one had to go through the Righteous Bestowal Ritual first before they could even start going through this path." Everyone gasped when he said this. Raven nodded and continued with his exnation.

    "The Spirit Path focuses on Soul and Spirit. A Soul is the container of the Spirit, while the Spirit is the essence of the Soul. Think about it like this, the Soul is the Spirit''s ''body'', while the Spirit is the ''energy'' of the Soul. Neither can exist without the other. It is said that the an expert of the Spirit Path could exist without their bodies. They could also do fearsome stuff like reading a person''s entire lifetime''s worth of memories in just a nce, they could even erase your memories and forge false ones and you wouldn''t know it. They are also capable of killing someone just with their thoughts alone and experts that reached the pinnacle of Spirit Path could use their ''Will'' ording to their bidding."

    "The concept of ''Will'' is mysterious but ording to ancient stories, they exist. Let''s just say this. If a person who reached the upper limits of the Spirit Path used his ''Will'' to protect out Kingdom, then even if we left our walls unarmed, no beasts nor people would dare to attack us. If they do, then they will attract the ire of that expert''s ''Will'' and they would obliterated without any remains left."

    "Remember Jubileus?" Raven saw them nod and continued: "Her opponent at that time was a Supreme, 10-winged Angel, if I''m not wrong, those entities had the strength only second to that of a god." Everyone, specially Luna gasped from his words.

    "But how was she able to fight against the Supreme when she herself is only an 8-winged Angel? That''s because she was a fearsome Spirit Path expert. The swords and chains that she was using as weapons are not material objects, they were born from her thoughts, they were born from her ''Will'' alone. Each of those swords could split a continent in half and those chains could even bind the strongest demons in submission. That is the power of ''Will''."

    Another series of gasp escaped the mouths of his listeners. They shuddered at the thought of evering in contact with a Spirit Path expert. Provoking the ire of a person like this is worse than courting death itself. Those people could erase someone using their thoughts alone! Who in the right mind would provoke them?

    "The reason why I said that it''s a very unpopr path is because it is extremely dangerous. Walking the Spirit Path is like experimenting with your own Soul. If you made a mistake in the Body Path, you''ll just be riddled with physical injuries that will be cured eventually. A mistake in Energy Path could be lethal but at worst you''ll only be crippled and live the rest of your life as a mortal or explode by taking in too much. But for Spirit Path? One mistake and you die without even realizing it, no second chances. This is why the Spirit Path was the first one to be forgotten."

    "Those with Red-grade results on the Talent Measuring Crystals had the strongest potential to cultivate using the Body Path. Those that has Orange and Yellow grade results are more fitted to walk the Energy Path. And for those who walked the Green and Blue grade results has the potential to walk the Spirit Path. The only reason that I think that this became the basis of talent is because one''s awareness to energy. Those who had weaker souls are less aware of the energies in their surroundings which makes it difficult for them to cultivate using the Energy Path, a problem that could be seen Red and Orange ss talents.. Those who had stronger souls are more sensitive to energies which made it easier for them, an advantage of those who are a Green and Blue ss talents."

 Chapter 26 - Spirit Entities: Girls Edition

    ---

    A trace of enlightenment shone in the faces of his peers when they pondered about his words. Based on their personal experiences, they found out that he was right. So the colors only represent the sensitivity of one''s soul to the surrounding energies and that''s it.

    "If that''s the case then, should we focus on Body Path instead of Energy Path? We have Red grade results after all." Mark asked him.

    "Well¡­" Raven smiled and said: "Why can''t it be both?" Mark was stunned and so is the rest.

    "Is it possible!?" Paul eximed, he couldn''t help but to get his hopes up with his words.

    Raven nodded in confirmation and said: "It is possible. Take Jubileus for example, she is an Energy Path expert as well as a Spirit Path expert. Though your cultivations speeds will slow down it will give tons of benefits instead. And for the record, I knew that you''re going to ask that so the techniques I gave you are already suitable for both Body and Energy Path. You''ll be able to see the other parts when you reach Soldier Realm."

    A visible expression of excitement surfaced on both Paul and Mark''s faces when they heard this. It is true that this brother of theirs knows them the best. Though they aren''t able to see it yet, it doesn''t change the fact that they will still be able to see it in the future, and based on how quick they are cultivating, they didn''t have to wait that long. As for the Spirit Path? They didn''t even need to ask about, they knew the concept of ''not biting more that what you can chew''. These two paths are enough for them to reached greater heights that they didn''t even dare to dream before.

    "Now then, it''s time for me to see your Spirit Entities so take out some crystals." Raven looked at the girls and saw them nod. They each took out Talent Measuring Crystals and injected their bloods in it. They waited for the results and when it showed up, Raven took a closer look. He first observed Luna''s and as expected, nothing much changed for her and her Spirit Entity is still Jubileus. He then observed Ellen''s and analyzed her results.

    "If your parent knows what you Spirit Entity is then they would be extremely happy." Raven smiled mysteriously, making Ellen a bit confused, his rification however, sent her heart into a frenzy. "It''s the Vermillion Bird. The very entity that the your n worships."

    Ellen looked unflinchingly at Raven, she was having difficulties on processing the bomb that he dropped. No one could me her though. As a descendant of the Vermillion Sky n she saw tons of records about this mythical beast. Her n literally had an image of a soaring Vermillion Bird on their traditional clothings are even their hairs are colored red. How could she not feel any excitement when she finds out that she was acknowledge by the Vermillion Bird itself?

    "I''ll give you a cultivation techniqueter, let me finish with Anne''s first." He smiled and nodded to Anne, she showed her crystal to him and he analyzed it as well. Then he found the answer.

    "Your spirit entity is called Annarosa''s Bow. If I''m not wrong, then you inherited this from Matriarch Victoria. Also known as the ''Mistress of the Hunt''. You should''ve read some of her legends right?"

    "Of course I did!" Anne eximed in a pitched voice, she then quickly realized that she lost herposure which made her blush, nevertheless her excitement didn''t ceased as she exined: "Back in the day, she was the most fearsome archer that ever existed. One of her legends told that during the attack of arge scaled beast horde, she stood on top of the walls and unceasingly strummed her bow, raining arrows to demonic beasts and killing them in the process. It was said that she alone killed at least 1000 beasts in just an hour of ceaseless attack. What''s more terrific was that none of her arrows missed or even struck humans. And that''s only one of her legends. I could sit here all day and tell stories but I won''t since we have better things to do."

    Aside from Raven and Luna, the rest were impressed by her stories. They knew that she didn''t have to lie about any of this since Raven would be the first one to admonish her, which basically confirmed that whatever she said was true.

    "Okay. Since that''s done, I''ll pass cultivation techniques to you now." Raven lifted his hands and ced them on their foreheads.

    To Ellen he gave her the [Vermillion Transformation Scripture], a technique that is divided into two parts. The Vermillion me Chapter and the Vermillion Spirit Chapter, signifying the dual cultivation for both energy and spirit. If she achieved sess from this technique, then she would be able to produce mes that could even rival the sun''s heat, she could also experience a me Bath Rebirth due to the Vermillion Soul Chapter.

    For Anne, he gave her the [Soaring Feather Scripture], this technique is also divided into energy and spirit. Feather Flight Chapter allowed her to be a friend of the winds, which means that she could move with swift speeds and be highly attuned to it to the point where flying is just a simple task for her. As for the Soaring Spirit Chapter, it allows her to easily target a person and mark them without them knowing about it. If she reaches theter stages of this, she would be able to conjure an invisible arrow that homes and targets the sound, allowing a silent death.

    After giving them their techniques, Raven then turned to Luna and smiled at her. She felt rather embarrassed about it but she epted the technique anyway.

    Despite her gullible and adorable disposition she is rather prideful deep down in her heart. Luna never felt that she was way above her peers because of her Blue grade results, instead she is even more pressured by it since there''s too much expectations from this. But she never uttered any word ofints or whatsoever and train as hard as she could, she even endured the torture of the hairpin all along. Now that Raven rified everything and made his ns rather transparent to them, she was even more determined now to get stronger. Freed from her torture, she would now march towards greatness and prove to everyone that she isn''t just some pushover just because she''s a woman. She would definitely prove that old man wrong.

    What Raven imparted to her was the [Scripture of Immortal Light], what she and the other''s didn''t know is that this technique is a Triple Cultivation Technique like Raven''s [Prime Emperor''s Scripture].

    The technique he gave her was divided into: Ruler Chapter for Body, Virtue Chapter for Energy and the Seraphim Chapter for Spirit. She would be a total powerhouse if she cultivated these at theter stages.

    Others might think that this is a little biased of a move for Raven, in truth this was more of a challenge to her instead of a favor. Dual Cultivation is already a hassle not to mention Triple Cultivation. But Raven knew her talents more that anyone, including Luna herself and he also knew that this won''t really discourage her, in fact she would even be more determined instead.

    The girls started arranging their new found memories in ther brains, the boys used this time to talk about random things while waiting for them to finish. Once they were done, they heaved a sigh and opened their eyes.

    "How''s it?" Raven smiled and asked.

    "Good, the technique you gave opened many doors for me that I didn''t knew existed." Ellen said emotionally. These weren''t light words, Anne and Luna heavily agreed to this as well.

    The techniques that he gave were extremely rare, it followed weird patters and cirction paths that they didn''t even knew before, they tried following it and were surprised on just how they are able to feel their bodies react in a frenzy. Paul and Mark could agree to this as well, and the truth was what they saw was just a part of the whole technique. As long as they be stronger, the full versions will be unlocked in their brains and surely, that would even be more shocking to them.

    Raven nodded his head and asked: "Do you guys have any experiences in handling a weapon?"

    "I do." Ellen replied, "I was trained by my Dad and other cousins with a sword."

    "I do have some experiences with Archery and basic hand to hand techniques." Anne replied.

    "I have trained with sword and shield but what I learned was very miniscule since Grandpa Lee is always busy¡­" Luna sighed as she exined.

    "Alright then." Raven nodded and said: "Follow me to the backyard, let me see how''s your foundations."

    Paul and Mark couldn''t help but feel a little pity for the future fate of these girls when they heard his words.

 Chapter 27 - Cousins Past

    ---

    Paul and Mark''s face often twitched at the sight before them.

    "Ah! That hurts you freaking dummy! This Big Sister will end you!"

    "Tsk¡­"

    "¡­"

    They were now on their backyard where the training equipments or Raven''s creations were ced. Raven gave the girls one simple task, and that is to spar with the wooden dummies that he had set up. And let''s just say that it''s not going hot for them.

    Foundation wise, the girls were much better than the boys (at least their version one month ago). They were able to strike back after they got attacked, but for some reason, Raven isn''t stopping the test even though they have seen enough of what the girls could do.

    Paul and Mark could already see their bruises and their exhaustion but still, he didn''t budged, he remained as an observer. It wasn''t until¡­

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The girls were thrown outside of the line that he moved and got closer to them. The girls were still conscious, although barely. They sat up with difficulty and nced warily at the dummies. Now they knew why Paul and Mark warned them to not step beyond that line upon their visit. Those things could pass for the position of a guard at their homes! These dummies don''t know exhaustion and hits hard! No mercy even fordies.

    The girls saw Raven crouching before them while shaking his head, he heard them say: "Well, at least you something going. But still this is not enough, not by a long shot."

    "This is what you guys do everyday?" Anne asked while massaging her thighs, she grimaced as she felt at least five to six bruises on one leg alone, that''s on top of the one''s on her upper body.

    "Well, for my brothers yes, but the dummies they faced is metal versions of those that had steel weapons. As for me, my training is a bit different from what they do."

    The girls had a sudden shback of what they saw him doing earlier. What does he mean by ''a bit different''? His training is on apletely different level!

    "Paul, Mark, help me out and let''s have them soak in the medicinal bath. You girls should have spare clothing right?" Raven asked and they nodded. He assisted Luna, Paul with Ellen and Mark with Anne.

    They went into the boys'' bathroom and the guys left to let the girls soak in the bath after giving them instructions. Not even five minutes after they left, the girls let out collective gasps that caught each other''s attentions.

    "Oh my! What a wondrous medicinal bath this is!" Anne eximed.

    "Honestly! I could already feel my bruises dissipating and we''re not even five minutes in! I don''t even have to absorb them actively since the process was automatic! This must cost them a fortune!" Ellen said emotionally as she inspected her bruised body.

    "I don''t think so." Luna spoke which caught the attention of the two. "I reckon that this medicinal bath is as expensive as you guys think. I could name at least five ingredients that''s used in here and so far, all of them are extremely cheap. I think the cost would be anyone from 1 or 2 gold cards."

    Ellen and Anne looked at her in shock, they have no doubts about what she said since Luna knew a bit of apothecary. She could casually tell if a herb is harmful or good in one nce. What''s more surprising to them was she can''t actually tell the things that are included in this medicinal bath, which means that she was also out-skilled, probably by Raven, in terms of nt knowledge as well.

    "I''ve been meaning to ask this question for a while now¡­" Anne looked at Ellen and asked: "Why didn''t you tell us that you have a cousin like him?"

    Ellen pursed her lips as she saw Luna was interested in knowing too, she sighed and said: "Would you believe me if I said that I didn''t knew anything too?"

    "Fifty fifty." Anne replied tly, "We''ve known you for a long time and out friendship came to the point where secrets are no so much to any of us. But I also can''t believe that you haven''t notice anything from him as well."

    Ellen let out a dryugh and felt a pang of nostalgia. "He is rather¡­a secretive person when we were kids."

    "There were no days that I saw him sad, he was always smiling and whatever it is that tries to get him down will always fail. It''s like hepletely incapable of feeling any negative emotions at all. And I HATED that so much. I always felt he was mocking me. But boy was I wrong¡­so wrong." Ellen gripped her fists unconsciously as she thought of the past.

    "I also heard¡­" Luna said, "That he was from Burning Heaven n-"

    "Fuck those people¡­" Ellen grunted. Anne and Luna was shocked to a pure and unrestrained rageing off from her face, it has been a while since they saw her like this. Ellen sighed and calmed herself down. "Those bastards! If it weren''t for the fact that they made huge contributions for the kingdom then our n would totally wage war against them!"

    "You could tell us what happen if that would calm you down¡­" Anne reached out to hold her hand. Ellen smiled as a look of thankfulness surfaced in her face.

    "I''m supposed to grow up in the Burning Heaven n, the n of my mom. I stayed there and grew until 8 when an ident happen. A group of the ck Curtain Guild managed to prate the kingdom walls and attacked the Burning Heaven n. In the midst of the fight, someone from the guild found our hiding ce and abducted me. The strength of that person outssed most of the people who were guarding us, the elders were too busy on defending their attacks and backup from the army was far from arriving. In the end, I was taken without much of a fight and became a bargaining chip for the Guild."

    Anne and Luna''s eyes constricted in disbelief, they weren''t aware that she encountered something like this at such a young age too!

    "Of course my parents were fuming in rage, but they also couldn''t really me the n. Why you ask? It''s because they forged a story that they weren''t aware that I was missing. They even said that they thought I was with them, safe and sound. Those fuckers really knew how to act!" Ellen gnashed her teeth in anger.

    "On the other hand, there I was. Scared and trembling in a corner of a dark room. Chains mping my hands and feet, I could still move about but I was far from escaping that ce. Heck! I didn''t even knew what was going on outside! I could only cry and pray in hopes of getting out of there. But those fuckers told me that my mom and dad won''t save me at all."

    "Imagine my surprise when I heard a familiar voice calling out for me on the other end of my cell. It was him. He told me that he was going to free me and escape with me but how could I believe him? But lo and behold, he came with keys, opened up my cell, released my chains and left the ce. Leaving those fucktards none the wiser. A bunch of senile fools not even knowing that an 8 year old managed topletely infiltrate their base and free up their captive without rming them. It was damn waste I didn''t manage to see their dumbfounded faces!"

    "But as we were walking back home, I noticed that he was acting rather¡­weirdly. I got my answer when we came back. He¡­wasn''t smiling anymore, he was angry and it unnerved me to the point of speechlessness. His parents were shocked, my parents were shocked, then angry. Why you ask? Imagine a 8 year old boy, openly cursing the patriarch of his n, calling him Senile Old Fool and bunch of other nicknames. Spouting out the truth of the whole situation along with providing hard facts, all of this in front of a Royal Guard who was stunned into speechlessness as well."

    "You know what''s even more funny? The Patriarch ALMOST killed him right then there. A fully fledged Knight converging his entire cultivation base on an 8 year old child." These words made the two shuddered in horror. Ellen smiled sadly despite of herself.

    "Good thing our fathers were fast to move and shielded him from all of that. The Royal Guard was irked into fury and pped the fool, sending him spiralling out of where he was standing. His dad was mad. He openly said that he was formally cutting ties with the Burning Heaven n. My dad was just as angry as he was and swore on his entire being that the Vermilion Sky n were also cutting ties with the Burning Sky n and were treating them as enemies. That time, my dad was already the first in line sessor of the Patriarch position so his words had weight behind them."

    "The situation called for the Royal Judgement, with the Judges penalizing the Burning Heaven n with 50% of their entire stocks forpensation and 5 years of forced Community Service for their males. My dad wanted them to be exiled from the kingdom but the Burning Heaven n had made some noticeable contributions for the kingdom so it didn''t happen. Still, our emnity is still alive to this very day, but the Burning Heaven n became quiet specially now that his dad became the Hawk and my dad became a Royal Guard."

    "Raven was traumatized by the whole event. He became so silent and I never saw him smile once more. My family expressed their wholehearted thanks for his bravery and wits but it didn''t matter. He wasn''t fine. His parents didn''t me us though, which just really made feel guilty. We searched for healers for him and even asked them to stay with us but they refused.. His family retreated to the Outer Division and found a nice and quiet ce to stay while our family decided to live with our rtives inside the Inner Division, leaving me always guilty about what happen until this day."

 Chapter 28 - Field Trip

    ---

    An eventful week for Raven and his crew passed.

    The girls are now training with the boys everyday. The boys work on handling their steel weapons while the girls polished their foundations.

    Raven provided them another set of advices, particrly to their weapon choices. With Anne as an exception, he made Ellen and Luna try out other weapons to see if they are more suitable with handling other. Ellen picked the standard choice which was a sword, she had received training with this already and she doesn''t feel quitefortable with other weapons ording to her.

    Originally, Luna also intended on using the sword, but she felt an attraction with a spear. Raven saw how her eyes glitter when she picked it up and told her to follow her heart. Then she made an exclusive decision to choose the spear instead of a sword. True that her previous lessons with Old Lee will be a waste but he hadn''t taught her much anyways, what''s more Raven was here to supervise their training and give pointers every now and then.

    With this, the atmosphere on the stone house became quite lively. The girls learned to remove their wariness to these boys, they knew if this continued, then they might be stuck with each other for a very long time so there were no need to develop any hostilities. Despite this however, Anne brought a maid with her so that she will be the one who will help the girls when it''s time to soak in the medicinal bath.

    All in all, everything was going great for them.

    ***

    "You guys prepared?" Paul asked while rubbing his palms, everyone let out a grin and nodded.

    "Well then¡­Onwards! My bravepanions! To the venue we go!"

    The restughed with his antics and decided to move along. Deep down they can''t really me him for being excited since they too share the same feeling.

    Once a year, the Heavenly Cloud Institute had a specific event where it let it''s students tour some important ced of the Kingdom. This event was called Field Trip, and one of the most anticipated event by the students. And today was that day.

    The students were gathered in front of the gates, waiting for them are their instructors along with some staff members as well as enormous carriages that could at least carry thirty people without limiting their movements inside. It was also being dragged by Warhorses, which were known to be the favored ride of the Knights due to it''s endurance, power and stamina. Raven''s group along with their ssmates went on to their carriages and waited for it to move.

    Raven and the rest gathered at the back of the carriage, the scenario was quite strange since there were some vacant seats near them but no one decided to seat on them, creating a division between Raven''s group and the rest of the students. To this, Raven didn''t care and so was the others. They were too busy discussing many things that more important, so much so that they couldn''t be bothered.

    Everybody''s attention was gathered in front upon seeing three peoplee in. It was their instructor Old Lee and two other people beside him. Old Lee cleared his throat and said:

    "Everyone, on my left is Mr. Arnold Song, and on my right is Mr. Jackson Herd, they are tasked by the school as our guard for our travels. Remember that some of the ces that we will visit are dangerous and if I am not present, then you have to obey their instructions. Are we clear?"

    The students nodded at his words. Old Lee then nodded and allowed the other two to introduce themselves properly to the children.

    "Hello everyone, I''m Arnold and you could address me as such. I''ve been in service for at least five years now and just recently became the Vice Captain of Squad 9 under General Fiore."

    Almost everyone nced at Anne at this point, which made the youngdy blush in embarassment. Arnold saw this happen and saw that the General''s daughter was here which made his eyes shine, he can''t help but think:

    ''So that''s why I was sent here! It turns out that Young Missy is in this ss. But shouldn''t Captain be here instead of me? Man, I have to cancel a date just for this and who knows when I would have another vacation like this¡­''

    Arnold retreated and nodded to Jackson, who then introduced himself properly as well.

    "Good Morning everyone, I am Jackson, a Lair Hunting Knight." His words drew collective gasps at the crowd of students, "I''ve been out of the Kingdom for multiple times now and I just recently came back after reporting the recent activities of the Lairs that are close to our location."

    Jackson''s voice was a bit cold yet shy at the same time, this must be due to his upation. Lair Hunting Knights are always exposed to danger, their jobs is to go out of the kingdom and observe the Lairs of Demonic Beasts nearby and report back to the kingdom so that they could be prepared and assume the size of the next horde.

    The outside is cold, unforgiving and extremely dangerous. The kingdom is located beyond a huge patch of forest filled with stray demonic beasts, carnivorous nts, dense fogs andirs that could take someone''s life in a blink of an eye, to top in all off, the base of the ck Curtain Guild is also located somewhere here and this is the path that these Lair Hunting Knights have to traverse. They have to endure this cold and lonely road, and there''s no telling if they will evere back or not.

    Raven''s eyes shed, he then thought: ''It''s been a while Uncle Jack, so that''s what you look like when you aren''t wearing a mask and drifting though the shadows.''

    Jackson was an old acquaintance of his. In his past life, he was missing an arm and always wore a mask. Nevertheless, he was a trustworthy fellow. He was the one who trained him and his brothers despite all of the rumors and disdain of the crowd. He might not be aware of what happened as to why he lost an arm but he will try his best to repay the favors that he got from him.

    After their introductions, the carriage moved and the adults took turns discussing the ces that the ss will be visiting. The field trip willst for an entire week, their first destination is the Heroic Museum.

    It is located at the Inner Division of the Kingdom. Despite beingrge, the carriage moved quickly allowing them to reach the area before it was noon. The crew went down and followed the adults as they went inside the hall.

    Beyond the majestic doors of the hall lies an ancient air filled with solemness. The ce was quiet but it radiates a brilliant aura that made the students a bit suffocated.

    The Heroic Museum is the ce where the remnants of those who fought and contributed to the kingdom, lies. That being said, most who made it here were iconic figures that are very well known to the kingdom.

    "Everyone, wee to the Heroic Museum." A tall and fairdy greeted them. "My name is Jenny, one of the caretakers here and will be your guide throughout your stay. d to be of service!" She said cheerfully.

    Jenny was a sweetdy, she wore some traditional clothing and a pair of sses. She walked and talked patiently while exining every remnants that they encounter.

    "Everyone, this is Patriarch Bruce Violentsun, also well known as the ''Hero of the Sun''." Jenny introduced as she pointed at a portrait behind her.

    "The remnant that you see here is his sword named: ''Sunlight Sword''. He is the patriarch of the Sun Warriors n and fought against a horde of beast that managed to prate our defences, alone. Legends said that he faced at least 100,000 beasts on his own to cover the civilians'' path of retreat towards the Royal Pce. His heroic deeds were carved up to the hearts of many people that''s why his sword remained here to remind everyone of his deeds."

    The eyes of the students gathered shone in admiration. This wasn''t the first time that they heard about Bruce Violentsun and his tales, but seeing his sword up close is another thing on it''s own. The appearance of the sword was simple, linear arm guard that has a image of a sun at the center, straight edge and a handle that was covered in leather. There were signs of rust and dried blood on the surface of the sword which added more to it''s fearsome aura.

    Everyone tried to look closely but something unexpected happened. The sword suddenly reacted, it released a solemnly thick killing intent that caused everyone to go pale. Some students lost footing and slumped to the floor. Paul, Mark and the girls swallowed hard, Raven''s face was dumbfounded and the adults quickly went forward to intercept the aura.

    "What the hell is going on here!"

 Chapter 29 - Errand

    ---

    "What the hell is going on here!?"

    A deep bellow came from behind them. Everyone was startled and looked at their back to see a tall and well built man dding a heavy suit of armor frowning at them.

    "Sir Felix!" Jenny immediately stepped forward and exined, "The Sunlight Sword! Something''s wrong with it!"

    The man grunted and moved forward as well, he joined the adults in defending the kids from the malicious intent of the sword. He summoned his shield and raised it to meet the aura. This proved to help a lot since the kids immediately felt like they regained their bodily functions.

    "What in the world was that!" Paul eximed in a low breath. He clutched his chest and heaved breath of relief.

    "How are we supposed to know if even they¡­" Ellen pointed at the staff, "¡­don''t know as well?"

    Paul''s faced flushed, heughed in embarassment as the rest snickered in his antics. Mark unconsciously looked at Raven, well if someone does have other opinions about this whole matter then it should be him right? Surprisingly, he saw Raven''s face looked like he was in deep thought. Noticing his gaze, Raven looked at him as well but only shrugged, seemingly telling him that he was clueless too.

    "Is their tour of the museum finished already?" Felix looked at Jenny and asked. He saw her nod.

    "Yes Sir Felix, this is thest remnant here at the first floor that they are allowed to see. I''ll escort the kids back to their temporary residence." Jenny saw him nod and no longer paid attention to her. She then shifted her gaze and looked at the frightened kids.

    "Um¡­alright guys, I apologize about that sudden event, we are not aware that something like that would happen. Fortunately, this is thest remnant that you guys are able to see for the first floor. I''ll be escorting you out of the museum and towards your temporary residence. Group up and make sure to pay attention to your fellow ssmates okay?"

    She saw the students nodded which caused her to feel relief. She then started escorting them out of the ce while Arnold, Jackson, Old Lee and Sir Felix dealt with the raging sword.

    The students are to stay a nearby high ss inn, each having their own rooms withplete necessities and the expenses are shouldered by the Institute. Some students decided to have their lunch, some traveled the vicinity of the ce while other preferred to stay at their own rooms.

    Before their group separated, Raven pulled Luna in a secretive corner. She was deeply startled, she was about to scream for help when she realized that it was only him, which caused her to lower her guard. But somehow, realizing that it was only them in a dim and secretive ce, doesn''t help herposure at all, not by a long shot.

    "W-w-what''s the problem?" Her voice was stuttering as she avoided his gaze. This was something that has been bugging her for a while now.

    For some unknown reason, she was having difficulties looking straight into his eyes since each time she did, her heart threatened to leap out of her chest. This feeling was so strange to her. For some reason, she can''t understand why he looks at her like that.

    His gaze was warm, so warm that she felt like he was melting. It was so different from those gazes that she had faced before. Some gazed at her secretively, lustfully, warily, and some were even full of hostility. His gaze however was just kind, caring and¡­friendly? She can''t really exin it properly.

    "¡­listening? Hey! Hey!"

    "Ow!" Luna was startled as she suddenly felt pain in her forehead. She instantly returned to reality, Raven flicked her forehead since she was dazed. "S-sorry about that! I got distracted! What are we talking about again?"

    "I said¡­" Raven sighed and continued: "I have a request that must be done secretly and only you can do it."

    "What request?" She asked, Raven removed something from his arms. It was an old and worn out bandage. He arranged it neatly and ced it to her hands.

    "Give this to Old Leeter." He said with a solemn voice, "Tell him to take it to the Sunlight Sword in the Heroic Museum and hand it to the sword. Remind him to not be seen by anyone, no one aside from us three should know this. Understand?"

    Luna felt the heaviness in her voice, she nodded in agreement but can''t hide her curiosity. "Is the rampage of the Sunlight Sword rted to this?"

    She saw him nod and say: "It is. But it won''t do you good knowing what it is yet. Just give it to Old Lee and pass my message to him. He''ll know what to do."

    Luna nodded and kept the bandage on her spatial ring, she saw Raven move back to the Inn and followed him, with that the group decided to hang out and discuss random things about their trip.

    ***

    Midnight of the same day.

    Old Lee could be seen walking outside of the inn with a deadpan expression and his hands behind him. It looked like he was walking on his yard but in truth, every step of his took him to mind boggling distances. It only took him a couple of steps before he was already standing at the at the general location of the Heroic Museum.

    His eyes moved quickly and with that, he vanished once more. Just that nce allowed him to basically know that defensive perimeters of the entire museum in his mind along with the patrol route of the guards and their superiors.

    It looked his he just skipped but he was already inside of the museum, practically in front of the Sunlight Sword. His expression became a bit strict as he hesitated.

    ''What the hell am I doing?'' He shook his head in frustration.

    Like Raven told Luna, she gave him the bandages and ryed his message to Old Lee. The old man was highly skeptical and tried to get more details but Luna was also helpless as he didn''t give much either.

    ''Come to think of it, that kid was so strange. Way too intelligent, way too strong and way too mysterious for his age. Just who was he anyway?''

    He felt like tugging his remaining hairs out from confusion. He was torn between trusting Raven and killing him to stop this madness.

    He seriously felt like all of the mysterious things revolve around him. He has this knowledge that even someone like him doesn''t know, he could create strange yet highly effective things that none had seen before and don''t even mention his strength, which was far too strong for a kid in his age.

    He had seen him multiple times, he basically stalked his young mistress and her friends whenever they go to his ce. He was shocked to see the way they trained themselves.

    The method he used wasn''t all that crazy, in fact it was simple. So simple yet highly effective. Using constantbat to drill the basics into their body, even going as far as etching the basics at an instinctual level. Old Lee saw those moving dummies who he cursed multiple times because it hurts his young mistress. He saw that weird chamber that shot projectiles of air. And what probably the most interesting creation that he saw, the one that Raven personally uses everytime. Those wooden poles and the automated firing crossbows.

    It would be a total lie if he said he wasn''t interested on those creations, as he had personally witness their capabilities, heck Raven even gave him one which ease his work load by a lot. And that says many things.

    ''Whatever, it''s not like the kid would set me up or something, even if he did, it''s totally reasonable since I the one who doubted his good intentions at the beginning anyway.''

    Thinking like this, Old Lee set up an enchantment around him which seemingly blurred his location. The enchantment created an illusion and also suppressed any sort ofmotion that might happen while he''s here. Can''t have those guards hot in his trails while doing a stealthy errand. After making sure that the enchantment had been sessfully made without any leaks. He produced the bandages from his spatial ring.

    He immediately thanked the gods for making him such a paranoid, because as soon as the bandages were out, the Sunlight Sword automatically red with an intense aura.

    He watched as the Sunlight Sword hovered in front of him,pletely disregarding all of the ''protection from thieves'' mechanism that the staff members created for it. Unlikest time, the aura it radiates wasn''t heavy and malicious, instead it felt like it was singing with joy and excitement, he could only describe it as ''a person meeting an old friend after a long time of separation''.

    Without his consent, the bandage floated off from his hands and glowed with a brilliant light. It wrapped itself to the sword under Old Lee''s dumbfounded gaze and the bandage transformed into a scabbard.

    With a ''click'', the sword hummed a joyful tune and went back to it''s location along with the scabbard. Old Lee''s brain malfunction for a while and could only ask ''How?'' In his mind, knowing full well that only a certain someone could exin it to him.

    He smiled wryly and sighed.. After making an effort to erase his tracks, he deactivated the enchantment and disappeared in silence.

 Chapter 30 - Grand Serenity Pond

    ---

    Before the students left for the next destination on their field trip, an astonishing news exploded in the Heroic Museum.

    The Sunlight Sword suddenly had a scabbard!

    It was the caretakers who manage to find out first and then reported it to the directors of the museum. A hugemotion suddenly ured in the museum, many was puzzled about this scenario, for one they received a report that the sword directed killing intent to the students and suddenly this. They can''t wrap their heads about what happened no matter how they investigated.

    They tried to get the sword to separate from the scabbard only to be met with a ferocious killing intent which was much stronger than what it shown before. Helpless about the situation, they just concluded that the scabbard magically appeared and left it alone. The next batch of students from the institute wereing to visit after all and they can''t afford to dy it.

    Old Lee''s ss were mostly ignorant about the event, they only knew that something happened to the museum but can''t really investigate much, they instead focus on their next destination, which is the Grand Serenity Pond.

    The Grand Serenity Pond had a mysterious origin, it was said that it''s been here for as long as the kingdom was built. The unique thing about it is that it takes a considerable amount of effort to make the pond ripple. Unlike any other bodies of water, the water in the pond is quite viscous. Some legends said that the pond could allow one''s mind to be calm and focused. There''s also some rumors of it helping against evil spirits and give a blessing to those who are worthy. This is why it was named as such.

    The children were excited and discussed amongst themselves. The adults just closed their eyes and rxed throughout the trip. With the impressive speed of their carriage, they managed to arrive at the ce before noon.

    Upon arriving, they were greeted by the receptionist and were escorted towards the ce.

    "Hey¡­" Paul nudged Raven using his elbow. "Do you think the legends are real about the pond?"

    Raven smiled and asked: "Why? You think you''re burdened by an evil spirit?" Paul was gobsmacked and rest giggled. It turns out that Paul was scared of ghosts since ording to him, he always waked up hearing strange noises beside him while in reality, he was just waking himself up with how loud he snores.

    "Alright everyone here we are!"

    The guide caught their attention with her voice, they already arrived at the gates of the pond. "Beyond this gate is the Grand Serenity Pond."

    With that as a cue, the huge wooden gates separated and revealed the Grand Serenity Pond.

    It was surrounded by flora and fauna. The water is clear and there are several rock formations within that could be used to sit or do other stuff. Other than that, there is a tall wooden wall that separated genders, a straw hut where people could borrow some bathing stuff and for safekeeping, an Inn where the students are to rest for the night and some other eye treats as well.

    The student''s eyes were shining, it was then that the guide said: "Wee to Grand Serenity Pond. A ce that is as old as the kingdom itself. King Harold of the Old Era appointed our n as caretakers of this ce and from our ancestors until me, we all grew up and took care of this ce."

    The guide walked and gave the students tour while talking: "Some of you might have heard about the rumors or ''legends'' of this ce, as someone who grew up here, I can guarantee that some rumors that you heard weren''t real." She chuckled.

    "For example. There was a rumor that this pond could give chase evil spirits away and protect those who were worthy. I''m sorry to tell you but that is not real. The source of that rumor was a middle aged man that has a terrible wife. It was said that his wife always berates him and makes him work tirelessly. One day, the man got really tired of it and decided to leave without her knowing, then he came here to rx and soak for a good amount of time. When he left, he found out that his wife was gone and divorced him. Instead of grieving, he was immensely happy instead, saying that ''the pond was really miraculous! I can''t believe that going there managed to chase that evil woman away!'' And somehow, the rumors went exaggerated." Sheughed while recalling the story.

    The students were dumbfounded. Most of themughed along with the woman, it really was a wonder how things change from one mouth onto another. Such is the power of rumors. The guide them told some other rumors were false which garnered collective expressions to the children.

    "As for making one calm and focused, it''s debatable. You see the pond is a creation of mother nature and surrounded by flora and fauna. The environment here is peaceful and serene, which really helps those who are stressed and needed rxation badly. The water''s temperature is always warm, like a gentle embrace of a love one, and it''s density is quite viscous which entuates that feeling even more. Collectively, those things allow one to really rx and find peace and calmness in their bodies. So all in all, it''s not just the pond itself that gives one that sort of feeling but the overall environment too."

    The students were enlightened and agreed to whatever she said. It was alreadyte in the afternoon when the guide and the students finished their tour. She then escorted the students in the inn and told them that they are allowed to soak in the pond. The students hurriedly fixed their stuff and went to the straw huts to exchange toiletries.

    Raven and his group went as well, as the genders are separated, Raven called for a meeting before they went to the pond.

    "I have a task for you guys." He said with a smile in his face. "When we enter the pond, try your best to sink at the very bottom and meditate in there."

    Everyone''s eyebrows rose from his words. "Is there any specific reason as to why?" This was Mark who asked this question.

    "While most of the things that our guide said about the pond were true, there are some things that she omitted or just inly didn''t know about." His voice carried a tinge of mystery behind it. "Stress relief isn''t the only thing that this pond is great for. Heck, that''s just a freebie, the real thing is that this water''s origins are extremely formidable."

    "In reality, the reason why this water is viscous is because it''s no mere water but a tear from a Mermaid Princess." Everyone gasped at this revtion.

    "While it maybe hard to believe, it is true. This whole pond was formed from just a tear of a Mermaid Princess. Merfolk are darlings of the sea, ancient creatures that had an upper body of a human and lower half of fish. They are very hard to locate. The waters around them changes depending in their mood. If they are happy, the waves are gentle and the fishes will dance. If they are sad, the waters are still, lifeless and bleak. If they are mad, cyclones and tsunamis will rise and rock the verynds above."

    "Merfolk, specially those formidable ones, could transform their tails to feet and walk amongst humans, the only downside is that they have to soak their bodies in liquid multiple times to keep up their full human form. I don''t know how someone like them managed to find this ce but I can''t be mistaken. This is water really is the Mermaid Princess'' tear, which would only be shed when they are subjected to overwhelming emotions"

    "Try getting to the bottom of the pondter and sit down to meditate. Don''t worry about breathing, the water''sposition allows you to do that. Calmly breathe and allow the water to engulf you. After which, something magical would happen."

    Raven smiled and walked towards the waters, the group looked at each other and shook their heads. While they were having a hard time believing the stuff he said, they knew that Raven won''t lie at times like this. More informations could''ve been nice but it''s not like he would harm them.

    The girls and the boys separated and exchanged for toiletries. Then they arrived at the pond. Raven, Paul and Mark didn''t waste any time and swam quite far away from where the other students are gathered. They nodded to each other and started to swim down towards the bottom of the pond.. It was quite a challenge for them to keep going but it turns out that what Raven said was real, they could breathe underwater here! With that out of the way, the only thing they need to worry about is the pressure, but it turns out that they were worried for nothing since they hardly felt the pressure of the water, only resistance since the viscosity of the water increased as they swam down.

 Chapter 31 - Harold

    ---

    As Raven sat at the bottom of the sea, he deactivated his defences. He allowed the waters to simply engulf his whole body and make him rx. There was a serene expression in his face like the rest of his group.

    While the others was still reeling to the fact that they were able to breathe underwater, they could also feel their entire body rx. It was an inexplicable feeling. The best description that they could give is that, they felt like they were back to their mother''s womb once more. The waters felt like a gentle embrace, filled with warmth, love and sweetness.

    Eventually, they all fell into a deep sense of emptiness. It was like they forgot everything that they had so far, their identities, their family, their ambitions, and even their memories were pushed all the way back to the depths of their brain.

    One after another, their positions changed from cross-legged to a fetal position. Their bodies were surrounded by gentle ripples that didn''t alert any people. As the state of emptiness washed them, an explosive change were happening in their bodies.

    Technically, a person could only retain Essence Energies on their bodies when they step to Muscle Training Realm since unlike the skin, the muscles are more capable of storing those without any difficulties or the dispersion. But Raven and his crew are just the definitions of ''little monsters''.

    Believe it or not, the girls actually caught up with the boys in terms of cultivation, which made all of them firmly standing at Peak rank Skin Toughening Realm. This was made possible since the girls mainly focused on Energy Path which was fasterpared to the boys who were focusing on their bodies.

    Added the fact that the cultivation scriptures that Raven gave them were top notch, it basically allowed them to do the impossible for someone at their stage. Which was to store up Essence Energy in their skins without worrying about it dispersing. This gave them an absolute edge towards someone on the same stage.

    As the crew remained on a fetal position, the remaining energies on their bodies are going wild. It turns out that the water/tear had the ability to cleanse and raise the purity of their energies.

    While it might not seem very impressive, the benefits of raising the purity of their energies are immense. A purer energy means an upgrade towards the lethality of their ''Battle Arts'' which will show effects if they start to train with one but that''s not the only thing. Since the quality of their energies were raised, their bodies will no longer settle for anything less than that, which means that whenever they absorb Essence Energies in the future, their bodies will automatically convert it into a simr purity as the one''s they have on their bodies. Lastly, the purer their energies were therger the capacity they have and better control they have on it.

    Unfortunately, the crew weren''t aware of these changes on their bodies yet since they weren''t even aware of anything for that matter. It was then that Raven was jolted awake from his state.

    He opened his eyes to see a vast expanse of cosmic wonder. He was startled and shook his head to see if he was hallucinating things. Upon re-opening his eyes, he still remained floating in an empty space and which made him frown.

    ''What''s going on here?'' He thought, he asked himself if he was dreaming and checked. He wasn''t, which didn''t really make his situation any better.

    The scenario in front of him abruptly changed. The cosmic space where he was, twisted and exploded into myriad motes of light. He watched as the spectacle before him shifted and the motes of light formed an picturesque scene of a vast field of grass and endless blue skies. As the scene shifted in Raven''s eyes, he also saw someone standing not to far away from him.

    The man was tall, he stood about 7 foot and 6 inches ording to his measurements. He was d in a golden armor that excludes a majestic aura around him. He had brown hair and eyes, a cleanly shaved beard, sword like brows, healthy wheat colored skin, and stood straight like a spear while he ced both of his hands on his sword that was nted on the ground.

    Raven faintly had an idea who was standing in front of him, but he had to make sure so he walked towards him. As he get close however, the man radiated a fearsome aura that greatly shocked Raven. He instantly knew that this man was testing him so he decided to give him a little surprise.

    He summoned an aura of his own. A great and ominous aura radiated off from his body, this pressure was so monstrous that it made the aura of this person look like a joke.

    The man was shocked, so much so that he had to take a look closely at the child in front of him. His shock was understandable though. Raven knew that only his soul was transported into this ce, and as a reincarnated person, how could a mere remnant soul dare topete with him? Not to mention a mere remnant soul even if theplete version of his soul was here, there is no way that it couldpare to Raven''s soul.

    Raven smiled and proceed to walk towards the man without any fear. Once they were standing face to face, he saluted and said: "Greetings King Harold of the Old Era, or whatever''s left of you."

    The king was shocked again before stopping and sighing in defeat. "This is certainly surprising. I didn''t know that youth nowadays could be this terrifying."

    "Not really." Raven chuckled, "I''m just a little bit special that''s all."

    The king raised his brows and sighed, at least this kid didn''t give him a bad impression. "Would you mind telling me how many eras had passed young friend?"

    "About 7 or 8 eras passed since your death Your Majesty. It is honestly surprising to me that your remnant soul managed tost this long."

    "Well I mostly spent it on slumber. Waiting until the right moment that I find someone that could potentially fulfill a wish of mine."

    "And I''m assuming that I am this person that you are talking about?"

    "Honestly, I''m not sure anymore." Raven raised his brow as he heard him speak like this. "I transported you here since I could feel your potential. But it seems that I managed to caught a bigger fish than what I was expecting. Judging by the prowess of your soul alone, you could definitely erase me depending on your whim."

    "Oh please, you''re overestimating me Your Majesty, even though I have a powerful soul, I don''t dare to use it wantonly, my small body won''t be able to take it." He revealed a helpless smile as he exined.

    "What is your name young friend?"

    "Vendrick Valorheart, Raven''s fine Your Majesty."

    "Oh please stop with this etiquette, you have qualifications to address me by my name casually." The old king smiled and sat down, he gestured Raven to do the same and he did so.

    "Alright Harold. Mind exining me why you left a fragment of your soul here in the Mermaid''s Tear? Oh, I should call it the Grand Serenity Pond since everyone refer to it as such nowadays."

    "Is it now?" Harold was intrigued, he then pondered carefully and said: "Not a bad name if I do say so myself. Cadel might be the one who changed the name."

    "I think so too." Raven nodded. "The records only said that you entrusted him to guard this ce. Your right hand man took it to the next step and even ordered his n to safeguard it as generations pass."

    The old king sighed and said: "He didn''t have to do that. I just want him to build a shelter for this ce and look after it from time to time." Because of his regr slumber, he didn''t really spent much energy observing what was it like outside. He just kept vague knowledge about the tear''s location and performed basic scans of the people who visited the pond.

    "It became a tourist spot actually. People liked it since it was close to nature and the pond helps them relieve their stress."

    "I''m not surprised. Nesha produced this tear when I proposed to her, she felt greatly relieved because she thought I wasn''t nning on marrying her." The old king chuckled in reminiscing.

    Raven let out a gasp of surprise and said: "Well what a breaking news this is! It seems that Queen Neshandra is actually a mermaid! Not just any mermaid either, a Mermaid Princess at that! Oh boy, you are one lucky man Harold. I wonder how the Sea King reacted by this news."

    "Oh he didn''t like it. Not one bit! Hahaha! But what can he do? Nesha threatened to curse the sea and it''s inhabitants if he didn''t let her do as she pleases." The old kingughed at loud as he was reminded on how domineering her dear queen was.

    "Anyways I believe we got sidetracked...."

 Chapter 32 - Fate

    ---

    "Anyways I believe we got sidetracked. I don''t know how long I could stay since too much time had passed. I just want to make a small request."

    Raven stayed silent, signifying that old king to ry his request.

    "I left an inheritance at the cave near the pce. If the location didn''t change from my era, then you should be able to locate it. The cave is hidden on the fifth hill, just look for the white paint that spelled out the words ''Trinity'' and you''ll be at the right ce."

    "I left an item in there, that thing apanied me throughout my travels and provided me with much assistance. My death was rather¡­abrupt, and I didn''t get to pass it down to my descendants. Now, I don''t know if how many descendants of mine are left or if there''s even one. If you could go there, take the item and use it to protect the kingdom. That will be myst wish before I truly disappear from this world."

    King Harold sighed in mncholy, it carried profound sadness and regret. Time was the most ruthless killer that there is. No matter how strong you get nor how much you preserved your dear life, it will constantly erode you to the point that it erases every single thing that you care about: identity, family, wealth, power, descendants. All of those will eventually sumb to time and will be erased as well.

    On the contrary to his sadness, Raven actuallyughed which made the king startled. Heughed for a good while before stopping.

    "So that''s how it is! So you were the one who left it there! Oh fate, how mysterious each of your moves are!" Harold was a bit perplexed as he heard Raven''s words, he thought: ''Is he alright?''

    "Look into my eyes Harold." Raven smiled and instructed. The old king followed only to see a surprising change happen. A golden corona appeared on the child''s eyes. Harold was instantly gobsmacked.

    "Divine Overseer''s Gaze! You¡­" Harold trailed off as he was finding it hard to believe what was happening.

    "That''s right. The Crown is with me." Raven smiled and revealed the truth to the old king.

    "So that''s why your soul is this powerful. It''s because of the Crown! I guess I was using it wrong all this time." Haroldmented a bit but was relieved at the same time.

    "No, you''re wrong Harold. The strength of my soul isn''t because of the Crown, in fact I found it when the kingdom was destroyed."

    "The kingdom was destroyed!?" Harold stood up abruptly from his words.

    "Oops, didn''t mean it that way. Calm down Harold and let me exin." Raven chuckled and gestured for the old king to sit down.

    "The kingdom isn''t destroyed Harold, at least not yet." The old king was bbergasted as he was having difficulty following his meaning.

    "You see, I''m not a regr person Harold, you should know that by now." The old king nodded in agreement, "My soul experienced rebirth. I know everything that might happen in the future if things are to continue like this."

    The old king went speechless. Believe it or not, he was actually waiting for Raven to say that he was joking but it didn''t look like he was.

    "¡­How?" This was all that he could ask after a long period of silence.

    "It''s because of the Ancestral Crown. It was the one who sent my soul back in time."

    ''So Ancestral Crown is it''s name.'' Harold thought to himself.

    "There is so much more to this world than what you could possibly think Harold." Raven continued to say, "All of you were thinking that this kingdom isst haven for humans but none of you have ever wondered beyond this Grand Ancestral ne, the world where this kingdom exist. You haven''t visited the Divine Realm, the true ce where all of the Ascended Humans are gathered."

    "You haven''t faced the real terrors to humans. Abbyssal Devils as we call them. Heck, I bet you didn''t even knew that there are other humans left in this tiny world since you never bothered to look before."

    The old king''s mind was reeling from all of this revtion. He found it absolutely unbelievable yet he could also tell that he wasn''t lying to him at all.

    "How was the kingdom destroyed?" Harold asked.

    "Well you know, usual stuff. Beasts hordes, Curtain and some greedy fuckers that wanted to sit on that moldy throne!" Raven venomously spat while Harold sighed in a defeated manner.

    Raven wasn''t joking when he said ''usual stuff'', that is because he personally knew this as well, in fact this was the very reason why Harold died as well. The ck Curtain Guild managed to prate his forces under his nose, then the beast horde attacked, he left the pce to help with the defence, then he was suddenly cornered by the guild since one of his advisers betrayed him. Then he died.

    "Back then, the size of the Beast Horde was just insane, by my estimations, must be at between 1 to 1.5 million in size. What''s scarier is that the ck Curtain Guild managed to leash them all, making them act like some disciplined army. On top of that, their forces yet again, managed to prate the kingdom''s defences and take root inside. Now we have to divide our forces, and because the kingdom is at decline, it''s destruction was certain."

    "Oh and by the way. Breaking news! That ''Pale Bastard'' managed to leave a seed, and it is now baring it''s fangs." Raven snorted.

    "What!?" Harold was startled once again. He looked intently at Raven and took his silence as a form of confirmation, his face then visibly turned pale as he cursed in a low voice: "Fuck!"

    This wasn''t a good news at all. No wonder the kingdom faced destruction! That ''Pale Bastard'' was quite a force to be reckon with! He had long since forgotten how many times he, a former king, was driven to corner by that bastard over and over again during his reign. He even formed a crusade and personally lead it just to vanquish that bastard but who thought that it managed to leave a seed? He wasn''t even aware that it could do that!

    "Quite a deceiver isn''t it? Fooled all of you. Now it remembers and it''s mad. Given how low today''s kingdom had declined and how tempting the curtain''s enticements are. It will only take few years before the promised date urs."

    The old king grimaced, the poor remnant soul felt like he had gotten visibly older by this news. ''How could this be? Does the Heaven''s want my home to suffer that much? How many innocents have to die before it ends.''

    As the old king felt despair, he felt like he was forgetting something important, just as when he wanted to consult the person in front him, he was once again reminded about something. That something that he forgot.

    ''That''s right! I forgot that this kid in front of me is not a normal person! His soul experienced rebirth! If he knows what''s going to happen then it''s possible that¡­''

    "Rest assured. Leave it to me. I have ns." Raven could somewhat tell what the old king was thinking so he reassured him, the old king in front of him is nothing but a remnant soul after all. He might have a lingering feelings about the kingdom he once ruled, but in truth, his condition is nowhere enough to help.

    "I express my deep gratitude young friend. You don''t understand how much relief your existence brings." The old king lowered his head in gratitude. The Final Haven Empire might not be aware of it yet, but he was d that he met the one who will bring prosperity to his home, he might not be there to see it, but he was sure that there will be day when his home does not need to be afraid of the threats outside.

    Raven smiled, he saw that the old king was slowly fading yet did nothing to stop him. He instead rose and kneeled in front of the humble king, he ced one hand on his chest and lowered his head.

    "Have thy rest King Harold Fylnn Alexander. May you find eternal peace at the other side of the shore."

    The old king shed one final smile of serenity before he truly disappeared. Raven didn''t grief nor cry since he knew that the old king can now rest in perpetual peace. Harold was one of the most benevolent king that had ever ruled the kingdom, he was loved by his people and many will dly follow his footsteps. Even though Raven is technically stronger and more capable that he is, he didn''t hesitate to bow down to give due respect to someone like Harold.

    For all he know, the Final Haven Empire would''ve ceased to exist without him ruling it.

    And since the old king had now departed, the space where his soul was copsing.. He gently willed his soul back to his body and return to the real world.

 Chapter 33 - Muscle

    ---

    As Raven returned to the real world, he felt something amiss on his body.

    He was still submerged into the waters, yet he could barely feel the viscosity of the waters. He briefly examined his body and soon found out what happened.

    He broke through Muscle Training Realm without realizing it.

    Just like the name implies, Muscle Training Realm allows one to infuse their muscles with Essence Energy to make it denser, stronger and tougher. The skin had threeyers that needs to be strengthened by energies before it even reaches the muscles. Once they sessfully allow the energies to travel to their muscles, it will signify that one had already stepped onto Muscle Training Realm.

    Those who had reach this stage could now be considered as strong as a bull. Raven could literally go on a rampage for three hours straight before feeling exhaustion. Of course, there''s also variables to that. Another special thing that people who reached this stage had, was the ability to store up Essence Energy on their muscles. Well, Raven and his crew did something more awesome than this but since the muscles had more mass than the skin, it will be more suitable to store energies there. This also gave them this ability to use ''Battle Arts''.

    As the name implies, ''Battle Arts'' referred to the techniques one could use to deal lethal damage to their enemies. Casting a Battle Art required Essence Energies as fuel, the more practised one is with their battle arts, the more control and the better the execution they have to their techniques.

    Aside from Battle Arts, there''s also ''Movement Arts'' and ''Auxiliary Arts'' existed, allowing more space for a cultivator''s repetoire.

    Raven focused and consolidated his break through. After which, he then rose up from the waters and returned to his room to wait for his crew.

    ***

    "Hot damn! That was quite the experience!" Paul eximed as they entered the room. Mark, and the girls agreed to his words right away, in fact they could still feel the warm embrace of those waters even though they already emerged from it.

    "Not only that, but our Essence Energies got purified as well! How miraculous." Annemented as well.

    Once they stepped inside the room, they suddenly felt an ominous presence that made their hair stood on ends. The boys immediately came forward and summoned their weapons, the girls were a slower by a heartbeatpared to them, nevertheless it was verymendable that they managed to be this alert right away.

    When their vision adjusted, they saw the situation inside the room and became a little dumbfounded. The reason being that they only saw Raven sitting down cross-legged with his back facing them and nothing else. Sensing their presence, Raven turned his head and saw them with their weapons out.

    "Oh hey! Wee back." He said with a in tone.

    "Wee back my ass!" Paul, Mark and Luna said unison. Seriously, who could me them for acting this way. Anyone who entered a room and was faced by that kind of aura will be frightened, it was already admirable that they didn''t faint on the spot and managed to take out their weapons so that they could defend themselves.

    "Can you stop scaring us? What''s up with that ominous aura?" Paul exasperatingly asked.

    "Hahaha, my bad. Gotta give it to you guys for being alert though." Raven chuckled as he turned around to face them. The crew stashed their weapons away and sat with him. Mark, who had been staring at Raven for quite sometime now, suddenly had an epiphany.

    "You broke through?"

    Raven nodded, causing the rest to gasp in surprise. If it weren''t for Mark pointing this out, they would''vepletely missed itpletely.

    "What''s going on then? Isn''t a breakthrough a celebratory news? Then why are you gloomy?" Ellen asked.

    "Oh that? Don''t mind it. I was just having some battle simtions in my head. I got a little too immersed." Ravenughed and waved his hand while exining.

    The rest ruefully smiled at his im. During this short time that they spent with him, they basically developed some sort of immunity to his actions. For some reason, they understood that so long as he''s here, then they will constantly experience all sorts of weird stuff. They don''t even know what to expect and how to react to some of them anymore.

    "So? How do you guys feel?" Raven asked with a smirk.

    "Never been better." Luna answered while smiling, "I never expected that something so miraculous exists here. And to think that it became unknown to many people."

    "Don''t over think." Raven said. "While it might be a shame that not many people knew about this, it won''t take long before they do. Because of our knowledge, we have to be even more careful from our movements, we don''t want our enemies to be aware of us before we could truly grow, we can''t deal with them yet." Everyone nodded solemnly to his words.

    "On another note." Paul interrupted, "Do you guys know where are we going next?"

    Everyone shrugged aside from Luna. "Grandpa Lee told me that we are going to the Beast Domestication Center."

    As she informed them, everyone''s eyes shine in anticipation.

    Just like the name suggests, this ce is where the kingdom raises beasts for their own uses. Because of the sheer size of beasts hordes, some people had an idea to capture and raise their own beasts aspanions in battle.

    This opinion raised many reactions from the crowd. For one, some thought that this was a good idea, fighting fire with fire, which means that the citizens could also use beasts to fight their own. On the other hand, some people thought that this shouldn''t be allowed, since most of the raised beasts could potentially turn over and rampage, bringing destruction to the kingdom from the inside. It''s also the ck Curtain Guild''s specialty to use beasts as a form of attacking so many people thought that they guild''s forces were the one''s who built this ce.

    But so far, nothing proved that the existence of such faculty was dangerous, thus it was allowed to exist.

    ''Beast Domestication Center huh, if I''m not wrong then...'' Raven''s eyes revealed a scheming light, no one managed to notice this which made him grateful. There''s just some things that should stay hidden even amongst the people he trusted the most.

    ***

    The crew stayed up a bitte before falling asleep. Upon waking up the morning after, they all had a simple breakfast and proceed to their carriage.

    Their destination this time is towards the eastern side of the Inner Division.

    Upon arriving there, everyone got to see just how bolstered the defences are in the Beast Domestication Center.

    The ce followed a dome-like shape. It''s walls are made out of string steel and even the guards are wearing heavy armor as they patrolled. The metal gates were huge and everyone who entered inside the center were heavily inspected.

    "Wee everyone! Thanks for paying us a visit. I am the Beast Domesticating Center''s current Chief Director, Maddock Brave. I''ll be personally guiding you to our facility to ensure that you will have the most urate information and safety throughout your stay."

    As they entered, they were greeted by a person who was wearing ab coat. He was wearing a monocle, had spiky ck hair and a messy beard. Raven smiled as he looked at this person.

    ''Some call you a madman while some call you a genius. Either way, it is very good to see you wild and lively again Professor Brave.''

    A hint of mncholy surfaced in Raven''s heart. Maddock Brave was one of the people that he had admired the most during his previous life. He wasn''t strong in cultivation standards, but his cleverness always give him an edge towards the people who were trying to use him. He also tamed many beasts that would do anything to his beck and call so many people won''t try to get on his bad side.

    "It is an absolute honor to meet you Chief Director Maddock." Old Lee greeted, "You didn''t have to personally do this though, we must be consuming a lot of your time."

    "Oh please." Maddock waved his hand and continued: "It''s nothing, to be honest I was actually looking forward to this day. I was the one who escorted the previous batch of students that came in, it would be terribly unfair if I don''t do so in your ss wouldn''t it?"

    "Well, we''ll be in your care then Chief." Old Lee smiled and nodded.

    Maddockughed and beckoned to followed him. The students entered the gate, aside from the Director personally escorting them, Old Lee and the guards that were hired by the institute, there''s also some guards who were trailing behind them closely. These guards are the ones who worked and thus very familiar in this ce.. It seems that the director really cared for the safety of thd students and won''t allow any mistakes to happen.

 Chapter 34 - Beast Domesticating Center

    ---

    As the group proceed to enter the facility, they saw just how massive the size of the Beast Domesticating Center truly was. It won''t be an understatement to call this a sheltered forest at this point. The group heard groans and cries of beasts that was located inside, the saw many security doors, ss windows that are as tough as metals, and different types of beast so far.

    "Before we proceed, we would like to ask everyone to please go through our Protective Measures. Each of you will be given a set of clothes that is specialized to keep the beasts calm with your presence. While this might be a redundant action since most of beasts here are caged in captivity, it will still be of help just in case an emergency happens." Maddock exined as he lead them to a separate room.

    As they entered, the staff immediately moved. They handed out suits to the group and led them to the changing areas. The suit was a ck overall along with some military vests and shorts. There was a faint smell of wood in them which is not really pleasant but doesn''t smell bad either.

    "Sap of a Kind Treant, mostly likely taken from a 50 year old juvenile. Man, Professor really is capable." Raven said as he switched his clothing.

    ''Treants'' are amon existence in the areas around the Final Haven Empire. They were previously just some normal trees who were then injecting with tons of demonic beast blood and managed to condense a beast core. They are inherently wise butpletely immobile. They only way for them to attack is by controlling vines and tree branches to catch their prey.

    ''Kind Treants'' are mostly pacifist, they won''t kill anything unless they a solid reason to do so and would do it in a peaceful manner. They are the wisest bunch and animals and demonic beasts alike loved to gather around them. This is due to the simple reason that wherever these Kind Treants were, the environment would surely be calm, which is thanks to the natural properties of their sap mixed onto the air.

    Chief Director Maddock was the one discovered this at a tender age of 10. If this wasn''t a testimony of his talents, then how about taming a bunch of demonic tigers at the age of 13? Perhaps, only him in this kingdom would be able to pull off such miracles.

    One the students were done changing to their new clothing, they all gathered as a group and Maddock then began the tour inside the facility.

    "Reeenk!"

    The students were suddenly startled as they heard a screech from a distance. Suddenly, a silhouette of something flew andnded on the director''s shoulders.

    "Monkey?" One of the students blurted out once they got the better view of the thing.

    "Oh! Hello Piri. How''s your patrol?" Maddock smiled and asked the monkey. The beast screeched and simrly smiled at him. The directorughed and patted the monkey''s head, he took out a peanut butter jar on his spatial ring and gave it to the beast.

    "Everyone, meet Piri. She is a Four-Armed Spider Monkey, within a few months she will be celebrating her 3rd birthday. Piri, say hi to the students."

    "Ho! Hohaaa! Ho!" Piri waver her free arms and smiled at the students, some saw that her front teeth were stained with peanut butter andughed.

    "Four-Armed Spider Monkey huh. She might look incredibly adorable since she''s tamed but once she bares her fangs, not even a Knight will be able to stop her." Raven murmured as he gazed at Piri.

    Some people managed to hear what he said and immediately, their faces went under a drastic change. They can''t help to nce at the monkey warily now. Of course, Raven wasn''t really nning on scaring them and merely said the truth. Maddock on the other hand managed to hear what he said but showed no changes in his expression. Instead he silently thought: ''Oh? This is new. It looks like someone is knowledgable. How rare.''

    The group once again started to move and the director then began introducing one demonic beast after another and even told them their habits, how to distinguish them, and what are their weaknesses.

    "This is a Red-eyed Predator Mantis. These creatures liked shuffling between shrubs and trees soundlessly and with an incredible speed. Their senses are incredibly sharp, they could smell blood from at least 20 meters away. These ones that we have are just new born, their current strength is about Mid-rank Muscle Strengthening Realm, but if you encounter them outside, then they could kill a Soldier Realm cultivator if he/she isn''t careful."

    This introduction drew gasps from the students, one random student asked: "Isn''t that too high of a jump?"

    "Oh that is nothing." Jackson, who were guiding the students for quite sometime now, suddenly interjected. "While they are weak in terms of frontal assault, remember that, that isn''t the way they hunt for food. They are natural born assassins, and in the wilderness fairness is non-existent. It is to hunt for food to the be hunted as food. If one isn''t careful enough, then death will im them before they could realize it."

    His voice was grim and his words were solemn. No one could refute his words since he is a Lair Hunting Knight who''s job is to deal with the dangers outside of the kingdom.

    "Ugly as it might sound fes but Sir Jackson is correct." Maddock added. "While I''m not sure on how many have fallen to their ws, I bet that it is still a lot. This is why we are trying to do our best to tame them without lessening their bestial instincts. I know that this dangerous but our goal in the end of the day is to ensure thing kingdom, our home''s safety. So do us adults a favor and grow up to be splendid Knights in the future okay?"

    Maddock smiled warmly as he gazed at the children. His words struck a deep chord in their hearts that set their feelings aze. They nodded and the tour continued.

    "Evil-Eyed Lions. A territorial bunch. They are easy to recognize because of their eye colors. Their left eye being ck and their right eye being red. Compared to other lion species, the manes on their necks aren''t as thick, but the unique thing about it is that their manes can transform into sharp spikes as a defensive measure."

    "War Apes. Has ck fur, enormous body size and hairless chests. These fes are a noisy bunch. Before they start fighting, they will smack their chests multiple times which will sound like war drums. The more angry they get the louder and the more intense the sound they produce. In the end, these guys could shatter a man sized boulder in just a punch."

    "Mirage Hawks. One of the most dangerous aerial predators. They are able to merge with their surroundings giving them incredible stealth. Their beaks and ws could pierce boulders with ease and they are able to make a silent assault. These species are mostly seen close to bodies of waters. They have a strange liking to seafood and usually make their nest near them. They usually don''t attack unless the perpetrator is incredibly noisy. They hate noisy ces."

    One after another, Maddock introduced more domesticated beasts in the facility, the students were learning at the same time enjoying the experience. Watching beasts behind ss panels unnerved them at the beginning since they doubted the durability of them. But this was all soon answered when they met a problem child.

    Bam!

    Neat their location, a beast suddenly ram itself against the ss panel, but instead of breaking it, the beasts was the one who was injured instead. It didn''t even manage to leave a scratch nor dent on the ss panel either. As themotion was quite loud, many students looked over and saw what was happening.

    "Oh! It seems that Hopper is too active again." Maddock sighed and smiled ruefully.

    "Hopper?" One random student asked.

    The director nodded and said: "Yes, Hopper. He is a year and a half old ck Panther, a rare breed of beasts. Deadly assassins I will add. Because of their color, they tend to hunt during night time when the visibility is incredibly low. Their eyes could see heat signals, they could hear everything around 10 meter of them, they could also smell blood in a simr radius. Hopper is a problem child. He''s been way too naughty within the past week and honestly, I don''t understand why he''s acting like so."

    Maddock didn''t bother to hide his ipetencies to the children. He might be a genius but he wasn''t omnipotent, he had been trying toe up with a solution to fix Hopper''s naughty attitude for a while now but the panther made him helpless.

    Bam!

    Hopper mmed into the ss panel once more, he groaned and red at the the group. He then started to scratch the ss panel using his paws like a cat would with a hard surface, but Hopper wasn''t using his ws. Everyone stared and wondered what''s wrong.

    It was then that Raven suddenly stepped forward and said: "I think Hopper wants to meet you Sir Jackson."

 Chapter 35 - Life Companion Pact

    ---

    "What did you say?"

    Everyone was startled when they heard him. Maddock raised his brow and Jackson asked Raven to repeat himself.

    "I said, I think Hopper wants to meet you." Raven re-phrased his sentence into a simpler one. But this only made them even more confused.

    "How can you say so?" Chief Director Maddock asked in an amused tone. Raven smiled and pointed at the ck panther.

    "Look." Everyone followed where he was pointing, "He''s staring at you."

    "It''s true!" One random student suddenly blurted out. Everyone could see clearly that Hopper really staring at Jackson.

    "What does it want with me? Does it want to attack me?" Jackson was still confused, it seems like he had forgotten about his seniority to Raven or simply didn''t care at all.

    "I don''t think he wants to attack you. If he really does, then he should be ring at you and wing the ss panel, but look! He is just ''pawing'' the ss and staring at you." Raven stated.

    His ssmates looked at him weirdly. They were finding it hard to understand how could someone like him know about this, even Maddock was shocked about the boy''s attentiveness. Hopper just rammed his head in the ss panels twice and he could already tell what he wants? Not even him could do that?

    Suddenly, Raven stepped forward and crouched in front of the beast. Everyone was startled but since they knew that the ss panels were strong, they he will be safe. Raven smiled and talked with the beast.

    "Hey buddy." His voice were loud enough for everyone to hear. Hopper groaned in response. "Feeling a little bit antsy are you?"

    Raven ced his hand on the ss panel, Hopper''s response was to rub it''s head to where his hand was. Everyone was dumbfounded, they all thought: ''Is this for real!? This dude can talk with demonic beasts! What sorcery is this!?''

    "You looking for him right?" Raven pointed at Jackson who were stunned in ce, watching the spectacle unfold. And to answer everyone''s doubts, the ck panther stared at Jackson for a second before nodding.

    ''Holy shit! It really is looking for him!'' This is what everyone was thinking at this moment, well except for couple of people like Raven, Jackson and Old Lee.

    "Let''s go meet him! Ah! It would be safe if only me, Sir Jackson and Chief Maddock, along with some guards, will go. Come!"

    Raven didn''t even asked for the permission of the director and pulled the still confused Jackson with him. Maddock could only chuckle as he wave his hand and followed the two. Raven smiled at the panther and pointed at the door, Hopper quickly ran towards it, his tail was waving, signifying his excitement.

    As the three, along with some guards, entered the den of the ck Panthers, the rest outside was watching them closely. This is undoubtedly a very rare scene to happen, they want this to bemitted in their memories.

    There''s at least three metal doors that they have to go through first before they could even enter the ce. As the director was with them, their passage wentpletely smooth. Then as thest door opened, everyone became shocked from what happened next.

    Hopper suddenly pounced on Raven, the guards were about to move when Raven raised his hand and instead opened his arms wide open to wee the problem child.

    "Hahahaha¡­" Ravenughed as he was being smothered by Hopper. He was showered with licks all over his face and a warm embrace of the beast.

    Everyone was gobsmacked. The fact that Hopper was literally a real deal Demonic Beast, the kind that attacks their kingdom over and over again, waspletely forgotten at this point. What they''re seeing right now is just a sweet and friendly furry that likes giving kisses and hugs.

    Raven ced Hopper down and calmed him, he then wiped the saliva off of his face and the one''s who followed him here. He then said:

    "Sir Jackson, here. Please sit with us." Raven gestured to his side, Jackson could only smiled wryly and follow his instructions. "Alright Hopper, do your thing."

    The ck Panther groaned and looked at Jackson straight in the eyes. The man was suddenly startled and also found himself unable to extricate himself from the beast''s gaze. Maddock found himself sitting beside Raven as well, feeling a bit perplexed at the spectacle before him.

    "Young friend, would mind exining what''s currently happening? This would truly help us broaden our horizons¡­" His voice was mild and humble.

    "Sure." Raven nodded and started exining. "I''m sure that Chief already noticed but I''ll still point it out. Hopper is not a normal ck Panther." His voice was loud and could be heard even by the ones who were outside of the den.

    Maddock nodded, although it was a mystery to him as to why, he knew that something''s different from the young panther.

    "It is because he unlocked a part of his ancestral memories." While the majority was clueless about what he said, the ones who were aware of what he meant was reeling in shock.

    "Is this true young friend?" Maddock asked, wanting to make sure that he heard him properly.

    "My name is Raven, Chief Maddock. And yes, I believe so." Raven confidently said.

    "The thing that always fascinated me about beasts is that their adaptability to a cruel environment. In my search of knowledge about them, I encountered a document that specifically discussed about some certain beasts inheriting the memories of their ancestors. Though there aren''t much proof to support it, I have always thought that it is highly possible that this document is true. I cannot believe that I will encounter something like this today!" The Chief said emotionally.

    "But I''m confused about one thing young friend Raven." The Chief looked at Raven and said: "If Hopper truly inherited the memories of his ancestors, then why didn''t he be the leader of this pack? ording to the document, the beasts could tell who amongst their brethren unlocked their ancestral memories."

    "That''s why I said it''s only a part of his ancestral memories were unlocked." Raven exined, "Hopper is too young, his body might not be able to support all of the information from the memories. The part that he awakened might contain some of the memories outside of the kingdom and some instinctual talents. That''s why he always wanted to go outside. The reason why he''s looking for Sir Jackson is because he could smell his scent, more specifically, the scent of the outside." Raven pointed out Jackson''s boots.

    Apparently, Jackson was still wearing the same boots that he always wore whenever he travels.

    "I see¡­" Maddock''s eyes were shining, "So since Hopper unlocked a part of his ancestral memories and learned some instinctual talents, his senses were cut apart from the pack. Hopper was able to tell informations just by smelling. And because Sir Jackson here is a Lair Hunting Knight, Hopper caught his scent and want to meet him! Come to think of it, for the past week, we have some people who had the same work as Sir Jackson and each time, Hopper went ballistic. So that''s what''s going on!"

    ''As expected. This dude truly has a calctive mind. Give him one clue and he will figure out the rest. What a monster.''

    "Speaking of which, there was this one time that Hopper had the same agitation but in a different manner." Raven raised his brow and paid attention to the directors following words. "Well, he was still active at that point but it looked like Hopper was¡­mad? I don''t know how to exin it. He was roaring at that guest multiple times that the poor fellow was frightened. What''s more is that, the fellow didn''t even look remotely scary or sketchy. That visitor was just an attendant of some noble." Maddock mumbled to himself.

    Raven''s expression turned somber. He then chuckled coldly and whispered: "Well, well. Their filthy hands managed to get here?"

    Even though his voice was quiet, it was enough for the director to hear. And true to his nature as a genius, he practically discovered what Raven was trying to say here. His expression became a bit ugly yet he hid it instead. Good thing that thest part conversation was only between the two of them, Maddock snorted deep down and said: ''How daring!''

    Their thoughts were broken when Jackson suddenly woken up from his daze. Hopper groaned at him and for the first time, Jackson felt like he could understand what he was trying to tell him. Checking if his thoughts were correct, he lifted his arms and ced it horizontally in front of Hopper.

    Hopper then nodded and bit Jackson''s arm. As the panther drank his blood, Jackson felt that something deep in his soul was formed. As he stared at Hopper, he was stunned to realize that he could totally understand what Hopper was trying to tell him. It was some sort of a telepathic link. Then the link was formed, twopanions are now joined.

    "Congrattions Sir Jackson.. You and Hopper just established a Life Companion Pact."

 Chapter 36 - Hoppers Abilities

    ---

    "Life Companion Pact? What''s that?" Jackson asked.

    It was Maddock who exined everything to the confused man: "Life Companion Pact is some sort of a connection between you two." He pointed at Hopper who''s now nuzzling his head on Jackson''s arm. "It allows you to have a basic understanding for whatever Hopper wants to say."

    Jackson looked at the ck Panther with a soft gaze. He then murmured: "I don''t know if I could take you with me outside though. It''s very dangerous out there."

    "Oh don''t you worry about that." Raven chimed in since he heard him say this. "Hopper, show him the good stuff."

    The ck Panther understood what Raven meant, then in front of everyone''s gazes, Hopper seemingly melted and fused with Jackson''s shadow. Everyone, including Maddock himself, were dumbfounded by this. If no one saw what happened, then they probably won''t know that there is a ck Panther hiding in Jackson''s shadow since they can''t even detect it''s presence.

    "Shadow Fusion! Oh god he unlocked it!" Maddock''s eyes were shining as he looked at Jackson''s shadow. On the other hand, Jackson was feeling very strange right now. He could tell that someone''s behind him and he knew that it was Hopper. He could also tell that he only needed a thought for Hopper to show himself once more.

    "I guess since he''s still young, he could only fuse with your shadow. But if you groom him properly, then he will be able to fuse into anyone''s shadow and his presence will be more hidden. I think he has other skills though." Raven traced his chin.

    Like a cue for Hopper, he suddenly resurfaced and emitted a deep growl. Jackson suddenly felt something weird happening to his vision. On a third person''s view, his left eye pupil became slits, on Jackson''s personal view, his vision became¡­divided. One was his, there was no mistaking about that, as for the other one, it was Hopper''s vision. He was having difficulties focusing with his new vision, but a timely advice from Raven helped him a lot.

    "You might wanna cover one of your eyes whenever that happens. Just so that you could focus a little bit better."

    He followed this advice and when he covered his right eye, all that''s left is the strange visioning from Hopper.

    "Is this the rumored Shared Vision?" Maddock inspected while fixing his monocle. He was staring at Jackson''s eye very closely.

    "Hopper''s gonna be an asset to you when you go outside. Just give him some training before you go, but beware though, since you signed a Life Companion Pact, if he dies, then you lose some of your life span. 1 year of a ck Panther''s life is equivalent to 10 years of a human''s life. So if he dies right now, then you lose 10 and some years of yours. Of course, if you die, then he dies as well." Raven warned.

    Jackson felt a little somber about the warning but he didn''t reallyined much. To be totally honest, Hopper is more than wee toe with him just from the Shared Vision ability, not to mention the Shadow Fusion.

    The life of a Lair Hunting Knight is incredibly lonesome and dangerous. Having apanion that he could ce his trust is already considered as a treasure, not to mention that Hopper will be a great help to his job is a huge life saver. But, to all of this. Jackson had one thing that he''s confused about, and probably his question is the same for Maddock too.

    "How did you know all of this?"

    Instead of answering, Raven instead whistled and magically, a hawk appeared on his shoulders. Maddock and Jackson was surprised to see a Mirage Hawk suddenly appeared.

    "My dad gave me this, we have the same connection as you two. I also read many books containing many lost methods and history that''s why." Raven lied graciously.

    First of all, this Mirage Hawk isn''t his, it was his dad''s who were sent to guard him. Second, not even his dad knew about the Life Companion Pact, while some influential people might have a clue, only he had theplete and correct details¡­well, for now anyway. Finally, he did not have a Life Companion Pact with the hawk, in fact he actually didn''t need to since he could force it to obey all of his orders if he really wanted to.

    "Well, I''ll be damned, if it isn''t the son of Marshal Valorheart. I should''ve known." Maddock chuckled as he realized Raven''s identity.

    Raven only smiled, he then lowered his voice and said: "The less people who hears about the words that I''m about to say, the better."

    Chief Director Maddock''s mood suddenly became solemn, Jackson was once again confused but decided to hear Raven out.

    "Chief Maddock, please write a letter to my dad about the suspicious encounter that we discussed before. The more detailed the better, leave your seal as well so that my dad can confirm your identity. In less than a day, he will send his men to cooperate with you. Also, it would do you good if you scour every corner of this ce to look for something wrong. Those people are most likely trying to frame the Beast Domestication Center to create unrest to the people."

    His words were softly spoken but it contained a severe information. Jackson was starting to follow the conversation while Chief Maddock''s face were getting uglier.

    "Young Friend Raven, do you think it''s the ck Curtain Guild?" As Maddock said this, Jackson suddenly showed a somber expression.

    "Most likely. I don''t know what their target is, but since they are here then it all boils down to one simple thing: To create chaos. Of all the people YOU should know what will happen if this ce went chaotic. All of your hardwork will be wasted, I don''t want to see that specially that this ce is very important to the kingdom. Once they achieve their goal here, then their influence will reach a higher echelons of the kingdom which is going to be bad news to us."

    Chief Maddock and Jackson''s faces were unsightly, it can''t be helped, this move was too dirty.

    "To be totally honest?" Raven added, "I think there''s more to it. Of all the times that they would attack, why now right? Is it a coincidence that they will make a move when some brats from the institutes are out to y? I don''t think so. Makes me feel like were being targeted as well."

    Now this, this words finally made the two shudder with eyes wide open. If what Raven said were to be true, then this made this whole situation more troublesome as it was originally.

    Imagine, a ce where deadly beasts were confined and being domesticated, suddenly became chaotic. Beasts rampaging attacking everyone on sight. Then the students, who had myriad of backgrounds, were also attacked. Now this ce will be the focus of everyones attention and will be penalized for something that wasn''t even at fault. All the while, the ones who nned these things out were just rxing and waiting for the show to unfold, then move and use the chaotic situation to their advantage.

    "What a nasty move." Maddock hissed between his teeth. Even Jackson was grounding his teeth in anger.

    "That''s why it''s better to move as quickly and as discreet as possible." Raven said calmly, "Maybe, we could still turn the situation around. Maybe we could even find their camps, therefore lessening their forces inside our home."

    The two nodded in agreement. Without further ado, Maddock began writing a letter to give to Raven. Meanwhile, Jackson became a bit restless, he too wanted to help specially that this kid in front of him just granted him a fortune.

    "Is there anyway that I could help?" Jackson asked Raven.

    "Of course!" Raven said: "In fact you are crucial to the n. While the Chief is cleaning out this ce, your task is to stay alert and protect us. Later tonight, you can inform Old Lee about the situation and maybe do some covert mission through the vicinity of the area, you Lair Hunting Knights specializes in moving through the darkness so this should be easy for you."

    Jackson immediately understood what Raven wanted to happen so he nodded his head. In fact, if he says that he should do it now, then Jackson will immediately disappear to move. Hesitation isn''t a trait of a Lair Hunting Knight.

    "Okay, let''s pretend that this conversation didn''t happen, specially in front of them. We could say that we are discussing some important traits of your new partner." Maddock said as he finished the letter that he will give to Raven.

    "Pass the letter to Sir Jackson first, he should give that to me secretly, there might be prying eyes here and warn them since my Mirage Hawk is out, my identity isn''t a secret to my ssmates anyway. He could give the letter to meter in the carriage. I''m not being paranoid, I''m just being prepared."

    The two were stunned at first but then his n did make sense, so Maddock gave the letter to Jackson and they all stood up to return to the people outside.

 Chapter 37 - Trouble

    ---

    The ss continued the tour and finished by the afternoon. They then went onto the nearby inn that was reserved for their use and spent the rest of their time doing whatever they wanted.

    Many of Raven''s ssmates were talking about him and the situation that ured inside the Beast Domestication Center. Most of their discussions inside weren''t really a secret to them since Raven allowed them to hear it. As for the other things, he made sure to iste the sound so that only the three of them could hear it.

    As Raven and his crew talked, none of them were aware of the things that''s about to go down after they exited, except for Raven of course since he was the one who started it.

    Speaking of which, Chief Director Maddock immediately moved as soon as the students were out. He, along with his most trusted aides, immediately scoured the whole center to look for the things that the suspicious people left. Unfortunately, even Maddock himself were stumped and can''t point out exactly where the problem lies.

    Feeling helpless, he sent someone to pass a message to Jackson which also contained an invitation for Raven himself.

    Since the resting ce of the students weren''t really far from the center, the message was immediately received by Jackson, who suddenly showed up in front of Raven and his crew.

    "What''s up Sir Jackson? Anything I could help you?"

    Jackson was honestly a little bummed about the way he talks so casually but didn''t really voiced it out.

    "I just have some questions for you about Hopper, mind if we talk in private for a moment?"

    "Sure!" Raven nodded and faced his crew before leaving, he pointed on the floor and said: "I''ll be out for a bit. Behave okay?"

    He sounded like a parent to his friends which also didn''t sit well to Jackson. That''s because he didn''t knew the underlying meaning to Raven''s words, only his brothers could tell what he truly wanted to say, the girls might have a bit of an idea as well. As soon as they left, the atmosphere inside the room became a little strange.

    "Something''s up." Ellen immediately said. Anne and Luna immediately nodded and looked at the boys. Mark and Paulughed wryly since this was a sign that the girls needed exnation.

    "You saw him pointing on the floor before he left right?" Mark asked, the girls nodded, he then continued by saying: "That meant two things. One, he wants us to stay here and don''t leave. Two, he wants us to remain alert. I think somethings about to go down and he doesn''t want us to be in danger."

    "That''s a bit...disappointing. I thought that somehow we could help him out. I mean he helped us out a lot right? It doesn''t sit well to me that we can''t even be of assistance to him." Anne said in a downcast manner.

    "Not only you¡­" Paul chimed in, "It doesn''t sit well for all of us. But what can we do? I don''t want to demoralize anyone but even if we team up against him he could probably defeat us with a handicap. It sucks that we can''t help but I think will just get in his way if he brought us with him. The best thing to do is to do what he says."

    No one said anything after that. All of them had many thoughts in their head but it won''t help with their current situation.

    They''re not dense.

    They knew that they''re incredibly weak right now. What Paul said was urate, they will just get in the way if he brought them along. From here on out, they could only hope that whatever he does, he will be safe.

    ***

    "Young Friend Raven! I apologize for disturbing your rest but we really need your assistance here." Maddock immediately stepped forward and bowed to him. The people behind him were instantly bbergasted by his actions¡­

    A senior bowing to a junior? What in the world was happening right now?

    Raven immediately raised his hand and said: "You don''t have to do that Chief, it''s my pleasure to assist in anyway possible."

    This action left a positive impression to the adults, but their attention was suddenly caught by surprise when the chief suddenly reported everything that they did to the kid. Most of them were confused about the current situation but none voiced out anyments. Due to the amount of time that they worked with Maddock, they already knew his personality. He wasn''t a reckless individual that would casually spit out secrets to someone he doesn''t trust, there should be more story behind this.

    "¡­so that lead us here. Honestly, none of the ces we visited were touched so I don''t have any idea where to look. I also got a reply from you father but he said that it will take a bit of time before his men arrive and I''m afraid we have little time here."

    Raven thought for a bit, he then said: "I understand, let''s skim through the area once more, I''ll see what I could do."

    Maddock nodded and immediately summoned some tamed beasts. They were Warhorses, a powerful breed that could rival a cheetah''s speed and the stamina of a bull, a knights favorite mount. He gestured to Raven signalling to ride with him. Raven leapt and sat on the Warhorse in a stable position which awed many people, nevertheless this wasn''t a time for this so the others gathered simr mounts and went to scour the center once more.

    Unknown to anyone, Raven had the Divine Overseer''s Eyes activated the whole time. Even though they were moving fast, he was still able to see everything in full detail. Raven asked questions from time to time to confirm where they were, although he didn''t really need to since he already memorized this ce like the back of his hand but he did so anyways to cover his ultimate secret.

    While they were riding, Maddock saw that Raven was scribbling through the map as they passed through a ce, he tried sneaking a nce to figure out what it was but he didn''t have many chances.

    "Alright, I have a clear idea of what''s happening now, you could tell everyone to stop now Chief." Raven said. Maddock nodded and signalled the rest to stop.

    They climbed down their horses and gathered up to a circle. Raven was sitting down with the unfolded map in front of him. He then started exining things.

    "No wonder you guys didn''t have many sess, their move was extremely discreet and dangerous." There was a heavy solemness behind his voice. But before he exined even further, he picked up a rock and threw it on a bush nearby.

    When everyone was starting to wonder why he did that, they were immediately silenced by a fierce hissing sound that came from a bush. Vines started popping out and wriggling furiously. It looked like it was trying to grab whoever that disturbed it''s rest.

    Their eyes popped wide open but the unrest just began. The hissing went louder and on the surface of vines, sharp protrusions suddenly appeared like fangs and covered it''s entire body.

    "Flesh Eating Vines! Fuck you ck Curtain Guild!" Jackson eximed and cursed, even Hopper showed up and let out threatening roars towards the vines.

    "Flesh Eating Vines, one of the most dangerous carnivorous nts that could only be seen on the wilderness outside of our kingdom. Since it''s a nt, it has a natural camouge specially when they are around bushes or tall patches of grass. It could produce at least 1000 vines that will restrain and has those sharp thorns that could shred even a crocodile''s skin. It''s lifespan is rtively short specially if they don''t have a stable food source."

    Raven''s textbook exnation sent shivers to everyone''s spine. This is just one of the things that existed outside of their home yet it is already this terrifying. But Raven still wasn''t done with his exposition.

    "Flesh Eating Vines always leave a seed after they die, if a blood was fed on to the seed, another one will grow. It needed at least two weeks for it''s root topletely settle down and it usually does it during nighttime. Once it does, then the poor victims who were caught by it will never see the sun once again. It was clear that someone nted these things here, and by their cement, it seems that they''re targeting the more aggressive beasts as food for the vine since it could tunnel underground. Once it attacks, the corpse of the beast will attract the ire of the pack and they will turn aggressive."

    "If they are aggressive then it will prove difficult to tame them back down. But as the vine will constantly attack, it will put these packs on edge, pushing them to the point of rebelling and making chaos. And once the chaos ensues, then the center will be in danger."

    "See this map? I''ve marked every single camp that had a Flesh Eating Vine within the vicinity. All in all, including the one before us right now, there is at least 17 camps that''s in danger."

    "Fuck!" Maddock could only smash in fist on the ground while his eyes emitted a thick killing intent.. The one''s behind them are shivering in fear and anger as well.

 Chapter 38 - Vine Clearing

    ---

    Everyone here knows that the ck Curtain Guild is a very formidable enemy.

    The sheer amount of attempts they made to upy the kingdom had reached a mind boggling number that nobody could keep track of. But for some reason, the people who are present right now felt like they were getting desperate.

    "Unbelievable! How could they possibly do all of this without us even noticing it?" One random person said while clenching his hand into a tight fist.

    "Well¡­the answer to that question is very simple." Raven smiled wryly.

    No one spoke, everyone here had an idea of what he was trying to say. It is a bitter pill to swallow but they can''t escape the reality.

    Some of their colleagues had betrayed them.

    This is the only usible reason as to why none of them managed to catch the perpetrators in action. If it weren''t for the situation that happened earlier today, then they might not even be able to tell that such thing was happening.

    "Let''s deal with thatter, more importantly, the vine is really pissed off right now." As he said this, another round of hissing from the vines were heard. Everyone summoned their weapons and some people even stood in front of Raven to protect him.

    As some people were about to attack, Raven''s voice rang in their ears. "If you see a pale colored vine, cut it. That should instantly kill it."

    While most of the people were skeptical, Jackson wasn''t one of them. He rushed forward like a phantom towards the Flesh Eating Vine. As the thing sensed him, it sent countless of thorny vines on his way to attack him but Jackson''s movements were erratic, just as when everyone thought that a vine pierced him, they will find out that it''s just an afterimage that was struck and not Jackson himself.

    Meanwhile, Jackson was actually looking for the pale vine that Raven said. This time, he didn''t doubt any of Raven''s words anymore. God knows how many time he had encounter these things outside of the kingdom and each time he will be forced to retreat from it. He had searched for records on how to deal with these things but the one''s he found in the library were iplete, but he did read that it was possible to kill these things in one stroke.

    As he moved between the gaps of the Flesh Eating Vines'' attacks, his eyes suddenly shed as he saw the pale vine that Raven was talking about, iling not far from him. He picked up his speed and shed like a wind, cutting the pale vine in the process.

    The Flesh Eating Vines stopped moving, it''s whole body withered in a speed visible to the naked eye. Everyone was astonishing, even Jackson who did deed was also astonished.

    A carnivorous menace that is a terror outside of the kingdom was killed in one hit.

    If Jackson spread this information towards the other Lair Hunting Knights, it may cause a hugemotion.

    Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they say the thing die. But before they could celebrate, Raven caught their attention: "One camp done, 16 more to go. There should be a seed that''s left in there, you guys decide if you keep it or burn it."

    "Burn it." Maddock didn''t even hesitate for a second. These things could grow just by absorbing blood, he can''t afford to let any mistakes from now on. Jackson also think that this is a good idea so he quickly searched for the seed and decided to burn it.

    Maddock gave out instructions to his subordinates so that they could clear out the remaining camps on the center. Raven showed the marked spots on him map and discussed with Maddock the best way to clear out the remaining vines.

    ***

    "I seriously cannot thank you enough for all of the assistance that you have provided young friend Raven. If it weren''t for your help, then all of my hardwork would''ve been for naught. If there''s anything that I can do to help you, please do not hesitate to send a word to me. I''ll provide all the help I could as well." Maddock bowed towards Raven once more while uttering these heartfelt words.

    "I''ll hold you up to that Chief, but not now. There will be a time for that. Anyways, I should head back now, my friends might be worried about me now." Raven smiled and said.

    Maddock nodded and had some of his subordinates escort Raven and Jackson out of the facility. As he watched them leave his sight, his expression became colder as he uttered:

    "Robert!" A shadow emerged from his back, bowing in salute.

    "Your servant awaits your orders Master."

    "Prepare the Dream Catcher and the Illusion Phantasm. It''s time to smoke out the rats." His orders were cold and absolute, the servant bowed once more and disappeared like a smoke. Maddock then faced the rest of his subordinates and said¡­

    "Spread the word that I''m doing a mass meeting, every personnel of this center should attend and I mean EVERYONE. Failure toply will have them Hunted. Move!"

    ***

    As the dusk emerged, Raven and Jackson were walking down the streets while discussing about the ways on how to ensure that Hopper will grow to adulthood.

    Raven actually gave Jackson a list of things that he could feed to Hopper along with some advices on how to deal withmon dangers outside of the kingdom.

    As Jackson was about to thank him, he was suddenly startled when Raven stopped on his tracks and his whole body radiated a cold feeling.

    "What''s wrong?" He asked, he raised his vignce and warily looked left and right.

    "The Inn is surrounded." Raven said in a frosty tone. Jackson was startled and immediately focused his vision towards the Inn.

    Their current location wasn''t that far from the Inn. Since the path towards it was rather obscured, no one would see them easily as they investigate the ce out.

    "I don''t see anything wrong." Jackson uttered in a low voice.

    "Converge some energy onto your eyes and look at the roof."

    Jackson did what he said and converged some energy onto his eyes. Doing this basically means that he was activating his Energy Vision, a technique that could be done by anyone so long as they have a good control over their energies.

    The scenario changed in Jackson''s eyes now that his Energy Vision was activated. He saw that there were at least 6 to 7 people that are standing on top of the inn''s roof. All of them had a mask covering their faces along with a ck veil and wore all ck attires. He saw that everyone was watching over the vicinity of the inn, possibly waiting for something or someone.

    Jackson''s eyes constricted, he didn''t need to confirm it to anyone, this were certainly ck Curtain Guild''s men! Raven''s prediction was true. The students were truly being targeted!

    "Thankfully, my Hawk saw them before we entered their field of vision." He lied, he didn''t need to use the Hawk for this."I didn''t expect that they will suddenly have this ce heavily guarded. Did they caught news about what happened in the Beast Domestication Center?"

    Raven truly didn''t expect this to happen at all. He started wondering if this scenario also happened during his past life. In fact, he had already messed up the whole timeline eversince he started cultivating. For starters, he wasn''t supposed to be Muscle Training Stage right now, he and his brothers weren''t supposed to be hanging out with Anne, Ellen and Luna. He wasn''t even supposed to be on this trip at all!

    During his past life, he opted to not join this since he wanted to focus on his training, his brothers joined without him and only through their mouths and some gossips he found out the things that happened in during the trip.

    But now, everything was out of ce but he wasn''t really worried about the changes as he was prepared to face them. He decided that it was no use thinking about this now and he should focus on how to deal with the situation.

    "Sir Jackson, are you able to tell their cultivation levels?" Although Raven had a good guess of it, he decided to ask him just to be sure.

    "3 pinnacle Fighters." He meant Marrow Cleansing Realm experts. "The other''s are Knights, two early stage and one Peak Stage a total of six people. But I have this feeling that these aren''t all of them."

    Raven''s guess was the same as Jackson''s. He then quickly formed a n in head to deal with the situation. None of these people are someone he could mess with in a frontal battle so that''s marked out. They could try sneaking in but there are six people who were watching and their senses must be sharp since these people came outside of the kingdom where dangers are ever so present.

    As time goes on, Raven formed one n after another until he finally had a solid n that made him show his fiendish grin.

 Chapter 39 - Scheme #1

    ---

    "The missing kid is here."

    On the top of the roof, where the students stayed for the night, there were several people who wore ck attire along with veiled masks.

    Each of the mask they wore had followed an image of a beast; Eagle, Boar, Snake, Mantis, Monkey, Bear and Tiger. Of course this was to hide their identity.

    "Mantis, go ahead and follow him, make sure you won''t be noticed and if possible, listen as to why he was out for so long."

    "Roger, Tiger." The man that wore a mantis mask nodded towards the man who wore a tiger mask. Mantis disappeared and did what Tiger ordered, the rest went back to watch over the vicinity of the inn to prepare if something went out of hand.

    "Eagle, any luck about the man named Jackson?" Tiger asked as he looked over the man who wore the eagle mask.

    "I haven''t seen him yet. I''ll tell you when I do." Eagle said without looking towards Tiger, Eagle was still keeping an eye on his surroundings.

    "Do we really need to make sure each of them are present in order for us to do our n? I say we make a move now, doesn''t really matter if that persones or not, the n won''t fail anyway." Boar asked Tiger.

    "We can''t do that." It was Snake who interjected "While the n might be good, there might still be some unknown variables. We need to be prepared so let''s just follow it. In the end, if it failed our superiors won''t take it out from us since we just followed the n they made."

    "It would be really nice if you learn a thing or two from Snake, Boar." Tiger sneered and didn''t paid attention to him anymore. Boar red at both of them before going back to his post.

    "Anytime soon and the Beast Domestication Center will be in shambles. Then we take the kids as hostages and create a massive unrest. These stupid citizens will then panic and chaos will start spreading everywhere. Oh, how fun this ce would be if that urs!" Monkey shivered in excitement as he said these words.

    "Yeah, I''m also itching for a good brawl, those pimps back at the camp can''t even give me a good fight." Bear added while gnawing some meat as he watches over his spot.

    Tiger could only shake his head in defeat as he heard the banters of his group. He was starting to doubt the management of the guild for allowing these fools to be a part of his team. Of all the people who came with him here, Mantis and Snake are the only people whom he could ce his trust to. As for the others, good luck for him.

    "Hey, Worm #1 and #2 are back." Monkey screeched while pointing over his spot. Tiger''s ears twitched as he walked over towards his side to confirm the news.

    He saw two people who wore a simr themed outfits as they did but their mask was only painted with ck and had a drawing of a worm with a number beside it. Worm #1 and #2 jumped through the roof and went to their knees.

    "Sire!" Both of them greeted.

    "What''s situation over your side." Tiger asked while his arms were crossed.

    "Reporting to Sire, we saw that aside from a few guards, almost all of the personnel disappeared inside the center. We believe that the vines must''ve started their carnage." Worm #1 reported.

    "Good!" Tiger pped and gathered the attention. "Listen up team! We are about to-"

    "Wahh! The stars are so bright this night!"

    "Eh?" All of them uttered this word as they heard a very unfamiliar voice closely. As they all turned their head towards where the sound came from, they saw a female with a red tinged hair and sparkling eyes staring at the stars in the sky.

    "Your right! It really is a good time to stargaze since the skies are very clear!"

    "What are these kids doing here!" Tiger quietly eximed.

    That''s right. Without knowing where they came from, there were suddenly six kids that climbed to the roof with them. Undoubtedly, this was Raven and his crew.

    As the group were suddenly bbergasted by this new scenario, Mantis appeared beside Tiger soundlessly. Tiger immediately red at him and asked:

    "Mantis! What the hell is happening? Howe these kids are here?" He snarled in a low voice.

    "Beats me!" Mantis said exasperatedly, "As the kid returned back towards his room, I saw the rest of his friends! Apparently they already have ns to stargaze tonight and they literally dragged him out here! I can''t stop it since we can''t blow our cover up!"

    "Damn it!" Tiger snarled once more. "We were about to start our n and now this?"

    "Calm down Tiger." Snake interjected. "Don''t shout, though we have Stealth Marks and a Communication Rune on our masks, it is still possible for these kids to know that we''re here. Let''s think about how we could deal with them first and then once that''s done, we could proceed with the n."

    "It would be really nice if you could learn a thing or two from Snake, Tiger." Boar sneered as he threw Tiger''s exact words back at him. Tiger red at Boar while Eagle appeared between them and also red at Boar.

    "You''re not helping!" Eagle said, Boar sneered and humphed. Monkeyughed, Snake shook his head and Bear only had a deadpan expression on his face.

    "Why do you guys wanted to stargaze anyway? I just came back from a long errand! I haven''t even rested and you dragged me out here." Raven ined'' as he watched over the tantalizing gazes of his friends.

    "Ohe on! Loosen up will you? We''re on a trip! Don''t be so focused in training all the time!" Paul snickered.

    "What''s that had to do with this!" Raven replied and red at him, Mark on the other hand just swung his arms around him and said...

    "Rx! It''ll be alright, this won''t take too long anyway."

    "What are we looking at then?" Anne joined in and asked.

    "We''re gonna look for constetions!" Ellen replied, she pointed at some random bunch of stars and continued: "See those? If you connect them over, they will form a pattern. I believe they are called the Monkey Constetion."

    She was using such a passionate tone that even the unseen people with them couldn''t help but look over to where she was pointing. Without a doubt, the most entranced about this was the man who wore the Monkey Mask. He was deliberately making an effort to search for his own constetion so to speak.

    Without these people knowing, Ellen sneaked a wink over at Raven, to which he then replied with a thumbs up.

    "You''re talking about the constetion that looked like this don''t you?" Raven crouched and used a pen to etch the ''Monkey Constetion'' at the roof. Everyone bunched up and looked over to the symbol he wrote.

    Monkey mask was also about to go when Tiger pulled him back and asked: "Where are you going?" In a whisper.

    "It''s fine! I''m just gonna look over. They won''t know!" Monkey escaped his grasp and hopped over to the children''s side to look over. The symbol made him nod his head in appreciation, it was well written and definitely resembled a monkey.

    "Alright! You guys look for one as well! Our goal is at least six or seven constetions!" Ellen energetically stated.

    "My turn then!" Paul said and started walking over the roof while casually looking at the stars. The unseen people even had to move in order to avoid them, while they weren''t seen nor heard, their bodies are just hidden not gone, if they made contact with someone, that person will feel them, and they definitely don''t want this kids to know.

    "Ooh found one!" Paul excitedly said, "I see the Boar Constetion!"

    And just like Monkey''s reaction, Boar also couldn''t help but be moved when he heard this. He even slightly puffed up his chest like he was saying: ''Hah! Take that you fools! This Boar is mighty, so mighty that there a constetion for me!''

    Raven also drew the constetion on the roof so that everyone could see what the Boar constetion looked like. Again, just like Monkey, Boar also looked over to see what the exact symbol looked like and couldn''t help but to be more proud of the mask he was wearing.

    And just like this, the kids spotted one constetion after another. Coincidentally, they spotted one for each mask that the unseen people was wearing. Raven drew each symbols for the constetions at different spots of the roof and none of them found it weird to begin with.

    "Okay, so we found Monkey, Boar, Bear, Mantis, Snake, Eagle and Tiger constetions! A total of seven!" Ellen said to which the crew nodded in agreement.

    "But we also seen a Worm-"

    "Oh who cares about those filthy things!" Ellen snarled, making Worm #1 and #2 grimace behind their mask. "I say we head back now. I''m quite sleepy after this."

    The unseen people sighed in relief as they heard this. Finally! That only took them thirty minutes before they were done! Once these kids are out of here, they could move on to the n. But as Snake watch the kids retreat, he couldn''t help but to shiver. Warning bells suddenly rang in his ears as he immediately said...

    "Quick! Don''t let those kids escape! Catch them! Hurry up!" Snake urged them, Tiger doubted him but decided to do as he says anyway and rushed towards the kids.

    However, before he could evene close to the kids, he suddenly felt like he mmed into a thick metal door. Before his vision adjusted, he swore that he could hear Paul sneering...

    "Oh, looks like someone finally noticed."

 Chapter 40 - Scheme #2

    ---

    "Took them a while¡­" Ellen said in a deadpan tone.

    "Honestly though." Anne chimed in.

    "They''re strong but pretty stupid." - Mark.

    Raven chuckled while shaking his head, Luna sighed in relief instead.

    Yeah. Everything that they did was staged. From the very conversation, down to the constetion. Everything was yed out just to bait these people in hopes of imprisoning them for capture.

    "You brats! What did you do!?" Boar roared as he charged forward only to face a simr situation to Tiger.

    "No use blockhead." Raven sneered. "If you don''t have the strength of an Oath Knight, then you could only dream of breaking your cage."

    The masked people went ck jawed upon hearing his words. Based from this reaction alone, it''s easy to say that they didn''t have any expert of such caliber on their team.

    "I don''t believe it!" Bear roared, he erupted with a ferocious force that covered his entire persona. Several pieces of armaments surfaced out of nowhere and attached to his body. He then became covered in armor that looked like it was casted from a heavy lead.

    Some of the kids were forced to step back because they felt the sheer strength that Bear suddenly released, at one point they doubted Raven''s words and prepared for the worst possible oue. Bear and the team also saw this and felt their hopes went up, Bear charged and sent a punch towards the kids using his full force. At this point, he didn''t even hold back nor was afraid of killing the kids, what more important is that they get out of this cage and retreat.

    As some of the kids braced for impact, they sighed in relief because of what happened next. As the force of Bear''s strength flew towards them, it met a wall and dissipated like smoke on a windy day. That ferocious strength wasn''t even enough to make the wall ripple.

    Everyone was dumbfounded by this development. No wonder Raven wasn''t panicking at all!

    "See? What did I say? Even if you rampage there all night long, you won''t be breaking that cage." Raven sneered once more.

    Bear, Boar, and Tiger didn''t want to believe it and kept on battering the invisible wall repeatedly with all of their strength. The others didn''t stayed idle. Monkey tried climbing the wall of the cage only to meet a rebound forcing his to stop with his tracks. Eagle tried to fly only to hit an invisible ceiling that sent him crashing down. Mantis shed the roof repeatedly with his ws but saw that he isn''t even scratching the surface.

    Not even ten minutes after their outburst, they stopped and felt the pang of defeat in their hearts. This was too unbelievable. A bunch of kids who can''t even meet their cultivation level, managed to do them in and drive them to point of defeat.

    "Since when?" Many were startled when Snake suddenly asked a question while ring at the kids.

    "Oh you mean since when did we notice your presence?" Raven asked back, he didn''t wait for anyone''s reply before continuing.: "Since I came back. My Mirage Hawk spotted you guys immediately and warned me."

    Snake was startled, he was about to say something when he heard Raven speak again: "Your move is rather ruthless. First you infiltrate the Beast Domestication Center, a ce full of demonic beast, a create a huge chaos using Flesh Eating Vines as a tool. Then when the whole ce is under attack you move here, attack the kids and abduct them to use a trading token to the kingdom. The masses will have a different view about the security of the kingdom because of this, which is what you truly aim for right? While also earning some gold and resources from the kingdom as a bonus. Quite an impressive n really. But it''s just that luck isn''t on your side."

    As he narrated the gist of the events, everyone became shocked once again. His friends was surprised to hear that there was such a deliberate n from the shadows and Raven was one of the people who managed to encounter it. This goes specially for Luna, she had a brief image of what will happen if they managed to seed with this n of theirs, the thought horrified him.

    On the other hand, Tiger and his team were shocked to hear the n, which was made by their superiors, be uttered by a kid. A kid, whom they never knew nor heard of¡­or at least they thought.

    "Hoh¡­so such a movement happen right under our noses without notice? It seems that the ck Curtain Guild is bing desperate." An old and wizened voice suddenly emerged from the kids'' back.

    It was Old Lee, Jackson and Arnold. Neither of the three were smiling. Their faces emitted a thick killing intent that could make corpses jump from their graves

    "Oh, Seniors are here. This means that the rest of the ss are now evacuated onto a safe ce." Raven smiled and faced them.

    "This is all thanks to you young man. I have to say, I''m really impressed by your n. As expected of someone who''s dad is the Hawk." Arnold threw a thumbs up a Raven and smiled.

    Tiger and his team were enlightened. They all thought ''No wonder! He''s the son of that god damned Hawk!''

    "Oh please." Raven waved his hand and shook his head, "I just happen to be knowledgable so that I won''t sully my dad''s reputation that''s all."

    "Still, your n is dangerous. First you send your hawk to deliver a message to us and your friends, notifying us about these people. Then you form a n where you children are to distract them, exposing yourselves into a close proximity of dangerous criminals, just to have your fellow students be evacuated into a safe ce. And to top it of, you even imprisoned them long enough for us toe back. I''m seriously going to have a huge headache making a report out of this.

    Old Lee sighed as he thought about the stress he was about to face, Raven scratched his head in embarassment while chuckling awkwardly.

    "How did you imprison them anyway?" Jackson couldn''t help but ask.

    "Acting." Raven said while shrugging, "I told the guys to act like we wanted to stargaze, then we specifically named constetions after the prints of their masks but in reality the symbols I ced on the roof are a ''Formation'' called ''7 Saint Gates'' which can''t be prated unless one had a strength of an Oath Knight."

    Raven''s n was simple, there was no doubt about that. But just because it is simple, it doesn''t mean that it''s easy to carry out. There were too many variables that needed to be noted, and if it weren''t for the fact that Tiger and his team severely underestimated the kids, then this n might''ve ended up with the crew as a sacrifice.

    "How did you know all of this?" Arnold was extremely surprised about this. He wasn''t expecting such a formidable child was hiding all this time! He then felt a firm hand on his shoulder, it was Jackson saying¡­

    "Don''t ask, don''t tell. He''s a seedling that needs time to mature. Just know that he is on our side so let''s provide him some shade first. For now, we have more important things to deal with."

    Jackson averted Arnold prying gaze off of Raven and redirected it to the criminals. Raven felt a deep gratitude for Jackson since he knew that he was doing this for his sake. He wanted to hide Raven''s identity from the radar of ck Curtain Guild for as long as he could. This proves that he believed in Raven''s potential.

    Fortunately, Arnold caught the bait and redirected his attention, he too understood what Jackson was implying and he thought that it would be better to do what he said.

    "I''ll transfer the Formation to the ground and expand it a bit so that you guys have a room to move." Raven immediately did what he said and everyone suddenly witnessed the criminals float and be transferred on the ground.

    The formation was now unleashed. Seven enormous gates with an etched symbol appeared on everyone''s vision, creating a huge cage which kept the criminals from running away. As the walls expanded to make room, Raven''s hands turned into blur and formed one seal after another.

    This time, he took out several gems from his spatial rings as a medium and formed another massive formation. He threw the gems all over the ce and after he did that to each gem, a huge curtain of aurora formed and covered the entire inn along with the ce where he ced the criminals as well, before dissipating. Just as everyone was preparing to ask, he already answered them.

    "I ced an enchantment called: Lucid Visage Curtain. It masks off any forces along with providing some fake image of the inn''s original appearance. So your guys could go to town and don''t have to hold anything back."

    His words received a collective thumbs up form Old Lee, Jackson and Arnold.

 Chapter 41 - Battle

    ---

    No one said a thing. Old Lee, Jackson and Arnold calmly entered the opening that Raven made and walked in front of the caged criminals.

    Their eyes were filled with killing intent, the criminals prepared themselves since they knew that a battle is going to be really unavoidable.

    "Calm down everyone, there''s only three of them while we outnumber them. Just focus and we will get through this alive."

    As expected of the chosen leader, Tiger calmed his nerves down and uplifted the spirit of his team. This proved to have an effect as the team quickly sobered up and took out their weapons.

    But the really hit them rather hard on this one. Jackson and Arnold alone greatly overpowered their forces. How so? It''s because both of them are peak Senior Knights.

    Skin Toughening, Muscle Training, Organ Refining, Bone Forging and Marrow Cleansing. After an individual reached these stages, he/she will be considered as a ''Fighter'', however the path only starts at that stage.

    Whates after the Fighter stages are the ''Knight Stages'' which consisted by Soldier, Junior, Veteran, Senior, Knight, Oath, and so on stages.

    Tiger himself is a 2-star Junior Rank Knight, while his team just barely touched the Soldier Rank. Arnold and Jackson are both 4-star Senior Knights, which could literally take on a handful of them and won''t even be hurt.

    As they the two shed their cultivation bases, Tiger and his team paled in horror. The pep talk that Tiger did before hand waspletely swept away. What rotten luck was this? There''s tons of people that could be present in this current situation but they just have to be these people who could literally shove their faces in dirt without even breaking a sweat.

    Arnold and Jackson didn''t bother with useless talk, both shed forward and reappeared in front of the team. Arnold held a Morning Star on one hand and a Tower Shield on the other. As for Jackson, he didn''t have a shield but held out two daggers which tips are covered with dark hue, obviously poisoned.

    Bear, Boar and Monkey bore the attack of Arnold. Bear saw the Tower Shield descending towards him. He hurriedly crossed his arms on his chest to tank the attack since he saw Boar and Monkey using the current situation as an opportunity to attack. What they didn''t expect was Arnold feinted his attack.

    Before his shield could evennd on Bear''s body, he stopped and lifted the Morning Star to smash the metal armors of the attackers. The silhouette''s of Boar and Monkey flew and sttered on the walls of the cage, T-posing as they slid down unconscious. Bear''s eye twitched but soon found out that his slight distraction was huge mistake in a high level battle.

    As he turned around to face Arnold, he saw that the Tower Shield was already on his face and it didn''t even took a second before hitting him square in the face and cause him to fly away and experience the same situation as Boar and Monkey had.

    Meanwhile Snake, Mantis, and Eagle were all lying on the ground, weakened and bleeding profusely. Jackson made a quick work out of them. He disappeared in ne sight, and shed their leg tendons with poison covered daggers. The poison wasn''t anything strong, it will only cause them to be paralyzed for a whole day while preventing their wounds from closing up. If these three weren''t treated immediately they will die due to extreme blood loss.

    As for Tiger and the Worms? Well, they didn''t even have time to lift their weapons up to battle. Of all the people they have to underestimate, they chose Old Lee. A huge mistake.

    The instructor just gently appeared in front of them, twisted their necks in a weird position and there we have it. Three unsuspecting criminals, done in by a kind looking old man.

    "Holy¡­" - Paul.

    "Shit¡­" - Ellen.

    On top of the roof, were Raven and his crew were, all of them saw the entire thing happen. It was a quite a spectacle to be honest. Their horizons were broadened by a huge margin even though the fight was over very quick.

    "I didn''t know that Old Lee was such a badass!" Paul said as he recalled the swift actions of their teacher.

    Mark on the other hand focused on Jackson and repeatedly yed the scene of how quick he snapped the leg tendons of his opponents. He figured that it would do him good to study the way Jackson used his daggers and maybe he could do it as well with his short swords.

    "I don''t get it though. These people are criminals, god knows how many people have died on their hands. Our chaperone are obviously stronger than them but they didn''t kill them right away?" Mark spoke his opinions.

    The atmosphere within the group mellowed down a bit. Theypletely understood Mark''s insight, though his thoughts might be ruthless, it is very apt for the current situation. This world isn''t as kind as many thought it would be. Strength is what divides the masses from the predator and the prey.

    They might be kids as of the moment but eventually they will grow up. The whole reason why they were training all along was to protect their home by any means necessary, and for that blood has to be shed. The baptism of killing is something that they have toe to terms with or else, all will be for naught.

    His mindset must also be the cause of his upbringing. Mark came from a military background where his father is a General. His dad used to say: ''Mercy to your enemies is harm to your loved ones''. Without a doubt, Mark looked up to his father all throughout his life and worked very hard to clean his own reputation in order not to bring shame to him.

    Mark felt a solid hand on his shoulders, it was Raven who then said: "Interrogation. Every intel is highly important to us no matter how grand or little it is. This might not be the only their only move so far."

    Mark and the rest shown an enlightened expression. As they turned their attention towards the arena, they saw that the adults had already finished tying up the criminals and were already dragging them out of the cage.

    Raven and his crew climbed down the roof and faced them. By now, some of the criminals had already regained their consciousness and hatefully red at the kids. It was obvious that they were still bitter about the whole scheme of them.

    "Once again, thank you for your help with dealing with these people, this might be a traumatizing event for you lot but remember that you saved tons of people by doing this so be proud of yourselves." Old Lee smiled kindly to the kids as he said this.

    "We only did what we could Professor Lee, it was all Raven''s n anyway, we were just acting ordingly." Anne graciously replied. The rest also agreed to what she said.

    Raven waved his hand and said: "Don''t mention it. More importantly¡­" he pointed at the criminals and continued, "¡­they should be up for interrogation right? "

    "Correct. We have to know if they nned more than this and take action right away." Arnold nodded and replied.

    "Hah! Fat chance! You guys won''t get anything from us so better kill us instead!" Boar defiantly roared. His groans were silenced by a loud p from Hopper''s paws that left scratch marks on his face.

    Raven shed a ''smile'' and crouched in front of Boar. "He there big guy. So you said that we won''t get anything from you right?"

    "Hmph! It''s you kid! Why don''t you untie me so that I can make a soup out of your brains!" Boar roared once more, his face showed seething anger and killing intent.

    Raven was unfazed and instead he ced on hand on Boar''s jaw and plunged his fist down Boar''s mouth. Everyone was dumbfounded by this scene, no one expected Raven to do this action while smiling too.

    Boar was in pain, Raven didn''t hold back in his punch, it was rather unexpected that his punch alone could cause a few of his teeth to fly causing his mouth to be bloody. As Raven retracted his hand from Boar''s mouth, everyone saw that there was a blue bead between his index and middle finger. The criminals were horrified to see this bead, the adults were shocked while his crew was puzzled.

    "This is the source of your confidence right? A poison bead located at the very back of your mouth. I have to give credits to you supervisors for thinking about this little trick. But you are greatly mistaken about the uses of this bead."

    "It is true that if you say anything that will betray the ck Curtain Guild, this bead will melt and instantly kill you. However, they didn''t tell you that if you hadn''t had the chance to spit out anything at all, then this thing won''t be of much help to you now doesn''t it?" Raven nodded to Old Lee and the instructor instantly knew what he meant.

    Like a phantom, his hands tapped the napes of the criminals, it''s force was strong enough to make them spit the beads that Raven had in his hand.. And just like that, the criminals suffered yet another loss from a kid''s hands.

 Chapter 42 - Disciple

    ---

    "Good for you Sir Arnold, you can take these bead and have the Intelligence Department to study it''sponents so that we could also give it to our forces." Raven turned his head towards Arnold and gave him a huge hint.

    Arnold felt like he was struck by lightning and hurriedly took out a case from spatial ring and preserved the poisonous beads so that he could present it upon reporting back.

    "See? This is why I love working with big mouthed individuals. I hardly did anything and they will scramble to give me what I want." He shed a very sweet smile as he looked towards Boar, whose mouth is dribbling with blood.

    Oh how he regretted provoking this little devil. For a second he thought: ''What''s up with these kids nowadays? Is it just me or they''re bing more and more devious like this one in front of me? Damn it Mom! Why did I inherited your ''Big mouthed'' trait!?''

    Just as they thought that Raven was done, well he wasn''t. He looked down on Tiger and said: "Poor you. Thinking that you are the leader of this little group. Must''ve felt quite exhrating right? Oh how stupid¡­"

    "What nonsense are you up to kid!" Tiger felt extremely provoked by his words but got no reply from Raven, instead he saw him crouching down in front of Snake and suddenly, he felt a huge pang of defeat in his heart.

    "Well well¡­" Raven clicked his tongue as he stared at the mask of Snake. "I can''t believe that a little disciple like you will end up here. Quite a big catch isn''t it?"

    Without any further warnings, he ripped the sleeves of Snake. As his wheat colored arm were exposed to everyone, so was a scar that made Old Lee, Arnold, and Jackson shed their killing intent once more.

    "Hoho¡­" Raven stared at the scar and continued: "So you are the disciple of the 5th Emissary huh? But I''m not really convinced though¡­"

    Raven''s hand moved once more and ripped the veil of Snake as well as taking off his mask. As Snake''s face were exposed, this made everyone aside from Jackson and Arnold gasp in surprise.

    "You¡­" Old Lee trailed off, he unknowingly clenched his hand beneath his sleeves as he red hatefully at the face of Snake.

    "I told you didn''t I? You''re marked as well." Raven sneered as spat on the face that he and his brothers seen before.

    That''s right. Snake is the very professor that incited some useless bullies to hinder Raven and his bothers'' way sometime ago. It was also that made the merchant n to smuggle some items inside the kingdom and suggested human trafficking to earn money.

    "I should''ve killed you back then¡­" Snake gnashed his teeth as he hatefully stared at Raven.

    "But you didn''t, so that''s your problem." Raven sneered. "Still it''s quite impressive for you to be able to prate the walls of our home. Mind telling me how you did so?"

    Snake didn''t replied, nothing out of Raven''s expectations really. Raven just smiled, stood up and made suggestions to Old Lee.

    "Give them ''special care'', specifically that one. He knows a lot." Raven pointed at Snake as he gathered his crew back to the Inn.

    Old Lee was silent. He was silently simmering in rage as he realized that he was meddling with criminals all along. His identity might be a secret by he''s also more than an undercover teacher at the Heavenly Cloud Institute. He shared an honest bond with his students and even had friends in the teaching department, but to think that a disciple of the 5th Emissary was casually strolling down the institutes gates without them having any ideas is just a huge blow for him.

    ***

    Now that everything''s gone, the students were now free to return back to the Inn so that they could rest. Most of them were oblivious about what happened but the instructors said that there was a huge infection on the Inn that needs to be cleansed so the students have to move out for a while. This excuse was rather effective since no one really raised a fuss and they just continued on like nothing happened.

    Meanwhile, the three adults were currently missing, probably off to some ce where they were keeping the criminals and also supervising the interrogation.

    Back at the Inn, Raven and his crew were resting, but unexpectedly, of all the people that should be fast asleep now, Paul was still up which is almost a miracle. Raven saw this and sat beside him.

    "I don''t get it bro." Paul''s voice were tinged with sadness, "Why did it have to be this way. Everything would be extremely easy if there''s no infighting."

    "Some people call it Desire, while other people call it Greed. Either of those things are the answer to your question." Raven calmly stated. "Humans are a different breed of species. We''re smart, capable, full of potential and resourceful but we''re not perfect. The moreplicated were are, the more we are prone to sin."

    "Ever since the day that we were created, humans always wanted one thing. And that is Progress. How else do you think we will be able tost up until today? Originally, there''s nothing wrong with this, up until the fact that some people starts to step on someone or pull someone down just to achieve their own ''progress''. The more desperate one gets the more uncaring they are on just many sacrifices they needed to achieve their goals. Eventually, without their knowledge, they became enved by their very own pursuit of ''Progress''."

    "Can''t help it. Some people just wanted everything for themselves, and just because of this ''Desire'' it''s rather difficult to say just how much they are willing to sacrifice just to achieve their results. In simple terms, it''s like a high risk, high reward gamble." Raven exined.

    "Will my old man be alright? You see, if this sort of thing is happening here, then it should also be possible there right? You said it yourself, some people won''t stop for the sake of their goals."

    It was very understandable for Paul to worry like this. After all, his father is the Dean of the whole Heavenly Cloud Institute. The paperwork that he needs to face each day was already enough to make him older that he actually is, and now he also had to deal with this?

    Despite of his father not paying much attention to him, Paul never hated him. It was more like Paul hated himself since he wasn''t able to share the burdens of his father.

    Paul isn''t the brightest kid to the begin with. His knowledge was eptable but nothing too impressive. He also wasn''t the best child ever and he also didn''t inherited the defining traits of his parents, if anything, Paul looked more like his mom instead of his dad. If this wasn''t enough though, he also didn''t inherit their talents which made many people disappointed, even he was disappointed to himself.

    God knows how many times he curled up in a corner of his room and shed tears all by his lonesome. He masked his pain with smile and stupid actions just to make everyone, including himself, believe that he wasn''t the least bit affected by the situation and he could just work really hard to regain his lost reputation.

    "This is so not like you. It''s gross. Being serious and shit isn''t really your thing¡­" Raven inly stated.

    Paul was dumbfounded andined: "Come on dude! I''m trying to be dramatically serious here for a change! Don''t ruin it!"

    "Alright, alright." Raven shrugged, "Calm down will you? There so many things that you didn''t inherit from Uncle Bradley and being intelligent is one of that. He''ll be fine. It''s not like it is the first that he had dealt with this."

    "I hope so too. I don''t want anything to happen to him before I get the chance to flex in his face." Paul snorted and went proceeded to tuck himself in his bed. After exchanging goodnight with Raven only silence prevailed as Raven was left alone with his thoughts.

    Suddenly, Raven spotted another person who''s still awake. It was Luna. Seeing her sat on the railings of the balcony, Raven nimbly jumped down and approached her.

    "What''s up? Can''t sleep?"

    Luna was startled but as soon as she heard his voice, she automatically calmed down and went back to what she was doing before.

    Even though no one spoke, the silence between the two wasforting. It was like a silent acknowledgement of other. He''s here and so was she.

    "It''s weird you know?" Luna stated, "Everyone thought that the reason why ran away from home was because of my sickness, which is partially correct. But the bigger reason was because I felt suffocated in that ce. There a lot of masks that I have to wear, so many things that I have to pay attention to, so many people that I have to be wary of. It was too much."

    "I always thought the outside world is more simple, honest and colorful. s, what a naive thought really. The things that you taught us so far, the events that we faced so far. I didn''t realize that there''s so much darkness in the ce that I once thought was colorful."

    Suddenly, for the first time in this lifetime. Luna stared deep onto Raven''s eyes and said...

    "You already knew that I am a Princess right?"

 Chapter 43 - Lunafreya

    ---

    Raven was dumbstruck by this sudden confession from Luna, nheless he managed to nod to confirm her guesses.

    That''s right, Luna Moonsong-no, Lunafreya Lightshield is the runaway princess of the Final Haven Kingdom.

    "I''m starting to think that nothing escapes your eyes. You''re more terrifying than your dad you know." Luna pouted as she was a bit bummed about theckluster reaction of Raven.

    "Perks of knowing a lot I guess?" Raven smiled wryly and said. "Come to think of it, it''s quite a shocker to know that we are sharing sses with the youngest of the Royal Family. Add the fact that our very own instructor is none other than the Kingdom''s deadliest de, Nightstalker Lee."

    The beloved princess of the kingdom being guarded by the deadliest de. Their identities were truly terrifying to behold.

    "It''s rather rude not to show you my true appearance after revealing my identity. I can''t do that since they will think I''m in danger." Luna lowered her gaze, feeling quite guilty about this.

    "It''s fine." Raven waved his hand, "I''ve already seen it anyway."

    Luna was shocked by his words, she couldn''t help but to ask: "How?"

    "Look closer to my eyes." Raven leaned closer to her. Luna was a bit wary but she knew that Raven didn''t have anything bad in mind, as she followed her instructions, she saw the weird golden circle around Raven''s pupils which made her frown.

    "Eye Technique?" She asked.

    "Yep." Raven said, "Allows my vision to be enhanced and disregard some minor illusions. This is how I knew."

    Luna nodded and they became silent for quite sometime. Raven saw her gazing at the stars that covers the entire kingdom with it''s gentle light. As the wind blew across her face, it made her hair shuffle with it which greatly entuates her beauty in his eyes.

    "You''re a weird one you know?" After moments of silence, Luna spoke with a faint voice. "With your intelligence and strength, you could''ve applied for early graduation and be promoted to the core location of the institute. But you''ve stayed, not only for your brother''s but for us as well. People who does that are very few and far in between."

    Raven smiled and sat beside her, he then looked onto her face and said: "It''s true that I''m smart, intelligent, handsome and strong. Practically, anything that a person could ask for, I already have it." He grinned and slightly puffed his chest out.

    Luna was dumbfounded and reacted: "Yep, including shamelessness as well."

    "True!" Raven nodded which made Luna chuckle, "But even so, I''m only one person."

    There was a slight pause before he continued with his words. "I can''t do it all. Do you think that if I suddenly shown a brilliance that can''t be seen for centuries, the hidden enemies will let me grow up? Hell no! They won''t hesitate to kill me before I even start causing problems for them. Humans could be very sick sometimes and won''t hesitate to go all out just to get what they want."

    These words resonated deep into Luna''s heart. As the darling of the Royal Family, she grew up being surrounded by love, admiration and awe from people around her. But at the same time, she was also surrounded by hounds who loved to scheme and do everything in their power to get onto her ''good-side'' in attempts of reeling her in and using her.

    She was naive and nearly fell for their machinations on multiple asions. If it weren''t for her guardians, she might have met a really bad end by now.

    Luna was forced to wear a mask of someone who wasn''t her in the first ce, all in attempts to dissuade or deter many forces who were targeting her. She also forced herself to make some extreme decisions in order to protect herself and the people she loved.

    "That''s why I stayed. My n is to really bid my time and sweep them clean in one full stroke. Once I have enough strength, I will truly start all of my grand ns."

    "Plus, I really did what you say, then what will happen to you guys?" Raven gave her a deep look, "Like I said earlier, I''m only one person. I need allies, and I chose you guys to be those people. I will help you achieve the heights that you never even imagined before. There will be a time when we will never have to be weary about the dangers outside and we could turn this whole ce into a true paradise where humans can live peacefully."

    Raven''s words shook Luna to the core. Briefly, an image apletely different Final Haven Kingdom shed before her very eyes. A true paradise where peace exists and a ce where humans could truly call home.

    Unknowingly, a burning desire was born in her heart as shemitted this image to very depths of her memory. She swore silently that she will truly work hard to help Raven achieve this grand n of his.

    "Looks like you want to rece the Royal Family huh..." Luna teased. Raven was dumbfounded butughed afterwards.

    "Recing is not in my ns but marrying you is..." Raven whispered in a low voice.

    "What did you say?"

    "Nothing!" Raven panicked a bit, "Well, it''s veryte now so I''m off to sleep. Don''t stay up toote." He didn''t even wait for her to say anything more as he nimbly climbed back to his room and disappeared.

    Luna gaped at how fast he escaped, she shook her head and looked up to the sky onest time. She was thanking the gods above that no one aside from her was present right now because if there was, then they would see a deep crimson blush on her cheeks.

    ***

    Somewhere in the core region of the Kingdom.

    Inside a room filled with darkness, there were several people who are standing in front of a tall ss window, overseeing what''s happening beyond it.

    They wore majestic clothing and were surrounded by people who acted as guards for them. None of them showed any joy at their faces, they were only showing deep anger.

    "Would you kindly provide us with a brief report of what happened?" A tall and fair man asked in a authoritative voice that none had any qualms about.

    "Affirmative." Raven and his crew would definitely be familiar with this voice, this is none other than Jackson.

    "As the ss that we supervised were scheduled to tour the Beast Domestication Center, we managed to uncover a trap that wasid around the ce. It turns out that some people from the ck Curtain Guild managed to prate our forces and ce a total of 18 seeds of Flesh Eating Vines all over the center in order to cause chaos."

    "Their goal was to create malicious rumors to weaken the citizen''s belief towards our forces. With the quick action of Chief Director Maddock, we immediately dealt with the whole situation without leaking the news to the crowd. But it turns out that this is just the other half of their n. As we head back to the Inn where our students are resting, we managed to spot a team of 9 criminals concealed on top of the Inn''s roof. They were nning to abduct the kids and use them as a token of exchange to further cause our citizens to feel unconfident about out management. In the end, we managed to apprehend the force without causing too muchmotion."

    As Jackson finished his report, none reacted. But it didn''t mean that the people present didn''t care about his reports at all. It''s quite the opposite really, this is shown by how much darker and colder their gazes transformed.

    "You said 9 criminals right? Who are the rest inside?"

    "Those who wore ck clothes are the criminals that I''m talking about, as for the others, they are previously working under Chief Maddock''s but gotten apprehended as he made a purge as soon as we solved the problem on the center."

    "Now that I thought about it, they seem to have specifically targeted this ss. You see, in that ss we have Sir Leon''s daughter, Sir Bradley''s daughter, Sir Hawk''s son, Sir Clyde''s son, Sir Raphael''s son and finally my sister. I don''t think that such a coincidence exists..."

    "To follow up with that im Your Highness, please take a look at that person." Jackson pointed out Snake behind the ss wall. "He is a disciple of the 5th Emissary of the ck Curtain Guild, previously he was working with at the outer institute and was even the one who caused a merchant n to conspire with the enemies. Sir Lee could confirm this fact."

    Before the man could say anything, a wizened old man stepped forward and bowed in front of him.

    "I am truly disheartened and embarrassed about this event Your Highness. It is myck of supervision and foresight that caused this whole event to unfold. I am willing to shoulder any punishment that you think is appropriate."

    The old man felt a solid palm on his shoulders, he looked up and saw the man smiling at him and said: "My punishment is for you to tighten up the defences of the institutes. We have to make sure that the only ce where our youth can grow and learn ispletely safe. Are you able to do this Sir Bradley?"

    The old man felt even more guilty but manage to say: "I will do everything in my power to make your wishes happen Crown Prince."

 Chapter 44 - Time Skip

    ---

    Two months passed like a blink of an eye. Many things happened after the night when Luna revealed her true background to Raven.

    For starters, the Field Trip of the students continued and finished ording to the schedule. After the failed schemes of the ck Curtain Guild, nothing happened afterwards, thus allowing the kids to resume their sight seeing tour in peace.

    The criminals were already executed after the interrogation. The people who supervised the whole thing used many ways to extract every single information to them and killed them afterwards by the orders of the Crown Prince. And because the criminals were apprehended in a secretive manner, the whole thing didn''t blew up, which caused the ck Curtain Guild to suffer yet another loss on the hands of the Royal Army, or so they thought really.

    After the Field Trip, Raven and his crew went back to their usual training, but with renewed vigor this time around. Raven''s friends had a rather rude awakening during that time. They caught a glimpse of how dangerous the kingdom truly is no matter how peaceful it looked like on the surface.

    They were pped with the fact on just how irrelevant they truly were no matter how grand their aspirations truly were. They felt so confident about their new found advantage that they forgot just how weak they truly were.

    Now they understood why Raven pushed himself to brink over and over again no matter how painful the process were. Now they understood were his motivations came from, and they found it extremelyughable that they were already thinking of resting and/or giving up while Raven himself never uttered a word ofin.

    The criminals they met could easily p them to death easily if it weren''t for Raven''s help.

    Upon their return, they were changed people, and they proved it by working extremely hard on training. This gratified Raven greatly, since it was also one of his ns to let them realize that the peace that this kingdom shows is nothing but a fat lie, and if they truly were to inherit the mantle of their parents, or they make a name for themselves, then eventually they will deal with this.

    Raven saw how they trained so hard. Their timetables were updated and the group riled up the intensity of their training by a whole bunch, good thing Raven was there to supervise or else they will end up destroying themselves with this heavy duty training.

    And their efforts were rewarded handsomely. Their cultivations practically soared that they caught up with Raven, two days after the Field Trip was over.

    Raven also modified their training and made several more tort-Training Creations for them to y with. Now all of them are firmly standing at the peak of Organ Refining Realm.

    Just like the name suggests, Organ Refining is all about strengthening the Inner Organs of a person. This is achieved through rigorous cirction of energies throughout the body which cleanses them and improve their functions.

    The main targets of this stage are: lungs, heart, liver, brain, eyes and so on.

    As an example, all of them could now hold their breaths underwater for thirty minutes before needing to resurface their respiratory systems were enhanced by that much. Their overall endurance were also extended due to their heart enhancement, since it now pumps blood throughout their bodies vigorously and let them do more work than usual. As for enhancing their livers, this basically raised their immunity to some harmful substances to a significant amount. Enhancing their brain allowed their memories to the be sharper and doubled their thought process. Enhancing their eyes gave them better vision overall.

    Speaking of eyes, Raven actually encountered something surprising as he enhanced it. His eye technique unexpectedly had a breakthrough!

    The [Divine Overseer''s Gaze], the eye technique that is given to the person who inherited the Ancestral Crown, had several stages which are mostly referred to as ''Iris Releases'' and it has a total of five stages ording to what Raven achieved so far. The stages are: Psychometric, Color, Journey, Survey, and Marking Iris Releases.

    The Psychometric Iris Release is the beginning stage, where a golden corona will appear in the pupils upon activation of the technique. It allows Raven to see things in a more detailed manner and could even zoom in at some certain range.

    As for the stage he''s currently in, the Color Iris Release, the golden corona in his eyes will now be present at all times, allowing him to use the Psychometric Iris Release without any having to spend any energy. Aside from this, when Raven activates the Color Iris Release, his pupils will be colored by some sort of glossy film. This is basically an Energy Vision, technically he could already use this before but he had to really push himself to the maximum degree to the point where he would damage his eye meridians, but now that he reached this stage, it would be simpler for him but with the cost of energy.

    Raven could now see energy in his surroundings and identify them by their colors, hence the name of the Iris Release. Normal energies, like the ones they absorbed in the air, are usually colored as pale blue. If these energies were then used as a battle art, then it would turn in a deeper blue color in his vision. Blood energies are red, spiritual energies are white, sinister arts like curses, hex, and etc. are ck. So far, these are all of the the things that he could see.

    The greatest advantage of this eye technique is that it grows along the user, the things that he could see are mostly limited to his own cultivation, as he grow more, each Iris Releases will grow stronger and would provide immense assistance to him.

    ---

    The crew is on a different location now.

    They were on the third floor of the boys'' stone house. Raven asked some people to renovate this entire floor to a single room which he will use for a more advanced way of training.

    Raven spent an entire day to carve Inscription Symbols as well as many gems to etch in the corners and walls of room to finish his creation. What ended up happening, was the entire room transform into some sort of vandalized mess with shiny stones embedded on them, but of course, there''s more to the story.

    Aside from carving and etching stones all day, he also took time to gather as many beast parts as he could, to the point where he basically scoured the entire market just to have as much variety as he could. He ended up with at least 100 type of beast parts which made him satisfied for now.

    The crew is now gathered at the third floor to witness the new creation of Raven.

    "Hey bro, what''s this?" Paul asked as soon as they entered the renovated floor.

    "This is where the we will continue our training onwards. I call this, the Virtual Beast Arena."

    "Sounds fancy. What does it do?" Ellen asked.

    "Simple. It''s a formation that will transfer your consciousness into a virtual arena. You will battle a bunch of beasts until one of you dies."

    Even though Raven talked so casual about it, thest parts of his statement sent shivers to their spine.

    "So we''re will fighting beasts now?" Mark was intrigued.

    "Nope." Raven shook his head, "You will kill, not fight. There a huge difference."

    His words basically confirmed their guesses. It was finally time for them to dirty their hands with blood. Before anyone could ask another question, Raven gave a more detailed exnation about the formation.

    "The Virtual Beast Arena will separate your consciousness from your body, you will find yourself waking up inside an arena and a beast will show up. While this might sound underwhelming since the beasts aren''t real, what you will experience inside will be very close to the reality. This formation needed beast parts like ws, bones, blood, fur, venoms and many other things. The formation then analyzes it''s genes and form a virtual image for you to fight with."

    "Take note that the battle won''t be finished until you or the beast dies. If you killed the beast, great! Move on to the next one. If you were killed, then even if it won''t happen in reality, you will still feel the experience of death. So whatever happens next, will totally be up to you."

    No one spoke and Raven wasn''t surprised about it. In normal days, no sane person will charge towards their own death, in fact no one wants to die. But death isn''t something foreign to the world of Knights. It happened in volumes really, to the point where veterans were jaded about death itself.

    Raven acknowledged their hesitation, this is a very human thing, to be scared of death. But death is something they have toe to terms with to truly be the people that they wanted themselves to be.. And the sooner they let go of their hesitations, the faster they will grow up.

 Chapter 45 - Virtual Beast Arena

    ---

    No one spoke and they were nervous.

    While his friends were busy settling down their nerves, Raven activated the whole formation and stepped inside.

    The whole room was filled with lights, it then formed six door shaped portals, Raven entered one of the rooms and sat down, as soon as he did, the formation did it''s magic and separated his consciousness from his body to transport it to the virtual arena.

    As soon as he opened his eyes. He found himself standing inside an arena which is filled with numerous cages. Collectively, these doors formed a huge dome whichpletely sealed all of his escape paths.

    Behind these cages, were eyes of beasts which showed a scarlet glow, even with his enhanced vision, Raven couldn''t peek beyond the cages to rify which type of beast was hidden. Suddenly, he heard a loud sound behind him, he looked over and saw that a certain cage from the lower part of the dome was opening.

    As soon as the cage was lifted, it was then followed a by a loud bestial roar that echoed in everywhere. Raven heard heavy stomps which also made the earth tremor, as the beast stepped out of the cage, Raven could now tell what type of beast he was about to face.

    "Three-tailed Stone Monkey huh? This should be interesting." He smiled as he saw the beast walk over. Three-tailed Stone monkeys are generally as tall as most humans are. They are very nimble and yful, on top of that their defences are extremely tough because of their innate Stone Skin.

    Since Raven was already wearing his Flexible Fighter Set, he and his enemy basically charged at the same time towards each other. His movements were actually slower than the monkey but he wasn''t entirely worried.

    The monkey leapt and attempted to rip his face off using it''s sharp ws, Raven lifted his palm and did a circr motion with it, intercepting the attack and redirecting it somewhere else. He then followed with a right leg hook, to which the monkey reacted by covering it''s chest with all of it''s tales and curling up like a ball.

    Raven leg hit a tough spot but his limbs were strong enough for him basically neglect the pain. The monkey was forced to a distance which made it screech in anger, Raven wasn''t nning on letting the monkey steal the initiative so after knowing that the monkey escaped his attack, he immediately followed and sent another leg hook but this time, using his other leg.

    The attacknded on the shoulders off the beast which caused it to screech in pain, Raven''s strikes were as heavy as boulder. The monkey skid quite far and kicked up a dust because of constant tumbling from his kick. It didn''t take long before the monkey was back on it''s feet and was already charging towards him once more.

    This time, the monkey''s steps were heavy and it''s tails were wriggling everywhere signifying that it''s mad. Raven simrly charged towards the monkey but there was a slight change in the scenario. He saw rocks flying past him as he ran, he looked carefully and saw that the monkey was using it''s three tails to smash thend on it''s feet while also picking up stones to throw at him. He smiled and thought that this was a clever trick, this type of apes definitely trained their tails to the point where they could use it instead of having it as a weakness.

    Raven nimbly dodged the projectiles while also closing in the distance between him and the monkey, as he went closer, Raven leapt up and somersaulted in the air which totally surprised the monkey. It threw rocks at him while he was on the air but Raven''s defences was strong enough to enable him on ignoring it entirely. With his legs stretched high up, he allowed gravity to do it''s magic and sent a guillotine kick towards the head of the monkey while also covering his entire leg with energy to amplify the effects.

    *Bang*

    The monkey tried defending against that strike but it was too heavy that it caused the bones on the monkey''s body to shatter. Raven''s kick alsonded on the skull of the monkey, firmly ending all it''s struggles and the battle.

    He watched as the corpse of the monkey disappeared, he heaved a sigh of relief and saw that a tform raised in front of him. There was a stone tablet on top of the tform that had a writing with them which said: ''Continue Challenge?'' And below that question were two hand prints that''s colored Green and Red. Green to continue the challenge and Red to leave. Raven ced his hand on the red handprint and his vision cked out.

    Next thing he knew, he woke up and was back to his body. He took time to see of there were something wrong with his body but found out that there was none, so he smiled and felt like giving himself a pat on the back for being such a genius.

    He stood up, went outside of the formation and saw no one there. He raised his brow and took out the main control for the formation, only to see something that made him smile even more.

    "The first step towards real Knighthood, is acknowledging your fears. Great job guys."

    ***

    Few minutes ago.

    "He went in." Paul said as he watch Raven disappear inside the formation.

    "We could see that." Ellen chimed in which caused Paul of roll his eyes.

    There was another brief silence in the area where they were gathered, no one spoke nor moved, it was clear that they''re scared by the idea of dying inside. Surprisingly, someone stepped forward with the intent of going inside the formation.

    It was Luna.

    "Luna..." Anne whispered as she saw her friend walk forward.

    "We have to experience this." She said, "Knowing death is knowing what will be lost if we fail. I can''t let it happen so I have to face this."

    Her words speaks volume to the hearts of everyone around her. All of the were awed by the determination of the little princess. Her identity isn''t much of secret now towards her friends, the girls knew all along, she told Raven first so that only leaves Mark and Paul, who had their suspicions basically confirmed.

    Knowing that she is a princess is one thing, but realizing the responsibilities that she has to face is on another level.

    Luna never thought of fighting for the Crown, because of her previous ''illness'' and her being a female, killed the thought before it was even born. But this doesn''t mean that her responsibilities as a royalty disappeared. Add the fact that she was surrounded with people who were constantly fighting for their home, her fighting spirit was ignited and she became bolder with her decisions and actions. The little pampered princess is nowing of age. If the Pce were aware of this, this will garner many opinions amongst their ranks.

    "What the hell..." Paul chuckled, "If you put it like that, then you''re making us men look bad." He stood up and walked with her. Luna was about to rify her intentions but she realized that Paul''s words had a deeper meaning.

    She suddenly felt a pair of hands sp hers, she looked to her side only to see Anne and Ellen holding her hands while smiling at her.

    "You''re not alone in this fight Sis. We''reing with you." Anne said as she ced a determined expression on her face as well.

    "We can''t let Raven to strut further away from us. We have to catch up." Mark stated as he readied his swords and armor.

    His words received a collective nod from them, they too prepared their weapons and armors. They all had a very serious expression on their faces as they step forward inside the formation and had their consciousness separated from their own bodies.

    As they disappeared within the formation, it was also the time when Raven emerged from it and found out that they disappeared.

    He then took out the main control for the formation and sank his consciousness within. He saw all of them were transported inside arena but unable to see each other. Just like what he experienced, each of them faced a beast but what came out was different for each of them.

    Paul''s enemy is a Ferocious Blood Bear, Mark''s enemy is an Evil-eyed Mantis, Anne faced Headhunting Crow, Ellen faced a Sand Alligator while Luna faced Three-horned Boa.

    The beasts that they facer were incredibly challenging for someone at their level but seeing the brave expression of his friend stopped him from interrupting. He knew that of he stopped them now, then this will undoubtedly wound their ''Warrior Heart'' which definitely not something that he wanted to see.

    He sat down and continued monitoring the fight of his friends.. It was also this moment that a faint glow of silver was flickering behind him.

 Chapter 46 - Grim Experience

    ---

    Inside the formation, the five people arrived at the arena.

    The first thing they did was to admire the the scenery and marvel on how real this feels. They felt like they were truly present at that stage and if it weren''t for Raven saying that only their consciousness is transported, they would really think that the doors they entered earlier were really connected to this ce.

    At the first sound of a gate opening, the tension on their body rose and they vigorously searched to see where the sound came from.

    Paul immediately raised his shield in vignce. His face then became a little solemn as he saw a Ferocious Blood Bear walking out of the cage while snarling at him. As the ground quaked along with the bear''s march, Paul inhaled sharply and decided to meet the enemy head on. While his shield was raised, he too marched forward towards the bear, as soon as the distance shrank, the bear abruptly raised it''s paws, which were the size of Paul''s head, and sent it down in attempts of shredding Paul into pieces.

    Paul''s eyes constricted, he immediately raised his shield and blocked the attack. He was sessful but he felt his body sank and a disbelieving yelp escaped from his mouth.

    He felt like he was struck by a canon, but it was just a casual attack from bear. He looked up and saw the bear wounding up another attack. He yelled: ''Oh hell no!'' On his mind and moved out of the way causing the attack to miss.

    With that sessful dodge, he lifted his spear and thrust it towards the heart of the bear. Paul briefly celebrated when he felt his spear connected but he quickly realized that something wrong, he pulled the spear quickly and moved out of the once more.

    He looked up only to see that his attack didn''t even cause a wound to the bear. He then started panicking causing him to realize that the bear''s attack was alreadying. Though he ended up blocking the attack, he still felt his chest cave in as he skid backwards.

    "Shit¡­is this really an illusion? It hurts like hell!" Paul eximed as he went back on the defensive. Now that he experienced the heaviness of the bear''s strikes, he now doubted his ability to block which dropped his battle prowess by a significant amount. Because of this doubt, he resorted to merely dodging the attacks of the bear while weaving in some attacks here and there. But no matter how much he struck the bear ignored it, seemingly unimpressed by the way he attacks.

    It came to the point where Paul realized that if this sort of situation continued, then he would definitely die in a miserable manner, he was panicking since his pride as a man cannot allow that to happen so he repeatedly cursed and searched for a way to counterattack efficiently.

    In his desperation, his spear struck the foot of the bear. Surprisingly, he felt his spear sank and the sensation of pration.

    He then heard the bear snarl in pain, just beside his ears. It then lowered it''s upper body and opened it''s jaw in attempts of swallowing Paul''s head. Like Raven always told them, ''once you gain the upper hand, don''t let go.'' He then lowered his stance and lifted the shield at his core, with a ferocious charge, he bashed the opened jaw of the bear. The bear ended up with a bloody mouth and lost few teeth in Paul''s retaliation.

    Paul''s body forcefully resisted the impact, due to Raven''s tips, because of his stance the rest of the impact he will receive will go towards the ground beneath him. The constant beating of the steel dummies actually showed a decent result.

    But still, the fight isn''t done yet. Once again, Paul lifted his spear and struck the vulnerable target ording to the avable choices. His spear poked the eye of the bear, as the eye popped like a balloon, the blood of the bear sttered and somended on him, Paul ignored this.

    The bear roared in anger and pain, after whimpering because of it''s lost eye, it''s started a flurry of random attacks, because it''s vision was blurred with the lost eye, the bear didn''t realize that Paul actually retreated causing it''s attacks to be dodged effortlessly.

    Paul once again lowered his body. He started to gather momentum while waiting for the right moment to strike. After it''s rampage, the bear was visibly exhausted, as it slumped on the ground with a loud thud. Paul''s eyes shed and he released all of his gathered momentum through his legs.

    Paul flew upwards like aet, his shield crashed into the bear''s face which caused it to cave in, it even made a few satisfying, bone shattering sounds which was like music in Paul''s ears.

    As the upper body of bear fell with a loud crashing sound, Paul used that chance to borrow the magic of gravity on his spear which was aimed at the head of the bear. The bear raised it''s paws with thest attempt to defend itself but Paul''s momentum was too great. His spear ended up piercing both the paws and the skull of the bear.

    Paul heaved a sigh of relief. He withdrew the spear and roared at the cages with overwhelming provocation. After releasing his pent up stress, he smiled and saw that there was a tform that appeared behind him. He raised his brow and walked step by step towards it.

    With every step that he took, he felt his body grew heavier and heavier. His vision became hazy and he became so weak to the point where he was already limping. He searched for reasons why he was experiencing this and found a rather recent memory that hepletely forgotten.

    "Looks like I celebrated to early."

    This was hisst words before he lost consciousness and experienced his first death.

    ***

    Mark wiped the blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth, he red at the Evil-eyed Mantis in front of him while also not daring to lose his vignce.

    This was the first time that Mark encountered an enemy that was very fast. Not even in the asional sparring with his friends, were there times that someone managed to be faster than him, not even Raven.

    Mark''s clothes were ripped in many ces, his body was also grazed in multiple ces. His wounds were leaking blood continuously and his vision was starting to get somewhat hazy. On the other hand, aside from few scratches, the mantis waspletely fine. It even had the energy to y with it''s food, which will definitely irritate Mark to no end if he knew.

    His eyes constricted as he saw the mantis disappeared after he blinked. He quickly relied on his sharp instincts to block where the attack wasing from.

    Sparks flew from where Mark''s swords and the mantis''s ws met. Mark was once again forced to backwards and another part of his clothes were torn open. By now, hepletely forgot that none of this was real. He truly treated this as life and death encounter.

    Mark breathed in heavily, he felt a sharp pain as he did, it seems that anytime soon his body will lose it''s basic functions. He figured that he gotta step it up or else he will go down without truly doing a serious damage to his enemy.

    Seeing it''s prey struggle at death''s door whetted the appetite of the mantis, it was now drooling obscenely as it charged once more in attempt of beheading Mark.

    Unbeknownst to the it, Mark actually entered a strange state where he already discarded everything and wholly focused on just killing the mantis.

    ''I want to kill.'' Was the only thought present on Mark''s mind right now.

    Primal Lightning Serpents were never a prey. They were predators. Not even knowing how he did it, Mark moved twice as fast as what the mantis was expecting. His movements were quick and urate that he managed to slice off the left w of his enemy in one motion.

    The mantis nked out before emitting a piercing shriek of pain. It red at Mark while also mourning the loss of it''s ws. It''s killing intent were now at full gauge but Markpletely ignored this. There was just one sentence that''s still keeping him alive.

    ''I want to kill.''

    The mantis moved once again but this time it was more vignt. It attempted an attack at Mark''s neck but he didn''t move since his instinct told him that it was a feint, which turned out to be true since the mantis reappeared crouching while it''s ws were aimed at his legs.

    Mark stabbed his sword on the ground which blocked the attack, his other hand them moved like a phantom and hacked the remaining w of the mantis.

    Another shriek from the pain and the mantis were now basically unarmed. It was at this moment that Mark went in for the kill. The mantis screeched in fright as it fled in all over the arena. It became quite confident as it saw that Mark was slower that it but a hair-raising whisper ended the party.

    "Stop running away from your problems."

    One slit on the neck and the head was separated from the body. It was also the same time when Mark''s vision went dark and he saw nothing again.

    Mark now experienced the baptism of his first death.

 Chapter 47 - Bradley

    ---

    While his friends were experiencing their battle inside. Let''s get back to Raven.

    "You there Uncle?"

    Raven turned around and saw the silver flicker, now that he has his eye technique activated this flicker is more like a torchmp for him, incredibly visible. The silver flicker came from a ne, the locket was shaped like a bird and it''s eyes is where the light originated.

    As soon as he asked this question, a figure instantly manifested in front of him. It was man, d in a majestic military robe. The hem of his clothes are lined with a mixture of silver and gold entwining each other, there were two swords hanging by his waist, a badge that depicts the image of the Royal Pce and he wore a strict face which is entuated by a surprised expression.

    He is one of the few Royal Guards who swore to protect the safety of the pce along with it''s residents. Father to Ellen, he is Bradley Redcrest, the true head of the Vermillion Sky n.

    "Long time no see Avi, how have you been?"

    His voice alone was enough to intimidate even the worst criminals. Yet he was wearing a very kind expression right now, aplete opposite of what he sounds like.

    "I''ve been doing fine Uncle thank you for asking. It''s rather rare for you to visit, has the management stopped pulling your leg?" He then gestured him towards the table so that they could sit down and talk, to which Bradley followed.

    "Oh how I wish that such was case¡­" Bradley let out a gritty chuckle and shook his head, "But I''m afraid that it won''t be happening anytime soon. I just received a news while I was on the barracks about what happened to your ss and filed for brief leave so that I can check up on that little brat. Where is she anyhow? And what''s with all this?"

    Bradley can''t hold in his curiosity anymore. In truth, he was actually watching from the moment that Ellen went inside, she always had this habit removing her ne whenever she trained and she always ced it on top of a fresh set of clothing. Bradley already saw Ravening out from those portals and he had so many things to ask.

    "Oh that?" Raven responded and took out the main control for the Virtual Beast Arena. He took out a mirror and connected it through the device. Bradley was startled when he saw how the surface of the mirror changed and showed five different images of Raven''s friends fighting tough enemies.

    "I call this the Virtual Beast Arena. Once you enter one of those portals, your consciousness will be separated from your body and will be transported into the ced that you see in the mirror. There''s a hundred types of beast inside. Kill the opponent and win, goes both ways."

    Bradley was a bit dumbstruck by his exnation and could only stare him in shock. Howe he''d never heard of something like this before? If he was asked to try it, then he would really do since he was curious but at the same time, he wasn''t here for mere curiosity, he was here as a father checking up on her daughter!

    "Hold on Avi! Isn''t this incredibly dangerous? Where did you get this thing?"

    "Rx Uncle, I didn''t get this somewhere since I made it. Yes, while it''s true that this is a little dangerous, remember that only their consciousness is in there, their actual bodies are just behind those portals. Lastly, I only introduced this thing to them, I never told them to enter. It was their own decision to experience it for themselves."

    Raven''s statement were delivered in a cool and collected manner. Bradley can''t help but to raise his brows as he felt that Raven seemed to be a little different from how he was before. Not only that, he said that he made this entire thing? How?

    He was so curious but he felt that it was rather rude to ask Raven about all of this so kept his mouth shut and just watched as his daughter duke it out with a Sand Alligator.

    "She would get killed by that damnation." Bradley shook his head as he saw the beast that his daughter was facing.

    For a parent, it hurts to see your own child get hurt, specially to a father that spoiled his little daughter like a princess. But he knew that he won''t be around forever to hide her behind, he will eventually pass and she will have to face this difficulties along the way.

    "You might wanna watch until the end Uncle. Us brats haven''t been idle you know." Raven smiled as he prepared some tea on the side. Bradley raised his brow and was about to ask when suddenly he heard his daughter''s rather¡­strongnguage.

    "You freak of a reptile! You dare hurt this Big Sister!? Come do that shit one more time and you''ll get it!"

    "Stop with all of diving and shit! Come up and face me coward!!"

    "Haha! How''s that for a change huh! Try and dive again with one less limb you piece of crap!!!"

    Bradley''s face sank, ck lines could be seen looming over his head while Raven justughed at the side. But now that he looked at it closely, he was surprised to see that his daughter actually managed to fight evenly with a Sand Alligator, this was something that even him won''t see everyday.

    Sand Alligators are a menace outside of kingdom. They had one specific ability that truly made a lot of people pull all their hairs out in frustration because it was incredibly hard to deal with. And that is, these beasts could dive underground.

    Just like how normal alligators work, they could float on top of water,pletely still while waiting for the prey, once a victim tried it''s luck, it would then go in for the kill. Sand Alligators and their ability to dive underground is equally, if not more, terrifying on it''s own as they could partially sink down and camouge as some random lump on the ground, once a prey mistakingly step closer to them they will open their maws and swallow them whole.

    If the Sand Alligator met it''s match? No problem, once simple dive is all it takes and it''s out of there already. Just from this records alone, one could already imagine how unlucky it is to encounter a Sand Alligator outside.

    Bradley knew all of these facts because he too were one of those people who bore the simr hatred with beast like this. But to see his child actually giving it a rum for it''s money? It was very hard to figure out what he truly feel as of this moment.

    "Sand Alligators are a headache to deal with but they have one habit that they can''t fix. And that is they always make a very loud sound the second before they return to the surface. If the senses are trained properly, it isn''t so hard to respond with that."

    Raven stated once more as he gave a cup of tea to Bradley. But the Royal Guard''s attention were glued to the mirror as he watched his daughter respond to the very same habit that Raven was talking about.

    Ellen''s vignce was peaked at the current moment, she didn''t bothered to use her vision anymorepletely relied on her senses in attempts to follow the reptile''s movements.

    As expected, she heard that sound once more and it came from beneath her, without even hesitating she immediately plunged her energy covered sword beneath her and watched as the reptile''s body wriggling beneath her and unwillingly surfaced.

    Not wanting to lose her current advantage, she rushed once more and hacked several locations on the alligator''s body. She targeted the remaining limbs, the eyes, the ce between the eyes, the belly and etc. She basically left many open wounds on the alligator''s body.

    With the concept of victory so close at hand, she already threw caution away and all out on her onught. She also ignored the wounds that kept on spilling her own blood, she was infected by bloodlust that she was basically ignoring the damages on her body because she wanted to kill this thing and end this battle.

    Because of her frenzy, she wasn''t aware that the alligator''s tail wasing for her. Using it''s remaining strength, it''s tail crashed on Ellen''s tiny body which made Bradley grimace. Ellen flew while vomitting blood, she felt that some of he ribs were broken by that attack, her head also hit onto a tree pretty bad so she was experiencing severe headache and haziness of her vision.

    But because she was very thirsty at the concept of victory, she picked up her sword and marched towards the alligator once more, but each step she took was incrediblyborious. As she moved closer, the bloodlust that she previously wore off and was reced by one thought:

    "Shit I''m dying¡­"

    And before she could even raised her sword to deal the killing blow, the alligator already died due to blood loss and she died to the simr reason as well.

 Chapter 48 - Advance!

    ---

    "It seems that they''re about toe out."

    Raven smiled and faced the portals. Bradley heaved a sigh of relief as he heard this, he truly wanted tofort to his daughter since she might feels terrible upon her first death experience.

    Bradley''s heart sank as he once again reminded of how his daughter died. Fear gripped his heart and squeezed it hard, if Raven didn''t tell him that this was just virtual reality, he wouldn''t hesitate to wreck havoc right then and there.

    Both of them heard a whirling sound and five figures stepped outside of the portals with their faces pale. Just like what Bradley expected experiencing death, even through simtion must''ve feel terrible, not to mention they were kids, he thought that it was a little too early for them to be thinking and training this way. That being said, he also knew how they feel, barely getting out from the filthy hands of the ck Curtain Guild must''ve influenced their mentality quite hard.

    "Hmm?"

    Unexpectedly, Raven felt that his friends are behaving quite strange. He expecting something like shock and exmations, specially from Paul and Ellen, like a typical reaction when someone realize that they escaped danger and they''re alive. But they were just standing there with their pale faces and not really saying something, in fact they wore a constipated look on their faces.

    Raven began to worry so he immediately activated his eye technique to see the energy workings on their body, on the instant that he saw what was happening inside, Raven broke into a smile and immediately said:

    "Focus and make your breakthroughs! It''s going to be painful but endure it, let the energies prate your bones naturally."

    His voice was amplified by energy which instantly woke the people up, once they heard his words. None spoke any unnecessary words and they sat right then and there. Bradley was confused too but when he heard the word ''breakthrough'' he felt relieved and a little glee in his heart. It seems that the training really pulled out the hidden potential in their bodies which in turn caused this.

    "To reach Muscle Training at thirteen years old, not the first but definitely rare." Bradleymented on the side.

    Raven almost spat his tea when he heard him say this, he gave him a wry smile and said: "I don''t mean to rude Uncle but aren''t you underestimating us a little bit?"

    Bradley raised his brow and asked: "What do you mean?"

    Raven didn''t speak, instead he let his friends do the ''talking''. As soon as he asked that, Bradley felt the surrounding energies go wild. The doors were closed and the windows too but the wind kicked in hard. Strings of energy started appear form a miniature whirlpool on top of their bodies. Bradley felt his mind go nk at this sight.

    After that, loud popping sounds echoed out of their bodies. The sounds came from their bones which were now being prated and enhanced by energies. There were also some faint sizzling sounds, these were the impurities on the bones being melted by the energies as well.

    Their faces went paler as they gnashed their teeth in attempts to endure the pain, they could feel the searing sensation in every piece of bone they had, the feeling was even worse than any fractures so far.

    It had been fifteen minutes of this pain before the relief washed over them. Now they could feel their strength rise into an enormous degree which they didn''t think possible before. As they finished their breakthrough, Bradley was yet to close his mouth on shock.

    "B-bone Tempering Realm! How is this possible?"

    His shock was understandable, in fact if the whole kingdom knew about this news they too would feel the same shock as he did.

    To be honest, he was already impressed by thought of these kids reaching Muscle Training Realm this early. In fact, that was already enough for them to receive attention from the academy and be provided with the better environment to cultivate and train.

    Imagine his surprise upon finding out that their breakthroughs aren''t for the Muscle Training Realm but to Bone Tempering Stage, which is two stages higher than what he was expecting. He didn''t understand Raven''s words earlier but now he did. He truly underestimated these kids.

    "Daddy? Why are you here?"

    Bradley''s reeling mind were brought to reality by his daughter''s voice. All of his confusion and surprise were pushed aside and he rushed to check up on her.

    "How are you feeling? Are you fine? Did you properly settle down your cultivation?" He immediately asked a string of questions out of worry.

    "I''m fine, I''m fine and yes I did settle it down properly so don''t worry." Ellen answered his questions one by one while nodding.

    Bradley heaved a sigh of relief when heard this, he also broke into a smile and said: "Look at you, keeping secret from me. Why didn''t you tell me about this before?"

    Ellen giggled but looked cautiously at Raven, seemingly asking him if it was okay for her dad to know. Raven smiled and answered for her.

    "Out of caution Uncle. We can''t let some unwanted people to know."

    His answer was simple but it cleared up many doubts on Bradley''s heart. So they kept is as secret for their own safety. He realized that this was a good move and if he was on their position, he would do the same thing as well.

    It won''t take a genius to realize that if this kids continued with this cultivation speed, they would be incredible powerhouses that could secure peace for the kingdom. And it''s the same reason why the ck Curtain Guild would spare no effort and use every means that they have to take them down. If this was to get out, then these kids would be subjected to fear of being assassinated that it would affect their mentality. It would also prove rather stressful for them to deal with all of the scheming folks who wanted to ride along their coattails.

    "I see, good move there Avi." Bradley praised, he then turned around and looked at the rest of the crew. "Your parents would definitely be proud if they were aware this."

    His words struck a deep chord on their hearts, isn''t this part of the reason why they were working hard? Even though Bradley was very formidable Royal Guard, his words were spoken as a parent, and this amplified the feeling it gave them when he said those words.

    His eyes thennded on Luna, based on his informations only Anne and Ellen knew about her true identity. "It''s been a while since we met, are you doing fine?"

    "I''m all good Sir Bradley." Luna replied with a smile on her face, "My illness is cured so I don''t have to worry about it anymore but please don''t tell them yet."

    Bradley''s eyes constricted as he heard these words. This was a huge thing! If her parents were aware of this, then the whole pce will shake and there will be a huge celebration!

    "No need to act so constricted Daddy. Everyone here knows that she''s a princess already." Ellen said which woke Bradley up. He roamed towards the boys and saw them nod, he exhaled and said:

    "Her majesty is very vengeful you know? If she knew that I''m keeping a secret from her, specially when ites to your health, she would make me clean the entire pce all by myself." Bradley smiled wryly, based on the Queen''s personality, his words aren''t very far from reality since many personnel already suffered from her tantrums.

    "Then you have to get better at lying!" Ellen chuckled which made Bradley smile.

    "Let''s go downstairs and eat, I''m sure you guys are famished from all that jazz earlier." Raven said as he turned around and deactivated the formation. The rest agreed to his suggestion and followed him there.

    While eating, Bradley were then filled in with all of the details about their encounter with the criminals. His gaze towards Raven became weirder and weirder as he heard about his meticulous schemes and how easily he dealt with those troublesome people.

    Another things is that the crew also told him how they trained and even showed him the materials they used to train. And just like Old Lee''s take about all of this, he too thought that the bottomline was simple but also highly effective. He actually started wondering what would happen if these training materials were to be mass produced so that they whole Institute could use them. They might not reach the same cultivation as they are but it''s benefits will truly be massive.

    "Alright! Just a little more training and we will reach Marrow Cleansing Realm, afterwards we will be allowed to participate with the Righteous Bestowal Ceremony. We will be even more formidable then." Paul rubbed his hands in excitement which also make the rest anticipate for it as well.

    "I will be the bad guy and say that you might face a difficulty with that.." - Bradley.

 Chapter 49 - Case

    ---

    "What makes you say that Uncle?"

    Raven became a bit worried, the n about that Righteous Bestowal Ceremony was incredibly important for his ns for them and it would truly make it hard for them if they are unable to experience it.

    "Apparently there is quite a misconception that the ceremony only brings harm and no help to the people who experience it. Recently, there were few cases of people experiencing harmful damages on their bodies after the ceremony."

    "At first we thought that it was only a coincidence but during thest batch, at least fifteen percent of the people who went were harmed and the rest experienced no gains at all. And to make things worst, the people who were harmed at the process came from formidable backgrounds and their parents were the one''s who started the movement. If this is to continue then we have no choice but shut down the ce."

    The crew went silent upon hearing his words. The excitement that they felt earlier was washed by a cold bucket of water.

    The reason for their downcasted expression had a very deep source. Raven told them before that there were three paths of cultivation, and those are Body, Energy and Spirit. The Righteous Bestowal Ceremony''s mostmon use, is to allow a cultivator to smoothly tread the transition out of the Fighter Path towards the Knight Path. But to Raven and his crew, it was more than that.

    The ceremony''s true benefit will be unleashed once they experience it. It''s true benefit is to deepen the connection within the cultivator and his/her Spirit Entity, given that there is a connection already. And since the techniques that Raven and his crew uses were aligned towards their Spirit Entities, then they will experience this benefit.

    The ceremony will also strengthen their own spirit, to those who wish to follow the Spirit Path, the ceremony is a must since it is the safest way to tap into their own spirit. Raven, Anne, Ellen and Luna nned on following the spirit path and if the ceremony was to be suspended, then it is an incredible waste.

    On the other hand, Raven was incredibly puzzled. He had no clue that something like this happened during his past life, or if it even happened in the first ce. Back in that time, he and his brothers didn''t think about going since they barely progressed in their cultivation and ceremony is only open to youths on ages thirteen to seventeen, Paul and Mark were neen when they reached Marrow Cleansing Realm while Raven reached that stage a yearter.

    Raven was convinced that this was the result of a butterfly effect. The things that he did, though very minimal, had already affected the overall situation of the kingdom. He could only smile wryly as he now had another headache to deal with.

    "Has there any results after the investigations?" Raven could only ask since he truly didn''t want to change his ns.

    "We have been investigating for a while now but sadly, nothing came up." Bradley shook his head and sighed, sometimes he couldn''t help but worry about things that''s beyond his power.

    "Bring me to the ce, with my background it shouldn''t be a problem. We are looking forward to the ceremony and I don''t to cancel our ns knowing that I could''ve done something." Raven firmly said.

    Bradley was startled as heard the conviction behind his voice. He started thinking and thought that his words were true, as the son of Hawk he truly won''t have any difficulties entering that ce, plus he will be there so he could also be Raven''s backer.

    "Alright, you wanna go now?"

    Raven nodded and said: "Yes, the sooner I see it, the better." Raven looked towards his friends and said: "You guys stay here and train. I''ll leave the formation activated. Oh right! Here."

    Raven took out several scrolls from his spatial ring and said: "Battle Arts along with notes why I gave you that. Practice well. Let''s go Uncle."

    Without even wasting a second, Bradley nodded. He grabbed Raven on his shoulders and together they disappeared like a flying silveret leaving five people who held on to the scrolls that Raven gave them, sighing on the fact that they couldn''t be of help once again.

    ***

    The pair reappeared in front of a majestic gate behind a lush greenery.

    Beyond this gate is where the Righteous Bestowal Ceremony urs. Few guards were alerted by their presence but when they saw Bradley''s badge, they instantly dropped their guard and saluted towards him.

    "Greetings Royal Guard Bradley!"

    The salutations were heard across the area making everyone aware of their existence. Bradley nodded and Raven''s eyes started looking everywhere. Before they could even take a step forward, another figure appeared in front of them.

    "Greetings Royal Guard Bradley! It''s rather embarrassing that we didn''t received any news that you will be visiting this ce."

    "It''s fine Korra, I wasn''t nning on visiting as well, It''s just that my nephew became quite curious and wanted to see what the ce looks like inside. With me here there shouldn''t be any problems right?"

    Korra is one of the managers of this ce. He had been working here for at least a decade already and became one of the most trusted individuals here, even Bradley was impressed by his dedication. Korra then noticed Raven behind Bradley, he saw that he was looking all over the ce with his eyes shining, he smiled as he thought that this kid must be one of those adventurous types.

    "Of course there''s no problem! Allow me to escort you two." Korra can''t deny Bradley''s request since he understood how kids could be whenever they''re curious. In fact, he too recently experienced this with his own son and brought him here on multiple asions.

    Korra gave a sign and the guards opened the massive gates. Now the interior of the whole ce was exposed to Raven''s eyes.

    It was arge piece ofnd that had a deep crater, it looked like a dried out pond. Surrounding the crater were six tall totems that had tribal markings all over them and on the center of the crater, there was a lone bronze chalice.

    Raven''s mind reeled and pictures of what this ce looked like in the past ovepped with the current image he saw right now. Instantly, he noticed a few things that didn''t fit the picture.

    "So how''s it Avi? Not that impressive right?" Bradley chided as he nced over to Raven, his words actually had a deeper meaning in them. This was him asking him if he saw anything suspicious.

    "Right, not that impressive. Looks like a dried out pond." Raven passively said which made Bradley and Korraugh.

    Suddenly, Korra took something out of his sleeves and pressed it. Instantly, there was a loud rumbling that ured. The totems lit up and the chalice levitated up. With a fierce shake, the chalice started overflowing with water, it was unceasing and strong to the point that the whole pond was being refilled with water in a speed visible to the naked eye.

    By now, the totems had formed a solid see-through barrier that prevented the water from spilling out. Now, the ce looked like it had an enormous water prison. Raven''s shone as he saw this but it was coupled with a grim expression.

    "How''s that little guy? This is the true appearance of this ce." Korra was a bit proud upon saying this, but when the two of them saw Raven''s expression, it made their hearts sank for a very unknown reason.

    "Yep, I can see it now. And it''s very disgusting." Raven spat out venomously. Korra was dumbfounded while Bradley started to worry even further, his words mean that Raven might be seeing something that none of them could.

    "What''s wrong Avi? Tell me..."

    "No need, I''ll just show you instead." Raven''s voice were cold, he sat where he stood and took out a few materials from his spatial ring. A mortar, herbs, and seeds appeared. He started grinding one ingredient after another, Korra and Bradley watched with anticipation and after a few minutes, Raven took all of the grounded ingredients and leapt towards one of the totems.

    As he stood on top he was still wearing that disgusted expression. Using two hands, he rubbed the powder between and mixed it with the water, and it didn''t take long before a horrifying sight was exposed to Bradley and Korra.

    There was a creature, coiled like a turd at the bottom. It''s skin looked like a washed intestines while it wriggled here and there. It had no limbs, it followed the shape of a snake and doesn''t have any scales. It''s eyes were closed, and close to it were little round shape balls scattered everywhere.

    Raven''s exposure was perfect since they saw one of these balls crack in half and spawned another type of that creature but smaller this time around. It wriggled and swam around, seemingly happy to be out.

    "W-what on earth..."

    This was all Korra can say after witnessing that true appearance behind the waters.

 Chapter 50 - Evolved Tapeworm

    ---

    "How did a Mutated Tapeworm ended up here!?"

    It was Bradley who eximed. His voice was loud enough to draw the attention of the people inside and as they saw the monstrosity inside the ceremonial waters, they couldn''t help but to draw in a cold breath of air.

    There was no mistaking about it''s appearance and it''s ridiculous reproductive ability. It truly is a Mutated Tapeworms.

    Tapeworms belong in a parasitic tree of the dangers outside. They are inherently camouged which means that it could infect basically anyone that carelessly made contact with it. The tapeworms will attach itself to a host and prate their stomach, there they would descend towards the intestines and tax the food it''s host takes in. It will they eggs to further infect the body of the host until it grow up to the point of bursting out of the host''s body.

    By this time, the tapeworms will have a minimal chances of mutating, and if they did it will transform their bodies to a stronger form which could exist in an extended period of time without a host or if they find an energy filled water source, they could simrly survive there. Either way, the cycle continues and the infection rises.

    "How could this be¡­" Korra felt despair, he truly couldn''t believe at what he was seeing right now. He madly searched for him brain about the possible ways to infect that ceremonial waters but nothinge to him mind.

    First of all, the mutated tapeworms would only survive if they are inside of a human or on energy filled water source. The moment they are deprived of that, they die. Korra can''t fathom why this thing is alive even though majority of the time, the ce is on shut down. Second, how is it possible for Mutated Tapeworms to be this huge? It would take at least three humans holding each other''s hands topletely wrap around it''s body and it''s at least 23-25 meters long! How long had this thing been in here? And to think that they werepletely oblivious about it''s existence really drove his mind insane.

    "This is no Mutated Tapeworm." Raven''s voice echoed beside them. The two looked over to him seemingly asking what he meant. "It''s impossible for Mutated Tapeworms to exist in the ceremonial waters. That is an Evolved Tapeworm, it''s eggs are the mutated once, but given time those too will evolve."

    By now, people started to gather around them forming a small crowd. All of them looked closer and felt an incredible disgust towards the massive tapeworm.

    The bad news wasn''t received well as it made their faces uglier. Knowing that this is no mere mutation but rather an evolution justpletely made the situation even worse. Then only real difference between a Mutated Tapeworm versus an Evolved Tapeworm, is that Evolved Tapeworms had a fighting prowess and the Mutated ones doesn''t.

    Now everyone was worried. Eliminating this thing is going to be extremely challenging. If they trespass the waters with killing intent, the worm would retaliate, and that could result in few scenarios.

    One is that they kill it but the ceremonial waters would be contaminated by it''s blood, two is they attempt a battle of attrition but the tapeworm might choose to blow itself up, destroying the whole ce in the process. Three, they could try to bait it out of the waters but as if that would work. And finally, they could leave it alone but that surely isn''t a way.

    "The reason why thest few batches of people who went here suffered is because they were infected by this huge parasite. It won''t be hard to treat them, just tell them that they have to boil three Green Jasmine Leaves along with honey, instruct them to drink it and wait until stomach rumbles, they will know what to do after that. As for this fucker. I just happen to have the best idea to get rid of it."

    Raven''s words were like a ray light shining upon the people around him. Their attention were immediately gathered towards him and those were looks of expectations and anticipations.

    "Anyone who could wield the Lightning Element, step forward and help out."

    As soon as he said his piece, numerous people step forwards bravely, Raven inspected them one by one and nodded. The people with higher cultivations were ordered to stand on top of the totems while the rest faced the invisible walls and held their hands in front of them.

    "Is there anything I could do to help young friend?"

    Korra was restless, as one of the managers of the ceremonial ce, he couldn''t help but feel a bit useless as of the moment, for one he doesn''t have any lightning affinity, two it was pretty much Raven who was doing all the work here which was a blow to his skills and three he felt an incredible guilt because he let this situation worsen under his management.

    Raven sent him a message that''s only audible for him and Bradley. The two nodded and went back to observing the whole thing unveil.

    "Everyone, the goal is topletely roast this thing to nothingness. Don''t hold back anything and st away. Do not stop as long as you could see a piece of it. Three! Two! One! Go!"

    After his countdown, a barrage of lightning based attacks rained down and sted the damnation inside the waters. It was amon knowledge that lightning based attacks are amplified by water. And because the Evolved Tapeworm is submerged in water, it was truly feeling pain of lightning now. It screeched and wriggled here and there, the smaller worms who were swimming freely earlier were now dead and some even disintegrated into nothingness.

    The lightning barrage didn''t cease, after five minutes of constant attacks, all of the eggs and smaller worms were disintegrated, now only the big one was left and no one showed even the smallest amount of mercy to the parasite.

    Raven watched the creature wriggle and screech in pain, he thought that it won''t take long and it will be dead. It was then that he suddenly felt a movement which caused rm bells to rang in his ears.

    Out of nowhere, a ck hooded figure with a ck veil covering the face, showed up in attempts of seizing him. But before his crusty palms reached Raven, it was already sliced by Korra who emitting a horrifying killing intent towards him. And his head was just a milimeter away from being separated from his body since Bradley''s sword was aimed at his neck.

    With one final screech, the tapeworm died and disintegrated, everyone stopped with their attacks and looked over to Raven''s direction only to see the current situation.

    Raven wore a mocking expression and asked the hooded figure: "You just have the right amount of gall to attack me when I''m around a Royal Guard, you''re allies will disown you from their ranks if they knew what you did."

    "Damn you kid!!" The criminal roared but can''t really do anything, despite his stupidity he was actually afraid of dying, which was ironic to his actions.

    Raven''s gaze were cold, good thing he waspletely on guard the moment he entered or else this person would truly escape his senses. Though it pains him to doubt the management of the ceremonial ce, he had to in order to not miss any attempts against the kingdom''s safety, and look what he found.

    He walked closer to the criminal and ripped off his upper garment, as he gazed at the chest of the person in front of him, his suspicions were confirmed.

    "Greetings Fifth Emissary. What wind blew you here?" Raven was back at it again with his mocking tone. "Let me guess¡­butt hurt about your little disciple? Or should I say your illegitimate son?"

    The criminal snarled once more but can''t deny it. Raven continued with his antics and said:

    "It is as they say, a dumb teacher will produce a dumb student. But to be honest, your son is smarter than you ever were." With this, Raven forcefully ripped out the veil masking the true appearance of person in front of them.

    When Korra saw his face, his world crumbled, his heart was in pain as he realized that he knew who this person was.

    "How could you do this to us Manager Chris? Why?" Korra was truly heartbroken to see his ownrade betraying them. The people around them were also in shock and sympathized with Korra''s pain.

    "Save your tears Manager Korra. The person in front of you is no longer Manager Chris. He is the Fifth Emissary under the Demon Prince. Manager Chris'' soul must''ve disappeared or used as a sacrifice already. This is just his former shell being used by this criminal."

    Korra and the rest shuddered on Raven''s words, during the small amount of time that Raven was here along with the actions he showed today, those were more than enough for his words to have credibility behind them.. Added the fact that the criminal made no attempts on denying it, this solidified that credibility even more.

 Chapter 51 - Fifth Emissary

    ---

    "Tell me, honored Fifth Emissary, how does being a ''Failure'' feel? Pretty bad isn''t it?"

    Raven had many things going for him, but there is one skill that he had even before his soul experienced rebirth. And that is ''Provocation''. For some reason, he had this huge talent of angering his enemies which most of the time causes them to make mistakes and be vulnerable in front of him.

    The Fifth Emissary wished for a slight chance to escape his current state and make Raven''s life a living hell but he didn''t even dare to move. There''s still a little hope in his mind that they will lower their guard and that will be his only chance to escape and have revenge. If it really boils down to it, he could use extreme measure to ensure his safety, for now he just have to look for that chance.

    While he was running calctions in his mind, he didn''t notice that Raven''s hand were moving at a fast speed, making one hand seal after another he took out several gems out of his ring and released a mantra that caused the gems to fly away from his hands and towards the Fifth Emissary.

    Everyone was surprised as they weren''tpletely aware of what technique Raven used, and all they could see now, are five gems embedded on the Fifth Emisarry''s forehead, wrists, and feet. The Fifth Emissary was horrified to find out that he felt his soul sank deeper like something heavy was ced on top of it. His eyes dted a bit as he asked Raven using a hoarse voice¡­

    "W-what have you done!?"

    "Not letting your filthy soul escape. No matter how hard you try to struggle, you won''t be escaping that body. Come to think of it, your real body must be on your base correct? You shouldn''t be able to stay outside for long, I wonder what will happen before it deteriorates?"

    Raven''s tone was incredibly cold, his sharp eyes gazed at the Fifth Emissary like he was a degenerate. Unknowingly, the criminal started panicking and tried real hard to struggle in order to be freed of the constraints on his soul, but no matter what he did nor any technique he used. All did not work.

    Raven''s memory about the emissaries are extremely vivid. During his past life, he collected every single information about them andmitted it to mind. The Fifth Emissary is one of the lower officials of the ck Curtain Guild.

    Based on his intel, the Fifth Emissary shouldn''t even be an Emissary at first since everything that he could do, like soul separation, soul abduction, body invasion and other things, could also be done by other Emissaries, if not better. Originally there should only be Four Emissaries, but the Demon Prince was impressed by his loyalty and thus awarded him the title of the Fifth Emissary.

    In short, he''s undoubtedly the weakest Emissary in the group, therefore he was the easiest to capture. And now, he there''s no way that Raven will let him go because of one solid reason.

    It was the Fifth Emissary that killed Jackson during his past life and that scene was imprinted on his brain since he was the only witness of that event.

    Remembering the scene where he saw Jackson''s soul being devoured by this¡­thing, in front of him. He unconsciously gnashed his teeth and his eyes became even colder than before. He wanted nothing more but to pluck the his should, trap it inside a cage and burn it using hellfire for at least a thousand years until he begs him to end his suffering.

    His bloodlust became so dense that the Fifth Emissary could no longer see him as a child but a wrathful demon ready to rip his limbs off one by one. It was too dense that even Bradley felt it and caused his spine to tingle in fear.

    Fortunately, Raven was able to control his emotions, and reverted back to his usual self. An unusual fatigue washed through his body as he dully said: "You could take him away uncle. He should hold many important informations about the guild."

    He then looked towards Korra and said: "Remember, Green Jasmine Leaves, boil it together with honey and that should cure the infected people. As for the ceremonial waters, you could purify it using the method that we used earlier. Electrify it for at least a solid hour and that should do the trick. Do this for one month and it should work just like before if not better."

    "Oh and do me a favor please? This whole situation? Keep it a secret. I don''t want to catch their attention just yet. Me and my friends will be here soon, I hope you can take care of us by then."

    Without waiting for anyone''s reply, Raven''s shoulders dropped and he walked away from the scene. He rented a carriage outside and rode it back home.

    Everyone stared at his shadow disappearing before they regained their sense back. Korra''s heart felt multitude of emotions and honestly he was having a hard time letting it sink in to his brain and process everything. He didn''t even know anything about that kid aside from the fact that Bradley imed him as his nephew, he didn''t even knew his name!

    On one side, he felt deep admiration to the kid since not even him, his team nor even Bradley knew what was going on but it only took him one nce and he was able to uncover everything. His methods were absolutely unheard of, his knowledge was astonishing! Borderline terrifying actually. Who knew kids these days are this terrifying? He couldn''t even do half of the things he did when he was at the same age!

    Bradley also felt the same way as Korra. What Raven showed today, really broaden his horizons. He suddenly recalled what Raven said when Korra asked how he could help¡­

    ***

    "For the things that I''m going to say next, please do your absolute best not to show any reactions nor any actions that will give a hint. The culprit''s here, and he is ring at me. This person will find a chance to strike and his target will be me. This will be a big fish so please be on guard while also not rming him."

    ***

    It was quite absurd since Bradley is a very formidable knight yet he didn''t even notice anything suspicious at all! But at the point in time, Raven''s words had so much credibility that he didn''t even question it and treated it as a hard fact. Lo and behold, here he is, the pitiful Fifth Emissary, captured through the machinations of a thirteen year old boy. It was too unbelievable yet real.

    After all this however, he couldn''t help but to feel that his nephew became a stranger to him. He is dying to ask him how he was able to do all of this but seeing the exhaustion on his face, Bradley felt bad. It was too early for him to be involved in this sort of environment yet his skills are able to solve a problem that none of them could even see, along with the Fifth Emissary as a bonus, this is an enormous merit towards the kingdom, and yet he only asked for him and his friends to be treated with hospitality when it wad their turn to experience the ceremony.

    His nephew was a hero through and through, and he felt very proud.

    "All of you!" Bradley''s thoughts were interrupted by Korra''s sudden shout. "I''m sure you heard what he said. Green Jasmine Leaves boiled with honey! Make and deliver it to the infected people as soon as possible! Also make sure to remember his face! If hees back here, treat him like how you would treat me! If I hear that he experienced any difort during his stay, prepare to lose your job! And don''t even think about leaking his identity or even researching about it! Unless you want to try my, and Sir Bradley''s patience then don''t even dare! Once the concoction and delivery is done, we will have a meeting, every personnel should be present. Understood!"

    "Understood Manager Korra!" After listening to his orders, the crowd immediately dispersed and busied themselves to work.

    "Sir Bradley, I know all of thises as a surprise for everyone but if there is a chance, please pass my deepest gratitude towards your nephew." Korra''s heartfelt message made Bradley smile.

    "I will try my best to pass your message, but not gonna lie, it seems that my vacation will be cut short because of this friend right here." Bradley''s tone changed as soon as he referred to the Fifth Emissary, who''s link to his real body was weakening as time goes on.

    "Korra, can youe with me to meet with the Crown Prince? We need to consult him as to what needs to be done with this friend right here."

    "No need to ask Sir Bradley, I was going to tag along anyway. I''m sure the Crown Prince will be very happy and pissed at the same time when he learns everything."

    Korra''s words made Bradley smile wryly as he said: "Yep, he sure will¡­"

 Chapter 52 - Exhausted

    ---

    Raven was exhausted.

    When he came back to their house, he only saw his friends training inside the formation currently which provided himfort. He didn''t pay attention and just went towards his room toy on his bed.

    His exhaustion was a bit strange but also to be expected. He had been on a constant grind ever since his rebirth, he was too scared to waste time that he was seizing every chance he could to cultivate and be stronger.

    Along the way, he forgotten that he was still a kid, his cultivation might be astonishingpared to most kids at his age but in the end, he was just child. His body could only handle too much.

    His exhaustion wasn''t a physical one but it was a mental fatigue and overexertion of some forces that he wasn''t really allowed to use yet.

    The people around him always see him performing techniques that are either too strong or too strange. These people always thought that whatever he does was amazing but they always forgot one important question, which is probably the reason why Raven is experiencing this severe exhaustion right now.

    And that question is, how was he able to execute these techniques with his current strength?

    The formations that he used against the criminals a month ago during their Field Trip, the technique he used to locate the presence of the Fifth Emissary, the technique he used to imprison his soul. All of these are techniques that are basically impossible for him to use at his current state yet he was able to use them. So how?

    Raven of course could answer this but he did all that he could to avoid it. And the reason is because if he revealed that secret, then it would make everyone around him worry about him.

    ''Life Essence Conversion Technique'' is the what he use to achieve all of this.

    Each time a person raise the realm of their cultivation, they simrly extend their lifespans as well. A normal human lifespan is capped at 100 years, with luck they might be able to push this until 110 years old but that''s the absolute limit, if they want to live longer, then they must cultivate. Once they breakthrough to Skin Toughening Realm, the cap is raised to 120 years. Muscle Training Realm raises it further to 150 years. Stepping on Organ Cleansing Realm means that a person could live up until 175 years old before they die, Bone Tempering 200 years and Marrow Cleansing raises it to 250 years.

    Since Raven haven made a breakthrough yet, this means that he could live for at least 175 years, and he is very close to making a breakthrough so this will be raised even further.

    ''Life Essence Conversion Technique'' uses lifespan as fuel to perform other techniques that are normally beyond what a cultivator could use. The stronger the technique they want to activate, the bigger the lifespan needed for the conversion.

    Raven had used this technique multiple times already, the first time was when he cured Luna. He used a very high grade technique that instantly shaved off 10 years of his lifespan. Since then he shifted into using gems as mediums to at least help him lessen the amount needed but situations forces him to use more techniques, overall he had shaved off at least 20 years of his life.

    Now the burden of the loss took it''s toll on his body in a form of severe exhaustion. Raven was actually expecting this, however it still feels terrible. Without knowing when, Raven feel into a deep sleep.

    ***

    Luna and the rest had finished their fifth attempt at the Virtual Beast Arena. They busied themselves learning the techniques that Raven have them and using the formation as a tool to gain more insights about it.

    The technique that Raven gave her was called: [Light Shifting Spear Technique]. It was a set of spear stances and attacks that promotes quickness and sharpness. She had been studying the first movement and managed to get understood the rudimentary form.

    The first attack from the technique is called: ''Piercing Light''. It was a simple attack, she basically needs to thrust her spear forward and there should be a bolt of light that wille out from it. Knowing how to perform it and actually doing it are two different things.

    At first, she basically did nothing but thrust the spear forwards, it was quite challenging to actually let her energies flow on to the spear not to mention make a projectile out of it. After numerous practice along with some trial and error she managed to basically shoot out a projectile of energy from the tip of her spear whenever she attempted it, but the projectile could only fly at least twelve inches away from the spear before dissipating.

    The Piercing Light should be a range attack, and twelve inches isn''t necessarily a long distance, but even so that was progress, and considering that she just learned this technique today means that she was a genius through and through. But she never thought of it like this, or it was just she was incapable of thinking this way since she is always humbled by the monstrous enigma that is called Raven.

    Speaking of which, he has been out for a while now. She couldn''t help but worry about his well being. But worrying won''t get her anywhere, so far he hadn''t met any situation that he cannot deal with so he should be fine.

    "Are you going for another round sis?" Anne woke Luna out from her stupor with this question, she faced her and shook her head.

    "I had insights that I need to ponder on first. I''ll go after I polish it."

    Anne nodded and walked towards the formation once more, the others soon followed and it didn''t take long before she was sitting alone by herself once more. She sat cross-legged and pondered about the insights she learned and formed interesting theories that might help her to master the first move.

    She decided that it''s better to test it on a real target so she headed outside to spar with the steel dummies.

    Going down, she unknowingly passed by Raven''s room, seeing the door was slightly open raised her curiosity. Of all the times that she had been training with them, this wasn''t the first time that she passed by this room but it certainly is the first time that she saw it open. Raven never left the door of his room open so seeing this really bothered her.

    Due to her rising curiosity, she took a peak inside, there she saw him sleeping with a frowned brow. Unknowingly, she went inside to look closer and by the time she noticed this, she was already standing at the edges of his bed.

    She saw him sweating really hard and seemed to be muttering something inaudible for her. She became a bit worried so she reached out a hand to feel his forehead.

    "Right, catching a fever should be impossible for us since we''re cultivators. Haha." Luna felt dumb as she realized this after feeling his temperature.

    After refining their bodies using energy, it''s almost impossible for them to catch mortal diseases, unless it was an effect of a technique.

    "Must be a nightmare then." Luna murmured, but this left a question on her head though, what was his nightmare all about?

    In the end she decided to get some warm water and a towel wipe away his sweat, she couldn''t just leave him alone after seeing his situation like this. After getting the stuff she needed, she then gently squeezed excess water off from the towel and wiped away the sweat on his face.

    This allowed her to have a closer look of his face once more. Luna can''t deny that he really looked handsome even though he was frowning. He had sharp brows, longshes, well-defined jaw line, thin lips and a wheat colored skin.

    Compared to the faces she used to see back in the pce, his face wasn''t that impressive at all but for some reason his face was imprinted on her mind.

    Suddenly, Luna felt something grasp her hand. When she realized it, Raven was actually holding her hand tightly. She tried releasing her hand but he won''t let go. It was at this time that she heard him speak...

    "Don''t leave me...please..."

    Luna was stunned, she looked at Raven''s face but found him still sleeping. She thought he might be sleep talking but for some reason it felt unnatural. His tone was full of sadness and desperation, it was like something very important to him was being taken and he was powerless to stop it. Luna felt Raven clutch her hand even tighter, this time she stopped trying to free from his grasp and allowed him to hold her hand tightly.

    Those words were too....emotional. Luna never heard him use that kind of tone, and for whatever reason, she felt pain on her chest, but why though?

 Chapter 53 - Iron Mountain Blows

    ---

    On the backyard of the stone house, five figures could be seen sparring with the steel dummies.

    Each of them were sending ferocious attacks that kicked up a hugemotion. Not far away from them, is another person who was sitting cross-legged while continuously summoning blue-ish energy on his palms.

    This was Raven who had already woke up this morning from his severe exhaustion, unfortunately he didn''t manage to see what transpired during his sleep, or else he had some unnecessary exining to do.

    "Well, my control of my energies are quite good, though It''s stillckingpared to how I used to do it back in my past life but it should help me a lot."

    Energy control is one of the things that many tend to neglect nowadays. It seems that they forgotten that controlling their energies would help them a lot when ites learning battle arts.

    He deliberately left his friends to their own ord, he wanted them to realize that in order to learn and execute battle arts in a better way, they have to get better at control.

    "What should I practice then?"

    This was a question that Raven had to think carefully. His friends already started practicing their own battle arts while he hadn''t chose one for himself yet. Considering that he will be pursuing a pugilist type of fighting, of course he had to make sure that his technique would fit on the same category as well.

    After a while of brainstorming, his attention gravitated towards the [Iron Mountain Blows]. It was a set of hard hitting techniques that could shake up a mountain if he get perfected it. This technique is also verymon in the kingdom, in fact this was practiced by a lot ofmoners who can''t afford other techniques. It was treated as trash by many nobles and even disdained looking at it.

    It wasn''t their fault really, after all not a lot of people pursued the pugilist style of fighting, but just because they haven''t had any sess from this technique, doesn''t necessarily mean that it would be the same for him. He figured that it''s about time for the people of this kingdom to witness the might of the True Iron Mountain Blows.

    Raven remained cross-legged, he used his full concentration and covered his entire body of a thinyer of energy. He remained at this state for five minutes before deactivating it. He rested for fifteen minutes to regain his lost energy and covered his body with ayer of it once more.

    He repeated this process multiple times until he was able to stay at that state for a straight hour before getting tired. With this, the first hurdle for the first Iron Mountain Stance was done. This took him a whole day before he was able to do it.

    His next target was to concentrate arger amount of his energy to his hands while maintaining thatyer of energy. He took it one step at a time, one finger at a time rather. First was his thumb, he created a denser energy film around it and maintained it for a long time. After getting the hang of it, he did the same towards the second finger.

    At first he failed, but it didn''t took long before he gotten than hang of it as well. By the end of the day, he was able to create a denser amount of energy film on his hands.

    On the third day, his agenda was to make the energy film even denser to the point that it solidifies around his hands. This was certainly harder but Raven persevered, and before the third day of training was finished. He was sessful on doing so.

    He stood up from his spot and took a deep breath. He muttered: "Iron Fist." And then his hands turned a tinge darker due to the solidification of energy. Raven raised a hand and ced it on the surface of the tree.

    As soon as his hand made contact, he applied a bit of pressure and the bark of the tree shattered. Raven applied even more pressure and he felt his hand prate the tree even deeper until his entire hand prated all the way through the tree.

    A satisfied smile appeared on his face. "Okay, I reached minimal mastery of this. I should focus on this first before moving on to other moves."

    ***

    The following days passed by quick and the crew were busy with their training.

    Raven became even more proficient in Iron Fist that he had no troubles keeping it on for hours. Whenever he activated it, his hands will turn into a darker color almost simr to steel and it even reached all the way to his elbows.

    To train it even further, Raven always tried to raise the energy output more each day. The results are fine since it had reached the point where normal ded objects could no longer damage his hands, but he can''t hold this out for too long simply because it eats up on his reserves like crazy. He could hold on to this state for no longer than five minutes, but he wasn''t worried since as long as he raises his cultivation this technique will improve as well.

    For now, he reached the mastery limit of the first move for the Iron Mountain Blows. His next target was of course next move which is called: ''Tremor''. This technique is where the true force of this technique shines.

    Tremor isn''t really considered as an attack, it''s more of an additional effect. Tremor allows one to have each of his movements to cause vibrations, and if he mastered this technique then he would be able to control how strong this Tremors are.

    To practice this, Raven had to start internally once more. First he sat down and took a couple of deep breaths in, then little by little he urged some of his energies to move along his breath. Just like what he did to the Iron Fist, he took this one step at a time. It started on the tip of his fingers, then it became a whole finger, two fingers, all fingers, palms, entire hand, arms, elbow, shoulders the other hand and etc.

    This took much longerpared to the Iron Fist, it took his two full days to have the energies in his whole body to breathe with him and this was just the first hurdle, it can''t be called a Tremor if it doesn''t vibrate fiercely right? Plus, vibrations should be fast, so he had to pursue two things now.

    First he worked on the intensity of the vibrations, he could achieve this by doing a pulsing movement throughout his body. It of course started very weak and unstable, but as days passed on his practice, he was able to give more strength behind those pulses. The result of that could be seen whenever he did this weird leaf exercise.

    He would ce a leaf on top of his palms and send a pulse there, and if the leaf was pushed out of his hands, then that means he seeded on the exercise. Additionally, the intensity of the push also tells him how strong the pulses he sends. Currently, he was able to push the leaf at a ruler''s length which isn''t bad but not too impressive either. But he reckon that he should work on it''s speed.

    And that''s precisely what he did. Towards the next following days, he resumed his breathing exercise but he made adjustments to it. His first goal was to have his energy pulse twice in one breath. This was actually harder than it sounds since he was used to practicing it once per breath before but he took his time and gradually got used to it and after three days of practice, he was able to do it twice in one breath.

    Next was his attempts on doing three pulses in one breath. And just like this, his arduous exercise began. And by the end of the month, he finally reached the limit of six pulses in one breath.

    Now he was practicing regr fist strikes with tremor, each time he threw a punch, there will be multiple pping soundsing from his fist which signals the Tremor doing it''s work. If he tried punching a boulder like this, his attack will damage it at least seven times. First would be the original strength of his fist, and the other sixes from the Tremor. Even so, this isn''t the true form of Tremor, because in records, the strength of each pulse should be equal to the original fist force. The current stage of his Tremors are only at least a fourth of his original fist force so he still have a long way to go, considering that he will be adding Iron Fist on the mix, then he truly had to practice even longer.

    But for now, he should look towards more livebat experience, that way he would advance this technique of his faster.

 Chapter 54 - Losing Its Flare

    ---

    Inside the Virtual Beast Arena.

    *Boom*

    A punch straight into the stomach and a monstrosity fell down onto it''s knees. That punch was considered a little too strong for it too handle that it even cause the beast to cough gastric acids out of it''s mouth.

    In a fierce battle, this kind of damage is particrly dangerous since it leaves one''s defence wide open for another attack of that caliber. Anyone or anything that has even the slightest bit of fighting experience should know this, this beast was no different.

    It''s instincts were screaming to get out of the way, but because of the stinging pain from the punch earlier, the movements it could do are very minimal, so it did what most of people or beast would do in that situation; to defend of course.

    It raised it''srge paws to receive the blow, the beast even clenched real hard to endure it but s¡­

    *Crack* *Crack* *Crack*

    Bones were shattered and the beast moaned in pain. If the beast didn''t know that it was fighting a human, it might''ve guessed that it was hit by a cannonball instead. The arms of beast fell limply on it''s sides, it then heard a swirl of air that raised it''s attention everywhere.

    When the beast''s vision adjusted, it tried to look for the human who was fighting it, but the youngster wasn''t in sight. That was when it hit the beast¡­well the youngster''s fist hit beast¡­square on the head.

    The beast''s skull shattered and it''s brain was damaged beyond repair. Even if the beast lived after this, it would no longer be the same. Knowing this, the youngster did it a favor and ended it''s future misery.

    Borrowing the magic of gravity, the youngster''s soles transformed and looked like it was coated with shiny ck paint. The human crossed his arms on his chest and allowed gravity to work. His whole body descended and before it reached the ground beneath him, his feet ruthlessly stepped on the beasts heart and ended it''s life. Blood spewed andpletely covered the youngster''s entire body making him look extremely horrifying despite his kind expression.

    "This lost it''s re already."

    The youngster''s voice is none other than Raven, who sighed after killing a Bipedal Mountain Tiger. It had been at least two weeks since he started his training with the [Iron Mountain Blows] and he could perform some other moves.

    The ''Iron Fist'' and ''Tremor'' had been trained to it''s current limits, the technique he performed earlier where his soles were coated with condensed energy is called ''Mountain Supression''. This move, in it''s early stages, coats not only the soles but his entire leg, just like ''Iron Fist'', but when it reaches theter stages, this move will allow him to mimic the heaviness of a real Iron Mountain and use it to suppress his foes and would also not be limited through his legs.

    He is also training the move which is called the ''Unmoving''. This was a defensive move which allows him to bolster his overall defense and allow him to literally be Unmoving against myriad of attacks. From this set of movements alone, one could tell what kind of fighting style it''s creator has. Strong, arrogant and overbearing.

    The option to exit the arena rose behind him, Raven sighed once more and left the formation. The reason why he sighed was because the formation is bing more and more useless to him. He recently went out to buy more beast remains so that he could add it to the formation. Now, there is at least 200 types of beasts which they could randomly face. While it does get more and more challenging the farther you go, it could only give him a superficial boost since it is a simtion and not a real thing,

    As the maker of the formation itself, Raven had the mentality that none of the creatures he fought inside were real, even if he wasn''t the one who created it, with his knowledge alone he would be able to identify this. Thus it really takes away the experience, it was exciting and fun at the beginning but what he needed the most now, is the real thing, and that''s the source of this rut.

    As he exited the formation, he observed that his friends were still inside. Over the course of the whole month that they had this formation along with him providing them with Battle Arts, their growth became explosive. Previously, none of them can''t even pass the first enemy/stage without trading their lives for the enemy''s, but now they are able to reach the until the tenth stage before that happens.

    The Battle Arts he gave to them are honestly prettymon in the kingdom. Battle Arts have their own rarity, and it is represented through ss: D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS. Each of this grades are also divided in three separate grades such as: Low, Mid, High. But there are also some Battle Arts that does not follow this rankings.

    The [Iron Mountain Blows] is a widely known to be a Mid grade D-ss Battle Art but in reality, it is a Scaling-ss Battle Art, which means the technique bes stronger along with further analysis, integration and growth of it''s user.

    What he gave to his friends are also Battle Arts that are widely avable throughout the kingdom and also ignored by most people since they don''t know that they are Scaling-ss Battle Arts, Raven could even say that they might not even be aware of what does Scaling-ss means.

    For Paul, he gave him the [Warlord''s Approach], focused on endurance and soaking attacks while also promoting the user''s advance in the battlefield and a quick yet very efficient way of disposing his foes.

    For Mark, he gave him the [Traceless Macabre], focused on swift and stealthy movements while also targeting dangerous parts of an opponents body and also capitalizing on mistakes.

    For Ellen, he gave her the [Crimson Trail], a good mix of offensive and defensive maneuvers, specializing on simplicity over grace, if she polishes this technique even further, she''ll be unstoppable on the field.

    As for Anne, he gave her the [Sagittarius], it is more of an Auxiliary Art since it allows her to craft arrows based using her energies,enhances her kic vision and even provides closebat moves which are very useful for archer trainees. She might be able to snatch the title of ''Hawk'' from Raven''s dad if she mastered this technique.

    Last but most definitely not the least, for Luna he gave her the [Light Shifting Spear]. It was a set of spear stances and attacks that promotes decisiveness and sharpness. If she mastered this technique, then she could probably strike her opponents at the speed of light or even morph herself into light as well.

    Just like Raven''s choice, these are D-ss techniques, and Raven can''t wait to see the crowd''s confusion when they see these on a different light.

    Raven briefly watched his friends fight using the main control of the formation, he then found out that they just entered moments before he was out. He knew that they are going be in for a while so he decided to do a very mundane task¡­grocery shopping.

    Since the beginning of their training, him and his friends'' appetites increased exponentially each day and this also applied for the girls. Just the six of them alone, could chow down at least a dozen people''s worth of food and that''s not an exaggeration¡­not at all.

    What can they do? They are growing kids, they needed nutrition on their bodies in order for them to support this high intensity training. They weren''t at the point where they could just inhale in energies and be fine. However, the increase of their appetite doesn''t also mean that they can''t survive without eating for a whole day, their bodies could handle that, but the feeling of hunger and the temptation to satiate one''s self is gonna be quite a factor for them.

    After a quick jog, Raven arrived at the market. His eyes then automatically gravitated towards meat and he suddenly he felt his stomach grumbled a bit, only now he remembered that he hadn''t eaten yet. He then proceed to order at least a month''s worth of food for him and his friends, this caused many people to pay attention to him and some vendor''s are even attracting him since they Raven as a huge spender.

    But this is Raven, he obviously know where the good stuff is. He then followed a rather discreet path and arrived at a very humble stand in front of a humble hut. He saw an old man lifting crates here and there and simrly, the old man noticed him as well.

    "Raven! It''s been a while! Come,e! Fresh from delivery, take your pick!" The old man hurried to his stand to put down the crate and invited him over.

    "Sure Uncle Marco, just like before, a whole month''s worth of goodies.." Ravenughed and started to check the goods one by one.

 Chapter 55 - Beyond The Mountains

    ---

    "Oh¡­this is some good stuff you have Uncle! Where did these came from?"

    Raven''s eyes shone as he saw the crates that Marco was unloading earlier. One the said crates were full of marvelously marbled cut of meats which carries a faint sweet scent through his nose, there''s also a wide variety of seafood, vegetables and fruits. In just one nce, he was able to tell that these aren''t the normal goods that Marco usually had. This isn''t to say that Marco''s previous stock weren''t of quality, in fact the reason why hees here is precisely because of that. But the ones he had today are a bit special.

    "Hahaha! They''re better right? This old man sure knows where these stuff came from!" Marco boasted. "Actually, it was the recent gossips that allowed me to secure this¡­"

    "Gossips?" Raven was intrigued.

    "Oh? I''m assuming you haven''t hear huh? Very well¡­" Marco sat down and passed an apple to Raven, he also gestured him to sit down with him.

    "Few days ago, my wife told me that she heard some bestial screech on a distant mountains, not too far from here, apparently she heard it when she was on the way to one of my suppliers. Of course you can''t expect me to believe that now right? We might be in the Outer Area of the kingdom but there are knights literally garrisoned nearby! If there really are beasts here, then they should''ve dealt with it already!"

    "But lo and behold, she wasn''t the only one who heard those bestial screeches. Many people started talking about that and it spread like locust, specially here on the market since most of the talkative people go here. Of course, someone raised this to the knights and they investigated the area. And surprisingly, there really are some beasts in there!"

    "Oh!?" Raven raised his brow in surprise, he never heard this story before.

    "They said it was ants. I didn''t believe it at first so I check it out with my wife, and holy shit they weren''t lying. But these ants aren''t the normal ones, they''re big! Big I say! And mean too! Very mean!" Marco was really into his story telling at this point.

    "I saw a knight fighting one of those. It hadrge maw, menacinglyrge fangs, can spew out acid that could erode steel. Themon ones are like the size of a regr horse carriage, but they''re fast as well. The knight who was fighting it can''t even handle it and called for reinforcements. But of course that wasn''t the only the reason why I was there. Of course, I have to see them goods you know? And this my friend, is product that I met by chance. I proposed a deal with them and they happily agreed."

    "Ants huh¡­" Raven pondered for a bit, there is a knowing smile in his face as his curiosity was piqued. He then whispered the words: "New yground for me¡­"

    "What did you say?" Marco heard Raven''s mumbling but it was a bit inaudible so he had to ask.

    "Nothing¡­" Raven smiled and stood up, he then started picking supplies for their daily consumption. "I''ll take these Uncle."

    Marcoughed as he saw the enormous amount of food that Raven picked, which was a good 50% of his entire stocks, he briefly remembered the first time that Raven did this and he remembered not being able to speak for quite sometime after that. Now he could justugh it off since he was used to it. Marco also gave him a discount since he was buying in bulk, he didn''t need to do it, but this was a sign of goodwill from a supplier to the consumer, Marco already saw Raven as his patron and thus he did this. Of course Raven won''t say no towards it. After the calctions were over, Raven ced the supplies on his spatial ring and said goodbye to the old man.

    ***

    "Holy shit bro!"

    Back in the stone house, Raven and his crew are on the table, feasting on the recent acquisitions of Raven. Paul eximed and was almost move to tears.

    "It''sh sho hood!" He eximed once more while his mouth was full.

    The rest agreed to his ims but unlike him, they just silently devoured the food in front of them. The boys had long since ignored using utensils and stuffed their mouths using their bare hands. The girls were a bit more refined, they were using utensils to also continuously devour food. The person who probably has the smallest appetite here would be Anne. Since she could ''only'' eat at least five servings of food and she does it slowly.

    After eating, loud burps from the guys echoed across the room without causing the feel any remorse.

    "Those were some good stuff there Avi! Where did you get it?" Ellen asked after they eat.

    "Oh that? It''s from the same guy where I usually get food from, apparently there are some rare specimens that came out of nowhere, just behind the mountains not too far away from the market. Some ants showed up, the army killed some and he bought the carcass, and the rest should bemon sense for you." Raven exined while holding a ss of water.

    "Ants? You mean we just ate ants!?" Ellen eximed which caused the rest to look towards Raven as well.

    "Yep!" Raven said non chntly, "They''re good right?"

    "Honestly¡­yeah." Ellen said in a bewildered sigh. She was finding it hard to ept the fact that Raven just fed them ants but she was already digesting it, and it was really good along with Raven''s culinary skills so there''s nothing much to say.

    "Wait, wait, wait¡­" Anne chimed in, "You said ''some ants showed up, the army killed some''. Why does the army needed to kill ants?"

    "Cause they aren''t regr ants. Their queen probably awoken the bloodline of a Lord Ant, I''m not sure, I have to see for myself to confirm it." Raven replied after drinking a ss of water.

    "Lord Ants? If I remember that correctly, then a regr ant of that kind should be the size of a hill then. Records said that they are unusually aggressive and tough to deal with." Mark said.

    What Mark said was actually iplete. The sizes of the regr Lord Ants are not ''should be'' but ''at least'' the size of a hill. The more stronger ants are much bigger than that not to mention the queen herself is at least the size of an entire mountain. And it isn''t unusual for Lord Ants to be aggressive, in fact they are actually supposed to be aggressive since they are natural born predators. The Worker Ants often hunt deers, elephants, tigers, lions, bears, hippos, boars, and many more to being back to the colony. The Soldier Ants hunts demonic beasts for the colony and most of the times, they are the ones who are tasked to search for the Queen Ant''s personal food. The Queen''s diet should be monitored and healthy so that she willy healthy eggs. This will continue until there is enough ants to constantly expand the colony.

    "Yep, that''s the one. But again I''m not exactly sure. The dealer said that the ants he saw were at the size of normal horse carriage. If that''s the case, then their bloodlines mustn''t be that pure. But then again I have to see it for myself."

    There is an unusual excitement on Raven''s voice, which were naturally captured by his friends. They watched as he took out a mortar along with some herbs and seeds. He then started grinding them onto a paste.

    "Wait, you mean you truly are going?" Paul simrly asked.

    "Yep." Raven replied non chntly once more. Collective sighs were heard across the room, it was like saying that they were somehow expecting him to say that. These people were together for months now, Raven is such an enigmatic person that they became numb about the decisions he make on the the fly.

    "What are those for then?" Paul asked once more.

    "Disguise. It''s a paste that will change my appearance and my bone structure, once I apply this, not even my dad would be able to recognize me."

    This was another shocker, they never heard of any pastes that could do that. If this thing made it out on public then it will surely cause a huge stir, but it''s Raven that was doing it so it should exist, and precisely because it''s him, then he naturally won''t do anything reckless like selling the form for money.

    After a couple of minutes, Raven finished the process. He then used his hands to apply the paste all over his body. Momentster, his figure started changing. His hair became slightly longer, his eyes changed colors, his became taller and even grew a beard. The transformation was over before his friends realized that he was actually transforming right before their very eyes.

    "Ho. Ho. Hmm¡­" Raven spoke and noticed that even his voice became deeper, he smiled and looked towards his friends.

    "You guys wannae?"

 Chapter 56 - Crow

    ---

    Hiding behind the mountains near the market, there''s a ce dense with trees and tall grasses.

    If one ventured even further, one would see a regr sized hill that is filled with huge holes. As for where these holes lead to was a mystery for everyone who saw them. But one thing''s for sure though, this holes are where the big antses from, and they are the reason why this ce is bustling with activity now.

    The area 50 meters around the said hill is basically the arena on which the knights and the ants were battling. Loud explosions and fierce collisions were happening everywhere here. The battlefield is filled withrge craters, eroded steel and left over carcasses of the ants that fell here, the ground is stain with purple blood which came from the ants and some red blood which obviously came from humans.

    "Report!"

    Someone shouted inside the camp. His voice got the attention of someone who''s sitting inside a tent while looking on some documents. This person raised his hand and gestured for that recruit to continue his report.

    "We have some new Fighters who wanted to join our defence."

    The man who''s sitting inside the tent raised his head to meet the recruits eyes. He then said: "How many?"

    "A total of six Sir, all of them reached Bone Tempering Realm."

    "Bring them in."

    "Affirmative!" The recruit went outside of the tent to escort the six people he was talking about. He came back with them and as soon as they went inside, the man who''s sitting inside the tent inspected their appearances one by one.

    ''I do not know these people.'' The man thought to himself. He hadn''t see these faces before so he was a bit skeptical about their identities. He ced a very strict expression as he slowly stood up and went closer to them.

    "I''m assuming you guys are the one''s who wanted to join our defence against these huge ants."

    One guys stepped forward and performed a small salute before saying: "Technically I''m the only one who wanted to join but I don''t want to be alone so I dragged my friends with me."

    There were collective groans behind the who spoke but he ignore them. The camp supervisor was shocked and a little bewildered about his im. It was then reced by a tinge of annoyance since he felt like these people aren''t taking this scenario seriously.

    "Tell me your names." His voice turned a bit stricter here but it failed to cause any changes on the man''s expression.

    "My name is Crow. These are my friends, Andy (Paul), Jack (Mark), She (Ellen), Fiona (Anne) and Bianca (Luna)." And of course, Crow is Raven in disguise.

    When Raven asked them if they want toe with him, Paul and Ellen said no vehemently. Knowing Raven''s personality, he would everything in his power to find a way in order to fight with those ants. And in all honesty, Paul and Ellen weren''t confident enough about their strength to defeat those. The only person who probably agreed toe with him was Luna.

    It was then that Raven said that they have to at least experience realbat. The Virtual Beast Arena was good for starters but it will lose it''s magic real fast. Even though it is a simtion of a life or death battle, the experience they will receive to the real one is something that a simtion can''t replicate.

    In the end, he managed to convince the rest toe with him, albeit unwillingly. Paul and Ellen aren''t specifically looking forward to this.

    "Well then Crow tell me¡­" the supervisor''s voice turned a little deeper, suddenly his eyes widened as his whole cultivation red up. The recruit almost fell onto the ground since he felt that the gravity inside the tent was doubled. But even so, he didn''t said a word, it would be a bad idea anyway since for whatever reason, these people managed to piss off his boss, it was evident by the killing intent he was releasing. "¡­Do you think that what we, knights of the kingdom, do here is a game?"

    The camp supervisor wasn''t actually mad at them, this was just him testing their resolve. They weren''t the first one''s who came here with this kind of attitude. He met these type of people, epted them and saw them flee at the first sign of danger, causing their casualties to rise exponentially. Honestly he was quite tired of it, that''s why he is testing them.

    Imagine his surprise when he saw their reactions after all this. Raven was still smiling, Paul was uninterested and was picking his nose, Ellen and Mark raised an eyebrow while Anne and Luna blinked multiple times. The camp supervisor was quite shock to be honest, he had never seen anyone who could outright ignore his supression when they are weaker than him.

    "Err¡­you asked us to introduce ourselves but you haven''t done the same. Isn''t that a little rude?" Raven''s smile fell a tad bit as he said this, and the recruit could swear that he felt shivers running down his spine just now.

    "Hoh?" The camp supervisor was intrigued, he smiled and said: "My bad. My name is Larry, a pleasure to meet you Crow."

    "A pleasure to meet you too." Raven replied, "Allow me to be frank. Our purpose is training, we will help you defend but only defend. Don''t expect us to follow you in the depths of that thing. And to answer your question Sir Larry, no. Of course I don''t think of it that way."

    Larry narrowed his eyes and sized up this man before him. He had been a knight for decades now and during that, he had met a lot of people but this was the first time that he felt a strange tingling sensation as he was stared down by someone.

    "Alright then." Larry nodded, he then faced the recruit and said: "Escort them to the frontline."

    "Yes sir!" The recruit saluted, he was about to ask them to follow him but he heard Raven speak once more.

    "Err¡­Sir Larry? Can we harvest the meat of the ants we killed?" This was another reason why he was here, this was an opportunity to gather any many food as possible, how could he pass such an opportunity?

    "You may." Larry replied. Raven pped and then¡­the supression of Larry''s cultivation base was gone.

    "Great! Let''s go guys!" He then started to walked outside of the camp, leaving the bewildered Larry behind.

    As Larry watch their disappearing silhouettes, he had one thought on his head: ''Who is he?''

    ***

    "We''re here." Jonas, the recruit, told them as soon as they entered a tall gate made out of thick logs.

    The battlefield was barricaded by simr type of defences and one could see some armed people who were on stand by and guarding the the perimeter. Raven and his crew followed them inside and were immediately weed by sounds of shing forces on a distance.

    Reading or hearing about them is one thing, seeing them personally is different. Raven his crew saw one of the presumed Lord Ants and truly marveled on it''s size. It really is as big as a normal horse carriage and longer too. The one in front of them had green prismatic-like eyes, long antlers, sharp fangs, thick red shell, and moves quick too. They saw how two people struggled to prevent it''s rampage and kill it.

    Except for Raven, who was busy inspecting the creature, all of them visibly swallowed hard. Nervousness crept up to the younger ones since their brains were screaming danger at the sight of the thing, this time it''s not a simtion anymore. This is real, and if they fight recklessly here, they will truly die. Just this thought alone was enough to cause them to sweat nervously.

    The ground shook faintly from the collision and Raven''s eyes shone along with a golden ring appearing on his pupils, his eyes inspected the beast once more and now he was able to zoom in to the creature''s body to take a closer look. Once he fully inspected it, he could now saw that his guess was right, it really is Lord Ants but with a slight difference.

    Raven then looked at the ground, raised his brow and said: "Let''s fall back a little."

    His words somewhat woke up the people around him, they unknowingly followed his advice and together they retreated a few steps from where they were standing earlier. Now that they''re nearer towards the entrance, the ground suddenly shook and something rose up from underground. It was another Lord Ant, and it precisely showed up from where they were standing earlier.

    The team was horrified, the recruit almost fainted on the spot. ''H-holy shit that was so close! I was this close to dying! Oh god!'' This was his thought, his eyes thennded on the guy who told them to retreat.

    "H-how did you know?"

    "Instincts buddy¡­instincts."

 Chapter 57 - Save

    ---

    "Anyway, that thing looks angry so you guys might want to arm yourselves now."

    Raven smiled and said to the ''frozen-by-fear'' people around him. This was a needed wake up call since they don''t have time to be shocked by this scenario. This is a live battlefield, the unexpected should be expected.

    With this, Paul and the rest moved and summoned their weapons, they took on a battle stance and got ready to intercept therge ant before them. Raven walked beside the recruit and said:

    "Let us handle this, please step a bit further back."

    The recruit could only nod his head dumbly and follow his instructions. At this point there wasn''t even a single doubt on his mind since this man just saved his life after all. He retreated a few steps back and nned to watch the entire scenario fold out.

    "This isn''t the first time that you guys fought something that''s out of your level. Get it together."

    Raven said some encouraging words to raise their spirits, his friends sighed and prepared to receive the enemy. Meanwhile, Raven was just standing on the back while his arms were crossed. His ns were simple, he wants to see just how his friends would handle a situations like this. While it was true that their cultivations are raising at an rming speed, he highly doubted if they could truly take advantage of it in live battle. So he nned on watching first and only helping when the situation bes dire.

    The ant was provoked, it released an ear piercing shriek and charged towards them. It was quick and the people who see supposed to intercept it were once again frozen in shock. It seems that the things that they endured inside the Virtual Beast Arena were all for naught, they was an on going war inside their minds between their rationality and responsibility.

    The rational side were telling them to fall back and get out this ce since it is dangerous. On the other hand, their responsible side tells them to lift their weapons and kill this thing since god knows how many people would suffer if they didn''t do so.

    "You guys are truly going to die if you don''t move right now."

    Just before the ant reached them, Raven''s grave warning reached their ears and the word: ''Die'' rang in every corner of their body. Their instincts kicked in, the desire to stay alive broke their frozen bodies into movement. All of them drag their bodies away from the charging monstrosity. But the problem didn''t end there.

    Because nearly all of them moved out of the way, the forgot that someone was behind them. When they looked up, they saw Raven didn''t move from where he was standing and not too far away from him, was the recruit who helped them find their way here. While the recruit was busy praying to every god and saints he knew for all his life in order to save him, Raven just stood there and didn''t even pay attention to the beast.

    Paul and Mark was distressed, their eyes constricted and cursed as they felt deep worry for their brother. This was specially felt by Paul, who''s currently gnashing his teeth in anger.

    ''What''s wrong with you Paul! You were supposed to defend for the team! You have shield! Why didn''t you raised it! What''s the use of all that training you endured! Look at the consequences of your action!''

    Paul watched as the beast huge frame appeared in front of Raven, his heart felt like it was gripped by wrench when he saw how the beast raised on of it''s sharp legs in attempts to hack Raven in two.

    ''God damn it! I won''t reach him in time! Think Paul! Think! There must be a way!''

    His heart raced in despair, he searched for a way to help his brother out but nothinges to his mind. His eyes were glued to the leg and everything felt like it was starting to slow down. He saw the leg descending, and based on it''s trajectory, it would really slice Raven in two. In his desperate attempt to save him, Paul did one thing in hopes that it will somehow work.

    "AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!"

    A deep and guttural roar escaped from his throat. Paul ced everything hope he had on that shout that it visible sonic waves moved and hit the body of the ant. The force behind his roar caused the whole field to be silent, Paul became the main focus of everything, even the grass around him was scattered away because of his roar.

    Paul opened his eyes, and was overjoyed to see that his roar somehow worked since the ant was froze from it''s action. He immediately picked up his weapons and stood up, he wasted no chance and sprinted on top speed to stand before Raven so that he could fulfill his roar.

    As the distance between them shrank, Paul was once again distressed to see that the ant resumed it''s movements, in fact he could tell that it is even angrier now and it''s actions were even faster. Somehow Paul had this idea that tells him, shouting once more won''t do anything, in fact would even worsen the situation.

    When everything seems hopeless, a shadow passed by him. It seamlessly glided through the wind and arrived on top of the ant. Paul felt it''s presence rather familiar and because everything is happening so quick right now, he had no leisure to think about it and instead ran as fast as he could.

    The shadow formed a figure of a man holding two swords. He jumped down and spun in the air while borrowing the momentum to slice the leg of ant. As the figurended on the ground, it showed a disguised version of Mark, who''s currently releasing a frightening killing intent that it caused his eyes to transform into slits, simr to a snake''s.

    "My good brothers."

    A whisper escaped through Raven''s mouth as he proudly gazed on the heroic actions of his brothers. This isn''t the time to feel emotional but Raven couldn''t help it. Having people who are ready to sacrifice their lives for you when you''re not even worth it, truly warms his heart. The bond that these brothers have runs deep.

    What''s weird is that these people found sce on each other''spany when they needed it the most. Be it his past life or the current one, he''s d to announce to the entire world that he is part of the Disappointment Triplets, and he wouldn''t have any other way.

    Raven''s attention was brought back to the battlefield as he heard the painful screeches of the ant. Just like before, he ced his trust towards his brothers and let them deal with the situation.

    Paul was able to sigh in relief as he saw Mark appear to prevent the death of Raven, but he still wasn''t able to rx as he knew that the battle isn''t over yet. Now that the distance was a tad bit closer he could now do something to shorten it faster.

    As he ran, Paul raised his shield and ced majority of his force on his arms. His muscles bulged and when felt that it was enough, he then nted his sprint slowed down and then he threw the spear on his hand. As the spear flew mid-air, Paul once again ced his forces and this time, he ced them on his feet. He crouched deep and with another guttural roar, he kicked and rose to the air.

    As the spear he threw reached the peak of it''s arc, Paul soon followed. Once he was at peak height, he then maneuvered his body mid-air to a diving position while holding the shield before him. He then uttered the words: "Skyfall." He then plummeted like a meteor,

    Of course, Mark wasn''t just standing around after that. The moment he saw that Paul threw his spear, he immediately knew what he was trying to do. He then flew into action and scanned through the exposed weak spots on the ant''s body. A chilling smile appeared in his face as he saw the exposed joints of the ants and made a mental note on his head since those were his targets.

    He sprinted just in time before another leg hit the ce where he was standing before. He arrived on the first joint and sliced it. He arrived on the other one and sliced it once again. This process repeated until all of the leg joints were snapped and the ant lost it''s bnce.

    Paul''s spearnded on top of the ant''s head, it didn''t quite pierced all the way through but it does not matter since not long after that. Paul''s meteoric fall alsonded on top to the creatures head.

    The ant''s head caved in, brain juices sttered all over along with some purple blood. The brilliance in the ant''s prismatic eyes disappeared, a clear representation that it truly died and Raven''s brother''s experienced their first kill.

    The bloodied Paul and Mark stood side by side and stood before Raven while smiling. They then said one thing that made Ravenugh.

    "Handsome right?"

 Chapter 58 - Desperation

    ---

    "Mhm¡­very handsome."

    Raven nodded repeatedly while chuckling, nothing much was needed to be said between them. They arrived and saved him, that''s what matters.

    "Shit, I''m stained by blood now. Ew, it stinks!"

    Paul groaned in dissatisfaction. Because he was the one dealt the finishing blow on the ant, he was also the one who was on direct contact when the head of the ant exploded in pieces, of course he would be stained with blood. In fact, it was actually a miracle that he didn''t bathe in it.

    "Man, that was stressful. I mean, now that I thought about it, you probably didn''t need our help but still. Witnessing the danger of losing someone close to you is really terrifying."

    Markmented as the scene earlier reyed on his head. The thought the he might witnessing Raven''s death feels like someone was gripping his heart so tight that it will explode. He can''t even imagine what would it feel like it Raven truly died before him, he also don''t know how he would react.

    "You know what, he''s right! You actually don''t even need our help at all! Why did you just stand there? I feel cheated!"

    Paul whined as he realized it. Who was the reason the reason why he was enduring harsh training each day? Wasn''t it him, Raven? It also just dawned on him that Raven had been doing some insane shit most of the times, and dealing with an oversized ant won''t even reach the levels of the stuff he had done before.

    "Ohe on, I told you didn''t I? We''re here for training. Look! You even learned the ''Warlord''s Challenge'' and performed the ''Skyfall'' beautifully. Mark on the other hand learned the ''Warping Shadow'' and activated the ''Predator''s Gaze''. Not bad for your first kill right?"

    Raven''s words cause them to pause for a bit. What he said was true, they were able to perform the techniques that they haven''t even trained before. What''s crazy is that they weren''t even thinking nor wishing to perform them, it just naturally ured because of the dire situation they are in.

    "Now that you say that, it''s true. I remember reading up on those moves before but can''t train it since it requires my cultivation to be a little bit stronger. It''a miracle that I was able to perform not just one, but two of them. Same goes for Pa-I mean Andy. How did that happen?" Mark asked.

    "To sum it up in one word, I''d say Desperation. It is the extreme desire to do something and disregarding everything for that one purpose. It digs up the deep potential on your body in order for you to do just that."

    Raven''s exnation enlightened the two. Recalling the situation earlier, it was true that they had just one thought in their minds and that was: ''Save him.''

    The entire process on how they were able to do so is quite mysterious. In under normal circumstances, this thing would never happen, cultivation isn''t just sitting all day after all. It requires training to polish discipline and determination, and that''s what keeps everyone going.

    "Isn''t this awesome then? There''s now more to our arsenal of moves! We could battle some more to polish it!" Paul became excited on the prospect of performing new moves. This was specially true when he performed the ''Skyfall'' earlier, that feeling was awesome and he truly wanted to do that again.

    "Well, I wouldn''t put it that way."

    As soon as Raven said this, Paul and Mark fell into the ground simultaneously. They were surprised as to what happened and tried to stand up again but they felt their arms and knees go weak. Even their legs are trembling a bit. They then started to heave mouthfuls of air and they visions are somewhat growing blurry.

    "W-what''s going on." Paul was confused, he felt his throat was dry and his voice hoarse. He noticed that he can''t even hold his spear properly.

    "Are you guys okay?" The girls arrived and was shocked by the current development. It took them a while to gather the courage to regroup with them.

    "They''re fine, that''s just the adrenaline wearing off. I''ll take our harvest and we will take a good rest before continuing. Help them up will you?" After saying this, Raven walked towards the carcass of the ant and started harvesting it''s meat.

    Ellen bit her lips and helped Paul up, she picked up one of his arms and pulled it up, but the force she used isn''t quite enough topletely pull him up. This caused both of them to fall over, Ellennded on top of Paul, making an image like she was pinning him on the ground.

    "He said help me up, not to take advantage of me." Paul jokingly said which caused the corners of Ellen''s mouth to twitch. Out of nowhere, she aim the edge of her sword on his groin and she said in a chilling voice.

    "Why don''t you ce your heavy ass spear and shield away so that I can truly help you up? How about that huh?"

    Paul felt his entire body shiver in fear along with cold sweat drenching his back. He then replied: "Y-you''re a genius! I-I will do just that¡­.mercy please."

    It was Anne who helped Mark up. Unlike Paul, Mark didn''t even have the energy to joke around since his exhaustion was quite serious this time, he did her a favor and already ced his weapons back on his spatial ring. He only showed a smile and meekly said: "Thanks. I''ll be in your care for a while. Do tell me if I''m heavy."

    "No worries here. I got you." Anne showed a sweet smile and allowed him to rely his whole weight on her shoulders.

    Mark was a bit mesmerized by that smile and couldn''t help to to stare at it for a while, a faint blush could be seen in his cheeks yet he med it on his exhaustion instead and coughed a bit, making the situation a bit awkward for the both of them.

    During the time that they trained together, this was the first time that these four had been this close, body contact wise. They did often spar against each other or against Raven and the farthest thing that they''ve done was to held each other''s hand when they help each other up.

    Meanwhile, as soon as Raven started harvesting the meat off from the ant, he was surprised to see that Luna followed him while holding a sharp dagger on her hands.

    "What''s wrong?" Sensing that she was down, Raven asked her this question.

    "I just feel useless." Luna sighed in defeat. She then followed Raven''s actions and used her dagger to harvest the meat. "I mean, after all of that harsh training that we did, to not even be able to raise my weapons against the real thing is quite¡­disheartening."

    "I see." He replied. "You know what? That scenario and that feeling is actually a verymon sight to every battlefield that there is."

    Luna didn''t say anything, his words weren''t particrlyforting after all. She just continued to help him harvest. She bit her lip in frustration.

    ''You truly are such a princess Luna. Letting other people shield you away from danger, realizing that these people would die before you yet you can''t do anything. You saw one of your friends nearly died in front of you yet you were frozen by fear,pletely useless. If this happens one time, then how could not there be a second time!? Why don''t you just lock yourself up in the pce to avoid being a bother for other people!?''

    "Don''t be too hard on yourself." Luna turned around as she heard him say this.

    Just like before, he was wearing this serene smile in his face. It was like nothing could bring him down. Luna observed that he had always been like this since they met. No matter how difficult the situation gets, he will show a smile in front of them that serves like a brilliant beacon saying ''Everything will be okay.''

    But Luna knows that it is difficult for him as well. After all, she was the one who saw another side of him, that side was the one she saw when Raven was sick. It''s somewhat hard to tell if he''s faking it or not, but she knew that he''s human too.

    "There''ll be chancester. I know it''s scary but you guys will be fine. Just remember your training, that''s all."

    Raven added, this didn''t reallyfort Luna and instead made her feel even more guilt. But she knew that what he said was right. There will be next time, she repeatedly told to herself that she didn''t endure that harsh training to just be some woman to be protected. She has a duty to her kingdom and that''s something that she has to fulfill.

    After a couple of minutes, the two finished everything that there is to be harvested on the ant.. They went towards the team and asked Jonas, the recruit, to help them find somewhere to rest.

 Chapter 59 - Inside The Hill

    ---

    Jonas led them towards a safe zone. It was a ce where most of the humans are concentrated. Tents were built everywhere and there''s a few unused so they decided to borrow one in just for now.

    There were some sleeping bags inside, enough for all of them. As soon as Paul and Mark hit those sleeping bags, they started snoring loudly. Raven and the girls could only shake their heads and let them rest since their first live battle''s toll was too much for them.

    The girls meditated to calm their nerves, Jonas went ahead and did the same thing as well. Meanwhile, Raven was busied himself with grinding some ingredients once more. He spent a good amount of time before finishing his craft. He ended up having at least three sticks of incense when he''s done. He took out a stand and ced one incense on it. He lit it up and a smoke starteding out from it.

    The smoke was fragrant, it carried an earthy yet sweet scent. When the smoke was inhaled by the upants of the tent, they unknowingly arrived at a very meditative state where their bodies are very rxed and focused on recovery alone.

    The atmosphere inside the tent became peaceful, four people meditating, two sleeping and Raven who went outside after lighting up the incense. If his calctions were correct, then it will take at least an hour before the smoke runs out, which means that they will be in that state for an hour as well.

    "Alright, let''s investigate some things shall we?"

    As soon as he stepped out of the camp, he sprinkled some powder on himself and he seemingly disappeared out of nowhere. Raven wasn''t gone, only became invisible. When he arrived at this ce, he already had a gauge of the spectrum of cultivations bases around him. This ''Concealment Powder'' is at least B-ranked item. He won''t have to be worried about being seen by anyone soon.

    When the powder settled in, Raven started to run in a controlled manner. He knew that he''s just concealed and there''s many ways to leave tracks behind, even for concealed people. He didn''t his cover being blown so he had to be careful.

    He avoided traveling to ces where fights were happening, he also avoided grassy and muddynds. After traveling for at least five minutes, he was able to reach the hill that had many holes in it. He gently felt the ground beneath him and went inside one of the holes after finding out that nothing wasing.

    Raven felt the temperature drop as soon ss he entered. The entrance was actually leading deeper into the colony. He saw traces of battle such as eroded/broken weapons, limbs of either humans or ants, purple and red blood, he even saw some belongings that were left behind by those who fought here.

    This wasn''t the first time that he saw something like this, in fact he seen worst. He already developed some sort of mental immunity towards these type of scenario.

    He followed the entrance and walked soundlessly. He made sure to stay alert at all times, thest thing that he wants it to be mobbed by gigantic ants. It didn''t take long before he arrived at a bigger room. There he saw huge eggs along with two worker ants who were guarding the ce. Raven activated his ocr technique and saw the energy registered of the ants.

    The worker ants, were both Fighter ss Beasts, nothing for him to worry about since these things won''t see him even if he stood before them. His eyes thennded on the eggs and he also saw their energy readings. Not all of these eggs will be born, some are already dead before they hatched since he didn''t see any energy in them.

    Just when he was nning on leaving this ce, he then saw a faint red shimmer beyond the eggs. He then figured that since these things can''t see him, then might as well take a closer look.

    Walking pass by the worker ants, it took him a couple of steps before he was able to see the red shimmer closely. It wasing from a small hole on the wall, big enough to fit humans in. He went on fours and crawled slowly inside that hole, making sure to make as minimal noise as he could.

    When he arrived on the other side, a stood up and saw the source of that red shimmer. Boy was he d that his curiosity got the better of him, the item in front of him was already worth this trip.

    The item followed a cone shape that had rough edges. It was tinged by a faint yellowish color and covered with dirt on most ces. It was at least 10 meters long and had a very hard surface, simr to a porcin. There was no mistaking it, this is a tooth. Not just any tooth, this is a Wood Wyvern''s Tooth.

    Wyverns arete descendants of Dragons, they follow the same body structure as them, four limbs, wings, hard scales and elongated faces withrge nostrils. If there are any creatures that are closer to evolving into a real Dragon, then it would them. But that being said, chances of that won''t even be higher than 3%.

    The hardest part of an evolution for beasts would be the tribtion stages. Dragons are fearsome creatures, if there is a living dragon inside the kingdom and someone managed to piss it off, then even if Raven stake his all in his current state, the kingdom would still fall under it''s might. Good thing that there isn''t one here, thews of this ce wouldn''t allow it anyway and would send it outside.

    Wyverns, now there is a small possibility of that existing here. Raven never saw one during his past life but now that he saw one of it''s tooth here, then there really might be one.

    The whole reason why he was in a celebratory mood when he saw the tooth is because it is an absolute treasure. The red shimmer that he saw earlier is something that cannot be seen by normal means and even if it is seen, it value is useless for the ants here.

    The red color that is registering on the tooth is called: ''Vital Essence''. A type of energy that directly responds to one''s body. It is the energy type that Body Cultivators need as soon as they got out of the Fighter Realm.

    The tooth in front of him must be really old but in his vision, it is still filled with Vital Essence that he didn''t want to miss out. Raven licked his lips and tried to lift the entire tooth. The result was him not quite able to do so. It was really heavy, even heavier than their stone house. But instead of being down, Raven felt even more joyful that it is heavy.

    He started to imagine the things he could do with this thing after absorbing the Vital Essence left. He could craft some armor with this, he could craft some decorations, turn it into an ingredient, ce some on the Virtual Beast Arena so that he could fight with a Wyvern. Raven could only smile foolishly as he imagined these things.

    "Good thing I bought an even bigger spatial ring, or else I would really miss out on this." Raven whispered.

    With a swipe of his hand, the tooth disappeared and only left a deep gulch on the ground. After cing the tooth inside his spatial ring, he surveyed the area he was in once more and saw nothing worth of notice. After confirming that his Concealment Powder is still active, he went on fours once more and crawled outside of the hole. He then silently left that ce to check out other ones.

    Raven arrived into a forked path. He relied onto his ocr technique to at least see which one he should take. After a brief survey, he found out that one path leads deeper and one probably head towards the other side of the hill. He decided to take the deeper path.

    After a couple of minutes of walking he arrived on a busy location. The scuttling of the ants echoed across the room, he saw at least 1o worker ants and multiple paths leading elsewhere, probably even deeper onto the colony.

    There is a pungent smell inside this section, not too far from where Raven was, there were brown balls stacked up. Raven thought that this might be the processed food for the younger ants. Each brown balls that he saw is probably a mixture of every prey they collected. There were no doubts that the pungent smell wasing from these balls.

    As Raven was nning to walk further, he stopped in his tracks and decided to retreat a couple of steps. Turns out that this was a wise idea since another ant wasing, and it is much stronger that the previous ones that he earlier.

    This was a Soldier Ant.

 Chapter 60 - Plunder

    ---

    Soldier Ants are very easy to recognize, the simplest ways are either their sizes or colors. The Worker Ants are at the size of a normal horse carriage, while the Soldier Ants are at least twice if not bigger than them. Worker ants have a bright red shells covering their bodies, while the Soldier Ants have maroon colored shells.

    Another visual cue is that Soldier Ants had a pair of wings. The wings starts from the upper body of the ant and reaches the end of their body. It is colored green and mostly transparent, one could also see vein-like patterns across the wings.

    Raven activated his ocr technique to gauge just how strong this Soldier Ant. Once he made an urate judgement, he rxed since he knew that this one won''t be able to see through his concealment. This was evident by the busy screeching of the Soldier Ant towards the Worker Ants, it was probably handing out orders and didn''t even noticed him.

    After some more screech from the Soldier Ant, Raven saw it left and the Worker Ants resume their movements. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued to move. He constantly reminded himself to be careful, specially he was in proximity of multiple ants. This was a very daring move but he had confidence in himself and knew that he can pull this off.

    Raven tailed one of the worker ants closely and ended up arriving as what seems to the Nursery. He briefly surveyed the ce and found nothing worth his interest so he left. Back on the previous section, he once again tailed another worker ant and arrived at another ce.

    This time it was a bit more special. While it might be strange for these ants, but they do have a tendency to hoard things, mostly shiny objects. And Raven arrived specifically where they keep most of that.

    The ant he was following just rotated with the one present here, now only him and the ant he followed was left. He waited until the ant turned it''s back against him and started patrolling the ce, he used that opportunity to move and go closer to the hill of shiny objects.

    His eyes glittered at the amount of treasure they managed to hoard. Gems, crystals, weapons, armors, clothes, he even saw some high grade spatial rings in here. Just how long have this ants been around to gather all of this!? Well, doesn''t matter to him, since they were kind enough to leave it here then he had no qualms about taking everything that he could.

    Raven moved slowly, making sure that the ant wasn''t looking his way. He ced his hand on one of the spatial rings and stashed it away. Fortunately, cing things inside his ring doesn''t make any sound, or else he would screwed by now.

    Raven picked the items he absorbed carefully, he made sure that when he stashed something away, the thing on top of it won''t fall.

    So far, he managed to get a handful of gems, a bunch of crystals, five spatial rings, 9 pieces of armor, and 5 kinds of weapons. As for those shiny clothing, he left them behind. Of course, Raven was far from stopping there. Each time that the ant wasn''t looking, or was on patrol, he would seize the chance to stash away as many items as he could.

    After 30 minutes of plundering, the size of hoard hill in front of him visibly shrank, but the ant remained ignorant about it. Thank god for it''s low intelligence, the only thing in it''s mind is probably it''s duty and nothing else. This specifically made it so easier for Raven.

    But now, Raven was in quite a pinch. His concealment would soon run out. The time he took from the camp all the way inside the colony took 15 minutes already, so in total he had 15 minutes left before it lose it''s effectiveness.

    Raven had to make a decision as early as now, should he continue with his plunder or get out if this ce as soon as possible?

    ''Oh wait nevermind, I forgot I have three batches of Concealment Powders. Hehe, I''m an idiot.''

    Raven pped his face because of his stupidity, he can''t believe that he forgot something so simple. He then decided to move out from the line of sight of the ant and re-apply the powder on his body. Once that was done, he now had nothing to worry about. He then went on and proceed with his grand plunder.

    ***

    "Huge harvest, huge harvest,ll~"

    As soon as he went outside of the ant hill, Raven hummed a made up tune reflecting his current mood. When he went inside, he wasn''t expecting to be rewarded at all, he was just merely satisfying his curiosity. Never he would''ve imagined that he will get a Wyvern''s fang and a bunch of shiny treasures inside.

    Raven actually didn''t take everything away. He made sure to leave those shiny clothes that werepletely useless to him and since his time was extended, he made sure to cover his tracks in order to not raise any unnecessary rms. Well, that might fail since the treasure hill was reduced into a mere mound of shiny clothing but still, at least they would suspect each other and won''t connect anything to him.

    Although Raven didn''t get the chance to go deeper into the colony or meet the ant queen, it was totally fine for him since he didn''t need to anyway. He had already figured out everything once he saw the Soldier Ant.

    Previously, Raven was actually surprised that Lord Ants would ever think of building their colony inside the kingdom, since usually they tend to start somewhere rather discreet and build their forces there. Their predatory instincts might be awoken because of their bloodline, they were quite a cautious bunch and often stay away from creatures that could ruin their home.

    This is why the sightings of Lord Ants greatly piqued his interests. He already knew that something was up, which was the reason why he wanted to go here, training is actually the second thing that he wanted.

    "The queen should be reaching that stage huh? This ce might be a little lively than what I first expected."

    Raven sighed as he marched back towards the camp. As soon as he reached the camp, he immediately went towards their camp was somewhat surprised to see that everyone inside is still under that meditative state. He nced at the incense and saw that it was already reduced into ashes. He quickly checked their status up using his ocr technique and saw that there''s nothing wrong with them.

    "Must be in state of Extreme Rxation huh? It would be quite rude to interrupt them."

    He sighed in relief when he realized that they weren''t in danger. They just entered the state of Extreme Rxation which is why they haven''t woken up until now. Extreme Rxation is a mental state quite different from a meditative one where they would only recover their lost energy. Once one entered this state, their bodies will rx to the point where their minds would be focused on that wonderful feeling alone.

    The benefit of entering this state besides from the one mentioned earlier. Extreme Rxation promotes not Recovery but Restoration. This process cures the hidden damages, previous stress, prolonged exhaustion and many more, allowing the body to restore itself into the top condition. Contrary to everyone''s belief, one could actually train themselves to enter and exit this state freely, but since it was probably the first time they experienced this, then they don''t have any control at all.

    Raven stepped outside and decided to prepare a meal since he was in a good mood right now. He went outside once more and took out some cookwares and a crate of meat that he had. Raven decided to stew the delicious meat of the ants for an hour to make a mouthwatering soup. He also threw in some vegetables and some condiments to add more vor profile in the dish.

    While the soup was boiling, Raven decided to inspect the spatial rings that he managed to plunder from the colony. He received a total of fifteen rings and there''s no way that all of them would empty right?

    He took out the first one and peeked inside, the result was rather disappointing. This spatial ring is almost broken since the space inside ispletely unstable, aside from sacks of gold and some stacks of Gold Papers, he didn''t find anything else.

    He let out a disappointed sigh, dug a small hole on the ground and ced the spatial ring there. The he took out the next one. This time, he was impressed. This is an A-grade Spatial Ring andpletely usable. The space inside is ridiculously wide, he figured the he might be able fit a mountain in here.

    There are chests filled with gold papers as well as some smithing necessities inside.. The materials are in preserved state as well, he figured that he might be able to do something good out of these materials.

 Chapter 61 - Teamwork

    ---

    Raven became richer with barely an effort.

    If he converted all of the things he plundered to gold, then the amount he will make would at least be equivalent to his dad''s 3 years worth of sry along with bonuses. Though he felt quite bad since these items were scavenged from the victims of the ants, he decided to not let it bother him too much, they were dead and he had to move on. However, he will make sure that the money he will make from their belongings are put onto good use.

    It also very likely that the colony is in high alert right now, it had been a day since Raven left from there and took all of these things away. By now, they should''ve find out that their horde was reduced into a mere pile of shiny clothing and might as well be tracing every tracks they could find to locate him. Too bad, it just so happens that Raven is five steps ahead of them.

    Currently, Raven was traveling with the group. Mark and Paul had gotten a fantastic rest and never felt better, same goes for the rest that sank into that deep meditative state thanks to the incense that Raven made before. Now, they are more eager and more suitable forbat.

    Jonas took them around for a patrol, the battlefield is eerily quiet which makes most of them wonder what was happening. Raven thought that the ants might be hunting for the culprit, which was him, inside the colony which is why there are no attacks.

    But he knew that this won''tst long, who knows how many ants are in there? They won''t miss a chance to attack specially if the queen is nearing that point.

    "Ohe on! Really? Now that we are looking for some action, then they retreat? What gives!?" Paul moaned, clearly bored out of his mind from all of the walking.

    "I find it strange too. I''ve been patrolling here since these walls were made and we never experienced an idle time like this. I wonder what''s going on?" Jonas cupped his chin while over looking the battlefield.

    "We will keep waiting then, it''s not like they will disappear like that right?" Raven smiled and surveyed. There was a tinge of confidence behind his voice that only his friends would be able to tell. And since he said this, there''s no reason to drop their attention.

    An hour passed and it was noon, the crew is under the shelter of a tent looking at the ground below the walls. They saw some people who were rxing, sleeping, meditating, or patrolling here and there. Just like Jonas said earlier, it was extremely rare for this camp to be this idle. Now that he thought about it, he had a correction to make. This is actually the first time that this camp experienced this idle scene. Normally, you would see an ant or four in the battlefield, duking it out with their fighters and other recruits like him but now, nothing''s happening.

    And if he''s being honest, it''s giving him a creepy vibe.

    *Boom!*

    "Holy shit!" Jonas almost fell from where he was when he heard that sound.

    He immediately turned around and saw what the ruckus was all about. Although at this point he shouldn''t be surprised, he can''t help it since the way these ants enter the battlefield is really shy. He lost count on how many times these things have done it, fortunately they don''t appear randomly or else the ground beneath them would truly cave in. He was about to ask Raven and his crew if they want to move out but there was anothermotion that caught them unprepared.

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    "What''s going on?" Jonas asked. Now the situation just became grimmer.

    He wasn''t expecting this at all. Aside from the one who came out earlier, several more ants surfaced up and together they screeched together and charged towards the fighters who were present.

    Jonas was stumped, this is probably the most intense attack that they have received. He looked down at the chaos that ensued thanks to the ants. He counted silently and spotted at least 15 ants on the entire battlefield. He felt his knees go weak but it was also the same time that he felt a hand on his shoulders. He turned around and saw Raven wearing a smile while looking at him.

    "We will head out soon and help. You go back to the main camp to ask for reinforcements."

    This was his words before turning around and signalling the crew to move out. Jonas wanted to say something but he remembered the things Raven was able to do so far. He figured that it would be best if he followed his advise, but before he did so...

    "Be careful..." he said as he turned around and ran towards the main camp.

    Raven nodded and with his crew, they jumped from where they were standing.

    As soon as theynded, they barely had any time before they saw an ant madly charging towards them. Paul went into a drive and ced himself before the team while having his guard up, Mark and the girls were behind him as well Raven who folded his arms on his chest.

    "Cover for each other backs." Raven uttered and everyone nodded. The ant came closer and closer but before they shed, Anne stretched her bow and took aim.

    The arrow whistled at travelled through the wind, the ant saw thising but decided to ignore it since it knew that it was gonnand on it''s hard shell. The arrow went closer, it suddenly changed course andnded on one of it''s exposed joints. The ant screeched in pain and continued it''s advance while ring at Anne.

    "Good shot." Raven praised.

    It didn''t took long before the opposing forces met. The ant raised one of it''s legs and Paul received it, he nted his shield purposely to redirect the impact on the ground which made it harder for the ant to retrieve it''s leg.

    Mark took this time to climb on the ants legs clearly aiming for the joints. But before he could continue, he could sense that the ants focus was on him and it intended to stop whatever he ns on doing. The ant raised it''s other leg to slice Mark in two, but before the lef reached him, an arrow from Anne hit the hard shell on the leg, causing it to miss it''s target.

    Meanwhile, Ellen and Luna blurred into action. The girls charged forward and hid underneath the antsrge frame while it was distracted by Mark. Thanks to their training, they too were able to climb onto the ants legs while not being afraid of falling, this is due to their energy control. Ellen decided to go for the leg that has the arrow previously while Luna went for the left hind leg.

    No words were spoken, the three severed the respective legs they were on at the same time causing the ant to fall over. Paul grinned and nted himself firmly onto the ground as he saw the head of the ant falling in front of him. As soon as the ant fell, Paul jumped and aimed his spear, he tightened his grip and swung, throwing the spear straight on the beast''s eyes. As he was falling down, Paul saw Mark throwing one of his sword on the other eye.

    Now that the creature was blinded, it was trying it''s best to at least take one down of them. This is when Luna emerged from the back of the beast and jumped onto the head of the ant, she aimed her spear and muttered: ''Piercing Light''.

    A beam of light emerged from the tip of her spear and pierced the head of the ant. The beast screech onest time and then stopped moving. The crew gathered and smiled.

    "Good work-"

    As Raven was about to praise them, another quake just below them. By now, these people knew about these signs and don''t need Raven''s instructions before moving out of the way.

    As they retreated, another ant surfaced from the ground and let out an loud screech. As the team was caught rather unprepared and quite out of breath because they just dealt with one of these. The person who didn''t do much from the beginning decided to take matters at hand.

    Raven''s figure blurred from where he was. Before anyone noticed it, he was already at the face level of the ant. The ant was surprised, it tried to swallow Raven but before it could do so, it''s face met his charged fist.

    It was like a cannon hit it''s face, the ant lost it''s bnce from the impact of a single punch from Raven. It tried to get up but Raven was already on it''s face once more. His raised his arm which looked like it was covered by shiny steel and drove it onto the brain of the ant. Formally ending it''s life. Raven stepped down from where he was and looked at the team.

    "Good work everyone."

 Chapter 62 - Consequences

    ---

    What can they say? As expected?

    While they literally had to work together to fight one, this freak of a nature soloed it.

    It took him two punches. Two punches! To deal with the menace. Honestly, they felt a bit bad for ant. Out of all the people to interrupt, it chose Raven. Now it''s fate was sealed.

    "Common sense isn''t really a thing for you huh?" Mark said while smiling wryly.

    "What are you saying? You guys can do that too! I think you can do even better." Raven shrugged while he regrouped with his crew.

    He wasn''t lying when he said this. In the end of the day, it alles with experience. There will be a time when any of them could solo one of these without any problems.

    "Anyway, we have more iing. Let''s kick it up a notch shall we? Mark and Paul, you guys handle one. Girls, team up and take one down for yourselves. How''s that?"

    "Let''s do it!" The team was a bit inspired and decided to take his challenge.

    ***

    It''s been at least an hour since the mess started, the battlefield was full of damages, from caved in grounds down to some unfortunate soldiers who were injured during the sh.

    It started with fifteen ants showing up basically at the same time but as time goes on, more and more showed up that the rate of killing the beasts can''t keep up with the constant emergence of the ants.

    Raven and his crew were busy too. They went with the original n, the guys would handle one and so does the girls, except Raven who would only move once the situation bes really dire. Altogether, they brought down at least ten ants and they don''t n on stopping.

    At the start of the separation, they truly felt the weight of real battle. It was very challenging for them to take on one ant with less people. Some people who saw their battles could only shake their heads since they knew that they were too inexperienced to take on these beasts. But these people underestimated the conviction of these kids.

    The constant drive and pressure brought out the hidden ferociousness inside their bodies. After a few battles, their teamwork was being polished at a very quick pace and they were finding out quicker ways to bring down these beasts without taking any serious damage of whatsoever. Apart from a few scratches on their bodies, they weren''t truly in danger, and if they ever were, Raven would instantly crush it with a few punches.

    Slowly, their battle instincts were honed and Raven can safely hunt down one for himself without needing to pay close attention to them. He left majority of the observation to Anne, since she was trulying out of shell this time around.

    Ever since the start of the battles, she had never fired any arrows that missed or doesn''t have any purpose. Raven knew that her kic vision was good but it seems that he too underestimated it. Anne could anticipate correctly where the attacks wouldnd and could act instantly too intercept it once she found out that her teammates will get hurt.

    It had to be known that she isn''t using any regr arrows. She is using arrows made out ofpressed energy which, one: requires a great control of energy, two: could change trajectory depending on her control and distance, three: very consuming, four: allows her to decide the length of the arrows she needed.

    All of those on top of observing the battle of not only her side but with the boys as well. Anne also made sure that she didn''t stay on one ce which would make her a ring target for these ants. In terms of progress, she is very close to overshadowing the boys.

    But of course, the intensity of this battle is too high not only for her but for the rest of them. To be able to keep up with this pacing even though they were beginners was actuallymendable on it''s own but it''s quite taxing for them.

    It was around this time, that the wooden gates swung wide open, capturing the attention of pretty much everyone in the battlefield. From there, an army of fifty strong men charged forward with Larry leading them. Almost every one heaved a sigh of relief when the reinforcements arrived. With them here, the extermination quickened and it didn''t take long before the ants were wiped out.

    The crew regrouped and had the chance to catch their breaths. Of course, Raven didn''t miss the chance to harvest their preys and strip everything that has value. He smiled and thought: ''With this, we won''t be hungry for a couple of months.''

    After the chaos died down, Raven and his crew went back to their tents to rest. Along the way they came across some people who were nursing theirrades. Some of them are suffering from broken bones, deep wounds, missing limbs and so on. The atmosphere was quite heavy, and it didn''t help that up until now, there are still some ants that''s attacking.

    "This is rather...depressing." Mark frowned as soon as they entered the tent. The shared his sentiments as well.

    "It''s terrible, there are too many injured people here." Anne sighed as she wiped the dirt on her body.

    "No one was expecting this blew up either. The attack was too sudden." Paulmented.

    "Not really." Raven said, "They should''ve known that this is going to happen."

    Everyone was silent, no one could refute his words after all. It wouldn''t take a genius to know that something like this was going to happen. The battlefield was always active and the ants always surfaced to attack, it''s given that something was up when an active battlefield suddenly became silent.

    Kids they might be, but they too knew that something was up.

    "Among those who were injured are Captains of this camp, who are probably in service for years. What''s funny is that these people should''ve known too, but what did they do when the battlefield became inactive? They either slept, ate, gotten drunk and etc. Completely unprofessional. Now they paid the price of being over confident."

    Just like Raven stated, these people brought this to themselves. Some would think that their experience should help but what did they do?

    "Would it help if we let them know from the start?" Ellen asked as she bandaged some of the wounds on her arm.

    "Yes it would." Raven replied without any hesitation, "But do you think they would listen to us Volunteers and clearly much weaker that they are? I don''t think so."

    "You guys saw him right? The recruit that brought us here, Jonas I think was his name. You saw how many times he was about to faint because of the chaos in the battlefield? He was clearly unfit for duty yet he was here. And he wasn''t the only one who''s like that in here."

    "This is the price of being too confident. The beasts that we fight didn''t help too. They probably thought ''Oh well, they are just some oversized ants, nothing too serious here.'' But look what happened? If it weren''t for me asking Jonas for reinforcements, then the casualties would''ve been high."

    "There also that person, Larry I think was his name? All that dumbass knew to do was too act all high and mighty, you remember when he tried to suppress us using his cultivation base and his killing intent? As if that''s gonna work. While he was there in hisfy tent, people were getting injured and dying. He didn''t bother to check how things were going in here. I guess he couldn''t less since he''s being paid for it anyway."

    "I guess you''re pretty upset with their management here huh?" Paul raised his brow and asked.

    "Hell yeah I am!" Raven rant were far from over. "The situation here is more serious than what you guys think. The Ant Queen would soon evolve from from being a Lord Ant to an Empyrean Ant. If that happens, then they could kiss this whole ce goodbye."

    "What!?" The people inside the camp were shocked.

    "Lord Ants are aggressive, yes. But not to this extent, and regr Lord Ants won''t make their hive in ced that have too much activity, so it is not possible for this colony to exist inside this kingdom. But here they are, and the only event that they are willing to be this aggressive, is when they encounter an opportunity to evolve in a much stronger species. Which is the case right now."

    "So, more people are gonna die huh?" Mark asked.

    "Yes, I estimate that a week from now, the queen would finish her preparations. And be it a sess or not, this ce will cease to exist if no one interferes. This ce would be railed down by lightning and to some extent, the damages would involve the market, a ce where tons of people are, and the casualties would skyrocket.. This is the price of theirziness."

 Chapter 63 - Escalation

    ---

    Larry heard it all, as well as Jonas.

    God knows how much he wanted to deny Raven''s ims. But as he nced at the situation around him, what else could he say?

    Everything he said was right. He also felt that they''re just dealing with some oversized ants, no need for his superiors toe here and call him useless for not being able to handle this situation.

    He should''ve realized it. He shouldn''t have underestimated the ants, if he just treated the ants more seriously, then he would''ve realized that there really is a colony below them. It was now clear to him as to why, after all of the years of his service, he still wasn''t promoted to a higher rank.

    "Railed by lightning? You mean that Ant Queen couldmand lightning?"

    "No. The kind of lightning I''m talking about is ''Tribtion Lightning''. Something thates naturally when the queen has to survive to prove it''s worth to evolve. If she sessfully endured and survived, then the whole outer area of the kingdom will plunge in chaos because her children would receive a huge boost on their prowess too."

    "The Worker Ants would truly awaken their Lord Ant Bloodline and would grow in size,parable to a hill. Just five of those couldpletely wipe the civilization nearby. The Soldier Ants would be even more terrifying, they would at least Veteran Knights in equivalent, and you know most of the knights that reached that level are rare. But this colony? Who knows how many of them are there? After all, no one even bothered to check the depths of the colony at all."

    "There''s also the Alpha Soldier Ants, the one''s who that''s allowed to mate with the queen, they too will receive a boost. And in just short of a month, the Queen would give birth to an Empyrean Ant King. And he would be at least a Silver Knight equivalent to humans. If he grows up, then the horrors he could do is something I don''t even want to imagine."

    Larry''s eyes dted in horror. His heartbeat quickened and cold sweat poured down his back.

    Now the consequences of his actions are bearing down on him like a huge mountain. His mind started to spiral and images of a chaos all around the outer area of the kingdom filled his mind. There he saw many people fleeing, houses were burning, livestock murdered, dead bodies, crying children and a horde of massive ants spreading destruction everywhere.

    "You know all of this is going to happen, yet you''re not doing something? I can''t believe you." Ellen asked.

    Larry heard Raven sneered inside and said: "Yeah and so what? Didn''t that Larry asked us if we think that what they do here is joke? I answered no since it''s not really a joke anyway. What they do here, is allowing the destruction of the kingdom. And who are we to interfere? It''s not like we''re knights or something, we''re just ordinary citizens who happen to volunteer while the real knights rx and scratch their asses on theirfy couches. Nothing more. Honestly, I would like to see the look on his face once he realizes what he caused. He would be regarded as one of the biggest sinners of the entire kingdom."

    Larry''s entire body shook. His face paled as he involuntarily stepped back in horror. His mind was plunged into chaos and guilt started creeping up on his skin.

    Chaotic images started flooding his mind, his entire body was shivering and his teeth were also ttering in fear. His brain was being overloaded with negative images that he was experiencing a mental breakdown. It was then that he felt a chop on his neck and he abruptly lost consciousness.

    It was Jonas, who also heard everything that Raven said. He showed mercy by knocking Larry unconscious. He took a long careful nce at the tent in front of him, before gnashing his teeth and deciding to drag the unconscious Larry back to the tent.

    As soon as their silhouette was gone, the people inside the tent heaved a sigh of relief and felt bad for them.

    "Your methods are quite harsh you know?" Mark raised his brow towards the smiling Raven.

    "Is it? I personally think that isn''t enough you know."

    "What? The poor guy almost died with foam in his mouth because of that and you still think it isn''t enough? You are very mean..." Paul scratched his head in frustration.

    "I just can''t tolerate this carelessness that''s all. This rag tag bunch of people felt too muchfort behind the walls of the kingdom, thinking that it''s invincible. I don''t like them." Raven smiled as he exined.

    Luna sighed and pouted as well. "I just hope Brother ns to change this. Or else, I will truly snatch the crown off from his head."

    "You go girl!" Ellen cheered on the side.

    "Anyways." Raven stood up and patted the dirt on his body. "We''ve had our fun here guys. Let''s leave and let them deal with this situation."

    "Wait, we seriously aren''t going to report this?" Anne asked.

    "No need." Raven shook his head, "Someone''s already on it."

    ***

    "State your purpose."

    "My name is Jonas, a recruit from Camp 7 under the supervision of Commander Larry, he sent me here to report something urgent to Sir Valorheart."

    The guards took the letter and saw the seal of Larry within. They looked at each other and stepped out the way, allowing Jonas entry to facility.

    As he walked inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up and tried to look for the office of the Hawk. This didn''t served as much of a problem since it was quite it was very obvious by the emblem hanging on the door.

    He knocked several times and he heard a deep voice inside saying: "Enter."

    Jonas shivered and started sweating nervously. But he took a deep breath and wore a determined face before stepping inside.

    There he saw a man, standing tall while feeding a Hawk on his shoulders. The man turned around and gazed at him, and Jonas could swear to god that he felt very naked in front of this man. His gaze felt like it was stripping him with all of his privacy and allowed no lies.

    "You don''t look familiar. What''s your purpose oning here?"

    With a loud thump, Luis was stupefied to see the man kneeling in front of him while wearing a deep, guilty expression on his face.

    "I beg for your help Marshal. Please, help us. I beg of you..." Jonas shed tears as he kneeled in front if person that he never met before.

    "I am not sure how I''m able to help you if I don''t know what''s going on? Care to fill in the details for me?" Luis calmly stated as he sat down his desk and looked carefully at the kneeling man. "And stop kneeling, you may sit down."

    "Thank you Sir." Jonas calmed himself down, "My name is Jonas, a new recruit from Camp 7 under Commander Larry, it all started when..."

    Jonas then started narrating what happened in the camp at least a week ago. He told Luis about how they heard about the rumors, their deployment, their battles, the situation they faced. He described their foes, the amount of people injured on a day to day basis. Until he reached the point where Raven and his crew came, the events that transpired when they met Larry, their first battle, their first show of force, the deafening silence in the battlefield, the great battle, his request for reinforcements, up until they overheard the discussion within Raven''s tent and the mental breakdown of Larry.

    "...and that brings us to this point Marshal. I know that we are not under your supervision but please, help us deal with those beast." Jonas pleaded once more.

    He kept his head down all this time, it was quite hard for him to do all this since it wasn''t his responsibility in the first ce. Actually, the letter he presented towards the guards earlier, was something that he alone crafted, he borrowed the seal on Larry''s deck and went all the way here to visit the famous Hawk to ask for help. He never imagined that this is the way he and his idol will meet.

    After quite sometime, he heard Luis sighed. He looked up and saw him writing down something. Once he finished writing, he beckoned and a hawk appeared in his shoulders. He ced the letter on thepartment attached to the foot of the hawk. He fed it once more and it disappeared instantly.

    Luis stood up and whistled. As soon as he finished whistling, a figure emerged behind him with a bow asking: "Julius reporting for duty Sir."

    "Issue a Level 3 alert. I want our forces to be gathered in an hour including the elites. Ready the supplies and prepare for a week long trip. We have ants to exterminate. Are my instructions clear?"

    "Loud and clear Sir."

    "Good, you may go."

 Chapter 64 - Hawk Forces

    ---

    In front of massive building, numerous people were standing in a neat formation.

    They wore strict expressions on their faces and stood like spears pointing towards the heaven. On their uniforms, a badge depicting a hawk capturing a head could be seen. There''s at least a hundred people gathered here each are divided into ten square-ish formation with their captains standing in full attention in front of them.

    Luis walked out and everyone tensed up, the whole ce was silent as they watch this man slowly walking towards his horse. This isn''t the first time that they saw him but his choking presence never gets old.

    "Status reports." Luis uttered, immediately the ten captains walk forward and saluted.

    "Camp 1, reporting for duty. Emergency supplies covered." The captain of the first camp reported.

    "Camp 2, reporting for duty. Weapon supplies checked and ready for battle."

    "Camp 3, reporting for duty. Firearms supplies checked and distributed."

    "Camp 4, reporting for duty. Workforce headcountpleted."

    "Camp 5, reporting for duty. Warhorses, fed and healthy. Ready for long distance travels."

    "Camp 6, reporting for duty. Food supplies checked and distributed."

    "Camp 7, reporting for duty. Medics on board."

    "Camp 8, reporting for duty. Legal documents ready."

    "Camp 9, reporting for duty. Transportation apparatuses, checked and secured."

    "Camp 10, reporting for duty. Spy Hawks ready for duty."

    "Hawk Force! Complete and ready for duty!" Everyone shouted in unison.

    Luis nodded and calmly mounted on his horse, he took a careful nce at the soldiers on his team. After personally checking them, he then turned around and looked at the people behind him.

    "Elite Force. Report."

    Instantly, five shadows popped out of nowhere. All of them were wearing a bronze ted armors holding their respective weapons on their side.

    The first one to report was a man holding two sickles on his hand, he had scar running down from his left eye down to his right chin. He had ck eyes, ck hair, wore a lightweight bronze armor to protect his body and made the first salute for the elite force.

    "Julius the Scout, reporting for duty."

    Next was a girl, she had violet hair and eyes with a bow strapped onto her back. She wore skin tight ck one piece suit that covered her from the neck down to her soles, she was also sore a tight fit bronze breast te and leg armor. She made the second salute for the elite force.

    "Beatrice the Archer, reporting for duty."

    Next was a tall and brash looking man, he was bald and had a huge build. He grasp a great sword that is resting on his shoulders while also wearing a heavy duty bronze armor. He made the third salute for the elite force.

    "Malik the Brute, reporting for duty."

    Next was another male, grasping a sword and shield by his hands. His frame was a bit smaller than Malik but not smaller than Julius, he also wore a heavy duty bronze armor that hadrge shoulder pads on both sides. He did the fourth salute for the elite force.

    "Raphael the Protector, reporting for duty."

    Last but certainly not the least, a blonde who was definitely the smallest on the group stepped forward, she held a priest''s staff and on her waist, a couple of vials that was filled with different kinds of fluids were inserted and ced as a belt. She wore a neat white robe underneath and lightweight bronze armor. She did thest salute for the elite force.

    "Merlin the Healer, reporting for duty."

    As soon as the elite forces finished their salutations, Hawk retrieved his sword on his belt and pointed it on the sky.

    "And I, Luis the Hawk. Reporting for duty! Hawk Forces, move out!"

    "Sir yes sir!"

    ***

    "Ohhhh!" An astonished exim escaped through Malik''s mouth. "So those are our targets!"

    If a normal person looked towards where he was looking, they would probably think that he was insane since he was looking at the wooden gates. But what they didn''t know is that Malik is using a Shared Vision with one of the Mirage Hawks, which is now overlooking the battlefield.

    "I''ve heard about Lord Ants before, but this is certainly the first time that I''ve seen one." Raphael said while tracing his chin.

    "Looking at this scene, It''s quite easy to underestimate them." Beatrice analyzed.

    "I agree, the battlefield in chaos too." Julius saw from shared vision the battle that is currently on going, there was a deep frown on his face since this camp is severely undermanned. The rate of extermination can''t keep up with the reinforcements from the ants.

    "So many injured." Merlin frowned upon checking the casualties inside.

    "I-I''m sorry, we should''ve reported the situation sooner." Jonas who was riding with Merlin bowed and apologized.

    "Well, betterte than never." Malik grinned and raised his thumb towards him.

    "You did well and this isn''t your fault." Merlin added.

    "We''re here now, we will handle the situation and everything will be fine." Beatrice alsoforted.

    On the way here, Jonas told them the entire story of what transpired over hear like what he did with Luis.

    None of the elite force showed any changes in expression but they too felt shivers on their spine upon imagining the destruction these ants could do once the queen finished her evolution. It was a good thing that this recruit did the right thing and reported as soon as possible to prevent this from happening.

    "Bea, do your thing." Luis''s voice echoed behind them. The girl smiled and said:

    "Copy that." On which, she stood on the back of her horse and drew her bow.

    As her hair was being scattered by the wind, she stretched her bow fully and single line of light emerged between her fingers all the way to the end of the bow. Calcting for a bit, she released the arrow and it flew at the speed of light.

    The arrow dispersed into bits of light and formed a huge magical circle above the battlefield. Beatrice then whispered: "Great Arrow Rain."

    Then, the magical circle red with light and sent volleys of arrows below. The people and ants were stupefied by this sight, the soldiers tried to run but soon noticed that if any arrows were about to hit them, it would disperse into a gust of wind that did nothing to hurt them. As for the ants however, their shells were heavily damaged by the hail of arrows.

    "Nice..." Malik praised.

    "Raph, Malik. Blow down the gates." Luismanded once more.

    "Oh yeah here we go!" Malik grinned fiendishly to which caused Raphael shook his head.

    They too stood on the backs of their horses before gently stepping down. As soon as their foot touched the ground, they kicked behind and sprinted towards the gates. They were clearly faster than warhorses and it didn''t took long before they were in front of the gates.

    Both of them stopped, looked at each other and nodded. Malik raised his great sword and Raphael ced his shield in front of him. They grunted at the same time, Malik shed down which caused a fin-like air wave charging towards the left gate. Meanwhile, Raphael pushed his shield forward and also caused a circr air projectile towards the right gate.

    The projectiles blew the gates in pieces, and just like before this cause the entire battlefield''s attention to gather around them.

    "Julius, scout ahead and report after 15 minutes. Merlin, help the injured." Luismanded once more.

    "Copy that." Julius promptly disappeared into a cloud of smoke and flew at a blinding speed towards the ant hill.

    Merlin also stood on the back of her force and took something out from her belt. It was a vial filled with pink liquid. Malik and Raphael saw what she was doing and immediately pinched their noses while retreating back. Merlin waited until she could no longer see Julius, after he disappeared inside the ant hill. She aimed and threw the vial at the center of the battlefield.

    The vial shattered and liquid inside instantly turned into a cloud of pink smoke. It scattered at a speed visible to the naked eye, and any living thing that came in contact with the smoke or inhaled it lost consciousness, man or ant alike.

    Jonas was shocked. In his mind he thought: ''This people hasn''t even reached the battlefield itself yet they were able to shut down the entire chaos just like that. Unbelievable.''

    And before he noticed it, they were already on the battlefield. Malik, Raphael, Beatrice and Merlin was already on the move. Raph assisted Merlin on escorting the injured soldiers to the treatment area while Bea and Malik are finishing the remaining ants.

    Luis also unmounted his horse and took a long nce of the battlefield. The rest of the Hawk Forces caught up and even without orders from him, they began setting up camp and fixing the rest of the mess in here.

    Larry came out from one of the tents only to see the Hawk Forces patching up the mess he made, as soon as he saw Luis, his entire body froze and realization dawned on him.

    "I hereby strip you out of your rank and subject tow due to your irresponsibility. Men, subdue him."

    This onemand from Luis, ended all of his dreams.

 Chapter 65 - Infiltration

    ---

    "Don''t worry, you''re in safe hands. The Hawk Forces are here."

    As soon as the injured people heard Merlin''s words, all of them had the urge to cry. There are people here who are in terrible states. Some were even at the verge of breaking down because of pain.

    Merlin showed a smiled but her chest hurt by this sight. The situation here is even more terrible that what she imagined. She knew that it wasn''t the forces'' fault that they arrivedte but she was somewhat ming herself because she arrived toote. There''s at least 20 people who died, the rest are either missing a limb or groaning in pain.

    She ced a determined expression and waved her staff. Yellow light emerged from her body that gave her a holy look. She raised her staff and uttered: "Salvation Field!"

    Instantly, a yellow brilliance scattered into a vast magical circle that covered the whole bay. The magical circle emitted a brilliant sh of yellow light that touched every injured person in here. Anyone who''s injured that was touched by this light felt like a weight was lifted from their chest. There was a strange calmness that drowned over them, a feeling of being cradled by a cloud. Their injuries started recovering in a faster pace and the process didn''t even caused them any kind of difort at all.

    The people who were previously groaning in extreme pain were now sleeping peacefully, the solemn air that was present disappeared and reced by a calming scene, anyone who gazed at Merlin''s work might say that she is performing a miracle right now.

    "Oh, you used the Salvation Field! The situation must be vert serious huh?" Malik and Raphael arrived dragging injured soldiers on their backs.

    Merlin nodded and said: "These people will experience a severe trauma if I didn''t do anything."

    "The medics are also here, let''s regroup with boss so that we can take down this mess." Raphael said as he gently ced the soldier down.

    "Maya!" Merlin called, instantly a petite and ck haired girl in ponytail walked towards her, she''s were a green overalls with a military vest on her chest and some knee pads.

    "Yes Teacher?" Maya replied as soon as she gotten close.

    "Set up a C-ranked Medicinal Cistern nearby, once the patients wakes up, have drink a ss and check their vitals. Once your''s done with everyone, discuss to them thepensation for their service ording to legal documents, understood?"

    "Yes Teacher." Maya nodded and immediately went to work.

    Merlin nodded to Malik and Raphael, they then proceeded to walk towards the main camp and discuss tactics with Luis. As soon as they stepped inside, they saw Beatrice in there as well as Julius who had already returned from his scouting mission. Everyone saw that Julius is already drawing a map ording to what he saw inside. Luis saw that Julius finished drawing so he ordered:

    "How''s the interior looking?"

    "Ugly." Julius scowled which made the others frown. "The hill has at least has multiple entrances, I''ve counted five but there should be more. Each holes were a tunnel that lead to a certain divisions or another forked path which makes it incredibly confusing."

    "And since this is an Ant Hill, there''s of course ants everywhere." Julius pointed on the map that he made and continued: "Just in this room alone, there are at least 50 of those beasts waiting to be deployed. This room also had multiple holes on the ceilings which they used to emerge in any spot of the battlefield."

    He pointed at another ce on the map and said: "This ce is one of their storage areas, this also where they make their foods from the victims they had." Pointing at another spot, "This ced is where the babies are, and right next to it is where they hoard items they''ve gotten from their victims."

    Pointing one again on the map he said: "This is probably the busiest andrgest area as far as I''m concerned. I''ve seen at least ten Soldier Ants moving to and from this area. There''s also multiple Worker Ants on standby here. I''ve counted hundreds when I got there, but that might change since this ce also leads into a multiple forked paths. I was trying to be careful and only ventured on one path and saw Eggs. Lots of them, guarded by five Alpha Soldier Ants and they are armed for what ever reason. Due to time, I wasn''t able to locate the queen, that''s my bad."

    "This is..." Beatrice was a bit speechless.

    "Their reproduction capabilities are insane, or this ce had been here for a very long time and no one noticed it." Raphaelmented on the side.

    "ording to some records that I''ve read while on the way here, this isn''t the worst case scenario." Luis said which made his subordinates look at him weirdly. "Their bloodline aren''t pure, regr Lord Ants are at size of a hill and those who are stronger are much bigger than that. If their Queen had a pure bloodline, then she would''ve given birth to more, I''m talking thousands here."

    "So see...it isn''t the worst care scenario. That is of course, if we managed to reach here before the deadline." Luis added to make his thoughts clear.

    "When do we move boss?" Malik asked while licking his lips, he had been itching for battle sinceing here, in fact if it weren''t for the fact that Luis was inmand here, he would''ve already charged head first on the ant hill.

    "Let me n a bit, give me at least five minutes." Luis immediately moved and closed his eyes to think.

    To anyone this might look like he was just taking a brief nap but his brain is actually working fast and it''s performing many simtions of what he should expect happening once they started the raid. He had to prepared himself to every scenario present since he''s not going at this alone. There are many lives behind his back and it''s his responsibility to protect them.

    His eyes snapped as soon as the five minutes were over. He then discussed his ns with them: "We will go for a test run first. A covert mission if you will. We will try to scour every corner and get all the details we can."

    "This mission will only include you Elite Force and me. Up for the task?" Luis asked.

    "Sir yes Sir!" The elites answered in unison.

    "I give you ten minutes to prepare, we move out afterwards."

    ***

    Luis and his subordinates were gathered at the spot where Julius entered before. He looked at them and nodded and then Julius did his thing.

    "Mystify..." he whispered. Instantly, a ck fog escaped through his orifices and poured over to his allies.

    As the smoke touched them, it covered their whole body and concealed it as a ck fog. This fog is barely visible on bright ces and totally invisible on the dark. Luis and his team could still see each other even thought they are concealed in a ck fog. With a nod from him, all of them blurred to action and infiltrated the Ant Hill.

    After a while of running. They came across the division that Julius pointed out earlier. It was a room where there are at least 5o ants ording to Julius. Luis beckoned them to stop and signalled to count the ants present. Julius then replied shortly with a scowling expression on his face saying that there''s more or less 80 ants here.

    Luis shook his head and felt a headacheing, it wasn''t even an hour since Julius was here but their numbers already grew. Luis sent the signal to move on and the team went past the ant forces in front of them.

    The next room that where arrived through is the storage area. They were immediately weed by a nasty stench along with a view of what looks like a Mud Ball Hill. But if one inspected each ball closely, they would see bits and pieces of human body parts along with some questionable ingredients mixed in to form each ball.

    Julius felt a sharp re on his back which crept him out so he turned around only to see Beatrice ring at him while on the verge of retching. If she was allowed to speak right now, she would told him: ''I will get you for this.''

    Julius nervously smiled and thought: ''Oh crap, I''m in deep shit right now. I actually forgot to tell them there''s all sorts of nasty in here. Bea isn''t fond of nasty ces so she might be thinking of hurting me when we return."

    His thoughts were disrupted when he heard a scuttling noise not too far away from him. It wasn''t only him who heard this and without needing orders, all of them jumped back retreated, after which they didn''t dare to move even an inch.

    The scuttling sounds that they heard came from two Alpha Soldier Ants who happened to visit the area when they were there.

 Chapter 66 - Heading Deeper

    ---

    The expression of the team froze, the elite force unknowingly nced towards Luis for instructions and saw that he was already holding up a signal that says: ''Don''t move.''

    They did what he ordered and saw that the Alpha Soldier Ants went past them. The two just went over to the Mud Ball Hill to gather some food and deliver it somewhere.

    As soon as they disappeared the team breathed a sigh of relief, Luis thought: ''So these Alpha Soldier Ants also go on rotation, good to know.'' He sent a go signal towards the team and they continued their journey.

    After some time of careful movements, they arrived at the ce where Julius left off. Luis already handed out the order to be extra careful as they were moving towards unknown territory, there might traps so they have to tread carefully. He also gave an order to Julius to continue mapping out the area as they go.

    They faced a 5-way path and decided to scout the leftmost path first. There walked for quite a while before eventually reaching the end of the path. There they saw another batch of eggs but these ones are clearlyrger than the ones they encountered earlier.

    The surface of each eggs were covered in grime, there''s also some strange vein-like patterns etch on it and they were also glowing with a faint green light which made the eggs look otherworldly

    The team huddled up and discusses in a low voice: "These eggs are bad news." Luis said.

    "If my sources are correct, then what''s inside these eggs are the King''s Escorts. When they hatch, they will serve the Ant Queen for a while but their loyalty will shift towards the Ant King once he''s born. They rival Silver Knight Realm experts and grow stronger as they get older. We have to get rid of them now."

    The mood just turned incredibly solemn. The danger of this things just escted by a few levels. If what Luis said was true then once these antse out of their shell then no one in the Elite Forces can handle them. Luis might be able to hold them off for a bit but the issue is there''s at least 10 eggs in here. He would be mobbed and would probably die a horrible death due to their numbers.

    "We have to get rid of them while staying hidden as well. We don''t want a mob of ants hot on out trails once were done." Luis added some more.

    "I have a n." Julius got their attention so he exined. "We poke a small hole on top of each eggs and poison them. I have a few vials of deadly stuff on me, what about you guys?"

    "I also have some, but that would empty my stocks." Bea said in response.

    "I have a few on me as well, but like Bea it would also empty my stocks." Merlin added.

    "Doesn''t matter, we are sneaking in. Just use all of them and we move on, our main concern is finding the queen anyway." Luis said and gave the go signal.

    The team moved and poked holes on top of each eggs. Julius, Bea and Merlin went on and poured a vial of poison on the opening on each head. Once they''re done, they immediately retreated. Luis made sure to remind them not to leave any traces since they don''t want attention now.

    After checking if the room doesn''t have any paths behind, the team went back to the 5-way path and went to the one next to the room they previously went in. This time, they arrived a very strange location.

    It was a room that had a strange collection of mementos from their victims. They saw bones of both humans and beasts, totems, parts of houses, woods, figurines, beast skins, and etc. All of them wore strange expression on their faces as they saw this room. They huddled once more and discussed in low voice.

    "What''s up with this room. Is it a junk room?" Malik asked while scratching his bald head.

    "No, it''s more of like another storage room, but this time it has mementos of their victims." Raphael said.

    "This is the Hoarding Room." Luis exined, "I''ve seen it on the records from Lair Hunting Knights. Everir or something of the sorts will have a room like this. For some reasons, beasts developed a tendency to hoard things that they think have value. This is their wealth to put it on perspective. Some beasts outside of the kingdom engages trades with other species."

    "So...these ants are cognizant of what they are doing?" Bea asked.

    "More or less yeah." Luis agreed, "They aren''t fully aware but their instincts tells them to do it. The more intelligent members handles the trade. I might be wrong but that''s what the records shows."

    The elite forces pondered on his words, it wasn''t everyday that they will encounter something like this in this line of work. They are more used to dealing with people since that is what Luis specializes. Not mentioningirs, they weren''t even expecting to encounter a colony inside of their home of all ces. It was a strange and new experience.

    "Check the room if there''s other paths." Luis gave the order and the team moved. After scouring each corner of the room, they found none so it''s time to move one.

    Now they ventured at the middle path. And what they saw at the end made their scalps tingle a bit. On the way here, they already met with countless of ants already. But this room takes the cake.

    It was a massive room, filled to the brim with ants of different kinds. All of them started counting how many ants could see but since they are moving, it was proving quite difficult to do so. Luis guessed that there''s at least 500 here not counting the one''s they encountered before. There are several Soldier Ants as well as Alpha Soldier Ants mingling with each other here. Thank god for Julius'' concealment ability, they can''t imagine how''s it like being mobbed by this many ants.

    Luis'' head throbbed due to headache, he decided to get out of this room before someone makes any mistake. This room just made him realize that his forces are definitely not enough to handle all of them.

    They returned to the previous room and decided to enter the fourth path, and once again they were greeted by that same, nasty stench albeit worse than what they encountered previously. They could already tell what kind of room they will enter but they still moved forward.

    And just like what they were expecting, this room was specifically where the ants makes their food. The teams saw a few worker ants here which were making those mud balls from before.

    They saw a pile of dead bodies on the side. The ants will pick up a bunch, chop them into pieces, mix them up and mash them into a mud ball which are going to be ced on the opposite side.

    Beatrice almost threw up, Merlin wore a disgusted expression while the boys had faces full of killing intent. They witnessed how those dead bodies included humans of all ages and genders, yes even children. And they watched how these...abominations, chop them up to pieces like they were some stray cabbages.

    Luis fought the urge to give the assaultmand here and there. He can''t afford to make a ruckus now since they''re in too deep in the colony. Just in the next room alone are hordes of ants that could trample them to death. If he be reckless right now, then there''s no doubt that it will be their turn to be chopped up.

    He signalled retreat, but Malik refused to move. Raphael had to drag him by his cor to carry out themand. As they returned to the previous room, Luis stepped forward and gave Malik a light p on his face to wake him up.

    "Endure. We will destroy them, that''s a promise." He then ced a hand on Malik''s shoulders.

    "Sorry and Thank you boss." Malik bowed down and felt quite embarrassed. Good thing he didn''t blew up or else it would be the end for them.

    "Alright, let''s move on."

    The team then went to thest room that they haven''t checked yet. And what greeted them, were sticky greenish substance scattered all over the ce. Each time they took a step, they felt the resistance because of the stickiness.

    That substance is Mucus. Mucus sttered everywhere.

    As their mobility were greatly hindered, Luis ordered to move carefully and not make too much noise. The deeper they went the thicker these mucus gets. And upon reaching the end of the tunnel, they were stunned by what they saw.

    The whole ce resembled a spider web, but instead of web it''s mucus. On the center there was a huge sphere made out of condensed green mucus that is shining with a green light. And on the center, there is a figure curled up into what looks like a fetal position. No one needed to say anything since they already knew what''s inside that sphere.

    It was the Ant Queen.

 Chapter 67 - Mysterious Message

    ---

    "Thanks foring Brother, I appreciate it." Luis said.

    The man in front of him is dded in a heavy silver armor carrying two swords on his waist. He was just as tall as him but he had red hair which made him stand out from the crowd. This is Bradley, Ellen''s father.

    "No problems there Luis. So, what''s the situation here?" Bradley went straight to the point. Once he received the letter from the hawk, he immediately reported and went towards here to provide support. He also brought some men with him since Luis also requested for that.

    Luis nodded to Julius and he stepped forward to do the honors.

    It was then that Bradley and his men were made aware of the horrors that this ce were hiding. They never expected something like this went under their noses. If it weren''t for the guilt of the recruit who reported what was going on here, then it might really be toote for any of them.

    "¡­there might be some changes since it has been a few hours since we came out. Either way, it''s imperative that we take action." Julius concluded the report.

    Bradley let out an audible sigh and massaged his temples, he thought: ''I''m getting too old for this shit.''

    "What''s the n?" Bradley asked.

    "Complicated." Luis replied which made Bradley raise his brow. "There''s way too many of them. If we charge in head first, then we will soon have our backs against the wall, too many will be injured and the rate of extermination can''t keep up. Stealthing doesn''t work too since even though we could thin them out, we will leave tracks which also lead into chaos."

    "If we raid them inside the colony, then we will walking on thin wire since we can''t use attacks that are too damaging or else the ceiling will give in and we will buried underground. But if we work like that, then the damage we will deal would be slowed down and we will be mobbed by their numbers."

    Luis was stumped. He had been thinking of a way to deal with this colony for quite a while now.

    "Burying them alive doesn''t work either?" Bradley suggested.

    "It doesn''t." Luis replied. "These are ants, they are used to digging. It also won''t reach or kill the queen for that matter. She''s protected by a thick membrane of mucus. We tried getting an ambush before but all of our attacks only left a scar."

    "I''ll leave for a while so that I could brief the rest of my team about what we''re about to face. I''m confident that you''lle up with something." Bradley patted Luis'' shoulders and left.

    Luis greatly appreciated this action, he sat back down to his chair and sped his hand before him. "You guys may take your leave."

    "Understood." The elite forces saluted and went out of the tent.

    After they left. Luis massaged his temples, he was debating to himself if he should ask for from the Royal Pce. But he decided to leave that out as ast resort, he will know when to call for them anyway.

    In the mean time, he had to at leaste up with something, there''s at least six days left ording to the intel before the queen finishes her evolution. He''s short of time but he will managed, this wasn''t the first time that he was cornered like this.

    Luis streched out his arm and a Mirage Hawk suddenly appeared. He sighed and stroked the feathers of hispanion.

    This is what Luis usually do whenever he''s in deep thought, it became a habit for him to be inpany of his Mirage Hawk. His brain worked fast and tried to deduced for a good way to get rid of the trouble before them.

    His mind wandered to the first moment that he met with Jonas. He retraced his memories and checked if he missed something very important. He recalled each of his orders, the deployment and the events that transpired not too long ago.

    Then, his eyes widened as he remembered something important, a grin appeared from his face as he whispered: "Yeah¡­yeah! That should work!" But his smile instantly disappeared since he knew that that shouldn''t be all.

    "What about the Queen? So long as he''s in that mucus shell, even if our forces joined hands, we won''t go anywhere. What to do?"

    Luis thought deeply once more. He was d that he already had an idea on what to do with the other ants, the queen is the only one left, and he absolutely can''t let her seed or else, there would too much destruction.

    *Chirp!*

    Luis'' thoughts were distracted by the sudden squeal of his pet, he smiled and said: "Sorry there buddy, I was in deep thought. You should be hungry huh?"

    The hawk let another squeal, but just as when he was about to feed it. The hawk tucked it''s head under it''s wing. It''s head bended and using it''s beak, it tapped thepartment on it''s feet. Luis saw this and frowned, he found it strange since he can''t remember waiting for message at all.

    There was a letter rolled up and ced on thepartment on the hawk''s foot. Luis took it and fed the hawk then ced it on a stand just beside his desk. He opened the letter and saw something that he wasn''t truly expecting at all.

    It was a map. To be more precise, it was a map of the ce where they currently at. It clearly recorded eachndmark that was familliar to him and there''s the map of the colony, which is more detailedpared to what he and Julius made before.

    Luis was highly skeptical. First of all, who could''ve intercepted his pet without him noticing it? Second, how did this person have a better version of the map of the colony? Third, what is his purpose?

    He was thinking if this had been nned by someone, and he hated the feeling that they might dancing in someone else''s palms.

    He checked the map once more and saw that there is a highlighted markings here and there. Luis was shocked to see that even though they didbed through the colony when they went there, there''s still somethings that missed out.

    The map of this person pointed out some cleverly hidden rooms that they missed previously. There''s also the tunnels that the ants used whenever they want to surface up. Those were also detailed very closely in this map.

    But what''s probably the most important part of the map is the traces that this person left which are shown with red markings. It was showing him something that might solve his current predicament.

    Luis immediately went into full alert mode trying to decode the message. He took out a map of the kingdom and triedparing it to the one that this person made. Granted that this person didn''t drew the whole map of the kingdom, but he did drew the map of their current location so it was at least easier for him to do theparison.

    Luis had a deep frown on his face. ording to what he saw, the markings was leading somewhere opposite of where the colony is. He first guessed if it was the Market but soon denied that since that didn''t make any sense. He then tried looking for other directions and found nothing aside from mountain ranges.

    He was somewhat displeased because he thought that this person must be leading him around the nose. But he had this hunch that there should be more from this. Just to be sure, he sent his hawk to check the location while also activating the Shared Vision.

    Luis was working with multiple things here, he was deducting the message of this mysterious person, looking at the map while also paying attention to the vision feed of the hawk. This is a very challenging task but one that only a few people like him could do.

    Paying close attention to the vision feed from the hawk, he found that his previous guess was correct. What''s beyond this point are only a mountain ranges-

    "Huh?"

    The hawk caught something on the corners of it''s vision. He gave an order to look at that specific direction and saw something that he never knew was there before. He analyzed the idea for a brief moment, next thing he knew, something clicked on his brain and he gave another to the hawk to get a closer look on the field.

    As soon as he saw the state of this ce, anticipation rose from the depths of his heart. As the hawk flew closer to the target, his thoughts were soon confirmed and finally, enlightenment came for him. A wide grin appeared from his face as he thought.

    "I get it! So that''s what you mean! Okay, we''ll do it just like that! Whoever you are, know that this service is a great merit for the kingdom! You did well!"

    Unbeknownst to absolutely everyone on the field.. A hidden figure smiled and walked away.

 Chapter 68 - Raid Begins

    ---

    Back at the Queen''s Chamber.

    Luis and the rest are still trying their best to release the Queen from a high altitude. So far, they managed to lower her mucus bubble to some degree but for their ns to seed, they have to make sure that she''s on the ground.

    It didn''t help that the hardened mucus was a pain in the rear to sever, even the energetic Malik clearly slowed down from visible exhaustion.

    "Huh¡­this things are tough! I''m getting tired from constant swinging." Malik whined but his actions his actions never stopped. Of course, he knew that he can''t stop now, they were running out of time, and if they didn''t do this now, then it would be toote for them.

    "If you have the energy to whine¡­" Raphael said as he just finished severing a connection, "¡­then use it to cut away instead of whining."

    "Hmph! Smart ass¡­" Malik made faces towards his direction, but did what he said anyway.

    "If you guys are feeling tired, then you can drink some potions that Merlin gave you earlier." Luis said in a ''matter-of-factly'' tone.

    Malik and Raphael froze, they looked at each other and shook their heads in embarassment. They summoned a vial of blue liquid from their spatial rings and downed it on one go. Their bodies brightened up and both of them felt refreshed and ready to go wild once more.

    "That''s some good stuff, got to ask her to make me a few of theseter." Malik said as he began slicing away.

    "Yeah, good luck about that. As if you could get one without her emptying your wallet." Julius'' sarcastic remarks echoed from the opposite side of the room.

    Malik''s eyes twitched for a bit before sighing in defeat. He almost forgot that Merlin is actually a ruthless business woman. Unless it was necessary for their cause, she won''t even give discounts to her own teammates.

    "Well, she''s an Alchemist after all. The ingredients that she used to concoct these things must''ve cost her a fortune, plus there''s also her research for the forgotten medicines. So yeah, she would really charge us heavily for this, we should be happy that work calls for it or else we won''t even have one." Raphael added.

    "Heads up!" Luis eximed catching their attention. The trio looked up and saw the mucus bubble losing it''s bnce.

    They hurriedly moved away and retreated as far as possible. It didn''t take long before the bubble fell and crashed to the ground, kicking up a huge dust cloud. Everyone that''s inside the colony heard this, good thing that the effects of Paralyzing Mist are so strong that this sound wasn''t enough to wake them up.

    The bubblended onto the floor, but it doesn''t mean that their work is done here. Just to make sure that everything would go ording to the n, they needed topletely sever all of the connections from the walls so that there won''t be any mishaps during the execution.

    "Alright team, there''s only a few left. Let''s get this over with." Luis encouraged the team and they replied.

    "Sir yes sir!"

    ***

    While Luis and his team were dealing with the queen, the onught against the paralyzed ants began.

    The Hawk Forces were told not to show any mercy for the ants. Complete Annihtion as Luis ordered. And since the ants are paralyzed for few hours because of the earlier efforts of the team, then this will undoubtedly lower their casualties, making this mission aplished with flying colors.

    As a matter of fact, Hawk Forces never dealt with this kind of problem before. It was actually va first time for the team to y beasts, usually they deal with shady organizations, cults or rebels and pretty much everyone in this team had their hands stained with blood.

    It was the specialty of Luis though. To deal with corruption. His moniker, The Hawk, won''t be something to fear if he didn''t have anything to back it up. The amount of corruption he ended during his term are numerous. To Luis, it didn''t matter whether one is of noble, military ormon background. If they start to threaten the peace of the Kingdom, he will eventually show up in front of their gates and when that happens, it would be their end.

    His reputation soared to an unbelievable heights that some started to even brand him as a hero. The only thing that''s keeping him from his position as a Marshal is his cultivation base. Which was trulyughable considering that some even managed to acquire a higher position than him even though they did nothing worth mentioning.

    "¡­5th! Whew! How many are left?" - random soldier #1 asked.

    "Many! And I have to say, you sure your aren''t losing your touch buddy? I''m on my 7th kill here while you just finished your fifth." - random soldier #2 said.

    "Oh leave me be, you know my techniques aren''t for beasts!" - random soldier #1 replied.

    "That''s true..."

    "Come to think of it, this shit is he serious." Random soldier #1 gazed around him, "Who knew that there''s something like this hiding beneath our home. And it was so close too. Good thing Big Boss knew about it."

    "Couldn''t agree more!" Random solider #2 eximed, "As soon as I saw this, I told my family to move out."

    "You live around here?"

    "Yeah¡­my wife''s a vegetable vendor you see."

    "Oh, good for you then. And good thing the situation hasn''t escted just yet, or else the damages these things could do are immense."

    "I absolutely agree. I just hope Big Boss would at least be rewarded handsomely from this, or at least get promoted."

    "I wonder about that¡­" random soldier #1 mused, "Rumors said that Big Boss had been offered with the position already, not just once, but multiple times actually."

    "Oh?" Random soldier #2 never heard about this so he asked: "He didn''t ept it? Why though?"

    "Generals are stationed near the pce." Random Soldier #1 exined, "Which means no holidays for him, and I guess boss didn''t want to lose time for his family. But, these are all just rumors though. I''m not aware of the true reason behind."

    "HEY YOU TWO! WHAT ARE YOU STAYING IDLE FOR! HURRY YOUR ASSES UP BEFORE I FEED YOU TO THE ANTS!"

    "Y-YES SIR!"

    ***

    "Alright, clear the rubbles out everyone. We have time since Sir Bradley''s resting."

    Back at the tunnel that Bradley drilled, the team that went with him cleaned up the rubble that fell during his rampage. So far, the tunnel followed a stair-like pattern, allowing people to stand properly without needing to use energy by clinging on to the walls.

    They busied themselves by clearing up the rubble, Merlin and Beatrice included. There''s huge chunks of rocks that fell during Bradley''s attack and it''s imperative that cleared those out or else the n won''t be sessful.

    There are at least on person stationed on each intersection. They went and cleared out the rubble by passing it down from one person to the next, and the person who''s stationed in the opening of the tunnel was tasked to discard the rubble back onto the queen''s chamber. This process continued and will only stop once there are no stones blocking their passage.

    After a couple minutes of rest, Bradley exited his meditation and stood up. Bea and Merlin being the closest to his location perked up retreated a few steps. Merlin retreated further from them while Bea stayed a few meters away.

    Bradley once again gathered momentum and raised his swords above his head. He spun faster and faster until wind kicked up around him. Bea''s eyes shed and stretched her bow once more, and just like before, she made an arrow made out ofpressed wind and shot it towards Bradley, which didn''t harm him but instead made him spin faster.

    The tunnel went noisy once more, Bea being the closest from his position heard this clearer than anyone else. She also saw that there are more rubbles to clear so she started the heavy lifting with Merlin and the rest joining her after.

    "Say..." Merlin spoke which made Bea''s attention to be fixated on her, "How far are we from reaching the end?"

    "Hmm, let''s see¡­" Bea did some mental calctions before replying, "He makes a turn every 10 meters. So far, we have 20 sections, which means 200 meters of overall distance. We still have 600 meters to go."

    "So 60 more sections. That''s quite far. We''ve been here for a few hours, I hope we make it in time." Merlin sighed as she picked up a boulder.

    "Rx. We got this. He''s a Royal Guard you know? This much shouldn''t be too difficult for him." Bea reassured Merlin.

    "I''m just hoping that it''s worth it." Merlin said which made Bea raise her brow in confusion, "You know, like that Fat bastard and his aplices, always getting in the way of Boss'' ways no matter how many times they were pped by him. I just hope that this time around, we could just enjoy and celebrate a good deed."

    "Ugh! Don''t even remind of that Fat Face! If it weren''t for Boss'' warning, I might''ve already shot him in the face! Let''s just clear up for now¡­"

    Merlin just nodded and followed Bea''s advice.

 Chapter 69 - Raid Continues

    ---

    With one final crashing sound. The queen''s bubble finallynded firmly on the ground. The people who were tasked on severing it''s connections finally heaved a sigh of relief.

    "Whew! Finally!" Malik slumped onto the ground while breathing heavily. His body was drenched in sweat just like the rest of the people here.

    "That''s such a pain in the ass!" Julius whined while drinking huge gulps of water.

    Raphael wanted toment but was also tired that he didn''t even bothered at all.

    "Recover your energies. We still need to push that thing over to the tunnel that Bradley made. I''m giving you an hour." Luis gave out the order and he immediately sat down to recover.

    Upon hearing the order, the team did the same thing, closing their eyes to recover from their fatigue. There are asional rocks that are being thrown from the tunnel above but none paid attention to it, their sole focus is to finish with this task and kill this thing.

    After a hour, all of them stood up at the same time and nodded to each other. They picked their spots and pushed the huge bubble with all their might and aligned it with the tunnel.

    Veins in their bodies bulged, signifying that difficulty of their task. The skidding noise from the push echoed across the chamber. The soldier at the tunnel gave them a favor and stopped dropping rocks since he might hit unknowingly hit them.

    All they have to do is to push this thing for at least five meters, but that was harder than it seems because they felt like they were pushing a mountain instead.

    Nevertheless, with their collective efforts, they were able to do the task and as soon as they finished, all of them limped on the ground while panting heavily. No one said a word since they were too exhausted to even speak.

    They recovered for a couple of minutes which is just enough for them to do simple tasks. Luis then released another order.

    "Use the hawks to check on the progress of the mission above. Give me reports afterwards."

    Julius, Malik and Raphael nodded and used their shared vision to check up on the status of the onught.

    What they saw above greatly relieved them. The rest of the ants were no more and the workforce were doing clean up right now. As they were informed earlier that these ants are actually a delicacy, they did their best to harvest as many as they can.

    The treasures that they saw during the infiltration were being transfered out of the hill. Everything that has value in this ce is being swiped clean by the workforce which was to Malik''s liking.

    "All ants aside from the Queen, annihted." Julius reported.

    "Casualty count. None so far." Raphael reported.

    "Resources gathering in process." Malik reported.

    Luis sighed in relief as he heard the reports. That''s fifty percent of the n done, now they only have to worry about the queen and this mission will be over.

    While his team are observing the workforce. He decided to sent his partner inside the tunnel to see what''s happening over there. He then saw that Bradley was still spinning away but they were almost near the location.

    ''Good, everything is going ording to the n. I''m just hoping that it will stay that way.'' Luis thought.

    He stared at the queen''s bubble for a bit and an idea shed across his mind. He looked over towards Raphael and asked: "How intense could you channel the Purifying mes?"

    Raphael caught unprepared for his question but he truthfully answered. "Enough to damage a Silver Knight."

    "Is that so?" Luis traced his chin, after thinking for a while, he then told him, "Recover up to full first. When your done, let''s try punching a whole on this thing."

    Raphael''s eyes brightened for a bit and without further ado, he sat down and swallowed some recovery pills. Luis then turned to Malik and Julius, they too received orders from him.

    "You guys supervise the resource gathering. Three cries from my hawk will signal retreat. Understood?"

    "Sir yes sir!" Malik and Julius saluted, Luis nodded to them and they went to carry out his orders.

    ***

    Raphael exhaled and stood up, he then heard Luis aska€?

    "All recovered?"

    He nodded and together they jumped on top of the bubble. Luis nodded towards him and Raphael knew what he meant.

    He brandished his sword and knocked it on his shield. He then closed his eyes and channeled his energies. He then uttered: "Purifying mes."

    Then his sword was coated in bright orange fire. Still, with his eyes closed, he focused and magnified the intensity of the mes by feeding it more of his energies. The sword red with brilliance and Luis could feel the heat rising up every second that he channeled the technique.

    "Try stabbing it." Luis asked, Raphael nodded and ced both of his hands on the hilt of his sword, he raised both of his hands and stabbed the bubble as hard as he could.

    The sword wedge onto the bubble, the mucus sizzled and dissipated with the heat and Raphael could feel his sword going down even further. Even so, Luis frowned and check the activity inside the tunnel using the shared vision from the hawk and thought: ''It''s slow.''

    Luis decided to help out, he took out his sword and also channeled his energy. He then whispered: "Violent Sun mes."

    His sword then pulsed with a cyclone of fire,pared to Raphael''s Purifying mes, the mes on his sword are more erratic and wild, it was also hotter and deeper in color.

    As Luis channeled his energies, the cyclone spun faster and condensed closer to the sword. He then stabbed it on the same spot where Raphael struck his sword and that instantly raised the temperature and melted the hardened mucus from the queen, this was signified by their sword reaching deeper and deeper to the shell.

    Luis and Raphael started sweating fiercely, these mes might not hurt them but they can''t do anything to the heat. It was then that the colony shook that it caught the attention of everyone.

    Without pausing from his task, Luis checked the situation above them and saw that Bradley used one of his strongest attack to shatter the wall in front of him. He could then see him signalling retreat from above so he called back his hawk and issued the retreat signal for the workforce.

    Three loud cries from his partner which was heard by the other hawks, the rest then issued the same cry and it was heard across the colony.

    Julius and Malik shouted: "Retreat!" And escorted the workforce out of the colony.

    Raphael''s heart started beating faster but Luis calmed him down: "We''re close to where she is, we have time. Focus." He nodded and channeled even more energy to the sword which intensified the mes.

    It didn''t take them long before they lost resistance and saw a deep, murky green liquid sshing around along with an unbearable stench. Luis and Raphael deactivated the mes.

    "You wait for me at the entrance of the chamber." He told Raphael, who carried our his orders.

    He looked up and saw that Bradley and his team were about toe out, he took something out of his spatial ring which looked like a ss bottle that has a maroon colored liquid inside. He popped the cork and emptied it''s contents on the hole they made.

    As soon as he did that, he saw Bradley and his team rushing out of the tunnel. This was also his signal to retreat towards the entrance of the chamber.

    The team was reunited along with Julius and Malik who returned after escorting the workforce towards the surface.

    *SCREEECH!!!*

    A piercing cry echoed inside the egg. It sounded like someone was scratching ss using their nails, it was painful to the ears.

    Smoke was rising from the hole on top of the egg. The whole thing was vibrating fiercely, clearly signifying that the ant queen was in pain. It didn''t took long before a thin and bony arm popped out from the hole they made. The team felt their heart tightened as soon as they saw this, but before they even panicked, the weapon that they were preparing since the start of their raid finally arrive.

    *SCREEECH!!!*

    A thick bright orange liquid poured out from the tunnel above the egg. As soon as it hit the surface of the shell, it started melting like snow on summer. This thick orange liquid was also the reason why the queen screech in pain once more.

    That''s right. It was magma. The sole reason why Bradley became a human drill and made a tunnel at a great distance was to drew this here so that they could use it to kill the queen.

    It didn''t took long before whole hardened mucus that was protecting the queen melted from the heat of magma.. It also didn''t took very long for them, to see the current state of thest monster that they have to deal with.

 Chapter 70 - Magma

    ---

    The Ant Queen was in a miserable state.

    Her body was extremely thin, her shells were barely clinging onto her body, her eyes were red either from fury or extreme stress. She was tumbling here and there topletely get rid of the magma that''s sundering her body. As time goes on, the queen''s flesh started smoking from the heat, the burnt smell was starting to linger on the nostrils of the witnesses.

    Her piercing cry of anger and shrills of pain echoed across the whole colony. Magma continued spilling out from the tunnel that Bradley and his made earlier and was now filling the whole ground with it. Thankfully, the entrance where Luis and his team were watching was on a higher altitude, or else they won''t be able to watch her demise right now.

    The Queen knew that there were people who trespassed her territory, but she can''t even pursue not to mention kill them since she can''t even shake off the magma coating her entire body. She felt that she was being cooked alive by this liquid and where ever she goes, she can''t escape this.

    The chamber was being filled with magma as time goes on. On her desperate attempts to escape, she looked up to the exit and saw the humans who were behind all of this. With a loud screech, she ran towards them and prepared do absolutely anything to get of this ce. On normal cases, she could''ve just flown away but since her evolution was interrupted, she doesn''t have her wings now, only some bony fragments that''s also being burned as of right now¡­

    Luis and his team shivered, it won''t take any genius to find out what the queen was trying to do right now. Without further ado, Raphael went forward and raised his shield, with thest ounces of his energy he called: "Protection: Aegis!"

    Instantly, a bright blue outline of a kite shield appeared in front of him. A second after it solidified and covered the entrance, clearly preventing the ant from escaping her magma prison.

    Merlin stepped forward too and casted another blessing to help with him hold up his shield, "Blessing: Call of Arms!" She mmed the staff on the ground and instantly a swirl of energy funneled towards Raphael as he started to feel like his strength was rising.

    "Don''t let her escape!" Luis roared, he raised his sword and pointed it towards the queen. "Judgement: Punishing Sun!"

    mes condensed at the tip of his sword and formed a miniature sun. Bradley followed suit and raised both of his ring swords: "Final Move: Wrath of Wind!"

    Julius brandished his swords and uttered: "Draw: Blood Letter!"

    Malik raised his great sword and also prepared for an attack of his own: "Destroy: Mountain Splitter!"

    Bea stretched her bow and prepare what seems like thergest arrow that she could do as of the moment: "9th Shot: Wind Splitting Arrow!"

    Their attacksunched consecutively. Fortunately, Raphael''s shield allowed the projectiles to pass through and only prevented the enemy''s attack.

    The charging queen received the attacks, she thought that she could survive their attacks for a second so she decided to ignore it but s. The attack from Luis blew a hole through her chest and burned her heart. Bradley''s attack severed her bony wings, Julius severed her legs, Malik severed her upper body from her lower, and Bea''s attack punched a hole on her head.

    Just like this, the queen''s body fell limply on the floor covered in magma and drowned in it. Smoke rose up and her carcass melted from the heat from it. The tunnel also stopped spouting magma since this everything that''s left from the dead volcano is all here.

    The team heaved a sigh of relief, it felt like a huge lump from their throats were removed. Luis stared at the remains of battle, he then spoke: "Alright, the hard part''s done. We just need to seal this entrance and let the magma solidify on it''s own."

    "For now, Mission Aplished team! Good work!"

    The elite forces celebrate and the team went back towards the surface to regroup with the rest of the workforce.

    ***

    The Hawk Forces marched out of the battlefield. The Ant Colony is no more.

    Everything that has value had been sessfully gathered and moved for final inventroy check. They also blew up the ant hill, formally sealing the every entrances possible for the ants and that includes the tunnels that the ants used to pop out on the battlefield itself. All of possible exits had been sealed, and the there would a wide-range renovation in this ce to make sure that none like this would happen again.

    News of the battle proliferated to every corners of kingdom. Whispers like: "The Hawk is back at it again!" Or, "As expected of our Hero! Good riddance!" And many more conversation like this was happening everywhere.

    Everyone was once again blinded by the brilliance that Luis showed.

    "Receiving report from a concerned citizen (Jonas, who retired from pursuing his dreams to be a farmer), Luis the Hawk gathered his forces and marched towards the battlefield to fight against the monstrosity hiding beneath. It is said that there, he fought against mutated ants that unlocked a part of their bloodline, they are called Lord Ants.

    Regr Lord Ants are rumored to be as big of horse carriages and are natural predators as well. A colony full of this monstrosity was found building up their forces to strike and bring terror to our kingdom. With the use of his wits, valor and unyielding efforts, Hawk and his team annihted every single one of them, ending the unseen threat before it dealt any damages to the kingdom!"

    This is what''s been written on the bulletin board that''s essible to public. This is also the reason why Luis was once again pushed to the spotlight and became the talk of town.

    From merchants, nobles, people of military background,mon folk and even the Royal Family had heard of this. Some people were ted that someone like him was their ally, and some were gritting their teeth because he was once again being the center of attention and drowning them on his shadow.

    As for the man who''s the talk of the town? He''s back on his office, enjoying a very rxing shoulder massage from his lovely wife, who frequently visited him whenever she''s not busy.

    "Yes¡­there¡­that''s the spot¡­" Luis moaned in delight.

    "Can you lower it down? People might hear you and have the wrong idea." Eva blushed as she continued massaging his shoulders.

    "I don''t care¡­it feels good¡­" Luis moaned once more making Eva shook her head in helplessness.

    Luis was only like this whenever he''s with family, he would always wore this calm and calcting expression whenever he''s in front if his subordinates but he gets to be himself whenever his family is around.

    "Well? This is a big matter, your supervisors might offer you a promotion once more. Are you going to ept it this time?" Eva asked.

    This made Luis ponder for a moment, but it didn''t really took him a while to answer her question: "No I won''t. I don''t to ept that position just yet."

    "Why? Is it because you''re unprepared to deal with them?"

    "No¡­" Luis shook his head, "It''s because I won''t have any time for you anymore."

    "Awh¡­" Eva blushed, "Thank you, I am incredibly grateful for that, but I also don''t want you to stop pursuing your dreams just because of me, and your son will definitely understand you as well."

    "I know¡­" Luis held his wife''s hand, "But I just don''t like the idea of being enved by people and their expectations of me. It''s fine like this since I get to move however I like and those people can''t wrap me in their palms."

    Luis didn''t really have as much loyalty to his supervisors like people believed it to be. The true reason why he was refusing their offers is because once he epted it, then they would be their chess piece, a ything even. And he won''t allow himself to dance on top of their palms.

    He had his own ns, and this includes the safety of his family.

    "I understand." Eva smiled and wrapped her husband into a hug, "Just remember. No matter what you do.. We will support you."

 Chapter 71 - Mission Accomplished

    ---

    The Ant Queen was in a miserable state.

    Her body was extremely thin, her shells were barely clinging onto her body, her eyes were red either from fury or extreme stress. She was tumbling here and there topletely get rid of the magma that''s sundering her body. As time goes on, the queen''s flesh started smoking from the heat, the burnt smell was starting to linger on the nostrils of the witnesses.

    Her piercing cry of anger and shrills of pain echoed across the whole colony. Magma continued spilling out from the tunnel that Bradley and his made earlier and was now filling the whole ground with it. Thankfully, the entrance where Luis and his team were watching was on a higher altitude, or else they won''t be able to watch her demise right now.

    The Queen knew that there were people who trespassed her territory, but she can''t even pursue not to mention kill them since she can''t even shake off the magma coating her entire body. She felt that she was being cooked alive by this liquid and where ever she goes, she can''t escape this.

    The chamber was being filled with magma as time goes on. On her desperate attempts to escape, she looked up to the exit and saw the humans who were behind all of this. With a loud screech, she ran towards them and prepared do absolutely anything to get of this ce. On normal cases, she could''ve just flown away but since her evolution was interrupted, she doesn''t have her wings now, only some bony fragments that''s also being burned as of right now¡­

    Luis and his team shivered, it won''t take any genius to find out what the queen was trying to do right now. Without further ado, Raphael went forward and raised his shield, with thest ounces of his energy he called: "Protection: Aegis!"

    Instantly, a bright blue outline of a kite shield appeared in front of him. A second after it solidified and covered the entrance, clearly preventing the ant from escaping her magma prison.

    Merlin stepped forward too and casted another blessing to help with him hold up his shield, "Blessing: Call of Arms!" She mmed the staff on the ground and instantly a swirl of energy funneled towards Raphael as he started to feel like his strength was rising.

    "Don''t let her escape!" Luis roared, he raised his sword and pointed it towards the queen. "Judgement: Punishing Sun!"

    mes condensed at the tip of his sword and formed a miniature sun. Bradley followed suit and raised both of his ring swords: "Final Move: Wrath of Wind!"

    Julius brandished his swords and uttered: "Draw: Blood Letter!"

    Malik raised his great sword and also prepared for an attack of his own: "Destroy: Mountain Splitter!"

    Bea stretched her bow and prepare what seems like thergest arrow that she could do as of the moment: "9th Shot: Wind Splitting Arrow!"

    Their attacksunched consecutively. Fortunately, Raphael''s shield allowed the projectiles to pass through and only prevented the enemy''s attack.

    The charging queen received the attacks, she thought that she could survive their attacks for a second so she decided to ignore it but s. The attack from Luis blew a hole through her chest and burned her heart. Bradley''s attack severed her bony wings, Julius severed her legs, Malik severed her upper body from her lower, and Bea''s attack punched a hole on her head.

    Just like this, the queen''s body fell limply on the floor covered in magma and drowned in it. Smoke rose up and her carcass melted from the heat from it. The tunnel also stopped spouting magma since this everything that''s left from the dead volcano is all here.

    The team heaved a sigh of relief, it felt like a huge lump from their throats were removed. Luis stared at the remains of battle, he then spoke: "Alright, the hard part''s done. We just need to seal this entrance and let the magma solidify on it''s own."

    "For now, Mission Aplished team! Good work!"

    The elite forces celebrate and the team went back towards the surface to regroup with the rest of the workforce.

    ***

    The Hawk Forces marched out of the battlefield. The Ant Colony is no more.

    Everything that has value had been sessfully gathered and moved for final inventroy check. They also blew up the ant hill, formally sealing the every entrances possible for the ants and that includes the tunnels that the ants used to pop out on the battlefield itself. All of possible exits had been sealed, and the there would a wide-range renovation in this ce to make sure that none like this would happen again.

    News of the battle proliferated to every corners of kingdom. Whispers like: "The Hawk is back at it again!" Or, "As expected of our Hero! Good riddance!" And many more conversation like this was happening everywhere.

    Everyone was once again blinded by the brilliance that Luis showed.

    "Receiving report from a concerned citizen (Jonas, who retired from pursuing his dreams to be a farmer), Luis the Hawk gathered his forces and marched towards the battlefield to fight against the monstrosity hiding beneath. It is said that there, he fought against mutated ants that unlocked a part of their bloodline, they are called Lord Ants.

    Regr Lord Ants are rumored to be as big of horse carriages and are natural predators as well. A colony full of this monstrosity was found building up their forces to strike and bring terror to our kingdom. With the use of his wits, valor and unyielding efforts, Hawk and his team annihted every single one of them, ending the unseen threat before it dealt any damages to the kingdom!"

    This is what''s been written on the bulletin board that''s essible to public. This is also the reason why Luis was once again pushed to the spotlight and became the talk of town.

    From merchants, nobles, people of military background,mon folk and even the Royal Family had heard of this. Some people were ted that someone like him was their ally, and some were gritting their teeth because he was once again being the center of attention and drowning them on his shadow.

    As for the man who''s the talk of the town? He''s back on his office, enjoying a very rxing shoulder massage from his lovely wife, who frequently visited him whenever she''s not busy.

    "Yes¡­there¡­that''s the spot¡­" Luis moaned in delight.

    "Can you lower it down? People might hear you and have the wrong idea." Eva blushed as she continued massaging his shoulders.

    "I don''t care¡­it feels good¡­" Luis moaned once more making Eva shook her head in helplessness.

    Luis was only like this whenever he''s with family, he would always wore this calm and calcting expression whenever he''s in front if his subordinates but he gets to be himself whenever his family is around.

    "Well? This is a big matter, your supervisors might offer you a promotion once more. Are you going to ept it this time?" Eva asked.

    This made Luis ponder for a moment, but it didn''t really took him a while to answer her question: "No I won''t. I don''t to ept that position just yet."

    "Why? Is it because you''re unprepared to deal with them?"

    "No¡­" Luis shook his head, "It''s because I won''t have any time for you anymore."

    "Awh¡­" Eva blushed, "Thank you, I am incredibly grateful for that, but I also don''t want you to stop pursuing your dreams just because of me, and your son will definitely understand you as well."

    "I know¡­" Luis held his wife''s hand, "But I just don''t like the idea of being enved by people and their expectations of me. It''s fine like this since I get to move however I like and those people can''t wrap me in their palms."

    Luis didn''t really have as much loyalty to his supervisors like people believed it to be. The true reason why he was refusing their offers is because once he epted it, then they would be their chess piece, a ything even. And he won''t allow himself to dance on top of their palms.

    He had his own ns, and this includes the safety of his family.

    "I understand." Eva smiled and wrapped her husband into a hug, "Just remember. No matter what you do.. We will support you."

 Chapter 72 - Energy Control

    ---

    Two weekster after the Ant incident.

    "Hup¡­"

    In front of a three-story stone house. A figure could be seen doing jump rope exercises.

    He was shirtless and barefoot, he wore a baggy pants that pped in the wind as he jumped multiple times. His ck hair and determined face glistened with sweat as well as his well toned body. His muscles were defined andpact, he had a fair skinplexion that had been enhanced due to extraction of impurities from his body.

    On any normal day, jump rope exercises are a verymon thing, but when the fact that he''s doing it on top of a pond without sinking was added, then it would be apletely different thing.

    Yes, this is Raven doing what he''s best at. Doing abnormal things yet again.

    This task was formed to enhance his control over energy. Compared to people at his age and cultivation realm, his body holds more energy thanks to his cultivation technique and solid foundations. To many people, this should be a blessing already but this hardly matters since without proper control, then these benefits will only help him tost longer than his regr foes.

    Energy Control is a very underestimated topic for people at the kingdom, it was so underrated that not even the Institute talks about it and it''s benefits.

    See, energy control provides plenty of nifty things. A few examples are: Wall Climbing, Water Walking, Physical Enhancement, and etc.

    Depending on the users intent and finesse with energy control, they would he able to do a lot of things. Just like what Raven''s doing right now. Doing jump rope exercises on top of the pond without sinking.

    This activity requires are very strict energy control as water isn''t a solid matter for anyone to stand on. He had to constantly provide just the right amount of energy so that the water surface won''t cave or allow him to sink in whenever he stepped on it. He even took this up a notch by dispersing the energy whenever he''s on the air and apply it once more beforending.

    After a while of doing jump rope exercises, he ced it back on his spatial ring and decided to do acrobatic maneuvers on top of the pond as well. He did cartwheels, hand stand, finger stand, tumblings, long jumps and every sort or acrobatic activity he could imagine without sinking.

    And when he got tired, he simply sat on top of the water (still without sinking or getting his pants wet) and recover his lost energies. His proficiency with energy control allowed him to basically do this unconsciously, the exercises that he did earlier was to help him sharpen his instincts and do this just like it was natural for him to do so.

    After recovering for an hour, his reserves were full once more. He then stood up and jumped high into the air. As he fell down he kicked his legs towards the side which propelled himself to go off course beforending on the surface of the water. He did this once more and this time he added a little more force to the kick which propelled him even further.

    Next thing he knew, he would jump very high, kick side to side using both of his legs to slowly go back down to the water surface.

    Anyone would gape when they saw how he trained, this exercise was too demanding! So much so that even some knights won''t be confident to do what he just did.

    Raven was basically doing Air Maneuvering Exercises, while allow him to change how his body maneuver mid-air. Once he mastered this, then his nimbleness and agility would be boosted greatly to the point that even assassins would be ashamed ofparing themselves to him. He would be the nightmare of Archers since he could just calmly evade their arrows even if they shot him mid-air. And it''s limited to his legs alone, though he hadn''t mastered it yet, he could also do the same thing using other parts of his body.

    Complete mastery of this exercise will allow him to literally run on air! How awesome would that be?

    Normally, to do half of the things he could do with energy control, one had to spend years to achieve it. As for Raven, the fact that he is someone who experienced a Soul Rebirth definitely helped him by a great deal. During his previous life, he too spent years upon years to polish his energy control to an impable degree. He might lost his touch for a few things, but this is just him retracing his steps.

    On a side note, Paul turned fourteen 7 days ago and Mark also 2 days ago. They didn''t bother to return home and just had a little celebration with the crew. They received gifts from their parents too!

    For Paul, the dean and his wife decided to unfreeze his allowance, which means that he won''t be having any financial problems again, provided that he won''t give them any reason to freeze his ount once more.

    For Mark, he received a variety of fancy clothing. Which he deemed somewhat useless as he wasn''t fond of wearing fancy attires in the first ce. He received at least a whole cab''s worth of fancy clothes, all thanks to her loving mother along with a letter telling him to meet some¡­friends and get to know them better.

    If it weren''t for the fact that this came from his dear mother, Mark wouldn''t hesitate to threw all of this things out or burn then since their worthless. Raven justforted him by saying that he could just sell them if he truly didn''t want them.

    Speaking of selling things. Raven could literally swim in gold right now.

    He managed to sell of the unimportant stuff that he stashed away from the colony during these two weeks. He did it smartly by not selling it on bulk and constantly using his disguise. Raven went to pretty much every store and sold at least five things to each. Then he would go the next day using another disguise to repeat the same process again.

    On top of this, he also received some bonus from his father.

    See, Luis was heavily rewarded from the mission and the court allowed him to keep the resources he gathered during the raid. The Ant meat was a hotmodity and every person who tasted it raved about it. Luis became a supplier of Ant meat and he already closed a huge deal. There''s antiques that the ants hoarded, those were also sold at a high price.

    Thus, the Hawk Forces enjoyed a Red Envelope Day (something like huge payday). And of course, little Raven was also rewarded and received crates of ant meat and at least two years worth of his allowance.

    So in conclusion, Raven didn''t need to worry about financial problems cause that ain''t gonna happen.

    "Oh?"

    Raven''s eyebrow rose as he felt quite a disturbance on the backyard. Without any second thought, he used his ocr technique and saw that there a fierce energy fluctuations happening where the rest of his crew were training. His eyes brightened up, he jumped away from the pond and ran towards that backyard to confirm his guesses.

    He was right. Someone was about to breakthrough.

    His vision adjusted for a bit a confirmed who was the one. He stepped closer and saw that it was the fearsome redhead, Ellen that was experiencing a breakthrough.

    The rest of the crew saw him arrive and Paul was the one who immediately asked: "Bro, is she about to¡­"

    "Yes." Raven confirmed for him. "She was about to breakthrough to Marrow Cleansing Realm."

    This honestly came as a surprise for them, no one was expecting a sudden breakthrough, they thought that it was just like one of those days where they would just polish their skills and move on. The rest were feeling happy for her but for some reason, Ellen had this frowning expression on her face.

    "The process must be painful for her." Anne whispered, but was heard by all of them. They too started worrying for her but Raven dispersed their concern.

    "That''s normal." He exined, "Just like I exined before, it would feel like your blood is boiling. That is due to the cleansing process using Energy, it would progressively be more painful but nothing that she can''t handle."

    And right as he said that, there was a small scaled explosion that happened around Ellen''s body. It kicked up fierce winds that blew onto their faces but weren''t threatening to them.

    It sounded like a loud shattering of ss which was a big sign, when they saw her exhaling foul air and slowly opening her eyes, it became very clear to them that the process went without any idents.

    "Congrattions on breaking through to Marrow Cleansing Realm."

    Raven smiled and offered his hand to life her up.. The crew cheered and gave their congrattory speeches as well.

 Chapter 73 - Marrow Cleansing

    ---

    Marrow Cleansing.

    To many people who wanted to tread the path of Knighthood, they have a few opinions about this stage, ultimately they came into a conclusion that not everyone could reach this stage, or for others¡­

    A Fabled Stage.

    Why was it a Fabled Stage? Aside from the fact that not everyone could reach this stage, it is also because people deemed it unnecessary to reach this stage in order to enter the Solider Realm. The reason is as soon as they reach peak Bone Forging Realm, they could just ask to undergo the Righteous Bestowal Ceremony and they would automatically enter the Solider Realm.

    Raven himself used to believe this, but now he could confidently say that there''s almost no chance for them to reach the Knight Stages if the omit the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

    Arge portion of human body is filled with blood. Whenever one loses blood due to a wound or a fatal injury, it''s the duty of the Marrows to rece those missing blood so that the human body would function normally. Raven didn''t know where the idea of skimping the cleaning of the blood came from. It wasmon sense that the point of the Fighter Stages is to prepare one''s body to handle the energy intake. One''s body is the foundation, and it''s a no-brainer by now that an unstable foundation won''t let them go anywhere.

    The whole reason as to why the ritual could assail them to the next realm is because the ritual helps with the formation of Energy Body something that would only show up once they enter the Soldier Realm. But relying on the ritual to reach this stage, is going to severly weaken their foundations. As they go closer to the Knight Stages, their bodies won''t be able to handle the stress and weight of their Energy Body and one fatal mistake could lead to being a cripple or death.

    This is one of the main reasons why there are only very few people who reached the Knight Stages in this Kingdom. And if this really continued, then the ck Curtain Guild didn''t even need to move, all they need to do is wait and the kingdom will eventually fall.

    ***

    One month passed and the crew was gathered.

    Ellen might be the first one to achieve breakthrough but it didn''t take it long for the rest to follow. Now, all of them are formally standing at Peak Marrow Cleansing Realm.

    The path wasn''t as smooth sailing like everyone experienced in the past realms. The process of Marrow Cleansing was painful, even more painful than Bone Forging. Each time they experienced it, it felt like their blood was boiling to the point of evaporation.

    There were many times that their muscles were damaged and blisters even showed up on their skin. Some of them went so close to giving up during the process, if it weren''t for Raven''s close monitoring, they might not be able to make it.

    Good thing they did. And the benefits they received was totally worth it. Saying that their raw strength was at least doubled would be an understatement. On top of the strength boost, their longevity was also extended to arge degree. Their stamina, endurance, and energy reserves all received a boost from each breakthrough. Each of them were confident to take on any Soldier Realm experts and stand on equal terms.

    "You guys ready?"

    Raven asked them as they stood in front of the institute gates. He saw them nodded with a fierce determination on their faces. He smiled and opened the entrances ans together, they walked towards their ssroom. A ce that they haven''t visited for quite sometime.

    A brief nostalgia weed them, but it didn''tst long since as soon as they entered, the whole attention was focused on them. They looked at each other and smiled wryly, as much as they don''t want being on the spotlight it couldn''t be helped. Plus it would do them good to get used to it, after all, their silent life would slowly slip away as soon as they start.

    The crew sat on their seat, they ignored the befuddled gazes of their ssmates. They talked to each other while waiting for the professor to enter the ss.

    "Am I seeing things?"

    "I''m not dreaming am I?"

    "Our goddesses are back!"

    "But why are they hanging out with those¡­those¡­"

    "Howe they are close? Last time I knew they were civil to each other at best! What happened?"

    "I don''t want to live anymore!!"

    Whispers of their ssmates buzzed around the room. Unbeknownst to them, no matter how hard they tried hush their voices, it was very audible to the crew. So much so that even them felt the awkwardness of the situation.

    Raven sighed in mind and thought: ''Same old ignorant people huh? I could see a select few who barely advanced their cultivation, as for the rest, awful.''

    He could care less about what they think of this current situation, what''s irritating him is instead of focusing on cultivation, these people paid more attention to gossips and chasing skirts. It had to be known that they didn''t attend ss for at least five to six months, at the start of their leave all of them were at the same realm of cultivation, now they''re miles apart.

    Only a few people managed to raise their cultivation and that didn''t even made him happy, since in just one nce, he could tell how unstable and how awful their foundations are.

    ''I will change this. Now''s not the time, but I will surely change the way how this kingdom works. Even if it means offending the royal family. I will not lose my home again. Never.''

    The me of determination red in his heart. He sighed and decided to throw this at the back of his head first, there will be time for all of thister. For now, he had to focus at the task at hand.

    ***

    The ss finished without any interruptions.

    Old Lee was surprised to see Raven and his crew present on his ss once more. What surprised him even more was the fact that they all reached Marrow Cleansing Stage. Appreciation emerged at the very depths of his heart. He remembered back in the day when Raven free Luna from the curse that tormented her since childhood, in a blink of an eye, she now had friends beside her and they are doing their best to usher a better future for the kingdom.

    "Is there anything that I could help you?"

    He asked feigning ignorance about their purpose even though it was as clear as day for him. Nevertheless, Raven and his crew rode along with the act.

    "We are here to give our thanks for your tutge, and that we are asking for permission to be promoted the Inner Branch of the Institute."

    When the whole ss heard Raven''s promation, they gasped in shock and awe. Silence followed by a huge outburst of reactions from every student that''s present happened.

    "Huh!? What''s he on? Promotion?"

    "He''s crazy."

    "He''s insane."

    "Did he lost a few screws on his head during the time he was gone?"

    "Heh, what a dumb guy."

    "If it were my goddess and savior Luna, that asked for a promotion, I would believe it, but this guy? Fat chance!"

    "What does he think he''s doing?"

    "I don''t know, being embarrassing I guess¡­"

    "I''ve seen many ways on how people boast, this guy¡­is on another level."

    And so on and so forth. Honestly, it was such a headache for Old Lee to hear. He raised his hand and red at the talkative students, he then said: "Silence."

    His voice was amplified by energy so it resounded to each corner of the room. The students shivered and sank back to their desk. Seeing the students calm down, Old Lee returned his attention to Raven and his crew to maintain the act.

    "You people should know the requirements for the Promotion right?"

    "We are aware sir." Raven nodded to him and looked towards his crew. They nodded to each other and decided to re their cultivation bases for everyone to see and feel.

    The whole room became heavy, the student felt a lump on their throats as they felt the pressure that these people are releasing. A thin curtain of blue light covered their bodies, to some, it looked like their bodies were on fire since movement to light curtain resembled a flickering mes.

    Old Lee watched with glistening eyes, how lively and tangible these auras are. He was full of glee to see that even though their cultivations were too fast, their foundations are firm and steady. This was the product of natural breakthroughs, which Raven heavily stered onto their minds.

    "Paul Gregory, 14 years old. Peak Marrow Cleansing Realm."

    "Mark Anderson, 14 years old. Peak Marrow Cleansing Realm."

    "Ellen Redcrest, 13 years old. Peak Marrow Cleansing Realm."

    "Anne Fiore, 13 years old. Peak Marrow Cleansing Realm."

    "Luna Moonsong, 13 years old. Peak Marrow Cleansing Realm."

    "Vendrick Valorheart, 13 years old. Peak Marrow Cleansing Realm."

    As they announced this, silence permeated inside the ssroom.

 Chapter 74 - Dark Secrets

    ---

    "How can this be!?"

    "How is that possible!?"

    "Is this for real? Am I dreaming?"

    *p!*

    "Ow! What was that for!?"

    "Confirming if this is reality. Holy shit it is real!"

    "How on earth did they do that?"

    "Did they used Alchemical Pills?"

    "Must be¡­I mean they came from great backgrounds after all."

    "No! Even though they used pills, they shouldn''t be this fast! I''m also regrly consuming such pills but look where I am now?"

    "Maybe because of their talents then?"

    "If that''s the case, then those boys shouldn''t be there as well. They have Red-grade Talents!"

    "So how!?"

    Old Lee and the students had been gone for sometime, leaving the students to gossip amongst each other. They still found it hard to believe that these people only took some measly five or six months of being absent and then came back with the fabled Marrow Cleansing Realm and ask for a promotion.

    All of them thought, that if it was the girls, then there''s nothing for them to say, they would even be happy and cheer for them. But what made it confusing for them was the boys.

    "Argh!" One random student scratched his head in frustration, which caused the others to look at him weirdly. "How!? Of all the people that would be promoted before me, why the Disappointment Triplets!? Oh god why!?"

    "I agree!! They shouldn''t be promoted before us!? We''re more talented that they are!? They must''ve cheated!"

    "Right! Right!"

    "Hoh¡­"

    As soon as this amused sound was heard inside the room, the students froze and slowly turned their heads in front of them. They paled when they saw the smiling, but not really smiling, expression of Old Lee.

    "Is that it?"

    His voice sent shivers to their spine, it was cold, callous and strict. The people who used to be the loudest were reduced to meek baby that obediently sank down on their chairs.

    "Is this truly what our knights are protecting? People like this?" His cold voice echoed once more. "If so, then I think it''s better for them to feed you onto the beasts instead of protecting you."

    The students shivered once more, they sank even deeper to their seats as they realized the weight of their casual words.

    "Such disappointments. Every single one of you." Those words cut then deeper than they wanted it to be.

    "All you think of is your superiority over others. Completely fixated about your backgrounds and how you are better than everyone else."

    "You have been born with silver spoon on your mouths, and yet instead of being thankful and giving back, you people think it was fine to degrade someone''s hardwork just because you think they''re unworthy?" Old Lee''s voice turned colder and colder by each sentence. "Howughable."

    He roamed his gaze to each one of the students remaining in the room, and obviously all of them avoided making eye contact since they felt very guilty right now.

    "You see¡­" Old Lee snickered and continued: "¡­there are times that I observed you. Not in ss, but in public."

    Many eyes constricted on his words, unknowingly their hearts start beating faster and faster. Blood drained their faces and an ominous feeling emerged on the depths of their minds.

    "One student here..." Old Lee nced briefly at the student he was referring before looking somewhere else. "¡­instead of training and cultivating, this person was busy roaming the kingdom to satisfy his taste buds and emptying the pockets of their dear parents."

    That student were sweating coldly as he wished to the ground to open it''s maw and swallow him whole.

    "Another student here, spent most of his time peeking at women''s bath. Gotta give it to him, his ways are certainly effective as he wasn''t caught even once. Too bad he never knew that I was watching him and nning on telling his parents about his little endeavours."

    A small whimper escaped from the mouth of the guilty student. Heads turned towards his direction so there goes the chance of hiding it.

    "This next student, is probably the worst student that I ever taught. He spent majority of his days chasing skirts and threatening young girls that if they don''t satisfy his¡­urges, then he would use money to reduce them to ves."

    The guilty student shuddered fiercely as Old Lee revealed his crimes.

    "There''s this one girl..." this prompted mixed reactions from the youngdies, "Spent most of her days spending her parents money for cosmetic products like, breast enhancing pills, skin-whitening pills, fat-reducing pills, hair-growing shampoo''s and etc. And she done this, with the cover of her buying ''pills that aided her cultivation''. What a she-devil."

    "Another girl I know, spent most of her days trying to do some¡­strange experiments, in hopes of pleasing her lover once they met."

    Another whimper, another student caught red-handed. Now, she had to live the rest of her life in embarassment.

    "Now this girl, will make the previous girl pale inparison due to her¡­resourcefulness." Old Lee didn''t even bother hiding his re at the student that he was referring to. "She even tried to hook me in and attempted to threaten me using her ''great background.'' Hands up for her being this creative, Am I right?"

    No oneughed, cheered, or even reacted. All of them lowered their heads in shame and didn''t have enough courage to meet his gaze. And Old Lee wasn''t done, he then proceed to reveal dark secrets of the students that are present in here. He only finished when every single one of the students''s secrets were revealed. And let''s just say, that none of them came out clean.

    "Some nobles you are."

    They physically felt that attack.

    "I heard someone ask ''How on earth did they do that?'' Why don''t I tell you?"

    "At first it was guys who stayed together. Mark, Paul and Vendrick, mostly known as Raven, brothers not by blood but by bond. Ever since the start of this term, they spent most of their days training. Paul picked up a spear and a shield, Mark picked up two short swords and Raven trained by using his bare hands. The took a copy of the basic weapon manual and practiced it everyday, they will only stop to either drink water, eat, sleep or if they fainted because of fatigue. Whoever was left standing had to drag the other one on a medicinal bath to recover from the bruises and cuts they received. This happened, Every. Single. Day."

    "Raven and Ellen are cousins. One day she, Anne and Luna decided to pay a visit. It should''ve been a simple greeting but the girls saw the conviction behind their foolish appearances. Their hardwork inspired them and from then on, they trained together on a day to day basis. The girls followed the pace of the boys even though it was tough for them. And because of their hardwork, they were rewarded."

    "I want to inform you that none of them used any alchemical pills to boost their cultivation."

    Collective gasps echoed across the room, at this time there are no reason for them not to believe his words after spilling out their darkest secrets. Even still, they find it hard to believe what they hear.

    "Aside from the medicinal bath that they soak in after hard day''s worth, they used nothing else. Their breakthroughs are natural and their foundations are as solid as it could get. How did I know? That''s because I always watched them after seeing that none of you was worth it."

    That felt like a punch to their guts.

    "One day, they asked me if they could be excused from attendances. I gave them my permission and that''s when they truly picked up the pace of their training. They sparred against each other, they forged their teamwork by doing mock team battles. They discussed strategy, worst case scenario, first aid, and one even sneaked inside one of the barracks just to see how proper knights train."

    The amount of lies that Old Lee spilled just now should make him rather embarrassed but he carefully hid those signs as he was trying to make a point here. And it was proven to be effective since he is now seeing the downcasted, guilty and embarrassed expression of his students.

    "Students, talent is just 50% of the battle. The other is fought with hardwork. I was honestly prepared to give you resources in a form of a healthypetition if you just asked. I even implied it multiple times during my discussions but all those words entered your right ear and escaped on your left ear."

    This truly happened, there were multiple times that he implied that if they could prove to him the results of their so called ''training'' then he would definitely reward them with resources that they need. It was just rather disappointing that none managed to decipher his intent, and he can''t just tell them these outright since he was testing their resolve.

    With another bout of silence. Old Lee heaved a disappointed sigh.

    "I will stay true to my words. Your parents will hear about everything I revealed earlier. If you want to see whether I''m lying about everything I said, thene watch how your ssmates do during the Promotion Tests. It will happen at the Central Stadium. If you''ll excuse me."

    And just like that, Old Lee disappeared like a phantom, leaving the students conflicted about themselves.

 Chapter 75 - Promotion Tests

    ---

    Promotion Tests.

    It''s a procedure one has to go under in order to graduate from the Outer Branch of the Institute. No matter who that person is, or what background they posses, if they want to get out from the Outer Branch towards the Inner Branch, then they must pass these tests.

    "Hmm? Run that by me again?"

    "Y-yes sir. There was a news from Outer Court that just arrived. It is said that there are six people who were attempting the Promotional Tests."

    "Okay? So what''s with all the fuss then?" The old man eyed the man in front of him while folding the book on hisp. He thought that it was just a simple Promotional Test, this happened from time to time so there shouldn''t be this much of a bustle now is it?

    "Y-yes, the report said that the people who requested for the tests are a bunch of thirteen to fourteen year olds."

    The old man raised his brow when he heard this, he thought for a bit then a foreboding feeling rose in his chest. "You don''t mean¡­"

    "W-well, at first we were shocked too. We thought that the person who sent the message must be jesting but¡­but¡­"

    "But what!?" The old man eximed, making the man squirm in terror, nevertheless he needed to finish the report, or else he will lose job¡­his life even if he didn''t hurry.

    "The report said that students by name of Mark, Paul, Raven, Ellen, Anne and Luna are the one''s who are participating. This message came personally from Mister Lee."

    "WHAT!!" The old man roared as soon as he heard these familiar names.

    First of all, the old man who just eximed is none other than the current Dean of Heavenly Cloud Institute, Ian Gregory Jr.

    Sufficed to say that he was shocked to hear that this rebellious son of his, whom he had didn''t even see for the past two years, was suddenly attempting the promotional tests. Not only that, his rumored partners in crime which is Mark and Raven were participating too!

    It won''t be a lie to say that, if it were only the girls, then he wouldn''t be this shocked. He knew their identity, he won''t be the dean of this institute if he wasn''t even paying attention to who steps in to his area of responsibility.

    ''Why? Is this another prank of his? But that can''t be? That little shit didn''t even bother to visit me even once, not to mention make my life harder than it is for years! Is this hiseback? No, I shouldn''t think like that, this report was sent by Geezer Lee, he might be all sorts of something but he will never do something without meaning. Then, this means¡­''

    Ian''s eyes widened like saucers as he thought of something: "God Damn it you Geezer! Acting all mysterious and shit!" He grunted coldly while putting on his university robes and heading towards the door.

    "U-uhm, Headmaster-¡­"

    "Shut it!" Ian roared and pointed at him, "Ask the Vice Dean to deal with all of this shit! I''m going!"

    *Boom!*

    And with that said, the door mmed in front of poor despairing man. He sighed helplessly and murmured: "How am I going to deal with all of this shit¡­" and he was none other than the Vice Dean himself.

    ***

    "Grand Elder! Urgent news!"

    Bradley nearly choked on his tea when the door behind him suddenly slid open along with a trembling voice of a middle aged man¡­

    "Have mercy on the old man Benny-boy, he nearly died from shock." A delicate voice echoed from the adjacent room. A woman walked over and sat down in front of Bradley while grinning. He could only roll his eyes from the antics of his wife.

    "I-I do apologize for my brazen actions Lady Aina! But this is of great matter!"

    "What are you on about Benny? Can''t you see it''s my precious tea time?" Bradley turned around and faced the man named Benny with an annoyed expression.

    "It''s about Young Miss, Grand Elder!"

    "And what about Ellen?"

    "We received a message from her instructor named Lee that she is about to take the Promotion Tests!"

    Bradley and his wife gasped, but he managed to recover faster since he understood what this implies. He was nheless surprised by this news, ''She already reached that point?'' He thought.

    He heard a frantic noise on his side. It was his wife who''s currently rushing towards their closet. It didn''t take long before he was already holding up a bunch of neatly folded clothes while staring dumbly at his wife.

    "Are you seriously going to stare at me all day?" Aina ced her hands on her waist and asked with an annoyed expression.

    "W-what are these for?"

    "For you to eat¡­Duh!?" He flinched as he heard her sarcastic remark. "Look. Just say if you don''t want to go alright? I mean I get it¡­your tea time is more important than your own daughter¡­I totally get it. It''s not like she wants you toe either right? She gets it¡­but oh¡­how sad, my daughter is being neglected by her own-¡­"

    "Okay! Okay! Okay! I''m going with you! Happy now?" Bradley exasperatingly eximed.

    "You sound like I''m forcing you...look I''m not forcing you or something alright-¡­"

    "Argh!" Bradley can''t take it anymore and just went to the bedroom to change. He knew that his wife is now giggling in amusement as soon as he left.

    ***

    "Dear!"

    Luis eximed as soon as he received a letter from hispanion hawk. A woman peeked from the kitchen while asking: "Yes Dear!?"

    "I just received a letter saying that our boy is taking the Promotional Tests¡­" he sounded half-skeptical and nasally at the same time. He suddenly heard something shatter from the kitchen which made him flinch. He hurriedly stood up to check on her only to find out that she was somewhat¡­''malfunctioning''.

    "Dear, are you okay?"

    "Y-you received what now?" Eva asked, wanting to check if she heard the new correctly.

    "A letter saying Champ is taking the Promotional Tests." Luis repeated.

    "From a legitimate source?" Eva asked, just wanting to make sure. When she saw Luis nod, she immediately started panicking. "OMG! OMG! OMG! What''s should I do? I''m not prepared! I didn''t take any good clothes with me."

    Luis smiled wryly as he sneakily nced at her clothing rack nearby.

    "Oh my! He must be feeling really nervous right now! What should I do? Say, do you think he ate properly already? Do you think it''s toote if I cook something? O-oh darn, I should''ve shopped for ingredients so that I could cook his favorite meal! What to do!? What to do?"

    "Eva¡­"

    "Oh! I should also bring my essential oils! Just to prevent him from barfing in the middle of the tests! Where did I ce it again?"

    "Eva¡­!"

    "Oh right! He might get injured during one of the tests! I should being my first aid kit with me just in case he-¡­"

    "EVA!"

    Luis roared just to wake up his wife in stupor. Eva flinched and noticed that her heart was beating so quickly, she took several deep breaths while paying close attention to her heart rate. She smiled but it contained a profound sense of mncholy and a tinge of sadness¡­

    "He''s growing up so quickly."

    "I know."

    Luis sighed, he too felt this news too shocking. He never doubted his son before but he can''t even imagine how he managed to do this. He could only remember his son being too strict on himself that it''s physically hurting him, and now this.

    "I just wish that he''s not in a hurry to be an adult you know." Eva''s eyes moistened a bit.

    "Our son is a capable child. He knows what to do." Luis hugged his wife andforted her, "For now, let''s go okay? We have to be there in his first step towards the world, whether he fails or not, I''ll shoulder the skies for him."

    "Mn."

    ***

    Every branch of the Heavenly Cloud Institute has Central Stadium on which most of the important events are being held. This wasn''t the first time that there was someone who applied for the graduation but because of the sudden announcement, the instructors and staff were startled and were caught unprepared. There was an immediate bustle that left the students wondering about what''s going on.

    While the staff were busy, the people who caused this entire thing could be seen rxing on a random room inside the facility while gobbling up some munchies.

    There are no tension in the air, they just highly appreciated this peace since they knew from the bottom of their hearts, that this peace won''tst long. So they just leisurely ate and talked about random things while waiting for the time.

    After an hour of waiting, a staff knocked and told them to follow him to the central stadium. And ss soon as the crew went out, all of gawked at the sheer sight that they saw.

    "Seriously!!?"

 Chapter 76 - Strength Test

    ---

    The central stadium spanned for several miles, it followed the colliseum-type of design which could allowed tons of people to gather. At the center of the stadium, there is a circr arena made out of white jade tiles.

    There is a formation that''s shing with a faint shimmer of light, not too strong to obstruct anyone''s vision but visible enough to be aware of it. This was built to contain the aftermaths of the battle that''s about to happen inside.

    Once the crew arrived at the stadium, they were startled by the amount of people that they saw. The seats were full and the stadium was filled with bustling noises from the discussions of the crowd. If one looked on closely, the people who were present are divided into several types.

    First were the students. For some unknown reason, they caught news of the event and rushed here to see who will participate. Next were the staff and the instructors, nothing much could be said for them since it''s understandable that they should be present.

    What really shocked them the most are the next type of people. Their own family.

    Raven was sure that he did not mention their ns for promotion to his own family, the same goes for the rest of them, but lo and behold, they were here. They even brought some of their n members to cheer with them.

    "This is crazy!" Paul''s eyes widened in shock. Not too far away from where they are, he could see a lone seat behind a ss window, and even though he cannot see the facial features of the person behind that ss window, he could swear that he''s being red at.

    "Mom! What are you doing with that banner! ce it down! It''s too embarrassing!" Ellen''s face were flushed red as sheined in a hushed tone. She could see that her mom was holding up an arm wide banner that says: ''Go, go, go! Ellie go!'' With her mom proudly waving it around. She could even feel Bradley''s embarrassment all the way from where they were.

    "This is absurd." Anne could only smile wryly since she also saw her parents around, the only difference is that they holding fans with her name on it.

    "¡­" Mark refused to say anything, he was happy to see that his mother was here, but also a tad bit disappointed that his father was nowhere to be seen. He silently thought: ''What am I even expecting at this point?''

    Luna simrly didn''t say anything but she could almost feel that someone very close to her will arrive soon.

    As for Raven, he simply smiled as he saw the nervous expression on his mom''s face as well as the expectant face of his father. He was honestly surprised that they had time to be here. And for the record, he deduced that it must be Old Lee who informed them about this event.

    "Please step into the arena, the Chief Instructor will provide you with further instructions for the tests." The guide motioned for them to go out, the crew nodded and stepped outside to meet the crowd.

    As soon as they stepped out, the whole stadium erupted. Cheers from their rtives as well as colorful banners were proudly waved around. The crew was dumbfounded, they certainly wasn''t expecting for this whole matter to blow up but it did and there''s nothing they could do about it.

    As they walked onto the center of the arena, the Chief Instructor was already waiting for them there. He was a middle aged man with a few strands of white hair, a well-kept body and was holding a brown cane while tracing his grayish beard.

    "Truly, the old will be reced by the new. So young and already reached the fabled Marrow Cleansing Realm. How enviable." His voice was mature and filled with mncholy. There was a trace of surprise and envy on his voice.

    Gasps could be heard from the crowd as they heard the Chief Instructors praise. Even their rtives can''t help but to be astounded by this remark.

    It had to be known that their cultivation doesn''t necessarily need to be at Marrow Cleansing to apply for the Promotion Test, Bone Forging would be enough.

    "This Old Man''s name is Carl, I would be the judge of todays tests. The promotional tests will be divided into 5 stages. Strength, Speed, Perception, Coordination and Prowess. All of this are pretty straight forward. Out of the tests here, only the Coordination part would be taken by all of you, the rest would be taken individually. Are you ready?"

    "Yes!" The crew nodded and answered.

    "Very good! I announce, the first part of the Promotion Tests, shall begin now!" Carl smacked his cane on the tiled floor and instantly, a tall pir emerged from the ground

    This pir is made out of Sea Tempered Steel, an incredible metal that boasts toughness and durability. The surface of pir was smooth to touch and glimmered with faint traces of blue sheen. At the bottom of the pir, there is a sandbag attached to it and a small pendulum on top. There were also some dimmed round gems that are attached to the sides of pir that goes all the way to the top of the pir.

    "This is the Strength Measuring Pir, you each take turns hitting that sandbag, you may use weapons to do so. Once your attack connects, the pendulum will rise and each time it pass one of those round gems, they will lit up. Each of those gems represents 1000 units of strength. Your task is to light up at least 5 of them to pass. You can decided who goes first."

    Strength measurement by units had been staple since the old days. 1 unit of strength is equivalent to that of a mortal baby. A regr 20-year old male had the strength equal to at least 50-60 units, 70-80 units if they are physically inclined.

    Only by pursuing Knighthood would they be able to raise their strength to an incredible degree since it''s not possible for a regr mortal to possess a strength that surpassed 300 units.

    As Carl provided them with instructions, the crew looked to each other and smiled. Just like what he said earlier, the tests were straight forward enough. Now they only have to decide on who will go first.

    "Rock-paper-scissors?" Paul asked. The rest shrugged and decided why not?

    After some multiple rounds, the order was then decided. The firsts one to go was Anne, followed by Mark, Ellen, Paul, Luna and finally Raven. Needless to say, the crowd was baffled by their methods but remembered that they''re still kids so it was eptable.

    As soon as Anne stepped out, she heard wild cheers behind her that made her blush from embarassment.

    "You got this Lady Anne!"

    "Lady Anne we''re rooting for you!"

    "Show them what you''re made of Lady Anne!"

    Anne didn''t even want to turn around to look at them, she could already tell that they were waving their fans furiously while amplifying their voice as loud as they could. It wasn''t like Anne hated all of this truly, but it''s just too unnecessary and so extra.

    Anne inhaled sharply and erased the distractions on her head. A glint of fierce determination shed on her eyes. She took out her bow from her spatial ring and stretched it greatly while aiming at the sandbag.

    At the audience''s side, precisely where Anne''s rtives are, surprised gasps could be heard from them. A woman leaned in closer to a strict looking man who was watching intently at what''s happening below.

    "Honey look! She took out a bow! She must be practicing her archery all this time! Our daughter is such a genius!"

    The man gently sighed as he heard the hushed squeals of his wife. "I know, I know. Pay attention below Emma." Clyde, Anne''s father stressed at her.

    Still, this whole event truly shocked them. Not to mention the promotional tests even the fact that her daughter''s cultivation had risen so fast was hidden from them. It had been some mere months that they didn''t have any contact with each other and now this? How could he not feel shocked? Clyde worried about her daughters predicament, he feared that her cultivation rose to fast to the point of destroying her foundations. He wanted to warn her to not rush but she was already at this stage so he can''t do much.

    "M''kay¡­" Emma giggled like a kid and watched intently below.

    It was then that a swirl of energy manifested at Anne''s fingertip which made her parents stand up in shock. The energy was incredibly dense that it looked no different from a crystal arrow. The amount of time she had taken to produce such quality of arrow was fast too! Even Carl who had witnessed many students take promotional exams, can''t help but to widen his eyes in surprise. It didn''t took long enough for Anne to mutter:

    "Fatal Shot!"

 Chapter 77 - Results (I)

    ---

    Anne''s arrow whistled towards the sandbag. It pierced through the air like aet and left a trail of blue light.

    Upon contact, the collision caused the pir to briefly shake because of the intensity behind the shot.

    Everyone''s eyes were on the pendulum. It shot fast and instantly passed three gems and lit it up, which was equivalent to 3000 units of strength. It continuously went up until it reached the 5th gem which is already considered as a pass but it was still going up. It passed through the 6th gem and went halfway there beforeing back down.

    The whole stadium became silent, many people rubbed their eyes or pinched themselves to confirm if what they saw was real.

    Carl coughed a bit before making the announcement. "Anne Fiore, 6500 units. Pass!"

    It didn''t took long before the they erupted into furious cheering which made the stadium shake. Anne''s rtives were furiously waving their fans while loudly chanting her name.

    "Holy crap! That was amazing!"

    "6500 units of strength? How is that possible? If someone told me that thisdy is already at the Soldier Realm, I would''ve totally bought it!"

    "Kyah~! Husband! Husband! Did you see that!? Did you see that!? Annie is so fierce!" Emma grabbed Clyde by his cor and shook him back and forth.

    "I know! I saw it too! Stop shaking me, I feel dizzy!" It took him a great effort to release himself from the grip of his wife.

    When he finally calmed down, he saw his daughter walking back to her friends. What he just saw shocked him greatly. Even a Soldier Realm expert would be weary of that shot, not only was it fast, it was deadly too. He himself dabbled into archery during his youth so he knew his deduction was urate.

    Needless to say, he worries about her foundations were proven to be unnecessary, just from the way she condensed that arrow alone, Clyde could already tell that she didn''t neglect her foundations at all.

    He then saw Anne look towards their side, his wife turned crazy and sent flying kisses much to their embarassment, he shook his head gave her a smile. He used his energy and blended it on the air, he then said:

    "You did well."

    His words were sent as an energy transmission and even though he was far away, Anne was able to hear it. And these few words greatly warmed her heart.

    ***

    "Wish me luck." Mark said while stepping forward.

    "Bullshit! Just hit the thing as hard as you can, there''s no luck needed for that!" Paul retorted while sending him away.

    Mark shrugged and chuckled. He then took out his swords and went into a battle stance. Before he even condensed his energies, he heard Raven''s voice.

    "Do your best. He''s watching."

    A shiver ran through his spine as he heard those words. He didn''t need to confirm it, if Raven says so then it''s true. Mark wanted to search for the person on his mind but he knew that it''s pointless.

    Nevertheless, eagerness bloomed on his heart. He yearned for his father''s approval for so long, now''s the time to show him the fruits of hisbor.

    He held his sword tightly and condensed his energy. The swords red with a ring blue light, he then swiftly swung his sword horizontally and following up with a vertical one.

    "Cross Cut." Mark uttered.

    Two fin-like sword energies merged into one and swiftly arrived at the target. Fortunately, the sandbag was made out of exceptional materials or else it would''ve been pierced by Anne''s arrow or quartered by Mark''s attack.

    The pir shook once more and the pendulum shot up. Under the dumbfounded gazes of the crowd, it instantly passed through the 5th gem and kept going until it passed halfway through the 7th gem.

    Carl smiled wryly as he announced the results: "Mark Anderson, 7500 units, Pass!"

    "Tch. Didn''t make it ''till the 8th mark." Mark was a bit dissatisfied.

    Carl had the impulse to smack his head upon hearing this. ''This brat! I wasn''t even near your strength when I was at your age! You''re already very strong and your stillining?'' Of course, he wouldn''t say such things aloud.

    "Kyah~!" Mark instantly grimaced upon hearing this screech, he didn''t need to turn around to find out who this was. "Good work baby! You''re so manly unlike your father!"

    "Mom...that diss was unnecessary." Mark whispered as he sneakily nced at her.

    Upon going back to the group, he had this urge to beat the crap out of Paul upon seeing his face.

    "Kyah~! Baby Mark, super manly..." Paul jeered, Mark dashed and quickly locked Paul''s head using arms. "Stop, I give..." he added whileughing.

    "Alright, my turn guys." Ellen said, she bumped fists with Raven and stepped forward. She took out her sword and held it with both hands.

    She assumed a stance and crowd went silent. With a silent re, her energy red and a ring blue sheen covered her entire sword. The sword energy behaved like a pulsing mes, as Ellen supplied it with more energies, the fiercer this sword energy got.

    Bradley nced at her daughter with a face full of pride and appreciation. He already knew that she trained very hard to achieve her current state, he felt a little bit bad for not being able to assist her as much as he could that''s why he''s also thankful for her friends.

    He watched as Ellen shed forward with great might. The umted sword energy swiftly struck the sandbag and made the pendulum shot up.

    "Ellen Redcrest, 8000 units, Pass!"

    Even for Bradley, such a number was too exaggerated. He couldn''t help but smile wryly while his wife was busy fangirling and waving the banner sher prepared earlier. He saw Ellen looking towards them so he raised two thumbs up which made her smile widely.

    ***

    There was a room in the central stadium which is located high enough to overlook the arena. It was spacious and used by important people who didn''t wish to expose their identity while enjoying the events below.

    Inside this room, there are several people who are currently watching Promotional Tests with mixed emotions.

    "This...this is just...I don''t even know what to say." One of themmented as they watched.

    "I know this is just the first tests, but from this alone they are already permitted to the Inner Branch." Another elder followed up with his ownment.

    "This youngdy surpassed your son''s result Sir Leon." Someone jeered from the side.

    The man named Leon nced at the person whopared his son to Ellen, he snorted and said: "It''s true, my boy can''tpare to this youngdy with brute strength. But I''m satisfied enough to see that he was able to reach this stagepared to some others'' son who can''t even do half of what my son could do."

    His brutal words made that individual''s expression go ugly. He wanted to refute his words but can''t since as venomous Leon''s words were, it was the truth, his son can''t even get out of Skin Toughening Stage.

    "Everyone shush! My boy''s about to go!" Dean Ian waved his hands as he focused on Paul.

    Everyone inside the room smiled wryly at his words, Ian could care less about their little dog fight, what he wanted know is the result of his unfilial son.

    Under the crowds gaze, Paul walked in front of the Strength Measuring Pir. He looked up and sighed, he knew that his old man is watching him right now since Raven informed him. Which also means, that the piercing re that he felt earlier wasing from his as well.

    Paul felt a bit conflicted but he knew that this wouldn''t help him right now. So he instead cleared up his mind and took out a shield from his spatial right.

    Everyone, including Ian was confused with his decision. Why did he bring out a shield instead of a weapon? But their thoughts were immediately silenced as soon as Paul condensed his energies.

    The round shield was covered with a murky blue light, it gave of a feeling of heaviness as well as bluntness. When Paul opened his eyes, he raised his shield and bent his body. Ian''s eyes widened as he thought: ''Is thinking of...''

    But before he could even finish his though, Paul mmed the shield down to the tiled floor. The whole arena shook but impact was concentrated onto the pir.

    The pendulum shot up and swiftly passed through 5th gem. It continuously soared until it reached the 8th gem before going down.

    Ian was incredibly surprised, not only him but everyone inside the room was also surprised.

    "You raised a great child, Dean Ian." Someone inside the room praised after a while of silence.

    On regr days, Ian would surely burst in uproariousughter upon hearing these words but now, he can''t even smile.. He only felt guilt and mncholy upon realizing that his boy reached greatness without needing his assistance.

 Chapter 78 - Results (II)

    ---

    "Oh my? Is it her turn already?"

    Ian''s thoughts were startled by a leisurely voice beside him.

    He cast a nce at this person and thought ''He truly does have a lot of free time huh? He could even rush over here just to watch. How enigmatic.''

    This person sat there in a rxed manner, quietly sipping tea and watching the test unfold before his eyes. He wore a an all white robes with golden outlines and a badge of honor was ced on his chest. His face was dignified and youthful, his piercing eyes seemed to prate beyond the ss and truly see what the youths beneath him are capable of.

    This was none other than the current Crown Prince of the Final Haven Kingdom, Balmung Lightshield. Dear brother of Lunafreya.

    Balmung felt the gaze of Ian beside him, he nced at him and smiled leisurely. "Is there something on my face Dean Ian?"

    "Yes, schemes. Lots of it." Ian told him in a straightforward manner. Balmung was a bit startled but he justughed it off. He wasn''t truly offended by his words since he knew Ian''s temperament well even before he rose to position.

    "Ohe on, Dean. It''s not that bad." He jokingly said.

    "Hmph! I''ve known you since you were a little turd. Just remember not to push it too far." Ian leaned back to his chair and closed his eyes to rest for a bit.

    Balmung just smiled and nodded, he returned his attention back to the arena below since it was his sister''s turn to be tested.

    ***

    Luna stepped forward, she took a couple of deep breaths before taking out a beautiful spear and assuming a stance.

    The crowd went silent and she became the center of attention. It wasn''t only because she was being tested but it was also because of her peerless looks. Many infatuated boys focused their gazes on her, to them it didn''t matter whether she failed or not, they are more caught in their own fantasies, wondering how great would it be if they could spend a night with this peerless beauty. Sometimes, one could only wonder what sorts of expression these people would make if they knew her true identity.

    After a moment of waiting, Luna''s eyes glimmered with intense fighting spirit. She raised her spear and performed several twirls, her energies red and condensed at the tip of her spear, each time the spear rotated on her body, the condensed energies formed a serpent that slithered all over her body.

    With a final twirl of her spear, she finished gathering momentum and thrust the spear forwards. The audience saw the serpent opened it''s maw and flew towards the sandbag, the force of the attack was too strong, even the dean and the crown prince of who were situated away from them could feel the vibrations from her attack.

    Under the watchful gazes of the crowd, the pendulum shot forward and lit up multiple gems swiftly, it passed through the 5th without any signs of stopping. It only slowed down when it passed the ninth gem and was still moving up. Finally, it reached quarter of the way towards the 10 mark before going down.

    There was an brief moment of absolute silence before the crowd erupted on cheers and apuse.

    "T-that''s crazy!"

    "So strong!"

    "I knew it! She truly is a Goddess!"

    "Goddess Luna!"

    "We love you Goddess Luna!"

    Infatuated cheers from boys and girls spread across the entire stadium. Luna blushed from all of this. She felt like those cheers were too exaggerated.

    "Hmph! These rabid dogs! They see boobs and go crazy." Ellen venomously spat on the side, herment was naturally heard by Luna and caused her to blush even more.

    "Decency, youngdy. You''re making the princess blush from your extravagant words." Anne chuckled on the side.

    Luna pouted on the side and whispered: "Meanies."

    "Luna Moonsong, 9750 units, Pass!" Carl can''t help but to wipe away some non-existent sweat on his forehead as he announced the results. The results of these tests are just way too crazy. He wondered just how they trained to achieve such results.

    While the stadium is in full heated bustle, Raven unceremoniously stepped forward. Many people noticed this and hushed the people beside them to pay attention.

    Somehow, all of them are expectant of this person. Majority of them don''t know who he was, they just wanted to know if he will continue the trend and surpass Luna''s result.

    But contrary to what they expected...

    Raven just clutched his fist hard and threw a casual punch. The air whistled and hit the sandbag. When the crowd realized what he did, the pendulum slowly made it''s way to light up the 5th gem before going down.

    "Eh?"

    "That''s it?"

    The crowd can''t help but be disappointed. That happened too fast and too anti-climactic, they were expecting it too be shy and explosive yet this person did none of that.

    "Well, we should''ve expected something like this happening right? I mean, he might not be as exaggerated at the rest but he still passed."

    "That''s true."

    "Right, he did good enough."

    Discussions ured between the crowd of people. But just like they said,moners watched for fun while the experts analyze.

    Some people who are more experienced and wise knew that what Raven showed wasn''t even the limits of his true capabilities. There wasn''t any rule that forces them to show everything in their arsenal to hit the Strength Measuring Pir with. They understood that Raven didn''t want to show all of his cards just yet and they respected that.

    "You did well Champ." Luis whispered while watching the casual actions of his son.

    As one of the more experienced people here, even if his son didn''t give his all onto that strike, he showed a fearsome prowess that only veterans could deduce.

    What struck the sand bag waspressed air not Raven''s fist, that''s already an unstable force but it still managed to carry 5000 units of strength behind it. Coupled with the fact that Raven did it so casually without needing to wait or condense his energy too long. In real fights, no enemy would be dumb enough to give time to charge their attacks, every second matters and one mishap could lead to their deaths.

    "This boy..." Bradley faintly shook his head and smiled. Rave truly hid himself well enough to fool the crowd while giving a profound impression to the experienced ones.

    Even Ian, Leon and the Crown Prince who were watching was intrigued and can''t help but to praise the kid for being witty. Old Lee, Arnold, Jackson, and Korra were also watching the scene unfold and can''t help but smile wryly.

    In truth, if Raven poured all of his raw power in that punch of his, it won''t be hard for him to break the Strength Measuring Pir. But he didn''t do so since he didn''t want to raise too muchmotion for now. He firmly believe that there will be a time for that, and it''s also good to keep them guessing. This is his way of leaving an impression.

    "How interesting..." Balmung''s eyes were shining as he gazed at Raven, he narrowed his eyes, seemingly wanting to know more about this boy. He turned his head towards Old Lee and asked: "Is he the one?"

    Old Lee was a bit stunned but nodded, as the current guardian of Luna, he is tasked to report everything the pertains to her well being to him since the King is currently out of the kingdom. Hence it was natural that Balmung knew that his sister was already freed from her curse, and even maderge strides on her cultivation. Not only that, he also received reports to all of the things that Raven did in the past.

    Balmung ced his hands on his chin, his lips curved up and his thoughts shed. While he was on the middle of day dreaming, he felt something amiss. He focused his vision on to the arena below and what he saw made his soul shiver in disbelief.

    Raven was staring dead in his eyes with a smile in his face.

    This picture cause Balmung''s smile to freeze, he could feel his own soul shudder for whatever reason. He knew that Raven didn''t have any malicious intentions, but that was enough to make his previous thoughts freeze on their tracks. For Balmung, that smile meant one thing...

    ''I''m watching you.''

    "Vendrick Valorheart, 5000 units. Pass!" Carl announced. "The Strength Test is concluded.. We will move on with the second tests which is the Speed Test."

 Chapter 79 - Speed Test And Perception Test

    ---

    As Carl made the announcement, the Strength Measuring Pir receded back into the ground. With another smack of his cane, the whole stadium shook and changes started uring.

    The tiled floor parted revealed a pool which is at least 8 meters deep and 10 meters wide. There are several tforms made out of stone that are scattered across the surface of the water as well as some mounted crossbows on the side.

    "To pass the Speed Test, you have to step in each tform while dodging the paintball that would be shot out by the mounted crossbows. You have one minute to do this, you''re also allowed to be hit by the paintball but only three times. Once time runs out and you''re still not finished, or you got hit more than three times, you fail. Take the exam whenever you''re ready."

    As the rules were given, the crew looked at each other and nodded. Nothing needs to be said since they already decided on what order they will go. The crowd also heard the rules and began talking amongst themselves.

    "Man, these tests are surely different from the previous ones¡­"

    "Oh? How can you tell?"

    "I''ve watched at least 5 groups of examinees take the Promotion Tests."

    "Hoh! That''s a lot."

    "I know right? But this is the first time that I''ve seen people who are this young to take the exams. Usually the ones who take the tests are anywhere from 18 and above years old."

    "From the looks of it, these kids aren''t even fifteen. So young and so strong already, how envious."

    "I feel you on that." The guy totally agreed with him. "Anyway, like I was saying. The tests seemed to change each time. Last time, the speed test is just a basic sprint from one end of the arena to the other, but now they have this instead."

    "In my opinion, this is their way of raising the quality of our soldiers. I heard that the fight for resources are tough in the Inner Branch¡­"

    "Tough but extremely rewarding." The man corrected. "I have a nephew who studied there for years now, and ever since he stepped on that ce, his strength just shot up through the roof."

    "Man, that must be nice, I also heard that if your umtion of merits are enough, then nobility is at hand."

    "That is correct, that''s also why my nephew is working hard in there. He''s just a couple of mission away from acquiring a title."

    "Oh! It''s about to start. Let''s pay attention."

    "Alright."

    ***

    Needless to say, the Speed Test was just like a walk in the park for the crew.

    All of them passed without even breaking a sweat. But because of the way the test work, the difference between each member of the crew became even more obvious to the crowd.

    They performed wonderfully in the test but the one who truly shone in the exams were Anne and Mark.

    Anne performed like the swan goddess, her graceful figures and movement captured the heart of the crowd. Her steps were like feathers gently falling to the ground and even the way she avoided the paintball projectiles were extremely eye catching. She was extremely flexible, the crowd held their breaths each time she nearly got hit with the projectiles only for her to bend in unnatural angles and avoid them by the hem of her clothes.

    Contrary to what she showed, Mark performance could be summed up with two words: Swift and Aggressive.

    He jumped from one tform after another like a pouncing cheetah. He didn''t even bothered dodging the projectiles and instead sliced them in half before they could evennd on his body. Pearl, Mark''s mother, crazily cheered him on while Leon was struck dumb by his own son''s performance. This was mainly because the way on how Mark performed in the test. His movements were extremely simr to the way he fought.

    Leon always knew that Mark was secretly watching him whenever he trained. Although he had to admit that he felt a great disappointment when he learned that his son failed to inherit talent, that was mainly because of the treatment Mark will have when word of ites out. And just like he thought, even his own n mistreated him. In order to notmit any serious crime against his own n, he decided to focus on his work and dump his disappointments into ying beasts that threaten the safety of his home.

    This is also the reason why his wife was mad at him since he only warned them with words and did not set an example.

    "Splendid performance!" Carl praised after the crew managed to pass the second test. "Let''s move on to the third test!"

    One smack of his cane and the stadium returned to it''s normal state. Another smack and the a thick mist started pouring out from the edges of the arena. The visibility inside went down at an rming pace. The mist became so thick that no regr human being could see through properly.

    Fortunately, a screen of light emerged on top of the arena. It followed a rectangr shape and showed the situation inside with a better visibility.

    "Perception Test. Your task is to disable the dart-shooting dummies inside the arena. There will be 15 of such dummies and you have to disable all of them. The hit limit is raised to 10, and the time limit is set of 5 minutes. Go in once you''re ready." Carl sat went down the arena after telling them the instructions.

    And just like before, the crew followed the previous order. Anne will go first, followed Mark, Ellen, Paul, Luna and finally, Raven.

    Continuing the trend of showing off their prowess. The crew once again astonished the crowd with the results of the test.

    "Anne Fiore, 3 minutes and 15 seconds, unscathed. Pass!"

    The only reason why she took that amount of time is because this was the first time she had to shoot while having low visibility. She trained with stationary and moving targets as well as her movement and firing rate coordination before but never in the middle of this dense mist. Nevertheless, she still did a great job on this test.

    "Mark Anderson, 2 minutes and 15 seconds, unscathed. Pass!"

    Since deflecting attacks isn''t considered as a hit, then Mark abused that by deflecting each attacks while slicing each dummies in a swift manner. And because he trained his swordsmanship to a high degree, he could use one sword for deflecting the attack and use the other to disable the dummies by slicing them in half.

    There is a pause in between attempts since the staff had to rece the ruined dummies with new and functional ones before they could move on to the next person.

    "Ellen Redcrest, 3 minutes, unscathed. Pass!"

    She also did have difficulties due to the visibility, nevertheless that didn''t stop her from ruining each dummies in a more aggressive manner than Mark. She sent one sword wave after another, leaving the dummies severed in half. She also didn''t like dodging the darts so she just sliced them along with the ones that shot them in first ce.

    "Paul Gregory, 3 minutes and 32 seconds, unscathed. Pass!"

    Like a true defender, Paul raised his shield and blocked the hail of dartsing his way. This time, wielding his spear, he slowly marched towards one dummy after another and pierced their chest. His shield constantly rang with nking noises because of the darts hitting it. The force behind each shot never fazed him as he was used to enduring heavier hitspared to these. To him, it felt like he was being shot with toothpicks instead darts.

    "Luna Moonsong, 2 minutes and 50 seconds, unscathed. Pass!"

    Showing off her spear mastery, Luna became a fierce warrior that charged towards the dummies and teared through their numbers. While she was a tad slower than Mark, it was mainly because she has to dodge darts on the way. It was definitely surprising for someone so innocent looking like her to transform into a fearsome fighter when the situation calls for it. Just the image of slicing one dummy after another made the boys go crazy for her, even the females admired her strength and beauty. Unknown to her, she became a great inspiration towards the girls and became a role model.

    "Vendrick Valorheart, 59 seconds, unscathed. Pass!"

    This result was just outright insane to anyone who heard it. Even though the screen showed the whole process on how Raven achieved this, many people still find this hard to ept.

    This mist is not even enough to obstruct his vision in the slightest. He could see each dummy as clear as daylight and he could even count how many projectiles areing his way. Raven didn''t use punches or weapons to disable the dummies. Instead, he picked up rocks scattered around the arena and threw them on each dummy''s head. He did the staff a favor and didn''t heavily damage the dummies, the force behind his throws were just enough to knock them down.

    Still, his methods appeared truly bizzar for everyone who was watching.

 Chapter 80 - Parental Talk

    ---

    "Excellent performance."

    Another heartfelt praise came from Carl, honestly he wasn''t even sure just where lies the limits of these kids. All of them performed beautifully and if he was being honest, it seems like these test are literally easy for them.

    "ording to the rule of the Promotional Tests, passing 3 tests consecutively is already enough to guarantee your entry to the Inner Branch¡­"

    This information is a well known fact by everyone in the Institute. Strength, speed and perception tests are arranged ording to the regr prowess of someone at their cultivation realm. If these kids wanted to, then they could already enter the Inner Court and enjoy the status as well joining the battle for supremacy in there. Carl knew that there are some several influential individuals watching the tests right now, the ones who are blending in the crowd are not counted.

    "But true to our nature, Heavenly Cloud Institute''s aim is to nurture geniuses that would someday protect the safety of our kingdom. We promised to support your growth as much as we could so that you people will grow up to be a splendid Knights."

    "And because of that. We are giving you a chance to be a part of the Genius ss. All you have to do, is to attempt thest two tests. You will be judged ordingly by your performance. Do you want to continue?"

    With no hesitations or whatsoever, the crew nodded their heads eagerly. This is the moment that they''re waiting for, this is where they will make their first mark.

    "Excellent! You are free to rest for an hour. Afterwards, you may return here and we will continue the tests."

    This announcement astounded the crowd, everyone felt giddy with excitement.

    How could they not? Just the prospect of seeing candidates for Genius ss is a great news for them.

    Joining the Genius ss of the Heavenly Cloud Institute might be the highest glory one could bring their their family. This section behaved differentlypared to regr sses of the Inner Branch. This is where the elites are gathered so that''s somehow understandable. If one stayed in the genius ss for just a year, they will be rewarded with a title of Nobility. This includes a plot ofnd, servants, and many more. But to the people that are thinking that that''s too easy, they''re terribly wrong.

    The fight for resources is toughest in the Genius ss. Earning merit points is a lot harder therepared to the normal ss. The missions that are given to the Genius ss are specialized and they will be forced to participate in missions if they wanted to stay. There''s also a biannual tournament, and those who failed to meet the mark would be eliminated in the ss, no questions asked.

    Meanwhile, the crew separated and went towards their own family. Raven, Anne and Ellen went to where their parents are, Mark along with Paul and Luna went towards the room where the Dean Ian and Leon were.

    Raven was tussled by his bawling mother before he could even go to their seat. Eva wiped his sweat and continuously asked if he was hurt or stressed enough. It took him a great deal of convincing that he was fine and wasn''t hurt before she calmed down. Behind her, Luis was also there, he stretched his hand and ruffled Raven''s hair.

    "You brat. You didn''t say anything! Don''t you know? You''re mom ''malfunctioned'' again after hearing you''re participating in the Promotional Tests."

    Raven froze a little bit before chuckling wryly, it''s been a while since he heard his father describe his mother''s strange behavior whenever she''s incredibly anxious about his well being.

    "Eh, I thought it was a nice surprise right?" Raven smiled and took his parents back to their seat. He sat in the middle of them and then he was bombarded with questions.

    "Yeah it certainly was a nice surprise. But how did you guys do it? I mean it haven''t been a long time since you were just in the beginning stages, now you guys are just about ready to be a Warrior!" Luis questioned.

    "Medicine, Dad. Medicine." Raven answered.

    "Care to borate?" Luis raised his brow and asked.

    "Remember the time when I gave you the jade slips?" Luis thought back and nodded, he could still remember that since if it weren''t for those jade slips, along with the medicine that''s inside the chest, he won''t be standing as a Half-step Silver Knight right now.

    "There was a skeleton that was holding that previously. When I touched it, it sent a wave of spiritual energy on my brain. Later on, I found out that I inherited the memories of the elder who kept that suitcase. He was an alchemist and I used his memories to train myself as well my friends."

    Upon saying this, Raven took out a vial of a C-ranked Body Restoration Liquid and pass it to him.

    "This is a Body Restoration Liquid. It''s cures physical fatigue and injuries to a certain extent. The effects are boosted after a heavy load of work out. Each day, we will soak in a barrel of this before we go to sleep. We are still using this up until this day and it had been a god sent."

    Luis was intrigued and caught a whiff from the vial. In that instance, his eyes snapped in shock as he stared shockingly at the vial. Luis wasn''t an alchemist but he had a slight knowledge with medicines so he could gauge just how precious this vial is. Just one direct whiff and he could feel his body strongly respond to this medicine. It might seem absurd but he felt wide awake just from one whiff of this medicine.

    "Good stuff!" Luis eximed emotionally, "This must''ve cost you a fortune huh?"

    "Nope!" Raven shook his head and continued: "Not at all. Just that vial alone is 1 gold card."

    "Excuse me!?" Luis stared shockingly at his son.

    "Yep, you heard that right." Raven grinned and raised one finger, "One gold card. If I want too, I can make tons of this or ones that are on a higher grade. That one is a C-rank."

    "Do anyone else knew this?" Luis hurriedly hushed his voice and asked Raven.

    "Aside from them, no one else."

    "Champ, listen to me." Luis grabbed him by the shoulders and looked intently at his eyes. "Make sure you don''t casually unt this outside you hear me? You have to be wary of people."

    "I agree as well." Eva chimed in while stroking the back of Raven.

    "Mom, Dad calm down." He smiled warmly andforted them. "My friends are trustworthy. Plus I have my own ns, first I would pass the genius ss, then¡­"

    Raven then stated his own ns for the future to his parents. He wasn''t afraid of exposing it to them since it''s better for them to know this early on instead of making them anxiouster. He thought of an incredible n that even Luis was impressed.

    But of course, Raven didn''t tell them everything. The excuse just now is believable since he had already thought of it before, fortunately he prepared an excuse or else he might have no other choice but to reveal his biggest secret. Nevertheless, the n he made isn''t actually entirely false as he was truly nning on doing them in the near future.

    After his exnations, Luis heaved a deep sigh. He ruffled his son''s hair and said: "I don''t even know what to say. You''re already talking about making connections and you aren''t even a full fledged adult."

    "Baby, I know you only wanted the best for us, the same could be said for us." Eva held his hand, her voice was filled with worry and endless love. "But please, don''t overwork yourself too hard. Thest thing that I want is to deprive you of your childhood. Don''t be in a hurry to be an adult, okay?"

    "I understand Mom. I''m not in a hurry. I just wanted to do everything I can." Raven felt the warmth in his heart andforted his mother.

    "I share the same sentiments with you''re Mom. I''m still strong enough to shoulder you against the people who wanted to hurt you. Live your life to the fullest, your mom and I will always be here to support you." Luis locked his son to a fatherly embrace.

    Raven was speechless, he felt his nose stung and the corner of his eyes moistened. They have always been like this, selfless and always cing him before themselves. They shouldered the skies for him but he never became strong enough to do the same for them. But not in this lifetime.

    ''I am not in a hurry to grow up believe me. But my enemies won''t wait for me to grow up, no. They absolutely can''t allow me to grow up. Because if I do, then it will be the end of their tyranny. You shouldered the skies for me, and for that I''m always thankful.. This time, I will make sure that I will shatter anyone or anything that will cause you harm.''

 Chapter 81 - Coordination Test

    ---

    The hour of rest was over, before Raven left his parents'' side, Eva gave him a kiss on his forehead, she said that it was a good luck charm. Raven chuckled and went back to the stage.

    Shortly after the crew was reunited. Their moods were different from before, now they seemed to have a renewed vigor and passion.

    "Since all of the participants are here. We will begin the fourth part of the event, the Coordination Test." As soon as Carl announced this, six people emerged and stood at different ces inside the arena, they followed a hexagon formation and were all wearing white masks with only their eyes visible through and white robes.

    "The test will be a game of dodgeball but with slightly different rules. The basics are the same, they will throw the ball and you guys have to dodge it or catch it, if you caught the ball then you can attack the masked people. You could work together to attack. An attack is registered as a hit when the ball makes contact to your body of you failed to block the attack. It''s anyone''s ball if it hits the ground so if you want to attack again, then pay attention. Teamwork is key so if anyone of you are eliminated then it impacts the whole team. You people are only allowed to get hit three times. Are there any questions?"

    Anne raised her hand, Carl nodded towards her so she asked: "The three hit chances, does that apply for them as well?"

    "No." Carl grinned and shook his head, "If younded hit them then you have one less attacker."

    "Understood."

    "Any more questions?" Seeing none of them said anything, Carl raised his hand and made a quick chop before announcing: "Alright, game start!"

    As soon as Carl signalled, one of the masked man summoned the ball out of nowhere and threw it to them. These movements were too sudden and no one actually asked about where the ball was so they had no idea had it before the game started. Fortunately¡­

    "4th iing." Raven said casually.

    The crew''s eyes lit up and they moved together as a unit, Paul immediately stepped forward and blocked the attack. The ball bounced upwards because of the angle and Mark nimbly caught the ball.

    Forget the masked man who threw the attack, even Carl and the rest of the staff were extremely surprised with the results. It had to be known that these students didn''t know who had the ball all this time yet they were able to defend against it and even caught the ball.

    Of course this was all due to Raven''s sharp instincts. As soon as the masked people came out, he was already wary of them. Due to habits, Raven always counted his targets in a clockwise manner, the crew also knew this fact that''s why when Raven said the ''4th'' they could tell which one he was referring to.

    "Ellie, Paul, Mark, you attack." Raven said once more, he crossed his arms around his chest and spread his awareness to the other people present.

    "One!" Ellen shouted allowed, when Mark heard this, he cursed and hurriedly threw the ball mid-air, Ellen jumped and sent a sword wave towards the ball.

    "Two!" Mark yelled next, he then made some quick calctions before performing a Cross Cut and sending towards the flying ball.

    "Three!" Instead of attacking the ball, Paul mmed his shield on the ground and sent the earth quaking beneath their target.

    The target of these three was the 2nd Masked Man, before he could even think of blocking the attack, he felt the ground shook beneath him causing him to lose his bnce briefly. That short amount of time however, was enough for the screeching ball tond on his body causing him topletely topple over before he could even regain his bnce.

    Not even a minute has passed since the game started but the masked people already lost someone. Someone quickly filled in and got the ball and once again, it''s the masked people''s turn to attack.

    The crowd erupted in cheers, they were astonished by the coordination that this kids showed. It wasn''t everyday that they are able to witness such seamless teamwork, what''s even more impressive is that it was kids who showed up such coordination. It truly makes them wonder how hard they must''ve trained to achieve this.

    The masked men''s formation adjusted a bit, from hexagon they now followed a pentagon formation. If they were underestimating these brats before, that mentality was notpletely gone. They now treated this kids like someone at their level.

    The 1st masked man had the ball, he threw it in an arc and passed it to the 4th, the 4th then passed it to the 3rd and the round robin began. Their goal on doing this was obvious, they want to fool the the perception of the kids and make them lower their guards. They continued passing the ball to each other for at least 25 times that the crowd was getting frustrated. Sadly, their n was bound to fail¡­

    Raven sneered and whispered: "5th will feint a pass and attack Luna."

    And as soon as he said this, the 5th masked man truly feinted a pass before retracting his aim and throwing the ball towards Luna. Paul once again met the ball and blocked it in an angle.

    "Anne, Luna, we go." Raven said the words and the team flowed into action. Raven started running, Luna started twirling her spear.

    "One!" Anne jumped and shot the ball using the Fatal Shot. Time seemed to slow down and the crowd thought if Anne made a mistake since the ball wasing after the running Raven.

    Raven knew that the ball was going his way but he didn''t stop running towards the 1st masked man who was ring at the ball fiercely, there was a determined expression on his face while his defences are up. When he looked at the ball earlier, he knew that it was pass, Raven would most likely going to either dodge the ball at thest second to catch him off-guard or he would attack the ball and boost it''s power to attack him, as for whatever Luna was doing, he figured that that''s just a distraction. Sadly¡­he was wrong.

    Just as when he thought that the ball was about to hit him. He saw Raven grinned fiendishly and yelled: "Two."

    He somersaulted backwards and hit the ball using his foot. He ced a decent amount of strength towards that attack which made the ball whistle towards the 2nd masked man who waspletely caught unprepared. But things aren''t done however¡­

    "Three!" Luna simrly yelled and sent a energy wave on a shape of serpent towards the ball. The serpent opened it''s mouth, cing the ball on it''s jaws. The boosted attacknded on the 2nd masked man and caused him to fly backwards.

    The 1st masked man was stunned and infuriated. ''These brats!'' He can''t ept that they made a fool out of him, but deep down in his heart, he also felt deep admiration towards them since their teamwork was truly impable.

    When everyone thought that things were done, lo and behold, they were wrong once more. As the ballnded onto the ground, the masked men were surprised to see someone already picking it up with a fiendish expression on his face. It didn''t take long before they heard another call.

    "Girls!" As Raven yelled this he instantly threw the ball, Luna was the first to take action.

    "One!" As the ball passed by her location, she sent a spear light after it which boosted it''s flight speed.

    "Two!" Ellen was already waiting for this, so she sentrge horizontal sword wave after it which made it''s flight speed even faster. And of course¡­

    "Three!" How could Anne be left out? Another Fatal Shot was released and merged with the existing forces already present to the ball. The target of this attack was the 3rd masked man. He managed to block in time, but unfortunately the force behind the attack proven to be too powerful for him to handle, so his defence failed.

    And just like that, only two of the masked men remained.

    Not wanting for a second event like that to ur, the 4th masked man immediately hurried over to the ball. Just as when he was about to grab it, he saw figure blocking his way which made him extremely surprised.

    "We''re up guys!" Paul eximed loudly, he then thumped his chest loudly and yelled at the top of his lungs. "ONE!!!!!!"

    The 4th masked man felt the burnt of the yell, his ear rang and his mind buzzed, he was caughtpletely unprepared for that causing his to be stunned on the spot. Being momentarily crippled, the tempo of the crew''s attack increased.

    Mark''s silhouette appeared a like a phantom behind Paul, he picked up ball and threw it past Raven''s location while yelling: "Two!!"

    By this time, the 1st masked man thought that he was, without a doubt, the target of these kids. He summoned his entire energy and braced himself to defend the attack at all cost.

    Raven grinned, he clenched his hand hard and poured a great amount of energy behind it. Just before the ball went over him, he mmed his bare fist on the ball and yelled: "Three!"

    The crowd only held a sharp whistle at that point and the 1st masked man was seen lying down outside of the arena with the ball bouncing beside him.

    There was nothing but absolute silence after that.

 Chapter 82 - Prowess Test (I)

    ---

    "OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

    A massive eruption of cheers and whistles threated to deafen them. The sheer excitement and roars of the crowd shook the entire stadium akin to an earthquake.

    "Holy crap! That was awesome!"

    "One! Two! Three! Fantastic!"

    "Excellent teamwork!!"

    "That was insane!"

    "These kids are terrifying!"

    Even the influential elders are too surprised from the results. In their minds, they guessed that these kids must''ve been a team for a while now since there is no way that they could cooperate like that if they weren''t. Their thoughts were correct.

    "The 4th tests ends here. You kids take a brief rest while the judgeses up with a result." Carl announced and waved his hand.

    Last masked man standing could only smile wryly under his mask and bow towards Carl, he helped his teammates up and went down the arena. It would be useless for him to remain fighting anyway since there''s on him left, and based on the teamwork of the kids, he stood no chance alone. The crew high five and bowed down before going down the arena, they then sat and recovered their energies while waiting for the deliberation.

    At the Headmasters room.

    "Atta boy Paul! Bwahahahaha!" Ian''s uproariousughter echoed at every corner of the room. It could be said that his mood went onto a drastic change eversince he and Paul talked. The father and son had nothing much to say, Paul didn''t hold any grudges in his heart since he understood the situation very well. He just told him that he will gain his lost reputation back and be a splendid knight.

    No one jeered at him. How could they? In all honesty, if their kids were to perform as brilliantly as Paul then they might feel the same way. All they felt right now is jealousy, envy, shock and admiration. Who would''ve thought that the little rascal of the Headmaster-who had given him an immense headache before-had been extremely low-key?

    "Is there really a need for deliberation?" The Crown Prince smiled wryly, "Our opinions might appear extremely biased but everyone saw how they perform right?"

    The Crown Prince might not show it deliberately but he''s rooting for Luna since she is his little sister. Paul was obviously rooting for Paul and Leon was rooting for Mark. If they didn''t perform impressively and they allowed them to pass, then that would be extremely biased. But seeing the coordinations that this kids presented, how could they say anything? If they aren''t fit to pass then who is?

    "I vote pass for all of the participants." Leonmented on the side, he didn''t say much be the smile on his face says it all.

    "I too, vote pass for the participants." The Crown Princeughed and voted.

    "That makes it three then, unanimous decision. All of the participants will go through the 5th test."

    Ian sent a voice transmission towards Carl along with their votes. Carl wasn''t so surprised after hearing this. He then made the announcement shortly after.

    "The judges finished the deliberation. All participants passed the 4th test and will proceed towards thest test.

    There was another wave of cheers and apuse all throughout the whole stadium. The crew smiled to each other and stepped onto the stage once more.

    "For thest part of the test. Prowess. To be more precise,bat. We''ve seen a little bit of how you fight earlier, but now it''s time to see just how you will perform in a one versus one fight. You can choose to either fight a beast or a human for the test. If you choose beasts, kill it. If you choose a human, then defeat them. That''s half of the test won, the other half will fall under the jurisdiction of the judges."

    "You can now state your pick. Afterwards, we will start the final test." As Carl announced this, it didn''t take long before the crew made their decision.

    "Beast." - Anne

    "Beast." - Mark

    "Beast." - Ellen

    "Beast." - Paul

    "Beast." - Luna

    "Human." - Raven

    "Once the tests starts, you are no longer allowed to change your picks. Are you sure with your decisions?" Carl asked.

    "Yes!" The crew unhesitatingly answered.

    "Very well, 5 beasts and 1 Human. I now announce, the final Test. Begin!" Carl announced and smacked his cane into the arena. "The first fight will immediatelymence. Those who aren''t participating should go down the arena."

    With that said, aside from Luna the rest of the team went down. Anne heaved a deep sigh and drew out her bow. The arena parted and a tform rose, as it rose up, one could hear the noise of metal ngs.

    It was then that Anne''s enemy could be seen by everyone.

    The beast was furiously struggling to get rid of the chains that bound it. It''s body is covered in glossy strands of red fur, it''s upper body looked like that of humans, more specifically, an old wrinklydy. It''s lower body is covered thick red fur and instead of a feet, it has ws. And instead of arms, it has wings of simr color and feathers. It''s wing spans for at least 4 to 5 meters, it''s eyes werepletely red and was constantly shrieking and ring at every human that it saw.

    Because of it''s intimidating presence, most of themon folk didn''t even dare to look at it in the eyes. Each time it shrieked, some people will instinctively flinch or grimace because of fear.

    "Is that..."

    "Yeah, a Harpy." One of the people amongst the crowd confirmed, "It''s on a Soldier-level too. It seems that she''s going to be at a disadvantage for this fight."

    "A Harpy is capable of flight, it''s quick and nimble too. Add the fact that it''s very aggressive to the mix and it is too troublesome. She''s an archer right? She won''t have an easy time with this..."

    As the crowd discussed amongst themselves. Anne remained calm and began analyzing her battle tactics.

    Carl simrly retreated from the arena and signalled for the staff to release the Harpy.

    As soon as the beast felt that the chains were dislodged, it immediately soared into the air and attempted to fly away as fat as it could, sadly it failed to do so since the formation worked against it.

    *Shoo!*

    Just as it was about to try ramming to the formation, the Harpy sensed danger iing from it''s back. It pped it''s wing instinctively, the arrow still hit but it just grazed through it''s cheeks. Anne clicked her tongue in displeasure, if the harpy didn''t evade then her arrow would surely pierce it''s skull.

    *Scree!!*

    With a loud shriek, the harpy turned it''s gazed on the young girl below. It was incensed and provoked, and because of it''s aggressive nature, it decided to go after her since it can''t break the formation just yet anyway.

    It soared through the air and swoop down, it''s sharp ws glimmered and aimed at Anne''s head.

    The crowd watched with bated breath, as the Harpy closed in, Anne suddenly moved and bend her body down while also preparing a shot. The ws of the harpy missed her by mere inches and before it went past her, she released the shot that she prepared earlier.

    The arrow grazed it''s thigh and the Harpy released another series of furious screeches. Anne pulled her bow once more and this time she shot several arrows. The Harpy easily evaded all of this and charged towards her while twisting and turning mid-air to avoid the next of her arrows.

    The Harpy was quick and shortened the distanced in seconds, it opened it''s jaws wanting to take a bit out of Anne''s flesh this time around. But once again, mere inches away from Anne, she suddenly jumped and somersaulted over the charging harpy. As she tumbled in the air, she shot an arrow thatnded on the back of the harpy.

    *Boom!*

    The impact of arrow caused the harpy to fall t on the arena, it released a series of painful screeches that grated on one''s ears. The Harpy was incredibly upset and angry, it tried to crawl and p it''s wing to charge at her once more but before it could even do so...

    *Shoo!"

    A sharp arrow whistled across the air and prated it''s wing. The Harpy released a furious howl as it''s ability to fly had been taken away, it turned around and red at the human but it''s expression immediately switch into panic as it saw Anne drawing her bow once more.

    The Harpy ducked and twisted it''s body, the arrow missed so it now had a chance to attack her again, but because it''s wing was crippled it''s speed was clearly slower than before. Anne still wore that confident expression on her face even though she saw the Harpy closing in. She drew her bow once more and decided to wait for the right opportunity to release it.

    Once the distance between then shrank, the harpy extended it''s ws towards her but it was met by Anne''s arrow instead. Wasting no time, she charged and mmed her knee on it''s stomach. The beast kneeled down in pain and as soon as it raised it''s head...

    The image of an arrow was thest thing it saw.

 Chapter 83 - Prowess Test (II)

    ---

    The match ended as the arrow pierced the skull of the Harpy.

    Carl announced her victory which made her sigh in relief. Her parents were a little bit worried about her state of mind but seeing that there were no trace of difort in her face, they too breathed a sigh of relief.

    The world is full of dangers and they knew that if their daughter wants to walk the path of Knighthood, she has to eventually stain her hands with the blood of her enemies. Even so, they still have mixed feelings about this, they thought it was too early for her since she''s too young.

    But what they didn''t know is that Anne wasn''t a stranger to this. In the Virtual Beast Arena, she lost count on how many times she has to face this, she was already used to this and she even had to do in reality. Raven made them realize that ''mercy to one''s enemies, is cruelty to one''s self.'' She learned this the hard way during her attempts at the Virtual Beast Arena, and she nearly lost her life once in the battle against the ants. She no longer held any hesitations on her heart.

    Anne made her way back down and Mark went next. His enemy was a Ferocious Mountain Bear, a beast that has an incredibly tough hide, heavy strikes, strong jaw, aggressive demeanor and quick speed despite it''s huge frame.

    The Ferocious Mountain Bear is simrly, a Soldier-level beast. It naturally excels at a closebat fights, so many people thought that Mark was in a pinch for this battle. Surprisingly, he wasn''t.

    The bear was strong, there''s no doubts about that, but it ultimately is a regr beast in the end. It can''tpare to the wit of a human. Mark knew that trading blows with this beast is a no go, so what he did instead was to target it''s weak points, mainly the ligaments on it''s body. Mark''s energies are dense, molding it to cover his swords and making it twice as sharp as before was an east feat for him, not to mention, his speed is quicker that the bear. Mark dodges at thest second before quickly evading andunching a counter attack was his tactics. He first severed the ligaments on it''s left arm, then he proceed to cripple it''s movements by severing the tendon on it''s feet.

    When the beast lost it''s bnce, Mark then sliced it''s neck cleanly, separating the head from the shoulders. The match ended then it was Ellen''s turn.

    Ellen''s battle was against a Soldier-Level, Three-headed Lion. A rare beast that is an absolute terror in the jungle, because of it''s multiple heads, it''s line of sight is wider than most beast, which means thatunching a sneak attack against it is useless. It has huge ws, sharp fangs and very agile too.

    As soon as the match started, the lion attempted to bite her in pieces. Fortunately, Ellen was quick on her toes and managed to evade the initial charge. She spun her body and swiped her sword in a circle around her, the tip of her sword wounded the eye of the 2nd head which made the lion go crazy in rage.

    It tried to pounce on her but Ellen grunted hard and sliced one of it''s paws in two. She then quickly stabbed the first head and severed it from the main body. Now, the lion was missing a head and blinded on the other, only one was functioning properly, and because she damaged it''s foot it''s mobility was also greatly hindered. Ellen had much easier time dealing with it now. With one sword wave, the remaining heads were severed and the match ended.

    Paul''s enemy is a Steel Rhino, a soldier-level beast that has a singr horn that it usually use to puncture it''s enemies, it''s hide were as tough as a steel, and each time it stomped it''s hooves the arena will shake briefly.

    As soon as the match started, the rhino wasted no time and charged towards him while snorting loudly. Paul didn''t falter and raised his shield to meet it, with a loud collision, he skid back for about four five steps before stopping, the beast tried it''s best to puncture his shield but Paul was like an iron wall that cannot be moved no matter what.

    With a quick draw of his spear, he punctured the eye of beast. The Steel Rhino roared in pain and fury but Paul was unaffected, with a vicious expression on his face, he raised his spear using both hands and smashed the head of rhino. The beast was forced t on the floor due to the sheer force of Paul''s strike and he ended the battle after piercing the head of the beast all the way to it''s brain.

    Luna''s match was against a Quicksilver Boa, it''s length was about five meters and it''s scales werepletely silver in color, it has a ck cockb on it''s head and two sharp fans protruding out of it''s mouth. This soldier-level beast is famous for it''s innate poison which is called: Quicksilver Poison. When afflicted by this, the victim will lose their bodily function after 10 seconds, allowing the beast to eat them without resistance.

    The match was surprisingly tense, there were numerous times that the beast nearly bit Luna but she will always brush away from it in thest second possible. The crowd was awed by her skillful mastery over the spear. From the moment sheunched a counter attack, she forced the beast to retreat over and over again, there were several times that shended a hit that left deep wounds on the beast''s body. Eventually, the spear head made it''s way toward it''s mouth and came out of it''s head, ending the boa''s life and the match.

    "Next battle. Vendrick Valorheart against a Soldier-Level Human."

    Raven made his way on top of the stage, donning the Flexible Brawler Set, he set his gaze to meet his opponent.

    His opponent was a six foot male, wearing a white mask like the one''s they saw before. He was also wearing a light gray armor that covered majority of his chest aside from pits and his elbows. There was a single edged de strapped on his waist while his hand was firmly gripping the handle of the de.

    "Take out your weapon." His deep and muffled voice sounded behind the mask, Raven shrugged and said...

    "I don''t have one."

    His reply made the soldier frown behind his mask, he carefully observed Raven and found out that he wasn''t lying.

    "Hmph! You''re treading the path of Knighthood, which knight doesn''t own a weapon? Do you no longer want you arms?" He jeered with a thick disdain in his voice.

    "How funny. You, a Soldier Realm, teaching me about the path of knighthood? Don''t make meugh. I don''t even know if you will reach that stage during your lifetime." Raven sneered as he crossed his arms in his chest.

    The masked man was undeniably incensed, he fumed as Raven''s words struck a sore spot in his chest.

    "Arrogant little brat!" He growled under his mask.

    "Ignorant Old Man." Raven retorted.

    "Match start!" Carl shook his head and announced.

    The masked man went into a stance and red furiously at Raven.

    "Prepare yourself, I will let you experience the price of your arrogance." His full aura red letting the crowd knew the majesty of his cultivation base.

    "Oh? Show me the then..." Raven sneered once more and didn''t even bothered to make a stance nor re his aura.

    With the twist of his body, the masked man kicked off and flew straight to Raven. Seeing that Raven didn''t bothered to defend himself, the masked man sneered and thought: ''Arrogant kid, don''te crying to your parentster if you got severely wounded.''

    "Mountain Splitting de!" With a loud yell, he drew his sword and targeted Raven''s defenseless waist. The de was covered in dense blue light and was making it''s over to sever him in half. The crowd held their breath, even Luis and Eva was about to stop the match, but before they could do so, Raven moved his right hand.

    *Clink*

    An unbelievable scene happened, the ring de energy disperse like a retreating sunlight. The de was firmly grasped between Raven''s fingertips.

    Silence permeated in the whole stadium, they watch with mouths agape and unblinking eyes to see if what''s happening right now was real.

    "Tch." Raven sneered amidst the silence. "Mountain Splitting de? Really? You call this Mountain Splitting? Fancy name but the attack doesn''t have any substance. How disappointing."

    "Y-you!"

    The masked man was unbelievably horrified to see his attack nullified like this. How was that possible? This was the first time that something like this happened to him. He had been polishing this attack for god knows how long yet it was stopped by a thirteen year old brat using his fingertips! How can he ept this?

    "What was is again? Letting me experience the price of my arrogance? Is this it?" Raven sneered once more and continued: "How embarrassing."

    "Grit your teeth Old Man. I call this move, ''A Casual Punch''." Raven gripped his fist and threw a punch on his stomach. When his fist connected, the masked man''s body flew back and rolled for a couple of times before stopping.

    Then, there was nothing but absolute silence after that.

 Chapter 84 - Test End!

    ---

    "Poor guy." Paul whispered, "Of all the people to provoke, you chose him. Now you''re just asking for a beating."

    "Come to think of it, Avi must''ve pitied the guy, if not then he wouldn''t have gotten away with just a single punch."

    "I agree, he would end up with multiple bones broken if that''s the case."

    Their discussion was hushed so it wasn''t heard by the crowd. If their words were heard by the crowd, then who knows what their reaction would be.

    "I-The winner of this match, Vendrick Valorheart!" Carl stammered in his announcement. It was then followed by a massive apuse and cheers from the crowd.

    "Holy shit! Tell me I wasn''t the only one who saw that!"

    "You''re not! I saw it too! He stopped the de using his fingertips! How was that possible!"

    "Not only that! He also ended the match using a single punch!"

    "He said that he named the move ''A Casual Punch''! How domineering was that!?"

    "I know right!? He''s too badass!"

    Raven couldn''t be bothered by the cheers of the crowd, he turned around and made his way down to the arena. However, before he coulde down from where he was, he heard a malicious roar...

    "Damn you!!!"

    The masked man roared with indignation, the crowd was dumbstruck and their breaths stagnated. Luis abruptly stood up, but before he could do anything he saw that the masked man was already charging towards his son. He cursed as he was too far away from where he was, he nced at his son but couldn''t see any traces of panic on his face, unknowingly he rxed.

    The masked man picked up his de and ran towards Raven, he wanted to skin him alive to free him of this humiliation, he no longer cared about his seniority nor his superiors, what''s more important for him, is to kill this brat for ruthless stomping on his pride as a man.

    "Tch, what a nuisance." Raven sneered, he abruptly turned around a blurred into motion.

    Under dumbstruck gazes of the crowd, he appeared beneath the charging man with elbows sticking out. His attack wedge deep onto the stomach of the masked man causing him to vomit some gastric acids.

    Once again, Raven''s silhouette disappeared and reappeared behind the masked man. He jumped and kicked the back of his head causing his face to be embedded deeply onto the tiled floor.

    The crowd flinched under impact of his attacks. It had to be known that none of the fights earlier managed to crack the floors of the arena, yet just a single kick from him cause the masked man''s head to be buried there. Aside from a few fractures on his skull, this man would be lucky if he didn''t suffer from hemorrhage.

    "I won''t be med for this right?" Raven faced the speechless Carl and asked.

    Carl hurriedly shook his head and said: "No. Of course not young friend, you merely defended yourself. On behalf of the Institute, I would like to express my sincerest apology for this man''s unsightly behavior, please do excuse us."

    Raven smiled and said: "No worries there, this isn''t the first time I''ve dealt with people like this." He then bowed towards him and made his way down.

    "The matches are over, we await the judges to finish the deliberation and after that, we will announce the results. For now..."

    "Capture this fool! Lock him up and make sure he realizes the severity of his actions!" After nodding back to Raven, Carl''s face went extremely cold as he gave out the order to imprison this foolish man.

    Back to the Headmasters Room.

    Ian''s face was incredibly ugly, the Crown Prince simrly had an unpleasant expression as well as Leon.

    "Pardon us from this Lil'' Mu. I didn''t know what this idiots are thinking, hiring some random thug for this kind of event." Ian made the initiative to apologize to Balmung after the unsightly disy.

    "It''s not your fault Headmaster, I''m displeased at the person not the management. I''m sure that they didn''t see thising too." Balmung smiled andforted Ian.

    Leon didn''t say anything, instead he just silently observed the situation below. He was just making sure that the crowd won''t fall into too much disorder after what happened.

    "Anyway." Balmung interjected, "Let''s not make the brats wait and finish the deliberation. I''d say they are truly fit to be included in the Genius ss. How about you two?"

    "I agree with Crown Prince''s decision." Leon said in a low voice.

    "I too, agree with the decision. Another unanimous decision." Ian smiled and sent a voice transmission to Carl. "The brats passed the test. Announce their inclusion to the Genius ss."

    As the transmission made it''s way to Carl''s ears, he smiled widely and smacked his cane to gather the attention of the crowd.

    "The deliberation was made. I announce, Anne Fiore, Mark Anderson, Ellen Redcrest, Paul Gregory, Luna Moonsong and Vendrick Valorheart passed all of the pre-requisites to be a part of the Genius ss! Everyone, let''s give them a warm round of apuse for their splendid performance!"

    As Carl announced this the whole stadium shook and waves of cheers and apuse echoed to each corner of the ce.

    The crew gave them a curt bow and high-fived with each other. All of them felt refreshed and lively, like a huge boulder was lifted off from their shoulders. As they turned around, they saw their parents smiling and pping along with he crowd. The team dispersed and went to their families to celebrate for a bit. Even Balmung, who worn a disguise weed Luna along with Old Lee who felt incredibly proud of the little princess.

    Luna smiled on the surface, but in her heart there was a tinge of jealousy whenever she looked at the happy smiles of her friends with their parents. This was not to he mistaken that she wasn''t happy, in fact she''s incredibly thankful that her brother took some time out of his bust schedule to be here. But it would be nicer if her parents were here too.

    "Come on, don''t make that face." Balmung pinched the cheeks of his little sister. "They might not be here but they know what''s going on. I recorded your performance and sent it to them. Mom will surely see it, as for Dad well¡­we''ll know once he gets back. Nevertheless, we''re proud of you, alright?"

    "Mn." Luna bit her lips and smiled, "Thanks big brother."

    ***

    The promotional tests, were over. The news about the students who were sessfully added to the Genius ss was spread in every part of the the kingdom.

    As themoners fervently talked about the events that ured in the stadium. Most of the people who were a part of the influential backgrounds made a conclusive reports of what happened to their superiors.

    The nobles, merchants, militants and even the royalties paid close attention to this event. Making it to the Genius ss is a huge deal for them since they are looking at the prospective members along their ranks. If they maintained a splendid performance in the Genius ss then their futures would be limitless, so it''s safe to say that this people are now preparing to n on what to do.

    "Is this true?"

    At one part of the inner court of the kingdom, a man kneeled in front of an elderly who was sitting on a fancy couch while re-reading the report that he made.

    "Yes, n Head. I swear to the heavens that my report is true."

    Hearing the man''s pledge, the elder''s eyes shed a trace of coldness. His expression was twisted into an ugly grimace as he whispered: "So the little rascal of that deserter finally bared his fangs huh? Very well. Don''t think that I''ve forgotten how much suffering you brought to us you piece of shit. I will make sure that your life would be a living hell once you step in here."

    The elder sneered with a malicious expression as he crumpled the report using his bare hands.

    ***

    Beyond the great walls of the Final Haven Kingdom, several kilometers deep into the Forbidden Woods. There is a great cave that lead deep down into a chasm of darkness.

    In a table filled stained with blood, five hooded figures gathered, there are no other lights aside from those ''candles'' lit the skull stand.

    "¡­and that concludes the recent report of what happened in the kingdom my Prince."

    A hooded figure just finished talking, he politely leaned back to his chair awaiting for his superior''s words.

    "Thirteen year olds and stepped into a Marrow Cleansing Realm huh?"

    A deep and gritty voice echoed in the corners of the room, there was this natural coldness into his voice that cannot be concealed. For a brief period of time, the only sound that could be heard in the room was the continuous tapping of his fingers on the table.

    "Continue monitoring them for now. If they ever so shine with a brilliant resplendence, we will snuff them out as early as possible. They are not allowed to grow up to be our next headache."

    "Affirmative, Demon Prince."

    The hooded figures retreated back into the darkness, leaving the Demon Prince alone. His fingers were still tapping on the table, after a while of silence, a whisper escaped from his mouth.

    "Nearly there...nearly there...."

 Chapter 85 - Ritual (I)

    ---

    Three days had passed since the Promotion Test, Raven and his friends took a time off from training and spent most of their times in rxation.

    During this days, aside from his usual meditation, Raven didn''t do any of his heavy routine and just spent time meditating over a few things about his n that he had to consider.

    During his past life, Raven had never been promoted at the Inner Branch since he hadn''t been sessful during his attempts at the promotion tests. But this doesn''t mean that he didn''t knew what was inside. It was due to the influence of his dad that he was able to visit the Inner Branch multiple times, he also had his military training in there so he was familiar with the ce.

    It was also that time where he followed the footsteps of his father, but as time goes on, his own cultivation prevented him from being promoted which greatly depressed him. Luis was getting older back then, and he always med himself for all of the hardships that his family experienced. This was even more painful when the great disaster came and his loved ones gave up their life just to save him.

    He thus walked the path of an avenger. Her travelled the entirety of the Grand Ancestral nes and discovered many things, along with the Divine Crown.

    But now, Raven was feeling somewhat confused. The profound mystery of time is no stranger to him. He knew just how much change he had brought during this lifetime, and to bepletely honest, he was always observing if things would change along with the difference on his actions. What confuses him greatly, was aside from few small details, nothing much actually changed so far. It was still rtively calm and peaceful, but instead of bringingfort, this brought nothing but fear and anxiety to him.

    What he was afraid of, was that the effects of this little changes that he brought, will stack up and be a storm that will ruin his second chance.

    Despite all of this, there is one thing that he was sure of. He could only rely on strength to survive the uing cmity. He will observe closely, and he will act ording to what he think was the best course of action, and eventually a time wille when he would be powerful enough to crush his worries away and bring safety to his home.

    Another reason why he advised everyone not to do any harsh training right during the past three days, is because they are preparing for the Righteous Bestowal Ritual.

    Just like Old Lee promised during their first meeting, anyone who reaches Bone Forging or Marrow Cleansing realm before the school year ends, will be allowed to undergo the ritual. True to his words, Old Lee filed a permission in behalf of them and it was allowed. Not only did they take half the time it needed to reach this stage, they also passed the Promotion Test, if they weren''t allowed to the ritual then nobody else would.

    In fact, Old Lee didn''t actually have to bother with the permission. Raven only needed to ask Korra about it and he will let them in without any hesitations. After all, Raven was the one who restored the purity of the ritual waters and helped them regain their reputation.

    ***

    "Good Morning Sir Korra."

    The kids greeted as soon as they arrived. Korra was standing in front of the entrance and waiting for their arrival

    "Good Morning guys. So, ready for the ritual?" Korra smiled and asked, the team nodded and together with Old Lee, they went inside the gates and walked towards the ritual waters.

    "Before we proceed with the ritual, It would be best to discuss the benefits of the ritual first." Korra first escorted them to a room and have them sit so that he could freely discuss the benefits of the ritual.

    "The Righteous Bestowal Ritual had been around for as long as the kingdom was built. As for it''s origins, the records that we have are iplete so we could only specte or theorize for the missing parts."

    "The founders of the Kingdom found this ce and made numerous attempts to understand it''s effects. And after a long time of research, they finally came up with the answer."

    "From the Fighter stages, we have: Skin Toughening, Muscle Training, Organ Refining, Bone Forging and finally the Marrow Cleansing Realms. The reason why we traverse this stages, is to transform our body to be a proper vessel for Energy. A weak body cannot handlerge amounts of energy, and without enough energy, then one cannot use battle arts which greatly helps on fights."

    "Once the body is strong enough, only the Energy Body could be created. And that''s where the rituales in."

    "As you know, whates after the Marrow Cleansing Realm is the Soldier Realm. Those who reach this stage opened at least 1 out of 7 energy nodes on their body. Opening one using the normal way, is too painful and could even result in energy deviation. But experiencing the Ritual will flush the impurities out of the nodes, allowing a smooth connection and a less painful experience for an individual. This is the reason why many people preferred to experience the ritual instead of clearing their energy bodies manually."

    Korra smiled and went silent for a bit, he allowed the kids to digest the information that he gave to then so that they could realize the true benefit of the ritual.

    Korra was pleased to see the kids with a pondering expression on their faces. What he didn''t know was that their thoughts were different from what he expected it to be.

    Raven already discussed these things to them so this is just a brief recap for them. Additionally, Raven''s knowledge about the ritual exceeds that of anyone here.

    The Righteous Bestowal Ritual was something that the people of ancient past left. The Grand Ancestral nes had existed for a very long time and they weren''t only humans that existed before. The whole ne was only one of the many territories of humans,pared to their civilization right now, the ancient era was more flourishing and more advanced.

    On his search to bring back what he lost, he encountered many records in the divine realm about the Grand Ancestral nes and the true function of the Righteous Bestowal Ritual was one of the those things.

    Unlocking the energy body is only one of the things that the ritual waters can do. It''s benefits also branch out to other paths namely, the body and the spirit path.

    ''Soak into the ritual waters to unlock the Absolute Trinity''. This is the true function of the ritual. Once the ritual starts, it will unblock and connect the Energy Nodes of the energy body. Illuminate the Elemental Gates of the Body and Awaken the Soul tomune with the Starry Skies of the Spirit World.

    Energy Path, Body Path, and the Spirit Path, this is the Absolute Trinity or the Trinity Paths. The paths that humans made for survival and glory.

    Without the ritual waters, pursuing two or all of the paths would be extremely challenging. This is why ancient era humans treated ritual with outmost importance. If it weren''t for the discovery of the Divine Realm, then there''s no way that their ancestors will abandon the ritual waters here. Even so, not all of the humans decided to leave the Grand Ancestral nes to migrate towards the Divine Realm. Some people chose to stay and protect the remnants of the previous era. s, those who left never imagined that they won''t be able toe back in the nes withoutpleting some necessary actions. They were trapped in the Divine Realm where they are exposed to the real threat to humans.

    "Alright, the ritual waters are now ready. Let head on out so that the ritual can start."

    Korra interrupted their thoughts and told them that the waters are ready. The team nodded and followed him towards the location where the ritual willmence.

    The ce still looked like what Raven saw during his past visit. There are still the totems and the huge crater at the center. There are also some people who are already standing on top of the totems, clearly ready for the ritual to start.

    "Step into the center of the crater. Sit down in meditation and allow the waters to engulf your entire body." Korra gave them somest minute instructions before the ritual started.

    The team nodded and sat on the center of the crater. Once they are in deep meditation, Korra gave the signal and the people who were standing on top of the totems went into action. Performing several sets of hand seals, the totems shook and out of nowhere, a crystal clear waters emerged and swept the kids up.. It didn''t take long before a huge sphere of water floated just above the totems along with six people inside with their eyes closed and in deep meditation.

 Chapter 86 - Ritual (II)

    ---

    It''s been a half an hour since the ritual had started.

    Raven and his friends had been in the state of deep meditation ever since and there''s still no visual changes that ured.

    Old Lee, Korra and the staff that''s present watched over them carefully. They have to wait until the ritual was finished before they could leave.

    While in meditation, Raven gradually forgot the passage of time. He also forgot that they were undergoing the ritual, the state that''s he''s in was something that cannot be sought after and only happen by chance. This was a rare state of emptiness that allowed their bodily functions to perform a much better rate.

    Though there are no huge visual changes, the transformation had already began happening inside his body. The ritual waters are a special body of water, they are in no danger of drowning here so there''s no need to pay attention to how one breathes. As the water seeps in every corner of one''s body, it prated all the way through the dried and clogged up Energy Nodes on his body.

    There are 7 Energy Nodes on one''s body. They are on the wrists, soles, top of the head, center of the chest and at the base of the spine. Each nodes are at the size of a bean, as well as many vein-like channels connecting one energy node to another. Each node is capable of storing energy, allowing them to carry more energy for their battles.

    Each time the water makes contact with the energy nodes and energy channels, it will be absorbed without any traces. The greater the value of water he absorb, the brighter the energy nodes and channels get. The impurities clogging them are being washed away by the waters, Raven could almost feel like there was another type of pulse running through his body.

    While the water gently cleanse their energy body, the waters also went through a mysterious path and illuminated the hidden path on their body. On his back, 9 different symbols appeared in a circr formation. Each of this symbols are incredibly profound and mysterious, no one in this Kingdom, aside from Raven, would be able to exin this phenomena nor even exin it''s significance.

    These 9 symbols are the Great Elemental Gates of the Body Path. One that will only show up once one casted a solid foundation on the Fighter Stages.

    Time passed and his Energy Body was cleansed as well as the path of the 9 Great Elemental Gates was illuminated. The ritual was almost done, and it was also during this time, that a great phenomena descended on the group of friends.

    Raven eyes snapped wide open. He found himself submerged into a deep murky darkness. There are no traces of panic in his face because he was familiar with this ce.

    He turned around and saw a ball of light at a distance. ncing up, he could see a faint curtain of light and a blurry aurora of colors. From this view alone, one could easily tell that they were underwater, but he didn''t have any difficulties on breathing. He also knew that trying to swim up towards the surface is useless since he was anchored in this form and no matter how hard he tried, he won''t be able to do so.

    Using his mere thought, he went closer to the ball of light not too far away from where he was. Upon taking a closer look, he immediately realized that this thing was no ball of light, instead it was him, curled up into a ball and in deep sleep. In of this version of his, was a tattered looking crown that''s slowly spinning and emitting a faint curtain of light which enveloped the curled up version of him.

    Without a doubt, Raven is staring at his own Soul and the ce where he''s at right now is his Sea of Consciousness, a realm which contained his soul.

    "Hey there buddy." Raven shed a curt smile in his face, his voice echoed at every corner of his Sea of Consciousness. The crown trembled a bit and emitted excited vibrations which tickled his current form. "Nice to see you again too. Been a while huh?" Heughed as he stepped closer to caress the crown.

    The crown trembled multiple times in joy when it felt his touch. There was a serene smile in his face as he said: "I can finally help you recover."

    He raised his hand and performed a casual wave. Along with his gesture, a slit in space suddenly appeared and from there, volumes of crystal clear water emerged and got absorbed by both his soul and the crown.

    The crown shivered multiple times as it hungrily sucked the ritual waters like a starved beast. As for his soul, it also absorbed some but not as intense as the crown did. Minutes passed and slowly the crown was visibly changing. From it''s tattered and old appearance, it now posses that majestic aura and golden brilliance just like what it did in the past.

    As for his soul, it''s body shine with a pure bright light and it''s no longer curled up like a ball. Once it absorbed enough energies, it awoken from it''s slumber. The crown jumped from his hands and ced itself on top of his soul''s head. As the crown and the soul merged, his whole sea of consciousness brightened and became like a crystal sea. Untainted with impurities and still like a calmke. His consciousness form merged with his own soul, afterwards the soul looked up and swam up towards the surface of the water.

    It stood on top of the calm sea and carefully took in the endless view of the skies. With a wave of it''s hand, the sky warped. It''s hands tightened and the sky folded in like a crumpled paper with it''s might. With another swipe of it''s hand, the fake skies disappeared and the true skies on the Sea of Consciousness appeared.

    An endless starry space filled with multiple constetions. A vague outline of different images and arrangement was disyed right before it''s bright eyes. It roamed it''s gaze on the skies and looked for the brightest constetion that it could find.

    It didn''t take long before the soul managed to located the brightest constetion, it looked at it carefully and branded the image on it''s brain.

    The constetion was the Myriad Limb, a creature that has multiple arms and legs with a single body and head. The Soul raised it''s hand and made a grasping motion. The Myriad Limb brightened even further and sent a pir of light towards the soul.

    When the pir of light touched the soul. The Sea of Consciousness shook and golden altar emerged, the soul was in the middle of that altar and watched it form. A smile of satisfaction emerged on it''s space, it sat down and Raven''s consciousness returned to his body.

    His soul was now awake andmuned with the Starry Skies of the Spirit World. His job was done here and the ritual was about to end so he needed to return,

    ***

    While all of this was happening, all that the audience could see was a resplendent brilliance covering each of students'' bodies.

    The people who were used to seeing strange phenomenas were greatly surprised since there has never been a case like this before. They knew that the ritual is good for an individual and the results were amazing, causing their bodies to emit a bright light but these kids took that onto the next level.

    Their bodies shone like miniature suns. Each of them looked incredibly sacred and holy as of the moment that one can''t just look away from them. The ritual waters even helped with the refraction of light, making the scene more majestic.

    Under their dumbstruck expressions, the light gradually faded. The ritual waters gently went back to it''s space and the kids slowly floated down. Even though there were soaked in the water for so long, there were no traces of wetness on their clothes or their bodies. They appeared just like how they looked before but one could tell that their auras are no longer simr.

    On one look, they might appear extremely normal but it one sensed closely, they would find out that there is a majestic and suppressing force hiding inside their bodies. If one of them chose to red their aura on a Soldier-level enemy, then their aura''s alone could greatly suppress them, even though they just stepped into the realm themselves.

    One by one, the team woke up from their meditation. It started with the girls, and then the boys ending with Raven. As he opened his eyes, a faint mark of a star emerged on his forehead before retreating back like it wasn''t there in the first ce.

    Briefly sensing their auras, Old Lee and Korra can''t hide their astonishment. They stared at them for a good while before eventually shaking their heads...

    "Congrattions on safely traversing the Ritual.." They both greeted which made the kids smile.

 Chapter 87 - Elemental Affinity

    ---

    The morning after the ritual day.

    Raven and his friends are back at the stone house again, hanging out after a light exercise. Heavy training was still not allowed since they have to consolidate their new cultivation bases.

    "Have you guys gotten used to your new strengths?" Raven asked soon as the gathered over to eat lunch.

    "Nope." Paul answered first, followed by the rest. From their answers it seems that they still haven''t been able to gainplete control of their new strengths.

    "It actually feels really strange." Mark gazed at his hands while speaking, "We''ve trained energy control for a while now but after the ritual, it all became useless. It took me a good while to re learn how to walk upstairs without stomping a hole through it." He shook his head while smiling wryly.

    *Snap!*

    Everybody look over to Paul side and saw him lowering his head while holding a spoon which was snapped in two.

    "¡­and Paul still can''t pick up a spoon without breaking it in two." Mark chuckled helplessly.

    "How many does that make?" Anne asked out of the blue.

    "He''s on his 5th spoon just this morning." Mark replied, everyone sighed while Paul stood up and made his way towards the kitchen drawer to get a new spoon. He picked it up with a great care and made his way back to his seat. As soon as he sat down¡­

    *Snap!* *Crack*

    "Make that 6th spoon and 1 broken chair." Ellen chided on the side.

    The corners of Paul''s mouth twitched several times before he sighed helplessly and looked up to Raven. "Dude, what should I do?"

    Raven let out a chuckle and helped him up. He had him sit on the floor so that he won''t break another chair, only then he exined.

    "It can''t be helped, your Energy Nodes are freshly opened and unknowingly, you''re using them to store energies now. Like I said earlier, the only way you could regain control over the extraction of force is by careful management over the nodes."

    "Well, I am doing that." Paul whined, "I did manage them carefully, I made sure that I absorbed just enough energy."

    "No, you misunderstood." Ravenughed and shook his head. "What I mean by careful management of energy nodes is about the way you circte your energies from one node to another via the channels."

    "For example, you move your energy from your left wrist energy node, towards your right wrist energy node. Or, from the chest energy node, down to spine energy node and then back up. That''s the management that I''m referring to. You only need to do that until all of the nodes and the channels hurt, that''s when you stop. Get it?"

    "Oh..." Paul had an enlightened face, he immediately went cross legged to do what Raven said. In fact, it wasn''t only paul who had did this, there''s also Mark. The girls had it easier since they understood his instructions before. They only needed a little bit of time to really get used to it.

    "That reminds me¡­" Raven faced the girls and asked: "How about your Spiritual Sense, are you able to use it?"

    "Barely¡­" Ellen grimaced while answering.

    "Same." - Anne.

    "A little bit." - Luna.

    "Don''t worry, you''ll eventually get used to it. Just try scanning you area everytime you could, it doesn''t take much Spiritual Energy to use anyway."

    Due to their initial n, the girls followed his advice to also thread the Spirit Path. During the ritual, their soul went to a simr experience as he did and was nowpletely awake. This enabled them to absorb and use Spiritual Energy.

    Spiritual Sense is somewhat simr to echolocation. One only needs to send a wave of Spiritual Energy on their surroundings to urately ''see'' their surroundings. What''s differentiate this from other types of tracking techniques is that, spiritual energy is almost intangible. Meaning that it could seep in to pretty much everything and could urately provide a feedback.

    It''s also sensitive to life forms, everything that it touched would be reflected on one''s spiritual sea. And what''s probably the most important thing, is that not everyone knew what a Spiritual Energy is, so for them, having contact with spiritual energy might be simr to a gust of air, but in truth their details had already been exposed.

    "It actually feels weird though." Anne softly said, "I''ve been feeling like¡­I have a second pulse. Isn''t that crazy?"

    "Don''t worry it''s not." Raven chuckled and answered her curiosity. "That just means that that your energy body exists and is functioning properly. Get used to that feeling."

    "Okay."

    "Oh yeah, another thing." Raven just remembered something and gathered their attention. "You''r energies are bound to experience some sort of changeter on. When that happens, don''t panic. That is because of your Innate Elemental Affinities waking up."

    "Innate Elemental Affinities?" Luna repeated while tilting her head.

    "Yep." He nodded, "For example Ellen here, there''s almost no doubt that she will inherit a Fire-based affinity, that will cause her energy to behave like a fire and it could even take it''s form. So don''t be surprised whenever that happens."

    "Alright¡­" they all answered after a brief moment.

    ''That being said¡­I actually don''t have any clues as to what Elemental Affinity I have.'' He frowned as he this was an important piece of information.

    He thought hard for a bit and searched his memories. He filtered them by category and eventually found out what he was looking for.

    ''Here it is. The Natural Affinity Tester. It just so happens that I have the materials to make it right now.''

    Without any hesitation, he went outside towards the backyard to create the tester. He produced the materials and crafted it for about an hour. Wiping off the sweat on his forehead, he connected thest piece that he needed and smiled with satisfaction.

    The tester was a small board filled with many inscriptions. There was a six pointed star in the middle and several symbols around it. The inscriptions looked like carvings on the board that one might mistaken this as an antique item. He then brought the board inside and called out his friends.

    "Here, Paul you go first. Try injecting this board with your energy."

    He was intrigued at first and somewhat hesitant, nevertheless he still ended up doing what he said and injected a bit of his energy on the board.

    The six pointed star lit up under their shocked gazes. Afterwards, the light from the star moved and separated into two branches, lighting up two symbols on the board.

    "Oh, Metal and Water. That''s your Elemental Affinity. So it''s highly possible for your attacks to be as fluid as water or as solid as metal." He said after looking at the results.

    "Alright, Ellen you try it." She nodded and simrly injected her energies on the board. Just like what he expected¡­

    "I thought so, you have an Affinity with Fire. A very high one at that. And because your affinity is high, your body will have a minor immunity against fire based attacks as well." He exined to her. He then looked at Mark, signifying that it was his turn.

    "Mark you have a very high affinity with Lightning. You will also have a minor immunity against lightning based attacks. You might want to start learning some lightning based Battle Arts." After telling him his results, Raven looked at Anne.

    "Anne you have three affinities: Wind, Water and Metal. You can decide which one to focus onter. I''ll guide you the best I could."

    "Luna, you go." Raven beckoned.

    Luna ced her hand on the six pointed star and injected her energy. And simr to Ellen and Mark, she only have one affinity.

    "A high Light Affinity. You actually don''t have to change anything since your battle arts are Light based anyway, but if you have any light based techniques that you want to practice, then don''t hesitate to do so. I''ll be here to help." He smiled as he told her the results.

    "Thanks. Why don''t you try it as well?" Luna said.

    Raven nodded and simrly ced his hand on the six pointed star, he then injected it with his energy and watched out for the results.

    The six pointed star lit up brightly, then under his watchful gaze, it divided into several branches and lit up multiple branches.

    "Eh?" Raven raised his brow in confusion.

    "What''s the matter?" Ellen asked.

    "Well, nothing really." Raven shook his head and smiled wryly, "I just didn''t expect to have multiple affinities."

    "How many?" Paul asked curiously.

    "Five.. They are Wood, Lightning, Metal, Light and Dark."

 Chapter 88 - Moving On!

    ---

    "Woah! That''s awesome dude!" Paul eximed excitedly, "You have more options that any of us here."

    "That might be true but¡­" Raven frowned and continued, "Having more isn''t necessarily a good thing. All of them are good so it''s kind of hard to choose only one you know?"

    "I don''t get it Avi..." Ellen said while frowning, "I mean, what''s the basis of affinity even? Is it bloodline? Spiritual Entity? Or Luck?"

    "Cause if were talking about bloodline here, then there should be a Fire affinity. Like mine, I came from the Vermillion Sky n and our specialty is fire. If were talking about Spiritual Entity, then I don''t have much idea about yours. So what''s the deal here?"

    Ellen''s question raised point for everyone. Raven ced a serious expression and exined: "It''s a mixture of everything except luck, Ellen."

    "Look at you, the reason why your Fire Affinity is high is because of your bloodline which is the Vermillion Sky n and your Spiritual Entity, which is the Vermillion Bird."

    "Paul had Metal and Water. Metal from the Eternal Defence n, and Water from the ck Tortoise."

    "Mark had high lightning because of both his n, the Marching Warlords, and his spiritual entity which is the Primordial Lightning Serpent."

    "Anne had triple affinity. Wind and Metal from the spiritual entity which is Annarosa''s Bow. The wateres from the Western Star n."

    "As for Luna, the Lightshield n as well as the Archangel Jubileus makes her affinity towards the Light element extremely high."

    "But you do remember what happened after we left the n right?" Raven''s simple question greatly startled Ellen. Suddenly, memories of their childhood shed before her eyes, it didn''t take long before she realized what he was referring to, and just to make sure she had the right guess¡­

    "You don''t mean¡­" Ellen wanted to express her words freely but she can''t, this topic had been a bad memory for the both of them and it''s also one of the main reasons why she hated those people.

    "What? What happened?" Paul''s eyes narrowed, based from Ellen''s reaction, he could guess that it wasn''t a great thing. It wasn''t only him who noticed this, the rest also felt the heaviness of the atmosphere.

    "It''s no big deal really." Raven waved his hands casually to disperse the heavy atmosphere, but he knew of all people here that such thing wasn''t possible.

    "When mom, dad, and I left the Burning Heaven n. They purged us from the list of descendants."

    "THEY DID WHAT??"

    Their exims echoed inside the room. Raven flinched a bit due to their loudness but once again waved his hand and said: "Like I said, It''s no big deal. It only annoyed us for a bit, nothing more."

    "It IS a big deal bro!" Paul mmed his fist on the table. "It''s not like they merely erased your name on the list! They Purged it!"

    "That right!" Mark''s eyes shed with incredible coldness, "Purging someone off the list of descendants is worst than being neglected or disowned by the n. Once your name is purged, you will lose all of the benefits of being a part of that n. You will have no rights towards their inheritance, their resources and the very blood that run through your veins."

    "Now that you mention it, everything makes sense now. The reason why your a Red-grade Talent, the reason why Sir Luis is greatly hindered by his cultivation. All of this was because of that. The purge dissolved the potential on your blood, lowering your talents simr to that of amoner. That is just too cruel." Anne exined in a low voice.

    "You do know that Royal Pce strictly prohibited this process right? Why didn''t you say anything?" Luna asked exasperatingly.

    "Calm down you guys¡­" Raven chuckled, "Let me exin."

    The team sat down and listened closely to him.

    "It''s true that what they did was cruel. I struggled with it too you know. But we made an exclusive decision that we are drawing a clear line away from the n. We returned everything that we could and those things we can''t, we reimbursed using money. It was after we left that they did the Purge, and if we really want them to take responsibility then dad would''ve done something about it already."

    "We no longer owe them anything. We left on our own ord and all that''s left between us and that n is bad blood. We endured everything and we managed to rise back up. Look at me? Isn''t everything fine now?" Raven pointed at himself, wanting to convince his friends that there''s nothing to worry about.

    "You right, everything is okay now. But still¡­they did you dirty. If I were you, I would at least do something to get back at them¡­" Paul scratched his head in frustration.

    "Well, who said I won''t be doing so?" Raven raised his brow and asked.

    The people around him could only stare at him dumbly. Right, for a second there, they forgot who they are talking to. Of course! How could Raven let them go? It''s true that everything is okay now, but that doesn''t mean that he letting them off the hook. He''s just letting them experience peace because god knows that they will miss it once he started.

    "Yep, they''re fucked." Paul snickered andughed coldly. The rest could only shake their heads due to his vulgar words, but deep down, they knew this response was urate.

    "Okay, so going back to the Affinity stuff. Because of the purge, the Fire Affinity, which is ingrained at the Burning Heaven n, is removed from me. What''s left is the affinity that the Spiritual Entity bestowed to me. And that''s precisely the five elements that I mentioned earlier."

    Wood, Lightning, Metal, Light and Dark. These are the innate affinities of the Myriad Limb spiritual entity. Now, Raven''s only dilemma is picking the element/s that he should master. Like he said earlier, have multiple choices wasn''t necessarily a good thing, and this is precisely why.

    ''I could pick a single one, or two, or three, or four, or all of them. But my cultivation manual is already hard on it''s own. So going for more than one wouldplicate it even more. What should I do?''

    Raven was in deep thought. ''Do I really have to choose? Is there anyway for me to enjoy all of these benefits without sacrifice? No, there no way right? Unless¡­''

    After a moment of thinking, Raven''s eyes shed with realization, a huge grin appeared on his face as he thought: ''Yeah, yeah! That could totally work! I could enhance my mastery over Wood and Lightning Affinities just for the sole purpose of aiding me in the Body Path. Add the Metal Affinity to my Energy Path to make my attacks more formidable and deadly. As for the Light and Dark, that could go towards my Spirit Path, using those elements to temper my spirit! That would make my path incredibly tough but that was bound to happen anyway! Yeah! I''ll make this work! I''m a genius!''

    "Uh¡­world to Raven. World to Raven. Hello?"

    Raven''s thoughts were interrupted by Paul who was pping on his face.

    "What''s wrong?" He asked with a confused face.

    "See, he wasn''t listening!" Paul whined to the rest. This made Ravenugh out loud.

    "My bad, my bad. What did I miss?"

    "Nothing much, we''re just talking about how we''re going to miss this ce." Mark said with a thick mncholy on his voice.

    "Oh, that''s right. We have to pack our things and move out right?" Raven now realized what they were talking about.

    "Yeah." Anne nodded, "It''s just, we gotten used to this ce you know? I barely even stayed out of our ce, most of times were training here."

    "I''m going to miss this ce as well. This is where everything started." Luna added. For her, this ce means a lot, this is where the person who cured her lived, where she picked up her weapon and trained, where sheughed and shared many memories with her old and new friends. Where she realized many things about life and experienced many rude awakenings. A lot things happened in this stone house, which makes her somewhat hesitant to leave it, even though she wasn''t a tenant in the first ce.

    "Well, we have to move on." Paul whispered softly.

    "Yeah we have to. This became somewhat a greenhouse for us. But in order to truly be the protectors of our home, we need to leave this ce and face the dangers outside." Raven nodded and replied with a greater determination on his voice.

    "Come! Let us not be feel downcast and feel alive! Our transfer is tomorrow so we have to clean this ce up today!" He then stood up and encouraged the rest to pack up their things so that they could bring it along with them towards their new ce.

    A feeling of excitement and thrill emerged from the bottom of Raven''s heart

    ''Oh, Inner Branch. Just what are the things that you could show me?''

 Chapter 89 - Inner Court

    ---

    "You guys ready?"

    Seeing all of them nod, Old Lee shed a kind smile and beckoned for them to step inside the carriage. Their destination?

    The Heavenly Cloud Institute Inner Branch, located at the Inner Court of the Final Haven Kingdom.

    While inside the carriage, Raven can''t help but to pay attention to the scenery outside. Seeing these familiar streets,ndmarks and establishments gave him a feeling of nostalgia.

    After two hours of being on the road, Old Lee and the students eventually reached their destination. In front of them, the tall and sturdy gate of the Inner Branch stood before them. They chose to enter the smaller entrance on the side since the main gates will only open to make way for special reasons, and their arrival isn''t one of those.

    "State your purpose." One of the guards blocked their path and asked sternly.

    Old Lee didn''t say anything and instead gave a letter to the guard. Upon looking at the contents of the letter, the guards eyes widened and gave the kids a look of admiration.

    "We wee your arrival, Instructor Lee." The guard bowed towards him and looked at the kids and said: "As well as young geniuses."

    He then turned around and gave the signal to allow them passage, everyone returned a bow and continued their way inside the institute.

    As soon as they stepped one foot inside the institute, they immediately felt the atmosphere around them change.

    The air was fresh and lively, the world inside the institute seemed livelier and colorful, the greenery was abundant and the wide open area in front of them looked like it was something that was stolen from the paradisends.

    Raven smiled at this instance, he could instantly tell that they entered the protective formation of the institute. Just like treasures, medicines, weapons, and etc. Formations also followed a certain grading/ranking system. From his judgements, the formation should be a B-grade with functions like protection from outside harm, gathering and filtering energies and detection.

    "As expected, the atmosphere here truly is different." Ellen whispered with a thick astonishment on her voice.

    "I totally agree." Anne nodded. "The energies present in here are thickerpared outside, this alone is a great boon towards cultivation."

    "You all can marvel about this ceter, for now let''s go towards your new abode so you could settle down your things." Old Lee chuckled and reminded them.

    The students nodded and followed him since he was the one who knew the way. They walked away from the massive rectangr open field and went towards the main building in the distance. Once inside Old Lee left them in the lobby for a while and came back holding their uniforms and their new badges that signifies their authority. He also told them to change and ce the badge on their chest immediately as they have to go somewhere else.

    Once the students were done changing, they entered a room together and they met up with the current director of the Inner Branch.

    "Old Lee! You finally arrived." The vivid and deep voice of the director echoed inside the room. Old Lee stepped forward with a smile, shook the director''s hand and asked¡­

    "Did we make you wait?"

    "Not really, the ss isn''t even here for now." He shook his head and looked over towards the students behind Old Lee. "Are they the new additions?"

    "Yes, they are."

    As soon as Old Lee said this, the atmosphere immediately went cold. The students saw how the Director''s face changed into warmth to absolute coldness. This change was too abrupt that they were caughtpletely off guard when he red his horrifying aura to them. Needless to say, it wasn''t only them who was shocked...

    ''Hoh¡­'' the director grinned inwardly. At first, he was expecting this to go ording to what always happened before but looking at the students, who immediately responded by looking at him while going onto formation, made him extremely shocked and grateful afterwards. He could immediately tell that these kids were no strangers to battle, their confidence of taking him on might be extremely foolish but at least they have a backbone.

    The director then burst to an uproariousughter. He retracted his aura and said: "Haha! My bad, my bad! You guys are fine. Come here all of you." He then beckoned for them to step forward.

    The students then looked at Old Lee with gazes filled with question and confusion. The old man could only smile wryly as he nodded his head.

    The students fell in a straight line, they stood in front of the Director and waited for his next instructions.

    "My name is Victor Noli. I am the current Branch Director of the Heavenly Cloud Institute''s Inner Branch. I am also in charge of the Genius ss so we will definitely meet again." Victor''s grin was wide, this might appear extremely friendly and weing to normal people but to someone like Old Lee, this meant trouble for the kids.

    Victor them took something out of his spatial ring and gave it to the kids. "This is your time tables. Remember to read them carefully and show up in time, I don''t want any tardiness during my sses. Is that clear?"

    "Yes sir!"

    "Good! Now show me the back of your palms."

    Thismand puzzled the students yet again, yet they held their arms forward and did what he asked them to. Victor then took out a stamp and marked the back of their palms. The confused students checked the markings but was immediately shocked to see it disappear.

    "Unless it''s absolutely needed, you won''t be seeing those marks frequently." Victor smiled and quenched their curiosity. "This marks serves as your proof that you''re a part of the Inner Branch, most specifically, the Genius ss. We all know that your badge and you uniforms could easily be taken away, so we had set up this kind of security. There is no rule forbidding you to reveal any information about the marks, but we would highly appreciate it if you could keep it a secret."

    The students nodded in agreement and no longer inspected their hands.

    "One more thing." Victor said before they left. "Your ssmates aren''t actually here yet. They''re in the middle of a smelting trial, so I''m afraid that your sses would be dyed. Nevertheless, you will be informed once theye back, so be on the look out for that alright?"

    "Oh? This should be the first of the Biannual Examination correct? Where''s venue this time?" Old Lee asked out of curiosity.

    "Immersion Forest." Victor said with a wide grin.

    Old Lee''s eyes widened a bit before saying: "You people are crazy. There will be casualties and you know that. How do you n on answering the families of the deceased?"

    "Simple." Victor answered swiftly, "We''ll show them the signed papers about the smelting trial. Then they have nothing to say." He added afterwards. From the tone of his voice, it seems that he had nothing to do with anything should problems arrive.

    Old Lee could only shake his head in disbelief, with a defeated sigh, he bid goodbye to the director and went outside of the main building.

    "What was that all about Grandpa Lee?"

    After exiting the building, Luna immediately asked this question since she felt that it was inappropriate to ask him while they were in front of the Director.

    "You know that there is a Biannual Examinations in the Genius ss to determine whether they could stay or not right?" The students nodded as this was amom knowledge that they knew from their families.

    "The Biannual Examinations takes form of Smelting Trials, which means that there is a high chance of having some casualties." Old Lee''s voice became a bit heavy as he continued, "This time, the venue of the Trials is at the Immersion Forest, or mostmonly known as the ''Cursed Forest''."

    As soon as Old Lee said this, Luna''s eyes dted in horror. "Unbelievable! How could they send students to an ''Unstable Zones''!?"

    Raven''s ears rang as he briefly searched his memories about the Immersion Forest. Unstable Zones are named as such since, like how it is called, these ces are extremely chaotic. These ces had been in the Kingdom for a very long time, many had tried to debunk their true purpose but they have yet to seed.

    ording to what Raven remembered, the Immersion Forest in particr is more dangerouspared to the other unstable zones. Once inside, one would face terrifying illusions that could make one lose their minds or even cause their souls to be lost for the rest of time. If one does not have a firm heart or a treasure that could fend off illusions, then it''s not advised to enter that ce.. As to why this was a thing, no one was entirely sure of the reason.

 Chapter 90 - Tour

    ---

    ''I definitely had to check those zones out once I have the chance.''

    Raven thought silently, back in his previous life, he didn''t have the chance to visit them since he was too weak to be even qualified, going there is just a certain death for him. Now however, he would have more time to prepare and who knows what he would encounter there?

    "Well, I don''t have have any say about the situation, since technically I''m not even a part of the faculty and I''m just using it for a disguise." Old Lee could only sigh helplessly, "This is why I want to remind you people to be extremely careful. This ce is more hecticpared to the Outer Court. Sieze every chance to get stronger so that you''ll be able to protect yourselves."

    Old Lee grabbed this chance to remind the kids about the situation that they are in. What these kids will face here are more dangerouspared to what they encountered before. The kids bore his warning on their minds, there''s no harm on being careful anyway.

    "E-excuse me¡­"

    The group''s thought was interrupted because of an abrupt call. They all looked behind to see someone nervously rubbing her palms while cautiously looking at them. Old Lee shed a friendly smile and asked:

    "Is there something we could help you?"

    "I-I¡­" The girl nervously stuttered, the group was a bit confused as to why she appeared to he extremely nervous. They saw her heaved a deep breaths while clutching her hands, after that she seemed to have calmed down and continued speaking: "I was sent by the Director. He said that there was something that he had to discuss with Instructor Lee and gave the task to give Young Fairies and Young Masters a tour through the facilities of the Inner Institute Branch."

    "Oh, is that so?" Old Lee nodded and asked once more, "May I know your name?"

    "My name is Alice Endrun, Instructor Lee."

    "Your name sounds a bit familiar¡­" Old Lee murmured, he tried recalling his memories but he failed to recall informations about her. "Oh well, doesn''t matter. I''ll leave them into your care then¡­"

    "I''ll do my best to give them a pleasant experience." Alice bowed towards them after saying this.

    ''A pleasant experience? What''s with those words?'' Raven''s eyes narrowed as he gazed at Alice. He had this weird feeling that she''s not acting like she''s supposed to.

    While he was in deep thought, Old Lee bid farewell to them and walked towards the main building once more. Now there''s only an awkward silence between Alice and the team

    "G-greetings Young Fairies and Young Masters, I am Alice. On behalf of the Institute, I would like to congratte and wee you to the Genius ss. My deepest apologies for not preparing a banquet for you arrival since your colleagues aren''t present yet. Nevertheless, there shall be ate gathering once they return."

    Raven and the crew was bbergasted by her words. They wanted to say something in return but Alice cut them off and continued speaking.

    "Meanwhile, please allow this one to give you a brief tour of the Institute''s facilities. Shall we go ahead?"

    "Alright woman¡­" Ellen couldn''t take it anymore and sharply replied, "Stop with these overly humble attitude. It doesn''t suit you."

    Alice instantly shivered in horror when she saw the fierce expression on her face, she wanted to apologize but she then heard Anne say this: "Don''t take her words to the heart, she just tends to speak her mind freely. What she means is that, you don''t have to be overly cautious on how you treat us. It''s not like were gonna eat you or something. And it just makes us ufortable."

    "I''m t-terribly sorry if I-"

    "Alright girl stop!" Ellen prevented her before she go overboard with her actions again. "Let''s just move on shall we?"

    "Y-yes! This way please!" Alice hurriedly said in order to not piss off Ellen. The rest could only smile helplessly at her attitude, but at the same time, they were also wondering why she was acting like this.

    They then proceed to walked towards the building not to far from the main building. Comparing the two, this one is much bigger for some reason. Once they entered the facility, then then became aware as to why¡­

    "This is the Multi-Purpose Building, arguably the most important location of Inner Branch." Alice spoke with a great reverence to her voice.

    They all arrived at a circr room after entering the main door. Then they saw five more doors in front of them, they followed Alice and entered a door that has a six pointed star symbol on top. Stepping in to the said room, they saw multiple portals that swirl with myriad of colors along with chairs, a shelf and an elder who''s currently discussing something with a student.

    "Wee to the Information Section of the Multi-Purpose Building. This is where the rich trove of knowledges about myriad of things could be found. Historical records, informations about what''s beyond our walls, details about influential people, ancient ns, and even the collection of known beasts. If it is information that you seek, then this is ce where you should go." Alice became a bit proud when she introduced this section.

    She then beckoned and went towards the elder. She then spoke on behalf of the team and introduced them to him. The elder looked at the team with a glimmering gaze and said:

    "Wee Young Geniuses. This Old Man''s name is Norman, feel free to call me Old Man or Elder Norman whichever you prefer." He then looked at Alice and asked: "I assume you want to show them what''s inside?"

    Alice unhesitatingly nodded which made Norman chuckle, "Very well. I''ll give you ten minutes for free. Be careful not to make too much noise nor damage anything inside."

    Alice''s eyes brightened and hurriedly said: "Thank you Elder Norman!"

    "Off you go then¡­" Norman chuckled and waved his hands, the team also expressed their thanks by bowing towards him. Afterwards, Alice then beckoned them towards the portal on which they stepped inside.

    Their eyes were momentarily blinded for a while, after their visions adjusted, the majestic scenery of what lies beyond the portal greatly astonished them.

    It was a gigantic library. There''s at least five floor with countless of shelves and books in them. They smelled the waft of old paper, nced at the bright globes of light attached at the ceiling and sides of the room and saw many students that were currently searching for informations or silently reading at the wide array of chairs and tables at the ground floor.

    Alice then gave them a quick reminder: "This is the Grand Library, a ce that could only be found by going through the portal in the Information Section. Thanks to Elder Norman, we have ten minutes to roam here. Usually, one have to pay Merit Points to enter. One hour is equivalent to 10 merit points."

 Chapter 91 - Exchange And Organization

    ---

    The next room they entered has a symbol of a leveled scale on top.

    Upon entering, the team then saw a huge room filled with numerous items that glimmered in splendor. The air was filled with a pleasant smell, and there is a small bustle all around the ce. In this room, they saw weapons, trinkets, medicines, beast cores, and many more. Doing her job as their tour guide, Alice then exined necessary informations about this location.

    "This is the Exchange Section. As you can see, this is where students exchange for items that could aid them in battle or cultivation."

    "This section is divided into several floors. This first floor has myriad of items that would not exceed C-grade rarity. To exchange for items, one could use either Merit Points or Gold Cards. But beware, 10 Gold Cards are equivalent to 1 Merit Point, and this exchange isn''t allowed for items that exceeds B-grade rarity. This is to provide everybody a chance regardless of their financial background."

    The team nodded in ordance to the information given. This system makes sense since if this wasn''t implemented, then the rich would just hoard all of the treasure, leaving none avable for the next generations.

    "Items of B-grade rarity could be found on the second floor, but to enter one has to have at least 1000 Merit Points. Higher floors also have simr rooms, as for the exact requirements, pardon me for not knowing since I never entered those floors before." Alice smiled helplessly as she exined.

    "Also, aside from buying, one could also sell items in here. Just look for one of the staffs avable and they will lead you there. Rumors also said that if you develop a great connection with them, they might give you an invitation to one of their private auctions. But I only heard this rumors, I not sure if this was true."

    "Is it now¡­" Mark whispered, clearly intrigued.

    "Do you want to look around or shall we proceed to the next section?" Alice asked for their opinion.

    "There will be time for that. Let''s move on for now." Raven made the decision, as the rest wasn''t against it, they left the Exchange Section and went back to the main room of the Multi-Purpose Building.

    Alice then led them towards the room where there is a symbol of a tower on top. Upon stepping inside, the scenery changed once more and once again, the team were stunned by what they saw.

    It was like they were transported into some other civilization. Tall buildings, spacious roads and some on going constructions could be seen. There is a wide array of colorful designs and lively atmosphere at this ce. Alice did her job and introduced this section to them.

    "This ce is the Organization Section of the Multi-Purpose Building. Just like the name implies, this is where students who formed, a part of, or looking for an Organization to join, goes. From my knowledge, there''s at least ten or more smaller organizations scattered across this ce."

    She then started walking forward and exined more informations as they go.

    "Joining an Organization might be extremely helpful for you. As you now know, Merit Points is just one of the currencies that we could use and earning them would be extremely challenging. However, aside from the missions that the Institute posts, Organizations also have their own missions and clearing them could earn you more Merit Points to spend. This is why at least 90% of the students here preferred to join an Organization to help for their expenses."

    "Hey! Those five towering buildings! Are those what I think they are?" Paul asked as he pointed at the said buildings.

    The rest also looked over, Alice then nodded towards Paul and confirmed his guesses. "Yes, it is as what you think Young Master. They are the most powerful Organizations here at the Inner Branch. The Scavengers Guild, The Ruby Knight Squad, The Lair Hunters Camp, The Pill Saint Pavilion and The Eternal Horizon n. These Organizations as mostly known as the Big Five."

    "It really is them! That''s cool!" Paul eximed in excitement.

    No one was overly surprised to know this. It could be said that they are somewhat expecting something like this to happen.

    The Big Five sounds very promising and very formidable to be called as such, and they truly have the capital to boast since these aren''t mere Organizations that are formed by the students, instead these Organizations are mere branches of their outside counterpart.

    The Scavengers Guild areposed of Treasure Hunters, auctioneers, merchants and so on. Their main purpose is to search for new resources and sell them so that the kingdom would have another trump card. They mostly journey to forgotten ces or abandoned areas, sometimes they even scavenge outside of the kingdom. Needless to say, the kingdom had greatly benefitted from their transactions and services so it is natural that they grew up sorge to be a formidable existence.

    The Ruby Knight Squad is another existence that the Kingdom pays attention to. This Organization had one major rule for recruitment: ''Females Only''. And the students here know better than to underestimate it''s members. During it''s entire existence, the Ruby Knight Squad had always been formidable, every woman who became a part of it weren''t just looks, they are a deadly bunch too. In fact Anne''s grandmother, Annarosa Fiore, was once the Ruby Knight Captain, and her exploits had been written in the historical records of the kingdom.

    The Lair Hunters Camp, another existence that even the King himself, greatly respects. Rumors said that joining this Organization is akin to preparing your own grave. Just like the name implied, everyone who joins this Organization would be trained to be a Lair Hunting Knights, people who brave the dangers of the outside to protect the civilians. They have a highpensation for the missions they post since all of them are particrly dangerous. It is said that some even died from their harsh training, but no one dared to call them out since the Organization never initiated any type of recruitments. They would only epts someone who walked in whole-heartedly and knew what they are getting into.

    The Pill Saint Pavilion, the true overlord of medicine. This is where people who wanted pursue Alchemy and medicine goes. While they still need to raise their cultivation to refine pills and herbal medicines, Alchemists focus their efforts into research of cure or recovering ancient pill recipes. Their mission is simple, and that is to cure and raise the caliber of the knights of the kingdom.

    Alchemists are divided into several categories, namely: Beginner, Apprentice, Senior, Master, Grand Master, and Saint ranks.

    It is said that there is a Saint ranked alchemist in the main branch of the organization in the past, however there are no solid evidences of this just yet so people tend to ignore these rumors. Nevertheless, this organization is way too important for the kingdom so they then to let them do as they please.

    And finally, the ever so mysterious Eternal Horizon n.

    While it might be called a ''n'', it doesn''t mean that everyone who joined are rtives. They used the word ''n'' as a form of a Bond with it''s members. As for the true purpose of this organization? There''s no detailed informations about that.

    This organization doesn''t have many members within, some says that their headcount is just a fraction of what the other organizations have, but this raises the question as to why they became a part of the Big Five. There are countless assumptions formed by the people but the Eternal Horizon n never confirmed nor denied any of those ims, they just remained silent and went on to do their thing, whatever that is.

    "Almost all of the students here yearn to be a part of either of them, but their requirements for prospective members are very strict. Out of 100 applicants, only five to ten people will pass, and some of the people might not even be able to stay as a member for an entire year. But this doesn''t stop them from trying. Since if they be a true member to any of this organizations, then they would experience great benefits that could change their lives, their membership could even give them the chance to join the main branches of said organizations for even more benefits. So it''s eptable that they are greatly sought after."

    Alice exined further with a great reverence and longing on her voice, her expression seemed to sour a little bit as she looked at those five tall buildings. However, she didn''t lose herself to this mood and fully took upon the role of being a guide to them.

    "That being said, I believe Young Fairies and Young Masters have a greater chance to be recruited to be one of them, so please do consider applying for a spot whenever a chance arises."

 Chapter 92 - Training And Mission

    ---

    After roaming the Organization Section for while, the group went back to the main room of the Multi-Purpose Building and continued with the tour.

    They then entered a room that has a symbol of a meditating man.

    Upon entering, the scenery changed once more and the group arrived at the wide room with many portals leading to god knows where. Aside from these portals, there are sets of tables and chairs, a small desk with a meditating elder, and a small shelf that contained several books.

    "Please don''t judge this room ording to it''s appearance, as this is probably one of the most useful section of this building." Alice hurriedly exined after seeing the confused expressions of the team.

    "This is the Training Section of the Multi-Purpose Building." Alice pointed at the portals and continued: "Each of those portal lead to a Cultivation Environments. For example, the red portal leads to an environment rich with Fire energies. Anyone who has a fire affinity will greatly benefit from this room, it helps you raise your affinity with the said element as well a provide other benefits as well."

    She then reached out for the shelf and once again provided some pamphlets to the team. "These contained all of thepiled benefits of each room, feel free to browse through them to get a clearer idea of how useful this section is going to be for you."

    Doing what she said, Raven and the rest grabbed themselves a chair and read through the contents of the pamphlets.

    And just like she said earlier, this Training Section is probably the one of, if not, the most useful section of this building.

    Clearing harder missions would sometimes include, not only Merit Points, but also time for to enter of these portals. Based on what they entered, they will be transported into a zone filled with their chosen elements, this alone could raise the speed of their cultivation by at least 50%. Taking the element Fire for example, the more one is exposed to the environment inside the Fire Portal, the greater their achievements towards Fire based attacks could get.

    Additionally, ording to the records inside the pamphlets, man-made hot springs could also be found inside the portal. The waters on these ponds reaches a scalding temperature, but if one''s careful enough, they could use the temperature to cleanse the remaining impurities on their bodies. The mostmon example of this scenario is dissolving the pill impurities to prevent it from leaving a deep impact to one''s cultivation.

    If one''s perception is truly high, it said that one could even sense ''Aspects'' inside. But records of those were extremely scarce.

    Each of the rooms has several levels of intensity. Before one enters a portal, one has to talk with the resident elder here since they are the only one who could adjust them.

    There are a variety of environments to choose from. Fire, water, earth, wood, lightning, wind, light, dark, metal, and so on. They also have multiple benefits that could aid one to be stronger. But as because of it''s greatness, obtaining hours to use would be challenging.

    Time could be earned through missions, or exchanging them with merit points. 1 hour of time inside is equivalent to 50 merit points. Those who have stayed long enough in the Inner Branch knew that this is exchange is extremely expensive, so even though they truly wanted to go here, they just can''t afford to do so.

    After reading the pamphlets, the team now had a better idea of the Training Section, since it wasn''t time for them to experience the environments just yet, they decided to leave the section and go through thest room.

    The door they entered had a symbol of an unfurled scroll on top.

    Upon entering, they only saw a simple and spacious room and a huge board filled with papers pinned on them. There is a stationed elder in the room who''s currently discussing something with another student. As per usual, Alice went ahead and introduced thest section of the Multi-Purpose Building.

    "This is Mission Section. Just like the name implies, this is where we sign up for missions or submitpleted missions." She then pointed at the mission board and added: "The mission board that you see is divided by mission grades, from F-grade missions all the way to S-ss missions, everything ispiled in there."

    "The rewards of each mission depends on it''s grade. Of course the higher it''s grade, the more rewards could be received, but that also applies for the dangers of the missions. Just to make you aware, you as part of Genius ss are not permitted to take in any F-grade missions."

    When Alice said this, the team was surprised and confused at the same time, but before they could even ask, she was already exining why.

    "The Institute has high expectations from you, and they thought that it''s below your level to participate in any of the lower grade missions. The lowest you could go is C-grade missions. I also want to inform you that aside from the Biannual Examination, your mission records would also be taken into perspective to see if you deserve stay in the Genius ss or not. So please take that into consideration."

    "Sometimes, missions required a headcount before it could be taken. This applies for some higher grade missions. Only by fulfilling the necessary amount of people, could that mission be considered as taken. If the first batch of people failed to clear the mission, then they won''t be able to take up that mission again for another month. This rule is made to give everyone a chance."

    "On top of that, as part of Genius ss, you are required to clear an A-grade mission before the Biannual Examinationses up. So please make sure to n ahead."

    ''For someone who was too nervous to meet us before, this girl awfully knows a lot about our ss. Who is she?'' This is what''s bugging Raven''s mind for a while now.

    It wasn''t like she was doing a terrible job at being a tour guide, in fact she is doing an incredible job, and that''s what makes him curious. Because she knows too much.

    "Feel free to have a look around, we have at least 10 minutes to do so." Alice smiled and let the team gaze over to the mission board.

    Raven decided that it''s none of his business to think to much about it so he threw the notion at the back of his mind and curiously inspected the mission board.

    ****

    Maintenance Assistant (F)

    - Clean the Grand Library.

    Rewards: 5 Merit Points.

    ****

    ****

    Grass Control (F)

    - Trim the grasses around the Multi-Purpose Building.

    Rewards: 8 Merit Points.

    ****

    ****

    Duty Call (C)

    - Assist the barracks near the Dark Bamboo Forest.

    - Time Frame: 7 days.

    - Current students who applied: (7/10)

    Rewards: 100 Merit Points, +1 hour to Cultivation Environments.

    ****

    ****

    Escort (C)

    - Visit Hunter Bruce at the Sky Blue Pavilion for more details of the mission.

    Rewards: Performance Based.

    ****

    These are only some of the missions that are currently avable on the mission board. Looking at the panel where the C-grade missions are posted, there''s at least 50 of them there, as for the higher grade missions, Raven didn''t bother to look through them since there will be time for that anyway. He saw remembered what Alice said earlier, that organizations also hands out missions, so he was assuming that students are allowed to take multiple missions in.

    Also, as he weighed the difficulty of the missions andpared it to the rewards, he could say that it''s alright. It''s not stingy but not generous as well. Plus, earning time for the training environments are really rare. It''s almost seems like the Institute doesn''t want anyone to use them. Though, Raven hadn''t really looked at the higher difficulty missions to confirm his conjectures.

    The ten minutes of free roam swiftly passed, Alice then lead the team outside of the Mission Section and gave them one more overview of the facilities that they saw just now.

    The group then exited the Multi-Purpose Building. They went into the main road and went to the opposite side of the said building. They then arrived at a huge gates, being guarded by some Elders of the school. Confirming their identities, the team went inside and the view of a widendmass greeted them.

    The group different types of abodes, some looked like a vi, some followed a simplistic design, some was just outright strange. The only difference, is that the abodes are at least a few miles away from each other.

    "Young Fairies, Young Masters, this ce is where your abodes will be built. This space is specifically used by the Genius ss. Please follow me to meet the contractors so that you could discuss the details of your future abode with them."

    This revtion truly astounded the group.

 Chapter 93 - Truth

    ---

    "Well¡­" Mark spoke after going reuniting with the team. "That was stressful."

    The others could only sigh helplessly and agree to his words, they too felt the same upon talking with the contractors.

    After Alice told them that they have to meet up with the contractors, they entered a a ce where they will meet them. They were interviewed one by one by the contractors and was asked about their ideas for their new homes.

    First of all, this 15 kilometersndmass was specifically reserved for the Genius ss. As for why is that so? The contractors simply answered: ''Because you''re a genius.'' Which doesn''t make any sense but they were forced to ept it either way.

    So far they have seen multiple abodes built in this ce, but they were informed that majority of those abodes were empty, either their previous owner was demoted from the ss or just dead. As abodes like this didn''t take ''too much space'', they didn''t bother taking them down and instead built another one for the next batch.

    They were then informed about the general span of their territories. Once they chosen a spot where to build their abode, their territory will start 75 miles in radius around their home, the same goes for everyone. Entering someone else''s territory without consent would be punishable ording to rules and regtions. So far, there are no cases of this happening since there is a clear sign if one was near someone else''s territory. They home owners can give out some bypass talismans to their family and friends so that they would be provided entry without raising any rms.

    Next, they then asked to choose a spot for their own abodes. The contractors showed them a detailed map of thendmass and they were chose to pick where they wanted their new homes to be constructed. This is the part that took most of their time since aside from the location, the contractors also asked about other things such as the how big they wanted it to be, the general idea of what the abode would look like, the interior design, if they wanted servants and etc.

    And after a long discussion, the team was finally done with the interview and were now resting at a temporary home for them since the construction of their new home would take some time.

    "How would it take for them to build yours?" Paul asked after a while of silence.

    "They said about a week or so." Mark replied while shrugging.

    "Lucky you." Paul smacked his lips, "Mine will take about a week and a half."

    "How about you girls? How long was their estimation."

    Ellen replied and said that it would take her to be built after a week just like Paul, Anne''s the same and for Luna, five days were enough. After they replied, they then looked towards Raven curiously. Seeing this, he only smirked and said:

    "Three days."

    The rest raised their eyebrows in surprise, and here they thought Luna would be the first one to have a home built for her but the construction of Raven''s home was faster.

    "Don''t be so surprised." Raven chuckled as he saw their confused expressions. "I don''t need my home to be high-ss. Just a ce to stay would be fine."

    Understanding came to them as soon as he said this. They figured that Raven must''ve asked for the bear minimum when ites to his home, after all he was used to living in simplicity like always. What they didn''t know is that the ideas they have in mind is very different from reality.

    Shortly after, the team heard a knock on the door. Paul was the closest there so he simply reached out to open it. They saw Alice came in, she bowed in greetings and said:

    "It seems that your negotiation with the contractors went well." She smiled upon saying this. The team nodded their heads in agreement. "Very well, I just came here to bid farewell to you. My job as a tour guide shall end here. Although there are some ces that we haven''t visited yet, I''m afraid that even with your status, it''s still off limits. There will be someone who will introduce those ces to you when timeses, so I''l just leave the task to that person. Before I leave, I wonder if Young Fairies and Young Masters have any questions left?"

    When Alice finished speaking, there was a brief silence inside the room. This atmosphere was quite awkward for her but she endured it since it won''t take long before she leaves, and that might be thest time that she will ever see them.

    It was then that she saw someone raise their hand. She nced at that person and saw that it was the unassuming guy who had been silent throughout their journey.

    She was referring to Raven.

    "Yes, Young Master?" She asked.

    "''First of all¡­" Raven sighed in helplessness. "Will drop the act already?"

    Needless to say, Alice was stunned on the spot as she heard his words.

    "M-my apologies Young Master, but I-"

    "Like he was saying¡­" Ellen interrupted her before she could continue, "Drop the act. We know that you''re just forcing yourself to appear polite and humble before out presence, but instead of masking your true intentions, you stick out like a sore thumb."

    Alice shivered in disbelief after hearing Ellen''s words. Fear shed on her face as chaotic thoughts started appearing on her mind. She bit her lips hard while lowering her head down and clutching the hem of her uniform.

    "Girl¡­" It was then that Anne''s pleasant voice rang onto her ears. "Don''t be frightened. We just want you to act naturally since it''s too ufortable to see you force yourself doing something that you clearly don''t like doing."

    Alice''s guilt was quickly rising, her silence was a tacit agreement that their observations about her were correct. After a long time, she finally stopped biting her lip and just epted her fate, there''s no way out for her anyway. She raised her head and smiled, but her smile was that of helplessness and defeat.

    "Well¡­" she said after while, "You got me. I guess after this, I''ll get what I deserved for deceiving you." She heaved a deep sigh and continued, "Whatever, I''m not too optimistic in the first ce anyway. If you have any more questions then ask away, I''ll answer whatever I could."

    Seeing her attitude switch made the rest quite guilty, from the tone of her voice, the situation that she''s in might be more serious that they thought.

    "You¡­" Hesitating for a bit, Raven threw out the assumption that he had for a while now. "Were supposed to be our ssmate, correct?"

    Seeing her body shook and her eyes widened in disbelief, was already enough to confirm that his assumption was correct, from her on out, the truth shall be more or less revealed.

    "Y-you¡­how did you know?" Alice uttered after recovering from her initial shock.

    "Quite simple actually." Raven smiled wryly as he answered her question. "First of all, your acting was good, but not enough to fool us. We had a fair share socializing with people who does the same thing, albeit better than you could. So you see, it''s not really hard to point out."

    "Next, is the way how you treated us. You know that we''ll be a part of the genius ss from the very beginning and it''s quite obvious that you''re wary of us. But at the same time, you awfully know a lot about the Genius ss for being just a regr Inner Branch student. So I made a bold assumption that you must''ve had first hand experience with those benefits that you mention, but how could that be possible if you''re ''just'' a regr Inner Branch student?"

    "And the final hint that I saw, was on the way you looked at the abodes earlier." Raven gazed at her sternly as he proved his point further. "We saw several abodes upon getting here, but you stared at one specific abode and never looked at anything aside from that, you only looked away when it was time for you to lead us somewhere else. That was previously yours, correct?"

    Alice was speechless. She found it hard to believe that this guy was actually observing her actions closely without her even realizing it. From observation skills alone, she could confidently say that she can''tpare with this guy. In the end, she could only chuckle helplessly and say:

    "Usually I''ll say something like ''As expected of someone from the Genius ss'' but, you''re clearly above that."

    Without any way out, she could only smile and let loose of the worries that she had on her heart. Worrying about those was useless anyway so she figured that it''s better for her toe out clean and drop the pretenses. She cleared her throat and bowed to them once more, with a serene expression on her face, she introduced herself once more to the people in front of her.

    "Greetings.. My name is Alice Endrun, a demoted student of the Genius ss, pleased to meet all of you."

 Chapter 94 - Framed

    ---

    "Greetings. My name is Alice Endrun, a demoted student of the Genius ss, pleased to meet all of you."

    With the truth exposed, Alice once again introduced herself to Raven and his team.

    "If you don''t mind me asking¡­" Paul interjected with a serious voice, "What happened? Why were you demoted?"

    Alice wasn''t too surprised when Paul asked his questions, anyone would really be curious as to what transpired for her to be demoted. What she didn''t know is that Paul is looking at her case in a different perspective.

    At the end of the day, Paul is still Headmaster Ian''s son. Whether he likes it or not, he will be engaged with scenarios about the current management in the institute, and since he won''t be able tl escape it, might as well prepare himself for the future right?

    "I guess it''s fine to tell you, consider it as atonement for my lies." Alice murmured softly, she cleared her throat and started telling her story.

    "Just like what was revealed earlier. I was a part of the Genius ss, and I stayed in there for almost a year." She paused briefly before continuing, "And you probably know the fact that if one manages to stay in that ss for a year, then they will be bestowed with nobility. Well, my background isn''t necessarily that impressive, so I too was pitching for that title, just so I could provide a little morefort for my family."

    "I was hopeful about my future, maybe a little too much for anyone''s liking, and that''s one of the reason''s why my fall was too painful."

    "You see, the title of a ''Genius'' does many things to an individual and to those around them. Pride, confidence, even arrogance. Those will slowly poison you. Of course, you will try to remain humble and all but the people around you will make sure that you won''t."

    The team noticed that Alice was already clutching the hem of her clothes at this point.

    "There''s always that special treatment. In missions, they will always rely on you and make you the leader. In the streets, it''s impossible not to see those gazes of admiration, envy and jealousy on their faces. Many people will try to do anything just to get on your good side, they will send you gifts, tell you promises and will hide behind a mask of friendliness just to get your trusts, only to use you and stab you behind the back once you are no longer useful."

    "I''m not gonna lie." Alice smile wryly and said, "I too became one of those people, and I''m not proud of it." Her voice became a bit shaky, the guilt that had been gnawing at her heart was making it hard for her to be calm.

    After another brief period of silence, Alice then continued telling her story.

    "It was during my second Biannual Examinations. We are headed to the ck Iron Prison. A ce where the most heinous criminals are kept and locked away, never to see the sunlight once again. Our task is to be a judge as to whether a prisoner is guilty or not, and we have to judge at least 5 people."

    As she revealed the contents of the examination, she saw their expressions to change. She sighed helplessly and continued.

    "Funny right? Whether they live or die, depends on our hands, do take note that I just turned 18 at that point. Aside from inflicting injuries to someone, the thought of killing them never crossed my mind. I understand the intentions of the institute, and trust me I never med them. But the next event that took ce made me lose my faith to it."

    "My rtionship with my former ssmates was good. We''ve trained and hanged out together, I even had a sworn sister in there and I felt that we were inseparable¡­or so I thought. It turns out that she purposefully befriended me to hide her evil intentions." Alice was gnashing her teeth in anger as she remembered the face of her former ''sworn sister''.

    "The reason of her betrayal? Jealousy. What is she being jealous of when she clearly is prettier, richer and more talented that I am? Oh, nothing special really. It''s because of a man. She asked people to frame some of my family members into a heinous crime, resulting for them to be sent into the ck Iron Prison. And to make things even worst, they were included into the people whom we''re supposed to judge! To top it all off, this bitch managed to convince the director to let ''ME'', judge whether they are guilty or not! How funny was that!? I was because of a man! A man! How hrious!" Aliceughed coldly.

    "Let''s see, stressed out about the examination that would determine whether I''ll get the title or not? Check. Suddenly finding out that my n members were being used of a crime that they never did, and It was me who''ll judge them whether they were guilty or not? Check. Completely clueless about my sworn sister''s betrayal? Check. Also clueless that the reason why she did this was because of some guy whom I''ve never paid attention to? Check!!! Care to imagine how I was feeling during that moment?"

    Alice, turning slightly hysterical, asked the people in front of her. Tears were running down her face and her hands were clutching her head fiercely, afraid that in any second now, she will turnpletely crazy.

    To Raven and the rest, they could only stare at her helplessly and felt pity. Who would''ve guessed that she was carrying this much hate in her heart? It took Alice a good amount of time before she calmed down, smiling helplessly, she still went on and finished her story.

    "I fought so hard to prove their innocence. I personally carried investigations, but all of the evidences lead towards them, it came to the point that even I believed that they were the true culprits. But the fact that they were my family can''t change, and the reason why I''m training so hard was because of them. In the end, I deemed them innocent. Obviously, I failed test and my n members were imprisoned anyway, my own n hated me for not being able to save them and I was demoted from the genius ss. I became aughingstock to many, and to top this all of, my ''sworn sister'' then revealed that she was the one behind this all and also revealed the reason why she did this."

    "I can''t do anything pass that point. I tried, but all was meaningless. My family, the very reason why I pushed myself time and time again, hated me now. I was stripped off of my title as a ''Genius'' and was ced as a regr Inner Branch Student. The only reason why I haven''t killed myself yet, is because of hate. If there''s any chance for me to at least be a nuisance to that bitch, then I will live to be one, even if it kills me."

    With eyes full of hate and vengeance, she ended telling them her story. Heaving deep breaths to calm herself down, she leaned back to her seat and wiped away the tears on her eyes.

    "Do you understand why I acted that way now? I''m actually trying to avoid as much contact towards anyone who has connections with the Genius ss but lo and behold, the Director himself asked me to do it."

    Silence permeated inside the room. Raven and the rest knew that anything they say won''t make the situation better, but they also feel that she deserves to at least be heard or get justice from all of the suffering she experienced.

    Hearing her story though, made one point clear for them. The Genius ss isn''t as fun and exciting as many thought it was. They knew this fact, but to actually hear someone reveal the darkness behind it, is a different experience altogether.

    At first, Paul thought that he might be able to help her, but at the end of her story, he realized that there''s nothing he could do, any this left a bad taste in his mouth. He started wondering if his Old Man knew about the things that''s happening here while he''s stuck at that tower of his.

    Luna also thought about using her background to give her proper justice. But she too realized that she have her hands tied as well for this situation. Too much time had passed, and by now there''s no way to justify anything, in fact it would even raise a hugemotion if the princess suddenly brought up an old case. People might start to think too much about the situation and might even use her of abusing her influence and power, which is something that she absolutely have to avoid happening.

    As for Raven, well there''s not even a need to mention anything.. His father might have a brilliant influence but it''s impossible, even for Luis, to investigate that now since there''s more current cases that he''s needs to pay attention to instead of bringing up something that happened a long time ago.

 Chapter 95 - Crafting

    ---

    Raven was currently standing in front of a huge cave-like opening. The interior of the cave was dimly lit and releases an asional gusts of cold wind.

    Without further ado, he stepped inside the cave and after walking for a while, he arrived at a huge room filled with littlenterns that provide light. He saw a simple wooden table, a small bed and a pillow, and a t ground below him. With a satisfied nod, then sat at the table and reviewed the time table that the Director gave to them before.

    It had been a week since they met Alice.

    Unfortunately, they had to part with a heavy heart since at the end of the day, they will still be a part of the Genius ss. She also informed them that if they ever met again, she would act like she knew nothing of them. Her reason was because she didn''t want to damage their reputation specially now that they just arrived. What happened to Alice became widely known, even to this day, some people could still remember what happened and if these people saw them with her, some rumors would eventually surface, and she did not want them to be affected by her notoriety.

    On another note, nothing much happened during the past few days.

    Whilst waiting for their abodes to be built, the team went back to their usual heavy training. Speaking of which, Paul raised a point that their training might differ now since they won''t have enough equipments. Raven was the one who built the dummies and other apparatuses that aided them in their training, and now that they would be separated, they won''t have those anymore.

    To this, Raven just shrugged and left them to their own devices.

    This is not to be mistaken by the fact that he no longer cares for them, as that is not true. In fact, the reason why he''s doing this, is because he care. He had been holding their hands since the beginning, now it''s time for them to learn how to walk on their own. He won''t always be by their side to help, both parties knew this, so in order for them to be a true powerhouse, this is a necessary step to do.

    His friends understood what he means and wasn''t totally against it.

    In fact, they were already expecting for something like this to happen and was already preparing for this day. The task was simple, and that is to not be left behind. Pulling it off however was a different topic. But Raven had help them gain enough confidence to believe that they can do this. Not to mention, that talked about their ns for the future anyway, and it''s not like they won''t meet each other ever again. They won''t meet frequently but they would still be able to see each other.

    Despite this, Raven actually stayed with them for a week before moving towards his new built dwelling.

    The terrain that he picked wasn''t reallyplicated nor very far. Thendmass where all of their abode was built actually looked like a massive crater. There is a cliff overlooking this whole area and on top that was where the guardians were situated as well as the contractors. Raven saw a really inauspicious spot near the cliff, hidden behind tall bushes and trees. There was arge pond nearby and upon seeing this, a brilliant idea emerged in his head, so he immediately chose it.

    His instructions were as follows, the contractors were to leave those bushes and trees alone since he value privacy, those were a natural cover and he didn''t want them to destroy it. Next, is that they only need to excavate a cave dwelling, provide him with a simple table, chairs, bed, and light sources. Additionally, he made sure that his territory included the pond nearby and that he has an exclusive use for it. Fortunately, the contractors confirmed it and reiterated that the area 75 miles around his room would be his territory.

    And now, Raven formally arrived to his simple abode and was satisfied by their work.

    If anyone was to see this, they would probably think that something''s wrong in his head for making his home like this. But Raven doesn''t have time to care about their opinions. Just like he said before, he wasn''t aiming for a fancy or majestic castle as his new abode, something like a cave dwelling is already sufficient for him.

    Raven finished looking through his time table, he ced the book back to his spatial ring and looked at the back of his right hand.

    Activating his ocr technique, he was able to see the marking that the Director ced on it before. The marked followed the outline of a tower sitting on top of a cloud, which is the sign of Heavenly Cloud Institute. When the director stamped this marked on their hands, he told them that this mark would serve as a proof that they are a part of the Genius ss from then on. They set up this security because they are afraid that someone might impersonate as them, stealing their identities to do notorious things.

    However, aside from added security, the marks do more than just that. In this mostly invisible marks, sealed a special energy that will be activated upon a time of emergency.

    When the individual who bore this mark encountered a dangerous situation and were heavily injured, the sealed energy would act as a distress signal which will alert the guardian elders as well as the director about their situation. They could then use this signal to track their location and send help as soon as possible. Aside from that, if mark bearer dies, it will also capture thest moments before they die, allowing the institute to have a solid proof whenever they investigate.

    The people of the institute might hide this factor very well from others but Raven could instantly tell from one gaze because this mark isposed of Inscriptions, something that he poured a great amount of his time to research during his past life. Initially, Raven had ns of tinkering with this mark but since the functions aren''t necessarily going to matter with his ns, he might as well keep it as it is.

    Raven paid no more attention to the mark and took out some materials out of his spatial ring to start making something again.

    After two hours of tinkering, he wiped off the sweat on his forehead and smiled with satisfaction. In front of him lies twelve small gs that shone with a silver light as well as a ck orb that has numerous inscriptions on it''s surface. He picked the gs and the orb and sat at the center of his cave dwelling.

    He calmed his mind for a couple of minuted in meditation and as soon as he felt better, he picked up the gs one by one and stabbed it onto the ground in front of him in a circr formation. Once he was done doing that, he took out a needle and pricked his finger, he then ced a drop of blood on each g as well as the ck orb.

    As soon as the ck orb absorbed his blood, it hummed with a tune and flew out from his hands. It dropped down at the center of the g formation and started spinning. At first, it was slow but as time goes on, the speed picked up until the spinning force was enough to influence the wind around him to blow a bit fiercer.

    Shortly after that, the gs as well as the ck orb levitated off the ground. The ck orb emitted a brilliant sh of light, temporarily blinding him and when Raven''s vision adjusted, he saw that the gs disappeared and only the ck orb remained.

    He sensed a faint connection with the orb in front of him. A smile shed pass his lips as he used his ocr technique to inspect his territory once more.

    The small gs did not disappear entirely, instead they just flew away and transported to some spots 100 miles in radius around his room. Some gs were even embedded at the depths of the cliff just to fulfill the requirements for the formation. Momentster Raven felt the energy around him be purer and thicken.

    Holding the orb on his hand, the image of everything inside a 100 miles around him appeared in his head, he could also see the precise locations of the gs embedded deep on the cliff. Using his thoughts, he focused inside his room, more specifically onto a spot at the northern side of the room.

    He then tried using his thoughts to push the a small part of the wall, Raven then felt a great resistance from it but he knows that it''s not impossible to do so. With a great effort, he felt the wall cave in a bit.

    He opened his eyes and looked at the same spot of his room, he then saw that there''s a spot which seemed to cave in ever so slightly.. This ced a huge smile on his face.

 Chapter 96 - Greater Domain Formation

    ---

    Greater Domain Formation, this is the name of Raven''s knew craft.

    The twelve small gs that he created served as boundaries for the said formation. Each g had numerous inscriptions etched on it''s surface, enabling it to connect with each other and form thisrge domain. Once activated, these gs will appear on their respective spots and stay in there to be the boundaries. Aside from the one who created and owned the formation, these gs won''t be seen by other people, so it''spletely useless to search for them.

    As for the ck orb, if functions as the center of control for the whole formation. It''s surface is also filled with numerous inscriptions that simrly connect and respond with the gs. The orb is made out of ck obsidian so inscribing inscription symbols in it was challenging. Aside from that, it also allow one to have a mental map of the whole ce covered by the formation.

    The Greater Domain Formation has several functions. One is the ability to convert energies into a purer form and also raise it''s quantity by at least double, the formation also doesn''t conflict with the main formation of the institute.

    Second ability is to act as an obscuring formation, which basically make his whole territory be less obvious to people. Unless he wants other people to enter his territory, they won''t be able to easily do so otherwise. Trespassers might experience being lost inside or worse, be trapped inside the formation without knowing. But Raven adjusted this purpose to be a little bit forgiving so problems like that shouldn''t arise.

    Also, he could use this function to hide the changes that he will make inside his territory. For example, if he adds another room aside from the current one that he has, unless he wants to show it, this new room would be hidden by the formation.

    Third is the ability to have a great influence inside the territory. What that means is that he''s lord of this littlend. If he doesn''t want any people in, he could lead them out with just a thought. If he wants to transform a specific spot inside his territory, he could do so using his thoughts. Everything that happens inside his territory is known to him whether he''s inside or not. And if he became a bit stronger, if he want someone dead inside his territory, then he could do so with his thoughts.

    But the gist is, people who had a stronger than him had a greater chance of resisting him. For example, someone who''s a Bronze Knight would be harder to deal with even with the help of the formationpared to someone who''s at Junior Warrior Realm.

    Also, the formation uses his spiritual energies more than the regr one. So if he runs out of spiritual energies, then he won''t be able to have the assistance of the formation. But this doesn''t mean that the formation would cease functioning.

    This formation helps Raven temper and train his Spiritual Energies. Since he''s going to remodel many things inside his territory, he will be able to train his control over his spiritual energies as well as raise it''s quality.

    Just a few moments ago, he caused the wall on the northern side of his room to cave in slightly, but that already consumed most of his spiritual energies. Currently, he was recovering when a sudden idea shed by his mind.

    "Right, I haven''t checked that space up until now. I wonder if something changed."

    And just like that, he fused his consciousness with his spirit. Upon opening his eyes, the view of his Spirit Sea appeared.

    [A/N: Sea of Consciousness -> Spirit Sea.]

    His spirit then looked up to see the Crown slowly spinning on top of his head, with a thought he used the connection he had with the crown and sent his spirit inside the space of the Crown.

    He felt his vision warped for a bit, and when he came to be. He arrived a vast white space filled with golden splendor. As he looked around, he felt like he was floating. The ground beneath him looked like soft and fluffy clouds but also stable at the same time.

    Golden lights appeared like curtains that lifted the beauty of this space to another level. Raven smiled seeing this.

    "Yep, still the same like before."

    Raven and the Ancestral Divine Crown had been together for the longest of time. It provided him with too much assistance and even gave him another shot at life. All of the knowledges he knew, the profound truths and techniques that he had, all came from this Crown. He inherited them from the previous masters of the crown and with it he reached heights that he didn''t dare to imagine before.

    He had lost count on how many times he had been in this space, but there''s one thing that he knows. Even if he became the official master of the crown, he knew that he''s far from releasing the true might of this Crown.

    "Hmm?"

    Raven''s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden change. He felt a great movement around him, the clouds rolled beneath his feet, the golden light intensified to the point that it almost blinded him. After a couple of moments, Raven felt like he was in the middle of a fierce storm. He heard the rumbling around him, there were multiple times that he almost lost bnce but he held on.

    "What''s going on? This never happened before."

    Raven was confused about the sudden changes around him. He tried to go out of the space but he couldn''t so he knew that he could only endure.

    Eventually, the chaos subsided and when Raven took a nce of his surroundings once more, he was left gobsmacked and just outright speechless.

    "W-what the hell?"

    The seemingly endless space of white clouds and golden lights were gone. In front of him, a humongous and majestic golden pce stood.

    He found himself standing in front of it''s majestic gates, the road beneath him looked like it was made out of the shiniest and the most polished jade. The fields surrounding the pce was rich and vibrant, it carried a trace of life and could make one''s spirit lifted just by a nce.

    The walls and columns of the pce appeared like they were taken out from the pirs of heaven and used as a materials for building it. The gates were made out of metals that shone with a faint golden shimmer, even with his knowledge, there''s no way for him to identify what kind of metals these were.

    As he was trying to recover from his initial shock. He heard s mighty rumbling sound, the ground beneath him shook, and just as when he was expecting for something chaotic to happen. He saw the gates slowly moving, seemingly allowing him passage.

    Raven smiled wryly at this. It turns out that the gates were so heavy that it causes the ground to shake just by opening it.

    After a couple moments, the gates were now open wide open. Raven was instantly greeted with an air filled with ancientness and profound majesty. A deep feeling of respect surfaced in his heart, he thought that whoever was able to build this castle in front of him must be something that''s beyond his imagination, and that''s saying a lot considering his experience.

    He took a deep breath and decided to take a step forward, as soon as he did so, the space around seemingly warped, his vision blurred and he felt like something heavy was pressing his shoulders down.

    Raven was surprised and shocked by this feeling, he gathered his strength and forcefully carried this weight on each step he took. He gritted his teeth and suppressed the urge to give in to this supression.

    Each step he took was as heavy as a mountain, it had to be known that he hadn''t taken ten steps and he was already feeling like this. Not to mention, he had this idea that the supression was getting stronger. He was puzzled about what''s going on. He didn''t know why there''s too much supression on himself when he was technically the master of the crown.

    While this left a bad taste in his mouth. Something interesting happened that distracted his thoughts.

    *Drip* *Drip*

    "Eh?"

    A surprised sound came out of his throat. He looked down and saw that there''s blood dripping from his nose. He even saw traces of it on the ground.

    Instead of panicking, this caused to be shocked instead. How can he be bleeding? Wasn''t he in Spirit Form? He clearly remember entering this ce in Spirit Form so technically, him bleeding should be impossible.

    He then took time to inspect his body and his expression changed upon doing so.

    "I''m physically here? What''s going on?"

    There was no mistaking it, he was wearing clothes as well as his spatial ring, and to confirm his suspicions, he took out something from it and it appeared. This made Raven''s confusion shoot through the roof, another spectacle happened that took the cherry on top.

    "Hi there, Partner."

 Chapter 97 - Candidate

    ---

    "Hi there, Partner."

    Raven''s brain almost since functioning by then.

    In front of him was an outline of a man, aside from his piercing golden eyes and the outline of his lips, the rest of his facial features are pretty blurry. He stood about six foot and some inches tall, judging from the outline of his body, it seems that he was wearing an armor as well. There is a sword hanging by his waist and it seems that he was holding a scepter on his left hand.

    Did this man just called me Partner? Who is he? Is he rted to the crown? Is he the previous owner of the crown or the so called ''artifact-spirit'' of the crown?

    These are just few of his numerous questions, he stood there gobsmacked, seemingly forgetting that the supression of the pce was still pressing down his body. There is a visible expression of confusion on his face which made the man in front of him chuckle.

    "Let''s get you back a couple of steps so that we could talk¡­"

    With a gentle wave of his hand, Raven felt his body sway and by the time he realized this, he was already standing back to the ce where he was before. His body visibly rxed and his breathing eased up, but Raven failed to notice any of this since his attention was fixed at the man in front of him.

    "You might wanna do something about your injuries, I''m afraid you pushed yourself a little too hard earlier."

    The man mentioned casually, it was only this time that Raven''s attention went back to his body and the pain came after that. He felt every piece of his body groaned in pain, he felt waves of throbbing and it was specially strong on his legs. He paled and tasted something metallic on his mouth, he forcefully swallowed and fought back the urge to spit out blood. With shaking hands, he reached out for a pill inside his spatial ring and consumed it quickly. He then sat down and started recovering, leaving him vulnerable.

    He wasn''t afraid that this entity would attack him during his recovery. In Raven''s mind, he already knew that this man held no malice towards him, and if he really wants him dead, then he should''ve already attack him when he was weak and injured earlier. And because he already calmed down for a bit, he could now deduce some hints from the words of this man earlier.

    He recovered for an hour, after which he opened his eyes and breathed a mouthful of foul air.

    With an earnest expression on his face, he searched for the man and saw him sitting in front of him and seems to be smiling at the moment.

    "You¡­" Raven uttered with hesitation, "Called me Partner earlier. I''ve always talked treated the crown as my partner but it never spoke even once throughout the time that it''s been with me. I''m mostly doing that because I''ve no one to talk to and to express my gratitude to the help it gave me throughout my life. So¡­are you the spirit of the crown?"

    The man was silent for a while before chuckling, this chuckle then became louder and louder until it turned into an uproariousughter. At this point, Raven''s confusion shot up as he thought if he said something funny.

    "Don''t think too much." The man said after seeing his confused expression, "I''m just feeling a little bit emotional. It''s been eras since I''ve had a face to face talk with a fellow human. Being trapped here is quite lonely you know?"

    "Trapped?" Raven''s brow raised as he heard this.

    The man in front of him nodded and said: "But not the kind of trap that you''re thinking of. It was my choice to do so, I am willing to endure loneliness and be trapped here. Plus, I could sleep it off anyway so no worries there."

    "Wait¡­" Raven traced his temples and continued, "So, since you said that you trapped yourself here, that means that you aren''t the spirit of the crown. Who are you really?"

    "Ah right! I haven''t introduced myself yet, my bad haha!" Raven''s shoulder involuntarily dropped when he heard him say this. Before he could think too much, he heard the man cleared his throat and say¡­

    "My name is Certinos Von Mal''hari, call me Inos. I am the 8th True Heir of the Ancestral Divine Crown."

    Raven was again stunned speechless by this sudden revtion. 8th True Heir? Is that the proper definition instead of being an ''owner''? Why would would this person choose to trap himself inside this castle? What are his intentions? Just what is the origins of this crown?

    Too many questions surfaced in his brain but there were no answers so far, he knew that in order to clear up the doubts in his head he had to personally ask Inos.

    "So uh¡­Inos." Raven hesitated for a bit before asking. "Can you clear up what''s going on here? What is this Pce doing here? What''s inside? Howe it''s suppressing me? Wait! Am I like you anyway? I am just so confused¡­" he sighed helplessly.

    Inos briefly chuckled and started exining.

    "I''ll exin as best as I could." Inos adjusted the way he seated and continued, "Partner, in front of you, lies an extremely huge lucky chance. Something that could only be encountered by chance and not to be sought after."

    "As there are somethings that I can''t reveal to you yet, I cannot tell you much. But to answer your questions¡­" Inos lifted his scepter and pointed at the Pce behind them and said: "That, is the True Heir''s Pce. A ce where all sorts of wonders exists and would be your ultimate testing grounds."

    "Raven." Inos looked at him sternly when he said his name and emphasized his next words properly. "You, are now an official candidate to be the 9th True Heir. The reason why you are feeling a heavy supression is because the whole Pce Grounds is testing you. Every nt, every stone, even the air itself inside the pce would be testing your capabilities and judge whether you are a worthy heir or not."

    Inos went silent afterwards to let his words sink in Raven''s mind. And without a doubt, he was feeling a massive headache with all of this revtions.

    ''So I am a candidate, not even an official heir. But why is there a need for any of this? What''s the true purpose of this test? Inos said that he can''t reveal much, why is that so? This seems to be a bigger deal that what I was expecting¡­''

    "I''ve been watching you, you know? I''ve seen all the setbacks that you experienced and the sheer conviction you have as well as your desire to protect your home from the dangers. I''m telling you right now, if you truly want to save them, then you could only do so if you be an official inheritor."

    "You might feel that there''s no way of that happening since your soul experienced rebirth after all. But the truth is far more sinister that what you know. If you fail, you will witness those nightmares all over again. The death of your parents, your lover, your friends, the people around you, the destruction of this kingdom, the crisis of humanity, the merciless que of the Abyss. All of those will ur once more if you fail. Everything you do will be useless..."

    "Trust me, Partner. I''ve been watching the world for millions of years now through the vision of the previous handlers of this crown. I''ve seen pretty much everything. I even experienced it first hand." His voice carried a profound sense of sadness and destion.

    Raven''s eyes constricted fiercely, Inos'' words hit a very sore spot on his heart. He can''t help but shudder with the thought of his words being real. By now, there is no reason for him to doubt Inos'' anymore, he knew that there is a high chance that his words might very well happen. And it is something that he absolutely have to avoid. He made a firm decision in his heart¡­

    If being an official inheritor is the only way he could protect everything he cared for, then he would do everything he can to prove himself worthy.

    "I can tell that you''ve made the decision." Inos smiled despite himself. "Don''t worry Partner, I''ll give as much assistance as I could. Your sess will determine my fate as well as the others'' anyway."

    "Others''?"

    Inos nodded but didn''t say anything. Raven decided not to pry since it seems that he didn''t want to reveal it just yet.

    "I am able to assist you, but I also have to follow some rules since I am a resident of this ce." Inos informed after standing up. Raven simrly stood up and once again gazed at the majestic scenery of the Pce. "You overall goal to be a True Heir is simple."

    "To be one.. You must conquer this Pce."

 Chapter 98 - A Word From Inos

    ---

    "Conquer the Pce?"

    Raven repeated, making sure he heard what he said properly. He then saw Inos nod and smile at him.

    "Exactly." He turned around to face the Pce and pointed the ground using his scepter. "Like I said earlier, everything within the territory of the Pce will impose a certain test upon you, and only bypleting them would you be able to gain the title of a True Heir."

    "Remember the supression you felt earlier?" Inos asked, to which Raven nodded as that left a deep impression on his heart. "That''s omnipresent in there. In some parts of the Pce, that supression would be stronger."

    Hearing thising from him, made Raven smile helplessly. It was a fortunate thing that the level of foundation he built for himself was good enough, or else it would''ve been impossible for him to endure it. Although the supression he will fell would be stronger, it''s not hopeless for him and instead he could use that supression to forge a stronger body.

    "Now, I want to inform you about a few things." Inos looked at Raven sternly as he said this.

    "First of all, no need to rush. It''s impossible for you topletely conquer this Pce this day, or even a year for that matter. You have experienced many things and I''m confident that you know why that is the case here."

    Raven nodded here, of course he understood. To put things in a simpler terms, this ce is like a huge smelting trial, probably the best one at that. The difficulty of clearing this trial is high which also means that the rewards he could harvest would be greater that what he could imagine. What Inos is implying here, is that there are no time limit for his attempt so it''s better to take things in a slow and thorough manner.

    Seeing him understand his meaning, Inos then continued. "Second, time here flows differently outside. For now, it''s eight hours outside to one day inside, know that you will be expelled inside this space once time passed. Use this to your advantage."

    Now that piece of news is amazing for Raven. Eight hours to one day is already good enough for him to do many things inside while still fulfilling his duties in the real world.

    "Third, is that you will die." Raven was stunned but Inos still wasn''t done. "Not only once, twice but many, many times. There''s just no helping it."

    "I know what you''re thinking but that''s not it." Inos shook his head and continued, "If you die inside the space of the Pce, your body will be reformed here at this very ce. There are no limits on how many resurrections you have, nor any penalty to your actual cultivation. But! Once you die, you basically start at square one. All of the trials that you''ve cleared before dying will reset, all of the enemies you defeated will be simrly resurrected, all of the progress you have will be gone and so on."

    Inos paused for a bit to let his words sink in Raven''s head. After a bout of silence, he then continued by saying: "That being said, there''s also ways for you to retain progress. But those options will only be avable once you hit a certain threshold, and might be different from what I have experienced. So the only way to find out, is by actually going out there and seeing it for yourself."

    Raven etched his words as best as he could to his brain in order to not forget it, granted that his memory is good enough, it''s still possible for him topletely overlook something, so it''s better for him to do this.

    After a while of remunerating at his words, Raven looked up to Inos and asked: "Anything else I have to be aware of Partner?"

    Inos smiled and shook his head. "I''ve said everything that I could. I''ll be gone once you start and appear once some important events happened, my freedom is restricted in a sense like that. Anyway, goodluck!"

    After saying this, the outline of Inos'' body disappeared in his sight, leaving him in his lonesome. Raven took several deep breaths and then steeled his nerves. It was useless for him to tarry any longer so he stepped forward and once again inside the territory of the golden pce.

    "Here we go..."

    As soon as his foot made contact with the ground, he instantly felt that sudden wave of supression pushing down on his body. Since this was his first step, the intensity of the supression wasn''t that strong yetpared to what he felt at the tenth step.

    He took another step closer and felt an exponential rise to the supression on his body. He felt quite bold and took more steps until he entered arrived at fifth step, and this is where he decided to pause.

    The supression felt like it was giant boulder pressing every corners of his body. Raven felt it challenging to breath as well as feel his upper body bending ever so slightly. Hesitating for a bit, he then decided to fight the urge to move back a step and instead, he sat down cross legged and decided to cultivate under this mighty supression.

    The idea of cultivating under pressure is a very old method of training, but extremely effective nheless. Humans believed that an individual''s potential could be squeezed out when facing a great adversity that they have to overe. This idea was then proven by the fact that those who faced dangers to their lives constantly, had ended up breaking through higher stages in cultivationpared to those who stayed inside the safety of their own home.

    Of course, not everyone liked sending themselves towards their death if it could be prevented, so they found out a way of replicating it''s effects while the risk one have to take. That research ended up founding new methods of training with greater efficiency and cultivating while being suppressed are one of those methods.

    Training using supression/pressure is different from weighted training. Weights only focuses on some spots on one''s body but can''t really seep inside unlike pressure could. Pressure permeates into every fiber of one''s body, making it more challenging to stand much less perform actions, but once their body adapts to the pressure, they would soon find out that their overall prowess would receive a great boost.

    This is why some Knights of the old preferred training under a raging waterfall or immersed under deep bodies of water since this sort of environment is easier to ess and they could simply return to the surface once they can''t bear it anymore.

    As for Raven''s current location, it isn''t a body of water but the pressure is present and it''s not just any simple pressure that feels like a gravitational pull. What''s around him is something else entirely, as to what that is, remains a mystery for him.

    "This supression isn''t like the normal ones. I tried using my Spiritual Sense and found out that it is highly restricted here. Normally, I could use my Spiritual Sense to survey everything within 10 miles around me, now it''s reduced to a mere 1 mile, I''d rather use my vision instead at this point."

    "Not only that, even my ocr technique is ineffective here. I''ve been trying to use ot for a while now but I couldn''t. Why would that happen? Is it because the technique was given by the crown? How mysterious."

    As for the restriction on his ocr technique, all he could do was to specte about it since Inos haven''t even mentioned something about it, and since he''s just a newer here, he doesn''t have much choice.

    In the mean time, Raven decided the best course of action here. He decided to multi-task to get as much value of his time as he could.

    For one, he was constantly revolving energies on his body to resist the pressure. And since his energy body is already active, every cirction that the made across the energy channels and nodes nourished them and slightly raising their tenacity. That being said, the pressure is also making it hard for him to circte his energies but this means that if he adapted to this, then eventually he no longer have to worry about any issues like this in the future.

    The second task is more on the passive side of things, this pertains to his body. Since it bore the full burnt of he pressure, all he had to do is resist it as long as he could and eventually his body would adapt and be stronger on it''s own. Unfortunately, this pressure isn''t quite enough to open any of the Great Elemental Gates, but there will be chancester.

    The third task is probably the most stressful exercise that he''s currently doing. And that is constantly sending pulses of Spiritual Sense around him. Now, that might seempletely redundant since it is highly restricted right now, but Raven knew that this supression could also temper his spiritual sense.

    Overall, Raven''s training could be considered as a profound torture, but considering the future prospects it would bring, he wouldn''t have any other way.

 Chapter 99 - Allowance And News

    ---

    "Oh¡­I''m back¡­"

    Raven muttered after his vision adjusted. He saw the familiar walls of his cave dwelling and felt the cold air around him.

    He smiled sheepishly and figured that the limit of his stay inside the crown space was used up, he had to wait until the next day to go there again and continue his training.

    Meanwhile, Raven suddenly winced as he felt the soreness of his body. It served as a reminder to him that whatever happened inside the crown space was real, and that he need to soak in a medicinal bath as soon as possible.

    And Raven nned to do just that.

    Limping out of his cave dwelling, he arrived at the pond nearby his location. Without feeling any remorse, he threw out 10 vials of Body Restoration Liquid at the pond, all of those happened to be B-grades, which is enough to be used by Bronze Knights.

    After letting the liquid merge with the water, he allowed it to steep in to get the best results, and as expected after a minute or so of waiting, he saw the pond glimmered ever so slightly and its viscosity became something like a liquid mercury.

    Raven took off his clothes, slowly since he found out that his body was bruised all over and even the smallest action that he does could cause him to feel pain. Without any hesitation, he jumped at the pond and let himself sunk at least a meter deep into the pond.

    He allowed himself to rx and let the efficacy of liquid medicine do it''s thing. And because he trained his body rigorously over the past few months, he was capable at holding his breath underwater for at least two hours, and his recovery shouldn''t take that long.

    Raven felt his body scream in joy as it greedily sucked in the efficacy in the waters, the bruises all over his body started recovering at a visible speed, his worn out muscles that were resisting the pressure for a whole day spasmed in exhration, he could also feel his blood flow bing very active and he could feel his whole body bing morepact.

    There''s also a huge transformations on his energy channels and energy nodes. With his diligent efforts of circting energy under that might pressure, every channels and nodes in his body expanded exponentially and gained an increase to their tenacity. This means that he''s able to absorb and store more energies for future uses.

    As for his Spiritual Sense,st time he could sense over 10 miles around him, now that raised to 11 miles, and that is just within a day of training. The amount of spiritual energy he has had risen as well as the its quality. Not only that, but his control over them also risen by a small amount.

    Overall his harvest in just a day''s worth of training inside that space had been overwhelming. Even Raven himself couldn''t believe it. This would take him weeks or even months to acquire on a normal basis but in that space, it only took a day.

    This made him more and more convinced about Inos'' words. Now, he is a bit expectant about the challenges his will face in his conquest.

    ***

    "Hah!"

    Under the ring rays of sunlight, Raven''s bare upper body glistened with sweat as he threw his 300th punch. His body maintained a horse stance with both of his fist clenched beside him. Each breath he took was heavy, each time he inhales, a gust of air will go through his nostrils and fill his lungs, when he breathes out, the air shoots out like an arrow that disrupts the nearby grasses and bushes around him.

    Each of the punches he threw were heavy and solid. There are no fancy moves nor any shing lights, just a simple and straight forward punch.

    Those who are unaware would mock him for doing such simple actions, thinking that how could simple punches help him battle, it''s not like his fists are tougher than forged metal.

    While in truth, they will never understand the might behind this simple punches unless they experience it themselves, and when they do, they will think twice before underestimating it again.

    Before Raven could throw his 301st punch, he felt something vibrate on his pocket. With a frown on his face, he took it out and saw it was the badge that the director gave. Recalling the director''s words earlier, this means that he''s being summoned and he has to answer this call.

    Taking a swift bath, he ced on his uniform and marched out of his cave dwelling and made his way towards the Main Building of the Institute.

    After a couple of minutes walking, he finally arrived and went straight ahead towards the Director''s Office.

    Upon entering he found out that the rest of his friends were already there, apparently they were only waiting for him to start. He gave a casual greeting to the director and sat down with them.

    "Alright, all of you are here. We can start talking about why I summoned you here." Victor spoke as soon as Raven was seated.

    The man beside him moved, Raven guessed this was his assistant or secretary, he then gave each of them a box which was quite heavy. The Director told them to open the box, and to their surprise, they found some resources inside.

    Inside the box were stack gold cards, from what Raven could tell, there''s at least 50 Gold Cards in here. Next to them, are a 10 round blue-ish crystal that pulsed with a dense amount of energy. These are Energy Stones, a mineral used to aid one''s cultivation. Another thing that he saw with the gold cards and energy stones, is a green jade-slip which has the simr symbol to the one at the Training Section.

    "Those are your first monthly allowance. Do make sure that you have 50 Gold Cards, 10 Energy Stones and a green jade slip in that box. If there''s even one missing, let me know." Victor informed them about the exact amount, the rest confirmed their numbers and had noints.

    "Your allowance is handed every 2nd day of each month, make sure toe here to personally receive them. If you can''t receive them during that day, inform someone at my office so that we can keep it for you."

    Raven and rest nodded with his words.

    "On another note, I''m sure that in less than a week, you''re ssmates would be back from the examinations. And by that time, the sses shall resume soon, make sure to always wear your badges so that you will be informed whenever I summoned you."

    "While you might be the new addition to the ss, it only seem proper for me to inform you about your ssmates." Victor paused for a bit and then said: "Unfortunately, not all of them will being back. Some of them passed on due to some unfortunate reasons. From 15 students previously, there are only 10 left. With your addition, there are only 16 students in the Genius ss."

    Undoubtedly, this piece of news came as a great surprise for them.

    They felt that it was a pity that some of their ssmates died without having the chance of meeting them. They all began to be afraid about the so-called ''Unstable Zones''.

    "We''ve made sure to give properpensation to their families despite reaching an agreement. I''m hoping that you will take this as a lesson that the Path towards Knighthood isn''t going to be smooth. Train hard and be stronger, this is the best way to preserve your life." Victor preached for a moment and allowed his words to sink in.

    After a round of silence. Victor continued talking¡­

    "Now, a few points that I want to inform you before the ss resumes." Talking up to this point, the kids paid closer attention his words, making sure not to miss any of them.

    "While I might be considered as your Instructor from now on, I will act as more of an advisor instead. My reason is simple, aren''t you geniuses? The prove it to me. I won''t hold your hands, walk freely on your own. If you have questions, then you could ask me for guidance, but your road is yours to walk. I won''t interfere."

    Victor paused again to let his words steep in their minds.

    "Aside from being the Instructor of the Genius ss, I''m also the current Director of the Inner Branch. Because of that, I also have to follow some rules, but I also could use my position to move some resources in order to help you grow faster. This will appear in the forms of Sudden Missions, Tests of Courage, and Chosen''s Rankings. If you perform excellently then you will receive more resources and we will groom you even further to be an excellent knight. That is a promise."

    "In exchange, we are only expecting you to help towards guarding the safety of our home. Surely, the more contributions you have, the better.. But remember, this is your home, and we are expecting you to defend it when danger befalls it."

 Chapter 100 - Pill Saint Pavillion

    ---

    Victor didn''t need any replies from the people in front of him, he could already tell from their eyes that his words made it''s way to them.

    After the brief meeting, Victor sent them away and the group parted after a brief talk. While the rest went on other parts of the Institute, Raven made his towards the Organization Section to with something in mind.

    Having seen the ce once, the sheer density activity in this location still surprises him, the bustle here could almost rival that of themon market ce. He could hear the calls and invitations of various students looking for prospective members for their organizations.

    Strength Club, Athletics Club, Joyous Coboration Club, Star Gazers Club and many more types of smaller organizations were looking for people to join them.

    There are also some decent sized organizations who were also recruiting such as: Grand Mountaineer''s Society, Tribunal Law Association, Saint''s Smith Soceity and a bunch of other else.

    Unknowingly, this ce brought a serene smile to Raven''s face. He wasn''t aware of it, but seeing this ce intact and lively really made him grateful that he got the chance to see them again.

    Though there are a bunch of small and medium sized organizations that are recruiting right now, Raven''s attention wasn''t focused on them, instead he walked towards the five tall buildings which everyone revered in this section. The Big Five.

    As soon as he arrived in front of the Big Five buildings, he went straight towards the one that has a emblem of a hand grasping a pill, which is the hub of the Pill Saint Pavillion.

    ording to his knowledge, the Pill Saint Pavillion had been around for at least 100 years now. It started as a small business but due to the owner receiving some inheritance, it rose to fame and became one of the behemoths of the kingdom. Due to their strength and influence, it became the main supplier of medicine for the kingdom.

    During his past life, this organization experienced a sharp decline. He suspected that it was due to infighting alongside the temptation from the ck Curtain Guild, but all of this are just suspicions, he didn''t have much authority back then to investigate further.

    The Pill Saint Pavillion''s building followed the shape of a dome, the surface is made out of special ss that filters the sunlight in order to make sure that it''s not going to be harmful towards the nts, herbs and other alchemical ingredients inside. Raven pushed the ss doors and was immediately greeted by a refreshing scent of medicine.

    He arrived at a room with purple painted walls, there is a desk long table in the middle of the room and a lone stranger quietly grinding something using a mortar, it seems that he was too focused at the task at hand causing him to not be aware of Raven''s presence.

    "Ah, excuse me." Raven said softly in order to not startle the boy too badly but it seems that it didn''t matter anyway since as soon as he spoke, the boy jumped like he was electrocuted.

    "W-wha¡­who?" The boy asked absentmindedly, it seems that he was confused about what happened causing him to turn over his head left and right to search for the source of the voice.

    Finally, he caught sight of Raven who seemed to be restraining himself not tough at his predicament, the boy''s eyes widened and immediately said: "O-oh! A visitor!"

    He swiftly stood up from his seat and performed a curt bow to greet Raven, it seems that he wasn''t aware that the contents of whatever he was preparing earlier was all over his pants.

    "Wee to the Pill Saint Pavillion! H-how may I help you?"

    "Uh¡­" Raven ced a weirded expression on his face and said: "You might wanna clean yourself first, I don''t know what you''re preparing earlier but you might get infected if you let it make contact to your skin for a long time."

    The boy was stunned, he hurriedly checked himself out and saw his dirtied pants. He blushed from embarrasment but also heeded Raven''s warning, he apologized and excused himself out for a bit in order to clean himself. Raven patiently waited at the table for the boy''s return, after a couple of minutes, he was back wearing a new set of uniform. The boy once again gave a curt bow and thanked Raven for saving from potential infection.

    "How may I help you Sir?" The boy''s tone was more respectful and polite this time around.

    "Are you recruiting right now?" Raven asked back, which made the boy slightly surprised. In his mind, he thought: ''He wants to be a member? Makes sense, he looks like he knows something about alchemy.''

    The boy didn''t answer right away, Raven saw his expression change, like he was making a difficult decision. In the end, he heard the boy sigh and said: "Y-yes, yes we are recruiting¡­only¡­"

    "Only what?" Raven raised his brow and asked.

    "Nevermind, it would be better if you talk with my superiors. Please follow me." The boy smiled helplessly and gestured Raven to follow him.

    Even so, Raven couldn''t help but to ask questions to himself, these questions are based from what he observed from the reactions of the boy earlier.

    ''What''s the current deal about this organization? Why does it seem like the situation is more serious than what I thought? First of all, this guy didn''t even noticed me when I entered, it was like he wasn''t expecting anyone toe so he didn''t pay attention at all. Upon asking him a question, this guy seriously considered whether to tell me the truth or lie about it, why is that? Asking him would be useless since he might not even have the authority to divulge informations¡­''

    Raven''s intuitive nature surfaced once more, he made a special note in his mind to investigate this further should the chance arrives.

    The pair walked through a door that lead to long and narrow passage, Raven saw several doors leading to some other locations on the facility. The boy lead Raven towards the door at the end of the passage.

    When they arrived in front of the door, the boy shed a badge on the doorknob which lit up upon sensing someone. Raven saw a light scanning the badge on the boy''s hand, after the scan both of them heard several clicking sounds from the door as it automatically opened.

    The boy gestured at the Raven to follow him once more. After stepping inside the room, they were both greeted with an intense waft of medicine. Raven, being more sensitive than most people, also founf out that air inside the room is humid. He could also sense some energy pulses not to far away from their location.

    He ventured his gaze inside the room. There were several chairs and a medium sized desk in front of them. The walls of the room are made out special type of metal that helps to conduct heat in a more efficient manner. Beside the desk, there''s also a board filled with pinned documents and several images. He also noticed that there are a stack of papers on top of the desk which made it a little messy.

    At the right corner of the room, Raven saw someone sitting cross-legged in front of a zing cauldron. It was a man with a broad shoulders, judging from his ash colored hair, Raven thought that this man should be old.

    "How many times do I have to tell you, Jacob? Don''t disturb me while I''m refining!"

    Despite not turning around, the old man still took notice of their intrusion and reprimanded the young Jacob.

    Jacob hurriedly bowed and exined himself, "My apologies Chief, however my visit here isn''t to disturb your refinement."

    "What''s it for then?" There was a noticeable irritation from the tone of the old man, Jacod couldn''t help but smile wryly upon hearing this, thinking that he might receive an earful of sermons after this, but he threw his worries on the back of his mind and instead introduced the man behind him.

    "I brought someone who wishes to join our pavillion." Jacod stated.

    Surprisingly, this caused a reaction from the old man as he slightly turned his head towards them. After a brief silence, a deep sigh came out from his mouth and he said:

    "Why did you bring him here for? Didn''t I tell you that we aren''t recruiting anymore? See the guest out¡­" the old man then returned his attention to the zing cauldron in front of him after saying this.

    "B-but¡­" Jacob was stunned to hear this, he wanted to say something but judging from the Chief''s attitude, it seems that this matter isn''t negotiable. He heaved a deep and sorrowful sigh and bowed towards Raven. "It seems that I was mistaken, it turns out that we aren''t recruiting anymore. Please follow me, I lead you back to the entrance."

    But instead of following Jacob, Raven had other ns in his mind¡­

    "Uh, Sir? If you don''t stop the refinement as soon as possible, you will be gravely injured."

 Chapter 101 - Fool

    ---

    "Hmm?"

    The old man who was currently refining a pill, heard the words of Raven, it was simrly heard as well by Jacob who can''t help but be stunned with what he heard. Not long after saying that, Raven heard the old man sigh and said:

    "Another one who thinks that he''s so special huh¡­" He then straightened his back and coldly said: "I''ll humor you then, young man. Why don''t you exin the basis behind your im?"

    Raven frowned at the old man''s attitude, while he didn''t know why he was acting this way, isn''t he acting a little too high and mighty for a puny Level 3 Alchemist?

    "There''s not much exnation to be said, in all honesty." Raven smirked, "You forgot your basics, that''s about it. I guess we could me it to your age."

    Jacod shuddered in horror upon hearing Raven''s words. He hurriedly tugged his sleeves and whispered: "Please retract you words while you still can brother, or else even if you asked the Institute Director, he might not be able to help you."

    Noticing the obvious terror on his voice, Raven shrugged and maintained a solid stance behind his im.

    It was then that the old man who suddenly bursted out in uproariousughter. Heughed so hard like he just heard the most hirious joke he had ever heard in his entire life. That being said, Jacob knew that it will only get worse from here, he repeatedly tugged Raven''s sleeves and kept on asking him to leave but he just remained impassive, he stood there casually waiting for a good show to unfold.

    "Whew¡­" the old man calmed himself down after a while ofughing, he then continued by saying, "Throughout my entire 20 years of career, this is the first time that someone told me something like that. Many hade before you, and made simr attempts of persuading me, but your methods are incredible. Sadly, it''s just outrightughable."

    "Leave and I''ll forgive your intrusion this time. Do not think of forcing it, or else you might never step into our pavillion again." The old man''s tone became colder upto this point, he no longer then paid attention to Raven and instead focused on his refinement.

    This old man had been working as an alchemist in this pavillion for at least 20 years, he had seen far too many things during his stay. In fact, the attempts of students to be a part of their pavillion became somewhat of an entertainment for him. Sometimes, humans just underestimates how far they would go in order to pursue their goals, this is specially true to those who wanted to ride along the coattails of thier fame to have an easier life.

    This is one of the main reasons why they''re having a difficult time whenever they tried to recruit for new members. There''s just too many creative students who would stop at nothing just to get what they want. Who could me them? Being an Alchemist brings too many benefits to ignore.

    He had seen students cheat, create a scene, try toe up with ways to get in his good side, threaten him, and attemps just like what Raven did, trying to impress him with superficial knowledge while hoping that luck would be on their side. These aren''t new to him, but Raven''s attempt was just too outrageous even for someone like him ignore.

    Talking basics with someone who had been refining medicine for the past 20 years? Who gave him this kind of idea? It was just trulyughable.

    Raven heaved a deep sigh while shaking his head, his sighing was heard by both the old man and Jacob, in their minds they thought that Raven gave up¡­but then¡­

    "A narrowminded old fool¡­" Raven''s voice wasn''t quite at all, Jacob shuddered even more but he didn''t knew that Raven still isn''t done. "The cauldron will explode in 10 seconds, it''s up to you whether you believe me or not. If you wanne live, get out some sort of a protective treasure."

    Having said this, Raven retreated towards the door, dragging the scared Jacob with him. He crossed his arms and leaned at the door, it was evident that he wanted to see if this old man will heed his warning or not.

    10..9..8..7..6...

    Seeing no movements from the old man, Raven scoffed and just kept couting down on his mind. As for the old man, he wasn''t even remotely fazed by Raven''s warning at all, he had seen to much of this stuff that it lost it''s ir already.

    5¡­

    4¡­

    3¡­

    2¡­

    "Time''s up¡­"

    *BOOOOOOOOOOM*

    An ear-splitting explosion ured, the whole room fiercely shook from the aftermath. The desk was in a mess, papers are scattered everywhere, the room was dirtied with ck grime from the explosion and the only spot that was left untouched was Raven and Jacob since he ced a barrier to protect both of them.

    As for the previously ''oh-so-confident'' old man, he could now be seen sitting on the floor whilst coughing up blood, his face and clothes are simrly dirtied by the explosion of the cauldron. He took out a pill from his ring and forcefully swallowed it, his expression was wonderful to behold as he looked up towards Raven from his location.

    How embarrasing¡­this is what his thoughts are.

    He wanted to think that this mad must''ve done something to cause his current predicament, but he can''t think of anything since this man wasn''t even remotely close to him, and judging from his cultivation base, there''s no way Raven couldn''t do anything without him noticing it, so this notion is just impossible.

    Jacob on the other hand, was just too stunned to say anything. For some reason, he find it extremely hard to believe that the cauldron actually exploded despite the old man''s ablities. He couldn''t help but wonder if it was just luck or Raven was just really that capable.

    Before any of them could say anything, Raven stepped forward and went towards the cauldron. He crouched down and took out whatever remained inside.

    He grabbed the burnt residue and took a careful whiff off of it. He thought for a bit and then said: "Blood Essence of a Forest Troll, 3 spriggs of Mystic Rosemary, 4 drops of Blue Sunflower Essence, 3 Ghost Peppercorns, and¡­eh? A drop of venom from a Three-eyed snake? Hmm¡­"

    The old man''s body fiercely shook as he heard Raven casually stating one ingredient after another, his eyes widened because all of those stated ingredients were correct, not only that, Raven could also tell how much ingredients he used! All of this, was just from sniffing the burnt remains from a blown up cauldron! How is that even possible!? Even him who had been studying alchemy for 20 years isn''t capable of that!

    Just as when he thought things were over, it turned out that he was mistaken once again.

    "Ah! So that''s what''s going on!" Raven''s eyes shone brightly as he looked at the pitiful old man, "You, a Level 3 Alchemist, actually tried refining a Bloodburst Pill! A mid-rank A-grade Pill!"

    The old man felt tremors go throughout his whole body as he stared at Raven like he was looking at a ghost. His mouth was wide open due to shock, as he can''t bring himself to believe that this boy actually guessed not only the ingredients but also the pill he was trying to make, just by smelling a burnt remain!

    "I wanna say that you are a very ambitious person, but I can''t since the idea is just outright stupid." Raven scoffed, "Not to mention refining an A-grade pill, if you refined any pill with your condition earlier, it would''ve failed anyway! You just aren''t in a proper state of mind to begin with! I''m guessing that you have been refining non-stop this week, going to the point where you haven''t rested much less eat something."

    "I get it, you have high cultivation and you can probably survive a month without food, water or rest. But there is literally no reason for you to do so, so why skip? Without catching even a blink of rest, how are you going to be on a proper state of mind to do anything? Much less do a tedious task of refining a pill?"

    Raven relentlessly scolded the old man about his mistakes, each of his words were like sharp daggers that stabbed towards the old man''s heart. He was like a child, lowering himself to admit his mistakes, what''s even more painful is that it was the young who''s scolding the old, aplete role reversal.

    "Maintaing the correct state of mind is a basic knowledge that all Alchemist should know. It is so embarrasing to call yourself an Alchemist who had been working for 20 years after forgetting such a basic knowledge¡­"

    Of all the things that Raven said, this is probably the most painful one for the old man''s ears. Even then, after all of the scolding that Raven did to him, he still mustered up enough courage to ask a very important question.

    "W-who are you?"

 Chapter 102 - Recruitment

    ---

    "Raven."

    Not bothering to introduce himself properly, Raven just casually gave them his nickname.

    The old man wanted to say more but he couldn''t since he once again broke into a fit of coughing. The old man did a brief scan of his body earlier and found out that he had some serious bruises and cut throughout his body, there''s a couple of wounds on his face and he had inhaled a small amount of the burnt remnants from the failed product, even though he already acted on it by consuming some recovery pill, it''s obvious that it would take some time before it take effect, this is due to his metabolism being greatly reduced because of his age.

    Raven sighed and took pity on the old man, in his mind he knew that the old man already paid for his blunder earlier and simply staring at his poor condition is just further insulting him.

    He walked up and crouched in front of the old man, he took out two vials containing green liquid. He passed the first one to the old man and said: "Drink this." His tone issued no refusal, the old man became somewhat dazed and followed hismand.

    As the green liquid slid through his throat, he felt that he swallowed a sweet jelly. Wherever this liquid passed through, it left a warm and cozy trail which cause the old man to feel greatfort. He didn''t understand what''s going on, he never consumed anything like this. Even without his urging, the liquid automatically circted in his body and broughtfort to the stinging injuries earlier.

    He was about to ask Raven about that liquid but he remained silent as he saw him doing something that would truly broaden his horizons.

    Raven popped the cork of the second vial, he then poured it''s contents on his hand. The liquid remained intact on his palms despite that, after throwing the empty vial back on his spatial ring, he then made a simple hand seal which caused the liquid to float out of his hands.

    Using both of his hands now, he guided the liquid to spread out until it was as wide and tall as the old man. With a gentle push, the old man saw the liquid enveloped his whole body.

    Comfort. That is probably the best description on what the old man is feeling as of this moment. The second that liquid made contact with his skin, he felt like he was wrapped into a warm hug. He suddenly felt like he was floating, not only that but he also felt like all of his fatigue, stress and hunger disappeared. He suddenly felt like it was easier to breathe and that his strength returned to him at this instant.

    On the other hand, he also find it difficult to believe what''s currently happening. On how a man, this young, was able to perform such miraculous deeds was beyond him.

    Jacob, witnessed everything from start to finish, and just like the old man, he also couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Who knew that this young man was ten times more capable than he was? And to think that he even tried to tell him off earlier was just inly outrageous now that he think about it. What genius? What prodigy? This, this right here is the true prodigy!

    "You should be fine now, but just to make sure you fully recover, don''t do anything that will strain you further today."

    Saying that, he smiled and helped the old man up. The old man could only nod in embarrasment as he was again reminded that he made a fool out himself earlier. He was thinking on how to recover his pride even just a little but decided against it since he didn''t want to appear as someone who doesn''t appreciate graciousness.

    "Thank you and my apologies for offending you earlier young friend. You have truly broadened my horizons today. I guess I allowed my seniority get the best out of me, causing me to make a fool out of myself."

    "All of it''s behind us. No need to worry about it." Raven nodded and epted his apology.

    "That being said, may this old man know your true identity? I''m not sure if I have seen you before." The old man asked out of curiosity.

    "My name is Vendrick Valorheart, Raven is fine. I''m one of the knew student for the Genius ss." Raven made a curt bow as he introduced himself.

    Nheless, the old man and Jacob was stunned.

    "Aha! So that''s how it is! No wonder, no wonder!" The old man chuckled in realization. In fact, he should''ve realized this already when Raven was able to name the ingredients for the Bloodburst Pill. No regr students could do such feat, only prodigies could do something like that.

    "Why don''t we switch ces, this room is a mess. Jacob, please call some janitors to clean up this room will you?"

    "Yes sir!" Jacob nodded immediately and went out to call the janitors.

    Meanwhile, the old man asked Raven to follow him to the adjacent room. It was a regr office but no one was currently using it so the two was free to discuss everything in there.

    "I believe I have yet to introduce myself¡­" the old man cleared his throat and continued: "My name is Richard Poon, the current director of this branch. Pleased to be your acquaintance young friend Raven."

    "Same here, Director Richard." Raven nodded as he epted the gesture.

    "I''ll speak casually if you don''t mind?"

    "Go ahead Director."

    "I''m rather curious, for someone at your age how could you have such knowledge about alchemy?" Richard was rather careful when he asked this, afraid of further offending Raven, he followed up with additional exnation so as to prevent that from happening.

    "You see, youths nowadays prefer chasing after battles and totally disdain Alchemy. To them, fighting in the frontlines are more exciting and more rewarding of an experiencepared to studying thick books about nts and herbs, as well as refining pills which is costly and tedious."

    "So it is rather umon to see someone genuinely study Alchemy during their youth, specially knowing that you came from the Genius ss."

    Students of the Genius ss are the cream of the crop, the best batch of students amongst hundreds or probably thousands of students. Of course, Richard was no stranger to the type of tests one has to go through in order to be included at that ss, it''s always centered aboutbat. So it is safe to assume that this student in front of him is also a battle genius, if that''s so, then how was he so knowldegable about alchemy? How does he find time to study those old and boring books that no other youths touch?

    "Alchemy is a very fascinating topic." Raven opened his exnation like so, which made the old man smile. "It''s a miracle how a single, round pill, is able to pull someone out from the grasp of death. Most people forget about the benefits of medicine, up until they are in the situation where they wished they have one."

    "In fact, someone might argue that Alchemy is more than just curing someone. But it makes me wonder¡­"

    "If only the prices of pills could be reduced, then more people might be able to afford it and use it. If only the quality of pills and medicines produced as better, then people wouldn''t be afraid of pill toxins. If only there are ways to experiment and change the recipe for medicines, maybe there would be an idental discovery or improvements to be made. And on top of it all¡­"

    "If only we have better Alchemy, that would certainly be another trump card that we have against those who threaten our safety."

    "At least¡­that''s what I think." Raven finished his exnation, leaving Richard stunned in his seat.

    ''This child¡­'' he thought in his head. Oh how he wished that it wasn''t only like him who thought this was. How he wished that people would realize Alchemy''s potential. But just like Raven''s thoughts, he could only wish for this things to happen, after all it''s not so easy to change the crowd''s opinion.

    "I have one more question if you don''t mind¡­" Richard supressed his excitement and asked Raven after seeing him nod, "Those green liquids earlier. Are those your creation?"

    Raven nodded within a heartbeat. "Yes they are. They are called Healing Salves, it used two kinds earlier. One that works when injested, and one that works upon skin contact. The ones I used to you is a mid-rank C-grade potion."

    Once again Richard was rendered speechless but this revtion. He wasn''t so surprised that those potions are truly his creations since he already had an idea that it was. What shocked him was the grade of the potion. C-grade? In theory, this potion shouldn''t have worked on him since his he was already so old and the injuries he got was rather serious, but truth of the matter was it did and it even performed excellently, which only means one thing, this potion is extremely potent!

    "I want to personally invite you as an offical member of the Pill Saint Pavillion."

 Chapter 103 - Pavilions Problem

    "Oh? I thought you guys weren''t recruiting?" Raven wasn''t overly surprised at the old man''s sudden offer. If he were on his position, he might''ve done the same anyway.His retort made Richard sigh in regret, his old and exhausted body sank a little on his chair and his face was showing a saddened expression."You see, young friend¡­" Richard hesitated for a bit, thinking if he should reveal some important things to Raven, but he decided to tell him anyway. "We might be included in the Big Five as of the moment, but I''m afraid that if things continued this way, then in less than a year, we would degrade into something worse¡­""I think¡­I could guess why¡­" Raven looked around and simrly sighed as well, it turns out that his guesses were truly correct."Yeah¡­" Although it pains him to say it, he did so anyway. "We''re on a steep decline for years now, and we are powerless to do anything against it.""Can you tell me more?" Raven probed, though he had a good hunch as to why already, he thought that it''s better to hear more details from a different perspective."It started with a rtively small problem¡­" He said, "It was due to theck of breakthrough with some research. Thest time we issued a new concoction was a decade ago, and it''s the Cold Resistance Pill."Raven grimaced as he heard this revtion. He didn''t thought that it was ''THAT'' bad¡­Cold Resistance Pill is a nifty medicine which temporarily raise an individual''s resistance against cold environments. Certainly, it has it''s uses, but the gist is that the Final Haven Empire isn''t situated in a cold environment, it is rather at a humid location hidden behind mountains and trees. There will be six months of spring plus asional rain and three months of fall and three months of winter, then the cycle begins. This climate cycle then made this pill very seasonal, so the the revenue that this pill recipe gains isn''t huge to begin with, add the fact that the cost is a bit on a higher end as well, ranging from 10-15 Gold Cards per pill."It would''ve been fine if there''s other breakthroughs such as enhancing the effects of other pills, or etc. But s, there was none. And because of that, other problems started popping out. One by one, we lost workers, and even losing more since out budget is being cut off because of ourck of breakthrough. We also started losing some business partners like farmers, suppliers, and even some of our own alchemist decided to quit and look for a more rewarding careers, not that I me them.""And like other businesses, of course we have our own rivals. And along with our withering status, their attacks are also getting more formidable. As such, we have no choice but to stay silent and take their nders despite our unwillingness. I mean what could we do? We don''t have any results to show anyway so it''s better for us to keep quiet."Richard''s tone was extremelyden with grief and unwillingness, it was hard for him not to feel emotional when discussing this things, after all this ce had been his home for more than 20 years. It would truly pain him to see in such a state."I am not going to lie to you young friend." Richard stared at Raven''s eyes directly and continued: "Me inviting you to be a member of our organization is not only because of your outstanding potential, but also because of the Healing Salve.""You want me to hand you the recipe." Raven went straight to the point which made Richard ce an embarrassed and guilty expression."I''m not asking you hand it for free!" He hurriedly replied, "I-in fact, I could give you the full credit for the recipe!""On the premise that you would im the identity of being the sole researcher and producer of the pill. Am I right?"Raven''s words went straight to the sore spot like an arrow, for some reason, that appears to physically hurt Richard. But he could bow his head in shame and admit that Raven was right.This exins the great excitement that he felt when Raven told him that he was the one who made the Healing Salves, he saw this as a great opportunity.The Pill Saint Pavilion is one of the big organizations of the Final Haven Kingdom has, it is the main supplier of medicinal pills for the longest of time, and the reason why it stayed like that for so long was because of the funds that it receives from the kingdom. But because of theck of progress, those funds are be lesser and lesser, causing them tock man power, business partners and even forced them to close some other branches across the kingdom. The only reason that this branch in the institute is still open is because of the hopes that maybe some youths decide to walk the path of alchemy instead of knighthood, but at the same time there is a steep requirement on their recruitment which made that challenging, and unfortunately they can''t lower the requirements anymore since doing so would severely damage the quality of the future alchemists.Richard thought that if he could somehow get Raven to agree to his request, then it would be the start of something that could possibly turn the situation of the pavilion around."I only needed at least eight-no, six months. Give me six months and from then on, you could im the ownership back. On behalf of the Pill Saint Pavilion, we are willing to give you 45% of the entire revenue. If you could only please-¡­""Sure." "Eh?" Richard was stunned. Though it might sound very demeaning, he was actually prepared to plead some more to Raven and was even prepared to hand out additional benefits to negotiate even further. But he was interrupted by the agreement of Raven which really surprised him since he thought that convincing him would be more challenging.And to confirm that he wasn''t just hearing things, Raven repeated himself. "I said, sure. I''ll give you the ownership for the Healing Salve, no need to return it or share it''s revenue to me, I have no need for money currently."Even after hearing that, Richard remained speechless. Is this child being serious? Doesn''t he know just how much revenue he would be missing if he do this?"H-how could¡­""Oh don''t think that I''m giving it absolutely for free now old man." Raven smirked, which caused Richard to be pause, but his next words threw him into bafflement right away. "I have conditions. First, you will introduce this stuff two weeks from this day, you could extend it up to a month if you want to.""Second, I want you to record all of the consumers who bought them, and I mean ''EVERYONE'', I want the name, date, time, amount and background of everyone person who bought it.""Finally, each bottle must have a ''Trace'' inscription with them. This detail must be kept as a secret that only those who swore a ''Heavenly Oath'' knows about. If you could agree to this conditions, then I would give you the recipe for the Healing Salves right now."Richard could only stare at Raven''s face for a while, thinking if he was being pranked. But he threw away this notion since, upon further thinking, Richard could guess a few reasons as to why his conditions are like so.The two week up to a month dy was Raven telling him to keep his identity a mystery. The second one is a tactic to eliminate future conflicts and a reference, and the final condition was to set up a trap if ever some shady individuals have some ''ingenious'' n towards their new creation.In summary, this conditions are a win-win scenario for both parties. Something that Richard wasn''t expecting from a kid who just arrived at this institute."This offer of yours¡­" Richard paused and said: "Is just so good. Are you sure this is all you want? I''m sure that if I could give them a heads up, they''ll be more than willing to hand some revenue to you.""I am certain about it, I only have those conditions." Raven nodded and confirmed his stance.Richard stared at him some more, he wanted to discern if this child has an ulterior motive. But again, if he doesn''t have any, then consider him dumb for not being able to tell because what''s more important to him now, is the recovery of the Pill Saint Pavilion."On behalf of the Pill Saint Pavilion, I ept this deal young friend Raven." Richard extended his hand, Raven took it and then the agreement was formed.Being a man of his words, Raven took out a bunch of papers from his spatial ring and handed it towards the nervous old man.With shaking hands, he epted the papers. Just as when he thought that the situation couldn''t be better, he realized that he was wrong yet again after reading the contents.

 Chapter 104 - Recipe and Demo

    Chapter 104: Official Member

    Richard read the contents of the recipe. His gaze first stopped at the recipe and procedure on how to make the External Healing Salve. The list went something like¡­10 sprigs of 10-year old Thyme, a thumb-sized red ginger, 1 liter of Green Honey, 3 Goblin Chilies and a ss of Sparkling Water.

    Richard rubbed his eyes to check if it was deceiving him, but upon reading the contents yet again, he almost couldn''t help but be astonished. But before he proceed to make any judgements, he decided to read the procedures first.

    The instructions were extremely simple yet strict, Raven made sure that there is an emphasis on some words in order to make sure that the process will be correct. First, one ''MUST'' have find a suitable location to refine the salve, ideally a lukewarm ce. If one has to use a Firestone, then one must choose the appropriate grade of stone simr to the desired grade of end product. In short, if one wants to concoct a C-grade Healing Salve, then one must use a C-grade Firestone as well.

    Firestones are a type of minerals that is highly mmable. Even a tiny spark is enough for it to catch fire. It works simrly as a charcoal, the only difference is that the heat released by Firestones are constant, which means that from the start of it''s ignition, up until it was fully consumed, the temperature of the fire will remain the same throughout it''s duration. Adding another firestone of a simr grade won''t raise it''s temperature at all, so it''s better to use them one by one. Luckily, some stoves were modified for scenarios like this, where it could store up as many grades of firestone and hss a built in automatic recement if one ever runs out to ensure a steady and uninterrupted concoction.

    The next process were also simple. The sprigs Thyme, red ginger and chillies has to first steep with the sparkling water. This process has to take at least 30 minutes and the concoction ''MUST'' never be touched during this or else it will be a failure. The next process is to stir it five times clockwise and four times counter-clockwise, one then has to immediately add the Green Honey and let it steep for another hour, then the External Healing Salve is done. It was also said that this recipe could make at least 3 batches of salves. As for higher grades, just doubling the amount and age of the thyme is enough, the rest of the ingredients are the same as well as the procedures.

    ''How could this be¡­'' Richard''s eyes couldn''t leave the recipe in hand. He could feel himself shaking in excitement and joy. ''Howe none of us found out about this? It is so simple! Steeping! An extremely simple process yet with the correct ingredients, it could produce wonders! We are truly getting old, to think that this simple process would escape our eyes.

    ''Steeping is a staple process in elixir concoction, this step allows the ingredients to infuse their essence with the medium to ensure a homogenous union. A thyme is a well known ingredient which often used as an aromatic, but older versions of thymes has a very mild properties which could hasten one''s metabolism and blood cirction. A red ginger could only be nted and harvested in volcanic soil, unfortunately unlike regr gingers, red gingers areplete inedible because of it''s polluted structure and it''s awful smell but researchers say that it could boost one''s immune system and is the favorite delicacy of smanders.

    Green Honey is also often referred to as Bees'' Unwanted Honey. If it weren''t for the fact that it was produced by bees, no one would even call this thing a honey at all. First and foremost, it''s not sweet, it''s bitter. Second, it doesn''t behave like honey does and acts more of a slime or a gtin instead. Despite this, Gree Honey has more nutrientspared to regr honey.

    Goblin Chillies are smallerpared to regr gree chillies, but ten times spicier instead, many people called it as Goblin Chillies since they thought that it could make even the meanest goblin cry. This chillies numbs an individuals pain receptors for a brief period of time.

    Sparkling Water is a natural product of nature, while it is not highly sought after, it has some mild healing properties, which is also why it could be found on other types of elixirs.

    All of these ingredients aren''t rare, in fact most people find thesemon items, which in turn cause their price to be on the more affordable side. ''Ten sprigs of 5 year old thyme would be at 3 gold coins at most. A stalk of Red Ginger costs 1 gold coin, a pail of Green Honey costs 3 gold coins, 15 chilies are at most three gold coins and the a pail of Sparkling Water would be 5 gold coins. In total, this would be 15 gold coins or 1 gold card and 5 gold coins. Considering it''s potency, this is such a steal! And a batch of ingredients would make 3 portions? Selling each one for two gold cards is already profitable, Hell! Even if we raise it to 3 gold cards no one would raise a brow since it''s extremely effective.

    ''Richard also nced at the recipe for the Internal Healing Salve and noticed that the only difference is that during the mixing process, one has to stir it counter-clockwise 5 times first, and then clockwise for 4 times. Completely opposite from the external version. Needless to say, both of this elixirs could be refined even by Level 1 Alchemists! And with him personally overseeing the process, that would minimize any potential loss, not that it would have any deterrence anyway.

    ''The heavens smiled upon my Pill Saint Pavilion! With this, we could start bringing back our golden age.

    ''Richard almost wept in happiness, he didn''t notice that his whole body was badly shaking due to his emotional outburst.

    "Calm down, old man. You might die from excitement.

    " Raven smirked as reminded. If it weren''t for this timely warning, Richard might''ve truly kicked the bucket. He forcefully calmed himself down and suppressed the excitement in his heart. "While we are on the matter, I might as well demonstrate the process to you so that you could get a better feel about it. Is there any room that we could use?" Richard was astonished by this young man''s generosity, he immediately nodded, expressed his thanks and gestured him to follow.

    "Oh yeah, that fellow, I believe his name is Jacob? Let him watch the process as well, consider it as thanks for bringing me to you.

    "Upon hearing this, Richard immediately summoned the clueless Jacob. Upon his arrival, the old man gave him a general gist of the situation which caused him to feel a deep reverence and gratitude towards Raven.

    "Thank you for gracing me with such fortune. I will make sure to learn as much as I could.

    ""Don''t be so stiff, I''ll be a part of this organization from now, which makes usrades. I''ll help you out as much as I could.

    "Raven smiled and summoned the a batch of ingredients out from his spatial ring. He closed the door and made sure to lock it since he didn''t want any interruptions during the procedure, Richard also made sure to have someone guarding outside for simr purpose. Raven went towards the cauldron and checked if there is any avable Firestones of proper grade in it. Seeing that there is enough, he lit up the stove and checked the cauldron for any remnants from it''s previous use first. After making sure that it was clean, he gave it onest wipe with a towel and ced it back to the roaring stove. Richard and Jacob witnessed Raven''s meticulous preparations and both of them were convinced, this guy truly knows his stuff, his actions were fluid and unhurried. Every alchemist knows that the preparation is as important as the concoction process itself.

    Raven then wiped his hand cleanly and felt the current temperature of the sparkling water. After making sure that it''s neither cold nor warm, he nodded and gently ced it on the cauldron. Using chopsticks, he picked up one sprig of thyme and submerged it into the bottom of the cauldron, he did this until all ten sprigs were submerged, then he picked up the Red Ginger and ced on top of thyme bed, the chillies were next and after that, he left it to steep for thirty minutes.

    Richard and Jacob watched closely, even though nothing much was happening they knew that they can''t afford to miss anything during the process. This is to ensure that once it was their turn to concoct it, the chanced of failure would lessen.

    "Do you smell it?" Raven suddenly asked.

    Richard and Jacob immediately sniffed and smelt something¡­spicy. They both nodded and waited until Raven exined it for them.

    "Remember that scent, if you suddenly forget how much time had passed, just wait until you smell the spice, that would be the cue to stir. I''ll make the External Healing Salve, this is how you stir, watch closely.

    "After saying this, Raven took out a mixing rod. He ced it in the mixture and used two hands to stir it clockwise.

    Richard and Jacob saw that he was only mixing the liquid, and the force behind his stirring isn''t enough to disrupt the cement of the ingredients at the bottom. Despite that, they saw how the previously clear water turn into a green murky liquid upon his fifth clockwise stir. Without pausing, he stirred the other way around using the same force, and afterwards, they discovered the viscosity of the water changed.

    Raven took out the rod and immediately mixed the Green Honey in. After emptying the whole liter, he then left it to do it''s own thing and after an hour, the liquid inside the cauldron shed with light, and the External Healing Salve was made.

 Chapter 105 - More Training

    "Hooo¡­"

    Raven exhaled a mouthful of foul air, he nced at the vast space before before him and stood up. This action should''ve been easy and simple, but inside the Crown Space, this is anything else except easy.

    It had been a few hours since he came back to his dwelling. He finished his matters in the Pill Saint Pavilion and is now resuming his training inside the Crown Space.

    His demonstration in front of Richard and Jacob went without a hitch, afterwards he demanded a Level 1 Alchemist badge from Richard. In all honesty, the old man was prepared to give him an Elder Badge should he asked for it, and in fact he even directly offered it to him which didn''t surprise Raven at the very least. Richard wasn''t really breaking anyw within the organization by cing Raven in the Elder Position, this is because of the recipe for the Healing Salve, by giving this to the pavilion, it could be said that hepleted a mission already which rewarded him with that position. But for the sake of staying low profile, Raven refused the position and said that it would be better if he follow themon fact, he wasn''tcking any time and he could always give support to the pavilion as long as he remained as a member.

    After he left the ce, Richard immediately sent a letter towards the Chief Director of the main branch. He didn''t reveal much on the letter because he knew that it''s better for the chief to see it directly and he was also afraid that some unwanted people might discover it early and he didn''t want that to happen.

    As expected, the Chief Director came and became extremely stunned by this news. He immediately performed several tests using live subjects and the elixir worked fantastically! As he was nning to order some servants to empty the market with ingredients they need, Richard stepped forward and gave him a better idea.

    They will hoard in secret, it''s better to remain rather discreet about it. The idea was to order some clueless civilians to buy the materials needed. This method would be a bit slower but it''s more stealthy. After that, they will concoct as many healing salves as they could and take theirpetitors by surprise with a sudden announcement. That way, the profits they will receive would be much bigger. This ingenious n was received well by the Chief Director and they decided to follow it. On the next following days, the Pill Saint Pavilion should remain peaceful on the surface but silently preparing for their massiveeback, until then nothing new should happen.

    While the Pill Saint Pavilion was busy, the one who caused this was inside a spaciousnd filled with flora, if it weren''t for this ridiculous supression, he might''ve been able to appreciate this view even more.

    Sitting down is already a pain in the ass, literally, much less trying to move around. But Raven knew that his precious time here shouldn''t be wasted by just sitting down. Obviously, he has other ns.

    He stood up with great difficulty, gnashing his teeth to endure the supression, he went into a horse stance and conditioned his mind to polish his fist art under this mighty supression.

    The [Iron Mountain Blows] has several moves listed such as: ''Iron Fist'', ''Tremors'', ''Iron Mountain Supression'', ''Hardening'', ''Return'' and ''Grand Iron Copse''. So far, Raven mastered the first three techniques, it''s just that he had been upied with other things that prevented him from mastering more. Nevertheless, he figured that since he''s facing an incredible pressure right now, might as well go all the way when ites to strengthening himself.

    Still on a horse stance, Raven summoned a good chunk of his energies for him to knead, using his delicate control, he evenly applied this energies onto his body to form a thinyer of defense. But that''s just the first step, next he has to condense each part of that outeryer, simr to how he would perform an Iron Fist, but for his whole body.

    This process is incredibly taxing for multiple reasons. One, he is an awkward position where the threat of giving into the pressure is always present. Two, the pressure itself is powerful enough to disperse any foreign energy just by existing. And finally, he has to endure and resist the pressure whilst performed a very tedious task. It''s not a an understatement to say that this kind of training is downright insane, but Raven wanted to do it since he knew above anyone else that there are no shortcuts to strength. He will have to eventually face more challenging enemies and circumstances, if he doesn''t have enough strength to back him up, then all would be for naught.

    Raven mustered his will and whole heartedly focused at the task at hand. On the surface of his body, several ck spots began showing up. This isn''t bruises but condensed energy that followed the aesthetic of a ck iron. The move ''Hardening'' is defensive technique which could nullify a full forced blow of anyone within his cultivation realm and disperse it like nothing, giving him a solid defence and an opportunity to trade blows safely.

    That being said, after nullifying the blow, all areas affected by the impact would disappear and leave that ce vulnerable. Only by condensing anotheryer of ''Hardening'' over those areas would it be protected again. In short, it''s a one time barrier but a powerful one. If one asks about others'' opinion about this move, they would say that it''s bad and might suggest Raven to practice another technique, or convince him to pick up a weapon instead. Raven won''t be able to me, not because their thoughts on the technique was correct, it''s because of their ignorance.

    There is a precise reason why he always focuses on his control over his energies, and it''s precisely due to this. With enough control and enough energy, he would be able to condenseyers uponyers of Hardened Skin all over his exposed skin and he would be unstoppable.

    Another thing that many people don''t know about the technique, is that ''Hardening'' stays active for at least 12 hours before dispersing on it''s own. Which means, Raven could literally condense at least 20yers of Hardened Skin and focus on something else for the next 12 hours without any fear of dying from a surprise attack. Not to mention that the toughness and duration of ''Hardening'' also depends on the amount of energy used and the individual''s control.

    Eventually, Raven''s body was covered with a ck sheen, signifying that the Hardening was somewhat a sess, but if one looked closely, there are some several spots on his body that were flickering, this is due to the pressure dispersing them which causes Raven to summon more energy to patch them up. ''Even the hardened skin can''t alleviate the supression of this ce, it appears that this strange force could seep in through energy to carry out it''s only purpose, which is to suppress me.''

    Raven thought¡­

    Eventually, after hours of hardwork, Raven ran out of energy. He panted heavily and felt the need to recover. With great difficulty, he sat down and focused on cultivating despite the omni-present energy. Inside his body, his Energy Nodes and Channels are constantly pulsing to resist the pressure. He could faintly feel that as time goes on, his Energy Network is being tempered and getting tougher. It won''t take him long before breaking through to Mid-stage Soldier Realm.

    ***

    Next day.

    Raven woke up, feeling refreshed and light. He nced at his hourss and found out that he actually slept as soon as he came out of the Crown Space, he was even naked at the pond which is filled with Body Restoration Fluid. Good thing that he wasn''t submerged in the water when he passed out, or else he might''ve died. With a gentle shake of his head, he stood up. His joints cracked with a slight movement which caused him to slightly groan in delight. He stretched his limbs for a while before cleaning himself up. He did a slight check on his body and was relieved to know that, somehow even if he was soaking in water overnight, his skin wasn''t shriveled up like a dried corpse. That would''ve been terrible if that happened.

    He went back to his cave dwelling and was now wearing his uniform, he prepared a simple meal to fill his stomach. After that, he took out the main control of the array that he set up around his dwelling. He then focused on tempering his spiritual energy by reforming some part of his cave dwelling using the main control. This is the routine that Raven developed to maximize his time, he figured that with this schedule, he will hasten his cultivation by a decent pace.

    It was then that the badge on his uniform vibrated. He grabbed it and sank his perception in to read the message¡­"Gather at my office and search for my assistant. He will bring you guys to meet your ssmates."

 Chapter 106 - Class Start!

    ---

    "Oh?"

    Raven let out a surprised sound as soon as he got the message. It seems their ssmates were back from their examination and the sses now officially resumes.

    Raven paused his training, took a quick bath and changed into a new set of uniform since the previous one was drenched in sweat. After changing, he went out of his dwelling and made his way towards the directors office to meet with his assistant. Paul and the rest were already there when he arrived so they immediately went to the room where the rest of their ssmates were.

    The assistant opened the door not too far away from the office, it was a vast room covered by clear ss. At the center of the room, there is a round table with a few people sitting around it.

    The old and the new''s gazes met, a strange atmosphere filled the room as the two batches stared and sized up each other, if it weren''t for the director clearing his throat the awkwardness won''t disappear.

    ''I heard of these people from my past life, but never truly knew what they look like nor their behaviors except for one, but hell am I not happy to see this person here. Who would''ve thought?''

    Raven snickered in him mind, he along with the rest seated themselves and paid no attention to the rest since there was no need to just yet.

    "Like I was saying earlier¡­" Victor smiled and started talking, "Today, you will be joined by 6 new ssmates who passed the Promotional Tests while you were away, do take care of them and introduce them to the ins and outs of the institute if in case I missed somethings during our initial meeting."

    Victor then faced the newers and asked: "Why don''t you introduce yourselves?"

    The team did what he asked and introduced themselves one by one, and if there''s anything that these old batch of students figured out with their introduction, it would be the fact that all of these kids came from an impressive background, so much so that ns started circting on their minds.

    "Okay, it''s your turn you brats." Victor then faced the old batch and told them to do the same.

    Starting from the closest person from Victor, a man who had a bright red hair introduced himself, "My name is Yohan Myon. 16 years old."

    "Veronica Noel, 15 years old."

    "in Sky, 17 years old."

    "Rupert Pn, 16 years old."

    "Trebor Foren, 17 years old."

    "Sasha Foster, 17 years old."

    "Wilbert Scar, 18 years old."

    "Philip Newman, 18 years old."

    "Scarlet Berthol, 18 years old."

    "Zelor Mort, 18 years old."

    All in all, there were seven guys and three girls. With their addition, it was now 10 guys and six girls. Now that the introductions are done, Victor then proceed to discuss everything that is important right now.

    "You guys won''t be included in this just yet¡­" Victor said to the new batch, "You guys sessfully returned from your biannual examinations, you passed so congrattions. But if you think that you can heave a sigh of relief, then think again because in the next six months there would be another one. And if you ck down with you cultivation, then you could start packing up your things."

    "Surprisingly, the rankings had been changed." Victor then focused his gaze on one specific student from the old batch, it was a guy who has a silver hair and has a vertical scar to his left eye. "Good job Wilbert, you clearly outdid yourself this time around, I always had this feeling that you''re holding back on us and it seems that I was correct."

    The man named Wilbert just chuckled with Victor''sment.

    "So since Wilbert took the first ce in this examination, ording to the rules, he would receive the agreed rewards, does anyone object?"

    No one raised anyints, it seems that the rest were convinced about the results. Victor then beckoned with his hand and the assistant behind him summoned a few things from his spatial ring.

    In front of the man named Wilbert, there is a fancy sword, a leather box, and a bottle.

    "Storm Calling Sword, a B-rank Mortal Weapon. The leather box contains 25 mid-grade Energy Stones and the bottle is a Essence Gathering Pill. This will now be handed to you as rewards for taking the first ce."

    Wilbert''s eyes shone with excitement as he hurriedly took his rewards and ced them inside his spatial ring. No thanks was needed since these rewards were naturally earned by him.

    "Alright, since that''s done. Why don''t we begin the ss? Let''s start by a little warm up, everyone out of the building, now."

    Victor ordered as he himself disappeared from his seat. The rest of the ss started moving along with his order, but of course the new batch had this somewhat confused expression on their faces. It was then that someone from the older batch approached them with a smile.

    "Don''t think too much, just follow his instructions and you would be fine." From Raven''s memory, this should be Philip, he doesn''t have a very striking face nor any unique qualities in him, but of course he should be formidable since he''s part of the Genius ss.

    Raven and his friends nodded and followed them down towards the exit. Upon getting out of the building, they saw Victor standing in front of him while sping both of his hands on his back. The students lined up in front of him, waiting for his next instruction.

    "All of you, give me 300 push ups."

    Without any remorse, the order was handed out and the students immediately went on the ground to start. The order was clear, he said all of them, which means even the girls have to do it.

    Of course at the beginning, all of them had it rtively easy, but upon hitting the 50th mark, 40th mark for others, some already felt the strain.

    Before Victor called everyone to ss, he made sure that the older batch had a nice rest before doing so, in order for them not to use ''exhaustion from a long journey'' as a reason to fail his orders.

    Time passed and majority of the ss reached the 100th mark. Some of them were already sweating from the exercise but there are also others who felt that this was way too easy, like Raven and his circle of friends.

    When the rest were at their 100''s they were already at their 150''s, and the others felt exhaustion this only cause their foreheads to gleam in sweat, Raven wasn''t even sweating at all, it looked like he was just doing a trivial thing.

    Time went by and eventually, the 300 push ups were done. Surprisingly, Raven and his friends finished earlier than the older batch. Which made Victor quite amused and lost on his own thoughts¡­

    ''Did I go easy on them?'' He thought, he then looked at the baffled expressions of his older students and went: ''I guess that''s a yes, but only to this new batch. My older students seemed to be a little tired from that already. I wonder why is that? Is it because they''re younger? Hmm¡­''

    "All of you, give me 10ps around the building. Now!"

    Victor ordered again after seeing that all of the students finished their 300 push ups. Now, 10ps might be a small number, but considering that they just came from doing a great number of push ups and hadn''t had the chance to catch their breaths. Needless to say, they still followed Victor''s orders and this time around, the disparity was even more obvious.

    Some hadn''t even made a secondp but looked like they were ready to kick the bucket. Some were taking it a little too hard while some persisted, and then¡­there''s Raven and his group.

    Nothing much to see, except from they were literally talking to each other while running, as if they weren''t doing something strenuous but rather a minor inconvenience, they could even saw themughing while making ap after another like it was just a trivial thing.

    As Victor watched this, he couldn''t help but see the newer batch in a more different view. It seems that there more than what meets the eyes. (?)

    [A/N: Idk if I worded that out correctly, does anyone has suggestions?]

    What they didn''t know, was that this is just a normal warm up for them, literally. Victor was riling them up when he said that this is warm up, even he himself knew that these exercise are far from being just a ''mere warm up''. But for Raven and his friends? This IS a ''mere warm up''.. Imagine what will happen if they happen to know the sheer intensity of their exercise.

 Chapter 107 - Rupert And Veronica

    ---

    ''These kids are durable¡­''

    This is what majority of the older batch thought at this point. It wasn''t that they were weak, they were just really exhausted. Victor might''ve given them enough time to recuperate and sleep but the examinations took a different toll on them, and that''s on their physiological health, something that a good night rest wouldn''t cure.

    Even then, these kids were still impressive for their age, it seems that newer generations are bing scarier and scarier.

    Eventually the warm up finished, the older batch finally had time to catch their breath while the newer batch already did, they even had time to spare.

    "Alright, that''s enough. Now let''s talk about activities." Victor waved his hand and a bunch of scrolls appeared in his hand.

    He then asked each student to grab at least one, after everyone''s done he nodded and said: "You may read the contents."

    Raven caught his and opened the scroll. His eyes shone since it reads:

    *****

    Monthly Task: Recon

    - 5km Northwest of our kingdom, the task leader would be the Adventurers Tavern. For further details, please visit them at their facility.

    Requirements:

    - One month deadline.

    - Must submit an exclusive report to Director as proof. Must be stamped with an Official Seal to confirm validity.

    ? Failure to confirm said task by end of said deadline: Merit deduction.

    Rewards:

    - 100-500 Merit Points.

    - 1hr to any Cultivation Environments.

    - C-grade Item Raffle Ticket.

    - 1000 Gold Cards.

    ****

    ''Oh? First day and we already have a mission? ording to my knowledge, this should be at least an upper B-grade Mission since it has something to do with going outside of the kingdom.''

    While he was deep in his thoughts, he heard someoneining on his side.

    "Ohe on Sir! Seriously? Mission Already? And it''s monthly one nheless! Can''t we have like a week''s rest? We just came back from a grueling ce you know?"

    The one who''sining was a chubby guy with a mohawk-ed hairstyle. The way heined was a bit over the top since he moved too much and each time he does, the fats on his cheeks and belly jiggles.

    "Oh,ining again Little Rupert?"

    Under Victor''s sharp and narrowed gaze, the chubby guys named Rupert shrank back and sweated nervously. He thenughed awkwardly and hurriedly said:

    "N-no! Who-who''sining? I''m notining!" Rupert then faced one his batch mates and asked: "You! Are youining? You must beining! Sir it''s Trebor who''sining! " Even the way he pointed at his ssmates was weird.

    "Enough nonsense Fat Child." Victor smacked him in his head, although lovingly. "Just do your mission and you''ll stay here, otherwise get out."

    "Yes sir!" The fat guy Rupert saluted stiffly to Victor''s words.

    "Alright then, I expect you guys toplete said missions by the end of the month. Goodluck." After saying this, Victor disappeared in a sh, leaving the atmosphere a bit awkward.

    Of course it is understandable that there is a strange atmosphere, specially this is the first time that this two batches of the Genius ss met. Even so, someone decided to break the tension¡­

    "You guys hit the jackpot already. I don''t know if that''s luck or what¡­" Fatty Rupert walked up to them and initiated the conversation. "Oh right, the name''s Rupert, nice to meet you."

    The group returned his greeting, it was Paul who asked: "Why Jackpot?"

    "Well¡­it''s due to us being a part of the Genius ss." Rupert said, "We''re not allowed to take any missions that are lower than C-grade, it just ruins our so-called ''reputation''."

    "I mean¡­we won''t be called the genius ss for nothing right?" Another voice interjected after Rupert exined.

    It was girl, she had a rare violet colored hair and eyes. She certainly is beautiful, butpared to Luna, she''scking in some certain areas.

    "Sorry, I heard you guys talking and I thought I should join, my name''s Veronica. Nice to meet you." The girl bowed slightly after introducing herself.

    "Yeah, you''re just really nosy like that-Ow!" Rupert replied but couldn''t quite finish since Veronica pinched some skin on his arm and twisted it, making him grimace in pain.

    "You said something Fatty?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

    "M-mercy, dear goddess!" Fatty tapped her arm while begging to be released. In the end, Veronica released him while snorting.

    On the other hand, Raven and his friends could onlyugh at their antics. Ellen then said: "Well, we already knew that since our previous teacher exined to us, but this Monthly Task¡­is it a bad thing?"

    Ellen hid the fact that it was actually Alice, their ''supposedly'' previous ssmate, who told them about this.

    "It depends on your definition of ''bad thing''dy." Fatty Rupert replied while nursing his arm, Ellen tilted her head in confusion which made him exin a bit more. "Typically, missions are divided into grades such as E, D, C, B, A, and S. Monthly Tasks are different, they don''t have any ranking."

    "Which means that it is a specialized request. Only us from the Genius ss would be able to ess these missions, and it''s difficulty is static, meaning it might change depending on the situation. You saw the rewards right? That''s also subjected to change ording to the mission itself. So we can''t really tell if it''s a ''bad thing'' or not just yet." Veronicapleted the exnation for Rupert.

    Hearing her words, the team nodded in understanding and made them think about the contents of their mission.

    "Does this monthly taskse often?" Mark asked after a while of silence.

    "No." Both of them replied at the same time, it was Rupert who continued. "In fact it onlyes once every three or four months, which provides us with a good amount of Merit Points and Environment hours, and some gold. Usually, we im missions from the Mission Section or our Organizations for our uses."

    "Also, during monthly tasks, Sir Victor won''t conduct any sses in order for us to focus on the mission. But on regr days, he will. And don''t expect him to teach history, math orws, in a way he''s already expecting us to know all of those things. His lessons are rather¡­practical most of the times." Veronica exined, though her tone switched to a hesitant one during the end.

    "Practical? You must''ve mean sadistic! Don''t lie to them, they might be kids but they won''t enter the Genius ss for no reason." Rupert snorted as he had some shbacks of the regr lessons with Victor. It seems that he isn''t a huge fan of his methods.

    This time, Veronica had nothing to say. Though she hate to admit it, Fatty was right in some areas. She was just convincing herself to believe that Victor only wants the best for them but¡­it''s too painful.

    "But hey! Come to think of it, you guys performed rather well earlier. It must''ve been hard for you to act like you weren''t exhausted. To think that you even fooled Sir Victor! You guys have a bright future! Just know that sometimes you have to tone it down, or else he will get carried away. Do it in moderation."

    Fatty winked at them, sounding like he was giving them the best advice there was. Veronica shook her head and thought: ''He might be thinking that he is some sort of a cool Big Brother to them. What a slutty fat-ass...''

    And in truth, it truly was the case. Rupert was already expecting these kids to fawn over him and reveal that his guesses were right. He waited for it, but unfortunately it didn''te. Instead he saw them looking at him strangely, like he just spoke a differentnguage just now.

    "Eh?" Was all he could say, there was an awkward air around them right now. Veronica sighed and smacked his head.

    "Get the clue Fatty. They weren''t acting all you dumbass." She said while shaking her head. It was safe to say that she wasn''t actually surprised by this, after all these kids seems to be quite honest so far.

    "EH!?" Rupert shuddered exaggeratedly as he looked at them, "B-but! How is that possible? That was 500 push ups and 10ps around this huge ass building! And you only sweated! Are you even real?"

 Chapter 108 - Mort Family

    ---

    "Listen here¡­" Veronica kneaded her temples due to stress, this fatty is really making older students like her to lose face. "Not everyone is non-athletic as you are. So quit being shocked."

    "Hmph! You make it sound like you weren''t! I wonder who nearly fainted at the end of the so-called ''warm-up''!"

    Hearing him say this made Veronica blush in embarassment. shbacks of her viciously panting and holding on to dear consciousness flooded her memory, in the end she could only pinch fatty''s arm once more.

    The rest chuckled at their antics, Mark then asked: "You guys, what are the contents of your mission?" To Raven and the rest, but before anyone could reply, Veronica chimed in.

    "Wait! I don''t think it''s wise to discuss that!"

    Raven and the rest looked at her with a confused face, which made her exin her motives. She looked around her and noticed that aside from the eight of them, everyone else already went along their own way.

    "Don''t get it wrong, I''m doing it for your own good. I don''t really think it''s wise to tell others about your mission." She exined.

    "The point is, you never know, so just to be safe, it''s better to keep somethings private." Fatty added.

    "Oh." Anne let out a knowing sound and said: "You mean, someone in our group might sell us out?"

    Her words were a tad too sharp, which made the two grimace, nevertheless the squeezed out a nod which rified the whole intention.

    "Makes sense." Mark nodded and gave a suggestion, "How about clues then? That should be fine right?"

    "Eh?" Both Rupert and Veronica was stunned, it seems that they fail to get the point of their warning. Didn''t he say: ''Makes Sense''? Then why did he contradicted himself by giving them clues? It was like he was asking them to prepare an ambush for him.

    "Should be fine. I''ll go first." Paul pped his hands and cleared his throat, "I have to search a needle on a haystack. Troublesome." He shook his head.

    "I have to be a sea woman for a while, which is the worst ce for me, ugh." Ellen groaned in displeasure.

    "I have to be a shepherd, not really my forte." Mark sighed.

    "Well, I have to be a saleswoman, works well for me." Anne joyfully shared.

    "As for me, I think I''ll be an assistant doctor." Luna said while smiling.

    As for Raven, "Well, I have to stroll outside for a bit."

    "You guys are weirdos, you know?" Fatty Rupert could no longer hold it and released his straightforwardment. On one hand it felt like they were mocking them, but it seems that they don''t have that intentions.

    "Are we now?" Raven said, amused by their reaction. This poor fellow, he doesn''t know anything yet.

    "Anyway, we should be off. Even though we have a month toplete this, finishing it early would be more beneficial for us." Luna said, to which the whole group agreed.

    Just like before, Raven and his friends separated to prepare for the necessities.

    He was on his way back to his dwelling where he came across something that somewhat irritated him.

    At the gates of the Mountain Range where the Genius ss stayed, there was a man leaning on the iron bars, grinning at him as he walked forward.

    He was wearing simr uniform as he does and wore the same badge. He had blonde hair, a slightly bulky figure and a pure white skin, which gave him a very ''young master'' look.

    Raven raised his brows and snorted despite himself. He knew this guy, he wished he didn''t, but he does. He was prepared to ignore him since he had something else to ce if focus on, but it seems like he won''t have that.

    He arrived at the gates and was about to open them, when a hand prevented him from doing so. Raven''s eyes narrowed as he looked at the guy, who was now wearing a smug look on his face.

    "Come now, do you really n on ignoring me? Don''t you think that''s a bad idea? Aren''t you aware of the consequences?"

    There was thick mockery in his voice as he asked these questions. He had his arms crossed on his chest as he slightly raised his chest and was obviously looking down on him. Of course, Raven knew what he wanted, but since when some random pest could order him around?

    "Who are you again?" He asked with a grin on his face.

    The guy''s proud and arrogant looked crumpled instantly, his eyes turned into slits and he suddenly radiated a very dangerous aura around him.

    "Oh? It seems that someone grew up a little too fearless huh? It seems that he wasn''t educated properly in his household." The guy said malevolently, he continue to release his killing intent, hoping to drown Raven in despair and let him know the true gap between them.

    "Oh well, what can I do? Common folk nowadays doesn''t really care about ss. What can I say? A meremoner, would stay asmoner anyway." He continue mocking Raven''s background.

    Which in Raven''s eyes, waspletelyughable. He had lost count on how many time his dad refused nobility since he didn''t really needed it. Even then, they still came from a noble household despite the circumstances that happened. But it seems that this son of a pig just want to really stretch his patience thin.

    But how would he let other people control him? Since when was that on his agenda?

    Seeing that Raven was really moved nor threatened by his words nor his cultivation, the guy''s face crumpled even more. He could even see that Raven tilted his hair and smiled at him, his expression seemingly says: ''What''s this clown doing?'' And that thought truly angered him.

    "You spawn of Valorheart! Do you want to do this the hard way!?"

    ''There it is¡­'' Raven said inwardly, the casual phrase of the Fat Merchant and his family.

    To be more precise, it is the Mort Family of the Golden Coin n''s phrase. The person who''s standing in front of him is Zelor Mort, son of the Yael Mort, the fat merchant who''s one of the superiors of Luis and highly antagonistic of him.

    "That phrase¡­" Raven faked a shocked expression and asked: "I knew it, just from that look! You are from the Mort Family!"

    "Hmph!" The smugness in his voice returned, he then continued by saying: "Since you know, then you should-"

    Zelor didn''t even finish when Raven uttered the word¡­

    "Gross." Raven uttered with a thick disgust.

    Zelor mouth hang wide open, his brain can''t seem to understand how react with that. What he expected Raven to do, was to quickly apologize for his behavior and curry favor to him, even to the point of letting him be hisckey for the chance that ''MAYBE'' he will ce is a good word to his father so that Luis would have an easier time.

    And in all honesty, if this was Raven''s previous life, he might''ve done just that. But s¡­never in this lifetime.

    "I was honestly wishing that I would never meet someone like you even in my life, but man! I''m just really unlucky aren''t I?"

    "How did you even manage to enter the Genius ss anyway? Wait! Let me guess¡­.money?"

    Zelor can''t even speak since Raven won''t give him a chance, this was him doing what he does the best. Angering people.

    "Would you look at that! How scandalous! As expected from the young n lord of the Richest n in the kingdom! With money in hand, everything is possible! Wow, how admirable...and pathetic."

    Raven''s tone became extremely frosty by end. If it weren''t for the fact that fights are forbidden on public ces, he might already separated this guy''s head from his shoulders, but he also can''t allow this guy to prance around on his weight in front of him¡­.

    He suddenly thought of a very good idea¡­

    Raven''s eyes gleamed and stared directly onto the eyes of Zelor. As soon as their gazes met, Zelor truly understood the meaning behind the word ''nightmare''.

    The skies caved in, reced by a blood tinged carpet, looming over the horizon. The sun disappeared, in it''s ce, a harrowing blood red moon hung. Zelor heard ghastly screams from beyond, he felt the ground beneath him quake fiercely and every tremor sent his heart pounding with fear.

    "W-wha¡­"

    Cold sweat poured from his whole body, he''s stuttering in his words, shivering on his boots. He had long forgotten Raven''s presence and wholly felt like the world was ending.

    He wanted to run, to utter a cry for help, but whenever he wanted to do so, he felt like he was gargling water instead. He ced a hand on his throat, only to feel wetness on his neck. He looked at his hand only for his eyes to widen. He saw blood on his fingertips, he hurriedly tried to do something, only to find out that he was now missing his right fingers.

    He paled in fright and fainted with panic.

    Soon, a guard will find him. Passed out in front of the gates with white froth on the corners of his mouth and a wet from pee, pants.

    And the culprit for his ending, was back on his cave dwelling and was eating some grilled meat.

 Chapter 109 - Perspective Change

    ---

    [A/N: I''ll make this short and continue at the end. Go on and read first.]

    ---

    It is so heavy¡­

    Frankly, I don''t even know how a pressure like this could exist. I''ve been to many ces in my previous life before but I''ve encountered anything like this.

    Sufficed to say, It''s been what? Days? Since I''ve started this grueling training?

    I always thought that I adapt rather quickly to things, specially now that I am mentally a very, very old man, but it seems that I was wrong.

    Maybe it''s because I''m young again? You know, hormones and hot-headedness and stuff. Yeah¡­that might be it.

    I could hear my joints cracking, it feels like a mountain was pressing me down. But beneath that, there''s also a very faint transformation happening.

    Creation won''t begin unless destruction didn''t take ce...

    It''s a well known fact, and one of the main reasons I endure. Thankfully though, this pressure won''t stunt my growth, or else I might not be as calm as I am now.

    As for the progress...

    First and foremost, I never thought that it was possible, but even though I am not making any huge strides in my cultivation (body, spirit or energy), I could still feel that I am being strengthened. It was painful sure, but it''s effects were magical. Given that cultivation would be more arduous the higher the realm goes, the speed of which I am progressing is still rtively fast considering the fact that I took it the hard way.

    From Fighter Realm, which goal is to strengthen the body so it could handle energies better, to Soldier Realm, it only took me and my friends mere months to achieve it, which is phenomenal on it''s own but not too surprising as many people knew that we came from impressive backgrounds, they might''ve thought that we used unconventional means to raise our cultivations, and some elders might think that we progressed too fast and our foundations outcking, but the truth was far from that.

    And here I am, further deepening my foundations as I go. Things would only get better as I move on I suppose.

    Nevertheless, it looks like my time in this Crown Space is up, anytime soon and I would be transported to the real world.

    I felt my consciousness darkened, as I opened my eyes once more, I am back to the familiar cavern of mine. It''s night time once more, and I better move towards the medicinal pond I made or else I will wake up with bruises and sore body tomorrow.

    ***

    "Haaah¡­"

    Damn, feels good to stretch my body. I could feel energy coursing through my body in great tides, my body feels tighter and morepact and my spirit vigorous as I stare at the rising sun on the east. I could wrestle 10 bulls in my condition and still have enough energy to run wantonly on the streets.

    Anyway, better get dressed. I know that I ced a multi-purpose formation around me but you never know¡­

    Oh, right. The monthly task.

    Eh, I already have everything I need though. I guess I should report in to the Expedition Team first to get a better perspective of the mission.

    Which way was it again?

    Oh right, northwest outside of the institute,ndmark would be a tavern that has a sign that says ''Adventurers Tavern'', got it.

    I gathered my stuff and went outside of my cave dwelling, normally I would train my spiritual energies during this time but I might as well go there to knock this mission down as soon as possible. The longer I stall this the more training time I lose, specially we will be venturing outside, which will be dangerous.

    I walked towards the gates and I swear I could feel someone staring at me¡­

    I pushed my spiritual sense and scanned my surroundings, and what do we have here?

    A few paces away from me, hidden behind the trees, I saw the son of the fattest merchant ever, trying to kill me with his re. I mean, he could try harder I guess, but I also think he won''t be expecting me finding out that he''s there.

    Well, yeah sure. I did him dirty.

    I mean waking up with white froth in the corners of your mouth and wet pants, isn''t really fun for anyone, but it''s funny for me!

    What could I do? I''m not allowed to ruin him physically or else I would get expelled! So I ced him under an illusion, one that would truly scar him for the rest of his pathetic life. To be totally honest, I would''ve killed him already if it weren''t for the fact that I don''t want my low-profile status to be over just yet.

    I lost count on how many times, him and his pig of a father ced me and my family in a difficult position. It came to the point where my father was nearly demoted and my mom was forced to work for them, doing their nastyundry. What''s worse is that our former n helped them in suppressing us in all aspects.

    My father lost it during that times, they forced his hand and for the first time, dad acted against his oaths and pushed them to the brink of extinction. Seriously, Dad was so fucking angry at them for doing that to Mom, even the Royal Family decided to turn their head away fearing his wrathful gaze will expose them¡­

    Not all royalties are pure, innocent, or pacifists anyway.

    I could only cry and clench my teeth back then, me the world for it''s cruelty and unfairness. I might''ve been through a lot, but I''ll never forget my grudges¡­

    Soon¡­the grand purge will begin.

    Those who deserve to stay, will stay. And to those who don''t¡­

    Anyway, I think he''s nning something. Well, he''s rich as hell so I don''t doubt it. Let''s see what he does¡­

    I walked out of the gates of the mountain range reserved for Genius ss. That being said, I still find it hard to believe that this whole ce is just for us to use. It''s too damnrge don''t you think? And for a mere poption of 16, this ce could''ve been used for other purposes, but somehow, some smart ass went ahead and thought that it was a good idea to waste it and just let a small amount of people to use.

    Like that was a wless n!

    It must be those wrinkled Royal Tutors and Royal Advisors who taught that this was a good idea. They must''ve been like¡­

    ''Oh! Do you have an idea of what ''Social Status'' meant? Here! Have a look! See this mountain range? Only ''Talented'' people get to use it, they could do whatever they want with it!''

    ''Oh? You''re amoner and been subjected to our standards of wed ''Talent Measurement'', and didn''t have great results? That''s too bad then¡­you don''t get to experience this at all! Boo hoo¡­''

    I swear we''re gonna have a ''nice talk'' someday.

    Normally, there''s no reason for any students to step outside of the institute, all of the basic needs are met inside for that reason, but it''s not like we are treated like a prisoner here, that''s their way of telling us that we need to train harder to get a brighter future.

    There are some cases where a student is allowed to go out. Either by applying for a leave, running an errand or a mission pre-requisite. Just so happens that mine fell in the third category.

    After showing the contents of the Monthly Mission, I was granted passage by the guards. I felt the influence of the array wash off of me as soon as I step outside. I was then back at the public zone, where the bustle of merchants and people who lived at the Inner Circle was active.

    I felt gazes of people checking me out as I walked by.

    Some of them showed awe and envy, that might be because I am a student of the Inner Branch? I''m still wearing my uniform so that must be the case, some looks were disdain and gloating, as for why that is, I''m not sure and I don''t particrly care. Not my business anyway¡­

    If my memory serves me right, then the ce that I''m looking for is actually quite hidden in in sight. In order to get through there, I need to walked through narrow pathways that will eventually lead me there.

    I''ve walked through a series of criss-crossing alleys and eventually gotten closer to the ce.

    But it seems that someone didn''t wish for a peaceful journey.

    ---

    [A/N: Hey, It''s me. I''m alive, don''t worry I won''t drop this. I''m sorry if I haven''t given you guys any updates during the past few days. I know I''ve said that we''re going back to daily chapters but I broke my promise. Once again, I''m sorry. If you wanna know the reason why, read on. If you don''t, then off to the next chapter you go.

    Anyhoo. So, things aren''t going so hot in my private life.

    I''ve been feeling terrible, not physically but mentally, over these past few months. I''m not sure why, I wanna say depression and anxiety but it''s not for certain as I haven''t gone to the doctors yet. Why? Cause they''re expensive and I just left my job to focus on this.

    I''ve been in constant meditation and introspection and I want to say that I''ve somehow¡­recovered? Like spiritually? It doesn''t make sense I know, but just know that I felt better.

    That''s until¡­my freaking tab decided to do a factory reset for some reason and delete EVERYTHING that I''ve worked on!

    Temtes, plot, advance chapters, character sheets, cultivation sheets, world detail sheets, EVERYTHING RELATED TO THIS STORY WAS DELETED.

    And I, an actual retard, should''ve known! And should''ve been prepared! Didn''t made any back-ups!

    I am¡­ugh.

    I don''t anyone else to me other than my stupid ass, and it''s such a bitter pill to swallow that you could''ve prevented an ident if you paid attention, but you didn''t cause¡­you''re an idiot. I''m an idiot.

    Anyways¡­instead of making a ''Not a Chapter'' chapter and tell you guys what happened. I figured that I would do something like this instead since I don''t want to delete any chapters anymore. I think that''s the reason why I can''t upload chapters with my tab without it being a mess.

    Alright, this is long enough. Once again, I''m sorry. I''m working on reconstructing everything as soon as possible. And since I''m basically starting fresh anyway, why not a change of perspective right?

    Let me know what you think of this chapter in thements.

    Also, If you could spare me a power stone, that would really help a lot. Thanks for your support so far and enjoy!]

 Chapter 110 - Brawl

    ---

    Called it¡­

    That fatso really nned something to deal with me.

    Hmm, how many people are here? I can sense 10 so far, no! There''s five more, barely out of reach with my spiritual sense. Wow, he paid 15 people to deal with me? A 13-oh right, I''m actually 14 now, a 14 fourteen year old boy? I guess I left a deep impression in him huh.

    Whatever, it''s fine. It''s only fifteen people, I think I can handle this. Wait, what are their cultivation ranks again?

    So, a bunch of Peak Soldier Realm, one is half-step to Warrior Realm, must be their captain. And he''s clearly looking down on me, I could tell from that deadpan look on his face and the fact that he didn''t bother to wear a mask at all while the others are at least covering their faces.

    Is the Mort Family training assassins? All of these people are wearing an insignia of theirs, which often suggests that they''re a part of that faction. Huh, I guess they are. Their purpose must be to protect the family from the shadows, since everyone else knew they could hire cultivators using money.

    Oh, the leader gave a signal. Two people moved. Hmm, one from the left and one behind me. Alright, let''s do this.

    As soon as they appeared, I lowered my body right away, I mimicked the action of picking up a coin on the road. These two were wielding daggers which sliced thin air since I managed to dodge. I figured that they''re targeting me in lethal ways, well they''re assassins so that much is expected.

    Moving quickly, I grabbed both of them at the hand where they clutched their daggers and tightened my grip. Don''t underestimate my grip strength folks, I could squash a block of iron with this, much less human bone.

    I distinctively felt that my grip crushed their bones, they let out a painful scream as their daggers fell to the ground. With a mighty pull, I mmed them together and they almost had their skulls crushed from the impact. The two fainted right away, I checked out the vicinity once more with my spiritual sense, then I saw them gawking at the sight of their faintedrades. I smirked and said¡­

    "So, that''s two. Where''s the rest? Come out¡­"

    I looked up and nced at the ces where they were hidden, I made sure to leave the leader out just for the sole purpose of deception.

    The deadpan look on his face disappeared and he''s now wearing a serious look as he stared at me. Heh, that''s the price of underestimating me! What will be your next move then?

    Oh? You sent five this time? Why, thank you. Let''s see if they''re a good sparring partners.

    Five shadows emerged and surrounded me, making sure to cover all path of escape. They red at me grimly like I''m some sort an annoying pest, I''m honestly offended! Which means I get to punch their faces hard. Twice, if I had to.

    They charged at me, all at once. From my quick observation, their weapons are covered in poison, I don''t need to see the liquid coating on the length of the daggers, just from the scent alone I could tell. Perks of dabbling into some medicine back then.

    Neural Paralysis Poison, the type that makes you numb all over and makes you lose bodily function. These must be smuggled, from what I know, any sort of establishment won''t make these poisons without the buyer showing a permit from the Royal Army. And I highly doubt that Mort Family has that, since my dad would be the first one to refuse it. And if he refuses, then there''s no discussion any further.

    Dodge here, dodge there. Tumble here, duck there. They''re bad at ying as assassins.

    Their movements were way too obvious! It''s too predictable. They will either try to strike at my vitals or attempt to decapitate me as soon as they could. And since I''ve been evading their attacks for a while now, they''re being impatient and in turn, their moves are even more predictable. Well, that maybe on top of the realization that a kid like me could dance with them without breaking a sweat.

    Oh? They''re exhausted now. Alright, my turn.

    I lowered my posture and kicked the ground fiercely, I dashed like a bolt, slithering between their numbers. My ''Iron Fists'' are charged and ready to kick some ass.

    Punch that guy, kick this guy.

    I could feel some bones breaking as my blowsnded. Like I said earlier, I could shatter an iron block with my bare fists if I wanted to, much less human bones and flesh. And it''s amon knowledge that assassins don''t really like wearing anything that would hinder their movements. These guys are no different.

    Elbow to gut for that guy, break the man jewels of this guy, then a clean chop at the nape for thest guy.

    Alright, that''s half of their numbers done. This is a bit exhrating, I haven''t had a good brawl for a while now. The institute is too peaceful for my liking so far, I know that there will be events that would make things interesting but the only events that I know of, so far, are the Biannual Examinations, which I have to wait six months for, and the Mission System, which has very random contents. It also doesn''t help that I joined the Pill Saint Pavilion since there''s little to nobat there. s, all of this is for the sake of the greater good. Patience me, patience.

    I pped my hands and started walking away.

    No, I am not running away. I haven''t forgotten about the rest of them. This is a bait, and since they''re still observing me, the leader should make the decision seeing that my guard is down.

    Not even five pacester, he already gave the signal. This time, the leader moved as well but he just went closer to observe. Six people surrounded me this time, and unlike their fainted/writhing in pain/cryingrades. They''re treating me seriously now.

    One guy decided that it would be a good idea to use smoke bombs. Commendable effort, but this is just a minor inconvenience for me, the spiritual feed tracks them well so I could monitor them constantly.

    Had to give it to them, fighting inside a thick cloud of smoke isn''t easy, much less coordinating with many people.

    They moved like slithering snakes around me, often times two assassins will attack me at the same time, sometimes it would be three or so on. But again, their moves are way too obvious, simply dodging their blows in an unnatural angle would make them flustered.

    I would catch someone''s arm and threw him at the direction of his teammate, then the pressure on me will lessen and I will have enough room to maneuver around.

    A punch for you, a kick for that guy. Dislocate this one''s shoulders, jab at that one''s jaw. Flip backwards, rush, and then kick this guy in the stomach, then punch this guy on the back of his head.

    There! Only one man left. During my fight against these six people, I never left him out of my observation. Thest thing that I want, is to let an experienced assassin stab me in the back.

    Sure enough, I was right.

    Not even a secondter after I defeated the sixth guy of the second batch, this guy jumped from his hiding location and threw a bunch of needles towards me. I flipped backwards to evade and saw him jumping from on building after another while constantly throwing needles whenever he gets the chance.

    If he was throwing in needles, then I could''ve just stood here and allow him to shoot till he dropped, but he''s an assassin, and just like the rest, he likes poison. Of course he will throw poisonous needles at me, he probably thought that I''m too much to handle in a close quarterbat so he relied on range.

    Well, it''s not his fault for thinking like that. If I was on his shoes, then I might''ve thought the same. Unfortunately¡­

    "I''m getting tired of this¡­"

    I jumped from my location and ran to the wall, I could almost feel his shock all the way to my position, but when he saw me running on the wall like I would on the ground, he immediately started panicking.

    Yeah, that training with Energy Control is now paying off huh? Bet you weren''t expecting me to run on walls did ya''?

    He jumped and jumped, doing acrobatic movements just to gain distance away from me while still throwing poisonous needles at me. But I was quick and also nimbler than him, I alternated from running to walls to ground and so on. He tried anticipating my movements but I am proving too much to handle so with a loud grunt, he decided to stop running and faced me head on.

    Good call! I thought he was going to run in the middle of the crowd, but it seems that he didn''t thought that far ahead.

    He took out a long de, and surprise surprise! It was also coated in poison. He charged at me fiercely but instead of slowing down my momentum to evade his strike, I did the opposite and even went to a full throttle instead.

    Yes, I could still move faster.

    Because of that sudden change, he panicked and his de shook. Shame, I guess this ends here.

    I quickly closed the distance between us, he grunted heavily and swing his de at me vertically. With on fluid dodge, my fist met his face.

    He tumbled a couple of times before ending up embedded into a wall, his jaw must be dislocated as I used at least 70% of my strength in that punch. I looked at the mess I made and sighed¡­

    "Alright, let''s clean this up."

 Chapter 111 - Adventurers Tavern

    ---

    "Alright¡­"

    After I finished tying the assassin together, I casted a simple technique which shaved off a few months of my lifespan, but that''s fine since in exchange their memories will be reced by something else entirely.

    Once they wake up, they would recall meeting someone powerful before they even met me, then this expert would beat the crap out of them simply because he was in bad mood.

    And since this is a made up memory, they won''t be able to track this person no matter how much bounty the ce on him. Well, Mort Family wasting their money into a fruitless search is something that I won''t mind seeing.

    Oh and I also ced a sign on the rope which reads: ''Please return us to our Pig Boss, Zelor Mort.''

    That should make that pig''s mood down, which brings happiness to me. That is, of course if a crowd saw them like this, and oh I made sure that it would be so¡­

    I patted my hands clean and walked out of the scene, they should be waking up after an hour or if someone woke them up.

    ***

    Adventurer''s Tavern, so this is the ce huh.

    The facility looked like an over-sized hut for some reason, also hidden from the bustle of the crowd, I never visited this ce before so I don''t know what''s the reason behind this but it''s not my business.

    I walked up to the door and gave it a slight push. It made a loud creaking sound as it slid and inside, I saw several people looking at me with a questioning expression.

    "Hello, My name''s Raven. May I know who''s in-charge?"

    There were three people inside, they looked at each other before the one sitting at the center table stood up and said: "I am. What do you want?"

    Not saying anything, I gave him the contents of the Monthly Mission instead.

    He grabbed the scroll and unfolded it. After reading its contents for a while, he gazed at me deeply¡­and then back at the scroll, he gazed at me again, and back to the scroll again. This action of his happened multiple times before I heard him sigh¡­

    "The institute''s really fucked¡­to think they would send a kid for this mission." He said softly while shaking his head, then he gave back the scroll to me.

    I was close to him so I heard him say that, but I was surprised that someone actually heard him aside from me.

    "Ohe on! Really? First they give us a dangerous mission which we never asked for then they would send a kid? Are they ying with us right now?" This was the the guy who was reading a thick book at the corner. His words then provoked thest one to talk as well.

    "Unbelievable, they sent a kid to his death. Ugh¡­" This is a woman who was cleaning her nails on the opposite side.

    "Listen up here kid¡­" The man in-charge narrowed his eyes and spoke seriously. "Go back, tell them to switch the contents of your mission. You will die if you step outside of the walls."

    I scoffed inwardly, I really want to p his mouth for some reason, I never liked it when people talk to me this way. But, he''s doing this because he doesn''t want me to charge towards my death, which I appreciate. And it''s not like he knew that I experienced soul rebirth anyway.

    "Uh, I think you''re forgetting something here." I said while faking a wry smile. "The mission is final, no switching. Could tell me more details about the mission first?"

    "Oh boy. Can''t you understand? This concerns you life! We''re telling you to drop this mission in order to save you? God! How could someone in Genius ss be so stupid!?" The woman frowned andmented on the side.

    I don''t like her already.

    "I certainly understand your sentiments, Lady. However, I am confident that the institute won''t hand any unreasonable or certain death missions to its students. ording to the contents of the mission, the task is only a reconnaissance and it''s within the five kilometer radius of the walls, which is still rtively safe. The only instances that will ce this mission on a more dangerous level is that if you people wanted to do more than recon. Which ces us back to the main reason why I''m here. I want to know more details about the mission first before taking up your further suggestions."

    There was a period of silence after I spoke. They probably wasn''t expecting a child to retort them like I did. This goes specially well with the woman who is apparently displeased.

    Be happy woman! This is as polite as I could get! Don''t try my patience.

    I looked back at the man in charge of the mission, I could swear I saw his eyes twitch as he looked at me.

    "Bahahahahaha!" The other man burst out in an uproariousughter. Thedy snorted and red at me for a few moments before looking away, she was probably embarrassed. "Oh boy! They ''DID'' send out a genius! It hasn''t even been an hour since we met but he already asserted his dominance! Well, done!"

    I involuntarily said: "Thanks." Without thinking. I happen to realize that whendy grunted angrily and the guy over thereughed even harder. Great! She doesn''t like me, and I don''t like her. What a great first impressions.

    "Why don''t we talk over here?" The man in charge said in attempt to diffuse the situation. I nodded and followed him on a separate room, away from the furiousdy.

    As soon as we walk in, he gestured me to sit down on one of the wooden chairs while asked: "Your name''s Raven, right?"

    "Yes."

    "I assume you''re a new addition to the Genius ss."

    "That is correct. Does this have anything to do with the mission?" I asked curiously.

    "No." He hurriedly said, "You see, this is not the first time that I worked with one of you."

    "Is that so?"

    "Uh-huh." He nodded, "By the way, my name is Jordan, current Captain of the Adventurers Tavern." He held out his hand which I shook with mine.

    "Anyways, I apologize for the attitude earlier. I can''t tell you much right now, but just know that there is a good reason why we acted that way."

    Some part of me was yelling for him to stop beating around the bush and go straight to the discussion about the mission, but my better self told me to not be rude so I let him finish his monologue.

    "The general description of the mission is correct." He said, "It is a recon within the ''Yellow Zone'' around the Kingdom."

    He''s talking about the 1 kilometer area around the Kingdom. ''Yellow Zone'' is proper term for that.

    "While it is true that the ''Yellow Zone'' is rtively safe, don''t think that it applies for every nook and cranny within the zone. Some ces within the ''Yellow Zone'' isn''t safe but included since the rest of them are."

    "Is it safe to assume that our target is one of these said ces?"

    "Bingo."

    "Great." I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Tell me more¡­"

    Jordan unfolded a map on the table, just from a nce I could already tell that this is an old one because of it''s wrinkles and some recently discovered zones aren''t drawn in it yet.

    I don''t know who these cartographers are, but I''m guessing that they just assumed that the Kingdom sat in the dead center of the Grand Ancestral ne. Well, not like I could me them for doing so, it''s not like they could explore the entirety of the ne anyway.

    Jordan pointed at one spot in the Yellow Zone and said, "This is where we''re going."

    I followed where he was pointing and I think I could understand why their mood wasn''t so great. It turns out that we are going there.

    Nevertheless, I kept a puzzled expression in my face. Can''t let him think that I know way too much, I don''t know these people and therefore don''t trust them. I''ll leave the exining to him.

    "Few years ago, this ce wasn''t really that dangerous. In fact, this spot was one of, if not, the most safest ce around in the Yellow Zone. But that changedst year."

    "There were reports where numerous adventurers/Lair Hunters took this path and were eventually tagged as MIA. The Royal Army sent multiple people to investigate this spot but they too, never returned. Eventually, an announcement was made that this spot was no longer safe for passage, and now it is our turn to investigate."

    "Knowing the recent reports about this ce, of course our team would be on edge, not to mention that we will have another member whom we don''t know to risk our lives and limbs with¡­"

    "Surely you understand our predicament right?"

 Chapter 112 - Sudden Danger

    ---

    Of course I understand their plight.

    Moreover, I also now understand the severity of this mission.

    "I share your sentiments Captain Jordan, even so, it''s not like we could refuse this task right?" I asked him which in turn made him grimace.

    Jordan doesn''t really want this mission, it''s safe to say that if he could entrust this mission to someone else, he might''ve done so already, but there are certain rules that any association needs to follow, and it''s their turn to do their part.

    Good thing I came across this mission this early, maybe I could do something¡­ Aha! That''s a good idea!

    "Am I allowed to bring another person in this mission?"

    Jordan looked at me weirdly and weighed his options. He then asked: "If it''s someone who could help our mission then maybe we could arrange something."

    "Awesome! When do we leave?"

    "Uh¡­" He hesitated first before saying, "Tomorrow at sunset. We meet at the western gate."

    "Okay, got it! See you there!"

    ***

    "Are wete?"

    I asked as soon as we arrived at the western gate. The members of the adventurers tavern was already there. They were wearing a dull colored cloaks around their bodies along with the same colored hoods. This should be for camouging¡­

    Jordan looked at me, and the person I bought with me. They measured gazes at first before I diffused the tense atmosphere.

    "Captain Jordan, this is Sir Jackson, a Lair Hunter."

    Just with that title alone, the three people immediately had their eyes wide open. They scampered and hurriedly greeted Sir Jackson in order to not offend him.

    Come to think of it, recruiting this guy wasn''t as hard as I expected it to be. After asking about the contents of the mission he immediately jumped ahead and told me he''sing.

    He''s the first one that came to my mind since I know that he could be trusted. Plus, Hopper was with him and this ck panther needs some real experiences.

    "Greetings Sir Jackson, excuse us for the attitude, we are certainly not expecting someone of your caliber to join our little escapade." Jordan bowed as he apologized to Jackson, the two behind him also followed suit.

    I saw Jackson waved his hand non-chntly before saying: "Don''t sweat it. I''ve been meaning to investigate that ce as well anyway, just so happen that this little guy invited me and I jumped in."

    "Oh! Where are my manners!? M-my name is Jordan, current Captain of the Adventurer''s Tavern. Behind me is Alina and George. Pleased to meet you Sir."

    "Same here." Yep, that''s his reply. Super in and t.

    For some reason, I have this feeling Jackson had another purpose foring with us, but then again not my business.

    "How are the preparations?" Jackson asked.

    "All good Sir!" Jordan replied like a good underling.

    "Move out¡­"

    Is it just me, or Jackson just snagged the leadership in Jordan''s hands? He totally did right? Damn, he''s awesome.

    I guess that''s the prestige of a Lair Hunting Knight for ya''.

    If there''s anyone whom people trust to have great knowledge on what''s beyond the walls, it would be them since outside exploration is the main reason why they''re called as Lair Hunters.

    Well, there me as well but they don''t know that, and I have no ns on letting them know. That''s unless something importantes up.

    We walked up to the guards stationed at the Western Wall, they blocked us first and asked for our purpose. It was Jordan who came up and dealt with them, after showing them some valid documents, the guards allowed us passage and outside we went.

    As we took out first step outside the walls, the atmosphere within the group immediately went cold.

    I could tell that these folks from the Adventurers Tavern became somewhat intimidated by the scenery outside.

    Thick bushes, towering trees, chilling wind, in addition of the nket of darkness that covers the whole sky. This ce isn''t for the weak-willed, I''m certain that all of us felt some movements beyond the trail-zed path before us. If we''re not careful, then whatever it is that''s lurking beyond would be the cause of our death.

    Memories from my past life flooded me. I recalled a great deal things just froming here. I find it hard to believe that I walked through this unfriendly environment for a fraction of my life and came out alive.

    I began spreading my spiritual sense, I''m pretty sure that I am wearing a somber expression right now. I took a brief nce on how the rest was faring and it''s within my expectations.

    Jackson was rtively calm, while the rest was a bit ufortable. This would be a long night for us.

    "Take this¡­" Out of nowhere, Jackson handed out a jar that''s filled with some sort of brownish paste. I took one and opened it. The smell that came out of it immediately assaulted my nose with countless profanities, and I''m pretty sure the rest experienced that as well.

    "Don''t mind the smell too much, you''ll grow into it. Spread that in your current clothing, that would prevent some nasty insects from approaching you." Jackson exined as he spread the paste onto his clothes as well.

    I didn''t say much since I know this stuff is useful despite its pungent smell. The folks from the Adventurers Tavern hesitated at first but when they saw that I was doing what was told, they followed suit as well.

    "What even is this paste? I never smelled something so horrible before." Alina muttered softly.

    "Something that will make you wish you never knew." I replied, which prompted a re from her. I shrugged and didn''t pay any attention to her anymore.

    It''s a paste made out of some part of a dead squirrel, piss of a brown bear, lion''s feces, spoiled garlic and onions. I could tell since this is not the first time that I ced this on myself. During my previous life, there are some missions that forced me to venture beyond the gates and Jackson would always remind me to do this.

    See? I did her a favor by not telling her right? If she had known what''s this for, would she even want to continue the journey or immediately back off to clean herself.

    Now that the team is ready, we now headed towards the trail-zed path forward.

    Normally, 5 kilometers isn''t that faraway, if this was the interior of the kingdom then it would only take us hours to eventually get there. But this is not the ce to rush. Like I said earlier, any carelessness would lead to our death even though this is within the Yellow Zone.

    We moved in an orderly fashion ording to Jackson''s arrangement. He was in front, I was in the middle, Jordan was at the back, Alina was on my right and George was on my left.

    Well, I can''t really say much right? He did this to protect me, I get it. He''s the captain now anyway.

    Needless to say, I''m not some useless baggage. It is not much, but my spiritual sense is constantly scanning the 10 miles radius of our location. I made sure that I''m taking every detail that I pick up into consideration.

    Jackson is also not taking this lightly as well, he had Hopper scout ahead of us while he was viewing the Shared Vision. Jordan and his team was also good at moving stealthily, none of their footsteps were loud and they always watch out where they stepped in order to not raise any rms.

    Without dropping my scan, I also took my time to observe the sky. I''m not particrly looking to stargaze at the moment, I have other purposes for doing this.

    "Stop stargazing kid, pay attention to where you walk." It turns out that Alina was watching me, well she''s beside me so she could always see what I''m doing.

    "Do you see any stars?" I asked.

    She looked up briefly before saying: "No."

    "Then how could you tell that I''m stargazing then?"

    My retort left her speechless and furious again, I rolled my eyes and paid no attention to her. Why is she even here?

    Oh right! My ocr technique! Let''s see here¡­

    "Shit!"

    My cursing was loud enough to catch the attention of the team. They looked towards me in rm and probably saw the nasty expression on my face.

    "What''s wrong kid?" Jackson hurriedly asked.

    I didn''t answer him first, instead I took out my sundial and did some calctions in my head. None of us moved, Jackson closely watched my actions while the rest was puzzled. I don''t care about their opinions, our situation just gotten more dangerous right now!

    "Quick! Find somewhere to hide! Preferably underground! Move!" I practically yelled.

    "What''s happening kid!?" Alina asked while sping my shoulder. This might be her way of calming me down but now is not that time!

    "4th Lunar Month! Our Moons are nowhere to be seen! The air contains a faint glitter! Notice the signs!" As I said this, they immediately figured out why I was panicking. Their faces paled and panic started settling down in their guts.

    "Diamond Dust Eclipse!"

 Chapter 113 - Diamond Dust Eclipse

    ---

    "Quick! Find somewhere to hide! It doesn''t need to berge! We''ll make do with what we have."

    Jackson panicked as well, judging from his personality, he''s probably mentally cursing dozens of profanities as of this moment.

    I hurriedly ran off to several ces, not even minding any safety precautions. Beasts have always been more sensitive to their surroundingspared to humans, it''s very likely that they''ve already sensed danger and long since found a hiding spot. That might also be the reason why we sensed some beasts running off, they must looking for a ce to hide as well.

    My spiritual sense is on full bloom right now, I didn''t even mind exhausting myself just to ensure our safety.If we don''t find any suitable hideouts, then we will most likely die where we stood.

    A few minutes passed by and my spiritual sense touched something.

    There was a deep pit just few paces away from me. I hurriedly crouched and swept the twigs that are blocking the entrance, after making sure that it wasn''t a death trap, I grabbed the team''s attention and pointed at the pit.

    Everyone jumped in without hesitation, me included. The bottom of the pit was pretty spacious that we don''t have to squeeze in to fit. Even so, we aren''t safe just yet.

    "We have to build a roof that could shield us during the eclipse. Does anyone have ideas or tools?" George asked as he eyed the opening of the pit.

    "I''ll take care of it." I summoned arge sculpture from my spatial ring, huge enough to cover the opening of the pit, that sculpture is made out of pure iron so it should hold up until the eclipse pass. Meanwhile, Jackson took out a small torch and lit it up using a sulfuric rock.

    "Is that a sculpture?" Alina asked, it seems that she caught a brief nce of the thing I used to cover the entrance.I nodded to answer her question, then she asked, "Why would you ce a sculpture on your spatial ring?"

    "Can''t you just say ''Thank you'' instead? If it weren''t for that, then we probably don''t have anything to cover this pit." Seriously? Why does she ask strange questions? It isn''t her business to pry on the things that I ce on ''MY'' spatial ring.

    "He''s right Alina, don''t pry too much." Jordan reprimanded her which caused Alina to pout. She found a spot somewhere and sat down to calm her nerves. "You saved our asses back there. Thanks."

    "You''re wee." I nodded in acknowledgement

    .Not even a second after that, we heard some rough and grating sounds on the surface. All of us instinctively looked up to check if the sculpture was holding up, and it seems that it does which greatly relieved me.

    "Rest everyone, preserve your energies. Diamond Dust Eclipsests for 10 hours, which means we will stay here for that long as well. We cultivators have strong bodies and canst for an entire day with little air but for safety purposes, monitor yourselves." Jackson ordered, to which weplied.

    I found a spot to sit down and sank into a meditative state. I have the lowest cultivation here but if I focus enough, I will probablyst longer than them.

    But man, this sucks! I can''t believe that our timing was that bad, to think that we will face the eclipse as soon as we head out.The Grand Ancestral ne has a very weird climate and phenomena, the Diamond Dust Eclipse is one of them.

    It is an urence when the environment willpletely stay still before a merciless onught of what we call Diamond Dust, desecrates everything. This phenomenon is somewhat simr to a sandstorm or a blizzard, but unlike sand or snow, Diamond Dust is extremely fatal.

    Imagine a ss, right? If you take this ss and pound it real hard, it will be pulverized, correct? Now imagine this powder, but each speck is capable of nullifying any sort of energy, make it extremely sharp as well, where if someone threw a handful of this dust onto someone''s face, that person''s face would probably be wounded by hundreds of times, don''t even mention inhaling some this since it sill carve you up from the inside.

    Now take all of that, throw in at least a thousand bags of said powder and send it along with a powerful gust of air. What do you think a humans will end up once they were caught up in that thing.

    That''s the Diamond Dust Eclipse in a nutshell. Unless one has a brief understanding with Laws, it would be very hard to survive the onught of the Diamond Dust Eclipse. To top things off, this is only one of the hazards beyond the walls. Fortunately, for some mysterious reasons that even I don''t know, the Eclipse doesn''t ur in the Kingdom. I don''t know what causes that or what makes thend so special, but I''m d that it works that way.

    Everyone was concentrated on conserving their energy, we will be stuck here for 10 hours and after that we have to move fast since as soon as the eclipse stopped those who are hiding wille out, which means beasts would be active again.I''m getting chills. I don''t why but something''s amiss, I feel so ufortable. This feeling irritated me, causing me to look all around me. Everyone is in deep meditation so I made sure to make as little noise as possible. My ocr technique is active as I scour my surroundings for something, but I can''t find anything...There is it again! I''m getting chills all over again! It feels terrible! Like that feeling when you are missing something very important and obvious, you have an idea what it is but you just can''t put a finger on it. That feeling is irritating.Just like earlier, I spread my spiritual sense wantonly, I looked all over the ce and while investigating some minute details about the pit.

    Is that...? A gust of air?

    I moved slowly and quietly, approaching where I think the gust came from. It was a corner not too far away from where I was seated. I got up slowly and approached said corner, and what do you know, gust of air became a breeze, seemingly rewarding me for noticing it, thanks I guess...

    I activated my ocr technique since it allows me to see clearer, add the fact that I could also magnify the location I want to see if I concentrate further. I scanned this wall not only using my magnified vision but also my spiritual sense, and then I found what I was looking for. There is a hole, blocked by some dirt and a few stones. I swept some of it using my hands, then I saw a piece of iron bar behind it.I frowned and tried pulling the iron bar out but it won''t budge at all. A faint guess emerged in my head but I have to do something first to confirm it.I gathered my spiritual sense and molded it into a thin line, then I inserted it between the gap that I made and then dispersed it there so that whatever it bounces to in there, would be reflected on my Soul Sea.

    The feed I received basically confirmed my guesses, I''m in front of an iron door and it''s currently being blocked by a mound of dirt and stones. Without any hesitation, I started making a ruckus, I didn''t even care if I woke up the rest, I wanted to show them this anyway.I activated the Iron Fist, not to punch the dirt mound, but to make my digging easier. I''m pretty sure I look like a cat scratching some wood but I don''t care. I''m more interested on what''s behind this thing...

    Just like I expected, I disturbed the rest. They gathered behind me, trying to figure out what I''m doing. Alina was about to ask something when Hopper came out of Jackson''s shadow and started imitating me.

    What a cutie, it seems that he figured it out too. Me and Hopper continued at it for a while and then the whole door was uncovered for everyone to see.

    "Is that what I think it is?" Jordan asked.I nodded, "I''ve been feeling some gusts of air earlier and figured out that there might be a hole somewhere. Turns out that there isn''t a hole but an iron door. There''s a long tunnel behind it too." I said while pushing the iron door with a great difficulty.

    As soon as the door opened, we were greeted by a chilling gust of wind, but not particrly dangerous as it doesn''t contain any diamond dusts. The torch Jackson was holding flickered a bit but managed to stay lit. We stared at the tunnel for a while, somewhat hesitating...

    "Should we explore it?" George asked the important question.

    "Who has a bow?" I asked, I just want to check something first. George raised his hand and I told him to take it out. I took the bow from him and dipped the arrow with some oil, then I set it on fire using the torch. I aimed straight ahead and pulled the bow using a moderate strength.I released the shot and mentally counted... but the arrow continued flying until it could no longer be seen.

    "This tunnel is long, that shot covered a good 100 meters and it disappeared which means that it still continues.. I''m down to explore, we have a month to finish the mission anyway. How about you guys?"

 Chapter 114 - Ent

    [A/N: Third person perspective it is. I guess that was a pretty bold move for me huh? Anyway, there might be some First Person Perspective here and there but I''ll make sure to do it sporadically. Off to the chapter then¡­]

    ---

    "This tunnel is long, that shot covered a good 100 meters and it disappeared which means that it still continues. I''m down to explore, we have a month to finish the mission anyway. How about you guys?"

    Raven said which made the rest of the team weigh the situation at hand.

    If Raven was alone, he might''ve already walked down this path, after all he never knew that this tunnel was here before, this is a new discovery for him and he''s very much willing to explore around. But he''s not alone, he can''t even go outside of the walls without permission so he needs to consider their opinion as well.

    "I''m down as well." George said, "The Diamond Dust Eclipse won''t end for the next 9 hours anyway, we could use that time window to see what''s at the end and we could alwayse back here anyway."

    "I vote against it." Alina said which made her the center of attention."I''m getting bad vibes from this. Let''s just stay here and wait until the eclipse ends."

    ''Really now? You''re getting bad vibes from this? Are you sure you even have these so-called ''vibes''dy? ''Cause so far, you''re nothing but a useless piece of baggage.'' Raven mentally thought. He would''ve said this aloud if it weren''t for the fact that he didn''t want to sow discord on the team. But he''s really doubting this woman''s identity, he just can''t figure out how someone like her became an ''adventurer''.

    "Uh¡­" Jordan was caught in a pickle, he stared at the tunnel and weighed his decisions. His curiosity tells him to go, he''s an adventurer for goodness sake! If he''s not going to explore, then he might as well gl back.But his cautiousness was against this, he thought, ''What if Alina''s vibes be true? Then aren''t we just running towards our death?''

    "I-I can''t decide, I''ll just follow you guys¡­" Jordan relented and left the decision to the rest of the team.

    "It''s decided then, let''s go." Jackson replied without hesitation and walked forward to lead the team.Alina bit her lip and Jordan sighed, they have no choice but to follow them unless they want to go in separate ways from the group. Which is a bad idea considering that they were outside the walls where they are exposed to tons of dangers.And thus, the exploration of the tunnel began. The team was rtively silent at first but it was broken down when Raven spoke.

    "We''ve crossed the 100 meter mark, there''s the arrow I shot before." He said while pointing forward. The team saw where he was pointing and made a mental note of it, then they continued exploring for a good while, they must''ve at least covered 490-500 meters by foot ording to Raven''s guess. That''s until George broke the silence.

    "I-I think I smell something¡­" He said while sniffing.This raised the rm of the team and just like him, they too started sniffing around to figure out if George wasn''t just hallucinating.

    "I don''t smell anything¡­" Alina said while still trying to sniff around.

    "Wood and tree sap." Raven spoke on the side.

    "Yeah! That''s it!" George nodded and surprised that Raven was able to tell. He originally thought that the scent was familiar, it turns out that it is, it''s the smell of wood and tree sap mixed together.

    "You could smell it too?" Alina asked, clearly surprised by Raven''s senses. Raven looked at her weirdly and said: "Don''t tell me you weren''t using your energies to amplify your sense of smell¡­"Alina went speechless, she blushed due to embarrassment and started using her energy to enhance her sense of smell. After doing so, she immediately smelled what they were talking about before.

    On the other hand, Raven raised his brow. He turned to George and asked: "How''s this woman on your team? She can''t even amplify her senses using her energies. Then goes of to tell that she''s having bad vibes about this tunnel. What a waste of spot."

    "Why you!-"

    "Woman." As Alina was about to lunged on Raven, a deep and chilling voice echoed behind her. She stiffly turn around and saw Jackson gazing coldly at her. She instantly deted like a balloon and forced herself to swallow the insult.

    Raven just then realized that he contradicted himself, he told to himself not to sow any discord to the team yet he might''ve done just that. Thinking about like this won''t help him either so he just decided to ignore her entirely from now on.

    "W-well! If we could smell wood and tree sap, that should mean that we''re near the exit right?" Jordan interjected to dissolve the awkwardness in the group.

    "Y-yeah!" George hurriedly agreed, "Let''s move on shall we?" The team moved on after that and walked for another 500 meters ording to Raven''s mental calctions. It was then that they saw a faint light at a distance, which means that they''re very near the exit. The smell of wood and tree sap also became more and more obvious that it didn''t require any of them to amplify their sense of smell just to catch whiff of it.

    ''A kilometer long tunnel. Who made this and what''s on the other side?'' Raven asked in his mind.This was his thoughts before a shimmer of light blinded them temporarily as they exited the tunnel.When his vision adjusted, his brain almost went nk when he saw what''s on the other side.

    Massive roots and trunks, think vines hanging from the branches, leaves that almost covers the sky. A thick body that needed at least 12-15 people holding hands just to encircle it, and a smiling old face on the surface of the body, seemingly moving gently as if wanting to tell a story.

    In retrospect, he should''ve known. It should''ve been dead obvious to him what''s waiting for them on the other side. The smell of wood and tree sap, cold but fresh gusts of wind, those are dead giveaways of what this thing is.

    "Unbelievable!" Jackson eximed. "A Kind Ent! It looks very ancient too!"

    Yes, this is what weed them on the other side of the tunnel. A towering Kind Ent.

    "So that''s why we didn''t see any Diamond Dusts around, it turns out that the ent was eating it!" Jordan eximed, clearly astounded by the sight as well.

    Since there were no dangers around earlier, trekking one kilometer of distance only took them an hour or so, which technically means that the Diamond Dust Eclipse is still on going at this point. At first, they find it strange that they didn''te across with any Diamond Dust at all now the reason why is clear. Ents are a special kind of beasts. They are first regr trees but mutated due to their environment. Some of them could be dangerous and hostile while others are not, like a Kind Ent.Kind Ents aren''t carnivores, they absorb energies on their surroundings to eat and Diamond Dusts are their favorites. The scent they exclude is also special because it has a calming effect to beasts whoes near it, meaning that their aggression would be heavily turned down. This causes them to be somewhat of a guardian to beast, and they love building their nests of habitats near them since Kind Ents are considered as a safe environment for them.

    "Iiiiieeeee-aaaaaeee-ooooouuuuu?" The ent emitted a deep grating sound from it''s mouth. The sound echoed across all corners of the ce and even permeated at the tunnel behind them. It sounded ethereal and ancient, like a sage passing down forgotten knowledge of the past to it''s descendants. The team didn''t know what was going on, all they felt was that the treant''s voice sent chills down their spine but it doesn''t contain any malice, it felt more like curiosity instead.

    "We mean you no harm, Elder. We are weary travellers who seek for a ce to rest while the eclipse rages on."

    Raven spoke which surprised the whole team. George sneakily leaned towards Jordan and asked:

    "Is he talking to it?"

    "Looks like it, you think they could understand each other?"

    "Beats me!"

    "Ooooooooooomm-aaaaaiiiieeeee-hooooooooooo." [A/N: Shindeiru. LOL]

    "Thank you, Elder. We''ll be in your care." Raven bowed towards the ent. The rest didn''t know what was going on but it''s obvious that Raven couldmunicate with ent. And when they saw them bow, they too followed suit, they didn''t know why they did so either but it seemed to work.Suddenly, a thick root emerged underground.. It wiggled and stopped in front of them, the team was puzzled and Raven became aware of it so he exined: "Get in, he''ll take to a ce where we could camp for the night."

 Chapter 115 - Mindscape

    ---

    Still mildly confused about what''s happening, the team relented and hopped on to the tree root that''s suspended in front of them.

    As soon as they did, the root started to move and take them to the ce where they could temporarily spend the night ording to Raven.

    Despite being night time, the ce is well lit due to dozens of fireflies dancing all over the ce. They are scattered in every tree, herb, flower, and other things, seemingly socializing with each other. The team also saw several beasts sleeping peacefully in between roots and nests that the Kind Ent has provided them. In the wild, these beasts would be very aggressive but inside the Ent''s domain, they are neutral and minded their own business.

    "I didn''t know you could understand thenguage of Ents." Jackson said to Raven while admiring the scenery as the root moved.

    "It''s not hard actually¡­" Raven replied, "Kind Ents are inherently wise, they prefer diplomacy over violence. The trick is to not pay attention to how they speak their words, unlike humans, their vocal cords aren''t well developed. Using you Spirit to understand them is the key. Like how youmunicate with Hopper or anypanion beasts."

    For those who haven''t had any experience withmunicating with beasts, the method that Raven spoke off would be more challenging to them. But for those who have, it would be easier since all they have to do is to attune their minds towards the ents, like they would normally do with their beastpanions.

    "Where did you learn all of this?" Jordan asked.

    "Reading the Beastiary on Libraries. It''s prettymon everywhere in the Kingdom, I''m not one who blindly goes in without doing some minor research." Raven replied non-chntly.For some reason, his words struck a sore spot on the Adventurers, they felt like he was pertaining to them but this is not his intention at all, he just merely answered their question that''s all.

    The root of the Ent took them to the promised location after a few minutes. They travelled a fair distance away from the ent and the beasts around it. From what Raven could tell, they are a bit on the outer reaches of the ent''s domain, on a spot where there aren''t any beasts around too. They hopped down from the ent root when it stopped, the location that was provided to them seems to be an enclosed area where there are tall bushes and thick vines serving as their wall from rest. The grass around them is trimmed and there''s also a wide variety of fruits and root vegetables around them. Not too far away from them, there''s also a clear stream of water which they could use to either clean themselves or catch fish for food.

    "Many thanks, Elder." Raven spoke and bowed to the ent. The team followed suit and bowed as well. They watched as the root sunk itself underground and disappeared from site.

    "Oh right! Few reminders everyone." Raven caught the attention of the team to inform them something very important."First, aggression is forbidden here. If you see any wandering beasts, they''re pretty much a denizen of the Ent. They won''t attack so don''t attack them either. Second, don''t cut away any nts, herbs or chop some trees, the ent would be mad and kick us out. Harvesting some crops and fruits are fine. Third is about fires, if you''re going to cook something, do it by the stream over there, that is to ensure that if any ident urs, fire won''t spread everywhere. Also, don''t throw trash anywhere. Got it?"

    The team nodded though somewhat puzzled by those strange rules. They wondered on how Raven was aware of these rules, yet again he already proven himself to be knowledgable and the rules he listed makes sense anyway, so there''s no harm on following them. And it''s not like they''re going to stay here for a long time anyway, they''re just here for the night and for the Diamond Dust Eclipse to be over and they''ll continue their journey along.

    "Alright, let''s make camp." Raven said and team moved to do some chores to build up the camp. Jordan, Jackson and George went over and built the tents, Alina ran off to the stream to clean herself and Raven harvested some vegetables and fruits for them to eat. He also took out some preserved meat as well as some tes they could use.

    After doing all of this, he went beside the stream and set up a bonfire. He used wooden nks and twigs that are scattered everywhere, this isn''t considered a vition of rules so it was okay for him to do this.

    Not long after, a steaming hot soup was ready and some side dishes as well. The team gathered around the campfire and ate, they talked some things here and there but it''s clear that the awkward atmosphere is still there. No one forced anything nor confronted anyone either, they just sat in ufortable silence as they went towards their respective tents and turned themselves in for the night. As for Raven¡­He could be found inside his own tent as well, but unlike the rest, he doesn''t n on sleeping just yet nor nning on going inside the Crown Space either. His goal tonight is something else.

    He''s sitting down on his tent with his eyes closed, he sank into deep meditation while his spirit vibrates and permeated onto the ground.

    As his Spiritual Energies spread, it touched one of the roots of the Kind Ent, he followed it consciously as it was absorbed in the root. Then he found his consciousness being absorbed and traveling towards argework of roots and branches, he grounded himself in order to not have his consciousness dispersed by the will of the Ent. He then take a careful look around around and traced thework towards the main body of the Ent.

    After which, he then followed the path he traced and arrived at the mindscape of the Kind Ent.

    "Introduce yourself, Intruder."A vast, majestic and ancient voice rang on Raven''s ears. His vision adjusted and saw the scenery inside the mindscape of the ent.

    Calling it Paradise won''t be an exaggeration. It was a very brightly lit ce, golden curtains of light permeating everywhere and shining down profound golden brilliance to creations. Myriad flora and fauna, branches reaching for the skies and serene songs of birds that sounded like a heavenly tune.In the middle of the mindscape, there is a glowing orb with several roots binding it in ce. Some of these roots are connected to the skies above while the others are connected to the ground below.

    "My name is Raven. I apologize for intruding your mindscape Elder." Raven sped his hand and bowed towards the orb.

    "Ah¡­" the disembodied voice from the orb spoke once more, "The little one from earlier. I didn''t know you were pretending to be a child."

    The voice made Raven frown, but he did some introspection and figured out why it said that. Raven, having experienced Soul Rebirth, doesn''t actually appear as a child in his Spirit Form unless he consciously willed to appear like so.

    "Hmm?¡­" the voice spoke once more, "How curious. You are an adult, but at the same time, you aren''t. How peculiar¡­"

    There is a thick curiosity on the orb''s voice as it closely inspected Raven. This is the first time that it encountered someone like him. The orb could tell that Raven was indeed an adult and in fact, he was old, very old. But at the same time, it could feel that he''s also teeming with youthful vigor, one that cannot be faked and could only be possessed by the younger humans.

    "State thy purpose, little one. What brings you to my core?"

    "I wanna know if Elder has any stories to tell¡­" Raven smiled, went closer and sat down in front of orb.

    "Oh? Little one wants to hear stories from dear old me? Are you sure you won''t snooze while my story unfolds?"

    "I won''t snooze Elder, I want to hear some stories." Raven nodded and said.

    "Very well¡­" the orb said, "Hmm¡­ how to begin?" It trailed off for a bit and then continued.

    "Why don''t we start at the story of my birth? Yes, that is a good idea!"

    "I remember that I was nothing but a mere Oak Tree. The world was too vast for me to understand. I longed to wander it''s ins, to see what''s beyond the forests, to meet other races, to find where my calling leads me to. But I remembered that I was nothing but a mere Oak Tree."

    "My roots are firmly nted to the ground beneath me, and should I ever leave where I stood, I will die. So I was forced to remain in ce, even though I long to walk thends and pursue my deep longings. But then again, I am nothing but a mere Oak Tree."

    "Time passed by and I knew that my life is nearing to an end. Be it as it may, I am willing to go away. However, my longing still remained, still I wondered; ''Since I''m going to die anyway, why not die in my own way?'' "

    "And as I took my first step, the words ''I am nothing but a mere Oak Tree'' faded away."

 Chapter 116 - Wood Gate

    ---

    Raven continued listening to the stories of the ent. Despite itsnguage being somewhat old and confusing, he still managed to piece out details of what it is trying to say.

    Basically, the Ent was just a regr Oak Tree before but somewhat special since it has a tiny consciousness inside. By his guesses, this might be because of exposure to wild and untamed energies of the Wilderness. This tiny consciousness longed to walk the nes and go to different ces, however it is an Oak Tree, and trees can''t walk. That''s why even if it really wanted to go adventuring, it can''t. As the Oak Tree aged and nearing the end of it''s natural lifespan, it made an exclusive decision to take one step from it''s position, it didn''t care it will die after that one step since it''s longing was that strong that it refuses to go without even trying.

    And because it defied the Natural Laws, it experienced Demonification and evolved into an Ent, still a tree but can walk and go to venture othernds.Raven asked for more stories, deep down he truly wanted to know more about the ent since it''s not just everyday where you meet an intelligent and ancient lifeform.

    Of course, the ent would be more than willing to tell him more. Based on Beastiaries he read somewhere, Kind Ents are the most talkative type, like a grandfather who always reminisce on their youthful memories, Kind Ents loved imparting knowledges specially to those who thirsts for it.With the continuous story telling, Raven eventually found out that this Ent is about 5000 years old. Which is mind blowing for him since that basically means that this Ent already existed long before the Previous Era ended!

    It''s currently Year 1720 of the Dawn Era, the Lighshield Royal Family had been ruling for about 500 years so far. The previous era, which is the Dark Erasted for only 20,000 years! This means that on thest stretches of the Sunset Era, this ent already experienced Demonification and roamed the grand ancestral nes! And when the new era was ushered, this ent was there as well! This Kind Ent is even older that the current King! How awesome is that? With this new found knowledge, Raven was even more eager to hear the stories of the ent. 5000 years is no joke! Specially for a mentally aware Ent, the loneliness that it has to bear could drown anyone in sorrow, but to think that it''s still arrive and settled down near his home, maybe he could do something with this new found information.

    Raven did ask why it chose to settle down near the Kingdom, and this is what it said.

    "I am old Little One. This is not the first time that I met your kind nor the first time that I''ve talked to humans as well, there were times that I was forced to deal with your kind as well."

    "I''ve experienced far too many things in my 5000 years of life. I''ve faced many dangers as well as many opportunities which I often find myself reminiscing to whenever I can."

    "It was a time when dear old me encountered a difficult situation. Some of your kind wanted to hunt me in order to harvest my core. They said that my core is useful to them so they went after me a couple of times. I tried pushing them away without harming them, but they endanger the ones I protect as well, so I had to deal with them. It then came to a point where I was pushed to the brink of death when someone, a Little One like you, saved from their clutches."

    "His name is Arthur, and he befriended me and kept me safe and offered me sce and peace near this current civilization of yours."

    ''Wait! Arthur? You don''t mean¡­''

    "Come to think of it, he''s an impressive one. A wise little prince who prefer to seek understanding with other races in hopes to co-exist, unfortunately some of your kind see this as a weakness and deemed him unfit to be a ruler. Nevertheless, he saved me and in return, when he was exiled I provided him home. Yes, this is the ce where we stayed, the tunnel that you came out from was something that he personally made in order to sneak in to his home and gather intelligence."

    ''Holy crap! It really is Him!''

    "Even though he was exiled from his home, he still deeply cared for it. Despite the unfairness he received, he''s still willing to die for them in order to ensure their safety."

    "With his hardwork and kind heart, your people started looking up to him, so much so that they started trusting him again and officially made him their ruler. Despite that, he still goes out of his way to visit me and tell me how his home was doing."

    "Eventually, old age caught up to him. And during hisst visit, we reminisced about our friendship and everything that had happened. In the end, he asked a small request to me and that is too watch over his descendants, and if possible provide them help If I could."

    "To honor his request, I stationed here, constantly asking the Birds visit them and ask how they are doing. I''ll see through it that so long as his bloodline remained, I will watch over them. I will honor our karmic ties to the best of my abilities."

    Knowing this unknowingly made Raven smile. "It seems that I should bring her here to pay respects to you. Come to think of it, you could be considered as her great godfather."

    "Hmm? What do you mean little one.

    "Raven didn''t say anything, instead he opened his mind and sent a mental link towards the core of the ent. As this link connected, the Ent captured images of Luna. Raven showed the ent of her childhood, the experiences she suffered, her training, and their moments together as friends.

    As the Ent viewed these memories, it''s core faintly shivered. After a while of silence, it then talked.

    "She looks just like Melissa." The orb sighed, "Poor girl, forced to abandon her home to carry a heavy burden with her. She is very fortunate to meet you, and on behalf of Arthur and Melissa, thank you looking out for her."

    "Don''t mention it." Raven smiled and waved his hand, "It''s something that I should do."

    "Lucas, Arthur''s son. Balmung and Luna, his grandchildren. It''s a pity that he didn''t have the chance to meet any of them. But I''m sure that he will be proud of them."

    "Yeah¡­" Raven whispered, "He sure will."

    All of the sudden, the orb shook fiercely and shot a glob of green glow towards Raven. Having caught unprepared, Raven''s eyes widened like saucers as he felt a majestic and rich energy trying to invade his Energy Network.He looked up with difficulty, wanting to ask the ent about it''s motives, but he was unable to talk due to the sheer density of the energy invading him.

    "Don''t fight it, Little One. I mean you no harm." The ent said, "Consider this as a little gift for looking out for her."

    Raven was a bit confused but he decided to trust the ent. He lowered his defences down and allowed the invading energy to his ownworkA flood of vibrant energy threatened to drown him, nevertheless he could also tell that this vibrant energy doesn''t have any malicious intent at all, he''s just having a bit of difficulty handling it due to it''s sheer density.

    The viscous energy seeped into every pore of his body, Raven felt his spirit be incredibly lively, this is also happening to his real body which is miles away from where his spirit right now. If Raven absorbs all of this energy, he will inevitably waste some of it since his energywork can''t handle all of it. This is the time when he remembered that he could redirect the excess energy to somewhere else.

    With a firmmand of his will, a circle formation with several ancient markings appeared on his back. One of the said markings appeared to be especially brilliant as of this moment.

    Great Elemental Gates of the Body Path. Raven decided to redirect the excess energy to the Wood Gate on his back and coincidentally, the gate also hungers for that viscous energy as well, which is why it is emitting a wild glow right now.

    The gate shifted and opened wide, it then greedily swallowed the invading energy wantonly like a whale. Raven felt himself growing stronger and stronger as each seconds passed. As the Great Wood Gate opened, he felt that his lost lifespan was returning to him plus some extra. His hair was being lifted by a mysterious sources and was also growing by inches as time passed. His whole body vibrated and ayer of old skin was being peeled away revealing a toned and fairer skin. His muscles are also tightening up and hugging his bones closer, he could also feel that all of his sense were being strengthened along with his organs. With one final gulp, the viscous energy was gobbled up and mark for the Great Wood Gate disappeared from his back.. It was also the time when Raven felt an intense closeness towards nature.

 Chapter 117 - Journey Continues

    ---

    Great Wood Elemental Gate, opened! That is 1 out of 9 gates to fullpletion.

    And it seems that Raven also received an extra.

    Mid-Soldier Realm, achieved as well! His strength just encountered a huge boost, and just like everyone says: Strength equals Confidence. He''s now more confident that he would return from this trip just fine. The consciousness that he sent inside the Ent''s core woke up. He bowed down and expressed his deepest gratitude for the Ent''s help. In his mind he swore that he would return the kindness that he received and honor the Karma that they had together.

    "Off you go now, Little One. May you and your people have a safe trip in this dangerous ce."

    "Thank you for your kind words, Elder."

    After saying this, Raven''s piece of consciousness withdrawn from the ent''s core and went back to his body. He opened his eyes and stood up only to hear his joints creak with pleasure. He let out a satisfied grown and briefly did some mental calctions of his current strength.

    "Due to the disparity of Cultivation Bases along with the techniques I possess, fighting anyone who reached Peak-Warrior Realm should be no problem to me. Maybe I could scuffle with Junior Knight for a little while as well. Anyways, so long as it''s not a Veteran Knight or anything above, I am confident of escaping."

    He muttered under his breath. He walked out of his tent and saw that the sun was starting to rise from the horizon. He made a quick stop at the stream to clean up his body since there are still some pieces of old skin stuck from his clothing and his body. After cleaning himself up, he noticed that his skin actually lighten visibly.

    "My skin tone just cycles from bronze to fair each breakthrough, maybe I should stay out of the sun for too long from now on. Unless of course, if it''s absolutely necessary."

    He also noticed that his hair had grown to reach his waists, before his breakthrough it was only touching his elbows. Shaking his head, he tied it onto a ponytail and while some was left on the sides of his face. He also visibly grown taller too, just that round of breakthrough added at least five inches on his height. Before, he stood at least 5.9", now his height shot up to 6.2" which is very tall for a 14 year old.

    Chuckling at his changes, he went back to the camp and saw that Jackson was already up. From the looks of it, he''s nning to train with Hopper but stopped since they saw him.

    Hopper went up to say hi to him while Jackson stared at him for a good moment.

    "You had a breakthrough?" He asked, Raven nodded and replied.

    "Yeah, I''ve been stuck at the peak of Early-Soldier Realm for a while now, I had a sudden inspirationst night and had a breakthrough." He said while petting Hopper.

    ''That''s absurd.'' Jackson mentally thought while smiling wryly, ''When I was at his age, I wasn''t even at Soldier Realm. And when I was at Soldier Realm, it took me 3 months to advance a minor realm. But him, and maybe his friends as well, didn''t even took a whole month to make a breakthrough. Just how did he train?''

    "Oh right! Did you manage to orient where we go after this?" Raven asked, to which Jackson nodded.

    "We didn''t strayed far enough from the destination, the general direction of where we should go is also straight ahead from this ce, so we shouldn''t have a hard time making it back."

    The journey of the team so far went like this...Not even 200 meters away from the walls of the Kingdom they faced a natural danger which is the Diamond Dust Eclipse. Making it back to the walls is simply impossible before the eclipse ured so they were forced to look for a hiding ce. Luckily, Raven found a pit no too far from the main road, they used it to hide for a period of time and while they were underneath, Raven found a hidden entrance leading to somewhere unknown. After going through the tunnel, they ended up within the Ent''s domain and now they were here.From Jackson''s calctions, the main road isn''t far from where they''re at. They should make it back before noon, then their journey towards the mission site should continue.Raven yed with Hopper for a while and left to prepare a meal for the team. After eating, they went ahead to do their personal stuff before regrouping to head out. They gave one final bow towards the direction of the ent and off they go towards the main road.

    "We''re out of the Ent''s domain, that means that danger surrounds us once more. Stay alert and try not to make as much noise as possible." Jackson warned the team.The solemn atmosphere descended and everyone raised their senses to the maximum. Raven red his spiritual sense once more to look for any signs of danger.

    As they walked out of their safe haven, they already saw the devastation that the Diamond Dust Eclipse did to the area.

    Fallen trees, shredded nts, brittle barks, ruined fields, corpses of unlucky beasts and more, all scattered everywhere piecing out a scene of disaster.

    Thend is also field with what looks to be snow but isn''t. These are diamond dusts, or at leasts what''s left of them, if anyone looked at them closely for a while, they will see that each piece of dust are losing their glimmer as time goes on.

    This is because it''s dispersing the energies it absorbed back to it''s surroundings. Once it releases everything it absorbed, it will disperse into nothingness and only leave devastation around. But the energy it releases will help new life bloom on it''s ce, the purity of energies that it releases are pretty decent too so it wouldn''t take too much time before the Wilderness is back to it''s tip top shape.

    But despite of devastation that took ce, the team would have to be even careful on their tracks. 10 hours is a long time, too many things could happen in an hour much less 10. The more aggressive beasts must already been out and alreadyying an ambush for any unsuspected victims, specially now that some beasts must be starving already. All hell would break loose if they made one careless mistake here.

    "Stop." Jackson said softly, Raven pulled the team down to hide immediately since he was also aware of why Jackson told them to stop.They ducked inside a thick bush and stared straight ahead. Raven signalled the rest to not utter any sound. He red his spiritual sense once more and saw the scene in front of them.

    A beast lied, resting in an open space. It is a four legged beast with a menacing set of fangs, a glorious red and white stripes on its body, razor sharp ws, and two small horns on it''s head.It is Blood Burst Tiger.

    Something that could ce them in dire danger should it wake up.From Raven''s guesses, this Blood Burst Tiger should be equivalent to a Peak-Warrior Realm to Half-Step Junior Knight Realm expert. But what made this beast dangerous is it''s tendency to enter a Berserk State when it faces danger.

    The Berserk Stage amplifies its striking power, speed, and ferocity by at least double, what''s worse is that itst for a whole 10 minutes and has no side-effects. But if it''s only this, then Jackson is more than capable of handling this. After all, he himself is a Peak-Junior Knight, and along with hopper and of course Raven, taking down this beast should he a piece of cake.

    Well, what if they included the thing behind the opposite bush? It''s very clear that this beast is a hunter, if it weren''t Hopper, Jackson might''ve already walked in carelessly. Raven noticed this beast at the same time as Jackson did because of the range limitation on his Spiritual Sense. The dead giveaway was a red gleam in the eyes of what''s behind that bush, now anyone who''s not paying will certainly miss that and it would result in their deaths. Raven red his spiritual sense in full bloom and inspected the hiding predator closely, he even turned on his ocr technique for this.The beast behind the bush is also a four legged creature. It has a thick brown colored fur, enormous ws and deadly fangs, a wicked looking red-eyes, bulky body, and a majestic garb of red mane on it''s neck.There is no doubt on his mind that this is a Fire-Spitting Lion. It''s a beast that, by physical abilities alone, could rival a Junior Knight powerhouse. Add the fact that that it could also spit balls of fire or even cover its whole body in mes makes it harder to deal with. Seeing this beast here gave the idea that it should be hunting this tiger and just looking for a change to pounce on it when it was spotted by the team.

    Just as when Jackson was about to signal the retreat, the bush where the lion was, shook fiercely.

    ''Shit!''

 Chapter 118 - FaceOff

    ---The team''s blood froze as they heard the ruffling of the bush, following that the Fire-Spitting Lion''s body shed and went straight towards the resting tiger.

    Hearing the noise, the Blood Burst Tiger woke up and immediately searched for any potential dangers, to which it saw the lion ferociously sprinting towards its location. A deep snarl came out of the tiger''s throat as it hurriedly went on fours but the lion was too fast and if the tiger didn''t do anything, it may never stand up again.

    It seems that the lion knows this as well so with a mighty leap, it pounced on to the tiger to not give it any chance to retaliate. However at thest moment before the lion made contact with the tiger''s body, the tiger spun and pped the lion using it''s tail mid-air.

    This caused the lion to miss bearing it''s fangs on the tiger''s body, which also allowed it to stand up and face the lion properly.

    The two beasts stared at each other, sizing their foes with rapt attention. The tiger realized that it was outssed and wanted to escape but the lion was watching it closely, and will react to anything the tiger ns to do be it escaping or facing it straight on.

    The stare downsted for a while, they snarled at each other multiple times, several threatening growls and feinting advancester, the lion seemed to lost its patience and decided to take initiative.It pounced once more, and during it''s sprint it''s body lit up with mes and it''s eyes glowed with fierce red light. The image it left on the team was truly menacing, somehow its red mane seemed to pulse with fire, those ming paws which left a burnt mark wherever it passes, that shing red eyes which belonged to hunter and that ferociousness is truly fit for the King of the Jungle.

    Realizing it''s dangerous position, the Blood Burst Tiger lowered it''s posture. A deep guttural roar emerged from it''s mouth and suddenly the red stripes on it''s body seemed to havee to life.

    Its fur stood up, an aura tinged with ck hue covered its body. The tiger''s eyes also turned a deep shade of red, its fangs seemed to be longer as well as its ws. All of the fear that it has was gone and the only thing that it has, is a deep bloodlust. It wants to shred this lion into pieces, chew on its flesh, gnaw on its bones, sever its head and ce it around its territory to serve as a warning to others.''

    It entered berserk mode.'' Raven thought while watching.He nced shortly at the people beside him. Jackson was watching the battle with rapt attention, Jordan was sweating but is also staring, George was fascinated but nervous, and Alina had her eyes closed in a prayer, asking the gods above to save her from danger.

    Raven shook his head as he saw this. This woman is no adventurer, no one could tell him otherwise. He turned back his attention to the battle and prepared for any emergency situations, just in case.

    The tiger managed to dodge the pounce of the lion, it also delivered a counter attack by scratching its face. The lion was hit by not too serious as it also sensed the attack before it connected. Nevertheless, it was first blood for the tiger and this did not sit well to the lion.

    The tiger was also hurt from that exchange, the fire around the lion''s body roasted it''s left paw but because of the berserk state its in, it didn''t notice that.

    With a deep and ferocious howl, the lion pounced once more, the tiger dodged but as soon as it did, a fireball came out of the lion''s mouth and hit the tiger square on the face.The tiger emitted a pain howl, the lionnded and pounced once more. A fireball in the face is a pain that not even the berserk state could ignore, nevertheless the pain was still minimized and the tiger was able to dodge during thest second before lion did a real damage to it''s body.

    While it dodged, the tiger''s tail slithered like a steel whip and poked the eye of the lion. It was now the lion''s turn to emit a painful howl. The tiger used this chance to deliver a serious attack. The tiger pounced and took a bite out of the lion''s neck. The lion felt the long and sharp fangs of the tiger sank on the flesh of its neck, it growled with unprecedented ferocity and tried to shake off the tiger but it won''t let go. Needless to say, the tiger was also taking damages, it''s mouth is being seared due to the mes around the lion''s body, but that wasn''t enough to stop it.

    With its rich battle experiences, the lion had an idea. It stopped shaking off the tiger and instead focused its mind on strengthening the mes that covered its body. The mes surrounding the lion burned with resplendence, the tiger didn''t want to let go but it has to.

    When it backed off, it''s mouth was smoking and the smell of burning flesh was present. The team could see that it''s tongue waspletely seared along with some parts of its nose and the fur covering those areas are burnt as well.Free from the tiger''s clutches, the lion once again spat a fireball towards the tiger. It missed because the tiger evaded but sh didn''t stop. Every once and a while the lion will spit fireballs and the tiger will always evade it, then they would proceed to bite or scratch each other. As time goes on, both of them were severely injured. The lion has multiple scratches on its body but its most serious injury was the deep wound from its neck, it came from the bite of the tiger earlier. It is still bleeding but not noticeable since the mes burned it off before it stained its fur. The other serious injury was on the eye, which came from the tiger poking its tail on it. The tiger could only somewhat see on the injured eye which causes it to miss the tiger multiple times.

    As for the tiger, its also badly injured. Its mouth is totally seared from mes on the body of the lion. It''s tail is now missing since the lion caught it and bit it off. There''s also several wounds on the sides of it''s body, some of it were deep ones which stained its fur red from blood.

    Both of the beast had a short stare down, the lion then tried to spit a fireball, the tiger familiar with the attack evaded but it turned out that it didn''t have to since nothing came out from the lion''s mouth. The mes on its body was close to being snuffed out as well.

    The pulsing red eyes of the tiger shed and its predatory instincts screamed ''Kill!'' But before it could do so, the tiger regained its deep maple colored eyes, the ck aura covering its body disappeared and the red stripes on its body became less pronounced. It became a little bit confused and also winced because it felt the sting of the wounds from its body.

    Ten minutes has passed and it berserk mode ended. Because of the berserk state, the pain receptors of the tiger was somewhat numbed which allowed it to ignore the some minor pain, like stings of the wound, earlier. But now that the berserk mode ended, the pain caught up and reminded the tiger of it''s insanity earlier.

    Both beast, severely weakened due to multiple shes, stare at each other down. The lion took initiative once more and once again the tiger dodged. What''s different is that the lion''s attack still connected because the agility of the tiger was lessened due to berserk state ending as well.

    Now the realization dawned up on the tiger, it was severely outssed from the very beginning and should''ve fleed right from the start.And because of this realization, it did what other beast of its position would do as well. That is..to escape.

    It turned tail and hurriedly ran. Its direction? The bush where Raven and his team where hiding. Seeing the beast running towards their location made their faces ugly. Well, all except for one.

    Raven already had an idea of this scenario happening, so he ced on hand on Jackson''s shoulder. Jackson looked at him and saw Raven nodded towards him. A gleam appeared on his eyes as he realized what Raven wanted to do. He nodded as well and began giving instructions to Hopper, who stealthily moved between bushes. Jackson took out his weapon, a spear, and prepared for the right timing.As the tiger arrived closer and closer to the bush with lion hot on it''s tracks, Raven watched closely and waited for the perfect timing to release the signal.Inches away from where they were hiding, the tiger jumped. But that jumped was a big mistake and it realized that when it heard as sound.

    "Now!"

 Chapter 119 - Kill!

    ---

    Jackson felt the familiar sensation of his spear sinking into a flesh, an indicator that his thrust prated the belly of the Blood Burst Tiger. The beast''s eyes widened in disbelief and it tried to struggle free from the spear tip, however instead of freeing itself, its struggles proved to only wedge the spear tip deeper onto it''s body. Blood flow on the corners of its mouth and it red hatefully at the human that impaled it, but no matter how much hate are in those eyes, Jackson returned an even colder gaze to it.

    "Jordan, George! Take care of the lion. It''s severely weakened right now! Don''t let it escape!" Raven hurriedly said as he saw Jackson sessfully impaling the tiger.

    The two men panicked for a bit and scrambled to take out their weapons. It is very clear that they''re not hiding anymore. Unknowingly, the phrase: "Mantis stalks the Cicada, unaware of the Oriole behind." Became the situation that they''re currently in.

    Both of them took out their sword and leapt out of the bush, they then rushed forward and faced the weakened lion to prevent it from running away. A ferocious roar came out of the lion, but its wounds greatly nullified the intimidation it gives which means that it was incapable of scaring neither Jordan nor George for that matter.While the two faced the lion, Raven ced his attention to the tiger. As Jackson''s spear was still embedded to it''s chest, Raven rushed forward and faced it directly. He clenched his hand into a fist and threw out a punch, when the tiger saw this, it attempted to bite of his hand but before it connected, Raven feinted his attack and instead grabbed both the top of its head and its jaw.

    He grunted roughly and with one strong twist, the neck of the tiger snapped and its eyes lost their brilliance. The tiger fell limp on Jackson''s spear tip signifying its death.Meanwhile, Jordan and George had not been idle. They tried to corner the beast a couple of times by shing away at it, making sure that it does not have any time to rest between attacks. Their goal is to exhaust the lion even further to make sure that it won''t even have the slightest energy to run awayter.

    "Harvest whatever we could get from it, I''ll go help the two." Raven said as he rushed forward to help Jordan and George. When he arrived by their side, the lion immediately growled and changed targets. Directly ignoring the two, it rushed forward and pounced on Raven, clearly wanting to chew on his flesh. Unfortunately, it picked the wrong target¡­

    "Hmph! Vile beast! Think that I''m a pushover? Come then! I''ll show you!" Raven grinned maliciously as he assumed a stance.

    Jordan and George perspired nervously as the beast sessfully passed through them and went for Raven instead. They tried to catch it but they reacted a bitte, the lion was already pouncing towards him. Just as they thought that Raven was done for, his body spun vertically and the heel of his foot struck the head of the lion.The lion plummeted on the ground like a meteor, kicking a cloud of dust as it did. Raven''s kick contained all the force he could muster, and he was pretty sure that this lion is suffering from hemorrhage right now. Trickled of blooding out of its ears was a clear indication that it was severly injured with that exchange, the mes on its body were directly snuffed out and the lion can''t even muster up enough energy to stand back up.

    "End it now!" Raven said. Jordan and George blurred into action. Grunting loudly, their swords impaled the beast. George impaled its back all the way to its heart and Jordan stabbed its head all the way down to its jaws. With both beasts down, the team finally heaved a sigh of relief and rxed. It was at this moment that both Jordan and George felt that their backs were actually soaked with sweat right now. And this is from barely doing anything. All they did was to make sure that the lion won''t escape, it was Raven who made it possible for them to kill it, yet the stress and pressure they felt was enough to make them feel like they ran for a couple of miles.

    While the two spent time to catch their breaths, Raven went towards the carcass of the lion and quickly went to work. He summoned a couple of old papers from his spatial ring and covered the carcass of the lion with it. After that, he took out some ropes and tied the carcass nicely before cing it on his other spatial ring. He then faced the two and said: "I''ll hand over your share once we get back and sell this."Jordan and George was surprised to say the least. They weren''t expecting him to even consider giving them a share since what they did was negligible. But Raven''s tone offered no refusal so they could only ept and thank him.

    The three went back to where Jackson and Alina is, they saw that he was already done harvesting the Tiger while Alina, was still drying up her tears behind the bush. "Let''s move away from this ce as soon as we can. The sh and the smell of blood will attract other beasts in here." Jackson exined earning nods from the team.

    Without any further ado, they stood up and moved along. Minutes after their departure, a couple of beast showed up in that ce, searching for that delicious smell of blood that they smelled earlier. But instead of finding food, they will instead find other beasts who are also looking for food. And since two predators met, it will inevitably result in a huge fight.Good thing that the team is long from there.

    ***

    The team went along the suggested path, on their way they did their outmost best to stay hidden and remain alert to their surroundings.The situation earlier is just one instance that one could never be too careful in the middle of this wilderness. They were forced to stop on their tracks multiple times because of activities near them. Sometimes, they needed to spend a couple of minutes before moving, while other times they have to stay low for longer. Since it''s out of their sensory capabilities, they guessed that some of those activities were from beasts moving around and hunting for food, either that or these beasts are just migrating. Either way, they took their time and proceeded with caution, they don''t want to be stuck between a rock and hard ce again.

    As time went on, they approached the point of investigation closer but dusk was fast approaching so they were forced to search for a ce to rest. Luckily, they found a cave rtively close by and it''s hidden behind a shrubs which serves as a natural concealment for them.

    They went in, and after making sure that it wasn''t a nest of some sort of beast, they decided to settle down and rest for the night.

    The team was visibly exhausted, being ced at a constant danger truly take its toll on their body. This is specially true for Jackson and Raven.The stress of constantly observing for any potential danger and giving mentalmands, plus dealing with the disorienting Shared Vision from Hopper really exhausted Jackson. In fact, Hopper was also exhausted.

    As for Raven, he''s faring a little bit betterpared to Jackson since he''s only using his Spiritual Sense and his ocr technique from time to time. Add the fact that he''s no ordinary child, of course he had it better that the rest. But it''s only the two of them who''s doing all the work, and he doesn''t trust these people enough to rx while he''s with them so he''s exhausted as well.

    The Adventurers knew this very well, specially Alina.

    She knows just how useless she is. She is aware that she''s just a useless baggage right now, that''s why she haven''t even said a word so far, in case that she sows further discord to the team and cause them to leave her behind to die. Alina don''t want to die just yet, and if not saying anything will save, then she will remain silent for the rest of this journey, count on it.

    Jordan and Alina took the initiative to cook for the team while the rest built up tents. Once he finished up his tent, Raven went in and cleaned himself of all the grime from his body and made sure to apply some medicine from all the scratches he received, he didn''t even remember where he got these from but just in case something poisonous injured him, he might as well take care of it.

    Besides, having the Great Wood Elemental Gate opened gave him absolute immunity towards weaker poisons, so it''s not like he has to worry about it too much.

    After cleaning himself, he went out of the tent and ate with the team.. After briefly discussing their agenda tomorrow, each of them went on their tents and slept like logs.

 Chapter 120 - Illusion

    ---

    The team woke up the next day and as usual, Raven was the first to be up.After doing a set of warm up exercises, he took care of today''s breakfast and waited until the rest was up.

    It didn''t took long before the rest was up and had already eaten breakfast. After taking care of business and discussing their agenda, they went out of the cave and once again went on their way to the investigation point.

    As usual, Jackson had Hopper scouting in front while he looked at the shared vision between them, Raven was constantly pulsing his Spiritual Sense, making sure that there is no danger around. The adventurers also scouted using their own methods, this secured that no one will miss any sign of danger.

    If there is a time for them to be even more careful, it would be now. As they moved along, they are fast approaching the true Red Zone of this vast wilderness. Only the 5 kilometers within the kingdom''s radius is deemed ''safe''. This route that they are following was supposed to be the safest amongst them but due to the cases of adventurers and Lair Hunters not returning after taking this route, they were forced to investigate it and find out what''s wrong.

    The team walked for a while, they continued doing so until Jackson raised his hand and signalled for a quick huddle. He also recalled Hopper by his side while they discussed things.

    "Alright, ording to my calctions from this point onwards we are less than 50 meters away from the edge of the Yellow Zone, which means that what you see in front of you is our point of investigation." The team nodded in acknowledgement from his words.

    "Now you." Jackson turned towards Jordan who was startled. "Prior to our expedition, do you have any ns for when you reached this point?"

    Raven saw Jordan ce an embarrassed face and said: "In all honesty, I don''t have any concrete ns. The mission said to investigate, so I thought that scanning the perimeter and writing down everything that we see is good enough. After that, the n is to retreat in order to reduce further exposure to danger.

    "Raven rolled his eyes when he heard about his n. Don''t get him wrong, this n would work, and no one will dare to say anything about them doing so. But the gist is that, going about the situation this way will endanger more people. While Jordan and his team might be able toe back safely, the result of the mission would be more or less a failure. The trip is wasted since Jordan only brought back the scenery within the ce. Without doing a thorough investigation, the kingdom will send more people after this ce. What if the next batch don''t make it out alive? The kingdom will once again, send more people after this ce. It would just be a cycle of repeated failures then.

    And it''s not like the next batch won''t have any ideas like his. And if all the the next batch of people think like this, then it is highly possible that the danger of this ce will eventually growrge to the point where it will be a serious threat.

    "I like the first half of you n." Jackson said, Jordan was astonished but he found out that Jackson wasn''t finished speaking. "But the retreating immediately part, is outright stupid."

    "We''ll do it like this." Jackson brought out an hourss and showed it to the team. "We will scan the perimeter of this ce separately to cover more ground. Take note of everything that you see, make it more detailed as you could. One hourter, will regroup here in the same spot andpare the notes that we have. Remember, make sure you stay low and beware of any dangers. Once you found yourself in trouble, run away and don''t sh. If you can''t run, shoot the SOS signal but only as ast resort! Do you all understand?"

    As Jackson exined his n, he made sure to emphasize hisst few words and even faced Alina to make sure she gets the message. Alina bit her lip and forcefully nodded like the rest of the team. Jackson then handed out direction where each member will investigate. Alina''s task was to investigate the 10 meters around their rendezvous point, this is should be the safest spot for her.

    George was to investigate West, Jordan goes South, Jackson goes North and Raven towards east. Everyone saw Jackson flipped the hourss which was the go signal. Everyone then went their separate ways.

    ***

    After Raven passed through Alina''s investigation domain, he used his ocr technique and brought out a pen and a paper. Using his spiritual sense, he scanned his surroundings as well looking carefully at each thing that he could see.In order to not waste time, he also used a fraction of his spiritual energy to write his observations. This is just so that he could use his hands for something else, like parting bushes slowly to not raise any rms, to feel the soil and so on. This also prevents him from constantly having to stop on his tracks only to write down something, this will save him more time and, as a result, will allow him to cover more ground.

    So far, he had seen nothing worth of notice. It was the regr, like bushes or whatever''s left of it due to the Diamond Dust Eclipse. asional sounds of beast growls, damaged trees or fallen ones, some mounds of dirt, and a terrible stench of wastes.

    Nevertheless, all of this was written on his paper. It''s better for him to document everything that he sees instead of missing out on a potential clue for the mission.

    As he continued on scanning his area of responsibility, there were several times where he had to pause for a bit.

    Sometimes, he would hear scuffles too close from his spot, like something moved. But he was sure that there is none since both of his ocr technique and his spiritual sense are active. Then he would me this to the strong and chilling wind in this ce. It was really giving him mixed signals.It was then that something within his senses scream irregrity to him which made him stop.He immediately crouched down and hid as best as he could. He kept his eyes peeled for what''s in front of him but the scene he saw was just something else.

    What he saw was a definite example of a Nature Wonder.

    In front him lies a wonderful field of floral and fauna. There were tall trees and golden light shimmering in the distance. The flowers are unusually lively and one could see things that promotes inner calm. Insects sucking pollen from the flowers and then buzzing off somewhere, deers drinking water from the stream nearby and then hopping away towards the depth of the forest. Raven could even hear how the birds sand yfully and flew away. He saw how the trees bloomed with life, their trunks showed overflowing vigor, each branch has a plump and juicy fruit waiting for any lucky ones to im them and savor their vor.

    The flowers carried a sweet scent that seemed to invite everyone in, and off to the depths of this forest, one could see a small hut seemingly empty, but a looked like a safe ce to stay and wind up for some time.

    Now, if Raven was dumb. He would be all over this ce. He won''t even think twice and run towards the hut, but that would mean that he might nevere out alive.

    "Good thing I''m the one who was sent here and not the girl. Or else, we would''ve lost a member already."

    He''s not so naive to fall for this. Besides, it was too obvious!

    If he had seen this ce before the Diamond Dust Eclipse then maybe he would think twice, but now? This ce sticks out like a sore thumb.

    Raven doesn''t even need to gaze that far to see the devastation that the Diamond Dust Eclipse did to this ce, even the bush that he''s hiding from wasn''t spared from that, and yet for some miracle the ce just ahead of him waspletely fine? So fine, that there wasn''t even a trace of Diamond Dust lingering on any of it''s surface? Add the fact, that with his ocr technique active, this ce looked like an amalgamation of fuzzy lines and hollow interiors, the energy reading that he received from his spiritual sense also doesn''t match the general aesthetic of the ce.

    From this clues alone, it was so obvious that this ce is nothing but a mere illusion.

    Still, that didn''t help with Raven current position. In fact, he actually somewhat torn right now.

    From his mental calctions, not even thirty minutes had passed yet when he arrived here. He might''ve covered a solid distance but since it''s not yet time to return, should he go back and inform the team or scout for a little bit by himself?

 Chapter 121 - Illusion Curtain

    ---

    In the end, Raven fought the urge of exploring alone and instead took careful note of the ce. He then decided to the rendezvous point and regroup with the team. Once back, he found out that the rest were already waiting for his return. Upon seeing him, the team unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. They then sat on the ground as one by one they turned in their reports.

    "I found nothing worth of mentioning, I scanned my area properly and only found aftermath of the Diamond Dust Eclipse." Alina reported.

    Hearing her report, no one was surprised, they too had did a brief scan around her area of responsibility and found nothing so they know she wasn''t lying.

    And as the reports of the next person, the team found nothing worth mentioning at all. Aside from few skirmishes of beasts and random encounters, nothing was really out of ce. Of course, not until Raven made his report.

    "During the first few meters of investigation, I too found nothing worth taking note off. But when I came close to the edges of direction, I found something amiss."

    "There''s this beautiful ce in there. Baptized by a golden light, abundance of trees, verdant flora and fauna, some regr animals that''s living and co-existing in peace, and there''s even clear stream of water and a wooden hut on a distance."

    "On normal cases, this shouldn''t be anything special, and could even be considered a safe ce. Like an oasis in the middle of a vast desert. But counting the events of what we encountered during this journey, this ce sticks out like a sore thumb. The most important thing to mention is that, why was this ce remained intact after a Diamond Dust Eclipse ured? I didn''t even see any speck of Diamond Dust on any leaves within that forest, the trees in there are some regr trees and we all saw what happens to those when the eclipse ured right? So I highly suggest that this ce is focal point of our Investigation."

    The team was mildly astonished when they heard about his findings. It seems that this method of investigation was effective since now, the might have a solid clue about the cases of disappearance.

    "It really is highly suspicious. A forest full of life in the middle of a devastated surroundings, andposed of regr animals that aren''t affected by the Diamond Dust Eclipse? That''s not something that one could normally see." Jordan analyzed.

    "If there''s any concrete detail I found about the forest, it would only be one thing." Raven said which made the others look at him. "That is, that ce is nothing but an illusion."

    Jackson''s eyes gleamed as he heard this. The cogs on his brain started working and a brief idea surfaced his mind, and from his deduction skills, it''s highly usible that he''s correct.

    "That changes many things then." He said, "Under normal circumstances, this wilderness is teeming with tall trees and wild bushes plus some beast lurking around. This image bes the perfect cover for this ce since one would immediately think that they encounter a safe zone and will decide to go in. But since it is an illusion, whatever''s beyond that ce might probably the reason of the disappearance of our people."

    Jackson''s line of thought was simr to Raven''s thoughts as well. The rest also started thinking that this scenario is highly usible as well.

    "It''s decided then, we move out and investigate this ce. Remember to be careful! Assume that it will only get dangerous from now on."

    Hearing Jackson''s reminder, everyone solemnly nodded. Without any further ado, they then followed the same trail that Raven took to arrive at the scene earlier. With Raven''s lead, the team avoided any forked paths so it didn''t take them long enough to arrive at the same location. And upon their arrival, their expressions are a sight to behold. The beauty that greeted them was truly outstanding, inviting even. But bearing the earlier observations of Raven on their mind, made this ce less inviting, on the contrary they felt slight trepidation as they stared at that ce for some reason.

    "J-Janine!?" George muttered under his breath, loud enough to be heard by both Raven and Jackson. George was about to stand up and call for the person he saw inside the forest when he felt the strong pull of Raven by his side.

    "L-let me go! It''s Janine, my fiance! How could she be here! This ce is dangerous, I have to get her out of this ce quickly!"

    But Raven''s grip was like a solid metal cuff, it didn''t help that George was only at Early Stage Warrior Realm, which did nothing to help him free from Raven''s grasp.

    "Calm down and use your fucking brain!" Raven sharply said beside him. George winced and his full attention was now on Raven. "You already said it yourself! How could she be here!? Is she stronger than you? Or an adventurer like you as well? Once again! Think about it!"

    His words caused George to wake up from stupor, he thought for a bit and tried answering his questions. And when he discovered it, the thought sent shivers to his spine and made his back drenched in cold sweat.

    Janine, George''s fiance was of course not an adventurer and most definitely not stronger than he is. In fact, Janine is amoner, someone who only pursue the path of knighthood to extend their lives for a couple of years. There''s absolutely no way for her to appear here since going out of walls needs tons of preparations, and even if she could apply for an exit, she would never reach this ce alive because she''s too weak!

    Then howe she saw her just now? The answer lies with one word: Illusion.

    George slumped into the ground weakly, lips trembling as he stared at the ce with even more trepidation. They haven''t even gone in and he was already a mess. He''s an adventurer for crying out loud! And yet, even with that in mind, a simple illusion almost made him do something that he might''ve note back alive from.

    The rest of the team also inhaled sharply as they realized this. Even Raven himself was surprised, he wasn''t aware that it could do that! Or maybe it tried to but since Raven''s ocr technique and spiritual sense were active, it didn''t have any effect on him.

    Speaking of ocr technique, an idea crossed his mind which could possibly help their current situation.

    "Everyone should know how to use Energy Vision right?" He asked the team, seeing them nod he added, "Good! Now activate it and never turn it off. Also, ce a protective energy shield around you as early as now! Who knows if there''s an ambush lying in wait after we enter this ce."

    Raven''s wisdom has long since been acknowledged by the whole team. He achieved multiple feats that no normal genius could do. Therefore, without even batting an eye, they immediately followed his suggestions.

    Eyes gleaming and bodies covered by ayer of defense, the team''s confidence rose quite a bit. After picking themselves up, Jackson gave out the signal and they slowly approached the ce.The closer they got to the ce, the more nervousness crept up to them. The adventurers swallowed nervously as they approached, more specifically George since the memory of him almost eating a loss was still fresh from his mind.

    Jackson was leading the group, following him was Raven, on his back was Jordan, Alina and George. As they were only one step away from the ce, Jackson signalled everyone to stop and lower their postures. He crouched down, picked up a stone and threw it towards the vicinity of the ce. Everyone followed the movement of the rock and what happened next shocked them.

    As the rock travelled mid-air, it encountered some sort of weird phenomenon and disappeared, leaving some strange ripple.

    Jackson''s eyes glowed, Raven on the other hand reached an understanding. "It''s an Illusion Curtain." He whispered towards Jackson. "What now?"

    "Illusion Curtain." Raven repeated, "Think of it like this, it''s some sort of a barrier that also serves as a concealment. The surface of the curtain shows a wonderful image but if you pass through it, the scenery on the other side might change, leading to dazing, confusion or dizzying feeling. What''s more is that, we could only enter. If we want to exit, then we have to find out the source of the Illusion and destroy it."

    Jackson''s brow raised as he heard Raven''s exnation. In his head he thought, ''Who am I to doubt him?'' Several idea sh in his mind before he gathered up the resolution. He then gave the signal to move on, meaning that they will enter this one way entrance. As the leader of the group, he of course went ahead, followed by Raven and highly hesitant adventurers.

    As their bodies passed through the Illusion Curtain, they felt like they pierced a thin film. And due to dazing, their vision needed to adjust for a bit after entering.

    And when they regained their visions, they saw something that might haunt them for several days.

 Chapter 122 - Dream Sucking Centipede

    ---

    It was scene painted with death and gloom.

    Withered trees, wilted flowers, dried corpses of animals such as deers, birds, squirrels, chickens, dogs and others. The ground is covered with ck moss and some sludge pits here and there.

    The air was putrid and carried the terrible stench of death and rot, what''s more is that it wasn''t only animals and nature that is dead here, there''s also humans. Thoughpared to the rest, humans might''ve experienced a far more sinister death.

    Bodies strewn all over the ground, pieces of rotting flesh, scattered pieces of limbs, eyes, ears, intestines, organs, and many more. yed skin hanging on the branches of trees could be seen, hairs are also scattered on the ground, overall painting a picture of death and decay everywhere.

    If the scene they saw outside was that of beauty, then what lies beyond that was the exact opposite.

    Alina couldn''t hold it in and vomitted her guts out. Her body was shaking fiercely as the scene slowly branded itself on her mind, without a doubt, this will haunt her for many months toe. In fact, she had been regretting her decision to go along in this mission for quite sometime now. Deep within her heart, she knew that this line of work that she entered wasn''t meant for her anyway, she even told herself that this will be thest mission that she''s going to participate in, what happens afterwards will be decided ording to her desires. But now, she greatly feared that she won''t even make it out alive. What lies beyond her was a scene from a nightmare, she was caught severely unprepared and her heart couldn''t take this. She thought that anything or anyone who could desecrate this ce like this could obviously do the same to them, and that thought greatly horrified her.

    Even Jordan and George who had seen bloodshed before had their faces wrinkled with disgust and felt chills all over their body. This scene of destruction was something that no amount of preparations could make them immune to. Each time they nced at the scattered remnants of humans, they would unconsciously wince and take a step back.

    Jackson on the other hand was also simrly shocked but instead of wearing a disgusted face, his was only a face of coldness and fury. This isn''t the first time that he had seen something like this, but that doesn''t mean that it doesn''t have any effect on him at all.

    As for Raven, his face is simrly frosty, there is no doubt that he was very displeased with what he saw. He isn''t a stranger from this type of scenarios, in fact during his previous life, some scenarios like this were caused by him. He had stepped into mountains of dead bodies and crossed rivers of blood to meet his destiny before. Seeing aftermaths of carnage is not a new thing for him.

    What made him incredibly mad, is the remnant will that he felt in this ce.

    Raven''s soul was powerful, and although he is retracing his steps towards greatness, the previous abilities that he could use are still avable to him, be it with a great price.

    Possessing a strong spirit and a firm will allows one to be extremely sensitive towards the whispers of world. Remnant intents and wills of the dead, voices of nature and other things are within his perceptions.This area is filled with sadness, unwillingness, despair, fury and regret. It was so strong that Raven was wondering why it hasn''t manifested as a true Danger Zone just yet. He could hear the remnant cries of unwilling folks who met their deaths in here, he could also feel their undying curses towards the entity that''s responsible for all of this. This alone was enough for him decide to y the beast that was responsible for this in order to bring sce to the dead, so that they may pass onto ther afterlife without worries.

    "Close your heart." He said in a low voice, "Suppress, conceal, don''t feel. Don''t think about the fallenrades. Kill first and mournter. Come, we have a monster to hunt."

    His voice carried a firm stance and determination about this situation. There no ounces of hesitation nor grief, only an unbending will and anger. Unknowingly, his will affected the rest of them, even the suffering Alina. Those words echoed in their ears like a church bells, waking them up and forcing their doubts, fears and hesitations away.

    Raven lead the team with Jackson by his side. Both of their eyes were gleaming with murder as they stayed low and remained alert for any movements. The adventurers followed behind them, also feeling much better but still ufortable. Nevertheless, they have to move and kill. Only then they could escape this ce and hope to nevere back again.

    The team moved as a unit, watching their surroundings and making sure to avoid any ambush or making too much noise. Eventually, they arrived at what seems to be the center of this ce, and they found what they were looking for.

    It was a beast scurrying in ce, seemingly busy with something. It had a long serpentine body, probably about 25-30 meters. It''s body is covered with thick and glossy carapace that looked like a stacked artillery shells on a distance. It has many, cockroach-like legs, counting it one by one would result by a hundred in total. It''s head was simr to a ho but with sharp and long antennas in them and two sets of razor sharp teeth.

    Seeing this monstrosity, the team couldn''t help but to shiver on fright.Raven immediately signalled them to crouched down and hide behind a fallen tree. Taking a second peak at the busy thing in front of them, Raven sent a voice transmission to the rest.

    ''It''s a Dream Sucking Centipede. Judging from it''s size, it should be a teenager.''

    The team''s eyes went wide. How is that thing a teenager!? If that stood up using two legs, it''s already as tall as a building!

    Unfortunately they could only groan in their thoughts, they knew that Ravenmunicated with them using a sound transmission in order to not make any unnecessary noise.

    ''The Illusion Curtain that we saw earlier was made by this thing. It''s purpose is to lure unsuspecting trespassers in, and since there is no exit unless the beast dies, they served as meals for this thing to grow this big. If any of you entered this ce while under the illusion''s influence, you won''t notice that this ce is different, you will be trapped in an illusion while this beast sucks at your blood and marrows, chews through your flesh and y your skin. You die without even noticing it.''

    Raven''s introduction gave them a huge fright, specially George who''s sweating buckets now. False or not, he had seen enough in this ce to believe everything that Raven says. ''What I find unusual is that why is it here? Usually these centipedes never grow past childhood since they will be hunted by stronger beasts, specially winged creatures. ording to the books, they should be found 5000 kilometers east of the kingdom and usually moves in pairs. But this one is alone and so far away. What''s going on?''

    Raven openly voiced his thoughts to the team, letting them know about certain knowledge that they aren''t aware. The one who could truly follow his thoughts was of course Jackson.

    He had also seen Dream Sucking Centipedes before, he also wondered about the same questions as Raven did. In fact, Raven didn''t have to be so worried about this, if there''s anyone who should be, it would Jackson since this is line of work.

    ''Boy, can you see what''s it doing? I can''t send Hopper closer.'' Jackson sent via sound transmission as well.Raven spread out his spiritual sense, albeit carefully since this type of centipedes are sensitive with it. After a careful probe, he replied.

    ''It''s devouring a Steel Rhinoceros.''

    Jackson''s eyes shed and asked once more: ''Is it close to finishing it?''

    ''Yeah, only the head''s left. Do you n on-?''

    ''Yes.'' Jackson replied, ''We strike when it''s full. It''s agility would be greatly reduced and the force it could exert would weaken as well.''

    ''Dream Sucking Centipedes could cast illusions to immobilize you. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled, the sign that it would cast an illusion is when it''s eyes and antennae sh with a red glow. You can evade the projectile or make sure that your Energy Vision is active to counter the illusion directly.''

    ''Despite it''s long body, it is surprisingly quick. It also has an acid attack but since we will attack when its full, then it can''t use that. From its age, assume that its striking power is equivalent to a mid-stage Warrior Realm expert, make sure to stay on you toes, block if you could, evade when you can''t.''

    ''Its weakness is its head and its underside, so if a chance arrive to strike at these spots, don''t hesitate. Are we all clear!?''

    The team nodded after listening to Jackson''s instructions.. They silently brought out their weapons and waited for the centipede to finish its meal.

 Chapter 123 - Slay!

    ---

    Raven''s spiritual sense never left the centipede. Even though he was forced to watch the gruesome and disgusting table manners of the beast, he never averted his senses.

    Eventually, the centipede munched on thest bone of the rhino''s skull and fully devoured it''s brain scattering juices everywhere, it let out a disgustingly satisfied sound and curled up like a coil. But Jackson didn''t give the go signal just yet, he waited and observed the centipede carefully. Paying close attention to the rhythm of its breath, Jackson''s eyes shed and gave the go signal.

    The team immediately jumped out of their cover and ran toward it. Swords, spears, and fist shing with energy, they charged towards the sleeping centipede, hoping to take advantage of it''s momentary weakness.

    But it seems that they underestimated the centipedes senses.

    While it''s true that the centipede hadn''t discovered them when they entered its domain, it''s impossible not to specially now that they are charging towards it.

    With a loud screech and multiple scuttling noises from it''s legs, it stood halfway to its height in order to look at the intruders. Once it saw that it was humans, its ire was provoked even more. It tried spitting out acid from its mouth but it remembered that it can''t since it just finished eating. This made it even furious since acid attacks are one of its mainbat capabilities. Nevertheless, it had to defend itself from these humans.

    It slithered and pounced on the closest human which is Jackson. Seeing it jump high despite it''s weight, Jackson''s gaze darkened as he hurriedly went out of its way. George tried shooting it with arrows while it was mid-air but he missed, Jordan and Raven were both still charging at it, hoping to get close so that they could deal some serious damage.

    The centipede saw theming and turned its attention to them instead. Raven clicked his tongue as he saw the centipede charging straight at him with maws wide open. His gaze turned colder and didn''t stop from charging even though Jordan, who was behind him, also moved out of the way.

    When the team saw the centipede closing in on Raven, their hearts unknowingly tightened. Without a doubt, Raven was weakest in the team and they didn''t believe that he could bear its full weight or even struggle once he''s captured.

    Without a second thought, they charged towards the centipede in attempts to draw its attention but the beast ignored them and only had Raven in its eyes. Raven watched and bid his time until the centipede was close, close enough for it to think that he was helpless and could only ept death.

    Inches away before the maws of the beast touched him, Raven''s body seemed to have defied time and moved several times faster than the centipede could. He slid on his knees and went under the centipede. All the while, his fist was already charging up for an attack. Once he found himself under its belly, he released his fist and punched the centipedes belly using all of his force.

    As his fist met the belly, he felt it sink on the belly while the strength behind it were transfered to it''s whole body. The centipede''s body arched up for a bit before it let out a pained screech. Even the carapace which was ced directly on to of where Raven''s punch connected, had a visible crack from the force his attack.

    But Raven still wasn''t done, he moved his energies onto his leg and delivered a sharp kick on one of its legs. The said leg was torn off from its body because of the intensity of his attack. Raven then used the gap avable to squeeze himself out away underneath the beasts. It turned out that this was correct choice since after the he kicked the leg, the centipede nned on squashing him down using it''s colossal body. Sadly, Raven was already out by then and his teammates already arrived. Jackson jumped andnded on the carapace of the centipede, he knew that his spear won''t manage to prate it no matter how much force he uses so instead, he used the blunt end of his spear and pounded on the carapace. This will make sure that the impact of his attack will spread towards the rest of its body, hurting its insides on the process.

    He then ran along towards the head of the beast, jumped and delivered a fatal stab on its head. The centipede screech with fury and pain, it just so happened that Jackson''s stab was slightly nted, thus making the tip of the spear damage its eyes as well. Now that its vision is impaired, it would have more difficulty seeing its targets.

    Jordan also arrived, but unlike Jackson he targeted the legs directly and managed to sever two in the process. However, since it has a hundred legs, it barely has any effect on the mobility of beast. Alina and George just supported the team in ranged manner, shooting arrows and targeting its underside as much as they could.

    The centipede lost all of its patience, its body stood up halfway again and this time, its eye and the two antennas were glowing with a sharp red light.Jackson didn''t need to remind everyone about what its trying to do since he already told them about this earlier.

    Everyone already had their Energy Vision activated and also prepared to evade if the need arises. The centipede did not know this so it targeted Raven, who''s once again the closest to it. The projectile it sent to trap him in an illusion is fast, unfortunately even itnded on Raven, it didn''t trap him even for a second.

    The light contained aplex effect which disrupts the flow of energy and attack an individual''s brain, feeding it with corrupting toxins which in turn makes this person see realistic illusions. But if one was already anticipating it and countered it using Energy Vision or any ocr technique and methods, it will just be like a breeze of wind,pletely harmless.

    Seeing its attack ineffective, the centipede screeched once more and tried its best to rampage all over the team. It just decided to charge through their ranks and attack using its body. The centipede didn''t specifically targeted anyone this time, it would just attack whoever''s the closest.

    At first, the team didn''t like its rampage since it made the centipede more agile and harder to approach, add the fact that whoever gets close would be in danger and it wasn''t stopping as well. But in time, they gradually adjusted to its rhythm and began to weave in attacks.

    In the end, because of its reckless rampaging, the centipede quickly spent its stamina and became exhausted and weakened. This of course didn''t escape the eyes of the team.Thus, the final assault ensued.

    Jordan hacked away at its legs and managed to cut off enough to make the centipede lose its bnce. Jackson shed away at its face while Raven jumped and fell from above like a meteor,nding on the head of the centipede and crushing its brain in the process.

    The beast shivered for a while before it fell limp on the ground and breathed itsst.The team heard the sound of a ss breaking from the entrance, meaning that Illusion Curtain was lifted.

    "Move quick, store the body of this monstrosity and found remnants of the dead, anything from spatial ring down to pieces of clothes, we have to at least return something for their families to mourn." Jackson ordered and the team, though exhausted, followed.

    Raven scanned the area once more using his spiritual sense and marked the things he could harvest, Jordan, George and Alina was simrly harvesting some trinkets of dead while Jackson took care of the centipede''s carcass.

    The hideout of the Dream Sucking Centipede wasn''trge, it didn''t take the team too long to gathered whatever they could from the ce. After doing the task, they nned to set out and leave this ce since the smell of rotting flesh is extremely attractive to some deadly beasts, and since the illusion curtain is gone, then this scent will permeate everywhere.

    But before they left, Raven did one final act in order to appease the unwilling souls of the dead. He lit up a torch and scattered mmables all over the ce while he was moving earlier. Before they left, he threw down the torch, went down on his knees with a hand on his chest and silently gave a prayer.

    "May you find peace on the other side, knowing that you didn''t find it here." Giving the ce one final nce, he left with the team in a hurry and searched for a ce to camp nearby.

    When he left, the whole hideout of the centipede was cleansed by raging mes. Strangely, these mes did not scatter to other ces and waspletely confined in this area. The smokeing off from the burning dead bodies formed faces of people who had a relieved expression on their faces, departing with peace from this world and onto the other side.

 Chapter 124 - Disband

    ---

    This mission''s deadline is within a month. Raven along with the team spent at least a week and a half before making it back to the kingdom.

    Fortunately, they didn''t encounter any sorts of difficult situations on their way back. They travelled low and slow until the walls of the kingdom was within reach. Once they arrived, they only needed to confirm their identities and they were allowed to enter.

    The adventurers almost kissed the ground and cried once they entered the gates. The feeling of constant danger and having their nerves always stay on alert, really took a great toll on their bodies. Now that they have returned, they felt like a heavy burden was removed from their shoulders, allowing them to feel carefree and rxed.

    The only task left for them is to report back to the one who issued this mission and receive the rewards.

    The one who issued this mission was the Royal Army. They headed towards the inner court since their office was located there. After requesting an audience, the meeting was held and the adventurers along with Jackson and Raven reported the results of their mission.

    Sufficed to say, the Head of the Royal Army was relieved but also greatly worried when he heard that a Dream Sucking Centipede was seen that close to the kingdom. He expressed his thanks for their braveness and for the wonderful job of eliminating the beast. Jackson decided to surrender the corpse of the centipede to Royal Army for various reasons. One to serve as a direct proof of their im, two to serve as a warning so that they will be careful from now on, and three for additional benefits as well.

    Corpses of beasts like this aren''t easily seen in the kingdom. Most of the times, it''s only the king and his men who supply this type of rare beasts to them, and the amount of beast they could bring back is limited as well. This cause researchers to be dismayed and helpless, but now that this centipede is here, they will have another beast to dissect and who knows what discoveries they could find?

    As for Raven''s mission, even though it was handed to him by the institute, he needed the Head of the Royal Army to give him a report summary with a seal and pass it to the Institute Director Victor for confirmation, fortunately he had no trouble getting this.

    On top of this, Raven actually received an additional reward from the Royal Army. His efforts and efficiency was backed up with supporting confirmations from the adventurers team and Jackson himself. He received an additional 300 Merit Points, 5 hours to any Cultivation Environment, a B-grade Item raffle ticket and a 1000 gold cards.

    As for the rewards of the others, he didn''t inquire since it''s none of his business.To celebrate their return, the team decided to celebrate with a little feast and alcohol, they celebrated this on the Adventurers Team office. Raven''s a minor so no liquors for him, but that''s fine since there are alternatives anyway, like fruit juice.

    On a separate note, these folks from adventurers team surely can''t take contain their alcohol properly. Just a few bottles of beer and they were already slurring on their words. Jackson doesn''t seem to be affected at all.

    " *Hik!* Aish! Seriously. We nearly freakin'' died like a hundred times. A hundred times I tell ''ya! But we alive! Whoo! We alive boys! *Hik!* " Jordan slurred as he waved his hands while holding a bottle of beer.

    "Das right! Das right! Thish little brother saved our asses multiple times there! Thank you bro! Love ''ya! Hihi" George was slowly but surely sliding down from his seat, simrly waving a beer bottle like Jordan did.

    Alina was quiet, no one knows what she was thinking but judging from her deeply blushing face and the bobbing her head, they knew that she''s drunk as well.

    "Bosh Jo! George! I deshided!" Alina said after a while of silence, "I quit! I''m done with being an adventurer." There was a profound silence after her words.

    "This Lady does not want to experience those terrible things anymore!" She eximed and looked up, the rest saw that the rims of her eyes wet with tears.

    "I''mma go find myself a husband! Then I''ll stay home to take care of our kids instead! And you best believe I ain''t marrying an adventurer! It doesn''t matter if he''s a farmer, a fisherman, a baker, or even a construction worker! So long as he could provide me a nice and peaceful life? That''s everything I could wish for."

    "Besides¡­" her voice toned down and she continued, "Being an adventurer doesn''t suit me at all. A mother might be more fitting."

    "Sho! There you have it! I''ll file my resignation letter once I sober up, so don''t you dare refuse me ''ya hear!?"

    Alina''s sudden decision took them by surprise, but on a second thought, all of them were expecting this anyway. Jordan seemed to have sobered up, he didn''t say anything first and instead look towards George and asked: "How about you?

    "When George saw Jordan looking at him, his lips twitched a bit before a helpless sigh escaped his mouth. He smiled wryly and said:

    "She beat me to it." George referring to Alina, "Ever since I fell under the illusion of that monster, my thoughts became a mess. What if one day I died in the middle of a mission? What will Janine feel? What will happen to her? We don''t even have kids yet and she will be left alone."

    "I want to spend the rest of my life with her, that''s the reason why I proposed to her. I want to give her a pleasant life but I can''t do that if I died so suddenly right?"

    "So, I made up my mind. I was just waiting for the right time but Alina ruined it!" George said while sending a re to Alina. Her seeing this made her giggle.

    Hearing this, Jordan sighed. Well, he couldn''t really me them.

    "Alright, we''re disbanding then."

    "Eh?" George and Alina let out a surprised sound.

    "You''re quitting as well?" George asked.

    "Yeah."

    "Why? I always thought you wanted to be a great adventurer." Alina inquired.

    "I''m 45 Alina." Jordan said while smiling wryly, "Not to mention bing a great adventurer, I can''t even find a way to raise my cultivation level. My youth has long since passed and I''m also thinking of settling down as well."

    "I could take over my old man''s business. He''s a meat supplier here in the Inner Circle, I suppose that''s not too bad. I only need to find a woman I like, preferably someone who knows how to cook good food and I''ll be set."

    There was another round of silence in the room, separations are always painful but it''s necessary to move on towards the next chapter of their lives. And it''s not like these people won''t see each other again anyway. Specially if someone could do something about it.

    "This will be ourst celebration as adventurers! Come! Let''s drink our hearts out! Whoo!" George smiled and raised his ss. Jordan and Alina joined him afterwards.

    The celebration was then extended and eventually, the trio couldn''t handle it anymore and passed out. It was this time that Raven shed a mischievous smile and stood up.

    He tapped Jackson on his shoulder and said: "You get him, I''ll handle her."

    "Huh?" Jackson raised his brows, not sure that he understood what Raven was trying to tell him.

    "Just get him and follow me." He said while picking Alina up. Confused Jackson just did what he said and picked Jordan up as well and followed him. Raven entered a door that had a mattress prepared in it, this was Jordan''s room since he sleeps in this hut as well. He ced Aline on the mattress and looked at the dumbfounded Jackson on the door.

    "Lay him here." Raven said while wearing that mischievous smile.

    "You little devil! So this was your n huh!" Jackson''s mouth twitched a couple of times upon realizing this.

    "It''s great right?" Raven beamed, "Why look elsewhere when the answers right in front of you? Didn''t she say that she wants a husband? She doesn''t even care if she lives a simple life considering that it''s peaceful. He fits that requirements! And didn''t he said that he was looking for a wife, preferably someone who can cook? It was her that cooked our food just now and it''s good so she fits the criteria as well! Aren''t they perfect for each other then?"

    Jackson was speechless. His feeble mind fought over the thought whether this was the right thing to do or not.

    "Don''t think too much! I''ll handle it! They won''t suspect you anyway since such actions doesn''t fit your image, so you''re safe. Justy him down here!"

    Jackson greatly hesitated before sighing and cing the unconscious Jordan beside Alina. "Alright you go somewhere else, I''ll handle the rest." Raven shed his fangs and shoo-ed Jackson away.

    Before leaving the room, Jackson heard something about incense aphrodisiacs, door that won''t be opened unless a ''miracle'' happened and absolute fertility pill.. For some reason, he felt a shudder on his spine, and he wondered why.

 Chapter 125 - Pavilions Crisis

    ---

    "Oh, you returned early. Are you here to submit the mission?"

    Raven entered the Director''s office and found his assistant inside, he asked him this upon seeing him. Raven nodded and took out the letter signed by Royal Army Head Officer along with the confirmation seal and handed it to him.

    "Thanks, I''ll go ahead and pass this to the director, just sit somewhere, this shouldn''t take long."

    The assistant then entered a separate room in the office to meet the director, as for Raven he sat down on the couch there and waited for the results.After sometime, the assistant came out and passed on a box to him.

    "Congrattions on sessfully clearing the mission. Based on the reports, you mission turned out to be more difficult than initially expected, the Royal Army provided you with additionalpensation so the institute cannot be a miser about it as well. The mission was upgraded from a lower B-rank to upper B-rank mission. Your rewards are properly adjusted in ordance to that."

    "The box contains a badge that contains 500 Merit Points, 3 hourly passes to any Cultivation Environment, a B-grade Item raffle ticket and a 1000 gold cards. Make sure to always check your badge for announcements whenever there''s a ss. You may go now."

    "Thank you." Raven smiled and left the building.

    After he left, the assistant went back to the room where the director is and said:

    "He left Sir."

    "What do you think of him?" Victor asked, he had his back towards the assistant while his hands are sped behind his back.

    The assistant was silent for a while, it was obvious that he was thinking carefully about Victor''s question.

    "He is a variable Sir." The assistant spoke after a while of thinking.

    Victor raised his brow and looked over to his assistant with a surprised expression.

    "That''s quite rich, speciallying from you." Victor said with an amused tone.

    "The basis that I hades from the fact that Senior Lee thinks highly of him. As for whether my judgement is correct or not, time would only tell."

    "Time huh¡­" Victor said turning his gaze away from his assistant and back to what''s in front of him. There is a crystal ball shining with blue light which illuminated his face ss well. There is a faint smile hanging from his lips as he watches over the crystal ball. "We wait then¡­"

    ***

    Raven had no idea what transpired after he left, and he probably doesn''t care. What''s important to him right now is to go back to his cave and continue training inside the Crown Space.

    He hadn''t grasp the chance to do so yesterday since when he got back he immediately fell asleep, and submitting the reports of the mission was the first thing that he did after he woke up.

    Now he''s eager to return and experience the fierceness of that ce once again. Though it might be painful, it''s not something that will kill him, due to that he always feels that his body is being pushed to it''s outmost limit and his potential is always being squeezed out from his body. Once he got back, he made sure to double check if the formation is still active, after confirming that he wasted no time and went inside the crown space.

    After his vision adjusted, he saw the majestic sight of the pce once more and the faint suppressive air around him. He smiled and walked over to bask in this supression.

    During his first step, he immediately noticed a difference. He figured out that he''s actually having an easier time this time around. He arrived at the 12th step, which was his previous record and found out that he could still take a few more steps. He walked and eventually arrived at the 20th step before pausing since it was his limit. He figured that maybe it was due to his breakthrough that he managed to arrive at this step. He closed his eyes and used his energies to resist the pressure on his body. Energy pulsed from one node to another by coursing through his channels. Each cirction wasbored, it ced not only his body to strain but also his Energy Nodes and Channels.

    "Oh I missed this feeling." Raven said through gritted teeth. He might''ve sounded sarcastic but he truly meant this.

    Not even half an hour on his training, Raven was forced to retreat a couple of steps back in order to rest and meditate. He sat down on the 15th step and circted the [Prime Emperor Scripture]. He was drunk on the feeling or recovery and how energy flowed back to his body while simultaneously purifying it. At first it was a slow recovery by eventually, the pace kicked up by a few notches since his body adjusted to the current supression on his surroundings.

    These results would be permanent since this pressure would be remembered by his body and any type of pressure that he encounters which is lower than this won''t do anything to him anymore.

    It took him fifteen minutes topletely recover his lost energy, then he stood up and went back to the 20th step to resist the pressure. Hours then passed and eventually, Raven''s training time inside the crown space was over and he was thrown out. Upon going back to reality, he felt rxed but also tired, he went to the pond nearby and mixed three vials of B-grade Body Restoration Fluid.

    After letting it steep for a while, he took all of his clothes off and jumped onto the pond, he took a deep breath and let himself sink to the bottom of the pond. Every inch of his body greedily sucked in the medicinal efficacy in the pond and cured the exhaustion of his muscles, energy nodes and channels.

    After feeling better, he surfaced and stretched for a bit, he then wore a new set of clothes and went back to his cave.

    As he was making himself some simple meal, he felt something from his surroundings. The main control of the array buzzed which signified that someone''s nearby. He frowned, took out the main control and sank his perception to see who and how many people are there.

    "What''s he doing here?" He said as he saw someone familiar to him looking a little bit distressed.

    He used the main control and deactivated the concealment of his territory. He then waited for that person to eventually find his way to his cave. As expected, it didn''t take the visitor that long to find the entrance and arrive at the his cave dwelling.

    "E-excuse me! Is anybody here!"

    "Enter." Raven inly said as he sat waiting for his visitor. He then heard footstepsing closer and eventually his visitor found him.

    "S-senior Brother!" His visitor then found him and immediately greeted.

    "What brings you here Jacob?" He asked as he saw the distressed expression of Jacob.Hearing his direct question, Jacob grimaced. He sighed and sat down to tell him the reason why he''s here.

    "It''s a disaster Senior Brother." Jacob said, "The Pill Saint Pavilion is no more."

    "You say what now?" Raven was dumbfounded upon his words, he asked once again just to make sure he heard things right.

    "The Pill Saint Pavilion is on the verge of disbanding Senior Brother." Jacob said while tears threaten to fall from his eyes.

    Raven was speechless, he could feel that Jacob was absolutely heart broken about this and just suppressing it. He sighed and thought: ''This might because of the butterfly effect.''

    "Tell me what happened." Raven said calmly, Jacob nodded and told him the events that transpired while he was away.

    As Jacob and Richard busied themselves preparing for the two week agreement to release the Healing Salve to the crowd, it was also this time that Richard called the Chief Director of the main branch to let him know about this event. As expected, the Chief Director was ecstatic and even said that due to Richards contributions, he will make him the next sessor to the position which greatly ted the old man.

    The Chief Director then said that it is wise to do the reveal on the main branch first in order to attract more buyers, to which Richard fully agreed upon. Still, it was still agreed that this project was remain a secret until the day of the release.

    The Chief Director said to at least do at least 3000 batches, which is a great number specially for only two people who will work on it, but not nearly enough to satisfy the market. The onlypensation is that once it''s out, the workload on them would be lessened. The two barely managed to do 1000 batches during Raven''s departure when the Chief Director swoop in, took all of the batches of Healing Salves as well as the recipe for it and set off.

    It wasn''t until they were at the door when the Chief Director officially made Richard the new Chief Director of the Pill Saint Pavilion''s Main Branch while he himself said that he will be joining the Zelor Family and sharing them future profits of the Healing Salves.

 Chapter 126 - Prove It

    ---

    By the time that Jacob finished exining what happened, he was already on the verge of crying. On the other hand, Raven''s expression was stoic, but the aura he''s releasing is so shrill that it could make corpses jump on their graves.

    "Well done, Mort Family. Your filthy paws dare to touch my property? It seems that I need to teach you a lesson." He whispered as a thick aura of killing intent was released on his body.

    He knew for a fact that the Mort Family had been poisoning the previous Chief Director of the Pill Saint Pavilion, unable to resist the temptation of greed, his feeble mind caved in and joined their side, not even minding the potential consequences of his actions. It would''ve been fine if it was anyone except the Mort Family. Raven won''t go after them and allow them to im the profit since it would be better for the cirction of wealth overall. But this is the Mort Family who received it, and may the heaven strike him down if he allowed any of them to take advantage of him.

    "Where is Richard?" Raven asked.

    "He''s in there, probably drinking." Jacob said while wiping away the tears that threaten to fall.

    "Stand up and follow me, I need to talk to him." Raven''s eyes shed coldly and the tone of his voice offered no refusal. Jacob shivered and immediately followed him towards the Pill Saint Pavilion.

    It didn''t take them a long time before they arrived, and upon seeing the current situation of the Pavilion, Raven''s face became even darker.The previously bustling surroundings of the Pavilion could no longer be seen. Dark clouds seemingly loomed over the whole building, giving it a sad and depressing aura. There is no one guarding the entrance, he could even see some people packing up their things and leaving the building without turning back. Raven could also see some people flocking on the side, eyeing the building with illusions of grandeur on their minds. From the clothes they wear, it seems that these people came from impressive backgrounds and was trying to see if it''s worth buying this building.

    Raven showed no changes in his expression as he took this all in. However, the same can''t be said inside his mind. There a hundred percent certainty that if anyone pisses him of at this moment, they will feel his anger of a disturbed beast.

    Along with Jacob, both of them entered the pavilion, locking the gates and doors behind them, Raven walked towards Richard''s office.As soon as he opened the door, he found the old man. His head was lowered, staring nkly at his table. There is a liquor in front of him and he''s holding an empty wine ss, he wasn''t even aware that someone came in to his office.

    Jacob stood by the door, feeling his heart being poked by thousands of needles as he stared at his teacher. He find it unbelievable that the previously confident and unbending old man he used to idolize was now drowning himself in liquor andpletely lost all sense of direction.

    Richard had faced many challenges before, but never one like this. It could be said that this is the lowest point of his life. He had no idea where to go from here, he had invested far too much time and effort in this. He was unwilling to be defeated like this but what can he do? Richard even thought that dying doesn''t sound so bad right now.

    It was then that Raven pulled off a chair in front of him and sat in front of him with his arms and legs crossed.Richard woke up from his stupor and was surprised to see a teenager looking at him with his brows pressed together. It was also now that he saw Jacob as well, and for some reason he can''t bring himself to look at him.

    "Have you ever imagined this scenario happening before?" Raven asked to the old man, his voice was like a cidke, extremely calm and unperturbed. But for some reason, Richard could feel the simmering anger beneath this.

    "I apologize, Young Friend." Richard bowed his head down in shame, he can''t even bring himself to meet this kid''s gaze.

    "I failed you, I failed everyone and myself. If there''s anyway this old man could repay what you lost, don''t hesitate to speak, I''ll try toply to the best of my abilities." Despair, shame, guilt, sadness. All of this was present in the old man''s voice. Judging from his tone alone, Raven could feel that he doesn''t have any hope left in his heart anymore. This made him sigh, for some reason, he felt sympathy for the old man simply because of the fact that he was like this too when he lost everything.

    "I did note here to hear you apologize, Old Man." Raven sighed and spoke, Richard looked up and looked at him with a shocked face. Raven however averted his eyes and looked at Jacob, he signalled him sit with them, to which the young manplied.

    There was a profound silence after Jacob sat with them, Raven took this time to analyze this people''s face. Afterwards, he sighed once more as said:

    "Don''t worry about the Mort Family. I will take care of them." He said with an unbelievable confidence in his voice. "But I need you to answer one question from me."

    "How desperate are you?"Richard and Jacob were stunned, they nced at each other, trying to check if they truly understand what Raven was implying here. But deep down in their hearts, is there really any need to ask? They both know what Raven was trying to say here, in fact they also knew that answer to his question.After a period of silence, Richard was the first to say:

    "It''s been 30 years since I walked down the path of Alchemy. Many people frowned upon my choice since at this current day and age, killing beasts and venturing past the walls is the most honorable vocation one could have. But I know better than those idiots that they simply don''t have any chances of making it back alive without medicine, and I absolutely didn''t want it to die."

    "I worked tirelessly, I''ve read thick and old books, studied to my hearts contents, stayed up until my eyes turned bloodshot, ceased every moment to arrive where I currently am. I invested far too many things, and I am just unwilling to let it all go to waste."

    "How desperate I am you ask?" Richard wore a ferocious smile in face, but it is also filled with heroic air and unbending resolve. "I have no qualms sacrificing anything that doesn''t have anything to contribute towards my path. That''s how desperate I am."

    Raven listened, not expressing anything nor anything at all. Instead, he turned his gaze towards Jacob and asked the simr question.

    "How about you? How desperate are you?"

    Jacob looked straight onto his eyes and said: "This ce everything that I''m aware of. I''m an orphan and it was teacher who gave me everything that I have right now. With this the way it is, I have no means of ever repaying his graciousness. But if I could contribute anything to help him achieve his grand goal, then I wouldn''t mind paying any price."

    Jacob said, which somehow surprised Raven since from the very start, Jacob had always been the amicable one. He is soft spoken and gentle, he didn''t expect him to have this much of a backbone really.

    Raven once again stared at this two, with one final sigh he shook his head and red his spiritual strength to life.

    He opened his palms and to the two''s astonishment, they saw myriad lights converging into a symbol which they have never seen before. This symbol is full ofplexity and beauty but at the same time, this frail appearance also radiates a profound sense of formidability. Looking at the symbol, it''s just hard to tell what''s its purpose.

    "Words are nice and all, but I want proof." Raven said in an icy tone, "If you truly mean what you said. Go on and touch this symbol. Remember that I am not forcing you but only confirming what uttered earlier. If you''re not afraid, then touch it."

    Raven''s ethereal voice was like an enchantment to the both of them, though his words contain a slightly frightening meaning behind him, they knew that if they truly want him to believe their words then there''s only one way of proving that, and it''s by touching the glowing symbols on Raven''s palms.

    Hearing his words only caused them to be slightly deterred, but it seems that even Raven himself underestimated their resolve. Both of them radiated a profound confidence as they both touched the symbols on his palm.It was then that the symbols sh a brilliant light and invaded their body. The two unknowingly closed their eyes for a long while and Raven just silently observed. After a few moments, they opened their eyes, stood up and knelt down on knee in front of Raven.

    "Disciple Richard/Jacob, greets Master."

 Chapter 127 - Banquet?

    ---

    Anyone who would watch this scene might think that Raven trick this two and enved them, hereby removing their free will out of their body. In fact however, this is definitely not true at all.

    "I don''t need you to bow in obeisance nor salute me each time we meet. I took you in as my trusted confidants, all I want is your loyalty. That''s enough."

    The seal that appeared on Raven''s hands are no ve seals but instead a Pact of Trust. It is a seal that nts a fair connection between people.

    ''You trust me, I trust you. So long as we are connected, I will shelter you. This bond shall never be broken by anyone else but you. So long as you don''t sever this connection, then neither shall I!''

    This words are basis for the creation of pact, its functions lies in the word ''connection'' and ''bond''. So long as this pact exists, then neither party shall betray the other. This ensure harmony between both parties so that they could trust each other with any secrets that they have. Another function of this, is that it could pass on messages in a telepathic way. So long as any of the connected party isn''t separated by worlds, then it doesn''t matter how far, they will be able tomunicate with each other. This method is different from a voice transmission. The telepathicmunication of the bond ignores distance and untraceable unlike voice transmission.

    Just now, as soon as Richard and Jacob epted the pact, they understood this. In fact, Raven already bestowed a great fortune to both of them.

    It is an inheritance that is lost from the annals of history, one that could plunge this whole kingdom in madness. [Sacred Leaf Holy Scripture] is it''s name.This technique is one of the most formidable alchemical manual that Raven got his hands into. It is the supreme treasure of the Sacred Leaf Era of the Final Haven Kingdom and was even treated as their bible. This scripture is formed from the countless contributions of the Sacred Leaf Era''s Alchemists. This is their blood, sweat and tears, and each technique and forms that existed in the book could easily change the fate of this kingdom.

    Raven found this scripture when he roamed the vastness of the Grand Ancestral nes, it is also the reason why he dabbled in alchemy in the past which allowed him to change his fate and be more powerful. Now, he bestowed it to these two since they were able to move his heart.

    Although Jacob only had little experience in Alchemy, he could more or less tell just how formidable this scripture is. He glimpsed one page of it and he could already hear the enlightenment bells beckoning, tempting him to walk the path of greatness. Though same could not be said for Richard.

    He had long since chosen Alchemy as his path, he longed to reach the grandest and roots of alchemy itself, and once he saw this book, he felt that the path towards there was illuminated. He could feel the burning desire and stubborn tenacity returning to him. His eyes shined brilliantly like stars and he could see the light of hope from the lowest pits of his lifetime. This graciousness is something that could never be repaid, and even though it is impossible for him. He decided to dedicate his life and service to Raven. In front of him, his seniority was useless and he didn''t mind taking him as his teacher, same goes for Jacob as well. As for Raven, he acknowledge their resolved and also didn''t mind them calling him master, though it feels weird for him to have disciples this early on. For the sake of secrecy, he intended to keep things between them for now, at least until he had enough strength to walk unhindered in this kingdom.

    "How much time do we have left?" Raven asked as soon as they calmed down.

    "One more week, Master. I''m pretty sure that many people can''t wait to rece us and im this building for their own."

    Hearing this, Raven sneered and his eyes turned incredibly chilling. He then said: "Allow them to lust over it for a few days. As you two, heed my instructions."

    "At your service Master!" The two hurriedly bowed and listened with hearts pounding."Make invitations and send them out, mask the purpose for it being our farewell sale. Allow them to feel a sense of superiority before we thoroughly crush their dreams."

    "After that, concoct Moonshine, Body Restoration Liquid, then Energy Condensing Pill, Limb Restoration Pill, Limit Breaking Pill, Berserk Trigger Pill and Network Rebirth Pill. Make as many as you could until the date of our great show. You have the Sacred Leaf Holy Scripture with you so these should pose no problem to you."

    "You will be incredibly busy but this is good for business." Raven said allowing his words to sink in to his disciples. What they felt can''t even be described as mere excitement anymore. This sort of incredible fortune could only be encountered through fate and luck, and not sought after. From now on, an incredible change is about to go down, and people are unaware of it.

    ***

    Raven left the two to make preparations, as for him he had other business to attend to.

    Borrowing the veil of the night, he walked between the shadows of scattered brushes and trees. His body moved fast but also quietly, not even a footstep could be heard. His eyes radiated a calm yet raining annoyance. He jumped on a tree branch and crouched, eyes narrowed he caught a good view of the settlement before him.

    His eyes gleamed and shimmered with a pale golden glow. Along with the veil of darkness surrounding him, this image will cause anyone to shiver. He stood in front of a colossal sized pagoda. It has 9 floors and emitted a faint light, it is also surrounded with thick walls with guards menacingly ring at wherever their gazended.

    From the looks of it, there is a tight security this night. Something that only urs once there is a major event happening. Eyes squinting, Raven zoomed in on one of the pagoda floors. He could see servants moving to and fro, carrying carts of what looks like fragile stuff. There are several people who wore badges that watched over them, shouting at these pitiful servants whenever they stumbled or caused any of the containers to shake. This kind of scenario is present on majority of the floors, Raven''s gazended on the 9th floor and when it did, a faint glimmer appeared in his eyes. He saw a few peopleughing and feasting around with a merry atmosphere. All sorts of fragrant and mouth-watering delicacies are prepared and showed no signs of stopping. Raven kneaded his spiritual sense into a line and projected it towards the 9th floor, then a overhead scene was reflected in his Spiritual Sea along with real time voices.

    "Come now Alfred, eat and drink to your heart''s content! This feast won''t finish itself!" An overly obese man uproariouslyughed and presented a toast to a man next to him.

    "No need to tell me twice Lord Mort. I n on satisfying myself now, and maybe for the rest of my life as well." The man named Alfred said after returning the toast.

    "I should''ve done this sooner! I couldn''t believed that I''m missing out on so many things! For this, I offer my deepest gratitude to you Lord Mort."

    "Oh, stop that!" Lord Mort said while waving his hand, "I merely give you a suggestion, it doesn''t amount to anything! I just can''t stand to see working hard for nothing! You are too valuable for your own good! You should definitely take care of yourself more!"

    A string of ttering words came out naturally from the obese man''s mouth. Not too far from them there is a bulky teenager who had both of his arms on the back of his head, sitting in boredom while two women who wore very revealing clothes fed him with food, fruits and anything that he wanted to eat. If he wanted to drink wine, no one stopped him, in fact the maidservant will fawningly sit on hisp, ce the ss on his lips gently, all the while his hands roamed and groped the maidservants body.

    "I know that we shouldn''t be drinking this hard since we have an important even tomorrow, but I can''t endure. It''s been far too long since I''ve tasted alcohol, never anything that is as good as this! I feel that I could really get used to this." Alfred said as he downed one ss of wine, he let out blissful sigh after doing so.

    "Then get used to it!" Lord Mort replied whileughing, "As for hangovers, we have tons of medicines that could aid that! The event tomorrow however, is something that I couldn''t help but feel great excitement over."

    "Me too, Lord Mort." Alfred said, "Me too."

    Down on the forest, Raven heard all of this with a sneer in his face. A chilling smile was stered on his face as he said:

    "Well, since the two of you are excited, then why not make it more exciting? Am I right?"

 Chapter 128 - Possession

    ---

    Raven patiently waited until the night was at it''s peak.

    The pagoda in front of him was still brightly lit but the people who are moving crates of medicines are now in their respective quarters, probably already asleep.

    As for the Lord Mort, and Alfred the forsaker of the Pill Saint Pavilion, both of them nearly passed out from drinking. Zelor was long since gone to his chambers along with his maidservant. As for the guards who were patrolling the area, their vignce visibly dropped. Some were even openly sleeping on their jobs. Raven had already learned their patrolling patterns as well as throughly inspected the interior of the pagoda.

    He virtually had the entire map of Mort Family''snd in his mind while none of them knew that he was there. After waiting for a couple more minutes, he saw the guards move from their positions. Seeing this, his eyes gleamed as he unhesitatingly ran from his cover and charged towards the walls. The specific side that he chose was the one that has the weakest defence since it was close to an open area. Whoever guarded this section either slept or did something else since they thought that none would be foolish enough to infiltrate their territory using this path. This mentality is something that Raven took advantage of. He had at least ten minutes before the next guard appears, he wanted to be inside before any guard arrive.

    Though he needed to ran for quite a distance, he still managed to sessfully infiltrate the territory before the next guard appeared. Once inside, he recalled the mental map and used the shadows from the infrastructures around to his advantage. And just to make sure that he won''t be spotted, he used an auxiliary technique that mask his presence as well as making his body look like somewhat transparent. Add the fact that he''s moving along the shadows, he''s 95% sure that none of the guards will see him.

    Once he got near the pagoda, he paused and waited for his moment. Not long after that, he saw a guard whistling a tune while casually admiring his surroundings. Raven''s eyes shimmered as he saw the set of keys hanging by his waist. Without hesitation, he sat down where he was and performed a seal using his both hands.

    ''Spirit Body Possession!'' An invisible light appeared from his forehead and struck the guard as fast as lightning. The guard froze in his tracks, his eyes dimmed and his consciousness nked out. Like a puppet, he walked off course on his patrol path and went towards the spot where Raven was hiding.

    The guard stopped and performed a seal in his hand, his body then dropped like a sack of potatoes, signifying that he passed out. As soon as the guard passed out, Raven woke up and panted heavily. He clutched his heart for a bit and controlled his breathing to calm his racing heart. The price for using the ''Spirit Body Possession'' without having enough spiritual energy is that his heart will stop while the technique is active. This is why he let go of the technique as soon as he controlled the guard towards his body. After his breathing adjusted, he worked quickly and stripped off the guard''s clothes along with the keys. He wore his clothing and performed a simple visual illusion that would make him look like the guard to those who sees him.

    He ced a finger on the unconscious guard''s forehead and murmured: "Soul Scry."

    As soon as he used this technique, the whole life of this guardid bare in his mind, all of his secrets, his thoughts, his memories, all of it was exposed to Raven. He didn''t spend too much time learning everything and only read the memories that he had a use for. After that, he ced the guards soul on a temporary slumber as he withdrawn from his mindscape to continue his ns.

    He arrived at one of the settlements inside thepound, he saw two more guards who were idling by but raised their head as soon as they saw him. Their eyes narrowed which made Raven''s heart tighten, thinking that they somehow managed to see through his disguise.

    "You''re finally here! You''rete for ten minutes! What have been up to?" One of the guards groaned as they stood up.

    Raven ced on a wry smile and said: "My bad, got a little too much to eat. My stomach and I have been at it for a while now...hehe."

    "Seriously now?" The other guard chuckled and said: "Just get on it, we''re tired and want to sleep."

    "Right away!" Raven replied as he hurriedly took out the keys from his back and opened the ce that they were guarding. He inwardly wiped his non-existent sweat, thankfully it worked. He first thought that his cover was blown but it seems that the guards were only tired of waiting for theirrade. This guard that he abducted was an inspector, his task is to check that everything is in their proper ce and check if there are some intruders hiding for potential sabotage. The guards of this specific warehouse was about to finish their shift and would be rece by new ones so they were irritated that he waste.This is why he became Raven''s target, as he will have to check every warehouse where the Healing Salves are hidden.

    "I''m fine by myself." He stated, "Just wait there, this shouldn''t take long."

    The other guards shrugged and was more than happy to rest, allowing him to have freedom of ''inspecting'' the warehouse. Upon entering, Raven''s eyes glowed and shimmered with golden hue. It only took the briefest moment for him to check if there are other people around and how many Healing Salve crates are in here. Seeing that he''s the only one left, he walked towards the crate and engulfed it with his spiritual sense. This invisible force permeated and covered each vial inside the crate, and using his wonderful control, he opened their corks and infused them with a simple powder that he had taken out from his spatial ring.He ced the corks back and watched until the powderpletely melted by liquid inside the vial, it disappeared with no traces and left no changes on liquid itself, but of course Raven knew better. Everything that''s left for him to do is wait.

    Before he exited the warehouse, he left one final mark on the corner of the warehouse, he chose a spot that that no one will suspect. This mark that he left will have it''s purposete, but for now it shall remain hidden.

    "Alright, we''re good!" He said as he stepped out of the warehouse, locking it behind him. "Let''s go! I''m dying to see my wife."

    "Ohoho....it looks like someone''s looking for a long and sensual night." Jeered one of the guards beside him.

    "Hell yeah I am!" Raven replied with a bit of longing in his voice, "She just came back from a long trip, and I''ve been left dry for a month! She even showed me the lingeries she bought and made a show before my shift started! How could I not look forward to that!?"

    "

    Oh yeah! Show her who''s boss!" Raven continued acting until they went back to their office and updated their timetables, it was then that they went on their separate ways that Raven sneakily went back to original guard.

    As expected, he was still drooling on the floor when he get back. He ced him on his back and sneaked once again towards his home. Once he''s by the door, he used his spiritual energy to hold him up, make him wear the stolen uniform along with the keys he used. And for one final touch, he tapped his forehead and forged a fake memory. This new memories are based on what happened on his patrol minus the sabotage. After that''s done, he snapped his fingers and moved out of the way. After a couple of seconds, the guard woke up, seemingly confused but found nothing weird, he shrugged and rubbed his palms while impatiently unlocking the door. As for what happened inside his home, that would be telling.

    Technically, Raven''s job is finished here. But he decided to do one final task just to really royally screw them over. He sneaked up the pagoda and hid amongst the shadows. He was on the eight floor when he stopped and sat down where he was. Concentrating his mind, he once again casted the Spirit Body Possession. His target was Alfred.

    Alfred''s body groggily stood up. He opened his eyes and searched the spatial ring for the form. He took it out along with a pen and scribbled on it, making sure that the hand writing was the same as the rest. Moving quickly, he also invaded Alfred''s memory and forged fake memories for him. Now everything was on their proper ce. He controlled Alfred''s body back from it''s previous ce and withdrawn from his body.As he returned back to his body, his face paled and he heavily gasped for air, but there was a brilliant gleam in his eyes and a grin on his lips.

    "I can''t wait for tomorrow."

 Chapter 129 - First Wave

    ---

    Alfred stood in front of arge mirror, he was wearing bathrobes while holding a cup of tea on his hands. He has this wide smile on his face, he felt giddy and excited. Finally, after this day the difficult part of his life will pass. In a few hours, he needn''t to move and riches will just keep piling on his feet until he could literally swim in it. He turned around to see several maidservants entering the door.

    Shivers ran through his body as he saw their revealing outfits and seductive smile. Their fair, soft and supple skin almost made him lose his rationality but he managed to keep it on his pants. With a lecherous smile in his face, he nodded to them and ce down the tea on a nearby table.

    He spread his arms wide open and immediately, a pair of slender and soft arms wrapped around him. Alfred felt blood rush to his head as he felt two round and firm cushions pressing on his back, the hands of the young maidservant skillfully danced and brushed on his body while also untying the knot of his robes. Her soft hands lingered a little to long on a specific spot between his legs before reluctantly pinching the edges of the robe to remove it.

    Soft gasps and giggles escaped from the maidservants as they saw him on his birthday suit, Alfred blushed but justughed it off, he was rather confident about his little brother down there so there''s no reason to be ashamed. After some more rounds of flirting and groping, the maidservants finished helping him dress and left the room, at least not before giving him a sloppy kiss. Alfred sighed in bliss and thought:

    ''This is how men should live! I can''t believe that I missed out on a lot! But no matter, starting from today and onwards, I shall live my life ording to how I please. I''m sorry Richard, but living my life buried in stress is something that I could no longer go back to.''

    He shook his head and took a brief nce on his appearance, once he was satisfied he walked out of his room and went towards the carriage where he found Lord Mort and Zelor waiting for him with wide smiles.

    "I apologize Lord Mort, I hope I didn''t made you wait that long." He said while smiling.

    "Oh don''t worry about that, we just arrived ourselves." Lord Mort said while patting his shoulders, "So? How about it? Ready to face the music?"

    "More than ready." Alfred replied enthusiastically."Great!" Lord Mortughed uproariously, "Off we go then!"

    The three then hopped on to their fancy carriage. The carriage that they used was something that even Lord Mort himself treasured, it has gold ted all over its edges, a crest was visible on the doors of the carriage which depicts the badge of Mort Family. The wood used to build this carriage is called Elderwood Narra, which is strong enough to remain unscathed even if it was hit by a lightning, add the fact that each wood came from a thousand year old tree made it that much valuable.

    There also a collectors edition of items hanging as mere designs on the carriage, the interior has a carpet lined flooring, a couch that is made out of pure Everglow Cotton, and there''s even boxes of shining jewelries on each corner. The carriage is also being pulled by the finest breed of warhorses. Overall, this is the sign of the Mort Family boasting their wealth and status in the kingdom.

    Today marks a new change happening to the kingdom, and the Mort Family will usher it. They sent invitations for almost every known individuals in the entire kingdom to attend their showcase. By the time they arrived at the venue, the settlement is already packed with people mingling with each other. The servants were order to deliver them the finest wine and fruits, as well as luxurious tables and chairs. Everyone who attended wore their fanciest clothes and jewelries to at least fit the theme around them. Every influential forces in the kingdom sent a representative.

    The Royal Army, rich merchants, the famous n heirs, and even the big five sent their own representatives to attend as well, of course minus the Pill Saint Pavilion as it was widely acknowledged that they will be reced by the end of the month. Even more surprising is that the Crown Prince Balmung along with a few of his personal body guards attend this event as well. It''s safe to say that everyone was moved and curious about the Mort Family''s little showcase. With a deep groan from the carter, the horses neighed and stopped on their tracks catching the attention of everyone inside. The doors of the carriage opened and the center of today''s event stepped out.

    Lord Mort, Zelor and Alfred came down the carriage and greeted everyone with a smile as they walked down the red carpet. They basked into the limelight and puffed their chest out as a sign of pride and confidence. Not far away from them, Balmung was weing them with apuse but he was inwardly smirking as he saw Alfred show up along with the Mort Family.

    ''So that''s what happened. It seems that this pig seduced another victim to sink into depravity. It''s too bad that this pig is too cautious and cunning, or else I would love to really make things difficult for him.''

    ''Just looking at them raises my blood pressure. Those fake smiles and humility are so irritating. I don''t know why my father insists on keeping them within the walls.''

    As much as he loathed everyone in the Mort Lineage, he can''t be impartial with his treatment. He is the Crown Prince and every move he does is being watched by everyone. He still wore his kind smile and elegant demeanor even though he wanted to step on this man''s face again and again.

    He watched them step into the center stage, be the star of this ce. Lord Mort waved his hands down and the apuse died down. He gripped his cane and started his speech.

    "I thank everyone for attending this very special day of ours. I know most of you definitely had better things to do but you still made an exception for this Old Man, I truly can''t thank you enough." His lips seemed to spew flowers as he spoke.

    "Today marks a change. A change that will truly mark the start of something incredible. And to usher this change, our representative Alfred, a Master Alchemist will show you our greatest creation yet."

    As Lord Mort introduced him, Alfred shivered and nervously went up stage. Though this wasn''t the first time that he did something like this, it was the first time that he did it with a different people and ce. He smiled and shook Lord Mort''s hand before pushing himself on the spotlight. He heaved a deep breath before speaking.

    "People of the Final Haven Kingdom, I''ve watched how we suffer." He said, "Our home is surrounded with unknown dangers and unfriendly environment. We see our parents, our kids, and our people struggle to walk the path of knighthood, pitting themselves against numerous dangers just to search for a way to survive. We always kept it with us, but whenever we see them leave, we always wondered if they will ever return."

    His words were well said and prated deep onto the hearts of the audience. Lord Mort nodded on the side while Zelor bowed his head to hide his nasty sneer.

    "This is why I worked tirelessly to create new more medicines to aid our people. And after buckets of sweat and many sleepless night, I finally found a solution that will change many things from now on." Just like a cue, a crate appeared near him containing a stacked vials with green liquids in them.

    "Ladies and Gentleman! I present to you, MY newest creation! The Healing Salve." Gasps and murmurs drowned the crowd. Alfred could somehow understand what they were trying to say so he made sure to quickly do a follow up.

    "These Healing Salves are a true miracle medicine. Why don''t I give you a demonstration?" He said as he took out a sharp dagger from his spatial ring. Beckoning one of his guards, he unhesitatingly plunged the dagger on his arms, embedding it deeply to show everyone the gaping wound that it left.

    Collective gasps could be heard from the crowd as they became a little unnerved about the sudden disy of brutality, yet before any of them could protest, Alfred took action and uncorked one of the medicine on the crate and sshed it on the man''s wound.He lifted the arm and everyone watched in astonishment as they saw the wound regenerating and closing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Seeing their reaction, Alfred lifted his head up to show his confidence. He was about to exin the true function of the Healing Salve and started selling them when he heard...

    "Oh my god!! Look at his arms!!"

 Chapter 130 - First Wave II

    ---

    "Oh my god!! Look at his arm!!"

    The loud shriek of thedy immediately caused a sensation in the crowd. The crowd instinctively looked at the guards arm only to see an astonishing scene.

    Previously, they were shocked to see the effectiveness of the medicine. They saw how the gaping wound from the guards arm close in a speed visible to the naked eye, yet it only took mere seconds before another change ur.

    The arm that was previously closed, immediately darkened. Under the horrified and dumbfounded gazes of the crowd, it quickly transformed into something that resembled an old tree bark, withered and almost rotting.

    The guard paled and nearly pissed his pants in fear. Alfred, Lord Mort and Zelor had their jaws opened due to shock and terror.

    "H-help! Sir! Help me!" The guard implored while stepping closer to Alfred. The old alchemist himself panicked and also didn''t know what to do. He was cursing every possible saints and gods for ying him like this. Without any further actions, he instinctively opened another Healing Salve from the crate and poured it on the guards arm. The withering of his body stopped, which caused a momentary relief for everyone. But it seems that that was just the calm before the storm.

    The guard thought that everything was over and was about to express his thanks to Alfred for saving his life, but before he could open his mouth, the withering of his body resumed and it was much fasterpared before. In fact, it was so fast that he be a rotten piece of flesh before anyone could react to it.

    Silence.

    There was only a deafening silence in this room. Everyone felt chills running through their spine as they recalled the sudden death of the guard. Some of the guests here were lucky to witness a gruesome death for the first time in their lives. Balmung who was watching over the corner had a chilling glint in his eyes as he saw the events transpired. He ced both of his hands behind his back and slowly made his way towards the front. Being a Crown Prince, he has responsibilities to fulfill and he won''t stand idly by to see any unnecessary deaths without receiving any exnation.

    "I believe your name is Alfred, right?" Balmung''s calm and slightly amused voice echoed like a thunderp inside the room. For those who haven''t associate with him before, they will think that he was rather calm and taking this easy. But those who knew Balmung''s true nature, they were shivering and sent ther best regards towards Alfred.

    "Give me an exnation as to why I shouldn''t separate your head from your shoulders right here, right now." Contrary to his smiling face, Balmung''s words were venomous and cold. The hairs on Alfred''s body nearly ran away from sheer terror. Seeing the smiling yet upset Crown Prince and his ring guards behind almost made him prostate on the ground.

    "A-allow me to exin, Prince Balmung. It s-seems that we encountered a small mishap on this presentation. I didn''t do this on purpose! Lord Mort could testify to this!" Alfred hurriedly exined, he didn''t dare to be careless since this prince could decide whether he lives or not depending on his whim right now.

    "Is this true n Head Mort?" Balmung asked Lord Mort after hearing Alfred''s testament. Hearing Balmung''s interrogation made Lord Mort''s face crumple, he was inwardly cursing every fiber of Alfred''s existence. He repeatedly told him to be careful and make sure that everything was proper and correct in the concoction yet it''s obvious that this fool didn''t listen.

    That or this fool just seeks to drag him down with him. Either way, it was obvious that Lord Mort can''t allow his reputation to take damage in front of many influential people. That would cause a significant damage on his grand ns.

    "His words are true Prince Balmung." Lord Mort answered with difficulty, "He shared to me the recipe of the Healing Salve and during his first demonstration, it worked like it was supposed to. This potion could cure any lethal wounds so long as it was used as a first aid. Many of my n members were present during his presentation so we could testify for that. As for the ident right now, I am ashamed but I haven''t expected anything like that happening, he supervised the whole process of concoction himself so it shouldn''t have any problems."

    "Is that so?" Balmung raised his brows as he heard Lord Mort''s exnation. This man was truly cunning, it was clear from his words that he was trying to take as little responsibility as he could in order to not suffer from the ident. Alfred was too stunned and bbergasted to even notice it, he was just focusing on trying to prove his innocence.

    "So who do I me then?" Balmung frowned and release a tiny bit of his animosity, "Both of you are trying to say that you''re innocent. If that''s true then howe this one''s dead?" He said while pointing at the corpse in front of him.

    "Don''t tell me I am suppose to turn a blind eye towards the death of my citizens?"

    Balmung''s words created a formless pressure towards Lord Mort and Alfred, even Zelor wasn''t spared. It is clear that the prince doesn''t n to let this matter go without conclusion. The crowd behind also didn''t dare to move, most of them were scared and wanted to stay further away from the conflict but they know that if they do that, the Prince would personally drag them back here.

    Alfred tried to reach out towards Lord Mort for help, but thetter stood unmoved by his gaze. Alfred was suddenly enlightened, he understood that maybe the reason why Lord Mort isn''t helping him all the way was because of his status. Lord Mort is a n head, and he had to tread carefully or else a simple mistake could lead to severe repercussions for his n. But Alfred knew better, he wasn''t dumb. Before he was seduced by Lord Mort''s flowery words, he had heard some rumors about him. Of course, he wasn''t one to judge but now he can''t help but believe that those awful rumors might be true.

    Alfred smiled wryly, in the end he had to fend for himself in order to secure a better future. There was a pang of bitterness on his heart when he realized that he''s all alone. He started to wonder, if he hadn''t betrayed Richard, will an ident like this happen? Is this Karma doing it''s thing? He truly didn''t know.

    "I implore Prince to believe my innocence. I truly never meant for something like this to ur. I only want the best for people." Alfred said solemnly, "In fact...how about this? Why don''t I concoct the Healing Salve in front of you? With everyone present, we should be able to spot any potential idents or sabotage attempts right? And after my concoction, we will test the efficacy of the medicine." Balmung can''t tell if this person had any ulterior n or not, he thought about his suggestion and found no reason to decline. He gave him his word and allowed him to proceed. Alfred expressed his thanks and immediately took out the necessary ingredients from his spatial ring.

    Everyone watched closely and studied his actions, the guards were alert and red at every possible corner to check if someone was trying do mess with Alfred''s concoction. No one even tried to move from their ce in fear of being suspected, everyone patiently waited until Alfred was done concocting his ''miracle potion''.

    Time went by fast, Alfred knew that the difficult process was already over. Still he didn''t dare to be negligible and focused whole-heartedly on the concoction. After checking that the process went very smooth and without any hitch, he sighed deeply and poured the contents of the vial. He stood up and faced the crown prince.

    "I am finished crown prince, this is the Healing Salve. This should have no problems to be tested, I wonder how we should go about the testing?"

    "Good question." Balmung nodded, but it didn''t take him long before he could answer. "Why don''t you test it to yourself?"

    Alfred froze when he heard the crown prince''s words. His stomach lurched as his heart started to pound even more.

    "What''s the matter?" Balmung smiled and raised his brows. "Aren''t you confident about you creation? We saw you personally concoct it and you even said that there should be no problems. Since you''ve been boasting about it''s ''miraculous effects'', then there shouldn''t be any problems if you use yourself. Am I correct? Former Pill Saint Pavilion Chief Director Alfred Garvas?"

    Alfred nearly coughed up blood from hearing the prince''s words. Seeing the reaction of the crowd when his previous identity was exposed, Alfred nearly went irrational from rage. But he calmed himself down and ced on a determined look.

    ''Fine! You all are ruthless enough!'' He thought, he wounded himself using the same dagger that he used and made sure to have everyone witness how deep his wounds are.He grimaced as he felt the pain, but he gritting his teeth and poured the newly concocted Healing Salve on his arm, as if that wasn''t enough, he also directly consumed it. After seeing that his wounds were recovering and his body felt light and rxed, a smile formed in his lips.. He was about to confirm the sess when he suddenly saw the horrified expression of the crowd.

 Chapter 131 - First Wave End

    ---

    Alfred was confused, everything was fine and felt nothing wrong! This should be a sign that the concoction was a sess, no? But once he followed the gazes of the horrified crowd, he immediately understood why.

    His once fair looking skin was reduced to nothing but loose bag of flesh and wrinkled skin. He was terrified to find out that sudden change, just like the guard earlier, he felt nothing wrong in his system, not even an ounce of pain, yet the withering of his skin still ured and no matter how much he tried to stop it, he was powerless to do so.

    What''s more is that, these changes were happening from the inside, the reason for this is because he consumed the failed product ending up making this damage far more lethal that anyone had ever expected.With shaking hands, he tried everything in his power to stop it even though it''s useless. He consumed pills, pressed his acupoint, used his energies to block the withering force, all of this was useless. In fact, it seems that those attempts even made the withering faster.

    The crowd watched to see him go from a dignified middle-aged man to a skin and bones elder in just few minutes. In the end, because nothing worked for him, Alfred stopped and lost all hope. Suddenly, he felt like his life was shing before him. He felt myriad emotions in his heart, the strongest ones are Hate, Unwillingness, and Regret.

    "Aha¡­ahahahaha!" Alfred suddenly broke into a fit of madughter, due to the withering he''s experiencing even his voice was affected. In the end, he sounded like a dying man.

    "How foolish! How hrious! Hahaha!" His madness filledughter was extremely unnerving to the crowd, even the crown prince himself was a little apprehensive about this. Do not underestimate a man with nothing to lose could do. He had learned this lesson a long time ago.

    "Unbelievable! Just a few hours earlier, I was living the life of a King! Unending feast, gorgeous women scrambling to sit on myp, people fawning towards me and so on. I even thought that I don''t need to worry anymore since from this day onwards, I shall live like that¡­and now look at me."

    Alfred''s voice was filled with deep sense of longing and mncholy as he spoke, his words struck a deep string on the crowd''s heart.

    In the end, who doesn''t want to live their lives infort and riches? Who doesn''t want to live like a Royalty? Who wants to venture outside and face dangers when your room is safe and sound? How many people really did care for the well being of the kingdom? How many people had done something about it? How many people truly had aspirations to search for a way to rid their home of dangers?

    "Perhaps, this is Karma at work." Alfred''s voice was filled with regret, "I understand. I am a sinner."

    He turned his head onest time and briefly nced at Lord Mort and his son. With a sneer in his face, he uttered his final message.

    "I stole this recipe from Richard, the Vice Director of Pill Saint Pavilion. He was the one who discovered this recipe. He showed it to me with hopes of releasing it to the public so that the Pill Saint Pavilion could present another means to contribute for the greater good. On the other hand, I was seduced by the prospect of endless wealth ording to the promises of Lord Mort. In the end I stole his recipe and betrayed him, leaving the organization to im all the benefits for myself, leaving my best friend heartbroken. In the end it seems that I stole the wrong one, resulting in this¡­madness."

    Alfred chuckled and coughed up blood, in hisst breath he only had one thing to say: "Please tell him I regretted everything, and to make sure that he aplishes his grand ambitions.

    "With this said, Alfred smiled onest time as his body disintegrated into mere dust. Leaving the whole people present to stunned to say anything.

    ***

    "It was terrible. He died just like that, he didn''t leave an intact corpse." Anne said as she calmly retold the story she witness during the Mort Family''s grand event.

    "Not trying to rude here or anything but¡­" Paul paused and said, "He somewhat deserved that. I mean he stole something that wasn''t his in the first ce. He allowed to greed to blind his vision not realizing that he could''ve achieved the same thing staying in the pavilion, perhaps even more."

    "I agree." Ellen nodded, "If the effects of that potion was as miraculous as they imed, then selling it for at least 20 gold cards a bottle is enough. With how many people willing to buy such potion, he would literally be swimming in money in no time, along with the fact of keeping his guiltless conscience and the prospect of discovering more."

    "Even if he decide to squander all of that money, he will still have enough to save some for future research, for hiring additional personnel to protect himself and many more. It''s such a dumb move." Mark said, giving his personal view towards the topic.

    "Oh right." Anne looked at luna and asked, "How''s the matter between n Head Mort and your brother? I remember that things were getting a little too heated between them, unfortunately we have to leave."

    "Oh they don''t like each other, that''s for sure." Luna said while sighing, "He had long since wanting to exile the Mort Family from the kingdom. ording to him, if it weren''t for the cunningness of the old man, they would''ve been long since gone. Now that someone gave him the reason to pressure them, you best believe that he won''t let it go."

    "I''m just worried that he''s taking things too far. I don''t know much but rumor has it that their wealth could easily rival ours. They have full control of the marketce, anyone who tries to disobey them would get suppressed until they go bankrupt. Unfortunately, even though these nasty rumors are true, no one dares to testify since the Mort Family could easily use their wealth to cover their mouths."

    Luna can''t help but to worry a lot for his brother. Even since she left their home, it was always been him who took charge of everything in the pce. It also didn''t help that his father had to roam the wilderness outside to search for things that could aid the situation of the kingdom. Because of that Balmung would undoubtedly have offended a lot of forces even though he was the Crown Prince. Who could tell if these people won''t eventually band together to take him down? It also doesn''t help that she could offer no help to him currently.

    "Oh!" Out of nowhere, Paul suddenly eximed which got the attention of the rest. They found him looking over the window while smiling.

    "He''s here." He said as everyone followed where he was looking. It was then that they saw Raven walking towards them in a carefree manner.

    "You''rete!" Paul said as soon as he sat beside them.

    "My bad." Raven said while chuckling, "Just had to take care of some errands. What are you guys up to?"

    "We were just talking about the huge event that happened yesterday." Mark said, he didn''t have to say much since Raven already knew what this was all about.

    "Ah, about that thief? What about it?" He said while raising his brows.

    "Nothing much, we just thought that it was too sad for him to that way. He made some really questionable choices but in the end, he just wanted to live lifefortably."

    "He deserved every single ounce of it." Raven t out said, "Nothing but a fool with illusions of grandeur. With a heart full of greed, he courted his own disaster."

    Raven didn''t filter his words. In his opinion, people like Alfred had no reason to remain in this kingdom. It was a good thing that Raven was basically hiding his identity, or else his fate could''ve been worse that a mere disintegration.

    "Anyway, let''s not talk about that. How are you guys doing? I hope you didn''t go easy on your training."

    "Oh please." Ellen spat when she heard his doubtful tone, "I''ve been training so hard that it''s not even funny. I just recently came from sparring with some elders of the n, with how much I bothered them I think that I will be losing sparring partners not too long from now."

    "My dad''s been hands on with training me." Anne chuckled with glee, "During his leave, he had been teaching me some things rted to archery and even gave me some notes from my great grandmother''s teachings."

    "I signed up at some nearby fighting arena, obviously hiding my identity. So far, I have a total of 10 consecutive wins." Paul said.

    "A Lair Hunter took me in as his disciple." Mark announced which made everyone gobsmacked, he grinned and continued, "He had been training me, and even signed me up for the Lair Hunters organization."

    "I joined the Ruby Knights and became the personal disciple of the current Captain."

    "You what!?"

 Chapter 132 - A Pill

    ---

    "You what!?"

    The rest had bewildered expressions as soon as they heard her.

    "It''s nothing much really." Luna waved her hand, "Master Leona was a previous sweetheart of Grandpa Lee. She epted me through his rmendation."

    "Don''t sell yourself short." Raven replied while smiling, "With her reputation, I doubt that she would make an exception regardless of backing. She must''ve seen something in you which prompted her decision."

    "He''s right, Sis! I''m so happy for you!" Anne eximed while hugging her. The rest also said the sentiments for this rare encounter.

    Their reactions are very understandable. They''re talking about the Ruby Knights Squad after all.The founders of these group of fearless fairies had been imed as subjects of worship for both men and women alike. In front of thisdies, whatever men could do, they could do better. While it''s true that some of them have an inherent hate towards men, in the end they were still warriors who fought under the same banner, and what they do is obviously for the greater good.

    Leona Cezil, the current Captain of the Ruby Knight Squad, is one of the most powerful knights to date. She was once worked as the current King''s personal adviser and also apanied him through his explorations beyond the walls.

    ording to what Raven remembered about her, she is somewhere between a Golden Knight or even at Hero stage, which was fairly astounding considering the terrible state of the kingdom. He also heard that during one of their exhibitions outside the walls, she managed to destroy a Middle Sized Lair all on her own.

    Raven doesn''t know how much of this was an exaggeration but even so, that is very impressive. A small scaled Lair could house at least 100-300 beasts while a medium sized Lair holds at least 500-1000. If the rumors where a hundred percent real, then that means that she slew at least 500-1000 beast all alone. That is a staggering amount of beasts, almost akin to a small sized horde already.

    The only reason why Raven couldn''t be so sure about those rumors is because Leona never really confirmed much less discuss anything about that event at all. It was said that after they came back, Leona resigned from her position and reced the previous Captain of the Ruby Knights Squad. With all these being said and done, Leona''s reputation soared like a rising phoenix. Her notoriety is also one of the main reasons why the ck Curtain Guild never dared to recklessly attack, her deterrence was a great sobering feeling to them.

    It is unknown how many female knights sought after her teachings, but due to her entricity, she never epted anyone no matter how long they kneeled in front of her office, not how much wealth they gave. In the end, she will only ept people based on her judgement and so far it has to fail her yet.With these informations in mind, it was clear why everyone was in a jubnt mood after hearing the news. And even though Raven couldn''t make heads or tails about the rumors, he knew one thing for sure.And that is Leona absolutely loathes the ck Curtain Guild. Luna was in safe hands...

    "So¡­" Mark whispered, "It seems that we have a strong foundation for our future, we just need to make sure that we remain careful all the way. Once timees, we''ll be unstoppable."

    The rest solemnly nodded, it was somewhat unbelievable that they managed to have such a good headstart. This is a great boon towards their goals in the future. Raven was also gratified to see that even though he wasn''t there to support them, they still managed themselves beautifully and independently. He could tell that their growth is in the right direction. Raven and his friends talked for some more, catching up with the things they missed out. Once their done, they went their separate ways.

    As for Raven, he immediately went towards the Pill Saint Pavilion under a disguise. Due to the recent events, he had been rather careful when going in here. He wasn''t wary that someone will managed to uncover his sabotage, he was rather confident about how he handled that matter. What he was careful for was exposing the future ns of the Pill Saint Pavilion. He wanted to hide as much information as he could so that no potentialplications will arise. He absolutely doesn''t want another case of Alfred.

    To that extent, he secretlyid out a powerful enchantment all of the organization. This enchantment works like a subtle hypnotism that will make majority of it''s visitors lose interest about visiting. Laying this enchantment here also helped Richard and Jacob a lot since with no worries of anyone disturbing, they could focus whole-heartedly on concoction alone.

    Speaking of concoction, this is the second day that he gave the Sacred Leaf Holy Scripture to both of them, and as expected of the holy bible for alchemist, it brought an earth shattering changes to the two''s point of view about alchemy.

    The scripture was simple yet endlessly profound, it containedprehensible instructions yet every single one has clever applications. Once they started whole-heartedly studying, they became so immersed that they even forget about hunger and time. They were even forced to set some sort of a reminder for them when it''s time to eat and sleep.

    They both understood that two days of worth of studying isn''t nearly enough to understand even a percent of this holy scripture, yet that timeframe morphed their alchemical prowess into a whole new level.

    Raven silently arrived at the Pill Concoction Room where both Richard and Jacob were. The two didn''t even noticed his arrival and waspletely immersed on their tasks. He took a careful nce of the neatly arranged stacks crates containing bottles of pills. All of them are neatly arranged by their category and was carefully inspected before cing them here.

    By his estimations, he reckon that there''s at least a hundred to a hundred and fifty pill bottles and potions so far, and considering the fact that there''s only two of them who knew how to concoct these medicines, this is an absolutely staggering production rate! Not to mention that fact that these two hardly failed during the concoction makes this even more amazing.

    But to Raven''s eyes, this amount is not nearly enough to satisfy the market. Each of this pills would be considered as miracle medicines already, and if they knew how affordable these pills were, there''s going to be a huge uproar. He could even tell that some influential figures wouldn''t even hesitate to order staggering amounts of pills from them, a couple hundreds would be too little in fact. Of course, he wouldn''t me it to them. After all, almost every alchemist who used to work here had already left. Nevertheless, this problem should easily be solved after the start of the operation.

    Seeing them so busy, Raven decided to leave them alone and upy an empty pill concoction room for himself. Since he''s here, he might as well help out. However, Raven isn''t going to concoct any of the pills they were making. He nned on making a different one.

    Taking out the necessary ingredients out of his spatial ring, he ced them in a table in front of him. Normally, this should be the time when he''s supposed to heat up the furnace but he skipped that, instead he focused on doing the prep work for each ingredients. Once he was done, he closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them, there is a strange glint on his pupils.His arms abruptly lit up with blue ethereal mes. A strange wind made his clothes flutter and made his hair dance. Out of nowhere, the ingredients floated in front of him, seemingly picked up by a strange force.

    They formed a circr formation in front of him and remained suspended in the air. He moved both of his arms towards his chest, palms facing each other with a small gap in between. The mes in his arms moved between the gap, one by one the floating ingredients flew towards the mes, akin to a moth seduced by fire. The mes flickered, adjusting its heat and its intensity depending on how delicate the ingredients was. The essences of each ingredient was sucked out and refined with absolute perfection and grace, not even iota was wasted.

    When the concoction was nearing its end, all of the essences was concentrated between Raven''s palms. If one observed closely, it was obvious that each essences were being merged into a single entity. Each time an essence wasbined, it will shine with a resplendent light. With more and more essences being fused and refined, the light intensified so much that someone will think that Raven had the sun between his palms.

    Beads of sweat emerged fell from his face but this wasn''t enough to break his concentration. After waiting for the proper sign, Raven suddenly closed the gap between his palms and sped them together.. The light was snuffed out but when Raven opened his hands, a golden pill emerged.

 Chapter 133 - Longevity Pill And Moonshine

    ---

    Raven gazed at the pill, after inspecting it thoroughly he sighed in relief, he managed to minimize the impurities contained. In the end, it was due to him not having enough practice and power to support the concoction that lead up to the pill having a tiny amount of impurities.

    The pill that he had concocted is a very special pill since it requires a high amount of skill to create. A Longevity Pill.

    A single pill that could instantly extend someone''s life for couple hundreds of years. It doesn''t matter what cultivation bases they have, so long as they haven''t ascended yet, this pill will take effect. But of course, one couldn''t simply abuse such pill to gain perpetual life, the heaven''s will never allow such thing. Repeated consumption of Longevity Pills had a diminishing effect on each subsequent pill taken, it also has an upper limit of ten pills. Once one consumed 10 longevity pills, the 11th one would no longer work even if it was highest grade there was.

    Before majority of the human tribe ascended to the Divine Realm, they were already aware of such pill. In fact, in their eyes, there are much better optionspared to Longevity Pills. But due to it''s additional benefit, they often called it as: Time Reversing Pill.

    Don''t be mistaken, the pill can''t turn back time. The only reason why they call it like this is because, once consumed, a person would regain some of their youthful vigor back.Once the pill started to take effect, their previously white hairs will turn ck, their wrinkles will reed and some of their loose muscles would bepact and active once again. All of this will happen in just a minute after consuming the pill. Which is why many people called is as Time Reversing Pill, since its effects made it look like time was returning them to their youths.

    The Longevity Pill that Raven made was actually one of the more rarer ones. It''s not a perfect grade Longevity Pill as some impurities remained, even so it''s nearly there. This pill alone could extend a whopping 1000 years extra to anyone who consumes this. Meanwhile, a perfect grade Longevity Pill could restore a staggering 2000 years of longevity.

    "Well, this is a pretty good sign. Maybe when I step onto Warrior Realm, I''ll be able to perform the Heaven and Man Furnace even better. By then, all of my concoctions should have no impurities in them."

    Being very careful, he ce the pill into a jade vial and sealed it with an inscription to not waste it''s efficacy. So long as no one opens this vial, the efficacy won''t disperse.

    Raven sat down to recover his lost energy, casting the technique nearly emptied his energy reserves and greatly stressed him out.Heaven and Man Furnace, is one of the more advanced concoction techniques that is recorded in the Sacred Leaf Holy Scripture. It was an unorthodox method that one Grandmaster Alchemist gained enlightenment from, once he managed to perfect his technique the doors to Ascension opened for him and thus he became one of the few Saint Alchemist that had ever graced the earlier civilization.

    This technique uses both Heaven and Man to form the furnace. The Heaven''s will hold up the ingredients while the man sets fire to himself in order to embrace the essences, birthing to the creation of a pill. This method is extremely strict and stressful. To create the mes, one had tobine energy and spiritual energy together. Then they have to agitate them to a very high degree resulting in heat which will eventually form a True Soul me. Because the True Soul me is created by mixing Raven''s energy and spiritual energy, it''s temperature depends on how much fuel he added on to them, additionally this me won''t hurt anyone that Raven deemed as an ally. Even so, True Soul me is mostly used in alchemy. mes that could be used offensively are many and much betterpared to this.

    After resting for a bit, Raven didn''t concoct another Longevity Pill for the sole reason that he''s out of ingredients. In total, it cost him at least 100,000 gold cards just to get enough materials to make one. Selling this for double the amount isn''t considered as too expensive at all, but Raven didn''t n on selling this publicly. This pill would undoubtedly cause too much uproar if it was sold just like a regr pill. And even though he implemented a n to at least prevent the ck Curtain Guild from getting their hands on his pills, there no saying that it was enough to stop them. Thest thing that he wanted was to deliver a longevity pill to extend their lives, he''d rathermit suicide by then.He had a solid n to prevent them from getting this, but that has to wait until the showcase.

    Now that he''s rested, he nned on helping them out. He decided to brew some Moonshine for the time being.

    Moonshine, another recipe from the Sacred Leaf Holy Scripture. The favorite liquor of the masses during the Sacred Leaf Era.

    Compared to the rest of medicines he''s nning to reveal, this probably has the most minor effects.

    Drinking a ss of Moonshine allows one to enter a state of enhanced sensitivity and perception. If he has to quantify this amount, then it would be at least a 50% increase. Only, the gist of this is that the materials needed to brew Moonshine was extremely cheap. 1 gold card and a month is all it takes to have one bottle. To the current Raven, 1 gold card is nothing. Selling one bottle of Moonshine for 3 gold cards is already a huge profit for them but Raven wasn''t nning on raising the price for that high. This is because Moonshine was the favorite drink of the Sacred Leaf Era. Commoners or Nobles, all of them enjoyed a bottle of Moonshine whenever they wanted to. Due to its effects, the citizens of the old era became flourishing and Raven ns to recreate that sight. Even if he doesn''t earn a single cent from this, he would be immensely satisfied.

    Raven dallied no longer, the first step for him was to make a time enchantment using a bunch of inscriptions. The materials needed for this is quite expensive but nothing for him to worry about. Creating the enchantment also didn''te as a challenge for him since he had done before, how else would they brew the previous batch and release it tomorrow then?

    The time enchantment array needed time before it starts working, Raven used this time to prepare the brew. Raven specifically chose durable and cheap bottles to store the liquid. The concoction was simple enough that it doesn''t require anyplicated techniques, easy enough that even Paul has no chance of messing it up.

    He prepared at least 500 bottles this time, in addition to the ones already brewing earlier, this would make 2000 bottles prepared. But of course, since it was him who''s brewing this, he had to step it up.The time enchantment that he made just now is a higher gradepared to what he created earlier. In here, he could adjust the time ratio for 1:30, one day outside is equivalent to 30 days inside the enchantment, all the way to 1:180, one day outside equivalent to roughly 6 months inside the enchantment. Just like any good wine, the longer Moonshine is brewed the greater it''s effects. The grades of Moonshines depend on the brewing time. 30 day brew would be the lowest grade, three months brew would be a B-rank. 6 months brew would be an A-rank and 1 year brew would be a highest rank which would be S-rank.

    After he prepared the brew, he nced at the enchantment behind him and nodded to himself, it was ready. Briefly turning off the enchantment, he waited for the light inside to go dim before heading inside.Neatly arranging each crates, Raven made sure that there are no problems of sorts before leaving the enchantment and turning it on once more. As he saw the light lit up inside, he knew that the enchantment is already doing its magic, which left him satisfied.

    He patted his hands and locked to door of the Pill Concoction Room behind him, making sure that he leaves an invisible mark before he left. This mark would let him know if anyone beside Richard and Jacob wants to open this room.He then went back to the room where Richard and Jacob were and saw them wolfing food like starved beasts. When the heard the door opened and saw him, they choked on their food, creating a somewhat embarrassing scene.

    "Take it easy, I''m not going to steal your food."

    "M-master!" Richard and Jacob hurriedly stood up and greeted, there were faint traces of blush on their cheeks as the memory of the embarrassing scene became imprinted onto their minds.

    "Don''t let me disturb you. You two worked hard enough, bear with it for a couple of days more and this difficult time would end." Raven said as he sat down beside them. "Right, do we have any news about the venue and the invitations?"

    Both him and Jacob looked at Richard since he was the one tasked with this. Seeing the expectant gaze of the two, Richard rubbed the back of his head and said:

    "Well, about that...."

 Chapter 134 - Reactions

    ---

    "Well, about that¡­"

    Richard''s voice caused the two''s hearts to tighten, are they really going to have a problem before the sale? They''ve been working pretty hard for everything to go smoothly, it would be too depressing if the date will have to be moved.

    "¡­I already sent the invitations, it''s just that I am somewhat restless and anxious. With how things went for the Mort Family, I''m afraid that many people will just outright ignore our event."

    Hearing his concern, Raven and Jacob heaved a long sigh of relief. It turns out that nothing went wrong, Richard was just having some jitters before the sale, which is perfectly understandable considering the scale of the events they''re nning.

    "If it''s audience you''re worried about then rest easy, I already made a pre-emptive move for that. In fact, we actually don''t need that many people to see the showcase, even a few nobles withmoners will do. News of our deed will spread like wildfire anyway."

    Raven''s words aren''t without any basis. If things go the right way, this event will be the grandest of all during the past century or so. It''s not even an overstatement that this event will be even more historical than a coronation of a King.

    "Master, what about our security?" Jacob asked, "With the decline of the pavilion, most of our guards and resident fighters withdrew as well. What are we gonna do if someone attacked during the event?"

    "There''s no need to worry about that as well." Raven replied, "Once you see the people who will attend the event, you will know that no one will dare to even have any ideas about attacking. Just focus on concocting, I''ve got the rest covered."

    Richard and Jacob sighed in reverence when they heard his words. Sure Raven was a mere teenager but his tactical knowledge heavily surpassed them, it''s like he had been doing this things for a long time now andpletely grasped every possible loopholes that could be exploited, making contingency ns for it in advance. His always a couple of steps ahead of them, like he could somehow see the future.

    Of course both of them wondered just how he was able to do all of this, but since Raven wanted to keep it a secret, then they won''t force the issue. It was not their ce to meddle anyway, they had beenpletely convinced that with him taking charge of the pavilion, transforming it to be an absolute overlord would only just be a matter of time. Deep down, they started wondering. What would be the pavilion''s fate if he never interfered? They would probably be forced into a very miserable ce right now.

    Thank the gods that they sent him here to give them a ray of hope.The three talked for some more, after making sure that everything''s on their proper ce, he left the pavilion under a disguise once more and returned to his cave dwelling. It was almost night time when arrived, he did some light exercises before sitting down and disappearing. Raven arrived once more at the crown space. Even though he has an important even tomorrow, that''s not a reason to postpone his daily training. Night quickly passed and in a matter of hours, the grand event willmence.

    ***

    Invitations had been sent, those who were addressed at the letter properly received it and read its contents.

    Richard had personally hand written each letter, he tried to express how it would mean the world for him if they could spare a tiny bit of their time to at least attend, what might be their final sale for the pavilion.

    Some sympathized with him, those people were most likely merchants who felt the pain of seeing their efforts go to waste. Bankruptcy had always been the worst nightmare for business people. The bigger their achievements were, the more they are terrified for the eventual decline. What goes up, will eventuallye down, all of them knew this but very unwilling to ept it.

    Some people were skeptical, these people were the ones who were badly affected with the previous disy of the Mort Family. For some reason, they were expecting that Richard was in cahoots with Alfred and were highly afraid that what transpired a few days ago will happen once more. If this was true then they rather not attend since they were still having nightmares about what happened.

    Some people were more interested. These people weren''t as affected by the death of Alfred but instead more interested about the hidden conspiracy behind it. They could still remember how Alfred exposed all of his misgivings about the Mort Family and hisst words for Richard. Somehow, they could tell that something was up, and that it''s very unlikely that what Richard said in these letters werepletely true.

    "What are they trying to aplish here?" A middle-aged man thought out loud. He sat on the middle of arge and luxurious room. Fancy chandeliers hung on the ceiling, the tables are made out of precious white jades, the chair that he was sitting on was made out of Elderwood Narra and had crystals embedded on it''s edges.His sword-like brows were pressed together, his piercing obsidian eyes tried to see through the contents of the letter that he was holding. After a while of inspecting, he failed to truly understand the underlying meaning behind the letter. He sighed and rested back against the chair, he closed his eyes for a while, trying to rx for a bit since it was evident that he had been rather stressed during these past few days.

    This man is Balmung, current Crown Prince of the Final Haven Kingdom. Resting at his office at the Royal Pce.

    *Knocking*

    Balmung was briefly startled by the knock on his door, he fixed himself up and said:

    "Come in."The door opened and revealed two people. One was an old man wearing a rather simple clothing, somewhat unfitting to theme of the room they were currently in. Nevertheless, he carried himself with grace and dignity. Usually, the servants and guards of this ce will never allow anyone like him to enter this room, but this old man had a frightening identity so they don''t dare to slight him even for a bit. This old man was Magnum Lee, the current King''s most trusted aide and also the guardian of Luna.

    The other person with him was of course, Luna. If any of her friends were here, they will discover that she looked rather different. Her previously long and ck hair has now turned golden, her charming face became even more pronounced, her obsidian eyes also turned golden as well, and her expression dignified. She also became somewhat taller and slimmer as well. On the middle of her forehead, lies a white diamond shaped mark that shimmer when light touches it. There was no doubt that she was akin to a fairy visiting the mortal world. This is Luna''s real appearance, her previous look was a disguise she made to hide her identity so that she won''t be in any danger. This is what Raven always sees whenever he looked at Luna with his ocr technique active.

    "Luna, Grandpa Lee." Balmung greeted as soon as he saw them, "Fancy seeing you here." He was thoroughly surprised to see them both in here, usually it was him along with his guards who visits them and not the other way around.

    "You jest, Your Highness." Old Lee chuckled, "We''re already exposing ourselves in at least 10 dangers bying here."

    "And you don''t even appreciate it." Lunamented while rolling her eyes on the side. This caused Balmung to tense up and smile wryly.

    "Ohe on you guys. You know that''s not true." He exined nervously. "I am always looking forward to yourpany! You can''t even imagine how lonely I am in here."

    "There he goes again, trying the pitiful act. You won''t fool anyone with that!" Luna grinned mischievously.

    "Come on Sis, you know-"

    "Alright you two, stop that already." Old Lee chuckled while shaking his head, "The servants will here you bickering, you best behave or else your dad will do it for you when hees back."

    The two froze when they heard Old Lee''s warning, theyposed themselves and acted like nothing happened. Luna sat on one of the unupied chairs while Old Lee closed the door behind them and proceed to stand behind Luna.

    "So, anything we need to know?" Luna asked.Balmung hesitated a little bit before passing the letter to her. Luna picked it up and read it, there was an unnoticeable glint in her eyes once she saw this. She also passed the letter to Old Lee who was puzzled instead.

    "This is¡­ strange." Old Leemented, "Does Your Highness n to go?"

    "I''m currently thinking about it." Balmung replied.

    "I''d say you go." Luna said which made the two look at her strangely. Luna wasn''t really inclined toment about private affairs and most of the time keeps her thoughts to herself. But now, she didn''t even hesitate to speak her thoughts about this letter, which totally strange.

    "Don''t misunderstood." Luna exined rather calmly, "The reason why I wanted you to go is because I''ll be there as well. Anne will act as the Hostess of the event, that''s the mission she received. Let''s attend to give her some moral support."

    Hearing her exin like this erased the suspicions on their mind. In the end, Luna managed to convince her brother to go.. Without them knowing, Luna heaved a sigh relief, at least she managed to fulfill her part in this.

 Chapter 135 - Last Sale I

    ---

    There was a bit of amotion today.

    Rumor has it, that the Pill Saint Pavilion is hosting what probably theirst sale before they step down the ranks. People were shocked about this news, it seems that from tomorrow onwards, there will be no longer a Big Five, only Big Four. But that is actually debatable, maybe it won''t take too long before a different organization charge through the ranks and rece them.Meanwhile, the Pill Saint Pavilion is currently packed with people. The halls are decorated fairly well, there are sets of tables and chairs prepared for everyone invited. The previously bleak and somewhat depressing atmosphere of the pavilion during these past few days seemingly disappeared like thin smoke and was reced by a festive mood. The people who arrived talked to each other creating a very active scene.

    Influential people flocked the ce. Jackson, the Lair Hunter was here. Korra the Director of the Ritual Water Keepers were here. Maddock the Director of the Beast Domestication Center was also here as well.

    There''s also Bradley, current n Head of the Vermillion Sky n and father of Ellen. Of course, the littless was apanying him as well. The Fiore Family were here as well, clearly looking forward to Anne''s performanceter. Current Headmaster of Heavenly Cloud Institute Ian, along with the rascal Paul were present. Mark''s father Leon as well as some of the n guards were here as well. Even the current Crown Prince Balmung was present surrounded by his faithful knights, not too far away from him was the silent Luna being apanied by Magnum Lee, both are wearing a disguise to not cause ruckus.And of course, how could Luis be absent in this? The Hawk Forces were deployed beforehand in order to witness this event. It was Balmung who asked him to attend this event, even though he was only here because of Luna''s request, he didn''t want the previous event repeating itself and let the culprits get away with it. With this preparations of his, he''d like to see if someone will have even thoughts of creating trouble.

    It wasn''t just them who were present. Some of the rich merchants and nobles were gathered as well, they were just here for the sake of mingling since an event where almost all of the heavy weights of the kingdom are present doen''t happen everyday. Their goal is to widen theirwork and forge partnerships and other things.

    The chatter of the crowd were interrupted by a sudden sound. Everyone turned their heads to see the door to the main office of the pavilion opened, revealing a bunch of people.

    These people were Richard, the current Main Director of the Pill Saint Pavilion. Walking behind him is Jacob who''s the only alchemist left in this organization, and Anne who''s wearing a slightly mature outfit. They''re also being surrounded with guards along with some people who were transferring stacks of crate towards the stage.

    Richard may appear as calm as a cidke but inwardly he was feeling tons of emotion. Excitement, fear, jitters, anticipation, and many more. All of this tried to mess with his thoughts, thankfully he managed to calm himself down. This was it, this gathering is the most important event that will ever happen in his entire life. He can''t afford to mess up now.

    They walked along and stood on top of the stage. The whole pavilion was silent, countless of eyes were staring at him, clearly expecting him to say anything and start the event. He sharply inhaled and exhaled slowly, he shed a kind smile and said:

    "With all the sentiments from the bottom this Old Man''s heart, I thank you for making some time for my selfish request." He paused after saying this, letting the crowd digest his heartfelt gratitude.

    "Wee everyone! To the final sale of the Pill Saint Pavilion!" Richard raised his hand and the audience gave him a round of apuse. With his cue, the people behind him started moving. Each of them took out a silver tter and ced a couple of beverages as well as sses filled with what looks like a sparkling water. The servants then walked to the crowd and carefully ced handed each of with a ss and a bottle. Richard patiently waited until everyone has a drink before continuing his speech.

    "Please, allow this Old Man to offer you a toast." He raised his own ss and downed it in one go, he didn''t even realized that no one picked up their ss and shared a toast with him. All of them were highly skeptical about this drink and since they didn''t see many people picking their sses up, they didn''t either. Well except for a couple of people.

    "Whoo!" An excited shout briefly startled the crowd, everyone turned their heads curiously towards the person who let out the cry.It was Paul.

    "This is some good stuff!" He said after looking at his empty ss reluctantly. Even though tons of eyes were focused on him, that wasn''t enough to faze the young man. In fact, for some he was totally aware that he''s being stared at and could almost feel their prating gaze at him, like he sensitivity was raised by a notch.

    Ian was dumbfounded, if it wasn''t for the fact that he was in a very public ce he would''ve already cursed Paul at least 10 times. He raised his fist and knocked on Paul''s head but he was surprised that his son caught it without even looking at him.

    "Seriously Dad! It''s some good stuff, I encourage you to try it." Paul said with a straight face, he even picked up Ian''s ss and handed it to him.

    Ian was still doubtful about the sparkling water that was given to them, but faced with the serious encouragement of his son he sighed before taking the ss and simrly downing it in one go. He decided that whatever happens after he drink this is irrelevant, it was not an everyday''s matter when his youngest son ces on a serious face. As the water rushed down to his throat, a fantastic feeling immediately flooded every single pore of his body. He felt slightly lightheaded but in good way, like a sensation of riding a cloud. He opened his eyes only to notice that the world seemed to be more colorful than before. He also discovered that his senses were even more sharpened, he could feel even the tiniest breeze that grazes his body. He could also hear his heartbeat loud and clear, and his thoughts were crystal clear. Following that up, the solutions to the troublesome problems that he encountered started dawning on him, making him enlightened about many things.

    "Whoo!" As a result, he too let out that same surprised sound like what Paul did earlier. His gaze instantly shifted to Paul only to see him grinning at him like a fool. ''So that''s how it is, you brat! Well done!'' He turned his gaze to the stunned crowd and said: "It really is some good stuff. I encourage everyone to try it."

    Majority of the crowd became curious. Some even directly picked up their sses and inspected it''s contents. In fact, it wasn''t only Paul who drank the ss at the same when Richard did, Luna, Mark, Ellen and even Anne who''s at the stage drank theirs as well. When they heard Ian''s encouragement, they too passed a ss to the people around them. After that, some people decided to try it.

    They were silent for a while but when they opened their eyes, a surprised sound involuntarily came out of their mouths, simr to what Paul and Ian experienced. Some people had their mouths wide open, seemingly unable to believe the sensation they are currently experiencing. Others were immediately hooked, they started looking around them in order to take a look at the world in a different perspective. Their thoughts might be awry because of the current changes brought by the sparkling water, they could all agree on one thing. "It really is some good stuff!"

    This sentence permeated in every direction, more and more people started giving in and taking a sip of their ss. No matter who it is, Royalty ormon noble, all of them were immediately hooked onto the feeling that the sparkling water gave. It didn''t take long before everyone in this hall tried the sparkling water, all had mixed reactions but in a good way. Unknowingly, all of them stared in front, precisely locking gazes with Richard who only stood their with a gratified smile in his face.No one said anything, but Richard knew that they only wanted to know one thing. He smiled and started speaking.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen. What you just drank is the newest creation that we made. It is called Moonshine. Drinking a ss of Moonshine allows one to enter a state of enhanced sensitivity and perception, about 50% increase that willst for four hours based on my judgements.. This product is this Old Man''s little gift for you for attending ourst sale."

 Chapter 136 - Last Sale II

    ---

    "Ladies and Gentlemen. What you just drank is the newest creation that we made. It is called Moonshine. Drinking a ss of Moonshine allows one to enter a state of enhanced sensitivity and perception, about 50% increase that willst for four hours based on my judgements. This product is this Old Man''s little gift for you for attending ourst sale."

    The hall was silent after Richard''s words. Although there already had an idea on what the effects are, they still couldn''t help but be stunned when he heard him describe it. What a phenomenal drink! It had to be known that consumables that could elevate one''s senses and perception are extremely rare! Owing such item would cost a tremendous amount if wealth, even those who bought won''t casually use these items, yet Richard magnanimously given everyone not only a ss of it, but an entire bottle! This must''ve cost him all of his wealth! It seems that this will truly be hisst sale and contribution.

    "If there''s any misgivings that I have for Moonshine, it would be the fact that drinking multiple servings doesn''t create any additional effect. In the end, we could only adjust the ingredients used. As a result, even though it''s a liquor, no one will develop any sort of tolerance from it. Each time you drink it would be simr to the first time. We also nned on selling it for only 1 gold card, at least that way, everyone gets to enjoy it."

    Hearing Richard sigh in disappointment about hisints about Moonshine, was akin to a resounding p in their faces. This old man was so insincere, he already managed to create a world shaking liquor yet he was still unsatisfied!At the same time, hearing him say that he will sell these at such a low price caused a huge explosion on their heads.

    "1 gold card!? Howe? That''s so cheap!"

    "I know! In my opinion this should worth at least a several hundred of gold cards, not a single one!"

    "Oh you merchants sure are evil! Esteemed Richard already said that he will only sell them for 1 gold card! Why don''t you just respect his decision?"

    "Hmph! You''re just saying that because you won''t be able to afford it once it passed a certain price."

    "Y-you!"

    Noises of discussions and arguments immediately filled the hall, almost everyone was expressing their own opinions about Richard''s decision. Some were saying that he should raise the price so that he could at least have some retirement funds. Some wanted it to remain cheap so that they could afford as many as they could and give it to their descendants, without a doubt this will raise their efficiency of training by at least twofold while only exerting half the effort.

    "Please calm down everyone." Richard spoke and silenced the crowd. "I know that you only want the best for us, but our decision to sell it this cheap won''t change. Our goal is to have as many people enjoy it."

    "Esteemed Richard, may I ask if our n could purchase a hundred bottles of Moonshine? I am willing to pay at a moment''s notice." A man from a noble background raised his hands and asked Richard. The crowd erupted into a frenzy once more, that''s because just after this man expressed his desire to purchase Moonshine, the rest also did the same thing. Richard smile wryly at this scene, he raised his hand once more and said.

    "cing orders will urter in this event, why don''t we move on first? This old man has more in store for you people." He then looked at Anne and said, "Would you like to do the honors Young Miss?"

    Anne stepped forward and smiled, she bowed towards Richard and replied,

    "It would be my pleasure Director."

    She then faced the crowd and shed a sweet smile that captured at least a few hearts of the young men present in the event.

    "Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Anne Fiore, student of the current batch of Genius ss of Heavenly Cloud Institute, and I will be your hostess for today''s event."

    "Before we start today''s event, I would like to inform you about some important details to pay attention to."

    "First would be the fact that, Moonshine isn''t only the product that we are showing today. Since this may very well be the pavilion''sst showcase, Director Richard went all out so please sit down and rx. I guarantee that everyone won''t regret attending this event."

    "Another thing, we would be more than happy to sell all of our products with everyone here but we have to follow a thorough process. The said process will be revealedter but the gist is that we have to secure that anyone who will get their hands on our products are genuine citizens of our kingdom."

    Anne paused after saying this, letting the crowd remunerate on her words. Seeing that no one had violent reactions about it, she turned around and gestured towards one of the servants. Two people nodded and brought a golden tter that has a set of silver colored vials on top of it. They carefully ced it on top of a stand beside Anne and went back to their posts.

    Anne then faced the crowd and spoke: "Everyone, I introduce to you the Body Restoration Fluids. I figured that it would be best to see it''s effects first before further discussion. Would anyone like to participate in a little experiment?"

    As soon as she asked this question, at least couple dozen of hands were raised, most of them came from teenager guys who thought that this would be a good chance for them to gain a favorable impression from Anne.

    "What a bunch of sluts..." Ellen whispered within the crowd. Thankfully no one heard her or else Bradley would have a difficult time.

    "This brother." Anne pointed onto a random person who''s raising his hand, "Pleasee up to the stage."

    The chosen guy smiled like an idiot and nodded repeatedly, he can''t help but to puff up his chest a little. In his mind, he was drowning with the thought that, out of dozens of guys who wished to participate, she chose him. Unfortunately, Anne doesn''t share the same thoughts...

    ''He looks extremely weak. He''ll be tired easily, perfect to use a guinea pig.''Still wearing her sweet and seductive smile, she asked: "Would you mind showing off some of your techniques with us? Just a couple of moves will suffice."

    The youth almost had a raging hard on when he heard her delicate urging, he nodded like a horny rabbit and enthusiastically took out his sword and executed some of the moves he learned. Judging from the energy fluctuations around him, he went all out and disyed his strongest techniques one after another. He managed to execute five moves at the most before stopping due to exhaustion. He felt dizzy and weak already but he didn''t mind, if his exhaustion will garner a favorable thought from this goddess in front him, it was well worth it.

    "Everyone, please observe his state carefully." Anne''s voice echoed at the hall, she then stepped forward and moved closer to the youth. The youth''s heart sped up, he nearly fainted from exhaustion and too much stimtion that Anne unconsciously radiates. She got very close to him, so close that their faces were inches away. Everyone''e heart sped up, but what happened next went out of their expectations.

    Anne grabbed the cor of the youth and lifted him up like she was picking a dress. She then shed a sweet smile before tossing him onto a barrel full of water. Everyone was dumbfounded, some evenughed at the scene. The youth was specially struck dumb.

    "What gives?" He moaned in frustration, for a second there he thought that he''s finally going to be an adult but his dreams were shattered by the cold temperature of water drenching his entire body.Anne did not reply, instead she uncorked a Body Restoration Fluid and poured all of it''s contents in the barrel.

    "You''re exhausted right? Take this time to recuperate in there." Anne said before stepping back.

    The youth was puzzled but did her instructions anyway. And when he did, he almost couldn''t believe what he felt. Without even urging it consciously, his body took initiative to greedily suck the medicinal efficacy on the waters.

    The people who were observing, specifically the experts, saw and felt this scene and was instantly shocked. From their perspective, this recovery was simply too astonishing! They could also feel that the youth''s body was being constantly strengthened while he soaked in there. Others are puzzled by their reactions but when they heard their exnations, they too were simrly shocked. What a frightening medicine! But also what a waste! Of all the people who would have the luck to experience this, it would be that youth over there. They can''t help but be slightly envious.

    Five minutester, the youth stood up. Not even minding that he clothes were still dripping with water, he inspected his body and has yet to close his mouth in shock.

    "Everyone, you''ve all seen it first hand. This is the effect of the Body Restoration Fluid. It speeds up the body''s recovery from exhaustion while simultaneously strengthening it.. The more the body is exhausted, the more effective this product gets."

 Chapter 137 - Last Sale III

    ---"

    Everyone, you''ve all seen it first hand. This is the effect of the Body Restoration Fluid. It speeds up the body''s recovery from exhaustion while simultaneously strengthening it. The more the body is exhausted, the more effective this product gets."

    When Anne exined the benefits of the Body Restoration Fluid, the crowd buzzed into an uproar.Moonshine was already enough to make them speechless and now this? Does Richard want to shock them to death? None of the people here were dumb. Even though Anne briefly exined the benefits of the Body Restoration Fluid, one could easily imagine it''s fearsomeness. With this, anyone''s training time would be greatly enhanced, in turn this will raise the quality of their descendants or maybe even themselves. This medicine will be a hotmodity to those who could afford it, if they use it wisely, then perhaps they could further go down the path of Knighthood.

    "The price of each vial is set to 5 gold cards." Anne''s dropped yet another bomb that nearly went everyone mad. "Yes, everyone heard it correctly. The Body Restoration Fluids'' price would be set to 5 gold, well at least this version anyway."

    "You see everyone, this Body Restoration Liquid is actually the lowest grade that Director Richard could afford to concoct. It would only effect those who reached Warrior Realm and below." Anne looked at the shocked faces of the crowd and continued, "I have the same reactions as well. A pity that most of the pavilion''s business partners pulled out, we might not see a more potent version of this."

    Though he words sounded like she was disappointed, it contained a terrifyingly sharp meaning. Due to her words, most of the people here started openly cursing the people who turned their backs against the pavilion. Coincidentally, some of those people were actually here, and their expressions are nothing short of wonderful. They have been contemting for a while and wishing that Richard would not take offense for them bailing out. Richard was a businessman himself, and he knew that struggles of investing, surely he understood their decisions right? He won''t ban them from buying these medicines right?

    "Now that the Body Restoration Fluid is revealed, why don''t we move on towards the next product?" Anne gathered the attention of the crowd once more with her pleasant voice.

    The servants once again stepped forward and ced another stand beside the previous one, this time there is a crate with a few pill bottles in it, after servants retreated. Anne stepped next to the new product and looked at the eager expressions of the crowd.

    "Just like what we did earlier, I will instead let this product speak for itself before it reveal it''s details as well as it''s name."

    She then roamed her gaze towards the crowd, hey eyes lost focus for a moment due to her hearing a voice transmission from a friend. She then looked at someone and smiled sweetly.

    "Sir? Would you like to test our new product?"

    This question was aimed towards one of Ellen''s n members, this person immediately became the sole focus of the crowd and even he himself was dumbstruck about the sudden invitation, he sneakily nced at Bradley, seemingly asking for permission when he suddenly heard Ellen''s voice.

    "Go ahead. It will be good for you." Even Bradley was stunned by Ellen''s urging, since his daughter already said something, it would rather be rude if he didn''t give his permission. When the person received the go signal, he hurriedly went towards the stage and joined Anne. "Could you please introduce yourself to the crowd?" Anne asked politely. The guy nodded and started introducing himself.

    "My name is Armond, an Elder of the Vermillion Sky n." His clear voice was heard.

    "Well met Sir Armond." Anne greeted, "May I ask what cultivation realm are you in?"

    "I am at Warrior Realm." After Soldier Realmes Warrior Realm, this realm is further divided into three stages: Junior, Senior and Veteran Stages.

    "If you don''t mind me asking, how long have you been in this realm?" Anne carefully asked. Hearing her question, a slightly sad smile could be seen in Alexander''s face yet it wasn''t because he was offended but because it truly is sad.

    "Well, I''ve been stuck at this realm for at least 7 years now." Many people reacted but weren''t really shocked, they thought that it was slightly unfortunate for him to be stuck at this stage for that long. It had to be known that the higher one''s cultivation went, the harder it is to make any progress. He wasn''t the only one who experienced this, there''s even people who were worse than him.

    "So I see." Anne nodded, all this time she never changed her facial expressions making it hard to really figure out her true intentions. "Why don''t we start the pill testing? Please enter a meditative state."

    Alexander nodded and did what he''s asked to, after a minute or so everyone could feel that he already entered the state. Anne carefully uncorked a bottle under everyone''s gazes and took a pill out of the bottle before cing the cork back. Using her delicate hands, she ced the pill on Alexander''s lips and pushed it a bit. When he felt this, Alexander knew that she must''ve wanted him to swallow the pill. Without hesitating, swallowed the pill down and waited

    "Once you feel a warm sensation on your stomach, please start cultivating." Anne''s voice drifted to his ears, he inwardly nodded and observed his body closely.

    It didn''t took long before he felt the warmth that Anne was referring to, without dallying, he immediately circted his technique and as soon as he did, he nearly fainted from shock.

    A tsunami of pure and incredibly dense energy rushed through his energywork. Due to his shock, he lost control over the cirction of his technique yet he was yet again shocked numb since the energy was precisely circting ording to the pathway of his technique without his control.

    This wave of energy was seemingly endless, the density of his energy multiple by at least half over the span of a few minutes. What''s shocking is that it still wasn''t stopping at all! Ten minutester and the density of his energies were doubled. Suddenly, he felt some strange obstruction. Like something was preventing his energies from freely flowing through his body. His eyes brightened as he immediately realized what this was. His heart burned with longing and decisiveness, with a low growl he forcefully controlled of his energies to ram against that obstruction. And just like a snow on summer, the obstruction shattered and melted away.

    Armond''s body suddenly released a majestic and thick energy fluctuations. Everyone stared at him sitting there with a wild expression on his face. Some of the more sensitive folks already knew what was going on, the others were a tad bit slower than them but also had an idea. These thoughts however sent shivers to their spine.

    The energy fluctuations intensified, upon reaching it''s peak everyone heard a faint sound akin to a ss breaking. After that, the fluctuations declined but the aura surrounding Armonf hadn''t. Anyone who still hasn''t caught a clue of what was happening, finally realized what he experienced. A breakthrough.

    Armond stood up in a blink of an eye and uttered a long howl. He gripped his fists and felt the new sensation spreading through his body with tears threatening to fall from his eyes. After 7 long years of painful enduring, he finally achieved a breakthrough. God knows how many resources he piled up, consumed and how many attempts he made to breakthrough. Yet now, with just a single pill, the barrier that was preventing him from making that leap was shattered like a fragile ss.

    "The name of this pill is Energy Condensing Pill. It provides a great amount of energy which raise one''s energy reserves by at least double. A careful warning though, this pill should not be consumed by those who are Soldier Realm and below directly. It would be a good a idea to dilute it bit by bit in water, that way it won''t harm anyone."

    Armond couldn''t find it within himself to calm down. He hurriedly faced Anne and bowed towards her, however thetter hurriedly prevented him from doing so and said:

    "I''m merely following instructions, if there''s anyone you should thank then it would be the Director."

    Armond was stunned but also agreed. He hurriedly faced Richard and performed a deep salute.

    "Words cannot exin how thankful I am for this opportunity. If there''s anything Director Richard needs me to do, I will dlyply."

    Richard smiled warmly and received the bow. "You deserved it. Use your new found strength to guide the future generations of you n instead."

    Armond''s heart thumped. He was extremely touched from the bottom of his soul, he didn''t expect Richard to have this humbleness and selflessness. Thinking back, he was depressed to recall that this is actually thest sale of this kind old man, yet instead of purposely overpricing each product for his personal benefit, he even lowered it so that everyone could afford it and experience it''s wonderful effects.

    In fact, it wasn''t only him who was feeling the same way currently.

 Chapter 138 - Last Sale IV

    ---"

    What a pill!" Bradley said in a breathless whisper. His eyes shone as he thoroughly inspected Armond''s body. He couldn''t find any traces of internal damage nor any signs of energy deviation within.

    There is a simr pill that the pavilion released far back, it''s called Energy Gathering Pill. The pill add at least 10% of energy volume in their reserves when consumed. However, there''s a lot of misgivings to this pill. One is that, it contains a lot of impurities. It is not advised to consume them in bulk or else it would do more harm than good. Second is that, it''s expensive. It costs a 30 gold per pill, this was a major deterrence for potential buyers since the effects of the pill and its price aren''t matching. 30 gold cards is enough for someone to buy a set of steel armors and weapons, rather than relying on a pill that leaves a potential danger to the body, they might as well save it for less risky purchase.

    Thest and probably the worst thing about this pill is that, the energy contained within is berserk. Meaning that anyone who consumed it has to ''tame'' these wild energies before fusing it to their main reserves. This poses a severe problem since the process of ''taming'' these energies is incredibly taxing on their psyche. This berserk energies also has a chance to do an internal bacsh if weren''t addressed properly, and to cultivators that is a huge red g.

    Comparing the Energy Gathering Pill to this new Energy Condensing Pill is akin to a pearl contesting the sun for brilliance.

    "Excuse me, Lady Anne." One random person from the crowd meekly raised his hand.

    "Yes?"

    "How much does this Energy Condensing Pill costs?" The crowd instantly perked up upon hearing his question, they forgot that Anne still hadn''t mention its price. Anne smiled and said¡­

    "7 gold cards." The crowd was stunned into silence immediately. 7 gold cards! What concept was this? They find it hard to believe that, they too could experience the benefits of this pill for only 7 gold cards? What Energy Gathering Pill? That thing is trashpared to this!

    "7 gold cards per pill? That''s insane!"

    "This won''t do! I have to gather more funds! I absolutely have to get my hands on a couple of pills!"

    "My son is stuck at the Junior Warrior Realm for five years, if that guy was able to breakthrough with this pill, then that means that my son could too!"

    Many people started sending out voice transmissions to their specific ns, telling them to send as much money as they could. They were very determined to get their hands on this pill. Meanwhile, Anne pursed her lips and couldn''t help but toment.

    "My bad, it seems that there''s a slight misunderstanding here. The Energy Condensing Pill doesn''t cost 7 gold cards per pill. It costs 7 gold cards per bottle. Each bottle contains five pills."

    As soon as she made this announcement, the hall immediately shook.

    "W-what!?"

    "You mean we get to have 5 Energy Condensing Pill for only 7 gold cards!?"

    "Howe it''s so cheap? I''m pretty sure that the materials needed for each pill should be expensive! Not to mention the sess rate of concoction. So why is it only priced as such?"

    "Don''t sweat about the little details, the real question is, how many do they have in their stash."

    "You''re right."

    Anne patiently waited for themotion to mellow down on it''s own. In her mind she was filled with pride and satisfaction. To cause these influential people to act all panicked and excited caused her to feel that she''s doing her job magnificently. After all that buzz, the crowd calmed down for a bit and returned their attention to her. For her, this was the sign that the next pill should be introduced.She signalled and servants stepped forward again. They ced yet another pill bottle beside her, the crowd was silent and waited for her to do her job.

    "Let''s continue this trend." Anne said excitedly, she looked for someone willing to test the next pill.

    In the end she chose a person due to the instructions from a voice transmission. She interviewed the man for a bit and figured out that his name was Chris. He is an Elder from a merchant n. The most notable factor about him is that, his left sleeve was empty.

    Meaning that he''s missing his left arm. When he was asked to recount the details about why he lost his left arm, he said that it was due to an ambush they encountered when they travelled past the walls. A beast attacked them out of nowhere and by sacrificing his left arm they get to keep their lives with them. After he was done exining, Anne tore off his sleeve, exposing the closed joint from his shoulders, many grimaced by the sight but they couldn''t think much because Anne immediately pushed a pill on Chris'' lips. Upon swallowing the pill, Chris felt that he was sent into a boiling pool of water.

    Sweat dripped down on his entire body and he was left panting for breath. Yet none of those was his concern. His attention was stered on his missing arm. With a speed visible to the naked eye, he saw how his left arm regenerated bit by bit. He felt like he was dreaming but the warm sensation of his growing arm repeatedly reminded him that this was not a dream at all. The crowd stared with heated gaze at this scene, the process of regeneration took fifteen minutes in total. After that, everyone could see that Chris face was gushing with tears, he looked at his regenerated arm, sping it and pinching it to see if it was real. To him, it was like he never lost it in the first ce. It felt just like what he had remembered. Anne broke the crowd''s stupor and announced:

    "This pill is the Limb Restoration Pill. Consuming this pill allows one to regenerate their missing limb, but once again, due tock of proper materials, this pill is a bit limited. It could only restore a limb that''s been missing for no longer than a month. Anything beyond that, this pill can''t restore. So please keep this in mind when purchasing it."

    "The Limb Restoration Pill costs 25 gold cards per bottle. Each bottle contains three pills."

    The crowd was in uproar once more. What a miraculous pill! Even though it has some limitations, it doesn''t change the fact that it could still regrow missing limbs! And to think that they''re only selling it for 25 gold cards was even more preposterous! This pill is a huge lifesaver, and yet it''s avable for this cheap! The reveal went on and Anne continued the trend where she would ask someone to experiment first before revealing the pill. The next pill she introduced was the Limit Breaking Pill. A miraculous pill that could let them breakthrough to the next realm.

    The Energy Condensing Pill only doubles the energy reserves one has, greatly helping their cultivation to rise, unfortunately it doesn''t have any impacts to bottlenecks. The Limit Breaking Pill was made for that purpose, it shatters bottlenecks and allows one to step onto the next realm. However one cannot rely on this alone since continuous consumption of this pill will have a diminishing effect, this much was clear. It is set at 50 gold cards per pill bottle, each bottle had three pills and no one has any qualms about this.

    Still this pill was destined to be famous. It was unknown how many people will dream of having just one to aid their cultivation levels. For these nobles, money isn''t problem but the supply was. This show just how dire the situation of the kingdom was. Even so, the reveal still wasn''t done. Not long after that, Anne asked another one to test the next pill.

    This time it was the Berserk Trigger Pill. This pill enables one to unlock the strength of two realms above their current level. Meaning that if one is currently at Junior Warrior Realm, consuming this pill will temporarily raise their cultivation level to Veteran Warrior Realm. This effectst for an hour before dissipating.

    And what probably the most important thing about this pill is that, it doesn''t have any severe bacshes other than not being able to consume another one for at least a day.

    It''s price is 30 gold cards per bottle, each bottle contains five pills.

    Just as they thought that Richard couldn''t surprise them anymore, he just went ahead and did it. They have long since been speechless about the development of this sale. Any of the pills that was revealed today could totally change one''s life. Not only each pill was incredibly potent, they were extremely cheap as well! They might as well forget that the pavilion had other pills aside from this. Any of this new pills could easily trump their previous release. And to think that they previously thought that an alchemist is just a hobby. But if any of them were thinking that the reveal was done.. Then they are sorely mistaken.

 Chapter 139 - Last Sale Final

    ---

    Anne gestured towards the servants, once again they ced another pill crate over a stand. Anne moved over beside it and gave a deep gaze on the crowd in front of her.

    "This is it Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now on ourst product." Anne said with a trace of regret in her voice. The crowd, though long since shocked numb, perked up and paid close attention.

    "We save the best forst." Anne said and instantly took out a paper, there were a list of names provided in here. Without further ado, she started calling out these names one by one to have them join her on stage. In the end, she called at least people over.

    The people called were puzzled, nevertheless under the close urging of their guardians, they too stepped onto the stage and waited for further instructions. If one paid close attention to the people who were called, they might notice a fewmon things they share. First is that none of the people reached 20 years old. Second is that all of them came from a rtively humble background. And finally, none of these people were walked the path of knighthood, which means that even the someone who entered the beginning stages of cultivation could easily trample them over.

    "I won''t say too much and just allow our product to speak for itself." Anne then handed a white round pill to each and every single one of the invited people. After she made sure that everyone has a pill, she then instructed them to consume it.

    As the pill slid onto their throats, it settled down on their digestive track. There weren''t any sound nor any energy fluctuations, just a calm and peaceful air remained.

    Just as when everyone thought that the pill was a failure, they were surprised to realize that all of the sudden, the bodies of the participants started emitting a brilliant light. It illuminated the entire hall with a resplendent brilliance which made it hard for some to see clearly. After a while, the lighting off from their bodies went away. The crowd looked over to see 10 people with faces drenched in tears, looking somewhat nkly on their bodies. Some were puzzled about their reactions, it wasn''t until they heard...

    "H-heavens! Their Energy Network is active! How is this possible!"

    The one who reacted was a bit frightened when he realized this. When others heard his exim, almost all of them probed the bodies of the ten youth standing on stage only to find out that it was real! Their Energy Networks were alive and active!

    How in the world was this possible?It had to be known that people who posses an active energywork are only those who could be considered as true cultivators. During the talent test for youths, one of the results is Null, which means that they don''t have an active Energy Network and couldn''t possibly cultivate for the rest of their lives, deeming them cripples or mere mortals. Arge poption of the Kingdom isposed of mortals, this is why being a Knight is considered as a very honorable upation, since only a few chosen one''e could do so.

    None of these people,mon nobles or Royalties alike, had ever thought that it was possible for a dried energywork to be active, so seeing this result in front of them was somewhat hard to believe.

    "The name of this pill is Network Rebirth Pill. It allows one to awaken their inactive Energy Network, enabling them to cultivate and walk the path of Knighthood. Just a reminder for everyone, this pill has to meet some requirements before it''s consumed. One, the consumer must not be over 2o years old. Two, the consumer shouldn''t have any missing limbs. Finally, the consumer must go through a thorough applications provided by Director Richard before purchasing the pill."

    "The only exception for the third rule would be these ten people beside me, not because they are special but because this a way of Director Richard settling debts. When almost everyone left the pavilion''s side due to a recent incident, the families of these people remained by his side. With that in mind, this is just a small gift of appreciation from Director."

    "Each Network Rebirth Pill is worth 50 gold cards per pill, please show the proof of application prior to any purchase."

    Once again, another ground breaking creation was revealed. Everyone gazed at the pills disyed with wolfish eyes. From now on, Richard''s name was bound to be incredibly famous because of these pills. Each pill here was a treasure, an extension of one''s life. Every single one was just as miraculous as thest, add the fact that they were affordable to boot makes everyone here panting in excitement.

    "I know that everyone here is getting impatient and want nothing more than to take these pills home. But before we proceed onto the selling part, I''m sure that Director Richard has some things to say."

    With that being said, Anne graciously stepped back and allowed Richard to face the crowd.Everyone looked at him with gleaming eyes. Those who were skeptical at first becamepletely convinced by now. It was no doubt that this man''s reputation was destined to soar through the heavens. Everyone started nning on how to curry favor to him now in hopes of riding along his coattails when he rise. From what they heard earlier, Richard ces a very deep importance on bonds. They thought that if they could get onto his good side, they might experience an unexpected benefits as well.

    "I''ve been an alchemist for a long time." Richard said, his tone was full of mncholy and reminisce. "I work at the pavilion for many years, hoping to achieve many things in order to help our home to be a better ce."

    "I faced many challenges, discovered many things and experience many setbacks as well. The worst of those happened with the recent events that transpired." Richard''s tone became a little solemn as he spoke up until this point.

    "The one that I''ve trusted the most, betrayed me. The people that worked with me, turned their backs against me. Those who attempted to stay, were swayed into leaving because of malicious nders and temptations from those who wanted nothing more other than to see me fail and hopefully rece the organization for their benefits." A disgusted expression surfaced on his face as he spoke about the most recent event. Some of the guilty people felt their hearts tighten in nervousness. They hoped to every saints, sages and gods that Richard won''t move against them now more than ever.

    "And to that I say... you win." Rather than expressing bitterness about the situation, Richard instead smiled. "What can I say? You people got me. And so, I stand by my word." Richard inhaled sharply and announced.

    "From this point onwards. There will no longer be a Pill Saint Pavilion. I, Richard Palestine, current Chief Director of the Pill Saint Pavilion, hear by disband this organization after thisst sale!"

    "Anyone who had been eyeing this hall during these past few days, could go ahead im this. I have no use for it anymore."

    Many people''s heart sank after hearing his mighty announcement of his. Everyone was disheartened, even Balmung was simrly helpless. He might be the current Crown Prince of this Kingdom but he too was helpless about these matters. If Richard decided to disband this organization, he had every right to do so and he couldn''t force him otherwise. Some people felt bitter. His announcement were like a tight and loud p on their faces. These people were the precisely those whom he was referring to earlier. Good thing that the Mort Family wasn''t invited in this, or else they will be the main enemy of this whole event.

    "Fret not." Unbeknownst to anyone, Richard wasn''t done. "It''s not like I''m going to stop concocting pills for everyone. The Pill Saint Pavilion might not be around anymore but who says that I can''t build an organization of my own?"

    Shocked, the crowds eyes lit up when he spoke these words. All of them looked up and saw Richard wearing a profound smile on his face. Before anyone could even ask about what he means, Richard already exined it for them.

    "Everyone, I would like to personally invite you the grand opening of Sacred Leaf Tavern. For now, I can''t say when will be the exact date since we have nothing more than a empty warehouse, I don''t even have any personnel aside from a single apprentice that refuses to leave my side." He chuckled.

    "We''re open for applications on different positions. Any youths who wanted to learn more about alchemy are weed to apply. I will cover all of the expenses for your studies. After that, you will be one of the resident alchemist of our Sacred Leaf Tavern and enjoy myriad of benefits that we offer."

    "All of the pills that was revealed earlier will be avable on our tavern upon opening, who knows we might release more."

    "With all this being said, let''s begin the sale."

 Chapter 140 - Morts Despair

    ---

    What was the sale like?

    One word: Chaos.

    One would think that because majority of the people who attended were nobles, that the process would be orderly and systematic but no, the truth was far fetched from that.

    At the instant that Richard announced that the sale began, all of them scrambled to be the first to reach the registers. They used every means possible to their advantage. Some people dered their specific backgrounds in hopes of intimidating others, some tried cutting through the line, some banded together and send one person to buy tons of supplies. Almost all of the possible ways that one could make their purchase easier was disyed.

    None of these people were dumb, they knew that the current stocks of each pills were limited, Moonshine included, but all of them wanted a piece of the pie.

    They thought that they could instead use cunning tactics in order to gain advantage over the others but it seems that Richard already saw thising.

    No one was to allowed to purchase more than a crate of each pill, this was the decision they reached after some deliberations. By doing things this way, everyone has a chance to take home their products. The consumers are allowed to buy less than a crate but not more, it doesn''t matter whether they came from an overly prestigious background or not, even of they offered to purchase each pill for double the price, the rules doesn''t change.

    Aside from that, everyone has to show some proof of identity before purchasing, specially if they wanted to purchase some Network Rebirth Pill. This achieves few things¡­One, it ables them to know if a certain person tries to go on a loop in hopes of purchasing more products and two, it allows them to gauge whether this consumer has a clean background. It was clear that they didn''t want their products tond on wrong hands.

    That being said though, there are still some ways to bypass this method. So unbeknownst to the crowd, there is one special method that was used by Raven in order to achieve his goals.

    Every containers of the products are branded with a green leaf that seems to shimmer under a source of light. This is an inscription mark that Raven personally ced on each containers. On the instance that these productsnded on the wrong hands, this inscriptions will activate andpletely disintegrate the products contained. With this, the ck Curtain Guild and Mort Family could only dream about getting their hands on their creations.

    ***

    It didn''t take long before news of these monumental event proliferated in every corner of the kingdom.The Pill Saint Pavilion was no more, it will soon be reced by the Sacred Leaf Tavern and they released 6 miraculous pills.The shocking effects of the pills were said to be ever so miraculous that it could change one''s life by just consuming it.

    The people who got to take home the products sang endless praises about the events, and when they tried it themselves, it only serves as an even more solid proof of this greatness. Many people were a bit sad or offended since they weren''t invited into such event, but when they caught news that it won''t take long before the Sacred Leaf Tavern opens, most of them felt better and started amassing funds. The news about them recruiting students to learn alchemy spread out like a tidal wave as well. Those people who deigned alchemy as a useless profession couldn''t let out even so much of a fart under this shocking news.

    The prestige of Alchemy was destined to soar, some people who weren''t really adept at fighting started thinking about giving alchemy a chance, after all Richard said that they won''t have to pay any fees other than their daily needs.

    This was specially true for those who were amon background, they went in search for where the Sacred Leaf Tavern was located and once they did, they flocked over and inquired about the process of getting in. In just a day, at least 1000 people were admitted and enrolled, and this number was still rising as time goes on. But of course, some people had other ideas in their minds.In the end, people had greed rooted deep within their system. With how popr and miraculous these pills were, it was bound for some people to have some ideas about it. Some of them invited some alchemists on their homes to inspect the pills in hopes of duplicating them. Some tried breaking down the pill, some tried to spread out malicious rumors, some tried robbing others, and many more.

    But none of them managed to seed in any of their attempts. And due to this being such an explosive news, of course the ck Curtain Guild and the Mort Family also heard of it.

    They too tried get their hands on the pills but as soon as their hands touched any of them, they automatically turn into ash. Not only they wasted their efforts into getting them, they amount of money they lost were significant too. No one was willing to sell their hard earned products if the money offered isn''t at least four of five times its original price.

    "I don''t get this!!!" A fat man roared on top of his lungs after watching yet another batch of pills turn into ashes as soon as he touched them. He threw the pill bottle away, watching it shatter on the ground. His expression was ugly, veins were threatening to explode from his neck. His stomach was aching due to so much anger it held, his chest heaved up and down in severe frustration.

    The servants beside him flinched when they saw how angry they lord was. The amount of times that they saw him angry could be counted on one hand but during those times, he bes the incarnation of a devil. This person was Lord Mort, forcefully calming his raging heart down. Of all the things he hated, having something escape his control was one of the things he hated the most.

    "God damn you Alfred! I wish I could suck out your soul and shred it to thousands of pieces!!" Mort mmed his hands on his desk, both of his fists became deeply embedded onto it.

    "As if dying wasn''t enough for you, you just have to drag my reputation down with your rotting flesh! Look what happened now!? That son of a bitch, Balmung is now breathing down my neck! And to make things worst, you got fooled by your right hand man! Fool! Stupid! Worthless! Scum! Argh!!!"

    Mort''s anger was at it''s peak, he continued ruining everything that he sees in front of him. All that he could see right now is red. It didn''t matter if it was an object or a person, he kept hitting things until he was satisfied. When he was done, the whole room was in shambles. Mort might be the richest merchant but in truth, he''s also a powerful knight. He''s currently at peak of Silver Knight Realm for at least a decade now, just a step shy away from reaching the Golden Knight Realm. From what he heard from his spies, Richard released a pill that could help one to break an absolute bottleneck. This greatly surprised and tempted him.

    What was a Golden Knight? These were people who could shatter mountains and overturn seas! Their might alone could destroy a whole city! If he could reach this stage, then his status would be even more solidified and many people would curry favor to him! If he could reach that stage, his future ns would be smoother.

    But imagine his surprise when the pills he acquired turned into ash as soon as he touched them. In fact, it wasn''t only him. Everyone from his family and n had the same experience. It was like none of them were allowed to enjoy the benefits of this new products. This greatly infuriated him. He wasn''t dumb. He knew that this was a defence mechanism that Richard ced on each pills he created. Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing how this works because any pills he touched will instantly turn into ashes. Nevertheless, he didn''t give up. If none of his family members could touch the pill, then he could just hire someone to ce it in his mouth so that he could consume it. What a clever idea, however it was destined to fail. Once the outsider ce the pill on his mouth, it once again turned into ash, leaving a bitter taste there both literally and figuratively.

    This was the first time that he experienced such a defeat. He knew that no matter how much money he ced on the table, it won''t change the restriction that Richard ced. And so, he was left to only stare at a distance while everyone was experiencing the products he wanted for himself. But Mort won''t let this slide, not like this.

    "Shadows! Heed my order!" Mort roared. Suddenly, multiple figures emerged from his back while kneeling on the floor.

    "At your service My Lord!"

    "Kill! Kill Richard! Ransack and destroy his hopes! Make it clean while you''re at it! If this Lord can''t have those pills, then none of these maggots can! I want this done as soon as you can!"

 Chapter 141 - Heart Reflection Array

    ---

    "It is as you say Master." Richard said with a deep sigh, "They really sent people to probe our ce."

    Just now, Richard came back from dealing with a couple of people who tried infiltrating their new organization. It has been three days since the disbandment of Pill Saint Pavilion, Richard had his hands full with multiple task to make sure that the Sacred Leaf Tavern finished building within a month''s time. During these days, he caught multiple people sneaking in their territory, attempting to steal or assassinate them.

    With the influx of people crowding in to join their organization, Raven took matters at hand to make sure that even if he wasn''t here, his confidants'' safety was guaranteed.

    "Let those fools rot on the pits." Raven spat coldly, "Send as much people as they want, if they have any malicious thoughts about the Sacred Leaf Tavern, then there is no way that they could pass through the Heart Reflection Array. They will be trapped in the pits of darkness for the rest of time, never to see the light of day again."

    The tavern is built on top of a mountain. Compared to most organizations or facilities, the Sacred Leaf Tavern only has one entrance, and it is located at the base of the mountain. Unknown to people, Raven used a great deal of time and patience to build a defensive array that could filter their visitors. It is called the Heart Reflection Array. This array scries one''s thoughts and intentions without them knowing it. During the process of the scan, if the array saw any malicious thoughts about the pavilion, it will automatically create a separate passage which leads to a trap, located at the depths of the mountain. Depending on the intensity of their bad intentions, the period of their imprisonment varies as well. It also doesn''t matter how high their cultivation levels are as well, the array is equiped with a might supression that could instantly reduce their cultivation down to Fighter realm, goodluck raising a ruckus down there with that puny strength.

    This way, Raven knew that all of the people who could reach this ce are those who doesn''t have any bad ideas about his territory. By Richard''s judgements, there are at least a hundred people in pits already, and their head count raises by each day.

    "How many Junior Alchemist did you manage to recruit so far?" Raven asked.

    Hearing this inquiry made Richard''s eyes brighten, he then happily reported, "So far we have at least 38 Junior Alchemists. They are the cream of the crop and all of them unhesitatingly signed the Oath of Secrecy. In just a week or so, I reckon that they are able to concoct majority of the pills needed for the grand opening."

    This report brought a smile on Raven''s face. The Oath of Secrecy is another defence mechanism that he ced to protect the tavern. Any aspiring alchemists who wanted to join their ranks are wee to do so, however they all have to first pass their entrance examination, and sign the oath. This oath is a restriction to keep them from taking any advantages. Once they signed it, they are not allowed to share nor inform non-aplices about any private matters about the tavern. This includes recipes, identities, techniques, and so on. At the first sign of breaching this oath, a tribtion lightning shall descend and reduce them to ashes. This might be a very strict oath but in turn, the tavern promises to give them a huge lucky chance and truly nourish them to the best of their capabilities.

    Their sries are a staggeringly high and they could still acquire more benefits so long as the ce in efforts. This is why Raven has no qualms about lowering the price of the pills, because he is not afraid ofpetition at all. What he wanted was to raise the quality of his people while ruining the ns of their enemies at the same time. This way, their chances of survival would be higher.

    "Alright, with you here I could rest easy. I''ll leave the handling of matters to you, you''re not new to this anyway. Besides, I still have to keep a low profile so I can''t be here all the time. Contact me through our link if any important matters arise. I''ll be going now." Raven said as he stood up and walked towards the exit.

    "Rest assured Master, I''ll make sure to keep you informed." Richard bowed and watched as Raven left the facility. With a determined expression, he turned around and continued handling the matters that Raven entrusted to him.

    ***

    "Fighter Realm. A set of stages meant to prepare one''s body to became a suitable vessel for Energy. In these stages, we borrow the might of Energies to temper every inch of our bodies, making us able to do what normal mortals could such as breathing underwater for longer periods, manipting our hungers, improving our systems and so on."

    In the ssroom, Victor stood before the youths of Genius ss while exining the matter of cultivation in an unhurried manner. The students already knew about these information but they still listened closely to his words.

    "After reaching the Peak Stages of Fighter Realm, cultivators faced a dividing line which separates those with potential to those who don''t. And this realm is called the Knight Stages."

    "The first realm of the Knight Stages is called the Soldier Realm. This stage requires one to activate and temper their Energy Network. As few of you might know, there is a few ways one could enter this stage. First is by umtion, otherwise known as manually activating them one by one. This is a very painful process and could result into nasty injuries that will affect one''s cultivationter on."

    "The other way is the more popr one, and this is to borrow the cleaning properties of Righteous Bestowal Waters toplete the process. By going through the ritual, the waters will flush out the impurities blocking the Energy Network and connect them along the way as well. This path is also known by you all since you used this process as well."

    Victor paused and looked at his students, his words were true and none of them refuted him.

    "But because there is little to no difficulties for you guys to open you Energy Network, some of you are now faced with a huge problem."

    "The point of Soldier Realm is to refine and strengthen each Energy Node and Energy Channels on your body. In other words, you have to widen your Energy Network, but the requirements to enter the Warrior Realm is only topletely activate your Energy Network."

    "Since the Ritual Waters did that for you, then the temptation of breakthrough right away is severe. Many people fell under its charm and made a wrong decision that they will regret for the rest of time. Their foundations are now ruined and they will never be able to go past the Silver Knight Realm in their lifetimes."

    "Well, they might be able to with the help of a new product that was just released a few days ago. Namely the Limit Breaking Pill. But once again, relying external factors is just not the right way. Not to mention that, ording to what I heard, the Limit Breaking Pill ces a tolerance to the consumer, making it less and less effective the more they consume it, thus it could only help them so far."

    "This is why you kids are a cut above the rest." Victor smiled in appreciation when he looked at them. "None of you fell under the temptation of breaking through right away and did the correct thing. Remember this, external factors are treated as supplements. They could provide aid but you are not topletely rely on them. At the end of the day, it all boils down to your tenacity and your efforts to reach you dreams."

    The students hadn''t said a thing but inwardly, they too agreed on his words.

    "Now let''s move on to Warrior Realm." Victor said, which made the students perk up even more. Most of them are just in the Soldier Realm with a very few on Warrior Realm, so any more informations are absolutely crucial, specially from a perspective of an expert.

    "In this stage, there is only one task. That is to condense your Energies and convert it into what we call Energy Essence."

    "Energy Essence is a denser and purer form of regr Energy around us. By having Energy Essences, we could perform stronger versions of our Battle Arts without falling into exhaustion right away. The more you fill up your reserves with Energy Essence, the less likely it is for you to fall in battle. It als serves as a foundation for you to reach theter realms of Knight Stages."

    "The mostmon way is to fill each of your Energy Nodes with at least 75% of Energy Essence, while the rest is just regr energies. But for you, I have another task." Victor smiled mysteriously at his students.

    "You are the Genius ss so I expect more from you. I want you guys to fill your Energy Network with nothing but Energy Essence. I am forbidding you people from breaking through the Junior Knight Realm without consulting me first.. If I found out that you did, then you can say goodbye to your ssmates."

 Chapter 142 - Game

    ---

    "You are the Genius ss so I expect more from you. I want you guys to fill your Energy Network with nothing but Energy Essence. I am forbidding you people from breaking through the Junior Knight Realm without consulting me first. If I found out that you did, then you can say goodbye to your ssmates."

    Many were shocked about Victor''s tall order. It had to be known that converting regr energy into Energy Essence is already a taxing process. It is a step that has to be done in a step by step manner since any mistakes could injure them heavily. It''s not like they only have to condense energy on one Energy Node and be done with it, they have to it to all five of them.

    When Victor said that the mostmon conversion is around 75%, he said that because that 75% was mostly the five Energy Nodes in thework, as for the rest it was obviously the Energy Channels. Which means that they also have to somehow find a way to convert the energies flowing through their Energy Channels to Energy Essence as well.

    Due to Energy Essence being a condensed form of regr energies, it''s harder to move it from one ce to another. If they go from 75% conversion, then things would''ve been easier, but Victors requirements was 100%, now they faced a troublesome problem.

    "Before you start losing confidence about your chances. Do not forget that in the end of the day, I am still your teacher." Victor said while smiling. "Don''t start thinking that my task is impossible, I could show you the way on how to achieve it, but the path is yours to walk. You can seek me for advices but I will not hold your hand throughout the process. Understood?"

    The students nodded their heads upon hearing his words. They felt more confident since he gate them his word.

    "But first, let''s continue our talk about Cultivation Realms." Victor said as he sat down in front of them."

    After Veteran Warrior Realm, there actually exist a stage which is going to be extremely important. This stage is called Half-Knight Realm. In this realm, one has to condense what we all call: Armament Seeds. This is done by condensing all of your Energy Essences together, resulting into a single grain or seed. Once this seed germinates, then your Knightly Armament will be born and also the day you formally step into Knight Realm."

    Knightly Armaments takes shape of an armor and weapons. Their shape and appearance are quite bleak and unimpressive at first but as they move onwards through the Knight Stages, it gets better.

    "During the Junior/Senior/Veteran Knight Realm, your Knightly Armament would only form an outline, but this is enough to weaken most of the attacksing your way. If any chances that your Knightly Armament was destroyed, so long as your Armament Seeds are there, you could still reform it so make sure to take care of it."

    "The Knight Realm onwards is where your Knightly Armament will slowly manifest into reality. Following the Knight Realm is Silver Knight, then Golden Knight and finally the legendary Oath Knight Realm."

    "If any of you could reach Oath Knight Realm, then I would be able to smile im my death bed, so work hard." Victor said as he gazed at his students with a silent encouragement. "There are rumors that there is a stage beyond that but none has managed to prove it, not even our current King reached that stage."

    To the people of Final Haven Kingdom, reaching the Hero Realm is already akin to ascending as a god. If there were only a few people in this kingdom who reached that stage, then the citizens of Final Haven Kingdom had no reason to live in fear.

    However in truth, Hero Realm is nothing but a mere pre-requisite to reach the top. In fact, only by reaching this stage would one be aware just how far fetched the powers of a god truly is. Sure, these people are absolutely powerful. If the the King decided to throw a nasty tantrum, then he could disintegrate the whole Royal Pce in a blink of an eye and no one has any power to stop him. But to startparing himself to a god, that is just an outright sphemy.

    In Hero Realm, one bes aware of Heavenly Laws. But awareness is only one thing, gaining enlightenment from them is apletely separate topic. Grasping even a fraction of basic elementalws is already considered as an achievement, much less mastering them, which is the requirement to breakthrough the next stage which is the Hero Realm.

    Even though Raven wanted to exin the immensity of Heaven and Earth to these people, he wasn''t qualified to do so, not even after the fact the he almost reached it during his past life.

    ***

    After finishing his discussion about cultivation matters with his students, Victor told them to gather towards the training room.

    Once there, everyone stood with rapt attention and waited for his next instructions.

    "As I promised, I will tell you the way on how to pass my challenge for you guys." Victor smiled as he spoke, "It''s nothing hard really. It all boils down to a single concept which is..."

    "Control."

    Majority of the students were stunned at the revtion.

    "That''s right." Victor nodded to their reaction, "Control is the key to easily beat my challenge. Exining things on a wordy basis would be meaningless, it might just go from one ear and escape through the other one. So instead of doing that, why don''t we y a little game? A game of Tag to be more precise."

    Some students titled their heads in confusion, how could a game of tag make them understand the concept of control?

    Instead of answering their questioning looks, Victor instead tapped his cane on the floor and suddenly the whole training area started quaking.

    Out of nowhere, multiple stone pirs emerged from the ground. Each of them vary with thickness and height. The spaces between each pir also differs as well as the way they stood. Some stood straight up while others are a bit diagonal. Some also have creases on the surface while others looked extremely polished. Some are cracked while the others aren''t, they alsoe in different colors too.

    "Listen up, I will tell you the rules of our little game." Victor announced which brought back the attention of the students to him.

    "It''s pretty simr to the rules of ''Tag''. Out of 16 people here, there will be a single one who''s going to be the ''It''. The ''It'' will start chasing the rest as soon as the game starts. If the ''It'' touches the ''not-it'' people, the tagged person will automatically be an ''it'' as well and has to chase others along with the original ''it''."

    "Here''s where it gets interesting. Normally, tagging someone should be in a form of a physical interaction, mainly touching their arm, hand, shoulder and etc. But for this game, once the ''it'' tags someone, the ''it'' must leave a energy signal to the part where they tagged the other person. For example, I tagged him, so long as I could make sure that I left a mark that has my energy signature on his body, then it would count."

    "There will be safe zones as well, and those will be the top of each pir that you see. To count as being in the safe zone, both of your feet should be touching the top of the pir, otherwise it doesn''t count."

    "This whole training area would be your yground, if you go out of bounds, then you will receive a punishmentter. The game ends once every single one of you is tagged or time runs out."

    "To make things fair, we will draw lots to figure out who''s the ''it''." Victor said as he summoned a small cup with a bunch of papers in it. "Pick one paper in this cup, you''ll find out if you''re the ''it'' or not."

    One by one the student stepped forward and picked, some were nervous and prayed that they weren''t the ''it'' while others are just rxed, like they weren''t taking this seriously.

    When it was Raven''s turn to pick, he drew a paper and sneaked a nce out of it. After seeing that the tip of the paper was colored red, a mischievous smile appeared in his face. While he quickly hid it by returning his expression to normal, there was one person who managed to caught that.

    "Oh damn, we''re done for." Paul groaned as he watched Raven walking back to them.Hearing him say this gave out the idea for the rest of his friends, all of them looked at Raven and simrly smiled wryly.

    "So, he''s the ''it''?" Rupert asked, somewhat startling the others because they didn''t knew he was there. Veronica was also right behind him.With a helpless sigh, Paul nodded and smiled wryly.

    "I advice you guys to try your hardest." Paul said.

    "Huh? Why? Is he that good in Tag?" Veronica asked.

    "Nope." Mark answered, "We actually never yed it before."

    "Then what''s with the reaction?" Rupert asked.

    "Let''s just say, that the six of us often sparred against each other. Even if we outnumber him and came at him with the intent to kill..."

    "We never won...."

 Chapter 143 - Tagged

    ---

    "Since everyone here already drew lots, let''s see who''s the ''it''." Victor announced.

    In the crowd of 16 students, Raven raised his hand while still wearing that mischievous smile in his face. His ssmates looked at him and they all had mixed feelings.

    For some who weren''t close to the newer batch, they felt that it was a bit of a shame that he became the it. After all, he had no idea of their full capabilities just yet.But to those who knew him very well¡­ let''s just say that they weren''t looking forward to this.

    "Instructor, I have a question." Zelor blurted out of nowhere, the rest of the students looked towards him and some felt that he was being weird because he looked like he was ring at Raven.

    "What is it Zelor?" Victor asked with brows raised.

    "Are we allowed to attack him?" He spat while pointing at Raven. The rest of the ss was somewhat shocked about his question, as for Victor, he found this event rather interesting. He smiled and nodded his head.

    "So long as you don''t kill him, then it''s fine. He could fight back as well." Victor said.

    "Good!" Zelor shed a cold smiled as he cast another nce at Raven. It was a bare provocation directed at him. As for Raven, he actually find this rather funny. It seems that this guy wanted to really return the favor of his humiliation back then.Meanwhile, Rupert sneakily went beside Paul and asked:

    "Hey, did he somehow provoked Zelor?"

    "I don''t know." Paul shrugged, "But knowing him, he probably wasn''t the one who started it. He''s a training freak but also has a headstrong personality."

    "Tell him to apologize as soon as he could. If he could somehow diffuse the tension between them, then he would have an easier time in this Institute." Rupert solemnly said, this was the first time that Paul ever heard him say things seriously. He raised brow and asked: "Why?"

    "He''s from the Mort Family." Rupert referring to Zelor. "They are probably the richest merchants in this entire kingdom. As for Zelor, he''s the only son. Which makes him the young master of this family. If he wanted to, he could mobilize their money to make things difficult for him. And trust me, if he pissed off Zelor that much, then it''s very likely for that to happen."

    Despite exining the gravity of the situation to Paul, Rupert did not expect him to actuallyugh. Zelor was at a loss, he couldn''t remember if he had said anything funny.

    "I thought that you guys must''ve done some background check to us, but it seems that you guys haven''t yet." Paul''s words made Rupert even more confused in all honesty. "

    Don''t worry, Raven''s family might not be as rich as Zelor''s, but even if Zelor mobilized their entire wealth to deal with him, he won''t even be able to touch the hem of his clothes."

    Paul said nothing more and instead patter Rupert''s shoulders. On the other hand, his words left Rupert reeling. He can''t quite figure out how he could dismiss the Mort Family just like that, he also can''t figure out what''s so good about Raven''s background.

    In the Genius ss, all of them came from impressive backgrounds. Rupert himself came from a decent one too, but none of them could ever hope to just freely dismiss Zelor''s n. This is also why they didn''t bother researching for backgrounds of the newer batch as well. Because they thought that no matter what, Zelor''s background is still the most impressive out of everyone.But now it seems that he really had to know more about this new students. From this discussion and their warning to them about taking this game seriously, made his curiosity reach its peak.

    "Aside from the ''it'', everybody move out. After a 60 second countdown, the game shall begin!" As soon as Victor said this, the yers instantly blurred into action. Raven looked at Victor, when he saw him give a thumbs up, he turned around started counting down. 20 seconds, 19, 18...

    "4." Raven''s leisurely countdown echoed to every corner of the training field. Raven''s friends ced a solemn expression as they braced themselves.

    "3." "2.""1."

    Raven turned around and saw most of the students hiding behind pirs while suppressing their breaths. He smiled and thought that their n of ambush was pretty cute.

    Meanwhile, Paul, Mark, Ellen, Anne, and Luna didn''t even bother hiding. They instead ced themselves between the gaps of the pirs or on some angles where they thought Raven would find difficult to traverse.

    Despite having an hour timeframe, Raven appeared to care less about it. He leisurely walked towards them like he was on his backyard. He could obviously use Spiritual Sense to better gauge where the rest are but what''s the fun in that? He doesn''t have any n on using Spiritual Sense not his ocr technique in this game.Before he reached the first pir, he raised his foot and gathered a solid amount of energy in there. He grunted and stomped hard, which made the entire field shook for brief moment.

    "Oh, there''s two beside me. A girl and a boy." Raven said out loud, letting the whole ss hear him. The people he was referring to shuddered in their hiding spots. Both of them had one thought: ''How did he know!?''

    "Get out of there you two! His stomp earlier wasced with his energy, since it rippled everywhere it sent back a feed to him, roughly revealing your positions! He''s good!"

    A voice from one his ssmates echoed around, judging from the sound it seems that this person is on the move too. From his memories, the one who spoke was Wilbert Scar, the top performer of the most recent Biannual Examinations.

    "Thanks for thepliment!" Raven yelled back towards the general direction of Wilbert. As soon as he did that, the two people near him immediately ran away. "You''re wee!" Wilbertughed while still on the move. Inwardly, he shuddered in excitement.

    ''It seems that he won''t make this game boring after all.''

    It wasn''t only Wilbert who was on the move during this time. Paul and the rest of Raven''s friends also knew what he did and was moving as well. Unlike the rest, every step they took wasced with their energy as well. The rest of the ss also heard the conversation and was simrly shocked. They too moved out from their location since they knew they were revealed already.

    Typically, Raven shouldn''t be ying around anymore since he knew that all of them will constantly move around and avoid him. But he has a n. Still wearing that mischievous smile of his, he arrived at one of the pirs. Next, he nted one foot on it''s surface, then lifted the other one. Usually, this will cause someone fall t on their rear but that didn''t happen to him, he stood horizontally on the erect pir and started walking on it like he was walking on a t ground. Near him, a familiar face actually saw him doing this. This guy couldn''t but exim¡­

    "Holy shit!" Rupert was dumbfounded when he saw him walking on the pir. "You can do that?"

    His voice was loud and everyone heard it, they stared at the general direction where his voice was and became dumbfounded when they saw him casually walking on the pir.

    "Hey! That''s cheating!" Rupert groaned in his hiding spot. Raven arrived just a step away from the safe zone, which is the top of the pirs, and searched for Rupert. It took mere seconds before he found him, and when Rupert felt his sharp gaze, the fat on his body fiercely trembled.

    "Found you! And no, this is not cheating. In fact, you guys could do this too! It''s the same concept with the Energy Scan but you do it gentler and maintain it that way so that your feet could adhere to the pirs." Raven exined as he precisely looked at their hidings spots one by one. "Look! They''re doing it too!"

    The rest looked where was pointing at and saw the newer batch of students doing the same thing as he did. Some them were casually standing horizontally on the pirs while the others are running from one pir to another without slipping and falling.

    Rupert pursed his lips and tried doing it, he actually managed to nt both of his feet on to the surface of the pir, but he lost control and fell t on his rear. The sound of him falling was loud, and he wasn''t the only one who tried it since he heard the same sound at least four or five times.

    "Shit! He''s gone!"

    While most of them tried copying him, Raven silently jumped down and his fall didn''t make any sound. Most of the students were then reminded that they were actually ying a game, and Raven decided to make a distraction to hide his true intentions. Not even a secondter, they heard him speak again.

    "Tagged!"

 Chapter 144 - Sneaky

    ---

    "Tagged!"

    Raven''s voice echoed inside the training field. His firm hands grasped the shoulder of one of his ssmate named Philip Newman.

    He left a very clear mark that has his energy signals on his shoulder when he released him. Philip smiled wryly as he realized that he was the first to be tagged.

    He didn''t even notice Ravening. He didn''t hear any footsteps nor breathing, he just suddenly felt a firm hand grasping his shoulder, which made him freeze on spot. For some reason, he felt like he was stabbed when Raven''s handsnded on his shoulders, he was pretty sure that he looked somewhat pale right now.

    ''Don''t say anything. No one''s within our vicinity so no one saw you get tagged. No one knows and I wan''t to use that to our advantage.''

    Raven immediately said before Philip could say a thing. It was sent via voice transmission so aside from Philip, no one heard anything. He didn''t even wait for him to utter any protest and he went the opposite way from him.

    Philip could already tell what he wants to happen, in his heart he couldn''t help but to re-evaluate his opinion about these new students, this one in particr is scary, such a cunning mind. He took a careful nce around him, making sure that no one was around before carefully sneaking by in hopes of finding out other ssmates. As for Raven, he walked around still wearing that mischievous smile in his face. He faintly heard some movements near him which means that someone was nearby. He smiled widely, suddenly his eyes seemed to re with a blue light. His vision transformed, he could now see the flow of energy around him. He looked around and saw some faint energy auras behind pirs, normally this wouldn''t be visible to the naked eye, but with Energy Vision, they became like torches in the dark.

    "Let''s see¡­ four people? A girl and three guys. Two of the guys are hiding behind a nted pir in front of me, the other guy is hiding in the pir behind me and the girl is¡­ moving from one pir after another."

    Raven was speaking out loud again, the people he was referring to shuddered fiercely in horror. How in the world did he know!? They were hiding and suppressing their presence, they weren''t even making too much of a noise! Raven didn''t do his thing where he stomped whilecing it with energy to locate them, so how could he have possibly found them? And so precisely on point too!

    "You might not be making too much noise and suppressing your presence, but your using energy to do those things. In front of Energy Vision, you''re like lit up torches in a dark cave." Raven said, answering their mental inquiry on how he found them.

    The faces of the students paled when he heard them. Of course! Energy Vision! How could they possibly forgot such a nifty technique? All one has to do is to reinforce their eyesight with energy and it will allow them to see more things that are hidden in in sight! Before these people could even react any further, Raven''s silhouette immediately blurred into action. Because of their shock earlier, their defences are down and he took that to his advantage to catch them off guard. Like a ghost, he appeared behind the girl and ced his hand on her shoulder. Feeling this grip, shivers run down on the girl''s spine as she let out a piercing shriek.

    "Kya~!"

    Her scream was heard all over the training field.

    "Shit! He got Sasha!" Someone said out loud.

    "Watch out everyone! Sasha is quick! Don''t get caught!"

    Meanwhile, Raven was still holding Sasha''s shoulder but her shriek was too loud that it hurt his ears causing him to grimace

    ."That''s mean!" Sasha said while pouting, "That scared the crap out of me!"

    Raven smiled wryly and replied, "Well, you dropped your guard. Anyways, wee to the team! Just try your best to catch them, it''ll be fine."

    Their conversation was heard by Veronica, who happened to be watching from a distance. An idea suddenly clicked onto her head as she suddenly yelled.

    "Guys! It''s not just Sasha! He tagged someone earlier as well right!? Do any of you saw who was the other one?"The students ears perked up when they heard her question, but as expected no one said a thing. Veronica pursed her lips and said: "Damn! He nted a mole just like that! What a guy!"

    The situation of the game suddenly changed when this happened. The atmosphere became more tense. Because he made Philip''s alignment a secret, he sowed a discord in his ssmates'' head. Now they will have to be on guard with anyone because they never know who the third ''it'' is. Along with his pocket full of tricks, he just made them incredibly wary of him. There was no doubt in his mind that his ssmates would now take him seriously and this where the fun truly begins.

    "Let''s go." Raven said towards Sasha, "Let''s move separately to cover more grounds."

    Sasha agreed to his ns and they parted ways to continue the game. Raven was walking in a decent speed when suddenly¡­

    *Xiu!*

    His ears perked up and he instinctively tilted his head to avoid the iing projectile. He gazed at the direction where the arrow came from and saw Anne, smirking at him him while hanging upside down on a nted pir.

    Raven nodded in admiration and said: "Not bad! If I reacted too slow on that, maybe my head will be pierced by now."

    "I do my best thank you." Anne smiled sweetly and replied, "But I didn''t hit you so I''m somewhat disappointed."

    "Nah, you''re fine." Raven waved his hand, "You''re very impressive already, don''t sell yourself short."

    While Raven was talking, a shadow suddenly appeared behind him. With a cold look on Mark''s face, he raised both of his swords and attempted to separate Raven''s head from his shoulders.

    "Hup!" Raven reacted at thest second and immediately ducked, as soon as Mark''s attack missed, he pushed his body up and his head hit Mark''s jaws, causing him to spit blood.

    "Damn! Good thing I didn''t loss any of teeth with that. What is your head made out of? Steel?"

    "You tell me!" Raven retorted back, "What did my head ever do to you huh? Why are you so eager to decapitate me?"

    "As if you never saw iting." Mark rolled his eyes before retreating back in the shadows. He turned around and saw that Anne was also long gone from her position as well. Raven shook his head and chuckled.

    He knew why they attacked.The reason why he came in this direction was because Rupert was nearby, he nned on toying with him next but Anne and Mark happened to be nearby as well. Both of them had an idea of what he was trying to do so they took action. And because of themotion they caused, Rupert was rmed and ran off somewhere. Raven lost trail of him already so he could only hope to find another target.

    He activated his energy vision once again but because he already used this trick, they already became conscious about it. Nevertheless, he was still able to catch some important clues that leads him to another ssmate of him.

    The trail lead him to Wilbert, who was carefully looking around him and making sure that he wasn''t being watched. Too bad for him, Raven was betterpared to him when ites to hiding.After watching his habits for a bit, Raven formed a very devious n. He smirked and started walking halfway through the surface of the pir near him.

    After that he jumped silently to a nted pir next to it and walked on its surface as well. Wilbert was still looking around him but he never looked up so he didn''t know that Raven was already directly above him. Wilbert focused his gaze in front of him and that''s the time when Raven dropped down like a feather behind him. He waited until Wilbert looked back and when he did, he greeted him with a...

    "Hi!"

    "HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS!!!"

    Wilbert scrambled and was horrified too badly that he fell on his rear. Ravenughed out loud, he felt bad but his reaction was so damn funny for him.Meanwhile, Wilbert was shaken badly and was panting for breath. God knows just how taut his nerves were while he was looking around him. He was also making sure that he was scanning his surroundings just in case he missed something. Imagine his surprise when Raven appeared behind him like a ghost and greeted him. His heart pounded madly.

    "How!? I was making sure to scan my surroundings each time I moved! How did you suddenly appear behind me?"

    "You weren''t looking up.." Raven said with a t tone, he pointed at the nted pir above them and Wilbert was finally enlightened on how he didn''t see hime.

 Chapter 145 - Unsafe Safe Zone

    "Hey, not to sound ungrateful and all but..." Wilbert trailed off before saying, "Aren''t you supposed to tag me now?"

    "Oh yeah, you''re right!" Raven ced a bewildered expression, he then chuckled and walked towards Wilbert.

    As soon as he arrived in front of him, he ced a hand on his shoulders and said: "Tagged."

    His voice echoed through the training field, it just so happens that someone was nearby and heardthething between them.

    "Heads up! Wilbert''s tagged!"

    Raven panned his head towards the source of the voice and found out that it was the guy named in Sky. He smiled and sent a voice transmission to Wilbert...

    ''It''s me, Sasha, Philip and you. Just try your best to catch as many as you could.'' Wilbertwas bewilderedwhen he heard Raven''s voice in his head, his eyes brightened and smiled wryly. Only then he realized how he managed to hide Philip''s alignment. It was because of a voice transmission. Another nifty technique that people often forget.

    "And here I thought I could use the same trick again. A shame someone saw... well it''s not like it''s gonna work anyway since you yelled so loud earlier." Raven said some nonsense while looking at Wilbert, he gave him a wink signifying to y along.

    Wilbert''s eyes shed with a peculiar light, he understood what Raven was implying.

    "That''s your fault for scaring me!" Wilbert replied.

    "Let''s go getthis guythen..." Raven said while turning his head towards in.

    in heard this causing him to slowly back up, it''s one against two, he didn''t like these odds too much. He then saw Wilbert stood up, but instead ofing towards him, he didn''t move from where he stood. The same goes for Raven as well.

    As inwas confusedat what they were thinking, he heard a rustling sound behind him. He then turned around and saw Sasha standing behind him while smilingcharmingly. His soul nearly left his body due to shock. Before he could even react, Sasha ced a hand on his mouthandleft her energysignaturewith it. She then said: "Tagged!"

    After escaping the clutches of Sasha, in could only smile wryly. He fell for their trap, now he also became the ''it''.

    ''Okay! The group just got bigger. Now there''s five of us, hunting the restshould beeasier.'' Raven said via voice transmission, ''Let''s separate to cover more ground, so far we have two mystery members to them. It''s Philip and now in. You guys act like normal while the rest of us create chaos.''

    Unknowingly, Raven became the heart of this team. In normal situations, these people find it offensive when someone was telling them what to do, especially if it''s a stranger and a Junior. But Raven''suseof his techniques convinced them to trust his abilities, and they weren''t even aware of it.

    His n made sense so no one has anyints. Philip was already moving somewhere, probably buying time before making a move as well. Without further ado, the group scattered all over thetrainingfield and looking for some targets.

    ***

    Raven was walking calmly down thetrainingfield while the rest of his group are hunting others down. Passing by a pir he felt a weird sensation causing him to look up. When he did, he saw a chubby guy anxiously looking around him while standing at the safe zone.

    "Hey! You n on staying there forever?"

    Raven yelled at the person standing on top of a pir. It was fatty Rupert since he''s already inside the safe zone then that means that he can''t tag him out.

    Rupert heard him and looked down, he smiled brilliantly. "Yeah! What are you gonna do about it?"

    Rupert can''t help but provoke Raven, feeling slightly good about himself. In reality, however, this is just afa?ade. He was scared of Raven.

    Back when Anne and Mark tried to ambush him, he happened to watch abitof their fight. It was freaky, he thought earlier that Paul''s words about them not winning even once against him was an overstatement, but when hesawhow ruthless Anne''s aim was and how cold Mark''s face when he was ambushing Raven, he knew that they were telling him the truth.

    Rupert had his fair share of battles, but none of those was even remotely close to being life-threatening. From that little sh oftheirs, he knew that Anne wanted to hit Raven''s head with his arrows. If that was him, he would be dead before even knowing how he died at all.

    "Oh? Feeling a bit smug since you''re in the safe zone huh?" Raven smiled mischievously from below.

    Fatty Rupert was starting to hate that smile of his, for some reason this smile of his send shivers down to his spine but he just can''t point a finger on why.

    "Exactly! So you better hunt someone else! I''m in the safe zone, you can''t touch me!"

    Ravenughed candidly and walked towards the pir fatty was standing on!

    "Hey! Hey! I already said you can''t touch me cause I''m in the safe zone so hunt someone else!" Fatty panicked when he saw Raven walking towards his pir.

    "Hey! Are you listening!?"

    "Hey! Dude!"

    "Leave I say! Or else I''ll report you for cheating!"

    Fatty''s panicking voice echoed inside thetrainingfield. Somewhere else, Mark and Anne shook their heads and smiled wryly. It seems that what they did earlier waspletely useless, Raven still ended up toying with Fatty Rupert.

    No matter how hard Fatty tried to stop Raven froming closer, Raven totally ignored him and arrived in front of the pir he''s standing on.

    Fatty waited for his next move, but he only saw him cing a hand on the pir. He thought inwardly: ''Eh? He''s not going up?''

    He waited for some more time but Raven didn''t actually climb up the pir. Just as when he was wondering what his n was, he saw Raven clenching his hand and began pulling it back. His mind reeled, but before he could say anything, Raven released a punch that thoroughly shookthe wholepir.

    "What in the world are you thinking!!!" Rupert screeched as he tried bncing himself at the top of the pir.

    "Nothing much..." Raven smirked and said, "Just testing how tough these pirs are."

    After saying this, Raven aimed his fist once again at the pir and punched it hard. The first time that he hit it, a good chunk of stoneswere shavedoff from it but it wasn''tenough to ruin its foundations.

    However, when his second punch connected, he aimed it the other way, shaving off yet another decentpartof the pir.

    "Stop it!" Rupert yelled whilewobblystanding on top of the pir. He wanted to cry but have no tears, just why did he even provoked this devil? Hewould''vestayed silent and maybe Raven might ce his attention elsewhere, but he just has to really make things difficult for himself!

    "Teacher! Help! This guy''s bullying me!! He''s cheating!! Eliminate him!"

    In his desperation, Fatty unknowingly called out to Victor who''s watching this spectacle with a smile in his face.

    "You fat child! Do you think I would remain silent if he was cheating!?" Victor yelled at a distance, he shook his head and continued watching in amusement. He nced at the hourss beside him and saw that there''s at least 30 minutes left before time runs out.

    Rupertwas dumbfounded, howe this wasn''t considered as cheating? He''s destroying the safe zone!

    "Fatty! Don''t just stand there! Leave that ce! He isn''t cheating at all, the safe zonesare locatedat the top of the pir, not the entirething! Use your brain you retard!"

    Veronica yelled to Rupert, she wasn''t too far from him so Fatty managed to hear her. Rupert''s eyes dted, without hesitating any further he jumped off from the pir andnded towards Veronica''s side. Not too long after that, the pir he was standing on earlier fell and crumbled into pieces, sending clouds of dust and loud noise all over the training field.

    He barely managed tond safely before looking over Raven''s side. Now that the pir was gone, he and Raven are now separated byrge pieces of rubble. He heaved asigh of relief, at least he managed to not get caught by either Raven or the falling rubble. He nced at Raven onest time, he was nning to leave and stay as far away as he could from this freak but when he looked at him, Rupert discovered that he''s wearing that irritating smile of his.

    That left him with a creepy feeling, no longer daring to stay here, he walked towards Veronica. She was standing nearby with both of her hands on her waist, her face was showing a disappointed expression.

    Rupert scratched the back of his head anughedshamelessly, he walked towards her and said: "Thanks back there."

    Veronica smiled and ced a hand on his shoulder and replied: " You''re wee..."

    "....and wee to the ''It'' team."

 Chapter 146 - Fierce Clash

    "...and wee to the ''it'' team."

    As soon as Veronica said this, she left her energy signature at Rupert''s shoulders.

    Rupert was struck dumb. He was having a hard time believing what just happened. He then remembered the face that Raven made before he left. Realization dawned upon him, his face contorted with unwillingness and helplessness. All he could do was to sigh in defeat as he looked up to her.

    "Whatever." Rupert smiled wryly, "Even though I want to voice my discontent with this situation, it''s not like it''s going to change anything. Just like everytime, I''m still a loser."

    Honestly, Veronica felt bad. But then again, it was the same process for her anyway.

    She also wasn''t expecting to be tagged by Philip, who she thought was innocent. She was being chased by Sasha a while ago when Philip intercepted her and allowed her to escape. After that, she thought Philip managed to shake Sasha off from chasing him so she went towards him to express her thanks.

    Philip said to not mind it and ced a hand on her shoulder before saying ''Wee to the ''It'' team.''

    She was marked and also reacted the same way as Rupert did. To think that she would do the same thing to him was almost hrious.

    "Anyway, how many are we?" Rupert asked after a while of silence.

    "About seven..." Veronica said, "That includes you, but I''m also not sure we went separate ways to cover more ground so who knows?"

    Rupert was shocked when he heard this number, "Damn! Only one missing and you guys took down half of the team!"

    From his calctions, the game''s been going on for at least thirty minutes already. Their rate of elimination isn''t considered fast but considering that they have to cover a huge ground due to the size of this training field, this speed is already very impressive.

    "Tagged!" Both Veronica and Rupert''s ears buzzed as soon as they heard that voice.

    "That makes it 8 then." Veronica said whileughing.

    "Shit! They got Scarlet! She''s just as fast as Sasha! Take care everyone!" Someone said, this person must be nearby when Scarlet was tagged.

    "They''re halfway done! We''re gonna lose at this rate! What do we do?"

    "Fight! If we disable some of their people, then that makes less pursuers. Don''t trust the Safe Zones either! They can destroy the pir!" The one who said this was Paul, he was trying to convince the people to resort to a confrontation instead of hiding.

    His voice was loud so everyone in the training field heard it, the atmosphere just became heavier, the ''not-it'' team was seriously considering this suggestion of his as well. They have even numbers, and it''s not like this would be the first time that they would have a spar anyway.

    "Sure! Why not?"

    Suddenly, Raven''s voice was heard everywhere. Some people followed the direction of his voice and saw that he was standing horizontally on a pir once more.

    "That''s going to happen sooner orter anyway. So why not make it now? Am I right?"

    Raven''s deration lit up the zing fighting intent of these students. They looked at him and became wary of his every action.

    "If you people aren''ting, then I will. I''m tired of this slow hunt anyway." Raven smiled as he instantly disappeared in his spot. The remaining ''not-it'' people had their eyes widen as they saw him disappear.

    The next time he appeared he was on the next pir, but his silhouette only flickered there before showing up somewhere else.

    "Shit! Who knew that this freak could still get even more freaky! What kind of farm animal is he?" Rupert cursed as he and Veronica started running all over the ce.

    Their uncrowned leader just waged war with everyone else, even though they aren''t willing they would still be targeted so they have to move, but their movements aren''t as fast as Raven.

    Raven''s speed, if he decided to release some weighted inscriptions on his body, is mind-boggingly fast. It was very hard for anyone on the same level to catch him at all. Running away from him would be difficult as well, so right now all they could do is to wait for him to show up and hopefully defeat him in a straight confrontation.

    Raven''s shadow flickered in and out, the rest had long realized that they won''t be able to pin down his location so they decided to be on guard.

    Along with a breeze of wind, Raven''s figure seemingly materialized. He appeared directly behind Trebor, one of his ssmates who haven''t been tagged yet. The dude felt something behind and quickly turned around, his pupils dted when he realized that Raven was already behind him.

    He quickly shifted his foot and raised his weapon, but before his weaponpletely materialized in his hand, Raven''s body already flickered and appeared in front of him. Trebor paled and tried to step back, but Raven''s fist was already grasping his wrist.

    "Tagged!"

    Raven''s clear voice echoed across the training field. Their minds buzzed as they realized that someone had already fallen victim to Raven in the small time that had passed.

    While Raven was holding Trebor''s wrist, Raven''s ears buzzed as he hurriedly tilted his head on the side. As soon as he did, an arrow slid past with a piercing sound. He already knew that this was Anne''s doing so. Without further ado, he pulled Trebor''s arm and threw him to the side, not before leaving an energy signature on his wrist.

    Trebor was so confused, at one point he was still reeling at the fact that Raven tagged him effortlessly and suddenly he threw him away, just what''s going on?

    "Leave! I can''t protect you." Raven said while shifting his focus somewhere else.

    Trebor was about to say something when he felt someone pulled his cor. He turned around and saw that it was Rupert along with Veronica. Fatty dragged him away and hid between pirs while making sure that they still have a clear view about what''s going on.

    "Trust me, buddy. Whatever''s about to go down there isn''t something we could participate in." Rupert reminded her solemnly.

    "What do you mean?" Trebor asked, still confused about what''s happening.

    "Just watch." Rupert didn''t say anything more and instead just pointed to the gap where Raven and the rest are shing.

    As soon as Raven threw away Trebor, more arrows screeched towards him. Anne was relentless with her assault, it was hard to imagine how she was able to still pinpoint Raven''s direction even though she herself was running as well.

    While Raven was nimbly dancing to dodge the arrows, Mark''s shadow flickered towards him without making too much noise. Since Anne''s arrows are pressuring Raven to constantly dodge, she was able to pin down his location, making it easier for Mark to catch up with Raven.

    Mark caught up and immediately joined Anne in attacking Raven. The two were locked in a fierce melee. Mark''s swords were like pythons that blur due to how fast he was wielding it. Meanwhile Raven was akin to an undisturbedke, calmly letting him attack as much as he pleased, and sometimes parrying his advances all the while where Anne was still shooting whenever she could.

    The exchange was so fierce that the three who were hiding while watching had their mouths wide open. They could barely follow what''s going on when suddenly a spear struck the ground nearby.

    All of them heard a piercing sound in the air. They looked up and saw Paul falling down like a meteor towards where Mark, Anne and Raven were.

    As soon as he made contact, the ground shattered into pieces, causing rubble to fly all over the ce. The whole training field shook violently, the pirs surrounding the impact were cracked and on the verge of falling.

    Rupert, Veronica and Trebor worried for their safety so they retreated for more.

    The newly arrived Paul was greeted with a punch to his face, courtesy of Raven, who was unharmed in his descent. Paul tumbled around for a bit before feeling a pair of hands stopping him further. He turned around and saw the solemn-faced Ellen ring fiercely at the shing Mark and Raven.

    Ellen was also followed by Luna, and when the three met their eyes, they nodded to each other and started charging towards Raven.

    "Come!"

    Raven yelled, his tone brimmed with a zing fighting intent. Mark answered by sending a couple of swords of energy towards Raven. This was then followed by Ellen as well as Luna.

    With a graceful turn, Raven performed a horizontal flip andnded on the support of his left hand. His legs whipped and sent twopressed air spheres towards his aggressors. He then mobilized his energies towards his left hand, causing his body to lift off the ground while also dodging a volley of arrows from Anne.

    His attack caused the three to move out of the way to dodge his retaliation, all of them had their energy vision active right now so they could tell just how much was hidden in his attack.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the ss could only watch with mouths agape. Just how frightening are these kids?

 Chapter 147 - Capabilities

    ---

    While Luna, Mark and Ellen were oushedback by Raven''s retaliation. Paul immediately moved forward to intercept Raven.

    His chargewas stoppedby Raven on time but Paul didn''t let up went ahead to stab him multiple times using his spear. Raven nimbly dodged his every attack, making sure to move just a smidge away from being hit toreducehis energy consumption.

    Sensing another arrow from Anne, Raven did a backflip. Afternding on his feet his was then greeted with Ellen''s glowing sword. Her relentless attacks were staggering, due to her having a very high affinity towards fire, her attacks are already carrying heat which made Raven feel terrible even though he was dodging her attack.

    Raven watched and waited until Ellen revealed a gap on her attacks, as soon as she made a punishable move, Raven ceased the moment and sent a punch to her. Ellen almost failed to block the attack but managed to during thest second, however the weight of Raven''s attack still forced her insides to churn violently. Fortunately, she managed to suppress this feeling and get back to her feet. When she looked up, she found out that Raven was already being harassed by Mark and Luna.

    Mark consistently brandished his swords at Raven. Due to him dual wielding, dodging all of his attacks became very challenging for Raven. Most of the times, Ravenwas forcedto parry his attacks, good thing that he was always wearing the Flexible Metal Set, which enabled him to efficiently parry his attacks without doing any damage to his hands.

    While Mark was trying tond an attack at him, Luna came with him as well and went ahead to raise the pressure. Luna''s blessed with a good fighting instinct, she could seewhenthere''s a gap in Mark''s attacks, she knew that Raven is fishing for this opening to retaliate so instead of giving him those chances, she will attack to cover those gaps not only preventing Raven from fighting back but also pressuring him even further.

    Mark swiped his swords in horizontalway, trying to sever Raven''s head from his shoulders. At the same time, Luna performed a low sweep of her spear, greatly minimizing Raven''s mobility. But they knew that this isn''t enough to lock down Ravenpletely.

    Just as expected, Raven hurriedly jumped back and sentpressed air spheres towards them. Mark and Luna managed to dodge, Raven was about to attack some more but he once again sensed Anne''s arrows causing him to move away.

    Upon his retreat, Paul once again charged towards him using his shield, Raven nned on receiving this again using his hand but he saw Ellen hot on his trails.

    He decided to jump up and kick the shield of the charging Paul.

    Paul staggered and halted his charge, he could feel his arm shaking due to the sheer weight of Raven''s attack. He gritted his teeth and sent his energy towards his throat.

    Raven saw his throat trembling and immediately knew what Paul was trying to do. He immediately gathered a decent amount of energy on his palms.

    "AHHHHHH!!!!"

    There ites, Paul''s Demoralizing Shout. His shout shook the entire training field, the students nearby unconsciously ced their hands ontheirears to protect their eardrums. If Raven was hit by this Demoralizing Shout, then he will experience a great headache causing histo beparalyzed for a solid minute. In a fast-paced fight like this, one minute is more than enough for someone to get crippled.

    Good thing Raven could counter this, with the energies he gathered in his palms, he ced his palms together and pped.

    *Pa!!*

    The energy on his palmswere fusedwith the sound, it shed with Paul''s demoralizing shout and neutralized it.

    Paul''s eyes constricted, this was the first time that his demoralizing shout failed him. Nevertheless, it wasn''t like he was expecting it to fully work against Raven anyway so he managed to get over it in a split second and charged with Ellen once more.

    Raven dodged another arrow from Anne, then he tangled himself with Paul and Ellenalongthecontinuousharassment of Anne.

    ***

    "Wow."

    This is what Rupert could only say as he watched the fight between these people.

    In fact, it wasn''t only him. The rest of their ssmates were also speechless from what they''re witnessing.

    Everyone previously thought that they could meddle with this fight but nope. The pace was frightening, their attacks are ferocious, like they were truly trying to kill each other.

    Even Victor could only smile wryly as hesawthis. Aren''t these kids a little too freakish? From a certain perspective, he already thought that they are nothing short of impressive because he did abackgroundcheck each of them, but who knew that he was actually still underestimating them?

    These kids are way too ahead of their league. He couldn''t help but feel that they are the only people who deservedto becalled as geniuses.

    There are a couple of supporting ideas on this im of his. First and foremost,theirfoundations. Victor had already checked their cultivation foundations on multiple asions and he had nothing to say about it. All of their foundations are as solid as it could get. This is also could be said when ites totheirfoundations when ites to fighting.

    Victor could tell that this isn''t the first time that they did something like this. He knew that someone should''vetrained them to be this splendid warriors.

    Even if he gave the rest of his students somehigh-rankinggear and weapons, he''s afraid that itwon''t beenough to close the gap between their capabilities.These kids don''teven have any high quality gear nor have any fancy techniques and battle arts, even so, these kids reached a high level mastery of their weapons and battle arts, which is only possible through ceaseless training.

    The scariest of these kids would undoubtedly the son of Hawk, Raven.

    Any one on their group could manage to take down half of his original ss with their capabilities alone, but to see them struggling tond a proper hit on one person was not something one could see everyday.

    ***

    The fight between the six continued to escte. Move after movewere exhausted, all of them are dripping with sweat and breathing heavily.

    Compared to whatwas expectedthough, Raven actually have the upper hand. The girls aren''t used to prolonged fights just yet and already close to fainting.

    Ellen was the first one to get tagged, it was carelessness on her part. Fatigued caught up with her causing her to drop her guard for a second, Raven used this chance to grab her hand and leave an energy signature in it.

    With Ellen gone, the pressure lessened. Raven''s next target was Anne.

    Raven gritted his teeth and pushed his speed to thegreatestto catch her off guard, Anne was already exhausted from all the running and calcting where she should shoottoget as much benefit against Raven. Raven caught up with Anne, thetterwas startedwith his suddenappearanceand tried to retaliate, but it''s obvious that she isn''t as inclinedpared to Raven when ites to closebat. Raven grabbed both of her arms to prevent her from shooting and left an energy signature on her left wrist before leaving her alone.

    The nextto beeliminated was Mark,pared to the rest of the team, he was the one who used up his energy the most. Raven was actually impressed that he managed tost this long, he could remember Mark sending one sword waves after another towards his direction. He thought that Markmust betraining to increase his endurance, after all he was nning to be a Lair Hunter.

    Raven caught Mark when he failed on conjuring hisst attack. The sword wave that he sent dissipated like ash before it could even reach it, because it was severely weakened, Raven''s bodily defences allows him to ignore this attack, allowing him to caught up and leave an energy signature with him.

    Three down, two to go.

    Raven knew that these two won''t give up that easily. Their harsh training ingrained a deepstubbornnessintheirmentality, they won''t allow him to have this win without giving ittheirall.

    After a brief stare down, Raven ran towards the two and they did the same. Paul leaped and struck his spear down, Raven slid to the side only to see Luna trying to stab him. Borrowing her momentum, he grabbed the tip of her spear with his bare hands and twisted it to the side, causing her to stagger. Paul recovered and tried to m his shield towards Raven only to get kicked. Luna tried punching Raven but thetter ducked and avoided her. Raven tried to grasping Luna''s wrist but she hurriedly moved away.

    Paul performed a thrust, Raven lifted his feet and mmed it on the his spear. Paul felt his whole body shook causing him to freeze in ce, Raven used this chance to grab him but Luna tried to interfere with another thrust as well but Raven avoided with gracefully while also managing to tag Paul.

    Without letting up, Raven leaped forward andnded behind Luna. She hurriedly tried to face him but Raven ducked and ranerraticallyaround her, due to exhaustion thiserraticmovements caused her to stumble only tond on Raven''s grip. Luna saw him smile and said:

    "Tagged."

 Chapter 148 - Bet

    ---

    "Tagged."

    Having tagged Luna, the whole training field became silent.

    The fierce sh between the newer batch of students are finally over. The rest of the ss was scattered nearby and looked at the scene with wry smiles on their faces.

    The training field was left in shambles. The pirs that looked so impressive earlier wasn''t so much to look at after they''re done. Rubbles and pieces the broken pirs could be seen on the ground and violent aftermath of their battle was still clear on their memories.

    Raven let go of Luna''s wrist, he himself slumped down on the ground while panting for breath. Even though he was severely exhausted, he still wore a satisfied and joyous expression on his face.

    These are the kind of battles that he needed the most. Each time he was ced under the constant state of danger, the instincts that he acquired during his past life were slowly being restored to him, making him better by leaps and bounds.

    "Man! You''re such a freak!" Paul said, "And here I thought that our training was enough to at least close the gap between us but nope! We still can''t win."

    "Honestly though." Ellen added, "I pestered Dad so many times to train me just so that I could improve you know! But I can''t even secure a hit to you."

    "You tell me!" Anne interjected from the side, "I shot dozens of arrows and calcted his position so many times yet I didn''t evennded a single hit in. I am so sad."

    "Well, some my attacks didnd." Mark added, "But those thatnded would just be parried like it was an inconvenience. It''s depressing as hell."

    "You guys had it better!" Luna said with a cute pout, "I didn''t even get to do much on that fight. I''m sure Master would be disappointed if she hears this."

    "Trust me, you did plenty. It''s not like you didn''t get to do much, it was more of he didn''t allow you to do so." Paul said tofort her.

    It was as Paul said, Raven truly did prevented Luna from doing much that fight. Raven knows that the little princess had a spectacr knack in fighting, he witnessed this first hand when they were still training together. Plus, Raven had no other choice. He was against five people during that time, it was already hard enough to make them separated much less handling them all at the same time.

    Raven allowed them to discuss among themselves, he didn''t talk and just looked at them with some sort of an empty gaze, nevertheless he was still smiling.

    He listened to them as they discussed about the ways on what they could''ve done better in that fight. He wasn''t following their conversation at all and instead just sat there, like he was waiting for something to ur.

    "Hey dude!?" Raven was briefly startled when he heard Paul calling out to him. His vision focused to him and saw Paul looking at him with a somewhat worried expression.

    "You''re not saying anything for a while now? Is something wrong?"

    However, instead of answering his question. Raven just smiled knowingly to him and said nothing. Just as Paul was about to ask him some more question, something happened that everyone wasn''t expecting.

    A silhouette gradually materialize behind Raven. When the obscuring shadow disappear, the figure was revealed as a bulky guy who''s wearing a malicious expression on his face. His lips was forming a thick, mocking smile as he firmly gripped his axe over his head and struck it down.

    Paul, Ellen, Mark, Anne and Luna''s hearts were gripped with despair as they saw this. They tried warning Raven and even tried picking up their weapons to block this strike but they were too far and too exhausted to even move.

    Time seemed to stop.

    Everyone watched with bated breaths as the sharp axe plunged down to Raven''s head. It wasn''t until the veryst second when Raven decided to lift his arm and meet the blow using his bare flesh.

    When Zelor saw this, he couldn''t help but to sneer inwardly. What a useless attempt to save himself. Does he think that his flesh is sharper or tougher than his axe? What a joke!

    *ng!!!*

    Eh? Was Zelor''s first thought, he wasn''t sure if his ears are ying tricks with him or not. He should''ve heard the sound of splitting flesh and saw blood stters on his axe by now. But instead of experiencing that, he instead felt a great resistance that made his arms hurt and heard the should of what seems to be a metallic sound.

    As his vision re-focused, his pupils dted and his body shook visibly.

    He saw the shocking seen of Raven casually using his naked hand to meet his full powered strike like he was just catching some falling books.

    Next thing that he felt was bone chilling feeling of death staring at him. He nced up and saw multitude of weapons aiming at his neck as well as pairs of eyes wanting nothing more than to separate his head away from his body.

    The rest of the ss who were watching it were also deeply shaken to their core. Just as when they thought that Raven was for sure dead, he created a miracle which none of them thought possible.

    "How pathetic."

    In their stupor, they heard Raven''s mocking tone. He chuckled as he slowly stood up without letting go of the axe on his hand.

    "After making a deration before the game started, I wasn''t expecting you to hide all game." Raven''sugh sounded too irritating to Zelor, but even though he wanted to do something about his situation, he couldn''t because many sharp objects are aiming at his neck.

    "You have no ability. Aside from your money, you have nothing." Raven mercilessly mocked, "You used a treasure that the Pig Yael gave you and yet you failed to even touch the hem of my clothes. If I were you I would just jump off a cliff due to being so useless."

    Zelor''s eyes constricted as he heard Raven''s words.

    ''How did he know? As soon as the game started, I already hid using the Obscuring Ne that Dad gave me?'' Zelor thought inwardly. He was incensed and incredibly angry at Raven''s words. He didn''t even hid that tant mocking in his voice.

    "Give me one word and I''ll separate this fucker''s head from his shoulders." Paul did nothing to hide his killing intent and venomously spat, making Zelor tremble where he stood.

    Their opinion about the Mort Family wasn''t that good to begin with. As time passed their disgust to Zelor grew, and what he did just now crossed their bottomline.

    The rest hadn''t said a thing but Raven knew that if he give the signal, none of them will hesitate to behead this guy.

    "Release him." Raven tly said which greatly surprised them.

    "Are you sure?" Mark asked not even letting his gaze away from Zelor.

    "I am." Raven stepped forward and sped his shoulders, "He can''t do anything to me."

    "Watch yourself, bitch." Ellen spat before moving away. The rest followed as well.

    Raven stood in front of Zelor, his face has an expression of calm. Completely opposite to what Zelor currently feel, which is hate, anger and deep humiliation.

    "Care for a showdown?" Raven tilted his head and asked, catching Zelor off guard. "The game is still on, use everything that you have, be it Battle Arts, treasures, whatever you have. I''ll allow it."

    "As for me, I''ll use nothing else but my cultivation and fist. If you win, I''ll be you''re ve. If I win, then you''re formally evicted in the Genius ss. What do you say?"

    Raven''s announcement shocked the entire ss, even Zelor himself was dumbfounded by his im.

    "Bro!" Paul wanted to say something but Raven stopped him by raising a hand.

    "I got this." His words were full of confidence so they couldn''t say anymore. He then faced Zelor once more and asked: "What? Scared?"

    "Me? Scared? Hahahahaha!" Zelorughed with madness and mockery. "I don''t know what you''re thinking by making this ridiculous bet, but if you''re courting death, then allow me to apany an idiot like you."

    "Says the one who nearly pissed himself earlier when our weapons was on his neck." Thisment of Ellen didn''t escape Zelor''s ears. He turned towards her and red, Ellen didn''t back out and said: "What? Had something to say Pervert?"

    "Hmph!" Zelor snorted as he looked away, he swore inwardly and told himself to remember this humiliation.

    "Teacher, you heard that right?" Raven yelled towards Victor''s position. It was only now that everyone remembered that their teacher was actually watching all of this happen. Zelor warily sneaked a nce towards Victor and saw that his face wasn''t looking too good, and if looks could kill, Zelor would''ve been long dead from where he stood.

    "If the two of you had no problems about it, then neither shall I.. But remember, the loser has to follow the rules or else, don''t me me for being impolite."

 Chapter 149 - Beatdown

    ---

    No matter how one rationalizes the stakes of the bet, it was obvious that it didn''t benefit Raven in the slightest.

    If he won, Zelor only have to leave the Genius ss. Sure it might stain his reputation and all but it won''t do any real damage to him nor his family. But if were Raven was to lose, he would be his ve, and this is something that most people would not want to see.

    ''Are you really sure about this? Do you have any confidence in winning at all?'' Mark sent him a voice transmission full of worries.

    ''Don''t worry, just watch.'' Raven sent back, his tone was full with overwhelming confidence and since he said it like this, there''s nothing that Mark could do nothing other than to follow his words.

    Not moving too far away from their spot, Raven and Zelor had a brief staredown.

    Victor already came closer and took the position to oversee this battle. Zelor was rather smug, seeing Raven badly exhausted and still had the gall to provoke him, made him thought that he was such an idiot, to think that this guy was supposed to be the son of Hawk, how saddening.

    "Are the both of you ready?" Victor asked, Raven and Zelor nodded at the same time. As Victor saw this, he nodded as well and raised his hand while yelling: "Begin!"

    On the contrary, both fighters didn''t even moved an inch from where they stood. Raven impassively looked at Zelor while thetter started taking things out of his spatial ring. Suddenly, a shiny and bulky armor appeared on his body. His axe were also reced by another axe, only this one had a better quality than what he used earlier.

    Seeing him armed to the teeth made the audience''s expressions grim. This guy was stacked, he is certainly loved by his family. The armor that he wears was definitely on the high end, they thought that even if a Veteran Warrior won''t leave a dent on his armor. There''s also no need to mention the shining golden axe that he held right now.

    Comparing appearance of both fighters right now, it was a bit of a depressing sight. Even those who were previously confidence at Raven earlier, were now having second thoughts about his chances.

    If there''s one person who still had an absolute confidence in him, it would be Luna.

    She saw him performed one miracle after another, he did way too much that she became rather used to it. She had no doubts in her mind that Raven will win, it''s just in the matter of how.

    After arming himself with so much stuff, Zelor felt even more confident about his chances. He looked at Raven with disdain and said: "You still have time to back out, I''ll allow it. You just have to beg me for it. I can tell you the words if you want to."

    Zelor thought that he could faze Raven''s confidence with his equipment and attitude, but he didn''t even see his expression change in the slightest.

    "All bark, no bite. Still as pathetic as ever."

    Infuriated by his tant disdain of him, Zelor ran towards Raven while holding his axe over his head. With a mighty sh of his axe, its edge failed to even touch Raven''s clothes in the slightest as he gracefully evaded during thest second possible.

    Nevertheless, Zelor wasn''t fazed by this. With even more fervor, he wanted to prove to everyone that everyone should bow down to his prowess and take him as a Lord, royalty or not. He hacked and hacked, shattering the ground beneath Raven. Needless to say, each of his strikes did nothing to injure Raven.

    Zelor''s strikes became incrediblybored, as time passed he was finding it hard to even lift his axe. With anger rising up to his chest, he recklessly poured his energies onto the edge of his axe and sent a wave towards Raven. Instead of dodging it, Raven did the impossible and met it with his naked hand.

    *Dong!*

    "Impossible!" Was the only response he could manage to utter. That strike contained a hundred percent of his power yet it was stopped with a hand. How could he ept this?

    "Nope. Not impossible." Raven sneered as he replied. "Just in old me."

    With this being said, Raven charged forth and punched Zelor''s stomach through his armor. The raw power behind his strike made the metal curved in despite it''s toughness. His fist connected on Zelor''s stomach, the pain was transmitted and Zelor''s whole body buckled and fell onto the ground with a loud thud. The pain was too much that it made Zelor drop his axe, he clutched his stomach and spat gastric acids while going into a fit of coughing.

    "Energy Nullifying Steel, a precious and very expensive metal. When forged into an armor, it weakens any iing energy attacks by a good amount. Unfortunately, the forger is trash, the properties of the metal was preserved but in the cost of it''s toughness. It looks impressive, but it''s nothing more than that."

    Raven''s voice was loud enough to be heard all over the whole training field. The exposition about Zelor''s armor reached the ears of the audience and made them shocked beyond words. Who knew that he could tell what metal was used in Zelor''s armor.

    Raven ignored the crowd and moved towards Zelor''s axe. He picked it up and inspected it a bit.

    "Tri-colored Ore, good conductor of energy. Only, the one that''s used in this axe is not a Tri-colored Ore, but rather a Dual-colored Ore, a far inferior version of the former."

    "These equipments should''ve caused you at least hundreds of thousand Gold Cards, and judging by you''re attitude, that''s just your lunch money, yet it''s also the reason why it''s so easy to scam you. You have all of this money on your hands yet you can''t even hire an appraiser."

    The mockery contained in Raven''s voice was thick. Although he wasn''t sure if Zelor could even hear half of what he said just now. As if that wasn''t enough, Raven clenched his fists hard and crumpled the axe like paper. The eyes of the audience nearly popped off their sockets as they saw him do this. What''s his hand made of? Iron?

    After crumpling the axe, he crouched down and picked up Zelor by his hair. He lifted his head on the same level as his and asked: "Is this the source of your pride and confidence earlier? How disappointing."

    Raven''s words made Zelor spat blood in anger, but no matter how unwilling he was, he was powerless to do anything to wipe away this miserable appearance of his.

    He tried punching Raven, but his attack was caught by him. Raven''s fist that could bend steel, clenched hard and broke all of the bones on Zelor''s right hand.

    Zelor screamed in agony, Raven''s hand mped down like a pair of steel cuffs. The process wasn''t bloody at all but they knew just how agonizing this feeling is. Next thing that Raven did was to m Zelor''s face onto the concrete ground, this process broke Zelor''s nose for sure.

    He mmed his face at least three times before raising him up and asking: "More?"

    "Fuck you!"

    "More it is."

    Raven mmed his knee on Zelor''s stomach while letting go of his head. Zelor''s body flew towards a rubble, sliding down slowly as he coughed blood and felt like he''s fainting.

    Zelor couldn''t even think properly, he opened his eyes and saw the cold look on Raven''s face as he slowly walked down towards his direction.

    Zelor''s heart was gripped by deep existential fear. Raven looked nothing more than a demon in his eyes, he felt that if he didn''t do something right now, then he would truly die in Raven''s hands.

    "N-No..."

    Raven heard Zelor speak, he heard him properly but he feigned it.

    "N-No! P-Please..."

    "Hmm? What is it? You want more beating?"

    Seeing Raven acting like he can''t hear him made Zelor incredibly depressed and angry, but these emotions were easily repressed by the fear he had in his heart.

    "N-no! Please! No more! I-I admit defeat!"

    Zelor screamed out of desperation, he didn''t want to die. He wanted to live and enjoy his life to the fullest. So long as he lived, nothing else matters. So long as he lived, he would be able to extract revenge eventually, he would be able to recover his lost reputation, he would be able to nurse himself back to health, he only had to bow his head once and that''s it. Snot, tears and blood was shown in his face as he begged for his life.

    This is the first time that the Genius ss saw Zelor this miserable. And to think that he experienced this under the hands of none other than a freshman, was something very unbelievable to them.

    "Pack your things and leave, you may never show your face in the Genius ss ever again."

    Raven''s overbearing deration became the mark that the battle already ended. He turned his back against Zelor and looked at Victor.

    "Winner of this battle, Raven! Game end! The ''it'' wins!"

 Chapter 150 - Waves

    ---

    After Victor announced the winner of the match, the ss was still reeling where they stood.

    Zelor, the young master of a prestegious family, was beaten to the point of begging. One can''t imagine just how muchstain this will leave on the reputation of the Mort Family.

    Aside from being astonished, they were also slightly worried about the implications of this result. They knew Zelor for a long time now, he''s incredibly vengeful and petty, they have no doubts that he will try toe for Raven and/or his family, specially now that Raven just deeply offended the Mort Family.

    "Cedric." Victor called using a mark on his wrist. Instantly, a shadow came running towards him and kneeled as soon as it arrived.

    "You called Master?"

    "Take Zelor to the medics and have then nurse him back to health. When he wakes up, take him back to his family and give them my letter. Tell them that Zelor''s formally expelled from the Genius ss and never to return. If they want details then tell them to read my letter. You are not to leave his side until then, make sure that he won''t be harmed while he''s under your protection."

    "As you wish, Master." The man named Cedric then went towards Zelor''s fainted body and carried him away.

    The ss watched as Cedric disappeared, leaving behind a silence that''s somewhat ufortable.

    "Let''s huddle up everyone, take a seat somewhere." Victor smiled and changed the atmosphere of the ss.

    The students followed his instructions and huddled together, previously there were sixteen of them here but now there''s one person less.

    "I have to say..." Victor looked at them one by one before continuing, "What a strange day, right? I for one thought that there will be no expulsions today but it seems that I was wrong." Upon saying this, his gaze inevitablynded towards Raven, who was only smiling which made it hard for others to imagine what his thoughts are.

    "So, did any of you had an idea of what was the method I hand in mind to help you reach the 100% conversion?"

    The ss was silent for a bit, majority of them them was pressed hard into thinking, they recalled the battle earlier to find more clues but they can''t find the answers.

    "Don''t think too much people..." Wilbert''s voice caught the attention of the whole ss. "It''s not thatplicated, it''s Energy Control."

    The clueless students looked at Wilbert in confusion. Scenes of the earlier game shed through their minds but they''re having a hard time convincing themselves to believe him.

    "Precisely."Victor''s clear voice confirmed it, making the rest of the students look towards him.

    "Surface Walking, Energy Vision, Energy Sense, Energy Cloaking, Voice Transmission, these are the tricks that everybody learns as early as they start cultivation. People might think that these are just mere parlor tricks but your ssmates right here just gave you guys a rude awakening."

    The ss can''t help but to look at Raven and the rest of his friends, they knew Victor was referring to them when he said those words.

    "The only reason why 100% Energy Essence Conversion seems impossible, is because you were told that it is very hard to control and manipte them. Well? What if you get better at controlling your energies then? Wouldn''t that fix the problem?"

    Victor''s rhetorical question left most of the students gobsmacked, it was a little hard to believe that the answer they were looking about was this simple.

    "Now you might be thinking that since the answer was so simple, then you are good to go. I''ll tell you this early that, yes, the solution might sound simple but it doesn''t mean that it''s easy to achieve." Victor already warned before they even start overestimating themselves.

    "From now on up until the time when you breakthrough, I want you to polish your Energy Control. I''ll give you a homework exersises to follow and whenever I call you guys for a ss, you have to perform the homework I gave you. There won''t be any rewards nor punishment if you''re not able to do your homeworks, but because of my requirement, you''re breakthroughs will be pushed further and further, that will set behind your ssmates. If you don''t want that to happen, then try your best."

    Victor added yet another obstacle for the ss, most of them just finished their monthly task and haven''t even rested yet but now there''s another headache for them. At some point, they wanted to justze around for a bit and enjoy life, but it seems that Victor won''t let them be.

    "I will demonstrate your first homework so watch closely."

    Victor spoke, allowing everyone''s attention to be focused on him. Once he was sure that everyone was watching, he raised his hand and imemdiately a thinyer of energy spread ang formed a protective sphere around him. This is Energy Barrier, another widely known technique that everyone knows.

    Before anyone could speak, all of them felt a sharp fluctuation on Victor''s Energy Barrier. The feeling was faint but unmistakably there, despite this they still can''t find any visible changes on the energy barrier.

    "Energy Vision everyone." Raven''s leisurely voice echoed across the ears of his ssmates. A tremor ran pass their bodies and they all started looking at Victor''s Energy Barrier using Energy Vision.

    When their vision adjusted, their eyes constricted a bit. The Energy Barrier surrounding Victor shone with clean sheen and also incredibly solid. Compared to what majority of them could conjure, Victor''s Energy Barrier was three times denser.

    "This will be your first homework. Conjure an Energy Barrier that''s at least three times thicker that what you previously could."

    Sufficed to say, this first homework was already giving them a severe headache. They all thought that the toughness of Energy Barriers depend on one''s cultivation but they were so wrong about it. Who knows just how much experimentation they have to do in order to clear this task.

    "Alright. You guys saw the demonstration, now it''s up to you on how you will acheive it." Victor said as he deactivated his Energy Barrier, "Remember, asking for clues from you ssmates is fine, but don''tpletely rely on them. They won''t be the one who will cultivate for you, so it has to be you own efforts."

    "Are there any questions?"

    No one said anything for now, the ss remembered their lessons and everything they experienced today would need time to be slowly realized and added to their knowledge.

    "Since no one has any questions, then ss dismissed. Oh, Raven please stay for a bit, I''ll have some matters to discuss with you."

    Raven nodded and said goodbye to Luna and the rest. In the wreckage of the training field, only Victor and Raven remained. Their eyes met for a bit, Raven scrutinize Victor closely and he was pretty sure that the other was doing the same to him as well.

    Raven had a little impression of this person, but this was from the rumors during his past life. They said that Victor is a very capable man, some of his actions might appear very suspicious but he''s very loyal to the kingdom.

    "Well, I''ll be." Victor said after inspecting Raven in a close proximity, "I did not expect Luis'' son to be this impressive."

    Raven''s brow rasied up as soon as he heard him say this, he then replied: "Teacher''s acquainted with my Dad?"

    Victorughed, his expression turned into a mncholic one. "Acquainted? Yes, very acquainted. We we''re once part of the Genius ss."

    Raven''s eyes widened, he didn''t know that! He knew that his father made it onto the genius ss before but he never knew that Victor attended the ss with him.

    "It''s understandable that you have no idea, my apperance went under aplete transformation since then. I used to be fat, obese even, back in the day."

    When Victor said this, an image suddenly surfaced in his mind. His eyes widened once more as the image in his head gradually ovepped with the current image in front of him.

    "Oh! So you''re that guy!" Raven eximed, the only reason why he realized this was because his mother used to show him some albums when he was a child, and there was one image there where the whole genius ss was gathered.

    ''Now that I think about it.'' Raven thought, ''He awfully looked a lot like Fatty Rupert when teacher was in his youth, are they rted?''

    "Is Teacher rted to Rupert?" Raven asked, unable to hold his curiosity.

    "Yes." Victor didn''t deny this at all and confirmed it with a nod, "That fat child is my nephew."

    "Oh, I see."

    "How''s your Dad doing? It''s been years since west talked." Victor asked.

    "He''s been doing great. He broke through Silver Knight not too long ago, that made him even more inspired in his work." Raven shared.

    Delight shed on Victor''s face when he heard this, he smiled and said: "Good, that is indeed a good news. He finally escaped that quagmire."

    Silence reigned between them for a bit, Raven saw Victor hesitating before cing a determined expression on his face. He looked at Raven and asked:

    "Are you willing to join the Eternal Horizon n?"

 Chapter 151 - Eternal Horizon Clan

    ---

    "Are you willing to join the Eternal Horizon n?"

    Raven nked out as soon as he heard Victor ask this question.

    He for one didn''t expect to have any contact with this organization, not in this way either. Come to think of it, Raven didn''t have much knowledge about the Eternal Horizon n anyway.

    "I''m pretty sure that you are very confused about many things right now. There''s no rush, I''ll slowly exin things to you as nothing much is known about our organization anyway."

    "But before I tell you anything, I''d like you to ensure me that everything that we will talk about would be kept as a secret. There''s a strict confidentiality that we have to follow, and if you cannot promise me that, then we''ll just treat this conversation as if it never happened." Victor warned solemnly as he spoke.

    Raven of course knew the gravity of the situation and understood it''s purpose so he nodded his head and said: "I understand teacher, unless I am permitted, I will never leak the secrets of our conversation to outsiders."

    He was truly intrigued and wanted to know more about the purpose of this organization, he didn''t had this chance during his past life so he had to take advantage of this chance now.

    "Very well." Victor nodded, "Eternal Horizon n doesn''t really work as mysterious as people think."

    "The only reason why we appear mysterious is because we make sure that our identities are somewhat hidden. The missions that we carry is also somewhat discreet and usually...messy." There was a trace of hesitation when he said thest word of his im.

    "Pardon me for interrupting Teacher but..." Raven hesitated for a bit before asking: "Are you guys working as assassins?"

    "Partly yes." Victor did not deny and confirmed it with a nod. Raven didn''t show any changes in his expressions which made Victor heave a sigh of relief. "But we do not kill indiscriminately, after all we are under the direct orders of the Crown Prince."

    "Huh?" This is Raven''s reaction when he heard Victor''s revtion.

    "You heard me right." Victor nodded to Raven''s reaction, "Our Chief Director is Crown Prince Balmung Lightshield. It is under his judgments that we kill, but we will only do the killing once we gathered more than enough evidence."

    Raven listened closely as in his eyes, the value of this organization shot through the roof.

    "Our job is to monitor the hidden currents of the Kingdom. We mostly go under disguises to gather Intel, infiltrate facilities and gather enough evidences. On the off chance that they could still slip away from judgment, then we strike. That''s basically what we do."

    "So you guys are more like the hidden forces of the Royal Army."

    "Correct." Victor nodded and confirmed Raven''s logic.

    Raven went silent, he then tried hard to recall any clues during his past life that might be tied to the Eternal Horizon n. He managed to secure some but he''s not entirely sure if he was correct, he knew that if he wanted to know more, then he had to join them.

    "I am a part of the Sacred Leaf Tavern, will that be a problem?"

    Astonishment shed by Victor''s eyes as he heard Raven say this, at the same time he also found this difficult to believe.

    When he looked at Raven, specially after disying his potential, he sees a valiant warrior who charges at the battlefield, not someone who prefer to study and concoct pills.

    "None whatsoever." Victor replied, jubnt to hear this wonderful news. "That''s even better if that''s the case. Just make sure to inform the higher ups in order to make sure that there are noplications."

    "Will the organization ce many restrictions on me if I join?"

    "Confidentiality is this only thing that you have to worry about, so long as you keep everything as a secret then there''s no need to worry about anything else." Victor replied.

    "Alright, I''m in." Raven replied, "How do I join?"

    "Usually, we will have you take a series of probationary missions first. But the results of your Monthly Task plus showing them the recording of the spectacle earlier should qualify you enough to join our ranks." Victor shoved his hand on his sleeves and took out a badge.

    He then passed this badge to Raven. The badge has a smooth surface and a glossy finish. In the middle of the badge, there are a carving of blue clouds that had dark edges and some streaks of red. This should be the symbol that the Eternal Horizon n uses.

    "This badge works the same way as your student''s badge. Meetings and other important events will bemunicated through this so make sure to keep an eye on it. Also, don''t lose that. We hid our identities by disguises so to avoid further confusion, the badge is built with a tracking inscription. This makes sure that we don''t identally endanger our own."

    "Understood." Raven said as he clutched the badge and kept it on his uniform.

    "Remember, be careful in revealing your identity. Make sure that you couldpletely trust someone first before even considering to reveal your connection with us. I''m reminding you this for your own safety, are we clear?"

    "Yes, Teacher. I would be very careful."

    "Great." Victor nodded in satisfaction, "You may go now."

    ***

    "Eternal Horizon n huh?" Raven mused.

    "It''s not hard to tell that teacher was lying. It was obvious that he was hesitating a lot and fidgety, something that an Elder won''t feel when talking to a Junior. Compared to his actions, his gaze is the most intriguing part. I could tell that he was conveying something. He didn''t tell me the entire truth behind the Eternal Horizon n at all."

    "Why is that so? What''s the reason why he needed to hide things from me and his subordinates who are hiding in the shadows?" Raven asked to despite himself, "If the Eternal Horizon n is under the direct orders of the Crown Prince, then what''s with all the secrecy? What are they hiding?"

    "Asking these questions to myself won''t yield any answers. It would be better for me to have a look myself and see what this Eternal Horizon n really is hiding."

    "If what teacher said was true, that the it''s truly is the Crown Prince who''s directing them, then I can''t imagine them being enemies. But if they''re not..."

    Raven''s eyes shed with coldness as soon as his thoughts arrived at this point.

    Thankfully he''s back to his cave abode right now, or else from the look that he''s showing, people might think that he''s plotting murder.

    "Anyway, I''ll just wait for that day to arrive. For now, I''ll continue training."

    Raven sat down on the cold ground and focused his mind, he knew that there''s no point on thinking too much about this matter since he''ll eventually find out anyway. What matter''s the most right now is to raise his strength as soon as he could. Only with strength would he be able to ensure his safety as well as the important people in his life.

    He once again arrived at the familiar sight of the majestic pce inside the Crown Space.

    He took a sniff of the pure air inside and felt his whole body tighten in anticipation. Raven stretched for sometime before taking a step inside the Pce Grounds.

    The vast and majestic suppression pressed onto every single pore in his body. The pressure in the first few steps actually felt nicer now that he''s so used to it,pared to the first time that he arrived here, the difference is just too great.

    So far, pushing his body to the absolute limits everytime, allowed him to arrive in the 49th step. Nevertheless, this distance is merely a drop in the ocean considering the vastness of this space.

    Today, he had one goal. And that is to step onto the 50th stage. A very simple goal but incredibly challenging to do. He had lost count on how many times he attempted to take that step but he just fails every single time. The pressure on the 50th step was stronger, almost twice as the current pressure in the 49th step, which is why he failed to conquer it multiple times.

    He had high hopes today so he started making his way towards the 50th step.

    It didn''t take long before he eventually arrived at the 49th step. Raven was already sweating hard and his breathing was a little uneven, nevertheless the light in his eyes never diminished but went stronger instead.

    He lifted his foot and took the step, the crushing force in the 50th step immediately made his knees creak. Raven felt a sharp pain but he gritted his teeth and firmly nted his feet there.

    With another grunt, he lifted his other foot and transitioned over to the 50th step. The crushing pressure made his bones creak, Raven almost lost consciousness due to how heavy he feels right now but he bit his lips and persevered.

    1 second...2 seconds....3 seconds...

    Eventually he managed to stay awake for a solid minute, which he took as a win on his book. He chuckled weakly before nning to take a step back.

    But it seems that the Crown Space had another idea instead.

 Chapter 152 - First Checkpoint

    ---

    "Where in the world..."

    When Raven''s vision re-adjusted, he found out that he was on a different ce altogether.

    Dark and ominous clouds loomed over his head. The moon was awfully close and was died with a blood-freezing shade of red.

    He could hear howls of wolves, rustling of bushes and he could also feel the heavy atmosphere in the air.

    "So...you finally reached this point."

    An ethereal voice passed by his ears, sending shivers to his spine. Raven hurriedly looked over and saw the faint silhouette of Inos, sitting on one of the tree branches while looking at him with a kind smile.

    "Partner!" Raven said in an ted manner. "You appeared, which means that I reached the first checkpoint right?"

    "Correct." Inos nodded in satisfaction. "You might be confused about this, so allow me to exin."

    "As the 9th True Heir Candidate, this whole pce grounds is your trial grounds. Letting you experience the Royal Suppression isn''t enough to forge you as the rightful heir."

    "Scattered in the Pce Grounds are 100 Pocket Dimensions, just like this one. Each of them is a checkpoint on their own."

    "Once you enter inside, you cannot leave without clearing the challenges it poses. Try focusing on your mind, you shall see the the current challenge, or mission if that makes it easier to understand."

    Listening to Inos'' exnation, Raven hurriedly closed his eyes and searched his psyche. There he found golden words that carried profound ancientness and solemnity.

    ***

    Challenge #1: Fight!

    - Defeat or Kill enemies. The result will vary depending on your actions so decide wisely Young Candidate.

    ***

    "Have you seen it?" Inos'' inquiry woke up Raven from his trance.

    Raven nodded and felt quite perplexed.

    All of these events took him by surprise. When Inos informed him a while back about his overall goal to be the rightful owner of the Divine Ancestral Crown, a True Heir, many questions found their way onto his mind. Like, who was the creator of the Crown? Why did he created it? Where is this creator? Why does one have to pass these challenges to be the true owner of this crown? And so on...

    None of his questions were answered, which lead him to believe that he had to seed in these trials first before the answer revealed themselves to him.

    The existence of these pocket dimensions also brought great waves in his heart. It had to be known that spatial genesis is the pinnacle of Space Laws. Even back in his previous life, there''s only a handful of people who had the ability to create their own pocket dimensions, and all of them are incredibly powerful people. Which is saying a lot because they''re at the Divine Realm.

    But the creator of this crown not only created a pocket dimension inside an item, but also created 100 pocket dimensions inside a pocket dimension. This was enough to send Raven''s mind reeling...

    "I know this is a lot to take in..." Inos said, breaking Raven''s trance once more. "But remember the reason why you wanted to be the rightful heir. Remember and hold onto it, let it be the fuel that you need to go past your limits."

    Raven looked up and saw that Inos was already gone. His words lingered onto his ears for a while and filled with his with resolve.

    ''He''s right. It''s useless to think about things deeply, I have one major goal. And that is to transcend any challenges thates my way and protect the people that''s important to me. That''s everything I need.''

    Having his thoughts cleared up, hesitation no longer clouded his mind and he directly looked in front of him.

    Raven tried cloaking himself with energy, hoping that he could suppress his presence and do some investigations first without alerting the enemy. However, he was met with a problem.

    "My cultivation is sealed." Raven spoke with a tinge of annoyance, he tried using his spiritual sense but it''s also sealed. The only thing that''s left with him is his formidable body thanks to his Body Path.

    "Not just that but..." Raven trailed off, he closed his eyes and tried feeling the atmosphere in a deeper manner than before. He opened his eyes and had a wry smile in his face. "There is no energy here. It''s like a deadnd, abandoned by the breath of the Earth. Which means, I could only do things the hard way."

    Raven said to himself as he lowered his body and chose walk along the bushes, maintaining high vignce at all times.

    He made sure to refrain from making any noise as much as he could, his over all n was to investigate first before taking any action. He didn''t want to blindly go in with fists zing without knowing what kind of enemies he will face.

    *Shua!*

    Raven''s heart tightened as he heard the fierce rustling of the bushes near him. He immediately ducked and hid while looking around to find the source of that noise.

    Not too far from him, he saw a silver silhouette moving at a fast speed. He narrowed his eyes and tried following the movements of that silver silhouette but it was quite difficult.

    Fortunately, the silhouette stopped moving, allowing him to finally see it''s true form.

    ''It''s a Silver Moonwolf!'' Raven eximed inwardly.

    Sharp canines, muscr body, and bright silver fur along a with piercing blue eyes. This is without a doubt a Silver Moonwolf, this particr one is quite young, about two years old from Raven''s judgments.

    Raven watched as the young Silver Moonwolf warily nced all over its surroundings, before finally curling up into a ball and closing it''s eyes to rest.

    Inwardly, he was puzzled. The young Silver Moonwolf wasn''t injured in any way, nor it was exhausted either. From what he could remember, the habitat of these wolves are ces that is quite exposed so that they could bask in moonlight.

    Well, considering that the moon is currently bloody red, he had no idea if that brings any changes to the Silver Moonwolves or not. In fact, this is the first time in this lifetime that he encountered a Red Moon.

    Red Moon, aside from giving humans a creepy feeling, had no real effects on them. But same thing couldn''t be said for beasts, as for what kind of beasts are affected and what are the effects of it, he had no idea at all.

    Raven was about to get a closer look at the young Silver Moonwolf when suddenly it''s body became draped in ayer of blue-ish glow.

    The glow got progressively brighter until it obscured his vision. When the glow ended and Raven''s vision adjusted, his pupils dted as he nced at the previous location of the Silver Moonwolf.

    He can''t even call it a wolf now. The beast turned into a young boy, probably the same age as he is. He had head full of silver hair, silver brows and eyshes as well. His skin was a fair as a pearl''s and he was wearing a thin white silk, tightly hugging his petite body.

    Raven was gobsmacked, is this the effects of the Red Moon? It turns wolves into humans?

    The situation was strange, but considering the fact that he was inside a strangend, he didn''t find this quite surprising. Instead of making contact right away, he stayed hidden from sight and waited until the proper moment.

    A few minutester, the young boy woke up. The first thing he did was to look at his hand. A gleeful smile surfaced in his young face, he gripped his fists tight as an expression of excitement filled his chest.

    "A pity that it onlysts on the nights of a Red Moon. I wish that I could permanently transform as a human." The young boy spoke in a fluent human tongue which shocked Raven once more.

    ''How intriguing.'' Raven thought while smiling. A young wolf that could transform into a human every red moon? This is news to him, and something that he doesn''t mind knowing more of.

    Formting a n for a while, Raven went out of his hiding ce. He deliberately made a noise, sessfully catching the attention of the young boy.

    Raven saw distress surface in the face of the young boy. The youngster immediately stood up and charged at him, his fists turned into ws and as Raven nced closely at it, he saw how his nails became longer and deadlier.

    But instead of dodging his attack, Raven did no effort to evade. With a knowing smile in his face, he easily caught the ws of the young boy and suppressed him through sheer strength.

    At first, Raven was worried. He''s not a local of this ce so he had no idea if they have a unique was of cultivation. But observing the transformation of the young wolf and its actions gave him enough confidence to progress his n.

    And it turns out that he was right. Upon its transformation, the speed of the young wolf was halved and it''s overall strength was weakened as well, allowing him to easily catch his attack.

    He saw the horrified look on the boy''s face as he asked: "Who are you?

 Chapter 153 - Elyion

    ---

    "Who are you" The pale young boy asked with a horrified tone.

    "I mean you no harm, young wolf." Raven said in a cid tone. He removed his grip on the young wolf''s wrist and kept a safe distance.

    There was aplicated expression on the young wolf''s face when he heard his words. He felt that doubtful and highly skeptical about the true intentions of this man. For one, he had never saw him before, and two he''s different from the rest of them, he''s sure about it.

    Seeing the skeptical expression of the young wolf, Raven smiled and waited for him to calm down. He did no effort to hide the fact that he saw the young wolf''s transformation into a youngd.

    ''Should I believe him?'' The young wolf warily gazed and thought, his subsequent thoughts became incredibly chaotic as many memories surface through his brain.

    ''No! I can''t risk it! He''s stronger than me, that''s for sure but if I try really hard, then maybe I''ll be able to kill him. Transforming into a human is the only happiness that I can get from this life, if the other humans knew that I am a beast in hiding, they would spare no efforts to hunt me down. I don''t want to die on the hands of humans, I don''t want them to hate me.''

    Thinking up to this point, a determined expression surfaced on the young face of the wolf. He slowly backed away without breaking any eye contact at Raven. Thetter watched this spectacle with an interested expression in his face.

    As soon as the young wolf arrived at a safe distance, the young wolf transformed into a shadow of it''s former self. It then ran with a much faster speed and disappeared on Raven''s vision.

    Raven allowed the young wolf to flee. Well, not really. It''s not like the young wolf really escaped. It just transformed for a while and circled around him, nning to ambush and kill him.

    One won''t just leave someone, specially if that someone found out their deepest secret.

    The n was a little naive, but this allowed Raven to have some initial impression for the young wolf. From what he could tell, the young wolf isn''t some bloodthirsty beast who wanted to kill humans. Or at least, that''s what he''s hoping for. The young wolf also doesn''t have much experience with fighting as well. He figured that he must''ve resolved to kill in order to remain his secret hidden. Raven had no idea as to why the young wolf wanted to live with humans so bad but he''s sure that there must be a deep reason behind it.

    Raven wasn''t on a rush to move on, once again he had no clue as to where he was and what kind of world this is. It isn''t his style to blindly charge onto something after all.

    He made sure to take in whatever his eyes could see. He also made sure that he''s keeping attention for any ambushes of the young wolf.

    Raven was walking alone in middle of a vast forest, he wasn''t able to see the end on sight just yet and he wasn''t aware if he''s even going in the correct direction.

    *Rustling*

    Raven''s ears perked up, he could feel movements behind him. The sounds of bushes rustling was very faint, almost seemed like it was just the wind that caused it. But Raven felt the irregrity behind it. The young wolf was on the move.

    His nails lengthened, a fierce expression surfaced on the young face of the wolf. With a deadly precision, he aimed at the head of Raven, taking advantage of his ignorance about his presence.

    Unfortunately, his thoughts are a little too naive as Raven merely tilted his head and easily caught the ws of the young wolf.

    The young wolf was badly startled, ''How did he know?'' Was his only thought as he felt his body being lifted off the ground and he felt a painful sensation on his back. It turned out that Raven borrowed the momentum of his charge to m his body onto the ground.

    The young wolf groaned in pain, next he found out that he being lifted by Raven using his neck. The young wolf opened his eyes and happened to make eye-contact with Raven at this moment. He saw the chilling coldness of his gaze, shivers ran down his spine as he realized that he had been too naive to think that this guy was an easy target. He was a Silver Moonwolf, it''s in his blood to be a hunter, but he had never expected that he was the prey this time around, this left a bad taste in his mouth.

    "So, the young wolf came to y once again." Raven said with an amused tone. "You attempted to kill me twice by now. I''m stronger than you so killing should be justified, am I correct? Young Wolf?" Raqven tightened his grip on the young wolf''s neck.

    The boy squirmed in pain, his pale hands grabbed Raven''s arm, using everthing that he could to free himself from the choke and escape as far as he could. The boy tried to morph his hand and lengthen his nails once more but Raven seemed to know that this process required a steep focus from him and tightened his grip to break his focus away.

    Breathing became harder for the young boy, he puched, kicked, smacked and did every single thing that seems logical to free himself but Raven''s grip was like an iron cuffs. A deep sense of helpness and bitterness surfaced on the heart of the young wolf. The boy was about to give up any resistance and ept that his life came to an end, when Raven suddenly released him.

    The young wolf was surprised, his body slumped onto the ground and he broke into a fit of coughing and panting.

    Raven watched this process and waited patiently. Eventually, the young wolf calmed down and looked up to him with aplicated expression.

    "W-why did you let me go." He asked after calming down.

    "I need you alive that''s why." Raven replied non-chntly.

    "What do you want from me? I don''t think that I have anything of use for you." The young wolf reasoned.

    "That''s not true." Raven shook his head and replied, "I''m guessing that you already knew that I''m not a local of this ce, correct?"

    The young wolf nodded in confirmation.

    "I needed someone to guide me, and since you''re the first local I saw, then you should do."

    The young wolf was stunned beyond words. Never in his wildest dreams that he would meet an entric human like this. He truly was different from the others, if the locals witnessed his transformation, they would without a doubt hunt him to death, but this guy had the chance to kill him but released him because he wanted a guide.

    "Y-you want me to guide you?" The young wolf repeated, just to make sure that he wasn''t just hearing things.

    "Yes." Raven nodded, "Depending on your sincerity, I might consider keeping your secret with me."

    "If I do be your guide..." The young wolf nced at him warily and continued, "How can I make sure that you won''t go back on your word?"

    "It seems that you don''t remember the situation that you are in." Raven''s eyes narrowed, "This is not me negotiating with you. At most, I could just find another local, preferably a human at that, to be my guide, and I could just finish you off right now. This is me giving you an additional leash on your life."

    Raven''s words might be poisonous and vile but he had no other choices, he''s in a foreignnd. He could not afford to show any weakness because it would just be the root of moreplications.

    The young wolf shuddered in his ce, he had no doubt that this guy was telling the truth. Raven would truly end him if he didn''t dare to follow his instuctions.

    "I don''t have other choices, do I?" The young wolf asked.

    On the smallest chance that his pitiful apperance could change Raven''s mind, of course the young wolf would not want to miss it. In all honesty, he would much rather not be acquainted with a human like this and instead go away as far as he could.

    Raven shook his head and looked at him with a in gaze. "No, you don''t."

    His reply made the young wolf despair but also helpless. In the end, there was no escaping this situation.

    "I''ll do it. I''ll tell you everything that I know. I just wish that you would spare me afterwards, I don''t wish to die just yet." The young wolf asked.

    "Acheive it using your actions." Raven inly said, "I don''t mind sparing you but that''s on the premise that you don''t lie to me. What''s your name?"

    "Elyion." The young wolf replied. "How about you Sir?"

    "Raven." He replied.. "Now, Elyion. What can you tell me about this ce?"

 Chapter 154 - Thorn City

    ---

    "So Elyion, What can you tell me about this ce?"

    Elyion sighed before speaking. "This is the Thorn City." His voice contained mncholy and longing as he spoke.

    "Humans use to always say that this is the only civilization that one could see in this vast expanse. What lies outside is nothing but an omnipresent fog that swallows everything that it touches. They say Thorn City spanned for at least a couple thousands of kilometers, surrounding it was a great wilderness which they use to go to hunt for food and necesseties, beyond this wilderness is the fog that humans talked about earlier."

    "I''m not sure just how much is this were true." Elyion said with a wry smile, "I don''t even dare to make as much contact with humans even though I wanted to."

    "As far as I''m aware, Humans had always been the lords of the Thorn City, I could be wrong but Thorn City only allows shelter to Humans."

    "It''s not only humans who are present here, there''s also beings like me, Shape Shifters, Demons or Abominations as they call us." Elyion wore a sad smile and exined his situation in more detail.

    "Ever since I became aware of things, humans already had a bone deep hatred to us Shape Shifters. They treated us like the gue, to be eradicated or to be avoided. On regr days, we could still shift into a human although slightly imperfect. For me, my ears won''t change even if I transform into a human. This is a huge tell-tale sign that we''re aren''t real humans, and if we show up in the city, we''ll be hunted down. Additionally, us shape shifters can tell which one is a real human from those who aren''t. For this, there came an unspoken rule between us shape shifters. We aren''t allowed to forsake our kind by revealing their identities."

    "It''s only through the Red Moon Month would we be able to Shape Shift perfectly into humans and could mingle enter the Thorn City."

    Raven stayed silent all throughout Elyion''s exnation and analyzed the details he said. He could tell that he hasn''t told a single lie yet.

    "Red Moon Month? Itsts for that long?" He asked.

    Elyion nodded to confirm his inquiry. "Yes, Itsts for a whole 30 days. This is the first night and for the rest of the month, it won''t disappear. Under it''s miraculous effects, we shape shifters are able to perfectly assume a human form."

    "From what I heard from you so far, it seems that you shape shifters wanted to enter and reside in the city so bad. Why is that?"

    "I''m not too sure either." Elyion replied which made Raven furrow his brows. "It''s like an instinctual thing you know? We naturally gravitate towards the city like moths to a fire. Even though we are being mistreated by humans, majority of us can''t do the same. We just wanted to co-exist with them peacefully, or at least for me that''s what I wanted. I don''t know about the rest since I don''t have much contact with them anyway."

    "You Shape Shifters don''t live together in some sort of a tribe or something?"

    "No." Elyion shook his head, "We mostly mind our own business. Even us, Silver Moonwolves used to gather in packs but when we discovered that we could shape shift, we started drifting apart."

    ''Weird.'' Raven thought inwardly, ''As the saying goes, Blood is thicker than water. One would think that shape shifters should have each other''s back or at least form a tribe of some sorts and maybe they could sign a peace treaty with whoever holds power in the city so that they could live with them. Strangely, no one realized this at all and instead they decided to mind their own businesses? How peculiar.''

    Having thought of this, Raven decided to not tell the young wolf about any of his thoughts just yet.

    "How many times have you been in the Thorn City?"

    "Red Moon Month happens twice each year, I learned that I''m a shape shifterst year so if I could enter this time, it would be my second time."

    "I assume you stayed there for a month and then left when the Red Moon''s about to end?"

    "Yes."

    "How do I enter the Thorn City?"

    "You enter by submitting either 10 wodden logs, 15 jugs of water, or 3 beasts carcasses."

    Raven raised his brow upon hearing this weird requirement. "They don''t use currency?"

    "They do, they use a lot of Jadestones, but they have tons of those things, what theyck is resources so they made that rule." Elyion exined which allowed Raven to understand.

    "Is there anyway for us to carry that many?" Raven asked, he wanted to know if there is a way to carry all of those things without having to drag them along thier way towards the city.

    "There is." Elyion nodded and handed over a single pouch that was hanging on his waist. "We have this."

    "Oh, you have Storage Pouches. This should be easier then."

    Raven didn''t speak and instead went towards a tree. He clenched his fists and punched hard, shaving a good chunk of timber off of the tree. With a fierce tremble, the tree feel over and Raven looked towards the dumbfounded Elyion.

    "Come! Harvest this."

    Elyion could only smile wryly, this guy just took down a tree using a single punch, inwardly he was starting to think that he wasn''t the shape shifter here and was this guy instead.

    He came towards him and ced the wooden log on the storage pouch. Elyion was about to look towards Raven but he suddenly felt his surroundings shake fiercely. He looked over and saw that Raven was nowhere to be found and at least five trees were falling down at the same time. He looked around him and found Raven behind him. Not too far away from him, another batch of trees fell which made Elyion somewhat lightheaded.

    ''How in the world is this guy so freakish? He took down 10 trees under a minute! Is he really a human?''

    "What are you standing around in a daze for? Go and collect the trees." Raven urged as he disappeared from his spot again.

    Elyion had nothing to say, so instead of standing around and doing nothing, he went towards the fallen trees and collected them one by one.

    In the end, he managed to collect at least 30 fallen trees in total. He didn''t know why Raven took down so much but he isn''tining as he was informed that 10 of those were meant for him since god knows how troublesome it would get to gather enough materials in order to enter the city.

    While he was sorting out the storage pouch, Raven''s voice suddenly fell on his ears.

    "Do you any Jadestones?"

    Elyion raised his head and nodded, taking out a smooth green stone on his bag, he passed it towards Raven and allowed him to inspect it.

    Raven touched the smooth surface of the stone. He also ran his fingers through the ridges on the stone and it''s peculiarity. At first, he thought nothing much about the stone and was about to give it back to Elyion when all of a sudden, a very vague feeling ran through his body.

    His pupils contricted as he closely examined the jadestone once more. He then turned his back against Elyion and closed his eyes to inspect the jadestone even further.

    Raven''s palms suddenly emitted a suction force. Raven once again felt that vague feeling on his body but this time, he was able to really follow the sensation.

    His eyes shed open, glee surfaced in his face. These Jadestones contained Vital Energy! Which means he could continue cultivating his Body Path here! What an awesome find!

    Now that Raven found a way to make this challenge easier for himself, he absolutely have to take advantage of it!

    Without revealing any changes on his face, Raven nced at the Jadestone in his hand. Aside from losing some of it''s luster, nothing really changed from it''s apperance. But Raven was sure that he absorbed every Vital Energy contained in this Jadestone already. He felt inwardly excited, he could do so many things with this knowledge.

    He then handed the Jadestone back to Elyion, who had no clue about his findings. Raven then asked him a question.

    "You said that Thorn Citycks raw materials, correct?"

    Elyion tilted his head when he heard his question but he nodded. "Yes, that''s correct."

    "Why don''t we gather some more materials before we enter the city. We could use some jadestones inside the city anyway and it shouldn''t take us long before we gathered enough materials."

    "Not a bad idea." Elyion nodded in agreement, "10 wooden logs, 15 jugs of water or 3 beast carcasses are all roughly equal to 50 Jadestones. With that amount, securing a ce to stay for at least a week should be enough."

    ''Yeah, for you that would be enough. But for me, it''s not..'' Raven inwardly thought.

 Chapter 155 - Entrance

    ---

    Elyion had been having a rather stressful moment in his life.

    He was pretty sure that the forest they were in had been quaking fiercely for an entire hour before stopping. Forget about maintaining vignce, Elyion had to make sure that he stayed as far away as he possibly could from the falling trees thanks to Raven''s heist.

    Elyion had been running around and collecting the fallen trees during this time as well. Though his task might be simple enough, he was feeling a bit tired from all of this.

    Thankfully, Raven stopped after that and only asked him to count how many fallen trees they have gathered so far. Elyion had a rough estimation of a hundred trees, but he himself wasn''t so sure since he stopped counting when it reached that number. Fortunately, the density of trees around them was bountiful or else Raven might''ve already dismantled the entire forest all on his own.

    Even so, Elyion knew that Raven wasn''t satisfied just yet. It was because before he went ahead to count how many trees they have, Raven asked him if he had some water jugs in his storage pouch.

    Elyion had 20 water jugs, which greatly disappointed Raven. It was too few for his liking. Nevertheless, he can''t do anything about it since that''s everything he had. So while Elyion was taking inventory of how many trees they gathered, he went ahead to the nearest pond and filled the jugs with water.

    Unknowingly, he stared at the water jug he was holding while he was filling it and a brilliant idea shed onto his head.

    ''That''s right! Since we don''t have enough, then we should make one!''

    Raven inspected the water jugs in details and found out several things that he could take advantage off. First, though they call them water jugs, they were in fact, water pouches. They are made out beast skin that were cleaned and sterilized, it was stitched tightly in order to be a suitable container for water and it also has a wooden mouthpiece and a wooden cork as well.

    Raven was confident on making these, so without any further ado, he quickly filled the jugs that he had and proceeded to look for some stray beast.

    Due to the chaos earlier, the peace of the forest was disturbed, which worked on Raven''s favor since he spotted several beasts nearby. He quickly made some traps and ced them on the path of these stray beasts.

    He didn''t need to wait for a long time before a beast fell under his traps, which made his work easier. After dealing with them, he set up a camp and called Elyion over.

    The young wolf was dumbfounded to see several carcasses of beasts beside Raven upon his arrival. He left for half an hour and this is what happened, just what is this guy even?

    Being reminded that Elyion was actually a beast himself, Raven felt a little weird and Elyion obviously figured this out. Unexpectedly he said...

    "No need to consider my feelings, Sir. We and the rules of nature are very well acquainted. Since we started walking thesends, we already epted that fact that if someone strongeres, we would have no chances of escaping. Plus, it is with humans where I wanted to be, not with them so it''s fine."

    Elyion''s words had Raven thinking: ''What a fucked up thought process. It''s almost as it seems that someone tampered on his mentality when he was born.''

    Nevertheless, Raven said nothing and continued his work. In the end, he managed to make at least thirty more water jugs, totaling to fifty adding those they have earlier. Elyion also finished counting and reported to him that he had taken down at least 130 trees in total. Adding the 15 skinless beast carcasses he managed to gather, they for sure won''t have any difficulties entering the city now.

    "Our work is done here, lead me to the Thorn City." Raven announced as soon as he finished filling up the remaining water jugs. Elyion nodded and led the way.

    It turns out that they weren''t too far from the city anyway. It only took them a couple minutes by foot until they saw the stone walls of the city. Elyion must''ve chosen that spot to morph since it was on a safe distance away from the city and thought that there shouldn''t be any human around this part of the forest. Unfortunately, his luck was somewhat bad.

    On their way, Raven was strangely silent. He wasn''t rtively nervous about entering the city since there was no reason to. He had a mission and he knew that whatever arises, he had to eventually face it.

    What he''s worried about, is about how long would it take for him to actually finish the challenge. This is different from his regr training. He wondered if the time ratio changed for this specific event.

    Suddenly, he felt his thoughts buzz, waking him up from his stupor. The source of the buzz was from his psyche. He focused on it and saw a new information which greatly relieved him.

    ***

    - worry not about time, young candidate. The ratio had been changed, one hour outside is equivalent to one year in this space. So focus whole heartedly onpleting the mission.

    ***

    A sigh of relief escaped Raven''s lips. This was a great news, he could now focus his entire being into this challenge without any distractions.

    When he returned his attention back to the present, he found out that they were already lining up towards the city walls and it was nearly their turn already.

    He didn''t have to wait for a long time before it was finally their turn, Raven left Elyion to take care about the process of entering the city since he''s the most experienced.

    Raven could swear that the guards were scrutinizing them closely but found out nothing suspicious so they allowed them passage. Thankfully, the process went out without a hitch or else it would''ve been a headache.

    As soon as they stepped inside the walls, the two fell into a daze. Elyion had this strange and intoxicated smile in his face as he stared at the houses and infrastructures. He looked kindly at each human that he saw and nced sweetly at the kids running around and ying tag.

    A strange warmth filled his heart, a deep longing persist and a determined heart beats. A line of thought surfaced in his mind:

    ''This, this is what everyone should be. Humans, oh how wonderful. They way they look, their intelligence, their ingenuity, all of it, everything should follow these standards! This is what the most powerful race should be! Why wasn''t I born human? Wouldn''t it be nice if I could remain in this ce until I grow old? Such a pity.''

    Raven couldn''t hear his thoughts right now but he if he could. Then he might''ve dragged him away at some corner to beat some sense onto his delusional brain. Elyion''s desire to be humans was so intense that it isn''t a simple desire anymore, it already became an addiction. His psyche had been poisoned without him knowing about it.

    Meanwhile, Raven was having a very strange feeling in his heart.

    He had no idea where it came from, he doesn''t even know if it was real or not. But he isn''t liking this ce unlike Elyion and most people here.

    Something''s...strange. He can''t put a finger on it. If he looked closely, everything was on their proper ce and everything was normal. But the weird sensation on his chest just won''t stop nagging at him to the point that it was starting to get really irritating.

    He shouldn''t be feeling this way, after all this is a human settlement. He''s sure that the people around him are mostly humans.

    His eyes thennded at therger infrastructures in front of him. They were mostly stores or exchanging tforms for raw materials. Others are private properties like farms, mansions or churches. But the biggest one that caught his eye, was a building sitting on centermost part of the city.

    He had no ides what it was, but for some reason he could feel something inviting him over to visit that ce, and that itself alone was already weird enough.

    "What''s that?" Raven asked while nudging at Elyion''s shoulder.

    The young wolf nced at the direction he was pointing and immediately, a fawning expression appeared in his face.

    "That is the most popr sight in the entire city. It is called the Astral Observatory. In there, humans are able to gaze at the heavenly bodies and admire them like they are close. Some stories says that they came across a lucky chance that changed their entire lives in the Astral Observatory. Some even proimed their love towards their partner in there since legends said that couples who did, would be blessed by the heavenly bodies."

    Raven frowned and followed up with another question. "Have you ever been there?"

    "Yes! And it was the most beautiful experience I had."

 Chapter 156 - Tremorsense

    ---

    Hearing Elyion''s giddy and excited tone, Raven sighed in pity.

    ''He''s hopeless, he''s way to0 fixated on being a human. These thoughts would sooner orter be poisonous to him. This ce is weird too. I don''t know why but I''m hating this ce more and more. What''s wrong in here?''

    "Forget it." Raven groaned irritatingly, he scratched his head and faced Elyion. "Where do we exchange for Jadestones?"

    "Follow me." Elyion said and walked ahead.

    Raven followed him and noticed that they were walking towards the closest trading house. They came in a rather bad time since there was a long line of people exchanging for raw materials just like them, the trading house was rather busy at this time so both of them needed to wait for a while before it was finally their turn.

    The attendant was a sweet olddy who became incredibly happy when she saw the sheer amount of raw materials the brought.

    "Young Masters, thank you for choosing our humble abode to exchange your raw materials. This will really help us out a lot." She bowed towards then after taking ount on how many raw materials they brought out.

    Elyion and this olddy exchanged tteries and whatnot for quite some time until Raven couldn''t hold it in and coughed to stopped their exchanged.

    "I am very sorry. It seems that I went over the line." The olddy bowed again and looked at her notebook before saying. "Young masters brought it a total of 110 wooden logs, 50 jugs of water, and 15 skinless beast carcasses. The exact total would be 966 jadestones, but we decided to round it off to a total of 1000 jadestones. Please receive this."

    The olddy then handed a storage pouch filled with jadestones over to Raven. Due to it''s magical properties, opening or scrying the contents of storage pouches didn''t require any energies so Raven was able to scan it''s contents and roughly counted. There was 1000 jadestones in pouch just like she said, it was only at this moment that Raven felt relieved.

    "Let''s go." Raven turned to Elyion and walked out of the trading house.

    Elyion bid goodbye to the olddy and rushed over towards Raven''s side, waiting for his next instructions.

    "Let''s find an Inn to spend the night. I''m tired." Raven said and just like a good guide, Elyion lead him a nice and fairly secluded inn where they could rest.

    They rented two separate rooms and went on their respective ones. Exhaustion finally caught up with Elyion as he immediately feel asleep as soon as his back touched the bed.

    Meanwhile, Raven wasn''t really that tired. He sat on top of his bed and inspected the room for a bit.

    Call it being paranoid or what but Raven didn''t want anyone witnessing whatever he does to the jadestones. He made sure to drape the curtains of the window to prevent some spying eyes. He also searched every corner of the room to check if there are any holes where people could peek at, he saw nothing and was greatly relieved.

    Finally, he made sure to lock the door properly and filled the gaps underneath with some rugs that he found on his room. Once all of this was done, he then went back to the bed and took out all of the jadestones from the storage pouch.

    Stone which glowed with green light formed a mountain on top of the bed. Raven crossed his legs and closed his eyes while stretching his arms in front of him. With a little urging, he felt strings upon strings of Vital Energy invading his palms and circting his body.

    A shiver ran down his spine, he felt the pure and abundant energy rushing over and nourishing his entire body. Warmth spread out from his chest all the out to his limbs, he could feel his muscle tightening and being strengthened as time goes one.

    Without his knowledge, totemic markings appeared on his back.

    Each of these totemic markings correspond to the Great Elemental Gates o Body Path. One of then was already ring with a brilliant light while rest were still somewhat dull. This is Great Wood Elemental Gate that he had sessfully opened thanks to the ent''s kindness before.

    One of the dull totemic markings was turning more and more visible while he continue to absorb the vital energies from the jadestones.

    As time goes on, the totemic marking glowed with an intense light and eventually Raven felt that his blood was churning wildly and his heartbeat was hastening.

    *Crack!!* *Crack!!*

    Loud shattering noises drowned his ears. Raven''s shed open and they glittered with an intense light. One of the totemic markings on Raven''s back floated in front of him while the rest receded back to his body.

    The totemic marking left floated down on his core and settled down there. As soon as the Mark was branded, Raven felt a very refreshing feeling rush in every single cell on of his body.

    For a second there, a deep and awe inspiring aura covered his body. His hair was being lifted by an invisible wind and was growing at a visible pace, tendrils of ck substance was being expelled out of his body.

    Raven''s skin tone was lightening, his muscles were coiling even more tightly on his skeleton and his bone density was raising.

    Topping this sensations was the vast and grand feeling that he received just now. For a brief moment, he felt the ancientness and the immensity of earth leaving some profound insights and inspirations on his body.

    Raven opened his eyes and found out that a couple of hours passed already. He clenched his fists and nced at his body. There was a smile of satisfaction on his face. His strength had risen once more. Confidence then came rushing towards him, it only left when he realized that he actually needed to take a bath right now since his body expelled some more impurities out of his body.

    As his bare feet touched the ground, Raven froze on the spot. Images rushed over his mind, creating some sort of an image that he wasn''t truly expecting.

    He processed these information for a bit before eventually being able to figure out what they were.

    "Well I''ll be..." Raven uttered with a glee and a little helplessness, "I actually learned Tremorsense."

    Tremorsense, a highly sought after technique for those who walk the Body Path. It is a type of sensory technique that takes advantage of vibrations of the ground to locate or sense one''s surrounding without having the need to actually look at it.

    The difference between Tremorsense and Energy Vision or Spiritual Sense, is that it prates on a deeper level. The vibrations acts as his sight, sending him feedback to whatever it touches. Since it''s vibrations, it could prate in a deeper level without the target noticing it.

    If Raven trained his tremorsense in a fearsome level, knowing every single detail in this city in just one sweep would be very possible.

    To top this all of, tremorsense doesn''t require him to spend his Vital Energy at all. As long as he could create vibrations or tremors, he could use it.

    Having learned Tremorsense granted him yet another safety precaution, specially in this ce where his energy and spiritual energy were locked down, having some tool to sense danger ahead of time is undoubtedly non-negotiable.

    Raven then smiled brilliantly as he walked towards the bathroom and cleaned himself up. After he finished, he lied on his bed and rested. He and Elyion will have a long day tomorrow and he really wanted to clear this challenge as early as he could.

    A few miles away from where the two were resting, a group of ck hooded people gathered inside a very secluded room. All of them were radiating some incredibly dangerous auras that even Raven has to be worried about.

    There were a total of seven people, all of them sat on a circr chair and held their goblets. One suddenly raised his and the rest followed suit. As they drank the contents of their cup, some wiped the red stain on their lips and shed a hair raising smirk.

    "It''s the Red Moon Month again, people. The time hase for us, to once more sing praises to or god and prove to him our undying faith." One hooded figure spoke first, his voice was deep and gritty, couple with his fanatical words, one could easily tell that he''s not a good person.

    "Leader''s words are true. Our God yearns for our love, just as much as we yearn for his. Not a single day passed that I didn''t dream of a time when he finally descends and take us in his arms." Thedy who spoke was fiercely shuddering in her seat as she tried to contain her passion. "Oh! How I wish to feel his embrace and give him all of me!"

    "We all feel the same, Lady.." Another man spoke butpared to the rest, he appeared more sane. "So? How many sacrifice are we looking at?"

 Chapter 157 - Shady Event

    ---

    Raven and Elyion woke up the next day and went out to see more of Thorn City.

    They went somewhere to eat first while Elyion endlessly gushed about the flourishing civilization of humans in this city.

    Elyion seemed to have not noticed that Raven was barely paying attention whatever he has to say and closely inspecting each and every human he encountered secretly using tremorsense. Because he had just learned about this technique, wearing shoes somewhat weakened it''s effect, Tremorsense worked best when he was barefooted but this should do for now. Plus this some form of training for him as well so he didn''t mind it that much.

    Tremorsense had found nothing wrong in any humans that he had encountered so far. He even found out some shape shifters like Elyion through it but he decided to leave them alone as to not gather unnecessary attention for themselves.

    It also dawned on him that for some reason, no one deliberately doubted their identity just yet. Well, of course the guards at the walls had little to no chance of making things difficult for them since the sheer mass of people who venture outside the walls and came back was just way too many, keeping track of who''s who would prove to be a massive headache for them so they could only do their best.

    But both of them just stood out, specially Elyion. They had met tons of humans around here but Raven has yet to see anyone that has any vibrant coloring on their hair. There are people that had brown hair but that was it, Elyion had a ring white hair, even his brows andshes were white. Raven was mildly surprised that Elyion wasn''t turning heads because of his appearance.

    As Raven was in the middle of his stupor, he suddenly heard somemotion near them.

    "Brothers! Sisters! Hear me out! A huge event will take ce soon!" A man shouted on top of his voice. Many people were gathered around him, clearly curious about the news that he had. Elyion of course was intrigued as well he went closer with Raven behind.

    "There will be a gathering for the strong in the Astral Observatory. Everyone''s free to join, although I can''t really confirm it, I heard that the winner will have a chance to experiencemunion with His Holiness!"

    The crowd immediately went abuzz when they heard this. Almost at is seems that a strange fanaticism surfaced in their hearts making it hard for them to remain calm.

    "Sir! Sir! This is a fantastic news! I highly suggest you go! With your strength, trouncing on your opponents should me simple, if you win you''ll be able to meet His Holiness!! What an exciting event!"

    Elyion uttered with a highly fanatical voice, though his voice was hushed, it still contained that excitement and imploring tone.

    As for Raven, he actually felt this a bit suspicious. He leaned on Elyion''s ears and asked: "Who''s this Holiness that you''re talking about?"

    Elyion was shocked but he remembered that Raven was in fact, not a local so he had no way knowing who this personage is.

    "Let''s talk somewhere private." Elyion mysteriously said as he tugged Raven''s sleeve. They then went into somewhere uncrowded and he then he started exining.

    "Thorn City had been a human settlement for the longest of time, due to its location if everyone has a disagreement, then no matter how intelligent they are, chaos was bound to happen. Every pack has a leader, and this applies to humans as well."

    "His Holiness'' name is Raul Newdawn. He is the current elected leader of Thorn City. Not only he was strong but he benevolent too. The only reason why the beast race hadn''t been eradicated yet was because of his mercy. If it weren''t for the fact that a shape shifter had once betrayed his trust, there is no way that you''ll find a trace of us here."

    "Though he had forgiven the betrayer, his followers, humans of Thorn City won''t forget about his deed. That''s why up until today, we are still being hunted like degenerates."

    Elyion''s introduction to Raul piqued Raven''s interest. He then asked him.

    "Have you met this person before?"

    "Yes." Elyion nodded, "Though I only sneaked a nce. I was afraid that to raise any rms so I didn''t dare to look at him for longer periods. But that''s enough for me to believe what everyone says about him."

    Raven was a bit baffled, was a nce really enough for someone to be convinced about the general opinion? He would''ve believed him if cultivation was a thing in this city, but it wasn''t! He had scanned tons of people already and he hadn''t met a single one that fits the mark. Without cultivation, how can one gauge someone''s strength? It shouldn''t be based on physical now is it?

    The more Raven think about this whole thing the more suspicious he got. In the end, a gut feeling told him that he had to join in order to find out about all of this¡­

    "The event''s taking ce at the Astral Observatory, yes?" Raven asked, to which Elyion nodded. "Let''s go then. I am rather interested in meeting this person."

    ***

    The Astral Observatory, arguably the fanciest and tallest building that stood in Thorn City.

    It was a narrow tower that has a triangr roof, there are several windows on each side of the tower which also serve as tool for anyone to freely observe the heavenly bodies at the skies, well that''s on the premise that someone is allowed entry inside.

    By now, several people lined up at the entrance of the Astral Observatory.

    These people are the ones who must''ve heard the same guy making the huge announcement back at the za. They too were hopeful of their chances, no matter how small, to meet His Holiness Raul Newdawn. All of them were gathered in this ce to confirm if the announcement was real and to register to the event if it was.

    In the middle of this line, Raven could be found, but not in his usual attire. Because his transfer here was rather unexpected, he was teleported in this ce wearing his school uniform. A very different outfitpared to the ones people wore in this city, therefore he brought some newer clothes and deliberately chose the same design as most people wore.

    Of course, he also brought some clothes for Elyion. He even made the effort to purchase some temporary dye for his hair to make him less ''obvious'', and it worked wonders actually. Now both of them looked just like the rest of the humans who lived here as well. Elyion even thanked him endlessly for doing this, he said that he never felt closer to bing a real human until he did this. Now he was full of confidence that no one will think that he''s a shape shifter.

    While Raven waited on the line, Elyion was out somewhere, probably doing something he never did before. Raven gave the kid some jadestones and allowed him to do as he pleases, after all he could only do this during the Red Moon Month.

    "Everyone! Please listen to me!"

    A woman''s voice suddenly sounded out and caught the attention of the crowd. When it was sure that everyone at the observatory gates were looking at her, she cleared her throat and spoke.

    "I am Loisa, one of the caretakers of the observatory. I know that most of you came because someone was out there was making a huge fuss about some event." Her words were crisp and clear, allowing one to hear her even if there were far away.

    "No need to be nervous." Loisa chuckled, she saw some people paled, probably thinking that she will denounce their chances. "I am here to confirm that yes, whatever you heard from this person is true."

    The crowd suddenly burst into loud cheering. Some fanatics even had tears falling from their eyes and kept on thanking some gods because of this lucky chance.

    Loisa smiled and calmed down the crowd. Once everyone''s attention was back to her, she then continued speaking.

    "Now I want to provide you with more details for this event. Please remember that rules were already deliberated with His Holiness around, which means that''s it final. Don''t be saddened if it turns out that you don''t qualify. It might not be today but surely in the future, you will have your chance." She paused and allowed everyone to properly digest what she just said.

    "First rule. Only those from ages 13 to 25 years old are allowed to participate in this event. So those who aren''t within this age bracket, please make way. And don''t force it people, we have a way to check you''re skeletal age."

    "Second rule. This event is a battle so the participants are bound to get injured in some shape or form.. Under in no instances that any of you are permitted to kill! This is an irond rule from His Holiness himself, and if any of you broke this rule, then we will be forced to exile you away from the city."

 Chapter 158 - Not Humans

    ---

    "Third rule. Weapons are allowed but we will be ones providing you with that, we will be giving you blunt and wooden weapons that you may use throughout thepetition."

    "Fourth Rule. Once somebody admitted defeat, the opponent isn''t allowed to attack the defeated enemy anymore. If we saw that any of you did, that would considered as a foul move and your qualifications might be revoked."

    "Fifth and final rule. Don''t try to cheat. No matter what you do, we''ll eventually find out anyway and when we do, then we''ll deal with you using legalws. So don''t bother trying."

    "I''ve already said my piece. Those who qualify, stay. We''ll begin the registration right away. The event will take ce tomorrow. All the participants should show up in this ce early."

    As soon as Loisa exined this, she sat down on the table in front of her and started the registration.

    Those who didn''t qualify for thepetition willingly left the line which made it somewhat shorter. Needless to say, there are some stubborn people who tried their luck only to be found out. Apparently, there is someone beside Loisa who could analyze one''s bone structure, allowing him to guess their ages correctly. Every participant has to get checked or else they won''t be registered. This is also where those stubborn people were revealed and thanks to that, they could only go home with their heads low in shame.

    Raven''s registration went out smoothly, after confirming his age, he was then asked about his general details like his name, his background and stuff, well no one forced anyone to reveal anything they aren''tfortable about, some even used aliases and it worked so Raven did as well. He gave them his nickname, but for the background details he left it nk.

    He was also asked what kind of weapon did he wanted, he asked for some bracers and moved along.

    After he got registered, he met with Elyion who was chewing on some candies by the time he was back. They talked for a while and went onto some ces before going back to the inn.

    However, something happened on their way back that made Raven incredibly wary.

    It was a feeling that made his heart sank, his pupils constricted sharply and rms of danger kept on echoing in his ears.

    As Raven was getting used to the feeling of Tremorsense being constantly active, analyzing the feed that he was getting back from it was done subconsciously. Typically, he would instantly realize something wrong as soon as it happened but for the first time, he failed to realize something.

    As soon as he got back on his room, his face immediately paled in horror. Cold sweat dripped down on his face as he clutched his chest tightly.

    ''The Innkeeper, he isn''t human¡­'' Raven yelled inwardly, ''He''s something else entirely! And I actually failed to recognize it during the first time I went in here! He always had this typical business attitude so I never ced any thoughts on him.''

    ''I wonder if he realized that I figured out something?'' Raven furrowed his brows in thought, ''I made sure to not react like I did, didn''t I? If it weren''t for us having any eye contact, I would never realize it.''

    ''His system was just like that of a human, that''s why my tremorsense subconsciously treated him like one, but when I walked pass him earlier my tremorsense swept over him clearly and that''s when I realized that none of his organs were functioning!''

    ''His heart was like a stone, it wasn''t beating and was just hanging there on his chest. His blood flow is simrly frozen and his brain is dried up.''

    ''He''s no different that a moving corpse! I noticed it toote! Yet strangely, he doesn''t smell like a corpse at all. What sorcery is this?''

    The mental feed that Tremorsense sends back to him was just a ck and white canvas. Things that aren''t touched or prated by Tremorsense all appeared ck, while those that did were white. Because Tremorsense followed the nature of vibration, it ripples towards things which allowed him to get a frame by frame image in his subconscious mind, which creates aparison due to the changes.

    Human heartbeats are captured by Tremorsense, it swelling and detion is printed in his subconscious mind clearly, as well as other functioning organs and muscles. However due to the sheer amount of humans surrounding him, keeping close track of things can get a little taxing, which is why he only pays attention to things in a subconscious level.

    The Innkeeper''s heart never showed any signs of beating during the times when he was scanned by Raven''s Tremorsense. The first instinctual thought should be that he died but no, the Innkeeper was somehow ''alive'', he even greeted them personally when they got back before doing other errands. It was also that time when Raven noticed this, which made him recall all the times when he was in range of his tremorsense and eventually finding out that he had always been like that.

    And to think that, he of all people, failed to notice it. Just the thought alone made him restless.

    ''What if I hadn''t discovered that Jadestones give me vital energy? Then I wouldn''t make any breakthroughs, I wouldn''t also learn Tremorsense and I would''ve never realized this. I might have died without knowing how.''

    Raven spent time in meditation. He reyed his memories of today and summoned the images caught by his tremorsense to see if there are other like the Innkeeper.

    Imagine his surprise when he found out that there are actually at least ten people who fit the description.

    Some of them were a part ofmon folk while the rest¡­

    ''One of them I think was a meat vendor, ording to what Elyion told me his goods were rather sought after by many people. Who could''ve imagined that this local meat supplier was actually a walking and talking corpse.''

    ''Another one was an olddy who sells liquor. Her store was pretty popr too but Elyion had no idea why since he''s a minor and wasn''t allowed entrance in the store. But since she sells alcohol, then her customers are the abled adults of this city. Which makes me wonder what kind of ingredients she ces on her liquors that made her customers crave for it.''

    ''Another one is a merchant who sells toys for kids. Elyion told me that he bought some things from him before and that he appeared to be like a kind grandfather to any youngsters he encountered. I should take a look at the toy Elyion bought, maybe it contains clues.''

    ''Thest person is what scares me the most.'' Raven unconsciously bit his thumb as he remembered this. ''It''s the same guy who was running around and telling people about this event.''

    The first time Raven realized this, he felt his mind rocked and a deep sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

    ''My attention was caught by him for a long time, yet I never sensed a thing.'' Raven''s thoughts trailed off.

    ''Someone who was running around and telling people to gather into one ce because a big event was bound to happen, yet the same person was actually not human. He even referred others as Brothers and Sisters. This should be the reason why I find this whole thing shady, yet I just went ahead and participated. How funny.''

    Raven clicked his tongue in sheer disappointment.

    ''I won''t be surprised to know if that Loisa was the same as him. After all, it seems that most people who were turned into that, has an important role in this city or this event.''

    Raven scratched his head in irritation. ''Just what the hell is up with this ce? First a meet a beast that wants to be a human so bad to the point that he''s practically worshipping them. Then despite not having any cultivation system, all sorts of strange phenomena could be found here.''

    ''Beasts that could assimte a full human appearance during red moon, a mysterious person whom the whole city look up to, a tall ass tower which could be used to observe heavenly bodies. I don''t even know if everything I see here are real or illusions that created by the crown.''

    Raven felt like pulling all of his hair due to stress, nevertheless he knows that stressing over things that he doesn''t have any control over is just a wasted effort.

    ''No point in stressing out so much.'' Raven sighed and lied down on his bed, ''Since I managed to get myself into this whole mess, then I''ll deal with it however I see fit.''

    ''When I was transferred into this ce and received the challenge, I thought I just have to go around killing some things. Never have I imagined that I''ll be sent in a civilization that I don''t even know if it truly existed or not.''

    ''Nevertheless, the contents of the challenge didn''t change. It''s still asking me to defeat or kill enemies. In the end, it all boils down to battle isn''t it.''

    ''If it''s asking for battle, then battle I shall.''

 Chapter 159 - Event, Start!

    ---

    Raven woke up early and decided to wake up Elyion as well.

    His worries fromst night was already thrown in the back of his head. This isn''t to be mistaken that he became careless because that''s the exact opposite. In fact, it makes a lot of sense for him to remain calm and act like he didn''t realize anything at all. That would prevent him from being noticed by the culprits of this whole mess.

    If he could stay as low profile as he could, then he could find even more clues and probably think about a good n to resist their forces.

    Alert but not anxious, that''s the tactic for now. In the end of the day, it all boils down to battle. He never had thoughts that he is infallible, but he had a great confidence about his fighting prowess even though he could only use vital energy.

    Both of them then went towards the location where the event is taking ce.

    Because Elyion wasn''t a participant, he cannot go where Raven could, so they went their separate ways but not before Raven gave him a discreet and solemn warning. After that, Raven proceeded to confirm his participation for the event and was given a badge that is numbered 117. An attendant then lead him to a room where they could stay for a moment before they are called on stage.

    Raven found a corner for himself and took it. He sat down on chair provided and crossed his arms while tapping his feet on the ground constantly. He closed his eyes and concentrated, determined to analyze each frame that his tremorsense gives him.

    His foot tapping has a rhythmic manner, he did this to increase the range of his tremorsense and also to make others think that he''s just calming his nerves. Believe it or not, many people actually fell for it. After all, he was young and looked like someone who doesn''t have any fighting experience at all. It wasn''t just him who were doing this as well, the methods they use to rx themselves might be different but to majority of people, it all has the same reason behind it.

    ***

    Arge round arena was built in front of the Astral Observatory overnight, which obviously going to be used by the contestants of today.

    There are tons of people who came here today to watch this event. However, due to the limited space, some of them are required to adapt. Just a turn of one''s head and they will see that some people climbed up the roofs of houses nearby the observatory just to watch the event. Of where even sitting ondders or trees, doing whatever they could just to witness this grand event.

    Eventually, a sonorous and deep bellows of drums was heard.

    From a room inside the observatory, the contestants came out being led by a personnel of the observatory. They were all seated on the seats provided to them until someone came up to the round arena and started the event.

    "Wee Ladies and Gentlemen, to an exciting event that only takes ce very rarely."

    An announcer stood in front of the crowd with an enthusiastic expression on his face.

    "Today, you are gathered to witness many astonishing warriors with hopeful dreams of bing the next big thing to our beloved Thorn City."

    He walked around the arena and nced at the people who were watching him with rapt attention, his gaze alsonded to the contestants standing not too far away from where he stood.

    "The winner of our little event today, would have a chance to meet and be guided by our beloved, His Holiness Raul!"

    As he said this, he pointed towards the top of the Astral Observatory where many heads instantly turned.

    Raven who was listening, also turned his head up and took a good look.

    All of a sudden, at the top floor of the Astral Observatory, a window opened and revealed a person draped in an all white attire.

    Raven who was looking up, opened his eyes a little wider in attempts to get a closer look of this man.

    Raul was a middle aged man. The corners of his eyes had wrinkles in the them but his gaze were warm and friendly. His back is a little bent already that''s why he grasped a small golden cane which was held in by his left hand. His clothes represented purity and holiness, the outlines of his garb are sewn with golden threads that raises his holy aura even more.

    He raised his hand from where he was and did a small wave towards the crowd.

    Raven wasn''t aware if Raul knows his effect to the crowd. The audience and even some of the contestants immediately burst into a fit of cheers and apuses. Some maidens and devotees cannot handle it and directly fainted on the spot, causing some small panic. Some people were crying and were raising handkerchiefs in the air and waving it towards Raul, as if trying to grab his attention.

    Raven smiled, but not because he was happy or anything. He smiled to create a fake impression and so that people won''t be suspicious of him.

    On their way here, Raven managed to sense a couple of non-humans blending in with the crowd. They might be acting normally but Raven could tell that they were investigating the people around them. He just wanted to make sure to not act suspicious in order to not create any other potential troubles for himself.

    Raven''s first impressions about Raul? Honestly, he himself wasn''t even sure what to feel.

    Somehow, his aura and his gestures were pure from his perspective, yet at the same time it was also incredibly weird and suspicious. From the rumors he heard about Raul, like that he was a benevolent and extremely strong man, the former part makes sense, he too could feel the benevolent aura emanating out of his body, as for thetter, he can''t see it nor feel it.

    Maybe it''s because he was too far? Or maybe his fanatics are just over exaggerating because of their fanaticism. He''s not sure. But once he had a good look at him, he should be able to tell.

    "Well everyone. I know all of you are excited, I am too." The announcer said passionately, "So without further ado, let''s start thispetition!"

    "There are a total of 120 contestants here. The premise of the first round, is to shave this number by a half. If we are to conduct the battles via one versus one manner will require a great amount of time, so the council decided to conduct a massive group brawl instead."

    "The rules are simple. All contestants will stand on the arena, to qualify for the next round, then stay in the arena for as long as you can. The first round ends if there are only remaining 60 contestants. Of course, all of you had to heed the previous rules mentioned by Loisa."

    "You can make someone admit defeat willingly, or throw them off the arena to disqualify them. Are there any questions?"

    The announcer looked at the participants and waited if anyone will raise a question, no one raised their hand so the announcer took this as a sign.

    "All right, since no one has any questions. Then all participants, please proceed to the arena. We will begin the first round shortly."

    The participants then moved towards the arena, Raven included. Majority of them were already ncing at each other, judging who they need to watch out for and creating tactics. Some even discretely whispered to one another, creating some sort of a temporary alliance.

    As soon as everyone reached the arena, all of them maintained a safe distance against each other. Some were already ring at their targets and were secretly moving closer so that they could eliminate them faster. Raven stood alone, back straight and hands sped behind his back. There are no anxiousness nor nervousness on his face.

    Once the announcer saw that everyone was ready. He raised his hand and yelled: "On my mark¡­" he then made a long chop and continued, "Round one, start!"

    "Raaaahhhh!"

    Chaos immediately ensued, the audience can''t even properly see what was going on.

    Majority of the warriors fought like caged beasts. Some betrayed their alliances and threw them out of the stage. Some were even more brutal and directly made other contestants faint due to their heavy blows.

    "Are you going to step down on your own, or I have to hurt you first?"

    A man asked while pointing his wooden sword towards Raven. He''s wearing a cocky smile with his chin angled upwards, clearly looking down on Raven.

    Despite of his arrogance, Raven merely smiled and asked: "What''s this old man? Feeling smug yet you''re threatening a kid?"

    His sneer was loud enough to grate on the ears of the middle aged man. The corners of the man''s mouth twitched as he could feel his patience running thin:

    "Hoh?" He said with an irritated tone, "I see, it seems that your parents haven''t taught you any manners."

    "Manners? Really now?" Ravenughed hard, "Here you are, bullying someone who''s probably isn''t even half of your age and size, then you off teaching me about manners? Are you an idiot?"

    His sarcastic remarks snapped the remaining patience the man has. Holding his sword tightly, he red fiercely at Raven and asked in a gritted teeth: "Are you, going down or not?"

    But Raven wasn''t shaken he shed his canines and said: "Make me."

 Chapter 160 - Indifferent

    ---

    "Make me."

    When Raven said this, the remaining patience that the old man had was instantly gone. He quickly rushed forward towards him, not even bothering to hide his animosity towards Raven. In his mind, he won''t be satisfied if he didn''t break a few bones on Raven''s body.

    The old man raised his wooden sword and swept it towards Raven''s shoulder joint, he was nning on dislocating his arm right away since he saw that Raven doesn''t even have any weapons.

    Many saw this and inwardly sneered, what a devious guy, attacking a junior. Wasn''t he aware that his attitude was being watched by Raul? What a disgrace.

    Nevertheless, none of them interfered. Nobody told this child to participate in this event, he came on his own ord so he must face the cruelty inside this arena.

    But before the wooden swordnded on Raven''s shoulder, a distinct smirk surface in his face. He raised his hand and met the blow using his bare hand.

    The old man was shocked, is this boy nning on killing himself? He might be wielding a wooden weapon which reduced his lethality but meeting his attack with a bare hand was just outright stupid. The old man started to think that this guy must''ve been dropped when he was a baby, causing him to grow up with a few screws loose.

    His attack connected, but imagine his surprise when he saw his wooden de being grasped tightly by Raven''s naked palm.

    The old man''s eyes constricted, he tried retrieving his swore but Raven''s grip was too strong, no matter how he pulled his sword, it just doesn''t budge, not even an inch.

    Raven audibly sneered, that attack failed to hurt him at all. With a strong tug, the old man who was holding the wooden sword felt his whole body fell over, before he could even thought about stabilizing himself, he suddenly felt a strong abdominal pain that almost made him vomit gastric acids.

    The pain was too much for him to handle, he lost grip of his weapon and kneeled on the stone floor of the arena while retching and coughing. He suddenly felt a strong grip on his hair, and before he knew it, he''s already lying outside of the arena. His face was pale and he had an incredulous expression on his face.

    He seemingly forgotten about the pain and just stared at the arena with wide eyes. He searched for the kid that he attacked earlier and saw him on his original position, standing straight like a spear and indifferent to whatever''s happening around him.

    ''What the hell¡­'' the man thought to himself, he looked around him and saw that the rest of the disqualified fighters were staring at the arena, no paid attention to him nor to anything that had happened to him at all. ''Just what the hell happened?''

    Somewhere along the crowd of audience, Elyion was watching while munching some goodies.

    He had been paying close attention to Raven since the beginning of the round, he also saw the spectacle that many people failed to see earlier. Inwardly, he felt pity to the old man.

    ''He never stood a chance¡­'' Elyion thought inwardly, ''He got handled like a degenerate that he was. He still probably having a hard time believing what happened, it was his fault for provoking Raven.''

    Elyion saw it clearly, the old man provoked Raven by telling him to obediently go down, he was also feeling rather smug about it, like bullying children was his hobby. As expected, Raven barely did anything to deal with him.

    After receiving his first attack, Raven pulled the sword of the old man, making him lose bnce and interrupt his thoughts. Then with a clench of his fist, he delivered a solid punch on his stomach without even moving from his position. When the old man kneeled in pain, Raven grabbed him by his hair and threw him out of the arena. It wasn''t even a battle nor much of a fight really.

    ''I wonder how he would react if I tell him that Raven could take down a fully grown tree in just a punch.'' Elyion giggled inwardly.

    He then threw this notion at the back of his head and watched on.

    ***

    "Freeze!"

    The announcer''s voice suddenly echoed through the ears of the fighters and the audience.

    "The amount of people that are left in the arena are exactly 60. This marks the end of the first round!"

    The fighters then stopped on their tracks and sighed in relief, some of them slumped on the floor, clearly exhausted but happy that they made it past the first round.

    "Congrattions to all of you who remained." The announcers said in an amicable tone, "I will now exin the rules for the second round."

    ''We''re starting right away!?'' This was what majority of the contestants thought.

    Some of them, specially those who were too exhausted to even move, despaired inwardly and felt bitter.

    "We will follow the same rules of the first round." The announcer said, "But this time, you people will be divided into 6 batches. This means that each round, there will be ten people who will bepeting. Each batch will only have one winner, simple right?"

    The announcers voice were loud and clear, but some contestants were somewhat gloomy about this.

    "The second round will begin after an hour, you can use this time to recover." After saying his piece, the announcer turned around and went down the stage.

    The exhausted contestants heaved a long sigh of relief, at least they were given an hour to recover their conditions. The fighters dispersed from the crowd and checked themselves for injuries.

    As for Raven, his indifferent expression remain as he sat back down to seats that were provided for them. After the old man, no one provoked him nor tried fighting him either. It was as if he became invisible throughout the rest of the round.

    He basically did nothing and managed to pass, well this works for him. Even though he didn''t have much action, it doesn''t mean that he was clueless. He remained alert throughout that whole round and paid close attention to the rest of the his potentialpetitors.

    Through his inspections, he found out that those who remained were all humans and at the same time, nobody posed a huge threat against him.

    But Raven told himself to remain alert. This ce already fooled him once, and he doesn''t want it to happen twice. He still had little information about this ce, who knows what terrible secrets remained unknown from him?

    Time passed and soon, the one hour deadline was over. All contestants were called back on stage and they were asked to draw lots once more. The ballot contained badges with numbers 1 to 6 and there''s ten badges for each number. The numbers represented the batch they''re in, and because there are ten of each number badge, this will identify who will participate on the battles of each batch.

    Raven was in the sixth batch, meaning he had to wait for a long time before it was their turn. The announcer asked the holders of the number one badge to remain in the arena as they will begin the second round right away.

    Ten people remained, to each of their own, they red at the other people who stood in the arena with them. Eyes brimming with impatience and determination. As soon as the announcer started the battle, all of them erupted into roars and charged at each other.

    Some rules out who needs to be taken out first by appearance. There were two guys who looked very intimidating from the way they stood, which made them the targets of the rest.

    An untold alliance were formed, eight against two. It looked grim for the two, they were out numbered. In the end, the two fighters found themselves cornered and separated. One against four, it was truly a difficult battle. In the end, the two fighters were forced to unwillingly admit defeat, which was a pity since they were too promising, unlike those who remained.

    But even though they were eliminated, they made sure to at least heavily injure some of their assaulters before going down. This created some sort of disparity for the people who remained, some were heavily injured while the others aren''t.

    In the end, the first round ended with the crowd very unsatisfied. It was basically bullying, there are no honor in these type of battle at all. The winner of the first round himself also felt quite terrible about the whole situation but a win is a win in his book. Chances like this rarelye so he didn''t regret any of his actions.

    The first round made an example, thus a trend continued and was observed in the following matches as well. Second batch all the way to the fifth batch, the winners of the group battles were all the careful and cunning ones, leaving the crowd very unsatisfied.

    "Fighters of the sixth batch, pleasee up on stage."

 Chapter 161 - Onesided

    ---

    The announcer made the call so the participants of thest batch for the second round all stood up and went towards the stage.

    Raven also stood up and slowly walked towards the stage, still carrying that stoic face as he does.

    While they were busy arranging themselves, the other contestants among this batch were already secretly observing theirpetitors. In their minds, they were already deciding whom they should target first when the round starts.

    When they saw Raven going up with them, they couldn''t help but to raise their brows. They found it inconceivable that a kid actually managed pass through the first round. He wasn''t the first kid they saw that joined thispetition but they thought all of them were eliminated already during the first round.

    They all stood in a circle on top of the arena. The announcer remained below and raised his hand, after gazing at the remaining participants, he sighed and made a long chop while yelling: "6th batch, 2nd round. Start!"

    Raven didn''t move, as soon as the announcer started the match, he already caught several people eyeing him like a prey, he inwardly sneered and allowed them to do as they pleased.

    "Be obedient boy and go down on your own." A bald guy carrying a wooden axe red at him, trying to intimidate him with his presence.

    Raven couldn''t even be bothered to reply, he just nced at that person for a brief second before looking away.

    This gesture offended the bald guy, apparently he wasn''t the only one who found Raven''s presence here to be unwanted, the same goes for the rest since they thought that a kid shouldn''t be here.

    "Listen to him kid, you''re in a lot of pain for being so stubborn." A guy with a long hair added, trying a patient approach.

    Needless to say, he did not get a different response from Raven. He offered no words to their request.

    "Someone, deal with the kid first. He''s being a nuisance." Some brown haired guy sneered and told the rest. The other contestants red at him fiercely, someone replied with an equally domineering voice.

    "It''s your idea so why don''t you do it?"

    "Chores like childcare doesn''t suit a fine gentleman like me, it''s up to you peasants to deal with it."

    "Fine gentleman? Where? I don''t see one. All I hear is a sissy." Someone sneered. This made the gentleman''s face to instantly crumple in a ugliness. He turned his head around and threw a sharp re to the person who just spoke.

    "Ah, I didn''t know pigs could speak nowadays." The brown haired guy fired back, he saw how the man''s face turned sour by his words so heughed and said: "Oh? Have I offended you in anyway? I didn''t know pigs could be offended. My bad. But pigs should like meals right? Why don''t you eat that kid first then maybe I''ll allow you to roll on mud next time."

    Things are starting to get really heated between the contestants. They didn''t even considered the fact that they were acting like spoiled brats in front of many people.

    Meanwhile, within the audience Elyion was busy stuffing his mouth with food as he watched. He then inwardly said: ''Oh, they''re just really underestimating him huh?''

    He swallowed his food and took a sip of his drink, ''I mean, all living things will eventually die, but some people want their deaths to arrive sooner rather thanter. What can we do?''

    "How unpleasant."

    For the first time since going up stage, Raven spoke.

    All heads turned towards him, they saw him shaking his head and showing a very disappointed expression on his face. He listened as these so called ''adults'' insulted each other like spoiled brats which made him extremely irritated.

    "Stop wasting time." He said as he eyed them one by one, "You people cane all at once, I''m getting tired of this."

    His words drew sharp breaths from people who were watching. Those words! How arrogant! Who is this child and does he not know how to write the word ''death''?

    He''s directly provoking nine fully grown adults, who in their right mind will do that?

    "Hahahaha!" Brown haired man burst onto an uproariousugh as he heard Raven''s words. He walked towards Raven and arrived in front of him. Everyone watch the scene unfold, with no intentions of interfering, well the kid was asking for it so letting him experience some beating should wake him up.

    "You''re so funny little guy! Are you perhaps a clown? My sister''s birthday is about toe, if you want I''ll hire you so that you can buy some candy." He said with a visible sneer in his face while looking down at Raven.

    Elyion who was watching shook his head and thought: ''He''s bananas.''

    "I don''t like the way you look at me." Raven uttered with an icy tone.

    The brown haired man gave him a cold stare and replied: "Hoh? Then what are you going to do with it?"

    Just as he finished talking, he felt his stomach sink in as an unbearable pain washed over his body. His eyes widened like saucers and his entire body caved in. He broke into a fit of coughing, spitting out some blood while he did.

    His mind turned nk, he inwardly thought: ''What the hell just happened to me?''

    He looked up with difficulty and saw Raven''s indifferent face looking down at him. An absurd idea suddenly popped in his mind but he repeatedly denied it, he didn''t want to believe that it was this kid who reduced him in this state.

    "Now this¡­is more pleasant." Raven''s words brought chills into the crowd. He reached out and grabbed the hair of the brown haired guy. Briefly raising it, he spoke: "Remember this angle. This is where our eyes meet, alright?"

    Raven''s strong grip prevented the guy from even speaking, a secondter he felt his whole body felt light and a second after that, he felt a strong pain on his back. When he opened his eyes, he discovered that he was already lying outside of the arena, looking dirty and utterly humiliated.

    The crowd was shocked, except for Elyion who only sighed and shook his head.

    None of them saw properly what Raven did. At one point, the two was ring at each other, seconds after that the man was kneeling in pain and was thrown like a trash out of the arena.

    And to think this was the same man who spoke the loudest too, makes this whole event somewhat strange. The crowd thought at first that he should have some abilities since he''s boasting that much but who would''ve thought that he would be eliminated first, and in such a humiliating way too.

    Raven then turned around towards the remaining participants. As soon as his eyes met theirs, all of them felt chills run down their spine. All of them immediately went alert and took their stances.

    "I will not say this again." Raven''s chilling tone echoed once more, "Come at me together."

    The eight remaining people looked at each other in dismay, the kid spoke without care and just outright discredited their numbers.

    No one knew who was the first one to do it but eventually someone attacked Raven with all of his ferocity. The rest followed suit since they felt that going one by one against this kid won''t work, and wasn''t this what he wanted, for all of them to attack him?

    But Raven wasn''t fazed by their numbers. No matter how fierce they were nor how daunting their war cries were, everything was all empty in front of Raven''s speed and strength.

    No one even managed tond an attack, Raven''s body slithered like a snake and his hand performed a swift chop on their necks, making them unconscious on the spot.

    All they saw was a shadow, afterwards they fainted. It was so one sided that majority of the people who were watching didn''t want to believe it. Even the winners to the previous batches didn''t dare to believe this. He''s a kid! He shouldn''t have this much strength! He went against nine fully grown adults, took them down and wasn''t even hurt in the process, how could they possibly ept all that?

    ''If you want to go against him.'' Elyion thought while eating, ''First, make sure that your body is tougher that a fully grown tree. Second, you have to be faster than five horsesbined and running in full power. Third, your fists or your weapons could cut steel. If anyone could satisfy these conditions, then maybe you can make him serious. I think. Who the hell knows actually.''

    The whole arena was silent, even the announcer was struck dumb looking at the scene. Who could me them anyway? A kid beating up nine fully grown adults isn''t something that you see in your everyday life.

    It wasn''t until Raven''s voice echoed once more that the announcer woke up from his stupor.

    "Hey bud. Do your job."

    "R-right!" the announcer cleared his throat and announced in a loud voice, "Winner of the 6th batch, contestant number 117!"

 Chapter 162 - Objection

    ---

    The crowd still find it hard to believe what just happened.

    The announcer already made the announcement and all but still, that was just too surprising. A kid took down none fully grown adults, not only he wasn''t injured in the process, his opponents couldn''t even fight back.

    It was so one sided that it almost seemed impossible. Nevertheless, Raven had no interest at their reactions nor what they think. He was somewhat disappointed with the battle sure but it had to be known that he wasn''t on a low profile anymore. His actions greatly surprised he crowd and he also knew that there''s still people who are watching him behind the scenes.

    He just basically introduced himself to the masses, and he can''t undo this so he could only continue.

    "I object!"

    A sudden loud shout caught the attention of the crowd. All of them, including Raven, looked at the source of the yell and saw the brown haired man ring at Raven while raising his hand.

    "I plead the council to re-evaluate their decision. This kid must''ve cheated to achieve victory!" His bitterint reached the ears of the crowd as well as the council who were presiding over the event. They looked at each other and pondered, what the brown haired man said might be right, this kid must''ve used underhanded tactics to cinch victory.

    Elyion who was watching this scene unfold, started to get nervous for Raven. Inwardly, he also had thoughts Raven might be cheating but knowing his personality, he figured that this shouldn''t be the case. Nevertheless, he''s still nervous.

    The announcer stood by the side and waited for further instructions from the council. His position granted him no privilege to express his opinion in this incident, he could only wait until theye up with a decision.

    The crowd watched this scene to unfold. Some of them looked over to Raven''s spot and saw him with an expressionless face. They too felt like something fishy was going on but they were only bystanders so they can''t truly voice their opinion freely.

    A member of the council signaled towards the announcer, telling him toe closer. The announcer moved and by the time he arrived, he leaned towards the member of council to get informed about their decision. He nodded in understanding and stepped onto the stage once more.

    All eyes were on him, he cleared his throat and said in crisp tone: "The council heard the plea of this contestant. After a full deliberation, they came towards a unanimous decision. May the individual in question step on the stage?"

    Raven stepped up wordlessly. Once he arrived at the stage, he faced the inspecting gaze of the announcer head on.

    The announcer''s words were caught in his throat for a second, the indifference in this young man''s eyes was chilling. It was like the one who''s staring at him wasn''t a child but instead a jaded soldier who have seen countless corpses on the battlefield and was already immune to it.

    He cleared his throat once more and looked at the brown haired man next.

    "The one who raised aint, please step up on stage as well."

    The brown haired man felt cold sweat drenching his back. He slowly made his way up the stage and stood together with the announcer and the kid. He felt the announcer inspecting him so he tried to act as brave as he possibly could.

    "You had caught everyone''s attention by saying that constant number 117 had possibly cheated."

    The announcer started, "Can you show us any proof of your im?"

    Once the brown haired man heard this, a wide smile appeared on his face. How fortunate that he had been thinking about the same thing as well and that he came up with exnation.

    "Isn''t it obvious?" He asked with a sarcastic tone, "The fact that he''s just a mere kid and he was able to take us down. Imagine? Nine fully grown adults can''t even touch the hem of a kid''s clothes? What sort of concept is that? That''s something that you see in fairy tales, so someone pulling that off in reality is just outright impossible!"

    His words fell on the ears of the crowd, and some had to admit that he had a good point. Most of them was already looking favorably at this guy. Of course, the brown haired man felt that he was gaining the trust of the crowd so he inwardly started gloating at the fate of this kid.

    ''I don''t have any proof if you truly cheated or not. But boy, it is your god damn fault that you went against me. Don''t think about getting away from this!''

    Even the announcer felt that his words truly makes sense, but he couldn''t show impartiality and just listen to his opinion alone, he also had to get the opinion of the other party in question.

    "Do you have anything to say about this?"

    "How embarrassing." Raven said with a deadpan voice.

    Just this word alone felt like it discredited everything that the brown haired man said earlier. The brown haired man''s face turned ugly at this very moment, the kid was obviously mocking him.

    "Wasting my time just because of some baseless usations, aside from thinking some excuse there are no valid proofs shown yet some people started believing him. How embarrassing. If this is what it means to be an adult then I might as well kill myself before I turn into one."

    His words were ruthless, cold and extremely offensive. Added the fact that he said it like he was grumbling or throwing a fit makes this more of a p towards the adults who fit his descriptions.

    "You think that only you can y that game?" Raven met the brown haired man''s gaze with a cold one, he then spat. "I''ll apany you then!"

    "Can''t ept the fact that a kid whooped your ass? Feeling like it''s an unbelievable concept so much to the point of saying that it''s impossible for me to have one? Fine!" Raven raised his hand and pointed at the window of the highest room in the Astral Observatory.

    "You said it''s impossible right? Then care to exin how an old man like him exists?"

    His words were followed with nothing but absolute silence. Even a pin dropping on the ground could be heard at this point.

    The brown haired man''s eyes dted as Raven''s words feel onto his ears. He could swear that he almost felt his soul leaving his body with how much he despaired.

    It wasn''t a foreign idea that their beloved leader was not only a benevolent man but also a fierce warrior. Legends of his youth was being retold even to this day, his escapades and how he fought valiantly in the great wilderness beyond the walls. It was said that he could fight against five fully grown beasts and remain unscathed during his prime. Now considering that age caught up with him, his prowess should''ve fallen into a degree but not that low for anyone to tantly disregard it.

    The brown haired man wanted to p his face so much until he couldn''t be recognized even by his own family. How was he supposed to defend his im now?

    "Don''t you love getting people''s attention? All eyes are on you now, so speak. Win their admiration again."

    Raven''s merciless mocking reached his ears. He wanted to retort and say something back but he couldn''t even think properly now so he could only send a hateful re at Raven. Certainly, if looks could kill, then Raven would''ve been torn to pieces by now.

    "I-" The brown haired man stuttered, "Don''t you dare refer to His Holiness like that! Y-you disrespectful spawn! "

    "B-besides! His Holiness'' might was achieved through rigorous training and it was disyed when he achieved his prime! But you? You''re just a child! How much training you could possibly experienced?"

    The brown haired man instantly became proud of himself by managing to think of more false usations and excuse against Raven. But when he looked at Raven''s visible sneer, the pride he felt instantly vanished.

    With a calm and unhurried tone, he started speaking:

    "Raul Newdawn, current leader of Thorn City. Born and raised as a pastor and grew up to be an excellent one at that. He lived a very peaceful life until the day that he turned 25 and received the ''whispers of god'' allowing him to go under aplete metamorphosis and devote his sole existence in serving god. It was said that he was gifted by god with a superhuman prowess, allowing him to fight multiple beasts that threatened to destroy the city on equal terms, and it is also the same reason why he was chosen as the new leader of Thorn City."

    "Have you ever heard of this story? It''s a prettymon one, I''ve heard it multiple times already actually."

    "As for your version¡­"

    "Achieving his strength through rigorous training? Now I haven''t heard of that one yet.. Care to exin in a detailed manner?" Raven crossed his arms and coldly interrogated the brown haired man.

 Chapter 163 - Whispers

    ---

    The brown haired man felt like the world was falling apart.

    His eyes constricted fiercely as he stared at the kid in front of him. He felt like his entire body was dropped in an icy pond. He couldn''t believe that he such a careless mistake, right now of all times. He didn''t even needed to turn around to able to tell that many people were whispering behind his back. He could literally feel their piercing gazes and could somehow measure just how much he was being judged right now.

    This kid is a devil. He was utterly convinced of it by now.

    From the moment he voiced his objection up until the end, Raven never lost footing while him on the other hand has toe up with everything just to justify his bitterness about losing.

    Just why did he have to provoke him? He could''ve just stayed silent and watch peacefully along the crowd, but his pride made him do it. Why did he listen to it? He couldn''t tell as well.

    If there''s anything he should worry about right now, that is the fact that if he doesn''t say anything, then he might really lose his life here.

    But with how easy it is to realize what he needed to do, actually doing it is a different matter.

    He repeatedly opened and closed his mouth, trying to say something or exin his side but nothing came out.

    "Hmm? What''s up? Don''t you have many things to say? Go ahead! Spit it out, stop wasting our time." Raven fanned the mes using his words.

    This caused the brown haired man''s expression to turn extremely ugly. He knew that Raven was pushing him to the edge of a cliff by doing this. He hated to toyed around like this but he can''t do anything. This kid is a devil, he had no idea what devious ns he still had in his mind, for all he know, this provocation might be another trap, and if he fell for it once more, then it would be better if he just smashed his head onto a wall until he dies.

    "Contestant number 26, do you have anything to say to defend yourself? Because if you don''t have any, then you must face the punishment for ndering someone''s reputation. If you have any proof of you im, this would be the best time to show it."

    Even the announcer himself was pressuring the brown haired man which almost made him crazy.

    Though the announcer said it in a polite manner, the meaning behind his words were straightforward. It simply means: ''Quit wasting everyone''s time and show some proof, if you can''t show one then we''ll punish you.''

    The brown haired man didn''t know what to do. His mind was turning more and more chaotic as time went on. He felt like pulling his hair out just so that ideas of how he could save himself could flow in his brain. He was confused, what does he do now? He had already mounted on the back of a tiger so he had no room for escape. He went down the quagmire just to enjoy someone else''s suffering yet he didn''t know that it was a deliberate trap of the enemy and his escape routes are closed off.

    His eyes turned red, he looked up and threw a harsh re at Raven.

    ''Him! This is all his fault!'' He roared inwardly in fury, ''If he didn''t exist, then this wouldn''t have happened! If he didn''t exist, then I should''ve won! If he didn''t exist, then I wouldn''t be this humiliated! If he didn''t exist, then I would''ve gotten the chance to be the city''s next leader! I would''ve lived a long and fulfilling life as this city''s leader! Riches! Spouses! Luscious meals! All of it was supposed to be mine! But he existed! He is the reason why I''m like this!''

    His thoughts were full of hatred and it made him enter a state of madness. His chest rose and fell visibly, he panted like he just ran a couple of miles without rest. In his maddened state, his mind turned rabid and he couldn''t think properly anymore, like his sanity was stolen away from him.

    He didn''t even noticed that his thoughts weren''t his anymore, instead it was from¡­something else.

    ''Kill! That''s your answer! Kill him! Worry about the consequencester and kill him now! That''s the only way you would be able to escape your current predicament! So kill him!''

    The brown haired man gnashed his teeth, he clenched his fist hard and without anyone noticing it, his hands were slowly transforming into something else¡­

    ''God is watching and he''s giving you a mission. Kill this kid and present to us his head! If you can do this, then you''ll join our ranks and you''ll be this city''s next leader. Isn''t this what you always wanted?''

    "G-god is watching¡­?" The brown haired man stuttered in a whisper. His body shivered a little, like he was electrocuted or something. Next, a wave of delight, heroism and absolute madness wash over his mind and body.

    "Haha¡­" Unknowingly, aughed escaped through his lips which made the audience dumbfounded by how he''s acting.

    "Huhuhahahahahahahaha!" It then turned into a madness filledughter, he threw his head back andughed at the skies. Raven was surprised but then a somber expression surfaced in his face.

    "God is watching!!" The brown haired man yelled on top of his lungs, he then threw a mad look towards Raven and he started running towards him.

    The audience were shocked, even the announcer was rooted where he stood. None had expected this to happen. Even as he ran, the brown haired man was still yelling: "God is watching!"

    As he got closer to Raven, the brown haired man''s speed became faster and faster, which is totally abnormal. In the corners of his eye, Raven caught the changes on the man''s hands and suddenly knew how he was able to achieve this.

    The brown haired man''s hand became covered with brown fur, this fur ran until his elbows as well. His fingers were reced by ws, his eyes turned into horizontal slits, and a fang protruded out from his mouth. His expression was like that of a rabid beast.

    The brown haired man raised his ws in the air and tried to swipe Raven''s face using his ws.

    Unfortunately, even with his transformation he still wasn''t as strong and as quick as Raven.

    His ws were easily caught by Raven using one hand. The brown haired man was surprised but attack using his other w. However, Raven''s one step ahead of him as his palms hit the joint of his shoulders. Now, Raven was effortlessly holding one w while the other hand was dislocated. The brown haired man groaned when he felt that sharp pain, and as if that wasn''t enough, Raven tightened his grip on the w he was holding and crushed the brown haired man''s bones.

    "AAAAHHHHH!!!" The brown haired man cried in pain, his vision re-adjusted and a little rity returned from his eyes. Confusion washed over his face as he realized the situation he was in, he also saw how his arms were transformed and how all of the people were looking at him with wide eyes.

    Despair washed over his heart, he then thought: ''I''m done for. God, why?''

    Seeing the confused look on his face, Raven frowned. This doesn''t make sense for him. From all of the stories he heard from Elyion, none of the shape shifters should be this careless. Just what is going on here?

    Raven reached out from his Storage Pouch. He retrieved a bag of powder and sprinkled it on the brown haired man''s body.

    Everyone was surprised and confused as to why he did this, but when they saw that the brown haired man''s body went under a huge change and turned into a huge lion, all of them were gobsmacked.

    "Heavens!"

    "Ahh! A beast! Kill it!"

    "God! Another shape shifter!"

    "Burn it! Burn it with fire!"

    The aggressive reactions of crowd spread like wildfire. Every single one of them wanted to kill this lion as soon as possible.

    Somewhere amongst the crowd, Elyion felt his heart sank to his stomach. He shivered and became afraid. He wanted to disappear and hide away, the reactions of the crowd was too much for him. Why was he even here?

    "Audacious!" The announcer gnashed his teeth as he fiercely red at the shape shifter. "An abomination like you had the guts to not only nder our people but also yearn to get close to His Holiness! To what, to stab him in the back once more!? His Holiness might''ve forgiven your kind but not us! See how I''ll deal with you."

    The announcer wore a hateful expression as he marched towards the shape shifter. The lion''s heart was filled with despair, his head sank down and all hope escape from his body.

    But before the announcer even got close, Raven raised his hand, stopping the announcer from moving.

    The announcer was stunned and was about to ask when he heard him speak: "Let me deal with him."

    Without even waiting for the announcer''s signal, Raven raised his hand and murmured some words that were only audible to the lion.

    "Go in peace, it''s not your fault."

    And with that, he performed a chop and the lion''s head was separated from it''s body.

 Chapter 164 - Tournament End

    ---

    ''So that is what''s going on.'' Raven thought to himself as he watched the head of the lion slid from it''s body.

    The whole arena was silent. No one spoke since they were too terrified, first because a shape shifter managed to get in their city without anybody realizing it and second, Raven used his bare hands as a sharp object to behead the lion. Even the announcer became extremely wary, he had no doubts that this child is extremely dangerous, even more dangerous than the shape shifter.

    Raven waspletely aware of what he did and how the people are reacting right now but he couldn''t be bothered by it. In his mind, there''s only a solemn thoughts of realization.

    He hid his thoughts with an indifferent expression. His gaze met the announcer''s eyes and he saw him flinch. Raven then asked: "I won''t be punished by killing him right?"

    The announcer was speechless for a bit before looking back at the members of the council. Apparently, the members of the council also heard his question so they shook their heads, which gave confirmation for the announcer.

    "The council had no qualms, in fact we should thank you for this meritorious deed." The announcer bowed towards him.

    The audience heard their words and so some of them also bowed towards Raven and started looking at him favorably. In their eyes, Raven was another individual who carried their god''s blessings and devoted his life in service, an emissary. This means that they are looking at the next possible leader of the Thorn City.

    Meanwhile in the audience, Elyion had a very down casted expression as he looked at Raven.

    From the way Raven treated him during these days that they came inside the city, he thought that this guy was different from the citizens here. Elyion thought that he didn''t discriminate between humans and shape shifters, he thought that Raven understood their pain and had no animosity towards his kind.

    Even though Elyion constantly said that he sided with humans, it was mainly because of their power and status. Humans were the true rulers of this ce and he genuinely looked up to them, so much so that he wanted to be a human so bad . That being said, this doesn''t mean that he forgot his roots.

    He was still a shape shifter in the end of the day. It''s impossible for him to just disregard his kind or not be saddened to personally witness the death of his kin. It''s just a pity that he didn''t notice that the brown haired man was a shape shifter before even though he should''ve. If he had noticed this earlier and said something to Raven, then the ending might be different.

    Deep down, he was hurt. He didn''t know if he should continue staying by Raven''s side or not. Elyion was of course aware that Raven fit all of the qualifications to be the next leader of Thorn City. He''s strong, he''s smart and he''s a human through and through.

    Even a juvenile like him could tell that the whole intent behind thispetition. His Holiness Raul isn''t getting any younger, soon he had to nurture an heir and what better way for him to find one other than doing a massive event right?

    Elyion could already see the bright future of Raven. Considering all of this, even if everyone knew that he wasn''t a local, who cares? He''s a human and he''s strong, in his leadership the Thorn City would just flourish even more so no one would sweat that details.

    There is no need for an abomination like him to stay by his side. He''s only going to endanger himself by being close to him. Who knows what happens if he stayed? There''s a possibility that he will meet his end in Raven''s hands. He''s a human after all.

    Elyion smiled sadly when he thought of this. He then decided that he will just watch until this event was finished and he will disappear.

    "What about this event? Do I still fight them?" Raven asked the announcer while pointing at the winners of each batch previously.

    The announcer understood what Raven was trying to say. This child doesn''t want to bother with formalities anymore.

    Everyone knew well that the previous batch winners doesn''t have even the tiniest chance of beating him, and Raven himself didn''t want to bother with pointless actions anymore so he asked this question.

    The announcer looked back at the council members once again but saw them deliberating, he gestured for Raven to wait as he himself was waiting for the decision of the council. Eventually, the announcer saw one of council members beckoning at him so he went closer. He leaned forward to listen for their orders and he nodded his when they were done instructing him.

    He made his way back in front of Raven, but instead of talking to him, he looked at the previous batch winners.

    "Do any of you want topete with contestant number 117 for the championship of this tournament?"

    His question fell onto the ears of the previous batch winners and without even missing a beat, all of them shook their heads in unison, directly admitting defeat and forfeiting their chances.

    No one mocked them nor made fun of their decision. If they were to be ced on their shoes, they would probably do the same. In the end of the day, cunning tricks and shy moves would be trampled by absolute strength. On top of this, Raven had every qualifications to be this city''s next leader. Doing this is like making him owe them a favor which might be paidter, and even if he didn''t acknowledged this, at least they didn''t get into his bad side.

    "Then it''s concluded! The Thorn City Strength Tournament is concluded, our winner is contestant number 117! A round of apuse everyone."

    The whole event''s ce erupted with cheers and apuse as the announcement was made. Everyone made sure to remind themselves about how this child looked like since his name is still unknown. Some felt envious, Raven was young and lucky enough to be blessed by the heavens, now he even had the chance to meet His Holiness, how could they not feel any jealousy?

    But with that jealousy, there''s also deep admiration. At least they witnessed the next in line candidate of this city''s leader.

    As for Raven? He felt no joy about this. In fact, he could care less about what everyone thought of him. His mind has only one goal.

    "Are you prepared to meet His Holiness?" The announcer asked with a deep respect in his voice.

    "Not right now, I''ll have to take care of somethings first. I''ll be here the same time tomorrow." Raven didn''t wait for his reply as he turned around looked at the crowd.

    He roamed his eyes and locked gazes with Elyion who was trying his best to avoid his gaze but failed miserably. He gestured using his eyes and walked off, leaving the audience somewhat dumbfounded. Needless to say, no one blocked his path. He walked like he was touring his yard.

    Elyion sighed despite himself and thought: ''He could even find me so easily. In end, I cannot escape huh?''

    After he left the crowded ce, Elyion caught up to him while looking at him warily. Raven frowned since he noticed that Elyion was acting weird but he was reminded of what happened earlier. He realized what''s happening and sighed.

    He didn''t bother looking at him since he knew Elyion would follow him. Nevertheless, he also knew that he needed to give him an exnation.

    "If I told you that I killed him in order to set him free, would you believe me?"

    Elyion was startled, he wasn''t expecting that Raven would even bother to exin his actions at all. A pity that he did not understand.

    "I would find it unbelievable."

    "It''s fine." Raven said, "I''m guessing that you would also find it unbelievable that the announcer was a dead man walking. Much like that sweet olddy at that store, the innkeeper, the adorable old man who gives toys to kids and he meat supplier. All of them are not humans. But they appeared one so it''s really hard to believe it."

    Elyion waspletely lost. He can''t follow Raven''s line of thinking. Instead of exining matters to him, it was more like he was talking to himself instead.

    "I kill Elyion." Raven said in a ghastly tone, "Specially those who went against me or threatened the safety of my family. In this case however, it''s better for that lion to die in my hands instead of dying at their hands."

    "If I killed him, at least his family knows that I''m the one who killed him. They could extract revenge anytime they see me since I''m the one who killed their loved one. But if hended at the hands of those people, no one will know how he died and no one will even have an idea who killed him."

    "Much like you Shape Shifters had no idea that you were once Humans as well."

 Chapter 165 - Meeting

    ---

    Raven''s sudden revtion set off an explosion on the young wolf''s mind. Elyion was so shocked that he literally stopped walking and his jaw became wide open.

    Elyion can''t think properly, what did he mean when he said that shape shifters were once humans too? Is he crazy? How is there any possibility of that happening? Did bing the champion went over his head? Or was it because it''s hot that he started spouting some random things?

    "Don''t think too much." Raven''s voice echoed in his ears once more. "You''ll understand everything tomorrow."

    As Raven spoke, his silhouette became farther and farther, good thing that there were no other humans in the vicinity of them so no one heard Raven''s bbering''s aside from Elyion himself. And even though Raven said to not think much about the matter, that''s asking a lot from a young wolf actually.

    He wanted to know more, of course he does. Deep down in his heart, he wished for Raven''s words to be real, but no matter how much he thought of it, he just couldn''t convince himself to believe that it''s possible. Shape shifters are once humans? Then why did they ended up being shape shifters then? Who gave them this curse? Who was responsible for all of this? Is there some sort of plot against them? What did he or the rest of victims, ever do to deserve this fate? Weren''t they aware that because of this, they had to hide and brave many dangers out of the walls just to remain alive? And howe Raven realized this despite not being a local of this ce? Just what was going on here?

    He wanted to know everything but Raven refused to say anything any further. His words bothered the young wolf so much that he didn''t even noticed that Raven actually stopped at some stores to buy some supplies. It wasn''t until they came back to the inn that Elyion managed to wake up in his stupor. When he noticed, Raven was already locked up in his room so he could only sigh and go to his room as well.

    Inside his room, Raven''s frosty gaze remained intact. He was pretty sure that his guesses were at least 98% on point. And because he said that he''s going to meet Raul tomorrow, of course he had to make sure that he''s prepared.

    At his stone table, he took out everything that he brought during their way back. He then immediately got to work with the items he got.

    His actions were sharp and focused. He had to make sure that he doesn''t mess up this process or else he will have a difficult time tomorrow.

    It was truly a fortunate that he learned alchemy during his past life. Knowledge of it brought immense lucky chances for him during this second life of his. It was also the reason why he was able to make a powder that revealed one''s true nature, like the one he used to the brown haired man earlier. Come to think of it, he was thankful that creating some medicine was possible inside this realm.

    It was a pity that he could only create minor versions that doesn''t require energy for its creation. This is due to the fact that Energy is nowhere to be found in this ce. If it was then everything would''ve been easier. However, even such was the case, him having freedom to create minor medicines could still turn the tables around in his favor, and he nned on exploiting this to it''s full potential.

    ***

    Raven and Elyion woke up early in the morning.

    The two didn''t talk much, they just had breakfast together and then they left towards the Astral Observatory right away. Before they got there, Raven left Elyion a strict instruction.

    "If things go ording to n, this ce will be extremely chaotic in just a few hours." Raven gazed at Elyion with a strict look. Thetter shivered in fear, having been exposed to Raven''s personality so far, he had no doubts that his words might very be real.

    "Leave this ce, go towards the wilderness, you''ll be safe there in the mean time. If you can''t leave, then find some ce to hide. No matter what, within an hour of me entering this observatory you should either leave or found a ce to hide. Try to not act suspicious as much as you could and avoid interacting with people who will randomlye close to you."

    "When you recalled many things in your life, that will be sign that everything is back to normal. You should know what to do then." After giving him a solemn instruction, Raven turned around and walked towards the observatory.

    "Go!" Raven said yelled which made Elyion scramble in his feet.

    Inwardly, the young wolf was extremely confused. He had no idea as to what''s about to happen since Raven never really shared his n and only left hints.

    ''When I recalled many things in my life? What''s that supposed to mean? Why is there a need to for him to act this cautiously? I don''t understand at all, but if there''s anything that''s clear to me, that would be the fact that this person is a friend. He could''ve ignored me and left without any warnings but he did, so he must looking out for me. Following his instructions shouldn''t be a bad idea.''

    With this line of thought, Elyion didn''t tarry any longer and went towards the walls. Luckily, he was able to leave the city and go back to his home in the wilderness under the reason that he needed to gather supplies to exchange for jadestones.

    What he didn''t know is that after he left, the council ordered aplete lockdown of the Thorn City. It was under the intention that there might be another shape shifter that managed to infiltrate their security. The council even ordered guards to scour every home to find some suspicious individuals and capture them for trial. If Elyion decided to not leave, he would''ve been caught as well and who knows what his fate would be?

    Meanwhile, moments after Raven entered the observatory, a staff member recognized him and gave him a warm wee. Raven faked politeness and greeted back, the staff member then called his managers so that they could personally lead Raven in the ce where he and Raul would be meeting.

    Momentster, a manager came out and became Raven''s guide. She gave him a brief tour of the Astral Observatory and introduced a couple of people to him but Raven wasn''t interested at all. He would just nod his head in acknowledgement and offer nothing more. The guide also sensed this and she was helpless about it, so she could only give up and lead Raven to what he came here for.

    It not like Raven wasn''t interested in meeting and being introduced to people, but every single person that he had met so far was nothing but a bunch of dead people, and he couldn''t be bothered to deal with any of them right now because it was pointless.

    The guide lead him to the highest and grandest room in the Astral Observatory. There were several armed guards who stopped them before the could enter. The guide could only take him there so far and had to back off since she doesn''t have enough qualifications to enter.

    Also, the guards were only informed about Raven and he alone was the only person that could enter, as guards they have to follow the instructions of their superiors.

    As Raven entered, he was momentarily blinded by glimmer of the ce. When his vision re-adjusted, he could see a vast trove of wealth disyed around. Gorgeous paintings, ted armors, glimmering weapons, fancy clothing, beautiful sculptures, brilliant jewelries, and more.

    A waft of pleasant smell assaulted his nose. It came from the mouth watering dishes disyed on top of long table covered with white silk that had golden hemming. It was a sight that could cause anyone to be tempted.

    And if that wasn''t enough, soon a bunch of women came out wearing maid outfits¡­very revealing maid outfits.

    It was a sight that could cause any hearts of men to quiver with overwhelming desire. Everything that he had seen so far could make anyone go crazy from desire. Unfortunately, Raven saw many things that are even better that this during his past life. Comparing those to this is akin to night and day. These attempts to make him fall to depravity is a pathetic failure in his eyes and couldn''t even bring out any changes in his expression.

    It was then that beyond all of this, a silhouette of man emerged.

    His body bathe in light. He wore a kind smile that could touch anyone''s heart. He was wearing what looks like a robe made out of pure silk that has golden hemming with it. He was also being supported by a golden cane that made his appearance resemble more of that a kind grandfather.

    This man was Raul Newdawn, Thorn City''s current leader. He opened his mouth and asked:

    "Shall we eat, young friend?"

 Chapter 166 - Revelation

    ---

    "Shall we eat, young friend?"

    This question was asked in a very friendly manner, no malice or any hidden intents, just a pure invitation from a kind old man.

    "If only I knew that there will be a feast prepared before me, then I shouldn''t have had breakfast earlier. A pity that I made sure to be full too."

    Raven declined the invitation in a polite manner, he even faked an apologetic smile just to make sure this old man bought. At the same time, he didn''t really try too much to convince him, there''s use for that anyway.

    "Oh? Is that so? What a pity indeed." Raul chuckled as he made his way to the table, "But you could at least join me in table right?"

    "I can do that." Raven nodded and joined Raul as he sat down in front of luxurious feast.

    Their conversation was done in a normal manner, therefore the people around them heard it. Inwardly, the maids were panicking but didn''t dare to show it. They started thinking that Raven must''ve hated their boldness or they didn''t do a proper job of creating a scrumptious feast like they were asked to.

    Raven didn''t bother himself to consider their feelings, he could care less about it to be honest.

    Raven calmly waited as Raul helped himself with the feast. He himself drank some juice on the side and the two never spoke a single sentence all throughout that time.

    The people around them could sense the awkwardness of the situation but none said a thing nor shown any signs of it. They just waited on the side and endure the ufortable situation.

    Eventually, Raul wiped his mouth with a cloth after eating, he smiled towards Raven and said: "Thank you for joining me, young friend. We can now move towards a separate location so that we could discuss the reason why you came here for."

    "We can take our time, Your Holiness. I am in no rush." Raven replied with a slight smile in his face.

    Raulughed and shook his head. He then said: "You aren''t, but I am. I can''t wait to retire and be freed from all of this."

    "Careful, Your Holiness." Raven said in a chuckle. "Others might not be happy to hear that from you."

    As Raven said this Raul raised his brow and looked at the servants around him, a wildughter escaped from his mouth as he waved his hand and said: "Kidding, I''m kidding. I''m still as energetic as a bull, why would I retire?"

    Raul then stood up and gesture Raven to follow him. Thetter maintained a respectable distance behind him as they enter a door that lead them to a separate room. As they entered, the people who were left in the main room sighed deeply. They started moving and clearing up the table, making sure to leave everything spotless and shiny.

    The maids wanted nothing more but to gossip right now but they are scared of Raul and Raven hearing them. For an old man, Raul had a wicked sense of hearing. This was established by the fact that sometimes, he would even join in with their gossiping and their managers would scold them afterwards. Since then, they never discussed openly specially when near Raul.

    Raul and Raven entered the room. This room was located at the top of the Astral Observatory. There is a single yet enormous stained-ss window that was closed for now. The room has several couches, arge bed, a set of tables, cabs and chairs. All in all, a somewhat humble room for someone of his status.

    "This is my personal quarters." Raul introduced, "He then sat down in front of the table and looked kindly at Raven. "Make yourselffortable."

    Raven nodded andplied, he sat down on a couch not too far away from Raul and waited for him to speak. After afortable silence, the old man started speaking.

    "I thought I''m going to grow old as a pastor." Raul started, "All I knew during that time was to take care of sheep and trim their furs, I could also raise some cows and pigs which enabled us to have a humble living conditions."

    "With how long the Thorn City had existed, I never knew about the dangers of the outside. I never even knew about the existence of the shape shifters. I thought I could just live a peaceful and quiet life." Raul''s voice were filled with reminisce as he told his story.

    "Well, it was like that until I heard the Whispers of God." Raul said with outmost fanaticism. "He reached out to me and embraced me, allowing me to live an exciting life and guide me to the peak, I''m pretty sure you''ve heard some of my stories, all of them were true. And it''s precisely because of that, I became the 12th Leader of Thorn City."

    "But even though I went under a metamorphosis, time still caught onto me, even God is powerless to stop it''s erosion. In the end, I''ll have to groom a sessor which could maintain the safety of Thorn City and it''s citizens."

    As Raul continued his story, Raven calmly listened to him, neither absorbed into the story nor ignoring it.

    "I don''t see you as an ignorant junior, young friend. I know that you could already tell what I''m trying to say here. But before we move on, can you tell me more about yourself? As this city''s leader, I have to make sure that I know who will rece me so that I could make sure that the city''s in safe hands, correct?"

    "I agree." Raven nodded and smiled despite himself, "My name''s Raven, fourteen years old."

    "I am born and raised in the Final Haven Kingdom, a ce that is a shelter for at least hundred thousands of humans. Our Kingdom is situated in a world called Grand Ancestral ne, and unfortunately, Final Haven Kingdom is thest remaining ce where humans could suitably settle down, our brethren that didn''t make it are under a constant dire states because of Demonic Beast threats."

    At first, Raven''s introduction didn''t shock Raul. But when he started telling him about his origins, Raul couldn''t help but raise his brows and inspect Raven even closer. He didn''t see any signs of him lying at all but he also couldn''t bring himself to believe him.

    Raven of course could tell what Raul was thinking based from his reaction. In the end, he just wanted this farce to be over.

    "Quite a shocker isn''t it?" Ravenughed, "For some reason, you can tell that I''m not lying at all but you also couldn''t convince yourself to believe me. All throughout your life, you''ve been here in this small city and it''s everything that you''ve known. From you and your people''s point of view, there''s only Thorn City, nothing more."

    Raul find himself slightly speechless from Raven''s attitude, nevertheless he was truly curious about the origins of the young man.

    "What you said is the truth, young friend. Your story is really unbelievable since I''ve read some records about ancestors reaching the end of this world. It''s recorded that there is nothing by a thick fog that swallow everything in there so how could I believe your im?"

    "True." Raven nodded, "But if I told you that I''m born and raised in Thorn City, then your ''God'' will tell you that I''m lying. Correct?"

    Hearing this non-chntment of Raven made Raul''s face grave. He stared at the smiling young man in front of him with utter seriousness.

    "And because your ''God'' told you that I''m lying, then you would believe it. But never mind that, what I want is for you to answer one of my question."

    After saying this, Raven''s face transformed and became incredibly cold. His piercing gaze met Raul, making him feel like he was being stared down by an entity with an unquestionable authority.

    "Why don''t we drop the pretenses already?" Raven uttered in a chilling tone. "I really don''t like wasting time and I have matters to attend to. Show me your true form pest."

    Hearing his words, Raul''s pupils constricted fiercely. He abruptly stood up in shock while looking incredously at Raven.

    Raven on the other hand didn''t anything reckless just yet. He stood up and stared fearlessly at ''Raul''s eyes and said:

    "I know what you are. We both know what you did." Raven stepped forward with a incredible momentum that brought a deep and existential fear in old man in front of him. "Your appetite sure is big for a mere pest. You took your sweet time, corrupting humans to make them your host. Then you make your way in, pollenating other humans to corrupt them as well."

    "Your older victims are now nothing but a bunch of walking corpses since you sucked their vitalities empty. You used this chance to evolve and thus gaining more abilities that allow you to corrupt even more humans without them knowing."

    "Unfortunately, they are not me.. It''s time to end this farce! Come out, Phantasm. Fight me!"

 Chapter 167 - Phantasm

    ---

    Phantasms. A rare type of parasite that developed consciousness.

    Normally, Phantasm doesn''t live long enough. Sudden changes of the atmosphere could easily kill them, making them somewhat on the weaker side. But in the end of the day, a parasite is still a parasite. Phantasms use weaker creatures like mosquitos, bees, worms, ants and so on as it''s host.

    Their target it the nervous system, once they''re in they will be able to send signals in a form of ''subtle suggestion'' that will affect the decision making of it'' host. At the same time, the Phantasm will start to suck one''s longevity little by little. What makes this process special is that, so long as the Phantasm is attacked to the host, it couldn''t rot despite being dead, meaning that so long as the Phantasm is attached to a host, it would be able to control the host''s body like it was still alive. Eventually, the ''subtle suggestions'' will turn into a ''Command'' but the host won''t even noticed that their ability to make decisions werepletely robbed off of them, they won''t even noticed that they were infected by the Phantasm or that they were long dead.

    Phantasms could spread to multiple victims, they could bisect themselves and infect other unsuspecting victims, what''s surprising though is that even though it was divided into to two, it still has a single consciousness and it won''t hesitate to kill the other if it needed be.

    Normally, Phantasms could not infect humans. The nervous system of a human is too strong for a Phantasm to handle and before it could even feed, it would''ve been detected by the immune system and exterminated. But of course, it won''t be same scenario if the Phantasm evolved, which is extremely rare.

    "Unfortunately, they are not me. It''s time to end this farce! Come out, Phantasm. Fight me!"

    Hearing Raven''s challenge, the parasite hiding inside Raul''s brain shivered and shrieked. This caused Raul to let out an inhuman shriek as well, his whole body shivered and his eyes rolled all the way back to his head. His body bent onto a very unnatural angle, something that an old man could never do. Raul now had a very furious and wary expression but this wasn''t him anymore, this is the Phantasm who used his body as a Host. Raul Newdawn was long dead, what''s standing in front of Raven is just a mortal husk that this pest refused to let go.

    "H-huuuuuuuuuummmmmmmaaaaaaannnnnn!"

    A guttural and hair-raising voice escaped out of Raul''s mouth, his head was also twitching from side to side like it was being twisted by something unseen.

    "I will eat you human!" The Phantasm said as it quickly pounced forward towards Raven.

    Raven''s eyes focused, he made a step back and took out something from his storage pouch. It was a brown sack that contained a muddy brown powder. He coated his whole arm with the powder and scattered he rest of it on his body, then he made the stance and shed with the Phantasm who''s controlling Raul.

    Raul was quick and strong, but this isn''t due to a ''God''s Blessing'' it was due to the enhancements that the Phantasm brought. Unfortunately, no matter how strong it was, Raven''s destined to be stronger than it.

    Fist met fist. Raven''s arm remained strong and straight while Raul''s arm bent upwards while some bones where directly broken or shattered. The Phantasm was shocked, how is this kid so strong!? It had to be known that the enhancements it did to transform Raul''s husk was at least equivalent to a decade of feeding. No one should be able to match Raul''s husk yet there''s one here and it never knew.

    "No time to be shocked, pest. This is just my warm up." Raven sneered, he then performed a series of steps that made the Phantasm dizzy and unable to follow him, then Raven stopped and delivered a heavy blow on Raul''s stomach.

    Raul''s body then flew and mmed onto the concrete walls, embedding him in the process. It was also this time that the Phantasm located at Raul''s brain felt a severe pain that should''ve been impossible.

    *Shriek!*

    A series of inhuman shrieks escaped from Raul''s mouth, Raven saw him wing his head fiercely like he was trying to scratch something off from his head.

    "Painful isn''t it?" Raven coldly spat, "I made this shit specially for you so thank meter."

    Parasite Bane, an anti-parasite concoction that is guaranteed to be extremely lethal to any type of parasites. It is a little tricky to concoct specially in a ce where there are no energies but Raven didn''t spend at least 1000 years under a time enchantment, studying alchemy just to fail on a simple task like this.

    "It burrrnnnsss! What did you do human! I hate you! Hate you! Hate youuuuu!!!"

    "Didn''t you want to eat me?" Raven sneered and said, "Thene! Open wide! I''ll shove my fist onto your mouth willingly!" He then pounced forward and punched the living crap out of Raul''s face, embedding his deeper and deeper to the wall.

    The more his attacks connected, the more pain the Phantasm felt. If this continues, there''s no doubt in it''s mind that it will die. So with all of its effort, it controlled Raul''s feet and kicked Raven to create some space between them.

    Raven saw this and crossed his arms in his chest, the attacked caused him to skid past a couple of steps. He was nning on charging at the Phantasm once more but it let out a very loud shriek that sent fierce vibrations all over the whole Astral Observatory.

    Raven''s tremorsense spread like crazy, it then told him that many people were charging towards the room. He immediately realized that the Phantasm called for reinforcements, and they are about toe very soon.

    Just like what he predicted, the door of Raul''s quarters swung open, revealing at least a dozen of people with their eyes rolled up. They were gritting their teeth and breathing rapidly like beasts as they stared red at Raven. Without any hesitations, the great number of people pounced forward like rabid beasts, wanting to shred Raven into pieces.

    Meanwhile, the Phantasm controlled Raul''s body towards the windows. While Raven''s focus was on the reinforcements, it punched the windows and escaped through gap. The phantasm wasn''t fazed with the height and didn''t hesitate to jump down.

    Raven saw this and his expression became somber. He couldn''t let this one go, he was sure that the Phantasm inside Raul''s brain was the one that evolved and the one that must die.

    After evolving, the Phantasm bes stronger and it''s natural talents as a parasite will receive a boost as well, which enabled it to infect humans. This particr one was special too, it actually managed to unlock another trait, and that is the talent to modify it''s hosts body simr to that of a beast. But doing this is somewhat risky for the Phantasm''s part, there is a great chance that it will kill itself in the process. Well, for the Phantasm, it could sacrifice a few of it''s other bodies so long as the main one is still alive, this is another thing that the Phantasm must adjust too once it evolved. If the main body died, then the rest also dies with it, unlike how it was before it evolved.

    "So you''re thinking that I would be fazed by this height and wouldn''t follow you?" Raven sneered as he realized what the Phantasm was thinking. He knew that he guessed correctly specially when the Phantasm looked at where he was with a mocking expression.

    It would be somewhat disrespectful if he didn''tply with the challenge right? So under the dumbfounded gaze of the Phantasm, Raven jumped from the highest floor of the Astral Observatory without breaking any eye contact with it.

    His body fell like a shooting star, when hended the ground shatter beneath his feet but the impact didn''t fazed him in any way, shape or form. Seeing their target jumped, the other infected humans also jumped but unfortunately, some of them weren''t able to make it and had their bodies utterly crippled, therefore making them unable to control them any further.

    The Phantasm shrieked once more, and immediately many humans around froze and simultaneously red at Raven''s location. They charged without care and with only one purpose in mind, that is to kill Raven and make sure that the main body was safe.

    To this, Raven didn''t shred any ounce of care. He didn''t break eye contact with his sole target, he was determined to kill and even if gods descend right now, they won''t be able to stop him from killing this thing.

    Raven bent his knees and took a deep breath. He mobilized all of his vital energies onto his legs. His expression sharpened and when the Phantasm saw this, a great sense of dread washed over its consciousness.

    Raven''s body seemingly disappeared, making the numerous infected humans lose their target. None could follow his movement at all, and when he reappeared he was standing behind Raul''s husk.

    A sharp whistle was heard and Raul''s head was separated from his shoulders.

 Chapter 168 - Farewell

    ---

    Elyion''s whole body shook.

    He was hiding in a cave that he found in the wilderness, waiting for the whole chaos to be over. From the moment that he left Thorn City, he felt his heart pounding for some reasons unknown. While he had guessed that there will a fierce battle inside the city, he had no idea of what would be the ending and what wille out of it.

    Hours passed and his nervousness peaked. It was at this moment that his body shook fiercely and he returned to human form without him wanting to.

    Elyion was surprised, just as when he was about to think about his situation a sudden pain rushed on his brain and his thoughts went extremely chaotic.

    First he saw very chaotic scene. He saw thest moments, from the time Raven revealed it''s true nature up until the point where Raven personally crushed Raul''s brain where the Phantasm was rooted.

    Next, he felt that some of the events on his life were rewritten. He started recalling past events like some things that he said, some decisions he made, and even his unwavering faith towards humans for no particr reason. All of these were due to the ''urging'' of the parasite that''s nted in it''s brain. He almost couldn''t believe that he was manipted.

    Originally, Elyion was an orphan of Thorn City. His parents went out to gather raw materials but never came back, leaving him alone. He was then admitted to an orphanage where his loneliness was slightly alleviated due to being surrounded with friends. Unfortunately, no one knew that one of the personnel in the orphanage was a carrier of the Phantasm and nobody noticed that every single kid in the orphanage was infected.

    The Phantasm constantly gave subtle suggestions to Elyion, telling him to sneak out of the walls and search for the remains of his parents. At first, he was still strong enough to resists these suggestions but it bugged him for countless of nights, making it hard for him to fall asleep. One night, Elyion became unable to resist it and decided to answer the call, thinking that he was following his heart.

    As soon as he got outside of the walls, his feet took him inside an empty cave and that''s when the parasite attacked, it transformed his physique into a Silver Moonwolf and modified his body so that it could assume it''s previous appearance. Elyion lost his former memories because of the transformation, the suggestions of the Phantasm became his ''instinct'' which told him that he had been a Shape Shifter all along in his life, and he believed it.

    He lived a peaceful life, away from confrontations and humans for a while. He was truly convinced that he was a beast that transform into a human, and he lived like this for at least a year until he experienced his first Red Moon Month. He went inside the Thorn City and learned much about humans. The Phantasm in his head told him that he''ll never be able to be human, but his true instincts and feelings yearn for their eptance, making him suffer each time he realized that he''s a beast not a human.

    And then everything changed when he met Raven¡­

    Elyion felt sick to his stomach. He was mad, furious in fact! He was so mad at the fact that a simple parasite made, not only him but countless of humans in the Thorn City, suffer from it''s grasp. He wanted to point fingers, he wanted to me someone but who does he me? Does he me it all on the Phantasm? Does he me it all on the carrier? Does he med it for the people of the orphanage? Does he me himself for being careless? Does he me other people because of their ignorance? He doesn''t know anymore.

    Raven told him that once he remembered many things about his life, then that means that the battle is over. It happened, he remembered everything and everything that Raven said before became clear to him. But Raven also said that once he remembered everything, he should have an idea on what to do. Unfortunately, he doesn''t.

    But if there''s one thing that he could do right now, he could return to Thorn City and search for Raven, maybe he''ll tell him the answers he''s looking for.

    ***

    "Elyion! My boy!" An old voice called out to him after he passed by a public ce. Elyion turned around and saw an old man being supported by a cane looking at him with a kind and longing expression.

    It didn''t take long before the gears in Elyion''s brain kicked in and made him recall who this was.

    "Grandpa Max!" Elyion yelled as he quickly ran forwards and hugged the old man. Memories came rushing back to him. This old man was one of the people who really took care of him even back in orphanage. Max constantly wanted to adopt Elyion but his applications were always denied because they weren''t convinced that Max could afford raising Elyion. But that didn''t stop him from taking care of Elyion.

    "Oh boy! You''ve grown up! You''ve faced many hardships because of that hateful parasite!"

    Elyion was surprised when he heard this, he looked up and asked: "H-how did you know?"

    "It''s not just me boy. Every single human in this city was infected by that thing! When it died, our memories recovered and I remembered us meeting multiple times. I always thought that you look awfully familiar but that pest will always make me forget about you. It turns out that you were transformed into a Shape Shifter! But no matter, Shape Shifter or not I''ll protect you this time!" Max tussled his hair and showed a kind smile.

    Elyion felt a lump on his throat, he fought the urge to cry. He couldn''t believed that he allowed himself to forget about this old man. That pest had greatly affected the lives of every human here, many have suffered and died but now that the pest is gone, everyone could move forward now.

    This only made Elyion''s desire to meet Raven even stronger. He broke free from the hug which caused Max to be confused, he then exined:

    "Grandpa Max, I''ll have to leave for a bit. Don''t worry, I''m just off to find someone, I''ll be back I promise!"

    Max was surprised, a few ideas surfaced in his brain which made a lot sense for him. Therefore, he smiled and nodded. Without wasting anytime, Elyion waved goodbye and rushed towards the inn where both of them stayed for a while.

    He didn''t even bother opening his room, he stopped by Raven''s room and opened door. Only to find out that he wasn''t there.

    Elyion felt his heart sank, a great sense of loss drowned his entire being as he realized that Raven wasn''t here anymore. He already had an idea that he will leave as soon but he didn''t expect it to be this soon. What does he do now?

    "Hmm?" Elyion hummed, his eyesnded on the table inside the room. He closed the door behind him and approached the table and sat down on the chair.

    There was neatly folded letter as well as a storage pouch on top of the table. Elyion picked up the letter and started reading it''s contents.

    ''If you''re reading this, then there is a huge chance that I already left. I n on leaving this letter after I dealt with the Phantasm''s corruption.''

    ''Don''t bother to find me, you won''t be able to. I was sent here for a mission and now that it''s done, I have to leave, my people needs me as well. I am rather curious though. Now that you''re free from the corruption of the Phantasm, what are you going to do? Cause I can''t really tell you anything since that''s your life, not mine.''

    ''Now that your unwavering faith towards human is gone and now that you realized that you are a human all along, I wonder. What will you do now?''

    Reading up until here, Elyion felt empty. Raven''s word made him realize what he wascking right now. Back when he was being manipted by the Phantasm, all he ever wanted was to be a human. But now that he found out that he is a human all along, he doesn''t know what step to take next.

    ''Whatever your decision is, remember this. Only you can walk the road that you chose, not someone else. You are young Elyion, don''t think too much. You''ve missed a lot during the times that you weren''t in the city, think about that and start from there. You have a lot of time Elyion, don''t waste it.'' Elyion couldn''t help but to smile when he read this.

    ''If fate wills it, then we shall meet again. Farewell, Elyion. Thanks for being my guide during my stay at the Thorn City.''

    ''P.s. I emptied Raul''s treasury, everything''s in the storage pouch.. Take it as payment for your service.''

 Chapter 169 - Rewards

    ---

    "Well done."

    Sometime after Raven killed the main body of the Phantasm, the method to leave was revealed to him so he didn''t waste too much time inside the pocket dimension anymore. He took advantage of the chaos and wiped he treasury of Raul clean and left it in his storage pouch along with his farewell letter.

    When he focused on his intent to leave the realm, his body was sucked in by some foreign force. He momentarily lost vision and when it returned, he was back at the pce grounds and he heard Inos'' voice.

    "Thanks. That''s a weird experience." Raven replied with a wry smile.

    "I know right?" Inos said with a smile, "Anyway, congrattions for making it in this stage without dying even once. Since you reached the first checkpoint, the road from here on out will only get harder so you have to prepare."

    Raven nodded to Inos'' exnation,e to think of it, the whole resurrection thing was still something that he hadn''t experienced before. He didn''t know if he should feel lucky that he hadn''t had to take advantage of it, since he shouldn''t get used to dying repeatedly because that would be a bad habit, or not.

    "Anyway, it''s time for you to receive your rewards based on your participation. Focus on the golden imprint on your psyche."

    Raven nodded and followed his instructions. He saw the floating golden imprint on his psyche and focused his attention on it. Suddenly, a strange and archaic voice echoed inside his mind¡­

    "First Pocket Dimension: Cleared. Releasing rewards based on performance¡­" the archaic voice became silent for a bit after saying this. After that, it spoke once more.

    "Calctions finished. First Mission Final Grade: S, candidate will be rewarded with¡­"

    "[Book of Chaos: First Chapter], Archaic Hammer, and Mount Seed."

    "Oh?" Raven let out a surprised sound as he heard this. Suddenly, three items popped out of existence and floated in front of him. First was an ancient looking book, next was a hammer and thest one is a bean-sized seed.

    "Huh? They gave the first chapter to you this early?" Inosmented on the side, clearly surprised when he saw the book.

    "You know this book?"

    "Know it?" Inosughed and exined, "That''s an understatement, not only me but every Heir of the Ancient Divine Crown used it. Pay attention to it."

    Raven raised an eyebrow when he heard this. All of the previous Heir used this book? Then it must be something good then. He decided to carefully read its contentster¡­

    "What about these two then?" Raven asked.

    "I don''t know." Inos tly replied. "I never seen the hammer and the seed looks like a mount seed and if I''m right, then it''s pretty obvious what it does. What I could say is that the crown won''t hand out these rewards without a purpose, so you might want to spend some time thinking about it."

    "Is that so¡­" Raven said in a whisper.

    "Anyway. You''ve reached the first checkpoint and cleared it. You cleared one out of many steps you have to clear before bing the True Heir. Work hard and search for the next pocket dimensions, I''ll appear once again once you found the 10th pocket dimension." And with that, Inos'' silhouette disappeared, leaving Raven alone inside the Pce Grounds.

    Many thoughts and spections surfaced over Raven''s mind, but he forcefully broke his trance and decided to not think too much, all of his questions will be answered once he became the rightful heir so there''s no use stressing himself too much about it.

    "I didn''t use too much time to clear the mission, so I still have time left in here. I''ll check my rewards first." Raven said, he then sat down and picked the mount seed first.

    "Mount Seed, the best quality too. Every growing Knight should have a mount, it''s a staple even in the Divine Realm. Sure, one could tame beast and make it a mount but the loyalty of it would be in question. The best way to foster a mount is by acquiring a Mount Seed. But raising a mount would be a pain, good thing I have ways to do it."

    In order to hatch the Mount Seed, one has to feed it with resources. There is no way of knowing what kind of mount would be hatched from the Mount Seed but one could certainly guess how strong the hatchling could get by how much resources one is willing to spend on it.

    Even in the Divine Realm, fostering a Mount Seed is done with outmost care. There are multiple cases of people hatching very rare type mount using the Mount Seed. Some lucky folks could hatch a Quicksilver Horse, which is said to have the highest affinity in Time Laws. Some hatched a Demon Bull, which could trample any kind of barricades using it''s horns.

    A few of the extremely lucky ones outright hatched a divine beast like a Vermillion Bird, Azure Dragon, ck Tortoise, White Tiger.

    Raven could only hope that he get something good out of this Mount Seed since there''s no way that he''ll find one here in Grand Ancestral ne. He had to reach the Divine Realm first to find one, and even then it''s still extremely rare.

    "As for this¡­" Raven said as he picked up the hammer, immediately regretting his decision since he was not aware that it would be that heavy. "Really heavy! What is it made of?"

    Raven carefully ced the hammer in front of him and inspected it. After looking at it for quite sometime, he still couldn''t guess what it''s made out of, therefore his thoughts became something else.

    "Inos said that the crown won''t hand you out without any reasons..." Raven muttered, "Is it telling me that I should wield a weapon? That''s the only reason I could think of right now. But why though? I''ve seen many flourish in the weaponless path, so why can''t I do the same?"

    "Wait¡­" Raven trailed off when he was in a deep thought, an shocking realization dawned to him that he didn''t even want to believe it. "Actually let me test this out."

    Without any hesitation, he probed the hammer using his Spiritual Sense. It was then that he felt something stir in his Spiritual See. He unconsciously entered his psyche and involuntarily looked up. The starry skies above his head appeared and a particr constetion started emitting a brilliant sh of light.

    Raven watched as the Archaic Hammer let out a joyful hum, it then turned into a sh of light and appeared in his Spiritual Sea which greatly surprised Raven.

    But it didn''t stop there though. Once the hammer appeared in his Spiritual Sea, it sent out a thin film of light that shot up towards the starry skies. The light touched the constetion that was shining brilliantly and the resonance between them created waves of reaction inside Raven''s Spiritual Sea.

    Raven felt his soul recovering at an astonishing pace. His Spiritual Sea was expanding at an rming pace as well. But this wasn''t the thing that caused Raven to be astonished. It was the fact that the Archaic Hammer transformed.

    Previously, it looked like just any regr hammer, one that has two blunt sides and mostly seen being used by cksmiths when forging something. But this transformation was just insane¡­

    The hammer was enormous, it was sorge that it was almost reaching the starry skies inside Raven''s Spiritual Sea. The carvings on the handle of the hammer appeared like numerous hands, wrapping all over it and reaching up towards the skies. The aura it has was suffocating, Raven had no doubt that under the right hands, this hammer could even shatter the Grand Ancestral ne in one swing.

    The color of the hammer remained ck with a glistening sheen, the two blunt sides were still there but there was a gem embedded in between them and on top of this gem was a sharp tip, almost like a spearhead.

    Raven was dumbfounded, he didn''t know what to make out of this situation. Originally, he just thought that he should test the hammer''spatibility with him. He never thought that the reaction would this huge.

    He was pretty sure that he had been looking at the hammer for a long time, that''s until it suddenly shrank into an eptable size, enough to be held using two hands, and then it sent a thin film of light once again but this time, it went towards Raven. He didn''t dodge it and let it touch his soul, he didn''t feel any ill intent from it so he knew that he was safe.

    The film of light fused within his soul, his head throbbed for a bit but he experienced this so many times that it barely affected him. Suddenly, knew things appeared inside his memory and all of those were about the hammer. But the most important thing was¡­

    ''Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer, unable to be wielded by anyone else aside from Vendrick Valorheart.. One out of Five Forms unlocked.''

 Chapter 170 - Book Of Chaos

    ---

    Myriad Limb, Raven''s Spirit Entity. Long story short, based on what he saw from ancient records the Myriad Limb is creature bred with malicious intentions but didn''t grew up to live up to it.

    It houses a kind soul, therefore its creator was disappointed. In the end, it was betrayed and taken by a powerhouse for reason''s unknown and became a brilliant constetion reflected in the Starry Skies of the Spirit World. But just now, Raven found out what happened to the Myriad Limb in the end.

    It became the disciple of the powerhouse that took it. Unlike its creator, the Myriad Limb''s Master took great care of it and pitied it''s fate. He passed on some ancient text about cultivation to the Myriad Limb, as it grew stronger, it''s intelligence increased and eventually it became independent enough to roam the ancientnds on its own to search for it''s lucky chances.

    When it came back to its master, the Myriad Limb went aplete transformation and evolved into a Deity, which eventually named as the Gracious Thousand Arms Deity. Due to its evolution, it could now assume a human form, and the Myriad Limb gave itself a name, Dior.

    Dior came back to his master''s aid and nned to spend the rest of his life apanying him. This is his decision in order to settle the karmic ties between then and to acknowledge the graciousness that his master imparted to him.

    But few years into service of his master, a great cmity descended onto the ancient world. All powerful individuals rushed into the frontlines and fought to drive back the enemies. Dior and his Master acted and threw themselves in the battlefield. Unfortunately, his master fell into the hands of the enemy.

    Dior''s fury rose to the highest heavens. His only family, the only person who took pity and care for him died because of alien invaders. Diorunched himself onto the battlefield, straight onto the enemy base. All thousand of his arms wildly destroying every enemy he encountered. Unfortunately, he was weaker than the leader of the alien forces, and his life came to an end.

    Dior''s prowess was widely recognized as one of the strongest. It''s easy to defend two fists, but what if someone has a thousand? And each fist contains traces of Destruction Laws? Would it be easy to defend against that? Back in his home, only a few people could manage to trade blows with Dior. So when he fell to the hands of the enemies, the moral of his people fell to the rock bottom and the enemy seized that chance to destroy their home.

    But Dior''s fury knows no bounds. His flesh might''ve been devoured by the enemies but his spirit still lingers on, and so long as the culprits of his Master''s death are still alive, he refuses to fade away. Therefore, instead of being a mere remembrance of the Spirit World, he fused himself into a weapon and willingly became a weapon spirit. Now he''s trapped, waiting for the correct person to wield the hammer so that he could awaken from his slumber and return to battle.

    So far, only a handful of people witness the true form of Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer. Dior could still recognize one''s potential even though he is in slumber, if he judged that the correct person was wielding the hammer, then he won''t hesitate to reveal himself to them.

    Which leads back to the reason why only Raven was allowed to wield the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer. He was recognized by Dior and thus, allowed him to see his past and revealed the true prowess of the hammer.

    "Well, this is awkward..." Raven smiled wryly and continued, "I am extremely ttered but I didn''t have much knowledge on wielding a hammer, not even for smithing purposes."

    "But I also can''t let you down. After all, we have the same enemies. Abyssals."

    That''s right, the alien races that invaded and destroyed Dior''s home was precisely the Abyssals, Raven''s sworn enemies. In the end, Dior and him were kindred spirits. If anything, Raven was just a tad bit luckier for having the Ancient Divine Crown by his side, causing him to experience Soul Rebirth.

    "The crown won''t hand you out to me without any reason¡­" Raven murmured, "Alright then. I''ll learn how to use you. I''ll w may way to the top, once I''m there you''ll be with me. Together, we will sweep through their lines and make them, regret ever existing!''

    His domineering im was answered by a joyful hum of the hammer. It automatically, flew to his hand and fit perfectly in his grasp. It then turned into a sh of light and disappeared, Raven frowned but then he saw that there is a mark on the back of his palms. A tattoo of sorts, depicting an image of a hammer. He smiled and returned his attention outside.

    "Alright¡­" Raven was back and he nced straight towards the book that was still floating in front of him. "Let''s see what makes you so special then."

    Without any further ado, Raven lifted his arms and grabbed the book. But before his fingers touched it, the book transformed into a light that went straight towards his head.

    ''Come on, must you all do this?'' Raven thought, smiling wryly as he endured a great headache once again. New memories appeared his mind and it took him a while before managing to re-organize them.

    Eventually, he managed to rearrange the new information in his mind and when he did, his jaw almost fell on the floor.

    "W-what! H-how is that possible! No! It can''t be right? B-but¡­no!"

    Ever since he experienced Soul Rebirth, Raven has yet to experience being flustered. All of the things that he encountered before was just small things for him, no big deal, can''t reach the apex. But when he learned about the contents of the book, he found himself flustered and in denial.

    [Prime Emperor''s Scripture] this is the name of his cultivation technique. The author of the scripture found a way for someone to simultaneously cultivate three paths: Body, Spirit and Energy. In his previous life, when he found this scripture, he couldn''t help but to admire the daring attitude of the author and his vast knowledge. Cultivating three things at the same time requires tons of patience and extremely dangerous too. This scripture could cause a severe war even in the Divine Realm. Countless of people would risk their lives just to get their hands on this.

    Even he himself was convinced that this is probably one of the most absurd cultivation technique that ever existed.

    Imagine his reaction when he found a scripture that''s even more absurd to that.

    Simply put. The [Book of Chaos] is a very old text that contains a cultivation technique. However, instead of focusing on three separate paths, it took on the most daring move and actually fused the three paths, something that even the author of [Prime Emperor Scripture] thought impossible.

    The jist is to mimic the creation of all things. Which means that, in order to cultivate this technique, one has to have ess to Chaos. But difficult is this?

    Chaos, Void, Time and Space. The four absolute forces that had been present ever since the beginning. Chaos is the one that took charge in creation.

    Chaos gave birth to the Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang gave birth to Elements and from Elements came life and eventually¡­humans.

    This simply means, that in order to mimic Chaos, Raven had to enlighten himself about elements. Which also means that he had to study multiple Laws, tracing them back to their roots which would eventually mimic chaos. Once he had chaos, then he could continue cultivating this technique. Just how absurd is that?

    On his previous life, Raven focused on Earth Laws. Not even millennia''s under a time enchantment could he gain full enlightenment about it. So how could he possibly believe that this technique is possible?

    However, Raven had to admit. He was incredibly tempted to cultivate this technique. Why? It''s because so far, he only have the First Chapter of the [Book of Chaos].

    What was written about mimicry of Chaos earlier was the premise of the book. The true contents of the first chapter however, was something else.

    Even though he was in denial earlier, whoever wrote this book managed to convince him that this path is actually viable. That''s because the first chapter of Book of Chaos, was focused on Metamorphosis.

    If he followed the scripture religiously, he would experience a systematic rebirth that would get rid of Mortal Shackles. The three paths: Body, Spirit and Energy would no longer have to be cultivated separately but instead be reced by an entirely new system of cultivation.

    An unorthodox path, one that him alone in this generation could follow and forge. One that could possibly allow him to have better chances in his future war with the abyssals. One that could certainly guarantee the safety of his family and world should he managed to be sessful in cultivating it.

    These reasons is enough for him to stop hesitating¡­

 Chapter 171 - Hammer Training

    ---

    The first chapter to the [Book of Chaos] is focused on transformation.

    Since the [Book of Chaos] don''t follow any of the three known paths, it means that in order to cultivate this, Raven have to experience a metamorphosis. This change will get transform him from inside out, the book gave details to the cultivation path he''s going to take and so far, he had seen two stage written in the first chapter: Metamorphosis and Gathering.

    ''Metamorphosis Stages'' is pretty straightforward. It transforms the individual''s body to be a proper vessel for Chaos Energy in the future. It has a total of nine stages, which means that he has to go under nine transformations as well. What makes this harder is that the resources he needed to cultivate is going to be a pain in rear to find. Reaching the peak of this stage would be roughly equivalent to reaching the Knight Stage in the Energy Path.

    ''Gathering Stages'' is pretty straightforward too. Since his body would be a proper vessel for Chaos Energy, then it would make sense for him to start gathering them right? This stage also has nine stages and reaching the peak of this stage would be roughly equivalent to Golden Knight Stage.

    So far, these are the only two that he knows of, he figured that in order to know more, he had to acquire the rest of the chapters. His best guess is that he would find it by clearing out the pocket dimensions inside the Pce Grounds.

    "I''ll cultivate this but not for now. I don''t have the necessary resources to do so just yet. What I am worried though, is about the requirements in ss. Director said that we have to reach 100% conversion rate of Energy Essence, if I started cultivating this then I''ll divert from the norm and there might someplications. So what do I do about that?" Raven muttered¡­

    He was truly faced with a dilemma, the requirements had to be followed in order for him to stay at the Genius ss, but if he started now, he will fail meeting this requirement and he might lose qualifications to stay at the Genius ss.

    Raven was in such a deep thought that he didn''t even noticed that he was kicked out of the Pce Grounds and returned to the real world. He only became aware of it when he felt the atmosphere around him change. This made him smile wryly, but at the same time, an idea which could possibly work struck his mind. He wasn''t a hundred percent sure if it would truly work but it''s better than nothing, plus with how he carried himself in ss, it''s quite possible that he might convince everyone.

    Raven did the usual and took off all his clothes. He then jumped at the pond nearby his cave and soaked on it to nurse his injury. While he was recovering, he touched the imprint inside his psyche, the one that he shared with Richard and Jacob. He instructed them to search for some resources for him,ter on he received a confirmation from the two that they already sent men to search for the materials.

    After he nursed back his exhaustion and hidden injuries, he stepped away from the pool and ced some pants. Not bothering to cover his upper body, he looked at the mark at the back of his right hand that depicted a hammer. He touched his connection with the mark and suddenly, a two handed ck hammer materialized in his hands.

    The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer''s handle was roughly a meter long. It''s very heavy, more or less three tons. He could barely do three swings without exhausting himself. He knew because he just tried it.

    If he ns on wielding this thing, then he had to start with a training hammer first. It just so happen that he was actually keeping one on his storage ring. Come to think of it, when he first asked his friends as to what kind of weapon they want to train with, he remembered buying training versions of each virtually possible weapons he could find. This hammer is one of those, who would''ve known that he would have to use it now.

    Strangely enough, the hammer that he bought was also a two handed hammer. What even crazier is that it looks almost identical to his archaic hammer, but it weighs lighter, about a hundred kilograms ording to his estimations.

    "Is it Fate or no?" Raven muttered, "Whatever, at least I have something to use."

    Without any more hesitation, he held the hammer using both of his hands and performed a couple of swings, familiarizing himself first before he actually use it to train.

    When the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer connected with him, it also passed him some scenes of its previous owners'' training, which gave him more insights about hammer wielding. At anytime, he could ess some insights about their training and gain inspirations on it.

    As for battle arts, he didn''t have to many with him. He almost never paid attention to hammer techniques during his past life, so either he find a good one or he make his own. Either way, it won''t be too much of problem for him.

    ''Wielding a hammer is risky. A hammer as weapon only has offensive qualities, which means that unless you have a shield, your pretty much abandoning your defense. Well, if one has enough training with it, then maybe the hammer could function defensively as well but it''s true edge flourish in pure offense. No retreats and fullmitment. Under the weight of a hammer, defenses should crumble. Hammer takes advantage of a raw strength, and depending on how one forges it, the results might turn into something devastating.''

    ''In order to unleash the true potential of the hammer, the secret is not how you hold it. Yes, making sure that you won''t identally lose grip of the hammer is important but the real secret is on your legs. Under no circumstances that you are allowed to fall while holding your hammer, anchor yourself to the ground, never lose your footing. The force behind your strikes muste from your legs all the way towards your arms.''

    This is one of the insights he recalled just now. It is from one of the owners of the hammer and for someone who have no experience in wielding a hammer, this is a great help.

    First, Raven wanted to test it out. He raised the hammer and struck the ground using the strength of his arms. The hammer left a decent mark at the ground but the rebounding force almost made Raven lose grip on the hammer, it even reverberated in his body which gave him a numbing feeling.

    Then he started paying attention on his footing. He lowered his stance, almost like a squat. Then with a loud grunt he took a step forward, feeling the ''pump'' of force on his legs all the way up to his arms, borrowing that momentum he struck the ground and immediately a huge cloud of dust kicked in.

    When the dust cloud was gone, Raven was surprised to see that there is a bunch of web-like cracks on the ground and the hammer left an indentation of at least seven inches.

    "Whoa¡­" Raven eximed, "The force behind that strike could pummel a human t."

    It is arguable if his full force strike is equivalent to that strike, but considering that this is his first time wielding a hammer, this result was very pleasant for him.

    So for the next hours until sunrise, Raven never stopped training. His arms were slightly aching but he didn''t mind, this feeling was actually somewhat pleasurable for him.

    Raven was absorbed in training that he wasn''t aware that his hammer wielding was improving by leaps and bounds. Of course, there are still some areas where it needs polishing but it has just been a couple of hours since he started training. He was fully immersed that he didn''t notice how much time had passed already.

    The hammer danced around his body, the ground beneath him was cracked all over but Raven never tripped not lost his footing as trained. Each time he swung, the air would whistle harshly, it was like the force behind his swings were ripping the air apart.

    In his immerse state, Raven found out that the swings of hammer was very simr on his fist blows. So without knowing it, he started integrating some insights on his fist techniques behind his swings, resulting in a unique way of hammer wielding. At some point, his swings was powerful and controlled enough topress little amount of air, which will act as a projectile once he decided to release it. Wasn''t this simr to his fist technique?

    It might be a little too rough and not practical for now but eventually, he will be able to get better at it and who knows, maybe he himself would be surprised on just how powerful his strikes could be.

    And remember, all of this was done by a training hammer. Just imagine what kind of devastation the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer could release¡­

 Chapter 172 - Private Meeting

    ---

    It has a been a total of two weeks since Raven had finished clearing the first pocket dimension of the Crown Space and received his rewards.

    Time passed by uneventfully, the Genius ss was gathered for a ss once during this time but all they did was to discuss about how to properly control one''s energy, all for the sake of 100% conversion rate to Energy Essence, that''s all they focused on which was boring for Raven since he''s already ahead of everyone.

    So instead of wasting time, he instead focused on his main n. That is to reach for the goal earlier than anyone.

    This n was made due to the fact that he might not be able to stay in the Genius ss once he switched his cultivation art. Victor made it extremely clear that he won''t bend the rule for anyone and that includes him so he could only dy his transition.

    But Raven was already prepared enough to make a breakthrough. He already had enough discipline and control over his energy that it just makes sense to breakthrough. So for the past two weeks, he had been focusing on condensing regr energy to Energy Essence.

    Individuals who aren''t prepared for this would usually feel bloated, Energy Essence could either be as thick as a mercury or as solid as a crystal, depending one one''s conversion. It would feel like a heavy lead was clogging up a part of one''s body. Their energywork would hurt, there''s even a risk of it being damaged, this is why one should have enough control over their energies before they even attempt this.

    Raven didn''t have this problem, his energywork had been tempered and widened so these kind of pressure won''t be any problem for him. His control is impable, so far he was able to crystalize two of his energy nodes. At the same time, some of the free flowing energies in his energy channels are already converted, which makes the rest of conversion easier. He should meet the goal in another two weeks or so.

    Aside from converting his energies, he also used this time to improve his hammer wielding.

    Recently, he brought a new hammer that''s heavier than the training version. The one he bought weighed for more or less a ton, which is a bit of a challenge for him to wield but not impossible. He could use it for a few set of moves before his arm and leg muscles scream bloody murder at him. After every training, he will soak in the pond filled with Body Restoration Fluid to soothe his aching muscles and make them stronger. Doing this allowed him to constantly raise his stamina bit by bit.

    He also scoured the market in search for hammer wielding manuals. So long as it''s avable, he will but it, even if it''s iplete, low grade or focused on cksmithing, he didn''t care since he wanted them all. His goal is to gain as much insight as he could and gain inspiration from multiple perspectives. He decided that he would train and make his own style of hammer wielding, this way he could bring out the true potential of the hammer.

    Speaking of training, Raven almost destroyed his whole yard during these past few days. His attacks were so ferocious that it left web-like cracks on the ground all the time. The walls beside his cave dwelling also didn''t escape his torment and was filled with holes, cracks and destruction.

    Raven knew that he couldn''t do anymore damage around him or else his cave dwelling might copse. So he had been thinking of a way topensate for this.

    While he was thinking, he felt something buzz around his pocket. He frowned and reached out to grab a badge. He looked at it and realized that it was the badge that Victor handed to him when he became a part of Eternal Horizon n.

    He sank his perception onto the badge and read the message that was left.

    ''Meet me at near the entrance of my office in four hours. Wear a disguise, make sure you won''t be followed, we will be meeting with the members.''

    Victor''s message was brief and straight to the point. Raven ced back the badge on his pocket and went into deep thought.

    ''So it''s finally time to meet them huh? This meeting should more or less answer some of my curiosities about this organization. Their purpose and the reason behind the mystery. Come to think of it, why did he ask me to meet near his office instead of going directly at where the organization was? Something''s up, I should prepare myself.''

    So with this in mind, he didn''t tarry any longer and started preparing for the private meeting.

    ***

    Raven who''s under a disguise of a middle aged man, went near the entrance of Victor''s office.

    He noticed someone''s there but he didn''t know who it is. Both of them gazed at each other and Raven saw the man reached out to his pocket. He brought his hand on his lips and spoke a few words. After he was done, Raven felt the badge inside his pocket buzz, he reached out to it and sank his perception once more.

    ''Follow me and be discreet. If you notice anyone following us, stomp really hard to let me know and walk the other way.''

    Raven''s brow shot up, he realized that the man in front of him was actually Victor under a disguise, he then thought ''Is there really a need for all of this secrecy?'', but he didn''t say anything. He had no idea how this organization truly function just yet so he was in no position toment about anything.

    Victor then lead the way while he maintained a safe distance behind. He was in a constant look out just in case someone was following them and so far, none entered his observation radius.

    After taking many twists and turns, both of them arrived at a rather secretive location. It was a cepletely deserted by people, close to one of the danger zones inside the kingdom.

    Raven''s sense picked some things off around him. He sensed another person but he couldn''t pinpoint the exact location where he/she was hiding. Another thing was that, there is some sort of a barrier not too far away from them that''s preventing his observation to go through. It didn''t matter if it was his Energy Sense, Spiritual Sense or Tremorsense, all of those were blocked by this thing.

    Sudden, the bush nearby them shook which greatly alerted Raven. His eyes narrowed and he quickly threw out a couple of needles towards it. The needles were enhanced by his energies thus making them sharper and deadlier. Raven heard a groan from the bush and it sounded like a man, he moved like a phantom and appeared beside the pinned down guy, his fingers were clutching a few needles as he brought them close to the man''s neck. He then asked with a threatening tone¡­

    "Make any unnecessary movements and these needles will find their way into your throat." Raven felt the man tensed up under his threat. "I''ll ask a question, you answer. Blink once if yes, blink twice if no, if you don''t know the answer then don''t blink."

    "Stand down." Raven was about to ask some question when Victor grabbed his shoulder. "He''s not an enemy. He''s guarding the ce."

    "Oh." Raven''s cold eyes disappeared like snow in the middle of a summer. He then quickly retrieved the needles that pierced the guy and tapped some parts of his body. He then stared at the guy and said: "My bad. I''m new here."

    Victor watched this scene while holding back hisughter. He then thought, ''What a kid! He made him eat a loss. How''s he going to react to this?''

    "God damn!" The guy eximed after catching his breath, he clutched his chest with a hand and looked wearily at Raven, then to Victor. "I just fucking saw my whole god damn life sh before my eyes! I genuinely thought that I will die! Holy shit!"

    The started spitting out more profanities as he felt the rush in his heart. Just a few seconds ago he was genuinely convinced that he will die, a few seconds after that he was saved, his poor heart was having a difficulty processing all of this. He then faced Victor and said:

    "Why didn''t you tell him that I was here!?"

    "You were clearly aware that aside from us members, almost no onees here. Plus, you obviously know that we areing, you won''t be out lookout for at least a decade if you didn''t have any skill. You obviously want to scare him for your own amusement, unfortunately he''s betterpared to you so you ate a loss."

    Victor berated the guy harshly, from Raven''s point of view, the two must really know each other or else the situation will be more tense right now.

    "Alright, alright! You win! Enter now, the rest already arrived." The man threw his hands up and gave up, he then looked at Raven, he smiled then said: "You''re very good, we''recking people like you.. I hope you stay."

 Chapter 173 - Elder Drake & Dragon

    ---

    The entrance that was blocking the hidden passage moved.

    It was a circr door that parted in the middle, this also the same thing that prevented Raven''s spying. This door opened as soon as the guy earlier disappeared, maybe he''s the one who opened it for them or he contacted others to do it for him.

    Nevertheless, the two entered the tunnel behind the circr door. Victor lit up a torch and gave one to Raven as well, he then said:

    "No matter how bright or dim this ce is, no matter how good your eyesight, remember that we are only allowed to use regr torches as a light source and nothing else. Anyone who enters this tunnel must light up a torch or else they will be treated as infiltrators. Keep this in mind."

    Victor''s tone was full of solemnness which meant that he was serious, Raven kept this information inside his mind, and with how good his memory is, it is very unlikely that he will forget about his warning.

    Seeing him nod to his warnings, Victor smiled and the two kept walking. Eventually, they reached the end of a tunnel. Once outside, they were greeted by a sea grass and trees. Raven looked up and saw that there is a sun hanging at the sky, he frowned as told himself that this shouldn''t be possible, it was night time when they entered the tunnel and it didn''t took them that long to traverse it for it to be day time once again.

    Raven narrowed his eyes and inspected this scene with his ocr technique, then everything became clear to him. He was right, it was still night time and the sun that he''s seeing right now is man made one, created from a high grade array formation. He''s guessing that this array should be connected outside, that''s the only way that it could mimic the sun this good that it almost fooled him.

    Victor was about to exin this to him but for some reason, he could tell that Raven already knew the answer. Well, he actually wasn''t sure if Raven truly managed toe up with the correct answer but his instincts told him that he did so he didn''t bother exining.

    They arrived at a tall metal gate, in front of the gate there are two hooded figures. These people blocked the way and prevented them from moving forward.

    Victor stepped forward and greeted them, he showed them his badge and signaled Raven to do the same. The guards checked the authenticity of the badges and saw no fault so they stepped towards the side and opened the gate for them.

    The gates then revealed a very expansive mansion. There are several people who roamed around the mansion, some are servants who tends to the ce, others are simr to the both of them, here for the gathering. They made their way towards the main doors of the mansion, they were once again asked to show their badges and they did, then they were allowed in.

    Raven inspected everyone here. Just like them, most of the people here are wearing some sort of a disguise, the only people who aren''t wearing one are the servants that roamed around.

    Raven followed Victor around and they ended up inside a spacious room with some people waiting.

    "Goat''s here."

    "Took him long enough."

    "Since when was he on time anyway."

    The people around them suddenly became active and started talking about Victor. Raven inspected these people one by one and came to a realization that everyone here had a cultivation level of at least Knight Realm and above.

    "Oh, he brought someone."

    "A little Soldier? Why are you dragging a kid here Goat?"

    "Will you shut up people? Why don''t you allow Goat to exin first?"

    Victor was a bit overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the people around him that he was actually finding it hard to reply to each of their questions. Raven on the other hand wasn''t paying attention to any of their words, instead he was focused onto something else.

    ''That''s one scary dude.'' He thought.

    He sensed this person by ident, at first he was about to ignore it but he learned his lessons during the first trial of the crown space. When he analyzed the feed he received, he became incredibly thankful that he didn''t ignore this guy.

    This dude was a Golden Knight, which means that he''s one of the most powerful human being in the kingdom as of this moment. What made this scarier is that if it weren''t for his close inspection, he would''ve never noticed this guy among the crowd. His aura was very hidden, almost like he was blending with the surroundings.

    ''Laws perhaps? Yeah, seems about right. Either Mist Laws or Wind Laws. Whatever it is, he should be at an entry level since I was able to see him.''

    At the same time, the man that Raven was inspecting felt his gaze too. Both of their gazes met and the man saw Raven bowed towards his general location, like a junior greeting a senior.

    The man''s eyebrow shot up, amusement filled his heart as he thought: ''Interesting, a little Soldier boy managed to locate me despite being covered with Wind Laws. How sensitive.''

    The manughed despite himself, he then decided to drop the Law concealment surrounding him which is basically an announcement of his presence. The air inside the room became solemn, everyone in the room turned their eyes towards the man who''s silently cing his teacup down.

    "Greetings, Elder Drake!"

    "Greetings..."

    The people around him immediately became wary and hurriedly greeted him. They were scared out of their minds, who knew that this formidable guy was sitting behind them? They began thinking that the Elder must''ve been displeased with their noises that''s why he decided to reveal himself, all of them started bracing themselves.

    The man named Elder Drake silently stood up and approached Victor. He then stopped in front of them which made Victor quite nervous. Victor immediately sped his hands towards Elder Drake and said:

    "Paying respects to Elder Drake."

    Elder Drake received this greeting, on the other hand he became quite nervous when he saw that Raven was just standing there and doing nothing. He sent him a voice transmission which didn''t elude Elder Drake''s senses. Victor then heard Elder Drake spoke:

    "It''s fine Goat, the boy already paid respects before any of you did." His light-hearted words echoed across the room which shocked all people inside. "You''ve brought a good seedling, Goat. Meet Dragon in his office, he''s been waiting for you."

    Jus like that, Elder Drake disappeared from everyone''s sight. The pressure he emitted was gone which made the crowd breathe a sigh of relief. A Golden Knight''s aura was truly impressive, it''s stifling, making it hard for them to breathe properly. It was like they were being stared down by an ancient beast.

    Victor woke up from his stupor, Elder Drake''s words still echoed in his ears. He nced at Raven who wore a deadpan expression throughout, his heart still contained waves of shock. Elder Drake said it himself didn''t he? That this boy saw him before any of them could. A little Soldier boy managed to sense someone who''s a couple of realms stronger than him. Even if this was done by ident, this was still an amazing feat.

    He didn''t know why but he felt that bringing Raven here was the best decision he ever made. This is considering the fact that he haven''t even done anything to contribute just yet.

    Victor send a signal to Raven, they then strutted away from the crowd and arrived at the doors of Dragon''s office. Victor knocked politely and patiently waited.

    The doors of the office swung open and some guards allowed them passage. Raven gazed at the office and saw multiple things. There''s arge shelf filled with old books on the side, there''s board with arge map pinned on it. Raven looked up and saw that there is a majestic art on the ceiling, there are several type of beasts and races painted on it which makes one wonder what were the thoughts of the one who painted this.

    In the middle of the office, there is a set of tables and chair. At the end of the room, there is a tall and stained ss window. In front of the window, a man could be seen staring at the view outside while his hands were sped on his back. He was wearing a mask that depicted a dragon''s face.

    Without any hesitation, Victor lowered his posture and solemnly greeted: "Paying respects to Master Dragon."

    Behind him, Raven also followed suite. While he was bowing however, he never stopped inspecting the man in front of him. He didn''t even had to inspect him closely to know who this was.

    Just from the way how Victor greeted him and from his position, he could already tell without a doubt that this is Crown Prince Balmung.

 Chapter 174 - Woes Of A Royalty

    ---

    "You''re finally here, Goat." The Crown Prince who''s wearing a Dragon mask nodded and received Victor''s greetings.

    His gaze thennded on Raven who politely had his head down on the side, Victor looked up for a bit and saw that his master was looking at the person he brought.

    "Master, this is the child you ask me to invite before. I brought him here since he expressed interest in joining, however he remains uneducated about our purpose."

    "Ah! So this is him! You''ve done well, Goat." Balmung praised as he nodded and inspected Raven.

    The gaze of the Crown Prince became somewhat enthusiastic as he looked at him. Raven felt a headache, for some reason he felt like he willingly entered a trap. After a close inspection from the eyes of Balmung, he finally stopped and talked to Victor.

    "Leave this child with me. You may go and meet up with Drake, Tiger and Vermillion, they will tell you the purpose of this meeting." Balmung said, Victor then lowered his posture once again and said:

    "As you wish, Master." But before he left, he sent a voice transmission towards Raven saying: ''I''ll leave, don''t worry Master won''t do anything to you, I could tell that you could already recognize him so you should know this as well.''

    He patted Raven''s shoulders and retreated from the room, leaving the two free to discuss everything that they have to. Once he left, there was an eerie silence inside the room past the lively chatter of the crowd outside. It was then that Balmung suddenly waved his hand and a peruse energy covered both of them.

    Raven became alert but he didn''t move. He inspected what changed in his surroundings and found out that the sound of people chattering outside of the room was cut off, he could feel some kind of barrier around them.

    "Cone Silence, a simple formation capable of blocking sounds. Our discussion might be a little too sensitive to be heard by everyone so I activated it." Balmung said as he proceed to sit down on his table. "Rx and make yourselffortable." He added after sitting down, gesturing Raven to sit down in front of him.

    Raven nodded and epted his invitation, he sat down on the chair in front of Balmung''s table and remained silent. Suddenly, Balmung moved and removed his mask.

    Then his undisguised face was exposed to Raven. Instantly, a wave of reminiscence swept his mind, countless memories resurfaced and reminded Raven just what kind of man Balmung is.

    He heard many things about him during his previous life and the current one. Most of them were from Luna''s ramblings, saying that he was a benevolent and kind person but also doesn''t back down from a challenge. Though they act like kids whenever they were together, Luna always looked up to her big brother. Both of them rarely saw their father since he''s always out, looking for ways to strengthen their kingdom. It was Balmung who stepped forward and shouldered great responsibilities ever since.

    At first, due to his youth everyone chided him and didn''t ce any trust in his decisions, specially after considering that fact that he immediately used his authority to impeach several people as soon as he could. But who would''ve thought that he had been bidding his time and made dozens of movements without anyone noticing. All of the people he arrested were all spies and coborators of the ck Curtain Guild.

    On the first week since he took charge of the kingdom, not only he severely gutted the operations of the ck Curtain Guild but also silenced everyone who were unsatisfied with him.

    Nobody, not even Raven, managed to figure out how he did it. All he knew that his dad ced great trust on Balmung''s decisions and worked with him on multiple asions.

    "Not even surprised huh?" Balmung chuckled after seeing Raven''s deadpan expression. Nevertheless, he already expected much from him.

    ''My Dad and Luna ced great trust on you, there''s no reason for me to act suspicious about you.''

    ''I''ll trust you as well. I hope that you''re everything they said.'' Raven shook his head and rubbed his face.

    Balmung was surprised by his actions but became stunned when he saw that Raven removed his disguise as well. The young man then stood up and made a respectful gesture towards the prince.

    "Vendrick Valorheart, son of Luis and Eva Valorheart, greets you Crown Prince Balmung."

    The formal greeting was received by Balmung with a satisfied nod. When Raven sat back down, Balmung felt that Raven was trulyfortable around him now, which is a little shocking for him. Nevertheless, he didn''t think too much about it and went ahead to say some important things.

    "I believe you go by your nickname, Raven? Correct?"

    "Yes, your highness. I prefer people to call me that."

    "Very well then. Tell me, Raven. From what you''ve seen so far, what do you think is the n''s purpose?"

    Raven stared at the eyes of the prince for a while, he then answered the mostmon thought that he had upon his initial observation.

    "I have no idea to what extent just yet, but I figured that everything is for the sake of our home." His answer warranted a nod and smile from the Crown Prince.

    "Simple isn''t it?" Balmung asked with a faint lightness in his voice. "It''s just like what every self-proimed righteous organizations'' purpose as well. We see a potential harm against our people, we eliminate them. If we see something that will destroy our home, we extinguish them. Very, very simple."

    "But you deal with humans." Raven sighed.

    "Exactly." Balmung simrly sighed as he massaged his temples, "Not everyone is willing to work for free. Humans seek fulfilment, be it by wealth, self-worth, reputation and all sorts of things. In the end, it''s more of a business coboration instead of unification for the sole purpose of creating a better environment for future generations."

    "Even so, I can''t me them for their ignorance." Balmung said with a wry smile. "The walls protecting our kingdom remained strong during the past 100 years. No beast hordes made it through, no ns of ck Curtain Guild did any serious damage, the crime rates are low, and the satisfaction of the people are high. All of these qualities made them rx their guard. Majority of the citizens think that our kingdom is safe from harm, but they absolutely have no clue at what cost."

    "How many loyal soldiers unhesitatingly confronted the enemies with no regards to their safety? How many families lost their parents, children, rtives, partners and futures? How much effort one had to ce just to remain alert for any possible acts of terrorism from our enemies? Do they even know that the battle was far from being over?"

    "Many people think that just because we, the Royal Family, had troves upon troves of treasure that we justy down on our beds without any care about the well being of others. It''s widely known fact that the King is outside of the kingdom, doing his absolute best to search for opportunities to strengthen our kingdom. Everyone adored him for breaking the norm but do these people truly understood the gravity of this situation?"

    "The King, who was supposed to sit up on his throne to gaze and guide the kingdom to glory, has to personally get up and do the dirty work since no one else is capable of doing so. Though it pains him to pass the responsibility to his children and leave them, he had no other options, he couldn''t find it to himself to let the kingdom rot under his rule. Who knows what kind of dangers he faced outside? Is he even sleeping well? How does he deal with this solitude? What keeps him from returning? When will his loyal subjects realize what he has to endure?"

    As Balmung spoke, his words became more and more personal. In the end, Raven could see that his chest was visibly heaving up and down from all of the pent up frustrations and anger he held.

    In the end, Raven could only sympathize with him. Even without him saying these things, he already knew about all of this. In fact, this was true reason why he created a grand n for his friends and himself. Everything that he did, he did it for his home. But unlike Balmung who take a rather secretive and careful approach, Raven''s method will be vastly different. Whether it''s effective or not, he had no clue just yet. But if it will allow him to leave in peace for his eventual ascension, then all will be worth it.

    "I apologize, I made fun of myself in front of you. You know, getting all personal and stuff." Balmung chuckled and scratched his head.

    Raven shook his head and replied: "Don''t be Your Highness. The responsibilities you hold are far too heavy, it is natural for it to take a toll on you. Before Knights, we are Human first, you built a strong bond with your people here in the n, I''m sure they won''t mind it if you share some of your responsibilities with them."

 Chapter 175 - Purpose

    ---

    "I did, but they could only do so much. Them attending to this sudden meeting is already causing a great risk on their missions." Balmung said as he shook his head, "Right, I''ve been rambling here for quite sometime now, I haven''t even told you about the n yet."

    "The Eternal Horizon n is a two-faced organization." Balmung introduced, "On surface, it is an organization that deals withmunity service. The building that you''ve seen outside is the headquarters for that. I handle those as well but that''s just to cover for our major operations, like a distraction in a way. Those who willingly joined that branch will never be allowed here, that''s the rule so do remember that."

    "The true Eternal Horizon n''s headquarters is here. This has been the center of our meetings and where we discuss the next steps we do for the development of the kingdom. In here, we highly value secrecy, that''s why you see majority of the members wore disguises, I know some disguises could be seen through but It doesn''t matter cause even if we meet outside, if we aren''t under a mission or you people didn''t get any direct orders from me, then we will act like we don''t know each other. That''s another rule that must be observed. Of course, if you see a n mate in trouble, you are free to help them but remember that none of you are allowed to reveal you''re position in the n to outsiders. I hope this is clear."

    Raven nodded, signifying that he understood the rules.

    "Next, I''ll tell you what we mainly do here." Balmung said in a more serious tone, he opened a drawer on his table and took out a stack of papers. He then handed it towards Raven who immediately inspected the papers.

    Observations, escorts, investigations, infiltrations and even assassinations. These were all the kind of missions that he saw. What greatly surprised him was that, the targets of these missions are either influential people, big organizations or the danger zones within the kingdom. The general theme of the missions was to gather enough information first and rify if the reports were correct. Then once they gathered enough evidence, it would depend on the Crown Prince to decide if there would be a frontal confrontation or stealthy assassination.

    "The idea is to gather as much intel as we could." Balmung exined, "This is my way of sifting through all possible threats. Once we have enough proof then we strike."

    "The missions are avable for anyone to view. Though there are no specific rules about what kind or difficulty of missions one could take, it''s best to not to bite more than you can chew, specifically for beginners. We deal with dangerous targets, the n always move in secret so no one is allowed to use the n''s reputation for bargaining, if we received news that someone did that, I''ll be forced to deny those ims in order to protect the n, do remember this." Raven nodded once more to Balmung''s words.

    "You can apply for missions either individually or group, don''t be scared of these people, their personalities might be a little entric but I personally screened them one by one, plus the benefits they could get by staying loyal is something not even other organizations could bear, so you can more or less trust them. That being said, if you prefer to work alone, that''s fine as well. Make sure to look after yourself, if you fail the task then make a quick report using your badge so that we will be informed and can prepare for the worst."

    "The time limit is depending on the difficulty of the mission, sometimes it could take mere days to finish one mission, sometimes it might even take years, but what''s important is youe back alive. The rewards that you''ll receive afterpleting a mission, varies as well so choose carefully."

    "If, by any chances you fall in battle, your contributions to the n will be remembered. And for that matter, the current and next generation of your bloodline will receive promptpensation from the n. This will allow them to prosper and be stronger."

    "That''s basically all." Balmung said, "Our purpose is rather simple, but we just do it behind the scenes so that we could catch the opponent off guard. So, how about it? Do you wish to join?"

    "Of course, Your Highness." Raven replied without any hesitation.

    Basically, every doubt that he had in mind was answered. He came here out of curiosity, he joined because of respect. The whole reason why everything was done in a secretive manner is because they didn''t want their enemies to have time preparing for their assault. The less people know of them, the better they work. The more missions theyplete, the more they help towards the kingdom''s development.

    When Balmung heard his willingness to join, he asked for the badge that Victor passed to him. Raven handed the badge and the prince ced a royal seal on the badge which not only transformed it''s appearance but also added more functions to it.

    "Try your best to not lose this badge, this is one of the validations of your inclusion to the n. But if you have no other choice, make sure to inform someone right away. This badge can serve as amunication device and also a beacon just in case you needed reinforcements."

    Raven received the badge and immediately ce left a mark on it, iming ownership of the thing. He then returned it back to his sleeves and asked: "I have a question, Your Highness."

    "What is it?"

    "Is there are required mission count to be considered?" Raven asked out of curiosity since this wasn''t mentioned by the prince earlier.

    "At least one every month, it doesn''t matter whether you fail or not. Just make sure that you keep contact with us."

    "Right." Raven nodded, "I would like to request for a mission now."

    "Oh!? Someone''s eager, want me to help you choose?" Balmung said in a chuckle.

    ''This guy, he''s treating me like a kid.'' Raven thought which made him sigh, he ignored the jeering of the prince and said: "I already have some in mind."

    "Some? Which ones?"

    "Everything pertaining to the Sacred Leaf Tavern."

    When Raven revealed the mission topic, Balmung became stunned. Right, how could he forgot about that, Victor personally reported to him that Raven initially joined Sacred Tavern First before he was approached by Victor. Therefore, if there''s anyone who could tell them more information about this organization that sent waves upon waves of shock in the kingdom, then it would be him.

    In reality, Balmung repeatedly tried sending some people to chat with Richard in hopes of forming an alliance, however their invitations had been decline over and over again. In fact, it wasn''t just him that they rejected, nobody managed to even invite Richard over some tea or any other drinks after that explosive event.

    To Balmung''s eyes, the Sacred Leaf Tavern might be one of the leaders of the new age that he and his family ever sought. The products that they revealed was never been seen before, not even a single product of the former Pill Saint Pavilion could stand up to their products. Not to mention, they even severely wounded the Mort Family''s reputation which greatly delighted the prince. God knows how much he wanted to get rid of those people but can''t due to their merits.

    "Thank god you''re here." Balmung sighed, feeling extremely excited inwardly. "What can you tell me about them?"

    Before Raven even spoke, he first took out a bottle of high-grade Moonshine which caused Balmung to instinctively gulp. Raven smirked, he needed no exnation nor words to exin what the prince currently feels, after all no one could resist the taste and effects of Moonshine. He poured a ss for him and himself, after a brief toast the effects of the Moonshine took effect and Raven started exining.

    "The Sacred Leaf Tavern''s headquarters would be situated here." Raven took out a map and pointed at where they decided to build the organization. "During the past weeks, we received many applications for prospective alchemists and decent number of applicants managed to pass. Since then Director Richard and Junior Brother Jacob had been rather busy teaching them basic knowledge about medicine and concoctions, they are also being closely monitored during concoctions after all we don''t have much resources as Director had no time for any negotiations."

    Due to the effect of Moonshine, Balmung remembered Raven''s exnation word per word, he didn''t speak and allowed Raven to continue.

    "So far, we are expecting to open for business next week or the week after that. If Your Highness ns to negotiate with Director, my suggestion is that you focus on providing supplies and some protection to the tavern. There is no need to worry about potential moles or potential traitors since it''s impossible for them to exist inside."

    Balmung raised his brow when he heard this bold statement, impossible is a strong word. However, Raven''s next piece of intel rified his doubts.

    "It''s because the Sacred Leaf Tavern is protected with the Heart Reflection Array."

 Chapter 176 - Foxy Prince

    ---

    "Heart Reflection Array, huh." Balmung murmured in low voice. "So that''s where their confidencees from."

    The prince studied array formations to some degree, the Heart Reflection Array is a very rare kind of formation and he certainly had read records about it in some old texts.

    It is said that the formation peers through the heart of a person, meaning their intentions and their true nature. If there is even the slightest bit of malice in a person''s heart, then the formation will work against them. Since the formation is set to protect the Sacred Leaf Tavern, anyone who entered the ce with bad intentions will be dealt with by the formation itself.

    "The Sacred Leaf Tavern is built on top of a hill, all those that were filtered by the formation will be lead to the core of the hill which Director built as a prison, so long as they held malice towards our tavern, then they shall never see the light of day ever again."

    "Do you know how many prisoners there is?" Balmung asked.

    "A lot, I don''t know the exact amount but it''s crowded in there. Most of them even knew each other, it''s probably because they were sent by the same person." Raven sighed as he said this.

    "Who?"

    "Psh. Who else?" Raven sneered, he didn''t say any names but Balmung could already guess who he was referring to.

    "I should''ve known, you ruined his reputation after all so he must''ve been shivering in anger ever since." Balmung sighed. He shook his head and took another sip of Moonshine.

    "Oh that''s not the only reason why he''s angry though." Raven chuckled coldly, "We came in a unanimous decision to not allow his crusty hands to touch any of our products. He had been salivating over the Limit Breaking Pill in hopes to set foot on Golden Knight Stage. As if we''re going to let that happen."

    Balmung''s eyes constricted a bit but returned back to normal afterwards, his thoughts worked fast thus he immediately understood why Mort didn''t stop sending his men even though he knew it was useless.

    He could briefly remember that the Sacred Leaf Tavern created an authorization system that everyone has to go through before they get their hands on their product. Richard also held the highest authority to decide who gets the products and those that don''t. Richard denied the Mort Family obviously so no one in their whole family would be able to touch any of the products they sell.

    "On top of that, I was the reason why Zelor Mort is no longer a part of the Genius ss." Raven added another information that truly surprised Balmung. He haven''t heard of this before! Victor didn''t make any reports at all.

    "You awfully know a lot." Balmung said curiously, "You must be a very important person to them."

    "Something like that." Raven shrugged, "I remember them appointing me as their Holy Son."

    "You what now?" Balmung said while raising his voice just a tab bit. Raven was a bit puzzled as to why he reacted that way. The prince eventually regained his calm and said: "Excuse me, I just wasn''t expecting that from you."

    Though inwardly, the prince was: ''The hell are you shrugging about? You were appointed as the Holy Son of a future behemoth, can''t you show a little pride or interest? Why does it sound like being their Holy Son is an inconvenience to you? Hell, I thought this kid couldn''t be anymore formidable yet here he was, proving me wrong.''

    "But like I said, I am in position to negotiate with the prince." Raven''s voice interrupted Balmung''s chain of thought. "If you want, I could arrange a meeting with Director Richard depending on your avability. The contents of your conversation would be decided ording to the needs of both parties. If all turns out well, then our Sacred Leaf Tavern might be a direct supplier of pills for the n."

    Raven''s words was like a strong enticement to the Prince''s ears. He could already imagine just how eager the n would get once an alliance was made. With how potent the products the tavern has to offer, this would truly boost their capabilities and the rate of sess on their missions.

    "Thank you for giving us this chance." Balmung said with heartfelt emotions, "This is a huge help. Once the negotiations are over, we will definitely give you properpensation for your merits."

    Raven opened his mouth, he wanted to tell the prince that there is no need to hand him the rewards since it''s probably wealth and he''s already wealthy enough. But he also thought that the prince might feel bad if he refused thepensation so he instead said: "It''s fine, take your time."

    The prince smiled and sighed in relief, in truth he knew that the rewards he could offer wasn''t enough to tempt Raven even for a bit because of his status. Nevertheless, he was thankful that the young man in front of him understood his intentions and epted it.

    "By the way, Luna hadn''t visited me for quite sometime. Do you know what''s upying her time?" The prince dropped all formalities by now and asked Raven this question in a friendly manner.

    Forget about being a prince, as her brother Balmung should at least know what kind of people Luna''s friends are, hence he pestered Old Lee a couple of times to investigate and honestly he was impressed. From the stories he heard from the old man, she and her friends had a very solid and healthy rtionship, constantly training together and forming a deep bond that will be a great source of their strength in future.

    Of course, he was also informed when Luna decided to let them know about her true lineage, and he could tell that Luna was incredibly lucky to find such genuine friends, he was incredibly happy for her from the bottom of her heart.

    "Oh, she hadn''t informed you yet? She was epted as Madam Leona''s sessor, which probably means that she''ll be the Holy Daughter of the Red Knights." Raven informed.

    "She what!?" Balmung lostposure once again, it took him sometime before he regained it. "Sorry about that."

    "It''s fine." Raven chuckled, "I guess Old Lee didn''t know how to break down the news for you."

    "I can''t me him." Balmung shook his head, "It must''ve been incredibly awkward for him to let Luna train under Madam Leona. They have history after all."

    "I heard that as well."

    "I''m guessing that Anne and Ellen are also a member of the Red Knights."

    "Yeah, they''re being taught by the most trusted senior members of Red Knights under the instructions of Madam Leona."

    "As for Paul and Mark?"

    Raven raised a brow but wasn''t surprised, "Paul joined the Scavengers while Mark joined the Lair Hunters. Their trainings are being supervised by Seniors of the organizations they chosen so both of them are doing fine. We still find time to talk and spar from time to time so that we could keep our teamwork intact. I am very happy for them."

    Balmung was silent for a moment before saying, "As a brother, thank you for helping my sister."

    Raven smiled and epted this heartfelt gratitude, in truth there is no need for such words since be it his past life or the current one, he would still do everything the same, his friends are people that he valued a lot, he gradually learned their importance when he became the lone survivor of kingdom and was forced to endure everything alone. He swore before that he''ll never loose grip to them if he had another chance and that chance was graciously given to him so he will hold on to his vow.

    "Man, it would be awesome if we be inws you know? Then I don''t have to feel guilty."

    *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

    "E-excuse me?" Raven asked in a flustered manner.

    Those words caught Raven off guard. No matter how much preparation he does, he might always end up reacting this way.

    "Ooh, someone caught feelings¡­" Balmung wore a foxy grin as he stared at Raven''s flustered face.

    Raven almost choked on his spit when he heard the Prince teasing him. ''Are you for real? What kind of situation is this and how do I get out?''

    "I''m just wondering you know?" Balmung said while still wearing that foxy grin, "It would be nice if you and my sister were in a rtionship. Then I could just treat all this help as the dowry plus more, I''m sure Dad wouldn''t mind at all!"

    "L-let''s not get ahead of ourselves here, Your Highness¡­" Raven tried exining.

    "Oh so you''re not against it? I see, I see."

    ''God Damn It!'' Raven inwardly screamed, he wanted to punch something right now but found that improper so he could only rub his face aggressively.

    "You kids can take your time, okay? Carefully cultivate the romance and let it bloom in full maturity, then move on to the next step. It''s okay too?|"

    And thus, for the next hour.. Raven was tortured by the incessant teasing of the Crown Prince.

 Chapter 177 - Grand Opening

    ---

    Two weeks after that whole incident, waves upon waves of shock crashed through every corner of the kingdom.

    First of foremost was grand opening of the Sacred Leaf Tavern.

    No one had forgotten about their little show of force back then, even if they stayed on a pretty low profile and focused on training their members, a lot of people were still observing their movements.

    Many have lost their patience and tried infiltrating their headquarters but none of them came out ever since. No one has any clue as to where they were or what happened, whether they''re still alive or not. In the end, they could only helplessly stare as the officers and members of the tavern took their time in preparation, there was nothing they could do to stop or hinder their rise.

    The grand opening was aplete surprise, no one outside of the officers and members of the tavern was informed about it. And what a huge explosion that was because it wasn''t only the headquarters of the Sacred Leaf Tavern but also several branch sites, that opened at the same date.

    This took everyone by surprise, no one knew that the Sacred Leaf Tavern was building branches under their noses. This must''ve been nned from the very beginning, everyone thought that Chief Director Richard was a very clever guy. But contrary to their beliefs, Richard wasn''t the one who came up with this nor Jacob. All of it was Raven''s idea.

    The total number of branches they managed to build was at least twenty, scattered across the whole kingdom. Every branch site was carefully chosen and the materials used for the buildings were top notch. Every single branch was armed with a couple of cultivators who pledged wholehearted loyalty to the tavern. There''s also several array formations guarding each site so that the safety of the alchemists and consumers are guaranteed.

    And if that wasn''t enough to faze the people who had their greedy eyes off the tavern and wanted a slice of pie so bad, then the announcement of a direct Alliance with the Crown Prince and the Royal Guards, should be enough to stop them at their tracks.

    Raven honored his words despite being tortured by the prince two weeks ago.

    The alliance meeting urred in a discreet manner, the people who knew about it before the announcement could be counted by hands. Balmung was incredibly generous about his offer and showed his wholehearted desire for a long and steady alliance with the Sacred Leaf Tavern. He also disclosed information about the true Eternal Horizon n and their true purpose.

    Though he wasn''t present during the negotiations, Raven heard everything the Crown Prince discussed with Richard using the link he had with Richard and Jacob. In the end, both parties were satisfied with the negotiations and signed he alliance.

    Now, every branch site is heavily guarded by the Royal Guards while their service is properlypensated by resources that the alchemists made.

    The first day of the Grand Opening was a massive sess, the hard work and patience that the alchemist endured during the past few weeks of training and concoction was all worth it. With pockets full of gold, every Apprentice Alchemists were ted and sighed upon thinking that they made a great choice by choosing this path.

    Richard always told them that every Alchemist should hold their heads high and be proud of their chosen path. At the same time, always seek improvement on their skills because if they do so, then their dreams about a wonderful future would be within reach. The beginners etched these words onto their hearts from this point on and went back to work with hearts full of enthusiasm for their futures.

    In just a week after the Sacred Leaf Tavern''s grand opening, the heated discussions about them was still going on in every corners of the kingdom.

    "These pills¡­ how miraculous! Thank you Sacred Leaf Tavern! You''re doing god''s work!"

    "Hey, stop being so dramatic!"

    "You''re one to talk, ever since you consumed the Limit Breaking Pill, you haven''t stopped smiling."

    "Am I that obvious."

    "Che! Yeah you are! But I understand what you feel though. Just as when we thought that we could no longer advance with our cultivations, the Scared Leaf Tavern came and blessed us with their grace."

    "I fully support that statement. The pills are incredibly potent yet cheap, I heard there are petitions to rise their prices since many are afraid that the tavern might go out of business."

    "That''s correct, I heard my cousin talked about this during our family gathering. They received a lot of letters pertaining to that topic. He said that Chief Director Richard won''t raise the price for now, the reason is because he wanted to help the weak be stronger, if they raise the prices of the pills them nomoners would be able to buy the pills and the situation will turn into the strong gets stronger and the weak bes weaker. Director Richard didn''t want that to happen."

    "Right, I forgot your cousin is an alchemist now!"

    "Yeah, and because of that his status in the family shot through the roof. I am so envious! Who knew that the little turd that can''t even do things right without me helping him was now the first in line for the position of n Head. Sometimes, the work of fate is extremely hrious."

    "Come on don''t sulk like that, I know your cousin as well, he''s a righteous man. He won''t forget those who helped him before and most certainly he won''t forget about you! You supported him in the past now he will do the same."

    "Thanks, I''m incredibly touched by your words but I know you want something in return so out with it."

    "Hehe, you really know me so well, brother. Nothing much, just a bottle of Moonshine would do."

    "Oh? I thought you''re going to ask for some expensive liquors instead."

    "It''s the Moonshine''s fault dude! I know it''s not alcohol but man, the state you enter after one sip is heavenly that I always feel at a loss whenever I''m not in that state."

    "Damn, now I want to drink Moonshine as well. Come! Let''s drink!"

    "Hell yeah!"

    ***

    "Mom, Dad. Consume these pills will you?"

    At Luis'' office, Raven could be seen sitting in front of the dining table with his parents.

    He decided to take a break from all of his training and visit his dad at his office to give him something, he wasn''t expecting that his mom was there as well but he wouldn''t have the another way. He spent time with them and they caught up with the events of their life.

    Raven told them the general trend of his life, Eva and Luis felt endless pride and happiness hearing how hardworking and reliable their son turned out to be. After they enjoyed a meal together, Raven ced a pill on their hands and told them to consume it.

    Both of them nced at the golden round pill at their hands, they looked at each other, then towards Raven. Luis then asked: "Son, what does this pill do?"

    "Just consume it, you''ll understand afterwards." Raven mysteriously said while sipping a ss of Moonshine.

    His parents had a confused expression on their faces yet they knew that Raven won''t bring them any harm. Both of them swallowed the pill at the same time and then a miraculous scene urred.

    The wrinkles on their skin disappeared, the while strands of their hair turned dark once more. Eva''s eyesight became better, the healthy and youthful glow returned to her face, if someone were to look at her current appearance they would never think that she is a mother of a fourteen year old child already, she looks like a fair maiden right now.

    Luis also felt his youthful vigor return, his mind was clear and his back became straight once more. Both of them ced a hand on their chests and felt their hearts pounding not because of cardiac arrest but because of excitement.

    "Son! This is¡­" Luis can''t even exin what just happened, he didn''t need to look at his current appearance to know what kind of transformation urred to his body.

    "It''s called Longevity Pill. Like it''s name suggests, it restores and extends your longevity. The pill I gave to you should extend your lifespans by at least 1700 years, that''s the highest quality I could concoct right now."

    "Then you should''ve provided it to someone else, we have no need for such a high quality pill just yet." Eva said with worry.

    "Who deserves to consume the pill and who doesn''t, all depends on me. You''re my parents, as the Holy Child of the Sacred Leaf Tavern, if I can''t even do this then I might as well quit."

    Both of his parents were stunned by his words, they looked at their child lovingly thinking that he''s growing up so fast and afraid that he might endanger himself with how fast he''s going.

    "Mom, Dad.. I want to deal with the n."

 Chapter 178 - Fallen Clan

    ---

    "Mom, Dad. I want to deal with the n."

    Luis and Eva were stunned. They looked at each other with a visible dismay on their faces. There was a moment of silence before Eva spoke.

    "Avi¡­" Eva stood up and pulled Raven onto her bosom, her child returned the hug and closed his eyes to hear what she has to say. "Mom and Dad are incredibly proud to see you grow into such a fine man even though you aren''t even twenty yet."

    Raven felt a sting on her heart as he heard this words, still he didn''t say anything and allowed her to continue. "It''s just that¡­ I feel that you''re in such a hurry to be an adult. The things that you achieved¡­ almost all of them, aren''t things that a fourteen year old could do. We''re afraid that you''re pulling too many enemies to yourself and might get hurt in the process. Why don''t you take your time and experience your youth first?"

    Luis was silent but he wholeheartedly agreed with his wife. He might not show it, but he was always thinking about his only child, everything that he did was for his and their family''s sake. If it''s not necessary, he didn''t really want his son to get mixed up with the dirty side of this kingdom. Eva also thinks the same way.

    Raven felt like crying. These words are so simr to what he had expected they''re going to say. They''ve always been like this, putting him first before themselves, shielding him from all harm and conflict for the smallest chance for him to have a peaceful life. This is why the pain he felt when they were gone almost made him insane, back then he wanted to follow them into the afterlife but he decided to pick himself up and swore revenge. There had been countless night where he cried himself to sleep whenever he recalled their faces and how much he missed them.

    But it''s all different now. Raven would never allow them to get hurt in his watch. Even if it means making enemy of several men he wasn''t afraid.

    Raven pulled back from the hug and wiped the tears forming on the corners of his eyes. He then took out several stacks of paper and passed it towards Luis, Eva also took a nce at some files on the desk.

    "I''m a double agent Dad." Raven started, "While I''m the Holy Son of the Sacred Leaf Tavern, I was also scouted by the Eternal Horizon n. After we confirmed about the negotiations for the alliance, I took another mission that they were issuing, and I''ve found several things that you might not want to hear."

    "Eva¡­" Luis looked at his wife, he was subtly asking her to step out since this topic might hurt her heart. He knew that Raven won''t bring up this topic unless he was sure that there''s some basis behind it.

    "I''ll be fine, Luis." Eva''s face was cid, she might not have said anything but she had been rather furious about the Burning Heaven n ever since they decided to erase them from their ranks.

    Luis sighed and looked at his son, with a brief nod Raven started exining the observations he got.

    "They''ve gone mad." Raven started, "The constant pressure Dad''s given them all throughout these years had pushed them topletely pledge allegiance to the Mort Family."

    Luis sighed and crumpled the paper he was holding, Eva''s face was grieved. This was the worst case scenario that Luis wanted avoid. The reason why he went after them is because he wanted to ce them under a strict surveince so that they won''t fall under the clutches of the Mort Family. He made sure to think carefully about every single move he took against them but in the end, he didn''t manage to achieve his goal and his worst fears became true.

    "The Prince had been rather suspicious about them because of Dad''s adamant desire to suppress them. So on top of Dad''s constant pressure, the prince also mobilized some of his men to investigate the interior of the n."

    "The people at the n Pce are not the same people we thought they were. All of them, every single one, are imposters. The prince''s men traced one of the original n member and they followed him back to the territory of the Mort Family."

    "All of them were there, doing the dirty work of the Mort Family such as very, smuggling, prostitution, childbor and all sorts of illegal activities. By now, I won''t be surprised to know that some of them are in cahoots with the ck Curtain Guild."

    Luis went through the files that Raven took out one by one, as he saw the printed images and written reports on each file, his face became somber and somber. Eva worryingly gazed at her husband, her heart bled upon finding how the once prestigious n stooped so low and resorted to evil things.

    "Prince Balmung wanted to make a move with all of these evidences but he''s afraid that once the confrontation urs, Yael and his family wouldn''t hesitate to wash their hands and ce the entire me on the n, making them escape punishment once more. As much as possible, the prince wanted to use the n as a supporting evidence to grill the Mort Family but that won''t be possible if they had discussed this beforehand and if the n was willing to be a meat shield for them."

    "There are several missions posted on the headquarters of the Eternal Horizon n, the main ones are infiltration and interrogation. So far, no one took this missions since it requires going through the Mort Family Estate, many went there already but never returned, it was heavily guarded for them specially now that the family''s reputation is damaged and the prince is hot on Yael''s trails. But that''s them, I work differently and I can''t allow this any further."

    Raven''s determined face was in full disy for his parents to see. Luis and Eva looked at their son in a lovingly and worried manner.

    "Let me deal with them Dad. You and your forces can''t go, with your aggression towards the Mort Family, it wouldn''t be surprising if you''re under a strict surveince from them. I want to do this in one clean sweep."

    Luis was silent all along, inwardly he felt bitter since he could not provide any help for his son. He felt slightly useless, he started thinking whether all of his hard work before was for naught, his only child was basically charging towards the war and as his father he can''t do anything other than to watch and hope for the best.

    "How confident are you in this?"

    "Eighty percent."

    Luis was stunned speechless, he didn''t hear any hesitation on Raven''s voice at all. He looked at him carefully and sighed, he then helplessly and said:

    "I''ll agree on one condition." Raven''s ears perked up, he then waited for his father''s next words and was briefly stunned when he heard it. "Your Uncle Bradleyes with you."

    Raven pondered a bit, his thoughts moved quickly and adjusted his ns upon consideration for Bradleying with him.

    "I''m sure that your Uncle Bradley won''t allow you to go without him either. Son it too dangerous, even if it''s just an infiltration. I know that you have a certain confidence to yourself and I do too, but your cultivation aren''t on par with that. If you bring him along, then he should be able to protect you and send you away safely if things go south."

    "Plus, your Uncle Bradley and Ellen has to have some closure since they are included in the first ce. I''ll call your Uncle Bradley for you and you guys discuss this together."

    "Thanks, Dad." Raven nodded and hugged his father, "For having faith in me."

    Luis ruffled his hair and said, "I agreed because your n is for the peace of our family. But don''t you dare get carried away. At the first sign of possible failure, move out. So long as we''re alive, there will be time for us to deal with them. Your safetyes first, you hear me?"

    Raven nodded repeatedly, Luis then sent a messenger hawk towards Bradley and the three settled down for some talks as well.

    While waiting for Bradley to arrive, Raven roamed throughout Luis''s office and browsed through some documents, Luis allowed him to do so since he thought that he might searching for additional clues to raise his certainty of dealing with the Burning Heaven n.

    That wasn''t Raven''s goal, true he was searching for clues but not for his mission, it was for the possible moles in his father''s forces. As much as possible, he wanted to find a way in order to search and iste them so that noplications would happen.

    While browsing through the files, a soldier announced that Bradley already arrived. Raven pulled his attention away from the files but was stunned when he saw that it wasn''t only Bradley who came, but the rest of his friends as well.

    "What are guys doing here?"

 Chapter 179 - Infiltrate

    ---

    "Daddy told us that you have something to discuss with him, we were bored so we tagged along." Ellen said with a grin, she then walked towards Raven''s parents and said: "Long time no see Uncle Luis, Aunt Eva."

    "How are you, youngdy." Evaughed as she gave Ellen a hug, she then heard the rest of Raven''s friends greeting them so she said: "Good to see you, children. Have you guys eaten yet?"

    Seeing no one replied, she then said: "That is no good, you need to eat to support your growing bodies. Come, let Avi talk with his Uncle Bradley, I''ll prepare some food for you."

    "Let''s go guys." Ellen said, "When Aunt is like this, she doesn''t take no for an answer."

    And just like that, Eva led the group towards the dining area so that she could prepare meals for them. Raven sighed and smile wryly, he then looked at Bradley and said: "It''s been a while Uncle."

    "Been a while." Bradley nodded to Raven and Luis, he then returned his attention back to Raven and asked, "So, what''s up? What do you want to talk about?"

    "I want to settle ounts with my n, Uncle. I wish for you to join me." Raven went straight to the point.

    Bradley was stunned at first but then his face became somber as he realized that Raven wasn''t joking around. He grabbed a seat and looked intently at his nephew. "Avi¡­ it''s not that I am against this move of yours, in fact me and your dad, as well as the rest of our n, had been working on this since the day that they did something wrong to you and Ellen. Why don''t you let us adults face this problem instead and focus on your training? By the speed of you kids are improving, it won''t be toote for you to get involved."

    In truth, Bradley was touched that they even allowed him to express his opinion about this operation. He had long since lost count on how many nights have passed where he didn''t have any nightmares about that day. His daughter nearly died in the hands of what he thought, people that he could trust, if it wasn''t for Raven''s bravery then Ellen might''ve already died. But the savior of his daughter suffered because of his act, and this have been gnawing at him ever since.

    He wanted nothing more than to break down the gates of the Burning Heaven n and initiate a massacre to settle ounts but his hands are tied, he knew that if he wanted to deal with them, he had to y by the rules. He saw how the Burning Heaven n had declined, but that wasn''t enough to quell his fury. Unfortunately, he could only wait for the right time but as much as possible, he didn''t want to involve his daughter nor Raven for this matter.

    "I already told him that, Brother." Luismented on the side, "Why don''t you hear him out first? You''ll see why he''s anxious."

    Bradley was a little confused but decided to listen to what Raven has to say. Without any further ado, Raven then discussed every single detail about the n that he had managed to umte and showed it to him.

    As Raven exined the situation to him, Bradley started to understand the gravity of the situation and why his nephew was anxious about it. They have to be stopped and it''s best to do it as soon as possible.

    Under the gazes of his father and his uncle, Raven then revealed his n on how he''s going to make this work. Sufficed to say, the two adults were stunned on how detailed and how precise his n was. In fact, he could''ve made this whole n work without gaining consent from them and his chances of seeding would still be high.

    "¡­ oh and by the way. Guys? You cane in if you want, stop pressing your ears on the door."

    As soon as Raven said that, five people came crashing down due to the door opening. It was Ellen, Anne, Luna, Mark and Paul. Raven could only sigh in helplessness as he saw the ridiculous sight of his friends.

    "Girl, you¡­" Bradley stared speechlessly at his daughter, Ellen let out an awkward chuckle as he felt the piercing gaze of her father.

    The rest stumbled and picked themselves up, they were somewhat embarrassed about what happened.

    "See, I told you! That freak knows we''re there! You didn''t listen to me!" Paul reprimanded the rest with a whisper.

    "And? You telling that now will make any difference?" Mark retorted harshly.

    "You children shouldn''t be sticking your nose where it doesn''t belong." Bradley felt a headacheing, he wanted to ask why Raven didn''t say anything beforehand but obviously that won''t change anything, so he could only sigh in defeat.

    "Oh you are going to include me in this. I have a bone to pick with those people." Ellen said in an aggrieved manner.

    "But Ellen¡­"

    "It''s fine, Uncle." Raven interjected before they argue even further. He then looked towards his friend and said: "You guys wille with us. BUT! You''re following my instructions, are we clear?"

    Seeing them nod, Raven was satisfied. He then beckoned them toe closer and gave them strict instructions about their tasks. He constantly reminded them to follow the n since it would be a swift one, they can''t allow any mishaps to happen and they already discussed what to do in case of emergencies anyway.

    On the side, Luis could only shake his head andugh, kids nowadays are such busybodies. On the other hand, Bradley''s still hesitant about this.

    "Are you sure that it''s going to be fine?" He asked Raven just to make sure.

    "It will be fine Uncle, so long as they follow my instructions they won''t be in any danger at all. They''re mainly tasked with saving the victims during the raid since we can''t look after them."

    Seeing Raven''s confident response, Bradley couldn''t say anything more. Instead, he just went over with the n with Raven once again. Once they straightened out every single details and remember the key points of the n, all that''s left is to execute it.

    ***

    The infiltration act was scheduled during the night.

    Raven and the rest of his team were gathered not too far from the Mort Family Estate. Eyes shining with his ocr technique active, Raven spied through the estate and carefully checked their defenses. As expected, this ce became heavily guarded ever since the incident about the stolen recipe from the Pill Saint Pavilion. The guard were unnaturally active and ring at each spot, some were even ncing at their general direction.

    Thankfully, Raven considered this scene and arranged the gathering ce in a position where the guards can''t see clearly. This made it so that even some guards are looking at their direction, they won''t be spotted. He beckoned them to gather around him, when they were huddled, he spoke:

    "Remember your tasks. I will only be me and Uncle Bradley that will create chaos inside, you guys stay here and wait until we create an opening for you. Assume position and wait for the victims, escort them somewhere safe and make sure to guard them, understood?"

    Seeing them nod, Raven''s heart was settled. He ced his trust in his friends and went ahead with Bradley. He held Bradley''s arm and concentrated, using his psyche, he sensed the marker that he left inside one of the warehouse of the estate.

    Upon sensing it, he pulled the link and both his and Bradley''s body disappeared from where they were. After a brief second, they found themselves standing inside the warehouse. Raven gasped and quickly drank some concoctions he created so that he will recover faster, Bradley stood guard and spread his senses everywhere, doing some minor spying while his nephew was recovering.

    After sometime, Raven opened his eyes and his exhaustion disappeared. He then stood up and went close to Bradley. "How''s the situation, Uncle?"

    "Not bad. I sensed fourteen guards roaming around, they''re weak but all of them are carrying an Alert Symbol. It was just as you said."

    "Then we move ording to the n. If you will, Uncle." Raven said to which Bradley nodded.

    Bradley then closed his eyes and spread his sense like a spider web. He was scanning his surroundings patiently and waited for the right timing. Raven stood beside and simrly looking around as well, he knew that Bradley is in a very sensitive state right now and he can''t allow any mishaps to happen.

    Minutes passed since Bradley entered that mysterious state. In his mind, the location and habits of the roaming guards were imprinted and taken into careful consideration. It was then that the perfect moment arrived when every single guard that he sensed earlier was within the web of his senses.

    Bradley''s eyes snapped open and a low growl escaped his throat. All of the guards around the warehouse froze, they didn''t knew what was going on but for some reason they can''t move.

    Suddenly, the door of the warehouse flew open. Then a shadow instantly jumped through the roof and spun rapidly while throwing needles thatnded precisely on the guards neck.. After that, all fourteen guards were found unconscious on the ground.

 Chapter 180 - Red Light District

    ---

    After rendering the fourteen guards unconscious, Raven went down the roof and dragged every single one of the guards inside. He finished tying all of them up while Bradley was re-adjusting his state. The technique he used earlier was something that he hadn''t mastered yet.

    Bradley created this move and named it as Terra Stun, it uses some of his minimal understanding of Earth Laws to immobilize everyone in a certain area for a brief moment, however since he hadn''t mastered this technique just yet, he couldn''t use it repeatedly. At most he could do it one more time and that''s it, further attempts would just result in failure.

    Raven didn''t want to take chances so he told Bradley to use this technique as early as now. Now that they reduced the number of guards roaming around, they have more room to move and scout inside.

    Bradley finished recovering, the unconscious guards wouldn''t wake up until tomorrow so there''s no need to worry about them. Both him and Raven left the warehouse and traversed the shadows, making very sure to stay as hidden as they could.

    While they moved, both of them spread their consciousness to the maximum. Each guards that came nearby would automatically faint and be dragged at an inauspicious corner. The two proceeded to clear out the eastern gate to create an opening for the Ellen and the rest toe over.

    Raven and Bradley made a quick work out of the guards in the eastern gate. After isting the fainted guards they sent a signal for the rest toe over. Once Ellen and the rest arrived, they were tasked to take down the rest of the guards and wait until Raven or Bradley released another signal.

    The two then moved towards the dungeons of the Mort Family Estate ording to what was written on the map. The entrance to the dungeons was somewhat hidden from in sight and under surveince as well. ording to what the earlier infiltrators reported, there''s no one guarding the entrance but it was filled with all kinds of traps and rms.

    There is an inconsistency from the reports though, it was the kinds of traps that the previous infiltrators listed and triggered. From what Raven observed from the reports, he reckoned that they must be recing the traps very often in order to catch people off guard.

    Raven and Bradley arrived at the general location where the dungeon entrance was. Raven unleashed his spying capabilities to the maximum since he didn''t want to mess up the operation.

    "There is at least ten kinds of traps in there. Some are dangerous pitfalls, some are arrow and spike traps, some are traps or rms." Raven whispered to Bradley as he observed the sight in front of them. He also added, "The door is also another trigger to a trap. We can''t touch this door or else everyone in the estate would be rmed. We need to find a member of the Mort Family and get their insignia, that''s the only way we could enter."

    "Is that so?" Bradley asked, when he saw Raven nodded he said, "Wait for me here."

    Bradley disappeared in a sh, Raven patiently waited from his hiding ce. After a couple of minutes, Bradley returned, carrying an unconscious noble on his shoulders. When Bradley ced the noble down, Raven got into work and immediately searched through the noble''s belongings, he then found what he was looking for.

    It was a golden ring with the Mort Family''s symbol engraved on it. Raven took if off and nodded towards Bradley.

    "I got it, step where I step Uncle. Let''s be careful."

    After saying this the two stood up and walked towards the entrance with Raven on the lead. Bradley followed his instructions and stepped where he stepped. As they moved, no traps were triggered at all and eventually they arrived at the entrance of the dungeons. Raven raised his hand and ced the ring inside a very inauspicious socket on the wall.

    The entrance shifted and opened by itself, not triggering the trap ced on it. As soon as it opened, Raven and Bradley instantly smelled some questionable substances in the air making them frown in disgust.

    Raven took out two bottles of high-grade Moonshine and passed one towards Bradley. He then said: "Empty the whole bottle, this way we won''t be affected by the drugs in the air."

    Without any hesitation, both of them emptied the whole bottle of Moonshine, instantly allowing them to enter a heightened state of mind. Their alertness and attention to details was raised and they won''t be affected by the substances in the air due to their enhanced brain activity.

    The two walked forward and made sure to not make any noise. They even had the same thought and started walking on the ceiling in order to not be spotted.

    The road towards the dungeon is somewhat simr to cave entrance. It was a tunnel that eventually leads towards arge excavation underneath the Mort Family Estate. Once the two arrived at the end of the tunnel, they had an overview of where all of the Mort Family''s wealth was going to.

    They basically saw a Red Light District. All sorts of debauchery and sin were disyed in this area.

    Just in one careful nce, one would see people consuming drugs, fucking in the middle of the streets, abusing ves and all sorts of wrong things.

    Raven saw this ce before and what he felt back then was still simr to what he felt right now. Utter disgust and fury towards the Mort Family. Just now, he saw some familiar faces and thought that the investigations of prince were correct, the Burning Heaven n is here.

    As for Bradley, no amount of preparation could make him immune to this. He knew that the Mort Family are up to no good but he didn''t expect that it was this bad. He could recognize some of the faces of the ves here, these people are reported as missing for the longest time, who would''ve thought that they were never missing but instead, captured and turned into a ve.

    Raven inhaled sharply and when he exhaled, he let out all of the grievances that he felt earlier making his mood cid and indifferent. He then turned to Bradley and sent him a voice transmission.

    ''Assassinate as many imbeciles as you could, Uncle. The kingdom has no use for such people, please be careful. I''ll try to free as many people as I could.''

    Raven''s cid tone woke Bradley up from his shocked state. He took in a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down like his nephew did. He then nodded towards Raven and with that they went on their separate ways.

    ***

    "T-this lowly ve apologizes!"

    "Shut the fuck up!" A noble shouted loudly as he grabbed the hair of the female ve harshly. "Look at what you''ve done slut! Do you have any idea how much money I spent for this clothes? Huh?"

    The noble pulled the hair of the female ve multiple times, ignoring her pleading cries and apologies. The female ved cried and begged for mercy, she didn''t really intended to trip over and pour water on this young noble''s clothes.

    "Listen here, you filth!" The young noble brought the female ve''s face near his face and said, "Even if you offer me your worthless life, you will never be able to pay for these damages! Tell me! What should I do with you huh!?"

    As if his words weren''t hurtful enough, he also spat a thick glob phlegm on the female ve''s face and she couldn''t even do anything about it. Her heart sank into the abyss, she realized that she was done for and there''s nothing that could save her from this cruel fate.

    Inside the brothel, many people saw this event but had no intentions of interfering. People here are divided, those that abuses and those that are abused. In this ce, word of the nobles are absolute, no ve should dare to disobey them or else death is the lightest punishment.

    The young female ve could only watch as the young noble took out sword and aimed it to her throat. Endless bitterness crashed through her heart but even though she didn''t want to die, she knew that her fate is sealed so she could close her eyes and wait for her end.

    *Boom*

    A loud explosion urred, the whole brothel shook fiercely while the female ve''s eyes snapped wide open due to shock. She found it hard to believe that she''s still alive, not only that but the young noble who grabbed her by the hair was crushed into a paste, he probably doesn''t have any idea on what happened either.

    Her gaze shifted, she saw a young man standing not too far away from him. His face was cold and the hammer on his hand was stained with blood and pieces of flesh. The aura he radiated was suffocating, the whole brothel was alerted but due to the fearsome killing intent that this young man was radiating, no one moved.

    Everyone flinched when the young man moved, they then heard him say¡­

    "Tonight, the guilty shall face death."

 Chapter 181 - Payback

    ---

    Raven''s words were bold, domineering and absolute.

    He had no intentions of hiding at all, it''s no use either since once he killed someone, the rest would be alerted. Well, he just did kill someone so he might as well confront them directly.

    "What''s happening here!?"

    Everyone heard a moring sound, a person came down from the stairs and blurted out these words in shock. The man saw Raven''s cold gaze and the bloody mess not too far away from him. Blood instantly rushed up to his head and his fury erupted.

    "How dare you! A mere child decides to kill one of my patrons! Men! Seize this child and let him experience hell!"

    Armed people behind immediately came up and took out their weapons, they then charged at Raven with the intent of crippling him and teaching him a harsh lesson. In response to their move, Raven lifted his hammer and gave a mighty swing towards the iing wave of assants.

    *Boom!*

    Another loud explosion urred, everyone heard a shattering sound then a loud crash. The ten or so people who were previously charging towards Raven, were now scattered all over the brothel. Some were embedded deep into the walls, some had their limbs crushed by the mighty force, while some couldn''t take the force behind his attack and died.

    The jaws of everyone present, fell. No one was expecting such a mighty and overbearing forceing from a child. That was one attack from him, and it rendered ten fully grown adults unable to continue fighting. Where did such a child came from?

    Raven ignored all of the horrified stares of the crowd. He took one step after another,ing closer towards the guy who called for reinforcements. The noble almost leaked his pants in terror, never in his wildest dreams did he ever thought that such a day will happen.

    "Y-you! Don''te closer! D-do you really want to make the Mort Family as your enemy!?"

    Due to fear and unwillingness to die, he decided to use his ultimate card, his background, in hopes of intimidating the young man. Unfortunately, that didn''t even faze the young man at all. The noble saw Raven lift his hammer and instantly blood drained from his face, he lifted his hand and pissed himself in terror creating such a sorry sight. Tears flowed down from his face, he wanted to beg for forgiveness but couldn''t since the hammer came crashing down and that''s thest thing that he saw.

    Raven didn''t stop there, aside from the servants and ves, he directly killed every single person in here. He didn''t have to ask questions on whether they were innocent or no since the answer is already clear. In this ce, humans are divided into two categories: the abused and the abusers. It''s pretty easy to spot the difference.

    After cleansing the whole brothel with overwhelming force. Raven went downstairs and saw all of the terrified ves and servants huddling together and crying. Raven felt his heart being pinched as he saw their sorry figures. He stepped forward and saw every single one of them flinch, he frowned and it dawned to him why they were scared of him.

    He took a nce at himself for a brief moment. His whole body was reeking with a thick smell of blood, his hammer is stained with blood and pieces of flesh. Despite his young face, the aura he radiates were enough to make them freeze on the spot. He shook his head and spoke in a gentle voice.

    "I am here to return your freedom. Get out of this ce, myrades are waiting for you outside of this dungeon. Be careful on your way."

    He said nothing more after this and disappeared in a sh. The servants and ves looked at each other, they cried once again but not because of terror, they cried because of joy. Finally, a savior came to their aid, hope finally smiled upon their fates.

    They gabbed each other''s arms and ran towards the exit, they no longer feared anything that the Mort Family might do to them if they found out. For some reason, their hearts were united and thought of one thing. Someone came to save them. Everything else doesn''t matter.

    Raven did not look back, he had enough trust that Ellen and the rest will take care of the ves. As for himself, he knew that there''s still more ces where his presence is needed so he had to go.

    Eventually, Raven invaded a factory of some sorts. His nose picked up a strong smell of drugs and other questionable substances. His spyingwork was unfurled and instantly, his gaze started to prate walls, seeing through what lies beyond.

    What he saw didn''t surprise him that much, it was just another group of people who fell into the depths of depravity. However, if there''s anything that made his blood boil, it would be the fact that these group of people were a part of the Burning Heaven n.

    Ever since their family was exiled from the n, he kept an overwhelming hatred against every single one of them, so much so that he remembered every single one of their faces and cursed them to no end. Now that this chance had arrived, it was finally time to settle down the debts of the previous and current life.

    "Yes, your doing well bitch, suck it! Oh yeah¡­"

    Raven turned his head when he heard this lust-filled words. His gaze thennded on a young man grabbing the head of a female ve and shoving her face onto his crotch. His eyes narrowed and coldness started radiating from his body. He knew who this guy was, and there is a good reason why he reacted this way.

    His name is Elias, a direct descendant of the Burning Heaven n. He was his cousin that is four years older than him and liked to humiliate him in the past. He lost count on how many bruises and wounds he received from this guy in the past. He could still remember that when him and his parent were exiled, this guy acted smug and spat on him. Unbeknownst to Elias, Raven is a vengeful person, it''s time for him to pay for the sins he did.

    Raven slid down from the beam where he stood. He arrived at the doors of the room where Elias is having a good time. His raised his foot and threw a harsh kick.

    The door swung open, the female ve was scared out of her mind, she choked and pulled away from Elias'' grip. Elias was simrly shocked, well anyone would be as well, he''s basically caught with his pants down. He struggled from his foot and pulled his pants up to cover himself, he red at the person who interrupted his good time but when he realized who it was, his face paled instantly, as if he saw a ghost.

    "Miss me, cousin?" The word ''cousin'' was uttered by Raven with overwhelming sarcasm.

    Elias felt his soul leave his body. From where he stood, he could see and feel the choking presence that Raven radiated. Faced with this monster, Elias didn''t know what to do.

    God knows how much the n had suffered from the repeated attacks of Luis with his Hawk Force and the Vermillion Sky n. The n that was once a prestigious one was reduced into a secluded state where they even had to ally themselves to the Mort n for possible redemption. Nevertheless, they still know what was happening outside whether they like it or not.

    Elias knew Raven''s achievements. He knew that Raven is now a part of the Genius ss since he exploded with radiance during his disy at their graduation. When he received this news, he immediately thought of the times when he got on Raven''s way and swore to never allow himself to meet this demon again. Unfortunately, what''s bound to happen will eventually happen.

    "R-raven! Fancy m-meeting you here! W-what can I do for you? It''s been a while you know? W-why don''t we sit down and have a nice chat? Y-you know? Just to catch up with each other and -- "

    "Silence."

    Raven''s tone was incredibly frosty. Elias'' legs nearly gave up from fright, he thought: ''Shit! I''m done for!'' His eyes ferociously searched for every corner of the room, his thoughts spun quickly, he saw his coat on the table nearby and his expression contorted, he regretted cing the Alert Symbol in there. Judging from Raven''s gaze, he doubted that he would have a chance to use the symbol now to call for reinforcements.

    Elias thought of a way to save himself from this situation. An idea shed from his mind and he immediately acted on it. He dropped on his knees and groveled at Raven''s feet. He then let out constant words of apology and promised to be Raven''s personal servant. The ve who was watching this from the side was disgusted and humiliated at the same time, she can''t do anything to express her grievances aside from crying.

    Unfortunately no matter how hard he begged, Raven showed no mercy. Raven lifted his foot and stomped on his head without restraint. He then grabbed Elias'' head and looked at his pathetic state. Raven saw the ve and an idea shed on his mind, he took out sharp dagger from his spatial ring. He threw it at the ve''s foot and said:

    "If you want revenge, take that dagger and plunge it to his heart."

 Chapter 182 - Joanna

    ---

    The female ve was stunned when she heard his words. She looked at the young man''s eyes which radiated with nothing but pure coldness. She then looked at the dagger in front of her. Her eyes shed with coldness and hesitation.

    She didn''t know if she could truly trust this young man but his offer was extremely tempting for her. God knows how much she had suffered ever since he was fancied by this noble. She was covered in bruises and toyed with for the most part yet she couldn''t do anything other than to cry out her frustrations. The young man''s offer was akin to a heavenly temptation, it was so enticing to the ears.

    Elias watched in horror as the female ve picked up the dagger, he wanted to say something but his jaw was dislocated due to Raven ruthlessly stomping his head earlier. His nose was also broken, making it difficult for him to breathe evenly and his face is covered in his own blood which he had never experienced before.

    For some reason, when the female ve picked up the dagger, she felt a weird sensation of power for the first time in her life. Like being possessed by a demon, she harshly red at the bloodied noble and took a couple of steps forward.

    Elias was horrified, since he couldn''t speak he could only shook his head from side to side, hoping that the female ve understood what he was trying to say. Of course, the ve understood what he meant, but unfortunately for him, he had no power over her now, specially that Raven was still here.

    "Ahhh!"

    The female ve shrieked, she channeled all of her frustrations and grievances onto the dagger she was holding as she leapt and plunged it onto Elias'' heart.

    Elias'' eyes widened, he spat out blood and tried to grab the dagger away from his chest but his strength was being quickly drained. His saw his life sh before his very eyes, all of the very events that lead into this pitiful end. If he had known that a day like woulde, then he shouldn''t have provoked this devil. Unfortunately, regretting something means that it''s toote, there''s nothing else for him to do other than to die in the hands of the ve that he toyed with a few moments ago.

    The ve''s legs gave way, she slumped onto the floor with tears running down from her face. She wasn''t sad, these tears were there because of joy and relief. Finally, after years of torment, she ended her nightmare using her bare hands, even if she dies after this, she will have no regrets.

    "Do you know this ce well?"

    The female ve raised her head and saw Raven crouching in front of her. She nked out for a bit but managed to nod her head and said: "Like the back of my hand."

    Without any hesitation, Raven took out two vials of green liquid. He ced one vial gently on her lips and urged her to drink it. At this point, there is no reason for the female ve to resist so she did what he asked. As the contents of the vial slid down her throat, she felt an inexplicablefort, it was like she the embrace of her mother. Raven didn''t stop there and popped the cork of the other vial, this time he applied the contents evenly throughout her body.

    After a few minutes, the female ve was stunned to see that all of her bruises and wounds have healed and returned to their previous state. Herplexion also turned rosy and healthy, like she wasn''t even injured in the slightest before. She started to think that whatever medicine he applied must be really expensive, yet he didn''t even hesitate to use to her. A funny feeling started to emerge on her heart as she thought about this.

    "What''s your name?" Raven asked.

    "Joanna." She replied.

    "Alright, Joanna." Raven took out some spare clothes from his spatial ring and draped it over her. "These are the only spare clothes I have. Change to it and I have a task for you."

    After saying this Raven turned around and stared at the door. Joanna clutched the clothes that he gave, she then thought: ''When was thest time that I met someone who was kind enough to give me clothes?''

    The answer to her thought slipped out of mind but she didn''t care, at this current moment one thing is clear to her. This young man is not an enemy, he''s here to help her and not to take advantage of her. And even if he wanted to take advantage of her, she wouldn''t mind at all.

    After she was done changing, she quietly stood behind Raven and waited for his further instructions. She saw him look back and gazed directly at her eyes. She then heard him say:

    "Lead me to where the ves are being kept. I am going to free you all."

    His deration sent chills all over her body. She felt a huge wave of emotions, specially after he said that he''s going to free them. How long had she been dreaming of someone telling her this? How long had they''ve been waiting for someone toe to their aid and free them from this miserable fate?

    Joanna can''t help but to bite her lips and suppress her sobs, somewhat failing in the process. Raven stepped forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, saying: "Save the tears forter. Be strong, we have work to do."

    His words was like a calm breeze that washed away her worries, she wiped the tears from her face and nodded. Raven asked her to lead the way and she did.

    Together, they passed through multiple rooms, creating as little noise as possible. Joanna used signals to warn him if there will be traps or guards nearby which wasn''t needed since Raven could see them before she could, but still highly appreciated.

    After going through numerous twists and turns, Joanna pointed at the room where the majority of the ves are being kept, she was about to go in when Raven stopped her. He sensed some people inside and they are quite formidable. From what his sense are telling him, there''s at least four people inside who''s at Knight Stage, they were alert so it would be hard for them to do what they came here for.

    Raven''s thoughts shed, a n formed inside his head as he whispered something to Joanna''s ears. After hearing his n, a resolute expression emerged from her face, there was no hesitation from her face at all as she nodded and agreed to the n.

    "Go on. I''m watching you." Raven patted her back and gave her some encouragement.

    Joanna took in a couple of deep breaths and channeled her emotions. Tears ran down from her face as she wantonly pushed the doors open, she then yelled at the guards with voice full of panic.

    "Help! Help! Someone killed young master Elias! He''sing here! Help!"

    Her screams were heard by the guards and the ves. The guards wore a panicked expression as they immediately went closer to where she was. Joanna was still panicking and pointing at the direction of the hallway, the guards went pass her but as they did, a silhouette brushed passed them and instantly, the guards were rendered unconscious.

    Raven sighed in relief, he went closer to Joanna and patted her in the head saying: "You did well. Help me, let''s drag them inside before someonees."

    Joanna nodded and helped Raven drag the unconscious guards inside the ve quarters. When they were done, Raven and Joanna looked at the ves inside the quarters. All of them were looking warily towards both of them, huddling together as if the two was here to harm them.

    "Try to talk to them, I''ll go ahead and pave a way for you."

    Raven disinclined to stay and allowed Joanna to talk to the ves.

    Joanna panicked for a bit but couldn''t really stop him. She looked back and stared at the ves, not really knowing what to say. It was then that someone stepped forward and said: "Joanna? Is that you?"

    "Jemma!" Joanna saw her and instantly ran towards her, she gave as huge hug while Jemma looked at her from head to toe.

    "You¡­ you''re healed! What''s going on Joanna? What was that back there? Who''s that?"

    Joanna shook her head and started exining, "I don''t know who he is but he told me one thing, he said that he''s going to free us."

    She then started to tell them the her story, from when Elias was taking advantage of her to where Raven came in and did all sorts of miraculous things.

    "A chance like this might never happen again." Joanna resolutely said, "I''m escaping this ce. Even if I fail, I''m going to die trying. I miss my family so bad, don''t you all feel the same?"

    "If you don''t feel confident, you don''t have to follow me. But I want to return to the surface, I want my freedom back. To all of you who wants to give it a shot, follow me.. Benefactor is currently paving a way for us."

 Chapter 183 - End Of A Clan

    ---

    *Boom!*

    A loud explosion could be heard echoing inside arge room.

    This explosion came from Raven who mmed his hammer with a sheer force that could make one tremble. Just now, he was fighting against five people who reached Warrior Stage in cultivation. None of them expected that someone at the Soldier Stage could easily stomp theirbined prowess. To them, Raven''s strength was just unreasonable, each swing of his hammer was like a mountain descending, it was filled with overbearing impact that they had no way of defending and also incredibly heavy, so much so that it brought them to their knees.

    It took him five mighty swings in order to kill all five of his supposed-to-be rtives. There is no ounce of mercy nor hesitation in Raven''s eyes as he did so, he had no qualms of killing them as punishment for their sins. He didn''t looked at their spatial rings at all since he had no use for more wealth nor treasure, he already had everything he could ask for.

    Raven looked back when he felt several footsteps behind him. His gaze met Joanna''s, he looked behind her and saw a group of ves following her lead. A smile crept up to his face, from what he could tell, Joanna managed to sway the hearts of herpanion, now they are fighting for the chance to have their freedom back.

    "Benefactor!" Joanna greeted him as soon as she saw them, she performed a curt bow.

    Raven nodded and received the greeting, he then told her: "The exit is right there. Go! Back to the surface you go. Myrades are waiting for you outside, they will lead to a safe ce. Tarry no longer, go!"

    With Raven''s urging words, the hearts of the abused crowd trembled as they silently gazed at the direction he was pointing. Freedom was so close, only a few steps away, they could make it. Their hearts set aze, they immediately moved forward and walked towards the exit. Jemma was pulling Joanna, telling her that they should go since their benefactor asked them to do so, but Joanna didn''t move an inch and stared at Raven. Finally, she gathered enough courage and said:

    "Benefactor! May I please know your name?"

    Raven stopped at his tracks, he looked back and smiled at Joanna, he then spoke: "Raven, Raven Valorheart."

    "Raven Valorheart." Joanna repeated, this scene was imprinted at her memory. She swore to not forget this name no matter what. This is the name of her savior, their hero. If there will be any chances in the future that she could repay him for what he had done, then she would definitely do so.

    Joanna saw Raven turned around and went deeper into the factory where the Burning Heaven n resided. She prayed for his safety and sess while she was being dragged away by Jemma.

    Raven''s words were true. As soon as they stepped outside of the door, they saw many strewn bodies of nobles thanks to the work of Bradley. They could also see fellow ves who were running towards the exit with tears and smiles on their faces. Unable to endure it anymore, they too teared up and ran together towards the exit to im their freedom back. Some male ves picked up weapons and became the look out for women and children as they escaped, their minds were unprecedentedly united, their hearts longed for their freedom back and they won''t hesitate to take down anyone who will try to prevent them from iming back what''s theirs.

    ***

    "And here I wondered who was the one that''s making a scene, even freeing our captives. It turns out that it was the spawn of that filthy Hawk."

    Raven just killed another set of people from the n when he suddenly heard this voice. He abruptly turned around and saw yet another face that brought back another set of memories.

    "And here I thought someone special came, It turns out that it just another pathetic person who sold his soul be ap dog of someone."

    His rebuke was as venomous as his intents. Towards these kind of people, he had no inkling or respect, specially this one right here.

    "That mouth is still as sharp as I could remember." The man said with an ugly expression.

    "I missed you too, Third Uncle." Like with Elias, Raven''s tone when he said ''Third Uncle'' was incredibly sarcastic.

    This man''s name is Ford Redfield, his Third Uncle back then when he was still a member of the Burning Heaven n. This is the same man whom he crossed words with when he revealed the scheme of the n during Ellen''s abduction. He was the one amongst the many, who were responsible for Ellen''s disappearance and the one who convinced Bradley and Luis that she''s dead. If it weren''t for Raven showing them proof that Ellen was still alive, then the situation of the n might be different from what it is currently.

    Both of these people hated each other to the core. Raven really wanted to be the one to kill him unfortunately Ford reached Bronze Knight Stage in cultivation, he knew that he could only exchange a few moves before he was defeated. But he didn''t fret, just because he couldn''t do it doesn''t mean there is no one who couldn''t.

    Raven ced a mocking expression, he lifted his hammer and ced on his shoulder as he said: "Look, I really wanted to catch up with you, but I know someone who ''really'' wanted to have a talk with you."

    As soon as he said that, a silver sh arrived by his side. A man stood tall in bloodied Silver Armor with two thin swords also drenched in blood. His presence was choking to the point that Ford visibly paled upon seeing him. The suppression was too much and it was locking him down so he couldn''t move.

    "Need some help?" Bradley asked as he appeared beside Raven.

    "Well, not really. But I figured that you might want to have sometime alone with that guy over there." Raven pointed at Ford using his chin.

    Bradley''s gaze adjusted as he looked at where his nephew was pointing. Once he saw Ford''s face, a dreadful killing intent unleashed from all pores of his body. His anger rose to the highest point that his aura manifested as a dreadful me that burned all of the blood from his armor and swords.

    "We finally met again, Ford!" Bradley uttered while gnashing his teeth.

    He failed to recognize him earlier so he just used his cultivation to suppress whoever Raven was facing. Now that he examined the man''s face, all sorts of memories resurfaced but none of those were pleasant ones, why else would he leak out this much killing aura anyway?

    "Go Avi, handle the rest." Bradley assumed amanding tone as he stepped forward, "I''ll take my time with this guy."

    "Sure thing. Vent out some for me and Ellen as well." Raven nodded as he turned around to go somewhere else, of course not until he left Ford with a mocking expression.

    "No need to tell me twice." Bradley uttered as he soon disappeared in a silver sh.

    The room where they were, was then filled with agonized cries of a pleading man. This happened for one long hour until it stopped. Whatever happened inside that room, no one will be thrilled to know. Only Bradley would since he came out of that room with a clear mind yet bloodied armor and swords once again.

    After he left Bradley to deal with Ford, Raven went back into his usual style of dealing with the rest of the n.

    He moved in stealth for the most parts so that he could avoid being mobbed by enemies left and right. This allowed him to gauge what kind of cultivation his enemies had and how to proceed in order to take them down.

    So long as their cultivation didn''t surpass the Warrior Stage, Raven had an absolute certainty that he could handle them even in great numbers. As for those who reached Knight Stage and above, is where things get a little trickier. If it''s one on one, he could defeat them but if there''s someone else, even if they weren''t a the same cultivation stage, he wouldn''t be able to.

    In this type of situations, he preferred to assassinate them or make them unconscious using his needles. He will take down those whom he couldn''t handle and deal with the rest, after dealing with the weaker ones, he will use poison to deal with the unconscious ones to save as much energy as he could and move on.

    This was how he shave through the ranks of people here. This drug factory is huge and it is easy to lose one''s way, thankfully his spyingwork worked wonders for him and allowed to him avoid most traps and locate the people that he had to deal with.

    And just like that, after two hours of non-stop massacre, the whole factory was drenched in blood and the Burning Heaven n was no more.. When word of thises out, it would be hard for people to believe that all of this was done by two people alone.

 Chapter 184 - Foreboding Feeling

    ---

    "The Burning Heaven n is no more."

    Bradley muttered under his breath, along with this was a feeling of relief and peace. The debt has been paid by blood and none of those people shall impose any danger to his daughter or his family anymore. Anything that they do here onwards is just an additional bonus.

    He briefly scanned the area around him, he found himself surrounded with corpses of the fallen n. His body was reeking with blood while his twin swords were dripping with blood as well. He scanned his body and found out that his energy seemed to be moving with more ease and more fluidity, he could feel the barrier that''s preventing him from breaking through the Golden Knight Stage loosening up.

    He figured that this might be because of settling the bad karma with the Burning Heaven n. A smile found its way to his lips, after this whole debacle he will amass resources and close up to attack the Golden Knight Stage, this time he should be sessful in his breakthrough.

    Bradley then moved in a sh and located Raven who was exiting the premises of the drug factory. He silently appeared beside him knowing that his nephew knew of his arrival.

    To think that the two of them dealt this much damage to the properties of the Mort Family was still something that stuns him. Raven made this easier for them since all of the enemies he couldn''t take on was rendered unconscious, leaving Bradley to them finish off with ease. As for the weaker ones, they had no chances against Raven''s might.

    Bradley never knew that Raven was hiding this much ferocity under his petite frame, he also didn''t know that he learned how to wield a hammer properly as well. He had briefly seen how Raven swung this hunk of metal and he got to say, if he was at the same cultivation stage as Raven does, he had no confidence in taking a single blow from him. He didn''t know where his nephew got this much raw strength but what he knew was that the hammer was the perfect tool for him to unleash those unreasonable power in the most ferocious manner.

    As they walked down the bloodied streets of the Red Light District, they saw bodies of the nobles they took down before plus more. They figured that this must be the work of the escaping ves earlier, they must have been ambushed by some nobles but fought back and took them down on their way out.

    As they walk, Bradley suddenly felt Raven''s mood change. He looked at his and saw that he has a solemn expression on his face while looked at the tallest building in the Red Light District.

    "What happened?" Bradley asked with worry.

    "I don''t know, Uncle." Raven shook his head and exined, "But I suddenly had a bad feeling. Like something big is about to happen, but I can''t a finger on it which is bothering me a lot."

    When Bradley heard this, a solemn expression also found its way on his face. He then said: "I worked with your father multiple times and whenever he says that it alwayses true. You might''ve inherited that trait from him, we better do something."

    "Let''s do it this way, Uncle." Raven faced him and started exining, "Check on Ellen and the rest, see if they escorted the ves out safely and guard them, I''m afraid that that someone had already informed Yael about the situation here. Meanwhile, I''ll try to scout the situation here to confirm if what my instincts are telling me. I''ll go inform Dad as well."

    "Are you sure that you''re going to be fine?" Bradley asked, clearly worried about him.

    "I''ll be fine. As long as I''m careful, no one here should sense my exact location. If worsees to worst then I''ll just flee, I have even more confidence on doing that."

    Hearing his deration, Bradley nodded and sped his shoulders. "Be careful, don''t push it if you could. You''re life is more important than this mission."

    After he said this, Bradley turned into a sh of silver light which shot up back to the surface to check his daughter''s safety.

    As soon as he disappeared, Raven took something out from his spatial ring. It''s a feather quill and a special ink that he personally concocted. He dipped the feather quill on the special ink and drew a bunch of intersecting lines at the back of his left hand. Once he''s done, he bit his thumb and smeared blood in the symbol he drew.

    Instantly, the symbol sh with a faint light and his body turned a little incorporeal, almost blending in with the darkness that''s surrounding him. His eyes turned dull but alert, he stood up and started running noiselessly.

    The symbol he drew is called Minor Ghost Symbol, it minimizes his presence and hides his cultivation base making him appear like a ghost. While the symbol is active, he could be breathing down on someone''s neck and none would notice him.

    He decided to be a little more careful in this operation this time around since he sent Bradley away. He couldn''t ignore that foreboding feeling that he had earlier, it was so bizarre and uncalled for to the point that it was scaring him.

    Raven felt that sensation when he gazed at the tallest building in this area, that was a major sign that he should go ahead and check that ce out. He wanted to free some more ves but he really couldn''t ignore what he felt earlier so he decided toe back for them once he found out what''s going on.

    Raven dashed through the streets like a phantom, strangely enough he didn''t see any guards roaming the ce and checking if there''s invaders or not. The victims of their ughter earlier was near the entrance so in theory there should be more people here now that he arrived at the central part of the Red Light District.

    The foreboding sensation became more adamant in his heart. His face was turning more and more solemn, he picked up his speed and dashed towards the tallest building and when he arrived there what he saw stunned him on the spot.

    And here he was wondering where the guards went, it turns out that all of them were stationed here, maintaining a solid barricade around the building. All of them are alert and ring at every angle, from their actions it was pretty obvious that they aren''t weing any visitors this night. Thankfully, Raven made preparations or else he would''ve been spotted.

    However, this scene caused the foreboding feeling inside him to be even stronger. This was a clear sign that something was up, this made his desire to infiltrate this building even more. He looked around to check his surroundings in order to see where''s the best path to traverse.

    His gazended on the tents nearby, these were the reinforcements camp that was stationed should any problems arise. There is a couple of tents like this scattered around and for the most part, he could see some soldiers resting or chatting around these camps. An idea shed into his mind, he confirmed the n in his head and decided to act on it.

    Keeping his body close to the ground, he dashed behind a soldier and walked behind him. He took advantage of the dimness of this ce as well as the guard''s stocky body to hide his own silhouette. He followed him around until he came back to one of the camps then he changed target and followed another soldier making sure that there is no one behind him at all cost.

    This scene happened multiple times until Raven managed to squeeze himself out of the camps and jump directly at the gates of the tallest building. No one managed to sense him at all which was a good news but now he was faced with another problem. The entrance was closed, the doors are made out of heavy iron so he knew that if he opened it by himself, it would certainly alert the soldiers nearby and he would be mobbed by their numbers.

    Raven hid amongst the shadow while thinking of a way on how to open the doors without alerting anyone. Suddenly, he heard a loud creaking sound which caught his attention. The sound came from the doors so his eyes immediately shone, he kept his body low and followed the shadows leading through the front door.

    He patiently waited on the side as the door kept opening, he restrained his breath to erase his presencepletely and watched as several armed people walked out of the building. When they passed by his location, Raven suddenly moved and dashed his way inside the building but he didn''t go all the way, he hid behind the doors and peeked through the gaps to see what those people are up to.

    "Soldiers! We received words that there are invaders in the estate! Currently, our dear lord had reminded us to remain alert and absolutely not allow anyone in! Brace yourselves and keep watch, no matter who those invader are and no matter what they want, so long as they don''t interrupt the ritual inside then everything else is fine. Do not, under any circumstances, let them in! Understood!?"

 Chapter 185 - Ritual

    ---

    "A ritual?"

    Raven repeated in a whisper, he frowned and tried to recall if he could remember any rituals that was done by the Mort Family in the past. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried to recall things, nothinges to his mind at all.

    While he was busy trying to recall some things, the people that came out earlier started walking back towards the entrance of the building. Once he saw this, he stopped recalling about past events. He figured that since he couldn''t remember anything, might as well figure things out as he go.

    He suppressed his breath to the minimum and climbed to the ceiling as he waited for the people to return. He watched as they went back inside and the iron doors closed. Once the doors were closed, the whole hallway was silent and became dim. This low visibility was used by Raven to it''s fullest as he tailed the roaming guard captains as he walked on the ceiling.

    "Do you guys actually think that the intruders wille here?" One guard captain asked hisrades.

    "Who knows?" One of the other guard captain answered, "And even if they do, there an army of 100 strong soldiers defending this ce, good luck going through that."

    "Don''t becent." Another guard captain butted in, "What if the intruders are Golden Knights? Then even if we sent thousands of soldiers to stop them, we will just be sending them to their deaths, they won''t even slow down those people!"

    "That''s ridiculous!" Another guard replied, "You''re talking about Golden Knights here, it''s not like they have spare time to check this ce at all. With how upied they are with work, it''s virtually impossible for anyone of them to be here. Plus, this ce had existed for years now and none of those people had any clue that there''s even a ce like this, and I refuse to believe that they will investigate now."

    "Although what you said might be true, I still feel that we should stay alert. Lord Mort is visibly anxious about this whole operation, which means that he couldn''t afford to fail now. It would be best to remain alert just in case. After all, Lord Mort said that we could say goodbye to our families if we ever failed. I still want to see my son grow up."

    As the guard captains discussed amongst themselves, none of them were aware that the intruders that they were talking about could hear their discussions. Raven followed their patrol routes and listened to their conversations for some more, however he found nothing else about the so-called ''ritual'' that they were talking about so once they entered another room, Raven stopped following them and went onto a different path.

    The interior of the building isn''t thatplicated. He imagined that this must be used for extravagant asions or parties amongst nobles. He saw neatly arranged, high ss equipment all over the ce. Expensive sofas, couches, chairs, tables, dining equipment, dancing poles, high-grade cloths, gambling equipment and many more. Although the ce is deserted by nobles for now, he could imagine that this ce must be where Mort hosts his private parties and gatherings.

    Raven silently traversed the ce, making sure to be very careful not to alert anyone with his movements. He had close encounters with the guards roaming around but thankfully, no one noticed him at all.

    He continuedbing through the ce but unfortunately, he couldn''t find where the ritual was taking ce. Raven knew that if he tried checking every single room in this building, he''s afraid that the ritual would be done before he could finish, so in an old and stereotypical manner, he usedmon sense to locate where the ritual was taking ce.

    If there''s any important ce here where Yael might be doing the ritual, it should be on the top floor right? After all, by virtue of nobility, the highest ss of parties should take ce at the highest floor. Knowing how conceited and arrogant Yael is, he figured that this was his best bet.

    Following his thoughts, he picked up his pace while still maintaining vignce. He passed by each floor like a breeze and eventually arrived at the staircase near the top floor before stopping dead on his tracks.

    Raven stopped because he had to, there''s a bunch of guards stationed in front of the top floor and they were keeping close watch of their front. Thankfully, Raven was within the shadows and the Minor Ghost Symbol was still active so no guards were alerted.

    A frown appeared on his face, it seems that his conjecture was correct, if it wasn''t then there''s no way they would guard the entrance to the top floor heavily. The guards stationed in here were those that at least reached the Knight Stage with the strongest being a Silver Knight.

    If there''s any fortunate thing here, that would be the fact that the entrance was wide open and he could somehow see through the interior. Raven paused and observed each guards from the weakest to the strongest.

    The weaker guards were alert while the stronger ones were rxed. This was probably due to the weaker guards'' nervousness, this might be their first major mission ever since being recruited from the ranks, and if that''s the case then it would make sense why they were more alert. As for the stronger guards, obviously they were more rxed since they have more experience, this goes specially well for the Silver Knight over there. Raven was certain that he wasn''t even scanning his surroundings at all.

    ''I can work with this.'' Raven thought and grinned.

    He then climbed up to the ceiling and slowly made his way towards the entrance. Along the way, he made sure that he was constantly scanning his surroundings in case there are traps on his way.

    And just like he thought, none were able to locate him. He just strutted his way over them and went pass through this barricade like it didn''t exist. Needless to say, Raven was still nervous all throughout the process, one slight mistake and he''s done for, thankfully he didn''t mess up.

    Raven reminded himself that it''s not yet the time to drop his guard, if anything he had to be even more careful this time around since this was the deepest part of the enemy territory.

    Sticking to the ceiling, he decided to recover first. He had used up a considerable amount of energy on his way here, he needed to be on his top shape before going any further, his strength and knowledge are the only insurances that he have.

    After consuming some recovery medicines, Raven felt better and decided to go on. He restrained his breath to the barest minimum and calcted each step he took, this way it was even harder for anyone to notice his presence.

    The hallway towards the main room of the highest floor was a curve, so Raven had to make sure that he wasn''t making any noise since he don''t know if there''s another wave of guards roaming around.

    Eventually, Raven traversed the curved hallway by walking on the ceiling and he reached the main room. There, an astounding scene was shown to him.

    The huge and circr room was surrounded with ck fog, Raven saw several people kneeling and silently muttering some strange incantations. Looking up, a harrowing scene was imprinted on his mind. There he saw several naked people hanging, lifeless with blood flowing down from their bodies.

    From what he had seen, there must be at least hundreds of naked people, hanged in the ceiling with ropes around their necks and a huge slit on their stomachs. He saw several men amongst them but mostly it was women and children. The blood from their bodies rained down, each drop were seemingly lifted with a strange and invisible force and were collected in a huge basin in the middle of the room.

    All the hairs of Raven''s body stood up in sheer anger. He harshly red and scanned the room, looking for Yael.

    He found him. He was there sitting on the middle of the room. There were stage tribal markings all over his body, his eyes were closed as he sat cross-legged and chanted the same strange incantations that Raven was hearing earlier.

    Raven wanted nothing more than to take out the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer and cause havoc in this ce but despite his raging anger, he had to pause and study the so-called ritual that''s going on.

    He used his enhanced senses and took in each detail inside the room. He listened closely the incantations with the intent of decoding them, at the same time he observed the ornaments ced around the room and the tribal markings on Yael''s body.

    Raven''s thought shed, it didn''t take him long before he finally realized just what was Yael''s n.

    ''Blood Ritual: Devil''s Cradle''. A type of evil ritual that requires human sacrifice in order to open up a two-way portal from one ce to another despite the distance. There''s no doubt in Raven''s mind now.

    Yael nned on opening up a portal for the ck Curtain Guild to invade the Kingdom from the inside.

 Chapter 186 - Confrontation

    ---

    Raven''s heart bled as he gazed upon the countless dead bodies hanged up on the ceiling. He could feel the heavy resentment and shrill cries of the deceased. All of them died unwillingly, totally powerless to fight back.

    In the heat of the moment, Raven began ming himself for all of this. Why haven''t he acted sooner? If he didn''t stall for as long as he did, none of this would''ve happened. He also med himself for not knowing that such an event could possibly ur, he simply didn''t remember this event ever happening back in his previous life. If he had paid attention to the event back then, he could''ve done something to prevent this cruel ending for them.

    Droplets of tears fell from his eyes. He decided to mourn the deaths of the innocentter since he had things to do. He knew that he can''t allow this to go on any further.

    Raven closed his eyes and roused his blood in full. A strange aura began emanating around him, his body was then covered with a film of gentle red light as he drove his concentration even further. Blood tumbled inside his body, Raven reached out to the very essence of his life; his longevity, and use a technique that he only used on rare asions.

    When he opened his eyes, his pupils became incredibly resplendent. His stealth was broken due to him using a powerful technique yet Raven did not care even in the slightest. Many eyes were drawn to him as soon as they felt his wildly fluctuating aura, even Yael who was focused on chanting before, stopped and looked at Raven with shocked eyes.

    They all began to wonder where did this brat came from, why was he here and howe he was never obstructed on his entry. The instructions they gave to the guards were absolute, once the ritual started, no one was allowed to enter, yet this brat was here! Howe?

    Unfortunately, before they even had the chance to question him, the gentle red aura that covered Raven''s body began fluctuating wildly. Not long after that, the red light became a huge pir that shot up through the ceiling. Unbeknownst to them, that red light not only prated the ceiling of this building but also the entire underground district. It practically soared up to the skies and created a huge screen of light that was seen by everyone in the kingdom.

    "How many?"

    All of the people inside the ritual room were briefly stunned when they heard him ask this question.

    "Tell me. Exactly how many people, you imbeciles used to perform this evil ritual?"

    Raven spoke with a horrifying coldness in his tone. His voice sent chills to everyone''s spine as they listened. Despite this, no one knew how to react in this situation nor answered his question at that. They just stared at him like he was an idiot.

    "Not going to tell huh?" Raven let out a visible sneer through gritted teeth, "Fine. I''ll just beat it out from you."

    A ck hammer then manifested on his hands after saying this. The hammer looked unimpressive at first gaze but in reality, it''s a heavenly artifact that will cause wars ending in mountains of corpses and rivers of blood if known.

    Yael recovered from his initial shock and inspected the boy. After which, a sigh of relief and a visible sneer appeared in his face, he then said: "I don''t know how a Soldier Stage brat like you appeared in here,e to think of it, I received reports of some bugs infiltrating my yard earlier, you must be one of them."

    Yael sighed in disappointment and continued: "Those worthless vermin, I use my wealth to pay them but they can''t even do a simple job of preventing some brats to make a mess out of this ce. One even reached all the way here!"

    "Like I said, I don''t know how you ended up here but consider this your bad luck. You fools, take care of this pest, we have a ritual to continue!"

    As soon as he said that, some people got up from their seated position and charged towards Raven. Despite all of this, Raven''s facial expression didn''t change, he simply nced at the people who nned killing him and raised the hammer on his hand as a retaliation.

    A merciless glint appeared on eyes, Raven clenched both of his hand and swung his hammer down. The hammerhead seemed to growrger, air whistled and the hammer struck the ground. From the point, web-like patterns swiftly appeared in a huge cone in front of him, next the ground exploded and boulders flew everywhere.

    The pitiful people who were charging at him reacted a bit toote and underestimated his prowess, they simply didn''t think that a brat like him was capable of delivering such fierce attack. The boulders not only halted their charge but also severely injured them. Those boulders felt more like artillery shells to them and since they were basically defenses, they received the full impact of those. Limbs were mangled, flesh were torn, some heads were smashed and some bodies were outright buried, despite this gruesome ending, Raven never felt a thing, he wanted nothing more than to destroy everything in front of him.

    Yael who was watching the scene unfold had his jaw hung open. How many people was that? Ten? Fifteen? Somewhere along those numbers, all of which had at least reached Knight Stage in cultivation, all dead in one attack from a Soldier Realm brat. How is this possible? Is there some sort of mistake here?

    A somber expression appeared on Yael''s face. What an incredible loss! Without those people, the ritual would surely be slowed down. And if that wasn''t enough, he saw that brat gazing at him with cold eyes as he walked closer to the room as if he was leisurely touring his backyard.

    "Blood Ritual: Devil''s Cradle. This is what this ritual of your is called right?"

    As soon as these words left Raven''s mouth and reached everyone''s ears inside the room, they couldn''t help but shudder and look incredously at Raven. As their hearts started wondering how does a little brat like him knew about this, Raven spoke once more.

    "A sinister ritual that requires massive amounts of human sacrifices." As Raven spoke here, he instinctively nced at the ceiling of the room and once again saw the cruel fates of the people hanged up there.

    "You''re right." Raven nodded his head, "I am one of the people who infiltrated this underground district of yours. Originally, my intentions are just limited to ending the existence of the Burning Heaven n, after all if they continue to exist, then my heart won''t be at peace knowing that there is a threat to my family."

    "I saw this building from a distance and felt my heart stop, at first I wondered why and thought to ignore it but the foreboding sense of urgency gnaws at my heart. My curiosity got the better of me so I infiltrated this ce as well and look at what I''ve stumbled upon? A ritual that ended the lives of many people who mysteriously went missing on the surface."

    "And for what purpose?" Raven paused and looked at each ornaments that was ced on a bias across the room. "To summon people from the ck Curtain Guild, am I right?"

    Yael felt his mind shook fiercely as Raven ruthlessly spat out the truth. His pupils dted and his expression turned aggressive.

    "You used human sacrifice here while they used blood of infant beasts there. The ritual will create a two-way portal from their location to here, allowing them to send as many of their soldiers to terrorize and cause destruction inside the kingdom."

    "Let me guess." Raven gripped the handle of his hammer tighter and spoke in a harsh tone. "They will destroy as many as they could while you sit here and wait. Once the destruction is in full swing, you will step in and save the day, making the Royal Family indebted to you once again. Like this, you can keep eroding the forces of the Royal Family and people''s trust towards them, while you reap the benefits and wait until the perfect time to uproot the Royal Family."

    "Then because of your leadership, you''ll be the next monarch and all of the wealth of the Kingdom will be yours, of course you''ll rule alongside the ck Curtain Guild. Got to admit, this n is really effective since this wasn''t the first time that you did this correct? How else are you people allowed to stay inside the kingdom despite the Royal Family hating you?

    "Is my line of thought correct? Yael Mort?"

    This question finally caused Yael to blow his top. His face was flushed with a deep shade of red as his aura of Half-step Golden Knight Stage cultivation base swept through Raven. Unfortunately, the anger that Raven felt neutralized this suppression, even if he wasn''t angry, this suppression would hardly have any effect on him due to constantly tempering inside the Crown Space.

    Seeing that his suppression wasn''t doing anything, Yael couldn''t take it anymore so he yelled: "KILL THIS BRAT FOR ME! KILL HIM! I DON''T CARE HOW YOU DO IT! KILL! KILL!"

 Chapter 187 - Fearsome Clash

    ---

    The malicious roars of Yael roused the rest of the people who were participating at the ritual. Some people directly stood up and took out their weapons while others hesitated.

    "Lord, what about the ritual?"

    "I''ll take care of it! Ruin that brat for me, now!"

    Yael''s furious roars reverberated through every corner of the room, the rest had no other choice and could only follow his instructions.

    Raven indifferently watched as this scene unfold, to him he any intimidation that Yael does had no effect. He focused on the people who were charging towards him, a thick killing intent emerged from his body as he picked up his hammer.

    He twisted his body as he brought down the hunk of metal, as the hammer hit the ground, the scene that happened earlier urred once again but seeing the simr move fromst time, his enemies knew what''s going to happen so they halted and hurriedly defended themselves.

    Concrete boulders rose up and flew everywhere, most of the assants were sessful in defending but they didn''te out unscathed. The impact from Raven''s attack truly shocked them, they couldn''t wrap the idea around their heads that such an attack came from a little soldier boy.

    Along with his attack, a cloud of dust rose which momentarily obscured their vision. They spread their sense out only to find out that Raven was long since gone from his original position. He used the low-visibility to move fast and arrive at the center of their numbers.

    "Die."

    His cold tone reverberated from their ears, everyone turned their heads only to see that Raven had already wounded up another attack.

    His body spun along with the hammer, at least several people were caught unprepared and received the full powered swings from him. Bones of their body cracked, blood vessels were ruptured and some heads even exploded. Raven''s body became soaked with blood and gore but instead of feeling disgusted, there was nothing but absolute coldness in his eyes.

    Raven''s assault didn''t pause. With sheer ferocity, he went into an overdrive and madly swung the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer at the people who were opposing him. It had to be said, none of these people were weak. Reaching at least Knight Stage in cultivation requires talent and perseverance, all of them could considered as experts in the kingdom once they reached this stage. Unfortunately, no matter how strong they were, they weren''t Raven. He just umted far too much of an advantagepared to them, his training was never beenpromised, partnered with his vast knowledge, these people could only serve as his stepping stone.

    Seeing his subordinates being madly assaulted, Yael''s face contorted. He wanted to personally step in and squash this bug in front of him but he couldn''t, he had a ritual to finish, he couldn''t afford to fail.

    Just as when Raven was about to seed in killing everyone around him, a sharp whistle was heard. Raven immediately tilted his head to avoid the projectile and immediately jumped back to inspect who sent that attack.

    Raven''s eyes narrowed, the new enemy showed himself. He immediately realized that the chaos here might''ve alerted the guards that he passed through earlier. In particr, this newer was the Silver Knight who was stationed back there earlier, following behind him were the rest of the guards.

    Raven''s expression turned somber. He''s situation isn''t good, though it might appear that he could overpower the Knights, in truth he was just relying on his sheer raw force to catch them by surprise. His energy expenditure was definitely not small, wielding the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer is still a difficult task for him. He could actually feel that some ligaments on his arms were ruptured by his unrefined and reckless attacks. He just chose to ignore it since it isn''t a good idea to show weakness in front of one''s enemies.

    Seeing reinforcementse, Yael sighed in relief. Now that Silver Knight appeared, he was certain that Raven''s life is already over. He could now whole-heartedly focus on the ritual. Yael closed his eyes and continued with the incantations, the ritual was nearly over. It won''t be long so he had to endure.

    Meanwhile, after Raven inspected the reinforcements. Raven moved his jaw and fished out a pill that was kept between his cheeks and gums using tongue. He ced the pill between his teeth and immediately chewed it. He felt coldness down his throat, afterwards a he felt his mind entering a special state. He could feel his mood easily turning aggressive and fierce. His energy madly circted inside his body, he felt his body going hot.

    The pill he had consumed just now is the Berserk Trigger Pill. This pill allowed him to enter a berserk state where he would be able to minimize the pain he felt while turning his aggression into a powerful weapon for a brief period of time. When he prepared for the infiltration, he made sure to hide one pill on his mouth so that he doesn''t have to go through the actions of taking it out from his spatial ring, using this method also prevented enemies from interrupting when he wants to consume the pill.

    Though he entered a berserk state, Raven didn''t lose his sanity, on the contrary he was perfectly sane and aware of everything that''s happening around him. After digesting the pill, he saw the Silver Knight wounding up another attack so he immediately went after him.

    With a mad swing of his hammer, Raven ruptured the ground once more. As dozens of boulders flew everywhere, it created mass chaos on the ranks of the reinforcements. The Silver Knight was fine but the guards behind him weren''t. None were expecting that kind of might from a small brat, as a result many of them suffered from that attack. Some were injured while some just outright died in the impact, some were still fine but became extremely wary of Raven.

    Nevertheless, Raven''s onught was just starting. One mighty swing after another, the whole room shook and nearly copsed from his attacks. Raven wasn''t deliberately targeting the guards, his focus was at the Silver Knight since he posed the highest threat in his life. He had to take charge in order to control the rhythm of the battle.

    It might looked like he was just recklessly swinging his hammer to all directions but every attack had a careful consideration. Raven didn''t give any kind of breathing room the Silver Knight at all since he knew that if he did so then it would be his end.

    This was precisely the reason why the Silver Knight had been grimacing all throughout the battle. He couldn''t believe just how ferocious this brat was, if someone told him that he wasn''t in Soldier Realm he would believe them. With how aggressive his was, the Silver Knight couldn''t even bring out his full strength at all. He couldn''t utilize thews he learned nor his expertise in battle, whenever he tried taking control of the battle, Raven would immediately beat him to it.

    But both of them know that this situation wouldn''tst long. Despite him having the advantage just now, Raven is still a Soldier Realm brat after all, there is no way he could oust a Silver Knight in terms of energy consumption. This was also the time that the Silver Knight was gunning for, that''s why he chose to endure.

    Raven''s flurry of attacks continued some more, suddenly in the middle of his swing, Raven''s grip became unstable. He nearly lost grip of his hammer, he tried concealing this as much as he could but the Silver''s Knight''s eyesight is extremely impressive and managed to catch glimpse of this.

    The Silver Knight''s eyes glinted with sharp light, he thought that this brat finally couldn''t continue anymore and showed an opening. A blue aura shed and coated his soared, with a loud grunt the Silver Knight stabbed forward, aiming at Raven''s neck.

    But before the sword could hit him, a sneer could be seen in Raven''s face. He leapt backwards and waved his hand, allowing a sharp needle to pierce the wind andnd on the Silver Knight''s neck without any obstruction.

    The Silver Knight''s eye widened as tried to take needle out from his throat, only to fail since the needle was sessfully punctured a hole all the way back to his nape. He looked at the ridiculing expression on Raven''s face and realized that he had been duped. Raven faked weakness in order to end the fight before he lost ground.

    The Silver Knight tried to go on and suppress the injury by using some his energies to close the wound yet found every inch of his body painful. He then realized that he was poisoned, and the poison was incredibly potent as well. Not too long after his realization, he copsed on the floor and couldn''t even move a muscle.

    Raven couldn''t rest easy until he was sure that this guy was dead so he lifted his hammer and smashed the Silver Knight''s head off. Only then he turned around and saw a surprising scene that caused rm bells to go off in his head.

    Yael finished the ritual.

 Chapter 188 - Black Curtain Cometh

    ---

    The ritual circle shed with a dark red light.

    Yael who was in the center of the ritual circle had a very maniacal expression. The tribal markings on his body floated away from his body and encircled the basin full of blood. Those marks then absorbed the blood on the basin a visible speed and once the blood were all absorbed, the markings neatly arranged themselves in a circr formation.

    A crack appeared on the middle of the circr formation, wind whistled and the crack revealed a tear on space that soon covered the entire circr formation.

    The Blood Ritual: Devil''s Cradle was finished, Raven knew that it was toote, he couldn''t do anything to close the two-way portal any longer, unless he was enlightened with the mysteries of Space Laws, there''s no way for him nor anyone to close this portal, they could only wait until it naturally closes on it''s own and based on how many sacrifices Yael gave, this portal willst for a while.

    It also didn''t help that the effects of Berserk Trigger Pill was now over, Raven felt his body ache too much as he was reminded just how reckless he had been during this fight. It had to be known that he was proficient in wielding the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer just yet, but he wantonly used it since the need arises.

    Raven could feel his arms were swelling and throbbing due to his recklessness, the webbings between his thumbs and forefinger were also bleeding. His legs were about to give up on him as well, Raven is now only standing due to sheer will, he just couldn''t back down right now.

    Being quick with his actions, Raven took out some recovery pills from his spatial ring and shoved them onto his mouth. Normally, he would sit down and digest these pills properly in order to not leave any hidden injuries nor impurities on his body, but he didn''t have that option currently so he could only do his best.

    Thankfully, Yael is also spent due to him supporting the ritual on his own. This gave ample time for Raven to recover some of his energies and cure some of the more dangerous wounds on his body. In his current state, Raven had no confidence on taking on, even the weakened, Yael at all.

    Unfortunately, even if Yael won''t be a problem for a while, there are some people who would take his ce. And by some, it means the army of ck Curtain Guild who were nowing out of the portal one by one.

    Raven will never mistake their identities. The thick smell of evil that emanated from their bodies. Their faces covered with masks along with a dark veil. Even if he closed his eyes, he would be able to pick them out. He watched as their numbers grew with a solemn face.

    He was forced to watch until the estimated number of the guild members reached hundreds, closely reaching to a thousand strong people. A dense shrill aura covered the whole room, it was like a beacon that announced that the ck Curtain Guild was here.

    Out of these great number of people, there are some who''s auras raised an rm in Raven''s consciousness. Without a doubt, these are the highly ranked members in the guild, the Emissaries.

    Raven encountered one of them before, precisely the Fifth Emissary. He remembered doing a considerable damage on him which should''ve killed him, but looking at it now it seems that it wasn''t quite enough since the Fifth Emissary was alive and kicking.

    "Here we thought that you forgot our appointment, but it seems that you encountered some trouble. Isn''t that right Yael?"

    One of the Emissaries chided the weakened Yael. Thetter didn''t even have the energy to be upset with him and only said: "Some trouble my ass. That little shit nearly stopped the ritual altogether."

    "Hoh?" The Emissary curiously followed where Yael was pointing and his gazended on a little brat who was holding a bloody hammer. The Emissary raised his brow and asked: "Seriously? A little brat like him caused you this much trouble? Aren''t you getting more and more useless?"

    "Look around you idiot!" Yael fired back, "See how many of my people are dead! Then you will obviously understand what I mean."

    Now that he pointed this, the people of the ck Curtain Guild curiously looked around and saw the amount of destruction that happened here.

    The ground was in shambles, pieces of boulders with bits of flesh and limbs were scattered everywhere. The saw dead bodies of Yael''s forces scattered around this brat yet he was still standing and even emanating sheer hostility while looking at them.

    The Emissary who chided Yael earlier couldn''t help but to inspect the little soldier brat closely. He did it not because of Yael''s words but because he thought that he awfully looked familiar. However, no matter how close he inspected, he just couldn''t remember who he was properly, all he knew is that he felt a great irritation as he looked at his face.

    Raven''s eyes met the curious gaze of the Emissary, he silently spread his sense on this person''s body and he immediately recognized him. A wide sneer appeared on Raven''s face as he straightened his body and said:

    "Long time no see, Fifth Emissary. I trust that your soul was healed properly, no?"

    As soon as he said these words, the Fifth Emissary''s eyes widened under his mask as he shakily raised his finger and pointed at him.

    "You! I remember now! You were that little shit who injured me before!" The Fifth Emissary growled ferociously which stunned the members of the ck Curtain Guild.

    Raven grinned widely as he neither confirmed nor denied his im. Nevertheless, the Fifth Emissary was correct anyway. It has been a couple of months since that incident happened but the Fifth Emissary could still vividly remember that event like it just urred yesterday.

    Exining how much pain he felt back then would be difficult to do. If anything, to him it felt like his body was being divided by a metal saw in half, it burns yet it chilled his entire body frozen. He remembered not being able to speak properly for the first few days after that incident due to how painful that was, no one knew what happened to him since he can''t talk nor hear them at all. It was a very traumatic experience that still haunts him in his sleep.

    This is why without even wasting a single moment. The Fifth Emissary howled and released his aura. Pieces of armor appeared in his body, each of them were tinged with a dark red hue and had carvings akin to wailing and writhing souls.

    Along with his howl, a sad and shrill aura suddenly descended on to the room. From the bodies of hanged people above, ethereal creatures emerged. Every single one of them took after the faces of the bodies they came from, albeit radiating shrill and evil aura.

    Raven didn''t even need to analyze what happened. He knew that the Fifth Emissary just roused the souls of the dead from their graves in order to deal with him.

    A somber expression reached Raven''s face, he needed to do something before the souls of the innocent gets anchored by the naturalws and be specters or vengeful souls.

    He roused his blood essence, his longevity in other words, use the forbidden technique one again. He spat out a glob of blood essence which drained at least five years of his life and with it, a strange symbol emerged. Raven sped his hands together and quickly chanted an incantation despite his exhaustion washing over him. As the souls nearly subliminated, Raven finished his technique and the symbol from his blood essence turned into a wide array that illuminated the whole room.

    With a benevolent heart, Raven roared: "First Holy Word: Salvation!"

    The array''s light intensified, it released a strong yet gentle light which made all the souls stop from their tracks. All of them looked up, as they basked in that gentle light, the evil aura that corroded their nature disappeared entirely which caused a tremendous bacsh for the Fifth Emissary.

    "Depart in peace." With onest prayer, the array red once more and the souls disappeared one by one. Before they departed from the mortal world, they expressed their silent gratitude for what Raven did for them.

    Blood seeped out from the Fifth Emissary''s lips, he harshly red at this brat in front him. He mentally cursed every single fiber of his body and couldn''t help but to think that Raven was the bane of his existence.

    Out of nowhere, a sh of light passed through the Fifth Emissary and went directly towards Raven. This attack caught him unprepared which caused Raven to fly backwards while spitting out blood. The Fifth Emissary looked behind him as looked at who sent the attack.

    "I didn''t ask for your help." The Fifth Emissary coldly said.

    The Fourth Emissary shrugged and said: "I didn''t have to help if you''ve killed him already."

    "YOU EVIL SPAWN! YOU DARE TO HARM MY SON! THIS OLD MAN WILL END YOU!"

 Chapter 189 - Rulers Vision

    ---

    Going back few moments early before the ritual was finished.

    The Kingdom was tranquil, people enjoyed thefort of staying inside their own homes as the night descended. Some people were a tad unfortunate to be ced on a night shift but all in all, everything remained particrly peaceful.

    It was then that a bright sh of red light soared to the skies and expanded into a screen of light, wide enough for people to see.

    Many people caught sight of this and was genuinely confused as to why this screen of light appeared out of nowhere. Some people were even rmed of such sight and immediately panicked, thinking that doomsday finally arrived. As more and more people discovered the screen of light, a sudden change appeared which brought tumultuous waves upon their hearts.

    The screen of light showed bird''s-eye view of several people inside a facility that barely anyone knows of. They saw people wearing dark robes and sat in a circr formation, steadily chanting some strange incantations. In the middle of this circr formation, a fat man sat. His body was covered in tribal markings and his facial expression was kind of disturbed. In front of him was arge basin filled with viscous red fluid.

    Not too far from them, a young man, probably not even in his twenties, stood. His youthful face was frosty like a piece of never melting ice. His hand tightly gripped the hammer he was holding as he stood straight like a spear. Of course, this was Raven.

    "How many?"

    Raven''s voice was heard loud and clear by the people who were watching.

    "Tell me. Exactly how many people, you imbeciles used to perform this evil ritual?"

    As Raven continued speaking, the image on the screen lifted and showed the horrifying sight of hundreds of people hanged by their necks in the ceiling of the room while their stomachs were cut open.

    This harrowing sight caused many people to let out a horrified gasps, some people outright threw up. They had no idea what was going on but what they saw will most likely haunt them in their dreams for many nights.

    In truth, the only reason why they could see what was going on inside the tallest building of the underground district of the Mort Family is due to Raven using the Life Conversion Technique. Exchanging twenty years of his longevity, he was able to cast a technique called ''Ruler''s Vision'' which allows him to capture the situation in his location on a controlled perspective.

    Sure, Raven could''ve used his badge to call for reinforcements. Sure, he could''ve sent a messenger hawk to his father to let him know about his current situation. But in the end, he chose this over those options. Why? He wanted to p everyone awake from their fantasies that they''re at peace. He wanted to remind them why they were cultivating in the first ce and he wanted to reveal the truth in front of their faces.

    Everyone watched as Raven single handedly fought against people who were definitely stronger than him. They see how he bravely fought and killed them without showing any ounces of pity nor mercy.

    "Blood Ritual: Devil''s Cradle. This is what this ritual of your is called right?" After the battle, Raven spoke once more. "A sinister ritual that requires massive amounts of human sacrifices."

    "You''re right." Raven nodded his head, "I am one of the people who infiltrated this underground district of yours. Originally, my intentions are just limited to ending the existence of the Burning Heaven n, after all if they continue to exist, then my heart won''t be at peace knowing that there is a threat to my family."

    "I saw this building from a distance and felt my heart stop, at first I wondered why and thought to ignore it but the foreboding sense of urgency gnaws at my heart. My curiosity got the better of me so I infiltrated this ce as well and look at what I''ve stumbled upon? A ritual that ended the lives of many people who mysteriously went missing on the surface."

    "And for what purpose?" The watchers saw Raven sneer and said: "To summon people from the ck Curtain Guild, am I right?"

    All of a sudden, the air surrounding the kingdom became heavy. From the different locations, auras red as well as terrifying killing intents. These people solemnly watched the skies, and as they listened to Raven''s words, their rage soared to point that it covered the whole kingdom.

    "You used human sacrifice here while they used blood of infant beasts there. The ritual will create a two-way portal from their location to here, allowing them to send as many of their soldiers to terrorize and cause destruction inside the kingdom."

    "Let me guess." Raven gripped the handle of his hammer tighter and spoke in a harsh tone.

    "They will destroy as many as they could while you sit here and wait. Once the destruction is in full swing, you will step in and save the day, making the Royal Family indebted to you once again. Like this, you can keep eroding the forces of the Royal Family and people''s trust towards them, while you reap the benefits and wait until the perfect time to uproot the Royal Family."

    "Then because of your leadership, you''ll be the next monarch and all of the wealth of the Kingdom will be yours, of course you''ll rule alongside the ck Curtain Guild. Got to admit, this n is really effective since this wasn''t the first time that you did this correct? How else are you people allowed to stay inside the kingdom despite the Royal Family hating you?

    "Is my line of thought correct? Yael Mort?"

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    Explosions were heard in every direction. The crowd watched as several people rose into the air with faces contorting in anger. People watched as they turned into shes of light which all converged into the ce where the screen of light emerged earlier.

    "KILL THIS BRAT FOR ME! KILL HIM! I DON''T CARE HOW YOU DO IT! KILL! KILL HIM!"

    The roars of Yael reverberated throughout the kingdom. At this point, there was no need for any confirmation. The way he reacted was enough for people to know that Raven''s narration was correct.

    Disgust, loathing, anger, etc. All sorts of negative emotions were roused and pointed against the Mort Family. They never knew that this kind of sinister person was living amongst them. Many hearts bled as they see the fates of the sacrificed, some even wailed since they recognized some faces. Many people converged towards the Mort Family Estate and most of them were cultivators who couldn''t tolerate the existence of the Mort Family any longer.

    Nevertheless, many people also worried about the safety of the young hero who confronted Yael and his forces. He was alone, it didn''t matter how capable he was, everyone knew that he needed help. It goes specially well with people who recognized who he was. Everyone who knew Raven didn''t hesitate to go over the Mort Family Estate in order to aid them.

    Along the way, there''s nothing they could do other that to watch how Raven faced multitudes of enemies alone, never backing down and showing no mercy.

    In the end, their worst fears arrived. Everyone witnessed as the ritual was finished and the portal was created. Everyone''s heart clenched involuntarily, they saw how the ck Curtain Guild''s forces came out of the portal, covered with evil auras. They were forced to watch as their numbers grow from mere hundreds to nearing a thousand strong people. Without a doubt, this was the biggest invasion that had ever urred in the Kingdom.

    No one med Raven for not being able to do anything, he was alone after all. Experts of the kingdom knew that he was doing his best to buy some time before reinforcements arrived. Some people should''ve arrived earlier but the Mort Family Estate sudden entered a full defense mode and blocked all invaders out, which means that while Raven silently endured and faced Yael''s forces, the reinforcements were trying their best to get rid of the blockade in order to aid him.

    Raven of course wasn''t aware of that since he was focused on his battle. Nevertheless, with more and more peopleing to aid him, the defenses of the Mort Family Estate eventually crumbled and with that, the forces of Knights who came in order to aid Raven, descended like a tide.

    The first one''s to arrive were Raven''s friends along with Bradley since they were the closest, next was Luis along with the Hawk Force, then Old Lee, Crown Prince Balmung and the Elite Forces of the Royal Army as well as many more people.

    They saw how the Fifth Emissary roused the souls of the dead in order to deal with Raven. They also watched how Raven repelled it by using the Life Conversion Technique once more in order to perform a holy technique that redeemed to souls of the dead.

    And when Raven was heavily injured by the Fourth Emissary''s attack. Luis couldn''t hold it anymore and erupted into wrathful roar.

    "YOU EVIL SPAWN! YOU DARE TO HARM MY SON! THIS OLD MAN WILL END YOU!"

 Chapter 190 - Opposing Forces Meet

    ---

    A thick pir of violet me destroyed the nearby wall where Ravennded.

    The violet me bore a terrifying heat that did not stop until it reached the ranks of ck Curtain Guild. The mes were headed to the Fourth Emissary''s way, with eyes constricting in shock, he immediately waved his hand and wall made out of ck Ice manifested before the Fourth Emissary.

    Fire and Ice met, in retrospect both elements should neutralize each other. However to the Fourth Emissary''s shock, the me pir that the neer sent was proved to be more powerful than his initial estimations, causing the ice wall to shatter into pieces and the mes scorching him. The Fourth Emissary managed to create an Energy Essence Shield that blocked most of the damage caused by the me pir but he didn''t manage toe out unscathed.

    ''Fire Laws! Damn it!'' The Fourth Emissary screamed inwardly as he tried to suppress the lingering heat from his body.

    In truth, the Fourth Emissary shouldn''t be panicking this way as he himself had some minor glimpse to Ice Laws, unfortunately he wasn''t able to utilize those when he defended earlier which caused him to be injured right now. He was currently using his Ice Laws to mitigate the damage from Luis'' attack but it still hurts like hell to him.

    Raven who was partly buried in rubble raised his head and looked at the huge hole near him. He smiled as he saw his father standing on the back of a hawk with a wing span of 10 meters and body length of 5 meters. Its feathers are brown in general with a couple of white patches in its neck and some parts of its wings. This creature is called Overlord Hawk, a domesticated beast that Luis raised under the guidance of Maddock, the Chief Director of Beast Domesticating Center.

    Sensing someone looking at him, Luis looked back at Raven and sighed in relief seeing that he doesn''t appear to be on the edge of death. He jumped from the back of the huge bird andnded next to Raven. He crouched down and pulled him up using one arm and threw him outside of the building.

    Anyone would be scared out of their minds if they witness something like this. Who in their right minds would throw their child out of a tall building? Isn''t he going to fall to his death?

    Nevertheless, Raven wasn''t scared at all. It was due to the fact that a Hawk caught him before he fell. This was his father, why would he do something that would kill him? Good thing that the back of the Overlord Hawk was firm, otherwise hisnding might be rougher than anyone would expect. Raven was about to recover when he suddenly heard his father''s voice.

    "Your Mom is not happy about this. Prepare yourself."

    Shivers ran up from his spine all the way to his head. Yeah, he totally forgot about that. Of course, the Ruler''s Vision allows everyone to see the situation around him depending on the angle he chose. And this everyone of course includes his mom, why else would his dad be here?

    Raven can''t do anything other than to smile wryly, he patted the Hawk'' back and said: "Big Beak, let''s get away from here. We''ll find my friends first."

    The Overlord Hawk, that Raven named ''Big Beak'' when he was a seven years old, let out a sonorous cry and flew away. As soon as they flew away, a couple of silhouettes emerged by Luis'' sides, most of them are people that Raven met before.

    The Crown Prince Balmung, official leader of the Eternal Horizon n. Magnum Lee, caretaker of the current King''s Children and the Kingdom''s Edge. Bradley Redcrest, n Head of the Vermillion Sky n. Jackson, Korra, Victor, and the rest were here too.

    These influential people were all gathered for one purpose, and that is to stop the invasion of the ck Curtain Guild.

    The forces of ck Curtain Guild of course knew who they were as well, how could they not? These people were the guardians of the Final Haven Kingdom, even with the King''s absence, the guild can''t conquer the kingdom due to their interference. It was safe to say that they treated each other like nemesis. With all of them present, the forces of the ck Curtain Guild knew that they''re in for a tough fight.

    "God damn it, Yael! You told us that the ritual was done in the most secretive manner! How do you fucking exin this?" The Fifth Emissary roared at Yael who was lying weakly behind them.

    "I did carry it out in a secretive manner! Aside from the people who were participating in the ritual, no one else knew about this at all! I might be because of the brat! He might''ve called reinforcements and dyed the ritual as much as he could while waiting for them to arrive!"

    Yael''s words didn''t make the forces of the ck Curtain Guild happy, though what he said makes sense, it doesn''t change the fact that their current situation is grim.

    Meanwhile, in the ranks of the Final Haven Kingdom''s forces. Balmung looked up at the ceiling and wept silently. He couldn''t help but to think that he was such a failure as a prince for not being able to save these poor souls. If he became a little bolder in his actions, if only he confronted Yael as soon as he could the way Raven did, he might''ve saved them from this cruel fate.

    A firm hand grasped his shoulders, he turned his head and saw Old Lee staring at him sympathetically. Balmung couldn''t help but say: "I failed them."

    "You weren''t aware." Old Lee consoled, "None of us were aware. If it weren''t for the little guy showing us, we would remain unaware. The best course of action is to avenge their deaths. Raven already appeased their souls, allowing them to depart in peace. But it doesn''t mean that their sacrifice has to be in vain."

    "I agree, Master." Victormented on the side, tears also poured down from his face but his expression in one of rage and vengeance. "Those who are responsible are in front of us. Point a direction and my sword shall carve a path for you."

    Being affected by their words, Balmung wiped the tears from his face and ced a frosty gaze at the ranks of the ck Curtain Guild.

    "As the current Crown Prince of Final Haven Kingdom, Valiant warriors, heed my order! The sinners of the past havee to disrupt the harmony of our kingdom! Raise your weapons and leave none alive from the Mort Family and the forces of ck Curtain Guild!"

    Balmung raised his sword and roared on top of his lungs, "Charge!"

    Instantly, people beside him blurred in action. On the ck Curtain Guild''s side, the Emissaries moved as well and intercepted the guardians.

    Victor was intercepted by the Fifth Emissary.

    Luis was intercepted by the Fourth Emissary.

    Bradley faced the Third Emissary.

    Balmung faced Second Emissary.

    And Old Lee crossed swords with the First Emissary.

    "Units! Charge and spread chaos everyone! Don''t fret and send someone to call for reinforcements!" This was the First Emissary''s order before he was sent flying by Old Lee''s attack.

    Instantly, the whole underground district became a huge battlefield between the forces of Final Haven Kingdom and the ck Curtain Guild.

    Each guardians fought the emissaries in a different locations, making sure to limit the destruction that they will cause.

    Meanwhile, Raven who rode the back of Big Beak found his friends. Luna, Ellen, Anne, Mark and Paul moved in as a unit and fought against the remaining forces of the Mort Family while making sure to allow the prisoners and ves to escape behind them.

    Big Beaknded near them and Raven stepped down from the back of hawk. It was Luna who saw him first and turned into a sh of light,nding directly onto his embrace.

    "Avi! Thank god you''re safe. Are you hurt somewhere? Do you need medicine? Are you exhausted? Have you recovered enough? Why don''t you rest a bit?"

    Rain of question assaulted him, and yes. Luna called him Avi, which brought back tons of memories for him. Raven smiled as he gazed at Luna''s worried expression. There''s no way that she could fake this at all, from what he could remember she''s always been like this to him. Raven couldn''t help but feel an immense warmth inside his heart.

    He grasped Luna''s hand and held it tightly, he gazed straight on her eyes and said: "I''m fine. I can still fight."

    Feeling his firm grip, Luna''s heart throbbed. She couldn''t help but to shed a few tears. God knows how much anxiety it gave her to see Raven facing all of those enemies alone. She wasn''t expecting him to charge alone in the middle of the enemy''s headquarters since the original n was to eliminate the Burning Heaven n and free the captives, after that the mission should''ve end but he did something unexpected.

    Bradley informed them about his n of infiltration but none of them were expecting for him to face them alone. He didn''t even asked for their help, he faced the danger alone since he knew that he couldn''t bring himself to run away from it.

    It was only now that she saw what kind of person Raven truly is.

 Chapter 191 - Black Curtain Guild Headquarters

    ---

    Raven and Luna weren''t aware that they have been staring at each other for quite some time now. Luna''s hands were ced on Raven''s chest. She could feel his heartbeat, it was vigorous and quick, for some reason she felt at peace in his arms, it was like no harm can touch her whenever he''s here. It was strange feeling of security that she never felt from any other man other than her father.

    Only, this was slightly more special¡­

    *Ahem* *Ahem*

    A deliberate sound of clearing of throat reached their ears.

    Out of instinct, Luna struggled free from Raven''s embrace while an obvious shade of red reached her cheeks. Both of them turned their heads towards the source of the sound and saw their friends staring at them with knowing looks on their faces.

    "Oh, my bad. It''s just that my throat really itches, I couldn''t help it." Ellen sniggered while cing her hands on her waist.

    "Oh my, yours too? What a coincidence!" Paul followed suit while secretly giving Raven a thumbs-up.

    "You guys¡­" Ravenughed dryly, he shook his head and hid the disappointment in his heart.

    "Anyway, dudee here." Paul waved his hand at Raven and called him over.

    Raven raised his brow and walked towards him. Upon getting closer to Paul, he saw him throw his head back and knocked his head with his. Raven was caughtpletely off-guard, he wasn''t expecting him to do that of all things. He didn''t falter nor fell down, but he sure felt somewhat dizzy.

    "What gives?" Raven tilted his head in confusion as he asked this question.

    "What do you mean what gives!?" Paul raised his voice, there was a clear trace of disappointment in his face as he continued: "Why did you charged in there recklessly? You have so many ways of calling for reinforcements! We weren''t that far from you, you should''ve called for us at least!"

    Raven felt another sting of pain on his head, clearly someone hit him once again. He looked over and saw Ellen holding her sheathed sword, he figured that she must''ve hit his head using the hilt.

    "He''s right! Why do you think we''re training so hard huh? Isn''t it to face these disgusting bastards and get rid of them? Do you know how worried we were for you? Specially this one right here!" Ellen pulled Luna to her side and continued speaking, "She can''t even think straight, she kept on telling us that we have to help you even when we''re already on our way."

    "Don''t do something so reckless again dude." Markmented while patting his shoulders, "Or at least, that''s what I would like to say, but that won''t stop you. Just make sure that you pay attention to your safety, we can''t do without you."

    "I agree with him. We know that you''re formidable but sometimes you just let emotions take over your rationality. Don''t do that again, okay?" Anne added.

    Luna didn''t say anything and just looked at him with imploring gaze. No words were needed for that kind of look, Raven already knew what she was trying to say.

    Warmth filled Raven''s heart, being friends with them was probably one of the best choices that he had ever done in his life. He smiled and scratched his head, he then said: "Alright, alright. My bad, okay? I will be careful next time." Seeing his friends satisfied with his answer, Raven assumed a different tone and changed the topic.

    "Anyway, we have a situation here. We can''t participate in the battles of the adults, so instead we have to control the situation in here. The n doesn''t change, free the captives and eliminate the enemy." After saying this, his hammer appeared in his hands but it wasn''t the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer, it was the new hammer he brought that looked a lot like the former.

    "Big Beak!" Raven called out, making his friends grimace. Suddenly, a huge hawk flew over and stood right next to him and rubbed its head on his hand.

    "You named it, didn''t you?" Mark asked on the side, Raven turned his head towards him and nodded his head.

    "Yeah I did." Raven said confidently.

    "Figures. Uncle wouldn''te up with such a horrible name." Ellen snorted on the side.

    "What do you mean ''horrible''?" Raven ced an offended expression as he grabbed Big Beak''s beak as an emphasis. "His beak truly is big! So the name I gave him makes a lot of sense! I''ve ced a lot of thought about it you know?"

    The rest all thought of the same thing inwardly; ''Did you really give it a lot of thought?''

    For some reason, they felt pity on the poor hawk. Imagine being named as ''Big Beak'' right? They wondered how could a beast that''s called an Overlord Hawk could bear being called as ''Big Beak'', it should''ve been offensive right?

    Big Beak let out a few chirps of joy, Raven took this as a sign that the hawk was agreeing to him so he petted it more. What he didn''t know is that the Overlord Hawk just liked being clingy to its owner and don''t actually care about how they call it.

    "Anyways, we diverted from the topic." Raven faced them once more and continued. "Anne, provide aerial support by riding Big Beak, we''ll take the ground work. You can shoot a cover fire when we''re in danger but ce more attention to other knights here. We have to at least help in minimizing the casualties."

    Anne nodded and climbed on Big Beak''s back. Raven reminded the hawk to take care of Anne, Big Beak understood and immediately took flight with Anne.

    Raven then nodded to the rest and said: "Alright team, let''s move!"

    With that, Raven and his team moved as a unit and provided support where they were needed.

    ***

    Somewhere far away from the Final Haven Kingdom.

    There exist a patch ofnd full of decay and gloom. Hidden in the depths where the sun couldn''t reach, argework of cave dwellings and full of horrible things like skulls of dead people, bones and rotten innards of beasts, deadly insects and etc.

    This is the headquarters of the infamous evil organization that seek to destroy and conquer the kingdom. The ck Curtain Guild''s headquarters.

    In thergest room inside the cavework, there appears to be some special situation that''s going on.

    One could see, bodies of infant beasts scattered across the room, creating a hair-raising scene and horrible stench of death. There are a couple of people who wore dark robes who sat in a circr formation. All of them appeared to be recovering from exhaustion which could be seen in their pale faces.

    One man sat above the circr formation. He didn''t appear to be exhausted like the rest, instead he was gazing at the swirling ck portal in front of them with an interested expression on his face.

    It will only take a nce for anyone to be convinced that this man is extremely dangerous. Despite him not doing anything at all, there appeared to countless of wailing souls and a thick scent of death emanating out of his body.

    This man, was none other that the current leader of the ck Curtain Guild. Devil Prince Ajin, or at least that how most of his subordinate knows.

    Out of nowhere, the portal distorted under the interested gaze of the Devil Prince. Warping sounds echoed inside therge cave dwelling. Then someone stepped out of the portal with a visible panic on his face. The man who came out looked around, almost hysterically in fact that the Devil Prince couldn''t help but to raise his brow in confusion. His deep and hair-raising voice echoed in the ears of the man.

    "Calm down. What happened?"

    The man who came out from the portal shivered fiercely when he heard this voice. He looked back and saw the soul-piercing gaze of the Devil Prince. He knelt out of fear and hurriedly said:

    "Y-your highness! I-it''s terrible! Our situation is terrible!" The man panicking said.

    "I said calm down and tell me what happened. I will not repeat my words." The man almost felt his soul leaving his body when he heard the coldness in the Devil Prince''s voice. Faced with that suffocating presence, he did his best to calm down and exin what happened.

    The Devil Prince was genuinely surprised upon hearing what happened. He didn''t expect that the n was exposed. He knew how careful they were whenever they discussed this n, he also knew how cunning and careful Yael was so he didn''t ced all me on him for letting the situation go out of hand.

    "What''s the situation like when you left?" The Devil Prince asked the kneeling man.

    "The Guardians of the Kingdom stepped forward and faced out dear Emissaries, Your Highness. They were forced to fight them since if they won''t then our forces will surely dwindle quickly with how formidable they are. It was His Excellency, the First Emissary, who gave the task to go back and report the situation and ask for reinforcements."

    There was a period of ufortable silence after the man exined. He sneakily nced at the Devil Prince''s face and to him, it appears that the prince was considering this situation. The man couldn''t help but be anxious but didn''t dare to express it in any way, shape or form.

    He was nearly frightened out of his wits when the Devil Prince suddenly stood up from his seat. It was then that he heard him speak in a mncholic way.

    "So be it.. It''s been a while since I visited the kingdom anyway."

 Chapter 192 - Guardians Vs. Emissaries

    ---

    The underground district was sent into chaos and became the battlefield for the Final Haven Kingdom-''s forces against the ck Curtain Guild''s forces.

    Sounds of explosions echoed everywhere, chunks or rocks flew and myriad of energy lights dispersed like fireworks. It was already a miracle that the underground district hadn''t copsed yet. The event urring here is almost akin to a miniscule war already.

    Needless to say, with the constant flow of Final Haven Empires reinforcements, members of the ck Curtain Guild are being pushed back. Most of the captives of the Mort Family are being escorted to a safe location and enemy forces are quickly dwindling in number.

    Aside from the constant flow of reinforcements, another reason why they were getting the upper hand is due to the Guardians intercepting the Emissaries. Without anyone leading them, the forces of the ck Curtain Guild were like some headless chicken. They were forces to suffer one loss after another due to this.

    The Fifth Emissary was incredibly depressed.

    Victor suppressed him in their battle. The Fifth Emissary''s specialty lies on controlling deceased spirits to attack and overwhelm his enemies. If he was given enough time, he could call up to thousands of souls to do his bidding, and the longer they stayed in the mortal world, the more powerful they be.

    Unfortunately for him, even before he faced Victor, he was up against Raven who knew exactly how to counter his fighting style. When the Fifth Emissary tried to conjure another batch of souls to fight for him, he notice that it was taking him more time and more energy to call upon them. While he was sessful in his attempts, he noticed that the conjured souls were actually weakerpared to what he was expecting, not only that, the souls are also rebellious which made it difficult for him to control them.

    Imagine how stressed he must''ve been, he was faced with Victor who''s attacks are relentless and dangerous while at the same time, he had to find out solutions to his current condition. The only one he could me right now is none other than Raven and what he had done earlier.

    It was after Raven had casted the technique ''Salvation'', that the Fifth Emissary''s control over the deceased, lessened.

    This guess of his, is actually correct.

    The source of the Fifth Emissary''s power is due to an ancient ritual that he experienced under the guidance of the Devil Prince. This allows him to perceive and rouse the souls of the dead. That being said, Raven of course knew how to shut down his technique, it just so happens that the technique Raven used is stronger than what the current Fifth Emissary could handle, this exins why the bacsh he received was this intense as well.

    It also didn''t help that Victor was enlightened and gain minor control over Lightning Laws, which is said to be the bane of any negative soul-based techniques. So the Fifth Emissary was rendered hopeless and could only disy meager tricks to save his life.

    The Fourth Emissary wasn''t doing so well either.

    ording to the information they gathered over the past few years, it is said that the Kingdom''s Hawk, Luis specialized in the intelligence department. It was even written in there that they don''t have to be worried if they engaged him in a one on one battle since he was weakerpared to the other guardians.

    If this was the case, then why was he the one being suppressed right now? This doesn''t make sense at all!

    He couldn''t figure out why Luis was this strong, both of them are at the peak of the Silver Knight Realm. He knew that Luis hadn''t stepped into Half-step Golden Knight Realm since Luis was wearing his Silver Armament currently and it''s quality is equal to what he had, so why was he being suppressed?

    The answer to his question would be Law Comprehension.

    Back when Raven experienced Soul Rebirth, he found a technique which is called ''Violent Sun Scripture'' and gave it to Luis. It had to be known that if Raven wants to, he could''ve given other techniques that are better than this since he had no shortage of techniques in his memory. But why did he go through the trouble of digging up a hidden location just to bestow a technique to his father?

    It is precisely because the technique that he gave to him had Law Insights of the previous holders, included. This became a tremendous help towards Luis'' understanding of Fire Laws, specially back then that he only had entry knowledge about the topic. Ever since he started practicing this technique, he improved by leaps and bounds, the only reason why he hadn''t made any breakthroughs in his cultivation so far, is due to his desire to solidify his foundations even more.

    Compared to the meager knowledge of the Fourth Emissary about Ice Laws, it was obvious that he will be suppressed. Every attack of Luis carried a violent heat that would cause extreme burns to whatever it hits. Add the fact that Luis is extremely pissed about what the Fourth Emissary had done to Raven, his suffering could only be imagined.

    Bradley and his fight against the Third Emissary had reached a stalemate.

    The Third Emissary mainly uses water-based attacks, he also had a minor understanding of Water Laws as well. In light of this, the fighting style of the Third Emissary is considered to be fluid and unpredictable. What''s more is that the water that he controlled had a corrosive quality to it, which Bradley had to be on the lookout for since it could corrode his swords if he''s not careful.

    Bradley on the other hand specializes in Metal Laws which countered the corrosive quality of the enemy''s technique but only to some extent. Since Water Laws specializes in fluidity and unpredictability, Bradley''s swift and shy fighting style is somewhat neutralized but in exchange, the Third Emissary couldn''t do any real harm to him either. In the end, this battle will be decided on whosts longer.

    Balmung''s match against the Second Emissary is also in a stalemate.

    It is mainly due to the fact that their fighting styles neutralize each other. The Second Emissary learned Darkness Laws while Balmung learned Light Laws.

    The Second Emissary''s Darkness Laws allows him to create a murky area where one''s movement will be extremely restricted. In this area, the Second Emissary could attack anywhere he pleases, its not a Domain Ability in a sense since it only covered a miniscule distance around him. Nevertheless, it''s extremely dangerous for any to get trapped in this area.

    The Crown Prince on the other hand could more or less ignore the movement restriction if he utilized his Light Laws properly, but he couldn''t maintain it for a long time due to the neutralization of Laws. Plus, the Second Emissary could attack anywhere in that little area of his, so Balmung had to exercise extreme caution whenever he go in for a closebat. Balmung had some ranged techniques on his arsenal but it wasn''t polished enough. He couldn''t find an opportunity to use them due to the fear of the Second Emissary interrupting him. In the end, both of then knew that the result of this match would be decided by whoever falters first.

    As for Old Lee''s battle against the First Emissary. It was extremely strange.

    If it weren''t for the fact that the First Emissary had a strange constitution which enabled him to heal and re-attach his limbs in a swift manner, he would''ve been long dead already.

    There''s a reason why Old Lee was considered as a living legend in the Final Haven Kingdom. Though age caught up to him, no one in this kingdom could match Old Lee''s horrifying speed. If Old Lee wanted to, he could runps around the entire kingdom and be finished in less than an hour. How quick must one be in order to achieve that?

    If there''s anything that irritates the old man right now, that would be the fact that this this First Emissary is a kin to an undying cockroach. He had driven his sword in his heart about five time already. He had severed every single one of his limbs only to see them re-attach themselves like nothing happened. What''s even more bewildering is that, he also severed his head once! This person should be dead already but to his astonishment, the First Emissary is still alive and kicking. This defies allmon sense.

    Even Old Lee in his age couldn''t figure out what was going on. So even though he was dealing deadly damages against the First Emissary, he couldn''t help others since he was still alive.

    It was then that the Guardians and Emissaries all stopped on their tracks. This is due to them feeling the fluctuation of the portal nearby.

    All of them gazed on the portal until suddenly someone came out of it.

    Once the silhouette of the man appeared, Old Lee''s face sank and his eyes constricted fiercely. He knew exactly who came out of that portal.

    The underground district fell into an utter silence. Everyone stopped and gazed at the man, it was like he was the center of this entire event. Out of nowhere, the man''s hair-raising voice echoed inside the district.

    "How nostalgic."

 Chapter 193 - Devil Prince

    ---

    Everyone felt a suffocating presence as soon as the Devil Prince talked.

    In contrast of his mncholic expression, forces of the Final Haven Kingdom had their expressions sank upon his arrival. This goes specially well to those who were familiar with him.

    Even though he was just standing there, everyone could feel the thick nket of evil radiating off of his body. Looking closely at him, one could almost see faint images of tormented souls wailing around him.

    The Devil Prince was d in a skin-tight suit reaching up to his neck and ankles, he wore a tight-fitting robe on top of that which gave off a slight elegance in his demeanor. His face was extremely pale, almost seems like he had no blood, he also wore earrings that looked like skulls, he had a short spiky hair and top it all of off, it was his strange eyes that captivated most people.

    His eyes were all ck, there are no whites in them at all. This makes one incapable of deciphering where exactly he was looking, them might guess the general location but they won''t be able to pinpoint what exactly it is that he''s looking.

    The Emissaries felt an incredible joy upon seeing him. They wasted no time in dealing with their enemies and weed the arrival of the Devil Prince. The Emissaries kneeled and greeted him with deep reverence, they could finally see hope, now that he''s here.

    The Guardians re-assembled as well, all of them had very somber faces as of the moment. Although they thought about the possibility of this personing here before, they of course hoped that it won''te to this. Unfortunately, the worst case scenario still happened.

    Somewhere in the middle of the underground district, Raven also saw the arrival of the Devil Prince. And simrly, his face also sank upon seeing him.

    ''So he came, huh?'' Raven thought. There was a heavy feeling in his chest which made his breath somewhat stagnant. Without a doubt, this person was the strongest individual that he had ever met so far in this lifetime.

    Taking advantage of the stillness in the ce, he sent sound transmissions to his friends and told them to retreat in a safe distance.

    The Devil Prince ignored the weing gesture of his subordinates, after getting briefly distracted from the memories that came flooding in his brain upon stepping in this ce, he raised his head and gazed at the guardians. A chilling smile crept up to the Devil Prince''s face, his voice echoed once more.

    "It''s been a while, Brother Lee. I trust that you have been well?"

    "Shut your mouth." Old Lee spat with sheer disgust and hatred, "I don''t associate myself with the likes of you."

    Despite his harsh words, the Devil Prince insteadughed. He then said: "Still as rigid as ever I see. I''m d that you''re well."

    Many people were stunned upon hearing the words of the Devil Prince, from what they could tell, it seems that Old Lee and the Devil Prince had a history, whatever it was though, they had no clue or whatsoever.

    In fact, not many knew the story of the Devil Prince. Who he is and where he came from are questions that are shrouded with mystery. Only a few people in the kingdom knew about his origins and there is a good reason why it was kept as a secret.

    "Well I''ll be..." A voice suddenly disrupted the silence of the underground district. "And here I thought I''d never see that hateful face of yours, but here you are."

    Out of nowhere, a man materialized out of nowhere after he spoke. Everyone then felt the suffocating aura that the Devil Prince disperse with the presence of the man.

    He floated in the air, arms crossed in his chest and a somber expression on his face. He was d in brilliant gold armor, a spear manifested on his hands as he levitated close to the Guardians. This man had a head full of white hairs, ash colored beard and a pair of almond eyes. His golden armor was bulky, specially on the shoulder part. On the surface of his armor, one could see carvings that looked like serpentine dragons, it gave off a feeling that they wille alive at any moment.

    Balmung''s eyes shone as soon as he saw this man. Sensing the prince''s gaze, the man looked at him and nodded in greeting.

    "Ah! So it''s Brother Morel. I''m d that you''re well." The Devil Prince greeted back.

    Before anyone could say anything, another presence materialized. It was ady excluding a prideful elegance and a majestic heat.

    She simrly had a set of brilliant golden armor. However, hers was covered with mes that pulsated whenever she moved. She had an aged look on her face as well, but she seems slightly youngerpared to Old Lee or Morel.

    "Teacher!" Luna silently eximed upon seeing her.

    "Sister Leona, you''re still as beautiful as I could remember." The Devil Prince smiled as he greeted her.

    "Ready to die?" Was Leona''s reply to his greeting.

    Old Lee''s face twitched as he heard this, he thought inwardly: ''She''s extremely irritated right now.''

    "Oh, how nostalgic this is! I didn''t expect that our reunion would be in this kind of circumstances!" The Devil Prince said while smiling widely.

    Compared to his reaction, the majority of the people including his own subordinates were wielded out by his attitude. It had to be known that the Devil Prince is facing three Golden Knights currently, Old Lee, Leona and Morel, yet he didn''t appeared flustered nor particrly worried.

    "If only Alexander was here, how nice would that be?" The Devil Prince said in a slightly regretful voice but his fiendish grin told a different story.

    When he uttered that name, the Guardians including the two newly arrived Golden Knights exuded a thick killing intent. Even Luna who was watching from afar was affected. Their reactions were understandable, after all the Alexander that the Devil Prince was referring to, is the current King of the Final Haven Kingdom.

    ''Prince.'' Old Lee uttered in a somber tone, he used voice transmission to do so. Balmung faced him then he heard him say: ''Leave this ce along with the troops. I''m afraid that this battle is going to be explosive, I can''t look after you. Retreat to the pce, you will be safe there.''

    ''But grandpa¡­''

    ''This is not the time to argue, Your Highness.'' Old Lee pressed on, ''I already failed your father back then when I failed to kill this man and I can''t fail him again. You must leave.''

    Balmung wanted to say something but in the end, he couldn''t do anything. He knew that even if he insisted, he will only hold back their forces due to his weakness. He gripped his hands tightly and threw a harsh re towards the Devil Prince. He then turned back and yelled: "All forces, heed mymand! Retreat!"

    Victor, Luis, and Bradley hurriedly formed defensive stance around Balmung, making sure to be on the look out for any possible ambush. When the forces of Final Haven Kingdom heard thismand, they followed it despite their unwillingness.

    Of course, even without the directmand of the Devil Prince, forces of the ck Curtain Guild wouldn''t allow them to safely retreat. They harassed the retreating forces repeatedly, they wanted to make them stay but couldn''t since the remaining guardians and some knights are covering their rear.

    The Devil Prince shook his head when he saw the Prince and rest leaving. His gaze was locked onto Balmung''s retreating figure as he spoke: "What an unfilial child. Didn''t even said hello to his Uncle."

    With that, he raised his hand and immediately, the underground district darkened. Flesh and bones rose up to the air, forming a massive hand that reached out towards Balmung.

    When the prince heard themotion behind him, he turned around to look and his face immediately paled. A foreboding sense of despair and death gripped his heart, he never felt so afraid before. Him and the guardians protecting him tried to defend but they knew that they couldn''t.

    It wasn''t until then that Old Lee suddenly spurred into action. Golden light covered his body, turning into pieces of armament that transformed his seemingly old and feeble existence. With a loud grunt, he raised his hand in the air as his energies were roused into motion.

    His energies transformed into an enormous sword that emanated a sharp and deadly intent. Old Lee grunted once more and made a quick chop using his hand. The sword energy descended and severed the enormous hand.

    Leona simrly raised his sword and a small orb of condensed fire emerged at the tip of her sword. She snorted and pointed at the enormous hand, the orb of fire flew towards the hand and incinerated it with a frightening heat.

    Morel lifted his hand and waved, suddenly the prince and his guards felt light and discovered that they were hovering in the air. With another push of Morel''s hand, the Prince and rest of the retreating forces were carried away towards the exit of the underground district.

    After making sure that the retreating forces were safe.. The three of them faced the Devil Prince who wore a menacing smile in his face.

 Chapter 194 - Payback

    ---

    By now, the forces of the Final Haven Kingdom had retreated from the underground district.

    The only people remaining were the forces of the ck Curtain Guild along with the Devil Prince as well as three Golden Knights; Old Lee, Leona and Morel.

    "Fall back." The Devil Prince uttered towards his men, when the Emissaries heard this, they wanted to retort but the Devil Prince raised his hand and continued, "You children can''t participate in this battle. Listen to me and go back."

    His subordinates knew that they couldn''t change their leader''s mind so they nodded and said: "As you wish, Your Majesty."

    All of them then started leading the forces to retreat from the underground district. The Emissaries as well as the rest of the troops were a bit disappointed knowing that they had failed the expectations of their leader, but no one expected that their n wouldn''t work even with them executing it in secret.

    "Hmph!"

    All of them heard this sound as they retreated, the Emissaries felt their scalps tingle. This sound didn''te from the Devil Prince, which means that it could only be a sign for an enemy attack.

    And as expected, it didn''t take long before an attack was headed their way. All they saw was a massive wave of mes heading their way, even though the attack hadn''t hit them yet, the heat contained alone by those mes was already terrifying enough.

    It was precisely Leona who sent this attack. As someone from the opposing force, how could she allow the ck Curtain Guild''s men to retreat safely when the Devil Prince didn''t allow their forces to do so? This could be considered as a payback.

    But of course, how could the Devil Prince allow her to do as she pleases?

    As a response to her attack, the Devil Prince raised his hand once more. A thick and disgusting aura rose from his body, suddenly the dead bodies of people lying around them shook fiercely. Next, a harrowing scene unfolded, the bones on those bodies were seemingly attracted by some strange force. The mass of bones them hurriedly arranged themselves to form a wall and bore Leona''s attack.

    "Hurry you morons! Move your asses back to the headquarters!" Roared the First Emissary towards the retreating forces. Him and the rest of the Emissaries became alert and covered their rear, though weren''t sure if they could truly survive another full-powered attack from those people, they had to step up and be responsible, specially within their leader''s presence.

    The heat carried by Leona''s attack turned the bone wall into ashes, beside her Morel snorted and raised his hand. Suddenly, dozens of spears materialized out of nowhere. Just the sight of those spears, one could feel the sharpness despite their hollow forms. As Morel''s hand descended, the spearsunched, aiming at the retreating forces.

    The Devil Prince sneered and prepared to intercept the attack, however before he could even raise his hand, a flicker of golden light appeared before him. It was Old Lee.

    The Devil Prince''s expression suddenly changed, no matter how many times he had seen it, Old Lee''s speed never ceased to amaze him. Old Lee''s face was covered in frost, he raised his sword. His hand turned in to a blur, several sharp sword energies aimed at the Devil Prince''s vitals threated to take his life appeared. The Devil Prince lifted a finger and immediately, bones appeared out of nowhere protecting the Devil Prince from Old Lee''s attack.

    Even though his attacks failed, Old Lee didn''t falter and kept his raging onught. The bone shield that encased the Devil Prince within constantly shattered, he had no other choice other than to constantly supply it with his energies in order to repair itself.

    Due to this, the Devil Prince became upied and couldn''t do much to protect his subordinates. He tried to protect them and managed to save some of his men from Morel''s wind spears but Old Lee''s relentless onught prevented him from saving everyone.

    Three out of the five Emissaries met their deaths under the sharp tip of Morel''s spears. Their eyes were still wide open behind their masks, they weren''t expecting to die in this mission, specially under the watch of their leader. But the fact that there''s a spear wedged in their bodies and disintegrated their internal organs with a mystical force, remained. Their gazes dulled as they fell limp on their cold ground.

    Only the First and Second Emissary managed to survive along with some of the retreating forces. The Second Emissary was able to turn himself incorporeal with his Darkness Laws, making the spear headed his way to pass through his body. The First Emissary was hit but due to his strange constitution, he extricated himself from impalement and the gaping hole in his chest mended itself, keeping him alive.

    Though they survived, none of them had any traces of joy nor relief on their faces. What remained was pure and unadulterated fear stemming out of their hearts. There''s only a realm''s difference in their cultivation yet the disparity was so great. If it weren''t for their strange techniques, they wouldn''t even be alive right now.

    Despite that, none of them had any thoughts on extracting revenge. It became crystal clear right now why the Devil Prince ordered them to retreat.

    To these Golden Knights, the difference in numbers is nothing more than a joke. Just a casual wave of their hands and the advantage that they were proud of will instantly disappear like smoke. It was such a rude awakening too, they personally experience the absolute disparity in strength. However, now is certainly not the time to muddle about those things, retreating back to their headquarters should be their priority.

    Leona and Morel knew exactly the reason why Old Lee engaged the Devil Prince in a brutal melee. So even without saying a word, they set their gazes on the retreating forces and threw one attack after another.

    Seeing those shes of lights and deadly attacks heading their way, the retreating forces nearly pissed their pants in horror. Shredding any form of pretenses, all of them began to ran towards the portal with mad speed. If they were even a beat tote, that would mean the end of them.

    The Devil Prince tried to defend his troops despite being upied by Old Lee''s brutal onught. He indeed managed to save some but the amount of people who died were still greater. Even so, the Devil Prince remained indifferent about this situation and focused on defending himself.

    In the end, only a small fraction of the forces managed to escape the unbridled attacks of Morel and Leona. The First and Second Emissary managed to escape through sheer luck, though they were worried about the well being of the Devil Prince they knew that they will only hold him back if they stayed, there''s nothing they could do other than to pray for his safety and wait until the battle was over.

    Seeing his men retreated safely. The Devil Prince sighed, his ck eyes narrowed and with a loud grunt, an irresistible force surrounded his body and pushed Old Lee away, creating distance between them.

    Old Lee managed to disperse the remaining force of the push by tumbling back. He stood up and saw Leona and Morel standing beside him. All of them stared at the levitating Devil Prince with grim expressions.

    "That''s unfair, no? I only tried attacking your forces once, and failed in the attempt. Yet you guys teamed up to bully my forces to ground." The Devil Prince assumed a whining tone as he spoke.

    "Hmph!" Morel snorted, "Be thankful that we still allowed some to return. Had your filthy hands touched even the hem of our Prince''s robes, I will not hesitate to hunt down every single one of your people, even if I had to lose my life in the process."

    "Our Prince should live while you people shall die." Leona said in a forceful tone.

    "Besides, Isn''t this what you''re aiming for?" Old Lee interjected.

    "Oh? I don''t understand what Brother Lee''s talking about?" The Devil Prince feigning ignorance.

    "Stop with the act, and never call me Brother again!" Old Lee sharply replied, "You cultivate Death Laws, specifically inclined towards Necromancy, of course you need dead people to aid you in battle. If you truly want to protect them, it would be as easy as turning your hand, yet you only let a miniscule amount to safely return."

    Silence permeated in the underground district, out of nowhere the Devil Prince started cackling madly. There was a hint of a crazed look in his face as he did so. Heughed so hard that he was even clutching his stomach, it was as if he heard funniest joke ever. He then wiped the tears forming at the corner of his eyes and said:

    "Oh my, it seems that I am a terrible actor then." He said with an obvious sneer in his tone.

    Old Lee''s face crumpled in anger. "You disgust me, stair!"

 Chapter 195 - Death Laws

    ---

    The face of the Devil Prince turned somewhat nk as he heard Old Lee call him by his name.

    Silence permeated the underground district, it was then broken by the mncholic tone in the Devil Prince''s words: "It has been a while since someone called me that. Sometimes I even forgot that that''s my name."

    "Unfortunately, that name has no power over me anymore. All I want is to destroy, and destroy I shall!"

    stair''s aura red. A thick aura of death and decay rose in a form of a pulsing ck me that covered his entire body. All of a sudden, the dead were seemingly roused by his power and they crawled back to life. Needless to say, the dead weren''t resurrected, all they were now are mere shells of their former selves, they turned into mindless beings that seek only to devour the living - Undead, if one should call them.

    The Golden Knights who watched this scene grimaced in disgust. It didn''t matter how many times they''ve seen him do this, the eeriness and hair-raising feeling still remains.

    Whether it is Old Lee, Leona or Morel. All them lived for several decades, and their knowledge were vast. They have seen records about the mystical power of Death Laws.

    Laws in particr are very demanding. It requires time, patience, creativity and luck to gain even the slightest chance of enlightenment over them. It only makes sense sinceprehending Laws isprehending the force of nature, manipting Laws is simr to manipting the force of nature. This is why it is imperative for Knights to seek enlightenment over them since the road ahead of them will only get harder, seeking and taking every opportunity to strengthen themselves is vital for their survival.

    Laws are divided into stages, it differs depending on what Laws one gainedprehension into. Taking the Devil Prince for example, he gained enlightenment over Death Laws.

    Death Laws are divided into several stages; Erosion, Requiem, que, Decay, Erasure.

    It had to be known how difficult it is to gain even the slight understanding in any type of Law, much less entering these stages. One could spend their entire lifetimes seeking for a chance to be enlightened and not receive it, but somehow in this remote ce, a Lesser World iparable to the Divine Realm, somehow someone managed to reach the second stage of Death Laws; the Requiem Stage.

    It is precisely the method on how stair managed to have control over the dead. While the main advantage of the Requiem Stage of Death Laws is absolute control over the souls of the dead, humanity''s ingenuity allowed them to create a technique that could also control the bodies of the dead.

    Some call it Impure Rebirth, while some call it Necromancy. And this is the specialty of the Devil Prince. It allows him to summon Skeleton Soldiers, Undead, Ghouls, Ghosts, Specters, Wraiths and etc. This is what makes him terrifying, so long as he is surrounded with Death, he''ll never run out of soldiers tomand and willing to die for him.

    Seeing the army of the dead running towards them without any concern about their well being, the Golden Knights spurred into action.

    Just like before, Morel raised his hand and manifested numerous Wind Spears. As he waved his hand down, the spears flew in blinding speed and impaled the mindless undead in ce. Despite the impalement, the undead feel no pain at all, they scurried and tried to extricate themselves from being rooted into ce but found out that they can''t. No matter how much they struggled to free themselves, they couldn''t move an inch from their positions.

    This is exactly the oue that Morel wanted, he knew that his techniques had little to no effect in this undead so he thought that rooting them in ce should be enough. He looked beside him and smiled, he saw Leona''s sword producing a horrifying heat once more.

    It didn''t took long before she snorted and shed horizontally. Suddenly, a sea of fire seemingly manifested and incinerated the ground as well as the undead who were trying to get to them.

    The Undead screamed in pain, the smell of burning flesh became evident in the underground district. Due to the intense heat that Leona''s attack had, it didn''t take long before the undead became ashes that scattered on the wind.

    The coboration of the two Golden Knights were enough to stop the potential danger from bing a serious threat. Of course, this left a bad taste in stair''s mouth. Even though he purposefully allowed some of him men to die so that he could use them, it only took a few moments for these people to deal with them.

    The Devil Prince''s more specifically threatened by Leona. The heat contained in her mes are just overbearing. Normally, his undead should still press on even after receiving lethal damage, this is due to the Death Laws, it allows them to remain and cling into the realm of the living to do his bidding. But if someone would literally burn them to ash, then not even his Death Laws could reconstruct their bodies.

    Of course, this doesn''t mean that the Devil Prince is underestimating Morel or Old Lee. He faced them multiple times already to know better than to slight them.

    Morel, while not as effective in speed nor as overbearing as Leona inbat, severed both his arms back them. In fact, whenever the Devil Prince see his face, the joint on his shoulders would tingle in pain, acting as a reminder to be careful around him.

    Old Lee on the other hand, is actually more terrifying than the two in his opinion. If there''s anyone he knew in this kingdom who wants him dead, it would be him. stair never defeated Old Lee, he could force him into a draw if he gave it his all but he had never be a serious threat to Old Lee, not even now that age is catching up to him.

    Now that his minions were all turned into mere ashes by Leona, the Devil Prince had no other choice other than to bring in something that will be more effective against them.

    Inhaling sharply, stair spat out a thick ck fog from his mouth. The ck fog spread out almost instantly, forming a nket on the ground. Seeing this ck fog, Old Lee''s face turned solemn as he immediately said:

    "Keep those fog at bay! Don''t allow them to touch your body nor allow it to go outside! It''sced with his Death Laws."

    After saying this, Morel instantly moved and grabbed his spear. He drew a long dividing line between them and the fog. A long gash that crossed from one end of the underground district to another, appeared. Morel raised his hand and grunted: "Windwall!"

    Out of nowhere, a strong gust of wind raised from the gash. It''s somewhat transparent but one could feel it''s existence, the wind formed a massive wall that prevented that ck fog from moving forward.

    Leona also moved, she pointed her sword on the entrance of the underground district and then, a barrier of me covered the entrance. This is another insurance for them just in case that the ck fog managed to pass through Morel''s windwall.

    The Devil Prince wasn''t surprised when he saw how they countered his attack. On the contrary, he smiled. It was evident that this is the oue that he wanted. He sped his hands together and the whole underground district shook.

    Suddenly, pained cries and vengeful whispers echoed in every corner of the district. This sounds alone could drive mortals mad and insane, even those who had weaker cultivations would be greatly affected by this sounds. Out of nowhere, pale silhouettes rose from the ground.

    These creatures were ethereal, they had deformed bodies and faces. Eyes red, moaning with harrowing sound, and carried an evil stench. They differ in sizes but they generally appeared as humans, at least they resembled one.

    "Vengeful Souls." Old Lee harshly spat, eyes narrowing in displeasure.

    The battle to prevent the Devil Prince from going out of this ce just became harder. Souls had always been the most difficult thing to deal with. Aside from Law-based attacks, nothing else could stop these things. Their incorporeal forms will enable them to pass through matter or energy without any problems. So far, no had developed any effective counters against them, specially considering the fact that these poor souls should''ve departed this world.

    "Onwards." A solemnmand escaped out the thin lips of the Devil Prince.

    "OOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Pained roars and vengeful cries were emitted by the Devil Prince''s minion.

    The Golden Knights felt a shiver down their spine. From what they could tell, the Devil Prince made sure to make these things extra durable, it was evident by the intensity of Death Energy surrounding them. All of them knew that Morel''s windwall might not be able to stop these guys from reaching them

    Knowing full well about the destruction that these souls could do if they allowed them to pass, the Golden Knights resolved themselves to not spare in efforts to stop them.

    It was then that Old Lee finally stepped forward and took charge of the defense. He raised his hand and a massive spear made out of pure lightning appeared his palms.. This evidently made the vengeful souls stop in there tracks with fear evident from the very core of their being.

 Chapter 196 - Dragon?

    ---

    If there''s anything that could severely threaten any soul forms brought back by evil hands aside from Light Laws, it would definitely be Lightning Laws.

    Unbeknownst to many, the Ghost Race exists. They are a terrifying bunch of beings, capable of directly attacking one''s soul. Just by a mere touch, they could im lives like it was nothing. They are inherently dangerous but their existence is solely subjugated by the Heavenly Laws - nature, per se.

    And like any other races, they too are capable of strengthening themselves. They developed a unique way of cultivation that, only their race could use. There were even a time when the Ghost race was once arrogant and one to unify all under their banner.

    It is a mystery as to why they failed to do so. After all, their numbers were surely staggering and they''re extremely powerful. Some records shown that they offended someone they shouldn''t, and this individual called upon the Lightning Tribtions to rain down on their home, causing mass destruction and even threatened to wipe them out.

    There''s also some versions of this story in which, this mysterious individual ced a curse on their race in exchange of his life. The curse will take effect once an individual from the Ghost Race reached a certain threshold of strength. Once the curse was activated, tribtion clouds will descend and rain down punishment to the said individual. It was said that many from the ghost race failed to transcend these tribtion, thus turning them into nothing but specks of dust scattered in the wind. Ever since then, the seeding generations of the Ghost Race developed an existential fear of Lightning.

    ***

    Old Lee''s face was cold. In his right hand, a thin and long spear made out of lightning appeared.

    Raising his hand ever so slightly, he threw the lightning spear upwards. With a blinding speed, the lightning spear passed through Morel''s Windwall and flew on top of the marching souls.

    All eyes were glued on the lightning spear. Suddenly, Old Lee clenched his hand and the lightning stopped at the peak of its trajectory. It was then divided into several bolts of lightning that rained down upon the ranks of the marching souls.

    Any soul that was hit by those lightning screamed in agony, they writhed and groaned in fury but despite their cries, the lightning did its job and erased them from this mortal ne. Some of the lightning bolts were aimed at the Devil Prince but he managed to defend himself by summoning that bone barrier out of nowhere once more.

    Despite being able to defend himself, the Devil Prince wasn''t so jubnt about the current situation. This is the entire reason why he wasn''t able to beat Old Lee even once. It is because his Laws directly countered his.

    While the Devil Prince somehow managed to be enlightened at the second stage of Death Laws, Old Lee''s affinity and understand towards Lightning Laws was enough to shut down majority of his tricks. In terms of speed, he couldn''tpare, in terms of lethality, he also couldn''tpare. Old Lee bested him in every single possible way, which in turn made him helpless about the old man.

    However, it is also clear for all of them that they''ve spent at least half of their energy reserves by now. Throwing out this explosive attacks consumed a decent amount of their energy, if it weren''t for the fact that the Golden Knights'' priority is to make sure that stair won''te out of this ce, then this battle would''ve been more explosive.

    That being said, stair is still the Devil Prince. He wanted to destroy, he wantedy waste in this kingdom that brought nothing but pain and bitterness to him. He vowed that sooner orter, he will get what he wanted.

    Gazing at the division between him and his oldrades, stair snorted. He pped his hands and the thick aura of death rose once more. The whole underground district shook once more, the Golden Knights felt the intensity of the Death Energy that stair is emanating and braced themselves.

    Suddenly, the ck auraing off of the Devil Prince took shape. White matter condensed in a visible speed forming what seems to be a huge bone. This process didn''t stop there, the rumbling of the underground district intensified and the condensation of the bone became faster. Eventually, bones of varying sizes appeared, the bones arranged themselves in a manner that didn''t resemble a human.

    It entity it formed was a bipedal creature. It stood about 70 meters tall, it was made out of pure bones. Its skull was somewhat simr to that of an alligator but with horns, it also has a long spine, a pair of bony wings that has ws with it and wingspan that barely reached both ends of the whole underground district. On top of this, the creature was surrounded with ck, pulsing mes that emanated a thick stench of death courtesy of the Devil Prince''s influence.

    "Is that¡­" Morel swallowed hard, finding it difficult to continue his words.

    "Unbelievable." Leona uttered with her face grim.

    "A Dragon! But how!?" Old Lee said with difficulty.

    Yes, what stood before them, a creature of mass destruction. Something that they only seen records of but never met, not until now. A Dragon. Or least, it used to be. Now it is nothing but a skeleton of its former glory. Nevertheless, it is still a Dragon.

    *Roar!*

    The Dragon opened its maw and let out a piercing roar. The sound it carried were enough to shatter the eardrums of a mortal. To some extent, the Golden Knights who bore the full burnt of its roar, felt their Energy Shield fluctuate with how fearsome that roar was.

    "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    stair''s hystericalugh echoed in every corner of the underground district. If one looked at him closely, one could see that he was pale and clearly weakened, but stair could hardly care about his weakened state. Instead he felt a sensation of deep satisfaction upon letting loose of this creature. His eyes shone with a crazed light as he stared at the creature. He raised his hand and roared:

    "Go! Ruin and destroy! Kill! Leave none alive! Hahahaha!"

    The madness contained in his voice made the Golden Knights shiver. They knew that stair was mad but they weren''t expecting him to be this mad. Their faces turned incredibly solemn, they took out their weapons and prepared to intercept, what probably the most difficult enemy that they will ever face.

    Morel roared in anger, his spear swept in all directions, carrying waves upon waves of sharp wind currents that threatened to sever the joints of the dragon. Leona followed suit by sting one orb of condensed fire after another towards the dragon. Old Lee also moved, his hands turning to a blur, he chucked a condensed lightning towards the dragon.

    Due to the size of the dragon, there is no way that it could evade thebined attacks of the three, yet in truth there was no need to.

    Even though they utilized theirws andbined it with their attacks, none of them managed to even leave a scratch on the bones of the dragon.

    With their expressions turning incredibly somber. The Golden Knights kicked into full drive and stopped holding back. They didn''t care about the damage, what''s more important right now is to bring this creature down before it escapes andy waste on the kingdom.

    Meanwhile, the Devil Prince watched the spectacle before him. He broke into a mad cackle here and there, he mocked the so-called strength of his oldrades. ncing at the dragon that he summoned, his heart was filled with confidence. It seems that the destruction that he wanted will finally happen, god knows how long he had been waiting for this chance.

    The Golden Knights tried everything they could. Every technique in their arsenal was used, every treasure that they could use had been released, however despite their efforts, they were rendered helpless by the Dragon.

    As time goes on, fatigue eventually crept up with the Golden Knights. No matter what they do, the rampage of the Dragon was unstoppable. They already sustained damage from its attacks, they were bleeding all over, some parts of their Golden Armaments are ruined or destroyed, it was also getting more and more difficult to breathe.

    Only the stubbornness kept them hanging. No matter what, even by the cost of their lives, they must take down this threat.

    They watched as the Dragon pped its wings, it opened is maw wide and inhaled sharply. Their eyes constricted, the Golden Knights hurriedly erected an energy essence shield around their bodies but their weakness didn''t allow them to create a strong one.

    Just before the Dragon spit out whatever it is that''s on its mouth. An astonishing scene suddenly happened.

    A gentle, warm andforting light shone. Itpassed not only the entire underground district but the entire kingdom in fact. The light shone so bright that it almost fooled everyone, making them think that it was daytime already.

    Still stunned with the sudden emergence of the brilliant light. A soft, feminine and gentle voice was heard all over the Kingdom. It spoke the following word:

    "Smite."

 Chapter 197 - Smite

    ---

    Even before the Crown Prince lead the retreat of the forces. Raven and his friends already retreated back to the entrance of the cave.

    The Ruler''s Vision was already turned off by Raven, he figured that the kingdom had seen enough and there is no longer any need for them to see the results of the battle.

    As the forces of the Final Haven Kingdom retreated, Raven along with his friends didn''t leave. They stayed and watched as the Golden Knights battled the Devil Prince. As everyone was busy leaving the premises, they weren''t able to notice that the kids actually stayed.

    Raven had no reason to doubt the strength of neither Old Lee, Leona or Morel. He had personally seen their prowess during his previous life and he knew that they weren''t nothing short of being formidable. However, for some unknown reason, his instincts told him that something wrong will happen which mainly the reason why he chose to stay. Luis might''ve felt this too but he was busy escorting the prince and the rest of the forces to notice anything weird.

    The little warriors watched the whole scene unfold. No one dared to speak a word as they were afraid of disturbing the battle, thest thing that they wanted, was to distract the Golden Knights from battle. That would surely lead into some horrible ending.

    When Raven saw how well the Devil Prince used his Death Laws, he was unbelievably astonished. Something that he didn''t feel often due to him having experience of two lifetimes.

    He couldn''t imagine how the Devil Prince was able to reach the second stage of Death Laws in this remote Lesser World. It had to be known that even in the Divine Realm, people who reached this stage are not too many, this is on the premise that the Laws that are present in the Divine Realm are at its finest, which in turn allow more people to have an easier time perceiving them.

    Raven instantly knew that something was wrong. He refused to believe that the Devil Prince was able to gain enlightenment on the second stage of Death Laws on his own. He knew that something was up, but he couldn''t quite put a finger on it yet.

    The group watched on, they saw how the Golden Knights were able to counter whatever the Devil Prince threw at them. Then, their faces fell when the creature made out of pure bones appeared. His friends couldn''t believe it either just like the Golden Knights. They asked to themselves if whatever they were seeing is true.

    It was then that Raven''s grim voice echoed in their ears.

    "That''s not a Dragon." He shook his head, "It''s a Wyrm."

    "A Wyrm?" The rest asked in confusion.

    "Yes." Raven nodded in agreement. "Dragons are considered as God Beast. From the moment they were born, they are cared for by the nature and bestowed with overwhelming strength and affinity towards Laws. That being said, because of their staggering potential, their reproducibility is incredibly low. In the end, in their desire to leave descendants behind, they mated with other beasts who are weaker than them, granting them a part of their bloodline."

    "Qilins, Dragon Turtles, Smanders, Flood Dragons, etc. These came after that process, but despite their bloodlines being impure, there are ways to awaken it bit by bit and eventually transform them into true descendants of Dragons."

    "The initial awakening will transform them into a Wyrm, then a Drake and eventually a True Dragon. I don''t know where he got that from but from what I could tell, this Wyrm is still alive although barely. It clings on life using Death Laws, nevertheless even though it''s just a Wyrm, the Elder might find themselves in a difficult position."

    Listening to Raven''s exnation, the rest were enlightened. They didn''t ask nor doubted his knowledge, at this point, Is there any reason for them to question the things he know? There''s absolutely no reason for him to lie in this kind situation.

    ''A Wyrm, huh? Did he form a contract with it? That should be the case, how else could he call it out to fight for him? But shouldn''t be possible though. Any beast that has a God Beast bloodline are incredibly haughty and arrogant to their core. I''m sure that forming a contract with such a weak human is such a disgrace for it, so there''s little to no chance of it happening.''

    ''The only scenario, I could think of, that a Wyrm would enter a contract with a human is if it was the one who offered the contract itself. But that doesn''t make sense though! Why would it enter a contract with a human willingly? Even in it''s dying breath, it should still be stronger than stair during their first meeting. It could''ve just consumed him instead. So why?''

    ''Unless¡­''

    ''Wait! Death Laws¡­ Requiem Stage! Ah! Damn, why am I so slow with that! I understand! So it''s like that huh?''

    ''Since it dared to this, then I shouldn''t miss this chance!''

    A fierce glint appeared on Raven''s eyes as realization dawned upon him. It seems that the butterfly effect had finally brought him a great opportunity. He had to capitalize on this now since it''s very unlikely that he would encounter another chance like this in the future.

    "Guys,e here for a second."

    Raven gathered his friends and told them his ns. He told them that he wanted to help the Elders in their battle, and to do that, they had to make sure that they won''t be interrupted. Thankfully, they are protected by Leona''s wall of fire which she erected earlier as an insurance.

    Then the six went into action. Raven told them what they had to do while he and Luna prepare themselves to carry out the n as soon as the preparations are ready. That''s right, Luna has a vital role in this n of his.

    While the Elders'' battle against the Wyrm was in full throttle, the rest finished preparing the ritual circle.

    Raven nodded to Luna and both of them stood on the center of the ritual circle. Standing in front of him, Luna felt Raven''s palms on her back. She shivered for a bit as she wasn''t used to guys touching her but she suppressed it. She took a deep breath and rxed, focusing on the chant of Raven to distract herself.

    The ritual took time, the rest who were on the lookout became quite anxious as they saw the Golden Knights losing quite badly against the Wyrm. Just as then, Raven''s eyes shed wide open. His whole body emitted a golden light, these brilliance then condensed onto his palms and were transferred to Luna.

    When the Golden Light fused with Luna''s body, her eyes snapped wide open. Her expression turned somewhat nk as she unconsciously looked up.

    Right above their heads, dark clouds appeared and were mysteriously parted with an unknown force. Next thing they knew, a particr constetion shone brightly. Through an unknown reason, a silhouette emerged from constetion.

    Luna''s gaze was locked with this silhouette, then with a sh of light the silhouette descended and merged with her.

    Luna''s body emitted a warm and gentle golden light. Under the dumbstruck gazes of her friends, she suddenly started transforming. Her hair turned golden, her eyes changed into a golden color as well. On top of her head, a circlet appeared with a golden gem embedded on the center.

    Four pairs of wide and fluttering wings appeared on her back. Her countenance turned extremely noble, holy even. A golden sash appeared on her arms, wrapping around them like gloves. While her clothes remained the same, all of them felt that the girl in front of them was no longer Luna.

    She then looked at every single one of them, showing incredibly gentleness andpassion on her face. She specifically looked longer at Raven and nodded. As she looked forward, she saw the madly cackling Devil Prince and the summoned Wyrm. Without issuing any warnings, she stepped forward with her wings fluttering behind her.

    She passed by the wall of fire like it was nothing but a breeze. She flew and looked over the abomination in front of her with clear displeased expression on her face.

    She lifted her hand and uttered: "Smite."

    A golden pir of light descended and illuminated the entire kingdom. As the rest basked in this light, they felt an incredible sense of peace andfort, however the same couldn''t be said with the Devil Prince and the Wyrm.

    The formidable existence of the Wyrm offered no resistance against this golden light. Under its influence, it couldn''t even let out a pain roar as it was obliterated in mere seconds. The Devil Prince had it the worst though, this light severely opposed him. For the first time, he felt truly terrified and in the precipice of death.

    The Devil Prince even felt that his strength was rapidly being drained, the longer he was exposed on this Golden Light, the more damage he took. His heart pounded madly, without any other thoughts, he fled towards the portal and disappeared. The portal closed up and the battle was over.

    In the air, Luna''s figure was still present. Again, her face showed clear displeasure, it seems that she wasn''t so happy that the Devil Prince managed to escape.

    She gave a warm smile towards the Golden Knights and went back towards Raven and the rest. She joined Raven inside the ritual circle and said with an ethereal voice:

    "That person won''t be bothering you any time soon. I couldn''t kill him but him and his contractor are badly injured." She stepped forward and hugged Raven''s body, he still had his eyes closed which means that all this time, he was still maintaining the ritual.

    "This girl would be unconscious for at least a week. As for him, about a month or two. Take care of them."

    After saying this, Luna lost consciousness and returned back from her original appearance. The ritual circle disappeared and both her and Raven fell down on each other''s arm, clearly unconscious.

    The rest closed in on them, checking their pulses and breathing sighs of relief. It was then that the Golden Knights appeared behind them and asked in unison.

    "What in the world happened here?"

 Chapter 198 - Father And Daughter

    ---

    It was tough battle for those who participated.

    The sudden invasion of the ck Curtain Guild took everyone by surprise. Scenes of the battle were still imprinted on people''s mind. The atrocities that the Mort Family hid, their tant coboration with the enemy, their ns of uprooting the Royal Family, and the amount of people who were sacrificed in order for them reach their goals.

    It was a rare time when the hearts of everyone in the kingdom were mostly united. They desired to get rid of this malicious tumor and attain the perpetual peace of their home. No amount of efforts were spared, warriors flocked over the Mort Family Estate on their own ord to defend their home from the invaders.

    Out of all the people who participated in the great battle. An individual stood amongst the rest.

    He, despite his limited cultivation, confronted the evil deeds of the Mort Family and didn''t back down. He refused to turn blind eye towards the injustice and evilness that he seen. Not only he straight up confronted them, he used everything he had to stop their advances knowing full well that he might nevere back for it.

    Although it was unknown who was responsible or how it was possible for everyone to witness the confrontation, it didn''t change the fact that he still fought valiantly and almost stopped the invasion from happening. It was due to his heroic deeds that the kingdom still stood tall in this day and the casualties of the battle were greatly minimized.

    It was also due to his efforts that the captives of the Mort Family was able to reunite with their families. When all of them thought that these people were dead, they felt nothing but despair, but imagine their surprise when they saw them at their doors, telling them about their terrible experience as a ve in the Mort Family Estate.

    In this heroic action of his, he made at least arge majority of the families in the kingdom, indebted to him. Out of all the captives that he freed, it was safe to say that he never thought that he will have a certain powerful individual, feel specially grateful and indebted to his deeds.

    This person is none other than Morel Bluesky, a respected Golden Knight of the Kingdom. Raven might not know this but he already met Morel before.

    It was precisely during his visit in the Eternal Horizon n before. Morel was there, only under a disguise that left a deep impression towards Raven. He was Elder Drake.

    Morel, just like Leona and Old Lee, is also one the current King''s most trusted men. It was only under their care that the King was able to depart in peace knowing that the Kingdom is safe under their care.

    Morel, despite his overbearing strength and resplendent reputation, was actually a lonely person. He grew up alone, reached his current state using nothing but his own efforts and was able to stand tall as one of the Kingdom''s Pirs. The only respite he had was when he found the love of his life and married her.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t make it upon giving birth since she afflicted with a disease that severely weakened her. Their child survive thankfully, the child is a girl and he named her Joanna.

    She became the only one left for Morel, so he gave her everything that she wanted so long as he could. She grew up as a sensible child but one day she mysteriously disappeared. Morel nearly turned the whole kingdom upside down in search for her but wasn''t able to find her anywhere. In truth however, she didn''t disappear but rather taken by the Mort Family and turned into a ve.

    Imagine Morel''s surprise upon seeing his one and only child waiting for him in front of his house. She might''ve looked differently from thest time that he saw her but blood is thicker than water, how could he not tell that this is his daughter?

    Joanna couldn''t even looked at him in the eye, she was so afraid that her father won''t recognize her but how is that possible? A father''s love is like a mountain, no amount of changes in her could stop him from recognizing his own flesh and blood!

    Despite her admonishing herself for being careless and falling for the trap of the Mort Family, despite her feeling disgusted at herself knowing that she was forced to do all those horrible things during her time as a captive, despite her not being sure on how to greet her father after being freed, the strong arms wrapped around her body and the overflowing love of a father melted all those worries away.

    All the injustice that she experienced, all of the miserable memories imprinted on her mind, all of her fears and worries, gone with the wind upon reuniting with her father.

    Morel didn''t expect her to be alive. Oh, what a wonderful surprise this was. He didn''t have any strong connection with Raven before but he became incredibly indebted to him without knowing it. The two shared dinner for the first time in a long time. After dinner, Joanna recounted her experience and revealed every detail on her father. Suffice to say that angry is a severe understatement to what Morel felt. If he had only knew, he would''ve personally rained down Wind Spears on the Mort Family, s it was toote.

    Joanna didn''t me him for everything but Morel was still guilty. He vowed to never lose sight of her again or else he would turn mad. He nearly went insane upon losing her the first time, there''s no telling what he would feel if it happened again. Joanna was prepared to leave her past as her past.

    Raven had given her enough hope and encouragement to close this chapter of her life and begin anew, she was still young and there''s so much more to life rather than wasting it in a depressed mood. Of course, no one said it would be easy, but she vowed to never allow herself to be deprived of her freedom ever again. She was ready to face tomorrow, knowing that her dad would always have her back and the experiences that she encountered during her days being a captive would be a reminder for not the be careless once more.

    ***

    Raven would surely feel an immense headache if he ever known that he became this famous after that incident. Thankfully for now, he was unconscious so he didn''t have to deal with it.

    That being said, him being unconscious didn''t bring any joy to neither Eva nor Luis. Specially Luis though, he was forced to sleep on the couch for weeks now, his wife even refused to talk to him for the first couple of days upon receiving news that Raven was unconscious.

    Even though his friends told them that he was fine and would just be unconscious for a long time, that didn''t really consider that as much of a good news to them as parents. While it did alleviate some of their worries, as Raven''s parents they didn''t really want their child to be in danger, specially after the fact that he''s an only child.

    Luis didn''t spare any efforts nor money to invite healers to check the well being of his child. Thankfully, all of them came up with the simr result saying that he''s far from any danger, in fact he was quite healthy and recovering very well, he''s just going to be unconscious for a while but there''s no need to worry about him. Of course, how could the Sacred Leaf Tavern ignore the current state of their Holy Son?

    Richard and Jacob, along with a few of the most trusted employees of the tavern paid visit to him and ensured that he is well. They even prepared a concoction that would nourish his body in his sleep so that when he wakes up, he would be as energetic as a bull.

    After Luna woke up, her along with the Prince, Old Lee and her teacher Leona, paid a visit to Raven.

    The Prince didn''t hesitate to bow and ask for forgiveness for being incapable of preventing the sacrifice of their child. Even Old Lee, Leona and Luna asked for forgiveness. This melted any misgivings that Luis and Eva felt for them and epted their apology.

    Luna in turn exined what happened to them but the information she provided was limited due to Raven mostly doing all the work and not really exining his thoughts with them. Needless to say, for a mere child, his methods are incredibly mysterious, even to that point that none of the Golden Knights could give a proper exnation on this matter.

    All of this made them feel helpless, it would seem that they have to wait until Raven does the exnation himself in order for them to be satisfied.

    ording to his friends, Raven''s going to be unconscious for at least one or two months. Not exactly a long time but not too short either.. Due to his meritorious deeds, he became an inspiration to many which caused the recovery of the kingdom to hasten as well.

 Chapter 199 - Waking Up

    ---

    It''s been a month and a half since Raven lost consciousness.

    The Kingdom and its residents had already moved on from the huge battle that urred back then, their lifestyles experienced no huge change apart from the fact that they have something new to gossip on.

    The Mort Family Estate is no more, their territory has been seized and has been off limits ever since. It was rumored that it is under re-construction. As far as who received the ce and their ns about it, no one has any idea at all.

    Back in Luis'' office, him and his wife resumed their daily lives as well. Of course, they would check up on Raven from time to time but they know that it''s only a matter of time before he wakes up so majority of their worries are now gone.

    Raven''s unconscious body is situated at one of the heavily guarded rooms which Luis specifically transformed for his use. Heid in a tub full of medicinal fluids that Richard concocted personally, his breathing was even and his face was in peace.

    No one else aside from him was inside of this room. Thus, when he woke up from his long sleep, he was greeted with a somewhat unfamiliar ceiling.

    *Groans*

    A groan escaped from his lips. It sounded dry, probably because his throat was parched as well. His head was slightly throbbing, he tried moving some parts of his body but his joints were somewhat stiff, making it difficult for him to do so.

    ''I was probably out for quite sometime huh?'' Raven inwardly thought.

    A sigh escaped from his lips. With a few more efforts, he managed to lift his arms then his head and eventually he was able to sit down.

    Raven blinked as he just now realized that he was lying in a tub of water. He inspected the waters and took a whiff of it, a joyful glint appeared in his eyes as he thought; ''Wonderful job Richard! You''ve learned Elemental Alchemy! Giving you the Sacred Leaf Holy Scripture was truly worth it.''

    It was precisely before the battle that Richard was able to achieve breakthrough. [Elemental Alchemy] is precisely the method that Raven used to concoct the Longevity Pills. In this stage, an alchemist no longer needed a pill furnace to concoct, he/she only requires the ingredients as well as the Heaven and Earth as a witness for their concoction.

    Richard ced Raven in a medicine called ''Thousand Leaf Sap''. A highly concentrated medicine that has an immense healing properties and could heal even hidden injuries that one never knew about. And since it was concocted using Elemental Alchemy, there are no impurities in the medicine, so one could freely consume it without worries.

    Without hesitations, Raven scooped the medicinal fluid around him and drank it. After taking in several gulps, he sat cross-legged in the tub and cultivated.

    His stagnant Energy Network mobilized once again. Adding to his initial surprise from Richard''s breakthrough, he also greeted with the fact that he had reached a 100% conversion of regr Energy to Energy Essence during his unconscious state.

    Preventing glee from distracting him. Raven used his meticulous control of energies to help him dissolve the healing properties of the medicinal fluid. Not bad as his first drink after a month and half of being unconscious.

    His body shivered in joy, during his unconscious state his body had been passively absorbing this stuff but was quite able to properly digest it as it requires his initiative. Now that he was personally taking over the task, he wantonly absorbed the remaining efficacy on the liquid even without direct ingestion. Now the recovery of his body went on full throttle. The medicinal essence flowed in every thread of his body, healing the remaining injuries and hidden ones at that.

    It could even be said that some the longevity that he used using the ''Life Conversion Technique'' was restored by the medicine. From the way his blood essence looked, it seems that he restored at least 20 years of longevity, the same amount of longevity he used to cast the Ruler''s Vision.

    Well, considering the fact that he exchanged another five years in order to cast ''Salvation'' and a whopping 50 years to summon Jubileus, he still has a long way to go. A lesser Longevity Pill should do the trick.

    ''But still, 50 years of longevity to summon a Deity in a weakened state to deal with my enemies? I''d say it''s worth the exchange. Hey! I already had a 50% discount considering the fact that I''ve helped her before so, yay.''

    His Energy Network also greatly benefitted from this. Every single fiber of his Energy Network, be it the channels or nodes, were strengthened. They expanded and became more tensile, allowing them to hold in more Energy Essence and purify them to a great extent. Along with this, his energy reserves also received a boost. He could confidently say that his energy reserves alone could rival a Half-step Knight Stage expert.

    However, it wasn''t only his body or his energy that experienced a great benefit from this medicine. His soul also experienced one.

    Some of the medicinal properties seeped in to his Spiritual Sea and rushed towards his soul. Raven felt his soul shiver in excitement as the ''Thousand Leaf Sap'' did its magic and aided towards the recovery of his soul.

    In normal circumstances, Raven wouldn''t dare to casually allow some medicine to aid the recovery of his soul. Despite the depth of his knowledge, dealing with one''s Soul is a sensitive topic, one that has to be carefully considered for at least a dozen of times. It was even more sensitive for him as he was a person who''s soul experienced two lifetimes.

    He initially relied on natural healing. So long as his cultivated his energy and body, his soul will naturally recover on the side as well. Yes, recover. Raven''s soul is, in fact, an old soul that travelled back in time thanks to the mysterious power of the Ancestral Divine Crown. Hence, he called it Soul Rebirth.

    His soul is currently severely weakened, hence it could only do so much. The first time it was healed was when he consumed the Ritual Waters after their graduation from the Outer Branch of the Heavenly Cloud Institute but it only healed his soul enough to a point where it was ''awakened''. There''s still a long way to go before hepletely heals.

    Without a doubt, this medicine is a great help with the recovery. He could feel a deepfort from the depths of his soul. Raven basked on this feeling as he was fully aware that it would be a while before he could feel this again. Medicines that could heal the soul will only be effective once. Another reason why Raven was reluctant to use regr medicines to help on the recovery of his soul. Thankfully, the medicine he absorbed was made using Elemental Alchemy, this allows him to consume it without worries.

    Raven kept absorbing the healing properties on the water until it waspletely sucked dry. Raven''s soul recovered by quite a margin, however not enough to experience a breakthrough. Nevertheless, he was immensely satisfied with his gains today.

    *Grumbling*

    ''Well¡­''

    Raven smiled wryly. He ced a hand on his stomach and let out a dry chuckle. What can he say? Being unconscious for a month and a half sure has its disadvantages as well. Hunger is one of those.

    He stood up and dried himself. After he changed into a new set of clothes, he took out some of his food on his spatial ring. Despite his intense hunger, he decided to take it slow and eat some light foods first. Thanks to a little bit of enchantment and care, none of the food from his spatial ring were spoiled.

    Eventually, his slow manner of eating transformed into a ferocious consumption of food. Raven had a big appetite originally, and being unconscious for quite sometime isn''t a great thing for someone like him.

    Now is definitely not the time to be picky. At first he was eating his dried rations but it didn''t satisfy him at all. In his hunger, he used his Soul Fire and skillfully disyed his fantastic control over energies by lifting the raw pieces of meat to roast over the fire using his mental control, since his hands were busy cing food on his mouth.

    Raven was so busy in his feast that he actually didn''t notice that someone got inside his room. Imagine her surprise when she saw the supposedly unconscious friend of hers, sitting on a table and eating his heart out. It was a fantastical scene in all honestly, never in her wildest dreams that she would see a raw piece of meat sending itself towards the fire to be roasted. It was quite hard to extricate herself from being stunned upon witnessing such a scene but the thought that he was now awake, was enough for her to recover.

    Her vision turned blurry, she sniffed and saw him turn around upon hearing her. She saw him smile, that same smile that he always say that everything''s fine and gave a gentlefort in her heart. She saw him open his mouth and say¡­

    "Hey."

 Chapter 200 - Visitors

    ---

    Luna stopped caring, she ran and threw herself into Raven''s embrace. She wrapped her slender arms around his waist and buried her face on his neck.

    It was quiteplicated to exin what exactly she was feeling right now. She was relieved, guilty, happy, nervous, and contented all at the same time if that was even possible.

    Raven was stunned briefly as he felt Luna''s embrace, needless to say a smile crept up towards his lips as he opened his arms and returned the hug. He gently patted her back, caressing her silky smooth hair and taking a whiff of her scent. He could feel her deep and forceful breaths on his neck and her subtle shaking.

    She hugged him even tighter, it almost seems that this was her own way of verifying if he was truly awake and fine. When she felt her gentle hands caressing her hair and back, a great sense offort washed all over her body. Even though she had no reason to be worried about his previous situation, she just couldn''t help it. She didn''t want to lose another one. She didn''t want to lose him.

    "Do I get this every time I wake up?" Raven said in a chuckle, making him receive a punch on his chest. He reeled back for a bit and winced, making Luna shocked and immediately regret her actions.

    "I''m so sorry! I- "

    "Haha, I''m kidding." Raven gave her a victory sign using his fingers which made Luna grimace.

    "Meanie¡­" She whispered.

    "Have you eaten yet?" Raven asked as he continued munching on some food. He had long since lost count on how many servings of meat he ate, he just decided to continue eating until he was satisfied.

    Luna nodded her head and asked him a question. "How are you feeling?"

    "Incredibly well." Raven replied after he finished swallowing his food. He cleaned his mouth and continued; "Even better than before. I''m just about ready to make a breakthrough to Warrior Realm, I only needed Director''s permission."

    "I don''t think you have to worry about that." Luna replied, making Raven raise his brow. He was about to ask her what she means when a loud voice interrupted them.

    "Hey Champ! You awake now!?" A bald guy with a huge body came rushing towards the door with a wide grin on his face. Raven didn''t even managed to reply when his a roar erupted from this guy.

    "HEY BOSS! MRS. BOSS! CHAMP''S AWAKE!" The bald guy Malik, roared on top of his lungs that echoed across the entire office.

    Raven and Luna could only shake their heads andugh wryly with his brash attitude. Almost immediately after that, two blurs appeared in the entrance of Raven''s room and it was none other than his parents who had anxious faces as they searched for him.

    Raven chuckled and raised his hand, he waved at them and said: "Good Morning!" With a cheerful tone.

    Eva and Luis didn''t care about anything any longer and flew beside Raven and encased him in a hug. Eva sobbed while hugging him, Luis hugged them both and cried tears of joy. Raven chuckled and returned the hug as well, this warmth was something that could never be bought with any amount of money.

    The family became a little emotional so the guests decided to leave them be for a while.

    ***

    Raven could onlyugh dryly with the attitude of his mother.

    Who said that just because he was awake, means that he''s also safe from the admonishment of his mom? On the contrary, it seems that she rehearsed her lines during the times when he was unconscious, Raven couldn''t even say anything back at all. Luis was awfully quiet, it was painfully obvious that he didn''t want to be included in this since he had his share already.

    Eva wasn''t really asking much, she understood that her son walked the path of Knighthood, of course there''s bound to be dangers but what she disagrees with is his recklessness. Not even his father had anything to retort with that since he agrees as well.

    His parents knew that he was extremely capable. So capable to the fact that even with his young age, he already surpassed most of what people could do. But no one could really me them for worrying about their only child, right?

    After calming both of them down. Eva excused herself and told them that she''s going to cook for her child, while Luis stood up and allowed other visitors in to meet Raven.

    Even with Luis'' usually calm demeanor, he couldn''t help but be stunned on how many influential people came to visit his son.

    His friends; Paul, Mark, Ellen, Anne, and Luna. Their parents were there too along with Richard, Jacob, Jackson, Victor, Old Lee, Morel, Leona and even the Crown Prince himself. Amongst these people, which of them didn''te from an impressive background? It truly makes one wonder how on earth did Raven managed to get acquainted with these people.

    "I told you guys, he won''t stay down for long." Paul cackled as he patted Raven''s shoulders.

    "Seriously, so damn reckless." Mark greeted with a grin on his face, obviously happy that his best friend is now awake.

    They then take turns greeting him, Raven was a bit gobsmacked. Just a moment ago he woke up alone and then suddenly, his room his now full of people.

    "Damn, you guys are making me feel so special. Is there really need for you guys be here all at once?" Raven said in a whiny yetughing manner. Of course, his guests knew that he was just jesting.

    "That''s rich,ing from Mr. Popr himself." Ellen jeered on the side.

    Raven raised his brow clearly expressing his confusion, it was Anne who rified everything for him.

    "You''re famous as heck, Big Bro." She chuckled, "You''re heroic act captured the hearts of many people. You''re like a living legend in their hearts now. You should know that people just won''t stop talking about you, your face is even one the front-page of many newspapers circting around, some were even making sculptures of you."

    "Oh, no." Hearing her say this made Raven pale from fright. In truth, he should''ve seen thising since he was the one who ced that damned Ruler''s Vision, yet he was so focused on revealing the ugly truth to people that the chances of people misunderstanding his actions went over his head.

    "Toote for regrets Dude. The dye has been cast, there''s no turning it back." Paul said in an almost dreamy tone. This caused Raven to throw water on his face and say¡­

    "Who the hell are you and what did you do to my friend? He will never say words that he himself couldn''t understand! You must be fake!"

    "Fake my ass! Damn you!" Paul retorted back, making everyoneugh at their antics.

    After the situation calmed down, Raven''s expression turned somewhat serious. He said: "Yael and Zelor escaped, no?"

    No one spoke, a sigh escaped from Old Lee''s mouth as he took it to himself to answer his question. "That, they did."

    "Figures." Raven sighed as well. "I kind of saw them escaped, but I''m too far to stop them."

    "There you go again, ming yourself and all." Paul frowned and interjected. "You''ve done enough Dude. Stop it."

    The rest of the people inside the room agreed with him. Raven smiled and said: "Alright, I''ll stop. It doesn''t matter anyway. They won''t have a good time in the enemy base, especially after the fact that the ''Pale Bastard'' is injured."

    "Pale Bastard?" Old Lee frowned as he nor anyone in the room, knows who Raven was referring to.

    "Oh, uh¡­" Raven was caught in an awkward position, he just now realized that he spoke carelessly, and it doesn''t look like he could lie his way out of this one, so he sighed and revealed a critical information with them.

    "This¡­ might sound wrong. But the person you guys refer to as stair¡­ is no more."

    A long and ufortable silence followed that. That information set waves of confusion specially on the part of the Golden Knights here who clearly knew this person more than they want to admit.

    "Could you¡­ borate more on this?" It was Balmung who asked this question.

    Raven sighed once again and said: "I''ve always been different in your eyes. I''ll tell you why. It''s because I''ve inherited a lifetime''s worth of memories from an expert. All these knowledge didn''te from me, but from that expert. If it weren''t for the fact that I swore to continue his will, I wouldn''t be here."

    He closed his eyes and opened them slowly, everyone''s breath was taken away when they saw how his eyes changed. It waspletely golden with a mysterious rune on the center.

    "My eyes see things a bit different." Raven said, "I could see irregrities on a person''s body."

    "This person, stair as you guys call him. Is not the owner of his body anymore. His soul had been devoured probably for quite sometime now. The one who stole his body, is ancient enemy that once almost driven our people to the brink of extinction."

    "The child of a human and a Dragon.. Vit''hum the Scaleless Drake."

 Chapter 201 - Vithum The Scaleless

    ---

    As a God Beast, it is perfectly understandable that Dragons are extremely tyrannical. If it weren''t for the fact that their reproduction is extremely low, they might as be called as true rulers of the Divine Realm.

    On contrary to belief, Dragons don''t have to share in bed with anyone or anything to reproduce. The vitality contained in its blood is enough to impregnate a lesser creature, like a human for example.

    Vit''hum is a hybrid between human and a dragon. It''s unknown how its mother got hold of a dragon''s blood but she consumed it and was clearly aware of the astonishing vitality it possessed, all she needs to do is to guide those vitality on her womb and she became pregnant with Vit''hum.

    Unfortunately, raising a dragon child is not something, someone from a Lesser World could support. The needs of the dragon child is far too immense for her to bear and due to that, the mother was forced to give birth to Vit''hum earlier that expected.

    Due to malnutrition, Vit''hum lost the chance to be a true dragon, its transformation was cut-off that''s why the baby appeared different from a normal human baby. As a child, Vit''hum was extremely pale, his eyes are that of beast for it appears like slits. His body proportions are wrong too, his chest for one was extremely wide while his legs are too thin and weak looking. There''s also two protrusions on his back, same goes on his forehead, making him look entirely strange that his mother can''t even look at him.

    The mother only took care of Vit''hum until he was old enough to walk and do things without her supervision. He was then discarded in the middle of a vast forest to survive on his own. Unfortunately, this was probably the biggest mistake that she could ever make.

    Though he is malformed, Vit''hum still carries the blood of a Dragon. Despite being scared, he fought and managed to survive through thew of the jungle. He also discovered his own peculiarities on his own. He was able to assume transformation into a body of a Drake, albeit Scaleless. Despite this, Vit''hum actually preferred to be in this state, he could feel an overflowing sense of power and confidence in this form. He was able to be the ruler of the jungle on his own efforts.

    Vit''hum originally wanted to live in peace, however humans started to go after his life. Remembering how his mother left him to die in this jungle, Vit''hum despised the humans from the depths of his heart. Each time he sees a human, he would not hesitate to kill them in the most cruel fashion and devour their soul, something that Vit''hum learned by ident.

    Upon devouring human souls, Vit''hum gains their memories, allowing him to learn their ways and secrets. He held nothing but hate against humans so he attacked their settlement, leading a massive horde of beasts behind him. Unfortunately, there are humans who are clearly stronger than him, so he had no other choice other than to retreat, but not before devouring as many souls as he could. With many souls as nourishment, his knowledge about humans grew.

    Vit''hum eventually realized that devouring humans souls seems to be particrly nourishing for him, in the end he became addicted to it to the point where he couldn''tst for long without consuming human souls. He even figured that maybe, if devoured enough humans souls, he would eventually achieve his evolution into a true dragon.

    This became a great motivation for the him. Unknowingly, he now treated humans as his cattle, he would instruct hisckeys to attack their settlement so that he could devour their souls, once he''s done he will slumber for a while to digest them and then repeat this action.

    Of course, humans won''t just sit idly and wait for death. With the king as the fire starter, they went on a crusade against Vit''hum, searching for him and destroying the threat before it grows too strong to drive humans to the brink of extinction.

    The Crusade managed to catch Vit''hum unprepared, the beast was heavily injured and was forced to flee in the deepest regions of the forest. Vit''hum took a long time to recover but once it did, it immediately flew into rage and attacked the human settlement once again. This time however, he didn''t expect that humans grew so strong that they nearly killed him.

    The King of that time, Harold Maximillian was convinced that he ended that beast but for due to some mysterious methods, a part of its soul managed to survive and ever since then, he seduced many creatures to do his bidding and help him recover. He even started taking control humans to pay close attention to the current state of humans. Carefully nning and bidding time in order to have his revenge and pursue the path towards his evolution.

    ***

    "¡­I don''t know where this Pale Bastard is, nor how much he recovered but I''m sure that Jubileus did a number on him, so we managed to buy time on our side."

    Raven exhaled a mouthful of foul air after exining what he knows about Vit''hum.

    A gloomy atmosphere descended on the room. Raven''s tales about Vit''hum had no concrete evidences so far yet for he doesn''t seem to be lying about it.

    Nobody here had knew about this beforehand. If it weren''t for him informing them about this, they would remain clueless about this being and would have no other choice other than to ept their doom when it recovered.

    "So, you mean to say that the true master of the ck Curtain Guild, isn''t that stair but this Vit''hum instead?" Ellen asked, to which Raven nodded. "Ai! What a headache!"

    "You tell me." Ravenughed and replied.

    "You said that only a part of Vit''hum soul managed to survive right?" Mark asked, Raven nodded in agreement. "Then if it''s only a soul, we should be able to manage right?"

    "How I wish that it was that simple." Raven smiled wryly and shook his head, "Vit''hum''sckeys managed to retrieve his body, the Scaleless Drake''s body. Bastard''s talented in souls, so I wouldn''t be surprised be managed to fuse his soul back to the injured body and preserve it using some methods."

    "So, in short. We have an enemy that''s at least a couple thousands of years old, and is extremely angry at humans. Well, how in the world are we fighting that?" Paul asked in a distressed manner.

    "Didn''t you hear what Big Bro said?" Anne interjected, "We have time."

    "Anne''s right." Raven confirmed, "By estimations, we have more or less a decade to prepare before heunch a direct attack."

    "Avi¡­" Luna''s worried voice caught Raven''s attention, he looked to her while she said; "Father¡­won''te across him, right?"

    There was a very ufortable silence that followed her question. Balmung and Luna tensed up when they saw Raven ced a serious expression. After a while, they saw him exhale.

    "I have no way to guarantee that he won''t." Raven started, "May I know how strong the King is before his departure?"

    This time, it was Old Lee who answered the question. "Half-step Hero Realm."

    Raven let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that. "He must''ve broke through by now then. If that''s the case, then I am confident about the chances of him escaping. Even if the Pale Bastard used his remaining strength, there is no way that he would be able to keep that King if he decided to leave."

    The rest heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing his statement.

    "That Old Man. I swear I would smack his face when hees back. Making us worry for his sorry ass, what a loser." Leona mumbled to the side while massaging her temples.

    The rest could only smile wryly on herments. Perhaps, she was the only one who could admonish the King in this way without getting punished.

    "By the way." Balmung caught everyone''s attention. "Who''s this Jubileus that you spoke of?"

    "Oh her?" Raven took a quick nce towards Luna and Old Lee before revealing a critical information. "It''s a long story. To make it short, she was the one who caused Luna to suffer for a while. Remember back when she has to chain up herself to prevent herself from hurting other people? That''s her doing, her will and essence was previously trapped in that Hairpin Heirloom."

    "I didn''t cure Luna since there''s nothing wrong with her. It was Jubileus who I cured, so she owes me and Luna a favor. In turn she became Luna''s Spirit Entity while she gave me a chance to summon her."

    As Raven told the story, Luna seeming entered a trance. She remember just how much she had suffered back then, it even came to the point where she had to wear a disguise and leave the Royal Pce in order to not hurt anyone. During her hopeless times, Raven came to her aid. It was then that her life resumed that''s why she will never forget that day.

    "Spirit Entity? What''s that?"

 Chapter 202 - Starry Skies

    ---

    "Spirit Entity? What''s that?" Balmung asked curiously, it was evident that this six children knew something that others don''t know.

    Well, it might more urate to say that it was Raven who knows things that others don''t, as the rest being his good friends, he must''ve let them know.

    "Oh that?" Raven replied, "Hmm, let''s do it this way to make it simple. Don''t resist."

    As they were confused what Raven was talking about, they saw him lift his hand and suddenly, multiple streaks of light flew towards their head. No one had their guard up, and even if they did Raven already told them to not resist. Due to his recent actions, it was safe to say that everyone inside this room could vouch for his character, he is someone that they could trust and they knew that he won''t do something that will harm them.

    The streaks of light merged with their consciousness. They were stunned to find out that there some foreign information on their memory. As they curiously viewed the new set of information, shock began to grow on their hearts.

    What Raven gave them is a detailed information about the three known Cultivation Paths. Previously, it was only him and his close friends who knew this critical information. Back then, Raven didn''t want to spread this information due to the fact that he hadn''t proved anything yet, if he went around revealing this, chances are that people will ridicule him or even suspect his identity.

    However, it''s entirely different this time. Raven was pushed into the limelight multiple times, he had proven himself enough to provide himself a steady background even without the support of his father. This is even more pronounced due to the recent events against the ck Curtain Guild. He is no longer afraid to allow more people to know about this, he knew that this had to eventuallye out.

    Those who received the information had been in a trance for a while. Raven and his friends patiently waited for them adjust and digest the knew information they received. Once they recovered, there is a trace of surprise and delight in their eyes.

    "So that''s how it is¡­" Old Lee sighed in spite of himself, "The way we identify talents, had been wrong all along."

    "Spirit Entities, beings that are too formidable that even the skies remember them." Leona sighed, lost in a mncholic mood.

    Despite having their horizons broadened, the adults couldn''t help but to feel slightly lost and regretful. How they wished that they''ve known this before they stepped into cultivation, who knows just what heights they could reach? But it''s toote now, their foundations had been stabilized and there''s no way that they could restart their cultivations even if they want to, that would just result in their deaths.

    Raven of course understood the plight of the adults. He had been in the same situation during his previous life, although since he cultivation was weak in the first ce, he had no qualms restarting his cultivation, he wasn''t too old either that''s why he was able to correct his ways. But these adults are different, one might be able to switch their cultivations if they hadn''t stepped into Knight Realm just yet, otherwise it''s no longer possible.

    "Girls, help me out." Raven called the girls.

    Anne, Ellen and Luna was confused but once they felt the spiritual energy fluctuations from Raven, they instantly understood what he was nning to do.

    Raven ced his hands before him, the girls stepped forward and formed a circle while imitating Raven''s actions. They closed their eyes and with Raven as the lead, an invisible pressure started rising up the room.

    The adults were rmed, they felt a foreign force present but couldn''t ce a finger on it. Spiritual Energy is a type of energy that none of them were aware of. If it wasn''t for the formidable pressure that''s rising around them, they might never notice this.

    All of a sudden, Raven''s body started emitting a bright light. His eyes shed open, his pupils abruptly turned golden and he raised his head to gaze onto the ceiling.

    Out of nowhere, dense clouds started to appear above the room. The adults were rmed, clearly unnerved by this scene, if it weren''t for the fact that Paul and Mark told them that everything was fine, they might''ve done something about this clouds.

    Taken by surprise, two blinding lights shot out of Raven''s eyes and pierced the clouds. At the instant this happened, the clouds parted and revealed a clear, vast and ancient sky full of heavenly bodies.

    Starlight lit up the room. The Starry Skies of the Spirit World brought an archaic atmosphere in the room. The adults could only look up and stare in awe at the ancient sky above their heads. All sorts of doubts vanished in their minds, there''s no way that one could fake this aura at all.

    Once the Starry Skies of the Spirit World appeared, Raven, Luna, Anne, and Ellen broke formation. The girls felt slightly drained out of Spiritual Energy while Raven was almost emptied. Summoning the Starry Skies isn''t a simple feat, he might''ve been able to do it while he was in his own Spiritual Sea but summoning it in reality for many people too see required the aid of the girls temporarily.

    "This is the Starry Skies of the Spirit World." Raven said, though he actually didn''t need to since even without him saying it, the rest already knew because of the information he gave them earlier.

    Raven lifted his arm to reach out towards the starry skies and suddenly a fierce reaction urred. One specific constetion shone brightly. Under the shocked faces of the adults, vague outlines covered the constetion, allowing them to see the true figure behind the said formation of stars.

    The constetion descended and shone brightly behind Raven. The outlines around it became even clearer. They saw a humanoid sitting in a meditative position. Its face was slightly blurred but what''s impressive is that this humanoid had too many arms. If one counted every single one, it would eventually reach a total of a Thousand Hands. It was then that Raven spoke¡­

    "This is my Spirit Entity, its name is Gracious Thousand Arm Deity."

    Raven then nodded towards his friends who nodded back at him. They too reached out towards the starry skies and when they did, the sky rumbled as five constetions started emitting brilliant lights.

    Behind Paul, an outline of a humongous tortoise emerged. Its shell seemed to be as big as an ind, its jaw was massive and it had a long tail that appears to take form of a long ck snake.

    "Mine''s the Snake-tailed ck Tortoise, a ancient Divine Beast."

    A silhouette of a velvet snake coiled around Mark''s body appeared. It has a smooth and glossy skin, a pair of preying eyes and a singr horn on top of it''s head. One could see faint traces of lightning dancing around it''s entire body.

    "Primal Lightning Snake." Mark uttered with pride.

    A huge ming bird appeared behind Ellen. It had a slender body and a elegant feathers that pulsed with life, it also has nine tails and it appeared to be basking in fire.

    Ellen puffed her chest out and said: "Vermillion Bird. A Divine Beast as well." Bradley who was listening on the side stood frozen on spot.

    Anne stood out amongst the rest, instead of the silhouette behind her forming a beast or resemble a humanoid, it instead appeared to be a weapon. A bow that is made out of an exquisite crystal adorned by colorful lights and stunning edges. Anne shed a sweet smile and said¡­

    "Mine''s an inherited one from my grandmother, Matriarch Victoria. Its name is Annarosa''s Bow." The adults were stunned upon hearing that name.

    Lastly was Luna''s turn. Behind her, an elegant female stood with a dignified expression. Her face was also slightly buried but no one could deny her peerless beauty. She was dressed with a long white dress that was adorned by yellow lights. Her halo appeared like a crown which sits perfectly on her head, her arms were covered with an ethereal looking cloth.

    On her back, four pairs of massive wings could be seen. Each wing emitted a warm and gentle light that calmed a person''s heart and could cause their worries to go away.

    "Heavenly Deity, Seraphim Jubileus." Luna introduced with a calm smile.

    The adults stood there, clearly in awe upon witnessing this scene. It waspletely unbelievable how such a miracle could exist. It was like these kids were genuine Heaven''s Child as they stood there with their Spirit Entities.

    Raven''s voice sounded at this point.

    "I didn''t show this to brag." He paused for a bit and continued, "Well, kind of. But that''s not the point."

    res were sent on his way but Raven only chuckled. "All kidding aside, I showed this to you as proof that what I revealed to you is the truth and a sign of trust."

    "Ten years is not a short time, but not a long one either. With a great threat looming over our heads, of course I want to help.. And with my help you all will be acknowledged by your Spirit Entities."

 Chapter 203 - Acknowledged

    ---

    "God damn, I''m tired."

    Raven sighed exasperatedly after seeing thest visitors of his leave his room.

    He massaged his temples and sat cross-legged. He closed his eyes after a while and fell into a state of deep meditation. Considering that he just woke up from a briefa, this day had rather been fruitful.

    He did what he could to help out the adults. And his help allowed them to be acknowledged by their respective Spirit Entities.

    Like what was stablished earlier, it would be impossible for them to restart their cultivations, and it''s not advisable for them do so anyway. That being said, it''s not entirely impossible for them to receive a boost of strength even if it was toote.

    All he needed to do is to rouse their Souls while they were under the influence of the Starry Skies of the Spirit World, which was the sole reason why he summoned it in the first ce. Once Raven started the process, their respective Spirit Entities were revealed.

    ***

    For Luis, his Spirit Entity is ''Regulus of the Golden Sun''. An entity that is considered as the Beast King of Heavenly Bodies.

    When Raven initiated the connection, the Regulus Constetion seemed to havee alive and formed a link with his father. Then a sun-like mark that has a carved image of a lion, appeared on Luis'' forehead while he himself felt that his affinity towards Fire was raised by an impressive margin. Even the mysteries of Fire Laws that was unreachable for him before became crystal clear to the point that it made him restless.

    Unable topose himself, he immediately excused himself and went into a closed-door cultivation. As for how long his enlightenment willst, that depends on luck.

    Next was Jackson. His Spirit Entity is called ''Night Monarch''s Sword''. An intelligent weapon that reaped countless of lives under many holders. When the connection was made, a sword mark appeared on Jackson''s forehead and simr to Luis, he had to excuse himself and enter a closed-door cultivation. Good thing that he had already informed the Hawk Forces to prepare a room for them since he knew that this is going to happen.

    Bradley was next. Raven started the connection and his Spirit Entity was revealed. It''s the ''Full-Moon Beheader''. A sword that became famous due to it''s unparalleled elegance under the moonlight and perpetual sharpness. A sword-like mark appeared on Bradley''s forehead, causing him to be restless and excuse himself as well.

    As for Victor, his Spirit Entity is a surprising one. It is the ''Lightning God''s War Drum'', an spiritual artifact that was personally crafted by a person who was dubbed as the Lightning God. It is said that with the help of his drum, the Lightning God could call upon the clouds of Tribtion Lightning.

    And just like the previous two, after the mark which appeared to be a drum, appeared. Victor also excused himself.

    Next came Morel, who initially wanted to have a private conversation with Raven but decided to postpone it due to the current situation. His was named ''Zephyr, God of the West Wind''. A green colored bird mark appeared on his forehead and he simrly excused himself as well.

    It was then Leona''s turn. Hers was named ''Cruel Sun'', a heavenly body which is said to exist in the 2ndyer of Purgatory, the heat it emanated was harsh enough to perpetually burn the souls of sinners. A sun-like mark appeared on Leona''s forehead. She too excused herself from the room.

    Then it was Old Lee''s turn. His Spirit Entity is named ''Primal Lightning Bracers'', an item that was personally crafted by someone who was dubbed as the Smith God. It is a Heavenly Treasure that allows its user to freely control lightning as they wish. It became a Spirit Entityter on due to it gaining consciousness and because of its formidability.

    Instead of forming a mark on his forehead. A tattoo appeared on his wrists instead, what''s even more surprising is that the tattoo looked like the bracers themselves. Old Lee felt a buzz on his head which made him light-headed, it was like the door of countless mysteries opened for him, beckoning him to explore what''s on the other side. He didn''t even properly excused himself as he just disappeared from the room like a thin smoke.

    And of course, it was finally the Prince''s turn.

    Raven nodded to him and initiated the connection. Balmung felt something inside him stir, he couldn''t help but let out a groan. The constetion belonged to him moved and shifted behind him. Raven paid close attention and when the silhouette of the constetion materialized, his eyes shone brightly.

    "Dawn Bringer Falcon." He whispered, somewhat impressed by the sight manifesting behind the Prince''s back.

    Balmung sharply opened his eyes and brilliant light shone in them. He felt agitated, his blood was pumping hard, making it somewhat difficult to breathe. His mind cleared up and countless realizations were dawning upon him. He forced himself to remain calm but it was proving difficult to do so. He shot aplication gaze towards Raven and said?|

    "You really want to be my Brother-inw, huh?"

    *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

    Raven was once again caught off-guard by the prince''s yful words. Luna on the other hand, immediately blushed and smacked Balmung on his arm. The prince only chuckled, after sending them some meaningful gaze, he too excused himself to enter a closed-door cultivation.

    "What was that all about?" Paul scratched his head in confusion.

    "You dummy!" Ellen smacked him in turn, "It means that he was giving them the ''Go'' signal!" Sheughed and faced Raven who''s ears were turning red. "I''m rooting for you by the way. Hihi."

    "Oh my, oh my. Dear Princess, it seems that you''ve been keeping things from us, eh?" Anne went beside Luna and teased her by pushing her slightly using her elbows, she was also followed by Ellen.

    "Oh you! Shut it! It''s nothing like that!" Luna''s face flushed in an even deeper shade of red.

    "Really?" Ellen smiled mischievously and continued, "Why do you sound disappointed?"

    "I''m not disappointed!" Luna huffed as she red at Anne, though to thetter it looked more like an adorable tantrum.

    "Is that so?" Anne asked, shing her cunning smile she then said: "Such a bummer then. You know, people like Big Bro won''t stay single forever right? He''s so dashing and heroic, many girls in my n wanted to meet him. Some of our Elders even wanted to introduce their daughters to him in hopes of reeling him in. They asked for my help you know? I was just hesitant since I thought you guys had a thing, but it appears that you don''t so I might as well help them."

    Anne turned around and sighed in a fake manner, sounding truly disappointed. All of a sudden, she felt a pinch on her sides, a victorious smile appeared on her face as she turned around to see Luna biting her lip while giving her a pleading look.

    "Hahahaha." Anne and Ellen burst into a cheerfulughter, Anne tapped Luna''s hands and said: "Alright, alright I get it." Her behavior caused Luna to blush even harder.

    Meanwhile on Raven''s side. Paul just realized what Ellen meant so he immediately ran towards Raven and swung his arm around him.

    "Good! Good Brother! Formidable indeed, just like me! Hahahaha!" Paulughed merrily like a little child. Raven shook his head but there was a noticeable smirk on his face.

    "Indeed, very formidable." Markmented on the side, smirking as he swung his arm around Raven as well. "With how busy our schedules are, you wouldn''t think that he would find time to chase after someone but nope, he just did."

    Mark looked at the blushing Luna and added: "And it seems that he''s making a considerable process. Our Dear Princess is rendered into a hot mess with just ament from the Prince." He looked at Raven and continued, "Very formidable indeed."

    Raven raised his brow and his elbows found their way onto the stomach of the two. Mark and Paul reeled in pain.

    Raven shook his head and chuckled, he then said: "Get out of here. I need to rest."

    Paul and Mark''s expression changed as they just remember that Raven just actually woke up. They shook their heads and stood up.

    "Make sure to rest well." Mark added, before leaving.

    Paul caught the attention of the girls and told them that Raven needed rest. They too just remembered that and hurriedly excused themselves. Raven told them to rx as he wasn''t offended by their visit even in the slightest, he was just spent and needed to rest. He escorted them to the door but something happened.

    Anne gave Ellen a peculiar look, thetter got the message and went into action.

    "Oops!" Ellen said before swaying her hips and bumping onto Luna causing her to stumble, a pair of firm and strong arms caught her. She looked up and saw that it was Raven who prevented her from falling.

    They heardughter in front of them but before they could say anything, they already left.

    Luna blushed fiercely, she regained her bnce and said: "Thank you."

    "It''s nothing." Raven chuckled.

    There was a period of awkward silence before Luna broke it.

    "M-make sure you rest well, okay? I-I''m leaving now!" She was about to go out when she felt Raven hold her hand. She looked back and saw him staring at her with a peculiar expression.

    "S-so uh..." Raven stuttered, "You busy tomorrow?"

    Luna was caught off guard by his sudden question. She shook her head as a response.

    Raven scratched his head and said: "Good. Want to have lunch with me?"

    Luna felt her heartbeat quicken, she blushed hard but managed to nod her head in response.

    "Alright, I''ll pick you up."

    "Okay." Luna replied in a almost a whisper.

    "Okay."

    "Bye."

    "Bye."

    Luna exited his room, leaving Raven somewhat lost. He returned to his bed andid down.

    "God damn, I''m tired."

    He sighed exasperatingly but there was a smile that came along with it.

 Chapter 204 - Annoying Fame

    ---

    "Haah, finally got rid of them."

    A young man sighed in relief as he exited a narrowne. His hair was painted with a tinge of brown color and were gathered together by a rubber band, he was tall and ordinary looking, he wore a casual ck robe a wooden sandals.

    The young man felt something tugging his sleeves. He looked back and smiled, he saw a girl who wore a slightly annoyed face. She had a long auburn hair that reached her buttocks. Her honey colored eyes, delicate brows and slender figure was for sure a head turner, but just like the young man, her looks aren''t too different from the others.

    "So freaking famous." The young girl bit her lips, slightly hesitant to say more.

    The young man faced her and ced his hands on her cheeks, cupping them on his palms. He looked at her gently and said in a hushed tone:

    "Hungry?"

    The young girl nodded which made the young man chuckle. He gave her cheeks a slight pinch and held her hand. "Let''s go grab something to eat."

    Feeling the security of the boy''s grip on her hands, a slight blush crept out of her face but she didn''t break free from his hold. On the contrary, she liked this feeling. He makes her feel safe and secure.

    The young boy and girl were obviously Raven and Luna who''s out on a little tour to grab lunch.

    Raven obviously underestimated just how famous he got overnight. His fame spread too far and wide that it had became a bad idea for him to go out on his own.

    As soon as he stepped out of his father''s office, he was immediately recognized and mobbed by the crowd. Raven wasn''t used to being mobbed like this but he knew that he couldn''t use force due to some reasons.

    First is that majority of the people who were mobbing him were females, he couldn''t find it to himself to hurt them. Two, he knew that they were just expressing their thanks and admiration to him. Three, he didn''t want them to get the wrong idea. And finally, using force to deal with the situation is just wrong.

    He lost count on how many times he had excused himself since he had somewhere else to be but who would''ve thought that instead pacifying the situation, it became more chaotic instead. He wanted to fetch Luna so that he could have lunch with her but there was a crowd of people following him. To make it worse, he and Luna actually met on the way. Without hesitating, he shot forward, grabbed her and ran away to some narrow alley. He quickly performed an art of disguise to the both of them in order to get rid of the people following him.

    Raven just couldn''t stop smiling. At first he was scared but that fear vanished when he woke up.

    If this was before he woke up from thea, he would''ve been hesitant to be this bold. But when he saw how she reacted when he woke up and felt her warm embrace, all of the hesitations and uncertainties in his heart vanished with the wind. In the end, he just couldn''t prevent himself from looking fondly at this girl.

    However, he knew that''s she''s new to all of this. Luna had been suffering all along before they met, he had no time to think or to be bothered about these things. He didn''t want to overwhelm her or scare her off, he wanted take things slowly and let nature take its course. For now, this little skinships that they share is enough for him.

    Under a very ordinary disguise, they went through ces and visited many food stalls. Both of them needed this kind of break. During the past few months, they have been training assiduously and had greatly exhausted themselves physically and mentally, adding the fact that they participated in arge event a month and half ago, a little break is truly needed.

    They talked about random things under the sun, thoroughly enjoying each other''spany.

    For Luna, this might be the best day that ever happened to her life.

    Though she''s born with a golden spoon and with a Royal Title as well, her childhood had been somewhatcking. Ever since she was able to perceive things on her own, the only one apanying her was Old Lee and sometimes her brother, as for her father, she could only remember a few things since she was too young when he left. Each day she was forced to keep up an act, to assume a mask of elegance and purity befitting a Princess. She yearned to go out and explore but before she even had the chance to do so, she was struck with a mysterious illness that brought so much pain to her and the people around her.

    She managed to get out of that ce but not in the way she imagined it to be. She was ill, and it pains her to know that she couldn''t live a normal life. However, it was like the gods had heard her prayers and someone came to her rescue. Ever since she met Raven, her life experienced aplete turn around. She have more friends now, she had met a lot of people and she was able to enjoy a normal and satisfying life. She was also exposed to the real situation of their home and she was tempered by all of the challenges they faced.

    She couldn''t even begin to imagine just how miserable she would be if she hadn''t met Raven.

    Unknowingly, the man named ''Vendrick Valorheart'' became a very important person to her life. She was even debating with herself if she thinks that Raven is more important to her or her own Brother.

    May the gods forbid it, but if there evere a time where Raven was removed from her life, he will take away a huge part of her with him.

    ***

    The continued to merrily wander the streets and eventually decided to settle down to sit under a tree and watch as the sun sets, it was evident that their ns went a little more than ''having lunch together''.

    Luna''s heart was thumping with happiness and contentment, so as Raven. Her head rested on his shoulders as both of them shared afortable silence while staring at the setting sun.

    After a period of silence, Luna''s voice fluttered towards Raven''s ears, asking: "Avi? Do you think Father''s doing fine right now?"

    Raven was somewhat taken by surprised with her sudden question. He took a deep breath and in an almost helpless tone. "I have no idea."

    Luna unconsciously bit her bottom lip as anxiety rose from her heart. Eventually she calmed herself down and sighed dejectedly. "It''s been almost a year since he wrote a letter. Usually he will send one at least once every three months, it will then be delivered by his Familiar. I''m worried, brother''s worried, and Grandpa Lee might not show it but I know that he''s worried as well."

    Raven lifted his arm and caressed her hair, this caused Luna to wrap around her arms on his waist and bury her face on his shoulders.

    Raven froze for a bit but recovered instantly, he pulled Luna closer and wrapped her with both of his arms, making sure that she felt safe andfortable. He leaned in to her ears and said in a gentle voice:

    "The King, he''s formidable. He''s the strongest man in this kingdom and even if I never had the chance to meet him, I know that he is wise as well. This isn''t the first time that he went out to venture the wilds, he came back once and I trust that he could do that twice. Aside from the well being of the Kingdom, you two are the main reason why he has to go out anyway, his efforts would be in vain if he can''te home to you."

    After saying these words, Raven felt Luna''s body shiver. He felt his shoulders getting wet, most likely due to Luna''s tears. He sighed and pulled Luna even closer to him, he didn''t say anything and just allowed her to cry her worries out. No matter how many times he experienced it, Raven never liked seeing Luna hurt or crying.

    "If there''s anything that we could do right now. That would be ''training''. So long as we train hard enough, we will be stronger. If we are strong enough, then the King won''t have to go out once again after he returned. He could rest and he would feel confident to share his burdens with us, that''s the most logical solution that I could think right now." Raven added as heforted her.

    He felt Luna nod in his embrace, a smile crept up to Raven''s face as he continued staring at the horizon until the sun could no longer be seen.

    After a while, Luna raised her head and dried her tears. She gave Raven a sweet smile afterwards which made him swallow the words he wanted to say. She then said: "Thank you, for everything."

    Raven was about to reply when something unexpected happened.

    Luna leaned in and kissed him.

    After that, she hurriedly pulled away from the hug and ran away, leaving the stunned Raven.

    He recovered after a while, a wry smile appeared on his face as he scratched his head in a frustrated mannerwhile his ears reddened. He rested his head against the tree and whispered:

    "Whipped."

 Chapter 205 - Test

    ---

    Raven was faced with a dilemma.

    What happened? Oh nothing much really! It''s just that Morel, one of this Kingdom''s Golden Knight who''s reputation shines brightly like the sun, just officially dered his service to him.

    In other words, Morel wanted to be his servant.

    His deration alone was enough to make Raven speechless for a good while. Raven even thought about whether Morel was under the effect of any drugs or if he was drunk and not on his proper mindset when he made this deration.

    But the solemnness and action that Morel showed convinced him otherwise. It wasn''t until Morel introduced Joanna to him that everything became clear.

    Honestly at this point, Raven did so many things to mess up the timeline that he had no idea what''s about to happen next. During his previous life, he had no recollection or any interactions at all with this prestigious man, much less be aware that he had a daughter.

    All he did was to free the captives, he didn''t expect to have a Golden Knight to be indebted to him. And now he had no idea what to do.

    Under normal circumstances, he would''ve denied this promation without batting an eye. Simply because he it''s improper to take advantage of someone of this caliber. Morel was old enough to be his Grandfather, despite of his high cultivation, Raven couldn''t find it to himself to force the man into service when in fact he should spend his time with his daughter.

    But on the other hand, he could tell that Morel was determined to pay his debts (which is totally coincidental). Even Joanna didn''t oppose his decision, in fact if her Dad didn''t do it, she might''ve, only Morel wanted her to live her life to the fullest that''s why he decided to do it himself.

    Before Raven gave his answer, he went to his parents to get their opinion.

    By this time, it is obvious that the people who entered a short period of closed-door cultivation had already finished iming their gains, which are by no means little.

    Majority of them achieved breakthroughs in their Law cultivation, while the breakthrough wasn''t enough to make them step towards the Second Stage of their respective Laws, it was enough for them to raise their overallbat efficiencies, something that is very hard toe considering their current Realms. Their enlightenments undoubtedly strengthened their fundamental Law control. Before they left, they offered their sincere thanks towards Raven and went back to their posts. What they didn''t know is that, this only the start of their power boost, the Spiritual Marks that they received from their Spirit Entities had more in store for them, something that Raven didn''t find necessary to tell them.

    After discussing it with his parents, they told him that it was his decision. Luis also felt that this situation is a bit improper but if it will result in his son''s safety then he had no qualms about it. Luis told him the pros and cons of epting him. He didn''t deliberately showed nor implied it but Raven got his father''s message.

    In his stress, Raven decided to drink Moonshine with his parents. But he never thought that this little action of his would change the whole situation around.

    After having his sense heightened by Moonshine, Raven couldn''t help but stare at his mother. His stare was very solemn that it was making Eva a bit ufortable. Luis saw this and was simrly confused.

    "What''s the matter, son?"

    But Raven didn''t answer him. Instead, he walked towards Eva and ced a hand on her stomach. He sent the most gentle and faintest energy pulse throughout her body. Eva jolted for a bit but she was more curious about his son''s actions rather than what she was feeling.

    "Mom?" Raven asked, Eva looked at him and gave him a questioning look. "Have you been feeling slightly out of it during mornings?"

    Raven''s question stunned his mother, nevertheless she thought about it for a bit and nodded. "Actually, yes. It''s probably because I was worried about your well being. I mean you were unconscious and all."

    ''That will only happen to regr humans, Mom. You''re a Knight yourself, that kind of stress would be gone with some good sleep.'' Raven inwardly said.

    ''Dad?'' Raven called out using his sound transmission. ''How''s her mood swings.''

    Luis didn''t show any changes in his expressions since he knew that his son didn''t want to ask this question out loud. He replied in one word. ''Terrible.''

    Raven'' eyes shone brightly which didn''t escape his parents'' notice. Raven chuckled and gave a bottle to Eva.

    "Drink this, Mom."

    "Okay?" Eva replied, still very confused about the situation decided to do what her son says, he''s not going to harm her anyway. After drinking the contents of the bottle, Eva found out that it''s just water.

    Raven took out some materials and worked his magic. The two watched on, clearly confused about what he was doing and his intentions. Later then, he ced something on Eva''s palm and told her to use it.

    "What''s this?" Eva asked curiously.

    Raven''s face turned slightly peculiar and said: "Look at it carefully. Are you sure you don''t know what that is?"

    Eva frowned and inspected the thing in her hands. After sometime, her eyes widened as she looked at Raven with shining eyes.

    "Is this what I think it is?" She asked in a somewhat breathless tone.

    "Yes, Mom." Raven nodded and took a quick nce at Luis. "It''s pregnancy test."

    Luis shot up from his seat and looked at his wife with shining eyes, his mouth was slightly open. It won''t take a genius in order to find out what Raven was implying, but still Luis and Eva was caught rather unprepared for this moment.

    "Come on, Mom. That''s precisely why I gave you the water." Raven urged, feeling slightly jittery as well. At this point, he could say that he was at least 80% certain of his guesses but just to make sure, he still wanted Eva to use the pregnancy test so that it would be more urate.

    Luis also joined urged his wife, however he was more of anxious and excited. His hands were practically shaking. Who would''ve known that someone like him could lose hisposure in such a manner?

    "Ai! You boys." Evaughed and shook her head, she then headed straight towards the restroom. In fact, she too felt her heart pounding. This news waspletely unexpected! She prayed to every deity for her son''s guess to be true.

    Momentster, Eva came out of the restroom with a peculiar expression. Luis practically jumped towards her and asked her about the results. Eva shook her head and looked at her son, who chuckled and asked her to show him the results.

    Well, Raven''s version of the pregnancy test is somewhat different. It looked like the regr one in a first nce but the way how it indicates the results are different.

    As Raven saw the results, he was overwhelmed with joy. He threw his hands up in the air andughed merrily.

    "Woohooo! I''m going to have siblings! Wooohoo! I''m going to be a Big Brother!"

    Luis was simrly overjoyed, he hugged his wife and felt slightly emotional. As for Eva however, she debated to herself if she heard her son wrong.

    "Avi?" Eva asked, somewhat unsure. "What do you mean by siblings?"

    Luis also froze upon hearing this. He pulled away from the embrace and looked incredously at his son.

    "You didn''t hear me wrong!" Ravenughed. He took a step forward and pointed at the pregnancy test. "This one is different from the regr ones. It could urately tell whether the fetus is healthy or not, how old they are and it could also tell whether it''s just one or more."

    Under the dumbstruck gazes of his parents, he pointed at the results and continued. "It shows here that they''re perfectly healthy, they''re two weeks old and there''s two of them. As for the genders, we don''t know that yet but it doesn''t matter! I''m going to be a Big Brother! Woohooo!"

    Raven threw his hands up in the air once again and celebrated. He was practically over the moon. It had to be known that he was an only child during his past life. Ites with pros and cons but he really wanted to have a sibling or two. Aside from his desire for siblings, he also thought that if there''s something distracting his parents, then he would be able to leave them at peace, knowing that their attention would be somewhere else instead of overly worrying about him.

    Now, those wishes of his came true. Well, he really wanted to feel what its like to be a big brother so by hook or by crook, it has to happen. But it seems that he didn''t need to work his magic after all. His mother is pregnant, what''s more it''s twins! This is more than what he asked for and he was thankful for it!

    Seeing his jolly reaction, his parents couldn''t help but to feel happy too.

 Chapter 206 - Promotion

    ---

    News of Eva being pregnant caused a great stir inside Luis'' office.

    Many people congratted the family and looked forward to the birth of the child. The matter of Eva carrying twins were kept as a secret as the family agreed upon.

    After considering the matter properly, Raven decided to ept Morel''s service but there are some changes to it. Instead of protecting him, he want Morel to protect his mother and eventually his siblings. Due to both him and Luis having matters to attend to, Raven would feel more at ease knowing that there is a formidable person by her side protecting her. If Morel agreed to his proposition, then his siblings'' situation would be somewhat simr to Balmung and Luna since they have Old Lee by their side.

    As a father himself, Morel didn''t oppose this idea. It was then that he took an oath of service to Eva.

    Raven was thrilled by this, as a result, he personally called over Joanna and gave her instructions to make her a future powerhouse. He identified her spirit entity and gave her cultivation arts as well as body arts. Joanna only reached Bone Tempering Stage, due to her being young, she was more than capable on restarting her cultivation, which she did without even batting an eye.

    After giving her clear instructions, Raven left and decided to enter the Crown Space to train himself.

    ***

    As soon as Raven woke up, he received news that the Prince required his presence. He had a light a breakfast and took a quick bath before going over to the Royal Pce since the Prince wanted to meet him there.

    Come to think of it, this is the first time that Raven visited the Royal Pce after his Soul Rebirth.

    Upon arrival, he noticed that nothing much had changed from what he remembered. The Royal Pce is still the sign of the highest authority for the Kingdom. It''s still as grand and as majestic as ever.

    Once he arrived at the Pce Gates, he was stopped by the Royal Guards. After confirming his identity, he was granted entrance and was guided towards the ce where the appointment will happen.

    He was surprised to see that it wasn''t just him who were waiting at the Prince''s office. His friends were there too! They obviously arrived earlier than him. And of course, Luna was there too and she wasn''t wearing her regr disguise.

    Raven''s heart sped up for a bit, no matter how many times she see her in her true appearance, he will always be left in awe from her beauty.

    Luna also felt his stare but all that she could think about was her boldness back then. A blush crept out of her face which made her break eye contact with him.

    "What''s up with this pink atmosphere?" Ellen teased, which rendered a reaction from the two. Both of them acted awkwardly around each other which somewhat raised the girls'' suspicions.

    "You girl! You just have to go ahead and ruin it don''t you? Ai!" Anne dramatically said, which again invoked reaction from the two.

    Paul, being nosy as he is, scooted towards Raven''s side and whispered the question: "Hey! What''s up with you two? Why are you guys acting strange? Wait! Don''t tell me¡­holy shit, you two did it-Ow!"

    Before Paul could even finish what he was about to say, Raven''s left palm found its way on to the back of his head. He then said: "Oh! My bad, dude. It''s just that my hand automatically reacts whenever I''m faced with a perky idiot. It''s very instinctual you see?"

    His sarcastic remarks was more than enough to silence Paul. Mark just chuckled seeing this happened but he was quite curious too so he asked: "But really, what''s going on?"

    Raven sighed and looked the other way, he then answered: "Nothing much, just¡­I''m not used to it."

    Mark tilted his head and replied; "Not used to what?"

    "Her not wearing the disguise and¡­" Raven paused and cleared his throat, "¡­being that pretty and all."

    His voice wasn''t particrly hushed and was heard by the rest. Luna for one, immediately blushed hard and looked away, pretending to not hear his words. However, she was screaming inwardly. It was now clear to her he was staring and became conscious.

    Ellen and Anne practically squealed which taking turns poking Luna''s sides, much to the annoyance of the young princess who could do nothing but to p their hands and re at them.

    It was then that the jolly atmosphere was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door. All of them looked up and surprised when they saw Victor stepping out.

    "Good morning, Director!" The children greeted upon seeing him, it was obvious that they weren''t expecting him to be here.

    "Good morning to you as well." Victor greeted back. "Come, Master is waiting for you inside."

    The children nodded and followed him inside. Once they arrived, they saw the Prince eagerly waiting for them on his table. The rest sat down in the chairs arranged for them and waited for the Prince''s words.

    "Good morning, Your Highness." The children greeted politely.

    "Good morning as well." Balmung nodded and continued: "I know that this summons came as a surprise to you but there''s a good reason behind it."

    "In fact, I should''ve called you out sooner than this but I''ve been pretty upied during the past month and half. Settling down themotion that was caused by the invasion, reconstructions and all. But that''s not why I called you here."

    "The purpose of this meeting is to hand out the rewards for your service."

    The children''s eyes brightened when they heard his words. Sufficed to say that none of them were expecting to be rewarded from that battle.

    "The Kingdom won''t turn blind eye when it''s subjects render a meritorious act. All of you fought valiantly and unhesitatingly during the invasion. Your actions of freeing the captives and preventing the enemies from creating more damage to the kingdom, had a great effect towards our kingdom''s recovery and well being. If we didn''t award such actions, then we might as well demolish this entire ce." The prince jeered towards the end. He then looked at Victor and nodded.

    Victor received the signal and continued from this point. "All of you. I hereby announce that from this day on, you are now promoted as Core Students of the Heavenly Cloud Institute."

    This news stunned the six of them. They looked at each other in awe. They graduated from the Inner Branch? Just like that? Are they dreaming?

    "No need to be surprised." Victor smiled, "Even in the Genius ss, you six are the cream of the crop. Talent wise, skill wise and attitude wise. You being promoted as Core Students shouldn''te as much of a surprise. Even without this early promotion you people will eventually be Core Students anyway."

    What Victor said was true but there''s more to this than what he told them. It was true that these kids are practically monsters evenpared to the ''so-called'' Genius ss of his. Having them stay there would just repeatedly smash the confidence of his students and it''s something that he couldn''t afford to see. They might as well promote them into Core Students so that it would just be a one time blow for the rest of their ssmates, maybe this will ignite theirpetitiveness.

    "Nobility titles are useless to you guys so we decided to change your graduation rewards." Victor said, he then took out several cases out from his spatial ring and handed it to them. The cases differ in sizes but the kids were able to distinguish what''s inside.

    "Your hunch is correct." Victor nodded, "These are weapons, more specifically A-grade weapons which were forged for your own use."

    Paul received a spear and a shield. Mark received two short swords. Ellen received a sword. Anne received a bow. Luna received a spear and Raven received a better hammer.

    The children happily stored their new toys. This weapons are more suitable as a reward to thempared to a Noble title. A-grade weapons are expensive, even with their backgrounds, buying one would still hurt their purses.

    "From now on, you six are the 77th batch of Heavenly Cloud Institute''s Core Students. Congrattions." Victor smiled which brought a joyful atmosphere inside the office, but of course this is just the beginning.

    "My turn." Balmung said which caught the attention of the children. "As rewards for your bravery, I am allowing each one of you to pick at least one treasure from the Royal Treasury."

    That alone caused the children to breathe heavily.

    "Not only that, you guys are also free to choose one Battle Arts from our Art Repository Hall. As well as have ess to Ancient Royal Grounds for a whole year."

    The children didn''t know what to say anymore. The rewards that the prince handed out were truly generous. They almost couldn''t wait to go and receive their rewards. But it seems that the Prince isn''t done yet as he casted aplicated stare towards Raven.

    "Honestly, I don''t even know what I could give you." Balmung said with a helpless sigh, "You were the one who sacrificed the most."

    "You don''t have to, Your Highness. The rewards that you handed out is already too much for me." Raven replied courteously, but the Prince isn''t satisfied.

    "That won''t do either." He shook his head, out of nowhere his eyes suddenly brightened. "Aha! I have an idea."

    "Your additional reward is a wee."

    "A wee?"

    "Yep! Wee to the family!"

    *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

 Chapter 207 - Switch

    ---

    The group of friends left the Royal Pce in a jolly mood. Well, not all of them were jolly, at least two of them were rather stressed out. They were none other than Luna and Raven.

    The Prince was relentless in his teasing. He literally treated Raven like a family in front of them. His royal bearing was gone and he acted like he was talking to his sibling. Of course, he wasn''t the only one who teased them as the rest followed suit.

    His act greatly exhausted Raven but at the same time, he truly wondered if he was serious about his im. After all, it''s not like he was deliberately hiding his affection towards Luna. He might be toning it down since he doesn''t want to be rash and overwhelm her but him chasing after her isn''t a huge secret.

    Needless to say, he should face no obstruction from the Prince right? After all, he was the one who started all of this. And even if he does obstruct them, he could always ce in efforts to change his mind.

    Luna was speechless all throughout the ride, but her blushing expression was enough to send the message.

    "Oh, yeah. The prince told us that the Ancient Royal Grounds will be open for us right? Do you guys have any idea what''s inside?"

    Before leaving, the Pce. The six of them already received part of their rewards. They were given uniforms and badges to prove that they are now indeed, Core Students of the Heavenly Cloud Institute. They were also taken to the treasury to pick at least one treasure and were then taken to choose a least one cultivation technique from the Art Repository.

    They wanted to check out the Ancient Pce Grounds but they informed that it needs to be prepared first before they could enter. As a result, none of them saw what it''s like inside.

    Luna, as the princess, naturally was the one who answered their inquiries.

    "I remember my brother telling me that it''s a good ce." She said, "He said that in terms of raising one''s cultivation base, it won''t be of much help. It was specifically made to raise one''sbat efficiency. I''m not exactly sure what''s inside though since he never told me anything and I never stepped inside. I guess we just have to figure out together."

    Instinctually, all of them looked towards Raven at the same time. It was as if they were asking him the same question earlier. This made Raven smile wryly and said: "Don''t look at me like that. I have no clue."

    "Oh! What a bummer then." Ellenughed shamelessly.

    Well, he was lying. He knows all about the Ancient Royal Grounds, he just didn''t want to tell them since there was no need to. The benefits they will receive from that ce would be greatly minimized if they knew what to expect prior to their entry.

    What Luna said was true. The Ancient Royal Grounds a good ce to raise one''sbat efficacy. When the kingdom was destroyed during his past life, that ce was one of the few ces that remained intact. Since everyone was dead, there was practically no one stopping from using that ce and he remembered spending at least years inside.

    The Ancient Royal Grounds is arge transmission gate equipped with discerning ability. It could identify one''s potential and transfer them into a ce where they could hone their abilities. No, it is not an illusion. They would truly be sent away to a ce that could help them and there''s bound to be potential dangers, but so long as one is careful enough, they coulde out safe and sound.

    The Transmission Gate will only open twice. During the initial activation and when the time limit was up. It requires tons of resources to activate the gate that''s why it needs time before they could enter.

    ''Come to think of it. It functions somewhat simr to the Crown Space''s Pce Grounds. Only, the ces is end up to ispletely random. Is there a connection between the two?''

    ''Well, I did receive the Divine Ancestral Crown near the Royal Pce of the kingdom. So there must be some sort of connection. But why would a divine artifact end up inside a lesser world?''

    These questions had been bothering Raven for a while, specially the ones pertaining to the cause why this divine artifact found its way here. He had no answers for now, but one day the truth shall be revealed for him.

    ***

    Once they were out of the Royal Pce, they went out their separate ways. For one, Raven decided to return to his cave dwelling under the pretense that he wanted to tidy up the ce. Since they were Core Students now, they could no longer stay in this ce.

    When he came back, he didn''t start cleaning up his stuff. He sat down and reviewed the contents of the [Book of Chaos]. This matter had been pushed due to some reasons but now that everything had settled down, the time is ripe to tackle this matter.

    Once he was done, he took a deep breath in went outside. He nced at the pond of water where he used most of his time recovering.

    "This might be thest time that I will use you. We''re going big this time, don''t copse on me now."

    As soon as he said this, he took out multiple things out of his spatial ring. Multiple vials of S-grade Body Restoration Fluid, A-grade Energy Gathering Pills, and a vial of Thousand Leaf Sap. All of these high quality products aren''t even avable to the market yet but he unhesitatingly took them all out and threw them onto the pond.

    Under his watchful gaze, the efficacy of each products started scattering to the waters. The sheer amount of energy contained in this is enough for anyone to be frightened out of their wits. With different sources of energies on the water, there''s bound to be conflict and it may cause it to go berserk. This is precisely the reason why Raven was keeping a close watch of it.

    Whenever he felt an intense fluctuation of energies, he would immediately douse it with his energy to pacify it so that the energies in the waters would be harmonized. After keeping watch for about an hour, the pond emitted a brilliant light and it becamepletely still. Raven heaved a sigh of relief, now the preparations areplete he jumped on his birthday suit and walked on the surface of the water.

    His steps didn''t make any ripples in the water. As soon as he reached the middle of the pond, he sat down and went into a trance. The [Book of Chaos] appeared in his consciousness and released a golden light.

    Raven''s body visibly curbed under it''s influence, blood dripped on the side of his mouth but he didn''t care. His lips parted and chanted the mnemonics of the First Chapter.

    Foreign energy howled and descended where he was. Raven could sense this and knew that foreign energy is nothing but a small plume, even so it carried a horrifying density that almost crushed his little body. The foreign energy showed itself. It was like a flickering candlelight, a small gust of wind might be enough to snuff it out but it carried on and cling desperately, unwilling to be extinguished.

    But all of that was just a mere metaphor for it''s appearance. Once this energy appeared, the still waters of the pond immediately turned chaotic. It caved in and trembled visibly but unable to had any sort of impact towards the small plume of energy.

    The foreign energy slowly approached Raven''s body. It''s density was too astonishing that Raven felt like he was being crushed by an unknown force. Nevertheless, he knew that this a part of the process so he held on. The foreign energy went closer and closer until it finally crashed into Raven''s body.

    Raven felt like a star fell on him once the energy fused with his body. His chest caved in, even his organs were badly ruptured. His energywork was left in shambles and his strength bled out of his body and left him permanently. Even after all this, Raven was still in control.

    It feels too painful and it wasn''t stopping anytime soon. But Raven''s will was firm, no matter how damaged his body was, his focus was entirely on the Book of Chaos. His badly mutted body decayed in a speed visible to the naked eye but there are no traces of anxiety on his face.

    At some point, Raven forgot everything. His surroundings, his identity, what he was doing, he couldn''t recall anything. All he knew was that his mind arrived somewhere he doesn''t know, and his consciousness is too hazy to pay attention anything.

    Suddenly, the waters beneath him spurred into action. The waters ascended and formed a cyclone that encased Raven within.. Its size got smaller and smaller until it transformed into arge circr cocoon, incubating Raven inside.

 Chapter 208 - Metamorphosis

    ---

    The rest of the day and night passed.

    The cocoon in the middle of the pond showed no activities, it was peaceful and only emitted a gentle curtain of light.

    From the outside, one could make out a silhouette of a person. It was a teenager who was curled up into a fetal position. In one could see what''s inside, they would see a sleeping Raven. His body was being reconstructed in a mysterious way. His body that had been badly mutted earlier dposed into the fluid present inside the cocoon but even so, the essence of those pieces of flesh and blood fused with the fluid and formed his new body.

    His heart was the first one to be reconstructed. Along with it''s creation, there appears to be a foreign force apanying it and sending tendrils to every single fiber of his being along with his heartbeat. As time went on, Raven''s organs and bones were reconstructed, then his muscles came, his skin and his hairs.

    But even though he was practically reconstructed, Raven still didn''t wake up. It was like he was stuck in a dream.

    In his dreams, Raven walked through an unfamiliar environment with a hazy consciousness. Sometimes rity wille back to him but he will slip into a trance once more. His surroundings flew past him like shing lights, he could make out some of them but he would instantly forget them whenever he entered a trance.

    It''s debatable whether his powerful soul helped him out on this process or not. He forgot most of the things he saw, well he was supposed to but in the deepest recesses of his memories, some bare outlines remained.

    It was like he was lonely watcher. Witnessing everythinge and go, jaded and uninterested. If he was given a choice, it would be certain that he wouldn''t choose to be this way. Even then, with the amount of things he saw, it was certain that he won''t be able to remember each one anyway.

    His mostly unconscious travel in his dreams eventually arrived at his destination.

    All that Raven could tell at this point was that he stopped and looked around. He wasn''t aware where he was, why he stopped or what exactly he''s looking for but all that he could really do is follow his instincts.

    The ce where he''s at is filled with nothing but absolute darkness. Him being there serves a stark opposition that says he didn''t belong there and that he stuck out like a sore thumb. He looked like a fool, looking around trying to search for something, when in fact all that''s here was nothing.

    Out of nowhere, two distant lights emerged from the darkness. If one looked closely, these two lights resembles that of a Phoenix''s eyes. It was suspended above Raven, it almost seems like it was watching him with interest.

    Slowly but surely, Raven looked up to the two orbs of light with dull eyes and stared at them for a good while.

    All of a sudden, a deep, formless and archaic voice echoed in the darkness.

    "That''s new." The disembodied voice said, there was a thick interestden on its tone. "Though what remained is a tiny spark of awareness, it''s still impressive that it managed tost this long. Specially considering that fact that it had been a long journey for you."

    There was a brief period of silence that ensued before the voice spoke once again.

    "I see. So it ended up in that ce. What goes around,es back around, huh?"

    Raven stood in ce, staring at the two lights with empty eyes. It wasn''t clear if he could hear the voice or not.

    "Very well." The voice said after a while, "I''ll hide you for a bit. Hopefully, you''re the one I''m looking for."

    "Grow up quickly little one." The voice said in a very mncholic tone. "Hopefully, the next time we meet. You''ll be ready to take up my mantle."

    "Because if you can''t¡­ then it is very unlikely that I could wait for another one."

    Once the voice stopped speaking, a third orb of light emerged out of nowhere and fused with the two that''s been here before. They transformed into a one huge orb that is no different from a sun.

    The massive sun-like orb flew down and fused itself with Raven. His whole body emitted a divine glow before he disappeared from this ce.

    ***

    "Hmm¡­" a groan escaped from Raven''s lips.

    Still trapped inside the cocoon, his body shifted and his eyes briefly opened.

    The whole cocoon quaked as he opened his eyes. If anyone was staring at his eyes, they would find themselves captivated by it''s unnatural beauty.

    His pupils were tinged with a golden hue while his irises had a rainbow colored glow in them. On his head, a silhouette of a golden circlet emerged, it formed a crown like shape with a golden gem embedded on the middle.

    Raven partially regained his consciousness. He stretched his body inside the cocoon but his minimal action caused it to explode.

    With a booming sound, shards of cocoon flew everywhere, revealing Raven''s naked body. The time he spent inside the cocoon brought an astounding transformation on him.

    Compared to before, Raven was now taller by at least a few inches. His body became extremelypact and muscr, it was like his pearl white skin was clinging onto his sculpted muscles like its life depended on it. His ck hair descended like a waterfall on his back only, now it has a faint turquoise glow in them that would be evident under the re of sunlight.

    His facial features became more prominent, if previously Raven looked like a bronze-skinned warrior that faced death in many asions, now he appeared to be a noble schr who propagated peace over war. His aura radiated a calming air but was also heroic at the same time. Added the fact that there is a silhouette of a crown on his head, he could be mistaken as that of a Royal Blood.

    As the crown image disappeared from his head. Raven finally regained control over his body. A deep sigh escaped his lips, he closed his eyes and concentrated.

    After a while, his eyes snapped wide open and everything within a hundred meters around him trembled. His body started levitating off the ground while his countenance remained impassive.

    His gaze fell onto his stuff and with a flick of his fingers, they flew towards him as if they were carried by a mysterious force. His spatial ring threw up some clothes even without him touching it. As if the clothes gained some sort of a consciousness, they wrapped they did the honors of covering Raven''s body as if it would be sphemy if he needed to lift his arms to dress himself up.

    Fully clothed with an all ck attire only lifted Raven''s otherworldly charm into another level.

    With another sigh, Raven stepped onto the air and arrived at the edge of the pond. A wry smile appeared from his mouth as he asked himself: "What in the world was that?"

    Bits and pieces of hazy memories surfaced from his psyche. All it contained were silhouettes and images. He had no clue on how he should discern them. They looked so unfamiliar to him. He knew that he was dreaming during his transformation, at some point during his dreams he recalled gaining rity but will immediately fall into trance right away.

    He had no answers to this so he could search for answerster. What''s more important is to gauge how was faring strength wise.

    Cultivating the [Book of Chaos] is the same as abandoning the Three Known Paths for humans. This is something that became clear to him as soon as he read the contents of the ancient book. This means that from now on, his cultivation wouldn''t resemble that of a Body, Energy or a Spirit Path. This path is knows as the Path of Chaos, and as far as he could tell, he was alone in this road in this generation.

    His body was still the same structure wise, even his energywork was present. However, the truth is that he had no use for his energywork anymore. The only thing that he had to pay attention to is the [Chaos Embryo] that is located on the center of his chest. This is the source of his strength after all.

    To make things simpler, the plume of foreign energy earlier turned into this. It is connected to his heart so as long as his heart beats, his [Chaos Force] will keep on circting in every single fiber of his body much like how his heart pumps blood to the rest of his body.

    The Chaos Path has no known stages as far as he could tell. Right now, his initial gauge of his strength is roughly equal to a peak Warrior Stage expert but of course he wasn''t so sure just yet.

    All he knows is that, this is just the first metamorphosis.. He had to undergo eight more to attain the consummate level of the [Book of Chaos: First Chapter], which means that he still has a long way to go.

 Chapter 209 - Changes

    ---

    "The first chapter of the [Book of Chaos] is focused on transformation." Raven murmured, "As long as I cultivate this chapter, I''ll eventually experience transformation for nine times in total. The book referred to it as the 9 Metamorphosis Stages."

    "The first to third metamorphosis is focused on the body. The first stage discards the remaining impurities inside my body, external and internal. The second stage will discard my old blood and cleanse my marrows, making my blood vitality shoot through the roof. It is also said that there is a small chance that I could awaken or infuse a bloodline in this process but that''s very unlikely to happen. As for the third stage, it discards my old bones, recing them with a more durable and denser ones."

    "Fourth to sixth stages focuses on my energy body, more specifically my Energy Network. During these stages, my original Energy Network will be transformed. It will then rece my blood vessels, veins and arteries, which means that aside from blood, my Chaos Force will flow along them."

    "Seventh to ninth stages will unify my soul into my body. In the consummate level of this technique, I will be a different man. I will be a perfect unity of body, energy and spirit. I can hardly wait."

    Raven sighed as he remunerate on the path before him. Exploring this new path brought an immense excitement to him. Of course, he knows that this path won''t be easy. There is a hazard in cultivating this technique since one wrong step will lead to his death. But his determination to reach the top is greater than the fear he felt.

    "It seems that the tricks that I''ve learn before are still usable. Only, instead of energies, it uses up Chaos Force."

    "That being said though, there are more changes that I''m surprised about. One is my ocr technique." Raven said as his eyes red with a brilliant gold hue. Instantly, his perspective changed and now he could see a detailed view of everything around 150 meters around him. Each de of grass, every stone, every insects, he could see them with a ring rity. If he wished to, it will only take a moment of focus in order for his vision to fully prate any obstruction, therefore seeing theposition or through it.

    He could also feel that this isn''t the full extent of this ocr technique, his instincts told him that he''s just barely scratching the surface.

    "I''m not even sure if this was the one I received from the Crown. This isn''t the way how the old one works, this one is clearly better. What''s more is that I could feel that this technique grows with me. Howe, though? Is this because of that dream?"

    Raven was honestly confused but the fact that his ocr technique is different remains. "I''ll call this [Crystal Sky Eyes] for now. I''ll do some more experimentster."

    "As for the other change¡­" Raven trailed off, he sank his perception onto his Chaos Core and his consciousness arrived a different ce.

    There he stood in an empty space, facing a scene that could take anyone''s breath away. He was standing before a huge sun-like orb. It radiated no heat and only an mysterious beauty. It shone with a dark golden light. On its surface Raven could see some grains of rainbow colored sands freely roaming around the whole orb. There also at least three belts wrapping around the sun-like orb which contained mysterious golden sands.

    "What in the world are you?" Raven breathlessly asked, captivated by this scene. He had never seen anything like this before. He had tried going closer to it ormunicating with using his Chaos Force but it was fruitless. He will either walk in ce, unable to reach it or receive nothing in return.

    "Forget it, I''ll just ask Inos about it the next time we meet." Raven sighed and disappeared from there.

    ***

    "Holy shit, Dude!" Paul eximed after seeing Raven. "What in the god damn world happened?! How did you be this dashing?"

    Who could me him? It hasn''t even been a week since theyst met and then suddenly Raven experienced some heavenly changes in his appearance.

    At first, they weren''t able to recognize him, but as soon as he came closer, there''s no denying that it was Raven through and through.

    "I took a bath." Raven jeered, "You should do the same, who knows what might happen."

    His joke elicited augh from the rest. Paul cringed and said: "I do that everyday, but nothing happens Dude! What gives?"

    "Oh, then there''s nothing I can do to help. Sorry, Dude." Ravenughed as he sat with them.

    "Gosh Avi! You were already handsome before but now you''re even handsomer! Do you n on seducing all maidens of the kingdom." Ellen shamelesslymented on the side.

    "Shut up will you?" Ravenughed, "I''m looking to die anytime soon."

    "I''m actually surprised that you didn''t bring your fans with you today. I''m sure many would dly throw themselves just to get your attention." Anne teased on the side, making sure to be mindful of Luna''s reactions.

    "Don''t even remind me of that." Raven smiled wryly, "Thanks to them, I have to wear a disguise every time I go out. So bothersome."

    "I could imagine that." Markmented on the side, "Besides, this guy had no interest in them. He already has one in mind and It''ll be the end of the world if that changes."

    Raven smirked and sent a voice transmission towards Mark saying: ''You''re the best, Dude.''

    ''I know.'' Mark replied.

    Because of that, the carriage was filled with cheers and teasing which ceased at some point since the boys talked about other things while on the girls side¡­

    "Oh my, oh my, Dear Princess." Anne quietly squealed as she poked Luna''s sides multiple times, "Look! Someone decided to look all nice and handsome for you! How cute!"

    "You''re super lucky, girl!" Ellen joined Anne in poking her sides. "This is the first time I''d seen him like that! He''s totally in to you! Oh my gosh!"

    "Stop poking me!" Luna pped their fingers while puffing up her cheeks. The two giggled in response and decided to leave her alone.

    Sighing deeply, she looked out of the window and was engrossed in her thoughts.

    ''What is wrong with him?'' Luna thought, ''This transformation is a little too much isn''t it? Is there really a need for it? He already looked good before, but now¡­''

    Luna sneakily took a nce of him, surprised by the fact that he took a nce of her too. The two felt like they were electrified by each other''s gaze and looked the other way.

    ''He looks so fine! What the hell!? Why would you do something like that?'' Luna inwardly screamed, ''As if things couldn''t get more awkward after that kiss! How can someone expect me to act normally around him? Ai! What a meanie!''

    Luna eventually calmed down and joined the rest of the group in their discussions. They mostly talked about their preparations for their uing training.

    The Ancient Royal Grounds was ready for their use. They were informed about this and were told to make preparations. After all, they are not going out of that ce until the one year time limit was over. They had to make sure that they are fully stocked on supplies because no one knows what will happen inside.

    The group eventually arrived at the Royal Pce once more, where they were greeted with the guards and granted ess. Someone received them and lead them to the ce where the transmission gate was.

    As soon as they arrived in there, they saw that the Crown Prince was here as well as Old Lee and Leona. They stood in front of a huge arching gate which were made out of ancient looking stones with runic carvings in them.

    Upon seeing them arrive, the Prince''s eyes automatically located Raven was surprised by his sudden changes. He cleared his throat and said: "If this were any other time, I would definitely say something about your appearance. But we have a different purpose today so I''ll let you off."

    Raven sighed in relief upon hearing this. They then perked up their ears as Balmung started exining what they should expect inside.

    "This is the Transmission Gate that will transfer you into the Ancient Pce Grounds. This ce has been protected by generations of the Royal Family for generations since it holds too much importance to us. Nowyou''ll be allowed to use it for a year."

    "It''s almost certain that you guys will be separated." Balmung said, "The Transmission Gate will gauge yourbat effiency and will eventually transfer you to a random destination. Wherever you end up to, remember to pay attention to your safety. Smelting Trials are dangerous only if you''re reckless and biting more than what you can chew. You guys are young, take your time and solidify your foundations."

    "If you guys had no more questions, we can begin with your transfer."

 Chapter 210 - Ancient Royal Grounds

    ---

    Six teenagers took a deep breath in and walked inside therge Transmission Gate that will take them into a ce where they will spend a year in training.

    They stepped inside the swirling light and disappeared. When their visions adjusted, they found themselves alone in a empty white space.

    Out of nowhere, arge silhouette of a beast suddenly emerged and materialized in front of them. Alerted by the sudden appearance of the beast, the teenagers took their weapons out and prepared forbat.

    All of them faced the same beast, a Wood Turtle Golem.

    Seeing their enemy, the teenagers could only smile wryly. It was clear that they have no chance of beating this thing.

    Wood Turtle Golems are normally pacifists. They tend to avoid conflict as much as possible and nts or any weaker creatures that surrendered themselves. Aside from that, they are very defensive creatures, if they decide to hide on their shells, it''s practically impossible for any beast at their level to crack their defenses.

    Based on the energy fluctuations that it has, the Wood Turtle Golem in front of them is roughly equal to Junior Warrior Stage, a step above their current cultivation stage which is the Warrior Stage. Even Raven who has the ability to explode with a ferocious amount of force, isn''t confident on cracking this thing up if it decides to go inside it''s shell, which means that beast is here for another purpose.

    Regardless of their the reason, they can''t escapebat. The teenagers charged forward and used every trick and technique they knew on to the beast. None of them hold back since if this scenario is what they think it is, then they have to disy their entire potential.

    As expected, none of them really made a huge impact against the Wood Turtle Golem who, at the first sign of trouble, decided to seek protection by turtling up. Even so, they used every single thing in their repertoire to disy their skills and just as they thought, after spending their entire reserves to attack this thing, it disappeared without a trace and another portal emerged in front of them.

    Yes, the Wood Turtle Golem was there to gauge their potential. Now that the Transmission Gate gathered their details, it would now proceed in transferring them to the ce where they would spend a year training.

    Naturally, before any of them stepped inside the gate, they of course took this chance to recover first. After they were done doing so, they stepped out and the transfer began.

    Once their vision adjusted, they arrived at a different ce. Somewhere that they''ve never been to before, additionally, all of them received a mental message about their goals or tasks in their respective ces.

    Paul arrived at a location called ''Wave Ind.'' It''s an ind surrounded with nothing but water. All he could hear was the ruthless surging of water waves crashing down the shore which gave him a fright. The mental message he received is to stand by the shore and block the surging water waves for a whole day. A task that is extremely daunting, considering the fact that the regr waves he could see are enough topletely decimate a house made of bricks.

    Mark arrived at a ce called ''Myriad Lightning Peak''. He was currently at the base of a tall mountain that is being repeatedly struck with different shades of lightning. From where he stood, he saw some regr colored lightning which is white, then he saw a Green colored one, Violet, some ring Red ones, Golden and a frightening ck Lightning. His task to reach the mountain peak which is being constantly struck by those horrifying ck Lightning. Of course, Mark felt rather afraid being thrown out to a dangerous ce like this but his determination is even stronger. He can''t fall behind. For the safety of his home, he couldn''t afford to fall here.

    Ellen arrived at a ce called ''Fire Origin Spring''. As soon as she arrived, she immediately felt the scorching heat that the spring radiated. She stood not too far from the spring but the heat caused her body to be drenched in sweat immediately. Her task is to soak in the spring for a whole day without losing consciousness. A simple task but difficult to do, she knows this because even taking a step closer to the spring is already a challenge for her. Nevertheless, Ellen had a stubborn personality. She knew that this task isn''t meant to kill her and only make her stronger so she will do her best.

    As for Anne, she arrived at a ce called ''Grand Silver Canyon''. She found herself standing on top of a tall and narrow pir that''s only wide enough for at least three people. She was in a such a steep height that any carelessness will cause her to fall towards her death. The task given to her was a bit a strange, and that is to stop enemies from reaching her. Her cunning and sharp mind already found the potential difficulty of this task. She had no way of knowing what or how many enemies she had to face, she had little to no room of maneuvering in this ce, and there was no time limit. But instead of stressing out, she calmed herself down and started being on watch. She is very interested to know just how far her limits could go.

    Luna arrived at a ce called ''True Light Monastery''. She found herself standing in front of a tall monastery that has its doors open for her. With a resolute mind, she stepped inside and as soon as she did so, the doors behind her closed and the task for her appeared. Her task is simple, and that is to beat the enemies that will appear. This task is something that Luna needed. While she had experienced instructions from multiple people, what she severelycked is a truebat experience.

    ''Father, Brother, Avi the task of protecting our home doesn''t fall onto your shoulders alone. Wait for me, I''ll do good and I''ll share your burdens. I''ll be stronger so that you guys could rely on me too.''

    ***

    "Well, well." Raven muttered as he admired the scene before him.

    As soon as his vision adjusted, he found himself staring at a wide patch of grassynd. He was surrounded with trees and flowers but for some reason, there is a strange gloom on his surroundings. It didn''t take him long enough to see an eye-catching scene that captivated him deeply. He could hear the noises from here, which means that it shouldn''t take long for him to get to his destination.

    And as expected, he arrived after a brief period of time. His eyes shone as he witnessed the spectacle before him.

    It was a waterfall. But if its just like the regr ones, then this Ancient Royal Grounds would''ve been very disappointing. Thankfully, it wasn''t.

    "Bloody Mary Falls, huh?" Raven whispered with a little bit of madness in his voice. "This is going to be painful, but fun."

    It is a waterfall, yes. But the water flowing in it is a viscous red water that almost looked like blood. It stood an impressive 100 meters tall and 20-25 meters wide. The volume of the viscous red waters here was enough to crush a human in a blink of an eye. The roaring sounds of the water falling from that height is enough to deter any strong willed person from even having thoughts about approaching it. Yet, Raven wants to and has to anyway since this is his task.

    ?? Task: Stop the waterfall at the 10th meter mark.

    "Damn, this sure is ruthless. It''s already counted as a miracle if I''m able to stand beneath that!" Raven whined yfully. Nevertheless, he won''t back down in this challenge. "Alright, I''ll try approaching it first."

    Thankfully, there are rock formations avable for him to do this. He hopped on each on, getting closer and closer to the waterfall. Come to think of it, there is one particr stone tform that has a t surface that stood directly beneath the waterfall. Raven figured that this stone tform is clearly different since there''s no way that it will remain under this water pressure without shattering.

    As he approached the waterfall, Raven''s clothes were instantly drenched with that cold and viscous blood-like water. He even tasted some and thanked the heavens that it didn''t taste like actual blood, or else he would really question the existence of this ce.

    His approach wasn''t easy, the strength of the cascades were enough to distort his protective barrier on multiple asions, he had to constantly supply it using his Chaos Force so that it''ll stay but once he arrived at the stone tform, his barrier unsurprisingly broke and his body was shot backwards and carried by the waves.

    Raven smiled painfully as he looked at the peak of the waterfall with shining gaze.

    "Bring it on!"

 Chapter 211 - Progress

    ---

    *Ssh*

    "Oooh! That hurts, you stupid waterfall!"

    Raven spat some water as he stood up from his fall. His body ached, specially on his shoulders. He walked towards the shore toy down for a bit, calming his breath and his feeling the throbbing of his muscles.

    "It''s been two weeks." He sighed while his eyes were closed, "Forget about stopping the waterfall, I can''t stand beneath the damn thing for too long."

    It had been a torturous and ridiculous two weeks for Raven. Because of his stubbornness, not a day passed in this two weeks that his body didn''t ache. His only breaks are eating, sleeping, or short breaks. Aside from that, he was always on the move, trying to endure the ruthless cascades of the Bloody Mary Falls.

    Despite his painful task, he still endured and continued since he himself could feel the immediate benefits he received under the painful tempering of the waterfall.

    Raven''s body is already durable, in fact youths at his age couldn''t possiblypare to him, the only one whoes close were of course, Paul or Mark. Nevertheless, Raven knew that there are still room for improvements, and this is precisely what he was looking for.

    Everyday, he could feel his body getting tougher. His 1st Metamorphosis didn''t dissolve the sheer amount of energy he used, some of it were still trapped on the corners of his body and through this task, the remaining energies were dissolved and converted into his Chaos Force, which eventually then used to properly nourish his body.

    Raven also found out the meaning behind the task he was given.

    When he fought the Wood Turtle Golem to assess his potential, he hadn''t have the time to properly get adjusted to his new found strength. This resulted on his application of force to be extremely messy. His control over his own strength went awry after the transformation.

    The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer became extremely light for him to handle, he remembered wielding it like a stick. In normal cases, this should be a boon but once again, his control went awry so he couldn''t properly use it to his liking. This made him extremely gloomy inside, but the task that was given to him came at just the right moment. He decided to take this opportunity to familiarize himself to his own strength once again.

    Raven rested for five minutes before flipping up and raring to again.

    He took a deep breath in and hopped to the rocks once again, slowly approaching the roaring waterfall. He already stopped forming a barrier around him, he found out that no matter how much he tried, it will only shatter nheless. What''s more is that it uses up his Chaos Force which tires him faster so he stopped even trying and decided to face the full pressure of the waterfall using his body alone.

    He eventually reached the t stone tform that was erected directly underneath the waterfall. The ruthless water pressure fell on his body which felt incredibly painful. He gnashed his teeth, forcing himself to remain steady and calm. He chanted the profound mnemonics of the Book of Chaos which agitated the Chaos Force inside of him into action.

    His muscles rxed, it fell into a rhythmic pulsation to resist the pressure of the waterfall. Slowly but surely, his back straightened as he passively endured the ruthless volume of water falling on him. His breathing gradually turned deeper and rxed while he remained aware of the situation around him.

    His body radiated a dark golden glow under the waterfall. If one looked closely, his muscles rose and fell into rhythm, simr to how one breathes. The pressure of the waterfall flowed through his body evenly in waves, they tempered each corners of his body, making him tougher and stronger.

    Raven stood like this for an hour before adjusting his position. From standing up, he sat down in a meditative position and continued circting the Book of Chaos. This way, he managed tost for at least two hours before metal fatigue caught up to him, causing him to lose concentration and be expelled from the stone tform once again.

    Just like before, he went ashore and rested for a while beforeing back.

    ***

    This boring and repetitive training continued for another two weeks until one day, Raven became strong enough to withstand the pressure of the bloody red waterfall. He had been able stand beneath the waterfall for a whole day, treating it like it was just a drizzle of water.

    Even he himself was surprised by his progress. Initially, he thought that he would be able to reach this state after a month and half or two, but unexpectedly it only took him a month.

    Raven wasted no time and took out his hammer to officially begin his assault under the waterfall. Upon doing this though, he nearly stumbled from his ce. After regaining his bnce, he frowned and looked at the hammer on his hands.

    His brain worked fast and soon found out the reason why he stumbled. It was due to the fact that his center of gravity changed as soon as he held the hammer. While he was able to stand perfectly still under the waterfall, it was because he slowly got used to it while holding nothing heavy.

    The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer might feel light to him right now, but it doesn''t change the fact that it still has an incredible weight. Just by merely holding it requires him to shift his position which then caused him to lose his bnce.

    Eyes shining with fighting spirit, he tightened the grip around his hammer and performed a probing swing.

    *Boom* *Crash* *Ssh*

    "Holy shit! What happened there?" Raven asked in a dumbfounded manner as he found himself shooting backwards, crashing onto a rock formation before sliding down to the waters. The hammer he was holding flew off somewhere.

    He went ashore and lifted his hand up, the hammer flew back on his hand while he''s mind pondered about what happened.

    "I didn''t even finish the swing and I was already shot backwards." He looked at his trembling hands and grimaced, "I see, so my arms were shocked by the pressure."

    He could feel his legs shaking as well and figured that he did something wrong.

    Raven sat down in a meditative state and recounted the experiences of the old wielders of his hammer. He observed them carefully and concentrated not on the techniques that they demonstrated but on the way they wielded the hammer.

    He remunerated on their actions before opening his eyes with a strange glow in them. He chuckled dryly and said: "How can I forget about a simple thing?"

    "Calves. The answer is in the Calves. I''m so stupid!" Raven mocked as he hurriedly gripped the hammer and took a heavy stomp forward. His calves pulsed, then an overbearing force flowed through his body and reached his arms. Borrowing that momentum, he grunted and performed a wide swing.

    *Boom!*

    The air exploded and a te-sized projectile came out from his swing. The wind whistled as it flew and it hit the rock formation on the stream, causing it to exploded intorger chunks of rocks that eventually scattered around.

    Raven''s eyes brightened up, he then said: "That was good! But I can do better!"

    Following that, he re-familiarized himself on wielding the hammer. Causing multiple ear-deafening explosions around him.

    Projectiles flew all around,nding on different ces which only caused destruction. Raven could hardly care about that since as he was regaining familiarity with his hammer, he could see that the size each projectile be bigger and stronger.

    He was so absorbed into his training that he failed to notice a few things. First is the fact that as he wielded the hammer, it was actually getting heavier by each passing moment. Previously, it weighed 3-4 tons tops, but now it climbed up to 8-9 tons in his hands. Second is that, the hammer head was getting bigger thus making each projectile wider and stronger. Previously, it was only ten inches in diameter but it slowly reached twenty inches.

    He only noticed this once he stopped, and it really took him by surprise.

    "Ah, yes. I also forgot that you grow stronger as I do. My bad." He chuckled dryly, "But you really have an awful timing you know? Aren''t you aware that I''m in the middle of a trial? I''m starting to think that you''re making things harder for me."

    Now that the hammer became bigger and heavier, the difficulty of wielding it under that heavy waterfall just became even more challenging. Nevertheless, Raven didn''t shy away from this, in fact he was happy. Conquering a tall challenge will only squeeze out his potential even further, and this is exactly what he wanted. Opportunities to get stronger.

    He ate a light meal and rested for a bit. After which, he held the hammer and went hopping towards the waterfall once again.

    Raven decided to take things one step at a time.. His goal for now is to be able to stand beneath the waterfall with the hammer on hand and perform his first full powered swing.

 Chapter 212 - 6 Months: Paul And Mark

    ---

    *Slosh* *Slosh*

    Waves as huge as a two-floored building ruthlessly crashed the shores of an unknown ind.

    The cascades were relentless, the roaring strength it carried could easily crush a human into a meat paste. The scene was hair-raising, the raging waves was unceasing. It was like the Sea God was visibly angered or provoked which caused the sea to boil.

    No one in the right mind would dare to evene close to the shore once they see this, yet there is someone who was just foolish enough to do so.

    It was a young man with a soaked blond colored hair locks. His face carried a manly vibe despite his height. His skin was tinged with a healthy wheat color, he standing one foot forward with his shield raised, his other hand carried a long spear behind him while he passively endured the ruthless cascades of the sea.

    His face was rough, there were even traces of stubbles on his jaw. His expression was stone cold, even the raging waves of torment wasn''t enough to shift his expression into something new. He chest was bare, revealing his impressively toned upper body. His muscles were coiled together, seemingly working as one to resist the unforgiving rage of the Sea God.

    He had been standing in the same shore for nearly a 24 hours now, and not even once did he dropped his guard nor the waves were able to make him step back from his position.

    If one looked closely, as the waves hit his body, some of them will be blocked off by his shield, the rest will be dispersed evenly onto his body. Strangely enough, his body wasn''t wet because of the waters, glistened with sweat instead. As the rest of the waters hit his body, they will blocked off by a strange membrane, preventing them fromnding directly on his body.

    Under the ring sunlight, this membrane almost resembled the surface of the water. It rippled with a navy blue light as it covered his body, making him look somewhat strange.

    Suddenly, the young man heard a joyful hum on his ears. An archaic voice then echoed in his head.

    "Level Surpassing Task. Complete!"

    After hearing this, the raging sea suddenly calmed down. The enormous waves were gone in a blink of an eye, making one think that all of that were nothing but mere illusions.

    The young man''s knees buckled as heid on the shore. His previous expression, which is stone cold, was now reced by an expression of wanting to cry but had no tears.

    "God damn!" He eximed under a hurried breath, "I''m beat bro! I need to freakin'' rest."

    This young man was none other than Paul, who just passed his Level Surpassing Task.

    These six months hadn''t been kind to him. Each day passed with him feeling his body ache all over the ce. Who wouldn''t be exhausted after enduring those nasty waves for hours straight?

    "Do you want to tackle the Limit Surpassing Task?"

    "God damn, are you shitting me? There''s more? Ugh!" Paul whined, he had the urge to faint upon hearing that archaic voice echo in his ears once more.

    In fact, the task that he passed just now isn''t the same task that he received upon his first arrival here.

    His original task is to endure the waves for 24 hours. He passed this one month after his arrival. He didn''t know that there is another task prepared for him, which is called the Level Surpassing Task.

    The Level Surpassing Task, required him to endure the raging waves for 24 hours without moving an inch from his spot.

    This was a difficult task, specially once he realized that the waves became bigger and stronger. He just now finished his task today with difficulty yet herees another one. Who wouldn''t whine in this situation? What''s more is that it''s called: Limit Surpassing Task. That name alone was enough to make him shiver.

    "Let me rest for a week at least, then I''ll ept this god damn task!" Paul said, still refusing to move from his spot.

    "Affirmative. Limit Surpassing Task: Survive the wrath of the sea. Scheduled one week from now."

    Paul felt like he was drenched in cold water after hearing that. He paled and said: "Survive the wrath of the sea, huh? Well¡­"

    "Fuck¡­"

    ***

    *Bzzt* *Crash* *Boom*

    "Grr¡­"

    In the sloped road towards the mountain peak, Mark uttered a low growl as he allowed lightning to flow through his body.

    There was a crazed expression on his face. His clothes were in tatters, his hair was dishelved, his body trembled in pain. If anyone saw him like this, they would think that he''s not from a noble household but rather a homeless man.

    He grounded his teeth as he struggled to digest the remnants of lightning on his body. He had long since lost count on how many times he tortured himself to get used to this pain but it never worked.

    Unlike Paul, Mark only received a single task. And that is to reach top of the Myriad Lightning Peak.

    Mark understood that he had no chance of evading these lightning bolts, even before he started walking towards the mountain. His speed is no faster than lightning to begin with, so he''s left with no other choice. He had to endure these lightning strikes.

    That being said, the thought was simple but the experience was horrible.

    Mark wanted to die during the first few days. His body was constantly charred with lightning yet he hasn''t even been able to take at least 10 steps onto the mountain. He was in so much pain that he nearly broke down. But before he lost consciousness. A figure of an ancient snake appeared in his mind and hissed at him. Suddenly, he felt the lightning remnants took some sort of a unique path inside his energy channels. He entered a strange state in cultivation and upon waking up, he felt stronger. His Body Path and Energy Path even experienced some sort of a breakthrough. What''s more is that, the following lightning strike that struck him felt less painful.

    Mark found the reason behind this scenario. This was the blessing of the Primal Lightning Serpent.

    He recalled asking Raven about his Spirit Entity before and he remembered him saying that it gives him a high affinity towards lightning. When he said affinity, he thought that this will only work against Lightning-based attacks, not actual Lightning, yet here it is.

    During this six months, Mark advanced so much that regr lightning doesn''t hurt him anymore, in fact it became his tonic as he traversed this mountain.

    As for the Green and Violet Lightning Bolts, they posed more challenge but Mark eventually conquered them. In a sense, this kinds of lightning only posses a higher voltagepared to the regr ones. He only need to be struck at least a dozen times for each color and he was good to go. Additionally, he could do some amazing things, such as redirecting the lightning or producing his own version. This was a great boon for him since he knew that not just anyone could withstand these kinds of lightning like he could.

    Now for the Red Lightning that exists halfway through the mountain. Those were the ones he was dealing with right now and it had been a tough struggle for him. What sets the Red Lightning different from the rest is that it has another effect aside from the staggering voltage it contains.

    Each Red Lightning Bolt, contained a dense amount of bloodlust that constantly tried to erode his consciousness.

    It would''ve been fine it was just a high voltage but nope. Now he had to deal with not only enduring the lightning remnants on his body but also the bloodlust that wanted to corrupt him. He had to guard his consciousness repeatedly to resist and it''s rather taxing to do two difficult tasks at once.

    There were multiple times where the bloodlust broke his defenses, causing his eyes to go red and rouse an evil intent from his body. However, Mark fought it will all he had. He absolutely couldn''t allow to be corrupted by a mere side effect.

    He managed to endure five rounds of Red Lightning strikes, but he was mentally exhausted. He wanted to retreat towards the base of the mountain so that he could rest but his feet refused to move. Mark was too exhausted to continue, his heart pounded in nervousness since he knew that he had little to no time before he got struck by another one. But he couldn''t move.

    "Am I really going to die here?" Mark voiced helplessly as he saw the red lightning condensing above him.

    Just as despair started to grip his heart. His mood turned sharp, his unwillingness soared to the maximum and it invoked a slumbering beast inside of him.

    A silhouette of arge serpent rose behind him. It red at the red lightning, seemingly provoking it to strike down. At it did, the serpent opened it''s jaws wide and swallowed the lightning.

    Mark''s eyes flew wide open. His body shivered not in pain but in excitement. His charred skin started to scab away and his exhaustion melted along with the wind.. His eyes brightened up as he hurriedly sprinted down the mountain.

 Chapter 213 - 6 Months: Ellen And Anne

    ---

    Fire Origin Spring. Many people had interesting spections about this Natural Treasure.

    Some people said that the Fire Origin Springs are formed by underwater volcanoes. Some said that it is a habitat for oceanic beasts that likes high temperatures. And the most absurd spection is that, Fire Origin Springs were embryonic fluids of a Phoenix.

    Nheless, it doesn''t matter what spection was true or how they are formed. For Ellen, what matters the most is to finish her task, which is to reach the core of the spring.

    Just like Paul, Ellen also received multiple tasks. First is to soak in the spring for a whole day without passing out.

    Next was to dive at least 30 meters deep into the spring and stay there for a whole day without losing consciousness. She just recently passed this level with much difficulty. She remember having burns all over her body during her first few attempts, there was even a time when she looked like an olddy due to how much her skin shriveled up.

    It had not been easy for her. In fact, if it weren''t for her high fire affinity, she might''ve already been fried alive due to the sheer heat that the spring has. It had to be known that as one goes deeper to the spring, the higher temperature they have to endure. The heat that Ellen has to endure could already fry someone alive but she managed to pass this task with flying colors.

    But the challenge didn''t end there as there is another task that she has to go through. And that is to reach the core of the Fire Origin Spring.

    Ellen had a clear sign where to go. She had been diving this spring for about six months now for heaven''s sake. Whenever she plunges to the depths, she would always see a sharp brilliance at the bottom. From the moment she saw this, she knew that this was her destination.

    In a sense, she could feel the depths calling out to her. She tried going closer but the heat was preventing her from doing so. It had to be known that her tolerance to high temperature had been raised multiple times during the past six months. In fact, she could even strut inside a burning house and be perfectly fine. But reaching the core of this spring is still something that''spletely beyond her at this point.

    She might want to answer the call from the depths of her soul but she was also apprehensive to it. What if something goes horribly wrong? Wouldn''t this be akin to a moth to a me then?

    Therefore, Ellen could only take her time and take things slowly. She has enough time to gradually raise her tolerance to the heat and eventually reach the core. Training with Raven and the rest taught her to be patient and not allow recklessness to affect her mindset.

    She has aplete faith to herself that she could do this, and if Raven was here, he would''ve probably said the same thing. And if in any chances that she wasn''t able to reach the depths before the time is up? Who cares? She already made a decent progress over the course of six months, it very unlikely that anyone at her age could achieve her aplishments.

    Building a nice and solid foundation, is the proper way to go. Impatience will only lead to injuries or her death and she absolutely couldn''t allow that to happen, so it''s better for her to take one step at a time.

    ''Endure the heat, girl. You can do this! Don''t be in a rush. Don''t be impatient. An opportunity to temper you''re physique hade, don''t mess it up.''

    ''If I could just somehow hypnotize myself into thinking that this heat isfortable instead of painful then it would be good.''

    She then did what she just thought of and tried hypnotizing herself that the heat doesn''t hurt and instead feltfortable. Ellen was so concentrated the she unknowingly slipped into a trance at the bottom of a the spring.

    ***

    *Pew!*

    An arrow was released from Anne''s bow which then pierced the air with a staggering amount of force and speed.

    As the arrow flew along its trajectory, its target saw iting and prepared to dodge it when all of a sudden, the arrow curved and followed its movements. The target was shocked and had no time to evade before the arrow pierced its head, killing the target on the spot.

    Anne''s wasn''t even looking at the poor thing when it died. She had a good reason for not being able to do so. It''s because there''s more to shoot.

    How many targets had she shot during the past six months? Anne couldn''t recall since she had long since lost count of them. There''s just way too many of them. They came in different shapes and sizes, different speeds and kinds as well. Bipedal creatures, quadrupedal creatures, flying ones, slithering ones, little ones, big ones, aggressive ones, stealthy ones, humanoids, demonic beasts, you name it.

    Anne''s task, just like Mark, is just a one simple task. That is, to not allow any of these creatures reach her.

    But then again, simple isn''t easy. There are a few factors that made this task extremely annoying for her.

    One is that she had no idea on what kind of target will appear. Two is that she had no idea when they will appear. Three she had no clue on how many will appear at the same time. Four she is clueless about how many waves of enemies she had to face before she run dry of energy reserves. Andst but not the least, all of this unknown factors had been stressing her out, stretching her mental capacities in lengths that she had never knew possible.

    In fact, Anne had encounter an ident that almost made her fail the task she was given. During the ceaseless wave of monsters, the bow that she received as a reward from the invasion, snapped in half.

    Anne was plunged into the depths of despair at that point. There were at least 30 enemies rushing towards her and she can''t shoot any of them. Some of them were big and bulky creatures that threatened to ram the pir she was standing on. For the first time in her life, she experienced the threat of death looming around her.

    It was then that a timely intervention arrived by the appearance of a pristine and extremely mesmerizing bow.

    Her Spirit Entity, Annarosa''s Bow, manifested before her and shot out a swift and precise volleys that took down her enemies. She then saw the remnant will of herte grandmother, Matriarch Victoria, personally passing down Annarosa''s Bow to her with a proud and loving expression. Anne could still remember herst words before she truly left this world.

    ##

    "I''ve been watching you from above, Annie. You grew up to be a wonderful woman, and extremely powerful too."

    "This is thest remaining will that I have from this world. At least, before I truly pass, I''ve found a worthy inheritor of my Legacy."

    "Treasure this bow, Annie. This bow was the one that save my life on many asions. Treat it as a friend and it will never fail you. Take care of it since it will grow with you."

    "I walked unhindered with this bow by my side, and I am confident that you could reach an even greater heights than I could. That, I am sure of."

    "This bow also contains all of my lifetime''s insight. This is my inheritance to you, dear. I ask you not to blindly follow them, for we don''t walk the same road. Instead, I want you to learn from it, use it as a guide only and discover your own path. That way, you''ll never go astray."

    "I am extremely proud to have you as my grandchild. Take care of yourself, Annie. Granny Vivi loves you."

    ##

    Anne will never be able to forget that moment. Specially now that the Annarosa''s Bow is now hers to use.

    Unlike any other bows, this one doesn''t require her to hold it since it took on a spiritual shape. The bow itself was weightless but pulling the bowstring requires strength to do so. The bow doesn''t require arrows for her energy maniption was enough for that. If anything, the bow does amplify the strength of her arrows depending on how taut she pulled the bowstring.

    Matriarch Victoria''s inheritance also came in a timely manner. Anne had received tons of help from her experiences and learned for them to perfect her own techniques. Now, Anne could confidently say that in terms of Archery Skill, no one in her n or even the entire kingdom coulde close to her level.

    After all, Anne only needs a simple nce at her target and pluck from her bow to end them.. It doesn''t matter how fast they were, so long as they are within Anne''s cultivation level, there is no way that they will able to avoid the arrow targeting their heads.

 Chapter 214 - 6 Months: Lunas Improvement

    ---

    Inside arge, and illuminated room. Five silhouettes blurred into motion.

    Sparks of battle scattered all over the ce as their weapons shed. Screeching steel, whistling winds, shes of lights and grunts as well groans created a lively scene inside the room.

    If one would look closely, four out of five silhouettes aren''t actually humans. Sure, they appeared like humans, but they more like puppets. Only one of them was an actual human, and this is none other than Luna who''s battling inside the True Light Monastery.

    If one saw her in this state, they would probably think that she had seen better days.

    Her sleeves are in tatters, so much so that she just ripped them apart since they were getting in the way. She had several wounds on her arms, legs and even on her cheeks. She had long since dropped her usual disguise, her hair flew with the wind, the spear in her hands blurred in motion as she defended herself from the attacks of the puppets.

    Luna''s gaze were fierce and determined, her eyes glowed with brilliant fighting intent. Every time she wielded her spear, air will scream and the room will shake due to the sheer force behind her strikes. Despite her ferocious strikes though, she could still control it to some extent to perform a feint or respond to any counterattacks.

    The past six months of constant battle, really did a number on her though. Luna has lost count on how many cuts, wounds and broken bones she had. If it weren''t for the medicines she kept with her, she wouldn''t even be able to stand here today, much less hold her spear in this manner.

    Of course, Luna didn''t receive these injuries for nothing. The six months of constant battle deeply ingrained the basics of fighting down to her marrows. Now, no one would say that she''s just a pampered princess, anyone who dares to do so, would suffer from her sheer prowess.

    "Haat!" Luna yelled as she held her spear using both hands while stomping forwards with a force that shook the pirs of the monastery.

    The ground cracked under her strength while her body flew forward with an astonishing speed. She raised her spear and delivered a devastating smash on one of the puppets. The thing raised its weapon to block her strike but its arms gave in from the sheer weight of her strike.

    Loud snapping sounds ensued, the spear tip severed the puppet in two. Luna withdrew her spear and stepped back just in time before the rest of the attackers reached her.

    She then twisted her spear and delivered a fierce thrust towards the nearest puppet to her. The puppet managed to block but the force behind Luna''s attack sent it flying.

    Luna twisted her body around and performed a wide sweep using her spear. The puppets blocked but one of them had their arms severed by that attack. Luna stepped forward, her body blurred then she instantly arrived in front of the puppet that was crippled.

    Her body twisted mid-air, the spear came crashing down like a meteor and severed another puppet into two.

    Once again, the puppets caught up to her but instead of stepping back this time, she raised her spear and performed multiple thrusts in quick session. The spear blurred in her hands as several sharp spear tips poked multiple holes on the bodies of the remaining puppets.

    With that done, the puppets were all defeated and disappeared like smoke. Luna then heard a faint jingle on her ears and an archaic voice saying: "True Light Monastery 7th Floor: Cleared!"

    Luna then sighed and supported herself using her spear. Grimacing in pain, she took out a basin from her spatial ring and filled it with water, after that she took out a vial containing a Body Restoration Fluid and infused the waters with it.

    After waiting for a couple of minutes, she saw that the bath was ready so she unhesitatingly jumped on it and rested.

    "Ah, Body Restoration Fluid! You''re truly a godsend!" She eximed as she felt her body slowly recovering from the injuries she received. She could feel her body rx and grow stronger. Her spirit was being lifted as a profound sense of satisfaction filled her heart.

    ''I wonder how''s he doing right now?'' She thought inwardly, ''I know that he''s a miracle worker so I shouldn''t be worried, but still¡­''

    Luna couldn''t help but be worried. She knows that he could truly handle himself no matter what kind of ce he ends up with, but she just couldn''t get him out of her head. With all of the things that he did for her, he inevitably became someone extremely dear to her.

    ''Maybe I''m just missing him. Yeah, that might be the case.'' Luna pped her face and thought, ''Calm yourself down, girl. He will be fine. Focus on your task, you couldn''t afford to be left behind.''

    Luna then removed her worry from her thoughts and started reflecting on the previous battle. This is how Luna endured loneliness during the past six months. Even when she''s resting, she was using it to review how she performed and iron out the ws on her style.

    She constantly simted the battle on her psyche. The puppets that she defeated just now won''t lose out to a Knight Realm expert by prowess and speed alone. In terms of toughness, these puppets are a bit tougher than usual most knights.

    This meant that Luna was strong enough topete with a Knight Realm Expert by herself. This is an astonishing achievement specially after the fact that she reached this stage in mere months. Now she totally understood why her brother said that this is a good ce when ites to raising one''sbat capabilities.

    During this time, Luna hadn''t made any progress in her cultivation. Just like the rest, she firmly stepped foot on the Warrior Realm afterpletely converting her energies into Energy Essence.

    In terms of her Spirit Path however, she received a huge boon after that huge battle when the ck Curtain Guild tried invading the kingdom.

    When Raven performed the ritual that allowed Jubileus to descend, Luna became her vessel and that solidified her connection with her. Before she departed, the memories of how she manipted the Light Laws and the sheer purity of her spirit, stayed with Luna.

    Of course, she knew that Jubileus did this on purpose. With her strength, how hard would it be to alter or erase one''s memory right? But she left Luna with a gift, maybe herpensation for using her body? Who knows?

    But Luna carved this graciousness in her heart and decided to learn from it. In exchange, she managed to have a breakthrough with her Spirit Path. She is now at the Spiritual Communion Realm, the rank after the Spiritual Awakening Realm.

    In this stage, her spiritual sense covered 150 meter around her. It also allowed her thoughts to be clearer and be processed in a more efficient manner. It even enabled her to simultaneously think about two things at once.

    Her breakthrough happened during the first month of her stay inside the True Light Monastery. With the benefits of her reaching this stage, her martial prowess experienced a great change. In fact, the simtion battles in her psyche were only made possible by her breakthrough.

    This undoubtedly boosted her confidence to the roof. She felt like she was starting at least catch up with Raven, which even fueled her desire to improve even more.

    As for Light Laws, she was clueless where to start.

    Even with her enhanced perception, figuring out Laws is still something too profound for her.

    The insights that Jubileus left behind was still there, it won''t be forgotten by Luna. For now, she thought that all she needed was more inspiration and maybe she could truly touch the entrance to the wonderful world of Laws.

    ''Anyone could lose faith in you, but you must absolutely not allow to lose your faith to yourself. You are extremely talented. In fact, you might be one of the most talented people that ever graced this kingdom. Have faith in yourself and your talent, give it your best shot and you won''t fail.''

    These words were once said by Raven to her, which she kept close to her heart all the time.

    ''That''s right. I''m doing just fine. We have time. Take it one step at a time. Sharpening the axe won''t dy the task of cutting the wood. Be it battle prowess, cultivation realm or Law insights, everything is within reach so long as I build a steady foundation.''

    Luna''s eyes snapped open. She jumped out of the basin and quickly changed her clothes. Her determined gazended on the stairs leading towards the 8th floor of the True Light Monastery. She took a deep breath and tightened the grip on her spear before walking towards the stairs.

    "I swear, I will conquer this ce. Throw whatever you have at me, I''ll make sure they''ll end up at the tip of my spear!"

 Chapter 215 - 6 Months: Man And Weapon As One

    ---

    *Boom!*

    An earth shattering explosion urred. From a distance, one could see a strange looking waterfall where the waters that flowed in, were dyed with a bloody tinge of red.

    Beneath the waterfall, a spectacr scene unfolded.

    A man, coated with a heavy and unnerving dark cloak surrounding him, stood. He was clutching a huge ck hammer. His gaze was dull, as if he was bored. But the aura he gives off was extremely suppressive. The head of the hammer he held was almost as big as a human waist, it looked a little bit unnatural due to it''s narrow 12 foot handle.

    With a disdainful snort, he took a step forward and the stone tform beneath him trembled fiercely. He held the huge hammer using one hand and performed an upward swing.

    *Boom!*

    In his hand, the huge hammer glowed with a fearsome ck light. He waved the hammer like a stick but there is no mistaking it''s sheer density. His strike evoked a boulder sized ck projectile that made the air screech as it tore through the cascading currents of the waterfall.

    The projectile flew against the current, quickly reaching the halfway mark of the 100 meter tall waterfall. It was only after reaching that mark when the projectile showed signs of slowing down, but under the watchful gaze of the man beneath the waterfall, it was still persisting and resisting against the crushing force of the waterfall currents.

    Astonishingly, the projectile was able to reach the 70th meter mark of the waterfall, it stayed there and prevented any water from falling for about a minute before it dissipated into smoke. After it dissipated, the pooling water it blocked came crashing down towards the man yet he did nothing to stop it nor evaded it. He allowed this huge volume of water to crash onto his body while he himself reveled on the feeling of his previous strike.

    Of course, this man was none other than Raven who was training in the Bloody Mary Falls.

    As the heavy water came crashing down to his body, Raven felt refreshed instead of pain. He sighed in satisfaction as the ck aura surrounding him disappeared and receded inside his body. He smiled and jumped down from the waterfall and went back to the shore. He sat down in front of the camp he made a while back and checked if his food was ready.

    The waft of freshly cooked food made him shiver. He impatiently took out some wooden tes and utensilsto serve himself a portion of his meal. He then sat down and happily ate his meal.

    ''Six months huh? Time really does fly when you''re upied.'' He thought as he ate, ''I got so absorbed into training that my birthday slipped by without me noticing it.''

    Raven turned 15 just approximately 3 weeks ago. Due to his intense training regimen, he didn''t even notice it until now. Besides recovering, sleep, eating, and meditation, the rest of his time was spent under that waterfall so no one could me him for not remembering his own birthday. In fact, the rest of his friends might''ve forgotten theirs as well.

    Raven had achieved many things during this past six months though.

    The first and most obvious one is his weapon proficiency. In terms of proficiency in wielding the hammer offensively, there might not be anyone in the entire kingdom who could rival him, in fact no one might evene close to him at all.

    The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer eventually reached a whopping weight of 15 tons. Not to mention wielding it, even lifting the damn hunk of metal would already be a challenge on its own. Nevertheless, Raven was able to wave it around like it''s just some random stick.

    If it weren''t for the fact that the hammer got heavier, Raven might''ve already cleared all of the tasks left for him.

    Speaking of which, his task continuously changed as he trained. Now he just finished reaching the 70th meter mark of the waterfall, thus once again changing his task. Now he had to reach the 80th meter mark.

    He was able to reach this stage due to the valuable experiences of the previous wielders of the hammer. That along with his own interpretations and enlightenment and constant practice enabled him to really be proficient in wielding the hammer.

    On a side note, Raven never stopped visiting the Crown Space even with his hectic schedule. He always made sure to reserves some time specifically for that and as a result, he was able to venture even further to the Pce Grounds of the Crown Space.

    Due to him switching cultivation techniques, his body transformed and became stronger, eventually allowing him to endure a greater pressure there. In fact, on the 200th step, he encountered another pocket dimension and managed to clear it as well.

    The pocket dimension sent him to ce of carnage. Basically, everyone on sight was trying to kill him, therefore giving Raven no other choice but to kill them. He wanted to know more about the ce but despite his efforts, everything lead into the same result, the same task if you will. And that is to kill everyone on sight.

    His enemies were demented criminals. As soon as he got in, all he saw was a sea of dead bodies and rivers of blood. None of the humans he saw there were sane, even for a little bit. All they wanted to was kill. It was the reason why they exist, it is the reason why they breath, so Raven had no qualms in ending this madness.

    But there was a deadly trap though. Thankfully he noticed it early. The trap was that, the more he kill, the more the madness in the air was attracted to him. Raven had to be constantly on guard with his enemies and the atmosphere which was trying to pull him down to depravity.

    Eventually, Raven managed to seed in his task there. He received good remarks but no concrete rewards. He didn''t mind this since he already got more than what he could possibly ask for; a valuablebat experience and the materialization of his Weapon Intent.

    Weapon Intent, also called as Man and Weapon as One.

    It is a mysterious realm that could only be achieved by dedicating one''s effort and efficiency in wielding their chosen weapon, in Raven''s case it would be the hammer.

    Weapon Intent is different from Will.

    The ''Will'' is manifested through the desire of a cultivator, it feeds on their beliefs and way of living, it will then materialize and bloom in splendor as one followed their heart and remain true to their virtues.

    ''Weapon Intent'' on the other hand is the ultimate condensation of one''s Fighting Style. A hammer is mostly used in forging, only a few dared to use it offensively as it''s an unconventional weapon. Offensively, a hammer could tten, destroy, crush, push back, shatter, and etc. Only bypletely gaining enough experience and understanding of these factors, will one''s Weapon Intent materialize.

    Weapon Intent has several effects that makes one yearn for it. One, it doubles the force of any attack made by the weapon by a least twice without any addition consumption. Two, is the at the word ''Intent'' itself. If Raven red his Hammer Intent, anyone around him would feel a heavy and suppressive force that will suppress their actions. This will prevent them from being able to exert 100% of theirbat capabilities. Third and probably the most important reason why ''Weapon Intent'' is highly sought after, is because it is the nest primer for gaining enlightenment of Laws.

    Weapon Intent is the purest form of an individual''s ''fighting spirit'' per se. In a sense, their intents could create some sort of a resonance with nature, therefore allowing them to perceive Laws which also resonated with their intent. So long as one kept on nourishing their intent, its almost impossible for that chance to never arrive. This is why many people ce a heavy importance with it.

    Raven''s Weapon Intent made its debut in that pocket dimension. The constant ughter was too much for his body to handle, he couldn''t even catch a wink of rest due to the sheer volume of enemies running after him. Nevertheless, Raven ced all of his fate to himself and the weapon he was handling. In his mind, so long as he could swing this hammer, he will never die.

    He didn''t even notice when it appeared. All he could fell was that time was that, the Hammer felt like a part of him. An extension of his body. He was able to wield it in the best way possible due to his familiarity with it. He only realized that he awoken his Weapon Intent after thest enemy died under the crushing force of his hammer and when he saw that he was covered with a dark and heavy nket of strange aura.

    Despite his achievements, Raven knew not to becent. This is just the beginning, he still have the waterfall to tackle and he could already tell that reaching the 80th meter mark would still be challenging.

    But like he always said: ''We have time.. One step at a time.''

 Chapter 216 - Nina & Tori

    ---

    Final Haven Kingdom, one yearter after the teenagers went inside the Ancient Royal Grounds.

    Within the Royal Pce, a few people gathered in the office of the Crown Prince.

    One of them was of course the Crown Prince himself, Balmung Lightshield. He was sitting in front of his desk while he discussed some important matters with his guest.

    There''s also Old Lee who stood behind him, acting like his most loyal guard. Leona, who took the opposite side and Victor who stood beside Old Lee

    Jackson was there too, speaking of him, he was just recently promoted as the Lair Hunter''s Chief Director after the previous one stepped down from his position. He had been rather busy but now he mainly stayed in the kingdom, he revised some of the old rules of the Lair Hunter Code of Conduct after discussing it with the prince. In conjunction with the Sacred Leaf Tavern, they adjusted the rewards and sries of the Lair Hunters.

    Each time a Lair Hunter goes out for a mission, each person will be given the following as a ''Survival Kit'': 12 bottles of Moonshine. 1 pill bottle, containing 3 Limb Restoration Pills. 1 pill bottle, containing 5 Energy Gathering Pills. 1 pill bottle, containing 5 Berserk Trigger Pill and 5 sets of Healing Salves.

    That is just to make sure that they wille back in piece to their families. Those numbers will be adjusted depending on the difficulty of their mission. As for the actual reward, all of them will be Gold Compensations from here on.

    This was a weed change for the Lair Hunters, which in turn give them more courage to actually venture outside willingly. Since this announcements, groups of Lair Hunters started taking up missions and the results had been satisfactory. The investment was paid in full when some Lair Hunters spotted some Resource Mines not too far from the kingdom. This also allowed the kingdom to resume the expansion.

    Luis was also in the room. Of course, Eva was there too along with their new retainer, Morel and his daughter Joanna. In fact, there''s even two adorable guests alongside of them.

    Twin girls. Yes, Eva had given birth to two healthy and adorable girls. Both of them had ck hair, curious obsidian eyes, chubby cheeks and limbs, and cheerful giggles.

    Luis and Eva named them Venina Jane and Victoria Rain or simply, Nina and Tori. Venina is 2 minutes older than Victoria.

    A pity that Raven wasn''t there when they were born, he would''ve liked to be the one to name them. But considering his bad naming sense, maybe it was better this way.

    Just by looking at their face, it would be challenging to know which one is which. Well, they are Identical Twins after all. The only way to tell them apart is by looking at the birthmark at the back of their palms.

    Venina had a birthmark that looked like a star on her right hand while Victoria had the same looking birthmark on her left hand. So far, that''s the only way to tell them apart.

    Their existence was adored by the adults. Luis and Eva practically never left their side. They both teared up when they said their first word and cried when they started saying ''Mama'' and ''Dada''. They were both active enough that they could now roll on their tummies by themselves and observe their surroundings. There was one thing that the twins did that almost melt the hearts of their parents.

    Neither of them would be able to sleep without the other by their side.

    The two rarely threw a tantrum, they would just make a lot of noise if they feel ufortable but won''t cry. Unless they were separated that is. They had to make sure that they are at least within eyesight of each other or else they will kick up a fuss and won''t stop until they see each other again. Whenever they sleep, they will either hold each other''s hand or hug.

    The twins became instantly famous. Well, how can they not be famous? They are a Valorheart! Their father is the fearsome Luis ''The Hawk'' Valorheart, and their Big Brother is the ''Young Hero'' Vendrick Valorheart. Plus, twins are rarely seen in the kingdom, which even boosted their poprity amongst the grown ups.

    Even the fearsome Golden Knights weren''t spared from their charm and would y with them from time to time. Even the Prince himself had fallen for their adorable giggles. Even the guards, down to the janitors of Royal Pce adores the two.

    Joanna''s eyes will always sparkle whenever she ys with them, she could almost pass as their big sister. She often helped Eva take care of them and one time, she was even allowed to change their diapers.

    ***

    "¡­and that concludes the report, Your Highness. It seems that we should be able to aggressively push for the expansion." Jackson reported.

    His words brought some excitement to the people around. It had been too long since thest expansion.

    "If we are able to seed this time, then the nearby resources will be protected by the walls. That would speed up the gathering and ensure safety of the gatherers." Balmung added as he felt a tinge of excitement.

    The rest shared the feeling with him. They can''t help it, the mines and troves that the Lair Hunters found were too rich and is badly needed by the kingdom. The expansion should move ording to the location of those resource troves, once those were well protected, the expansion should continue.

    *Giggles*

    The meeting was distracted by the adorable giggles of the twins. The adults turned their heads towards them and couldn''t help but to smile with their adorable antics.

    Nina and Tori were on their tummies and waggling their hands in feet, it was like they were swimming. They were mimicking each other and find it funny so their giggles echoed around the room.

    "They''re bound to return anytime soon, no?" Balmung said out of the blue.

    The rest nodded at his words. It''s been almost a year since they went inside, they should be returning from their training anytime soon.

    "Yes, they should be." Old Lee confirmed, "I just hope that their training went well."

    "Let''s have faith in them." Leona chimed in, "They are strong. The challenges they will meet inside won''t be able kill them, instead they will serve as an opportunity for them to grow."

    "I''m confident that they wille through." The Prince smiled in anticipation, "Those kids, they''re the cream of the crop. Someday, the world will be their yground."

    His words then were followed by the cheerful agreement of the twins which made everyone smile.

    "See? Even the girls think so too." Balmung chuckled.

    The cheerful atmosphere were then interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. Balmung yelled: "Come in."

    Suddenly, a frightened and visibly exhausted soldier came in. He hurriedly knelt down on one knee and said: "Urgent report from the Outer Walls, Your Highness!"

    From his tone alone, Balmung''s face already sank. ''This doesn''t sound good.'' A foreboding sense of danger crept up to his chest. He then asked: "What is it?"

    "Sir! We received reports from a batch of returning Lair Hunters that they saw numerous traces of footprints, most likely belonging to Demonic Beasts." The soldier reported under heavy breaths.

    The adults felt their heart throb. The soldier then continued: "We already sent scouts to confirm this. Our men went with the Lair Hunters and confirmed that they were indeed footprints of Demonic Beasts."

    "From our investigations, we saw at least 50 sets of different footprints from the southern wilderness, though this is just our estimations since all of those footprints lead towards the Red Zone and our men decided to report it first to Your Highness for further instructions."

    A heavy atmosphere descended on the room. Eva''s face paled as she carefully picked up her girls and kept them close to her bosom.

    The Prince''s expression was somber, making the poor soldier tremble due to the heaviness of the atmosphere.

    "What do you think?" The Prince turned towards the Golden Knights and asked their opinion.

    "We''ve been here before." Old Lee sighed, "We received reports like this during the past two years. I would like to say that this is just a false rm but I feel like this isn''t the case this time."

    "If you''d excuse me, Your Highness." Jackson interjected, Balmung nodded towards him. "I would like my agents to work with the Outer Wall Guards to perform a perimeter check."

    "ording to this soldier, they spotted the footprints on the southern part of the wilderness. I, however want to investigate the rest of the areas, just so that we could be more prepared."

    "Good idea. You have my permission to do so. As the rest, I''ll trouble you to participate with the investigations as well. You can go as far as the Yellow Zone,e back here and we''ll discuss about it even further to see if we will really be attacked by a Horde."

    "Move out!"

 Chapter 217 - Red Level Emergency

    ---

    Final Haven Kingdom.

    A ce hidden behind a dense canopy of wilderness and mountains, acting as it''s little shield from the covetous eyes of beast hidden along the rest of the dangerous wilderness.

    On normal days, the kingdom is lively and filled with peaceful air. One would be able to seemon folk going about their business or just having the time their lives, living in peace behind the tall walls erected to protect them.

    Unfortunately, today isn''t meant to be one of those days.

    The streets were empty. No stores are open for business. Everyone in the Outer Ring of the Kingdom were evacuated and kept behind the Inner Walls, protected by faithful Knights who stood on top of the walls, facing the heavy atmosphere.

    It was quite obvious that everyone is tensed. The atmosphere was heavy and gloomy, it almost seems like doomsday wasing. Some adults were even kneeling down while profusely praying to every god and saints that they could name. Their prayers mainly consists of request for protection or requests to bless their faithful Knights so that they will be able to protect their home.

    "Mama? What''s going on? Why is it so quiet? I''m scared¡­"

    A little boy clung onto his mother''s clothes as he hid his small body behind her. The mother shivered but she ced a confident smile, she knelt down and faced her little boy saying: "Don''t be scared, Love. Mama''s here. I''ll protect you okay?"

    "Mn! I know! But why do we need to leave our house?" The boy''s curiosity stumped his mother.

    She can''t think of a way to answer him, should she lie to him or tell him the truth? However, before she could even say anything, a cheerful but heavy voice sounded in their ears.

    "Oh, you don''t know?"

    The mother and son were stunned to see a hulking bald person crouching nearby their location. The bald man was wearing a foolish grin as he replied, "It''s because you''re here to attend a Story Telling Event, little guy."

    The Bald Man sent a discreet wink towards the mother, who caught onto his message.

    "A Story Telling Event?" The little boy gazed curiously at the bald guy, there was an evident shine in his eyes as he heard his words.

    "Uh, huh!" The Bald Guy nodded fervently, "There will be a pretty Big Sister that will arriveter and tell you many stories! She will also give you lots of candies!"

    "Candies!" A wide smile blossomed from the young boy''s face, his eyes lit up and he became very excited.

    "Haha!" The Bald Guyughed and shuffled the boy''s hair, he then continued. "That''s right! Lot''s of colorful candies! But! You have to listen well to the Big Sister''s story¡­do you know why?"

    "Why? Tell me, Big Brother!" The boy hurriedly asked.

    "This is our little secret, okay? Don''t tell anyone!" The bald guy ced a serious expression as he went closer to the boy, who obviously fell for his lies. "They said that only those that could answer the Big Sister''s question could receive some candies! So you better listen well, okay?"

    "Mn!" The boy nodded fervently, "I''ll listen well! What''s you''re name, Big Brother?"

    "My name is Malik! What about you?"

    "Jason!"

    "Alright, Jason. Wait here until someone calls you okay? Don''t go anywhere or else you might miss out! I''ll be going now! Ba-bye."

    "Ba-bye Big Brother Malik!" The boy then faced his mom and told her how excited he is for the Story Telling Event. He then sat on the nearby desk and waggled his feet.

    The mother of the boy bowed towards Malik and said: "Thank you for your help."

    "No worries! It''s the least I could do. But the event will really happen so that the youngsters will be distracted." Malik replied, he then turned his bulky body and prepared to leave. "Have faith, we won''t allow them to destroy our home."

    The mother nodded and said: "Thank you. Please be careful out there. I''ll be praying for your safety."

    Malik nodded and went back to his team. Raphael watched him with a wry smile as he said:

    "Despite of your appearance, you''re so good when ites to dealing with kids. I don''t know if I should feel admiration or be creeped out."

    "What''s that supposed to mean?" Malik replied as he red indignantly at Raphael.

    "It means, find a wife and start family Dude!" Raphael replied instantly which caused Malik to stagger. "Seriously! You''re just a few days away from turning 30. Don''t tell me you n on living alone for the rest of your life?"

    "Shaddap!" Malik roared indignantly, "I am trying so stop being so nosy! Just because you''re engaged, doesn''t mean that you have to rub my singleness in my face!" He wanted to cry but had no tears.

    "Alright, alright, chill!" Raphael chuckled, he only meant the best for his friend, and of course to ease the nervousness in the atmosphere by a bit.

    "Hmph!" Malik snorted, but his expression turned a little serious as he felt the gloominess around them. "Let''s talk about matters of marriageter. Considering that we''re still alive after this horde."

    "Oi, Oi!" Raphael had goosebumps all over his body when he heard that ominous words. "Don''t be like that! Go back to acting stupidly instead!"

    Malik sighed, it''s not like he didn''t want to do that, but the reality won''t let him. This might be the most perilous situation that the kingdom encountered over thest century.

    "My bad. I''m just too tensed up. I''m not even sure if the Nun''s would be able to distract the kids during the entire thing. I''m hoping they could, or else this will be a very traumatic experience for them."

    "Have faith, brother." Raphael smiled and used Malik''s own words against him. "Be a little confident about our chances. Many things have changed since the attack of this scale. We have better chances right now."

    Malik was stunned for a bit before managing to smile. Raphael''s words does make sense, the state of the kingdom isn''t the same as the past attacks.

    They nodded to each other and proceed to enter the frontlines.

    ***

    The Outer Walls of the Kingdom is heavily manned.

    Every soldier, no matter what cultivation base they have, stared alert at the horizon, the piercing re of the sun seemed to not even bothered them in the slightest.

    There was a good amount of people manning the walls, but most of the forces are concentrated at the southern gates. This is because ording to the investigations, they will experience a heavy assault from this area.

    After the Prince gave the order to investigate the perimeter of the kingdom. He received reports that truly made all the hairs on his body stood on ends.

    As expected, Jackson and the rest investigated the northern, eastern, and western parts of the yellow zone and found nothing. But when they went towards the ce that the Lair Hunters reported earlier, they were shocked to find out that in just matter of hours, the footprints multiplied.

    Initially, there were only 50 sets of footprints. But as soon as Jackson and the rest arrived, they saw at least 1000 sets of footprints scattered everywhere. If that wasn''t enough, they could also feel the suffocating maliceing from the southern part of the Red Zone.

    rmed by this discovery, they steeled their nerves and stepped into the Red Zone and treaded as carefully as they could. One kilometer deep in the Red Zone, they found arge gathering of beasts. Just from their sheer estimations, they could see at least hundred of thousands of beasts and they''re still growing in number.

    This volume was a little too staggering even from the perspective of a the seasoned veterans.

    They wasted no time and reported back. Once the Prince received this information, his soul nearly left his body. Nevertheless, he couldn''t disy any weakness so he steeled his nerves and prepared to receive the Beast Horde. He also sent them once again to check if there are simr situations to other ces, thankfully there was none.

    The Prince also made sure to sent people to monitor the movements of the beast horde. He received reports that their numbers continued rising even after Jackson and the rest, left.

    ording to the spies, the beast horde grow to an astonishing number of 500,000 and their numbers are still growing.

    The Prince could no longer afford to stay at the Royal Pce. He dered Red Level Emergency throughout the kingdom and started evacuating the civilians. They then started setting up catapults and trebuchets, they also started mobilizing every capable citizens to help in the defense.

    As the preparations for the uing Beast Horde attack went on full throttle. No one had any spare time to watch as an ancient transmission gate inside the Royal Pce emitted a brilliant light.

    A ck swirl appeared at the center of the Transmission Gate, it grewrger andrger until it covered every part of the gate.

    From that gate, 6 teenagers surrounded by a suffocating aura stepped out.

 Chapter 218 - Arrival Of The Beast Horde

    ---

    Southern Wall, Final Haven Kingdom.

    On top of the Southern Walls, several people were overlooking the situation below.

    There is a solemn atmosphere in the air, silence permeated the surroundings. Those who had weaker cultivations couldn''t help but to swallow some spittle from time to time. The tension in the air were making them sweat profusely.

    Some of their supervisors already gave them the pep-talk. They were also promised with handsomepensation depending on their performance. This of course alleviated some of their worries, but of course their nervousness still lingers. The grip of death is slowly inching forward, they will face a war that would determine not only their safety but also the safety of their loved ones and home so of course, how could they not be nervous?

    *Psssh!*

    A loud hissing sound caught the attention of many.

    The Prince, along with the Guardians who were standing on top of the walls, hurriedly looked at the horizon and saw that there was a ring red, smoke signal that was rising up to the skies.

    Balmung''s pupils constricted, he inhaled sharply, raised his spear and roared: "Brace yourselves! Our enemies areing! Raise your weapons! Today, we defend our home!!!"

    "DEFEND OUR HOME!!!" The soldiers around him roared back.

    The morale of the defenders rose as they tightly gripped their shield in anticipation. Their fighting spirit rose as they red at the horizon.

    "The spies areing back." Luis whispered as he saw several silhouettes running for their dear life as they scattered some makeshift traps and molotovs, in hopes of slowing down the marches of the beast horde or cutting down their numbers.

    As the spies ran back, everyone felt the earth quaked. Trees were falling down and dark clouds were seemingly advancing along with the beast horde.

    The spies maintained arge distance away from the beast horde, when the defenders saw them running back, they knew that it was only a matter of time before the beast horde emerged from the wilderness.

    And that time arrived.

    *Roar!*

    Roars filled with animosity, howls that sent shivers to the spine. The deadly march of the beast horde shook the earth and the hearts of the defenders. It took only a nce of their numbers for their morale to sink.

    Their numbers were seemingly endless. From thest update that Balmung received, their numbers reached a whopping 800,000 in number.

    All of the saw pretty much every variety of beast in the horde. Some of them were themon ones while some were something they''ve never seen before. They came in different shapes and sizes but to the defenders, these beasts shared one goal, and that is the destruction of the kingdom.

    While some soldiers lost hope as they saw their sheer numbers. There are some people who didn''t and never allowed their spirits to be dampened by the enemy.

    "Archers! Take aim!!" Luis bellowed from the side.

    His booming voice wasced with his energies, pping the Ranger Units awake from their stupor. They hurriedly took stance and aimed at the iing wave of beasts.

    "On my mark!" Luis bellowed once more. He raised his hand with an open palm while he was ring at the beast horde. He waited patiently, he wanted the horde to reach a certain distance in his vision.

    Once they arrive, Luis'' booming voice was heard once again. "Rangers! Loose!"

    *Chak!* *Chak!* *Chak*

    Volleys upon volleys of arrows went flying from the Ranger Units. The arrows arched beautifully, reached their peak and came flying down towards the marching beast horde.

    The horde saw the arrowsing but only a few decided to evade it. Those few were the ones who sensed danger in these arrows, most likely the weaker ones who felt that these arrows could take their lives. The rest didn''t even bother since they trusted their thick skins.

    Luis along with a few knowledgeable people smirked inwardly.

    The volley of arrows fell to the beast horde. Some beast didn''t manage to evade in time and outright died, causing their bodies to be crushed by the marching horde. The others were also struck with the arrows but didn''t even felt pain, they continued marching forward.

    It was then that there was a huge change that happened to the beast horde.

    *Roar!* *Roar!* *Roar!*

    Pained cries and roars echoed on the battlefield. The defenders looked confused as they felt multiple explosions and saw flying pieces of flesh.

    "Hey what''s going on?"

    "I don''t know! All I could see are flying flesh!"

    "Do you think it''s because of the arrows?"

    "Now that you say that¡­yeah, I think so too!"

    "Look! It''s definitely the arrows! They explode in contact!"

    "Yes! I can see that! Haha! This is awesome!"

    "Yeah! Take that you assholes!"

    "This is my kind of fireworks!"

    That''s right. Not defending against the arrows were the first mistake of the beasts. For this, they kingdom had to thank the Sacred Leaf Tavern. They made a concoction called ''Explosive Flesh Solution'' and have the arrows dipped on it before being used.

    If these arrows made contact with any flesh. It will cause an explosion that could kill them in the process, this is why the supervisors of the Ranger Units were severely reminded not to be wounded by their own arrows for their own safety.

    Unfortunately, due to the suddenness of the situation the Tavern wasn''t able to produce as much of this solution as possible. If they were given more time, then they could''ve just send volleys of arrows dipped in the solution and called it a day. The batches that the Tavern was able to supply was enough for only the first volley of the Ranger Units, along with some other purposes.

    "Catapult Units! Trebuchet Units! Aim!"

    Luis'' booming voice alerted the jovial crowd back to attention. The units he called out hurriedly moved and prepared. They loaded the boulders and angled the device ording to Luis''mand.

    Once again, Luis waited for the marching horde to reach a certain distance. When they crossed the distance he had in mind, he yelled: "Loose!"

    The catapults and trebuchets let loose, boulders flew towards the marching beast horde like meteors.

    Some beasts learned from their earlier blunder and prepared to defend against the boulders. Theyunched their own projectile to meet the falling boulders or evaded the impact. Some managed to destroy the boulders before they could even fall, and some managed to evade the impact.

    From the looks of it, the first volley of the Catapult Units and Trebuchet Units weren''t able to do as much damage as they would like.

    But another development urred.

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    Just as when the beast horde thought that they were safe. The boulders they either destroyed or evaded, suddenly exploded into shards of rocks that caught them unprepared.

    The weaker beasts were unable to defend against the pieces of rocks that almost turned like a flying daggers due to the intensity of the explosion, causing them to be filled with holes on the spot. Some of the beasts who were calmly flying forward had their wings pierced, causing them to fall and be stomped by the rest of the marching beasts.

    Balmung smiled upon seeing this. It seems that his little trick worked.

    With his little knowledge with Inscriptions, he decided to take a gamble and ordered some of his men to put an Inscription called: ''Dyed Explosion Rune'' on the boulders that will be used by the Catapult and Trebuchet Units.

    Objects that have Dyed Explosion Rune will explode, thirty seconds upon impact. The rune is simple enough for anyone that has minor inscription knowledge to learn and is actually considered as a low-grade or basic level rune. But for arge scale defense like this, it turns out to be a deadly weapon.

    Luis didn''t stop there, he ordered the Catapult and Trebuchet Units to reload the siege weapons for another wave.

    "We managed to shave at least 100,000 beasts from their numbers." Old Lee reported, "I hope it continues this way."

    "Yeah." Balmung replied, though he was happy to see his experiments seed, it was not yet the time to celebrate. There are still a great number of beasts heading their way, and soon they will enter a brutal melee with them.

    "Seniors." Luis called out from the side, the Golden Knights looked at him at the same time and heard him say: "You may advance now."

    After hearing him say that, the Golden Knights nodded and transformed into golden streaks of light.

    Old Lee stood fiercely onto the air, both of his arms held lightning bolts as he chucked them towards the iing horde with ferocious speed.

    Leona shed her sword and a towering wall of mes appeared, causing the beasts to have difficulties on moving forward.

    Morel simrly stood in mid-air. Behind him, hundreds of Wind Spears condensed and rained down on the beasts like heat-seeking projectiles.

    The morale of the army rose fervently as they saw the pirs of their kingdom ughter their enemies.. Their existence filled them with hope and determination to stand tall and protect their home from the invaders.

 Chapter 219 - Return

    ---

    While the war against the beast horde was in full throttle in the southern gate. Somewhere inside the majestic Royal Pce, a group of six individuals who radiated with a suffocating aura stepped outside of a tall transmission gate.

    The six individuals wereposed of three males and three females.

    The first one to arrive was a brown haired man with a healthy wheat colored skin. His face looked youthful but was also showing a profound matureness. His face was toned and his muscr, bare upper body was in full disy for everyone to see. He wore a set of tight fitting pants that had several pieces of worn out armor attached to it, as well as a battle skirt which looked like it had seen better days. His left arm was holding onto arge oval shaped, azure shield that had several spikes attached to it and radiated with marine sheen. His right hand grasped a 9 foot long, ck spear that had a carving of a snake coiling around it.

    "Ah! Back atst! I missed you home!" Of course, this person is none other than Paul, who almost teared up upon seeing the familiar yard of the Royal Pce.

    Another guy stepped out behind him. He had a head full of shiny ck hair, a sharp looking eyes, a face that radiated with strictness and youthful vigor. He was wearing a maroon, one piece suit but the sleeves where his arms go through was no longer there, what''s left is just some tattered threads, which gives off an image that he had just came back from a difficult mission. He was holding a pair of short swords that had a snake patterned ornament in them. Both swords radiated with sparks of what looks like some ck lightning residue.

    Mark ced a hand on Paul''s shoulder and the strictness on his face was gone. "Yeah, it''s been a while."

    The next who stepped out was a girl that has a crimson flowing hair and dress. Her womanly endowments screamed for attention as she walked graciously, her petite hourss body swayed with every movements. Pieces of crimson colored armor could be seen attached to her body. A breast te, battle skirt, knee pads and shoulder guards. There''s also a 7 foot long sword attached to the right side of her battle skirt. The sword was hidden by a gorgeous red sheath which followed the theme of her appearance. Jut by staying beside her, one could certainly feel a gentle warmth that will explode in ferocious ze once provoked.

    Thisdy was none other than Ellen. She stood beside the two boys while she waited for the rest toe out.

    Then anotherdy came out of the transmission gate.

    Thedy stepped out and carried an ethereal air with her every movement. Her vibrant, jade green hair was neatly kept in a braid. Her face was beautiful, simr to a carved jewel. She wore a tight suit that hugged the curves of her body and a knee high boots. Her suit was sleeveless, thus her lustrous and slender arms were exposed. If one looked closely on her right arm, there was a strange looking, bow-shaped tattoo on her wrist.

    "Anne!" Ellen greeted as she jumped and hugged the girl.

    Anneughed and reciprocated the hug, she then looked at the boys and said: "It''s been a while guys."

    The boys nodded back and greeted her as well.

    The transmission gate swirled once more and this time, two people stepped out at the same time.

    A girl, who might very well be mistaken as a Saintess at this point. Her waist length, golden hair and eyes made her stood out from the crowd. She wore a thin piece of pure white dress and simr to Ellen, she was also adorned with pieces of armor on her body. There was a faint, golden light surrounding her body. Her youthful face is filled with maturity and sharpness. This golden haireddy was holding a 9.9 foot long spear on her right hand. The spear was thin, in a nce some might even mistake it for a javelin instead. It looked like she was holding a beam of sharp-tipped light.

    And finally a boy, who wore a tight fitting ck suit. He has a waist-length ck hair that changes into a turquoise color halfway-through and were gathered with a rubber band in a high ponytail. His sword-like brows, golden pupils, pointed nose, thin lips, and well defined jawline made him a definite head turner. He was wearing a carefree expression and was smiling as he walked out. He wasn''t holding any weapon and it looked like he came out from a year-long vacation instead of a year-long training.

    "Well, well. The Royal Couple is here everyone, make way please." Ellen jeered as she watched the pair came out of the portal together.

    Yes, these people were none other than Luna and Raven.

    The rest onlyughed when they heard Ellen''s voice. There was a brief silence that ensued as they inspected each other inwardly.

    "What the hell¡­" Paul exasperatedly sighed, "Why does it look like I''m the one who suffered the most?"

    "Tch. You wouldn''t want to experience what I had. I literally had to jump inside a boiling water that''s hotter thanva." Ellenmented on the side, but her gaze was fixed on Paul''s bare chest.

    "Dude! I have to face the wrath of the Sea God! This is so unfair." Paul whined.

    "Yours is the Sea God, mine''s the Lightning God then." Mark sighed as well.

    "Ah, how envious." Anne sighed, "I literally had to shoot hundreds upon hundreds of monsters each day. You guys had it easy."

    "I would rather have that to be honest." Markmented.

    All of them turned their gazes on the Luna and Raven. They wanted to know their experiences but they were being silent and didn''t even noticed their gazes. They only saw them looking at the horizon with somber expressions on their faces.

    "You feel it?" Raven asked after a moment of silence. Luna bit her lips and nodded, she grasped her spear and her sharp aura was soaring ever so slightly.

    The rest was confused with their behaviors so they tried following their gazes, they also spread out their senses to check what the two was referring to.

    While their sense couldn''t reach beyond the Royal Pce, they were able to pick up some intense fluctuation happening a the southern part of the kingdom. It took them a moment to realize what was happening and when they did, their expressions changed as well.

    Mark''s body instantly erupted with sparkles of orange thunder. He gave his friends a look and said: "Meet you guys there." Then his body turned into a sh of orange lightning that flew with an astonishing speed.

    "Someone''s eager." Anne whispered in a chuckle. She took a step forward and wind suddenly whistled around her. Astonishingly, a falcon made out of pure air condensed beneath her feet and carried her slightly off the ground, she then asked the rest; "Want to hop on?"

    Ellen unhesitatingly jumped on as well as Paul. Anne then looked at Luna but she saw her shook her head. Instead she whistled and from her shadow, a creature suddenly emerged.

    The creature was a horse. It had a pristine white fur and a muscr body, on it''s back there are tworge golden wings that pped with stunning vigor. The horse let out a pitched neigh as it inched towards Luna, who gave it a loving pat on the face.

    Seeing this Anne smiled and soared through the skies with Ellen and Paul. Meanwhile, Luna looked back at Raven and saw him smiling at her. She tilted her head in confusion as she asked him; "You''re noting?"

    "I''ll check the other sides. I''ll make sure that there would be no breaches." Raven smiled and answered her question.

    "I''lle with you." Luna said determined.

    Raven chuckled and shook his head, he took a step forward and pulled Luna into a tight hug. Luna was of course startled, but she didn''t struggle from his hug, in fact she could feel herself melting on his embrace.

    "I missed you." Raven whispered in her ears. Luna shivered and blushed fiercely, inwardly she was thinking;

    ''This guy! Taking some liberties with me! I don''t remember giving him any consent!''

    ''But this feels good. I feel safe.''

    "I-I missed you too¡­" Luna whispered.

    Out of nowhere, she felt something on her forehead. It didn''t take her long to realize what happened and it caused her heart to beat furiously inside her chest. Raven kissed her there.

    Before she could even say anything, she heard him say: "Go with them. I, alone would be enough as a reinforcement. Have faith in me will you?"

    Luna couldn''t say anything, she could only nod in agreement. Raven broke the hug, much to Luna''s disappointment. He then said: "Go. Remember to pay attention to your safety."

    "Mn." Luna nodded as she jumped on the back of the Pegasus. "You should do the same."

    Raven nodded and watched as the Pegasus soared through the skies. Once he was left all alone, Raven''s expression changed. His smile disappeared and was reced by a chilling expression.

    "Now then¡­" A ck and suffocating aura enveloped his body, his chilling gaze turned towards the western gate as he whispered: "Let''s deal with some worms, shall we?"

 Chapter 220 - Arrival

    ---

    "Ahhh!"

    "Stay strong! Don''t fall back! We must defend our home!"

    "Go away you vile beasts!"

    "Kill!"

    In the southern part of the Final Haven Kingdom, the battle against the beast horde was on full throttle.

    With the Golden Knights taking the stage, the rest of the defenders knew that the brutal melee against the horde was inevitable so they braced themselves. And just as they expected, even with the interception of the Golden Knights, the sheer number of the beast horde was too much for them and some manage to evade their defense.

    Of course, the Golden Knights knew that such thing will happen but it doesn''t mean that they have no control over it.

    Those that manage to go past their defenses are either weaker beast or injured ones, the types that the rest of the defenders have no problem of eliminating. As for the real troublesome foes, they were in the far back of the horde and the Golden Knights were observing them ever since the beginning.

    On the battlefield, familiar faces could be seen duking it out with the beasts.

    Bradley Vermillion, the current n head of the Vermillion Sky n as well members of the n. Father of Ellen. He continuously brandished his twin swords as he reaped the lives of the beasts.

    Leon Anderson, n head of the Marching Warlords n. Father of Mark. Wielding a shield and a mace, he walked with pride and arrogance to the battlefield, beating the stray beasts to a pulpy mess.

    Ian Gregory, Headmaster of the Heavenly Cloud Institute. Randy Gregory, Vice Headmaster of the Heavenly Cloud Institute. Paul''s Father and older brother respectively. The father and son brandished their axes as they cut down the stray beasts and provide assistance to those who needed it. In fact, the students of the Genius ss were also present, however they weren''t allowed to charge in blindly.

    Gil Fiore, n head of Western Star n. Father of Anne. Previously, he stood as one of the Captains of the Ranger Units. But now that the brutal melee began, they knew that they couldn''t send volleys of arrows recklessly so instead, he watched the battlefield below with discerning eyes and will intercept attacks to provide assistance to those who needed it.

    Jackson, who''s the current Chief Director of the Lair Hunters, was also here. Maddock and his domesticated beasts were also providing assistance. Korra of the Ritual Waters also joined the defense.

    And of course, the Alchemists of the Sacred Leaf Tavern were also present. They were stationed in the backlines as they treated the injured with their medical skills.

    Luis stood by the Prince''s side as they control the tempo of the battlefield. So far, results had been encouraging. The casualties were still on the low-side, while the beast horde is down to roughly 600,000 in numbers. With the constant aid of the Sacred Leaf Tavern, the injured were nursed back to health and was given a choice if they would like to retire from the fight or not.

    In thisrge scale battle, the tavern continuously proved their worth over and over again that it caused Balmung to smile wryly. Nevertheless, he was immensely gratified to know that they were on the kingdom''s side.

    "Hmm!"

    Luis and Balmung suddenly felt a spiking energy behind them. Both of them sharply turned their heads towards the skies with trepidation in their hearts. Just as when they thought that there was a breach, a sparkle of orange lightning distracted them.

    The orange lightning preciselynded in front of them. Once the sparks disappeared, Mark''s silhouette materialized before their very eyes.

    Before they could even say anything, they felt another spike of energy. This time it belonged to three individuals who rode on the back of a huge falcon made out of pure wind. Once the falcon flew on top of them, it disappeared causing the three people riding it to fall. Anne and Ellennded gracefully while Paul caused the walls to shake due to hisnding.

    "Ellen Vermillion/Anne Fiore/Mark Anderson/Paul Gregory. Reporting for duty!"

    Balmung and Luis'' face brightened up as they arrived. Just from a nce, they could tell how formidable these kids had gotten.

    "It''s good that you''re back. It''s good that you''re back." Balmung said emotionally, "Where the other two?"

    Before any of them could answer, a loud neighing startled the forces. Next, they saw a golden sh of light that stopped at the skies.

    A stunningdy, riding a majestic Pegasus rose her golden spear up in the skies. A beam of light descended , covering the defenders with a warm andforting light. Soon after, the defenders could feel their stamina recovering in a slow but noticeable manner, the shallow wounds that they have were recoveringat a visible pace.

    Old Lee who was reaping down the ranks of the beast, went into a screeching halt as he felt this light. His head turned sharply at the southern wall with an incredulous expression on his face.

    "This is¡­Lightshield Incandescence! Has the King returned?" His vision instantly homed in to the figure sitting on a back of a Pegasus, his eyes widened in disbelief. "Princess!? She''s back!"

    "Lightshield Incandescence." Leona muttered, "Your Majesty, if only you could see your precious daughter right now."

    Back at the walls, after casting the enormous beam of light. The Pegasus flew down andnded in front of the gawking Prince. For a brief moment there, Balmung thought that their father had returned. Never in his wildest imaginations that Luna will be able to cast that technique without even the King teaching her how to do so.

    "You girl¡­" Balmung said as the corners of his mouth twitched erratically. Just from her gaze alone, he knew that he couldn''t stop her from participating in this battle. She made a grand entrance for that matter anyway?

    "Excuse me, Princess." Luis interjected from the side. "Have you seen my boy?"

    "He said he''s going to check the other sides to see if they needed reinforcements." Luna replied helplessly, "I wanted toe with him but he said to have faith in him and that he''s more than enough to act as a reinforcement to them."

    Upon hearing this, Luis couldn''t help but to smile wryly. ''That brat!'' He inwardly thought. Nevertheless, he had faith in his son, he knew that he will be responsible on his own. Besides, they are at war, he couldn''t afford to be distracted for this long.

    "I wanted to spare you guys from this war, knowing that you just came out from a difficult training." Balmung said, "But you wouldn''t hustle your rears towards here if you wanted to rest, which means you wanted to participate."

    He received no replies from them, but their gazes alone was enough to express their answers.

    "Fine." Balmung helplessly sighed, "Pay attention to your safety. You people will be the next pir of the kingdom, I can''t have you dying in this battle. Go!"

    The team nodded. They turned around and faced the iing horde of beasts.

    Paul''s eyes shone. He roused his energy and suddenly his majestic presence became known to the whole battlefield. Ian and Randy, who was battling below sharply turned towards his location and saw him.

    "Brat." Ian muttered under his breath.

    A secondter, Paul''s throat vibrated. His face twisted and his mouth flew open.

    "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

    A long, awe-inspiring and hair-raising roar came out from his mouth. His voice echoed throughout the vast ins of the battlefield. Everyone present could hear his terrifying roar that carried an unbridled provocation.

    A silhouette of a enormous Snake-tailed ck Tortoise emerged behind him and roared with him. The defenders who heard this roar felt their spirits roused and saw a thick, blueyered shield shrouding them. This shield is a blessing from Paul himself, a life-saving tripleyered shield for everyone present in the battlefield.

    Just this alone proved that being acknowledge by a Spirit Entity is an immense benefit.

    As for the beast who heard this roar, they felt a deep existential fear from his voice. Paul roar carried a tinge of a Divine Beast''s aura which carried an immense suppressive pressure on their psyches.

    "HAHAHA! SEE THAT LITTLE TURD? MY BRO! THAT''S MY LITTLE BRO!" Randy roared on top of his lungs, only to be elbowed by Ian beside him. Despite that, Ian couldn''t contain that foolish and prideful smile from his face.

    Next to him, Ellen smiled and roused her spirit.

    A sonorous cry escaped from her lips. Instantly, another aura of a Divine Beast made it''s debut on the battlefield. The momentum of the Vermillion Bird, King of Thousand Birds, rolled over and refused to allow other flying beast to take flight in it''s presence.

    Seeing the flying beast falling from the skies while shivering in terror, the defenders were awed once more. Bradley and the members of the Vermillion Sky n were shaking in glee. The source of their worship, the Vermillion Bird. Even if what they experienced was just a remnant of it''s Divine Aura, it was enough for them to dly stake their lives on the line with pride.

    Just like that, the momentum of two Divine Beast was enough to tip the bnce of this war.

 Chapter 221 - Arrows And Lightning

    ---

    "Huh¡­" Mark grunted on the side, "Done releasing your pent up stress?" His remark made Paul and Ellen feel a little embarrassment.

    "You know it." Nevertheless, Paul agreed with his words.

    "But still, this shield is impressive." Annemented. "Something you learned from training?"

    "Nope." Paul shook his head. "It was something that the big turtle made me learn. For now it''s only threeyers, but It could receive a full-powered attack from a Silver Knight before breaking. Since it has threeyers, it could defend three times and so long as I''m standing, it will remain to everyone."

    He scratched his head in bitterness as he continued: "The only downside is that, I could only do it once a day. Well, at least for now."

    "How are you faring in Energy Reserves?" Mark asked while his mouth was twitching.

    "Eh?" Paul inspected for a bit and said: "I''m still good, that barely cost anything to me."

    Speechless. That''s the best word to describe their reaction. Isn''t this skill a little to strong? Let''s see, a tripleyered shield that could defend against a full powered strike of a Silver Knight three times. Barely cost him any energy even after giving to at least tens of thousands of people. And won''t disappear as long as he''s conscious.

    Isn''t a tad bit ridiculous? Yeah, he could only cast that once a day but that''s hardly detriment! And he said: ''Well, at least for now.'' That means that in the future it will get even more ridiculous?

    "And you?" Anne faced Ellen, asking: "You must be the reason why those beasts aren''t flying."

    "Y-yeah¡­" Ellen replied, a little embarrassed. "Effects of the big and red angry bird. Any of those things that has wings won''t dare to fly within my presence. W-well, it only affects my enemies."

    "You guys are just¡­" Mark could only smile wryly.

    Balmung and Luis reacted simrly. And here they were hoping that their one year of training reaped some good results, well the children delivered and they even went beyond their expectations.

    "W-well! I''m sorry if I''m not as impressive as this Big Oaf right here."

    "What do you mean!?" Paul eximed, "You are awesome! Those pesky things in the skies are the one''s who''s doing the most damage to our soldiers. Now that they can''t fly, they might as well be considered as dead!"

    Paul pointed out towards the beast horde and continued: "Look! Some of them are being stomped to death by the bigger ones! Don''t sell yourself short."

    Paul''s words were correct. Nearly a quarter of the flying beasts were ruthlessly stomped by the marching beasts while the remaining are cowering in fear.

    Hearing his straightforward praises, Ellen''s cheeks blushed but she tried faking it and say: "Hmph! At least you know what''s good for you!"

    "Alright. Let''s go down. It''s time to show the concrete results of our training." Luna smiled and jumped down from the walls. As soon as she descended, she transformed into a sh of light towards the iing horde.

    Seeing her eagerness, the rest smiled and went on their way as well.

    Paul threw his spear and jumped along with it. A pair of red wings appeared behind Ellen''s back as she descended.

    Mark''s hair rose up as lightning covered his body once more. Unlike earlier, he didn''t use the orange lightning but instead the regr white one. He then threw one of his sword, it arched beautifully and pierceda mantis threatening one of the soldiers. Mark''s silhouette blurred and disappeared from the top of the walls.

    He reappeared like a lightning bolt where his swordnded. It was as if he teleported. With another swipe of his sword, he beheaded the mantis and threw his other sword at another beast.

    Mark seemingly turned into a lightning phantom. No one knows how he was doing it but he would just disappear and reappear at random moments. It was like he was a dancing lightning bolt at the battlefield. In just one minute, he decapitated at least sixty beasts and he still wasn''t done. There are no traces of fatigue nor stress in his face as he was doing this.

    Eventually, he came across to where his father and his n mates were.

    Leon couldn''t help but to watch in pride as he saw his son dancing like a white reaper in the battlefield. The style of him flourishing his swords and vanishing like ghost made a distinct imprint to those who witnessed it. Some even started pitying the beasts he killed since they literally had no idea how they died.

    At the very front of the battlefield. Old Lee saw this and couldn''t help but exim. He smiled and said: "Goodd! Pretty soon, I''ll have a rival with my speed. He might even surpass-nay, he will certainly surpass me."

    Flew forward and met up with her father. Gil smiled as he patted his daughter''s head. No words were needed. Anne''s jade green eyes sparkled as she stepped forward.

    Next, a wing-like shape emerged from her wrist. It crystalized into being and transformed into a pristine bowfilled with colorful gem ornaments.

    Gil was gobsmacked. He nearly called out ''Mom!'' Due to how Anne really took upon the image of Matriarch Victoria. Gil heard a sniff behind him and saw a n elder bawling his eyes out, he asked him what''s wrong and this was the answer he got.

    "It''s like seeing Matriarch in the flesh once again. Young Lady Anne looks just like her, just as gant and beautiful." After saying this, he broke into whimpers. Gil couldn''t me him, even he himself nearly mistaken his own daughter as his mother. Matriarch Victoria''s reputation just have this effect.

    Anne didn''t hear any of this. Her focus was set on the iing horde. A bowstring manifested, Anne''s delicate fingers pulled it as far as she could. Her body curved backwards as she aim. Everyone nearby the walls felt a fearsome fluctuation condensing at the tip of her bow.

    "Feather fall." Anne whispered as she released the shot.

    Her arrow flew like a shooting star. Once it reached the peak of it''s arc, it transform into an enormous green feather. Then, the threads of the feather turned onto shes of lights and homed into the skulls of beasts urately. What''s even more astonishing is that, no one from the humans side were injured by her attack. The arrows/threads will automatically evade any humans and will instead curve towards the beasts.

    Everyone gaped at the spectacle. They all turned their heads towards the one who released the shot.

    "Lady Anne!"

    "A beautiful disy, Lady Anne!"

    "Impressive!"

    "That''s our Young Lady Anne!"

    Members of the Western Star n who were present in the battlefield rose their chest up high and rained down ferventpliments to the youngdy. Gil couldn''t even keep himself from smiling ear to ear. Pride filled his chest as he witnessed the prowess of his daughter.

    "Hoo¡­" Anne exhaled, she then looked at Mark and saw him slithering like a lightning serpent in the battlefield. An idea crossed her mind as she yelled: "Hey, Mark!"

    "What''s up?" Mark replied after decapitating another beast.

    "Follow up!" Anne yelled as she arched her body once more. In front of her, five jade spears materialized and shot towards the skies.

    "Got you!" Mark could already sense what she wanted to happen. Mark threw his sword in the air and shifted to it. He then floated mid-air as a fearsome Red Lightning covered his body. He looked at the spear arrows and calcted for a bit. He raised his hand and five equally long Red Lightning Spear materialized.

    As he brought his hand down, the lightning flew and merged with the arrows. The arrows then flew with an even more frightening speed as they slithered erratically in the air. Everyone watched as the arrowsnded into the hulking beasts at the back. Anne and Mark''s voice could be heard afterwards.

    "Explode/Strike!"

    *Boom!* *Crackle!*

    The arrows exploded upon contact, if that wasn''t enough to kill them, then the follow up Red Lightning Strike would definitely take them down.

    "Holy shit!" Paul eximed, "Those five beasts were at least Silver Knight in strength!"

    "Psh. Show-offs." Ellen snorted but there was a visible smile in her face.

    "M-my god! Who are these kids?"

    "No idea! But are they really just Knights? Howe they''re so strong?"

    "Knights? Don''t be fooled brother. They''re not in the Knight Stage."

    "Heavens!"

    "So formidable!"

    "Better not provoke those two. I wouldn''t want to be in the receiving end of that."

    Back at the walls, Anne gave Mark a thumbs-up as she readied another strike. The people behind her were numbed, they started wondering just how much energy these kids have.

    Balmung and Luis'' mouth''s agape. The Prince couldn''t help but toment: "This became their stage, isn''t it?"

    Luis nodded mechanically, even he felt the threat behind that. Thatbined attack was too fast and explosive that he had no was of surviving that.

    "Come to think of it, these are the monsters that your son fostered, didn''t he?"

    "¡­"

 Chapter 222 - Golden Valkyrie

    ---

    While Paul, Mark, Ellen, Anne and Luna were establishing their reputations in the battlefield. Raven went towards the Western Walls with a carefree expression on his face.

    All the way from his location, he was able to feel the residual fluctuations of Southern Battlefield. A smile appeared in his face as he recalled their brief reunion earlier.

    "They were all holding their Growth Weapons." He murmured, "Nine-Layered ck Tortoise Shield and Soul Piercing Snake Spear for Paul. Twin Lightning Serpent Swords for Mark. Vermillion Bird Sword for Ellen. Annarosa''s Bow manifested for Anne and my girl had Golden Light Spear."

    "They must showing off right now." Raven chuckled to himself, "I would''ve liked to show-off with them, but I gotta take care of some worms trying to take advantage of the chaos."

    "I have to finish this quick. The earlier we finish this, the sooner I can y with my sisters." Raven felt giddy as he increased his speed, turning him into a flickering shadow as he made his way out of the Western Walls.

    It didn''t take him long before he was able to step outside of the walls. He received no hindrances as he was deliberately hiding himself as he made his way out. He activated his Crystal Sky Eyes as he observed the possible openings for an ambush.

    Raven then saw the some shady individuals spying from the dense shrubs not too far away from the walls. He then promptly disappeared from his location and reappeared in front of the unsuspecting spy.

    Raven''s sudden emergence scared the living daylights out of the spy, the guy tried killing him by slitting his neck using a dagger. Unfortunately, his attack hit nothing but an afterimage. The spy then felt something move behind him and tried to turn around but as soon as he did, his body curved upwards as he received a heavy punch on the stomach from Raven. The spy felt his head being grabbed by what felt like a metal mp. He then screamed as he felt a deep seated paining from the depths of his soul.

    The spy struggled like fish out of the water, but the grip was to strong and all of his iling around was only hurting himself. After a few seconds, the spy could been seen dead in Raven''s grip with white foaming out from the corners of his lips.

    Raven unceremoniously threw the corpse on the side as he patted his hands. His head then turned sharply towards the Southern Battlefield as he felt a strong and repulsive aura. He thought for a bit and whispered¡­

    "So, the moving rocks finally arrived huh?" Raven kept staring at the south, debating to himself for a bit. After a moment of hesitation, he scratched his head and said: "Eh, I''m sure they could handle it. I can''t go there, the guards here won''t be able to handle these worms so I have to do it."

    "I''ll just finish this quickly and go." After saying that, Raven disappeared from his spot once again.

    ***

    "Crap! What''s that?"

    One soldier eximed as he pointed out towards the very back of the Beast Horde. His voice was loud enough to rm the people around him.

    Without any exceptions, everyone present on the battlefield felt the ground beneath them quaking fiercely. All of them turned their heads towards the beast horde and some couldn''t help but gasp loudly as they saw the iing monstrosities.

    If these things sit down and hug their legs, they could surely pass as a mountain by how big they are. Even the soldier that had the worst eyesight could easily see them from Southern Walls.

    The Golden Knights who were in the fore front of the battlefield had their countenances change as they saw the five hulking monstrosities making their way towards them.

    "Damn!" Old Lee spat harshly, "How did those things manage to get here! Weren''t they supposed to be in the very depths of the Red Zone?"

    "Why the hell would they join this beast horde!? It doesn''t make sense!" Leona roared.

    "Little Stone Titans." Morel harshly spat, "This is going to be a hard battle."

    The Little Stone Titans. ording to legends, they are literally stone mountains that experienced Demonification and became cognizant creatures.

    The reason why the Golden Knights are so surprised about their sudden appearance is because they weren''t supposed to be here in the first ce.

    Little Stone Titans are a rare sightings even in the far reaches of the Red Zones. ording to records, these things won''t make any movements unless it was absolutely necessary. They prefer toy on their backs and sleep, unmoving for months or even years at that. This behavior is something that they retained from their past as a stone mountains.

    Little Stone Titans doesn''t need to feed. If they do, it would be due to curiosity or necessity. They aren''t aggressive, they could even pass as a pacifists since they allow other creatures to reside on their bodies whenever they''re not moving. Some of the explorers of the kingdom even used them to easily traverse ces.

    Five Little Stone Titans, moving as a unit and wanting to destroy. This is an unprecedented event in history. The locations of the Little Stone Titans are far from each other, this was written by none other than the King himself. It would already be a surprise to see one managing to venture all the way here with howzy they are to move, not to mention five aggressive ones.

    "Heavens! Must you really destroy our home?" Balmung sharply inhaled as he watched the red-eyed Little Stone Titans making their way towards the kingdom.

    *Neigh!!!*

    When everyone''s distracted by the sudden arrival of the towering monstrosities. A loud and provocative neighing sounds woke them up. All of them turned their heads towards the source of that sound and saw Luna with a determined expression flying at the back of her Pegasus, heading straight towards the hulking beasts.

    "Luna/Princess/Your Highness!!" People called out for her.

    "Aish! This girl!" Ellen snorted as a pair of fire wings appeared on her back, she then hurriedly flew towards Luna.

    Anne also summoned her Wind Falcon and flew towards the skies. Mark hurriedly followed after them along with Paul. Of course, the Golden Knights were hot on her trails as well. Even Balmung left his post, leaving Luis to take charge ofmanding the battalion.

    All of them were worried about her. Of course, why wouldn''t they be worried? She''s the Princess, they couldn''t even begin to imagine how they are going to exin themselves in front of the King should she die here. Nevertheless, it seems that none of them would be able to stop her.

    As Luna flew with the Pegasus, the spear on her hand was madly fluctuating with golden light. Her gaze was sharp as it never left any of those hulking giants. As the Pegasus flew faster, the golden spear on her hand shone brighter. Once it reached the peak, Luna abruptly stood up at the back of her horse and arched her petite body, pulling the spear back in the process.

    "Haaa!" With a shout, she ced all of her strength on her spear and threw it towards one of the Little Stone Titans.

    A golden projectile shone under the dark clouds, it was like a falling star, gracefully arching towards the giant. The speed of it falling was faster than it was thrown. The stone giant tried blocking the attack but there was a surprising development.

    It''s pride as a stone mountain was mocked by the golden spear as it easily pierced it''s natural defenses. The force behind the throw even shaved off a considerable amount of it''s stone flesh.

    Luna snorted and waved down her hand and the spear changed it''s trajectory. It then made it''s way towards one of the leg joint and fiercely severed it as it exited it''s body.

    The Little Stone Titan roared in agony. One of it''s legs were severed which made it lose it''s bnce. With a wave of her hand, the golden spear flew back on Luna''s hand as she looked down on the remaining stone giants who stopped on their tracks.

    "None of you will destroy my home! I swear it upon my name, Lunafreya Lightshield! Even if die, I will die standing to protect our citizens!"

    Her zing spirit red with a golden light. Her golden hair flowed with the wind as her gant figure bask in the air, serving as a beacon of hope to anyone who looked at her.

    Her words struck a deep chord towards the hearts of anyone who heard it. Those who heard her name instantly realized who she was.

    Heir of their Almighty King. The Princess that never shown herself before made her named known in the defense against the beast horde. From this point onwards, all that hears her name will be struck with awe, respect, idolism and worship.

    She was thedy who unhesitatingly flew straight towards the enemy. She who strikes first and swore to protect the kingdom even at the cost of her life. From here on out, she will called as:

    "The Golden Valkyrie: Princess Lunafreya."

 Chapter 223 - Been A While

    ---

    Luna''s solemn deration ignited something within the hearts of whoever heard it.

    Add the fact that she basically took down a Little Stone Titan on her own made her words resonate even more.

    Even Balmung himself, who should''ve been the heart of the battalion due to his status, thought that at this point, his little sister was even braver than him.

    "OHHHHHHH!"

    Needless to say, the morale of the defenders rose up to an unbelievable momentum. They roared at the top of their lungs as they wantonly hacked down the enemies in front of them.

    Luna''s pursuers didn''t stay idle either. The Golden Knights took advantage of the crippled Little Stone Titan and poured their attacks towards it''s chest, where it''s core is. The crippled stone giant wasn''t able to defend itself in time, hence under the attack of the trio, it exploded into chunks of rocks, promptly ending it''s life.

    "Luna! Watch out!"

    Luna heard the shout behind her and was instantly startled. She turned around and saw a giant boulder heading towards her.

    It seems that while she was distracted, another stone giant hurled a giant rock towards her. Luna immediately kicked the Pegasus''s belly, urging it to get out of the way. Needless to say, she knew that she was a little toote, the giant boulder will inevitably hit her so she mustered up her energies and prepared to strike the boulder.

    It turns out that there was no need for that.

    "As if I''d allow that!" Paul roared from below. Using all of his strength, he threw his shield towards the trajectory of the impact.

    His shield arched gracefully and stopped precisely in front of Luna. It then glowed with an intense blue light as it grew in size, big enough topletely cover Luna and the Pegasus behind.

    The earth shook due to the shockwave of the impact. Paul''s shield neither faltered nor broke in the impact when the boulder hit it. The shield remained intact and unmoving, perfectly defending Luna from any sort of damage. Luna turned around to look at Paul.

    "I got you!" Paul said while giving out a thumbs-up, however there is a visible exhaustion on his face.

    "Thanks! I won''t let that happen again!" Luna nodded as the Pegasus flew upwards with her. Paul''s shield returned to him while he continued charging forward.

    *Phew!*

    A ming projectile flew at a break-neck speed towards the stone giant who hurled the boulder towards Luna. It gracefully flew and struck the eye of the stone giant, making its exit at the back.

    The ming projectile stopped mid-air and revealed an annoyed Ellen with fire wings pping behind her.

    "Let''s see if you could still aim properly after that." She coldly snorted. Despite this, if one looked closely, Ellen''s arms and legs are ridden with bruises from that attack.

    Following that, a green projectile kicked up a huge gust of wind and turned into a tornado heading towards the same stone giant. As it travelled, it continued growing bigger until it was big enough to shave of an entire arm from the stone giant.

    "Let''s see if you could still throw something after that." Anne spat venomously. Her face twinge in pain as she felt her hands bruised by her own attack,

    Suddenly, a ck Lightning fell down from the skies.

    Mark could be seen with a chilling expression on his face. His body was covered in streaks of ck Lightning as well. As he waved his hand down, ck Lightning fell down from the skies once more. The stone giant groaned in pain as the ck Lightning tore its stone flesh. The lightning precisely the core in its chest, killing it in the process.

    Once Mark is doneshing out his anger, he puffed out a smoke from his mouths as a wry smile appeared on his face. It was obvious that he couldn''t control this lightning properly just yet.

    Two out of the five Little Stone Titans were down. This was a unprecedented feat, specially considering the fact that one of those two were taken down by teenagers who hadn''t even stepped into Knight Stage.

    As the second Little Stone Titan fell, the Golden Knights along with the Prince and some others are also tackling down the remaining stone giants. Below them, the defense against the beast horde continued on full throttle. The defenders were steadily pushing their forces back.

    The beast horde is now down to a measly 300,000 numbers. It won''t be long until their numbers drop even further down at the rate of their deaths. Luis who''s monitoring the battalion had a calm face but inwardly he was praying for no further developments.

    This might be the best defense that had ever urred in the Lightshield history. The casualties are no more than a thousand people and the deaths are no more than 200 amongst them. With how much beastrge this horde is, this result is truly astonishing. He prayed for this trend to continue and wished that no beasts or giants appear anymore so that this war could end.

    In the frontlines, another stone giant fell. That makes three out of five. Unfortunately, the attacking forces are spent from the stress.

    Without those huge and shy moves from earlier, taking down this hulking monstrosities became a difficult task.

    They would''ve love tounch their high-leveled techniques but they couldn''t. Raven''s friends for one have their energies running on fumes. They could only provide support in the attack against the stone giants from now on. They wanted to consume some recovery pills but that is a bad idea in a live battlefield.

    The Golden Knights were faring better, but they''re facing a Little Stone Giant. Famous for it''s tough defense and horrifying strength. Even though they are strong, none of them could receive a blow from these things.

    If these Stone Giants showed up from the very beginning, they would''ve had an easier time against them and wouldn''t need the kids to help them out. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the case. They''ve spent a considerable amount of energy before this battle, it is through sheer will and stubbornness that all of them could still stand.

    *Roar!*

    Under sheer perseverance, the attacking forces managed to take down the fourth stone giant. All that''s left is one more, if they could somehow find a way to take thest one down, then they could leave the rest to the others.

    However, there''s another unforeseen event.

    *Roar!!!*

    Seeing that it''s the only one left. Thest Little Stone Titan felt incredibly threatened. It let out a guttural roar and opened it''s jaw wide.

    Everyone on the battlefield could feel the frightening energy condensing on the mouth of the stone giant. The attackers paled.

    "It''s going to throw a big one!" Ellen eximed, she then turned to face Paul and asked: "Can you block that?"

    "No." Paul unhesitatingly shook his head, "Even in my prime condition, I''m sure I couldn''t."

    "Shit!" Ellen cursed under her breath.

    "You kids, fall back at this very instant!" Leona ordered.

    "But Teacher!" Luna protested.

    "Now is not the time for stubbornness, Princess." Leona spat harshly. "Let us, adults face this one. We can''t have you dying now."

    The kids bit their lips in unwillingness, nevertheless they too know the situation they''re in. Staying here will only ce them in danger. They know that the adults will do everything in their power to save them. It''s just a little painful for them to realize that they have no alternatives for this sort of scenario.

    Some of the loyal guards escorted Luna, Balmung, Paul, Mark, Ellen, and Anne towards the Southern Walls.

    Old Lee, Leona and Morel stood forward and nced at the iing attack with grim faces. If they had more energies, then they could''ve interrupted this but they barely have anything. All they could do is hope for the best.

    Everyone watched with bated breaths as a huge ball of energy flew from the mouth of the giant. Old Lee, Leona and Morel gathered their remaining energies and even fueled it with their blood essence to break the attack. Unfortunately, even with their blood essence, the attack proved to be too strong so the Golden Knight could only sigh in defeat and meet their ends.

    "You can have this back."

    A deep and archaic voice echoed across the battlefield.

    *Boom!!*

    None saw what happened properly. All they saw was that, the energy ball flying towards the Golden Knights mysteriously flew back and blew up the entire body of the Little Stone Titan, killing it in the process.

    Everyone gaped at this incident. They all turned their heads towards the Golden Knights who''s faces turned extremely fantastic at this point.

    An old man with rugged clothes was standing before them wearing the kindest smile ever. There was a hint of nostalgia in his face as he looked at them, like he was being taken back to the good times.

    Old Lee was beaming, Leona''s mouth was twitching, and Morel was smiling wryly.

    The Old Man nodded to every single one of them and said: "It''s been a while."

 Chapter 224 - King Alexander

    ---

    Though he wore nothing but ragged clothes and looked like a wandering mercenary with how messy his ash colored hair and beard, his sophisticated actions, the fondness on his tone and the way he looked lovingly at the people around him shows that he''s no ordinary person nor a stranger.

    When Luna and Balmung heard his voice, their heads instantly snapped forward and locked on towards the one who spoke.

    As soon as theyid eyes on him, something inside of them trembled. Even in his rugged outfit, unbefitting of his status, Luna and Balmung could instantly tell who he is.

    Blood is thicker than water after all...

    "Father!"

    Not minding their injuries or exhaustion, both of them dashed forward with everything they have. It has been so long since they''ve seen each other. Thest time Luna saw him was a decade ago, meaning she was five when he left. God knows how much Luna missed him, how she prayed for his safety. He''s the only parent she had, she didn''t want to lose him too.

    Seeing his children running with all of their might, a gentle prick struck Alexander''s heart. With the kindest smile he could muster, he raised his sword and his archaic voice echoed once again in the battlefield.

    "My people. I thank you for your selfless actions of defending our home with all of your might. It has been hard for all of you but fret not, for I am here."

    He pointed his sword into the sky and chanted.

    "Here''s the work of our light. For as long as We exist, the light that defends our brethren shall never fade!"

    "Lightshield Incandescence!"

    Next, an immense pir of golden light descended and covered the entire kingdom. From the foot soldiers down to themanders of the battalion, even the people who are taking refuge behind the walls of the kingdom. Everyone who''s been touched by that golden light felt a calming mood wash over them.

    As the golden light spread, everyone felt that their exhaustion were quickly fading away, the injuries that they have were recovering at a visible pace and the beast horde they faced didn''t dare to even move a muscle.

    The whole battlefield was looking at one person. His rugged clothing vanished, it was reced by a bulky golden armor. A long and red cape was draped over his shoulders and golden crown adorned his head. His sword with golden ornaments was pointed at the sky which caused the dark and gloomy clouds to part, revealing a clear blue skies.

    None questioned his majesty anymore. With fervent emotions, everyone dropped their weapons and knelt towards his direction. Even without a deration, they knew in their hearts who this man was.

    "My home. My people. I, have returned."

    "We wee the return of our King!!!" All soldiers, regardless of military position, roared fervently.

    It was at this time that Luna and Balmung eventually reached him and wrapped him a warm hug. A fond smile adorned the King''s face. He closed his eyes and returned the hug of his children.

    "You''ve grown up, you two." King Alexander''s voice was deep, it gave his children some form of security andfort.

    "Our reunion shall continueter. For now, let me clean up this farce." The King free from his children''s hug and faced the beast horde.

    "My people. Retreat to the safety of our walls. Allow your King to take care of the rest." His deep voice resounded in the battlefield.

    Many were hesitant but under his orders, they eventually backed down. Many may not know this but since he arrived, the fate of these beast horde had been practically sealed.

    An invisible pressure was released from the King''s body. His loyal subjects are unaffected but for the beasts it''s another story. None of the beast could even move a muscle. They were held down by an invisible grip that prevented them from making any sort of movements.

    As soon as every soldiers, minus the King''s children and his confidants, retreated towards safety. The King then moved a step.

    Just that one step and the instincts of the beast screamed danger. He took another step and every single beast struggled madly to free themselves from that invisible hold to no avail. He took the third step and his sword instantly red with a fearsome golden pulses.

    He raised his sword and swiped horizontally.

    A massive golden sword wave cascaded towards the paralyzed beasts. It moved unhindered as it tore through their ranks. It didn''t matter how they defended themselves or struggled, as soon as the sword light went through them, their bodies will instantly be severed in two.

    Their numbers dropped in a horrifying degree. The sword wave never stopped until every single one of the beast who dared to invade their home, died under the King''s fearsome attack.

    Those who saw this had their mouths wide open from sheer shock and astonishment. Even the Golden Knight could only smile wryly at this scene.

    The beast horde that gave them an immense trouble were instantly demolished by a single sword swing from their King. It had to be known that there''s at least 250,000 beast left to kill, but all of them were no more.

    "Incredible."

    "Awesome!"

    "As expected of our King!"

    "King! King! King!"

    Heated discussions and fervent shouts echoed from the people who watched. With a loud snort, the King paid no attention to the beast horde anymore and instead escorted his men towards the walls.

    ''This is why he has the Crown.'' Morel inwardly said.

    ''This loser got stronger again. Hmph!'' Leona grumbled inwardly, but there was a helpless smile in her face.

    ''As expected. This is why the throne of the King was given to him. Not only does he care about his people, he''s disgustingly strong too. I wonder if he had another breakthrough?'' Old Lee asked to himself.

    "The beast horde is no more. My people, return to your homes and families. Rest and recover properly, no harm shall fall into you while I still stand."

    The King''s words echoed in the field, it made anyone who heard it extremely emotional. The soldiers then dropped their weapons and hurriedly entered the walls to reunite with his family.

    Of course, there were some who weren''t in a rush and instead waited until the King entered the walls. Most of those people were the n leaders or influential people who wanted to greet the King personally.

    The King, followed by his children and the Golden Knights, eventuallynded on top of the Southern Walls where the rest of the people were waiting.

    As soon as he arrived, the people hurriedly knelt down on one knee and said:

    "We wee the arrival of our King."

    A kind smile appeared on Alexander''s face as he replied: "You may rise."

    He then looked at them one by one. All of these faces were nostalgic to him. He knows every single one of these people and their social standing, he knew their contributions to the kingdom.

    Of course, these people also knew him. Other than the fact that he is their King, they have met him personally before and knew his personality. He personally established bonds with them and even treated them like his closest kin, which is the reason why their loyalty to him never faltered.

    "It''s been a while, all of you." The King said emotionally. He then felt a pair of soft arms wrapping around him. He looked around and saw Luna staring at him with teary eyes.

    Alexander''s heart almost melted, he pinched her cheek fondly and wiped away her tears. He then said: "Oh, time is ruthless. I almost couldn''t believe that my little princess already grew up to this extent. She was even strong enough to take down a Little Stone Titan on her own. How wonderful."

    Luna'' eyes bulged from their sockets, she said: "You saw that?"

    "Yes, dear." The Kingughed heartily, "It''s somewhat hard not to specially when you''re high up in the air."

    "I didn''t intend toe back just yet." Alexander admitted, "I was in the depths of the Red Zone, searching for something, but I was rmed since I saw one of the Little Stone Titan disappeared. I''ve stayed in that ce for at least year but I''ve never seen it move. For some reason, I had a bad feeling. It got stronger when I saw that the other stone giant I saw disappeared as well."

    "I decided to wander around the Yellow Zone and then I found some fresh footprints, a clear sign of a beast horde. That''s why I hurried over."

    ''So that''s what happened.'' The people around him thought. It seems that fate smiled kindly at their home and lead their King back to where he belongs.

    Thankfully, he arrived at the perfect moment or else the Golden Knights might''ve been no more.

    "Hmm?"

    All of a sudden however, the King''s facial expression changed. He looked at the western direction with a surprised reaction on his face. He then faced his people and asked:

    "By the way, who''s that impressive Young Lad at the Western Area?"

 Chapter 225 - Buying Time

    ---

    "By the way, who''s that impressive Young Lad at the Western Area?"

    Everyone was confused when they heard King Alexander''s question. Everyone tried looking towards the same direction but seen nothing worth to notice.

    "You won''t see him by looking." King Alexander said as he saw them looking towards the western direction. "My senses are better that yours so I''m able to see him."

    Luna who was in his embrace was struck with a sudden idea. She quickly looked up and said: "What does he look like, Father?"

    Alexander squinted his eyes and said: "Hmm, I''ll show you instead."

    Suddenly, the King''s eyes glowed with golden light. In front of him, a screen of light formed and showed an overhead view of the situation at the Western Area.

    There was a young man wearing an all ck attire. He had a waist length hair that has turquoise tips and gathered by a rubber band in a high ponytail. His face was definitely handsome even when it was exuding achilling expression. He held a massive hammer which he swing like some stick.

    As soon as they saw this, the crowd''s eyes bulged and eximed: "Avi/Raven/Young Hero!?"

    "Hm? Avi? Raven? Young Hero? What''s this all about?" Alexander asked in a curious tone.

    "He is my boy, Your Majesty." Luis stepped forward and saluted, "His name is Vendrick, but we call him either Avi or Raven."

    The King wanted to ask more questions but they were interrupted by the sudden change in the feed.

    Raven''s energy spiked as held his enormous hammer using both arms and did a powerful swing. As the hammer made contact with the ground, arge chunk of thend rose. Sharp rocks pierced through the bodies of the people he was facing, yet he still wasn''t done.

    He jumped high and spun vertically, he smashed the ground once again with a force even greater than the rest. Suddenly, an arm-shaped pir forming a closed fist, descended from the sky and smashed his enemies into a meat pastes.

    "Impressive." The King praised, "He''s facing against 300 people from ck Curtain Guild alone but he isn''t fazed. He even overwhelmed them with nothing but brute strength."

    "300 people!?" The crowd eximed to themselves. They looked incredously at the screen and checked if the King''s estimations were correct. It might not have been clear but there''s clearly more than a hundred people in there. Some were shaking in their boots as they witness how he was demolishing their ranks with ease, some were out cold and some were smashed into meat pastes.

    "W-who are you?" One of the men from the ck Curtain Guild asked while trembling.

    "Obviously someone who''s stopping you from invading our home." Raven non-chntly replied as he swung his hammer on his shoulder.

    "Y-you! Don''t get in our way! Or else there would be consequences!!"

    "Oh please." Raven sneered, "Try not to at least stutter or tremble in fear while you say those words. You''re convincing no one, you know?"

    The invading forces went silent after hearing that. They didn''t speak any further, instead their eyes are watching him closely, fearing that he might move once again.

    "It was really a good thing that I decided to check the other areas aside from the southern part. If I didn''t do so, then you guys might''ve been able to sessfully infiltrate our home and build a base inside. It''ll be another Mort Family all over again if that happens. It had been a pain in the ass to eradicate them so I wouldn''t want another one to show up."

    Raven said, but it was like he was talking to himself instead.

    The King''s eyes narrowed as he heard this. He looked at his subordinates and saw them fidgeting, it seems that many things happened while he was gone. He decided to have a long and nice chat with themter.

    "Y-you!!"

    "Hm? Oh! You''re wondering I found out?" Raven sneered coldly and said: "I''ve killed one of your spies and read his memories. Seriously, you''re Emissaries are dumb. Why would they let someckeys know about all of their n? Don''t they know that we could read memories too?" He said while shaking his head.

    "Tch. That Pale Bastard. Spreading its corruption to form a beast horde. It even corrupted the souls of five Little Stone Giants to do some serious damages to the kingdom. If that wasn''t enough, its emissaries even sent some imbeciles to invade and build a base to weaken the kingdom even further. What a grand n! Pwe!" Raven spat harshly, again he was mostly talking to himself.

    His analogy sent shivers to anyone who heard it. Even Alexander''s face crumpled as he heard a familiar nickname from Raven''s mouth. Just as he was starting to wonder how in the world did this kid knew about Vit''hum, Raven spoke once more.

    "The Pale Bastard is now scared. It knows that stair''s body won''t hold out much longer and it''s hibernation wouldst for a decade so it wanted some sort of insurance. It thinks that we are ignorant about its existence! Hmph! What a fool. A decade is enough for me to march down to their base and trample him to death." Raven continued, his voice getting more and more aggressive as he spoke.

    The King''s eyes constricted, he sharply looked at the Golden Knights as asked: "stair!?"

    Old Lee was about to exin, but the King waved his hand and said: "We''ll talkter."

    Everyone''s attention was glued to Raven once again. They saw him sigh and gripped his hammer tightly.

    "Your n is wed." Raven said in a chilling voice. "The Mort Family failed, and they have the support of massive wealth. What makes you think that the likes of you will seed?"

    "Sure, infiltrating our defenses is a good move, but what makes you think that we won''t be able to spot you? I exposed the Mort Family''s plot, what makes you think I couldn''t do that again? Even then, building a base would take time. It will take you at least a year or two at most before you could start establishing contact with your headquarters. Which means, that for one or two years, there will be no other movements from you nor any beast horde since the Pale Bastard is hibernating."

    "Peace for a year or two. That''s nice, we can make a lot of developments in that period of time. And since you won''t be making contact with the headquarters for that long, you might as well not make report at all. This time, you will be the one in the dark not us. This time, they''ll be the one''s anxious, not us. This time, it''ll be us taking the lead. Isn''t that sweet?" Raven shed a chilling smile.

    "And to make sure that happens." Raven''s aura soared to the maximum, creating a suffocating pressure to everyone who''s facing him. "None of you will leave here alive!"

    With a ferocious swing of his hammer, two fist-like pirs descended and turned at least fifty people into meat pastes. The invading forces started running but Raven''s onught was just starting. His eyes tracked every single one of them, making sure to intercept those who were trying to run away. He red his Hammer Intent to the maximum, creating a wide suppression that left them breathless and unable to move.

    It was somewhat unbelievable that even with their numbers, Raven was having an easy time tearing through their ranks. It had to be known that most of these people stepped into Knight Stage, this is evident by the Energy Armament adorning their bodies. But in front of Raven''s brute strength, these armors are nothing but joke. None of them could receive a blow from him, those who tried would be sted into pieces of flesh.

    His onught continued for at least ten minutes until there''s no one left. Raven''s piercing eyes scoured the field and counted his victims, there are 312 corpses around him, adding the spy he killed earlier there are 313 in total. Raven sighed in relief.

    "Got them. That buys us at least a year or two of peace. What should I do? Should I ask to Richard to release some new pills? Clearing out the Danger Zones inside the kingdom would be a good idea as well. Ah! There''s also the expansion on the North, should I help out? Ugh¡­"

    While Raven was thinking about what to do next, he suddenly felt his head throb, causing him to nearly fall down. Thankfully, he managed to support himself using the weight of his hammer.

    "Shit! Not now! Don''t faint now!" Raven muttered, "She''ll get worried if I don''t show up."

    Raven gritted his teeth in frustration. Unbeknownst to everyone, Raven was just supressing the fatigue, he was pushing himself hard since there is an emergecy. He heaved some deep breaths in and touched the link between him and Richard.

    "Richard, how''s everything on your side? How many beasts are left?" He asked.

    He was expecting a solemn report from Richard but he was stunned when he received a different response. Unbeknownst to him, all of them were watching him and heard everything he said. The King was with them as well.

    Raven copsed, he plopped on his butt with a wonderful expression on his face. In the end, he could only smile wryly and scratch his head.

    "Well¡­ that''s embarrassing."

 Chapter 226 - Meeting

    ---

    "Goo!"

    "Yi~"

    *Giggles!*

    "Haha! You two are so cute!"

    Raven bent down and gave his siblings a kiss on the cheeks. He then resumed ying with by allowing them to pinch his face and pull his hairs while he''s holding the two of them.

    It''s been a whole week since the defense against the Beast Horde and his fight against the invaders.

    To wee the King''s return, the Final Haven Kingdom descended into a week long holiday. The whole ce was in a merry mood. Not only did they sessful in repelling the beast horde, their beloved King also came back.

    Banquets were thrown all over the ce. Booze and food were offered at a very low price, the whole was lit up with colorful lights and adorned with celebratory banners. No one was allowed to work, which sounds somewhat irresponsible but it is what it is.

    Raven fell into a two day rest after the battle. He was just too exhausted, ever since he came out of the Transmission Portal, he was just dragging his body with his sheer will. He didn''t expect the beast horde toe that early and thankfully, they came back at the right time. He was also d that the invasion from the previous timeline still happened. If not, then he might''ve no time for celebration right now.

    He used this merry mood to rx and y with his sisters, Nina and Tori. He practically never left their side as soon as he woke up. He just adores them too much and their existence gave him another reason to protect this ce with all he has.

    Raven hadn''t met Luna since that day. It would be a lie if he said that he isn''t nervous. Him chasing after her isn''t some secret, everyone who knows them knows this as well. Now, her father, the King of Final Haven Kingdom, is back and is probably already aware of this fact as well. If it''s not the Golden Knights, then it would be the Prince who''ll let him know about it. So of course, he feels a little jittery.

    He purposefully didn''t meet with Luna. It wasn''t because he was afraid, it''s because he wanted to allow their family to catch up with each other. The King had been away for a decade, a mere week won''t be enough to talk about all the things they wanted to.

    And if his instincts are correct, then he won''t have to wait that long before they meet each other.

    ***

    "How do you do, Young Raven?"

    A voice suddenly interrupted Raven''s training. He turned around and saw Old Lee smiling at him. He performed a salute and replied:

    "Professor Lee! I''m doing well. I''ve recovered fully from thest battle."

    "That''s good to hear." Old Lee nodded, "I think you know why I''m here right?"

    Seeing that knowing smile gave a jolt to Raven''s heart. A wry smile appeared in his face as he said: "I think I have an idea. But just to be sure, I would still ask why."

    "Oh! Seeing you tense up like this is rare." The old man teased, "His Majesty, the King. He wants to meet you."

    ''Here we go¡­'' Raven took a deep breath in. He then looked at Old Lee and said: "I''ll get ready first."

    Raven excused himself and took a quick bath. His heart was pounding loudly, he lost count on how many times he inwardly screamed to hopefully release his nervousness to no avail. He kept on sighing again and again like an old man. In the end, he could only smile wryly and think to himself:

    ''Has it always been this stressful? Meeting your inws, I mean.''

    ''We didn''t have this chance before due to my stupidity and uselessness. I faced with many strong enemies back then with a resolute mind but I can''t even calmly prepare myself to meet my Father-inw. What is wrong with me.''

    Raven finished his inner rituals and met up with Old Lee downstairs, he bid goodbye to his parents and sisters before they rode a carriage towards the Royal Pce. During their way, Old Lee was talking to him with some random topics. Raven thought that the old man must be distracting him to make him forget about his nervousness. Which helped, somewhat¡­

    Eventually, they reached the Pce and went off the carriage. Halfway towards the King''s office, Old Lee went his separate ways, saying that he has other matters to attend to. Raven bid him goodbye and moved on alone, he knows where to go anyway.

    It was originally the King''s office anyway. Because he was absent, it was the Prince who used the same office. He had been here a couple of times so he knows.

    If there''s any differences now, it would be the fact that no one''s guarding the office. It might be due to the King''s orders.

    Standing in front of the office, Raven took a deep breath in and knocked.

    "Come in." The King''s voice echoed from behind. Raven tensed up for a bit but he steeled his heart and entered the room.

    Closing the door behind him, he walked up several paces forward and paid a deep and respectful salute towards the King.

    "Vendrick Valorheart, here to answer Your Majesty''s summons."

    "Mn." The King nodded and epted his salute, "You may sit."

    Raven stood up from the salute and sat on the chair avable to him. As soon as he sat down, he immediately saw the King looking at him straight into his eyes. Raven stared back at him, clearly expressing his intents.

    This is the first time that he met the King this close. He used to see him from afar back in his previous life.

    He looked just like Balmung. Strong and rigid face that shows kindness, golden hair, ashen beard, bulky body and that majestic bearing.

    The stare down was broken down by a the King''s sigh. Raven saw him rest his back against his chair, his majestic bearing dropped by a couple of notches. Without these fancy clothing, if they''re not in this majestic ce, and if the king is wearing that same disguise, no one would believe that he is a King.

    "Can''t you at least show that you''re intimidated? You''re making me lose face here."

    *Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*

    Well, Raven wasn''t expecting that. "Excuse me, Your Majesty." He said while feeling his ears heating up.

    "Haha!" Alexanderughed, "Balmung is right. You do get flustered easily."

    ''I knew it! Screw you, you mean Brother-inw!'' Raven inwardly screamed.

    "Rx." Alexander said in a carefree manner. "I did not summon you here because I have any ill intents. How can I do that to the savior of my daughter and the Young Hero of our home?"

    Raven felt his face heating up. The King''s words basically confirmed it. He already caught up and learned about what happened during his absence.

    "I''d like to express my gratitude for saving my daughter not as a King, but as a father." Alexander said emotionally. "

    "I merely did what I could, Your Majesty." Raven replied in a humble tone, "Besides, I couldn''t bear to see her suffering like that when I could clearly do something about it, so there''s no need to thank me about it."

    The King paused for a brief moment and asked: "It still feels unbelievable to me. The things that you''ve done, I mean. You even faced, what remains of my foolish brother. Even the Pale Bastard, Vit''hum. Honestly, if it would''ve been someone else, they would start thinking that you''re aiming for the throne."

    Raven shivered when he heard that, he hurriedly exined: "That is not my intentions, Your Majesty. I merely wished to ease up our living conditions and to protect our home."

    "Uncle."

    "Eh?" Raven was stunned.

    "You may call me Uncle for now." Alexander said with a kind smile in his face. "No need for these formalities, it doesn''t sit well with me, besides didn''t tell you to rx? I''m not going to hurt you or anything like that."

    That made Raven a little embarrassed, but inwardly he heaved a sigh of relief. It seems that the King wasn''t opposed to them.

    "Yes, U-uncle."

    "Good." Alexander nodded, still wearing that kind smile in his face. "Lee told me that you''ve been blessed by the memories of an Elder from an old era. Is this correct?"

    "Yes, Uncle." Raven nodded in agreement, "He came from the Creed of the Sun Warriors, mostlyposed of people who worship the Sun. Their influence dated way back during the Dark Moon Era."

    "Ah, Dark Moon Era." Alexander repeated. "The time when the Kingdom faced multiple threats which caused it to nearly fall. It was a dark time ording to the records I''ve heard. If it wasn''t for¡­"

    Raven and Alexander switched their topic and mainly talked about the history of the Kingdom. Both of them enjoyed the conversation, it was like they''re taking each other as equals.

    "Anyway, I have another purpose of calling you here." Alexander said as he took out some items on top of the table. "Do you recognize some of these?"

    "T-these are...."

 Chapter 227 - Kings Luck

    ---

    "T-these are¡­"

    Raven was stunned to see the scattered items in the table.

    The King showed him five things that radiates with great ancientness. He approached one and held it.

    The first item is a circr stone. It has a smooth and shiny surface which also radiated with a maroon glow. There is a carving on the top which depicts an arm piece, a fleece to be exact. Raven''s eyes shone in splendor as he held it.

    "This one is a Spiritual Memory Stone." He stated, "A treasure that is used during the Golden Sun Era. These stones are used to keep a valuable object within. The stone will growrge and engulf the said item and shrink down, causing the item to be stored inside, a carving will then emerge on it''s surface, depicting what item is stored inside. These stones are used for things that cannot be stored within spatial rings since the rock itself could be stored inside.

    "It''s also no use for someone to steal this since owners of these stones will leave their Spiritual Marks in the stone, enabling only it''s owner to ess what''s inside. That being said, these stones as well as the items inside will be ownerless once the holder died." Raven exined.

    Alexander''s eyes brightened and said: "It''s ownerless now right?"

    "Yes, Uncle." Raven cleared his throat after that, thinking ''It still feels weird to call him that..''

    "Can you take out what''s inside?"

    Raven nodded and channeled his Chaos Force into the stone. Typically, one has to use Spiritual Energies to activate the stone but his Chaos Force is the unity of three energies: Vital, Essence and Spiritual, which enabled him to use this.

    The stone expanded to a size of a boulder, after it stopped expanding it then broke in half and revealed a beautiful golden fleece that was kept in a pristine condition, not even a speck of dust or dirt was present on it''s surface.

    Raven held the fleece and took a sharp breath in. He then spoke with a ragged breath. "Fleece of the Sun God."

    "Oh?" Alexander was intrigued.

    "This is a growth-ss treasure, Uncle." Raven said, "The Fleece of the Sun God has two traits which makes it useful. Redirect and Reflect. If any attacknded on the fleece, it allows you to redirect it to somewhere else or send the same attack to it''s user with twice the impact and power. Since it''s a growth-ss treasure, the amount of times you can use this depend on your strength." He then passed the fleece towards the King.

    Alexander''s eyes were shining as he held the fleece. ''What a phenomenal treasure!'' He thought inwardly. He praised his luck for finding such a valuable, these kinds of equipment are something that no amount of money can buy. The abilities of the fleece are life saving chances, thankfully Raven was here and knows what this is.

    He looked back at the young man in front of him and saw him not even paying attention to the fleece anymore. Instead, he was looking at the second item in the table which made Alexander smile wryly.

    The second item is an old blueprint. It was slightly faded and written in an oldnguage. Nevertheless, that wasn''t enough to stop Raven from deciphering it''s contents. After a while of brainstorming, he found out it''s contents and became immediately ecstatic.

    "A great find! Truly a great find!" Raven eximed in glee, "It''s aplete blueprint for a Construct, Uncle!"

    "A Construct?" Alexander repeated, clearly clueless about the item.

    "How to exin this¡­" Raven pondered for a bit before an idea struck his mind. "Imagine a smaller Little Stone Titan, driven by a human inside. That would be a Construct."

    The King isn''t a fool. He could already understand what this entails, so his expression was slowly lightening up.

    "This particr Blueprint shows how to create a Worker Construct. These Constructs have no offensive power, but they are particrly equipped for challenging tasks. Building or repairing walls, digging for an underground tunnel,plex construction projects, these things shines in that."

    "It says here that we have an option to make the Constructs out of Stone or Steel. There is an array formation in here which is used to control the construct, it''s not hard to understand the array itself, with enough time even beginners could learn how to drive one. We also have to construct the molds for the parts of the Construct and fuse them together. We have a lot of cksmiths in need of projects so this is suitable for them."

    After he exined, Raven once again handed the Blueprint to the King along with his own trantions for it. Once again, the King was awed. He couldn''t believe that his luck was this good.

    Raven moved on to the third object on the desk and inspected it.

    It didn''t even take him a minute to figure out what this is. He smiled brilliantly as he looked at the item in excitement. As someone who has a little knowledge about arrays and formations, he knows one when he sees one.

    "It''s a blueprint for the Golden Crops Array." Raven stated, "It''s an array focused on farming. Erecting this array in a farm would not only protect it from pests and harm, it also halves the time required for the crops to grow and raise it''s quality by one level. This array is easy to build and is not costly at all, almost anyone could afford it."

    Raven once again handed the blueprint to Alexander along with his trantions so that anyone could understand the blueprint.

    He then inspected thest two items and his glee just shot through the roof.

    "The Manual to construct a Sk and another Spiritual Memory Stone!"

    "Uncle, we have to construct the Sk as soon as possible." Raven urged, "The Sk is an array formation that allows us to have eyes on the sky."

    Raven then walked towards the map to prove his point. He crossed twenty spots across the mapped out Yellow Zone and said: "The Sk has 20 markers, once we set these markers in this general area, everything inside these markers would be revealed to us real time."

    "Lairs, demonic beast movements, hidden treasures, mineral lodes, resource bowls, and even humans. Everything will be shown to us, we won''t be blind anymore. And once we raise our strength, we can even stretch this array to even cover the few kilometers within Red Zone!"

    Even with his status as a King, Alexander lost hisposure once he heard about the revtion. His hands were trembling as he closed them to a fist. He was asking himself if he had just used a lifetime''s luck toe across such treasure.

    "Uncle, you only need to say it and I''ll dly help out with this project." Raven emotionally said.

    The King rposed himself by taking in a deep breath, even with his excitement, he had to think this through.

    "We''ll discuss itter, how about thest item?"

    "Oh right!" Raven almost forgot about that boulder sized Spiritual Memory Stone. "This is a huge Spiritual Memory Stone, unfortunately it doesn''t have a carving that shows what''s inside, which makes me think that there are a lot inside considering it''s size too. I can''t open this here, I''m afraid that the stone would expand to a sizerger than this room, so I suggest opening this outside."

    "Let''s do that then."

    Raven nodded and lead the way outside.

    He intended to open this stone on the grassy fields of the pce. On their way, they met with the Golden Knights who joined them to see the spectacle.

    Once they arrived, Raven ced the boulder sized rock down and took a deep breath in. He then roused his Chaos Force and began feeding it to the stone. He was met with a spiritual mark residue but he only snorted and it was forcefully erased.

    Faced with no obstructions, the stone sucked in his Chaos Force as it began to rapidly expand in size. The stone expanded to a size of a 50 foot, making it look like a meteor. Even the King was gaping at how big it got much less the golden knights behind him.

    Thankfully, before Raven ran out of energies, he heard the familiar clicking sound which means that the boulder was now opening.

    As the lid came off, it made a loud pressurized sound and Raven hurriedly jumped inside. Once he saw the contents, Raven''s mouth twitched as he yelled from the inside: "Uncle, your luck is way too awesome!"

    As he said that, the boulder slowly shrank in size but it didn''t enclose Raven and the items within, it just returned to it''s previous size after spitting out the items.

    The items concealed within, were revealed to be three wooden bookshelves stacked to the brim with well preserved and neatly arranged books.

    As the King and his aides were gaping with the revtions, Raven exined: "These books are Battle Arts and Law Insights from the Golden Sun Era."

    "This stone basically contained the whole inheritance of our Ancestors."

 Chapter 228 - Only Her, Only Him

    ---

    The King''s luck was just too awesome.

    The five treasures that he took out from his long adventure outside were destined to change the living conditions of the Kingdom.

    Keeping then entire inheritance of the Golden Sun Era with them, Alexander along with Raven and the Golden Knights had a brief meeting with themselves to figure out the future developments for the kingdom.

    The Worker Constructs were entrusted to Old Lee as he found this discovery too interesting, of course Raven had his inputs with this as well.

    The Golden Crops Array was entrusted to Leona and her Red Knights Brigade, they''ll be the one''s overseeing and helping with the constructions of this Array.

    The King called for Jackson since they will be a crucial part of erecting the Sk Array when it''s ready. He also summoned the Head Commander of both the Martial Department and Intelligence Department of the army for this, of course Raven could freely express his opinions about the project as well.

    As for how they''re going to use the entirety of the Golden Sun Era''s inheritance, Alexander gave this project to Raven. Giving him full authority and responsibility over the whole project, even.

    The King ced his wholehearted trust to Raven at this point. He knew that Raven have the ability to usher the Golden Age of the Kingdom so long as he was given the chance to. Of course, Raven also wanted to prove himself capable to the King. In light of this, he will make sure to ce a lot of thought on this project.

    As for the Fleece of the Sun God? The King threw it to Raven, saying that he has no need for it. Alexander busied himself after that with the help of Balmung, who initially thought that he could rx from the responsibilities since the King came back but obviously couldn''t.

    Well, the fleece was a nice treasure to have, sadly Raven has no use for it so he intended to keep it from now. Before he excused himself, Raven asked for permission if he could see Luna. The King threw him a knowing look and said:

    "No funny business until you two are old enough. Understand?"

    Raven sweated and vigorously nodded. He then went out of the King''s office and sighed. He then walked towards Luna''s room to spend some time with her. It''s been a week since hest saw her, of course Raven missed her.

    Upon entering Luna''s chambers, he frowned since he didn''t see her there. He looked around and saw her sitting on the balcony while mindlessly staring at the skies, seemingly unaware of his intrusion.

    Raven''s heart felt a jolt upon seeing her.

    She''s just too beautiful in his eyes. In his past life, he only had eyes on her and no one else. In the Divine Realm, he hade across with many kingdom-toppling beauties, women who were dubbed as fairies even in the Divine Realm, but he never looked at them the way he did with Luna. Upon her death back then, his heart died with her.

    Even now in his second life, he only and will only have eyes on her. No one else.

    A loving smile appeared on his lips. He sneakily approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, startling her in the process.

    "A-Avi!" Luna called out, even without her turning around, the warmth of his embrace was something that she could never be mistaken about.

    A blush appeared on her cheeks, her heart thumped loudly in her chest. She was weak with his touch, specially when she could feel his sturdy body behind her, wrapping her tight with a loving hug.

    "W-what are you doing here? Did you close the door? Father might see us!"

    "Hmm?" Raven hummed while burying his face on her neck, inhaling her lovely scent that captivated him so much. "Are you shy?"

    "N-no! No! It''s just that¡­" Luna couldn''t finish her words.

    What she meant to say was: ''I don''t want Father to see me melting on your embrace! He might think that I''m way too head over heels for you! Hmph!''

    Luna felt Raven chuckle behind her, he then heard him say: "Uncle and I had the talk. He knows that I love you so he gave me his blessings."

    ''Oh, dear god! H-how can he say those words so shamelessly!? His hug alone can make me panic and now I also have to deal with his straightforwardness? How do I face this?''

    "Uncle?" Luna asked in a bewildered tone.

    "Mm-hm!" Raven nodded, resting his chin on her shoulders. "It''s not Father-inw yet but hey, that''s progress already." Heughed as he yfully pinched Luna''s belly.

    The girl squirmed, feeling ticklish as he did that. Her face was too red now, but she had to admit that this is pleasant. If someone came and said they could stop time, she will be willing to stay at this moment for a long time.

    Luna felt Raven''s lips on her cheeks. She almost squealed at that point but managed to keep it in. She lovingly pped Raven''s arm.

    "Hey! So much for taking liberties!" Raven could only chuckle at her antics.

    "I missed you." Raven hugged her even tighter, burying his face on her neck. "Let''s stay like this for a while. I haven''t been with you for a week, I need my fill."

    ''He''s being so clingy! This is bad! Bad for my heart!'' Luna screamed inwardly. Struggling hard to keep herposure in his embrace.

    Eventually, Luna could only sigh and surrender. She had no idea why she''s being jittery from Raven''s advances. It''s not like she had no idea that he could be this way and it''s not like she hated it. In fact, she loved this feeling and didn''t want it to end.

    Maybe it''s due to the fact that she''s inexperienced in this category. All she knew before Raven''s arrival in her life was suffering and disappointment. As a Princess, she was treated like some sort of a treasure. Everyone was respectful yet distant.

    His arrival changed many things. She was exposed to a lot of things that she will never see or experience without him. He was her Savior, he freed her from suffering and brought color to her life. She wanted to express just how much she was thankful for him but she didn''t expect to develop feelings for him.

    At first she denied this, but the way how he treated her and looked at her gave it away. He neverpromised when it came to her, and before she knew it, she was already looking at him the same way.

    Luna knows that from that point onwards, there was no looking back. Her eyes are now fixed on him and only him. She already decided to stand beside him for the rest of her life whether he liked it or not.

    This is an unexplored category in her life. One that she''s willing to experience beside him.

    None of them said a thing, nor that they needed to in the first ce. They just enjoyed thefortable silences surrounding them along with the warmth of each other''s arms and the gentle breeze of the wind that brought peace andfort to the both of them.

    Raven lifted his head and spun Luna around to look directly onto her eyes. The girl felt her heart speeding up and her face heating up under his gaze but she didn''t look away. She found her self lost in his beautiful eyes.

    "Be my girlfriend, please?"

    Luna struggled so hard to prevent herself from fainting right then and there. She dreamt about him asking or saying these words at least dozens of times but that wasn''t alone to prepare her for the real deal. She knew that there wille a day that he''s going to ask this question to her but she wasn''t expecting it to be today.

    Luna bit her lips and nodded, her vision turning a bit blurry from tears forming at the corner of her eyes. She had no idea why she was feeling so emotional but something inside of her says that she had been waiting for him to ask those words for a very long time.

    "Don''t just nod." Raven frowned, "I want to hear you say it."

    Luna pouted but relented in the end. She wrapped her arms around his neck as a loving smile formed on her lips.

    "Yes. I''ll be your girlfriend." Luna chuckled, "Your my boyfriend from now on. Happy?"

    Raven grinned widely and nodded, he kissed Luna''s forehead and replied. "Very. Very happy."

    The two stared at each other for a while, that''s until Raven lowered his head and imed Luna''s lips.

    Raven pulled her closer to him while Luna tightened her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as well. The two shared an amateurish but passionate kiss, expressing what they felt for each other using bodynguage.

    The two broke from the kiss and felt slightly awkward, Luna melted on his embrace while inwardly squealing. Raven smiled from the bottom of his heart and thanked his lucky stars that he was given a much needed second chance.

    This time, no one will be able to take her away from him.

 Chapter 229 - Godfather

    ---

    "Elder Ent! It''s me again! I brought you some guests."

    Raven yelled towards the dense forest in front of them. From underground, dense tree roots emerged and stopped in front of them. Raven climbed through one and nodded to the people behind him. Seeing no harm in doing so, they followed and as soon as all of them got on the tree roots, it began moving and transporting them into somewhere.

    Their surroundings blurred, it didn''t took them long before they arrived at their destination. In front of a massive tree that has a facial feature on it''s body.

    The tree roots stopped and gently ced them down in front of the tree. Raven bowed and looked at the people behind him.

    "Sit down and meditate, you''ll know the rest."

    Alexander, Balmung and Luna nodded to him and followed what he said, Raven then retreated to the nearby shades and sat down to review some things for his project while the trio have their little reunion with their Godfather.

    Yes, Raven did promised to bring the Kind Ent that he will bring them here. And today was the day he fulfilled that promise.

    Raven wanted this to be a surprise to them so he didn''t tell them about the Ent''s identity as the Godfather of Alexander and the Great Godfather Balmung and Luna, he only told them that he''s bringing them somewhere secret.

    Looking at the files in front of him, Raven smiled wryly.

    "I know Uncle said that I have full authority on this project. I could just set some rules for them to follow before they could get a chance to im those battle arts. But knowing Uncle, I know he''s expecting more from me."

    "I''m confident of delivering that, but what I have in mind is aplete reform of our social system. This is going to affect many territories and some people might be hesitant to wee these changes. But if this gets approved, then the kingdom would truly prosper."

    Sure, Raven could just ce some thoughts on the project and be done with it. But he didn''t want to miss the chance for aplete reform either.

    The time is ripe for a change. Raven knows it''s risky but he had full confidence to this n of his.

    The Golden Sun Era''s inheritance, his knowledge about Spirit Entities and the Three Known Paths. Just these alone could create massive waves in the Kingdom. If he could set parameters and reform the educational system along with it, then within a year, the kingdom will see a huge boost in its forces. If he could implements some rules and regtions with it, then in just five years no beast horde will be able to threaten the kingdom. This world would be centered to them.

    But Raven didn''t want to get too far ahead of himself. For now, he should work onpiling his knowledge about Spirit Entities.

    ***

    As Raven was busypiling his knowledge about Spirit Entities, he suddenly felt a pair of delicate arms wrapping around his waist followed by a familiar scent that he oh so loved.

    A smile formed on his lips as he didn''t even need to turn around to know who this is.

    "What are those?" Luna asked as she rested her head on Raven''s shoulders while hugging him from behind. Raven already informed her about the project that he''s working on.

    He also gave her the Fleece of the Sun God for her to use since he didn''t want it. At first she refused it but Raven insisted so she could only ept.

    "Spirit Entity Records." Raven replied as he pecked on her cheeks. He gently pulled her closer as she showed her what he was working on. "I''m cing everything I know about them here, how to properly identify them, their appearance, history, benefits they could get from acknowledging them and so on. I''mpiling everything I know on these papers and n on publishing them into Book Volumester."

    Luna appeared to be interested as she read some of his inputs.

    "There''s a lot here." Shemented as she went through the stacks of paper, "How many have kinds have you written so far?"

    "About a thousand." Raven said which made Luna gasp, "Don''t be surprised. That''s just enough for one volume. There''s at least 100,000 that I know. This is going to keep me upied for a while."

    That was a staggering number. When he''s finished with this, there would be a total of 100 Volumes just for Spirit Entities alone.

    "That''s a lot! Are you sure that this will be needed?" Luna asked out of concern, to her it seems that he''s overexerting himself for this project even though he didn''t need to.

    Raven of course knows what she''s thinking so he merely smiled and said: "It is. Don''t worry, you''ll see why in the future. I can do this."

    Luna remained silent, Raven noticed this and asked her what''s wrong, she replied: "I''m just a little bit upset because I can''t help you with this."

    "You being here''s enough." Raven told her in a heartfelt manner, Luna blushed and yfully pped his arms, thinking that he''s teasing her again. "How''s your meeting with you Great Godfather?"

    "It was nice." Luna smiled sweetly, "I didn''t know that we have another piece of family here. He told me many things about great grandfather. He said that¡­"

    Luna then went on to retell the stories that the Kind Ent told her before. It basically the same thing that he already knew beforehand, nevertheless Raven allowed his girlfriend to tell the story and became satisfied listening to her speak.

    It seems that the Kind Ent decided to talk to them separately.

    After a while, Raven felt something so he turned around. Luna tilted her head and asked him what''s wrong.

    "They''re done." He said while standing up. Luna followed suit and waited for her father and brother.

    As Raven said, the two woke up from their meditation and looked around to see the two waiting for them.

    "Thank you for brining us here, Avi." Alexander said as they descended from the main body of the Ent.

    "It''s nothing, Uncle." Raven replied, "Besides, I received some blessings from Elder so I ought to do something in return. Should you want to meet with him, just remember the path we took earlier, it''s not too far from the kingdom anyway."

    The King nodded and thanked him once again. They then asked the elder to send them back and afterwards, they returned to the kingdom.

    The next following days for the kingdom had been rather busy.

    With the projects that the king passed down, many forces were mobilized. cksmiths, alchemists,ir hunters, the royal army, soldiers, everyone was busy due to the workload but nobodyined.

    Raven had to participate on some meetings for these projects since the King had given him the freedom to express his opinions about them.

    At first, everyone was skeptical about his participation. None doubted his prowess as a young knight due to his fame but in terms of management and other areas? They couldn''t help but be doubtful of his abilities.

    But this quickly died down as soon as he started expressing his opinions. Every single word of his removed their doubts and quickly elevated his position, since then no one showed any doubts about his abilities anymore. They even started taking the initiative to seek for his advices sometimes which widened their horizons and made them realize that there is a sky beyond a sky.

    Raven also made sure to work on his own project. One week was all that he need toplete hisption of Spirit Entity topics. He already sent it to the publishing shops to turn them into books that he willter on show to some people. Of course, he also made sure to remind the people he worked with to keep this under the wraps first. It is not yet the time to reveal this.

    This, on top of his daily training and spending time with Luna kept him upied. He didn''t want topromise and choose one over the other, even at the premise of him losing his sleeping schedule.

    He also introduced Luna as his girlfriend to Luis and Eva. Sufficed to say that the two was extremely satisfied with his choices. They kept reminding him to take care of her properly and never hurt her or else they won''t know how to exin themselves to the King. Raven could only smile wryly at this point, as if he could do that to her.

    Luna also fawned over his twin sisters. She kept ying with them until sun down. She immediately treated them like her own sisters. Luna always wanted a younger sibling but sadly she couldn''t have one. Fortunately, Nina and Tori was here to keep herpany and the twins were actually very fond of her. They kept kissing her alternatingly much to the princess'' joy.

    It was obvious that the way they treated Luna was different with Raven. When they''re with her, they kept kissing and talking to her.. But when they''re with Raven, all they do is to pull and pinch his face and hairs.

 Chapter 230 - Talks

    ---

    "Fascinating¡­"

    Inside arge study hall, Raven could be found sitting in front of a long and wide table. There are several books on top of the table and two people sitting on the opposite sides of it. One middle aged man and one old man.

    These people are Ian and Randy Gregory, the Headmaster and Vice Headmaster of the Heavenly Cloud Institute. Father and brother to Paul.

    It''s been a month since Raven guided the Lightshield''s to the Kind Ent. A few things happened at that point.

    First and foremost, Raven just broke through. He''s now on his 2nd Transformation, he had no doubts about facing a Veteran Realm Expert and win without breaking a sweat. This is due to his upromising attitude to never stop training even with his busy schedule.

    He also knows that his friends are doing their best to stand at the same area as him, which gratified him to no end.

    Next is about the changes in the Kingdom.

    If one stepped within the Outer Walls, they will see some hulking metal that''s moving some heavy stuff using it''s hands. Those are the first batches of the Worker Constructs who were sent to help out with the expansion. At first, many were terrified by the constructs, thinking that they were some new beasts that''s here to attack the kingdom. But once they saw that it was being driven by a human, it became the talk of the streets. Many were even making some inquiries on where to sign up to pilot one.

    The Golden Crops Array have been showing it''s effects as well. From reports, there are some sudden increase in crops of the best quality in themon market. What''s more is that the prices of those goods are extremely cheap too. This news propagated and caused some tumultuous waves in the kingdom. Everyone was fighting over for the quality goods but what they didn''t notice is that, no matter how rowdy they got, there is a constant supply for those goods. In fact, the prices of lesser quality goods were lowered as well, allowing the poor to afford them and feed themselves and their family.

    As for the Sk Array, it''s also nearingpletion. Making the markers needed some time to finish, so far there''s only two out of twenty of the said markers, but since the kingdom is focused on it''s production then it wouldn''t take long now. Jackson and the Lair Hunters had been lurking on the Yellow Zone to search for the best location to ce the markers so that when the markers are ready, they will just have to ce them and be done with it.

    That leaves Raven and his project. Which is the reason why he asked for a meeting with Ian.

    "Who knew that we lost so much inheritance and history after the Dark Moon Era." Randymented in a passionate manner, unable to extricate himself from reading the Volumes of Spirit Entities that Raven showed them.

    "It''s not that hard to imagine really." Ian added, "During the Dark Moon Era, the Kingdom was nearly destroyed. We lost many people and records back then. Thankfully, we managed to recover some of it. We all have you and the King to thank for that matter." Ian said while also ncing at some pages.

    "A mere coincidence, nothing more." Raven replied humbly, "I received immense benefits from the Elder''s inheritance, I ought it to him for giving back to our home."

    "That being said, Brat." Ian raised his brow and called out. "You''re aiming for a reform of some sorts, am I correct?"

    Raven smiled and replied: "I can''t really hide it from you huh, Uncle?" He chuckled, which caused the Old Man to grin. "Yes, but I''ll keep the details to myself for now."

    Ian shook his head and sighed. "Very well. I have trust in you judgement. It''s you youngsters'' era now, us old one''s should wee change. If you pull this off, the you will be the leader of the new generation. I''m hoping to see the Golden Age before I die, ya'' hear?"

    "I''ll do my best, Uncle." Raven replied while smiling, "Also, I would like to ask for your permission for one more thing."

    "What is it?"

    "As Core Students of the Institute. Please allow us to clear the Danger Zones of the Kingdom."

    There was a sudden silence inside the room as made his deration. Ian and Randy stared at him deeply, searching for any traces of fear or hesitation. In the end they couldn''t find any. Ian could only sigh in defeat and say:

    "If you could make their guardians agree with you then I''ll agree as well. I need some letter along with their seal as a proof."

    As soon as he said that, Raven took out five letters stamped with n seals and handed it over to him, causing Ian''s mouth to twitch and Randy to smile helplessly.

    No words were needed to be said at this point, the two could obviously tell that he came prepared. Even the King''s Royal Stamp could be seen in one of the letters. There''s none for Paul just yet since Ian has yet to make one.

    "Go and be careful. You kids are the future of the Kingdom. Don''t go losing your life in there." Ian sighed and waved his hand.

    "Thank you, Uncle. I promise we''ll be safe." Raven saluted in gratitude. "I''ll leave the Volumes to you. If you want to have other Instructors to read it, then don''t hold back. Just keep it under the wraps for now."

    After saying that, Raven saluted once more and stepped out of them room. The reason why he allowed Ian to read the Volumes is because he and the institute will be a major part of the reform he''s nning. In fact, they''ll y a crucial role in it so he had to make some pre-emptive moves.

    Now all that''s left is to clear the Danger Zones, and there''s nothing standing between his way and the reform.

    ***

    "Hey there, Beautiful." Raven greeted Luna as she arrived. The girl smiled and held his hand.

    "Hey there, Handsome." She ced a kiss on his lips and asked: "Is it time?"

    Raven nodded to her and sped her hand tightly, in the end he really couldn''t prevent her from participating in this.

    "Hold on, hold on, hold on!!" The two shivered a bit when they heard Ellen''s voice behind them.

    They turned around and looked at her. She in turn had her hands on her waist as she looked at them holding hands.

    "What''s wrong?" Luna asked in a confused tone.

    "What do you mean ''What''s wrong?'', are you guys forgetting to tell us something?" Ellen raised her brows in annoyance.

    "Oh! So that''s what you mean." Raven chuckled as he realized why she was making a fuss. "I mean, it should be obvious by now, knowing that you guys saw us kiss and all¡­"

    "But yeah, we''re official." Raven said as he gently pulled the blushing Luna closer to his body and kissed the top of her head.

    *Squealing*

    The girls squealed and hurriedly pulled Luna away from him. The boys then surround Raven and started punching his sides.

    "Haha! Congrats, Dude!" Paul chided as he swung his arms around him and yfully punched his sides. "So, how far have you guys gotten?"

    "Do you want to die?"

    "Haha. Nope! My bad." Paul sweated nervously as he felt Raven''s deadly gaze. Mark''s hand flew towards the back of his head.

    "You idiot We''re too young for that!" Mark reprimanded, he then looked at Raven and asked: "Is His Majesty aware of this."

    Raven smiled and said: "Yeah. My parents knows about it as well."

    "Nice." Mark said while raising a thumbs-up, "Treat her well, or else your head will be severed from your shoulders."

    "You didn''t have to go there but yeah, I certainly will. I waited too long for this." Raven smiled, earning a grin from the two.

    "How about you then?" Raven asked Mark, causing him to raise his brow in confusion. "Don''t give me that look. When are you going to tell her what truly happened back then?"

    Mark''s mood instantly dampened when he said this.

    "And you?" Raven sighed and looked at Paul, "When are you going to tell her that it was you?"

    Paul looked down, his usual attitude was gone and there was a trace of helplessness in his face.

    Raven shook his head once again. He wanted to help them out for this situation as well but his efforts would be wasted if these guys don''t want to help themselves.

    It was clear that the history of these six people goes way back. The two are keeping something hidden, and if they don''t want to face it, the Raven could only respect their decision.

    "I''m not forcing you." Raven said, "But you lost them once. If you don''t want that to happen again then consider doing something about it."

    The two were silent on his words, they didn''t know what to say and Raven didn''t want to really force it. Besides, they have other important matters at hand.

    "Alright. Let''s talk business people.." Raven pped his hands and called out. "Who''s ready to conquer the Danger Zones?"

 Chapter 231 - Danger Zones

    ---

    "Alright, make sure to pay attention to your safety guys. Don''t rush it. You can always retreat if problem arises. Understood?"

    Raven reminded solemnly as they finished their little discussion before going inside the Danger Zones. The team nodded and took his words by heart.

    "Okay, good luck everyone. Let''s go!"

    As soon as he said that, the team dispersed into different directions. Anne summoned her Gale Falcon, Luna rode her Pegasus, Mark shot forward as a lightning and Paul rode a Warhorse.

    Raven himself turned into a blur as he moved like a phantom. He gently sighed as he focused on the mission.

    Six people, six Danger Zones. If this goes well, then by the time they''re done, these Danger Zones inside the kingdom will be no more.

    Paul''s Target is the Immersion Forest. The same ce where the Inner Court''s Biannual Examinations had taken in ce. It''s a haunted forest that haunts everyone who enter it by showing them life-like illusions. From temptations to psychological traumas, everyone experiences different kinds of illusions inside but what''s even more fearsome is that as one goes deeper into the forest, the illusion will be more and more convincing. If one sumbed to the illusions, they will in turn be nourishment to the forest.

    Mark''s target is the Hills of Gravity. It''s dreadful ce where gravity multiplies as one goes deeper. There are a total of nine hills in there. In order to reach the goal, Mark had to traverse each hill one by one in record time since if he couldn''t, then it will spit him out at the starting line. Many had tried to conquer this ce but failed due to the increasing gravity as they go. Some were even ttened into a meat paste in this area that''s why many avoided stepping inside.

    Ellen''s target is the Field of Perpetual Chill. A ce that doesn''t permit any kind of normal mes to exist. This is a danger zone that would test Ellen''s patience and endurance. The ce gets colder the further one goes, while it is not snowing inside, the chilling winds could make one frozen to the bones. It is also unknown if there are other kinds of lifeforms inside since no one managed to go far inside the field.

    Anne''s Target is the 100 Stone Labyrinth. A dreadful maze that might perpetually trap someone if they''re not careful. The Labyrinth has a total of 100 Stones, each stones requires one to solve some kind of a riddle. If the answered the wrong thing, the maze will spit them out in the starting line and shift positions. Anne''s goal here is to answer all 100 riddles without any mistakes in order to conquer the ce.

    Luna''s target is the Dead Man''s Mansion. A haunted house, per se. Many horror stories of the kingdom originated from this ce. Some actually did happen while others are just fake ones. Needless to say, the ce won''t be famous for nothing. Many people were skeptical at first but once they came into close proximity of the mansion, they started seeing things which made their hairs stood up from its roots. Many people don''t know the deal with this mansion so it''s Luna''s mission to unfold it''s mystery and discover how to conquer it.

    As for Raven''s target...

    "Good day, Young Hero Raven. What can I do for you?" A guard faced Raven and asked.

    "Good day as well, I''m going to the 100 Demon ughterhouse."

    The guard along with his aplices who were stationed nearby were stunned with his words. Clearly they weren''t expecting him to throw himself into the Danger Zone.

    "With all due respect, Young Hero." Another guard chimed in, "You do know that this is a Danger Zone right?"

    "I do." Raven nodded, "I n on training there. Can you let me pass?"

    The guards looked at each other in dismay, they thought that Raven was being arrogant and clearly underestimating the Danger Zone.

    "Young Hero, we don''t mean to make things difficult for you. But this ce is just too dangerous." One guard stepped forward and exined, "This ce is filled with corruption and depravity. Many died upon entering, the people who reached the First Demon Room could be counted on one hand. We witness many people walk in and either died or retreat with missing limbs, trauma or became demented in the process due to the sheer bloodlust this ce exudes."

    "This ce is filled with death and decay. We have seen tons of rotting corpses and skeletons even from this far. Sometimes those who became demented will throw some innards to us, some even tried escaping the Containment Zone, but was fortunately yed by us. If you''re going in with a half-hearted attitude then please do forgive us but we would rather offend you than allow you to lose your life in this ce."

    This was the captain of the squad who spoke this time. As soon as he finished speaking, he stood tall in front of Raven exuded his Knightly Aura as well as his suffocating killer intent. It was then followed by the rest of his squad who released their own auras as well.

    Raven smiled. He looked at every single one of them and inwardly praised the slight breeze of their auras.

    Without a doubt, their auras might deter some of those who had a weaker heart. But to him, this is not even a suppression, more like a light breeze that makes himfortable and somewhat enthusiastic. So much so that he began speaking.

    "I revealed the ploy of the Mort Family''s crimes. On my way there, I believe everyone saw my kill at least 100 people who are either Veterans or Knights. I held all of them back on my own until back up arrived. I am at the Warrior Stage at that point."

    *Boom!*

    Thebined auras and killing intent that the stationed guards exuding was overwhelmed by Raven''s own aura. Everyone who was exposed to his aura had their eyes constricting as they unknowingly summoned their weapons and resist the rising pressureing off of Raven''s body. The captain of the guards, who''s receiving the full burnt of his pressure was sweating coldly and his instincts were screaming danger and urging him to run away.

    Unfortunately, Raven''s just starting.

    *Boom!*

    This time, a suffocating ck aura rose from Raven''s body. Majority of the guards were already on their knees, forget about mustering courage to stand up, they can''t even breathe properly in his presence.

    "Just recently, I also ughtered 300 strong invaders from the ck Curtain Guild. Every single one of them could stand toe to toe towards the likes of you, yet everyone died under the weight of my hammer. I faced them alone and none of them even managed to touch the hem of my clothes. I was at the peak of Warrior Realm that time."

    *Boom!*

    Raven didn''t hold back anymore and his released all the aura and killing intent he was hiding. His suffocating pressure almost made the guards lose control of their dder functions. Every single one of them was trembling, even the guard captain who was standing tall and proud one moment ago was on his knees, breathing heavily under the mighty aura that Raven exudes. He tried mustering up his strength to at least remain standing but he couldn''t.

    Raven was the only one standing, he didn''t even made any movements at all. He just released his aura and everybody was on their knees. His cold gaze looked down to every single one of them as he continued saying:

    "I just recently broke through and stepped into the Veteran Realm. I''m fifteen years old. From your words earlier, am I safe to assume that the likes of you are challenging me?"

    An enormous hammer appeared in Raven''s hand. He swung it to his shoulders and looked intently at every single one of the guards here.

    No one could say a thing. Not even the guard captain for that matter. He was somewhat regretting his blunder earlier. The captain was aware of Raven''s legends, those who hadn''t heard of them are living under a rock at this point. Even so, he never really witnessed just how Raven was able to achieve all of that, inwardly a part of him denies these ims but now, he was thoroughly convinced.

    Raven walked past all of them, still radiating with that suffocating pressure. He took a couple of steps forward under the watchful gazes of the crowd. Once he reached a certain spot, he raised his hammer using one hand and swung it down.

    *Boom!*

    A mighty pir which took a shape of a close fist descended not too far from where he was standing. The rest heard a squelching sound and when they looked over, they saw some ttened flesh and bones.

    "Hmph!" A snort rolled off from Raven''s mouth, "Curiosity kills, little worms. Do remember that on your next life."

    Raven then walked forward and left the ce, disappearing into the haunted woods of the 100 Demon ughterhouse.

    Seeing his capabilities in person, the guard captain came into the conclusion that¡­

    He will notst a single swing from this person. He couldn''t and none of his subordinates could.. He was very certain of that.

 Chapter 232 - 100 Demon Slaughterhouse

    ---

    100 Demon ughterhouse.

    A Danger Zone which is filled with death and decay.

    There are many tales as to how this ce turned out to be like this. Some said that it was the work of the ck Curtain Guild, others think that it''s due to natural urrence, some even said that it started from the Royal Family. But whatever the origins of this ce is, no one''s interested anymore since they won''t even step inside this ce.

    Raven knew about this ce. He had once investigated it along with his father during his past life.

    ording to the people they interviewed, the ughterhouse is in the depths of the woods. It used to be a factory of processed meat but somewhere along the way, their products turned from cattle meat to human meat.

    100 Demon Butchers, or so they say, are present and lurking around the ughterhouse. They attack anyone they see, be it invaders, animals or even other Demon Butchers. The people they interviewed described their appearances as such: Bald, big-bellied, naked upper body, muscr arms and wears a blood-stained aprons while holding a pair of Butcher''s Knife or cleavers.

    Some said that inside the ughterhouse, these butchers are immortal. Some imed to have killed them but saw them stand back up, eat their own flesh and regenerate them in a blink of an eye. They said that the butchers don''t feel pain, at some point they''re even asking for it. They would cut down their own fingers, groan in glee and eat them like candy, and since they regeneration is absurd, they would repeat the same process over and over again until they are satisfied.

    And if they could treat themselves like that, nothing needs to be said for their victims.

    This is why many of those who entered this ce resented evering here. The trauma they received is enough to haunt them for the rest of their lives. It was pure carnage inside, and if two butchers saw one victim at the same time, the torture would just increase by twofold.

    At some point, some criminals even fled to this ce. Due to the reason that even the Royal Guards are wary of this ce, they thought that this is a safe ce for them. Theymitted atrocities so that got them thinking that whatever they will witness inside this ce won''t affect them in any way, shape or form.

    What a foolish idea.

    In the end, the ckness of their heart and the influence of the surrounding carnage, corrupted them into a demented state where they started acting like those butchers. A shame that unlike the official butchers of this ce, they aren''t immortals. They could be killed.

    A good example were the ones Raven ttened into meat paste earlier.

    None that existed inside this ce are innocent. If they are, then dying by Raven''s hand could be considered as setting them free from this atrocious fate. Like what the guards said before¡­

    This ce is not for those who don''t have a firm heart and strong will.

    If anyonee in here with a half-assed attitude and unprepared for they''re about to see, then they will be corrupted into a demented person faster than they could realize it.

    ''I hope I didn''t take that to the heart.'' Raven thought as he strutted inside the dead forest. ''They were asking for proof of strength, I showed it to them. It''s very unlikely that they will grant me entry without me disying some confidence.''

    He didn''t really wanted offend those guards. He knows that they''re just looking after his safety and he could appreciate that. He doubted that they will make way for him through words so he had to disy some of his background. Once hees out of this ce, he''ll apologize. But for now, he had other matters that needs his attention.

    *Boom!*

    He swung his hammer once again, causing a fist-shape pir to descend nearby his location. At the point of impact, he once again ttened some curious criminals watching him. He didn''t even need to look at them one by one to know their intentions, from the thick killing intent they exuded, he already know what they wanted from him. And he''s not giving it to them.

    Thankfully, his strength experienced a massive boost after that 1-year training inside the Ancient Royal Grounds and through his recent breakthrough.

    The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer had unlocked it''s second form during his training in the Bloody Mary Falls. Ten Phantom Fist is what it''s called.

    Ten Phantom Fist is what those fist-shaped pirs are. Every swing of his hammer would be followed by a massive fist that would cause destruction. If Raven wanted to, he could summon ten fist descending at once to thoroughly crush anyone he''s facing. Each fist is as heavy as the hammer itself.

    Of course, this has some drawbacks as well. First, the hammer was heavier but due to Raven''s body strength, he hardly notices this and he could swing the hammer like some twig anyway. Second, each attack he does in this form would cost him his Chaos Force. He could still revert the hammer back onto it''s base form and just use his sheer brute strength to plow his way through this ce but for a higher efficiency, he decided to use the second form of the hammer.

    One could tell what hammer form Raven using from they glow on the hammer itself. In it''s base form, the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer is just a huge hunk of metal attacks to a narrow handle, making it look like a hammer. On it''s second form, the carvings on the handle will light up, ten glowing lights representing the Ten Phantom Fist. So long as he have enough Chaos Force to attack, the hammer stays on it''s second form.

    After walking for a bit more, and finding some more curious worms. Raven eventually saw the ughterhouse.

    The strong smell of rotting flesh and decay immediately assaulted his nose. He could also feel the density of killing intent within. It was so thick to the point that it was starting to manifest as a maroon aura around ughterhouse. In fact, once he activated his Crystal Sky Eyes, he could clearly see it''s maddening image.

    It takes form of an enormous skull, ring at anyone thatid eyes on it. Tendrils of red flew from its mouth, fusing with its surrounding and corrupting anything it touches.

    Raven could hear faint whispers in his ears. Telling him to kill to his heart''s content, drink his victim''s blood and chew on their flesh, promising him perpetual life and glory in the name of ughter.

    Sadly, no matter how these voiced tempted him. Raven is absolutely immune against it. He didn''t even need to be on guard, the second this voices starts to enchant him, his ''Will'' will immediately shut it down crush it to nihility.

    What a joke. Raven''s soul was forged after countless despairs and battle. This tiny wisp of enchanting voice is nothingpared to what he came across before in the Divine Realm. Comparing this from those is just an insult to thetter. This is nothing but a mere wisp of air for Raven.

    "Oh?" Raven raised his brow in surprise. "They sent a weing party for me. How nice."

    Entrance of the ughterhouse flew wide open, instantly three hulking figures walked forward reeking with a thick scent of blood.

    "Huhuhuhuhu."

    "Buhihihihi!"

    Strange giggles and cries came out from their mouth. Those sounds were enough to make kids cry for days end.

    Raven sized them up one by one. Bald heads, naked upper bodies, big bellies, blood soaked aprons, meat cleavers on hands. There''s no mistaking this. The Demon Butchers came to wee him.

    "Okay. Let''s see if the rumors are true."

    Raven tightened the grip on his hammer and did a mighty swing.

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    Three phantom fist descended, one for each butcher. Raven didn''t even stepped away from his spot and he already ttened them into meat pastes.

    But if that was the end of that, then this will pose no challenge to him at all..

    Under his watchful gaze, he saw their ttened body wiggle around and emit some gurgling sounds. They then crept up and reformed into a human shape. Then the regeneration kicked in, in less than a minute the butchers were back to their old self and was emitting those hair raising sounds once again.

    Theyughed at him and dashed forward in a speed that is unbelievable for their sizes. Raven calmly evaded their advances but never underestimated their blows.

    These Demon Butchers are not some sparring partners. They areing to do some serious harm and if Raven isn''t careful, then he will surely lose a limb or two from these guys. That would obviously be bad.

    Once again, Raven attacked and ttened them into meat pastes. This time, he unfolded his observation techniques without holding back and watched the entire process without missing a single beat. As soon as they reformed for a second time, they dashed once again and attacked Raven with no remorse.

    Despite that, Raven''s eyes were gleaming.. A cold smile surfaced to his face as he said: "So that''s what''s going on."

 Chapter 233 - Kid

    ---

    "So that''s what''s going on."

    Raven chuckled coldly as he calmly evaded the charging butchers. Instead of ying around with them, Raven went past them and lured them inside the ughterhouse where they obviously followed.

    Once inside, Raven''s nose was immediately assaulted by the pungent smell inside but he ignored it, he then purposefully made amotion upon his entry, attracting another two butchers who were inside the first room. Raven checked every corner of the room with his observation skills to see if he missed any butchers. Seeing that there''s only five of them here, Raven then went to confirm if his guesses are correct.

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    With one mighty swing of his hammer, five phantom fists descended and smashed the butchers into meat pastes. After the deed was done, Raven unfolded his observation skills once more and watched their regeneration with rapt attention.

    What''s left of their bodies, started wriggling like jelly. Blood started coagting and forming a human shape, next came the bones and innards as they mended themselves, then the skin and finally their breathing. After they opened their eyes, they red hatefully at Raven, something that was clearly different from what they showed earlier.

    "Hoh?'' Raven sneered, "Hate that I found out your secrets pretty fast? Well, that brings me joy soe! Want to kill me right? Let''s see if you have the ability to do so."

    The four butchers, yes four, charged at him with malice, raising their cleavers to hack down on him.

    Raven already unfolded the mystery behind their so called ''Immortality''. The concept was pretty simple. No matter how much one kills them, it would be useless unless they do it in batches. These butchers are not genuine immortals, their bodies just don''t rot and their blood doesn''t dry off nor being absorbed by the ground whenever they died, it is manipted by the consciousness present at the ughterhouse, a will that yearns for endless ughter and carnage.

    Through that Will, their bodies will reform and they will once again, but this Will cannot go against the Heavenly Laws and could only bypass them through some loopholes.

    Inside this so called First Demon Room, there is in fact, only one Demon Butcher. The ''Will'' of this ughterhouse turned them into an artificial humans, capable of cloning themselves. But once all of the clones died at the same time, they will lose one clone. However, the strength of the lost clone will be evenly dispersed throughout the rest of the reforming clones. This will go on until there''s only one left, which the original Demon Butcher.

    At this state, this Demon Butcher will have recovered it''s original strength before the cloning procedure, making them more challenging to face but could also genuinely die in this state.

    This is the secret behind this 100 Demon ughterhouse.

    "Human!" The Demon Butcher called out after going back to it''s original state. "I hate you!!!"

    It''s roars were treated like nothing by Raven, in fact he even smiled and said: "Aww, that''s so sweet of you. Thanks."

    "I will kill you!"

    *Boom!*

    Before it could even move, Raven swung his hammer down and smashed it into a meat paste.

    "Noisy."

    Raven uttered with a dense chill in his voice. He then saw what''s left of the Demon Butcher dissipated into the wind. The smell of rot and decay dissipated on the First Demon Room as well as the thick bloodlust apanying it. Raven sighed and sat down to recover.

    He didn''t lose too much energy dealing with the first Demon Butcher, nevertheless he still ought to be careful. At first, he doubted if the name of this ce is just an exaggeration, but seeing that there really is One Demon Butcher at the First Demon Room. It should be a trend moving forward to this ce. If this continues, then his battles would be harder so he have to make sure that he stayed at his optimal condition all the time. He can never be too careful amongst these creatures.

    ***

    "Haah¡­"

    Paul exhaled a mouthful of foul air. He shook his head and cleared his mind off.

    As he go through the Immersion Forest, the illusions he was facing were bing more and more troublesome. His usual attitude, which is goofy and active, is now nowhere to be seen. There''s only solemnness in his voice as he walked forward while keeping watch of his surroundings.

    Each step he took made the ground cave in ever so slightly, this isn''t because he was heavy nor the ground being too soft, it is because the soil here is alive. If one stand in one ce for a long time, the soil will start swallowing their bodies and would digest them to feed itself. This is why the name ''Immersion Forest'' doesn''t only apply to the immersive illusions this forest gave to it''s invaders, it also applies to the ground as well.

    The Immersion Forest is at least five kilometers in diameter. ording what Raven told him, he just have to keep on moving forward until he reaches the core of the forest, he shouldn''t be able to miss is as it was very obvious. There was a faint yellowish light in the depths of the forest, seemingly beckoning anyone toe over. That''s his destination.

    *Weng!*

    Paul immediately halted on his steps. He looked forward and saw an iing wave of yellow light. Paul too a deep breath and did no efforts to defend himself. He allowed this yellow light to wash over his body and waited.

    Once he opened his eyes, he felt somewhat lost. He was standing inside a brightly lit hall filled with bookshelves. The table in front of him were filled with documents and letters, he unconsciously picked on up and saw a seal with a sign on it''s surface.

    Paul Gregory, Dean of the Heavenly Cloud Institute.

    As soon as he read that line, something inside of him buzzed. He felt confused for a second but he ignored that feeling. Suddenly, the doors of his office flew wide open and a small figure could be seem rushing towards him.

    The boy had a messy blonde locks, and a pair of auburn eyes. He was adorable, his cheeks were filled with baby fat, his limbs were a bit skinny but he had a bloated belly which added points towards his cuteness.

    Paul felt an indescribable closeness to this kid. He didn''t even notice that he was smiling as he anticipated the boy to rush towards him.

    "Haha!" The boyughed merrily as he ran towards Paul and yelled: "Daddy! I''m here! I miss you."

    "Come here, baby." Paulughed as well, he felt that buzz inside of him once again but he was too happy to notice it. He ced the kid on hisp and showered him with kisses. The boy giggled since Paul''s beard was tickling him. But he did nothing to stop him. "Daddy missed you as well. Give me a kiss."

    The boy giggled once more and kissed his cheeks. Paul''s heart swelled with love as he felt this. He lovingly pinched the boy''s nose and asked: "How''s your day?"

    "Good!" The boy answered actively, "Mama took me to y with Justin and Angelo! We flew kites and eat sandwiches."

    "Hoh! When did you learn how to fly a kite?" Paul asked as he looked at the boy''s eyes.

    "Just today!" The boy answered, "Grandpa Morel taught me how to!"

    "That''s nice." Paul smiled and ruffled his hair, "Next time, when Daddy''s not busy I''ll fly a kite with you, okay?"

    "Really?" The boy asked, eyes sparkling as he felt excited about the idea. The expectant look on the boy''s eyes made Paul''s heart ache, he knew that he wasn''t spending enough time for his son.

    "Of course! Daddy will certainly finish his work and fly a kite with you. You don''t know this but your Uncle Mark and Uncle Raven never won against me whenever we flew kites."

    "Really! Wow! Wow! It''s settled then! Don''t you forget about it! I''m gonna go tell Mom!" The boy kissed Paul''s cheeks as he jumped from hisp and skipped his way out of his office with a big smile on his face.

    Paul stared at the boy until he disappeared, when the boy''s silhouette could no longer be seen. A mirthless smile appeared on his face as he whispered: "Daddy won''t break his promise. In the future, I will certainly fly a kite with you. I might not know your name or who exactly your mother is but I will keep you in my mind and my heart. Even though you are but an illusion."

    Paul unknowingly gripped his fist as a profound pain filled his chest. A few tears ran down from his face before he uttered a difficult word:

    "Break."

    *Crack!*

    He watched as the scenery shattered like broken ss. His vision blurred and when he re-adjusted to his surroundings, he found himself back in the middle of the Immersion Forest.

    A determined glow appeared on his eyes as he mustered his strength and pulled his legs away from the sinking soil beneath him.. After regaining his footing, he wiped away the tears on his face and continued walking forward with a straight back.

 Chapter 234 - Conquer

    ---

    It''s been two weeks since Raven and his friends tackled the mission of conquering the Danger Zones inside the kingdom.

    Paul had managed to clear the Immersion Forest by the skin of his teeth. He was nearly digested by the forest but thankfully he managed to break the illusion he was in.

    He never thought that Illusions could be this scary. Even the weaker illusions could paralyze him for a minutes, if that happens in a live battle, he''ll be dead a dozen times already. Of course, Paul''s efforts in dealing with the illusions aren''t in vain. Despite its difficulties, he developed a keener sense towards illusions and he had developed some sort of counter measure against them.

    But the illusion at the core of the Immersion Forest was just too fearsome. His countermeasures didn''t do a single thing against it.

    The Illusion was so realistic. It fooled every single sense he had, even with the earlier tempering against Illusions didn''t prepare him from that.

    It was an illusion on top of an illusion, after managing to break the first one with much difficulty, he was so relieved that he dropped his guard. He grabbed the core of the Immersion Forest and kept it with him as the forest returned to it''s original form. After that, he reunited with his friends and they celebrated their sess.

    The same night, he found courage to finally tell Ellen everything that he was keeping as a secret. He confessed everything and his desired oue happened. He was so ted that he felt like the stars were aligning just for him. After that, they were treated as heroes. Hand in hand with his friends, they defeated their enemies and ushered the Golden Age of the Final Haven Kingdom. Everything was looking bright and beautiful. It was everything that he had dreamed about night and day.

    And that''s precisely what made him skeptical. Why was everything so easy? It was then that a funny idea came across his mind.

    What if everything that happened was only an illusion?

    In that same moment that he thought about this idea, a strange buzz inside him became a signal. Heughed mirthlessly as he shattered the final illusion that almost took his life.

    He woke up underground, precisely in front of the core. As it nearly consumed him, Paul reached out to the bright orb and it gave him a stigma in his forehead, this stigma is a power that Paul earned by living through all of the illusions. It granted him a high level of immunity against illusions and the ability to create some himself. This stigma grows with him so the stronger he gets, the higher his immunity against illusions is and the more powerful his illusions would get.

    The ground spat him out and Paul left with the orb on tow. This time around, he knew that he''s not under any illusions since he could tell if he was now is he was inside one.

    When he went back to the their meeting ce, he saw that everyone except Raven was there.

    Compared to them, Paul and Raven''s lot were tougher. But that doesn''t mean that they had it easier than them.

    Upon his arrival, he saw Mark sleeping on Anne''sp, making Paul smile inwardly. It was evident that he was exhausted. Well, dealing with stacking gravity and the stress of clearing it under record time isn''t really something that anyone could breeze through.

    At the Ninth Hill of the Hills of Gravity, he had to face the suppressive force of 90 times greater than the normal gravity. He had lost count on many times he fell t on his face under that gravity. If it weren''t for him breaking past the speed of sound and his strong body, he wouldn''t have been able to clear that Danger Zone.

    ording to Ellen and the rest, Mark had just arrived not long before he arrived so it makes sense while he still haven''t rested yet.

    Paul noticed that Ellen was sitting away from the group. When she asked her about this, she could only sigh helplessly. It''s because she was having a difficult time controlling her fiery energy, which is why she was sitting away from them. ording to her, she was releasing a hot temperature around her unconsciously, since she have a high affinity towards fire, she was rtively fine but for others, not so much.

    This is due to her actively resisting the temperature around the Field of Perpetual Chill. She didn''t notice that she had raised the temperature of her mes to the extent of hurting anyone shees close to. Now she has to deal with the aftermath.

    Paul had a hard believing her since when he approached her, he wasn''t feeling anything. He even touched Ellen''s hand to prove his point. Anne and Luna were baffled since there''s no way they were wrong about that. In the end, they figured that this must be because of their Spirit Entities.

    Anne could still feel a headache from all the riddles she had to clear in the 100 Stone Labyrinth. In her opinion, she would much rather shoot her bow all day long instead of solving those god forsaken riddles and constantly mapping out thebyrinth in search of a pattern. No one could exin how relieved she was that she''s finally out of that ce. Inwardly, she was hoping that she''ll never had to experience the same thing again.

    Luna on the other hand was rtively rxed. Her mission went without a hitch. Her superior Light Affinity made her the natural enemy of the ghosts in the Dead Man''s Mansion. Under her light, the souls were purified and departed with peace. She took advantage of that ce to train her Lightshield Luminescence to a high degree. She was using this technique unconsciously during the war since she had no prior knowledge about it. But with the King here, she received many insights and pointers towards this technique and other things.

    In the end, her proficiency towards the technique was not too far from the King''s level. Give it time and she''ll surpass him eventually.

    Now, they are just for Raven to arrive. He should wrapping up things soon.

    ***

    "Damn! That hurts, you bitch!" Raven eximed as he hurriedly got up from the ground after being thrown there harshly.

    In front of him, there was a butcher that rivaled the size of a Little Stone Titan.

    The butcher was bald, its eyes were hollowed, wide and t nose, had wide neck, muddy skin tone, and had an enormous belly. Its holding a giant cleaver with nicked edge and stained with dried blood. The butcher was wearing that same blood stained apron and dirty trousers as it widely hacked at Raven.

    Despite its enormous size, it was fast. The ughterhouse was reduced into mere debris through their sh. The area around them trembled fiercely due to the sheer force of their strikes.

    Raven was facing the 100th Demon Butcher. And the things he had to go through before he reached this stage was taxing.

    He basically had to engage in a deadly ughter night and day. For each Demon Room he cleared, he will face a deadlier butcher at the next room. These butchers wereing at him to kill. Each sessive butcher was faster, stronger and tougher than thest. This really pushed Raven''s battle instincts to reawaken. He had been wounded, thrown, punched, shed, pierced, poisoned and many more but he got up every single time.

    As he went through the rooms, the butchers he faced were smarter as well. Some could even talk to him, one even mocked him for overestimating himself, Raven silenced that baldy by crushing its entire body.

    Each Demon room has five clones, which then he had to kill five times to face the true butcher in that room to move on. Dealing with numbers were moreplicated that dealing with one but it doesn''t mean that it''s easier.

    And finally, with his efforts, he was now facing the final demon butcher. Well at least he hoped that this guy was thest.

    Due to his size, the Demon Butcher was having a difficult time hitting him. Raven was quick on his foot as well a heavy hitter. Each of his strikes were capable of making the butcher lose his footing, causing the nearby forest to be destroyed by their sh.

    Raven had long since told the Royal Guards to retreat from this ce. He didn''t want them to be a coteral as he faced this guy. The guards did what he said and retreated to a point where they''re safe but could still see the battle.

    ''Come on, show me an opening.'' Raven thought inwardly as he ran around the giant butcher. Even though it wasn''t deliberately following him with its eyes, Raven knows that it could see him. It was on guard so Raven can''t make a move. Needless to say, its showing signs of impatience, and that''s what Raven was aiming for.

    Finally, the butcher lost its patience and sharply turned, it raised its giant cleaver and hacked Raven down. Raven''s eyes gleamed, deftly evading the blow, he ced all of his strength into a decisive attack.

    Grunting loudly, he performed a might swing and instantly after, ten Phantom Fists appeared. The pir sized fist rained down and punched holes all over the body of the butcher with the final one crushing its brain.

    Raven quickly moved forward and got on top of the butcher''s corpse. He then saw a gleaming red crystal inside the head of the butcher. Performing numerous seals, he wrapped the crystal in a tight cocoon of seals to prevent it from taking anymore actions.. And with that done, Raven conquered the 100 Demon ughterhouse.

 Chapter 235 - Formation Core

    ---

    "I''m guessing that you guys'' mission went well?"

    Raven said as soon as he returned to their meeting ce. Since he saw everyone in there and with rxed expressions on their faces, it is most likely that their journey went well.

    And as expected, they all agreed to him. Raven went beside Luna and groaned for a bit, he was feeling a little weak due to thest battle.

    After his battle against the 100th Demon Butcher and his harvesting of the blood red crystal from its brain. The killing intent surrounding the ce, the ughterhouse as well as the demented criminals, all disappeared. What''s left is just the forest that could use some cleaning and it would be habitable again. This means that this Danger Zone had been conquered, it will no longer pose any sort of danger to the Kingdom.

    The same scenario also happened for the rest. The Immersion Forest returned to being a regr forest. The Gravity Hills became a bunch of hills, the Field of Perpetual Chill has no cold winds anymore, the 100 Stone Labyrinth is just some rock formations and the Dead Man''s Mansion is just some old and decrepit house that turned into dust as soon as Luna was done with it.

    "Are you good? Do you want to rest first?" Luna asked in a worrying tone. Raven smiled and pinched her cheeks.

    "I''m fine, rest can wait." Raven then turned towards the rest and said: "Take out the items that you guys retrieved, I have something to do with them."

    Each of them nodded and took out the items they got from the Danger Zones. Paul''s was the Crystal Core of the Immersion Forest, Mark took out the 9 Layered Jade that he got from the peak of the Ninth Hill in the Hills of Gravity. Ellen took out the Horn of the Northern Winds which she took away from the depths of the Field of Perpetual Chill. Anne has the Mysterious ck Cube from the 100 Stone Labyrinth and Luna took out the Unholy g from the Dead Man''s Mansion.

    Of course, Raven also took out his harvest, which is the ughter Demon''s Blood Essence Crystal, he unsealed it and ced it on the table in front of him. He also took out another item, this item was the one that he took away from the Royal Treasury as a reward from their contributions during the invasion. This item was called Sky Reflecting Mirror.

    On it''s own, the Sky Reflecting Mirror could be used as a spying treasure. It allows him to see three s

    kilometers in front of him, unfortunately it takes tons of energy to activate and the activation takes a long time. He hadn''t had a chance to use it since he there weren''t any opportunities to do so. Now he would transform it into something that would be more useful than its previous capabilities.

    They all ced the items in one table and Raven immediately took out a brush. Feeding his Chaos Force on the brush, he started writing some golden inscriptions in the air. One inscription after another flowed from the brush tip and encircled the items carefully, some of them even fused with the items, dissolving inside of them in the process.

    As the inscriptions rose in number, the items floated one by one. They started spinning in a wide circle under the influence of the inscriptions. As time goes on, the circle got smaller and the items were brought closer to each other. A dense shimmer of light surrounded Raven as he wrote inscriptions, there was a look ofplete focus on his face.

    What Raven was doing is repurposing the use of each items and binding them into one. He had this ce ever since the beginning and now''s the time for him to act on it, specially that this will be one of the main requirements of the reform he had in mind. Clearing out the Danger Zones were just a coteral effect, what he''s really after is these items.

    After a couple of minutes, the seven items are now enveloped into a single orb of light, incubating under the cocoon of inscriptions that he wrote. Raven had stopped fusing more inscriptions since it was no longer needed, anymore and it would just turn this process into a failure. Now he''s just monitoring the minute changes inside the orb. Under his gaze, he could see that it was nearly time for the final fusion. His heart beat with anxiety as he prayed that he doesn''t fail.

    Another minute passed and the moment he had been waiting for finally arrived. Raven unfolded his Chaos Force on full momentum and pushed both of hands together. His Chaos Force mped on the orb and molded it together, making sure that the force he used was just enough to aid the fusion and not destroy it.

    Under that stressful moment, he didn''t even noticed that he was sweating bullets. He also didn''t notice that Luna was there beside him, wiping his sweat gently and carefully to avoid them from obstructing his vision and making sure to not distract him from whatever he was doing.

    "Merge!" With one roar, Raven made one final push and pressed his hands even more tighter.

    The orb of light in front of him shrank in size and emitted a brilliant shine of light, it was almost as if there was a sun in front of the group.

    Eventually, the light slowly dimmed and allowed the rest to see the final oue of the fusion.

    It was a shiny, palm-sized marble that emitted a rainbow-colored glow. It floated towards Raven, who was smiling in satisfaction. He then sighed and went weak for a second. Thankfully, Luna was there to catch him. He smiled and thank her by kissing her cheeks, much to the embarrassment of the girl.

    "So?" Ellen ced her hands on her hips and asked : "What does that do?"

    "By itself. Nothing much." Raven replied, "But if used properly, it could do many things."

    He knows that he was being cryptic in his exnation so he continued: "This is a Formation Core. The effect of the items we got from the danger zones are recorded inside this small thing but of course they were re-purposed. For example, the core of the Immersion Forest could create some fearsome illusion, that function is still here but it was mellowed down, also it won''t eat up the people trapped in the illusion."

    "The Horn of Northern Wind could still create a chilling field, but it could be turned off at will. Things like that is what I mean by repurposing the items. And it still has a room for adjustments. If I am provided with the sufficient amount of resources, I could still make improvements in this thing. But this will do for now."

    The rest were in awe with his exnation. Somehow they are looking forward to see what kind of things Raven has up on his sleeves with the use of this Formation Core. If everything works properly, then they might have a new training grounds for themselves.

    "Alright, I think that''s enough for today." Luna interjected as she gently urged Raven to lean on her, "We are tired and needed some rest. Let''s meet up again once we rested."

    Her words invoked a wave of exhaustion to wash over their bodies. Everyone agreed to her words, while they might''ve rested while waiting for each other, that wasn''t nearly enough for them topletely recover. Having a long rest should patch them up.

    That being said, the group dispersed and went to their own homes, of course Luna went with Raven since thetter was really weak.

    "Must you really push yourself this hard? You could''ve done that tomorrow after you rested." Lunained as the two travelled back to Raven''s home.

    "I can''t." Raven smiled helplessly, "I had to fuse them today or else they will disappear from your hands and reappear somewhere in the kingdom. There will Danger Zones once again, I can''t let that happen."

    ''Who am I to doubt him?'' Luna sighed in defeat and just silently went with Raven to his home.

    Raven wasn''t really living with his parents anymore since his mom and sisters were staying at his dad''s office so that Luis could monitor them closely. Raven bought a piece ofnd for himself and lived there after their graduation from the Inner Court. He was just visiting his Dad''s office whenever he''s free to y his sisters.

    After they went home, the two took a quick bath and ate some meal. Luna then urged Raven to sleep on his bed, she was nning on returning to the pce when Raven unexpectedly pulled her and wrapped her in a tight hug.

    Luna panicked and tried to push him away but Raven''s hug was just too strong for her, it also didn''t help that there was a mischievous smile on his face as he was doing so.

    "Let''s sleep together."

    Luna gasped in horror. Her heart pounded inside her chest as she hit Raven''s chest in embarrassment.

    "What are you saying?"

    "What do you mean?" Raven raised his brow and shed a yful smirk. "I meant what I said. Let''s sleep together. You''re tired as well right? Let''s sleep."

    Luna was speechless, she pinched Raven''s arm as she realized that he was teasing her again. Ravenughed and gently wrapped Luna in his embrace.

    "We will just sleep okay? Rx.. Let''s rest."

 Chapter 236 - Project Reveal

    ---

    It has been a full week since Raven and his friends cleared out the Danger Zones.

    Their deeds had been the talk of people ever since. Many people were awed by the actions of the group. They celebrated as now, there are no longer any dangers inside their home, the threat had been subdued by a group who aren''t even adults yet. Many expressed their heartfelt gratitude and praises to the group. Some even started calling the true leaders of this generation, and that no one will be able to follow their footsteps.

    With this achievement, the contributions of the group towards the Kingdom''s well being, soared once again. If it were some other people, they would''ve been set for generations forward as no one will dare to slight these kinds of achievements. They would''ve been awarded with and and title for their troubles, too bad that none of them needed this and the rewards they received from the Danger Zones themselves were enough topensate for their efforts.

    Inside the King''s Office, a few people could be seen sitting inside a rectangr table. All of these people are influential people on their own rights.

    At one end of the table, King Alexander Lightshield was seated. He was wearing his regr white robes with golden outlines and a golden crown adorned his head full of ashen hair. Old Lee and Leona were standing behind him.

    On the right side of the table, another group of people were seated. Ian, with his son Randy standing behind him. Jackson, Korra, Leon, Bradley, Victor, and Richard along with Jacob who''s standing behind him.

    On the left side of the table, seated were Crown Prince Balmung, with Luna behind him. Noel Portman, head of the Combat Department of the Royal Army. Luis Valorheart, head of the Intelligence Department of the Royal Army. Bruce Hilton, Chief of the cksmiths. Carol Redgrave, Chief Mistress of the Inscriptionists and Felton Meyers the Civilian Community Chief

    All of these people were gathered due to one person, and that person was sitting on the opposite side of the rectangr table. It''s none other than Raven himself.

    Raven would be lying if he said that he isn''t nervous right now. Though he had full confidence in his project, it doesn''t change the fact that something wrong might happen in this meeting. However, anxiety surely won''t help him get through with that so he just discarded the unnecessary thoughts away.

    "Since everyone is here. We shall being this meeting," Alexander spoke and everyone listened to him, he looked at Raven and nodded. "You may begin."

    Raven took a deep breath and began speaking.

    "Today, we are all gathered due to my selfish request." Raven paused and looked at every single person before continuing, "His Majesty, gave me a very important task and I stand in front of you to deliver the project that was tasked to me and hear your opinions about it."

    Raven cleared his throat.

    "Upon His Majesty''s return from his expedition, he brought back many relics and treasures with him. One of them was the blueprint of the Worker Construct. I believe some of you saw it by now and if you haven''t already, no need fret, just go near the outer walls and you will see a huge metal giant controlled by a tiny human inside. Those are the Worker Constructs. Mechanical beings that could make difficult jobs, easier."

    "It was through the collective efforts of our very own, Mr. Bruce Hilton and his fellow cksmiths, who worked tirelessly night and day, that the constructs were made and are now helping towards the expansion of our Kingdom."

    Raven paused for a bit, then he continued:

    "The other things that His Majesty brought back are the blueprints for the Golden Crops Array and the Sk Array. I believe everyone inside of this office have heard of those items so I won''t speak about them any further."

    "Thest thing that His Majesty brought back, is something that even I wasn''t expecting." Raven then took out several shelves out of his spatial ring and disyed it to the rest.

    "Contained in these bookshelves, is the inheritance of the Golden Sun Era. Battle arts, Law Insights, Smithing Texts, Array Blueprints, Beastiary, History. Everything that the Golden Sun Era has in their records are neatlypiled and arranged in these bookshelves."

    As soon as he dropped the bomb, some of the people inside the office struggled to keep themselves from their seats.

    Everyone in this office knew about the Golden Sun Era. It is the Golden Age of the Final Haven Kingdom where Humans were the true center of this world. None could ever question their position or even threaten them. Though it was a pity that a decline urred, that Era still branded itself to many.

    Now that the full inheritance of that Golden Age was just a few meters away from them, it was already a miracle for them to be able to sit still.

    "The task that was given to me was simple." Raven interrupted their thoughts and said: "He gave me the full authority over this inheritance."

    Many eyes widened in disbelief as they heard him say that. Those people turned their head sharply towards the king, so much so that their necks nearly twisted. There was a smile on the King''s face as he gently nodded. Again, making those people gape on their seats.

    They wanted to question the King''s sanity for doing such a thing but they don''t have the gall to do so. They don''t want their heads to be separated from their shoulders just yet.

    "Bluntly speaking¡­" Raven once again captured their attentions by speaking, "Who get their hands on these books, who gets to keep it, who gets to share it, all fall under my rules. Of course, His Majesty have a say on my decisions but most of you get the point."

    Some people didn''t like the way he phrased it but that''s the jist of it really. Raven have an absolute authority over this things, and if he wanted to be impartial in his division, no one could say a thing since he had the King behind him.

    "Some of you might be thinking that I would get carried away in my decisions on how I will divide these techniques. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no desire to do such thing. Doing that won''t bring me any tangible benefits."

    "The books about Law Insights are good, unfortunately I''m not yet enlightened to any kind of Law so I have no need for that yet. Battle Arts? I made one for myself so I don''t it. Arrays? Smithing? I''m the Holy Son of the Sacred Leaf Tavern, I have no use for those. So what for then?"

    "For my friends? They don''t need it since they have what I have. For money? Who are we kidding here? The products of Sacred Leaf Tavern all came from me. It''s safe to say that I''m even richer than some of you here,bined. To usurp the Throne? Please, I just need time and patience and who knows, maybe I could start a Kingdom for myself? Wouldn''t that be more beneficial for all of us?"

    Raven smiled as he finished. "See? I won''t get anything noteworthy if I became impartial in the division. Apart from your ire that is."

    His words were direct and honest. Many couldn''t help but to praise him inwardly. His achievements were truly staggering, so much so that he actually didn''t need anything they could offer to sway his opinions. He had a every capital he needed to strut anywhere in this Kingdom with confidence.

    "To honest with you all, this task would''ve been easy. All I need to do is to set up some strict but fair guidelines and entrust them to the Royal Guards to enforce the rules. Then, I could''ve washed my hands clean with this project already and move on with my life."

    "In fact¡­" Raven took out a bunch of files on his spatial ring and gave it to every single one of them. "If I went with that decision, the guidelines would look like this. Of course, I''m open for discussions in case anyone have better ideas."

    That being said, everyone took a careful nce of what he written in the documents that he handed out. Once again, these people had noints with the guidelines that Raven came up with. Just like he said, these guidelines are strict but fair.

    Then again, knowing that it was Raven who''s in charge. No one had any doubts that he had something better up in his sleeves. And knowing that, they all looked at Raven in anticipation. Though no one said anything, all of them knew that Raven tends to go above and beyond what''s expected from him, so even before the meeting started, all of them are looking forward to it.

    "Not bad right?" Raven asked in a rhetorical manner, "That being said, after everything that happened. From the Mort Family''s ploy, the invasion, the beast horde and another invasion attempt from the ck Curtain Guild, I couldn''t help but think that something needs to change."

    Raven sighed and took out another set of documents from his spatial ring. After passing it to them, he then said:

    "Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you The Knight System Reform project."

 Chapter 237 - Knight System Reform

    ---

    The Knight System Reform.

    This is something that Raven had in mind even before his second chance.

    His attachment to his home is just too much, even when he already ascended in the Divine Realm and began a new journey there, he still couldn''t forget where his roots were. All of the what if''s and what could''ve been''s surface in his lonesome whenever something reminded him of his home.

    In his travels, he thought about many things. In his bitterness, he told himself that if there was a second chance, he would do something to protect and strengthen his home.

    Imagine what he felt when he realized that he went back in time¡­

    The basis of the reform is simple. It is to form and raise a ''True Knight'' amongst the ranks of the kingdom.

    If there''s something that Raven realized from his loneliness, that would be the fact that the word ''Knight'' was just being used as a naming basis for a Cultivation Realm, it doesn''t do proper justice and honor to the word itself. In the Divine Realm, he was enlightened behind the true meaning of that word. And he wanted to adopt that idea to his home.

    A Knight is not just some position or a cultivation realm. A true Knight is more than just donning a fancy armor and some sharp and shiny weapons. Raven wanted to introduce the idea to his home, this is why he called it a ''reform''. He wanted to breed the finest Knights out there, and to do that he had to start where it all begins...

    The Heavenly Cloud Institute.

    Upon hitting puberty, a child will experience a weird dream which transports them into a mysterious ce filled with heavenly bodies and constetions. There they would stand inside the Basin of Acknowledgement and their Spirit Entities will shine brightly for them, branding them with their potential and powers.

    The problem is, the Talent Measurement of the Kingdom is heavily wed. In the end, Raven couldn''t me them from not knowing anything and since he was here, he ced the responsibility of fixing this to himself. But of course, he needed help.

    The first step towards the reform, is to unify all branches of the institute to one entity. He wanted to turn the institute into an Academy. There will still be a the Outer Students, Inner Students and Core Students. But the promotion for these positions had to be revised as well.

    The new academic system will work as such. Upon a child''s enrollment to the academy, they will be tested using the Spirit Identification Crystal Ball that Raven made himself. The examiners must know how to read the simple inputs that Raven ce within the crystal. Once they identified what kind of Spirit Entity the child has, they will receive their initial supplies and a decision to pick the techniques that they want to train based what suited them the best.

    These techniques are precisely the Cultivation Scriptures and Battle Arts from the Golden Sun Era''s Inheritance. This is how he wanted to divided the spoils.

    But no students will be given the full version of the technique. The Cultivation Scriptures will be divided into chapters and the Battle Arts as well. Once they reached the consummate level of the techniques they chosen, they could apply for the next chapters of the same techniques or pick another one.

    The new system will also be introduce a thing called ''Academic Points'' and ''Tickets''. This will be the main currency inside the academy. Academic points will be rewarded by aplishing a task, such as doing mundane activities, passing the requirements set the by the Instructors, doing posted missions, iming an achievement, exchange and many more, same goes for the Tickets.

    In the Academy, there will be a Repository Hall, where they could apply for new techniques.

    Training Hall, where they could train using the various training materials that the Kingdom managed to acquire and create plus the one''s that Raven would create. This is also where that Formation Core woulde into y. With this core, he could add the Elemental Zones from the Inner Court, and even the Ancient Royal Grounds into one ce. All the training facilities will be managed by this core he made, which made it easier for them to guard, monitor and fix if something goes wrong.

    Mission Hall, where they could apply for missions to earn currencies. Combat Hall, where they could challenge their peers to earnbat experience.

    Study Hall, where most of the sses will be held and where Instructors tell students the true meaning behind ''Knighthood'', teach general knowledge and theories.

    upation Hall, where the could apply as either as an Assistant, Academy Staff, or even join as a cksmith, Alchemist, Inscriptionists, Lair Hunter, and etc.

    And the Ceremonial Hall, where the Ritual Waters that Korra managed will be ced and also where the promotions and graduations will be held.

    Another thing that Raven wanted to establish for this new academy, is the Squad System. This inspired by his teamwork with his friends and also his Father''s colleagues at the ''Hawk Faction''.

    A Squad will consist of six to seven members. The positions are the Defenders, Assaults, Scouts, Assassins, Support and Captains. These positions worked just like how they sound. He wanted to include this system to propagate camaraderie, teamwork, and healthypetition for the students.

    There will also a be a Yearly Tournament, where the students could participate in a grandpetition for the whole Kingdom to witness. Who knows, maybe he could ask the King to watch as amemoration for the event?

    So far, this is what Raven came up to. Naturally, he was all open for revisions and additions. Which is why he said that he couldn''t achieve this alone.

    That being said, this is just the beginning. So far, Raven''s only proposition for the reform only covers the academic changes. The military changes, the social changes, the hierarchy, and other sectors have to go forward with this change should it be approved.

    If Raven wanted to, he could also think of a way to reform those sectors but he wanted to leave them towards the correct people to do so. Even in the academy he nned to build, he wanted no position in it and would like to leave the management on Ian''s capable hands as he has more experience than him in this sector. Even in the Sacred Leaf Tavern, he allowed Richard to manage it since he was more capable than him.

    At the end of his reveal. Everyone was silent. No one was even looking at him. They were either reading the documents, looking at the miniature designs and blueprints of the academy, or inspecting the Formation Core he created.

    After a while, the King asked him to step out with Luna on tow, saying that they have to deliberate by themselves. Raven nodded and patiently waited outside of the office with Luna.

    ***

    "Seriously..." King Alexander sighed after erecting a silence barrier inside the office to prevent the two from eavesdropping. He looked at Luis and said: "What did you feed him when he was growing up?"

    The tense atmosphere loosened with the King''s jesting. Everyone sighed with him, obviously they too couldn''t help but to be amazed with Raven''s thought process.

    "How did hee up with such a thing?" Carol, the Head Mistress of the Inscriptionists asked in wonder. "This Formation Core is one of a kind. Even though I don''t understand how he was able to do it, I could tell you now that he wasn''t lying. This small thing is truly capable of linking every training grounds there is in the Kingdom, it could even link more should he wanted to."

    "There''s one thing that I''m worried about." Noel from the Combat Department spoke, "So far, all I''m seeing in this reform is concentrated in the Academic tform. I don''t see any sectors included in here. That makes it iplete isn''t it?"

    Many agreed to his observation. There was a brief silence in the area before Luis chuckled. Everyone looked at him and thought that he must''ve realized something, Raven is his child after all.

    "It is simple really." Luis said, "He wanted our participation with this project."

    "You might think that it''sziness on his part but if you look at it underneath, he wanted to pass a message. He wants to include us in bringing forth this major change. Why else would he invite every single one of us here when he could''ve reported directly to His Majesty without us?"

    "I can tell you with certainty right now that even though he wanted to build this academy by merging the institute, he doesn''t want any position in it. He would leave the management to His Excellency Ian''s capable hands? Isn''t that right, Your Excellency Richard?"

    "I could see that happening, Your Excellency Luis." Richard nodded, "While he was the one who brought the recipes and inheritances to us, and even built the Sacred Leaf Tavern himself. However he did not partake in it''s management and trusted me to do it. I only report urgent matters to him and nothing more per his directions."

    "Either that or, management isn''t his forte." Luis added. "My kid isn''t omnipotent. He wanted to usher the change hand in hand with us. To form a bond that will make the Kingdom stronger and united, that''s what he''s trying to do.. No matter what you all decided upon, I''ll ce my trust with him."

 Chapter 238 - Deliberation

    ---

    "Either that or, management isn''t his forte." Luis added. "My kid isn''t omnipotent. He wanted to usher the change hand in hand with us. To form a bond that will make the Kingdom stronger and united, that''s what he''s trying to do. No matter what you all decided upon, I''ll ce my trust with him."

    Luis'' deration did note as a surprise for anyone inside the room. He was Raven''s father, it is natural that he will take his side.

    Whether they believe it or not however, that''s not the only reason why Luis expressed his support towards Raven''s project. He wholeheartedly believed that this change will usher the Golden Age that they are so badly waiting for. Him and the rest of the people in this room are old, in due time the youngsters would rece them in their positions and look after the next ones. He didn''t fear change, he was more afraid of the situation being stagnant.

    The Kingdom is weak, without the King it would not take long before it falls. They have confidence that Alexander would do anything under his power to prevent the kingdom from falling apart but age is catching up to him. Someone needed to rece him, and this reform have a great chance of doing just that. So it''s no surprise that he supports this.

    "On behalf of the Sacred Leaf Tavern, I would like to express my wholehearted support towards this reform as well." Richard spoke right after Luis. And just like before, no one was surprised towards his decision. Raven was the one who''s behind the existence of the Sacred Leaf Tavern. Richard and the rest of the alchemists won''t be at their current ce without him so of course they would support him and his endeavors.

    Bradley, Jackson, Korra, Leon, and Victor expressed their support towards the reform as well. They too have an optimistic outlook towards the project and found no reason to not support it.

    "I support the reform." Bruce of the cksmiths voiced out his decision. "He''s a good kid. From these documents, I can tell he tried to be as fair as he could. He was even looking out for the cksmiths even though we had no prior connection to him."

    "If this reform was approved and applied, the cksmiths could not only take pride from their work but also be properlypensated for it. I see no reason to object a future like that."

    Everyone nodded to express their understanding behind his approval. They then waited for the next one to express their vote.

    "It''s gonna be a journey but I believe it''s worth it." Carol said, "I too agree towards this reform. Also, I would like to express my desire to be the keeper of this Formation Core once he finished linking everything with it."

    Carol said it this way since she really wanted to study how Raven was able to make the core. Even though she didn''t want to admit it, she raises her hands in defeat from Raven''s knowledge about Arrays and Formations. This Formation Core is something that, even the likes of her, could only dream about creating. And Carol had been studying formations ever since she was little, so much to the fact that she neglected her cultivation because of it. So how could she calm down when something like this was presented in front of her?

    "We need more capable people." Noel, Head of the Combat Department spoke. "From reading his documents, it seems that if we go with this n then we would see a significant increase in ourbat capabilities. After it''s creation, within five years massive influx of talented and loyal people graduating from the Academy. And that is something I would like to see. Very well, I agree to this reform as well."

    There was a brief silence before someone spoke once again.

    "I would like to agree but¡­" Felton, the Civilian Chief said. "I''m afraid that this reform would not eliminate the disparity between those of influential background frommoners."

    Everyone became silent as he raised this point.

    "In fact, I think that the disparity would even widen. To make the exnation simple, the rich people could just hand out tons of supplies towards their descendants while those who were more unfortunate has to achieve everything using both of their hands. The strong gets stronger and the weak gets weaker. This is the thing that''s preventing me from agreeingpletely in this reform. I he could do something about this, then I have no qualms in agreeing to the reform."

    No one said a thing after he finished voicing out his concerns. When Felton inspected their faces, he frowned since he saw that unnatural expressions on their faces. The he heard:

    "You people want to tell him or me?" Ian said in a dismissive manner.

    Felton raised his brow, feelingpletely lost at the current moment.

    "You may do the honors, Ian." Alexander said with a smile on his face.

    Ian nodded and faced Felton, he then said: "You missed something Felton. Come, read it with me. Page 10 in the Knight System Reform Document, under the Academic Rules and Regtions."

    Felton was puzzled by what he said but did it anyway, as soon as he started reading it, Ian also began reading it out loud for everyone to hear.

    "Admission Rule #3. Once a student wore the Academy''s uniform and badge, they are no longer the person who they were before they got admitted. It matters not what their background is, noble ormon, everyone will start at the same line. Inside the academy they are a Student, no more no less. Their families are prohibited from using their connections to provide any kind of resources to the student of the academy. On the day the students got admitted to the academy, anything that they want to take with them from outside have to go through an application process except for their daily needs. This will make so that everything they wanted to reach should be achieved by using their own efforts.

    If the students are faced with challenges, they will be able to develop traits like Humility, Resourcefulness, Camaraderie, Reliance, and etc. This rules will be highly monitored. Should one break this rule, the lightest punishment would be a Three-day Mandatory Community Service and stain to their records which might prevent them from being promoted. And the heaviest would be expulsion from the Academy."

    As soon as Ian finished reading, so did Felton too. Now it made sense to thetter why everyone was looking at him in an unnatural manner, it turns out that his concerns are indeed mention in the documents, it''s just that hepletely missed it. Felton couldn''t help but to sink a little low on his seat, wishing that the ground would part beneath him and swallow him whole due to the embarrassment.

    ''How did I miss this? I was even deliberately searching for it too! This is so embarrassing!'' Felton inwardly screamed. ''I guess I got a little overwhelmed by how much writing there is in here.''

    "I know that you only mean well, Felton." Ian said, "But have a little faith in us."

    "Even if he didn''t write something about your concern, I will be here to correct that since I''m going to be the Headmaster of this Academy anyway. That brat won''t just sit still so I would help him out, after all he looking after my brat too." Ian said while smiling wryly and shook his head.

    Felton cleared his throat and said: "W-well, it seems that Ipletely missed this and made a fool out of myself in front of you people. Very well, since my concerns proved to be needless, I express my approval for this project as well."

    Everyone smiled, now there''s only the Prince, Leona, Old Lee and the King''s decision left.

    "I have known the child since his days at the Institute. An intelligent kid who works hard day and night, and neverpromised for the well being of his loved ones. I''m sure that he ced a great deal of thought behind this project and only meant well, therefore I have no issues supporting it." Old Lee said in a kind voice.

    "I agree with this Old Man." Leona said, she then looked at Luis and said: "You have a good kid. Good job on raising him well."

    "Well, everyone agreed so I agree as well." Balmung chimed in with a yful smile on his face, "Plus, he''s gonna be my brother-inw so he needs my support."

    Hearing his reasoning brought a wry smile on Luis, Old Lee, Leona and the King''s faces. For someone who was in charge of the Kingdom not too long ago, this reasoning is far too simple but no one was surprised, that''s just they way Balmung is.

    And finally, it was the King''s time to express his vote. If there''s anyone inside this room who could turn this project down without considering anyone''s opinion, it would be him. The King might act friendly and warm in the surface but no one could tell exactly what he was thinking about.

    So it didn''t really matter even if all of them agreed, if the King refused to approve it, then it ends there.

    However, instead of expressing his decision, he instead dropped the silence barrier around them and yelled: "You two,e in."

 Chapter 239 - Visions

    ---

    "You two,e in."

    Raven and Luna heard this outside.

    Raven got up from his seat and nodded towards Luna. Both of them had been nervous and didn''t really talk much since leaving the room.

    He opened the door and went in, followed by Luna. She went behind Balmung once again while Raven went back to his position at the other end of the table.

    Raven saw their serious expressions and thought that something must be up. His heartbeat quickened, thinking that he might''ve missed something important in the creation of the documents but couldn''t remember anything for now.

    "Tell me." The King spoke after a bout of silence. "How long have you been thinking about this reform."

    Raven was momentarily stunned by that question, nevertheless he answered truthfully.

    "The idea came to me a long time ago. But back then, I just didn''t know which direction the reform should go. As I was introduced to more and more people and was gradually exposed to the true state of the kingdom, slowly the idea took form until it reached the point where I only need one more catalyst to make it happen. And the project that Your Majesty gave me was the one I''ve been waiting for."

    No one spoke for a good minute, the King once again asked:

    "I think most of us knew the reason why you wanted this reform, even we ourselves have our own answers. Still, I want to hear it from you. Why do you feel that this change is necessary?"

    Raven took a deep breath and answered the question.

    "Pardon me for my unfiltered opinion Your Majesty but believe it or not, the Kingdom is on a steep decline." He paused to allow his words to reach the hearts of everyone here. And even though no one spoke, everyone inwardly nodded their heads in agreement.

    "On top of this decline, we are also exposed to dangers. We are always under the threat of a beast horde, we are also being targeted by the ck Curtain Guild. It would''ve been fine if they would give us time to recover the quality of our forces and numbers but as if they''re going to do that."

    "I might sound like an rmist but if things were to remain stagnant, within a decade we might face a great cmity that will cause the Kingdom''s foundations to be uprooted."

    His warnings brought shivers to anyone who listened. Specially those who are aware of the true mastermind behind the ck Curtain Guild.

    "The invasions and the beast horde opened my mind. If we really wanted to survive, something has to change. It''s gonna be a long work and the results might be uncertain but its better than leaving the situation as it is. I have faith in our people. If the aim of this reform was achieve then I could almost guarantee that in less that a century, there are no ce in this world where our people couldn''t go."

    "In that future. This world would be centered around us, humans. Nothing will be able to threaten our race. I want to live until the day that our kingdom will grow so big that it''s inappropriate to call it a kingdom anymore, instead it shall be an empire. The Final Haven Empire."

    As soon as he said that, everyone''s breath hitched. Their eyes brightened as they were able to somehow see the visions inside Raven''s mind.

    A thriving world where countless of humans live in peace and harmony. A worldpletely focused around humans and humans alone. The true Golden Age where humans no longer have to hide and could stand proud and tall. Without a doubt, everyone in this room wanted to witness such a thing happen, this specially goes well to the older one''s since they witnessed the cruelty of the world outside.

    If there''s someone who''s bold enough to dream about such thing, it would be Raven. Which is why he''s standing in front of everyone right now.

    Raven finished his speech with a nod to everyone inside the room. The King had a serious expression and was looking at him intently. It was like he was trying to see through Raven''s true intentions even though he himself knew that what he said earlier was his true intent. In the end, no one could really tell how the King''s thoughts work.

    After a high tension silence, everyone heard the King spat a long sigh. It was as if he was holding his breath for a long time.

    Raven saw how the King''s attitude change. A smile appeared on his lips as he rested his back on the chair.

    "Well, what can I say? I''m impressed, child. Very well, I approve of this reform!"

    ''Hell yeah!'' Raven inwardly yelled. His face lit up as he hurriedly bowed towards the King. He was apuded by the people inside the room, which served to raise his tion even more.

    "Hey, brat!" Ian called out, "Don''t think that your job is done. When the Academy is finished, I want you and your group to be Instructors for some time. Do you understand?"

    "Yes, Headmaster." Raven nodded and continued: "I''ll make sure to help out in the construction as much as I could."

    "The construction of the Heavenly Cloud Academy will begin a month from now. For now, we have build as many Worker Construct as we could and also don''t forget about the construction of the Sk Array. Once all the requirements areplete, the construction of the Academy should be kicking in full gear." King Alexander exined.

    Raven agreed to this as well as the rest, everyone inside the room is looking forward towards the construction of the Academy.

    "As for the rest of you all." The King spoke once more, "Vendrick already sparked the change, you are all aware that this is just the beginning. There will a huge adjustment in many sectors so take this time to brainstorm some proper response towards these changes. You may discuss it with yourselves and just give me a briefing on what you have decided upon."

    "You are also free to mobilize the resources as you see fit, just see to it that you don''t go overboard. We might have an excess nowadays but we absolutely can''t waste them. Are we clear?"

    "Yes, Your Highness." Everyone in the room responded.

    "Alright. That should be it for this meeting then. Good work everyone." The King said as he dismissed everyone.

    Once that happened, Raven flicked his fingers and several books from the inheritance flew over towards the seated people before they could stand up. Everyone looked at him in confusion so he exined:

    "I think these books should be of use to you so please help yourselves by copying the contents. Once your done, you may return it here for safekeeping."

    Each person gave him a look of gratitude and appreciation as they each opened the book and read it''s contents. As soon as they did, their eyes brightened and immediately started copying the contents so that they could bring them home. None of these people have bad memories, so the copying process was quick. It only took them mere minutes to copy the contents of the books they were given.

    Once they''re done, they ced the books back in the shelf and didn''t even bother checking the rest. There is just no reason for them to do that since the books that Raven gave them was enough to keep them upied for a very long time. Any more and it would just be distraction which might hinder their progress.

    Once that''s done, the people who attended the meeting excused themselves one by one to return on their respective offices, a lot has happened in that short meeting and there''s tons of work to do so they better get started.

    Raven however, chose to stay behind and apany Luna. Of course, not before informing his father and the King about it.

    At Luna''s room, the two sat on the couch. There was afortable silence between the two, they held each other closely and share this moment of peace and warmth.

    Luna shuffled her head on Raven''s embrace and said: "Congrattions, my genius. I''m so proud of you." She kissed his cheeks, earning an amused smile from him.

    "Your genius?" Raven raised his brows.

    "Mn!" Luna nodded, "What? You don''t like it?"

    Instead of answering her, Raven instead imed her lips and gave a long and passionate kiss.

    Luna''s breath hitched, she wasn''t expecting this bold action from him. Nevertheless, his touch and kiss threatened to melt her. She couldn''t help but to squirm in his embrace, yearning for more as she wrapped her arms around him. Her body unconsciously responded to the gentleness of his actions and the way he expressed his love and gratitude through actions.

    Before this could go somewhere else, Raven pulled away and gave her a kiss on her forehead. He pulled her close to his chest, allowing her to hear his wild heartbeat.

    He chuckled and said: "Does that answer your question?"

    Luna blushed and lovingly pinched his arms, nevertheless there was a sweet smile in her face as she felt the warmth of his embrace.

 Chapter 240 - Skynet Array

    ---

    It''s been two weeks since the approval of the reform.

    In the middle of the night, inside Raven''s room, he suddenly appeared out of thin air. His face was pale and he was taking in several deep breaths to calm down his racing heart.

    His clothes were badly damaged, it was like he just escaped from a life and death battle. He had several bruises and cuts on his body, he couldn''t even open his left eye since the eyelid was wounded as well.

    Raven dragged his wounded body towards the medicinal bath that''s always avable in his house. He didn''t even bother taking off his clothes nor his shoes for that matter, all he wanted was to rest after that chaotic battle.

    As soon as his wounds hits the medicine bath, he inhaled sharply and gritted his teeth, nevertheless he endured the stinging pain and soaked his body in. After a couple of minutes, he felt the wounds on his body already closing and scabbing away, the stinging pain was reced by afortable feeling and hisplexion was getting better as well.

    "It took me fifteen tries to kill that son of a bitch." Raven murmured while his eyes were closed. "It''s just a pity that I still haven''t been enlightened into any Laws. If I did, then that battle would''ve been easier."

    Raven just got out from the crown space after tackling the fifth pocket dimension. For the first time ever since he got the crown and tackled the pocket dimensions, he experienced death under the hand of the person he faced on the fifth one.

    The challenge of the Fifth Pocket Dimension is to kill the person trapped in there. Raven didn''t know who that was since as soon as he arrived, the person attacked. It was a middle-aged man who wielded a sword. And that guy has a very good foundation towards Wind Laws.

    During the first time, he didn''t evenst a single bout from that guy. One swipe of his sword, powered by Wind Laws and his head was separated from his shoulders. Thankfully, he was practically immortal inside the crown space so he just woke up outside of the pocket dimension, but the sensation of pain is something that lingered on his mind longer than he wanted it to be.

    Wind Laws allows one to carry the same properties of the Wind. If one''s understanding was enough, they could borrow the tiniest gusts of winds to create a devastating tornado. They are also lithe on their feet, tracking their movements would''ve been impossible if it weren''t for his ocr technique. It also didn''t help that his enemy could practically attack anywhere he pleases so long as there was air.

    Raven was beheaded twice before he could even fight back. On his subsequent tries, he managed to adjust to the tempo of battle and give the guy a decent fight before he was killed. On his attempts, Raven managed to learn more about his Crystal Sky Eye.

    Aside from giving him aplete 360¡ã vision and the ability to focus on the structure of things. His Crystal Sky Eye could also detect negative intentions as soon as it manifested. If one showed him an ill intent while his eyes were active, the silhouette of that person would darken. It was like a cloud of dark smoke was surrounding their bodies. And depending on the intensity of ill intent, that dark aura would change as well, so much so that it will start to form a face simr to them that expressed their true intentions.

    Also, as long as Raven ced enough Chaos Force on his eyes, he found out that his surroundings will start to ever so slightly slow down, while his own body was unaffected. This allowed him to dodge attacks that would im his life.

    Through that hectic and dangerous battle, Raven was able to iron out some ws on his hammer techniques. He was able to progress much faster in these situations unlike from some regr spars he had with his friends.

    Raven took down that person after his 15th attempt, he wasn''t proud of the way he defeated him but a pass is a pass. That guy won''t just stop and he was clearly stronger than him even though he couldn''t gauge what his cultivation was. Raven had to resort into some tricks tond a deadly blow to him which took his life.

    Needless to say, he didn''te out unscathed from that fight, as shown by how bad he came out of the crown space. After many nights of dealing with that guy, at least he was through with him.

    And because of his exhaustion and relief, Raven passed out while soaking in the medicine bath just like back in the days at the Inner Court when he was still a part of the genius ss.

    Raven woke up the next day, feeling light and refreshed. He smiled as he did some light exercise. He felt energetic and stronger. When he inspected his cultivation, he was surprised to find out that he actually broke through. He''s in mid-stage Veteran Realm right now.

    This surprised made him genuinely happy, at least he was still advancing with rtive speed even without actively attempting a breakthrough. But he suppressed this happiness as there are other matters he had to attend today.

    But before he could do any of them, he had to go at the Royal Pce first.

    ***

    "The preparations areplete. We only need to wait until high noon and the activation should start." Raven reported.

    His words received a couple of excited nods on the people present at the King''s office. The same people who attended the meeting before was here. And undoubtedly, they are anticipating the results of their collective effort during the past month.

    The activation of the Sk Array.

    Currently, everyone was just waiting for the high noon to happen. That was thest requirement for the array to activate.

    The Sk Array isposed of twenty totemic markers, which were erected and buried by the brave and capable Lair Hunters ording to Raven''s suggestions in order to keep them safe from beast and the Diamond Dust. These markers traced the edges of the Yellow Zone around the kingdom. And since the array would be powered by natural sunlight and moonlight, it had been storing energy for quite sometime now, they only needed the sun to reach its peak and the activation will start.

    All of them are anxiously staring at the board made out of white jade. The reason being is that when the array is activated, the overhead imaging of the Kingdom would be revealed in this jade board.

    "It''sing¡­" Raven said solemnly as he felt the sun slowly edging at its peak. Everyone was gripped with anticipation. It was then that...

    *Swoosh!*

    Arge energy fluctuation was felt by everyone in the kingdom. All of them subconsciously raised their heads to look at the sky and saw several crisscrossing lines overarching their kingdom. With the sun at its peak, it looked like it was the reason behind this strange phenomenon but in truth, these lines are connections from one totem marker towards another. Some people panicked but after a feeling that nothing else happened, they were left confused by this scenario.

    The situation inside the King''s office is different however.

    Everyone stared unblinkingly at the jade board, some even forgot how the breathe properly as they saw a miracle unfold in front of their eyes.

    "Ahhh¡­" Carol couldn''t help but to cry out as she stared at the jade board like it was some sort of treasure.

    "Beautiful." Bruce alsomented, his eyes shining with pride knowing that he was a part of the creation of such beauty.

    The Jade Board shown the overhead imaging of the kingdom, not only that but everything inside the Yellow Zone as well. Patches of forest, bodies of water, cliffs, mountains, hills and other possiblendmarks. Not only that, they could also see mineral lodes, resource deposits and treasure bowls,irs of beasts, and etc. It was a miraculous sight.

    Raven stepped forward with a smile in his face and went beside the jade board, making sure that he wasn''t blocking anyone''s sight, he started exining how to use the Sk Array.

    "Everyone please watch carefully, we will begin testing the functions of the Sk Array." Raven then pointed a finger on the side of the jade board and said: "In this corner, we could monitor how much energy the array gathered so far. Right now it''s just a little on the low side since it hasn''t been long since the array was activated."

    "You will also see the Marker Legends enlisted here. These legends will allow you to easily search for the things that you wanted to see. If you want to highlight them on the map, just press on the legend and it shall disy what you wanted."

    Raven pressed the legend for Mineral Lodes and every mineral lodes on the array shone with an obvious light. He then removed his hand and the highlight was gone.

    "Do remember that every time you do this, it drains some stored energy and-eh?"

    Everyone became rmed when they saw Raven suddenly staring at a certain spot in the map.

    "What''s wrong Avi?" Luna asked worryingly.

    Raven was silent for a bit before replying, "I think we forgot to ce one more marker¡­"

 Chapter 241 - Tribe

    ---

    "I think forgot to ce one more marker¡­"

    Everyone was somewhat bewildered when they heard him say that. Carol, the Head Mistress of the Inscriptionists immediately frowned and said:

    "Are you sure were missing something? We build exactly 20 markers right and double checked before we ced them at the suggested spots right? Did something went wrong?"

    Everyone in the room also agreed, they all saw the markers before they were sent and just like Carol said, there weren''t anything missing in their numbers. Even Jackson could attest to this since he was there when every single one was nted.

    Instead of answering them, Raven just stared at the Jade Board. He was in deep thought, based from what he could see, he wouldn''t be mistaken about this¡­

    He took a deep breath and took out some materials out of his spatial ring, he then began working. No one interrupted him as they saw once his hand grasped the brush firmly and began writing one inscription seal after another.

    Golden patterns flowed out from the tip of his brush andnded perfectly in the array disc he was holding. Carol, who was watching this, stared unblinkingly andmitted his performance in her memory. Others might not have a profound understanding to what he was doing but to her, it''spletely different. It was like she was witnessing a miracle unfold right before her very eyes.

    There was no rush or impatience in his act. Every stroke of his brush was filled with confidence and power, which caused every single inscription to flow like an unhindered stream. The degree of control he had over his energies was on another level, something that most Knights don''t pay attention to.

    Raven took his time, but the performance was still too short even for Carol. He made a quick work out of something that should''ve taken a whole day to finish. Once all of the inscriptionsnded on the array disc, Raven nicked his finger using a small dagger and sprayed blood all over it, causing the disc to buzz around and emit a strange noise.

    Under everyone''s gazes, he threw the array disc out of the window which nearly gave Carol a heart attack. But once it flew outside, it automatically floated in air and emit a gentle fluctuation.

    Once again, Raven''s were fixed on the Jade Board, patiently waiting until the disc he made earlier gathered enough energy to disy what he wanted to see.

    After a minute and a half, there was some slight change in the Jade Board. Raven''s eyes gleamed as he hurriedly detached the Jade Board from it''s stand and went towards the table.

    "Everyone, please give me some room." He said in a little urgent tone while holding the Jade Board.

    Everyone in the room hurriedly took their things away from the table. Once they''re done, Raven ced the Jade Board on top of the table and suddenly, it merged with it.

    Now the whole table was disying the overhead imaging of the Kingdom and the Yellow Zone around it. Raven the manipted the array and pressed on the new Marker Legend that appeared on it.

    Instantly, one spot from the map was highlighted. Everyone saw this and was puzzled, nevertheless Raven still didn''t say a thing. He nced at the umted energy of the array and noticed that it was enough. He then shifted his position towards the side where he could look closely on the highlighted zone in the map.

    Raising both of his hands, he made a parting motion. Once he did that, the array responded and the map immediately started to zoom into the ce that he targeted. Everyone watched with bated breaths as they saw the picturesque scene of the area. They still have no idea what Raven found out, all they felt right now is awe when they saw that they could practically see anything within the jurisdiction of the array in a detailed manner even without going out of the walls.

    Suddenly, the map stopped zooming in. There were then left with an image of something thatpletely stunned everyone in this room.

    "Son¡­is that¡­what I think it is?" Luis stuttered as he too stared unblinkingly at the zoomed in image.

    "Yes, Dad." Raven sighed, "The marker I ced right now is specifically made to track humans."

    "It seems that my guesses were right on point." Raven continued, "Something in the Real Time Imaging wasn''t showing things properly. We made a tracker for living things but when it initially booted up, the array didn''t understand how to properly identify Humans since we didn''t make anything specifically for tracking them."

    "Then I remembered, there''s the ck Curtain Guild. How are we going to track them if we don''t have a Human Marker? But it seems that it''s not the ck Curtain Guild I found."

    Everyone gazed at the real time feed that the array was showing up. There, they saw a somewhat tragic sight.

    Several patched up huts that, by their guessed, wouldn''t even stand a chance against a strong wind. A petite wooden fence that could even be broken down by a wild boar. Pale and sickly looking Humans were walking from one hut over another. They wore loosely sewed animal skins which were only enough to cover their private parts.

    This small tribe of Humans consists of at least 200 people upon initial estimations. The males were at least as many as the females, and there are certainly children with them. They even saw some females breastfeeding their babies, even so it still a pitiful sight.

    Just from one nce, one could already tell that these people are starving. Their cheeks were sunken, some of them could even fit the word ''Skin and Bones'' by how terrible they look. Their faces exuded sadness and hopelessness. For the most part, it seems that they have already given up on life. They were just waiting for doomsday toe and im them.

    They even saw some children crying, maybe due to hunger. While some of them were forced to work and push themselves into danger in order to feed themselves.

    "How terrible¡­" Luna gasped in horror as she watched on. She felt a stinging pain in her chest as she saw their pitiful state.

    "They must''ve been suffering for a while now." Raven said, his voice slightly shaking as well. "Though their tribe is somewhat hidden, it''s notpletely safe. Their fences could be broken down by a strong gust of wind or a rampaging boar easily."

    Raven then shifted the imaging a bit and continued speaking: "Look what''s nearby."

    Jackson who had been watching all this time gasped as he hurriedly sat up and eximed: "Lair!"

    "Yes, a Lair." Raven confirmed, earning a gasp from the rest who were listening. "If any beast in this ce wandered just a little to far, they would be able to sniff out the tribe. Assuming that it didn''t happen before. But looking at their situation¡­"

    Raven didn''t even want to finish his own deductions, it was just too ugly to even think about it.

    "The children aren''t getting proper nutrition as well." Raven continued, "I can tell from a nce, some of them are sick. The temperature at night is quite low, and this patched up huts won''t really do a proper job of keeping them warm, it will only give them a shelter from the harsh sun during the day and it''s not even doing a proper job at that."

    "Their men don''t look strong enough to hunt for food. I guess they must''ve been feeding off by catching some wild hares and poultry due to their istion. But that''s not nearly enough for any of them. Look at the nails of that kid¡­" Raven pointed out.

    Everyone looked at the kid he was referring to, more specifically at his nails. They were heavily damaged, most likely from bite marks. It seems that suppress his hunger, the kid was biting his nails and eating it. It was such a horrible sight that made anyone''s heart clench in pain.

    Luna couldn''t bear it anymore, she sped Alexander''s hands and said: "Father, we have to do something. We can''t leave them in a situation like that!"

    "I agree, Dad." Balmung added as well, his face was somewhat somber. Even though this people aren''t technically aren''t their subjects, he still felt responsible over them. Specially after knowing their situation.

    "No need to tell me twice." Alexander smiled as he patted Luna''s head, "How could I call myself a King if I turn away from the people who needs me?"

    He then gazed at Jackson and said: "Can I entrust this to you and your men?"

    "Absolutely, Your Majesty." Jackson replied, "We will also take down that Lair while we''re at it."

    "Good." He then looked towards Luis and asked: "Can I trouble you to search for a safe route towards this tribe?"

    "Of course, Your Majesty." Luis replied immediately, he then urged Raven to manipte the array so that he could start searching for a good path for the Lair Hunters to take.

    "Noel." The King called out.

    "At yourmand, Your Majesty."

    "Select a few of your men to join their hunters. How much you send will depend on your discretions but keep in mind that you''re escorting at least 200 people. Is that clear?"

    "Loud and clear, Your Majesty." Noel replied.

    Then the King looked at Raven, who''s looking at him as well. He smiled and nodded: "Yes, you may go along as well."

    "Thank you, Uncle."

 Chapter 242 - Nana

    ---

    "Princess¡­" Raven gently called out as he held Luna''s hand. "Stop sulking already."

    Luna had been silent and pouting ever since the meeting ended. Raven thought that it was adorable but he was alsoforting her.

    The reason why she''s sulking like this is because she wanted to go along with them, but was adamantly refused by her own father and even Raven himself. She does understand why her father would refuse to it but even Raven prevented her froming so she felt slightly betrayed.

    "Am I weak still? Is going outside of the walls still dangerous for me?" Luna turned around asked him seriously.

    Raven frowned and answered her question: "No. You''re not weak. In fact, you''re very strong. So long as you stay inside the Yellow Zone then you should be safe."

    "Then why won''t you let mee with you?" She asked, "I do understand why Father won''t let me go but even you? Like you said, nothing could seriously harm me inside the Yellow Zone, specially if there''s a safe route, so why won''t you let mee with you?"

    Raven''s gaze softened as he wrapped her in his embrace, he sighed and cupped her face, saying: "I didn''t want you to go simply because there is no need for you to do so."

    "Hm?" Luna tilted her head, asking for rification.

    "Aren''t I alreadying with them? Don''t you have faith in me?" Raven asked.

    "I do have faith in you."

    "Well, there you have it." Raven smiled and kissed her pouting lips, "I''m alreadying with them so there is no need for you to go. And even if were just travelling within the Yellow Zone and following a safe route, the fact that it''s still outside the safety of the walls remained. I just don''t want to drag you into a mess if it all boils down to it."

    "Besides¡­" Raven continued, "What made you think that you can''t help by staying here?"

    Luna''s eyes brightened, clearly asking Raven about clues. Heughed and pinched her cheeks, saying: "You can go pick where they will settle down once we bring them here. You can ask for your brother''s help with that, right?"

    She instantly beamed as soon as he said this. Luna gave him a sweet kiss and pulled him to a hug, saying: "You''re the best."

    "I know." Raven smugly said. He then broke the hug and said: "Alright, you go get busy now. I still have to prepare for the journey since were leaving as soon as possible."

    "Okay." Luna nodded, before Raven left she said: "Be safe and bring them home."

    "I will." Raven gave her a kiss and left the room.

    ***

    Later that day, Raven as well as the Lair Hunters and Royal Guards gathered at the Southern Wall for debriefing and supply check.

    Once everything was set, they then headed out of the walls, making sure to keep a tight formation and staying alert. Like what Raven told Luna earlier, even though they were travelling within the Yellow Zone and following a safe route, it doesn''t mean that they''repletely safe. Being alert won''t hurt anyone, right?

    Travelling in group definitely slowed them down, it took them three days to arrive within the vicinity of the tribe. But due to them staying alert all the time, they didn''t face any kind of dangers on the way. Sure there have been some beasts who were spying on them but witnessing their numbers, they immediately left them alone.

    As the group closed in at the Lair, they then moved on to the next n.

    "Alright, I''ll go to the tribe now. I''ll leave the Lair to you guys, okay?"

    Jackson who personally travelled with them nodded and immediately ordered the men to prepare for the Lair Clearing. Raven then turned around and went on the opposite way.

    It had been decided that Raven will approach the tribe alone from the get go. This just so that they won''t scare them with their numbers. The n is to ease them up to the idea ofing with them willingly. They didn''t want to make this look like an abduction or something like that.

    Since he was travelling alone, Raven practically reached the vicinity of the tribe in record time. Thanks to the Sk Array, he could prevent himself from blindly guessing which way to go.

    The tribe was hidden in the middle of thick forest. It acted as their natural cover from the spying eyes of the beast. There''s also a wooden fence filled with thorns, erected around the forest. Raven slowly walked around the fence and looked for the entrance as he didn''t want to just simply jumped in.

    Out of nowhere, he felt a presence nearby. He activated his eyes and found a small kid carrying a dirty sack filled with yellowish rocks. The child was a young girl and was clearly malnourished, her face was very dirty, her cheeks were sunken and her clothes didn''t even cover her whole body. Each step she took wasbored, it was clear that she was very tired.

    Raven sighed, he suppressed the negative emotions he felt and gently approached her with a smile on her face.

    As soon as the girl saw him, she practically shivered. The sack she was carrying abruptly fell down as a visible panic appeared in her face.

    Raven help up his hands and said: "Be at ease, be at ease. I won''t harm you."

    "¡­" The girl let out a squeak and some unintelligible words.

    Raven''s eyes gleamed as he thought: ''Dark Moon Eranguage? So that''s what''s going on.'' He inwardly shook his head and spoke once again.

    "Don''t be scared. I''m not going to harm you." He said using thenguage she could understand.

    The little girl''s eyes widened like saucers, she ced her hands on her mouth and said: "Waa, it''s talking! It''s gonna eat me! Uwaa~"

    Ravenughed at her antics, he then slowly crouched but he didn''t move from where he was. He then said: "I''m not gonna eat you, little girl. I don''t eat humans. I just want to help you out since it seems that your carrying something heavy."

    The girl showed hesitation in her face, with her voice still shaking, she asked: "Are you really not going to eat me?"

    "Nope." Ravenughed once again, "What''s your name?"

    "N-Nana." The girl replied, slowly squirming in her ce.

    "Nice to meet you, Nana. My name is Raven. Why are you carrying that heavy sack?"

    "B-because our tribe needs it." She said, still slightly afraid of him.

    Raven smiled and sat down in front of him, he kept that friendly smile and asked: "What does your sack have?"

    "Sparking Rocks." Nana replied, somehow easing up with Raven''s gentle gestures.

    "Sparking Rocks?"

    "Mn!" She nodded, "We use it to set fire to twigs so that the fire could keep us warm."

    ''Ah, Sulfuric Rocks.'' Raven nodded his head in understanding. He then asked her, "Why are you the one gathering them? Where''s your parents?"

    "Dad and Mom are sick." Nana replied sadly, "They can''t stand up so they can''t work. If they don''t work, we won''t have food. If we can''t have food, they won''t get better. And I want them to get better so I gather Sparking Rocks."

    Raven smiled sadly. The girl can''t even talk properly yet she was already exposed to this much hardship. Suddenly, he heard the girl''s stomach rumble. He saw how she reeled back in pain and immediately ced her fingers on her lips. Raven frown and said:

    "Stop doing that!" His voice raised a little too high, much to the horror of the girl who immediately went pale. Realizing this instantly, Raven immediately added: "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to shout at you. But stop eating your nails, it''s dirty."

    "B-but¡­I''m hungry. I don''t have anything to eat." She said as tears flowed down from her dirty face. Raven''s heart ached.

    Moving slowly, he raised hand and traced his spatial ring. Suddenly, a te filled with a bunch of food appeared in his hands, much to the surprise of the little girl.

    In the sight of that much food, the little girl practically drooled on spot. Raven smiled and ced the te of food in front of him. He then said: "Eat it. It''s yours."

    "Really?" The little girl''s eyes shone like stars.

    "Really." Raven nodded, "It''s all yours."

    The little girl hesitated, she remembered the words of her parents to not trust anyone outside of their tribe. But faced with a te of a delicacy, she would be lying if she said that she wasn''t tempted.

    Seeing her hesitation, Raven smiled and pushed the te even further. He then ced two more tes beside it and said: "Don''t worry, I told you I''m not gonna hurt you. You can have all of this, you can bring back the rest to your parents."

    After hearing that, the little girl practically flew forward and gorged on the food. Her tears poured out like rain as she said: "Delicious! It''s so delicious! Waa~."

    Raven smiled and patted her head.

 Chapter 243 - Healer

    ---

    Nana didn''t even notice his touch.

    She was too focused on gorging herself with delicious food that she threw all caution along with the wind so that she could savor this moment.

    *Cough* *Cough*

    Nana suddenly choked due to how fast she was eating, Raven once againughed and took out a leather jug. He opened the cap and gave it to her.

    "Drink this. You can take your time eating, no one will fight you over that."

    Nana carefully took the jug and drank from it. It only took her one sip and she became teary eyed again. He never thought that there wille a time when she will be able to drink clean water. She was used to drinking water from a dirty well. She never thought that water could taste this amazing.

    She practically finished drinking the whole jug with water. In fact, she felt like drinking more but she just prevented herself from asking for more since this person already gave her so much. She even scolded herself inwardly since she forgot to leave some for her parents.

    Raven could vaguely guess what she was thinking. He smiled and said: "Don''t be sad, I have more food and water with me. If you want, I can give you some to bring home to your parents."

    Nana''s eyes brightened, but then she suddenly turned gloomy and asked: "W-what about you, Big Brother? If you give me all this, then y-you won''t have anything to eat or drink anymore."

    Raven patted her head and said: "Don''t worry. Like I said, I have many food and water with me. In fact, I think I could even feed a whole tribe with how much I have."

    His bragging wasn''t an empty talk. Raven is filthy rich, and beforeing here, he bought 50 sacks of rice and 30 crates of processed meat. Luna even helped him cooked some just so that it would be ready whenever he needed it.

    Nana''s eyes brightened when he heard him say that. Shepletely believed this person and even had the desire to bring him to the tribe, unfortunately she had no idea if their tribe would ept him.

    Suddenly, she saw something appear in his hands. It was a pure white handkerchief. She then felt Raven wipe her face, cleaning it for her. She briefly saw how the white cloth became dirty so she immediately stopped him from wiping her face dirty face.

    "D-don''t! Look, it''s dirty anymore."

    Raven smiled and showed her a trick. Under her dumbstruck gaze, his hands glowed with a gentle light and suddenly the handkerchief wasn''t dirty anymore. He then showed a mysterious smile and said:

    "Hm? I don''t see dirt anywhere though?"

    "Waa~." Nana''s eyes shone like a brilliant star. She can''t say anything else since she didn''t really understand what just happened but her amazement was evident.

    Raven then took her tiny hands and covered them using his own, her hands glowed with light again. Nana felt afortable feeling as he held her hands, and suddenly, Nana''s injured fingers healed. The wounds she got from biting her nails were no longer present. Her nails grew back as well, and her hands even be prettier that she couldn''t believe that it was her own hands.

    "Waa~! H-how do you do that? Are you a miracle?"

    Raven restrained hisugh and asked: "A miracle?"

    "Yeah!" Nana asked with eyes shining, " We always hear Tribe Leader say that ''When miraclees, we will be healed and saved.''."

    Raven smiled and said: "Well, I don''t know if I am the ''miracle'' that your Tribe Leader spoke about but I can heal people so I am a Healer."

    "Say, Big Brother?" Nana asked, "C-can you heal my parents?"

    "Well, I need to see them first to check if I could." Raven replied.

    Nana bit her lips and asked him bravely, "Big Brother, can you please follow me back home? I don''t want my Mama and Papa to die." She cried in desperation.

    How could Raven refuse her when she''s looking like that? He smiled and pinched her head, saying: "Sure! Point me to the direction of your home then."

    He then picked her up and carried her in her arms using one hand. He also picked up the sack of Sulfuric Stones that she was carrying while Nana herself held the tes of food he had given her like her life depended on it.

    Nana then pointed him towards the entrance of the tribe. When they arrived to the vicinity of the entrance, Raven could already see the gates along with the guards. He deliberately slowed down his steps and made sure to make no threatening gestures just so that the situation won''t escte into an uncontroble degree.

    Once the guards saw him appear, they practically snapped out of their daze and went on full guard while holding their wooden spears. They then saw him carrying Nana and their faces crumpled, thinking that he abducted her.

    "Be careful you lot! The monster had Nana! Think of a way to kill it without harming the child." One of the guards said to hisrades.

    As Raven heard this, he smiled wryly and thought to himself: ''It seems that they don''t really understand the idea that other humans existed apart from them.''

    "I meant you no harm." He said calmly.

    The guards froze. Raven heard one of them said: "sphemy! It talked! This is going to be a problem!"

    "D-don''t be scared!" Nana yelled in Raven''s arms, "He is not a monster! He didn''t harm me!"

    "Don''t be fooled Nana!" One of the guards yelled back. "For all we know, he might''ve already harmed you!"

    "But he didn''t!" Nana yelled back, "I told you he''s not a monster! Monsters don''t give food! Monsters don''t give water! Monsters don''t wipe my face clean, heal my hands and bring me back home! He''s no monster!"

    Hearing her say that made the guards froze. No matter how much they hated to admit it, she was right. They never saw a monster bring back someone from their tribe like this.

    One of the guards then looked at Raven and said: "Hey! Are you really not a monster?"

    Raven chuckled and said: "Yes, I''m not. I am a human just like you."

    The guards looked at each other in dismay, they were currently stumped in this situation. They never encountered anything like this before so they didn''t know what to do.

    One of them suddenly stepped forward and said: "If you truly are a human, then you will let go of Nana right at this very instant."

    Raven raised his brow and smiled, he then looked at Nana and smiled.

    Deliberately slowing down his actions, he lowered his body and ced her down. Nana looked at him worriedly but all he did was pat her head and said: "It''s okay, don''t be scared. I told you I''m going to see if I could heal your parents right?"

    "Mn!" Nana nodded.

    "I''ll definitely keep my promise, so don''t cry okay? Big girls don''t cry." Raven said while wiping her tears with his hand.

    "Okay." Nana replied, she then turned around and walked towards the guards while clutching the te of food that Raven gave to her.

    Raven stood up and remained in ce, he just watched the scene unfold. Once Nana entered a safe distance away from him, one of the guards suddenly stepped forward and kneeled down to her level. After inspecting her state briefly, he told the other guards that she isn''t harmed.

    That simr guard then picked her up and once he did, the other guards immediately charged forwards with their spears aimed at Raven.

    Nana''s eyes widened, she then fiercely struggled in the guards embrace but she couldn''t since she wasn''t stronger than him. "What are you doing? Didn''t I say he''s not a monster?"

    "Yes you did, Nana." The guard replied, "But we don''t know what he wants with the tribe, we can''t trust him so we could only do this."

    "No! No! Don''t hurt him! He could heal people! He told me he''s going to heal my parents! Don''t hurt him." Nana pleaded while crying, sadly the guard could only shake his head and ignore her pleas.

    "Tch. Look what you guys did, you made her cry."

    His words echoed like loud gongs in their ears. The guards were then shocked to find out that they couldn''t even move a muscle. Even the charging guards practically froze on their spots, coldly sweating since they don''t understand what''s going on. Even the guard that was holding Nana visibly froze as well.

    "Some adults you are. Letting a little girl cry and witness blood." Raven merely shook his head and walked forward. The guards could only stare helplessly as he walked past them and approached Nana.

    The guard who was holding her was practically sweating buckets. He was horrified, thinking that he just pissed off a monster that he could never afford to.

    "As I said before, I meant you no harm." Raven spoke as he picked up the crying Nana,forting her with a smile. "I only wanted to help."

    He gave them onest look and said: "Pardon my intrusion. I need to check if I could heal her parents. Don''t worry, I won''t harm a single soul. That''s a promise."

    He then looked at Nana and said: "Come, point me towards your home."

 Chapter 244 - Gentle Cradle Tribe

    ---

    The could do nothing but to stare at Raven as he pushed the wooden gates to their tribe using one hand. It had to be known that it takes them at least push that damn thing but he didn''t even needed both of his hands to do that.

    As Raven went inside, he was greeted by the pitiful view of the tribe.

    Patched up huts, dried up spring, not even a iota of grass could be seen growing inside. There was a foul stench that''sced with air which made him frown. His appearance was like a contrast from the scene inside, which made him extremely obvious to the people who was roaming around the tribe.

    Raven was aware that he''s being stared at and he didn''t care. He knew that he stuck out like a sore thumb with his appearance. He assumed that no in here saw a healthy human being before. Plus, his clothes are way too different from what they have. He was the only one who was wearing something clean and has vibrant color in here. Of course his appearance would really be obvious.

    Raven gave them a nod and proceed to ask Nana: "Where is your home?"

    "It''s that way, Big Brother." She said as she pointed in the east direction.

    Raven calmly walked forward and followed where she pointed. As he walked by, he could here the faint whispers of the tribe members. Once he locked gazes with any of them, they would simply turn away and shiver in fear. Raven shook his head and just calmly walked away, good thing he was alone.

    After walked for some time, they eventually reached Nana''s home. It was a very humble home ording to the tribe''s standards. Like the rest, it was a patched up hut that has frail twigs of wood as the roof. There is no door in their house, only a piece of beast skin which didn''t even cover up the whole entrance. The floor was made out of rotten bark that is tied together by some straws and it was filled with holes. The walls are made out simr materials and was filled with holes.

    Nana asked him to put her down so he did, she then grabbed him by the hand and pulled him inside their home. Once he got inside, he immediately saw two pale-faced people lying down on the rough surface of the floor without any kind of nkets or covers.

    Having a closer look inside, he noticed that there is just one room. Where they eat, sleep, and talk all happens inside this cell. Raven shook his head, even the pig sties in the kingdom are bigger than this.

    As soon as Nana saw her parents, she was tearing up once again. She kneeled down between them and ced her ears close to their mouths to check if they are still breathing. While she did felt their breaths, it was incredibly weak, both of them were also visibly frowning, a sign that they weren''t faring better since she left.

    She turned around to call for Raven but she noticed that he was already behind her and checking her parents. Nana didn''t say anything and just allowed him to check her parents.

    ''Thank god I arrived today.'' Raven inwardly thought, ''Their conditions are terrible but not hopeless. Their pulses are weak. Both of them are just practically skin and bones at this point. It was unlucky that they caught fever, specially in this kind of state, even that simple illness would be extremely lethal to them.''

    "Big Brother? Can you heal them?" Nana asked anxiously after seeing Raven go silent for a while.

    He smiled at her and ruffled her hair, he then said: "They are in a bad state but still curable. Luckily we found each other, right?"

    "Mn!" Nana nodded and smiled, "Please heal them Big Brother."

    "Yes, yes." Raven chuckled and ruffled her hair. He then stood up and said: "But we can''t do it inside this ce since it might break. Come, follow me outside."

    Raven waved his hand and under the dumbstruck gaze of Nana, both of her parents started levitating off the ground. He held Nana''s arm and went outside of the house only to find out that there''s basically a crowd in front.

    He raised his brow and saw how the people stared at him in a gobsmacked manner. The guards that he encountered earlier were even here as well. Raven gave them a slight bow and traced his spatial ring.

    From his ring came out some open-air tents that automatically set themselves up ording to Raven''s will. There also some stretchers and leather chairs that appeared out of his spatial ring.

    The people of the tribe practically had their eyes bulging from their sockets at they saw this incredible scene. They all started wondering what kind of sorcery is this and just what kind of entity Raven was.

    Raven ignored their amazed gazes and focused at the task at hand. With a gentle wave of his hand, Nana''s parents gently floated down and were ced in a soft stretcher. Once their backs hit the soft surface of the stretchers, one could already see their faces ease up.

    "Sit there for a bit. This will be quick." He told Nana as he focused on her parents, the little girl nodded and watched as Raven cured her parents. Those who were watching them practically gasped as they heard him speak.

    Raven took out a vial of green fluid and popped the cork. He gently lifted their bodies and ced the vials on their lips. After they consumed the medicine he took out, he then took out another pair and this timethered on the surface of their bodies.

    Their bodies glowed with a gentle light, afterwards everyone saw how their faces regained color and visibly turned calmer. Raven briefly inspected their pulses and nodded, the mild medicine did wonders on their bodies. He then turned to Nana and said:

    "It''s done. They''re out of danger now and sleeping peacefully, after an hour they should wake up so don''t cry anymore okay?"

    Nana jumped to his arms and said: "Thank you, Big Brother."

    "You''re wee." Raven smiled and ruffled her hair, "Just wait there okay? Big Brother has other stuff to do."

    "Mn!" Nana said as she went back to her seat. Now that she could rx, she now noticed the soft surface of her chair which managed to distract her. The chair was big enough for her curl up and sleep, which precisely what she did since she never experienced anything this soft.

    Raven smiled warmly as he saw her cute actions. He then looked up and whistled while holding up his arm, out of nowhere a Mirage Hawk appeared on arms which practically spooked everyone who was staring at him. Raven ced a rolled up letter on thepartment of it''s legs and fed it before sending it away.

    After that, it was time for Raven to face the rest of the tribe. He turned around and looked at every single one of them. He gave them a curt bow and said: "Nice to meet you, my name is Raven. Pardon me for my intrusion, Nana asked me to cure her parents but your guards attacked me on sight so I could only force my entry."

    Raven then traced his fingers and suddenly, a stream of things flew out from it. tes filled with aromatic food and jugs of clean water started levitating around him.

    "I came in peace." Raven stated, "I made a promise to not harm a single soul in this tribe and I intend to keep it. As proof of my word, please ept this."

    Raven waved his hands and suddenly, the tes of food and water jugs started fly towards the people of the tribe. Some were scared out of their wits and tried to dodge or block the things flying at them only to find out that it wasn''t meant to harm them.

    "These are fresh food and clean water. Please, help yourselves. Don''t worry I didn''t ce anything harmful with the food nor the waters. If you do have anything to ask of me, you can find me here. That''s all."

    After that, he turned around and sat beside the sleeping Nana. He took out some nkets and covered sleeping family. He then took closed his eyes and waited.

    Seeing that Raven truly didn''t n to harm any of them, some of them curiously took the food and water in their hands. Seeing the glistening delectable made them unconsciously drool, some of the braver/reckless ones threw caution out of the window and ced some food on their mouths, and when they did there was no stopping them.

    These food will be easily digested and absorbed by their bodies since Raven personally arranged them. It didn''t matter even if they were starving before this, their bodies won''t reject these food or water since it has special effects.

    It didn''t take a long time before everyone around him busied themselves from eating. Aside from Raven, no one noticed that there was an old man slowly approaching them.

    The old man eventually arrived at where Raven was and saw thetter standing up. Raven then gave him a curt bow and offered him a hand and his seat. The old man smiled kindly and said:

    "Wee to our tribe, Gentle Outsider.. I am Neman the current leader of the Gentle Cradle Tribe."

 Chapter 245 - Little Bird

    ---

    "Wee to our tribe, Gentle Outsider. I am Neman the current leader of the Gentle Cradle Tribe."

    Raven inspected him briefly and saw that, just like the rest of the people in the tribe, he too is in a bad state. His back was bent, his robes were extremely dirty, all of his teeth are missing, his skin was wrinkled and has a few ck patches which looked like a skin disease, he''s also incredibly skinny, almost as if he haven''t eaten anything for weeks. In all honesty, Raven thought that it was a miracle that this old man is still alive.

    "Nice to meet you, Tribe Leader Neman. My name is Raven, please excuse my intrusion to your tribe."

    "It''s alright." Neman said in a dry voice, it was then followed by a fit of coughing which sounded very dry. Raven hurriedly took out a jug of water and ced it on his lips gently.

    As the old man took a sip, there was a trace of brilliance in his eyes which didn''t escape Raven''s vision. Even without Raven''s assistance, the old man immediately emptied the whole leather jug by himself as tears flowed down from his eyes. After he emptied the leather jug, there was a trace of reluctance in his eyes.

    "I never thought that I would be able to drink something of this caliber. It felt so soothing and warm." Neman said as he returned the leather jug to Raven and said: "Thank you for your generosity, Kind Raven. It''s a shame that out little tribe doesn''t have anything to offer for your presents. But if there''s anything we could do to help, do tell us. We will try our best to help you out."

    Raven could feel the kindness in the old man''s voice. He smiled and shook his head, "It''s alright, Tribe Leader. For now I just want to know if there''s anything you could tell me about this tribe."

    Neman sighed sadly and said: "What''s there to tell? We are in a bad state. It is my life''s biggest blessing that I am able to reach the age of 60 in this kind of environment. As for the rest, well I suppose I don''t have to exin it further, do I?"

    Raven nodded and shared his sentiments, he then took out fruit slices and passed it down to the elder to eat. Neman nodded once again and started consuming the fruits.

    Once again, his tears flowed down from his face. "Ah, this must came from paradise. This taste, this softness, this feeling. I almost feel guilty being blessed like this. Now that I''ve tasted this heavenly treat, I no longer have any regrets and could pass on peacefully."

    Raven shivered from head to toe as he said that, he then faced Neman and said: "Tribe Leader, please don''t say things like that. You will make your people sad."

    "Haha, don''t fret young friend. This is just me being emotional, I do still want to live for a little longer so don''t worry."

    Raven smiled wryly and then took Neman''s hand and sent some of his energies to check his body. After a while of checking, he took out some medicine and made him consume it. This medicine is quite different from the one he used to Nana''s parents as this one is gentler.

    Once Neman consumed the medicine, an incredible scene urred. His bent back was slowly straightening up, the ck patches on his skin disappeared and his face regained some colors. Neman felt himself floating through the clouds. He never felt thisfortable in his entire life, it was like he was basking under a gentle trickle of rain after experiencing a year long drought.

    He opened his eyes and he could almost swear that the world wasn''t this colorful before. The senses that were failing him before now returned, breathing also became easier for him. Neman felt alive.

    Neman then stared at Raven and hurriedly prostrated in front of him much to thetter''s panic and surprise. As he was about to ask what he was doing, Neman said:

    "Either you are God or one of his Envoys. No matter what the case, in behalf of my people, thank you for gracing our tribe with your presence, O Holy One."

    Raven hurriedly helped him up and replied: "Tribe Leader, I am no God of Envoy of his. I am but a human, who happens to have some incredible abilities, nothing more. There is no need to prostate like this, please stand up."

    Neman who heard his words were stunned, he asked: "I-It can''t be. Your a Human too? B-But how?"

    "While it might be hard for you to believe, I am indeed a human just like the rest of you." Raven stated simply as he assisted Neman on his seat. "We just happen to learn some ancient knowledge which enables us to perform incredible feats."

    "We? Us?" Neman asked with wide eyes.

    Raven nodded and exined: "Indeed, there''s a lot of people like me back in the Kingdom. Some of them are even more incredible that I am."

    Before Neman could even ask something, a little girl pulled Raven''s sleeves. Raven looked down and saw that it was Nana who was pulling his sleeves. He then heard her ask: "Big Brother, what''s a Kingdom?"

    He smiled and picked her up, he then sat with her on hisp and said: "Hmm. To put it simply, it''s like a tribe that stretches as far as the eyes could see. There also more people in itpared here."

    Raven was also aware that it wasn''t just her who''s curious about where he came from. Neman and the rest were already listening intently to him as he answered her question.

    "Really!?" Nana''s eyes shone, "Many people? How many Big Brother?"

    "Millions of people." Raven replied, but when he saw Nana tilted her head in confusion, he thought that he had to be more creative in his description.

    "Do you know what a Mountain is?" Raven asked, Nana nodded her head so he continued: "If you stack a million people on top of each other, you could form a tall mountain. That''s how many people we have."

    "Waa~!!" Nana eximed, not really knowing what to say, "Say Big Brother? Are there a lot of food and water in your home?"

    "Of course!" Raven nodded and decided to brag a little bit, "We never ran out of food and will never run out of it. We have so much that we have to eat at least three times a day in order to make sure we leave them to rot in there. As for water, we have even more of that. Back in my home, all you have to do is ask and anyone would give you water. The same one''s I gave you before."

    Nana''s eyes were shining like brilliant stars as she listened to his stories. Even the one''s who are listening were gaping at him. They looked at their empty tes and jugs while thinking about his statement.

    That te of food was something they will dly risk their lives for yet in Raven''s home, there was too much that it was rotting. This jug of clean water is something that they will dly sell their souls for but it was given for free. How could there be such a thing?

    Some didn''t buy it, but for some reason they wanted to believe him.

    "Big Brother? Isn''t it dangerous outside? Mama and Papa always told me that there are big and scary monsters outside that could eat me whole. Aren''t you afraid of them?"

    "Hmm." Raven mused for a bit and said: "It is true that there are big and scary monsters outside, but we are stronger than most of them. Yes, others could eat you whole but in our home we eat them instead. And I won''t be here if I''m afraid of them, right?"

    *Squawk!*

    "Speaking of which¡­" Raven narrowed his eyes as he heard that.

    The tribesmen who heard the simr thing shivered and hurriedly dropped to the ground. They looked at the skies only to see a huge bird flying down towards their tribe.

    "Uwaa!! It''s the Lord!! What do we do! He''s gonna eat us again!" Nana panic as she clutched Raven''s clothes.

    "Lord?" Raven frowned, it was Neman who exined what she meant.

    "It''s the Lord Bird. Every six months, it will fly down to our tribe and im some lives. We tried fighting it multiple times but failed, we will just end up with more injured people so we stopped resisting." Neman sighed and continued: "Please hide yourself young friend. We can''t allow you to be injured because of out negligence."

    "Are you serious?" Raven asked almost in a rhetorical manner, "This little bird is bullying you?"

    "L-Little Bird¡­" Neman was stunned by how Raven address something they called as the Lord. He then saw Raven shook his head andforted the scared Nana.

    "Don''t be afraid." Raven said as he walked with Nana in his arms. Everyone panicked when the saw him do this but their fear prevented them from moving forward. Seeing Raven bravely walking forward made the ''Little Bird'' angry so it let out some threatening squeals.

    "Noisy." Raven waved his hand and just like that, the head of the Little Bird exploded into bits and pieces. He then looked at Nana who was staring agape in his arms and said:

    "See? I told you I''m strong."

 Chapter 246 - Comfort

    ---

    Nana, Neman and the rest of the people of the Gentle Cradle Tribe had their mouths agape as they saw what happened.

    They stared at the headless corpse of something they have been calling Lord in awe and shock. This enormous bird had been terrorizing their tribe for years now but it didn''t even live through a simple gesture from Raven. What happened to it was almost pitiful. Almost¡­

    "H-how is that possible?"

    "It can''t be¡­"

    "Am I dreaming?"

    "It died¡­under a single wave of his hand. Is this real?"

    Murmurs of disbelief echoed through the tribe members. They all looked at the corpse of the ''Little Bird'' as Raven called it without really knowing what to do. Come to think of it, he just resolved the one of the biggest crises of the tribe in a single wave of his hand. He had helped them yet again without asking for anything in return.

    "Waa! That''s amazing Big Brother! How did you do that?" Nana eximed in his arms as she looked at him with shining eyes.

    "Haha, it''s nothing much. I just pped it cause it''s noisy." Raven said as he pinched her cheeks, he then looked back at the tent and saw that her parents are already wide awake and staring at the scene in a confused manner.

    Raven ced Nana down and said: "Look, your parents are awake. Go to them."

    Nana swiftly turned around and eximed: "Mama! Papa! You''re awake!" She then ran towards them and gave them a hug.

    Raven allowed the family to have a little reunion while he disposed the corpse of the little bird. Out of nowhere, someone who was wearing a full ck clothes appeared before Raven.

    Seeing him appear out of thin air scared the living daylights of the tribesmen, but when they saw that Raven seemed to know the neer, they decided to observe them instead.

    The man gave him a salute and asked: "Is everything alright here, Sir Raven? We saw a beast flying down in this direction."

    "It''s all good." Raven replied in the Kingdom''snguage. "It''s just some stray bird bullying these people, I already took care of it. How''s everything on your side?"

    "We are also doing fine, Sir. The Lair won''t pose us a great problem, by the Chief''s initial estimations, we should be able to wipe it off the map by sunrise."

    "Great." Raven was d to hear that, "You may return, I''ll keep you posted about my situation here. Convincing them shouldn''t take me long."

    "Affirmative, Sir." The Lair Hunter then disappeared like he wasn''t even there in the first ce, once again scaring the tribesmen with his act.

    Raven turned around and exined himself to the tribe. "Pardon that everyone. That''s one of myrades. He just came to tell me something important."

    Neman the Tribe Leader, stepped forward and asked: "Are you really sure that you aren''t God?"

    Raven shivered and hurriedly said: "Of course not, Tribe Leader. Like I said earlier, I am a human like you are."

    Suddenly, Nana and her parents walked forward and gave him a deep bow saying: "Thank you for taking care of our child and curing us."

    Raven helped them up and said: "It''s nothing. I just did what I could that''s all. Besides, I can''t simply walk away after seeing her and your state so there''s no need for this."

    "Still, we owe you our lives. If it weren''t for your timely help, my husband and I might have passed on already." Nana''s mother said emotionally.

    "It''s a shame but we don''t have anything to offer you as our token of gratitude, but if there''s anything you want us to do, we will try our best to fulfill it." Nana''s father said in a determined voice.

    "It''s fine." Raven said, "Just with you being here for Nana is enough for thepensation."

    Nana''s parents were quite stumped when they heard him say that. In fact, even those who were listening to their conversation were also quite surprised with how he carried himself.

    Despite attacking him and thinking of him as a monster. This outsider not only spared their tribe but even fed them and cured some of its people. He also saved them from one of their crises and he did all of this without asking for anything in return.

    Raven then spent a little time with Nana and then proceed to heal some people while he''s at it.

    When he said that he''s be curing people, even the Tribe Leader himself attested to his abilities which made the tribe lower their remaining guard against him and gave him their unconditional trust, which Raven didn''t fail.

    Raven prioritized those who were bedridden, there''s quite a few people in the tribe who were suffering the same fate as Nana'' parents. Thankfully, it wasn''t toote for them and Raven was able to give them cure just before they kick the bucket.

    As for the rest, since they were more tenacious, it''s even easier curing them. And just like their Tribe Leader said, Raven''s abilities to cure people was the real deal. He also tended to their dirty well and cleaned it without any problems. He advised every single one of them to use the water in the well to clean themselves since drinking water will always be avable from him, all they need to do was ask for it.

    He attended to at least a hundred people in that afternoon. He noticed that it was night time when he finished and he started to see some people resisting the temperature just by their sheer will.

    Though this chill is something he couldpletely ignore, for the people here who were frail and basically not wearing anything, it''s different. So before their conditions worsen yet again, he started passing down clothes to keep them warm.

    At first, they didn''t know what they were for, but once he demonstrated how to wear them with the help of Nana, they discarded their animal skins and changed into a morefortable clothes and they immediately felt the overwhelming difference. The instant they wore their new clothes, they fell in love with them immediately. Nana herself couldn''t help but to gush over her clothes from time to time.

    And if that wasn''t enough, Raven also set up a campfirerge enough to warm everyone up. When they saw him start a fire thatrge and without the need of Sparking Stones, many people once again were awed by his powers. He also cooked food enough for everyone in the tribe to consume, to say that this night is memorable for them is a severe understatement. Raven''s simple actions like starting a fire, killing arge beast, healing, clothing and feeding them, all appeared as miracles to them.

    He also prevented them from returning to their ''homes'' and instead, he erected multiple tents for them to stay the night. Inside each tents, there are pillows and nkets enough for everyone. He taught them how to open and close the tents so that they could have privacy and to say that they were pumped about sleeping in a soft surface for their first time in their lives is just an understatement.

    Some even felt guilty by stepping on the nkets and resting their heads on the pillows, but Raven''s warm approach and gentle convincing made them ept what''s being given to them. But no one slept just yet. For some reason, each people felt energized this night. The unspeakablefort that Raven brought to them was simply overwhelming. They never felt sofortable and so warm in their entire lives.

    Sitting in front of the campfire, Raven could be seen with Nana on hisp, her parents sitting beside him along with Neman as well as majority of the tribesmen. Most of the children were already sleeping in the tents with big smiles and drools on their faces, but for some reason Nana just have too much energy to sleep.

    "Say Big Brother?" Nana asked, "Is your home far from here?"

    "Not really." Raven replied, "If I follow a safe route, it will take me at least a week before I could return. If I''m in a rush I could do it in three days. But it also depends if I''m travelling with many people."

    "Benefactor." Neman called out, which made Raven smile helplessly. At some point, everyone aside from Nana started calling him that even if he told them that they didn''t need to. "I just remembered that you came with someone right? Why not invite him here so that they could rest as well?"

    "They''re still upied with something so it''s fine. Once they''re done with their mission, they''ll arrive here." Raven exined.

    He then looked at everyone around the campfire and thought to himself: ''Might as well take advantage of this moment.''

    "Tribe Leader Neman, I do have something to ask of you. This goes for the rest of the tribe as well."

    "Just ask away, Benefactor. We will do our best to aplish it." Neman said with a determined voice.

    "It''s nothing difficult, really.." Raven chuckled and then said: "I just want all of you to join me in my travel back home."

 Chapter 247 - Tribes Arrival

    ---

    "It''s nothing difficult, really." Raven chuckled and then said: "I just want all of you to join me in my travel back home."

    There was an absolute silence after he said that. His words rang on their ears loud and clear but for some reason they couldn''t get themselves to believe what they just heard.

    "B-Benefactor¡­what did you¡­"

    "I meant what I said." Raven nodded towards Neman as he made his point clearer. "I want to take all of you back to the Kingdom. Let''s get you out of this horrible ce and I''ll take you to a ce where you will be safe."

    "Not to sound unfaithful Benefactor, but could we reallye along with your journey? There''s way too many of us, and the road back might be dangerous." Nana''s fathermented on the side.

    "No problems with that." Raven chuckled and waved his hand, "I''m not alone, remember? As we speak, myrades are paving the way to make sure that our journey back would be smooth."

    "To totally honest with you. The whole reason why we came here is to get you out of this ce." Raven stated, much to the shock of everyone who''s listening to him. "We saw your state, all the way from our home through some special means. Our King ordered us toe and save you from this dire state."

    "King? Big Brother, what is a King?" Nana asked curiously.

    "I told you earlier that the Kingdom, my home, is just a veryrge tribe right?" Raven said, to which Nana nodded. "Well, a King is basically our Tribe Leader. He is a very powerful man, more powerful than I am. He is also kind, gentle and protective. He won''t hesitate to protect our home even at the cost of his own life. That is why we respect him and hail him as our King."

    "I believe that he is watching us right now." Raven said much to the shock of people who turned around and started searching for the King. Ravenughed and exined: "He''s watching us all the way from our home, he''s not physically here so no need to be tensed or search for him. He''s just observing you all since in his mind, he already considered you as one of his people. That is why he sent us here."

    The members of the tribe were touched when they heard that. So it turns out that the King was already looking after them.

    "If no one is against the relocation, I''ll send a message to myrades so that we could move tomorrow morning." Raven added as he saw them pondering about their decision.

    "It''s but a shame Benefactor but, our tribe has nothing to offer towards your home. At worst, we might be dead weight into the Kingdom and I for sure wouldn''t like to offend anyone in your home because of our uselessness." Neman said in a sad voice, his words somehow resonated with many tribesmen.

    It is true that they virtually had nothing to offer for the Kingdom. At best, they are just another volume of useless people that will move towards there and the tribe already owed them far too much.

    "Like I said, that''s not gonna be a problem." Raven replied while smiling warmly, "We are not expecting anything from you. We just want you to be safe within our walls, and so long as you have no intentions of betraying our Kingdom, then we have no qualms of epting you. In all honesty, even if refuse for now, in a few years, you will eventually end up in the Kingdom since we are expanding our territories slowly but surely."

    "And don''t you worry about being useless towards the Kingdom. We have many ways to solve that problem. Once you settle inside the Kingdom, we will teach you livelihood skills like farming, sewing, poultry or cattle raising and so on. And who knows, maybe your children will be Official Knights of the Kingdom one day." Raven stated.

    "Big Brother, what is a Knight?" Nana asked once more.

    "Technically, A Knight is a proper term to identify the people who are like me. In short, those who have special abilities that makes us different from the rest. But in truth, A Knight is a person who would take arms and protect our home in the times of need." Raven exined while ruffling her head, "If you want to know more, then once you''re old enough, you can go to the Academy to learn more about Knights."

    "Mama, Papa, everyone. Can we go with Big Brother please? I really want to see the Kingdom."

    Nana''s request tugged at the heartstrings of her parents. If it were them, they would naturally go with them. However, at the end of the day it would be Neman who would decide whether the tribe would go or not.

    Fortunately, that''s not going to be a problem.

    "Of course, Nana. We will go." Neman smiled and nodded, causing Nana to practically jump up in joy. Neman then turned to Raven and said: "Benefactor, on behalf of the tribe. I thank you foring to out tribe''s aid. Me and my people will be in your care from now on."

    Raven smiled and held his hand, "Thank you for letting us take care of you. I''ll make sure that you won''t regret your decision."

    He then faced the rest of the tribesmen, who were clearly excited on the idea of going to their new home, and said: "Well, please enjoy your rest everyone. Make sure you sleep well because tomorrow will be the start of our journey towards you new home."

    He then looked toward Nana who was sitting on hisp and said: "You sleep now too, Nana. Make sure you wake up early tomorrow alright?"

    "Mn!" Nana nodded vigorously, "If I can''t them Mama would wake me up. Hehe." She said while grinning to her mother. She then jumped down to hisp and went towards her parents so that they could sleep in their tent.

    ***

    The morning after, everyone woke up to heavenly scent of Raven''s cooking. Once they went out, they also witnessed that the rest of Raven''spanions were also there and were up even earlier than they did.

    The Lair Hunters and the Royal Guards came during midnight. Their initial estimations were a little off since they finished clearing the Lair earlier than they anticipated. Nevertheless, before the rested, Raven already filled them in with the current situation and so far the operation went smoothly.

    And because these people were Knights at their own right, they don''t need to rest as long as a normal people wood. In fact, their work at the Lair barely took them an effort to clear so none of them were severely exhausted. This is why their up earlier than the tribesmen were.

    After sharing a scrumptious breakfast with everyone and taking care of their own needs. They then started the journey back to the Kingdom.

    Raven walked along with the tribe, the Royal Guards encircled them in a defensive formation as they move forward while the Lair Hunters scouted the path ahead.

    The elderly of the tribe along with the children are seated on a cart while the physically abled one''s walked. It was some of the Royal Guards that were pulling the cart as they move along. Since they were travelling in arge group, the journey became slower. Nheless, it was still eptable.

    One day, the group camped out on top of a hill. Upon their arrival, the tribesmen almost had their eyes popped out from their sockets as they saw the Kingdom at a distance.

    They didn''t see much since the walls were too tall, but that was enough for some people to feel an endless excitement in their hearts. They never saw something so huge and modern, they couldn''t even begin to think about how it is possible to build a wall that high.

    And the idea that, in a matter of few days, that ce would be their home, gratified them to no end. In their opinion, there is no way that the walls could be destroyed by the beasts. Which means that their safety is already secured. Everyone couldn''t wait to start a new chapter of their lives within this safety of this enormous walls.

    The journey continued and as they got closer the walls, they more they think that it was getting bigger. Once they arrived and saw therge gates opening before them, the tribesmen shook with excitement.

    Once the gate openedpletely, they were weed by a group of people who appeared like gods in their eyes.

    They wore either fancy clothing, shining bulky armors. One specifically outshone them just by his presence alone. It was Alexander, who was garbed in his kingly attire that waited for them in front of the gates in order to wee them personally.

    The tribe was shocked as they saw Raven along with the rest of their escorts, kneel before him in salutations, saying: "We''ve returned, Your Majesty."

    Alexander nodded and said: "Good work, everyone."

    He then looked at the members of the tribe and greeted them using the tribe''snguage: "Wee to your new home, The Final Haven Kingdom.. My name is Alexander Lightshield, the current King of thisnd."

 Chapter 248 - Settling In

    ---

    To say that the people of the Gentle Cradle Tribe almost kissed the ground upon their arrival to their new home is not an understatement.

    They were weed with open arms in the Kingdom. Many of it''s citizens were aware of their arrival and chose to give them a warm wee, feeling grateful that they are now a part of theirrge family. They could see their terrible states even after Raven''s work and could very well imagine the suffering they experienced. But all of that is over, they are now safe within this tower high walls and could sleep peacefully.

    Everything that Raven said about this ce was true. Thends stretches as far as the eyes could see, trees are booming with fruits, flowers bloom with outstanding beauty and arge volume of humans like them lived within it.

    It was like they stepped inside a paradise. A true ce for humans to prosper and live in perpetual peace.

    Though he was hailed as the current leader of the tribe, Neman didn''t hesitate to show hisplete allegiance towards Alexander as a sign of his gratitude for taking them in. The tribe followed suit and greeted their new leader since from now on, they will be his citizens as well.

    Alexander told them to stand up and gave them some pleasantries, he then instructed his men to escort them towards thend that was specifically allotted to them and thus their journey towards their new territory began.

    The children of the tribe felt incredibly excited. They practically stared at everything they came across in wonder and curiosity. Even the adults shared the sentiments, everything in here was new to them. Raven took this time to be their guide so that he could ease them up towards their new home.

    As they moved along, some of the citizens of the Kingdom gave them some weing presents. Clothes, food, tools, trinkets and many more. Some even gave sweets to the children like candies, choctes, snacks and some even gave them toys to y with. The sweets were good but the kids didn''t know what to do with toys since they didn''t even know what a toy is in the first ce.

    Once they arrived at the plot ofnd, they already saw just how generous the had been to them.

    The ce where the Immersion Forest once stood was remodeled in a habitable ce and was given to the whole tribe for their use. There is a wall built around the whole territory, making it obvious where it starts and ends.

    The tribe was floored upon knowing that this ce is going to be given to them. This ce is at least three timesrgerpared to their old home, if you could even call it that. They went in here thinking that they would live in well built huts surrounded by trees, but what greeted them was stone houses and modernized equipment that would make their lives easier and better.

    They even thought that some of them will have to share homes with someone but they were surprised to find out that each family could take a house by themselves. Some could even choose to live on their own if they wanted to.

    This concept was too much for them. Those houses arerge enough to fit at least five families but they were told that it was just big enough for a family of three. What''s more is that, each houses are already filled with necessary equipment for everyday use. Chairs, tables, beds, kitchen equipment, toiletries, couches, and etc. Some of these things arepletely foreign to them so they needed further education on how to use these things.

    Raven and his friends were already there to assist them, along with the help of the Civilian Council Volunteers to help them settle in towards their new home.

    Once they settled in to their new house, they were educated about everything in the house that lookedpletely foreign to them like using the stoves, using the bathroom, how to lock the doors, how to close the windows, how to wash clothes and so on. It was a blessing that the citizens knew how to speak the Dark Moon Era''s Language, which made it easier for them tomunicate, or else exining these things to them would be more challenging.

    From that day onwards, the tribe would be gathered by the Civilian Volunteers in order to educate them more about the kingdom. They focused more on the practical things like teaching them how to cook their own meals, the concept of farming and raising animals, gardening, constructions, and etc.

    Thankfully, the tribesmen soaked everything nicely and began to show the results of their education. As time went on, they became more and more knowledgeable, healthy and happier with all the blessings they received.

    After two months of close supervision. No one would be able to tell that they were the same group of people who just arrived in the Kingdom. They were like every other citizens of them Kingdom already, some of them could even converse using the Kingdom''snguage with others. The volunteers already left them to their devices at this point since the tribe has already settled in nicely.

    The tribe is no longer a tribe, instead they are now called the Gentle Cradle n.

    The children of the n were already receiving prepatory education. The abled bodies of the n already found jobs and the elderly were just enjoying their retirement in peace and safety.

    Their progress immensely satisfied not only Raven but the Royalties as well. Now that they are all good, he could now focus on helping the rest with the construction of the Academy for the Kingdom''s future.

    ***

    We see Raven inside his home busying himself with work.

    He was in the middle of making additions to the Formation Core. He was adding things that aided him with training way back in his institute days.

    The Steel Dummies for example. Each of these dummies are equipped with memory inscriptions that could recognize most of the abilities being thrown at them and could perform them perfectly. This would help students in their practice to perfect their chosen techniques.

    The Air Projectile Chamber which he used to increase his agility and reaction time. This time he added advanced levels in these chambers in order for them to be usable by pretty much anyone.

    As for the things he received in the Danger Zones, they became separate entities inside the core. The Crystalized Blood that he got from the 100 Demon ughterhouse was used to create the ughter Grounds, where students could test their skills to survive in a life or death battle.

    The g that Luna got from the Dead Man''s Mansion was used to create the Self Improvement Grounds, where students face a better version of themselves and defeat them in a fierce battle.

    The Jade that Mark got from the Gravity Hills was used along with the Cube that Anne got from the 100 Stone Labyrinth. Both of those things were used to create the Ancient Shifting Terra. A ce that would challenge the students to swiftly adapt to changingndmasses and gravity.

    The horn that Ellen received from the Field of Perpetual Chill was used to develop the Frozen Solitude Chamber. This array will be used to punish delinquents. Inside this ce, there is only coldness. No light, no nothing, just a perpetual breeze of cold air.

    Lastly, the core that Paul got from the Immersion Forest, was used to create the Soul Reflection Chamber. A ce where students go to face their Inner Demons, allowing them to have a clearer mindset and a smoother cultivation progress.

    He also finished linking the Elemental Chambers of the Inner Court as well as the Ancient Royal Ground Transmission Gate in the Formation Core. All he needed was for the construction of the Main Formation in order to attach this Formation Core and have it working.

    So far, the overall structure of the Academy is already built. It was all thanks to the existence of the Worker Constructs that they were able to reach this stage faster than they anticipated.

    The respective halls of the academy is already taking form. After many discussions with Ian, they already established the directory and the academic regimen of the future students. They also rified the rules and regtions as well as the rewards and punishments for students.

    Raven also arranged a meeting with some managers of clothing stores in order to discuss the design of the uniforms. He wanted to create a uniform that isfortable but also durable. Something that one wouldn''t mind wearing in the middle of a battle.

    The cksmiths also approached him and asked him for permission to check if they could borrow the Worker Construct Blueprint. When he asked them why, they told him that they want to see if they could develop different kind of Construct. Raven thought about it first and agreed, of course he reminded them to not overexert themselves in the research since the Academy''s construction takes priority.

    So far, everything was progressing smoothly.. Which made Raven immensely gratified.

 Chapter 249 - Doppelganger

    ---

    One yearter after the Gentle Cradle Tribe''s arrival at the kingdom.

    We see Raven standing in front of a devastated ce. His body was illusory at first but as time went on, he was slowly manifesting into reality.

    There is an unprecedented concentration in his face as he stared at the person in front of him. His breathing was slow but steady, he firmly gripped the handle of his hammer as he erased every distractions in his mind. Raven already learned his lesson to not underestimate this person in front of him.

    The person he''s facing with was a male with a head full of blue hair and is gathered by a rubber band. He had this captivating eyes, sharp brows that pointed towards his temples. He had a strong jawline, thin lips, pearl white skin and muscr body. He wore a ck standard training robes that hugged the muscles of his body. On his right hand, an enormous ck hammer with hand like carvings.

    The first time that Raven saw him, he was stunned. But he immediately understood what was going on here.

    This pocket dimension that he entered inside the Crown Space was the tenth one, which means that it''s a checkpoint. Inos did warn him that it will only get harder from each checkpoint but he wasn''t expecting to fight himself.

    Yes, the challenger in the 10th pocket dimension was himself. Well, a better version of him to say the least.

    Raven got his ass handed over to him multiple times by his own doppelganger. His death under the doppelganger''s hands were like tasting his own medicine. Now he could totally understand the feeling of being crushed by the merciless weight of his hammer.

    This doppelganger was better than him in all aspects. Speed, reaction time, strength and even finesse. Not even after resorting to mere tricks was he able tost under its onught, and he had been fighting this doppelganger for at least a month straight now and he never won.

    Nevertheless, Raven was learning, a feat that the doppelganger couldn''t do. Along with constant training, he was able to adjust andst longer and longer under the fearsome onught of his doppelganger.

    His skills reached yet another level, so much to the point that he felt absolutely confident on taking this doppelganger down this time.

    Once Raven''s bodypletely materialized inside the pocket dimension, no words were said between him and his doppelganger. They immediately raised their hammers and proceed to kill each other.

    *Boom!*

    Explosions urred around them. Both of them moved so fast that their bodies into nothing but blurs. Fist-shaped pirs descended and shattered the ground where they were standing. Chunks of rocks and debris flew everywhere, adding to the things that they have to evade. None of these two were holding back, each blows they threw at each other was meant to kill and if someone became even slightly distracted, that would mean the end.

    "Ten Smiting Arms." The doppelganger called out.

    Instantly, ten fist-shaped pirs manifested from the sky and crashed down like a meteor towards Raven.

    Raven tightened his grip on his hammer and swung his hammer up, he then softly called out: "Ten Overturning Sea Palms."

    Beneath him, ten pirs presenting an open palm, rose up and met the crashing fist-shaped pirs. Each palms urately neutralized the attack, causing him to be unharmed.

    Seeing that its attack failed, the doppelganger mmed the hammer on the ground and called out: "Land Shifting Two Arms."

    Behind the doppelganger, two ethereal hands materialized and punched the ground in front of him so hard that it shattered. Chunks of rocks flew forward and attempted to blow Raven away.

    But before they could do so, Raven gripped the handle of his hammer using both of his hands and rose them up, yelling: "Two Arms: Defense."

    The fist shaped pirs rose in front of him forming a cross that protected him from the flying chunks of rocks. Raven wasn''t done, as he lifted the hammer and pointed it towards the doppelganger''s direction, saying: "Ten Smiting Arms."

    This was the same attack that the doppelganger did before. As the doppelganger saw the attack, it immediately performed evasive maneuvers to save itself from the falling fists. But Raven decided to pick up the pace so he performed another attack.

    "Ten Arms: Twisting Decimation!" Raven swung his hammer forward as another set of ten arms manifested behind him and twisted amongst each other while flying forward. This attack almost resembled a genuine hurricane that flew forward while kicking up dust and debris along the way.

    The doppelganger''s eyes contracted and immediately performed a defensive move: "Ten Arms: Defense!"

    As ten arms covered his entire body to defend against Raven''s onught, it wasn''t aware that Raven was already gathering up momentum for another attack.

    Using arge chunk of his Chaos Force, he raised his hammer and immediately ten arms materialized once more. This time however, they merged into one and be a single arm with an open palm and glowed with bronze finish. Raven''s eyes shone as he called out: "Bronze Palm: Level the Hills!"

    The palm immediately flew down and pressed the doppelganger who''s still curled up in a defensive stance. The arms protecting it immediately shattered as the palm continuously pressed on the doppelganger, crushing it down like a bug.

    Raven felt that the doppelganger was resisting so he ced more force on his hammer and gnashed his teeth. He pushed down the hammer with an enormous force which caused the doppelganger''s joints to give way and bear the full weight of the bronze palm.

    With one more push, Raven roared on top of his lungs and ced all of his pent up frustrations along with the finishing blow to end the battle.

    The ground shattered and the bronze palm made a ten meter dent on it. Raven was spent after delivering thest blow so he heaved huge gulps of air and kneeled on the ground while panting. He kept his eyes peeled since he still didn''t have a clue whether the doppelganger truly died or not.

    It turns out that he only needed to wait for a bit before knowing the answer.

    From the dent where the doppelganger''s body was, a few specks of light emerged and made way towards him. Upon seeing this, Raven immediately sighed in relief and copsed on the ground while heaving gulps of air. He didn''t need to go in there to check anymore since this specks of light is the proof that he seeded on taking down the doppelganger.

    "Raven: 1." He said, "Doppelganger: 99. Fuck."

    Ravenughed mirthlessly as he lied down. "Seriously, that fucker killed me 99 times! I kinda want a rematch honestly."

    It was a hard earned victory but Raven was satisfied, he was just partially joking when he said that. As the specks of light arrived, it fused with his body and immediately Raven received a new set of knowledge.

    What he received was just the things that he learned from observing the techniques of the doppelganger. But since he just learned them from observation, Raven''s version was wed so topensate for his 99 defeats against the doppelganger, he received theplete version of each moves plus some more that the doppelganger didn''t have the chance to disy.

    Raven sat up and took out some recovering medicines out of his spatial ring. While his body recovers, he studied the techniques he received and opened his eyes after a while.

    "I thought that I have to merge Ten Arms to condense the Bronze Level attacks, it turns out that all I need to do control my Chaos Force and condense them. This means that I could create 10 Bronze Fists or Palms. If I merge two Bronze Fists, I could condense a Silver Fist. And if I condense five Silver Fist, I could produce a Golden Fist, that''s awesome!"

    "But practicing this would be a pain in the ass." Raven wryly smiled as his thoughts arrived at this point. "The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer is already 100 tons in weight. When I condensed the Silver Palm earlier, the hammer weighed at least 500 tons which is something that I couldn''t properly handle yet." He said as he touched his still aching arms.

    "I''m not even sure is I should try condensing the Golden Fist or Palm. If I would venture a guess, I feel that it will weigh at least 1,000 tons or more. Even I would be crushed under that weight so no thank you, I guess."

    It also had to be mentioned that Raven''s hammer increases in size as it''s weight increases. Anyone who said that Raven was wielding a hunk of huge metal attached to stick wasn''t lying. Paul, who''s only second to Raven when ites to raw strength, couldn''t even lift his hammer properly.

    While Raven was in the middle of a his stupor, a ghost materialized in front of him. Raven felt his presence and smiled: "Long time no see, Partner."

    "Long time no see. Congrattions on clearing the second checkpoint partner.." Inos said as his form sat down in front of him.

 Chapter 250 - Discussions

    ---

    "I can tell that you''re Chaos Force is already saturated. Don''t suppress your breakthrough for too long or else it will have an adverse effect." Inos advised Raven.

    "I know." He replied, "I was just afraid that this pocket dimension will be harder if I broke through so I suppressed it. I will be making a breakthrough soon."

    "So how was it? Facing yourself I mean." Inos asked with a smile.

    "It sucks." Ravenined, "But it''s something I didn''t know I needed."

    Raven was telling the truth here. He never knew just how beneficial it was for him to fight against a better version of himself. And because this version of him was created by the Mysterious Power of the Crown, it was unbiased and didn''t held back it''s punches. The doppelganger provided a much needed challenge and sense of defeat for Raven. Something to humble him down. In the Kingdom, there''s only a few people that could match him blow by blow, and even if that was the case, he was confident that he could survive or retreat if he wanted to.

    "That''s good." Inos added, "This is one of the mysterious abilities of this Crown. It could predict your growth in a certain extent and thus help your growth up to some certain extent."

    "Is that so?" Raven mused, he then asked: "I''m guessing that, should I be enlightened with any Law and face a doppelganger once again, then it would wield Laws better right?"

    "Exactly." Inos replied.

    "That''s nice." Raven sighed, "If only I could learn some Laws that would be great. But still, no luck."

    Law Enlightenment is the only category where Raven fell behind against his friends. After all this time, Raven still didn''t have any luck on this department. He doesn''t get it either. His foundation is as solid as it could be. His perception is probably the highest amongst them, and he never stopped trying but even after all that, he still hadn''t experienced any enlightenments.

    Luna was the first amongst them to experience one. She received enlightenment with Light Laws and had been receiving training from her father ever since. Anne was the next and hers was with Wind Laws, followed be Ellen in Fire Laws. Then Mark with Lightning Laws and Paul with Earth Laws.

    Granted that their understanding in Laws aren''t that advanced yet and still was considered in an entry level. That was enough for them to virtually caught up with Raven in terms of Battle Prowess. Raven was only defeating them in terms of experience and raw strength.

    It had to known that Laws are the pinnacle of Affinity towards a certain element. When one has a high affinity towards a certain element, take fire for example, their energies would take after the qualities of fire. Their energies would have a certain heat onto them and could take after the image of fire.

    But once Fire Affinity turns into Fire Laws, their energies would really start to behave like fire. The wildness of the element and the heat it carried, the way it spreads and the way it burns, their energies would be like that as well. And to top it all off, their attacks aren''t just ''Fire-based'' anymore, it would actually be fire itself.

    Even at an entry level, Fire Laws allows one to wield ''actual'' Fire itself. And this is why Raven is having a harder time coping up with his friends.

    "You know that Enlightenmentes naturally right? And it''s not like you can''t be strong without Laws. Remember that one guy from the Divine Realm? The Mortal Emperor Sigmund? Didn''t he fought with you against the abyssal without being Enlightened to any Laws?"

    The Mortal Emperor Sigmund. Now that''s a name that Raven hadn''t heard in a while.

    Sigmund was one of therades that he could entrust his life with during his past life. The guy got his acknowledgement since he has an unbreakable will. Even after tons of discouragement from his peers and masters, Sigmund never stopped seeking ways to improve himself.

    There was a scene that imprinted his image into Raven''s mind. And that''s when someone crossed the bottom line of Sigmund, and as result, he destroyed the fool''s home, an entire in one punch.

    Raven wasn''t aware of what happened between them but he never knew that he was that strong. What''s crazier is that Sigmund is still in a fighting condition after that. Almost unbothered even.

    During the final battle against the Abyssals, Sigmund was right there beside him. He held the Abyssal Emperor down as Raven was preparing to blow himself up with them to end his existence.

    "I guess your right. I''m just getting impatient over nothing." Raven smiled. He suddenly remembered one thing and told Inos: "Hey, there''s something I want to show you."

    Suddenly, the two arrived in the space which is inside Raven''s core. Both of them stood in front of what looks like a Sun, except that the light it emits felt gentle but unrestrained.

    Inos stood inside that space dumbfounded, pupils constricting at the sight of massive sun which energies felt too familiar with him.

    ''B-but¡­'' Inos inwardly stuttered, but then he remembered that he couldn''t afford to be extremely obvious so he tried staying perfectly calm in front of such a sight. ''So they met each other already. And it seems that he''s being hidden, that''s good.''

    "After I switched my Cultivation Art to the Book of Chaos, that suddenly appeared. So far, I only knew that my Chaos Force seems to originate from that thing and that''s about it. Do you know what this is?" Raven asked Inos as he himself stared at the massive sun.

    Inos inwardly sighed and thought: ''It seems that he couldn''t remember anything. That''s also good. It''s a little too early for him after all.''

    "For now, all I could say is that you are correct. This is a source of your Chaos Force. More precisely, this is your Chaos Force." Inos said which made Raven gape at him.

    "B-but..." Raven stuttered causing Inos to chuckle. He then continued: "That doesn''t make any sense!"

    "Calm down." Inos said, "I''m not done yet."

    Raven did what he was told and waited for Inos to continue. "I''m not lying to you when I said that this is your Chaos Force, cause this really is Your Chaos Force, it''s just that you''re barely scratching it''s surface."

    "Typically, there is no way that your tiny body could contain such a massive amount of chaos force since even a quarter of this could cause you to explode with dazzling lights. The only reason why it''s here it''s because it is sealed, for now. Look."

    Inos then pointed at the orbits around the sun which is made out of what looked like asteroids that freely moved along.

    "Those were the seals that I''m talking about, see how there''s a gap between?" Inos raised a point that Raven hadn''t noticed before. There is a slight gap on those orbits. "These gaps is where your Chaos Force seeps out and seeps in. As you get stronger, these gaps will naturally widen, eventually these seals will automatically be removed once your body reached a certain level where it could contain this amount of Chaos Force without burdening you."

    "Which is why you must never stop strengthening your body. You know of ways to do that so I won''t say anymore." Inos said which made Raven nod in understanding, "There is three orbits, which means that there is three seals. When you removed the first seal, is when you will naturally understand more of it. That''s all I could say for now."

    Raven looked at Inos intently and understood that it probably wasn''t the time for him to know about it yet. He nodded and ejected him and Inos out of his consciousness. He then sighed inwardly and felt like his road is bing more and more challenging.

    "Anyway. It''s time for me to return to my slumber." Inos said, "We''ll see each other again when you cleared the 50th Pocket Dimension. We''ll continue observing you until then."

    "Wait! We?" Raven frowned but Inos only winked at him before he disappeared. Leaving Raven smiling helplessly.

    Raven thought for a bit and guessed that Inos must be referring to the other heirs. But that''s just his guesses so far and had no concrete proofs of it so he could only wait for the right moment.

    In the end, Raven left the Crown Space and returned to the familiar sight of his house. He sighed and went towards the pond he had at his yard. Raven wasn''t tired, besides there are things that he had to do tonight.

    He then proceed to throw pills and fluids at the pond, making sure that the entire pond''s viscosity was affected by it. After making sure to watch over it to prevent it from exploding, he saw that the pond was ready so he removed all of his clothes and walked on the surface of the pond

    He had been suppressing it for a while but since he was done with the doppelganger, it''s time for his breakthrough.

 Chapter 251 - Breakthrough

    ---

    Enveloped in a tight cocoon made of energies. Raven''s consciousness floated in an empty space of nothingness.

    Contrary to where his consciousness was, the situation of his body was extremely active. Countless changes were happening each passing moment, his body was being reconstructed to a minute detail, and this changes had been happening for at least eight hours now.

    Unlike he first time, Raven didn''t feel any sort of pain in this breakthrough anymore, he just felt like it was a natural reaction. In fact, this breakthrough isfortable. Not like he could tell when his consciousness is at an empty space.

    Just like before, his body was broken down into a cellr because of how much energy he took in. The remains of his old body was used a nutrients for the newly incubated body of his and will bring an extreme familiarity to him.

    The only thing that remained of Raven was a shining brownish core that rotated on it''s own inside the cocoon, and his soul that is being held down by core to prevent it from dissipating in the wind.

    As time went on, Raven''s body was being constructed bit by bit. Each fiber of his body were baptized with tremendous amounts of energy, causing them to pulsate with vigor and activity.

    The first transformation made him experience a tremendous change in his outer body, the second transformation enhanced his muscles and organs. This third transformation is focused on his bones and marrows.

    As his bones started condensing, it looked like an immacte set of bones. It shone with a resplendent brilliance and pulsed with strength. Anyone who sees this might even say that this aren''t bones but white jades sculpted into a skeleton.

    As his marrows started producing blood, they were baptized by the abundant energies as well. His blood was vibrant and viscous, each drop was filled with life and energy. The vitality contained by his blood is a solid proof on how strong Raven''s longevity was. At this point, it would take a century before Raven shows any visible signs of aging. Living up to 3,000 years is the maximum of Raven''s longevity. That''s if, he stopped cultivating at this stage, but that very unlikely to happen.

    Cultivators who found sess on this path tends to live a little longer than mortals. The reason why they seem to age is because their bodies weren''t trained to a degree where it couldst under the test of time.

    Now that the eight hours passed like a blur, Raven''s body was nearly ready to emerge out of the cocoon.

    Inside of the cocoon, Raven was curled up like an infant. His eyes were closed, like he was trapped in a peaceful dream. Suddenly, his heart started pulsing and his blood started circting inside his body.

    Raven''s eyes snapped wide open and with a slight movement, the cocoon he was in exploded into shards that dissipated into the air.

    His naked body floated in the air. His eyes were emitting an intense white light that seemed like torches under the dark skies. The muscles on his body tightly clung on his bones, resulting in a verypact build for Raven. His shoulders broaden for quite a bit and his hair that previously had blue tips were now fully covered in that oceanic color as it flowed with the wind like a graceful stream of water.

    When the resplendence of his eyes were gone, Raven''s consciousness returned to reality as his body slightly hovered down. As his feet touched the ground, he waved his hand and clothes came out of his spatial ring which he ced nearby.

    He wore the usual all ck attire that really enhanced his look even further. Raven was somewhat dazed for a while, causing him to stare at an empty space for quite sometime.

    After a moment of feeling lost. Raven released a sigh and gently closed his eyes. His face expressed a concentrating look as a silhouette of an armor suddenly appeared and enclosed his body.

    There is no helmet, and the rest of the armor looked like a bunch of metal tes that has a smooth surfaces and was bonded together by an amateur smith.

    The shoulder guards were curved and took a shape of a folded rectangle that is ced on his shoulders of course. He had a pair of arm guards that starts from his elbows and ended on his wrist. A in chest te, leg armor with knee pads, and boots.

    Raven looked at himself wearing the armor and smiled wryly. The armor was certainly unimpressive, it didn''t look like it could even withstand a punch from him but this was fine for now. At least he still condensed a Knightly Armament even though he''s practically not an Energy Path Cultivator anymore.

    Having this armor would at least help in keeping the existence of the Book of Chaos as a secret. If he hadn''t been able to condense a Knightly Armament, Raven would definitely have headaches exining himself in the future.

    Nevertheless, Raven has be an official Knight of Kingdom at this point. While he may not care about the title since he had been defeating Knights for quite some time, still it''s something to celebrate.

    As for the matters of his Knightly Armament, that will eventually be fixed. He just needed time. After all, how the armament appears followed the innate disposition of an individual. So as long as he fed it with his energy, his Knightly Armament would slowly transform and materialize.

    The Knight Stage is divided into four categories: Knight, Bronze Knight, Silver Knight and Golden Knights. Regr Knights'' armaments would look like they''re made out of steel once they fully materialized. As for the rest of the stage, it''s represented by the name.

    Whates after this stage is Heroic Realm, Champion Realm and Ascendant Realm.

    Heroic Realm is a stage where one will condense their Heroic Souls, formed by their Will and Virtue. The Champion Realm is where their Domain starts condensing and the Ascendant Realm is the absolute pinnacle of the Mortal Realms.

    Reaching those stages would take time so Raven decided to not think about them just yet. For now, he''s just satisfied that he reached this stage at the tender age of 16 and a half, this on top of the fact that he wasn''t actively cultivating to raise his cultivation realm.

    Raven stared at the Sun which was about to peak at any moment right now and felt a deep sense of tion. His hard work was certainly paying off. If things continued going down this way, then he won''t be afraid to act on his future ns.

    He smiled and went towards the Training Room that he built.

    Upon going inside, Raven briefly examined his body and found that it was everything that he wanted. His physique wasn''t overly broad but not too petite either. This body could explode with an overwhelming force in a snap of a finger but could also exude the gentlest touch if needed be.

    He then went inside his Core and observed the Seals as Inos described them. Comparing the size of the gaps as he saw before, there is a visible difference. At least he could now ess more from this enormous reserves which means that he willst longer in battle. He withdrew his consciousness and stood up.

    He then took out a brush and started applying his Chaos Force on it. Raven''s hands delicately swayed, which caused Inscriptions to condense andnd on his body. Lines upon lines of golden insignia wrapped his body. At his chest, he drew what looks like the most important part of the inscriptions. Once he''s done, he closed his eyes and channeled his Chaos Force on the Inscription on his chest.

    Raven suddenly felt restricted. It was like something was holding his body back, preventing him from moving seamlessly. He gently nodded and supplied more Chaos Force on the Inscription, causing the restriction to raise. When it reached a level that even moving his fingers was abor, Raven stopped and remained in ce.

    What he ced on himself is a Movement Restriction Seal. It does what the name suggest. In fact, this seal could even make breathing harder for Raven.

    He ced this seal onto himself due to Inos'' advice to keep on training his body. At some point, Raven stopped using his Gravity Suit since he no longer felt any benefits from doing it. He could even admit that he cked away on training his body since he felt that his usual grind was already enough. But now, he found another reason to continue his Body Conditioning and Training, of course he will develop a new regimen.

    With this seal, each of Raven''s actions will take more energy and effort to perform. And he nned to never take this off unless the situation called for it. This will make his physique even stronger and his explosive force even greater. It would even have an effect on his raw speed and raw strength.

    But since Raven couldn''t even breathe properly right now.. It would be wise to adjust from this state for now.

 Chapter 252 - Instructor

    ---

    "Nina, Tori! Come,e!"

    Raven called out to his sisters who had been ying with each other not too far away from him. When the twins heard his voice, they burst into cute giggles and started walking towards him while on a stroller stand.

    "Gii! Ray~." The twins called out to him while giggling. Raven smiled warmly and pinched their puffy cheeks.

    He then picked Nina then Tori and showered them with kisses, much to the delight of the two who started pinching his cheeks and pulling his hairs out.

    Nina and Tori had both grew up. They could now call out some words and were already showing some intelligence. Their personalities are already showing up as well. Nina is the more active one and she was also the one who likes pulling his hair. She generally goes wherever she pleases and would throw a fit if she didn''t get what she wanted. Even Raven has to admit that they spoiled this little princess.

    As for Tori, she is the mellowed down version of Nina. Tori was the one who always pinches Raven''s cheeks. Tori rarely threw a fit, she will only do so if she''s extremely irritated or if she couldn''t see Nina anywhere. She''s also the one who could reel in Nina''s mischievousness just by holding her hand. It was like they both have their ownnguage even though they can''t speak properly just yet.

    The girls alwayses in a pair. They''re almost inseparable. If someone wanted to carry Nina, they also have to carry Tori too or else Nina would throw a fit, this goes vice versa. No one can choose one of them, it has to be both of them.

    As Raven yed with his sisters, Eva as well as Luis came in and smiled seeing their interaction. They just loved how Raven neverpromises and will always look for a time to spend with the twins even under his busy schedule. They bothughed when Raven turned around and they saw how twins pinched his cheeks and pulled his hairs.

    "Okay, okay you two. Your Big Brother had enough." Eva said as she took both of them away from Raven''s arms and ced them back on their strollers.

    They saw Nina pouting while spouting some gibberish, making themugh. She probably wanted to spend more time pulling Raven''s hairs out. She only calmed down when Tori called out to her using their ownnguage, then they started talking to each other.

    "And you, isn''t it your first day today? Shouldn''t you be preparing for it?" Eva chided at Raven.

    "I know, Mom. I just want to visit before I go." Raven said while fixing his hair.

    "Have you eaten yet?" Luis asked while taking a sip of his coffee.

    "Yes, Dad." Raven nodded, as soon as he finished tidying himself up, he then said: "Anyways, I''m going now. You guys take care."

    His parents nodded as he waved goodbye. After exiting his Dad''s office, he then called for a carriage and rode towards the Heavenly Cloud Academy.

    Yes, the academy was finished. And it''s opening ceremony happenedst week.

    To say that the event was glorious, isn''t an understatement. The Academy is probably thergest infrastructure built at the Inner Court of the Kingdom. The opening ceremony was attended by the majority of the Kingdom''s representatives. As the pioneer of this whole movement, Raven of course was the one who''s at the seat of honor. He sat with the King and his aides, clearly signifying his status by now.

    The enrollment happened shortly after that, and everyone who wanted to study was weed. No tuition fees are needed, all they need to bring is their personal belongings and that''s it.

    There are a whopping 200,000 students who enrolled, they differ in ages and cultivation realms. But since the Academy wasrge, they all fit in. In fact, there''s even room for more.

    Today is the first day of the School Year. Raven and his friends honored the promise of being Instructors of the Academy.

    Raven was tasked to teach students the qualities of being a ''Leader'', knowledge about the ''Unity of Body, Energy, and Spirit'', as well as ''Alchemy'' and ''Beastiology''. He''s also tasked to give students some ''Conditioning Training''.

    Paul is the Instructor for ''Defenders'', ''Energy Path'' and ''Body Path''. Mark is the Instructor of the ''Assassins'', ''Lair Hunters'', as well as ''Body Path''. Ellen teaches the ''Assaulters, ''Energy Path'', and ''Spirit Path''. Anne teaches ''Rangers'', ''Energy Path'' and ''Spirit Path''. And Luna is the Instructor for ''Assaulters'', and the ''Three Human Cultivation Paths''.

    Of course, they aren''t the only teachers in here. There is nock of knowledgeable people in the kingdom, Raven only needed to give them some pointers and suddenly they have more instructors even in other areas that he couldn''t cover.

    Raven wore his Instructor attire as soon as he stepped out of the carriage. It was a white, schr''s robe which sleeves reaches halfway through his arms. There is a crest of a colorful cloud at the back of the robes, signifying that he''s a personnel. This robes have another function as well. There is a badge sewn on the robes itself that could allow any instructor to ess every information that they needed to know in just moments. This idea was presented by Paul to Raven since he didn''t want to swamp his old man with papers again.

    This robes are also made out of quality materials. While it couldn''t actively defend against an attack, it won''t get easily damaged.

    As soon as Raven stepped within the territory of the Academy, the guards already noticed his presence. He showed his personal badge and the guards let them in. In fact there''s absolutely no need for him to do this but Raven was the one who insisted to do so. He didn''t want to show any preferential treatment even for himself.

    Due to the sheer size of the Academy, Raven was required to employ some movement techniques in order to reach the Teacher''s Faculty Room swiftly since he was very close to beingte in his schedule. He had to report in or else, this day wouldn''t be counted towards his service.

    Due to how fast he moved, people barely saw his silhouette. He came in the faculty room, stamped the attendance sheet and swiftly went towards his first ss.

    Raven appeared like a phantom inside arge field with students. His sudden appearance caused the students to immediately cease all activities to focus at him. Once they realized who was standing in front of them, they were all stunned.

    "Unbelievable¡­"

    "Eek! So it''s true! He''s will really be an Instructor of this ss! I''m so d I took this course!"

    "Holy shit! My idol is here!"

    "Shit! Shit! I''m going to faint!"

    Murmurs of the ss didn''t escape Raven''s ears, causing him to sigh and shake his head. He touched the badge on his chest and all of a sudden, a screen of light appeared in front of him. The screen of light started showing lists of names and profiles for each students.

    "Good morning, everyone." Raven greeted the ss. "Wee to the Training ss. My name''s Raven, and I''ll be your Instructor."

    "Good morning, Instructor Raven." The ss greeted back. Raven waved his hand and signaled them to sit.

    "Before we start the ss, as I am the first Instructor that you met in this newly formed Academy. I have to remind you of some things first. You may already heard this from your parents but I''m going to repeat them one more time, so listen closely."

    "This applies not only in my ss, but for others as well. Admission Rule #3. Once a student wore the Academy''s uniform and badge, they are no longer the person who they were before they got admitted. It matters not what their background is, noble ormon, everyone will start at the same line. Inside the academy they are a Student, no more no less. Their families are prohibited from using their connections to provide any kind of resources to the student of the academy. On the day the students got admitted to the academy, anything that they want to take with them from outside have to go through an application process except for their daily needs. This will make so that everything they wanted to reach should be achieved by using their own efforts."

    "In short, your surnames won''t give you any kind of benefits here. If you want to be an Official Knight of the Kingdom, then reach it with your own efforts."

    "In this ss, I will be teaching you ways to train effectively. That being said, my methods may or may not push you to the brink of insanity. I won''t stop for anyone. If you couldn''t follow, then I won''t wait for you. If you do good, you will receive something. If you can''t, then better luck next time."

    "I won''t pressure any of you to remain in my ss. As long as I see at least one student in here, I will continue teaching."

    "If any of you have no questions, pick up the weighted armors on that side of the field.. Wear them and start runningps around, those who finish tenps will receive something from me."

 Chapter 253 - Rewards And Punishment

    ---

    "If no one has any questions, pick up the weighted armors on that side of the field. Wear them and start runningps around, those who finish tenps will receive something from me."

    After his lengthy monologue, Raven remained standing in front of the students and said nothing more. He had given out instructions so he just silently observed while the students carried out his words.

    When took a nce of student profiles earlier, he knew that this ss is filled with beginners. Meaning that all of them just took their very first steps on cultivation. Raven didn''t have any grand expectations from this ss or any sses at all. He just wanted them to learn how to fend for themselves and understand that the road they are taking is not a simple one.

    Each students now wore weighted armor and some were already doingps. The lightest armor here is about 30 kilograms, while the heaviest is at 100. Once he saw them all running, a smile appeared on Raven''s face as he made another rule.

    "No changing of armors from now on, finish at least tenps with your current weighted armors. Those who vite this rule would not receive any kind of rewards even after finishing the task."

    Raven saw some students paled as they heard his words. His in voiced once again echoed on the field: "Let''s see whether you could truly show off or not. I hope you could entertain me."

    As Raven was telling his piece earlier, he saw some students who weren''t paying attention to his words and were just carrying their smugness all around. He could already spot who were the arrogant brats and those who were taking his words seriously.

    Some students wanted to show off actually took the heaviest armors on and started doingps. They must''ve been thinking that they could just switch to a lighter armor when they feel tired to finish the remainingps and brag about being able to finish with the heaviest set of armorter. Unfortunately, Raven liked foiling their shitty ns with a smile in his face.

    Those who decided to y it safe and took the lightest armors silently congratted themselves for doing so, while those who didn''t and decided to show off, were now suffering under the weights.

    Raven silently watched as the students ran. As time went on, some students managed to finish the task but were now panting and sweating heavily. Most of these students were the one''s who had the lightest armors on while the others had the medium weighted armors. As for those who hadn''t finished yet, they were the ones who had the heaviest armors. Some of them already admitted defeat after one to threeps, while some persisted.

    What''s surprising for today is that someone actually managed to finish tenps while having the heaviest armor on. Raven had to admit that this was pleasant surprise.

    "Once I call out your names, step on the right side of the field. John Abster¡­"

    After seeing that every student either finished the task or simply gave up, Raven then started calling out names of the students. There''s at least 50 students in this ss, after calling about 20 names, he then said:

    "Those who are on the right side of the field are the one''s who managed to finish my task. You will be receiving two vials of Body Restoration Fluid." After saying this, vials started floating towards those who finished the task. "And since one managed to finish tenps with the heaviest armor on, he''ll be receiving three vials. Good job."

    Everyone was surprised. They didn''t expect that this simple exercise would merit this kind of reward. Those who persevered and managed to finish theps, specially the one who had the heaviest armor on, were celebrating in glee. These understood that they have to work hard and fight for resources, they now tasted the fruits of their hard work which made them feel even better.

    As for those who gave up, they felt bitter. They inwardly cursed and scolded themselves or just inly ced the me on Raven to make them feel better, unbeknownst to these students, this is just the start of their lectures. If they don''t drop their attitudes, they will just fall behind even more.

    "Wait a second, Instructor!"

    Raven turned his head and found the source of the voice. He saw a female student raising her hand with a pondering expression on her face.

    "What is it?" He asked.

    "I was wondering why my name wasn''t called. I, too finished tenps." The girl said as she smiled at Raven.

    "Hmm." Raven hummed and asked: "What''s your name?"

    "Annalise Vernon." The girl replied.

    Raven then checked his list and searched for her name. He didn''t see it on the list. "Well, I don''t see your name on the list so that means you didn''t finish."

    "That can''t be¡­" the girl said in a meek voice, "I ask instructor to believe me, I really did finish the task. Maybe Instructor missed it since there''s a lot of us here."

    The ss became silent as they heard the girl''s words. Raven stared at the girl intently, he saw her staring at him. Other''s might not see it but for Raven it is clear as day. He sighed and asked her once again:

    "Are you really sure that finished the task?" Raven asked one more time, just to be sure.

    "Yes, Instructor." The student named Annalise replied with confidence.

    Raven sighed once more and said: "I was willing to let it go, but you just have to pursue it. Okay then, have it your way."

    "What Instructor means is-"

    But before she could even finish her words, Raven tapped his badge and screen of light appeared in front of the students. The screen was big enough for everyone to see, it then showed an image of the students, cing their weighted armors on, ording to Raven''s point of view.

    Raven smiled and said: "I''ll let you in on a secret. Everything that you do inside the ss is being recorded, this is specially helpful for times like this."

    He then looked at Annalise who were paling visibly, Raven sneered and said: "ss, you heard her say that she finished the task right?" He asked the ss without breaking eye contact with the girl.

    "Yes, Instructor." The ss replied right away.

    "Good. Do you see Miss Annalise anywhere on the screen?" Raven asked once again.

    "Yes, Instructor." The ss replied once more.

    "Good. I''ll let you watch what I saw earlier, do observe Miss Annalise closely and count how manyps she finished. Once we''re done, we''ll see if she really finished the task or not, am I clear?"

    "Yes, Instructor."

    "Very good. Watch and observe."

    Raven then yed the recording and the students watch and observed what Annalise was doing. They saw pick up the lightest armor and ran along the group. What she did was clever. She runs with group at the same pace for a good while before feeling exhausted and falling behind, once they manage to catch up with her after ap, she will once again run at the same pace and feel fatigued once again, this happened multiple times until the majority of the students manage to finish the entire task while she only finished threeps in total.

    What''s even funnier is that she appeared to be as tired at the students who genuinely finished the task. Some even saw her giggling herself like a crazeddy. She must''ve thought that she was so smart for thinking such a n, not knowing that she was being watched like a hawk.

    The recording finished and the light screen disappeared. Annalise froze from where she stood with a pale face, feeling extremely humiliation as of the moment. She then remembered Raven''s words earlier:

    <em>"I was willing to let it go, but you just have to pursue it. Okay then, have it your way."</em>

    He didn''t mean that he was relenting and would just hand the resources to her. He meant that he was already aware of what she was doing and was willing to drop the matter but she just had to push it forward.

    In short, she brought this upon herself.

    "I''ve got to say¡­" Raven sneered, which caused Annalise to shiver on the spot. "Your n was clever, it''s even admirable to some extent. Others might fall for that trick but you chose the wrong target Young Lady."

    The ss was silent, even more so Annalise who couldn''t even raise her head and meet Raven''s uncaring eyes unlike a few moments ago.

    "Cheating is alright, under the premise that you aren''t caught." Raven stated, "I won''t punish you heavily for this."

    "But!" Raven stressed, "You can''t go unpunished. I''ll make a report and attach it to you student profile. This will allow everyone in the academy to view it and know what you''ve done. A letter about your deeds will also be sent to your family to inform them of your attitude."

    Annalise visibly shivered and looked incredously at Raven, she wanted to say something but Raven''s cold expression already gave her answers.

    "This isn''t just for you, but for the rest of the students as well." Raven announced, "Be careful and fix your attitudes. Remember what I said before the ss. If you umte at least five reports under your Student Profiles, you might face expulsion."

    "That would be it for today. ss dismissed.." Raven said as he disappeared from where he was.

 Chapter 254 - Leaders Class

    ---

    As Raven walked through the streets of the Heavenly Cloud Academy, he saw some students walking down and taking in the sights.

    Some of the students are searching for their next ssrooms while the others are just simply having the great time and enjoying the scenic view.

    The Academy wasrge, ording to the reports the estimated size of it was at least 5000 acres. It''s divided into several parts. Where Raven is right now is the Study Hall, this is where the sses mainly takes ce. There''s at least 200 ssrooms built for different purposes, libraries, historical monuments and etc. This is also where the Teachers Faculty is located, which makes the Instructors and Professors readily avable should the students needed them.

    ording to what was reported, there are at least three or four sses on each Subjects that the academy is offering. This caused the current Instructors to have their schedules full, so much so that it would be hard for them to meet each other for quite sometime.

    There''s also the Student Dormitories, where the students live and train by themselves. Each student was given a simple and stone house that has a little yard where they could train. There''s also an array formation in each house that they could activate in order to have some privacy.

    Upon their enrollment, each students will be given a ''Wee Package'', which consists of Academy Pamphlets, three sets of uniforms; a ssroom Uniform, Training Uniform and Battle Uniform, a One Month Food Ticket, some gold and two Body Restoration Fluids.

    There''s also the other halls like Mission Hall, upation Halls, Ceremonial Hall, Reward Hall and etc.

    Raven'' currently on his way to his next ss which is the Leaders'' ss. On his way to the ssroom, he already read the student profiles and already know the headcount. Once he reached the ssroom, he opened the door and walked towards the teachers desk.

    His presence silenced the ss. Raven roamed his eyes towards the students and counted them briefly. He raised he brow since there''s still three students missing in the room, he checked the time and saw that he was five minutes early, he let out a shallow sigh and sat down, he then announced:

    "I''m five minutes early, there''s still three people missing so we''ll wait for them first before we start the ss."

    After saying that, Raven then took out a book from his spatial ring and started reading it. Meanwhile, the students in front of him was nearly losing it when they saw him arrive. They started discussing amongst themselves using a hushed tone.

    "Dear Lord! It really is him!"

    "I know! My expectations was lowered to the max when I enrolled on this course, but to think that I still got him to be my instructor is so lucky!"

    "Idiot! You didn''t have to lower your expectations since we''re going to get him as our Instructor anyway."

    "How did you know?"

    "Duh!? He''s the Leader of the Kingdom''s first ever six man cell. Who else is morepetent to be the Instructor of the Leaders'' ss aside from him? I''ll have you know that he''s the only instructor for this ss. Trust me, I took the Archery ss and this information came from Lady Anne herself."

    "Oh! So that''s how it is!"

    "Bitch! How is he so handsome! He''s also strong to boot! I want him to be my husband!"

    "Girl, stop being delusional! You''re aware that Princess Luna is his girlfriend right?"

    "Of course I know! Who the hell doesn''t? He''s basically the Kingdom''s Son-in-Law! Both of them are the real power couple! Let me be delusional, it''s not hurting anyone anyway!"

    "Okay, girls. Calm down. We''re not here to find dates. We''re here to learn from him. Get your act together."

    "Shut up, nerd!"

    Their discussions were then interrupted by three students entering the ssroom. When the newly arrived students saw Raven sitting on the teacher''s desk, they froze and hurriedly bowed down.

    "Apologies, Instructor. For beingte."

    Raven closed his book and stood up, he then said: "You guys are notte, I''m the one who''s early. Take your seats and we''ll begin with the ss."

    The three rose up and went towards the avable seats. Making sure that everyone''s here, Raven then began the ss.

    "Wee to the Leaders ss everyone. My name is Raven, I''ll be the your Instructor." He said as the ss greeted him.

    "Before we begin with the actual discussion, I''d like to give out some disimers first." Ravens stated, "First, there''s 30 people in this ss, not too few but not too many either. I am d that you people are interested in the role of being a Leader but I''m not expecting your numbers to remain intact by the end of the year."

    "Just to set your expectations for this ss, I''ll have you know that I''ll be monitoring your behaviors very closely. Your Student Profiles are with me all the time and your conduct won''t be judge inside the ssroom alone, there also other factors for that. One reckless mistake from any of you, might mean your expulsion from this ss. It''s my decision to have 30 students on each Leader ss Sections because that''s the number of people that I could monitor closely with great efficiency."

    His words came as a bit of a surprised for the students. He then followed up by saying: "If you want to be a Leader, then you can''t shy away from your responsibilities. Due to the nature of the role, I''ll be extremely strict with you guys. And if you can''t meet my standards, then there is no reason for you to waste your time here. I prefer quality over quantity, and so long as there''s one student remaining in this ss, I will remain as your Instructor."

    Some of the students found his words to be extremely rming. So much so that there is a foreboding feeling that''s rising on their chests, nevertheless they remained silent and listened intently to him.

    "That being said, I''m not omnipotent either. Maybe, you''ll prove me wrong. Either way, the Kingdom needs more Leaders that''s why I''m here."

    "On the topic of being a Leader, do any of you have a clue of what being a ''Leader'' is?" Raven asked as he formally segued on the topic.

    One student raised his hand, Raven nodded to him and he answered: "Being a Leader means that you have to step forward and lead."

    Raven hummed and asked: "Anyone else?"

    A girl raised her hand and said: "Being a Leader means taking initiative."

    "Good point." Raven nodded, "What about the others?"

    No one raised their hands anymore, which caused an awkward silence in the room, Raven sighed and started his lesson.

    "Your answers are not wrong." He stated, "It''s not really all thatplicated. Being a ''Leader'' means being Responsible."

    He paused and allowed the students to take his words in. Seeing them pondering, Raven decided to continue: "How about I give you a situation. You guys will decide upon the oue, alright?"

    The students affirmed and Raven exined the scenario.

    "You find yourselves in a middle of a mission that''s going awry. The mission is to escort someone to somece and help them in a task, let''s say fixing a broken outpost. Your client will be the one fixing the outpost while you are tasked to give any assistance that you could, after that you just have to escort him back and the mission is cleared. Due to the importance of the mission, it''s rated as a B-rank mission, so obviously you and your team prepared to face a B-rank mission. Are you guys following me so far?"

    "Yes, Instructor." The students replied. Raven nodded and continued:

    "But the gist is, your client didn''t tell you a very important matter." Raven paused, he then continued by saying: "On your way to the outpost, you were ambushed by two assassins that''s almost as powerful as you sixbined. You confronted your client and he said that there are a bunch of deadly assassins who threatened him to not fix the outpost so that they could build a camp there."

    "These assassins are clearly harassing your client and his people, and the only way to push these assassins away is to fix the outpost so that reinforcements coulde. Your client wants to safe himself and his people but they can''t afford to pay for an S-rank mission, so he decided to keep some details to himself. Now that he''s exposed, your client told you that he could understand if you want to back out. But the problem is that once you back out, your client and his people would be ughtered by the assassins."

    "And now that you and your team knows this secret. It is up to you, the ''Leader'' to decide whether you continue with the mission or not."

    "Now then, Leader wannabe''s." Raven said with a smile, "Will you continue on your mission or not? I will give you ten minutes to think about your decisions. After that we will discuss what you have decided upon.. Time starts now."

 Chapter 255 - Responsibility

    ----

    The ten minute timer had begun, the ssroom was extremely silent as they pondered about the scenario that Raven gave them.

    Raven himself sat down and continued to read a book while the let the students ponder about his question.

    Without a doubt, each student was stumped by his question. The scenario was dire and nobody wants to die, but the sense of duty and their innerpassion to help was making it hard for them to pick a choice.

    Of course, it would be easier to just turn around and leave. But it''s not hard to imagine the bloody end that will befall towards the client and his men should they decide to leave them to their own devices.

    Even though Raven wasn''t actively looking at them, he could see that some of his students are pulling their hairs out already, most probably due to inner conflict.

    "Excuse me, Instructor." One of the students raise his hand to get his attention, Raven nodded to him then he asked a question. "Would are answers have any kind of implications on our profiles."

    "Of course." Raven nodded, the students became even more stressed when they heard that. Fortunately, Raven exined by saying: "But you won''t be judged academically ording to your answers. If anything, I would just use this as a basis to see what kind of ''Leader'' you guys will grow up to."

    In a sense, some students didn''t know whether that was a good thing or not. But the boy who asked this question sighed in relief and then said: "I already have my answer, Instructor."

    "Oh?" Raven raised a brow, it didn''t took him that long to decide, not even five minutes had passed. "Let''s hear it then." He then closed his book and gave his attention to this student.

    "I would retreat with my team." The boy answered in a straight forward manner which shocked most of his ssmates.

    Raven remained unperturbed, instead he asked: "So, you would abandon the mission?" The boy nodded, thus he asked: "Why?"

    "Because I believe that continuing further would be unwise. We will most likely be outnumbered, so even though we could take down some of the assassins who are terrorizing our client and his people, we would just end up as another casualty. I wouldn''t want myself nor my team to have a meaningless deaths."

    After the boy said his piece, there was a moment of silence inside the room. Raven nodded softly and looked at the rest of the students, asking: "Do anyone else feel the same as her? Raise your hand if you do."

    Out of the 29 students, 9 raised their hands. Meaning that in this ss, 10 people would most likely going to do what the boy said if that situation urred to them.

    Raven nodded and looked back to the boy, he then said: "Your reason to call for a retreat is alright."

    The boy sighed in relief but unfortunately she didn''t know that Raven isn''t done yet.

    "This means, that if you came across in a situation like this, you will choose to save six people at the cost of how many people there is on that ce. Right?"

    The boy staggered ever so slightly when Raven said this, he wanted to refute his words but what he said was basically the summarization of what he decided upon.

    "I wonder how many people are in there. 10? 20? 50? 100? Who knows right? And aside from the client, none of you knows how many women are in there, are some of them pregnant? How many kids and elderly are in there? Well, you won''t know since you retreated and they will most likely die the moment you leave."

    The Raven talked, the more horrified his students get. But Raven is still not done.

    "When youe back, you will undoubtedly be interrogated by your supervisors about what happened. As a Leader, it is your task to ry the truth. What do you think you supervisors would think about how you handled this mission? Would they punish you or understand your decision?"

    "But no matter how much we ponder here, the result won''t change. You and your team turned your back towards the people who needed you. This scene will forever brand you and will inevitably haunt you when you sleep."

    "Which leads us to my question." Raven stated, "Will you be able to remain sleep at night knowing that you, as the ''Leader'', caused all of this to happen?"

    There was a defeaning silence inside the ssroom as soon as Raven finished his piece. The boy in question had his head down, silently imagining himself in that kind of situation. He had to admit that even just thinking about it makes him feel sick in the stomach. If it all boiled down to that, he thought that death might be a better option.

    "I want you to reflect on what I said." Raven stated and said: "You may sit down."

    He then looked at the rest of his students who hadn''t given their answers yet and asked them one by one.

    In the end, even though some of the students told him that they will continue with the mission. Raven still managed to stump them with the possible oues of their actions. His attitude towards this lesson got the students wonder if there really is a correct answer at all.

    At the midst of this atmosphere, one student raiser her hand and asked him: "How about you, Instructor? What would you do in this situation?"

    Raven smiled and said: "An interesting question. Hmm, let''s see."

    He deliberated for a while and said: "I will go on with the mission." He replied, which stunned most of his students, he then continued by saying: "But not with my full team, I guess."

    "I will give an order to the fastest person on my team, which is most likely the assassin." He stated, "I will either ask him to infiltrate the enemy base to know how many assassins were dealing with or I will outright send him back to the headquarters to ask for reinforcements ASAP."

    As the students listened to him, their eyes brightened. They started thinking ''Why didn''t I think of that?'' But then they realized that they were just students by now so it all makes sense.

    "I will go the remaining people along with the client. Since a battle is inevitable anyway, I will ask someone in my team to scout for a spot for people to retreat during the battle, I will then ask the same person to retreat while taking as many as he/she could. While my teammate is leading the children, women and elderly away. We will proceed with the mission. If the client manage to fix the outpost, cool. If he couldn''t and it''s looking bad, I''ll ask him to leave while we face a life and death battle with the assassins."

    "I know that we could take down the first wave that they will send to us. If the reinforcements arrived? Sweet? But it they didn''t, then the moment the assassins retreat, we will track them back to their base and I will detonate myself in there to make a huge explosion, I''ll drag as many as I could before I die. If some of teammates managed to escape, good. If they couldn''t, then I could only say that we tried our best. Either way, the explosion will mostly likely terrify the remaining assassins to retreat, so either the client will go back to fix the outpost or not, it''s whatever at that point since I''m dead and couldn''t do anything at point anyway. I did my best and whates next depends on them."

    "Yeah, my family would be sad that I died in the middle of the mission. But I died like a hero, alright. They will be sad but proud of what I did. My ego as a Knight of the Kingdom still burns brightly even after my death and who knows? I might be able to inspire others with my story."

    After saying this, Raven paused and allowed the students to think about what he said. After a while he continued: "Do any of you remembered what I said about being a ''Leader'' earlier?"

    "Being a Leader is being responsible." His students replied.

    "Very good." Raven smiled and nodded, "I''ll tell you right now that your answers are neither right nor wrong. So does my answer for that matter."

    "In the end, since I am the Leader of my team. I will try to seek the best oue for both parties. Whether I could find it or not, whatever my decision is. I will be responsible for it."

    "Being a Leader is being responsible not only with your team and your duty, it also applies for yourself. Whateveres next, as the Leader you have to face it. Whether you get punished, be haunted by nightmares, or die. Remember that you reached a decision with your team, as the one ''Leading'' the team, you shall be the one to ''Lead''. This will be your task, your duty and your Responsibility to do so."

    "Am I understood by everyone?"

    "Yes, Instructor."

 Chapter 256 - Classmates?

    ---

    After some more discussions with the Leader ss, the time allotted for them was spent so Raven ended the ss.

    When he left the room, the students soon followed after. Their first day had rather been fruitful, and somehow stressful. Some of them even questioned their decision for enrolling to this course. For now, they decided that they will stick around to see if they are able to achieve Raven''s standards. If they couldn''t, then they would drop out of the ss and focus on other things.

    Raven''s next ss was the ''Unity of Body, Energy and Spirit''.

    It''s this ss where he was tasked to teach and give pointers about ''Dual Cultivating'' or ''Triple Cultivating''. The ss will take ce in a field, since Raven nned to teach practical things or give concrete examples for the students which calls for them to actively train. In order to prevent them from destroying things, he decided to use the training fields for the ss.

    Upon his arrival to the field, Raven became stunned with what he saw.

    First and foremost was the number of students who are in this field. Raven only had 10 students currently and it seems that no one wille anymore.

    But what surprised him the most was the identity of the students. The ten students who stood in front of him, were the exact same faces that he saw when he and his friends became a part of the Genius ss.

    He saw Rupert and Veronica. Two of the people that they became close with. Surprisingly, he also saw Alice in here, which puzzled him since from what he could remember, she had a little vendetta with someone from the Genius ss but here she is.

    Raven was so surprised that he just now remembered to check the ss profiles and saw the proof that he really will be teaching his former ssmates.

    "Well, this is interesting." This was Raven''s first greeting to the ss. His students smiled as he said this, it seems that their teacher was really taken by surprise.

    Raven sighed and asked: "Can anyone exin what''s going on here?"

    "It''s Uncle''s idea." Rupert was the one who replied, the Uncle he was talking about here should be Victor, the former teacher of the Genius ss.

    Veronica then followed up by saying: "When we found out that the Academy will be built along with the introduction of the new Academic System, we made a decision to enroll and test it out."

    Raven nodded and could pretty much tell what''s going on. They were probably encouraged by Victor to integrate themselves with the Academy since he himself had high expectations for it. He might also be the one who arranged them to be Raven''s students as well.

    Due to that, Raven decided to confront Victorter and know his reasons behind doing this. Well, it might not be necessary since even he asked him, it won''t change the fact that his former ssmates are now his students.

    The ss then saw Raven''s eyes gleam with a colorful light for the briefest of moment before going away. Raven then said: "So, you guys restarted your cultivation bases."

    He saw then nod which basically confirmed what he saw when he activated his ocr technique earlier. When he checked earlier, he saw the energy fluctuations around them were weak and upon further inspection he saw that all of them are barely on the Skin Toughening Realm.

    "That won''t be a problem." Raven stated, "You guys should be able to st through the realms quite quick since you already experienced them once."

    Raven doubled checked their profiles and saw what their Spirit Entities are. He then asked: "So I assume that all of you experienced the Baptism Ritual before right?"

    He saw them nod once again. "Very good, that''ll make things easy."

    He then looked at them one by one and had the briefest feeling of nostalgia as he did so. How the times have changed. Less than two years ago, these people were his ssmates but now he''s standing on a different tformpared to them. He couldn''t help but think that fate is really funny sometimes.

    Raven cleared his throat and started speaking: "A few things before we start the ss."

    "First of all, I''m d to see you all doing well. I am also extremely d that you guys had given the new academic system a chance."

    "Although it''s a little weird for us, reality won''t change. I, in fact, am going to be your Instructor from now on. Now I know that we had a brief history together, but while I do cherish those moments, I hope that you''re not expecting some kind of special treatment from me. Cause I''m telling you right now, I absolutely can''t do that."

    The ss heard his words and nodded. None of these people were expecting that anyway. They knew of Raven''s capabilities even back when they were ssmates. In the briefest of time that they were together, they knew what kind of person he is, and it''s not really hard to imagine what will he be like as their new Instructor.

    "But I''m going to say this." Raven paused for a bit and looked at them intently. "If you endured my training and apply the things that you learned from me. In one year, you guys will return to your previous cultivation bases but in a more powerful state."

    "Do you remember the things I could achieve back in the days when we were still ssmates?" He asked and say the ss nodded, "I will bring you all to that level, that''s a promise from me to you."

    The eyes of his ss started shining when he said that. While it''s just a promise for now, none of them doubted him even for a second. They knew that he will keep his word, which excites them to no end.

    "Let''s begin the actual lesson now." Raven then pushed his badge.

    After he did that, a screen of light emerged from the badge and showed a silhouette of a human body in front of the ss.

    Raven then started by saying: "This ss is named ''Unity of Body, Energy and Spirit''. In the introduction of the course, it is said that this ss will give you pointers on ''Dual Cultivation'' or even ''Triple Cultivation''. The term might sound weird but when I said ''Dual Cultivation'', I''m not referring to the kind where you have to find a partner or a significant other to cultivate with. Of course, ''Triple Cultivation'' is not a threesome either. I thought I''ll just make that clear for everyone."

    The ss had mixed reactions when he said that, but Raven didn''t pursue it since it wasn''t the point of the ss.

    "When on reaches 13 years old. They will experience a dream to which they were transferred into a ce filled with brilliant stars. After journeying inside for quite sometime, one will find a ritual altar and approach it. Once that happens, a particr set of stars will shine with intense light and the dream ends. After waking up from that dream, one will find out that they broke through the beginning stages of Skin Toughening Realm. Everyone should be familiar to this right?"

    The ss nodded, Raven then continued by saying: "Whates next is where things get a little confusing. Due to the lost heritage, the talent measuring system was basically wrong. I don''t think I need to discuss that further since my existence is a solid proof of that. Remember, I had a Red-level Talent."

    The ss nodded once more and wasn''t shocked by this revtion since they already knew this before.

    "I want you all to forget about the colored talent system altogether. Think of it as a thing of the past, something that you will never go back to. What you need to know is that after awakening from that dream, you already received the blessings of you Spirit Entity and thus you could now venture into what I call the ''Three Human Paths''."

    "These paths are named: ''Energy Path'', to which we usually refer to as Knighthood. The ''Body Path'', which focuses on cultivating the body to reach an inconceivable level. And finally the ''Spirit Path'', which focuses on one''s soul."

    The ss were now hooked with the lesson, all of them focused on his words intently, wanting to remember everything that he has to say.

    "Now, my words earlier should make sense now right?" Raven asked, "When I said ''Dual Cultivation'', I am referring to cultivating two out of the three known paths. And ''Triple Cultivation'' means that one will cultivate all three at the same time."

    "That''s what this ss is all about. You do remember my friends right?" The ss nodded, who wouldn''t know about him and his team at this point really?

    "Paul and Mark cultivates the Energy Path and the Body Path. Ellen and Anne cultivates Energy and Spirit Path. While Luna and I cultivates all three paths. And you all had seen the things we could do, so when I gave you my promise earlier, know that I''m not speaking empty words. I''m truly am capable of bringing you to a height that you guys had never seen before.. So make sure to work hard and endure my training."

 Chapter 257 - Improvements

    ---

    "Go on, you guys. A little more and you guys will be done."

    Raven encouraged as he looked on to his ss, which happened to be his former ssmates.

    He was pretty sure that someone was ring at him but he shrugged it off, that re won''t harm him anyway.

    The pep-talk he had earlier with them managed to raise their spirits and look forward to the ss. Raven decided to not waste anytime and immediately drawn up a training regimen for them which mainly consists of harsh training.

    Just like what he did to his students at the Conditioning ss, he asked them to run with weighted armors on, however he didn''t give them any choices pped on the heaviest set of weighted armors avable, no exceptions.

    He made them do 10ps around the field whilst wearing the armor. As they started, Raven was able to immediately identify who had stronger bodies from those who doesn''t. Raven was already marking their progress at this point and adjusting their personal regimen on the fly.

    Doing tenps around the field while wearing a heavy set of armors wasn''t enough to bring them down, but it doesn''t mean that they weren''t at least exhausted. These people had once been so close to being a Knight, resetting their cultivation bases won''t really remove the prior training and experience they had but of course it has some effects.

    After they finished theps, Raven asked them to remove the weighted armor and made them run once again but this time he didn''t give them definite amount ofps to do. He just asked them to run until their legs couldn''t endure it anymore.

    His ss was puzzled at his methods but it wasn''t their ce to ask. They did what they said and ce their whole hearted trust on him. Thus, their suffering had began.

    They ran and ran until they dropped like flies, their bodies were soaking with sweat, hairs dishelved, legs shaking and breath stagnant. Even those who are still running had already lost count on how manyps they''ve done so far, but it wouldn''t be too long until they give up too.

    And just like what they thought, after a few moments, they fell with a thudding sounds on the ground. They were on the verge of fainting from all this running.

    But Raven didn''t allow them to lose consciousness just yet. With a wave of his hand, he sent his Chaos Force forward and lifted them one by one. He then took out multiple basins of water and poured in contents of Body Restoration Fluids.

    His ss knew that all of them were floating in the air, and if they were on their normal state they would''ve freaked out or be stunned on just how strong Raven truly were. Unfortunately, they were barely awake due to exhaustion so they could only watch silently.

    Once the fluid had steeped onto the waters of each basin, Raven gently lowered each of them on the basin and said: "Don''t lose consciousness. Revolve the Cultivation Scriptures that you received and absorb the efficacy in the waters. Don''t stop until you absorb every single drop."

    As his voice echoed on their ears, some of them bit their tongue to remain awake. They then recalled their cultivation techniques and started absorbing the efficacy on the waters.

    As soon as they did so, the waters immediately swirled and their absorption began. Every single cell in their body shivered in joy, they greedily absorbed the efficacy on the waters like a starved beast. Every single one of them felt incredible, they could feel that they were being strengthened in a frightening pace.

    Their exhaustion was being reced by a wonderful feeling. It was hard to exin, even breakthroughs didn''t feel this way. It was apletely new experience for everyone here. What''s even more surprising is their cultivation scriptures. Comparing what they used prior to these ones was justpletely unfair. They were now starting to understand why Raven told them to forget about the old talent measuring system. This is without a doubt, the real way.

    Thankfully they decided to ce their trust on Raven. This was a good choice their part since Raven wouldn''t fail them and would really keep his promise. Of course, Raven has other ns with them but now isnot the time to reveal them just yet.

    Raven gave them time to absorb everything. What he gave to them wasn''t just a normal Body Restoration Fluids. These were at least B-rank in terms of effectiveness, he was treating them just like how he treated himself back when he was at the same stage as they were. After pushing them to absolute brink of exhaustion,es the perfect time for them to absorb the nutrients from the Body Restoration Fluids. Not only they will recover extremely fast in this situation, they will also be strengthened to a profound degree.

    After some time, the ss woke up one by one. Their eyes shone with delight, they looked at their hands and felt a profound sense of strength coursing through their bodies. None of them had any real breakthroughs just yet but it didn''t matter at all.

    "Go dry yourselves up first and then return here. I have something to say before I dismiss the ss." Raven said, to which the ss nodded and got out of the basins to dry themselves up.

    Once they returned, Raven already stashed out the basins he took out earlier and he was already waiting for them. After the ss reassembled, Raven then passed on papers on each of them.

    "I made this training regimen for you guys. It''s different for each one so don''t botherparing." Raven said as he saw them receive the papers. "Your training doesn''t start nor end inside this field. Even when at home, you could train yourselves up. I''ve given you each some of my observations so far from inspecting you. If you have any questions, you can ask me during ss. Am I clear?"

    "Yes."

    "Alright, remember that it will only get harder from this point forward. But so long as you''re working hard, I won''t be stingy with my support." Raven stated, "From the next ss onwards, you will be focusing on the training regimens that you received, which means that your training won''t be the same from the other. Are there any questions?"

    Raven saw each of them shook their head so he nodded and said: "Okay, that''s all for today. I''ll be expecting each of you here tomorrow."

    After saying that, Raven disappeared from his position and the ss was dismissed.

    ***

    The day went on and Raven had finished all of his sses. He was now heading back towards the teacher''s faculty to meet up with the rest of the Instructors to discuss some matters.

    For the first day of the school year, it was rather productive. He managed to at least express his expectations and get his students to understand some of his intentions.

    Now he just want to receive some reports from the other instructors as well.

    The meeting urred shortly after he arrived, from what he understood from each of his colleagues, their first day went on rtively productive as well. So far, they saw some students showing some promise already even though this is just the first day.

    Of course, there are some rebellious kids who still failed to understand their current predicaments. Fortunately, the Instructors already devised a solid n to put them in their proper ce and prepared methods to deal with their attitudes.

    Overall, the first day went great. Of course, Raven also seek some insights from his colleagues to find out if there''s something they could improve on. Luna raised a very interesting idea at this point.

    She asked if each instructors could give a little tour to the students and bring them to several facilities inside the academy, mainly she was talking about the Training Halls.

    She said, that if the students realized the benefits of each facilities, that would cause theirpetitiveness to ignite and cause them to work even harder for benefits, which in turn would make their growths faster.

    She also wanted the students to be informed that they could apply for some simple missions. Doing this would also cause the students to experience the benefits of their hard work and would push them to give even more efforts in cultivating.

    Her idea was extremely good. All of her colleagues and agreed to her proposition so for the remaining time of the meeting, they mainly discussed how they''re going to schedule each student''s visit in order to prevent them from overcrowding the ce.

    After they reached a decision, the meeting ended and they all dispersed. Raven spent time with his friends first and with Luna. They ate dinner together and then they went on their separate ways. Raven went back home and rested for a bit before going inside the Crown Space. Being an Instructor doesn''t mean that he could rx from his training.. He had to practice what he preach, and Raven knew that he absolutely couldn''t allow himself to get rusty from this temporary job.

 Chapter 258 - Emergency

    ---

    It has been a week since the start of the school year.

    Raven was currently observing his ss train by themselves and would give out some advices where it''s needed. Everything was going fine until all of a sudden, the entrance of the field opened and caught the attention of him and his students.

    Someone entered with a distressed look on his face, Raven recognized his person as one of the Instructors in the Academy, a colleague of his. Raven frowned and stood up, he then excused himself and met up with the distressed Instructor.

    "What''s the problem?" Raven asked.

    "Pardon my intrusion, Instructor Raven. There''s an emergency situation for one of my student''s cultivation and something strange happened. Could you please spare me a bit of your time so that we could inspect his condition?" The Instructor said hurriedly while paying respects towards Raven.

    Raven patted his shoulders, he looked back at his ss and said: "You guys continue training, something came up that needs my attention. If I don''te back before the period ends, then you may dismiss yourselves."

    He then looked at the Instructor and asked: "Where is this student that you mentioned?"

    The Instructor thanked him and then told him where his ss was being held on. Raven ced a hand on his shoulders and together they hurried towards the ss of this Instructor.

    On the way there, Raven asked the Instructor about the details of what happened. Basically, this instructor also handles the Conditioning ss. As they were doing some regr body conditioning task when suddenly one of his male students suddenly felt extremely terrible, so much to the point where he was screaming in pain and an unusual energy fluctuations started emanating out of his body.

    The Instructor trieding close but the energy surrounding the child suddenly turned hostile and pushed him back, hurting the child in the process as well. Out of his fear to hurt the child even more, the Instructor decided to look for help, and who else would be the best helper aside from Raven himself.

    As soon as they arrived in the training field, Raven saw that the ss was all grouped up in corner of the field, cowering over an extremely foul presence that permeated their surroundings.

    In the middle of the training field, one male student was writhing in pain and gritting his teeth. Surrounding his petite body was a silhouette of an entity that has an rming red eyes and an ethereal body which exudes an intense malice that is nearly materializing in the air.

    Raven''s face turned slightly solemn, he let out a shallow breath and said: "To think that someone would actually awaken this kind of Spirit Entity."

    "You mean, his Spirit Entity is already awakening?" The Instructor of the student asked in a bewildered tone. "But how is that possible? Didn''t he need to undergo the Awakening Ritual first before that happens?"

    "Experiencing the Spiritual Awakening Ritual isn''t the only way to fully Awaken one''s Spirit Entity. It is the most preferred way to do so since it''s the safest way. The other methods are just way too painful. What your student is experiencing right now is probably the most painful one cause he didn''t have a choice."

    "This method is called the Forced Spiritual Awakening. This happens when one''s naturalpatibility towards their Spirit Entity is extremely high."

    "But enough exining, stand back and let me handle this." Raven ordered which caused the Instructor to step back, "Protect the students, this might get a little rowdy." He reminded before walking towards the writhing student.

    The Instructor erected a solid barrier that encased him and the students inside. Once the barrier was erected, the students inside breathed a sigh of relief since they were also shielded from the menacing malice that was permeating in the air. These students lived a sheltered life so far and was never exposed to that kind of feeling. Fear and trepidation still lingered in their hearts as they watched Raven deal with trouble.

    As Raven slowly made his way over, the entity which was close to manifestation, growled towards his direction. Clearly signifying that it didn''t want Raven to interfere.

    Raven''s response to this was a simple snort which isced with his Chaos Force. As his Chaos Force made contact with the entity, it visibly shuddered and felt an incredible sense of suppressioning off of Raven. It''s momentum clearly halted as it carefully inspected the human in front of him.

    Under everyone''s gaze, Raven raised his hand and out of nowhere, dark clouds suddenly manifested and covered the entire training field. Everyone looked up in wonder and under their dumbstruck gazes, the dark clouds parted and revealed a vast starry space after Raven closed his fist.

    The shimmer of countless stars flooded the entire field. Everyone''s mouth was gaping at the sight. Out of nowhere, one particr set of stars emitted an intense brilliance and suddenly starteding down.

    The entity in front of Raven started to shiver visibly. Other''s might not feel it but this entity could literally feel dread in the deepest core of it''s existence.

    "You one naughty fox. Are you in that much of a hurry to find a descendant?" Raven asked coldly as the set of stars above started forming behind him.

    "Reveal yourself or else I will pummel you to death." Raven threatened as he coldly gazed ahead.

    The entity roared at him and instantly, the manifestation hastened to a point where everyone could now see it''s exact appearance.

    Just like what Raven said earlier, this Spirit Entity is a fox. It has a milky white fur with menacing red eyes and it''s pupils formed ck slits. It stood for about 10 feet but this is not it''s actual size, it had set of sharp fangs protruding out of it''s mouth, sharp ws and nine long tails that are moving on their own.

    "A Nine-tailed Fox!" One the students eximed out of shock.

    "To be more precise, it''s a Demonized Nine-tailed Fox." Raven''s voice echoed inside their heads, "Compared to a regr Nine-tailed Fox. A Demonized one is stronger since it lives off of feeding from it''s own kind. In simpler terms, a Demonized Nine-tailed Fox is a Cannibal."

    Raven''s exnation sent shivers to the students and even the Instructor. No one doubted his words at all. After all, Raven was the one who revealed the existence of Spirit Entities in the Kingdom.

    "No one in the Fox Race is born Demonized. It is a process. In their race, it is a taboo to eat one''s kind since everyone in there is afraid of Demonized Fox''s existence. Even so, there are some that don''t adhere to this rule. Once a fox consumed it''s own kind, it will experienced a different kind of empowerment that would make it stand above the rest. But since it is considered as a forbidden act, it is heavily punished by the Heavenly Laws."

    "Those who consumed their own kind, will forever bear the mental burden of their victim''s malice and hatred that it will never fade. And just like a drug, once they consumed one, their bodies will naturally crave for more and more until an insatiable hunger forms and their minds are forever consumed by malice and hatred."

    "Your ssmate must be experiencing some nightmares right now due to the influence of this little fox. Don''t worry, I''ll handle this."

    As soon as Raven finished exining the circumstances of the Spirit Entity in front of them, the stars behind him were neatly arranged ording to their constetion. They then emitted that brilliant sh of light that blinded almost everyone in the field.

    Once their vision adjusted, they could now see a tall statue standing tall and proud behind Raven.

    It''s appearance was shocking. It is a figure that has three faces, it''s current face expressed a neutral face, the face on it''s left expressed an annoyed expression and the face on the right was smiling in a benevolent manner. What''s even more shocking is that this statue had at least a thousand arms, blooming like a pristine lotus around it.

    The size of the statue dwarfed the fox. It looked up in terror as it could see the eyes of the statue looking down on it, much like how Raven was gazing at it as well.

    And because these are both spirit entities, the fox could definitely feel the deadly air emanating out of that statue. Even in it''s maddened state, that fox could still recognize those that should be attacked and those that shouldn''t be attacked. Unfortunately, it became a little arrogant and provoked someone who fell on thetter category.

    The statue''s hands moved in sync with Raven''s movements. The face of the statue switched and changed into a benevolent smile. All of it''s arms reached forward with an incredible speed that the fox failed to react to. The statue''s encased the fox in a ball, Raven supplied Chaos Force on each arms which caused the fox to writhe in agony.

    sping his hands together, Raven closed his eyes and said: "Thousand Arms Affection."

 Chapter 259 - Benevolent

    ---

    The Gracious Thousand Arm Deity. A spirit entity that left behind a legend of outmost ferocity.

    As Raven got stronger and the more he used the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer, hispatibility and knowledge about his Spirit Entity deepens.

    Spirit Entities grant someone unique abilities once awakened. In the Spirit Path, there is a stage called Spiritual Communion Realm, where one has to connect even deeper with their Spirit Entity and maybe learn a thing or two from them.

    Even though Raven is following a unique path right now, that didn''t stop him from following some important matters on original paths. Through constant meditations and training, he was able to learn a few things from his Spirit Entity. One of them, is in full disy right now.

    ''Thousand Arm Affection'', a technique that was made by the Thousand Arm Deity himself.

    When used, he will channel his deepest emotions of Love and Care towards his target and cleanse them from any kind of negative afflictions that''s corrupting their mentality.

    The Deity mostly used this technique to spare someone and force them to change their ways. Making them do what was correct and repent from their sins. Using his Benevolent Smile plus his Love and Care towards the Myriad Creations, he brought peace from those that needed it the most.

    The Demonic Nine-tailed Fox, though a ferocious being, is still far away from approaching the level of the Deity itself. Even though it tried to resist the will of the of the Gracious Thousand Arm Deity, it could only do so for a mere seconds before sumbing to the warmth of it''s love.

    As the light emanating out of the hands intensified, so was the conversion quickened. The process took a solid five minutes until the statue of the Deity behind Raven disappeared and the fox could no longer be seen. All that''s left is the peaceful state of the resting student.

    "It''s alright now." Raven said as he faced the rest of the ss. "He''s no longer in danger. He just needed to rest for a bit and he could return to his normal life. The Demonic Nine-tailed Fox is also pacified, no need to be afraid of this scenario happening again."

    "Instructor, may I have a word with you?" Raven asked, the Instructor of this ss stepped forward and they had a private conversation.

    "Watch this child carefully." Raven said, "He might face some kind of obstruction after this. Try to give him some kind of an emotional support. I assure you that his Spirit Entity is already pacified, but due to what happened today, some of his ssmates might see him as an evil being. Disperse this mentality once you see it, can I entrust this task to you?"

    "Rest assured, Instructor Raven. I will do everything in my power to help this student out." The ss Instructor replied solemnly.

    "Thank you." Raven replied, "Well then, since my task is done here I''ll be returning to my ss right now. Send this student to the infirmary and let him rest there, then you may continue with you ss as well."

    As soon as Raven said this, he disappeared from the spot and reappeared on the streets of the Academy.

    Unbeknownst to anyone, Raven hid one important detail from them.

    That would be the fact that the Spirit Entity of that student, is no longer called the Demonic Nine-tailed Fox.

    Instead of calling it the Demonic Nine-tailed Fox, it would be more precise to call it the Benevolent Nine-tailed Fox instead.

    This change would definitely benefit the student. Due to the Nature of the Spirit Entity, it would definitely have some influence towards it''s descendant. Raven had seen possessors of this Spirit Entity before and their attitudes tend to be a little too extreme, borderline insane if he''s being honest. The malice and hatred that cursed the Demonic Nine-tailed Fox would be carried over to their descendant, at least a portion of it would. But even if it''s just a portion, Raven doubted if a normal human psyche could handle that kind of burden, specially a kid.

    Knowing this, of course Raven wouldn''t be able to just ignore it.

    It also had to be known that will not be able to use the Thousand Arm Affection for the next six months. This is an imposed restriction by the Heavenly Laws themselves due to how powerful this technique was. The technique he used changes the very nature of the target, something that defies the Natural Order itself. It even affected a Spirit Entity, something that''s already long gone and only a remembrance of the Starry Skies of the Spirit Realm. If he was the Gracious Thousand Arm Deity himself, then this restriction wouldn''t exist. But he wasn''t the Deity so the restrictions were imposed on him.

    Raven made sure to prevent everyone from seeing the changes that happened to the Spirit Entity itself. He had reasons to do so. The biggest reason is that, he didn''t want anyone to know that he could change the Nature of a Spirit Entity all on his own. Also, doing this kind of action is viting a rule that he made since this is considered as giving preferential treatment to a student.

    Of course, he would exin his actions on the facultyter. They may even impose some kind of forced service from the student in exchange for what he had done but that would be discussedter.

    ***

    "Good afternoon, Professor Raven." The ss greeted as soon as entered the room.

    Raven nodded and greeted them back. He then sat down in his desk and checked for the attendance of his students. Seeing that everyone was here, he then promptly started the ss.

    "So? Is everyone ready for the quiz?" Raven asked the ss.

    "Yes, Instructor." The students replied.

    Raven then nodded and then pushed his badge. Immediately, multiple screens of light appeared and moved towards each students. The screens showed a simple interface that any student of his could easily interact with.

    "The quiz falls into the Identification Category. Once you begin, the screens of light will show an image of an Alchemical Ingredient. Your task is to identify them one by one. The quiz has 100 items, try to identify as many as you could. Don''t let me catch you cheating or else I''ll impose a penalty on you. Are there any questions?"

    Seeing his students silent, Raven then said: "Since there''s none, your one hour starts now!"

    With a push of his badge, a timer appeared over his head. Once the timer started ticking, his students then began interacting with the light screens and started answering the quiz he prepared.

    This is Raven''s Alchemy ss. So far he had at least twenty students in this ss, some were already showing some promise. Raven wasn''t the only Instructor of this course, there''s also Jacob and Richard himself.

    Raven made this quiz personally and he arranged it to not be simr for any student. During the first week, Raven had been introducing them to at least 1000 kinds of medicinal ingredients. In his introductions, he taught the ss on how to properly identify each ingredient so that they won''t mistake it from something else entirely.

    He had informed the ss that there would be a short quiz today, which spurred them to review everything that they''ve learned so far.

    Of course, Raven wouldn''t give them a quiz for nothing. He wanted to give them some kind of an encouragement, so he told them that the top five of this quiz will receive some resources from him.

    The first ce will be given a One Month Lunch Ticket at Canteen A as well as Five Sets of random Seeds that they could raise as well as 50 Gold Cards.

    The second ce will be given a Three Weeks Lunch Ticket at Canteen A, Four Sets of random Seeds, and 40 Gold Cards.

    Third ce: Two Weeks Lunch Ticket at Canteen A, Three Sets of random Seeds, and 30 Gold Cards.

    Fourth ce: One Week Lunch Ticket at Canteen A, Two Sets of random Seeds, and 20 Gold Cards.

    And the Fifth ce will receive a Two Week Lunch Ticket at Canteen B, One Set of random Seeds, and 10 Gold Cards.

    Even though Alchemy is a rising profession in the Kingdom, it still doesn''t change the fact that it''s still a costly and stressful upation. Of course, if one managed to get through it''s challenges, a golden path is waiting ahead of them. This is why many are still hoping to join their ranks, and the trend is still continuing until today.

    In front of this generous rewards, of course his students wouldn''t be able to sit still. Of course they had to work harder and memorize to the best of their abilities. Each of those resources would greatly aid them in their path, and the more experience they gather as early as now, the more smoother their path towards their goal would be.

    Now, it''s time to test their memorization skill and just much passion they have to pursue the road that they have chosen.

 Chapter 260 - Ranking List

    ---

    It had been three months since the school year started. Many things happened in the Academy since then. Students had been learning in a rtively peaceful manner. But today, it seems that the peace would be somewhat disrupted.

    "Good Morning ss."

    "Good Morning Instructor Raven." Raven nodded towards the students and asked them to sit down. He then continued by saying: "Before we start the ss, there''s an important announcement that I have to make, pay attention because I''m only going to say this once."

    The Leader ss immediately perked up and paid attention to what Raven has to say.

    "Since the first three months since the start of the ss had passed, it is due time that we crank up the intensity of your training."

    As soon as he said this, most of his students inwardly cursed him. What does he mean by cranking up the intensity of training? Haven''t they suffered enough?

    Well, no one could me them for groaning since it is true that they had been through a lot during the past three months under Raven''s hands.

    As the Leader ss, they have experienced many stressful scenarios due to Raven''s machinations. Most of those situations weren''t taxing physically but mentally. It is precisely due to this reason that their numbers had gone down to 20 from 30 students, since some just couldn''t endure his regimen.

    Nevertheless, those who managed to pull through had been forged well. Their mentalities had been sharpened to a degree where they would be able to remain m under some pressure. Of course, the students noticed these changes but still, they would appreciate some sort of rest.

    "In order to truly test your leading capabilities, I hereby announce that all of you here will have your own Six-man Cell."

    Gasps were heard from the ss. They looked at each other with faces filled with mixed reaction. Some of them felt excited while some felt scared. Some of them wondered what kind of teammates they will get while some didn''t particrly care.

    "Your teammates are chosen carefully after a long deliberation. If you want to change a member, then you must directly report it to me and give me a good reason for recement. If your reason is usible, then we will rece your member. Remember, the exchange must happen officially, if we discovered that you switched members by yourselves, we will be forced to impart some punishment to you and your team."

    "All in all, there are a total of 100 students who enrolled in the Leaders ss. Which means that there will bea total of 100 teams which consists of six members."

    "You will be given missions, depending on the performance of your team the difficulty of the missions you receive will vary as well. Of course, the higher the mission difficulty is, the more generous the rewards your team will get."

    "We also decided to spice up your lives by making a Ranking List." Raven added as he pushed his badge and showed them an empty diagram.

    "You will introduced to a new currency called Team Points. These points are earned by clearing out missions that required a whole team. D-rank Missions gives you 10 Team Points, C-rank Missions gives you 20. B-ranks will give you 30, A-ranks will give you 50 and S-rank Missions will give you a 100 Team Points."

    "Be aware that the amount of team points I''ve listed earlier is just the minimum amount. Your client will have the power to reduce or add points depending on their satisfaction. The maximum amount they could add is as much as the minimum for the mission rank and the maximum amount they could reduce is half of that. Do you still follow me?"

    The ss nodded and continued listening, "With Team Points, you will be able to afford many kinds of resources. Here''s the list of items avable, have a look."

    As soon as Raven showed the list, his students immediately flocked over and read the contents one by one. The lower priced items are the moremon items like C-rank Body Restoration Fluids, Energy Gathering Pills and so on. But the more they looked at the list, the more incredible things they see. From A-rank medicines which even included Longevity Pills, to the A-rank weapons, array formations and such.

    "Excuse me, Instructor." One student of his called out and asked: "This item here that costs 500 Team Points, named Second Scriptures. Is this what I think it is?"

    "Yes." Raven answered, "It is. If you avail that, you will receive the Second Chapters of the Cultivation Scriptures that we gave you."

    All of his students gasp in that realization, their gazes grew heated as they automatically made a mental note to save up at least 500 Team Points to avail the Second Chapters of their Cultivation Scriptures.

    "Instructor, is this price for one person only or for the whole team?" Another student asked.

    "It will be for the whole team." Raven replied, "Which means that once you bought that, everyone on your team will receive the Second Chapters."

    His reply made them even more fervent, this means that purchasing this prize now bes a priority. The students once again went through the list and saw more mind boggling prizes. What''s more ridiculous is that one prize in there that was eyed by all of them.

    One brave student then asked: "Instructor, this Apprentice Ticket that has your name in it. This should be what I think it is right?"

    Raven somewhat froze when they mentioned that, he recovered quite fast but he could only let out a defeated sigh since he couldn''t really do anything about it.

    "Yes¡­yes it is." He replied with difficulty. "If you could afford that ticket,e to me and show it. I will then ept one from your team to be my Apprentice."

    All of them froze and looked at the item that will practically allow them to soar through the skies in one step. An intense feeling of desire crept up to their chest but when they looked at the amount of team points needed to exchange for the ticket, their desires dampen and most of them couldn''t help but smile wryly.

    The Apprenticeship Ticket costs 10,000 Team Points. It is amongst the most expensive items that''s on the list. Additionally, there''s only one ticket avable.

    "It''s so expensive¡­" One of the students groaned in displeasure, the rest of them agreed and couldn''t help but feel pity since they would really like to afford it.

    How many missions would they have to take in order to afford that? Some of them even think that the ticket was really overprices, almost as if Raven didn''t want anyone to afford it.

    Well, it''s not wrong for them to think of it that way since that was the whole point. Raven, in fact, really didn''t want anyone to afford that ticket at all.

    The idea to ce that in there didn''te from him anyway. It was that shameless Paul who thought that it would be a good idea to make a ticket like that.

    Raven didn''t want to have an Apprentice since he was a busy man. He had a lot of matters to attend to each day and he didn''t know if he could properly look after his Apprentice at all. He initially opposed this idea strongly but Ian supported the idea of his son, which was also supported by the rest of the Instructors, even Luna herself.

    In the end, Raven reluctantly agreed but he told them that he will be the one who will set the price for the ticket or else he would resign. In the end, there''s nothing they could do to stop him from making the price expensive. It seems that Raven truly didn''t want to have another responsibility to be thrown at his way for now.

    "Alright, you''ve seen everything." Raven said as he closed the exchange list. "Now for the Ranking List."

    "Like I said earlier, we made this Ranking List to encourage a healthypetition amongst you people. Each time you submitted apleted mission, your Rankings will change depending on how many Team Points you have umted so far. Take note that your Rankings won''t change even of you spend your Team Points."

    "This Ranking will remain active until the ultimate showdown, which will be the Year-end Tournament. Those who managed to secure the Top 15 Spots, will receive prizes that may or may not change your lives for the better."

    "In spite of this, I want you all to be aware of one thing." Raven said in a solemn tone. "By the end of this year, you will be given a choice whether you want to remain with your current team or not."

    "Unlike when you change team members, when that timees, we won''t ask questions. If you want out, then we''ll get you out. Simple as that. But once you left the team, do remember that you can never go back and thus you have to recruit teammates of your choice."

    "As for those who remained in their respective teams, you must also know that there will be no changing from that point on. In the end, whatever your decisions are, you must bear it''s consequences. Am I clear?"

    The students nodded and took his words to their heart.

    "Very well then. We''ll start with Team 1, the members are¡­"

 Chapter 261 - Distress Signal

    ---

    The Heavenly Cloud Academy''s atmosphere is unusually busy today.

    In its streets, one would see groups of students who were walking to and from ces. The ce where thergestmotion urs would be the Mission Hall.

    It was the day after the announcement of the six-man cell formations. By the end of yesterday, most of the students already met their respective teams and got to know each other. Of course, they were just merely introduced to each other, which means that what they know is simply too shallow. Only by working with each other for a long time, would they be able to know if they could really work out with this team or not.

    Each team isposed of a Leader, a Defender, a Ranger, an Assassin, an Assault and a Healer. It''s also possible for a team to effectively have two of each roles since some of Leader Trainees also took additional courses. In order to bnce out the teams, the Teacher''s Faculty made it an effort to ce at least one underachiever in a team that has an overachiever. As to whether the students will understand their intentions or not, it doesn''t matter since they will have toe up with a solid excuse to kick someone out of the group anyway.

    Nevertheless, time won''t stop for anyone. There are missions to do and Team Points to earn, there also the Ranking List to fill so the students are now busying themselves with mission clearing.

    Sufficed to say that all of the teams started off by taking D-rank Missions. These missions are pretty much the menial tasks that the students would be able to clear without any problems. Things like, cleaning ssrooms or training fields, assisting the instructors with some tasks, cultivating fields, and etc. Are what most of the D-ranks areposed off.

    Of course, some of the teams are not happy to receive such missions since they feel like their actual skills are being underestimated, but no matter how much theyined no one listened to them nor given them any higher ranked mission so they could only frustratingly ept this.

    Even though Raven didn''t meet every single one of his students in the Leader ss yesterday, he made an effort to visit them personally and tell them the news so that they will be prepared. This is why majority of the six-man cells already met, as for those that hadn''t met each other yet, they will be soon since the more they postpone it the more they will fall behind.

    In light of the formation of the six-man cells, the ss schedules of each students had changed. sses were usually held each day, each period would have a little bit of time in between to allow students to rest before the next period starts. But now, sses will only take ce twice a week.

    Doing this would allow students to get more field experience and learn from them. This will also allow them to get to know more about each other by spending time and working together. And even though the ss days are reduced, they will bepact and be stretched to an all day ss in order to make up with the lost time.

    It also had to known that each of the teams are being monitored closely. Should there be any disputes during the submission of the missions, the instructors could check the built-in recording system in their student badges to check whether the dispute shall be honored or not.

    All in all, the following days would be busy for the students. However, if they want to truly walk the path of being a Knight, they have to rise up to the challenge and learn to adapt in some demanding situations.

    ***

    "Hmm?"

    Raven was inside his office when he suddenly felt a buzzing off from his badge, he was currently making some adjustments to the curriculum of his students but he was interrupted.

    He pushed his badge and immediately heard a familiar voice.

    "Avi." Luna called out, "Dad sent me a message, he wanted us to report to the pce. He said that something came up and that we needed to be there. I''m already on my way with Anne and Ellen, they already sent messages to Paul and Mark. I''ll see you there okay? I love you."

    Raven immediately dropped everything that he was doing and left a message on his desk. He told his assistant that the Pce was summoning him. He then recorded a message using his badge and sent it to Luna as a reply. He then quickly made his way out of the Academy and simply ran towards the Pce.

    Raven''s speed is undoubtedly quicker than a regr carriage so he didn''t even bother to ride one. He knew that whatever the reason behind this summons, must be an important one since it needed not only his but his teams attention as well.

    He arrived a the pce after travelling for nearly thirty minutes. Once he approached the gates, the guards saluted him and paved the way for him to enter. He nodded to them and made his way towards the King''s office.

    Outside of the office, he saw his teammates waiting for him. They greeted each other and entered the office at the same time to know why they were summoned.

    Upon stepping inside the office, they saw Balmung and Alexander in there apanied by the Golden Knights as well. All of them were staring at the table where the Sk Array''s monitoring system was activated.

    They all saw the team enter, the team gave them a curt salutations and asked why they were summoned.

    "We summoned you here due to an emergency." The King said in a solemn tone, "We just received a distress signals from a team that we sent out to gather resources."

    The King then pointed at the map and continued: "As you can see in there, the distress signal ising from northeast of the Yellow Zone. They were being chased and cornered towards the Red Zone by their pursuers. By the readings here, we''re looking at anywhere from 10 to 20 people who are chasing after the group."

    "I would''ve sent some of the Lair Hunters as reinforcements but most of them are upied to another mission. The Golden Knights also have other matters to attend to, so I could only send you guys in there."

    The King then faced them and said: "Avi, I want you and your team to save the Resource Gathering Troop from danger. If it''s possible to continue the resource gathering, then you have my permission to do so, if not then just escort them back to our walls."

    "It will be done, Uncle." Raven nodded, he then faced his team and said: "Gear up, Team. Get some supplies and meet me at the East Gates within an hour. Move."

    The team then went out of the office and went towards their separate ways. They have to get some of their gears which they left on their respective homes. Raven himself didn''t have to do that since he was carrying everything with him at all times for emergencies like this. He went straight towards the East Gate and informed the guards about the mission.

    Though he didn''t have to show any pass if he and his team wanted to go out due to his status, he still wanted to at least let the guards knew of the reason behind their exit from the kingdom. After informing the guards, he then stationed himself in front of the gates and waited for his team.

    Not even thirty minutes had passed and the team is already assembled. The team signed off and then moved out.

    As soon as they left the gates, Luna summoned her Pegasus and rode it with Raven. Anne condensed an Eagle powered by Wind Laws and rode it with Mark. A pair of pulsing Fire Wings appeared behind Ellen as she soared through the air while carrying Paul.

    As the team flew, Raven used this chance to give out orders: "Paul, keep an eye at the tracker and inform us whenever the coordinates changes."

    "Alright." Paul nodded and took out the marker to observe it.

    "Anne, check the atmosphere using your ocr technique. If you see any signs of a Diamond Dust Eclipse happening, inform us."

    "On it." Anne replied as her eyes turned into a beautiful shade of pure silver and gazed at the skies.

    "Mark, check if there''s any beast tailing us in our flight. If you can intercept them, do so. If you can''t then inform us."

    "Okay." Mark replied as he started looking around and checking if there''s any beast who are following them.

    "Ellen, you lead the way. Make sure to listen carefully at Paul''s instructions so that we won''t be lost."

    "Will do." Ellen replied as she flew a little bit forward while carrying Paul.

    "Luna." Raven called out to her, "Ellen might not be able to keep her wings activated for too long. Watch her closely and give her an energy boost if her wings starts to fade, okay?"

    "Okay." Luna replied.. And just like that, the team advanced towards the distress signal with hopes that they could make it in time.

 Chapter 262 - Mole

    ---

    Raven and his Team flew for more than an hour and they were nearly at their destination.

    Anne already confirmed that there would be no Diamond Dust Eclipse, she then joined Mark in watching for their tracks in case some beast decides to follow them.

    Ellen flew in front of the group, Paul will make sure to point her in the correct direction so that they won''t be lost. Luna closely observed Ellen and whenever she''s showing any kind of fatigue, she would immediately supply her with Energy so that she could continue her flight.

    Raven had been in deep thought ever since. On contrary to his silence, his mind was bustling with activity. He had been formting a n from the start. He wanted to take all ounts in and make sure that he could give out orders that would lead them to the best case scenario.

    "I can see them!" Anne eximed which gathered the attention of the team. Raven heard her and immediately activated his ocr technique to gaze up ahead.

    Raven''s vision extended all the way to a kilometer in front of him. He saw several wounded soldiers from their side, they were currently fighting with some folks who are wearing an all ck attire with a ck veil covering their faces. Just from this attire alone, they could already confirm that these people really came from the ck Curtain Guild.

    "We''ll take ground from here. Anne you stay up in the air, wait for my signal."

    Raven then tapped the stomach of the Pegasus, causing it to fly down. Ellen then started gliding down with Paul and Mark jumped down as well.

    When they reached the ground, they immediately grouped up and waited for Raven''s orders. Raven started handing out orders and once they were done, they immediately ran forward in blurring speeds.

    Paul ran forward with them but he was slower, it didn''t matter too much since once he entered a specific distance away from their troops, he raised his spear and threw it in a graceful arc. He then crouched down and pumped his legs with energy. His whole body then shot forward like a zing star, going so fast that he went ahead of his team.

    During the sh between the Resource Gathering Troops and the ck Curtain minions, a spear suddenly appeared between them. Everyone looked around to see where this spear came from but then they immediately heard a harsh whistleing from above.

    Paul fell down like a meteor towards his spear, the ground beneath him caved in and exploded into shards the flew everywhere. As their vision adjusted, Paul''s bulky body was finally seen. He was wearing a ferocious expression on his face. He then picked up his spear and roared towards the enemies with unprecedented ferocity.

    As his voice echoed everywhere, it carried different effects to the people around him. To his allies, it carried a feeling of protection in a spiritual level. This roar of his also caused a thick blue barrier to appear around his allies. This barrier would defend against life-threatening attacks for about six times before it shatters. This shows Paul''s unceasing training over the years.

    His voice caused a severe suppression to the enemies though. They weren''t expecting reinforcements to arrive at all, and it seems that the one who came was particrly strong.

    "Don''t falter!" One of the enemies yelled at hisrades, "It''s just one! We can handle that! We will kill him as well-Urk!"

    This person didn''t even manage to finish his sentence before his throat exploded into a bloody mess. Hisrades felt chill crawl up on their spine. They immediately went on full alert and unconsciously grouped up with their backs against each other.

    It was then that someone saw a blue sh charging towards them at extreme speeds. The one who saw it could only let out a gasp to alert his team since the assant was too fast and didn''t allow him to react that much.

    He tried intercepting the blue sh but was stunned to see it change the course of it''s flight. It missed him but hit the one behind him, and when the blue sh was gone, the head of hisrade slid down from his body.

    Of course, this blue sh was none other than Mark, who''s speed right now is infinitesimally close to Old Lee''s level.

    "Shit! Another one!" One of the ck Curtain Guild member cursed under his breath. "Summon your Armaments! We have to retreat! The reinforcements are too strong!"

    The acting captain yelled at them, his orders were followed by them and immediately a set of Dark Steel Armor emerged from their bodies. As they were now d with their Knightly Armament, they felt a little bit of security against the two who just arrived.

    They then started to retreat from the battle since they knew that they can''t face them anymore, they could feel the threat of death looming over them so they did their best to run away. Unfortunately, the reinforcements aren''t just Paul and Mark.

    They would have never thought that someone was already waiting for them at their path of retreat. It was a girl with a zing red hair who also wear a bright red clothes. The sword she was holding was pulsing with impatient mes ready to incinerate their forces.

    Once they got close, Ellen snorted and plunged her sword on the ground. Shortly after that, the ground exploded with me geysers that caught the enemiespletely off-guard.

    Those who managed to react was able to avoid or defend against the attack, but that doesn''t mean that they were unharmed, the scalding heat from Ellen''s attack caused a painful sting on their skins.

    The stinging pain managed to distract them long enough for them to not notice a volley of whistling arrows flying towards them.

    The arrows were precise and aimed on their heads. None of the shots made any kind of noise, making it somewhat untraceable. The arrows were also made out of energy fueled by Wind Laws, which caused to be nigh invisible, specially to the distracted enemies.

    The arrows sessfully pierced at least five heads, some managed to react and avoid the arrows from hitting them. Unfortunately, even though they managed to evade the life threatening attacks, it''s not like they could stop Raven''s team from attacking.

    What happened next waspletely one-sided. Mark, Anne and Ellen managed to take down all 18 Knights from the ck Curtain Guild without being injured even in the slightest.

    Paul, Luna and Raven tended to the Resource Gathering Troops while the three was busy eliminating the enemies. Of course, Raven was always paying attention to them just in case an unexpected situation happened. But it looks like it wasn''t necessary since he already confirmed that all enemies died.

    Well, not all of them died. Before the three could finish them, Raven swooped in and caught one of the ck Curtain Guild Members.

    He then sifted through the memories of the person he caught and found out that the ck Curtain Guild was really feeling antsy.

    It was just like what the King said. It was about time that they see whether their n from a year ago was sessful or not. The only reason why this group was chasing after the Resource Gathering Troops was because they wanted to steal the minerals they collected for their own benefit. And because this team was rtively weak, they decided to finish them off in order to silence witnesses.

    Thankfully they managed to arrive in time. They were also grateful that the Sk Array was there, the idea behind the distress signal was genius. It saved their lives.

    Raven decided to let go of the one he captured but not before casting a wonderful technique.

    Raven wants to nt a mole for Kingdom. And to do that, he nted a ve Seal on his captive. This ve Seal was reinforced by many Inscriptions so that not even that Pale Bastard could sense it. Not that it would since it was in a deep slumber but still, just in case. Raven could never be too careful against the ck Curtain Guild.

    Now that he had enved someone from the ck Curtain Guild, he then gave him a set of orders toplete and also gave him a unique way too contact him in case the salve wanted to report something.

    Raven didn''t bother healing his ve since it would be better if he goes back in this current state as a proof that he was exhausted from a fierce battle. Raven just hoped that this ve of his won''t be killed as soon as he returned or else his n would fail. There is no honor amongst thieves after all, nevertheless he already made a pre-emptive move. All he had to do is wait and see if n would work.

    After releasing the ve, Raven then went back to the Resource Gathering Troops and helped them retrieve the remaining resources.. It took them the rest of the day to finish so they camped out and rested, they then nned one travelling back to the kingdom tomorrow morning.

 Chapter 263 - Interrogate

    ---

    It''s been two days since Raven and his team''s return to the Kingdom with the Resource Gathering Team.

    As they reported back, Raven also informed the King about the mole he nted at the ck Curtain Guild. For now, he still hadn''t receive any news from the ve but he could feel that the ve is still alive. Alexandermended him for thinking such actions since if the ve could truly return, then they would be able to keep tabs on the ns of the ck Curtain Guild and be prepared ahead of time.

    Currently, Raven was back at the academy. He continued on making changes on the student''s curriculum due to the implementation of the six-man cells. Unfortunately, he was once again interrupted.

    His assistant informed him that he needed to attend to some more urgent matters. During the two days that he was gone, there are some students who expressed wishes to change their teammates and Raven has to hear their reasons.

    Raven sighed and dropped what he was currently doing. He then asked his assistant to reach out for the students who wanted to switch teams and arranged a meeting with them.

    The teams were informed shortly after, they then arrived moments after they received the messages and were met with Raven who personally conducted the interview.

    There a total of four teams who arrived. Raven invited the first team inside the office and had the rest waiting outside.

    As soon the first team entered, they greeted Raven and was asked to be seated. Raven then asked:

    "Team 45, I received your request about changing a team member. Why do you want to switch members?"

    As Raven spoke, he saw the faces of the team change. One of them was particrly shocked, which gave Raven an impression that this person must be the cause of their request. Raven looked at the Leader of Team 45 with a questioning gaze. Shortly after, the Leader spoke:

    "Instructor, I requested for a member exchange because I believe that with how a member of my team behaves, we won''t be going anywhere." The Leader spoke in a confident tone.

    Raven then asked: "Who is this member that you''re referring to?"

    "It would be this person, he''s takes the Assault Role on out team." The Leader replied.

    Raven stayed silent and studied the guy that the Leader pointed at. He then gestured the Leader to continue exining and that''s what he did.

    "His attitude towards us is just too uneptable." The Leader stated, "The first time we met, he was already harassing our female members by openly ogling at them like a starved beast."

    "You lying bastard! I did no such thing!" His teammate roared in indignation as panic visibly showed on his face.

    "You stay silent for me. I''ll give you time to exinter." Raven ordered, causing him to sit down and grip his fist in fury. Raven looked at the Leader and said: "Continue."

    The Leader swallowed and nodded, "I tried to speak with him and exin that such actions are too inappropriate and that he should stop doing that since it''s disrespectful. But instead of listening to me, he told me to shut up and even said that I was unfit to be the Leader of the team. Clearly disrespecting me as well."

    "I told the rest of the team to ignore it for now while I attempted to do my best and diffuse the situation. But his attitude just became worst as we moved on. During the missions, he refused to cooperate and would just stare at us as we did the mission. He would even try to im all the benefit for himself by bootlicking clients."

    "This trend continued as we cleared missions, I tried talking to him over and over again but he just refused to listen. What took the cherry on top happened yesterday. He tried to force himself to our Healer and when I heard what he did, I decided that there''s no other way about it and decided to file a request for a member switch."

    As the Leader finished exining, Raven looked at the team and saw that all of them had varying reactions. Aside from the Leader, the rest all had their heads down. The suspected student nearly tore the hem of his uniform off due to indignation. His face was covered with wrath as he listened to the words of his ''Leader''.

    The Healer of the team had a rather horrified face. She was pale and shivering, probably due to fear.

    *Sigh*

    Raven let out a long sigh and massaged his temples. He then waved his hand, along this action he also sent a wave of his chaos force. Instantly, the six students became petrified and was stuck on their chairs.

    All of them wore a surprised expressions on their faces and looked at Raven with questioning gazes. They then saw how Raven had an exhausted expression as he said: "Not even a week passed since the formation of Teams and there''s already some drama going on. Seriously, why did I even agreed to be an Instructor if I''m just going to deal with this shit?"

    His words definitely not targeted at the students. It appears that he was mostly talking to himself, clearly regretting his decisions at that time when he agreed to Ian''s proposal. Well, he did became a little bit impulsive when he agreed to it since he really wanted the reform to be approved.

    "Those chairs are special." Raven stated, "I recovered that from a certain sector of the Royal Army called the Interrogation Department. Once activated, those chairs will not release you unless I wanted to. As for its real function, it''s quite a nifty one."

    "To simplify it, I ask a question to you and your task is to answer. If you tell me the truth, then we''ll move on. But if you lie? You will get electrocuted."

    As Raven uttered these words, the students visibly paled and felt a strong shiver down their spines.

    "Not answering my questions will not work for you as well, since if you ignored it you will be electrocuted as well, the difference is that the shock that you will experience is stronger if you ignored my question. So just answer my questions honestly and you will be fine."

    "Now then..." Raven uttered as he looked coldly at the students in front of him, "Let''s begin the interrogation."

    A profound shiver ran down their spine as they heard the coldness on his voice. They inwardly brace themselves and felt panic rising up to their chests.

    "Assault." Raven called out, the suspected student looked at him and waited for his questions. "Did you do all the things that your Leader told me a while ago?"

    "No, Instructor. I didn''t do any of those things." The student replied and inwardly clenched.

    *Ding!*

    A sound was heard from the chair apanied by a green light glowing on the right armrest. Seeing this Raven nodded and said: "That means that you''re telling me the truth."

    He then turned towards the Leader and asked: "Did you lie to me?"

    Faced by the cold expression of his own Instructor, the Leader swallowed and gritted his teeth. He then said: "No Instructor. Everything that I said was true-ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!"

    He didn''t even manage to finish his sentence and the shock was already administered to him. The Leader squirmed on his seat, trying his best to break free from it but he couldn''t no matter what he did. He suffered from electrocution for at least five seconds before it stopped.

    The rest of his teammates paled even more as they witnessed his fate. They felt somewhat sick and afraid.

    "That''s you what you get for lying to me." Raven snorted. He then faced Healer of the team as asked: "Did someone from your team disrespected your dignity as a woman?"

    The Healer shivered as tears flowed from her eyes, she avoided his gaze as she answered: "Y-yes, Instructor."

    *Ding!*

    "I see." Raven nodded and sighed. He then faced the Leader and asked: "Was it the Assault that disrespected her or you?"

    The Leader was panting hard, he then answered: "It wasn''t me, it''s him-ARRRRGGHHH!!!!"

    "You just couldn''t stop yourself from lying aren''t you? I can''t believe I have a student like you." Raven sighed in shame, he then faced the Assault once more and asked: "Were you the one who disrespected your Healer?"

    "It wasn''t me, Instructor. It was our so-called Leader who did so. All of the things he told you earlier were not things that I''ve done. It was him who did all of that, he''s just passing the me on me."

    *Ding!*

    Raven nodded and then faced the Healer once more, he then asked her: "Why didn''t you say anything earlier?"

    The Healer lowered her head in shame and meekly said: "B-because he told me that if I said anything against him, he would ask his family to deal with my parents. Me and my parents are servants of his family, I don''t want them to kill my parents so I just endured the things that he does."

    *Ding!*

    As the truth surfaced, the students felt the atmosphere around them dropped by a notch as Raven''s face was covered with nothing but absolute coldness.

 Chapter 264 - Message

    ---

    Team 45 shivered as they felt the coldness radiating off of Raven''s body.

    All of the started sweating coldly as they felt the massive suppression due to Raven carelessness to handle his mood. These students were told just how dangerous it is to fight against beasts, yet they somehow awakened one. Just their luck¡­

    Raven inhaled sharply and the dangerous airing off of him disappeared, yet his face remained cold. It was evident that he did not like what he heard. He decided to calm himself down, the students were already frightened enough when he told them about the chairs, they even felt a tinge of his rage, that was enough for them.

    Raven then used his badge to inquire the background of each student in front of him. There was an ufortable silence inside the room as he did this.

    Most members of the Team 45 were still frightened minus the one who took the Assault Role. The ''Leader'' of the team rested against the back of the chair with an exhausted expression in his face.

    Inwardly, he cursed his luck and even Raven for that matter. He didn''t expect his n to backfire at all. All he wanted was to switch a team member just so that he could get rid of an annoying fly that constantly stopped his advances towards his servant, that''s all. Unfortunately, he severely underestimated the methods of the Academy, more so Raven.

    Aside from the anger that he felt, he was scared more than ever. Though he knew how to hide his horns in front of Raven in order to not make him suspicious, he always insulted Raven in his mind. Saying that he was nothing but a dog of the Royal Family and a bootlicker. He never understood why someone who''s just a few years older than him would have this much fame and luck, so much to the point that even his parents personally told him to make a positive impression towards Raven.

    Luckily for him, he will find out why soon.

    "Oh, so you came from a Merchant n. It seems that me and merchants don''t really get along huh?" Raven sneered as he said this. He didn''t even hid the insulting tone on his words, making the Leader of Team 45 scowl on his seat.

    "Well, I guess it''s due time for someone to experience some punishments of the Academy. You should be honored, you will famous. But not for valiance I''m afraid." Raven said as he shook his head.

    "You will be removed from the team." Raven said towards the Leader. "On top of that, you will face a two weeks inside one of the Discipline Areas of the Academy: The House of Maddening Illusion."

    The Leader''s face visibly paled as he heard the punishment he will receive. The House of Maddening Illusion was one of the separate spaces that Formation Core that Raven built. Inside that ce, they will be forced to experience powerful illusions that could terrify even the most battle scarred man, none of the students wanted to remain to that ce even for an hour. Every student had a brief experience of the each rooms that is tied to the Formation Core thanks to Luna''s suggestions, so to hear that he will sent into that ce for two weeks, greatly horrified him.

    "Your deeds will also be submitted directly to the Academic Council since your actions went beyond the line. Me along with the rest of the Instructors will decide whether you will be directly expelled or not, but whatever the case is, your family will surely hear this. Who knows, maybe the King himself might learn about your conduct as well. He''s paying a close attention to mine and Luna''s students after all."

    "Armond." Raven called out to his assistant. His assistant then entered the room with a calm look and went beside Raven. "Take this student to his ''jail''. Make sure he''s nice andfy."

    "As you wish, Instructor." Armond replied as he removed the squirming ''Leader'' from his seat. His teammates watched secretly as they saw the pitiful end of their teammates.

    Raven then faced the Healer who was feeling a little distressed over this events. He smiled for one which caused the atmosphere to feel lighter, he then said:

    "Don''t worry, Young Miss. Your parents won''t be in danger. I already sent some people to take care of them. For now, the Academy will hire them in order to help them provide for their daily needs. I know that you have a new born brother as well so we won''t force your mother to work for us. They will receive ample support from us and will be protected from harm, I can assure you that. All you have to do, is to do your best and be a worthy Knight. Once you achieve that, you won''t have to live in fear anymore."

    Tears fell from the eyes of the young healer. She then profusely expressed her thanks towards Raven and felt gratitude stemming from her soul. There''s no reason for her to doubt Raven''s words at all, with his status, why would he lie to a student?

    "This is a strange day for you, Team 45. And because your ''Leader'' is gone, I''m afraid that you won''t be able to function as a six-man cell." Raven announced, the rest of the team was feeling a little worried and down since they couldn''t participate with missions anymore, fortunately Raven already had a solution for that.

    "Luckily, I have a solution for that." Raven stated which made the eyes of the student''s brighten. "I''ll send another team leader for you people. Don''t worry, this person won''t be the same as that guy. Go to Training Field 7 after leaving this office. Your new teammate is already waiting for you there."

    "And since were done here, you lot are free to go." Raven waved his hand and deactivated the Interrogation Chairs. The students regained their movement capabilities. They then stood up and expressed the gratitude towards Raven once more for fixing their problems.

    Raven waved them off and sent them away after saying: "Work hard, you guys. Remember that the Academy always have your back."

    ***

    After the drama of Team 45, the next batch of students who wanted to switch members were less dramatic and more rational. Some of the teams managed to give out sufficient reasons for the member switch, while some did it for personal reasons, which were then turned down by Raven himself.

    Once all of that was dealt with, Raven thought that he could go back to making some changes to the curriculum but was once again interrupted by an urgent message from his assistant.

    "Instructor." Armond''s voice echoed in his ears as he viewed the recorded message that his assistant sent him. "I received news from Professor Maddock. He told me that the Center was ready. Shall we arrange for a meeting?"

    Raven then activated the voice recording function of his badge and sent a message to Armond.

    "We shall." He started, "Send word to rest of Instructors on my behalf. You along with the rest of the assistants shall gather the teams who performed well on their missions, their current Ranking shouldn''t matter too much. Tell them that there will be an urgent event and tell them to be ready. I''ll go to the Meeting Hall now."

    Once he was done recording his message, he sent it towards his assistant and got an affirmative response from him.

    He stepped out of the office as soon as he sent the message. But before he could do so, he was once again interrupted by something.

    Raven felt a buzz inside his Spiritual Sea. He briefly checked it and saw that it wasing from the ve Seal that he nted on one of the members of the ck Curtain Guild. He then checked it closely, and saw that there is a message from the ve.

    He briefly read the encrypted message which reads: "Master, I have returned to the base. I did what you asked me to and marked the path I took towards here along with the additional requirements for entry. I have also reported to them ording to your instructions which enabled me to survive. I thank Master for considering this ve''s life. I am indebted to you eternally."

    "For now, my superior here arranged a meeting with the Emissaries. I also wanted you to know that there are 10 Emissaries by now, I don''t know how they managed to raise that many but I will assume that their power didn''te from them. They mostly like sold their souls to our Leader in order to gain such power. Even so, I could feel that you, my Master, is stronger than them specially with the support of yourrades."

    "I am not able to gather more details as of now since I could tell that someone''s observing me. Rest assured that this ve will continue to provide more details to Master about the matters here in this disgusting ce.. That''s all for now, take care Master."

 Chapter 265 - Accident?

    ----

    In the middle of therge and spacious room of the Mission Hall, many students were gathered and were waiting for something.

    All of them are d in a battle gear with weapons at hand, things that they received from clearing out missions or just by exchanging Mission Points at the Exchange Hall.

    Most these students knew each other, though the Heavenly Cloud Academy is huge, it''s sses allow them to meet new people and connect with each other. They tried asking each other about the reason why they were called but none of them knew the reason why. All they could do is wait until the time that someonees and exin why there was an emergency gathering.

    Armond, Raven''s assistant, walked inside the Mission Hall, his presence was only noticed by a few students. He stood in front of the crowd and gathered their attention by clearing his throat loudly.

    "Do I have everyone''s attention?" Armond asked as he gazed at the students. "If so, then I''ll start telling you the reason why you lot were called here."

    The students remained silent and waited for his words. Armond then began exining why they were gathered.

    "Listen up. The Beast Domesticating Center had an ident. The beasts that were kept inside suddenly became violent and started rampaging out of control." He said loud and clear for everyone to hear.

    The students felt shocked upon hearing this ident. They then turned solemn and are now starting to realize as to why they were gathered here.

    "I''m sure that some of you had caught up already, but for those who still don''t understand listen closely. The Academy is offering you an Emergency Mission. Your task is to apprehend the rampaging beasts in order for the facilitators of the center to calm them down."

    "This mission has no rank. Rather, it would depend on how many beast you managed apprehend. And since this is an Emergency Mission, the Mission Points that you will earn will be at the maximum amount ording to the end result of your team''s performance."

    "Apprehend 5 beasts and that would be equal to clearing up a C-rank Mission. Apprehend 10 and that would be a B-rank Mission, so on and so forth."

    As Armond''s words were heard by the students, their eyes suddenly lit up. They then broke in to chatters and talked to their teammates about how they''re going to perform on the mission but they were interrupted by Armond.

    "Just a reminder for everyone. Though this is an Emergency Mission, the Academy is not forcing any of you to participate." Armond reminded, "Remember that you will be dealing with rampaging beasts so expect that this mission would be filled with danger. If any of bite more than what you can chew, your gains might bepletely nullified or superseded by your loses."

    "You will be given ten minutes to decide. Those who wanted to participate shall remain here, those that doesn''t want to participate may leave. Your ten minutes starts now." Armond announced as he stepped away from the crowd.

    The teams that were called then started discussing matters with each other. They all considered Armond''s words and carefully weighed their options. While it is true that this is a great opportunity for them to amass Mission Points, it also had a considerable amount of danger.

    It had to be known that most of the teams that were called here, were the top performers of the batch. They worked together in harmony and were already showing great teamwork together. Of course, they have to consider each other''s opinions, which leads to some teams debating with each other.

    This, is also a part of their growth. Their very interactions as of this moment is being recorded secretly and would be a critical part of their future in the academy.

    Some teams already left while majority remained. In the end, they wanted to prove something. ''No risk, no rewards'' as some might say. Some Leaders informed their members that they will eventually head into danger in the future. There''s no difference in experiencing it early norte. All they need to do is to remain vignt and watch over each other''s back. If they work as a team, there is a high possibility that the dangers they would face will lessen. This is something that their Instructor Raven once said.

    As for those who left, none mocked them norughed at them. They understood their decisions and respect it. Not all teams are the same. Maybe they really aren''t ready to face such dangers for now due to their weak cultivations. And if that''s the case, then they only needed time and patience until they catch up.

    Once the ten minutes were done, Armond returned and asked the students to follow him towards the Beast Domestication Center, which required them to leave the Academy.

    Some felt giddy to be out. They had this sudden urge to run back towards their home but they prevented themselves from doing so since that''s not the reason why they went out, plus they would be punished once they do so.

    The Academy is not far away from the Beast Domestication Center. It didn''t take them long until they arrived.

    On the premises of the center, some students could already hear the roars and grunts of the beasts inside. Some felt nervous and some even feel like backing out, sadly their chances already passed and they have to do this now.

    Once they entered the Beast Domesticating Center, the students saw the wide destruction that the beasts did. Bits and pieces of broken rooms, shards of ss, rubbles and some bloody stains on the floor could be seen. The whole center is in chaotic mess. At a distance, they saw some people trying to apprehend the beasts only to find out that there are too many, causing them to run away.

    Armond faced the students who came with him. He then said: "We''re here. Remember to be extra careful and do not bite more than what you can chew. Work as a team and your survival might increase. Am I clear?"

    "Yes sir!" The students replied.

    "Good! Now go! Return to me once you decided to submit and end your mission." Armond said as he waved his hand and sent the students away.

    The teams then dispersed under his orders and started closing in on the beasts. Some teams decided to form battle ns as they moved along while others decided to search for a hiding spot first and n ahead.

    Unbeknownst to any student present, some people are standing on top of the Beast Domestication Center. All of them are properly in stealth, and only those who are at least at the Warrior Realm and above could sense them.

    These are obviously the Instructors of the academy. Well, most of them not all since there are also some important figures watching over the students as well.

    All of them were gathered here to observe the students perform under pressure. Which means that this whole event is orchestrated by the Academy.

    This idea was from Paul and Mark. Both of them think that the students need some field experience in order to temper their growths and give them a chance to polish theirbat skills in a real battle.

    Sure, the rooms that are linked with the Formation Core could re-create the intense scene of battle, which in turn could make the students believe that they actually are in a realbat. But most of those rooms are powered by illusions, and illusions could never beat reality. Which in turn gave birth to this orchestrated event.

    Of course, they won''t allow any student to die. Which is why most of them are on stand by and ready to act as soon as a student''s life is danger. The reason why they were hiding, is because they didn''t want the students to act carelessly, which would help them greatly in due time.

    It took a good amount of convincing in order for Professor Maddock, the Chief Director of the Beast Domesticating Center, to agree to this. In the end, he felt like it was such a waste for these beasts to be used ording to the Academy''s whim. He only agreed when Raven personally stepped in and reasoned out with him.

    Plus, the mission was to apprehend not kill. Which means that the students only needed to pin down the beasts and wait for the personnel of center to inject a sleeping drug on the beasts in order to calm them down.

    Maddock didn''t care about the destruction of this ce, this is an old base anyway. The current base of the Beast Domesticating Center had been moved to a different ce, and some of the more precious materials and beasts are moved in that location as well so none had any qualms at the destruction of this old site.

    What''s more important is that, the students could experience a live battlefield and learn from their experiences in them so that they will grow up into capable Knights that could protect the Kingdom''s safety.

 Chapter 266 - Petrification

    Chapter 266:

    ---

    The orchestrated event of the Academy in coboration with the Beast Domesticating Center went off without a hitch.

    The students got their field experience and no one got hurt severely. Raven along with the Instructors managed to see the fruit of theirbors due to the disy of the kids. ording to Raven, their performance was eptable, but it also had to be known that his standards are quite high.

    It was decided to not allow any student to know that this is an orchestrated event. As soon as they managed to apprehend all beasts that rampaged inside the old center, they were sent back to the academy and was rewarded ording to their performance.

    Of course, the Ranking List also saw a changes in them. Many students were shocked to see some teams pull ahead of them. When they realized that there was an Emergency Mission that was only offered to the top performers, they regretted taking it easy on their missions, making them unable to participate. They could only stare in envy as some team exchanged many stuff from their rewards.

    Due to this, the teams who were unable to participate decided to kick it in full gear and cleared missions as best as they could. When the instructors heard this reportter in the day, they were d as this is one of their goals on setting up this event. Everything was worth it.

    ***

    "Chakram: Twisting Murder."

    "Ten Arms: Defense!"

    Inside a battlefield filled with piles of corpses, two silhouettes shed with an earth-shaking ferocity.

    Both of them looked young. One was wearing an all white robes while the other wore an all ck attire which looked like a uniform. They held different weapons too. One held a Chakram which formed by joining two curved des together while the other held an impractical sized hammer.

    Of course, the hammer wielding person was Raven himself. He found himself yet again facing some unknown person inside pocket dimensions of the Crown ce''s Pce Grounds.

    This is the first time Raven faced this person, he didn''t know who he was since aside from the grunts and groans of the battle, the two never had a proper conversation. Upon Raven''s materialization inside the pocket space, he had to be on guard because it''s almost certain that whoever will face him would attack immediately.

    Due to this being the first time, Raven didn''t really have high hopes on killing this dude. He was here to feel out his enemy first and see what he could do. Of course, he could finish the battle in his first try then that would ne great, but what''s more important right now is learn as much as he could.

    This current enemy of his was particrly formidable. Of course that doesn''t mean that his previous enemies inside the pocket dimensions weren''t, but this one in particr is something else.

    Raven never faced a Chakram user before. Not during his past life nor the current one. Before, he believed that Chakram is a very unreliable weapon, and Raven would rather fight bare handed rather than use an unreliable weapon. But of course, he had changed his opinions since then, he''s even using what he previously thought as an unreliable weapon as well; the hammer.

    Anyway, this Chakram user surely is a master of his weapon. He initially thought that the weight of his hammer alone could shatter the Chakram but it turns out that each of his attack would just be parried or redirected.

    This enemy of his is also nimble, even faster than his regr speed. Of he deactivated his Resistance Seal, then he''s sure that he would be faster than him but now''s not the time yet.

    ''This guy is swift and his attacks are precise.'' Raven said inwardly, ''I''m pretty sure that he''s feeling me out as well since none of his attacks contained any traces of Laws yet, but they were already scary enough. Each of his attacks are tracking me for some reason. I don''t know how he was able to do that, but the tracking is somewhat weak. He also is an control expert, he could even redirect his attacks after he threw them out, just like how I was able to change the striking angle of the fist pirs I summoned.''

    ''He has a cultivation advantage over me. He''s a Silver Knight while I''m just a regr mid-stage Knight. His techniques are refined to their highest degree and he''s incredibly sensitive as well. How do I deal with him?''

    Raven''s thoughts elerated as he was also paying attention in the fight, he wanted to at least put up a decent fight before this guy eventually strike him down, but he also want to force him to release more of his arsenal.

    Eventually, Raven grew tired of testing the limits of his enemy''s patience. He decided to force his enemy to reveal what he''s hiding by exposing some of his.

    Fist-sized pirs rained down from the sky. Each of them caused thend to shatter or be thrown everywhere. Due to Raven''s constant training, he was improving at a decent pace which in turn made his enemies suffer even more.

    Due to the pressure, his enemy finally revealed some of his hidden arsenal and Raven managed to squeeze out even more from him.

    His enemy gained enlightenment on Light Laws, but there was a catch. When he uses his techniques powered by Laws, it will cause a mysterious sensation of being slowed down. It was as if something heavy was shackling him down. This is what Raven felt but it seems that it was more than that.

    Raven''s thoughts elerated, he analyzed this feeling and traced it to his old memories since he felt some nostalgia with it. And when he finally found a match, his eyes constricted and annoyance quickly rose up in his chest.

    ''Damn this sucks.'' He inwardlyined, ''What a lucky blonde. He could use a fusion of Earth and Light Laws, the Petrification Light. This is going to be annoying.''

    Law Fusion. Something which is incredibly rare to see. As if gaining enlightenment towards a certain Law wasn''t already hard enough, there just has to be those lucky ones who got enlightenment over two kinds of Laws and evenbined it. What kind of bullshit luck is that?

    Petrification Light, something that could cause someone to be petrified just through exposure which travels at the speed of light. If it weren''t for Raven''s constant training, he might''ve not been able to resist the might of this technique.

    ''He doesn''t look like a Gorgon, nor I felt any kind of Gorgon Bloodline within him.'' Raven thought as he performed evasive maneuvers during the fight. ''Neither he is a Stone Golem, an Ancient Golden Scarab, an Earth Dragon, nor he possessed any of these bloodlines.''

    The reason why Raven started guessing out his enemy''s identity is because being one of the beasts he mentioned or having their bloodline will enable an individual to inherit the talents of using the Petrification Light.

    Raven could already confirm that whoever this was, he is a human through and through. He could tell due to his Crystal Sky Eyes. If this guy had a bloodline, there would be an unnatural flow inside his blood streams but Raven didn''t see anything. Which eventually lead him to believe that¡­

    ''It must be his Spirit Entity then.'' Raven though inwardly, ''I''m guessing a Gorgon. Thankfully, he doesn''t look as creepy as the real one.''

    ''Anyway, let''s see how well he could use this talent of his.'' Raven thought as he decided to release his resistance seal and go to town with this guy.

    With his speed unleashed. He exposed everything in his arsenal and threw them at his enemy. Even more fist sized pir descended, some of them were even more solid than the regr one''s. His enemy was surprised by the sudden outburst and got hurt a couple of times but managed to adapt.

    The fierce sh continued, it took a while since their stamina were greater than normal and their reserves were greater as well. The whole battlefield shook, bodies and shards of earth flew everywhere.

    Eventually, the Chakram user roared, Raven felt an ominous feeling which was too familiar with him. His face became dignified and prepared for the absolute worst.

    The Chakram on his enemy''s hands flew onto the air. Raven the blonde mobilized almost of all his energies onto the Chakram itself. He tried stopping it but the distance between then was great so he tried defending himself instead.

    At the hollowed center of the Chakram, a dirty brown light blossomed. It crept towards the edges of the Chakram as it illuminated the entire battlefield. Raven''s eyes constricted as he felt himself slowing down, it seems like his defenses are too weak for this attack.

    Under Raven''s dumbstruck gaze, the Chakram rose up into the air simr to a rising sun with the blonde looking at it like it was his most treasured thing. His lips formed a gentle smile as he uttered the words:

    "Petrifying Sun!"

 Chapter 267 - Trance

    ---

    "Well, that was unpleasant." Raven uttered as soon as he revived inside the crown space. He just came back from his 30th defeat from that guy, and his mood was very unpleasant.

    The final attack of his enemy was always that Petrifying Sun, Raven''s defenses was rendered useless even after bolstering it. He will always end up petrified and shattered into pieces.

    Now he was feeling dilemma. How was he supposed to defeat an enemy like that? His brute force could only take him so far against that person and they were evenly matched. Sure, he could suppress that guy by unleashing move after move but it''s not like his reserves were unlimited, the same could be said about his stamina as well.

    "How annoying." Raven mumbled, "This is just the 11th pocket dimension and it''s already this difficult. And I''m supposed to clear a total of 100 before reaching the doors of the Pce? How long is it going to take me?"

    Raven rarelyined about something, yet he also knows thatining is useless since nothing will change anyways.

    "Alright, I''ve got to stopining." Raven pped his face and continued by saying, "Don''t rush, there''s time. I''ll eventually figure this out. Compared to that guy, I''m far luckier. They didn''t experience a Soul Rebirth unlike me. And considering that I could put up a decent fight against him even though he''s centuries older than me is already an amazing feat by itself. I shouldn''t beat up myself like this, it''s not good for my mental health."

    Raven smiled and decided to let go of his negativity, he calcted time and saw that his time inside the crown space is nearly over. He sat down and decided to meditate for the remaining time, focusing in emptying his thoughts and allowing himself to bepletely rxed.

    Eventually, his time inside ended and he felt himself transported out of the Crown Space. He appeared back at his home, he was feeling particrly tired cultivation wise, it was more of a physical exhaustion which something that a simple sleep or long meditation couldpletely cure.

    Raven ate a light meal, he gazed out of the window and checked the time. He noticed that it was already midnight, so he sat on his bed and entered meditation yet again.

    However, due to some reason he was feeling a little jittery. He felt like there was something that''s gnawing at his heart but he couldn''t tell what it was. It was due to this reason that he couldn''t enter a meditative state.

    Raven tried searching for that feeling. He paced back in forth inside his room, wracking brains out while trying to figure where this feeling wasing from. But it seems that this would a sleepless night since he can''t recall anything at all.

    He eventually gave up, but when he did the feeling only got stronger. So much to the point where it''s starting to test his patience.

    Raven felt so irritated for some reason. He didn''t understand why this was happening to him, he clearly couldn''t remember anything that he die nor someone did to him that would garner such a reaction from him. While that guy from the pocket dimension was annoying, that was all that he is. That person would bepletely incapable of making him feel this much irritation just because he defeated Raven in a straight up confrontation.

    So why was he this irritated then?

    Raven wondered why as well. He was in such a deep thought that he didn''t even notice that it has been an hour since he stared feeling this kind of irritation. That being said, he can''t even say if what he''s feeling right now is just an irritation or an urge.

    His hands felt itchy, it felt like there were an army of ants marching on them. His heartbeat was fast and frankly enough, it was taking him no small amount of effort to keep himself still and seated. At the deepest recesses of his heart, there is an urge-nay, a desire¡­

    This desire was too strong and perhaps¡­too familiar to him. This feeling was something that he carried with him at the same time when he vowed revenge towards the ck Curtain Guild.

    It was the desire to destroy¡­

    "Damn¡­" Raven gnashed his teeth and cursed. "What is happening to me!?"

    Raven''s mind was being corroded by this sudden desire to destroy everything he touches. The desire was too strong, so much so that his Chaos Force was acting up on him. This never happened before, Raven was always in control of not only his emotions but his Chaos Force. Sure, during the past few days his control over his emotions was being unstable but he just med that on the stress of handling students, and it never went into this stage anyway.

    "This is bad¡­" Raven muttered with so much difficulty. His face was crumpling and he was biting his lip to prevent himself from roaring on top of his lungs. He had this feeling that if he let go of what remains of his sanity, he might really destroy everything around him. And he absolutely couldn''t allow that to happen.

    But Raven was losing control over his sanity as time goes on. So before he slipped into madness, he did what he could to prevent himself from rampaging.

    He touched the mark of the Resistance Seal on his chest and cranked it up so high until he couldn''t even lift a finger. His body dropped to his bed, fiercely shivering as it did so.

    Next, he gathered his consciousness and initially nned to flee towards the Crown Space. Unfortunately, his allotted time inside was already consumed which caused him to panic.

    It was then that he remembered that there is another ce for where he could flee to, that would be his core.

    And so, without hesitations, he sank his consciousness on his core and entered the vast empty space, arriving at the sun-like orb which was the only existence in there. And because his consciousness left his it''s original ce, his actual body recovered it''s calm. Unfortunately, the same couldn''t be said for his consciousness inside his core.

    "ARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!"

    A long and loud primal roar escaped his lips. His echoed and eventually disappeared inside the space of his core. Raven''s eyes were ferocious, at this current moment he was no different from a mindless beast.

    He ran everywhere, punched everywhere, kicked, wed and some more. He lost his usual calm and neutral expression and was reced by a deep ferocity that seems to stem from the very depths of his soul.

    It took him a while but eventually he calmed down. His breathing was stagnant, hair dishelved, and was totally exhausted. He eventually fell down, feeling his back make contact with a solid membrane which kept him afloat in this space. His ferocious expression was gone, it was reced by a profound calm, his eyes were dull and lifeless but there''s something more in them.

    Raven''s mind was in a mess. It was like he''s treading in a fine line between being conscious and unconsciousness. He would like to think that he knows what''s going on by now but that would be a lie since he will only regain rity in short bursts before slipping into an empty trance yet again.

    This is not the first time that Raven entered this kind of trance. For some reason he could recall something but at the same time, he''s notpletely sure what he remembered at all. This scenario was exactly the same as when he switched his cultivation technique into the Book of Chaos. He was experiencing his First Transformation back then, this time it was different.

    shes of images went past in his mind like a vanishing smoke. They would linger long enough for Raven to start being mesmerized but will immediately disappear once Raven unconsciously tried focusing on them. It happened multiple times until something resonated with Raven.

    A word kept echoing inside Raven''s mind. It was like a hypnotic tune that sent profound waves inside his brain.

    Destruction.

    It was this word that hypnotized Raven like a maniac.

    Raven won''t be able to tell why due to his state. What he felt right now is something extremely strange but for some reason, he wanted more.

    Unknowingly, Raven''s consciousness who''sying in front of the sun-like orb, started being lifted by a mysterious force. He started releasing some sort of a tune that resonated with his current surroundings. As this tune touched the orbits of the sun-like orb, it created some sort of a magical reaction that caused the ''seals'' to loosen even more.

    Raven''s actual body started showing some changes as well. His body was seemingly carried by the air, causing him to float on top of his bed. Around his body, cracks mysteriously disappeared. It appeared like he was being encased by a shattered ss.

    The cracks started spreading outwards. Everything that is touched by the cracks will mysteriously shatter. It started from his bed, then the small desk beside his bed, his table, drawers and stuff. The cracks eventually spread so wide that it eventually covered the whole house, causing it to shatter in pieces.

    This event startled many people, causing them to report it to the officials.. Eventually, several faces appeared on the scene with worried expressions on their faces.

 Chapter 268 - Law Enlightenment

    ---

    "How is he?" Mark asked as soon as he and the rest arrived. At Raven''s house¡­at least what remains of it.

    Everything broke down into pieces, this ce is more of a wreckage instead of a house honestly.

    Luna shook her head and sighed, she looked at her lover with worry evident in her eyes. "He''s still unconscious even after a month."

    That''s right. Raven had been in this state for an entire month now.

    When they received reports about an ident at Raven''s house, he was already at this state. Unconscious andpletely unaware of the destruction of his own house.

    At first they weren''t able to approach him due to the strange phenomenaing off of him. It was when the King personally arrived along with his advisors that they were able to understand what''s going on with him.

    Raven was experiencing a Law Baptism, also known as Law Enlightenment.

    Of course, everyone was happy that Raven was finally being enlightened after all this time. Yet as time goes on, they got more and more worried since he was taking a long time.

    Unlike Luna and the rest of the team''s enlightenment which only spanned for mere days, Raven is already at it for a month, and there are no signs of him waking up at all.

    Frankly speaking, no one in entire Kingdom knew what kind of Law Raven gained enlightenment upon, not even the King for that matter. They also have no idea why it''s taking him so long, which worries them since Raven is a crucial character for the Kingdom.

    They already tried waking him up, even if it means cutting his enlightenment short. Unfortunately, no matter what they did, Raven remained unconscious. It was like he was trapped in a dream. They even tried moving him to a different ce but they couldn''t since Raven''s body just refuses to move. They also thought that it might be a bad idea to move him so instead, they just made a barricade around the wreckage of Raven''s home and made it an off-limits area. For now, that had no other option other than to wait for him to naturally regain consciousness.

    Inside Raven''s core where his consciousness was stranded. He could be found sitting on a meditative position. Even Raven himself didn''t know how he ended up in this position, not that he could notice anything at the moment anyway.

    His eyes were open, yet there were no traces of awareness in them. His breathing was incredibly shallow, yet he lookedfortable.

    It also had to be mentioned that he was now sitting on top of the sun-like orb which was the condensation of his own Chaos Force. The body of his consciousness is adored by tendrils of Chaos Force that the sun-like orb was emitting.

    Raven had been sitting like this for a month now, seemingly lifeless yet alive and well.

    Out of nowhere, a brilliant golden light appeared inside the core space when Raven''s consciousness were. It flew so fast, much like a shooting star and stopped on top of Raven''s head.

    There, the true appearance of the golden light was revealed. It was a golden crown filled with an archaic and majestic presence. There are nine gem slots on the surface of the crown, the first eight were filled with different kinds of gemstone while the 9th remained empty.

    Slowly, the Crown gently lowered and ced itself on top of Raven''s head. It was a perfect fit, almost as if this crown was made for Raven alone.

    When the Ancestral Divine Crown touched Raven''s head, it radiated with an intense glow, almost rivalling that of the sun''s.

    Strangely, something appeared on Raven''s body. It was just an outline of what looks like clothes but it was no less than impressive. When that appeared on Raven, the sun-like orb beneath him shook fiercely which was strange considering that this never happened before. The shaking faded as quickly as it came, and it''s surface returned back to it''s peaceful state.

    The intense golden light eventually faded, and when it did. Raven could be found standing up, with his eyes wide open and gleaming with understanding and rity.

    He raised closed his fist and threw a punch in front of him. His fist seemingly hit a solid surface even though there was nothing in front of him. Web-like cracks started spreading outwards from his fist, it stretched for about three inches until Raven felt a rebound which caused his fist to recoil back.

    The pain from the recoilpletely returned Raven''s senses and made him awake. He started incredously at the fading cracks in front of him and began to feel a strong sense of glee from the very depths of his heart.

    He inhaled sharply and suppressed his emotions who were threatening to go into turmoil. He only let out a small grin and gripped his fist closely in excitement.

    "Finally!" He whispered emotionally, "That took a while."

    He stared at his hands and felt the strange sense of strength coursing in them. There is something inside of him that cannot be seen with the naked eye. He could feel it flowing, he knows how to use but at the same time, he had no idea just how well he could use it. This power was strong, it is the strength of a Law so it''s given.

    What''s even more strange is that, he knew just how many things he could do with this new power but at the same time, he doesn''t feel confident about actually performing them as well.

    "Law of Destruction." Raven muttered, "This is unexpected, I never thought that it would be possible for me to gain enlightenment with thisw."

    Destruction Laws, one of the many Laws that kept the bnce of the world. Unlike the regr Laws that corresponds to a certain element, Destruction is considered as a process - a part of the cycle. What exists will eventually be destroyed. In a sense, Destruction is a form of Death for something but it is much more than that. And it would be Raven''s job to unfold more of it''s mysteries.

    Just like majority of the Laws, Destruction Laws have different realms to study, namely: Breaking, Shattering, Pulverizing, Disintegration, Annihtion. All of these elements corresponds to the nature of Destruction, and if Raven could reach a certain mastery over these branches, then he would be unstoppable.

    "But is it needed for me to experience that kind of suffering just to gain enlightenment?" Raven muttered to himself, "I thought I ced a leash over the extremities of my emotions though? Is it really due to my enlightenment? But I''ve never heard someone experiencing anything like that. Even back in my past life, my enlightenment was more subtle and calmpared to now. What''s going on?"

    Raven was genuinely confused, he tried sifting through his old memories until his current ones to check if there were someone who experience that same thing but nonees to mind. He thought if it would be wise to ask the King about it or not but he couldn''t decide yet. Inos is currently not avable, he''s probably slumbering inside the chambers of the Crown Space that''s currently unreachable to Raven just yet.

    "Do I really need to wait until I cleared the 50 pocket dimension in order to ask him?" Raven thought out loud.

    He reckon that the King might not have any answers for him since he, like Luna, gained enlightenment with Light Laws. He believed that just like Luna, the King''s enlightenment process was subtle as well.

    "Hmm?" Raven frowned and faintly felt something on his head, he then tried touching it but his hands couldn''t feel anything but the sensation was there. He activated his ocr technique which allowed him to see himself and saw that he was wearing Ancestral Divine Crown. "Why is this here? What happened?"

    Raven touched the connection between him and the crown and he felt that it hummed happily. He checked if there''s anything wrong but felt like everything was the same. So why did it appear on top of his head then? Raven really couldn''t remember anything during his enlightenment, it was like he just woke up from a long sleep and suddenly woke up with the power of Laws.

    He tried going inside the Crown Space but was surprised that his entrance was barred. He thought that it must be because the daily entrance limit hasn''t ended yet, which gave him an idea that he must''ve been in the state of enlightenment for a few hours.

    Raven was somewhat lost, there were too many unanswered questions on his mind. He calmed himself down and started thinking rationally. He got rid of the questions that he couldn''t find answers for now and instead focused on the on the easier questions for now.

    For now, he focused at the more practical questions. An example would be, how long did his enlightenmentst exactly? And in order for him figure that out, he had to return to his body first and check the current date and time with his neighbors or something.

    That being said, it really makes one wonder. What would he feel if he found out that he was in enlightenment for a straight month?

 Chapter 269 - Waking Up

    ---

    As Raven''s consciousness returned to his body, his eyes opened and he involuntarily let out a groan.

    Luna, who was in the middle of cleaning his body, let out a gasp and felt her heartbeat quicken.

    "Avi? Avi, can you hear me?"

    Raven tried shifting his head towards her direction and but suddenly found out that he couldn''t. He let out another groan but he was actually trying to speak this time but his lips won''t move. Luna kept on calling out to him and but Raven was only responding through groans.

    Suddenly, Raven remembered something before he lost consciousness.

    Before he passed out, he cranked up the level of the Resistance Seal on his body in order to contain himself. Raven sighed inwardly and sank his perception on the seal.

    Under Luna''s worried gaze, several golden seals appeared on his body. She watched as they dimmed down and saw Raven moved for the first time in a month. He slowly rose and sat up, he started twisting his arms in a circr motion, feeling stiffness and numbness all over his body.

    "Ugh, I feel so stiff." Raven said as the numbness on his body gradually disappeared, he then turned to Luna who was on the verge of crying and asked: "What''s the matter Princess? Did something happen-urg!"

    "Avi!" Raven didn''t finish speaking when Luna suddenly pounced on him and wrapped him into a tight hug. Raven returned the hug but he was frowning. He became even more confused when Luna said: "You''re finally awake!"

    "Yes, yes. I''m awake already. Rx, I''m only out for a few hours." Raven replied, hoping to calm her down. But what he didn''t expect, was Luna''s reply.

    "What only few hours? Avi, you were unconscious for a whole month!" Luna eximed in his embrace.

    "What did you say?" Raven asked in a shocked manner.

    Luna pulled away from the hug and wiped her tears, she then replied: "You heard me right. You were unconscious for a whole month. At first we thought that you were just gaining enlightenment but you were out for so long that we started bing more and more worried. What happened to you anyway?"

    Raven was gobsmacked. So much so that he didn''t even know what to say.

    ''I''m unconscious for a month? How could that be? Did my enlightenment reallyst for that long? If that''s the case, then why was I barred when I entered the crown space? I should''ve been able to enter it! What''s going on? This is so confusing!''

    These were Raven''s inner thoughts in his momentary shock. He was pulled back to reality by Luna''s voice. He now just realized that she must''ve been extremely worried for him all this time. He suddenly felt guilty so he did what he could for now and pulled her close to him.

    "Sorry." Raven said as he buried his head on her neck, taking a whiff of her wonderful scent and feeling his hear speed up. "I didn''t know it''s going to take that long. Sorry, for making you worry. I''ll make it up to you I promise."

    Upon hearing this, Luna cried even more as she returned his hug. Raven showered her with kisses and started inspecting their current location.

    Seeing the state of what looks like to be his house, Raven smiled wryly and asked: "I did this, right?"

    "Yeah, you did." Luna replied as she calmed down, "The night you went unconscious, we arrived here and saw a foreign force protecting you and destroying your house. We have to wait until it disappeared so that we could approach you. What was that anyway?"

    "I''ll exinter." Raven stood up and wore some clothes, he then said: "I''ll go to my parents first, do inform the rest toe at the pce. I''ll exin there, okay?"

    Luna nodded and thought that it would be better that way, they then parted ways and Raven returned to his parents'' home to inform them that he was alright.

    ***

    "Law Enlightenment for a whole month. That is really unheard of."

    The Kingmented in an emotional manner. The rest who were present at his office felt the same way as well.

    Raven already informed that the whole month that he spent unconscious was really under an enlightenment.

    Like the King said, experiencing an enlightenment for a whole month waspletely unheard of. Even he himself, his enlightenment only spanned for two days which is already rare on it''s own.

    "That''s crazy, Dude." Paulmented, "What kind of Law did you learn for you to experience enlightenment for that long anyway?"

    "Destruction." Raven simply replied, making the whole room silent. For some reason, a few of them felt that he was joking.

    "Remember what happened to my house?" He asked and all of them nodded, "If it was something else, then it wouldn''t have ended up in that state."

    His reasoning was usible. Raven''s home was practically reduced into ruins due to his uncontroble release of his Law.

    "It''s makes sense." Morelmented, "The Law that was protecting him managed to ward all of us away from him. Not even my Wind Laws could pass through those gaps."

    His point caused Raven''s statement to be even more valid. When Raven was releasing his Destruction Laws everywhere, it wasn''t only his team and his parents who were there. There''s also the Golden Knights and the King himself. All of them tried waking up Raven through various means but failed due to the protection of Destruction Law.

    "Destruction Laws." The King muttered, "I''m afraid that only you gained enlightenment with such Law in the whole poption of the Kingdom."

    "That''s right." Balmungmented, "The rarest on the current records is the Crystal Laws. But the one who possessed it unfortunately fell in battle. Which makes you the rarest of them all. What can you do with it?"

    "Brother/Boy!" Luna and the King red at Balmung, making him scowl and sink a little on his chair.

    "Haha, my bad. Never mind brother-inw, forget that I asked." Balmung said meekly, feeling the searing re of the two.

    "It''s fine everyone." Raven smiled and didn''t mind Balmung''s inquiry. "But even though I really wanted to show it to you, I''m afraid that I couldn''t since I don''t have much control over it for now."

    "Hmm? You can''t control it? Wasn''t control your specialty?" Mark asked in confusion.

    "Yeah it is." Raven replied, "But it''s so unruly like a spoiled and energetic child. If I released in this state, I''m afraid I''ll destroy this whole table in one touch. I sealed it away for now, so it''s all good."

    Some people involuntarily inhaled sharply. His words might be a little too much and boastful but this is Raven who''s speaking. He never lies in these kinds of conversations, which means that he meant his every word.

    Of course, everyone who just learned a Law would naturally struggle to control it. But most of the times, the struggle would be at making it harmful, not the other way around. However, it seems that Raven''s uniqueness is too vivid that he actually experienced thetter.

    "Well, all the more reason to train right? I suspect that you won''t ck off just because you are blessed by the Laws now, am I right?" Luis asked in a testing manner.

    "You know me too well, Dad." Raven smiled, "Don''t worry, I''ll naturally have to put a leash on it. It shouldn''t take me long."

    "But enough about this." Raven said, "Can you guys fill me in on what I''ve missed during this time?"

    Raven changed the topic and of course, the rest filled him in right away. He was expecting to miss out on a lot but is seems that he set his expectations a little to high since he barely missed anything at all.

    During his disappearance, it was his assistant Armond who reced him as the Instructor. The Student Profiles were updated each day and Raven already caught up with them. As for the matters of the Kingdom as a whole, Raven didn''t miss anything important since the ck Curtain Guild didn''t send anyone to attack at all. After filling him in, the meeting was adjourned and Raven left with Luna and his team.

    All in all, what he missed are some important lectures for his students, his daily training and his precious time with his family, friends and of course Luna. All of these, he could fix with no problem.

    The meeting ended and Raven decided to spend time with his parents along with Luna as well. He mainly asked her about the activities at the Academy and of course, they went on a date under a disguise.

    Later that day, Luna returned to her own house after Raven moved in to an Inn since his home was destroyed. He then ate a meal and went ahead to check if there''s any messages from his ve. He found none so far which was alright.

    Finally, as the night approached. Raven sat on the bed and touched his connection with the crown. He then once again tried entering the crown space and found himself warping away, which means that he was being transported.

    Once his vision adjusted, he found himself standing in front of a silhouette that certainly wasn''t Inos. Who is this person?

 Chapter 270 - 7th

    ---

    A silhouette of a person was standing in front of Raven as soon as he entered the Crown Space.

    This person is a woman, stood about 6''3 inches tall. Just like Inos, she appeared as a mere outline, a ghost per se. Which gave of an impression of mystery for Raven. And because she appeared to be at the same state as Inos, Raven thought that this person must be an important one for the Crown. He also didn''t feel any kind of ill intent from her.

    "Well met, Young Candidate. I am Astrid, the 7th Heir to the throne." The silhouette performed a curt bow, to which Raven followed unconsciously.

    "I thought as much." Raven mumbled, he then decided to introduce himself to her. "Well met, Madam. My name is Vendrick but I go by Raven. It''s a pleasure to meet you."

    "Oh, you." Astridughed merrily and said, "Drop the formalities. No need to call me Madam or something. Just refer to me by my name, and I''ll do the same."

    Raven was a little stunned to hear that, however it seems that she nothing could change his mind so he could only nod.

    "We''ve been watching you since the moment you touched the Ancestral Divine Crown you know." Astrid said, which made Raven perk up and listen closely. "Though it''s a pity that we are reduced to such state, andwere forced to slumber for the most parts. We still are aware of what''s going on, specially with the matters of the crown."

    "When you said ''We'', that means you along with the rest of the heirs I assume?" Raven asked.

    To which Astrid nodded. "Yes, the 8 of us had been watching you all along."

    "Am I doing a terrible job?" Raven asked, wanting to receive some sort of guidance from her.

    "Not really." Astrid replied, she gently sat down and gestured Raven to do the same. "You''re doing just fine. You can take your time since you have lots of it. From what we''ve seen so far, you can tell when to pick up the pace and when take it easy so you don''t need my advise for this."

    Raven smiled wryly and sat down with her, now he was certain that she was the real deal.

    "That''s right, you have my thanks for helping me step out of my slumbering area and stretch for a little bit." Astrid said which made Raven confused.

    "What did I do?" He asked.

    "It''s your Destruction Laws that awakened me." Astrid said in a meaningful manner. Raven''s eyes gleamed as he ventured a wild guess to which Astrid confirmed. "Yes, I did cultivate the same Laws that you now possess."

    "That''s awesome!" Raven eximed, "If it''s not too much, I might ask for some tips in the future whenever I hit a wall. Please do guide me then."

    "That will depend if whether or not I''m awake during that time or on your questions." Astrid replied. She wasn''t really refusing to help him but said that it will depend on the situation. "Laws that youprehend by yourself would always be better. You know this right?"

    "I do." Raven replied unhesitatingly, of course he knew thatprehending Laws will always be a long and hard-fought journey. Stumbling upon some roadblocks happens a lot and a little guidance from seniors would always be helpful.

    But at the same time, relying on their knowledge would only lead to a wed understanding, which is possible topletely block their way out and prevent them from going any further. This is why one has to rely to one''s self in this journey.

    "Comprehending Laws are akin to a never ending puzzle. You answered one, two more questions will appear. The closer you get to the source, the harder the puzzles are. But once you answered all of them and mastered your chosen Law, you will wield an immense power that couldpletely change the world ording to you liking. But wielding a great power had it''s own responsibilities as well."

    Astrid said in a profound tone, which sounds like she was talking to herself more than reminding Raven. Nevertheless, it wasn''t his ce to pry so he didn''t ask any further.

    "Is Inos still slumbering?" Raven asked, carefully in order to not offend her in any way, shape or form.

    "Yes he is. He will be slumbering a lot like the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and the 5th. His soul is incredibly weak after all." Astrid replied, seemingly not bothered.

    "Would you be able to tell me what happened?" Raven asked out of concern. He wanted to know since he wanted to check if there''s something that he could do for him.

    Astrid sighed and had a saddened expression on her face. "I know that you wanted to help him but for now, you''re too weak to do so."

    "Certinos is an extremely formidable man, he mastered Space Laws after all. At the peak of his strength, creating a space that is a big as a Universe is just a minor effort - a wave of his hand per se. He could even expand even the tiniest fabric of space if he decided to do so."

    Raven''s mouth twitched upon hearing that ridiculous tale of Inos. For some reason, it was hard to believe that the amicable man was that strong, but who amongst the True Heirs aren''t formidable? In fact, he should''ve seen thising.

    One thing that Raven took away from what Astrid said about Inos is that, he didn''t just gain enlightenment to Space Laws, he Mastered it.

    It had to be known that even in the Divine Realm, those who could Master a Law could counted on both hands. And all of them are people who stood at the very top, untouchable existences that even someone like him could only look up to.

    "You know about the Pocket Dimensions around us right?" Astrid asked, to which Raven nodded unhesitatingly. How could he not know when everyone he faced in those made his life difficult?

    "He''s responsible for creating them." Astrid said once again, making Raven''s lips twitch again. "These were created a few moments before his death, which is why they are a little bit unimpressive. He decided to ce the remnant soul wisps, which were arranged by me, and ce them inside some pocket dimensions in order to create a real testing grounds for the next potential heir."

    "Wait! You were the one who ce all those people here?" Raven eximed in shock.

    "Yes." Astrid confirmed, "And by the way, they aren''t just some random people. Those people are very simr to the current you, they were Candidates as well."

    "That¡­" Raven was gobsmacked. He didn''t know what to say nor feel after knowing that.

    So the people that he was fighting inside the pocket dimensions were people who got their hands on the Crown during their lives. And because Astrid said that they were soul wisps, it must mean that they all died already.

    "My original n on locking away wisps of their soul is to raise them through various means and have them to be foot soldiers when the ultimate showdown begins. Yet I died before I could release them, so instead it was Inos who put them into use. Which is of course, helping you a lot on your growth."

    Raven understood this but he wanted to know: "Why did you say that Inos has to slumber frequently?"

    "Arge part of his original soul was devoured." Astrid answered, which caused the hairs on Raven''s body to rise up uncontrobly. "The same happened to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th. Technically, none of them should remain after all this time. It was due to the mystical power of the 1st that the tiniest piece of them still remained in the crown. If it weren''t for that, then they might''ve already dispersed."

    "Is it the Abyssals?" Raven asked with so much fire in his eyes. Astrid understood his anger very well since she too felt the same but unfortunately it wasn''t them.

    "No." She shook her head, making Raven freeze on his seat.

    "If it weren''t the abyssals, then who?" He asked in a confused manner.

    "It is too early for you know. In our current state, we couldn''t even utter its name. Else we run the risk of danger." Astrid shook her head in shame, parts of her memory that she hid at the depths of her mind started to get roused but she suppressed it. "Remember, all of us Heirs are formidable on our own right. But we all died at the hands of one enemy."

    Her tone was grave, it was like she really wanted Raven to be extremely careful with his actions and inquiries.

    "When it''s time for you to know, you will know. And when that timees, you will understand why we are asking you to be extremely careful. For now, all you have to do is to make sure that you are the person that we are looking for. Inherit the throne, and be the 9th True Heir of the Crown.. You will understand everything by then."

 Chapter 271 - Limit Testing

    ---

    "I understand. I won''t force it if it''s not yet the time for me to know." Raven replied. "Would you happen to know the reason why I experience enlightenment for a month?"

    "Ah that?" Astrid smiled and said: "That was somewhat my fault."

    "How so?"

    "I remember telling you that I woke due to your enlightenment about Destruction Laws right?" Raven nodded in confirmation, Astrid then continued, "The reason why you unconscious for that long because my soul was unconsciously taking advantage of your enlightenment to repair itself. I practiced Destruction Laws for a very long time, so long that it already embedded itself to my whole existence and allow me to recover."

    "You weren''t exactly being enlightened about Destruction Laws for a month straight. Instead, you were being stopped somewhat through force by my soul and would instead absorb the Laws that are being attracted to you, after my soul absorbed some, your enlightenment continues and it became a cycle for a whole month. But don''t worry, you aren''t in any danger nor you''recking in Foundational Law Comprehension."

    Raven sighed in relief, he got a little nervous at first but thankfully he didn''t experience any kind of stagnation during his enlightenment.

    "Then how about what happened to me prior to being enlightened?" Raven asked: "I never heard anything about someone going berserk during their enlightenment."

    "It''s all because of the Law you got enlightenment from." Astrid answered, "Destruction, though it sounds ominous, is a part of the cycle - a mean to one''s end. Anything that exist will eventually be Destroyed."

    "Unlike the ever so present Elements like Wind, Fire, Earth, Lightning, and etc. Destruction refers to the process, which means that it doesn''t have any kind of concrete manifestation. Destruction is an act of destroying something, and since you got enlightenment from it, it''s natural for you to be affected by it''s attitude per se. What happened to you prior to you enlightenment happened to me as well, and trust me - you did well on suppressing that urge. If not, then who could tell just how much destruction you would cause?"

    Raven started sweating nervously as he listened to her. He had been really lucky that he managed to shut down himself before he started to rampage everywhere. He couldn''t even begin to imagine how he would feel, waking up to know that he had be a criminal to his own people.

    "Is there a chance of it happening again?" Raven asked, silently bracing himself for her response.

    Astrid thought for a bit and said: "There is, but the possibility of that happening is extremely low. It will only happen if you somehow managed toprehend things way too fast that your cultivation base couldn''t handle it and your will bes eroded. But I trust that you will be careful about how you approach this so it''s nigh impossible for it to happen to you."

    Raven sighed in relief after hearing that, but still he etched her words on to his heart. He made sure to remember her words just so that he wouldn''t get careless.

    "Now then, I think it''s time for you to continue training." Astrid stood up and started walking away, "I suggest you test your limits first before facing any opponents. Remember that you cannot die while you''re inside this ce, you should know what that means."

    Raven''s eyes lit up and nodded to her, he expressed his thanks but Astrid reminded him of another important matter.

    "Also, you''re connection with the Ancestral Divine Crown just reached a higher level. The time difference between here and the real world had been changed. 8 hours outside would be two days here, so don''t be in a rush."

    Raven became even more ecstatic when he heard that. His mind wandered off somewhere due to that news that he didn''t even notice that Astrid already disappeared.

    "Train well, Young Candidate. We will be watching you." This was herst words before she returned to her slumbering zone somewhere inside the Crown Pce.

    ***

    "Nope, not right. Let''s do that again."

    Raven muttered as he tried grasping the feeling using his body.

    It''s been hours since he began testing where his limits lies inside the Crown Space. For this, he decided to retreat back to the area where there''s less of that suppressive force, just so that he could train in peace for now.

    In his training, Raven had been testing just how well he could control hisws. The idea he had is that, in order for him to figure out how to control it, he had to let it run wild firstly

    Due to him getting enlightenment from Destruction Laws, he would remain unharmed by this destructive power, however the same couldn''t be said to those around him.

    The first time he freed it, a strange power well up to his whole body. All Raven did was breathe and stand on the spot but he could already see that everything he touched was being destroyed by hisws. Several white lines which awfully look a lot like rifts or mirror cracks, started spreading out from his body. Wherever this lines went, is where the destruction spreads.

    Beneath him, the ground slowly shattered. Causing him to adjust his footing again and again. From what he could observe, after the lines travelled from the soles of his feet to the ground, it will take at least a good second before it breaks and fly everywhere.

    These lines were also spreading out from his limbs and even his sides. Raven did nothing to control them first as he, like what was established earlier, was testing his limits.

    He noticed that the lines will spread for no more than meter away from his body, he assumed that whatever these lines touched will be destroyed. He didn''t know whether this was good thing or not but frankly, he didn''t care. He also didn''t know the list of things he could destroy using this power for now, but that''s the part of his trainingter on. His Destruction Laws is fueled by his Chaos Force, in this he was no different from the rest who had theirws fueled by energy. Raven maintained this state for a solid thirty minutes before starting to feel out of breath.

    He deactivated it for a moment and inspected the destruction on the ground. For the most part, the chunks of rocks weren''t uniform in size, some where big chunks while others are rtively smaller. This disyed the unruliness of this Law and its sheer aggressive nature. Something that Raven has to deal with before it hurts his teammates in the future.

    After seeing where his limits are, Raven then started to think of some simple exercises to introduce some sense of order at this chaotic power. His thought process was simple, he wanted to control where he was release this destructive nature first.

    Which brings him to his current situation. He was trying to release his Destruction Laws using his hands first.

    His previous attempts were failures, but after doing it over and over again he eventually managed to get the hang of it. After an hour of ceaseless attempts, he could now release the power of his Laws using his palms, a fantastic start if one asked.

    After sessfully achieving that level, he then focused on releasing it using his soles only. He kept on doing things one step at a time and eventually, after the first day inside the Crown Space, he managed to achieve the basic level of control over hisws. Now he didn''t have to be afraid of touching anyone since he could now release it on his will.

    He rested for a bit and after he recovered, he continued his training.

    Raven had many ideas in mind, being blessed by Laws offers him many ways on how to apply it in certain situations. Ideas like, creating an Energy Shield that''sposed of Destruction Laws, using Tremorsenseced with it, covering his fist with concentratedw force and etc. Are just examples of it.

    But he didn''t want to get carried away so instead, he decided to do some exercises with his Laws of course. Although is sounds like a weird idea, it somehow made sense for him.

    For example, as he was doing push up, he will release a destructive force at every other count causing the ground beneath him to break again and again. What he achieved by doing this is allow him to mobilize hisws to act as soon as he wanted it to, almost like an instinct per se. Another one is by constantly breaking the ground beneath him, he was allowing himself to get used to the effects of hisws which in turn won''t be a distraction anymore during a fight, allowing his reaction time to remain unhindered.

    And thus, Raven continued using weird and creative ways to train himself and put control over his Laws until his time limit inside the Crown Space eventually arrived and he was forced out.

    All in all, it took him a total of two days in order to get a basic control over an unruly Law.. This result already not bad in Raven''s book.

 Chapter 272 - Rematch

    ---

    The next following days were spent by Raven through resuming his usual lifestyle.

    He resumed his duties as an Instructor of the Academy and caught up with his students'' progress. After each day, he will attend the meetings with his fellow instructors to see whether they could improve at something and after each meeting, Raven would spend time with his friends and some alone time with Luna before going home and entering the Crown Space to resume his daily training.

    Days passed like wind and eventually, it had been three weeks since Raven''s enlightenment. Since then his control over his Laws reached another level, which made his prowess even more frightening.

    Enabling himself to integrate his Laws with his Hammer Techniques made him an even more frightening enemy. At base, Raven had reached the Hammer and Man Unity realm a long time ago which caused his fighting capabilities to soar, now that he also learned Laws to top all of that, it was safe to say that he could now put a decent fight against a Golden Knight with his current state.

    With this in mind, Raven decided that it was time to take down that blonde Chakram user.

    It still feels a little weird for him to know that these people that he faced are once owners of the Crown. Astrid told him that she kept a piece of them here to use as foot soldiers when the ultimate showdown urs, and ording to her this n was aplete failure. Which eventually left these souls wisps to remain trapped in here. She also said that it was Inos who created the pocket dimensions for them in order to use as testing zones for the next candidate, which happens to be Raven.

    Though he''s confused as to why he experienced Soul Rebirth, something tells him that this matter concerns the more private information about the Crown, and it''s too early for him to know about those matters so its best for him to forget about it for now.

    Raven eventually arrived at the pocket dimension.

    While he was in the middle of manifesting inside the battlefield, he was already looking for his enemy. It didn''t take long before he found him, and when he did he prepared himself to face him.

    As soon as he materialized, the blonde Chakram user attacked, Raven managed to avoid his attacks and throw one of his own.

    Fist shaped pirs descended from the sky with violent momentum, attempting to reduce the blonde into a pulp, unfortunately the blonde was too nimble on his feet and managed to narrowly avoid Raven''s attack.

    Raven wasn''t expecting his initial attack to work anyway so he kept up the pressure and threw more attacks. The blonde handled Raven''s attack easily and charged towards him to engage in a fearsome melee. The Chakram he was holding was divided into two curved swords, glowing with a dirty yellow glow.

    When he saw the blonde attacking him with two curved swords, Raven took a deep breath in and prepared himself. On his arms, a strange crack marks appeared. It covered his arms all the way to his fingertips, these marks also appeared on the surface of the hammer as well.

    The blonde raised both of his sword and performed an overhead sh at Raven. Thetter brought his hammer up and defended himself. When their weapons met, sparks flew everywhere. At the intersection of the weapons, something incredible happened. The sharp edges of the two curved swords that he blonde used suddenly chipped upon contact.

    The blonde was taken by surprised upon seeing some parts of his swords streaked across the air. But before he could react, Raven did a follow up attack by nting his feet deeply onto the ground and releasing his Destruction Laws to the part where the blonde stood.

    Surprised by the sudden destruction of thend beneath him, the blonde lost his footing which caused him dearly as Raven struck him with a powerful blow that sent him flying for quite far.

    The blonde coughed up blood but Raven didn''t give him anytime to recover as he rushed towards him as he streaked backwards. The blonde somersaulted in the air to disperse the remaining force that he received and regain his bnce, unfortunately even though he managed to stop himself from flying away, Raven''s attack wasn''t so simple.

    His hammer was covered by Destruction Laws. At the moment of its contact with the blonde''s body, traces of thew remained on his body and seeped within. Not a foreign energy was wrecking havoc at the abdomen of the blonde, though made attempts on dispelling it, any of his efforts would only end up in failure. So now, the blonde had to endure a painful injury and suffer with the continuous effects of Raven''sws while also repelling his follow up onught.

    In just a short exchange, Raven already managed to gain an immense advantage towards the blonde. This situation is a far cry from all of his previous attempts.

    Knowing that he gained an advantage, Raven was determined to not let it go. He removed the Resistance Seal which greatly boosted his mobility. With his sudden burst of speed, he ced an immense pressure towards the blonde and forced him into a defensive end.

    Each of Raven''s attacks contained hisws. It would be unwise to defend against such attack since the aggressive nature of the Destruction Laws will spread at the moment of contact. But Raven cleverlyyered his attacks to force the blonde to receive the full force of his destructive attacks.

    Pirs with shapes of fists and palms manifested on their battlefield, causing the ground to shatter and be chaotic. There were multiple times when the blonde lost his bnce due to the destruction around him but Raven never did, not even once. Due to that, the injuries that the blonde received kept piling up until his body was filled with cuts and bruises.

    Pushed to edge, the blond revealed his trump card which is the Petrifying Light. This is was the blonde''sst ditch effort to at least alleviate some of the pressure on his shoulders.

    If this was his previous attempts, then Raven would''ve been screwed the moment this Petrifying Light appeared. But now that he gained enlightenment towards Destruction Laws, he could now resist this light.

    At some point, allws would try to resist each other. Just like how Fire and Water mutually resist each other. The same concept apply to whatever''s facing the Destruction Laws.

    As its name suggest, Destruction Laws had an innate nature to destroy anything it makes contact with, which includes Laws themselves. If Raven''s enlightenment was high, then it would very simple for him to just destroy this Petrifying Light and move on, unfortunately he wascking for now but this doesn''t mean that he''s hopeless in defeating the blonde.

    In the end, hisws is already resisting the petrifying light since it''s trying to invade his systems. All he had to do is to keep supplyingws to resist the petrifying light and he will remain unaffected.

    And this is exactly what happened.

    The petrifying light had no power over Raven anymore. His mobility wasn''t hindered at all, he used this to his advantage to catch the blonde by surprise once again.

    Raven acted as if he was affected by the light, he deliberately slowed down his actions and ced a difficult expression on his face. The result worked like magic, the blonde saw his reaction and immediately funneled the rest of his energy towards casting is ultimate attack, which was the Petrifying Sun.

    Raven sneered inwardly, he kept his act until the blonde was about to finish preparing his attack. Once he saw the condensing light at the center of the Chakram, Raven''s eyes gleamed as he immediately dropped his act and threw his hammer with a massive momentum.

    The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer streaked through the air like a zing ck shooting star, carrying an incredible momentum as it flew. It struck the dumbstrucked blonde, causing him to explode into pieces of flesh and gore. The Chakram fell on the ground and shattered at the moment of contact. What''s left of the blonde''s body turned into streaks of white light that merged with Raven, signifying that he seeded in defeating him.

    Raven jerked his hand and the hammer returned to him. He caught his breath and let out a smile.

    "As expected, this battle became easier now that I am equipped with Laws." Raven then recalled the battle and figured out some ces where he could improve. "The Chakram he held must be a Growth Weapon, simr to my hammer. Which means that my Destruction Laws could damage them, given time I should be able to destroy them easily."

    "If I could concentrate the power ofws, then the corroding effect on the enemy''s body shall increase as well. I should also increase the Breaking speed of thew, but how do I do that?"

    Raven then started reviewing his previous battle while the space around him warped and returned him to the familiar sight of the Pce Grounds.

 Chapter 273 - Venus

    ---

    "Okay, that should be it for preparations." Raven murmured after standing up.

    He turned around and waved his hand at the wall nearby, this action caused the walls to slide away and reveal a small chamber which is littered with many inscription marks everywhere.

    Raven stepped inside the chamber and closed the entrance behind him. As soon as he was the only one remaining inside, the inscriptions one the wall lit up with golden light and illuminated the dark chamber. In the middle of that room, there is a small tform with something on top of it.

    This object appeared to be the reason why this chamber exists since all of the inscriptions on the wall eventually meet at the surface of this object.

    What''s on top of the tform was an egg. More precisely, this is the Mount Seed that Raven received a while back.

    The Mount Seed had gotten so bigpared to its size when Raven received it. Back then, the Mount Seed was a literal seed, now however its at least the size of an ostrich''s egg.

    Raven created this chamber as the incubator for the Mount Seed for about a year ago. It had always been here ever since. This chamber was in his father''s office, he ced a seal on it so that only him could enter the ce as to prevent any idents on happening.

    The array he set for the seed is programmed to absorbrge volumes of energy and convert it into the purest form, feeding it to seed as nourishment. Even before Raven set up this incubator, he already knew that this process is going to take a long time, which he didn''t mind since the longer the mount seed absorb nutrients, the more exceptional the results would be.

    This is also part of the reason why Raven often visits his father''s office. Hees frequently to check this Mount Seed. And today, he got the signal that it''s ready to be hatched.

    Making sure to be very careful, Raven started turning off the array. He watched as the golden inscriptions dimmed down and disappeared on the surface of the walls in an orderly fashion. As the inscriptions disappeared, the Mount Seed was freed and started radiating with an intense energy fluctuations.

    Raven had no doubts that whatever''s inside the egg, was alive. This is shown by how the egg was shivering on it''s ce even without him touching it. He didn''t want anyone to be rmed of what''s happening inside this chamber so Raven activated one of the array discs that he prepared earlier which shrouded the entire chamber and prevented any kind of energy fluctuations to be felt outside.

    After erecting the concealing array. Raven slowly approached the egg and performed the final step in order to hatch his mount. And that is by establishing a connection with it.

    Raven sank his perception in the mount seed and ced a mark on the life source inside. After establishing the connection, the mount seed shivered in excitement and started trembling fiercely.

    *Crack* *Boom!*

    The Mount Seed shattered, causing Raven to shield himself with his hands in order to not get hit by the shards that flew everywhere. He then slowly turned around in order to see what his mount looks like but before he could do so, he felt something bit arm.

    He was about to instinctively p whatever that was but he stopped upon seeing what it was.

    It was a big albino snake. It''s at least four meters long with a girth of 10 inches, it''s reptilian eyes stared at Raven as it experienced it''s first feeding by sucking his blood.

    Raven gazed at it and wondered how in the world did his mount turned into a snake. He stared at it and felt the connection they shared through the mark which clearly told him that this is what really came out of that seed. Although it doesn''t make sense how this four meter long-ten inches thick snake fit inside that small space, it won''t matter since it already hatched anyway.

    He touched the snake by petting it, the snake wriggled its body and closed its eyes in response. It seems that it likes his touch.

    "Happy birthday." Raven greeted it which caused the snake to move happily. "Take your time, it''s your first feeding after all."

    Raven just allowed the snake to suck out as much blood as it wanted. He wasn''t really afraid of experiencing any blood deficiency since the purity of his blood as well as its density were very high, this was due to his first 3 Transformations that elevated his physical body to another level.

    The snake was more than happy to obey, it knows that the subsequent meals after this won''t be at this quality so it''s taking advantage of his master''s generosity.

    "What should I name you then?" Raven remunerated for a bit while staring at his mount. "Whitey? Snaky? Albina?"

    The snake presented its displeasure at those names by sending signals through the mark that connects both of them, since its mouth is busy doing something. Raven pouted and said: "It seems that you also don''t like my naming sense."

    "Hmm¡­" Raven thought about good names for a while and kept on suggesting things but will always end up being rejected by the snake. Nevertheless, Raven kept on listing names he came up with: "Venus? How does that sound?"

    The snake pondered for a bit and sent happy signals to Raven. He sighed in relief and said: "Alright, I''ll call you Venus then, you picky girl." Heughed and caressed her shiny scales.

    Venus then finally released her fangs at Raven and nudged her head on his palms, clearly enjoying the adoration he was giving. Raven mobilized his energies and closed the wounds on his arm. He then asked her: "Come girl, let me see how heavy you are."

    Venus then moved ording to his wishes and allowed herself to be weighed by Raven. After inspecting for a while, Raven said: "Oh, quite healthy you are. Almost 500 kilograms, very good."

    Venus hissed and wrapped herself lovingly on Raven''s body. He didn''t mind this since for Raven, she is actually very light - that or Raven is just used to having weights around his body.

    "Alright, girl. Now''s the time to show me what you can do." Raven urged, to which Venus nodded in understanding.

    Moving at an rming speed, which should be impossible for a snake at her size, she dislodged herself from Raven''s body and slithered around the chamber. Raven watched in wonder as Venus started climbing at a smooth and t surface of the walls without any signs of falling.

    One thing that shocked Raven is when Venus coiled herself at the corner of chamber and instantly activated a camouge. If it weren''t for her connection with Venus, Raven wouldn''t suspect a snake to be inside this chamber at all. Raven nodded happily since this ability would offset the curse of albinism to her.

    Seeing her Master happy, Venus became happy as well. She then started to show another set of her abilities to impress him even more.

    Venus could spit out a metal corroding acid. Something that she used to melt down the metal tform, where the seed previously were ced, in mere seconds. She is also powerful enough to bury herself underground and stay there for at least half an hour before eventually needing to re-surface.

    She also has this one final ability, where her scales would brighten up and release a special type of energy that could protect her. Venus couldn''tmunicate well with Raven as she''s just an infant but from what Raven could tell, attacks under Knight Realm power shouldn''t hurt her while she at this state.

    Raven was immensely satisfied. Though she couldn''t act as a mount for now, it doesn''t matter since she''ll eventually grow into one. She''s already four meters long during her infancy so as long as Raven treats her properly, she should be able to grow into a massive snake.

    Raven didn''t doubt even for a second that Venus will eventually grow sorge that he will eventually have problems where to keep her. He had seen snakes like that before. Some of them were sorge that they could wrap themselves around a kingdom or two. But in all honesty, Raven thought it would be cool to have a mount as big as that.

    "Alright, girl. I''m impressed." Raven chuckled and picked her up, Venus lovingly wrapped her body around him as they began walking out of the room. "Time to introduce you to my family, stay still and try to not freak them out okay?"

    Venus nodded and wrapped her body around Raven''s neck. She then surprised Raven as he felt her shrinking and transforming right before his eyes.

    She hid her head on Raven''s cor, her body then transformed into a piece white cloth that adorned Raven''s neck like a scarf. This caused Raven to be shocked once more and couldn''t help but to adore her cleverness for thinking like this.. He petted her now scarf body and said: "Good girl, now let''s go."

 Chapter 274 - Slave Message

    ---

    "No, you can''t¡­"

    *Hiss!* *Hiss!*

    "You really can''t, my Dad''s going to kill me."

    *Hiss?*

    "Yep, not even one."

    *Hiss*

    "Oh you silly girl, you really can''t eat the Mirage Hawks. They are important for my Dad''s work, okay? I''ll give you a whole pigter, how''s that?"

    *Hiss!*

    "Alright, it''s a deal then."

    Raven shook his head at Venus'' antics. She had been bugging him all day long since she really wanted to know what a Mirage Hawk would taste like but Raven adamantly refused to feed her one. She even had the heart topromise and said that he just wanted a leg from one hawk, just a leg. But Raven found this suspicious so he refused. In the end, hepromised and said that he''s going to feed her a whole pig in order to not upset her too much.

    It''s only been a week since Raven had Venus with him, and she was already showing signs of a very healthy appetite. It''s quite hard to believe but her growth is fast. In just a mere week, Venus already grew another meter for her length and half an inch to her girth. If this continued, Raven would eventually be able to actually ride Venus as a mount.

    Venus behaves like a child in a sense where she''s curious about everything. Raven is somehow spoiling her and bringing her wherever he went, causing the snake to constantly bug him and ask what''s the taste of pretty much everything that she saw aside from humans.

    Raven already introduced her to his family and friends, sufficed to say they were actually a little bit freaked out by her which made the snake very conscious. If it weren''t for Raven, she might''ve already been sent to Maddock. Eventually, people epted that Venus is harmless to humans with the constant exnation of Raven, unless they were trying to harm him or she was ordered to.

    Fortunately, there are some people who actually think that Venus is a good girl. The best example would be the twins, Tori and Nina. Both of them weren''t even slightly afraid when she first revealed herself, they were even trying to y with her much to the fright of Eva. Nevertheless, Raven convinced her that it was fine. It was actually for the best that the three got acquainted in order for Venus to treat them as important as Raven himself.

    Raven believed that Venus had a strong memory, he could even say that though she''s a snake, her brain works like that of a human due to the long nourishment she received during her incubation. Which means that it''s possible for her to remember the twins as his siblings, and who knows? Maybe, in the future, this little bond of theirs might give them a pleasant surprise.

    ***

    Back at his office at the Academy, Raven was busy with some recent adjustments to the curriculum.

    Almost every students are busy with clearing missions and fighting over the Ranking List. Based on the reports he received, the list had been extremely inconsistent not because it''s malfunctioning, but because the Rankers are always changing. The longest team who held the top position only had it for a solid week before being kicked out by a ck horse. This eventually became a cycle that still continues even to this day, which is really heating up thepetition between students.

    Speaking of students, after finishing his adjustments on the curriculum his next task is to finish up the test papers since it''s the Midterms for students.

    The Midterms exam are divided into two categories: Written Exams and Field Exams.

    At first, Raven actually hesitated if he should add the written exams for the students since they will mostly forget about everything they learned inside the ssroom after they graduated anyway, but he ended up adding them since he remembered the virtue to experiencing them.

    Of course, written exams does test how knowledgeable the students are but the real purpose of cing the written exams is to train the students'' memory and keep it sharp. Written exams could also allow the instructors to observe how students perform under pressure. Since looking at it in a different angle, students need to not only focus on clearing missions to gain Mission Points, they also had to make sure to review the lessons they had. Sure, this will make life harder for them but it''s necessary for their growth.

    The Field Exams on the other hand will be performed with their team. In some sense, it will be like a mini-tournament for all six-man cells. They will be given a task which they are required to reach the minimum boundary in order to pass. Of course, the better their performance is, the better rewards they will receive. For now, he still have to consult his colleagues about the venue of the Field Test. It will most likely going to happen at one of the more challenging arrays but for which one exactly is still unknown.

    In the middle of his work, something inside of his psyche disturbed him.

    Raven frowned and checked what it was. He then saw the ve seal shing with a brilliant light and knew that a message was sent to him.

    He dropped what he was currently doing and focused at the message that his ve gave him.

    "Master. We just received news from our superiors about something. They will be sending us to a spot somewhere close to the Kingdom in order to build our new hideout. So far, they are nning to send around 300 to 500 men lead by at least three emissaries, which is awfully suspicious since it''s just a construction of a hideout."

    "I''ve tried digging up for some more insider information and managed to find out something. Apparently, there is a hidden objective for this mission. Building the hideout is just the second objective, the real reason why they are sending that many people is to escort someone who''s very important. From what I heard, this person is a very powerful, they said this person is a close second to our Big Boss here. I tried squeezing some more information out of them but they were mostly clueless to who this person is. I never got the chance to meet this person either so I could only tell you this much. But if the rumors are true, then please be very careful Master and do inform me if you need me to do something."

    After reading the message of the ve, Raven went into a deep thought.

    ''What a strange thing indeed.'' He inwardly thought, ''It would''ve been fine if they just wanted to buildhideout close to the kingdom since that won''t work anyway. We will track them as soon as they enter the Yellow Zone and struck them down to prevent them from doing that.''

    ''What makes me curious is this mysterious person, though.'' Raven frowned, ''The ve said ''Big Boss'' so he must be referring to Vit''hum, however someone that is a close second to him when ites to strength? Never heard of such an individual before in my past life. Who is it?''

    Raven had long since epted that he already changed way too much in he original timeline. He was helpless but it''s better this way. However, along with those changes, many variable surfaced that Raven never knew before. One of its examples is this person that his ve talked about.

    Granted that he didn''t have the chance to witness the ultimate battle of the Kingdom''s forces against the ck Curtain Guild, he had a respectable position before and knew many insider knowledge that no normal citizen know of due to him inheriting his father''s position. Still, one would think that he should''ve known if a person of such caliber sided with the ck Curtain Guild right?

    But now that he thought of it, maybe this person was kept as a secret in order to be a trump card of some sorts right? If he was in their position, there is a high possibility that he would do the same. After all, the deadliest weapons are those that couldn''t be seen. There''s no way that this person just mysteriously appeared out of nowhere.

    Do the King and his advisors even know about this? If so, then they should''ve informed him by now right? After all, he''s done so much for the kingdom and already proved himself their ally in many ways. Is there any reason for them to keep such an important detail away from him?

    Well, there''s also the chance that they forgot to tell them but that would be dumb. He refused to believe that people of that caliber would forget to mention something like that after all this time. Which takes Raven to the most possible reason why he didn''t know...

    They probably didn''t know that such person existed as well? That would make sense, but this would prove that the ck Curtain Guild must be hiding more from them, and that doesn''t sit well with him.

    "Well, I better inform them. I''m getting some bad premonitions about this...."

 Chapter 275 - Mysterious Individual

    ---

    "¡­and that''s what our mole told me about their ns. Does any of you have any idea who might be this person?"

    Raven was currently inside the office of the King, and had just finished reporting what his ve reported to him word per word.

    After he made his reports, all the people present in the office were locked in a deep thought. It was obvious that they too were trying to guess who this person might be. And when Raven saw their reactions, it was pretty much clear that they too, had no idea that a person of such caliber existed among the ranks of the ck Curtain Guild.

    "We fought against the ck Curtain Guild for as long as I''m aware, but this matter is unknown even to me." Old Lee sighed and shook his head, he looked at the others and asked: "How about you guys?"

    Majority of the people inside the office shook their heads since they were clueless too. Leona then added: "Well, this is going to be a problem. We could certainly deal with theckeys and emissaries but if they had an unknown variable like this, then fighting them might force us into a trap."

    Leona''s logic was clear and understandable. This is also what Raven was afraid of which is why he decided to initiate this meeting. He wanted to say that he and his team will take care of that mysterious person but he couldn''t risk their lives like that.

    Sure, he and his team had gotten stronger due to their efforts but the ve said this person is a close second to Vit''hum in terms of power.

    Vit''hum? Its a Drake hybrid of a female human and the remnants of a real Dragon! To top this fact, this Pale Bastard could use the Second Stage of the Death Laws, something that should be impossible yet real due to its tenacious pursuit of knowledge and long lifespan.

    Raven and his team are not that strong yet to deal with Vit''hum even at his weakest. They originally was thankful that Vit''hum fell into a deep slumber which given them enough time to at least grow stronger and be able to face him in a direct confrontation, yet not even two years passed and this mysterious entity appeared out of nowhere and is now threatening their safety.

    Though Raven hate to admit this, the truth is clear for everyone present in here. They are not prepared to confront such an entity should ites down to it.

    "I agree to Her Excellency, Leona''s words. But there is also one point that we have to consider." Luis interjected which caused people to pay attention to his following words.

    Luis faced Raven and said: "The mole said that the task for them is to build a hideout near the kingdom. And rest of his reports are practically gossips that he heard from there. Even quoted them as ''rumors'', which somehow made me think that this mysterious person might not exist at all."

    His words were certainly usible as well. It is very possible that someone from there just wanted some attention and spread such rumors in order to be famous. And if this was the case, then worrying about this is just a waste of time.

    "How I wish you were right, Dad." Raven replied, "But something about this doesn''t sit well with me. I guess we just have to make as much preparations as needed."

    Raven also wanted to think that this was the case, but for some reason he was certain that this person really existed. He didn''t want to think like this but his previous experiences under the hands of the ck Curtain Guild tells him otherwise.

    "Child." Raven heard Alexander''s voice calling out to him. He faced him and saw the King''sforting expression. He then hear him say: "Fret not. If things really went awry, you all still have me. I will face this person should they dare to take a step inside our home."

    Hearing hisforting words somehow alleviated Raven''s worries. Right, the King''s still here. True to his position as the King of this ce, he will not hesitate to strike down anyone who tries to threaten their home''s safety.

    "I understand, Uncle." Raven nodded and took in a deep breath. "But I don''t want to take chances. Therefore, I would like to initiate some pre-emptive preparations to prepare for the worst."

    Everyone agreed to Raven''s words, the King then said: "Alright, let''s hear it then."

    ***

    The meeting ended shortly after Raven made ns with them.

    He initiated a project which would help them bolster their defenses. This project is about making a new and stronger protective array around the Kingdom.

    Just like what he said, Raven didn''t want to take any chances. Therefore, aftering home from the meeting he immediately searched his memories for arrays that would help him in this situation.

    Unfortunately, even after searching for almost four hours. Raven only got three choices, and he wasn''t satisfied with any of them. It all came down tock of resources. The more powerful arrays that Raven knows require resources that even the Kingdom hasn''t seen yet, so those were automatically crossed off the list.

    Raven''s standards were high, specially when ites to the safety of the Kingdom. What he wanted, was an array that could withstand blows from even Vit''hum himself. Only then would he be able to rest easy and focus on other matters. Unfortunately, none of the choices left were up to the standards.

    This made him somewhat helpless and frustrated. It was then that a voice echoed inside his head.

    "Here you go. This should help with your current predicament."

    This voice came from Astrid herself. A new batch of memories then appeared in Raven''s mind and out of his curiosity, he checked them out and became ecstatic of what he saw.

    Astrid gave him knowledge about an array that suits his standards. It''s name is Grand Purging Array.

    This array is not only simple enough to build, it is unbelievably resilient and practical as well. The materials needed to create such an array could be seen pretty much everywhere in the Kingdom.

    The array''s practicalityes from the fact that once it''s built, it does not require any additional resources to keep it active. Just like the Sk Array, the Grand Purging Array is powered by sunlight, which means that it has a built in energy storage that would keep the array active for as long as there is power.

    Once the Grand Purging Array was built, it would be extremely hard to infiltrate the Kingdom. Its effect is that, when activated, the array will cause a Spatial Istion. Meaning that to outsiders, the Kingdom appears to be standing right before their very eyes but when they decide to force their way in, they will find themselves at the other side of the Kingdom''s perimeter, unable to knock on their walls unless they were given permission to.

    The only people who could force their way in, are people who at least mastered the first stage of Space Laws. And such individuals are nowhere to be seen in this Kingdom.

    "Thank you, Astrid. I owe you one." Raven said after reviewing the memories he received.

    "Don''t be, consider that as my thanks for waking me up." Her voice echoed and disappeared entirely.

    Raven carved this generosity inside his heart and started getting busy. He listed all of the necessary materials needed to create the array and borrowed some of his father''s Mirage Hawks to send letters to the people he needed for the project.

    After doing all of this, Raven received yet another message from his ve. He listened to the message and it says:

    "Master, we received another update. Our superiors gathered us and told us that the n to build the new hideout willmence in about three weeks or less. They told us to prepare and be ready. Also, I tried to gather more information about the matter of this mysterious person."

    "I can absolutely confirm that this rumor is true. This person showed up and was introduced by our superiors as the Leader of this mission. So far, I don''t know this person''s gender but I know strength when I see one. This is extremely evident to this person. If anything though, I guess the rumors were a little bit exaggerated. Yes, this person is powerful but its nowhere near to Big Boss'' power at all. I can''t exactly tell just how strong this person is but I still advise you to be careful. I will be waiting for your further instructions, Master."

    Raven felt greatly relieved after receiving this message. But even so, he still didn''t dare to get carried away. It is still uncertain if they could truly afford to face this mysterious person but it wouldn''t hurt to at least make preparations for the worst.

    That being said, they have three weeks to build this array. There plenty of time yet they can''t afford to lose any of it. On top of this, Raven has to make sure to keep himself and his team at their top shape just in case a battle breaks out.

    "The next following weeks are going to be a busy for us.. What a pain."

 Chapter 276 - Seeking Improvement

    ---

    Raven just finished his meeting with the Inscriptionists. He already handed them the task on forming the necessary parts for the creation of the Grand Purging Array.

    The Grand Purging Array requires ten miniature arrays which will take the form of a totem. And just like the Sk Array, they will be ced around the borders of the Kingdom, which will then be activated once they umte enough power. Apart from the totems, they also needed to build at least five control panels which could allow them to control the array.

    The matter about entering the kingdom won''t be a huge problem since the array will have a Recognition Design. Once the array was activated, it will scan and memorize every people inside its territory. Those who were recognized by the array won''t have any difficulties entering or leaving the kingdom should they need to.

    Due to the simplicity of the project, Raven had no doubts that the Inscriptionists will have no problems handling the matter. In fact, he even suggested to allow some amateur inscriptionists to participate in its creation in order to give them more experience. Of course, Raven will check the final product to ensure its quality but Raven have faith to these young inscriptionists.

    He already withdrawn all the necessary materials needed for the formation so he could let them do the rest. cing the array at the borders of the Kingdom was even more simple due to the existence of the Worker Constructs, which performances greatly improved due to the cksmiths'' research over this time.

    It was already night time when Raven finished all his errands, he went back home, ate and took a brief rest before entering the Crown Space to train yet again.

    As the familiar scene inside the Crown Space weed him, Raven took a deep breath in and did some light warm-up.

    Raven was little solemn currently. He felt like the odds are slowly stacking up against him. There this nagging feeling inside of him that if he didn''t do something, he might go insane eventually.

    As part of his usual training, Raven brushed up with some of his techniques. So far, he had developed some moves which he named ''Chaotic Hammer Series''.

    This technique takes full advantage of the 2nd form of the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer. Each swing in this form causes a fist-shaped energy pir to strike down to his desired target, and with at little bit of finesse, he could also change the trajectory of his strikes to catch his opponents off guard.

    The thing that must be known about using the 2nd form of Raven''s hammer is that, each attack he makes in this form will cause him to bear an immense burden. The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer currently weighs about 100 tons. To a normal person, there is no way that they will be able to swing this thing at all but due to Raven''s body being tempered to another level, he could use this hammer without the problem. Whenever Raven swings the hammer while it''s on its second form, the weight of the hammer will increase depending on how many fist-shaped pirs he summon.

    Each fist raises the weight of the hammer for at least ten tons, so far Raven could summon ten which means that if he summons all arms, his body is bearing the burden of a 200 ton hammer. This weight, although scary, is still somehow manageable for Raven. Which is why he could use summon ten arms multiple times to amplify his attacks.

    Raven could manipte these arms in order to attack or defend himself. The attack that he mostly used with ten arms is the ''Ten Smiting Fists'', which will cause fist pirs to strike down like falling stars at his target. The other is called ''Twisting Decimation'', where the arms will materialized behind him and coil themselves up to each other and fly forward like a huge battering ram.

    The more destructive attacks he developed were ''Ten Land Shifting Palms'' and ''Ten Overturning Sea Palms''. The Ten Land Shifting Palms will cause palms to appear from underground and push a piece ofnd high up in the air. As for the Ten Overturning Sea Palms, it will cause ten palms to flip a decent piece ofnd over along with his target.

    And as for the strongest attacks of Raven, that will be the ''Bronze Arms Edition'' where he focuses more of his Chaos Force into the arm pirs causing them to condense even more and appear to be made out of Bronze. It was just a pity that Raven couldn''t use this state for long since each Bronze Arms he condenses will weigh about 500 tons. At desperate times, Raven could summon a Silver Arm but that would weigh 1,000 ton, which not something that Raven could handle.

    With the addition of his Destruction Laws, the might of his attacks eventually experienced a massive leap. He was able to effectively mix hisws with each attacks, causing them to be even more destructive due to the nature of hisws. Unfortunately, in order to amplify the destructive effects of his techniques, he have to meditate onws and understand them even more. That is going to take a lot of time so Raven had to search for an alternative.

    "I have three weeks, more or less." Raven murmured after finishing his warm up, "I have to at least reach the level where I could wield ten Bronze Arms with ease. Even then, that could only ensure that I''ll be able to defend us."

    Establishing a goal for himself, Raven made up his mind and walked towards the ever present suppressive force at the Pce Grounds. He kept on moving forward until he arrived at the ce where the suppressive force was so strong that his movements were heavily impeded. Raven could always deactivate the Resistance Seals to ease up the pressure he was feeling but that defeats the purpose of why walked this deep.

    Raven was gritting his teeth but he didn''tin. He summoned his hammer and started condensing a single Bronze Arm.

    This process caused the pressure towards Raven to rise. He could feel his back bending forward and his legs wobbling due to the weight he felt but Raven endured.

    After the Bronze Arm materialized, Raven held it for as long as he could and chanted the hymns of the Book of Chaos in his mind.

    Amidst the intense pressure on his body, Raven felt something soothing his body as soon as he started chanting. This sensation brought a little sce in the middle of his suffering, allowing him to hold on to his decision.

    Slowly but surely, Raven''s back was straightening. His eyes were shut, signifying his full concentration on his act. His consciousness was active since he rhythmical hymns could still be heard escaping his lips. In his concentration, the burden on his body was slowly lessening and as time goes by, he couldn''t even feel it anymore.

    Eventually, during the times when Raven''s concentration was broken, he would slowly inch forward, just enough to feel the pressure returning. He even condensed the second Bronze Arm while he''s at it, which ced even more burden on his body. And just like before, he held the technique and circted the Book of Chaos inwardly.

    Raven spent his training time like this. To others, this might look like a torturous way of training one''s self and would cause more harm than good but this is not the case for Raven at all.

    His body is being constantly nourished by his Chaos Force, making him stronger by each passing moment. Chaos Force is he unity of Energy Essence, Spiritual Essence and Vital Essence, making it extremely effective and nourishing to an individual. And since Chaos Force doesn''t take the regr route of the Energy Network and instead flow in every single blood stream in Raven''s body, the strengthening effect he receives will not take too much time before being consumed, making his adjust to his current situation faster that normal.

    Eventually, Raven''s time was up. He got expelled out of the Crown Space and returned to his new house while feeling mentally exhausted.

    Raven ingested some pills to help with that and proceeded to enter meditation. Even though he knew that gaining more understanding towards the nature of Destruction Laws will take time, it doesn''t mean that he shouldpromise and drop it for now. Improving on his Destruction Laws had became the goal of Raven''s meditations ever since he gained enlightenment, and since he had been recing sleep with meditation instead, this became a habit to him and he didn''t want to drop it just like that.

    Raven''s meditation spot is an empty field which was built along with the house.. The reason why he requested for this is because he will sometimes release hisws in the middle of meditation in hopes of attaining some understanding, and if he does this in an open field at least he won''t destroy his house yet again.

 Chapter 277 - Heading Out

    ---

    "Does anyone have an questions about the n?"

    Luis asked those who were with him in this meeting. He just exined the n on how they are going to initiate contact with the enemy. No one raised their hand, meaning that everyone present understood the n and were ready to execute it.

    "Alright, Raven will be yourmander for this assignment. His orders will be thew, anyone who fail toply will face a severe punishment after this." Luis announced while looking at his son.

    Raven stepped forward, behind him were his team d in full battle gear and ready to meet their enemies. Everyone who were participating with this mission had no qualms being led by a 17 year old guy since all of them here knew that he could take all of them on without even breaking a sweat.

    "We''ll move out within two hours." Raven announced, "You may go back and make preparations for a long trip, after that meet us at the Southern Gate. Move!"

    "Sir!" The soldiers saluted and left the meeting area. As soon as they moved out, Raven faced Luis who was clearly feeling a little worried.

    "Don''t worry Dad. I''ll take us back home, that''s a promise." Heforted.

    Luis sighed and patted his son''s shoulders, saying: "I know you will. Just make sure toe back in one piece, you hear?"

    "I will, Dad." Raven gave him a hug and turned towards his team, asking: "You guys ready?"

    Each of them gave him a nod. Raven then said: "Alright, let''s go to the Southern Gates."

    After saying that, he and his team turned into blurs as they ran towards their destination.

    Three weeks passed by like a blur with Raven being too busy preparing for a counterattack. During this time, on top of training himself and his team, he was also discussing tactics with his father in order to secure the best possible oue out of this sh.

    The Grand Purging Array had been built and activated for the Kingdom''s protection. Just as Raven expected, the project was done in less than a week. The array was tested by the inscriptionists under Raven''s instructions and passed, meaning that the Kingdom''s safety is at least secured.

    In the end, both of them agreed that they can''t bring too many people since that would hinder their movement far too much. They decided to bring out 25 people who were considered as elites through the Kingdom''s new soldier standards. All of these people benefitted from Raven''s reform of the Kingdom''s military and are a far cry from their previous strength, which is why they didn''t oppose him leading them on this operation.

    The n they agreed upon is that, Raven and his team will initiate the confrontation. Since Raven just got the message from his ve that there would be a total of 515 soldiers escorting their target, the team will try to shave as many of their numbers as possible before calling the elites over to finish them off.

    What happens after that will depend on the situation. If the threat was too strong for them to handle, they will try to injure him/her at least before signaling retreat. If they could take the target down, then there should be no hesitations. Of course, there is a possibility of an unexpected event happening and it will be up to Raven''s decision at that point.

    After grabbing everything that they will be needing, the participants of the mission were gathered at the Southern Gates. All of them, except Raven and his team, were wearing ck cloaks made out of special materials that would minimize their presence, this is useful for them since they don''t want their travels to be impeded by a sudden attack from stray beasts.

    Once they signed off their names, Raven gave the signal and they immediately blurred into action.

    Raven and his team lead the way, taking flight for a faster and unrestricted travel, while the rest of the crew took the ground and travelled in batches to cover each other''s back. The team kept a 500 meter distance between them and rest, this is intentional since the n was the team will be the one who will initiate contact, the rest were considered as back up.

    "Anne, any signs of a Diamond Dust Eclipse?" Raven asked as he flew with Luna''s Pegasus. He would''ve rode Venus as a mount but she wasn''t big enough yet, plus she can''t fly so Raven had to share with Luna in the mean time.

    "None." Anne replied, "It just passed about a week ago if I''m not mistaken."

    "Good." Raven replied, "At least we could cross that possibility out."

    "Hey, I''m calling dibs on one of the Emissaries okay?" Paul eximed while being carried by Ellen.

    "Shut it, you Big Oaf!" Ellen grunted, pinching his hand. "Your voice is too damn loud, what if you alerted some beasts huh?"

    "Oh right, Haha my bad."

    "It''s fine." Mark said out of nowhere, "I''m covering us with Bewildering Fog. That should minimize our sounds and slightly conceal our presences. Just don''t do it too much."

    "Oh!" Paul eximed, he looked a their surroundings and saw a faint traces of ashen fog covering them. "Nice, Dude. You learned this from Sir Jackson?"

    "Yeah." Mark nodded, "Lair Hunters have many tricks up their sleeves. It makes sense since their lives are always on the line with their job."

    "Good for you." Annemented, "I wish the Ruby Knights had some of those tricks as well."

    "I know right?" Ellen alsomented, "Those Elder Sisters are way too focused on frontalbat, it''s almost too rigid if you ask me. It''s like they exist for the sole purpose of facing head on."

    "I wouldn''t be bad if they have some neat tricks avable to at least make sure that they could keep themselves alive." Anne added.

    "Alright, girls." Luna chuckled as she heard theints of the two. "Now''s not the time to criticize the ways of the Ruby Knights. Let''s focus on the task at hand, okay?"

    "Yes, Princess." Anne and Ellen said in a yful tone, making Lunaugh at their reactions.

    "Heads up, everyone. Scouts." Raven called out in a soft voice, making his team unleash their alertness.

    About 200 meters away from them, cloaked by the shadows of the trees, five people were hidden and currently observing their surroundings. The team saw them and immediately went on guard.

    "Half-step Knights." Mark said after gauging their strengths. Behind him stood Anne who''s bow already stretched taut. A signal from Raven is all she needs and these people were done for.

    "Chill, Anne." Raven said, making her withdraw her arrow. He then said: "Paul, you''re up. Illusions will do."

    Paul nodded at him and tapped Ellen''s hand, signaling her to release him. The girl got the message and released Paul from her grip. As Paul fell down, his spear materialized in his hands.

    He grabbed a tree branch before he made contact with the ground to minimize the impact. With a strong jump, he leapt and was instantly behind the scouts. A rainbow colored light illuminated the tip of his spear, he then performed five thrusts which sent five rainbow colored projectile towards the unsuspecting scouts.

    As the lights struck their body, they froze where they stood and had their consciousness dulled, Paul already have them trapped in illusions which is evident by the empty look on their eyes. Unless someone came and dispelled them from this state, they would remain like this for weeks.

    Raven gave a signal to Ellen and she swooped down to pick Paul up.

    As Paul grabbed her hand, he heard her say: "Look at you. Feeling smug and shit. I don''t like it."

    "I''m just going to pretend that you said ''Great job'' instead. Thank you!" Paul shook his head which caused Ellen to snort but did nothing to refute him.

    Ever since Paul received the gift of Illusions from the Immersion Forest, he had been sharpening his skills all this time since he believed that wielding Illusions will at least increase the diversity of his prowess, making him less predictable.

    "Mark, warn the Elites. Tell them to avoid those guys." Raven said and Markplied.

    "Why didn''t we take them down instead?" Ellen asked Raven, curious as to why he decided to trap them in illusions instead of killing them.

    "It''s because we don''t know whether they have some sort of signaling device or not." Anne replied for Raven, "These are scouts, their job is to spy ahead and report back. Just like us, they might have some device which will alert theirrades about our arrival. If that happens, then this n of ours will be foiled before it even starts."

    "Exactly." Raven seconded. Ellen nodded, making sure to keep this kind of information in mind since it might be helpful in the future.

    "Alright, I sent the word to the Elites. I''ve gotten affirmative signals." Mark reported as soon as he received the responses.

    "Great." Ravenmented, "Alright team, keep your eyes peeled. We might encounter more from here on out."

    The team nodded and they resumed their journey.

 Chapter 278 - Scouting

    ---

    ording to the intel of the ve, the supposed spot for their new hideout was at least a kilometer away from the Red Zone.

    The direction of the hideout was at the south of the Kingdom, where the wild growth of trees the likes are more evident. It would make sense that they will build a hideout in this direction since all the vegetation would naturally cover them on top of their concealing methods.

    The ve also informed that they were already at the location and even provided Raven with somendmarks so that they won''t miss them. That being said, ever since they stepped inside the Yellow Zone, they were already marked by the Sk Array, meaning that the Kingdom is already aware of their arrival, hence they sent Raven and the team to meet them.

    As the team went on with their journey towards the marked location, they didn''t encounter any scouts aside from the previous one''s who are now trapped in Paul''s illusion.

    Once they were a kilometer away from where the ck Curtain Guild''s camp, Raven signaled them to dismount and decided to go on foot from here.

    ''Be alert and stealthy, we should observe them first.'' Raven sent through sound transmission.

    The team gave him an affirmative signal and followed his lead as they slowly inched their way towards the camp. They went through bushes and jumped on tree branches, making sure to create as little noise as possible. Those who have ocr techniques were already using them and warning others when they''re about to step on twigs that might alert some people.

    Raven already sent a message to the Elites, telling them to remain on standby once they entered the one kilometer proximity of the enemy camp.

    Still in hiding, the team eventually approached the 500 meter mark away from the camp. From this point onwards, Raven told them to be even more careful. He told them to spread their sense wildly yet also conceal it with the surrounding air to not get caught.

    Raven could already seen some activities from this far. He could see some campfires, tents, and some people who were resting in front of the bonfires. Beyond this, he could faintly see some people who were moving about inside the camp, they should be the people who were tasked to create the frame for the hideout. All of a sudden, the team heard a voice that made them froze on the spot.

    "Who goes there? Come out at this instant!!"

    ''Shit!'' Mark, Paul and Ellen cursed inwardly as they heard that. Even Luna and Anne''s expression became somber as they thought that their n was doomed to fail.

    There was an individual standing not too far away from their location. The team already spotted this guy before but decided to ignore him since they were confident that they are still hidden. Unfortunately, that doesn''t seem to be the case.

    "I know where you are! Do you really want me toe to you before youe out!?" The guy shouted once again.

    Mark, Paul and Ellen, who were close to this where this guy is, were about toe out of hiding and apprehend him when they suddenly heard Raven''s voice echoed in their head.

    ''Stay still and don''t move!'' His voice was loud, making the team froze on their tracks once again. ''He''s bluffing. He can''t see us. Observe carefully.''

    The team calmed down after hearing him. They did what he said and observed the guy and found out that he really was bluffing.

    First of all, this guy wasn''t alone and his voice was loud. If he really sensed the team hiding, then howe his teammates aren''t responding to him? This was the first clue. The second is that this guy wasn''t looing at their hiding spots at all. He stared right in front of him while gripping his sword tightly and cing a ferocious expression. If he could really sense them, then he should''ve called out their hiding spots by now.

    And the final clue that made them so sure that he was bluffing, is when they heard him sigh and say: "Dang it. This isn''t working at all, now the others thinks that I''m abnormal."

    Hearing this words pissed the team off, except for Raven of course.

    ''Hot damn.'' Paul eximed through sound transmission. ''Got me all nervous and shit! What a trick dude, holy shit!''

    ''I don''t know if I should be pissed that I fell for that or be impressed that it worked on me.'' Mark said.

    ''Thank god, someone was actually paying attention. Else the n would''ve been foiled." Annemented.

    ''Avi! Let me slice this guy in half! I am pissed!'' Ellen eximed through voice transmission as well.

    Luna just heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the heavens that they weren''t actually caught.

    ''Alright calm down everyone.'' Raven told them. ''Stay alert and don''t give away your positions. Let''s continue observing things for now.''

    The team eventually calmed down and resumed their observation.

    ''Damn it, I want to infiltrate this ce so bad. I should''ve at least read the memories of those scouts, maybe I would''ve know something from them.'' Ravenined inwardly but could only sigh as he thought of this toote.

    ''Anne, you could see further than me right? Share to the team what you can see.'' Raven said through sound transmission towards the team.

    Anne nodded and then said: ''They appear to be resting for now, at least majority of them are. I can see some people checking their inventory. It looks like the materials they needed are being taken out for that purpose. On top of that, I could also see an underground entrance. I tried peering further but I feel some sort of a barrier that''s blocking my sight.''

    ''An underground entrance and a barrier huh?'' Raven mused. ''Do you have sight of our target?'' He asked her once again.

    ''I don''t.'' Anne replied, ''All I could see are theckeys. I can also spot your ve from here.'' She informed.

    Raven was in deep thought for a bit, he thought of ns and did some simtions inside his head. Eventually, he decided to consult with Anne again.

    ''Tell me everything about this barrier that you spoke of.''

    Anne nodded and started exining: ''This barrier is unusual. Typically, barriers shouldn''t be able to block spying techniques but this one is different. I tried searching for some spots to seep my perception in but I couldn''t find any. I didn''t pry any further since I''m afraid I might trigger some alert.''

    ''That''s fine.'' Ravenmented, ''What does this barrier look like?''

    ''It''s invisible to the naked eye but it made up of multiple inscriptions that are tooplicated for me.'' Anne stated, ''I could see some people entering the cave but each of them needs to ask for permission first from the one guarding the entrance. In my eyes, the barrier swirls with blue, red and white colors.''

    Raven mused for a bit before asking her again, "Can you at least tell me the arrangement of the inscriptions?''

    ''Sure thing.'' Anne said, ''I could see at least four main inscriptions arranged in a diamond formation. There are lines connecting these four and those are also made out of inscriptions. What''s weird is that there is a strange symbol on each of the main inscriptions. I feel like I''ve seen these before but I can''t remember where.''

    ''Share what the symbols looks like.'' Raven said.

    ''I''ll transmit an image instead, that should be easier.'' Anne suggested and proceeded to do just that.

    Not long after that, the team received the image of the barrier that Anne saw, and her description was on point, at least for someone who knows little about inscriptions.

    The team focused on the symbols she described and most of them agreed about what she mentioned earlier. For some reason, these symbols looked familiar but they can''t remember where they saw it.

    ''It''s the Golden Era Language!'' Luna suddenly eximed, which somehow startled the team.

    ''Yes, it really is the Golden Era Language.'' Raven agreed, making the rest react as well.

    ''So that''s why it looked familiar.'' Anne sighed, ''Unfortunately, I don''t know how to transcribe this. Can you, Luna?''

    ''Yeah.'' Luna replied, ''These symbols represent the four cardinal directions, north, east, south, west. The lines that connects these are reads ''Begone'' being repeated over and over again. Avi should know what kind of inscription this is by now.''

    Everyone then turned attention to Raven and as expected, he obviously knew what kind of inscription it is.

    ''It''s name is the Four Cardinal Barrier Seal.'' Raven informed the team. ''It''s a troublesome seal. It has a built in recognition system, preventing anyone that is not recognized from entering. It has an anti-spying system that barred Anne''s senses before. Forcing our way in won''t work as well since the seal will act as a trap that would paralyze us for at least five minutes the moment we try to destroy it. The only thing that we could do is to deactivate that thing but that would surely alert everyone around.''

    Raven exined as he massaged his temples, a sign that he wasn''t so happy to see such a barrier stopping them at their tracks.

 Chapter 279 - Going In

    ---

    "Great." Ellen said with a voice full of sarcasm, "What do we do now?"

    "Let me think for a bit." Raven said as he went inti deep thought once more.

    Seeing a barrier of this caliber in this ce definitely surprised Raven. He did not expect that someone would be able to construct such aplicated array from their enemies. He suspected that the one who built this array must''ve been the mysterious person they''re after but it also could''ve been Vit''hum who imparted the knowledge of this barrier to his minions. The Pale Bastard''s been around for ages after all, it wouldn''t be surprising if he knows some additional tricks here and there.

    "Can''t we just force our way in?" Paul suggested through voice transmission. "It doesn''t matter if we do it by stealth or force, they will know about us anyway. The point is, we have to go inside that underground cave, ASAP I think."

    "I''m okay with that." Mark replied, "But Raven is still thinking so let''s wait for him."

    "No, it''s fine. We''ll do it as he said." Raven stated which surprised the team.

    "Really?" Paul asked in disbelieving voice. Even he, who suggested this rather simplistic n, was surprised that Raven agreed on it.

    "Yes." Raven confirmed, "Just like you said, they''re going to detect us either way so why not y that to our advantage? I can certainly deactivate this array but we can''t do it from this far. So in the end, we can''t avoid confrontation."

    His exnation was sound, and since he already told them what they will be doing, the team made preparations for the confrontation.

    "Paul, get ready. I want a big one, you hear?" Raven told him, which made the guy very excited.

    "No need to tell me twice." Paul replied as he took out his spear and aimed it towards the camp.

    As the team watched him prepare, Raven sent a message to his ve to flee far away from that ce. He had more uses for him so he can''t die just yet. Once the ve got the message, he made some excuses and fled from the ce.

    The ve managed to leave just before Paul threw his spear. It arched in the air, seemingly unthreatening as it fell precisely in the middle of the camp. The soldiers of the ck Curtain Guild became confused as to why a spear would suddenly fall in the middle of the camp. Some of them even yelled at the others and asked who in the world threw this spear while the others tried approaching it.

    But before any of them could approach the spear, they felt the ground quaked fiercely. Some thought that there might be an earthquake but they were wrong¡­

    "Watch out!!"

    A loud warning sounded across the camp, voiced by one of them. Out of nowhere, Paul came crashing down like a meteor with an explosive force. The very ground shook as arge crater formed from where Paulnded.

    Paul didn''t even bother dusting himself off, he got up and picked up his spear, feeling smug about the horrified expressions of the people around him. He lifted his spear and punctured the ground, causing several spikes to rise up and impale the dumbfounded enemies.

    It wasn''t after witnessing the deaths of theirrades that someone finally had the courage to yell: "ENEMY ATTACK!!!"

    This guttural shout served as their wake up call, making the rest pick up their weapons and prepare to gang up at Paul.

    "Come!!!" Paul shouted fervently as he picked up his shield and went on guard to receive his enemies.

    But of course, how could Raven allow Paul to face all of them alone?

    *Screech!*

    A brilliant fire emerged right above Paul, almost like a sun beacon that threatened to blind those who were charging towards him. From that fire emerged a beautiful red haireddy floating in the air as her vermillion wings pped in the air. She was holding a sword that appeared to be made out of pure fire. One sh was all it took for her to sunder multiple tents alight and reduce some people to ashes.

    "I''ve got to say..." Ellen said while looking at Paul, "I like this n of yours."

    The tanned blonde smirked as he stood in front of Ellen like a proper guard.

    Next came a rain of green arrows which urately pierced the hearts and heads of the enemy soldiers. Anne was on the air, carried by her Eagle which isposed of her Wind Laws. She will often pluck her bowstring like it was Zither cords, arrows will then fly from bow to find its way towards her enemies.

    Mark came dashing like a bolt of lightning, impossible for the naked eye to follow. Wherever he went, heads will be separated from their shoulders before he moves on to his next targets. Many tried striking him down out of fear for their lives but he was too damn fast, they couldn''t even graze the hem of his clothes.

    And while his team were busy dealing with this wave of enemies, Luna went along with Raven towards the Four Cardinal Seal Barrier to deal with it, her acting as his guard so that he won''t be disturbed as he cracked down the array.

    Luna hardly left Raven side. Just like the rest of the team, Luna neverpromised when ites to her training,she would often spar with Raven which caused her to improve so much that just with her skills with the spear, she could take down waves of enemiesing her way.

    Raven knew that he could focus on deactivating the array since Luna''s by his side. His girlfriend was not some damsel in distress after all, if she went all out she could even force Balmung to point of fleeing.

    Venus also had her fill for today. While Raven prohibited her from eating humans for now, he instructed her to devour the enemy''s cultivation instead, which is nothing less lethal in all aspects.

    It wasn''t hard for her to learn how to do that. After all, Venus was born from being fed with the purest source of energy thanks to Raven''s methods.

    Once caught by Venus, one should forget about struggling free from her grasp. At max, Venus could crumple steel just by squeezing it. Those who could struggle from her wrap are people who trained their bodies for a very long time, even then it would still take them a long time to free themselves. And with Venus devouring their energies from their bodies, Raven could only give them his best regards on stopping her.

    Raven thought of destroying the array entirely but decided not to. Raven didn''t know if anyone in the team was fast enough to avoid the binding effects of the barrier once it was broken, so he went with deactivation as his option. While this will alert the enemies inside the cave, it doesn''t matter since they are already causing enough ruckus here.

    It didn''t take long for the team to dismantle the whole camp and for Raven to deactivate the barrier.

    The team didn''t spend that much energy dealing with the initial wave of enemies, in fact they''re rtively full even after that battle.

    As the barrier dimmed down, the team went into a formation and braced themselves for another wave of enemies charging towards them. All of them tensed up since their target was in that underground cave. While they were prepared for a confrontation, having an enemy that is shrouded by mystery certainly didn''t make them feel okay.

    The team waited¡­

    And waited for some more¡­

    Holding their positions just in case but¡­

    "What the heck?" Paul groaned, "What''s going on?"

    "They''re noting?" Ellen asked, "Don''t tell me they didn''t hear anything!"

    "That shouldn''t be the case." Annemented, "Themotion should''ve at least alerted them."

    "Yes, and normally someone woulde out to check it out. But¡­" Mark said as he trailed off, feeling uncertain.

    "No one''sing at all." Luna finished his sentence, "They should''ve arrived by now right."

    Raven stared at the cave entrance, opening his eyes widely while his ocr technique is active. He couldn''t help but frown and say: "This, doesn''t feel right. I can''t see anyone. How about you Anne?"

    "Same." She said while shaking her head, "I can''t see anyone at all."

    "Dude, this is creepy." Paulmented, "What do we do?"

    Raven inhaled sharply as he made a decision. "We go inside. Stay sharp everyone, remember this is an underground cave, one mistake here and we will be buried. We willmunicate using voice transmissions, is that clear?"

    "Yes."

    "Alright, move."

    With Raven''smand, the team slowly walked inside the underground cave to investigate what''s going on inside. They stayed close to each other and remained alert, not daring to miss even a single bit irregrity that they could see. Theymunicated with each other using voice transmissions to minimize the sounds but the farther they went in, the more creeped out they were about the strange atmosphere inside the cave.

    It wasn''t until they got to the other end of the cave that they finally saw what was going on. What they saw was something that none of them expected at all. The silence was broken by Paul''s carelessment¡­

    "What the fuck!?"

 Chapter 280 - Lucy

    ---

    What weed the team was a scene that waspletely out of their expectations.

    All this time, the team was expecting a lot noise from constructions, many people running everywhere in the cave doing stuff while being observed by their supervisors and getting stuff done.

    What they saw instead were the rest of the ck Curtain Guild''s men floating in the air like they were ascending or something.

    Those that the team dealt with earlier are only a fraction of their force, they didn''t pass the 100 number count from Luna''s estimations. They already guessed that the rest were here but they weren''t expecting them to be in this state.

    It appears that everyone from their group was in a simr state. All of them floated in the air with their eyes closed and had faces that showed myriad expressions.

    Some appeared to be in pain while the rest appeared to be in bliss.

    "What the fuck?" Paul eximed as what he saw finally sank in to his mind, "What''s going on here?"

    "No idea." Markmented, "For some reason, they are all suspended in the air. I don''t know what caused them to end up like that, I can''t feel anything from them either. How about you guys?"

    "I can''t feel anything either." Anne replied, "Nor see anything for that matter."

    Ellen didn''t speak since she didn''t know what was going on either. Raven was analyzing the scene before them when he noticed that Luna was acting rather strange.

    She was absorbed in thought, so much so that she didn''t even notice that Raven was already waving his hands on her face and calling her out, trying to wake her up from her stupor. She only came back to reality when she felt someone shook her body, causing her consciousness to return to reality.

    "Luna! What''s wrong!?"

    "H-huh?" She replied, stuttering as she felt confused for a second. "Oh! Sorry about that, I didn''t know I became so engrossed on my thoughts."

    Raven frowned and asked: "Can you feel anything from this?"

    Luna wrinkled her brows and tried thinking, she replied by saying: "Barely. I can feel something in them, but it''s so faint that I can''t quite make it out."

    Raven''s face became stern, he was about to say something when Luna added: "Strange. It feels¡­familiar? I don''t get it. I''m pretty sure I''ve never encountered anything like this before, but why do I get some sort of a familiarity with it? What''s going on here, Avi?"

    Hearing that made Raven a bit surprised. He thought for a second and said: "I''m not sure. So far, only you could feel something from these people. Even I don''t know what''s going on. Why don''t we investigate first? Let''s see if we could find something else before making assumptions."

    The team agreed with his n and together, they resumed walking deeper into the cave while maintaining a close distance with each other. Raven made sure to remind them about alertness, no one had any idea when these people are going to wake up, and just in case they did, the team had to be alert.

    As they got deeper into the cave, the more people they saw suspended in the air whilst unconscious. There is only one path inside the cave for them to follow which made their navigation easy.

    Along the way, Luna would sometimes inform them that she could feel some wisps of energy distracting her. Whenever Raven consulted her about what that energy felt like to her, she could only reply that it was familiar and that it doesn''t have any malicious intent.

    What''s even more stranger is that, Luna felt like this wisps of energies are telling them were to go even though there''s only one path avable inside the cave.

    Raven felt a little bit of apprehension. He didn''t understand why it was only Luna who could feel this ''wisps of energies'', he tried using everything in his arsenal just so that he could capture even the faintest feel of what Luna could feel but nothing worked. In the end, he could only suggest moving forward and remain on guard for an unexpected development.

    Out of nowhere, Raven felt Luna froze. Nervousness crept up to his heart and when he tried to ask her what''s going on, she suddenly yelled: "Iing!!!"

    *Boom!*

    An intense explosion nearly caught them off guard. Thank goodness that Paul was swift to react and immediately leapt up in front of the team to receive the blow. When the dust cloud settled down, everyone regained their vision and finally saw what happened.

    They saw Paul almost kneeling on the ground while his shield was raised. His face was pale, blood trickled down at the corners of his lips but he maintained his position.

    Sounds of metals shing echoed inside the cave, when they looked at what hit Paul, they saw a nasty and bony scythe rebounding back from where it came from. Ellen immediately went beside Paul and red at every direction, yelling:

    "Who the hell was that!? Show yourself!"

    *Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

    Instead of a reply, tapping sounds was app they heard. Every single one gripped their weapons tightly and stepped closer to each other.

    "Well, well."

    A chilling voice, obviously noting from anyone in the team, echoed inside the cave walls. The tapping sounds came closer and everyone looked over towards where the sound wasing from.

    "What do we have here? It looks like somembs scampered away from the herd."

    That voice became even more frightening as it came close. It sounded like two voices merged into one, a female and a male. It sounded so eerie and creepy, even a battle hardened warrior would get goosebumps just from listening to this.

    When the tapping sound stopped, Raven and the team finally caught saw the one who threw the scythe at them.

    This person was a female dressed in a male''s attire. Her clothes resembled an old traditional robes that only Royalties of the past wore. The robes were ck in color but were surrounded by a curtain of red light. She was wearing a skull mask which covered most of her facial features except from her blood red eyes, her pale cheeks and her ck lips.

    She grasped a nine foot, nine inches long scythe which appeared to be made out of human bones. Some bones on the handle looked like it came from one''s limbs and it''s core, there appears to be a long spinal bone. There is a skull ornament ced where the de of the scythe starts, from an angle it looked like the de wasing off of the jaws of the skull. The de was about four to five foot long, it was curved almost resembling a crescent moon. It shone with a fearsome glint as it reflected the faces of the team.

    "Ah!" She uttered in that eerie voice once more, "Where are my manners?"

    In front of the tensed team, she performed a curt bow and said: "My name is Lucy. The Right Hand Man-well, Woman I suppose, of the ck Curtain Guild''s Master."

    The woman who introduced herself as Lucy got up from her bow and smiled at the team. At normal times, her smile would appear as a lovely sign, a weing gift for anyone who gazes at it. But with her holding that nasty scythe and tracing it''s de using her fingers, this smile caused anyone to feel shivers on their spine.

    "I suppose you feisty littlembs are not in the mood for introductions, hmm?" Lucy asked as she twirled her scythe like some baton.

    Raven could feel the fearsome killing intent surrounding this woman. She was bad news, though he was already expecting such from someone whom the guild kept as a secret for a very long time.

    "Not up for conversations either, hmm?" Lucy added as a chilling smile appeared on her lips yet again.

    "It seems that you, people of the ck Curtain Guild, are getting rather bold nowadays." Ellen spoke as her brilliant vermilion fire illuminated the dark cave. A pulsing wings of fire sprouted on her back as she stared unflinchingly at Lucy. "Speak, you cross-dressing witch. What is your purpose foring this close to our home?"

    Lucy gasped at Ellen''s words. "My! What a foul-mouthedmb you are! Cross-dressing Witch you say? You know nothing about fashion dear! You''re just envious that my bust is bigger than yours, hohohoho."

    The team nearly lost it upon hearing that, they certainly weren''t expecting her to return the blow in that manner. Ellen was fuming, not because this woman insulted her modest bust but because she wasn''t taking them seriously. Her mes raged even further, making the temperature inside the cave rise up by a couple of notches.

    Though the team was used to her spouting mes like this, it doesn''t mean that they''re not affected by the heat she was producing. If it weren''t for Raven cing a hand on her shoulders, she would''ve raised the temperature even further.

    "I would advise you to take us seriously Lady Lucy, if that''s even your real name."

    After saying this, Raven raised his hand and ripped out a piece of space surrounding them.. With a forceful tug, it appears that he broke some sort of an istion space surrounding them which caused Lucy''s expression to change.

 Chapter 281 - Initial Clash

    ---

    Raven never dropped his awareness. When Paul was attacked by Lucy earlier, Raven unfolded all the spying techniques avable on his arsenal to search for the culprit. While he didn''t understand why Luna was the one who sensed the attack first before him, he still managed to sense that Lucy was releasing some sort of a technique since she appeared.

    He kept his mouth shut and observed, the moment he felt that she was trying to iste them, he ripped the technique apart by using his Destruction Laws to attack the weak point.

    "My, my. What do we have here?" Lucy purred with a seductive tone, "An impressive littlemb, I see."

    Though she sounded a little weird, the team knew that they got her attention now.

    "What''s your name, boy?" Lucy asked as she continued tracing her scythe.

    "Introductions are useless. Either you tell us what we want to know or we force out from you." Raven stated in a cold voice as he gripped him hammer.

    "Oh? Is that so? Forcing it out, you say? Hohohoho¡­" Lucy muttered with her strange voice, sounding a little bit insane.

    She then tilted her head and continued: "Then we shall see whether you have the ability to do so."

    Lucy abruptly disappeared from her position and when she reappeared she already had her scythe raised high, attempting to hack down at Raven who was at the back of the group. As the gleaming de of her scythe descended in attempts of slicing Raven in two, a ferocious roar and a piercing shriek echoed inside the cave.

    "HAAAAAHHHH!" Paul''s throat vibrated he released an ear-shattering roar. As the sound waves travelled towards Lucy, it caused her to falter slightly and made her attack miss Raven, who didn''t even bother dodging at all.

    A blue barrier appeared at each of the team members, a shield that could protect them nine times against life-threatening attacks and won''t disappear so long as Paul is standing.

    Ellen''s shriek caused Lucy to suffer a headache. Along with her voice, a geyser of mes erupted beneath her feet, nearly sundering her to ashes. Reacting quickly, she retreated a few steps back in order to regain her bnce and attempt another attack.

    But before she could do so, a blue sh resembling lightning caught up to her in a heartbeat. Lucy ced her scythe in front of her to defend.

    *ng*

    The dagger thrown at her ricocheted in the air, Lucy was about to retreat yet again when she saw a blitz of blue sh near the dagger. To her shock, Mark appeared out of nowhere and nted his feet firmly at her skull mask, causing her to fly backwards.

    Still the onught of the team she called ''Lambs'', didn''t stop there.

    Even in her flight back, she still have to actively defend herself since she could see green shes of light heading her way.

    Lucy could feel a profound sense of danger in these green lights, and being a battle hardened woman she knows that she couldn''t block these arrows from Anne, which left her with the only option avable to her, dodging. She shifted her weight and used her delicate hands to stop her from flying back and regain her footing.

    She then rolled aside to avoid the arrows from piercing her skull and heart. Lucy then got up and received yet another waves of attack, this timeing from Luna who engaged her in a ferocious melee.

    Luna''s attacks were fast and deadly. With her being using her Light Laws, the speed of her attacks were too much for Lucy to handle. Sparks of shing metals briefly illuminated the dark cave as the two women shed with one another.

    In between their sh, Luna pulled a surprising move which made Lucy confused. She took a step back and stomped her feet, causing her to leap in the air. Lucy was about to follow her to resume the sh but all of a sudden, she heard this¡­

    "Twisting Decimation."

    Arms manifested in front of Raven, twisting around each other to resemble a battering ram that flew towards the unsuspecting Lucy.

    Lucy on the other hand noticed this toote, causing her to bear the astounding weight behind Raven''s attack. She shot back like a cannon ball, coughing out blood amidst of her flight back. With a loud sound, she found herself embedded on the walls of the cave, feeling pain all over her body.

    "Curses¡­" she muttered as she dislodged herself from being embedded on the wall. "What ferocious little brats you are, specially you boys! Is this how you treat a Lady?"

    Her words were treated like it was nothing by the team, they stood together and red at her. Under their gazes, Lucy did something out of ordinary.

    She raised her hand and pointed at one of the floating guys around the cave. At the instant she pointed, the floating and unconscious person suddenly shriveled up and turned into a dried corpse.

    A red wisp of smoke emerged from the dried corpse and flew towards Lucy, who inhaled the said smoke that caused her to recover from her injuries.

    "That''s nasty." Paulmented as he witnessed what she did. Though he had no idea how she did this, he could tell that she killed someone to heal her injuries.

    "All''s fair in love and war, little babies." Lucy replied while licking her lips seductively. "But I have to say, you lot have my full attention now. Youmbs shall be a very, very tasty treat."

    "Ahhh! Just thinking about it does things to my body!" Lucy said as she seductively ran her fingers on the curves of her body.

    On normal cases, this would definitely cause some reactions from the team. However, they are in the middle of a battle, and such tricks would no longer work on them thanks to Raven''s training.

    "Hmm, I don''t like anyone touching my toys¡­" Lucy uttered, "And though I like it when people y hard to get, I don''t really enjoy a long chase. Hmm, what to do?"

    "Ah! I have an idea!" Lucy suddenly eximed in a excited voice. "Let''s have an orgy."

    Lucy raised her hand and snapped. And under the team''s gaze, the floating people woke up one by one. Every single one of them had blood red eyes, simr to what Lucy had. And even though they woke up, they didn''t appear to be mindful of their actions. It was evident that they are being used as puppets for Lucy''s own leisure and disposal.

    The puppets started charging towards them in waves. The team defended themselves but they soon found out that it doesn''t matter how much they attack these puppets, so long as some of their bodies remained intact, they will keep on standing up and will continue to attack them.

    "This is bad! These bastards refuse to die." Paul stating the obvious, "What do we do?"

    Raven immediately replied with: "We have to fall back to the entrance. They are being manipted by her Poison Laws. We need the elites for this. Move!"

    As he gave the order, the team immediately employed their movement abilities and retreated back to the entrance.

    The waves of enemies followed them with Lucy at the very back, strutting like this was her yard. As soon as the enemies emerged from the mouth of the cave, Mark immediately sent a re signal calling the elites to help them in battle.

    "This won''t solve our problem Avi." Lunamented, "So long as Lucy is up, these guys will continue fighting."

    "I know that." Raven replied, "Listen up everyone."

    He then sent them a voice transmission, detailing the n that he had. Once they received the n, the team started acting on it.

    It was also about this time that the elites on stand by arrived on the battlefield. Raven briefed them about the situation and gave them instructions before returning to the task at hand.

    Paul stood in front of the group with his shield up and feet firmly nted on the ground. Behind him, Ellen, Mark and Luna was helping him by attacking the droves of mindless enemies heading towards their way.

    Lucy cackled madly at her safe spot behind her puppets. Failing to notice that Anne was winding up for a huge attack. When she noticed the spiking energy umting at the team, it was already toote.

    Anne sent a massive arrow in front of them that cleared the path ahead. The arrow skewered multiple enemies on it''s flight and headed towards Lucy.

    Lucy prepared to retreat against such an attack but before she could do so, she saw the arrow changed its course, seemingly trying to evade her. When she returned her focus on the team, she caught glimpse of Raven hitting Paul causing him to fly like a meteor towards her.

    Lucy''s pupils constricted as she hurriedly ced her scythe before her, shing with Paul''s shield as both of them continued shooting backwards, away from the underground cave and the mindless puppets around them.

    It was at this point that Lucy realized that she has been outwitted by the people she called ''Lambs''.

 Chapter 282 - Apprehend

    ---

    Poison Laws. Another one of the rarer Laws to get enlightenment from.

    An individual who could use Poison Laws would be considered as one of the deadliest assassins to ever exist. The reason being is that, most of them don''t need actual physical contact to infect someone with Poison.

    Enlightened individuals about Poison Laws could mix the poison of their own choosing to the air without someone noticing it. And since it is aw instead of a worldly material, curing it requires special requirements.

    From what Raven could tell, Lucy had imnted some sort of neurotoxin inside her minions which she could activate at will, them being unconscious from it might just be a side effect. These neurotoxins might''ve gone as deep as touching their very consciousness, eroding it and giving it subliminalmands that Lucy could use to make them follow her will.

    Such is a power of a Poison Expert, who happens to understand Poison Laws as well.

    Raven''s attack caused Paul and Lucy to fly quite far from their original location. This was the n that Raven came up with upon realizing that Lucy could use Poison Laws.

    At first he mistook it for Blood Laws but when he saw how her minions alwayse back from the dead even after dismembering them in multiple pieces, he became certain about it. And frankly, he wasn''t really looking forward in fighting her knowing this.

    Their flight went on for a kilometer and half before Lucy managed to finally get some leverage to dislodge herself from the impact. Of course, she knew that the rest of this guy''s friends were hot on their tracks and their n was to separate her from her minions so that she couldn''t use them to heal herself. She was annoyed because they seeded.

    Lucy''s face was grim, she knew that they already discovered her trump card which is her Poison Laws. Though it might look like she was just standing around and doing nothing earlier, the truth is that she was releasing her special poison mix in the air were trying to corrupt these kids. Unfortunately, they weren''t affected because there is a barrier protecting them from and had their ownws to protect them.

    Speaking of which, knowing that these brat could use Laws irritated her to no end as well. She couldn''t wrap her mind around the fact that these little brats were this strong and already made contact with the profound powers of nature. How in the world is that possible? She herself trained night and day to reach Knight Stage, managing to reach at the age of 27, which is quite young in normal standards. Even gaining enlightenment with Poison Laws which boosted her status at the guild at the same age as well.

    She had always been proud of her progress yet these kids in front of her easily trumped over her pride, shattering in to pieces. How was that fair?

    As soon as she regain her bnce, the rest of the team caught up with the two and regrouped to face her. This time, Raven didn''t want to give her anymore chances.

    "Dial up the pressure guys. We are not stopping until she''s down."

    Raven opened up the onught by summoning multiple arms in the sky, sending it crashing down towards Lucy. The ground caved in, causing multiple craters to form due to the intensity of Raven''s attacks. Lucy tried her best to evade but the follow up attack of the team made it difficult to do so.

    Paul was repeatedly stabbing the ground, causing Earth Spikes to appear where she''s about to step, forcing her to re-adjust her footing to evade. If that''s not enough, she also has to evade the searing mes heading her way, the asion arrows and lightning strikes as well as the untraceable yellow light which harassed her to no end.

    Lucy felt miserable. She couldn''t believe that a proper Golden Knight like her was being suppressed to this end by a group of brats. What''s even more insulting is that, if it weren''t for her finally summoning her Golden Armament to protect her body, she would''ve died multiple times at their onught.

    "Argh! You limp-dicked assholes and you bitches!!! I''ve had it with you!" Lucy screeched with absolute madness. "When I''m done with you! I will make sure to torture you night and day! I will have my revenge!!"

    Lucy threw all caution with the wind and started releasing poison from every pore of her body. The team became apprehensive. They didn''t know what kind of poison she''s releasing right now and frankly, from the chilling vibes they got just by looking at it, they didn''t want to know.

    "Aha-Hahahaha!" Lucy cackled madly, "Ah! This is it! Try me again you brats! See if I don''t poison you to death."

    Driven by madness, the murky purple poison around her body started spreading in the air. Anything it touches will immediately be infected. The grass, flowers and trees around her started withering at a pace visible to the naked eye. The poor hare that got a little too close, immediately died and its body started rotting, releasing a foul smell in the air.

    "Armaments, NOW!" Raven practically roared as he himself activated his. An armor manifested around his body, perfectly wrapping him around its metallic gleam. Raven''s armor resembled an old fashioned design which appear to be made out of scales. The arrangement of the said scales were erratic, almost like it was constructed very poorly. But something about these scales appeared weird. It was almost as if they were moving with a mind of their own.

    Raven''s Knightly Armament consists of a helmet, chest te, a cross-cut shoulder guards, battle skirt where the scales are more concentrated, and thigh-high boots. As soon as this appeared, the air around Raven changed. The space around him were seeming breaking like ss, and he wasn''t even doing anything. This was his Destruction Laws in effect, actively protecting him from the noxious gas that Lucy was emitting.

    As the rest summoned their armor, the team''s aura changed and appeared to be linked with each other. Each of them started releasing their respective Laws to resist the powerful poison in the air, effectively nullifying Lucy''s desperate attack.

    "Damn it!" Lucy cursed as she forgot that these kids were actual Knights and have their own Knightly Armament. She also couldn''t believe that these brats had reduced her to such a miserable state without going all out.

    Lucy hated this, she never felt this defeated and helpless against anyone aside from her own master which is Vit''hum, disguised as stair. Then suddenly, these brats came. She wanted nothing more than to rip them into pieces to appease her envious and hateful heart.

    Madness slowly consumed her rationality, causing her to disregard her initial instinct which screamed danger and charge towards the team.

    Her initial charge was thwarted by Paul, who used his spear like a disciplining whip to send her flying back. Without missing a beat, he held his shield using both hands and rammed the ground multiple times, causing six earth pirs to rise up from the ground, effectively restricting her movements.

    Each person on the team took a pir to stand on. Ellen heaved a deep breath and blew fire from her mouth, spouting it directly inside the pir prison. Her target wasn''t Lucy, it was the noxious gas around her. Ellen wanted to burn the foul gas away so that it won''t spread anymore.

    Anne assisted her in this act, blowing wind just strong enough to fan the mes and not kill it. Luna also participated by releasing a purified light that actively fought against the foul nature of the gas.

    Lucy screeched with insanity, she wanted nothing more than to escape by now but she couldn''t because Mark electrocuted her repeatedly each time she attempted to escape. And even if she could avoid it, she was effective imprisoned by them since Paul ced a barrier to prevent her from escaping.

    And if she ever manage to break the barrier, she has nowhere to go since there is a menacing pir-sized Silver Fist, aimed at her location and would not hesitate toe crashing down should she dare to do escape.

    From the very start of this operation, the goal of the team was not to kill but to apprehend. Killing her was thest option, as much as possible they want her alive for intel since she''s pretty high-up in the ranks.

    After a while of experiencing the bitter pain of suppression, Lucy finally gave in and said: "God¡­damn it. B-beaten by some¡­brats¡­"

    She fell on the ground, totally unconscious from exhaustion. As soon as they saw her lose consciousness, Paul removed the barrier and Raven jumped down from the pir he was standing on.

    Hands blurring from create seals after another, golden inscriptions struck her unconscious body. This willter serve as restrictions that would keep her from doing anything reckless as they squeeze out information from.

    And since she was now defeated, those who were infected by her Poison Laws were now helplessly lying on the ground with their fates resting on the hands of the Elites who followed Raven''s instructions.

 Chapter 283 - Unease

    ---

    "Alright, we''re done here. You guys can release them, it''s time that we return home."

    Raven told the Elites who readily obeyed his order and released the captives.

    Not all of Lucy''s puppets died when she lost consciousness, some managed to live through the ordeal but became too weak to resist afterwards. To this, Raven was struck with a wonderful idea. One by one, he nted a ve seal to each of them, effectively increasing the numbers of his spies inside the ck Curtain Guild.

    Since they were reduced to a very weakened state due to Lucy''s Poison Laws, they couldn''t resist Raven''s will at all, resulting to them being branded by a ve Seal.

    There were at least 20 people who survived, counting the prior ve Raven had, he now have a total of 21 people who will serve as his spies from now on. After making sure that they were properly branded and briefed about the n, the ves were released and started making their way back to the guild.

    Raven and the team had already squeezed out information from the ves but failed to discover nothing, the same goes upon inspecting the deepest parts of the underground cave. In the end, they could only take their time and return back to the kingdom so that they could squeeze out information from Lucy herself.

    The way back to the Kingdom was rtively peaceful. Aside from a few injured, they didn''t lose anyone from the team of Elites which is a cause for celebration. The group took their time, resting properly on their way back since there is no reason to be in a hurry after all.

    It took them a day to get back, their return was weed by the Golden Knights, who immediately summoned the team back at the pce toplete the report.

    Of course, thanks to the Sk Array, the King and the rest already knew the results of the battle were but still they have to meet the person they brought back.

    On their way to the pce, Old Lee noticed that Raven appeared to be in a deep thought. The old man was puzzled so he decided to ask him: "Is there something wrong, Young Raven?"

    Raven was of course, surprised by this sudden question as he himself didn''t realize that he was locked on a deep thought. He gave the old man a smile and said: "It''s nothing, Professor Lee. I guess I''m just shocked that this mission was easier than I initially thought. I guess I was worried for nothing and underestimate our strength together, everything went well in the end."

    ''Yes¡­'' Raven''s thoughts continued inside his mind, ''Everything went well¡­too well in fact that it''s so ufortable." The old man knew nothing of his inner thoughts, but knew that Raven has his own worries.

    "One cannot be too prepared when ites to a decisive battle, Young Raven." Old Lee stated, "In fact, it''s better that it ended up this way, at least this shows just how much you care about the people around you."

    Raven smiled and nodded towards the Old Lee''s words. He then decided to throw this matter on the back of his head for now since there are more pressing matters to attend to.

    ***

    After finishing up the reports of the battle and securing Lucy''s imprisonment. The team and the Elites were released and were allowed to return to their homes. The Elites were rewarded due to their performance, the team didn''t receive any since they don''t need any.

    Resting on their respective homes, a day went by and Raven returned to the pce along with Luis since Lucy''s interrogation will happen today.

    Due to the restrictions that Raven ced on her, Lucy was effectively reduced into a mere mortal. Raven watched as the interrogation went and by using all means possible, they managed to squeeze out important details from her.

    ording to what she said, the reason why they want to build a camp near the Kingdom is due to Lucy''s talent in Poison Laws. She has a special poison that could supersede one''s very consciousness, allowing her to push her will and desires for them to follow. All she had to do is to catch a few people who wandered to close to the camp, poison them and have them return.

    Those who were poisoned will be predators that will attack whenever Lucy decided, each of their victims would get infected and a cycle will repeat until they could effectively create a pseudo organization inside, and then it will be the Mort Family all over again.

    Due to the reports of the battle against her, the interrogators knew that what she said was the truth. Fortunately, the guild didn''t ount on Raven and his team''s existence at all. They underestimated the growth of these kids, who crushed their ns before it even bore fruit.

    Still, even after all this, Raven wasn''t satisfied.

    Something was nagging at him. Something was wrong - is what is his instincts told him. Yet he couldn''t ce a finger on it.

    Even after Lucy''s interrogation over, Raven still didn''t feel at ease. Yes, he himself knew that Lucy told them the truth but for some reason, there is something missing in this situation which made Raven really ufortable.

    ''Was that really it?'' Raven asked himself, ''It can''t be right? If that was really it, then it doesn''t make sense why I''m feeling this way. But, she told the truth and she even said that what she said was everything she knew.''

    ''But what is this uneasy feeling?'' Raven frowned, ''Heavens, I hope I''m just tired.''

    Since Raven couldn''t find any answers, he shook the thought out of his head and decided to spend the remaining time of his day with Luna in the Pce.

    It was when he was nning on returning home, that Raven''s hidden worries emerged and finally happened.

    As he was making his exit from the pce, Raven suddenly felt chills all over his body. rm bells rang in his mind, screaming danger at him and telling him to hurry.

    Raven felt a strange type of energy in the air, this made him even more apprehensive since he never felt this energy present inside this ce before, he visited this ce regrly so he knows.

    Without any hesitations, Raven raced towards the source of the energy fluctuations. It was also at this moment that he finally remembered something that he had forgotten earlier.

    ''Damn it! Is this what Luna felt before? What is this energy? Did it follow us all the way here?''

    On his way towards the source of the energy, Raven also noticed the trail he was following. The path he took towards the source was familiar to him, in fact it was quite fresh in his memories since it was the same path he took towards Lucy''s prison earlier.

    ''Damn! Damn! Damn!'' Raven repeatedly cursed inwardly, ''I should''ve trusted my god damned instincts! I KNEW something was wrong! I KNEW something was missing! Damn it! I''m an idiot!''

    Raven practically ran in desperation towards the source. He pleaded to the heavens that no one gets hurt for his carelessness, yet it seems that it was his destiny to cause yet another mistake that might possibly doom all that he cared about.

    Upon arriving at Lucy''s prison where the strange energy was concentrated. He saw two people present.

    It was Lucy, who''s skull mask were nowhere to be seen, revealing her peerless looks as she appeared to be slumbering in peace whilst few tears flowed on her face.

    And the other one, was none other than King Alexander. He had his back resting against the walls of her cell, clearly in pain showed by his pale face and frowning expression. Green smoke oozed out of his body as he clutched his right arm.

    Raven was livid. His killing intent soared as rationality threatened to cease. At thest wisps of his consciousness, he touched the mark connecting him with Richard and Jacob.

    He sent them a message: ''You two! Get up and hurry to the pce! The King needs treatment!''

    Raven practically roared this order to them. After that, his hammer materialized on his hand and Silver Fist started condensing on top of Lucy''s slumbering body. Gripping his hammer tightly, he was about to send the hammer down when it was intercepted by a golden sword of none other than the King himself.

    "Don''t¡­" Alexander said with so much difficulty, allowing Raven to regain some of his rationality back.

    With his face pale, he raised his sword and prevented Raven from killing Lucy. The Silver Fist crumbled into nothingness which relieved the King but his current condition acted up, causing him to cough blood repeatedly, making Raven worry to no end.

    Raven knelt by his side and started performing some necessary aid to him to at least prevent the poison from spreading even further. He pushed his hands against his chest and started the initial treatment while he wait for Richard and Jacob. It was then he heard Alexander talk once more, and his words baffled him to no end.

    "Don''t hurt my Beloved Queen."

 Chapter 284 - Tears Of A King

    ---

    Raven''s face became extremely solemn as he heard those words.

    He was shocked since he thought that the King had fallen under Lucy''s deadly poison, and had his mind corrupted already.

    In Raven''s rising anger, not to the king nor Lucy, a bunch of golden inscriptions were activated. Some were used to restrain Lucy even in her slumber, others were used to at least keep the Poison Laws of Lucy at bay from further affecting the King''s body.

    Raven fed him some pills to stabilize his condition. He then reactivated Lucy''s prison and proceeded to escort the King towards his chambers so that he could receive proper treatment once Richard and Jacob arrives.

    Once the King''s expression became a bit better, Ravenid him to his bed and waited until the two arrived.

    Richard and Jacob came in with the Golden Knights on tow. Upon seeing Raven doing some check-ups with the King''s body, the two didn''t say a word and began setting up necessary equipment to proceed with the treatment.

    "What in the world happened here!?" Old Lee asked in a very worried tone.

    They could all see how Alexander''s state is not faring well. Even though Raven gave him the first-aid treatment, his brows were still furrowed and asional wisps of green smoke could be seen escaping through his right arm.

    Raven had no reason to lie, so he told them everything that happened prior to their arrival. When they heard that the King referred to Lucy as his ''Beloved Queen'', their expressions visibly contorted.

    "This is bad." Old Lee stated, "He fell victim to the poison."

    "This reckless fool!" Leona spat, "Why did he even decide to visit her alone, even after knowing what she could do?"

    Morel didn''t say anything but he promptly left the room and took it to himself on overseeing Lucy''s prison.

    "Let us focus on the treatment first." Raven stated in a solemn manner. "Seniors, I need your help. Please make sure that the news of Uncle''s current state won''t leave this ce. We can''t afford to worry the masses for now."

    Old Lee and Leona nodded,pletely agreeing to his words. They then moved out and made sure to inform the people who saw them earlier to not speak a thing about this matter or there would be severe consequences.

    The three then proceed to initiate the King''s treatment. Doing their best to think of the best way towards his recovery, they used everything in their arsenal to return the King''s previous condition. Unfortunately, they were destined to fail. At first, they debated whether to cut the King''s arm or not.

    The King''s right arm is where most of the poison were concentrated, cutting it would be a logical decision since it would prevent the poison from further spreading through his body. They could just regrow it anyway by feeding him a Limb Restoration Pill.

    In the end, they didn''t do it for now since there are still some scattered poison around the King''s body. They would reconsider this idea once they isted all of the poison to the King''s right arm since they couldn''t cure it through the pills the have.

    It''s not that nothing they did work. In fact, the King''s health had been nursed back to it''s previous condition. That being said, there is nothing they could do other than to constantly feed him medicines in order to keep the poison of Lucy at bay.

    Lucy''s poison is coated with Poison Laws. It is extremely effective and corrosive to one''s body. It is rather unfortunate since none of the three''s skill reached the level where they could concoct something that would nullify even Laws itself.

    Raven was constantly gritting his teeth, ming himself for not trusting his instinct and causing this scenario to ur. He wanted to go on a rampage, to personally go through Lucy''s prison and end her for good. But his rationality kept him in check, he focused on what''s important for now since Lucy won''t be able to escape her imprisonment anyway.

    Later then, the King regained consciousness, making Raven go on alert and hurriedly ask about his condition.

    However, the King wasn''t even concerned at his own body. As soon as he woke up, his first words were: "I hope you did not kill her, or else I would charge you with treason."

    Raven was stumped, he didn''t know what to say or do. He despaired, thinking that the King must''ve truly became a servant of Lucy.

    "It seems that you underestimate me Child." The King said. Thetter half of his words shook Raven''s core, "Do you think I, the King of Final Haven Kingdom, would sumb to the mind corrosive nature of a petty Law?"

    Raven''s eyes constricted as well as Richards''s and Jacob''s. All they could do, was to stare unflinchingly at the King. Trying to digest what he just said.

    "Raven, I have the Light by my side. So long as my Light exists, it would illuminate the road and show me the truth behind everything. Hence, my sanity remains intact andpletely unaffected by some petty tricks."

    The King showed a smile which almost brought Raven to tears. Right, how could he forget? Alexander is the King - the Light of the Kingdom. His Light Laws protected him from any kind of mind-controlling ailments due to its innate purification nature.

    "Do me a favor and bring her here." Alexander said in a weakened voice. Raven hesitated but it seems that it wasn''t needed since Leona came bursting through the door of his chambers.

    She held the unconscious Lucy on her arms, tears brimming her face as she locked eyes with the weakened Alexander, seemingly asking for answers. Following her was the distressed Old Lee and Morel, who also appeared somehow confused by this situation.

    "Alex!" Leona called to the King, clearly dropping all sense of formality. "I need answers! What the fuck is going on? What sorcery did you use to make us forget about her and why does your new prisoner look exactly like her!? Speak up!"

    Raven was stunned by Leona''s outrage. He had idea of what''s going on and could only watch as the scene unfold.

    The offered Leona a sad smile, he beckoned towards her and said: "Please,y her beside me."

    "I won''t!" Leona fired back, almost appearing as if she was challenging the King. "I refuse! Not until you tell me everything!"

    "How can I tell you if even I myself don''t know what''s going on!?" The King stated in his weakened state, clearly saddened by all that is happening as well. "If I hadn''t seen her face, I would''ve not remembered anything at all as well! Of all people Leona, it should be you who understand! You know, I would stop at nothing to keep everyone I care about safe and sound! It is also you who knows just what kind of a woman Elizabeth is!"

    The King''s words struck a deep chord on Leona''s heart. She knew that his words were true, but she couldn''t keep still. Her emotions were wild and she wants answers. Sadly, it is obvious that no one in this room could provide her with one.

    Keeping her emotions at check, sheid the unconscious Lucy beside Alexander.

    As soon as her back hit the bed, Alexander''s tears gushed out like opened flood gates. Raven could''ve sworn that he never saw Alexander cry this hard, not even during his past life. He couldn''t even imagine that he would bore sight to such a scene.

    Alexander traced the sleeping face of Lucy with his fingers. His tears flowed in his eyes but there was a relieved smile in his face.

    "I''ve always had this nagging feeling that something was missing ever since my return." Alexander spoke, seemingly talking to himself. "It kept gnawing at my heart. But no matter how hard I searched for it, I never found out what was it all about¡­that''s until I saw you."

    The King held Lucy''s hand, and from the moment their fingers interlocked, a strange sigil appeared on their chest, visible to everyone who''s witnessing the event.

    Golden Knights were practically bawling their eyes out from the mere sight of this sigil. Meanwhile, Raven''s jaw went wide since he was too familiar with that sigil.

    "The Sigil of Fated Love." He said breathlessly.

    The said sigil is a lost ancient art of an era that came even before the Golden Era. The records were a bit convoluted but at it''s core, the Sigil of Fated Love is said to be blessing of the God of Emotions to two people who loved each other. It is unclear what the sigil itself could do but Raven knew that this sigil could never be faked. Which basically confirmed that Lucy, or Elizabeth as the King referred to her, is really Alexander''s wife and the Queen of this Kingdom.

    But still, Raven remained confused.

    "You are just a handful aren''t you?" The Kingughed mirthlessly to himself, "What did you do this time? And why did you erase my memories of you as well? Don''t you know how painful this is for me? For our children? Why did you have to leave us, my dear Queen?"

 Chapter 285 - Kings Past

    ---

    *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

    "Your Majesty!!"

    Everyone became extremely rmed when Alexander suddenly broke into a fit of coughing. As expected, even though he didn''t fall from the mind control, the poison is still harming him.

    Raven was already by his side at this point, he used all means he could to suppress the poison from acting up along with the help of Richard and Jacob. As they healed him, the King suddenly held Raven''s arms and talked to him.

    "Please, Child." He said in a weakened and exhausted voice, "If there''s anything you can do help her, do it. I don''t care what you do, just please bring her back. I know at least a part of her is still in there, suffering through this pain. Please, save my Queen."

    Raven fought back the tears by biting his lip. He forcefully nodded his head and asked Richard as well as Jacob to monitor the King''s situation. He then moved on the other side of the bed and checked Lucy''s - no, Elizabeth''s body in order to see if there''s anything he could do.

    That being said, Raven is still confused. How in the world did their enemy turned into their Queen? Why did Raven had no recollections of her or whatsoever? Why did Luna never told him about her? Howe she ended up in the ck Curtain Guild? And why does it appear like she doesn''t recognize any of them when Raven and the team brought her back here?

    Still, Raven had to try his best. He then looked at Alexander and said:

    "What can you tell me about her, Uncle? Because quite frankly, I really have no recollections of her. I didn''t even know that the Queen is still alive, I assumed she was dead since none of you talked about her before."

    King Alexander was silent for a bit, he then sighed and said: "I don''t know how she managed to do it. But we can assure you that she really is Elizabeth Greenwood, the Queen and Mother of my children."

    Raven remained silent and allowed the King to recount their story.

    "I still remember, during our youth stair and I were close." The King stated in a mncholic manner, "We were almost inseparable in a sense. We cover each other''s back in our escapades just so that our parents won''t scold us for being disobedient children."

    "All changed when we showed signs of being able to cultivate. It turns out that stair''s potential was greater than mine. Our parents tried to prevent any sort of discrimination from happening but s, the people around us were determined to get into his good side just for the smallest chance that my brother would remember their kindness and lead them to greatness."

    "Nheless, I didn''t mind that stair was better than me. In fact, I was happy. At least I won''t be the one to inherit the throne, and I could live a peaceful and satisfying life. I just wanted a simple life. But fate has other ns."

    "We watched in awe as stair breezed through the Cultivation Realms like they were nothing. Meanwhile, there I am, extremely left behind. Of course,parisons are bound to rise and because we are born in a Royal Household, the difference became even more ring. But I didn''t mind this. I stayed true to what I want and maintained a close rtionship with my family, though even I could tell that stair was changing right before our eyes."

    "He became more¡­aloof." The King continued, "I remember him being just as active and talkative as I am but he gradually change up until the point where I don''t even know him anymore."

    "Our closeness eventually disappeared and we started treating each other indifferently, almost as if we didn''t know about each other anymore. Just as when I was starting to feel loneliness, that''s the time when she arrived."

    The King went silent for a bit before eventually continuing: "She came from a povertized family. She was soft-spoken, a crybaby, and a very innocentdy. She waspletely unaware of who I was, nor most of the things around her for that matter. At first I thought she was weird and tried to avoid her but fate keep on crossing our paths, and eventually we grew close to each other."

    "As our friendship grew deeper, the more I realize that she''s an amazing woman. She might act like an idiot for most of the times, but the purity of her heart was unmatched. So much so that she even managed to tame the most fearsome delinquentdy of our batch and make her a bodyguard."

    Raven heard a snort on the sideing from Leona, which gave away the identity of the said delinquent.

    "She inspired me and made me into a better man. Just like many others, she wanted to achieve greater things and bring peace to the kingdom and it''s citizens, not even realizing that a prince was literally beside her."

    "With her beside me, I felt like I could be anything. Her love for the Kingdom rubbed onto me and I started acting like a proper prince. And of course, with how much influence she has on me, it was extremely obvious that I am determined to chase after her. Thanks to a certain delinquentdy, she found out about my feelings for her and my true identity."

    "Well, she was aware of the former and not thetter. She asked my why I hid my true status from her and I told her it''s because I wasn''t a proper prince back then."

    "Eventually, we grew up and Elizabeth returned my affection for her. It was at this point when I felt like my life was at its peak. I am incredibly satisfied with everything I have and couldn''t ask for more. The only thing that''s left, is to start a family with her and enjoy the rest of my life with her."

    "Unfortunately, it wasn''t meant to be."

    The King''s face started changing as he continued with his story: "It was during his coronation as the official Crown Prince. I brought Elizabeth and my friends to attend the ceremony. My n was to introduce her to them andter then tell my desires to marry her. I am confident that my parents won''t oppose it, and assumed that stair wouldn''t either since he''s living a better life than I have. I was wrong."

    "It was right after the ceremony when I introduced Elizabeth to them. Nothing seemed wrong until after I sent Elizabeth home and I told my family about my ns of marrying her. As expected, my parents were happy for me and supported my decision but all of a sudden, stair objected and also expressed his desire of marrying her."

    "I was shocked. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect that such a development was possible to happen. My parents was just as puzzled as I am but it was my father who asked for stair''s true intentions. stair never knew who Elizabeth was prior to this but he insisted on marrying her, which irritated my father. In the end, he declined stair''s promation and told him to reflect on how he''s acting."

    "I guess, stair didn''t take that kindly. He left without saying a word and cannot be found after the following days. I thought that was the end of that but it seems not. Sadly, my memories after this point are somewhat blurry¡­"

    "All that I could remember is that me and stair fought a lot. I lost many times but I forced myself to be stronger after every fight. Our parents passed away due to the stress of witnessing their children trying to kill each other and quite frankly, my memories about Elizabeth were practically nothing from this point onwards, all I could recall is that she is by my side throughout every battle. And as I grew stronger, I eventually managed to defeat stair in battle. The injuries I dealt to him was great that he was forced to leave the kingdom, but not before swearing vengeance to me and my people."

    "I took the throne and became the next King. I could still recall wisps of memories about Elizabeth at this point. I remember the joy we felt when we first held Balmung, but I didn''t realize that my memories about her was fading."

    "Upon Luna''s birth is when I don''t remember anything at all." The King stated, "Everything about Elizabeth was gone from my memories. In fact, I can only tell you about our past since I just recalled everything myself. I''m sure that there are still more that I fail to remember but I am certain that Elizabeth must''ve been the one who caused this to happen."

    Raven was silent throughout the whole recollection of the King, listening intently to the story and searching for clues. He looked intently at Elizabeth, trying to figure out who she truly was. It was then that he suddenly recalled the strange energy she released back then. After analyzing it, Raven''s eyes gleamed and everything made sense to him.

    "So she awakened the Druid''s bloodline¡­"

 Chapter 286 - Search

    ---

    "A Druid? But that''s¡­" King Alexander hesitated, not entirely sure what to think about this exposition.

    "Shouldn''t be possible, I know. But I am certain that she awaken such a bloodline for some reason. After all, not just anyone could use a Memory Erasing Ability quite like the Druids do."

    "Druids, an ancient race born with the forest and dies with it. All druids are innately close to nature. They couldmunicate with beasts, have a very strong life force, and could even rouse the power of nature to some extent to aid them in battle. I''m sure she must''ve shown these qualities, am I right?"

    Everyone was stunned, it was Leona who spoke and confirmed Raven''s words: "One of her weird traits has always been talking with animals. We always made fun of her for it since we didn''t believe it was possible but she repeatedly proved us wrong. She'' extremely durable as well, all shallow wounds she received would almost immediately heal. There was even a time when she summoned gigantic vines filled with sharp thorns to protect us from being sieged by beasts."

    "So that basically confirms it." Old Lee said in a whisper.

    "Druids are innately pacifists." Raven added, "From what I know, they would often prefer to push back intruders rather than killing them. Of course, if it all boils down to it, then they would not hesitate to kill in order to preserve the forest."

    "Druids are gifted with the ability to create fake memories or erase them. They often used it to erase the memories of the intruders about what they saw inside the forest or forge a fake ones. The effect is incredibly subtle ording to what I know. Some says that one wouldn''t even notice that they were already under it''s effects. Those who have deeper connections with nature could even erase the memories of a whole country should they desire. No records are left to prove this im but isn''t that the point?"

    "While it is possible for a regr human to erase someone''s memory as well, no one does it like the Druids. Their technique could only be dispelled by the one who casted it, so we could never hope to recover whatever it is that she''s hiding from you all. But this situation is strange since you all shouldn''t have remembered anything, yet you did."

    "And from what you all told me earlier, it seems that Queen Elizabeth must''ve erased your memories about her in a gradual manner. As for why she did so, I have some spections, but I think it would be wiser to ask her myself."

    As soon as Raven said this, his eyes glowed a rainbow colored light and a fierce fluctuations of energy started emanating out of his body.

    "Are you nning to¡­" Morel didn''t even finish his question before Raven answered him.

    "Yes." He nodded, "I might not have any recollections about her but for you all to be so certain that she is the Queen proves one thing. Uncle told me that she''s in there so I will search for her. I will do my best to bring her out."

    After saying that, Raven ced a hand on Elizabeth''s forehead and closed his eyes. The fluctuation around him vanished and Raven''s body remained standing even after his soul left his body.

    Raven''s soul arrived at the psyche of the Queen. He almost had to immediately start defending himself due to the harshness around him.

    "What horrible psyche this is¡­" Raven said in a whisper, "It is surrounded in poisonous fog. This must be her defense mechanism - well, is it hers? Or Lucy''s? I have to find this out."

    His soul started wandering out to the vastness of the Queen''s psyche. Raven was still in awe on just how unfriendly her psyche is. His defenses are being eroded by the powerful Poison Laws present inside, due to it being her defense mechanism, it''s not holding back at all. Fortunately, Raven''s actual soul isn''t just some prey waiting to be devoured.

    Raven''s soul is an adult one. The very same one who experienced the pain and tribtions of his past life. Yes, his soul might be extremely weakened for now but this kind of defense mechanism is nothing but a child''s y in front of him.

    Raven ventured deeper onto the consciousness of the Queen. He eventually arrived at a ce where the poison fog was concentrated the most. A brief wave of his hand and the smoke parted instantly, as if making way for him and revealing what he wanted to see.

    There he saw a silhouette of someone he never seen before. This person is a girl with a purple hair and fair skin tone. She''s wearing a sleeveless emerald dress that hugged the curves of her body. One thing that Raven noticed is that she is stuck in a cage like a prisoner. Her hands were chain as well as her ankles, she even appeared to be in constant pain.

    When the girl sensed Raven nearby, she looked up with a horrified look on her face. Raven knew that this girl could recognize him, so didn''t bother hiding at all.

    "You! B-but¡­no! How could you be here! How is this possible!? He told me that no one cane here! No! You aren''t real! You!! No!"

    Raven frowned as he witnessed how horrified she was, knowing that he''s here. He took time to observe the scenery around her and once he did, he noticed a few things.

    "You must be¡­Lucy, am I right?" Raven asked, making the girl flinch inside her cage. "By chance, did you happen notice someone else other than me? You know? The actual owner of this body?"

    His words caused the pupils of the girl to dte. She stared at him in horror, meeting his soul shivering gaze which seemed to see everything in perfect rity.

    At this point, Lucy already knew that what happens after this is her doom. They already knew about her and the other one, and there is no point on denying it, specially in front of this person. His arrival brought a deep seated fear on Lucy''s heart, it was like a primal fear, telling her to not go against this man at all cost or flee as far as she could.

    Despite this, Lucy is already at the state of madness. Though she is shaking head to toe from fear, she''s not afraid to die. In fact, why would she be afraid of dying? Won''t that be a release for her? That might be preferable instead of being imprisoned in this ce.

    "What makes you think that I would tell you anything?" Lucyughed maliciously as Raven watched in amusement. "What will you do? Kill me? Go ahead! You think I''m scared to die?"

    Despite her provocations, Raven''s response was chuckle, clearly not taking Lucy''s words seriously.

    "What a cute and pitiful Tormented Soul you are."

    His words sent Lucy''s mind spiraling. All she could do is to look in horror as Raven walked inside her cage like a phantom without any kind of resistance from the substances around them. At this point, every single fiber of her being was shaking in fear, telling her to flee as far as she could but couldn''t since she''s chained in here.

    As Raven entered her cage, he crouched down and looked closely at her. There no sense of pity nor anger in his eyes, only a merciless indifference.

    "On normal cases, I would''ve pitied you and might''ve really given you death considering that''s what all Tormented Souls wanted." Raven stated, "But something tells me that you wanted this to happen to yourself, and I really don''t feel anything towards idiots."

    Lucy can''t say a thing, she could only passively ept what Raven says due to fear. Besides, it''s true anyway, that she wanted all of this to happen but regretting it severely now.

    "You know what I want." Raven said, "Either you tell me, or I''ll pry your mouth open. I won''t wait for long."

    Lucy had no doubts that Raven will do what he says, he did it once and had no reasons to not do it again. Specially in the state where he had the absolute upper hand, why wouldn''t he take advantage of it?

    Though she hated this, Lucy had no rooms for discussion here. What''s in front of her is not just some simple man. He''s more of an ancient primordial beast that could careless about mortal struggles. The moment he stepped inside her cage, her fate has been sealed.

    "You won''t find her here." Lucy said in weak tone, making Raven frown. "When that Pale Monster ced me here, it was also looking for her but not even him could find her."

    "I''ve been using this body like a parasite since then." Lucy continued, "That monster told me that my freedom will be granted once I found her, that''s why he ced me here. But I never did, even after all these years. There''s nothing here. How am I supposed to search for something that doesn''t exist?"

    "Believe me." Lucy stated, "No matter what you do to me, or how hard you scour this ce.. You won''t find what you''re looking for here."

 Chapter 287 - Meeting

    ---

    "Believe me." Lucy stated, "No matter what you do to me, or how hard you scour this ce. You won''t find what you''re looking for here.

    After hearing what she has to say, Raven''s expression changed and turned sour.

    This girl might be their enemy but there is no reason for her to lie, specially in this terrified state. Raven knows what effects his presence have, specially when one sees what his soul actually looked like.

    ''If there''s anyone who''s powerful enough to nt her soul inside the Queen''s body have her control it, I couldn''t think of anyone other than Vit''hum. Maybe he did this during the time when he''s still taking control of stair.''

    ''However, this doesn''t make sense.'' Raven''s frown became even deeper, ''This woman told me that the reason why she''s ced in here is because Vit''hum wanted to search for the remaining consciousness of the Queen. But what for? What does that half breed want from her? Her memory erasing technique? Her Druid Bloodline? What could it be?''

    ''This is bad, I can''t be distracted by distant questions.'' Raven shook his head and looked at Lucy. ''I know that she''s still here. The King and the others recovering their memories are a great proof of that. For now, I should deal with this ce for her inevitable return.''

    Raven raised his hand and all the poisonws inside the Queen''s consciousness started condensing at his fingertips. As the murky fog of poison slowly disappeared from her psyche, golden inscriptions started flowing out of his other hand and illuminated the whole ce.

    Working fast, Raven ced a heavy restriction on the ball of poison and attached it to Lucy''s stomach. The girl couldn''t do anything but to watch as he cleaned up the ce like it was nothing.

    After doing all this, he poked Lucy''s forehead using her finger. This caused her to lose consciousness and fall into a deep sleep. Raven stepped out of her cage and reinforced it with his own inscriptions, this is just an insurance in case she tried to escape.

    Once he''s done with all of this, Raven managed to take a good look at the Queen''s psyche. What he saw didn''t make him happy.

    It was at a bad shape due to the erosion of the Poison Laws. This proved that Lucy was the one who gained enlightenment with thews and not the Queen herself. This resulted in a disagreement inside the Queen''s physical system.

    ''She really isn''t here.'' Raven inwardly thought, ''And even if I return her here, I doubt that she would be safe. Her psyche is badly damaged, her longevity had been ruined from long exposure. Damn it! This doesn''t look good.''

    Raven tried searching for any traces of the Queen but saw nothing. Even after searching every corner of her psyche for even just the smallest clue, he got nothing. In the end, he could only sigh in defeat and think for some time.

    ''Where is she?'' Raven pondered, he then traced everything back to when it all happened. Finally after a while of being in a deep thought, he got one important yet uncertain clue.

    His soul returned to his body. As consciousness returned to his body, he opened his eyes and saw the expectant look on the people around him. He also discovered that Balmung and Luna were already present at the scene. Judging by the look on their faces, they were also expectant.

    "I saw someone but not the Queen." Raven stated, bringing the atmosphere down inside the King''s chambers. "Vit''hum ced a Tormented Soul inside the Queen''s psyche, we knew her by the name of Lucy. I don''t know for how long but the Queen''s psyche is in a bad shape. The medicines that we currently have won''t be enough to cure anytime soon."

    "I ced her in slumber, so she wouldn''t be able to take control of the Queen''s body. I also took care of the corrosive substances inside her psyche. For now, let''s hope that the Queen''s life force is still powerful enough to recover on it''s own."

    "But¡­but Mother is¡­" Luna stuttered as she held the Queen''s hand, crying as she felt that she would never have the chance to talk to her again.

    Raven grabbed her by the hand and said: "Don''t lose faith yet Princess. I still have one more lead remaining."

    Everyone''s eyes brightened, before anyone could say anything Raven looked at Alexander asked: "Uncle, please summon the Sigil of Fated Love once again."

    Hearing his words made the King''s eyes brightened. "Are you saying she¡­"

    "I don''t know if it''s possible but it''s better than nothing." Raven nodded. "I don''t precisely know how the sigil works but it''s everything we have. She isn''t in her psyche but you all recovered your memories upon seeing her face, that is an obvious sign that she''s still here somewhere, because if she''s not then it''s impossible for you to remember anything."

    "Please summon the sigil Uncle." Raven said.

    Alexander wasted no time and held the Queen''s hand. Pouring his deepest affections on the touch, a sigil appeared at where their hands connected. As soon as Raven bored sight at the pulsing red sigil, he immediately moved and sent his soul towards the sigil.

    Raven''s body down, thankfully Luna was there to catch him. Alexander kept holding Elizabeth''s hand, allowing the sigil to remain seen. All they could do now, is hope that Elizabeth is really inside the sigil and for Raven to find her.

    ***

    "Woah." Raven uttered as soon as his vision adjusted. He gazed at the blue skies above him, the vast green field where he stood and bountiful sea beyond the horizon.

    He felt awe as he took the sights in, murmuring to himself: "Am I really inside the sigil? This looks like an alternate space altogether. Why is it like this?"

    "No, I shouldn''t be distracted." Raven said while shaking his head, "Seeing a space like this exists means that there is a high chance that the Queen is here. Even more so that my soul was able to go in here. I have to start looking for her."

    Raven then started levitating in the air, trying to take advantage of a high altitude to lessen the time he needs to search.

    As he went higher and higher, Raven looked everywhere for traces of the Queen. He spread all of the spying abilities he had in order to cover more ground.

    Eventually, he found a lead. Somewhere east at where he is currently, there is a strange altar made out of crystals. A simr scene when he first met Luna in this lifetime.

    Without any hesitations, he immediately flew like a shooting star towards the crystal altar. His speed was so fast that he arrived in no time, and as hended in front of the crystal altar it reminded him even more of the first time he met Luna.

    Sitting on the center of the altar, a figure could be seen. She was wearing a long white gown with golden hemming. Her hair is kept in a long braid, she facial features were extremely simr to that of Luna''s. She could even pass as her big sister in all honesty.

    There was no doubt in Raven''s mind, this woman is none other that Queen Elizabeth herself.

    Raven stepped onto the altar, wanting to approach the slumbering Queen. As he took his first step, the Queen''s eyelids fluttered open and immediately sensed him. She got up and instantly summoned a golden sword pointing at Raven.

    "Who are you and how did you got here!?" The Queen''s matured voice echoed in Raven''s ears.

    Showing signs of peace, Raven knelt on one knee and paid respects.

    "Greetings, Queen Elizabeth. My name is Raven Valorheart, I apologize for disturbing your sleep but please know that I have no intentions to harm you. I only seek to help you with your current predicament."

    The Queen was silent for a bit, Raven knows that she''s still on guard. Knowing this, Raven remained in his position, not moving an inch just to prove that he indeed have no intentions of harming her.

    "Lift your face up." The Queen demanded, still pointing a sword at him. Raven did what she said and saw the Queen studying his face. After a while of studying him, he heard the Queen said:

    "I can see resemnce of Luis and Eva at your face." The Queen lowered her sword and gazed at him with uncertainty. "But you still didn''t answer my question. How did you get in here?"

    ''Good thing my soul took form of my young self. Good thinking me.'' Raven inwardly celebrated. He then proceed to answer the Queen''s question.

    "My search for you lead me here, Your Majesty. The King and your children deeply misses you, I ought to do everything in my power to reunite you with your family. I took a gamble and it paid off since I was able to find you here."

    "My husband and my children? They remember me?" The Queen asked in a puzzled tone.

    Raven frowned and said: "Your Majesty didn''t know? The King, your children and your aplices regained their memories about you upon seeing your face."

    "What did you say!?"

 Chapter 288 - Queens Past

    ---

    "What did you say!?" Queen Elizabeth eximed in a shocked manner. She wasn''t expecting this revtion at all.

    "Does Your Majesty have no idea of what''s going on outside?" Raven asked.

    "I do." Elizabeth answered, "However barely. I can only see specific scenes from the moment I arrived here."

    Elizabeth beckoned Raven to be at ease. She sat on the seat near the altar and gestured Raven to do the same. She then asked him: "Can you borate more on what actually happened?"

    "I would like to tell you about it but we''re in a bit of a hurry." Raven replied, "I''ll just give you my memories of what happened. Please do not resist me, Your Majesty."

    Raven then sent a beam of energy towards Elizabeth''s head. This beam contains the memories of Raven for her to see and it''s not meant to harm her.

    The Queen was silent for a bit as she reviewed the memories she for from Raven. At some point, tears flowed down her face, greatly rming Raven and making him flustered since he didn''t know what to do.

    "Heavens¡­this is all my fault." She said weakly in her seat, sobbing as she covered her mouth.

    "One mistake and I missed out on a lot. I can''t believe that it has been that long. My dear husband had suffered greatly and my children grew up so fast. My youngest had not only been cured, but she even have a lover by her side. Even our home is showing signs of prosperity."

    Raven could feel the sadness and longing in her voice. He felt pity for the Queen''s situation at very depths of his heart. She has been away from her family for far too long. Of course, any mother would long to see the faces of her children.

    "Thank you, Child." The Queen said to him, smiling for the first time in a while. "Thank you for looking after them, specially my daughter."

    "I only did what I could." Raven answered humbly, "I want to help you reunite with your family. I would also like to know how did Your Majesty ended up in this state."

    "You may call me Aunt, Child. We''ll be inws in the future, for now this should do." The Queen said, making Raven flustered yet again.

    She was silent for a bit before finally telling everything from her perspective.

    "Everything happened due to my selfishness." She stated, "You''re right. I am part Druid. ording to what my father said, my mother was one of the remaining Druids in this world. Unfortunately, she died after giving birth to me."

    "My father and I lived inside the forest." She continued, "He used to tell me stories about the outside world, from then on, I developed a desire to go there and meet people. The Druid''s blood is evident on me, but it didn''t do anything to my appearance. So even if I mingle with full blood humans, no one would know."

    "Father didn''t want me to venture out of the forest. He was afraid that I''ll be taken advantage of but the humans in there. Shortly, he decided to send me in the Kingdom since we caught news that a very powerful enemy will attack our tribe. The chances of survival were very low, so in order to save me he sent me away. When I arrived at the Kingdom, I already knew that our tribe didn''t survive the fight."

    "Before sending me away, father told me to live my life to the fullest. He forbid me to live for revenge and pleaded me to forget about this enmity. But how could I possibly do that? On the other hand, I also know that I am too weak to do anything, so I set aside my ns for revenge in order to focus on getting stronger."

    "I am aware that I couldn''t do this alone. I needed people behind me, I needed aid." She said, "But who would''ve thought that the enemy will trace me all the way here?"

    "I made friends, and everything in my life was going smoothly. I met and fell in love with Alex, and at some point, I even totally forgot about revenge altogether. I even feared that my past will haunt me, however I also thought that it''s been a long time since all of that happened and I sincerely hoped that whoever the culprit was, will never appear before me ever again. But it seems that fate has other ns for me."

    "It was when Alex introduced me to his parents. My nightmares came back, specially when I saw stair." She said with venom in her voice. "After my meeting with Alex''s family, he showed up and revealed the past that I hid from everyone."

    "He threatened me." The Queen said hatefully, "Telling me that he will do everything in his power to make the citizens of the Kingdom loath me and exile me from the Kingdom. At that point, I can''t do anything. stair was so powerful that his sway over the people is too massive. I have no doubts that he will do what he said. But I also couldn''t agree to his condition. He wanted me to tell him the location of the - "

    "Fountain of Youth¡­" Raven continued. Rubbing his face in an irritated manner. He inwardly said: ''Of course, why wouldn''t he search for that thing? Damn it!''

    "Exactly. And since you know about it, then I assume you also know what I could do."

    "Yes." Raven sighed, "It grants not only perpetual youth to those who drank it, but it also contains the concentrated energy of the Nature. It''s power is so immense that one has a high change of gaining Enlightenment to a Law or a second one after drinking it."

    "Precisely." The Queen nodded, "It is the very reason why the Druids exists. Our duty is to protect the fountain and test the worth of anyone who desires to consume it. We erase the memories of those who already drank form it so that they will never appear twice. That being said, there are some people who wanted to take it by force. I assumed that the remaining guardians fell from the hands of those people."

    "I nned to carry the secrets of the fountain to my grave. But stair was pressuring me to reveal it. He even told me that he will kill Alex if I didn''t tell me it''s location. Aside from that, he''s also forcing me to marry him."

    "I can''t allow any people to know the secrets of the fountain, but I also couldn''t hide my true identity towards Alex any longer. I know that I''ll be putting him in grave danger but I also couldn''t allow stair to know the fountain''s location."

    "Alex helped me, saying that he will fight his brother to protect me and the fountain. At that point, stair was too strong for any of us. Fortunately, my people have ways to tap on a person''s deepest potential. I used this knowledge to hasten our growth and cultivation until one day, we achieved our first victory against him."

    "We managed to deal heavy damage to stair but he escaped and went missing. We thought that, that was the end of it but no. stair came back, more powerful than ever. Not only he threated to kill Alex, but he also threatened to kill our children and wipe out the whole kingdom from existence."

    "Faced with this enormous threat, I know that I only dyed the inevitable." The Queen smiled sadly, "In the end, I am powerless to defend anything. I already epted my demise, I begged stair to let my family and the kingdom go, in exchange I''lle with him."

    "He agreed, but I wasn''t satisfied. I made him swear a Heavenly Oath. Only after he did so, did I came with him. But before I left, I erased everyone''s memories about me. It''s a gradual spell, their memories about me will fade, starting from the oldest up until they could no longer recognize who I am. Well, those I never met are exceptions since I have nothing to erase."

    "As promised, I came with stair. But he didn''t expect me to attack him and flee." The Queen said, making Raven frown. "Don''t get me wrong. I made him swear an Oath, I didn''t make one."

    Raven finally understood, the Queen then continued: "I injured him pretty badly since he wasn''t expecting that from me. I knew that I couldn''t hide forever so I nned to reach the fountain first and seal myself inside. Once I do that, he will never be able to open it so long as I''m inside."

    "Unfortunately, he intercepted me as I was close to the fountain. I know that he will do everything in his power to force me so I intended to ignite my cultivation base and bring him down with me. Unfortunately, he managed to stop me from exploding and nned to extract my soul to read my memories."

    "I could still remember the feeling of my soul being stripped away from my body.. I didn''t know what happened after that, all I know was that there was a brilliant sh of light and somehow, I arrived here."

 Chapter 289 - Anchor

    "I don''t know how but I ended up inside the sigil. I didn''t even know that such a thing was possible to happen."

    "I am getting pieces of memories from time to time. I know that there is someone who''s borrowing my body to do abominable things. And from the memories I received from you earlier, I am now aware just how terrible the state of my body is."

    "Even if I go out of this ce, it won''t take long before¡­"

    "Hold it right there, Your Majesty." Raven interrupted. "Please refrain from saying anything that''s negative. I made a promise. I am getting you out of here and you will be reunited with your family. Just, give me some time and trust me. I can do this."

    Queen Elizabeth was stunned by his words. She could feel Raven''s sincerity and confidence brimming all over his body. For some reason, she was starting to believe that he could do anything so long as he put his mind onto it.

    "I appreciate it." She replied, tears falling down her face as she felt immense guilt and regret.

    Elizabeth couldn''t help but to me her own selfishness once more. She often thought about all of the things she did that led up to this point. Often wondering about what she could''ve done differently. What if''s and what could''ve been''s always visit her thoughts.

    Maybe if she''d done this, or maybe if she''d done that, maybe things are different from now. Unfortunately, no matter how much she wished to have that second chance, it never happened. She became stuck here, imprisoned and missing her family so bad.

    She even have to rely on a child to get her out of this mess.

    All of this makes her thing that she''s just the worst human being ever.

    Nevertheless, Elizabeth was desperate too. She wanted to see her children so bad. She wanted to return to her husbands embrace once more. She wanted to experience their warmth and to stay to them until she pass away from old age.

    She wants to go home.

    Raven could more or less understand what the Queen was feeling right now.

    He knows desperation when he sees it. Wasn''t he like this during his past life? If anything, the Queen''s desperation is no way near the level of what he once had.

    Raven wasn''t innocent.

    He did questionable things in his search for a way to bring them back. Even in his failure to achieve his goals, he still often look back to his memories just to ease up his lonely heart.

    Nevertheless, wallowing about the past won''t do him any good. He has to work fast since he can''t stay out of his body for too long.

    Raven went into a deep thought. He studied the structure of the sigil from the inside and dissected it to trace it''s origins. This is the first time that he encountered such a sigil so he didn''t know where to start. Fortunately, he managed to grasp a single point and start from there.

    The Queen saw him in deep thought. He kept on staring at the sky while rainbow colored lights reflected on his pupils. She would often see him draw something that she cannot see, but from what she could tell those must he inscriptions.

    At first she was a bit dejected. She did everything possible to escape this ce but nothing worked. She even thought for once if escaping this ce was a wise choice since if she went back, it would be stair''s face who would wee her, not her family''s.

    She misses her family, but she''s also helpless against stair. She couldn''t possibly allow him to know the location of the Fountain of Youth since the Oath stair made had expired already. Though she might''ve been absent on her position for a while, she''s still the Queen of the Kingdom. She couldn''t bear to allow her enemies to grow stronger just for her personal interests.

    Elizabeth was in such a deep thought that she didn''t even notice that Raven was already beginning to move.

    ''This Sigil of Fate Love is really mysterious.'' He thought. ''I guess it has some sort of a protective measure just in case the bearer of the sigil experienced an ident.''

    ''I''m guessing that it acted on it''s own when the Queen was in danger. It''s keeping her here ever since. Although she didn''t say anything, I''m guessing that she tried to escape. But knowing that she''s will just end up in hands of the enemy, she''s ced in a tough spot.''

    ''She''s right. Even though I could return her to her body, it won''t take before her body gives up from the stress. It needs to recuperate for a very long time. But if I brought her out of here, she needs a ce to stay.''

    ''What makes thingsplicated is that, the King needs physical touch in order to summon the sigil. And from what I can tell, he also needs to rouse not only his energy but hers as well. The Queen''s body needs rest, and every single drop of energy she has would be crucial to her recovery. Constantly summoning the sigil just to meet her is unadvised.''

    ''Well, she just needs something to anchor her soul and prevent it from dissipating right? That makes this easier then.''

    "Your Majesty, I think I have a solid n now."

    ***

    Raven left the space inside the sigil.

    His soul flew back to his body, making him regain consciousness in the living world.

    As the crowd saw him stood up, all of them were expecting him to say something but got nothing from him. Luna was about to ask him what happened but was stopped by his brother. Balmung shook his head, signaling Luna to not disturb him as he knew from Raven''s face that''s up to something.

    Everyone watched as Raven took out several pieces of high quality ores from his spatial ring. Using his raw strength, he crushed them one by one, scattering them on the floor in a messy yet organized manner.

    He used at least fifty high quality ores. It had to be known that a single piece of this ore would fetch a high price in the market, yet Raven unhesitatingly crushed them since he has a use for them.

    The crushed pieces of ores on the floor arranged themselves to appear like a ritual circle. Toplete this process, Raven fetched a jar of beast blood and some bones as well in his spatial ring. He also summoned a huge and decrepit looking Fang.

    He crushed the fang into huge chunks and scattered them on the ground along with ores and the beast bones. He then sttered them with blood, just enough to cover each one with a trace. Once all of that is done, he approached Luna and said: "I need some of your blood Princess."

    Without hesitation, Luna pulled her sleeves up and looked directly at Raven''s eyes, saying: "Take as much as want."

    Raven smiled and kissed her forehead. He took out a dagger and nicked a small wound on her wrist, letting her blood pour over a jar that he prepared beforehand. After filling the jar halfway through, Raven ced a finger on her wrist and used his Chaos Force to close her wound.

    "You can take more Avi. No need to worry about me." Luna said, afraid that the blood wasn''t enough.

    Raven gave her a reassuring smile and said: "Don''t worry, it''s enough. Just stay there. This won''t take long."

    He then walked back to the ritual circle and brought the jar of Luna''s blood by his side. Raven took a deep breath and smacked his chest hard, causing blood to seep from his lips. Everyone was shocked as they didn''t expect that Raven would hurt himself but they prevented themselves from doing anything since they don''t want to distract him.

    Raven''s hands turned into a blur, going through several hand seals in quick session. He then sped his hand together and summoned all Chaos Force that he could muster at this moment.

    The ritual circle in front of him pulsed with a sh of white light. All of the bones, ores and chunks of the fang started levitating and forming a shape of human before everyone''s eyes.

    Raven flicked his finger and Luna''s blood started floating towards the statue that Raven created.

    As Luna''s blood started seeping through the statue, its facial features started be more and more defined. So much to the point where they could almost tell that this statue was starting to look like the Queen herself.

    For his finishing act, Raven spat a glob of his blood essence on the statue containing at least 80 years of his lifespan. Once he did this, the statue was seemingly given life and started to look more and more real as time goes on.

    Raven then looked back at the sigil that is still present. With a clench of his hand, he pulled something out of the sigil and hurriedly ced it one the statue.

    The statue erupted with one final sh of light, causing everyone to be momentarily blinded.. But when they regained their visions, they could now see that the statue''s eyes were open.

 Chapter 290 - Royal Reunion

    ---

    "E-Elizabeth¡­"

    The King stuttered on his bed, slowly getting up to see if he''s truly seeing things properly.

    The statue of the Queen was alive. Raven sessfully made an anchor for the Queen''s soul to prevent it from dissipating.

    Elizabeth nced at her own hands. Feeling a bit strange since she knows that this is not her real body, yet strangely it feels just like it. She knows that she is a statue. She could breath but she doesn''t have a respiratory system, in fact she has no organs at all. This body that she''s possessing right now ispletely made out of stones and some other things, but for some reason she felt alive.

    She''s back home.

    Her husband is lying on the same bed that they slept on before this whole mess started, even the chambers were the same as thest time she saw it. Her children, Balmung and Luna was in front of her, tears pouring out of their faces as they stared at her with overwhelmed emotions. Her friends, Morel, Leona and Lee were also here, their faces filled withplex emotions upon seeing her.

    The Queen didn''t even notice that she was sobbing voicelessly already. Well, who knew that statues could cry right?

    Sitting on the ground, next to the bed was an exhausted Raven. Smiling at her while giving her an encouraging smile. He was a bit out of breath since he just used a decent portion of his blood essence to give life to this statue. Yet he didn''t seem to be upset in any way, shape or form. In fact he was extremely happy and satisfied at the moment.

    "Wee home, Queen Elizabeth." Raven said towards her, he would''ve performed a formal salute if it weren''t for the fact that he''s a bit too exhausted right now.

    Elizabeth''s emotions seemingly burst like an open dam. She was so overwhelmed that she didn''t even know what to do or to say. All she could do, is to smile and say:

    "I''m home."

    "Elizabeth/Mom!!"

    The King, Balmung and Luna rushed towards her and pulled her in a tight hug. All of them were openly crying and overwhelmed with joy upon their reunion. The Golden Knights who watched their reunion also expressed their joy and satisfaction upon seeing this scene.

    While everyone is drowning with emotions, Raven signaled Richard and Jacob to get the Queen''s real body and leave them alone to catch up for now. Raven wanted them to settle down and allow the Queen to enjoy the embrace of her family.

    Richard was the one who carried the body while Jacob assisted Raven since he was still a bit weak from the ritual.

    ***

    "I''m sorry, Teacher." Richard said, "This is all that we could do for now. I hate to admit it but I am stillcking so much that we can''t cure her body yet."

    "Don''t mind it too much." Raven replied, feeling much better now since he had a little rest. "Honestly, I am already expecting this much. For now, this shall suffice. Don''t worry, I have a n."

    The three of them - well, four counting the Queen''s body, were on a separate room. They used one of the private rooms in order to prepare something for the Queen''s body.

    Curing herpletely is an impossible task for now.

    It is like what Richard said earlier. He hadn''t reached the appropriate level to cure this kind of condition. In fact, none of these three reached that level yet. In fact, it would be extremely surprising for Raven if one of them reached that level already.

    The Alchemic Skill Level that he was referring to is the Grandmaster Alchemist level.

    Since the reform happened, Raven established a new ranking system for Alchemists. They are: Student, Novice, Apprentice, Expert, Elite, Master, Grandmaster and Saint.

    So far, Raven and Richard reached the level of Master Alchemist while Jacob is at the Peak of Elite rank. Master Alchemists could concoct A - ranked pills which rare even at the current state of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, such level is not enough topletely cure the Queen''s real body.

    Giving the Queen a temporary ''body'' is just a temporary cure. Plus, they still have to provide the Soul Anchor with proper maintenance or else it won''t be able to hold the Queen''s Soul for that long.

    All they could do right now, is to ce her in a tub filled with medical fluids that they have just made right now. This medicine is mild since it won''t be wise to let her body absorb tons of efficacy. They have to encourage the natural recovery of her body, even so this too, is just a temporary cure.

    "The injury she suffers is on her psyche, where her soul resides." Raven stated, "Due to the enemy nting another soul in her body forcefully, her psyche suffered too much. It would''ve been fine if the soul was weak but they ced a strong one in her, one that could maniptews. Poison Laws on top of all that."

    "The Poison Laws eroded her body too much." Raven sighed, feeling a headache. "Even her psyche too. Relying on natural recovery is the best way possible yet from my estimations, it would take at least a decade for her to reach a state where we could return her to her body."

    "That''s not eptable. Having a soul missing from it''s original body for that long would produce an adverse effect. The body might even reject her soul if it was away for that long. But there is a way¡­although it''ll be dangerous."

    "I know what you''re referring about Teacher, getting the ingredients needed for that will endanger you." Richard said, "Are you certain?"

    "Well, who else would do this?" Raven stated. "You can''t just expect me to leave her like this. I have to do this. Plus, it shall serve as a good training for me."

    "If you say so, Teacher." Richard said, "But please be careful. We can always try again."

    "I know, I know." Raven smiled and patted his shoulder, "But I also need you for this operation. From now on you have to work hard and reach that stage. Just to be sure that we could proceed with the concoction in the future."

    "Yes, Teacher. I promise to do my best." Richard replied.

    ***

    "Come in."

    Raven opened the door and went inside the King''s Chambers. He then saw the Royal Family still together, minus the Golden Knights of course. As soon as they saw him, all of them gave him a smile which made Raven think that he was a part of this family.

    Luna immediately jumped to his embrace, much to his surprise actually. He was a bit flustered but seeing that her parent''s didn''t mind the show of affection, he calmed down.

    "Thank you." Luna whispered, eyes puffy and a bit teary, "Thank you for making my familyplete."

    Raven smiled in a satisfied manner and returned the hug, telling her: "Anything for you Princess."

    He then shifted his attention to the Queen and asked: "How are you feeling, A-Aunt."

    Elizabeth smiled at him and said: "Much better thanks to you. Although it still feels surreal, I am d that I''m back. Thank you so much for returning me to them. I don''t even know how to repay this favor."

    "Don''t worry about that, Aunt." Raven immediately said, "It''s fine, y-you''re family to me so¡­anything I could do to help."

    "See, I told you!" Balmung interjected, "He''s such a good brother-inw!"

    The Queenugh and ruffled Balmung''s hair, Alexander then said: "Why does it sound like you''re already handing your sister over to him, hmm?"

    "U-um¡­well, haha." Balmung could onlyugh nervously under the re of his father.

    "How are you doing Uncle?" Raven asked, taking the chance to learn about his current state.

    "Much better." The King smiled in a heartfelt manner, though he''s still bedridden no one could even tell that he''s still ill. "There''s pain here and there but it''s nothing too serious. I believe that I''ll recover in no time. Thank you child, for everything."

    "Don''t mention it, Uncle." Raven replied, he then cleared his throat and ced on a serious expression. "I don''t want to ruin this atmosphere as much as I could but still, you deserve to know everything."

    Raven held Luna''s hand and found a seat for the two of them, he heaved a deep breath and started talking:

    "I apologize to all of you but for now, returning Aunt to her original body is impossible." The atmosphere inside the room dampened, still the family remained silent and waited for him to continue.

    "Richard and I hadn''t reach the level topletely cure the Queen''s body. The damage done, not only on her physical body, but also on her psyche is too severe. For now, all that we could do is to ce her in a medical bath that promotes natural recovery. Even so, that too is just temporary."

    Alexander and Elizabeth nodded to his words, they''ve thought this much as well.

    "After deliberating with Richard, we came up with solution." Raven continued: "Uncle, I have to go the Four Extremes."

    Upon saying this, everyone saw just how much the King''s expression changed.

 Chapter 291 - Four Extremes

    ---

    "The Four Extremes, huh¡­"

    Alexander repeated, forcing himself to calm down as much as he could.

    "Four Extremes? What''s that?" Balmung asked curiously.

    "It refers to areas at the four cardinal directions. The Sun Temple of the East, Withered Forest of the West, Frozen Tomb of the North and the Sunken Ivory Castle of the South. It''ll be a long journey to go there but it has to be done."

    "I see¡­wait!" Balmung just realized something, his eyes widened a bit as he looked at Raven in disbelief. "Wouldn''t those ces be located at the depths of the Red Zone?"

    Seeing Raven nod his head to answer his question, everyone''s expression suddenly changed. In his shock, Balmung couldn''t help but ask: "Why would you go there?"

    "Because the ingredients we need topletely cure Aunt are located at those ces." Raven answered. Making them speechless for a good while.

    "Can you tell me what those ingredients are?" Alexander asked him.

    Raven shook his head and said: "Not a chance, Uncle. You need to stay here. I will go alone."

    The King was speechless and could only sigh in defeat. Raven beat him to it. He thought that he will tell him what are the ingredients they needed so that he could be the one to go instead of him.

    "Please understand me, Uncle." Raven stated, "You absolutely can''t go. You are still notpletely cured. For now, the remaining poison on your body is still active. We don''t know when it''s going to re up or not, we need you to be here."

    "Brother Balmung also cannot go with me, I''m afraid that he has to rece you in the office until you''repletely cured."

    Raven then looked at Luna, who had her head hung low, obviously displeased with the situation.

    "I would like to take you along with the team with me but you guys have to remain here." Raven coaxed, "Specially you, Princess."

    "Why?" Luna asked, trying hard to suppress her stubbornness from erupting. "Why does it have to be always you? Why do you have to face all the hardships alone? You told me I''m strong right?"

    Raven smiled and held her hand tightly, "Yes, you are incredibly strong. I''m stating the truth. But you need to remain here since you are essential for the Queen''s maintenance."

    "Maintenance?" Luna asked, wanting rification from him.

    "Yes, maintenance." Raven nodded, "You need to supply Aunt''s current vessel with your blood at least twice a week. The Soul Anchor I made cannot hold her soul for too long, like I said it''s only a temporary cure for the situation."

    "That''s easy then!" Luna looked up to him and continued: "I''ll just store my blood in containers for her to use! I''ll store up as much as I could, then when I''m fully recovered I''ll go with you!"

    "Clever. But no, Princess." Raven smiled, "The Soul Anchor needs fresh blood. You have to personally smear your blood at the core of the vessel in order for it to work. Again, it has to be you. You inherited most of the Queen''s genes, not Brother Balmung and not Uncle. She needs you here, Princess."

    "B-but¡­"

    "Even if we say that your method was usible, we still have no idea how long our journey will take. It might take us years before we could return, if you''re not here then Aunt has to go back to the seal again and be lonely."

    None had any reply for what he said. It was very clear that Raven had already decided upon this matter and cannot be swayed. Even then, what can they really say to sway him?

    If he didn''t go, then the Queen''s state would remain as is. Do they want that? Obviously no.

    Do they want to send him away towards danger? Absolutely not. Just like how Raven treated them as his family, they feel the same. Though he didn''t say it nor implied it, King Alexander had long since epted Raven as his son-inw. Balmung had been calling him brother-inw for a long time already. Raven had integrated on to their family as soon as he started caring for their well being.

    But at the same time, they also want the Queen to bepletely cured. And who else has the ability to cure her other than Raven? In fact, it weren''t for him, they could only dream about this reunion.

    If there''s anyone who''s qualified to venture the depths of the Red Zone other than the King himself, it would be him. And since the King needs constant medical attention, who else has to go to gather the ingredients and make it back here alive?

    What they feel about this whole situation isplicated yet the answer is simple. Raven has to go. It''s as easy as that.

    "Child, I¡­" Queen Elizabeth spoke but hesitated to continue. After taking a deep breath she said: "At least take someone with you. Just in case. I am really d that you''re willing to do this much for me - for our family, but I also don''t want you to recklessly send yourself in danger just for my sake. Just so you know, I ampletely fine to remain like this, if it means that you will live."

    "We can''t have that Aunt." Raven answered, "I appreciate the sentiments but I can''t let you live like this for the rest of time. You''ve suffered greatly and had been away from your family for far too long. It''s time for you to be free of suffering."

    "And you guys please, stop looking at me like I''m sending myself to my death. I''m like super strong, super smart and super handsome. I''ll just make a trip in there to gather some ingredients. Don''t worry too much." Raven joked around to ease up the atmosphere.

    "That''s right, that''s right!" Balmung nodded andpletely agreed, "Brother-inw is awesome! He''lle back in one piece! It''s just the Red Zone, it''s just the Four Extremes! He could conquer that ce like it''s nothing if he wants to, so there''s no need to worry at all!"

    Of course, Balmung waspletely aware that Raven just wanted to lighten up the mood so he yed along, inwardly though his feelings are just asplicated as how the rest of them felt.

    Out of nowhere, Luna stood up and made a swift exit from the room, closing the door a little too strong for that matter. Raven smiled and shook his head, thinking ''She''s upset alright.''

    "Well, that''s not a good sign." Balmung smiled wryly, obviously Luna didn''t buy the fake atmosphere that the two of them were trying to set.

    "It''s fine, Brother." Raven waved his hand and smiled. "She just hates feeling helpless. I''ll talk to herter."

    "Have you informed your parents about this?" Balmung asked, facing him with a serious expression.

    "I did beforeing here. Dad said we''ll talk about this after Ie home. Well, I''m prepared for an earful of sermons but I know they''ll understand me."

    "Is there anything that we can do at all?" Balmung asked, "I mean, I don''t like this. You doing all the hard work. You''ve done so much for us - for the Kingdom too, but it feels like no matter how much improvement we make, we will never be of help to you. That sucks you know¡­"

    "Ohe on, don''t say it like that." Ravenughed, after which his expression dampened as he continued to say: "Everything just happens too fast, you guys just need time. We''re already making great steps toward our end goal. All of our blood, sweat and tears will soon bear fruit and the Golden Era shalle."

    "But, of course I also need you to take care of the matters here in the Kingdom." Raven stated, "With me leaving, some people need to rece my spot as an instructor at the academy, I already have an assistant for that matter, I just need to fill him in. But the more pressing matter is about the ck Curtain Guild."

    There was a brief silence before Raven continued: "There''s no telling what they have in mind, specially now that we retrieved the Queen from them. I''m not aware how desperate Vit''hum is about iming the Fountain of Youth but since he''s currently slumbering, I''m pretty sure he would want to get his hands on it."

    "And because of Lucy''s existence, we have no way of telling just how many hidden aces they still have. In this, all I could do is to rely in the ves I nted inside their base for insider information and to focus on making the troops stronger."

    In his mumbling, he didn''t even notice that Balmung already got up on his seat and was already beside him. He was surprised when he felt a hand smacking his back, harshly returning him to reality.

    "We''ll take care of that for you." Balmung said with a serious face, "Be at ease and share your burdens with us. Don''t take it all, you''re starting to sound like an old man like that guy over there." He chided while pointing at Alexander.

    Raven smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Brother."

    He then stood up and said: "I''ll go ahead and talk to Luna.." After saying this, he bowed towards them and exited the room.

 Chapter 292 - Farewells

    ---

    "I just don''t like that I can''t help you¡­" Luna said while her face is buried in a pillow.

    "Don''t think of it that way Princess." Raven coaxed, "You will be helping me out a lot by staying here. Aunt needs you here, and it''s the best time for the two of you to catch up with each other. She''s been away for far too long, I''m sure you have lots to talk about."

    "That doesn''t make me feel good at all." She replied, "You''re telling me that I should go ahead and catch up with Mom while you''re out there risking your life to search for a cure."

    She shifted her position and turned her back against him. Saying: "If anything, it should''ve been us who''s supposed to this. Or at least, we should be a part of this, yet we are of no help to you."

    Raven can''t say anything at all. He could only just smile as he finds this attitude of hers extremely cute.

    "Dang it, this your fault." She continued after throwing a pillow at him. "Why did you have to be so formidable? Why does it always have to be you who takes all the responsibilities? You''re making us look bad and appear like losers!"

    Ravenughed as he stood up and walked towards her bed. He lied down beside her and gently pulled her close, wrapping her in his embrace and closing his eyes to cherish small moments like this.

    "Well, I can''t really help it..." Raven said, "I guess it''s my fault for being super strong, super smart and super handsome."

    *Smack!*

    "Ow!" Raven said whileughing, holding the hand she used to smack his chest and wrapping it around him.

    "Well? Why do you worry so much about that anyway? Do you think that I''m going to resent you because of this?"

    Luna shook her head.

    "Do you think that I''m doing this because I''m expecting something in return?"

    She shook her head once more.

    "Or are you thinking that I''m after the throne and I''m just doing this for you all to trust me?"

    Again, she shook her head.

    "Then? Why do you think I''m doing this?" Raven asked, looking down at her and meeting her gaze.

    Luna was silent for a bit, she bit her lip and hugged him even tighter. She knows the answer to his question, she just can''t say it out loud since it''s a bit embarrassing and it will prove that she really can''t go with him.

    "You get it right?" Raven whispered, Luna nodded and burrowed her face on to his chest. "Then don''t think too much. You can''te with me not because you are weak, but because you need to be here. And don''t get me wrong, just because you need to remain here it doesn''t mean that you will ck off on your training."

    "I know that." Luna replied.

    "Look at me, Princess." Raven said, Luna raised her head and met his gaze once more. Raven tucked the scattered pieces of hair on her face behind her ears and continued saying: "I don''t know how long I''ll be away."

    "The fastest will be three years, but to be totally honest I don''t see that happening since I''ll be training on the way there as well. It might take me more than five years ording to my estimations. While that is not a long time for us Knights, that is not short either."

    "While I''m away, I cannot possibly help you with the skirmishes that will happen between our and the enemy forces. You are the most talented person I''ve ever met. But I need you to be stronger. You know that you are part Druid right?"

    Luna nodded and already have a faint guess on where this is going.

    "With the help of Aunt, I think it''s possible for you to awaken your bloodline. Train under her and also with your Dad. There will be a huge battle soon and we need to be prepared. I don''t want to lose you, you know that right?"

    Luna nodded once more and bit her lips. Trying hard not to cry once again.

    "Then that''s that." Raven said as he closed his eyes and tightened his hug, "A lot happened today so let''s rest for now."

    The two then enjoyed the warm embrace of each other as they drifted off to sleep. Well, at least Luna did.

    ***

    Raven left as soon as Luna fell asleep. He ced a sleeping powder on his clothes and chest since he knows that Luna will definitelye close to those areas. After saying his farewells to his inws, he made his way home and talked to his parents.

    After a difficult conversation, Raven met his father outside to bid his farewells.

    "Are you sure you want to do it this way?" Luis asked and he gazed far off to the distant skies. Raven was standing behind him, garbed in a ck cloak with his face covered with a white scarf.

    "I''m terrible with goodbyes anyway. I already said my piece, I don''t think I''ll be able to leave if I see her crying face." Raven replied while sighing and smiling wryly.

    "You''ll be pped hard when you return though." Luis jeered as he tried making the atmosphere lighter.

    "Well, I guess I better be prepared then." Ravenughed.

    Luis turned around and walked towards his son. cing his hand on shoulders, and saying: "While I originally didn''t want to agree with this, I also know that no one can stop you once you''ve decided. So I might as well let you go."

    "You are a man now. I know that you are aware of what you''re getting yourself in to but I still want you to be careful." Luis grabbed Raven''s face and looked at him intently, "You have to return in one piece. Do you understand?"

    "Yes, Dad. I promise, I''ll return in one piece."

    "Good." Luis nodded, "Otherwise, your Mom is going to kill me. Worse, chop my balls and feed it to the dogs."

    The father and sonughed, making this farewell more lightheartedpared to how it should normally go.

    "Leave the issues of the Kingdom to us and go in peace." Luis said, "Once you have everything that you need, return to us and cure your inws. Simple as that."

    "Fetch the ingredients and return. Simple as that." Raven replied and gave his father a hug before disappearing in a blur.

    After he disappeared, Luis returned to his star-gazing spot and released a long and heavy sigh. He was silent for a bit, trying hard to calm himself down to prevent himself from intercepting his son and calling off his prior decision of letting him go.

    Luis really didn''t want Raven to go.

    At the end of the day, who''s parents wants to see their child sending themselves into danger? In all honesty, Luis was even more afraid for Raven''s well being, it was as if he was the one''s who''s going out.

    Eva didn''t say a word, but it was obvious that she''s against this, adamantly so. Still, she too knows that she couldn''t do anything to stop Raven at all. In the end, she couldn''t bear to watch as her son leaves so she locked herself up in the room of their twins and distracted herself.

    Just like Luis said, Raven is a man now. A man has to go out and experience the world beyond. He has to face all the hardships and danger in order to grow and be stronger.

    Now, all they could do is to pray for his safety and believe that he will return. And when he does, who knows just how strong he will turn out to be?

    Before Raven left the walls, he made sure to visit some ces before he leaves.

    First and foremost, he has to deliver thepiled curriculum list towards his assistant since he will rece him as the Instructor. Along with this file is his letter, letting him know about his departure and his words of encouragement for him.

    Next he went towards the houses of students, he left them a letter which contained his overall outlook towards their growth and the training regimens that he personally created for them, as well as words of encouragement from him.

    He visited many people after that. All in all, this is him settling his remaining concerns and passing down his responsibilities to them since he''s going to be away for quite some time.

    Thenes with bidding farewells with his team. Well, it''s not like he''s going to talk to them personally to inform them about his ns to leave but he also knows that leaving like this won''t make them happy.

    Nevertheless, it''s better this way. Lest his heart be swayed and erode his determination to leave as soon as he can.

    But even so, he couldn''t help but to visit Luna one more time.

    Just seeing her sleep peacefully greatly swayed his heart. But he has to do this. For the sake of her happiness.

    Parting her with ast kiss, he left her room and disappeared through the shadows of the night.. And with that, starts his long journey towards the ces to cure his inws.

 Chapter 293 - Discovery

    ----

    "Alright girl, what did you bring?"

    *Hiss* *Hiss*

    "Oh! You brought a Demonic Wild Boar. And it looks like you weren''t injured this time. Good, you''re improving."

    *Hiss* *Hiss*

    Venus let out a joyous sound as she heard the praises of her master as he pets her head. After that, Raven picked up the boar and started dissecting it into pieces, which he would then cook for the two of them to eat.

    It has been a week since he left the Kingdom.

    It took him no more than a day to leave the Yellow Zone and enter the Red Zone. He was out of the tracking range of the Sk Array and had been adjusting to the harsh environment of the Red Zone.

    He''s currently residing in a cave he found. The Diamond Dust Eclipse just ended, and since he still can''t ignore the effects of the storm, he decided to take shelter and let it pass.

    After the Diamond Dust Eclipse, he sent Venus out to hunt for food. Raven left most of the things he own back in the Kingdom, he only brought the things that he think he will use and some dry rations. He did this because he want to impose some sort of a challenge to himself.

    Raven was somewhat reliving his old self after the destruction of the Kingdom. Out in the wild, surrounded by dangers and basically own next to nothing.

    Like he said during his conversation with his inws, since the journey would be long it would be wise to make use of the time and train along the way as well. Of course, Venus is also included in this training.

    Even in his current state, recklessly charging inside the Red Zone is a suicide. There are tons of dangerous creatures in here as well as inhabitable ces. Even the air in this ce is quite foul due to the aura''s of deadly beasts in here.

    Speaking of beasts, majority of them here are Tier 3 and above.

    The strength of Demonic Beasts had been measured by Tiers after the Reform.

    Tier 1 Demonic Beasts are the weakest, mainlyposed of new born beasts or those that aremonly seen. These beasts could be defeated by Fighters.

    Tier 2 Demonic Beasts are the more dangerous beasts that inhabited the Yellow Zone. Most of them are definitely bigger size if not, faster or developed some intelligence.

    Tier 3 Demonic Beasts are the one''s inhabiting the Red Zone. They are deadlier and tougher since they were born inside the Red Zone where survival of the fittest is the only rule.

    There are of course higher tiered beasts that are deadlier than those, but it''s useless for Raven to even think about them since he won''t even be able to out up a fight if he meets one.

    "My destination is the Withered Forest of the West first." Raven muttered as he cooked the carcass of the boar. "I need the bark of the Withered Dream Tree which could only be found at the core of that ce. It''s one of the ingredients that I need in order to cure the Queen."

    Raven took a quick nce outside and sighed: "But I''m still a long way to go. I can''t rush since I remember that there is a Tier 4 Beast lurking in there. I need to at least reach the Peak of Silver Knight First so that I can guarantee my safety."

    *Hiss* *Hiss*

    Raven smiled and patted Venus'' head. "Yes, yes. You need to grow bigger and stronger too. Here."

    He picked up one of roasted meat and fed to her. Venus swallowed it in one go and happily rubbed her head on his face.

    ***

    *Boom!*

    A huge explosion urred, leaving a huge dent on the ground. The impact caused thick cloud of fog to raise and slowly reveal the damage.

    "No. That''s not it either." Raven murmured as he held his hammer tightly and concentrated. "My timing was off and I didn''t spread my power properly."

    Raven took in a deep breath as he held the hammer in his hands. He assumed a pose, holding the hammer on one hand with his left foot forward and his body facing right. Raven''s attention was focused on how his Chaos Force was circting on his body.

    As his Chaos Force circted, Raven grasped a special sensation that he used to ignore whenever he fought. The sensation as he described it, was some sort of a ''momentum''. To him, it felt like a rising tide of strength that would then explode once he moved.

    At first he ignored it since it doesn''t seem to do anything. But now that he thought of it more carefully, if it was nothing then why is it there in the first ce?

    This gave him an idea and desire to explore this mysterious field of the unknown. He had been trying multiple times and during one of those attempts, he got a result.

    With a simple act of just striking his hammer, he was able to decimate everything within 100 meters in front of him. All trees, rocks, insects or even some hiding predators were destroyed with that one swing. What''s left is a massive crater that left Raven whistling.

    This was an insane feat, considering that what he did was just a basic move yet it caused that much destruction.

    Unfortunately, it was like he was bewitched during that moment so he didn''t remember everything that he did. It was like a short enlightenment of some sorts. He wasn''t aware if he used his Destructions Laws but he felt like he didn''t. Also, the hammer was not on it''s 2nd Form.

    Raven had been trying to get harness that feeling once more, but so far he was out of luck. This left him a bit frustrated but considering that it hadn''t been long since he started studying this, he calmed down.

    "No need to feel rushed." Raven told himself, "I have time, I just need to use it wisely."

    He then sat down and did some simtions inside his mind. His thoughts were moving quickly as he tried to remember the feeling and identify how to properly harness this ''momentum''. After a while of thinking, he finally reached a decent idea of how to do it.

    To describe it in a simpler manner, it was like shaking a bottle of wine and then popping the cork open. That will cause a loud popping sound and might even send the cork flying.

    Now, all he had to do is to follow this logic and trante it into attacking.

    "It would be wise to start with the basic movements first." Raven once again assumed a pose and grasped the handle of the hammer tightly.

    Closing his eyes to concentrate, he observed the cirction of his Chaos Force. He then started to heave long breaths which cause the cirction to be agitated. To him, this is the act of shaking the wine bottle.

    He maintained his concentration, actively observing and waiting for the right moment. As his Chaos Force became more and more agitated, a strange feeling of anticipation started rising up on his chest. As the feeling became more and more intense, Raven was starting to feel impatience and irritation in his mind yet he held on.

    Then, he felt it.

    It was like something clicked inside him, like a switch that was flicked. His eyes flew wide open, he stomped forwards leaving a deep dent on the floor. The arm holding the handle of the hammer bulged as he used all of the strength bubbling inside of him to strike forward.

    *BOOM!*

    A massive explosion urred, the ground shook and the startled birds staring migrating. Clouds of dust formed, covering his vision. Raven let out a long exhale and waited until the dust cloud settled. It didn''t take long before that happened and then, he finally saw the result of what he did.

    Everything in front of him was decimated, only a massive crater was left after his attack. It was like a piece ofndmass went missing after he was done.

    Raven saw this sight andughed mirthlessly, thinking that he went somewhat overboard. Yet he couldn''t help but feel gleeful inwardly, thinking that he learned yet another powerful move.

    There were no fancy techniques norplicated requirements. This is just pure, unadulterated strength stemming from the depths of his body. He had it in him all this time yet he ignored it, Raven couldn''t help but scowl upon remembering this.

    What made this even more amazing is that, Raven didn''t feel any sort of fatigue at all. Performing that move barely scratched his reserves. Almost as if he didn''t need his Chaos Force at all, which makes him wonder just what kind of power this was.

    Raven couldn''t help but feel that he''s just scratching the surface of his true strength. He felt like he could do so much more. Like performing this move on top of the hammer''s second form, or performing it along with hisws and so on. He felt like there was so much that he has to discover about himself.

    *Roar!*

    But first, he has to take care of the beast that he attracted from doing all that.

 Chapter 294 - Spoiled Snake

    ---

    "Hoo!"

    Raven sighed as he flopped down on the ground. He wasughing wryly as he wiped the sweat out of his face.

    His clothes were ruined, he had a few bruises on his arms and legs, there were scratches on his face and some wounds here and there. He let out a long breath and elerated his healing by actively circting his Chaos Force.

    There''s at least 10 corpses in front of him. Originally, these corpses were terrifying and deadly beasts but now they were reduced into crushed piles of goo. Theypletely lost all value, except being a snack for Venus.

    "Still have a long way to go." Raven muttered after healing himself. He stood up and watched as Venus slithered around and swallowed the remains of the beasts he killed. After she was done, Raven beckoned over since they have to leave this ce before some other beasts arrive.

    Venus transformed into a white scarf that''s wrapped around Raven''s neck. He smiled as he noticed that she already had ns to sleep.

    "You spoiled girl." Raven chuckled, "Sleeping after a meal. Tsk, tsk."

    Venus ignored him and proceed to have her beauty sleep. Raven moved forward, dusting himself with some concealing powder as he walked.

    "Just to be sure that I''m being extra careful." He murmured, "Can''t be too careful in this ce. I wasn''t even expecting to be found by a pack of Silver Fang Greatwolves."

    ''Well, I did make a hugemotion though. Still, I wasn''t expecting them to roam around these areas. From what I can remember they aremonly found deeper into the Red Zone.''

    Silver Fang Greatwolves. They will be ranked somewhere between Tier 3 to Tier 4 Demonic Beasts. They aremonly Tier 3 but they rarely go out alone, so if someone meets one, then it''s safe to assumed that there''s at least a pack of them nearby. Which is why they are deadly enemies that could be considered as Tier 4.

    Currently, Raven is still inside the Great Wilderness. A vast forest that shrouded a decent area of the Grand Ancestral ne. The Final Haven Kingdom is within this forest. And in order for him to arrive to his destination, he had to leave this ce.

    ''Still, this brings back a lot of memories.'' Raven muttered inwardly as he traversed through the forest carefully.

    ''This ce taught me how to sleep while remaining alert about my surroundings.''

    It was more like he was forced to learn how to do that since if he didn''t, then he will die without knowing how. He had long since lost count on how many sleepless nights he endured before he learned that skill.

    ''Here, survival of the fittest is at its finest. Kill or be killed. This ce honed my senses and my killing intent.''

    Raven could still remember the feeling of walking on a thin wire between life and death in the ce. The only reason why he kept on forcing himself to survive is due to his vow of revenge and pursuit of strength. He wanted to make someone pay for the destruction of his home. Which is why he clung onto life like a leech.

    ''Hmm? Oh!'' Raven suddenly stopped on his tracks and ducked inside a bush. He restrained his aura and even held his breath, concealing his presence as he observed his surroundings.

    ''There''s a giant goriing through. It''s being followed by a bunch of mosquitoes and a giant toad.''

    *Hu* *Hu* *Hu*

    As watched on, Raven could feel the ground shaking beneath him as a Giant Ape jumped through tree branches. The ape''s fur was muddy brown in color, its eyes were bright red and it has a huge nose with wide open nostrils. There were four sharp protruding fangs on its jaw and it''s limbs were extremely muscr. The ape was at least 12 foot tall and it certainly has a dense body build. It''s already a miracle that the tree branches weren''t breaking as the ape swung in them. Then again, even these trees inside the Red Zone aren''t normal.

    Following the ape, were at least six mosquitoes that are at least three feet long. Each mosquito has a needle that''s about 13 inches, six hairy legs, antennas, and belly sack which appears to be empty for now.

    Following them giant fat toad. Its skin appeared rough and bulky, almost as if it has tumors all over its body. It moved rather slowly, like it was stalking them. It didn''t croak nor attacked yet, it seems that it wants to take advantage of what''s about to happen.

    *Zzz* *Zzz*

    The mosquitoes caught up with the ape, striking it with their needles and began sucking. The Ape would''ve left these things alone but this mosquitoes didn''t just suck its blood. What drink is the ape''s blood essence, the very source of its longevity. Making them extremely deadly and annoying to deal with.

    *Roar!*

    The Ape became angry, it tried striking at the pests but only end up beating itself since the mosquitoes were quick to evade and suck on a different ce.

    ''It''s no use, you dummy.'' Raven shook his head as he watched on, ''Those things won''t leave you alone unless they suck you dry.''

    ''And even if you survive this, there''s still that gross looking toad stalking you guys.''

    Raven watched as the Ape suffered while the mosquitoes belly sacks became fatter and fatter. After five minutes of unceasing draining, the ape was now a far cry from it''s original appearance. In all honesty, it looked no different from a dried corpse. All life was sucked away from it and it could only watched as the mosquitoes fly away slowly as their bellies are now full.

    And just like what Raven predicted, the toad was waiting for this moment. It jumped from its hiding spot and flicked it''s tongue out to devour the fat mosquitoes. However, an unexpected development urred.

    Out of nowhere, a white sh flew by and before the tongue of the toad arrived, the mosquitoes were already gone. Raven became amused and searched for the culprit.

    He then saw an Albino Snake which a bulging stomach, flicking its tongue towards the Giant Toad as if provoking it.

    Raven smiled and whispered: "Hey girl, look! I found your twin ¨C wait¡­"

    His eyes constricted as he realized that his scarf was missing.

    "Aish! You naughty girl!" Raven eximed a little too loud, rising up from his hiding spot as well to re at Venus.

    Unbeknownst to him, Venus was also watching the scene unfold. It really wasn''t her fault to begin with, she had been trying to talk to Raven since she wants to eat those insects. However, Raven was too immersed with watching and was ignoring her so she took the matter with her own jaws.

    Raven was fuming a bit. He stomped towards his disobedient snake and flicked her head multiple times to disciple her.

    "Why did you do that, huh!?" He flicked her head once more, "Don''t you know it''s dangerous!? What if you got caught by the toad!? Won''t you end up as it''s additional meal then?"

    *Hiss* *Hiss*

    "That is not the point!" Raven flicked her head once again, "You just ate the remains of 10 Silver Fang Greatwolves! You were full! Even if I ignored you, that wasn''t an excuse for you to recklessly go in! Seriously! I think I''m spoiling you too much, huh!?"

    As Raven continued to reprimand his naughty snake, he was totally ignoring the Giant Toad behind them. The Giant Toad was obviously annoyed since not only it was being ignore, its meal was also stolen by a crafty snake who''s not even half of its age.

    In its fury, it made a decision to eat the snake and the human in front of it.

    The tongue of the Giant Toad unfurled and flew forward with a blinding speed. As it slithered towards Raven who had his back against it, the toad was already celebrating on it''s victory and salivating on it''s meal.

    The toad felt its tongue connect, it then pulled its tongue back along with the harvest but it realized that it couldn''t.

    It looked forward and saw the human ring towards its way. A dense killing intent shrouded his whole body as he said: "Can you not? Don''t you see that I''m busy disciplining my pet?"

    Raven held the toad''s tongue with his iron grip. With a forceful tug, he dragged the toad closer to him and leapt towards it. His hammer materialized on his hands, delivering a strong blow that sent the toad flying back.

    "I really hate being interrupted." Raven said in an annoyed tone, "So, I''ll take care of you first and deal with my disobedient petter."

    He looked back towards Venus and said: "Don''t you dare move away from that spot." Venus shivered and nod her head like a human.

    The toad tried attacking Raven again but it missed. Raven was too fast, and before it could react, the hammer on his hands already punched a huge hole on its stomach. The next thing it saw was a ck star descending before it drew it''sst breath.

    As Raven finished dealing with the toad, he sent a re towards Venus and beckoned forward.

    The poor snake could only hung her head low and slowly slither forward.

 Chapter 295 - Tiny Creature

    ---

    "The next time you do something like that, I swear I''m going to tie you up on a tree and leave you behind. Understood?"

    *Hiss* *Hiss*

    "Good! Now behave and sleep."

    Venus transformed into a white scarf that wrapped around Raven''s neck, she then closed her eyes and started sleeping to digest the food she ate just now.

    Raven sighed and rubbed his temples. He can''t believe that he became this stressed because of his pet.

    He was honestly not expecting her to behave like that at all. It''s not like he was starving her, so why would she do something reckless like that? While it may be true that she''s still a child, but still it that was dangerous. He really didn''t want to be strict with her but it seems that he needs to give her some tough love.

    If they were within the Yellow Zone, he would''ve just left her alone since nothing in there could endanger her anyway, but they were inside the Red Zone, anything can happen here and she will endanger the both of them.

    Raven sighed and said: "Forget it. It already happened anyway."

    After saying this, Raven looked around and walked away from the scene. It''s nearly night time so he had to search for a shelter since it''s dangerous to travel at night.

    ***

    Raven sat inside a shelter made out of twigs and leaves.

    Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to find a nearby cave so he decided to search for an isted spot and build a temporary shelter in there. He spread some beast repelling powder around the perimeter of the shelter and erected a simple istion array in order to ensure his safety for the night.

    The twigs and leaves that he used for the shelter are strong enough to protect him from the harsh winds of the forest and could keep him dry in case of a rain.

    Raven''s body glowed with a shining gleam. His body was covered with an armor with a shining steel finish. As his chest rose and fell, the gleam of the armor did so as well.

    His helmet was of a typical design which has gaps wide enough for him to see through the helmet and breath while wearing it. If anything, it fashions a long blue mane-like ponytail on its top, making it look like it was Raven''s own hair. The chest te he wore covered him from his neck all the way to his groin, it has a steel finish and looked rough due to it seemingly made out of scales.

    His pauldrons wererge and took the design of a lobster''s shell, making his shoulders look bigger that they actually were. A pair of vambrace attached to gauntlets were also a part of his armor, including a battle skirt, and greaves. This armor is worn on top of his usual ck attire, making him look intimidating and valiant.

    As he disyed his armor, one could see some traces of silver finish here and there. Signifying that Raven is very close to breaking through the Silver Knight boundary.

    Of course, Raven could make a breakthrough anytime he wants to but he wants it to happen naturally. This has been how he was doing it and rushing his cultivation won''t do him any good anyway. Raven has time and he''s young, there''s no reason for him to rush for now.

    Raven dispelled the armor and exhaled. He opened his eyes and stretched his body, he then gazed at the vast sky and observed the stars, thinking:

    "It''s still a long way to go before reaching the Withered Forest." He said to himself, "I''ll have pass through several areas first, and from what I can remember, there is a pretty strong Lair nearby. It would be nice if I could just go around it."

    "Hmm?"

    Raven frown since he felt some strange fluctuations all of a sudden.

    He rotated his head, trying to search for the source of that fluctuation but he failed to see anything. He activated his spying techniques and looked around once more. With his eyes shing with a rainbow colored light, he saw something that made him really curious.

    In his eyes, his environment is filled with wisps of faded blue fog coated with a red outline. These are the energies present in the Red Zone. He calls these berserk energies, something that a human can absorb but has to do so with outmost care since it''s polluted with berserk natures.

    He could also see faint aura''s of living things around him, enabling him to identify if he''s running towards a beast or not, this also tells him their approximate size. However, it was none of these that peaked his interests.

    There is another type of energy that''s showing up in his vision, and Raven has no idea what it is since this is the first time that he had seen this.

    It appeared as though it was a mix between a very bright purple and pink. The traces were vary faint but he could somehow tell that it wasing from a nearby location.

    Raven pursed his lips and thought for a bit. Debating to himself whether to take the risk of going outside his camp to soothe his curiosity or stay and ignore that. And as if to help him to decide, he felt yet another fluctuation around him, causing him to smile wryly and stand up.

    He made necessary preparations and concealed his presence before stepping out of his camp. With his ocr technique still active, Raven followed the trace of that foreign energy while staying low and alert.

    As he followed the trace, he could see that it''s bing more and more concentrated. Which means that he must be close to origin of this thing.

    After walking for about ten minutes, he reached the ce where the strange energy originated.

    "Huuuk!" *Hic* *Hic* "Huuuk!"

    Raven frowned and listened closely. He could''ve sworn that he heard a pitched squeaks, but it was so distant that he might''ve misheard it.

    "Huuuk!" *Hic* *Hic* "Alp!"

    There it was again, however this time Raven caught it and confirmed that he wasn''t just hearing things. He frowned and figured out that the origin of the sound seems to being from where this strange energy wasing from.

    Raven decided to walk forward in order to investigate what it was. And as he does, he couldn''t help but feel something sticky around him which is somewhat making it difficult for him to move forward. He frowned once more and looked around him carefully. And under the gleam of moonlight, he discovered something¡­

    "Spider silk." Raven murmured, "No, this not just any ordinary spider silk."

    He picked up some strands and brought it closer to his face. The silk was almost transparent, making it hard to notice due to the darkness of his surroundings. He tested it''s tensile strength and surprisingly, he needed a decent tug before breaking a strand. From this alone, Raven could already tell what kind of spider thesees from.

    "Queen Arachne." Raven murmured. "Troublesome."

    As if fighting spiders weren''t already troublesome enough, he just has to encounter a Queen Arachne.

    These Demonic Spiders are not only big in size but they also swift. Queen Arachne''s carapace are strong enough to ignore any attacks that are below Knight Realm in strength. Not only that, but it could also spit out globs of spider silk that couldpletely immobilize someone who gets caught, they are also extremely venomous to boot.

    Queen Arachne are not a fun enemy to deal with. And Raven was actually considering to retreat to the safety of his camp but?|

    "¡­body!" *Hic* *Hic* "¡­alp! Huuuk! Waa~"

    "A human?" Raven face changed. "No! It''s not ournguage. I don''t remember what it is but I can understand it."

    Sucking a deep breath, Raven clicked his tongue and kept moving forward. He covered his body with fluctuating Chaos Force to make his movements easier.

    As he exited the bushes he was in, he finally saw where the strange energy ising from.

    There was an empty field with a hole on the ground. The surroundings are filled with thick strands of spider silk, covering the trees and even the ground itself. There''s also a huge spider web, woven horizontally. Raven could see some bundles of spider silk, probably victims that the Queen Arachne caught with her web.

    He could see some rotten carcasses, shredded pieces of limbs, wings and skeleton scattered all over. Raven couldn''t see the Queen Arachne anywhere no matter how hard he searched for her.

    As he went closer, his nose was assaulted by foul odor around the area, causing him to frown. Raven searched for the source of the sound but he couldn''t here anything. He could also see the energy that he had been following alonging from the hole on the ground.

    *Hic* *Hic*

    Raven''s head snapped to the source of the sound. As he searched for the origin of the sound, he almost couldn''t believe his eyes.

    There, trapped in thick strands of spider silk. A tiny creature struggled to free itself while sobbing.

    "A Pixie?"

 Chapter 296 - Aina And Aisha

    ---

    A palm sized humanoid, trapped in thick threads of spider silk.

    This tiny creature has two pairs of green transparent wings, a sleeveless purple shirt and a pink skirt that resembles a closed flower. She has a pair of green colored eyes and hair, but she looks extremely miserable since she can''t free herself from the webs.

    "Waa~!" The Pixie let out a pitched scream upon seeing him, tears flowed from her face as she said: "I''m gonna die! I so dead! Waa~! Mother! Help me! Somebody, please help me! A human is here to eat me. I don''t want to die yet! Waa~"

    Raven chuckled and knelt down beside the pixie, he then opened his mouth and used anguage that he didn''t know he will use in this ce.

    "Calm down." He said using the Elven tongue. "I''m not going to hurt you."

    *Hic* *Hic*

    "Really?" The little pixie asked, somewhat hesitant whether to believe him or not.

    "Really." Raven nodded, "What''s your name and how did you get yourself in this situation?"

    *Hic* *Hic*

    "M-my name is Aina." She said, still sobbing due to fear. "I was searching for my twin sister since she has been missing for two days now. I saw traces of her dust here so I came here but *Hic* but, the wind blew strong and I lost control when I was flying, then I got stuck here and can''t get out."

    "You poor girl." Raven chuckled, he then came closer to her which scared the little pixie. Raven smiled and said: "Stay still, I''m going to free you."

    "Mm." Aina nodded cutely while sniffing.

    Raven carefully moved and pulled out the strands that trapped Aina. After that, he gently raised her and severed the webs from her wings and back, then her arms and finally her hair.

    cing her on his palms, he used a pair of small twigs to pull out the remaining threads which were still attached to her body. When Aina''s free of all the spider silks, she wobbly stood up and stretched her body while her wings fluttered. She looked all over her body and began jumping up and down from joy.

    "Yay~! I''m free! Hihi! I''m finally free!"

    *Grumble*

    Raven raised a brow as he heard that sound. He saw Aina clutching her stomach while wearing a blush on her puffy cheeks. He chuckled and looked around, he then spotted some young leaves nearby and grabbed them using his Chaos Force.

    Squeezing out the essence of the leaves, he gathered them using his finger. He then brought them closer to Aina, who''s clutching her stomach in pain and said: "Here, food."

    "Waa~!" Aina''s eyes sparkled as she hurried flew towards Raven''s finger where the leaf essence were. Her brows were pressed together as she pouted, then the leaf essence was sucked out of Raven''s fingers and was eaten by Aina.

    There was a visible bulge on her stomach after she was done, she then sat down contentedly on Raven''s palm and said: "Thank you, Mister!"

    "My name is Raven, and you''re wee." He replied as he poked the tiny creature''s cheeks.

    The Pixie race aren''t really picky eaters, if anything it would be the young ones who needed to be fed with very specific meals in order to ensure that they will grow up strong and healthy.

    From Raven''s observation, Aina is still a baby. No more than two years old in fact. Due to this, she can''t eat anything from essences of leaves or fruits, or else it will be poison to her.

    "You said that your twin sister is in that hole?" Raven asked as he pointed at the huge hole on the ground filled with spider webs.

    Aina nodded her head repeatedly and said: "Yes! Aisha''s definitely in there! I''m sure of it! Only she has the prettiest dust amongst us, so I can''t be wrong!"

    Raven then became a little distracted as he remembered that he was following a strange energy signal which appeared to as a mixture of pink and purple. He then thought that that must be what Aina''s talking about.

    She then flew closer to Raven''s face and said: "Mister Raven, please help my sister Aisha as well! Pretty please? If you do that, I''ll give you lots and lots of flowers."

    Raven chuckled and poked her cheeks once again, he then said: "Alright, alright."

    He then tucked Aina on his scarf, hiding her in there while he walked towards the hole. He also thought that it would be best not to tell Aina that the scarf was actually a sleeping snake.

    Hiding both of his and Aina''s presence, he carefully jumped onto the hole. He grabbed a bunch of spider silks on his way down in order to help himnd noiselessly. Still having his ocr technique active, he watched on and followed the trace of Aisha''s dust but it''s getting more difficult since it was everywhere.

    "That way¡­" Aina whispered, pointing on a specific direction. "She''s in that way."

    Raven nodded and followed the direction she pointed. Being extra careful since this ce is most definitely the Queen Arachne''s nest.

    As Raven moved forward, Aina would often point him towards where Aisha''s location is. He couldn''t help notice that they are getting closer and closer to where the Queen Arachne''s eggs are. And as they entered a specific distance, he could feel that Aina''s trembling and didn''t even dare to even speak.

    He couldn''t me her. After all, the Queen Arachne is visible to the both of them already.

    The humongous spider was curled up on her web. Its three pairs of eyes were closed, which meant that it was currently sleeping. It has long and hairy legs, circr head, and arge abdomen.

    As Raven looked at the Queen Arachne with his ocr technique active, he could see the frightening aura it possess. He gauged its strength from peak of a Tier 3, it could even pass Tier 4 in all honesty.

    Raven didn''t really want to tussle with this beast as much as possible. All he really wanted to do is to free Aina''s twin sister and get moving.

    ''Don''t make a sound, Aina.'' His voice echoed inside her mind. ''Can you see where your sister is?''

    Both of them looked around without going any further, after a while of searching Aina grabbed his attention and pointed at a direction. Raven followed where''s pointing but immediately smiled wryly.

    Oh, he saw Aisha alright. But she was stuck in a ce where the eggs of the Queen Arachne was. Raven even thought of leaving at this point but he already gave Aina his word so he can''t turn back.

    He signaled Aina to be quiet no matter what happens and began moving slowly. Constantly paying attention to the huge spider as he moved closer.

    As he got closer and closer to where Aisha is, Raven suddenly heard a scuffle. He panicked and swiftly ducked down, hiding behind the eggs of the spider. Since his ocr vision provided him with an all around vision, he could see that the Queen Arachne opened it''s eyes and looked at its surroundings.

    Raven held his breath, Aina simrly held hers as well. None of them any sort of movements nor even dared to breathe loudly. Beads of sweat started forming on Raven''s forehead as he observed what the Queen Arachne''s going to do next.

    The huge spider didn''t move and just observed its surroundings. After seeing nothing out of ce, it closed its eyes and went back to sleep.

    Raven let out the breath he was holding but he still didn''t make any reckless movements. No one knows if the spider is just faking it sleep, and Raven would be too disappointed at himself if he falls to that kind of trap.

    He stood still for about five minutes. Observing the behaviors of the Queen Arachne closely. Once he waspletely sure that the spider was really sleeping once more. He started moving once more, thankfully he was closer to the unconscious Aisha right now.

    As soon as he reached where Aisha was, he moved quick. With one pull, he freed Aisha from the webs and ced her within his scarf where Aina is.

    Aina helped removing the remaining strands of webs on Aisha but she was having difficulties since it was too strong for her. Meanwhile, Raven started to carefully walk away from the Queen Arachne.

    Once he get into a decent distance, he stopped and pulled the twins out from his scarf. He then helped Aina topletely free Aisha of the remaining webs, using the simr method he used for Aina.

    After freeing her, Aina tried waking her up. Unfortunately, nothing she did woke her up which made Raven frown.

    He observed the young pixie, wanting to determine what''s wrong. From Aisha''s expression, she seems to be in constant pain. Raven then pulled out another leaf from his pocket and squeezed out its essence. He then nodded to Aina, who helped Aisha up and opened her mouth as well.

    As soon as Aisha was fed with the leaf essence, her expression loosened up. Making the two sigh in relief. But as Raven was just nning on leaving the nest, he and Aina heard a loud sound.

    *Crack!*

 Chapter 297 - Queen Arachne

    ---

    Raven didn''t even need to turn around to know what happened, nor he wants to for that matter.

    As soon as he heard that crack, he immediately turned into a blur and began booking it towards the entrance of the nest.

    *Screech!*

    A loud and piercing shriek was heard from the nest. Who else could it be other than the provoked and angry Queen Arachne?

    Raven clicked his tongue and inwardly cursed. He ran faster and exited the nest as fast as he could. However, even without looking back, he could feel a dangerous presence following him and could hear that hair-raising sound of its movement.

    He took the twin pixies out of his scarf and said: "I''ll distract it away. Find somewhere to hide or escape. Make sure you two are safe okay?"

    "B-but¡­" Aina was about to object but Raven interrupted her.

    "No time for arguments." He then ced them inside a bush and said: "Remember what I said."

    Raven then faced the Queen Arachne with his hammer on his hand. A steel armor appeared on his body as he ran towards the huge spider and smacked the iing leg aside using his hammer.

    He nted on foot forward, strong and firm. He grasped the hammer using both of his hands and issued a mighty swing.

    *Boom!*

    The air seemingly exploded as the spider flew back like it was struck with a battering ram. A piece of its carapace cracked under Raven''s strength.

    Raven didn''t give up on the offensive, he leapt forward andnded on top of the Queen Arachne. He raised his hammer to deliver yet another strong strike but the spider''s body suddenly moved.

    The Queen Arachne sent a thick spider thread towards a very tall tree and leapt back, causing Raven to lose his bnce and fall, which she used the thread she sent to adhere to the surface of the tree.

    *Screech!*

    The spider let out another piercing shriek that could be heard all over the forest. Raven red at the spider while thetter started spouting pools of violet colored acid towards him.

    Raven employed his evasion movements, he dodged the iing pools of acid with rtive ease but he didn''t dare to be negligent about them. As soon as those purple acids make contact with the ground, it melted everything it touched. If Raven was to get hit by these acids, there might be nothing left of him when its done. These acids were simrly used by the Queen Arachne to build her nest.

    Seeing how easily the little human was dodging its acids, the Queen Arachne was incensed. It curved its body to an impossible angle and started spraying threads of spider silk to where Raven was. On top of this, the Queen Arachne also didn''t cease to send purple acids towards him.

    This is how she deals with nimble enemies. First she reduce their mobility by covering them with webs and then, when they''re slowed it would be easier for her to melt them down using her acids of turn them into food.

    This is a good n, specially for a beast that doesn''t have a high intelligence. Unfortunately, it met Raven.

    Raven didn''t even do anything about the spider silk. Well, it''s more urate to say that he didn''t have to anything. From the moment the silk threads touched his armor, they would be destroyed. None of the threads even touched his skin nor did their purpose of slowing him down before they disappeared.

    This happened due to Raven''s armor emitting Destruction Laws. Though the spider threads were strong and is enough to immobilize someone, it''s not strong enough to oppose the force of nature itself.

    The Queen Arachne got angrier since anything she does didn''t work at him. Raven knew that she was getting impatient and that''s precisely what he wanted. In fact, he even gave her more reasons to get angrier.

    Switching to the second form of the hammer, he grasped it with both hands and mobilized his energies.

    "Twisting Decimation."

    Raven uttered as multiple arms condensed behind him andbined into something that resembles a battering ram. It flew forward towards the surprised spider, the Queen Arachne reacted toote, causing her to get hit by Raven''s attack and fall down from where she was. The tree she climbed earlier also fell down due to the force behind the attack.

    Now that she lost the high ground, the Queen Arachne''s patience were gone. It screeched extremely loud and charged towards Raven.

    How could Raven shy away from a direct confrontation? Of course, he too charged forward and met the Queen Spider with just as much ferocity that she emits.

    Legs meet Arms. The spiky sharp legs of the Queen Arachne would be repulsed by pir-sized arms manifesting from Raven''s techniques. Each time they shed, the huge spider could feel the dispersed strength of both hers and Raven''s attack assaulting her body, causing internal injuries that even the Queen Arachne herself isn''t aware of.

    As their battle went on, the spider could feel that Raven was bing faster and faster, his attacks were also bing stronger as well.

    But it''s not like that at all. Raven was neither getting faster nor stronger, it was the spider who''s getting weaker. The internal injuries she''s receiving is now affecting her. Even though her tough carapace is only damaged at best, Raven still achieved his goals.

    And when the Queen Arachne was exhausted enough, Raven''s eyes gleamed with a determined light as he whispered:

    "Time to end this." Raven switched back to the hammer''s default form and charged towards the spider.

    As the Queen Arachne saw himing, it tried to intercept him by spitting out acid at him but to her surprise, Raven seemingly disappeared.

    She looked around her, trying to search for him but couldn''t locate him. She was about to go back to her nest since her eggs just hatched and all but before she could do so, her beastial instincts screamed danger.

    Raven was high up in the air. With a sudden boost of speed earlier, he evaded the spider''s acid and used broken tree earlier to boost the height of his jump.

    As soon as he reached the peak, he mobilized his energy and concentrated. Feeling the momentum building up inside of him. His body spun horizontally, and as gravity pulled him down to the earth, the bubbling momentum on his body exploded, transforming him into a shooting star which directly fell on top of the Queen Arachne''s body.

    *BOOM!*

    An explosion that shook the very earth, urred. The Queen''s Arachne was ttened to the ground. Her legswere severed from her body due to the impact. The spider''s eyes dted as it lost consciousness.

    And as if that wasn''t enough, the ground beneath her cave in. Causing both her and Raven to fall down to where her nest originally is. The webs that are holding the bundle of eggs were snapped, causing it to fall down. Some of the eggs were shattered and the spiderlings who just came out of their eggs, were simrly ttened by the falling debris.

    In the middle of some rubbles, a chunk of rock slid down. Revealing a sweating Raven, who dusted himself off and admired the destruction that he caused.

    He looked at the hammer on his hand with satisfaction and felt ted that he''s getting more and more proficient in harnessing the power of that momentum.

    Raven then looked at the corpse of the Queen Arachne. He then walked towards after confirming that it was dead. He took a sharp dagger out of his spatial ring and started carving out the head.

    Green-ish blood dyed his hands while some even sttered at his face, nevertheless Raven continued carving until he felt that he hit a hard object. From then on, he used his hands to tear away the remaining flesh from that solid object.

    With a forceful tug, he pulled the round object out of the Queen Arachne''s head and began inspecting it.

    "Good. She really has a Beast Core. This should be useful." He said, cing the Beast Core inside his spatial ring.

    Beast Cores is the source of a Demonic Beasts strength. These Beast Cores contained abundant energies that Raven could use for his future breakthroughs.

    Raven nned to jump outside of the nest and search for the twin pixies. However, he suddenly felt strong winds kicking in. At first he ignored it but it swiftly transformed into a powerful gale that almost lifted him off the ground.

    Raven panicked, he didn''t know what was going on. He tried keeping his eyes open but the strong winds were quickly drying out his eyes. He squinted and looked around him while shielding his face using his arms.

    Amidst the chaos around him. Raven''s heart suddenly palpitated. rm bells started going off and for the first time ever since he stepped out of the Kingdom, he felt genuine fear.

    A pair of eyes that belongs to a predator was staring at him with lightning coursing through them. Raven felt so scared that he couldn''t even take out his hammer or think about defending himself.

    However, as fast as that predator eyes appeared, it disappeared in a simr way.. As soon as it went away, the strong winds disappeared and Raven could only stare at the sky with a nk expression.

 Chapter 298 - King Stormbird

    ---

    It''s like his brain stopped working for a good minute.

    Raven slumped on the floor, sweating coldly and panting while looking nkly at the sky with his mouth slightly agape.

    He could still feel his legs wobbling. It didn''t help that Venus was simrly shaking in her scarf form as well.

    It might''ve been short and his surroundings might''ve been chaotic, but for the briefest moment of rity he saw the one responsible for that storm and the why the corpse of the Queen Arachne and her eggs were missing.

    It was winged creature with eyes seeminglyposed of pure lightning. It was at least 30 meters tall,pletely dwarfing Raven with howrge it was. It has two pairs of wings where strong winds and sparks of thunder danced. Its feathers looked more like scales due to how dense they looked, it has a long yellow-colored beak, razor sharp talons and a mane on its neck which looks like a thundercloud.

    "There''s no mistaking it." Raven whispered, "A King Stormbird. I didn''t know something like that exist in thisnd. And howe it ended up going all the way here?"

    Stormbirds are one of the Kings of the Skies. The stronger ones of their kind are like natural disasters with wings. They got their name because it doesn''t only represent how they came to being, its also the very power they wield - conjuring storms with a few ps of their wings.

    The strong winds, which almost resembled a hurricane, earlier was caused by the King Stormbird dropping from the sky.

    Raven was extremely lucky to still be standing, specially after being seen by not just any Stormbird, a King Stormbird of all things. That bird was a solid Tier 7 in strength, not even Alexander at his peak would be its match. It made sense why Raven felt a deep seated fear, that was something that he absolutely cannot handle even if he use everything in his arsenal.

    He also couldn''t believe that the King Stormbird left him alone. It only looked at him with curiosity and disappeared like a ghost, carrying the carcass of the Queen Arachne and its eggs. Raven didn''t even see how exactly it appeared and disappeared, he only knew that it looked at him and it disappeared.

    "Hush, hush¡­" Raven said as he coaxed the shaking Venus on his neck. "It''s gone now, it won''t be returning again. Calm down, girl."

    Raven could only sigh. Since Venus is a beast, she feels the suppression even more that Raven. She was so afraid that she couldn''t even maintain her scarf transformation. She was shivering very bad as she unconsciously tightened her grip on Raven''s neck. If it weren''t for her connection with Raven, Venus wouldn''t even be dreaming of recovering from this fear. Though she was growing fast and not small in any way, shape or form. She was no less than a worm in front of that thing.

    After Venus calmed down and returned to sleep, Raven got up and took a deep breath. He stared at the aftermath of the events that happened to this ce and muttered to himself.

    "Some of this destruction were caused by me after a great effort, and the rest were due to a veryrge electric bird pping its wings. This disparity makes me want to cry."

    He then looked at the general direction of the kingdom and said: "I really hope that it won''ty waste to the Kingdom while I''m away."

    Raven sincerely hoped that the King Stormbird won''t find out the location of the Kingdom. Even though he told Richard and Jacob to inform him about any drastic developments inside the Kingdom, the King Stormbird might be able to destroy the Kingdom faster that the two could send a message to him.

    That being said, it was very unlikely that it will do so anyway.

    From what Raven could tell, the bird flew back to the depths of the Red Zone, probably returning to its nest. It might have some hatchlings that are hungry, which might be why it stole the carcass of the spider and its eggs.

    "Mister!!"

    *Smack!*

    Raven nearly fell down as he felt something hit his face. His hand grabbed what hit him and saw that it was Aina with a worried face.

    "Are you okay, Mister Raven? Are you hurt anywhere?"

    Raven chuckled and said: "I''m fine."

    "Where''s the big spider?" She asked while looking around.

    "It''s dead." Raven replied, making the pixie gasp. "A huge bird flew down and pecked it to death. The bird then left with its corpse and the spider eggs."

    "Wow~!"

    "How about your twin sister? Is she feeling well?" Raven asked.

    "I''m here, good sir."

    A voice then echoed behind Raven. He turned around and saw another pixie that wearing a pink sleeveless shirt and a long purple skirt. Her pink colored pair of wings were simrly transparent just like Aina''s.

    "My sister told me that you saved us." Aisha said, "Thank you, good sir."

    "Don''t mention it." Raven waved his hand as the flew side by side. "I''ll escort you on your way home. You''re parents might be looking for you already. Lead the way."

    "Thank you, Mister Raven." Aina said as she held Aisha''s hand and flew forward.

    As the twin pixies flew forward, Raven followed them around while maintaining vignce at their surroundings. As the three walked forwards, Raven couldn''t help but ask.

    "How were you captured by that spider anyway?" He asked Aisha, who hung her head low as she answered his question.

    "All I could remember is that I was in the middle ofmuning with the Great Earth." Aisha replied, "Then, when I woke up, I was already trapped in that spider''s webs. I thought I was going to be eaten by the big spider."

    Raven could hear the fear behind Aisha''s voice. He smiled and said: "No need to be afraid anymore. You are safe."

    Aisha looked back at him and smiled, she then nodded and said: "Yes. Yes, thank you."

    "Mm! You''re safe now! We''ll go back home and then we won''t be in danger anymore." Aina told her while gripping her hands even tighter.

    Looking at the twins makes Raven miss his twin sisters. He wondered if they would ever be like this when they grow up. When he left, the two could already say a few words. Depending on the length of his journey, he might miss the chance of seeing them grow up.

    He sighed and isted the sadness in his heart. He kept following the two until he realized that they were going on to a ce where he could feel some sort of barrier.

    Raven remained silent and alert as he followed the twins. As they got closer and closer to the barrier, Raven activated his ocr technique and immediately, his vision was clouded by colorful Pixie Dusts. He shook his head and deactivated his ocr technique since having it active somehow makes it hard for him to urately see the twins.

    "Halt!"

    A strong feminine voice sounded in front of them. They stopped on their tracks and saw someone fly down.

    "Madam Jenny!" The twins called out as they flew closer to the adult pixie who just flew down.

    "Oh dear! You two troublemakers finally returned!" Jenny said as she ruffled the hair of the twins. "You guys don''t know how worried Mother is!"

    "Wuu~." Aina teared up, she then said: "We were nearly eaten by a big and gross spider!"

    Jenny''s eyes widened as she heard that, Aisha then followed by saying: "It''s my fault for being careless, Madam Jenny. But thankfully, Sir Raven saved both of us and chased away the spider."

    As Aisha introduced Raven, Jenny looked at him and inspected him for a bit. Raven blinked as he saw Jenny fly around him while asionally sniffing him.

    "Mm. You stink, Human." Jenny said, cing her delicate hand on her nose. This caused the twins to giggle and Raven to lift a piece of his shirt and smell it. And yes, he agrees to what she said.

    "But I am most certain that you truly defeated the Queen Arachne, it''s her blood that I can smell on you." Jenny added, "On behalf of my race. I thank you for saving my kind."

    "You''re wee. I merely did what I could." Raven nodded towards her, expressing his goodwill. He then looked at the twins and said: "Alright you guys are safe now so I''ll be leaving. Make sure to not wander too far from home, okay?"

    After saying his piece, he then waved them goodbye, turned around and nned to leave.

    The twins were about to say something but Jenny looked at them sharply and shook her head. Signifying that they shouldn''t say anything nor do anything carelessly. Of course, Raven wasn''t aware of this. All he had in mind is to continue on his journey so that he could return as early as he could.

    All of a sudden, an unexpected scene urred.

    Raven was shocked, even more so the Pixies. But after seeing the miraculous scene, Jenny recovered her stupor and flew towards Raven. She then said:

    "Human, our Mother seeks audience with you."

 Chapter 299 - Mother Of The Pixies

    ---

    The area around Raven be greener.

    Out of nowhere, flowers bloomed, winds danced and wisps of light started adorning his whole body.

    As he turned around, he could see a majestic aurora making itself extremely obvious and was seemingly beckoning towards him. Even the pixies in front of him were stunned by the sudden development.

    In the end, it was Jenny who recovered from her stupor and knew what this sign entail. She flew closer towards Raven and said:

    "Human, our Mother seeks audience with you."

    "Mother?" Raven tilted his head, a bit confused about what''s going on.

    In the end, before he could even speak, the thorny briars that''s covering the entrance of pixie''s home suddenly parted and revealed a path. Raven hesitated, so Aina flew towards him and grabbed his finger saying:

    "Come! Come! Mother wants to see you." Aina called making Raven smile wryly, "And I still have to give you lots and lots of flowers remember?''

    Raven shook his head and walked forward, entering the home of the Pixies for the first time. As he stepped inside, the entrance closed behind them.

    There was a brief sh of light that temporarily blinded Raven. When he regained his vision, he was shocked to see at least hundreds of Pixies looking at him with curiosity in their eyes. He could even hear them whispering to each other.

    "That''s a human right?"

    "Yeah. It seems that he''s been called here."

    "But why though?"

    "Beats me. Frankly, I''m scared."

    "Yeah, me too. What if he''s a bad guy?"

    "You guys, have some faith to mother."

    "Yeah, yeah. She wouldn''t invite someone who''s bad."

    "I know, but still¡­"

    "It''s been a while since a human visited us."

    "Right, from what I can remember thest human visitor came 50 years ago."

    "Wait, why are the twins with him?"

    "Eh, now that you say that..."

    "Yeah, that''s strange."

    "Coincidence maybe?"

    "How can that be coincidence?"

    "Maybe that why he''s been called here?"

    "You guys know that gossiping like this won''t take us anywhere right?"

    "¡­"

    The home of the pixies appeared to be more of a veryrge garden instead.

    Everywhere he looked, his eyes will be filled with images of flowers of different kinds and colors. He could see pixies flying about everywhere as he walked down the clearing. Raven looked curiously at them and they obviously did the same.

    But if there''s anything that caught Raven''s attention. It would be the thing which is ced in the middle of this vast garden of flowers.

    No matter how he looked at it, that thing is alive. Just from the fluctuations around it, he could feel the enormity of its energy. If it weren''t for the fact that it''s rtively calm and unperturbed by his intrusion, Raven might''ve already ran away from here.

    Jenny lead the way, however Raven couldn''t help but notice that they are going closer and closer to that thing. This made him a bit wary, he was even thinking that this invitation was a trap, that this was in fact a lure to keep him here so that, that thing could eat him.

    The adult pixie was seemingly aware of his thoughts, so she said: "Don''t worry. Our Mother doesn''t have any ill intentions to you."

    "Wait¡­" Raven frowned and asked: "That''s your mother?"

    "Yes." Jenny nodded, she this expression of stating something painfully obvious. "She is our Mother. Every single one of us came from her. In a sense, all of us here are rted."

    That confused him even more. He couldn''t help but think: ''Something''s weird here. That''s not how Pixies are made. From what I can remember, Pixies are created by the Desire of the Nature to protect itself from those who abuses it and to protect its secrets. That desire is then poured out to thend as a sprout which would thenter bloom and produce a Pixie. I never heard about this version.''

    Then again, Raven could be mistaken here. He knew about the creation of Pixies through some old texts that he read during his idle times at the Divine Realm. And since it is an old text, it is possible that it''s iplete.

    From what he knew, Pixies had the ability to form some sort of ''contract'' with nature. In exchange of defending her well-being, Pixies can enjoy perpetual youth and life, they could also wield Laws. Of course, there are some limitations to the contract, but once a Pixie ''signs'' it, they will be bound to that piece of Nature and will continue to stay there.

    In his mental absence, he just noticed that they were already standing in front of the thing. Raven swallowed hard and started sweating, he prayed that he didn''t have to confront whatever''s behind this stone in battle. He could tell that this thing is stronger than the King Stormbird, and that didn''t make himfortable at all.

    ''Don''t be afraid, Child. I hold no ill intent, I merely wanted to talk.''

    An ethereal voice echoed in his head, making Raven rooted to the ground. The voice sounded feminine and it''s like there''s three of them talking the same words. One sounded pitchy, simr to the voice of Pixies. The other sounded like a humandy and the third voice sounded aged.

    ''Touch my carapace and close your eyes.''

    Raven took a deep breath and did what he was told. When the Pixies saw what he was doing, they backed away and gave them space to talk. Aina pulled Aisha''s hand, asking her to help her gather flowers for him. As for Jenny, she retreated to a respectful distance but stayed just in case she was needed.

    A gentle rainbow-colored light enveloped his body. Raven''s body floated several inches of the ground as his eyes were closed. His hair and clothes fluttered with the wind as he felt that he was being transported somewhere. It didn''t take a long time before Raven felt like everything around him changed.

    ***

    When he regained his sense, he opened his eyes and confirmed that he was really transported somewhere else - well, his consciousness that is.

    The ground beneath him resembled clouds, the sky above him was a cosmic wonder filled with stars. This space was seemingly endless and frankly, Raven had never expected that the stone was hiding something like this.

    Suddenly, the clouds in front of him parted and revealed an ascending figure.

    It is another winged creature. This time however, instead of boasting and aggressive appearance, this creature boasted peerless beauty.

    Its body took on a form a female human, be it featureless. Instead of arms, she has four enormous wings that fluttered ever so slowly as it faced him. Instead of feet, she has a tail that looks like the head of a brush. The creature was surrounded with milky white radiance, her transparent wings seemingly contains stars, she also has a rainbow colored horn on the top of her head.

    Raven almost couldn''t believe it. His mouth was agape as he stared at this creature. He couldn''t wrap his brain around the fact that he would meet something like this in this ce.

    Heughed at himself and said: "And I thought the King Stormbird was a rare sight in thisnd. Who knew that I would meet someone like you here."

    He cleared his throat and said: "Greetings, Moonlight Butterfly. I am Raven."

    The Moonlight Butterfly''s wings fluttered as she spoke: "Greetings, Raven. It is surprising that someone as young as you knows about my kind."

    "I''m just as surprised as you are." Raven replied, "I''ve only seen records about your species and frankly, I even doubted that your kind existed. But lo and behold, I got the chance to meet a real one."

    "And?" The Moonlight Butterfly asked: "How do I farepared to the records?"

    "Those records didn''t do any justice to you at all." Raven said in a straightforward manner.

    The Moonlight Butterfly''s wings fluttered once more, she chuckled and said: "I''m ttered. It''s been a while since someone praised our beauty."

    Moonlight Butterfly, Raven still couldn''t believe that he gets to see one, specially in the lower realm.

    What he said was true. He had never met one in person, and that he was skeptical about their existence. But of course that changes today. Moonlight Butterflies are certainly one of the rarest creatures that one could ever meet.

    Rumor has it that their kind actually came down from the Moon. Some even said that they are the most intelligent type of Demonic Beast - if one even has the heart to call them that. Raven also heard rumors about their disposition and the things they could do if they were provoked.

    Long story short, all those rumors always end up with a Kingdom or even Empire being destroyed overnight. Which is why Raven is a bit flustered upon meeting her, since there is no telling if those rumors are actually true or not.

    "May I know the reason why you called me here?" Raven finally asked.

    The Moonlight Butterfly was silent for a bit before replying:

    "I can feel my Husband in you."

    "Huh?"

 Chapter 300 - Myrna And Elmar

    ---

    Raven was stunned silly from the sudden outburst of the Moonlight Butterfly.

    Of all the reasons that he thought of, this will be thest thing that he could think of. Frankly, he didn''t even know what he''s supposed to do with this information.

    "I''m sorry, what?" Raven asked once again, just wanting to confirm if what he heard her right.

    "You heard it correctly." The Moonlight Butterfly replied, "I can feel my husband in you."

    "But¡­how?" Raven asked, "I''m sure you''re the first Moonlight Butterfly that I met. So how is that possible."

    The wings of the Moonlight Butterfly fluttered as she answered: "Well, my husband is not a Moonlight Butterfly."

    Hearing that made Raven raise his brow, he didn''t speak and allowed her to exin herself.

    "He''s an Ent. A Kind Ent to be more specific. His name is Elmar, or at least that how he introduced himself to me. Does this ring a bell."

    "Well, I''ll be¡­" Raven chuckled after being silent for a while. He then continued by saying: "Yes, it does ring a bell. I know who you''re talking about already. I remember him telling me that he has a wife named Myrna, but he didn''t tell me that she is a Moonlight Butterfly."

    Raven doesn''t know what to feel about this coincidence. He wasn''t expecting to meet the Kind Ent''s wife here and he most certainly wasn''t expecting that his wife was a Moonlight Butterfly. He wanted to know how in the world that happened, but it wasn''t his business to pry.

    He believed that the Elmar has his own reasons why he didn''t tell him more information about her. He respected his privacy and didn''t pry any further. Raven could also feel that Myrna is truly concerned about him, he didn''t feel any kind of ill intenting from her. In fact, he could feel her blissful mood.

    "Oh. Oh, thank the heavens. He''s still alive." Her tone became agitated as her wings repeatedly fluttered. "H-how is he doing? Is he well? Do you know where he rooted himself?"

    "He''s doing fine. He had taken root near my home, he had been a shelter for lesser beasts. In fact, I did have a talk to him before I left."

    "I see." Myrna said, "That''s good. And It looks like you received his blessings as well. He must''ve considered you as his friend."

    "Blessings?" Raven asked while tilting his head.

    "Yes." Myrna replied, "His life force is present in you. Though it has be faint, it is enough for me to sense it. That''s why I called you here."

    "Oh! Yeah, I remember now." Raven nodded and continued: "I did receive a cultivation boost from him. He gave it to me as thanks for taking care of his godchildren. Well, the daughter of his godson is my lover so I merely did what''s natural."

    "¡­" Myrna was silent for a bit, making the situation a bit awkward for the both of them.

    After a while of silence, she then mustered up confidence and asked: "I-If you don''t mind. Can you, possibly tell me where he currently is? I-I''m not asking for free, I-I''ll give you something¡­"

    Before she could even finish what she wanted to say, a beam of light was shot from Raven''s forehead and flew towards hers. Myrna froze for a bit, her wings fluttering behind her.

    Raven already knew that she''s going to ask Elmar''s whereabouts so he was already prepared. He figured that it would easier to share his memories to her so that she won''t get lost. They are close to the depths of the Red Zone, if he just told her the directions by mouth it might get pretty confusing, sharing his memories to her is a better option.

    "Thank you so much, child." Myrna said emotionally, "You don''t know how much this means to me."

    "It''s fine." Raven waved his hand, "I can tell that you two misses each other. He told me that it has been centuries since you twost met. It''s about time that you reunite. Though, I am curious about one thing though."

    "What is it?"

    "The Pixies." Raven brought up, "They call you¡­Mother?"

    "That is right." Myrna replied, "I am their Mother."

    "But, how is that possible?" Raven asked, "I mean no offense but, I never knew that it was possible for beasts to conceive Pixies. From what I know, it is the consciousness of thisnd who gives birth to them."

    "That true, but that''s not the only way." Myrna replied. "In a sense, these Pixies are mine and Elmar''s own children."

    Myrna became silent but Raven waited, he knew that something must be bothering her and frankly, he had a guess that this might be one of the reasons why her and Elmar got separated.

    "You don''t have to tell me if it''s private. I''m just curious that''s all. After all, I did came here because I helped Aina and Aisha."

    "No, it''s fine." Myrna said, "In all honesty, you deserve to know since from what I understand so far, this concerns every living creature in this ne."

    Raven''s face became serious as he felt the solemnity behind Myrna''s voice, he went silent and waited for her to exin what she meant.

    "Since you know that thisnd is conscious, this makes my exnation easier." Myrna stated, "Elmar and I have a very long history. In fact, we knew each other even before we became who we are today - Him bing a Kind Ent, and me bing a Moonlight Butterfly. Meaning that even before we experience Demonification, we''re already together."

    Raven was surprised when she said that. Putting what she said in a simpler terms, Myrna knew Elmar when he was just an Oak Tree and Elmar knee Myrna when she was just an ordinary butterfly. Elmar was more than 10,000 years old. That is a very long time.

    "We experienced Demonification at the same time. He took his first step as an Oak Tree and I started worshipping the Moon. I followed him wherever he went, and he watched over me as well as protected me along the way."

    "As we grow stronger, our consciousness became more and more mature. I can still remember the first time we had a conversation. In this life of mine, I already swore that I''ll only have him as my husband. I was very happy when he thought the same. But of course, even though we have each other it still feels a little lonely. It was this time that we dreamed of having children."

    "We were envious of you humans, you see." Myrna admitted, "To your race, conceiving a child is a very simple process. But to us, we have to meet strict requirements. In fact, we already knew that it''s impossible for us to conceive a child since we''re not of the same kind."

    "But one day, we heard the thoughts of this ne." She said, "It said that it is possible for us to conceive a children of our own. We were ecstatic to receive that information but we were also wary. Nothing''s free, and that turned out to be true. The consciousness of this ne wanted something from us."

    "It wants to borrow my Yin Essence and Elmar''s Yang Essence. It said that those are the only requirements for our children to be born. Of course, we were both skeptical. But my desire to have children is greater than I''ve imagined. Elmar on the other hand, was against it. Saying that there must be another way, he didn''t trust the consciousness of the ne at all."

    "We agreed to search for other ways, but we''ve met one failure after another. In the end, desperation got the better of me. I ced Elmar on an illusion, while he delirious I stole his Yang Essence. I then flew far away and called for the help of the ne''s consciousness. I offered my Yin Essence and Elmar''s Yang Essence to it. It said that it would help me, and I saw it take the offerings. But then, I felt something amiss."

    "I was attacked, that I know. As for who did it, I have no clue. All I know is that I fell into slumber for a long while, and when I regained my consciousness I was already surrounded by flowers. The ne''s consciousness told me that our children will be born once the flowers bloom. And due to me being a beast, I am aware of the existence of the Pixies, so it didn''t make sense to me why mine and Elmar''s Essences would conceive Pixies."

    "When I questioned it, the ne''s consciousness told me that it merely fulfilled the end of the bargain. We wanted children and thus it gave us children in the form of Pixies. What bothered me the most is when the ne''s consciousness told me that it created Pixies out of our Essences since it couldn''t make one."

    "I wanted answers but that was thest time that the ne''s consciousness talked to me. When the flowers bloomed and I saw the Pixies for the first time, I became somewhat convinced that this is our children since I can feel our Essences in them.. But even to this day, I am still bothered by the ne''s consciousness'' inability to give birth to Pixies on it''s own."

 Chapter 301 - Migration

    ---

    "¡­and after I woke up from unconsciousness, Elmar was gone from where I left him. I also asked the ne''s consciousness about his current location but it didn''t answer me anymore. I decided to remain here, watching over our children and hoping that he woulde back to this ce. s, it seems that he wasn''t happy about my decision. I am determined to make up with him, and I wanted to see him badly. Thankfully, you came. But still, the state of the ne''s consciousness greatly worries me."

    "That''s¡­definitely concerning."

    Raven muttered after listening to Myrna''s story. Though he appeared calm, that''s just to keep himself from saying unnecessary things. Inwardly though, he was freaking out.

    ''This is bad. That is a not a good sign at all. Why would it need the assistance of its inhabitants to create Pixies? It is the ne''s Consciousness, if there''s anything that I could call the master of this world, that would be it. The ne''s Consciousness has the ability to overpower Laws in order to protect itself, and you''re telling me that it couldn''t create Pixies? That should''ve been as easy as lifting a finger from it.''

    ''The only scenario I can see that happening, is when the ne itself is nearing the end of its lifespan. However, during my previous life, the Grand Ancestral ne managed tost. Hell, I even saw it before I died. And I was old, very, old. Which means that it should still have the ability to do simple things such as creating Pixies. But again, howe it couldn''t, and needed help from its inhabitants?''

    ''There''s more to this, I am sure. I should investigate about this.''

    "I don''t understand much, but I could feel that this certainly a huge event." Raven lied as natural as breathing.

    "I know." Myrna said, sighing as she too felt the same. "Frankly, I am afraid of what''s about to happen."

    "Me too." Raven sympathized, "Regrettably, even though I want to know more about it. I am afraid that knowing more would be useless since I don''t have strength to back it up. This is the ne''s Consciousness that we''re talking about, everything that happens to it is definitely going to be huge."

    "I agree." Myrna said, "But for now, all we could do is watch as everything unfolds."

    "Yeah." Raven sighed, "That''s all that we could do for now."

    There was a bit of silence between them. Raven is still finding it hard to remain calm but he had to since thinking about it does nothing for them.

    "Oh! That''s right, I want to remind you about something if you n on going where Elmar is." Raven said as he was reminded of something. Myrna listened closely to what he''s about to say.

    "We ced a wide formation around the Kingdom. It''s purpose is to monitor what''s happening nearby. Any unexpected development will quickly notify the residents of the Kingdom." Raven informed. "In order to not alert them too much. You should suppress your strength to a low level."

    "And if, by chance they still get alerted by your presence and sent someone to intercept you. I''ll give you something so that they won''t treat you as an enemy. That way, you can have a peaceful reunion with Elmar."

    Myrna''s wings fluttered as she replied: "That''s very thoughtful of you. Thank you, child. If there''s anything you need, don''t be shy and let me know. I''ll help you as much as I could."

    Raven thought for a while and said: "Are you familiar with this wilderness? I am in need of a map of some sorts."

    He heard Myrna chuckled, and before he could ask if he said something funny. A beam of colorful light shot from her antlers to Raven''s head.

    Raven became silent for a bit as he reviewed the new memories that appeared in his mind. He then saw a very expansive and detailed map of everything inside the wilderness. He became ecstatic, this was precisely what he needed. With this, he would be able to n ahead which might cut down the time required to reach those ces.

    "Why are you wandering this far away from home anyway." Myrna asked curiously, "I don''t mean to be rude but its extremely dangerous for you here."

    "I know that it''s dangerous." Raven said, "But I have to do this since no else can. And if I fail, then my inws would suffer. I don''t want that to happen."

    "Besides¡­" Raven continued, "I am confident about surviving, and I am more formidable than I look."

    "I am aware, but still be careful." Myrna warned, "Even I, wouldn''t carelessly barge in to some ces here. There are a lot of apex predators hiding within these depths. Even the information I gave you is rtively detailed, I am sure that there''s bound to be some inconsistencies here and there. I advice you to remain alert."

    "I will, thanks for the warning." Raven replied, "Well, then. I should go back, I''ll give you my insignia so that you can go unhindered towards where Elmar is."

    Raven willed his consciousness to return to his body, disappearing from the dreamy space within the carapace of the Moonlight Butterfly.

    When he returned to his body, his eyes fluttered open and he breathed to a long sigh. He then took out a white g on his special ring and nted it on the ground. This g contains the mark of the Kingdom and his official insignia, a well known sign to citizens of the Kingdom. If Myrna showed this to the humans she encountered on the Kingdom''s premises, they wouldn''t treat her as an enemy.

    "You''re awake! Good afternoon, Mister!" Aina said as soon as she saw Raven moving.

    Raven smiled and saw something different around him. He just noticed that there is a bunch of flowers attached to his body. He even is wearing a crown and ne made out of flowers, and it''s not hard to guess who the culprit is.

    "Tada~!" Aina said while giggling, "See, I told you I''ll give you many flowers!"

    "That you did¡­" Raven said as he poked Aina''s cheeks. "Thank you."

    "You''re wee! Hihi!"

    "I apologize for her behavior." Jenny''s voice echoed nearby, making Raven shift his attention to her. "I tried telling her to wait until to you wake up, but she insisted to surprise you."

    "It''s fine, it''s fine." Raven said, chuckling at Aina''s antics. "There''s no harm done. And this is a pleasant surprise anyway."

    "Say, Mister." Aina called out, "What did you and Mother talked about?"

    "Girl, you¡­" Jenny was about to reprimand her but Raven stopped and signaled that it was fine.

    "It''s nothing much really. Just be patient and wait until your Mother tells you about it, okay?"

    "Okay!" Aina said cheerfully while flying around Raven.

    It was at this moment that Myrna''s carapace suddenly trembled.

    Raven as well as every Pixie around him felt this change. He told them to back away for a little bit. Even if he didn''t tell them anything, they already have an idea of what''s about to happen.

    He watched as the carapace started showing signs of breaking. Cracks appeared on its surface which quickly spread out and covered the entire thing. Light started seeping out of the cracks, and before they knew it the carapace already exploded into shreds and brilliantly colorful lights flooded the entire garden.

    From within this majestic colorful light, appeared Myrna''s silhouette.

    Her wings unfurled, revealing two pairs of milky white, transparent wings. A beautiful aurora draped onto her slender body as her peerless beauty emerged from a long rest.

    "Mother!"

    All Pixies called out in unison, all of them flew towards her and started to fawn over her emergence. Myrna calmed them down and told them about her n. She already ordered them to pick up their belongings and prepared to migrate. She told Jenny to carry Raven''s insignia as she herself searched for him.

    When Myrnaid eyes on Raven, she was a bit shocked.

    He saw him staring at a nk space with an empty look on his face. It seems that he didn''t even know what''s going on around him. Aina and Aisha started bing worried since he wasn''t responding when they were calling out to him. Aina was about to rush forward but Myrna prevented her from doing so.

    "He''s fine, child." Myrna stated, "He''s just experiencing Enlightenment."

    "Enlightenment?" Aina tilted her head in confusion.

    "To put in in simpler terms, he is currentlymuning with nature."

    "Eh? But he''s not a Pixie, so how?"

    "Well, humans have a unique way ofmuning with nature." Myrna replied patiently, "Anyways, it''s best to not disturb him. This is a rare chance for humans after all."

    "But you told us that we''re migrating." Aisha said, "Are we going to leave him alone like this? What if some beast found him after we leave?"

    "Oh no!" Aina gasped.

    "Don''t worry.." Myrna chuckled, "How could I just leave him vulnerable after all that he''d done? I''ll give him protection that willst until he wakes up, okay? So don''t worry about him and start packing your things."

 Chapter 302 - Points, Lines And Marks

    ---

    ''Breaking¡­'' This word repeatedly surfaced on his mind. ''Breaking¡­''

    ''Breaking, my understanding about it ispletelycking.'' Raven muttered inwardly in his enlightenment.

    ''I thought of it as just as simply applying great force onto something until it cannot bear the burden anymore and explode into pieces. In a sense, that is true, but if it was that simple that how can it be a Law?''

    ''No¡­'' Raven shook his head inwardly, ''Breaking something is much more than that.''

    Raven''s thoughts were silent for a bit, seemingly in deep thought. He then went and said: ''Does breaking something always needs a great force?''

    He currently is in the process of reconfirming his understanding about the Law of Destruction. The said Law is divided into 5 fields of study: Breaking, Shattering, Pulverizing, Disintegration, Annihtion. So far, what Raven understood about the Law of Destruction is the first field of study, but what he understood about it ispletely scarce.

    It all started when he saw the carapace of Myrna started breaking. As he witness how it broke to reveal the hidden body of the Moonlight Butterfly, he started questioning himself. If, only if, he had to assist her in breaking out of her shell, can he ensure that she won''t be harmed?

    Surely she would''ve been fine, after all she is a high tiered beast. But thenes the question of, does he really need to apply a great amount of force into something in order to break it? This question then transformed into: Does he need to always pump excessive amounts of hisw power into something in order to achieve what he desired?

    The Law of Destruction has a very aggressive nature. It was berserk, unruly, and doesn''t want to restrained. It even caused him to lose hisposure upon gaining enlightenment of it. All of this added to a conclusion that: if he''s going to use his Laws, it better be on the simr wavelength on how it behaves, that way he can get the most out of it.

    ''Yet again, does it have be like that? Do I not have any choice other than to conform to that way of thinking?''

    When his thoughts reached this far, he actually had the sudden urge tough at himself.

    ''Who said that it have to be like that anyway? Who said that I didn''t have a choice? Who said that I can''t change my mind? Who said that I should conform to this when it was me who figured all these things out?''

    Raven''s eyes started lightening up. Thinking about it even further made him realize that, all this time it was he himself who was restraining him all this time.

    ''It was me who imposed this limited thinking to myself. So it should also be me who could defy this logic that I imposed to myself.''

    ''Laws are forces of nature. What I was enlightened of and what others understood are not the same. No one, not even Nature itself, told me how the Law of Destruction works. What I understood is merely my spections that I need to prove. Which means that the path I''m walking on, is mine alone. In the end, it was me who limited my own growth. How funny.''

    ''Oh, well. It''s not like Laws were easy to understand anyway. If it was, then this world should be filled with Gods already.''

    As Raven''s eyes regained it''s rity, he lifted his arm. He gazed at an empty space in front of him, the strength of his Laws gradually crept up to his hand. With a clench of his hand, he ripped something that only he could feel. After that, cracks appeared in front of him, simr to a broken ss. Everything that these cracks touched would rumble, though since he didn''t applied to much force about it, the damage it caused was almost non-existent.

    ''This is how I usually do it.'' Raven told himself, ''But I know I can improve.''

    He closed his eyes and reaffirmed his thoughts. His enlightenment is still not over.

    ''Breaking something doesn''t need to forceful, it does not need to be always aggressive. Aside from knowing how much force I need, I also have to pay attention to the thing that I want to break as well.''

    ''Weakness¡­'' Raven whispered to himself, ''That''s right! That''s where the answer lies! If my Laws attacked a weakness then it doesn''t need to have a great force behind it.''

    The gears of Raven''s brain are on full throttle right now. There was no stopping him here.

    ''Fragile¡­'' Raven''s eyes bloomed in splendor. ''Yes! Yes that''s it! Any defense has a weak point, and that weak point is where it''s fragile. A fragile defense is prone to being destroyed, meaning that I don''t need to exert as much to get the result I want!''

    Raven''s eyes widened in his realization. As he gazed at what''s in front of him, the world transformed. All of a sudden, he could see things that he could only feel before.

    Everything that heid his eyes on has something ''new'' present. Lines, marks, points. At least one of these could be seen on everything that is tangible to him, even the air itself has them.

    As his view of the world changed, a distinct feeling started welling up on his chest. Raising his arm, his eyes were focused at a ''point'' that''s within reach. Using a finger, he poked it and his Laws suddenly moved.

    In a blink of an eye, the space in front of him cracked and not just in a miniscule size like before. This time, the cracks spread so fast and so wide that he started thinking that he lost control yet again.

    *Boom!*

    The effect was evident. There a huge explosion followed by a ferocious shockwaves after the cracks appeared. The winds howled and the ground rumbled. The aftermath was so strong that even Raven himself had to erect a barrier to prevent it from affecting him.

    All this while, Raven''s eyes were wide open. He almost couldn''t believe that he was the one who caused that. He kept thinking about the fact that all he did was to simply poke the ''point'' he saw and it caused this much.

    After everything calmed down, he gazed at the devastation around him. The des of grass were ttened, the flowers were plucked from the ground by the air and were scattered everywhere. Some trees were permanently nted while some were directly pulled our from their roots. Some leaves were still falling due to the raging winds that are only started to calm down.

    "H-Hory shit."

    Raven slurred in shock. Aside from shock, he could feel glee creeping up on his heart. He gained yet another trump card, one that could seriously mess up his enemies once hepletely mastered it. He could prevent himself from grinning ear to ear. He didn''t expect this kind of development at all.

    If anything though, it seems that he couldn''t use his new found strength too often. He figured this out when he saw how the lines, points or marks which are present onto everything earlier were missing. He tried actively searching for them no avail. But this wasn''t so bad, he had a feeling that the more he practiced the more he could see. For now, this is enough.

    He looked around him and sighed in relief, saying: "Good thing they already left. Otherwise, Myrna will be pissed. I basically ruined her entire garden."

    Judging from the sun''s position, it seems that his enlightenmentsted a whole day. Enough time for Myrna and her children to proceed with the migration. He smiled and hoped that her reunion with Elmar would be warm one.

    "Hmm?" Raven frowned when he suddenly felt something strange on his body.

    Upon inspecting his body, he realized that there is a foreign energy that invaded him without him knowing. He took a closer look and found out that it''s not something malicious. In fact, it''s quite to opposite actually.

    It was milky white orb, resembling a small moon. It radiates with gentle yet robust energy fluctuations. Upon further inspection, he came into conclusion that it should be Myrna who gave this to him.

    Judging from the density of the orb, he knew that if he absorbed this it will push him to the limits of what his body could handle. He looked around him first, and when he saw that he was still surrounded by those thorny briars that acts as his defense, he steeled his mind and unsealed the white orb. All of a sudden, Myrna''s voice could be heard:

    "I nned to bid you farewell but you were in the middle of Enlightenment. I can''t bring myself to interrupt you so I did it this way."

    "Thank you, child." Myrna said with heartfelt emotions. "No matter if Elmar still hates me or not, I still am indebted to you. This orb is my gift for all you''ve done. Use it well and I hope that you remain safe throughout your journey."

    As Myrna''s voice faded, a dense amount of energy flooded Raven''s body. As he chanted the Book of Chaos, these energies were quickly refined and absorbed as his own. As time went on, Raven was once again trapped in a cocoon of solidified energy.

    He is now experiencing his 4th Transformation.

 Chapter 303 - Exit

    ---

    6 monthster.

    *Boom!*

    Somewhere in the depths of the Red Zone, we see Raven rxing on top of a very tall tree.

    He was watching as a two beast duke it out. One the left side, there is a Blood-Crazed Bear. A bear that has a bright red fur and a ferocious aura fitting for a Tier 4 Demonic Beast. This particr one stood about 15 meters tall, has an old scar on its left eye down to its cheeks, long and sharp fangs as well as ws which appeared to extremely intimidating at first nce.

    On the right side, there was an Albino Snake. With its length of about 20 meters and 5 foot girth, no one would guess that it is but an infant. Its scales were harder than a rock, and despite its size it is incredibly quick. The Albino Snake''s Aura paled inparison to that of the bear but its stood tall and didn''t back down from the fight, specially not while her father is watching.

    Of course, this snake was none other than Venus herself.

    Raven watched on fondly as Venus decided to take care of the bear for him. They have been travelling for, more or less, seven months now. This girl had experienced great transformation throughout their journey, this is evident by her size which easily stumped the bear. In fact, she can already serve as a mount and had been doing so recently.

    Throughout their travels, Raven rarely missed an opportunity to fight. In a sense, it was like he was searching for it. Of course, Venus frequently participated in these battles, some were even directly handed to her. This is to temper her and sharpen her predatory instincts. She might only be radiating the aura of a Tier 3 beast, but it would be a great mistake to underestimate that.

    Raven also didn''t know how Venus was able to grow this big and this fast. For all he know, it was just from all the eating she done. Well, she''s not particrly picky either. Every time Raven defeated a demonic beast, it goes straight onto her stomach.

    While Raven was stuck in deep thought, he missed the scene of Venus defeating the Blood-Crazed Bear. When he returned his focus back on their battle, all he saw was a dried up corpse of the bear which Venus swallowed in one go.

    Seeing her jaw stretch to an absurd degree to swallow her prey is something Raven could never get used to. He watched as a bump became visible in her body, slowly going towards the mid-section of hers. Venus flicked her tongue towards Raven, looking at him with a gaze asking ''Did I do good?''

    Ravenughed and gestured her toe closer, she stood up and brought her face towards Raven who''s sitting on top of a tree. He petted her face and said: "Very good. Very good."

    Venus closed her eyes and rubbed her face onto his, it was evident that she liked this pampering that her father was giving her. She pulled back and hissed at him, Raven got the message and said:

    "Going to sleep now? Alright, do your thing."

    He held her face as her body shank. In a couple of seconds, her body turned into a long white scarf. She wrapped her body around Raven''s neck as he let go of her face. She hid her face beneath the loops and closed her eyes to sleep.

    "Seriously, you always like sleeping after a meal." Raven sighed as he jumped down from the tree. He turned into a blur and resumed travelling by foot.

    After travelling all this time, he was finally close to arriving to one of his destinations.

    The Withered Forest of the West.

    Thanks to the map that Myrna gave him, he had avoided potential waste of time and getting lost through the sheer density of this wilderness. He''s near to the exit of the wilderness, only a few kilometers away in fact. He nned on at least reaching the edge before the sun sets.

    Of course, it wasn''t just Venus who improved during their travels, Raven did too.

    He''s officially a Silver Knight now, peak of the Early Stage. His fourth transformation gave him a massive boost over all. And since his cultivation path is unique to him, he wasn''t lying when he said that he could stand up against the Golden Knights and safely escape if needed.

    Raven had no visible changes apart from the fact that his hair became longer and the blue color mostly covered it aside from the roots. His body remainedpact yet capable of exerting explosive strength when needed. His skin remained fair and his face remained handsome. He still fashioned a neat ponytail with a few strands of hair loose. He still wore an all ck attire that fits to his body perfectly.

    However, there''s one weird thing that he noticed after his 4th Transformation.

    It was inside his core where the sun-like orb was located.

    Upon visiting that ce after his breakthrough, he saw there is a new development inside. The seal were loosened for quite a bit, meaning that he received a boost on the amount that he could use. However, there is now a new film of energy mixed in with his Chaos Force.

    It was his Destruction Laws.

    He couldn''t be mistaken since he was extremely familiar with that feeling. What''s weird is that it seems to be merging with his Chaos Force but it couldn''t for some reason. He didn''t even know why it''s trying to do so in the first ce.

    Raven tried asking Inos or Astrid about this new development but none of them answered him. He figured that both of them must be slumbering for now so he didn''t attempt to disturb them anymore.

    Besides, he didn''t feel like this was a dangerous development at all. If anything, something tells him that he had to eventually merge the two together, but that is a matter for his future self as he didn''t have any clue on doing so.

    As for his adventures inside the Crown Space, it''s going rather well.

    Since he could now stay for longer periods of time, his progress received a boost. Specially after the enlightenment about the advanced application of the Breaking concept.

    He was now at the 25th pocket dimension. His enemies are getting more and more stronger but so does he. Raven still frequently dies but not without giving a good fight. The feeling of dying still sucked but at least it pushes him to his limits, bringing immense progress to his techniques.

    Through his constant battles, his techniques were refined to a whole new level. His control over strength and hisws have reached an impable heights that none could replicate in the whole Kingdom. Whether he wanted a small scale destruction or a immense one, he could decide in a blink of an eye and act on it with ease.

    His proficiency on using his hammer was constantly raising as well. At some point, he could even feel that his connection with his weapon was deepening.

    Speaking of which, Raven developed a neat trick with his hammer.

    He could now manipte its size ording to his liking.

    From a hand held hammer, simr to what carpenters use, to a 7 foot hammer with a hammer head size of 10 x 10 inches and anywhere in between.

    Over all, Raven is grossly strong now. If he went all out, who''s to say that the Golden Knights could keep him down in a direct confrontation? Still, he knows that this is still far from enough. If he wanted to stand up against the looming threat above them, he had to improve more.

    As Raven travelled like a phantom within the wilderness, his eyes suddenly brightened as he saw the exit.

    Pushing his speed even further, he quickly arrived at the edge of the wilderness. Once he stepped out of the exit, he was immediately greeted with a sight that refreshed many memories within him.

    What he saw wasn''t pretty at the very least, but it still brought him great deal of nostalgia.

    "The Withered Forest of the West." Raven muttered under his breath, "Still as gloomy as I could remember."

    As he stood on the elevated area, what he saw was a decaying forest at a distance. Bald and withered trees, lifeless soil, he could even see some ashes and decaying bones within the entrance. And even though there''s still some distance before he truly entered the forest, he could already smell the foul airing from it.

    "Ugh." Raven''s face wore a disgusted expression, "This smell. It takes me back. I can''t believe I made this ce my home in the past."

    It wasn''t like he had any other choices. He was weak back then. Thinking how he managed to go all the way here without bing food for the beasts on the way, still eludes him. Nevertheless, he had stayed here and even considered this his home for a decent while.

    He''s eager to know if he still knows this ce like the back of his hand.

 Chapter 304 - Withered Forest Of The West

    ---

    The Withered Forest of the West.

    This ce held many memories for Raven. It became his second home when the Kingdom was destroyed and everyone else died.

    The Withered Forest is about 5 kilometers in diameter, it is surrounded with a wall of poisonous thorns which will cause one''s body to decay at a visible pace should they touch them. That being said, these wall of thorns didn''t prevent the evidence of decay from seeping out of the forest, this is through the dead soil about a couple meters away from the actual forest.

    There are two entrances to the forest, one on its north and one on its west.

    Raven is currently entering the western entrance since it was the closest to him.

    As he walked towards the forest, Raven remained alert yet also rxed. His eyes reflected several images of him roaming and living his previous life here. He couldn''t help but to smile, thinking: ''Those were the days.''

    Indeed, those were the days.

    The days when he struggled to get proper rest due to paranoia. The days when he endured hunger. The days when he nearly lost himself due to loneliness. The days when he felt like suicide was a tempting offer. The days when he felt cold, alone and afraid. The days when he picked himself up and gnashed his teeth in order to survive.

    Indeed¡­those were truly the days.

    "This smell¡­" Raven''s face turned slightly ugly, "A fresh victim of the thorns huh?"

    He activated his ocr technique and scanned everything within 200 meters around him. His hunch was correct, not too far away from where he is, there is a dead beast which appears to be a huge boar with wings.

    "It probably attempted to escape." Raven muttered, "Sadly, the forest didn''t want it to leave."

    He shook his head and entered the forest. As soon as he took his first step inside, the scenery around changed every so slightly. The wall of thorns wriggled and trapped him in, the dead trees seemingly became taller and the atmosphere suddenly turned gloomier. At the same time, Raven also felt several eyes looking his way.

    Raven smiled and shrugged it all off. Once he did so, the changes disappeared and everything inside the forest return to its previous state¡­or so it seems.

    He knew very well what just transpired here. It wasn''t good in any way, shape or form but it brought a smile on his face for some reason.

    "Still the same¡­" he muttered under his breath.

    As one of the Four Extremes, the Withered Forest of the West surely is packing some serious threat. The dangers inside this ce is just as bad as the forest''s appearance.

    Records about the Four Extremes are mostly unknown. Aside from what their ancestors called them that is. Nevertheless, with Raven''s journey during his previous life, he came across several records that shown details about this ne. One those gave him some details about them, however it was a pity that he longer has a use for them once he received those records.

    The Withered Forest of the West is home to the Withered Dream Tree - A sentient being that is said to feed on the dreams of the creatures who approaches it.

    The Withered Dream Tree isn''t all that dangerous, when one doesn''t allow it to feed on their dreams that is. It is the aftermath that takes the cherry on top. Once the Withered Dream Tree devours a dream, the victim would be affected by its decay or as the records describe - the Withering Poison. It is precisely this poison that caused this entire forest to end up like this.

    And because the Withered Dream Tree is sentient, of course it knows how to lure in its prey. The wall of thorns outside is its doing, any living being that enters this forest won''t be able to leave unless they fed their dreams to the tree at least five times. But the thing is that, one only have 5 times for their dreams devoured by the tree before the Withering Poison kills them.

    Escaping is a no go either. Anyone or anything that tried to escape without fulfilling the requirements will be hunted by the tree via the wall of thorns. The corpse of the winged boar that he saw outside is the evidence of that.

    But of course, there is a way for someone to leave this ce without dying. How else did Raven came to reach the peak at the Divine Realm if he didn''t escape?

    "For now, let''s search for that damn tree." Raven said as he started walking towards the depths of this forest.

    Along the way, he would often step on some decayed corpses. Some broke under his weight while some became too hard. Bones, crumbling leaves, dried twigs and all sorts of dead things were scattered on the ground.

    Raven would also find some beasts here in there but he wasn''t attacked nor provoked. They became strangely docilepared to how they would usually act outside of this dead forest.

    Some beast are already affected by the Withering Poison, which a testament that these beasts are capable of dreaming as well. Some of them didn''t have it that bad, while the rest could only ept their fates.

    The signs of someone suffering from the Withering Poison is very visible. These signs will appear on their faces as ck veins that pulses like the regr one. Depending on how bad their affliction is, these veins could easily cover their entire body, and once it does¡­death is what''s after. Their bodies will decay at a pace visible to the naked eye and all they could do is to watch until they could watch no more.

    It is precisely due to how the beast behaves here that Raven decided to stay here, even going as far as considering this ce as his second home. He was safer herepared outside, and the reason why he was able to stay here for a long as he could is due to the fact that he didn''t sleep.

    Yes, that is one way to counter the danger of this ce. Don''t sleep.

    A person only has dreams or nightmares when they sleep. By not sleeping, then one''s dreams won''t be devoured. And if one''s dreams aren''t devoured then they won''t be affected by the Withering Poison.

    By the time he arrived here during his previous life, he had long since reced sleeping with meditation or cultivation. And since he found this ce safer than the outside, he didn''t have to leave. His only problem is food since he certainly didn''t want to eat the poisoned beast. He solved that problem with more meditations and cultivations.

    "Hmm." Raven stopped on his tracks and looked at the sky. "It''s nearly night time. I should call it a day for now. I''ll find that tree tomorrow."

    Upon deciding that, Raven found a decent ce to erect a tent and camp. Once he found a decent spot, away from the dying beasts, he erected his tent and grabbed a bunch of mmables from spatial ring. Ne then tried setting the mmables alight but suddenly remembered one important thing.

    "Oh right, any ordinary fire cannot exist here. How can I forget?" Raven chuckled as he put away his sparking stones.

    Raven learned about this as a very painful lesson. He had tried, on multiple asions, to start a fire inside this forest only to fail miserably. Thus forcing him to endure the harsh and cold winds within this forest.

    But this doesn''t mean that he can''t start up a fire in here.

    Raven concentrated and sped his hands together. Circting his Chaos Force in a unique way, a strange heat started rising in between his palms. After a few moments, he opened his hands and on his palms, a tiny blue fire could be seen.

    This was his Soul Fire. A fire he uses whenever he concoct pills. Soul Fire is not considered as a normal fire so it bypasses whatever restriction there is in this gloomy forest.

    Once the fire touches the mmables, it spread nicely and started burning brightly. The mes were blue and its temperature isn''t so high but its enough to warm him up and possibly roast some meat.

    Even without him looking, he knows that the fire definitely attracted the attention of some beasts here. While he rested, he could feel some of them moving closer to him.

    However, instead of chasing them away, he let them be. In a sense, he pitied the poor beasts, they were extremely helpless in this ce and could only watch as their deathses closer and closer. The warmth of the fire must''ve attracted them and given them some sort of warmth andfort. Raven is not that cold-hearted to rob them of that.

    The beasts went closer and closer until all of them were visible to him. It was a strange scene, a human in front of a campfire being surrounded by beasts seeking some warmth. He chuckled at the thought and made the mes bigger.. After that, he then sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state.

 Chapter 305 - To The Core

    ---

    After resting through the night, Raven ended his meditation and went out of his tent.

    He noticed that the poisoned beasts were still here. Some of them were resting while some of them had drawn theirst breath. He sighed as he saw the decayed corpses, he looked away and went towards the spot where fire previously was. He threw in yet another batch of mmables and set the whole thing alight. Once he''s done, he turned around left after tidying up.

    Today, his goal is to go towards the core of the forest.

    Raven moved at a moderate pace, neither slow nor fast. He is aware that he had to be more careful about his surroundings the deeper he went. As gets closer to the Withered Dream Tree, his presence will be more and more obvious to it. And since the tree is sentient, it could guess the Raven''s intentions bying closer.

    He''s keeping an eye out for the retaliation of the tree since he knew that it won''t just allow him to get close without defending itself.

    And he was right to anticipate this¡­

    *Creak* *Creak*

    As he ran, Raven suddenly felt movements around him. The withered trees suddenly twisted, and from their trunks, thick and thorny vines popped out and blocked Raven''s way.

    *Pshew!* *Pshew!*

    The vines then unleashed a rain of thorns covered in Withering Poison. Thousands of thorns were shot in an instant. No matter how swift Raven is on his toes, there''s no way he''lle out unscathed from this barrage, there not even a room to dodge since the vines were surrounding him.

    Raven''s eyes shed and suddenly, a bubble made out of solid and transparent energy covered him. As the thorns hit the bubble, not even a single one managed to burst it. The thorns were deflected by bubble and Raven continued moving forward.

    On normal cases, an Energy Barrier wouldn''t work against this attack. Not only was it strong, the vines shoot thorns almost indefinitely. To top this all off, the Withering Poison could seep in through the energy, which means that blocking this way would only be courting death.

    What made Raven different is the fact that his barrier is not just any Energy Barrier, it isposed of Chaos Force, the result of the perfect merging of Energy Essence, Vital Essence and Spirit Essence. It''s more robust in structure, allowing it to defend against these unceasing waves of thorns.

    As Raven got closer, the vines attempted to p him away. But before they could do so, Raven''s hammer materialized on his hands. Adjusting it to size that he could hold using one hand, he stomped forward and performed a mighty swing.

    *Boom!*

    A huge hole was punched through the barricade of vines, Raven leapt onto the gap and made it to other side, just in time before the hole he made were mended. He continued running while holding the barrier around him, at the same time he''s also actively searching for the next barricade of vines.

    After running for a couple miles, Raven found the next barricade. He tried dashing through it but there was a surprising development in front of him which prevented him from doing so.

    The soil swelled, suddenly vomiting creatures buried underneath. Bones flew up and swiftly arranged themselves to form what they used to be. Skeletons of dead beasts big and small, barred their fangs at him. To top everything off, they were covered with a thick goo of Withering Poison.

    "Oh? This can happen too? I didn''t see this in the records." Raven muttered to himself, gripping his hammer tightly with an amused expression.

    From what he could see, the Withering Dream Tree animated at least twenty beasts who were all at least Tier 3 in strength. As all of them charged towards Raven, he smiled and released a powerful momentum building up inside him.

    *BOOM!*

    The whole forest shook from the sheer impact of Raven''s strike. Chunks of rocks flew everywhere and the charging beasts were decimated. Some of them were lucky to remain intact from Raven''s attack, the others were being pieced back by the power of the tree.

    And since these beasts were dead already, they knew no fear. They recklessly charged towards Raven once again. On top of this, at least thirty vines filled with poisonous thorns emerged around him and started shooting him down with thorns.

    Raven remained rtively calm. Even under this chaotic battlefield, he never once halted his steps. His breaths are even and there are no traces of panic nor stress on his face.

    The thorns are already useless against him so he could ignore those, the only way they could hurt him is when he drops his barrier or when he be careless, which is very unlikely to happen in a battle like this.

    As the reanimated beasts came closer, Raven sent a signal to his hammer, switching it to its second form. Adjusting its size to a two handed version, he gripped the handle tightly, stomped with a mightily and swung the hammer with an overbearing strength.

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    Pir-sized fists, tainted with a Bronze hue, fell down from the sky. Each fist urately smashed the remaining beasts in powder. After that, Raven took another strong step forward and performed another swing. This time, a gigantic fist covered in a bronze gleam manifested behind him and flew like a shooting star forward.

    Nothing could hinder its path, beasts nor trees alike. Raven kicked the ground and follow the projectile closely as it tore through the barricade in front of him. It punched a massive hole and allowed Raven to get through the other side before the gap mended and the fist disappeared. Raven continued running.

    He looked up briefly and saw the trace of an arching tree with pitch ck leaves. Raven''s eyes focused as he thought: ''Nearly there.''

    Of course, the retaliation of the tree wouldn''t stop here. As he ran, he was still being shot with numerous thorns, the only difference is that they are now varying in sizes. Some thorns were getting bigger, forcing Raven to pay close attention to them and dodge the really big ones.

    He also noticed that the vines that are sprouting around him were getting thicker. Not only that, he could feel that these vines were tougher and more poisonouspared to the ones he destroyed earlier. He guessed that these must be the main roots of the Withering Dream Tree itself.

    There was another surprising development from the things that are attacking him. The main roots of the of the Withering Dream Tree were sending vines that splinters into barbs, which are also dripping with poison.

    Raven were forced to dodge these barbed vines since he knew that those could nick his barrier unlike the raining thorns. And since the poison could seep in, he didn''t want to take his chances.

    As for those he couldn''t avoid, he solved it by destroying them with his hammer. Still Raven hadn''t faced any real threats to his situation, he could manage them so far. And this should certainly make the Withering Dream Tree anxious and angry.

    Eventually, Raven saw the final barricade that separates him from the tree itself.

    The final barricade consists of thick and robust wall of bones, trunks, roots and is covered byrge thorns all covered in Withering Poison. Raven inhaled sharply and focused on the barricade on his sight.

    He waited for an opportunity where the things preventing froming close, shows a gap that he could take advantage of. Once he saw it, his eyes widened and he cracked up his speed to its maximum. He swiftly close the gap between him and the barricade.

    As he was inches away from the barricade, Raven''s vision changed. Points, marks, and lines flooded his vision, making his surroundings a little strange. A strange sensation crept up onto his heart which he forcibly suppressed. He then focused his gaze on the barricade and switched to the base form of his hammer.

    At this moment, Raven felt like everything around him slowed down. He forgot about the things that were trying to stop him from destroying the final barricade and focused on the things that only he could see.

    The Points, Marks, and Lines that he saw, he called them ''Fragile Signs''. No matter how many times he saw them their mystery still baffles him. Nevertheless, this is not the time to be sentimental.

    There is a long line in front of him. Raven raised his hammer and traced the said line using that. After he did so, silence ensued around him.

    *Crack!*

    It was then followed with by an audible cracking sound. Out of nowhere, the barricade was filled with web like marks, stretching all the way to the nearby trees and vines. There was loud shattering sound before all hell break loose.

    The shockwaves caused the whole forest to rumble, the beasts who were still inside were terrified and the aftershocks were felt by those who were close to the forest.

    As Ravenid waste on the barricade in front of him, he is now standing in front of the massive tree called: The Withering Dream Tree.

 Chapter 306 - Harvest

    ---

    With a height of 50 meters and thickness of about 25 meters, branches that are as thick as a grown man''s arm, pitch ck leaves, pulsing roots and a core which pulsed with dark purple energy, the Withering Dream Tree is finally a couple steps away from Raven.

    The rain of thorns had finally stopped, its roots remained still and it no longer reanimated any dead beast. It was like time stopped, it was as if the tree was waiting for what Raven will do next.

    Raven took a deep breath and walked slowly towards the tree. The suspended vines and roots started moving once more, seemingly anxious as they watch him move closer. He remained impassive to its reactions. Instead, he fueled his voice with his Chaos Force and said:

    "There''s no need for violence any further." Raven''s voice sounded archaic, specially when speaking the Elven tongue. "You acted on self defense, I did too. I hope it ends there."

    Several creaking sounds emerged from the tree. Raven felt its movements but he didn''t stop walking towards it.

    "I''m only here for a piece of your bark and a handful of your leaves, that''s all." Raven uttered, "I do not have any intentions of cutting you down."

    The tree didn''t move this time, it only observed as Raven went closer and closer until he was finally inches away from its trunk.

    Raven took out a small dagger and coated it with his Chaos Force. He then carved the tree''s bark, retrieving a five by five piece with some allowances and cing it on a jade casing to preserve it''s properties. After that, he jumped up onto one of its branches and started plucking several leaves, he coated his hands with his Chaos Force as well to ensure that he won''t get poisoned since there leaves are coated with it as well.

    After grabbing the things he needed, Raven jumped down and ced the leaves on a separate jade casing. He then ced his harvest on his spatial ring and sighed.

    "Alright, that''s one out of the four ces I need to go." He muttered under his breath.

    His attention then went back to the Withering Dream Tree. Raven stared at the pulsing purple core and became lost on his thoughts.

    Another sigh escaped his mouth as he said: "If you just endured hunger and loneliness, you wouldn''t have been like this. If you didn''t fall for the temptations around you, then you might''ve been something even greater."

    Raven''s voice was filled with pity. The tree was seemingly protesting about his ims, evident with the continuous creaking sounds its making. It was as if it was sending him away since he already got what he wanted.

    Nevertheless, Raven remained unmoving and just stared at the tree''s core.

    He was not having any ideas about taking down the tree, no. In fact, he has something else entirely on his mind.

    Before this Withering Dream Tree became what it is today, it was something else entirely.

    A tree that doesn''t devour dreams but instead bestows one. A tree that is not poisonous and aggressive, but instead a kind and peaceful one. A tree that spread not poison but blooming flowers.

    Before it became Withering Dream Tree, it once was a Blooming Dream Tree.

    Blooming Dream Trees are considered as one of the darlings of Nature. Not only do they boast incredible beauty, they also represents the mystery and profoundness of what Nature can do.

    If a person sleeps within the territory of a Blooming Dream Tree for five consecutive days. The tree would bore a Dream Fruit that solely belongs to that person. If the same person waits for another two days, the Dream Fruit will be ripe and the tree would give it to them.

    It is said that the Dream Fruit contains the deepest secrets about a persons dreams. Consuming a Dream Fruit would cause one to fall in a deep slumber. Their dreams will be filled with what they are longing for and these dreams are lucid.

    In these dreams, they could be whatever they want. In these dreams, they could live their own realities. But the most important part about these dreams, are not the dreams themselves but the conclusion they reach after experiencing such dreams.

    Their conclusions may provide a re-ignition to pursue their dreams and make it a reality, it may also provide them with a sense of contentment or something else entirely. No matter what their conclusion is, it will have visible impact on their lives. And that is what keeps the Blooming Dream Trees alive. Such effects are also effective on any living beings as well.

    But since these trees are sentient, they could also feel human-like emotions.

    An in the event that a Blooming Dream Tree sumbs to hunger for someone toe and dream with it, or feel great loneliness since no one dreams anymore. It will weep and wither, transforming it to the very same tree in front of Raven right at this very moment - a Withering Dream Tree.

    Raven shook his head and removed these excessive thoughts, he didn''t know how long he had been staring at these tree but doing nothing wasn''t his style.

    "Well, consider this as payment for the ingredients." Raven murmured, "Plus, it would be nice to future generations to see such a sight."

    He sent a beam of light towards the core of the Withering Dream Tree. It was unceremonious and too quick that the tree waste to react to it. Thinking that Raven attacked and broke his im, it attacked him on instinct. But when it realized that Raven didn''t, it stopped on its tracks.

    Raven remained unmoving and waited until the tree finally realized what he did. When he saw that it''s retracting the vines it sent, Raven then said:

    "Don''t sumb to temptations next time." He said as he started turning around to leave. Confident that the tree won''t stop him from doing so. "Have patience. In the near future, people wille and they will dream with you. Be a good girl ''til then."

    The Withering Dream Tree watched as Raven''s back disappeared. His words echoed on its core and the gift he remained fresh on its memories. At this very moment, it made an important decision that will have a huge impact on the future.

    But that is a story for another time.

    ***

    "Waa~!"

    A joyful and amused tone came out of a tiny creature as it stared at the two children in front of it.

    "Look! Look! Aren''t they just like us? They''re also twins!" The little creature said onto another one of its kind.

    "Yes, Aina. We can see that." Aisha said as she shook her head.

    "Waa~! Tiny people! Tiny people with wings! Waa~!" One of the child pointed while holding the hand of her twin.

    "Yaa~! Cute and tiny! Say, say! y with us? Pwetty pwease?" The twin asked the tiny ones.

    "Yes, yes! y, y with us!" The other said while jumping excitedly.

    The twin pixies, Aina and Aisha, looked behind towards a boulder which is ced not too far from where they are.

    It was Aina who spoke first and asked: "Mother? Can we y with them?"

    "We won''t go far, we promise." Aisha followed.

    "Alright, just make sure you watch over them okay?" A voice sounded from the boulder which echoed on the twins'' ears.

    "Yay~! Thanks, mother." Aina eximed and held the hand of a girl named Tori. "Come,e! Let''s y over there."

    Aisha also did the same and together, they went near the fields and started ying tag.

    Watching over them, is an outstandingdy who chuckled as they watch them y. She peeled her gaze away from the twins and went over towards the boulder. She sat in front of it and said:

    "How are you faring here, Godmother?"

    A reply came from the boulder, saying: "I am doing well, Luna. Specially now that I returned to your Godfather''s embrace."

    "Oh you." A deep sounding voice came. "Stop that already. You''re making me blush."

    Luna chuckled and said: "Godfather, you are a tree."

    "Oh, I know." The Kind Ent, Elmar replied. "Don''t sweat about those unnecessary details, youngdy."

    Myrna, the Moonlight Butterfly, chuckled and asked: "How''s your parents?"

    Luna smiled and said: "They''re alright. Father''s taking his maintenance and Mother already adjusted to her current condition."

    Even though Myrna and Elmar are technically her great godparents, they told her that it''s fine to address them as such.

    But even though she was smiling, both Myrna and Elmar could hear the tinge of sadness and longing on her voice.

    Elmar''s roots gently moved and caressed her face, saying: "Don''t put a long face, Darling. He is the most formidable human that I''ve ever met. I''m sure wherever he his, he will be fine."

    "Your Godfather''s right. Just focus and take care of yourself, it won''t be long until he returns."

    A smile bloomed on Luna''s face as she heard those words. She then said: "Thank you. I keep your words in mind."

    She then stood up and said: "I''ll watch over the twins. Who knows where they''ll end up without supervision."

    The three chuckled and Luna went over to guard the children. She then looked up to the sky and muttered:

    "I miss you.. Please be safe."

 Chapter 307 - Hardworking Paul

    ---

    "Come one guys, you can do better!"

    Inside a wide training field, a man stood in front of twenty or so students, watching them as they perform their daily routine.

    This man had a wavy blonde hair, a tanned skin and muscr build. His eyes were full of strictness as he watched the youngsters in front of him. His arms was crossed and his expression was incredibly serious.

    On normal asions no one would see Paul this serious, yet here he is. His sharp gaze alone sends shivers to his students'' spine.

    The students, no matter how tired they are, would give it their all since they knew that if they didn''t, then Paul''s re would haunt them for the rest of the week.

    This is not to say that his students didn''t like Paul as their teacher. In fact, they couldn''t ask for a better person to teach them the ways of a true Defender other than him. It''s just that Paul bes really cranky and borderline horrifying when ites to actual training.

    Today, their task is to hold their position until the end of the period. This shouldn''t have been hard if it weren''t for the fact that they were being shot withpressed air as they held their ground.

    All student of his was standing in line, their shields were up as they endure the unceasing attacks of steel dummies in front of them. The dummies will shoot apressed air that packs a punch every ten seconds, their task is to keep their guard solid and endure. Easier said than done of course.

    Nevertheless, the students were just as serious in training. How could they not be when there''s prize up for grabs?

    With the establishment of the Heavenly Cloud Academy, the students had already gotten used to the way of living inside. All of them could feel themselves bing more and more powerful as the days go by. But of course, some people are more ambitious than the others. In any chances that they encounter a chance to rise above the rest, best believe that they won''t hesitate to grab it.

    The Academy rewards hard work, this has been proven by students again and again. In less than a year of its establishment, there is a sharp increase in the numbers of Fighters who reached the Marrow Cleansing Stage. Something that was once known as a fabled realm, had now be a regr achievement for the majority of students.

    And it wasn''t just fighters nor the students who experienced benefits from this. There is also a sharp increase in the volume of Knights in the Kingdom. Not only that, they qualities are also high.

    It is safe to say that the Kingdom isn''t scared of any beast hordes within sizes of one million to one and half million.

    *Beep*

    Paul''s ears twitched as he heard that sound. He sighed and waved his hands, deactivating the dummies along with it. He then said:

    "At ease now."

    As soon as he said that, all of his students heaved a sigh of relief. Some of them directly slumped on the ground, panting as their bodies were drenched with sweat.

    The strictness on Paul''s face disappeared and was reced by a contented one.

    "Good work, everyone." He said as he looked at them one by one. He then took out several items on his spatial ring and passed it onto them. "Here, for your efforts."

    Each of his students were rewards with 2 vials of C-ranked Body Restoration Fluids and two bottles of Moonshine. Seeing their rewards brought smiles to the faces of his students, Paul then spoke once more saying:

    "Alright, you''re done here. Away with you. Remember to rest well before you attend your next ss. Now, shoo!"

    His students grimaced at him. Paul only cackled and no longer paid any attention to them. He turned around and walked towards the door.

    Before he opened it, Paul stopped and ced his Instructor''s Badge on apartment that could found just by the door. Once he ced it, the door suddenly shed with a bright light. Paul retrieved his badge and opened the door, revealing a swirling portal.

    Without any hesitations, Paul stepped into the portal. He then ended up in another ce, a room filled with more doors that leads to other ces in the Academy. Paul smirked and said:

    "Ah, how convenient. You truly are amazing, Bro." He did the same ceremony and entered the door which lead to the Teacher''s Faculty.

    Yes, this is yet another project that Raven came up with to make their lives easier. A pity that he didn''t have any chances to use it since he had to leave.

    Paul arrived at the Teacher''s Faculty Room. He was immediately greeted by his colleagues, which made Paul smile as he greeted them back. He walked to his office and began arranging his work.

    "Hmm. I should also take care of the misceneous works while I''m here. If I leave that alone that will pile up on me again. And unlike my most impressive brother, I the most handsomest one of them all, doesn''t have an assistant. Ah, how troublesome."

    Paul shook his head and walked out of his office briefly. He then went towards one of the desks of his colleagues, stopping in front of a gorgeous bombshell who''s busy writing some documents.

    "Hey, Vina. What''s up?" Paul greeted to catch her attention.

    The girl named Vina looked up and her eyes instantly brightened. A seductive smile bloomed on her face as she ced down her pen, deliberately cing them in between her exposed cleavage as she greeted back.

    "Hey, Paul. I''m doing good, it''s a little bit hot today but I could manage." Vina fanned herself a little bit as she bit her lip. "How about you, handsome?"

    ''Oh she''s so into me.'' Paul cackled madly in his mind. His facial expression didn''t change but he sure as hell wouldn''t mind to ogle at that voluptuous chest of hers at any time of the day.

    Of course, Paul knows that thisdy is seducing him. If it weren''t for the fact that Raven already have Luna, this girl might be going for him instead of Paul.

    In fact, it wasn''t only Vina. There are at least five moredies who are behaving the exact same way as her in this office whenever he talks to them.

    Paul was having the time of his life. But he wouldn''t show it on his face.

    "I''m good thank you." Paul said while smiling, "I''m actually here to check if the documents are ready."

    "Oh my, I thought you wanted me to give them to youter in the afternoon." Vina stood up and moved closer to Paul while tucking her hair behind her ears.

    "Well, I feel a little bit active right now so I thought I should deal with it now." Paul said as he scratched his sideburns, faking a shy behavior.

    He saw Vina lick her lips seductively and cooed: "Mmm, what a fine and responsible man you are. Ah, I wish my future husband would be just like you."

    ''You mean you wish I was your husband - is more like it.'' Paul cackled inwardly. ''Raven bro! Help me! Without you, I''m so popr! Ah, I can''t take this.''

    Vina handed the documents to him, making sure to glide her soft and delicate fingers on his rough hands. Paul gulped involuntarily as he saw her leaning forward, allowing him to catch glimpse of her voluptuous assets. He then heard her say:

    "I''m not done with all of the documents, I need time to finish them. If you want, maybe I can visit you on your officeter and ''give'' the rest to youter. What do say, handsome?"

    ''Yep, she wants it.'' Paul nodded inwardly, ''God, why!? Why do you have to make me so freaking handsome?''

    "Well¡­" Paul cleared his throat as he sneaked a nce on her cleavage. "Hmm, my schedule is definitely flexible. In fact, I am thinking of taking this home. You know, just making sure that I''ll get to ''do'' everything before it piles up."

    "Oh my." Vina giggled seductively, "What a ''hard'' worker you are. Well, if you don''t mind me visiting your home in my ''uniform'', then I''ll be looking forward to it."

    "Yes, yes." Paul nodded a little too eagerly as her proposal. "I, too, am looking forwardter."

    "Hoh¡­" A bored but amused voice of a female sounded behind Paul. "A home visit, huh? I see¡­"

    "Eep!" Paul reacted like a cat who''s tail has been stepped on. He mechanically look behind him and saw two people standing behind him.

    One was guy who''s shaking his head in sheer disappointment. While the other was looking at him like he was the worst human trash that has ever existed.

    "H-hey, guys. H-how long have you been there?" Paul greeted Mark and Ellen while beads of sweat started forming on his face.

    Ellen looked at Paul in contempt, she then walked past him and stepped on his feet. Paul grimaced and saw that she was wearing heels. Paul wanted to exin but Ellen only snorted. He then looked at Mark who giving him a look of pity.

    Mark patted his shoulders, and with the most condescending voice, he said: "This is why you''re single."

    "Fuck.." Was all that Paul could say.

 Chapter 308 - Ellens Moods

    ---

    "¡­that damn pervert!!" Ellen eximed as she angrily pounded the ground with a club.

    Anne who was nearby chuckled and watched in amusement as her best friend vent her anger on the ground. Luna on the other hand just calmly sipped her tea, as if witnessing her behave like this was normal.

    "How dare you!"

    *Smack!*

    "Lecherous!"

    *Smack!*

    "Pervert!"

    *Smack!*

    "I hate you!!!"

    *Smack!* *Crack!*

    "Oh dear¡­" Anne whispered, slightly chuckling at the sight. "The poor ground. What did it ever do to bear such fate."

    "Gah! I''m still angry!" Ellen chucked the broken club somewhere, not caring where itnded and pulled out another one from her spatial ring to continue pounding the ground.

    "Wow. She has another one." Luna said preventing herself fromughing.

    "I know right." Anne replied, "She came prepared."

    Ellen mercilessly vented her anger on the ground until the new club she took out, broke once again. Only then did she stopped and marched towards where the two were and sat down. She was sweating and her chest were heaving up and down. She took out a jug of water and emptied its contents in one swig.

    "Done venting?" Luna asked as she ced her teacup on the table. Anne stood up and sat with them while handing out towel for Ellen.

    Ellen snatched the towel and dried her face with it. She was silent but still frowning, she wasn''t even talking to them. This caused Anne to shimmy towards Luna and whisper:

    "She''s on transition. Do you have something to calm her down?"

    "Of course, I also came prepared." Luna whispered back, she then stood up and walked towards Ellen.

    She took out a tripleyered cake on a tter plus some utensils on her spatial ring and ced it in front of Ellen. She didn''t even bother saying anything and just sat down to where she was seated earlier.

    Ellen stared at the cake while gulping. She then looked at her friends and saw them not paying attention. She puffed her cheeks and picked up the fork. She took a bite out of the cake and her eyes sparkled.

    She then took another bite¡­

    And another one¡­

    She kept on doing this until she no longer have any care about this world aside from finishing the whole thing.

    Luna looked at Anne and winked, thetter gave her an okay sign using her fingers as they stayed silent until Ellen finishes the cake.

    Not even five minutester, the te was empty and Ellen was feeling better. She was holding cheeks as she let out a dreamy sigh, saying:

    "Ah, chocte cakes." Ellen murmured with her eyes sparkling, "Never change. Never change."

    Anne whispered to Luna once more: "Alright, she''s out of the Angry mood and is now on the ted mood. We''re safe now."

    Luna nodded and chuckled. She suddenly remembered something.

    A wise man once said:

    ''Ellen is a simple person. She has 3 Positive Moods which are: Satisfied, Happy and ted. And 3 Negative Moods which are: Annoyed, Irritated and Angry. When she''s ted, she''s the cutest human being ever but when she''s Angry, even Devils will shiver. If you want to get her out of her Angry mode, wait for her to be exhausted and then give her a Chocte Cake, it''s best if its the tripleyered one. That will cause her mood to flip like a switch.''

    And this wise man is none other than Paul himself.

    Luna shook her head inwardly and thought: ''No one here knows her better aside from Paul. Ai, if only he stops fooling around. That''d be great.''

    "Feeling better now?" Anne asked, causing Ellen to nod vigorously like a little kid.

    ''Yeah, this is the same girl who''s pounding the ground with a massive club just a few moments ago.'' Anne said to herself, ''Paul''s a genius.''

    "I say, don''t mind it too much Sis." Anne said, "You know him and his antics."

    This caused Ellen to puff her cheeks once again, but this doesn''t mean that she''s angry again.

    "I don''t know." Ellen said, feeling a little lost. "I just don''t understand it anymore."

    "And? What exactly it is that you don''t understand?" Luna inquired. She fully knows what her friend is talking about but it would be better if it came from her directly.

    "That..." Ellen hesitated, she sighed and ced a hand on her chin. "He keeps on saying this...and then that¡­the he will do this, and then will do that¡­honestly it''s so confusing!"

    ''You''re confusing.'' Luna and Anne thought the same thing.

    Luna shook her head and said: "Jealousy at its finest. Don''t worry, I get it."

    "I''m not jealous." Ellen said meekly, she couldn''t even bring her self to look at them as she said this.

    "Yeah you are. In denial too." Anne added.

    "Why would I be jealous?" Ellen scoffed. "What is shepare to me?"

    "She just taller than me." Ellen said as described Vina.

    "Has a curvier body."

    She looked down.

    "A prettier lips."

    She frowned.

    "Smells nicer."

    She gripped the hem of her clothes and looked down.

    "More seductive."

    She bit her lips.

    "B-bustier¡­"

    Tears formed on the corner of her eyes.

    "A-and bolder to ask him out like that¡­"

    Ellen looked up and saw both of them looking at her sympathetically while wiping fake tears from their eyes.

    "Mmhmm, I get it." Luna said emotionally, "I really do."

    "Huhu, you poor girl. You are so unlucky and so inferior. I feel you." Anne relentlessly said.

    A massive club appeared on Ellen''s hands as she said: "Die, you traitors!"

    "Oh dear, she has another one." Anne said whileughing.

    "Calm down, girl." Said Luna whileughing, "We can talk about this."

    "Hmph!" Ellen snorted as she chucked the club off to somewhere yet again, not really caring if she hit something or someone.

    Anne and Lunaughed a bit more before finally calming down. It was then that Anne suddenly became serious and told her.

    "Listen here, Sis." Anne said while looking intently at Ellen, "Don''t you think that none of this would''ve happened if you didn''t deny what you truly feel?"

    "¡­" Ellen had no words for that.

    "Paul told you the whole truth about what happened when you were kidnapped back then." Anne continued. "It was him who saved you from imprisonment, not Raven. You all just thought that it was him since Paul and Raven looked so much alike when they were kids. And he also told you why he kept that a secret right?"

    "¡­"

    "It''s because you told him that you hated him so much." Anne''s words stabbed Ellen''s heart. "He also told you that he didn''t mind and he would officially chase after you but what did you do?"

    "¡­"

    "You told him that he''s dumb and you ran away." Ellen''s heart was bleeding, she wanted to stop Anne from talking but she can''t since she''s just stating facts.

    "So?" Anne crossed her arms and continued: "Truthfully speaking, you have no right to get mad at him. In a sense, you already rejected him. So why would you care if he flirts with other girls?"

    Ellen''s breath hitched. That¡­hearing that, specially from her, hurts more than she expected. She wanted to say something back but she couldn''t. All she could do is to lower her head and ept this pain.

    Anne was right. It was her who''s at fault here. She had no right and no reason to be mad. It was her who pushed him away and ran. No matter what reasons she may have for doing that, that doesn''t justify the way she treats him whenever she''s jealous.

    "I just can''t be honest¡­" Ellen said, not particrly towards anyone, more so to herself. Anne and Luna were silent.

    "I didn''t want to do that." Ellen was referring to her act of pushing him away. "I just didn''t know how to react. I like him, you guys know that by now."

    "I''m just scared." Her vision blurred, she wasn''t even aware that she''s already crying this much. "I can''t help it. What if I can''t keep him? I''m not like those girls he fantasizes about, what if he finds another one and leave me behind?"

    "I just..." Ellen gripped the hem of her clothes tighter, "I just don''t know what will happen to me if that day even happen. So¡­I thought that it would be best to keep him at arm''s length. Maybe that way, it''ll be better."

    "That''s stupid."

    Ellen froze. She involuntarily looked up and saw Anne and Luna smiling at her. She bit her lips since she realized that those words didn''te from them.

    She didn''t even turn around to see who said that since she already knew who it was. Her instincts told her to run, and that she did. But before she could even run far away, she heard him speak once again.

    "Running away again? Fine! Do that! I swear to god that if you disappear from my sight, then you will never, ever see me again."

    That proved effective as Ellen immediately stopped from her tracks. She couldn''t look back and she was trembling, it didn''t take long before a rough and strong hands gripped her hands, dragging her somewhere.

    Luna and Anne watched Paul and Ellen disappear. They looked at each other and giggled.. The high-fived and went back to enjoy their break time.

 Chapter 309 - Present

    ---

    One week after that whole scene of Ellen and Paul.

    Bored.

    A perfect term for what Anne''s current mood.

    She was sitting on the edge of roof with her feet dangling. She has been sighing over and over again since there nothing for her to do.

    It was her day off as an Instructor so she didn''t need to go there, not that she feel particrly inclined about doing so. The rest of her friends are busy doing something so she can''t hang out with them. She thought about training but she''s not on the mood, even picking up her bow makes her feel incredible boredom.

    Shopping? There no sense on going since she practically have everything that she wanted from the market. In fact, her closet is about to burst open with how many clothes she has in there. She even had someone build her a room just for her to ce all of her foot wares.

    She could eat but she''s no particrly hungry, she could go out and go to ces but she had seen it all. She could go and visit some people but it''s not the same if it''s not her friends.

    So with nothing to do, Anne could only sigh repeatedly and watch as the time pass by.

    "Psst."

    Anne raised her brow and followed the sound. As she turned her head, she saw someone leaning on a tree not too far from where she is while looking at her.

    It was a guy who''s about 5''9 in height. Short ck hair, a strong jawline, fair skin, lean body and was wearing a sleeveless maroon shirt which entuated his lean yet muscr arms, couple with a tight-fitting ck colored pants.

    Of course, this was none other than Mark.

    Anne smiled and jumped down from the roof, she hopped a few times afternding and stopped precisely in front of him. She then asked: "What''s up?"

    "Bored?" Mark asked while raising his brow.

    Anne nodded vigorously like a little child. Mark chuckled and said: "Come, I''ll show you something interesting."

    Mark then employed his movement technique, causing him to transform almost like a bolt of lightning, leaving Anne behind.

    The green haired girl smirked and said: "A contest of speed huh?"

    Anne can recognize a challenge when she sees one, and Mark doing this is nothing different. With a gentle skip, Anne turned into a blur as she hurriedly caught up to Mark.

    One was like a lightning while the other is like the wind. Two silhouettes moved too fast for the naked eye to follow as they charged through the mini-forest all the way to the streets which are teeming with human activity.

    Anne came into a halt once he saw Mark did so as well. He looked back at her and smirked, before Anne could ask him what he''s nning, he saw the dude turning into a sh of lightning towards the roofs.

    The youngdy smirked and followed closely behind, she then asked: "Are we ying a game of tag now?"

    Mark looked behind her and said: "Not really, but if you can catch me then I might give you a present."

    "Present? You don''t have to. I''ve got a lot of things at home." Anne said as she jumped over a steel bar elegantly.

    "I can guarantee that you will like this one." Mark said, causing Anne to raise her brow.

    "Oh? And how can you tell?" She asked since she could hear the confidence behind his voice.

    "Hmm¡­" Mark hummed as he calmly dodged the obstacles on his way even without looking. "Let''s just say, what I have is a collector''s item."

    "Oh, color me surprised. You actually know about that term." Anne chuckled as she continued chasing after him. "Well, I''ll take your word for it."

    Anne suddenly picked up her speed. If before her speed was just as fast as the wind, now she''s more like a fearsome gale. Mark smirked as he too kicked up his speed.

    The two then continued their chase through the Kingdom causing some slight panic to it''s citizens. Nevertheless, no oneined too hard since they were used to it by now. Plus, it''s not like there were some real damages that were inflicted to them. If anything, all they felt was a strong breeze and that''s about it.

    The chase went on for a while. Anne''s boredom hadpletely disappeared and was reced by entertainment. At this point she didn''t really care about the prize, or the fact that Mark might be lying to her. All that she knows is that what''s happening is fun, and even though this is a bit of a work out, she didn''t mind.

    And it''s not like Anne had any hopes of catching Mark anyway. The close calls of her catching up to him were all staged by Mark just to make the chase more fun, of course Anne is aware of this. If Mark is really serious, then he could instantly widen the gap between them.

    Even so, Anne appreciated this. Just like how Paul knew Ellen so much, it was safe to say that none could understand her like Mark does. Though they don''t talk a lot, actions were more than enough to make up for that.

    Eventually the ended up in cliff, and as soon as Mark arrived here he came into a screeching halt. Anne saw this and caught up to him, touching his shoulders to im victory but was intercepted by Mark''s rough and warm hands.

    Anne was little bit stunned, she looked at him and saw him staring into her eyes. It was as if he was staring at her soul. A faint blush appeared on her face but she masked by saying:

    "I caught you." She then raised her other hand and asked: "Where''s my prize?"

    Unexpectedly, Mark smiled and walked while holding her hand. Anne tilted her head in confusion but went along since she has nothing better to do anyway.

    They went on the edge of the cliff. Mark sat down and patted the ground next to him, signaling Anne to sit beside him. Anne did, and suddenly a box wrapped in a gift wrapper was ced on herp.

    Anne chuckled and asked: "What''s with the wrapper?"

    Mark raised his brow and asked: "Wait, don''t tell me you still hadn''t caught on?"

    "Huh?" Anne also raised her brow, genuinely confused about his words.

    She saw him sigh, he then flicked her head and before she could ask why he did that, Mark said: "It''s birthday today, you dummy."

    "Oh." Anne reacted out of instinct, it wasn''t until a couple secondster that she finally digested what he just said: "Oh! It''s my birthday! Wow, I can''t believe I actually forgot about that."

    Anneughed merrily as she couldn''t believe that she would actually forgot about her own birthday. She then give Mark a hug and said: "Thank you. Good thing you remembered."

    "Are you that bored to even forget about your own birthday?" Mark asked in amusement.

    "Yeah, I must be." Anne agreed, "I don''t know what''s up today, but I was really bored. Thankfully you came."

    As Anne busied herself on unwrapping Mark''s gift neatly without tearing the wrapper, she didn''t notice that Mark was behaving rather nervous. He kept ncing at her using the corners of his eyes, it was like he wanted to say or do something but couldn''t for some reason.

    Anne suddenly heard Mark sighed, long and hard. She looked at him weirdly and asked: "What''s up with you? You''re acting like an old man, are you bored too? Want to race again?"

    "Nope and nope." Mark shook his head, "I''m fine, just go ahead and look at your present. I''m sure you''ll love it."

    "Okay." Anne nodded and finished unwrapping the present. What she saw actually made her gasp and look at Mark in astonishment.

    "How did you even got a hold of this? I thought they stopped making these for years now?"

    What Mark got for her is a pair of earrings that has a gem that is carved like a flower. These earrings couldn''t be bought from the market anymore since the manufacturer had stopped making these for about a decade now.

    Anne adored these earrings so much. She asked her parents to but this for her even back when she was a kid but they never did since it was too expensive.

    "Oh my god, it''s so pretty." Anne eyes sparkled as she looked at them, "I''ll wear them now!"

    And she did just that, but as she ced them on, she remembered Mark''s words.

    "Wait, how did you know that I like these earrings?" Anne asked with a confused face, "I don''t remember telling any of you about this, not even the girls. So how did you know?"

    Mark was silent for a bit, eventually he sighed again and said: "It was you who told me."

    "Huh?" Anne was even more confused, she then asked: "When?"

    Out of nowhere, Mark pulled out something from his spatial ring and showed it to her.

    "It was when you sent me this letter."

    And as Anne saw the letter, her eyes widened and she involuntarily covered her mouth.

    "Y-you are...."

 Chapter 310 - Pen Pal

    ---

    ***

    "Dear, No one."

    Anne Fiore, an eight year old girl, muttered as she wrote a letter. Anyone who could see doing this would be incredibly confused as to why she''s saying the words she''s writing, then again she is a young girl so they could me it on immaturity.

    "How are you doing? I''m sorry I didn''t reply right away, were you waiting for my letter? If so, then yay. If not, then boo." Anne giggled as she continued writing.

    "My parents were strict, it''s kind of annoying. They wanted me to meet ugly fatties. Those smelly and dirty fatties wanted me to y the zither for them. I don''t want to but my parents said that it''s fine, so I guess it''s fine. But I don''t want to meet them again, I don''t like the way they stare at me."

    She pouted as she wrote, she briefly stopped and adjusted themp nearby her desk.

    "Why won''t you show yourself to me, Mr. No One? You told me that you''re ugly but I don''t believe it. I want to be friends with you so that we can y together. It will be more fun to y with you rather than that¡­boy that my parents introduced to me."

    "Anyway, forget about him. Hmph! As if I''m going to marry that boy! I don''t like him, not at all. He looks at me like those smelly fatties."

    Anne pursed her lips as she twirled the pen briefly before writing again.

    "Hey, you said that you''ve been watching me from far away right? Mom told me that only stalkers do that. But I don''t know what a stalker means since she didn''t exin, but it shouldn''t be that bad if that''s what you''re doing right? After all, unlike them, you never treated me like a doll. You treated me like a friend, but you won''t shoe yourself so does that mean that we''re invisible friends? That doesn''t make sense."

    "Well, I''ll be waiting for you to show yourself. I don''t believe your ugly. And even if you are, it doesn''t matter. You know where I live, just knock and look for me okay? I''ll be waiting."

    Anne was about to fold the letter but she remembered something, so she continued writing.

    "Ps. I saw an very pretty earring today, it was worn by an Aunty I met at a party. I wanted one but my parents said that they''re not making them anymore, plus it''s expensive. It''s a pity though, I super duper like those earrings. Anyway, send me a letter right away okay? *Kisses~"

    ***

    Anne''s face reddened so much as she remembered the contents of the same letter that she''s holding right now.

    Mark who was sitting beside her, can''t even look at her as he too remembered the childish and cringy memories from his youth. He was red from his neck all the way to his ears, he''s also sweating a lot for no particr reason.

    Anne wanted to find somewhere to bury herself so that she could never be seen again. She was mortified. All this time that she pushed these memories at the deepest recesses of her heart, remember them fondly every once in a while, never in her wildest dreams that her pen pal from before was literally beside her all this time.

    "A-are you¡­really him?" Anne asked without looking. There was a very awkward atmosphere between them.

    "M-mm¡­" Mark nodded, also couldn''t bear to look at her.

    After a round of silence, Anne couldn''t help but said.

    "Well¡­this is, uh¡­unexpected."

    "Yeah¡­"

    "¡­"

    Silence reigned once more. Thankfully there were no other person here other than them or else it would''ve been more awkward.

    It really shouldn''t have been a big deal. They were just two innocent kids back then, who happened to be friends from writing to each other¡­albeit secretly.

    But that wasn''t the point.

    The reason it became so awkward is because Mark was Anne''s pen pal back then. It was more because of a specific thing that Mark wrote, oh so boldly.

    ***

    ''Wait until we get older. I''ll be really, really handsome and strong just like my Dad, then I''ll show myself. Don''t you dare get any husband before then, okay! I won''t take any wife other than you!''

    ''I''ll be your husband! I''ll marry you when we grow up. We will have many kids and we''ll live happily ever after just like the endings on your fairy tales. I''ll make you happy and protect you with my life! I promise.''

    ***

    Inside Mark''s brain.

    ''Dear god, make it stop.'' Mark wanted to cry but had no tears, as memories came rushing in. ''Seriously, what the heck is wrong with me? Why did write that? And I brought this to myself too!''

    ''¡­but it''s not like anything changed really. But please, memories. My cringy memories, spare me of humiliation.''

    And just as Mark was silently begging for the memories to stop, Anne was doing the same.

    ***

    ''Hey! Hey! You said it was a promise, so don''t you dare break it! I will really wait for you. I too, promise that I won''t take any husband aside from you. I''ll wait for you okay?''

    ''I''ll be a good wife and mommy. I''ll love all of our kids, no matter how many there is! I mean it! I''ll marry you, but please don''t take too long. Otherwise, my parents and those smelly fatties will take me away.''

    ***

    Inside Anne''s brain.

    After a few rounds of internal screaming¡­

    ''Girl! What is wrong with you? Seriously? I couldn''t believe I was the one who wanted many kids! Wait, no! No! Why am I thinking of that!? Am I seriously considering this? Oh my god!!''

    Internal screaming once again¡­

    ''¡­but thus smelly guy really made me wait huh? Wait, no! No, no! That''s not the point! Okay, Anne rx. Chill. Breathe nice and slow. Yes, just like that. This is not embarrassing at all¡­''

    ''¡­not at all.''

    Another shback urred. And she''s back into screaming internally again.

    The silence this time around was long. Mark wanted to say something but couldn''t. It may not look much but he had been rehearsing for this day. He had his lines ready and wanted to say them, but no matter how preparation he made, it didn''t prepare him at all.

    "Uh..."

    "Wait¡­wait! I''m not prepared, can I think this through?"

    "Huh?"

    "Eh?"

    "What are you-? Oh¡­"

    "Wait no! No, no. Scratch that! Forget that I said something!"

    "But¡­"

    "I said I''m not ready!"

    "Wait, I''m not¡­"

    "No! Don''t say it! I can''t just yet!"

    "Yet?" Mark tilted his head.

    "Wu~." Anne suddenly stood up and started marching away. She really couldn''t handle it. The corners of her eyes were wet and she''s feeling so lost andplicated.

    Mark panicked and tried coaxing her, yet he was shaking so bad that he couldn''t even bring himself to touch her. He too stood up and followed her, he was trying to exin but¡­

    "Wait, Anne. H-hear me out."

    "Come on! I said, I''m not ready to be engaged just yet!"

    "I wasn''t proposing!"

    That made her froze on the spot. She mechanically looked back with a shock evident on her face. For some reason her heart sank, yet she didn''t know why. Unfortunately, she didn''t get to relish this feeling since the embarrassment ate her away.

    "Look, I just wanted to exin some things, okay? I-I know you''re not uh¡­p-prepared. A-and it''s not like I revealed the letter just for that, no. It''s just that uh¡­y-you know. I-I figured it''s about time that I told you, so¡­"

    These words sounded way better inside Mark''s head but there''s nothing he could. He was shaking, he felt cold, embarrassed, nervous and afraid. God knows how much he had been waiting for this moment. He even disturbed the hell out of Raven just so that he could do this.

    He knows that it was falling apart but he wanted to try. He had been waiting for so long. Unexpectedly, instead of coaxing her, his words sessfully made Anne cry.

    Mark panicked like never before, he was about to ask what''s wrong but then he heard this.

    "I see, you''re not proposing huh. I get it! I really do! Pardon me for assuming such thoughts¡­"

    "Do you want me to?"

    Mark wanted to say that inwardly but he blurted it out. And since it was out, he couldn''t take it back. Nevertheless, that stopped Anne from crying. She looked down and stayed silent.

    ''Well, she didn''t say no.'' Mark thought before shaking his head, ''What am I thinking!''

    Mark scratched his head and stepped closer to Anne. He didn''t know what to do so he just wiped her tears while caressing her face gently.

    "Alright, let''s start that again." Mark said softly as he stared at the adorable face of Anne. "We made promise, yes. But we also both know that it doesn''t have to be now."

    Anne looked up at him, Mark continued:

    "There no rush. We have time." Mark looked at her intently. "I fulfilled a part of my promise. I showed myself to you. I''m here. I know what I feel towards you and you know that too. But if you want to, we can take things slowly."

    Mark took a deep breath in and pulled Anne closer to him. He then looked straight at her eyes and told her:

    "I want to know you better."

 Chapter 311 - Little Paradise

    ---

    "Alright girl. That''s enough, I''ll take it from here."

    Raven patted Venus'' head as he arrived beside her. The Albino Snake hissed and nodded like a human before stopping on its tracks and watching its father do the hard work.

    Step by step, he moved closer to the location of their troubles - which are a stacked debris of rocks and trees. These things blocked their way and what''s behind them is an important road that Raven wanted to take. At first, Venus was trying to clear them by herself. However, its taking a long time so Raven decided to do it instead.

    He spread his consciousness around him, his vision prated and searched for the most ideal spot to make an entrance. After finding it, he walked towards the spot and paused.

    Raven nted one foot forward and clenched his hand. Concentrating a dense yet controlled amount of Chaos Force plus hisws, he inhaled sharply and sent the fist forward.

    An muffled explosion sound urred followed by shattering sounds. Webs of cracks appeared and spread in front of him. An intense rumbling followed that, then the debris shook and a hole he could fit in was made.

    "Come." Raven told Venus. She then moved and wrapped herself around his neck while transforming into a white scarf.

    Raven went inside and started walking. The ground beneath him was uneven but he could manage. When he heard some rumbling behind him, he frowned and kicked up his speed. He dashed like a like an arrow, leaving the wind whistling on his wake.

    It didn''t take long before he saw the other side. Hearing some more intense rumbling above him, Raven clicked his tongue and pushed his speed to the maximum.

    He exited the tunnel like a bolt of lightning, just in time before the tunnel he made copse. Raven sighed in relief and continued on his way.

    What''s on the other side of the fallen debris, is a lush and vivid garden filled with rich vegetation. Trees were filled with fruits and flowers bloomed beautifully, each de of grass swayed gently with the wind. The air was fresher herepared outside, it also soothes the fatigue out of Raven specially after travelling non-stop.

    No too far away from them, there is a clear stream of water which seems to be sparkling because of sunlight reflecting on its surface. One could also see some non-aggressive animals at a distance. Although they were wary about themotion and seemed to be afraid of Raven, all they did was to run away.

    Raven smiled and calmly walked forward. Not too far away from where he was, a humble hut. He walked towards it and knocked. He did this three times with varying intervals. After that, he pushed the door open and walked inside like he owned the ce.

    Sitting on one of the chairs avable, he looked inside the simple hut and smiled as memories came rushing in.

    "My little paradise." He murmured.

    This is what he called this ce since he actually don''t know what it''s called. Little Paradise is also an istednd, simr to the kingdom. This ce is far away from the dangers and horrors of the outside. It remained pure and undisturbed, became a home to regr animals and for those who''s seeking some peace and calm.

    He had no idea how this ce turned out to be like this. In fact, he wondered about it for a long time but had no answer. Nevertheless, this became a memorable ce to him due to how he ended up here in his past.

    Raven was close to being dead when he ended up here. He got into a huge battle against beast whichsted for five days and nights. His body was riddled with cuts and bruises. He lost so much blood and was barely awake. Raven was only moving through sheer will and his instincts to survive.

    Thest thing he remembered back then, was being picked up by a massive ming bird. But before he ended up as a meal to its hatchlings, he fell into a hollowed mountain and ended up here.

    He woke up extremely weak, and for a while he refused to believe that this ce was safe. After witnessing the harsh horrors of the wilderness, he just couldn''t bring himself to believe that there are no potential dangers here. But after he recovered andbed the whole ce, he saw nothing that could threaten him.

    "I remembered tearing up in happiness back then." Raven chuckled as he remembered the memories fondly.

    That was the moment that Raven dropped his guard for the first time and returned to his old self. The peace of this ce gradually washed away the exhaustion and provided him a home that he had been longing for. He recovered and lived like a mortal. He made the hut his home, fished for food, took a bath at the stream, read books under the shade of the trees, made friends with a deer and so on.

    He gradually forgot about it all, and for some period of time, he was tempted to drop everything. His revenge, the pain, the memories, his vows, his struggles, his pursuit of strength. He wanted to move on and forget about it all. At some point, he thought that dying in ce like this isn''t so bad of an ending. He wanted to rest so bad and just embrace the peaceful environment around him.

    "Come to think of it, that is the scariest thing about this ce." Raven muttered, "It is so peaceful. So much so that it convinced me toy down and slowly wait for my death."

    This ce made him forgot about what''s outside, at some point his mind was telling him that what he experienced in the wilderness is nothing but a long nightmare. His mind kept on telling that it is not real, and this peaceful ce is the reality. Here he was safe and sound, far from the dangers and pains.

    But Raven''s will, which was sharpened by his experiences, prevented him from running away from the truth.

    "Well, it''s not like this ce doesn''t have any secrets anyway." Raven chuckled and stood up from his seat. He then gave furniture a simple gaze and chuckled some more.

    As soon as one entered the hut, they will be weed with a simple interior. It''s wooden walls were empty and the wooden floor was neat. There is a circr table in middle and four wooden chairs. There is a bed and two pillows stuffed hay along with a small drawer on the side. On the left wall, there is a window which could be opened by pushing it up and attaching the suspenders on the bottom rim of the window.

    All in all, everything inside this hut appears normal. But what gave it away, is this one book hidden under the bed. Something that Raven never thought was there in past.

    The book was a diary of an unnamed person. It contained regr entries, detailing what that person did everyday. However there are two things here that made Raven''s suspicions rise.

    One would be the fact that the diary was written in Elvennguage. In the past, Raven was so used to speaking and hearing differentnguages that his brain noticed thiste. The other thing would be thest that thest entry in the diary was from a thousand years ago.

    These two things bothered Raven so much in past. He thought that whoever lived here was probably an Elf, which would make sense as to how nature was teeming with vitality here but if that''s so, then where did this person go?

    Raven never saw any evidence of the death. He also tried ming it on time but he couldn''t since if a Elf died, then he should''ve seen the remains even after a long time. Elven people have an astonishing vitality, their bones should stay around even after a long time but Raven saw none. And he also refused to believe that this person just buried themselves somewhere.

    Raven also knew that this person should have no way of getting out of this ce since there is no particr entrance or exit here. In past, Raven was dropped here by a big ming bird. In this lifetime, he had to make an entrance and that didn''t evenst long.

    This also raised another question for him. If thest entry on the diary was from a thousand years ago, then howe the hut didn''t umte even a speck of dust?

    It had been unattended for at least that long, the fact this hut was still intact after that long is a miracle on itself.

    All of this raised Raven suspicions in past, and this caused him to search for clues around to solve his mysteries.

    He search the whole ce for clues, every single tree, flower, and animals. He even search the bottom of the stream but found none. He searched high and low only to make fun of himself since he had been an idiot.

    The clue that he was searching for, was under the bed.

 Chapter 312 - Tenrou

    ---

    "Knock three times on the door with a constant rhythm. Wait for five seconds and then grab the knob, turn it counter clockwise and enter with your left foot first."

    Raven muttered as he sat on the bed.

    "Take the this diary and ce it on the ground under the bed. Lay on top of the bed and wait until you heard a sound."

    He did was her said and waited. It didn''t take long before he heard a movement under him which made him smirk. He got up and pushed the bed aside, he then saw a staircase leading down to a dark ce. The book was gone because it was the key to reveal this secret.

    Believe it or not, Raven never knew of this method in his past life. He unknowingly did all the requirements which in turn allowed him to go towards this secret underground passage.

    Raven walked down the stairs with a burning torch in hand. He carefully watched his steps since there are traps in here and he didn''t want to trigger them. The path was narrow and it would be difficult to dodge the traps otherwise. The passage was quite long, nevertheless he eventually made it past all the traps and was now standing in front of a tall doors which gleamed with a silver hue.

    He ced the torch on the sconce avable and stood before the door.

    There are two palm carvings on each side of the door. Raven ced his hands on each carvings and began pushing the doors forward with a grunt. The door was heavy, it took him a great deal of strength and effort to open it during his past life, he only managed to open it just enough so that he could fit in.

    However, the Raven of the past is a far cry from the current Raven.

    He could''ve just kicked these doors and they would swing open or even break due to his sheer power. He chose not to do so since that would be disrespectful. After opening the doors, he went inside and felt the doors closing behind him.

    Raven didn''t mind since he knew that its bound to happen. Instead, he walked towards the right side and searched for a rune that''s attached on the wall. Once he saw it, he ced his hand on it and activated the rune using his Chaos Force.

    The rune sparkled and Raven started to hear some noises. He then saw lights worming their way through the gaps on the walls, floor and the ceiling. Slowly but surely, the ce got illuminated and everything it''s hiding in the darkness was revealed for Raven.

    What weed him was a massive room, about 500 meters tall and wide, made out of metals and ores. The light sources were made out of the crystals which shimmered with a gorgeous blue lighting.

    The floor, walls and even the ceiling were made out of Deep Sea Sunken Silver. A metal that could only be found and harvested at seas that has a thousand kilometer depth. Even a fist size of this metal will be extremely expensive on the market, yet it was used to create this underground base. The doors were also made out of the same material.

    There are several doors leading to some other ces here. In front of him, was a ritual circle surrounded with floating stones. In the middle, he found skeletal remains of a seated human. He sighed and stepped closer to the circle.

    As soon as he did so, the ritual circle glowed with a brilliant light which obscured his vision for a bit. When he regained his vision, he could now see phantom floating in the middle of the ritual circle while sitting in a meditative position.

    "Greetings, whoever you are from the future. If you can see this now, do not fret. This is but a remnant of myself, hoping to pass on a message to you who will inherit everything that I have owned when I am still alive."

    A calm voice of an old man sounded on his ears. He spoke with Elven tongue, his silhouette was blurry which made it difficult for Raven to make out his features. Nevertheless, he didn''t speak and allowed the elder to impart his message.

    "My name is Tenrou. Born from a Dwarves father and an Elven mother. My birth is considered as an ill omen, specially when you consider the fact that my parents are both of Royal Bloodlines. And even the two races worshipped Mother Nature, they have conflicting ideals which caused my life to be somewhat difficult."

    Raven could hear the struggle and self-deprecating tone on his voice as he spoke of his origins. Saying that his life was ''somewhat difficult'' is a severe understatement.

    The cold and callous truth is that, Tenrou''s existence is forbidden, meaning that he should''ve never survived, born or even lived up to adulthood.

    Raven witnessed the strictness and narrow-mindedness of the Elven and Dwarven tribes. They stuck to their old way all the way to the dot. This goes specially well with those of Royal Blood since they are considered to be the hope of their tribes.

    It is a known fact that Royal Bloods must persevere to maintain the purity of their bloodline. Even going as far as delving into incestuous rtionships just to follow this rule. This is a verymon scenario in these tribes. Nevertheless, this also binds them since their fates are basically sealed from the moment they were born.

    If, and only if, a Royal Blood wants to marry outside of their family. They have to gain the approval of their own councils. Only by passing the approval would they be allowed to marry their partners, even then their children would face a harsh life. All of this, just to marry out of the family.

    Marrying someone from a different race, specially the ''enemy'' race, that''s forbidden. In the premise of this happening, both of the tribes will not hesitate to join hands and execute the ''devil'' spawn.

    This is why even though Raven never had the opportunity to meet Tenrou, he had nothing but awe and respect towards him for making it this far since he knows that his life was never easy.

    "But enough about me. I''m sure no one cares about the story of a dying man." Tenrouughed, "What''s more important is what I''m about to give you."

    And just like a cue, the ritual circle transformed and revealed a spiral staircase leading down. He then saw Tenrou moving down so he followed him. After a short way down, they then arrived an altar.

    The altar was made out of ivory. The surface is filled with Elven Runic Carvings, there are also some Dwarven Totems erected on the altar and on the center, there is a blood vial and an old book.

    "This is it." Tenrou said, his voice filled with emotions. "My life''s work."

    He then faced Raven as if he could see him. "ording to Elven History, the Elves are created by the Father Tree. They said that he was so tall and mighty that his branches could be found in all realms. In a way, this implies that he connects all worlds and that his branches could be used to travel between worlds."

    "Elves used this tale to justify their talent towards perceiving Space. Some records even said that their Spatial Talents are the gift of Father Tree to their kind."

    Tenrou paused and sighed. "On the other hand, the Dwarves worshipped the Earth. Calling it the ''Original Nature''. They said that without the Earth, nothing will exist. ording to them, it was the Earth that gave birth to all creations - that we were all once came from mud, heated by fire and alive because the air breathed life onto us."

    "They said that the very first Dwarf is the Earth''s favorite because as soon as he was born, he created Time itself." Tenrou paused once more and sighed, as if it was difficult for him to tell this story. "Thus, the dwarves used this tale to justify their talent towards Time Maniption."

    Tenrou looked up and said: "The tales may be different but you have to agree that in a sense, they are simr right?"

    "I never understood why these two races considered each other as enemies, when in their cores they were the same. Fact of the matter is, none of the legends were the truth anyway. It''s not the tree nor thend that came first. I don''t personally know what is but I''m certain that it''s neither of those."

    "Either way, knowing this won''t help the tribes nor me in any way. If anything, they would execute me on the spot when they hear me talking about this. Well, it''s not like they weren''t doing so during thest centuries or so. But that''s not why I told you this."

    Tenrou looked at Raven once more and said: "Space for the Elves and Time from the Dwarves. They might treat me as an abomination but it doesn''t change the fact that I have both talents in me."

    "And to prove my existence, I am bestowing you the chance to have them as well."

 Chapter 313 - Inheritance

    ---

    Time and Space.

    Two of the most profound existences in all of creations. One contains and one erodes. Mastering these two elements had always been one of the lofty goals of practitioners, some even imed that these are the key to unlock the secrets of Immortality.

    That being said, Time and Space are two of the most ancient existences in all of the Creations. Those who were gifted, unlocked or gained enlightenment over their profundity, are too few in numbers, much less those people who actually mastered them.

    Tenrou didn''t im to have mastered neither Time nor Space, he said that he was gifted with both talents due to his ancestry - the Innate Spatial Awareness of the Elves, and the gift of Time Maniption from the Dwarves. This alone was impressive fact, but then again his life became terrible since he wasbeled as a forbidden existence. That being said, these talents might also be the reason why he was able to live long enough.

    Unfortunately, even though he had the potential to achieve greatness in his life. The narrow-mindedness of his kin prevented him from doing so, ultimately leading his end.

    Which is the reason why he created this inheritance. He wanted to leave something behind as a proof of his existence. He wanted the world to know that he was here and he made contributions.

    This is why Raven held nothing but respect for this person.

    "The vial has my blood. A blood that might be considered as a forbidden existence but held endless potential. Take my blood and fuse it to yourself, you might experience an incredible pain but if you endured long enough and survive, it will all be worth it." He said with his voice filled with seriousness.

    "The book contains my insights. The techniques I developed from my gifts and ways how to learn them. It also contains insights about Time and Space Laws but beware¡­" Tenrou warned. "The things I understood will be different from what you will understand. It is always better to forge and follow your own path rather than following someone else''s."

    "If you want my advice, then unless you gain enlightenment from these twows yourself and have gained a least some mastery over it, then do not read my Law insights. That will be the best."

    "This ce is also yours." Tenrou said with a trace of mncholy in his voice. "This became my humble abode for at least a thousand years. I''ve left many resources, manuals, historical texts and training equipment behind. Use them to make yourself stronger."

    Tenrou then turned around and looked up, leaving Raven to gaze at his lonesome back. "Although we will never meet each other, it makes me d to know that my hard work will be of use to you. It is a shame that I never had any descendants to pass these through and could only wait for one fated person to find it. Still, I am extremely satisfied."

    Tenrou then started walking away, his silhouette started fading away but before hepletely disappeared, his final words rang on Raven''s ears.

    "Be strong, my Fated Disciple. Do not seek vengeance for me. Instead, make use of what I left behind to contribute to the greater good of this world. Farewell."

    There was silence all around as Raven refused to speak nor move from where he stood. After a brief silence, Raven performed a solemn salute towards the direction where Tenrou vanished.

    "Thank you for this gift, Master Tenrou. May you be freed from all of the suffering on the other side. Farewell."

    That''s right. Raven had no qualms of calling Tenrou his Master since he truly epted him as one. Even though he achieved greater thingspared to him, even though his reputation far exceeds him, even if he was treated as an outcast, evil and a forbidden existence. And even if he never met him in person. To Raven, none of those matters. Tenrou is his Master and he was his disciple, nothing will change that so long as Raven exists.

    This is the reason why Raven came into this ce - to meet his Master once more.

    Tenrou never had the chance to witness it, but he had left a profound impression on Raven''s life. Their meeting was considered as a fated one since not just anyone could enter this ce. The method to reach this ce was written in a piece of paper, which could he found inside this ce and not on the hut or outside. Raven fulfilling the requirements to reach this ce in his previous life was a work of fate.

    When Raven reached this ce during his past life, he had no idea that he''s going to experience something so incredible as well. All of this was due to fate connecting them together, of course Raven had no intentions of severing that connection - not now, nor in the future.

    After sending off his Master one more time. He stood up and walked towards the altar. He picked up the gifts that Tenrou left behind and started climbing up the spiral staircase. As he walked up, the staircase retracted behind him. Once he reached the top, the ritual circle disappeared from where it was before as well as the skeletal remains of Tenrou.

    A sh of light suddenly struck him but Raven didn''t falter. He knew what that sh of light was for. It came from the core controls of this ce, this was its way of recognizing him as its new owner.

    Raven performed one final salute before walking towards one of the doors in order to absorb Tenrou''s blood.

    Since he was the new owner of this ce, the doors automatically opened whenever he goes near them. He went inside a room which is specifically made by Tenrou to be used as a Cultivation Room.

    This room is littered with runic carvings and totems which helped in many ways. Be it making sure that this room remains tough and clean, or making sure that cultivating here would be the optimal choice with twice the effect for half of the effort.

    Raven sat on the middle of the room and as soon as he did so, the runic carvings and totems around automatically activated. At this very instant, Raven his mind bing clearer and his focus sharp. He could also sense the dense purified energies funneling towards him. He smiled and lifted the vial.

    He transferred its contents to a syringe and injected it to his arm. After doing this, he closed his eyes and waited patiently. This is just the calm before the storm.

    After a few minutes, Raven started feeling hotter and hotter. As time goes on, his temperature kept on rising until there smokeing off of his body.

    Raven was frowning but he held on since he knew that this is just the beginning, and he was right.

    "Ugh." A muffled ground escaped from his lips.

    Raven could feel his insides warping, the veins on his arms legs and head started to show up. His body was treating Tenrou''s blood like an intruder and he was keeping his best to reel in his defenses since he didn''t do that, they will swiftly deal with this blood and he didn''t want that to happen.

    Tenrou''s blood slowly moved inside his body, he could feel their density and the vitality it holds, it almost feel like he injected himself with mercury.

    As the foreign blood got closer to his marrows, his bodily defenses are acting up even more. So much so that it''s bing a real struggle for him to keep them in check.

    But all of this was nothingpared what he experienced when Tenrou''s blood prated his marrows.

    Raven started bleeding from his orifices. His blood gushed out like a stream of water, it was as if they were running away from the foreign blood that intruded their previous home. Raven nearly fainted from the blood loss but he held on to his consciousness. He couldn''t afford to faint since that will minimize the effects of Tenrou''s blood, ultimately lowering its potency and therefore, its potential. This happened in his previous life and he didn''t want it to happen again.

    Raven could feel his life slipping away from him, yet through his iparable will, he didn''t let go and patiently waited until the process was finished.

    Minutes turned into hours¡­

    Raven''s body became more and more shriveled. Venus already reverted onto her original form earlier and startedmunicating with Raven through their link. Thankfully, Raven was strong enough to ease her up andfort her, telling her that everything was fine.

    Thankfully, on the fourth hour mark, everything started changing for the better.

    His body started reverting back to normal. The shriveled skin was shed as scabs that turned into ashes as soon as it left his body. Raven started gaining more muscle mass, he became bald for a minute before his hair started growing back. His organs started working again and then his body resumed creating blood.

    The process of Raven''s healing went faster and finally he was back to his old self, only¡­his awareness towards his surroundings experienced a drastic change.

 Chapter 314 - Improved Awareness

    ---

    Spatial Awareness.

    Normally, this refers to being aware of one''s surroundings even though there are constant changes and movements. It''s not quite simr to an eidetic memory, since even though the person who has a decent spatial awareness could tell if something was out of ce even without looking. People who has this talent usually excels at archery, take Anne for example.

    That being said, there are also varying qualities of this talent. What the Elves - Tenrou and now Raven inherited is probably the highest quality of Spatial Awareness.

    Raven''s perspective of the world changed. Though he cannot see it nor interact with it for now, he is aware of the new existence around him - well, not really new since space had always been there but he could sense it with more rity now.

    To him, it feels like if he just exerted a lot of effort, he could somehow interact with space. However, Raven didn''t dare to do so since he knew that this feeling is very deceiving. Moving space is more difficult than ascending a mountain, not to mention that he''s new to this and is extremely inexperienced.

    Sure, Raven might''ve been able to interact with space before but that''s either through the help of his brute strength, inscriptions or hisws. It is possible for him to warp space through his brute strength but he has to use every drop of strength he has avable to do so. With inscriptions, he has to prepare at least a hundred seals and that''s just to iste things or humans. And for hisws, it just breaks space for a little bit to cause intense shockwaves but it repairs itself almost instantly.

    Those interactions he have was different from what he feels like he could do now. To him, it feels like he could somehow control how space behaves, he just needs guidance. Nevertheless, gaining this high quality of affinity towards space is not at the level of Space Laws just yet. Raven is not even confident if he could gain enlightenment for that.

    This fact was more evident with Time Laws as well.

    Being aware of space is one, but being constantly aware of Time existing around you - almost like a tangible object, is something that Raven, and probably all people who could feel the same, could never get used to.

    Time Awareness for him felt like being caressed by the gentlest gust of air. Only this air was constant and as it passes through it everything, it takes something that can never be taken back. This is profound impression that he had with the briefest exposure.

    Normally, Raven wouldn''t like this feeling. But then again, this is Time. Careless experimentations might lead to dangerous aftermath so he just let it be for now.

    "The experience was different from what I had in my previous life." Raven murmured as he gently felt his surroundings, "Back then, I passed out before the process was finished. Causing the blood assimtion to lose potential, I thought that I didn''t lose out on much since the process was almost finished. But boy, was I extremely wrong."

    "I didn''t know that just hanging on for a few more minutes could make such a difference but here we are." Raven mockingly said as he marveled at the new senses filling up his body. "Had I endured for a little bit more and stayed conscious throughout the process, I might''ve been able to gain enlightenment on those twows back then."

    "Well, it''s not like it matters anymore." Raven muttered, "Time and Space Laws barely does anything to the high-leveled abyssals anyway. If anything, they might''ve targeted me earlier since I would be such of a huge threat."

    "Still, who would''ve thought that I would be such a menace to the Abyssals even though I am one trick pony with my Earth Laws. It''s always been fun to watch their dumbfounded faces whenever I transformed a piece of rock into a hulking meteor just before they took a bite of me."

    Raven chuckled as he looked onto the ceiling while remembering fond memories.

    "I could still remember when they sent a hundreds of abyssals just for me. It''s so funny seeing how bloated they were."

    This memory was one of the most glorious moments of Raven''s previous life. As Raven was rising in ranks due to the war against the abyssals, the Abyssal Emperor saw him as a huge threat and sent a hundred abyssals after him. It had to be known that an abyssal child is able to destroy or devour a whole country within a day, it might even be faster depending on the circumstances.

    Abyssals that went after him were trained warriors of their race, even the weakest amongst their ranks could devour an entire ne or if they wanted to.

    When everyone thought that he was done for, Raven proved why he was to be feared. Theical scene of him throwing rocks at the abyssals, which was seen as a pitiful act of self preservation, had be the worst nightmares of all abyssals.

    As soon as the rocks left his hands, transformed into hulking meteors, leaving the abyssals with no choice but to devour them. Unfortunately, since Raven mastered Earth Laws back then, he could create as many rocks, or meteors, as he pleases to hurt them. In the end, the stomachs of the abyssals were filled for the for the first time but not with humans, but with rocks.

    In the end, he made the meteors inside their bodies explode. And with his survival, Humanity experienced their first real victory against the abyssals. It was also then that Raven was appointed as one of the leaders of humanity.

    "Ah, what fun times." Raven murmured as he shook his head. "But that was the past. In the end, I waspletely outssed by the Abyssal Emperor. I even had to opt for mutual destruction. Ast ditch effort to out with a boom, but I had no way of knowing if he would survive my self destruction or not."

    "Well, not that I would ever know since I''m here now." Raven muttered.

    "Needless to say, it would be different this time." He proimed as he looked up with gleaming eyes. "If you thought I was annoying with my rocks back then, let''s see if I would still be outssed by you again."

    *Grumbles*

    "But first, lunch." Raven looked at Venus and said: "Come girl, I''ll prepared some boar stew."

    ***

    "It''s seems that I was right. Something really did change here."

    In a vast forest filled with gloom and decay, a man could be seen walking gently like he was at his yard. This man is evidently old, proved with the fact that his back was bent and he needs the assistance of a cane to keep him stable.

    His head was mostly bald, except for a few strands of white hair left on the sides. His forehead was wrinkled, so much so that it drooped down and was almost covering his eyes. His brows as well as his long facial hairs were also white. His nose wasrge and has a couple of warts, his long earlobes dangled down and almost reached his shoulders, he''s also wearing three hollowed earrings on each ear.

    He wore a loose grey robe with white hems. He''s also wearing loose pants anda pair of wooden sandals.

    The old man looked around at the dead forest which appeared to be calm and undisturbed on the surface. He was indifferent about the fact that he was surrounded with decayed skeletal remains of beasts who tried became the victim of this hungry forest.

    His steps were light and even, but each step he made carried him closer and closer to the depths of the forest with incredible speed. This alone proves that this old man was far from being ordinary.

    It only took him a total of five steps in order to reach the core of the forest from the entrance. He suddenly found himself looking up to a tall ck tree with dark leaves and pulsing purple core.

    He took normal steps and arrived closer to inspect this told tree. His eyes concentrated at its core since it was the source of the irregrity that he felt.

    "Would you look at that." The old man smiled andughed out loud, causing him to wheeze and clutch his chest to calm his troubled heart.

    He cleared his throat and look at the core of the tree. More precisely, the color at the center of the core.

    The core was still mostly purple but at it''s center, there is a trace of blue and pink colors that chased after each other in an endless cycle.

    This caused the old man to show a kind smile and say: "The Young Bud finally has the courage to correct it''s ways. What a joyous day it is."

    He stepped closer to the tree and caressed the trunk fondly. "I cannot wait until you bloom once more so that we could dream together. Until then, I''ll wait for you."

    He then turned around and looked at a distance. A smile crept up to his face once more as he said:

    "Well then, I should pay a visit to this young man so that I could thank him personally."

 Chapter 315 - Stagnation Zone

    ---

    Inside a spacious room, Raven could be found blindfolded.

    *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

    His body swayed like a leaf as he dodged several projectilesing his way. Of course, he wasn''t able to dodge every single one but at least he was able to do so for the more dangerous ones.

    There are at least twenty mounted automatic crossbows hiding behind the walls of this room, all of them had incredibly sharp arrows which could easily prate and energy defenses. Half of those crossbows had poison tipped arrows.

    There is a mechanism behind the walls that constantly shifts the position of the crossbows, there were no sound being emitted nor any visible traces of it doing so and they fire at different intervals which makes it more dangerous. The only way that Raven was able to tell was due to his improved awareness.

    If this was before he injected the blood, Raven would''ve had to at least activate his ocr technique and monitor where the crossbows will shoot and which ones are dangerous. He would still be able to dodge most of them but it would be incredibly taxing. Plus, he might not be able to urately time every single shots, which will obviously cause him to get hurt.

    But because of his improved awareness, observing the movements behind the walls was rtively easy for him and this is even without him activating his ocr technique.

    Raven had already adjusted to his new sense during two weeks of practicing inside this room. He''s at the stage where he''s reacting instinctively to the projectiles.

    His Spatial Awareness allows him to observe the movements around him even without looking and know where the arrows wille from. Time Awareness allowed him to know when the crossbows will shoot at the slightest hints, even before the firing sound ur and it also help him know when he''s going to get hit.

    Thebination of these two allowed him to be extremely efficient in his movements and refine his finesse and agility. He had been getting rid of the unnecessary movements on his footwork which will lessen the rise of his fatigue in future battles.

    "Deactivate." Raven said out of nowhere.

    After saying that, the movements inside the room stopped and the crossbows also stopped firing. The arrows which are scattered on the floor, suddenly floated and went back to their designated storage. Raven sat down and caught his breath for a bit. After doing that, he stood up and gave out a voicemand once more.

    "Stagnation Zone, level 3 activate."

    As soon as he said that, the room changed and shifted to amodate hismand. The silver ceiling flipped and revealed a rocky surface. The walls shifted and was reced by panels which is filled by Elven runes. A strange sound urred and after that, he heard three pitching tunes and the room suddenly darkened.

    At the instant that it turned dark, Raven felt his movements turning slower. It wasn''t just his movements either, he could also feel that his thoughts were bing stagnant as well. This isn''t because of gravity, this is because the time around him was stagnated and he was being forced to either allow himself to be affected or resist it.

    Raven didn''t move from his position, there was no point on doing so anyway. Instead, he opted to stand in ce, close his eyes and raise his senses to the maximum.

    If the profound impression that he got from time is that, it was like being caressed by the gentlest wind which erodes everything it passes through. The impression he got from the Stagnation Zone was in a simr sense to that only, it feels like he was going against a sandstorm.

    Just like the name implied, the Stagnation Zone causes one to slow down their movements and their thoughts at some point. The reason why Tenrou built something like this, is of course to train one of the techniques he developed - the Time Skin.

    Just like the name implies, Time Skin is covering one''s self with a thinyer of protection against time. In this scenario, it''s like fighting fire with fire. With Time Skin, not only he will no longer have to worry about stagnation, it would also be simr to wearing stagnation itself. Any attacks that hits the time skin will be subjected to the stagnation, which means that it would take longer for the attack to actually make contact with the human skin.

    Normally in order to sessfully activate the Time Zone, one needs to be enlightened with Time Laws. But Tenrou found a way for someone to learn it without needing to be enlightened.

    Of course the basic requirements is to be able to sense the essence of time. After that, one has to be constantly be exposed to an area where time is stagnant. The longer one stayed in that ce, one''s body will gradually get used to it until they won''t be affected by stagnation anymore.

    The Stagnation Zone perfectly mimics that. Now, all Raven has to do is to adapt and he will develop the technique eventually.

    True to his upromising attitude, of course Raven wasn''t just satisfied with this.

    After he got used to the feeling of the level three stagnation, he opened his eyes and summoned his hammer. He didn''t mind that the summoning was also slowed down.

    When Raven got a hold of his hammer, he immediately started performing swings to practice. He believed that by doing this, he is effectively cutting down the time needed for him to get used to the stagnation. ording to his estimations, he has to get used to level 10 before he could actually condense a Time Skin.

    Time Skin is just one of the techniques that Tenrou was able to replicate. There''s also things like Spatial Folding, elerate, Substitution, Rewind, and etc.

    As for the Laws of Time and Space insights of Tenrou, Raven followed his advice and chose to nor read it. He also believed that would be wiser to forge his own path rather than following someone.

    If he ever experienced enlightenment for both of these, then he would consider reading it.

    But someone were to ask him, Raven couldn''t confidently say that he wanted to learn Time and Space Laws at all.

    This is due to the fact that he already have his Destruction Laws with him. Unfolding more about its mysteries is already a difficult thing to do even with Raven''s capabilities. Adding not only Time but also Space into the mix might be a little too much for him to handle.

    It had to be known that in his previous life, it took millennia of constantbat and mediations to master Earth Laws, and that is one of the simpler Laws to gain enlightenment from. He don''t even know if he knew any people who gained enlightenment from Destructions Laws.

    Well, Astrid is one. But her era had already passed. And while she said that she will give him tips when he needed it, she didn''t say anything so far and there''s nothing he could do about that.

    What more if he added Time and Space to all of that then? Wouldn''t that be considered as biting more than he could chew?

    Also, Time and Space has a certain synergy towards each other. They might be vastly different from each other but they could work together. Which made Law Fusion of Time and Space doable. That being said, where does Destructiones in? Isn''t it too out of ce?

    Thinking about this didn''t help Raven at all. And since he doesn''t know what to do just yet, might as well safe that forter.

    On a different note. Even though Raven is busy training here, he is in fact, still travelling all thanks to Tenrou''s Spatial Abode.

    It''s original name was Torrential Quicksilver Chariot. ording to Tenrou''s records, there used to he four Quicksilver Horses that used to pull whole thing. However, Tenrou decided to free them just before he prepared for his closed-door cultivation.

    Needless to say, it could still move on it''s own. The Spatial Abode travelled in a obscured and folded space, making it almost untraceable to anyone. The reason why Raven was so confident about going through the depths of the Red Zone is because he knew that he''s going to receive this abode. With this, not only did he travelled in a constant pace, he could also pick his battles.

    Training and fighting, if could somehow find bnce within these two, then he woulde back to the kingdom as a different man.

    It also rather fortunate that he got this moving abode. This is due to the fact that his next destination he''s challenging will prove be at least ten times, if not higher, in difficultypared to the Withered Forest of the West.

    It is a ce with a very deceiving surface yet incredibly horrifying depths. If Raven''s not careful here, he would truly die since as of right now, he''spletely outssed by monsters waiting for him in there.

    His next destination is, The Sunken Ivory Castle of South.

 Chapter 316 - Talking Monkey

    ---

    The Spatial Abode continued on it''s way for another month, stopping constantly ording to Raven''s desire.

    From time to time he will go out and pick a fight with some beast to train. Either that or Venus wouldin to him and so he would take her out for a walk - or a meal, depending on her mood really.

    This day is no different from their usual routine. Raven was out in the wilderness in search for a fight. Venus on the other hand is just out there stretching since she''s mostly in her scarf form or not on her original size. Venus grew bigger and longer again, now she''s about 30 meters long and is almost 10 foot wide. This really made Raven wonder just howrge Venus would truly get once she grow older. Well, her growth must also be attributed to her diet.

    Raven was walking around on the dense shrubbery when all of a sudden, he tilted his head and a shadow went past him.

    There are no traces of panic nor surprise in his face when he dodged a blow that might''ve killed him. He looked forward and calmly stared at the creature who miserably failed in ambushing him just now.

    This creature was small. Barely a foot tall and not bulky eitherpared to most beasts that one would see here in the depths of the Red Zone. It has brown skin with several patches of ashen color. It has a pair of deep ck eyes, long razor sharp ws and four protruding fangs.

    This creature is called Earthen Hograt. A very rare sight even here at the depths of the Red Zone. Earthen Hograts lived underground, they have a special physique that allows to survive even without surfacing for long periods of time. In a way they are like moles, but even if their sizes are small it would be best not to underestimate them.

    Earthen Hograts are capable of bringing down someone or something who''s at least ten times their size. They are extremely fast and deadly, they could easily shred an unsuspecting victim in no time.

    The Earthen Hograt in front of Raven snarled at him and swiftly buried beneath the ground once again. Raven sneered and continued walking forward, totally unimpressed and dismissive about the creature. Anyone who would see him to do this would admonish him for being careless, an attitude that will certainly get him killed. But if there''s anyone who has a capital to dismiss a huge threat like this, it would be none other than Raven.

    It was not like was being careless. Raven just didn''t want to bother with enemies who aren''t threatening to him anymore.

    If it faced Raven before he assimted Tenrou''s blood, then sure he would totally take it seriously. Unfortunately, that''s not the case anymore. The Earthen Hograt''s abilities might be extremely impressive but Raven''s enhanced awareness totally countered it. He knows where it is even though he''s not actively searching for it, he also knows when it''s preparing to surface and could urately judge where he''s going to get hit, allowing him to perfectly dodge it using less effort.

    This is why Raven dismissed the poor beast even though it is proudly sits at Tier 3. Everything it does is useless in front of him, the only way that it could kill Raven is if he allowed it to do so.

    *Whoosh!*

    The Earthen Hograt tried to ambush him once more but just like before, Raven dodged it so easily even without looking nor activating his ocr technique. This time however, instead of allowing free, he grabbed it just as soon as it missed and hurriedly threw it somewhere.

    The Earthen Hograt was surprised and even a little happy that it was free once more but it soon despaired since it found itself being wrapped by a thick and long albino snake.

    The mere re of Venus was able to send shivers through the hograt. It tried to free itself from her grasp but the more it struggled, the more she restricted it. Venus is more strongerpared before, and since she was a snake that constricts instead of poisoning, it was safe to say that the fate of this hograt had been sealed when she captured it.

    The ws that it used to prey on many unsuspecting beasts before was rendered useless by Venus. And with one strong squeeze, all of its bones were broken and it lost consciousness. She swallowed the Earthen Hograt in one go and searched for Raven at a distance.

    She found him confronting a beast this time around, but what puzzled her is that the two aren''t fighting.

    There is a monkey in front of Raven. It''s fur was pitch ck in color and it has three tails swinging behind it. Raven saw this monkey even before it saw him. He was expecting to be attacked but instead of that, the monkey only titled its head and observed him quietly.

    After staring at him a for a good amount of time, the monkey took a step forward. It looked cautiously at Raven to see if he reacted negatively to what it did but saw him still calm and unbothered. It took another step while looking at him but just like before Raven had no reaction.

    It became braver and took several steps forward until it''s mere inches away from Raven. It was at the same time when Venus suddenly showed up, scaring the poor three-tailed monkey.

    "Stop that girl. You scared him." Raven said as he flicked Venus on the head. He then looked back at the monkey and asked: "Do you need something?"

    "H-help¡­"

    Raven''s brows instantly shot up in surprise. He then calmed himself down and said: "You can speak. That''s impressive."

    This was a new experience for Raven. While he did had seen and met some beasts who are talking before, they either did it through thought connection or they''re speaking a foreignnguage.

    But for a beast who could not only understand hisnguage but speak it as well? This is the first.

    "What''s the problem?" Raven asked after his initial surprise.

    The monkey hesitated to talk, instead it kept looking cautiously at Venus who''s still ring at it. Raven see this and said: "Scarf, now."

    *Hiss*

    "No buts." Raven stressed, "Scarf, now."

    Venus couldn''t go against him so she could only follow his orders reluctantly. The monkey watched in wonder as Venus transformed into a white scarf that wrapped around Raven''s neck. After she transformed into a scarf, her stifling presence disappeared which caused the monkey to sigh in relief.

    Raven then faced the monkey once more and said: "Sorry about that. So? What''s the problem?"

    Since Venus was no longer ring at it, the monkey is morefortable. It then said: "Y-you will help me?"

    "Maybe." Raven said passively. Of course it will all depend on the situation, he might be impressed that this monkey was speaking hisnguage but that doesn''t mean that he would dlyy down his life just to help it because he''s impressed.

    "M-my big bro is missing."

    "Big bro?"

    "Yes." The monkey said in an anxious tone, it''s tails were swinging erratically behind it. "W-we went out because we need to gather resources. He said that he''s going to go somewhere I can''t follow so he left me here. He said that he wille back after gathering the resources but it has been hours since he left."

    The monkey sounded more and more anxious as he spoke. Meanwhile, Raven felt impressed instead of concerned. He thought that he got over the fact that this monkey was speaking hisnguage but it turns out that he still couldn''t, he still impressed on how fluent this monkey was on using the simrnguage.

    Raven shook his head and threw his surprise at the back of his head, he then asked: "What''s your name?"

    "Dennis."

    ''Damn, he even got a human name.'' Raven was caught off guard once more. He cleared his throat and asked: "Do you know the direction he went?"

    Dennis nodded and pointed towards the east. "There, he went in there. He said that there is a treasure trove at that direction. I''m worried that he might be in danger. If he died, then I won''t be able to go back home."

    Raven raised his brow and said: "You can''t go back home without him? Why is that?"

    "It''s the tribe''s rule." Dennis replied, "I shouldn''t even be out here, they only allowed me since my big bro is with me. But now that he''s missing, I won''t be able toe back or else they will treat me as a spy."

    "Is that so?" Raven muttered, he sounded like he was thinking about something. He shook his head once more and said: "Very well, let''s look for him."

    "R-really!?" The face of Dennis lit up in happiness, his tailed waggled even more fiercely behind him. He then continued by saying: "You would really help me?"

    "Why not." Raven said as he started walking towards the direction that Dennis pointed.. "I''m bored anyways."

 Chapter 317 - Search

    ---

    Raven and Dennis headed towards the east where there are tons of vegetation.

    They walked side by side, Raven on the left and Dennis on the right. None of them said anything to each other which made the atmosphere a tad bit awkward. Needless to say, the monkey''s curiosity towards this human was definitely high.

    Dennis had never met any human before but he certainly knows what they are through the stories on his tribe. And since he is young, of course he is curious about many things. He wanted to ask him a lot of question but he felt like it would bother the human, he didn''t want Raven to get annoyed with him since he''s already helping him with his predicament.

    "You look ufortable." Raven suddenly said out of nowhere. "Do you want to say something?"

    "Oh! U-uh, no it''s fine. It''s nothing. I''m just worried about my big bro, that''s all." Dennis hurriedly said defensively. He thought that he might''ve irritated Raven so he didn''t dare to ask anything.

    "Don''t be scared." Raven said in a softer tone. He nced at the monkey beside him and continued: "I don''t bite."

    "W-well." Dennis stuttered and nced at Raven first. He then mustered up his courage and asked: "May I know your name?"

    "Raven." He replied as he parted the bushes aside, "My real name''s Vendrick but many people call me Raven since it''s much easier to remember."

    "I see." Dennis replied, inwardly at awe on how humans think. He didn''t expect this human to have a nickname that''s after an animal.

    "I''m 15 years old. How about you?" Dennis asked.

    "18, turning 19 soon." Raven replied as he ducked down to pass through some thorny vines. "I''m curious about something though."

    "What is it?"

    "How are you able to speak humannguage?" Raven finally asked the question that has been bothering him ever since meeting him. This is the reason why he struck a conversation with Dennis.

    It is not an everyday thing where one would meet a beast that can speak the simrnguage as you are. So of course, Raven was simrly curious. If anything, he really wants to know more about the history of this tribe, maybe there''s a surprise waiting for him.

    "Ah, that." Dennis replied, "It was taught to me by my parents."

    "Your parents can speak the samenguage as well?" Raven asked while his brows were raised

    "Yes." Dennis affirmed, "Majority of our tribe can speak as well, except for babies of course."

    "You do know that thenguage that you''re using are that of humans right?"

    "I''m aware." Dennis replied, "His majesty, the Monkey King, once told us that his parents were once thepanions of a very strong human. That human took care of them and taught them how to speak. He said that when the human died, the monkeys were freed. Both of them decided to build a tribe that mimics that of human society in order to remind themselves of their human friend."

    Raven was inwardly impressed by that story. While he''s notpletely buying it, he''s interested to know more about this story since he had never heard anything like this before.

    "Is the human settlement far from here?" Dennis asked curiously.

    "Yes it is." Raven replied in a heartbeat. "One will have to pass through many deadly territories before reaching it."

    "Then you must be very strong since you got all the way here without dying." Dennis said.

    "Well, I am rather confident about avoiding danger if necessary." Raven replied, not wanting to give Dennis any high expectations.

    *Dong!*

    The two of them were suddenly surprised by a loud and bass sound not too far from them. There was a rhythmic pattern on those sounds.

    Raven suddenly saw Dennis face changed. He then came closer to him and pulled at his clothes, saying: "That''s him! He''s calling out for help."

    He then suddenly smacked his chest a couple of times, this action cause the same frequency as the one that they were hearing, only it was a little bit pitchy.

    "Are you sure that it''s your big bro who''s doing that?" Raven asked, he then pointed forward and said: "There is cliff in there but we can''t see him."

    "I''m sure that''s him." Dennis said with certainty, "I could recognize that sound anywhere. I''m sure that he''s the one who''s doing that sound."

    Raven shrugged and said, "Alright, let''s check it then."

    The two then walked forward towards the cliff but found no one in there. They could still hear the sound and it was louder as they got closer to the edge.

    Dennis ran towards the edge of the cliff and looked down. He then cupped his hands towards his mouth and yelled: "Big Bro! Where are you!?"

    His voice echoed, there was a brief silence before both of them heard: "Is that you Dennis!?"

    The young monkey''s eyes lit up, he then replied: "Yes, it''s me! Are you down there?"

    "Over here! Look down a bit more!" The voice replied, causing the two to do what it said.

    On the surface of the cliff, there is a small protrudingnd which serves as a foothold for the ape. Dennis'' big brother was standing there looking up to them with a flushed expression. Raven rolled his eyes while Dennis sweated nervously.

    "How in the world did you got there!?"

    "The fruit is here so I jumped down." The Ape replied. Raven could see that the ape has a strange looking fruit that its hiding on its underarms. "I thought I coulde back up by climbing but I couldn''t. The cliff is slippery since it just rained."

    ''How unlucky.'' Raven muttered inwardly. He could tell that the ape was telling the truth. The cliff was still wet from the downpour earlier, due to its size it couldn''t get a stable grip or footing on the cliff''s surface, even just standing on thend where he was is still dangerous.

    "Oh no. What do I do?" Dennis muttered nervously as he racked his brain to find a solution for this dilemma.

    Of course he was heard by Raven who''s beside him. He stood up and ruffled the head of the young monkey.

    Before Dennis could even say a word, Raven jumped down with an impassive look on his face. Dennis screamed due to shock and tried to catch Raven through all means avable to him yet he failed.

    He watched as the human fell, the ape down the cliff also saw this and simrly panicked. As he fell down, Raven was looking at thend where the ape was standing. And he reached the same altitude, he suddenly kicked the air and stopped himself from falling, much to the shock of the two primates.

    His first kick stopped him from falling even further, the second kick was used to gain some sort of stability. The third kick was to gain momentum and the fourth kick was to jump to thend where the ape was.

    The two primates were gawking and stared at him like he was someone out of this world.

    Everything happened too fast, and from the unimpressed look on Raven''s face, it seems that what he did was something so trivial. Dennis unknowingly released a breath that he didn''t know he was holding. He then hoped that this human has a way to get back up or else, they were royally screwed.

    "Yo." Raven greeted as hended in front of the Ape.

    "Don''t you ''Yo'' me!" The Ape replied, "You almost gave us a heart attack! You should''ve said something before doing dangerous tricks like that! Don''t you value your life young man? Ai, seriously! What''s with you young people nowadays. I swear you will be the cause of our deaths someday!!"

    Raven''s face turned a little bit unnatural when he heard the Ape''s nagging. For some reason, this guy reminded him of his mother.

    The Ape also realized what he just said, it was then that his embarrassment caught up to him. He then said: "A-ah! Pardon me, young human. It''s just some ramblings of an old Ape."

    He then drummed his chest a bit and introduced himself: "My name is An. I see that you came with my little bro. He must''ve asked for your help."

    Simr to Dennis, An also had a pitch ck fur. It covered most of his body aside from his chest, his abdomen and his bottom. The fur on his head grew with a unique shape, making it appear like human hair. He had two fangs protruding out of his mouth, muscr body and long limbs.

    "Yeah, he did." Raven replied.

    "Then you have my gratitude." An gave a human-like bow, but his face turned unnatural once again. He then asked him: "Uh, how do you n on getting us out of here?"

    "Since I came here, I naturally have a way to get us out of here." Raven said, "The method I will use depends on you."

    He then showed him two closed fists and said: "Choose."

    An tilted his head in confusion but unknowingly picked Raven''s right fist.

    And before he knew it, he was already flying in the air.

 Chapter 318 - Assassination Attempt

    ---

    "AHHHHHH."

    An screamed for dear life as he found himself flying in the air. He didn''t even had the time to register what Raven just did, nor he cared anymore since the deed was already done.

    What Raven did was simple.

    As soon as An picked a hand, Raven used that swiftly grab him and threw him up where Dennis was. He did it that since he really didn''t have much choice.

    The poor ape fell not too far away from Dennis, who''s mouth was still wide open from realizing what just urred. Skipping sounds urred behind him, when he looked behind him, he saw Raven already standing there without an ounce of sweat on his face.

    Dennis'' lips twitched as he went over to his big bro to check his condition.

    "Big bro, are you okay." Dennis asked as soon as he came over.

    An nursed his rear and said: "I''m a bit hurt from the fall but it''s nothing too serious."

    He then red at the direction of Raven and said: "A warning could''ve been nice you know?"

    "Oh, I know." Raven said in a ''matter-of-fact'' tone. "I just thought that it''s faster this way. And I did got you out of there right?"

    "Still!" An said in an aggrieved tone, he wanted to say more but he realized that nothing will change since the deed was done. "Anyways, thank you for aiding us."

    "You''re wee." Raven said in a neutral tone. He then asked: "So, you guys are going to back to your tribe now?"

    Dennis helped An up, it was thetter who replied: "Yes. We''ve been out for a while, our Elder Bro must''ve been worried."

    "But a least we have a contribution for the festival. He wouldn''t be so mad." Dennis said but his face showed hesitation, "At least, I think he wouldn''t be mad at us."

    "Festival?" Raven''s brows raised as he asked.

    "Ah, yes." An replied, "The Monkey King''s Festival."

    "There is a Monkey King out here?" Raven unknowingly blurted out.

    "No, no." An shook his huge hands along with his head, "It''s just a tradition. Think of it as uh¡­birthdays. Yeah, it''s like a birthday celebration for humans."

    "Oh, I see." Raven said with a visible pity on his face and voice.

    This isn''t the first time that Raven heard the term ''Monkey King''s Festival'', though it had a been a while since then.

    Just like An said, the Monkey King''s Festival is very simr to a birthday celebration. It is celebrated in a yearly pattern, though the activities that happen during the said festival vary from tribe to tribe.

    He had once seen a tribe celebrated the festival during his time in the Divine Realm. The monkey''s celebrated it but sacrificing human lives in front of what they called ''The Monkey King''s Holy Totem.'' It wasn''t pretty and it always caused a massive disturbance.

    Another tribe celebrated it by conducting a massive orgy while their so called ''Monkey Queen'' is the center of the attention. Again, it was a disturbing memory.

    This is reason why Raven unconsciously asked if they had a Monkey King in their tribe. If they did, then Raven might''ve already left.

    Nevertheless, Raven never knew that there is a monkey tribe that celebrated the festival, here in the lower realm. And knowing that it was being celebrated by monkeys that speaks hisnguage, it is safe to say that he is slightly curious about it.

    "Do you want toe with us?" Dennis asked, seeing that Raven was contemting.

    "Can I?" Raven asked back.

    "Of course!" Dennis nodded while sneaking a nce at An. "Anyone can join the festival at the premise that you won''t do anything bad. Right, bro?"

    "That''s right." An agreed. "You will be treated as a guest so there is no need for you to submit any kind of resources."

    "Well, since you say it like that. Then I''ll be in your care." Raven said as he walked towards them.

    Dennis smiled and pulled An''s hand. They then walked hand in hand, leading the way towards their tribe.

    Raven followed the two and remained silent as they talked to each other. His thoughts was pre-upied by random things as they went deeper into the woods.

    It was then that his instincts went off and he suddenly dashed towards Dennis and intercepted an attack heading his way.

    *Boom!*

    There was loud explosion that urred, causing the ground to shatter and clouds of dust to rise.

    "Dennis!!" An roared as he called out, his vision was slightly obscured by the dust cloud.

    The impact caused him to shoot backwards, leaving his young sibling vulnerable. As the dust cloud settled, An saw something incredible.

    Dennis fell on his butt and was looking up. Raven was in front of him, standing tall like an immovable mountain as he grabbed a staff which appeared to be made out of stone. His face was still impassive, a clear contrast to the shocked face of the assant.

    The one who tried to assassinate Dennis was another monkey.

    This one was wearing some sort of a cloth that hid its face. This monkey had three-tails just like Dennis does, but its arms were more muscr and its clearly stronger. It''s fur was dirty brown and wet.

    The assassin tried to pull the stone staff away from Raven''s grip but much to his surprise, he couldn''t even shake it off. Its brain worked fast. Since the assassination failed and there''s a new variable in the mission, it nned to retreat and report this matter.

    Unfortunately, it met the wrong guy.

    Before the assassin could even flee, it was surprised to find out that Raven already grabbed him by the neck. It tried to struggled but to no use, each time it attempted it would feel Raven''s grip tightening causing the monkey to suffocate even more.

    Raven looked back and asked: "You guys know who this guy is?"

    An who was dumbstruck by Raven''s actions, snapped back to reality and growled: "Not specifically, but we know that he''s from the Frenzied Silverback Tribe. They are our enemies."

    An caught up and pulled Dennis up and hid him behind while ring at the suffocating assassin.

    Meanwhile, Raven let out an amused tone and brought the monkey closer. His grip on its neck turned into a w, causing the monkey to suffocate even more. As he brought it closer, he removed the cloth on it''s head and revealed its face.

    "Does he look familiar to you?" Raven asked the two.

    They both shook their heads. Raven sighed and thought about what he should do with this monkey. He stared at it for a while until an idea dawned on him.

    "It''s been a while since I did this." Raven said in a hushed tone, yet was still heard by the ones around him. He then loosed the grip on the monkey and said: "Look at me."

    The monkey unknowingly did what he was told and after that, its eyes dulled and miraculously stopped struggling.

    Raven ced the monkey down, much to the surprise of the two behind him. But before they could say anything, Raven spoke.

    "Who are you and who sent you?"

    Just as An and Dennis was puzzled on what''s going on, they heard the assassin answer Raven''s questions.

    "My name is Gil. I am sent by Elder Tony."

    An and Dennis were shocked one more. They were not expecting the assassin to answer Raven''s question at all. Even more so, its response which surprised them even further.

    "Big bro. Elder Tony is that¡­" Dennis asked hesitantly.

    "Yeah." An nodded gravely, "It is like what Elder Bro suspected. Elder Tony really wants you dead."

    "Oh? You guys know who this Elder Tony is?" Raven asked as he overheard their discussion.

    "Yes." An answered for the two of them while he patted Dennis'' back as he looked down. "Elder Tony is one of us, but ours and their family had always been against each other. We just didn''t expect him to stoop so low and go after our youngest life."

    An looked over at the assassin who''s standing like a mindless idiot. He then asked: "I assume you''re somehow controlling him?"

    "Hmm." Raven hummed, "Well, I guess you can say that."

    He then looked at Gil and gave an order. "Do a flip."

    Gil flipped.

    "Scratch your butt."

    Gil scratched his butt.

    "Bark."

    "Woof."

    Raven looked back at the two and amusingly said: "See?"

    An could only smile wryly at his attitude. Raven didn''t even look remotely worried at the current situation even after knowing the story. He even started wondering if all humans were like him.

    "Don''t worry, he''s under an illusion." Raven informed. "He will not remember anything that happen here. I could even forge a fake memory for him to remember. But why did this Elder Tony wanted Dennis dead anyway?"

    An took a brief nce at his little bro and sighed.. He then answered: "It is because Dennis was chosen to be next heir of the Tribe Leader."

 Chapter 319 - Gentle Primates Tribe

    ---

    The Gentle Primates Tribe had been peaceful once.

    Just like what Dennis said, it was built by the couple that was once been adopted and raised by a human after death of the same person. They wanted to re-create the society that they were used to seeing, but also wanted primates to be the one''s leading tribe. This is the reason why that couple taught the monkeys that came what they know.

    As time went on, the monkey couple eventually got older. One would think that they should''ve at least had a child or two but sadly, they were unfortunate in that aspect.

    Reproduction had always been a problem for beasts, specially Demonic Beast.

    The stronger their genes is, the harder it is for them to conceive a child. It''s not the question of whether ''were they really trying?'' either. These are beasts. Of course they''re trying.

    The founders of the tribe were gratified to watch as their tribe grewrger, they would''ve been happier if they had a child but they have none. They tried and tried until they reached the point where both of them understood that it''s no longer possible. They were both so old that its hopeless.

    As the ones who founded tribe, of course they worried about its well being after they pass on. And since they do not have the child which rece them in their role, they could only search for alternatives.

    The founders knew every single monkey that joined the tribe. They both agreed to choose an heir from one of them, but the chosen must be deemed worthy by not only them but the tribe as well. In the end, they were able to pick the next tribe leader. The founders took the chosen one as their adopted child and passed on their knowledge about leading the tribe.

    The founders then died of old age but with relieved faces.

    But of course, that''s not the end of the story for the tribe. The tribe leader that was raised by the founders, shared the same unfortunate fate as them. The tribe leader and his wife weren''t able to conceive a child either. And just like how the tribe leader was chosen, he decided to follow the footsteps of the founders and choose an heir to the tribe.

    Since then, it became somewhat of the tradition. This is not to say that every Tribe Leader that was chosen, was impotent. Some of them actually managed to conceive a child.

    But as if like a curse, their children weren''t chosen since they did not have the proper qualities and mindset to lead a tribe.

    And this is where the problem started.

    ***

    "It was when during the reign of the 5th Tribe Leader that our tribe, the Gentle Primates Tribe, experienced it''s first tribal conflict." An recalled the story as Dennis sat on his neck. Raven was on the side and listening to the whole story in silence.

    "The 5th was different from the rest. If the previous tribe leaders either didn''t have a child or have a child but is unworthy and were force to choose another heir. The 5th broke this rule since his child was deemed worthy, not only by him but by the rest of the tribe as well."

    "The 5th had three children." An said which somehow surprised Raven. "Just by that alone, he could be considered as someone blessed by the heavens. But that''s not where the issue lies."

    "His children were just like regr siblings. They were close to each other and they were inseparable. Needless to say, they all have different personalities."

    "The eldest was the strongest. The younger one is the smartest. And the youngest is the gentlest."

    "The eldest was admired by the whole tribe because of his strength. It is said that he was able to reduce a huge boulder into smithereens just by a mere punch from him. He became famous due to his strength which also changed his personality."

    "The younger sibling was the deemed as the savior of the tribe. With his sharp mind, he helped the tribe solve many problems which made the tribe flourish even more. Unlike the eldest, he didn''t allow fame to get onto his head which made his personality stable."

    "Finally, the youngest one." An paused and sighed, "ording what was told to me, he was the most unimpressive one. He didn''t do anything note worthy nor did he have a staggering fame, wits or strength unlike what his family had. But if there''s anything he had, that would be the biggest heart that epts and forgives."

    "He does not discriminate. No matter what the color of one''s fur is, nor how rough their personality might appear. He always treated them same and epted them. They said that he''s the first one to cry and also thest one to stop crying when someone died."

    "He''s the weakest of the siblings, yet he was the most relied upon. There was even a time when the 5th himself seek him for advise on how to handle a specific situation. And his answer granted the best benefit for the tribe as a whole. Unknowingly, this was also the same time when the 5th had decided to pass on the title to him."

    "Of course, the siblings were shocked when they heard the announcement. This shocked the youngest the most since he didn''t find himself worthy to seed his father''s responsibilities. I heard that he even refused it."

    "But the decision was made and it could no longer be changed. Ever since then, the youngest spent time learning everything that he needs in order to lead the tribe. All this, while his siblings felt like they were robbed of something that should''ve been theirs."

    "The eldest thought that if their father is going to pass on the title to his children, they it should''ve been him who was chosen since he came first. Not only that, he is strong and his more than capable of keeping the tribe safepared to the youngest."

    "The younger one felt entitled for the first time in his life. It was him who made the lives of the tribe better using his ideas. It was him who contributed the most so by right, he should''ve been chosen."

    "A rift appeared on the rtionship of the siblings. It then turned into conflict after their parents died and suddenly, the tribe was split into tree factions and went on war against each other."

    "The eldest challenged the youngest on a contest of strength while the younger one challenged him on a battle of wits. The youngest epted both challenges since he didn''t want anyone to get hurt by conflict anymore."

    "He lost both challenges. Miserably too." An stated, "He nearly lost his life on the battle against his oldest bro and he didn''t even had the chance against his older bro."

    "Contrary to belief however, he remained as the Tribe Leader, not because his siblings felt guilty or something, but because his gentleness and care for the tribe was so genuine that it moved the opposing factions to stop the conflict. Majority of them joined the faction of the youngest and the tribe was mostly whole again, even the younger one dropped his weapons and joined them."

    "Unfortunately, the oldest was the most stubborn one. Instead of admitting defeat, he felt humiliated by the betrayal of hisrades. And since the tribe won''t acknowledge him as their leader, he decided to create a tribe of his own and crown himself as its founder."

    There was a tinge of sadness on the An''s voice, Dennis was looking down and lost as well.

    "The conflict never ended from there. The tribe of the eldest, which is named as the Frenzied Silverback Tribe, constantly hunted those from ours. We tried talking sense to them but nothing worked."

    "It is now the reign of the 7th, the conflict amongst tribes had only gotten worse from then." An sighed despite himself, "The 7th had chosen two heirs so far, but both of them got assassinated by the opposing tribe. You know the rest."

    "Dennis was chosen as the next heir but someone is still not satisfied with this arrangement so they sent someone to assassinate him as well." Raven stated, getting a nod from An.

    Raven massaged his temples and a long sigh escaped from his mouth. He smiled wryly and said: "Wow, even this drama is very human-like. I don''t know if I should say that I''m impressed or creeped out."

    "So?" Raven asked them both, "What do you n on doing now?"

    Dennis remained silent, An then spoke: "First, we would like to tell this to our Eldest Bro. He''s got a respectable position in the tribe, I think he''ll know what to do."

    "Alright then." Raven nodded, he the looked at the listless monkey that is following them.

    This was the Gil, the same monkey that tried to assassinate Dennis a few moments ago. Raven didn''t know what to do to him just yet so he just postponed it before knowing their story. And since he''s now aware, it is time to deal with him.

    "Do you guys want me to kill this guy?"

 Chapter 320 - Eldest Bro

    ---

    "No! Please don''t!"

    Dennis who had been quiet for a while suddenly blurted out, which somewhat surprised Raven. An just sighed, it was as if he had seen thising.

    "Are you sure?" Raven asked, "This guy just tried to kill you, you know?"

    "I know that¡­" Dennis said in a low tone. He looked down and contemted for a bit before saying: "But killing him would just fan the mes of hatred even more. I want it to stop, not to spread even further."

    "Just let it go, Human Bro." An said while sighing, "That''s just how it is."

    Raven looked intently at Dennis and found him staring back at him. He sighed afterwards and snapped his fingers at the listless monkey.

    As soon as Gil heard the sound, light came back on his eyes. He shook his head and tried to regain his bearings. It was then that he suddenly remembered that he was out to assassinate someone but he was stopped by an unknown variable. Hisst memory was staring at the Human''s eyes and then he suddenly woke up.

    He then nced around him and found the same human, standing and staring down at him. Gil''s heart shook as he immediately reached out for his stone staff but found nothing.

    "I would advise you to stop on trying to do anything funny." Raven''s bored voice echoed on his ears which made the monkey assassin stop on his tracks.

    Gil then recalled how easily this human easily thwarted his assassination attempt and thought that it would be the best for him to follow his advice, or else he would truly die here.

    "What did you do to me?" Gil asked as he found a gap on his memories. He''s unsure but he was somewhat convinced that this human did something to him that made him lose consciousness without him noticing.

    "Nothing that you will remember." Raven answered in a deadpan tone. He then ruffled the assassin''s fur and said: "Why don''t you be a good boy and just return from where you came from?"

    On a normal day, anyone who tried doing this to Gil, would probably lose a finger or two as a lesson. But right now, Gil didn''t even have an ounce of doubt that if he tried something harmful, he would die miserably.

    And if he''s being honest here, he believed that this is not Raven trying to be nice here. This action is more of a threat rather than treating him nicely. He was even more convinced when he felt the terrifying intent being channeled through his body whenever Raven stroked his head.

    Raven rubbing Gil''s head and said:

    "Go. And remember that is was not my decision to let you go. Your life was spared by this guy." He said while pointing at Dennis. "Do what you want with that information."

    Raven then started walking away but before they disappeared from Gil''s vision, he heard his final words: "Remember that there will be no next time. If I caught you once more, I hope you''re prepared."

    And just like that, Raven and the two primates disappeared, leaving Gil unsure of what to do. In the end, he gnashed his teeth and went back to his tribe.

    He had to report what happened here.

    ***

    "Thank you for agreeing to my request, Sir Raven." Dennis said once they were felt Gil disappear.

    He was truly relieved that he was able to at least prevent Raven from killing Gil, even if thetter did just try to go after his life.

    "Hmm." Raven hummed and said: "I don''t know if you should really thank me for that."

    He then threw a nce at Dennis and then An right after. He then said: "But I''m confident that doing that will teach you a valuable lesson in the near future."

    An remained quiet while Dennis was confused. He didn''t understand what Raven was implying here but thetter wouldn''t say anything more so he could only ignore his words.

    The trio then continued their journey with An and Dennis leading the way. It didn''t take long enough before the two eventually stopped on their tracks. They stood in front of arge boulder that is covered in moss.

    Dennis climbed down from An''s neck and stood beside him. Raven watched on until suddenly, the two started drumming their chest with a fixed rhythm. They would asionally growl in the middle of them doing this, and their voices echoed around them.

    As soon as the two stopped their ritual, a reaction urred on the boulder that''s in front of them. A piece of the boulder suddenly caved in and revealed a hidden entrance. An looked back at Raven and gestured him to follow them. Raven shrugged and went along.

    The hidden entrance closed after they went in. Raven saw a staircase leading down, the passage was dark since the entrance was closed behind them. Nevertheless, the trio didn''t need a torch nor any light source since they all could see pretty well in the dark.

    They continued following the staircase down until they reached an iron gate. Raven could feel several presences behind that gate. His brows were raised since he could feel that these monkeys were strong. He could feel a presence of two peak Tier 3 monkeys and a mid Tier 4 not too far away from them.

    The two, instead of knocking on the door, drummed their chests once more simr to what they did to reveal the hidden entrance.

    At this point, Raven already understood that this must he some sort of a password in order for them to ensure that whoever goes here, really is a part of their tribe. They couldn''t afford to get careless since there is a tribe that''s targeting them. He also remembered that Dennis said that he couldn''t go back to the tribe without An or else he will be treated as a spy. That must be kind of a rule that they have to follow.

    As soon as the two finished their ceremonies, the doors opened widely and light suddenly flooded the dark cave.

    Raven felt the ground shook for a couple of moments, he also felt that the Tier 4 ape was rushing towards them. He secretly went on guard but it turns out that he didn''t need to.

    "Oh my goodness. Thank god you two are finally back." A deep voice echoed through the tunnel after the ground stopped shaking.

    Raven then saw and 10 meter tall Ape with ck fur and four tails, wrapping Dennis and An in a hug using it''s huge arms. This ape bore great resemnce to the two, other than the fact that it isrger than the two of thembined and had four tails wagging behind it. Raven was convinced that this guy must be elder bro that the two referred to.

    The eldest broke the hug and started sniffing them all over while running his hands all over their body. Raven heard him ask: "Are you two hurt anywhere? Did you meet some bad guys outside? Did something happened?"

    "Calm down, Eldest Bro." Dennis chuckled and said: "We''re both fine as you can see. We''ll tell you everything once we get back."

    "Right, Eldest Bro. Here." An suddenly handed the strange fruit that he had been hiding all this time under his arms.

    When their eldest saw what An handed him, his eyes almost turned into saucers. He then grabbed An using his other arm and said: "This is¡­the Pulsing me Fruit!"

    He then shook An slightly and asked: "How in the world did you get this? Weren''t this on a dangerous ce? Don''t tell me you¡­"

    The eldest then gasped and said: "Ai you stubborn guy! I remember telling you not to go after this! What if you got injured huh? And also, didn''t I say that we didn''t need to have any contribution for the festival since we gave out too much during thest time. Why didn''t you listen?"

    The eldest kept sighing in defeat as he worryingly gazed at his siblings. An scratched his head and said:

    "Just take it and show it off. That would make the other shut up about us. At least, I hope."

    The Eldest sighed once more and enveloped the two into a fierce hug once more. It was then that the Eldest finally felt something was wrong.

    He didn''t notice it right away but he felt like there was someone who''s watching them aside from the guards at his back. As he was hugging his brothers, he finally saw Raven standing behind them.

    When the two felt their eldest froze, they instantly knew why. They then heard him whisper to them:

    "Did you guys brought this human along with you?" His voice might be hushed but Raven could still hear it.

    "We did. Don''t worry, he helped us along the way." Dennis replied.

    "And he did save us from a predicament." An added.

    The eldest looked at them strangely and sighed. He then broke off the hug and went in front of Raven. He then performed a deep salute and said:

    "We are humbled by your valiant presence, Sir Knight."

    "At ease." Raven replied instinctively. And when he realized what he did, his eyes somewhat widened and asked:

    "Wait, did you just perform a Knight''s Salute?"

 Chapter 321 - Entering The Tribe

    ---

    Raven was not new to receiving the a Knight''s Salute.

    Almost all of his escapades had been heard bymon folk and nobles alike. His act of saving the kingdom on multiple asions was recorded through the annals and gave him a respectable position on the Kingdom. A Knight''s Salute is the highest form of respect that someone could receive in the Kingdom. If you receive a salute from someone, that means that they are acknowledged your presence and they held deep respect for you.

    At first, those who saluted him are either those he had saved before or those that respected his strength. As time went on, the more he acted for the betterment of the kingdom, the more frequent he had people saluting him. This was even more obvious when the academy was built on his name. At the time, anyone who see would give him a salute.

    He had gotten so used to it that his replies instinctively whenever he receives it.

    This is also why he was a little slow when he realized what An and Dennis'' Elder Brother did.

    ***

    "Wait, did you just perform a Knight''s Salute?" Raven''s voice contained a slight tone of disbelief as he stared at the ten foot tall Ape.

    "I merely gave a respectful gesture that one such as yourself, deserves." The ape said in a respectful tone.

    Raven was silent for a bit before saying: "How did you even know?"

    The Apeughed and said: "Others might not be able to see it, but the gleam of your armor wouldn''t escape our eyes. It is akin to a zing sun that shone in a dim ce."

    Raven raised his brow as he looked at the Ape''s eyes. He then caught the briefest nce of his own reflection on his eyes.

    On the Ape''s eyes, Raven''s image was valiant. Though he might be just be standing there, the aura that emanated off of his body was massive. The Ape was right, Raven might not be wearing his armor as of the moment but in his eyes, it couldn''t be anymore obvious. The Ape could truly see the Raven with his armor on, and that was enough for him to guess who he is.

    "I see." Raven said in a whisper. "Your blood is impressive. I''ll give you that."

    Now it was the Ape''s turn to be surprised. Raven''s words struck him like a thunderbolt and caused him to freeze on his tracks. But instead of inquiring him, he merelyughed and said:

    "I expected no less from Your Excellency."

    "Alright, stop with those honorifics. It''s creeping me out." Raven said tiresomely, "Address me by my name, Raven. My status is only takes effect at my home and I''m far from there. Right now, I''m nothing but an ordinary adventurer, treat me as an ordinary guest."

    The Ape hesitated for a bit before eventually nodding. He heard the certainty on Raven''s words so he could only do it this way, lest he provoke his ire.

    "Ah!" The ape suddenly eximed, "Pardon me for not introducing myself. My name is Ronald, the eldest bro of these two. Please excuse them if they bothered you in anyway."

    "It''s fine. Don''t sweat it." Raven shrugged as he replied.

    "Then, shall I we go inside? I think we stayed here for a long time now."

    All of them nodded and Ronald started leading the way inside the Gentle Primates Tribe.

    As soon as Raven stepped inside, a strange look automatically appeared on his face.

    The tribe was surprisingly¡­normal, specially on a human''s perspective.

    He could huts made out of straws and a couple of houses made out of stone. He could see primates walking around the ces and busying themselves with their own matters. He had seen farmers, fishermen, vendors, construction workers. He could even see some monkey children ying around. He could even see some females gossiping amongst each other, some apes drinking in the middle of the day and some older ones that just enjoyed basking under the sun

    Also, all of them are wearing some type of clothes.

    Now that he thought about it, the brothers were also wearing one. He must''ve missed it because he didn''t find it strange, yet it is strange in all aspects.

    All in all, this tribe appeared to be more of a small town.

    A human town, to be more precise.

    ''This is creepy.'' Raven muttered inwardly. ''But I guess I should''ve seen thising.''

    He told himself that he should really stop expecting that these guys just would act like regr primates. He already heard about how the tribe was founded, and it shouldn''t he surprising that they would truly act like humans since their founders wanted them to act like humans.

    While Raven was thinking about that, he totally forgot that he was not a normal sight for the primates either.

    The instant that he stepped inside, he could feel several gazed locked onto him. He immediately became famous since all of the primates here knew that he was the real deal.

    A Human hade to their tribe.

    His sharp senses backfired at him since he could literally feel that some kids are following them and were silently observing how he acted. He could hear the females switched their topic of their gossip to him. He heard on of drunken apes said that they would invite him to a drink.

    Raven faintly shook his head as he finally realized all of this, Ronald who had been watching him all this time chuckled and said: "This must be surprising for you, but you''ll get used to it."

    "Anyways, this way is towards our humble home. Ignore them for now, you must be pretty tired from your journey." Ronald offered as they walked through several clearings before arriving at a humble house made out of bricks.

    For some reason, seeing this their house reminded him of his old home back when they were still living at the Outer Circle of the Kingdom.

    At some point, this house looked just like the one they had. And this unknowingly gave him a sense of nostalgia. It made him miss home.

    The four of them entered the house and Ronald lead Raven into the guest''s room. The ape said that he could rest first while he prepared some feast for them. Raven appreciated the gesture and did what he said.

    The room that he was given also gave him a nostalgic feeling. This room looked just like his old room. The very same one that he woke up to when he experienced his Soul Rebirth.

    A lot of things happened since then. He was thirteen when it all started and before he knew it, he was already aplished many things not only for his family, but for the Kingdom as well.

    He managed to correct his mistakes and do a better job this time around. He found it funny whenever hepared the state of the Kingdom in his previous life and the current one. Right now, the Kingdom is headed in a bright future.

    It had been more than a year since he left his home but he was convinced that everyone is still fine. Of course, he couldn''t help but to miss them every now and then, even the tedious task of being an instructor for that matter. Needless to say, he only had a couple of things to finish right after this and he could truly rest easy.

    A faint smile reached his face, he sat on the bed and went on to meditate.

    Raven''s cultivation is nearing it''s saturation again.

    The constant training and battles definitely helped out on this. Right now, he was sitting at mid Silver Knight in cultivation. Only a few steps away until the Golden Knight Realm.

    Of course he doesn''t n on being satisfied with just being a Golden Knight. It is natural that he is aiming for something higher. He has to, or else he wouldn''t be qualified to ascend.

    Golden Knights are represented by their Golden Armor. It boasts with superior defense that couldn''t be broken by any normal means. To break the Armor of a Golden Knight is akin to destroying a whole mountain with just a single punch. This is why this stage is this realm is dream of most knights of the Kingdom since they see Golden Knights as Immortals.

    It is said that one''s Knightly Armament would reach it''s peak state at this form but that is not entirely true.

    A Knightly Armament evolves with it''s owner. The only reason why majority believes it to be this way is because it is hard to make any drastic changes nor improvements to the Knightly Armament once it reached it''s golden state. This is due to theck of information about cultivation matters but since Raven is here, then they could rest easy.

    In fact, he had already left them an information about this even before leaving to fetch the ingredients needed to cure his inws.

    He imparted this method because it was the best time for them strengthen themselves while its still rtively peaceful.. He did all of this because he knew that the peace of the Kingdom won''tst long.

 Chapter 322 - Visit

    ---

    A day passed and the primate brothers didn''t disturb Raven on his rest after they ate.

    Raven took advantage of the privacy and went inside the Crown Space to train.

    He made great progress in his battles there. Now he just cleared the 45th pocket dimension.

    It took his a total of 20 tries to beat his enemy this time around. This was a lot, considering the fact that he''smaking solid progress on his skills as he moved along. This means that his enemies there are getting stronger and stronger. He felt that it won''t be long until he faced yet another wall that he can''t pass through.

    Nevertheless, he wasn''t afraid. His arsenal is just growing bigger throughout these battles. His techniques are being refined closer and closer to their acme as he go, and this undoubtedly help him in his future battles.

    One thing to point out is that Raven had experienced some sort of changes inside the Crown Space, but it more of a side effect to be honest.

    Due to him assimting Tenrou''s blood, his Time and Space Awareness had been boosted. Hence, he could now tell where the pocket dimensions inside of the Crown Space were, which saved him the troubles of blindly searching for them.

    Raven really had no way of knowing where they were prior to this. He would just blindly go forward while experiencing the mighty suppression inside, and if there happens to be a pocket dimension in front of him, it would just suck him in and transport him to the battlefield.

    Now that his awareness level had experienced new heights, he could now sense where the pocket dimension is. In fact, he could even see them.

    Which lead to another side effect that he wasn''t expecting.

    His ocr technique which he named ''The Crystal Sky Eye'', had experienced some sort of an evolution no too long ago.

    Previously, the Crystal Sky Eye allowed him to see through his environment in a spherical point of view. Not only does it give him an enhanced visual prowess, allows him to see through things, it also allows him to see things that are not normally seen in the naked eye.

    Things like intents, emotions, even Pixie Dusts and auras. His ocr technique allowed to see through many things.

    Now, with the addition of his enhanced Time and Space Awareness, the things that he could see with the Crystal Sky Eye had broadened even further.

    The things that his new awareness transmitted to him had be tangible things that he could see now.

    Time was represented by lines which appeared like threads or fibers of silk that is omnipresent around him. Meanwhile, Space was represented by dots connected by lines like multiple constetions, which were also omnipresent around him.

    These lines and dots are different from what the Fragile Signs of his Destruction Laws.

    The representation of Time and Space brought by his ocr technique appeared to be finer and more delicate. On the other hand, the lines, points and marks that he sees as Fragile signs appeared more ragged and unstable, clearly representing that they were a fragile structure.

    This is not to say that the representation of Time and Space on his ocr technique is impossible to be Fragile Signs that he could use to amplify hisw-infused attacks. It was possible to happen, but Raven is not at the stage where he could seamlessly do it right.

    If anything, superimposing those signs would mean that he would have the capabilities to destroy the very fabrics of time and space, and that is something that would cause so much destruction which would totally be out of Raven''s control for now.

    Destroying Time and Space. What kind of concept was that?

    Even just the thought of it sends shivers to his spine. Not to mention that he didn''t even know if it was alright for him to do that since he''s in the lower realm. Time and Space around here is more malleable since it''s much weakerpared to the Divine Realms.

    If there''s ever a time when he needed to practice doing this, he wouldn''t risk doing it outside and would rather do it inside the Crown Space.

    ***

    "We are humbled by Your Excellency''s presence."

    Raven rolled his eyes as he cast a side ce at Ronald, who''s smiling at him on the side.

    Just this morning, Ronald told him that the current Tribe Leader of the Gentle Primates Tribe would like to meet him. Raven agreed since he see any harm from doing so, he thought that he would be going to where the Tribe Leader is but Ronald informed him that the Tribe Leader would visit them instead. He thought that it would be fine, although he specifically told Ronald to keep his status as secret, it seems that thetter totally forgot about it.

    Seeing the Tribe Leader of the primates give him a Knight''s Salute, made Raven feel weird in so many levels.

    "Drop the honorifics, Tribe Leader." Raven stated as he helped him up. "I left my status back at my home. I would appreciate it if you treated me as just a regr guest."

    The Tribe Leader was a bit surprised by his words, he then simrly nced at Ronald and saw him nod at him. The Tribe Leader then nodded and said:

    "I''ll do as you say then." He said after getting up. "Wee to my humble tribe. My name is Charles, the current Tribe Leader of the Gentle Primates Tribe. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for saving one of my people."

    Charles is an Ape who''s slightly taller than Ronald. He''s about 12 meters tall with thick and glossy brown fur covering his body. His arms were thicker than Raven''s waist and extremely muscr.

    The Tribe Leader fashioned a monocle which made him look schrly. He was wearing a coat made out of animal skin with skulls serving as shoulder pads. He was bare chested and is also wearing a brown pants made out simr materials.

    There is a sword hanging around his waist, but Raven could somehow feel that it''s more of a ceremonial dagger due to his size. He held a long and narrow staff which appeared to be made out of ck colored steel, adorned by golden caps at each end and a couple of dragon like engravings coiling around the staff itself.

    "Don''t mention it. It''s just some minor effort." Raven smiled and shook his head while replying.

    "Needless to say, you still saved my Heir. For that I couldn''t thank you enough. I would like to give-"

    "No need." Raven replied before the Tribe Leader could even say anything. "It''s fine. You don''t have to give me any sort of rewards. I saved him cause I wanted to, let''s leave it like that."

    "B-but how could I possibly-"

    "It''s fine, really." Raven reiterated, "You don''t have to give me anything. Plus, you still have the festival to take care of. Just focus on that instead."

    The Tribe Leader''s face brightened up as he heard Raven''s words. He no longer insisted on giving him any rewards, instead he wanted to have conversation with him.

    "Have rested well, Young Friend?" Charles asked as they sat down. "It must''ve been a long and tough journey for you, specially that you''re far away from home."

    "It''s okay." Raven replied while chuckling, "This is a necessary trip in order to save my inws."

    "Hmm?" Charles titled his head, "Would you mind telling me what happened to them?"

    "Not at all." Raven replied, "My mother-inw''s body needs to be cleansed with Poison Laws that infected her through years. My father-inw''s body is severely weakened, and since he happens to be our King as well, we couldn''t let his situation worsened even further."

    There is a strange tone of loneliness and sadness on Raven''s voice as he spoke. Though his face might not show it, anyone who listened to him could feel that he''s hurting.

    How could he not be when he still feels responsible for what happened to them up until now?

    Raven shook his head and smiled: "Anyways, I''m on errand to fetch some ingredients that will help solve their issues. I''ve got some but I still needed more."

    "I''m sorry to hear that." Charles replied in sympathy, "If there''s anything we could do to help you, then please don''t hesitate to say the word."

    "Like I said¡­" Raven said while chuckling, "It''s fine. I only need a few more things and I''ll be good. No need to trouble yourself with this."

    "Still, I would like to help as much as I could." Charles insisted. "I know the pain of loss. And I would like to save from that if possible."

    Raven smiled warmly and said: "I appreciate the gesture. But even if I tell you the things I need, I''m sure you wouldn''t have them either."

    The Tribe Leader frowned when he heard his words. But before he could say anything, Raven spoke once more.

    "I''m confident since the things that I''m after is located at the Four Extremes."

    As soon as Charles heard that, he couldn''t help but open his mouth widely.

 Chapter 323 - Ivan Regulus

    ---

    "So that''s why you were confident." Charles said after a moment of shock. "You do know that the ces you''re after are extremely dangerous. Right?"

    "I am aware." Raven said with confidence. There''s probably no other person in this entire ne who knows that true terrors of the Four Extremes more than he does.

    Raven was also not surprised that Charles had also heard about the Four Extremes. If his guesses were correct, then he must''ve read some records left by their founders, which allowed him to be aware of the term.

    "If that''s the case then there''s no stopping you. But I still advice you to be very careful on your journey." Charles reminded kindly, "I''ve read some records about those ces. It didn''t contain much, but it repeatedly emphasized the dangers of those ces."

    And it appears that Raven''s hunch was correct. Charles really did read some records left behind by their founders.

    "So did I." Raven replied, "Needless to say, I still have to go. If I can''t do this, then no one can."

    Charles looked intently at Raven and sighed, it appears that this human had really made up his mind and there was no stopping him. And since there''s nothing he could do to stop him, he might as well let it be. Insisting even further would be a bad idea anyway. He wouldn''t want to provoke the ire of Raven, specially knowing his real identity.

    "There''s something I would like to know, if you don''t mind." Raven asked after a brief silence. Charles nodded at him, signaling him to continue. "An told me about the history of your tribe - well, most of it. He said that the founders of your tribe were adopted and raised by a Human."

    Charles nodded at his statement, which then allowed Raven to ask: "May I know the name of that Human?"

    "I was actually going to tell you about this, but you went first. Oh well." Charles stated.

    He paused briefly and said: "Ivan Regulus. That''s the name of our founder''s adoptive father."

    "Huh." Raven raised his brow in surprise, "King Ivan. Who would''ve thought?"

    Raven''s thoughts were suddenly filled with information about King Ivan Regulus, who happens to be the one who adopted their founders. Charles looked at him with interest and asked: "You heard about him?"

    "Even if I didn''t want to, I still would''ve since the educators forces people to remember the Royalties." Raven chuckled. "Fortunately, I happen to be fond of history. So yes, I''ve read some records about him."

    "King Ivan, you say." Charles muttered, seemingly surprised about this term.

    "Would you mind telling me what kind of King he is?" Charles asked, "The records that was left by our founders only described him as a father. To be honest, I didn''t even know that he was a King not until now."

    "It would make sense why you guys didn''t know." Raven stated, "King Ivan originally hated the throne anyway."

    "Why is that?"

    "Because he preached about equal rights." Raven said, "ording to the records, he originally wanted the social system to go under a reform. On some records, it was said that he even tried to destroy the Royal Pce since if did that, then the symbol of inequality would be destroyed and everything would be fair."

    "Was he a good king?"

    "Yes." Raven replied confidently. "He was originally born as amoner. ording to records, he was is an excellent student and a fearsome warrior. Unfortunately, he was born at the Peak of the Dark Moon Era - the time when the Kingdom was at it''s lowest."

    "It was a time where the strong gets stronger and the weak bes weaker The rich bes richer and the poor bes poorer. Everything was unfair back then. And since King Ivan was born as amoner, he was treated almost like a ve. Back then, if one didn''t have a considerable social status, then there is no justice, even if they were in the right. The corruption was so strong that time that the Kingdom was nearly destroyed due to it at one point. If it weren''t for King Ivan, then the Kingdom might not havested until now."

    Heroes are born at the time of need. This was true in Ivan''s case.

    He rose in prominence during the defense against a massive sized beast horde that nearly destroyed the Kingdom. He was a nobody before but his unbending will and horrifying prowess as a warrior became the focal point of a war thatsted for a straight week.

    Ivan fought tirelessly and endlessly. Even when the morale was low and hisrades already epted their defeat, he didn''t stop nor rest on his quest to push the horde back.

    The spirit of the warriors were broken. The Royals and Nobles who were supposed to be the pir of the kingdom that supported the defense, fled at the first sign of trouble, taking with the hard earned resources of themon folk whom they left as a sacrifice to the beast.

    With no support on the frontlines, the defense became weaker and weaker. The walls were breached and too many people died. Corpses formed mountains, blood flowed like rivers, and there was even an outbreak of a disease due to that.

    Everyone was tired from the war and just wanted toy down and rest. However, Ivan never stopped fighting. He channeled his anger and fury against the traitors to beasts that killed many of his people. His body nearly broke due to injuries and his blood almost ran out but he never stopped swinging his weapon.

    See a beast? Kill. See a stronger beast? Kill! Big or small, swift or slow, venomous or not. Ivan fought until corpses piled under his feet.

    His unceasing efforts to save whatever''s left of the Kingdom was rewarded by the resurrection of his men''s spirits. Ivan''s way killing like a possessed demon infected them, while some died during their battles, it was the best way to go since if they won, then they''ll be celebrated as heroes.

    Ivan''s way of fighting was incredibly rough and vicious, but at the same time very effective. The virtue behind his fighting style was simple - if it''s still breathing or moving, never stop swinging.

    Since then, armies of warriors who fought like demons, terrorized the beasts.

    Chaos then descended like a raging tsunami. What''s left of the army was too little to defend the kingdom so they went onto the offensive. The warriors were like crazed barbarians, they ranged from very young to very old. No one would''ve forced women, children or old people to participate in the war but sadly, they needed to since they''re going to die if they sit still anyway.

    Ivan never forced anyone to follow him, it waspletely fine for him to do this all alone. However, his actions boosted the morale of the kingdom and they followed since they could see hope on doing so.

    They swarmed the beasts like locusts and dismantled their camps and ranks. Some of them even enved beasts themselves and used them to fight their kin. There were records of Ivan doing the same but it wasn''t clear if it was monkeys.

    Slowly but surely, humans pushed back the forces of the beasts. The constant battles and dangers pushed their potential to the limits, allowing them to grow stronger on each battle they survived.

    And after a week of a rough, nonstop and bitter battle. The ranks of the beasts were whittled down to a pitiful degree and were forced to retreat. Unfortunately, the fight didn''t end there.

    As soon as the beasts left, the forsakers returned and tried to regain their ce and status at the kingdom. Their presence was like a mocking gesture to those who fought and died in battle.

    In his absolute fury against these people, Ivan raised his weapon and issued yet another massacre. The forsakers thought that they could go against Ivan since he''s weakened but even if he was weakened, it was enough for him to utterly obliterate them.

    Ivan had enough and dered that those who have forsaken their home shall never be forgiven. He personally set out and hunted them one by one regardless of the dangers out in the wild. He alone killed most of the forsakers and retrieved the resources that they stole.

    They then used that to rebuild the walls and the infrastructures within the Kingdom. The homes, the stores, the roads, medical stations, important ces. Even the Royal Pce was rebuilt, which surprisingly is Ivan''s idea.

    It was also right then and there that Ivan was elected as the new leader, the new King of the Final Haven Kingdom. And it was during his reign that the Dark Moon Era ended and ushered the current era were Raven is currently steering towards a golden future.

    And in retrospect, Raven personally never met nor read much about Ivan''s life before. While he does like knowing history, it was very rare for him to know majority of what happened in the past.

    The real reason why Raven knows so much about Ivan''s life, is because Ivan was the previous owner of the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer.

 Chapter 324 - Sudden Invasion

    ---

    How the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer ended up at the Crown''s possession is a mystery that Raven might never get the answer to, what he knew is that King Ivan didn''t possess the Ancestral Divine Crown when he was still alive.

    This conjecture was supported by the fact that he did receive King Ivan''s memories when he inherited the hammer along with the memories of the previous owners. This is why Raven knew a great deal about the former king even though he never personally met him or read any records about him.

    Raven didn''t go into detail with his story, he just grazed on the highlights of King Ivan''s life and told them how he ended up changing the ways of people during his reign and steered the fate of the kingdom in a better path.

    The Apes who were with him listened to his story with rapt attention. The person that Raven was talking about was the adoptive parent of their founders, of course they would be interested to know more about him.

    They were impressed and somewhat proud of how the human lived, they couldn''t tell just how much of what Raven said was an exaggeration but he doesn''t seem to be lying.

    In a way, the conversation ended up being a fruitful one. Ronald and Charles talked more with Raven like equals and simrly, Raven was also starting to think that he''s not with primates but with fellow humans as well. He had somehow forgotten the joy of a simple chat due to his journey alone in a dangerous ce. That is why this conversation brought a feeling of respite on Raven''s heart and he greatly appreciated it.

    Unfortunately, it doesn''t seem that the peaceful atmosphere will remain for long.

    *Boom!!*

    The three instantly shot up on their seats as they heard a loud explosion nearby.

    "What in the world?" Ronald blurted with a surprised tone.

    Raven immediately spread out his senses and as soon as he did, he began picking up a lot of things from his ocr technique.

    "You''re tribe is being invaded." Raven said casually, much to the surprise and horror of the two. He then faced Ronald and say: "You might want to hurry up. Your brothers are in danger."

    Ronald''s eyes widened as his face immediately went grave. He roared: "No!!"

    He then punched a hole on the house. This wasn''t the time for him to mind about the damages, the lives of his brothers are more important. Charging using his broad shoulders, Ronald rammed into the hole and made it bigger due to his size.

    As soon as Ronald went out, he didn''t look back at all and started charging towards where the source of themotion was. Of course, Charles and Raven was following him too.

    Due to his enhanced awareness, Raven''s senses were more sensitive than before. On top of that, it also receives a boost whenever he uses it in conjunction with his Crystal Sky Eye. Raven currently has no problems on seeing through anything within a 700 meter radius around him. If he chooses to, his vision could zoom in to a specific spot to see it in more detail.

    Raven already knew what happened even if he wasn''t physically there.

    The Frenzied Silverback Tribe had invaded with a force of 20 strong primates, all of which are radiating with no lower than Tier 4 strength. Raven had no idea how they managed to get it but that''s no longer important since they were already here. The gates were already busted down anyway.

    The enemy tribe immediately caused chaos inside, Raven caught nce of An trying to fend off at least two enemies who''s after him and Dennis'' life.

    The three swiftly arrived to where the fight was happening with Ronald arriving first.

    Eyes zing with anger and worry, he immediately scanned the battlefield to locate his brothers and immediately saw both of them injured.

    A fearsome glint appeared on his eyes, his face contorted in fury as he immediately went on a rampage. The ground shook beneath him as he charged, and despite his size he moved as swift as the wind. Hisrge frame crashed onto the assant and sent him flying back, hitting the other one who''s after Dennis.

    "Big Bro!" Dennis and An called out.

    Ronald immediately pulled them back behind and him as he red at the two assants who were trying to get up from his surprise attack.

    Charles wasn''t sitting idly either. As the Tribe Leader, he had responsibilities to keep his citizens safe. He immediately searched for his confidants and started handing out orders to evacuate the women, children and elderly on to a safe ce. He too fought fearsomely with his ck golden staff, and even though Charles might look old, his movements were simr to that of a seasoned fighter. A surprising feat for the leader of a tribe that preached out peace.

    "All of you, stand down for a moment."

    A voice echoed from the dark entrance. The enemy primates immediately paused their fights and retreated back. Ronald used this moment to check the well being of his brothers and tend to their injuries. Meanwhile, Charles face went solemn as he stared intently at the entrance.

    It was then that someone came out from the dark entrance.

    An Ape who stood for about 20 meters tall with bloody red eyes and along with a bright silver fur covering it''s body, appeared. It''s massive frame gave off an impression of dread and danger, its chest was covered with scars that was earned through constant battle.

    This neer had set foot on to the realm of being a Tier 5 Demonic Beast. And since the invaders listened to its words, it was clear that this Frenzied Silverback Ape''s status on their tribe is anything but simple.

    "My, my. What''s with that look Charles? Aren''t you happy to see me?" The Frenzied Silverback Ape''s mocking tone was evident with its words as it greeted Charles.

    "Your definitely getting bolder, Harry." Charles answered as he stepped forward. "I didn''t expect you to lose your patience and invade my home. It seems like you''re forgetting who gave you those scars."

    Charles'' confident and borderline arrogant words caused Harry''s face to twitch in annoyance. The silverback ape grinded its teeth and replied:

    "Oh, I remember it alright. How could I ever forget when it haunts me every night? These scars still aches whenever I''m reminded of it. This is why I vowed to never rest until I crushed you skull with my bare hands."

    Harry''s words were uttered trough gritted teeth. A fearsome aura was being expelled on his body, suffocating not only the citizens of the tribe but also his own men too.

    If it weren''t for Charles who stood in front and bore the weight of Harry''s fearsome aura, a lot of his citizens might''ve fainted from fright already.

    ''He had gotten stronger.'' Charles muttered inwardly but didn''t show any surprise or worry on his face.

    The day that he feareding finally arrived. If he knew that they''re going to invade this soon, he would''ve groomed a sessor earlier than this. That way, maybe he could opt for a mutual destruction. He also should''ve not let Harry escape back then, he should''ve took matters on his own hand. If he had done that, maybe this day wouldn''t have happened.

    While everyone was panicking, Raven casually walked over towards where Ronald and his brothers were. Ronald nodded towards him and Raven gave him a shrug. He then walked over towards Dennis and said:

    "Do you still want to thank me for saving him?"

    Raven''s words sounded cryptic in Dennis'' ears, but when he saw where he was pointing, his eyes immediately constricted. He then finally realized what Raven meant.

    Although his presence is ignored, he could not evade Raven''s senses. Blending on to the darkness of the entrance, was Gil who''s watching everything unfold.

    Dennis understood what Raven meant. Seeing that Gil was here, he immediately knew that it was his decision that caused a lot of people to get hurt. He then remembered Raven''s words before that now made sense to him.

    <em>"But I''m confident that doing that (letting Gil live) will teach you a valuable lesson in the near future."</em>

    "Mercy to your enemies, is cruelty not only to yourself but to your loved ones as well. Do well in remembering that, Young Heir." Raven said as he ruffled the young monkey''s head.

    This prompted Dennis to tear up due to disappointment in himself. He finally understood the foolishness of his actions. If he had just turned his head away and let Raven finish off Gil, then none of this would''ve happened. His decision caused many of their citizens to get hurt and he couldn''t help but feel responsible for it.

    "But never mind that actually." Harry''s voice sounded once more, the fearsome aura that''s emanating out of his body disappeared. His face showed a smile which sent shivers to Charles'' body since he knew that this guy is definitely up to something.

    "We don''t have to fight in all seriousness." Harry casually said, "I''m here for a simple reason."

    "Allow me to take the Tailed Siblings, and I will leave without harming anyone any further.. I will also promise that our tribe will never invade yours for a 100 years if you agree to this. What do you say?"

 Chapter 325 - Tailed Oracles

    ----

    "Allow me to take the Tailed Siblings, and I will leave without harming anyone any further. I will also promise that our tribe will never invade yours for a 100 years if you agree to this. What do you say?"

    Harry''s deration caused the whole tribe to be silent.

    All focus was then directed at the Tailed Brothers: Ronald, An, and Dennis. Some were confused about why would the tribe leader of the enemy tribe would want these brothers, while the others had a faint clue about what''s up.

    Ronald''s face be somber, he then stepped up once more and hid his brothers behind him while casting a side a nce towards their tribe leader. Seeing Charles facial expression caused Ronald to sigh inwardly. Though he might not show it, Ronald knew that Charles was definitely considering the offer.

    He then started thinking about what''s going to happen to them at the instance that Charles took up Harry''s offer. Ronald asked himself if he''s going to resent Charles or not.

    Of course he is aware that Charles is in a difficult position. Harry''s schemes ran deeper than what it looked like in the surface.

    Sure, he is aware that Harry is after their bloodline, but this is not just that. Harry''s offer is also a tant threat to the peace and security of the tribe.

    If Charles refused his offer, then a fight would be inevitable. And looking at the Harry''s troops, it is clear that tribe will suffer an immense damage since most of their citizens aren''t used tobat.

    Winning the fight won''t matter since the tribe will lose a lot of its citizens, this will not only dampen their spirits into celebrating the Monkey King''s Festival, it will also make the citizens treat the Tailed Brothers unfairly since they will certainly me them for losing their loved ones. If they lose, then not only will they be taken away, the tribe will still instantly going to be undermined by the enemy tribe and its citizens will suffer being treated as ves.

    On the other hand, agreeing to Harry''s offer might be the safest way but that''s not it either. Ronald knows that Charles and Harry knew what their bloodline is capable of. Charles never took advantage of it but who''s to say that Harry won''t? Plus, no one could guarantee that they would honor the 100 year truce, Harry could just say that he changed his mind and no one could do anything about it.

    Ronald knew all of this, which is why that he could only do what he promised to do. And that is to keep his brothers'' safety as a priority.

    "He brought this many troops and deal this much chaos just to¡­take us away? Why?" Dennis asked in a confused tone,pletely clueless about why would the enemy camp want them. "What''s going on? What does he we want with us?"

    An didn''t say a words since he too, is simrly clueless about this whole matter, but he knew that Ronald knew something.

    "He wants your bloodline."

    Raven''s voice echoed on their ears, making Dennis look up to him and ask: "I don''t follow."

    On the other hand, Raven didn''t exin but instead looked at Ronald. He then asked: "Do you want to tell them or me?"

    Dennis and An looked at Ronald with expecting gazes, making thetter sigh in defeat and relent. He knew that there was no escaping it anymore. This was bound to happen anyway, he just dyed the inevitable.

    "I didn''t want to tell you guys this because of fear." Ronald stated, he sighed before continuing, "But it seems that we could no longer hide it from everyone."

    He then faced his brothers and ced his arms on their shoulders. He then looked at them intently and said:

    "Our blood contains something special. You might think of us as just some regr Demonic Beast who happens to speak human tongue but we are much more than that."

    Ronald shut his eyes and paused for a bit, when he opened them, there is a strange look on his face as he finally revealed their origins.

    "We are the descendants of Centennial Tailed Beast Oracles."

    "W-what¡­" Dennis and An physically reeled in from shock upon the revtion. In fact, it wasn''t only them. Those who were listening were stunned speechless too.

    How could they not be? The fact that these brothers contained the blood of a Centennial Tailed Beast Oracle exins why the enemy camp wanted them! And not just that, it also exined why their tribe was able to remain peaceful!

    Centennial Tailed Beast Oracles are a special kind of beasts that is respected and protected by their race. It is said that once a tailed beast oracle finally achieve the Nine-tailed Stage, then they would metamorphose and be the Beast Emperor! This information is not passed by tongue, this is something that is written to their very existence, from the moment that a demonic beast is born they will know about this tale, and if they ever meet a descendant of a tailed beast oracle, they would treat them with respect.

    The tailed beast oracles inherently possessed an immense talent. It was as if they were blessed by the heavens themselves. One unique thing about them is that the bloodline awakens at different races every century.

    For example, if the bloodline will be awakened at a certain individual from primate race, then it and its descendants will have the bloodline awakened as well. This will go on for 100 years. After that, the bloodline will be awakened by someone from a different race. This cycle continues until someone finally achieved the nine-tailed stage and be Beast Emperor

    Of course, this bloodline is different from the regr tailed beast bloodlines. The Centennial Tailed Beast Oracles are of a higher status than them since they have the highest potential.

    Unfortunately, it has been too long since thest emergence of a Beast Emperor. So much so that the faith of Demonic Beasts toward the Centennial Tailed Beast Oracles had faded already. So much time has passed that the information about them, which should be possessed by every beasts, are gradually fading away. Back then, it will only take a nce and beasts will recognize who has the bloodline. Now, there has to be a trigger to remind them of this.

    A great example would be what Ronald did just now. Telling his brothers that they possessed this bloodline acted as trigger for them to recall this information. Which also answers the reason why their tribe remained somewhat peaceful all these years.

    As for why Harry wanted them, that''s simple.

    He wanted to extract their blood and infuse to himself. Harry''s ambition, is to be the next Beast Emperor.

    "So that''s why you''re overprotective." Anmented on the side.

    "Of course not you idiot!" Ronald smacked his head, "Why would you think that way? I didn''t be overprotective just because I didn''t want our bloodline to end up in the wrong hands. I did because you guys are the only ones I have left! Our parents died a long time ago. I did not want to lose you two as well."

    "Hoho." A mocking tone suddenly echoed on their ears.

    It came from Harry who''s watching everything unfold. He was even faked wiping his tears away as he said:

    "I''m so moved." Harry chuckled and said: "Why don''t youe with me instead? You know that this tribe can''t protect you all right?"

    The tailed brothers remained silent and looked at him intently. Harry then continued:

    "Look. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. If you guyse to me voluntarily, I won''t raise a ruckus. Resist and I will take you by force. You guys are smart, this is not a difficult choice at all!"

    Harry''s words definitely ced them on the spot. Ronald gritted his teeth and nced at his brothers and his tribemates. He didn''t like this position at all.

    "This is so dramatic, it''s creeping me out."

    A bored andzy sounding voice suddenly echoed behind them. Everyone''s eyes instantly focused on who spoke. They then saw Raven with an unnatural expression on his face. Compared to the intense atmosphere of the tribe, he looked so out of ce.

    "What''s a puny Human doing here?" A random troop suddenly asked out loud. "Ah! That must be the one that Gil was talking about. But he doesn''t look all that impressive to me."

    "Did I give you any permission to speak?"

    *Boom!!!*

    As soon as Raven cold voice echoed, a massive suppression suddenly descended onto that Ape. As if the world suddenly came crashing down, the Ape suddenly prostrated on the ground while shaking fiercely. Everyone''s fur stood up in horror, they didn''t see Raven lift a single finger yet he disabled an Ape that could cause so much destruction on their tribe.

    "On your next life, learn how to mind your manners around your betters. Remember that you died because of your carelessness." Raven said in a harrowing tone.

    "Die."

    And as if the Raven''s words were the Heavenly Will themselves, the prostrating Ape suddenly exploded like a watermelon, causing a harrowing silence to drown the tribe.

 Chapter 326 - Absolute Strength

    ---

    Everyone''s eyes bulged on their sockets.

    Some of them still couldn''t wrap their heads around the fact that this human just killed someone with mere words. All of them stared at him in rm and horror, the tribe leaders were no exception.

    This might be the first time that Raven used this attack on a living being. What he did just now was pretty simple. After suppressing the Ape using the might of his cultivation base, he infused his Destruction Laws on the air and projected it towards the ape''s location using his voice. The Ape might be a Tier 4 Demonic Beast but without experiencing the baptism of Laws, its just as vulnerable as a defenseless child.

    Raven walked ever so slowly towards the invaders in a casual manner. To others, it appeared like he was just roaming around his yard.

    Every step he took shook the hearts of the invaders. To them, he didn''t look like just a puny human anymore. In their eyes, Raven was akin to a death god heading towards their way.

    Although they were informed that this tribe had a human guest, they weren''t threatened since they were confident that the human will never he stronger than thembined. Harry himself, told them that the human will pose no threat to them since ording to what he knew, humans were weaker than demonic beasts.

    It really makes one wonder how in the world would Harry exin this situation.

    "Ah¡­" Raven moaned in frustration, "And here I was looking forward to seeing the festival. You lot just had to ruin it didn''t you?"

    His words sounded so casual yet there is an unmistakable majesty and strength behind it that caused his voice to reverberate in their hearts.

    Harry started sweating coldly, yet he didn''t dare to show any kind of weakness. On the contrary, he was even ring menacingly at Raven who''s walking towards him.

    No one dared to speak. The atmosphere was tensed. The tailed brothers as well as their Tribe Leader Charles, could only watch and think to themselves on how Raven would handle this situation.

    Raven continued walking until he was mere inches away from Harry. Due to the silverback ape''s height, it forced Raven to almost break his neck in order to look at it in the eye, much to his annoyance.

    "I did not expect this." Harry spoke in a grave tone. "Don''t feel so proud, Human. Trust me, you do not want us as your enemy."

    Instead of being insulted, Raven merely raised his brow and said: "Watch your manners, Monkey. That is not how you properly greet someone."

    *BOOOOM!*

    Harry felt his world shake ferociously as his bnce became unstable. His eyes constricted in horror as he felt a massive weight pressing him down, wanting to force him on his knees. It was only then that he finally understood what the ape earlier felt.

    Of course, it goes without saying that he tried resisting the weight that''s pressing him down. He was the tribe leader of primates that preached about strength, how could he allow himself to kneel in front of a mere human who''s not even half of his size?

    Unfortunately, no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried to resist, he couldn''t get up. He genuinely felt like he was trying to lift up the skies, only to fail miserably on his attempt.

    In fact, he was actually doing betterpared to the rest.

    Raven''s initial outburst didn''t only affect him, it also affected all the troops behind him. Compared to Harry''s just kneeling, the rest of them couldn''t'' even resist and had their bodies firmly nted on the ground. None of them could even lift their heads up or had any chances of resisting.

    The joints on Harry''s body creaked dangerously. None of this was making sense to him. He didn''t know how could a mere human force him down to his knees without even doing anything. He tried straightening his back and his legs but it''s taking him a great deal of effort to do so.

    Harry''s neck almost snapped but he did all that he could to remain looking forward. What he saw however, was guaranteed to give him nightmares for the rest of his life.

    Everyone with the exception of Raven was looking down at him, staring at him withplex gazes. Even Charles'' gaze contained a profound meaning behind it but Harry knew that even his old rival himself couldn''t believe that he was reduced to a pathetic state.

    The only reason why Raven wasn''t looking down on his is because he''s is still taller than him even in a kneeling position. Harry grounded his teeth an anger and tried to muster words to defy what Raven was trying to do, unfortunately it is toote.

    "You still don''t get it, don''t you?" Raven asked in a deadpanned voice. He stared directly at the bloody and crazed eyes of the silverback ape and said: "This isn''t where our eyes meet."

    *BOOOOOOM!*

    It happened again. Harry felt the world copsing towards him once again, but this time it was more intense.

    Harry lost all sense of resistance and was forced on all fours by Raven. The poor ape''s bones creaked more dangerously, some of them ever broke right then and there. He felt like his insides were being squeezed down by an unseen force, wanting to tten his flesh into a pile of goo. His heart ached and is experiencing difficulties on doing it''s job properly. But what would really kill him, is not an organ failure but the humiliation that Raven brought upon him.

    Harry couldn''t even lift his head up. The suppression that Raven made them feel, forced him into a prostrating position before him.

    The memories of him posturing and whatever before Raven stepped forward, dissipated like snow on at the first sign of summer on the minds of those who were watching his pathetic disy currently. Instead of a ferocious leader, Harry now looked like an disobedient pet that''s being admonished by its owner.

    Raven lifted his foot and stepped on the back of Harry''s head. He then leaned in forward and spoke:

    "Now your learning." His words pierced Harry''s heart like a sharp knife.

    Raven removed his foot on Harry''s head and lifted his head using his foot. Now, Raven was literally looking down on the ape as he said: "This¡­is where our eyes meet. Understand?"

    Harry almost went green in fury but had no way of releasing it. He couldn''t even speak, he could only swallow down his anger and grievances since it was clear that he did kicked an iron board this time. He couldn''t me anyone besides himself. In a sense, he asked for this.

    "Next time you want to throw your weight everywhere, make sure that you have an actual ability to back it up first. Else, you would suffer like this. It''s quite embarrassing really."

    Raven then removed his gaze from the prostrating ape and looked towards the entrance, exactly at the spot where the source of all of this trouble was hiding.

    He lifted his hand and formed a w. Something then flew from the dark entrance and shot towards Raven''s hands. Everyone then noticed that Raven was holding a tailed monkey by the neck.

    "Fancy meeting you here." Raven greeted in a bored tone which is enough to send Gil to profusely sweat.

    Gil had seen everything and for him, it was a nightmare. For the first time in his life, Gil felt an existential terror when he saw what Raven could do, and it was clear that that wasn''t all too.

    He''s deeply regretting his decisions by now. He should''ve listened to his instincts and remained quiet about this matter. He should''ve ran far away from here and hid.

    But no matter how much he regretted everything, there is nothing that he could do to change it.

    "You went after us once. I allowed you to leave unscathed because I agreed on a request, however I did remember telling you something before I did that. Do you still remember it?"

    Raven''s casual way of speaking horribly frightened him. All the years of him training as an assassin had no way of preparing him for something like this.

    This is a disy of Absolute Strength.

    Faced with his question, Gil nodded with difficulty. He didn''t even tried to resist nor struggle. He is aware that his fate will be decided ording to Raven''s whim.

    "What did I say?" Raven asked with chilling tone. Enough to make everyone''s fur stand up in fright.

    "There will be no next time." Gil uttered with much difficulty.

    Raven nodded and asked: "Anyst words?"

    Gil remained silent since he had none. He had nothing anyway, and even if he did. He knew that they will all soon follow him on the other side.

    "Remember this moment and etch this lesson onto your heart, should you ever have a chance of being reincarnated." Raven said in a harrowing tone. "Now, go."

    As he said that, a blue me suddenly devoured Gil''s body and reduced him into mere ashes in no time.

 Chapter 327 - Reason

    ---

    Everyone shivered in fear as they saw how Raven reduced Gil into mere ashes.

    Not even a moan of pain was heard from him. From the moment that the blue me appeared until Gil was reduced to ashes, all of it only took mere seconds. Some blinked during that moment, causing them to miss the whole thing, thankfully there was not much to seen anyway.

    The invaders are now more terrified, even Harry himself couldn''t help but feel a shiver down his spine upon seeing how effortless Raven dealt with Gil.

    Harry fought with Gil once. He was able to defeat him but not as a easy as Raven made it look. What''s even more shocking is that, Gil didn''t have an ounce of retaliation during the whole ordeal. Harry knew Gil''s personality. Even him, the Tribe Leader of their tribe, would find it difficult to order Gil around or else he will fight him to death. Harry realized that Gil knew and already epted his fate, and he couldn''t help but feel regretful of his actions.

    Everyone in the Frenzied Silverback Tribe acknowledged the potential of the young monkey, some even considered him as one of the candidates as the next tribe leader. But in front of this human - no, monster. He wasn''t much at all.

    "Alright, that''s two down." Raven announced in a casual tone.

    Silence permeated around the area. Everyone watched with bated breaths as they waited for Raven''s next actions. None of them dared to utter any sound, they didn''t even moved from where they stood due to fear that they might provoke Raven''s ire.

    Raven looked down at the prostrating apes in front of him and thought for a bit. After nking out for a while, an idea dawned on him.

    He then raised his arm and beckoned. All of a sudden, one of the prostrating apes felt a mighty force pulling him forward. He couldn''t resist even if he wanted to, he could only watch as he helplessly floated in the air and made way towards the waiting human.

    Jus like how Raven grabbed Gil out from his hiding spot, the simr thing happened to this ape.

    The ape suddenly found himself being grabbed the neck. He then saw Raven staring at him with a bored look, yet in his eyes he wasn''t being choked by a human. To him, it felt more like the god of death was staring at him while silently pondering about the type of death he will make the ape experience. And even though the Ape was physicallyrger than Raven, it didn''t matter at all since the ape couldn''t even think about retaliating at all.

    "Tell the location of your tribe." Raven ordered, his tone offered no refusal.

    The Ape in his hands shivered and couldn''t speak. Raven could feel its teeth ttering and shivering. He raised his brow and waited but the ape didn''t speak at all.

    "Don''t you dare!" Harry growled on his position. Raven casted him a side nce and nothing more. Harry then continued: "Don''t tell him! If you do, then I will personally kill you."

    "I don''t recall giving you any permission to speak, Monkey."

    *Boom!*

    "Gahk!!!"

    Raven sted Harry with the full force of his cultivation base causing him to prostrate even deeper. The suppression felt like he was being pressed down by a whole mountain. The weight suffocated him so much that he vomited mouthfuls of blood. Now, even if he wanted to speak, he couldn''t since he felt like there''s something pressing down on his throat.

    "Are you going speak or not?" Raven asked the Ape on his hands.

    The said Ape never felt so torn. He could more or less tell why Raven wanted to know. He didn''t want to tell him, but he also didn''t want to die.

    "So you have chosen death, huh? I see." Raven said in a bored tone. "Well, it doesn''t matter. If you''re not going to tell me, then I''ll do it myself."

    Raven then ced a hand on the ape''s head and forced his mighty will inside the ape''s psyche. The Ape roared in pain when he did that. The ape felt like its head was struck by a massive boulder. What''s even worse is that the pain didn''t only happen once. It was like Raven was drilling a hole onto its head using a blunt object.

    The sound that the ape made reverberated all over the tribe, causing many primates to grimace. The shrill cries of pain turned into a sobs of pain. Once Raven removed his hands from the head of the ape, it''s cries also stopped.

    Its head flopped on the side while its mouth was overflowing with spit. Its eyes were dted andpletely lifeless. Everyone who''s watching this didn''t have to guess, they all know that the ape died painfully.

    "About five kilometers northeast huh." Raven muttered but his voice was heard by all. "Not really that far. It''s a bit popted too."

    ording to the memories that he got from the ape just now, the poption of the Frenzied Silverback Tribe would amount to 200 - 250 Primates more or less.

    Harry shivered in fright as he heard Raven said this. He was now panicking since he could clearly tell that this human just did some kind of sorcery and searched the location of their tribe from the memories of his fallen subordinate.

    Before he could even think further, Harry felt Raven''s mysterious power once more. But instead of pressing him down, he suddenly found himself floating in the air.

    It''s not just him, all of his remaining troops are also floating in the air. All of them were rising in the air along with Raven. None of them knew how he was doing this but this shows just how powerful he truly is. It makes one wonder what would they feel if Raven told them that he''s not even trying.

    Even though they were levitating in the air, their movements still remained restricted. They flew up until they reached almost a hundred feet in the air, only then did they stop ascending.

    "Stop¡­" Harry uttered with so much difficulty. His voice wasced with mixed emotions but it was obvious that this was a plea. "Please. Don''t do it."

    Raven turned around and looked at him in a bored manner. He then sped his hands behind him and asked: "Why should I listen to you?"

    Those words stumped Harry. He realized that Raven was giving him a chance, so he frantically searched for a decent reason in his head. Unfortunately he couldn''t find any.

    "Those words that you uttered?|" Raven trailed off as he looked directly at Harry''s eyes. "That''s not the first time you heard those words right?"

    "Those words weren''t uttered by you before, that''s the only difference." Raven gave him a cold look and asked: "Isn''t it funny how fate works?"

    "What''s more funny to me is that, if I was weaker than you and I said the same words¡­" Ravenughed coldly and continued: "Would you stop?"

    Harry had no words to say. No matter how hard he wanted to deny his words, he couldn''t find the courage to do so since hepletely understood that what Raven said was right.

    He had always believed in his strength. But now, it seems that he was not an Ape but a frog at the bottom of a deep well. Hepletely overestimated himself and now he''s paying for his blunder.

    "I could more or less guess what you were trying to do by catching the tailed beast oracles." Raven then scoffed and said: "Beast Emperor? Dream on, dude. As if you''re going to make it."

    "Believe it or not, you will never be the Beast Emperor. Not you, nor anyone in this world will be one." Raven mocked.

    "And?" Harry raised his voice and retaliated. "You will seriously try to ughter me and my tribe? Just because I happened to hurt your friends!? Isn''t that unreasonable?"

    Harry was grasping thest straws of hope as he said this, but Raven''s response left him hopeless.

    "What made you think I was doing this for them?" Raven tilted his head and looked genuinely confused. "And don''t misunderstand me Monkey. I won''t try. I will make sure that your tribe will cease to exist by the end of this day."

    Harry''s heart sank in the depths of despair, so does the hearts of his subordinates. He could find words to say, other than: "Why?"

    Raven didn''t answer him at first. Everyone just felt his overwhelming power oozing out of his body and materializing behind him. A massive ck hammer appeared on Raven''s hands and a majestic silver armor covered his body. A bright light suddenly glowed and before they knew it, a titanic sized hand covered with a brilliant golden hue materialized behind Raven

    "Why, you ask?" Raven chuckled and continued: "Well, first you irritated me. Second, I''m feeling rather bored and in the mood for destruction. Third, well I just feel like doing so. But those aren''t the real reason."

    Raven lifted his hammer and said: "I did all of this, because you presented yourselves as a threat to Humans."

 Chapter 328 - Judgement

    ---

    Raven hovered in the air, d with his majestic silver armor and his Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer raised.

    Above him was titanic sized hand covered with a sparkling golden hue. The Golden Hand radiated a kind of power that none of the primates had ever felt before.

    It was awe-inspiring, strong and impossibly huge.

    None of the primates had any doubts that if this hand fell down, it will create so much devastation and will wipe out a good chunk of thend.

    To them, Raven looked nothing like a human right now.

    In their eyes, he was a god.

    A death god who''s peace was disturbed and is handing down judgement on behalf of the heavens.

    "Stop speaking nonsense!!"

    Harry roared out in anger and fear. He was impressed by himself since he was still able to speak even after being exposed to this godly power. But regardless of what he felt, he still needed to try his best to stop Raven, or else his tribe cease to exist.

    "We presented ourselves as threat to humans?" Harry spoke in a distressed tone, "We did no such thing! Everything I did, I did it to unify our race! I never had any thoughts of moving against humans from the very beginning!"

    "Even though our founders had been long dead, I still respected their upbringing. I knew that they wouldn''t want us to fight with humans since they were raised by one and I have simr thoughts! It was you who came up with all of this. You just wanted to kill for your own entertainment!"

    Harry''s reasoning and usations madeplete sense to the primates who were listening to him. So much so that even Charles himself, was nearly convinced. Unfortunately, Charles knew Harry''s character too well and he couldn''t help but to shake his head in pity because his old fried just cemented their fates from the moment he said all that.

    "Aww." Raven mocked. "Look at you, using the pity card all of a sudden. Oh, whatever shall I do?"

    Raven''s voice was overflowing with sarcasm as he looked at Harry. He chuckled out of nowhere and said:

    "Let me ask you this, Monkey." Raven went back to his casual way talking, "Let''s say, that everything you said was true¡­what about it?"

    Raven raised his brow and waited for Harry''s response. Thetter gawked upon hearing his words and becamepletely stumped. He tried opening his mouth to retort but no words wille out. Raven didn''t make this situation any better with his bored look.

    Charles who was watching from below shook his head and sighed. He thought to himself ''They''re done for.''

    "Did you honestly think that I, a human, would conform to the morals of you monkeys?" Raven asked in a mocking tone. "Don''t make meugh."

    "Do you know what we, humans call the area that you and your people live in?" Raven asked, he paused for a moment and after seeing that Harry was speechless, he decided to continue.

    "We call this the Red Zone." Raven uttered casually. "To us, the entirety of the Red Zone could be summarized by one word: Danger."

    "The Red Zone is oozing with numerous - no, make that countless. Countless of dangerous Demonic Beasts. Our home will be attacked hundreds of thousands of Demonic Beasts at least once a year. Every time that happens, many of my kind will die in your hands. Many humans died because you beasts seek to destroy us, the number is so great that if we pile the corpses together, we will be surrounded with mountains of corpses."

    "Do you see where I''m going here?" Raven asked, but Harry was still speechless. "If you still can''t, then let me enlighten you."

    "Your race and mine. We are enemies."

    Raven said this words casually, yet the revtion still stumped many of them. For some reason, majority of them wanted to retort his words yet simr to Harry, they had no words. What Raven said next, solidified this statement even further.

    "While it''s true that your founders were raised by a human, they are the only one''s that I could consider as allies." Raven stated, "Their father must''ve adopted them from their infancy and taught them not to hurt humans, which is why they didn''t and embraced our culture as well. I would even believe you if you told me that your founders once thought that they were humans too. But that''s that."

    "Believe me when I say this. If your founders were never raised by a human, they would''ve probably killed more humans than any of you could ever imagine."

    Everyone who was listening to him felt shivers down their spine. But Raven wasn''t still done.

    "Let me say this once again. I would consider your founders as genuine allies. But that doesn''t apply to you all." Raven paused and looked directly at Harry''s eyes, his next words shook everyone to their core.

    "Your founders were raised by humans, but the rest of you aren''t. All of you respected them but none of you were rted to them by blood since they didn''t have any descendants, remember?"

    "Do you now realize how stupid your usations were?" Raven raised his brow and asked.

    Raven''s question almost made Harry puke blood from anger and despair. There''s nothing that he could say to retort now since Raven made it clear. In his eyes, him and his tribe were enemies that should be destroyed. Every word he said was true and that what made it even more painful.

    He lowered his hammer but the golden hand didn''t dissipate.

    "Do you know why I think that your dream of bing the next Beast Emperor is hrious?" Raven asked with a thick mocking in his voice. Harry red at him but Raven''s next words shook his soul.

    "It''s because it''s impossible to happen." Raven paused and he looked directly at Harry''s eyes.

    "Oh, don''t look at me like that. It''s not because I will eradicate you. If I really wanted to stop the next Beast Emperor from being born, then that would require me topletely cleanse this world of your race. That''s too much work and I have lots of stuff to attend to but thankfully I didn''t have to do it."

    "Why, you ask? Simple." Raven''s next words made their hearts sink to their stomachs. "It is because this world doesn''t permit the existence of a Beast Emperor."

    Before they could even ask him to rify his words, he already began exining.

    "The Beast Emperor is too powerful for this world to handle, even just one movement from it will cause the very fabrics of this world to be ruined. So you tell me, would this world permit that kind of existence then?"

    None spoke, everyone could tell that Raven wasn''t lying to them.

    "Forget about metamorphosing into a Beast Emperor, none of the Centennial Tailed Oracles will live past seven tails." Raven continued his statement. "From the moment that they approach that stage, this world would send down it''s judgement in the form of three sets of clouds, each cloud will shoot three different kinds of lightning, each lightning will strike three times before dissipating."

    "We call this, a Heavenly Tribtion."

    Heavenly Tribtion, another word that is not foreign to the primates. They knew the term since it was included in the inherited memories. It is said that a Heavenly Tribtion will try to strike down the Beast Emperor before its birth, but they didn''t know that this world would send it that early.

    "I could more or less tell what your personality, even in the brief interaction we had." Raven told Harry, "Once you inject this tailed oracle bloodline, you will immediately feel the signs of this world rejecting you."

    "Knowing that, and knowing you. I''m sure that you will do everything in your power to achieve your goals." Raven''s face then turn cold all of a sudden as he raised his hammer once more and continued speaking: "Sooner orter, you will search for my home and invade it to seek answers on how you could evade the tribtion. Of course, there''s a chance that you won''t do such thing. But I''ve never been a fan of taking chances."

    "I don''t know how many of my kind will fall from your hands, and frankly I''m not too inclined to know."

    The Golden Hand above Raven started to radiate with a fearsome might as if it was responding to Raven''s feelings.

    "So before any of that happens, I might as well pull the problems out from it''s roots. You and your people are a threat to safety my home. That''s enough for me to eradicate you. " Raven''s godly aura red with outmost ferocity.

    His strength was like a mighty flood that suffocated everyone who felt it. He was too much for any of them to handle, and they knew that with this kind of strength, numbers are useless.

    "Your time is up, Monkey. Same goes for your tribe as well.. Be kind on your next life, should you ever have one."

 Chapter 329 - Leaving

    ---

    The earth shook. The winds howled and every primate felt like the sky was caving in.

    Everyone was then blinded by a brilliant sh of gold. All they heard was an enormous explosion and the severe trembling of the ground beneath them. Everyone tried to hold onto something to keep themselves stable. Ronald grabbed his brothers and anchored his foot firmly onto the ground beneath him, Charles merely squinted while looking up since he felt that he shouldn''t miss this.

    Charles saw the enormous golden hand took flight. It took of with the force that almost ripped the sky and the clouds apart. Harry and his subordinates were then grabbed by a mysterious force and were ced on the palms. He then saw Raven lightly swung his hammer and sent the golden hand towards the general direction of the enemy tribe.

    It only took a minute before the explosion happened. Charles didn''t need to see it personally in order to confirm it. He could already tell what happened when he felt the ground beneath him quaking.

    The Frenzied Silverback Tribe is done for. Whether someone survived or not, only fate can tell. And even if they did survive that attack, Charles had no doubts that they would never think about getting revenge. He wouldn''t me them from doing so since he shared the same sentiments.

    ''Your tribe did nothing wrong so don''t be afraid.'' Raven''s voice echoed on his ears, making Charles somewhat freeze on where he stood. He didn''t know how he was doing this but he could only remain silent and listen to what he has to say.

    ''I''ll advise you to keep your kin from exiting the premises of your tribe. What I did definitely agitated the sleeping monsters nearby, I have no doubts that they will start a rampage and eat everything they see. If you want to keep your kin alive, it would best for you to listen to me.''

    ''I ced an enchantment around your tribe, isting you from the senses of those monsters. It will remain like that for 14 days and nights. After that period, it will disappear for good and you all will be on your own. This is my thanks for your hospitality towards me.''

    ''Do remember my words however.'' Raven''s voice sounded iparably serious when he said this. ''Make one wrong move and your tribe will end up like the one just now. I hope you will do the right thing.''

    ''That''s all I have to say. Farewell for now, and if fate demands it. We shall see each other again.''

    After saying his piece, Charles saw Raven disappeared from where he was like a ghost. He tried probing his surroundings but he couldn''t even pick up anything. It was as if Raven dissipated from the face of the earth. All Charles could do was sigh and etch the warning that Raven left behind.

    Unbeknownst to him, Raven wasn''t only talking to him during that moment. He talked with Ronald and Dennis too.

    Ronald heard his voice just as soon as the winds stopped their onught.

    ''What I told to the Monkey was true.'' Ronald shook when he heard Raven''s voice inside his head. ''If you don''t want to die, then don''t even think about condensing your sixth tail. The same goes for your brothers.''

    The four tailed ape felt his fur stood on its tips as he listened to his words. He didn''t speak and waited for Raven to continue.

    "You can condense your fifth tail. In fact, I advise it since that will give you ample time to live longer and remain with your brothers. It will also give a boost in strength that you may use to keep your brothers safe. But that''s your absolute limit, go past that and this world will start hating you and your brothers for that matter. I am telling you this because you had treated me with great hospitality throughout my stay. And I admire your love for your brothers.''

    ''Farewell for now. We will see each other again, should fate demands it.''

    It was then that Ronald felt Raven disappear. While he was listening to Raven''s words, so did Dennis as well.

    ''Let me guess.'' Raven''s voice echoed on the young heir''s ears, making him shiver. ''You''re going to ask me if what I did was right or necessary, no?''

    Dennis bit his lips. Raven was right on point. The young monkey truly wanted to ask him that but he couldn''t bring himself to do so. Not after everything that happened. Dennis still felt responsible for everything that urred.

    ''I''m sorry to inform you this, but I also couldn''t tell.'' Raven''s voice sounded firm here, specially when he said his next words. ''I did all of that to ensure the safety of my home and loved ones.''

    ''While it is admirable that you sought for everyone to love and understand each other, do remember that not everyone has the same idea as you are, not everyone is as determined as you are andstly, you are you, they are themselves. You might wear the same clothes and skin, but you and them will never be the same. It''d be creepy if that''s the case.''

    Each words of Raven struck the deepest recesses of Dennis'' heart. He couldn''t bring himself to retort any of it.

    ''Achieving peace without strength is but wishful thinking, young heir. Just because you want everyone to get along well and understand each other, doesn''t mean that the world will move ording to your will. If you want your dreams to turn into reality, then don''t just wish for it, grab it using your own hands and own it.''

    ''But be warned, young heir. Everything won''t fall in their ces ording to your wishes. I hope that you will remain true to who you are and remember all these lessons.''

    ''Farewell for now. I hope that you''ll grow up into an amazing Tribe Leader when we meet again in the future.''

    ***

    Raven did not lie. What he did truly woke up the slumbering monsters nearby.

    His attack caused the Frenzied Silverback Tribe to be annihted, leaving nothing but an wide gaping hole. The aftershocks didn''t only cause the earthquakes. The residual force andws that was contained by his attack also dispersed everywhere and agitated the slumbering beasts.

    South of the tribe, about ten kilometers away. There is a massive three headed hound wrecking havoc and devastation on its surroundings. One head breathed fire, the other poison and thest one frost. Every beast that were around it ran for their lives, some managed to escape while the rest were unfortunate.

    East of the tribe, about seven kilometers away. There is a humongous mammoth with razor sharp tusks and ck stripes all over its body. Even the slightest movement of this monstrosity caused the earth tremble. It went on a rampage, mming its long nose like an iron il at everything that it saw. Trees fell down, beasts were reduced into piles of goo and its roars were heard throughout the wilderness.

    North of the tribe, about twelves kilometers away. There is swamp which currently filled with activity. If one was nearby, they would see that the swamp was gradually turning red. Beneath the swamp is a massive alligator going on a rampage all of sudden. Its speed was unmatched in the swamp, its razor sharp teeth shredded everything that it passes through, dyeing the swamp with blood on the process.

    And at the west, about fifteen kilometers away. There is a small wasp that is perched up on a rotting tree. It would be best not to underestimate the size of this wasp since even the smallest movement of its wings will cause everything around 100 meter radius to be filled with a deadly mist of poison. Due to the aftermath of Raven''s attack, it''s slumber was interrupted. Thus, it seeks to destroy the one who''s responsible for waking it up. It''s wings repeatedly fluttered, sending waves of green mists that scattered kilometers away from it''s location. Anything that caught even the faintest whiff of this poison will immediately rot away and die a painful death.

    There are still more beasts that were disturbed by themotion as well. Simrly, they too were starting a rampage but they will either get a kill or get killed. There was a bloodbath in the wilderness, thankfully they are nowhere near the tribe.

    Every beasts were deadly on their own but these four are the ones that Raven was referred to as slumbering monsters. The Gentle Primates Tribe will definitely be destroyed once any of these monsters found where they live. Thankfully, Raven isted the location of the tribe with the help of a Space Enchantment.

    Even if one of those monstrosities managed to get near the tribe, their senses will be fooled and they absolutely won''t notice that the tribe was there. The enchantment willst until the monstrosities end their rampage and go back to sleep. Now, if Charles followed Raven''s advice, he won''t lose anyone from his tribe. But that''s up to him.

    Meanwhile, the one who caused all of this chaos was sitting peacefully inside a room while munching on some snacks.

 Chapter 330 - Sea Depths

    ---

    Six months after Raven left the Gentle Primates Tribe.

    Tenrou''s Spatial Abode flew within the fabrics of space,pletely isted from the senses of dangerous beasts that were surrounding it. Raven remained inside, constantly sharpening his skills and making steady progress on raising his strength to greater heights in order to ensure his safety in these dangerous area.

    Inside one of the rooms, Raven could be seen fluttering in and out of existence like a ghost. His movements were precise and calcted, free of any excess movements which allowed him to conserve more energy tost longer.

    He was being assaulted by hundreds of arrows, each arrow heads a dipped in paralyzing poison which could render him immobile if he got grazed by one. Nevertheless, the arrows failed to touch even the hem of his clothes. In fact, Raven was dodging these fast moving projectiles while he was blindfolded and he still looked rxed.

    Raven had been sharpening his enhanced awareness for a good amount of time and his gains were considerable. By default, he could sense everything within 500 meters around him with profound rity. If he uses it alongside his ocr technique, he could stretch it out up to a kilometer in radius which definitely helped him out a lot. He could also maintain this state for about 30 minutes before starts feeling dizzy and his vision bes blurry. His absolute limit is 50 minutes for now, but he''s been working hard on his stamina as well.

    Raven''s also made progress on developing his Time Skin. He had adjusted to the 6th level of Stagnation Zone. This caused him to remain unperturbed by the slight dy in time, enabling him to move unhindered. He only had to reach the 10th level and his body would finally condense a Time Skin.

    He had also started learning another skill from the Spatial Branch. The skill is called Spatial Folding.

    Just like the name implies, it requires one to fold space. While this might sound extremely simple, it is very difficult to achieve.

    Spatial Folding is the basis for many kind of Space rted techniques. Teleportation, substitution, istion, and etc. The concept of Spatial Folding is simple.

    Space could be seen as a piece of Paper, then the distance from Point A to Point B is the opposite ends of the paper. Folding the Paper would cause Point A to ovep with Point B, effectively shrinking or even ignoring the distance that needs to be taken normally. That''s Spatial Folding in a nutshell.

    Teleportation could be seen as folding the paper and poking a hole on it. Substitution is taking a piece of paper on both ends and switching it''s positions. Istion is making the gap between Point A and Point B invisible from the naked eye.

    All of these are had simple concepts behind but actually doing it is a different matter.

    Raven''s at the step where he could somehow influence space and distort it a bit, but even this required his absolute concentration and focus, he can''t even use it in battle yet. But considering that fact that he arrived at this stage even without the Law Baptism of Space, is alreadymendable on it''s own right.

    ***

    "We''re here."

    Raven muttered as he stared at the monitoring room of the Spatial Abode. He sighed and ced on a solemn expression.

    The monitoring room had a huge screen made out of light that showed Raven his surroundings even without going outside.

    The Spatial Abode is currently suspended on top of a vast sea that spans as far as the eyes could see. The ocean bustled with activity. Raven saw some regr marine animals and few oceanic beasts jumping out of the surface of the water. The water seems calm for the most part but Raven knew too well that he shouldn''t be fooled by what''s happening on the surface.

    He ced his hands on the controls and drove the Spatial Abode to dive onto the depths of the sea. His goal is not to sail the expanse of this sea, his destination is its depths.

    The Spatial Abode dove fast. Thankfully, Raven had been preserving sr energy for it since he knew that this trip will eventually happen. In a few moments, he already reached a hundred meter depth.

    This area is still filled with regr marine lifeforms with a few weaker oceanic demonic beasts.

    At 500 meter depths, light started diminishing. Raven could still see well in this dim environment with his acute senses and even if he couldn''t, the spatial abode showed him everything in a detailed perspective. Regr marine animals became fewer while the demonic beasts rose up in numbers.

    The scan of the Spatial Abode stretches out to a 10 kilometer radius and from the life signals it picked up, Raven noticed that in every ten living things the scanner picked up, three of them would be marine animals while the rest are demonic beasts.

    At 1000 meter depths, his surroundings became even darker. The atmosphere became very eerie, Raven could feel that he was being watched by something but he knew that he''s just imagining things. The scanner hasn''t picked any marine lifeforms here, only demonic beasts. That being said, even their numbers are bing fewer.

    1500 meters depth, and Raven started tensing up. Even if he was confident that the Spatial Abode won''t cave in, he still felt apprehension. He didn''t even know if he could reach this depth without the help of the Spatial Abode. The water pressure in at this depth is enough to crush a person''s body. The life signals around him was too little in numbers, but each existence that could stay at this depth and remain alive, is something that Raven couldn''t mess with just yet.

    2000 meters depth, and Raven started hearing some hair-raising sounds around him. Deep bass sounds which carried an ominous intent, echoed everywhere. He started sweating coldly for some reason. How could he not be when he knew that, should he be unlucky here there would be no way for him to get back up?

    At 2500 meters depths, the sea waspletely dark. It was difficult for him to see anything at all, he could only rely at the vision feed of the Spatial Abode to see things clearly. Things that exists here could be counted on one hand, but all of them are extremely frightening at their own right. Just a slight movement from these beasts is enough to cause massive waves to form and the sea to be extremely chaotic. Still, Raven continued driving the Spatial Abode even deeper.

    And finally, at 5000 meters depth. Raven arrived at the sea floor.

    The life signs scanner of the Spatial Abode shrank into a mere five kilometer radius. And though it is isted by space, its movements are being hindered by the strong turbulence. Raven drove the abode forward and started his search. If his memories serves him right, then his destination is somewhere around here.

    Raven didn''t speak a single word, his focus was in front of him as he drove the Spatial Abode forward. He could not afford to get reckless here or else it would be the end for him. He also paid close attention to the energy consumption of the Spatial Abode. The reserves are still rtively full but the abode is consuming energy at higher rate herepared at the surface. He had to manage this resource well or else he will be stranded at this bottom of this ocean without a way out.

    His searchsted for hours and without any luck. Raven was starting to think that something might''ve changed due to a butterfly effect and caused the castle to disappear here. But at the same time, something happened.

    The sea floor shook and the turbulence became erratic. The monitoring room was suddenly filled with red lights and sounds of rm.

    Raven looked at the life signs scanner and saw massive reading not too far away from him.

    Unexpectedly, instead of driving the Spatial Abode away. Raven drove it towards the source of that life signal. After moving for a bit, he finally saw what he was looking for.

    In front of the spatial abode, was a gargantuan oceanic demon which radiated with a malevolent aura. It was a massive squid like creature that has body filled with rough scales. Its head has two pairs of fins, which is strange for a squid but its there for some reason. In fact, it appeared more like horns of a demon instead of fins. There is also a strange shell that is covering it''s body, it also has some sort of a beard, each strand of its beard is as thin as the tentacles of a jellyfish.

    It has several sets of teeth, long and massive tentacles with sharp and deadly tips and for some reason, it''s body was wrapped in chains.

    The giant squid monstrosity appeared to beying down, the chain wrapping it''s body all congregated into a single ce. And on its back, Raven finally saw what he was looking for.

    "There it is¡­" Raven muttered, "The Sunken Ivory Castle of South."

 Chapter 331 - Sunken Ivory Castle

    ---

    If this was the first time that Raven went here, he might''ve beenpletely surprised.

    That being said, even if this wasn''t his first time seeing such spectacle, it still didn''t spare him from the bewilderment.

    The Sunken Ivory Castle, is chained at the body of a gargantuan Tier 7 deep see overlord, a Kraken.

    The Kraken didn''t move too much, yet even the slightest action from it caused the sea floor to shake and the sea water to boil.

    Despite the castle being chained onto it''s body, make no mistake. This Kraken can move. The castle might hinder some of it''s movements but it''s not enough topletely shackle it down.

    Raven saw this monster moved once. All it did, was to swim a couple meters forward but the reaction from every marine lifeforms and demonic beasts were thunderous. Everything in this sea is afraid of it. In the depths of this sea, the Kraken is the ultimate predator without a doubt.

    *Hiss!*

    His neck snapped back to look behind him. There he saw Venus ring at the light screen with her fangs out and her body trembling. Some nerves on her head became visible and she was releasing a fearsome aura in poor attempts to suppress the deep seated fear she felt.

    Raven can''t feel it because he''s not a beast. While he might feel threatened, this was due to his rich battle experience. On the other hand, what Venus felt was greater than that. She felt like just a gaze from this monstrosity is enough to kill her.

    "Oh, sorry about that." Raven chuckled and went closer to her.

    He then picked her up and gently caressed her body, he then whispered: "It''s fine. We''re not going to fight it. Not now, at least. So long as we stay inside this ce, it shouldn''t be able to see us."

    Venus rxed through Raven''sforting. She snuggled her head on his face but she was still feeling some apprehension towards the Kraken.

    "Sleep for now, our target isn''t that thing but what''s behind it. Worsees to worst, I''ll just hide us here." Raven told her and Venus agreed, she transformed into a scarf and hid her head inside his shirt to sleep.

    Raven then sighed and went back into the controls. He then slowly moved the Spatial Abode forward, making sure that he''s driving it along the turbulence to create as little disturbance as possible.

    While he said that the Kraken cannot see the Spatial Abode, it still won''t hurt to be careful. A Kraken is something that''spletely out of Raven''s capabilities. Not to mention that he''s under the depths, he was sure that he won''t even be able toy finger on this beast.

    The Kraken failed to sense any disturbance due to what Raven did, it remained resting on the sea floor while it''s tentacles swayed ever so slightly. Raven''s gaze was fixated on the beast and the castle, he was searching for the entrance.

    Even at the depths of the sea where even light cannot prate, the castle still shone with luminescence. It glowed with a softest pulse of white light. The castle looked like it was made out of nothing but the purest and the most refined ivory.

    The Sunken Ivory Castle took on a rectangr shape with several fortresses surrounding it. The man-sized chain locks became more visible and moved forward, the chains were also seeminglying out of the kraken''s body, but Raven knew that a Kraken is not born chained so there''s only one exnation for this. As Raven got closer, a nigh-invisible dome that covered the entire castle was seen by his ocr technique. The entrance of the castle is facing the back of Kraken, where it''s tentacles were.

    Couple of meters away from the dome, Raven controlled the Spatial Abode even slower. He would move it one meter closer at a time with differentiating intervals. He was mostly watching out for the turbulence and moving the spatial abode ording to the flow to mask it''s movements from the Kraken.

    Raven was in no rush. He knows that rushing in blindly will cause his death. He wasn''t impatient since he had confidence that once he entered the castle, he would be able to capture the ingredient he needed without fail. The real trouble is getting close to the castle without the Kraken noticing.

    *Woosh!*

    rm bells instantly sounded on Ravens mind. Without a second thought, he raised the stealth function of the Spatial Abode to the highest level and stopped moving it. Cold sweat drenched his back as he stared fixatedly on the light screen and watched over the Kraken.

    It turned out that following his instincts was the best decision he could even make in this situation.

    If he moved the Spatial Abode even an inch forward from where it currently was, it would definitely be struck by a stray tentacle of the Kraken.

    While the Spatial Abode is isted behind space, it doesn''t mean that it doesn''t exist or incorporeal. It is simply hidden from in sight, even those who couldn''t see it could still interact with it. If that stray tentacle made contact with the Spatial Abode, it wouldn''t just cause a major damage to it but the Kraken will also be aware of it''s existence. Raven would then be ced in a major crisis that might also kill him in the process.

    The Spatial Abode wentpletely still ording to Raven''s will. He didn''t even dare to touch any of the controls. Instead he observed the behavior of the Kraken''s tentacles, he guessed that the Kraken might''ve sensed something wrong which coincidentally made it on-guard. He allowed it''s vignce to dim down before even considering to drive the Spatial Abode forward.

    Once he saw that the Kraken had dropped it''s vignce. Raven went back into driving the Spatial Abode forward in the same manner as before.

    Even when he was mere inches away from the dome that covered the pce, Raven didn''t drop his guard nor rushed in, he made sure that the Kraken waspletely oblivious about his intrusion first before he drove the Spatial Abode forward and prated the bubble.

    The Spatial Abode managed to get in without any hitches. Raven only rxed after noticing that the Kraken was still oblivious. He then wiped out the sweat that was umting on his face, he also became aware that his back was drenched in cold sweat which caused him to smile wryly.

    He sighed in relief and quietly observed his new surroundings. He decided to change his clothes before he got off from the Spatial Abode. He decided leave Venus inside the Spatial Abode as he stored it inside his core. The Spatial Abode could shrink it''s size so he had no problems storing it.

    Raven then took a sharp inhale and ced on a determined expression. He then gazed at his surroundings and couldn''t help but feel admiration to those who built this castle.

    Not mentioning the fact that the whole castle is made out of the Ivory Tusk of a Heavenly Elephants that could only be found on the Divine Realm, it''s even more impressive that they were able to mold this item and use it as a foundation for this Ivory Castle.

    Things that could be found in the Divine Realm are mostly from dazzling origins, take the Heavenly Elephant for example. A colossal beast that could threaten a whole just by merely existing, taking out it''s Ivory Tusk is not a simple matter. Due to its toughness, the Ivory Tusk of Heavenly Elephant is a difficult item to handle, but now he stood in front of castle that isposed almost entirely of the said tusk.

    Even without this protective dome around it, this depth is not enough to even graze the surface of this castle. What''s even more impressive is that, it is strapped on a body of a Kraken.

    Raven doesn''t have aplete information about the origins of this castle. He didn''t know who built it, nor the reason why it is strapped on the back of a Kraken.

    What he knew is that, this castle had been here for a very long time. It might''ve been here even before the creation of the kingdom. The other thing that he know is that, he''s not alone in here.

    After remunerating for a while, Raven decided to step closer to the gates of the castle.

    He then found himself looking up at the tall doors that''s preventing him from entering the castle. The arching doors were massive, the size gives one an impression that this door is not something that is used by humans.

    There are two iron hoops at the door, that being said those too were also big and there''s no way that Raven could pull them effectively from where he was. Thankfully he didn''t have to do so.

    On the corner of therge doors, is a more reasonable sized door that he could open. Raven of course nned on using those doors to enter the castle.

    cing his hand on the two iron hoops on the smaller door, he started pulling them with all his might. The doors creaked from movement.. It took Raven a considerable amount of effort to fully open the doors, only then he came in andvished at the exotic sights inside the castle.

 Chapter 332 - Naga

    ---

    The heavy doors mmed close as soon as Raven stepped foot inside the Sunken Ivory Castle.

    He then saw a wide clearing and a stone path leading straight towards the main entrance to the Castle Interior. All the vegetation that he saw were already dried or rotting, the trees looked like they will crumble with a single touch. The air carried a foul smell of corpses and a slight hint of rust.

    Raven the felt a strange energy fluctuation arriving towards him, he immediately summoned the Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer and didn''t move a single inch from where he stood.

    He allowed the foreign energy fluctuation to go past him since there''s no way that he could''ve avoided it in the first ce. After he felt the energy fluctuation go past his body, he then felt several restrictions being ced on him. He didn''t fight the sensation and allowed it to happen.

    The said restrictions didn''t affect his movement nor his sanity, the restriction targeted his cultivation base and all manner of storage capabilities he has.

    Sealing his cultivation base took many things away from Raven''s arsenal. Although he thought he would somehow evade the restriction due to him following a different path, it would seem that he was wrong. His Chaos Force ispletely sealed, he couldn''t summon even a drop of it.

    Without his Chaos Force, he couldn''t activate his Crystal Sky Eye, which means that his surveince methods took a great hit. And since his nimbleness came from his ability to control his Chaos Force ording to how he likes, sealing it means that his agility dropped too. To top this all off, even his Destruction Laws are sealed.

    With his storage capabilities sealed, this means that all of his spatial rings are sealed. He can''t even take out the Spatial Abode that he ced on his core. From this point onward, he had to rely on his physical strength and hisbat experiences to surmount the challenges on this ce.

    This is a rule on this castle, thankfully Raven took out his hammer before the energy swept past him or else he would''ve had to fight bare handed as well.

    After all of that, he then resumed walking towards the main hub of the castle in order to search for the ingredient that he needed here.

    As he followed the stone path, he came across a water fountain who''s water hadpletely gone still and bad, the fountain itself is covered dark colored moss that crept up to the sides. There is also a foul smelling from it. Raven could tell that something died in that fountain, but he''s not inclined to investigate.

    He continued walking forward and allowed the eerie atmosphere in the field to surround him. He eventually arrived closer to the main entrance to the castle, all he had to do was to push the doors open and he would''ve gotten in. However, instead of doing that, Raven gripped hammer tightly and immediately went alert.

    *Woosh!*

    A shadow arrived in front of him from above. Raven took one step back and perfectly dodged two spears that was aimed at his chest. He then instinctively jumped up and dodged a mighty sweep of the assant''s tail. As soon as regained his footing, he leaned his upper body backwards to narrowly dodge the spears while at the same time, swinging his hammer up and hitting the temples of his assant.

    The enemy''s body faltered from Raven''s attack, thetter then took advantage of this and kicked its chest to send if flying towards the nearest pir.

    As soon as Raven regained his bnce, he then saw the appearance of his assant.

    It was a hybrid creature with an upper body of human and a lower body of a serpent. It has three sets of wine colored eyes with amphibian pupils, messy hair, two sets of arms that held two spears and it has countless of scars all over his body. Its serpentine body is brown in color and had several patches of white rings all over.

    "Just like I thought." Raven muttered, "Nagas are still here. This will be troublesome."

    A solemn expression appeared on Raven''s face as he thought about this.

    This isn''t the first time that he had faced a Naga. He often fought them during his previous life, and they aren''t as troublesome on the premise that he has all ess to his arsenal. In this ce where his cultivation base is sealed however, that''s another matter.

    Nagas are swift and nimble creatures. Most of them are born with a terrifying battle instincts, those that honed those instincts are even more troublesome to deal with, just like the one he''s facing right now. Although they are smallerpared to some Demonic Beasts, the toughness of their body is not joke either.

    Due to them having lower bodies of a serpent, they are extremely flexible. They could attack in weird angles and catch their opponents off-guard. Majority of them could wield weapons, they could also spit out some gastric acids that could melt steel in a blink of an eye.

    In his previous life, he found no living beings on this ce. When he entered the castle back then, he remembered seeing a skeletal remains of a Naga right by the doors. And since he didn''t see the said remains during this time, he knew that it might still be alive and is nearby. Lo and behold, it really was.

    The Naga immediately resumed its assault as it Raven''s attack earlier wasn''t even enough to faze it. It moved like a phantom and sent several attacks towards Raven that seemingly turned into a blur due to how fast they were.

    Raven calmly analyzed the attack patterns and urately dodged everything in quick session Nevertheless, the Naga didn''t stop attacking and it was even using its tail in attempts to make Raven lose his footing. All of this prevented any kind of counter-attack for Raven but he didn''t lose patience, he was in no real threat as long as this Naga can''t hit him.

    And just like what he thought, the Naga eventually gave up and stopped its barrage of stabs and sweeps. Raven then saw its throat moving so he immediately seized this chance tounch a counter-attack.

    Raven''s hammer smacked the chin of the Naga just as soon as it was about to vomit some gastric acids at him.

    The impactunched the Nage up in the air, its mouth bled and some of its teeth flew out, it was even forced to swallow down the gastric acids it was about to vomit earlier. Of course, Raven wouldn''t miss this chance tounch some follow-up attacks.

    It was rather unfortunate that he couldn''t use the second form of the hammer right now, else he might''ve already reduced this Naga into a bloody pulp. Nevertheless, even the base form is enough for him to end this battle now.

    He took one mighty step forward and leaned his body backwards. cing both of his arms at the handle of his hammer, he waited until the Naga came down.

    Just before it hit the ground, heunched a massive sweep upwards and sent it flying upwards once again. The force behind his attack this time was greaterpared tost time so the damage he dealt was greater and the height of the Naga''s flight was higher as well. The reason why Raven sent the Naga flying up is because he wanted to get rid of itsnd mobility. Their nimbleness and flexibility are the aspects that makes Nagas difficult to deal with, taking those away is the wise move here.

    Several bones inside the Naga''s body shattered due to the sheer force behind Raven''s attack. This was good since this damage will greatly hinder its movements in the event that it regain is mobility. Needless to say, Raven wouldn''t just give that back for free.

    Raven charged up for another strike once again, the Naga had regained some mental rity at this point and was preparing to defend Raven''s follow up attack. It blocked using the spears as it fell down, Raven was of course aware that the Naga will try to defend, unfortunately he wasn''t nning to swing his hammer anyway.

    As soon as the Naga fell at the right altitude, it braced itself for the impact but it didn''t happen. Instead, Raven grabbed the Naga by the head and smashed its face on the ground three times.

    With a mighty stomp on the back of its head, he forced the Naga''s head to embed deep on the stone ground. He then lifted his hammer and smashed the lower back of the Naga.

    The Naga screeched despite being embedded on the ground. What Raven didpletely shattered its spine. Now even it wanted to, it wouldn''t even be able to stand back up. Blood dripped on the corners of its mouth and it was rapidly losing consciousness.

    Suddenly, it found itself being grabbed by the tail. Raven threw the Naga towards the door of the castle, causing it to be sted open. As he followed it and entered the castle, Raven suddenly found out that there is at least ten Nagas staring at his direction.

    "Haha.." Raven smiled wryly and chuckled, "I''m in danger."

 Chapter 333 - Statue

    ---

    The Nagas issued a piercing shriek as they saw him. Raven''s eyes narrowed dangerously but he didn''t retreat, instead he did the opposite of that.

    *Boom!*

    Raven sent one of the Nagas back with a mighty swing of his hammer, his target shot back at a fearsome speed and the momentum caused it to be deeply embedded on the nearby wall.

    The rest of the Nagas screeched in rage and came slithered towards him with malicious intent in their eyes. Raven''s face became incredibly serious as he raised his alertness to the maximum.

    Swords, hatchets, sickles and spears came from all direction, giving Raven no room to evade. He took a couple of steps back and controlled his physical strength and focused them on his hammer. With a wide and strong swing, a loud pping sound urred and a strong projectile was sent by him.

    Raven''s strike caused the air to bepressed, turning it simr to a cannonball. It hit one of the Nagas and caused its guard to broken and its arms to tremble, the remaining air pressure was dispersed to those nearby and caused them to falter slightly.

    That attack gave Raven some room to maneuver. He then turned into a blur and appeared right next to another target. With an overbearing might, he swung his hammer, causing another Naga to shoot backwards. His monstrous strength caused its bones to shatter and it''s arms to be useless.

    rm bells rang on Raven''s ears, he followed his instincts and hopped back, just in time for a gastric acid projectile to hit the ground where he stood before. He then leaned backwards and dodged two phantom spears that was targeting his head. He shifted his weight and supported his body using his arms, he then issued a strong kick and sent another one flying.

    He somersaulted back and observed the iing enemies. His brain worked fast and urately formed a n on how he could make this battle easier for him. An idea shed into his mind, however he needed the proper opportunity to act on it. But of course, he didn''t get much time to think since the Nagas were charging towards him once more.

    They were outside of the main castle at this point, which is more advantageous for him since he has a wider space to move around. So far, he had been able to injure three out of the ten Nagas who''sing after him but even if that''s the case, it''s still a little early to count them out of the battle. These creatures are tenacious, they won''t go down that easily.

    *Shew!*

    "!!"

    Raven immediately ducked close to the ground, narrowly dodging an arrow from one of the Nagas. Raven clicked his tongue in disappointment since he failed to notice that two of them actually pulled out bows and arrows out of nowhere and started shooting at him. He dropped his focus on the battle for one second and he was nearly shot to death.

    ''Great, now I have to watch out for those as well. Where did they even got that? I didn''t see them holding one before.''

    Fortunately, his instincts greatly helped him out and warned about the iing shot. Else he might''ve already lost an eye from that.

    Raven closed the distance while sending outpressed air projectiles on his way. Their defense got broken from each projectile they received, some managed to dodge but Raven didn''t mind it. The two Nagas that were holding bows and arrows, ced it away after they saw Raven entering a certain distance from them. Raven guessed that they these might prefer closebat instead of just aiming and shooting.

    Raven formted a n for this. He would rather have them going towards him instead of him going towards them, so in order for them to not shoot arrows at him, he had to remain close. Of course, this will cause him to be mobbed by their numbers but that''s fine since doing this will also help with his earlier n.

    Five Nagas attacked him at the same time, was able to saw the where they were aiming thanks to his enhanced awareness. He shifted his body in a weird angle, allowing all attacks to miss him. And since they were all standing very close to each other, their attacks caused theirrades to get hurt.

    Raven used this opportunity to jump on to one and immobilize it. He swung his hammer a couple of times, targeting its joints and disabling its mobility just like what he did to the previous one. His target was still alive after that but that''s fine, it doesn''t matter if it was dead or alive anyway since what he wanted was a meat shield, and he got what he wanted.

    He grabbed the Naga that he disabled by its head and marched menacingly towards the rest of them. The Nagas flinched since they could tell what Raven was trying to do, and whether they like it or not, it was working. Needless to say, it is their duty to stop from desecrating their ce so they have to do what had to be done.

    The Nagas charged at him once more, Raven smirked and used the meat shield to block some of their attacks while delivering one of his own. The Naga on his hand screech in pain but he didn''t care. This tactic might be dirty but he didn''t care for that as well. This is a battle to death, it''s either him or them, nothing in between, so anything is permitted here.

    He managed to gravely injure one from that exchange. He then saw that they are summoning bows and arrows once more. Raven snorted and didn''t falter, he marched towards them with his meat shield in front. He reversed his grip on his hammer and used the handle to poke the back of the Naga he was holding. The pokes he issued were calcted and rhythmic. After he done, the Naga''s eyes widened and it suddenly started spitting out gastric acids uncontrobly.

    ''Yeah, you got arrows, I got this. Come at me, bitches.'' Raven inwardly snorted.

    The gastric acids melted the arrows before it even reached him, Raven also took this chance to rush at them violently since he wanted to not only melt their weapons but also singe their skin using the gastric acids.

    And this move worked wonders.

    The Nagas ran towards different directions to dodge him. Some of them were unfortunate and not only had their weapons melted but also their skin. Screeches of pain sounded throughout the field, Raven''s n was a sess since he managed to finish of at least five of the Nagas before the one he was holding finally kicked the bucket.

    Those that were left are gravely injured but is still capable of fighting, a naughty grin was stered on Raven''s face.

    ''If I could do it once, then I could it again.''

    That''s what he was thinking, and that is also what he precisely did. He abducted yet another Naga, disabled it, poked its back multiple times to force it to vomit gastric acids uncontrobly and then chased off the rest with then intent of finishing them off.

    It didn''t take long before every Naga was taken care of, Raven was panting a bit but he was mostly fine. He only had a couple of grazes and superficial wounds, he could ignore those since his regenerative abilities will take care of that. Raven had a great life force due to his fortuitous encounters on his journey, it would take more than just mere grazes and wounds to take him down. A couple of deep breaths from and him and these wounds will disappear like they weren''t even there at the first ce.

    "Ugh, I smell gross." Ravenined upon smelling himself.

    One of the disadvantages of using a blunt weapon is that it''s messy. Killing someone or something using it will cause the user to literally bath in blood. This happens a lot for Raven.

    Sometimes he would feel something on his face and would realize that it was some random flesh from a random body part. Raven often used a barrier to keep himself clean but now that his cultivation base is sealed, he couldn''t do that. He also can''t change clothes either since his storage are also sealed. Now he''s forced to endure this fate until he cleared this ce.

    He shook his head and sighed. He then observed his surroundings once more to see if some Naga managed to lived but there was none, so he ought to move forward.

    Raven then marched back towards the opened doors of the castle. Without the Nagas blocking his way, he could now see and appreciate the interior of the main castle.

    As soon as he entered, he was greeted by a massive statue of a woman with a crown and was holding a majestic trident on her right hand and some sort of a boulder on her left hand. Her lower body is that of a squid and despite being a woman, she has a very long beard that almost reached her stomach. Raven''s eyes sparkled as he said:

    "The Kraken Priestess."

 Chapter 334 - Bearded Ladies

    ---

    Having a statue of a Kraken Priestess here is a sign that she holds a considerable status in this castle. While Raven cannot say whether she owns this castle or not, he''s sure of one things. And that is, the statue of the Kraken Priestess who''s preventing the Nagas frompletely taking over this castle.

    The Kraken Priestess came from a race known as the Bearded Ladies.

    They worshipped Krakens as their almighty God Ancestor since they believed that it was the Krakens who created them. All of them having lower bodies of a squid is their best proof of that.

    As a marine lifeform, they of course took the sea depths as their home. They have an innate ability to control bodies of water and the likes, but what really sets them apart from other marine beasts is their ability to judge someone''s soul.

    As Raven stared at the statue of the Kraken Priestess, the statue gazed back at him.

    All of a sudden, the statue''s eyes gleam with a brilliant gleam of green light and caused Raven''s focus to slightly falter. The castle suddenly shook and Raven heard the statue speak.

    "Wee to the Sunken Ivory Castle, stranger." The voice of the statue sounded on his ears. Her voice sounds like there are three people speaking at the same time, saying the same words. She''s also using the Elven Language.

    "Whether you came here on your own ord or by ident. It matters not. You may never leave unless you prove yourself worthy."

    After saying that, the statue of the Kraken Priestess suddenly disappeared and the scenario in front of him changed. A wide and long staircase showed itself. Space warped and then green phantom tentacles of different size and shapes suddenly appeared all around him. Raven felt a stir on the depths of his body yet he ignored it since he already knew what that was.

    Even if the Kraken Priestess is nowhere to be seen, Raven could still hear her voice.

    "If you want to leave, then look for my totem once again." She said, "That is, if you can."

    Everything went silent after she said that, meaning that Raven''s task of finding her statue or totem ording to her, begins now.

    Raven merely smiled and spoke softly, "This is easier than dealing with the Nagas."

    He then ced the hammer on his shoulders and walked calmly towards the stairs.

    As soon as he ced a foot on the stairs, a nearby tentacle suddenly moved and smashed down at him. Raven didn''t anything to defend himself nor was there any need to do so since it would be useless anyway. He just allowed the transparent tentacle to strike him down.

    The tentacle went through his body but even if it looked hollow, it still struck something. It''s target is Raven''s soul.

    This will be the most dangerous obstacle in conquering this castle, at the same time this is also the unique ability of the Bearded Ladies that sets them apart from the rest of the marine beasts.

    Bearded Ladies could see through the souls of living beings and also directly attack it. Those that are chosen as the Kraken Priestess could rip out someone''s soul or use their ancestral treasure: The Stone of the Kraken God, to summon tentacles and directly consume the souls that it touches or simply attack it.

    The tentacles that are surrounding Raven right now are the same tentacles thates out of the stone.

    These tentacles couldpletely ignore any kind of material defense. Energy barriers, talismans, formations, ancient arts, anything so long as it exists in a material form means nothing to this tentacles. It targets the soul, which is often the weakest link on one''s existence.

    Soul is the most sensitive and the most mysterious sector of one''s existence. Even after millions of years even since the creation of humanity, only a few dared to delve into its mysteries, causing it to be one of humanity''s weaknesses. Even the tiniest damage to the Soul could prove to be extremely lethal, specially here in the lower realms where ingredients that could heal damages to one''s soul are extremely sparse.

    That being said, it doesn''t mean that Raven is in a very dangerous spot.

    Like he said earlier, this to him is more easierpared to dealing with the Nagas. How so? Simple.

    Soul Rebirth.

    Others might be in grave danger facing these soul punishing tentacles but not him. Forget about these tentacles, even if the Kraken Priestess herself was here, he could ignore all her attempts on hurting his soul since it will never happen.

    Even at it''s weakest, Raven soul is something that these pathetic tentacles could never dream to touch. Raven had faced Heavenly Tribtion directed at his soul during his previous life and came out on top, how could these tiny tentacles hurt him?

    And even if he didn''t have a powerful soul, Raven is still sure that he will live since the Ancestral Divine Crown would not allow these tentacles to kill him. While it won''t ward off every single attack, it will at least ensure that he will leave since that''s what happened during his visit here in his previous life.

    This is why Raven wasn''t even remotely worried about this at all. The only challenges here to him are the Kraken that''s carrying the castle itself, the Nagas and the potential traps that are waiting for him. So long as he could deal with those, he''ll be able to get what he wanted from here and leave in one piece.

    As if he was walking through his yard, Raven ascended the stairs whilepletely ignoring the tentacles that are smashing down at him. His soul was so strong that he can''t even feel any kind of difort going through all of this. To him, this felt more of a nice breeze. This caused Raven to bepletely immune from this painful trial.

    Of course, Raven''s case is extremely unique to him. Who could expect that his soul experienced rebirth? Not to mention expecting it, no one might even believe him if he told them that he experienced Soul Rebirth anyway. Therefore, it is not the creator nor the Kraken Priestess'' fault that their attempts failed to stop him.

    Reaching the top of the staircase lead him to arge open room that has branching pathways and several doors that leads to different rooms. The tentacles are still omnipresent around him, and if he moved just an inch closer to them, they would instantlye smashing down. He did nothing to evade nor escape, he ignored them and allowed them to do their thing.

    He couldn''t exactly remember where the ingredient was, which forced him to check every single room around him in order to find it.

    Raven then entered one of rooms, as soon as he stepped inside the room, the door leading out disappeared, trapping him inside. Raven ignored it and studies his surroundings first. Even though his ocr technique is sealed, he''s still aware that there are some hidden mechanisms behind the walls of this room.

    He took measured steps and avoided triggering the traps that he sensed. He was still being assaulted by the tentacles but it never slowed him down even for a second. It took him barely a minute to reach the end of the room where the door leading out showed itself.

    Raven pushed the door open and he arrived in another room. Ignoring the recurring motif of each rooms being littered with tentacles, what caught his attention in this room is the cistern filled with clear water that has an aromatic scent and two bookshelves filled with scrolls and books which looked a bit old.

    "I''ve never been here before." He murmured as he walked towards the cistern. He crouched down and saw that there is a carving of Elven letters on its edges. It reads:

    "Soul Purifying Water!?" Raven blurted out as he made sure if he read those words correctly.

    Seeing that he hadn''t read it wrong, he gulped audibly and scooped up a handful of the water from the cistern and consumed it.

    The water slid down on his throat easily and was absorbed by his body like melting snow. His eyes snapped open as he felt a sudden surge on his soul.

    It was very faint, so much so that he almost ignored it, yet it still there. This water caused his soul to recover, the effect is not that great but there''s a lot of water here so he might as well help himself out.

    Without further ado, he dunked his head on the cistern and issued a vacuum on his mouth. He drank mouthfuls of this water in one go and could feel his soul dancing in joy as the water worked it''s magic. His tion caused him to siphon the water even stronger, he didn''t know where this water wasing from but he sure hope there is a lot of them.

    Unfortunately, there seems to be a limit of how much this cistern could hold since hepletely bottomed it up. He pouted in disappointment but he still on a jubnt mood.. Drinking everything from that cistern allowed his soul to recover about 10% of its original power.

 Chapter 335 - Scroll

    ----

    "Bummer¡­"

    Raven murmured as he felt quite disappointed that he emptied the Soul Purifying Water at the cistern. He gave a longing look before walking away while sighing.

    It was then he suddenly realized something...

    "Wait¡­" Raven paused as he just thought of something. "There must be a source right?"

    He suddenly felt electricity coarse through his body as he thought of this. He raised his senses and inspected the spot where the cistern was. And even though he couldn''t see it, he knows that there is some sort of tubes connected to the cistern.

    "If I follow this tubes around, I would arrive at the source. Who knows how much Soul Purifying Water is still there? Who knows how much recovery my soul will get once I consumed it."

    Raven''s heartbeat quickened at this thought. A grin was stered at his face as he found a new objective here. Now aside from the ingredient that he needs, he has to search for the room which leads to the main source of this cistern.

    He let out a long breath and calmed himself down. Haste makes waste, he told himself. There was no need to rush and charge in blindly. He has time and patience, he could use them to make sure that he won''t miss anything that this castle has to offer.

    His attention was then brought to the bookshelves nearby. Feeling curious, he walked towards them with the intent of reading every single one.

    As he stepped closer to the bookshelves, the tentacles around him wriggled, giving one an impression of threat. Raven raised his brow and ignored this.

    Mere inches away from the bookshelves Raven suddenly felt movement all around him. He nced around and saw every single tentacles on the walls, ceiling, ground, even the ones far away from him, all aimed at him and tried to strike his soul with overwhelming fury.

    "Hmph."

    A snort was released from Raven''s nose and all of a sudden, the tentacles were frozen from where they were.

    Every single tentacle was trembling, it was almost like they were being electrified but they weren''t.

    Each of these tentacles have a little bit of consciousness within them, this is how they could differentiate their targets and follow orders from the Kraken Priestess. Needless to say, it also became their biggest w since they could also feel the unadulterated might of Raven''s soul.

    Comparing his soul to that of the Kraken''s Priestess would be a disservice to him.

    To these tentacles, Raven''s soul didn''t feel human at all. Instead, it was like a natural disaster that had a very bad temper. All of their attacks before were ignored by him because it didn''t harm him in the very slightest, in fact he found it a bit cute. But this doesn''t mean that Raven would just allow them to strike him indefinitely. There is a limit to his patience.

    The aura that his soul was emitting is not even scratching the surface of its true power. If it weren''t for the fact that Raven didn''t want to waste the power of his soul for useless matters, he might''ve already crushed everything here, including the Kraken.

    "Go back your posts and don''t bother me. Else I''ll erase you and your priestess."

    Raven snorted once more and ignored the tentacles. The fearsome presence of his soul and his unshakeable will caused the tentacles, who were used to punish the souls of their targets, to obediently go back to where theye from and shrivel in their ce.

    In fact, it wasn''t just the tentacles inside this room. Every single tentacles that is present in the castle shriveled and didn''t dare to move, lest they irk him once again. Their shriveled state looked like they were just some aloe''s growing out all over the ce, and this was their original state to begin with. It was just on the orders of the Kraken Priestess that they unfurled themselves and waited for their target.

    It just so happens that their target is too much for them to handle. Now, even if their priestess were to order them, they would most likely not listen.

    Raven''s soul is just that powerful, but what he disyed is just scratching the surface of his real power.

    Without the disturbance of the tentacles, there''s nothing preventing Raven from reading the stuff at the bookshelves anymore. He randomly grabbed a scroll, he unfurled it and started reading it''s contents. It reads:

    "Year XXXX,

    The final preparations are done. We already packed our bags and belongings,pletely ready to migrate to the promisednd. Oh, how I wish there is a way for me to expel all the excitement I''m feeling right now. I''m afraid that I''m looking forwards too much that I won''t be able to have even a blink of sleep.

    Master Sun had been extremely busy too. I''m sure that he''s the most excited amongst us. I can''t say I me him since he was the one who discovered the path towards the promisednd anyway.

    I could still remember the first time he told us this information. I could still remember the contempt and disdain of the majority for him, thinking that he was insane and desperate. Even I pitied him, I even thought that he was going senile from old age. But he didn''t falter from the discouragement of the crowd, his Will was firm and he told us that he''s going to prove his words.

    He disappeared for 100 years. We all thought he died but he came back as a changed man. The first thing he did, was to challenge every single Master of thisnd. We all thought that he had gone crazy but it he astounded us with what he had shown.

    The Ten Fabled Masters of thisnd, was trounced by him using one hand. None of them even made him step back from where he stood. He pped them like flies.

    When he was asked how he got strong, he only said that it was due to his fortuitous encounters at the promisednd. He told us his journey there and what''s unbelievable to us, is that he didn''t even conquer a single ind from that ce.

    Although some were still unconvinced by his words, he showed us a concrete proof of his words.

    He summoned a gargantuan monstrosity. A beast that has a head of a horse, bat like wings, body of a smander and scales made out of stone.

    I remembered gazing onto the eyes of that monstrosity for the first time and nearly died from shock. It''s size was incredibly massive, it''s power was something that ispletely unheard of too. I imagined that even if every single one of us were to join hands, we wouldn''t even scratch the skin of this thing. If I remembered it correctly, Master Sun had given a name to this thing¡­

    Dragon. Yes, he called it a Dragon.

    What''s even more ridiculous is that, this monstrosity is a but a mere child ording to Master Sun. He said that he was only able to tame it because of it''s young spirit.

    I couldn''t believe that. To be more urate, I refuse to believe that. How can anyone convince me that there is an existence like this? And this is a child! A child of a beast of all things! All of us here had umted years and years of experience of battle and cultivation, and you''re telling me that all of that couldn''t amount to a beast that''s not even half of our age? How can anyone expect me to ept that?

    But at this point, is there even any reason for him to lie? He already brought a concrete proof didn''t he?

    Needless to say, he became the focal point for us from that point onwards. He said that anyone that wants to migrate to the promisednd, is wee to join him. And as expected, almost everyone wanted to join. Those who decided to remain didn''t even amount to a percent of our total poption.

    Against our expectations, we didn''t move right away. He said that we have to prepare ourselves first since the promisednd, although beautiful, is incredibly unforgiving. Master Sun told us that even breathing is difficult there. He said that the energies in there are incredibly berserk but plenty. He wasn''t confident that all of us will manage to even set foot in that ce. So he thought that we have to do some preparations first.

    The trainingsted for a whole decade. Even us who had firmly stepped at the absolute peak of this world, had difficulties adjusting to his training but we managed to do so. I thought about giving up at first but Master Sun found a way to show us the situation on the promisednd.

    I forgot to breathe uponying eyes on that ce. I had lost count on how many times I imagined how it looked like on my own, I thought that it couldn''t get any better than that but I was wrong, at the same time I was d that I was wrong because what I saw was even prettier that I had imagined.

    And tomorrow, all of us will get the chance to see those sights with our own hands. Oh, how excited I am.

    - 4th Sea Master."

 Chapter 336 - Reason

    ---

    "4th Sea Master huh¡­" Raven murmured as he rolled the scroll and ced it back on the bookshelf. "Never heard of him."

    "But from thenguage used here is extremely old. And from the contents, the promisednd that they speak of must be the Divine Realm."

    "And this Master Sun, he actually brought a Dragon here. Now it makes sense how Vit''hum was capable of staying here indefinitely."

    How this Pale Bastard was able to remain here for the longest of time, was one of the mysteries that Raven hasn''t solved up until now.

    He knew that Dragon''s aren''t a native of this ne. This ne is too weak to handle the power of the dragons, and it also doesn''t have the resources to raise one. That''s not to say that a Dragon can''t enter this ce either. With their strength, they could rip off this entirend into pieces. Of course the ne had some counter measures should that happen, but this all proved that this ne shouldn''t have any dragons or any of its kin.

    Now, it all made sense. It turns out that someone brought a Dragon here. That information alone is enough for Raven to theorize the rest.

    Albeit that the Dragon was a mere child when it was brought here, it should''ve mated with some of the beast here in hopes of continuing its bloodline. The Dragon that was brought here can''t stay for a long period of time since it wasn''t a native of this ce, but the seeds it sown on thisnd were a different issue.

    Raven didn''t know how many managed to give birth but at least one survive, and that will be the ancestor of Vit''hum.

    "I don''t remember this ne having more of the Dragon Kin aside from Vit''hum. So long as we deal with him, we should receive the favor of this ne. Dragon Kin''s are no worse than pests here. They were the ones who caused the energy of the ne to drop by a massive degree, which also caused it to be a low level ne. Without them, then little by little, this ce should recover. Us humans won''t be able to drain much anyway since upon stepping on a certain realm, we have to ascend."

    "And even then, its not like I''m don''t have any ns for this ce. What matters right now is for me to get stronger, and all of my ns will eventually fall into ce."

    Raven sighed and shook his head. He then picked up another scroll and unfurled it to start reading it. Without being aware of how much time had passed, Raven became too absorbed on reading and studying the records.

    He started reading the scrolls first and discovered a trend. The scrolls contained musings and entries of the 4th Sea Master on his life. Almost like a diary in a sense. These scrolls gave him a brief nce of the old civilization, back when humans had just discovered the entrance to the Divine Realm, the era when almost all humans migrated to that ce and conquered it.

    ***

    "So I was right¡­" Raven murmured after he finished reading thest scroll, "Those who chose to remain here in this ne, were the servants of these people. Swearing to guard this ce and keep it safe should they return."

    "Well, they must''ve known that they will nevere back. They probably just said those words as a lip service. The moment those people migrated, were also the same time that they were freed from their service and could start new lives. Why would they wish for them toe back? And why would theye back?"

    Raven sighed and ced the scroll back to its ce.

    "Those who ascended the Divine Realm are the main force of this ne. They took their ancient knowledge and arts with them along with their inheritances and powerful bloodlines, leaving scraps for the people who remained here. That''s where the decline started."

    "Without the Masters, no one was capable of keeping the beasts in check. The servants are too weak to interfere so they set them free in the wilds and gradually forgot about them and focused on their new lives as free people. Freedom caused them to becent and made them weak. On the other hand, living in the wild, the beasts were granted resources and a ce to build theirirs. Not too long after that, the first Beast Horde urred, I assume."

    "And since Humans became so weak, the reign of Demonic Beasts has started, which also caused humans to struggle and suffer. One thing lead to another and then were here."

    Raven shook his head and felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Although the entries of the 4th Sea Master didn''t contain anything that happened to their servants after they left, his assumptions weren''t too far fetched either. In fact, he was confident that his assumptions were correct.

    "This is why I do the things that I do." Raven''s face became a bit rigid as he uttered this.

    Freedom causescency. Too much peace will cause one''s weapon to umte rust over time. Should the people left remained vignt and kept close watch, then the situation of the ne might''ve been different.

    This is also why Raven didn''t n on eradication all demonic beasts in this ne. Not only will that upset the bnce, that will also cause humans to feel too safe. He only nned on eradicating those that will really threaten his work but the rest will remain.

    He can''t save everyone, nor that he ns on doing so in the first ce. Despite of his contributions to the Kingdom, he wasn''t all that hands on towards their training. He has his own matters to attend to and he already provided them the methods to be stronger, getting there will depend on their own effort.

    Not even once did Raven treated himself as a hero or as the caretaker of the Kingdom. He was merely their guardian due to the fact that this ce was his home, and this is where his family and loved ones all reside. The matters of his own ascension had been giving jitters due to the fact that he won''t be able to bring his loved ones with him. This is why he provided all sorts of inheritances and started the Knights System Reform.

    Cleaning up the Mort Family and trouncing the ns of the ck Curtain Guild. Eradicating the danger zones inside the kingdom and defending it against the beast horde. Expanding its borders and raising its military strength. Starting the Knights System Reform, building the academy and agreeing to be one of the instructors. Even befriending the Kind Ent and the Moonlight Butterfly¡­

    All of his actions and his words might''ve sounded nice on their ears but he had a very selfish reason on why he did so. Everything leads to a single point, the very reason why he was never ceased on pushing himself to be stronger¡­

    He wanted to raise warriors that will defend his home - his family, once he ascended. This is the true purpose of all of his actions.

    Of course, he cared about the well being of the citizens of the kingdom but he cared more about his parents, inws, his friends, lover and associates. The rest are all negotiable.

    All of this sounds ugly. Anyone who figures this out will call him selfish, tyrant, maniptor, and so on. But would he care about what others say?

    No.

    Raven doesn''t live for them. They weren''t the ones who raised him nor provided him his strength, warmth, clothing nor care. They weren''t the ones who gave up their lives to save him. They weren''t the ones that suffered alongside of him. They weren''t the ones who believed in him nor were they the ones that had given him genuine kindness. For all he know¡­

    The same people who respected and preached about him now, were also the same people who disdained him, insulted him, ignored him, and abandoned him during his past life.

    For those people, Raven doesn''t owe them anything. Not even an exnation nor a nce.

    The pain of losing his loved ones...he never moved on from that. He swore that he will never lose them again no matter what happens. Everything that poses even the slightest threat to those he care about¡­

    He will eradicate them, no questions asked.

    Raven was no hero, nor a savior. He''s just as selfish as any human beings could be. The only difference is that he has the strength to back it up while the rest doesn''t. This is harsh truth.

    Everything that he achieved so far, he achieved using his own hands. All of his efforts and hard work is for the sake of those he cares about. In order for him to ascend in peace, first he needs to conquer the Four Extremes and cure his inws.

    Of course there are still more to his ns but these are the immediate ns that he has to take care about.. After his inws are cured, that''s the time where he will focus on the remains threats around him.

 Chapter 337 - Testing Grounds

    ---

    Raven shook his head once more and got out of trance. His gaze then returned into the bookshelves.

    He just finished reading all the scrolls, now he''s wondering what do the books contained. He picked one up and started reading their contents.

    "The 4th Sea Master''s Sunken Castle." Raven murmured upon reading what''s on the first page of the book. "Oh, that must be the original name of this ce. So it dates back all the way to the Ascendant''s Era huh. Quite old."

    He flipped onto the next page and started reading. He then gradually got immersed on to the texts and finished it in no time.

    "Ah, I see." Raven murmured as he finished reading, "The 4th Sea Master Created this castle a few years after they set foot onto the Divine Realm. He created this ce to honor the memories of histe wife, who happens to be someone from the Bearded Ladies Tribe."

    The 4th Sea Master''s Castle, or the Sunken Ivory Castle of the South isposed of three main parts: the wall fortresses, the main castle and the Master''s Chambers.

    The Wall Fortresses is where one would found the offensive controls of the castle and its also the ce where the chains that binds the castle to the Kraken, is located. There are a total of six fortresses around the castle, and if someone decides to free the Kraken, the have to dislodge the chains in each fortresses at the same time or else it wouldn''t work and trigger an rm system.

    The Main Castle is where the guests, servants and caretakers resided along with the master of the castle. ording to what he read, there is a total of 20 guest rooms, 10 staff rooms that are shared by the servants, a library, a study room, meeting room, private rooms and five misceneous rooms inside this castle. Should any intruders managed to get past the walls and arrive here, a defense mechanism will be activated.

    When it is triggered, not only the Soul Punishing Tentacles will be activated, the hidden trap mechanisms will turn on and the guards will be rm that an intruder hase. Normally, one has to have an invitation from the Master or Casten in order to be treated as guest, any other methods of entering is considered as trespassing.

    Then, there''s the Master''s Chambers that no one else, aside from the owner of the castle could enter. It wasn''t written was precisely is hidden behind those chambers but since only the Master can enter it, it must be of great importance. The way towards the Master''s Chambers is of course, only visible and known to the Master of the Castle. The 4th Sea Master wrote that the Master''s Chambers is the most important room in this ce. Without it, the rest had no meaning.

    Raven had some faint guesses on what''s hidden behind those ces but kept it to himself first. He still not aware if he''s currently being monitored or not, so just to be safe it would be wise to remain silent.

    He saw an interior map of the castle, which is totally useless since the rooms are constantly on the move.

    The movements are subtle, but he could tell that the rooms are switching ces bit by bit, making this map inurate for his current situation, so he didn''t even bother memorizing it.

    After reading this book, Raven ced it back on the shelf and browse another book to read.

    ***

    After a whole day of non-stop reading, Raven is finally done reading every single book in the shelves. He massaged his temples and closed his eyes for a bit. He then summarized all the things that he had read so far.

    First and foremost, he now knew the reason why this castle is in the lower ne. It turns out that it had a great purpose that Raven hadn''t known before...

    The Sunken Ivory Castle is one of the trial grounds for those who wanted to ascend.

    Though the 4th Sea Master built this ce to honor the memories of histe wife, it has been re-purposed by his descendants.

    After ascending to the Divine Realm, the humans started conquering one ind after another. Their journey allowed them to reach new heights and also look towards a brighter horizon, chasing after the true peak of this universe and cultivation. Eventually, the humans upied and lorded over the entirety of the Divine Realm, and most of them began dividing the spoils of war.

    At the death of his wife, the 4th Sea Master lost interest in everything. He had regretted that he left his beloved wife to die alone,pletely unaware whether her husband is still alive or not, on top of that they also had a child that he wasn''t aware of since he was so upied with his lofty ambitions. He retired and decided to ce his attention to what remains of his family.

    The 4th Sea Master is a dazzling individual, many idolized him and wanted to be his disciples. He built a sect and it prospered during his reign. Before his death, his son inherited everything that he has, along with the Sunken Ivory Castle.

    The 5th Sea Master then decided to visit his father''s homend and saw the fate of the people they left behind. In order to honor the memory of his beloved father, he re-purposed the sunken castle and left if in the Grand Ancestral ne as a tribute. It then became a testing grounds to those that is capable, anyone who''s deemed worthy will be given a change to join their sect and ascend onto the divine realm.

    "I didn''t trigger it back then since when I came here, I already found a way to ascend and is already a part of a sect. Plus, I only needed a material in here, nothing more nothing less."

    This was thest ce that he visited before ascending in his previous life. By that time, he already is aware of the Divine Realm and already had a way to reach that ce safely. There are some people who''s waiting for him already so the inhabitants of this castle didn''t approach him and respected the order.

    "What''s shocking is that, the Four Extremes are all testing grounds for those who wanted to ascend. I don''t know about the Withered Forest of the West, but the sects connected to rests are recorded here."

    "The Sunken Ivory Castle of the South is connected to the Boundless Azure Sect. The Sun Temple of the East is connected to the Divine Sun Sect and the Frozen Tombs of the North is connected to the Evesting Snow Sect."

    What''s crazy is that, all of these sects are incredibly famous in the Divine Realm. Each one are ancient sects that has steep requirements on epting disciples. Their foundations are extremely deep and their resources are extremely vast.

    Raven find it hard to believe that these sects actually had connections on his homnd. It was quite surprising that the ascendants hadn''tpletely forgotten their homnd. In hindsight, he should''ve known or at least guessed that this was the case. After all, the first batch of humans that came to the Divine Realm all came from this ne. Which is why it is name the Grand Ancestral ne.

    Adding to his knowledge, there are still some ces here that is used as a testing grounds for sects. He discovered them quitete in his life but he nned on visiting them once he''s schedule is free and when he''s considering the matter of his own ascension.

    "And then there''s these Ancient Arts." Raven murmured as he nced at the pile of books in front of him.

    He didn''t return them yet since he can''t decide whether he should take them or not.

    In his opinion, these books are too valuable to left rotting here. But at the same time, these arts might be left for those wanted to join the Boundless Azure Sect.

    These Ancient Arts are low ss techniques that is distributed amongst the sects of the Divine Realm. But although they are low ss, when ced in a lower ne, their values will skyrocket. Even Raven is tempted to steal these away and take it back home with him, but he was quite sure that that''s a bad idea. He didn''t necessarily wanted the disciples of the Boundless Azure Sect to be breathing down his neck once he ascended due to him stealing all of this.

    While these are low level techniques that are mostly considered as trash, he didn''t think that the Boundless Azure Sect would allow just some random person to steal them. Trash they might be, they are still belong to their sect. So just to be sure that he won''t court disaster for himself and his loved ones, he decided that he will leave them here.

    That being said, it doesn''t mean that he would just walk away after seeing this. He could still see some value in them so he will be remembering them.

    Most specifically, he will remember the ''Breath of Flowing Water'' and the ''Bounties of the Sea''.

 Chapter 338 - Trap Room

    ---

    He decided to remember and learn two things from these Ancient Arts. They are the ''Breath of Flowing Water'' and the ''Bounties of the Sea''.

    Breath of the Flowing Water is an Ancient Art that focuses in attunement. The book is filled with primitive knowledge and profound ways to keep someone grounded. In other words, this book teaches one the art of being in a Deep Meditative State and remain there perpetually.

    Meditation causes one to remained focused and attentive. Not only does it rxes one''s body, it raises their senses to another level and allow them to clear their minds off of unnecessary thoughts, sharpening their focus thus reducing he time they needed to perceive things they wanted to.

    Being in the meditative state is beneficial for Knights. In fact, Raven actually added a Meditation Course on the curriculum of the academy since he knew about its effect. This course also teaches one how to enter and stay this state for long periods of time.

    Deep Meditative state on the other hand is something that is very difficult to achieve. This state is basically just a step away from the state of Enlightenment.

    Not to mention staying in this state for long periods of time, the methods that Raven knew about are sparse. Additionally, the techniques he had are either properties of Ancient Sects or properties of Buddhists Sects of the Divine Realm. Not only were they unsuitable for him at this current moment, they were also the core teachings/inheritances of those sects, meaning that they are extremely protected and they aren''t taught to the outsiders.

    ''Breath of the Flowing Water'' is the property of the Boundless Azure Sect, but it is obvious that they don''t pay too much attention to it since a copy is readily avable here. This also means that it is safe for him to learn it so long as he doesn''t steal it away.

    "They should know that value of these books, but for some reason they left it here." Raven murmured, "Oh well, it''s their loss."

    The ''Breath of the Flowing Water'' isplicated to learn. It contains very strict instructions such as posture, breath counts, mental exercises, and so on. Yet Raven remembered everything and decided to try it out once he''s out of here.

    The other technique that he remembered is the ''Bounties of the Sea''. It''s not asplicated as the previous technique, and its effects are simple enough.

    ''Bounties of the Sea'' expands one''s energy capacity. Depending on the mastery, the expansion could reach up to five times the original amount. Aside from that, it also teaches one a method that allows them to store up any unused energy, something that''s incredibly useful specially for emergency purposes.

    If it weren''t for the fact that his cultivation base is sealed right now, he might''ve already practiced this technique. But since that''s not the case, then he could only wait until he got out of here.

    He sighed and stood up, he gave the bookshelves onst look before walking he away and exiting the room.

    "Now then¡­" Raven murmured upon exiting the room, "Which room should I head into next?"

    He gazed at the multiple paths that he could take, leading onto different rooms that contain god knows what. Raven could still feel the rooms switching positions.

    He didn''t enter any rooms yet, instead he decided to re-organize himself and check where he is currently. There was a staircase behind him, he walked towards it and looked down.

    "I''m in the third floor." Raven murmured, he then looked around him and got a general idea of the interior ording to the map that he saw earlier. He shrugged and said: "The rooms constantly switch positions, I will end up at different locations anyway, but knowing the generalndscape is nice."

    "Hmm¡­"

    He hummed as he turned around. He looked at every path and decided to trust his instincts on where to go next. His eyes then locked on to a room, he didn''t think much and started walking towards it.

    ***

    *Woosh!*

    "Woah, there..."

    He said as he leaned backwards and dodged a projectile heading his way. He grabbed it mid-air and inspected it. It was an arrow with a steel head and a wooden body. He raised his brow and looked at the room he entered, a wry smile then formed on his lips.

    "Maybe trusting my instincts was a bad idea."

    He could here the sharp sounds of gears. There were arrows flying without any specific targets. There are circr saw des on the floor, on the ceiling and the walls. There''s also some razor sharp implements periodicallying out of them. He could also see a massive de swinging left and right across the room like a pendulum. There are hardly any gaps on the traps that he could use to evade them. He could also smell some kind of substance in the air. It only took him one whiff to know what''s in there.

    "Some kind of drug." Raven murmured, "A hallucinogenic. Not particrly dangerous on it''s own, but extremely lethal for someone that''s about to take on the traps, the doors are also sealed tight behind me so I can''t escape this room even if I wanted to. A vicious tactic, sadly it doesn''t work on me."

    He could safely take in air without worrying that the drug will take effect since Raven''s immune from low level drugs like this.

    His focus is on the traps around him. After observing their cycle for a bit, Raven smirked and said: "Looks intimidating but it isn''t really much. I''ve experienced worse."

    Unlike the one''s he uses at the spatial abode to train his perception, these traps had a specific w and that w is ''pattern''.

    Traps that has a specific pattern is doom to fail against him, solely because of his budding pre-cognitive abilities. Adding the fact that he''s immune to the hallucinogenic in the air makes this room less lethal that it originally was.

    A smirk blossomed on his face. He crouched down for a bit and waited for the perfect timing to go through the traps. Once the perfect timing arrived, his eyes widened and he fiercely kicked the ground,unching himself several meters up in the air.

    His jump was measured, just high enough so that the sharp implements and arrows won''t reach him, at the same time just high enough so that the saw des at the ceiling won''t injure him.

    His body graciously arched. Due to his timing, he managed to grab onto the chains connected to the swinging de pendulum, preventing himself from the hazards below him. He then waited once more for the perfect timing.

    Once the other de pendulum swung near him, he jumped and grabbed onto the chains of the next one. He kept doing this until he reached halfway into the room.

    There are no de pendulums from this point forward so he could no longer use the same tactic. What''s left are some metal spikes popping out of the ground, poison puddles, volleys of arrows and saw des.

    But instead of jumping down, Raven did something different. He slowly lowered himself from the chains and kicked the de pendulum to change it''s trajectory. Before it was swinging left to right, not it was swinging back and forth.

    He bnced himself on the blunt side of the de and waited until the swing reached it''s peak. As soon as it reached that point, he kicked the de hard to receive a boost andunched himself from the de, crossing the remaining distance of the room, preciselynding on the other side.

    He turned around and saw that the de pendulum he recently used, crashed onto other one causing a loud sound to ur. The crash caused the des to destroy each other and fall onto the ground. Metallic sparks flew everywhere and the destruction of the swinging des caused some traps to be deactivated.

    Raven raised a brow and said: "Huh. Didn''t mean for that to happen. I might''ve kicked that de a little too strong."

    He had to admit that he didn''t pay attention to how much force he exerted on his kick because his focus is on getting to the other side of the room unscathed. It turns out that he did kick the de too strong which caused the collision. When the des fell, it also damaged the other traps on the floor. The metal shards flew across the room, while some of the traps became permanently disabled.

    Looking at this scene, Raven shrugged and said: "At least this room isn''t going to be a problem anymore should I ever return here."

    He no longer paid attention to it and headed towards the door. But before he could do that, he felt some movements near him. He frowned and faced the direction where the movement was happening.

    It turned out that apartment opened on the ground nearby. It then revealed a staircase leading down, it was well lit as well and for some reason this piqued Raven''s curiosity. He looked back and forth between the door and that staircase, somewhat undecided.

    "Ah, whatever." Raven groaned.. "What could go wrong?" He said before going down the staircase.

 Chapter 339 - Box And Lever

    ---

    Raven followed the staircase down and it didn''t take long before he eventually arrived at the room that it leads to.

    "Oh? What is this?" Raven raised a brow as he inspected his new surroundings.

    He arrived a small room which is barely as tall he was. There are lit up torches mounted on walls that illuminated the ce. There is a small wooden box in the middle of the room and he also saw a lever at the far end. Judging by the size of the room, he figured that it should be located in between the floors, basically a hidden or underground room.

    Raven walked towards the box and inspected it for a bit. Not sensing any kind of trap or danger, he took it and opened it to see what it contains.

    Upon opening the box, he saw what looked like a gem fragment and a hand written letter. He frowned and decided to read the letter first:

    "Greetings, whoever you are who found this letter.

    If things went ording to n, then this letter must be apanied by a sapphire gem fragment. If not, then something must''ve gone horribly wrong.

    If it''s the former, then your luck is good. You are quarter of the way through receiving a great chance to change your fate and reach new heights of cultivation that you''ve never thought existed before. But if it''s thetter, then please do us a favor, burn this letter and forget everything that you''ve read so far. Trust me, it would be in your best interest to not pry into things that shouldn''t be revealed to you. Leave this be, and move along.

    If you reached this part of the letter, then I can only assume that you''ve encountered the Sunken Ivory Castle and most likely is confused as to what''s going on with this ce.

    It''s nothing too crazy, really. The reason why this whole castle seems to be hostile against you, isn''t because trespassers aren''t wee here. It''s because it''s testing you.

    That''s right. This castle is nothing more than a fancy testing grounds for disciples that are interested to join our sect - The Boundless Azure Sect, which is founded by the 4th Sea Master. You might know him, but he''s one of the most powerful individuals that has ever graced the Divine Realm and he, along with many people, were born at the same ne as you. The Grand Ancestral ne¡­"

    ***

    Reading that far into the letter, Raven got bored and skimmed the rest of the letter. Majority of its contents are just information that he had read from the scrolls and books earlier. In other words, this letter was just summarizing the things that he''s already aware of.

    He just searched for the information about the gem in the letter since he''s more interested in that unlike the preaching of the one wrote this.

    "a€|the sapphire gem crystal that apanied this letter is a key fragment. There''s a total of four key fragments, find them and search for the Kraken Priestess. Don''t engage in any conversation with her without every gem fragment with you or else you won''t get ess to the Master''s Chambers.

    Once you have all of them, seek her out and talk to her. She will re-forge the fragments and will take you to the Master''s Chambers. Remember, the key is important so don''t lose it. The priestess will only re-forge it once and once only, should it break while in your care, then you will lose this chance forever so take good care of it."

    Upon reading this section, a frown appeared on his face. He couldn''t help but say:

    "I thought the Master''s Chambers are off-limits?" Raven thought for a bit, he then remembered a certain information that he had nearly forgotten. "Oh, right! I almost forgot that the 5th Sea Master re-purposed this ce. That should include the Master''s Chambers as well."

    "Well, this is useless to me then." Raven said, "I''m not after the inheritance and I''m not trying to join the Boundless Azure Sect. I should leave this here then."

    He was about to return the letter to the box but then he caught sight of the lever in front on him. He frowned and murmured: "Does the letter has anything to say about this lever?"

    Raven skimmed the letter once more and to his surprised, he actually found what the lever does. The writer of this letter included it near the end.

    "Oh, I almost forgot. The box that contains this letter and this gem fragment should be ced in a hidden room. If you find a lever nearby, pull it. It will make you life easier there."

    It was brief and didn''t say much about what the lever actually does. Nevertheless, Raven didn''t think that the person who wrote this had any reason to lie at this point.

    He shrugged as he finished reading the letter. He then ced it back on the box along with the gem and returned it to where it belonged. He then walked towards the lever and pulled it back to see what''s going to happen.

    Mechanical sounds were heard in the room as he pulled the lever back. Once he''s done, he noticed that his surroundings be eerily quiet.

    He observed his surroundings with his senses and noticed that everything stopped moving. His eyes lit up and he finally had an idea what the lever was for.

    The lever just deactivated the defense mechanism of the castle. The rooms were no longer switching around and the traps had also been disabled. The Soul Punishing Tentacles are still there but due to Raven''s outburst earlier, they remained docile and didn''t try to bother him anymore.

    And since the rooms had stopped switching around, Raven no longer has to re-organize himself every time he exits one room. This really made his life easier since deactivating this defense mechanism saves him a lot of time. He no longer has to worry about entering the same room over and over again since the rooms constantly switches around.

    He smiled and left the hidden room. He then took the staircase back to the trap room and exited.

    To his surprise, he found himself in the second floor of the castle. He didn''t fret since he knew that the rooms won''t switch around any longer so he could really take his time to inspect each room that he will enter now.

    He looked at the rooms avable for him to explore and choose the one right next to the previous room he entered.

    As soon as Raven entered the room, it locked behind him once again. A feeling of surprise rose up in his chest as he felt some kind of heat in his skin. His eyes adjusted and he instinctively looked up.

    He then saw brightness that almost blinded him. He frowned and looked around him only to see that he''s inside some sort of a garden. Fragrant scent captivated him, he felt the cool breeze of the air and vivid colors of the vegetation around him. It didn''t take him long before he realized where he is¡­

    "An artificial garden." He murmured, "They could even mimic sunlight. That''s neat, I guess I shouldn''t be surprised. The one who made this came from the Divine Realm, this much should be nothing."

    Even Raven himself, almost believed that he''s actually under the sun right now. It had to be known that Raven''s senses are top notch in this ne, yet he was actually almost fooled by this. If it weren''t for the fact that he knows that he''s currently 5000 meters deep in the sea, he might''ve actually fall for it.

    Raven saw many kinds of ingredients in this ce that could be used in alchemy. He was tempted to gather all of them since it has been a while since he actually concocted something, but he remembered that his spatial rings were sealed so he dropped the idea.

    All of a sudden, he caught a whiff of something that smells very familiar to him. His eyes widened as he began following the scent.

    He eventually arrived at some random corner of the garden. He walked past through some bushes and saw a hill. On top of the said hill, there is a lone flower blooming in splendor. It bathed under the fake sunlight and released a fragrant scent that would captivate humans and beasts alike.

    Each petals of the flower had different colors. Aside from a very fragrant scent, also radiates with a gentle presence and radiant beauty.

    Raven almost couldn''t believe his eyes. He couldn''t help but smile wryly as he said:

    "The Fragrant Rainbow Flower." He muttered under his breath, "So this is where you were. I could''ve sworn that I''ve seen you in a different location back in the past though¡­

    There it is, the main reason why he''s here in the first ce. The Fragrant Rainbow Flower is the ingredient that he''s after.

    Without any hesitation, Raven started walking towards the flower with the intent of harvesting it. Unfortunately, before he could even get close, an unexpected change happened.

    He suddenly remembered one thing about the flower.. That is the fact that it grows on the head of a massive toad.

 Chapter 340 - Priestess Secret

    ---

    It is not umon for alchemical ingredients to be a certain part of a beast.

    The Fragrant Rainbow Flower grows on the head of a Swamp Demon Toad. It lures it''s victims using the scent of the flower, and once they enter a certain distance, they attack and devour them.

    Raven dodged the iing tongue by tilting his body sideways. He also used that opportunity to grab the tongue of the toad and give it a strong pull. This caused the rest of the toad''s body to be unearthed and fly towards him. The Swamp Demon Toad weighs about 25 tons, but for Raven who could swing a hammer that''s nearly 500 tons? This isn''t much. He could crush this toad using his bare hands if he wanted to but he wouldn''t.

    After the toad crashed in front of him, Raven jumped at its head and stomped using a little bit of his raw strength, just enough to gave it a concussion and cause it to faint. Once he achieved what he wanted to do, he crouched down and carefully plucked the Fragrant Rainbow Flower.

    The reason why he didn''t kill the toad is because it could grow another flower in its life. Raven knew that this Swamp Demon Toad is still a juvenile so it could definitely grow another one. He''s keeping this one alive just in case he needed another flower in future.

    After harvesting the flower, he ripped a piece of his clothes and used that to wrap the flower. Thankfully, the flower isn''t that fragile despite what it looks like so it could tolerate a little bit of a rough handling. He then ced the flower on the inner pocket of his robes and decided to move on. Now that he got what he needed, next is to find what he wanted - the Soul Purifying Water Source.

    There''s no way that he''ll pass on a chance to recover the strength of his soul. Even if he could only recover the bare minimum of it, that will for sure allow him to ensure the safety of his loved ones.

    He pretty much ignored the rest of the ingredients here and bolted towards where he came from. After exiting the room, he was back at the second floor of the castle. The rooms are no longer switching so without any hesitations, he entered the next room of the one he just exited.

    Upon stepping inside the room, a sight of wide room filled with bunker beds weed him.

    A sigh escaped his mouth, he then muttered: "This must be the servant''s quarters."

    And he was correct. He caught sight of a servant''s uniform near him which pretty much confirmed his suspicions. It seems that not all rooms were re-purposed by the 5th Sea Master.

    Seeing that there was no one else in this room aside from him, Raven was free to do a very thorough inspection of the room. He opened all drawers and lockers. He also flipped the pillows and bed in search for some trinkets that might be useful for him. But what he mainly focused on, is finding out if there is some sort of hiddenpartments or entrances inside the room.

    Raven was of course searching for all possible paths or shortcuts that could lead him towards the ce that he''s searching for. To his disappointment, he found no such thing inside this room. Even after double-checking every nook and cranny of the room, he found none so he didn''t waste any more time with this ce and exited.

    ***

    "Good job reaching this ce, Mortal."

    A feminine voice reached Raven''s ears. He looked in front of him and saw the statue of the Kraken Priestess floating in the air and glowing with a brilliant green light. There was a deadpan and slightly exhausted look on Raven face as he stared at the floating statue.

    "You have shown great potential as someone from the lower realms. To be frank, I am not expecting your performance at all. You performed so great that I-"

    "Okay, let me stop you there Kraken Priestess." Raven raised his hand and interrupted the monologue of the floating statue.

    There was a stunned look on the Kraken Priestess'' eyes, before she could even say anything. Raven continued speaking¡­

    "I''ll ask you two things." Raven said in a tired voice. "One, release the restriction on me. And two, direct me towards the source of the Soul Purifying Waters. If you that, then we don''t have to waste any breath on each other."

    "This is¡­new." The priestess said in a quiet tone.

    She was stunned not because of his request, but because of Raven''s attitude towards her. He looked like as if he couldn''t care less about who he''s talking to. The priestess couldn''t tell if he was arrogant and doesn''t know what''s good for him or ignorant and just couldn''t be bothered to ask.

    His attitude was refreshing to her. Mostly because not just anyone could talk to her like this. Forget about talking, if this was the Divine Realm, this mortal wouldn''t even be able to get near him. It had to be known that some people consider hearing her voice as a miracle already, yet this mortal was having none of it.

    Raven attitude amused the Priestess. So she decided to test him¡­

    An amused smile surfaced on her lips. She then replied: "Making two request all of a sudden, that cing me in a difficult position. I can only grant one of your wishes, Mortal. So choose one or have none."

    The priestess could''ve sworn that she saw Raven rolled his eyes at her. Her lips unknowingly twitched, that was definitely the first time that someone ever had the gall to do that.

    "I''ll also give you a choice, Priestess." Raven said in a slightly impatient tone. "Either grant both of my wishes and or lose your deformed twin sister and your connection towards your god. Choose one or have none."

    A oppressive aura suddenly flooded the room without any warnings or whatsoever. The expression of the Kraken Priestess turned incredibly vicious as she red at the audacious mortal.

    And even though she contacting Raven through a mere statue that cannot represent her entire power. Her power is enough to make a battle-hardened man to shiver in coldness.

    While she radiated a furious aura, she couldn''t help but be inwardly shocked from what she heard. She kept asking herself: ''How is this possible? How did he know?''

    She just couldn''t understand how in the world did this mortal managed to see through her deepest secret. It had to be known that he had never met this mortal prior to today, and even if that wasn''t the case there''s should be no way for him to know about her deformed twin sister since she had never told anyone about it. So howe this mortal knew?

    "Who are you?" There was an unrestrained killing intent in the priestess'' voice as she uttered these words. But what shocked her even more is that, the mortal seems to not be affected by the aura that she''s releasing.

    This yet another surprise for her. In her doubts, she tried to check whether she''s properly operating the idol and she was. Knowing this only meant one thing¡­this mortal isn''t as simple as he appears to.

    "You don''t have to know me, Priestess. All you have to know is that I didn''te here to be your ything. You might be a dazzling star in that ce but you are nothing but a mere statue in front of me right now. Don''t worry, so long as you give me what I want then your secret is safe with me."

    Raven replied in a tired voice, he really didn''t want to prolong this conversation since he''s just about had it with this ce. He wanted to leave as soon as possible but he couldn''t find where the source is. He was hoping that he could find it fast but he encountered a maze that trapped him for almost three days. It would''ve been fine if he wasn''t in a hurry but he is, the Fragrant Rainbow Flower he has is close to wilting and he really didn''t want to leave without consuming the Soul Purifying Water.

    In his impatience, he reduced the whole maze in to smithereens. He couldn''t care less whether he pisses the guardian of this castle anymore. He was impatient and wanted the restrictions removed as soon as possible.

    "What are you staring at me for?" Raven frowned in impatience. "Hurry up!"

    His voice wasid with Soul Power. He didn''t want to use it for this purpose but he had to or else the flower will wilt. His Soul Power caused the consciousness of the Kraken Priestess to blur and unknowingly follow hismand.

    With a wave of her trident, a strange energy swept through Raven''s body. He then felt some sort of liberation that made him smile. Without wasting any moment, he took out things for his spatial ring that would allow him to stop the flower from wilting and revitalize it.

    After seeing the flower radiating with vibrant colors once more, he smiled and ced on a jade casing where it would it would be safe.. He then sighed in relief and returned his attention towards the Kraken Priestess.

 Chapter 341 - Water Source

    ---

    After the relief washed over him after saving the Fragrant Rainbow Flower and storing it back into his spatial ring, his expression visibly softened.

    He then looked at the Kraken Priestess, who''s still wondering what just happened to her and why did she listen to an order of a mortal.

    "Yeah, that''s my bad." Raven said with a slightly apologetic tone. "I''m tired and I''m in a hurry. Thanks by the way."

    His words were like loud bells ringing on the Kraken''s Priestess'' head, causing her to return to reality. Even then, she had no idea how to talk to this mortal any more after what just happened. She wanted to ask many things, she''s also still wary about the fact that this mortal might not honor his words. To top this all off, she just can''t believe that a mortal like him had the power to make her follow his orders. This is something that''s unbelievable to her, yet it happened.

    "Now for the other thing." Raven said, which made the Kraken Priestess annoyed.

    Compared to when Raven forced her to obey hismand, this time the priestess willingly did what he wanted.

    She waved her staff and suddenly the steel floor beneath them parted. Under Raven''s watchful gaze, an enormous golden chalice rose up from the ground and is filled with Soul Purifying Water.

    Raven''s eyes glowed in glee, excitement bubbled up in his chest as he stared unblinking at the chalice as it finished rising up and was suspended in the air, waiting for him to consume it.

    He started walking towards the chalice but the statue of the Kraken Priestess appeared before him and prevented him from going any further. There was a strange expression on her face, but Raven could more or less tell that she was wary of him above all else.

    "Want to know how I knew?" Raven asked before she could even speak.

    The Kraken Priestess didn''t say a single word but Raven already knew her answer even if she refuse to say something.

    "It''s not that hard to guess actually." Raven said, "Before I went here, I got a good look of your twin sister. She might appear different from you, but both of you give off simr vibes of energy. Plus, her beard is of the same color as yours and also groomed in a simr way."

    "Another thing is that, you - of all people, had absolutely no reason to remain in this ne. This ce is considered as a dumpster whenpared to where you currently are. What connects the Boundless Azure Sect and your tribe is the 4th Sea Master who passed away ages ago and his son, the 5th Sea Master. But due to the strictness of your race, they will only honor the 4th Sea Master and his wishes, not his descendants. Upon his passing, your connection to humans turned neutral at best."

    "Why would someone, who is considered to be the next leader of their entire race of formidable creatures, waste time in a dumpster and look after the testing grounds of some people that she doesn''t even acknowledge? Isn''t that suspicious? There must be something else right?"

    The Kraken Priestess'' eyes widened with his revtion. The clues that he found were rtively simple, yet he was able to connect the dots that fast. Still she wasn''t convinced, if anything she''s now thinking that maybe Raven took a gamble by using that a threat earlier.

    "Nope, I didn''t use that as a gambling chip either. If that''s what you''re thinking." Raven said out loud, which shocked the Kraken Priestess once more. Before she could even speak, he said: "Physical appearances might be changed to fool someone but a little to none could change the shape and appearance of their soul."

    "You aren''t the only one who could see souls, Priestess. I can do that too." Raven stated as rainbow gleam appeared in his pupils, signifying some kind of an ocr technique being used.

    All of a sudden, an image was projected towards the Priestess''s mind. She viewed it and saw what Raven wanted her to see. It was side by side image of her soul, which he could see even if she wasn''t physically here, and her deformed twin sister''s soul, which would be the kraken that is carrying the Sunken Ivory Castle on her back.

    ''Now it makes sense.'' The Kraken Priestess thought to herself. She''s finally convinced after seeing that image.

    As the chosen Priestess of the Bearded Ladies Tribe that is able to punish the souls of other beings. She was granted with an ability to see the souls of everything around her. It was due to this ability that she found out that her mother didn''t only gave birth to her. She has a twin sister that had been suffering for the longest of time, and even upon telling her parents of her sister''s situation, not only did not do anything to help her, they even prevented her from helping her own sister, saying that her twin is a ''necessary sacrifice'' for her to achieve greater things.

    Just like what Raven said, it''s almost impossible to fool someone that can see souls. Anyone can alter their physical appearance but little to no people has the ability to change the appearance of their soul.

    "While I don''t know what transpired after that and caused her to end up in this ce, I suggest you to hurry up and cure her. She can''t stay here indefinitely, I trust that you know that."

    "Of course I know." The Kraken Priestess replied for the first time. There was a concerned tone on her voice, clearly signifying that her sister is important to her. "I''m already doing everything that I can even if my advisors are against it. I just need more time, that''s it."

    "Good for you." Raven replied while shrugging, he then continued by saying: "And just like I told you before, so long as I got what I wanted, this secret will remain with me."

    The Kraken Priestess looked intently at Raven. She saw the rity and purity of his soul, as well a strange kind of power that she can''t understand. Needless to say, all signs told her that Raven''s telling the truth. Plus there was something about his words and his tone of voice thatforts her. At this point, there''s no point on doubting him anymore.

    "Now, can I?" Raven gestured towards chalice.

    The Kraken Priestess finally made way, and Raven wasted no time and jumped towards edge of the chalice. He felt the Kraken Priestess disappeared right after that. Raven shrugged and issued a mighty suction from his mouth that caused the Soul Purifying Water to funnel towards his mouth.

    Raven was akin to whale sucking in air as he drank the waters. The volume of Soul Purifying Water in the chalice are actually greater than what it looks like. Though its container was big, with how fast Raven was consuming the water, it should''ve at least be reduced halfway through, but Raven hadn''t reached quarters of the way through bottoming this whole thing up.

    He drank as much as he could and after a full hour of suction, Raven managed to get halfway through the chalice before he became full.

    Raven then sat on the edge of the chalice and started his absorption. The Soul Purifying Water that he absorbed crashed like a raging tsunami towards his soul. Bathing it with a strange coolness and warmth. The absorption of his soul is even fasterpared when he was drinking it from the source.

    It was as if his soul was a dry sponge that''s been exposed into water. Not even thirty minutes after he sat down, he already fully absorbed every single drop of the Soul Purifying Water he drank, and is now ready to drink some more.

    His soul recovered by another 5%, making his total recovery of 15%.

    Raven felt a thrill that stemmed from the very depths of his soul. He was smiling from ear to ear as he could feel the wondrous feeling of recovery. It had been so long, that he had almost forgotten how it feels like to have strong soul.

    It was as if the world had be smaller for him. The wonderful feeling of being close to the skies, looking down from above and the feeling of everything within his grasp. This is a feeling that he missed so much. But all of this are just a mere feeling - a side effect of his soul experiencing recovery. It would be a long way to go until he could actually do those things, but merely stepping closer towards his previous life''s strength brings endless joy to him.

    His eyes shed with brightness as he opened them. A gleam of sharpness was present on his eyes, it gave off an impression was as if he''s bing a different person as time went on.

    Raven looked at the chalice and saw that it somehow produced more waters for him. He smiled and brought Venus out. He then told her to do the same thing he''s doing.

    It didn''t take a long time before one man, and one snakepletely bottomed up the contents of the chalice.

 Chapter 342 - Preparations

    ---

    After emptying the whole chalice filled with Soul Purifying Water, Raven''s soul absorbed all that he drank.

    He then gauged the overall strength of his own soul and guessed how much he recovered. Raven figured that his soul made another 5% recovery, pushing his total recovery to 20%.

    The Soul Purifying Water didn''tpletely cure his soul to a full recovery but Raven wasn''t expecting for it to do so anyway. He knew that even if he had more Soul Purifying Water, it was still impossible to cure his soulpletely with just this. The effects of the waters will diminish the greater the amount he consumes, there wille a time when it will eventually no longer have any effects on him. Even if he consumed the amount that Venus had, it still wouldn''t make any difference at all.

    This is why even if he only managed to have 20% of recovery, he''s very satisfied.

    His opened his eyes from his meditation and let out a long breath. He then saw Venus coiled around his body, she''s currently in a deep slumber. Raven could feel that her aura in a turmoil, he could also sense the changes happening around her body as well.

    Raven soothed her head and whispered: "Persevere, girl. You can do this, I believe in you."

    And just like magic, the pained expression in Venus'' face changed into a determined one. Raven smiled and felt proud. Venus is currently experiencing her breakthrough, and due to the potency of the ingredient she consumed, a few changes might happen to her. Raven had no idea what those changes might be, but whatever it is, it could only be good.

    He stood up and gently peeled her off from him, he then ced her inside the Spatial Abode to keep her undisturbed and safe before he nned on leaving this room.

    "Hmm." Raven hummed as he pondered about something, "I''ve got what I needed, which means that I can leave this ce already. I was on a hurry before but that''s because the flower was wilting, but now that it''s safe, I think I could stay a few more days in this ce."

    "I still hadn''t explored itpletely and there''s also those alchemy ingredients that I left earlier. I could harvest them now since the restrictions on me is gone and I could also practice the Ancient Arts that I memorized a few days ago."

    Realizing all of this, Raven made up his mind and decided to stay a little bit longer. At most, he could stay for another week or two and no longer than that.

    ***

    Raven finished exploring the rest of the Sunken Ivory Castle. He ventured to every single ce except for the Master''s Chambers. He had found the location of all gem fragments that''s needed to open the ce but since he had no desire to join the Boundless Azure Sect, he left them be.

    He had gathered every single ingredients that''s left in here and spent some time practicing alchemy again. His skill hadn''t deteriorated that much but he''s still long ways to go before reaching the appropriate level to concoct the pill they needed to cure the King and the Queen.

    All he could do right now, is hope that Richard is working hard to raise his skill level so that he could concoct the pill when hees back.

    He didn''t ce too much time in alchemy, instead he focused on practicing and refining all of the skills that he learned throughout his journey.

    Inside Raven''s core, where the source of his Chaos Force resides, there are some slight changes that had urred.

    Previously, there''s only onerge entity in this space, and that is the massive amalgamation of all the Chaos Force that he has which appeared to be a dazzling sun. Most of it are sealed since Raven''s body is still not strong enough to handle this amount of Chaos Force. If the seal bes loose, he will explode in bog piles of goo. This is why he had to release the seal little by little, and he could only do that by constantly pushing the strength of his body to the next level.

    But since learning and practicing the ''Bounties of the Sea'', there is a new addition to this space.

    Right next to the massive orb which is his Chaos Force, there is a smaller white orb that''s constantly spinning there. Looking closely, there is something linking this small orb to the Chaos Force orb.

    This small white orb is the ''Bounty'' he managed to condense upon practicing the ''Bounties of the Sea''. This Bounty is siphoning Chaos Force little by little and storing it up. If Raven ever got into an emergency, he could activate this orb to instantly recover his strength and his supply of Chaos Force.

    What''s interesting about this is that, Raven is no normal Knight. Unlike most people, he doesn''t necessarily use ''Energies'' anymore. What he has is Chaos Force, something that is only possible bybining Energy Essence, Vital Energy and Spiritual Energy.

    ording to what he remembered from the Ancient Art ''Bounties of the Sea''. It expands one''s Energy Capacity by at least ten times at it''s acme, and it also allows one to condense the ''Bounty'' inside their bodies, which works off of Energies as well. But since Raven doesn''t follow the norm, the technique ''adjusted'' to him.

    He didn''t receive the effect of Energy Capacity Expansion, probably because there''s already too much Chaos Force inside of him, albeit sealed. He managed to condense the ''Bounty'' orb, but the rate of storing energy is pathetic. He didn''t know if this is normal or because he has Chaos Force instead of regr energy.

    Either way, he was on the losing end for this technique as of now but that might not necessarily be the case in the future. For now, he could only observe things and see how it will go.

    As for practicing the ''Breath of Flowing Water'', he had some decent progress in it.

    The technique is divided into five levels: Entry, Constant, Motion, Bnce and Perpetual. So far, Raven entered the Constant Stage of this technique.

    Reaching the Constant Stage means that it''s easier for him to enter the state of Deep Meditation. This helped him a lot on progressing most of the skills that he''s practicing. He was even making progress in his Destruction Laws as well thanks to this. The next stage Motion, allows him to enter the state of Deep Mediation while in motion. Meaning that it would be possible for him to do Deep Meditation while walking or even running for that matter. It''s a little bit difficult to enter that stage but when he does, even he can''t tell how much of a life saver that will be.

    Currently, Raven was inside the Spatial Abode. He''s in the progress of throwing pills and fluids into a puddle of water while making sure to keep check that it won''t turn berserk. The water surged with activity and gleamed with dazzling light. It turned viscous with how much energy it contained, somehow it also gave one an impression that it is filled with little beads of precious pearls due to how vivid and dazzling the water looks.

    Even so, Raven''s still not done with adding more into the water. After throwing pills and fluids, he then started throwing in some Demonic Beast Cores that he got during his travels.

    As the cores made contact with the waters, they were immediately broken down and had their energy contents siphoned and mixed into the waters. This sparked violent reactions on the waters, so much so that electricity could be seen slithering on it''s surface. The reactions even caused the aura of the waters to resemble faces of demonic beasts that Raven had killed before.

    Of course, Raven wouldn''t sit still and watch the waters to turn foul. With a small pulseing from his soul, he obliterated the remnant traces of berserk will from the waters. With a wave of his hand, he forced the waters to behave and remainpletely still.

    After doing this, Raven once again added another batch of beast cores to the waters. This cycle urred at least three times before Raven was finally contented with the amount of energies present in the waters.

    It had to be known that the amount of energy present in this water is enough for someone to blitz through the cultivation stages, all the way to Knight Stage. However, this amount of energies is just enough to secure that Raven won''t run out of them during his breakthrough.

    Wiping the sweat that''s been umting on his forehead, a sigh escaped from his mouth. Raven gave a nce at the slumbering Venus not too far away from him. Although the two week period that he gave himself was almost up, Venus still hasn''t woken up from her slumber.

    Raven walked towards her and transferred her into a different room. Once that''s done, Raven returned to the room where the waters were. He took off all of his clothes, inhaled deeply and jumped at the center of the waters.

    The 5th Transformation that will take him to the Golden Knight Stage, begins now.

 Chapter 343 - Leaving

    ---

    *Boom!!!!*

    A loud explosion urred, sending the walls of Spatial Abode to vibrate due to its impact.

    Inside one of the rooms in the Spatial Abode, a man could be seen floating in the air with his eyes closed and in a fetal position. The moment he opened his eyes, a brilliant sh of light illuminated the room. A dense and mighty aura spread like wildfire, the ground beneath the man cracked and the walls were fiercely shaking.

    The man shifted his position from a fetal one to standing. His face was perfectly sculpted as well as his body tone. Not an ounce of fat could be seen on his body, his muscles werepact and lean but bursting with incredible strength. His skin glowed like a pearl, unblemished by any kind of impurities. His hair fell like a waterfall behind, gleaming with a brilliant marine color. The light in his eyes dimmed down and was reced by a rainbow colored pupils.

    Of course, this man was none other than Raven who just finished his breakthrough.

    He was naked at first, but as soon as he regained consciousness, a golden light covered his body. The light morphed around his body, adorning him with its gentle yet unrestrained feeling. Soon, the golden lights twisted and transformed into a set of ted Golden Armor.

    The Golden Armor was a tight fit to him, each parts looks like it was made out of thick and rough golden Scales. The armor made Raven''s body appear bulkier specially on the shoulder part. He looked down and inspected himself, smiling a bit upon feeling the surging strength and confidence that the armor gave to him.

    Raven gripped his fist and threw a punch at an empty space. A loud p reverberated throughout the room, shaking the walls a bit as well. That casual punch just now, was strong enough to cause a Knight to lose consciousness when it hits them.

    A smile appeared on his face. He''s officially a Golden Knight as of now. Meaning that once he returns home, he''ll be one of the most powerful people that had ever graced their home. And even if he just stepped into this realm, his strength might be on par with the veterans back at his home, perhaps even greater.

    He''s now one step closer towards the peak of this ne. Just a bit more and he''ll stand at the top, once that happens, it will finally be time to address the matter about his ascension. But for now, he had other matters to attend to.

    The Golden Armor disappeared as he willed it, he then walked towards his stuff and wore some clothes. Raven then used this moment to sit down and check the changes on his body.

    Due to the transformation and his care towards his body, there are no impurities left on his body anymore. All of his organs are in a perfect condition and their functions received a significant boost, which expanded his longevity as well. His constant training of his physical body caused his flesh and bones to be refined to an unbelievable degree.

    Turning to his core, Raven could see that the seal had loosened a bit. Which means that he could extract more from the source for his own use. This will allow him tost longer in battle and his skills to have a greater impact and strength.

    As for his own soul, nothing much had changed. It''s still 20% recovery and it will remain like that until he gathers more ingredients that will cure his soul.

    Overall, Raven was even more terrifyingpared before. Now, he was confident that he could remain in the 5000 meter depth without the help of the Spatial Abode and still have the strength to swim back up.

    "Hmm?" Raven suddenly felt a tingling sensation on his psyche. His head then unconsciously turned towards the room where he left Venus.

    He smiled and decided to check up on her. Once he entered the room where she''s at, Raven saw her awake but still a little bit groggy.

    Venus experienced some changes to her as well. She grew thicker and longer, her aura now feels like a genuine Tier 4 Demonic Beast, some of her scales had color to them. They were mostly concentrated on her back, the scales took a tinge of red color, almost as if they were rubies.

    Raven walked up to her and picked her up. Venus snuggled on his neck when Raven said: "Good girl. I knew you can do it. Rest for now, when you wake up, we''ll be back on the road once more."

    Venus did what she was told, she then turned into a long white scarf that adorned Raven''s neck. After that, Raven went back to the control room and drove the Spatial Abode out of this ce.

    ***

    A week after Raven left the Sunken Ivory Castle.

    "Greetings, Elder."

    The idol of the Kraken Priestess greeted upon witnessing an old man appear out of thin air.

    The hunched back elder held a wooden cane on his right hand, he was wearing a dirtied white clothing and has a peculiar earrings. His beard was long and was almost reaching her lower body, his eyes were closed as well.

    Anyone who hears the Kraken Priestess greeting this homeless looking old man, will definitely be shocked to their core. The Priestess'' status in her home is simr to that of mortals worshipping a god. So seeing/hearing her greet this old man with respect is bound to cause somemotion. Thankfully, no one could see them.

    "Oh spare me the greetings, Young Priestess. Don''t sully your reputation for an old man like me."

    "My reputation doesn''t amount to anything, Elder." The Kraken Priestess replied, "Such thing cannot provide anyfort to me, nor my sister. Elder''s help however, is the opposite of that. I will forever be grateful for your help."

    "My, you surely know how to make an old man blush." The old man jested, causing the atmosphere to turn lighter. He then opened his eyes for a brief second, something that didn''t elude the priestess'' eyes.

    The priestess heard him sigh, he was silent for a bit before saying: "At most, she can hold out for another decade, but no more than that."

    The priestess shivered upon hearing that, she unconsciously lowered her head and gripped her fist. Anxiety gripped her heart as the sense of urgency started to surge on her chest.

    "I didn''t tell you that in order to rush you." The elder said, causing the priestess to look towards him. "I told you because I want you to prepare yourself for the worst. I know that you''re doing your best to save her, and I also know that you don''t want to lose her since she''s your only ally. But it ultimately fate that decides everything. This old man just want you to remain headstrong."

    "Thank you, Elder. I appreciate your concern." The Kraken Priestess replied with difficulty. She unknowingly bit her lips in frustration yet she also knew that his words were true.

    The Elder saw her face and that caused him to sigh, he gently shook his head and looked around. Seeing this ce cause him to remember a lot of things that happened ages ago. It also reminded him how old he was and how much time he has left.

    A sad smile surfaced to his face but he can''t really escape the inevitable. He faced the priestess once more and said:

    "Enough about this sad thoughts. I visited you to ask one thing."

    "What is it, Elder?" The Kraken Priestess asked.

    "Have you had any visitorstely, aside from me?" The old man asked: "I searching for someone, a good looking young man, probably about 18 to 19 years old, blue hair, and wears ck clothing. An intelligent ape told me that he''s supposed to be visiting the Four Extremes, this ce just so happened to be the closest from where he wasst seen. Have you seen him?"

    "Yes, yes I do." The Kraken Priestess answered almost instantly. How could she forget about that guy? "A guy that fits your description, had visited this ce. Unfortunately, you were a bitte Elder. He left about a week ago."

    "Is that so? Such a shame then." The Elder replied, he then asked her: "Can you tell me what he did here?"

    "Something that even I didn''t expect, Elder." The priestess replied: "At first I thought that he''s challenger. He was aware about this ce, which gave me an impression that he knew about it''s purpose. But that wasn''t the case at all."

    "Oh?" The elder raised a brow, the priestess then continued¡­

    "He found the key towards the Master''s Chambers but instead of taking it, he left it where it was. He didn''t show any kind of interest in the inheritance nor joining the Boundless Azure Sect at all. Instead, he harvested a rare kind of alchemy ingredient that''s only present here, and desired to drink the Soul Purifying Water. He even threatened me to it."

    The elderughed out loud and said: "What an audacious young man! He actually dared to threaten you? How bold! How interesting! Hahaha!"

    "This makes me even more interested to meet this young man."

 Chapter 344 - Encounter

    ---

    Two months after Raven left the Sunken Ivory Castle.

    The Spatial Abode is on auto-pilot and currently heading towards his next destination and its travelling at a constant speed even though he''s in a tight schedule.

    Raven''s inside the Stagnation Zone and is currently practicing Time Skin. He was sitting in the middle of the room and enduring the unpleasant feeling of the Stagnated Time. There is a serious expression on his face as he focused on maintaining his consciousness intact at all times. The level of stagnation here is at Level 8, in other words the erosion of time feels like a strong gale.

    Raven didn''t take any breaks in sharpening his skills even after reaching the Golden Knight Stage. On the contrary, he needs to ce in more effort since it''s only going to get harder from here on out. Making any progress from this point forward will be even more difficult even if he were to actively cultivate. The next barrier that would take him to the Hero Realm requires tons of preparations and a great deal of resources, and from here on out, anything that would damage Raven''s foundations will prove to be lethal since there''s no going back from here on out.

    During this past two months, Raven had been focusing on his new understanding towards his Destruction Laws and Tenrou''s Inheritance.

    With the recovery of his soul plus with the help of the ''Breath of Flowing Water'', Raven''s attunement with nature had risen by a considerable degree. This allowed him to explore and understand more profound meanings and truths about hisws.

    This allowed him to raise the amount of times he could take advantage of the Fragile Signs.

    Fragile Signs are the ''faults'' of the world represented by marks, points or lines. Should Raven apply his Destruction Laws on these areas, he would be able to do more damage to his surroundings. Previously, he''s only allowed to take advantage of these ''Fragile Signs'' three to five times each day, but in his recent practice he was able to push his limits to 10 times.

    For Tenrou''s Inheritance, he was very close to condensing the Time Skin, he only need to pass two more levels in the stagnation zone and he''ll be able to have another life-saving defense.

    His practice of Spatial Folding was also seeing some improvements. He could fold a space of at least 10 inches. It''s not much but considering that he didn''t experience the baptism of Space Laws, this is quitemendable. This doesn''t give him any sharp advantages in battle though since it requires him a good amount of focus to fold that much space. He could only do some neat tricks, like transferring a rock from one hand to another without actually throwing it, and that''s about it.

    Needless to say, as time goes on, he''ll eventually be able to do much more with this but for now, he''ll have to remain patient and don''t give up on it.

    Aside from that, his breakthrough massively expanded the range of his senses and the distance of which his ocr technique could see. Now, he could sense anything around a kilometer range, and if he activated his ocr technique, he could see up to five kilometers ahead of him.

    His battle techniques are also greatly strengthened. Now, he could endure the whole weight of a Golden Hand, which weighs at least 1000 tons, with ease. Though he could only condense three each day, before running out of energy, if he decided to used the ''Bounty'' he''s collecting, he could condense two more which makes it five, and that''s his limits¡­for now.

    ***

    *Beep!*

    "Hmm?"

    Raven just finished taking a bath and was in middle of putting on clothes when he suddenly heard a beeping sound from the scanner of the Spatial Abode. He finished dressing up and walked towards the control room to check the scanner. He sat on the seat and analyzed the readings he got.

    "Oh?" Raven raised his brow in surprise, "There''s human''s nearby?"

    This was an unexpected news for him. He wasn''t expecting any humans to reach this ce at all. This is still the depths of the Red Zone, an uncharted territory to humans. It is filled with dangerous beasts that could easily wipe them out.

    "It''s been a while since I''ve seen humans." Raven muttered, "But something tells me that I shouldn''t get too excited."

    Raven pursed his lips but still decided to get off of the Spatial Abode. He took Venus with him, who''s currently on her scarf form and sleeping.

    After getting off, he inhaled fresh air and his expression suddenly turned listless. At the same time, his presence disappeared. He perfectly concealed his presence that not even the insects could feel him nor see him at all.

    Raven then started walking and going towards the spot where the scanner picked up human activity. It took him a couple of minutes before he eventually arrive at the spot. Unfortunately, he didn''t see nor felt any humans nearby so he activated his ocr technique and instantly scoured everything within five kilometers around him.

    As his vision expanded, his brain rapidly processed everything that he was seeing. It only took him five seconds before he saw what he was looking for, and what he saw really dampened his excitement.

    "I should''ve known¡­" Raven sighed in disappointment, "If there''s any people that could possibly endure being this deep into the Red Zone, it would be them."

    He referring to none other than the ck Curtain Guild. And just like his instincts told him earlier, he really should''ve seen thising, yet he still can''t help but feel disappointed for some reason.

    A sigh escaped his mouth, he had thought of letting them be and just continuing on his way but decided against it. He watched their activity from where he was and the longer he observed, the more suspicious he got. A frown eventually appeared on his listless face, their movements are incredibly shady and he couldn''t help but feel slightly irritated.

    "What are these people up to again?" He muttered, "And how can I ruin it?"

    He shook his head and dashed like a phantom towards them, still isting his presence. He stop upon reaching a kilometer away from them and he once again observed their activities.

    These people are in their usual uniform, all ck clothes with masks and ck veils across their faces. Their movements were quiet and slow, they walked with bent backs, some of them were even outright crawling. They were wearing some type of a back pack that is filled to the brim, looking like it''s going to explode at any given moment. All in all, they look much like a turtle for reasons thatpletely eluded him.

    "Spatial Rings are a thing people¡­" he groaned to himself, "Why not ce it there to make your lives easier, you guys wearing one each for pete''s sake."

    "But you guys shouldn''t be that dumb." He continued, "Meaning that what''s inside those bags are things that cannot be ced inside spatial rings. My senses can''t prate those bags, which also means that you''re carrying something very important¡­and shady. I don''t like that¡­"

    Raven sneered and observed his surroundings even more closely. He scanned every single entity that he could see aside from these human turtles.

    Once hepleted his detailed scan, he came into conclusion that there''s nothing here that could threaten him. With this in mind, he disappeared from his location and appeared like a phantom near these people.

    Upon seeing him, they were stunned, shocked, baffled and confused. And these things were thest things they felt before they lost consciousness - even that process didn''t register in their brains yet.

    After making them lose consciousness, Raven snatched them all at once and took them inside the Spatial Abode and into the Stagnation Room. He set the stagnation level to 5, just in case they wake up in the middle of his inspection. He''spletely unbothered by the stagnation of this level but the same couldn''t be said about them.

    Once he did all of that, he walked towards one and carefully took of the bag. After that, he carefully ced it on the ground and opened it.

    And upon gazing at the contents of the bag, he couldn''t take his eyes off of it anymore.

    "W-what¡­" he stammered as he looked at the thing.

    It was a piece of a rock that has a very rough surface. He ran his hands and felt it''s rough texture, he could feel something stirring inside of him as he touched the rock, causing him to take his hands off of it. He gazed in wonder and asked himself:

    "How did a piece of an As Star ended up in here?"

    This wasn''t the only question that he was asking himself, he had so much more that he was started to feel a headache, the shbacks of his previous life also didn''t help him with that. There was so many things that he wanted to ask but more than that, he felt a great sense of glee and excitement rushing on his body.

    "Hippity hoppity!" Raven hummed in glee, "This rock is now my property, haha."

 Chapter 345 - Atlas Star Fragments

    ---

    The Divine Realm is a one massive ne ofnd littered with many fantastical creations of shapes and sizes. It''s the true paradisends for humans and the ce they govern for the longest of time.

    It is safe to say that the Divine Realm is specifically created for humans, and due to their rule the race as a whole experienced a great transformation and became one of the leading races over all. But even in a ce teeming with crouching tigers and hidden dragons, there are still some existences that shouldn''t be disturbed unless one wants to court their own deaths.

    These existences might be in a form of a sect, organization, n, and etc. And they mostly mind their own business and will only interfere if the situation calls for it. It is alsomon for these existences to stay away from the spotlight and control things behind the scenes, they also usually reside in a very isted or off-limits ces.

    One of these sleeping giants is called the Old Elysium Sect that resides in a ce called the As Star.

    This sect is one of the most secretive sect but also one of the most terrifying ones. Raven didn''t have much information about them but he could remember wanting to join them before due to a simple rumor that he heard during his past life. The rumor was that, the Old Elysium Sect raises War Gods.

    This rumor was baseless, but the neither confirmed nor denied it. But back then, there are three known War Gods, when someone asked whether they hailed from the Ancient Elysium Sect, these people refused to give an answer, which made the gossipers even more curious.

    He had seen the capabilities of these so called War Gods, and their title urately fits their strength. One of these War Gods became one of the closest friend of Raven, because of that Raven came to know that the rumors were true. That being said, he didn''t ask many things since it wasn''t his business, but for a sect to raise three people that will be known throughout the whole Divine Realm, it''s quite obvious that they are formidable.

    His friend once told him this: ''It''s a pity. Should you had the chance to posses a piece of the As Star, then we might''ve been Sect Brothers. With your attitude, you''d be a perfect fit for a War God position as well.''

    Heughed at him as a response, but inwardly he was wishing for the same thing as well.

    But who would''ve thought that he''ll be given a second chance? More so, encounter the very thing that will allow him to do just that?

    Fate really loves toying with people sometimes¡­

    ***

    Each bag these people possess contains a piece of As Star. Raven had taken them out one by one and had been staring at them for a while now.

    He didn''t try to touch them since he felt some kind of trepidation upon doing so. He figured that he should just observe them closely before interacting with any of them and that''s what he had been doing all this time.

    Raven wasn''t able to deduce much, but he is sure that these are pieces of the As Star. He had seen one before and he even seen the entire thing with his own eyes so he had no doubts about it. And of course, he will taking this from the hands of these people.

    And just as expected, they cannot be stored inside a spatial ring. Thankfully, Raven could just ce these at Spatial Abode and leave it here until he could interact with it safely.

    Once he got over the rocks, he then turned his attention to the people he abducted.

    He walked towards them and since they were still unconscious, he could still do anything that he wants to them. He ced his hand on the head of one and started scrying his memories. Raven wanted to find out more information, he wanted to know where they found these stones, what are their ns for it, and more.

    Raven scanned the memories of each person and managed to get some answers.

    They excavated these in ce not too far from here, they were given orders by the emissaries to gather the stones in secret, offering a high reward to those who could bring them back unscathed to their camp. Of course, since this is the depths of the Red Zone, this mission was incredibly dangerous. However, they also couldn''t ignore those rewards, so they swallowed their fear and attempted the mission.

    A pity, they almost made it back. They just had to encounter Raven of all people¡­

    "So that''s how it is." Raven said as he gazed coldly at the unconscious enemies. "Who would''ve thought that there is a camp nearby? What to do, what to do?"

    A sneer appeared on his face as he lifted every single one of these people. He then went out of the Spatial Abode and threw them on the ground.

    The force of the throw managed to wake them up, but they were still oblivious about what''s going on. Raven fired several beams of light using his fingers and each beam struck the groggy minions, causing their consciousness to awaken due to a painful sting on their abdomens.

    "I would''ve ended you in a blink of an eye but you guys are lucky that I''m in a good mood." Raven stated, "I''ve sealed your cultivation base. If you can go back to your camp without dying, remember that it was I who spared pathetic lives. If you can''t, then it''s been real. Be a kind person on your next life."

    After saying his piece, Raven disappeared like a phantom and left the pale faced workers to their own ord.

    Was Raven really considering to spare them just because he got the pieces of the As Star?

    Of course not.

    In fact, he purposefully dropped them off near air of Tier 4 Demonic Beasts. If he was really sparing them, he wouldn''t take them there of all ces.

    Why is he not sparing them? Simple.

    He scanned their memories before. These people used taboo techniques to raise their cultivation. One through cannibalism, the other through human sacrifice. The rest either used females and sucked their Vital Essences through sex in order for them gain strength, or consumed infants to achieve the same thing.

    Not even in Raven''s best mood, would he ever let go of these criminals unscathed. In fact, dying and bing food for Demonic Beasts is already considered as Raven being merciful.

    People like that doesn''t deserve to live.

    ***

    Raven could hear the desperate screams of the people he left before got onto the Spatial Abode.

    He didn''t even need to check what happened to them, it was certain that they did not survive the attack of demonic beasts after he left since they had no ess to their energies, thanks to him sealing them away.

    Not an ounce of pity or remorse was on Raven''s emotions, he remained at peace and serene from what he did.

    He drove the Spatial Abode forward and went towards the excavation site. He wanted to see for himself if he could search for more pieces of As Star. Although it is very unlikely that he''ll see more, it wouldn''t hurt to check if there''s more. He would rather waste time searching for the smallest chance of finding one rather than not searching only to miss some due to hisziness.

    Raven arrived at the excavation site. He wasted no time and erected an istion barrier thanks to the help of the Spatial Abode. He then began actively searching for As Star Fragments shortly after that. He unfolded his senses through their maximum degree to help him with his task and thanks to that, he excavated five more fragments, totaling of 10 pieces that he currently owns.

    Once he was sure that there''s nothing more, he got inside of the Spatial Abode and ced them all together.

    At the instant that the pieces were gathered at the same room, a magical scene that caught Raven off-guard urred.

    All fragments flew up in the air, seemingly attracted to each other. Each piece shone with a brilliant sh of light temporarily blinding Raven.

    Once his vision adjusted, Raven was shocked to see that instead of the piecesbining together to form a huge piece of rock, what he saw was a very impressive piece of obsidian crystal floating in front of him.

    Before he could even think of anything, the crystal sliced his finger and sucked his blood. After it tasted his blood, the crystal transformed into powder and formed a strange sigil at the back of Raven''s left hand.

    A series of important information flowed through Raven''s brain. Simply put, that crystal just now is a proof of his qualification. He just needed to settle a few more things in this realm and once he ascended, the sigil will lead him to a ce where it will all begin.

    But since there''s still a long time before he needs to worry about this, Raven threw this thought at the back of him mind and focused on other things¡­

    "Now, where is that camp again?"

 Chapter 346 - Infiltrating

    ---

    "Ah, it''s concealed by a Runic Formation." Raven muttered as he observed the ce in front of him while he''s inside the Spatial Abode.

    Through the naked eye, this ce is nothing but a cliff side, however to trained eye like Raven who also has sharp senses, this cliff side hides many secrets.

    Raven studied the Runic Formation that is concealing the camp of ck Curtain Guild. After doing so, a smirk appeared on his face as he said:

    "Almost fooled me for a second there." He said, "The Rune Arrangement lookedplicated but it''s actually not. This is too simple."

    Raven drew aplex looking runes and etched it on the surface of the Spatial Abode, he did this without getting up from his seat. He ced two runes, one was to bypass the Runic Formation in front of him and the other one was to conceal the Spatial Abode even further.

    While the Spatial Abode is already concealed through space, and cannot be seen nor sensed by anyone who isn''t him or had experienced Space Law Baptism, it still wouldn''t hurt to remain careful.

    After doing that, he drove the Spatial Abode through the Runic Concealment Formation.

    The formation immediately scanned the abode as soon as it made contact with it. The scan recognized the familiar rune so the rms weren''t triggered, and just like that Raven infiltrated their branch with barely an effort.

    No one was informed about his arrival at all. He drove the Spatial Abode past the bored guards who didn''t even feel a thinging from the entrance.

    From the monitoring room, he had seen what the interior of camp looked like. It was a series of cave tunnels that leads towards the depths of the cliff. The scanner had been sending pulses ever since he arrived, Raven had already memorized the map in his head thanks to those pulses. He drove the Spatial Abode deeper to the camp, ignoring the dead ends and going straight through the important ces of the camp.

    Raven had also been observing the cultivation bases of the people around him.

    From his observations, most of these people are Knights and above. But at the same time, all of these people didn''t achieve their current levels through normal means.

    Their souls are infested with foul aura. Just like the people he captured before, these people resorted through despicable means to attain their current strength.

    Seeing these people makes Raven sick, he didn''t even notice that he had been frowning all this while.

    Raven arrived at his first destination, he parked the Spatial Abode and monitored his surroundings. He could see a series of cages stacked on top of each other containing some people within. He could also see some guards gathered around a small table while ying cards. He could here their conversation through the abode¡­

    "Haha! I got you, you ass!"

    "Damn it!"

    "Fuck this! You won again! You must be cheating."

    "Hey, don''t me me because your luck sucks. I don''t cheat, I''m just too good at this game."

    "Give us a chance dude! We need to get out shit wet too! You''ve used a ''tool'' just before we started, don''t think it''s out turn?"

    "Shut up! It was you guys who proposed this betting in the first ce. Don''t be a sore loser."

    One guy got up from his seat and walked towards the cages. Raven heard him whistling as he did so. The rest watched in envy as this guy gets to pick another woman to have fun with.

    He paced through the cages in a slow manner, it''s like he inspecting the goods he''s nning to buy. He stopped at one cage that caught his attention. A lecherous smile was present on his face as he watched the show of the woman behind bars.

    "Ah damn, he found her." One of his colleagues clicked his tongue while a sad sigh escape from his mouth.

    "Haha! Look at this one!" That one guy looked back at his friends and said: "She''s yearning for attention. She''s even using the bars."

    The woman he was talking about was on fours, doing questionable activities with bars of her cage. Her face was hidden by her hair and her mouth is seemingly parched, there''s an empty look on her eyes as she did the deed, and she seems to have lost her sanity.

    That guy opened the cage without hesitation and stood before the woman. The woman felt the movement behind her and looked back, her eyes instantly went towards the bulging pants of the guy and without hesitation, she crawled towards him, hands shaking as she took out his member and began sucking on it like her life depends on it, while at the same time rubbing herself. His friends watched the show in envy and took out theirs too.

    It was then that a shadow appeared out of nowhere and released an invisible pulse that ced everyone around him unconscious.

    Of course, this person was none other than Raven, who had a livid expression on her face.

    His eyes radiated with nothing but pure coldness. Anyone who stared at him right now will suffer the worst fate possible because Raven is in a very unpleasant mood right now.

    Raven lifted his foot and stomped, not strong enough to make too much noise, just enough to shake the ground beneath him. As soon as he did that, six people flew in front of him,nding on their stiff members causing them to groan while still unconscious.

    His eyes shed with a brilliant light, using the barest minimum of his soul power, he sent beams of light towards the soul of these people and erased them from existence. Erasing their souls means that they''ll never experience reincarnation, they are gone, wiped out, and will nevere back.

    Raven heard cries that only him could hear, those cries weren''t cries of despair but rather joy. What Raven did appeased the remnant souls of their victims, causing them to finally passed on peacefully to the other side.

    He sent another pulse of his Chaos Force and reduced their physical bodies into ashes.

    And since they were gone without a trace, Raven directed his attention towards the women at the cages.

    All of them are currently unconscious thanks to him. Raven didn''t need to get close in order to see what their situations looked like, he knows medicine, he could already tell the symptoms from a mere nce.

    These women had no light in their eyes anymore. They''ve been drugged to the point of breaking. None of them has any will to live. Their eyes are hopeless and not even the most precious medicine would be able to cure them. They are thoroughly broken, and it''s hopeless to cure them through normal means. Even if he could, whether they choose to live after everything that happens to them, is still in question.

    The emotional duress and trauma would just break them all over again. And Raven refused to permit any kind of harm to go their way anymore because he didn''t like it at all.

    With a forlorn sigh, he released another sigh and a pulseing from his soul.

    Without any pain, he released them from their mortal shackles. Raven soul power was filled withpassion andforting feeling. Once the pulse swept through the women, their faces changed into a more serene and peaceful one.

    Raven saw their soul ascending to the skies. Each women looked at him with smiles on their faces, mouthing word of thanks as they went to the other side. This sight was only visible to him, and it brought himfort that at least, they were now free from this miserable fate.

    As soon as every women was freed. Raven''s expression turned somber once more. He disappeared from where he stood. He once again entered the Spatial Abode and drove it towards his next destination.

    Raven then went to the ces where their ''resources'' are kept. All kinds of unforgivable crimesid bare for his eyes to see.

    His mood really hit an all time low as he witnessed all of this. Even the weather outside was changing due to the raging fury that Raven was feeling.

    Of course, he did all he could to sabotage this that his actions were eventually discovered. Needless to say, he didn''t get caught by anyone. He would appear and disappear like a ghost each time his mission was over.

    Despite the panic, Raven showed no signs of retreat. Instead, he drove the Spatial Abode even deeper to the camp and reached his final destination, the ce where the leaders of the camp were present.

    "What''s going on? Why is there so much panic?"

    "Maybe if you stop fucking around, you''ll know."

    "Why you-"

    "Stop that, you brutes! We''re being invaded by an invisible enemy. Now''s not the time to fight each other!"

    "We''re being invaded again? By who? Are those impressive brats back?"

    Raven''s eyebrow rose as he heard this.

    "I''m not sure." One of them replied, "But if it''s them, then I call dibs on the one named Luna. I''ll make sure that she''ll understand the true pleasure of being a woman."

    "Ah, so you have chosen death." A foreign voice echoed inside the room.. "I see."

 Chapter 347 - Might

    ---

    Everyone in the room stiffened as they heard that.

    Next came a suffocating presence announcing the existence of an uninvited visitor who''s sitting amongst them in the round table.

    Feeling the enormous threat that this man is emitting, their hearts tightened as a great sense of crisis rose in their hearts.

    Their auras immediately acted up in attempts to defend themselves against this man, who didn''t even lift a single finger yet. The table they were sitting on, exploded into bits and pieces. All the leaders of this camp stood up at the same time, close to each other, and red at the visitor while simultaneously equipping their armaments.

    Meanwhile, Raven remained seated on his chair, unperturbed by their surprise and shock from his sudden appearance. He''s holding a wine ss filled with Moonshine.

    Swirling the sparkling water in the wine ss, he gently gazed at his surroundings while his face expressed a deadpan expression. Yet while his face seems bored, his aura says the otherwise.

    None of these leaders could still bear the aura that he''s releasing even after banding together and equipping their armaments. They could still feel something pressing down their throats, making it difficult for them to speak or even muster up courage to fight him. One of them was even shaking on his boots as he stared at Raven.

    There''s something in Raven''s aura that they can''t exin. Not only was it mighty and vast, but it also gives of an impression that''s he''s not even trying at all. It was as if what''s he''s disying right now, is not even an ounce of his real power.

    "Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentleman." Raven greeted after taking a sip of Moonshine.

    On normal cases, Moonshine greatly rxes him and makes him more reasonable, however it''s just wasn''t doing it today for him.

    If only these people know how much effort it''s taking him to hold himself back from doing all sorts of terrible things to them.

    "So¡­" Raven spoke once more. "I believe I heard a familiar name spouted by one of you."

    Raven emptied the contents of his wine ss and stood up from his seat. He closed his fist and the wine ss was pulverized. The cracking sounds of the wine ss shattering caused the leaders to flinch, and as they saw him standing up, cold sweat started drenching their backs.

    "Who are you-"

    "Silence."

    *Boom!*

    Before one of them could even finish their question, a cold order came out of Raven''s mouth. Followed by that person being pressed onto the ground by an unquestionable power.

    A cold re from Raven was it took for them to drop all thoughts to resisting or even trying. That disy of power just now made it very clear that he''s someone that''s too strong for any or all of thembined to handle.

    None of them even saw what he did to theirrade, and that''s what made him even more terrifying.

    "I''m in a very foul mood." Raven stated, and as he finished speaking, all of them saw theirrade levitating off the ground while being stared down by Raven.

    A bunch of cracking sounds were emitted by his bones. They all watched in horror as theirrade''s body were twisted into a bunch of different shapes that none of them knew possible. They all flinched in terror as they heard his heart wrenching screams and saw his bones protruding out of his body. His flesh was mangled and his voice was hoarse from all that screaming, yet Raven didn''t stop.

    "W-why?" Raven''s victim asked with what remains of his voice. He doesn''t even resemble a human anymore. "W-what did I do t-to deserve this?"

    "Really? Are you seriously asking me that?" Raven scoffed as he heard the ridiculous question of this guy. "I can give fuck tons of reasons why, but since you''re about to die anyway. I''ll make this simple for you."

    Giving him one final gaze, a gaze that is even colder than winter, Raven spoke.

    "It''s because you existed."

    And that''ll be thest thing that this guy heard before life slipped away from his body. Unfortunately for him, this wasn''t the end of his suffering.

    A portal that radiated pure and unadulterated evil, opened up beneath him. Space was ripped as multiple hands reached out to im, not only his body but his soul as well.

    After snatching their meal, the hands disappeared as well as the portal. The room was then reduced into a defeaning silence as the rest still failed to digest what just transpired before their very eyes.

    What did he do? What kind of power did he use to mangle theirrades body without touching him nor them feeling anything? How did he found this ce? How powerful is he? Who is he? What was that portal just now? What''s up with those hands? Why did they feel a kind of evil that is greater than them or their leader for that matter? And how did he summoned that power?

    All of these questions rotated in their heads, but none of them had any courage to ask, they weren''t even aware that they were holding their breath all this time.

    "He''s not as flexible as I expected." Raven thought out loud, causing shivers to run down their spine. Just like what they thought, this person is not treating them seriously.

    "No!" One of them yelled on top of his lungs. Mustering every courage he has to say something despite shaking in his boots. "I am not dying here! Not today, not ever! I sacrificed way too fucking much just to die like this!"

    Using all the power he could muster, he tried escaping towards the nearest and only exit on this ce.

    All of them watched his escape with bated breaths. They discreetly nced at Raven and saw no movements from him.

    Seeing that he''s not doing anything to stop theirrade from escaping, made them think that they also have a chance. One of them shared the same sentiments as the escaping guy, and this one tried to escape too. But before he could do so, one of hisrade pulled his arm and shook his head. The look on his face told him everything¡­

    ''There''s no escaping this¡­''

    And he got the message. So he could only grit his teeth and ept his fate.

    Today, none of them will survive.

    *Boom!*

    The escaping guy crashed into an invisible wall. And because of how swift his flight was, the momentum backfired, causing his face to contort into an unrecognizable image. Blood dripped from his face, he fell to ground with a loud thump and he emitted a piercing screech due to the pain.

    "Oh dear." Raven scoffed in sarcasm. "I wonder who ced an invisible barrier there and cucked your only escape path? Oh, what a rude person. It seems like he knows that some of you will try to escape. What a devious person!"

    But despite his words, the escaping guy didn''t give up. He didn''t care that he couldn''t even see properly due to his face being covered in blood, heshed out every bit of power he could muster and tried to break the invisible barrier.

    He tried and tried. He used everything he owned, every skill he had, and he even over drafted his lifespan to fuel his attacks. But to his despair and hopelessness, none of it worked.

    Blood, sweat, tears and snot were mixed on his face as he realized that death hade from him.

    At the other end of the room, Raven watched impassively as he saw the realization dawn upon this person. He heart held nothing but absolute disgust and abhorring to this person because this is the same guy that said that he''s going to molest Luna.

    "You!" The escaping guy turned towards him and prostrated. "I don''t know who you are, but please! Please let me go! I am willing to be your ve - no! Your dog! I''ll be your dog! I will swear my eternal loyalty to you! Use me however you like, just please! Please let me live!"

    He repeatedly knocked his head on the floor while begging Raven to spare him.

    "I don''t want to die! Spare me, Good Lord! I beg of you, please spare me!"

    "Hmm¡­" Raven hummed as he saw this scene.

    But while his tone sounded like he was considering it, his face was saying otherwise. He wasn''t even trying to fool anyone at this point.

    "Very well. I''ll spare you all."

    But much to the surprise of everyone, he uttered this words.

    The one begging for his life felt so much glee, but all of it was reced by an absolute terror as they heard his next words.

    "Hear me, on my authority!"

    *Boom!*

    "I call forth the souls of deceased. Everyone who died by the hands of the people in front of me!"

    *Boom!*

    "Answer my summons and return to material ne. I offer you a chance of retribution, justice and respite! Come forth and deliver judgement depending on how you see fit!"

    Raven then sat back on his seat and poured another ss of Moonshine. Without even looking at them, he said: "I did what you asked. I spared you."

    "But I don''t know if your victims will do the same."

 Chapter 348 - Arrival

    ---

    The space above their heads was ripped by a mysterious force.

    A massive gate appeared, filled with ancient air and a dreadful appearance. As Raven uttered his words, the massive gate opened up and revealed a swirling portal that emanated with hair-raising presence.

    Countless of heads appeared from the portal. Each faces were crying tears of blood but their eye sockets are empty. Their hands were frail and had sharp nails, each one constantly voicing moans of despair, regret, unfairness and unwillingness.

    This gate serves as the connection towards the material ne and the other side. As the gate opened, it allowed the souls of the deceased to visit the material ne once again and answer the summons of Raven.

    The leaders of the camp had pale faces as they stared at Gate of Souls. Their bodies started shaking from head to toe as they witnessed the souls being vomited by the gates, and it didn''t help that they could recognize the faces of these souls.

    Raven was back on his seat with a ss of Moonshine. He rested his back at the seat, seemingly undisturbed by what is happening around him. He swirled the contents of the ss and said:

    "I did what you asked and spared you. But I don''t know if your victims will do the same."

    As soon as he uttered these words, the souls that areing out of the gate immediately roared with unending rage and fury.

    The souls all flew towards the one''s who humiliated and killed them. Each soul tore a piece of flesh from their killers and also a part of their soul in the process.

    Pained roars, cries of despair, and hair-raising sounds echoed from the cave. And throughout this whole chaos, Raven remained impassive with his behavior and quietly watched everything unfold before his very eyes.

    His eyes contained nothing but pure contempt, his heart was closed from all of their begging or pleads. His face had no changes as he watched how the justice deprived souls avenged their deaths.

    But even after all of this, Raven still didn''t feel like it was enough.

    So without any hesitation, he raised a finger and pointed towards the Gate of Soul. His archaic voice then echoed at every corner of the cave.

    "Hear me, by my authority. I summon the souls of the deceased. I call upon the victims of all evil-doers within my vicinity. Return at once to the material world and avenge your deaths and all injustices that you have suffered. Answer my summons and you shall be given a chance for retribution."

    This technique shaved off 10 years of his longevity but Raven couldn''t care less about that. What brought him even more satisfaction, is that fact that the Gate of Souls roared even more.

    A sea of souls emerged from the gates, answering his summons by returning to the material ne and flying towards their killers. Most of these souls were women, some are men and infants, all appeared as vengeful spirits that is radiating with a blood thirsty aura as they flew towards their targets.

    The whole camp descended into a mass chaos.

    Cries of terror, despair, regret and unwillingness was heard from all corners. The ground started turning red from the blood and gore. Pieces of flesh and organs flew across the room. The camp was filled with vengeful souls who are devouring the flesh, bones and souls of the ones responsible for their deaths.

    And even in this mass genocide, Raven sat prettily and calmly on his chair while sipping on Moonshine from time to time.

    By the time that Raven emptied the ss, the vengeful souls had already gone back to the gate of souls, ofcourse not before paying respects to him. They didn''t go back as vengeful spirits, instead they returned as avenged souls, ready to walk towards the path of reincarnation.

    Meanwhile, an extremely unpleasant smell wafted throughout the cave. Raven stood up from his seat and looked at the mess around him.

    With a light scoff, he shook his head and started walking towards the exit.

    It was then that he suddenly sense presence closing in to the camp at an rming speed. Raven frowned at this, but when he felt their aura''s, his expression drastically changed.

    He suddenly disappeared. Leaving the chaotic and gory mess of his activity just now.

    ***

    Five people dashed through the wilderness with a clear objective in their minds.

    d with their shining Golden Armaments and their own trusty steeds. They flew across the atmosphere with sharp battle intents and their firm aura''s which could make someone feel incredibly small.

    "There''s their hideout."

    One of them spoke, pointing at the opening on the cliffside which should normally be hidden but is currentlypletely exposed right now.

    They all nodded at each other and ordered their mounts to descend. They then got off and moved as a group.

    The one that''s currently walking in front of them, was a tall and muscr man with a wheat-colored skin tone. Each step he took was firm and unshakeable, looking at his firm back gives one a sense of security and protection. He was holding a ck oval Tower Shield that looks like a shell of a turtle, his right hand grasped a 9 foot long ck spear with a serpentine design.

    This guy was none other than Paul, the Defender of the team.

    Behind him was a gorgerous youngdy with a zing red hair who also carries a long sword, a green haired archer bombshell, a lean and sharp looking man carrying two short swords, and blonde goddess holding a golden spear. These people are Ellen, Anne, Mark and Luna respectively.

    It wasn''t the first time that they came here. They received a mission a few days ago about some mysterious activities within the borders of the Yellow Zone, just a little beyond the monitoring zone of the Sk Array.

    It is said that a resource gathering team went missing on that area, and since the ce is close to the Red Zone, the investigation fell on the team''s hands.

    Upon arrival, they got into a skirmish with the ck Curtain Guild. They decimated the group and interrogated them, which them revealed the existence of the nearby camp. They sent a letter back home that they will tear down the camp before going back and thus, infiltrated it.

    Unfortunately, Mark''s the only one who could go inside without getting noticed, but that also didn''t work since someone managed to sense him and send hordes of enemies against him. Another skirmish happened and they escaped.

    They then formted a n and this time, they decided to drop all pretenses since the camp was already informed about their arrival anyway. And that leads us to the present.

    "What''s wrong?" Anne asked Mark upon seeing him frowning.

    "Huh? Oh! Nothing much, I just smell something very foul but also familiar. I''m trying to remember what that is."

    "You can smell it too?" Paul asked while remaining vignt. "I can as well. And I think it smells like corpses."

    "Now that you say that¡­" Mark raised his brow and continued: "Yes, it does. This is the smell of corpses. TONS or corpses."

    "Something''s up here." Anne said suspicious, "Let''s pick up the speed."

    "Roger."

    The team then elerated towards the cave. But just before they entered, Paul signaled the team to stop. There is a very unnatural look on his face. He then turned towards Ellen and said:

    "Babe, can you throw a re inside?"

    "Sure." Ellen nodded and conjured a fireball at the tip of her sword. She then sent it towards the mouth of the cave, lighting the entrance for them to see.

    As the fireball travelled inside, they managed to see bits and pieces of what''s behind the darkness. And what they saw shocked them.

    "You guys saw that right?" Ellen asked, she was a little unsure so she asked them too. Seeing her teammates nod, rified that she wasn''t just seeing things.

    Luna then stepped forward and waved her delicate hand. She shot several balls of light inside the cave thatsted longer than Ellen''s fireball and provided better lighting, allowing them to see the gory scene that''s hidden in the darkness.

    "Holy shit!" Paul eximed. "What the hell?"

    "What happened here?" Ellen asked with her faceced in confusion.

    "Only one way to find out I guess." Mark said.

    "I agree. Let''s go inside. Let''s remain vignt, whoever or whatever did this, might still be here. We have to be careful."

    Everyone nodded with Anne''s judgement and thus, they began walking inside the room filled with bits and pieces of torn flesh and bones. Every step they took sounded weird, they could see how the ground was dyed with blood and the foul stenching off of these corpses was getting stronger the deeper the went in.

    They remained vignt and spoke through voice transmission, the horrid sight inside the cave slightly bothered them but they were more curious about the entity that caused this to happen.

    They were watching each other''s back when Ellen suddenly thought that Luna was acting strange, when he asked what''s wrong, she replied:

    "No, it''s nothing.." Luna said in a timid voice, "Must''ve been my imagination."

 Chapter 349 - Carvings On The Wall

    ---

    It was but a mere feeling¡­fleeting, but alsosting.

    ''What was that just now?'' She asked herself. ''An attack? But that can''t be. There''s five of us here, how can it pass through our defenses?''

    ''And I''m not hurt...'' She told herself, ''In fact, I don''t think it has any bad intentions. But what was that?''

    "Luna, you good? Is there something wrong?" Ellen asked, seeing her friend''s unnatural expression.

    She shook her head and replied: "No, it''s nothing. It''s must''ve been my imagination."

    Ellen''s gaze lingered at her for quite sometime, she wanted to ask more but it seems that Luna didn''t want to tell so it''s best to not push it. She figured that whatever caused her to be like that must not have anything to do with the mission.

    "Alright, let''s pay close attention to this ce. Let''s see if there''s any survivors, maybe we can ask them what happened here." Luna said, throwing that thought at the back of her mind and focusing on the mission.

    "Well, I hope there really is one." Paulmented as he walked in front of them. "Cause from seeing all of this, we might as well consider it a miracle if we see an intact corpse."

    Paul raised a very good point there, and because he mentioned that, the team now noticed that he''s correct.

    They had been walking inside the cave for a decent pace all this time, yet they never came across a single intact corpse. A severed head is the ''most intact'' body they have seen, while the rest are just pieces of flesh and bones.

    The team moved on in silence, trying their best to check if there''s something they could find that will give them some clues.

    "I see some intact bodies right there. Let''s make a turn." Anne said to the team while she points at a certain direction. The team didn''t hesitate and started moving towards the location she was pointing.

    They eventually came across the ''Breeding Area'', the part of the camp where the cages women were.

    One nce was enough for them to realize where they were, and of course the sight of the malnourished and naked women didn''t make any of them happy. If anything, it just dampened their mood even more.

    "Let''s check if any of them are still alive." Luna gave themand and the team immediately went on the move.

    They dispersed and checked every cage, using their senses to see if there''s someone alive. Unfortunately for them, all of them are dead.

    They regrouped and shared their thoughts to one another¡­

    "I''ve got none." Mark reported.

    "Same." Anne added.

    The rest shook their heads as well, signaling that they didn''t find anyone alive either.

    "Well, that sucks." Paulmented, "Guess we have to keep searching then."

    "You know¡­" Ellen said, "There''s something weird about these corpses. But I can''t put a finger on it."

    "Now that you say that, I also feel the same." Anne added.

    "Right?" Ellen said, "Of all the corpses we encountered so far, these are the only one''s intact. All of them looked like they just fell asleep and never woke up again. What''s up with that?"

    "There''s also no signs of struggle when they died." Mark added, "The injuries they received are weeks old, if someone did something to kill them, there should be some kind of injury on their bodies, but I didn''t see one. In fact, none of them even had a fatal wound. There are no streaks or stains of blood on their cages."

    "So you mean to say that they died from a mysterious cause?" Paul asked thenmented, "That''s creepy."

    "No that''s not it." Luna said, catching the attention of the team. However they were shocked her face is revealing some kind of an annoyed expression, but somehow she''s trying to suppress it.

    She sighed and said: "The cause of their death is not from a mysterious source. They were offered Salvation, a chance to end their torment and go to the other side."

    "Oh, is that so?" Paul reacted, but Luna''s expression was really bothering him so he asked: "Is there''s something wrong? Why''s your face like that?"

    "What do you mean?" Luna asked, genuinely confused by his question.

    "You look like a child who''s candy had been taken away from you." Paul added, but Luna''s still confused.

    Ellen shook her head and said: "You look pissed and scary. That''s what he''s trying to say."

    Luna''s eyes widened and asked: "Do I now?"

    "Yes you do." Ellen and the rest nodded to her, much to Luna''s surprise.

    "It''s like you''re on your period." Anne added, "Only, that shouldn''t be possible since upon stepping on Knight Realm, us girls don''t do that anymore. So? What''s up? Is there something you want to tell us?"

    "I-" Luna trailed off. She genuinely had no idea that she''s been like that. She doesn''t know how to respond to them. She started asking herself what''s wrong but she doesn''t have any idea why either.

    "You know what, let''s talk about thatter." Mark chimed in, "Let''s focus on the mission on hand, shall we?"

    Everyone nodded and threw this notion at the back of their heads. They then moved on and inspected the rest of the locations inside the camp.

    The inspection didn''t give them much information at all. Aside from that fact that whoever did this mass killing, gave the innocents a quick and painless death while tearing the guilty onto shreds. That''s the only thing they could get from this situation.

    They had no idea what kind of person did this, or if it''s even a person at all. They don''t know what kind of method he/she/they/it used to achieve such a feat. They had no idea how many were responsible for this nor just how strong was this mysterious entity at all.

    They eventually arrived at the deepest part of the camp, the ce where the leaders were supposed to be. And what they saw and feel, didn''t really make sense to them.

    "What happened to this ce?" Paul asked as he felt shivers running down his spine.

    In terms of appearance, this ce didn''t really look entirely different from what they had seen so far. If anything, the could tell that there''s only a few corpses in here.

    The thing that made a stark contrast is the residual aura inside this ce.

    "It feels¡­heavy. Evil but not really? Am I making sense here?" Ellen added.

    "Kind of. I feel the same, but I don''t understand how is that possible." Markmented.

    "It''s not just that too." Anne chimed in, "This power feels like it doesn''t belong here."

    "Right?" Ellen eximed, "I thought so too. This power doesn''t conform to any kind of transmutation that regr energies could do. It doesn''t fall to neither Energy Essence, Vital Energy or even Spiritual Energy."

    "But how can that be though?" Paul asked, "You guys know that we have to make a report about this, but how can we even begin exining this?"

    "¡­"

    Luna stayed silent as the team discussed amongst themselves.

    It''s not like she doesn''t agree to any of their statements, but for some reason somethings really bugging her.She didn''t know why but it feels like all of them are missing something extremely important here, and she can''t put a finger on it which makes her incredibly annoyed.

    As she was trapped on her thoughts, the team investigated more things about this ce in their attempts to analyze what happened here but sadly, they really had no idea.

    So far, all they knew is someone or something incredible visited this camp and wiped them out, leaving no one alive to tell the tale.

    Luna wasn''t idle either. She joined them into searching additional clues for their report since it''s obvious that someone or something got here first.

    She looked for clues on the ground but she only found blood stains and pieces of flesh and bones. She looked at the ceiling but found nothing worth of notice there. She then began inspecting the residual aura that''s left in this room.

    And just like what they said earlier, this aura feels evil yet not at the same time. Luna could even feel some holiness onto it. Ellen was right as well, this power doesn''t belong to the three main categories of cultivation or the Three Human Paths, which somehow tells her that this wasn''t done by a human but that''s not it either.

    Yes, while this power doesn''t conform to the Three Human Paths, she could feel traces of them here. In fact, it felt familiar for some reason but the thoughtpletely eludes her.

    She then began expecting the walls just like the others. Luna saw some streaks of blood here and there, adding to the mess that''s already in here. But just as when she''s about to be convinced that there''s nothing on them. She saw something that really made her emotional.

    Pain gripped her heart so bad that tears uncontrobly fell from her face. She shivered as she traced the carving on the wall. It reads:

    "I was here. I miss you. Wait for me.. I love you."

 Chapter 350 - Keep Going

    ---

    ''Of course it would be him. How could I forget? I''m so stupid.''

    Luna thought to herself as tears fell from her eyes. She traced the message carved by her beloved using her delicate fingers, feeling the rough ridges and the intent behind the message.

    He was in a hurry when he left this message, but each stroke was filled with longing and love.

    Luna had no idea why he didn''t show himself. Why would he leave in a hurry? How did he know that they wereing? Why can''t he just rest and be with them - with her, even just for a brief moment?

    She knew that he''s doing this for her parents, and that made her feel even more guilty since she''s powerless to help. But she also felt like this was unfair. Raven didn''t even allow her to see him. It was as if he was avoiding her.

    Luna didn''t understand, but she believed that he has his own reasons for not doing so. Even still¡­

    ''Unfair¡­'' She could only repeat this word on her head, praying that at least he would show up and catch up with her, even just for a day.

    It has been years since he left, and if she''s beingpletely honest, he''s gone longer than the times they were officially together. She missed everything about him, she wanted to be with him but can''t and can only pray for his safety.

    Sometimes, she would found herself wondering if he''ll evere back.

    But at least he left a message - a prove that he''s still alive and well.

    This isn''t enough to mend the empty feeling on her heart, but it''s enough to keep her moving forward.

    "Girl? What''s wrong? Why are you crying?" Anne along with Ellen approached the crying Luna.

    The two were of course worried but more bothered with how she''s been acting ever since getting here. Her mood shifts every now and then, which doesn''t happen normally. They''ve been friends for a long time and known each other very well. Of course they can tell that''s something''s bothering her but since she didn''t want to talk about it, they can''t really force her to tell.

    She was annoyed earlier, confused the next moment, listless just a few moment ago and now she''s crying. How can they not worry about her?

    "Wait what''s wrong? Eh? Why are you crying Luna?" Paul saw the girls grouped up so he went towards them, to his shock he saw the current state of Luna.

    "What''s going on?" Mark arrived after sensing themotion as well.

    "We don''t know, she just suddenly started crying her heart out." Ellen replied as she ran her hand on Luna''s back, trying tofort her.

    The girls then felt Luna moved. She held their hands and nodded towards them. She spent some time wiping her tears and stopping herself from crying.

    "I''m okay." She said.

    "No you''re not." Ellen replied in a deadpan voice, "You''re not fooling anyone here. Spit it out, what''s wrong?"

    Luna bit her lips and fought back the tears. She took a deep breath and pointed at the message that Raven left for her.

    Everyone followed where she was pointing, and when they saw the message, everything became clear to them.

    "Oh." Ellen reacted in a bit of an unsure tone, "Okay, I get it now."

    "Damn, what an ass." Paul clicked his tongue in annoyance, but in the end he could only sigh since there''s nothing he could do anyway.

    "Can''t he at least show himself?" Anne groaned as she read the message, feeling a bit sad and disappointed at Raven for doing this. "He should know that Luna misses him badly right?"

    "Honey, it''s not like he doesn''t want to. It''s more like he can''t." Mark replied, "In fact, he''s probably dying to see her and talk to her again, but like I said, he can''t."

    "But why though?" Ellen asked, "Did something happen to him? Why is it that he can''t at least spend a bit of time with her? I don''t understand."

    Paul held her hand and said: "He''s fine, Babe. From what we have seen here, he''s gotten stronger. So much to the point that he eradicated a whole camp of the ck Curtain Guild by himself. If he could hold himself out against this many people, then he''s safety is thest thing that we should worry about."

    He unknowingly tightened his grip on Ellen''s hand and continued: "He didn''t show up, not because he didn''t want to. He didn''t show up since if did now, he would not be able to continue his journey by himself anymore."

    "That''s right." Mark added, "His resolve to venture the dangers of the Red Zone would falter. There''s a reason why he can''t bring us with him. And showing up now would make it impossible for him to not take us, or at least Luna with him. He doesn''t want to endanger her so he figured that it''s best to leave unseen."

    The team went silent after Paul and Mark''s statement. These two known Raven''s resolve and admired it ever since. He never looked back nor stopped moving forward no matter what kind of setbacks he experienced. They know what going on in his mind that spurred this decision of him because they would''ve probably do the same if they were on his shoes.

    The girls were contemting about what they said. Luna tried her best to not cry anymore but is somehow failing at it. It took her a great amount of resolve to finally dry her tears away and look forward.

    "Let''s leave." She said with great resolve on her voice, "There''s nothing to see here anymore."

    The rest nodded at her words, Ellen then asked: "But what about the report?"

    "Easy." Paul replied, "Let''s just say that Raven happened. They''ll understand the rest."

    "That works." Anne chuckled, "He pulled off bigger thingspared to this, so it shouldn''t be hard for them to imagine what happened here."

    "Honestly, that guy???" Mark simrly chuckled, "The way he works is still as messy as I can remember. How did he do all of this?"

    "Beats me." Paul replied as they started walking out of the cave. "Probably with his weird techniques again. He has many of those and he probably got more from his travels."

    "Anyway, the camp is gone. So we might as well assume that their headquarters will be informed about this." Anne stated.

    "It''s safe to assume that there''s a great chance of them turning aggressive on us." Luna added, "It''s not beyond our expectations, it will depend on what kind of move they will pull off."

    "We''re plenty strong." Paul chimed in, "With the amount of Knights we have, we can safely defend against a giant beast horde."

    "I think that we could even endure more, after all we have more Golden Knightspared before." Ellen added.

    "We are more or less going to be fine. But what really bothers me is that Vit''hum." Mark said, making the atmosphere drop for a bit.

    "Raven said that it had fallen into a ten year slumber right?" Paul asked.

    "Yes, he did say that." Mark replied, "But he also said that we can''t be so sure. It might have some ways to shorten that duration."

    "With the King''s current predicament, none of us can stand against that thing." Ellen stated with an annoyed expression.

    "In the end, we could only hope that it''s slumber will reallyst that long." Anne said with a distressed expression.

    "Let''s instead prepare for the worst oue." Luna chimed in, her face bearing great resolve. "We can''t rely on Avi all the time. If that Vit''hum really wakes up and decided to attack while he''s away, we will be left with no other choice than to fight anyway."

    "Avi left us many things, and we haven''t touched at least half of them. I''m thinking that we should work harder from now on. Lest the distance between us and him bes even wider."

    Hearing her speak like this made the rest of team relieved. Luna''s back to her old self and she''s more determined than ever. Her mood inspired the rest of them to work harder as well. They had no idea just how strong Raven had gotten but he remained the strongest amongst them.

    What he did to this camp is a clear message that if they were cking off, he will really leave them to eat his dust. And as his own teammates, how can they allow him hog all of the action?

    This why once they return home, they will resign from their Instructor post and focus on their training. They will even ask Elmar the Kind Ent and Myrna the Moonlight Butterfly for pointers on how to get stronger.

    Once they got out of the cave, they summoned their mounts and left without looking back.

    Hidden through a folded space, Raven watched and heard everything.

    His tears had dried and his face wore relief, it took him a great deal of effort to not jump out of the Spatial Abode and envelope Luna in a very tight hug. In the end, he even ordered Venus to restrict his movements in order to prevent himself from doing just that.

    As he watched them fly without turning back, Raven''s gaze lingered on Luna''s back. He smiled to himself and said:

    "That''s it, Love.. Keep going, I''ll be with you soon."

 Chapter 351 - Snow

    ---

    *Woosh* *Woosh*

    Cold winds blew past Raven''s face as he traveled towards a mountain slope.

    Despite the coldness of his environment, Raven paid no attention to it and continued walking forward with nothing but his pants on.

    He endured the chill of the snow and cold winds with his bare upper body. His hair, face and chest are covered in snow dusts but it did nothing to stop him in his tracks. Even in this cold environment, Raven''s breath didn''t turn white. His breathing was stable and even, as if this coldness is nothing but a mere breeze to him.

    Raven''s facial expression was as cid as a stillke. His eyes were dull but weren''tpletely lifeless. Anyone who studies him closely can tell that he''s in a special state, and he had been like this since he started walking by foot.

    This state is the 3rd Stage of the Breath of Flowing Water, Motion.

    Raven might appear to be sleep walking right now but in fact, he''s extremely focused. His listless expression is just a side effect of his concentrated mind, he''s in a wonderful state of deep meditation that cannot be disturbed even while he''s moving.

    It had been at least 3 months since Raven saw Luna and his friends.

    In this short period of time, he managed to get his bearings back and continue his journey towards the North. He didn''t have any breakthroughs in his cultivation nor any recoveries on his soul power but he did make some improvements on his techniques.

    Most of his arsenal had been ironed out through his unceasing training, he even managed to enter the 3rd Stage of the Breath of Flowing Water, which helped him even more with that. His understanding of his ownws are deepening each day, but the more he gain understanding the more profound Destruction Law gets, so his progress are evidently slowing down.

    *Roar!*

    Raven stopped on his tracks as soon as he heard that roar. He listlessly nced at the direction of the roar and saw a hulking mass charging towards him with a raging fury.

    The figure was at least 20 meters tall with a bulky body. It had bright red eyes, snow white fur, sharp fangs and ws, and an aura that indicates a Tier 5 Demonic Beast. This creature is a cial Snow Bear, natives of the north and extremely territorial and aggressive.

    As the bear charged towards Raven, he did nothing to prepare himself nor dodge the iing beast. He stood still with a dull look on his face, seemingly unaware of the danger going towards him.

    A few meters away from him, the bear surprisingly made a giant leap that swiftly crossed the distance. The winds howled and ice materialized on the ws of the bear. The ice covered majority of it''s arm and followed the shape of long and deadly w. The bear then fell onto the ground along with it''s sharp ice ws in attempt to rip Raven to shreds.

    *Boom*

    White dust kicked as the bear fell into the bed of snow, as the dust settled down. The bear looked down and to it''s shock, it saw Raven standingpletely still and unharmed by its attack.

    It opened it''s maws wide and let out a angry roar. Icicles suddenly materialized around it''s body and shot towards Raven at a blinding speed, but even those didn''t cause any harm to him. The bear was confused, it could''ve sworn that those attacks should''ve hit him but for some reason he''s still standing and unharmed. It never saw him dodge or even make any kind of movement. The human just literally stood there and looked up.

    ''If I bite, then I won''t miss.''

    That''s the idea that came across it''s mind. And that''s precisely what the bear did. It opened its jaws wide and attempted to bite Raven''s head off. Unfortunately, something happened before its mouth reached Raven.

    The bear froze with its fangs inches away from Raven''s head. Its eyes held incredulous look on them, the bear met Raven''s dull eyes and became confused on what''s happening. Its gaze then left Raven''s eyes and roamed towards his back, and now that the bear had a closer look, it finally realized the blunder it made.

    A set of arms were restricting the bear''s whole body. There''s one was gripping it''s neck in chokehold, while two held its upper and lower jaw. Two arms held both of its legs in ce, preventing any kind of movement while the same thing happened on its arms and sides. The bear''s surprise had proven to be too much that it totally missed the hammer being held by Raven, which wasn''t there before.

    "Rip."

    A single word, sounding like an order, escaped from his lips. All of a sudden, the hands restricting the bear spurred into motion. The arms holding its jaws pulled it on opposite directions, a strong grip crushed its neck, the hand on its sides shaved the flesh on its body, the bears arms were severed so as the legs.

    It only took one order from this little human, and the life of Tier 5 Demonic Beast ended just like that. There were no fluctuations on Raven''s face, he remained listless as if what he did just now was nothing worthy of concern.

    After dealing with the cial Snow Bear, Raven continued on his path towards his next destination. And due to the coldness of this ce, the corpse of this bear will solidify in less than an hour.

    ***

    A couple of hours passed and Raven eventually reached the mountain top.

    His bare chested body stood tall on the peak and his listless eyes feasted on the scenery below. No normal human should be able to find a proper footing on where he currently is but Raven is everything but normal so he''s an exception.

    The peak is surrounded with bed of thick snow that reached his waist. Raven is literally standing in a smooth ice as he gazed below. The cold blew past his face and made a mess out of his hair but he was unbothered. He calmly gazed at the direction where he should be going, which also the reason why he climbed this mountain.

    What''s beneath him, is simr to what''s around him. Snow.

    Fields of snow as far as the eyes could see. The farther one goes to the north, the colder and harsher the north gets.

    Raven''s eyes didn''t stay long to gaze at what''s beneath him. He wanted to be on a higher ground to gain a wider vantage point, this is so that he could make a mental map of what path he should take towards his next objective.

    Past the raging hail, Raven managed to get a peak of what''s beyond.

    A vast field of smooth ice and frozen objects. This ce is closer to where he''s destination. If he goes north and past this field of ice and hail, he''ll arrive there.

    "The Frozen Tomb of the North." Raven murmured in a soft voice.

    After making a mental map of the path he should take, Raven jumped from where he was andnded on the bed of snow. He then began his descent from the mountain.

    As he descended the mountain, Raven also decided to raise the level of the Restriction Seal on his body. A very risky move since this seal is already limiting his movement freedom, plus he''s also descending from the mountain. Though he could vaguely sense his surroundings, he''s making it more difficult for himself to go down safely. The mountain has an uneven ground and one wrong step will cause him to roll down the mountain while sustaining grave injuries.

    Nevertheless, it''s training for him. He didn''t want to miss a chance to strengthen himself at any given moment, else he would fall behind.

    His life could''ve been much easier if he decided to use the Spatial Abode but he refrained from using it and decided to go on foot, and there''s two reasons for that.

    First is because it''s training and two, he can''t.

    Something''s watching him, and Raven knows what it was. This entity is one of the first to be born on this ne and it''s as old as the ne itself. It lives here in the north, and is responsible for many things in this ne. This entity is something that Raven can''t go against since one move from this thing, would cause the whole north to boil in activity.

    This entity is strong and is practically immortal. Had Raven decided to use the Spatial Abode right now, this entity will call upon a massive hail that is backed with the power of Ice Laws, which willpletely decimate the Spatial Abode in no time.

    This is the unwritten rule of the North. Everything goes by foot. Defy this rule and the entity living here will be pissed and send a raging storm of ice headed towards your way.

    Raven leaned this lesson the hard way during his previous life, and he didn''t intend to the same in his current one.. Therefore, if he wants to reach the Frozen Tomb, he had to do so by foot.

 Chapter 352 - Frozen Sea Road

    ---

    After travelling for another three days, Raven eventually arrived at the vast field of ice. The same area that he spotted back when he was still at the top of the mountain.

    He only needed to make one step forward and he''ll be on his way towards his eventual goal. But instead of taking that step, Raven paused and performed a deep bow.

    With his body still bent forward, he said: "I havee for the Frozen Tomb."

    He heard nothing back at first, except for the gentle whispers of the chilling winds around him and fluttering fall of the snow. Still he didn''t get up from his bow and patiently waited for an answer.

    And after a couple minutes of waiting, he finally got his reply.

    The frozen winds howled and a deep rumble was heard from all over the ce.

    From the depths of the north, came a massive shockwave made out of snow and frost. It caused a massive hail, greatly reducing the visibility in the vast piece of ice. The shockwave eventually reached Raven. It was strong but it wasn''t enough to make his form unstable. He merely closed his eyes and waited until themotion around him was over.

    And when it did, he rose from his bow and looked around him.

    There weren''t many changes from the field of ice, except for the fact that there is now a path made out of ice that''s specifically made for him.

    Raven listlessly walked towards this path and followed it since this is going to lead him towards the Frozen Tomb.

    This frozen path is of course made and provided to him by the entity that resides at the very depths of the North - The Guardian of the North, as he would like to call it.

    The Guardian governs everything that happens here. Yes, it includes the perpetual winter on this ce too. This Guardian is as old as the ne itself. It''s not the consciousness of the ne, those were two separate entities, but this Guardian is extremely important for this ne. Without it, the whole ne would suffer from eternal winter.

    The Guardian is an entric being, it''s probably because it had lived for a very, very long time. And since it''s existence is deeply connected with the well being of the ne, it is also can be considered as an immortal being.

    This vast field of ice - more specifically, this Frozen Sea is where it''s absolute territory begins. Everything that wants to exist, or wants to visit it''s territory needs some sort of permission from the Guardian itself. Anything that tries to trespass would face the foul mood of the Guardian and had to brace themselves since they''re going to suffer a raging hail, that is formed from Ice Laws.

    The boulders that one can see here, are all either ships, people, beasts and etc. that tried to ignore the rule of this ce, and is now frozen solid.

    And because of this, the whole northern part of this ne had be a very dangerous ce, specially when one goes in without any prior information. Raven had learn this the hard way in his previous life.

    Unfortunately, even after asking for it''s permission and being granted passage. This doesn''t mean that Raven is out of the woods just yet.

    *Crack* *Crack*

    Raven''s ears twitched as he walked towards the given path. His nk gaze stared in front and saw a frozen mirror emerging out of nowhere.

    From that frozen mirror, a bunch of skeletal hands came out. Raven stopped on his tracks and waited until all of themes out. After a few moments of waiting, a total of ten skeleton soldiers wearing frozen gear and weapons, stood before him, preventing him from moving any further.

    This is the other reason why Raven hadn''t dropped his guard yet.

    Just because he was granted passage, it doesn''t mean that he could just safely walk the road towards his destination peacefully.

    Like what was mentioned before, everything inside this Frozen Sea is within the Guardian''s control. Had Raven went into other parts of the north, this wouldn''t have happened. But because his destination is the Frozen Tomb, which is Testing Grounds for a sect on the Divine Realm, the Guardian is entitled to test any potential candidates heading there.

    The Frozen Skeleton Soldiers howled and red at him. They were all holding different kinds of weapons, and each of them radiated with blue cloud which looks like an aura.

    "Frost Toxins." Raven muttered with his listless face, "I am honored, Guardian."

    The blue cloud of mist that''s emanating off of each skeleton soldier''s body is actually Frost Toxins. These are poisonous substances that''s made by nature and extremely deadly. One whiff, and this will permeated through one''s marrows, freezing everything from the inside and turning its victims into an ice sculpture within seconds.

    Having the Guardian, an immortal being, create enemies that has Frost Toxins to go against him, proves that this entity is impressed by him.

    And even though these Frost Toxins are deadly, it cannot do any real harm against someone like Raven.

    Lifting a single finger, he condensed a tiny portion of his Chaos Force and fired beams of light that travelled to each skeleton soldiers with pinpoint uracy. As soon as the beams of light struck them, all of them froze from where they stood, before they began decaying in a speed visible to the naked eye. They then turned into mists, which were then turned frozen by the coldness of this ce.

    These animated corpses serves as an appetizer for what the Guardian has in store for Raven. Of course, it was expecting him to deal with them with ease, so the scene of him dealing with the skeleton soldiers isn''t far from its expectations.

    Raven''s Chaos Force proved to be effective against these lesser creatures. He didn''t need any fancy or grand techniques to deal with them at all. But of course, he''s also aware that this is just the beginning.

    "I also have to pay attention on how much damage I am doing to the road itself." Raven murmured as he continued walking forward. "If I fell from this road, the Guardian will take it as form of trespassing, and I''ll be in for a bad time. I wouldn''t want that."

    This is another reason why Raven didn''t take out the hammer right away.

    He''s aware that the road he''s taking is strong enough to take a beating, after all these path is made out of Ice Laws and was specifically made by the guardian itself. But of course, it wouldn''t hurt to be careful.

    Raven''s just hoping that he won''t face any enemy that will force him into using his Destruction Laws. Because if that happens, then he might also destroy the very road that he''s using.

    ***

    *Boom!*

    With one mighty swing of his hammer, a forceful momentum erupted from Raven''s body.

    It was as if the sky caved in and way the winds blew, changed patterns all of a sudden. An overbearing force sent at least 5 Frost Trolls falling from the frozen road where Raven stood.

    The remaining trolls felt a deep seated fear from what just happened to theirrades. Their resolve was broken with just one swing from Raven''s hammer. It also didn''t help that Raven hadn''t stopped moving forward at all. As if he couldn''t care less about what''s standing in front of him. If it blocks him, then it will be decimated by his hulking hammer.

    Raven nted one foot forward, with one strong swing, another overbearing momentum exploded and struck the fearful trolls. Suffering the same fate as theirrades earlier, the remaining trolls fell off of the frozen road and blocked Raven no longer.

    He just spent two days of travelling this frozen road and Raven already had to face 10 differing variations of enemies. It seems to him that the Guardian is really ying with him.

    It''s not like he hated it, after all this is training for him as well. But it just bes annoying since the Guardian seemed to have endless ideas on what kind of variations it could add onto the already troublesome enemies.

    At first, it just intensified the lethality of Frost Toxins present on each enemy he faced. When Raven dealt with every single one with ease, it then started giving them more intelligence. When that didn''t work either, it then began throwing more powerful enemies against him.

    The Ice Trolls just now, each of them are actually Tier 6 in strength. Not just that, they are more intelligent than any regr Ice Trolls thanks to the Guardian and each of them also has weapons made out of Ice Laws.

    They are so troublesome that Raven had to pull out his hammer and deal with them as fast as he could. If he allowed them to remain longer, then it is possible that they will start destroying the frozen road and Raven didn''t want that to happen.

    Thankfully, he managed to deal with every single one without causing much damage to the road.

    Raven sighed in relief and continued walking forward.. He was nearly there, he just have to fight at least one or two more battles and he''ll eventually arrive at the Frozen Tomb.

 Chapter 353 - Frozen Tomb

    ---

    *Boom!*

    Yet another explosion urred, sending the frozen road shaking in it''s wake.

    A hulking mass of a bipedal creature shot back towards the nearby tform, causing shards of ice to fall on top of its head. This creature is a furry monster with a face only a mother could love. It sported a tall frame, standing for about 30 meters in height and weighs at least several tons. It held a club made out of Ice Laws, radiated with excessive amounts of Frost Toxins, and is a genuine peak Tier 5 Demonic Beast.

    The Ice Troll King, is thest gate keeper that the Guardian sent to test him.

    And while is still suffering from a mild concussion due to Raven''s attack earlier, he decided to not let this chance pass and finish this battle once and for all.

    The handle of his hammer lit up and his body started emanating an overbearing aura.

    "Silver Twisting Decimation! Up!"

    All of a sudden, ten silver fist-shaped pirs materialized from beneath the Ice Troll King. These arms then rotated together and sent the beast up in the air. The Ice Troll King groaned in pain due to the sheer raw power behind that attack but Raven''s not done yet.

    "Hold!" He yelled, then more arms appeared out of nowhere and held the Ice Troll King up in the air.

    The Ice Troll King couldn''t move a muscle. There''s an arm holding it''s head and neck, there''s at least two arms holding each of its arms, the same goes for it''s legs. The beast then saw Raven swinging his hammer, it didn''t even saw him perform a whole swing before it felt an intense pain on it''s body.

    A silver fist manifested and punched his right rib-cage, causing them to shatter and for the troll king to vomit blood. The poor troll couldn''t even buck its body in pain because of the tight hold of the arms around its body.

    Raven swung his hammer again and another fist dealt the same damage on the other side. The glossy white fur of the troll is nowpletely dyed with blood, making it look horrible.

    But since the Ice Troll King is still breathing, it means that Raven''s not finished yet.

    Raising his hammer up in the air, the sky rumbled and ground trembled. A massive energy fluctuation was released by Raven''s body. As his hair danced with the furious cold air around him. Arge mass of gold started umting near the Ice Troll King.

    In a blink of an eye, the poor troll found itself staring at what would probably thest thing it would see.

    Two enormous Golden Hands materialized from each side, emanating a destructive force that could send anyone shaking from fear. Each golden hand was presenting an open palm. Raven''s eyes glinted with a cold light, he then yelled:

    "Praying Golden Hands!" And then he swung the hammer down.

    The two Golden Hands then moved and mmed onto each other with the Ice Troll King in between. There was no resistance from the troll. Its body exploded into a bloody mist as piece of flesh and broken bones dropped to the ground.

    Raven released a long exhale and once again found serenity. He sent the hammer away as well as the Golden Hands as well. He then released some of his Chaos Force around his body to clean himself as best as he could. After doing that, he then resumed walking towards his destination.

    Walking several paces forward, he found himself standing in front of a massive ice sculpture that follows the shape of an egg.

    "I''m here." Raven whispered as he gazed at the massive egg. "The Frozen Tomb of the North."

    And just as he said that, an opening suddenly appeared in front of him as if inviting him inside. Raven didn''t waste any time and stepped inside. He had to find the ingredient he''s looking for swiftly or else he won''t make it to the east in time.

    ***

    As soon as Raven stepped inside, the entrance closed behind him, effectively preventing him from exiting this ce.

    Raven held no panic on his heart. Since there was an entrance, naturally there is an exit as well. The memories he had on this ce was quite vivid since it made a deep impression on him, the only thing he''s not sure off is how long he''ll stay inside this ce since he''s on a tight schedule.

    His thought were then interrupted by an assault of coldness that made him shiver.

    Raven involuntarily inhaled sharply and that too, didn''t feel so good. It was very cold in here, at least five time colderpared outside. Raven could sense the work of Ice Laws here and honestly, he''s not that surprised. After all, this tomb was made for someone who ruled the entire north once upon a time.

    Unlike outside, the coldness of this ce isn''t brought by the hail. In fact, Raven could barely feel any gust of air inside this ce. This is the work of Ice Laws, and because this ce ispletely sealed, it was effectively containing the coldness within.

    The origins of the Frozen Tomb is as old as the Sunken Ivory Castle. Butpared to thetter, the Frozen Tomb was actually made in this ne by thete Ice Emperor.

    The Ice Emperor is one of the oldest and strongest men, even during the era of Master Sun, the first person to step foot at the Divine Realm. Few people held the title of an ''Emperor'' during that era, most of them had that title because of their seniority but the Ice Emperor earned his.

    While he might be as old as the other ''Emperors'' at that era. He''s is by far the strongestpared to them. It was said that just with his breath alone, he could turn an army into ice sculptures. And since he was born when the ne was still young, his understanding of Ice Laws was unmatched.

    ording to legends, someone invoked the ire of the Ice Emperor by spouting malicious rumors against his daughter. The poor guy felt confident about his strength but he didn''t know the immensity of the heavens. With a gentle wave of the Ice Emperor''s hand, he sent a gust of cold wind which then travelled towards the opposite end of the ne and became furious hail that encase the whole south in ice and shred the ignorant guy into pieces.

    That alone caused the whole ne to be wary of angering the Ice Emperor even further. He literally plunge the south in winter while he was still at the north, and he did so with just a turn of his hand. How could everyone calm down with that information.

    Since then, due to the fear of angering him, people would often send him gifts and sacrifices to appease his mood. It was also due to this event that the rules of the north became more rigid. Those who wanted to live or visit the north, shall ask for the Ice Emperor''s permission first before doing so. If they were granted ess, they shall not stray away from the path given to them or else they will invoke the ire of the Ice Emperor.

    Those who were looking for apprenticeship under him, had to face several challenges to prove their worth. None really had any idea of what the Ice Emperor requires for his disciples since he never shared that information to anyone.

    What most people didn''t know is that, the reason why the Ice Emperor was this strong is because he was raised by the Guardian of the North. He was originally a sacrifice for the immortal entity since some northern tribes believed that there was a god living amongst them.

    Raven had no idea what the Guardian saw from the infant that spurred it to raise the child, but it truly happened. The Ice Emperor left some scriptures on his tomb confirming this information, and Raven read them before so he knew that this really happened.

    Unfortunately, the Ice Emperor is very secretive. Apart from this, he didn''t left any information about his life. No one knows what happened to him and who built this tomb, the citizens of the north just saw it appear out of nowhere and to their surprise, they found out that it was his tomb.

    He would''ve liked to know more about the Ice Emperor, but he''s on really tight schedule here so he can''t go searching freely.

    Raven was walking in a smooth surface,pletely frozen by the atmosphere here. He could see his reflection on the floor whenever he looked down.

    The interior of the tomb looks like a series of tunnel system, leading towards the depth of the tomb. Raven closed his eyes briefly and remembered the memories of his past.

    He had spent a long time in this ce during his past life, not that he wanted too really but that forced him to remember what path leads to what. After doing some process of elimination, he eventually had the paths marked mentally so he resumed walking.

    As soon as one entered the tomb, they will instantly see five tunnels ahead of them. Each of these tunnels lead to different rooms in the tomb. Some are traps, some are not.. Raven chose the leftmost tunnel and followed it until the end.

 Chapter 354 - Frozen Thoughts

    ---

    The tunnel that Raven chose had an upward slope. He continued walking until he eventually reached the end, arriving at another open space and seeing five more tunnels.

    Raven chose the middle tunnel and found himself on an upward slope once more. He once again ended up at an open space with five more tunnels but this time, something was different.

    *Whew*

    As Raven exhaled, he saw that his breath had turned into white mist as soon as it left his mouth. He wasn''t bothered by the coldness of this ce at first but as he moved from room to room, the temperature is constantly dropping.

    This scenario urred five more times until the moment Raven was expecting, finally arrived.

    *Rumble*

    The whole tomb trembled, snowkes fell from the ceiling and cracks started appearing on the floor. Raven sighed and watched how his breath turned into white mist. He then shook his head and sat on his knees.

    The rumbling around him intensified but instead of searching for a safe ce to hide, Raven decided to remain calm since he already had an idea of what''s going to happen. He took out an hourss and ced it beside him. He then closed his eyes and waited for the moment toe.

    *Whoosh!* *Whoosh!*

    Out of nowhere, the winds inside the tomb kicked in and the temperature started dropping at a dangerous pace. Raven dropped all of his defenses down and allowed the winds to assault his entire being.

    While it doesn''t make sense why would a fearsome gale of frost ur inside a closed space, no one''s in the position to question it since he''s also intruding the tomb of an Emperor.

    The freezing winds blew non-stop, and Raven did nothing to protect himself from it. His body instinctively shivered as he felt the biting cold assaulting his body. He sank into a deep meditation and let everything happen naturally.

    As time went on, Raven''s body was freezing in a visible pace. Frost started umting on his body and hisplexion was turning paler and paler. Eventually, he waspletely frozen from head to toe. His heart stopped beating and his blood waspletely frozen solid. Any human touch would literally cause him to be snowkes, that''s how vulnerable he is right now. Eventually the freezing winds stopped and everything sank back into silence, only there''s one more ice sculpture inside the tomb.

    It was safe to say that Raven''s in a cryostasis right now. He''s not really dead, but he absolutely could not move or even defend himself right now.

    With the permission from the Ice Emperor himself, the Evesting Snow Sect ced an Ascension tform in this tomb, giving anyone whoes here a chance to join their sect should the pass a certain trial.

    The said trial is simple. Search the Ascension tform, once someone arrives there, their sect would be notified and they''ll contact the prospective disciple. But of course there is a catch, how can an Ancient Sect just allow anybody to reach the ascension tform and join them?

    Once a day inside the tomb, an ancient art will be casted. This art will cause everything inside to be frozen from inside out. This Ancient Art is named Breath of Absolute Frost, and is one of the most prized possession of the sect.

    This art is not meant to kill any trial challenger, it is a test. This art will freeze them for a period of time, which depends on how long they have stayed inside the tomb. After the Freezing Period is over, the tomb will enter a Thawing State, and this is when the trial challenger will be thawed and would be able to move once again.

    The Breath of Absolute Frost is not meant to be resisted. It doesn''t matter how much resisting a trial challenger does, the breath won''t stop until they''re frozen. Resisting will only cause them to be exhausted since they will just be dying the inevitable, plus their are also taking risk of actually dying since exhaustion will cause them to be unconscious, and once they embraced the sweet touch of sleep, they''ll never wake up.

    Staying active inside the tomb for one day to one week, will cause them to be frozen by the art for a whole day. One week to less than a month, they''ll be frozen for an entire week. More than a month to less than three months, they''ll be frozen for two weeks. More than three months to less than six, they''ll be frozen for an entire month. More than six months to less than a year, they''ll be frozen for two months.

    Staying active for more than one year inside the tomb, will cause the challenger to be frozen for six months straight.

    Which means that Raven could move just fine for a whole day, but once the day is over he''ll freeze. He then had to wait until he''s thawed to move again, this is the cycle for the first week. Next week, he''ll be able to move for a whole day, then freeze for an entire week, wait until he''s thawed and move again.

    This is what makes the Frozen Tomb dangerous. The Breath of Absolute Frost is irresistible, and even if it doesn''t mean to kill anyone, just being inactive for a long time will cause anyone to lose themselves and fall to an eternal sleep.

    Rushing ahead is not a good choice either since the ancient art elerates its casting time depending on how fast one moves, a speed limit of some sorts. Raven had no idea how the conversions work for that but it''s enough to pass the message.

    Endure.

    This is what the sect wants for it''s challengers to do. They want someone who''s will is tough enough to endure being frozen for long periods of time while keeping their consciousness intact.

    If this was any other day, Raven would''ve beenpletely fine taking his sweet time inside this ce. Having knowledge of how this ce works and knowing himself, this ce isn''t threatening to him at all. But it just so happens that he''s in a tight schedule.

    His next destination, the Sun Temple of the East, only appears during the 9th hour of the 9th day of the 9th Month. This only happens once a year and the temple will only show itself for five minutes before disappearing.

    It is currently the 3rd month of the Lunar Calendar. He had to hurry since he also have to consider how much time it will take for him to arrive at the location of the temple.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t blitz through this ce due to the restrictions. He even found himself wondering if his decision to go through this ce first was the correct decision. It might''ve not been a bad idea to go to the east first and wait until there until it appears, get the thing he needs there ande here.

    But he''s already here at the Frozen Tomb so there''s nothing he could do.

    ''I''m really missing home way too much huh¡­'' He thought while he''s immersed on deep meditation.

    Raven couldn''t help but sigh inwardly as he realized this. Ever since he saw Luna and his friends, he had this urge to ran back home and rest.

    It''s not like he''s not used to loneliness since that''s literally what he felt during majority of his previous life. He could endure loneliness just fine, but since this is his new life, it raises the question ''Why should he feel lonely?''

    Unlike his previous life, everyone he knew and loved are alive. He didn''t have to hold back in showing his affections. There''s no reason for him to feel regret and feel alone anymore since they are all alive and well. He could be selfish and stay with them for long periods of time, but he also knew that doing this will just ce them in danger.

    He really want to spend more time with them, but the situation won''t just allow it. He can''t afford to rest, because the moment he does, he will lose them all once again.

    Raven vowed, never again. He swore that he will not lose them again.

    The pain and suffering he felt during his past life, he doesn''t want to go through all of that again. He had lost count on how many time he had nightmares about that event and how many sleepless night he had to endure just because they won''t stop. This was the most difficult Inner Devil to get rid of.

    Even if no one med him for what happened, he still felt responsible for their deaths. He couldn''t even kill himself even though wanted to since he wanted to honor thest words of his parents. They wanted him to live on.

    Which is why in this new chance he was given, he will dly take charge and responsibility. Anything to keep them away from harm, even at the cost of his own self, he would do it without looking back.

    He promised himself that he''s not letting them out his grasp, ever again. Raven had the knowledge and materials to make sure that he could achieve his goals. All he need is time and effort.

    ''Being a Knight is being responsible. I''ll carry the burden of the entire world just to make sure that you guys will be safe.. That is my way.''

 Chapter 355 - Ice Crystal Root

    ---

    ''Damn! I was a bee''s dick away from taking it! God! I hate this ancient art.''

    This was Raven''s thoughts as he froze for nth time inside the Frozen Tomb. His position was quite awkward since he was frozen as he was reaching towards the item that, by his words, a bee''s dick away from his reach. He was quite literally about to touch it, but the Breath of Absolute Frost prevented him from doing so.

    Raven could only sigh inwardly in exasperation. And because he had been active inside this cave for more than one week, he''s going to be frozen for a whole week before the next thawing happens.

    With nothing to do, he decided to leave his frozen body and go towards his core. He would''ve preferred to go inside the crown space but he needed his body to be unfrozen first, or else the tremendous pressure in the Pce Grounds will turn him into Ice Dusts.

    Going towards his core doesn''t need his physical body, he just needed his consciousness to do so.

    Once inside, he once again saw the mystical space inside which never failed to amaze him. He had been in the outer space before during his previous life, and this ce looks just like that, minus the countless stars and asteroids. The only stars present here is orb of his Chaos Force, which closely resembles a sun, and the ''Bounty'' he had been collecting from it, which looks just like the moon.

    Raven''s consciousness then approached the Chaos Force Orb. Once he got close, he flew towards the top of it and sat down to enter deep meditation. And just like, Raven was once again lost in his thoughts, gaining some faint ideas that will eventually link together and end up as an enlightenment for him.

    This is what he had been doing during the Freezing Period. At first, the idea of sitting on the surface of a star that resembled a sun, doesn''t really sounded good to him. But then again, this is not the Sun, this enormous star is the total amalgamation of his Chaos Force, where the majority is sealed by an unknown force. He figured that since it''s inside his body, it shouldn''t be there to harm him, so it should be safe to approach it. What''s more is that, it''s sealed anyway. Approaching it wouldn''t cause him to explode or anything like that.

    To his surprise, once he started doing deep meditation on the surface of his own Chaos Force Orb, new ideas and enlightenments started visiting him more often. At first he thought that it was just a coincidence but the more tested it out, the more he started believing. So it''s no surprise that this is the only way he''s doing it if the situation permits it.

    ''I''ve been active inside this ce for a week and three days. This is the 10th time, and due to the annoying rules of this ce, I''m here for a total of almost a month, 24 days to be exact. And I''ll be here for longer since I also have to travel back. Undoubtedly, the journey back to the exit will be longer.''

    At most, he''ll be here for 2 months in total, if he''s unlucky then he might have to stay longer. What''s really annoying him was the rule. The longer he stayed inside, the longer he''s frozen. How he wished that the ratio of Freezing Period and Thawing Period was 1:1, it''ll be less annoying if that was the case.

    ***

    "Damn, I finally got it." He murmured as he started walking back. He can''t afford to waste time so he started walking back as soon as he grabbed the item he was here for.

    He gazed at the thing he was holding. It was a ginseng root which looked like it was made out of ss, it had multiple fibers growing out of it''s body which almost looked like little frozen branches. This is the ingredient that he needed in this ce.

    The Ice Crystal Root.

    An ingredient that will only grow in cold areas. The colder the surroundings, the faster it''s growth is. And judging by the appearance of this root, it''s at least 90-100 years old. This was enough for multiple use since what they needed was just the fibers. Raven took the whole root away since he had ns on giving to Richard when he get back, this is a very rare ingredient after all. It could be used for tons of recipes, so he took it away with him so that they could grow one back home.

    ''Alright, now I only needed to head towards the east, grab the final ingredient and head back home." He murmured as he was walking back. His journey was nearly over, the idea that he''ll finally be able to go back home and spend time with loved one''s really excited him.

    "Hmm?"

    Raven suddenly sensed a disturbance in front of him which made him stop on his tracks.

    Out of nowhere, a huge snowke suddenly materialized in front of him, catching himpletely off-guard. Raven frowned and can''t quite decide whether to destroy this snowke, observe what happens or ignore it altogether and just get the hell out this ce.

    As he was in the middle of deciding what to do, another change urred on the huge snowke.

    The middle portion of it shattered and revealed a crack in space. Raven involuntarily inhaled sharply as he sense the fluctuations of space. His face instantly became serious, he couldn''t feel any malicious intenting from it but he knew that an existence that could create portals like this in conjunction with another, is something that he could not mess with right now.

    All of a sudden, something shot out from portal and went towards him with a blinding speed. It was too fast that Raven couldn''t even dodge it even though he saw iting.

    Tendrils of white silk wrapped around his waist and before he knew it, he was already being dragged towards the portal. He tried to fight the pull but it was too strong for him. Left with no options, he decided to just allow himself to be transported, and he''ll just deal with the situation depending on how he sees fit.

    Raven then disappeared inside the Frozen Tomb, the portal disappeared as well the huge snowke, leaving only the cold air and the perpetual silence inside the tomb.

    ***

    When Raven regained his vision, he found himself standing in a ce that he had never seen before.

    He was inside of what looks like a dome made out of nothing but ice. The temperature inside this ce is not as cold as the outside, his breath wasn''t turning into a white mist and he''s definitely not shivering from the cold.

    The then turned around to see more of the ce but as soon as he did so, he nearly suffered from a heart attack.

    He saw an enormous face, studying him from head to toe.

    That face alone was almost as tall as he is. Raven swallowed a mouthful of spit and studied the creature back.

    Its face resembled that of a gori''s but its features are more delicate. It''s whole body is covered with a thick mop of white and glossy fur. This one had two horns which starts from the edge of its eyebrows and extends at least a few inches away from its head. It had a massive body, he couldn''t urately tell how big it was since it''s hunched over with its face very close to him. At the same time, this creatures arms and legs is biggerpared to its actual body, its feet were huge too.

    After studying the creature long enough, Raven finally realized what it was or, who this was.

    "Greetings, Guardian Yeti of the North. My name is Raven. Nice to see you?" He sounded quite unsure during hisst words since he couldn''t believe that this was happening.

    The being that was born at the same time as this ne, the immortal that raised the most powerful emperor that had ever lived, the one and true ruler of the entire north.

    The Guardian Yeti, is in front of him and is currently studying him closely.

    *Snort!*

    Air was blown from yeti''s nostrils, causing the entire dome to shake and for a moment and the huge gust of cold air to directly assault Raven.

    He did nothing to avoid it nor feel offended by it. Raven could feel that the Guardian Yeti had no bad intentions since if had, then his ocr technique should''ve given him signs already.

    After themotion dissipated, him and the yeti stared at each other again. It was then that the yeti''s tongue suddenly came out of it''s mouth and gave Raven a long lick that almost sent him flying back.

    Raven couldn''t do anything other than to smile wryly. He didn''t understand why the yeti decided to do that, and he couldn''t even avoid it. Now he''s covered in slimy spit from that lick, making him very ufortable.

    Out of nowhere, Raven heard augh which caused him to be rmed. He then saw someone walking out of the shadow of the yeti and walking towards him.

    "It''s seems that A''nu likes you, young man."

    "You are¡­"

 Chapter 356 - Old Man

    ---

    An old man with a long white beard and thick white eyebrows showed up from the shadows of the Guardian Yeti.

    His eyes were closed so Raven had no idea what his pupils look like. His face was wrinkled with age, his earlobes were elongated due to the unique earrings he was wearing. He was holding a wooden cane that supported his posture, his back was bent and he was wearing what looks like a dirty martial gi, and he was barefooted as well.

    His tone and face showed kindness, but behind this expression, Raven could sense so much more.

    This old man, was incredibly suspicious. It also didn''t help that he could somehow recognize his face.

    "You are¡­" Raven paused. He stared at the old man and racked his memories in his attempts to remember who this was.

    The old man was aware that Raven was getting suspicious of him, but instead of saying anything, he chose to remain silent and instead, he lovingly stroked the fur of the Guardian Yeti like it was some sort of a house pet.

    In his stupor, Raven eventually figured out who this old man looked like. But at the same time, he also didn''t want to believe that this old man was the same person he was thinking about.

    "Greetings, Elder. My name is Raven." He said as he introduced himself, "May I know yours?"

    The old man looked back at him and smiled kindly, he then asked: "Don''t you already have your answers? Why ask me still?"

    "But you can''t possibly be the same person I am thinking." Raven answered as confidently as he could.

    The old man raised his brow in amusement and asked: "Oh? And why is that?"

    "It''s because I could neither sense any fluctuations of Ice Laws on you, so you can''t possibly be the Ice Emperor." Raven answered, "I also almost mistook you as the Ice Emperor''s biological father, the ''Caretaker'', but you''re also not him since I can''t feel any Mantrasing off of you."

    "So who are you really?" Raven asked.

    His words and question finally caused the old man''s expression to change into a more serious one. However that onlysted for a mere moment before his face returned to it''s usual kindness. He then said:

    "Well I''ll be¡­" The old manughed softly, "The Ice Emperor himself didn''t even know who his own biological parents were. But you, someone who were born ages after his death and never had any chances of meeting him personally, knew about it."

    "Not only that, you can also tell that I don''t have any Ice Laws and you are also aware of Buddhist Mantras." The old manughed heartily this time and said: "You really are an impressive young man."

    "Thank you for your praise, Elder." Raven replied. But even though he appeared to be calm, he was actually preparing for the worst already.

    ''He basically confirmed that he''s neither of them. Who could this old man possibly be?''

    His instincts were screaming at him, telling him that he cannot deal with this old man should he pissed him off. Ever since he showed, Raven was still trying to figure out who his old man is.

    Raven''s senses told him that this old man is older than what he actually looks like. He could sense a profound ancientness in the way that he moves and talks. But at the same time, he also found him incredibly weird. Something''s not right with this old man.

    *Groans*

    His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden sound of groaning from the Guardian Yeti. His gaze turned towards it and he saw that it was shaking off the umting snow on it''s body.

    "There, there." The old man said as he continued stroking the white and glossy fur of the humongous being.

    ''Wait!'' Raven suddenly recalled something as he saw this interaction. ''He''s treating the Guardian Yeti like a house pet! That shouldn''t be possible. ording to the words of the Ice Emperor himself, the Guardian Yeti doesn''t like being with humans aside from him. The Ice Emperor left nothing about this old man at all, which means that either he doesn''t know of him, or this old man asked him to keep his identity as a secret. But why would he do that?''

    He also recalled another important information.

    ''Right, he also called the Guardian Yeti with a different name.'' He thought to himself. ''He called it, A''nu. The Ice Emperor called it Father. What''s going on here?''

    ''All I know that this old man is really old. Like really, really old. As if¡­wait!''

    Raven suddenly realized something, and the thought struck him like thunderbolt, causing him to inhale sharply. This of course wasn''t missed by the old man who looked at him in curiosity. It was then that Raven suddenly blurted out these words:

    "You aren''t human."

    The old man''s expression changed as he these wordsing from Raven. He didn''t say anything, instead he waited for Raven to continue.

    "No, that''s notpletely true either." Raven continued, "You are only part human, and those human part of your happens to look like the Ice Emperor''s lineage."

    "What I''m looking at right now, is an Avatar." Raven said, causing the old man to be shocked, "An Avatar of something that had existed for a very, very long time. You treat the Guardian Yeti like it is your own child, it gave me an impression that you must''ve been born even before it did."

    "Am I right so far?" Raven paused and said: "ne''s Consciousness?"

    *Boom!*

    The whole ice dome visibly shook after he said his piece.

    A fearsome aura filled with the grandeur of ancientness and unrelenting might suddenly flooded his surroundings.

    Shockwaves reverberated everywhere, causing Raven''s clothes and hair to p wildly with the raging cold winds it''s causing.

    In fact, this might wasn''t only felt around him. This vast and mighty aura had spread not only throughout the whole north but in the whole ne as well.

    ***

    All Demonic Beast felt a deep seated terror when they felt these fluctuations. They all prepared for the worst and thought of methods they could use to survive.

    The peaceful apes of the Gentle Primates Tribe looked up to the skies in horror as if they could feel the anger of the heavens, simr to how they witnessed Raven''s might once upon a time. Only this time, it''s strong by several folds.

    The Idol of the Kraken Priestess at the Sunken Ivory Castle as felt the fluctuations of the ne. She looked at the ceiling, but he gaze prated all the way to the surface of the sea. Her delicate face wore a very troubled expression. She asked:

    "Who could''ve provoked this kind of reaction from him?"

    Meanwhile, near the kingdom''s walls. Myrna, the Moonlight Butterfly, who''s silently watching over their children and spending her time in peace with Elmar, the Kind Ent, also felt the vast might of the ne washing over the skies.

    She felt it, Elmar felt, their children felt it as well, causing both of them to go into motion. Myrna revealed her true form and sent mighty gusts of winds around her. She uttered a piercing cry, a call that only their children could hear. Elmar sent his roots and vines to grab their children and hide them to his own body to protect them.

    "The ne''s Consciousness was provoked! Who could''ve done such a thing!?" Myrna exasperatingly asked.

    "I don''t know." Elmar answered solemnly, "But it shouldn''t be because of us. Still, this is not good."

    Myrna flew and perched herself into one of the branches of Elmar. She then said: "Let''s keep an eye out. We didn''t do anything wrong, but if he''s reallying towards us, then I''ll fight to death."

    "I''ll fight with you, after I send our children away. I''m not letting you face this alone."

    And just like that, the two braced themselves for the worst.

    It wasn''t just the Demonic Beasts too. Humans also felt this vast and ancient aura washing over the skies.

    Balmung immediately sent an order, he mobilized all forces in preparation for an iing attack. They monitored the Sk Array and had all knights on stand by. All of them felt nervous.

    It feels like doomsday wasing for them. And even though the state of the Kingdom is far cry from what it was used to be, they still feel that they were extremely unprepared for the uing cmity.

    All the way back at the location of Raven. As the one who''s bearing all the burnt of this overbearing aura, of course Raven didn''t feel so good.

    The might of the old man made him feel small. But instead of sumbing to his unquestionable might, Raven instead had wore a peaceful smile on his face and allowed himself to be baptized by this mighty power.

    His posture never faltered. He stood tall and proud as he facedbined might of an entire ne. Of course he was feeling pain all over his body but this is considered nothing to him.

    Not even the vast power of this entire ne, could move his will or his soul to submission.

 Chapter 357 - Raven, The Strange Person

    ---

    "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    An uproariousughter was heard echoing through the Ice Dome. The sound of the old man''sughter was enough to cause the walls to shook fiercely as if they were about to break any moment now.

    The ferocious aura that could be felt all over the ne was gone. It was reced by the jolly mood that the old man currently has. And since that''s over, Raven also visibly rxed and wiped some of the sweat that umted on his face.

    This old man was a bit much to handle, so much so that he caused Raven to sweat in a cold ce. Nevertheless, he was d that the situation didn''t deteriorate into something that will force him to use his trump cards.

    "God damn, kid." The old man said after he finishedughing, he wiped some of the tears that umted on the corners of his eyes and continued: "You really are something else. I barely did anything at all and you managed to uncover my true identity. That''s ridiculous!"

    Raven merely smiled and didn''t reply. To bepletely honest, he didn''t really know how he''s going to handle this situation.

    This is the first time that he had been contacted by the Grand Ancestral ne''s Consciousness. He had imagined talking to it many times in the past but not even once did it show itself to him, not to mention that he''s also not expecting it to take on a Human Form.

    The old man then waved his hand and suddenly the space around them twisted. All of a sudden, Raven found himself in different ce. He was inside some kind of a jungle, the Guardian Yeti was nowhere to be seen and the cold atmosphere was gone. He found himself sitting on a chopped wood with the old man sitting in front of him. There is a small campfire separating the two whilst also keeping them warm at the same time.

    The old man was staring kindly at the me, Raven didn''t say anything but he knew that wouldn''t be able to avoid conversing with this old man for long.

    "You aren''t an ordinary child." The old man stated as he threw a dead tree branch towards the campfire. "I refuse to believe you just have a very good deduction skills since one would never be able to has ess to these information just by specting about the subject. Add the fact that you were so confident about your words, all of this are factors that shouldn''t be possessed by a normal 19 year old like you."

    Raven was silent and just like the old man, he silently stared at the fire. He was currently weighing out some decisions in his mind. He was aware that he wouldn''t be able to hide much from this person, this was the ne''s Consciousness. It is aware of everything that''s happening around it. And for sure, it noticed Raven already, else this meeting wouldn''t have been possible.

    "If felt something, a couple of years back." The old man stated, causing Raven to listen intently to him. "A strange feeling that was."

    "It was as if I''ve lost something that important that I couldn''t remember¡­but at the same time gained something ever greater back."

    Raven felt his heart racing as he listened to him. Still he didn''t say anything and allowed the old man to continue to speak.

    "I am the ne''s Consciousness." He said, "I am old, and I''ve a tendency to forget certain things due to age, however none of those things I''ve forgotten, couldpare to how much I was bothered by the things I''ve lost back then."

    "I often found myself wondering just what in the world did I lose to bother me this much? What''s even funnier is that, I don''t even know about the thing I gained."

    "Strange isn''t it?" The old man asked in rhetorical tone, "I am no different from a god within this ce, yes I have some restrictions but I could do anything I want. Hell, even making a human avatar is a simple task for me. But for reason, the things I mentioned before? I couldn''t do anything about them? You should understand how I feel right?"

    Raven nodded instinctively to answer him. Yes, he could very imagine what that feels. Having so much control of pretty much everything but suddenly having something you cannot control is a feeling that he felt many times in his previous life.

    "And so, I became curious. Because I am curious, I investigated." The old man stated, "But I was pretty much clueless for a good while until I suddenly witnessed something incredible."

    "The heavens parted without my consent." The old man said in a serious voice. "A deity visited my ne, fused with the body of a human and smite the malicious tumor that''s has been feeding off of me for a very long time. As far as I could remember, that deity was the Archangel Jubileus."

    Raven sighed as he said this, of course he knew about the event he''s talking about. It was him who caused that even after all so how could he not know?

    "I am grateful for the help since I am helpless against that pest. But the visit of that deity was uncalled for. One wrong move and her presence alone could''ve destroyed me, along with my citizens. I am weakened by age, it won''t really take much before I kick the bucket, but of course I don''t want to die. So that sudden visit scared the life out of me. Thankfully, the process went smoothly and I had gained a little bit of my freedom due to that as well."

    "But that raises some points that I don''t quite understand myself." The old man continued, "Who in the world summoned her spirit? Who the hell knew how to perform the proper ritual to such a thing? I don''t recall any existences that could''ve done such a thing, so imagine my surprise when it actually happened."

    "What''s more is that even I didn''t feel when the ritual began, the whole visit was done before I knew it, and I didn''t even have the time to formally wee or bid goodbye to Her Majesty at all. She left without saying a word. I only knew about what she did after she left but the reason of her visit shocked me as well."

    "She is a deity, normally she wouldn''t even spare an ounce of attention on what''s going on in the lower realms. But not only did she made time to visit a ne like this, she even personally descended and allowed someone to be her vessel for a short period of time just to deal with an antpared to her status."

    "None of those made utter sense to me. Not at all."

    As Raven listened to the words of the old man, he wasughing wryly in his mind. He thought:

    ''Yeah, summoning a deity as a reinforcement is really excessive. I understand your conundrum old man, but I had no other options at that time.''

    "I investigated once again. I even visited the ce where it happened, but to my shock, I found no leads or clues to who the summoned was. I couldn''t even find the vessel Her Majesty used! This bothered me to no end but s, I couldn''t do anything about it so I just had to let the matter go."

    The old man paused and sighed, not too long after that he continued speaking: "Then I discovered yet another change that I wasn''t responsible for."

    "One treasures I have, a tree that rebelled from its path, suddenly turned a new leaf without me knowing. Again."

    ''Oh dear¡­'' Raven thought to himself.

    "It was supposed to give dreams, not eat others'' dreams. I''ve tried convincing it before but it never listened to me. Yet all of a sudden, someone came and did the same thing that I couldn''t aplish. How astonishing was that?"

    "I treasured this tree for the longest of time. Even though it rebelled, I didn''t have the heart to erase it. Yet it willingly corrected its ways and is now amidst a great evolution. I don''t know about others, but this is a big deal to me. And what made me even more grateful is that, the one who''s responsible for that change finally left a trail that I can follow."

    ''Oh boy¡­"

    "I followed him and I could''ve caught him earlier but I decided to observe his actions. And I must say, his actions really surprised me. He even had the audacity to defy and threaten the Kraken Priestess! I was so impressed! She told me that he used her sister''s life as a bargaining chip against her. What a man this person was! I don''t know if he''s an idiot that''s not aware of the immensity of the heavens, or he just doesn''t care at all."

    "The Kraken Priestess even told me that he had no interest in the inheritances left by Ancient Sects of the Divine Realm as well as the chance to ascend. He was just there to capture an ingredient and then he leaves. At first, I didn''t want to believe it but I got the chance to witness it with my own eyes."

    The old man then faced Raven and asked: "You are a strange person indeed, Young Raven."

 Chapter 358 - Replacement Ritual

    ---

    All Raven could do was sigh and smile wryly.

    It was at this point that he already realized that there''s no escaping this at all. His tracks had been exposed, and this old man is the ne''s Consciousness itself.

    There was no point in hiding or lying. And even if he could, he wouldn''t do so.

    For the first time ever since his Soul Rebirth, he considered just telling someone about the truth. The truth that he kept to himself and never told anyone, not even the closest people beside him.

    Raven released yet another exasperated sigh andughed softly, he then said:

    "Well, you got me old man." He admitted, "Yes, those were all me."

    He wanted to say that he had the help of some friends but he was worried about what''s going to happen next, so he didn''t say it. He didn''t know the true intentions of the old man so he still have to be careful.

    If things really goes south, he didn''t want his friends to be dragged with this mess. Even if it kills him, he will face this problem alone since he''s the root cause of it.

    "I figured that such was the case too." The old man said while smiling at Raven.

    "Then?" Raven asked, "What does the ne''s Consciousness want from me?"

    The old man just stared at Raven with his eyes closed. He didn''t say anything for a while so there was an awkward silent between them. Raven then heard the old man sigh and say:

    "I have a feeling that you have an idea of what I want to happen." The old man smiled kindly, "Needless to say, I''m still going to say this."

    The old man paused before saying: "I want you to rece me, Young Raven."

    A sigh escaped from Raven''s mouth as he heard that.

    The old man was right, Raven did have an idea of what he wanted to ask of him. And it was precisely the same thing he was thinking.

    Raven''s not ignorant. Other than the ne''s Consciousness itself, no one understands the state of the Grand Ancestral ne better than Raven himself.

    Hearing the Old Man''s request told Raven many things.

    For starters, the ne''s Consciousness is born a few moments after the birth of the ne itself. The consciousness can take on many form and also change it depending on how it sees fit. And just like all creations, the consciousness and the ne itself are not exempted from the erosion of Time.

    Everything gets old - eroded by time. Since the consciousness of the ne can take on a physical form, those forms could reflect the age of the ne itself. And while the ne is destined to live for a very long time, it will still face death at a certain point.

    And judging from the appearance of the consciousness, the time of the ne is nearly over.

    Of course, this is something that Raven didn''t want to hear nor see.

    The request of the old man is not a simple one. It isn''t as easy as undergoing some kind of a ritual and passing all of the old man''s responsibilities to him. The truth is far from that.

    Like what was established before, the consciousness is born a few moments after the birth of the ne itself. Recing the consciousness means that the ne will enter a very delicate period.

    The process of recing the ne''s Consciousness is done by having the old consciousness pass everything it has and knows to the descendant, this includes the remaining lifespan it has. All life forms residing at the ne will feel the rapid decline of the old consciousness'' lifespan. To them, this process will somewhat feel like doomsday ising or the world is ending, which will cause everything to descend in mass panic and hysteria.

    In addition to that, during the process of recement, both the old consciousness and the recement will be busy, which means that they cannot interfere with anything that''s going on in the ne.

    To top this all of, since the old consciousness needs to concentrate everything it has on this ritual, it won''t be able to defend itself from outside sources. There is a reason why only those who were born from this ne coulde back once they ascended to the Divine Realm, however that functionality will be removed once the recement ritual begins, so if there''s anyone who happened to be nearby and saw this happen, there''s no telling on what will happen.

    This is why it is extremely difficult for the old consciousness to make this decision. The recement ritual has too many risk that can cause the ne''s destruction. At the same time, it couldn''t just allow the ne to end just like that. There''s also the matter of finding a suitable candidate for the ritual too.

    But honestly, Raven was truly the best candidate that this old man could ever find. And because of who he is, the problems earlier are nothing but small issues that he could settle should he put his mind onto it.

    If there''s really something that''s preventing Raven from epting this proposal, it would be one thing.

    "How much time do you still have?" Raven asked the old man after a period of silence.

    The old man looked at him and sighed, he then replied: "My initial estimate is about 10,000 years. But there is a pest that''s sapping my lifespan, and if it''s left alone, I''ll have less than 5,000 years."

    Raven''s face crumpled as he heard that. The situation was worse that he was expecting. He didn''t know that he had that little of time left.

    "This pest you mentioned¡­" Raven said, "Is it a hateful hybrid?"

    "Yes." The old man nodded with a defeated expression, "It''s that Pale Being that shouldn''t have been born here. I had no idea how it found me but it did, it also formed a bloodline pact to me without my consent and now it is siphoning my lifespan for it''s own use."

    "I had been doing all I could to prevent it from doing any damage, but the bloodline pact binds me. If it weren''t for you summoning Her Majesty Jubileus, I am afraid that the ne would die sooner."

    "Damn that Pale Lizard." Raven gnashed his teeth as he finally understood how that hateful creature managed to live this long despite theck of nutrition. "Is it still in slumber?"

    "Fortunately, yes." The old man replied which caused Raven to sigh in relief, but that relief was short lived. "From my estimations, it''s slumber willst for no more than two more years. Probably less."

    "Huh?" Raven was shocked, "How can that be

 Chapter 359 - Revelation

    ---

    A curtain of light enveloped the old man as he uttered words of promise.

    As he continued speaking, the light surrounding him intensified until it got to the point where the light morphed into a scroll written in an very uniquenguage.

    The old man then bit his thumb and smeared the scroll with his own blood. This was him signing the oath and making a promise to never tell a soul about what Raven was about to tell him. Should he break this oath, he will be erased by the ownws that he''s governing.

    Seeing that the oath was fulfilled, Raven sighed and nodded. He then raised a finger and pointed towards the old man.

    A beam of light flew towards the old man as soon as the Oath of Secrecy was established.

    Instantly, he noticed that there is a huge chunk of unknown memories in his mind. Even without Raven telling him what to do, he viewed the memories that no one else other than him and Raven knows for now.

    It was a memory of a miserable young man that had grand ambitions. Sadly his fate was dictated by a worthless standard of talent measurement, pushing him to live a life of mediocrity. He tried his best to achieve his dreams but he could only go so far.

    Then a disaster urred. A huge swarm of demonic beasts assaulted his home, and destroyed everything that he cared about.

    The old man watched as the young witnessed the death of everyone that he loved and cared about. He felt his regret and his despair, he watched as the young man slowly sank into a depths of misery and self-loathing. He heard the young man asked the heavens, of all people, why him. Why was he the one to survive. Why did he do to suffer like this and why did his loved ones sacrificed themselves for him?

    The old man watched as the young man encountered something that utterly changed his fate. He watched as he swore to the heavens that he will do everything he could to bring them all back. He saw how he fought savagely against beasts in order to survive, he saw how the young man worked tirelessly in his cultivation, eventually reaching the heights that no else reached.

    But more importantly, he felt just how much loneliness this young man suffered.

    Perhaps he''ll never understand how he felt, but he could tell that the young man would jump into any chance, no matter how difficult or little it is, just to bring his loved ones back. He knew that he was willing to sacrifices everything, and he meant everything, if that would bring them back.

    s, fate never gave him a chance.

    He saw his desperation and his sadness as he left his home to search the Divine Realm for tools that could help him. He witnessed how much humiliation he suffered, how much he endured and worked hard day and night to achieve his dreams.

    The old man also saw how his world crumbled when someone from thatnd informed him that his chances were lost. And that no matter what he did, he could never bring them back.

    He witnessed how much despair the man felt. So much so that his failure be the most difficult heart demon to ever assault him, it even almost killed him at one point.

    The old man saw how the man sank in an all time low. He became a suicidal maniac, a criminal, a heretic and some even branded him as a tyrant or outright evil.

    He was hunted down by many forces, but none of them manage to bring him down. He wasn''t even trying to survive. He was so miserable that he didn''t care about his well being anymore, nor what people think of him for that matter. He med everyone and everything. He stopped giving a damn about the rules nor thews. He killed everyone that came for him, not because they were hunting him down, but because hest desire is to die fighting.

    Maybe if he died that way, he could use that as an excuse for beingte once he meets with his loved ones on the other side.

    Despite being misunderstood, the man never cared anymore. His heart was already dead. He saw no point on living anymore. All of his effort were for naught. Good? Evil? He doesn''t give a damn, if it will bring them back, he wants it. But sadly, it can no longer happen.

    Before he lost them, they told him to live on. He wanted to die and be with them but he also wanted to honor their wishes.

    In his misery, he often recalled the memories of his loved ones. Sadly, because he was alive for too long and he spent so much time pre-upied with his useless efforts, the memories he once cherished also left him. He sank into an even deeper misery once he noticed that he couldn''t even remember what they looked like anymore.

    It was his parents'' lessons that kept him going. He remembered what his father always told him.

    ''It is okay to rest, but it is also our curse that we have to keep moving forward. What ever happens, no matter what kind of set backs you suffer, you must always bounce back from it and live ording to how you see fit. Failure is not a bad thing, it is a friendly reminder that mistakes can happen. What''s important is the lessons that you learn from that failure. That will shape who you are.''

    This was the words that brought sanity back to the young man. And just like what his father told him, he had to stand back up and stop wasting his life in misery. He felt ashamed of himself and his actions, therefore he decided to make peace with himself and at least die doing a good thing.

    It was then that he was finally acknowledged by apanion that he never thought was with him all this time. As the old man saw this item, it finally became clear to him.

    The disturbance that he felt a couple of years back. It was due to Raven''s soul experiencing rebirth.

    What the old man lost was the Ancestral Divine Crown, that originally a treasure appeared here during the ne''s birth. What he gained was a soul that experienced myriad of tribtions and also once stood at the top of the world. The ne gained the acknowledged owner of the same thing it lost. Which means that ne gained something ever greater.

    The old man was incredibly gratified to know this. At the same time, he also couldn''t believe that such a thing could truly happen. Rebirth was possible, even him as the ne''s Consciousness could hardly believe such a thing, yet the evidence was sitting right in front of him.

    But what bothers him the most is the creatures that Raven faced during the peak of his previous life.

    The Abyssals.

    As a Creation himself, the old man could feel an intense hatred and loathing towards these creatures. It''s an instinctual feeling brought certainty that this things are evil. And this instincts will never wrong.

    The old man even watched as he and the ne was devoured in one sitting by one of those abominations. In fact it wasn''t only him. Many nes and stars under humanity''s jurisdiction, no matter how big they were, were swallowed by these foul creatures.

    The war against them was long and bitter, many of humanity''s leaders were eaten. Humanity was in the brink of extinction, but it was Raven who never stopped fighting.

    It was him who always fought with life on the line. He never back down from any challenge since he had nothing to lose. He rose to the ranks and became humanity''s beacon of light.

    Unfortunately, the Abyssal Emperor was just too strong. Had Raven known how to borrow the power of the crown, he might''ve been able to defeat him. In the end, he didn''t want to be swallowed and be used as a nutrition to these pests so he chose to ignite his cultivation base in attempts to bring the Abyssal Emperor down with him.

    The memory ended with Raven opening his eyes to the familiar sight of his home and to the knowledge that the Ancestral Divine Crown brought his soul back in time.

    The happiness and relief that Raven felt genuinely made the old man happy. More importantly, his conviction and his desire to never lose his loved ones ever again, shook the old man.

    His feelings were more certain than any kind of oath possible. It came from a man that once stood at the same height as the highest heavens themselves. Undoubtedly, his words carried weight that no one could even carry besides himself.

    The old man gradually woke up from his stupor. He now realized that he would never look at Raven the same ever again after knowing all that he had been through.

    With his chest filled with numerous emotions, he uttered:

    "We wee your glorious return, Your Majesty Vendrick."

 Chapter 360 - Solution

    ---

    "We wee your glorious return, Your Majesty Vendrick."

    "Oh, stop it." Raven shivered as he heard the old man''s way of greeting him. "But yeah, now you know why I can''t agree to your request. I have to ascend to the Divine Realm old man. I need to prepare for my rematch against that Big Mouthed Imbecile."

    "I understand, Your Majesty." The old man replied, "But still, I want to implore your aid. If there''s any suitable candidates you have on your mind, please do tell me. I''m afraid that I won''tst for long."

    The old consciousness really didn''t want to bother Raven with his request, but at the same time he was out of options as well. He needs to be reced or else the Grand Ancestral ne is done for, and if there''s anybody who could help him, it would be Raven. So he figured that he at least have to ask for his help.

    "Rx." Raven replied while smiling, "I already found a solution for your problem."

    The old man visibly rxed as he heard his reply. He found this behavior of his rather funny since he just instinctively felt relief and faith towards Raven just because he said he has a solution. Raven hadn''t even said word about it yet but the old man''s already convinced that whatever he had in mind, was going to work for sure.

    "You don''t really need to be reced." Raven said, which somehow surprised the old man. "The forces of humanity that is residing in the Divine Realm nowadays, all came from this ce. And the first group of people who ascended never forgot about where their roots are."

    "They''ve left some things for you. It''s just that you''re aware of it yet. Actually, it is a good thing that you''re not aware of it, since there is a great chance that once you found out about it, Vit''hum''s also going to know due to the bloodline pact."

    "We need to get the Pale Bastard away from you first. Wait until I''m finished with my errand, after that we''ll deal with him."

    The old man could feel the confidence oozing out of Raven''s body as he heard him speak. Which in a way, convinced the old man even more. He nodded and said:

    "We''ll go ording to your arrangements, Your Majesty."

    "Also I would like to stop you from calling me ''Your Majesty'' but I get the feeling that you won''t, even if I told you that, isn''t that so?"

    "Exactly." The old man replied.

    His reply made Raven sigh in defeat, he already had the idea that such was the case and he couldn''t do anything about it.

    "Where have you taken me anyway?" Raven asked the question that was bothering him for sometime now.

    "We are five miles away from the North, Your Majesty. This is a hut that the Ice Emperor used to live in when he wanted some time by himself."

    "Oh, is that so?" Raven said, he then stood up and stretched his body. He then looked at the old man and said: "Anyway, I''ve got to go now. I need to reach the east before the Sun Temple emerges. Wait for me at the Center of the ne. Once I''m finished with this errand, we''ll deal with your problem."

    "Do you need me to assist you in your travels?"

    "No need." Raven shook his head and refused. "What I want you to do, is to focus all your energy on preventing Vit''hum from sapping more of your lifespan. Do it how you usually do, but increase the intensity for a bit. Make him think that you are desperate and out of options. That would cause him to focus more of his attention to you."

    "But some time and make him think that his victory is almost at reach. When that happens, I will smack him down from his pedestal to really hurt his pathetic pride."

    "I understand, Your Majesty." The old man nodded.

    "That''s it then." Raven then summoned the Spatial Abode and walked towards it. Before he boarded, he said: "I''ll be leaving now. Stick to the n as best as you could."

    "Be safe, Your Majesty. I''ll be waiting for your visit."

    Raven waved his hand and boarded the ship. The old man then watched as the spatial abode flew farther and farther until it disappeared from his sight.

    He sighed and looked at the skies. A fond smile appeared on his face as he remembered who he just had the pleasure of speaking with just now. And even though he won''t be a part of his adventures in the future, he felt a great excitement from what''s about toe.

    "I''m afraid that even the Oracles of the Divine Realm doesn''t know about his return at all. I wonder what kind of faces they will make once His Majesty made his formal return in theirnd?"

    The old man believed that no one is prepared for Raven''s return at all. Just from what he saw just now, Raven''s foundations alone could reduce their so-called geniuses in shame, and that''s not even ounting for the rest of what he could do as well.

    "This is just the beginning." The old man whispered, "By the time that he reached a certain stage in his cultivation, he would be unstoppable."

    His smile became even wider, he stood up and supported his frail body with his cane. He snapped his fingers and the campfire was extinguished. His body then started disappearing from sight, but before he disappeared, a few words were heard from him.

    "Ah, how I wish I could witness the moment when he returns to his rightful throne. I envy the people who would be able to witness such a glorious moment."

    As soon as his words ended, the old man disappeared from the hut, leaving a lingering silence to the ce where the Ice Emperor once lived.

    ***

    Three days after Raven''s meeting the with Old Man.

    Final Haven Kingdom.

    "Any developments?" A man d in majestic golden armor asked a group of people gathered around the desk.

    "None, Prince." One of them replied, "The disturbance that we felt was nowhere to be found, there are no signs of Beast Hordes as well."

    Prince Balmung then nodded and sighed, he then said: "You guys think that this is all just a false rm?"

    "It could be." Mark who''s nearby replied, "I mean, there''s no mistaking that we felt a very strong presence three days ago. We''ve been monitoring the Sk Array ever since but we found nothing. Theirs are all rtively peaceful, there are no signs of a horde, no signs of the guild, and no signs of a storm either."

    "I agree." Anne added, "The Sk Array is working just fine as well. It''s been three days since that disturbance and nothing happened. I don''t think that the being that has that kind of strength would take three full days to arrive here. If it even has ns of attacking at all."

    "I think so too." Ellen agreed as well. "If anything, we could just reduce the alert level while continuing to monitor the Sk. That way, if a new development happens, we will be informed."

    "If nothing happens within a week, then it''s safe to say that it''s a false rm." Paul added.

    The Prince nodded and carefully considered their opinions, he then looked at Luna as said: "What do you think?"

    "I agree to what they say." She said, "If anything, I think we should be calming down the crowd as well. Everybody is on edge right now, it wasn''t just us cultivators who felt that disturbance, themon folk also did. I think we should pacify their worries and strengthen their faith that we''ll be there to protect them."

    "Not bad." The Prince nodded, he then faced the crowd and made a decision. "Alright, we''ll do as they say. Reduce the alert level but continue monitoring the Sk Array closely. Should any kind of developments happen, make sure to report it as soon as you can."

    "Golden Knights, you guys march around the civilians and ease their worries. Do everything you can to make them feel protected. We''ll continue with this pattern until a week pass, and if there are no major developments, we''ll treat this as a false rm and return to our usual routine."

    "Wow, how shameless. You didn''t even used your brain there. Some Prince you are." Luna scoffed.

    "That''s not shameless, that''s being resourceful. I didn''t make you guys my Advisors for nothing." Balmungughed.

    "Plus, if things really went south. Brother-inw wille flying towards here, wouldn''t it be nice if that happens? I''m pretty sure you''re dying to meet him."

    "Shut up!" Luna said while blushing.

    "Don''t want to!" The princeughed, "Actually, I''m not even going to be surprised at all if he was the cause of that disturbance."

    The whole became silent as soon as he said that.

    "You know¡­" Paul.

    "Now that you say that¡­" Ellen.

    "Huh¡­" Mark.

    "Well¡­" Anne.

    "Hah¡­" Luna.

    Even the Prince himself realized what he just said, and couldn''t help but wear a wry smile.

    "Uh, guys? You know I''m kidding right? Unless¡­"

 Chapter 361 - Emergence

    ---

    Somewhere East of Grand Ancestral ne, a showdown amongst beast was happening.

    On one side, there is a pack ofrge hyenas drooling over a prey. Each hyena weighs at least 500 kilograms and stood for about 10 meters in height. The leader of the pack was thergest, it was 20 meters tall and weighs 1000 kilograms. There''s at least 30 hyenas in total, which makes up for a terrifying force that should be avoided at all costs.

    On the other side, was just a lone Albino Snake. The snake was at least 100 meters long and has a girth of 50 meters. The scales on its body shone with luster specially under the influence of sunlight. The top part of her scales were dyed with a hint of a crimson color, making her a bit more uniquepared to a regr Albino Snakes.

    At a nce, this is an unfair battle. One snake versus 30 hyenas. The defeat of the snake was almost certain since their numbers would just overwhelm her. But even if that was the case, the snake didn''t show any signs of fear nor had any desire to retreat.

    *Hiss!*

    On the contrary, the snake issued a challenging hiss at the drooling hyenas. Its provocation was effective and at least five hyenas came charging towards the snake''s direction.

    *Woosh!*

    As soon as the hyenas entered a specific distance, the snake moved and itsrge body disappeared from sight. Its movements were too fast for its size, and before the rest of the hyenas realized that the snake disappeared, it reappeared once again but this time with a bulging stomach which inted as soon as paid attention to it.

    These hyenas didn''t have a high intelligence but it didn''t take them long enough to realize what just happened. The five hyenas that came towards her were eaten and digested in a blink of an eye. This is obvious by how the snake''s mouth was covered in blood.

    *Hiss!*

    The snake once again issued a challenge towards the hyenas, and just like before a portion of the pack came running towards it. There was no suspense about what happened next, what happened with the earlier group happened to the next one as well. This snake just devoured half of their pack and something tells them that she still has room on her stomach for more.

    The pack started to get nervous. It didn''t take them long enough to realize that this snake is a more ferocious predatorpared to them.

    It was then that the Leader finally stepped forward and issued a groan. With him leading the pack, he order everyone to charge at the snake, of course the Leader was included as well. Andpared to the rest of the pack, the Leader was stronger and faster as well.

    Unfortunately, it wasn''t as fast as the snake. Who would''ve thought that the snake was holding back all along?

    *Whoosh!*

    In one fell swoop, aside from the leader, everyone was devoured. Even the Leader itself couldn''t follow the snake''s movements at all. All the leader saw was a beam of white light blitzing around it and once it was over, the whole pack was gone.

    Now, the battle was a one versus one. This should''ve been a fair battle but s, the Leader knew that it wasn''t. Their numbers didn''t matter at all, none of them even managed toy a finger on the snake. The Leader now realized that it waspletely outssed by a beast that should''ve been weaker ording to the strength charts.

    Fear gripped the Leader''s heart. It wanted to run and survive, but of course that was impossible. The snake was much fasterpared to it. And while the Hyena Leader was thinking of ways to survive, it failed to realize that the snake already made a move.

    When the realization hit, it found itself looking at the vertical pupils of the snake. The leader couldn''t feel its body anymore, it couldn''t even look at its own body even if it wanted to since there was body to be found anymore.

    The snake already devoured it when it was still hesitating, what remained is just a head and the fleeting consciousness of the leader which was still wondering what happened. And just as the leader finally realized that it was eaten, it started to panic, even then it was toote already.

    The snake opened its maws slowly, making sure to allow the leader to witness and realized where it will end up. The snake then took the head of the leader on its mouth and swallowed. Its stomach bulged once again but it deted in a blink of an eye.

    The snake then roamed its vision around the perimeter, looking around to see if it missed a target. After noticing that there was no targets to eaten anymore, it flicked its tongue and started slithering towards a certain spot not too far from their of the hyenas.

    It stopped in front of a coconut tree, then it began climbing towards the top. As soon as it got there, the snake saw a human sitting cross-legged while chewing on some coconut meat. The snake released some joyous hisses as it went closer to the human.

    "Yes, I saw it. You did very well. You can now take down a smallir all on your own. I''m proud of you." The human smiled and caressed the snake''s head with affection.

    The snake closed its eyes as it felt the hands of the human. It then hissed at him, as if it was telling him something. The human nodded and said:

    "Yes, I know you want to sleep. Do your thing then."

    After saying this the snake suddenly shrank in size and wrapped itself on the human''s neck. It then transformed into a long white scarf that was now worn by the human.

    Of course, these are none other than Venus and Raven.

    Slicing another coconut open using his bare hands, Raven drank its juice and stared eating its flesh slowly while he gaze at the east.

    "Should be happening in a few moments¡­" He murmured as he kept watching.

    It has been six months since he began travelling towards the east. He managed to arrive a week early before the emergence of the Sun Temple and had been camping near the area so that he could enter it as soon as he could.

    The moment he''s been waiting for is nearly there. Today is the 9th day of the 9th month, and in just a few minutes, the 9th hour will arrive.

    Raven''s ocr technique is active, allowing him to survey everything around 5 kilometer radius. He might appear rxed right now but that''s just because he''s in deep meditation. If he wasn''t in this state, he might''ve not been able to sit still due to impatience.

    ''Rx.'' He told himself, ''There''s still one more ce to go after this. After that, I''ll be able to go home. Calm down.''

    As he was calming himself down, he noticed that the temperature around him was rising at a noticeable rate. His face then became serious but he didn''t move from his spot.

    His vision the caught some activity. Just at the edge of his surveying vision, a small plume of me appeared. His focus was fixed on this me since it literally appeared out no where.

    As time went on, the me grew bigger and bigger. From a small plume, it turned into a raging wildfire that burned all vegetation around. As ck smoke rose up to the skies, Raven remained seated on his position, unfazed by the growing fire and rising temperature around him.

    Suddenly, a surprising development happened to the mes. It started gathering in one spot, forming arge orb that looks just like a smaller sun.

    The mes then began to turn slightly transparent, revealing some kind of establishment that''s being hidden by the mes.

    Arge temple, bearing a huge sun sigil, standing a couple hundred meters tall, could be seen through the mes.

    The bright mes danced and formed a minuscule tornado around the temple. Raven took a deep breath and stood up from his location. He hopped off of the tree and started approaching the fire tornado.

    As he approached it, the temperature around him was constantly rising, however this temperature was still a little bit weak to illicit some kind of reaction from Raven. He wasn''t sweating nor having a hard time breathing. He was calm and unperturbed as he walked at a measured pace towards the tornado.

    As he got closer, the fire tornado became increasingly violent. Almost as if it was being provoked by Raven''s calm approach. A few wisps of me flew towards Raven but it wasn''t able to do anything to him thanks to his Chaos Force Barrier.

    A few steps away from the eye of the fire tornado, Raven stopped. He then began counting down inside his mind.

    ''5, 4, 3, 2, 1!''

    *Woosh!*

    And there it is.

    The fire tornado was gone as soon as his countdown ended.. Leaving a majestic Sun Temple for him to explore.

 Chapter 362 - Sea Of Flames

    ---

    The Sun Temple finally emerged.

    It''s majestic beauty and glory was disyed for everyone to see and appreciate.

    Raven had seen many wonders throughout this life, but this kind of beauty is something that one doesn''t see very often, add the fact such a wonder could be seen in a lower realm makes this even rarer.

    The Sun Temple was could hundred meters tall, at the very top lies a Sun Disc depicting several images of existences that are born of fire.

    Vermillion Birds, Phoenixes, Fire Giants, Dragons¡­

    There are only a few of the images carved at the Sun Disc. There are many more but those are only visible for people who are fated to see them. These carvings shouldn''t have been visible to Raven at all but due to his special circumstances, they were.

    There is a residual heat emanating off of the temple. It wasn''t that high, not nearly enough to cause him to sweat but at the same time, it carried a specificfort, a warmth that permeates to one''s soul. This feeling could only be sensed by cultivators,mon folk won''t be able to feel this at all.

    "I''m sure Ellen would love this ce. Well, she''s I''m going to send her here in the future. Anyway, enough dilly-dallying. It''s time to enter before this ce disappears."

    Raven entered the territory of the temple as soon as he could. He had to be quick since the temple is only going to be visible for 10 minutes before it disappears again. If he missed this chance, he''ll have to wait for a whole year before it appears again.

    The temple is surrounded with Parasol Trees. ording to legends, these are the same trees on which Vermillion Birds like to build nests on. Each tree is filled with rich Fire Energies, in fact this whole ce is filled with high quality Fire Energies.

    Raven could see several wisps of mes dancing in the air, making a mesmerizing disy that''s enough to distract anyone. The ground is filled with rose petals which appeared to be on fire but are not turning into ashes.

    The walls of the temple are seemingly on fire but not quite. Each brick of this temple is made out of Volcanic Rocks that are harvested from Ancient Volcanos of the Divine Realm. These rocks could withstand unbelievable temperatures whilst maintaining their shape, not only did they not appear charred, they even had a gorgeous crimson color that fits the aesthetic of temple.

    Raven''s also aware about the influence of Fire Laws in his surroundings. The profundity of heat around him is quite special and it is not something that could be felt in some random ces that have high temperatures.

    He eventually arrived at the doors of the temple. He performed a polite salute and the doors slowly opened for him. This is the proper way of entering the temple, anybody who forces the doors to open will be subjected into a terrifying ze of fire that would instantly incinerate them and reduce them ashes.

    Raven then entered the Sun Temple and as soon as he did, the doors closed behind him.

    His entrance was just right on time as the temple''s disappearance from the outside. Since he already entered the temple, unless he passed as certain rule, he won''t be able to get out.

    Just like the Sunken Ivory Castle and the Frozen Tomb of the North, the Sun Temple is also a testing grounds for a sect in the Divine Realm.

    The sect which the Sun Temple is connected to, goes by the name of Divine Sun Sect. It is one of the Ancient Sects alongside of the Evesting Snow Sect and Boundless Azure Sect.

    The Divine Sun Sect is founded by none other than Master Sun himself, the very first human being who stepped at the Divine Realm and brought others with him. He is a native of the Grand Ancestral ne who caught a glimpse of the world beyond and had an overwhelming desire to explore and conquer it.

    Due to how much time has passed since the Ancient Era, where the Divine Realm was discovered, almost no one remembers the Old Masters. The elders and disciples of the Divine Sun Sect might still remember who Master Sun is since he was the who founded the sect but their story must''ve been forgotten by many.

    If the Ice Emperor was the stronger cultivator before, Master Sun could be called as the Pioneer. After all, he was the one who return from the Divine Realm bearing an overwhelming strength that none could''ve fathomed. It was him who revealed that there is a sky beyond their sky, and the peak which most of them stood on is just the beginning.

    Raven wasn''t able to learn much about the life of Master Sun since the records he saw from the Sunken Ivory Castle aren''t really focused on him. He had no prior knowledge about these people before his adventures in the castle so he really doesn''t know much.

    Thankfully, he didn''t have to. He didn''t visit the Sun Temple to learn about the life of Master Sun anyway. And if the topic is about the Sun Temple, Raven has plenty of knowledge about that.

    As a testing ground for potential disciples of the Divine Sun Sect, the Sun Temple has a few tests that needs to be passed. And if one wants to be admitted as a disciple of the sect, they have to finish every test there is. Raven doesn''t have any ns on finishing all of them, only a few just to ensure that he could exit the temple with the ingredient he needs.

    Once inside the temple, Raven immediately found a wide space with an altar at the very end. There is a set of stairs on each side leading towards the higher level of the temple but there''s also a wall of mes preventing anyone froming close to the stairs.

    The floor tiles are made out of volcanic rocks as well, but these ones are smoother and glossierpared to the walls. The interior walls are also decorated with all kinds of trinkets which all have something to do with fire. He also saw some Sun Crystals embedded on the walls.

    Sun Crystals are considered as rare kind of consumable in the lower realms but in the Divine Realms, they are more less just regr rocks, those that have higher quality are used as decorations or currency in some ces. Here, they act as catalysts that helped on purifying the Fire Energies present inside.

    Anyone who practices Fire based cultivation techniques will experiences a boost when they cultivate inside of this ce. Their efforts will yield twice the result with half the price, which is why Raven said that Ellen would really love this ce.

    Raven wasted no time, he approached the altar to begin the test right away.

    The altar is made out of Crimson Sun Crystals, the highest form of Sun Crystals there is. There are several runic engravings all over its surface, these are formations that is tied to this floor. All he needed to do is to touch this ritual circle and his trial will begin.

    "The Sun Temple has a total of 9 floors¡­" Raven stated, "Each floor has different tests that needs to be passed. If I want to exit this ce will require me to finish at least 10 trials. And in order to get the ingredient I want, I need to finish 50 trials."

    From the records that Raven read during his previous life, it is said that the trials differs from person to person. No challengers will face the same trial at the same time, and due to the countless variations added in the trials, finding a pattern to exploit is virtually impossible as well. The trials adjust themselves depending on the challenger, so there is really no way for anyone to cheat their way through.

    Each floor on the Sun Temple contains 10 trials. In order to ascend the stairs, one has to finish every trial on the current floor first or else the me barrier would not disappear.

    Raven took a deep breath and ced his hand on the ritual circle ced on the altar. As soon as he touched it, the whole formation lit up and caused the whole floor to be illuminated by a gentle sunlight.

    Suddenly, words written in Elvennguage started forming above Raven. It reads:

    "1st floor, 1st Trial: Untouchable. Rules: Defend yourself against the sea of mes for an entire day to pass this trial."

    "Wow." Was all Raven could say as soon as he read the first trial he got.

    Before he could even think about anything else, a major development was already happening around him.

    The temperature was suddenly rising at an rming pace. Plumes of mes started appearing everywhere and it didn''t take long enough before they grew into tall mes which contained scalding heat. The mes were taller than Raven himself, and just like the trial said, he''s literally submerged into a sea of fire.

    Faced with no other options, Raven just smiled wry and sat down.. His barrier is already protecting him anyway so all he had to do is to wait until a whole day passed.

 Chapter 363 - Reward

    ---

    "The temperature''s rising a lot." Raven pointed out as he remained seated amidst the sea of fire. He ced a finger on his chin and said: "This is the second time this happened and only twelve hours has passed. This means that the temperature rises every six hours huh."

    He then observed the appearance of the me even closer and noticed that they appear to be regr mes created through Fire Energies. The Sun Crystals embedded on the walls of the temple was constantly releasing fire energies to keep the me alive even though they are a closed space.

    Of course, this is heat nothing to Raven. His force barrier is strong enough to endure the mes without any problems even if the me''s temperature rises once more. He consumption of Chaos Force is almost non-existent thanks to his constant state of deep meditation.

    "Ellen wouldn''t mind this, I''m sure. In fact, I could safely say that she could even fall asleep in here."

    As someone who gained understanding of Fire Laws, this kind of environment could be said to be made for her. Of course these mes wouldn''t hurt her, in fact if she''s injured before hand, she could use this mes to cure herself.

    But of course, Raven is different from Ellen. Needless to say, passing the first trial is a cinch for him. All he had to do is to wait until the time limit was up and he could move on.

    Raven decided to spend the remaining time in deep meditation. He didn''t have any better things to do anyway so he might as well. Once the 18th hour arrived, the temperature rose by a few degrees. It happened onest time during the 20th hour.

    Once the time limit was up, the sea of mes disappeared along with the heat surrounding him. He woke up from his meditation and stood up.

    There''s still some residual heat left by it was harmless to him. He then proceeded to walk towards the altar and see his progress. He saw a bunch of words written saying:

    "First Trial Complete. Proceed with the next trial?"

    Raven didn''t hesitate and ced his hand on the ritual circle. That was the way to confirm his desire to continue with the trials and since he was far from reaching his goal there was no reason to stop at all.

    Once his confirmation was received, the whole floor lit up once more and he was informed about his next trial:

    "First Floor, Second Trial: Defeat the waves of enemies within 10 minutes."

    As soon as he was finished reading that, the words then transformed into a countdown timer. Ritual circles then appeared inside the floor, summoning waves of demonic beasts who are at least Tier 3 in strength.

    Raven didn''t need to think hard on this one since the trial was straight-forward enough. He allowed his fist to do the talking.

    He made a quick work out of the Tier 3 Demonic Beasts, he didn''t even need to summon his hammer for this nor move from his spot for that matter. He sent air bubbles containing pressurized air created through his casual punches towards them and that''s enough to reduce them into meat pastes.

    There are a total of three waves that appeared, the final wave were all Tier 4 Demonic Beasts but once again, they were no threat to him at all.

    ***

    A couple of weeks passed and Raven continued blitzing through the trials.

    As expected of Sun Temple, he basically didn''t face the same enemies and the difficulty ramps up in every subsequent trials.

    He had face different kinds of trials at this point. He had been doused to a sea of fire, ne faced several demonic beasts, answered questions and puzzles, made his way through a bunch of deadly traps, tasked to grow a specific nt and etc.

    This might be the most random and/or excessive trial for sect admission he had probably encountered but Raven didn''t mind at all. In fact he was having a good time. He found himself looking forward to the next trial and barely needing any kind of rest at all.

    Due to this, he is currently on the 30th trial. Meaning that he could choose to walk out of the temple at any given moment. Of course, he''s not going to without taking the ingredient that he''s after. He only had to pass 20 more trials and he''s good to go.

    Currently, he''s wrapping up the 30th trial. His task is¡­

    *Boom!*

    *Shatter*

    To y a Little Stone Titan¡­

    *Boom!* *Boom!*

    Raven flew across the room with his hammer on hand. Arms made out of silver were constantly hitting the 50 meter tall beast and shaving away some of its stony flesh in the process, causing rocks to fly everywhere.

    The Little Stone Giant hadn''t even touched the hem of his clothes at all. Raven was too nimble and his attacks were too strong for the stone giant to handle. Each strike hended causes the stone giant to fall on its knees.

    Raven dealt with the stone giant with rtive ease. This is a Tier 5 Demonic Beast yet he was able to toy it to death. All of this thanks to his vast knowledge about demonic beasts in general. He allotted a portion of his previous life on studying them thoroughly so that he''ll know how to deal with them. And now his efforts are being handsomely rewarded.

    Of course, even if Raven isn''t knowledgeable about beasts, with his strength alone he could still do the same thing.

    It didn''t take much until the Little Stone Giant was finally defeated. Raven delivered a fatal blow that crushed its delicate core, making crumble with the loss of its heart.

    Once it''s done, Raven released a long exhale and started walking towards the altar of the 3rd floor. As soon as he approached the altar, he could already make up the words written on it''s surface.

    "3rd Floor, 10 Trial Complete. Rewards: Ancient Art. You may now choose to proceed with the next floor or make your exit."

    "Oh? I get an Ancient Art this time? Neat."

    Each time one clears a floor, there will be a reward given. Upon hispletion of the first floor, he received some cultivation boost, allowing him to enter Mid-Stage Golden Knight Realm. On the second floor, he received a life-saving talisman that he might never use. And this time, it looks like he''s going to receive an Ancient Art.

    He ced his hand on the ritual circle and a book manifested out of nowhere. He carefully picked it up, sat on the floor and began reading its contents. There''s no need to hurry since there are no time limits whenever he''s not on trial anyway.

    As soon as he read the name of the Ancient Art, a frown immediately surfaced on his face.

    "9 Destruction Steps? Wait a damn minute¡­"

    Raven then ced his whole focus on reading the book, and the more he read about its contents, the more he was convinced.

    "It really is what I thought it was!" Raven eximed, unable to peel his eyes away from the Ancient Art. "A technique inspired by Destruction Laws! What a find!"

    Raven felt an immense glee after realizing what he just got from the Sun Temple. Of all things that he was expecting to receive, this was thest thing that he was thinking of, not because he didn''t want it, but because he just thought that it was nigh impossible for this temple to have this.

    He had seen the reward list of the Sun Temple once, and he knew that one could receive an Ancient Art by going through the trials, what he didn''t know is that the Ancient Art was actually fashioned for Destruction Law users.

    It''s been many years since Raven had been baptized by Destruction Laws, however due to it being a rarew, he had little information about its application nor knew any kind of technique fashioned for it.

    His applications are brought by improvisation and enlightenments. The most he could do with Destruction Laws is applying to his attacks through a crude manner. The most advance application he knew is through the ''Fault Signs'' and that''s about it. Which is why his progress had been slowing down even more.

    He wanted to ask Astrid if she could teach him some Ancient Arts but he hadn''t been able to contact her ever since.

    Raven always thought that he''ll just pick up the pace when he ascend in the Divine Realm, he was sure that there are some techniques out there that he could learn to improve, but he wasn''t expecting to receive one here.

    That being said, this also raises a few questions in his mind¡­

    "How in the world did the Divine Sun Sect got a hold of this? Did they have a disciple that receive baptism from Destruction Laws as well?"

    Raven had more questions in his mind which pre-upied him for a bit, but before he got immersed from his thoughts, he shook his head and threw these useless thoughts away.

    "It''s useless to think about those things, I must instead focus on learning this technique."

    And thus, Raven spent some time reading and practicing the Ancient Art before moving towards the 4th floor.

 Chapter 364 - Pom Of Vitality

    ---

    "I see¡­"

    Raven blinked as he re-read the contents of the Ancient Art: 9 Destruction Steps. He closed then book and ced it on his spatial ring. He then closed his eyes and channeled the might of his Destruction Laws on his legs and soles.

    As soon as he lifted his legs, a surprising development immediately urred on his surroundings.

    Cracks appeared within 50 meters around him, each cracks appeared out of nowhere as if they were already there before. When Raven''s foot made contact with the ground, the cracks immediately exploded like ss and sent the whole Sun Temple shaking on impact.

    Shockwaves rocked the whole floor, the volcanic rocks that could withstand a beating caved in from Raven''s might.

    Raven lifted another foot and the cracks appeared once more, this time it covered everything inside 100 meters around him. When Raven made his second step, a stronger reactionpared before urred. Now even the beams that supported the temple were also damaged by that step.

    He lifted another foot and this time, the cracks covered a full 500 meters around him. However, seeing the state of the temple, Raven chose to cancel the technique instead.

    "Anymore and the temple might not remain intact from the intensity." He murmured while cing a finger on his chin.

    "Still, from what I felt just now, I could use this skill only until the 5th step. The rest are still unavable since that requires more understanding about the art and Destruction Laws. Needless to say, the 5th step would cover at least 5 kilometers of destruction that could instantly kill Tier 3 Demonic Beasts. That''s already extremely useful."

    "This Ancient Art alone is already worth all the trouble of going all the way here. Plus this isn''t even the one I''m after, it''s just a bonus. But what an incredible bonus it was."

    Raven smiled as he felt immense satisfaction on his luck. Truthfully, this art is already worth the trip. Not only did it teach him an incredible technique, it also contained many inspirations that he could use to gain more understanding about his Destruction Laws.

    Just like what he was expecting, his use of Destruction Laws was very crude, barbaric even. To a trained eye, it''s like he''s wasting heaven''s gift. It wasn''t really his fault but he still felt embarrassed whenever he''s reminded of it.

    The inspiration behind the 9 Destruction Steps could be summarized in one word:

    Pulse.

    By sending a strong yet controlled pulse of Destruction Laws on his legs, the influence of Destruction which appears as cracks in his surroundings will instantly manifest, and as he finishes his step the resonance of the pulse is enough to trigger the cracks, resulting in fearsome shockwaves that could potentially ignore enemy''s defenses.

    Compared to how Raven methods before, it isn''t really that advanced since the concept behind it is very simple, but for some reason this inspirationpletely escaped his mind.

    The best he could do prior to learning the art, is through simply coating his attacks with destructionws or utilizing the Fault Signs. He even had to ran hisw energy through the cracks in the air just to cause destruction.

    He had never thought that just by utilizing a pulse fueled by Destruction Laws, such effects could be achieved.

    Raven stayed at the 3rd floor to practice some more but he did it in a weaker scale in order to not damage the Sun Temple even further. It took him two days before he finally decided to move on towards the next floor.

    ***

    4th floor of the Sun Temple.

    Raven''s currently facing the 3rd trial of this floor, which requires him to kill his enemies with a specific condition. He cannot use any kind of weapons and only the first technique he use will damage the spawned beasts.

    A unique test that work perfectly ording to his desires. Of course, he had been raring to go and beat up some foes with the new trick that he just learned, so this test came at the right timing for him.

    *Boom!*

    Raven took one step and every beast within 50 meter radius around him suffered. They were reduced into a pieces of flesh with the blood dyeing the floor with crimson color.

    There were at least 20 kinds of Demonic Beasts that he could y with here. His first attack took out half of their numbers already, but it seems that the rest weren''t fazed by the death of theirrades. They still charged at him with overwhelming ferocity, seemingly unafraid of death.

    He lifted another foot and the cracks spread for 100 meters. He made another step just before a beast reached out to attack him. The surroundings quaked due to the ferocity of his attack and just like the earlier batch, the rest of the beast were all dead.

    "This is a cool art." Raven said while nodding a himself, "A pity that my ymates are too soft. I broke them too easily."

    He wanted to test the art more in realbat but like what he mentioned, his ymates were too soft and weak to entertain him. With this Ancient Art, even Tier 5 Demonic Beast stood no chance.

    In his stupor, he failed to notice that there are more ritual circles appearing on the ground. He only noticed that more was spawning when his instincts told him to dodge.

    "Ooh! More ymates! Come!" Raven celebrated as he saw more beast spawning across the room.

    He roughly counted their numbers and figured that at least there''s 40 more beasts here. There are at least 5 of them who are Tier 6 Demonic Beast, and it was one of them who attacked him earlier.

    Raven smiled and lifted his foot, however he was surprised that instead of the skill resetting to the first step since he was forced to move, it counted as the 3rd step which covered 500 meters around him.

    When his foot hit the ground, everything excluding the 5 Tier 6 Demonic Beasts, died. The shockwaves rocked the temple once again and the aftermath dealt some serious damage to the ones remaining.

    In the end, there was pool of blood on the 4th floor. The remaining beasts were severely weakened, some of their body parts were even missing due to his attack. Raven didn''t finish them right away and instead he was thinking to himself.

    "Oh, so that could happen. With proper control, I could use the skill sparingly ording to how I see fit. I might also be able to use the same step over and over again without needing to raise the scale."

    This means that he could perform the 1st Step of the Ancient Art, then use another skill or move in between before using the 2nd step. In the end, it all boils down to his mastery of the skill.

    "And although this was brief, I also saw how the shockwaves destroyed projectiles. That just showed me another room for improvement. If I could somehow gain more inspiration, I would be able to render any projectiles useless even without moving. That''s worth researching."

    He then walked forward and went closer to the dying beasts. If he wanted to, he could just leave these guys to bleed to death but since they served as a test subject for his new skill, he could at least cut their suffering short.

    Raven proved his earlier theory of being able to use the same step over and over, towards the dying beast. He used the 2nd step twice to make sure that they were thoroughly dead. And just like that, the trial was over.

    He sighed and walked towards the altar, he then confirmed his desire to continue with the next trial and proceeded to clear them one by one, hardly resting along the way.

    Time passed just like that, and Raven faced one trial after another. He cleared them with flying colors, hardly posing any kind of difficulty to him.

    He managed to raise his effiency in using the 9 Destruction Steps through battle. With it, his control and skill level on using his ownws grew exponentially. He cleared all the trials of the 4th floor and got a weapon that he might never use. After taking the reward, he then moved on to the 5th floor.

    And finally, spending two weeks inside the Sun Temple, he finally reached cleared the 50th trial. He then walked towards the ritual circle on the altar to confirm hispletion of the trial and to receive the reward that he''s after.

    "This is it." He said in a relieved tone. "The Pom of Vitality. The final ingredient needed to cure the King and the Queen."

    Now he got everything they need to concoct the cure.

    The bark and leaves from the Withering Dream Tree of the Withering Forest of the West.

    The Fragrant Rainbow Flower from the Sunken Ivory Castle of the South.

    The Ice Crystal Root from the Frozen Tomb of the North.

    And the Pom of Vitality from the Sun Temple of the East.

    This concludes his long journey to gather the ingredients necessary for the cure, but before he could go home.. There''s one more ce he needed to visit.

 Chapter 365 - Carl

    ---

    After taking the Pom of Vitality from the Sun Temple, Raven didn''t hesitate to exit the ce.

    He seemingly appeared out of nowhere but in truth, it was the Sun Temple that is hidden in ne sight. And since he exited the Sun Temple, he merely returned to the outside. Raven wasted no time despite his exhaustion. He rode the Spatial Abode and set the coordinates for automatic travel.

    From the East, Raven travelled straight towards West using the Spatial Abode.

    The Great Wilderness where the Final Haven Kingdom is falls under the general direction of west so Raven was making his way towards that ce.

    That being said, even though he''s really missing home and wants toe back, there is one more errand that he as to finish.

    Raven had taken a route that will take him to the Center of the Grand Ancestral ne. This will be his final destination before he could eventuallye home.

    He of course hadn''t forgotten about his deal with the old man. He gave him his word that he will help with the ne''s problem, and Raven had no ns on turning his back against a promise.

    It just so happens that this errand is of an outmost importance as well. It deals with a problem that had been troubling the whole ne for a very long time already. He just couldn''t ignore it after knowing everything, specially considering the fact that the source of the problem was the same entity that he wanted to purge for quite some time now.

    Vit''hum.

    This Pale Bastard had been the headache of not only the kingdom but of the whole ne for ages already. It is due time to end its existence. But in order to do that, he must be careful.

    As a being that had lived for a very long time, he assumed that Vit''hum is not an idiot. Since it is being worshipped as the God of the ck Curtain Guild, it is obvious that its intelligence is nothing to scoff at either.

    Its power remains unquestioned as well. Vit''hum is a Dragon Kin. He might''ve been born as a hybrid but the blood of overgrown lizards flows through its vein. Even if its growth was stunted, the strength it possess is something that is lethal to the kingdom. Therefore, Raven had to device a n that would enable him to kill the bastard once and for all.

    Raven had never faced Vit''hum before nor seen it in the first ce. Raven had an image in mind but of course he couldn''t be so certain, either way whatever this Vit''hum might look like, it doesn''t matter since it needs to die.

    ***

    The travel towards the Center will take some time.

    From Raven''s estimations, it will take him at least half a year before he arrives there. This would''ve been faster with the help of the old man since he could just teleport himself along with Raven, but that would require a decent chunk of it''s energy so Raven opposed to do it. He didn''t want Vit''hum to take advantage of the Old Man''s weakness to cease the ne''s remaining lifespan.

    Travelling there normally has its own merits as well.

    For one, it provides him ample time to raise his strength. If he could at least step into Late-stage Golden Knight Realm, that would be beneficial.

    Another thing is that the old man''s act needed some time as well. Before he left for the Sun Temple, he had given the old man some instructions. He told him to convince the Pale Bastard to believe that the ne''s getting weaker and weaker, this was done to get the full attention of the bastard. Raven told the consciousness to do it slow in order to work, and if the old man went ording to the n then there''s no need to rush there at all.

    On top of this, Raven also has to raise his Alchemy expertise in this period of time.

    It is not like he didn''t have faith that Richard will reach the appropriate stage to concoct the medicine needed for inws. In fact, he had faith on Richards hard work and trusted him to uphold his promise. But of course, no one could really tell what will happen. Raven just wanted to cover all of his basis, and it''s not like he won''t benefit from doing this in the long run.

    Finally, the most important reason why he wanted to travel there normally, is because he wanted to defeat his 50th enemy at the Pce Grounds.

    True to Raven''s disposition, he never missed out on any opportunity to strengthen himself, thus his adventures and battles inside the Crown Space never ceased as well.

    Although he had been expecting to meet a wall - or an enemy that will really make things difficult for him, he wasn''t expecting to be stuck at the same enemy for a very long time. He had been fighting 50th enemy in Pce Grounds for nearly a year now and he still hadn''t defeated it.

    The enemy greatly infuriated him but at the same time, earned his respect. Even if he''s just facing a mindless avatar that acts upon instinct, he could tell that the guy was a master.

    From the way his enemy moved, he could more or less tell that he''s a very experienced fighter, almost as if he was battling his entire life. Each move he throws are lethal even if he wasn''t targeting a vital part of the body. It also didn''t help that this guy was mid-stage Hero Realm, a whole realm above his own cultivation. Even though Raven''s used to fight enemies above his level, the gap between Golden Knight Realm and Hero Realm is just that massive.

    To top this all off, this guy knows Light Laws and is an expert at it. His expertise in utilizing hisws was so skillful that Raven had no doubts that he reached the 2nd field of study for Light Laws which is ''Lightspeed''.

    Just by the name alone it should be obvious, this guy is capable at moving with the speed of light. Even with his enhanced senses, there was no way to follow his movements at all. In the first few attempts, he got his ass handed towards him. It didn''t feel good but he couldn''t do anything about it, his enemy was simply too strong that the moment he step inside the pocket dimension, he gets killed.

    It took him a good a couple of months before he was able to adjust with the tempo of the battle. He managed to give him a good fight but Raven''s always defeated. But as time passed, he kept on adapting to his enemy and he figured that it won''t be too long before he could finally achieve victory.

    With his recent breakthrough, he recent attempts felt better and with new tricks up his sleeve, his chances of winning rose significantly. Therefore, he nned on defeating this guy before he arrived at the Center of the ne.

    ***

    Some time passed¡­

    Raven stood inside the Pce Grounds, precisely in front of the 50th pocket dimension.

    The level of pressure he was enduring was alright, it wasn''t particrly heavy nor light. But of course, he wasn''t paying attention to that.

    He let out a long exhale and deactivated the Resistance Seal on his body. He did a few stretches to adjust to the current lightness he was feeling. He also summoned the Hammer pre-emptively. Raven also exited his Deep Meditation and ced his whole focus on the uing battle.

    He summoned his Knightly Armament too. The golden armor adorned his body perfectly, giving him a heroic appearance and providing him even more confidence about this fight.

    "Alright, me." He said, hyping himself up. "This is it. This is the one. I can feel it. Focus. Adjust. Adapt. I can do this."

    After chanting this, he bravely stepped inside the pocket dimension and felt it pulling him on a different location.

    His vision blurred for a moment but it didn''t take long enough before he was able to regain his vision. His battle intent red even before he fully manifested on the battle space.

    The location of their battle is situated in the middle of a dense forest. Before he materialized, his eyes were already searching for his target.

    Then he found him. The man that had been a thorn on his side for nearly a year now.

    He doesn''t know his name but he calls him Carl. He had no idea why but he liked the sound of it, so now this guy is called Carl.

    Carl wore a white martial robes underneath a white ted armor. Just by his stature alone, one could already feel the menacing air about him. He looked like a Holy Knight with his appearance, his weapon of choice was a rapier on his right hand and a buckler on the left.

    Raven was already ring at his direction and Carl was doing the same.

    And as soon as Raven fully materialized, the two already transformed into streaks of light and went on with the fearsome battle.

 Chapter 366 - Heroic Influence

    ---

    Two figures moved at swift speed with one clearly faster than the other.

    In their initial sh, Raven sent three attacks while Carl sent 10 while blocking Raven''s attacks at the same time.

    Raven did his best to evade the lunges of Carl''s rapier but the attacks were so swift that his armor got chipped. It had to be known that the Golden Armament of a Golden Knight boasts incredible defense, but Carl''s simple attacks managed to chip them away just like that. This is a proof Carl''s skills.

    Carl suddenly distanced himself from Raven. He flew around him using the speed of light, Raven''s eyes narrowed as he readied to defended himself.

    All of a sudden, beams of light started flying towards him. Raven erected a Chaos Force barrier around him while simultaneously using the 1st step of the 9 Destruction Steps.

    *Boom!*

    The shockwaves caused by Raven''s Destruction Laws managed to destroy the beams of light flying towards him. At the same time, the shockwaves was strong enough to make Carl''s bnce unstable, causing him to slow down to regain his footing.

    Of course, Raven didn''t miss this opportunity tounch an attack. Without hesitating, he sent a mighty pulseon his legs, preparing the 2nd step for the 9 Destruction Steps. As soon as he foot made contact with the ground, everything around 100 meters were rocked by shockwaves, and of course Carl wasn''t an exception.

    Carl managed to remain stable on the ground but the shockwaves were so strong that he had to give it his all to prevent himself from bing unstable.

    Meanwhile, Raven was just beginning. After using the 2nd step, he channeled hisws and the Fault Signs appeared on his surroundings. While Carl was still being rocked by the shockwaves, Raven increased the intensity by channeling hisws into a nearby Fault Sign and causing more destruction around him.

    *Boom!*

    The wind howled and kicked up a ferocious gale. The earth shattered and sent rubbles flying in the air, trees were uprooted, dust umted and so on. Carl erected a Light Barrier fueled by Light Laws to protect himself from the iing projectiles. His barrier managed to defend against the projectiles but he was surprised to see Raven weaving another attack in the middle of this chaos.

    "Silver Arms: Twisting Decimation."

    Raven called out as ten silver arms with size of castle beams, wrapped around each other to form an enormous battering ram that flew towards Carl''s location.

    Due to the chaos around him, Carl wasn''t able to dodge at all. Raven''s twisting decimation was strong enough to shatter the shield he erected, causing Carl to spit out blood while flying a couple meters back. The weight behind Raven''s attack was about 1000 tons, that is not something that anyone could just receive unscathed.

    Whilst Carl was flying back, Raven didn''t waste any time and pursued him. He sent a couple attacks along the way but Carl managed to gain his footing and dodge all of his iing attack. After dodging, Carl used his light speed once again to charge towards Raven.

    Raven managed to block another lunge, while their weapons shed and sparks flew, Raven raised his foot and performed the 3rd Step out 9. This attack caused everything within 500 meters to be destroyed by hisws, and since Carl was in a close proximity with him, Raven''s attack injured Carl heavily.

    As Carl was sent flying back from the impact of the shockwaves, Raven saw how chunks of Carl''s armor chipped away from where they were. He also saw the stains of blood within his armor, allowing his to realize that he managed to injure Carl heavily.

    Raven didn''t want to lose his momentum so right before Carl managed to stand back up, he was already preparing to attack once more.

    He grabbed the powerful momentum inside his body, he channeled all of his focus and wound up for an attack. He wanted to take advantage of Carl''s weakness to end this battle as soon as he could because he knows that once he allowed him to recover, he might never get another chance to attack again.

    Raven''s heartbeat stopped for a moment, he then felt a massive momentum rising up on his body. He then controlled this momentum and drove it towards his arms. With a few steps, he caught up with Carl. His eyes the bulged from their sockets as he released the momentum as a powerful strike which he sent to the poor guy.

    *BOOM!*

    The earth quaked hard and the impact caused a massive crater to appear beneath Raven with Carl receiving the full impact. Raven''s barrage of attacks were so powerful and destructive that half of the forest they''re in were now gone.

    Raven heard a few of Carl''s bones breaking but he knew that he''s not dead yet. He was about to release another attack but a surprising development urred.

    Carl''s body suddenly emitted a very bright light that almost blinded him. It was then followed by an explosion that caused Raven to retreat a couple of steps back. Once he regained his vision, he then saw Carl in a different state than before.

    The damaged he caused on Carl''s Holy Armor were gone, almost as if they were never there in the first ce. He was levitating in the air, his pupils were gone like he was being possessed by some kind of spirit. Intensew fluctuations could be felt around him, Raven saw how Light was warping and refracting due to Carl''s overwhelming presence.

    When he saw this state of Carl, Raven''s face immediately turned solemn. He then whispered:

    "Damn, I was hoping to finish him off before he goes onto that state, but I guess it''s no longer possible." Raven clicked his tongue in annoyance. "This battle is going to be harder now."

    This special state that Carl is under is called: ''Heroic Influence'', a state that is only achieved by those who reached Hero Realm.

    Heroic Influence is a state where a Hero spreads their Influence on their surroundings, creating some sort of an area where they are the ruler. This area is called a ''Territory'' and inside the ''Territory'' the Hero''s power scales up by a lot.

    The reason behind the boost is because the Hero could transform their surroundings into an advantageous stage where their abilities could shine and they could exert the full potential of their power.

    As Carl entered the Heroic Influence State, the space around him was filled with sparkling motes of light. Raven could even see that the image around him was constantly twisting into different shapes and size due to the refraction of light.

    Raven had seen Carl enter this state multiple times so he knew what kind of trouble this will give him. Carl Territory is about 5 kilometers around him, and inside this ce, he simr to a God.

    He''s already within Carl''s territory, and due to Carl''s speed, he abandoned all thoughts of running away. Instead, he took a deep breath in and prepared for another sh.

    *Phew!*

    Raven''s instinct screamed danger, he tilted his head to the side and evaded a transparent beam of light that should''ve pierce his skull already. Carl didn''t move from his spot at all nor he deliberately showed any signs of attacking. That attack just now was purely from Carl''s desire which was then made possible since his Territory was active.

    After the first beam of light, many more was sent towards him. Raven managed to dodge all of them with the skin of his teeth but his stamina was being expended faster than he liked due to all of the dodging he had to do.

    All of a sudden, Carl disappeared from where he stood and appeared right next to Raven. Carl attempted to punch a hole on Raven''s skull but thetter managed to dodge and move out of the way. Beams of light were sent toward him but Raven was in an awkward position since he was just recovering from the dodge.

    In order to defend himself, Raven smacked the ground with his hammer causing an arm to appear beneath him and forcefully elevate him so that he could dodge the dangerous projectiles.

    As soon as Raven regained his bnce, he already Carl nearby and ready to slit his throat. Raven managed to lift his hammer right on time to redirect the thrust but it was then followed by a few more stabs targeting the gaps between his armor which were all performed with the speed of light.

    Raven couldn''tpletely dodge all of this so he did what he could and maneuvered his body in a way where he won''t be fatally wounded.

    Feeling the blood seeping through body didn''t feel good. Raven wanted to create some distance between him and Carl so he performed the 4th step of the 9 Destruction Steps. Unfortunately, since he was inside Carl''s Territory, his own techniques are weakened.

    Originally, the 4th step should''ve caused destruction within 1 kilometer but the it was lessened to a mere 700 meters. Even through that still quite a distance between them, Carl could cross that distance in a blink of an eye and that''s precisely what he did.

    In the end, he managed to almost stab Raven''s neck but thetter reacted on time to prevent that from happening. He got a little bit of breathing space but nheless, Raven''s incensed.

    "How annoying¡­"

 Chapter 367 - Control

    ---

    Raven didn''t allow his annoyance to ruin his focus. Thest thing that he wanted is to act purely out of rage and go into a berserk mode like some kind of a madman. That is not how he fight his battles.

    Due to his abnormal physique, these wounds weren''t that lethal for him. In fact, his wounds earlier was already closing up and if he wanted to, he could even speed up their healing by spending a little bit of his Chaos Force. He didn''t do that yet since he had a n.

    *Phew!*

    "Shit, here it goes again." Raven grumbled as he felt beams of light flying towards him.

    It goes without saying that he had to remain on defensive once more since if one of these beams hit him in vital parts, he will without a doubt die.

    Even though these beams arepletely invisible, Raven was sensitive enough to know where they and how many there is. With his budding pre-cognitive abilities, if allowed him to understand where the beams will hit and his calctive mind allowed him to know how to urately dodge these beams of light without getting injured.

    But the onught of Carl didn''t end there. He continued to prove why he became Raven''s bane of existence for quite some time. In addition to the light beams which are deadly enough, Carl can also manipte their trajectory since they''re within his territory. This caused Raven even more headache since he had to pay attention to all of the beams of light at the same time, this pressure was enough topletely prevent him fromunching a counterattack.

    Needless to say, it''s not like this was the first time this happened. And if Raven despised this Carl''s battle tactics, he is incredibly impressed by his skills since this clearly isn''t easy.

    Unfortunately, Raven''s no ordinary character as well. Since he had seen this a lot of times, he already developed a counterattack to Carl''s strategy.

    *Boom!*

    Using his sheer physical strength, Raven stomped the ground and caused another crater to appear, this one''s smallerpared to the previous one but this wasn''t the focus. His action just now caused some rubble to fly up in the air. He was still dodging Carl''s onught but he was also paying attention to the rubble around them.

    Once they started falling down, that''s when he made a move. With his incredible control of his Chaos Force, he sent out strings of his own energy towards the falling rubble and pulled them close to him.

    As the rubble was getting pulled, they got in the way so the beams of light went through them, but just as they went through each rubble, each beam of light became significantly weaker and slower. The reason behind this is due to Raven''s Chaos Force. Yes, these beams of light could pierce through his defenses but there is a limit to that. By not only attaching strings to the falling rubble but also covering them with his own Chaos Force, it was sufficient to weaken the power of Carl''s attack.

    And since the beams of light passed through multiple rubble, they got weaker and weaker until they weren''t strong enough to even dent Raven''s protective barrier. The beams of light that hit his barrierpletely dissipated, preventing Carl from changing their trajectory to harass Raven even further.

    Additionally, due to the barrage of Raven''s destructive attacks earlier, there is a lot of rubble that he could use for this fight. In fact, these aren''t the only use for them.

    Raven sent more strings of his Chaos Force to virtually anything that he could pull. Trees, boulders, rocks, flowers, insects, it didn''t matter at all. He pulled them all using one hand to hold every string. Once he did that, he started spinning and so did everything that he pulled.

    As Carl tried to send more beams of light, none of them even managed to touch Raven at all before they dissipated. Now, Raven is in the middle of what seems to be a hurricane of rubble.

    Well since he doesn''t have a territory, who said that he couldn''t make one? Improvisation is a thing.

    And now, Carl was forced to defend since some of the rubbles that are hitting doesn''t only have Raven''s Chaos Force but also, his Destruction Laws. To top this all off, Raven started weaving his own attacks in between, forcing Carl to always be on his toes.

    There was no doubt about his speed, but when there are too many things to avoid, injuries are bound to happen. And unlike Raven, Carl didn''t have an outstanding physique. Which means that even though he looks fine, the damages he suffered from Raven''s rampage earlier is still there.

    Actually, after receiving Raven''s full force attack, it''s already a miracle that this guy could even move.

    His bones mended back together but it doesn''t mean that he''s no longer in pain. And due to this, his movement is more strenuous.

    Raven''s also aware of this fact, this is why he went ballistic at the first chance that he got because it was a necessary step for his n. And now, with his incredible n, the damage that Carl is suffering is just stacking higher and higher. And even though he''s at Hero Realm, he still has limitations.

    Knowing that his enemy is trying to chip away at his stamina, Carl opted for a desperate attack. His aura red and caused his territory to be even more stable. His body emitted a divine brilliance that once again, almost blinded Raven.

    Raven closed his eyes to prevent blindness, he strengthened his connection with every rubble that he held by supplying them with more Chaos Force.

    Seeing that Raven had his eyes closed, Carl decided to make a move. While the re he released was still active, he moved at the speed of light again and immediately closed the distance between them. Carl wanted to end the battle by separating Raven''s head from his shoulders but he forgot one thing.

    Raven was expecting Carl to do this trick.

    "5th Step!"

    *BOOM!*

    The whole forest quaked under the sheer force behind Raven''s attack. Normally the 5th Step of 9 Destruction Steps should''ve destroyed everything within 5 kilometer radius, but thanks to Carl''s territory, this was reduced to a mere kilometer.

    Even so, this area was big enough to absolutely decimate the unsuspecting Carl, who suffered the full force of Raven''s Destruction Laws due to how close he was.

    Blood squirted out from Carl''s body, his majestic and holy looking armor was destroyed into pieces. His rapier and buckler weren''t spared as well. He even lost a good portion of his chest due to the impact of Raven''s attack.

    Carl was in a delirious state from the pain he''s feeling. His Territory had now disappeared as well so no more invisible beams of deadly light.

    Seeing his miserable appearance brought a slight relief to Raven. From start to finish, the n was rtively simple, but making it happen was incredibly challenging. Needless to say, out of respect, Raven wanted to end this battle as quickly as he could.

    "To send you off, I''ll offer you the strongest attack in my skill set." Raven muttered.

    He then channeled all of his remaining Chaos Force in to his hammer, he even used the ''Bounty'' he''s saving up for emergencies.

    The amount of energy that he''s releasing caused the air to be stifled. Rocks started floating around him and his hair wildly pped due to the force he''s emitting.

    The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer released a resplendent re and above Raven, a massive Golden Fist started materializing. The ground started quaking, the whole forest was trembling. Just the sight of that massive Golden Fist would send shivers to anyone who gazed at it.

    Additionally, a coating of white energy that gives off an aggressive feel, coated the entirety of the Golden Fist. This is Raven''s Destruction Laws, which will be working in tandem with the horrifying power of the Golden Fist.

    Raven''s arm which holds the hammer was raised at this point. In front of him, he saw Carl staring nkly at the phenomenon urring at the sky. He had no desire to evade nor defend himself against it since it''s just impossible, and even if wanted to, his badly damaged body won''t allow him to do so, he can''t even move a single muscle.

    Seeing this reaction from Carl, Raven felt a greater admiration and respect to this guy.

    Their gazes met for onest time, Raven offered a serene smile and said: "That was a good fight, I''ve learned a lot from you. Farewell, Carl."

    *Woosh!*

    Raven brought the hammer down and the giant Golden Fist descended like a gigantic meteor that rocked the entire forest.

    Arge explosion urred which also covered the entire forest. Raven stood tall and protected himself using thest bits of his Chaos Force. The chaossted for a couple a minutes before everything started settling down.

    When the clouds of dust dissipated, the whole forest was no where to been, there were no rubbles nor any signs of Carl. In this massive crater of destruction, only Raven alone could be seen.

    Raven gazed at the sky and heaved a sigh of relief, he didn''t need any confirmation from anyone that he won this fight since he was confident that Carl would not survive that at all.

    He felt his knees go weak which caused him to slump on the floor, a satisfied smile appeared on his face as hey down while panting.

    "Yay, I won¡­"

 Chapter 368 - New Battle Skills

    ---

    As Raven wasying on the ground and resting, he felt something being absorbed by his body.

    He didn''t have to think too much because he already knew what this was. This was the remaining essence of Carl, containing pieces of his memories and energy. Because Raven had sessfully defeated Carl, this could be considered as his additional reward.

    Raven closed his eyes and assimted Carl''s memories. The assimtion didn''t take long so Raven eventually arrived at the conclusion that Carl''s memories are of no use for him.

    What he received are fragments of his life experiences, which is useless for Raven. And also some of his techniques and Law Insights. These would''ve been helpful if he knows Light Laws but unfortunately he doesn''t.

    Still, he kept them in mind since even if it wasn''t useful for him, this will be incredibly helpful for Luna. Of course he was already nning on creating a material to ce these insights so that he could pass it to herter.

    As he was resting, two transparent silhouettes materialized near him.

    One was a man and the other was a woman. And although they appeared a mere ghosts, anyone who saw them would be able to feel that they''re more than that. Even in their ethereal form, they still retained the air of a true master, and if they so desired they could cause a great upheaval with just a flick of their finger.

    These people were none other than Inos and Astrid. The previous heirs of the Ancestral Divine Crown who''s souls remained with it.

    The two approached Raven and sat in front of him. Raven was already aware of their presence so he sat up to greet them.

    "It''s been a while." Raven as soon as he saw them. The two nodded to him but didn''t really share his sentiments. It might''ve been years since Ravenst saw them but for these two, that span of time is all but just a blink of an eye. Their meditationssts longer that in all honesty.

    "Congrattions on arriving at this checkpoint. Now, you''re halfway there. You''ll be entering the Pce soon." Inos said while smiling.

    "Thank you, I''m looking forward to it, but I''m afraid that it might take me a while." Raven replied truthfully.

    "Don''t feel rushed." Astrid added, "You are already doing very good. Keeping up your pace like this is fine."

    "I know but, I''m just really curious about what''s inside." Raven replied, "I''ve been staring at it for a long time now so I can''t really help it."

    The two smiled at his honest answer, they can''t really rebuke his im since they were like him back then. One couldn''t just help themselves but wonder what really lies behind that huge pce doors.

    "It is alright to be curious, but let me inform you right now that whatever''s behind those doors. You aren''t ready for it yet." Astrid told him, "Far from it actually."

    "She''s right, partner." Inos added, "Just maintain this kind of routine, rushing in won''t do you any good anyway."

    Raven nodded at them and stayed silent for a bit. Suddenly, he remembered some matters that he wanted to ask to them.

    "Oh right, Astrid. I have a request¡­"

    "I''m aware of it." She said while smiling, she then pointed her delicate fingers on Raven and sent a beam of light towards him.

    "I also have something for you, partner." Inos added as he too did the same thing.

    Raven then closed his eyes and assimted the memories that''s been transferred to him. And to his surprise, it is quite a lot.

    He had received some of Astrid''s Destruction Law insights but it''s only limited to the first field of study, which is the Breaking Stage. Additionally, he received two Ancient Arts from her as well. They are:

    [True Destruction Manual] and [Grand Hammer Stances].

    The [Grand Hammer Stances] is pretty straightforward, it is an art that focuses on the hammer itself. It is a much needed battle skill for Raven since majority of the skills he had so far was self-created. Those weren''t so bad but he needed more inspiration to make his own skills stronger so this is a weed addition.

    As for the [True Destruction Manual], it is an absolute treasure. This manual was basically created to cultivate Destruction Laws.

    It had to be known that gaining enlightenment from a certainw doesn''t mean that one could fully harness it''s strengths already. Since the Laws are extremely profound, it is required for one seek further enlightenment to use them, but even then it still doesn''t meant that they are using it to its fullest.

    Raven might''ve gained enlightenment from Destruction Laws but he himself could tell that with the way he uses it brings no justice to thew. He also knows that he''s wasting so much of it''s potential and he really wanted to bring out its full capabilities but he''s helpless for the matter as well.

    But now that he received this manual from Astrid, that''s bound to change.

    Ancient Arts created to cultivate Laws directly are incredibly rare. Even with his long previous life, the amount of time he had seen these kinds of technique could be counted on one hand. Without a doubt, if this manual was released to the Divine Realm, countless of experts will emerge and there will be a bloody war for it.

    Cultivating Laws allows one to get closer to the real strength of Laws. This ancient art won''t make allow him to gain enlightenment fromws constantly but instead, it will strengthen everything he already knows about it, allowing him to disy the full potential of his own understandings and application for Destruction Laws.

    As for what Inos gave him, it was just a bunch of his Laws of Time and Space insights.

    Inos didn''t give him much because both of them knew that Raven isn''t enlightened with those Laws. The insights he gave, was just a research material for Raven, just so that he can gain inspiration for him.

    After receiving and assimting these gifts, Raven opened his eyes and said:

    "Thank you. I''ll put these things to good use."

    "You''d better." Astrid snorted, "Or else, I will never help you again."

    Of course she was jesting, so the three had a goodugh to ease up the atmosphere.

    "Oh that''s right partner. I have to tell you something." Inos said in a serious voice.

    "What is it?" Raven asked since he could see that whatever he has to say must be pretty important.

    "It''s like this¡­"

    ***

    "Damnable pest¡­" An old voice sounded in the void.

    Anyone who heard this voice could feel the agitation and irritation behind his words, fortunately no one was here to hear it. In fact, it would be best for anyone not to arrive at this ce ever.

    This ce is at the very depths of the Grand Ancestral ne. It''s located where no ordinary humans or beast could ever step on. It was naturally hidden and for a very good reason at that.

    The Center. This is what this ce is called. And just like the name implies, this is the very center of the ne and its most important ce.

    What lies here is the heart of the ne, the Core. The reason why this ce is hidden from everyone is because if the Core of the ne was destroyed, then the whole ne will crumble. Of course, the Core of the ne isn''t something that anyone could just destroy, still it is the most sensitive part of the ne so it''s being protected.

    The only caretaker of the Core is the Consciousness of the ne and anyone whom it tasked to do so, such as the biological father of the Ice Emperor.

    Unfortunately, even with the ce being protected by the Old Man, something still managed to force their way in and is now causing an enormous headache for the ne as a whole.

    This being is none other than Vit''hum, the Pale Hybrid.

    As a malnourished Dragon Kin, Vit''hum was strong enough to endure the resistance of the old man. It even managed to stay alive to form a Bloodline Pact that bound it and the ne''s core together, and through this pact Vit''hum could absorb the vitality of the ne for its own use.

    The Old Consciousness who resides in this ce looked at the slumbering pest who''s still draining the ne''s vitality. In his attempts to prevent this from happening, the Old Man erected multiple formations that filters the effect of the Bloodline Pact to weaken its siphoning.

    Needless to say, the old man is still helpless to stop it from draining vitality off the ne.

    The Old Man appeared to be agitated. So much so that he tried to bend thews of the ne to kick this intruder out. Unfortunately it failed to do so since Vit''hum''s body is too durable.

    And though the Pale Bastard was in slumber, it could still feel that agitation of the old man. It then subconsciously strengthened the siphoning much to the Old Man''s annoyance.

    "Bastard!" The Old Man sent lightning towards the beast in his anger but what the beast didn''t know is that all of this was just an act.

    The Old Man was actually relieved that it reacted this way. Inwardly, he told himself:

    ''Enjoy your veryst moments alive, you damnable pest.''

 Chapter 369 - Desire To Feast

    ---

    ''Ah, finally¡­''

    A young voice of a malformed human resounded on the depths of his heart.

    He found himself staring at the vast and starry skies of the night while tears fell from his face. He was holding a body that doesn''t even resemble a human anymore. The body he held was burnt, all of this person''s features were mostly missing due to the incident that happened before their death.

    ''I''m sorry.'' He said inwardly. He would''ve liked to apologize out loud but his vocal cords aren''t working properly, making him unable to speak. It also didn''t help that every time he opens his mouth, ck mes will uncontroblye out burn everything in front of him.

    He knew that he wasn''t normal. He''s not just some deformed human. In fact, he''s not even sure if he could even be called human anymore.

    His face resembled that of a human, but his skin was incredibly pale, almost as if he was a corpse or something. It is wrinkled but that shouldn''t be possible since he''s just but a teenager, and somehow it is also stic and durable. A dagger won''t even cut his skin and instead would just leave white marks that resembles scratch marks.

    He''s unusually short and his back was bent withrge hump on it. And unlike any other humans, he had a tail.

    ''You underestimated my desire to live. Due to that, you''ll be my meal now. You should rejoice, honestly.'' The young man said as he ruthless tore the burnt corpse in manageable pieces and started feeding on it.

    His face expressed bliss andfort as he continued chewing on human flesh, his tears kept falling from face but this wasn''t from sadness or regret. It was because of glee.

    Finally, he defeated the strongest human that ever hunted him. His triumphant victory over this human made him cry tears of joy, and he celebrated his victory under the night full of stars and a delicious meal to satiate himself.

    After he finished eating his prey, a satisfied burp escaped his mouth, nary a piece of bone nor hair remained from the human, everything was consumed by him. It didn''t take long before an inexplicable power filled his body, making him shiver in delight and causing hisugh manically.

    *Roar!*

    He released a provocative roar which also filled with glee and satisfaction.

    ''This is it! This is the feeling! Ah!'' The deformed young man shivered as he felt power coursing through his body. ''It never gets old, and I don''t want it to get old! Who would''ve known that Humans are the most delicious meal in this ce? This is no good! I want more! More! Ah!''

    The young man shivered constantly as if he was roaming multiple times in a row. His maniacalughter resounded throughout the dark forest and anything who heard it felt chills running through their body, causing them to run away.

    A crazed expression surfaced through the young man as his eyes eventually turned red and his consciousness was eroded by the blissful feeling of eating human flesh.

    ''I want a feast! Human flesh, I want it! I have to - no! I need to have them! As many as I could! I want to be fed! I want my belly full of human flesh! I want to savor their heavenly taste! I. Want. More!!''

    All of a sudden, his raging emotions caused a transformation to ur to his body. The hump in his back exploded and revealed bat-like wings that spanned for a few meters. A ck horn emerged from his head, his fangs grew longer and his pupils turned to slits. He released another roar which is apanied by raging ck mes.

    This is the night where he officially discarded thest bits of his humanity and embraced his demonic urges. From now on, he''s no longer that same human boy who kept a lot of secrets to himself. He discarded his own name and given himself a new one, along with the promise that he will feed on human flesh as long as he lived.

    "I am Vit''hum!!!"

    ***

    Vit''hum did what he wanted.

    He built air in the forest constantly search for humans to feed on. Even if he was a crazed beast, his sanity remained intact and he even kept his memories while he still believed that he''s human.

    Vit''hum knows their culture, he knows how they think, how they behave, and how they react in the face of dire situations. This is why he also knows how to hunt them.

    It is not like he couldn''t be sated by eating animals. If he wanted to, he could''ve satisfied himself by eating animals or demonic beast but he just can''t control his craving for human flesh.

    To him, they''re tastiest food there is. He can''t exin it but he just couldn''t stop thinking about eating them.

    It also didn''t help that he had an idea to make them taste even better.

    It was an idental discovery, but the more mental stress his human victims suffer before they die, the tastier they get. He had no idea why but it''s irrelevant to ask since all he could think about since then, is how to maximize the taste of his future victims.

    He tried a lot of things. Verbal abuse, breaking their bones one by one, making them delirious from pleasure¡­

    But the most effective way he discovered, is through keeping them alive and awake as he eats their flesh while they watch. This was his guaranteed way to maximize their taste so that he could satisfy his own cravings.

    The more he eats humans, the stronger he gets. And the stronger he gets, the easier it is to hunt humans. It is but a simple desire to feast on humans, yet for some reason he can''t control it. He wanted more.

    Unfortunately, the more he consumed human flesh, the stronger his craving for them gets. He''s appetite grewrger andrger until he found himself unsatisfied.

    He discovered that his acts of constantly preying on humans, scared them from venturing through hisir, which in turn caused him to no longer have any supply of his favorite meal. His addiction to human flesh is so great that it pushed him to think about ways to get constant supply of it.

    And through this he thought, ''If humans can breed cattle, then it should also be possible to breed humans as well.''

    This was the thought that gave birth to the ck Curtain Guild.

    Overthrowing the Royal Family? Lording over humans? Taking what originally belongs to them? Seeking for more power? Bing gods?

    All of these are mere lies he fed to his own subordinates in order to make them do his bidding. What he wanted was to eat humans. No more, no less.

    Unfortunately, he underestimated the intelligence and talent of humans. Time and time again, someone will rise up from their ranks and will force Vit''hum''s ns to be ruined. Some of them were so strong that he was nearly killed.

    But his will and desire to eat humans was that strong that he kept clinging to life. He dived to the depths of the world to hide first and recover his energy, after that he''lle back and feast on humans again.

    And through some miracle, he managed to infiltrate the most important ce of this ne.

    He saw something he never seen before, and due to starvation, he decided to eat it. Unfortunately, someone was guarding it and that person nearly killed him for real. If he didn''t cast his Bloodline Pact that forced the man to cease any thoughts of killing him, he would''ve been dead for now.

    And thus, he managed to live and feast on a seemingly limitless amount of vitality from the thing in front of him. The guardian did his best to kick him out but Vit''humtched on to it like a stubborn leech and kept sucking on its vitality.

    Through this feeding, he tasted yet another delicacy that''s almost on par with the taste of humans. And the strength boost he acquired from sucking on this thing''s vitality is so great that it made him stronger than ever.

    With this, another desire was born on his heart. He decided that not only he will eat all humans, he will suck all the vitality that this mysterious round object has until it runs out of it.

    And through the memories of his own blood, he knew that there is still other humans and worlds that has the same mysterious round objects like this one out there. When he''s done here, he will devour them all, he will keep eating until he dies.

    Even in his current slumber, he still knows that he''s nearly done emptying this thing''s vitality. And through the reactions of the old man, it made him even more convinced that he''s nearly there.

    As excitement filled his heart, Vit''hum did something that he never thought he could do.

    Through his desire to feast on his meals, he forced himself to awaken from his short slumber.

 Chapter 370 - Seal

    ---

    ''By the gods.'' The old man swore, ''His Majesty told me to act like I am desperate but now that this thing''s awake, I really am desperate.''

    The old man was sitting on top of the ne''s Core as multiple orbs representing every elements. Red for fire, blue for water, brown for earth, green for wood, pale blue for lightning, white for yang and ck for yang. Each orb formed an natural formation that served as protection for the core. The old man also weaved in some offensive attacks from time to time but due to the Bloodline Pact, he could only injure Vit''hum and not kill it.

    It had been two months since this pest woke up from its slumber. Against all expectations, the earlier estimations of the old man was wrong, he didn''t ount the possibility of this beast being able to force its slumber to end.

    And because of its early awakening, the struggle of the between two entities happened earlier than it''s supposed to be. One desired to feast while the other desired to protect.

    If things went ording to their expectations, then the old man would''ve still be fairly rxed but since it didn''t, things turned hectic for him.

    Ever since Vit''hum rose up from its slumber, it immediately began to siphon the ne''s vitality with even more ardor. The old man could even see the excitement and impatience on the beast''s eyes as it raised the maximum output of its siphoning.

    The old man could only passively defend and casually attack Vit''hum. He repeatedly cursed the Bloodline Pact and constantly med himself for being careless. Now he could only hope that Raven would arrive in time.

    "Give up, old man." Vit''hum''s gruff and raspy voice could be heard echoing everywhere in the Center. "You can''t stop me. You''re just dying the inevitable. Just let me eat this thing and I''ll be on my way."

    "Ridiculous!" The old man yelled in fury, "You damnable pest! All you know is to eat! If I let you do as you please, then this whole ne will be destroyed! If there''s anyone that should give up here, that should be you!"

    "Me? Giving up? Don''t make meugh here old man." Vit''hum replied sarcastically, "Why would I give up when I already won? Like I said earlier, you''re just dying the inevitable. I am telling you to give up out of consideration, why waste effort on defending something that''s already meant to be eaten by me?"

    "This thing is not meant to be eaten by you, not everything you see is yours to devour. You forced pathetic existence here and forced the Bloodline Pact on the ne''s Core!"

    "What good is the world if they aren''t my meals?" Vit''hum replied with a mad gleam on his eyes, "I am the hunter and they are my prey. Everything that exist here is my game, it doesn''t matter how I do it, all will be consumed by me!"

    And just when the old man thought that the siphoning is already at its maximum strength, Vit''hum proved him wrong once again.

    The old man felt that the ne''s vitality was plummeting at an rming pace. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and pushed the formations power to the maximum degree as well. He had been regretting his choice on wasting his breath towards this pest, had he stayed silent maybe this thing won''t increase its siphoning.

    With the rate of this suction, he could hold out for a week at most before the ne''s Vitality ispletely sucked dry by this pest and the ne starts crumbling on its own.

    "Hmm? So the Pale Bastard''s awake already? That''s early."

    A foreign voice reached their ears,pletely taking them by surprise. Both of their eyes darted to where the voice came from and saw that it came from a young man casually walking on the empty space at the Center of the ne, acting as if he''s walking around his yard.

    Seeing him caused Vit''hum to be so confused. It wasn''t expecting another being to be able to enter this ce. Vit''hum himself arrived here by ident but it wasn''t dumb enough to not know that this ce is hidden explicitly by the ne itself. If it didn''t have an unreasonable strength and durability, Vit''hum would''ve beenpletely crushed by the strange forces that are inhibiting this ce.

    What''s even more surprising is that, the visitor is a human. A very young one at that. Judging by his looks, he''s not even a fully-fledged adult just yet. Even if he was, he''s still too youngpared to him and the old consciousness'' age.

    Contrary to Vit''hum''s confusion, the Old Man almost jumped in joy seeing Raven arrive.

    The old man was already at his wits end, any longer and he might''ve already give in to the pressure and cause the ultimate demise of the ne. The old man''s relief and joy was of course caught by Vit''hum, who became even more confused and curious about the identity of this youngster.

    ''This old coot''s guard ispletely down, and it''s all because of this human. Who is he? Howe he''s here? And what''s his purpose.''

    Vit''hum didn''t get any answers to his questions since it didn''t ask any of them. Instead, it continued to observe the young man and found out that the young man was doing the same.

    This was the first time that Raven met Vit''hum in person. All those years of confrontation with the ck Curtain Guild during his past life allowed him and his father to discover about his existence. When they learned about him, they were terrified since there''s no way that they could face such monstrosity but this thing never appeared even after the whole kingdom was destroyed.

    He started to doubt about its existence but when he grew stronger he found its remains, which was a definite proof that it was still alive a few years before he discovered the remains.

    Vit''hum assumed his demi-human form. He has a torso and facial features of a human, bat-like wings, wrinkled skin, has a lower body of a reptile, fangs protruding out of its mouth, a long pale horn and reptilian pupils.

    Using his ocr vision, he could see the enormous energy reserves and aura it was hiding. It was aplete monster that managed to survive throughout the years. No wonder the ne is facing headache, with its current state, it could not afford to raise a being like this even more so allowing it to continue existing.

    Under Vit''hum''s bewildered gaze, the human started walking towards its location. Under normal circumstances, Vit''hum will wee this human with arms wide open before brutally feasting on his flesh. But for some reason, with the look and demeanor of this human, he noticed that he doesn''t have any desire to eat him, instead he''s more interested as to why he decided to walk towards his location.

    This was his first mistake¡­

    "Hey, don''t you think that you''ve pestered the ne long enough by now? Why don''t you just go away and find new toys to y with?"

    Vit''hum was dumbstrucked by the way Raven talked to him.

    He waspletely speechless. Was this human dumb? What is he? Some sort of a middle man? It was as if he was stopping a fight between kids. Just the thought of that sounded so ironic.

    "Well, I''ll be..." Vit''hum said out loud, "I thought you were some kind of a special being but it seems that I''m going senile from age. If all humans are like you, then it''s perfectly justified for me to eat all of you."

    "Hoh¡­" Raven''s reply sounded amused, causing Vit''hum to be speechless even more.

    Its gaze turned towards the old man, there was a questioning look on his face. It was as if he was asking: ''Is this kid even real?'' But when he got from the old man, was not an answer, but a look of pity.

    The gaze of the old man said: ''Not even a God can save you now.''

    Before Vit''hum could even interpret what that means, he felt the human moved.

    Allowing Raven to move, was his second mistake.

    Vit''hum felt Raven''s hand on its chest At first the Pale Bastard didn''t know why he did that, but his questioned was answered pretty soon.

    It didn''t even had the opportunity to defend itself, it only heard Raven chanting.

    "By my will, I refuse your blood. Let it be chained and restricted so that no harm shall befall to my kind. No power under highestyer heaven nor the deepest ofyers hell could break this curse, for my will, is the will of all mankind."

    A powerful light erupted from Raven''s touch. Vit''hum felt his skin burning, the smell of its burnt flesh assaulted its nose, and for the first time in centuries, it felt pain.

    While Vit''hum still couldn''t wrap around its head around what''s happening. A powerful constriction enveloped its body. It felt its own blood stagnating and the Bloodline Pact it formed with the Core of the ne was severed, causing it to suffer major bacshes.

    Feeling strength draining from it''s body, Vit''hum looked at the dull eyes of the human standing in front of him. It then heard him speak.

    "5th Forbidden Seal: Bloodline." Raven smirked, "How''s that for an introductory present? Did you like it?"

 Chapter 371 - Kicking Out

    ---

    Vit''hum could hardly believe it, so much to the point that he didn''t even know how to react at all. (AN: I''ll use the pronoun ''he'' for Vit''hum from now.)

    The Bloodline Pact, a skill that stemmed from his impure but strong bloodline, was defeated just like that. He wouldn''t have been surprised if someone like a King or like an Emperor did this to him, but this kid is none of those things.

    Still in denial that the skill he got from his impure dragon bloodline, he tried casting it again. Sadly, the pain inflicted by the seal said everything that needs to be said.

    "Impossible!" Vit''hum still didn''t give up even after experiencing all the signs. He tried again and again but the more he tried, the more painful the bacsh from the seal gets.

    The pain that the seal inflicted was directly tied to his soul. Due to his age, his soul was plenty strong yet the repeated attempts he did to cast the Bloodline Pact caused him to suffer more and more, and this kind of pain is not something that his hardened but wrinkled skin could defend against.

    "You!" For the first time in ages, Vit''hum raised his voice in fury as he gazed at the young man walking away from him as if he did nothing. To add salt to the injury, Ravenpletely ignored his furious bellow.

    "You damn mortal!" Vit''hum screamed in agony as the seal administered another seal. He could feel his strength being sapped away from his body. "What the hell did you do to me! Answer me!"

    But instead of answering his question, Raven didn''t even bother to turn around. He looked at the core and then old man, sighing in relief while thanking his instincts.

    ''Good thing my instincts warned me about this. If I didn''t rush here, then that bastard might''ve already devoured the core.''

    "How do you feel?"

    The old man gave him a polite salute and said: "Relieved, my Lord. Thanks to you, that pest no longer has the ability to siphon the ne''s Vitality."

    Both of them could still hear the furious roars of Vit''hum but decided to ignore them. The Old Man gloated at his fate. Vit''hum had seriously underestimated Raven. One would''ve think that wisdomes with age but not necessarily true. This poor deformed lizard must''ve realized that Raven was anything but simple.

    The clues were there. He managed to arrive at the Center perfectly fine despite the ce beingpletely inhabitable. He also didn''t express any surprise them, and what''s more he is aware about Vit''hum''s moniker. It wasn''t as if he deliberately hid his intentions nor pretended at all, in fact he did none of those, and he still managed to get deliver a painful lesson to the poor idiot.

    The poor hybrid underestimated Raven so much that''s he paying dearly for it. Vit''hum must''ve ignored his presence since he knew that he could devour the human at any given moment like a snack.

    Raven wasn''t as ''merciful'' as Vit''hum though. The old man recognized the seal he ced on the poor hybrid and it was a lethal one.

    The seal he ced was derived from a very old Ancient Art called [Book of Forbidden Seals]. Each of the seals depicted in there were not only extremely powerful but also profound as well. Aside from having the necessary amount of Energy Reserves to cast each seal, and understanding how to perform it, there are no other requirements at all, which makes it essible for everyone. Yet even if that was the case, few had ever learned it due to its profundity, plus knowing and doing are two different things.

    [5th Forbidden Seal: Bloodline] doesn''t just cancel or prevent any art of skill tied to the target''s bloodline, the pain it administers also ignores all kind of defenses and goes straight for one''s soul. The pain it inflicts depends on the quality of the bloodline not it''s purity. Since Vit''hum had the bloodline of Dragons the seal would cause him pain more frequently, making this a torturous experience.

    Nheless, it was fortunate that this lizard hybrid was dumb, else Raven''s n would''ve been foiled.

    "Tsk." Raven clicked his tongue in irritation as soon he saw the ne''s Core. "This is worse that I initially expected. Curing this will take time."

    Hearing Raven''s remark made the old man lower his head in shame. He''s still bent on ming himself for what happened. If he hadn''t been too rxed on his duties, then all of this could''ve been prevented.

    "Cheer up." Raven said, "Staying depressed won''t solve anything. It''s not like we can''t cure this."

    He then turned around and saw the writhing idiot behind them. He sneered and said: "Kick this pest out. I don''t want him interfering with what will happen here."

    The old man was surprised, he couldn''t help but ask:

    "Are you sure it''s wise? He''ll regain freedom once he surfaced. I''m afraid that he''ll go on a killing spree once we did that."

    "Drop him in front of his home then." Raven said, referring to the headquarters of the ck Curtain Guild. "If really goes on a killing spree, then it would be his subordinates who will feel his wrath, maybe killing some of them in the process. Two birds, one stone."

    The old man agreed to the idea and wasted to no time to open up a transfer portal beneath Vit''hum''s feet.

    Despite knowing what''s happening, Vit''hum was powerless to stop it. He couldn''t even muster any kind of resistance due to the pain he''s experiencing. All he could do is to throw some curses and malicious words towards the two as he slowly disappeared.

    The peace and quiet returned as soon as he was gone. The old man sighed in relief, now the nuisance was gone and they could move on with the cure. He also made sure to drop Vit''hum from a high altitude on top of his home, hoping to at least inflict some damages to him by doing so. Whether it did something or not, was not something he cared about for now. There are more pressing matters to pay attention to.

    After handing out the order, Raven didn''t remain idle. He needed to fix the problem as soon as possible.

    "The restoration will take some time." Raven informed the old man, who was already listening to him. "I''ll be needing your assistance but not untilter. For now you have to ensure that no one will interrupt this process. One wrong move and everything will fall apart. Prevent anyone from discovering this ce and erect some defensive barriers. Remember, Vit''hum got here once, there''s no saying that he couldn''t do so again even in that state. We can''t afford to fail."

    The old man nodded,pletely understanding the severity of the situation. Raven didn''t say anything anymore and instead he ced both of his hands on the ne''s Core to start the treatment.

    Meanwhile, the old man did his part and began changing the terrain.

    He abruptly arrived at the surface and started manipting thews ording to how he sees fit. He isted the entirety of the Center using Space Laws and changed the flow of time. He erected multiple defensive formations made out of purews to prevent anyone from even stepping foot near the Center.

    And just like everyone says, one can never be too careful. Just in case someone managed to bypass all the defenses he created, which is nigh impossible already, he also took A''nu, the Guardian Yeti of the North, away from its home and instructed it to guard the ce.

    Its task is to simply drive everyone it sees out of this ce, not to kill them, except Vit''hum. Just its aura alone was already enough to cause every beast nearby to run away from fear, and due to its strength, no human could take it down so its the perfect guard for this important event.

    The Guardian Yeti was more than happy to obey, it even transformed its surroundings to a field of snow and hail, just to add anotheryer of defense.

    The old man then went back to where the core was. He saw that Raven is still probing it with his senses, being very careful to not miss a single detail that might cause any kind of failure on his part.

    Once he was finished. He took a deep breath and swallowed some pills from his spatial ring. Performing the forbidden seal shave a decent chunk of his longevity, it wasn''t a huge loss but it left him quite drained. And due to the circumstances, he couldn''t afford to waste time to so he had to hasten his recovery using medicines.

    Once hisplexion got stronger, he red his majestic aura along with his powerful soul. He stepped forward and embraced the ne''s Core, sinking his perception within it.

    The old man watched, the anxiety was making this experience seem longer than it actually was.

    In the middle of his anxiety something incredible happened. Myriad lights came flying out of the ne''s Core. It formed images depicting auras and faces he thought he would never see again.

    "Heavens! This is...."

 Chapter 372 - Blessings

    ---

    The colorful lights turned into silhouettes of people who had once climbed the peak of this ne and ascended to the Divine Realm. Their faces might be blurred but the Old Consciousness will never forget their auras.

    "The 4th Generation of Rulers¡­" the old man whispered with his entire body shaking in disbelief.

    First is the Sea Master, Ruler of the Water. His robes look like a waterfall, he stood tall like a spear pointing towards the heavens. His golden trident was held beside him and his aura resembled a still water that won''t hesitate to transform into a raging tsunami in a blink of an eye.

    Beside him is the Earth Master, Ruler of the Land. His clothes looked like a the great earth itself. He was the shortest amongst the rulers, yet he had the buffest body frame. His ankles are constricted with ck metal cuffs linked with a chain, akin to those of prisoners or ves. A great axe was resting by his shoulders and his aura was that of an indomitable mountain.

    Next is the Sky Master, the Heaven''s Ruler. She wore an elegant dress seemingly formed out of cloud. She has Four-sets of wings behind her back and she stood tall amongst the rulers with her golden sword nted vertically on the ground. She depicted true might and beauty even though her face was blurred. Her aura resembled the vastness and freedom of the skies.

    Besides her is ady called Master Moon, Ruler of the Night. She is a stark contrastpared to the Sky Master yet she just as elegant as her. Her wings looked like the starry skies during the night, and instead of a weapon, she''s holding a crystal ball that closely resembled the moon itself. Her aura gives of an impression of the element she ruled, the beauty and mystery of the night.

    And finally, the one who gives off the strongest andsting impressionpared to the rest, would be Master Sun, the King of Rulers. He wore a simple robe that looks almost simr to training robes. His golden hair graciously fell behind his back while his hands held a wand that seemingly had a miniature sun. His aura was steadfast, unyielding, majestic and kind all at the same time. Which is why he leaves behind asting impression to anyone who sees him.

    The Old Consciousness almost don''t know how to react. These faces had been branded onto his memories due to several reasons. First, they are the leaders of the first batch of people who ascended to the Divine Realm. From the moment of their birth, the old consciousness was already aware that they are destined for greater things yet what they achieved was something that precedes his expectations.

    There is a strange bitterness in his heart as he often remembered each one of them since not even once did they returned to visit him or the ne, he couldn''t help to feel this since he treats them as his own children, yet he also know that it couldn''t be helped as there are many things that require their attention. He understood this even further when Raven shared his memories with him. So this bitterness had been driven away from his system and reced by glee specially in this asion.

    On the other hand, Raven''s guesses were proven to be correct.

    He didn''t believe that everyone who left this ne had forgotten about their home. Regardless of his own circumstances during his previous life, he always missed home and often found himself wanting to return. Homesickness is something that not even the strongest beings are immune to, this strongly applies to him as well. The problem is that the Masters'' became too strong too fast that by the time they realized it, they can''t return anymore.

    They were too strong that just their presence alone could destroy the whole ne. It would''ve been fine if the ne was still at its prime, they might''ve been able to if they suppressed their cultivations to barest minimum, but that''s no longer the case.

    Raven knew that they couldn''t stand to see their home reaching the end of its natural lifespan if they could do something about it. So he believed that they left their blessings to the ne, it''s just on the matter of searching it and making use of it. Thankfully, the blessings were imnted to the core itself, saving him a lot of time.

    Serving as the medium for this whole ritual, Raven remained under pressure since not only he was keeping everything stable all on his own, he''s also receiving the full burnt of the aura these Master''s are emanating.

    All of a sudden, the silhouettes of the Masters suddenly moved. They raised their respective weapons and pointed it towards the core.

    Myriad colors of lights filled the entire space of the Center. The Old Consciousness fainted and he was forcefully merged to the core itself. Each light contained different kinds of blessings, all suited and proved nourishing for the core.

    Not only the vitality of the ne was being restored at an rming pace, the weakening structures ofws and the natural protection of the ne was being restored to its peak condition as well.

    The blessing of the Masters were too concentrated. None of them held back at all. The nourishment was so much that even Raven was greatly benefitting from it. He hadn''t intended to take advantage of the situation at all but his body was automatically reacting from all of this.

    The shower of blessings continued for a whole hour, nonstop. Not only did the vitality of the ne waspletely restored, it was even extended by a great margin. It''s natural protection from outside influences became stronger as well.

    At one nce, the Grand Ancestral ne remained as a low levelled ne but it definitely wasn''t the case anymore.

    The bnce has been restored, thews became firmer and the crises was averted

    Every living being in the Grand Ancestral ne felt some sort of changes happening around them but can''t put a finger on it. Humans vaguely felt the drastic change but were simrly clueless as well. Nheless, all of them felt that the air became cleaner all of a sudden, the annoying heat of the sun became gentler and the nts became more vibrant to their eyes.

    As some parts of the ne, it suddenly rained. Butpared to regr rains, this is one of a kind. Every drop of water was filled with nourishment. Every kind of vegetation it touches bloomed with splendor, creating more nutrients and raising their overall quality.

    A''nu, the Guardian Yeti, experienced this rain. At first it was puzzled since it shouldn''t be raining inside its domain of Snow Hail. It opened its mouth and tasted the rain, then its eyes widened like saucers. It then started pping like a silly child and kept it''s mouth open to drink the nourishing rain.

    Back at the Center, themotion that the Masters caused finally started dying down.

    Their silhouettes already disappeared after they gave their blessings. The Center of the ne was no longer a void space. A colorful aurora is now draping the emptiness before. Dots of lights filled the gaps, making it look like a space filled with stars.

    Some of the stars connected to each other, forming constetions that depicted legendary beings that were remembered by the heavens. There were too many to count, and each has a story of their own. Needless to say, the ne also recovered what was nearly lost because of the Pale Bastard.

    Its the connection to the Starry Skies of the Spirit World.

    The Core also changed it''s appearance. From just a mere floating rock which had an incredible toughness. It had now turned into a piece of pristine colored mass of crystal that''s constantly pulsing with the purest for of Origin Energy.

    From this core, came out a silhouette of a middle-aged man who''s crying tears of joy as he looked at himself. He had a long white hair that draped gently on his back, a white colored robes, unusual earrings and wore sandals made out of straw. This man, is none other than the Old Consciousness himself who regained his youthful appearance due to the ne''s restoration.

    "Thank you, children." He said as he fondly remembered the Masters who gave him and the ne a second chance.

    His heart leapt in joy as he saw the changes not only in the Center but throughout the whole ne as well. His vision then searched for the one who made all of this possible, however what he saw was something else.

    It was arge cocoon which looked like it was made out of spider silk. There was a trace of life inside that cocoon, and of course it would be no one else aside from Raven himself.

    The old consciousness gazed at this cocoon with relief and worry as well.

    Relief because he knew that his benefactor is taking a step closer to reiming his throne.

    Worry, because during his brief scan of the ne, he discovered that the pest was rallying his troops towards the home of his benefactor and he had no idea how long this breakthrough of his is going tost.

 Chapter 373 - Nightmare

    ---

    Luna abruptly woke up from her sleep.

    Her beautiful face was filled with sweat and her chest was heaving as she gasped for air. She was a bit pale as she remembered what just happened.

    She just dreamt about something really terrible.

    At first she saw a deranged and deformed man, screaming in pain. He doesn''t seem to be suffering from physical pain but rather something else entirely. She could hear him constantly grunting and cursing at someone.

    The deformed man was surrounded by people wearing ck robes, which struck some form of familiarity to her for some reason. They were trying their best to ease the deformed man''s pain but what ever they do, the pain wasn''t stopping. Some of them left and came back with silver trays on their hand. As soon as the tter was revealed, Luna felt her heart grow cold.

    The tter was filled with carcasses of humans.

    Luna retched by the dream didn''t end there. The deformed man devoured the human flesh, and based from what she saw, he was gaining a little bit of strength every time he consumed human flesh, which is something that Luna couldn''t understand.

    The pain didn''t stop for the deformed creature but due to his meal, he was able to numb his senses and ignore the pain he was suffering.

    He then gave out strings of orders to his followers and the whole territory boiled in activity. The nightmare fast forwarded and to Luna''s horror, it showed a battalion of Demonic Beasts and ck Robed humans marching towards somewhere.

    Their numbers exceeded millions, and the aurasbined made for a very threatening force.

    All the way at the back of this enormous horde, the deformed human sat on the throne being carried by several men. His gaze was burning with anger and desire, while his aura alone was way beyond anything that Luna felt before.

    The nightmare ended with the deformed human making eye contact with her. She never felt so rmed and threatened that it forced her to wake up from that nightmare.

    Luna shook her head and tried to tell herself that it was just a dream. She drank a ss of water and looked at the moonlit sky filled with stars. She sighed and epted her fate that she might not going to be able to sleep after experiencing that.

    She changed her clothes and decided to go out for a brief walk. But as soon as she walked out of her room, she was surprised to see that almost every single one of the guards on duty were incredibly alert and somewhat jittery.

    "What''s the matter? Did something happen?"

    "Ah! Oh!" The guard almost jumped in surprise seeing her in front of him. It was clear that there was something weighing out his mind. He cleared his throat and said: "Pardon my inattentiveness, Princess. I just thought about something strange."

    Luna frowned and found this behavior suspicious. She has a close rtionship with these guards since they had been working for the Royal Family ever since she was a child. This is also why the guards here could freely speak their minds, of course without being impolite towards their benefactors.

    "Mind telling me what is this strange thought of yours?" Luna asked.

    "It''s just something silly Princess. Don''t pay attention to it." The guard replied, but looking at Luna''s gaze, he felt that he couldn''t escape this, so he exined: "Well, I just had a terrible daydream. It''s like this¡­"

    The more this guard told her about this daydream of his, the more somber Luna''s expression became. The guard''s daydream was extremely simr to her nightmare just now except for a few details. On his vision, he saw himself being eaten by a monstrosity.

    Luna was about to ask him more but the guards near them also heard this conversation and decided to chime in.

    "Holy crap dude! I experienced that too just now! But unlike you, I was stabbed by some sort of poisonous spike!"

    "I saw myself being beheaded."

    "I became a puppet for the enemy."

    Luna was astounded, heart turned cold and a grimace found its way to her beautiful face. The guard in front of her saw this and somehow understood¡­

    "Heavens! Did you experienced it too Princess?" His outburst was heard by the other guards and they too were shocked.

    Luna sighed and nodded: "Yes, I did. But I didn''t die. I just saw a very, very frightening existence leading those troops."

    All the guards had an unnatural reaction upon hearing her say that. This specific event is just too coincidental. Granted that someone could be saying simr things to join the bandwagon, this is very unlikely due to the nature of their work.

    They didn''t doubt Luna at all, since there literally no reason for her to lie to them.

    *Beep!*

    Luna was startled upon hearing the beeping sound of her badge, she sighed and excused herself to receive the message sent to her. Upon opening the message, she saw that it came from Paul, it reads:

    ''Holy crap, guys. I just got a really scary nightmare.''

    Luna''s eyes widened at this point. Paul''s message was sent to everyone in the team minus Raven, which means that if her guesses were right, then¡­

    ''You had a nightmare too? That''s weird.'' - Ellen.

    ''I also got one.'' - Mark

    ''Me too.'' - Anne

    Luna''s guess was on point. She then sent a message to them as well.

    ''It''s not just us. Even the Royal Guards received the same. I think this is a sign. Let''s inform Big Brother, though if my hunch is correct, then there will be no need for that as well. Juste here ASAP.''

    ***

    "So¡­" Balmung frowned as he drummed his fingers in the desk. "Aside from a few minor details, we all had experienced the same nightmare. Can everyone confirm this?"

    The crowd around him nodded. Not only Raven''s team was here, the rest of the Golden Knights were here as well as some of the influential people.

    Even the weakened King Alexander and Queen Elizabeth was here too.

    Every single one of them confirmed that they experienced the same dream just like the rest except for some minor details, pertaining towards their deaths.

    The atmosphere inside the King''s office was solemn. They weren''t expecting this kind of thing to happen at all. It was a strange phenomena but no one dared to slight it anymore.

    If it was only two people who dream about this, then it might still be considered as a coincidence, but when 10 or more people dream about the same thing at the same time? That could no longer be a ''mere coincidence'' anymore.

    "Could it be a sign?" Luna said after thinking to herself, catching the attention of the rest. "I mean, I have some spections, but I can''t be certain."

    "Speak." Balmung urged.

    Luna cleared her throat and said:

    "I think what we saw was glimpse of the future." She stated, drawing mixed reactions from the crowd. Thankfully no one interrupted her so she continued:

    "I don''t know when but I think someone''s giving us a warning here. There''s no doubt that we all saw a demonic beasts gathering and marching. So that means that we will face another Beast Horde, but at the scale that we''ve never experienced before. I''m talking about millions here, and their numbers are growing."

    Most people inside the room started sweating nervously, some swallowed hard upon hearing her deductions but none said a word.

    "We also saw men in ck robes. That to me, would be the forces of the ck Curtain Guild. We all know that some of the beast hordes that we experienced in the past were their doing. So it''s not far-fetched to say that they might be gearing up for the final sh."

    Many people sucked in cold air as she revealed this. Her words were now starting to make sense to them, but it brought them no joy.

    "Whatever the result of this battle - no, this war, will be catastrophic." Luna paused and took in a deep breath. She then revealed her final piece.

    "What worries me, is that deformed human we all saw." Her voice was a bit shaken at this point. "If the vision and my guessed were all on point, then that creature was something that will bring us the biggest headache."

    "I''ll admit it. Even with all of us here, I don''t see any chances of us winning against that thing." Luna said, "Whatever that thing is, its repulsive aura and its strength is something that cannot be measured."

    "That thing reminds me of the creature that Avi told us a while ago." She stated, "He called it Pale Bastard. And judging from what we saw, I''d say it fits the name urately."

    The room descended in a very tense atmosphere as she finished talking, all of them had conflicting emotions about her deductions but none of them could say that she''s wrong since everything she said made sense.

    "How I wish I am wrong.." Luna sighed, "But no matter what happens, I think we should start preparing ourselves for the worst."

 Chapter 374 - War: Preparations

    ---

    "Nina, Tori. Come, it''s time to go." The voice of ady filled with motherly affection sounded inside the room where two girls were ying.

    The twins, Venina and Victoria, giggled at the sound of their mom calling them. They dropped their toys ands started walking towards her.

    Eva took their hands and smiled at them, the twins continued giggling as they went outside of their house.

    "Look! It''s Daddy." Nina pointed out as soon as they exited the house.

    "Daddy!" Tori called out while jumping.

    Luis, who heard the voices of his children, smiled and took both of them on his arms. He gave each of them a peck of their cheeks and the twins did the same. He then said:

    "How are you girls? Did you behave well while Daddy''s out?"

    "Yes! We''re good girls, right Tori?" Nina answered.

    "Um!" Tori nodded her head vigorously, "We''re good girls!"

    "Good job!" Luisughed as he tickled both of them, causing the girls to giggle merrily. "Okay, if you continue doing that, then I''ll buy you cakes when I return."

    As twins heard his promise, their eyes shone with excitement. Nina started pping while Tori started drooling.

    "Promise! We will behave! We want cakes! Yay for cakes!" Nina eximed.

    "Um, cakes! Must be a good girl for cakes!" Tori nodded vigorously while agreeing.

    Luisughed then he brought them down, they then ran towards Eva and the four started walking to a nearby carriage. The twins went inside the carriage first, their attentions were immediately caught by something shiny which prevented them from hearing what Luis and Eva were talking about.

    "Is this really necessary?" Eva asked Luis, doubt was present on her face including worry and fear.

    Luis sighed and hugged his wife, he then said: "Yes, it is. I wouldn''tpromise for your safety."

    "But what about you? And the kids?" Eva asked, the kids she''s referring to were Luna and the rest of Raven''s team.

    "They''ve made their decision." Luis firmly said, "They''re no longer kids anymore. They willingly epted their responsibilities for the Kingdom and they want to uphold it."

    "Just be...careful out there okay? You must return alright? If you dare make me a widow, I''ll hunt you in the afterlife." She warned him, making Luis smile wryly. "And if you see your son out there, drag his ass back home for me will you? I''ll have to teach that kid a lesson for not even updating us about his well being."

    "Yes, yes, and yes." Luis answered, he nted a kiss on her lips as he gently urged her to ride the carriage. "Go, take care of our children."

    Eva looked at him with eyes full of worry before turning around and getting on the carriage. Luis signaled the man and then the carriage started moving, it''s destination is towards the Royal Pce.

    Luis waited until the carriage was out of sight, once it was gone, his expression hardened and was filled with resolve, he then went back to his office and decided that it was time for the Hawk Force to have some debriefing.

    It has been two days since all Knights on the Kingdom dreamt about the uing cmity. That''s right, all of them. Anyone who''s at least Knight Realm and above dream of the same thing and since then it had been a hot topic amongst their ranks.

    A decree was released from the Royal Pce, forbidding anyone to release this in public to avoid paranoia from the citizens. All knights were then summoned and was briefed about the issue. Since then, the Kingdom started preparing for the uing war of survival.

    All civilians were asked to move towards the Inner Court of the Kingdom. All they were told was that the Kingdom is facing yet another beast horde. And since this was a regr urrence from time to time, the mobilization urred in an orderly fashion.

    Every soldier began attending drills to prepare for battle. They also received some pre-war supplies which they can use to boost their strength in the uing battle.

    The Sacred Leaf Tavern had been extremely busy. Every single one of their alchemist had their hands full with huge orders. It wasn''t just them of course, each association were also busy for war preparations as well.

    The cksmiths had been working on some of their revisions for the Worker Constructs, somehow they were able to attach some offensive capabilities to the constructs, making them useful for the uing war. Those who can''t participate in the project, had been tasked to create armors and weapons for the soldiers.

    The Inscriptionists were creating additional defensive arrays and formations for the Kingdom. They are also tasked to create some deadly traps or anything that could slow down the advance of their enemies.

    The Military forces had been dividing their forces into teams and training them in drills. Enforcing discipline will prove to be an incredible asset in the uing war so they aren''t holding back at all.

    The Lair Hunters had been tasked with an important mission. Some of them, Mark included, were tasked to scout ahead and inform the kingdom about the movement of the horde. In fact, Mark went ahead first. He left during the same night when everyone dreamt of it. His colleagues were sent after him and when they caught up, Mark already had a report.

    Due to their efforts, it had been confirmed that their dreams weren''t just some sort of a coincidence. There is in fact, signs of a beast horde, which scale is something that the Kingdom had never experienced before. It is also confirmed that the ck Curtain Guild were also taking part of it, which made Luna''s interpretation be reality. It was due to this discovery that the Kingdom started taking action.

    Mark received orders to return. Although he was a bit reluctant, he can''t disobey. All he could do is to set up traps on his way back, hoping to shave at least a portion of their forces before they arrive at the Kingdom.

    ***

    "How''s it?" Anne asked as soon as she saw Mark return.

    Mark didn''t speak, but his gloomy expression was enough to answer them. He sighed and said:

    "Terrible." Mark frowned, "Luna''s interpretation was on point - well, mostly. I didn''t feel the Pale Bastard anywhere, but if there''s anyone who could rally that many Demonic Beast along with the ck Curtain Guild, it would only be him."

    The room became silent, all of them wore serious expressions on their faces.

    "Cultivation Realms? Tiers?" Paul asked.

    "Knights, all Tier 3 and above." Mark answered, causing Paul to clicked his tongue.

    "What took you so long to return?" Ellen asked, she knows about Mark''s speed which is on par with Old Lee. If he wanted, he could''ve returned the same night when he left but he just arrived to day.

    "Setting up traps." Mark answered, "Hoping to at least, shave some of their numbers. They''re way too many."

    "That''s good." Lunamented, "Hopefully that slows them down."

    The atmosphere inside the room became a bit somber.

    This war is unprecedented. And even though their team are strong, they couldn''t help but second guess their chances of survival.

    While they might be strong, the sheer numbers of the enemy forces will surely wear them down. The walls they built might not evenst for an hour once the beasts makes contact with it.

    Needless to say, they can''t possibly run away from this. The Final Haven Kingdom is their home. None of them are willing to allow their enemies to trample it down just like that. Their resolve to defend their home were strong enough to the point that they are willing toy down their lives if it would mean the survival of their home.

    "Argh!" An irritated groan was heard from Paul. He stood up and said: "I can''t sit still like this. Is there something we can do for now?"

    "We were told to save our strengths for battle." Ellen said but just like Paul, she too felt irritated and somehow powerless.

    "But we should still be able to do something right?" Paul said in an almost desperate voice. "I mean, we could just consume some recovery pills before they arrive. I don''t think we should be remaining idle like this. It doesn''t feel right."

    "He''s right." Mark said, standing up as well. He wasn''t showing any signs of fatigue even though he just returned. "I''ll go help with the traps."

    "Why don''t rest first?" Anne asked, worried about him. Mark shook his head, causing Anne to sigh since she knows that she can''t stop him. "Alright count me in."

    "I''ll go see how the Ruby Knights are doing." Ellen said, she then turned towards Paul and said: "I think you should check out the military drills."

    "Good idea!" Paul smiled, kissing Ellen''s cheeks.

    Ellen grumbled and looked at Luna, asking: "How about you?"

    "I''ll go to the Sacred Leaf Tavern. I think they need additional hands due to the massive orders."

    "Alright, since everyone''s decided. Let''s make use of our time." Paul said, earning nods from his teammates.. They existed the meeting room and headed out towards their targets.

 Chapter 375 - War: Preparations (II)

    ---

    The sky is dark and ck clouds loomed over the kingdom. On the tall walls surrounding the entire Final Haven Kingdom, countless of soldiers stood, looking over the horizon.

    The atmosphere was tense and gloomy. Some of the soldiers had been nervously swallowing their own spittle, the others were incredibly jumpy or unresponsive, while the rest were either faking their calm or had epted their fates.

    ording to intel, the force of a Beast Horde with numbers surpassing millions, are about to arrive soon.

    Which means that the War for Survival is about to happen, and some of them don''t know if they were ready for it.

    The forces are scattered out through the entirety of the Kingdom.

    Even though ording to reports, the horde is going to arrive via east size, the sheer size of it is too great for them to focus their entire force in a single spot. They will be swarmed, so it was suggested that it will be best to spread out their forces on each side just to make sure that the damages will be minimized.

    That being said, the main force of the Kingdom are concentrated at the East Gate since the Beast Horde will arrive there first.

    The main force are mostly the Golden Knights, which numbers greatly increased upon the reform.

    The Veteran''s are still there, Morel, Old Lee and Leona. They were joined by Jackson, the Head Director of the Lair Hunters Association. Leon Anderson, Mark''s Father. Bradley Redcrest, Head Officer of the Royal Guards and father Ellen, as well five more who came from other families.

    Though Luis, Ian and Richard have all progressed their cultivations and stepped into Golden Knight Realm as well, they weren''t asked to join the line-up for the main force since their expertise would be useful elsewhere.

    Luis is in task of overseeing the battlefield andmanding the troops due to the recent promotion he got. He''s now the Royal Strategist of the Kingdom. His clean streak of upholding justice and countless of rmendations from the people he worked with, as well as consistency pushed him to this position. This title was personally awarded to him by the King himself.

    He''s stationed at the East Gate, there is a miniature array in front of him which shows the sky eye view of the Sk Array. This was made for him to arrange strategies ordingly for the troops.

    Ian on the other hand, remained as the Headmaster of the Heavenly Cloud Academy, he''s mainly tasked to provide support from time to time, in-case of a breach, he will have to move towards the ce and help with the defense. The students are with their families of course, but the staff share this responsibility with him.

    Meanwhile, Richard remained to be the head of the Sacred Leaf Tavern, and even at this time he''s busy refining pills for the Kingdom. Thanks to Raven''s support, his knowledge and expertise in medicine experienced an incredible boost. He had managed to add new additions to the medicine that the tavern sells, some of them could even be used offensively.

    ***

    East Gate.

    "How long do we have?" Old Lee asked Luis as he gazed at the arrays.

    "30 minutes and we''ll be able to see them." Luis answered in a solemn voice.

    Old Lee inhaled sharply and steeled his nerves. He gazed at the gloomy sky and said: "I know this is not the proper time to say this, but I want to thank you."

    Luis raised his brow and asked: "What for?"

    "For raising an incredible son." Old Lee answered earnestly, "He might not be here right now, but his presence and contributions are as clear as the sun. "

    Luis didn''t know how to reply. He was ttered but at the same time, he also knew that he had little to no influence on Raven''s progress. All of those were achieved by his own hands, in fact the promotions and authority that he now posess are only due to the achievements of his own son.

    He''s incredibly proud of him, yet he wished that he could do more. He was always swamped with work and barely spent any time with his own son. Until this day, he''s regretting that¡­

    Old Lee could more or less tell what he''s thinking, he ced his arms on Luis'' shoulders and said: "I can tell what your thinking. Don''t beat up yourself for something like that. I can tell you that your son, never med you nor your wife for anything. He looked up to you greatly, and he wouldn''t bear any kind of grudges."

    Luis felt his nose sting, but he suppressed his emotions. He nodded to Old Lee and ced on a determined expression as well.

    "Focus on doing what you do best." Old Lee told him, "Don''t be afraid to take risks, there will be deaths and all but if we can win this, then we''ll be unstoppable."

    Luis looked at Old Lee''s eyes and saw certainty. He was no fool. He could tell what the old man was telling him.

    Old Lee was prepared to die in this war.

    He was basically telling Luis to not be afraid on pointing the way, even if it will mean the death of him. Old Lee was ready toy down his own life to ensure the safety of the next generation. He wasn''t afraid because he certainly believed that if the Kingdom survives, then no one will be able to threaten their home anymore.

    Luis inhaled sharply and nodded his head. Old Lee smiled, knowing that Luis got his message.

    "I think our troops needs a boost of morale." Old Lee said, "Would you like to do the honors?"

    Luis'' eyes widened, he hurriedly shook his head. He was about to say something to decline but then he felt a familiar aura that caused him to widen his eyes once again.

    Walking towards them, is none other than King Alexander himself along with Queen Elizabeth. They were escorted by the Royal Guards, who had unnatural expressions, and Prince Balmung along with Victor, who''s wearing expressions of helplessness.

    As the two saw them, the immediately left their post and approached the King and the Queen. Kneeling down, Luis said: "Your Majesty, you should be resting."

    "We told him the same thing." Balmung interjected in a helpless tone. "But he refuses to listen."

    King Alexander''s still not cured, his well-being remained stagnant at best even with Richard''s help. The maintenance he''s taking only kept his illness at bay, without proper cure, he''ll remain in a weakened state. As for the Queen, her body''s still kept in a pristine condition, but her soul is anchored to a statue, making her situation extremely pitiable.

    "At ease, you lot." Alexander waved his hand, allowing Luis and Old Lee to stand up, as well making the prince and Royal Guards sigh in defeat.

    "Our home is in grave danger." He said, "What good is a King if he only sits upon his throne doing nothing while his people suffers? You can''t expect me to sit idly and patiently wait for good news toe."

    "My people needs me." He continued with great determination on his voice, "I''ll protect our home even if it kills me."

    The hearts of those who heard him shivered, they felt deep respect on his actions and were incredibly thankful that he was the one on the throne.

    "I know that I can''t do much in my state, but I want to ease up the hearts of our soldiers." Alexander said.

    Old Lee and Luis couldn''t do anything but sigh and make way for their King. They made their way towards the top of East Gate and the King surveyed the troops who are ready to face the uing cmity.

    Words travelled fast, as soon as the King appeared, all soldiers were already staring at him as he stood on top of the walls. There was a brief moment of silence before he began speaking.

    "Today, a great cmity approaches." He started, "It threatens the safety of our home and if we let it defeat us, there will be nothing left for us anymore."

    The atmosphere turned gloomy, but Alexander''s presence drowned all of that.

    "Today every single one of you are called to defend our home." He continued, "Don''t be discourage about their numbers. The quantity of their forces are nothingpared to the quality of ours. Don''t be afraid charge forward and confront the ones who threaten the safety of your family, yourrades are there to support you and they won''t fail you."

    "And do not be afraid of the great threat looming behind all of this. That creature is nothing in front of ourbined forces! We are strong! We are undefeated! And We. Will. Win!"

    The King''s awe-inspiring voice removed the fear and restlessness on everyone''s heart. His aura was benevolent and strong, and his presence alone greatly benefits the morale and fighting capabilities of each soldier.

    "All of you! Lift up your chins and face the enemy bravely. Show them our might and together we will protect ournd."

    "I am giving you all of my blessings."

 Chapter 376 - War: Blessings

    ---

    One roar signaled the start of it all¡­

    The sound was heard by everyone who''s waiting for their arrival.

    At first it was just a few of them, but as they approached the kingdom closer, their numbers easily surpassed hundreds of thousands, and that number quickly became millions.

    The sight of their forces was unnerving. At a distance, they looked like a swarm of locusts but as they got closer, they grew in size and became a horrifying force. Theirbined presence caused the sky to darken even more. It was as if they were bringing the storm with them.

    Some people found it hard to believe that there are this many Demonic Beast living in this ne, yet the sight of their army gave them a brutal awakening.

    Needless to say, there was no escaping this. They have to fight, or else they will lose everything that they hold dear.

    Marching along with the demonic beasts are the umted forces of the ck Curtain Guild.

    Most of their forces had gleaming red eyes, and were even acting wilder than demonic beast themselves. No one could see it clearly due to their ck veils and masks but most of them are wearing savage smiles underneath those masks. It was as if they were driven mad by something that also caused to them lose their sanity.

    Luis stood tall on top of the walls, beside him are King Alexander, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Balmung, the veterans and the rest of the Golden Knights.

    His cold gaze observed the approaching army while his arms are crossed. Once they entered a certain distance, he shifted his gaze to one of his men and nodded. The man nodded back and raised his hand, he then roared:

    "Trebuchets!"

    Sounds of gears and mechanisms were heard. The man kept his fist raised and waited for the perfect timing. Once he saw it, his eyes gleamed. He pushed his fist forward and roared:

    "Fire!"

    *Woosh!* *Woosh!*

    Each trebuchet fire off projectiles that arched towards the beast horde. Some of the smarter beasts evaded the boulders while some weren''t paying attention and was hit by them.

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    Huge explosions rocked their ranks, causing chaos on their march. None of them knew that the projectiles fired by the trebuchets had an additional effect. Some of them had Explosion Runes with them, causing the projectiles to explode into shards. Some of them will release deadly poison, causing death and decay to those unfortunate to inhale them. Others burst into mes, some are made out of metals, and etc.

    The chaos was amongst their ranks are so severe that it caused their approach to slow down. The explosions kicked off clouds of dust, reducing visibility on the battlefield.

    The trebuchets keep firing projectiles, aiming to shave off some of their numbers before they eventually shed with the enemy forces. Luis kept watching like a fearsome general, his eyes then had a visible gleam as soon as the horde entered the Trap Zones.

    *Roar!*

    Pained roars, desperate whines, dying noises, all of this was caused by the traps that the Lair Hunters prepared before hand. These traps includes spike traps, snares, poisons, pit falls, explosives, and etc.

    By now, at the casualties of the Beast Horde are quickly rising. However due to the great number of beasts marching towards them, the amount of the fallen seems negligible

    "Archers, Catapults, Cannons! On my mark!" Luis roared as soon as the horde came closer.

    He raised fist high up in the air as the soldiers waited for hismand. Observing their speed and making calctions on his mind, he waited for the perfect timing before he gave out the order.

    As soon as Luis made an announcement, Anne summoned her eagle and flew towards the firing squad with bow on her hand. Her pupils gleamed as her vast aura was felt by the firing squad.

    "Blessing of the Wind: Calming Gusts."

    Gusts of gentle windsforted every soldier, a warm green light emerged from Anne''s body and permeated through their souls, giving them confidence and a boost of strength.

    Her blessings caused the worries of the firing squad to melt like snow under the re of sunlight. Their uncertainties about their aim and their performance in the war, was reced by utter confidence and calmness that Anne brought with her joining them.

    "Fire at will!"

    Luis push his fist forward and released themand. Volleys of arrow, booming sounds of catapults and cannons were heard from the walls. The firing squad sent tons of projectiles creating a waves of doom upon their enemies. Luis didn''t have to give out anothermand since the squad knew that he will only do it once. They won''t stop firing unless they were told to do so.

    The waves of projectiles caused great chaos upon the massive horde of enemies.

    Simr to the trebuchets, each projectiles they sent had different effects. The Kingdom''s forces watched as the waves upon waves of beasts fell due to their explosions, and the casualties are only rising up from this point. The bloody scent could already be smelled from where they were but instead of panicking, this gave them confidence since they have yet to reach the kingdom.

    "Report!" One scout from the Lair Hunters said via long distance transmission link. "We saw a small squad of beasts approaching us near the South Gate. Estimated size is 95,000, no sightings of anyone from the ck Curtain Guild."

    "Wait for them to trigger the traps. As soon as the first explosion urred, Fire at Will. Make sure to leave none alive."

    "Roger."

    ''No one''s leading this squad. Did some stray-off already? I don''t think so. I''ll observe the situation first, we have back-up ns in case of emergency.'' His attention was them brought back to the marching horde, causing his face to turn solemn.

    Even though he knows that they''re shaving off a decent amount of their numbers, it was hardly noticeable due to how much beast there were. More importantly, they are only the weaker beasts and not really doing any real damage to the stronger ones.

    Most of the stronger beasts are either too agile that they are able to dodge the projectiles, or too tough due to their hides, scales and etc. preventing the projectiles from doing any damage. He had no idea how the hell could somebody had the authority to gather this many beast and where did these beasts evene from. But they are the problem now and he couldn''t afford to make any mistakes here.

    ''It''s about time for the real sh.'' Luis muttered inwardly, he would''ve liked to shave off some more of their numbers but they are approaching fast, leaving him with no other choice since he couldn''t afford them to go any closer to the kingdom.

    "Soldiers! Prepare to meet the enemy!" Luis roared on top of his lungs.

    As his voice echoed amongst their ranks, every single one of them snapped into attention and held their weapons tighter. Luis measured their distance and waited just a bit more. It was then that the King raised his sword up to the sky and held the Kingdom''s g on the other. He unleashed his awe-inspiring aura to his soldiers.

    "Lightshield Luminescence!"

    The sky parted and beam of holy light blessed the entire army. Each soldier felt their spirits lifting up, giving an unstoppable feeling and confidence. Their nervousness vanished and was reced by a heroic thirst for battle.

    Queen Elizabeth stood beside her beloved King, she too raised her sword up in the sky and released her majestic presence on the army.

    "Druid Enchantment: Breath of Nature!"

    The Queen''s blessing caused every single one of them to feel their bloods boiling and while their senses are heightened. Even the older soldiers felt like they were back on their primes due to the imposing blessings of their Rulers.

    Along with the boost on their strengths, majority of the soldiers also felt responsibly and unworthy of such blessings. They knew that their King is weakened and the Queen is on a pitiful state, yet they still pushed themselves to the battlefield to watch over them. This caused them to feel even more determined to protect theirnd and ensure that the Kingdom will remain standing tall.

    "All of you, consume your Moonshine!" Luis'' voice echoed once more.

    Each soldiers took out a bottle of Moonshine and downed the entire bottle in go. With this, their senses were heightened even more and their mental states stabilized, enabling to them to concentrate on battle and make the right decisions.

    *Squeal!*

    A piercing shriek sounded and the army saw an enormous pir of me heading towards them. This attack came from a Tier 5 Demonic Beast, and the fluctuations it released was incredibly dangerous.

    But even though that''s the case, no soldier moved from their location. None of them felt threatened at all since none of them will get injured by that attack.

    Their confidence lies on the one who held the toughest shield on the entire Kingdom.

    "Yeah, no thank you.." Paul sneered as he threw his shield towards the pir of me, effectively neutralizing it.

 Chapter 377 - War: Divine Beasts Presence

    ---

    A spiked ck tower shield was thrown to intercept the attack of the Crimson Crow King, a Tier 6 Demonic Beast.

    An attack that would normally wipe out hundreds of Knights, waspletely neutralized by Paul''s ck Tortoise Shield. It didn''t even budge nor shook from the impact. The pir of me waspletely absorbed by the shield without letting anyone harmed.

    "Right back at you." Paul said as he gestured with his hand.

    The shield rotated and shot a powerful beam of energy simr to the Crimson Crow King''s attack, albeit doubled in size and strength.

    The Crimson Crow King wasn''t expecting its attack to not only be neutralized but also returned stronger. It dodged atst second but it didn''t came out unscathed. The beam of light nicked its wings, causing it to fall to the marching horde.

    Cheers erupted as the soldiers saw how easily Paul deflected the attack of a powerful beast. This further boosted the morale of the troops, causing their blood to boil and their thirst for battle to rise on another level.

    The ck Tortoise Shield flew back to him, he then looked at Luis and nodded. Thetter got the message and nodded back.

    "Charge! Meet the enemy! Defend our homnd!" Luis roared as he gave out themand.

    "AAHHHH!"

    "LET''S DO THIS!"

    "DEFEND OUR HOME!"

    "FOR THE KINGDOM!"

    "FOR THE KING!"

    "FIGHT!"

    "TAKE NO PRISONERS!"

    The roars and battle cries of the soldiers flooded the entire battlefield. The earth shook, the sky darkened even more. shes of light and explosions urred everywhere. Bits and pieces of flesh were scattered om the ground, blood stained the soil and a foul smell permeated through the battlefield.

    "Shall we, everyone?" Old Lee stepped forward and asked his fellow Golden Knights.

    The rest nodded and without wasting any more time, all of them blurred into motion.

    Old Lee and Mark seemingly turned into lightning as they ran towards the horde with their blinding speed. Ellen and Leona flew into the air with their wings made out of fire, sending orbs of concentrated me which temperatures are high enough to reduced anything it touches to ash. Anne and Morel stayed in the air, providing supportive fire using their arrows of spears made out wind.

    And despite being the slowest amongst them, Paul had different way to catch up to them.

    He threw his spear in a graceful arc. He gathered strength through his legs and jumped high up in the air.

    His spearnded amidst the marching beast horde, it hit the Crimson Crow King and nailed it to the ground. Paul then crashed in the middle of a horde like a zing meteor, causing a powerful quake to disrupt the momentum of the charging horde.

    *Boom!*

    The earth shook and several demonic beast were sent flying due to the impact of Paul''snding, those beast were then shot by Anne''s arrows shortly after.

    Pail crushed the pitiful beast that got impaled by his spear. He picked up his spear and red his overbearing aura amongst the ranks of the horde.

    "AAAAHHHHHHHH!"

    A guttural roar sounded from Paul''s throat, causing a huge disturbance in the horde. A silhouette of colossal sized Snake-tailed ck Tortoise appeared behind his back, looking down on the horde with arrogance and radiating with an Ancient Aura.

    As the ck tortoise appeared, majority of the beast felt their blood freezing. Their hearts tightened as a profound fear washed over their bodies.

    Meanwhile, every single soldier who heard his voice, were suddenly covered by a blue barrier. This barrier has a total of nineyers which will protect them against life-threatening attacks and will not dissipate until all nineyers are used or Paul falls unconscious.

    Still, Paul''s powerful disy isn''t over.

    With most of the beast experiencing suppression from the ancient might of Snake-tailed ck Tortoise, Paul decided to take advantage of this situation. He assumed a defensive stance by cing his shield forward and activating the next form of ck Tortoise Shield.

    "ck Tortoise Shield 2nd Form: Spiked Barricade!"

    The ck tower shield on his arm expanded at a visible pace. It turned into a long barricade that spanned for at least one kilometer in length and several meters tall. The beast who failed to stop their charging momentum were impaled by the spikes on the barricade''s surface, causing them to die on spot.

    "Woah, he''s going all out." Mark said after slitting the throat of someone from the ck Curtain Guild.

    The appearance of the barricade even came as a surprise for their allies, since they never saw this kind of spectacle.

    Paul legitimately erected a barricade in the middle of the horde, effectively diving their forces in half. This did not only lightened up the load for his allies, it also raised their survival rate.

    Dozens of beasts tried to destroy the barricade he created but no matter what they did, wasn''t even enough to leave a scratch on it or push Paul back.

    Paul was at the center of everything, his feet were firmly nted on the ground. His face was earnest as his desire to protect raised an all time high. And the barricade wasn''t just for defense either.

    His spear was mounted on the barricade. Each time he thrusts his spear forward, the spikes on the surface of the barricade will extend, stabbing through the crazed and unsuspecting beasts.

    Back at the walls, even the King himself was impressed by this sight. Ian who''s watching the war through the array, felt pride rising from the depths of his heart.

    He found it quite hard to believe that this snotty brat grew up so fast, to the point that he became one of the most reliable people throughout the kingdom. He wasn''t even paying attention to the impressed faces of his peers and the words of tterying out of their lips. All he felt was joy and pride.

    ''Come on!'' Paul said to himself through gritted teeth. ''At worst, I''ll be sore for the rest of the week after this. But for now, be strong enough. Hold your ground, don''t fall. This is a simple task, you can do this.''

    It wasn''t even that long since he came to the battlefield yet his body is already covered in sweat. Maintaining the 2nd Form of his shield isn''t really tough but the impact from the relentless charging of the horde was hurting him. He endured them all, he believed in himself. He kept on telling himself that he didn''t endure a torturous training only to fail here. He might appear rxed but that''s just because he didn''t want to worry anyone here. He wanted to do his best and protect his home, and without Raven here, he can''t afford to fail.

    He was so concentrated on his thoughts that he didn''t even notice that Ellen was standing next to him. He only saw her once she touched his shoulders.

    "You''re so dumb." She said but her face showed a rare expression of tenderness. "You''re not fighting alone, we''re a team remember?"

    Before he could even say anything, she flew towards the sky and pointed her sword to the sky, allowing her venerable aura to spread through the battlefield.

    Behind her, a silhouette of a massive sized Vermillion Bird appeared.

    And as if the suppression from the Snake-tailed ck Tortoise wasn''t enough, herees another Divine Beast.

    A sonorous cry was heard all over the ce. Every beast who heard the cry of the Vermillion Bird, felt another suppression pressing them down, making it hard for them to exert all of their force. The appearance of the Vermillion Bird also caused the flying beast to fall from the sky. The Vermillion Bird is the King of the Skies, and no other winged beasts shall take flight without its permission.

    Ellennded beside Paul and held his hand. She smiled sweetly to him and said: "Let''s add fire to your barricade."

    Bright red mes fueled by Fire Laws encased the barricade that Paul erected. Not only did it increased the temperature of around them, it even caused the spikes on its surface to be covered in mes. Now, each time Paul struck, the spikes will not only impale the nearby beast, the mes will incinerate their organs as well.

    This effectively lightened up some of the load on Paul''s shoulders and also helped on preserving his stamina in the long run.

    Even amidst the war, Paul felt incredibly lucky. He felt a little stupid, thinking that just because Raven was absent in the war, he had to step up and endure the pressure all alone. If Raven was here, he would''ve not hesitate to smack his head and give him some lectures. Not even Raven himself would dare to face all of this by himself, so what Paul''s doing right now is incredibly stupid.

    Paul''s not facing this war alone. He had allies. There''s only so much he can do alone, he needed to rely on hisrades because winning this war will only be achieved if they work together.

    "You know what? You''re so hot right now." Paul said as he felt the pressure on his shoulders lightened.. "No pun intended of course."

 Chapter 378 - War: Marks Report

    ---

    "Good grief." Mark chuckled as he saw how Paul held up the barricade all by himself. "How many beast does he intend to take on by himself?"

    He shook his head but wasn''t really worried for the guy. If anything, he had absolute confidence on his brother that he wouldn''t bite more that what he can chew. Since Paul decided to pull off this move, he knows what''s he dealing with. If things goes south, he only need to say the word and Mark wouldn''t hesitate to rush to his aid.

    He would''ve loved to give him a hand but there''s something that''s really bothering him currently¡­

    "Something''s wrong with these people¡­"

    That''s what Mark was thinking as he continued blitzing through the battlefield like a lightning bolt.

    The more he fought with the members of ck Curtain Guild, the more he realized that they aren''t acting like how they used to. He had fought with them several times in the past, so he definitely had a basis when he said that there''s something strange about them.

    To him, it was as if he wasn''t fighting humans but beasts instead, only these people are acting wilder than savage beasts.

    He had killed a few of their numbers, but he had yet to hear a single word from any of his victims. All he could hear from them is just unintelligible grunts and moans, and due to this he couldn''t help but find the situation incredibly strange.

    He could''ve killed them faster if he wanted to, yet he decided to deliberately slow down his speed, he even tried talking to them yet their replies are just some random grunts and moans that never made sense to him.

    To further prove his point, these people fought like animals. There are no traces of sophistication nor technique in the way they fought. They waved their weapons like they were some sort of a club, and he had yet to see them use any Law powered attacks even thought their bodies obviously contained fluctuations of them.

    As he ran with a blinding speed in the battlefield, he activated his Long-distance Transmission Rune to report his observations since he could feel that this is a relevant information.

    Luis and the rest heard his reports and just as expected, they too found this behavior very strange as well.

    The timing of this news is just bad, it would''ve been fine if they weren''t at war but that wasn''t the case. And in their situation, any kind of strange developments can cause the tides of battle to change so they must know what''s wrong.

    "Dear." Queen Elizabeth called out to her husband, "I''m afraid that there more to this than what it looks like to the surface. There''s no telling on what Vit''hum could do. Can you tell them to bring one here so that I can inspect them closer?"

    Alexander didn''t waste time and ryed the message to Luis. Thetter then asked Old Lee and Mark to do the task, if possible discretely too to avoid rousing suspicions from the enemy.

    Old Lee and Mark got the message, their eyes met and without wasting any time, they turned into lightning and appeared behind two unsuspecting ck Curtain Guild members.

    Mark sent pulses of electricity to his victim''s body in order to immobilize and make them unconscious. After doing that, he grabbed his victim by the cor and retreated towards the East Wall with Old Lee.

    They both appeared in front of the King and Queen with their abducted victims. And even though they were unconscious, the two didn''t want to take any chances so they still pinned them down on the ground.

    "Good work you two." Queen Elizabeth told them as she walked towards the unconscious people.

    "Be careful, Liz." Old Lee said, referring to Queen Elizabeth.

    She nodded and chanted some Elven words. She held out her hand and two seeds were sent out from her fingers.

    The seeds dissolved onto the heads of the targets and shortly after, they sprouted. The sprout looked hideous. ck roots seemingly covered with slimy grime, the bud bloomed into a rotting flower that emanated a scent of death and decay. The whole sprout was then covered with blood and a foul stench that became unbearable, causing the Queen to dissipate them through a snap of her fingers.

    Queen Elizabeth frowned and said: "This is bad. Just as I thought, these people are corrupted."

    The King heard the bad news and felt a headacheing, he then asked: "What kind of corruption are we talking about and how bad is it?"

    "Their sanity ispletely eroded." Queen Elizabeth said, the listeners to frown even more. "They aren''t aware of what''s happening. It seems that the culprit reduced them into a bloodlust-driven warriors. This sanity deprivation is bad enough that so long as they are able to move, they won''t stop killing. The only way to stop them is by slicing their heads-off."

    "Luis, ry this information to everyone." The King informed after hearing the analysis of his wife.

    However, before Luis could say anything, the Queen revealed more information.

    "It doesn''t stop there though." She said, "The culprit of this is most likely Vit''hum himself, I can sense his influence and Death Laws in these two. And if I''m correct then he most likely did this to every single one of them. Aside from killing them, we have to make sure to erase all traces of residual Death Laws from their bodies. There''s no telling what Vit''hum could do with those."

    The group became silent after hearing this. This was terrible news.

    As if the amount of beast he brought to the kingdom wasn''t enough, Vit''hum just had to pull off something like this.

    Just like Queen Elizabeth''s words, they have to do something about these bodies since there''s no telling what Vit''hum could do with them. After all, Vit''hum is already at the Second Field of study on his Death Laws. The amount of things he could do with them might cause them to lose this war or worse, be the deaths of them.

    "Dispose these two for now, do it amidst the horde." King Alexander ordered, "You two, focus on clearing out the ck Curtain Guild forces. If you can, try to pile their bodies away from here just in case something happens."

    "It will be done, Your Majesty." Mark replied, he and Old Lee then disappeared from sight and returned to the battlefield as lightning bolts while dragging their victims with them.

    "Luis, concentrate on the battlefield. We will try to search for ways to deal with this situation." Alexander told him. Luis nodded and left returned his attention to the flow of battle once again.

    "Dear, do you have any idea on to deal with this situation?" Alexander asked Elizabeth since he himself was clueless.

    Sadly, the Queen shook her head and said: "I can''t think of any. Sadly, I don''t know anyone who cultivates Death Laws to consult with."

    This caused the King to sigh and felt worried about their current situation. He had seen what Death Laws could do before since he fought with Altair before. This was before he knew that Vit''hum was actually controlling his brother.

    In the middle of their conundrum, Balmung the suddenly spoke.

    "I asked for some help with this, someone actually replied saying that they could help."

    His words livened up the group, Alexander then asked: "Who is it?"

    "Richard." Balmung revealed, causing them to be shocked.

    "You mean, that Richard?" Queen Elizabeth asked, wanting some rifications.

    "Yes, Richard the alchemist." Balmung nodded, he then activated hismunication array. "Here, you can talk to him."

    The King took the array tablet and spoke to it, "Richard?"

    "Yes, it is me Your Majesty." Richard''s voice sounded through themunication device. "Prince Balmung informed us about your situation. Luckily, all this concoction pushed me to the edge, allowing my skills to enter a new level. I believe I have the solution for the problem about the Death Laws."

    Hearing his words caused the King to feel overjoyed. In his ecstatic mood, he failed to realize something that he would normally be able to tell.

    Richard''s voice sounded extremely strange, even his speaking habits sounded off for some reason. On one hand, this could be amounted to his exhaustion. After all, he had been concocting pills and potions day and night, barely getting rest in between.

    The King then said: "Wonderful! What are your ideas?"

    "I''ll need to concoct some potions, it won''t take long. An hour or two will suffice. In the mean time, the amount I can produce is limited due to the shortage of materials. If it''s possible, then please have the bodies pilled up so that cure can cleanse all the targets at once."

    "I''ve already ordered them to do that. Focus on your concoctions then, I''ll send Victor at the Sacred Leaf Tavern to pick up the cure after two hours."

    "As you wish, Your Majesty. I''ll return to my chambers then."

    Richard then switched themunication array off and looked up to see someone nodding at him while handing him some ingredients.

 Chapter 379 - War: Vivic Cleansing

    ---

    The War for Survival raged on.

    As time passed, the Demonic Beast Horde as well as the ck Curtain Guild''s casualties kept on piling up.

    Thanks to the blessings that the Royal''s gave them as well as the effects of Moonshine, the fighting capabilities of each soldier disyed was almost close to 100%. Although it was rather unfortunate that there had been deaths to the Kingdom''s forces already, the damages on their side aren''t as severe as what the beast horde was experiencing.

    Every soldier could take on at least three or four Demonic Beast before exhaustion takes over. Depending on their skill, they could kill every single beast they face and even if they weren''t as strong, they could always rely on theirrades for support.

    Those who are injured or incapable of fighting anymore, would be brought towards the nearest Healing Station where they''ll get patched up so that they can return to battle immediately. Losing a limb, exhausting blood vitality, blood loss, poison. These aren''t a problem due to the brilliance of the Sacred Leaf Tavern''s medicine.

    Their treatment is top-notch, even someone who''s near-death will be brought back to life, and if they wanted to return to battle, they could thanks to perfect restoration. This is why so far, the Kingdom is one the winning side for this war.

    The results of battle became even more impressive as soon as Paul and Ellen released their Divine Beast Aura and brought on a massive suppression against the demonic beasts.

    On the unfortunate event that their deaths are sealed, they would choose to ignite their cultivations in order to bring down as many enemies down with them. And even though the war just began a few hours ago, the numbers of the horde had visibly thinned already.

    The approximate number of enemies amounted to at least 3 million. Majority of these are Demonic Beast while the rest came from the ck Curtain Guild. But since Mark and Old Lee had been purposefully targeting the people of the guild, their numbers had been dropping in an rming rate.

    The battlefield was filled with colorful lights,rge explosions, dust clouds and sounds of death. The ground is filled with bits and pieces of flesh. Blood flowed like a stream, bathing the army in red and served as fuel for more ughter to ur.

    Mark''s silhouette danced through the battlefield like a demon of lightning. Heads will be severed wherever he went, no one could even touch the hem of his clothes in this form which made his a great asset for this war. Even after running through the battlefield for hours non-stop, Mark isn''t really exhausted. In fact, he could do this all day if wanted to. It''s just that he wanted to remain cognizant about his surroundings.

    To be totally honest, he would''ve liked to bring down higher tiered beasts, the lower tiered beasts could be left for the weaker soldiers to kill. Unfortunately, there''s a task given to him and if its possible, he wanted to finish it as soon as he can.

    Mark suddenly jumped high into the air, with a quick nce of his surroundings, he saw several guild members. After marking them, he threw several daggers urately aimed at his targets.

    As the daggers were released, they struck the unsuspecting victims with a blinding speed. As soon as dagger hit them they were then struck by lightning from the sky. This caused their eyes to roll backwards and for them to lose consciousness. And by the time that they lost consciousness, Mark was already running towards them to retrieve their bodies.

    As soon as he retrieved the bodies, he will use his strength to throw them towards the mound of bodies at a great distance which him and Old Lee created. He didn''t care whether his victimsnd safely or not, they were bound to die anyway, all he cared about is that they gathered there to be cleansed.

    *Beep!*

    A sound transmission arrived, he quickly sank his perception to it and read the message.

    ''Mark, Lee. The Cleansing Potion is ready, return here to retrieve them.'' This message was sent by Luis.

    He wasted no time and quickly rushed towards the East Wall will Old Lee. After they arrived, Victor immediately handed them several potions and said:

    "There''s only 10 of these potions." Victor stated, "Each of you will have five. Richard told me that you only need to use one on each pile bodies, that would be enough to trigger a chain reaction. If possible, wipe out the crazed guild and douse them in this potion, that way we can prevent some unexpected situations."

    Mark and Old Lee nodded, after storing the potions away, they wasted no time and hurried towards the pile of bodies that they umted.

    As soon as he arrived at the mound, Mark carefully removed the cork of the potion and poured its contents on the pile. He then jumped down and waited for the chain reaction that Richard was talking about.

    Mark frowned as he failed to see any kind of reaction from the mound of bodies, he frowned and thought if the potion was ineffective but just as he thought of that, a plume of white me suddenly appeared.

    The White me looked incredibly pure, its temperature isn''t as hot as a regr me but its not easily extinguished either. It continued to spread from one body after another until it covered the entire mound of bodies.

    There weren''t any smoke nor ashes scattering around the burning pile of corpses. The burning was silent and gentle, its almost simr to a campfire.

    But in reality, the me is doing things that are just too profound for anyone to see clearly.

    The name of this potion is Liquid Vivus. When it used, it cleanses the foreign or residualws or any type of wicked techniques by burning them. The cleansing me is called Vivic mes and this me will never be snuffed out until thest drop of foreign energy or influence turned to ash.

    Back in the past, Liquid Vivus was used to cleanse deep-seated impurities, hexes, poisons, and etc. from someone''s body. It was incredibly famous but it was soon forgotten due to the passage of time. Now it was revived by Richard''s abilities, and this will undoubtedly going to cause argemotion once again.

    Old Lee and Mark watched the pile of corpses were disintegrated by the Vivic mes. Both of them thought, that if the potion did its magic, then the ck Curtain Guild won''t pose any kind of problem to them any longer.

    After witnessing the results, they then jumped back into the fray and hunted more people from the ck Curtain Guild for another round of cleansing.

    ***

    "You girls, behave there for a while okay?" Eva spoke to her daughters.

    "Mn! Okay, we will y here and behave." Nina answered while holding Tori''s hand.

    "Yes! We will behave and y." Tori added.

    Eva smiled and kissed their cheeks before going to the kitchen. She was nning on making some sandwich for the three of them. Usually, she would make this along with her husband but unfortunately, the kingdom is at war and Luis was required to report in the front lines.

    Being reminded that war is currently happening caused her mood to dampened. Worry and anxiousness gripped her heart and not even the sturdy pirs of the Royal Pce can make her feel safe.

    Unlike the rest of the citizens, she wasn''t oblivious about the details of this war. While the kingdom propagated false information in order to calm the citizen''s nerves, as the wife of the Royal Strategist, she knows what they''re dealing with.

    This wasn''t just like any Demonic Beast Horde, nor this was just any other defense against it. This was war, and if the Kingdom''s forces lose, their home will be destroyed and their fates will most likely be unknown.

    As a mother, she wanted to give her children the best life she could offer, and of course being forced to live in the wilderness or worst, dying aren''t a part of those options.

    In her absent mindedness, she didn''t even notice that she made a total of six sandwiches at this point. This caused her to sigh since this reminded her of her son.

    The only times that she made this many sandwiches is when all of them are together, her, Luis, the twins, Raven and from time to time, Luna as well. She had gotten so used to preparing this many that it had be an instinct to her.

    Eva still hasn''t heard a word from Raven at all, thest time that she received news of him is when Luna saw the message he left during their previous sh against the ck Curtain Guild.

    She sighed once more and decided to store away the excess. She ced three sandwiches on a te and returned towards where the twins were.

    "Girls, I made sandwich for - "

    Eva didn''t even finished her sentence. When she started searching for her daughters, she saw them being carried by a tall man with a long blue hair. This man heard her voice and turned around to face her while the twins were giggling on his arms.

    She saw the man smile, Eva''s heart almost leapt to her throat when he heard him ask: "Wait, where''s mine?"

 Chapter 380 - War: Unexpected Development

    ---

    "We can do this!"

    "Keep going! Push!"

    "We''re halfway through their numbers! Keep the pressure up!"

    "We will win!"

    "For our home! For the Final Haven Kingdom!"

    War cries can be heard all over the battlefield. Amidst the colorful lights or energies, loud explosions and painful cries of the beasts, the Kingdom''s army remained strong and unyielding. Their powerful words and supportive actions uplifted their camaraderie, further boosting their performance against the beast horde, who''s numbers are swiftly dwindling.

    Paul who was holding the barricade, was now joined by other Defenders. And just like him, they mounted their spears onto the barricade, stabbing those who dared toe close while others are covering their backs just in case some decided to sneak past them.

    Ellen danced in the battlefield like the Darling of mes. Her dress was on fire, leaving trails as she flew past the demonic beasts. She repeatedly sent waves upon waves of fire, incinerating nearby enemies to ash. Sometimes she would fly up in the air using her fiery wigs and will send orbs of fire that would case a huge explosion, engulfing multiple enemies and reducing them to ashes. She''s undoubtedly the most destructive warrior as of now.

    Anne remained in the air, riding on the back of her eagle. She consistently surveyed the battlefield with her sharp vision, providing cover fire and sniping some higher tiered beasts. Her arrows could prate even the most toughest of hides or scales. And her aim is impable too, every arrow she fired counts, each one will either be aimed at the vitals or outright kill them, if this wasn''t possible, then at least she will try to immobilize them. Her aerial maneuvering is impressive too, something has yet to hit her while she''s in the air.

    Mark on the other hand was even faster. It was as if his legs were made out of steel that doesn''t show signs of exhaustion. It had to be known that he had been sprinting across the battlefield ever since it began, it''s nearly eight hours since the war started and he has yet to stop. Everywhere he went, blood and gore follows him with asional sparks of electricity. He and Old Lee are nearly done with their task, after this they''ll be focusing on ying beast. And with the two of them, the rate of ughter will rise on another level.

    As for Luna, she was focusing on beastsrger and stronger than her. Her graceful bearing as well as her battle expertise cause many people to admire her. Her targets are Tier 5 Demonic Beast and above, the reason behind this is because she wanted to minimize the damages on their side, and only killing these stronger beasts would allow her to achieve that. On top of all this, her aura was constantly pulsing through the battlefield. Not only did it boost her performance, it also strengthens her allies and providing them some healing as well.

    These people are the most dazzling assets on the battlefield. It was hardly believable that this kids grew up so fast and are now the main pirs of the Kingdom.

    Back on the East Gate, Luis kept observing the war using the arrays but this time, his attention was divided.

    He pushed hismunication device and said: "West, South, North, give me updates."

    After a couple of seconds, some messages arrived. Luis listened to them one by one to assess the current situation.

    "West Gate reporting. We''ve in half of the horde on our side thanks to the reinforcements. Over."

    "South Gate reporting. Our soldiers are almost done clearing up the battlefield. Over."

    "North Gate reporting. We''re halfway done with the horde on our side. We''ll give reports once we''re done here. Over and out."

    Luis sighed in relief, he ryed one more message to them, telling them to make an urgent report should any kind of developments happen on their side. After receiving confirmation, he ced his attention back at the war happening in front of him.

    It''s quite fortunate that only small group of beasts were attacking them from the other sides. It was also quite fortunate that they had some back up ns to deal with them, it would''ve been bad if they didn''t allocate some people to guard the other gates.

    *Cough* *Cough*

    "Dear!"

    "Your Majesty!"

    Almost everyone who''s stationed on top of the East Gate panicked as soon as they saw King Alexander broke into a fit of coughing. Elizabeth held on top him and used her healing arts to soothe his condition yet her heart nearly leapt on her throat as she saw Alexander''s hand covered in blood.

    She didn''t even get the chance to say anything before the King hid his bloodied hand and waved to the rest of them, signifying that he''s alright.

    "I''m fine, everyone. It''s just sore throat, nothing serious." He lied, wanting to ease their concerns.

    Some people bought it, while the rest don''t. Elizabeth bit her lips and fought the tears. She never liked seeing her husband this weak, the idea of him dying one day greatly terrified her, and when the fact that she was partly responsible for his condition was added, pained her even more.

    The King''s warm and strong arms grasped her hand. He said no words since it wasn''t needed, for the two of them, this action was enough.

    Alexander kept looking over the horizon, steeling his nerves and not allowing himself to show any signs of weakness. But it was quite hard knowing his situation. The Poison Laws are continuously eroding his body. The maintenance that Richard provided kept it at bay, preventing it from doing any severe damages to his health, yet it''s not enough.

    Even with the maintenance, the burning feeling inside his body never faded. He never told anyone, but every time his illness res up, it feels like his body was being fried from the inside. Breathing bes painful and it won''t stop unless he takes his medicine. This feeling was something that he could never get used to.

    "Your Majesty."

    Alexander turned around and heard a familiar voice. He then saw Richard walking towards them. Before he could even say anything, Elizabeth was already talking.

    "Richard! Thank the heavens you''re here. His illness just red up."

    "I told you, I''m fine." Alexander said but the look on Elizabeth''s face silenced him.

    "I am aware." Richard said, "His Majesty forgot his medicine today, that''s why I''m here."

    Elizabeth''s face turned a little sour as she quickly red at her husband. Alexander did his best to avoid her stare while silently cursing Richard in his mind. His face twisted a bit as he felt a sharp pinch on his sides along with Elizabeth''s threatening whispers.

    "You stubborn Old Fool." Elizabeth twisted her pinch, making the King grimace even further. "You told me you took your medicine earlier. Had I known this, I wouldn''t have allowed you toe here."

    "Alright, alright. I get it. Isn''t he here already? I''m going to take my medicine now, so can you stop pinching me already?" Alexander coaxed her while gently tapping on her arms.

    Elizabeth snorted and let go, Richard smiled at this scene and said: "Please, follow me. I''ve already prepared a room for you."

    "There''s no need for that." Alexander shook his head, "I''ll just take the medicine here."

    "Lead the way, Richard." Elizabeth replied while dragging the King with her.

    "Liz¡­" The King called out softly but a re from Elizabeth was all it took for him to stop.

    Helpless, he could only nod at Luis, subtlety telling him that he''s leaving this ce in his hand. Luis got the message and nodded back. After that, he was then dragged by Elizabeth towards the chambers that Richard prepared for the treatment. He didn''t really understand the need for all of this, he could''ve taken the medicine without leaving his post.

    After they entered the room, Richard immediately asked the two to take a seat, to which the both of themplied. Alexander kept looking out of the window to take peek outside, unfortunately he could only see the wall from here and could only hear the sounds of war.

    All of a sudden, a terrible wave of energy swept past them. The King instinctively stood up and had an incredulous look on his face. That energy just now was too evil and too familiar.

    There was no way he could ever forget that energy reading for it left an indelible mark on his life, and he had once made a decision to personally end the owner of that aura.

    "stair!"

    The King''s face twisted, yet his illness red up once more, causing his break into a fit of coughing once again. Elizabeth went towards him and held his hand.

    "Don''t go." She whispered to him.

    "I must." The King insisted but Elizabeth held onto him firmly while shaking her head.

    "Your Majesty, you''re in no condition to fight right now. Please, rest here for a bit." Richard added.

    "You don''t understand, Richard." Alexander gritted his teeth, cursing his situation inwardly. "They''re in danger. stair is extremely dangerous."

    "I am aware, Your Majesty. And believe it or not, I''m not locking you up here. I just don''t want you to fight him unless I am certain that you''repletely cured."

    "Then why are you - " The King didn''t even get to finish since he realized something. "Wait! What did you say?"

 Chapter 381 - War: Alastairs Madness

    ---

    Everybody felt all the hairs on their body stand up as they felt a horrible aura swept past them.

    A pir of ck light emerged from the very back of the beast horde, apanied by sounds of thunder and rolling dark clouds.

    All attention was focused on the ck pir of light, some felt a foreboding feeling while the others felt like their nightmares were turning into reality.

    The pir of light slowly dimmed. As soon as it disappeared, silence pervaded the entire battlefield, everyone froze on their tracks and looked over the horizon, only to see a man walking on air.

    His face was as pale as a ghost, it was as if he had no blood flowing inside his body. His obsidian eyes were deep, anyone who tried to stare at them would find themselves unable to look away and probably have their souls sucked out from their bodies. He had a long ck hair that almost touched his ankles, pale lips, average body and is d in a ck armor with red outlines.

    The aura he possessed was to evil and malevolent, so much so that everything around him was decaying in a visible rate and he''s not even doing anything actively. This was the result of his cultivation and Law insights alone.

    The man roamed his gaze around the battlefield while wearing a chilling smile on his face. A dry chuckle escaped his lips as he said¡­

    "Ah, home. How nostalgic. It has been a while since I''ve returned."

    His dry voice echoed in the battlefield, causing many soldiers to feel shivers down their spine.

    Out of nowhere, five Golden Lights flew in front of this man, all of them disying their might. These people were none other than Raven''s team, who had been rmed at this man''s arrival.

    "Damn, I thought he was consumed by the Pale Bastard? What''s he doing here?" Paul asked while holding up his shield in front of him. The ck Tortoise Shield had returned to it''s base form for now since he doesn''t know what this guy had in store for them.

    "He''s probably reanimated." Mark added as he kept watching the man''s actions. Mark''s whole attention was focused on him, if this guy did something threatening, Mark won''t hesitate to move and chop his head off.

    "I think so too." Ellen added, making her mes burn even brighter using her Law insights. "I can feel strong fluctuations of Death Laws on him."

    "I do too." Anne added as she was already aiming at the man''s head. Just like Mark, she wouldn''t hesitate to release a shot the moment this guy does something funny.

    "¡­" Luna remained silent but she gripped her spear tighter. Of all the things that she was expecting to surprise her, this person was thest one that she thought of.

    To add insult to the injury, this person was supposed to be her Uncle, yet he embraced the darkness and allowed corruption to consume him because of jealousy.

    stair, the former prince of the Final Haven Kingdom - now a vessel/puppet of Vit''hum, stood before them and his intentions aren''t good.

    "Oh my, Scary." stair mocked as he saw how these five wasted to time to intercept him. "The Kingdom hade so far, to think that it''s capable of producing talents at you guys'' level? Back in my day, I was the only one who graced them with such brilliance. But now, I don''t even know if I couldpare myself to you guys at all."

    stair''s tone was nostalgic but also spiteful, it was as if he was saying something thatpletely despises him. His eyes then went towards Luna.

    "Ah! My lovely niece." He eximed with an affectionate tone. "I can hardly believe this! You grew up so fast! Come, give Uncle a hug."

    A disgusted expression surfaced on Luna''s face.

    "Ever since you deviated to the dark side, you ceased being my rtive." She spat, "Drop the act. I don''t know how you came back from death but we wouldn''t mind sending you back to the other side."

    stair wore a horrified look on his face as he heard Luna''s words.

    "Oh! How cruel!" He sobbed as he wiped fake tears from his eyes, "How can this be? Is this how you were raised by my brother? This can''t go on! I must show discipline you in his stead."

    A twisted expression appeared his face. stair then disappeared from his spot and reappeared behind the team, precisely behind Luna. He wore a face of obsession as he tried to grab her head using his pale and wrinkly hands.

    But before he could grab her, a sword covered in mes with frightening temperature stabbed his arm.

    "Hands off, pedophile! She''s taken!" Ellen spat as she channeled more mes onto her sword, incinerating stair''s hand even more.

    *Bzzt*

    A spark of electricity blinked behind him, revealing the clouded face of Mark filled with killing intent. His arms blurred as his swords slithered towards stair''s neck with an rming speed.

    Anne released a shot that was aimed for stair''s heart, by now Paul already arrived in front of Luna and both his and her spear were already aiming towards his body.

    stair''s arm was reduced to ashes, his head was sliced off of his shoulders, his heart was pierced by Anne''s shot and his upper body and lungs were pieced by Luna and Paul''s spears.

    However, even if they managed to not only prevent him from hurting Luna but alsounch a counter-attack, none of them feltcent, they all retreated back and watched as stair''s corpse touched the ground.

    The battlefield waspletely silent, some soldiers thought that it was over but looking at the scene, it turns out that it still isn''t.

    Nary a drop of blood was spilled from stair''s body, to be more precise, he didn''t have blood. His body, which was reduced to pieces, suddenly released a malevolent ck fog. Pieces of his body lifted off the ground and re-arranged themselves in no time. Everyone saw how stair''s body returned to life as his eyes opened once more while his face showed a mocking expression.

    "There we go!" He said while patting his clothes, "Good as new. Surprising right?"

    No one in the Kingdom''s army shared his jubnce at all. All of them felt something pressing down their chest. Seeing an enemy that was brought back from the jaws of death through evil methods is not an everyday scene in their lives.

    "Alright, alright. I get it, I''ll stop ying around." stair said whileughing, it was as if he was talking with someone that the rest couldn''t see.

    He then flew towards the sky with a speed that almost rivalled that of Mark''s and Old Lee. He then stopped upon reaching a certain height. He brought his hands together and released a frightening aura that swept past the battlefield.

    stair''s aura was extremely potent that it caused a ferocious wind storm around him which pushed several people and beast alike away from him. His malevolent aura kept rising at an rming rate. Anne tried sniping him out of the sky but all of her shots were being redirected by some mysterious force.

    When stair opened his eyes, he parted his palms and revealed five orbs of condensed ck energy. Each orb contained massive amounts of his own energy andws.

    He then threw them down and the five orbs scattered across the battlefield. Many people braced themselves for a huge explosion however it didn''t happen. Instead, the five ck orbs of energy released a strong gravitational pull and started picking up matter from the ground.

    Humans and beasts alike then felt like they were being pulled from the ground. Some people held on to each other while the beasts themselves became helpless. Alive or not, intact or not, strong or not, each of them were pulled into the ck orb, forming a massive creature as time passed.

    The team didn''t stop throwing out attacks to prevent this from happening yet the orbs were too dense and tough for them to crack so unfortunately, even though they tried their best, they weren''t able to stop the formation of gigantic creatures which radiated a very malevolent energy.

    As the gigantic creatures took form, the Kingdom''s army suddenly felt like their souls were escaping their bodies.

    "W-what¡­"

    "Gods help us¡­"

    Some soldiers even lost grip on their weapons, causing it to fall beneath them. Their faces showed a horrified expression as they looked up.

    "We''re doomed."

    "This is it. We''re going to die."

    "This is the end."

    "My wife, my children. Papa might not being home anytime soon."

    Meanwhile, stair who''s floating high up in the air, burst into a fit of madughter. He keptughing like a madman as he stared at the gigantic creatures he formed.

    "Go, my minions! Go!" He screeched in madness. "TRAMPLE EVERYTHING BENEATH YOU! BURY THIS KINGDOM TO THE GROUND! REDUCE IT TO ASH! KILL! DESTROY! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

    Amidst of his madughter, an old and wizened voice echoed from within the walls of the kingdom, apanied by a thick and tall pir of light.

    "Audacious!"

 Chapter 382 - War: King And Queen

    ---

    The giants that stair produced was made out of the remains of the dead as well as the living.

    Before he appeared, there''s still at least 2 million beasts needed to be in in order for the war to end, yet all of them was absorbed into the ck orbs that he condensed and turned into gigantic golems that stood several hundred meters tall.

    Each Giant Golem was so big that the walls of the kingdom barely reached their waist. If fact, their silhouettes could be seen all the way to castle, causing panic and hysteria amongst people.

    As the Giant Golems slowly made their way towards the Kingdom and amidst stair hysterical screams. An old and wizened voice followed by a thick pir of golden light emerged from within the walls of the Kingdom.

    "Audacious!"

    stair''s face froze, his eyes narrowing as killing intent radiated off of his body. He red at the thick golden pir of light in hatred and watched as two people slowly stepped forward.

    Suddenly, a wave offorting light washed over each soldiers. It brought them warmth and certainty that everything''s going to be alright. From within the blessed light, all of them witnessed as their beloved King announced his presence to the enemy.

    No signs of weakness could be seen on his face. His back stood straight, hisplexion was healthy, and his power emanated certainty and confidence. It even looks like he became several years younger.

    As he walked towards the battlefield, each step that he took was filled with unwavering resolve. He was wearing an armor befitting of a King. He was grasping his sword on his right hand and the g of his Kingdom on his left.

    Next to him was Elizabeth, who exudes peerless grace and beauty, she''s no longer encased in an statue that barely contained her soul and required the blood of her own daughter each day. She has returned to her own body and she never felt better.

    Luna who''s watching all of this could hardly restrain her emotions. "They''re cured! Finally!" She cried.

    stair who''s floating in the air had an ugly expression on his face as he saw the two walking towards him, but aside from that, he also felt incredibly shocked. He didn''t thought that they were cured already. All this time he thought that they were still suffering from their illnesses, he even saw them in a bad shape before!

    He thought about many things that appeared strange but sadly, he didn''t have the luxury to be distracted.

    The clouds parted as the King moved forward, it was as if his mere presence is enough to drive away the bad weather that''s looming over their heads.

    "This is the end of your impudence, stair." King Alexander stated as he entered a specific distance between him and stair. "I will not allow you to hurt my people again."

    "That''s some big wordsing from your mouth, Little Brother." stair mocked, "You should know not to bite more than what you can chew."

    "Oh trust me, I can and will uphold my word. Today is thest day that you will be a threat to the Kingdom." King Alexander imed, "Your atrocious deeds, ends here."

    After saying that, the King suddenly transformed into a beam of light that flew at a simr speed. stair managed to defend against his attack but he figured that the King''s strength sent him flying with great distance as he closely followed.

    It wouldn''t take a genius to figure out what the King has in mind. He nned on fighting stair in a different location.

    The Queen chose to stay behind since they talked about this beforeing here. Alexander wanted to personally end stair, but since he doesn''t know how long it will take him to do that, he told Elizabeth to remain and assist the army to defend against the golems.

    She gently flew down and looked at the hulking figures threatening their home. Her face turned solemn since she could tell that these things will be a headache to deal with.

    Elizabeth raised her sword and pointed at the sky, an emerald glow covered her body as she uttered: "Sacred Tree Roots: Restrain!"

    Out of nowhere, thick roots sprouted from beneath each golem''s feet, swiftly growing and wrapping around their bodies and holding them in ce. Each golem struggled free from the restrictions but the roots firmly held them in ce and just refused to budge.

    "Everyone!" Elizabeth called out, "Attack the exposed parts with everything you have! If webine our strengths, we can surely take these things out! After that, this is going to be over."

    Her words resounded across the battlefield, allowing them to regain their confidence and their fighting spirits. Several roars from the soldiers sounded after that and together, all of them started recovering from their daze and threw everything they got at the golems.

    With the Queen holding them in ce, the golems couldn''t fight back. All they could do is to passively ept the flurry of attacks heading their way.

    Pained roars escaped from the golems yet no matter how hard they struggled, the roots kept them in ce. Elizabeth could feel them struggling but she didn''t want to risk anybody''s life anymore so she held them all in ce. Of course she could feel some drawbacks in her technique, yet she endured all of them since this is the only way she could effectively minimize the damages on their side.

    Flurry of attacks were sent by the army, causing the Giant Golems to suffer sufficient damage. Yet at the same time, they also encountered another problem. All their attacks are seemingly useless since the flesh of the golems regenerate at an absurd pace.

    They were already informed that they need to damage to core of each golem to permanently shut them down but their cores are in constant motion inside their bodies. Due to this, any damage the golems receive will be healed so long as the core remained, and since it''s motion as well, it will take a considerable amount of power and luck for them to destroy it.

    ***

    *ng!*

    Swords shed and caused powerful shockwaves around their vicinity.

    stair and Alexander are no locked into a fearsome melee against each other. In this battle, only one of them could remain.

    Light Laws against Death Laws. In some aspect, one might say that thesews mutually restrained each other but that''s not true. Thew that couldpletely restrain Death Laws is Life Laws. Alexander has Light Laws not Life Laws, so he''s at a disadvantage here.

    Fortunately, there is one downside that stair had that Alexander could take advantage of.

    stair pushed Alexander back to create some distance between them, he stomped and directed some of his Death Laws on the ground. Alexander jumped in the air to avoid it but stair had other ns.

    "Rise!" stairmanded, causing several creatures to be reanimated using Death Laws. Skeletal creatures suddenly rose up from the ground and scurried towards Alexander.

    In response to this, Alexander too a step back and aimed his sword towards the charging undead. Several swords of light manifested around him, and with a straight thrust, the swords of light urately pierced every undead heads, reducing them to ashes and neutralizing stair''s attack.

    Alexander then turned into a beam of light that swiftly closed the distance between him and stair. His speed was too quick that stair failed to properly defend himself, costing him his right arm.

    A nasty expression surfaced on stair''s face, but with a simple gesture, his severed arm flew back into ce as if it wasn''t cut off in the first ce.

    ''Damn it! He''s too quick! I''m going to run out of supply if this keeps up!''

    stair felt pressed, yet Alexander isn''t willing to give him any chances. As soon as stair''s arm was re-attached, he was already at the verge of sending sharp sword energies fueled by his Light Laws towards him.

    stair was thrown into panic and hurriedly moved out of the way. Alexander chased him and caught up, hethen sent a crescent shaped sword energy that the former failed to dodge, causing him to be sliced in half.

    Alexander was about to make another move when suddenly, several ck orbs that will explode on contact were sent his way. He managed to sessfully dodge every single one, just in time until stair''s body recovered.

    stair had an ugly expression whilst Alexander had a firm one. Thetter then said:

    "Your defeat is inevitable, stair." Alexander said while pointing his sword at him. "I could tell that you''re just an animated being. The energy and Laws you utilize aren''t your own, and each revival drains a considerable amount of power in you."

    Alexander assumed a stance and continued: "Cease this futile resistance and ept your death, Brother. We both know that you can''t win against me."

    "I don''t care!" stair roared indignantly, "I refuse! Unless I see that piece ofnd wiped off from the face of the earth! I refuse to pass on! You might be quick but let''s see whiches first, you finishing me off or your beloved home being trampled by my creations!"

    "My home will be safe." A peaceful smile appeared on Alexander''s face, greatly startling stair.

    "My son-inw hasn''t made a move yet, remember?"

 Chapter 383 - War: Hes Back

    ---

    shes of colorful lights rained down on the five Giant Golems.

    The earth shook, the winds howled and the battlefield was filled with intense energy fluctuations and explosions. However, despite their valiant efforts, they still failed to y even a single golem. No matter how many strong attacks theynded, so long as the core of the golem is active, it will remain alive and the Queen could only hold them down for so long.

    "Damn!" Mark gnashed his teeth as he continued slicing the flesh of the Giant Golem in front of him.

    He couldn''t help but feel frustrated in this situation. His swiftness was renderedpletely useless since he couldn''t even begin to tell just where this damned core was located. Anne was in a simr situation, not even her sharp eyesight could help her locate the core.

    Paul and Ellen just continued stabbing away with mad vigor, hoping thatdy luck would bless them, allowing them to magically hit the core. Needless to say, so far none of them seeded yet.

    "OOOOOOO"

    A deep groan was released by on of the golem that echoed across the battlefield. It summoned all of it''s strength to release from the binding of the Queen yet it can''t. Nevertheless, its efforts was rewarded as it managed to raised its head.

    All of a sudden, a wild fluctuation of evil energy swept through the battlefield. A dark orb suddenly condensed on the mouth of the golem.

    "WATCH OUT!"

    Paul roared on top of his lungs as he moved towards where the golem was aiming. He could feel the power behind this attack, he had no doubts that if didn''t intercept this, the kingdom will suffer immense casualties.

    *Weng!*

    The Giant Golem aimed its attack where most of the Knights were. The Queen did was she could to prevent this from happening but it was toote. Thankfully, Paul managed to arrive in time and intercept the attack. The ck Tortoise Shield expanded in size, it floated in front of Paul while he ced his hand before him to block.

    "Ack!"

    A pained sound involuntarily escaped his lips. His eyes widened as he felt that he was being pushed back with what feels like a meteor.

    "GET OUT OF HERE!!" He roared to the people standing dumbly behind him. Hearing his loud roar and his stressed face, the people behind him scurried away.

    Now that he no longer have anyone behind him, Paul ced all of his focus and his attention on receiving the attack.

    His muscles bulged and veins became visible on his neck and head. He gnashed his teeth and summoned all of his strength to keep the shield standing. Unfortunately, the momentum of the golem''s attack was too fearsome that it kept pushing him back.

    Paul was obviously aware of this, which is why he mouth had been spouting rain of curses. In just a matter of seconds, he''ll be entering the vicinity of the Kingdom, and he absolutely can''t let that happen.

    With a deep and guttural roar, he decided to utilize all of strength to endure the attack. His energy roared inside his body and it was as if his muscles bulged even more. The ck Tortoise Shield seemingly transformed but none paid attention to that, all they could do is to pray that Paul will manage.

    And thankfully, he did.

    Just inches shy from entering the protection array of the Kingdom, Paul managed to stop the attack from pushing him back even further. As soon as he regained bnce, he sent a powerful punch towards his own shield. This caused the shield to tilt ever so slightly and also caused the golem''s attack to bounce up where it eventually exploded.

    Everyone who''s watching heaved a sigh of relief as soon as they saw that Paul was safe and the Kingdom was unscathed. No one doubted that if that attack hit, then not even the formation would be able to remain.

    Paul felt exhausted though, blood dripped on corners of his lips. Nevertheless, he too felt d that he''s able to do his task properly.

    "Heads up!" The Queen shouted.

    Everyone''s attention was brought back to the golems, and to their horror, they could see that the golem was gathering energy once again.

    All of them panicked, even Paul couldn''t prevent himself from cursing out loud. He could still feel the soreness of his body. He couldn''t even tell if he had enough energy to raise his shield once more.

    Yet this wasn''t the time to give up.

    He had to receive this attack as well, because if he don''t then many people would die.

    Paul swore to defend his home even if it kills him.

    Everyone was aware that Paul was extremely exhausted, which is why they tried all they could to keep the golem from sessfully condensing the ck orb. Ellen even had the idea to throw herself in front of the Golem to intercept the attack but she was stopped by Anne.

    Her chest tightened as she summoned all of her strength to chop the head of the Golem yet all it did was to give it a scar that quickly healed.

    She looked back only to see her beloved limping ever so slightly. Her heart bled, she hated this more that ever. Ellen was at a loss, all she could do is to pray and pray.

    But sadly, it didn''t stop the golem from attacking.

    *Weng!*

    Everyone watched as another ck orb came flying towards Paul.

    "NOOOOO!!"

    Ellen screamed on top of her lungs, sprinting forward with her wings pping behind her, yet the attack travelled faster that she thought.

    Time seemingly slowed down. She watched as Paul slowly stood straight with a solemn face and raised his shield in front of him. Ellen prayed to get there before the attack could but nothing she can do allowed her to fly faster. She was forced to watch, what seemingly thest time that she will saw her beloved alive.

    "Nope." A deep voice sounded out of nowhere.

    Everyone''s focus was on the attack and all of them was bracing for the impact of an explosion, however it didn''t happen at all.

    To their surprise, instead of an explosion, all they saw was the ck orb suspended by something, as if it was being stopped by an incredible barrier.

    Paul who had been inches away from certain death, managed to open his eyes and take a look at what''s happening in front of him.

    All he saw, was someone with a long blue hair standing in front of him, using one hand to stop the ck orb from moving forward, and this man was smiling at him.

    Paul slumped on the ground and mirthlesslyughed. He raised his middle finger to the man and said: "Damn! You''re an ass¡­"

    The manughed heartily and said: "I missed you too."

    Who else could it be aside from Raven?

    Ellen who hadn''t stopped flying, finally caught up and took Paul on her embrace while crying loudly. She didn''t even care about anything at this current moment. All she knew is that the heavens heard her prayers and ck orb didn''t kill Paul, that''s all that what mattered to her.

    She tried pulling Paul out of the way, thinking that time will resume shortly and if that happens, he will die. Paul chuckled and grabbed her face, saying:

    "I''m fine Babe. No need to worry." He said while wiping away her tears. "More importantly, look."

    Paul turned her head sideways, forcing her to look at the amused Raven watching them. All of a sudden, it clicked to her.

    Time didn''t stop, his cousin just stopped the ck orb from moving forward.

    To this, Ellen didn''t even know how to react. All she heard was:

    "Take him away and get him healed. I''m here, everything''s fine now."

    Those words were uttered withplete confidence, making Ellen dumbly nod and follow his orders. Raven watched as she took the exhausted Paul towards the Medical Tents in order to get him healed.

    His eyes swept towards the top of the East Gate, looking at the man who''s staring back at him.

    Raven smiled at Luis, nodding in acknowledgement. Luis felt his heart surge in happiness and pride as he saw his son''s glorious return.

    He then ced his attention at the ck orb that''s suspended in front of him.

    An audible sigh swept past the battlefield, they then heard words saying:

    "No rest for the wicked huh?" Ravenined, "I spent several years outside locked in constant battle, yet when I returned home to hopefully get some rest, there''s war going on? Seriously, when will get a break?"

    Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, arge explosion happened and then everyone witnessed as the ck orb flying towards the golem that sent it.

    It happened too fast that none managed to react in time. All they felt was an explosion, that caused furious gales to assault them. In the surprise, they found themselves looking back at where the orb was suspended earlier, only to see someone standing there with an amused expression on his face. They then heard him say:

    "One down."

 Chapter 384 - War: Reunion And Snap

    ---

    "Raven!" Mark yelled as soon as he realized who it was. Him, Anne and Luna already came running towards him at this point.

    His voice wasn''t quiet, allowing the people around him to awaken from their stupor and finally recall all the memories they have with the person who just arrived.

    "Holy crap! It''s Senior Raven!"

    "Instructor Raven is back!"

    "Sir Raven! Wee home!"

    The mood of the armypletely turned around upon realizing that Raven was finally back, and from what they witnessed earlier, it was obvious that his strength reached an unimaginable degree. It had to be known that they had been struggling to take down even a singe golem, yet Raven took out one as easy as waving his hand.

    Raven looked at hisrades with a wide smile in his face. It truly felt nice to be back. His eyes was of course focused on the gorgeous blonde who transformed into a streak of golden light and crashed on his embrace.

    Her fragrance, her warmth, the sounds of her sobs, this hug. He missed everything about her. Raven couldn''t help but smile warmly as he embraced the gorgeous woman who''s sobbing uncontrobly before him.

    Luna hugged him tight - very tight, afraid of letting go and afraid that all of this was just a dream. She doesn''t want to be parted with him anymore. Words can''t even exin how much she missed him. This was the man that haunted her dreams constantly. The only man that she''s willing to give her heart to.

    She felt his rough but gentle hand caressing his back. She felt him burying his face on her neck and leaving trails of kisses there causing her to feel a bit ticklish. Raven cupped her face gently and wiped away her tears. His gentle voice echoed onto her soul¡­

    "Don''t cry, Love." He coaxed, "I''m here. Everything''s going to be alright."

    Yes, he''s here. He''s back. With him here, everything''s going to be fine. It was his tall back that propped up the heavens for them. Now that''s he''s here, there''s nothing to fear anymore.

    Luna buried her face onto his chest once more. Raven then took this time to look at Mark and Anne who''s watching this warm scene. He smiled and said:

    "Good work out there. Thank you for keeping an eye on her."

    "You surely took your sweet time huh?" Mark said while offering a handshake that Raven returned.

    "Yeah, geez." Anne feigned her disappointment, but she too was smiling from ear to ear. "But no matter. Wee home, Brother."

    "Thanks." Raven chuckled. "You guys should take a rest, check how Paul''s doing for me will you?"

    The two nodded in unison. Raven then returned his attention to Luna and said: "You shoulde with them."

    Her answer was a furious shaking of her head, she pulled him ever closer causing Raven to break into a fit ofughter.

    "Come on, Love." He coaxed, "You need to rest. I''m not leaving again I swear."

    Luna looked at him suspiciously, Raven sighed and whispered something to her ear. When Luna heard this, her face changed. She then bit her lips and reluctantly agreed. The three then started falling back, leaving Raven alone to deal with the remaining golems.

    "Dad, have the troops retreat. I''ll deal with this." Raven transmitted a message towards Luis, who felt a little bit worried about his well being.

    Raven was obviously aware of his worries, that why he added: "Don''t worry. I can handle this. Trust me, I''ll be fine."

    Hearing his son''s confident tone, Luis signaled the retreat. The army was confused at first but signal was clear, so without asking too much, they retreated.

    As they began retreating, they could obviously tell that the Raven nned on handling all the four golems by himself. A lot of them were filled with doubts and uncertainties about this decision but they didn''t dare voice it out.

    Raven met all of these gazes with a smile. He didn''t care about what they think, his actions will speak louder than words anyway.

    "Young Raven." Old Lee called him, behind him was Morel and Leona.

    Raven smiled and greeted them: "Hello Seniors. Thank you for looking out for my friends while I''m gone."

    "Oh, it''s nothing. We didn''t have to do much anyway, they''ve grown up splendidly and so did you. In fact, you guys might be the one''s look after us when all of this is done." Old Lee jovially imed while cing both of his hands on Raven''s shoulders.

    "How can that be? Not to mention us, but the further generations still has to rely on your experiences and teachings." Raven replied politely.

    "Okay, enough of those pleasantries." Leona chimed in, she then looked at Raven and asked: "Are you sure that you''ll handle this alone?"

    "I''m sure. Leave this to me and take a good rest." Raven answered.

    "Will you truly be fine, Young Master?" Morel asked.

    "I will, trust me." Raven answered confidently, "Moreover, thank you for being there for my family while I was away."

    "It''s the least that I can do as your retainer and on behalf of the Kingdom." Morel bowed, "Please be careful Young Master."

    "I will." Raven nodded and walked past them.

    As majority of the troops retreated back to the safety of the Kingdom''s formation, Raven eventually arrived beside the Queen who''s still holding down the golems with her technique.

    "Aunt, it''s fine to release them. Please retreat to the walls as well." Raven informed her causing Elizabeth to look at him with uncertainty.

    "Wouldn''t it be fine for me to hold them down while you destroy them?" She asked.

    "It would." He answered truthfully, "But I''m afraid the bacsh of your technique will injure you. Technically, you shouldn''t even be using this much energy since you just got back from your body. Allow me to handle this. I''ll I be fine I promise."

    Elizabeth sighed since if he said it like that, then there''s no reason she could refuse. But in her heart she was gratified because her daughter chose an extremely qualified man to be her partner. As a mother-inw, aside from giving them grandchildren, there''s nothing else she could wish for.

    She then released the golems and gave onest look at Raven before retreating back to the walls.

    Now, everyone''s eyes were focused on the four hulking giants and the lone human who decided to face them. All of them felt nervous about the battle. Although they could tell that Raven was strong, they still don''t know if he''s going to be able to defeat all four with just him alone.

    Raven''s eyes shone with a clear glint as he gazed at the Giant Golems in front of him. As they began regaining their mobility, his body slowly levitated.

    There was nothing but pure indifference on his face. It was if their size didn''t matter to him at all. He wasn''t fazed about their toughness nor how difficult it is to locate their core. None of those matter since as soon as he appeared, the fates of these golems are sealed.

    As the golems witnessed him, they could vaguely feel the arrogance that this person was exuding. Their feral natures were provoked, causing them to act. Two golems rushed towards him while the other two condensed ck orbs on their mouth.

    The people who were watching felt their hearts tighten at this scene. They bore witness to the ferocity of this golems so surely, they know just how much danger Raven currently was in. Some people started thinking that the retreat order was a mistake and that they shouldn''t have left him alone to face all of the golems at once.

    But before they could even voice out their concerns, an incredible scene unfolded before them.

    "Heroic Influence: Destruction Territory."

    As soon as these words left Raven''s lips, a burst of light emerged from his body. The light erected a dome encasing him and the four golems within.

    Time seemingly stopped, the golems stopped moving from where they were. Out of nowhere, white lines appeared on each of them. These lines swiftly scattered and covered their entire bodies, at a distance it appears as if these lines were simr what one could see at the surface of a cracked mirror. Raven lifted a hand and¡­

    Snapped.

    *Crack!* *Woosh!*

    A loud fracturing sound echoed across the ears of everyone who''s watching. Under their dumbstruck gazes, the four Giant Golems crumbled like shattered rocks, shortly after that they turned into dust particles that scattered with the wind.

    There was pin drop silence on the battlefield. Everyone''s jaws were hanging open. Their minds almost refuses to acknowledge that Raven just killed four Giant Golems with a snap of his fingers.

    "And done." Raven said non-chntly.

    It was done? Just like that? One snap and that''s it? What kind of monster is he?

    These are the only few of the many questions that people had in their mind. Even his own team couldn''t help but feel an enormous shock upon witnessing how he easily defeated the enemies they struggled so much with.

    But even though the golems are no longer a threat. Raven didn''t retreat. Instead, he kept his vignce and looked over the horizon.

    Just as when someone''s about to ask a question, Raven''s voice suddenly sounded on their ears.

    "You''re watching right? Come out, it''s time to finish this."

 Chapter 385 - War: Vithum Appears

    ---

    "W-what the hell¡­"

    No one knows who said this words but this reaction pretty much sums up what they all felt about the scene they just witnessed.

    A mere snap of a finger, and that''s it.

    The enemies that almost threatened to destroy the whole kingdom, were reduced to mere ashes, just like that.

    How ridiculous was that?

    Everyone who fought earlier, gave it their all. They threw everything they had at those Giant Golems but all it did was to tickle them, yet a mere snap of Raven''s finger eradicated them. The golems didn''t even get any chance toe close to him at all.

    The term ''strong'' is a severe understatement to describe Raven at all.

    Right now, Raven''s presence felt like that of a true god. He stood tall at the summit, looking down on everyone with disdain. Some people were gratified while some had mixed reactions. It was a pity that he was a bitte. Had he arrive earlier, then they could''ve prevented more casualties.

    One could only wonder what these people would feel had they known that Raven already returned even the war began.

    "Amazing." Old Lee sighed in admiration as he how Raven effortlessly dealt with the golems. "So he hade this far huh?"

    "He hadpletely surpassed us." Morel added, "I''m afraid that he''s even stronger than the King himself, even though both of them are at Hero Realm."

    "This is due to his Laws." Leona stated, "He was baptized by Destruction Laws, in addition to that he''s understanding about his Laws are deep. His Heroic Influence is too potent as well."

    That''s right. Raven had made another cultivation breakthrough. He''s now officially standing at the peak of this ne with the support of Hero Realm cultivation.

    After aiding the ne to recovered by unsealing the blessings of the Old Masters, a good chunk of their blessing greatly affected Raven as well, so much so that it pushed him to make another breakthrough. This had been a great boon since he''s looking for ways to elerate his breakthrough anyway.

    If the threat of Vit''hum didn''t exist, Raven would''ve not force himself through this breakthrough since that will cause a slight disturbance in his already solid foundation. But the case wasn''t as such and he needed the boost so he didn''t hesitate to make another breakthrough.

    Raven was already aware that his foundations will be somewhat unstable after this breakthrough and already made ns on fixing that after the war. To his surprise however, the blessings of the Old Masters were too potent that it allowed his foundations to not only remain stable but made it even more sturdy. This caused him to feel great tion and allowed him to finish the breakthrough without any worries.

    The ''6th Transformation'' focuses on Raven''s Spirit. Aside from his body being broken down and reconstituted and his Chaos Force being refined to a purer state, the 6th Transformation elevates the Spiritual Constitution.

    A person''s Spirit is usually their most fragile part. It wouldn''t take much to destroy it and curing even the slightest damage will require an insane amount of resources. The transformation cycles on the Book of Chaos fixes this, simr to how Spirit Path Cultivators did. The only difference is that, through this transformation, a link between Raven''s Chaos Force Core and his Spirit will appear, thus allowing him to nourish his soul using his Chaos Force.

    Which means that by now, slowly but surely, he could cure his damaged soul.

    As long as Raven continues to train his body, the seals on his Chaos Force Core will loosen, allowing his total Chaos Force reserve to gradually increase. And the more Chaos Force he could use, the faster his soul would recover, which in turn would aid him in battle and make him even more stronger.

    This is the wondrous benefits that the Book of Chaos gave him. And this is just the first chapter.

    After making his breakthrough, Raven wasn''t in a hurry even though the Old Consciousness told him about the ns of Vit''hum. He just requested him to send a vision to all knights of the kingdom in order to warn them. After consolidating his cultivation base under a time enchantment, he asked the old consciousness to transport him back home and told him about his ns.

    Once he returned to the kingdom, his first stop was at the Sacred Leaf Tavern, just in time that the need for the Vivic Potion was raised. After helping Richard concoct it, he also provided the ingredients for the cure for his inws. After that, he paid a visit to his mom and sisters. Once he got an emotional reunion with his mom and received an earful of her nagging, he then observed the war at a distance.

    He could''ve announced his presence and helped but he waited until the situation was really dire before stepping in. Raven did this because he felt like the Kingdom needs to experience this kind of setback. He wanted people to know that their walls won''t guarantee absolute safety. Through this experience, he was hoping for them to wake up and realize that only by gaining strength would they be able to ensure the safety of their home.

    Raven wanted them to be able to stand up on their own, since he himself knew that he''s not going to remain by their side forever. He had ces to go.

    ***

    Everyone was puzzled as to why Raven wasn''t returning yet even after dealing with the Giant Golems.

    There were no enemies on sight. He already killed the one''s remaining. This should''ve meant their victory right? So why is he still

 Chapter 386 - War: Roles Reversed

    ---

    "You! What did you do to me?" Vit''hum roared as he tried to break the chains wrapped around his limbs.

    The chains and shackles appeared ordinary yet to his surprise, they were incredibly sturdy. No matter how hard he tried to break them, his attempts doesn''t even leave a mark, on the contrary he''s even hurting his own body.

    Vit''hum was also rmed that the chains were rapidly draining his strength. This feeling greatly infuriated him since in his mind, he''s the only one who devours, not the other way around.

    Raven snorted as he witnessed his futile attempts, he said: "Don''t look at me, I didn''t do that."

    "But let me offer you a piece of advise." Raven sneered, "Stop wasting your efforts on breaking those. Even if you grew an additional hump on your back, you''ll never break it."

    "Damn you!" Vit''hum was incensed, causing him to ignore the chains and instead focus on killing Raven.

    He shot forward like a cannonball, his face was twisted due to anger and his energy ferociously red. However, even in his angered state, Vit''hum was still apprehensive. He was actively paying attention to Raven''s movements. Last time when he attacked, he didn''t see what Raven did to push him back, his guess that it was some sort of a barrier or a defensive trinket. For an existence who''s no different from an ant to be able to do this to him, is already a great source of humiliation to him, so he didn''t want it to happen again.

    As he neared Raven, he was surprised to see that the human wasn''t even moving. Vit''hum started rejoicing, he thought that this human must''ve turned dumb, thinking that he''ll fall for the same trick twice. He could tell that the human was deliberately provoking him to make the same mistakes earlier.

    Which is why, just before his w reached Raven, he forcefully stopped his momentum.

    However to his shock, neither the barrier nor the defensive trinket he''s expecting appeared, Raven was even staring at him with eyes full of disdain and mockery.

    "What''s wrong? Why did you stop?" Raven sneered, causing another wave of anger to surface on Vit''hum''s heart.

    He couldn''t believe it. This puny mortal had the audacity to trick him! He couldn''t ept that fact that he was outsmarted by a mere ant. Vit''hum had never been this humiliated in his entire life.

    Anger consumed his rationality. In his rage, he threw all caution with the wind and vowed to tear this audacious human into shreds.

    Vit''hum stomped, his raw power caused the ground beneath him to shatter on impact. He wound up his fist and nned to deliver a solid punch on Raven''s face. All the rage and humiliation he felt was focused on this punch, and if thisnds to anything, the force behind the punch will be enough to shave a decent chunk of thend around them.

    This time, Vit''hum has no ns on pulling back his punch. He thought whatever it is that''s protecting Raven, it would be broken by his power. Beside, all tricks and schemes are useless in front of absolute strength.

    *Boom!*

    A loud explosion ur, but instead of blowing Raven up, the force of Vit''humpletely missed Raven.

    *Boom!*

    Another explosive sound was heard. Everyone watched as Vit''hum''s body was sent flying while he coughed out ck blood. The chains wrapped around his limbs tightened and prevented him from going any further.

    Vit''hum slowly stood up. His face was incredibly ugly and his eyes were filled with unquestionable wrath and a tinge of disbelief as he stared at Raven, who''s still standing still on his original spot as if none of what''s happening had anything to do with him.

    None of the watchers understood what''s going on. In fact, even Vit''hum himself was confused.

    Just what did go wrong?

    He could''ve sworn that his punch was about to connect. He even saw that it was mere inches away from Raven''s face until, through some sort of a miracle, his punch missed himpletely and the force behind the punch was redirected somewhere else. After that, it was as if he was hit metal pole of his gut, causing him to reel back in pain. And to top this all off, the chains on his limbs made it clear that he can''t escape.

    All of this caused Vit''hum''s patience topletely snap.

    "Damn you!" He savagely roared as he tried charging head first once again.

    *Boom!*

    Again. Vit''hum was sent flying like a broken ragdoll again.

    "Argh! I refuse to believe this!" Vit''hum roared in madness.

    *Boom!*

    *Boom!*

    *Boom!*

    Again and again, no matter how hard Vit''hum tried toy a hand on Raven, he will be sent flying back in an painful manner. No one knew what was going on. None of them even saw Raven lifting a finger at all yet somehow, he''s managing to do this. The scene they witnessed was akin to a human hitting an pest with a fly swatter, only the fly swatter was invisible.

    Vit''hum looked extremely pathetic. His hair was dishelved, his face was swollen, his entire body was in pain, there''s a couple of bruises on his body, one could even see some cuts on his arm and body, causing his blood to stain his clothes.

    "Argh! Damn it! Fuck you! Damn you! Go to hell! Die!"

    Strings of profanities and spit flew out of Vit''hum''s mouth as he tried and tried to attack Raven with ruthless abandon, only to fail over and over again. His words didn''t even have an effect on Raven''s mentality at all.

    He simply stood there with an apathetic gaze, staring as if he was mocking theughable attempts of a puny insect to hurt him.

    "How does it feel?'' He asked coldly, gaining the attention of Vit''hum. "Doesn''t this scene strike some kind of familiarity to you?"

    Vit''hum was stunned, but it didn''t take a long time for him to realize what Raven was referring to. Realizing what''s happening, Vit''hum''s pupils constricted.

    Seeing his enlightened face, a chilling smile surfaced on Raven''s face. He then said: "Yes, you finally remembered. After all, it hasn''t been that long right?"

    "This scene, is a replication of what you did to the ne." Raven stated casually, "The only difference is that you are the one suffering now and not the ne."

    As people was confused as to what Raven was referring to, his next statement brought light to the subject.

    "Through the years, many people hunted you yet you mysteriously disappeared. You ended up invading the Center, a ce where the Core of the ne is located. Using your Bloodline Pact, you forged an link between you and the core, allowing you siphon it''s lifespan and causing the ne to slowly die while you gain strength."

    His words sent shivers to those who were listening. They couldn''t believe that such a thing was actually happening under their noses. This hybrid actually had the ability to destroy their world and none of them had any idea about it.

    "The consciousness of the ne tried its best to get rid of you, but your curse prevented it from doing any serious harm to you, lest it wanted to hasten its destruction. It could only re at you hatefully as you continued devouring the ne''s lifespan. It could do nothing but stare in helplessness as you sucked the life out of the ne."

    "You got so close¡­so close topletely sucking all of the life of the ne dry." Raven turned somber as he continued, "Thankfully, the consciousness was wise and asked for help. Thankfully, I had a way to deal with pests like you."

    A golden seal appeared on Raven''s hand. He raised it and tightened his fist. Along with that, Vit''hum suddenly felt a massive pain assaulting every inch of his body and soul. His blood flow was in chaos, his soul was in constant pain. Along with that, he could also feel that the shackles on his limbs were getting tighter and the drain on his energy was getting faster.

    "Thankfully, the Old Masters'' left another lifeline for the ne and thankfully, I know how to unleash it." Raven chuckled and said: "I''ve even benefitted from it to be honest."

    A majestic light suddenly erupted from Raven''s body. It momentarily blinded those who were watching. When their vision adjusted, all of them could now see the majestic changes and the benefits that Raven was talking about.

    Raven wore a majestic ck Armor covered with a dark golden sheen. His arms were crossed on his chest and he exudes an air of a true Son of Heaven. What''s surprising from all of this is that, there is a floating wheel behind him. The wheel depicted multiple arms, each filled with ancient strength. Each arms were arranged as if it was forming a beautiful lotus behind him, further escting the profound strength and majesty of Raven.

    "Now, the roles are reversed." Raven''s voice boomed across everyone''s ears. "The ne will now retrieve everything that you took with an interest."

    The wheel behind glowed with a fearsome light and each arms were seeminglying to life.

    "Grit your teeth, pest.. The interest will be your life."

 Chapter 387 - War: End

    ---

    Raven''s current appearance was destined to leave an indelible mark to anyone who witnessed it.

    This was the first time that everyone saw his Knightly Armament, and it was something unforgettable.

    Everyone watched as he silently floated in the air. His long blue hair cascaded behind him like beautiful ocean waves. The ck armor he wore appeared like it was made by a divine cksmith from the remains of a ck dragon, each piece was covered with a dark gold aura that exudes a stifling presence and an overbearing might. There was a piece of white silk wrapped around his neck which floated gently and the most impressive sight of the golden wheel behind him which depicted at least a thousand arms.

    "Heroic Influence: Destruction Territory." Raven called out with a domineering voice.

    Instantly, a dome of dark golden light appeared within ten miles around him. Everyone''s hearts palpitated as the dome appeared, it didn''t matter how close they were since even just by looking at it, one could tell that this dome was extremely dangerous.

    Raven then pped his hands, causing a resounding sound to startle everyone. The golden wheel behind him rotated and sent out a massive golden fist heading straight towards Vit''hum.

    *Whew!* *Boom!*

    Vit''hum puked blood as the fist hit the ride side of his body, he tried to defending earlier but it wasn''t enough to tear the golden fist.

    Surprisingly, an unexpected development ur.

    The side where the golden fistnded not only felt painful but also tingly. Vit''hum scanned his body and to his horror, he saw how his skin now has white marks that consistently eroded his body.

    Vit''hum could tell that those white marks are some kind of a Law but he had no idea what they were. He revolved his Death Law energy to suppress the corrosion but to his surprise, it wasn''t working.

    "You!" Vit''hum roared indignantly, "What is this!"

    Raven looked at him coldly and answered: "Destruction Laws. Everything that''s created will eventually be destroyed. Cease your futile attempts, so long as your alive, the Destruction Laws won''t dissipate."

    "Damn you!" Vit''hum roared as he ignored the corrosion of Raven''s Destruction Laws.

    A thick Death Energy condensed on his mouth, turning into pitch ck mes that shot forward in attempts of swallowing Raven alive.

    Raven snorted and waved his hand two times. At his first wave, a golden palm appeared before him, promptly shielding him from the Death mes, at the second wave, an enormous fist descended from the sky, squashing Vit''hum mercilessly.

    Vit''hum felt like a mountain was tossed to him, his body gave in from the sheer weight of the fist. His blood churned and his intestines felt like it was beingpressed. He let out a stuffy cough apanied by a ck blood.

    As soon as the fist disappeared, he dashed towards Raven with reckless abandon. Vit''hum''s arms bulged as veins popped out, his ws extended as he intended to rip Raven''s indifferent face. But before he could evene close, a palm swatted him away like he was some sort of a pest, causing him to shot backwards while coughing out blood.

    As Vit''hum experienced this, he finally understood what was going on earlier.

    In truth, the wheel behind Raven was the one that''s been constantly attacking him even before Raven revealed his Heroic Form. The wheel was invisible earlier and not even him could see it, causing him to be confused.

    Vit''hum stood up from the rubble. His mind was clouded by anger and his demeanor was not any different from a cornered beast.

    He couldn''t ept it. There''s no way that he could ept this kind of situation.

    Vit''hum was a very prideful being. In his eyes, everything is below him. Everything that he sees was his property and every human he encounters was his food.

    He was incredibly ambitious too. His appetite could no longer be sated by the humans that lived at the Grand Ancestral ne. His sights were locked at the humans of the Divine Realm. In his opinion, those humans were the true delicacies that will allow him to ascend into a True Dragon and also the key for him to be a God. He already decided that no matter what, he will leave this ce and feed on the humans of the Divine Realm.

    But now, he''s nothing short of miserable.

    It only took one mistake for the foundations of his ambitions to be shaken.

    A prey that''s not even enough to fill a small corner of his seemingly bottomless stomach,pletely reversed the roles and made him suffer so much.

    First his bloodline was sealed, then his soul was damaged. These two things alone was already enough for his anger to soar towards the highest heavens, yet it didn''t stop there. Because his bloodline was sealed, he couldn''t heal nor get stronger from eating humans anymore, the soul tearing pain he constantly felt was maddening.

    The beast horde, supposed to be the key for his recovery, were all destroyed. And not only did this kid managed to get stronger, he also had the aid of the ne''s Consciousness in this battle.

    The injuries he currently has aren''t really that serious, if there''s anything troublesome, it would be the kid''s destructionws. But now that his strength was currently being drained by the Chains of Order, he will continue to be weakened while Raven remains strong.

    The cunning ns of this kid was incredibly simple but due to him underestimating the brat, he fell for it an now he''s suffering.

    "Argh!"

    A beastial roar escaped from his lips. A pair of bat-like wings appeared from the lump behind his back.

    With one p of his wings, he was instantly onto Raven''s face by just like what happened earlier, he was swatted back like a fly. Additionally, a golden fist came crashing down from the right, hitting him while he''spletely unprepared. He flew back like a broken kite but the Chains of Order prevented him from going any farther.

    Vit''hum tried to stand up but was rmed when he saw that another golden fist was about to hit him from the left. He stretched out his arms to receive the attack and managed to do so with difficulty but another golden fist emerged behind him.

    *Boom!* *Crack* *Cough!*

    Vit''hum was squashed between the knuckles of the golden fists. He nearly passed out from the pain of his bones breaking.

    When the golden fists disappeared, it revealed the pitiful appearance of Vit''hum. His entire body was dyed with his ck blood, some bones on his arms jutted from his flesh, his arms were badly mangled and his face looked hideous.

    "ARGH!!"

    Vit''hum roared, he endured the pain stemming from his soul and tapped on the power of his bloodline. Everyone watched as his body tried healing itself while Vit''hum thrashed around in pain.

    Due to the effects of the bloodline seal, the natural recovery from his bloodline was greatly affected. Not only that, but he also had to endure the pain thates with it.

    Raven could''ve easily prevented him from doing this but he didn''t. He coldly watched as Vit''hum, struggled from the pain. He knew that Vit''hum was deliberately epting the damages on his soul in order to heal his body, thinking that his fleshly strength was enough to deal with Raven.

    Unfortunately, that''s incredibly naive on his part.

    As soon as Vit''hum reattached his broken bones, his maddened face contorted as he saw Raven. He breathed Death mes on his body, even going as far as setting his wings on fire. He then flew like a meteor towards Raven, wanting, hoping to at leastnd one attack in order to vent his frustrations off.

    But again, that way of thinking was na?ve¡­

    *Boom!*

    Vit''hum was swatted away like a fly once again. The Death mes didn''t even leave a scratch on the palm that appeared before Raven.

    "Pitiful." Raven uttered with thick disdain.

    Vit''hum just doesn''t learn. How many times must he be swatted like a fly, for him to learn that he needed to changed his attack patterns? That being said, that should be asking too much from him. After all, Vit''hum only relies on his natural advantages in battle. Asking for a technique or battle style from him is a bit much.

    Raven felt some fluctuations nearby. He looked above and saw King Alexander flying towards him, his face looked a bit exhausted but he wasn''t injured anywhere.

    One nod from the King and Raven knew that his fight against stair had ended already. And from the looks of it, he won.

    "Rest easy, Uncle." Raven told him, "I''ll wrap this up shortly."

    King Alexander nodded and tapped Raven''s shoulders before flying back to the East Gate.

    Raven returned his attention towards Vit''hum and sighed. He then sent a transmission sound to the Old Consciousness and started walking forward.

    The Chains of Order that bound Vit''hum suddenly tightened. It then pulled his limbs on opposing directions, causing him to be immobilized. Vit''hum struggled madly like a caged beasts, grunts and roars escaped his lips as he did so but all of them fell into deaf ears.

    Raven took out a vial on his spatial ring and as soon as he did that, Vit''hum instantly felt an existential threat.His heart shook and his pupils constricted as Raven stood in front of him. Fear encased his heart and just as he was about to plead for mercy, the cork of the vial popped open and the contents of the vial sshed on his entire body.

    As Vit''hum''s body was being purified by Vivic mes, thest thing he heard was Raven''s words.

    "Be a better person on your next life, should you ever have one."

 Chapter 388 - Celebration

    ---

    Final Haven Kingdom.

    The ce that served as thest bastion for humanity in the Grand Ancestral ne, is now bursting with activity and joyous festivities.

    Every street was busy. Food and alcohol were constantly being delivered from one ce to the other. There are people who were dancing, eating, drinking, gossiping and etc. The scene depicted a picture of true happiness and satisfaction to each denizen of the Kingdom.

    Looking at this ce, one wouldn''t guess that this ce had nearly experience its utter destruction a few days ago. It doesn''t even look like the citizens remembered anything about the beast horde at all.

    What''s the cause of thissting celebration? Oh nothing much, it''s just that from now on..

    No one will be able to threaten the safety of their home.

    All of them owe it to those who participated in thest war. Those who fought valiantly with their lives on the line, those who gave it their all and didn''t turn their back against their home even amidst the certain danger.

    When the war ended, those who had died for the Kingdom had been celebrated as heroes to be remembered. Their families received the condolences of everyone and satisfactory remuneration for their loss. Although their were grieving, they held their heads up and felt proud to be able to contribute to the safety of their home.

    Right after the burial of heroes, the Kingdom announced it''s certain path towards its Golden Age. No one was allowed to work, everyone received red packets from the Kingdom, food and drinks are free! Each streets were decorated with celebratory banners. The whole kingdom descended into a merry atmosphere.

    At the Royal Pce, many influential families were gathered.

    Each person mingled amongst each other while enjoying the festive mood as well as the delicacies prepared for them. Of course, the King and Queen were the host of this event. Ever since their recoveries, their hearts felt at ease for where the Kingdom''s fate were headed. This kind of rxation was something the everyone needed, so of course they didn''t hesitate to do so.

    Here, Ellen, Paul, Anne, and Mark could be seen. None of them are dressed in their military attire, the girls went with gowns and the guys went with their coats and suits. Hand in hand, all of them mingled and participated in this celebration.

    And as for the one who saved the Kingdom from peril, well - he isn''t present at the current moment since he had other things to do.

    ***

    "There!" Raven wiped off the sweat that umted on his forehead and stood up.

    He looked at the round object floating in front of him, which is now bearing his mark, and nodded in satisfaction. The old man who stood behind him was satisfied as well.

    "With this, all of the contingencies are covered." Raven uttered in a bit of an exhausted tone.

    "Thank you, Your Excellency. It''s the ne''s blessing to have your love and support." The old man bowed and said with reverence.

    "It''s nothing, this is my home and this is where I grew up, It''s only natural for me to protect it." Raven stated, "Now that this is done, building the foundation for Central Empire is next. I''ll be troubling you for the rest then."

    "Leave it to me, Your Excellency. I''ll do my best." The old man replied.

    Raven''s current location is naturally at the Center, and this old man is none other than the Old Consciousness himself.

    Now that Vit''hum is gone, the Kingdom is naturally headed towards prosperity. The expansion and relocation is all but a matter of time. In the future, the Grand Ancestral ne will be centered around humans.

    At the same time however, Raven''s Ascension couldn''t be dyed anymore. At most, he''ll have five years before he eventually needed to ascend. Of course, if he really wanted to, Raven could dy the time even further but that wouldn''t be ideal.

    He had already reached the peak of this world. Staying longer would only hold him back, and he couldn''t afford for that to happen.

    In order for him to ascend in peace, he had left a contingency n for the whole ne and asked for the Old Consciousness'' help. With this in mind, he only needed to finish a few things before he eventually leave this ce.

    After entrusting the Old Man with the task, he stepped inside the portal and left the Center.

    Raven then reappeared inside a small hut within the Kingdom''s territory. Before stepping out of the hut, a curtain of light wrapped around him. At the point, his facial features began changing as well as his height. He assumed the appearance of an normal citizen and walked out of the hut.

    Busy noises flooded his ears almost immediately, the smell of alcohol and food assaulted his nose, warmth spread on every inch of his body as he saw the people celebrated their victory.

    Out of nowhere, a rxing feeling overwhelmed his senses. A smile formed on his lips as he felt like he was floating.

    He felt free and calm. It was as if a huge burden was released from his chest. Raven nodded to himself and felt satisfied. The tragic memories of his past were reced by this festive image. All of the pain and regret he felt disappeared. Afortable feeling soothed his soul.

    This feeling almost made Raven cry.

    Finally, all of the regrets that he had during his past life were finally settled. He finally achieve the goal of saving his home from destruction.

    With a smile on his face, he walked towards the streets, sampled some delicacies and drank some wine with some civilians. After that, he went towards the Royal Pce without alerting anyone and went towards Luna''s room.

    Dispersing his disguise, he walked inside and found her fixing her hair in front of a mirror. She looked back at him and smiled.

    "Shall we?" Raven asked, offering his arms. Luna chuckled and epted his invitation.

    "Let''s go." She said.

    Raven then escorted her towards the main pce in order to participate with the festivities.

    ***

    "Fudge you dude!" *Hic* "You cheated!"

    "I didn''t shitted!" *Hic* "I''m not a shitter!"

    "No no!" *Hic* "You cheated! I saw it! You shouldn''t freaking lie! Dash bad!" *Hic*

    "Like I shed!" *Hic* "I don''t shit!"

    Here were have Paul and Mark, utterly and irrevocably in a hammered state.

    At their current state, none would believe that these two are Golden Knights. Right now, they behave like any other drunk people. Shameless and unaware of what''s happening around them.

    On the next table sat their partners, Ellen and Anne, who were just watching as the two monkeys argue with each other. They don''t have any intentions on stopping them at all, instead they watched amusingly as the two fought.

    "Dude! I caught more ants than you!" *Hic* "I win not you, you cheated!" Paul said while frowning. His face was flushed and his hair was a little messy.

    "No way!" *Hic!* "I caught 25 ants while you caught 20! I clearly won! I didn''t shit!" Mark argued back, simrly had a flushed face and even sweating a bit.

    "No! I caught 30 ants, you zapped 10 of them to ashes! I saw it! I am the winner!'' Paul moaned in injustice.

    "I didn''t do shit! You''re just drunk!" Mark replied.

    "I''m not drunk! You''re drunk!"

    "No you!"

    "No you!"

    And the never ending ''No you'' argument began. In truth, all they had to do is circte their energies to flush the alcohol away from their system. However, none of them did that since they want to rx and enjoy themselves.

    Thedies who''s sitting on the next table shook their heads. Anne stood up and said:

    "That''s not gonna end." She sighed, she wore a faint blush on her cheek due to tipsiness. "I think it''s time to take them away, It''ll be a bit embarrassing if someone saw them arguing like this."

    "I know right." Ellen simrly stood after emptying her wine ss, she then wrapped her hand around Paul''s waist, pulling him away from the argument. She was unbothered by his groans when she asked: "Where are those two anyway?"

    "Beats me." Anne replied with a shrug, "I saw them leaving earlier. Maybe they''re having a good time."

    Hearing her remarks made Ellen blush ever harder, she secretly eyed Paul but didn''t say anything, her heartnearly leapt out of her chest when she saw Anne staring at her with a ''knowing'' look.

    "Stop it!" Ellen exasperatingly, she was bit flustered and embarrassed to be caught like that.

    "Hur hur." Anne teasinglyughed, she then turned to Mark and said: "Let''s go Hubby, I''m afraid we''ll disturb some people if we stay any longer."

    "Yesh, Wifey!" Mark replied while kissing her cheeks.

    Ellen''s face turned even redder as she heard herments, she red at Anne and said: "Hey Mark! Make sure to keep her ''busy'' all night, you hear me?"

    "Aye Madam!" Anne nearly fainted hearing that answer from him.

    Ellen was about to gloat when she heard Paul say: "I''ll keep you ''busy'' too, Baby."

    By that time, their boyfriends were no longer drunk.

 Chapter 389 - Weird Behavior

    ***

    "Oh? You guys want to venture out?"

    Inside Raven''s house, him and his team were seated, silently enjoying warm cups of tea and the gentle hums of wind. As their conversation went on, the topic eventually got into the point of the rest wanting to venture outside of the Kingdom''s walls.

    "That''s shouldn''t be a problem, after all there''s little to no people here that could give you guys any pressure to advance. And since war is over, I think Uncle would approve of it." Raven said after taking a sip of his tea.

    "It''s not about whether the King would approve of it or not." Paul shook his head and continued: "It''s more about¡­you know¡­"

    "Huh?" Raven raised his brow in confusion. He then saw their eyes staring at him with certain seriousness, causing him to be reminded of somethings. An idea dawned upon him, causing him to finally understand what they wanted. "Ahhh! I get it now. You guys want to step into Hero Realm as well."

    No one spoke as Raven wasughing, making the atmosphere turn a little bit awkward. Nevertheless, Raven didn''t pay attention to it since he could vaguely know what they were thinking.

    The war was arge eye-opener for them. No one in the Kingdom would dare to call them weak but in that war, their roles were very minimal. In the end, if it weren''t for Raven, they might not have the chance to be here, alive and enjoying a warm cup of tea.

    Raven was aware that his team didn''t ck off on their training, however their progress became slower due to other responsibilities that they have to hold. And now that the war is over, they now have the ability to get rid of those responsibilities and seek opportunities for themselves.

    All of them are aware that Raven was immensely strong. Even people who have higher cultivation that him can''t be his enemies, much less those who are at the same level. And now that Raven stood even higher than them, of course it gave them immense pressure.

    They didn''t want Raven to leave them behind.

    "Why the long faces?" Raven jeered, "Geez, I was only gone for a few odd years and you guys are treating me like a stranger. You know that you can ask me for anything right?"

    The faces of his team lit up, all of them felt like a burden was released from their shoulders. Paul scratched his head and said:

    "Well, you really couldn''t me us dude." He groaned, "I mean, look at you. It''s like your a different person! There''s something in you that I can''t put a finger on."

    His face them turned solemn as he continued: "Plus, during the war I¡­"

    Paul couldn''t even finish his sentence as a sense of helplessness appeared on his heart. He then felt Ellen''s hand sping his, causing him to rx for a bit. Even then, the near-death experience he had was something that he couldn''t easily brush off.

    Raven didn''t say anything. Instead he took out a piece of a jade board on his spatial ring and injected it with his Chaos Force.

    Everyone was stunned as the saw an image appear on the jade board.

    No one here was a stranger about thend surrounding the Final Haven Kingdom, after all they all have seen the Sk Array before, but what Raven revealed to them is something else entirely.

    "Is this¡­" Mark trailed off as his eyes shone with light, "The map of the whole world?"

    "Yes." Raven nodded, "This is the map of the whole Grand Ancestral ne."

    All of them inhaled sharply as they looked at the map with burning gazes. They then spotted several things marked on the map. They didn''t even asked him where he got this map since they''re used to his surprises by now.

    "Wait! This is where our Kingdom is?" Ellen asked as she pointed on the marking that appears like the g. Raven nodded to her causing Ellen to sigh. "It''s so small, and it''s closer to the west. I didn''t know that."

    "Where did you go during your journey then?" Anne asked curiously.

    "Here, here, here and here." Raven pointed at the ces that he went during his excursion.

    "You covered so much ground." Lunamented, "I''m guessing you visited a lot of Lairs too."

    "How did you know?" Raven faked a shocked expression, earning him a pinch from her. He smiled and pinched her cheeks gently. "Don''t worry, I was careful on the way. See? Aren''t I safe and sound?"

    Raven then ced on a serious expression and said:

    "During my adventure, I went to several ces. I have few ces in mind that I can rmend you to go. But let me tell me warn you about a few things first."

    Everyone then listened to him since they knew that Raven''s warnings are serious.

    "A lot of things changed before and after the war. Although this map is very recent, there are chances that some things are changing even as we speak. Remember to never let your guard down once you''re out there. One careless mistake and you guys will die. You hear me?"

    The team nodded as they listened to him.

    "Before you leave, make sure that you stock up on resources. You''ll never know, you might need somethings that you never used before. The world out there is extremely unforgiving. You might even find yourselves witnessing Tier 7 and above beasts roaming around. If you''re outmatched, run. Don''t hesitate. As long as there is life, there is a chance. Seeking pressure to elerate growth is one but courting death is another."

    "It is highly unnecessary for you guys to fight every beast that you see. Even if you spend all of your time fleeing, so long as you arrive at the ce I give you, you will eventually reach Hero Realm. Be careful and survive, understand?"

    And just like before everyone nodded and took his advice to their hearts. Once he was done warning them, he then started pointing them out a certain directions in the map.

    Paul''s destination is at the Sunken Ivory Pce. Ellen''s would be at the Sun Temple.

    Anne was to head northwest, at a ce called Fallen Star Valley. Mark is headed southwest where the Eternal Storm Ridge is located.

    If Raven really wanted to, he could just ask the Old Consciousness to transfer them to these locations through teleportation. However, for the sake of tempering them, he chose not to.

    At the end, the four decided to make preparations as early as possible, leaving Raven and Luna, who''s feeling displeased since Raven hadn''t given her any directions at all.

    ***

    "Avi¡­" Luna endearingly called out to him, causing Raven''s heart to tremble. "Where should I go."

    Raven smiled wryly as he looked at her, he then pinched her cheeks and said: "I''m still thinking about it."

    "Liar. You have something in mind, you just don''t want to tell me." Luna snorted as she crossed her arms in front of her.

    Raven wanted to say something but looking at Luna''s expression, he knew that he was busted. She was right after all.

    Luna sighed and lowered her gaze. Her heart felt troubled, she then said something that has been bothering her ever since Raven returned.

    "Why are you avoiding me?"

    Those words caused Raven''s heart to tremble. His gaze locked onto her instantly, he wanted to say something to retort that but what he saw almost broke him.

    Luna was sad. She wasn''t crying or anything, her heart just felt incredibly lonely and her face showed a forlorn expression. Raven wasn''t aware that Luna would notice his weird actions but he really wasn''t trying to avoid her at all.

    He had other reasons¡­

    "I-I think I should leave¡­" Luna didn''t like the situation at all. She was afraid, to her it seems like Raven had fallen out of love. She couldn''t bear it and she didn''t want to hear him say it so she might as well just leave.

    But before she could even reach the door, she felt a strong pull on her hands.

    She wanted to say something but she was shocked to see Raven''s burning gaze bearing at her.

    Luna was momentarily in a daze. She felt small under his gaze. She couldn''t understand it, but at the same time, the emotions that Raven showed in his eyes were causing her heartbeat to hasten.

    "I¡­" Raven stuttered, he wanted to exin many things but something else entirely was bothering him. He couldn''t say anything at all. All he could hope for is for Luna to feel the burning feeling inside his chest.

    The feeling nearly drove him mad. In his muddle-headedness, he pulled Luna into a long and passionate kiss.

    Luna felt electrified, she could feel her stomach lurching. She was nervous but at the same time, she losing her grip into reality due to his kisses.

    She could feel his warm and greedy hands roaming around her body, causing her to lose strength on her legs. At some point, she just realized that Raven was already carrying her and her legs were already wrapped around his waist.

    Lost in the feeling of their bodies pressed together and their emotions taking control, both of them couldn''t even remember when they arrived at the bedroom.

    And as Luna felt Raven''s warm hands inside her clothes, she finally understood why he was ''avoiding'' her. She couldn''t help but feel that he was being so silly.

    Didn''t he know that there is no one else that she would give herself to other than him?

    And though she will never admit it, she too was longing for him.

    Now that she understood what he meant, and now that they were already at this point, no one could get in the way of their union anymore.

    *Ahem*

 Chapter 390 - Hairpin And A Disiciple?

    ---

    As the gentle sun rays began illuminating the room through the curtains, Raven''s eyes gently fluttered open.

    He silently took in the image of his surroundings, and as the fragrant scent ofvender gently assaulted his nose, he involuntarily looked down only to see a mop of golden hair resting on his chest.

    Memories of what happened yesterday surfaced in his mind. He smiled wryly as he felt his blood rushing throughout his body, causing some strange feelings to rise up his chest.

    As the sounds of gentle snoring buzzed on his ears, a smile of satisfaction and a little bit of helplessness could be seen on his face.

    He thought to himself: ''Damn, I think I overdid it.''

    Needless to say, he was happy. Incredibly so. Although he wasn''t expecting his hot-bloodedness to go out of control, he could''ve stopped his advances if she really didn''t want it, but it seems that wasn''t the case.

    They even ended up tussling in bed all day yesterday¡­resting only to eat or for bathroom breaks. Even then, the bathroom wasn''t spared from witnessing the baptism of their union.

    Raising his arms, he gently pulled Luna closer to his embrace. As their naked bodies pressed together, he could feel the softness and delicateness of his lover''s body, making it quite hard for him to not have lecherous thoughts.

    He gently kissed the top of her head as he gently parted the scattered hair on her face and tucked it behind her ears. He gently adored and caressed her beautiful face, booped her nose while gently chuckling, gliding his hands on her soft and delicate arms.

    Raven raised a brow as he felt her shudder a bit from his touch while still faking sleep. A naughty grin appeared on his face as his hands gently caressed her waist, feeling the curves and smoothness of her skin.

    Luna shuddered even more, making it harder and harder for her to keep her act.

    Eventually, Raven''s hand found their way to her perky twin peaks. Luna trembled and her grip on his waist tightened unconsciously. She shivered as she felt him fondling and pinching her breasts, knowing the specific rhythm that sends her shaking from his advances.

    Unable to endure the teasing, she opened her eyes and pinched his chest. She sent him a re and said: "Stop it, you rogue!"

    Raven broke into a fit ofughter, stopping his naughty advances altogether. He pulled her close and gave a long and loving kiss.

    "Good morning." He greeted charmingly.

    Luna nodded and blushed from the embarrassment and nted her face on his chest. The memories of their deed yesterday was still fresh from her memories, sending her heart in chaos. But despite her embarrassment, she felt contented and happy.

    "Uh¡­" Raven let out an awkward sound, causing Luna to look up. Smiling wryly he said: "Are you sore anywhere?"

    His question made Luna''s heart flutter, she unconsciously tightened her hug and buried her face on to his chest while shaking her head.

    "Don''t hesitate to tell me if you''re hurt anywhere." He said seriously, "I-I know I somewhat overdid it yesterday and - "

    "Somewhat?" Luna interrupted him with a re, causing Raven to feel even more guilty. She snorted and shifted her head, she then buried her face on his neck.

    "Okay, I overdid it yesterday." Raven helplessly sighed, "I just¡­you know. I missed you so much, it was a bit hard to control myself."

    Raven felt Luna''s fingers on his lips. She then raised her head a bit and looked at him sweetly.

    "It''s okay. I understand." Luna giggled a bit, sporting a healthy blush on her cheeks. "It''s funny, I thought you were trying to break up with me, but in reality you just wanted me, you naughty boy."

    Raven''s face twitched as Luna teased him. "Ah, so I''m a naughty boy now huh?" He then shifted his position, causing Luna to panic.

    "Hey! Hahaha! Stop!"

    Raven got on top of her and tickled her. Her melodicughs echoed inside the room. After he was done getting his revenge, Raven shifted his position. Laying next to her, Luna rested her face onto his chest once again.

    None of them spoke, they silently enjoyed this peaceful ambiance and the warmth of each other.

    "Do you still have your ancestral hairpin with you?" Raven asked, startling Luna for a bit. Nevertheless, she nodded and took out the hairpin from her spatial ring.

    Luna always felt myriad of emotions whenever she looked at it. This hairpin was once the cause of her pain, but it was also the catalyst that brought Raven to her life.

    She handed the hairpin to him. As Raven held the hairpin on his hand, he channeled a different kind of energy that doesn''t belong to him.

    Luna was shocked as she felt an ancient and holy energy radiating off of him. She watched as the energy flowed onto the hairpin, causing it to experience some changes.

    Raven opened his eyes and returned the hairpin to her, he then said:

    "You wanted to breakthrough to Hero Realm as well right?" Luna nodded, "Then take this hairpin to your Ancestral Grounds. It should open up a portal leading you to a smelting trial. Try your best to reach the end, if you do, not only you will breakthrough it would also give you immense benefits."

    Luna epted the hairpin and ced it inside her spatial ring. From her expression, Raven could tell that she wanted some answers so he started exining.

    "When I cured your terminal illness before. I told you that you were being possessed by Jubileus right?"

    She nodded, allowing Raven to continue telling the story.

    "When I separated her from you and offered her salvation, she left something to me for safekeeping. As for what it is, I am notpletely certain, but I know it''s a great opportunity. Originally, she wanted us to take this together, but I already encountered an opportunity that suits me, so all of it shall be given to you."

    "Work hard, Love." Raven gazed at her tenderly, "I believe in you."

    Luna was visibly moved, she kissed his cheeks and smiled sweetly, saying: "Thank you. I love you."

    "I love you too." Raven then pulled her close and gave her a long and loving kiss.

    They shifted positions, Raven being on top of her. Luna''s arms were tightly wrapped around his neck while Raven''s arms were wrapped around her waist.

    Luna felt like she melting on his kisses, her thoughts were bing blurry and her chest were heaving from his touch. She shivered as she felt a specific hardness pressing down on her lower regions. Raven''s kisses trailed down on her neck, causing her to spasm in embarrassment and delight. As her thoughts starts to be even more cloudy, she said:

    "Love. We already did it all day yesterday." Luna moaned as she panted, feeling her sanity slip away from his advances. "Haven''t you had enough?"

    Raven rose up and met her eyes with a zing gaze of love, passion and desire as he naughtily grinned: "Nope."

    Luna gasped as she felt his sudden intrusion, her delicate body shook as she felt the intense sensations rocking her world. Raven''s face was close to her ears, allowing her to hear his heavy breathing and his seductive words:

    "It''s your fault for being so god damn sexy."

    After that, the whole room was filled with whaling moans of pleasure and scents of love nectars.

    *Ahem*

    ***

    "Please ept me as your disciple!!!"

    A youth passionately yelled as he bowed in a ny degree angle while holding out a ticket.

    Raven''s face twitched as he secretly looked at all the people who were simrly startle by this youth''s passionate request. A sigh of helplessness escaped his lips.

    He flicked a finger causing the ticket stub to fly onto his hands and for the youth to involuntarily stand up straight.

    As the youth looked up to him, his gaze eventually met his. All of a sudden, the youth felt like he was being stared down by a humongous beast, causing his heart to palpitate.

    It didn''t take long before beads of sweat started forming on his face and for his back to be drenched in cold sweat.

    "What''s your name?"

    Raven gently asked this question, yet for the youth it sounded like a loud thunderp. His voice boomed onto his head, causing him to feel lightheaded, yet the youth bit his lips and steeled his resolve. He was aware that he was being tested.

    "My name is Kyle Palestine, Sir!" The youth answered resolutely, his tone even contained a bit of reverence to it.

    He couldn''t help it though, the man in front of him was his idol. It was his dream to be guided by the strongest Knight in the entire Kingdom, so when he knew that there was a chance for him gain his recognition, he didn''t hesitate to work hard for it.

    All of a sudden, Kyle felt the world warping around him. He felt a pang of dizziness assaulting his brain. When he recovered his senses. He saw Raven standing not too far away from him while their surroundings changed. Before he could even say anything, Raven''s voice sounded on his ears once more.

    "I''ll give you a chance." He said with an oppressive tone.. "If you are able to stand in front of me, I''ll consider taking you in."

 Chapter 391 - Kyle Palestine

    ---

    ***

    Kyle Palestine, 17 years old. Student of Heavenly Cloud Academy.

    Spiritual Entity: Great Destion King. Preferred weapon: Greatsword.

    Remarks: Righteous to a fault. Stubborn yet loyal. A bit prideful but still, an excellent seedling.

    Rmendations: To be subjected to a Strong Leader.

    ***

    Raven viewed the student profile of the young man who''s struggling toe close to him and felt a headacheing.

    ''I was too eager back then, I shouldn''t have agreed to this.'' Hemented inwardly though his face remained expressionless. ''I thought I''ll get rid of my responsibilities in the academy by now but, here we are.''

    Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he''ll end up epting a disciple upon his return. He purposefully cranked-up the difficulty of obtaining the Apprenticeship Ticket so that he won''t be subjected to this yet someone still got it.

    Originally, he was nning to use his remaining time in the lower ne to enjoy thepany of his loved ones and friends. As much as possible, he didn''t want to create another tie that would bind him to this ce since that will turn into an obstruction upon his ascent, but on the other hand, he also brought this to himself. He had to take responsibility for this guy.

    *Hu* *Hu* *Hu*

    Kyle''s heavy breathing could be heard all around. Raven emotionlessly gazed at him, looking at his intense perspiration and his eyes that contained fiery determination. He watched as Kyle dragged his body forward, suffocating under the stifling pressure that Raven''s emitting.

    In the end, Kyle was able toe close to him, unfortunately before he could even say anything, Kyle fainted and fell to the ground with a loud thump.

    Raven helplessly sighed and flicked his finger. Kyle''s body levitated in the air. He took out a wooden barrel and poured in contents of Body Restoration Fluid before flinging Kyle''s body inside the barrel.

    He turned his back against him and started creating materials that would help him in raising this disciple of his.

    Like this, a hour passed. Kyle eventually regained consciousness, finding himself inside a barrel filled with water and residual medicine efficacy. His head was hurting as he was struggling to remember what happened before he lost consciousness.

    Raven was obviously aware that he regained consciousness, he then transmitted his voice to him saying: "Stabilize your cultivation."

    Kyle was rmed by this booming voice, eventually he recalled everything, looking incredulously at the man casually sitting behind him. He then recalled his words and to his surprise, he actually broke through the next level of his cultivation!

    Before this meeting, Kyle was already at the precipice of breaking through the Marrow Cleansing Realm. That being said, the obstruction he met was too solid, causing him to be stuck at the same stage for quite sometime. Who would''ve thought that only one action from Raven was enough for to help Kyle shatter the barrier that''s preventing him from breaking through for quite some time?

    Kyle did was he was told and stabilized his cultivation. After that, he jumped out of the medicine barrel with renewed vigor, smiling to himself as he felt strength coursing through his body. He wanted to shout towards the heavens andugh out loud but one sentence from Raven trampled his enthusiasm.

    "Feeling very strong are we?"

    Raven''s tone was filled with thick sarcasm, causing Kyle''s pride to curb down. He then turned around to look at his idol but another sentence from him knocked Kyle from his pedestal.

    "When I was at your age, I was already a Silver Knight and was already roaming the world."

    Kyle''s eyes dimmed from that statement, thought he wanted to say something in rebuttal, what could he say anyway? In front of Raven, his pride was nothing.

    He then heard Raven sigh. He saw him stopping what he''s currently doing to stand up. Kyle started tensing up once more as he saw Raven staring at him.

    "In truth, I never wanted to ept any apprentice at all." Raven''s statement caused Kyle to pale and feel despair. "But then again, seeing that you worked hard to obtain it, I''ll honor the ticket."

    Kyle''s eyes brightened up as he heard Raven say that. Many thoughts shed on his mind, he felt giddy and excited. It feels like he was dreaming, his idol was really taking him in as a disciple?

    Seeing his fanatical gaze, Raven felt inwardly depressed. He began thinking: ''Am I really taking him as a disciple? I think if I gave him my autograph he mightpletely forget about the other matter.''

    However, Raven dispersed this thought. He then raised an eyebrow since Kyle still hasn''t woke up from his stupor. His voice boomed as he said:

    "Still not greeting me?"

    This sentence woke Kyle out of his stupor, his face panicked as he hurriedly knelt in front of him and said: "STUDENT GREETS TEACHER!"

    "Geez." Raven''s lips twitched. This disciple of his, isn''t he a little too loud and stiff? "Rise and rx. I have a few things to tell you before we start. Pay attention because I won''t repeat them."

    Kyle stumbled and took out a notebook from his spatial ring, he then looked at Raven with anticipation as he waited for him to speak.

    "First of all, our rtionship as Teacher and Student will only be effective for a short period of time. As for how long, four to five years. It will ultimately depend on your performance."

    His first statement dampened Kyle''s enthusiasm once more, this time he couldn''t help to ask: "Why Teacher?"

    "That''s the length of my vacation, once it''s up, I''ll be somewhere far and I don''t know when I''ll be returning." Raven''s words were stated with outmost seriousness. Seeing Kyle''s saddened look, he tussled his hair and said: "Don''t feel sad. I''ll make sure that before I leave, you''ll be able be unobstructed anywhere you go."

    "That being said, since it was your decision to take me as your teacher, you have to prepare yourself since my methods will push you to the b

 Chapter 392 - Champions Physique

    Chapter 392

    ---

    "Wrong! Try again!"

    "HA!"

    "Wrong! One more time!"

    "HAA!"

    "Good! That''s your third one. Now do it again!"

    "HAA!!"

    In a wide open yard of a three- story stone house, two guys could be seen. One was Raven who''s arms are crossed while the other was Kyle who''s repeatedly being asked to perform a horizontal strike with his Greatsword.

    Kyle face was covered with perspiration and his jaws are clenched. He could feel his arms screaming bloody murder due to this painful training yet he didn''t utter a single word. He gritted his teeth and did what his Teacher told him even though his arms felt like they will fall off.

    This is what he get for having a weird preference for a weapon. Who told him to choose a greatsword as a weapon anyway?

    Raven of course didn''t care about his weapon choice, he has ways to make Kyle an absolute expert despite his choices. But still, Kyle is still too green. His basics were horrible and his foundations are unstable - at least in Raven''s eyes they were. If this continues, Kyle wouldn''t be able to go far so in order to achieve their aim, back to basics he goes.

    Kyle performed another set of proper horizontal sh through the guidance of Raven before his body gave up. He fell forward like a sack of potatoes and went unconscious due to exhaustion. Raven flicked his finger and Kyle shot towards a barrel full of medicinal fluids. As the medicine did its magic, Raven activated an array for Kyle to useter on and disappeared from the stone house.

    He reappearedter a his house, precisely at his own yard. Right now he was alone since Luna already decided to take the smelting trial prepared for her, the rest of the team also took their leave and are now on their way to their own lucky chances.

    Of course, even though Raven already reached the pinnacle of this realm, that doesn''t mean that there''s no room for improvement anymore. In fact, he still has a long way to go. Stepping to the peak of this world is just the start.

    He sat down and sank into a deep meditative state, wanting to temper and diversify his understandings about his Destruction Laws.

    It didn''t take long before Raven immersed himself from hisw cultivation, eventually being unable to extricate himself from the wonderful sensation of being lost to the sea of wonders of his own Laws.

    This is the result of the various arts that he received from his recent travels outside. Due to the inspirations that he received from the [True Destruction Manual] that he got from Astrid, he was able to formte and add more insights about his own Laws.

    From the moment he stepped to the Hero Realm, his insights and applications about the Law of Destruction deepened even further, if his rate of improvement continues like this, he believed that he''ll be able to reach the acme of the first field of study for the Destruction Laws before he moved on to the next realm.

    Each Law has at least 5 fields of study. For Destruction Laws, they are: Breaking, Shattering, Pulverizing, Disintegration, and Annihtion. Currently, he''s at least 80% through from study of Breaking.

    The terror of Destruction Laws - specifically for those who understood the Breaking Concept, is the ability to negate any kind of attack heading towards them by breaking them, while at the same time, their attacks are extremely tyrannical in nature and could reduce any kind of defense into shambles.

    Every creation eventually meets their destruction. It''s only a matter of when.

    However, moving from one field of study to another is a different matter altogether. There are times that one''s previous ideas and understanding will sh, causing a major bottleneck which sometimes prevents a cultivator from moving forward for the rest of their lives. There are ways to mitigate this but right now, Raven had no need for them since he hadn''t encountered a such a problem just yet.

    Raven''s currently attuned to nature, at this state hisprehension and deduction skills are at maximum drive. Even without him doing anything, his mere breathing causes the surrounding space to tremble at his presence, cracks were silently appearing around him as if just his breath alone was strong enough to rupture space.

    From this point of view, it was evident that he didn''t go all out against Vit''hum. Speaking of battling, there''s something unexpected happened.

    The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer is now gone.

    Well, not really gone. To be more precise, it transformed into somethingpletely unexpected for Raven.

    The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer dissolved and became a part of his Knightly Armament. It is now the golden wheel of arms floating behind Raven whenever he summons his Knightly Armament.

    The transformation urred due to the crown''s interference.

    Back when he defeated Carl, the guardian of the 50th pocket dimension, Inos and Astrid showed up giving him new techniques and insights. And because he just cleared another checkpoint, he received rewards from the crown itself.

    It transformed the hammer and fused the Archaic Thousand Armed Deity to his own Knightly Armament. Now, with just a thought of his, he could materialized hundreds of Golden Arms to strike at his opponent.

    But this created some problems. Astrid gave him the [True Destruction Manual] and [Grand Hammer Stances], but due to the sudden change, thetter technique became useless to him.

    This shouldn''t have been a problem since even with the changes with his weapon, it won''t be a problem for Raven to use his previous techniques to gain inspiration, but to his surprise the crown actually gave him apensation.

    He received a technique called: [God ying Palm], a tyrannical technique with overbearing requirements to practice.

    ording to the creator of this technique, one of the requirements to practice this is to have at least a physique of an Immortal Champion. Without that, it is not advisable to practice this since the sheer force required to cast it would destroy one''s flesh and bones.

    Immortal Champion''s Physique is something that one needs to establish in order to step to the Champion Realm.

    As one deepens their understanding with Laws, diagrams representing their understanding will eventually be condensed to their Energy and Energy Network, for Raven it is his Chaos Force and Chaos Force Core. Eventually, these Law Diagrams will be embedded to one''s very own flesh, dissolving to their bloodstreams, nourishing their bodies and slowly but surely, transforming their physique into something stronger.

    They refer to this as Champion''s Physique.

    Earning a champion''s physique means that one officially shed their mortal coils. From that point onwards, they are no longer mortals. This means that anything that is considered harmful for mortals will no longer work on them.

    A Champion''s Physique is their first step towards true Ascension.

    Of course, not everyone''s born equal. Depending on one''s aptitude, one''s Champion''s Physique might differ in gradepare to others. The lowest grade for Champion''s Physique is Golden rank, followed by tinum, Saint, Immortal, Perfected Immortal, Deity, and Perfected Deity rank Champion''s Physique is the highest grade.

    To practice [God ying Palm], one has to have - at least, an Immortal Champion''s Physique. Even by the Divine Realm''s standard, this is hard to achieve.

    But with such a high requirement, it''s safe to assume that the might of [God ying Palm] shouldn''t be questioned. Though Raven''s somewhat skeptical if this technique could really y gods, he had seen gods dies before so it''s not far fetched, plus this technique came from the Ancestral Divine Crown. That alone should ne enough to convince him.

    Possessing an Immortal Champion''s Physique means that his physical body will extremely tough. At this stage, his body alone is stronger and tougherpared to most weapons avable, which ultimately leads another point.

    Since the hammer is gone, and his goal is to get an Immortal Physique, he might as well abandon all thoughts of wielding a weapon.

    With an Immortal Champion''s Physique, every inch of his body could be used as a weapon. Even a strand of his hair could be transformed into a high grade whip treasure through a skilled smith''s hands. With that in mind, what''s the use of weapons then?

    Plus, with the aid of the golden wheel of arms, he''s not really losing out by not having weapons. A single golden hand containing the might of Destruction Laws and tyrannical brute force is already terrifying enough, not to mention a thousand of them.

    In the end, Raven''s still Raven. A mere Immortal Champion''s Physique is nothing but trash to him. His ambitions are high, even without him doing anything, with the foundations he built to himself, getting an Immortal Champion''s Physique is only natural. But he''s aiming for something higher.

    If he truly wanted to lord over the Divine Realm and return to his rightful throne, he has to aim higher. Before even trying to fight Abyssal opponents, his first goal is to establish himself in the Divine Realm. Such a thing would only be possible by attaining perfection on each step he takes.

    [A/N: It''s ma birthday! Ew. I got older again. Ew. Lol. Anyway, I''ll be shameless once more and ask you to give me presents!

    Well you don''t have to if you don''t want to, I''m not forcing anyone.

    Gifts or purchase of at least the first tier of the priv chapters would do. Heck, even power stones orments will make me sufficiently happy.

    I''ll probably receive your generosity next month through my paycheck, just as well, I''ll have money for the holidays. Lol.

    Anyhoo, I can feel my stomach churning and my fat face blushing profusely from this amount of shamelessness. I''ll stop now.

    Thank''s for your support as always, Enjoy!]

 Chapter 393 - Matters About Ascending

    ---

    Time passed like a blur. In a blink of an eye, one year already passed.

    Aside from spending time on his own training and with his family, Raven spent most of his time guiding Kyle and transforming him into something incredible. And due to his unwavering determination and the quality of Raven''s teachings, Kyle stepped into the Knight Stage quickly.

    His transformation greatly shocked everyone who knew him. The matter of him obtaining the apprenticeship ticket wasn''t really known, all of Kyle''s friends knew that he just stopped attending ss altogether. They thought that he dropped out and decided to live as a normal civilian yet who would''ve thought that during the Annual Tournament, he would show up and exude a dazzling brilliance.

    No one could match up to him. Kyle was simply too strong, his strength was tyrannical, even most defenses cannot do anything against the sheer strength of his.

    In just one day, he became a superstar. Many people tried getting close to him, girl suddenly started fawning on him, many of his old ''friends'' came up to him with obvious intentions, of course many also have dark thoughts.

    In light of this, Raven allowed Kyle naturally handle it and make his own decisions. This could be considered as tempering his own nature and will. Kyle is still too green, he needs to experience some setbacks in order to forge his own character. Naturally, his training with Raven continued.

    As for Raven, of course he didn''t neglect his own training. Upon stepping onto Hero Realm, it is natural that the transition towards the next realm would be tougher. He mostly spent time consolidating his foundations and searching for inspirations for his ownws.

    With the peaceful environment of the kingdom, it is naturally harder for him to gain more insights about the Breaking Concept, so he decided to take his eyes off of it for now and focus on his Time and Space insights.

    Speaking of Time and Space insights, Raven already learned Time Skin long before this. The reason why he could stop the attack of the Giant Golems before is due to this. Theyer of timepression that he made was worth a month. Which means that regr attacks was more or less useless to him since they wouldn''t even touch his skin.

    With his idle time here in the Kingdom, he already improved upon this and added another month ofpressed time. Unfortunately, without Time Laws, anyw-based attack could ignore this Time Skin of his.

    As for his Space insights, he could effectively use Spatial Folding to some extent. He could use it to hide between the fabrics of space and warp on short distances, if he really wanted to he could also suspend the space on a small area,pletely preventing anyone from moving.

    Although it is a pity that he hadn''t been baptized by Time and Space Laws, he''s already satisfied with this.

    ***

    A few more months passed and one by one, his friends started to return.

    The one who came back the fastest was Luna since she didn''t really need to go very far. The location of her smelting trial is just one the Royal Sacred Grounds, the ancestral ce of the Lightshield n.

    Upon her return, Luna became even more beautiful. Although she was already looked upon as a goddess for many, her radiance became even more dazzling. It was as if she''s releasing a warm and gentle glow that brings calm and peace to everyone who gazed at her.

    Luna became a disciple of Heavenly Anthem Pce. Though she doesn''t know what kind of ce is that, she could tell that it is an impressive ce.

    Paul, Mark, Anne and Ellen returned as well, their bearings were more reserved but one couldn''t deny the sharpness on their eyes. The journey outside really expanded their horizons, danger was their onlypany throughout their way towards their destinations. In the end, they manage to raise their strengths ande back safely.

    Of course, just like Luna, they too gained recognition from certain sects. Paul was epted by the Boundless Azure Sect. Ellen was epted by the Divine Sun Sect. As for Anne, she became a disciple of Paradise Pure Lands. And as for Mark, he was epted by the Storm Dragon Tyrant Sect.

    Right now, all of them are gathered in one ce, resting and enjoying food and drinks. After returning, none of them really discussed about the matter of ascension but they really can''t avoid it anymore.

    "Alright, guys." Raven ced his teacup down looked at them intently. "I think it''s time to talk about the elephant in the room."

    As soon as he said this, a bizarre atmosphere descended. No one spoke and just lowered their heads a bit.

    "Sigh, why must ruin the mood?" Paul groaned after a while, scratching his head in annoyance.

    "Well, some way or another, we''re going to talk about this eventually. This is something that we must face, and we already postpones it for quite some time." Raven said with a bit of a helpless tone.

    The room was silent. They felt torn deep down.

    "Since you guys appointed me as your Leader, I guess I''ll say my piece first." Raven stated, he nced a Luna for a bit before he said: "I''m ascending."

    There was silence yet again. They just looked at him with serious expressions, many thoughts were going off their minds.

    "Why?" Luna asked.

    She wasn''t asking this because of reluctance, guilt or anything. She''s just purely curious.

    "The Kingdom no longer needs me." Raven wore a satisfied smile. "Our major enemies had been dealt with, the growth of the next generation is already determined."

    He paused for a bit, then he continued:

    "Remember the time when I proposed the Knightly System Reform?" This question earned nods from them. "Even since that was passed, the future of the Kingdom is already set. Back then, I told everyone that I don''t just want a Final Haven Kingdom."

    "I want a Final Haven Empire." These words gained a few sharp inhales from his friends.

    Raven smiled and continued: "Now that there''s virtually no one that could threaten our home. Evolution is set. While you guys are away, Uncle already talked to me about this. And while we speak, some of our men are headed towards the centermost part of the Grand Ancestral ne to build the foundations of the Empire. Shortly after that, relocation will ur and if things go smoothly, Prince Balmung will assume the title of the Founding Emperor."

    "Wow." Luna reacted in an amused manner, "Founding Emperor? The guy dislikes responsibilities, can he even handle it? If he someone told him that, I''m afraid that he''ll faint in terror."

    "Oh trust me, he did." Raven''s face twitched as he recalled some events. "He legitimately smacked his head on his desk when Uncle told him about it so that he''ll lose consciousness."

    The room was filled withughter as he said that. Raven''s face regained its seriousness as he continued.

    "But like I said, from this point on, the Kingdom doesn''t need me anymore. The preparations areplete and my heart is already set on roaming the Divine Realm, searching for new heights and glory."

    "Ultimately, the decision is yours to make. It''s fine if you don''t want to ascend. With your strengths, you''ll hardly find anyone or anything that can threaten your life here. But if you seek to breakthrough the Champion Realm, I''m afraid that it''s not possible for a quite sometime. I believe you guys can feel it too right?"

    Everyone nodded. Ever since stepping onto Hero Realm. There is a mystical force that''s preventing them from raising their strength. This was the ban that the Old Consciousness formed before due to the state of the ne. Right now, Hero Realm is the absolute pinnacle of this world. If they want to breakthrough to the Champion Realm, they could only do so by waiting for at least a century until the ban lifts itself or by ascending to the Divine Realm.

    "You guys are no longer ignorant about the existence of the Divine Realm, after all you''ve gained recognition from the sects that left their inheritance here. As for the matters of ascending, you guys decided. Don''t let anyone''s opinion sway your mind. If you want to ascend, do so with an open heart. If not, it will turn into a shackle that would prevent you from advancing and making a name in the Divine Realm."

    After saying that, Raven looked towards Luna and left with her in order to give them time to decide. As they walked back home, the two were silent. Raven didn''t disturb Luna and just embraced her while they sat under a tree, enjoying the peace and calm of the atmosphere.

    A whileter, Luna sighed and shook her head. She rested her head on Raven''s chest and said: "I can''t decide yet."

    "Hmm, that''s fine." Raven chuckled and nodded, a faint smile appeared on his face as he said: "We still have time, don''t rush it and stress yourself out."

    Luna smiled and nodded. She then closed her eyes and listened to Raven''s heartbeat. She couldn''t help but notice that his heart was beating fast as if he was nervous. Before she could ask him anything, she felt him lifting her head and saw him looking straight onto her eyes. Unknowingly, her heart started beating fast as well. At the same time, Raven''s next words caused her entire being to descend in a lovely chaos.

    "Will you marry me?"

 Chapter 394 - Grand Wedding

    ---

    Today, a cheerful mood emanated throughout the entirety of the Final Haven Kingdom.

    Each streets were draped with celebratory decorations, everyone wore their best outfits and were headed outside of their home. The Royal Pce is crowded with people, each one are discussing the most important event that will happen very soon.

    Today is the day of Vendrick Valorheart and Lunafreya Lightshield''s wedding.

    Music filled the streets, chatters echoed across the halls, a long and wide red carpetid out from the entrance of the Inner Circle all the way towards the Royal Pce. Invitation were sent a long time ago, and those who were invited were dressed in suits and gowns, arge array was set in order for the rest to witness the wedding as well.

    Majority of the Knights formed a line that traced edges of the carpet. And as the heated discussions of the crowd continued, a sound of a loud horn interrupted their discussions, causing them to focus in front.

    All eyes watched the person who blew the horn. Clearing his throat a couple of times, his booming voice sounded to the masses.

    "Everyone. We are d to have you as witnesses, to the marriage of Vendrick Valorheart and Lunafreya Lightshield!!"

    As soon as finished speaking, a gentle and romantic music started emanating everywhere.

    "Look above!"

    It was unknown who said that but it caused everyone to look up as well.

    "Oh my goodness! What is this!"

    "Auspicious signs of the heaven! The heavens are witnessing this event!"

    "How enviable!"

    To their surprise, they saw the clouds parting to reveal a beautiful curtain of aurora. Out of nowhere, a silhouette of an enormous butterfly streaked across the skies, leaving sparkling glitters that gently fell to the ground.

    Tree roots emerged in between the spaces of the Knights stationed on the edges of the red carpet. Together, they formed beautiful arches that bloomed with multiple flowers, emanating fragrant scent all over the Kingdom.

    "Oh my god!"

    "How beautiful! How romantic!"

    "This should be caused by the Moonlight Butterfly and The Kind Ent right?"

    "Yes! I heard somewhere that they are great godparents of the groom and the bride!"

    "Ah look! Herees the bridesmaid and their escorts!"

    The chosen bridesmaid and their escorts appeared at the procession, each of them are apanied by a pixies who''re spreading flower petals as they marched. The bridesmaids are chosen from Luna''s closest friends and students, and of course this includes Anne and Ellen, whom are escorted by their respective partners, Mark and Paul.

    Collective gasps and groans could be heard from the crowd. Some girls are shedding tears of envy and joy while some men are envious and wishing that they were the groom instead.

    Streaks of colorful lights apanied the march creating a beautiful and fantastical scene that will forever be engraved on the minds of those who witnessed it.

    The procession proceeds and one by one all of those who will be participating on the wedding arrived. At some point, arches and streaks of rainbows flooded the whole kingdom, making it seem like thends are transforming into paradise.

    "Family of the groom! Evangeline and Luis Valorheart, along with their twin daughters Venina and Victoria."

    After that announcement, a shadow streaked across the skies andnded on the procession line. Raven''s family could be seen, riding on the back of a Blue Flood Dragon.

    "Is that a Dragon!?"

    "It is! A young Flood Dragon! How did His Excellency found such a thing?"

    "And it is tamed too! His Excellency''s family are riding on it''s back! What an entrance!"

    As the gossips of the crowd intensifies, Luis and Eva who''s riding on the mount, were filled with mixtures ofplicated emotions. Luis was filled with endless pride and joy, he stood proud and tall as he faced he witnessed the expressions of the crowd. Eva was already crying, and the twins joined the pixies Aisha and Aina to scatter flower petals on the ground.

    The Flood Dragon carried the family all the way to the ancestral grounds where the wedding will take ce. As soon as they arrived, they flew down from the mount and stood beside the ritual altar.

    "Family of the Bride! Queen Elizabeth and King Alexander Lightshield! Along with Crown Prince Balmung Lightshield!"

    Another announcement was heard and another flood dragon appeared, this time carrying the Prince, Queen and King. As the march began, Balmung looked around their loyal subjects and shamelessly waved to them like he was the star of this wedding. He''s even throwing flying kisses to the maidens that caught his eye.

    The King and Queen stood side by side, their faces were filled smiles and hearts filled with pride. This wedding is even grander than their own but they felt no envy. The only wanted the best for their daughter and their son-inw.

    Upon reaching the ancestral grounds, they disembarked from the mount and stood on the other side of the ritual altar, opposite from where Raven''s family.

    And finally, the moment everyone was waiting for. The arrival of the Bride and the Groom.

    "Please wee the Bride and the Groom! Vendrick Valorheart and Lunafreya Lightshield."

    *Boom!*

    An explosion urred, catching everyone by surprise. At this moment, everyone stood with their mouths agape as they looked up on the sky.

    The clouds disappeared and the skies changed. Constetions started appearing one by one until everyone was basking under their glow. The aurora curtain''s brilliance intensified even more.

    "The Starry Skies of Spirit World!"

    "How grand! How majestic!"

    "Beautiful!"

    From the skies, rion cries and distant roars were heard. Everyone watched as a silhouettes descend.

    The Bride Luna, she is wearing a long white gown which seemed to be made out of the purest silk. Her beauty was ethereal, almost as if she wasn''t from this world and just a goddess touring the mortal realm. Her smooth curves, skin that glows like a white jade, and her long and wavy blonde hair could captivate anyone who stares are her. She was wearing a thin veil that hid her facial features but that didn''t stop anyone from having wild fantasies about her.

    The Groom Raven. He is wearing a white suit which entuated his tall and powerful build. His long blue hair was neatly tied behind him and fell like a gentle stream of water. His sharp brows, strong jawline, clear jade skin and looks of a gentleman was enough to cause many maidens and wives to blush. As he basked under the light of the starry skies, his features became even more fascinating todies, so much to the point that they feel like dying from envy since they weren''t his bride.

    As soon as they appeared, the Knights stationed on the edges raised their spears and crossed them against each other.

    Arm in arm, the two of them walked down the aisle, white lotuses bloomed in full glory, illusive silhouettes of dragons and phoenixes danced around them, pixies also danced around them, showering them with flower petals and sparkling lights. Whenever they passed by the Knights, the spears above their heads will be released. The crowd offered their congrattory messages from afar causing happiness to fill their hearts.

    The couple eventually arrived in front of the ritual altar. By now, Eva and Elizabeth could no longer hold their tears. Even the rims of their husband''s eyes were wet. The bridesmaid are all crying with tears of joy as well.

    Somehow, an old man mysteriously appeared before the altar. Nobody knew who he was but Raven knew. This was none other than the consciousness of the Grand Ancestral ne. Knowing Raven''s real identity, how could he not be here?

    "Today we witness the union through wedlock of Vendrick Valorheart and Lunafreya Lightshield." The Old Man spoke, causing all discussions to halt.

    "Bow to the Parents!" The old man''s voice boomed.

    Raven and Luna faced their own parents and bowed, they then faced their inws and simrly bowed as well.

    "Bow to the Heavens!"

    The two of them faced the ritual altar bowed to the old man, who represented the heavens. As the old man received the bow, he smiled and procured a ritual sword. This sword''s handle was long and is encased in a circle, it''s edge is no different from a regr sword. The names of this sword is The Sword of Avowal.

    The old man stabbed the Sword of Avowal on the altar. Hand in hand, Luna and Raven held the handle of the sword, fingers interlocking as they did so. Without letting go of the sword, they stepped closer to each other and wrapped their arms around each other, with their foreheads touching the old man''s voice echoed once more.

    "Channel your heartfelt vows to each other."

    As soon as he said that, fluctuations of unique energy started filling their area. The two of them didn''t say a word since there''s no need for it. Their heart beats as one, transmitting emotions of pure love and adoration to each other.

    In no time, the Sword of Avowal lit up with a mystical light, encasing both of them within. It them formed a golden circles that transformed as their rings. A unique sigil appeared on their hands and a pir of light descended with them at the center.

    "At the appearance of the sigil and formation of the rings.. I now pronounce you as Husband and Wife."

 Chapter 395 - Honeymoon

    ---

    "Congrattions!"

    "Congrattions! Your Excellency Raven and Princess Luna!"

    "We wish you a long and happy married life!"

    "We wish you a house full of children!!"

    The crowd cheers and waves of congrattory messages flooded the entire ce. The newly weds epted this with emotional smiles and satisfactory nces.

    Raven returned his gaze at his wife. He slowly lifted the veil covering her face and wiped the tears from her eyes. The rims of his eyes were slightly moist, how many nights had he spent thinking about this exact moment? Luna''s sacrifice during hisst life caused him to experience a painful heartbreak. He dreamt about marrying her and starting a family with her almost every night yet it was toote.

    But now, everything has changed. His dreams finally became a reality.

    "We should happy no?" Raven chuckled as he found himself continuously wiping her tears since she won''t stop crying. "Stop crying already."

    "I''m just so happy." Luna said while sobbing.

    Ravenughed and kissed her forehead. He then looked at her golden colored eyes and said: "I''m very happy too. Thank you, for making my dreamse true."

    Hearing that caused Luna to cry even more profusely, but at the same time she wore a lovely and charming smile that clit up the whole area.

    "I love you." Raven said.

    "I love you too." Luna replied.

    Raven then leaned down and kissed her soft and supple lips, earning cheers and whistles from the crowd. The Flood Dragons raised their heads and breathed out blue and red fire, sending their own congrattory messages.

    The husband and wife then started marching down from the altar. They went to their parents and greeted them first, starting with the King and the Queen.

    "If it wasn''t for you child, I''ll never get the chance to witness the marriage of my own daughter. Thank you and take care of each other." The Queen sobbed after hugging Raven. She then looked at Luna and said: "My little princess grew up so fast. Mom missed out on so much, in a blink of an eye she''s already married."

    Raven and Luna felt emotional. The Queen continued by saying: "But know this, you best work quick and give me grandchildren to y with."

    "Mom!" Luna blushed as reacted, earning cheerfulughs from them.

    The King then stepped forward and patted Raven''s shoulders multiple times. He then said: "You best take care of my little princess, or else no matter where you are, I''ll hunt you down."

    "I''ll dly ept my punishment that day ever happens." Raven replied while nodding.

    "Good!" The King then burst into an uproariousughter. "I want five grandchildren!"

    "Dad!" Luna exasperatingly called out.

    "Only five? Why not make it ten?" Balmung interjected. Luna turned towards him and started twisting his ears with ferocity.

    After greeting the Luna''s family, the two then walked towards the Valorheart. As soon as they arrived, Raven was pulled into a tight hug by his mother.

    "Huhu, my baby is man now! He''s married now! He''ll have his own kids in the future and I''ll be a grandma!"

    Raven could only smile wryly and say: "Mom, calm down. Rx."

    Although he said that, Eva didn''t stop sobbing, eventually it became Luna''s turn to be the victim of hers. Raven then faced his father and shared a hug with him. Luis patted his shoulders and said:

    "Take care of her son. You''ve grown up now, you''re even stronger than your old man. Make sure to give her a happy life, you hear me?"

    "I will Dad." Raven nodded solemnly.

    The newly then walked hand in hand to face the crowd. It was then that Raven''s voice echoed¡­

    "Thank you all, for attending our wedding."

    He then looked up the skies and lifted his hands. Instantly, the stars in the skies started emitting more brilliance, basking the entire crowd with starlight radiance. Silence permeated across the crowd, all of them felt indescribable warmth andfort circting through their bodies, making them exhrated.

    "This is my gift to you." Raven''s voice sounded on their ears. "Under the blessing of this starlight, may your illnesses recover and your longevities extend by five years. To those who wanted to tread the path of Knighthood, this starlight will allow you to bypass the ritual process and allow you to smoothly transition from Marrow Cleaning to Soldier Realm."

    Collective gasps could be heard from the crowd, all of them felt excitement rushing through their veins, specially the young ones. At this point, who among them doesn''t want to walk the path of Knighthood? Hearing that this starlight will aid them in their cultivation lightened up their moods and caused them to feel reverence towards Raven''s generosity.

    Raven was his hand again and out of nowhere, countless packages flew towards everyone. His voice sounded again.

    "This is another gift from me." Raven said, "This package contains pills that could cure illnesses, improve blood cirction, and aid with your cultivation. This package also contains Battle Arts and Cultivation Manuals."

    "Once again, thank you for attending the happiest day of my life."

    Raven and Luna bowed to the crowd and went ahead towards their friends to celebrate this wonderful moments of their life.

    ***

    Months passed by and even then, themotion brought by Raven and Luna''s wedding has yet to cease. Everyone is still raving about it, some even started creating books and records about this momentous event.

    As for the newly weds, they decided to tour the entire Grand Ancestral ne for their honeymoon. Of course they didn''t do it by walking, Raven''s Spatial Abode was there for that purpose.

    They visited beautiful vistas, watch sunsets through different vantage points and asionally fight with demonic beasts for exercise.

    Both of them enjoyed the fulfillment of being together. They spent nights enjoying the embrace of one another. They experienced a stage sense of satisfaction and debauchery, touring the world like an immortal couple and making the most out of their remaining time.

    As the stars and the moon lit up the night, Raven and Luna just finished another round of vigorous love making.

    Locked in a tight embrace under the sheets, Luna''s head rested on Raven''s chest. She was drawing circles as she pondered about something, the same goes for Raven.

    "Are you really not going to consider joining the same sect as me?" She asked in a dejected tone.

    The reason why she''s asking this was because Luna also intended to ascend towards the Divine Realm. In the end, she too couldn''t help herself but to seek a greater stage and widen her horizons. She wanted to see what the Divine Realm is like, specially after receiving information about it.

    Both her and Raven already talked about it with their parents. And although they wanted to object, in the end they didn''t want to hold them back. They knew that with Raven and Luna''s talent, they are destined for great things in the Divine Realm. So instead shackling them down due to selfishness, they decided to support their decision.

    Just like that, the two already decided to spend their remaining time together with their families and seeing everything that their current world had to offer.

    It''s just that Luna felt a bit reluctant that Raven didn''t want to be in the same sect as her.

    Raven smiled wryly and lifted her face, she kissed her pouty lips and said: "We''ve talked about this before right?"

    "I know but¡­" Luna pursed her lips and continued: "I''m sure you''ll do great in there as well."

    "Of course I will, I''m your husband after all." Raven chided, causing Luna to chuckle. "But like I told you, your sect doesn''t suit me. And it''s not like we''re not going to see each other again. After I get a respectable position at the sect, I''lle and search for you."

    "And no matter where you are, I''ll know how to get to you." Raven smiled as he told her this.

    If matters about ascension isn''t distracting Raven right now, then he might''ve already considered having a child with Luna. Even then, he had to agree that joining the Heavenly Anthem Sect doesn''t sound like a bad idea.

    Raven knew about this sect as it was extremely popr. Many people longed to be a part of this sect for the sole reason that they are considered as an Ancient Power as well.

    The Heavenly Anthem Sect is located at a ce called Paradiso, a holynd for cultivators. Raven never got the chance to pay them a visit before, he heard great things about them. And as Luna''s husband, he wanted the best stage for her growth so of course he was extremely satisfied about this.

    But, like what Raven said earlier, the Heavenly Anthem Sect isn''t suitable for him. Their teachings and specialties will be of no worth for Raven, if anything he''ll just be there because of Luna and nothing more.. The sect won''t help him attain the power he needed to fight his destined enemies so even though he felt reluctant to part with Luna, he had to bear with it.

 Chapter 396 - Farewell

    ---

    Years passed by quickly, Luna and Raven decided to spend this remaining time to apany their families.

    They didn''t focus heavily on training and just enjoyed a peaceful and quiet life of a normal couple. After they toured the entirety of Grand Ancestral ne, they came back and decided to remain with their loved once until their time was up.

    Aside from providing instructions to Kyle from time to time, he spent most of the times teaching his sisters the qualities and ways of a proper Knight. His parents were already aware of his decision to ascend, and even though they are inws with the royalties by now, he still want to make sure that his sisters had the sufficient strength to defend themselves. Of course he also secretly left them some treasures that would save their lives should theye in danger.

    He also spent some time giving out instructions to some students that caught his interest and paid attention to the construction of the foundation for the Empire.

    So far, the protective walls and defense formations had already beenid out, the construction had already started a few years ago and slowly but surely, it''s already taking shape. There''s already a transmission array built at the Royal Capital that could be used to safely transport people from here to there. All of this are kept as a secret for now to the citizens of the Kingdom. One day when the foundation of the Empire was built, it won''t be toote to announce it by then.

    If anything, it was a pity that Raven won''t see its full creation as well as Balmung''s inauguration as the Founding Emperor.

    As time passed by, the date of the ascensiones closer and closer. He would be lying if he said that he didn''t feel even the slightest bit of reluctance. In the end, who doesn''t want to live a long and peaceful life? Who doesn''t want to start a family and watch as days passed by in peace? Unfortunately, Raven''s destiny isn''t tied here.

    He already did all he could for now. In order to truly assure the safety of his loved one''s, he had to part with them.

    As their days dwindled into single digits, Raven heaved a heavy sigh and started making preparations¡­

    ***

    Compared to what he was five years ago, Kyle is apletely different person.

    Just by standing there, one could feel his sharpness. He transformed into a bleak and naive young man into a fearsome warrior that inspired fear to his enemies. His might was overbearing and his transformation was too outstanding, causing his brilliance to outshine most of his folks.

    Today, such a warrior had a solemn face as he knelt down in front of Raven. Even without Raven telling him, he already knew what''s about to happen.

    It is time for their Teacher and Student rtionship to end.

    "Teacher I¡­" Kyle wanted to say something but he can''t find words to say. Something''s pressing down his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe. There''s so much he wanted to say, he had forgotten how many times he''d imagined their farewell would turn out but he can''t even keep a straight face.

    "Kyle." Raven''s soft and amicable voice sounded on his ears, causing him to look up. Seeing Raven''s gentle expression, Kyle felt his nose stinging. "This is not the time for you to shed tears. Don''t be sad that it ended, be happy that it happened."

    "But Teacher, I¡­"

    "I know what you want to say." Raven interrupted him. "However, that won''t change my decision. There''s still so much for you to do here, and the Kingdom still needs people like you. Where I go, you cannot follow. Not at least for now. It''s too dangerous, even I can''t guarantee my own safety."

    "Then, when can I look for you?" Kyle asked, his tone filled with reluctance.

    Raven chuckled and said: "You''ll know in time. For now, I want you to enjoy your life and see the world as it is."

    Tears flowed from Kyle''s eyes, he then stabbed his sword on the ground and knelt down while lowering his head fully.

    "I''ll do as you say Teacher. At the same time, I''ll make sure to get stronger so that one day, I''ll be able to search for you."

    Raven smiled in satisfaction and said: "Good! I''ll be expecting you then. For now, here''s my parting gift to you." He then ced his hand on Kyle''s head.

    As soon as he did that, Kyle then entered a state of emptiness. His eyes turned dull and he became unaware of his surroundings. Slowly, a force field appeared around him and some mysterious wisps of energy started dancing around him.

    Raven quietly erected an istion barrier around him and left in a wistful mood.

    ***

    Few more days passed and Raven could be found outside of the Kingdom''s walls.

    Paul, Mark, Anne, Ellen and Luna could be seen with him, all of them formed a circle as they looked at each other, seemingly wanting to memorize each other''s faces before they go.

    "What the hell, this is so awkward." Paul groan, trying to break the ice. Causing a cheerful atmosphere to rece the awkward situation. "It''s not like we''re not going to see each other anymore. This is just a long ass trip, no need to be emotional."

    "He''s right." Mark added, "You guys better do great things in the Divine Realm or else, I''ll leave you guys to eat my dust."

    "Heh? Is that a challenge?" Paul crossed his arms while raising a brow, his tone was provocative.

    "You damn right it is." Mark snickered.

    "Count us in!" Ellen added, "Whoever had the lowest cultivation realm when we reunited will be punished, how about that?"

    "Deal!" Anne agreed, "But what would the punishment be?"

    "We''ll think one when the timees." Ellen suggested, she then looked at the boys and asked: "How about it you two? Do you dare?"

    "You''re on, Babe!" Paul eximed, though there is a bit of sadness on his tone.

    "Yeah, so I guess we''ll see each other then?" Mark probed as he looked at the smiling Raven.

    "Mhm, we''ll be reunited once again. You guys take care of yourselves alright?"

    Then then gave each other farewell hugs and departed one by one, well except for Raven and Luna.

    As they flew on opposite directions, they waited until their traces arepletely gone before returning towards the pce. As soon as they returned, Raven felt Luna''s grip on his hands tightened for a bit, causing him to look at her.

    His heart gently trembled as he saw her tears. He smiled and gently embraced her while stroking her back. He then whispered to her ears:

    "You''ve said your farewells right?" He felt Luna nodding on his embrace, he then wiped her tears and said: "Be strong, you can do this. Do well and wait for me. I''ll look for you, we''ll be reunited again."

    "Take care of yourself okay?" Luna sobbed, "Don''t you dare cheat on me, or else I''ll slice the thing that makes you a man. You hear me?"

    "Yes, my wife!" Raven smiled wryly as he heard her threats. He then saw Luna looking up to him and closed the distance between them. They shared a long and loving kiss before parting.

    "I love you. Always remember that." Luna said while sobbing.

    "I love you too. Remember that as well." Raven replied.

    Luna then walked towards the transmission array on the ancestral grounds and disappeared without looking back.

    Raven stared at the transmission array for a good while. His thoughts were unknown. He unknowingly gripped his fist for a while before loosing a long sigh. His eyes then turned tranquil and he departed from there.

    He then reappeared on his parents'' new home near the Royal Pce. He took a good look around, etching every inch of it to his memory. He then quietly went towards the room of his sisters and gave them peck on their foreheads.

    Raven then slowly made way towards the backyard to look for his parents. As soon as he saw them, he knelt down in front of them and didn''t speak for a while.

    Luis and Eva carefully sized up their son and pulled him to their embrace. No words were needed to be said, they knew that it''s going to be a while before they see him again. He''s all grown up now, it''s time for him to search for a grander stage and different heights.

    "Take care of yourself." That''s all they said but for Raven, that''s enough.

    With a forceful nod, he then turned around and disappeared. Eva finally couldn''t endure it and copsed in the embrace of her husband. Luis stared at the sky and wished for the safety of his only son.

    Raven then reappeared a couple thousand miles up in the air, standing on top of the clouds as he gave one final nce. Engraving its appearance on his memory. The consciousness of the ne appeared behind him long ago but he didn''t dare to disturb Raven.

    After a while, a long sigh escaped Raven''s lips. He then turned around and patted the old man''s shoulders.

    "I''ll leave them to you."

    "I''ll do my best to fulfill your orders Your Majesty." The old man replied. This earned a nod from Raven.

    "It''s time to leave." With a wave of the old man''s hand, a spatial tear appeared.

    Raven stepped inside and formally began his journey towards the Divine Realm.

 Chapter 397 - Arrival

    ---

    Space. An endlessly profound element which is omnipresent.

    Space can be harmless for one second and then turn extremely dangerous after another. Those who could urately wield the powers of space are untouchable. In a flick of their wrist, they could create an endless chasm that cannot be ovee by any. With but a thought, they couldpress an entire into a fist size stone, allowing them to store it away on their sleeves.

    Others who wield more authority onws of space could even iste someone''s heart without harming them in slightest. Making them capable of surviving for long periods of time.

    Amidst the spatial tunnel, Raven travelled within the safety of his Spatial Abode.

    He had long activated its transparent mode of the Spatial Abode, allowing him to carefully observe the finer details of space in hopes of gaining inspiration without the abode obstruction his vision.

    Raven had lost the sense of time. He wasn''t aware how many days has it been since he started his journey towards the Divine Realm and he doesn''t care. He entered a state of fullprehension,pletely attuning himself to the nature of space and taking everything with a broad mindset.

    Without his knowledge, the space around his was warping, making his image slightly blurred and uneven. Raven wasn''t doing this unconsciously, right now he''s being adored and transformed by space itself.

    That''s right, Raven is currently experiencing the baptism of Space Laws.

    Actually, this was something that Raven had in mind for quite some time now. Since he was born in the lower realms, there wasn''t much guidance about the profundities of Space Laws. In fact, he hadn''t even met one that could even use a trace of it. While there''s Inos and the Old Consciousness, as well as the previous owner of the Spatial Abode. They were special cases. Even then, enlightenment is something thates naturally to someone.

    Due to Raven''s maniacal training regimen, he had already solidified his insights about Time and Space. On top of that, the unique bloodline that his old master, Tenrou, gave him was something that could boost his talent on understanding these two profound elements. What Ravencked was a trigger for the baptism to ur. Which led him to think that maybe, if he could observe spatial activities closely, then maybe he''ll get the final piece of inspiration that needed.

    And what a coincidence, his theory actually worked. He''s experiencing Space Laws Baptism right now, and he''s not even aware of it.

    In his eyes, only the endlessly profound workings of Space remained. He was enamored by profundities he was able to witness as he travelled. He forgot food, forgot water, forget his aim, his identity, he even forgot to breathe. His undivided attention is fully focused onprehending the wonders of Space.

    He peacefully sat there with a nk look on his face. He was like an immovable rock, or a formidable mountain that won''t be moved even if the sky falls.

    Raven felt like he was floating on the surface of an ocean, his body was his boat, his spirit was the sail and his will was the wind that moved him, allowing him to see witness countless of profound inspirations and bask under the glory of Space Laws.

    All of a sudden, Raven''s body shook fiercely. His gaze abruptly widened and the world suddenly changed before his very eyes.

    He saw dark winds gently shifting all around him, they carried an ancient air and werepletely unhindered. Nothing, not even solid objects could stop them from their tracks. They seamlessly passed through everything, carrying something away with them which vanishes in just a few breaths of time.

    At this moment, something inside Raven snapped and made everything clear to him.

    These winds, are a representation of Time Laws.

    As these winds passed through him, he felt that they were extremely familiar yet not at the same time. Raven had encountered the tempering of the Stagnation Zone of the Spatial Abode so he''s no stranger to this feeling yet at the end of the day, the Stagnation Zone is just a simtion, it couldn''t bepared to the real thing.

    These winds are the true representation of Time Laws. Nothing escapes its grasps and corrosion.

    At this moment, Raven''s silhouette had been experiencing baffling changes...

    One moment, he turns into an infant and in the next, he appear as an old man. Sometimes he''ll appear like what he originally looks like but next thing you know, he''ll be both young and old.

    It was truly a baffling scene, something that would many people to be rmed. Thankfully, no one else is present at this current moment.

    At the same time, Raven''s situation would actually cause many people to feel bewilderment.

    Mere moments he ago he was still experiencing Space Laws Baptism yet right now, he under the baptism of Time Laws as well? Isn''t his talent a little too much?

    Yet again, Tenrou''s blood is just that phenomenal. Added the face that his insights of Time and Space were already solid prior to this.

    Days gone by like a sh and suddenly, Raven''s body emitted a dazzling brilliance.

    His figure gently floated up in the air, his gaze was still nk but the might he''s radiating was incredibly dangerous. The time and space around him was being influenced by his mere thoughts, one could see many spatial tears and stagnated zones appearing around him. Anyone who''s unlucky to be beside him during this moment will undoubtedly be ced in a critical danger, thankfully no one''s around.

    Strong fluctuations emanated out of Raven. His eyes also changed into a deep golden color. His long blue hair madly pped behind him even without the presence of any air. He unknowingly summoned his Dark Golden Knightly Armament along with the Thousand Armed Wheel behind him.

    His aura gradually rose from early Hero Realm to mid-stage Hero Realm.

    Changes were also happening inside his inner world, where the Chaos Force Orb is.

    As he experienced the Baptism of Time and Space Laws, his inner world became more realistic. Stars shone brightly, the space became more solidified and winds of time started shifting. The massive sun, which is his Chaos Force Orb and the little white orb, which is his Bounty Reserves, started rotating while they remain on their ce.

    Also, the first seal on his Chaos Force finally shattered, causing him to feel a massive rush of Chaos Force madly circting inside his body. His chaos force nurtured his Energy Network, widening them and making them tougher, it also disintegrated the purities it came in contact with allowing Raven''s body to bepletely pure an untainted.

    Raven regained a sense of rity after the changes were done. Feeling the surging strength flowing on his body caused him to feel immense joy and satisfaction. His eyes shone with brilliance and with the wave of his hand, a block of space wereplete isted, another wave of his hand and time slowed down into a crawl. All of this effects aren''t easily seen but he can feel the endless applications of these simple actions.

    A smirk found its way on his lips. Knowing that he just experienced the Baptism of Time and Spacews at the same time, he couldn''t help but say:

    "Old Master Tenrou. You''re blood is too potent."

    Raven shook his head and headed for a bath.

    ***

    "Am I near the exit?" Raven asked as he could see the end of the transmission portal that the old man opened up for him.

    A few more days passed by after his baptism, he used that time to gauge his current strength and consolidate his foundations.

    Along the way he was able to see different lower nes just like where he came from, at the same time he could also feel that he''sing closer and closer to the Divine Realm. That''s why as soon as he see the other end of the tunnel, he couldn''t help but feel anticipation and excitement building up.

    As the Spatial Abode came closer to exit. He decided to hop off of the Spatial Abode. He then ce it inside his inner world along with his more important belongings before swiftly charging towards the exit.

    *Woosh!!*

    As soon as he arrived, a fierce gale assaulted him. Raven''s eyes squinted as rays of sunlight flooded his vision. His heart pounded on his chest as he felt myriad kinds of energy around him.

    Devil Energy, Azure Wood Energy, Crystal Sun Energy, Demon Fiend Energy, all sorts of energy circted around him, causing him to be reminded of a few things about his past.

    Raven took a deep breath and calmed himself down. When he opened his eyes, he then started to slowly adapt to his surroundings.

    He then found himself standing in a wide and open space, filled with grass and trees. The sun was high up in the air and he could hear a couple roars of beasts around him. A smile appeared on his space as he continued surveying his surroundings. All of a sudden, he heard a voice calling out from behind.

    "Who the hell are you!?"

 Chapter 398 - Blue Marble Planet

    ---

    "Who the hell are you?"

    An aggressive and wary shout sounded behind Raven, causing him to turn around.

    He then saw a tall and bulky man with heavy bronze skin color. His forehead was wide and shiny with sweat, his upper garment was made out of worn and torn out schrs robe and his lower garments are made out of beast skin. He was riding on a back of an enormous boar and he had arge metal club on his back.

    Raven bowed and said: "Hi, my name is Raven. May I know which is the way towards the nearest civilization here?"

    The bronze skinned man didn''t answer him right away, instead Raven could feel his stern gaze roaming around his body, causing him to feel slightly ufortable.

    "You¡­are lost?" The man asked him after a while of deliberation.

    Raven had the sudden urge to roll his eyes and reply ''Obviously, duh?'' But he didn''t. Instead, he nodded to him.

    *Woosh!*

    Out of nowhere, the winds howl and a hulking mass of metal suddenly flew towards him. Raven''s gaze narrowed dangerously but he didn''t make any movements, instead he straightened his back and gazed coldly at the club flying at him with dangerous speed.

    To the man''s surprise, before the club even manage to touch the kid, it mysterious stopped inches away from his face. The bronze skinned man could feel that the club seemingly met a solid by formless obstruction which didn''t allow it to move any closer to Raven.

    When he met Raven''s gaze, goosebumps suddenly crawled onto his skin. Solemnness appeared on the man''s eyes, he quickly thought of some things but in the end, he sighed and held out his hand, causing the metal club to fly back to his hand.

    He hopped off of the boar and sped his hands while performing a bow, he then said: "My apologies for suddenly attacking like that Fellow Knight. Believe it or not, I am forced to be vignt due to some matters at hand."

    He then suddenly produced something from his spatial ring and passed it down to Raven.

    "Please take this." He said after passing a wooden box to Raven. "I hope this quenches Fellow Knight''s displeasure towards my rude behavior."

    Raven took a swift nce inside the box and a surprised glint appeared on his face.

    The wooden box is actually made out of precious Mysterious Azure Wood, and it contains a Bone Relic with mysterious markings that contained traces ofws.

    ''An infant Roc Bone Relic!'' He eximed inwardly, ''Ah, this is great. This man isn''t simple. Oh well, I''ll let him off this time.''

    Raven sealed the wooden box and ced it inside the spatial ring before nodding towards the bronze skinned man.

    Seeing that Raven''s face carried no traces of enmity anymore, the man unknowingly sighed in relief, which surprised him somehow since he didn''t understand why he felt nervousness while facing this young man.

    "Since Fellow Knight is searching for the nearest civilization, why don''t we travel together? It just so happens that I''m heading there as well."

    "I''ll be troubling you then." Raven nodded as he saw the man climbing on the back of his boar once again.

    "Oh right. My name is Albert, this is my mount Perry - a young Sky Trampling Boar."

    "Well met, Fellow Knight Albert, Perry." Raven nodded towards them, he then asked: "I wonder where we are right now?"

    "We are at the forest near the Sky ze City." Albert replied as they started heading east. "This forest is considered as a Hunting Zone for the nearest city. We usually gather supplies from here and either sell of trade them back in the city."

    ''Sky ze City huh? So I ended up in the Blue Marble. Not bad.''

    Series of information gradually surfaced on Raven''s memory. Although this was his first timeing here, he had read about it in some records before.

    The Divine Realm is immensely vast. This Blue Marble alone is almost thrice the size of the Grand Ancestral ne, what''s more is that this is just a territory under an Empyrean Ranked Power.

    He then nced at Raven''s who carefully looking around them and continued: "I wonder where Fellow Knight Raven hails from?"

    A wry smile appeared on Raven''s face as he said: "Believe it or not Fellow Knight Albert, I actually just ascended from a Lower ne. After travelling through the spatial tunnel arranged by my senior, I ended up here."

    Shock and doubt was stered on Albert''s face when he heard Raven''s answer. From his discernment, he could tell that Raven''s not lying to him at all. But that made this matter even more surprising.

    He had been all around the this forest and the Sky ze City, yet he never encountered any new ascendants here in this forest.

    Simply put, what usually happens when one ascends is that they will take a transmission portal towards a certain sect or power since they are the only one''s that are allowed to build such things. They usually use it to search for prospective talents and disciples to join their ranks in the lower realms.

    On the other hand, ascending to the Divine Realm without the aid of any transmission portals, is just inly courting death. Unless one had an artifact that could safely shuttle in space, one must never blindly travel in space since their will be ttened by berserk spatialws on their way.

    Albert had met countless of young people who had just ascended before yet this is the first time that he met someone who used an unorthodox method of ascending. How can he not be surprised?

    "Ah so that''s the case." Albert replied after diffusing the surprise he felt earlier. "So that''s why you were standing in ce for a good while earlier. You were adapting to the new environment."

    "It is precisely as you said." Raven smiled and nodded.

    As the two travelled forward, Albert was nice enough to inform Raven about many things about the Divine Realm. This was greatly appreciated by Raven since it served to refresh his memories about the rules of the Blue Marble.

    Albert also suggested many ces for him to visit, from vistas to cultivation grounds, smelting trials and he even informed him about various sects that held supremacy in the Blue Marble.

    Raven roughly replied to anything that Albert said, he instead listened carefully to his words and couldn''t help but feel slightly strange in his heart.

    ''Who would''ve thought an aggressive looking man would be so talkative?''

    All of a sudden, Albert suddenly saw Raven''s face change. He saw him ring at the nearby trees.

    Albert froze, but he one could definitely tell that he was skilled since it didn''t take long for him to send an energy pulse to survey his surroundings.

    His eyes bulged from his sockets. With a cold snort, he pulled the metal club on his back and issued a mighty swing.

    *Rumble!*

    The winds howled, forming a strong tornado that quickly swept away many figures hiding behind the trees. Screams and groans of agony was heard from them.

    With another swing of his club, the winds seemingly turned into countless of sharp swords that shredded through their bodies.

    "Hmph! Damnable people. They actuallyid out an ambush!" Albert snorted as jumped off of his mount. He then swiftly arrived towards one of the remaining assassins that hadn''t lost consciousness yet.

    He grabbed one by the neck. Killing intent rose up from his person as he asked: "Who fucking sent you!?"

    The assassin coughed blood as Albert''s roar reverbed all over his body. The assassin issued a bloody smile and said: "Want to squeeze information out from me? Wishful thinking! You might kill me today but your days are numbered!! Hahaha!"

    All of a sudden, a fierce fluctuation emerged from the dying assassin causing Albert to curse.

    "Shit! He''s going to explode." He then hurriedly threw the guy away and prepared to jump back but before he could do so, the dying assassin gripped Albert''s arm and issued a maniacal smile.

    He wanted to take Albert down with him.

    At this instant, Albert turned pale. He was aware that he couldn''t do anything since it was toote, even if he could somehow detach this guy''s grip of him, the explosion will be strong enough to kill him either way.

    "Hahaha! Die!" The dying assassin''sst words caused Albert to turn pale, the berserk energy bloated his body and was nearly at the verge of exploding when¡­

    *Whew!* *Whew!* *Whew!*

    A set of flying needles struck the dying assassin in quick session, urately hitting different spots and causing the berserk energy on his body to calm down.

    The assassin''s eyes constricted fiercely, he could feel his energy being drained at an rming pace. Terror filled his eyes as he and Albert both mechanically turned their heads towards the inconspicuous person''s who ying with a bunch of needles on his hand.

    "Great, my aim is still the best." Raven smiled as he calmly walked closer towards the two dumbfounded people. His gaze thended on the assassin''s eyes and said:

    "Now we can talk nice and slow."

 Chapter 399 - Young City Lord

    ---

    Albert was astounded.

    So much to the point that he couldn''t of what to say at this current moment.

    Everything happened too quick that he didn''t have time to react properly. From the moment that Raven subtly alerted him about the assassins, to the fight and the eventual near death experience he had and the unexpected move from Raven that saved his life.

    It was too fast.

    Nevertheless, being reminded of what happened just now made him look at Raven on a different light.

    ''This guy¡­did he reallye from the lower realms?'' His thoughts were filled with doubt, yet knowing how Raven had treated him along the way, Albert could faintly sense that this guy doesn''t have any malicious intent.

    "Are you alright Fellow Knight Albert?" Raven asked as he saw Albert staring at him.

    Albert was awakened from his daze, he hurriedly said: "I am fine. Thank you for saving my life, Fellow Knight Raven."

    "Don''t sweat it, I merely lifted a finger." Raven waved his hand. His attention then turned towards the limping assassin on Albert''s arm, he then said: "We don''t have much time for interrogation anymore. That fellow is dying. Can you pass him to me?"

    Albert was surprised, he didn''t thought much of it before passing the dying assassin to Raven.

    As soon as he got hold of the guy, he ced his palm on his face and performed a soul scrying technique. As he scanned through the memories of assassin, he had taken note of everything that is relevant to the situation and stopped the scan.

    His face became quite pale as he was visibly weakened. He then told Albert everything that he knew.

    "This fellow is from a ce called Dark Moon Pavilion. He''s a paid assassin there. He received the mission to kill you. The rewards are 5000 Spirit Stones and a shard of Death Relic."

    Albert''s face instantly changed as he heard this. A suffocating killing intent radiated out of his body as he red towards the south. His eyes narrowed dangerously and he was gritting his teeth:

    "Good! So some people want me dead huh!? They really think that I, Albert Morningstar, am easy to bully! Hmph!" Albert grunted coldly. "Did you see any clues on who''s their client Fellow Knight?"

    "I didn''t, but I saw a unique seal imprinted on the mission paper. I believe that guy has it on his spatial ring." As Raven finished telling this to Albert, he was already on the process of iming the dead assassin''s ring.

    Albert shifted through the contents and he fetched a scroll from the ring, he unfolded it and read through the contents, he also saw the unique seal that Raven was talking about.

    Upon seeing the seal, Albert''s eyes widened as a trace of disbelief appeared from his face. He unknowingly crumpled the scroll as the killing intent he''s radiated turned even more ferocious.

    A knowing smile appeared on Raven''s face, he couldn''t help but inwardly say: ''This guy is good. He reached ''Saint Knight Realm'' with an Immortal Champion''s Physique. He''s also less than 200 years old. He should be a popr figure in the city if that''s the case.''

    As he was thinking this, the killing intent emanating out of Albert slowly disappeared. His expression was then reced by indifference just like before but Raven knew that his mood is definitely anything but calm.

    "Brother, thank you once again for saving my life and providing me with this information. I also want to apologize for dragging you into this mess."

    Albert''s way of addressing Raven has changed from ''Fellow Knight'' to ''Brother'', which somewhat surprised Raven. Well, this can''t be helped since he really did help Albert out a lot. To him, this is just merely done by lifting a finger, but for Albert this is a big deal.

    "Your wee, Brother Albert." Raven addressed him as such as well. "But I''m afraid that we have to dy our journey, I need to recuperate for a while. I''m not really proficient in Spirit Techniques."

    "Right! How can I forgot!" Albert pped his head in exasperation. "Please be at ease, Brother. I''ll guard you while you rest."

    "Thank you." Raven didn''t say anymore and sat down to recuperate.

    Of course this was just merely a farce. He wasn''t truly exhausted. Hell, if he wanted to, he could scan through the memories of a hundred people in an instant without frowning. He only acted this way in order to provide a cover for himself.

    With the identity of a new ascendant, he of course had to act like one. Anyone who came from the lower realms would have to use a bit of time in order to adjust their conditions and adapt to the new surroundings, some of the weaker ones wouldn''t even be able to circte their energy properly upon stepping in here.

    Aside from the abundance and myriad kinds of energy present in the Divine Realm, the Law and order of the Divine Realm is obviously more stable and formidablepared to their homnd. It is also due to that, that those who ascended from the lower nes would experience a shocking transformation upon stepping here.

    Some people have their talents inherently suppressed in the lower nes, but that restriction will be erased here so long as they work hard for it. But of course, this isn''t applicable to everyone.

    Raven mediated for half an hour before opening his eyes. He stood up and saw Albert standing in front of him with his back facing him, he was truly guarding him like he promised.

    "Let''s go Brother Albert, I''ve recuperated already." Raven called out to him.

    "Oh? That quick?" Albert was a bit surprised.

    "Yeah, I''m surprised too. It usually takes longer for me to recuperate, but for some reason it''s faster right now." He casually stated.

    "Oh, that might be because of the abundance of Spirit Energy here." Albert said while hopping on the back of his mount. "Come, let''s ride Perry back to Sky ze City. It''ll be faster that way."

    "Alright." Raven didn''t refuse and jumped on the back of Perry as well.

    The young Sky Trampling Boar then drifted through the wind with a speed that''s seemingly impossible for something of its size. Their surroundings turned into a blur and their clothes fluttered due to the assault of the gales.

    They were silent throughout their travels. Albert appears like there''s something heavy weighing on his mind. His expression was bit solemn, and Raven couldn''t help but to ask.

    ''Did you manage to find out who''s trying to kill you?'' Raven sent via voice transmission.

    An audible sigh escaped through Albert''s lips as he too sent a voice transmission.

    ''I want to say that I still have no idea, but I''d be lying.'' Albert''s tone was a bit grim. ''I don''t want to believe it but that seal confirmed many things for me.''

    Albert was silent for a bit, Raven didn''t disturb him since it was somewhat obvious that Albert didn''t want to drag him even deeper into this mess. Eventually, he just said this¡­

    ''Some people''s ws are stretching a little too far¡­''

    ***

    After travelling for a while, Perry''s speed visibly slowed down.

    In front of them, a tall and fancy looking gate appeared. Raven could feel that the energy density in this ce was thicker and purerpared to the forest.

    He could see dazzling lights of different shades. He could also feel that his spirit is livening up just by being near this ce. Raven was able to see overarching buildings, and feel formidable auras all converging into this ce.

    "We''re here." Albert said, his voice carried a trace offort. "This is the Sky ze City."

    "Impressive." Ravenmented as he took in the sights.

    "Oh this is nothing." Albert waved his hand, "Remember what I told you before? Sky ze City is just one of the vassal forces of Martial Emperor Sect. If you get the chance to join the Sect, then you''ll surely agree to me."

    As Albert was talking, Perry was still moving forward. Raven could vaguely see a long line of people trying to enter the Sky ze City and because the two of them are on a mount, they stood out from the crowd, causing people to look at them.

    Raven could feel the strange looks that the crowd was giving them, Albert seemed to have noticed this which caused him to chuckle.

    "Don''t pay attention to them, Brother." He said, "Those people won''t be able to do anything against us anyway."

    Raven was about to ask him why, but they already arrived before the gates. He then heard the guards yelling:

    "Wee back, Young City Lord!"

    "We wee the return of the Young City Lord!"

    This caused Raven to be surprised, he couldn''t help but ask: "So that''s why you told me to not worry about those people outside. It turns out that you''re the City Lord."

    "Well, not yet. In the future, yeah." Albert chuckled as he nodded. "Right now, it''s still my father''s turn. I''ll inherit the mantle soon.. Which is why they call me the Young City Lord.

 Chapter 400 - Highlander Clan

    ---

    ording to the Young City Lord of Sky ze City. This ce is just one of the vassal forces of a sect called Martial Emperor Sect.

    There are numerous sects in the Blue Marble, yet none of them could evenpare to the might of the Martial Emperor Sect. As a power that has been established for ten thousand years, the sect has been deeply rooted in this.

    ording to Albert, many have tried to shake the foundations of the sect, yet none manage to seed. In terms of inheritances, resources, and background, nothing could knock them off of the pedestal. They are the true hegemon of the Blue Marble.

    The Hignder n, which Albert belongs to, is a n that has a respectable position in the Martial Emperor Sect. It is safe to say that almost every member of this n is also a disciple of the Martial Emperor Sect. Sky ze City is one of thends that the sect entrusted them with to develop. This is why Albert was confident that no one could touch him and his friends whenever they''re here.

    Who would dare to harm the young City Lord of Sky ze City? Isn''t that the same as courting death?

    As they went inside the city, Albert kept rambling on and on, reminding Raven of many things about the Sky ze City. Of course, he also introduced the infrastructures and popr ces in the city to him.

    Eventually, the two arrived at a magnificent pce that seemingly touches the sky. It resided at the very core of the Sky ze City, and coincidentally, where the energies are the thickest and purest. Albert faced no obstruction on his way, he was like a young king returning home.

    Upon entering the pce, the two of them dismounted. Perry was then handed over to one of the caretakers while Albert invited Raven towards one of the locations within the pce.

    "This is my room." Albert introduced. Raven unknowingly clicked his tongue uponying eyes on the interiors.

    Albert''s room was filled with luxurious equipment. Different clubs of shapes and sizes were hanging on the left wall, he had a massive closet filled with expensive clothes. His furniture are made out of top quality materials and Raven also saw many portraits of him and his family. Just this room alone is enough to topple the quality of the Royal Pce back in his home, yet such is only a room for one man.

    Raven also saw fruit bowls filled with several spirit fruits, ncing through the window he could see a tree filled with Poms of Vitality. Back in the Grand Ancestral ne, such fruits are extremely rare. For the Pom of Vitality alone, he had to travel on the other end of the world, and also faced difficult trials to get his hands on one, yet here they''re nothing too special, they might as well be considered as some random apples.

    The disparity between realms was just too great.

    Seeing Raven''s strange expression, Albert could almost guess what he was thinking. s, he couldn''t do anything but sigh.

    "Don''t mind it too much Brother. Half of the things you see inside my room are not mine, they''re just gifts from my parents and friends, I didn''t achieve them using both of my hands."

    "You saying that makes me even depressed." Raven chided with a chuckle, making Albert roar inughter.

    "Don''t sell yourself short Brother. In the end strength is still the King." Albert reminded, "Had my Ancestors decided to live their lives through mediocrity, I would never have the chance to enjoy suchvish lifestyle. Simrly, this alsoes with a price. If I want to remain living like this, then I must tread on the path of Knighthood and achieve greater heights. Only by then would I be able to provide for my family."

    "So long as you work hard, these sorts of things aren''t impossible to achieve." Albert patted Raven''s shoulders as he said this, it was as if he was treating Raven as his own son, causing thetter to smile wryly.

    "Right, on another note." Albert''s expression changed, "I''m afraid I have to leave you here for a while, I need to report some things to my father. Feel free to use anything here to entertain yourself in the mean time, I''ll return here shortly."

    Raven nodded and watched as Albert left the room.

    Once he was alone, Raven sighed in relief. His expression then turned serene as he slowly roamed Albert''s room with both hands behind his back. His feet eventually came towards the tall bookshelves on the other side of the room. He picked one book out of curiosity and started flipping through its contents.

    The title of the book was ''Hignder n History'', it entails the tale of how the Hignder n started. It turns out that the Hignder n was almost extinguished once. What''s left of them are only a pair of brothers. Even then, that didn''t stop them from going against their fate and decided to step on the path of Knighthood.

    The elder bother was the only one who was talented enough to make it far, meanwhile the younger brother was not as interested and focused more on running a business. Doing what they do best, the two worked hard to rebuilt the n. The elder brother eventually gained the recognition of the Martial Emperor Sect and got a respectable position, while the younger brother started his quest to revitalize the n by marrying one women after another.

    The both of them eventually seeded and the Hignder n became one of the most promising ns in the entire Blue Marble.

    By the time Raven finished reading the book, a wry smile appeared on his face. He the ced it back on its original position and went to pick up another book.

    Time passed by and Raven began reading one book after another. After closing the 10th book that he read, he couldn''t help but feel a little strange.

    "Why do I feel like I''m missing something here." Raven frowned as he muttered. He took a couple of steps back away from the bookshelves to get a good view of it once more.

    He didn''t notice anything strange at first but he trusted his instincts and kept looking. Raven then decided to activate his Crystal Sky Eyes in order to study the bookshelf even closer.

    All of a sudden, strange lights filled his vision. In his surprise, he found out that his ocr technique couldn''t pass through the bookshelf. He could feel a unique force obstructing his senses from prating it.

    This made Raven even more curious, since when he gazed at different spots on Albert''s room, his ocr technique managed to pass through and is working just fine, but for some reason this part of the room had an obstruction.

    "Hmm, it should fine if I just investigate it." Raven muttered as he continued scrutinizing the bookshelf. He deactivated his ocr vision since its not helping him anyway. He then began inspecting the arrangement of the books and the closer details in order to investigate the mystery of the bookshelf.

    In his concentration, he didn''t even notice that not only Albert was back, his father City Lord Raul, had already entered the room.

    Albert originally wanted to call out to Raven and ask him what''s wrong but his father stopped him.

    Raul nced at the young man who''s oblivious to his environments with a suspicious glint on his eyes. Albert already told him everything he knew about Raven, but now that he had seen him, Raul couldn''t help but feel that this boy is shrouded in mystery.

    He began doubting Albert''s words but at the same time, he could also feel that this young man isn''t an enemy.

    Raul and Albert remained silent and watched as Raven observed the bookshelf. With Raul''s instructions, both of them didn''t disturb what Raven was doing. They just silently observed his actions and patiently waited until he was done with his investigations.

    Compared to the calm appearance that Raven had, his thought were theplete opposite. Hundreds of thoughts shed through his mind one by one, creating a storm which allowed him to hasten his investigations.

    After some hours of investigating the bookshelves. Raven heaved out a sigh. He felt a little exhausted from his decisions yet his eyes remain clear. He then ced a finger on his chin and said:

    "That''s ingenious." He chuckled. "I don''t know if its an elder of the Hignder n or someone else, but a person left a massive lucky chance here. I don''t what''s on the other side but I could somehow tell that it''s nothing short of extraordinary. I wonder if Albert knows about this."

    "Nope, never had an idea!"

    "Holy!" Raven jumped back and wearily looked behind him, only to find an amused Albert and another man looking at him with a strange expression. Raven cleared his throat and said: "How long have you been sitting there?"

    "I don''t know, a couple of hours maybe?" Albert shrugged, "I nned on calling you out but my Dad told me to not disturb you."

    Raven then turned into the other guy who''s sitting on the opposite side of the table. He then bowed and said: "Greetings, City Lord. I apologize for making you wait."

    Instead of acknowledging Raven''s greetings, Raul looked even more strangely at Raven and asked: "Young man, what is this lucky chance that you speak of?"

 Chapter 401 - Filthy Rich

    ---

    Raul Hignder, the current City Lord of the Sky ze City and an Elder of the Martial Emperor Sect.

    His dignified appearance plus his matured facial features leaves anyone with a deep impression. He was wearing brown tight-fitted clothing with golden linings. His aura was concealed, making him look like a strict middle aged man, but those who have discerning eyes could tell the enormous strength he''s hiding within.

    Currently, Raul''s facial expression was a bit strange as he gazed at Raven.

    "Young man, what is this lucky chance that you speak of?" He asked.

    Raven didn''t waste time and answered him truthfully. "Reporting to City Lord, this bookshelf is hiding something in a form of a sealed formation. As for what its contents are, I am not so sure but I could tell that it leads to a secret realm, and judging from the profundity of the seal that''s in here, I could tell that where it leads will benothing short of extraordinary."

    Raul was silent for a bit, he studied Raven''s appearance and judged his character based off of first impressions. He could tell that he wasn''t lying about what he said. Furthermore, Raven''s words are hinting at something that''s deeply tied onto the history of their n.

    "A secret realm?" Albert repeated whilst in deep thought,ter on something clicked on his mind, causing his eyes to brighten. He then turned towards his father and said: "Dad! Could it be that ce?"

    Raul looked at his son''s eyes and sighed. "It might be." His voice sounded unsure.

    "I''m somewhat confident that it should be that ce!" Albert eximed, " You told me this before didn''t you? Highest Ancestor once entered that ce and encountered a lucky chance that changed his talent, allowing him to join the ranks of the Martial Emperor Sect! He told us that he left the entrance to the secret realm within the n but we''ve searched high and low, almost even turning the whole Sky ze City upside down yet we didn''t manage to find it."

    "As the ones managing the Sky ze City, all of the other secret realms present here are already recorded, yet none of those were the one that Highest Ancestor spoke of. I believe that this should be the one!" Albert continued, trying to convince his father with his conjectures.

    Hearing his son''s ideas, Raul had to agree that what he said makes sense. It is somehow hrious though. Just like what Albert said, they quite literally flipped the who Sky ze City upside down in search for the that realm their ancestor spoke of, they searched high and low yet didn''t manage to find it. They have records about every secret realm present in the Sky ze City yet who would''ve thought that there''s another one sitting inside of Albert''s room? How funny was this.

    The more he thought about this, the more it makes sense. Additionally, this bookshelf is something that''s been passed down from one generation to the next.

    Raul once again looked at Raven, his expression was quiteplicated. He cleared his throat and asked: "You did us another favor, we haven''t even thanked you enough for saving Albert''s life. If it turns out that this the secret realm that our Ancestor spoke of, then I believe that even if I give you everything in this pce, it wouldn''t be enough to repay you."

    "Don''t mention it City Lord." Raven waved his hand, "I''m just lucky to find the strangeness about this, that''s all. I''m already thankful that Brother Albert was nice enough to fill me with details about the Blue Marble and the Divine Realm. He even allowed to temporarily stay here, that''s already enough for me."

    "See? What did I tell you? This guy''s attitude is even better than at least 80% of the disciples of the sect!" Albert walked towards Raven and swung his arms around him while telling this words to his father. He then turned into Raven and said:

    "But my father is also right, Brother." Albert spoke with a serious tone. "If there''s anything that we could help you with, don''t hold back. If you do, then I''ll stop being your brother!"

    "This¡­" Raven was a bit stumped, he smiled wryly and said: "Now that you mention it, there is some things that I need help with."

    "Oh?" Albert raised his brow, "What is it then? Don''t hesitate, I''ll help you to best of my abilities."

    "Uh¡­" Raven ced on an embarrassed expression and said: "About that, uh. You see, I''ve read somewhere that the currency in the Divine Realm is different, so¡­"

    Upon hearing this, Albert smacked his head in bewilderment and said: "God, I''m stupid! I should''ve known! Gold is utterly useless in here! You''recking Spirit Stones!"

    "Right¡­" Raven was even more embarrassed now that Albert said this out loud.

    Things like copper, silver and gold are the mostmon metals. In the lower nes, they might have some value but in the Divine Realm, they''re nothing but useless scraps of metal. The currency of the Divine Realmes in the form of Spirit Stones. Unlike gold, Spirit Stones contained energy that could be used to aid in one''s cultivation, restore missing energy or as its mostmon use, as a currency.

    Spirit Stones are divided into several grades: Shards, Chunks, Blocks and bs.

    Typically, Spirit Stone Shards are the ones used as currency since the energy they contained are impure and too little for one''s use. Chunks and above aremonly used for cultivation but even so, most of the people still uses them as currency.

    A Spirit Stone Chunk is roughly equal to 10 Spirit Stone Shards. A Spirit Stone Block is equal to 10 Spirit Stone Chunks and a Spirit Stone b is roughly equal to 20 Spirit Stone Blocks.

    Knowing that Raven is in need of Spirit Stones, Albert didn''t hesitate to pass on a spatial ring to him. When Raven sank is perception inside the ring, his eyes widened a bit with what he saw.

    He counted at least three hundred thousand shards, a hundred thousand chunks, one thousand blocks and two hundred bs of spirit stones.

    Raven''s lips twitched, this guys is truly a Young Master. Seeing how he casually passed on a spatial ring containing this much wealth like he was throwing garbage made Raven feel a bit irritated.

    And if that wasn''t enough, another spatial ring was handed to him, this time by the City Lord himself. Raven wasn''t even sure if he wanted to look inside to see its contents but he did so anyway. And what a scene that was.

    Rows upon rows of neatly stacked Spirit Stone Blocks and bs blinded his vision. This image right here screams ''Spirit Stone Shards? Chunks? Never heard of it.'' As it only contained Blocks and bs. Raven didn''t even want to count how many was inside. There was too much that it literally formed a mountain. There''s even some clothes and equipment in there that Raven didn''t even dare to check.

    Raven''s lips was parched, he then said: "This is¡­a bit too much than what I was expecting."

    Hearing thus caused Albert to roar inughter as he said: "Don''t sweat it Brother. Compared to your act of saving my life, that amount alone is nor even enough."

    "He''s right Little Friend." The City Lord added.

    "Then I''ll shamelessly ept it. Thank you for this." Raven replied.

    But inwardly he was screaming: ''This shameless father and son duo! Isn''t this the same as calling me a beggar?''

    "Do you know how to activate this secret realm?" Albert asked curiously as he studied the bookshelf.

    "I should be able to. But I need help." Raven answered in a straight forward manner.

    "First we have to do this outside, otherwise I''m afraid that the activation will ruin this ce. Second, I need the help of at least 10 Knight Kings and at least one Knight Monarch."

    "Eh? Is that so?" Albert tilted his head, he then looked at his father and said: "The second requirement. Isn''t that a weird coincidence? You''re a Knight Monarch, while the rest of the Elders of the n are Knight Kings at the very least."

    "Now that you say that¡­" Raul muttered as his eyes gleamed while staring at the bookshelf.

    "If we did it that way, then I''m quite confident about opening this secret realm. As for how long it will stay open, it would depend on how long the Elders couldst." Raven stated.

    He then looked at Albert and said: "The only way to stabilize this entrance for an indefinite period, is to sacrifice an item or a keepsake that came from the secret realm itself."

    Albert and Raul looked at each other. The former then gazed at Raven and said:

    "That is so creepy." Albert shivered as he took something out from his Spatial Ring. He then showed to Raven and said: "This is exactly the item that you described. An Immortal-grade Mind Calming Jade that''s been passed down to me by my father."

    Raven inspected the jade, he then faced the jade in front of the bookshelf and instantly, a droning sound came out from it. He then looked at Albert and said:

    "It really is a coincidence."

 Chapter 402 - Leaked

    Chapter 402

    ---

    Today, Raven just woke up from a night''s rest. After eating a simple meal and taking a short bath, he was headed towards Albert''s room in order to inform him that he''s ready to open up the secret passage anytime soon.

    The truth is, if he wanted to, he could''ve opened the secret realm yesterday and would still have enough energy afterwards but he decided against it. Even then, Raul himself would''ve probably reject that conjecture as he needed to inform the rest of the n about this.

    No matter how much the father and son wanted looked forward to opening up the secret realm, they had the responsibility to inform their n about it since it was their ancestor''s will.

    Which is why after their initial talk, Raul decided to summon all the Elders of the Hignder n to a meeting since they all needed to participate in the opening anyway, as it is one of the requirements.

    "Good morning Brother. Have you rested well?" Albert greeted as soon as Raven came in.

    Raven simply nodded to him as he sat down in the nearby table. He caught Albert''s face just now and he couldn''t help but feel like there was something weighing off of his mind. Raven raised his brow and asked:

    "Is there something wrong?" He asked as he saw Albert''s despondent face.

    A sigh of frustration escaped through Albert''s lips as he said: "There is. A huge one at that¡­"

    Raven frowned and asked: "What is it?"

    "News about the opening of the secret realm was released to the masses." Albert helplessly sighed, causing Raven to frown.

    "That''s not good." Raven murmured, "Do you guys have any idea who leaked it?"

    Albert shook his head in frustration as he said: "It was an oversight from us. It''s extremely embarrassing actually."

    "During the meetingst night, when me and my father was exining your discoveries, perhaps we were too eager and enthusiastic. My father originally asked everyone in the n to not utter a word about this news by swearing a Heavenly Oath. But what''s funny is that, we forgot about the servants." Albert smiled helplessly.

    Raven simrly sighed but didn''t me them. Albert didn''t have to continue his words since Raven could already tell what happened.

    The servant went ahead and spread the news about the secret realm. Since the servant wasn''t included in the Heavenly Oath, aside from the wrath of the Hignder n, he won''t have any issues. Of course, the Hignder n could easily deal with a servant, but the situation escted a little too quickly.

    "That bastard sent news to pretty much every single Elder in the Martial Emperor Sect. Even the Sect Master himself was rmed." Albert gnashed his teeth as he recalled the matter. "God knows how much I want to break every single bone of that bastard because of this but I can''t. That fucker rendered a huge service to the sect by leaking this secret to them, thus he''s now protected. The Sect Master himself issued a decree that should any harm be done to that servant, then our n would be heavily punished."

    Albert gripped his fist tightly in rage, Raven could almost see him huffing steam due to how mad he is.

    Raven could sympathize with Albert. He had tomend the servant for being extremely cunning. Just with this alone, he pretty much rendered the whole Hignder n helpless against him. What''s worse is that, since the sect knew about it, their n are being pressured by all sides and while also being jeered at by the crowd.

    And the Hignder n could do nothing but to swallow this grievance.

    "Where''s the City Lord right now?" Raven asked.

    "With the n elders¡­" Albert answered. "They''re probably deciding on whether to open the secret realm or not."

    After he said this, Albert''s body drooped down as he sat exhausted on his chair. Seeing him in this state, Raven could only sigh since he knew just how much pressure Albert and his n are enduring right now. It couldn''t be helped, the might of the Martial Emperor Sect is just too terrifying. Now that this matter had blown out of proportion, the Hignder n is walking on a very thin ice right now.

    The room was silent for bit, Raven knew that he didn''t have much say about this matters. In the end, whether the n decides to open up the secret realm or not, he''s bound to go with the flow.

    Not long after, Raul entered the room. Just from looking at his face, Raven could tell that he was very stressed about this whole situation. It was as if he aged for about ten years over night, hisplexion wasn''t too good. Even his dignified aura was reced by gloominess and faint killing intent.

    "You two. Follow me." Raulmanded in a strict voice. Albert and Raven looked at each other before nodding and following him.

    As soon as they exited the room, some people entered Albert''s room and went towards the bookshelf. This act didn''t need words to exin, what it signified was very clear as well.

    As they walked through the tall and wide halls of the City Lord''s Pce, Albert and Raven could feel the solemnness in the atmosphere. Raul didn''t say a word, he just asked them to follow him and the three of them eventually reached outside.

    They then made way towards a wide open space. As soon as they arrived, Raven was surprised to see arge amount of people present in there.

    Every single one of them are wearing some sort of a uniform. At this point, Raven didn''t need any further confirmations. It was clear that these people are from the Martial Emperor Sect.

    Raven could feel multitudes of auras congregating in front of them. Without a doubt, none of these people are easy to deal with.

    "Greetings City Lord!"

    "Greetings Elder Raul!"

    Raul was weed by the greetings of everyone present, but Raul seemingly not heard any of it. He coldly snorted and made way towards the rest of his n withrge strides, Albert and Raven was following him from behind.

    As Raul was about to join the rest of his n, some people suddenly descended and blocked his way.

    This group consisted of four people, three old guys and a young man with an ethereal face and a graceful bearing. This youth then smiled and said: "You finally came. Are the preparations ready?"

    Raven briefly nced at Raul''s face. He could tell that Raul wanted to smash this youth''s face until no recognizes him anymore but couldn''t. Instead, an indifferent expression surface on his face as he replied:

    "Not yet Sect Master. I implore everyone to wait for a bit more time while we finish our preparations."

    ''So he''s the Sect Master.'' Raven murmured inwardly. He briefly inspected the handsome youth in front of him and thought: ''He''s an old monster, he''s just using some sort of technique to appear young. I''m afraid that this guy is a bit over five thousand years old. His potential is a bit mediocre, early stage of Knight Emperor Realm for a period of five thousand years. He''s probably looking for lucky encounters to raise his cultivation.''

    It was a good thing that Raven didn''t say this out loud, else he would''ve provoked the ire of this old monster in youth''s clothing. The subject about his appearance and his talents are considered as a taboo topic to him. It was unknown how many people he killed just because they provoked him.

    ''Brother, do you see the guy who leaked the news anywhere?'' Raven sent via voice transmission to Albert.

    ''Its that Old Tool behind them.'' Albert replied.

    Raven''s eyes unknowinglynded on the old guy who''s wearing the same uniform as the rest of disciples, his eyes narrowed for a bit but no one saw it. He just followed behind Raul and his faced show nothing but indifference.

    "Is that so?" He youth raised a brow and continued: "Well, you always know where to find me if you need some help."

    After saying that, the sect master and his escorts no longer blocked their way and allowed them to proceed. As they group crossed paths, Raven saw how the servant''s expression changed from a subservient one into a mocking one when he looked at Raul and Albert. He even heard him sneer as they went past them, causing Albert to grip his fists tightly until they turn white.

    Coldness emerged from Raven''s eyes. He thought about some things for a bit before a cold sneer hung on his lips. Very quickly, his expression turned indifferent as they now approached the rest of the Hignder n.

    Raul briefly looked at his n members before releasing a defeated sigh. He then said: "I hope all of us could remember today''s humiliation. Learn from it and always keep in mind to remain cautious."

    "Today, we are forced to suffer this grievance. If we are fated for it, then It doesn''t matter if they covet our inheritance, everything will fall onto our hands in the end. Make sure to y by the rules and do your best to seek great opportunities in this secret realm."

    "We hear and obey, Grand Elder!"

    Raul then faced Raven as said: "I''ll be troubling you then, Little Friend Raven."

 Chapter 403 - Opening The Secret Realm

    ---

    "Geez, what''s taking them so long? I''m itching to enter this secret realm!"

    "I know right!? This timing couldn''t be any more perfect, I''m justcking a bit more push for my next breakthrough. I''m confident that this secret realm could give me that opportunity."

    "This n sure is unlucky. To think that one wrong move caused them to be the biggest joke in the entire Blue Marble."

    "Hmph! Serves them right! To think that they wanted to monopolize this secret realm by themselves? I''m afraid that they don''t have that ability."

    "Well, If we were on their position, we would''ve done the same don''t you think? The entrance to the secret realm was passed down to their future generations of their n, which means that in some ways, they do own it."

    "That''s where you''re wrong. Everything in the Blue Marble is owned by our Martial Emperor Sect. This secret realm is ours as well so they shouldn''t have any ideas about it. Not punishing them with this offence is already giving them enough face."

    As Raven went ahead and began the necessary preparations to open up the secret realm, the whispers of the crowd continued to drift on his ears. In fact it wasn''t even considered as whispers anymore, these people couldn''t care less whether they were heard by the Hignder n or not.

    What''s there to be afraid of? Isn''t their all powerful Sect Master with them? So what if this pitiful n heard their disdainful and mocking words? What are they going to do about it?

    This caused Raven to smile wryly inwardly. He couldn''t help but think that Albert''s n really got the short end of the stick here. This humiliation was just too much. Thankfully, he was spared from all of this since no one here pays attention to someone with weaker cultivation than they have.

    ''I would like to sabotage this but I''m afraid that the old monster is paying close attention to us. Well, it seems that I could only leave everything to fate then.'' Raven muttered inwardly.

    In the middle of the vast field, the bookshelf was ced on the center of the formation. Raven then inscribed thirteen ritual circles around it with lines connecting each circle to the bookshelf. After that, he arranged the books in a unique arrangement before pausing and checking if he did everything correctly.

    After setting up the formation needed to open up the secret realm. He then took a deep breath, he then looked at the elders of the Hignder n and nodded to them.

    "We can begin." He said, "Please go to your positions."

    The Elders of the Hignder n then stood inside the ritual circles and waited for Raven''s next instructions. Raven then went towards Albert and asked for the keepsake from him. After receiving it, he then asked Albert to ce a drop of his blood on it. He also asked the rest of the elders to do the same.

    After this, he went towards the center of the formation and ced the keepsake at thergest ritual circle.

    He then summoned his energy and concentrated on activating the array. Raven then said: "Everyone, please begin supplying the formation with your energies."

    At his signal, the Elders began summoning their energies to feed it through the formation. As everyone watched in anticipation. They saw a miraculous scene where each book in the shelf started flying away by them selves. They then formed a strange formation that harmonized with the formation that Raven built.

    After that, the shelf suddenly floated up in the air. At its center, a swirling portal was slowly gettingrger andrger until it became huge enough for people to enter it.

    All of a sudden, another change urred.

    As the portal to the secret realm widened, numerous inscriptions suddenly came out of it, melodic and dreamy tunes containing profound insights drifted everyone''s ears.

    Under the influence if this tune, everyone could feel their hearts shook. These hymns alone caused their Law insights to raise exponentially. Everyone was gobsmacked, a flurry of reactions then surfaced from the crowd.

    "What¡­is this?"

    "How miraculous. I think I''m just about ready to begin studying the next concept of my Laws."

    "I knew it! This secret realm is going to be awesome!"

    "Hurry it up! I want to enter already!"

    "Gods, bless me with great lucky chance! Secret realm, here Ie!"

    Everyone was fervently staring at the entrance of the secret realm, impatiently waiting until the entrance stabilizes in order to finally enter it.

    Even the Sect Master of the Martial Emperor Sect was momentarily dazed by the hymns. His eyes stared greedily at the entrance to this secret realm, wanting so bad to enter it and unravel its mysteries.

    Raven was oblivious to all of this, even if he was aware, he couldn''t care less. He decided that he would just leave everything to fate and allow karma to do its job. This is the Divine Realm after all.

    Out of nowhere, the bookshelf suddenly transformed into a wide and tall arching gate with golden words inscribed on it. It reads:

    "Ancient Tower of Fates." Many murmured as they read the inscription.

    The portal then finally stabilized and appeared like a clear film of water that leads to the other side. Everyone could even faintly see an image of a tall and majestic looking tower at a distance.

    Raven then wiped the sweat off of his face and turned towards the City Lord. He then said: "It''s done. You guys can begin entering it now."

    Raul then patted Raven''s shoulders and said: "Thank you little friend. Do you want to explore this ce with us?"

    Raven appeared to be hesitating for quite a bit before finally nodding his head. He then sat down in meditation and acted like he wanted to restore his strength for a bit.

    As soon as he sat down, the Sect Master of the Martial Emperor Sect flew down while roaring inughter.

    "Thank you for your assistance Raul! You''ve rendered a great service to the sect. After this trip, I''ll surely reward you heavily for this. For now though, I shall go ahead and pave the way for our disciples. See you inside."

    The Sect Master flew inside of the portal like a zing meteor, in fact when he said those words earlier, he wasn''t even looking at Raul at all. His gaze were firmly stered on the gate like it was going to disappear anytime soon.

    This might not mean much but in fact, this is a great disrespect for the Hignder n. How was this any different from treating them like air?

    Rendered a great service? Reward? Pave the way for the disciples? Who believes any of that crap? He just wanted to take everything away inside of the secret realm, leaving nothing but scraps for the Hignder n.

    Looking at the disappearing visage of the sect master, Raul''s expression was incredibly ugly, that goes the same for the rest of the members of the Hignder n. s, they couldn''t do anything but to swallow this grievances and watch as the rest of the disciples of the sect enter before them.

    As the majority of the people who came entered the portal, the only ones in the vast field were Raven, the Hignder n and one more person.

    The servant who betrayed them.

    "Hahaha! Raul, Raul, Raul¡­" the old servantughed mockingly at the City Lord. "What''s with that face? What''s with that nasty expression? Shouldn''t you be d? You''ve rendered a meritorious service for the sect! Who knows? Maybe the Sect Master will be so thankful that he''ll promote you as the new Vice Sect Master! You should be jumping in joy!"

    Raul and Albert''s knuckles were creaking with how much hate they are feeling as this servant ruthlessly stomped on their face. If it weren''t for the fact that they made an oath to not hurt this guy, he would''ve been dead by now.

    The servant''s face then turned towards the meditating Raven, he then sneered and said: "Haha, this is so funny! To think that you have to rely to an outsider to help you search for ''Your'' secret inheritance and also open it for you. What a great Hignder n this is!"

    "Hey bald guy, you''re too noisy."

    *BANG!!*

    Arge crater appeared out of nowhere, shocking everyone in the Hignder n. They didn''t even know how it happened, there were no signs nor any fluctuations at all. It was as if an invisible meteor struck the old servant.

    The pitiful guy shakily stood back up with a horrified face. He then incredulously looked at the young man who''s walking towards him with hands behind his back in horror.

    *Bang!*

    The servant flew up like a cannonball without any warnings. Another banging sound urred and he was ruthlessly smashed to ground like broken rag doll.

    His figure then mysteriously floated up, revealing his pitiful appearance. His whole body was in pain and drenched in blood, his consciousness was barely there, he couldn''t even move a muscle. Only one of his eyes were open, enough to see the dumbfounded faces of the Hignder n and pure indifference on Raven''s face.

    "The Hignder n might''ve sworn an oath to not hurt you but I didn''t. It just so happens that no one else is around aside from us which only means one thing."

    "Its time that you get reminded of your status."

    *BANG!!!*

 Chapter 404 - Heart Of The Realm

    ---

    Raul could hardly believe it.

    Albert could hardly believe it.

    Everyone in the Hignder n could hardly believe this.

    All this time, they all saw Raven as a polite and a rather timid person. He was mostly silent and amicable, along with his handsome looks and schrly aura, practically none of them had any reason to think that there''s this side of him.

    But in some aspect, this is something that wasn''tpletely out of their imaginations. They should''ve known that Raven could get mad too, after all even saints have tempers. No matter how polite and silent Raven appears to be, he surely has a bottom line, and its quite clear that this pitiful guy just crossed that.

    What really surprised them, was the fact that virtually none of them saw what Raven did to reduce this servant into this pitiful state.

    Even Raul who''s cultivation reached the Knight Monarch Realm, barely felt anything at all. He only felt some minute energy fluctuations but that''s it. He wasn''t aware what the attack looks like or from where it came from. Which made this all the more terrifying, since even he himself would have no idea how to defend against Raven''s attacks if it alles down to it.

    What''s more is that, Raven''s attacks are mercilessly heavy. Sure, this might''ve been considered as a sneak attack but it wasn''t his fault that no one could sense his attacks at all. Additionally, he''s just at Hero Realm, whilst the servant was at Champion Realm with a Saint Champion Physique. Its already impressive that he could reduce someone at this boundary with just his power alone.

    "W-who are you?" The servant stuttered as he asked this question while his body writhe in pain.

    Raven coldly snorted and said: "Oh, I''m no one important in particr. Just someone who got annoyed by some stupid bald fly who did nothing but buzz into my ears, that''s all."

    "Y-you!" The old servant coughed out blood due to anger, after that he a coldugh escaped from his lips as he roared: "Y-your dead! Haha! You fool! You''re tired of living! If you want to live longer, then you better put me down and let me go at this instant!"

    *Smack!*

    *Pu!*

    The old servant''s head whipped to the side while spitting a couple of his teeth due to Raven''s back handed p.

    "You just refuse to understand your current position." Raven snorted coldly. "A talentless dog like you, who isn''t capable of anything other than biting that hand that feeds you, dares to make demands? It seems that I''m being to merciful."

    A coldugh escaped Raven''s mouth as he continued: "Might as well, since you''re so confident in your words. Mind telling me what precisely what gives you this confidence? Tell me so I could shatter it for you."

    "Fool! Imbecile! Did you not see who came with me? Did you not see how many masters just went in? Even the Sect Master himself is inside! Once theye out, they will definitely avenge my death so even if you killed me, then there''s nowhere else for you to hide! You will suffer a painful death!"

    Even the Hignder n who''s watching this scene unfold, couldn''t help but be worried about the servant''s im.

    Indeed, it was perfectly understandable for them to worry about the might of the Martial Emperor Sect. Not even their n could resist against their power, yet alone a single Raven.

    But despite hearing this words, instead of being worried or fearful. Ravenughed.

    Heughed like he heard the funniest joke in the entire world. Tears even started forming in the corners of his eyes. He then wore a mocking smile and asked:

    "That''s it? That''s where your confidencees from? What a joke!" Ravenughed coldly. "Well, since you revealed the source of your confidence, then let me show you howughable your background is."

    With a flick of his finger, the keepsake that''s in the middle of the array, flew towards him andnded on his palms.

    Under everyone''s gaze, he nicked his finger and smeared his blood on the keepsake, causing it to emit a faint brilliance.

    He then coldly gaze at the servant and said: "You''re a part of the Martial Emperor Sect now aren''t you?"

    "I am! What about it?" The servant tried to puff out his chest in pride but the pain prevented him from doing so.

    Raven sneered and said: "If that''s the case, then you surely have some Life Monitoring Jades with you right? If so bring them out. I''ll let you see something incredible."

    "Hmph!" The servant didn''t understand what Raven was trying to do but in his mind, he knew that this kid is just putting on an act in order to reduce the shame and guilt on his body. Knowing this, of course the servant didn''t want to be on the passive side.

    The kid unboundedly infuriated him. A piddling Hero Knight not only dared to slight the orders of the Martial Emperor Sect but also dared to hurt him. How could he ept this? Not only did he want to personally kill this kid, he wanted to torture him and hunt down every single person who''s important to him in order to get rid of this humiliation.

    Seeing the pitiful disy of the servant, a mocking smile appeared on Raven''s face once more. Now that the Life Monitoring Jades are out, then its time to teach him a painful lesson.

    Raven tightly gripped the keepsake, and under everyone''s watch, arge screen of light emerge from it. Everyone was shocked but before they could even say anything, Raven controlled the array and disyed the real time feed from the secret realm.

    This array was actually showing them what''s happening inside!

    "Ah! I remember this guy." Raven said as he zoomed in on one person, "This guy was the one who kept on saying that the Hignder n doesn''t have the capabilities to monopolize this secret realm by themselves. Quite an overbearing fellow really."

    Raven then turned towards the servant and said: "Watch."

    He lifted a single finger and poked at the image being shown on the screen. All of a sudden, everyone saw how a bolt of golden lightning descended and struck the unsuspecting fellow inside.

    Everyone was gobsmacked. And as if that wasn''t enough, the Life Monitoring Jade of the fellow who just died, shattered whilst being held by the servant.

    A deadly silence permeated within the vast field. Everyone stared at Raven with bulging eyes. All hairs on their bodies were standing up due to fright. The servant''s face was pale and filled with horror. He couldn''t understand just what Raven did but one thing is for sure.

    That unlucky fellow died because of him.

    "You don''t understand right? No matter, I''ll exin it for you then." Raven cleared his throat as he wore a ''kind'' expression as he stared at the horrified servant. "This secret realm is not fated for everyone."

    There was brief silence before Raven continued exining.

    "As someone who leaked this information, you should''ve known the requirements for opening the secret am I right?"

    The servant dumbly nodded, a sense of ominous feeling was gripping his heart.

    "See this keepsake right here?" Raven waved the jade he was holding at the servant. "This is not a Soul Calming Jade, but rather the Heart of the Realm."

    "I never intended to keep this fact since initially, I thought that only those from the Hignder n would enter this secret realm. Unfortunately or not, you leaked the news, allowing everyone to know about it. My brother and his n suddenly became theughingstock of the whole realm. As a friend, how could I sit by and watch him suffer? Of course, I had to get revenge right?"

    After saying this, Raven zoomed in on a group of people and with a flick of his fingers, bolts of golden lightning struck them down, causing several Life Monitoring Jades to shatter on the servants hands.

    "This right here, the Heart of the Realm, is something that could control everything inside this secret realm. Which means, that if I or anyone from the Hignder n, wants someone dead, then so long as they''re inside the secret realm, there''s nowhere they could hide."

    "Just like this¡­"

    Raven sent bolts of golden lightning to group of people once again, causing yet another batch of jades to shatter on the hands on the old servant.

    "Cool right?" Raven asked sarcastically. "The lives of those who entered, are decided by us. Which means that so long as we wanted it¡­"

    "We could kill everyone who entered the secret realm, and no one would know that it was us who did it."

    His ghastly words finally broke down thest traces of hope in the old servant''s heart. His face was now filled with horror as he stared at the cold expression on Raven''s face.

    "Think about this way¡­" Raven eerily said, "If, and I''m only saying if, I decided to kill you and everyone who entered, including the Sect Master. Doesn''t that mean that the Hignder n could not only monopolize the entire secret realm, but also im the Martial Emperor Sect for themselves as well?"

    ¡­and with such words, the old servant finally couldn''t take it and lost consciousness.

 Chapter 405 - Changes On The Blue Marble Planet

    ---

    After seeing the servant badly frightened to the point of fainting, Raven lost interest and sent a quiet pulse that destroyed his nervous system.

    Now even if a miracle urs and this servant wakes up for some reason, he would no longer resemble a human anymore.

    He then turned around and faced the Hignder n, who''s mouths still remained agape from everything they witnessed and heard. An embarrassed expression appeared on Raven''s face as he directly returned the Heart of the Realm to Albert''s hand and said:

    "Here, you can have this back." Raven said as he directly went towards the entrance of the secret realm and formed multiple seals in a sh.

    The film of light that showed the other side of the secret realm blurred, numerous seals appeared on it''s surface, creating a powerful restriction that cannot be broken by normal means.

    After turning around, he then saw Albert standing behind him with a solemn expression on his face. Both of them stared at each other for a bit before Albert gave in and patted Raven''s shoulders.

    "You did us another favor." Albert said in a helpless tone. "How could we ever repay you for this?"

    Ravenughed and said: "How about letting me pick a few treasures from Martial Emperor Sect?"

    Hearing this, Albert''s face turned a little bit strange upon hearing this. He then asked: "You were serious about letting us takeover the sect?"

    Raven tilted his head and said: "Well, if you guys don''t want to then there''s no need to force yourselves. But still, wouldn''t you like to at least take out some sort of interest after all that those people made you go through?"

    "What I mean is that, don''t you want to im the Martial Emperor Sect for yourself?" Albert''s suggestion shocked Raven. "I mean, of course we are thankful that you want to present this chance for us, but I just thought that maybe you wanted it for yourself."

    "That''s ridiculous!" Ravenughed. "Management has never been my strongest trait. Even if it was, I still wouldn''t dare to im the Martial Emperor Sect as mine. Think about it, how would anyone ept a piddling newly ascended Hero Knight from the lower realms as a Sect Master of a sect that''s been around for tens of thousands of years? That''s just absurd!"

    "Additionally, I don''t think that the Martial Emperor Suits me. I have other thoughts in mind but for now, I just want to umte resources for my eventual breakthrough." Raven stated calmly, making Albert and the rest look at him at a different light.

    Raul then came over and said: "Don''t worry Little Friend. From now on, you are my Hignder n''s valued guest. So long as we stand, we will try our best to protect you."

    "I appreciate it but no need to be like this City Lord. I''ve always been like this. If someone offered me a mile of respect then I shall give them ten miles of respect. If someone tried to cross me, then I shall retaliate!"

    "I just didn''t like how disrespectful these people were. It was clear that this secret realm were destined to be for your n''s use but not only did they want to seize it, they didn''t even give you any kind of remunerations. They wanted to hog everything inside the realm without leaving any scraps for you. In fact, I could even tell that the Sect Master had no ns on rewarding you for sharing this at all. How could I possibly sit still and allow that to happen?"

    The Hignder n was astonished, it would seem that they were clearly mistaken about Raven''s attitude. This boy was very daring and in some ways, arrogant. Yet it was clear that he had the ability to act as such, after all he just tricked at least hundreds of people, making them fall for his trap and easily turning the unfavorable situation around with a flip of his palm.

    "Oh right!" Raven added, "Just now, I deactivated the entrance to the secret realm. No one could enter nor exit from now on. Whether you guys deal with them using the Heart of the Realm or not, I''ll let you guys decide. The same goes for conquering the Martial Emperor Sect. Right now, I think I''ll head inside to rest for a bit. My situation is bing more and more chaotic, I''m afraid that I have to stabilize my condition for quite sometime. If you''ll excuse me."

    After saying his piece, Raven then turned around and went inside the pce withrge strides, causing silence to descend on the vast open area once more. The Hignder n looked at each other in dismay but inwardly, they were celebrating.

    Truly, this situation is such a massive opportunity for their n.

    "Dad. I won''t question your decision, but personally I would like to grab this chance." Albert said after a round of silence. "Although I don''t know what exactly his thoughts are, I believe that Brother Raven is an ally. His decisiveness just saved us right now, and he even gave us this massive opportunity without asking for too much. I have faith that he wanted us to use this chance as well."

    After saying his piece, the rest of the Hignder n also expressed their agreement. All of them looked anxiously at the City Lord, praying in their hearts that he will listen to them.

    But instead of giving them an answer, Raul activated the array on the Heart of the Realm and immediately searched for a familiar figure of a youth that has long since grated his nerves. With a loud snort, he said:

    "Time to die, you disgusting piece of shit! You really think this old man will allow you to stomp on my face just like that? You want to take something from my n, then I''ll take your life as an entrance fee."

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    ***

    For the rest of the month, the whole Blue Marble is on uproar.

    The skies were changing...

    Rumor has it that the Sect Master of the Martial Emperor Sect stepped down on his position and made Raul Hignder his sessor. At first, no one believed such thing but there also some people who said that Raul is only an acting Sect Master. Some people said that the old sect master decided to enter a seclusion along with the elders in the Secret Realm after encountering lucky chances. And that in order to repay his gratitude, he allowed Raul to represent him while he remained secluded. He even passed the Sect Master badge to him as a proof and his hand written letter.

    Of course many people are doubtful about this but in front of the badge, disobedience is not allowed. Therefore, even though many people grumbled about it, they could only watch in the sidelines.

    There are also some people who managed to discover the truth behind all of this. They knew that the Hignder n plotted against the Sect Master in order to usurp the position. And though they were disgruntled about this, they didn''t dare to act rashly.

    In the end, strength is still the King. It was a known fact that Raul recently broke through the Knight Emperor Realm, the same stage as the previous Sect Master. This alone was enough to shut down most of the people who''s trying to scheme against the Hignder n.

    The n couldn''t care less whether the crowd knew the truth or don''t, in fact these misunderstandings are quite helpful for them. What''s more important is that, from now on, the position of the Hignder n is formally unshakable in the entire Blue Marble.

    Under Raul''s lead, they swept through thest supporters of the previous Sect Master and reced them with their own people. After entering the Secret Realm, their strength surges massively that they became powerful enough to sweep through all obstacles.

    From now on, Raul is no longer the City Lord of the Sky ze City, the position was now handed to one of his nephews. Right now, he is the true Sect Master of the Martial Emperor Sect and the true overlord of the Blue Marble.

    Meanwhile, Albert decided to focus on his training. As a the young master of the Martial Emperor Sect, he had now ess to multitude of techniques and had busied himself learning them, but all of this is just on the surface.

    The truth is, Albert is quite anxious because up until today, Raven still hasn''t adjusted his condition. Not just him, even Raul was worrying about him. But whenever they tried to offer their help, Raven would always wake up from his meditation and tell them that he was fine, even though it was quite obvious that he wasn''t.

    None of them was aware of what''s going on with him. While they knew that every ascendant from lower realms will experience something like this, they never encountered someone who experienced for a whole month.

    Unfortunately, under Raven''s pleads, they could only watch as their n''s benefactor suffers from a worsening condition as time passed.

 Chapter 406 - Heavenly Laws Probing

    ---

    "Ah, I really stepped in it this time¡­"

    These words are something that was constantly being repeated over and over inside Raven''s mind in ordance to his current condition.

    Towards the changes that are naturally happening to his body, he felt mixed emotions. Helplessness, joy and uncertainty, all mixed up together, causing him to not know whether tough or cry.

    The Divine Realm isn''t as simple as it seems. This ce is the true home for humans, a realm filled with numerous opportunities, waiting for the right person to im and disy their brilliance.

    The Divine Realm has it set of Heavenly Laws as well as its own rules and orders. Whilst humans generally ruled this realm, from Raven''s knowledge, only a few people could really stand side by side with thews of this ce.

    For those who were born at this ce, they wouldn''t feel any kind of rejection, instead they will be recognized as one of its children and would receive ample care from the realm which will determine how their destiny urs. However, the same couldn''t be said for those who weren''t native to this ce.

    Rejection is a normal reaction for any realms, after all even the Grand Ancestral ne had its own rules, since Raven was born there, he didn''t face this kind of feeling but its different in the Divine Realm.

    Everyone who just ascended will not only had to adjust to the shocking abundance of energies, they also had to experience the probing of the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm.

    It was safe to say that those who just ascended are treated as outsiders of the Divine Realm, and in order to preserve itself, it naturally has to perform some ''security check'' on those who just came before deciding whether they will be recognized or expelled by the realm. Expulsion is actually the lightest punishment, should the Heavenly Laws sees them as a variable, then they''ll be in for a world of hurt. It''s even possible that the Divine Realm would send a heavenly tribtions their way, and because this is the Divine Realm, surviving its tribtions would be considered as a miracle.

    Raven wasn''t really in a dangerous spot per se¡­

    But being closely monitored by the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm for a straight up month, wasn''t afortable feeling either.

    It was as if the Heavenly Laws were still hesitating whether they should brand him as a Variable or not.

    Usually, this process would only take about a week at most, but Raven''s was being monitored for a whole month, which made his situation incredibly strange. His control over his Chaos Force were in shambles, his blood vitality constantly surged around his body. Throughout this whole month, Raven''s constantly suffering from a formidable pressure being exerted by the Heavenly Laws themselves.

    Of course, no matter how courageous and bold Raven was, he still had to tread carefully under close watch of the Heavenly Laws. Even if his soul remained formidable, there''s no way the current him could survive the Heavenly Tribtion.

    The only thing that made Raven feel joyful about is that, once all of this is over, then he would experience a great metamorphosis once more.

    Just like everyone says, beyond great danger lies great opportunity. The ''security check'' of the Divine Realm''s Heavenly Laws might be scary for ordinary people but it is also a great opportunity.

    During the close monitoring, the Heavenly Laws had no other choice but to reveal themselves them. If one''s foresight isn''tcking, then there''s no way they would miss out on this chance.

    The chance to observe the profundity of Heavenly Laws...

    Sufficed to say, observing the Heavenly Laws is a massive opportunity. Not only would they be able to deepen their understanding of Laws, they could even use their observations as foundations for their future path! How could Raven miss out on such a thing!?

    Under Raven''s earnest gaze, the ever-so profound Heavenly Laws were perfectly reflected on his pupils. Most of the times, he''ll experience bursts of enlightenments, allowing hisw foundations to be strengthened. Under the presence of Heavenly Laws, Raven''s deduction talents are transforming, so much so that it''s even rming the Heavenly Laws itself.

    Raven was sensitive over their mood, so even though he really wanted to deduce the mysteries of the Heavenly Laws without pausing, he can''t or else, the Heavenly Laws would really treat him as a Variable. Whenever he feels that the Heavenly Laws are releasing some killing intent, he would forcefully extricate himself from his enlightenment but would still keep observing everything, branding the ever changing scene onto his memories.

    It wasn''t until after the 34th day did the Heavenly Laws finally hid themselves once again. This is a sign that the probing process was finally over and in the end, the Heavenly Laws didn''t brand him as a Variable.

    Nevertheless, he still received some form of warning from it. Raven understood that the Heavenly Laws would still pay attention to him, but will only watch from its pedestal. It wouldn''t bother him anymore.

    This allowed Raven to finally breathe a long sigh of relief but also feel a bit regretful. Since the Heavenly Laws withdrawn the probe, he could no longer observe them, thus ending the lucky opportunity as well.

    But Raven wasn''t really discouraged. His harvests were already abundant. Within this month, hisprehension towards his Laws deepened. Though he was still unsure about many things, he only time to digest these deduction.

    Raven however, wanted to expedite this process, and he knew one way on how to do so.

    After his seclusion, he finally stepped outside and what greeted him was Albert''s worried appearance.

    "You''re finally out! How are you feeling?" Albert asked with a worried tone.

    "I''m feeling good overall, but right now, I needed to vent." Raven informed him, "Is there any kind of secret realm here that could let me do that?"

    Albert looked strangely upon Raven before saying: "Well, there is. But its a bit dangerous."

    "Doesn''t matter. I''ll be fine, I''ll trouble you to bring me there." Raven requested, his tone contained some urgency.

    ***

    *Swoosh!* *Bang* *Bang!*

    Raven''s figure blurred like a phantom as he weaved through the enemies in front of him.

    What he faced are humanoid Demonic Servants. These creatures had the most basic levels of intelligence yet the power they contained are unimaginable. Just the fleshly power of these creatures are enough to crush a tall mountain in to chunks of rocks. Their techniques are crude and exceedingly violent, specifically created to crush whoever their face and kill their enemies. They are fast, cunning, treacherous and strong.

    Yet these ferocious killers, are turned to helplessmbs waiting to be ughtered under Raven''s ferocity.

    "Hmph!" Raven stuck out a palm.

    Instantly, it was as if his palm were magnified several times over. The silhouette of his palm blotted the skies and descended like a hand of god, cleansing filth from the world.

    These Demonic Servants want to run or defend themselves, but they would always find out that their movements would suddenly turn incredibly sluggish including their thoughts. No matter how much their feet blurred from running, they were stunned to find out that they haven''t even move a step away from their positions!

    As the massive palm descended upon them, they will feel horrendous weight pressing them down as well as waves of energies containing intense destructive properties wrecking havoc inside their bodies.

    Though this wasn''t enough to kill them, it still left them trembling in fear and helplessness. What''s even more shocking is that, these Demonic Servants weren''t weak, not by a long shot. The ones who are considered as the weakest amongst their ranks are still equal to mid-stage Champion Knight Realm with an Immortal Champion Physique, however the one that reduced them to this humiliating and disgraceful state, is just a puny Hero Knight!

    Such a thing is incredibly unbelievable.

    Albert who''s watching all of this happen couldn''t help but feel his lips twitching. Although he knew that this brother of his was ferocious, he wasn''t expecting him to reach this level of ferociousness.

    He wasn''t even confident if he could block this kind of attack, making him feel gratified that he didn''t make an enemy out of Raven.

    Raven wasn''t aware of Albert''s thoughts. Right now, his heart is fully concentrated on digesting the insights he gained from his deductions through battle. Facing the enemies in front of him, Raven was forced to go all out, causing hisprehensions to be deduced in a faster and more efficient manner.

    As Raven dished out one attack after another, not only did the might of his attacks gets stronger, his insights are being refined to its outmost degree, causing Raven''s expertise to experience an explosive rise. Right now, he could feel the bottleneck of his current cultivation slowly loosening.

    So long as he continued this way of training, the bottleneck will eventually disappear and the time for his breakthrough will naturally arrive.

    After venting out in battle, Raven finally stopped after exhausting his energy reserves. He retreated towards safety and reunited with Albert.

    "Done?"

    Raven nodded and said: "Yeah. Sorry for the trouble. I basically confirmed my deductions, what I need is to solely refine them through normal training."

    "That''s good." Albert nodded and approved of his decision. "Oh right, Father asked you toe and visit him after you rested."

    Raven was a bit startled but he nodded eventually. After returning to his room, he rested for a while and took out a shiny ck badge. He stared at it for a while before murmuring¡­

    "I guess it''s time for me to search for that ce¡­"

 Chapter 407 - Ancient Elysium Sect

    Chapter 407

    ---

    After recovering his energies for a bit, Raven went out and was headed towards the Sect Master''s chamber along with Albert.

    The Martial Emperor Sect is situated at the centermost part of the Blue Marble, coincidentally, the Sky ze wasn''t too far from where it was, which is why it didn''t take long for the Sect Master and the sect disciples to arrive at the Hignder n, to make things even more simple, there''s also a long range transmission gate connecting the two, making the travel quicker than going on foot.

    The sect is located within a mountain range, each of this mountains are upied by at least 100 disciples of the sect. Meanwhile, the inner disciples and more important members of the sect lived inside the sect itself, where the density of energy is almost five-times greaterpared to the outside. The reason for this is because the sect is built under a 4th-ss Heaven Grade Spiritual Vein, in tandem with a special formation built by the experts of the sect, every ounce of energy produced by the Spiritual Veins will never go to waste.

    In a nine-floored pagoda located in the middle of the sect, there is an underground passage that leads towards where the spiritual vein is. Within this underground space is a simple room protected by dozens of array formations. This is where Raul, the current Sect Master, is located.

    After confirming their identities, Albert entered with Raven, both of them feeling a little bit dizzy from the sheer density of energies here. Raven even involuntarily clicked his tongue, he had no doubts that if he cultivated here, then he would produce double the results with half the effort.

    "How are you feeling." Raul''s firm yet gentle voice yanked Raven back to reality, he then hurriedly performed a bow and greeted him.

    "I''m feeling fantastic City Lo- I mean, Sect Master." Raven corrected himself.

    Raul let out a heartyugh and said: "Drop the formalities, Young Raven. If its just us, feel free to address me as Uncle."

    "Yes, Uncle." Raven didn''t fuss about and did what he was told.

    "Good!" Raul nodded, he then gestured the two of them to sit down. After that, he turned towards Raven and said: "You really got us worried about you. As far as I know, the probing should onlyst for at most a week, yet you were monitored for a whole month. It was good a thing that you weren''t treated as a Variable."

    Ravenughed nervously and said: "Yeah, I was on the edge for the whole time. Thankfully, I really didn''t pissed the Heavenly Laws off. But its all fine, I got some unexpected harvest from that situation."

    "Right, I felt that you were experiencing short bursts of enlightenment. Your luck is quite good, with your harvest, youw foundations andprehension would be quite solid. This would benefit you in the long run. But remember that deducingws shouldn''t be rushed. You''ve your own path to take."

    "Thank you for your advice, Uncle."

    "Hmm!" Raul nodded and continued, "Now that''s out of the way, do you have any ns for the future?"

    As soon as Raul asked this question, Albert''s eyes brightened with approval. He knew that the underlying meaning behind his question. Raul wanted Raven to join the Martial Emperor Sect.

    By now, him and the Hignder n were already convinced that Raven isn''t simple. If it weren''t for him telling them that he came from the lower realms, they would''ve guessed that he was a descendant of a very powerful n or sect. His demeanor is firm and he''s quite talented, not to mention that Raven just got the approval of the Heavenly Laws, meaning that from now on, his brilliance would be even more dazzling.

    What Ravencks right now is background, and this something that the Hignder n wouldn''t hesitate to give him, not just for the sake of repaying the kindness he gave them but also as a means gaining a rising powerhouse as an ally.

    It''s a win-win situation.

    However, it seems that the two of them got a bit excited. From Raven''s reactions, it would seem that they weren''t destined to keep him with them.

    Raven silently produced a badge filled with unique fluctuations and a glossy ck luster. Raven''s gaze turned a little hit solemn as he asked: "I wonder if Uncle heard about the Old Elysium Sect?"

    As soon as he dropped this question, Raul''s eyes visibly widened and his breathing turned a little bit heavy. Albert was quite puzzled but decided to remain silent. It was clear that Raul knew what this badge signifies and it must be a shocking thing, causing him to momentarily lose his cool.

    This ck glossy badge was something that Raven got from the Lower Realms. Back when he was still roaming the ne, he discovered agents of ck Curtain Guild moving some meteorite rocks. After intercepting them, he got hold of the meteorites and when they inspected them together, they mysteriously formed into a badge that he''s holding now.

    All Raven knew about the Old Elysium Sect is that, it is a rather reclusive sect. He heard about this name during his previous life but he didn''t pay much attention to them.

    Unlike Luna and the rest, no one contacted him nor received him after he got the badge, leaving him on his devices to search for the sect and presumably join them using it.

    After a round of silence, Raul calmed down and rested his back on the seat. He then smiled at Raven and said: "Hide the badge for now. In the future, don''t recklessly take it out otherwise, it will pose great dangers to you."

    Raven was surprised, he then absorbed the badge and hid inside his inner world since Raul''s warning was a bit rming.

    Raul was momentarily dazed for a bit, as if he was in the middle of remembering somethings that happened on his life. He shook his head and a wry smile appeared on his face. His attention returned back to Raven as he said:

    "I don''t even know if I should say that you''re lucky or unlucky because of that." Raul chuckled. "To think that you''ve been qualified to join the Ancient Elysium Sect, despite being in the lower realms."

    Raul shook his head, leaving Raven a bit stunned. "Ancient?"

    "Yes. Ancient." Raul nodded, "The Old Elysium Sect''s actual name is the Ancient Elysium Sect, well not that it makes much of a difference really."

    "Then, Uncle should know how to go there right?" Raven probed.

    Raulughed and said: "Yes. Well, it''s more urate to say that I''ve tried to join the Ancient Elysium Sect at least five times but failed."

    "What?" Raven and Albert blurted out at the same time.

    Their reactions caused Raul tough mirthlessly once more as he said: "Yeah, you heard it right. This old man right here, tried to join them at least five times yet failed to do so. Don''t get me wrong, I''m not resentful about this, in fact I am quite fond of this memory."

    "How can that be?" Albert frowned, "Are they that strict in their requirements?"

    "Well, ''strictness'' can be implied in many ways. It''s more urate to say that I merely don''t have the qualifications to join them." Raul replied.

    "Hmph, their loss then." Albert snorted, feeling quite displeased.

    "You child¡­" Raul shook his head, "I remember telling you that there''s a sky beyond the sky. You really won''t understand it unless you tried to join before."

    "In front of the Ancient Elysium Sect, our Martial Emperor Sect is nothing but a mere ant. Should they ever send an Envoy here with malicious intensions, then that person alone could erase the entire Blue Marble by himself."

    Raul casual statement left the two reeling in shock. Both of them could tell that Raul wasn''t lying to them, and there''s practically no reason for him to do so. Still that can''t change the fact that the Ancient Elysium Sect was just that powerful.

    This time, Raul then focused at Raven and said: "I don''t need to ask whether you n to join them or not since I could already tell your answer."

    Indeed, Raven didn''t need to say much. Just from the zing fighting spirit he''s emitting, anyone could immediately tell the answer.

    "Unfortunately, the current you is not enough." Raul shook his head, causing Raven''s excitement to dim down. "That''s not to say that you don''t have any chance. You still have less than a year before the next requirement urs. It''s best if you strengthen yourself as much as possible before the recruitment day arrives. Of course, when timees, I''ll personally bring you there. Whether you seed or not, that will depend on your abilities."

    "Thank young Uncle. I''ll work hard to not disappoint you." Raven answered, his mind was already forming some training ns for the whole year in order to maximize the result of his training.

    "Of course, feel free to ask for any resources you need. It would be best if, upon your breakthrough to the Champion Realm, you would condense a Perfected Immortal Champion''s Physique since that''s the minimum requirement to be admitted to the sect."

    As soon as Raul said this, Raven and Albert could only look at each other in dismay.

 Chapter 408 - Choosing Treasures

    ---

    ording to Raul, Ancient Elysium Sect''s background is just unfathomable.

    Although he failed being five times in the disciples enlistment, Raul harbored no resentment nor was he shameful about admitting this.

    The reason as to why he didn''t feel this way isrgely because the trials of the Ancient Elysium Sect not only broadened his horizons but also allowed to receive great fortunes that greatly helped him even to this day.

    There was no need to doubt about the difficulty of the trials set by the sect to the aspiring disciples. Had it been simple, then Raul might not even remain in the Hignder n at all. Additionally, just possessing the badge doesn''t mean that Raven would have it easy. The badge is just is a qualification requirement. It''s only purpose is to allow someone to participate in the trials and nothing more.

    Raul advised Ravel to not casually show it around, mainly because of the fact that it might bring harm to him. The Ancient Elysium Sect is a famous ce and those who recognize it are far too many, even more so, those people who wanted to be a part of it. Snatching someone''s badge happens regrly due to desperation, right now, Raven is too weak and if he casually brings out his badge, he would undoubtedly be the target of the snatchers.

    Right now, what Raven has to do is to strengthen himself. Per Raul''s words, what he needed is to condense a Perfected Immortal Champion''s Physique upon his breakthrough, on then would he be able to at least struggle with the countless of hopefuls that will join the recruitment. While this is not an official rule, and no one would really prevent someone of lower champion''s physique from participating, there are only limited numbers of disciples that would be admitted. It is already expected that this kind of event will be flocked by waves of geniuses. Thepetition would be incredibly fierce, and those that could barely keep up the pace will eventually be left behind. Which means that Raul''s requirements are perfectly understandable.

    The ranks of Champion Physiques are Golden, tinum, Saint, Immortal, Perfected Immortal, Deity and Perfected Deity ranks.

    Sufficed to say, gaining a Perfected Immortal Physique would be very challenging for anyone, but so long as one ces effort on their training and had solid foundations, then its definitely achievable.

    Which is precisely why Raven is working hard right now...

    Raul informed Raven that the tests given out by the sect differs on each asion and thus, making him incapable of providing him with hints to take advantage of. The only help Raul could offer is to supply him with resources, and Raven was perfectly fine with that.

    ***

    "Alright, we''re here!" Albert announced after opening the door.

    As soon as the both of them entered, their sight were immediately blinded with countless glows and auras of formidable items.

    Right after their conversation, Raul tasked Albert to give Raven a tour of the Sect Treasury and allow him to take some items. Of course, Raven didn''t hesitate to agree since he''s really in need of supplies, specially now that he''s preparing for something.

    From fearsome weapons down to the most mysterious trinkets, everything was in full disy, leaving Raven somewhat stunned. After his initial surprise, Raven couldn''t help but sigh.

    ''Just one of this item from this treasury would cause a rivers of blood to flow and mountains of corpses to form if taken to the lower nes, yet the sheer number of items here are just way too many. The disparity is just really too great.'' Hemented inwardly.

    Raven wasn''t really that surprised upon seeing this many treasures. During his previous life, he had seen countless of more formidable itemspared to the ones here. It just really saddened him to be reminded that the disparity between realms are just too wide.

    Albert seemed to have not notice Raven''s despondent face, instead his gaze is fixed at the rows upon rows of mystical items that caused his heartbeat to quicken.

    "I really wanted to take a look inside once again and see if I could take another item but I already received some. Plus, only one person could enter at a time." Albert sighed, he then looked at Raven and said: "Go try your luck. I''ll wait for you here."

    Raven nodded to him and held the pass that Raul gave him earlier before traversing the film of light that protected the treasury.

    As soon as he entered, the doors closed behind him and Raven was immediately assaulted by berserk energies emanating off of the items contained within.

    Raven raised his brow and with an audible snort, he released a slight pulse of his spiritual pressure. Instantly, the world inside the treasury was drowned in a pin drop silence, some items were even trembling, probably due to fright because of what Raven did.

    Some of this treasures had definitely developed some form of consciousness already, and thus capable of choosing who wields them. It had to be known that entering the Sect Treasury is a test as well. Anyone who enters will have to endure the spiritual pressure of the intelligent items here and gain their acknowledgement before taking them away. On some instances upon the history of the sect, some disciples wasn''t able to endure this spiritual pressure and directly fainted, thus not allowing them to take anything away.

    Anyone who witnesses this kind of reaction from the treasures here would probably faint in shock. Who would''ve thought that a day wille where, these insufferably arrogant and overbearing treasures, would submit due to a snort.

    "That''s more like it." Raven smiled and began inspecting one treasure after another.

    Now that the treasures are behaving properly, Raven had more time to inspect their properties closer without being annoyed by their auras. The details of each treasures are listed on the jade slips ced before their vessels. And after spending time reading most of them, Raven sighed and whispered:

    "Nothing suits me here." His gaze then located the stairs leading up to the next floor, he then made a decision and climbed the stairs without hesitation.

    The Sect Treasury consists of five floors, each floor contained different kinds of treasures. Of course, the higher one climbed, the better the quality of their treasures will see, but also the more formidable the spiritual pressure they have to endure.

    Upon reaching the second floor, Raven was once again weed by a wave of overbearing spiritual might emanating out of the treasures located here. However, simr to how he dealt with the previous floor, one snort from him and everything calmed down. And just like this, Raven took his time inspecting one treasure after another.

    As expected, the quality of treasures here were naturally betterpared to the previous floor. The second floor mostly contained peak-stage tinum Ranked Spiritual Treasures while others reached Saint Ranked Spiritual Treasures. The grades of the treasures followed the same rankings as Champion Physiques, but as Raven inspected them one by one, nothing here really satisfied him at all.

    The same goes upon reaching the third floor. Even though most of the items on the third floor contained Immortal Ranked Spiritual Treasures, none managed to catch his eyes.

    This isn''t because Raven was being greedy. Had he managed to find treasures that suited him, Raven wouldn''t care less whether it is a only a Golden Ranked Spiritual Treasure, he would still take it. What matters to him is the potential synergy between him and his chosen treasure, not their quality.

    And thus, he ascended to the fourth floor. Upon his arrival, things got more interesting for him.

    Each time he ascended to another floor, the amount of treasures he sees gets lesser and lesser. Back in the first floor, he saw several hundreds of Golden Ranked treasures. On the second floor, he had seen more or less one hundred treasures. By the time he got to the third floor, he had seen less than fifty treasures.

    And on the fourth floor, he only saw twenty five spiritual treasures, yet their quality is high and their intelligence are firmer.

    After dispersing the spiritual treasures, Raven could actually see ripples emanating out of the weapons. Normally these wouldn''t be visible to anyone but not for Raven. These ripples represents that these treasures are actuallymunicating with each other.

    Unfortunately, even though Raven was curious about what they''re talking about, he had no way to decipher theirnguage.

    As such, Raven ignored them and began inspecting the details of one treasure after another. The more he read, the more somber Raven got. These treasures were naturally formidable but none really suited him¡­

    ¡­at least, that''s what he initially thought.

    Raven nearly ignored it, but thankfully he didn''t. Once he focused on it''s vessel, he felt some kind of calling, causing his eyes to lit up.

    What''s rather unfortunate is that, this treasure doesn''t have any details. Clearly signifying that those who brought here were simrly puzzled about it''s name and its actual uses.

    But what really intrigued Raven isn''t the fact that this treasure doesn''t have any details?..

    It was the fact that what he''s looking at, is a wide Praying Mat.

 Chapter 409 - Praying Mat And Gloves

    ---

    The praying mat was at least nine by nine foot meters in size. Unlike the rest of the spiritual treasures here, this praying mat didn''t exude any kind of berserk spiritual pressure, it also wasn''t scared stiff by Raven''s spiritual might either. The praying mat is mostly golden in color, the designs woven on its surface gave a profound and mysterious beauty

    Instead, it only silently floated inside its vessel, glowing with a peaceful and calm fluctuations, it was as if it mimics the surface of a stillke.

    The praying mat''s surface is covered with ancient era designs that Raven couldn''t recognize, yet that didn''t stop him from admiring its beauty.

    Due to the obstruction of its vessel, Raven wasn''t able to inspect the treasure further. If he wanted to do so, then he had to gain the acknowledgement of this treasure, if he was sessful then he could take it out but once he did so, then he cannot return it anymore.

    He didn''t know what kind of materials were used to create this praying mat but judging from its glow, it should be made out valuable materials.

    Raven didn''t spend too much time thinking about this. For him, just the fact that there''s something connecting him and this treasure was enough for him to make a decision.

    He lifted his hand and ced it on the vessel. As soon as he did so, he consciousness then arrived at a different space.

    All he could see was an endless expanse of the starry skies. He found himself standing within an inexhaustible span of grass and myriad kinds of lotuses. All of a sudden, one lotus after another started floating magically and flew around him.

    Each lotus seemed like they were performing a beautiful dance that allured him, but at the same time, Raven also felt an incredible calmness whilst the lotuses danced around him. While he might be experiencing a sense of peace and calm, Raven remained attentive to his surroundings. Right now, he could tell that he was being tested by the consciousness of the praying mat, and though it might look like he was sumbing to the peaceful illusion it''s creating, this is just on the surface. In truth, Raven was hardly moved from this spring. Even if he totally released his guard and allow this mat to deceive him, it was bound to be a failure. Raven''s immunity against illusions were just too high.

    Even the consciousness on the praying mat knew this as well.

    Due to that, it didn''t take long before the consciousness released Raven''s consciousness and allowed itself to be taken.

    A smile appeared on Raven''s face, he watched as the vessel used to contain the praying mat withdrew on its own, allowing Raven to take his new possession.

    Raven casually admired the praying mat on his hands, he reveled at its sleek surface and the soothing sensation it provides him. As he studied his new found treasure, he eventually figured out that his luck doesn''t seem to be so bad.

    ''A Natural Spiritual Treasure huh? I wonder if anyone is aware that something like this exists here. Either way, its mine now, so its toote for them¡­''

    Raven the nicked a wound on his finger and dropped a blood at the center part of the praying mat. Instantly, rows of information surfaced on his mind, allowing him to finally be aware of the true nature of the praying mat.

    The actual name of the praying mat is Soul Attunement Praying Mat. It is a Natural Spiritual Treasure, meaning that its creator was the Heaven and Earth itself. Due to this, this treasure doesn''t really fir the normal spiritual treasure rankings, but it is naturally formidable and useful.

    While this thing has a physical form, that''s only on the surface. The true benefit that gains from using this treasure is by absorbing it inside one''s psyche.

    Without wasting time, Raven did just that. The praying mat then turned into a beam of light that eventually appeared on his psyche. Now if anyone could see the view inside Raven''s psyche they will see that his soul is now sitting on the praying mat and in constant meditation.

    Raven then felt his soul shivering fromfort as soon as his soul started using the praying mat. Waves of cooling sensation flowed through his soul, soothing it and allowing it to appear extremely rxed. Just now, Raven felt that his thoughts were iparably clear. His senses sharpened yet again and some mysteries that were troubling him were finally answered.

    To top this all off, Raven could feel his soul recovering on its own, which what made him incredibly excited. The rate of recovery is extremely slow, from his estimations, his soul would recover one percent after one month. Raven''s soul recovery is at 25%, which is roughly equal to Champion Knight in might, in order for his soul to recover 50% then he''ll have to wait roughly two years, which is not that long. Unfortunately, he couldn''tpletely rely on the Soul Attunement Praying Mat topletely cure his soul, at most, once his recover reaches 60% then it will take more time and more resources in order to cure it even further.

    But even though that''s the case, Raven was still immensely satisfied with his harvest. Just this praying mat alone already made this trip incredibly worth it. Not to mention that the more his soul recovers to its peak, the more sensitive he is aboutws and the sharper his deducing skills gets¡­

    ***

    "Hmm, well I''m already here, might as well take a look at the top floor." Raven murmured after making sure to check every treasure once more before ascending.

    As soon as he ascended, a vast and domineering wave of Spiritual Pressure descended upon him. However, just like before, he merely smiled and dispersed this spiritual pressure through a snort. However, since the quality of the treasures here almost reached at least Half-step Deity Rank, the treasures only behaved themselves properly and wasn''t really that terrified of Raven''s Spiritual Might.

    This was fine too, at least Raven wouldn''t be bothered as he inspect one treasure after another.

    "As expected, these treasures are really fearsome." Raven sighed as he continued expecting each treasure.

    While there are only ten spiritual treasures here, each of them contained fearsome might and are incredibly valuable. Everyone who gets the chance to enter the sect treasury was naturally eager to try reaching this floor.

    It had to be known that if any of the disciples of the Martial Emperor Sect, reaches this floor and was fortunate enough to grab one of the treasures here, then their might would allow them to reach the sky in one leap.

    But sadly, only one out of ten-thousand disciples had the qualifications to step foot on the fifth floor. As for actually obtaining one of the treasures here, then that''s a different matter altogether.

    It didn''t take Raven a long time before he managed to learn the names and uses of each treasure here. Fortunately enough, one of the treasures here managed to pique his interest, causing him to pay great attention to it.

    "Crimson Dragon Emperor''s Gloves, huh¡­"

    This is the treasure that Raven had his eyes on. The gloves were bright red in color, undting with tyrannical and overbearing aura. Its surface is covered of bloody red scales, the knuckles looked like bones and it has sharp nails resembling ws. The palm side is filled with vein like looking patterns and the gloves covered everything from the wrist up.

    ording to the records left behind, this treasure is created by a famous smith using the corpse of a True Crimson Dragon Emperor.

    The leather is made out its tendons, boasting incredible toughness and sticity. The vein like patterns on the palms are from its nerves and arteries, the bones on the knuckles are made out of the dragon''s vertebra and scales covering it are the actual scales of the Crimson Dragon Emperor. After its creation, the gloves were then tempered using the Crimson Dragon Emperor''s blood, making it an astounding treasure.

    However, ording to its creator, this gloves were actually a failed product since the Crimson Dragon Emperor''s soul dissipated before he finished creating, making its value plummet. If the soul was imbued with the gloves, then it would''ve been an Empyrean Ranked Spiritual Treasure, but since it doesn''t have the soul of a true dragon, the it could only qualify as a Pseudo Perfected Deity Ranked Spiritual Treasure.

    "Well, I mainly use my fists to fight. If I could have this, then there is no doubt that my techniques will experience a massive boost in might. There''s even a chance for me to imbue a true dragon''s aura on each of my attacks whenever I use this."

    "There''s barely a year left before the next recruitment of Ancient Elysium Sect. And if I manage to be epted, who''s to say that I won''t encounter a Crimson Dragon Emperor in the future? If I do, then it is possible for me to turn this into a true Empyrean Treasure."

    "I''ll take it!"

 Chapter 410 - Training Plans

    ---

    "Oh? You''re finally out?"

    Raven heard Albert say this as soon as he exited the Sect Treasury. Raven smiled and nodded. He then replied: "Sorry to keep you waiting. I got good harvest though."

    "How many items did you manage to get?" Albert asked as they walked away from the ce.

    "Only two." Raven replied, "An auxiliary treasure and a pair of gloves."

    "What? You should''ve taken more! I remember telling you that you''re only permitted inside once right?"

    ''Should I tell him?'' Raven pondered inwardly for a bit before rejecting the thought. ''Forget it, let it be a surprise then.''

    "It''s fine. I''m rather satisfied with only two." Raven replied modestly. "Plus, if I did that then the disciples of your sect might resent me. After all, I''m just an outsider. Forget about taking treasures from you, just merely staying inside this ce is already treating me excessively."

    "If that truly happens then we could just directly expel them." Albert replied domineeringly, "We have too many disciples and many more who wanted to join our sect, it would be a blessing for the sect of we get rid of those narrow-minded fools. You shouldn''t worry about that, sigh."

    Ravenughed and said: "I appreciate it. But like I said, this is already enough for me."

    ''I wonder how would this father and son react if they knew that I have taken something from the top floor of their treasury?'' Raven couldn''t help but to ask himself.

    His harvest truly wasn''t bad this time around. He managed to get the Soul Attunement Praying Mat from the fourth floor and the Crimson Dragon Emperor''s Gloves on the fifth floor. If any of the disciples knew about this, their eyes would probably turn red from jealousy and envy.

    It had to known that everyone in the sect greatly coveted the treasures from the 3rd floor of the treasury and up. Sadly, the spiritual pressure they have too endure was far too fierce that majority of them weren''t able to even ascend to these floors.

    This is why, in order to prevent headaches for himself, Raven decided to keep this matter as a secret for now.

    Raven and Albert chatted for a bit. Albert, out of respect, didn''t ask Raven to take out the treasures he got which was greatly appreciated by thetter.

    Later on, Raven then began his preparations to seclude himself in order to prepare for the recruitment.

    Raul was generous enough to have some build a private room for Raven. Additionally, this room is also located near the Heaven-grade Spiritual Vein which would definitely allow Raven''s cultivation speed skyrocket.

    The room was simple. It was made out of Profound Obsidian Stones, which boasts incredible toughness. Within here, even Knight Kings could only dream about disturbing Raven. The interior of the room was simple. All he had is a set of wooden table and chairs, a stone bed and a pillow. The room also has an array that could filter and siphon energies from the outside, greatly helping Raven with his training. There is also a separate space inside the room, created solely to test out skills and battle arts.

    After entering the room, Raven sat by the stone bed and began to n out his next actions.

    "I''ve basically retrained myself with the basics of Palm and Fist Techniques during my free time back in the lower realms. I''ve thoroughly mastered the basics and started transition from Simplicity to Complexity. Even my Hammer Intent before had also transformed into a Fist Intent, but its still too hollow - this needs work."

    Raven could''ve easily mastered the many types of fist techniques if he wanted to, but he insisted to train to re-attune with basics of fist techniques, making sure to build and steady and solid foundation on his skills. Right now, a simple fist strike from him could directly punch a hole on a mountain. If he gave it his all, he could shatter a mountain with a single palm strike.

    If the Archaic Thousand Armed Wheel was aiding him, he could tten dozens of mountains all at once. So far, his control of this Growth Type Treasure of his could allow him to manifest a hundred Golden Arms all at once. This is enough to overwhelm most of his enemies but Raven''s goal is to control all one thousand arms.

    Now that he thoroughly grasped the profundity of the basics, Raven could now begin learning some fist techniques or gain inspiration from them. Right now, he created one move that simply converges every insight he gained into a single palm. He calls this move: ''Heaven Suppression Palm''.

    So far, the Heaven Suppression Palm is his most strongest attack. During his sparring with the Demonic Servants, he used this technique in tandem with all three of hisws and caused mayhem against their ranks.

    Albert himself admitted that he might not be able to defend against this palm of his, and this ising from a Knight Saint with an Immortal Champion Physique. Additionally, this is also during the time when Raven still didn''t have the Crimson Dragon Emperor''s Gloves. Now that he has it, then the strength of his techniques will be boosted greatly.

    "I''ve also managed to gain profound insights on the mysterious momentum that I''ve been using before. I could now gather this momentum but its quite hard."

    This mysterious momentum is something that Raven identally grasped back in the lower realms. Once he tapped on this source, it allows his attacks to turn more explosive and domineering. He often uses this along with his Destruction Laws, causing his power to easily topple mountains and seas.

    Due to the mysterious feeling it gives him, for now Ravenbelled this as ''Wavefolding Insight'' - cause whenever he uses it, his power surges forth like a devastating tsunami.

    "I also think that Leg Techniques would be useful for me. But techniques like that are hard toe by. I''ve encountered many palm and fist techniques in my previous life but for leg techniques? The amount wouldn''t even exceed ten. Still, even though its a bit risky, I should practice some, just in case someone had a way to deal with my numerous hands."

    This couldn''t be helped, Leg Techniques which could be used offensively are just too rare. Most of the leg techniques are considered as Movement Techniques not offensive techniques but Raven had little to no use for any Movement Techniques. If anything, he''ll just use them as a reference, there''s no need for him to train it since he''s got his Space and Time Laws.

    Even back when Raven was still on the lower realms, he could already use ''Lesser Teleportation'', and with this no one could even dream of getting close to him. The distance of the Lesser Teleportation became even more greater now that he experienced Space Laws Baptism. This technique could allow him to travel 10,000 miles in a blink of an eye currently. Once his expertise on Space Laws deepens? Then he''ll be able to use ''Greater Teleportation'', allowing him to cross one ne to another in just a blink of an eye.

    With this alone, is there really an need for him to learn movement techniques. If anything, he only need to fear those who could lock down space.

    "Destruction, Space and Time. None of the Laws I have are easy to understand. Still, I have gain as many insights as I could. It would even be better if I could start fusing one concept after another but I don''t think I have the time for that..."

    "Overall, the current me could probably fight evenly against Champion Knights with Golden or tinum Physiques. Anyone beyond that might be problematic. Then again, this only works on those ordinary Knights. The one''s joining the recruitment would probably be geniuses who had a more solid foundations and also those with huge backgrounds. I don''t have any idea how I would fare against them. The Divine Realm is just too vast, I might be impressive for some but to those who are standing at a top, I wouldn''t amount to nothing in their eyes."

    "In terms of background, I''m inferior. In terms of wealth, I''m also inferior. In terms of talent, if it weren''t for the fact that I experienced Soul Rebirth, I wouldn''t even dare to think aboutpeting with them. My starting point is just too low. Damn, if only I have more time¡­"

    As Raven beganmenting on his fate, sh of inspiration struck him, causing him to widen his eyes in realization.

    "Wait!" Raven''s eyes shed. "That''s right! Time! How could I forget about this!"

    Heughed and said: "Now that I could somehow control time, adjusting its flow shouldn''t be too hard for me! With the help of Formations, I could simply adjust the time around me!"

    "Although thews of the Divine Realm are quite different and more firmpared to the lower realms, I bet I could still adjust the time with a 5:1! That''s plenty! I could achieve many things within that time frame!"

    "I better ask Uncle for some materials!"

 Chapter 411 - Progress

    ---

    *Peng!!*

    *Boom!*

    The surrounding earth fiercely trembled after receiving a fearsome blow from Raven.

    On the vast and grassy ins, Raven was crouched slightly with his fists on his side. His expression earnest, his thoughts were empty, even his eyes were dull. It was as if he wasn''t aware of anything that''s happening right at this current moment.

    Despite being in this state, his aura couldn''t be anymore chaotic.

    Some times, the air surrounding him would slow down or out right freeze, sometimes even without him moving, he''ll appear on a different spot, as for the rest of the times, a tide of horrifying destructive force would pulse out from his body, causing everything around him to be devastated.

    Raven would asionally throw out a fist. Sometimes, its just a simple one, no energy fluctuations or whatever. Most of the times though, it is theplete opposite. When he struck the air, the winds will scream and a wide-spread destruction will ur. If it weren''t for the fact that this space was stable andpletely capable of recovering, Raven''s mindless actions would''ve probably reduce everything around him into rubble.

    It has been two months since Raven trained like a madman. After building a Temporal Array that slows down time into 5:1 ratio, Raven never stepped out of this ce even once. Due to the conversion, he''s here for nearly ten months.

    Forget about food, Raven didn''t drink any water for days. He would asionally a break once a week to rx but after that, he''ll begin the hustle once again. Needless to say, his harvest was gratifying.

    In order to breakthrough to Champion Knight Realm, one has to not only deepen their understanding of their Laws but also fuse them with their own energy, effectively staining their Energy Essence and turning them into a Law Essence.

    Upon achieving Law Essence, then whates after that is purifying it. This is where majority of the people gets stopped, unable to move any further. The reason behind this is that, in order to purify their Law Essences, they have to progress theirwprehension which creates a cycle. Comprehend Laws to convert Energy Essence into Law Essence, purify it byprehendingws even more, rinse and repeat.

    Once one converted all of their Energy Essence into Law Essence, then it would start to overflow, cascading towards the entirety of their body, allowing their bodies to slowly be nourished until they could invoke the next baptism that would cause their breakthrough.

    Well, this method works for majority of the cultivators¡­except Raven.

    See, there''s absolutely no way that Raven could convert the enormous yet locked Chaos Force of his into Law Essences. Forget about a year, even if you give him a decade, it still wouldn''t be possible.

    From the moment that Raven experienced his first transformation, thanks to the Book of Chaos, he''s no longer walking on the orthodox cultivation paths. He''s now walking down a unique road which is as strong, if not stronger than these pathsbined.

    This energy - Chaos Force, is too mysterious. He''spletely in awe towards the one who managed to fuse vital energy, essence energy and spiritual energy into one. Even Raven himself knew that his utilization of Chaos Force could only be called primitive. There are a lot of things that he''s unaware as of now, and he could only hope that he''ll be able to unfold these mysteries as he walked further down the road of Knighthood.

    From his current observations, as his understanding of Laws deepens, his Chaos Force is bing more and more energetic and purified. In turn, since his Chaos Force doesn''t only circte through his inner energywork but also throughout his whole body and spirit, his whole entity is bing stronger and stronger. This is why Raven had no need for Body Tempering Techniques, Energy Cultivation Techniques or even Spirit Forging Techniques. The Book of Chaos does it all! It is simply too miraculous and mysterious that nothing couldpare to it, even though Raven only has the first chapter.

    If Raven wanted to breakthrough to Champion Knight Realm, he only needed to deepen hisw understanding and wait until he gets the sensation of being bloated. Once that happens, he could invoke the Origin Energy Clouds of the Heavenly Laws to descend and forge a Champion''s Physique with that.

    The grade of Champion''s Physique he will get, depends on howrge the Origin Energy Cloud he invoked. Unfortunately, Raven could sense a premonition that the Heavenly Laws won''t make things easy for him. And this doesn''t make Raven happy at all. Anyways¡­

    During his ten month practice, Raven''s Heroic Influence expanded from five kilometers to an impressive fifteen kilometers. Additionally, due to his Space and Time Laws Baptism, he also managed to condense the Heroic Influence of Space and the Heroic Influence of Time.

    Heroic Influence of Space allows him to effectively lockdown the space within fifteen kilometers, making everyone incapable of using any kind of spatial influences, this lockdown even influences the act of taking something out of a spatial ring. Raven is excluded in this effect, additionally he could influence the space within his territory.

    The Heroic Influence of Time on the other hand, is the probably the most pragmatic territory he has. Not only does he have a great influence of time within this space, he could also continuously corrode one''s lifetime just by merely exposing them with it. Corroding one''s lifetime, meaning that once one stepped inside his territory, their longevities will be drained at a faster rate. This is a terrifying thing, even Raven shivers whenever he thinks about this.

    Of course, as Raven''sprehension of Space and Time Laws deepen, the effects of these territories will only grow stronger.

    For the concepts of Space, they are: Spatial Folding, Spatial Expansion, Dimensional Forging, Spatial Genesis and Spatial Universe.

    As for the concepts of Time, they are: Tempo, Loop, Temporal River, Perpetual Stasis and Eternal.

    Raven''s expertise on Concepts of Spatial Folding, Tempo and Breaking are nearlyplete. There might even be chance that Spatial Folding and Tempo to be mastered before the Breaking Concept, simply because of Raven''s Old Master - Tenrou''s Bloodline, in addition to Inos'' insights of Time and Space, there might really be a chance of this actually happening.

    Once all of the first of concepts of his Laws are fully mastered, then his Heroic Influence will transform into a Heroic Domain, something that only Champion Knights could have.

    The speed of hisprehension greatly benefitted due to several aspects, however thergest contributor is the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm. He had to admit that, his close observation of the Heavenly Laws really broadened his horizons, so much to the point where he often entered a delicate state of pseudo-enlightenment throughout the period of his training.

    There are factors aiding this state, first is the ''Ancient Art: Breath of Flowing Water'' which allows him be in a perpetual state of Deep Meditation. The second one is his most recent acquisition of the Soul Attunement Praying Mat, which not only calms and heals his damaged soul, but also allows his senses to expand and whole heartedly focus on meditating on Laws. The third one is his recent observations of Divine Realm''s Heavenly Laws which broadened his horizons greatly and finally, his natural talent.

    All of these factors allowed his understanding and deduction ofws to skyrocket in speed. Now, what he needs is to constantly apply it through training and he might just get a decent position on the Ancient Elysium Sect''s disciple recruitment.

    But just like they said, simply meditating and umting resources won''t guarantee that someone will reach the apex. Sometimes, one needs to take risks and brave through dangers in order to squeeze out their potential and make breakthroughs.

    Well, thanks to the Ancestral Divine Crown for ensuring the Raven''s potential will constantly be squeezed out of him.

    Compared to the Demonic Servants, which most of the Martial Emperor Sect''s disciples fought, the remnant wills of the previous owners of the crown gives Raven more challenge.

    Raven''s currently fighting in the 70th pocket dimension. His opponent is a female Champion Knight with a Deity Ranked Champion Physique. To top this all of, her achievements on Sword Laws are high, she even managed to merge twows - Sword and Fire Laws, causing her Heroic Influence to be the Burning Sword Territory.

    Raven had lost count on how many times he was killed by this woman. Even with him going all out, he could onlyst for a couple of blows before shends a fatal attack, killing Raven swiftly.

    Needless to say, Raven was used to him dying by now so it didn''t bother him too much. Still, the sensation of immense danger and the feeling he gets whenever he''s close to death, never gets old. The pressure is perfect for him, it sharpens his techniques, polishes his battle arts and refines his fighting instincts.

    As a result, even though Raven stayed secluded all this time, he didn''t have to be worried about getting rusty at all. In fact, he''s getting better and better each day.. And as time passed, the day of his breakthrough simrlyes closer.

 Chapter 412 - Summoning

    ---

    Today, Raven took a break from his training.

    He''s sitting on top of arge boulder that''s located on the edge of a cliff. A serene expression could be seen on his eyes as he gazed through the vast grass fields beneath the cliff and the clear sky along with the white, fluffy clouds on the horizon.

    Raven enjoyed the rare moment of peace and silence, asionally taking a sip of warm tea in his gourd. Thisis how he usually spend his time when he''s taking a break from the maddening training he created from himself.

    His thoughts were scattered. He isn''t particrly thinking about anything right now, though asionally some thoughts will surface on his mind from time to time. Whenever this happens, he''ll just observe the thought until it disperses on its own. This way, the serenity of his mind will be preserved and he won''t be burdened by unnecessary thoughts.

    Time was almost up. In just a few weeks, he needed to exit his seclusion and prepare to set out for the venue of the recruitment.

    Thankfully, Raven no longer had to feel pressed for time. If he wanted to, he could initiate his breakthrough anytime. He could already sense that so long as he wanted to, he could summon the origin energy clouds of the Heavenly Laws and forge a physique. Although this mysterious feeling is irritating him, he could tell that it won''t stop him if he really wanted to breakthrough the next realm. But for some reason, he just can''t. This something is very important.

    And this something, is also very crucial¡­

    Unfortunately, he don''t know what it is. This feeling had been bothering him for quite sometime, and no amount of training could take his mind off of it. Which is why he stopped training altogether and sat down to think about it. Sadly, thinking about it didn''t help as well. And this eventually lead to his current state¡­

    Since actively thinking about the solution doesn''t work, then he might as well not think about it, or anything for that matter.

    He didn''t have any hopes of this working. After all, he''s kind of wasting time right now. But it didn''t bother him too much. He needed a break anyway. Additionally, if he really couldn''t think about the critical factor of this irritating feeling until a certain time frame, then he''ll just ignore it and make his breakthrough.

    ''My strength is at an absolute limit of what I could exert right now.'' Raven carelessly thought. ''My Destruction, Space and Time Laws are now solid, I evenpletely mastered the first concepts of each. I could also switch Heroic Influences on the fly, and the distance it covers is about 50 miles. The absolute limit of a territory.''

    ''My Chaos Force''s purity is at peak as well. My body''s toughness is at the peak for my current realm, and my soul is halfway done recovering. If I really wanted to, I could initiate the breakthrough from any moment but my gut tells me that I''m still missing a crucial factor for my breakthrough.''

    ''Just¡­what the hell am I missing?''

    Raven sighed in frustration as he took another sip of his tea, then jumped from down from the boulder and lied down on the grass. His gaze dulled as he stared at the clear skies.

    Slowly but surely. His eyelids are turning heavy and breaths are bing more and more shallow. It didn''t take long before he felt the strong tug of drowsiness pulling him.

    Raven could''ve fought it, but there''s no reason for him to do so. In the end, he allowed the sweet embrace of sleep with weed arms and dozed off.

    Unknowingly, his body disappeared from where he was. When he reappeared. He was inside the crown space, floating inside a vast expanse of stars.

    Not too far from him, eight blurry silhouettes appeared. Each of them carried deep and unfathomable auras. It was as if all of them embodied the entirety of the world.

    "Isn''t it a bit too early for him?" One of the blurry silhouette opened his mouth, saying words that contained uncertainty and worry.

    The rest of them were silent, after a bit of time. One of them spoke¡­

    "Even if it is so, what can we do?" This voice contained some bitterness with it. "In the end, it is ''him'' who decides everything. There''s nothing we can do."

    "He''s just approaching his 7th Transformation. He hasn''t even cultivated the Book of Chaos at it''s acme, yet he''s already being summoned." A female''s voice echoed next. "I don''t know if this is a windfall for him or a disaster."

    "That ''guy'' is probably on hisst legs¡­" A deep and gruffly voice echoed.

    "Hey! Stop saying such things! What if you jinxed it? What will happen to us then?" Another guy rebuked. "And why would you think about something like that? All of us here knew just how tenacious that ''guy'' is! He probably summoned this little turd for another matter."

    "I agree." Another one voice out. "Still, I also couldn''t help but think that it''s really a little too early for this child to be summoned. All of us were summoned when we cultivated the acme of the first chapter, but this child on the other hand, hasn''t even experienced his 7th Transformation yet this already happened."

    "Maybe this is due to his talents?" Another one said, "I mean, he already has the capital to learn about the Absolute Beginning. If I were that ''dude'' I''ll summon him early as well."

    "He hasn''t even unlocked the entirety of his Chaos Force yet." Another guy helplessly said.

    "Well, that''s because he was granted a lot of it." The previous guy rebuked, causing the atmosphere to turn silent once more.

    "Ah, that ''dude'' is really a bit biased isn''t he?" A mirthlessugh echoed not long after. "None of us were granted that much during our rule, yet this child on the other hand¡­" This person didn''t continue his words, instead he clicked his tongue in dismay, feeling a little bit unsatisfied.

    "Whether this is a great opportunity for him or will cause his demise. We can''t do anything but to watch." The person who had been silent this entire time finally said something. "But really¡­for him to be summoned this early. I''m afraid the upheaval this time around would be much chaoticpared to our eras."

    As soon as he said this, the rest turned silent, as if they were reminiscing about their previous lives. One by one, then disappeared and Raven''s physical body remained floating amidst the nket of stars.

    ***

    When Raven''s consciousness returned, he found himself in a foreign ce.

    Raven''s currently inside of what looks like a straw hut. He was lying on a wooden bed and his head is resting on a pillow that''s stuffed with numerous straws. He sat up and looked around him. The floors were simrly made out of wood, there is a small bedside table with an oilmp on top of it. The room he was in was small and simple.

    His sharp brows furrowed as he inspected his surroundings. From what he could remember, he was still inside the special zone inside the training room. He remembered falling asleep and for some reason he ended up here.

    He tried inspecting his surroundings using his Chaos Force, yet to his shock he was unable to. More specifically, he lost the ability to do so. Currently, Raven is nothing more than a regr mortal. Even a sneeze from a Knight would kill him due to how weak he was.

    This discovery astounded him, but due to his experiences he quickly calmed down. He first analyzed his body and found out that he wasn''t injured or anything. This caused him to rx for a bit, unfortunately he couldn''t muster even an ounce of strength nor he could sense any kind of energy around him.

    This ce somewhat chilled Raven''s thoughts. As a Knight, vulnerability is something that scares him. The helpless feeling of powerlessness is something that he didn''t want to experience ever again yet somehow, here he was.

    He tried several methods, racked his brain for ways recover his cultivation yet everything failed, causing his mood to turn irritable. In the end, he could only sigh and try to figure out what''s going on.

    Raven stood up and stepped out of the room, only to experience yet another astounding surprise.

    For some reason, he was currently stranded in an endless expanse stars...

    There were nond, nor skies in here. Just a boundless sea of colorful lights and mysterious auras, including the asional pulsating lights of the distant stars.

    Raven''s brain seemingly stopped working. He had been through many strange ces before but this one is probably the most unique one. He just didn''t understand what is going on anymore.

    Where was he? Why is he here? How did he ended up here? How could he return to his world? What''s going on?

    All of this questions revolved around Raven''s mind but sadly, he didn''t have any answers. And just as he when he was about to see if he''s just dreaming about all of this, a forlorn and ancient voice echoed on his mind.

    "Child,e."

 Chapter 413 - Spacetime And Geezer

    ---

    "Who!?"

    Raven was rmed. He swiftly looked around him to search for the one who spoke just now, but to his surprise, he didn''t find any. All he could see, was the vast expanse of stars and the simple straw hut around him.

    He unknowingly started getting nervous. He''s in a foreign ce and ispletely vulnerable due to his situation. It''s safe to say that anyone here could easily kill him, and that didn''t bode well for him.

    "Don''t be afraid." The mysterious voice echoed inside his head once more. He couldn''t find its source but it seems that the owner of this voice could sense his anxiety. "I have no intentions of harming you. Juste to me."

    "I don''t know where you are. Where do you want me to go?" Raven asked as he strangely felt himself calming down.

    As if answering his question, a dazzling brilliance erupted from a distance. Raven felt a soft tug in his heart upon seeing that light. It was as if this light was beckoning him toe closer. And since Raven doesn''t appear to have other choices, he could only check what this was all about.

    He slowly took a couple of steps down the hut, and as soon as his foot made contact with the river of stars beneath him, a tform that appears to he made out of the purest white jade formed, allowing him to step on a solid object.

    Raven was barefooted, and as soon as his feet touched the tform, he felt something magical. All of his worries and unnecessary anxiety disappeared without a trace. He could feel a strange yet cool sensation circting inside his body, making him inwardly groan from pleasure. His eyes widened as he reveled in this mystical feeling. He wasn''t aware of what kind of materials this tform was made of, but the effects are too mysterious.

    After that, he started making way towards the beacon ahead of him. As he walked, the tform beneath him will automatically appear, enabling him to walk without worries of falling down to the endless chasm of stars.

    As Raven continued walking, his thought are increasingly turning hazy. Slowly but surely, all unnecessary thought disappeared from his mind. His gaze turn a little but dull.

    Right now, he was like a moth that''s attracted towards the fire, yet strangely he didn''t feel any kind of danger. He only felt a unique warmth, as if he was returning to the embrace of his mother.

    Without him knowing, a strange form of energy started funneling through his body. This energy appears to be dark golden in color and is filled with sparkling shimmer, from time to time, this energy would release strange films of colorful aurora as well. This energy looked a lot like Raven''s Chaos Force, but this energy appears more¡­transcendental.

    Strangely, Raven entered a state ofpletely enlightenment. He stopped walking and stared at an empty space for quite sometime.

    His body then started emitting aura''s of Destruction, Space and Time. His Heroic Influences are activating without his knowledge. What''s even more shocking is that, hisprehensions of Time and Space are merging together without his knowledge.

    Raven stood there with a nk look on his eyes. Sometimes, he would turn illusory as if he wasn''t presently there. Sometimes his appearance would change to what it was during his previous life. Other times, there are some people who will appear out of thin air before disappearing like smoke.

    This special state of hissted for an unknown period of time before he returned to normal. Raven regained some of his consciousness but he''s still in an open state of mind. It was as if everything that happened just now wasn''t something that could cause ripples to emerge on his serene face.

    As he continued walking, he didn''t know that there are lotuses blooming with every step that he took. Anyone who watches this would probably be shocked.

    There phenomenon - Lotus Blooming on every step, is something that only happens when one attunement towards Laws are at its peak. This means that, whoever caused such phenomena, is blessed and loved by the Laws. These people couldprehend Laws into a shocking degree and it''s even possible for them to merge certainws together, forming an unorthodoxw.

    Raven isn''t aware of this yet but right now, he justprehended what is probably the most mysteriousw there is - Spacetime Laws. With this, he also just achieved the ultimate dream of his old master, Tenrou, back when he''s still alive.

    But all of this are incapable of extricating Raven out of his serenity. With lotuses blooming on each step he took, he walked closer and closer to the beacon of light. Disappearing within in as soon as he made contact with it.

    ***

    When Raven''s consciousness fully returned to him, he found himself standing inside a space filled with nothing but white.

    His brows furrowed, he could that something inside of him changed just now, but he had no way of confirming it. Also, for some reason, memories of his journey towards this ce seemed a bit blurry. Needless to say, he could tell that he arrived at the location but what''s up with this ce?

    "Uh? Hello? Anybody there?" Raven asked softly. He couldn''t see anything aside from an endless expanse of white space, which somehow perplexed him to no end.

    Out of nowhere, Raven felt something moving. He turned around and was surprised to see an kind looking old man, supported by a wooden stick as he slowly made his way towards him.

    This old man didn''t have a lot of hairs left, and those that remained all turned white, probably due to age. His was wearing a loose golden robes, his eyes were closed and he walked while his other hand ced on his back. He was wearing sandals made out of straws and there is an ever-present smile on his face as he faced Raven.

    "You arrived." The old man said without opening his mouth. His voice was horse and deep.

    Raven immediately bowed and said: "Greetings Senior. Were you the one who took me here?"

    The old man didn''t say anything yet. Instead, he sat down and gestured Raven to do the same. Thetterplied, and as soon as he sat down, everything around him changed.

    There was no longer any white space. Instead, he was surrounded by a dark golden lights filled with sparkling specks within. The energy swirled around them two and it seems that both of them are at the center of it all.

    Raven was gobsmacked. Everything doesn''t make sense anymore. He had a ton of questions on his mind but he can''t voice any of it, making him look like a dumb fool.

    "Surprised? Hehe." The old manughed dryly. "I know that there are a lot things that''s bothering you but allow me to exin some things first."

    Raven forcefully calmed his racing heart and he nodded and waited until the old man continues speaking.

    "For the sake of introductions, just call me Old Man Geezer. Mn! Yeah, that sounds about right." The Old Man nodded to himself, seemingly satisfied with the moniker he gave to himself.

    Raven''s face twitched as he heard that. He couldn''t help but inwardly say ''Old Man Geezer? What''s up with that redundant nickname? And why do you feel so proud about it?''

    "Why not? Isn''t that how you hip teenagers does things?"

    Raven''s eyes widened, he wasn''t surprised by being called a ''hip teenager'' by this old man. Raven had seen many people during his previous and current life, some of them lived for a very long time that even if he added his previous life''s age with his current one, he would still be considered as a kid to them. What truly surprised him is the fact that the old man could hear his thoughts.

    He gasped as he stuttered: "Senior y-you¡­"

    "You''re still too green child. There''s nothing you can hide from me." Old Man Geezer said and opened his eyes, causing Raven to gasp yet again.

    Old Man Geezer''s eyes were hollowed - no, to be more precise, his eyes are filled with nothing but a deep chasm of darkness. Raven''s not a stranger to seeing strange things but the feeling he got from looking at this geezer''s eyes sent him shivering in fright. That sight caused him to feel so rmed that all of his hairs are standing on their ends.

    Old Man Geezer closed his eyes and chuckled, causing Raven to unconsciously release the breath he was holding. The he heard him say:

    "I really didn''t want to summon you this early. But I''m pressed with time. I''m not sure when I''ll be able to be free so I called you here. Plus, you somehow exceeded my expectations. Still, you are too weak¡­too, too weak." Old Man Geezer shook his head, his tone was filled with pity and bitterness.

    Raven was still a bit confused but he didn''t say a word. Instead, he chose to remain quiet and wait until the old man speaks once more.

    "Might as well clear some of your doubts." Old Man Geezer sighed, "Kid, I am the creator of that precious crown that you currently hold."

    "What!?"

 Chapter 414 - Revelation

    ---

    "Might as well clear some of your doubts." Old Man Geezer sighed, "Kid, I am the creator of that precious crown that you currently hold."

    "What!?"

    Raven''s eyes bulged from their sockets as they heard this revtion. His mind turned nk, seemingly unable to make sense of this situation.

    "I know, I know. Shocking right?" Old Man Geezer sarcastically remarked. "Right now, its still too early for you to know everything. I just told you that since I don''t know if I''ll ever have the chance to say it to you."

    "Wait you''re dying?" Raven unconsciously blurted out, causing Geezer to spit consecutively in a mocking manner.

    "Ai! You brat! You''re cursing me! What if you jinxed it, huh? I just told you that I was the one who created your precious crown and the first thing you say to me is this?" Geezer spat once again, causing Raven to smile mirthlessly.

    "Sorry, I was just too shocked. I-I just can''t process this right now¡­" He said while coughing dryly.

    He wasn''t lying when he said this. This matter is just too shocking for him. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine ever meeting the one who created the most prized possession of his.

    It was the Ancestral Divine Crown who bestowed him another chance. Everything that he achieved during his previous life and the current one, is all due to the crown''s support. No one could question just how much importance he ced in this item, so much so that not even his parents nor his lover knew about it.

    It wouldn''t even be an exaggeration to say that even Empyreans will wage war because of this item. This crown is absolutely one of a kind. Therefore he had to be careful with it.

    Old Man Geezer sighed, he then asked: "Do you know why I summoned you here?"

    Raven was stunned, he didn''t even bother to hide his confusion before shaking his head.

    Geezer was silent for a bit before saying: "To be honest, this is not the first time that I met you."

    Raven''s whole body froze upon hearing that. His eyes widened in shock but he remained silent. Many thoughts surfaced inside his mind but none of them made him recall meeting with this person before.

    "You need not to think too hard about it." Geezer chuckled, "You won''t have memories of it. As the previous one''s on your position didn''t have any as well."

    "I made a rule upon creating the Ancestral Divine Crown." Geezer said in a mncholic manner. "Every candidate will be summoned here only three times."

    "The first time is during your first transformation. I summoned your consciousness here, but you don''t have any memories of it since you were at the precipice of life and death."

    "The purpose of the first summoning is to bestow you with Cosmic Energy."

    "Cosmic Energy?" Raven raised his brow in confusion.

    "Its the proper term instead of Chaos Force." Geezer informed tly, causing Raven to be astounded. He then continued:

    "Cosmic Energy is the result ofbining the Holy Trinity - Vital Essence, Energy Essence and Spiritual Essence. Through this fusion, the resulting product will - in theory, be the most abundant, adapting and purest form of energy. Some even said that should there be a chance that someone manages to fuse all of these energies, then they''ll be able to cultivate this energies and trace it back to its true origin, allowing them to see the truth of the Absolute Beginning!"

    "In the realm of Myriad Creations, many have had ideas aboutbining all of this, yet none of them seeded. That''s of course, aside from me." Geezer said proudly, he even puffed his chest out proudly yet it deted as quickly due to some reasons. "However, though I seeded, the product somehow turned different from what I was expecting."

    "Originally, we are hoping to re-create Origin Energy. The reason why, is because without it, we won''t be able to discover the true secrets of Absolute Beginning."

    Raven was astounded upon hearing this revtion.

    The true secrets of Absolute Beginning. This is something that he had never even thought about, not even during his previous life. This is mainly due to him trying to find a way to resurrect his deceased loved ones. He had originally thought that ascending to Divinity is the only way to truly resurrect someone from the dead without implications, yet he was wrong.

    But now, everything has changed. He managed to return to the past, correct his mistakes and save all of his loved ones. Still, his desire to return to his rightful throne didn''t diminish. In fact, his desire even burned stronger. The reason is partly to ensure the safety of his loved ones and to truly grasped the strength to eradicate everything that threatens their safety.

    If this was his previous life, then this reason was absolutely enough. Yet now, somethings has changed.

    Before, he believed that the Divinity Realm is the peak. That he achieved the absolute peak of existences, remaining eternal throughout the ages, master of all existences and all powerful.

    Yet this knowledge was ripped apart upon battling the Abyssal Emperor.

    During their final showdown, he briefly achieved a strength that went beyond what ordinary Divinities could achieve. Though he only manage to catch a brief nce of that realm before ultimately dying and experiencing Soul Rebirth, the impression he received was too enticing.

    So much so that he whole-heartedly yearned for it. At the same time, one thing became extremely clear to him¡­

    Divinity is not the end. It is not the peak amongst the peaks. The sky between the skies. There''s an even higher realm. And Raven yearned to reach it.

    Unfortunately, he had no clues as to how to achieve just that. His breakthrough during his previous life was too forceful and too brief. It didn''t allow him to discover the true meaning behind his breakthrough, yet when Old Man Geezer talked about the ''Absolute Beginning'' for some reason, its resonating within him.

    This made him think that the true key in order to chase after the realm beyond Divinity is byprehending the secrets of Absolute Beginning.

    "Precisely." Old Man Geezer said, waking Raven out of his stupor and causing him to smile wryly.

    Right, he forgot that this old man could read his thoughts¡­

    "It wasn''t just you who came into that conclusion. All those who reached Divinity, all felt the same way,ter oning into conclusion that Divinity, is in fact, not the end."

    "All of us wanted to reach that stage, yet none of us seeded. Some Divinity experts even died due to their relentless pursuit of that path."

    "We''ve spent countless amount of time, trying to search for clues but so far, everything leads to Absolute Beginning. But the problem is, no matter how hard we tried searching for it, we didn''t make any breakthroughs."

    "As time went on, desires became obsessions. Some Divinities even suffered serious setbacks in their cultivation due to their obsessions turning into Heart Demons, permanently making them incapable of reaching that step in their entire life. It was too ruthless and too disheartening¡­"

    Raven sharply inhaled upon hearing that. Oh, how cruel fate must''ve been to them. Their desire backfired, turning into obsession andter, turning into heart demons that they couldn''t extricate themselves from. Eventually, it was their desire that betrayed them and destroyed their hopes.

    Howmentable¡­

    "Even I nearly sumbed to it." Geezerughed dryly as he admitted this fact. "My desire to search for the next realm is too strong that I, too fell victim to it. Fortunately, my desire to live is even stronger, therefore giving me a chance to before its toote."

    "Ultimately, it was my desire to ''seek'' the sky beyond the skies that nearly caused my demise. Since that''s the case, I gouged my eyes out and destroyed it using my hands."

    "Now, I could no longer ''see'' any roads. Allowing me to regain my rity and saving myself from ruin." Geezerughed, "Well, you win some, you lose some. Losing my eyes are just a small price to pay if I get to live in the end."

    A deste feeling gnawed at Raven''s heart upon hearing this. In the end, the pursuit for their goals caused these brilliant figures to stumble and fall to despair. Though he was different from them, he couldn''t help but feel saddened.

    "Well, everything worked out in the end. But still, my curiosity and my desire to search for my goals persisted even after all this. Though I''m not obsessed over it anymore, I still wanted to see it."

    "It doesn''t have to me. It could be someone else. It doesn''t have to be a human, nor anyone from our universe. I just want to know how to achieve it. After that, I could perish with a satisfaction in my heart. In fact, its not only me. There''s many of us who also stubbornly held onto our lives, just for a chance to catch a glimpse of it."

    "All of us, had our own thoughts and methods to achieve it. As for me, like I said, it no longer has to be me. But wouldn''t it be wonderful if the one who achieve this is someone that I raised?"

    Upon hearing this, Raven finally understood what Old Man Geezer wanted.

 Chapter 415 - Conned?

    ---

    "You''re guess is right¡­" Geezer chuckled as soon as Raven came into conclusion. "I want to raise someone who will fulfill this dream of mine."

    It is precisely as what Raven thought. Such a thing is something that he didn''t find weird, however it he''s being honest, this task is a little too hard to aplish.

    "Rx kid." Geezer softly called, "I know how hard this task is, and naturally I''m not forcing you to it. At the very least, I want you to try."

    "Well, a little toote for that." Raven smiled wryly, "Aren''t I alreadymitted?"

    Geezer sighed and said: "I know. And to be quite honest, that''s entirely on me."

    "It''s fine." Ravenughed, "I simrly had ns on traversing this path anyway. If I follow the orthodox paths, I''m afraid I won''t have a chance."

    "Uh, that''s the thing¡­" Geezer''s facial expression was nched. "About this path of yours¡­It''s actually uh¡­iplete¡­"

    Raven''s mouth widened upon hearing this from him. He stared at the embarrassed expression on Geezer''s face and could feel his mood darkening.

    He couldn''t believe it. He was conned by this fellow! And here he thought this guy was a super-awesome expert who naturally disdains to y tricks with juniors yet he met just the right guy. Oh terrible his luck must''ve been!

    "Oi brat! That''s too much! I am naturally a super-awesome expert that disdains to y tricks with juniors! I''m not a con artist! If you want to me someone, then me it on fate!"

    Shameless, this old No Eyes fellow is too shameless! me fate? How could he me fate? As if fate would give two shits about this grievance! He was the one who created this crown, he was the one who summoned him here and forced into this iplete path! How could fate be med on this!?

    "Aish you brat!" Geezer was incensed, "How about letting me exin first huh?"

    Raven forcefully calmed down his troubled heart, but his face was still dark. He could feel the respect and awe on his heart gradually slipping away as he looked at him.

    Geezer coughed repeatedly and said: "I didn''t mean to con you."

    "Yet you did."

    "Let me finish damn it!" Old Man Geezer coughed once again, forcefully trying to erase the embarrassed expression on his face. "Like I said, I wasn''t nning on conning you."

    "Believe me damn it!" He yelled once again after seeing Raven''s unconvinced face. "Listen to me."

    "Like I said, I want to raise someone who will achieve the realm beyond Divinity for me. Which in turn caused me to do some research. This research then led to the creation of Cosmic Energy which I was banking on to transform into a true Origin Energy."

    "I abduct-ahem, invited some people to try cultivating Cosmic Energy. I search for multiple methods and with numerous experiments, I eventually discovered the proper way to cultivate it."

    "My sess made me feel rather proud, initially I only needed a bit more time and I''ll eventually seed in making a unique cultivation path which may lead me towards discovering Origin Energy. Unfortunately, disaster struck."

    "One of my discarded experiments was found by those maddened Divinities. Seeing how Cosmic Energy closely resembles Origin Energy, they hunted me down and forced me to hand over my research."

    "Of course, since I could understand their dilemma and obsession, I naturally shared it. I originally wanted to seed first then tell themter, causing them to owe me a favor, unfortunately it didn''t go as nned."

    Geezer''s face became twisted as he hatefully spat: "Those selfish bastards! I whole-heartedly handed over my research to them and told them everything I knew, even exining how I still needed time toplete my research! Yet instead of helping me with my research, they actually suspected me of hiding more things from them! Some of them even got into the conclusion that I already knew the method of breaking through and I was just keeping it from them!"

    "Their greed knows no bounds! I poured my blood sweat and tears with this fucking research so that it''ll bore fruit while them on the other hand, sat on their balls and twiddled their thumbs! I was generous enough to share the results to them yet they still had the gall to get angry and even suspect me!? What kind of concept was that?"

    Seeing Old Man Geezer''s twisted expression caused Raven to sigh in pity.

    "They hunted me down like a degenerate. I tried asking my friend for help yet they either turned on me or ignore my pleas since they didn''t want to entangle themselves with this mess. I am rather powerful and manage to take down some who chased me, yet their numbers just keeps on increasing. Their mad! Mad I tell you! Their obsession runs too deep!"

    Geezer sighed and dejectedly slumped over. "In the end, I manage to escape but I am badly injured. I am rather confident that they won''t pursue me up until wherever I currently am. But at the same time, I am in a constant danger. I need to stay alert all the time, so I don''t have time to sit down and finish the Book of Chaos."

    "I only manage to create up until the second chapter, which is enough for you reach the Immortal Knight Emperor Realm. As for the third chapter, I''m sorry but I haven''t even started it. Everyday, my life is in a constant danger. I just don''t have time to be rxed."

    Raven let out a long sigh, feeling a great headache looming over him.

    "Let me guess." Raven massaged his temples, "The previous inheritors also tried their best to finish your work?"

    Geezer let out amenting sigh, which was enough to confirm Raven''s suspicious.

    "I never forced anyone in this path." Geezer said in a guilty voice, "I have given them a choice before, if they truly didn''t want to then I could reconstruct their bodies and direct them towards the orthodox paths. But none of them agreed. All of them took the challenge and tried to finish what I started."

    "Unfortunately, none of them seeded." Raven added, causing Geezer to sigh once again. Speaking up to this, he remembered something. "Is this also the reason why their remnant souls are within the crown?"

    "Exactly." Geezer nodded, "In the end, they also have desires to reach the realm beyond Divinity. All of them are waiting for the chance of someone to seed on what they couldn''t."

    Raven sighed. He could already feel the pressure on his shoulders. Not to mention this old fellow in front of him, just Certinos alone, who already lived for millions of years, are expectant of him. So much to the point that he even used his saved up energy to send him back in time with his memories intact. Howmentable that would be if it turns out that Raven fails in the end.

    Geezer could tell what Raven was going through right now, and to that he feel extremely guilty. He originally didn''t want to evangelize this iplete method yet his enemies forced him to. The Ancestral Divine Crown was taken from him and when the thief saw that it was useless, it was thrown somewhere and was picked up by the first inheritor. That''s how this all began.

    After staying silent, Raven let out a long sigh and said: "Fuck it. Might as well. It''s already toote anyway, I already grew so fond of using Cosmic Energy."

    "In the end of the day, if it weren''t for this crown, I wouldn''t be able to achieve all the things I have right now. I at least owe you this much." Raven stated, causing Geezer to sigh.

    These meetings with his inheritors had never been an easy thing for him to handle.

    "Since you''ve made your decision. Then its time for me to pass down the Second Chapter of the Book of Chaos to you. I''ll also pass some of the inspirations that I was nning to use to create the Final Chapter."

    Geezer then tapped Raven''s forehead to pass the inheritance to him. A wave of foreign details gushed over Raven''s psyche. He organized it for a while and kept it at the corner of his psyche.

    "I''ll suggest you to not view the Second Chapter just yet. Wait until you''re at the peak of your 9th Transformation before viewing it, that way you won''t necessarily get distracted."

    "Additionally, you don''t have to worry about my enemies. I used a technique to hide your existence from them. So long as you won''t enter the inner world within the crown in front of them, they''ll never be able to connect the dots."

    "I know that you have some enmity with the Abyssals, and you probably won''t rest until you eradicated every single one of them. To this, you have my support. But let me advise you to investigate more. Don''t allow yourself to drown in anger and be reckless."

    Raven nodded, feeling a bit strange inwardly. He stared at this old man and asked: "Is your name really Old Man Geezer?"

 Chapter 416 - Imparting Techniques

    ---

    "Don''t worry about it brat." Old Man Geezer waved his hand, "It''s not yet time for you to know my name. I am stained with too much karma due to my enemies. If you careless mention or think about my name, it''ll easily reveal your connection with me, they could easily track you down with that. And with your pitiful strength, just a random fart from them could easily kill you."

    Raven nodded in understanding. One couldn''t really underestimate the methods of Divinity Realm experts, specially those who specializes in tracking. Numeracy, Karma, Temporal Inversions, even a single strand of hair could reveal many secrets in the right hands. This is why it is understandable for Geezer to not even be able to reveal his true name to Raven currently.

    "As for this meeting of ours, of course I already made ns ahead. Hmph! I only got careless once, causing me to end up in this pitiful state, but now that I''m alert how can those fools figure out anything? I might not be the strongest of them when ites to offensive means but in terms of survivability? Hmph, hmph! They''re still too tenderpared to me." Geezer bragged smugly.

    "As for them tracking you? That''s almost impossible with me here! You should know that because of your unique constitution, the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm would''ve treated you as a variable, yet they didn''t because of the Almighty me! So if you want to rub its feathers the opposite way, go ahead! I won''t be able to touch you at all! Hahaha!"

    Raven remained silent, feeling a little bitplicated in his heart. Though this old guy''s temperament is a little too strange, it doesn''t change the fact that this guy is still the creator of the Ancestral Divine Crown. Without the crown, Raven wouldn''t even be around.

    What Raven experienced is a Soul Rebirth, not a reincarnation. Had Raven wanted to, he could''ve easily sent himself into the cycle of reincarnation by sealing all of his memories first then sending his soul on the way. Once he reached a certain stage of his cultivation, his memories will return and this will allow him to live for another lifetime.

    However, Soul Rebirth is different. Not only did his original soul returned, it was also sent back in time. It had to be known that Raven''s soul is a soul that briefly made contact with Divinity Realm. Sending a soul of that magnitude back in time requires an exceedingly steep requirements, yet the item that this old man made easily aplished that.

    Yes, his soul might be injured during the process, but that''s because he ignited his very source. It doesn''t change the fact that his soul touched the Divinity Realm and those that could send a Divine Soul back in time, are far too few in numbers. Yet this old man''s creation easily did just that.

    If that''s not worthy of earning his admiration, then he might as well disdain everything.

    "Disciple greets Master." Raven formally knelt down and epted Old Man Geezer as his master with all of his heart.

    This somewhat astounded Geezer, after that he roared inughter and flicked his finger. Sending a beam of light to enter Raven''s forehead.

    A wave of information gushed inside Raven''s memory, momentarily making his psyche chaotic. After assorting everything neatly, he heard Geezer said:

    "You walk the path of Spacetime, this [Voidwalking Manual] and [Myriad Incarnations Scripture] should allow boost your survivability. I also passed down the [99 Destruction Seals] and the [99 Holy Seals] for you to observe."

    "Right now, I only imparted the initial parts to you. If you want to get theter parts, then enter the Ancestral Pce of the Ancestral Divine Crown to get them. I left a ton of treasures there, its all up to you whether you can grab it or not. As for the materials needed for your cultivation, you search for them. Take it as a tempering exercise for you."

    "Additionally, that ocr technique of yours? You''re not using it properly. It ced details of it to you. Cultivate it properly and it shall aid you on staying alive."

    "Normally, I would leave at least one defensive talisman, that contains my incarnation, to you. Unfortunately, I can''t do that, so you have to rely on yourself and remain alive! Where there is life, there is also hope. Remember to be careful, careful, careful. I would hate to lose yet another disciple. I don''t know how long I could stay like this."

    "Alright, it''s time for you to go. Make your breakthrough on the Eden I left at the crown. As your senior disciples to transport you there. Now shoo!" Geezer waved his hand and smiled warmly.

    "Take care Master. Wait until this disciple is strong enough. I''ll help you get out of that ce." Raven stated as he could feel his consciousness drifting away.

    As soon as his figure dissipated, Old Man Geezer remained smiling as he said to himself: "Smelly brat, I appreciate your concern, but I''m afraid that old me can''t hold out for long."

    He then stood up and his figure gradually dissipated, only his voice lingered on this swirling sea of Cosmic Wonder.

    "I''ll try my best to remain alive. After all, I''m a little unwilling to go before I witness you ascending. Hahaha!"

    ***

    ''Ugh¡­''

    Raven felt his mind dizzy as his consciousness returned to his body. He blinked multiple times before standing up, and feeling his body sore. He shook his head and gradually recalled everything that happened just now.

    He let out a long sigh, there is a strange feeling in his heart as he muttered inwardly: ''My road to the top became a little too challenging. But nothing really changes. Only by gaining strength would I have the chance to protect my family and loved ones from harm.''

    ''It would be nice if I could help them live eternally, but I reckon that my parents wouldn''t want that. Sigh, let''s just let nature take its course. I''ll just grab every opportunity I could.''

    He then sat cross-legged and started viewing the inheritances that his master gave him.

    Due to the instructions of Master Geezer, he didn''t take a look at the Second Chapter of the Book of Chaos. He didn''t even touch the inspirations he left for the final chapter at all.

    Instead, he focused on the techniques which was imparted to him.

    ''Damn, I was too pre-upied that Ipletely ignored the fact that I just fused Space and Time Laws. I unknowingly fulfilled Old Master Tenrou''s wish, which should settle the bind of Karma between us. Still, Spacetime Laws, huh? Tsk, things just gotplicated. Thankfully, Master Geezer gave me these techniques. With this, progressing should be rather easy.''

    The first technique that he viewed was the [Voidwalking Manual]. This manual is aprehensive technique that allowed one''s body to transform, enabling them to venture the ever-mysterious and dangerous Void. With this alone, there''s nowhere he couldn''t go.

    Geezer imparted him the first tree stages, which he could cultivate with just his efforts alone. As for the rest, it required him to enter the Ancestral Castle to get it, and with his deductions, the materials needed to cultivate it might cause him to cryter on.

    As the [Myriad Incarnations Scripture], its a heaven-defying technique that allowed him to split his soul multiple times and form them into Avatars that carry at least 20% of his total strength.

    Cultivating the first stage allows him to create two avatars, the second stage allows him to have a total of five and the third stage gives him nine avatars. As for the stages beyond, he had no idea yet, but this is plenty enough!

    Avatars are different from Clones. The former carried a wisp of will and the intelligence of its creator, which means that it''s capable to thinking, deducing and many morepared to thetter. With this, he could handle multiple tasks all at once!

    Though, just like the earlier technique, cultivating this might really cause him to sell all his belongings.

    And as for the [99 Destruction Seals] and [99 Holy Seals], these are sources of inspirations.

    Raven didn''t really understand the mysteries behind them yet but he knows that his master wouldn''t impart it to him without any reasons at all. He could somehow understand why he received the Destruction Seals but for the Holy Seals? That is something for him to find outter on.

    He decided that he would meditate on them once he formed his Avatars, but for now he had other important matters to attend to.

    Raven opened his eyes and saw Inos and Astrid sitting in front of him. Their expressions are a bit wonderful to behold.

    "So? How does it feel to get conned?" Inos teased while holding hisughter, as for Astrid she didn''t hold back at all.

    "You guys..." Raven was speechless. He could only shake his head but he didn''t really have time for this. "Let''s talkter. It''s about time for me to breakthrough. I''ll trouble you two to send me to this Eden he spoke of."

    Inos and Astrid looked at each other with eyes gleaming, the didn''t say anything and nodded towards Raven.. With a wave of Astrid''s hands, Raven''s silhouette disappeared from their view.

 Chapter 417 - Chance!

    ---

    "Holy¡­" Raven gaped as he found himself floating inside arge sphere of water.

    His breathing wasn''t impeded in the slightest, in fact he could even feel himself rxing inside this water neb. As the water swirled in rotation, he too spun inside. Each movement wasn''t turbulent, it was a gentle swirl.

    The water was divided into two colors, one ck and the other white. Strangely enough, these waters didn''t mixed with each other, yet they chased after each other in a rhythmic fashion. The ripples caused a profound and rhythmic sounds to be produced, causing Raven''s brain activity to be bewitched yet remain clear.

    "This is¡­" Raven stuttered, "Equinox Waters! Holy shit! And the amount present here? Holy crap! This is awesome!"

    Equinox Waters, those who knew about this Heavenly Treasure would definitely have their eyes turn red from desire. It had to be known that this water is extremely rare. So much so that a liter of this water would fetch at least half a million Spirit Stone bs! Yet currently, Raven is casually swimming in colossal amounts of this liquid.

    These waters are the type of resource that could not be reproduced easily, making it extremely rare. Aside from fulfilling special conditions, one has to wait at least 300,000 years in order for this water to be consumable. Even then, the amount they will get is pitifully low. If they want to increase its volume naturally, then it required a special environment and also an extremely long time.

    Even though the wait is long, the results are always worth it. Even some Empyreans will receive benefit from consuming these waters.

    Equinox Waters is the most sublime and gentlest kind of consumable. It can cure almost all ailments, cure visible and invisible injuries, permanently elerate one''s bodily functions without any side-effects, and it could even naturally increase the volume and purity of one''s energy as well as physique.

    The best part about this is that, Equinox Waters could cleanse someone''s soul in a gentle manner. Making it stronger and allowing their deduction capabilities to increase.

    "Take advantage of this chance! I don''t know when''s the next time I''ll enter this ce!" Raven hastily took out a gourd from his spatial ring that could easily contain huge amounts of water. He then let it absorb the waters while gulping mouthfuls of Equinox Waters.

    The waters tasted like it came from the purest spring water. As soon as the liquid slid down his throat, it already began working its magic.

    Under normal circumstances, Raven would''ve directed the waters on every single pore of his body to begin his 7th Transformation but right now, he decided against that.

    "I''ll take this chance to form Avatars, directly charging to the 3rd stage of [Myriad Incarnations Scripture] before making my breakthrough. With how much water is in here, I could split my soul multiple times and recover right away, I could also make the Avatars consume the waters to increase their strength, making them more helpful for me!"

    With this n in mind, Raven didn''t hesitate and began circting the energies ording to the method described on the scripture.

    In a short while, Raven felt an ufortable itch on his soul. Following that, two white orbs flew out from his body, floating in front of him. Slowly but surely, they began taking form and after a full hour, the two Avatars opened their eyes.

    Instantly, Raven felt like his mind was split into three chambers, the two new chambers were rtively smaller. After testing for quite sometime, a smile formed on Raven''s lips, he then ryed his orders to the avatars and they began drinkingrge amounts of Equinox Waters too.

    Raven stopped paying attention to the Avatars since he only needed a thought to give them orders. He himself began curing the damage on his soul. Once he was done, he began the process of splitting once more.

    Few hourster, all nine Avatars were formed. Seeing this brought happiness on the depths of Raven''s heart. The gourd beside him was already full so he stored it back to his spatial ring. He briefly nced at the volume of the waters around him and saw that it didn''t even shrink from his absorption.

    Sighing in relief, he drank the waters once again. This time, he wanted to see if he couldpletely cure his soul using this waters.

    A whole day passed just like this, and Raven got his answer.

    Unfortunately, the effect of Equinox Waters on his own soul diminishes greatly. He only managed to recover his soul about 89% before hitting a bottleneck. Still, this is a good result. If anything, he could still use this water to cultivate more avatars in the future.

    Once that''s done, Raven kept his avatars inside his inner world and prepared to start his breakthrough.

    With a though, his whole body began shaking. Each pore on his body started absorbing the efficacy of the Equinox Waters greedily.

    It didn''t take long before arge cocoon formed around him. Inside this cocoon, Raven''s body, energy and soul was being deconstructed and nourished.

    As Raven''s consciousness attained a special state, he wasn''t aware that the cocoon surrounding him was emitting a dazzling radiance. Mystical lines filled with profound charms started appearing on its surface, forming Law Diagrams of all shapes and sizes. Whenever these diagrams were formed, they will begin nourishing every single cell on Raven''s body.

    Later on, these Law Diagrams will break down and will be a part of his special physique. In time, these diagrams will dissolve on Raven''s body, allowing him to gain insights and inspiration in hisws.

    ***

    In a special space inside the Ancestral Pce, eight silhouettes sat on a circle around the small pond of water. Their eyes were focused on the pond as it showed scene what Raven did inside the cultivation Eden.

    One of the silhouettes roared inughter as he said: "What a kid! He actually got the initial stages of [Myriad Incarnations Scripture] from that miserly Geezer!"

    "Right. And from what I can tell, it shouldn''t be just that. Geezer should''ve given him more. He must''ve liked this kid a lot."

    "I got a word from Geezer." One of them informed, "He said that the kid actually paid respects to him and epted him as his Master. Clever kid not only got baptized from Spacetime, he also got the initial stages [Voidwalking Manual] and [Myriad Incarnations Scripture]. He also got [99 Destruction Seals] and [99 Holy Seals]."

    Hearing this caused the rest to be astounded, all of them had smiles on their faces.

    "This kid''s luck is too good!"

    "I''m more surprised that the Old Geezer was actually that generous."

    "Right? All of us had to work our asses of in order to get those inside the pce, yet he already got them this early."

    "He only got the initial parts. Plus, cultivating those things would be too expensive. Not to mention that there are still more waiting for him. Everything that Geezer left are essential for him to create the third chapter."

    "Yeah, but that should still solidify his foundations even more. If that happened to us, then maybe we could''ve finished creating the third chapter."

    "How can it be that easy?" Astrid chimed in, "Even with so much time and so many Avatars, didn''t we all fail? But I agree with your conjecture."

    "The only one who got so close was Little 8th. All of us were too far from it even with all the techniques he left."

    Inos chuckled and said: "The opportunity came toote. I was already on the verge of dissipating when I got insights. Still, I''m confident about Raven''s chances."

    "Well, it would really be good if he could finish it." One of them sighed, "We''re at out most pitiful states, we can''t even go out of here without the threat of dissipating almost immediately. All we could do is to asionally give him pointers."

    "Imparting Law Insights should never be done so casually." The other silhouette added, "Even if we''re are at better states, the help we can give to him is very minimal. Ultimately, he had to forge his way through this path by himself. Whether he seeds or not, there''s nothing we can do aside from wait."

    "At least for now, his safety shouldn''t be a problem. With his Spacetime Laws and the techniques he has, so long as he cultivated them diligently, escaping from danger should be simple for him."

    "Hmm?" One of the silhouettes raised a brow as he watched the Law Diagrams forming on the cocoon around Raven. "All of you, look at those Law Diagrams."

    As soon as he said this, everyone started paying attention to thew diagrams. When the saw the mystical lines and images forming around the cocoon, their faces changed.

    "Are those¡­"

    "I think they are¡­but isn''t this going to be troublesome for him?"

    "Oh I don''t know about this. This might he extremely beneficial or it might be disastrous for him."

    "Well, there''s nothing we can do. We have rules to follow."

    "Let it be a form of tempering for him then."

    Thank goodness Raven couldn''t hear them and see what''s going on around him, or else he would''ve already shed tears from the troublesome matter that''s about to fall onto him.

 Chapter 418 - Physique And Clouds

    ---

    Raven''s breakthrough thissted for a full three days.

    During his time inside the cocoon, Raven wasn''t aware of any changes that are happening around him. He entered a special state ofplete emptiness. He had no thoughts, no memories, no desires, he couldn''t even remember what his name is or the basic functions of breathing.

    Spending time inside the cocoon, Raven''s body slowly formed. The first to be created was his soul. After going through another round of reconstruction, his soul emitted a pure and dazzling brilliance. The aura it emanated felt holy and lofty,pletely untouchable and invible.

    Next was his physical body. Strands of Cosmic Energy condensed and formed a cell, which then rapidly divided until his entire physical body manifested. Because of the sheer purity of Cosmic Energy, every single cell on Raven''s body was baptized and transformed into the limits of perfection that he could currently possess.

    His blood was too potent that it emits faint brilliance, his bones were almost crystalized, allowing him to erupt with a shocking force which seeming impossible for his size. His veins and blood-vessels were translucent and flexible. His energywork seems to have been made out of crystals, they were tough and wide, capable of withstanding the intensity and might of Cosmic Energy.

    Each of his muscles were tight andpact, it was as if he was carved by a divine sculptor. His jaw line was strong, his brows were sharp, his eyshes could make most women envious, as well as his deep, aqua-marine colored hair.

    If one studied Raven''s physique closely, they would encounter a stunning realization that each pore on his body contained Law Diagrams. Each of thesew diagrams were akin to lotuses slowly blooming and revolving, emitting endless possibilities and profundities.

    All sorts of mystical and profound Law Diagrams were present on each piece of his body. Forming a unique physique that would make numerous people green from envy. It had to be known that thesew diagrams will eventually dissolve and turn into profound insights that would help Raven''s progress smoother in the future.

    An individual''s Champion''s Physique signifies one''s foundations. The better physique one has, the smoother their progress would be in the future. To others, this stage is the start of the watershed. Most Knights either purposefully slowed down in this stage or permanently stopped here. Those who slowed down, will try to enhance their Law Insights as much as possible before breaking through, that way, when the timeses for them to condense a physique, it would be of much better quality.

    For those who were trapped here, they were divided into two groups: those who epted their fates, and those who are unwilling. The ones who epted their fates would either live as a hermit in peace and pass away in meditation or they would roamed the world and do what their heart desires.

    Those who were unwilling, would either continue walking down their path and hope for more opportunities or would start cultivating from scratch once more.

    It could also be said that one''s potential and talent would be represented by the grade of Champion''s Physique they have.

    *Crack* *Crack!*

    Ear-splitting cracks sounded from the surface of the cocoon. As soon as the sound died down, it was followed by an earth-shattering explosion.

    A dazzling brilliance permeated within the sphere of Equinox Waters. A might swirl formed with Raven''s body at its center. Everything within the cocoon and the cocoon itself was absorbed by Raven''s body. Strangely enough, not a drop of Equinox Waters were absorbed by this swirl.

    Then, a simple yet elegant skintight robes of ck golden silk formed and hugged Raven''s strong body. This robes are made out ofws itself, they are formed by Raven''s insights alone and it could repair itself as long as Raven wills it.

    Raven''s eyes then snapped open. His eyes were like torches of light for a brief moment before they recovered their usual golden colored pupils.

    He then felt something propelling his body forwards, causing him to be ejected from the Equinox Water Sphere. His foot gently made contact with the ground and as soon as it did, a grand and majestic image of a divine lotus bloomed with him on the center.

    Raven''s body were then covered with a solemn and dignified brilliance of a violet-golden halo, representing the undisputed and fabled Perfected Deity Champion''s Physique.

    Anyone who realized that they managed to condense such a powerful physique, would surely feel an immense joy from the bottom of their hearts. This is understandable since those who could condense such physique are extremely rare. Only one out of ten million people would seed on doing so.

    Yet Raven didn''t feel any sort of jubnce as of the moment. He was eerily calm and even indifferent, it was almost as if he wasn''t surprised nor happy about this at all.

    After a moment of silence, Raven let out a sigh. His gaze were then directed towards the sky above him. Surprisingly, a strange development was happening within the clouds.

    "A Perfected Deity Champion''s Physique isn''t so easy to achieve. Not only does one need vast umtion and great lucky chances, one also has to be prepared. This sort of physique angers the envious Heavens, therefore it will send a mighty tribtion to those who manage to seed."

    *Tzzt!* *Tzzt!*

    As if confirming his words, the skies instantly darkened and ominous clouds formed above him. Snakes of multi-colored lightning hissed and slithered within the clouds, it seems that each of their movement were provoking and threatening Raven to despair.

    However, Raven wasn''t even moved nor afraid of this at all. Aside from his solemn expression, Raven didn''t feel any nervousness at all. His back remained straight, his hands were sped behind him as a golden wheel silently emerged behind him.

    *Tzzt!* *Tzzt!*

    As if angered by hisck of fear, the tribtion clouds emitted yet another threatening hisses, but Raven remained unmoved. He calmly gazed at the tribtion clouds and waited it''s descent.

    *Boom!!!*

    An arm thick lightning bolt unceremoniously descended without any warnings. Even the first bolt of lightning was already terrifying enough that it could instantly kill any Silver Knights, yet as a response, Raven casually send out a palm to meet it.

    This seemingly simple wave of Raven''s hand, in truth, contains potent amount of Destruction Energy. As his bare palm met the terrifying lightning bolt, instead of Raven being electrocuted, it was the lightning bolt that was destroyed instead, not even a spark of it remained.

    What Raven utilized just now, is the profound concept of Breaking stemming from his Destruction Laws. Upon reaching the acme of this concept, it allows him to break down the very structure of anything he touches, which precisely what happened to the lightning bolt instead. Of course it does have it''s own limitations, being Raven''s current strength. However in time, as Raven grows stronger, then he would be able to do this to almost everything.

    "What a mystical ce. It is actually capable of sending down Heavenly Tribtion. This means that this ce has its own Heavenly Laws as well, and from observations, it doesn''t seem to be any less than powerful than the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm."

    Heavenly Tribtions consisted nine sets of lightning strikes with each bolt stronger than thest. Each setsts for a total of nine lightning strikes and the kind of lightning changes in every sets. The first set contains the base form of lightning which contained Lightning Laws. As the process went on, the lightning sent down by the tribtion will get fiercer and stronger.

    Raven''s casual defense against these lightning strikes remained the same up until the fourth set. As soon as first bolt of fifth set descended, Raven could already feel the terrifying might exceeding the limits which his bare hand could endure, therefore he didn''t hesitate to use the Archaic Thousand Armed Wheel behind him to defend.

    One invisible palm formed in front of Raven, protecting him from the frightening assaults of lightning bolts. The ferocity of lightningws are in full disy right now. Not only were each of the bolts reached a kid''s waist in width, the lightningws fueling it were bing more and more aggressive.

    Even though Raven was defending himself right now, he could still feel the numbing sensation creeping all over his body. In truth, the residual impacts of these lightning strikes could already cause a moral''s eardrums to explode. Ordinary cultivators wouldn''t even be able to defend against such might, if they were on Raven''s current state, then they would''ve undoubtedly die by now.

    Halfway through the 5th set, Raven already added another palm from his wheel to defend himself. Another palm was added upon the start of the 6th set and another one descended halfway through the 6th set. This cycle went on and on until the final set emerged.

    The final set of tribtion clouds contained ck lightning with reddish glow. Even just the sight of this caused all of Raven''s being to feel threatened. Without holding anything back, he employed every method he got in order to endure the final set.

    Even with all of this, Raven still suffered from injuries but its still on the lighter side.. He only sighed in relief as soon as he saw the Tribtion Clouds dissipating.

 Chapter 419 - Kicked Out

    ---

    Raven slumped on the ground with a pale face. There a trail of blood on the corners of his lips. He wiped it of with his sleeves and entered a meditative state to ease up his injuries.

    ''What a Heavenly Tribtion.'' Raven sighed inwardly as he felt the aching parts of his body. ''I had an easy time defending against the earlier sets but when the 9th Set came down, I was forced to use multiple arms. Specially that final bolt! That ck lightning was as thick as tree''s trunk! Had I not used 100 arms to defend against that, I''m afraid that my injuries would be a lot worsepared to now.''

    The entirety of the 9th Heavenly Tribtion Set was meant to kill him. It was certainly not showing mercy. If it weren''t for Raven having a tool that could defend against those ck lightning bolts, then he would''ve probably died by now.

    Sufficed to say, even though he managed to defend against them. Raven was still injured from the assault. The berserk energy of Lightning Laws were wrecking havoc inside his body, causing his face visibly pale and his blood to tumble here and there.

    Raven circted his Cosmic Energy to ease up and heal his internal wounds, he was also using them to coax the Lightning Law Energies to dissipate without damaging his body even further. Just like what Geezer said, Cosmic Energy was very adaptive. It didn''t take long before the his energies altered and amodated the foreign energy inside his body.

    As he circted his Cosmic Energy some more, the foreign energies werepletely dissolved, turning into vague insights about Heavenly Tribtion Lightning. However, this basis is too shallow for Raven to analyze so he just threw it at the back of his mind.

    Once that''s done, a rosyplexion returned on his face. He breathed out some foul air and stood up from his meditation. He briefly stretched his body and silently admired the new found strength coursing through his body.

    Finally, a smile emerged from his face. Knowing that he made another great step towards being a true powerhouse cause him to feel gratified. At least his hard work was paying off.

    ''Still, it won''t be too good if I showed off my Perfected Deity''s Champion Physique. I should do something about this.'' He silently thought.

    He then procured some needles from his spatial ring and nted them deep into some abstruse spots on his body. This process wasn''t really painful and it won''t hinder Raven''s movement at all. After he finished cing at least twenty needles inside his body, a bizarre reaction rippled from his body.

    The violet-golden corona that emanated out of his body, slowly dimmed down into a bright golden gleam. This bright golden gleam represents a Perfected Immortal''s Champion Physique. Which is good enough to pass the initial requirements posed by the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    Raven did this out of caution, he knew that a human''s heart had the potential to be treacherous. In order for him to not suffer, then he must act a little low-key.

    Satisfied with his arrangements, Raven nodded to himself and took a good look around him.

    ording to what Geezer said, this ce is the Cultivation Eden. Now that Raven was here, he could feel that this is indeed, a very apt name for this ce. The energy density here is almost ten times thicker and purerpared outside. This ce also contained many resources that could be used in order to enhance one''s cultivation speed.

    Aside from the enormous neb of Equinox Waters behind him, he also found some altars, halls, arrays and so on. Raven was itching to visit those ces but he calmed himself down. Right now isn''t the time for that. Though, there''s one thing that really lit up a fire inside his chest.

    ''I could see numerous Stargazing Mats from here. Each of those mats could enhance my deduction skills by 50%! I wonder if it''s alright for me to leave my Avatars there?''

    Raven pursed his lips as he thought about this. What he didn''t know is that, the ce he was looking at was actually one, if not the most, important locations inside this cultivation eden. As of now, Raven still hadn''t thought that the previous inheritors also cultivated the Myriad Incarnations Scripture, and the reason why there''s tons of Stargazing Mats present here, is because they too used this ce to leave their Avatars behind in order to enhance their deduction skills.

    ''It should be fine right?'' Raven hesitated, ''This shouldn''t be considered as cheating. And its not like I won''t be able to enter this ce soon anyway? Plus my Avatars are just my Avatars, that shouldn''t be against the rules. Right?''

    Thinking up to here, an Avatar of his flew like a streak of light and sat on one of the Stargazing Mats without experiencing any obstructions. Seeing that his avatar wasn''t attacked nor hindered, Raven heaved a sigh of relief. Since his Avatar wasn''t hindered, then it should be fine. After all, he was aware that he was being monitored by the previous inheritors as well. If this wasn''t really allowed, then there''s no way that they wouldn''t hinder the Avatar from sitting there.

    Since this was he case, Raven didn''t held back. He sent all of his remaining Avatars and had them meditate using the Stargazing Mats. He then sent out an order to his Avatars¡­

    Two Avatars were ordered to meditate upon the profundity of the [99 Destruction Seals], he also had two avatars study the [99 Holy Seals] for now. Three of his Avatars were ordered to meditate upon the profundity of Spacetime Laws. Thest two were then ordered to polish his offensive skills. One would study the profundity of Wavefolding while the other would constantly practice Fist Skills.

    He waited for a bit and felt that the flow of his thoughts weren''t as messy as he initially thought it would, causing him to sigh in relief. At the same time, he also had nothing but endless praise towards the one who created such technique.

    It was truly heaven-defying, not even the most pampered son/daughters of heaven couldpare to him when ites to learning things with this. Not to mention that his Avatars could always scoop some waters from the Equinox Water Neb whenever they''re fatigued. What a massive opportunity this was¡­

    After he was done doing that, he could that he was being transported somewhere else, which momentarily stunned him yet he didn''t fought back against.

    When his vision adjusted, he found himself standing outside the Ancestral Pce. He was standing at his usual spot in front of the 80th pocket dimension. His connections with his Avatars were still there and he''s guessing that it would be the same even if he went outside of the crown''s space.

    Before he could even adjust, he could feel that he was once again being transported somewhere else, causing him to feel astounded.

    When he came to, he was back to the real world. More precisely, inside the cultivation room he prepared for his seclusion within the Martial Emperor Sect. A wry smile appeared on his face as he inwardly thought:

    ''Right, I somewhat overstayed within the crown space. I could only stay within for two days. I''m guessing that they already bent the rules for me in consideration of my breakthrough. Not to mention, I also left my Avatars within the Cultivation Eden. And this is without mentioning the time I spent being summoned by Master.''

    Raven gazed at the time table near him and saw that, in reality, his breakthrough didn''t really took that long. In fact, he came back within the same day as he disappeared.

    There''s only two weeks left before official start of the recruitment. He decided to stay inside for one more week here, which is equivalent to 35 days due to the temporal array he ced. After that, he would exit, since travelling towards the venue would take time.

    ording to what Raul informed him a while back, the venue that the Ancient Elysium Sect chose this time around is a ce called Azure Sun Great World.

    This ne is rtively close to the Blue Marble. ording to what Raul told him, this ce raised two Empyrean Knights which became the guardians of this ce. Due to this, the status of this ce rose to greater heights, making it more prosperous and more famous. It was unknown how many people travels there in order to seek out opportunities or pay respects to the Empyreans stationed there. Of course, there''s also people who were yearning to be epted as a disciple of the Empyreans yet such thing never happened before.

    Raul wasn''t certain if the two Empyreans of Azure Sun Great World had connections with the Ancient Elysium Sect. After all, other sects also does this thing where they rent a ce as a venue to recruit disciples.

    Needless to say, Azure Sun Great World is for sure bound to be extremely chaotic right now because the matter of Ancient Elysium Sect''s disciple recruitment isn''t some sort of secret at all??

 Chapter 420 - Exiting Seclusion

    ---

    "Holy shit!"

    This was Albert''s reaction upon seeing Raven for the first time after a long seclusion. The next one was¡­

    "Who the hell are you?"

    Aside from being stunned, Raven burst outughing as soon as he heard that question. He could still remember that this was the same question that Albert asked him upon their first meeting. Of course, Raven was aware that Albert''s just fooling around.

    Albert stared at Raven, inspecting him closely like some sort of an experimental object. He even ced a hand under his chin and circled Raven under his inspection. After a while, he hummed in approval and said:

    "Not bad. You can almost seduce every woman that willy eyes on you. That''s great!"

    "Yeah, fuck you too." Raven roared out inughter as he smacked Albert''s shoulders.

    "Thanks. At least, your mother would soon be the principal of your own kindergarten." Albert snorted as he said his obscenement. "You should at least get up to a 100 concubines even without lifting a finger. So long as your notzy, then you can establish a whole damn n by yourself! Aim high brother!"

    "Bullshit!" Ravenughed, "I''ve no time for such things. Plus, one wife is enough for me."

    "A damn shame it is then!" Albert recklesslymented, "Won''t you consider it? Your wife might be lonely by herself. You should at least take home a sister or ten! That way she''ll have someone to apany her."

    "Shut up dude!" Raven continuedughing, "My wife isn''t some random damsel in distress. Who knows? There might be a day when she could plunge her entire leg up your ass. You will regret making thesements then."

    "We will see." Albert grinned, "Anyway, if you haven''t told me that you''ve got a wife, I might even start thinking that you''re a monk or something. Hell, not even once did you go out from your seclusion! If I were in your position, I might''ve lost my mind already."

    "It''s not that bad." Raven smiled in a carefree manner. "If anything, these kinds of long term seclusion will be more and more frequent. After all, progress will be much harder from here on out. Not to mention, we also have to seek out enlightenments even more."

    "I envy your strong mentality." Albertmented in a straightforward manner. "One year might''ve passed outside but due to your array, you were inside for less than five years! That''s insanely long even for me! Not to mention that you didn''t even step outside to rx momentarily, I actually find it a miracle that you''re still sane in the head."

    "Well, I had to or else, I won''t have a chance in the recruitment." Ravenmented.

    In the entirety of Raven''s second life, this was the longest seclusion he had ever done. Practicing night and day, barely stopping in between, for less than five years could be tedious and boring for most people, specially the younger ones.

    However, how could they know that this was actually Raven''s second life? In his past life, entering a seclusion thatsted for hundreds or even thousands of years, was prettymon for him. His heart and will had been long tempered by the loneliness and dull repetition of his actions.

    Five years of seclusion is nothing by a passing thought for him.

    "Anyway, how''s the sect? Did anything happen while I was away?" Raven asked.

    "Same old, same old." Albert dismissively said, "It might be long for you but its just barely a year for us. Nothing much could really happen within that time frame. If anything, our n just solidified our position even more."

    "Right now, it''s as if no one even remembers that old tool that we dealt with. Everyone in the Blue Marble already epted that we are now the overlords of this area. We''re managing the sect pretty well. I''m not bragging when I said that some disciples think that we are more suited to run the sect rather than that dead fellow. As a result, we''re more cohesive now and the sect''s even doing betterpared before. So there''s nothing to worry about."

    "I see, that''s good then." Raven was relieved to hear that, he was initially worried that the Hignder n might face some difficulties managing the sect but it seems that his concerns were unnecessary.

    "Anyhow, you''ve just exited conclusion. You better eat something light and have plenty of rest. I''ll pass the message to Dad." Albert then looked at Raven with a strange smile and said: "Well, if you want to, I could also introduce you to some ''establishments'' which could allow you to vent out your pent up frustrations. I''m sure none of those beauties would mind since you''re just ''relieving your stress'' if you know what I mean."

    "Scram!" Raven yelled as heughed at Albert''s suggestions. Albert just shrugged and said¡­

    "Well, your loss then. Sigh, you really don''t appreciate the good intentions of this brother!" Albertughed as he waved off, swaggering towards Raul''s office. Leaving Raven to shake his head in his shamelessness.

    But Albert''s words were correct, even though Raven feels rtively fine, the truth is he needed a day or two topletely unwind. Even without him telling Raven what to do, thetter would do so anyway¡­

    In all honesty, even if Raven were to gopletely ballistic right now, he would still be rtively fine since his breakthrough was thoroughly consolidated anyway. Still, the best decision for him would be to spend a couple of days unwinding his stress in order to stabilize his soul.

    Going mad from long term seclusions is something that happened to many people before. Even though the stress doesn''t really affect their overall process, it is still harmful for their mentality, without firm and strong wills, it is easy to fall into a quagmire of madness during these times, and Raven isn''t willing to allow such thing to happen to him, even if the chances were close to none.

    ***

    ''Hmm, this [God ying Palm Art] is really profound.''

    Raven originally nned to use two days to unwind, but it ended up bing three days due to Raul''s arrangement. ording to him, he had to settle down some things before leaving so Raven''s rest was extended. Of course, Raven didn''t mind it much, so long as they could get to the venue in time, its fine for him.

    During these days, Raven ate, sleep and toured the Blue Marble by himself. Seeking out vistas, enjoying sceneries and delicacies while also basking on a peaceful and serene environments which reinvigorated his soul. He didn''t practice a thing throughout this time nor he meditated. He treated this days as his vacation, doing what he wanted without arousing any unnecessary attention to himself.

    These acts helped Raven to re-attune himself to reality and caused him topletely rxed.

    However, while he was enjoying the life of an immortal tourist, the same thing can''t be said for his Avatars.

    All nine of his Avatars are hard at work. Of course they do eat and rest at necessary times but their focus is toprehend and learn as much as they could.

    As he was rxing, Raven turned-off his connection with his Avatars during his vacation. He only opened them just now.

    It took Raven a whole hour in order to organize the insights that he received from his Avatars as soon as he connected with them. And just like this, Raven''s aura subtlety changed once more but this hardly visible to anyone at all.

    The [99 Destruction Seals] were endlessly profound. He hadn''t even studied the second seal, yet his Destruction Laws had already greatly benefitted from it. Though he alreadyid a solid foundation for the Breaking Concept, he could still feel that it is improving at an rming pace.

    As for the [99 Holy Seals], it was more confusing for him. By virtue, the [99 Holy Seals] were the stark contrast of his Destruction Laws, therefore his benefit from this was negligible. However, strangely enough, its profundity still benefitted his Destruction Laws at some point, only his progress to it was rtively slower than the previous seals.

    ''Wavefolding'' is another thing that made Ravenpletely helpless. Even though he was already using it for quite sometime, he still have no methods to peer into its true profundities as for now. Still this didn''t stop him from meditating over it.

    Lastly, the [God ying Palm Art]. His progress here was decent, as he already have his fist intent aiding him. Even though its posing a challenge right now, Raven was confident that he''ll be able to learn it in due time.

    After adjusting himself and arranging all of his insights neatly on his psyche. Raven let out a sigh and heard a knock on his door.

    "Your Excellency, Sect Master Raul is already waiting for you in the Transmission Array."

    Hearing this, Raven inhaled sharply and pushed the door open. He then nodded to the attendant and walked towards the ce where Raul and Albert was waiting for him. He calmed down his excitement as he solemnly thought¡­

    ''Alright Ancient Elysium Sect. Make things interesting for me, will you?''

 Chapter 421 - Azure Sun Great World

    ---

    Azure Sun Great World.

    One of therger nes in the Divine Realm which also has a bit of history and fame. All of this was due to the existence of two Empyrean Knights guarding and protecting this world.

    Empyrean Heaven yer - Howard Cromwell and Empyrean Void Obliterator - Gerald Maximilian, these two are the ones who propped up the heavens of the Azure Sun Great World.

    ording to history, these two were bosom friends and treated each other as eternal rivals. They always fought against each other and always tallied their wins and losses. If one broke through earlier than the other, the other would catch up shortly. Rumors said that their battle records remained even throughout theirpetition. Neither one was stronger than the other yet when they join hands, hardly anyone could match them.

    As they were both citizens of Azure Sun Great World, they decided to settle down here and make it prosper. Under their rule, the great world regained its vitality and rose to fame. They even built a sect called Twin Star Academy, with both of them ruling it.

    During these past few weeks, the Azure Sun Great World had experienced its most busiest period. The amount of social traffic was immense. Immortal Abodes, Royal Pnquins, honorable guests, youthful visitors and desperate people all flocked towards this ce, seeking entry in hopes of participating on a grand event which is going to happen a few days from now.

    What else is it other than the Ancient Elysium Sect''s Disciple Recruitment event?

    It wasn''t really clear whether, spreading this news to the rest of the world, was a good idea or a bad one. Needless to say, Azure Sun Great World became increasingly boisterous during these months.

    Well, it really couldn''t be helped. The fame and might of Ancient Elysium Sect is just too immense. News about them recruiting disciples had always been a big deal since it only urs once every five decades. Those who are hoping to be a disciple of the sect are just too many to count, but the badge that would give them rights to participate is just too few.

    Because of the demand is too highpared to the supply, it causes some people to be driven insane by their desperation. These people would set up schemes upon schemes in order to steal a badge just so that they could participate in the event. Due to this, the crime rate on Azure Sky rose to an unprecedented heights.

    That being said, if though many people died, no one dared to me the rulers of Azure Sun Great World. The first reason is due to them having two empyreans, and not just two ordinary empyreans, they have two empyreans that could coordinate well with each other. This alone is already a great deterrence for most visitors.

    Other worlds doesn''t even havea single Empyrean on their ranks, therefore they don''t have a say or the right to ask Azure Sun Great World for exnations.

    Another reason is because, the rise of crime rates isn''t really the fault of the Azure Sun Great World''s citizens, they''re merely allowing the Ancient Elysium Sect use their world as a venue and nothing more. Plus, people who came here are all aware that thepetition would be intense and there''s bound to be casualties. Since they still decided toe here even after knowing that, then they could only depend on themselves.

    ***

    At the eastern Transmission Gate of the Azure Sun Great World, great number of people were stilling out.

    All of these people came from numerous corners of the Divine Realm. As soon as they came out, they will go through a preliminary security check before they were allow to pass through, resulting on a great traffic of people.

    "Take him away!"

    "No! No! You can''t do this! This is nder!"

    "Shut up! This is not a ce where people like you coulde and go as you please!"

    "No! I refuse! Why should I be taken away! There must be something wrong here! I want to see your supervisor!"

    *Smack!*

    "Shut the fuck up! See my supervisor? Who the fuck do you think you are? A wanted criminal wants to see my supervisor? Hell, you''ll meet him alright! But not here. Take this guy away! Make sure he''s nice andfy as he waits for Chief!"

    "Roger!"

    "Noo!"

    "Next!"

    Such a scene certainly caught many people''s interest, yet all of their reactions vary. Some people sighed, others view it in contempt. Some people started feeling nervous, while the other couldn''t care less.

    "That fool. I don''t know whether I admire him for his audacity or me him for his stupidity."

    "There''s a famous saying, ''don''t underestimate what a person can do when they''re desperate''. I used to take this lightly before but now I changed my mind."

    "Well, who could really me him for being desperate? This is the Ancient Elysium Sect were talking about. If I were on his position, I''m afraid I''ll do worse than that."

    "Can''t help it. The chance is just too alluring. Even if we don''t end up as a disciple, the benefits we''ll get will still be worth the visit."

    "I agree. Thest time I was here, I could only watch as those participants gain one opportunity after another. Hopefully we could grab a chance this time around."

    "Yeah, let''s hope so."

    ***

    "Woah. Isn''t this a bit exaggerated?" Albert couldn''t help eximing after seeing what happened just now.

    Currently, him, Raven and Raul along with some bodyguards, were queuing up the line and waiting for their turn to be inspected.

    "No it is not exaggerated. Not even the slightest bit." Raul sighed, "Due to the great number of people who wants to participate, of course they have to filter out some people. Thepetition is already heated even though it hasn''t started yet. Due to this, the crime rate will increase, and in order to somehow control that, its imperative to make some countermeasures."

    ''So that''s why you told Raven not to casually bring out his badge.'' Albert replied using voice transmission.

    ''Exactly.'' Raul sent back.

    Raven who was standing behind then remained silent. He heard what the two were talking about and of course understood why Raul gave him such warning. However, Raven wasn''t really worried or nervous. Instead, he felt serene and just watched everything unfold like it has nothing to do with him.

    He''s purposefully staying low profiled as of the moment, though his expression was serene in truth, he''s actually alert all this time. As soon as they left the Blue Marble, he''s already like this.

    Raven doesn''t know if Albert was aware of it but he''s sure that Raul could sense it as well.

    From the moment they queued up in this line, some people were already inspecting them, and it certainly wasn''t the guards.

    The methods of some people are sometimes very resourceful and quite rude. It is a unspoken rule that one shouldn''t casually spy on some people lest they were given permission. Needless to say, those rules were surely meant to broken specially on events like this.

    The Badge that Ancient Elysium Sect provided for its participants gives off a unique aura. Even though their senses couldn''t prate the contents of others'' spatial ring, some people could actually sense the remnant aura of the badge on a person''s body or belongings, therefore allowing them to know who has a badge or not.

    Thankfully, Raven hadn''t touched the badge ever since the first time that he revealed it to Raul. Since it has been a long time since then, all the residual aura from badge had already dissipated from his body, which should somehow minimize the suspicion of these rude people.

    However, one could never really be too sure about something¡­

    The line unceremoniously went on until it was finally their turn. After a brief inspection, they got through without a hitch and were now marching towards the capital while riding a chariot.

    Raul''s chariot was driven by four Herculean Horses, a top breed of horses that could travel for long periods of time without breaks.

    Only the three of them remained inside the chariot, the rest of the guards were outside in order to watch out for any assants.

    "Finally away from those rude people." Raven sighed as he rested his back against the seat.

    "Rude people?" Albert tilted his head in confusion.

    "He was talking about those people who were spying on everyone." Raul replied as he too sighed on his seat, "You really know how to rx huh? Do you still think that we''re in Blue Marble? You''re not even aware that some people were deliberately scanning every nook and cranny of your body."

    Hearing his father''s admonishment caused Albert to feel rather embarrassed but also chilly inside. "My bad. I was just a little careless. I won''t happen again."

    "Hmph! You''re lucky that we''re around and that you weren''t the one holding a badge. Otherwise, you''ll die without knowing how." Raul snorted.

    "Sect Master!" Raul suddenly heard some guards moring and calling out to him. "Some people are fighting not too far away from us. Should we make a detour?"

    After hearing that, the three people inside unknowingly tensed up.

 Chapter 422 - Azure Sun City

    ---

    The three people inside the chariot weren''t really surprised about a fight breaking out. Due to the special situation in the Azure Sun Great World, it was destined for this ce to be chaotic.

    What really made them tensed up, is the fact that the one''s who were shing not too far from them, aren''t simple characters.

    Their senses had long prated out from the chariot as means to see what''s happening in front. Raven''s regr sensing range isn''t as long as Albert nor Raul''s, in order topensate with that, Raven activated his ocr technique.

    Upon its activation, Raven''s perspective of the world suddenly shifted.

    The world became colorful, his vision became broader and prated everything that obstructed him from seeing the thing he wanted to see. He could see some silhouettes moving fast that they turn into a blur. He could also see the ripples caused by their sh as well as the destructive range of their attacks.

    Due to Geezer''s advice, Raven started paying more attention to his ocr technique. Well, he got the name correct for once.

    It turns out that his usage of Crystal Sky Eye could only be described as extremely barbaric, a waste of a heavenly gift. ording to the information that Geezer imparted him about this ocr technique, Crystal Sky Eye is extremely powerful and his usage of it before is only scratching its surface.

    ''Under the gaze of the Crystal Sky Sage, everything would be revealed.'' This was the most famous quotes of the ones who had seen the creator of this technique using it.

    Not only did this technique enhances ones visual prowess to an astonishing degree, it could allow one''s true nature to be revealed. Illusions and disguises are nothing but a mere joke in front of this technique, even the subtlest ripple of energy would not be able to escape under its gaze.

    And just like what the quote says, everything shall be revealed. Not even the Heavenly Laws could hide behind this eyes. Which is something that shouldn''t be possible yet its true.

    Unfortunately, Raven hadn''t got the chance to train it well. For now, he unlocked its Supreme Visual Prowess, Emotion Sensing, and Greater Illusion Immunity. As for the rest of its benefits, that would naturally be unlocked the more he practices it.

    And so, with the help of his Crystal Sky Eye technique, he was able to see what''s happening even better than Albert and Raul.

    It turns out that the ones who were fighting in front are from two camps. The ones who were making thergest impacts are two elders who are at least Immortal Knight Emperors. Judging from their earth-shaking sh, it seems that neither camp will stop unless the other party was wiped out.

    This is why the three of them started feeling nervous.

    "Make a detour quick!" Raul roared from inside the chariot. "Everyone, make sure that you do not, and I mean do not, re your energies unless its necessary! Stay alert and go!"

    After saying this, Raul gestured the two to sit down and the chariot started making a detour. The atmosphere inside the chariot turned a bit solemn, none of them spoke a word nor released any energy at all.

    The current situation is a little dangerous for them. Even as a Knight Monarch himself, Raul doesn''t even know if he could protect himself once an Immortal Knight Emperor appears.

    On normal situations, they shouldn''t be in danger. However, because their chariot went a little too close to the sh, both parties might think that they were reinforcements sent by the other party. If this happens, then they would be forcibly dragged onto this mess whether they like or not.

    Retreating is not an option either. It was most likely that they were already sensed by the two Immortal Knight Emperors even before the driver saw the sh happening. If they retreated, these two would definitely think that they''re calling for reinforcements, therefore their escape path would definitely be blocked.

    The safest option is to keep a low profile and to silently make a detour. Doing this shall pass the message that their sh doesn''t have anything to do with them and that they''re pretending to see nothing. That being said, this isn''t really a fool-proof n. But in this situation, this is best choice Raul could make.

    The chariot made a detour, slowly widening the distance between them and the shing parties by hundreds of kilometers, yet even with that distance, the shockwaves of the sh could still be felt.

    Raven kept his ocr technique active, his visual range is extended to a mile around him. Since his ocr technique doesn''t really create arge energy ripple, he waspletely safe to keep an eye out.

    He would''ve loved to watch the sh between two Immortal Emperor Powerhouses but due to the distance and their current situation, he couldn''t do that. Additionally, some powerhouses have a very entric or treacherous temperaments. Raven was aware that they shouldn''t offend either of them since they might not be able to bear the consequences.

    After making a detour and widening the distance between them and the shing parties, the three involuntarily sighed in relief. With their current distance, everything should be safe now. Not to mention that the capital of Azure Sun Great World is near to where they are. With this in mind, they could finally rx.

    "Are they fighting for a badge?" Albert asked his father after a moment of silence.

    "Maybe. Maybe not." Raul shrugged, "From what I saw, the parties were from different sects. From their reaction, their sects should have a vendetta against each other. I don''t know if its a dispute due to a badge or they just was to skin each other alive."

    "Well, I''m d that we''re out of there." Raven sighed, "Damn, Immortal Knight Emperors huh? Good thing that they weren''t exerting their full force or else their sh would''ve swept us too."

    "I agree." Raul nodded solemnly, "Hopefully, they won''t overdo it. Or else, they would rm the Empyreans guarding this ce."

    Albert and Raven nodded at this notion. Even the guards outside were hoping in their hearts that this situation won''t get out hand simply because when that happens, they might get caught in this situation.

    ***

    Azure Sun City.

    This ce is the capital of the Azure Sun Great World, it is also where the main event will take ce and undoubtedly the most popted ce, specially right now, at the Azure Sun Great World.

    Flying is not allowed in the capital. Fights are also not allowed as well as anything that has to do with disturbing the serenity of the capital. Only a few people are exempted from this simple rules but even so, they would be punished ording to thews set by the Empyreans themselves.

    That being said, things could really get out hand, specially now that a major event is bound to happen in three days. Of course, none would openly vite this rules, but humans could get really resourceful.

    The Twin Star Academy is also situated in this ce, located at the very center of the capital.

    Currently, a few people are seated in front of long, rectangr table. Each of them were wearing dignified expressions, at the same time some people are also visibly exhausted or stressed out.

    "I don''t really know what to think about this event." One bald guy spoke in a solemn manner. "On one hand, I am extremely honored that our world could be the host of a such a grand event. On the other, I am feeling rather vexed due to the chaos it causes to our citizens."

    "Ipletely sympathize with how you feel Deputy Head." A gorgeous woman replied, her delicate face expressed a deep frown. "The amountins I am receiving daily during this past two months are haunting me even in my sleep."

    "You got easy Mistress." Another guy with a long beard said in aining voice. "Do you know how many people had been visiting me to probe about the event? They just don''t stop! Some of them are even threatening to wipe out my entire bloodline. I can''t even sleep properly anymore."

    "I''m the same as you. Although instead of probing me about the events, they''re trying to see if there are some excess badges. Some of them even wanted to search my spatial rings because they don''t believe me! I can''t sleep nor even take a single step outside without fearing for my life."

    Almost everyone in the table expressed the suffering that they experienced during these past months due to this event. The whole gradually descended into chaos. Someone then smacked the table to get everyone''s attention.

    "Alright folks." The mediator spoke, "Yes we all suffered from this, and yes we understand each others'' pain. Unfortunately, there''s nothing we can do about it. And frankly, I think we should just endure it. Remember that we are not doing this for free. The Ancient Elysium Sect told the Deans that all of us will receive-"

    *Bang!*

    "I''m sorry to interrupt you everyone, but we have a situation." The guy who broke through the door eximed in a distressed manner. He inhaled sharply before saying¡­

    "The Envoys of Ancient Elysium Sect areing."

 Chapter 423 - Prelude To A Fierce Competition

    ---

    During one afternoon in the Azure Sun Great World, a hugemotion thrown people into hubbubs of discussion.

    An enormous shadow almost covered the entirety of the Azure Sun Capital without any warning, effectively rming a lot of people.

    "Look! What in the world is that!?"

    "Is that a freaking ship?"

    "No, its actually look more like a floating continent."

    "Who are these people? Are they here to go to war?"

    "You fools! That''s no enemy! Look at the g!"

    "Oh shit! They''re here! The Envoys of Ancient Elysium Sect are finally here!"

    "Wow! What a grand show of power! Ancient Elysium Sect really deserves their reputation."

    "The Twin Star Academy are opening up their arrays."

    "Could this ship even fit in there?"

    "Maybe it can shrink like most abodes?''

    "Yeah, it should be like that."

    A crowd of people from the Twin Star Academy flew up in the skies and formed a line to wee the arrival of envoys. And just like what people guessed, the ship carrying the envoys started shrinking and shrinking at an rming pace until it turned small enough to fit on one''s palm.

    As soon as the ship shrank, three people emerged from it. Each of them carried a deep and unfathomable aura, causing many people to be unable to look at them directly. The three of them wore unique uniforms. A deep maroon robes with ck-golden linings. All uniforms had an eye-catching crest on its back and every single one of them were wearing a badge that looked just like the one the most people below are scrambling to get.

    "We Elders of Twin Star Academy, wee the Envoys from Ancient Elysium Sect."

    The rumbling voice of the elders caused the people below to be stunned. Hubbubs of whispers emerged soon after but none of the people below were paid attention by those who were flying above.

    "Elders are too polite. This junior appreciates your warm wee." The man in the middle spoke with a calm voice.

    His face was that of a gentleman who''s at the peak of his youth, he carried a bit of a schrly aura yet he also emanated an unfathomable aura just like the older people beside him.

    "This junior''s name is Henry, to my right is Elder Felton and to my left is Elder Norman. We are tasked by the sect to preside over this years disciple recruitment."

    "Wee to Azure Sun Great World, Childe Henry, Elders Felton and Norman. I am the Deputy Head of Twin Star Academy, just address me as Philip. You three must be exhausted from a long trip, please follow me inside, I''ll arrange rooms for you."

    "Thank you Sire, we appreciate it." Henry smiled warmly, the three of them then followed the Elders of Twin Star Academy inside and disappeared from the view of the people below.

    As soon as they disappeared, the crowd once again descended into a fit of discussions.

    "Those people are formidable!"

    "Really? I don''t agree actually. I think they''re just putting on airs on the Twin Star Academy."

    "No, you don''t understand." The other red at hispanion, "That is called confidence brought by bearing and background."

    "He''s right. If we were on the same shoes as that guy, we will act the same, heck we might even be more overbearingpared to him."

    ¡­.

    "See that child? The one called Henry?" A old man secretly whispered to his student. "Whatever you do, never take him as an enemy."

    "Please enlighten me Master." The student replied with a zing gaze.

    "I''ve told you this many times didn''t I? Never judge a book by its cover." The old man sighed, "Not to mention you, even I, your Master wouldn''t able to endure five full-powered strikes from him. Be good, and just follow my orders."

    Hearing his Master''s words shocked the student deeply. "How can that be? Master must be jesting with me. You''re an almighty expert, how could someone like him be your match? He''s not even an Empyrean!"

    "That''s why I told you to never judge a book by its cover!" The old man sigh, "Forget it. Just listen to me and don''t offend that guy. You can take him as an ally but never as an enemy, do you hear me?"

    The youth was still a bit unreconciled but he still nodded his head.

    ¡­

    "What do you think?" A man with a long grey beard, asked the man beside him.

    "Formidable!" The man replied with eyes shining, "Extremely formidable! Specially that guy called Henry. It''s as if he''s a slumbering God Beast!"

    The gray bearded man nodded and said: "I have confidence on you. So long as you pass their test, then it won''t be hard for you to reach his stage."

    "Thanks for your kind words Master. Don''t worry, this disciple won''t let you down. I am aiming for the top after all."

    "Mm!"

    ¡­

    "I''m afraid that just one of those Elders could raze our entire into shambles. What a sect though!"

    "Mm! This is why we have to get in no matter what! So long as we passed the tests, then our faiths will be reversed. If we perform well, then the problems facing our home will be fixed."

    "Right! We must do our best Sister."

    ¡­

    "Hmph! How arrogant! Hmph!"

    "Right, right! How dare they be arrogant in front of young master!? They didn''t even extend their greetings to you! What audacity!"

    "Hmph! It doesn''t matter! Isn''t it just some test? Watch this young master pass it with flying colors! Hmph! Let''s see if he dares to be arrogant once this Young Master ranks first!"

    "Right, right! Young Master will surely prevail! Hail Young Master! Allow this servant to congratte you for getting the top ranking!"

    "Hmph!"

    ¡­

    "I have to get in!"

    "I will get in!"

    "This is myst chance! I have to be epted as a disciple! Damn! Damn it all! I don''t care anymore! I''ll get in no matter what!"

    "Wait for me Junior Sister! I''ll free you from the hands of that demon even at the cost of my life! Hang on just a bit longer!"

    "I''ll keep my promise no matter what! We''ll be together once more!"

    ¡­

    "Hehehehe. What a good Ancient Elysium Sect! You even sent a living War God right here!"

    "Hehe, how kind. I wonder what kind of face you will make once you will make once you realizes that I''m here? Hehehe."

    "I can''t wait."

    ¡­

    "How''s your preparations?"

    "All nice and ready. In fact, I can hardly wait for it to start!"

    "Mm! d to hear that. Remember to not bite more that what you can chew. Its fine even if you fail, you''re still young after all."

    "Well, don''t jinx it!" The youth groaned, "Whatever. I''ll do my best, but seeing the ones who are participating really gives me confidence! I think I can make it pretty far."

    "Yeah, yeah. I hope that those won''t be your famousst words."

    "Hmph, this is why no girls wants to be with you."

    "What did you say!?"

    "Nothing!"

    ¡­

    Inside one of the inns in the Azure Sun Capital, Raven and his group just came back from watching all of themotion outside. Seeing the Ancient Elysium Sect''s disy of power somewhat shocked Raven inwardly.

    ''They brought a freaking war ship with them! Weren''t they afraid of being misunderstood by the Empyreans of Azure Sun Great World?''

    ''And those people they sent.'' Raven''s mind recalled the faces and demeanors of the men from the famous sect, his heart couldn''t help but be startled. ''I thought I was already overestimating Ancient Elysium Sect''s power, but who would''ve thought that I''m still underestimating them.''

    ''That guy called Henry. If I''m not wrong, then he should be a War God. He''s not an Empyrean at all but I''m afraid that some Empyreans couldn''t even match him. He''s too formidable.''

    "How is it, Nephew Raven? Eye-opening right?"

    "Very eye-opening Uncle." Raven nodded emotionally, "That ship of theirs should be a War Ship right?"

    Raul blinked and smiled, "I didn''t expect you to know about it, but yes. It is a War Ship. I believe it''s called the Almighty Olympus War Ship. It is rather famous due to its speed and defensive capabilities. I heard somewhere that the ship can travel to even the most dangerous ces in the Divine Realm. However, this ship is actually just one of the inheritances of the sect, its not even ranked at the top."

    "Really? Then what is in the top then?" Albert asked with wide eyes.

    "I''m not sure as I''m not a disciple of the sect, but if the rumors are true, then it should be extremely valuable. If Nephew could pass the tests and be a disciple, then you should do your best to get hold of that."

    "Well, I''ll think about it once I managed to pass. There''s no use on yearning for it if its not meant to be." Raven replied solemnly.

    "True. Anyway, you shouldn''t go out until the start of the recruitment." Raul advised.

    Raven nodded to his words and went back to his room in order to calm down his excitement.

 Chapter 424 - Start!

    ---

    It was the day.

    Just as when everyone was about to go towards the Twin Star Academy in order to participate for the Ancient Elysium Sect''s disciple recruitment. Something happened that shocked the entire Azure Sun City.

    *Weng!*

    A massive and rming fluctuation of energy swept through the entirety of the Azure Sun City. Those who carried the badges felt that the item on their hands emitting a strange heat.

    Without any further warnings, all badge owners who were at the city were then transported by an irresistible force. Many people panicked at this scenario but the surprise was just starting.

    After the disappearance of every badge owners, a solemn and dignified voice echoed across all corners of the city.

    "In the name of I, Heavenly Sword War God - Henry, announce that the disciple recruitment of Ancient Elysium Sect has now formally started."

    "Friends and family of those who owned the official badges, please do not worry. All of them are safe and sound. They are now gathered into a designated ce for them in order to finalize their participation. Those who wanted to watch how their children, disciples orpanions perform, please enter the Twin Star Academy. There are people waiting to receive you and they will bring you to a ce where you can see their performance."

    Hearing this message pacified the paranoia caused by the sudden disappearance of participants. Due to this assurance, people that has connections with the participants are now going in droves towards the Twin Star Academy to watch the tests. It was then that Henry''s voice suddenly echoed once again.

    "The number of those who possess the badges are 100 people. All of them were fated and earned the rights to participate on the tests we prepared for this event. However, this doesn''t mean that they are already disciples of our sect."

    "As facilitators of the exams, we know that the number of badges are exceedingly scarce. Majority of you arrive at this ce after going through a lot things, it would be a pity to send you home without giving you a chance. Therefore, we will give those who doesn''t own any badge, a chance to participate with the tests."

    As soon as Henry said this, everyone felt the ground shaking. After that, arge tunnel covered by a curtain of light suddenly emerged from the ground. This tunnel was located near the entrance of the Twin Star Academy. Many eyes were attracted by this tunnel, most of them were confused but Henry started exining once more.

    "A tunnel emerged near the entrance of the Twin Star Academy. This tunnel leads towards where the official participants are located and it will only stay open for five days. Those who wanted to participated can go inside and try their luck. If you can manage to arrive where the official participants are located, then you''ll be given a badge and thus allowing you to participate with the exams."

    "Remember, this tunnel will only remain open for five days. Once the five days are over, it will copse on its own. Enter at your own discretion. Us and the official participants will wait until thest contender appears. Once everyone is gathered, the next stage of the exams will begin."

    ***

    ''Oh dear. I hope Albert doesn''t get too hyped up and participate with that chaotic arrangement.''

    ''Well, he already has the Martial Emperor Sect behind him, and he''s already a Saint Knight so I don''t know if he will/could still participate but even so, I hope he wouldn''t join.''

    This is what Raven''s thoughts were after hearing the words of Henry.

    At first he was surprised by the sudden changes around him. Even though he remained on-guard, he still felt that irresistible force that transferred him here. When his vision adjusted, he found himself standing inside a wide and open hall filled with a hundred people including himself.

    All of them were still reeling at the fact that they were transported without any warnings when they heard Henry''s voice.

    Raven''s first thought was to prevent Albert from participating from such a chaotic event. Unfortunately, it seems that this hall has no exists aside from a portal nearby which he presumed where the additional participants wille through. He tried sending a message to Raul using a messaging talisman but found out that they weren''t working. Therefore, he can only hope that Raul will prevent Albert from participating.

    His senses already swept through everyone here and saw that all of them are Champion Knights. Which somehow gave him an idea that Saint Knights aren''t allowed to participate but even in the smallest chance that they were allowed, he still didn''t want Albert jumping into the fray.

    That arrangement of Henry was bound to extremely chaotic. The amount of people who would want to participate reaches hundreds of thousands of people. In front of an alluring prospect, the ugliness of human nature was bound to surface. Disputes and betrayals were surely bound to happen. Many people will lose their lives inside that tunnel and even though Albert is strong, he''s alone. He''s not like Raven who, with the help of Spacetime Laws, coulde and go as he pleases. Therefore, he didn''t wish for him to participate in that chaotic mess.

    Sighing in helplessness, he could only hope for the best. He then walked to a corner of the hall, sat down and rested. They still needed to wait five days before the next stage of the exams, and they have nothing to do so Raven chose to rx.

    He took out a soft mat and rested on it while leaning onto a nearby wall. He was reading a book whilst drinking tea from a gourd.

    Unbeknownst to him, his actions were witnessed by some people. Some snorted in disdain, some were interested, some chose to copy him, while the others remained indifferent from it and minded their own business.

    Even though he wasn''t aware that he caught the attention of some people, he could still feel their gazes on him. He ignored their stares and also minded his own business.

    Time passed just like this, after a few hours, the first batch of people finally emerged from the tunnel.

    Raven''s senses swept through then and saw that Albert was none of them, so he rxed. He no longer paid any attention to them and returned his attention back to the book he''s reading. Minutester, someone disturbed his serenity¡­

    "Excuse me brother¡­"

    Raven''s lifted up and saw a rough looking man ring his clean set of white teeth at him. He then raised a brow and the man spoke once more.

    "Very sorry to disturb you, I just can''t help it." The man scratched the back of his head and continued: "You see, I was caught extremely surprised by the sudden transportation. It left me unprepared, therefore I have nary a jug of water with me. I was wondering if you have some excess and are willing to share some with me."

    Raven briefly inspected this man. His ocr technique activating for a brief second before deciding. He then took out another gourd from his spatial ring and passed it to the guy. The man thenughed and happily received the gourd, he even intruded Raven''s personal space and sat down in front on him while takingrge gulps of liquid from the gourd.

    The man then let out a surprised gasp after drinking¡­

    "Good water! I wasn''t expecting to taste the waters from a Pure Life Spring. And its even contained in a bottomless gourd! Nice. Thanks a lot brother!"

    A smile suffused Raven''s face as he replied: "You''re wee."

    "Oh right!" He man eximed, scratching his head full of short ck hair. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jason Sigmus. Can you tell me yours brother?"

    "Raven Valorheart."

    "Ah, so it''s Brother Raven. Nice to meet you." Jasonughed as he happily drank from the bottomless gourd once more.

    *Bang!* *Crash!*

    Sounds of things breaking and strong fluctuations of energy suddenly erupted from the hall. Startling everyone inside.

    "The hell is your problem man!?"

    "I don''t like the way you look. That''s my problem."

    "Are you fucking serious?"

    "Yeah I am. Which also why you have to die. Pretty boys should just die."

    This weird interaction caused the people inside the hall to exchange nces and react in different ways. Some people watched with interest while the rest shook their heads and no longer paid attention to them, these people included Raven.

    "Haha, what a dude." Jason watched briefly before shaking his head and returning his attention to Raven. "I don''t what''s their deal but they might be in a lot of pain if they continue."

    Raven looked at Jason with interest and said: "Oh? How can you tell?"

    Jason smirked and pointed at someone. "See that guy over there?"

    Raven followed where he pointing and saw a man who''s quietly meditating on his spot. He then nodded his head towards Jason. Thetter then said:

    "If they continue shing like that, then that guy will surely kill them."

    Hearing his words stunned Raven for a brief moment.. An interested expression appeared on his face as he focused on the events that will happen next.

 Chapter 425 - Wierd Development

    ---

    "Die pretty boy!"

    "Fuck you madman!"

    *Boom!* *Crash*

    The sh between the two people in conflict turned increasingly fierce. Their weapons were already out and each blows they did was meant to kill.

    This sh undoubtedly disturbed some people''s serenity, making unable to rx in peace and forced to watch their petty squabble. Raven and Jason were also watching in interest.

    It was unknown who but someone''s attacknded not too far from the person that Jason identified earlier. The attack came dangerously close to him, yet thankfully it didn''t hit him. Still, the resting man was definitely rmed and were forced to wake up from his meditation.

    The man''s face twisted in anger, it didn''t take him long before he saw the two guys shing not too far from him. He stood up from his spot and said something:

    "You two imbeciles." His cold remark startled the shing guys, causing both of them to look at him.

    "What did you say!?" The pretty boy aggressively said.

    "Great, another pretty boy. Looks like you''re courting death as well." The unreasonable guy said as he brandished his de.

    The man didn''t say anything else. Instead, his lips turned into a pout and he started blowing mist towards the two guys fighting.

    The mist arrived very quick, so much so that it caught the two unprepared. Before they could even retreat from the mist, their bodies visibly froze.

    In next to no time, their bodies were already encased in ice. Their faces still held those expressions of rm and fear. The man snorted and instantly, the ice were pulverized. Not even a drop of blood could be seen from his victims. The powdered ice scattered with the wind and left a shiny ck badge while restpletely disappeared, leaving the rest of the contenders shivering in rm.

    The man scoffed and went back to his seat and meditated once more, seemingly unaware of the fearful gazes being thrown at him.

    The hall was quiet, those who witnessed this event silently took note of that man who just killed the two participants. Those who were acquainted with each other started a heated discussions through voice transmissions.

    Raven who was watching this were a bit surprised as well. He then saw Jason grinning at him while saying: "See? What did I tell you?"

    "You know him?" Raven asked while raising a brow.

    Jason scratched his head and said: "Well, not personally. But he''s pretty famous you know."

    "His name is Ryan Northson. People often call him the Pale Ice Prince. He''s a son of an Empyrean." Jason introduced while lowering his voice.

    Raven tried recalling his old memories to see if he could remember something about Ryan but he had no recollection of him at all. However, he could still tell that the guy was very formidable.

    Jason went closer to him and whispered: "Actually, he''s famous not because he''s a son of an Empyrean. He''s famous because ording to rumors, he has a Perfected Deity''s Physique."

    That informationpletely astounded Raven. He then asked: "Are these rumors true?"

    "No idea." Jason shrugged, "Haven''t seen him unting his Champion''s Physique before. However, since a rumor like this existed, there should be a basis behind it. Plus, this guy never confirmed nor denied the rumors. True to his moniker, he''s extremely cold to everyone. You won''t really see him hanging around a lot of people. And even if he is, you best believe that it''s out of necessity."

    Raven nodded after hearing this, his gaze then turned towards Ryan once more. He discretely activated his ocr technique and focused on him. His vision adjusted and started showing up the detail that he wanted to see.

    Though he could only see a hint of it, to Raven this was enough. That spark of faint ck-golden glow was already enough for him to confirm that this person indeed has a Perfected Deity''s Physique.

    All of a suddenly however, Ryan''s eyes abruptly opened. Raven''s eyebrow twitched as he hastily focuses on Jason who''s been happily drinking from the bottomless gourd.

    Ryan looked around him in suspicion. Annoyance was visible on his face. He was pretty sure that somebody was spying on his closely just now but he couldn''t find any traces of it. He didn''t like this feeling at all but he had nowhere to vent his frustrations since he had no evidence, so he just snorted once more and went back to his meditation.

    ''His senses are very keen. He''s a formidable contender.'' Raven silently mused as he leaned back to the wall and returned his attention to his book.

    "Man, thispetition is really going to be nasty." Jason carelesslymented on the side.

    "You have insider information?" Raven asked without peeling his gaze away from the book he''s reading.

    "Of course not!" Jason was startled and shook his head fiercely. "I said that due to the identities of people who''s participating today."

    "Oh? Tell me more about it." Raven''s interest were piqued.

    "Very well." Jason cleared his throat and started his introduction. "I''ve already introduced Ryan to you, of course he''s going to be a tough opponent with or without the rumors about his Champion''s Physique. Aside from him, there''s four more people here who had a Perfected Deity Champion''s Physique."

    Raven''s eye twitched upon hearing that, he then looked at Jason with a questioning gaze but didn''t say anything. Well, he didn''t need to since Jason already understood that look. He then stealthily pointed at some people while also introducing them.

    "That guy''s name is Nelson ir. Someone who hailed from a Great World and also is a descendant of an Imperial Lineage."

    "Jonathan Evergreen, descendant of God Beast ns. Carrying the Azure Dragon''s bloodline."

    "Michelle Valentine, the young queen of the Sky Weavers n. Don''t let that innocent face fool you or else it''ll be you doom."

    "Finally, there''s Madman Floyd. He could switch between being sane and insane in a coin flip. Unless it''s necessary, I don''t rmend offending that guy since he bears grudges extremely deep. He won''t stop until either one of you is dead."

    "All of this people are the only ones I know who had Perfected Deity Champion''s Physique. But who knows? Maybe some people just rather remain low profiled and surprise many people during thepetition. Honestly, I wouldn''t want to face any of these guys at all¡­"

    Raven chuckled on the side, he then returned his gaze back to the book he''s reading and inwardlymented: ''Right, some people just want to remain low profiled.''

    ***

    Days passed by within the hall, Raven distracted himself by either reading a book or meditating. Sometimes, he would often talk with Jason about a few things and he had to say¡­

    Though Jason is a little bit shameless, he''s rather likeable. He had this seemingly carefree attitude but also determined. He often talked about how he didn''t want topete with those fierce people but he never implied that he''s scared of them.

    He tends to be on a talkative side but most of the things he says are helpful. He knows a lot of people who''re joining thispetition, and even though Raven would often hear him saying that his information were from rumors surrounding those people, he could still tell that some of them were urate.

    The time limit of five days are going to be over in a few hours. As usual, Raven''s attention is still on his book while Jason was inspecting some people due to boredom.

    "This is rather surprising." Jason murmured to himself but he was heard by Raven.

    "What is surprising?" He asked without looking away from the book.

    "Haven''t you noticed?" Jason asked in confusion. "Try counting the amount of people within this hall."

    Raven raised a brow and did what Jason suggested. It took him a good second before his expression changed.

    "What the hell? Since when did the headcount reach a thousand?"

    That''s right. With a rough count just now, the number of people inside this hall reached more than a thousand in number.

    "Right?" Jason asked in a stupefied manner as well. "I only noticed it just now. It''s maybe due to how big this hall is but I didn''t even know when the numbers reached a thousand. And it looks like some people are still arriving. I wonder what''s happening outside?"

    The reason why this whole scenario seemed to be strange to them is because of news that Jason caught a few days ago.

    ording to him, he talked to one of the badge-less people and asked them about the situation outside. That person told him that the situation was incredibly chaotic, the tunnel was filled with a nauseating stench of rotting corpses and blood. Everyone was desperate to go in, but not everyone could reach this portal.

    Hearing this gave them an idea that there shouldn''t be this many people who will arrive but lo and behold, their numbers just passed a thousand, which is somewhat unbelievable them.

    Out of nowhere, an energy fluctuation startled all of them into attention. A person wearing a uniform of Twin Star Academy appeared before them and said:

    "All participants gather up! The next part of the exams will begin."

 Chapter 426 - Tests

    ---

    As soon as the elder''s voice was heard, every single participant inside the hall stood up and faced him.

    Seeing this, the elder turned around and swung his sleeves. Suddenly, a humongous door appeared on the nearby wall and revealed a scenery beyond. Light flooded the halls and momentarily blinded the contenders.When their vision adjusted, all of them saw the a long road leading a nearby hill. The Elder''s voice sounded once more.

    "All of you follow me. Don''t wander around, if you were caught, then don''t me us from disqualifying you." The Elder''s cold warning echoed on their ears, somewhat rming some contestants.

    The Elder then lead the way with the contestants on tow. None of them dared to slight the Elder''s warning and just followed him closely. No one wants to get eliminated this early.

    As they went up the hill, some contestants took this chance to look at their surroundings.

    This was definitely the interior of Twin Star Academy. The energy here was so dense that it''s almost visible. The infrastructures here were also grand and majestic. Everyone could see a couple of mountain peaks upied by some students of the academy, they could see some student running some errands, some training and others just hanging out and rxing.

    Due to them being too auspicious, almost every student inside the academy were looking at them.

    This made some contestants unknowingly puff out their chest in pride, yet most of them didn''t know howughable this action of theirs was to the students of the academy.

    The group eventually reached halfway through the hill before seeing a wide a ttened ground. There are some people who''re already waiting for them there. Once everyone reached the t area of the hill, the Elder then turned around and said:

    "This is where the next part of the exams will take ce. Everyone, please take out your badge and look at it. As for those who doesn''t have one,e up here to receive one."

    The contestant did what the Elder said and looked at their badge. Those who doesn''t have badges came up received theirs as well.

    To their surprise, a change appeared on their badge. On its surface, one could see some details.

    Participant #89:

    Merit Points: 0

    ???

    ???

    ???

    This is what Raven could see on his badge. He nced at Jason''s badge and saw the same details aside from the participant number. Raven was numbered 89 while Jason was 45.

    "Don''t be rmed." The elder spoke once more, "Your Participant Number doesn''t represent any ranking. It is just a ce holder. Now, I would like each one of you to sink your perception on your badges. After doing that, you shall see a short questionnaire. Try filling it out as detailed as you can but don''t think that we''re forcing you to do so. Whatever you put in there is what we will use, I trust that each of you understand the word responsibility so go ahead."

    After he finished saying this, the participants then started sinking their perceptions on the badges and also answered the questionnaire inside.

    The questionnaire is only filled with basic questions like name, age, birthce, and etc. If someone wanted to, they could totally put in some fake details here but none of these contestants were foolish enough to do that.

    As the Elder implied, they will be responsible for everything that they will put in here. None of them are muddle-headed enough to fake their identities in front of the Ancient Elysium Sect, that''s just courting death.

    When he finished answering the questionnaire, the details on the badge changed once more¡­

    Participant #89: Vendrick Valorheart

    Merit Points: 20

    Power: Champion Knight Realm

    ???

    ???

    ''Oh, that''s neat.'' Raven muttered inwardly as he withdrew his gaze from the badge. Although he ced in more detailspared to what the badge was showing, it seems that the badge won''t unnecessarily disy those. He thought that maybe, only those who have higher positions on the sect could see it.

    "Are all of you done?" The Elder asked, none of the participants reacted, "Alright, since that''s the case, then let''s proceed with the actual tests."

    "ording to the arrangements of the Ancient Elysium Sect, the tests would be divided into three parts. The first part is called the Aptitude Tests. Second Part is the Smelting Trial and the final part is the Tournament."

    "Those of you who could pass the second part of the tests will be admitted as official disciples of the Ancient Elysium Sect."

    As soon as the Elder revealed this, an uproar rose to the contenders. The atmosphere for heated, everyone was zing with fighting spirit and some were even getting slightly impatient and want to start the tests right now.

    The Elder looked at those people, not even bothering to hide the smile of disdain in his face. Seeing this basically confirmed some of Raven''s suspicions.

    "Don''t be too happy yet." The Elder scoffed, "You people really think too highly of yourself. Do you honestly think that its that easy to join the Ancient Elysium Sect? Stop dreaming."

    His words were like a cold bucket of water that snuffed the enthusiasm of the participants. Some were disgruntled by this but the Elder couldn''t care less.

    "Hmph! Allow me to exin how the first part of the exams work." The Elder swing his sleeves once more and caused several curtains of light to appear around them.

    "The Aptitude Test consists of three tests: Test of Courage, Test of Knowledge, and Test of Will. All of you will be tested in batches of 50, we will go ording to the participant numbers on your badges. The first 50, step forward."

    And just like this, the first batch of people stepped forward and disappeared within the curtain of light. Everyone was watching in anticipation, each had their own ideas about the exams.

    "Hey, what do you think is happening inside?" Jason leaned in and whispered beside Raven.

    Raven didn''t answer at first, he discretely opened his ocr technique but it only allowed him to see the people inside the curtain of light.

    All of them were sitting down and had varying faces. Some expressions were twisted in anger, some were confused, some were crying and some on the verge of getting mad.

    This alone was enough to give Raven many clues. His gaze lingered on some of the people that seems to not be having any difficulties with this. He saw most of those people were the ones that Jason introduced to him before.

    "Well, I don''t hear any fighting¡­" Raven answered vaguely.

    Jason''s eyes shed for a bit after hearing this, it seems that he could guess what Raven is trying to say here. None of them spoke anymore and just silently stood there.

    Time passed and after three hours, the curtain of light dimmed down. Everyone looked over, only to see the first batch in different states. Majority of them had dull gazes, almost as if they just lost something extremely important to them. Some''s eyes were still red from either crying or madness. Others had wisps of blood trickling down their mouths. The ones who looked mostly fine could only be counted on one hand, even then the exhaustion is still visible on their faces.

    "You people know your results, those who passed follow that person. Those who don''t, go down the hill and you will see someone who will escort you away from here."

    As the Elder''s voice sounded out, some people began moving. What''s shocking is that, only ten amongst the first batch passed. The rest were dejectedly climbing down the hill.

    "I am unwilling! I don''t agree!" One of the disqualified participants roared in fury, catching the attention of the rest.

    "What bullshit test is this!? How can showing me nightmares, forcing me to learn somethingpletely useless and killing me more than a hundred times be an urate representation of whether I could join the sect or not!"

    "No! I don''t agree! I refuse to ept this result! Take to the Envoys! I need some exnation!"

    *Boom!*

    As soon as the guy was done roaring out in fury, his body suddenly rocked and shot back like a broken ragdoll. He spurted blood and felt like a mountain was pressing him down.

    "What an audacious brat! Who do you think you are?" The Elder scoffed as he berated the child. The rest of the participants were quaking. None of them saw the elder moved at all yet he almost killed that guy.

    "Bullshit test? Since when was it your turn to question how the Ancient Elysium Sect does their job? Do you really think you''re someone valuable? If you fail the exams then you fail! What''s so hard to understand about that? If you''re trash, then you''re trash. You''ve no one else to me!"

    "You''re unwilling? You refuse to ept this result? Even if your whole trash of a n thought the same as you, what can you do? Not even our Deans could casually seek out audience to the Envoys of the Ancient Elysium Sect yet you demand to see them and give you an exnation? Again, who the fuck do you think you are?"

 Chapter 427 - Aptitude Exams 1.1

    ---

    "Roll out the hill for this Old Man!"

    The angry roar of the Elder sounded once more. He flicked his sleeves and an invisible force swept the pale faced and unwilling guy out of the hill. And true to the old man''s words, the pitiful guy was sent rolling down the hill and there''s nothing he could do to stop it.

    The participants had varying reactions towards the pitiful guy and the elder. Some of them mocked and disdained the guy from acting like that and some were evenughing coldly inwardly. They were of course wary about the elder''s strength but they knew that so long as they don''t act inappropriately, then the elder won''t do anything to make their lives difficult.

    "Well, he''s asking for it. He thought too highly of himself." Jason sighed and said in a whisper beside Raven. He then leaned in closer and said: "But hey, at least he gave us some hints about the tests. You heard that too right?"

    Raven silently nodded in confirmation. In truth however, Raven already had an idea on what''s going on due to him spying through curtain of light earlier.

    "The poor guy though¡­" Raven sighed, "He got humiliated pretty bad. He will never have a face to show anyone from now on."

    "What he did was worse than courting death. I mean, who gave him the gall to question the authority of Ancient Elysium Sect? Not only that, he''s also making things difficult for the Twin Star Academy. His guts is as big as the heavens, yet he doesn''t have the strength to back it up. That''s his fault." Jason shook his head as he spoke.

    Raven didn''t say anything since he knew that what Jason said was correct. That guy was truly asking for it. He was akin to an ant trying to shake a tree. Without strength to back it up, everything else is hollow. Isn''t this why they were trying to join a great power? How absurd of that guy to think that he had the qualifications for the Ancient Elysium Sect and Twin Star Academy to give him an exnation.

    "Before we proceed, let me rify this once and for all." The Elder''s cold voice sounded amongst the participants. "No one asked you to be here. We, the Twin Star Academy and the Ancient Elysium Sect never forced anyone to participate in this recruitment. You came on your own ord because you have your own reasons."

    "The Ancient Elysium Sect is already kind enough to allow you people to take the tests. Don''t think to highly of yourselves like that idiot over there since if you truly are someone with a great status, then there''s absolutely no reason for you to be here. Now, if you want to participate, then follow the rules. If you passed then you passed, if you fail then you''ve nothing but yourselves to me. Those who doesn''t feel like doing so can scram away from here. Your presence isn''t weed here."

    The hilltop was silent for a bit, no one walked away even after being berated by the Elder. The old man snorted and said:

    "Since no one stepped out, then we shall begin. Participants #51 to 100, step forward."

    Hearing this, the people who were called out stepped forward, amongst them was Raven and Jason. As they walked forward, Jason leaned in towards Raven and whispered:

    "Dude, they''re not switching the test even though that idiot earlier gave us hints."

    ''It means that they are either confident about the tests or they didn''t notice it. Either way, we''re in no position to question it. Let''s just do our best.'' Raven replied via voice transmission.

    ''Right. Good luck.''

    ''You too.''

    As soon as they finished transmitting to each other, the participants were then enveloped by a thick curtain of light. As soon as this light touched them, all of them lost consciousness, Raven included.

    Everyone went into a seated position and an absolute silence permeated their surroundings. Once this urred, the Elder closed his eyes and waited until this batch finished their tests.

    ***

    Loud sounds of explosion woke up Raven.

    A frown surfaced on his face as soon as he saw debris flying across his head. Everything around him was burning, screams of pain, agony and unwillingness sounded on his ears causing Raven''s heart to pound inside his chest.

    "Get down!"

    "Ahh! Noo!"

    "My baby! No!"

    "Honey, please wake up! Don''t leave me!"

    Raven''s eyes were dull as he stared at his surroundings. He was confused. He didn''t know where he was, what was happening or how did he end up here. All he could feel is a heart-wrenching pain deep in his heart as he looked at the mourning people.

    He didn''t know why but somewhere inside of him, he could feel a deep sense of familiarity over this people.

    Raven walked aimlessly. He didn''t know where he was going. All he could do is to stare at the mourning people and the current destruction surrounding him. Fear started creeping up on his heart. He didn''t understand it. Why did he feel like he knew this people but at the same time don''t? Why could he feel their hurt? Why would he sympathize with them? Why is here? Where is this ce?

    A pity that no one can answer this questions for him. Therefore, he could only walk forward.

    Sadness gradually filled up his heart. He could feel their pain, their despair, their hopelessness. He didn''t understand how but for some reason he could.

    Throughout his travels, he ended up at a blocked road. There wererge pieces of rubble in front of him, densely packed and unmovable. Yet it wasn''t those that stopped him from walking.

    Beneath those rubble, he could see two bodies. He couldn''t see their faces nor even their whole body as they were trapped underneath the fallen rubbles. Yet when he saw them, the pain on Raven''s heart intensified.

    Tears flowed from his eyes due to the pain he''s feeling, yet what really angered him is the confusion because his heart was screaming at him that he knew who these people were but he couldn''t remember anything at all!

    He wanted to rush over yet he knew that it was useless since he couldn''t feel any life signs on these two. They were dead. There''s nothing he could do. But the agitation was killing him. He felt helplessness, despair, grief, and overwhelming sense of loss upon looking at these two dead bodies.

    Gritting his teeth, he chose to walk away. Why? He was wondering about that too.

    It didn''t take long before a dull and emptiness returned to his eyes. He wandered aimlessly yet again, not knowing where his feet will take him this time. The destruction around him remained, he saw myriad of people in despair, he felt them as well yet he truly didn''t understand what''s happening.

    His feet eventually took him at a base of a hill. From here, he could see a what used to be a humble and simple house, now reduced to ruins.

    Seeing this destroyed house caused his freezing heart to speed up once more. Terror filled his heart and before he knew it, he found himself rushing over towards the house.

    He was anxious but he didn''t know why. He was scared and found himself pleading for something he didn''t know or aware of.

    Raven''s heart almost leapt up to his throat when he saw how bad the situation looks like. He felt weak on his knees. The house waspletely devastated, reduced to a mere pile of rubble.

    He unknowingly gnashed his teeth in frustration. Without hesitation, he knelt down and started digging. He didn''t know why he''s doing so but his emotions werepletely in control of him as he was doing this.

    Raven felt something amiss. Something tells him that he shouldn''t be this weak to the point where he couldn''t even lift a single piece of rubble without exerting immense effort.

    He abhorred this feeling of weakness. His hair was dishelved, his eyes were bloodshot and he could feel himself trembling from exhaustion yet he didn''t stop. He didn''t want to stop because he was afraid.

    Unfortunately, up until this point, he''s still not aware what exactly he was afraid of.

    Raven continued his arduous digging. It came to the point where every piece of rubble felt as heavy as a mountain. Sweat drenched his whole body, his expression was twisted. He was on the verge of getting mad from anxiety and fear. Something was telling him to hurry up since there''s no time anymore.

    He lifted another piece of rubble with so much difficulty, what made him somewhat excited is the fact that he could now see the floor on the house.

    Raven was energized by this sight, he could feel that the source of his anxiety was very near. Not knowing how, he managed to throw things with a fervent ardor and much fasterpared before. The floor was then revealed piece by piece until he saw something that caused his soul to shake from an overwhelming sense of horror.

    "A-avi? Is t-that you my baby boy?"

    "NOOOOOOOO!!!"

 Chapter 428 - Aptitude Exams 1.2

    ---

    Raven''s roar of unbridled rage and despair stirred the very depths of his soul. The moment his roar ended, rity returned to Raven''s eyes.

    His gaze brightened as sweat continuously drenched his entire body. His breathing was hitched andbored and his face was pale. His heart was hurting so much that he''s unknowingly clenching his chest. There was a shock and terrified look on his face as he stared at the woman''s body in front of him.

    Raven recovered his senses. He couldn''t help but look around and finally realize what exactly was going on around him.

    Just like the expelled guy hinted at the rest earlier, this is a nightmare. And a terrible one at that.

    ''What a frightening illusion! I was so sure that I was prepared for it, yet I still ended up being dragged by it.'' Raven inwardly eximed.

    If it was others, then it would''ve been understandable if they fell for this, but for somebody like Raven to be dragged so easily into this illusion as well? That just speaks volume on how frightening this illusion really was.

    It had to be known that Raven''s soul was extremely formidable. In terms of soul power alone, he could almost match the output of a Lord Knight. His will had also been tempered to an absurd degree during his previous life, hell he didn''t even feel any fear when he was facing a Heavenly Tribtion before yet he was still dragged into this terrifying illusion.

    ''So that''s why they didn''t even bother changing the exams. It took a soul shaking event for me to wake up from this, and this happened to me, then its very unlikely that others would wake up from this.''

    ''Test of Courage¡­Test of Courage¡­I see. So this is what you guys mean¡­'' Raven sighed once more and continued digging out the rubble.

    "Mom, hang on a bit okay. I''ll get you out of there. Don''t you dare die on me." Raven urged as he continued lifting the rubble that''s covering his mother''s body.

    Even though this event was that of the past, it still remain fresh from his memory. Even though this event didn''t happen in this lifetime, it still didn''t make Raven feel any better about it. Even the words he said just now was the exact same thing he told his mother back then.

    Although he already calmed down, his heart was still pounding on his chest. Bit by bit, Eva''s body was freed from being buried by the rubble. Raven was pathetically weak in this illusion, perfectly demonstrating the weakness he felt back then.

    Everything was so simr. Even the panting and the loving smile of his mother whilst on the state of near death was perfectly replicated by this illusion.

    That person was right. This is indeed a nightmare.

    With adrenaline''s help, Raven managed to dig out Eva''s body out of the crash. He knelt down beside her while tears continued falling from his eyes. His heart was aching. He knew that none of this was real but it didn''t prevent him from unfeeling the pain.

    "A-avi. Mom doesn''t have much time alright. Listen to me¡­"

    "You have plenty of time Mom. I''ll save you, rest for now. There shoulder be a healer nearby, I''ll take you to her." Raven choked on his tears.

    Eva softly shook her head and said: "You''ve grown up now my baby. You''re now a man. I don''t know whether your dad can make it out of this but I already epted my fate."

    "Oh you silly boy. Don''t you cry. I told you this didn''t I? Life and Death are both sides of the same coin. This is the natural cycle of life. Mom is merely returning to the embrace of the creator. Just like how it should be."

    Raven didn''t speak, he just continued holding her hand while shedding tears.

    "If there''s anything I''m worried about, then it would be you. Mom is no genius but I know that our Kingdom is in a perilous state." Eva coughed violently, her grip over Raven''s hand tightened. "No matter what, you must remain safe. Me and your dad taught you many things before. Use those to survive. Stay away from the kingdom for now. Even though it''ll be dangerous out there in the wilderness, I am more confident about you surviving there rather than here."

    "Never go into the depths of the Red Zone! Unless you have sufficient strength in future. Also, never think about avenging my death. Find a safe ce to hide and pay attention to your safety. If you can rescue some people with you then do so but not under the premise of risking your safety! Remember! Your own safety is you priority. Understand?"

    Raven forcefully nodded, his tears never stopped falling. He could feel Eva''s life force slipping away from her body. She¡­doesn''t have much time left.

    "Once you find a safe ce and ensured your safety, then maybe you could also find a wife. So long as she''s good to you then hold on to her! Don''t let her go. If you could start a family and live a life in peace and safety, then I would be able to smile on the other side as well."

    Eva''s breathing became even moreborious. Her life signals and weakening in an rming degree, Raven was already clenching his jaws as he watched this, yet he was powerless to change anything. This feeling, was the same exact feeling he had back then.

    "Avi, Mom''s feeling a little sleepy. Won''t you sing me a luby?" Eva smiled, her face was filled with warmth, love and doting towards Raven. A feeling that only mother''s can express to their children.

    Raven forcefully nodded his head. With trembling lips, he started singing¡­

    "Hush, now. I see the light in your eyes.

    Oh, it''s almost blinding me.

    I can''t believe, I''ve been touched by an angel with love.

    Let the raine down and wash away, my tears.

    Let it feel my soul and drown my fears.

    Let it shatter the walls for a new sun.

    A new day, hase¡­"

    As soon as he finished the luby, Eva''s hand turned cold. Her gaze turned dull but she''s still wearing that peaceful and loving smile on her face.

    Raven''s whole body was trembling. A sorrowful air was emanating out his body. And as if the sky was mourning with it him, dark clouds formed and started pouring rain, hiding away the bitterness that Raven''s tears were.

    He didn''t move, he just clutched his mother''s body close to his body as if he was trying to see if he could transfer some warmth into her cold and lifeless body. Yet he knows that this won''t work¡­it''ll never work.

    Raven wasn''t aware how much time passed since then, he could only feel that the rain stopped and his tears eventually stopped from pouring, leaving only a cold, deste and lonely feeling on his face.

    He gently ced his mother down, he tore arge portion of his clothes to cover her body. He then lifelessly stood up and got to work.

    Using nothing but his bare hands, he started digging the soften soil not too far from his broken home. Raven felt nothing at this point. Even if he could tell that his arms were aching really bad, nothing was more painful to him that losing his own mother.

    The pain he felt when she died on his arms was too much that it made him senseless. He couldn''t care less whether someonees and kills him right now, he might not even realize he was already being stabbed and sliced to pieces.

    He managed to dig deep enough even with just his bare hands alone. He then leapt up, washed his hands on a nearby pool of water due to the rain recently, picked up his mother and descended on the pit he dug just now.

    "I can''t even give you a coffin. I''m just the worst child aren''t I?" Raven could feel the stabbing pain on his chest as he said this. His voice was choked and broken. He gently ced his mother down, took some of his belongings and buried them with her. Most of these items held great meaning to him and some were even important for protecting himself but he didn''t hesitate to leave it behind.

    "Thanks for everything Mom. You''re the best." Raven tried putting on a sweet smile but it turned out to be wretched due to how much pain he felt. "I wish we could be mother and son again during our next lifetime."

    With a trembling body, he chewed on his lips to prevent his sobs from going out. He then pushed the soil and slowly buried his mother using his own hands. Every action wasborious and painful, it brought him great pain and suffering but he had to do it.

    Once he''s done, he took a b of stone nearby and etched some words using a dagger. It reads:

    "Grave of Evangeline Buford Valorheart.

    XXXX - XXXX

    You''ll forever be missed."

    After erecting the tomb, Raven sat in front of the grave for seven days straight. He didn''t eat anything, he didn''t sleep, he didn''t even stand up from his seat. He mourned for her, alone.

    He could feel his heart slowly being covered in frost and if this goes on, there''s no doubting that he''ll revert back to his old self.

    By end of the seven day mourning, a sigh escaped from his lips. His eyes brightened and a string of words came out hoarsely from his dry and parched lips.

    "I know none of this is real. My mother is alive and well, so is my Father. I even have twin sisters peacefully growing up back at home. My friends are well and my lover is also alive and well."

    "But even though I am aware that none of this is real, I still allowed to continue. I didn''t break this illusion because I want to be reminded of my true purpose, the very reason for my struggles and why I seek to reach the peak. I want to etch this event to my memory and remind me to never falter and hesitate. Because if I did, then all of this will turn into reality, and that is something that I don''t want to happen."

    After a while of silence, a smile emerged from his lips as he spoke once more.

    "Now that it served its purpose, then this illusion shall end here."

    *Crack!*

 Chapter 429 - Aptitude Exams 1.3

    ---

    A loud shattering sound urred on Raven''s surroundings. Booming sounds and a storm of shards urred with him at its eye.

    Raven calmly watched as all of this urred, for some reason he waspletely aware that this event of the illusion shattering won''t hurt him in the slightest, therefore he didn''t even bother to move.

    A bright light exploded out of nowhere, momentarily causing Raven to be blinded. The sensationsted for a few breaths of time, and when he regained his vision, he found himself in an entirely different ce.

    He wasn''t back at the first illusion where it showed him the devastation of his home and the death of his loved ones, neither he woke up and found himself exiting the curtain of light on which the exams where happening.

    Raven arrived at separate ce. It was arge hall, filled with ancient and heavy atmosphere. He stood at the center of the hall. He looked around him briefly and saw that no one else is with him, he was all alone. Raven also noticed that the hall was filled with signs of battle from the past.

    He could see many scars of different weapons, he could see cracks and damages around him which caused the hall to seem like it was dpidated but in truth it is not.

    There is an altar in front of him. The altar seems to be made out of materials that has a golden glow on it, making it look divine. There are a few steps of stairs on the altar, on top of it, there is a stout chalice which appears to be made out of precious materials, causing it to radiate a violet-golden glow. What''s really eye-catching is that, there is ck bamboo slip floating in the middle of the chalice.

    ''Hmm, let''s see. That guy said something about a ''nightmare, forced to learn something, and killing a hundred times''. If my guess is correct, then this should be the second part of the Aptitude Exams - Test of Knowledge. And that bamboo slip should be the thing that I have to learn.''

    As Raven was about to walk forward and retrieve the bamboo slip, an ancient and solemn voice boomed on his ears.

    "Champion, you passed the first part of the Aptitude Exams which is the Test of Courage. You''ve faced your worst fears and didn''t retreat nor lost yourself in it, thus you''ve proven yourself worthy to continue this exams."

    "You are at the ce where the second part of the first exam will take ce. Your task here is to learn whatever the contents of that bamboo slip you see has. In order to pass the Test of Knowledge, you must reach the 3rd Stage of whatever technique you receive."

    "You will be given 9 days toprehend the first stage. If you can''t learn it within that time period, then there''s no use for you to remain here. If you can do that, then you will earn 19 days to learn the 2nd Stage. 29 days will be given to you in order to reach the 3rd Stage and so on."

    "Your time limit will begin once you receive the bamboo slip."

    The ancient voice disappeared after saying that sentence, leaving Raven to ponder over things.

    ''So my initial guesses were correct. This really is the second part of the exams. Test of Knowledge huh? I wonder what kind of technique I''ll receive from here.''

    Raven stopped hesitating and started moving towards the altar. He arrived in front of the chalice shortly after and saw that the chalice was actually empty, it only serves as a mount for the bamboo slip which contained the technique that Raven has to learn.

    He raised his arm and picked up the bamboo slip, as soon as he had the bamboo slip on his fingers, the ancient voice sounded within the halls once more.

    "The 9 days time limit has begun. Good luck young Champion."

    However, Raven doesn''t seem to hear this at all. Instead, as soon as he grasped the bamboo slip, its contents were already flowing towards his psyche without pause, somehow surprising Raven.

    Needless to say, Raven immediately recovered from this started gathering the intact flow of energy, condensing them in one ce until the transference ends. Once the bamboo slip stops rying its contents to him, it instantly lost its luster and turned into flying ashes shortly after.

    Raven then began studying the recent information he received. It took five minutes of scanning and the technique was now part of his memory. He then opened his eyes, revealing a faint glint of surprise within them.

    "This technique¡­[Allheaven Sealing Scripture]. Interesting, very interesting! Howe that guy said he was forced to learn a useless technique? Did he learn a different one or maybe he didn''t understand the essence of the technique at all."

    [Allheaven Sealing Scripture] is something that really piqued Raven''s interest. The premise of the technique is actually quite simple. It all focuses in the word ''Sealing''.

    The ''Sealing'' here means to be in control. To control means exercising one''s will onto something and ruling over its functions. ording to the information he received, once someone cultivated this technique to its acme, they will be able to seal all manner of things, allowing them to exercise control over its movements.

    The first stage of the [Allheaven Sealing Scripture] is called ''All Forces Seal''. Once this seal appears, then every forces that contains a different signature from its user shall cease.

    Though the description of the first stage is simple, performing it is actually very challenging. To master this technique, one has to carve the ''All Forces Seal'' on to their psyche. Every seal contained in the [Allheaven Sealing Scripture] are incredibly profound, each is just as profound as the [99 Destruction and Holy Seals].

    "Would''ve been great if I could drink some Moonshine to increase my brain activity." Raven sighed in regret, drinking Moonshine at this point would''ve been extremely helpful for him but a pity he can''t use his spatial ring within here.

    ''Well, at least I have my clones. Two clones including me should be suffice for this.'' Raven inwardly thought, without wasting time, he then sat down beneath the altar started his training.

    ***

    One monthter¡­

    "All Forces Seal!"

    *Weng!*

    Humming sounds droned around Raven. The source of this was from the finger he raised just now. If one looked closely, they would see a brilliant seal on his index finger. The seal wasplex and profound, each stroke of that seal is filled with a sturdy and unquestionable Will.

    The moment this All Forces Seal appeared, a manner of things that are emitting some type of force ceased. The altar which were emanating a golden glow, had its brilliance dimmed. The faint movement of the wind around him ceased, and even the gentle fall of dust particles around Raven ceased on their tracks as well.

    Next, along with his index finger, Raven unfolded his thumb. Revealing another seal which radiate a stronger brilliancepared to the seal on his index finger.

    "All Living Beings Seal!"

    *Weng!*

    Another droning sound erupted from Raven''s body, this time its stronger and louder than before. There were no visible effects as soon as he performed this seal but should there any living being here aside from Raven, the moment this seal arrives, they will surely pause on their tracks.

    ''All Living Beings Seal'' is a restrictive seal that halts the movement of all living beings, no matter how big or small it is. The seal can be restricted if the restricted''s Will and cultivation base is higherpared to the caster.

    Still, Raven wasn''t done after this. Along with his index finger and thumb, he unfolded his middle finger and it was instantly covered by a brilliant light that was being emitted by the third seal.

    "All Elements Seal!" Raven roared, as soon as his voice emerged, the seal let out an even stronger brilliance and droning sound around his body turned even stronger.

    The activity that the third seal caused was too immense. The hall was flooded by the droning sounds from Raven''s body.

    ''All Elements Seal'' caused the movement and activity of all elements to slow down or halt altogether - it depends on an individual''s mastery. If one looked closely, due to the third seal''s prowess. The wind halted on its tracks and appears to be struggling, the light of the altar was in a simr state as well as the other elements currently present within the hall. Under the power of this seal, Raven exercised his will to stop them on their tracks.

    With all three seals present, Raven seemingly ceased the momentum of them world. Aside from him, nothing was allowed to move. This sort of control brought a strange but satisfying feeling for Raven, causing him to smile.

    Raven then closed his fists and the seals were gone, the activity around him returned to its normal pace, but Raven was stuck in a deep thought.

    ''I learned the first seal within five days even. The second seal took me ten days and the third seal took me twenty days. In total, it took me 35 days to learn all three seals even though I was given a total of 57 days time limit. Which means that I still have 22 days left.''

    ''Hmm¡­''

    ''Well, the voice didn''t say that I have to leave upon mastering the first three seals, right?''

 Chapter 430 - Aptitude Exams 1.4

    ---

    "Seal All Force!"

    "Seal All Living Beings!"

    "Seal All Elements!"

    "Seal All Earth!"

    "Seal All Skies!"

    Three months passed within the hall of the second exam. Raven stood at its center with five golden seals shing on his fingertips.

    As the seals shed and the world seemingly turned still. Constant droning sounds emanated out of Raven''s body due to the mysterious power of the seals on his fingers yet instead of feeling satisfaction, doubt filled Raven''s face.

    He didn''t notice this at first when he mastered the first three seals but as he learned and practiced the fourth and fifth seal, great doubt appeared on his heart.

    ''There''s no mistaking this. This Ancient Art is strong and all but I can''t help but to feel that I''m missing something here¡­'' Raven thought inwardly.

    ''Sealing¡­exercising one''s will onto something, forcefully determining its activity. This concept is cool and all but in reality, all this seals do is to restrict a certain element''s movement. It''s nothing too special at all.''

    ''If we''re talking about restricting something, then I absolutely have no need for this art. My Spacetime Laws could do much more than this art. Not only could I restrict, I could decide where they will appear, when they will appear and much morepared to this seals¡­''

    Instead of calling it sealing, it''s more urate to say that this technique just restricts something. The seals could restrict the movement of Force, Living Beings, Elements, Earth, Skies, Life, Death, and Laws. And should one attain mastery of every single seal, then they could fuse it together and form them into the Allheaven Seal which could restrict everything and anything.

    At least that''s what the bamboo slip contained¡­

    "This isn''t seals at all, this is more like restrictions. Well, I guess they could pass as restriction seals. But this technique is too rigid." Raven grumbled as he pursed his lips in disappointment.

    What he didn''t expect was¡­

    "Junior, are you doubting the work of our kin?"

    The ancient voice''s sudden remark stunned Raven into speechlessness. It waspletely out of his expectations that the owner of that voice was actually observing him all this time. Raven managed to get out of his stupor, he couldn''t help but ask¡­

    "Are this hall''s Treasure Spirit?"

    "Answer my question." The voice demanded using a cold voice.

    Raven was silent, many thought''s shed on his mind for a few seconds.

    ''Unless¡­'' A barely visible glint appeared on Raven''s eyes as he slowly drew into a conclusion. He took a deep breath and said:

    "I wouldn''t say that I''m doubting it. It''s more like I was wishing that he named it as something else. I think the name Allheaven Sealing Scripture is highly inappropriate for this technique." Raven''s voice was neither overbearing nor servile. He replied in a steadfast manner and with an honest tone.

    The hall trembled fiercely. A malicious and chilling aura suddenly descended and filled every single corner of the hall. Raven''s hairs stood on their ends, yet he wasn''t frightened by this at all. This reaction from him was more of an involuntary response from his body due to it being surprised by the sudden changes on his surroundings.

    The honest expression on his face remained, he could a heavy weight pressing him down but honestly, Raven wasn''t impressed. But he didn''t dare to show any kind of changes on his current expression.

    "Exin." The voice sounded once again, though its tone was colder and sounded apathetic this time around. Still Raven wasn''t impressed at all, instead he calmly exined his reasons.

    "From what I can understand, Seals share the same origins as Inscriptions. While I''m not aware which came first, I am pretty convinced by this line of thinking."

    "Inscriptions are created through various means, and with how things progressed since the ancient times, the Path of Inscriptions hase a long way from its infancy. There''s so much more about Inscriptions that I''m afraid that one lifetime isn''t enough to reveal all of its mysteries."

    "A simple arrangement of Inscriptions could form Arrays. From sets of Arrays, a Formation will be born. Whether be it Arrays or Formations, none of these two are limited to just restricting someone''s movement. Certain Arrays or Formations could be used offensively or defensively. It could hide, iste, separate, transport and so much more."

    "With this in mind, and with how I supported the idea that Seals and Inscriptions share the same origins, I refuse to believe that Seal could do worsepared to Inscriptions. If simple inscriptions could achieve so many things, then it would make sense for Seals to be able to do the same."

    "Therefore I said those words earlier." The glint on Raven''s eyes shone even more at this point, "I think it would be more apt to call this technique as Allheaven Restriction Scripture instead of Allheaven Sealing Scripture."

    Raven went silent after this. The hall also became silent and the voice didn''t say anything just yet. The oppressive and chilly aura remained yet Raven wasn''t worried at all.

    After a while of silence, the oppressive aura disappeared all of a sudden. A brilliant light shed emanated from the pirs of the hall and Raven heard the voice saying:

    "Congrattions. You passed the Test of Knowledge." The ancient voice still sounded apathetic but there is a faint praise on its tone.

    Raven let out a sigh of relief, inwardly wanting to pat his back to congratte himself for winning the bet.

    His eyes then narrowed as he noticed that the brilliant light being emitted by the pirs were intensifying at an rming degree, causing him to be momentarily blinded. Once his vision adjusted from all of that, he was surprised to see a globe of violet-golden light suspended before him.

    Before he could react, the globe fused with him which somewhat rmed Raven, that''s until he heard the voice say:

    "That ball of light is your reward for passing. However, you could only retrieve the reward once the recruitment is over or once you arrived at the sect. Work hard Young Champion, I''ll be sending you now tost part of the Aptitude Exams."

    Raven was stunned but he didn''t question it. He gently nodded his head and felt his surroundings warping around him. He lost consciousness but he will be fine, once he wakes up, he''ll arrive at thest part of the first exams.

    ***

    Inside a spacious and luxurious room, five people could be seen seated in front of table.

    These people looked like ordinary folks. They were like a group of friends resting inside a room while talking about random things under the sun or just reminiscing about the glorious days of their youth but in truth, each person here has an earth-shaking identities that would cause the hearts of many to tremble. But right now, aside from casually taking about random topics, each of them were watching the table.

    This table was somehow strange. It was smallerpared to the regr once but it has a special functions. The surface of the table actually serves as some sort of monitoring array.

    Various scenes are being yed at the surface of the table. A total of fifty squares could be seen on its surface, eachpartment were disying real-time scene about what''s happening within the exams of each participants.

    At the center of the table, a slightly bigger screen could be seen. It was disying the moments before a certain handsome young man with an aqua-marine hair, passed his second trials.

    "The kid''s impressive." A middle-aged man remarked along with a nod. There is a schrly aura surrounding him but his face didn''t share the same sentiments as his remarks but that''s due to other reasons.

    "You old coot! What did I say? I told you the second test was too easy." A man with a bald head and white beard berated at the guy beside him.

    "Shut up! Easy? How can it be easy? If it''s truly easy then majority of the participants should''ve passed! How can you say that it''s easy when the kid was the first one who passed up until now?" The other guy retorted, he snorted and continued: "He passed caused he''s frickin'' smart or something. But not as smart as me."

    "Hmph! Whatever you say! But don''t you dare snatch him away from me! I''ll be taking him as my disciple."

    "You¡­you! Shameless! Very shameless! You''ve gone senile! You shamelessness is truly astoundin''! With how thick your skin is, I could certainly have Heppy make it into a frickin'' armor or somethin''! Disciple my ass! Wait until he passes first!"

    The other old man was about to retort when the two of them felt a chill down their spines. They instinctively turned their heads, only to see the schrly middle-aged man staring at them with eyes narrowed.

    The two old guys visibly shivered, both of them started trembling from head to toe and started exining.

    "Y-young Lord, uhm, w-we weren''t - uh, we totally, didn''t mean to¡­"

    "S-spare us, Young Lord. Don''t - please don''t¡­"

    The old men were utterly terrified, even the other two people around the room didn''t dare to interfere and acted as if they didn''t see anything.

    "Behave." The middle-aged man uttered. The two old men secretly sighed in relief as they saw their Young Lord averting his gaze away from them.

    Unbeknownst to anyone, the Young Lord was staring at Raven with eyes sparkling.. His thoughts were unknown.

 Chapter 431 - Aptitude Exams 1.5

    ---

    Inside a vast space filled with dark clouds and ominous clouds, a blood red moon shone brightly, flooding thend with a horrifying dark red glow. The air was filled with a bloody stench and the atmosphere was chilling, the type which could make one think that their soul was freezing.

    Thisnd was seemingly unending, at the same time it was also incredibly chaotic. Echoes of pained screams, shrill cries and roars of unwillingness filled this vast expanse ofnd. The scent of blood was thick, and horrendous looking corpses were strewn everywhere enough to make one retch in disgust. Blood formed rivers, while the corpses formed mountains.

    Thisnd, is and filled with bloodshed. There hundreds and hundreds of people here, all of them had red eyes and were holding weapons. A disturbing scene of constant carnage yed along with thisnd. These people aren''t divided into two opposing camps¡­

    Well, there were no camps to begin with.

    If someone sees one living, then they will do their absolute best to make it so that the other will no longer be able to have that luxury.

    Everyone was mad, all they knew was to kill. It didn''t matter whether they were an adult or a kid, if they see someone alive, they will kill. No one here was clear-headed, all of them shared one desire and one desire alone.

    And that is¡­to kill.

    Somewhere within thisnd, space suddenly distorted.

    Light warped and formed a shape that looks simr to a human. Within a span of few seconds, this outline became more and more realistic until the figure it formed could no longer be described as fake or real.

    The figure formed was a man. He has a long, aqua-marine hair that is gathered by an ordinary hair tie. His face was incredibly pleasant to look at. He exudes an air of a royalty even without him doing anything. This man wore a tight-fitting ck robes that hugged the strong and firm outline of his body. His appearance was clearly out of ce. It was as if he was a lone and delicate flower exuding beauty in thisnd filled with death and decay.

    A momentter, the man opened his eyes and discernable glint could be found in them. His pupils appeared to be a mix of gold and silver, making them look extremely eye-catching. His piercing gaze roamed thends before him. There was a moment of emptiness in his mind but it didn''t take long before he recovered his memories. The moment that this person finished assimting with his surroundings, he regained his freedom to move, however the first thing he did was to sigh.

    This man was of course, none other than Raven himself. His sigh just now was filled with a bit of helplessness and irritation.

    "Fifth revival." He gently murmured as another sigh escaped his lips.

    His musings were then interrupted by a sudden snarling sound not too far from him. However, instead of being rmed, Raven just rolled his eyes and didn''t even pay attention to the creature snarling at him.

    The creature was a human, but the sounds of his snarls were extremely unpleasant to hear. It was as if this creature was something else that donned a human skin. This person was holding arge axe on his hands, he ran at full speed towards Raven without any regards of his safety but before he could evene close, he was reduced into a pile of goo due to an invisible force.

    This poor person didn''t even have the chance to scream before he died. Unfortunately for Raven, this doesn''t stop here.

    After killing the first guy, five more appeared and pounced at his direction without any hesitations. Raven did a quick work out of these five but once again, it didn''t stop there. After this five, ten more demented people appear and charged at him while snarling like crazed animals.

    Raven grumbled under his breath, saying: "Here were go again."

    Ten people, dead. It was then followed by twenty people¡­who also met their ends at his hands. This twenty people were then reced by forty people and the numbers just kept increasing.

    In next to no time, Raven ughtered hundreds of people already, yet their numbers just kept on increasing and increasing. There''s just no end to them.

    Raven soon entered a rhythm. His face contained nothing but absolute indifference towards the people he killed. He threw all sorts of attacks using arsenal while also keeping some to himself. He used the Archaic Thousand Armed Wheel, his fists techniques, and so on. Yet no matter what he used, the amount of crazed peopleing after him didn''t decrease, their numbers grew instead of declining.

    Hours passed, Raven didn''t even bother to recall how many people died on his hands. His face exuded nothing but pure indifference. His ck robes were already drenched in blood, not his, his enemies'' blood. If one looked closely, they would even see some random bits of flesh sticking on Raven''s robes.

    Still, even under this assault of crazed and maniacal people, Raven never ceased moving forward. Even though the scenery around him kept changing, Raven wasn''t even aware if there''s an end to thisnd at all. He also didn''t really understand why he insisted moving forward, he neither felt some sort of calling nor saw any exits. Perhaps, he was just following his instincts by now.

    Raven was a walking disaster. With each step he takes, the people around him will die. As for how many, he didn''t care. So long as he was attacked, he will kill. In a sense, he isn''t really any different from these crazed maniacs around him but he begged to differ.

    Even under the monotonous action of constant carnage, Raven''s eyes remained clear. Even if seemed to be moving out instinct, his actions followed a single set of rules.

    If he was attacked, he will retaliate. If someone wants to kill him, he will kill that person instead.

    This sort of self-imposed rule might be simple but in truth, it is exceptionally hard for someone to uphold it. In a sense, all of this mess wouldn''t happen to Raven if the first person didn''t try to go after his life.

    As Raven continued moving forward, he left a trail of bodies behind him. Some were intact while others were not. Blood drenched his entire body, even his aqua-marine hair were stained with blood however none of this were his.

    Of course, this non-stop killing took its toll on his. Though Raven had massive reserves of energy, it was bound to be spent due to him constantly attacking. His stamina and endurance also took a hit, after all there were just too many of them. No matter how much he killed, the amount of his enemies never decreased, it ironically increase instead.

    Raven was exhausted and injured. The maniacs might be weaker than him but they weren''t mere mortals. They were at least in soldier realm, additionally their numbers were great whichpensated from their weakness.

    Slowly but surely, their unending numbers chipped away at Raven. The amount of injuries he has were constantly rising. Yet even with him being constantly injured and even if he was feeling the exhaustion, Raven''s mind remained clear.

    In a situation where one has to constantly kill, their spirit will eventually be tainted. The constant massacre will cause them to be jaded. Their fighting spirits will be doused by a cold and apathetic mood and they will slowly, lose their sense of self.

    At this point, it was highly possible for their hearts to be encased in ice. Slowly but surely, they will turn into cold-blooded killers - the type that doesn''t feel anything from killing someone. To them, killing someone whether it is a mortal enemy, aggressor, or even their family or friends, none would bring them any joy or sadness.

    From then on, who''s to say whether they''re still themselves or not?

    At the same time, it wasn''t as if Raven had no other choice, it just so happens that the other choice didn''t really sound like a choice to him.

    The two choices present to him. One is to fight back, and the other is to ept death.

    Should one decide to pick the other path, then due to the mystical rules of this ce. They will be revived and will have to face these two choices once more.

    If they choose to fight, then they must fight until they die and be revived. If they choose to ept death with open arms, then they could skip all fighting but they will eventually be revived again.

    As for how the could escape this fate? Well, that''s for them to find out, but due to the grim scene in front of them, searching for the path to escape wouldn''t be so simple. After all, this ce is made by people from the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    This, is the third andst part of the Aptitude Exams - Test of Will. Andpared to the first two that the participants went through before this, it is this part that has the highest risk.

 Chapter 432 - Aptitude Exams 1.6

    ---

    "Juniors these days¡­" A sigh containing helplessness and disappointment escaped from the lips of an old man who''s resting inside a private room. "Their determination is to brittle, its awful."

    "As much as I hate to agree with you, your words are right." Another old man sighed as well, "These Juniors had been too pampered."

    "These really can''t be helped, Your Excellency''s¡­" A middle aged man that has an aura of a gentleman and a schr shook his head but his tone also contains a disappointed tone. "The hark work of our Ancestors brought us peace, but at the same time, that same peace caused the younger generation to ck off."

    "I feel bad for you and the sect Nephew Henry." One of the old men sighed, "You might not be bringing a lot of people back this time even though the sect already lowered the standards for their disciples."

    "It''s alright, Your Excellency Heaven yer. None of these Juniors could be med for that." Henry shook his head, "Though if I''m being honest, I am hoping that some of these Juniors could surprise us."

    "Don''t worry. Howard and I already decided that we will send some of our disciples to boost your numbers. Hopefully, these should make things easier for you people. After all, what you guys face, are a little too troublesome."

    "I, on behalf of our sect, thank Your Excellency Void Obliterator and Heaven yer''s love and concern for the sect. We will do our best to ensure the safety of your disciples and give them multiple serendipities."

    "Hahaha! Very well, then I''ll leave them at your capable hands."

    After this conversation the room feel silent once more and everyone went back to watching the participants try their best to endure the Test of Knowledge.

    In truth however, none of them were really paying much attention what''s happening with the participants. In fact, the Empyreans Heaven yer and Void Obliterator couldn''t care less about the results of these exams at all. They might be watching the events on the table but their thoughts are somewhere else.

    And as one of the current War Gods of Ancient Elysium Sect, how could Henry not notice this? Not only was he aware that these Empyreans weren''t paying attention to the live feed, he also understood the underlying meaning behind their words.

    Nevertheless, his performance was quite admirable too. Nothing that these two Empyreans say could cause hisposure to fade. He was aware and alert, which is why even the Empyreans couldn''t underestimate him.

    ''You two old monsters could scheme all you want. If you want to y, then y we shall. Hopefully when timees, you''ll be able to cough up something that could quell the sect''s rage."

    ***

    "10th revival¡­"

    A murmur swept through blood colored field. If sounded like a faint sigh but this in fact, could cause some people''s heart to shake.

    Raven''s off to his 10th revival. Dullness and mental fatigue were already starting to consume him yet his eyes remained clear, a few breathster the ceaseless massacre began once more.

    With how many times he dies and revived, its quite impossible for Raven not to understand the true purpose of the Test of Will but he didn''t think much about it. After all, even though he understood its purpose, he had no idea what are the requirements to pass this test.

    Actually, instead of treating it like test, Raven treated this like his everyday training inside the Crown Space.

    To Raven, dying multiple times isn''t something new at all. Hell, he actually feel a little unsettled during days when he didn''t even once. Dying has already be a part of his daily life, so dying multiple times in a row didn''t really have that much effect to him.

    Which is why instead of being bothered by the seemingly endless cycle of death and rebirth along with the ceaseless killing. Raven started using this to train instead.

    Raven constantly refined his fist techniques again and again. Though his progress isn''t much due to his enemies being weak, it is still remarkable since he''s working in tandem with his Avatars.

    Additionally, Raven was also using the technique he learned during the second test. In the end, Raven decided to call it the [Allheaven Restriction Scripture]. His expertise in using the first five seals were refined to a higher level.

    Not only does each seal appear more vibrant and profound, the area of restriction they caused widened too. Each seals could restrict the area about the same size as his Champion''s Influence, which is 30 miles around Raven. Depending on what restriction seal he used, the effect was maximized and none of these crazed and demented people could break the seals.

    Raven''s thoughts were pure and bright despite the fatigue he''s experiencing. In fact, he seemed to be in a special state where hepletely disregarded everything else that doesn''t have anything to do with perfecting his techniques. He was whole-heartedly absorbed in training that he even started to how much time passed already or how many more revivals he had to experience before passing.

    He mainly focused on his fist techniques, his 9 Destruction Steps and the seals. His fist arts where already in a stage where his casual punch could obliterate a mountain. He would''ve loved to use the [God ying Fists Art] but it is still too profound, he has yet to understand its essence.

    Raven was also using the ever so mysterious Wave Folding, trying to get his body to understand its profundities but to no avail.

    As for the rest of his arsenal, he didn''t disy them yet, specially the Spacetime Laws. In fact, unless he could make sure that he won''t be monitored in anyway shape or form by the sect, he wouldn''t even dare to show it to them.

    He wasn''t trying to fool them or anything, he just wanted to make sure that should anything go awry, he could depend on something for his safety, and he thought that it would be better if he kept certain things to himself.

    When he unknowingly fused Spacetime Laws, Geezer handed him some techniques that works well with it and that could ensure his safety. Geezer did this not only to protect Raven from his enemies but to also protect him from the enemies Raven would face in due time.

    Raven understood the intent of his Master and of course, would naturally do his best to fulfill his wishes. Which is why he''s focusing on his Destructions Laws for now.

    Speaking of destruction, Raven already forgot how many bodies he destroyed by now. It wasn''t only due to the special state he''s in but also, after he estimated that his kills reached a million, he stopped counting.

    What he didn''t know is that something happened by then.

    Inside his inner world, where his confined Cosmic Energy are stored, a new type of energy appeared.

    It was extremely small. In fact, its presence is too faint that even if Raven entered his inner world, he would barely notice it.

    This energy appeared in a form of a wisp. It was gray in color and it roamed about his inner world. However, despite its faint trace, if one inspected it really close, they would discover that this tiny wisp contained a very malicious and hair-raising aura.

    From it, one could feel an merciless, cold and indifferent air of pure and unadulterated killing intent. One that is capable to startling even the roughest of warriors around.

    This tiny wisp, contained the aura¡­of ughter.

    It appeared when Raven''s kill count reached one million, and it started growing from there. Without Raven''s knowledge, this tiny wisp of ughter Energy was absorbing some energy on Raven''s victims, treating them as food.

    Form a tiny and unremarkable wisp, it grew into a size of a mung bean. It continuously roamed around Raven''s inner world as if it was a curious kid. In fact, its biggest curiosity is from biggest ball of energy inside Raven''s inner world, which is Cosmic Energy.

    For some reason, the tiny wisp of ughter Energy could feel some form of familiarity to it. In fact, its even absorbing some cosmic energy to fuel its growth. But instead of growing bigger from the supplement of cosmic energy, it is being cleansed and transformed into a different version of itself.

    As for what type of transformation it will have, not even Raven could answer that.

    Unaware of the changes happening inside his body, Raven continued his training and his massacre. Slowly but surely, a mysterious shroud was forming around him. First it only covered his limbs, but as he killed more and more, this shroud covered his entire body and was already gaining some sort of corporeal form.

    When the shroudpletely covered his body, Raven unconsciously released his killing intent. His dull and empty gaze turned into a ferocious one, yet his thoughts never experienced some sort of change. He didn''t even noticed that his killing speed doubled as soon as his killing intent red.

    Raven kept on killing until his face morphed into a ferocious expression. The gray shroud turned into a face that red mercilessly on every maddened foe around him.

    As soon as the face appeared, Raven threw back his head and released a primal roar that shook the earth and sky. His voice reverberated continuously until¡­

    The world shattered.

 Chapter 433 - Aptitude Exams (End)

    ---

    Inside the room where the people from Ancient Elysium Sect and the two Empyrean Knights of Azure Sun Great World was watching the trials. The two elders that Henry brought with him were still arguing with each other using voice transmission.

    They were mostly betting on whether a certain participant they are observing will pass the exams or not.

    As Elders of the Ancient Elysium Sect and the ones who also participated in creating the trials, they of course knew the criteria of passing.

    The Test of Courage is something that was created by another elder on the sect, Test of Knowledge and Test of Will is created by these two. In order to move on to the next part of the exams, a participant has to pass at least two out of three tests in the Aptitude Tests before they could move on to the second part of the exams which is the Smelting Trial.

    Though these elders had strange personalities, it doesn''t change the fact that they are Elders from Ancient Elysium Sect. This is not the first time that they participated in the recruitment so they understand how to gauge an individual''s chances of passing.

    Most of the people they were observing failed, which made them disappointed. Just like what the Empyreans and Henry discussed earlier, the performance of juniors are getting worse as time goes by. Even though the difficulty of the exams had been lowered by the sect already, they were still struggling to pass.

    ''If this continues, then no matter how many disciples we brought back to the sect, aren''t they going to end up as a waste of space and resources?'' The elder with numerous moles on his face and a bulbous nose spoke to the other elder.

    ''You toad, don''t be a jinx!'' The elder with a long grey beard red at the Toad Elder. ''We both know that the sect isn''tcking neither space nor resources. What weck is disciples.''

    ''But we can''t bring back useless brats since they''ll be bound to kicked out anyway!'' Elder Toad franklymented.

    ''This¡­'' The elder with a gray beard unconsciously said.

    ''See? Ain''t I right again? A pity, a pity! We''ve prepared some goodies for the brats today but it seems that none of them would be able to get their hands on it. Say? You think we can keep the prizes instead? I kindacking some spirit stonestely.''

    ''Shut you trap and look at the guy who passed the Test of Knowledge earlier!''

    ''Oh? What''s up? Let me see...'' Elder Toad squinted his eyes and gazed at the table. His eyes were then focused on a guy with an aqua-marine colored hair who exhibiting a feral killing intent and is currently surrounded a gray shroud.

    Elder Toad''s face changed his eyes help surprise. All the yfulness on his face were now gone and was reced by rare expression of solemnity.

    ''Quasi-ughter Intent. What do you think Graybeard? Shall we inform Young Lord about him?'' Elder Toad asked.

    ''No need.'' Elder Graybeard replied. He sneakily gave Henry a nce as well as the other Empyreans and thought for a bit. ''With Young Lord''s senses, I think he already noticed the kid. Let''s just act like nothing happened. We can''t let those two scheming old coots do something drastic.''

    Elder Toad and Elder Graybeard then turned silent after that. Instead, they silently observed the other participants. They were hoping that someone else will give them another huge surprise as well.

    ***

    As soon as world around Raven shattered, he simrly woke up from the special state that he''s in as well.

    Out of nowhere, he was surprised to figure out that he''s releasing a very aggressive and dense killing intent. A frown surface on his face, and with the addition of the ferocious expression on his face, Raven looked like he lost hisposure and is prepared to tear down anyone who will try to cross him at any given moment now.

    Raven stopped paying attention to his surroundings and focused on inspecting his body. During his first inspection his frown deepened since he didn''t see anything that caused his killing intent to surface. And even though he''s releasing a very aggressive aura right now, his mind was actually exceptionally clear.

    He also managed to see the shroud covering his body, he was surprised at first but he noticed that this shroud wasn''t anything harmless at all, in fact it was hardly visibly due to him also wearing ck colored robes. If anything, it just caused his body to look like he was covered in some sort of a visage.

    He then sank his perception inside his core and as soon as he did that, he finally managed to discover what happened to him.

    ''The energy of ughter.'' Raven murmured inwardly, ''ughter Intent? No, it should be a quasi one. But how though?''

    He thought for a bit and his eyes began shining. ''It''s probably due to how much people I''ve killed. How many did I kill anyway? I don''t remember. But I guess have this now. Well, I''ll foster it. After all, not everyone manages to condense something like this.''

    Due to the special state he was in, most of his actions within the Test of Will was like a blur to him. He can''t recall how many people he killed or how many times he was revived. All he could remember was constantly perfecting his fist arts and that he killed many people. Because of that, he didn''t even notice that he experienced some sort of change.

    ''If I manage to evolve this Quasi-ughter Intent into a true ughter Intent. Then I''ll be able to release the ughter Domain. Not only does this domain able to supersede with my Champion''s Influence, it could also suppress my enemies by a lot while also boosting my attacks.''

    ''If I get the chance, then I should meditate upon this. A pity that I''m a bit pre-upied by now as well as my Avatars.''

    Raven took a deep breath and the ck shroud covering his body disappeared. His killing intent subsided and he no longer had this feral expression on his face. Everything about him looked like how it was used to be.

    He then felt a tug on his consciousness, and when the feeling subsided, Raven opened his eyes and saw that he was back at the ce inside the curtain of lights. He briefly looked around him and saw that some people woke up roughly the same time as him. He then felt something buzzing within his sleeves.

    Raven then took out the badge on his sleeves and sank his consciousness within in order to check what''s happening with it. Rows of information then showed themselves to him and he saw that there were some changes on them.

    Participant #89: Vendrick Valorheart

    Merit Points: 620

    Power: Champion Knight Realm

    Test Results: Aptitude Exams: (3/3), Smelting Trial: N/A

    ???

    ''Wait what? My merit points increased that much?'' Raven inwardly mumbled, ''And this three out of three in Aptitude Exams means that I passed right? If that''s the case, then the increase of merit points should have something to do with me passing then.''

    ''Next is the Smelting Trial, that Elder said that if we passed the Smelting Trial as well, then we already are considered as disciples of the sect. I wonder what kind of smelting trial it is.''

    *Weng!*

    "Congrattions for passing. You may now proceed with to the next area where the Smelting Trial will ur." The Elder''s voice transmission echoed on his ears which basically confirms that his guesses just now was on point.

    Raven sighed and stood up. He stretched his body for a bit before walking out of the curtain of light with the others.

    As soon as the second batch walked out of the light curtain, the rest of the participants were already looking at them. Those who had yet to take the exams were feeling nervous. This is due to the different expressions of those who just finished theirs.

    Some people looked wretched and haggard, it was as if they experienced the most horrifying scene of their entire life. Those who looked rtively fine could only be counted on one hand, even then their fatigue was visible to everyone as well.

    As the curtain of light disappeared, the Elder''s voices sounded on the hilltop once more.

    "Alright, same deal with you second batch. Those failed, go down and get out of here. Those who passed, follow that disciple and she will lead you towards where the next part of the exams will ur."

    "Participants #101 to #150, step forward!"

    Raven stopped paying attention to the elder and walked towards the guide prepared for him. He nced around him and saw that aside from him, there are four other people who managed to pass and Jason was one of them.

    When Raven''s gazended on him, he couldn''t help but feel a little surprised. He then saw Jason walking towards him wearing a weary smile.

    "Formidable, formidable. I can''t even see any sweat on you." Jasonmented.

    "I''m just good at acting. In fact I''m even more exhausted than you." Raven lied, he then cast a deep and meaningful look at Jason as added. "You''re burdens must be¡­"

    Jason only smiled and waved his hand, Raven gave him a nod and decided not to pry on anymore.. Instead, he just silently walked together with the rest towards the next location.

 Chapter 434 - Item List

    ---

    The five people from the second batch who made it out were then led to a nearby building.

    "Everyone, this will be where you will stay for the time being." The leading disciple spoke, "We have to wait until the rest of the participants are done taking the Aptitude Exams before the Smelting Trial begins."

    "There are several rooms avable within this building. You can pick any room you want, upon entering the room, it will immediately give off a sign that it''s upied. Please take this¡­"

    The disciple then handed out some strange device to every participant. Raven grabbed his and inspected it a bit. The device looked like a pearl, it has a murky red color and smooth surface.

    "These pearls could be used in tandem with your current badges. Once you enter your room, you can inspect it using your perception and you know how it works. The pearl will also serve as amunication device, we can send you a message through it so that you''ll know when we the Smelting Trial will begin."

    "Alright, my work is done for now. Please rest properly and prepare for the next exams." The disciple them wrapped his fist towards the participants and bowed for a bit before leaving them on their own.

    Raven stepped forward and entered the room. He opened his ocr technique to try and see if he could inspect the rooms with it. It worked but he quickly figured out that there''s no difference between any room be it the amount of energy present of interior design so he might as well choose something in random.

    After picking a room, he ced his hand on the doorknob and entered without hesitating. He heard a faint droning sound which caught his attention. He looked at the door and saw that it was shing with a bright red light. Such a thing wasn''t there before which made him think that the red light is the sign that a room is upied.

    Raven shrugged and stepped inside, closing the door behind him as he entered. After locking the door, the interior of the room is nowpletely visible to him.

    The interior of the room didn''t really surprise him since he already saw it during his initial inspection. Each doors leads to a separate space that''s fit for anyone to seclude themselves. The interior space looked very simr to the one he had back in the Martial Emperor Sect.

    If there''s any difference, it would be the fact that the bed is nicer, there is a kitchen and there''s also a hot spring and pond nearby which he could use to clean himself.

    "I actually want to sleep for a bit but I have no idea how much time I have before the Smelting Trial begins. It took me months to finish the first exams but in reality, only an hour or two passed outside. Well, I guess I''ll just unwind first to lessen my mental fatigue."

    Raven then walked towards the hot spring inrge strides. He took out a bottle filled with aromatic herbs and calming powders from his spatial ring and let those steep in the hot spring before dispersing his clothes which was made out ofws. He then walked towards the hot spring and rested his back while closing his eyes to feel the gentle heatforting his whole body.

    After a couple of minutes, he then took out the pearl that the disciple gave to him earlier and inspected it once more.

    A barely noticeable glint appeared in his eyes as he held the pearl on his hands.

    ''Interesting¡­'' He scoffed inwardly, ''There''s actually a tracking rune within this. Though it might make sense for the Ancient Elysium Sect to ce one, the problem is that it wasn''t them who nted this.''

    ''If the sect nted this rune, then its use would be to locate this pearl should it go missing. But it wasn''t them who nted this, the only culprit I have is the Twin Star Academy but why would do something like that?''

    Raven closed his eyes and from an angle, it seems like he was inspecting what''s inside the pearl but in reality, he wasn''t. He was actually reviewing some of his memories on Runic Inscriptions to see what''s the true purpose of this tracking rune.

    After a while, he then opened his eyes and cold smirk found it''s way to his face.

    ''I see¡­'' Raven snorted inwardly, ''So this tracking rune, tracks me instead of the pearl. Not only does it tracks me, it also captures a wisp of my Spiritual Mark, which would then be visible to whoever nted this rune. What a devious move.''

    Spiritual Mark could also be said as an individual''s identity, it''s the mark of their soul which ispletely unique to them, not even twins will have the same arrangement of spiritual marks. In some ces, specially those who were secretive and reclusive, they confirm someone''s identity through spiritual marks since it is the most fool proof way to confirm one''s identity.

    What makes this situation a bit risky is that, there are some people who have abilities to deal with Spiritual Marks. Some forces of evil couldpletely replicate it, extract all knowledge from it, revise it and so on. And since spiritual marks serves as someone''s proof of identity, tinkering with it could cause some serious harm to the owner.

    Although those who could tinker one''s spiritual marks are too few and far in between, they still exist. Those who could, are mostly shady characters which are also powerful.

    And Raven still hasn''t forgotten the fact that the Twin Star Academy has two Empyrean Knights.

    ''Not only did you people ce a tracking rune on the pearl which belongs to other people, you also ced an observation rune in this ce. I don''t know what you people are nning, but if you think that I''ll easily give you what you want, then you''re thinking too highly of yourselves.''

    Upon his initial inspection, Raven already saw the observing rune within this ce. He ignored it since he''s using the properties of the Twin Star Academy and it would make sense for them to do something like this.

    Now however, he didn''t think so.

    ''If my soul hadn''t recover this much, then I wouldn''t be able to do this, but now¡­fooling you is as easy as turning my hand, even if you''re an Empyrean or not.''

    With his eyes still close, a rumble urred on Raven''s soul. His soul silently chanted some mysterious mantras and a film of light suddenly covered his soul. The whole process took a few minutes to take effect. After all, creating a false cover for his spiritual marks isn''t a simple process. After doing all this, he inspected his fake spiritual marks once more and nodded inwardly.

    ''Alright, at least I''ll be able to cover my track for now. Let''s see what this pearl is for then.''

    Raven sank his perception within the pearl and a wave of information was disyed on his psyche. What made him smile coldly is the fact that the process of the tracking rune capturing his spiritual mark was too secretive, in fact if he wasn''t paying close attention to it, he would''ve missed it entirely.

    The moment that the wave of information appeared on his mind, the tracking rune used that moment as a cover to capture his spiritual marks, the process wasn''t painful, in fact it couldn''t even be felt at all. Which means that whoever did this definitely knows what they''re doing.

    However, due to Raven''s delicate preparations, the rune captured the wrong thing, which caused Raven tough coldly inside.

    He then stopped paying attention to this and proceeded to view the information that the pearl contained.

    The information contained a list of items which was prized using two currencies, one is through Spirit Stones and the rest are with Merit Points.

    Raven was somewhat overwhelmed with how many types of items the list contains. In fact, if he wanted to make his life easier, he could use some pre-sets to filter out the list, making his search easier.

    The list wasn''tcking anything. Clothes, armors, weapons, jewelries, materials, ingredients

    He could even buy things like tickets which he could use to enter some sort of facilities or training areas, bloodlines, ves, guards, hell even a specific titles privileges that he didn''t know about were also for sale. But of course, everything has a price.

    The amount of items that could be bought using Spirit Stones were awfully limited even though they have endless supplies for it. Most of the items avable were only affordable by using merit points.

    Raven stared at the list for a while and a sudden impulse took over him. He used the filters and searched the list for somethings, but he was met with a good news and a bad news.

    The good news is, a soul of a Crimson Dragon Emperor is avable through this list. He could also invite an able cksmith to infuse the dragon soul to his gloves.

    The bad news were¡­

    #667. Crimson Dragon Emperor''s Soul - 1,500,000 Merit Points.

    #18. Empyrean Ranked cksmith Services (One Time Consumable..) - 2,000,000 Merit Points.

 Chapter 435 - The Formidable Sect

    ---

    Raven couldn''t help but to purse his lips upon seeing that, he thenughed wryly and felt stupid.

    "I was asking for it, aren''t I?" He shook his head and thought to himself for a bit.

    Although it was impulsive for him to search for ways to make improvements for his gauntlets, Raven was bound to do that in the future anyway.

    The Crimson Dragon Emperor''s Gloves are still suited for his needs. Raven understood the difficulty of promoting it to a true Empyrean level Spiritual Treasure, so finding out the it''s going to cost him at least two and half million Merit Points to do so didn''t reallye as a surprise for him. Needless to say, the price is still too staggering for him.

    Not to mention, gathering the materials needed for the upgrade has its own risk. He just didn''t believe that it will be this easy. Sure, the cost was expensive but there''s no telling how long he''ll stay within the sect anyway. It is also highly probable that he could find a way to earn merit points easierpared to normal disciples. And even if he could produce the necessary amount to invite an Empyrean level cksmith to do the job, there''s no way for him to ensure their sess.

    If the cksmith seeds, then it''s all good. But what if doesn''t? What if the gloves were destroyed in the process? Would the cksmith be responsible for it? And even the process was a sess, who''s to say that the cksmith won''t just steal the gloves from him or tell the whole sect that he has an Empyrean ranked Spiritual Treasure, causing his life within the sect to be more miserable?

    Everything sounded very simple but there''s just too many variables, and Raven wouldn''t necessary want to attract that many enemies by his side.

    "Why am I think about all of this? I''m not even a disciple yet. I''ll worry about this once I managed to enter, for now let''s see if there''s anything that I could buy or want to by for now."

    After shaking his head and throwing the matter about upgrading his gloves back in his head, Raven casually skimmed the list to check if there''s somethings that could catch his attention or if there''s some items that''s necessary for him right now.

    Raven spent roughly an hour skimming through items and let out a sigh. The Ancient Elysium Sect was just too formidable. Almost every item and material he could think off is listed and priced ordingly on this list. Those that he didn''t manages to see were either too rare or just outright priceless. There are even things that he had never heard about here.

    What really got his attention are the following items:

    #1809: Lower ne Official Writ - 500,000 Merit Points.

    #201: Residence at Ares Secret Realm - 800,000 - 1,500,000 Merit Points

    # 10: World Tree Seed: 10,000,000 Merit Points

    The first item, which is the Lower ne Official Writ is something that Raven has to posses. He was too familiar with this item as he had seen and heard about this during his previous life. The official writ is a necessary item in order for him to im ownership of the Grand Ancestral ne.

    The Divine Realm is a ce filled with possibilities, but it also means that the fight over it is incredibly fierce and bloody. Some people who were born from here may decide to try their luck on the lower nes. And even though the Grand Ancestral ne is quite far from the Divine Realm, it is not invisible.

    Though he left some contingency ns behind that could help him avert the unnecessary attention to his home, Raven''s still not satisfied with that. In fact, owning a writ of ownership was one of the reasons why he came here in the first ce. His heart will never rest easy unless he achieve this.

    As for buying a residence at the Ares Secret Realm, this will allow his progress on his Destruction Laws to hasten. From the limited information he could gleam at the pearl, this secret realm is a holynd for battle maniacs and those who''s Laws align to aggression. This isn''t Raven''s priority but he thought that he might as well try and see if the rumors were actually true.

    As for the final item, the Seed of the World Tree, this is something that Raven didn''t expect to be here. As far as Raven was aware, the World Tree is something that the Ancient Elven Race greatly valued. What he knew about the World Tree is extremely limited, most of it came from the narrations of his old master Tenrou.

    ording to Tenrou, the fully grown World Tree is incredibly massive and its branches werepletely capable of connecting worlds. It is said that the Ancient Elven Race were its descendants, therefore they were bestowed with the ability to manipte space. Additionally, only their race were able to travel within the World Tree''s branches, allowing them to visit one world after another without taking much risk at all.

    Raven doesn''t know how much of this was real and how much was fabricated but it made him interested enough to look at the item with gleaming eyes. Of course, the ten million merit points price tag was a sight for sore eyes but since it is astronomically priced, then it at least means that the legends were true, no?

    But then again, simply desiring for these things are too useless for the current him. Not to mention that his puny 620 Merit Points were not even close enough to afford him anything useful, he''s not even an official disciple of the sect just yet.

    Yet even so, seeing all of this just proved one point.

    "Joining thispetition was truly the correct decision. Joining the sect would be even better¡­"

    And if Raven could think something like this just by looking at the item list, then others could do the same thing as well.

    ***

    "Sis, look! It''s here! It''s truly here! There''s is hope!"

    "Mn! I can see it too! Therefore we must work hard! It would be best if both of us could enter but whether its you or me, we have to do it! We have to purchase this writ!"

    "I agree! Don''t worry Sis! I won''t hold back!"

    ¡­

    "Kukuku¡­how rich! How filthy rich this Ancient Elysium Sect truly is! Kukuku¡­"

    "You even ced the item I want for so cheap! Are you baiting me or what? Well, no matter. Kukukuku, there will be no stopping me when I get my hands on it¡­"

    "And those who tries to get in my way¡­I''ll make sure they''ll die a horrible death! Kukukuku¡­"

    ¡­

    "I can finally understand why you want me to join this sect so bad, Master."

    "You taught me all of the skills I possess. You raised me so well but it doesn''t change the fact that what you can give to me is ultimately limited."

    "A mountain beyond a mountain, a sky beyond the sky. Master, I get it now."

    "I won''t fail. I promise. Once I carve out a name of fame, once my name is renowned to every corner of the Divine Realm, I''ll go back to you and spend the rest of my life by your side."

    "Wait for me¡­"

    ¡­.

    "Kuh! What a formidable sect! I''m hyped! I''m super hyped!"

    "Damn! They''re even selling beautiful concubines! Man! I think my dream of creating a whole n by myself might just actually happen! Kuh, I''m so hyped! I''m super duper hyped!"

    "This can''t go on! I need to get in! I NEED to join this sect! There''s just no other way! My dreams will onlye true if I managed to get in! So I HAVE to be chosen!"

    "Alright! Come at me you retards! I''ll take you all on!"

    ¡­.

    "Hmph! Hmph!"

    "unting wealth in front of this Young Master? Hmph, hmph! Don''t you know that I¡­don''t you know that I-"

    "Ampletely broke! Huhu! This Young Master is poor! Poor I say! Wretchedly poor, you hear!? Huhu~"

    "You are looking down on me huh? Gosh darn it, you people really are looking down on this Young Master! Fine! Fine! I''ll show you! I''ll let you know who you''re messing with!"

    "There will be a day, that all of you will regret looking down on me!"

    "Huhu, but I''m still broke! My spirit stones! Huhu~"

    ***

    "Jason! Come on! Snap out of it! It''s over!"

    *Pa!* *Pa!*

    "Brr! I can do this! I can do this! I am capable! I am strong!"

    "Thepetition is fierce, but I''ve never shied away from a challenge! I''ve entered hell before. I''ve experienced hell before! Heck, I haven''t even exited hell just yet, but I can still fight."

    "There might be a lot of formidable people around but I have no reason to fear! Compared to them, I''ve experienced more hardships! And even though my burden is quite heavy, I''m not going to give up!"

    "Champion''s Physique doesn''t represent all. And even in that category, I''m not really behind¡­"

    Jason closed his eyes and looked at the fake blue skies above him, his thoughts became a bit messy and an expression of loneliness surfaced on his face.

    "I miss you Junior Sister.. Behave just a bit longer, I''lle home soon."

 Chapter 436 - Poaching

    ---

    "Attention Participants, the second part of the disciple examination will begin in half an hour. Please exit your rooms and gather at the bottom floor."

    "Attention Participants¡­"

    A voice awoken Raven from his meditation, it came from the pearl that was given to them earlier as well as the rooms which they stayed in.

    A sigh escaped from Raven''s lips. He then stood up, he did some light stretches before walking out of the door and going to the bottom floor.

    It has been two days since he finished the Aptitude Test. All participants finished taking the Aptitude Exams in a day, they were then given a two day rest to ease up their mental fatigues and now that the time was up, the smelting trial will begin.

    He saw other participants as well while he was making his way to the bottom floor, during the way, he met up with Jason who looked exactly the way how Raven initially saw him. Raven knew that whatever happened to him, Jason must''ve recovered from it. In fact, he could even sense a zing fighting spirit in the depths of Jason''s eyes.

    The two met gazes, Jason then grinned at him and walked closer. Raven sighed and shook his head, he continued going down, when Jason arrived by his side, he heard him whisper¡­

    "Hey do you know? Out of one thousand participants, only fifty managed to pass, and that includes us."

    Hearing this caused Raven''s brows to raise, he then made a quick scan around him and found out that there really wasn''t a lot of people around them. Raven then got some brief shbacks about how his Aptitude Test went and felt that this result was somewhat reasonable.

    ''It required an intense trigger for me to awaken in the illusions they prepared. If that could happen to me, then these people must''ve struggled to extricate themselves from it as well.'' Raven mumbled inwardly.

    "Most of the people here are actually crouching tigers. And if there''s only this much of us who got through the first part of the exams, then I wonder how many will be left during the second." Jason whispered once more.

    "Do your best. Remember what they told us earlier. Once we passed the Smelting Trial then we will already be considered as disciples of the sect. Since they said it like that, then everyone will be going all out. And that includes me." Raven whispered back.

    "Aren''t you looking down on me too much by saying that? You think I''m not aware?" Jason mocked and angry expression, "Don''t worry. In fact, I should be the one reminding you that."

    "Oh, we will see then." Raven grinned.

    The remaining participants eventually arrived at the bottom floor. The atmosphere was tense and silent. Almost everyone were on edge and emanating a zing fighting spirit. Some people even red at each other while some people tried to act cool.

    *Cough* *Cough*

    A fit of coughing interrupted them, causing their attention to gather to a single person.

    Another Elder from the Twin Star Academy appeared before them, this person was an old man but his face looked more amicable and more pleasantpared to the Elder which assisted them before.

    "Good day, Participants. My name is Abe, I hope that you are all well rested." The elder introduced himself. "Out of one thousand participants earlier, only fifty of you remained. Which means that all of you could be said to have some ability."

    "However, I advice you to not think yourselves as infallible. Just because you passed the Aptitude Exams, it doesn''t mean that you have the capital to be proud already."

    No spoke or refuted Elder Abe, none of the remaining participants were dumb. Even if the elder didn''t remind them, they are all aware of this matter.

    "Well then, let''s talk business shall we?" Elder Abe smiled and cleared his throat, "You''ve heard the word earlier. The next trial is called the Smelting Trial, the one who handled you earlier already told you that if you managed to pass this trial, you can then already be considered as disciples of the Ancient Elysium Sect. I can confirm that this is true, so you all have to work hard."

    "However!" Elder Abe''s face changed and was reced by a serious one. "Even though you are nearly there, it doesn''t mean that you can ck off. I''ll tell you now thatpared to the Aptitude Test, the Smelting Trial is on a whole different level. This trial is arranged by His Excellency, Heavenly Sword War God Henry."

    "If you aren''t careful, then there''s a high chance for you to die."

    Elder Abe''s voice sounded like a bomb ringing to the ears of the remaining participants. Some eyes constricted while others feltplicated. Of course there are also those who remained unperturbed such as Raven, Jason and some other people.

    "Those who feel uncertain about their chances, you''re in luck. There''s still time for you to retreat before the Smelting Trial begins. If you decided to back out now, no one will me you for it."

    "There''s no reason to regret either. Just because you couldn''t be disciples of the Ancient Elysium Sect doesn''t mean that you''ve nowhere else to go. Those who doesn''t want to risk their lives, you may step forward. You can then decided whether you want to join the Twin Star Academy or not."

    "If you decided to join us, then you don''t have to worry about taking a separate trial. You will immediately be considered as a disciple. We will give you your things and you can move in as soon as you can."

    "As for those who doesn''t want to join has nothing to worry about as well. If you have some other sects in mind, feel free to tell us, we will help you in the best way that we can."

    "I am only making this offer once. When we step out of this hall, then the deal is over. I''ll give you ten minutes to decide. Time starts now." Elder Abe then sat down and closed his eyes, leaving the surprised participants to digest the information he gave just now.

    A strange atmosphere then descended on the surroundings. Some people started fidgeting and some were feeling anxious. From the looks of these people, they were seriously reconsidering the offer that Elder Abe told them earlier.

    Jason was wearing a strange smile on his face, he then sent a voice transmission to Raven saying:

    ''Shameless. This Twin Star Academy is acting very shameless right now. Hey! You think that those from the Ancient Elysium Sect knows about this?''

    ''I think they do.'' Raven replied, ''They were the ones who wants to recruit disciples in the first ce so I think it''s reasonable for them to monitor what''s happening here.''

    ''That means they aren''t bothered by this shameless act of poaching disciples by the Twin Star Academy. As expected of a powerhouse, such bearing could only disyed by them, unlike these people.'' Jason snorted as he sent another voice transmission.

    A wry smile appeared on Raven''s face as he replied: ''You are aware that some people might have the ability to hear voice transmissions of others, right?''

    Jason was momentarily shocked by what Raven said just now, panic appeared on his face as he started looking around him to search if someone''s ring at him or something. In the end, he didn''t manage to find any but still his nervousness didn''t appear.

    He then gave Raven a re as he sent another voice transmission:

    ''Stop scaring me like that! And next time, warn me!''

    ''The hell''s your problem? Why are you ming me? You were the one who''s acting all high and mighty, I only reminded you out of the kindness of my heart and you''re ming me? Screw you, dude.''

    ''Shut up! You''re making me even more nervous!'' Jason sent back, his tone sounding a bit uncertain.

    Their conversation was the interrupted with a sudden movement around them. Almost all heads turned at the same time when someone stepped forward.

    Elder Abe opened his eyes and looked kindly at the one who stepped forward. The old man nodded to him, acknowledging his decision. He then turned towards the rest and asked:

    "Anyone else?"

    This even caused more people to feel even more conflicted. Some gritted their teeth, some were scratching their heads in frustration. Meanwhile, there are also some who let out sighs of defeat and dejectedly stepped forward.

    The number of those who forfeited amounted to five people. Time passed some more and five more people joined them, causing their total numbers to amount to ten and leaving only 40 people to attempt the smelting trial.

    "Alright! Times up. Those of you who were brave enough to remain and challenge the smelting trial, follow me, I''ll take you to where the trial will take ce. For those who chose let go of their chance, don''t worry, my words naturally carries weight. Follow these disciples and tell them whether you want to join our academy or receive some rmendations."

    As soon as Elder Abe finished saying this, the turned around and started exiting the building along with the remaining participants who were preparing themselves to experience the dangers of this Smelting Trial.

 Chapter 437 - Devil Emperors Pagoda

    ---

    The group went towards another building within the Twin Star Academy. Due to the previous event that happened, the atmosphere was still rather strange. Inevitably, there are still some people who kept sighing and there are also others who kept looking back, thinking to themselves whether they made the correct decision or not.

    Unfortunately, no matter what they think, it doesn''t change the fact that the offer already passed and missed their chance. All these people could do, is to move forward and face the uing challenges.

    The group then eventually arrived at the ce where Smelting Trial will ur. Elder Abe stopped before the entered and talked to them.

    "This is where the Smelting Trial will ur. This is an artifact that was brought by the Envoys of Ancient Elysium Sect. They call it, the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda."

    The participants were surprised and couldn''t help but to take a good look at the towering pagoda in front of them. The pagoda was covered in a shroud of energy which made it a bit difficult to see through, no matter how hard one looks, the number of floors remained obscured.

    Those who had better vision or ocr techniques saw at least nine floors but there seems to be a silhouette for the tenth floor so they can''t be sure. Additionally, the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda was giving them a feeling that it was extremely tall despite how few floors were visible to them.

    "ording to the Envoys, this Devil Emperor''s Pagoda is actually just a replica of the real one. Which is why it''s giving you some false sense of feeling. The real one is located at the Ancient Elysium Sect, ording to what I know, the real Devil Emperor''s Pagoda is extremely tall. Some people said that it is so tall that it pierces the sky and could still be seen even in space."

    "I don''t know the specific things that the real Devil Emperor''s Pagoda could do, but the replica is here and I am familiar with everything that it could do."

    Elder Abe then cleared his throat and faced the participants.

    "Listen up all of you, I will only tell you the rules once. If you missed it or forgot somethings, you''re on your own. Don''t expect us to give you any preferential treatment."

    When his voice turned serious, the face of the participants turned serious as well. They then gathered their focus on Elder Abe, afraid to miss out on anything that he has to say.

    "This Devil Emperor''s Pagoda replica has a total of nine floors. Your main objective is to climb up as high as you can. Time is altered inside the pagoda, one day outside is one year inside. The smelting trial will go on for a total of ten days, which will be ten years for all of you."

    Elder Abe''s words came as a surprise to some participants, some were too stunned that they didn''t even know how to react to that. Ten years, to mortals this is a very long time but to cultivators, it''s nothing too impressive. To some of the people who reached a very high level of cultivation, ten years is just a blink of an eye to them.

    Still, most of the participants this time around were young. Ten years might not be long for them but it isn''t too short either.

    "All of you will enter at the same time but you won''t be taking smelting trial together. You''ll be transported to a ce where only one participant is epted. Which means that you''ll be judged individually and there''s no teaming up for this trial."

    "Unlike the Aptitude Test, the Smelting Trial possess dangers. If you aren''t careful enough, then there''s a high possibility that you will lose your life. That being said, beyond danger lies opportunities. So long as you are capable enough, the amount of opportunities you can grab numerous."

    "Once inside, you will be connected with the pagoda. In turn, you''ll be able to figure out where will be the safe zones and the requirements to enter the higher floors. The higher you go, the more dangerous it gets, but that also applies for the amount of opportunities avable to you."

    "However!" Elder Abe raised a finger, "The rule of firste, first serve applies here as well. No participant could im the same opportunities at the same time. Once the lucky chance was grabbed by someone, it will disappear from the pagoda, which means that you all have to be fast or else you will have manypetitors. If two or more people are fighting over the same chance, then it will eventually end up on the hands of the most capable. If it''s a technique, then the one who mastered it first will be its owner. If it''s a spiritual treasure, then the first who can subdue it will have it first. So on and so forth, do you understand?"

    Elder Abe''s voice reverberated on their ears, the participants nodded to his question and remained silent. They waited until he continued speaking.

    "Once the time limit ends, we will based the ranking on how many floors you people managed to surmount. The one who climbed the highest will be number one of course. As for those who are at the same floor, we will decided on who managed tost longer or achieved more. If there''s a tie, then a duel willmence to figure out the result."

    "As for how many will remain out of you¡­it would be better if none of you knows about it. That way, you can focus on bringing out the best of your abilities."

    "Once again, I just want to remind you. If you manage to pass this Smelting Trial, then you will already be considered as disciples of the Ancient Elysium Sect, so work hard. Now, are there any questions?"

    Elder Abe surveyed the crowd, seeing that no one was speaking or raising their hand to ask questions. He nodded and said:

    "Alright! All of you can enter now. Work hard, Young Champions. Show us what makes you different from the rest." Elder Abe gave them an amicable smile as he urged them all forward to enter the pagoda.

    The participants inhaled sharply, some gripped their fist and released an aggressive fighting spirit, some were nervous but all of them knew that there''s no running away from this. They marched on forward and entered the pagoda.

    Before entering, Jason said something to Raven.

    "Good luck. Don''t die inside. It''ll be a pity." Raven couldn''t help but think that Jason''s tone was a little strange but he ignored it and gave him a reply.

    "Thanks. As for good luck and not dying, I think that''s more fitting for someone like you."

    These words made Jason raise a brow, just before he was about to ask what Raven means, he saw that they were about to enter the portal inside the pagoda, causing him to no longer bother with it.

    But just as they were about to be engulfed by the portal, Jason heard Raven say something to him once again.

    "After all, it will be a pity for someone who has a Perfected Deity Champion''s Physique to perish inside a ce like this."

    That caused Jason''s head to turn sharply towards Raven, whom he only managed to see grinning at him before getting engulfed by the portal. Jason''s words were caught stranded on his throat, causing him to let out a sigh and shake his head while smiling wryly.

    After that, all the participants were engulfed by the portal and were transferred inside the space of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda.

    ***

    When Raven regained his vision, he found himself standing in a wide open space. He activated his ocr technique and started surveying his surroundings.

    The interior of the pagoda didn''t look like what he was expecting. He found himself standing in the middle of a lush forest. There is a clear blue sky above him, he could also see a some fluffy clouds floating about. He''s surrounded with vibrant vegetation and the air was clean. He could also see that there is a nearby spring of water.

    On his vision, he could see that he was near a tall mountain. There was no trace of any civilization around him nor he could see any wild animals or demonic beasts. He could see some little insects but that''s about it.

    This was starting to make him doubtful.

    At a nce, it doesn''t appear that he''s under any form of illusions. Everything around him felt real and life-like so he got rid of that notion.

    Raven was frowning, he then started walking around, still keeping his ocr technique active. He walked towards the spring and inspected it. And just like what he expected, there are no traces of living beings around him.

    "What''s going on here?" Raven asked himself as he thought of reasons. But his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden signal invading his brain.

    [Devil Emperor''s Pagoda - 1st Floor]

    Advancement Requirements:

    1.) Search of a lucky chance.

    2..) Search for clues about the irregrity of the 1st floor.

 Chapter 438 - Smelting Trial 1.1

    ---

    [Devil Emperor''s Pagoda - 1st Floor]

    Advancement requirements:

    1.) Search for a lucky chance.

    2.) Search for clues about the irregrity of the first floor.

    It is this information that suddenly appeared on Raven''s mind without any warnings. Just like what Elder Abe informed them earlier, all participants will naturally know what are the methods to advance once they entered the pagoda.

    "Search for a lucky chance and search for clues huh?" Raven muttered to himself, "It sounds simple but I shouldn''t drop my guard down. Who knows what kind of nasty surprises this pagoda has in store for me. Now then, where shall I start?"

    He then started looking around him. As he''s in the middle of the wilderness, there''s too many things that are covering his view even with his ocr technique active. Due to this, Raven''s first thought was to search for an elevated space where his vision could expand freely.

    Raven''s gaze automatically went towards the mountain peak. As soon as his gazended on it, Raven didn''t hesitate to go over there as quickly as he can. Thankfully, there was a mountain nearby that satisfy his needs.

    He arrived at the foot of the mountain in no time, due to his recent improvements, Raven''s speed was nothing to scoff at even though he wasn''t using his Spacetime Laws to travel.

    As soon as he took his first step onto the mountain, Raven suddenly had a feeling that something changed just now. He can''t put a finger on if but he knew that something felt off. Although it was a vague feeling, it gave him an impression that the mountain transformed the moment he entered its territory.

    He decided to ignore this at fist as he took a couple of steps forward, but as soon he reached quarter of the way through the mountain, he suddenly felt a rumbling beneath his feet.

    This caused him to stop on his tracks and frown. He had his ocr technique active which allowed him to inspect his surroundings in a much closer and detailed manner. The fluctuations on his surroundings were visible to him as well.

    All of a sudden, sharp shards of earth started flying towards him from below. The projectile were swift and also came in all directions. Silently taking out the Archaic Thousand Armed Deity Wheel, he controlled two hands to encase his whole body to defend against the sudden attack.

    While others might think that this took a lot of time, in reality, everything happened within the blink of an eye. Thankfully the shards weren''t strong enough to break his defenses, allowing him to be unharmed by volume of sharp projectilesing his way.

    Raven raised his vignce and surveyed his surroundings even closer, trying to find out whether the attack was orchestrated by someone or from the mountain itself.

    He kept searching as he slowly made his way to the peak, yet he couldn''t see anyone who could possibly control the earth and attack him. The only living being within 10 miles around him was only him. Which means that it was the mountain itself who''s doing this.

    This situation was quite strange, he amounted it to the so called ''irregrity'' of the first floor itself, unfortunately this doesn''t really give him much information at all.

    ''Its either that mountain itself has consciousness or there''s something else going on here that I cannot see or aware of. Anyway, I''ll try to see what''s going on with this mountain. Maybe I''ll get more information at the peak.'' Raven thought inwardly as he hastened his steps.

    Raven continued climbing the mountain but as soon as he reached the halfway mark, he was attacked once again but this time it was stronger. From shards of rocks, it turned into deadly spikes. The projectiles were faster and carried more prative force, causing the arms surrounding him to visibly crack.

    This caused his pace to slow down which made him frown, Raven then added another pair of arms to surround himself with, superseding the with ones he had set up earlier. Doing this caused his defense to be bolstered enough to ignore the unending spikes of earthing his way, allowing him to resume his quick pace.

    This trick is something that Raven unintentionally learned during the ceaseless massacre on the third trial. So far, Raven could only control 150 arms on the Archaic Thousand Armed Deity Wheel. Each arm carried a terrifying force which he could use to ceaseless bombard his enemies with, and so long as he wants to, the wheel would be hidden.

    That being said, controlling all 150 arms are still too much even for the current him. It would his whole concentration to do so, so much so that he won''t be able to move once he get to that point. Additionally, each arm is closely connected to him. Which means that if an arm was destroyed, then he''ll be injured as well. To top this all off, it would need him time and a good chunk of his Cosmic Force to condense the destroyed arm/s once more.

    In order to prevent him from losing an arm from the wheel, he unconsciously learned a certain trick. Later on, he realized that he could actually stack multiple arms to strengthen them. It all came naturally to him since when he learned it, he was experiencing a special condition. Unfortunately, he still need to train if even more since he could only stack five arms in one go for now. Plus, he also had to deal with the burden of each arm stacking together, which means that he''ll feel the weight of each arm pressing down on him as well, causing his speed to slow down.

    Needless to say, even if he could only stack five arms for now, that''s already plenty enough.

    Raven then continued making his way to the peak under the assault of earthen spikes. He kept his vignce at the maximum since he could feel even more rumbling beneath his feet.

    Few miles away from the peak, the rumbling intensified even more. Something happened which caused Raven to stop on his tracks.

    Boulders started condensing around him, each boulder was seemingly being lifted by an invisible force. Each piece started forming a humanoid shape which was, at minimum, fifteen meters tall.

    ''A golem?'' Raven became alert. Several invisible arms manifested and was already aimed at the humanoid.

    A bright yellow light suddenly glowed where the eyes of golem were. The rumbling of the mountain intensified. Smaller rocks started floating around golem. The golem itself was emanating a strong pressure. From his initial measurements, this pressure was something equivalent to a human who reached Lord Knight in cultivation.

    ''This thing is dangerous. Its two realms above me.'' Raven''s face became even more somber.

    He watched as the golem looked down and stare at him. It then lowered its posture to look at him closely, saying:

    "Human! What is a human doing here in our Sacred Mountain?" The deep voice of the golem rumbled across the mountain and on Raven''s ears.

    ''Devil''s Language? How in world could a golem learn thenguage of the Devils? Something''s off here?''

    Raven had met golems before during his previous life, he even befriended some and killed some. From what he understood on his time with them, golems aren''t necessarily one of the brightest creatures.

    They are rtively simple minded and peaceful. Teaching them something, even the most basic tasks, will prove to be extremely challenging. And from what he knew, all golems understood the Elven Language, not the Devil Language. Which makes this encounter really surprising for Raven since he knew that it''s nearly impossible for a golem to learn anothernguage throughout its life.

    ''Furthermore, this golem is young. Golems doesn''t follow a specific kind of cultivation path, all they need to do is to exist and they''ll naturally get stronger. At it''s birth, golems are alreadyparable to Silver Knights. This guy''s power is equivalent to a Lord Knight. Which means that its at least 150 years old, which is considered as a child to the Golem Race!''

    "Pardon my intrusion." Raven stated politely, "I merely am trying to reach the peak in order to get a clearer view of the ce I am in."

    A grimace was present on Raven''s face as he spoke using Devil''s Language. This sort of reaction was natural, thenguage of the devils contained strange sybles and effects that could cause anyone who''s unused to it, feel ufortable speaking it.

    "Oh? Human could understand me? Good!" The golem praised as the light on its eyes curved as if it was smiling. "But human, this is our Sacred Mountain. I don''t know what happened to the rest of humans but they aren''t here."

    This caused Raven to frown. He couldn''t help but to think why this golem assumed that he''s looking for other humans as well. He didn''t say anything about searching for humans when he answered earlier, he said that he just wanted look around using a higher vantage point.

    "Uh, I''m actually not looking for humans..." Before Raven could even continue, the Golem already interrupted him.

    "Ah! You must be asking for an audience with our Lord and Savior right?"

    "Your what now?"

 Chapter 439 - Smelting Trial 1.2

    ---

    "Your what now?" Raven asked in a baffled manner.

    The golem looked at him with enthusiasm evident on its gaze, saying:

    "Our Lord and Savior!" The golem repeated using a respectful tone. "Our Lord is of course the most respected and the most powerful divine being in our Sacred Mountain. He is the one who stands above all and is the rightful lord of all things!"

    ''Woah, that''s some dedication and deration right there.'' Raven thought inwardly as he heard how respectful and pious this golem was. In fact, he was even more surprised that such a simple minded creature was capable of spouting such words of devotion and faith.

    It was as if he wasn''t talking to a golem but a pious believer of some cult.

    Raven sighed and thought that this might be a chance for him to investigate the matter closely. Initially, he just wanted to get a higher vantage point but this is just an obvious sign for him so he thought he might as well go for it.

    ''I have to be careful though. Someone who has a follower of this caliber shouldn''t be someone that I could easily mess with. I should be prepared at the first sign of trouble.''

    "I would love to meet your Lord and Savior." Raven replied while wearing a fake smile on his face, "Would it be possible for me to do so?"

    He could''ve sworn that he saw the golem''s eyes shone just now as it replied: "Of course! It is no problem at all! I''m sure that you might still be skeptical about My Lord''s existence but I can assure you that once you meet him, you will change your mind. I wouldn''t even be surprised if you be a fellow believer the next time we meet!"

    The golem then moved its towering body, allowing Raven to see the road towards the summit once more. The golem was smiling at him as he said:

    "Please go on ahead. I would''ve loved to escort you up but My Lord has trusted me to guard the path to the summit so I''m afraid I can''t go with you."

    "You simply have to follow this path and you''ll eventually reach the summit. Once you reach that ce, you''ll naturally know where to go." The golem stated while gesturing Raven to go on.

    Raven nodded to the golem and started traversing towards the summit. He felt the golem sinking back to the ground but its presence was still there, guarding the path towards the summit.

    The random attacks of the mountain has stopped altogether, Raven still didn''t know whether it was caused by the golem or something else entirely.

    As he continued on his way, Raven remained vignt. His ocr technique remained active and he was prepared to attack at the first sign of trouble. Still, he didn''t face any kind of obstruction at all. He also didn''t encounter any sort of threats or anything. Overall, his journey was smooth and peaceful, something that he didn''t expect at all.

    He closed in at the summit in no time. Upon taking his first step in there, he briefly nced around him and saw the view from the top. He paused for a bit to take in the sights and formed a vague map of the first floor on his mind.

    Well, it turns out that getting a higher vantage point wasn''t bound to help him that much.

    From above, all he could see were the seemingly endless expanse of wilderness and numerous mountains. He could see no civilizations near him nor any otherndmasses. The whole first floor of Devil Emperor''s Pagoda is just like a one massive forest with a few mountains here and there.

    Instead of giving him answers or providing him a direction, going to this mountain peak only gave him more questions instead. In fact, he wasn''t even sure where to find a lucky chance due to how much trees were blocking off his sights.

    A helpless sigh escaped Raven''s lips. He took one more look around just to see if he missed something but everything remained the same. All he could see was trees and mountains, nothing else.

    His attention was then brought back the rest of the road. He was close to the peak of the mountain. ording to the golem, once he reached that ce, he would naturally know where to go from there. It would''ve been fine if the golem was referring to the lucky chance or the irregrity.

    Raven continued on his way and eventually arrived at the mountain peak. As soon as he stepped his foot in there, a vague feeling suddenly rmed him.

    The feeling he got gave him chills. It was as if someone just now, was watching him closely and saw everything that he''s hiding. That certainly made Raven very ufortable.

    It had to be known that Raven hasn''t dropped his guard at all, yet the sensation just now still caught himpletely off-guard.

    A solemn expression appeared on Raven''s face. He silently raised his vignce even more. He kept looking around him as he walked, trying to search for the source of that feeling earlier but it didn''t appear anymore.

    Still, what surprised him was that, the golem was actually telling the truth earlier. Of course he''s journey was bound to end at the peak of this mountain but as soon as the sensation appeared earlier, he could vaguely feel that he knew where he was going.

    This information was as vague as it could get. It wasn''t like how the pagoda informs someone how to advance to the next floor. This feeling was more of a ''calling'' for Raven, not a deliberate instruction.

    Raven continued on his way, still following the calling that he''s receiving just now.

    It made him follow a certain route, which is somehow circling around the peak of the mountain. Eventually, he found himself standing in a t piece of ground which seems to be attached at the slope near the mountain peak.

    He looked around him and saw that there''s no other living being around. Instead, he could only see a lone tform near the edge of the t ground.

    The tform was made out of ck crystals which contained twinkling sparks of light. It wasn''t giving off any kind of energy fluctuations but its surface is filled with strange carvings which Raven waspletely unfamiliar of.

    The calling became stronger as soon as heid eyes on the tform, yet it also raised Raven''s conflicting feeling. He didn''t feel any threat or whatnot on this calling. But the calling was too strong that he''s almost mistaking it as a cry for help¡­

    ¡­which caused him to feel very uncertain...

    ''ording to the golem, I should be able to meet with its so called Lord and Savior, however I have yet to see any lifeforms here. It said that I would know where to go once I reach the summit, and that''s right but all I see here is a tform, no Lord and Savior or whatsoever.''

    As time went on, the calling was bing stronger and stronger but Raven could still resist it and remainposed. His gazended on the strange markings on the tform''s surface. He took a couple of steps closer to the altar and felt the calling practically roaring on his ears, urging him to step onto the tform with outmost haste.

    This caused his frown to deepen but Raven''s mental fortitude could still resist it. Instead of standing on top of the tform, Raven studied the carvings on its surface to see if he could make some sense off of it. Unfortunately, the carvings were too strange and mysterious that nothinges to mind. It was as if those markings were those of child''s random drawings, but Raven knew better that these markings contained specific rules that he''s not aware off, causing him to not understand anything from them.

    This caused him to click his tongue in annoyance. Now, he''s off to decide whether it was a good idea to answer the calling and stand on the tform or resist it and get out of this mountain as soon as possible.

    After deliberating for a bit, Raven gnashed his teeth and said:

    "Screw it! I''ll just handle whateveres next!"

    Raven threw caution off the window and nted his foot onto the altar. As soon as he stabilized his footing and stood and the center of the tform. The world suddenly turned quiet.

    Time seemingly stopped and a surprising fluctuation of energy suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

    Below him, Raven could see a certain part of the forest, which also nearby the mountain, trembling fiercely as if it was experiencing some kind of an earthquake.

    As if triggering a chain reaction, even the trees from further away started trembling as well. And under Raven''s dumbfounded gaze, everything within his vision started rising. Additionally, he was bound into some sort of technique whichpletely paralyzed him. All he could do is to watch at the forest rose before his very eyes.

    Shortly after that, a massive expanse of brown color filled his vision. Some sort ofndmass started forming in front of him.

    It rose several miles up in the air and curved down, seemingly looking down at him. What surprised him is when thendmass suddenly split and revealed two orbs that emitted light, which triggered some resonance on Raven''s memories of his previous life. And to his surprise, he found out that these orbs, weren''t actually miniature suns¡­

    ¡­but eyes instead.

 Chapter 440 - Smelting Trial 1.3

    ---

    Humanity¡­

    Before discovering the Divine Realm, they once thought that they are the one and true Masters of this cosmos.

    They thought that they were strong, capable and transcendent. So much so that others think that the one who rises as the one and sole ruler of humanity, will also be crowned as the true ruler of the Cosmos.

    Oh, how wrong were they¡­

    A human with a moniker, Master Sun, has once caught glimpse of the world beyond their world. The instant he saw it, though it was only for a short period of time, he knew that he wanted to go there.

    Unfortunately, this task will prove to be a challenge. Master Sun dedicated good chunk of his life in pursuit of entering the ''World Beyond'' but experienced many failures. Many didn''t believe him nor helped him in his quest. They cannot see the world that he saw, so it makes sense that none of them would even try to understand him.

    As his life was nearing its end, Master Sun despaired. No matter how much effort he ced, all that came to him was failure and nothing else. He felt extremely unwilling to die, he wanted to go there. To see different sights! To experience what lies beyond the skies! Unfortunately, he became old and time wasn''t on his side anymore.

    Desperation gripped his heart. As he realized that he was nearing his natural lifespan, he decided to throw all caution with the wind.

    Either he sees what''s beyond these skies or he die trying.

    Using all of his remaining strength, he ripped the skies open, consuming some of his remaining lifespan, and threw himself towards the gap and disappeared from the world he originally lived in.

    He woke up at an unfamiliarnds, his body was torn into shreds and his belongings all missing. His power was long gone and he''s no different than a beggar.

    However, none of this matter to him. Instead, it made him happy. Seeing the vibrant colors around him, seeing the different sky, sensing the different whether, knowing that he was right all along and arriving here, this is what matters to him.

    He was right. They were wrong.

    Still this doesn''t change the fact that Master Sun is in a dangerous position. His goal isn''t just merely to arrive and then die afterwards. He wanted more.

    He wanted to venture thesends, he wanted to see the unknown¡­

    He wanted to conquer.

    Unfortunately, he hadn''t truly ovee the mindset of being a proverbial frog in the well. Although he knew that there is a world other than what they previously had, he hadn''t thought of the possibilities that there will be existences stronger than him...

    ¡­or stronger than humans¡­

    He thought that since he was the only human being alive and rtively¡­okay, in thisnd, it would be okay for him to rule over it and own every single thing within it.

    Unfortunately, fate is such a fickle thing. Master Sun had no way of knowing that this mind of his, will in turn cause him to dance at the edge of the grim reaper''s scythe time and time again.

    Like a rude p to his face, he will soon realize, that humanity isn''t worth a fart in this newnd. He''s not some lord. He wasn''t destined to receive a warm and glorious reception in this world. He was nothing more than a lost puppy in a world filled with humongous and powerful monsters that could cause the world to tremble just by their mere movements¡­

    ***

    Raven''s face was incredibly solemn. Out of all things that he had expected happening once he stood on this altar, this¡­is probably thest ting that he was expecting to happen.

    At first he thought that the enormous risingndmass in front of him just revealed two suns buried in them but he was wrong. He realized that instead of suns, those were the eyes¡­

    This risingndmass in front him, was in fact, a living creature. And here he thought that there were no other living beings in his when he first arrived. It turns out that he was actually standing on its back previously and he didn''t even notice it at all.

    Due to the intense shock he was feeling, he didn''t even noticed that the restriction on his body were long gone. Still he stood there, paralyzed and dumbfounded.

    "Greetings, child."

    A deep and archaic voice reverberated on every corner of Raven''s body. Though the tone this creature used was gentle and amicable, its sheer power caused the sound to rumble on his own body. Something that was bound to happen when an ancient creature faced a¡­lesser, creature.

    "God Beast, Heavenly Elk!" Raven involuntarily eximed in his shock.

    That''s right. The creature that called out to Raven, rose from its slumber and spoke to him just now, is a God Beast.

    Heavenly Elks are one of thergest creatures of the Divine Realm. Their sizes could reach to an absurd degree that it is verymon for them to be mistaken as actual continents, some people wouldn''t even realize that they built their homes on its back since Heavenly Elks aren''t as active as other God Beasts. They usually like to burrow their actual bodies underground and slumber, but this doesn''t mean that they aren''t aware of their surroundings. It''s just the Heavenly Elks'' natural defense mechanism.

    Additionally, the vast expanse of forest behind its back isn''t actually a ce that anyone could just enter. In the end, the forest grows on the Elk''s back, which means that it''s a part of its body. Surely it could choose who could and couldn''t enter or exit.

    Still, even though Heavenly Elks aren''t as aggressive as other beasts, it doesn''t mean that it''s harmless. The truth was far from that. As for what it could do, Raven has no idea since this is his first time meeting one. But he was sure that the identity of it being a God Beast, isn''t just for show.

    "That I am." The beast replied to him. "You can put down the many arms you manifested. I promise I won''t hurt you."

    Raven wasn''t surprised that the Heavenly Elk could see the arms manifested by the Archaic Thousand Armed Wheel. He had then out way before he stood on the altar just in case of emergency, but since the beast had given him its word, then there should be no problem.

    Well, even if it truly meant to hurt him, Raven has little to no room to fight back. This Heavenly Elk is something that the current him could not handle. It would only take a mere exhale of this beast to severely injure Raven, so there''s no use on being stubborn.

    "I''m afraid we don''t have much time so I''ll speak frankly. Don''t interrupt me, you can ask your questions once I''m done."

    Raven simply nodded silently and allowed the Heavenly Elk to say its piece.

    "This mighte as a surprise for you but where you are, isn''t just the replica of Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. I used what little power I have left to pull you to the real one."

    These words caused Raven''s eyes to constrict. Still he remained silent and allowed the Heavenly Elk to continue

    "In truth, this is the 89th floor. And it''s also where I currently am imprisoned." The elk spoke, "Once you arrive where the Ancient Elysium Sect is located, you will naturally understand many things, for now let''s keep things short and simple."

    "Child, I want you to free me." The elk spoke. As it uttered the word ''free'' there was an unmistakable longing on its tone.

    "Us Heavenly Elks had innate talents, one of the is Fate Scrying. From the moment that you picked up the badge belonging to the sect, I was already certain that you, amongst others, had the highest chance of freeing me. Thus, I already devised a n for us to meet."

    "I have been imprisoned in this ce for far too long¡­even with my long lifespan, so much time has passed by with me unable to see the world outside."

    Despair and exhaustion could be heard from the elk''s voice.

    "I know that this is technically your second life." The elk admitted, "I knew that you are different, which is why I am cing my hopes with you. You might be weak right now, but due to your umtions and the fate you forced onto yourself, your potential is very high, which is why I am confident that you can help me."

    "Of course, I also understand that fate is fickle. Many things could happen outside of our control. If its not fated, then there''s nothing I could say, but still I want to try, even with the smallest chance of sess."

    "So long as you agree, I will provide you with serendipity. Are you willing to help me?"

    Raven was silent for a bit. He repeated the words of the God Beast on his mind. In the end, he couldn''t tell if it lied or not.

    ''Well, at least this Heavenly Elk was kind enough to ask about my opinion. If it was others, then they would just simply force the issue simply due to them being strong enough to do so.'' He thought inwardly.

    Raven looked at the Heavenly Elk and asked: "What do you need me to do?"

 Chapter 441 - Smelting Trial 1.4

    ---

    Upon hearing Raven''s inquiry, the Heavenly Elk''s eyes shone. It then said:

    "First and foremost, you need to be a disciple of the Ancient Elysium Sect." It stated, "In fact, if you be an Inner Disciple, that would be better but that would ultimately depend on you."

    The Heavenly Elk then opened its mouth, revealing several rows of sharp teeth. A beam of light escaped from its mouth and stopped in front of Raven. As the light faded, the item was then revealed at Raven. It turns out that it was a tiny talisman filled with profound inscriptions.

    "Take it." The Heavenly Elk said, "Once you enter the sect, that talisman could be used to exchange for a specific item in the sect. Get that item and study it. If you can take full control of it, then it would be extremely simple for you to break the seal ced on me."

    Raven received the talisman and kept it. However, even though the Heavenly Elk gave him instructions, he couldn''t help but feel like it is hiding something from him.

    "Do take note that what happened here must remain as a secret. If news of this leaked out, then I''m afraid that it will be bad for the both of us. Aside from the Sect Master, you must never let anyone know about what happened here. Are we clear?"

    Raven nodded in agreement. Honestly, even if the elk didn''t warn him, he never had any thoughts about revealing this to anyone anyway. And since Raven decided to ept the talisman, it signifies that he agreed to help.

    "I''ll wait for you here - the 89th floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. I hope that when we meet next time, you''ve already grown strong enough to free me." The elk spoke in an anticipating manner. "And just as I promised, since you agreed to help me, then I will grant you serendipity."

    The Heavenly Elk''s eyes glowed with a terrifying green light. The whole forest shook fiercely and immediately turned into a scene of cmity. Raven stood there without panicking and waited.

    The green light became even stronger until it filled the entire space. After that, Raven''s body started squirming. He could feel that his body was unconsciously releasing a kind of resonance to this green light. Raven originally wanted to study it further but he found himself unconscious.

    As the green was being emitted by the Heavenly Elk, it was staring at the unconscious Raven. Its thoughts were mostly unknown but there is a trace of expectation on its eyes. As it saw that Raven''s body was resonating and absorbing the green light like a whale, it stopped and started burrowing back with a clear exhausted look on its face.

    Before it burrowed underground, a bird manifested from its forehead. The elk then gave its decree to the bird.

    "Go and memorize his face. After that, pass down my decree to that person. Tell him to watch over the kid without hindering his growth. Just make sure that he gets the item that will allow the kid to release me. He''ll know what to do after that."

    After receiving the Heavenly Elk''s decree, the little bird flew. It pped its wings a couple of times before disappearing to the skies above.

    The elk gave Raven one final look and sighed inwardly while thinking: ''Grow up quickly kid. We don''t have much time.''

    After that, itpletely sank back to the ground. Just like that, the unusual appearance of the floor was gone. It reverted back to when it was just an endless expanse of forest. Meanwhile, Raven remained unconscious as his body absorbed the vivid green light released by the Heavenly Elk.

    ***

    Amongst the dark skies filled with ominous feeling, a streak of white light pierced through like a zing meteor - only, due to its size, it was hardly noticeable.

    Despite the numerous thunderbolts slithering through the clouds, this white streak of light was seemingly unaffected and unhindered. It continued charging through as if nothing could bar its path until it pierced through an invisible barrier.

    On the other side of the said barrier, waspletely different world.

    It was as if this world was surrounded by an unending gray fog. The atmosphere was chilly but nothing ufortable. Visibility is extremely limited due to the fog. In fact, even energy sense and domains would be suppressed by this fog, making this world unbelievably hard to navigate.

    Nevertheless, the white streak of light seems to have nary a whit of care about this fog at all. It was as if it had been at this ce before and knew the way. It pierced through several invisible barrier before stopping at an enormousndmass.

    The saidndmass is a mountain, yet those who sees it might not be able to see its peak due to the sole reason that it was incredibly tall. This mountain was so tall that it easily pierced the skies. In fact, a good chunk of its body is actually hidden by the clouds.

    The white streak of light paused for a bit before resuming to fly at an rming speed. This time it was obviously flying up the mountain. The speed of this white streak of light was incredibly fast, yet even with that, scaling the height of this mountain is still a challenge.

    After flying for some time, the white streak of light eventually ended up where it wanted to go. As it slowed down, the white light reverted back to its original form which is that of a white dove - the same one which carried the decree of the Heavenly Elk. It perched on a tree branch while looking around, searching for someone.

    Its eyes then changed when it saw a man exiting a cave. This man was tall, he''s at least seven and half foot tall. His features were simr to that of a human. His upper body was naked, revealing a firm and muscr form.

    His skin was bronze and is filled with numerous scars. His face revealed an old and wizened look, also his beard was so long that its almost reaching the floor.

    The white dove then flew down and approached the old man gently. The old man lifted its head and saw the white dove. He then allowed the bird to approach him.

    The bird perched on his shoulder and opened its beak. However, instead of hearing a gentle chirp, the old man heard a voice rumbling through his ears. This voice could only be heard by him, and its contents caused the old man''s face to change.

    "I see." The old man whispered, his voice sounded dry as if he hadn''t said a word for a very long time.

    Once he said these words, the white bird then slowly turned illusory beforepletely disappearing from the face of the earth. It didn''t even leave a single feather. The white bird''s sole purpose is to deliver this Heavenly Elk''s decree, and since it already did its purpose, it was bound to disappear.

    The old man''s regained its calm. He stared at the skies above him in deep thought. After that, a sigh escaped his lips as he said:

    "So be it." The old man''s eyes turned resolute. A badge filled with rainbow colored light appeared on his hands. He closed his eyes and sank his perception onto the badge, after that the badge turned a bit dimmer but the old man didn''t care.

    He turned around and walked back to his abode. His mind was still upied by some random thoughts, and these thoughts were actually pertaining to the specific image of a child that the bird showed him earlier.

    "Let''s just hope that you''re cing your bets on the right person, Old Friend. I''m at my limit as well."

    ***

    Back at the Twin Star Academy¡­

    Henry, who''s calmly watching the progress of each remaining participants, suddenly froze but only for the briefest of moment. If one wasn''t watching him closely, no one would notice this kind of reaction from him.

    The rest of the people within the room didn''t notice this as well, which caused Henry to feel relieved. He had to stay on guard because there are Empyreans in the room. One wrong move from him and they''ll be in trouble. Thankfully, Henry was alert and managed to hid his shock.

    Still, even though he looked calm and unperturbed. The same thing cannot be said with how chaotic his mind currently is.

    ''Unbelievable.'' Henry thought inwardly, ''To think that ''him'' of all people would pay attention to this recruitment. Almost all of us thought that ''he'' already entered his terminal seclusion, but who would''ve thought that he''s still alive¡­''

    His eyes then focused on a scene ying on the table. Even with his overflowing talent, he doesn''t have the ability to discern that a small part what he was seeing was fake. In fact, not even the Empyreans were aware of it.

    ''Just who? Who amongst these youngsters caused you to pay attention?'' Henry mumbled inwardly, ''Well, it doesn''t matter.. But since you made a move, then that means something big was bound to happen.''

 Chapter 442 - Smelting Trial 1.5

    ---

    The Smelting Trial inside the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda continued without any hitches¡­

    No one amongst the participants or the facilitators knew that something strange happened. All they could see, was the imagery provided by the monitoring arrays inside the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. As for Raven''s situation, what the facilitators are currently seeing, was obviously faked.

    In their eyes, Raven could be seen calmly participating in the Smelting Trial but in reality, Raven had actually fallen into a deep slumber in the 89th floor of the real Devil Emperor''s Pagoda.

    Had Raven wasn''t chosen by the Heavenly Elk, what''s supposed to happen was for him to experience a great number of challenges within each floor of the pagoda replica.

    The rules of the Smelting Trial is simple. As the participants gets transported within, they will arrive at a vast and barren ce. There they will face the endless pursuit of devils - Lesser Imps to be exact.

    Lesser Imps are actually man-made devils. They were created from actual Imps by collecting some of their body parts, therefore acquiring their genes. Lesser Imps are created for the sole purpose of testing the disciples. These man-made devils weren''t physically strong. In terms of energy control and reserves, they aren''t worsepared to humans.

    Where they truly excel at, is in terms of Spirit. Realm Imps possess incredible Spirit, controlling and cultivating their Spiritses naturally for Imps. Due to this, they are incredibly proficient on pulling someone inside their illusions, and their illusions were deadly. They could plunge someone into a deep chasm of unending nightmares, trapping their consciousness within and leaving their physical forms vulnerable.

    Imps devour souls. The more souls they devour, the stronger they get. Some of the stronger Imps could plunge an entire country into believe a false reality in order to devour all of them. Such is the terror of these little devils.

    Lesser Imps, since they are made after the image of the real ones, could also do this but only on a smaller ratios. What makes Lesser Imps less dangerous is that, they don''t have high intelligence. Lesser Imps couldn''t talk and acts due to instinct. Only the stronger Lesser Imps could do that. Additionally, those who created them limited their lifespans as well.

    Still, the amount of Lesser Imps present within the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda replica were too many. The task of every participant is to kill a certain amount of Lesser Imps om each floor in order to ascend to the next floor. Whenever they kill a Lesser Imp, they will release pure Spiritual Energy that would be absorbed by the participants, allowing them to enjoy the benefits of getting a stronger soul without any draw backs.

    The more Lesser Imps they kill, the stronger their spirit gets, which in turn will prevent them from falling to the Lesser Imps'' illusions, making it easier to deal with them. This is the main attraction of this smelting trial.

    As for the lucky chances and opportunities, those could be found scattered within each floor. All the participants has to do, is to search for them.

    Of course, some of the more valuable serendipities are stashed amidst a dangerous ce. Only those who are capable enough could grab them. However, just like Elder Abe said before. There is a firste first serve rule when ites to this.

    Though the participants won''t see each other, the lucky opportunities located within the pagoda are finite. Should someone pick them up first, that item/lucky chance will disappear from the view of the other participants. Should two people were to try iming the same serendipity, it will go to the one who could leave their mark on it first.

    All in all, the participants had to fight Lesser Imps and discover their own serendipities within the pagoda in order to strengthen themselves since the higher they climb, the stronger the versions of Lesser Imps they will face.

    Each floor has a dedicated safe zone. Within this safe zone, the participants won''t be attacked by the Lesser Imps. Each floor also has a requirement that has to be met in order to ascend to the next floor. In the first floor, one only has to kill a certain amount of Lesser Devils, but from the 2nd floor and above, one would also be required to posses a certain amount of serendipities as well as to y numerous devils.

    The time limit is ten years, but only ten days will pass outside. This means that it ispletely possible for the participants to stay within a specific floor for longer periods of time.

    At this point, nobody managed to ascend to the second floor just yet. All the remaining 40 participants - minus Raven, are still on the first floor battling their hearts out.

    Out of these 40 people, eight were in a critical state. These participants almost had their souls devoured by Lesser Imps. If it weren''t for the fact that they managed to wake up from their befuddled state, they would''ve already lost their lives and serve as nourishment to strengthen the spirit of some Lesser Imps.

    It also didn''t help that Lesser Imps actually roam around in groups. Each group would have at least five to nine Lesser Imps. One wrong move and it would be easy for one to get ganged up by these imps.

    The requirement to ascend to the second floor is to kill at least one thousand Lesser Imps. If one haven''t encountered any lesser imps before, they might start thinking that this requirement is easy to surpass but once they face one, they would soon understand that this is already a high number.

    The Lesser Imps on the first floor could easily take down a Hero Knight Expert should they be careless. Since Lesser Imps travel in groups, even a Champion Knight expert wouldn''t casually charge at them without a solid n. This is already enough to slow down their hunt of the imps.

    Additionally, as they ascend to higher floors, the Lesser Imps will be stronger and the requirements will be steeper. Which is why most of them decided to take their time.

    ***

    Whilst the rest of the participants tried their best to fulfill the requirements as quickly as they could, Raven on the other hand was still stuck within his deep slumbering state.

    As his physical body stayed afloat, therge mass of green light that the Heavenly Elk released earlier had now visibly shrunk. Right now, there are no visible changes on his body. It also doesn''t seem like Raven was experiencing a difficult problem as well. His face was peaceful, anyone who sees him would think that he''s just sleeping.

    But the truth was far from that¡­

    Within Raven''s body, a scene representing chaos was unfolding. The reason behind this was due to a simple reason¡­

    The seal on his Chaos Force were now removed.

    When Raven started cultivating the Book of Chaos, his cultivation path had been different. Due to the unique quality of his constitution, it required Master Geezer to bestow him Cosmic Energy in order for to continue cultivating. But Raven was weak back then so Geezer had to ce seals on his Cosmic Energy in order to prevent Raven from imploding.

    Due to him experiencing Soul Rebirth, Raven''s soul could already bear the burden of the total amount of Cosmic Energy he has. Unfortunately, the same couldn''t be said for his physical body. Which is why Raven trained his body extremely hard since that''s the only way for him to slowly loosen the seals on his chaos force and use them however he likes.

    There are a total of three seals ced on his Cosmic Energy but Raven only managed to release one. And that took him more or less five years to do so.

    After that, he was ced on an awkward situation since he could feel that he''s barely scratching the surface of the second seal even after consistently trying ways to improve his physical strength. Hemented over the fact that he can''t cultivate any other techniques since his foundation for the Book of Chaos had been solidified. He would''ve loved to try out some Body Forging Techniques but he couldn''t.

    Which is why he could only sigh and continue doing what he''s been doing since there''s no other way, that''s until now that he met the Heavenly Elk.

    Right now, the rest of the seals were broken in one go and he wasn''t even aware of it. He was in a deep slumber as his body was currently experiencing a chaotic change.

    Previously, the amalgamation of his Cosmic Energy took the form of a sun within his inner world. But now that the seals were broken, it exploded with a loud bang that shook Raven''s whole body.

    There was a fierce storm on his inner world. Thankfully, the items he ced within weren''t touched nor damaged by it. Still this massive storm was like that of the apocalypse. As it rages within his inner world, Raven''s whole body was greatly affected as well.

    If Raven was awake right now, this scene will for sure make him panic¡­

 Chapter 443 - Smelting Trial 1.6

    ---

    Raven liked to be in charge, specially when ites to his own body.

    This means that things going out of his grasp orpletely unexpected is something that he doesn''t want to see or experience, specially when ites to his own body.

    Of course, this includes this certain situation he is in.

    It was his mistake to begin with. He didn''t ask what kind of serendipity the Heavenly Elk was going to give him. He just epted it since he figured that having a God Beast indebted to him is too good to pass. Therefore, he had no one else to me other than himself.

    Thankfully, the Heavenly Elk was kind enough to make him unconscious right now. If it didn''t, then he would certainly be in a lot of pain.

    The process of breaking the seals itself was never meant to be painful. The reason why it was sealed in the first ce is to prevent him from imploding anyway. However, the remaining seals were released by an outside force. Raven''s physical attributes was nowhere near to being enough to handle this much Cosmic Energy.

    It had to be known that Cosmic Energy is a the result ofbining Essence Energy, Vital Energy and Spiritual Energy. Therefore its quality is on a different scalepared to these regr energies, in fact they shouldn''t even be mentioned in the same breath at all.

    Raven''s Master, Geezer - the founder of Cosmic Energy and the creator of the Crown, was hunted by many Divinities due to his discovery. Forcing him to settle down in a dangerous ce where his life is constantly in crises. It was for the same reason that he couldn''t watch over his disciples closely and offer them protection. Though Cosmic Energy isn''t Origin Energy, it was still desired by many since, where everyone failed, only Geezer obtained some form of a breakthrough.

    The original n was to slowly but surely strengthen Raven''s body until he can handle the rest without being burdened. Given his progress, he will surely attain this state earlierpared to his Senior Disciples. Unfortunately, his body is now forced to adapt due to the Heavenly Elk''s actions.

    Raven was bloated by how much energy there is on his body. His energywork couldn''t handle this, his physical body couldn''t handle this, only his soul could but it''s also in slumber along with his Avatars.

    Currently, Raven wasn''t in control. The only lifesaver he has, is that his physical body is still operating ording to his instincts, and is trying to pacify the berserk Cosmic Energies.

    Unlike regr energies, Cosmic Energy does not only flow inside his energywork. It also flows to every corner of his body as well as his soul, nourishing them in a cycle and making him stronger in a faster pace. Now however, since there''s too much Cosmic Energy present on Raven''s body. All paths on his body was full with energy.

    This caused his blood to stagnate and his organs to slowly malfunction. His energywork waspletely still, energy wasn''t pulsing in it since every energy vein and nodes on his body was full. This is an unprecedented danger to Raven''s life. Had he was one of those regr cultivators, then things wouldn''t even develop in this manner¡­

    He would just die right away.

    The reason why he could still hold on after all of this, is due to his physical training and the discipline that he ingrained on every cell of his body.

    Sophisticated Control¡­this why Raven''s still alive.

    Thanks to his stubborn and unceasing efforts to hold reigns on his energies throughout these years, his physical body learned how to operate on its own and its doing precisely what Raven would do in a situation like this and that is¡­

    To control.

    As soon as the crises happened, Raven''s bodily instincts kicked into full gear. When his instincts discover that it couldn''t reign in the sudden increase of his Cosmic Energy volume, it struggled.

    ording to Raven''s methods of control, it didn''t try to get hold of everything at once. Instead, his specifically gathered all the energies that Raven could control before the seals were released.

    Inside his inner world where the scene of absolute chaos were focused, there is a lone orb that''s braving all the storm.

    This orb was the Bounty Orb. It was the same orb of energy that has been siphoning energy from the previously sealed Cosmic Energy and would only be activated should Raven runs out of energy to use.

    Ever since Raven condensed this orb, it has never been activated. Not even once. Originally, it was supposed to be a back up reserve for Raven but right now, its serving a different purpose.

    Raven''s instincts took control of the Bounty Orb within his Inner World and made it as the center of its operation. The Bounty Orb practically doubled in size since all of the Cosmic Energy that Raven could use fused with. Even the quasi-ughter Energy fused within it, causing its original white glow to be tainted. Still, who would''ve thought that it was because of this fusion that the Bounty Orb couldst up until now.

    The quasi-ughter Energy became the ''fangs'' of the Bounty Orb, preventing it from dissipating within the ferocious storm. It is also the reason why the Bounty Orb couldunch a counter-attack.

    As it braved the chaotic scene within Raven''s body, the Bounty Orb would release a wisp of its own Cosmic Energy and fuse it within this chaotic ce. This Cosmic Energy isced by Raven''s spiritual mark, and its job is to coax the surrounding energy and spread Raven''s Spiritual Mark everywhere.

    Once the spiritual mark spreads for a bit, the Bounty Orb would then call them back and nurture them even more in order to convert them to its own soldiers. After that, it will send out another wave pulse and cycle repeats on and on¡­

    This is the method that Raven''s instincts decided to go through in order to regain full control of his own body and prevent him from dying.

    Due to the intensity of the chaos, the process was slow at first. But as the size of Bounty Orb increased, so did the process too. Eventually, the spiritual marks would be capable ofsting more and convert more energies.

    Such back and forth cycle continued for three months. During this time, Raven''s body visibly deteriorated but he''s still alive. There were no signs of struggle on his face nor any signs of pain, he''s just in unconscious.

    Needless to say, the Bounty Orb inside his inner world was unlike what it was previously. Right now, the Bounty Orb was like a humongous gray sun, just like how the previously seal Cosmic Energy was. During this week, it devotedly converted and absorbed the chaos around Raven''s inner world and during this process it took majority of the control back.

    A week passed and the Bounty Orb was now the sole ruler inside the Inner World. All signs of chaos inside the Inner World ceased happening. There were no untamed energy within Inner World anymore, all of it was absorbed by the Bounty Orb, still its job wasn''t done.

    Due to the chaos and Raven''s current state, his Inner World was left in shambles. The responsibility of mending it falls to the Bounty Orb as well, that''s precisely what it was doing currently.

    At the expenditure of its own energy - which was barely noticeable, the Bounty Orb mended the Inner World to its previous state. From the Bounty Orb to the Inner World - this is the first transition for Raven to take back full control.

    Mending the Inner Worldsted for five days. As it waspletely healed, it then became a part of the operations, meaning that Raven''s instincts had full control over his Inner World as well. Whates next is to deal with the stagnated energy on the rest of his body.

    With one pulse, the Bounty Orb sent a wave of its own. This caused ripples on the stagnated energy and caused them to circte. Due to how much time passed, this ripple caused some damages on Raven''s body but it was necessary.

    Even with blood seeping on the corners of Raven''s lips, his instincts didn''t stop continued forcing the energies to circte. This process continued until the energiespleted one cycle. During that, the Bounty Orb managed to scattered Raven''s spiritual marks on the energies.

    Due to that, the stagnated energies branded by the spiritual marks would whole-heartedly listen and follow Raven''s instincts. Therefore, easing up the process of cirction. The first cycle was then followed by the second one, allowing the Bounty Orb to convert some more stagnated energies.

    After the second cyclees the third, which means another conversion, thus beginning another cycle.

    This process took another three months until all the stagnated energies were fully converted and were now circting on their own. Allowing Raven''s face to regain some color.

    Still, it hasn''t ended yet. Although Raven hasplexion now, the price for that is internal injuries.. Right now, since the control advanced by another level, it is time for these energies to restore Raven''s condition.

 Chapter 444 - Smelting Trial 1.7

    ---

    Due to long period of inactivity, Raven''s body had deteriorated by a lot.

    Currently, he was not far from being a dried corpse. If it weren''t for the fact that his body was been nourished by Cosmic Energy and also adjusted to his Spacetime Laws, Raven''s body would''ve rotten already.

    Now that his instincts had reigned over the previously berserk and unruly Cosmic Energies, it could now officially restore his health. Though, that is not all that it can do¡­

    Everything started on his heart. With one powerful pulse, it forced Cosmic Energies to circte on every corner of his body. Unlike before where, the cirction this time isn''t just to convert the unruly and stagnant energies. Instead, it is to allow his physical body topletely recover.

    Cosmic Energies filled with an astonishing vitality took initiative to fuse with Raven''s deteriorated body. As it did, they filled each pore of his body with vibrant energies. They got rid of the old cells, causing Raven''s body to shed skin. Each cells on his body was being reced by a more powerful ones, greatly increasing his strength without causing a major breakthrough.

    Additionally, Raven''s body had been blessed by thews due to him possessing a Perfected Deity''s Champion Physique. This caused his body to be filled withw diagrams. Due to his previous state, thesew diagrams turned blurry and inactive.

    But now, along with Raven''s recovery, thesew diagrams were also recovering as well. In fact, due to the unique serendipity that Raven experienced just now, some of thesew diagrams already fused with his blood streams, dissolving into pure insights which would solidify Raven''sw foundation in the future.

    Slowly but surely, Raven''s body recovered to its previous state but things didn''t stop there.

    Just because its previous state had been restored, it doesn''t mean that Raven''s instincts would stop there. The dangerous part had been over, Raven didn''t implode from the excessive amounts of Cosmic Energy on his body. And since there''s no risk now, then it is time to experience the benefits of serendipity.

    With outrageous amounts of Cosmic Energy, Raven''s physique continued shedding. Even though he already experienced multiple transformations thanks to the First Chapter of the Book of Chaos, Raven''s physique was nowhere near perfection. However, since he unlocked all of Cosmic Energy, he could totally take advantage of it and allow it to strengthen his Physical Body in a skyrocketing manner.

    Cosmic Energy contained the longevity of Vital Energies, the viscosity of Essence Energies and the purity of Spiritual Energies. Making Raven''s physical body stronger a simple feat, specially now that he unlocked his full capacity.

    Sufficed to say, Raven is now experiencing another metamorphosis without making a major breakthrough in cultivation.

    Raven repeatedly shed his skin, hair, nails and etc. This process would normally require too much energy but with his current capacity, the expenditure was almost negligible.

    Many things changed within his Inner World since then. Compared before where it''s mostly dark and the only thing that''s providing light is the sealed up Cosmic Energies, the scene right now is a far cry from that state.

    Raven''s Inner World almost looked like a real Cosmos with the enormous Bounty Orb at its center.

    The Cosmos was filled with gray color, following the color of the Bounty Orb itself. As the Bounty Orb rotated in ce, a swirl of milky gray light swerved around it. This scene was almost the same as the image that Raven saw when he met Geezer.

    There are asional sparks of light within, causing the image of the cosmos to twinkle despite its color. These twinkles are formed from crystalized Cosmic Energies due to its purity and density. A single piece of crystalized cosmic energy contains as much energy as a Spirit Stone b. But these crystals are the mostmon thing within Raven''s inner world.

    Even with his constant shedding, these crystals within his inner world would only dim for a moment before recovering their usual brilliance.

    Additionally, aside from the Bounty Orb, there are another ''stars'' within the cosmos that is Raven''s Inner World.

    One star waspletely filled with muddy brown hue. On the surface of this star, constant scene of chaos were present but would only ur within the star. There is a unique aura surrounding this star, making it feel dangerous and unapproachable.

    This star contained all insights that Raven has for Destruction Laws.

    On the opposite side of this star lies another one which was filled with a profound and ancient air. The appearance of the star was undecipherable since it was constantly changing its appearance. It was as if the whole star is covered with a illusion that confuses anyone that gazes on it.

    This star represents Raven''s Spacetime Laws.

    In truth, Raven''s instincts didn''t actively make this happen. These stars appeared just like that. Each one contains and represent Raven''s current achievements inws. The Spacetime Star was smallerpared to the Destruction Star. The most usible reason behind that is because Raven hadn''t trained his Spacetime Laws nearly enough as his Destruction Laws.

    These stars also had their ownw diagrams, but unlike the ones on Raven''s body. Thesew diagrams wouldn''t dissipate. In fact, they will remain there and serve as foundations for his future reference.

    Scenes of changes were also present within Raven''s body. With unceasing absorption of Cosmic Energy, his Energy Network, his skin, muscles, veins, organs, blood, marrows and bones were constantly shedding and getting stronger.

    All the impurities were grounded to dissipation, everything that''s been old reced by the new. Raven''s being reborn anew! His body took one step closer to perfection, there''s no need to talk about the amount of energies he has nor the purity and quality of his soul. Right now, another w on Raven''s existence vanished.His current body was transformed into something that could bear the burden of his entire Cosmic Energy.

    Right now, amongst the geniuses in the Divine Realm, Raven would definitely rank amongst the top when ites to Energy Reserves alone.

    And after nearly a year of being in slumber within the 89th floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda...

    Raven''s eyes fluttered and opened slowly¡­

    ***

    The moment he opened his eyes, everything near him trembled¡­

    His pupils were akin to zing torches that released brilliant rays of light. Raven''s thoughts were empty for a bit, causing him to be silent but the sheer density of his aura was enough to cause the ground to be filled with cracks.

    *Dug!* *Dug!*

    "Hmm? That sound is¡­" Raven''s voice sounded hoarse yet clear. It even caused the air to rumble as he did so. His mind operated at once, focusing on the sound which was familiar to him.

    "That sound like¡­my heart?" Raven''s voice were filled uncertainty. "What happened to me?"

    He was confused, therefore he tried recalling everything that happened before he fell unconscious. Unfortunately, the moment he focused, waves of new and unfiltered sensations overwhelmed him.

    For reason unknown to him, his thoughts were quick but in disarray. To his surprise, he could feel numerous sensations that gives him many information to process, which disoriented him for a bit. But again, to his surprise, it onlysted for a brief moment before he was able to adjust to it.

    But if there''s anything that''spletely upying his mind right now, it would be the feeling of power.

    "I feel¡­strangely powerful¡­what in the world happened?"

    A frown appeared on his face, he took a step forward unconsciously and a surprising thing happened.

    *BOOM!!*

    An enormous explosion urred as soon as he stepped forward. The mountain he''s one suddenly shattered, causing Raven to be loseposure and il around. However, as his arm moved, it was as if it became a treasured whip that shattered the rocks falling beside him.

    Raven caught sight of this, causing his eyes to widen as he incredulously stared at his own hands.

    Gravity swiftly pulled him down along with the rocks, his shock was so strong that he didn''t realize that he was already being bombarded with numerous falling rubble.

    A massive piece of rubble was actually falling on top of him, and since he realized it toote, he shielded his head with his arms. The rubble fell to him, causing Raven''s face to twist while saying¡­

    "It hurts...not!? Huh?"

    Shock was stered all over his face as he once again stared incredulously at his own arms. He saw no blood, no cuts nor any bruises. There wasn''t any white scratch marks, damaged skin or feeling of pain on his arms.

    In short, he was perfectly fine...

    "Uh¡­" Raven''s lips twitched, he gazed around him, hoping to find the elk to ask questions but it wasn''t there.

    He felt that this scenario was slightly unbelievable, so much so that he feels like he was inside some sort of an illusion or simtion.

    None could me him though, the moment he opened his eyes, an unbelievable sense of power filled his heart already. He was met with one surprise after another, causing him to feel confused. So in order to asses his current situation, he decided to sit down and introspect.

    And upon seeing what happened within his Inner World, Raven''s eyes snapped wide open¡­

 Chapter 445 - Smelting Trial 1.8

    ---

    As he saw what happened in his Inner World, everything became clear to him. Though he''s still finding it difficult to believe that such a thing was possible to happen.

    "Damn!" Raven''s lips twitched, "So this was the serendipity that the elk was talking about? Isn''t this more of a gamble instead of a lucky chance? The risks are simply too high, if it weren''t for my habits ever since I started cultivating, I would''ve died!"

    Raven''s heart pounded, the sound of it was so loud that it reverberates to his surroundings. This isn''t because he''s nervous or anything, this just because the blood vitality on his body was too dense and his pulse is strong that every heartbeat of his sounds like thundering drums. His body could naturally suppress this sound without affecting his state.

    "If I am correct, I would''ve reached this stage naturally once I reached Immortal Knight Emperor Realm.Which also means that I would''ve already been halfway through cultivating the Second Chapter of the Book of Chaos. But now, it seems that it was expedited. I don''t know if this is a good thing or not." Raven mused to himself.

    It had to be known that Raven has no knowledge about the Second Chapter for the Book of Chaos just yet. He was told by Geezer to not open the seal containing the second chapter before he finished cultivating the first and he intended to follow that.

    There are two transformations left before he reaches the acme for cultivating the first chapter. The 8th Transformation will take him to Saint Knight Realm and the 9th Transformation will allow him to reach Lord Knight Realm.

    The beginning of the Second Chapter will take him to the Knight Monarch Realm, it would then be followed by Knight King, Knight Emperor - which has sub-stages like: tinum, Saint, Immortal, Perfected Immortal, Deity and Perfect Deity. After Knight Emperor Realmes the Empyrean Knight Realm. What follows is the stage that is yearned by many. The Divine Knight Realm.

    The sub-stages of the Knight Emperor Realm is the ultimate divider for cultivators. Observing closely, the names of the sub-stages are the same exact ranks used to determine one''s Champion Physique.

    As the famous saying goes: ''Immortal to Empyrean, Deity to Divinity.''

    The direct exnation for this is only those who managed to form an Immortal-ranked Champion''s Physique would have the chances to enter the Empyrean Stage. This is because only those who has Immortal-ranked Champion''s Physique will reach Immortal Knight Emperor Realm. And only those at the Immortal Knight Emperor Realm has the enough potential and qualifications to challenge the barrier of the Empyrean Knight Realm. Anything lower would just be in suicide.

    Champion Physiques are something that the Heavenly Laws bestowed to people, throughout the years, humans discovered the trend which got them to realize that Champion''s Physique is simply the way Heavenly Laws decides one''s potential.

    Simrly, only those who posses Deity-ranked Champion''s Physiques has the qualifications to dream about reaching the Divine Knight Realm. Unfortunately, no one managed to evene close to reaching it, which is why everyone has little hopes about it. Still, the owners of Deity-ranked Champion''s Physique are still valued by many.

    Raven has no idea on how far the Second Chapter will take him, but for now it seems that his path had be slightly different from his Senior Disciples.

    When his musings reached this thought, Raven unconsciously looked at the trees and remembered the time when the Heavenly Elk said that it could see the workings of fate itself. This caused Raven to wonder what the Heavenly Elk saw about his fate. Why did it decide to unseal his Cosmic Force? It should''ve known the risk of doing so yet it still did the deed. Was the Heavenly Elk certain that he will survive the unsealing?

    Unfortunately, since the elk decided to hide itself, Raven had no options but to throw these questions away.

    "I''m¡­too strong." A peculiar look appeared on Raven''s face. "Never thought that I would say those words, and I never thought that I would find this feeling troublesome."

    Had Raven reached this stage normally, there wouldn''t have been any problems. Unfortunately, that''s not the case. This massive boost in strength was too sudden and surprising for him. It threw all of his control out of the window.

    Sure, his instinctual habits before helped with his survive this early unsealing but since he wasn''t actively in charge, he had no urate judgement on how to actively suppress his strength in order to not destroy everything that he touches.

    Just now, he legitimately shattered an entire mountain with just a step, he wasn''t even sure if the Golem residing within it survived the crash.

    A wave of his hand alone could cause the air to turn into sharp des that could cut through solid objects cleanly. What''s worse is that he''s not even using his Cosmic Energy during this. All of these results were reached by just his sheer physical strength alone.

    And for a mere Champion Knight, such results are incredibly abnormal. He''s afraid that he might be mistaken as a spy sent by Ancient Elysium Sect''s enemies, and that is something that he didn''t want to happen.

    "How much time has passed anyway?" Raven took out a device from his spatial ring which could monitor time and found out the answer to his question. "Roughly a year huh?"

    This means that he still has 9 more years to stay inside, which made Raven feel a little bit conflicted.

    "What''s going to happen to my Smelting Trial then?" He asked out loud, trying to see if the Heavenly Elk would answer him. Unfortunately, only silence replied to him, leaving the situation quite strange for him.

    Raven originally wanted to take out the Ancient Elysium Sect''s badge but he decided against it since he''s afraid that he will break it. So in order to prevent idents from happening Raven decided to immediately start learning how to control his monstrous strength.

    ***

    "Well, I guess this can be counted as my smelting trial¡­" Raven mused as he sat down on a piece of rock.

    His whole body was drenched in sweat, his breathing was a bit hurried but he was fine and dandy. Compared to his state, his surroundings however was in aplete opposite state.

    A good chunk of the forest was ruined. Shattered trees and broken leaves along with branches lied scattered around him. The previously t and fertilend has now turned into a deep pit and it will only be deeper as time goes on.

    Raven has spent a total of six months here in the 89th floor, focused on the task of gaining full control over his sudden increase in power. Whilst everyone else were ceaselessly fighting against Lesser Imps and searching for more serendipities, Raven was stuck here to train by himself.

    Gaining control over his monstrous strength had been rather challenging to him. Raven had never once thought that he will face a problem like this. Usually, the reason why he improves his control is to be stronger, now however, he exercise control because he wants to be weaker.

    Raven''s methods were simple. In fact, nothing major really changed on his training. Raven had once applied a Restriction Seal on his body which helped in training his physique. Raven simply cranked up the level of restriction on his body.

    Additionally, he also modified the Restriction Seal to a point where it would only seal his Physical Strength. That way, he could get used to it in a methodical manner.

    Still, even with this method, gaining control still proved to be challenging. He had to seal 90% of his Physical Strength in order to not break everything he touches. That is an absurd amount, yet it was barely enough to stop him.

    In fact, the reason why this pit was present here is because he tried throwing a serious punch on the ground with unrefined control, resulting in such oue. When he sealed 50% of his strength, he threw another serious punch and arge path of the forest ended up in devastation. He had to seal 90% of strength in order to go back to his original state - before the unsealing happened.

    That where he began, after constantly training for six months, he''s only sealing 75% which was a great progress for him.

    What''s funny is that, gaining full control over full strength actually became his task. At first, he thought that his minds were ying games with him, but he received the updated message from the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda and it tasked him to control his strength until the time limit. This includes not only his physical strength but also his currentws and other techniques.

    There''s even a disimer saying that he doesn''t have to worry about anyone spying over him since no one would dare to within the Heavenly Elk''s supervision.

    In truth, Raven didn''t know what to feel in this situation. On one hand, he didn''t like the idea of preferential treatment but at the same time, he really needed this chance.. In the end, he could only sigh and ept the deal, thinking that since he was provided with a chance, he would repay this favor in full in the future.

 Chapter 446 - Smelting Trial 1.9

    ---

    Time passed quickly and just like that, there''s only a year left before the end of the Smelting Trial.

    While the other participants gathered as many achievements as they could get, this Smelting Trial turned out to be another seclusion for Raven.

    Raven honed his skills even more, as he got to control his outrageous boost in physical strength, he ultimately felt immense confidence. He truly felt unstoppable. Even though he experienced just how absurd his physical strength was during these past nine years of seclusion first hand, the feeling and satisfaction of possessing legitimate strength makes him feel giddy and slight dizzy.

    Having the seal released on his Cosmic Energy enabled Raven to perform moreplicated techniques with rtive ease. Due to the immense capacity this brings him, he no longer has to spend his longevity to cast powerful skills in case of emergency in the future.

    What''s funny to him is that, performing techniques which costsrger amounts of energy was easier for him to do instead of casting the skills that doesn''t consume much.

    Due to this, Raven''s ability to use simple skills such as energy sensing, climbing on sloped surfaces, and even the simple act of activating his ocr technique became harder to him, so much to the point that he had to re-train himself to do all of those again.

    It took him months of constant practice before he was able to use them again, this time they were truly ingrained on his instincts to the point that he could use them unconsciously.

    Raven also mastered the [God ying Art] which he received from the crown before. He couldn''t use this skill before due to its strict requirements. It needed him to condense at least an Immortal Champion''s Physique, additionally performing the technique requires an absurd amount of energy. But now, those were no longer a problem to him.

    As soon as he mastered this technique, Raven finally understood why it was given to him. The [God ying Art] is actually a heaven-defying technique.

    The art itself doesn''t contain any moves. In truth, it is a unique method to sharply increase the aggressiveness of his Cosmic Energy. Upon mastering the technique, Raven''s energy would turn incredibly aggressive to the point that it will pulverize anything it touches. Aside from that, its also incredibly heavy, invasive and destructive - even without Raven using his Destruction Laws.

    Once the [God ying Art] was invoked, anything that Raven does afterward will cause a terrifying force which is capable to wiping out hundreds, if not thousands, of people. That being said, learning it was challenging to him as well.

    Additionally, Raven had to use this technique smarter in actual battles. This is due to the side effect of this technique. Casting the art two times in a row will not only double its strength, it would also consume double the energy needed. Which means that if Raven wasn''t careful enough, it is still possible for him to run out of energy even if the seal on his Cosmic Energy has been released.

    It had to be known that Cosmic Energy doesn''t refill itself. Raven has to manually convert energies into Cosmic Energies during his meditations, therefore it doesn''t mean that Raven had an unlimited supply of Cosmic Energy.

    Still, due to his special circumstances, Raven had enough time to focus on mastering the God ying Art. After experimenting with the technique, which caused the majority of the forest around him to disappear, he figured that he could only use the God ying Art ten times consecutively before running dangerously low on Cosmic Energy.

    Raven had to sit down and recover his Cosmic Energy for two whole weeks after that. So Raven didn''t dare to do it again.

    Ultimately, he decided that the God ying Art would only be used as a trump card. He won''t reveal it unless he encountered a life-threatening emergency.

    With a lot of time on his hands, Raven also improved on other aspects of his strength.

    Even though he got the message that he wasn''t being tracked or monitored by anyone at all, Raven didn''t dare to believe this. Which means that he prevented himself from training his Spacetime Laws. He had already made a promise to himself that he wouldn''t reveal this secret unless he was forced to do so.

    And its not like Raven had no rooms for improvement anymore. Actually, there are still a lot of sectors on his arsenal that could use improvements. And this includes the techniques he knows, he will use very often.

    During this seclusion of his, he created a set of Battle Arts that him and only him alone could use.

    Raven named this technique as: [Grand Apocalyptic Stances].

    This technique was born out of Raven''s outrageous fleshly strength. It consists of punches and kicks which carries an astounding momentum that could cause an apocalyptic aftermath. Each stance on this technique is unique and is capable of unleashing the entirety of Raven''s physical strength as well as his Cosmic Energy. It could even harness his intricate understanding of Destruction Laws as well as his quasi-ughter Intent plus his Fist Intent.

    The first stance is named as ''Star Birth Stance''. In this stance, Raven would gather his strength on his fists and calves. Upon release, he will perform an upper-jab that will also cause his body to shoot up like a flying star. Upon reaching the peak of his rise, Raven will shift his body and sharply fall like a falling star, causing arge area to be destroyed by his outrageous strength.

    The second stance is named as ''Breath Stance''. In this stance, Raven would take a long and deep breath until his lungs were full. He will the exhale slowly as he starts gathering momentum on his legs. The air he exhaled will beced with his Cosmic Energy, therefore it will follow hismands. Using his legs, he will now use this winds to either deliver sharp des of pure and pressurized winds or a massive tornado to his enemies.

    The third stance is named as ''Thunder Stance''. This stance is focused on speed. Using his enhanced physical state, his legs are capable of travelling with an absurd speed. He is able to cross hundreds of miles in just seconds by just relying on his raw speed alone. This stance would be used to chase or flee should the situation calls for it, but of course it could also be used offensively. As he travels with blinding speed, he will be able to gather a strong momentum to crush anything that stands on his way.

    The fourth stance is called ''Wall Stance''. This stance is focused on defense. Upon assuming this stance, Raven''s physical strength with be on alert. If he receives an attack during this stance, his alert strength will cause his body to swiftly judge the strength of the attack and adjust his body to properly endure the attack. This stance represent Raven''s instincts at its prime since he would defend instinctively. Out of all stances, Raven practiced this the least since he had no enemies to deal with, still it wasn''t really hard for him to create the foundations for this.

    And final stance for now, is called ''Annihtor Stance''. This stance, is Raven''s most powerful stance/state. Once he entered it, Raven basically decided to destroy whatever''s in front of him at all cost, which also means that he''s going all out. Even though there''s no need for him to seal his physical strength, Raven still does it. But once on this stance, Raven releases the seal and will attack at will. So long as his target stands, there will no stopping him. Because he had no enemies right now, it''s difficult to say just how powerful Raven truly is, but if he could gauge himself, then his strength will be something around Lord Knight Level.

    For now the [Grand Apocalyptic Stances] aren''tplete and still has many rooms for improvement. It''s alreadymendable for Raven to be able to create such a unique battle art by himself. Even if the basis behind the stances were simple, it made it easier for Raven to achieve the result he wanted to. All he truly needed, is a hearty battle to see where he could improve.

    Unfortunately, there''s still more or less a year before the Smelting Trial reaches its conclusion.

    What made Raven somewhat anxious is his results. He wasn''t really expecting to gain a preferential treatment. Although he was thankful for it, he couldn''t help but wonder if he could truly pass.

    Raven still didn''t know that what''s being shown to the facilitators were fake. All that was revealed to him is the fact that he basically already passed the smelting trial, which also made him the disciple of the Ancient Elysium Sect. As for the subsequent matters after that, like the inheritances that he''s ''supposed'' to get and the number of lesser imps he had to kill, he had no idea since no one told him anything yet.

    Unfortunately, it seems like he still needs to wait until the conclusion of the Smelting Trial to find out.

 Chapter 447 - Smelting Trial End

    ---

    Raven could be found lying on the ground while panting heavily.

    His robes are all messy and his hair dishelved. If one looked closely, they would see how his limbs were slightly trembling as he panted for breath. His face were covered with dirt but despite all of this, his eyes remained clear and filled with determination.

    The reason he ended up like this is because he went all out with his techniques, of course without disying his Spacetime Laws.

    Using nothing but his fists and legs, he destroyed arge amount of forest around him. The scale of destruction was asrge as a whole nation. And this was done by him in a span of mere hours, which was something incredible.

    During his onught, he used his raw strength to devastate everything that hees in contact with. Partnered with his Destruction Laws, he truly became a humanoid cmity.

    Raven had been doing this kind of activities during thest year of the smelting trial. He truly tested his limit in this seclusion of his,pletely getting used to his new found strength to the point that he could control it by pure instinct.

    What made his truly happy, is the fact that he saw it¡­

    He saw the barrier that will lead him to the next Concept of Destruction: Shattering.

    Law of Destruction has five total Concepts, they are: Breaking, Shattering, Pulverizing, Disintegration, and Annihtion. So far, Raven already reached the acme of the first concept and couldn''t improve on it anymore, which caused his Destruction Laws to be slightly stagnant.

    The Breaking Concept of Destruction Laws allowed him to break anything hees into contact with. As his mastery gradually rose, he was able to see and interact with Fault Signs. These Fault Signs are signs of imperfection and it is represented by lines, marks or points on his surroundings. Once Raven interacts with them, he could cause a wide area of Destruction, which means ganging up on his was just a bad idea.

    With his mastery of the first Concept, although he could interact with the Fault Signs at will, he could still see and use them multiple times within a day. Sadly, as time went on, this became more and ineffective to Raven. Specially now that he could achieve the same result just by unleashing his pure physical strength, whichpletely defeats the purpose of mastering the first concept.

    Right now however, Raven just saw and felt the barrier separating him from the first concept to the next. This might be due to the fact that Raven didn''t want to give up on his Destruction Laws and proceeded to meditate upon its profundity every single day.

    That and along with his avatars who studied the 99 Destruction Seals, caused his horizons to widen and allow his stagnant speed to resume once again.

    The profundity of the seals brought endless wonders for Raven. Just the first seal alone was very mysterious andplicated. Raven doesn''t even know what the use of each seals were but using them as references for learning was incredibly useful.

    By the time he unfolded all the mysteries behind the first seal, he might also be able to break the barrier which prevented him from gaining enlightenment for the second concept of Destruction Laws.

    ***

    "Hmm?"

    A frown appeared Raven''s face as he felt some sort of movement close to him. He sat back up despite his aching body and looked around to see where the sensation wasing from.

    When he turned around, he could see a swirling portal opening behind him. This startled him for a bit before he remembered something.

    "Ah right, this might mean that the Smelting Trial is already over."

    As soon as he came up to this conclusion, the badge that he hid on the pocket of his robes suddenly emitted a buzzing sound. He took it out and sank his perception within. As soon as he did so, a brief message appeared on it.

    ''The Smelting Trial is over. You are ced 10th on the rankings. Do remember to keep what you just experienced as a secret. This is not a threat but a warning. You''ll find no peace within the sect once you revealed this matter. Once you arrive at the sect, choose the 89th abode as your dwelling.''

    Raven''s expression turned quite serious upon reading this message. As soon as he finished reading it, the message dissipated like smoke and could no longer be found. No traces remained at all, which caused Raven to think that whoever sent this message truly wanted to keep this matter a secret.

    "Fine. I''m not nning on revealing anything anyway." Raven muttered, he took out a bottomless gourd on his spatial ring, the one filled with Equinox Waters. He drank several mouthfuls in order to regain some if his strength, after that he put it away and walked towards the portal.

    As soon as he stepped inside the portal, he disappeared from the 89th floor. He didn''t notice that the devastated areas he left started mending at a starling pace. In next to no time, the ce was back to its original state as if nothing ever happened at all. Even the ttened mountains returned to their original state, this includes the mountain where Raven received the summoning, but unlike before, something was missing from it.

    An hour after Raven''s disappearance, several silhouettes manifested from the soil of the 89th floor. They were simr to humans but weren''t actual ones. Each of this humanoids had a blue-ish skin tone. Their bodies were filled with numerous cysts which differs in sizes. On some of these humanoids, the cysts on their bodies had burst open, and if one looked closely, they will see that there seems to be some sort of tiny creatures hiding within those cysts.

    Truly a sight that could make anyone''s skin crawl¡­

    However, such a thing doesn''t seem to bother the humanoids. Instead, they walked aimlessly around the forest. They don''t appear to be conscious of what they were doing. Their numbers were almost endless, and wherever they go, the soil beneath their feet will be filled with a rotting stench and disgusting creaturesing out from their cysts on their bodies.

    Deep underground, a pair of eyes which looked like miniature suns, opened. Its gaze was filled with hope and anticipation. It red at a certain spot for a while before closing and falling into slumber once more.

    ***

    When Raven''s vision readjusted to the light, he arrived at a different ce with a familiar feeling.

    The air was heavy yet vigorous, the boundless skies were blue and filled with fluffy clouds and the faces that weed him were new yet also familiar at the same time.

    At this moment, he realized that he''s back at the Divine Realm''s Azure Sun Great World. Precisely within the Azure Sun Great City where the Twin Star Academy was located and where the disciple recruitment of Ancient Elysium Sect was going on.

    Raven was inside of apletely different room. He was no longer within the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, instead he was somewhere else.

    In front of him - well, them actually, stood three figures wearing maroon colored robes. The people on the left and on the right side were both elderly figures, both of them were bald. One of them had a bulbous nose and long eyebrows while the other has a long gray beard that reaches his thighs.

    These are the elders from the Ancient Elysium Sect. Elder Felton which is nicknamed Toad and Elder Norman which is known by the title Graybeard.

    The one on the middle was the one who possessed the eye-catching charm. He looked like a young and dignified schr but people who truly knew who he was, won''t think of him this way. This schrly looking middle-aged man is currently one of the era''s youngest and most powerful War God.

    He is none other than Heavenly Sword War God, Henry Laurent.

    Out of habit, Raven scrutinized the people in front of him. And as he saw them using his ocr technique, he couldn''t help but feel chills going down his spine.

    ''Damn, anyone of these three could easily kill me in a few bouts. What an impressive line-up, no wonder they dared to go here by themselves.''

    ''This Henry guy is just insane. He''s not even holding a sword, nor he''s carrying one yet just by his aura alone, I could feel a sword tip pointed at my neck. Just how much did he refined his Sword Intent to reach this degree? Additionally, he''s just an Immortal Knight Emperor, yet he gives me the impression that''s stronger than Empyreans.''

    Just with a nce on their aura, Raven could immediately see the difference between him and these three people in front of them. Even though he unlocked his full capacity, he''s nowhere near confident enough to say that he could take on any of these people. However, this just proves that his decision to join the sect was the correct one.

    Henry scrutinized them one by one before cing a smile and saying:

    "Congrattions to you all. The ten of you are now formally Outer Disciples of our Ancient Elysium Sect. And since that''s the case, I''ll be your Senior Brother from this day onwards...."

 Chapter 448 - Gifts

    ---

    "Congrattions to you all. The ten of you are now formally Outer Disciples of our Ancient Elysium Sect. And since that''s the case, I''ll be your Senior Brother from this day onwards..."

    Henry''s words shocked the remaining participants. Some of them looked cautiously around, trying to assess the situation. But it seems that aside from a few, the rest were also surprised that they were weed by the Envoys of the sect.

    "Let me exin in order to clear the confusion." Henry spoke, "Out of the remaining forty or so participants, only the ten of you got in. This isn''t because there is a limit on how many of you we can receive, it''s because only the ten of you remained. Meaning that the others who went in with you before, are all dead."

    Now that was another shocker for the remaining participants. But they soon got reminded of what they experienced inside the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda and suddenly felt that it all made sense.

    Looking at their miserable appearances currently, it was clear that whatever happened within the pagoda was something that they won''t be able to forget. Well, all of them except for Raven.

    In truth, due to his current condition, he unknowingly fitted in with the overall looks of the remaining participants. He didn''t what to feel about this at all. This wasn''t something that he nned, all of it were just purely coincidence.

    "The sect did not urged them nor invited them to participate. They joined the disciple recruitment at their own will. I believe that before you entered the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, the assigned Elder to you reminded you that there is a risk of dying, yet all of you still entered. Therefore, our sect won''t be held ountable for their deaths."

    What Henry said makes sense. Before they entered, they were given a choice to forfeit due to the risks of the Smelting Trial, some who were luckier even got to be disciples of the Twin Star Academy and obtain additional benefits. But of course, there are some people who weren''t tempted by such offer and still ended up entering the pagoda even after knowing the risk. All in all, they made their decisions, which is why the sect won''t be held ountable for their deaths.

    "And now, since it''s only you ten who managed to remain alive until the end, that''s enough for you to qualify." Henry told them, "Actually, I was expecting to return with at least twenty more disciples with me, unfortunately only you guys remained so you''ll do."

    There was a noticeable pity and a condescending feeling on his tone, causing the remaining disciples to have mixed reactions. Raven on the other hand remained calm and only listened.

    "Since you people are disciples of the sect. You''ll receive some weing gifts from us." After saying this, Henry waved his hand, causing several beams of light shooting towards the participants.

    No one dodged since they felt no killing intent from these beams of light. When the light got close to them, it stopped and turned into items.

    Raven held out his hand and the light turned into a set of clothes that fell onto his arms, he also received a pile of books and a couple of maroon colored bamboo jade slips.

    "Those clothes is the uniform of our sect. From now on, unless you were ordered to do so or you are in an undercover mission, make sure to always wear your uniforms. These clothes possesses unique qualities but more importantly, it is a sign that you belong to our sect. Just wearing them will allow you to enjoy numerous benefits."

    "Additionally, make sure to never lose your badge." Henry reminded sternly. "Those badges that we wear are the main tool for ourmunications. It''s also one of the ways on which we could prove your identity. The rest of the badge''s functions are listed on the books that you received."

    "Speaking of books..." Henry continued, "Make sure to memorize the books I handed to you. That''ll help you understand the sect even better. Additionally, it will help understand our rules and the punishment you''ll receive should you break the said rules."

    "The jade slips on the other hand, are my gifts to you." Henry informed, "Each jade slip has different benefits. One will allow you to enter any Law Cultivation Environments for 14 days. One will allow you to pick Monarch-ranked Battle Arts. One can serve as a pass, gaining you entry to listen to the sermons of our Chief War Gods. And thest one will be useful once you be Inner Sect Disciples, so make sure to keep them well."

    The new disciple listened very closely and remembered everything that Henry told to them. Raven ced his stuff inside his spatial ring and waited for further instructions. The rest of the remaining participants also had the same idea.

    "Alright, now that the ceremony is out of the way, then let''s proceed to the next topic." Henry informed, "I know that you guys want to rest badly so I''ll make this quick."

    "Who''s going to join the Tournament?" Henry asked, causing the new disciples to be taken aback. Henry looked at them one by one and said: "Like I said before, surviving the Smelting Trial will already allow you to enter the sect, and I have no ns on taking that back. Nevertheless, you may also want to participate on the Tournament as well."

    Listening to him speak, one of the disciples raised his hand asked: "Will there be prizes for the Tournament? If there is, what are they?"

    Henry smiled and said: "Yes, there will be prizes for the tournament. I''ll bestow you a ticket which you can use to exchange for a Spiritual Treasure that suits you. As for the value of the Spiritual Treasure, it''ll depend on your ranking on the Tournament. I''ll have you know that the first ce will receive a ticket which could ne exchanged for a Perfected Deity-ranked Spiritual Treasure."

    As soon as Henry finished revealing this, the eyes of the disciples turned incredibly fierce andpetitive. This caused the whole room''s atmosphere to change. Some of the disciples unconsciously looked towards their fellow disciples with gazes full ofpetitiveness. Even the cold and aloof looking disciples were now releasing some fierce andpetitive aura around them.

    Meanwhile,pared the nine other guys who can''t wait to rest and prepare to scuffle. Raven on the other hand remained impassive and disinterested. Only Jason, who''s not too far away from him, noticed this and had some wild guesses within his mind.

    "So? Are you all going to participate?" Henry asked with a smile on his face. "Those who would like to participate, raise your hand."

    The participants raised their hand, expressing their willingness to join. Henry looked at them one by one with a smile stered on his face. That''s until he saw one of them who didn''t raise a hand.

    It was Raven.

    Henry stopped and looked at him intently. His expression seems to be asking many questions but since he didn''t ask any, it only caused the atmosphere to turn awkward. In the end, he only asked Raven this question:

    "Are you sure you don''t want to participate?"

    Raven simply nodded to answer, causing his fellow disciples to look at him weirdly as if they''re staring at someone who went insane.

    "Alright. You may spend your time however you like. You''ll receive a message through your badge when its time for us to leave. Don''t wander too far, we won''t wait for you." Henry reminded.

    Raven wanted to reply that he''s not a kid and obviously understand that even without Henry''s reminder, yet he only nodded calmly and didn''t say anything.

    "Well then. You guys must be tired from all of that fighting. This ce has many rooms, choose whichever you like. The Tournament will start five dayster, make sure all of you hadpletely recovered. That''s all."

    As soon as he finished saying his piece, Henry and the Elders disappeared from everyone''s view.

    Once they''re gone, Raven''s shoulders slightly fell. This isn''t due to stress but to exhaustion. He''s barely hanging on to his consciousness due to how tired he was. He hadn''t got the chance to recover all of his Cosmic Energy before exiting, which was a miscalction on his part. He lost track of time and paid for it.

    He dragged his exhausted body towards one of the rooms and stared at it for a while. He was about to enter it when a hand suddenly grabbed him by his shoulders, causing his body to turn around.

    "Why aren''t you participating?" It was Jason who stopped him. Raven wasn''t shocked. He was aware that Jason was looking at him weirdly even before his decision to not participate was finalized.

    Raven just rolled his eyes and said: "I''m exhausted."

    Jason raised an eyebrow and asked: "That''s it?"

    "Yeah." Raven gently patted Jason''s arm away from his shoulders and opened the door to his room. Before entering, he said: "It''ll take me longer than five days for me to make a full recovery."

    After saying that, Raven closed the door behind him and walked towards the bed. He slumped over the soft covers and grumbled.

    "Why would I join something that will cause me to be targeted by others? That''s just stupid."

    This was thest thing he said before falling asleep.

 Chapter 449 - Meritless

    ---

    Raven woke up the next day, feeling somewhat okay but still rtively exhausted.

    He ate a hearty meal to recover some of his energy and began restoring his missing ones through meditation. Raven was basically running on fumes at this point, a price he had to pay for his miscalction of time. He basically has to restore 99% of his total Cosmic Energy this time around, and judging with how much energy his current body could hold, he''ll have to endure a painstaking conversion for at least a week.

    Raven had thought of turning this room into a time chamber but he ultimately decided against it.

    Even if he was severely weakened, Raven was still as alert as ever. He knew that he''s still being monitored through various arrays hidden within this room. Although he isn''t sure whether it was the Envoys of Ancient Elysium Sect who ced this or the Twin Star Academy, he still maintained his alertness and wouldn''t casually expose his secrets that easily.

    He could even endure not going inside the Crown Space during the entirety of his Smelting Trial turned into a seclusion, so there''s no way that he wouldn''t be able to endure for a couple more days.

    As for not joining the Tournament, Raven really couldn''t care less about Spiritual Treasures.

    With how Henry exined it, he estimated that the lowest rank would of course get the lowest ranked Spiritual Treasure while the first ce gets the best quality.

    Raven had no need topete for those.

    Back in the Martial Emperor Sect, Raven got not only one but two Spiritual Treasures. One of them was an Immortal-ranked Spiritual Treasure which could calm one''s soul and strengthen it - well, in Raven''s case, could help his soul recover. While the other one, was a Perfected Deity Ranked Spiritual Treasure gloves which could turn into an Empyrean Ranked treasure once he got the necessary supplements for it.

    Up until now, the spiritual mat is still helpful for his soul recovery. It could even elerate his learning speed and his senses, simr to the effects of Moonshine.

    On the other hand, the Crimson Dragon Emperor''s Glove was already something that Raven considers as one of his trump cards. Because he mainly uses his fists and legs to fight, the gloves raises the strength of his punches to the next level. And with how much Raven''s strength has grown during this recent seclusion, the effect of the gloves became even more noticeable.

    In fact, Raven used it pretty often during his seclusion. During that time, he formed a solid link with the gloves and gained the recognition of the Spiritual Treasure itself, allowing him to use it more naturally. Due to the spiritual treasure syncing with him, its effects became even more pronounced during the times he used it. It''s even safe to say that the gloves and Raven are almost inseparable already.

    With this two treasures on hand, is there really a need for him to participate with the Tournament? And although the Ancient Elysium Sect''s treasury would surely be greaterpared to the one that Martial Emperor Sect has, it''s not like he''ll never get the chance to acquire them. Additionally, due to the Hignder n''s gratitude for him given them a chance to take over the sect, he got these treasures for free.

    With this in mind, Raven''s decision of not joining the tournament would make sense. But of course, that''s not entirely the reason why Raven decided not to join.

    Had Henry said that there will be Merit Points to gain for this tournament, Raven would''ve agreed to join without batting an eyelid. However, during his announcement yesterday, Henry didn''t mention it even once. Which of course led to Raven thinking that there will be no merit points rewarded for this tournament.

    In Raven''s mind, there''s no way that a man of such caliber would forget to mention such a simple thing, therefore he was confident that his guesses were correct.

    And because there was no Merit Point reward, there were no essence behind this Tournament at all, therefore Raven didn''t want to join since it''s just unnecessary.

    With his experience, Sects who established a system that has something to do with rendering meritorious services would definitely be the focal point of the sect itself. He would know since he established the same system back at the kingdom. With such a system, the value of ordinary currency would drop by arge degree, at some point it would even be useless altogether.

    Additionally, after seeing the items that the Ancient Elysium Sect could offer and could be exchanged using Merit Points, even Raven who had experienced two lifetimes were left in awe. He wasn''t even a disciple during that time yet he could already tell just how important Merit Points will be within the Sect. Therefore, he was already thinking about forming a n that could allow him to earn tons of merit points.

    Although it was unfortunate that the tournament doesn''t offer any merit point reward, he was satisfied to not be forced to join such meaningless chore. Therefore, he could spend all of his remaining time in recovering his energies.

    ***

    A week passed by in a blink of an eye.

    The Tournament held by the Ancient Elysium Sect was already on its second day. The venue of the tournament was on thergest stadium within the Twin Star Academy.

    This stadium could hold at least a hundred thousand people,moners and VIP''s alike. Though even with how big this stadium was, it waspletely incapable of holding everyone who wanted to watch the official disciplespeted with each other. By initial estimations of the staffs, there''s at least a million people who wanted to watch it, yet the stadium couldn''t hold that many people.

    Therefore, even though it was a shame, they could only filter the people who''ll be invited within the stadium. People who were with the disciples were given priority alongside of some guests personally invited by the Twin Star Academy. Next would be those who were insightful enough to visit the Twin Star Academy even before the tournament began. Those people were able to receive tickets to enter the stadium and had the opportunity to watch. Next would be those who waited outside and expressed their desire to watch the tournament. The list went on until the Stadium was packed full with people.

    As for the unfortunate ones who didn''t get to watch, the Twin Star Academy was generous enough to set up a monitoring array which will allow them to watch the events during the Tournament outside.

    Sufficed to say, whether it was the people within the stadium or those who were watching outside, everyone was satisfied with how the tournament went on.

    Within one of the VIP rooms of the stadium, a group of people were gathered and was currently watching the current match.

    These people were Raul and Albert Hignder along with their entourage. The father and son from the Martial Emperor Sect was watching the intense match closely, in fact even the people who came with them were watching the match very closely, so much to the point where they weren''t even aware that someone entered the room and were watching their concentrated faced with an amused expression.

    The invader wore maroon colored robes. He had an aqua-marine colored hair which almost reached his buttocks and were gathered using a rubber band. His skin was as fair as a pearl, he was handsome and radiated a calm and elegant aura.

    This was of course, none other than Raven who just recently exited his seclusion. Even though he hadn''t fully recovered his Cosmic Energy, he was already fine enough to exit his seclusion and catch up with these people. Unfortunately, the father and son wasn''t even aware of his presence at all.

    Raven simply smiled and walked beside them, he sat beside Albert who''s focused on the match and decided to see what caught their attention.

    Albert felt the couch sinking beside him, which somehow irritated him since it disturbed his concentration on the match. However, when he smelled a foreign scent beside him, it caused him to sharply turn his head, realizing that someone actually sat beside him.

    It was then that he saw Raven who''s watching the match with them while calmly sipping on his tea. Albert was so startled that his soul almost jumped out of his body.

    "Dude! What the fuck! You scared the shit out of me! When did you appear? No scratch that! Why are you here?"

    Albert''s exmation pulled the attention of the rest, causing them to feel surprised as well. The guards were alerted so much that they unconsciously drew out their weapons, but before they could aim it at Raven, Raul''s voice already echoed within the room.

    "Stand by you fools. It''s Nephew Raven, couldn''t you tell? We went with him here!"

    The panic caused by Raven''s ''sudden'' appearance caused Raven himself tough loudly. Albert pulled him in for a hug and Raven returned it. He then turned to Raul and bowed while saying:

    "I''m back Uncle, thank you for waiting for me."

 Chapter 450 - Tournament 1.1

    ---

    "No but seriously, why are you here? Why didn''t you join the tournament? I wanted to bet money on you, you know?" Albert said after Raven greeted Raul.

    Raven smiled and rested his back against his chair, saying: "Nothing much. It''s just I don''t have that much to gain even if I join. Additionally, I was too exhausted from the Smelting Trial. Although we''re given five days of time to recover, I wasn''t enough for me."

    "But I heard the reward from the tournament was a Spiritual Treasure. I even heard that the one who takes the first ce will receive a ticket that could be exchanged for a Perfected Deity ranked Spiritual Treasure! You just missed out on that you know? " Albert reiterated, even so Raven only smiled and shook his head.

    "I already got two Spiritual Treasure thanks to you guys. I don''t need more for now." Raven stated, "Additionally, the rewards for the Tournament is just that. I won''t gain any Merit Points from it, which is why I decided not to join."

    "Huh? There''s no Merit Point reward? Isn''t that a bit too cheap?" Albert grumbled as he turned his head back to the arena.

    Even Albert himself could feel the strangeness of these events. It had to be known that he''s the young sect master of the Martial Emperor Sect, it is not strange for him to react this way since he participated in the meetings in the sect before, and through his experience, events like this would always have a Merit Point rewards.

    From Raven''s simple words, Albert was able to guess somethings by himself, causing him to look at his father unconsciously.

    In truth, Raul was also surprised by the sudden news that Raven revealed. As a Sect Master himself, he knew the importance of Merit Points for disciples, specially if the sect''s livelihood focuses on rendering Meritorious Services. Doubt started filling his chest as he stared at thepeting disciples on the arena.

    Raul looked at Raven and asked: "Are you certain that there is no Merit Point Reward for this Nephew Raven?"

    "Well, I can''t be certain for sure." Raven replied, "But when the ten of us exited the Smelting Trial, the Envoys met us and the War God himself personally acknowledged our statuses as disciples of the sect. He''s the one who gave us this uniform and some gifts for new disciples."

    "He was also the one who personally asked if we want to participate for the Tournament. When he was asked what are prices, he only said the tickets and didn''t say anything about Merit Points at all. And since this is the War God himself, I refuse to believe that a man of such caliber would forget such a simple thing."

    "Therefore I thought, since it''s just Spiritual Treasures, there''s no reason for me to join this tournament. It''ll just be a waste of my time." Raven replied causing the father and son to turn quiet for a bit.

    Although the three of them were watching the fight on the Arena, it was only Raven who''s actually paying attention. The father and son had differentiating thoughts on their mind with what Raven revealed just now.

    No one could tell what they''re thinking, but for sure it has something to do with the Ancient Elysium Sect. As for Raven, he couldn''t be bothered about it. It''s useless for him to think about since he hasn''t even stepped inside the sect, so he''s in no position to pry about these details just yet.

    "Oh by the way¡­" Raven''s voice interrupted their thoughts, causing them to look at him. "Can you guys introduce those people who fighting to me?"

    "Oh, right!" Albert was startled at first but he quickly took out a pamphlet from his ring and tossed it to Raven.

    Raven briefly looked at the names written at the list. It contained the names of those who became official disciples.

    ''Jason Sigmus, I know this guy. He''s the one who approached me first. Just like me, he also has a Perfected Deity''s Champion Physique. I don''t about his abilities but from what I can remember, I felt his vigorous life force. He must be a Body Path Specialist then.

    ''Ryan Northson, this was the guy who killed two participants earlier. I''m not sure whether he uses Ice Laws or other but Jason said there''s rumors that this guy also has a Perfected Deity Champion Physique as well.''

    ''Nelson ir. Jason said he was someone who hailed from a Great World and also is a descendant of an Imperial Lineage. Also has the peak champion''s physique."

    ''Jonathan Evergreen, this should be the descendant of God Beast ns. Carrying the Azure Dragon''s bloodline. I wonder if I could use him to get a dragon soul? Maybe not.''

    ''Michelle Valentine, Jason introduced her as the young queen of the Sky Weavers n. I have no recollection of her, but since he included her to the people I have to watch out on, then she must be formidable.''

    ''Madman Floyd. Wow, they really wrote his name like this. Jason said he''s a bloodthirsty one. We''ll see about that.''

    "Juniper Myles, now I don''t know who this is. But why do I feel like I''m not going to like this guy at all. That shouldn''t be the case right? I never even met him.''

    ''Pyra and Mira Crawford, twins eh? *Sigh* Why do they have to be twins? I just hope that they don''t resemble my sisters or else that''ll make things awkward for me.''

    ''And finally, there''s me. The most handsome, magnificent, elegant and - ehem...''

    Raven then turned towards the arena and watched the two contenders fighting. He briefly activated his ocr vision to see things more clearly and identify who''s fighting currently.

    ''I could feel a strong vitality behind this guy, but it feels strange. It doesn''te from humans.'' Raven inspected the first participant. As he observe things quietly, he could see a faint image of a reptile slithering through this person''s body, it felt fierce, dominant and aggressive.

    "Bloodline? That should be Jonathan on the left right?" Raven asked Albert. Thetter then looked at him strangely and said:

    "Yes, but how did you know?"

    "Oh, someone introduced him to me earlier and gave out some insider details. I felt the bloodline of a God Beast on his body, that''s how I knew. On the other hand¡­" Raven pointed at the other guy and continued: "Who''s he?"

    "He''s Nelson. A very impressive guy¡­" Albert praised solemnly.

    "Ah! The guy who''s a descendant of an Imperial Lineage?" Raven stared at Nelson below, inspecting him with ocr technique. He could definitely tell the arrogant air as well the natural elegance he possess.

    "Not only that, he also has a Perfected Deity''s Champion Physique." Albert wasn''t even surprised that Raven knew about Nelson''s background, therefore he added this as well.

    "Right, I forgot about that." Raven stated. Once again, Albert wasn''t surprised since apparently someone leaked some information to Raven.

    "Which is why I think he''s going to win." Albert added, at this point their attention was now focused on the on going match below.

    "Hmm¡­" Raven traced his chin, he frowned for a bit and inspected the fight below. "Are you sure? I don''t think that''s enough to defeat Jonathan though. I heard Jonathan also has a Perfected Deity''s Champion Physique."

    This startled both Raul and Albert, causing them to look at Raven strangely. Albert''s reaction was more earnest as he asked: "Really?"

    "Well, I can''t be sure - oh look! There it is!"

    The attention was now focused on to the match below where Jonathan''s body is surrounded with a brilliant halo of violet-gold, representing the fact that he indeed has a Perfected Deity''s Champion Physique. Perfectly in time for when Raven just revealed this information.

    Albert was ck jawed, talk about perfect timing. He initially thought that Nelson will easily win this match since from the results earlier, Nelson has the upper hand. The imperial blood flowing on his veins gave him a majestically overbearing aura, in addition to the fact that he has a Perfected Deity''s Champion Physique as well, Jonathan was being constantly pushed back.

    Compared to the injured Jonathan, Nelson wasn''t even flustered. But that''s until Jonathan revealed his Champion''s Physique as well.

    Everyone on the stadium let out surprised gasps and cheers. The fervent atmosphere within the stadium was raised even more. The crowd was going wild as they saw how fast Jonathan''s injury healed and used the momentum of his physique to deliver strong attacks towards Nelson, who became flustered due to the sudden shift

    "See?" Raven smiled and looked at the stunned Albert.

    "Well, that''s was shocking." Albert admitted, he turned his head towards Raven and asked: "But still, I am more astonished on how urate your information was. We couldn''t even get any details about these people yet you have. Who told you about them?"

    "Oh, it''s a talkative guy that I met at the beginning of the exams. He''s also a disciple actually. His name is Jason Sigmus."

    "What!?" Albert suddenly blurted, he was so shocked that he actually stood up from shock. "You know that guy?"

 Chapter 451 - Tournament 1.2

    ---

    Raven was of course surprised by the intense reaction of Albert. He could even see that even Raul and the rest of the guards were all looking at him weirdly as well. This caused him to feel a bit awkward.

    "Well, I don''t know him personally but he was the one who approached me first." He replied, "Why? Is there something wrong?"

    "Of course there is! Don''t you know which n hees from?" Albert asked rhetorically, looking at Raven as if he was a madman or something.

    "Son, don''t forget that Raven hasn''t even been in the Divine Realm for a year." Raul calmlymented on the side.

    "Ah! Damn! I forgot about that!" Albert scratched his head and sat back down, looking a bit embarrassed.

    Meanwhile, Raven didn''t say anything and instead waited until they decide to tell him what''s going on. Although he technically has been in the Divine Realm for a good amount of time if they were to include his previous life, it''s not a good idea to reveal such thing.

    Moreover, he really has no recollection of Jason at all, not to mention his n. So he was hoping that they would reveal more to him.

    "I think it would be best for you to avoid that guy." Albert said solemnly while patting Raven''s shoulder. The room became silent for a bit, causing some annoyance to rise over Raven''s heart.

    He wanted to know the reason why but he wouldn''t understand anything if they don''t tell him anything. In the end, it was Raul who sighed and decided to reveal the matters to Raven.

    "It''s not some big secret anyways, so there shouldn''t be any problem for us to tell you. But if anything, I would really like you to reconsider your connection with this person, dear nephew."

    Raven remained quiet and waited for Raul to speak.

    "Compared to the lower realms, the Divine Realm could be said to be the main headquarters for Humanity. This is a well known fact no matter where you go." Raul stated, "I''ve been in the lower realms before and through experiencing what it''s like there, I had no other choice but to agree as well."

    "Inparison to the lower realms, the Divine Realm offers so much more. The resources are very abundant and the opportunities for a breakthrough are seemingly endless. Additionally, since Humanity had been inhabiting this ce for the longest time, our race were already deeply rooted here."

    The things that Raul revealed to him weren''t something new to Raven. He would know since he was once became the pir of support for Humanity.

    "That being said of course, although the resources of the Divine Realm are abundant and opportunities exists everywhere, there are simply way too many people around who are also searching for this. The resources and opportunities within the Divine Realm might be abundant but its not infinite. And since the poption of Humanity in the Divine Realm were massive in numbers, of course thepetition for the said resources are intense."

    Raul paused for a bit, wanting Raven to digest the pretext he provided just now, but he had no way of knowing that Raven was all too familiar with the statement he made, even more so that Raul himself. But of course, Raven still pretended in order to not blow his cover.

    After a while, Raul continued: "Those who were currently standing on the top - the Leaders of Humanity, feared that if thepetition goes on like that, too much blood will be shed and too many resources will be wasted. If that happens, then our race will continue to decline and lose our foothold on the Divine Realm, ultimately ending up to our extinction."

    ''Those people actually call themselves as the ''Divine Council of Humanity'' but Leaders of Humanity works too. Although they were more like couch potatoes to be honest¡­'' Raven grumbled inwardly but didn''t show any kind of reaction.

    "But of course, since they were part of Humanity themselves. They don''t want to see such oue to happen, therefore they formed certain rules in order to control the situation. Hoping to extend the longevity of Humanity as long as possible. And due to their intervention, order was restored and Humanity as a whole became stable."

    ''Pfft. Rules? Ha. Humanity is stable? Ha.'' Raven snickered inwardly.

    "That being said, there''s just some people who refuses toply with the rules they made." Raul sighed in disappointment. "These people didn''t want to be subjected through their rules and wanted everything for themselves. They were greedy and evil, some even disregarded their own morality due to their incessant desire to dominate the entire Divine Realm."

    ''So he means to say that Jason''s n is¡­''

    "Due to their actions, many crusades began in order to hunt them down and bring justice to their victims. Unfortunately, their forces had many means of surviving and retreating. Even though most of them were already hunted down, some of them are still around and biding their time to re-surface and take over the Divine Realm."

    "The Leaders of Humanity called them Rebels." Raul stated, "The forces of the Rebels grown to an astounding degree in the past but through the crusades, many of their forces were subjugated by the Leaders of Humanity."

    "Most of them, due to the immensity of their crimes, were killed to serve as an example for those who were trying to follow their footsteps. Those who''s crimes didn''t touch the bottom line, were given a chance to repent by rendering meritorious services."

    "And the Sigmus n, the one that Jason belongs to specifically, were once Rebels who fell into thetter case." Raul revealed as he looked intently at Raven''s eyes.

    Raven wore a serious expression but all this time, he was actuallyughing inwardly. In fact, he actually find it a miracle that he didn''t burst outughing just now.

    No one could actually me him for finding this situation too funny. After all, he''s all too familiar with what''s going on. He couldn''t believe that such a simple nonsense actually became a solemn belief for the people of the Divine Realm.

    Of course, he wouldn''t me Raul for falling into their tricks. After all, the methods and ideas of those old fogeys were simply too many. Those old foxes are way too cunning, therefore their ''soft approach'' actually worked.

    This whole situation was like a thief calling out someone for stealing. How could Raven not find this situation funny?

    What''s funnier is that, given the situation, they were actually using a prejudice as a factor to decide someone''s worth, and still dare to believe that these so called ''Leaders'' of Humanity kept their race''s stability.

    ''Ah, schemes. What a wonderful thing you are.'' Raven grinned inwardly.

    "Well, that was a shocking¡­" Raven sighed, but this sigh was more of a sigh of relief since he managed to hold hisughter. "That being said, from what little interaction I had with Jason, he doesn''t really strike me as notorious criminal. In fact, with how he acts, he actually reminds me of you Albert."

    "Ey! Don''t say such thing. I won''t allow you to sully my image byparing me to such a shady individual." Albert snorted while waving his hand. "Additionally, who doesn''t know how to put up an act?"

    "Actually? Think about it for a second, why do you think he knows so much about the other participants? Not only that, all of the people he introduced to you actually ended up being disciples as well. I won''t be surprised if he''s actually nning on scheming behind their backs. Therefore you have to take care of yourself when you arrive there. I''m not one to judge but one can never really be too careful." Albert stated with a solemn air.

    ''You''re not one to judge you say¡­'' Raven almost let out hollowughter but managed to hold it in.

    "You''re right." Raven smiled and leaned back to the couch, "One can never really be too careful, so I''ll make sure to be on guard at all times. Thanks for warning me."

    "You''re wee." Albert grinned, causing Raven''s lips to twitch for a bit.

    He inwardly shook his head and focused his attention back to the arena, but talking about Jason just now caused him to remember one more matter.

    "Right, has he fought someone already?" Raven asked.

    "Not yet." Albert shook his head, answering Raven''s question without looking away from the fight. "His match will be the one after this."

    "Oh, is that so." Raven nodded softly and ced his attention back at the fight between Nelson and Jonathan.

    Due to the sudden reveal of Jonathan''s Champion''s Physique, the advantage that Nelson had effectively vanished. Both contestant uses a spear but because of Jonathan''s powerful physique aided by his God Beast bloodline, the momentum and explosiveness of his strikes were slightly more powerfulpared to Nelson.

    Additionally, Jonathan was slightly faster than Nelson as well. Even though there''s not much differences between them, these small advantages that Jonathan grasps allowed him to cease the initiative and render Nelson incapable of fighting back.

    If Nelson can''t catch his breath ofunch a counter-attack, then his defeat is almost certain.

 Chapter 452 - Tournament 1.3

    ---

    "Winner of this match, Jonathan!"

    As the announcement of the winner urred, the whole arena exploded in cheers and apuse. The heated battle against Jonathan and Nelson brought immense excitement for the crowd and everyone loved how Jonathan was able to turn the tables against Nelson by revealing his true might.

    This wasn''t to say that Nelson was weak. After all, who would dare to say that a disciple of the Ancient Elysium Sect was weak?

    Jonathan won due to him taking advantage of the Nelson''s surprise, along with the overbearing momentum brought by him igniting his bloodline. Had Nelson managed to regain his posture andunch a counter-attack, it would really be unknown who would win in this match.

    For now however, it seems that Jonathan ims victory, bringing a close to this intense match.

    "Man, what a battle¡­" Albertmented emotionally within their room. He leaned back on the couch and pouted, "As expected of the disciples of the Ancient Elysium Sect. I''m afraid that either of them could hold their own against me."

    Raven, who''s calmly sipping on his tea beside him,mented: "Well, they''re not on your level yet. But if you start cking, then they would truly leave you behind."

    "Hmph! Who says that I''m cking? I''m nearing my breakthrough I''ll have you know." Albert snorted, causing Raven to smile wryly.

    "You could''ve made the breakthrough even before we started this journey but you still didn''t. If that''s not cking off, then I don''t know how else we could call it." Raulmented while ring slightly as his own son.

    This caused Albert to feel some chills, he smiled embarrassingly and lowered his head while grumbling inwardly.

    "Still, this was an interesting match though." Raven switched the topic, "Someone who hailed from an Imperial n, who''s also very skilled in spear arts as well possessing profound knowledge about Water Laws versus a descendant from a God Beast n, who''s simrly skilled in spear arts and Fire Laws."

    "Agreed." Raul nodded, "Although Jonathan won, it was only due to the small advantages he held. Once all of you arrive at the Ancient Elysium Sect, you''ll surely grow even more powerful. Nephew, you mustn''t ck of like this useless son of mine. You have to work hard and make sure to not be expelled from the sect."

    "That goes without saying Uncle." Raven smiled and acknowledged Raul''s words.

    "The second match for today will begin shortly."

    The attention of everyone within the stadium was caught by the sudden announcement, of course this includes Raven and everyone else within the room.

    As expected, the excitement of the crowd started rising once more. And as soon as the arena was fixed back to its previous state, the announcer didn''t waste time and immediately called in the next participants for second match of the day.

    From the opposite sides of the arena, came out the two disciples who will have a match. On the left side,es a man with an emerald colored hair wearing maroon colored robes. This person exuded a calm and elegant aura. He walked with so much confidence as if he wasn''t here for the match but to im victory.

    This man was Juniper Myles. A person who managed to be chosen as one of the disciples of the sect and one of the people that Raven has no intel with.

    Cheers erupted from the crowd, yet an amplified voice drowned almost thebine cheers of the crowd.

    "Wooohoo! Fight! Fight! Young Master, you got this! Wooohoo!"

    In the front row of the audience, a young man holding two empty water bottles screamed on top of his lungs while furiously mming the water bottles together. His passionate and loud cheers was heard all the way to the VIP rooms, causing him to be the center of the attention for a bit.

    Juniper hasn''t shown much reaction from this but his ears were turning red. Thankfully, no one managed to notice this but Juniper was cursing his servant in his mind.

    On the opposite side of the arena came a roguish looking man. He was bald and was wearing a ck colored cape that only covered his upper body, underneath this cape, he too was wearing the maroon colored robes, signifying that he too is a disciple of the sect.

    In contrast with how Juniper carried himself, this man was almost his opposite. There was a visible boredom or indifference in his face. He walked like how one would swagger in the streets. Overall, he looked like some random thug on the streets that would be willing to do anything for the right price.

    This person is none other than the guy who approached Raven during the initial stages of the exams, Jason Sigmus.

    Compared to Juniper, no one cheered on Jason. In fact, he received theplete opposite. Some people could the jeers and boo''s of the crowd, making them quite confused. But Jason never paid attention to any of this.

    As soon as the both of them entered the arena, they stopped in front of each other and waited for the match to begin.

    By the time, a grin appeared on Jason''s face. He opened his mouth and said: "Yo, take it easy there Buddy. You''re ring at me too much as if you''re going to swallow me whole or something."

    "I don''t know what the Envoys are thinking. Allowing a filth like you to enter their ranks." Juniper remarked coldly, "Either way, sinners like you needed to learn their ce. I''ll make sure that you''ll remember your lesson."

    However, instead of being insulted, Jason''s grin turned even wider as he replied: "Wow, that''s some insults right there Buddy. Did you learn that from your parents? - oops, my bad. I forgot that you don''t have once since you killed them. Haha."

    Juniper''s eyes widened before an unbridled fury filled his chest. His eyes turned sharp as he uttered through gritted teeth: "You will pay for that, filth¡­"

    "Same rules apply. You win if you render your opponent unable to fight. Killing is not allowed as well as maiming or criplling your opponent. Going out of bounds will cause your defeat. Aside from weapons, no other items or medicines can be used. Any attacks that will cause damage over time has to cease as soon as the match ends."

    "The match starts in three¡­"

    As soon as the countdown began, Juniper and and Jason took out their weapons. Juniper held a long and narrow de while Jason took out two scimitars. They ced distance between them and waited until thr countdown is over.

    "Two¡­"

    "One! Begin!"

    *ng!!!*

    As soon as the countdown was over, two silhouettes immediately shed, disappearing from their former locations. The initial sh caused the ground beneath them to crack, it also caused fierce winds to fly everywhere, kicking up clouds of dust.

    A great killing intent was reflected on Juniper''s eyes. The muscles on his arms bulged as he did his best to push Jason back but Jason was like an immovable fortress.

    From this initial sh, Juniper could already tell that Jason''s physical strength is greater than his. This caused him to immediately release a peculiar type of energy from his body.

    Emerald glow covered his body, as he released this glow, Juniper''s body started morphing. His face grew more savage and fangs started protruding from his mouth. His muscles grewrger as well as built, causing his clothes to expand greatly but not enough to tear.

    Along with his bizarre transformation, Juniper''s physical strength also grew, allowing him to press down on Jason.

    Still, Jason was wearing a wide grin on his face as if he waspletely unbothered by this transformation of Juniper and wanting to provoke him even more.

    Jason tilted his scimitars, causing Juniper''s de to slide off due to much strength ced in them. Jason used this opening to deliver an empowered knee blow straight to Juniper''s stomach. This caused thetter to slid back by a couple of meters but didn''t really do much to him.

    "Tsk, what''s that tummy made out of? Freaking steel?" Jason smiled wryly as he felt his knees weakening. He pumped some of his energies to his kneecaps to dissolve the feeling since it would be detrimental for the match if he didn''t.

    As soon as he finished doing that, he raised his scimitars and exchanged blows against Juniper once again.

    Their heated sh brought joy to the audience, causing cheers to erupt. This goes specially well for the Juniper''s biggest fan, his servant on the front row. The guy was too intense, he didn''t hesitate to amplify his voice so that his cheers could be heard from every corner of the arena.

    The water bottles on his hand were already crushed beyond recognition, he already reced by a huge drum that he constantly pped using his aching hand while chanting his fanatical cheers.

    Juniper unfortunately, or fortunately, couldn''t hear any of this. He was neither focused on the match nor paying attention to the cheers. His mind was dead set into one thing¡­

    And that is, to make this filth in front of him, pay for triggering his unwanted memories.

 Chapter 453 - Tournament 1.4

    ---

    "Oh? This Juniper guy''s body had some metamorphosis. Could it be that he too has a bloodline?"

    Within the private rooms, Albert asked this question to particrly no one. This was more out of curiosity instead of actually wanting to know.

    "It''s not a bloodline." Raven replied as he too watched the match closely. "At least I don''t think it is. I don''t feel the same fluctuations like the one I got from Jonathan earlier when he was using his."

    "Doesn''t Jonathan have the Azure Dragon''s Bloodline? Wouldn''t that make the fluctuations different?" Albert asked once more.

    "What I read isn''t the fluctuations of energy." Raven shook his head softly, "Instead, I read the special rhythmic activities within someone''s blood. Those who doesn''t have a bloodline releases different readingspared to those that has bloodlines. I don''t see that on Juniper''s case."

    "Raven is right." Raul added, "This child, Juniper doesn''t have any bloodline. Instead, he uses a different kind of invocation in order to trigger a physical metamorphosis. Instead of a Bloodline, what he uses is called Blood Communion Oath."

    "Blood Communion Oath?" Albert unconsciously looked at his father with puzzlement. But before Raul could reply, Raven said something.

    "So it was a Blood Communion Oath, no wonder." He said while tracing his chin.

    Albert looked towards him in surprise and asked: "You know of it?"

    "A bit." Raven nodded, "Blood Communion Oath is something that''s been passed down since ages. It is said that some tribalmunities formed by our ancestors used it to form a spiritual link with beasts, more specifically God Beasts, in order to harness their power without needed to kill one."

    "ording to what I''ve read, the oath is a form of exchange. By providing service to the God Beasts, thetter allows contractors to use their power in order to survive. However, is it said that because of oath was too primitive, there are many ways for humans to bypass the rules imposed for the contractors, such as not being able to raise their weapons against their chosen God Beast, this method was abandoned and no God Beasts nor humans continued using them."

    "Which is why it is quite surprising to see someone using it here." Raven added, allowing Albert to understand it clearer. "And from what I can see, it seems that Juniper formed an oath with a Silvermoon Battlewolf. However, it doesn''t seem like he could handle the true power of it just yet, or else this battle would''ve been over already."

    Albert was looking at Raven in a stunned manner, as for Raul there was only an expression of praise in his face.

    "Wow, how did you know all of that?" Albert asked in a puzzled manner, but before Raven could answer, Albert felt a chill on his back, causing him to slowly turned his head towards his father, only to see him ring at him.

    "How did ''YOU'' not know all of that? Is what I really wanted to know." Raul''s re was chilling to the point that Albert was shivering. Cold sweat drenched his back as he tried to make some excuses but only ended up stuttering.

    "In case you didn''t know. Nephew Raven was able to know all of that since he read it from that library of yours." Raul stated, causing Albert to be thunderstruck. "How embarrassing was that? Nephew didn''t even spend that much time within your room but he read everything within your library. Meanwhile, the one who owns the whole damn thing won''t even touch it."

    "Aha-ahahaha¡­" Albert was sweating buckets as he felt the chilling re of his father. "I-It''s nothing like that. T-there''s just more pressing matters for me to pay attention instead, s-so that''s why I didn''t r-read that much."

    "A-actually, maybe this is fate y-you know?" Albert hurriedly added, "Y-you see, had I interfered too much with that bookshelf, t-then Raven might''ve never noticed the secret behind it! W-wouldn''t it be bad then? It''s fate, it really is fate."

    "Hmph!" Raul snorted and returned his attention back to the heated match. Allowing Albert to finally heaved out a sigh of relief.

    His ears then twitched as he heard a slight snort beside him. His head turned sharply and red at Raven, who''s acting as if what happened just now has nothing to do with him.

    ''You''re doing this on purpose aren''t you? Damn it.'' Albert said via voice transmission.

    Raven showed no changes on his expression as he replied: ''How can that be? You do realize that if I really am doing this on purpose then Uncle would''ve already known about those letters of yours and your ''hidden stashes'' right?''

    ''Y-you! What are you talking about!'' Albert''s eyes widened in disbelief as he tried to deny it.

    ''Oh don''t you be like that Albie~'' Raven yfully replied with a foxy grin. ''But I must say, I didn''t know you were into girls that have prominent abs and thighs. No wonder you kept looking at - ''

    ''STOP! Stop damn it! No another damn word from you! I get it!'' Albert roared through voice transmission, causing Raven''s foxy grin to widen.

    It was challenging to prevent himself fromughing as he heard the desperation, shame and embarrassment on Albert''s tone as well as seeing his flustered face and reddening ears. It was too much to the point where Raven couldn''t prevent himself from letting a few chuckles out.

    This caused Raul to look at him curiously and for Albert''s face to turn dark.

    "What''s funny Nephew?" Raul asked. His question caused Albert to panic. He was about to interrupt when Raven suddenly said¡­

    "Nothing much, Uncle. I just find the fight below to be quite funny." Raven replied while casting a sly look at Albert.

    "Oh? And why is that?" Raul asked curiously.

    "This guy Juniper¡­he has lost his calm even before the match started. Now the side-effects of the oath is starting to erode his sanity. If this goes on, Jason won''t be fighting Juniper anymore, he would be fighting a crazed beast instead."

    ''Real smooth brother.'' Albert grumbled inwardly as he heard Raven''s reply.

    "Good catch!" Raul praised once more, causing Albert to be surprised. "So you noticed it as well."

    He quickly focused on the match and even in his current state of mind, he could tell that what Raven said was more or less urate.

    "Actually, I was able to hear some of their conversation before the match started." Raven stated, "I heard Juniper saying something about filth and knowing someone''s ce. As for Jason, I heard him saying something about not having any parents. I don''t know why but Juniper already lost his calm since then."

    Lies. The truth is, Raven was able to clearly hear their conversation. Even though there is a wide distance between them and the fighters in the arena, Raven heard each word loud and clear. In fact, he could even see the fight clearly as if he was within the arena as well. But of course he didn''t want to reveal too much for Albert nor Raul, which is why he only said some of the things he heard.

    "Hey, isn''t that a dirty move? Wouldn''t that make it advantageous for that sinner?" Albert interjected with a visible frown on his face.

    "There were no rules against it." Raven stated, "Additionally, it was Juniper who tried to provoke him first."

    "I can more or less guess what Juniper told Jason, but that''s just him stating facts though so it doesn''t really count as such, meanwhile thement of that Jason is¡­"

    "Don''t forget that Jason was the one who revealed some information about the other contestants to me." Raven reminded, "Who knows, maybe he is also stating facts as well."

    "Actually, those things doesn''t matter." Raulmented on the side. "In a battle, things like background, history, morals and such, doesn''t make any difference. The only thing to focus on is to fight and take down the enemy in front of you. Things that doesn''t break the official rules are all considered and permitted, and for a battle that has stakes, using flimsy tricks to win isn''t really umon."

    "If this child, Juniper couldn''t win the war of words and act in such a way, specially if he''s the one who started it, then he''s nothing more that a sore loser. His defeat wouldn''t be surprising if that''s the case."

    Raul''s words were cold and a bit harsh but also filled with facts. There was an undisguised contempt on his voice as he stated them, which reflects on his ideals as a Sect Master.

    Indeed, it was originally Juniper''s fault. Jason wasn''t actively trying to rile him up, but Juniper just used the ''sinner'' card to insult Jason. Who in the right mind would simply swallow an insult from an enemy? There''s no way that Jason would allow that, specially with his personality.

    If one dares to insult others, then they must be prepared to receive one as well. If their insults didn''t affect the opposite party, then they shouldn''t be affected by the opposite party''s insult as well. Those who loses their calm over a war of wards are nothing but losers who had weak wills...

    And people like Raul and Raven, look down on such people¡­

 Chapter 454 - Tournament 1.5

    ----

    *Boom!*

    "Ooh! Scary, scary~"

    Amidst the thick dusts of clouds within the arena, an ever-present grin was stered on Jason''s face as he calmly evaded the fatal strikes of Juniper in his partial transformation state. Although he was barely avoiding each shes, no panic could be seen on his face at all.

    "Is that all that you can do, filth? Evade? Fight me like a man!" Juniper demanded as he deliver yet another quick hack with his de.

    "Try and hit me first before you say that." Jason replied smugly as he gracefully evaded yet another fatal sh from Juniper. The grin on his face remained clear as he came out practically unscathed by his enemy''s de.

    Jason wasn''t even bothering to attack using his scimitars. Juniper was fast and strong, each strike of his was quick and lethal, it couldn''t be followed through the naked eye and the force behind it was enough to leave cracks on the reinforced arena.

    Yet no matter how quick and strong his attacks were, it was useless since Jason was lithe of his feet. He moved like an agile wind, almost as if he was dancing around Juniper and leading him on tounch an attack once again. This grace and sophistication was something that majority of the crowd didn''t expect for someone like Jason, specially with his roguish looks.

    On the other hand, Juniper fought like a crazed animal. The savage aura around him could be felt from miles away. His attacks were unpolished and without a grace, he swung his de like a blunt club, not caring one whit about style nor disciples. The crowd felt like they were watching a brute or a barbarian, which again not something that they expected from the way Juniper carried himself earlier.

    That being said, Juniper''s biggest fan, seems to not care even one bit about what others think. Instead, he cheered for his Young Master with even more ferocity, almost matching his master''s savageness. Meanwhile, those who knew Jason''s background, found this current situation incredibly unpleasant and tried disrupting Jason''s rhythm but to no avail.

    Certainly, the situation within the whole stadium was weird...

    It seems that judging a book by its cover was never been the wisest choice. And the current state of the fight definitely proves this.

    Juniper was currently feeling incensed. The constant irritation he felt whenever Jason evaded his attacks kept piling up over time and constantly eroded his sanity. He couldn''t understand what''s going on. It wasn''t like Jason was fast or anything. In fact, Juniper could easily follow his movements and he''s also sure that he''s swift enough to hack him into pieces. However, no matter how many times he tried to do so, it always ends up in failure.

    In addition to the ever present grin on Jason''s face, the level of irritation that Juniper felt was something that he had never felt before.

    Slowly but surely, the rity on his eyes disappeared and were reced by pure savageness. He continued to draw more power from the blood oath, pushing it to his absolute limits and also causing his body to morph into something that barely resembles a human.

    Still, no matter how much power he drew in from the blood oath, he never managed to touch the hem of Jason''s clothes. Thetter remained slippery like an eel, his grinning face had long since transformed into a mocking sneer in Juniper''s mind.

    Of course, Jason was also constantly paying attention to his enemy''s condition. Although it appears as if he was ying around, dodging Juniper''s attack''s constantly isn''t as easy as he makes it look. Needless to say, even though he wasn''t actively shing des with Juniper, he was already assaulting his endurance by forcing him in this situation.

    ''It''s about time to end this.'' Jason murmured inwardly as he Juniper''sbored breathing and trembling arms, as well as his fading transformation.

    Jason assumed a stance by cing both of scimitars parallel to each other and on the floor. A glint of seriousness appeared in his face for the first time and he gathered his energy to coat his weapons. A tremendous fluctuation emanated from his weapons but it only urred in a fraction of a second before Jason disappeared like a sh of light.

    "Fanatical de Style - Twin Stances: Howling White Ripple."

    A loud whistling sound was heard everywhere. A white sh of light momentarily blinded everyone.

    When Jason appeared, he was already behind Juniper, who stood there as if he saw something incredible. Jason didn''t even bother looking back, he sheathed both of his scimitars and started walking away from the arena.

    At the instant he took his first step, Juniper''s eyes rolled backwards.

    During the second step, Juniper''s body knelt down.

    At the third step, Juniper fell onto the ground unconscious. A pool of blood emerged from beneath his body.

    "Winner of this match: Jason Sigmus!" The referee announced but no one pped nor cheered on for Jason.

    It was as if the crowd was still confused and befuddled by the howling sound and the blinding sh of white light just now. It was only when the medics carried Juniper''s unconscious body towards the recovery area that they realized that the match was truly over.

    Some people pped, but those didn''t erase the awkward atmosphere within the crowd. Meanwhile, some people were certainly not happy that Jason won. A few even insisted that he must''ve cheated in the match just now, but of course none of them dared to truly confront the administrators about it.

    What a joke! Even the people who called out Jason for cheating, knew themselves that he couldn''t possibly do that under the eyes of the Envoys, and since the management didn''t say or revealed any signs of cheating, then it means that Jason didn''t cheat at all. They were merely unsatisfied with this oue therefore they voiced out such ridiculous ims.

    Back in the private rooms, most of the wiser people were in a daze. Even Raul himself was also rendered like that.

    All of them were trying to guess what just happened, specially during Jason''s attack. Most of them kept repeating thest scene in their heads, trying to decipher it. However, most of them was left in confusion.

    "What the hell?" Albert grumbled in a displeased manner. "What in the world was that!? It was so fast, I didn''t even manage to see it!"

    Although he was displeased, Albert only felt this way since he could the immense threat behind that attack. His whole body practically screamed danger upon seeing Jason''s stance. If it was him on that arena, he wouldn''t be sure if he could take that blow head on.

    "It''s his Laws." Raul replied on the side, catching everyone''s attention. "But I''m not sure what it was."

    "Ah! It''s Light Laws then!" Albert eximed, "He turned into a white sh and attacked with a tremendous speed."

    "Fool!" Raul chided, causing Albert to be startled. "It''s not Light Laws! If it is, then howe you weren''t able to follow it? You''re a Saint Knight for crying out loud. You''ve face Light Law users before, did any of them were as fast as him?"

    "Then what is it?" Albert scrunched up his face in displeasure.

    "Let me give you a clue." Ravenmented on the side, causing everyone to look at him. Even Raul himself was paying attention and was surprised that Raven knew since he doesn''t. "Don''t look at that sh of light, that''s nothing but a decoy. Neither you should pay attention on what happened during that sh, since he barely did at thing at all. Instead, pay attention to what happened before the attack happened."

    "Huh?" Albert tilted his head confusion, he then traced his chin and recalled the fight earlier. "I can only remember him doing a stance before it all happened though."

    Raven smiled and asked: "Really? Are you sure? Try remembering it clearly."

    The room turned silent, everyone in the room recalled what happened to the fight per Raven''s suggestions. After a while of silence, Albert replied:

    "Are you referring to the fluctuation when he released the stance?"

    Hearing this caused Raven to smile and for Raul''s eyes to instantly brighten, he instantly looked at Raven with disbelief written on his face.

    "But that doesn''t really tell me anything though. Isn''t it normal for an attack of that caliber to release a strong fluctuation?"

    "It is." Raven replied calmly, "But like I said earlier, the sh that we all saw was nothing more than a decoy - a distraction per se, and in truth Jason barely did anything at all. He just disappeared from his previous location and appeared behind Juniper. Don''t go thinking that he''s fast cause his legs didn''t move at all."

    "Eh?" Albert scratched his head in confusion, nobody could me him, even the experienced guards behind him as well as the majority of the experts who watched didn''t know what happened as well.

    "Like I said, that sh of light was fake. It didn''t do and won''t do anything cause Jason already finished attacking by then. You said fluctuations right? You were right. It was the fluctuation, that was the attack. Or to be more precise¡­"

    "It''s the Ripples."

 Chapter 455 - Tournament 1.6

    ---

    "Law of Ripples!?" Albert eximed in a dumbfounded manner, "Hey, hey! Are you sure? That''s a very rare Law to gain enlightenment from!"

    Albert was not be med for behaving this way. In fact, even Raul, who had the idea even before articted it, still couldn''t help but feel stunned. This goes simrly to the veteran warriors within the room, they too were too shocked for words by the sudden revtion.

    "I''m sure of it." Raven remained calm while he exined, "He might be able to fool most people but not me. I''m a very sensitive person. Therefore I am confident that I''m not wrong in this."

    "That''s so unfair." Albert grumbled as his face warped in despair. "Man, Law of Ripples? Really? Of all people, why him? I''m so jealous!"

    Albert was really vexed at this moment. It was already a blow for him to see this many talented people gaining a very valuable experience and luck to enter a prestigious sect, and yet herees this Jason guy with his enviable luck to gain enlightenment from Ripple Law.

    There are reasons why they feel this way. On top of the fact that Law of Ripples were a very rare, it is also incredibly powerful.

    The Law of Ripples allows one to harness the power of Ripples. This might sound incredibly underwhelming but in reality, it applications are seemingly endless.

    Ripples per se, takes on many forms, few of which are: fluctuations, vibrations, echoes, resonance, and so on. Such forms of ripples happens almost every time. When someone walks, their footsteps releases a form of resonance on the ground beneath them. When someone talks, the sound they produce cause vibrations and echoes in the air. When someone releases even the tiniest bit of their energy, it will still cause fluctuations. All of the above represents Ripples and happens on a daily basis.

    And someone who has the ability to control ripples, had the authority to use them however they like.

    "That''s why I said before that Jason didn''t really do anything on that fight but he also did a lot." Raven added. "During the battle, the moment they shed weapons, Jason was already gathering the ripples around him in a very discrete manner. During Juniper''s transformation, the force behind his attacks got stronger and he became faster too."

    "Echoes, vibrations, fluctuations, resonance¡­Juniper released a lot of this. And with Jason''s ability to see and observe ripples, he could tell how exactly Juniper is going to attack, therefore evading his attacks were a cinch to him. Additionally, since his enemy was already releasing many ripples, he didn''t have to add anything at all. He just simply has to gather them and release him at any given moment, still he waited until Juniper was exhausted to release his gathered momentum."

    "What''smendable is that, Jason on release a tenth of the Ripples that he collected during that short battle. But it was still enough to directly render Juniper unconscious. The sh of white light was fake. Him appearing behind Juniper was just him blending his presence with the surrounding ripple and running very fast behind Juniper before showing himself again."

    "And since not many people was aware he could use Law of Ripples, it turned into a illusion that he moved beyond everyone''s senses and gave him a cloak of mysteriousness, making him look awesome, which pisses me off." Raven chuckled with how everything yed out but nevertheless he''s impressed.

    He then looked at Albert and said: "See? Isn''t it very simple?"

    "Yeah. And knowing everything, more specifically the whole faking and blending thing, really pisses me off. " Albert released a sigh of frustration, but his eyes were bright as he looked at Raven, saying: "But what surprises me the most, is that you knowing all of this."

    "Heck, you''re observation skills are way too freaky man! We''re at least fifteen miles away from the arena, yet it''s as if you could see the match in person. Almost everyone, including people outside, might very well still be wondering about what happened, yet here you are, knowing everything and might as well being able to predict what exactly will happen next. That''s creepy you know?"

    "Damn, between you and him. I think I would rather fight him instead. I get this feeling that if I fight you, then you''ll just make dance on the top of your palms. That would be humiliating."

    Albert''s barrage of honest description caused Raven tough as he replied: "Perks of being sensitive I guess?"

    "Perk my ass!" Albert grumbled, "If you''re capable, then you are capable. No need to be humble and shit, that''s corny!"

    Raven chuckled beside him and sipped on his tea. Raul, who''s watching them bicker with each other, just smiled and returned his attention back at the arena.

    There really wasn''t much for him to watch as the arena was being fixed for the next match. The truth is, his thoughts are in a different ce.

    Thements of his son about Raven''s ''creepiness'' constantly rang on Raul''s mind. Although he was aware that his son might not be aware of the true weight behind his unconscious revtion of Raven''s abilities, it doesn''t mean that he too, was simrly clueless.

    He had to agree, he would rather have his son fight that child Jason instead of Raven. Actually, he would rather have his son fight him (Raul) instead of Raven.

    Even though Raven appears harmless and did nothing but kindness for not only him but also his n. He couldn''t really prevent himself from being careful with how he interact with this child. Albert voiced it out but Raul already felt it, even before they apanied Raven here.

    For some reason, he always get this sneaking suspicion that everything is going Raven''s way. And like how Albert articted it, the feeling was truly creepy. Raven always gave him the impression that, not even the sky falling would surprise him. For all he know, it would either be Raven himself who caused that to happen or he was already expecting it to happen.

    Either way, he could feel that Raven wasn''t an enemy. The kindness that the child expressed was genuine, therefore there''s no reason for him to hate him to cut connections with him.

    ***

    Due to how short thest match were, the arena was fixed rather quickly. After re-activating the protective array around the arena, the referee announced that the third match of the day will begin shortly.

    The previously awkward atmosphere within the stadium were gone and was reced by heated discussions and excitement yet again. Andpared to the previous matches, it would seem that many people were actually looking forward to this match the most.

    This inevitably caught Raven''s attention, causing him turn to Albert and ask him: "Do you know who will be fighting next?"

    "Pyra Crawford and Mira Crawford." Albert replied, causing Raven to raise an eyebrow.

    "Oh, so it''s the twins eh?" Raven sighed and shook his head softly. There was an expression of mncholy on his eyes. Something that Albert noticed.

    "What''s with the sudden gloom?" Albert asked.

    "Oh! Uh, nothing much really." Raven replied, "I just thought about somethings. Don''t mind me."

    Seeing the sudden shift on his friend''s mood, caused Albert to be reminded about a few things.

    "Oh, right. I remember you telling me that you have twin sisters. Pyra and Mira must''ve caused you to remember your family in the lower realms."

    Raven simply nodded and didn''t say anything. Albert was right, the Crawford Twins caused him to be reminded of Venina and Victoria, those two cute little buggers that kept pulling his face and skin whenever he''s ying with them.

    Having thought about his sisters also caused him to think about his parents, inws and the people he left behind in the lower realms.

    Raven knew that they were safe, he was confident about it since if they weren''t then the arrangements he left before departing would''ve been triggered by now. Additionally, he also left Venus behind and ordered her solemnly to protect them behind the shadows. All of this, just to make sure that they live their lives in peace and for him to press on without worries.

    Still, he couldn''t help but miss home. But right now he can''t.

    There''s just too much for him to do. Before he''s able to secure a decent foundation within the Divine Realm, he can''t return nor bring them here. Right now, he doesn''t know how long it''s going to take for him to achieve his goals but there''s no other way and no room for failure. Therefore he had to endure and remain strong.

    Lost on his musings, Raven waste to realize that the match was almost beginning. If it weren''t for the loud announcement of the referee, he wouldn''t notice it.

    "Left side, Mira Crawford!" The referee pointed at the girl who wore the maroon uniform and has a purple hair.

    "Right side, Pyra Crawford." The only difference about her, is that this girl''s hair is red.

    "Same rules apply! The match with start in three! Two! One! Begin!"

    "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

    "I win!"

    "I lost!"

    The crowd: "¡­"

 Chapter 456 - Tournament 1.7

    ---

    What happened was simple, and fast.

    As soon as the referee started the match, the twins yed rock, paper scissors.

    Pyra threw rock while Mira threw paper. From the nature of the game, Mira wins. As since Pyra lost, she directly admitted defeat and walked out of the arena along with Mira, leaving behind a dumbfounded crowd. Even the referee and the whole management was surprised by this, but it seems that the twin never had any intentions to fight with each other at all.

    Back in the room of Albert and the rest, Raven roared inughter as he found this scene extremely amusing and hrious.

    "Well, well! What a match isn''t it?" He said while wiping some tears from the corner of his eyes. "In the end, we can''t really expect them to fight against each other now, do we?"

    "I guess not." Albert shook his head while still a bit frazzled on his seat. "They don''t seem to care about what other people might think, even more so for the prize itself."

    "Although this match, if I could even call it that, has been strange and fast. Just like Nephew said, we really can''t expect them to fight against each other. In the end, this might be a silent opposition from the twins to those who thought that pitting them against each other was a great idea."

    "I agree." Raven nodded, "Look, neither of them even bothered to wait until the deration of the winner. The faces of those excited for this ''fight'' are quite fantastic too!"

    Looking outside, the whole stadium was still silent from what happened just now.

    Those who were expecting a fantastic and heated battle, were left feeling extremely aggrieved and disappointed. They anticipated the most for this match since they are expecting the twins to be equally powerful and thus, will cause the fight to be extremely intense and heated.

    But it was a pity that neither the twins were having any of that.

    They didn''te here to entertain the crowd, be objectified and be used to hurt each other. In truth, the attraction of the ticket for a Spiritual Treasure wasn''t so alluring to them at all. If one of them could im the first ce, then its good. If they can''t, then there''s no need to force it. Either way, just by participating in the tournament, they''ll receive a spiritual treasure ticket anyway. There''s no need for them to risk a limb for that.

    In the end, the referee announced that Mira had won the battle, which didn''t even garner any cheers or apuse from anyone. The whole stadium''s atmosphere was awkward and silent. Even the referee himself doesn''t know how to disperse this situation.

    In the end, he just made an announcement that the fourth match of the day will ur shortly.

    This battle is between Ryan Northson and Madman Floyd.

    When Raven saw who''s going to fight next, he couldn''t help but feel some sort of anticipation bubbling within him.

    It didn''t take long before the participants were called.

    Coming from the left side, was a tall man who had a long silver hair andshes. His face was calm but it also radiated a profound coldness within. The maroon uniform of the sect he wore further entuated his etherealness. His movements were gentle and elegant, he had an aura of a noble around him.

    "Oh my! Who is he?"

    "So handsome!"

    "It''s the Pale Ice Prince! Ryan Northson! God, he looks so good on that uniform!"

    "Pale Ice Prince? That fits him quite nicely."

    "I wonder if he''s betrothed already?"

    "Whether he is, or he isn''t. It''s none of your business."

    "Hmph! How rude."

    The crowd exploded in cheers and fanatical screams as soon as they saw Ryan walking towards the arena. Ryan on the other hand, doesn''t appear to care about what they say or what they want to say. He didn''t even spare a single nce to the crowd.

    This man, is Ryan Northson. Known to many as the Pale Ice Prince and was also rumored to posses a Perfected Deity''s Champion Physique.

    On the right side,es a man with a long spiky hair. He was simrly tall and his body was also bulky. Some people who looked at him felt repulsed by his rough appearance. This man''s face has at least fiverge scars. His pupils were dull, almost lifeless even. It was as if he was operating in an unconscious manner. He was wearing a long ck cape on top of his uniform. And unlike Ryan''s aura, his was filled with violence and aggressiveness.

    This man, was known as Madman Floyd by many people.

    Although many people noticed his presence, no one dared to say anything about him, specially those who have heard rumors about him. They kept everything to themselves and waited until the match starts.

    As soon as the two of them stepped onto the arena, the referee did the usual ceremony of reminding them about the rules and so. After that, he started counting down.

    "Three! Two! One! Begin!"

    As soon as the referee signaled the match to begin. Ryan clenched his hand into a w, he then brought it up as if he was swiping Floyd into pieces.

    In a blink of an eye, a tall cier appeared on the arena, encasing arge portion of it as well as sealing Madman Floyd within.

    White mist escaped through Ryan''s lips. The whole stadium was stunned into silence. The chill that being released by the enormous cier added to the chill everyone felt on their spine with how quick and decisive Ryan was in this battle.

    Amidst the silence, Ryan stood calmly. He stared at the cier formed by his Ice Laws and pondered about something.

    However, due to the pin-drop silence of the stadium. What''s supposed to be a minuscule sound of cracking was amplified, causing many to be startled. They all watched curiously, and all of a sudden, the enormous cier shattered intorge chunks, falling into the ground and causing the whole stadium to tremble.

    Within the falling remains of the enormous cier, the tiny silhouette of Madman Floyd could be seen stretching his neck left and right while holding an unreasonablyrge cleaver.

    Madman Floyd''s cleaver had no proper handle, it was only covered by some cloth/bandage. The edge of the cleaver was chipped in many areas, and it was as wide as two people. The cleaver''s tip wasn''t sharp, its overall shape was rectangr.

    Floyd holding his cleaver by his shoulder made a striking impression on those who sees it. Specially in addition to the steam surrounding his body, his sharp gaze and his devious smile.

    "Yo! Freezing people without any warning is rude you know?"

    Although Floyd said it this way, no one could tell if he''s actually upset or not due to his fiendish grin.

    A cold smirk appeared on Ryan''s face as he mumbled: "I wasn''t expecting this to be easy anyway."

    Upon saying that, a thin and pristine looking white sword appeared on his hand. He then assumed as stance and prepared for the sh that was about to ensue.

    The fiendish grin on Floyd''s face widened. He lifted his cleaver, tightened his grip and snarled as he struck down with an incredible momentum.

    The force behind Floyd''s strike could be felt within the whole stadium. Winds howled and the reinforced arena was almost cleaved in half.

    Ryan was rtively calm as he faced Floyd''s attack head on. He simply lifted his sword and started gathering his energy. As the attack closed in on him, Ryan''s sword hummed and released a milky white glow.

    "White Emperor''s Stance - Winter''s Embrace."

    A dense white mist suddenly appeared out of Ryan''s sword, the mist moved fast and engulfed Floyd''s attack in no time. Whatever the white mist touched, was frozen. This includes the force behind Floyd''s attack, causing an enormous fin-line cier to appear within the arena.

    But Ryan was done yet¡­

    After freezing the attack, he brandished his sword and retracted horizontally.

    "White Emperor''s Stance - The Winter Gathers¡­"

    The fin-like cier was gathered through Ryan''s sword, the chill it possess intensified and could felt by everyone who''s watching. Then, Ryan unceremoniously performed a thrust to finish the move.

    "..and Hails!"

    Ryan disyed his mastery of Ice Laws using this move. The temperature within the stadium dropped at an rming pace. The whole arena wasn''t simply frozen, instead Ryan legitimately caused winter and used his authority to make the winter hail.

    Compared to a normal hail however, Ryan''s hail caused literal blocks of ice to condense and fly towards Madman Floyd without any mercy. Additionally, given how excellent Ryan''s control over his Ice Laws, he could also condense spears made out ice and haul it towards Floyd.

    What shocking is that, Floyd didn''t even had any desire to defend himself. He simply stood there with a fiendish smile in his face and allowed whatever''sing his way to hit his body. Everyone was expecting him to be wounded and bleed but nothing happened to him at all.

    In fact, Floyd''s fiendish grin became even more pronounced as he said:

    "Good! Keep it up! Haven''t had a nice massage recently!"

 Chapter 457 - Tournament 1.8

    ---

    "Tch." Ryan clicked his tongue in disappointment hearing Madman Floyd''s remark. "That body is abnormal. Although I knew beforehand that this guy is a body refiner, I wasn''t expecting him to be unscathed after that attack."

    This statement of Ryan speaks volumes. In his life so far, there''s only a few people who could achieve the feat of being unharmed by his Ice Laws. Sure, if his Ice Laws were like any ordinary Ice Laws, then it wouldn''t be as shocking, but the thing is, his Ice Laws are different from the norm.

    "What''s wrong? Is this the best you can do? If it is, then I''m afraid that the reputation of the Pale Moon Umbral Ice, is a bit exaggerated." Madman Floyd said while shaking his head in a disappointed manner.

    Floyd''s voice was loud enough for others to hear him. So when he revealed the matter about the Pale Moon Umbral Ice, it brought myriad reactions from the crowd.

    "Pale Moon Umbral Ice? What''s that?"

    "I don''t know exactly what it is but I think it''s a form of a Natural Treasure."

    "So it must be an Ice Essence right? The one that allows one to use a different form of powerpared to the usual elemental properties."

    "Yeah, I think so too."

    Back in the room where Raven and the rest were in, they too heard the sudden revtion of Ryan''s power. Albert frowned and tried to recall his memories. He could tell that he came across such information before but he couldn''t remember what exactly the details were.

    "As I thought, it truly is the Pale Moon Umbral Ice." Raul said while looking at the match with a renewed interest.

    "What''s a Pale Moon Umbral Ice, Father?" Albert asked since he couldn''t really remember everything.

    "I''m sure you''ve heard about Natural Treasures right?" Raul asked, to which Albert nodded.

    "Natural Treasures are treasures birthed by nature itself. They don''t belong into the usual category of strength measurement as regr Spiritual Treasures since in some ways, they transcend that. And the mostmon factor about them, is that they could cultivated, thus allowing them grow stronger alongside their owner." Albert replied, earning a nod from Raul.

    "Pale Moon Umbral Ice is a Natural Treasure, but even within the ranks of Natural Treasures, it falls under a unique category." Raul revealed, causing Albert to be confused.

    "Unique Category? I don''t get it."

    "I''ll be shocked if you did." Raul stated, earning a scowl from Albert. "Like I said, Pale Moon Umbral Ice is a natural treasures. Compared to normal ice, it possesses unique characteristics."

    "The Pale Moon Umbral Ice could only be found on the Moon itself. That alone makes this treasure already incredibly rare to possess. That being said, it doesn''t just appear so casually. In order for it to appear, one must possess a very highpatibility with the water element and their talents must be beyond what normal people possess. This is just in order for it to show itself. Next, in order to capture it, one must learn a unique method which is a highly-guarded treasure of a n. Fusing with it and cultivating it also requires specific methods that I don''t know of."

    "Nevertheless, all the trouble is worth it." Raul added, "Compared to the erosion, structure and overall temperature of normal ice elemental property, the Pale Moon Umbral Ice is a definitely leagues beyond. Additionally, the Pale Moon Umbral Ice is said to be carnivorous. Meaning that it feasts on its prey, possibly turning itself or its master stronger the more they kill."

    "And because it is considered as a Natural Treasure, it can grow stronger to a point where it forms a unique Law Path, different from regr Ice Laws. Undoubtedly, this child must be an important member of his lineage for him to possess this treasure at such a young age."

    Hearing all of the details from his father caused Albert to be momentarily dazed.

    Albert had encountered many surprising events before his life but this is the first time he encountered a situation where some people would go out of their way, travelling to the moon and back, just to allow their descendant to have an edgepared to the rest.

    He wasn''t jealous to be totally honest, he''s just surprised.

    "If you''re thinking that Ryan must be an irreceable existence within his family, then you''re horribly wrong." Raven''s suddenment woke Albert up from his amazement, causing him to look a him.

    "What do you mean?" He asked.

    "You must''ve been in awe, thinking that Ryan''s parent''s will go to out of their way to apany him to the Moon in order to receive acknowledgement from Pale Moon Umbral Ice so that he''ll grow up invincible. But I can tell right now, that neither his parents nor Ryan himself stepped onto the moon ever in their lives." Raul was the one who replied to him this time around.

    "It is just like uncle said." Raven added, "Ryan didn''t personally went onto the moon and gained the acknowledgement of the Pale Moon Umbral Ice Essence. It was more like they took someone who possessed it first and stole the Ice Essence for their own use."

    Raven''s revtion caused Albert''s eyes to widen unconsciously. He had to admit that he didn''t think of it that way, which caused him to feel embarrassed. He had forgotten about the fact that the Divine Realm, even in its peaceful state, is still a ce wherepetitions are intense. Plundering something from the opponent''s corpse is something that happens left and right here.

    "Well that''s embarrassing." Albert chuckled while rubbing his nose. "I forgot that we''re talking about someone from an Imperial Lineage here."

    A family who ruled over countless of lives. Although this sounds impressive, doing so is incredibly difficult. One couldn''t just expect a peaceful reign. There''s bound to be bloodshed not only on the way to the throne, but also during the time spent sitting on the throne and stepping down from the throne.

    Killing and piging would be parts of this process, specially to those who doesn''t have any ideas to pass down the throne to the outsiders.

    "Don''t act so cocky now, you brute." Ryan smirked coldly. "If it weren''t for the fact that I''m not allowed to kill you, you would''ve long turned into Ice Dust. You''ve just experienced a mere percent of its power and you''re already as if you''ve won."

    His words somehow caused rm to creep up Madman Floyd''s heart. His face turned a bit somber when he saw Ryan moving.

    Ryan then assumed a stance and said: "You want to see the fabled reputation of my Pale Moon Umbral Ice? Prepare yourself. Five percent should be enough to deal with the likes of you."

    As soon as he finished speaking, the temperature suddenly dropped sharply causing many people to be rmed. Everything around Ryan turned to ice, and not just any regr ice as well. The influence of the Pale Moon Umbral Ice caused the air to turn into a glimmering silver color.

    Ryan''s silver hair glowed as well and were being lifted by the fluctuations off of his body. The whole arena was frozen solid and covered by a glimmering silver ice. The weakening hail that Ryan caused earlier raged on once more but this time, more stronger and more dangerous.

    A faint image of silver moon could be seen on Ryan''s forehead. Right now, he was unmistakably upholding the reputation of being the Pale Ice Prince, all that he''s missing is a silver crown and he''ll be a King.

    Ryan''s Knightly Armament also appeared at this point. His armor looked like it was crafted from the purest form of white ivory. It had many aqua-marine carvings on it''s surface, each carvings glowed with power and beauty. There''s also a long blue caped draped on his back, attached on his shoulder pads.

    He raised his sword, pointing it to the sky while saying: "Champion''s Influence - Pale Moon Territory!"

    Ryan''s body glowed with a violet-golden glow, revealing that he indeed possess a Perfected Deity''s Champion Physique as well as his Territory.

    The image of a Pale Moon surrounded by silver shroud was projected through his territory. It glowed with a pristine brilliance, captivating many eyes. At the same time, due to him releasing his Territory, Ryan''s presencepletely overwhelmed the entire stadium. All eyes were on him and his ethereal and princely image left a longsting impression to many people, specially maidens and maidens-at-heart.

    Ryan assumed another stance, holding his sword horizontally using both of his hands. White shroud covered the entire arena and the Pale Moon above shone with an outstanding brilliance.

    "Pale Moon Sword Style: First Dance - Pale Moon Cascade!"

    As Ryan performed a horizontal swipe, the whole arena glowed with silver light, blinding almost everyone. The Pale Moon shone even brighter and sent out a concentrate beam of its cascade, which was reflected on arena.

    When the audience regained their vision, all they could see, was an enormous pir of silver ice which was as tall at the whole stadium itself. This image left many people ck jawed in shock, and got them thinking how in the world could a difference between one percent and five percent be this much.

    But before they coulde up with an answer, a loud roar ofughter echoed in the stadium.

    "THIS IS MAKING ME HARD!!!"

    *BOOOOM!!!!*

 Chapter 458 - Tournament 1.9

    ---

    The enormous sized pir made out of silver ice shattered into chunks whichter on turned into silver dusts. Beneath the falling silver ice chunks, was a silhouette of Madman Floyd.

    His body was still covered in silver frost but it doesn''t seem to be a hindrance to him. He was wearing arge fiendish grin on his face while a hair-raising aura was being released from his body in addition to some steam. The ck cape he was wearing earlier wasn''t able to endure the cold therefore it turned into silver dusts along with the rest but the uniform he was wearing was mostly unscathed.

    That enormous cleaver of his was still resting on his shoulders, the only time when others saw him swinging it was only once and it was earlier ago. This means that Floyd might''ve shattered the ice around him without using his weapon at all. What''s even more shocking is that, he was still standing on the same spot as before. Appearingpletely fine and dandy.

    His vulgar words earlier caused a few maidens to blush, some of them even tried looking at Floyd''s crotch just to confirm, while others were outright disgusted.

    Meanwhile, Ryan was stunned into silence. He could only stare at this scene with profound thoughts on his mind.

    He truly wasn''t expecting Floyd to bepletely unharmed from all of that. It had to be known that no one else managed to push him to use five percent of the total power of his Pale Moon Umbral Ice before, even those at the same cultivation level as him was either frozen to death or close to death after receiving at least four percent of his ice essence.

    Yet this man in front of him, did just that...

    And if he was beingpletely honest, he doesn''t know how to react.

    "Hey! I hope you had fun attacking me earlier because it''s my turn now!" Floyd warned while shing a wide and devious grin on his face.

    He lifted his cleaver and everyone held their breath. Floyd did a wide horizontal sweep which happened so fast that no one was able to follow it with their eyes. Nevertheless, Floyd''s attacked definitely caused majority of them feel a jolt on their bodies.

    The strength behind his attack was incredible. Even the protective array covering the arena almost gave in from the impact. It happened too fast and arrive just as fast too.

    Ryan''s pupils constricted as he received the blow. The force behind Floyd''s attack almost caused him to be breathless. It was heavy, overbearing, dominant, and raw. No fancy tricks nor any profundities, just inly strong to an unreasonable degree.

    The impact caused Ryan to retreat several paces away from the edge of the arena. He gritted his teeth and exerted the influence of his Ice Laws to freeze majority of the attack and disperse it in order to weaken it sufficiently so that he won''t fall from the arena.

    He managed to do it, causing him to feel some sort of relief. Just as then, he felt another chill on his back.

    Ryan quickly shifted his position to evade, allowing Floyd''s follow up attack to miss by a hair''s breadth. Thankfully his senses were sharp, or else he would''ve been sliced in half from that attack. There was no doubt about that since that attack just now managed to shatter the protective array surrounding the arena.

    This not only rmed the management but also the entire audience.

    "Damn, what an unreasonable power." Ryan spat while gritting his teeth. He looked back only to see Floyd slowly but menacingly walking forward as he carried that enormous cleaver of his.

    A shiver went down Ryan''s spine. He hastily prepared to receive another attack while also devising a n to deal with this dangerous situation.

    Although he was confident that Floyd will honor the rules and won''t kill him, his actions and aura were telling him otherwise. In addition to that, this guy won''t get the title Madman Floyd for nothing, therefore he had to make sure to never let his guard down around him.

    Both fighters weren''t aware that their battle caused many to panic, specially due to what Floyd did. In order to keep everyone else safe, some people arrived and erected another array, which was strongerpared to thest one. They hastily ced it since they don''t want to be caught by their sh.

    What made things difficult for them, was the chilling temperature around the arena thanks to Ryan and the life-threatening crisis that felt from Floyd. They managed to rece the array without getting hurt thanks to the fighters shing directly. As soon as the barrier was reced, they immediately retreated away from the arena while sighing in relief.

    Meanwhile, shing directly with Floyd caused Ryan to berate himself inwardly for his stupidity.

    With how much brute force Floyd has and how intimidating his aura was as well as his cleaver, a direct sh should be thest idea he has, yet he went ahead and did just that. Of course he''d call himself stupid because of that.

    Needless to say, he was alreadymitted. And he had to say¡­

    Experiencing Floyd''s unreasonable strength first hand was something that made asting impression on him. It felt as though he was shing not with a human but a God Beast instead - not that he had sh with a God Beast before.

    Although he was being swatted like a fly by Floyd''s enormous cleaver, Ryan didn''t allow himself topletely lose out on every sh. Whenever their weapons shed, Ryan would release a powerful pulse of his Pale Moon Umbral Ice to constantly drop the temperature around Floyd and hinder his mobility by encasing him in ice.

    This was effective as he managed tond some hits on Floyd''s body directly. Whenever he sliced a wound onFloyd''s body, he will immediately sent a pulse of Ice Laws to the wound in order to invade Floyd''s body.

    Erosion from within, this was Ryan''s n to take this monster down. Due to the unique properties of his Pale Moon Umbral Ice, the chill it possess were more potent than the regr ones. Additionally, it could eat away at Floyd''s stamina from within, making it more effective.

    Unfortunately, Ryan has ultimately still underestimating the might of a dual-cultivator.

    sh after sh, Ryan''s thoughts were gradually filled with anxiety. He noticed that no matter how much time passed, Floyd was never weakened by his Ice Laws. To his shock, he noticed that the wounds he inflicted to him earlier was already healed, he couldn''t even see any traces of it.

    The impact of each attack of Floyd never faltered, it was as strong as the first one. On the contrary, Ryan''s consumption of his own energy was little but constant. As he expected Floyd to weaken over time, he didn''t expect that he would be the one weakening instead.

    Ryan''s senses dulled to the point that he lost focus and allowed a random attack from Floyd to pass through his defenses.

    This caused Ryan to fly back like a swatted fly, this caused him to cough out blood, his Territory to shatter, and for his Knightly Armament to disappear.

    Pain assaulted Ryan''s body. He tried getting up while gritting his teeth to no avail. He couldn''t stand up. His hands were numb and trembling. He never felt anything like this before. He never held his sword so tightly and threw himself to the enemy to personally get beaten up.

    What''s more painful above all, was the fact that he knew that Floyd was still holding back. Which means that not even him, operating at his most optimal state nor trying his best, was capable of bringing out the true strength of this guy.

    Ryan remembered the words he uttered earlier. Five percent of the total of power of his Ice Essence was enough to deal with this guy? What was he thinking when he said this? This Madman Floyd was an animal, he wouldn''t even be sure if ten percent would be enough to stop him.

    Remembering all of the words of disdain he said earlier caused him to feel embarrassed. He was beaten fair and square. Everyone who''s watching could tell that Madman Floyd handed his ass over to him without resorting to petty tricks. Just pure and absolute strength was enough to seal the deal.

    Floyd arrived in front of Ryan, his eyes were dull and almost apathetic. He ced he cleaver close to Ryan''s neck. Thetter feeling the gleam of the weapon, opened his eyes and stared at his opponent''s eyes. A chuckle escaped his lips as he said:

    "I admit defeat."

    Although his voice was weak, it was loud enough to be heard by everyone. The referee immediately announced the winner and dered the match over. Floyd shook his cleaver and it disappeared on his spatial ring. He then looked at Ryan once more, saying:

    "You could''ve done better than that, so why didn''t you?" His voice has a noticeable trace of irritation.

    Ryan was surprised at first before chuckling weakly and saying: "It''s not like I don''t want to, but I can''t."

    "Is it because of the rules?"

    "No."

    "Tch."

    Clicking his tongue, Floyd walked out of the arena and returned to his room.. Ryan was then attended by medics and brought to a separate room to recover.

 Chapter 459 - Tournament 1.10

    ---

    "Well, with that match over, the battles of today are concluded. Michelle Valentine don''t get to fight due to uneven numbers." Albertmented after watching the conclusion of Floyd and Ryan''s battle.

    "Did they decide that by drawing lots?" Raven asked.

    "Pretty much¡­" Albert replied. "I don''t exactly remember but I think that''s close enough. I also don''t know if that gets her a free win. During yesterday and the day before that, it was that Jason guy who didn''t get to fight. Seriously, his luck is just annoying. Anyhow, Floyd remains undefeated and currently he''s at the top rank. Ryan''s next due to his defeat just now. He''s followed by Jonathan, then Jason, Nelson, Mira, Pyra, Michelle and then Juniper who''s at the deadst."

    "Oh, I see." Raven nodded, not really showing much interest about the current rankings.

    "Still, the fight just now was exciting. Although I was rooting for Ryan to win, Floyd was just a monster." Albert was slightly dazed as he remembered the fight just now.

    Those two were seriously formidable. The arena waspletely demolished by their sh, even the protective array wasn''t able to contain the impact from their battle. Albert already branded them as freaks of nature, even he was threatened by the amount of power they released, and that''s on the fact that Albert''s cultivation realm is higher than them. He was confident that if they fought on even ground, he wouldn''t be able to endure a few exchange from them.

    "Yeah, that battle was something else. But it''s also weird¡­" Raven said in almost a whisper.

    This inevitably caused Albert to look at him strangely and ask: "What''s weird about it?''

    "You see, Ryan could''ve seriously done better than that¡­but he didn''t. Even Floyd himself noticed that." Raven informed while frowning.

    "Really? How could you tell? Oh right! I forgot about your inhuman senses! What did you find out?" Albert asked curiously.

    "If I''m not wrong, Ryan''s mastery over his Pale Moon Umbral Ice Essence, should be somewhere around 30-45%. Which means that he could''ve released an even greater potency of his Ice Laws during their battle. Floyd gave him many chances to do so, but he only released up to five percent of its total power. Which is extremely strange." Raven informed, shocking the daylights out of Albert.

    This also got Albert into thinking, "Maybe it''s sealed?"

    "It is not." Raven shook his head, "If it was, then I would''ve known about it. There wasn''t any trace of seals within him. Ryan couldpletely control it, its just that he didn''t even released more than five percent. Which makes this really weird."

    "What makes this even weirder is that, Floyd was really trying to get Ryan to release more of his power. Judging from how he acts, I think Floyd''s a battle maniac and wanted to truly experience a good battle against Ryan. In fact, Floyd was also hiding most of his strength just now, much like Ryan was. The only difference is that, Floyd was willing to use his as long as Ryan used his but thetter didn''t do so."

    "If you can see Floyd''s face as the battle ended, you''ll see he''s extremely disappointed. Strange isn''t it?" Raven looked at Albert, who''s once again shocked by this revtion.

    Unlike Raven, Albert couldn''t see the battle as detailed as his friend could, therefore he was bound to miss out on many nuances of the fight itself. In fact, he could even confidently say that aside from old freaks hiding amongst the crowd, no one else could see and analyze the battles as clear and as detailed as his friend could.

    "Eh, Ryan must''ve had his own reasons." Albert scratched his head since all of these mysteries were giving him a headache. "We''re in no position to question him on what he should do anyway."

    Hearing this, Raven let out a soft chuckle and said: "Yeah, you''re right."

    "Well, what do you n on doing then?" Albert asked.

    Since Raven didn''t join the tournament, he had some free time to spend. The battles for today were concluded, most of the crowd were already dispersing and they''ll probably go back tomorrow to watch.

    "Rx of course." Raven said as he leaned back on the couch. "It''s not much but I''ll take it. By the time that all of this is over, we will go to the sect and it''ll probably get more hectic by then. Since that''s the case, I''ll take advantage of what little time I have to unwind."

    "Alright, you do that then." Albert said, him along with Raul and the rest stood up. "As for us, this is a good opportunity to widen our connections. You won''t take it against us if we use you''re status won''t you."

    Ravenughed and said: "Just make sure to not overdo it. If they ask for proof, you know how to contact me and where to find me."

    "Good! We''ll leave you to rest then." Heughed and exited the room along with Raul and their entourage.

    Raven didn''t mind Albert''s words at all. In fact, he even weed it if it means that it would truly help them build more connections with other sects. Raven was aware that during events that are as grand as this, banquets and gatherings are verymon. It is not strange for people to take advantage of it and have some exchange with others in order to forge stronger connections.

    In fact, some political marriages are formed from these kinds of events. The Hignder n of the Blue Marble were Raven''s benefactors. He received a warm wee from them and helped him during his time of needs, if they truly decide to use Raven''s name in order to forge connections with other sects, he wouldn''t mind it. In fact, he''ll even support it.

    Shortly after Albert and rest left, Raven also left the VIP room.

    Upon exiting, he shocked some people due to his appearance. No, it isn''t because of Raven''s otherworldly looks or anything, instead its because of the maroon uniform he''s wearing.

    Raven mostly remained indifferent even though he could hear their private discussions clearly. Almost everyone was surprised to see the one guy who decided to not participate in the tournament.

    His name was already known to many due to the fact that, even though he isn''t participating, his name is included at the list of those who passed. What these people were discussing was about his strength.

    They were trying to find out how strong he was, but what he mostly heard was that ording to some people, he was weak in terms of both strength and will, which is why he didn''t participate at the tournament.

    Raven almost wanted to roar inughter as he heard these discussions. Nevertheless, he couldn''t be bothered to exin himself to them. These people arepletely irrelevant to him, why should he exin anything to them? He doesn''t owe them anything.

    As he walked back into his dwelling, more people spotted him and discussions within them turned into rumors, which Raven didn''t pay attention to any longer.

    Before he could return to his dwelling however, he noticed that some people were standing in front of the door. He frowned and could pretty much tell who they were even though their backs are facing him.

    It was Jason along with the twins Pyra and Mira.

    Raven walked towards them and stopped, he then announced his presence by saying:

    "Why are you standing in front of my room?"

    "AAAAH!" The twins shrieked along with Jason, who probably get carried away due to their reactions.

    "Holy shit dude! Don''t do that! It''s bad for my heart." Jason said while clutching his chest.

    "Yeah, right." Raven rolled his eyes, as if he''ll believe something like that. "Answer the question will you?"

    "A-ahem, you see¡­uh¡­" Jason stuttered, he was fidgeting while looking back and forth at Raven and the twins. Raven raised a brow and had a bad feeling. "Uh, it''s like¡­uh¡­"

    "Hey you! Since you know this guy, then give it back!" The violet haired Mira yelled at Raven, causing thetter to be confused.

    "Yeah. Give it back." Pyra, the red haired twin repeated.

    "I''m sorry, give what back?" Raven asked, "And just to be clear, I don''t know this guy at all. I don''t have friends who looks as shady as him."

    "Bro!" Jason eximed, looking incredibly offended by Raven''s words. The twin red at him and he piped down, looking like a defeated pup.

    The twins then looked at Raven once more and red at him, but Raven remained indifferent, bored even.

    "Are you sure you don''t know who this guy is?" Mira asked once more and Pyra repeated her words after.

    Raven sighed and said: "Yes, I don''t know who that guy truly is. Like I said, I don''t have any friends who are as shady as him. Now, if you''ll excuse me, I want to enter my room and rest."

    He didn''t even wait for them speak another word and walked past them to enter his room. The three could only stare nkly and watch as the doors closed in front of them.

    Jason who''s standing meekly behind the twins, sighed and said: "I told you it won''t work. He even denied that he knew me. Can I go now?"

    "Hmph! Away with you useless man." Pyra red at Jason one more time before he obeyed without saying anything back.

    "What do we do now?" Mira asked her twin sister.

    Pyra held her sister''s arm and said: "Don''t worry, we''ll have more chances in the future."

 Chapter 460 - Tournament End And Departure

    ---

    The following days came by rather quick, the tournament went on as usual ande the fifth day after the start of it, the rankings were out.

    Madman Floyd took the first ce. With the freakish strength he disyed during the tournament, no one was surprised that he came out on top. Second ce belongs to Ryan Northson, who''s only defeat was by the hands of Floyd.

    The third ce was surprisingly snatched by Jason Sigmus. Although many were reluctant to see a person like him taking a high ranking, an individual''s strength was enough to silence their displeasure. Jason was a dark horse, he fought with everyone, except Ryan and Floyd, winning with rtive ease. Up until the end, no one was able to figure out the mystery behind his Law of Ripples, therefore his methods remained a secret even after revealing it to arge crowd.

    Fourth ce was taken by Michelle Valentine. The Young Queen of the Sky Weavers n was surprisingly fierce. She has a profound mastery over Wind Laws. She was quick, nimble, flexible and possess a very highbat talents, allowing him to make correct judgements during the fights.

    Fifth ce went to Jonathan Evergreen, the Azure Dragon descendant. He was abnormally fierce and durable. Most of his techniques are somewhat unrefined but possess the vigor and power of a dragonling. Most of his battles were drawn out, and because he too was a body refiner like Floyd, he win''s by a small margin. He''s also the crowd''s favorite since all of his matches were long and exciting.

    Sixth ce went to Mira Crawford. As Raven get to watch her in action for the first time, he discovered that she actually possess one of the highest potential amongst the contenders. This is because Mira possess a specific Spiritual Entity called Extreme Violet Demon, given her an extremely high affinity towards energy. Simply put,pared to normal people, her cultivation will always produce twice the results with half the effort. Of course, this could be enhanced with some medicines and through other methods as well.

    Her fighting style is still too naive, but if she''s guided by a proper master, then she''ll turn into a incredibly powerful person in the near future.

    Seventh ce went to Nelson ir. The young prince was surprisingly underwhelming. Even though his appearance carried grace and nobility, he''s too rigid when ites to battle. He uses the same techniques over and over again, it''s as if he doesn''t know anything other than that. He was too predictable, all of his moves were very telegraphed. This caused him to suffer defeat after defeat, pushing him to this spot.

    Eighth ce went to Pyra Crawford. Although in Raven''s eyes, Pyra doesn''t posses as much potential as her sister Mira, Pyra was definitely better when ites handling steel. In her battle against Michelle, even though Pyra was obviously more inexperienced, she managed to adjust to Michelle''s pace and fight her on an even ground. Their match was breath taking, most people only captured silhouettes of their battle. In the end, Pyra lost due to exhaustion. But she definitely put up a good fight against Michelle.

    And thest ce went to Juniper Myles, the youngest and the most hot-headed participant of this match. It doesn''t really take much coercion for him to lose his cool and act recklessly in battles. His most humiliating moments were when he fought the Jason, Ryan and Floyd.

    Jason lead him by the nose and defeated him with one attack. Ryan didn''t ce him in his eyes and almost froze him to death. And Floyd literally couldn''t care less about who he was and whatever he stands for, ending the match with one p. As for the rest of his battles, all of them didn''t even excite the crowd that much. The only positive thing he had going for him, was the unwavering faith of his loyal servant, who nearly ruptured his vocal cords with his defeaning yet unwavering cheers.

    Some people actually admired the servant more than Juniper himself...

    And with all of the matches over, the Tournament hase to an end. The disciple recruitment Ancient Elysium Sect was concluded and its time for them to return to their sect and bring new blood amongst their ranks.

    ***

    "Good work everyone!" Henry apuded them, "You''ve disyed your skills and proved to the crowd why you were chosen to be the new disciples of the sect. All of you received your tickets, upon our return, you can use that to exchange for Spiritual Treasures suitable for you."

    The disciples who were lined up nodded, except for Raven of course who didn''t participate.

    "As per rules, you can bring at least five people with you to act as your retainers. I assume that you''ve read the rules before, there will be no telling when you''ll be able to leave the sect, therefore I hope you people had already bid farewells to your people."

    Everyone nodded once more, signifying that they knew and were already prepared for departure.

    Raven had already bid his farewell with Raul and Albert. The father and son told him to leave at peace and once again thanked him for everything he had done for them. Of course, Raven secretly left them with some surprise that they''ll only notice in the near future as thanks for treating him well.

    Raul also offered Raven some of his men but Raven adamantly refused. The former could only relent and give his best wishes for his future.

    Some of the disciples brought some people with them, only Raven, Jason, Floyd and twins didn''t.

    "Alright, since you all had settled your things. We can depart anytime. But before we do, allow me to introduce two people who will join your ranks¡­" Henry gestured towards the side and then everyone''s attention focused on the two people who''s walking towards them.

    The two neers were also wearing the same maroon uniform as them. The guy on the left had short blonde hair and wore many piercings on his ears, nose and lips. He was at least six feet tall and had a delinquent vibe around him.

    The guy on the left had a more friendlier vibepared to hispanion. He had a shoulder length ck hair which is gathered by a white ribbon. He was blindfolded yet he could walk perfectly fine as if he could still see. He was pale yet he was also smiling.

    "These two will join you as new disciples of our sect. They were rmended to me by the Empyreans of Azure Sun Great World and were tested earlier than you bunch. The one on the left is called Edward Miller and the on the right is Franklin Lucis."

    As they were introduced, Edward and Franklin ced their left hand on their chest and performed a curt bow towards the rest of the disciples. Some disciples greeted back while others couldn''t care less about their presence.

    "Now that I''ve introduced them to you, then it is time for us to depart." Henry pped his hand and a shocking scene urred next.

    The skies above the Azure Sun City parted, rming many people on the process. Everyone looked up, only to see an enormous vessel blotting the skies of the city.

    This vessel was the same ship that the Envoys of Ancient Elysium Sect used to arrive at the Azure Sun Great World - the Almighty Olympus War Ship.

    As everyone felt conscious of how small they werepared to the size of this war ship, Henry snapped his fingers and by the time they realized it, all of them were already boarding the ship.

    This startled most of them. They didn''t even feel the slightest fluctuation upon their transfer. All they heard was a snap and they were already transported within the ship, which was very unusual since it doesn''t usually goes like that.

    However, it would seem that Henry doesn''t care and won''t even bother exining how it all happened. Instead, he wave a hand and an image of the ship''s interior disyed for everyone to see.

    "This ship is called the Almighty Olympus War Ship - Type 05. This series of ships are exclusive to our sect and its categorized as a War Ship, which should require no exnation for you." Henry stated calmly, "The interior of the ship is disyed before you. It''s highly detailed so that it won''t confuse anyone who boards it. Memorize it. The parts of the ship that is colored red are off-limits to you."

    ''Which means at least 80% of the ship right? Great. I wasn''t nning on sight-seeing anyway.'' Raven inwardly grumbled as he memorized the disyed image.

    It wasn''t just him who thought of it this way. Raven''s estimation was close, a great portion of the ship was off limits to them, which caused many to be dispirited since they really want to have a tour of the ship

    Raven scanned the image three times before being able to memorize it. While the others were still memorizing it, his attention went towards the transparent ss windows which shows the outside. He noticed that the ship is travelling on the outer space but what made his eyes narrowed was something else, he unconsciously said:

    "Are those¡­humans?"

 Chapter 461 - Routes And Divisions

    ---

    Raven''s unconscious remark was heard by others, causing some to get distracted and look at where he was looking.

    The Almighty Olympus War Ship was travelling in space at a rtively slow pace, allowing everyone to see what''s going on clearly. A few miles away from the ship, everyone saw a group of silhouettes which looked like humans. The difference is that, while they experienced thefort of riding the ship, the humans outside weren''t riding one.

    Everyone could inly see how they were travelling in a group without needing a ship. They seem to be perfectly fine just like this.

    "Yes, they are indeed Humans." Henry replied, "But unlike us, these people aren''t recognized by the Divine Realm''s Heavenly Laws. They can neither return to the Divine Realm nor live on other Lower Realms. This boundless space is their only home. We call them Outsiders."

    Almost all of the disciples were intrigued. To them, this was a new discovery. None of them, except for Raven, have heard about Outsiders before. They thought that Divine Realm is the true home for humans, but they weren''t aware that the massivend would be inhabitable for some. Of course they have many questions in mind but Henry doesn''t seem to have any desire to exin, therefore they could only sigh.

    As for Raven, the Outsiders weren''t really a surprising topic for him. He had vague recollection about them, although he can''t be certain about everything.

    The Outsiders were the oue when someone did something that is considered as Taboo for the Heavenly Laws. Raven wasn''t certain how the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm responds to certain vitions but banishing one from living in the Divine Realm and other nes is just one of them.

    It had to be known that, had Geezer didn''t protect Raven, he might''ve already been an Outsider by now as well. It was all thanks to a certain protective measure that Geezer nted within Raven that allowed him to be pardoned by the Heavenly Laws, allowing him to continue existing within the Divine Realm. This protective measure could even allow him to directly observe the inner workings of the Heavenly Laws themselves without incurring its wrath.

    However, even though this people are branded as Outsiders, in the end they''re still humans. Although they weren''t allowed to live in the maind anymore, they could still manage to survive and continue their pursuit. Additionally, their descendants aren''t necessarily going to suffer the same fate of being an Outsider like them.

    If they wanted to, they could choose to part with their children, sending them somewhere within the Divine Realm or Lower Realms for them live a normal life. This process needs to be done before the child experiences their third birthday, beyond that and the Heavenly Laws will no longer consider the child as its own and will also be branded as an Outsider.

    This is a choice for the parents to make, and a fairly difficult one at that.

    Raven also heard that there is a way to revoke the Outsider status of these people. Since it was the Heavenly Law''s decision tobel these people as Outsiders, therefore it would make sense for it to have the ability to take it back. It is unknown what requirements the Outsiders has to fulfil in order to have the Heavenly Laws retract their statuses as Outsiders, but if there is an individual who could have the Heavenly Laws at their beck and call, then that person could simrly revoke thebel.

    Unfortunately, such individual aren''t present within the current ranks of Humanity.

    "If you want to know more about Outsiders, then feel free to read some records on the Sect''s Library. You''ll find plenty of information there and it isn''t just limited to the Outsiders themselves. But if I''m being honest, you don''t need to concern yourselves with their well being. You won''t have that many interactions with them anyway." Henry stated to the disciples, causing some to nod their heads in agreement.

    "Alright, I reckon that most of you already memorized the interior of the ship. With our current speed, we''ll reach the sect within a month. Feel free to use your time however you like so long as you don''t vite the rules. All of you will be notified when we arrive."

    After saying his piece, Henry disappeared from their view. Leaving an awkward atmosphere to descend on the remaining disciples.

    Raven didn''t even bother saying anything to anyone. Instead, he turned around and followed the mental route he had in order to reach the private rooms.

    As he walked towards the private rooms, Raven was in a deep thought...

    ''One month huh? That''s fairly quick considering my assumption that the Azure Sun Great World is fairly far away from the Ancient Elysium Sect. This means that the route we''re taking must be an Exclusive Spatial Route then. My guess should be close, after all the reputation and strength of this reclusive sect is fairly propagated amongst the masses.''

    Exclusive Spatial Routes are somewhat of a privilege for powerful and famous sects. Raven reckoned that the Almighty Olympus War Ship is following a specialized route bestowed exclusively to their sect in order to go to ces. Even though the Outer Space is seemingly boundless, there are still chances of ships crossing paths, creating some form of friction or conflict. Exclusive Spatial Routes exists in order to provide safety for specific forces to move unhindered.

    The Leaders of Humanity - or to be more urate, the Divine Council of Humanity, were the ones who decides, forms and bestowed these routes to their subordinates. Raven''s not aware on what are the requirements to receive one and doesn''t care.

    ''Judging by the direction we are going, it seems that we are heading towards the edge of the Radiant Belt, the sect won''t be located at the White Belt now would it? It would even be more impossible for it to be in the Origin Core ne.''

    Radiant Belt, White Belt and Origin Core ne. This is how the Divine Realm is divided.

    The Radiant Belt is the outermostyer of the Divine Realm. In general, the Divine Realm followed the shape of a with two orbits surrounding it. The outermost ''Orbit'' or ''Belt'', would be the first line of defense should humanity''s Divine Realm were to be invaded. There are numerous habitable areas throughout the Radiant Belt and this includes the Blue Marble and the Azure Sun Great World.

    Between the Radiant Belt and the White Belt, exists a gap which is filled with something called the White Veil of Distortion. ording to what Raven knew, the veil existed since time immemorial and acts as a natural chasm dividing the two belts. The veil isn''t really ''dangerous'', it only causes reckless fools from reaching the White Belt, trapping them within for long periods of time. It is somewhat of a naturally formed line of defense per se. But with time, Humanity was able to form routes which allowed them to reach the White Belt without being trapped.

    The White Belt is what the inner orbit is called. Compared to the Radiant Belt, the White Belt might be ''smaller'' but it definitely contains more people, and these people are more powerful too. The resources within the White Belt are also more abundant but in turn, this causes thepetition to be fiercer. The White Belt contains many secret realms and even Lost Dimensions and Broken Worlds.

    Due to the existence of the White Belt of Distortion, this Outer Space of the White Belt were mostly filled with white trails of smoke, which is why it was ultimately named as the White Belt.

    And finally, the Origin Core ne. The sole ind resting at the very center of the Divine Realm itself. Thisnd is the true core - the true longevity of the Divine Realm itself. Rumors said that if thisnd was destroyed, then the Divine Realm will cease to exist but this ind hadn''t been destroyed before so no one knew if this rumor was true. Well, it''s either no one dares to or nobody had lived to tell the tale.

    This ce is only essible to few people. Its not because of privilege, nor the influence of the Divine Council. The Origin Core ne summons the people it chooses and kicks them out with no regards to that person''s volition. Raven would know, he had been there during his previous life.

    If anyone asks him what its like in there, he wouldn''t be able to answer in any way, shape or form. The moment he did so, he''ll die and vanish. One thing''s for certain though, and that is it definitely exists.

    As Raven was locked in his deep thought, he didn''t notice that someone was closely following him. In fact, this person who''s following him had been eyeing him for quite sometime, even before they all boarded the war ship.

    It is unknown what this person''s intentions were for following Raven, however it appears to be extremely wary about him.

    Raven eventually imed a room for himself without even noticing the presence of a stalker.. And by the time he entered the room, the stalker also disappeared without a trace.

 Chapter 462 - Spying

    ----

    The Almighty Olympus War Ship.

    With its massive size that could easily blot out an entire city, not only was is capable of carrying more people than what one could imagine, it is also incredibly efficient and reliable.

    Even though majority of its areas are off-limits to the disciples, the ces they could go are still plenty enough to upy their attention throughout the journey towards the sect.

    Just take the private rooms for example...

    The location of the private rooms upies only a cornerpared to the actual size of the ship itself. Upon getting there, one would see numerous doors densely packed together, they were even stacked up high, making it look extremelypact. It was as if someone didn''t even ced any attention to them and just ced multiple doors just for the heck of it.

    In reality however, this was far from the truth.

    Upon opening one door, one would arrive at an entirely different space, a pocket dimension where every necessities are prepared for the individual who will upy them.

    Each pocket dimension is as big as a whole pce. In fact, it could even be modified ording to one''s wishes. If one wanted to have an experience simr to camping out in the wild, the pocket dimension could be modified into a vast jungle. Simply put, anyone who enters has the freedom to change the whole topography of the pocket dimension ording to their wishes and it will happen.

    And without any doubt, each door within this corner has a simr functions. Each pocket dimension could easily hold at least thousands of people and they still will have space to work with. Not to mention that there are multiple of these doors and these aren''t the only ce where the private rooms are located. There''s at least six more areas filled with the same thing. Meaning that this whole war ship might just be able to carry millions of people should a need for it to arise.

    Just that alone makes the value of this specific war ship to soar through the skies. Additionally, it was originally a war ship to begin with, therefore it would make total sense for it to be filled with all sorts of weapons that could devastate stars with ease.

    It also has to be mentioned that, ording to Henry, this is the Almighty Olympus War Ship - Type 5. Which means that there are other variations of this kind of ship.

    Them riding this ship, is already a huge demonstration of what the Ancient Elysium Sect is capable of. And its also entirely possible that this just barely scratch the surface of what the sect truly has to offer.

    ***

    Raven entered his room and was briefly surprised. He wasn''t truly expecting much after seeing the stacked doors outside but this was a shocker.

    He''s not surprised to arrive at a pocket dimension, he''s not a stranger to that after all this time. What he''s surprised about is not being able to feel the presence of this pocket dimension at all.

    Although the idea should''ve struck him upon seeing the quarters, due to its unimpressive and unassuming appearance, he still didn''t think that there would be a pocket dimension on each door simply because he hadn''t felt its presence at all.

    And this wasing from a man who''s enlightened with Spacetime Laws.

    Of course, this intrigued him endlessly. However, he restrained his curiosity and let the matter pass. Although he''s technically with his allies by now, he''s not yet prepared to trust them with his life just yet. Raven holds many secrets, and he''s being careful to not expose any of them as early as now since it might have an adverse result.

    Even then, its not like he was harmed by this. If anything, this is a pleasant surprise for him.

    Whoever designed this war ship is a genius. He knows that creating something like this must''ve took ages toe into fruition, therefore they earned his earnest respect.

    Raven modified his room to appear like his home back in the lower nes. With his absurd memory, he''s able to perfectly replicate the entirety of what his home was like down to the length of the grass. And while this might not be the actual home that he has, it was still enough for him to momentarily ease up his longing to go back home.

    "One month isn''t long. That amount of time could easily pass by through just a single meditation. I''m also aware that I won''t have any breakthroughs during this short period of time. I''ve also perfectly recovered my entire energy reserves. Which means that I don''t have any pressing matters as of the moment. Hmm, what should I do then?"

    Raven was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling as he carefully thought about what he wanted to do.

    "Touring the ship? Nah, the essible areas to us are mostly the boring ones. I have no actual need to see those areas. Making friends? Yeah right, as if. Train? Eh, what progress will I have within a month anyway? Not to mention that I''m technically a different breed from other knights. I''ve also memorized everything on the books that Senior Brother Henry handed to us. So? What do I do then?"

    Raven''s expression was dull. He felt bored out of his mind. He wanted to do something but also doesn''t feel like doing anything at all, it was weird.

    Even if he''s not physically doing anything right now, his Avatars are very upied. It might look like he was rxing but even right now, his understanding of Destruction Laws are constantly being pushed to its very acme. He only needed a single spark of inspiration to trigger his next advance, but finding that spark is almost a difficult as finding a needle within a haystack.

    Technically, he could enter the Crown Space and beat living crap out the remaining enemies left for him to handle but he couldn''t do so right now since he was being monitored.

    ''Why did this guy follow me anyway? He thinks that he''s staying away from the spying influence but he''s not. I could see him like a burning torch within a dark cave. What does he want?''

    In truth, Raven was aware that he was being followed from the get go. As soon as he separated from the other disciples, he already sensed that this guy was following him. But instead of confronting the stalker, he just acted as he wasn''t aware of his presence at all.

    Had it been a fellow disciple who followed him, then he would''ve put them in their ce already. Unfortunately, this guy was one of the Envoys apanying Henry.

    It was the elder with a long gray beard. Raven has no idea as to why this guy was here but he acted as he wasn''t aware of anything while also observing the Elder as well.

    Elder Graybeard never showed any animosity towards him. Well, at least he didn''t feel any so far. The old man just followed him in this room like a wisp of invisible smoke, and from then on just watched him from afar.

    The old man stayed twenty miles away from him. He must''ve been thinking that Raven has absolutely no clue that he''s here but it actually quite the opposite.

    Ever since the seal on his Cosmic Energy had been released, his spying range extended to a full fifty miles. And this is without the help of his ocr technique, which could easily double that range.

    ''If he''s here just to observe, then it''ll be fine to let him be. But if does something that I don''t like, then it''s going to be a problem.'' Raven thought to himself as he closed eyes while in deep thought.

    ''Honestly, what''s up with all of this monitoring? Back at the Twin Star Academy, they tinkered with some arrays to capture our spiritual mark, the lodgings were also being closely monitored which prevented me from trying out other things. I thought I escaped all of that now that I''m boarding the ship, yet this old man is doing the same thing.''

    ''There''s also the matter with those twins.'' Raven sighed, ''They kept bugging me and asking me to return something. I haven''t gone senile yet so there''s no way that my memory is failing me, I don''t recall taking anything from them. What exactly do they want from me?''

    "Ugh, I can''t think of anything to do. I''ll just sleep I guess." Raven grumbled softly as he covered himself with the soft duvet whilst entering a deep state of meditation.

    This was just him feigning sleep. Due to the visible rxation that deep meditation causes to someone, it''s almost simr to falling asleep. Since he''s lying down as well, then this will make the old man outside think that Raven was truly sleeping but in reality, Raven was still observing him.

    It won''t hurt to be careful. Even though the old man was just observing him from afar, he still didn''t want to drop his guard since he had no idea why this old man was here in the first ce.

    Time passed and on the fifth hour since ''he fell asleep'', Raven was astounded to see that the old man suddenly retreated and exited his room.

 Chapter 463 - Space Beasts

    ---

    A few days passed by¡­

    During this time, Raven didn''t go out of his room. He felt slightlyzy so he decided to sleep most of the time and eat a plenty. While he might looked rxed, it doesn''t mean that he dropped his guard at all. Even as he sleep, he''s still was aware of his surroundings but the invader from before never returned.

    Raven didn''t mind that at all, in fact it would be for the best if that never happens again. This way, he experienced rare moments of peace and quiet during these past few days.

    Unfortunately, it was cut off shortly due to ship''s rming vibration.

    From what he saw from the interior of the ship and knowing Ancient Elysium Sect''s prestige, he never expected that they''ll be attacked, specially considering that they are using a specialized route to travel.

    Of course, this did pique his interest. So without hesitating, he exited his room and swiftly went towards the ce where Henry showed them the interior design of the war ship.

    He arrived rather quickly. He was actually the first one to arrive. Raven quickly nced outside of the ship and saw numerous shes of light.

    Raven activated his ocr vision in a heartbeat. This allowed his senses to fully prate the ship and reach the area where themotion was happening.

    Without a doubt, a fight was going on outside. Upon looking closely, he saw that it was Henry fighting against some deformed humanoids. Seeing these humanoids reminded Raven of something¡­

    ''Space Beasts? But how!?'' Raven gasped inwardly.

    Indeed, the humanoids that Henry''s currently dealing with was a species called Space Beasts. These race could be said as the apex predators of the Divine Realm''s Outer Space and also the main headache of the Outsiders.

    As the name suggests, Space Beasts, these species could move freely and, at some degree, could also control space itself. Space Beasts are inherently violent to others except for their kind. Their hides are unusually tough, and due to their inherent ability of controlling space, they could ambush and flee anything that they set their sights to.

    The reason why Raven was shocked to see Space Beasts here is because technically, they shouldn''t be here. Many natives of the Divine Realm are aware of the existence of Space Beasts and the terror they bring, hence it''s natural for them to have some people monitoring or hunting them. In fact, there should be an array that could detect and prevent Space Beasts from infiltrating this specific area of the Divine Realm''s Outer Space. But for some reason, a few Space Beasts managed to bypass that array and attacked the ship.

    It was at this time that the rest of the disciples also arrived where Raven were. They saw him looking outside with a serious expression and couldn''t help but to look outside too.

    Unlike Raven, all they could see was shes of colorful lights due to the distance and speed of thebatants. As for Raven, he was able to observe a little bit better.

    Henry was fighting against six Space Beasts alone. Since Raven was familiar with Space Beasts, he could tell that these ones were rtively on the weaker side.

    Raven never really had an in-depth knowledge about how the Space Beasts cultivates so he could only gauge their strength at some degree. The most obvious detail that represents the strength of a Space Beast is its horns. Simply put, the more horns a space beast has, the stronger it is. However, this shouldn''t be all there is to them. There are some cases where space beasts a fewer horns are capable of killing someone who should be ''technically'' stronger than them. Additionally, cutting off a Space Beast''s horn doesn''t mean that it''ll grow weaker.

    Judging from the amount of horns he managed to see up until now, Raven made some rough calctions and judged that these Space Beasts must be somewhere about Saint Knight - Lord Knight in strength.

    On the other hand, Henry shouldn''t be too far away from Empyrean Realm, which means that he''s ''technically'' stronger than these Space Beasts.

    And judging by how peaceful Henry looked as he dealt with them, Raven was somehow relieved since he could tell that their Senior Brother should be able to deal with them easily.

    "Oh, so this is what a Space Beast looks like." Someonemented by Raven''s side.

    Raven didn''t even need to turn his head around to know that this is Jason. However, his remark caused some people to be rmed.

    "Space Beast!? How can that be? Isn''t there supposed to be an array that prevents them from invading?" It was Michelle who reacted this way.

    "I''ve seen some records about them and if those records were correct, then there should be no mistaking that those are indeed Space Beasts." Jason replied without looking away from the fight. "As for how they managed to get in, heck if I know? I''m not responsible for that."

    "Can you see who''s fighting them?" Nelson asked Jason.

    "I''m not sure¡­can''t see it clearly, they''re too fast." Jason frowned, he then pointed out to Raven and said: "How about asking this guy? He arrived before us after all."

    Everyone''s attention then turned towards Raven, who nced sideways at Jason briefly before answering: "It''s Senior Brother Henry."

    "Oh, so its him. Then this battle should be over soon." Jasonmented, "Be it Space Beasts or others, facing a War God is just courting death."

    "Hey, you." The rough and somehow rude voice of Madman Floyd echoed through Jason''s ears. "You seem to know a lot. Is that title really important?"

    "First and foremost, my name is not ''You'', it''s Jason."

    "Don''t care, won''t care and will never care. Answer the damn question."

    Jason was momentarily speechless with Floyd''s rudeness but he just shrugged it off. "Yes, the title is indeed important. Even Empyreans won''t carelessly slight that title off. The Ancient Elysium Sect only bestow that title to their strongest. ording to what I heard, a single War God from the Sect should be capable of suppressing an entire Great World all by themselves. Also, there''s a rumor saying that, along with the trials given by the sect to bestow some the title, cultivation realm isn''t included."

    "Which means that so long as you passed the tests given by them, it doesn''t matter if your cultivation rank hasn''t reached the Empyrean Realm just yet. Just look at Senior Brother for example. He''s a War God but he''s just in the Immortal Knight Emperor Realm. That means, he''s Realm Surpassing Genius."

    Jason then turned around to look at Floyd, saying: "Actually, I''m more surprised about you asking this question. I refuse to think that you haven''t measured Senior Brother''s strength before."

    "Che." Floyd clicked his tongue and didn''t answer. In fact, even if he didn''t the answer should be quite obvious enough.

    Of course it''s natural for anyone to gauge someone''s strength. None who reached this cultivation realm of theirs would miss out on that chance. Every single one of them is guilty of that, but it not really some kind of offense really.

    Even though their perception differs from one another, all of them concluded the same thing after gauging Henry''s strength.

    That guy was a monster.

    "It''s done." Raven softly said as he turned around and looked at the tform ahead of them.

    As soon as he did so, Henry appeared within the ship and in front of them, carrying six carcasses of Space Beasts.

    "Oh! You guys are all here, perfect. I was just nning on calling everyone." Henry smirked and threw the carcasses of Space Beast in front of his Junior Brothers.

    Looking at each carcass closely, although they might appear different, they all died the same way.

    Pierced on four different locations on their body using Henry''s sword.

    "Some of you might know what they are but for those who don''t, then let me exin." Henry stated, "These are Space Beasts, if anything there aren''t much different from Demonic Beasts, the only difference is that they are humanoids and exists in the Outer Space of the Divine Realm."

    "Usually, you wouldn''t see even one since there is massive formation capable of preventing them from invading." Henry stepped forward and crouched down, "Although it sucks to admit this, Space Beasts are actually troublesome to deal with. Not only they are extremely durable, they could inherently use the Space Element and Law to their advantage, so they''re slippery as hell. They coulde and go with ease, and if you''re not careful in future, it''s possible that you''ll get ambushed by them."

    "The mostmon things about Space Beasts are their horns and hearts. Their horns represents how strong they are, the more one has the stronger they are. As for the hearts, all Space Beasts has four. In order to kill them, you need to destroy all hearts. You can do it consecutively but they could regenerate really fast, you only have one minute interval on each heart you destroy before they could regenerate it. If you could destroy them all at once, then that would be for the best."

    "Enough about that, actually the reason why I want to call you guys here, is to entertain you." Henry grinned mischievously, "I''ll have Elder Toad to reanimate these Space Beast so that you can fight them.. That way, you won''t get board during this trip."

 Chapter 464 - Not Participating

    ---

    "Enough about that, actually the reason why I want to call you guys here, is to entertain you." Henry grinned mischievously, "I''ll have Elder Toad to reanimate these Space Beast so that you can fight them. That way, you won''t get bored during this trip."

    The Junior Disciples nked out as soon as Henry said this.

    Just what kind of entricity was this? He fought and yed six dangerous beasts just to reanimate them and have them fight his Junior Disciples? Just for the sole purpose of getting them out of boredom? Is he okay?

    One month isn''t specifically long specially for cultivators. In fact, just one meditation of theirs mightst for a few months and it''ll pass by like a gust of wind from their perception. There was absolutely no need for this at all.

    Seeing the doubtful faces of his Junior Disciples, Henry smiled wryly and said: "Ohe on! Humor me on this one will you? I went into trouble to bring this things with me, can''t you all just y along?"

    ''Well, no one told you to do that.'' Is what majority of the Junior Disciples were thinking.

    "Hmm, how about this?" Henry crossed his arms and said: "I''ll give you guys a prize depending on your results. The faster you kill them and the more you kill, the more rewards you''ll receive."

    This got the Junior Disciples expectant, of course except Raven. He alone was the one who thinks that something weird was going on here.

    He had absolutely no interest in fighting space beasts, as for the rewards that''ll depend. What he''s curious about, is the matter of how did these space beasts managed to infiltrate the array.

    Raven had personally seen the array before, he knew that not even Immortal Knight Emperor equivalents of Space Beasts could recklessly charge in and wreck havoc on the Divine Realm''s Outer Space. As for Empyrean Knights equivalent of Space Beasts, the array could detect them from great distances and alert the guardians to intercept them. So how in the world did these young Space Beasts managed to get in? That what he doesn''t understand and what he wants to know.

    "Excuse me Senior Brother!" Jason raised his hand and called Henry''s attention. Thetter nodded at him, prompting Jason to ask: "What will be our rewards this time?"

    Henry smiled mysteriously and said: "Like I said, that''ll depend on your performance. But for the sake of boosting yourpetitiveness, I''ll reveal the lowest and highest reward."

    "For the lowest reward, I''ll give you a Food Ticket. But I''ll advise you to not underestimate this ticket, the food our cooks offers are something that''ll leave a longsting impression on you." Henry stated with pride, "As for the highest reward, hmm¡­I think I''ll give you this."

    Henry then took out something from his Spatial Ring and showed to them. The item was a six-foot long ivory, filled with numerous carvings that radiated dense Law Energies and a domineering aura.

    Seeing this caused the junior disciples'' eyes to turn wide. Even Raven was momentarily surprised by this.

    "Unbelievable!"

    "Is that¡­"

    "Holy crap!"

    "T-that''s a Dragon Tooth!" Jonathan emotionally said.

    That''s right, what Henry took out just now, was a genuine Dragon''s Tooth. Anyone could verify this, specially Jonathan who carries the bloodline of the Azure Dragon.

    Everyone was dazzled, even though most of them cannot see the rune carvings on the tooth clearly, they could easily tell that each rune carried dense profundities. Even if the runes weren''t there anymore, the value of this tooth will still remain astronomically high. At the hands of a fine craftsman, this tooth could transform into multitude of things. In fact, even a mindless brute could tell that this is special.

    "I only have on of this, and I''ll give it to the one who''ll perform best. How''s that? Feeling motivated now?" Henry smirked, specially after seeing that burning desire on his Junior Disciples'' eyes.

    Well, all but one...

    "Uh, excuse me Senior Brother."

    The atmosphere around the room shifted as Raven raised his hand to ask a question. Henry looked at him and nodded:

    "Will there be Merit Point rewards?" He asked, causing some disciples to look at him strangely.

    In their minds, they berated him for being a bit crazy. How could think about Merit Points when there''s a Dragon Tooth up for grabs? Was he okay?

    But of course, Raven couldn''t careless about what they think. Instead he focused on Henry and waited for him to answer his question.

    "If I could, I would absolutely hand out Merit Points as well. Unfortunately, even with my status, I don''t have those rights." Henry replied truthfully while a smile remained on his face.

    "Are the rewards we receive from you, could be sold to the sect for Merit Points?"

    "No."

    Raven audibly sighed and said: "Then, is it possible for me to not participate? I''m not particrly bored anyway."

    This time, most of his fellow Junior Disciples were almost certain that Raven was retarded. They just couldn''t believe this guy at all. How in the world does he work anyway? How could he attach a price tag for something like a Dragon''s Tooth? Not to mention that the runes with it are still rtively clear, the sheer size of it could make many people green with envy.

    For the briefest of moment, Henry''s smile vanished. Only Raven, who''s looking at him realized that, the others were too distracted with their harsh thoughts against Raven to notice it. The smile on Henry''s face reappeared as if it didn''t disappeared at all. He then said:

    "If that''s alright with you, then feel free to do as you like." Henry stated amicably.

    Raven then cupped his fist and said: "Thank you, Senior Brother."

    After saying that, Raven turned around to walk away. The eyes of his fellow Junior Disciples followed him as he left, each having myriad thoughts about him but most thought that he was a retarded idiot.

    But as usual, Raven truly doesn''t care. He just couldn''t be bothered to waste his time with meaningless things. Some people might think that his attitude causes him to miss out on a lot¡­however Raven truly doesn''t care whether he is or he isn''t. He knows what he wants and if he wants it, he''ll get it. If he doesn''t, then it could rot somewhere for all he care, as simple as that.

    Raven wasn''t nning on going back to his room. Instead, he whimsically decided to visit the ce avable on the war ship since he''s already here.

    Due to his sharp memories, he knows where he could go and which ces are off-limits to him. He decided to pay the Study a visit.

    The Study isn''t far from the Reception Area and the Private Room Quarters. In fact, it''s legitimately just next to the Private Rooms.

    He shed his badge to the miniature array on the door, this caused it to open and allowed him entry to the study. The ce was huge, it''s almost as big as a five-tiered building.

    Upon entering the Study Area, Raven saw an organized set of tables and chairs. He could also see tall bookshelves filled with numerous assortments of books, scrolls, and figurines. Raven even saw a miniature design of the Almighty Olympus War Ship itself.

    However, what really caught his attention, was the thing just beyond the bookshelves.

    There was a rectangr screen of light reflected on the wall, shing various images and depicting scenes which he had never seen before. Raven''s interest was piqued. He momentarily paused to think.

    ''Well, since it''s here, it should be fine. I won''t be granted ess if it''s off limits anyways.''

    He then started walking closer to that massive screen of light to get a closer look. As he got closer, he was also able to hear some soundsing off of the same screen of light, causing him to be more interested.

    Raven eventually came face to face with the light screen. He opened his ocr vision to catch everything that''s being disyed and listened carefully to the sounds.

    The scene being showed, was that of a chaotic battle. It showed a devastatednd filled with corpses and rivers of blood. Amidst of it all, a certain individual was the focus of the disy.

    It was a finedy with gorgeously long blonde locks and heart-stirring figure. She was akin to a flower amidst a raging disaster. Her beautiful face was filled with coldness as she marched towards the devastatednds with a long spear on her delicate hands.

    Raven had many questions but he suppressed them and watched closely. As he did, he felt his skin crawl as he witnessed just how absurdly powerful thisdy was.

    Numbers was meaningless to her. In fact, even cultivation realm seems to lose meaning. Given how sharp Raven''s sense was, he could barely see how she attacked before chaos ensued.

    This woman was frightening. Nothing was capable of stopping her on her tracks.

    Amidst Raven''s concentration, someone appeared by his side and said:

    "Impressive isn''t she?" Raven''s soul almost jumped as heard someone speaking beside him.. "Her name is Celestine Agnes, she''s the youngest amongst the current War Gods."

 Chapter 465 - Bonding?

    ----

    "Her name is Celestine Agnes, the youngest amongst the current War Gods of our sect."

    Raven was briefly startled, he didn''t expect that Henry would follow him here. Well, he could tell that this was a clone of his but still, he wasn''t expecting him to appear here.

    "Senior Brother! I wasn''t expecting you¡­"

    "Don''t sweat it, this is just a clone of mine. My real body''s with the rest." Henry smiled at him and continued, "More importantly, I wasn''t expecting you toe here. In fact, those who board this ship rarely visits this ce."

    "Oh, that." Raven sighed and said: "I figured that I should take advantage of my time here. After all, I don''t know when I''ll be able to board this ship again."

    "Is that so?" Henry chuckled and said: "Don''t worry, if you perform good enough, you''ll get to board this ship as many times as you want. Hell, you can even buy one so long as you have enough Merit Points."

    Raven simrly chuckled and said: "That''ll be tough. The price tag is already enough to make me feel discouraged."

    Henry merely smiled and looked at the light screen in front of them. He then said: "This event was pretty recent. Just some odd years ago. Someone caused devastating damages on the Agnes n."

    Raven listened as Henry recounted the details of the event.

    "Had it been a fair fight, Celestine wouldn''t have reacted this way. Unfortunately, the enemy of her n used underhanded tactics and it was proven as well as witnessed by many people. Due to that, they managed to royally piss her off."

    "While Celestine is the youngest amongst us, she''s the one that has the shortest patience. As soon as she got wind of the news, she asked for permission to cleanse a certain''s filth. After the Elders deliberated the situation, she was permitted and the result was¡­well, you''re watching it."

    Raven''s interest was piqued as he asked: "Did she destroy the entire?"

    "If she wanted to, she could''ve. After all, she got clearance to do so. With the backing of our sect, even if she did. No one would question it nor condemn her for it. Sure, she might receive some of the people''s ire but that''s all there is to it. No one would really dare to confront her about it."

    "In the end, she didn''t." Henry added, "She just wiped out everything that has connection with the enemy of her n, including the ones that fled to another location. After that, she came back to the sect and remained there since a War God''s position requires her to do many chores."

    Raven let out a breath, hearing all of thating straight from Henry''s mouth made him think about many things:

    ''From my guesses, she must''ve killed at least millions of people all on her own. I don''t know if she spared the innocent from her rage but even still, that''s too many. Right or not, doing that will normally cause rm from the council, they might even ce a bounty on her head. But since she''s a War God and has the backing of the Ancient Elysium Sect, not only she was given a license to kill, she could even destroy an entire if she wanted to, and she wouldn''t be hunted because of it.''

    ''Such is the power of a strong background.'' Raven sighed inwardly, being more convinced that his decision to join the sect was correct.

    "How many War Gods do we have Senior Brother?" Raven asked curiously.

    "Including me, we have eleven." Henry replied, "Nine are currently within the sect while the other three are out on a mission. It''ll probably take them decades toe back, but it also depends."

    "Then¡­" Raven hesitated for a bit before eventually asking: "What are the requirements to be a War God?"

    Henry looked at him in a surprised manner, and seeing Raven''s earnest expression caused him to roar inughter as he said:

    "Good! That''s a good attitude to have!" Henry patted Raven''s back multiple times, "However, you don''t have the necessary qualifications to know that yet. Your first step, is to be an Inner Disciple. When we arrive at the sect, you will know how to be one."

    "Understood." Raven wasn''t too disappointed by Henry''s reply, after all he wasn''t expecting him to answer his question anyway. Still, he provided him with clues which will eventually lead towards that step. That''s plenty enough.

    "Oh, another thing Senior Brother¡­" Raven said, Henry looked at him so he asked: "Howe we encountered Space Beasts on out way? Aren''t we following a specialized route? If we are, then something like that shouldn''t have happened. Did the protective array suffered some damages?"

    Henry was genuinely surprised this time as he said: "Oh, to think that you''re aware of the Specialized Routes.It seems that you''ve done some extensive research huh?"

    Raven merely nodded his head and waited for Henry to continue.

    "We are indeed following a specialized route. Don''t worry, the array isn''t damages or whatnot, it''s merely disabled. From what I heard, its being upgraded in order to be more effective against foreign invaders. It''ll take anywhere from months to years I think before it''s erected once more. Don''t concern yourself about such things. When timees, you''ll eventually encounter them anyway."

    Raven nodded once more and returned his attention back to the screen depicting Celestine''s massacre. The atmosphere around them turned silent as they both watched. Eventually, Henry opened his mouth and asked:

    "I''m rather curious..." He said, causing Raven to look at him. "Why didn''t you join the tournament and the little contest just now?"

    ''Ah, so that''s why he''s here.'' Raven inwardly chuckled, although he had some suspicions earlier, Henry''s words just now confirmed everything.

    "Eh, well¡­there''s no merit point rewards." Raven answered while scratching his head, "I don''t feel motivated without merit point rewards so I didn''t participate."

    "Ah, so you''re one of them¡­" Henry whispered gently while cing a nd expression on his face.

    Raven heard his remark but decided to act as if he didn''t. Well, it''s more like he couldn''t care less about his Senior Brother''s opinion of him.

    "You know, I actually created that sort of game in order for you to bond with your fellow disciples." Henry admitted.

    ''Ew.'' Raven spat mentally.

    "Just so you know, you twelve will form a single unit. I can''t tell you much but you''ll eventually had to work with them more often than you think." Henry added.

    ''Gross.'' Raven spat mentally again.

    "So I was thinking that it''ll be better if you guys experience some form of friendlypetition. Maybe that way, you''ll eventually develop a closer friendship." Henry sagely added.

    ''Is that how it works?'' Raven sarcastically asked inwardly.

    "Uh, my bad. I didn''t know that was your intentions." Raven half-heartedly replied. If he''s being honest, he''s not looking forward to it but what can he do if that''s ording to the rules?

    "It''s fine. You had no idea anyway." Henry smiled kindly to him, "Either way, amongst all new recruits, it''s only you who I haven''t seen in action just yet."

    "Huh? Weren''t you and the two elders watching how the exams went?" Raven frowned as he asked this question.

    "We are, but that''s that. Seeing it person ispletely different." Henry stated, but Raven could tell that he''s lying.

    He could tell that Henry was at least half-serious when he said that he''s curious about Raven''sbat prowess. However, Raven could tell that he has other purpose. He refused to believe that Henry was that interested about someone''s power due to his title as a War God. Sure, he might be curious but that''s all, Raven''s certain that anyone at Henry''s caliber would go to such length in order to satisfy their curiosity over some petty reasons.

    "Well, I''m not really that impressive Senior Brother. I still have a long way to go. I would just embarrass myself in front of everyone." Raven made some random excuses in order to reply to Henry but in all honesty, he couldn''t care less whether Henry realizes this or not.

    "Don''t sell yourself short. Have some confidence." Henry kindly smiled, although his encouragement was very half-hearted. "Well, this clones will be dispersing. Carry on with whatever you wanted to do, just be careful to not go to the restricted areas."

    "Understood. Thank you Senior Brother." Raven sped his hands towards Henry as the clone dispersed into nothing.

    Raven ced his attention back at the light screen but he wasn''t really paying attention to it. Instead, he was scanning the area within his spying range in order to check if there are someone spying on him.

    After finding out that there was none, Raven sighed but remained vignt. He eventually finished watching Celestine''s cleansing and saw that the light screen was disying another individual.

    Raven eventually lost interest so he decided to move away from the screen of light proceeded to read some book titles and asionally unfurl some scrolls.

    Some managed to pique his interest, he took some with him and read them on the nearest table.. This was how Raven spent his time as the rest of his fellow disciples tussled with some re-animated Space Beasts.

 Chapter 466 - Unreasonable

    ---

    "Ugh, that Madman was truly pervert you know! It''s as if his body was made out of some divine metal. It doesn''t matter how many times he was attacked, he doesn''t even bother defending himself, he''s just taking it all without getting hurt! Che!"

    At the Study Area, Jason rambled on and on about his frustrations about Madman Floyd. Raven, the unfortunate guy whom Jason saw entering this ce, was now turned into his unwilling listener.

    Its been a few days since the after the littlepetition they had. With how talkative Jason was, Raven didn''t even need to personally watch how the contest went, the former tells him every single detail. So much so that Raven''s already tired about hearing it.

    Surprisingly, it wasn''t Floyd who won the Dragon''s Tooth. While he might be absurdly strong, the rules of the contest weren''t solely focused on brute strength alone. He ced third, still a rather decent ranking.

    The one who won the Dragon''s Tooth was Jonathan.

    ording to Jason''s intel, the guy didn''t take any chances at all. He went all out in order to acquire the Dragon''s Tooth. Well, that isn''t really that surprising for Raven since Jonathan had the Azure Dragon''s Bloodline coursing through him.

    Jonathan acquiring the Dragon''s Tooth is akin to giving wings to a tiger. If there''s anyone who could squeeze out the most use from this Dragon Tooth, it would undoubtedly be Jonathan. And upon acquiring the Dragon''s Tooth, Jonathan immediately isted himself and were probably devouring the remaining essence on it.

    Jason managed tond onto the fourth ce, as a reward he received a three-day ticket stub from Henry which allows him to enter any kind of Law Cultivation Chambers within the sect. For him, this is already considered as a good reward, specially considering that this contest was just out of Henry''s whim.

    Raven could remember Jason informing him about the final results but he was so disinterested that he forgot about them. If there''s anything that piqued his interest slightly, it would be the two neers - Edward and Franklin.

    It was fortunate that Jason was rather curious about them as well, therefore when he rambled about them, his words were detailed.

    ording to him, Edward - the delinquent looking guy, preferred to use ws as his weapons. He was just as fast as Michelle who uses Wind Laws, but Edward''s speed was raw. His attacks were somehow violent and unrefined, yet it does the job properly. Jason said that this guynded into fifth ce.

    What really surprised everyone was Franklin. The sickly yet smiling looking guy was unexpectedly fierce. He specialized in daggers and disyed a frightening expertise on Poison Laws. It was this guy who managed to snatch the second ce. Additionally, Jason said that this guy almost caused the Space Beast to rot entirely due to his Poisons, causing Henry to step forward and stop him from doing so.

    That pretty much sums everything up. Thest ce went to Juniper who didn''t even managed to kill a single reanimated Space Beast. That guy was truly pitiful.

    Still, it would seem that Jason was really irritated with how absurdly powerful Floyd was. Even though a few days had already passed since that little contests, he''s still nagging at Raven about how perversely powerful Floyd was.

    "Hey, are you listening to me?" Jason asked as he noticed that Raven wasn''t even looking at him.

    Raven was briefly startled, he lifted up his head and asked: "Sorry, were you saying something important?"

    "Ouch! How mean and rude of you! I''ve been bbering here non-stop and you weren''t even listening! Is what you''re reading more entertaining than my stories?"

    "Do you want me to answer that?" Raven ndly asked, returning his attention to the book.

    This caused Jason to feel exasperation from the depths of his heart, however he could only sigh and say: "You''re very rude you know?"

    "Thanks."

    "This guy¡­" Jason''s lips twitched upon hearing Raven''s reply.

    Honestly, he''s starting to get used on how Raven works as human being. However, from time to time, it still surprises him how anti-social this guy could get.

    Jason knew that Raven was different. He could tell that, with how Raven treats him, it''s not out of prejudice due to his background, its simply because that''s just how he is. Compared to some disciples, he found Raven more approachable and easy to get along with even with his disinterested attitude.

    "Ah! So you two were here!"

    Out of nowhere, a pleasant voice caught Raven and Jason''s attention. However, instead of greeting the owner of the voice, both of them sighed. Raven stood up while Jason dejectedly slumped back on his chair.

    "There goes my peace and quiet." Raven murmured as he returned the books he borrowed to their respective bookshelves.

    "Ugh, here we go again." Jason grumbled in his bed as he helplessly buried his face with his arms.

    "Hey you blue haired guy! Stop! Where are you going!?" Mira Crawford ced her hand on his waist and questioned.

    Raven couldn''t even be bothered to reply. In fact, he didn''t even want to acknowledge this woman''s existence at this point.

    After returning the books on their rightful ce, he simply walked towards the exit, only to be blocked by Mira who''s face was fuming.

    "Where are you going?"

    "None of your business."

    "Your not going anywhere. I won''t let you."

    "Oh? Interesting. Try me then." Raven sneered as he walked past her as if she was air.

    Mira tried reaching out to him but figured out she couldn''t even grab the hem of his clothes at all. This caused her to feel very distressed and angry.

    Jason, who was watching all this, only shook his head and said: "Honestly, when will you learn woman? How many times have tried so far?"

    In the end, Mira failed to catch Raven and could only gnash her teeth as the guy left for his private room.

    Mira stomped her foot out of frustration, she became even more angry as she heard a faint snicker behind her. She swiftly turned around and red at Jason, who wasn''t even fazed by that at all. He just shrugged and took out a gourd to drink from.

    "Ugh! What''s with that asshole! Can''t he even tell that I just wanted to talk?"

    Jason almost spat out his drink, he had this incredulous look on his face as he replied to her: "No, no. The real question is, what''s with you?"

    Mira red at him once again but it clearly didn''t faze Jason. Instead he continued by saying:

    "If it weren''t for the fact that I''ve known you before all of this, I would''ve absolutely think that your retarded." Jason harshlymented, causing Mira''s red to intensify. Unfortunately, Jason isn''t done yet¡­

    "Your honestly creepy." Jason continued. "The guy clearly doesn''t know you, yet your acting as of you''re some kind of crazed ex-girlfriend demanding something back from him and shit. If that''s not creepy, I don''t know what is."

    Mira was visibly fuming in rage. She coldly sneered and said: "As if an idiot like you would understand anyway."

    "As if any sane person would understand you." Jason fired back. "Raven was already kind enough to ask you what you were demanding back from him. A sign that he''s a civilized person. Meanwhile, there''s you and your equally retarded twin sister, not even bothering to tell him what he took from you, just insisting that he returns whatever it is your demanding from him."

    "Heck of a situation if you me, eh? If you tell this to anyone, then even an idiot would understand why he''s avoiding you." Jason snorted, not even bothering to pay attention on what Mira felt about his remarks.

    Just like Jason stated, the Crawford Twins had been rather unreasonable to Raven.

    Raven had asked them three times already, wanting to know what exactly did he took from them so that he could return it, even if he didn''t even remember taking anything at the first ce. Still, instead of answering his query, the twins just insisted that he returns ''it'' from them.

    Jason was dragged onto this situation during multiple asions, but even him felt incredibly annoyed and frustrated since he couldn''t understand why the twins wanted out of Raven. In fact, he could even tell that Raven''s patience about this matter hadpletely evaporated.

    From then on, Raven didn''t even want to be at the same room as this twins. If at first the twins reminded him of his sisters, then now he could only hope that him and the Crawford Twins will never cross-paths ever again.

    Unfortunately, remembering his conversation with Henry before. It seems that that is mostly likely not going to happen.

    "Hell, I think you should be rather thankful that Raven hadn''t pped you yet." Jason added, "If Raven happens to have the same personality as Floyd, then you twins would''ve probably already be dead at this point."

    Jason had more to say, but when he saw that Mira was already in the verge of crying, he just shook his head and didn''t pay any attention to her anymore.. He just heard the woman stomping out of the room, causing him to sigh once more and take a nap at the Study.

 Chapter 467 - Arrival

    ----

    "Everyone,e to the Reception Area. We will arrive at the sect within an hour."

    Raven who was rxing within his private room while counting fake stars, heard this words and immediately stood up. He went ahead and summoned the exit to go outside and meet the other disciples.

    Upon reaching the reception area, he saw that some people were already there. They were probably outside of their respective rooms when they heard the announcement which allowed them to arrive here earlier than the rest.

    Everyone, including Raven was looking outside. Most of them were trying to get a good look of their surroundings in order to catch glimpse of the fabled Ancient Elysium Sect. Unfortunately, they found out that they were still travelling on the Outer Space and could only see a boundless nket of darkness with asional sparkles of stars here and there.

    Henry was nowhere to be found yet even though all twelve of them were already in the reception area. But just like the rest, Raven was also looking forward on arriving at the sect.

    Although Henry gave them some introductory materials for the sect, none of those actually depicted what the sect actually looks like. In fact, most of the people that knows about the sect only knew it by name and not its appearance.

    "Man, oh man! This is so exciting." Jason mumbled somewhere near Raven as he looked outside. He was like an excited kid on a field trip, his eyes were even gleaming due to excitement. "We''re almost there! I can''t wait any longer."

    Even though Raven remained silent, he could somehow share the same sentiments as Jason. Finally, in less than an hour from now, he''ll be able toid eyes on the sect that has been hearing so much about during these past year.

    Arriving at the Ancient Elysium Sect is considered as the starting line for him. While his wife and friends were already received by their respective sects, Raven was the only one who started from the ground up. To put it simply, he was alreadyte by a yearpared to them. Although one year isn''t really short, the amount of innate talent his wife and friends has, might cause him to be left behind. Specially considering the fact that the sect they entered aren''t nowhere less popr as the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    Now however, he finally reached the starting line. Now he''ll have the chance to catch up to them.

    Minutes passed by like a blur and only a few minutes were left before their arrival. However, some of the disciples were getting skeptical. Although Henry said that they were nearly there, none of them saw the war ship near any stars orndmass. Its still travelling in the Outer Space and is nowhere near in any possible location of a sect. Still, they waited until the moment and for Henry to arrive.

    "Alright, everyone. We''re here." Henry''s voice echoed once more, causing the disciples to widen their eyes.

    They weren''t anywhere near anything so they wanted to ask what Henry meant by saying that. But before they could say anything, they saw their surroundings darken even more.

    To their surprise, the ship was actually travelling through a spatial wormhole! This caused Raven''s eyes to gleam and understand many things.

    "Of course! How can I forget about it!?" Raven quietly eximed to himself. "The Ancient Elysium Sect is a reclusive sect! It would make sense for it to not be visible for everyone."

    His words were heard by a few people, causing them their eyes to gleam in understanding as well.

    The scenery outside changed, and to their surprise, there was an enormousndmass stretching as high as the skies themselves. The disciples were stunned speechless by this scene. Some of them were even murmuring to themselves.

    "Is that where the sect is built? Where are we even?"

    "I don''t know. It seems that we are inside some sort of a pocket dimension."

    "Are you kidding me? A pocket dimension? Isn''t this ce too big for that?"

    "Well, it is kind of a pocket dimension. ording to my elders, this should be an evolution of that concept. It''s called ''World Genesis'', a feat that only Space Laws experts could achieve."

    "Amazing! A world within a world! What a feat!"

    "I''m more curious about that thing over there! That cliff is massive, don''t you guys think so too? Heck, half of it even reaches beyond the clouds!"

    Everyone then heard footsteps behind them, causing them to be rmed and turn around. They soon found out that it the source of those were Henry and the two Elders.

    "I''m d that you noticed that, but to correct you, that is not a cliff. It is a mountain." Henry smiled as he corrected.

    Many eyes widened as soon as they heard him saying that.

    "Heck! A mountain!? That tall?" Juniper eximed in sheer shock.

    Henry chuckled and said: "Yes, it is a mountain. To be more specific, that is the base of the mountain."

    "The base!?" Many disciples eximed at the same time.

    Some looked at the massivendmass in front of them, sweating and lips twitching.

    None of them could be med for acting this way, that information was just too shocking, even Raven wasn''t prepared for that.

    To think that this enormous thing was just the base of the mountain¡­

    Just for a decent perspective. The Almighty Olympus War Ship - which has a size that could easily blot out an entire city, looks like a mere insect in front of this thing. How absurd was that? And this is just the base of the mountain, the base!

    "Just how tall is this mountain even¡­" Jason absent-mindedly asked.

    "Well, we can''t answer that yet. Not even me had seen its peak before." Henry answered as he too were staring at the base of the mountain.

    Nevertheless, his casual answer was akin to another bomb that exploded on the junior disciples'' minds. Henry, a man who received the title of a War God, has never seen that peak of this mountain before. Such a thing seems unbelievable yet there''s really no reason for Henry to lie.

    "The name of the mountain, is Mount Olympus." Henry revealed as he looked at his Junior Disciples one by one. "And Mount Olympus, is the home of our Ancient Elysium Sect."

    As soon as he said this, the war ship elerated and flew towards the mountain. The junior disciples were tongue-tied, unable to say single thing so far. They were rmed by the sudden speed shift, but noticed that the ship had seemingly entered Mount Olympus'' interior.

    The scenery around them changed once more. It appears as if they were inside some sort of a well lit tunnel. Looking up front, they saw several war ships just like the one they''re using, lined-up neatly. They could also see droves of people who were wearing the same uniform as them disembarking from the ship.

    "Oh, it seems that we arrived shortly after the others." Henry stated. He then looked at his Junior Disciples and said: "Alright everyone, gather up. We will disembark shortly."

    The Junior Disciplesplied, gathering up near where Henry and the Elders were as the ship descended.

    Momentster, the shipnded amongst the rest of the war ships. Henry then waved his hand and beam of light descended upon all of them.

    By the time their visions adjusted, all of them were already outside of the ship.

    Raven activated his ocr technique via instinct and couldn''t help but to inhale a sharp breath.

    As per usual, his vision was filled with different colors, representing different aspects of his surroundings. An individual''s strength, mood, and all sorts of other distinct qualities are registered in different colors. The same mostly goes for everything present within his surroundings as well.

    However, what shocked him was that, there are tendrils of uncharted colors within his vision. This was surprising since he had never experienced this before. Not even Laws appeared like this.

    Although he was itching to research what this is, he couldn''t right now since he hasn''t even settled down properly in the sect. Therefore, he deactivated his ocr vision and threw the matter at the back of his head.

    "Everyone stay close to each other and follow us. Don''t roam around recklessly, I won''t be responsible if you get caught." Henry reminded as they started moving forward.

    The disciples heard his warning and followed them. As they walked, most of them kept looking around out of curiosity, simr to the rest of the newly arrived junior disciples of other war ships as well.

    "Henry! You finally arrived! Took you long enough!" A voice somewhere ahead of them sounded, causing most of them to pay attention to it.

    Raven could''ve sworn that he heard Henry clicking his tongue, but all he could see was an amicable smile on his face.

    Out of nowhere, a group led by someone who wore the uniform as Henry came closer to them. A man who has multiple arms and two pairs of eyes looked at Henry, and then at the junior disciples.

    "Are these your recruits? Oh man¡­" The man said as he smirked at Henry and said:

    "They look weak as fuck."

 Chapter 468 - Tartarus

    ---

    "They look weak as fuck."

    Thisment came as a surprise for the Junior Disciples brought by Henry himself. Some couldn''t help but re at the six-armed guy. However, it would seem that the six-armed guy wasn''t even remotely bothered by the re. In fact, it seems that he was actually happy to see such reactions.

    "As always, your methods are incredibly obvious and nasty, isn''t it so, Logan?" Henry replied while still wearing that amicable smile.

    Raven watched this with a nd look on his face, inwardly saying: ''Seriously. The moment we arrive, something like this already happens?''

    "Ohe on, man. You''ve known me for so long my friend! I generally tend to speak what my honest thoughts are. Can''t help it, honesty just runs in my veins." The six-armed guy named Logan spoke in a disconcerting manner.

    "And that''s what makes you abnormal my friend." Henry said with a blinding smile, "It should be blood that runs on your veins, not honesty. This is why you remain you. Really, I guess that just the way you are, you''ll never change¡­"

    Logan''s lips twitched as he heard the fake-pity and mockingpassion on Henry''s tone. Both of them red at each other using their owns ways, leaving the disciples behind them at a loss.

    Most of them wondered what''s up with these two. Well, its pretty clear that they had some sort of rivalry going on but does that really include bickering against each other in front of newly recruited disciples? Weren''t they aware that they''re losing face by doing this?

    Raven could''ve sworn that he saw some sparks between them, however he amounted this to him being in an uncharted territory and threw the matter at the back of his head.

    After ring at each other for a while, both of them snorted and looked away. They then started walking side by side, clearly heading towards the same direction. The elders behind them sighed and bowed to each other, they all then signaled the Junior Disciples to follow them.

    The two groups eventually arrived in front of a massive arching gate. There is a te attached to the top of the gate that has several words written on it. It reads: Ancient Elysium Sect.

    Looking at the massive arching gate, some disciples felt some sort of an identity crises. Ever since arriving at the sect, pretty much everything they came across with reminded them of how small they truly were. From the sheer size of the war ships they rode, to the status of their recruiters and the unbelievable sizes of everything around them. Everything was just too big.

    Some of the students couldn''t help but stare at the te. To their surprise, just a single nce from it were already enough to give them splitting headaches.

    One elder from the opposite camp said: "You kids, stop trying look at the te. You will die if you continue to do so."

    ''Yeah, that warning is a little toote isn''t it?'' Raven inwardly snorted, still amongst other disciples, only him was able to stare at the te without experiencing any headaches. Still, he couldn''t help but praise whoever created this at the bottom of his heart. ''An impressive spirit. The intent is strong, firm andsting. A great deterrence or a simple disy of might.''

    Thanks to the warning of that elder, the junior disciples stopped their attempts. Some of those who looked had cold sweat drenching their backs. Once again, they were reminded of how little they werepared to pretty much everything within here.

    "Everyone, stay close to each other. We''ll be entering the sect now." Elder Graybeard reminded the Junior Disciples behind them.

    Everyone tensed up but also followed the instructions. Some were trembling due to excitement while others tried to restrain their emotions to appear calm on the surface.

    The gate in front of them released a hum, it was then followed by a sh of brilliant light, causing some disciples to squint. Without further ado, Henry and Logan stepped forward along with the Elders and Junior Disciples.

    Everyone then felt the world spinning, their senses were a mess for a brief moment before the feeling disappeared. When they re-adjusted to their sense, they found themselves standing at apletely different space, and what they stunned everyone, including Raven into speechlessness.

    It would seems as though they arrived at Hell.

    Thend was dry and scorched, the air was stifling and felt coarse. Nary a de of grass could be seen around them nor any regr vegetation for that matter.

    The sky was covered with a ck fog, causing the surroundings to appear dim and gloomy. The only source of light present, was a massive moon surrounded by five floating orbs.

    "Oh? Henry, Logan! It''s been a while you two!!"

    A voice woke up everyone from their stupor, causing their attention to follow the source of the voice. They then saw a man with a pitch ck skin standing at an impressive height of fifteen meters looking at them. This giant husk of a man stood with an equally massive spiked-club by his side. His arms were crossed in front him, which gave him a strict and intimidating presence.

    Nevertheless, the face of this man was visibly at ease as he looked at the two.

    "Yo, Gatekeeper! It''s been a while!" Logan greeted.

    Henry gave out polite greetings while saying: "Thanks for your hard work as always."

    "Oh, stop it you. You''re going to make me blush." Such words were uttered by the giant man while looking away, causing some girls to find this behavior rather¡­adorable - if that word was even apt to use for a man of this stature.

    The giant then saw Junior Disciples behind them and said: "Oh, are these you''re recruits? Not bad you two. Let''s hope that they canst here."

    "Bahaha! My unit will surelyst, I don''t know about Henry''s though, they look weak as hell if you ask me!"

    "Stop it you two." Henry shook his head, "You''re scaring them with your words."

    The Junior Disciples heard their discussion and some couldn''t help but actually feel nervous and uncertain. From what they could see around them, things aren''t looking good. After all, what they see around them was different from their expectations.

    "You guys going in right?" The Gatekeeper asked, prompting the two to nod. The giant then moved and peeked at the wall behind him, which only reached up until his waist.

    "Oy, open the gates will you?" The Gatekeeper told someone from the inside. A few secondster, the doors in front of them creaked. It then slowly opened and revealed several infrastructures hidden behind.

    The Gatekeeper then look at the Junior Disciples and said: "Alright little ones. The doors of Tartarus are now open. Work hard and be careful!" He then gave them a eye-smile while doing a little wave with his hand. Causing some girls to find him adorable once more.

    Some disciples, including Raven, bowed towards the Gatekeeper before following the rest as they entered this ce called Tartarus.

    As soon a they entered, the gates behind them closed with a loud bang, startling many of them. But before they could move any further, Henry and Logan stopped. They looked at each other, snorted and parted ways. Logan and his group went left and Henry along with his group went right.

    Their antics cause many disciples to secretly shook their heads. Some of them find the behavior of their superiors a little childish but none of them dared to say a thing.

    After separating with each other, the Junior Disciples behind Henry head him speak: "Ahem. That guy just now, is named Logan. He too, is a War God. Aside from his self-proimed title as my Eternal Rival, he also goes by the Thousand Armed War God title. Clearly the idiot doesn''t know how to count. He only has six arms, not one thousand."

    Some disciples fought the urge tough as they heard that.

    "Anyhow. He might be a sight for sore eyes, but he''s human. Him having multiple arms and another set of eyes are just side-effects of his blood lineage. He''s pretty strong, but not as strong as me." Henry added.

    Raven couldn''t help but to roll his eyes but remained silent. After walking with him for a few more minutes, they eventually arrived at a tall cliff filled with numerous holes. Henry stopped and faced the disciples behind him.

    "Alright. Just for formalities, let me wee you all once again to Ancient Elysium Sect." Henry smiled warmly to them, this time it was a genuine one.

    "Don''t be fooled by your surroundings." He stated, "This is not the entirety of the sect. Remember what I said earlier, Mount Olympus is the home of our sect. What you see around you, is just the scenery at its base. As you move on through the ranks, you''ll see more and experience more of what our sect has to offer.

    Henry paused for a moment and continued: "You''ve heard it before. The name of this ce is Tartarus. Whether you like or not, this ce is going to be your world unless you get rid of your promoted to an Inner Disciple."

    "Now you''ll ask me how to be one, and the answer is simple.." Henry dramatically paused before saying: "Hunt Devils."

 Chapter 469 - Duty

    ---

    Everyone was momentarily silent upon hearing Henry''s words. They all waited for him to say more about the matter itself.

    "I assume everyone remembers the creatures you fought during the Second Part of the Exams right?" Henry asked, earning several nods from his Junior Disciples. How can they easily forget about it? Aside from the memory being fresh, their experienced all sorts of misery under the assault of those things.

    "To those who aren''t aware yet, those creatures you fought are called Lesser Imp Devils." Henry stated, "However, although we call them devils. They are actually artificially raised."

    His words caused some disciples to be rmed, before they could say anything, Henry continued exining: "Those creatures are created using the remains of actual Imp Devils. Lesser Imp''s strength and skills are the same as what the actual ones could use but the power behind it were much weakerpared to the real one. I''d say, a real Imp Devil could kill at least one hundred Lesser Imps with no difficulty at all."

    This revtion caused varying reaction to the Junior Disciples. For one, they were shocked. As the memory of their battle against Lesser Imps was still fresh, they could easily gauge how much trouble a really Imp Devil would give to them.

    Henry looked at each Junior Disciple intently before saying: "The history of our sect is rich, from what I discovered we were actually one of the first of few sects that was established since the early days of Divine Realm itself. I''ve been a disciple here for centuries but I still can''t confidently say that I''ve uncovered the entire story of how the sect was founded."

    "All the respect and preferential treatment that outsiders gives to us, aren''t there because of our sect''s longevity." Henry smiled with pride as he continued: "We get all those kinds of privileges due to the cause of our sect."

    "The Ancient Elysium Sect was made in order to suppress the creatures that had once threatened to ruin our home." The pride on Henry voice became thicker as his chest puff out a little more. "Our duty, is to prevent Devils from ever stepping foot on thends of Divine Realm ever again. And since you are now members of our sect, you are now bound to the same duty and responsibilities."

    Henry then gestured around him and said: "Look around you, look beneath you, look up! All of this are caused by a single devil." He stated to everyone''s shock.

    "More urately, this happened due to a single devil standing here." Henry revealed. "Yes, you heard me right. A single devil stood at this area, and that alone caused all life to loathe this ce. Not even a de of grass grows here. The trees around you? Those were mere husks of what once towering trees."

    "It would''ve been fine if that''s all but it''s not even close." Henry spoke with a thick loathing in his voice. "Our Ancestors challenged the same devil to a match thatsted for years. It was one against many, yet the devil was so powerful that not only some of our ancestors died in the battle, they couldn''t even kill the Devil at all."

    "Out of fear that the Devil will regain strength andy waste on our home, all except one of the ancestors that fought the devil, sacrificed their lives in order to create a powerful seal in order to imprison it."

    "And that seal is called: Mount Olympus."

    That information rang on each Junior Disciples ears like thunder. Even Raven lost hisposure upon hearing this.

    The revtion was just too astounding - nigh unbelievable even. It was hard to believe that such a powerful foe exists. To be able to withstand the assault of numerous masters and still not only able to kill some of them but also remain alive at the process? Just what kind of monstrosity was this Devil?

    It even forced them to sacrifice their lives in order to only create a seal, which means that the devil was so powerful that even the cost of numerous lives of masters was only enough to seal it.

    Just how absurd was that?

    "As you guys saw earlier, the location of Mount Olympus is hidden from the outside world. That is yet another safety measure that our ancestors created. However, even all of this could only keep the said Devil in check."

    "The power it holds is something that no one could fathom. The Devil remained powerful and is still capable of sending out some of its incarnations out of the seal in order to do its bidding, which ultimately leads into unsealing it from the prison."

    "Ultimately, it lead to the formation of our sect and the duties that we now share." Henry stated, he paused in order to allow the disciples to get a clear understanding of their cause and duty.

    "But of course, I also understand if some you doesn''t share the same passion and sense of duty as us." He sighed, "After all, power remains supreme. Needless to say, our sect will definitely has almost everything that you''ll need in order to be powerful yourselves."

    "So long as you hunt devils, you''ll earn merit points. In fact, it is actually the fastest way in order to earn merit points." Henry informed, "Sure, there are also other tasks that you can do in order to earn Merit Points but its not as effective as going out there and ying devils."

    "Additionally, if you want to be an Inner Disciple, it''s almost impossible to do it without ying droves of devils. Even more so if your goal is be a War God like me and Logan."

    Raven recalled the time when Henry told him that if he wanted to be a War God himself, he needed to be an Inner Disciple first. And with the looks of it, after hearing Henry summarization of the sect''s history, it would seem that the whole purpose of their stay here, is to y devils.

    The Junior Disciples saw Henry smile and heard him p his hands. He then said:

    "Alright, with that out of the way. Let''s get into the main thing." His words caused many disciples to be confused, "I''m talking about how the sect''s Merit System works and the important rules you have to adhere to if you want to remain as a disciple."

    All attention was now focused on him, Henry smiled and continued:

    "What you see behind me, will be your homes from now on." He stated, "Like always, don''t be fooled by what you see on the outside. You''ll know what I mean once you enter it."

    "As of right now, all of you will now be officially referred to as Unit-17, and each of you will under my jurisdiction. Which means that your actions will either boost my reputation or ruin it. Remember, if worsees to worst, I''ll be left with no other choice but to expel some or all of you. So be mindful of how you act."

    ''Oh, so that''s why he doing all of those things. I should''ve known.'' Raven silently mused to himself. ''And now that were officially his subordinates, he could now give out additional Merit Points under the name of the sect.''

    "Aside from you, there are other units who also falls under me. There are five of you in total. And while you guys are fellow disciples and thus are not allowed to ruin each other, it wouldn''t hurt to have a littlepetition right." Henry gave them a knowing smile, causing some of them to feel a foreboding sense of unease.

    "Within the five units under me, there will be a ranking system. And this is decided by the collective efforts of each members of your Unit. The amount of resources your unit will receive from me, will depend on your ranking."

    Hearing this caused some disciples to grumble inwardly. Of course, there are some who felt rather excited about it but some started discerning their teammates.

    "Of course, I''ll also be taking notes of your individual contributions. However, I''ll inform you now that I could only rmend one unit under me to participate in the Inner Disciple Trials. Which means that I would most likely pick the unit which has the highest contribution."

    "A quick warning though. Remember that in under no circumstances were you allowed to kill your teammates or others for that matter. Should any of you were proven guilty, forgive me but you''ll face immediate expulsion."

    "I also rmend that when you out to hunt devils, you do by groups. It would be easier and safer that way." Henry added.

    "All in all, so long as you guys rack in merit points. Not only will you be able to afford the resources that you need for yourself, you''ll also receive one from me. If you perform above my expectations, then I might even decide to give you guys bonuses."

    "Now then, since that''s out of the way. How you guys check out your abodes and get to know each other better.. Three days from now, I''ll take you all out for your first hunt."

 Chapter 470 - Athena The 1st

    ---

    "This ce is not bad." Raven murmured as he sat inside his room.

    A few hours had passed since Henry left. He said that he needed to make some reports at the Admission Office of the sect in order to finalize their profiles. He''ll back after three days in order to apany Unit-17 for their first hunt, but for now they are to familiarize themselves with their surroundings.

    Thanks to Raven''s ocr technique, he was able to see through walls and inspect the entirety of their base - per se, without needing to venture out. And just like what Henry told them earlier, the interior of the base was more interestingpared to the outside.

    The holes outside were the entrance and exit for their respective rooms. Within these rooms, there are doors connecting deeper to the cave system within the tall cliff.

    Within this base, all of their basic needs are covered: shelter, food, spare uniforms,fort rooms, beds, training rooms, and so on. Whoever created this base was considerate enough to provide all of this to the Junior Disciples. There are even some ces where the members could gather and spend time together, or at least n for whenever they decide to hunt devils.

    There are enough supplies for everyone to not fight over it. The interior of the base is also pleasant to the eye, it''s well lit, the walls are properly cemented, the floors are tiled and each ces had tes that indicates its name, allowing anyone to not get lost easily.

    Overall, it is really not bad. Specially considering the hellish appearance of Tartarus itself.

    Currently, Raven could see some disciples roaming around the base while the rest are inside their rooms like him. Raven stared at the ceiling for quite sometime before feeling bored. It was then that he remembered something that made him sit up.

    "Right, I should go im the reward the I got from the Knowledge Test." Raven murmured as he stood up and walked towards the exit of his room.

    He nearly forgotten about this matter altogether. Back when he was confronted by the Treasure Spirit of the hall, he was given a reward that he could im here. And since he had nothing to do for now, he might as well go and figure out what he''ll get.

    As soon as he exited his room, the dry and coarse air of Tartarus assaulted his nose, causing his nose to scrunch up a bit. It was then that his appreciation towards their base grew more since he realized that the air inside was more pleasantpared outside.

    Jumping down, he looked up and saw several tes dictating directions near their base. He released another sigh of appreciation for whoever built this as he now followed the directions to the ce where he wanted to be.

    Although the atmosphere around Tartarus is gloomy and dim, Raven noticed that there are a lot of people walking to and from around him. He figured that this might be because there are new disciples roaming around. He could still remember when they arrived here from the war ship, he saw other Junior Disciples entering as well.

    ording to the directions he saw earlier, he was heading towards the Repository Hall. It is where majority of the inheritances such as battle arts, cultivation scriptures and alike can be traded. The Repository Hall is located next to the Hall of Enlightenment, Merit Exchange Market and other facilities of Tartarus as well.

    It didn''t take long for Raven to arrive at the ce. The Repository Hall had an outside appearance of a bastion. He could see therge insignia of Ancient Elysium Sect within its gates. There is also arge horizontal te which is located nearby the gates with the name of hall printed on it, this time without the impressive spiritual pressure.

    The gates were wide open and Raven could see many people entering and exiting the ce. After having a good look of its outer appearance, he stepped forward along with the crowd to check what''s the inside was like.

    As soon as he stepped beyond the gates, he involuntarily looked up due to him seeing an impressive statue of some woman. The statue was almost life-like, it radiated with an air of nobility and confidence. The woman depicted on the statue was incredibly beautiful even though her facial features were hidden by veil. She was decorated by white lotuses and wore pristine and colorful jewelries around her body.

    The woman was wearing what seems to be a silk robe that clung to her curvaceous figure. She was holding on an open book with her right hand, and on her left hand there was a shield.

    "Beautiful isn''t she?"

    Raven was so pre-upied that he didn''t even notice that someone was already standing beside him, simrly admiring the beauty of the statue. He looked over to see who talked and saw a woman smiling at him with a kind expression.

    "Many of us, even including the Elders, doesn''t know or remember what her name was. Instead, what we know is that, she is ''Athena the 1st''."

    " ''Athena the First'' ?" Raven raised a brow.

    The woman beside him nodded and said: "Yes. The name ''Athena'' is a title given to those who are all-knowing - at least that''s what we''re told. But the longer you stay here, you''ll realize that those who bear this title are the ones responsible for protecting all the knowledge and inheritance of our Sect Ancestors. Everyone may forget but not them. And should our sect experiences demise, the title bearer must never die, because if they do, then the very essence of our sect dies with them."

    Raven couldn''t help but take a second look at the statue in awe. At the same time, he felt some sort of pity for those who bear the title of ''Athena''. Keeping knowledge and inheritance safe is a very heavy responsibility.

    "You''re new aren''t you?" The woman said, causing Raven to quickly shift his attention towards her.

    "Oh gosh, sorry about that." The woman said while covering her mouth, "I couldn''t help myself, specially after seeing you staring at the statue like that. I am a big admirer of the hers you see..."

    "Oh no, it''s quite alright actually." Raven waved his hand and showed a kind smile. "I am d to know more about the sect. Besides, you''re not wrong anyway. But how did you know?"

    "Oh that?" The woman chuckled, causing Raven to raise a brow. "It''s because of your hair."

    "My hair?"

    "Yes." The woman nodded, "I''ve been here for a long time, and I''ve never seen anyone with a hair color such as yours. That''s how I knew."

    "Oh I see." Raven nodded, "Right, my name is Raven. Greetings Senior Apprentice Sister."

    "Oh dear look at me! I haven''t even introduced myself yet." The woman let out a vibrant chuckle, "My name is Erica. Nice to meet you Junior Apprentice Brother."

    The two shook hands for a brief moment, Raven also took this time to briefly inspect her.

    Erica is a beautiful woman. She''s about five foot, seven inches tall. She had a long ck hair that reached her buttocks, she''s fair and has a curvaceous figure. She wore a pair of sses and was holding several books on her bosom.

    "Right, Junior Apprentice Brother Raven. What brings you here?" Erica asked after they shook hands.

    "Oh, I was actually about to im something." He said.

    Erica seems to be confused about his words, thus she asked: "im what?"

    Raven hesitated before eventually saying: "Uh well, during the recruitment, a Treasure Spirit nted an orb inside of me. It said that I should im it when I arrive here. Am I the right ce?"

    "Aha!" Erica eximed, startling not only Raven but also some strangers nearby. She seems to have noticed this, causing her to blush and showed an embarrassed expression. "Sorry about that."

    "I-I don''t mind." Raven smiled wryly.

    "Anyway¡­" Erica cleared her throat and adjusted her sses. "It turns out that it was you, what a coincidence really! We were informed by Elder Libro about you. Come, I''ll help you with the exchange."

    "Right, okay." Raven replied uncertainly as followed Erica.

    She noticed his uncertainty, causing her to be reminded of something.

    "Don''t worry Junior Brother, I am working here. You won''t be in trouble. Actually, if you want we can keep this matter private."

    Hearing this caused Raven to feel relieved as he replied: "Thanks for your help, Senior Sister."

    Raven didn''t want her to feel responsible for him, he could''ve handled it alone. But since Erica revealed that she''s working here and that she''ll keep this matter private, then his uncertainty was dissolved. On another note, the Elder Libro that she talked about, must be what the treasure spirit is called.

    The two followed a certain path until they arrive an empty room. Erica fumbled with some inscriptions here and there while Raven was looking around him.

    After a while, he heard Erica stopped what she''s doing. He looked at her and heard her say:

    "Alright Junior Brother, please take of your clothes."

    "Excuse me!?"

 Chapter 471 - Not Alone...

    ---

    Bewildered by the sudden intonation of Raven''s voice, Erica looked back and realized what she had just said. Her face immediately turned crimson as she repeatedly shook his hands in a flustered manner.

    "N-no, no! Not like that! I mean like your upper garments! I-I need to extract the light orb that was given to you by Elder Libro!"

    Hearing her words caused Raven to sigh in relief and say: "So that''s what you meant. You got me all nervous there."

    Raven then proceed to follow her instructions while Erica calmed down her heart while telling to herself: ''What''s wrong with me today? Gosh, this is so embarrassing! I was nearly mistaken as a pervert! This is why I need to get out of this ce as soon as possible.''

    "Alright, do your thing." Raven said, waking Erica from her inner monologue.

    "R-right!" She said as she carefully ced some sort of a metal device on Raven''s chest. The metal device was like rectangr te with several carvings on its surface.

    As Raven saw this, he couldn''t help but ask: "What is this thing?"

    "Nothing much¡­" Erica replied, "Its something that we use to urately inscribe records with. This te will absorb the orb nted inside of you and it will automatically create a record which we couldter then use as reference should any disputes ur."

    After saying this, Erica removed the te on Raven''s chest and showed it to him, saying: "See? Your profile is recorded in here as well as the current date and time. The item that was handed to you will also be recorded here."

    Raven inspected the te and just like Erica said, every information about this event were truly recorded in the te. He couldn''t help but apud whoever created this idea.

    "How many times can this te be used?" He asked.

    "At least ten times." Erica replied as she fumbled with other things within the room. "This te in particr could hold ten records of yours. We can''t use this to te for another disciple. We do that in order to avoid confusion. Additionally, since you wanted to keep this specific record private, aside from me and other staff members of the Repository Hall as well as some Elders out there, no one would be able to see this. If it helps, then just think that we won''t carelessly reveal it since we signed Lifeblood Oaths."

    Erica''s exnation reallyforted Raven a lot. It''s obvious that she really knows her stuff and doesn''t hesitate to educate him about matters so that he won''t feel anxious.

    Raven watched her sign through several documents and fumble with things here and there. After doing all of that, she turned around and approached him while holding a scroll carefully. She handed it over to him and said:

    "Here you go, the first half of the [Forbidden Scarlet Seal Art]. Transactionplete. Do remember that under in no circumstances will you be allowed to reveal the contents of this art to someone else, not even your own kin. Upon opening this scroll, the technique will be imparted to you via spiritual connection. After that, burn this scroll thoroughly."

    "I understand." Raven nodded and ced the scroll back inside his spatial ring.

    Erica smiled at him and asked: "Alright, is there anything else?"

    "Ooh! Right, I almost forgot! Wait, how many are you guys in your Unit?" Erica asked.

    "12." He answered.

    She then pulled something out from a nearby drawer and handed it to him.

    Raven received a couple of stacked bamboo slips, he then heard Erica said: "Sink your perception onto those bamboo slips and you''ll see the multitude of things avable here as well as their prices and/or pre-requisites. I gave you twelve, one for each person on your Unit. I''ll trouble you to hand to it them."

    Hearing all of that caused Raven to frown, he couldn''t help but ask: "Wasn''t there already something like this in our badges?"

    Erica chuckled and said: "That''s just a fourth of what we have, silly."

    Raven''s eyes widened, he stuttered saying: "But - but¡­"

    What he truly wanted to say is that ''How can that be?'' And no one could really me him for reacting this way. Raven had repeatedly nced over the items listed on the badge during his free time. Back then, the amount of avable resources he saw as well as the techniques were already shocking. All the items as well as ingredients that are categorized as rare that he''s aware of, are all avable there. As for techniques, he had seen thousands of them, he doesn''t even know where to begin!

    And now here''s Erica informing him that, the things he saw listed on the badge, were just ''a fourth'' of what the sect could offer. How could he not be shocked by this?

    "The items listed on the badge are just a preview per se. Now that you''re here, then there''s no need to hide things from you." Erica giggled as she looked at Raven''s disbelieving expression. "Remember this Junior Apprentice Brother, so long as you render meritorious services for the sect, we won''t hesitate to provide you with everything that you need. So long as you can afford it - if I may add."

    "Alright, away with you now. I need to clock in or my superiors will give me an earful for beingte. Now shoo!" Erica yfully waved her hands as she turned around and went back on to fumbling things on the table.

    Raven woke up from her stupor and decided to no longer impose on her time. He bowed before he left and exited the room.

    On his way out, he once again saw ''Athena the 1st''. He briefly looked at it and couldn''t help but inwardly say: ''All-knowing huh¡­''

    Raven sighed and looked around him. Seeing that there are no other ces within the Repository Hall that interests him, he exited the hall and was once again back on the streets of Tartarus. Looking around him, he thought to himself:

    ''I can go visit the Merit Exchange Market, but there''s nothing I need buy right now so I won''t. I could to the Hall of Enlightenment, but I''m afraid I''ll get carried away and spend the ticket Senior Brother gave to me. I can''t do that since will be hunting three days from now.''

    He continued looking around and saw several signs with directions.

    ''Fighting Arena? Interesting, but no. Not yet at least. Mission Hall? Nah, maybe next time - actually¡­hmm. Yeah no, next time. Hall of Knowledge? Sound like a Library to me. I''ll check it out once we returned from the first hunt. Organizations? There''s something like this in here too? I''ll go some other time.''

    ''Ugh. So many ces! So many things to visit, yet I don''t feel like going right now.'' Raven sighed at himself, ''Talk about being indecisive, I''m starting to think that it''s my middle name. I''ll return to the base for now I guess.''

    Raven had already got what he wanted and he doesn''t really feel like visiting other ces for now, specially after knowing that they''ll be having their first hunt soon. With all of that in mind, he retraced the path he took before and arrived at their base.

    He passed by his room for a brief moment before heading deeper, he wanted to find someone - more specifically Jason.

    Thankfully, he didn''t need to go that far before spotting him, the problem is - he''s with the annoying twins. Raven released a helpless sigh and eventually decided to approach him.

    "Hey." He called out.

    Jason snapped his attention towards him with a questioning gaze, the twins too were looking at him. Raven didn''t pay attention to the twins. Instead, he took the other bamboo slips out of his spatial ring and handed it over to Jason.

    "You''re acquainted with everyone right? Do me a favor and give one of those to each of them. It contains the entire repository of the sect."

    Jason was surprised and said: "Did youpile this? You know you didn''t have to right? That''s where our badgeses in."

    "No, dummy." Raven then exined his general encounter with Erica, and just like how he reacted before, Jason as well as twins were also extremely surprised after knowing that what''s listed on their badge is just a fourth of what the sect can actually offer.

    "A-a fourth¡­" Jason stuttered. "And this is just the collection of all the techniques avable. The whole list of other resources must be absolutely insane! Damn, what a sect!"

    The Crawford Twins can''t even say a word, both were staring at the bamboo slip on their hands, treating it like some sort of treasure.

    "Alright, I did my part. Later." Raven waved his hands and left the three who''s still reeling in shock.

    Jason immediately stood up and was headed somewhere. He''s probably going to call everyone out to hand over the bamboo slips.

    Meanwhile, Raven returned to his room. Originally, he was nning on opening the scroll he received earlier but now, his ns have changed¡­

    That''s because he wasn''t alone in his room.

 Chapter 472 - Elder Gin

    ---

    Raven and the stranger at his room stared at each other.

    The situation was tense. Raven''s instincts kicked in and yelled that this man was dangerous, yet it also tells him that this guys doesn''t mean him any harm. It was weird but Raven knew that he could rely on his instincts.

    The stranger was an old man with a bald head and a long white beard which was adorned by ckces swirling around them. It would appear as if the man was sleeping while standing due to his eyelids shut at all times, yet Raven could tell that he doesn''t need them open to see things clearly. The erosion of time was visible on his visage through wrinkles, bent back, old fashioned robes and a wooden cane.

    But even though this old man appear weak and frail, his presence screamed otherwise. Raven was no fool. Anyone who survived long enough in this sect, is someone who shouldn''t be called ''weak'' nor ''frail''.

    "Very promising¡­" The old man''s hoarse voice rang on Raven''s ears, causing him to shiver.

    Raven felt¡­vulnerable. For the first time in a long while, he felt exposed. Very much so.

    It was as if this old man can see everything he''s hiding plus more. He can''t say that liked the feeling but he was helpless against it.

    "I thought I was going to meet yet another potential failure, but¡­" The old man smiled serenely before continuing: "You''re not bad at all, uh¡­what was it again, right, Vendrick is it?"

    "Yes, Elder. But I prefer Raven personally." He replied while doing a curt bow. The old man''s cryptic words were starting to make sense to him, in fact he could even guess why this man was here.

    "Raven it is." The old man helped himself and sat down to a nearby chair. And although his eyes were closed, his gaze never left Raven at all.

    "Oh dear me, I haven''t even introduced myself yet." The old man chuckled, he cleared his throat and said: "My name is Gin. It is nice meeting you, Young Raven."

    "The feeling is mutual Elder Gin." Raven replied, giving out another salute to the old man.

    "Sit, sit." The old man seems to be pleased by how Raven carried himself, he asked the young man to sit down, to which Ravenplied. "Well, how is it? What are your first impressions about the sect?"

    Raven was a bit surprised but answered nheless: "It wasn''t like how I imagined it to be. Specially after hearing Senior Brother''s words about the summarized history of our sect."

    "Right? After all, who would''ve expected to be thrown directly onto hell upon your first arrival?" The old man let out a hearty chuckle.

    "One devil..." The old man stated, "One strong, extremely powerful and viinous devil, was all it took to threated the very existence of the Divine Realm itself. Such a matter might be unbelievable, but the longer you remain here, the more you''ll feel the sheer horror of that one devil''s power."

    Elder Gin''s consciousness seems to drift off to the good old days on his memories as he absent-mindedly said: "Mount Olympus, a mountain which stands so high that it pierces the skies and stars itself. Its a seal created through the sacrifice of many lives."

    "Even so, it was barely enough to keep that devil''s power." The old man used a severe tone as he stated this, "Even with Mount Olympus as the seal, its vile power leaks and reeks pure evil. So much so that another seal was created in order to prevent its corruption of lives."

    "That patching seal, is called the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda." The old man dropped yet another shocking revtion to Raven.

    Although the young man has many questions, he didn''t interrupt the old man and just waited for him to speak.

    "The Devil Emperor''s Pagoda is created to contain the monstrosities that are leaking from the spatial rend, which size was almost as big as the Mount Olympus itself. That spatial rend was the result of the Devil God trying to break from its imprisonment by producingrge amounts of Devils to do its bidding."

    "The location of the pagoda is at the center of Tartarus." The old man stated, he then used his cane to draw some images in order for Raven to understand his point.

    He drew arge circle filled with smaller circles within. The outer most part wasbeled at the Mount Olympus, the area after that was Tartarus. The area after Tartarus wasbeled as Devil''s Cradle and then the final area was the pagoda itself.

    "The Devil''s Cradle is where some of the Stray Devils are found. Not even the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda could prevent them from going out. Some of them formed a tribe, and with how fast Devils reproduce the amount of Stray Devils also rises. Outer Disciples like you, will most likely hunt them down."

    "Once you''re strong enough to no longer bother with the Stray Devils, then you''ll eventually enter the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. There, you won''t only see tribes but rather civilizations of Devils. Their numbers would leave you numb but your duty remains the same."

    "The pagoda has 100 floors, only when you''re able to eradicate a whole floor by yourself, would you be allowed to ascend to the next floor." The old man looked at him intently and continued: "Eventually, you''ll there. But that''s not going to happen anytime soon, so there''s no use to talk about it for now."

    The old man then took something out of his spatial ring and gave it to Raven.

    Raven carefully received it and briefly inspected it. The item was rosary, it has 999 round beads filled with mysterious carvings that differs from one bead to the other, the cross appeared to be just a regr cross but Raven could feel the mysterious fog surrounding it.

    "Ancestor Sealer''s Rosary. It''s the item that will help you aplish your goal and settle your debt with the Heavenly Elk." Elder Gin stated, "It would be for the best if you couldprehend each seal embedded on each bead. Only then would the cross would reveal its true nature and allow you to lift the seal on him."

    Elder Gin then stood up and give Raven a final ce, still without opening his eyes: "Should you arrive at an impasse, pay me a visit at the Storm Dweller''s Peak, that is my home. However, I''ll only assist you three times. After that, you''re on your own. Whether you seed on unsealing him or not, will no longer matter to me."

    As soon as he said his piece, Elder Gin simply vanished before Raven''s gaze, leaving thetter into a stunned state, obviously having a hard time processing what happened just now.

    Raven stared at an empty space for a couple of minutes before eventually letting out a defeated sigh. He ced the rosary inside his spatial ring and buried his face on his soft pillows, grumbling a few times as he did so.

    ''Ugh, so many things to do. So many things to study!'' Raven inwardlyined. ''And what''s up with all of these people giving me homework about seals?''

    ''Master gave 99 Destruction Seals and 99 Holy Seals. I just got back here after receiving a technique that has something to do with, god knows how many, offensive seals. Now, this old man came out of nowhere and gave me another one thousand fucking seals to decipher!! What''s up with all of you!?''

    Raven iled around his bed in frustration. He looked at the ceiling while lost in his thoughts.

    ''I haven''t even been here for an entire day, yet so much has already happened. Me and my current number Avatars can only do so much you know? Geez. What a headache.''

    Raven was confident enough to aplish all of this if he had more Avatars. But that exactly is where the problem lies.

    He would totally love to produce more, unfortunately he couldn''t due to his current circumstances.

    First and foremost, resources. His merit points are nowhere near enough to cultivate the technique which allows him to create avatars. Second, location. Even if he did have enough merit points, where will he ce his Avatars? He hadn''t cleared all the pocket dimensions, therefore he doesn''t have anyway to send the next batch of his Avatars to the ce where he left his previous batch.

    And finally, priority. Aside from the absurd number of seals he had to decipher, his techniques, battle arts,ws and etc. are also things he had to pay attention to as well. There''s just way too many things for him to handle and frankly, he had no clue where to begin.

    He had to shuffle multiple things at once, even with his previous experiences and his current advantages, Raven felt stressed and stumped by the amount of things that requires his attention.

    Raven harshly rubbed his face in frustration. He let out an exhausted sigh, sat up on his bed and took out a stack of papers to write on.. He then spent the next couple of hours gathering his thoughts and making a n for his future.

 Chapter 473 - Move Out!

    ---

    "Gather up, you guys." Henry alerted Unit-17. His junior disciples formed a tight circle and all paid attention to him.

    "I have a few things I want to say before we leave for the hunt." Henry looked at them sternly, "First things first, you all are a part of one Unit-17, therefore I am expecting you to work together. The purpose of this hunt is to give you some experience not to one up each other, so cover each other''s back andmunicate."

    "Secondly, I''ll only be watching you from a far." Henry stated much to the shock of the disciples. "Unless you''re on verge of certain death, I won''t step in. Remember that this is your hunt, not mine. If you n on staying in the sect for a very long time, then you will have to deal with a lot of Devils, and firsthand experience will go a long way."

    "Finally, this hunt will onlyst for two days. How far you venture into the Devil''s Cradle and how many Devils you killed will ultimately depend on your decision, which will also reflect on how Merit Points you''ll gain by the end of this trip. If anyone has questions for me, ask now since you won''t even see me travelling with you."

    There was a brief period of silence between them. No one raised a hand to ask questions, they either genuinely had none or were just to overwhelmed by their emotions to ask. Needless to say, Henry already gave them a chance, they missed it so they only have themselves to me.

    "Alright, since no one has any questions, sign off and move out Unit-17."

    Each member of the unit proceeded to leave a mark on the nearby array leaving an imprint as a signature and acknowledgement that they went out to the Devil''s Cradle to, of course, hunt Devils.

    It wasn''t just them actually, in fact there are other units who ventured earlier than they did. Some of which were the other units under Henry''s team.

    Tartarus is a ce where outer disciples and other staff of the sect were located. It forms a ring that encircles the Devil''s Cradle, preventing the stray devils from going out. Deeper within the Devil''s Cradle is where the first few floors of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda could be seen. Nevertheless, Raven and the rest of Unit-17 weren''t dumb enough to have any thoughts of heading there. At least not yet.

    The humongous iron gate opened as soon as the rest of Unit-17 signed off. As soon as they saw the world beyond Tartarus, some disciples couldn''t help but feel jittery.

    At the moment they took their first step out, chills ran down their spine. Everyone''s nerves became taut, some even drew their weapons out while surveying the area around them.

    There''s was no mistaking this feeling. Everyone here had their fair share of battles and doesn''t need anyone telling them what this was. What felt just now was killing intent. However this time around, the feeling was unlike anything that they''ve felt before.

    This killing intent was raw and incredibly dense, it was vile, suppressive and extremely disgusting, nauseating even. It was just pure and sickening evil, it was something very repulsive and was beyond saving.

    It wasn''t surprising that almost half of the unit became paralyzed as soon as they were exposed to this kind of killing intent. Even those who were holding their weapons felt their grip trembling under the density of this killing intent. It feels as if the grim reaper''s scythe was pressed on their necks, ready to behead them at any given moment.

    ¡­well, that''s until they someone''s voice¡­

    "Okay, okay. Woohooo! Dense killing intent, scary¡­" Raven spoke with a deadpanned voice, his face didn''t express the same sentiments of what he just said. "This just the first step outside, this is just sad."

    Many eyes looked at him, and seeing his disinterested expression caused some of them feel offended.

    "Guard your heart." He said while cleaning his ears, still using the deadpan tone and a bored look on his face. "We''re on the enemy''s turf, of course we''ll be at a disadvantage. This is the Devil''s Cradle, and for the love of everything unholy, we are dealing with devils. Devils, the kind that messes up your brain or something. If something''s still not clicking, then that not my problem anymore."

    Raven''s ''encouraging pep-talk'' was more than enough to trigger some weird reactions from his teammates. Nevertheless, the point was made and it came crystal clear. Those who were affected by the dense killing intent on their surroundings pacified their hearts guarded their will.

    After doing those, imagine their surprise to find out that it wasn''t so bad after all. To some, they felt as if the density of the killing intent subsided but in truth, it wasn''t that strong to begin with. They were just caught unprepared.

    Raven saw them easing up and sighed, he then pped to get their attention and said: "Alright, a few things before we move forward."

    "Who died and made you the leader?" Raven couldn''t even state what he wanted to say because of this sidement from the person that annoyed him to most during these past few days.

    His eyes turned incredibly cold yet his lips were curled into a ridiculing smile as he said: "Excellent question! Come to think of it, I absolutely have no need to anything. I could''ve just let you guys pass out in fear and then boom! Hunt is done. Easy right?"

    "Tch. Your presence ispletely unnecessary. We could''vee out of it without your help." Mira fired back.

    "Oh, I''m sorry for ruining your chance to prove something to us. Believe me, it''s not in my purest intentions to step on your pride even though I could sense that you were on the verge of passing out a few moments ago, possibly with your lips covered in white foam." Raven''s words carried a great deal of relentless sarcasm. He just about had it with this violet haired witch.

    "However, it would seem as if you and your sister are against me and my ideas, as well as my overall existence if I may add." Raven''s word oozed with sarcasm, causing the twins to re at him venomously. "Please, by all means. Suggest something useful. Don''t hold back. Just imagine that I don''t exist if helps."

    Raven crossed his arms, raised a brow and looked at the twins with amusement. He didn''t want the situation to develop this way, but this witch was just asking for it.

    There was a tensed and awkward silence between the team. It was that Jason decided to step in and mediate: "Alright, let''s take it easy. Let''s not fight. Why don''t we hear Raven''s idea first. We can always talk after that."

    Since Jason was acquainted with everyone, his mediation was somehow effective. He turned around and gave the twins a warning re before gesturing for Raven to continue. Raven sighed and started talking.

    "Be a dear and raise a hand if you have advance spying techniques in your arsenal." He asked, there he saw Jason, Michelle, Juniper, Nelson and Edward raised theirs.

    "There''s six including me. Unfortunately, something''s suppressing my spying techniques here. My range is down to five miles. However, I don''t have any problems of keeping it up at all times. How about you guys?"

    Jason was the first one to answer him. "Mine''s like seismic-sensing I guess. My range is just about the same as you, suppressed as well. I could also keep it active at all times."

    "Mines just a regr optical enhancement, my range is wider, ten miles in diameter but it draining. Three hours is my limit, after two hours of rest I can activate it again." Michelle added.

    "Same as hers, optical enhancement. Mines eight miles, suppressed too. No issues keeping it active all the time." Nelson exined using a few words.

    "Mine''s a bit different. My sense of smell is sharp, I can stretch it to ten miles but I need to get a scent of the enemy first. Fair warning though, since I''m relying on smell, it can get a bit inurate. Just keep that in mind when you hear things from me." Juniper stated.

    Contrary to what he was expecting, no one chided him for revealing the weakness of his technique, which in a way, made him feel grateful.

    "Mine''s just a regr optical enhancement, my range is five miles but I can see through disguises and illusions. I also have no problems of keeping it active at all times."

    After the six of them exchange information, Raven briefly gave them suggestions about their position as they moved. The n was to take advantage of Michelle''s wide range so she will be leading the group. The others were ced at sides in order to cover more ground, Juniper has no use yet since they haven''t encountered any Devil yet, Raven covered the rear just in case.

    The rest were to remain alert, Raven make it a point that they are to never loosen their grip on their weapons. He reminded them once again that they are in the enemy''s turf, anything goes here and if their not careful they will die before they know it.

    "Okay, I think we''re good to go." Raven said, he still had that disinterested face and tone. "Move out, I guess."

    And just like that, Unit-17 were headed towards the Devil''s Cradle.

 Chapter 474 - Close Call

    ---

    The atmosphere within Tartarus is already unpleasant but sure doesn''t hold a candle with how repulsive the air is within the Devil''s Cradle.

    The ever-present killing intent was one, but the smell of rotting corpses fused with the vile energy was bound to leave a nasty impression to those who experiences it. Added to the dark and gloomy atmosphere as well as the creatures lurking around, this ce surely is something that one wouldn''t want to visit on a regr basis.

    That being said, it defeats the purpose of disciples being¡­well, disciples of the Ancient Elysium Sect, therefore they had to do it.

    Roughly half an hour passed since Unit-17 moved out. The atmosphere surrounding the Unit was a bit awkward. Its mostly because none of them truly knew each other that well or it''s influence by the general theme of their surroundings - that, or it might be both as well.

    No one was talking. They all just silently marched forwards with no real goal in mind. They had yet to encounter a single Devil during their patrol. Nevertheless, the ''sensors'' of the Unit were on alert thanks to Raven''s arrangements.

    As per said arrangements, Raven was tasked to keep an eye on their rear. It wasn''t a difficult thing to do specially since Raven could stretch his spying range ording to his desires. He might be facing forward and following the team but he could see what behind them even without looking back.

    "Wait!"

    Unit-17 stopped dead on their tracks as they heard someone eximed. The one who did so was Juniper.

    As everyone''s attention went to him, Juniper crouched down, traced the dry ground and brought it close to his nose. Mere inches away and they heard him retching, causing some people to wince, thinking to themselves that what he smelled wasn''t probably something pleasant.

    After recovering a little bit of his dignity andposure, Juniper stood up and said: "Damn, that smelled awful. Anyway, something''s nearby. It went towards east, probably not too far. What do we do?"

    Automatically, all heads turned over to Raven, causing him to be shocked: "Hey, why are you all looking at me?"

    "Give it up, man." Jason grinned, "You brought this to yourself."

    "Shut it." Raven red at him, he then turned towards the rest and said: "Do a voting system instead, discuss it amongst yourselves first, I''ll go wherever you guys go."

    The rest looked at each other and felt the hesitation. Jason then received a voice transmission, causing him to perk up and stepped forward to take the lead.

    "Alright, voting system it is." Jason stated, "Before we start voting, I''d like to point out a few things."

    "Remember what Juniper said earlier. His spying technique might be a little inurate since it relies on sense of smell. We haven''t encountered any Devils so far, and although he found traces, we can''t be sure if it truly is a devil or not. We don''t know how strong or how swift this one is. We might end up in a wild goose chase or find ourselves in a dangerous position."

    "That being said, it is a lead." Jason added, "Even though it is our first hunt and Senior Brother won''t take it against us if we decided to y it safe, in the end we will still encounter them anyway. Either we face them now or some other timeter, doesn''t make a huge difference I think."

    Jason paused and said: "Alright, those who wants to hunt it down. Raise your hand."

    All of them, except Jason and Raven raised their hand, not that their votes actually matter since both of them would probably end up following whatever the majority decided to do.

    "Alright, we hunt it down." Jason nodded, he then looked at Juniper and said: "I''ll trouble you to point directions."

    Juniper looked a little bothered but agreed nheless. Jason noticed his hesitation and understood why it is so. There was a friction between him and Juniper during the time theypeted against each other. They haven''t had the time to sit down and discuss so their rtionship is civil at best.

    Needless to say, they''re in no position to oppose each other right now nor settle down their differences. That can wait for some other time. Right, they had a Devil to hunt.

    With that, Unit-17 decided to go on a detour. But they haven''t even had the chance to go far before they heard Raven yelled:

    "Enemy spotted. I see three, one charging towards me, others encircling us to do a pincer attack."

    The unit froze on the spot and gripped their weapons tighter.

    "I''ll deal with the oneing at me, you guys deal with the other two who''s going for a pincer attack. Be careful, we don''t know what they''re capable of.

    After saying that, Raven took a couple of steps forward to confront the Devil that''s charging towards them. The rest of his teammates wanted to offer their help but couldn''t since they could feel the confidence behind Raven''s voice.

    They focused their attention to the other twoing. Thanks to the sensors and Raven''s advanced warning, they were able to track their targets closely. The two iing devils decided to split up. One was headed towards Michelle, the other going towards Nelson.

    None managed to get a good view of the Devils with how fast they were moving - that and because they were wearing some sort of a headgear that hid their facial features.

    As the rest braced for impacted, they felt a brief sh engulfing them. And to their surprise, the world changed.

    From the apocalyptic and gloomy atmosphere, it transformed into a field of snow and ice. The temperature dropped significantly, causing their breaths to turn in to white mists as they exhaled. The devil disappeared and the attention of the Junior Disciples hitched.

    "Break!"

    *Crack!* *Boom!*

    They heard someone yelled and before they knew it, the world of snow and ice shattered like a broken ss. It was at this moment that those who got distracted, finally understood what happened. Their cursed themselves for falling into a petty trick, and paid attention back to reality.

    Some looked over only to see Nelson resisting a little creature with disproportionate limbs. Some immediately spurred into action.

    "Look out!" Pyra yelled in rm as she saw something incredibly dangerous.

    Although many things urred, in reality it merely took a second or two for all of it to ur, leaving most of them with little to no room to react. This is precisely the case for Michelle, who was still on the process of re-adjusting her senses due to the illusion just now.

    Due to that, she didn''t notice that the Devil was already mere inches away from carving her face. By the time Pyra''s warnings reach her ears, she''s probably already dead.

    "Gah!!"

    *Boom!*

    Thankfully, before the Devil was able to ruin her. Floyd who was standing next to her, blurred into action and delivered a solid blow of his fist to the skull of the assant, causing it to fly a couple of meters away.

    By this time, Michelle''s instincts already took over her physique. Using her insane speed, she flew towards the devil, brandishing her weapons and turning into a deadly hurricane that reduced the Devil into mincemeat.

    Michelle only stopped when she didn''t see any traces of the Devil anymore. It was at this time that rity came crashing down on her, making her realize how she nearly died just now. Her face visibly paled and her hands were shivering.

    Meanwhile, Nelson with the help of Jason and Ryan, were able to y the other devil. The gruesome creature let out a piercing shriek of pain before finally dying,

    Unit-17 was in shambles. A lot of things happened in just very brief period of time. Even though all of them were battle-hardened warriors, they were still surprised. Hell, some of them werepletely rooted from where they stood. They even nearly lost a member just now. And what''s even funnier is that, they graciously received warning from Raven before it all happened, and yet the results are still like this.

    The girls hesitantly approached Michelle, wanting to console her, to which she didn''t mind. Floyd remembered the events just now, and his expression made it a little difficult to guess what he truly feels. Those who experienced the fright of Devils first and felt surrealism taking over. For such a small creature, the danger it possess'' were unnaturally high.

    "Uh, Nelson right?" Michelle approached the guy after regrouping with the rest. The guy simply nodded so Michelle continued: "Thank you. If it wasn''t for you shattering the illusion, I might''ve already¡­"

    "Don''t sweat it, and don''t let that though linger on your head." Nelson smiled, "It was my duty to do so anyway."

    "I understand, thank you once again." Michelle bowed.

    "You''re wee."

    "Hey, Raven hasn''t returned yet!" Jason reminded everyone.

    "Don''t with him, he''s probably already dead." Mira snorted, causing people to shift their attention towards her.

    "Well, sorry to disappoint you." They heard a distant sound and saw Raven approaching them with a rxed expression on his face while dragging something. And to their surprise, it was the Devil that he faced.

    Everyone was gaping at him, but he didn''t pay them any mind. Instead, he said: "You guys want to dissect this?"

 Chapter 475 - Ambush Beneath

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    The reactions of Raven''s teammates quite a sight to behold.

    While all of them struggled to the point of nearly losing someone just to deal with just two devils, Raven handled one by himself and came out unscathed. None of them saw how he fought but his results were more than enough to tell them that he''s capable of surviving on his own. In addition to that, he even brought the devil back intact.

    If there''s anything that confuses them, that would be¡­

    "Why would you want to dissect a Devil''s body." Jason asked, pretty much asking what the others want to know as well.

    "Well, I mean aren''t you guys curious?" Raven replied in an amused tone. "I don''t know, maybe that''ll help us understand what kind of Devils we are facing."

    "Weird, but I don''t think it''s going to help us that much." Jason stated. "I mean if you want to, then maybeter after we set camp. Right now, it''s time to move out. I''m afraid that the smell of corpses will attract more of them."

    "Alright, I didn''t say I''m going to dissect it now anyway." Raven said, he then kept the corpse of the devil inside a spatial ring and walked together with the rest.

    He observed the situation of the group and discretely sent a voice transmission towards Jason, asking: ''What''s with the gloomy mood? Did something unfortunate happen?''

    Jason smiled wryly and replied: ''Michelle almost died. I''m pretty sure she saw her life shing before her eyes. The illusions caught us off-guard and the devil''s were too fast. That''s why.''

    Even though the report was brief and has less details, Raven could more or less understand what took ce in here. Judging from the remnant corpses of the other devils, it wouldn''t take a genius to find out that the team had a hard time dealing with the devils earlier.

    Thinking about this caused him to be reminded of something¡­

    ''Oh yeah, I heard the devil screeching earlier. Get everyone on guard, we don''t know that''s a dying wail or a call for reinforcements.'' Raven''s words caused Jason to visibly shook.

    There was an expression of panic on his face as he immediately got the attention of the team, saying: "Guys, be on guard. The devil earlier must''ve called for reinforcements with itsst screech!"

    His warning caused the team to stop on their tracks, their expressions changed as they took out their weapons and became alert. The spying team observed their surroundings even further, ring at each spot in order to make sure that they won''t be ambushed.

    "Spotted! Holy shit! They''re moving underground! Be on guard everyone!" Edward eximed as he red beneath him.

    Thankfully it wasn''t only him who could see under ground, Raven warped his vision to cover underground and saw the several figures moving as if they were diving in water.

    "I see five, how many can you see?" Raven called out. Edward was surprised at first but he discarded it and replied:

    "I see five too - shit! They''s splitting!" Edward eximed at the sudden development.

    "One on each direction, thest one will try to pop-up in the middle of our group." Raven swiftly move, sending beams of Cosmic Energy to five different spots around the team. "That''s where they''re going to appear. I''ll give the signal when and where they will pop-out, you guys confront them. Get into position!"

    Raven gave out instructions swiftly as they truly have no time. Even if they were moving underground, the speed of these Devils remained the same. Just a few seconds from now and they will arrive.

    The unit member got into the position, holding their weapons tight as they waited for Raven''s signal. And even though Mira was feeling absolutely irritated to be ordered by him, she understood that now is not the time for any of that, so she too got in the position.

    Raven and Jason was at the center marker. Mira and the Crawford Twins were at the Eastern marker, Floyd and Nelson was the West marker. Juniper and Edward and Anthony was at the Northern marker, and Ryan as well as Franklin was at the Southern marker.

    Three seconds passed as they already heard Raven yell: "East! Two, one, NOW!"

    *Boom!*

    "South! Two, one! Now!"

    *Boom!*

    "North and West. Three, two, one, NOW!"

    *Boom!*

    Raven was about to call out the countdown for their spot but saw that the Devil underneath did something he wasn''t expecting. It morphed into a much bigger and beefier sizepared to the other four and it''s speed raised a couple of notches too.

    He didn''t have time to give out the call anymore. He raised his fist and white bubble covered it. After which, he unhesitatingly mmed it down, causing the ground beneath them to quake fiercely.

    Raven mmed his fist, covered by a bubble condensed from raw Destruction Laws, he also hit a Fault Sign in the process, causing the destructiveness of his attack to double.

    The Devil underneath him received the full burnt of the attack,pletely defenseless too. Its body was thoroughly destroyed, torn into pieces and buried underground along with broken pieces of rubble. Raven checked it first and confirmed that the devil was thoroughly dead before sighing in relief.

    The magnitude of his attack caused the ground to cave in ever so slightly. Everyone''s pupils constricted in shock and they''re not to me.

    It had to be known that they had never seen Raven in action before. This was his first disy of strength and it was eye-opening. Even though they can''t see what''s happening beneath them, the impact of his attack was so intense that they didn''t need to. None of them doubted that the devil was dead. It''ll be a miracle if it still lived after that.

    Needless to say, his skills definitely caused them to ponder over things. They didn''t know why Raven didn''t join the third part of the exams and mini-contest before. With his skills, he''d surely get an eptable spot, so why didn''t he?

    Amidst their shock however, they saw Raven stood up and look towards Edward, asking: "Did you see that?"

    Edward nodded earnestly and replied: "Yeah, I did. And holy shit. I didn''t know that was possible."

    "What is?" Ryan asked curiously.

    "The Devil that he killed, right before he attacked, it doubled in size!" Edward exined, "I saw its aura zing as it did. It was beefy and it became quicker. I don''t what the hell that is, but if he didn''t attack sooner, we''ll be in deep shit!"

    That information wasn''t a good news for any of them. They all knew that if it weren''t for Raven''s quick actions, they won''t be able toe out unscathed like they currently are.

    "Just for the briefest of moments, I felt it carrying the strength of a Lord Knight." Raven stated solemnly.

    "You''re kidding right?" Michelle asked in disbelief.

    "I don''t think he is." Edward added, testifying for Raven''s statement. "I was watching it remember? Back in the Twin Star Academy, Franklin and I felt the strength of a Lord Knight up close and personal. I felt the same thing but I wasn''t sure, but now that he said, then my guess was correct."

    "About us witnessing the strength of a Lord Knight, its true. We did experience that." Franklin added, solidifying the weight behind Raven''s words even more.

    "That''s two realms higher than ours! How are we supposed to deal with that!?" Pyra asked in a panic. It wasn''t just her, pretty much everyone was feeling an inner crisis right now.

    "Alright, let''s hold our horses." Raven stated, trying to pacify the mood of the team. "Like I said, I only felt it for the briefest of moments. Which might mean a few things. One, it must be some kind of a ruse. Two, its some sort of a trump card. And three, there might be a heavy price for that."

    "Either way, one things for certain. If we want to survive this hunt, then we must finish our battles swiftly." Raven sighed, "We can''t let those things have the chance of tapping into that kind of power or else it will be dangerous for us."

    "I also want to take this time to re-address the capabilities of what we are facing." Raven solemnly said, the attention was focused on his as he listed what he knew so far.

    "For now, let''s say we are dealing Imp Devils." Raven started, "First, they are midgets with an astonishing speed. Two, they are capable of putting us into an illusion. Three, they can move underground like swimming in water, additionally should be able to sense us even in that state. Four, their intelligence is high enough to form a n such as ambushing, pincer attacks, and attacking underground, who knows maybe they could even understand ournguage. And finally, they had a trump card that might or might not enable them to tap into the strength of Lord Knights."

    Raven took a sharp inhale of breath as he listed all of those things. He then scratched his head in irritation and finished his statement.

    "In short, they are a handful to deal with. We''ll do our best to survive and when we get back, we''ll read all the information we fucking need to know about these little fuckers.. For now, let continue with the current formation and move along."

 Chapter 476 - Camping

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    Time passed by and Unit-17 continued on their not-so-merry towards the depths of Devil''s Cradle.

    During their way, they encountered simr breeds of Devils that assaulted them before. It was great boon for them that they figured out what these things could do before going deeper, thanks to that, they didn''t have any casualties and the rest are getting more used to fighting them.

    The atmosphere around the unit is still a bit tense but through the subsequent battles, an initial bond between them were starting to form. They could now work as a team, albeit only in the initial stages.

    Somewhere along their journey, Raven brought up the topic of setting up the camp. Some were startled by the suggestion by when they heard his reason, they were surprised.

    "If you haven''t noticed it by now, let me remind you that there is no sun in this ce. The sky is perpetually covered in dark clouds and there''s only a huge ass moon present. Our perception of time is blurred in this ce, there is no night and day here, only doom and gloom."

    "I''ve been tracking the time, and as I speak, it''s already twelve hours since we started this journey."

    And as if confirming his words, some of his teammates felt either fatigued, hungry or lethargic. It was only then that they noticed that, just like Raven said, they weren''t aware of how much times has passed. If it weren''t for him informing them about it, they''d probably just copse out of nowhere.

    "Let''s take it easy." Raven suggested, "Even though we couldst long since we''re cultivators, for now we''re not really in a any heist for any battles, we already had our fair share of that today."

    His words caused them to ponder a bit before eventually agreeing. His words made sense anyway, specially the part when he said that there''s really no reason for them to search for fights since they already fought many devils earlier.

    Unit-17 had faced at least thirty devils at this point in time, although all of them are of the same breed, devils are devils at the end of the day. For a group of people to be thrown in an unfamiliar territory crawling with creatures like this, is already stressful on its own. Add the fact that they have to fight consistently, makes this trip more exhausting that they originally expected.

    The team searched for a rtively clear and inauspicious spot to set up camp - which, thanks to Juniper''s great sense of smell, they are able to find. This ce doesn''t reek off of any scent of Devils, there are no traces left or whatsoever, making it a fine spot for them.

    Without saying anything, Raven took out a disk from his spatial ring and silently activated it.

    To everyone''s surprise, a huge dome of blue light encapsted them in no time. Some of them saw some floating runes here and there on the surface of the dome. And while they weren''t very knowledgeable when ites to runes, it doesn''t mean that they could not recognize what this is.

    "A Formation! Nice idea. What does it do?" Juniper asked curiously.

    "It conceals our location andpletely erases our life signals. It also has misdirection runes so that anyone or anything shouldn''t identally discover this location."

    "Shouldn''t?" Floyd raised a brow.

    "Well, this is the first time I''m using it against Devils, so I have no idea if it''ll work." Raven replied honestly, "If it does, then yay. If it doesn''t, then we''ll figure something out."

    "Oh, do you guys have tents and sleeping bags?" Raven asked, causing majority of his teammates to freeze where they stood.

    Just from that reaction alone, Raven already knew the answer. Without saying anything unnecessary, he took out several supplies from his spatial ring and ced it carefully on the ground.

    "Here. Do remember to return it after this trip." He said as he held one and started walking on the spot where he nned on erecting his tent. However, he remembered something so he turned around and said: "Right, if you''re going to eat, then suggest to consume dry rations or ready made foods instead. The smokes and stuff will pass through the Formation, that might alert some unwanted attentions."

    "Additionally, we also have to make sure to always have someone guarding the camp, just to make sure. You guys decide on who but I suggest at least three people. Just inform me once your done."

    After saying his piece, Raven casually swaggered away to his preferred spot to build up his tent, leaving the rest at a loss on what to do next. They looked at each other before sighing.

    "Man, he''s something else isn''t he?" Franklinmented as he picked up a tent and a sleeping bag from the pile.

    "I 100% agree with you on that one." Jason added while he too took a sleeping bag and a tent from the pile that Raven left for them. He was then followed by the rest.

    "Do you guys know him?" Michelle asked.

    "His name is Raven as far I can remember." Franklin replied.

    "No, that''s not what I meant. Do you guys knew each other, I mean like you know, are you guys long term friends or something?"

    "Oh, no." Franklin shook his head while chuckling, "Today is actually the first time I interacted with him. Maybe Jason does."

    "I only met him during the exams. He''s not really the ''social'' type from what I understand so far. Aside from that, he''s a puzzle to me." Jason replied, he then looked strangely at Michelle and asked: "Why, are interested in him?"

    "Yes, but not in the way you think." She replied, ring at Jason for a bit. "I mean, is it just me or do you guys also think that he''s still downying his actual strength."

    "I get you. I also feel the same way." Franklin agreed while Jason nodded his head as well.

    "Right? But what I don''t understand is that, why didn''t he participate during the tournament, or the mini-contest for that matter?" She wondered, "He''s strong and he won''t really lose out on anything but he extricated himself. I wonder why that is?"

    "Ah, I actually know why. Well, I guess I know the answer to that." Jasonmented, pulling the attention of the two. "I mean, he told me that he didn''t join because there are no Merit Point rewards - that, or he lied to me. Either way, not my ce to question him so¡­"

    "That''s it?" Franklin was a bit shocked, "Just because there''s no merit point rewards? Isn''t that a little shallow?"

    "Hey, it''s not really as shallow as you think." Michelle disagreed. "Did you take a look at the bamboo slips he handed us back at the base?"

    "How can I not? I''m still feeling lightheaded by the amount of awesome things listed on it." Franklin emotionally stated.

    "If you observe carefully, the total number of items are avable by using Spirit Stones won''t even amount to five percent of the list. The rest are only avable through Merit Points. If you think of it that way, then there must he something on the list, which by my guess is extremely expensive, that he wanted to buy. Since there are no Merit Point rewards for those events, then it would make sense why he wouldn''t participate since its just going to be a waste of time for him."

    "Well, I do have many things I want to buy as well." Franklin added, "But meh, I mean what''s done is done. It''s not our business anyway so let''s not pry. Anyhow, we have to decide how long we''re n on resting before dividing the rotation to guard. I''m fine with guarding first. Thought I''d let you know ''Leader''."

    Franklin smirked as he patted Jason''s shoulders. He then started walking towards his preferred spot, unaware of Jason gaping at him.

    Michelle chuckled and did the same thing as Franklin, saying: "Do your best Leader, we''re counting on you."

    "Y-you guys¡­" Jason could only smile wryly and sigh in defeat. He couldn''t help but re at Raven''s direction before going to his preferred spot to build camp.

    Despite the gloomy atmosphere, the camp was surrounded with a peaceful mood. Everyone was resting on their tents, some were either eating, sleeping, getting to know each other, meditating or etc.

    By the virtue of drawing lots, the team already decided on the guards. Raven was exempted on the task much to his surprise, but he was told that this is the least they could give with him providing so much for the team. Raven didn''t say anything and just epted this.

    Due to his reminders, everyone was now paying attention to the time in their own methods. No one cooked anything and the people who were tasked at guarding has a specific rotation pattern. All in all, the first day of the hunt wasing into conclusion.

    The team went through a lot of things today that theypletely forgot that Henry was tailing them. And while the array hid them well, it waspletely transparent to Henry.

    Nevertheless, he didn''t disturb them nor showed himself.. He silently observed them with a content smile on his face.

 Chapter 477 - Suggestion

    ---

    "Alright, since we''re all here it''s safe to assume that everyone had rested well." Jason said to the rest of his teammates after seeing that they are all gathered.

    The team collectively responded. Compared to what they look like before they camped, theirplexions appeared much better.

    Raven''s formation did a wonderful job of keeping them safe and secure. Although there where times where sightings of devils urred throughout the rest, none of the little buggers discovered this spot. They came very close, but the misdirection runes lured them away, letting everyone remain peaceful and well rested.

    The team rested for ten hours before they all eventually tidied up their belongings as well as sleeping bags and tents. Now that everyone had their proper rest, its time to resume the hunt in order to umte more merit points.

    "Let''s go with the same formation as before since it was working well for us. I talked to some of you before and decided that it would be best for us to follow the direction back to the sect. ording to Senior Brother, thus hunt will only go on for two days, it think this is the smartest and safest move for us."

    "I don''t know how many Devils we''lle across with but in order to make the most out of this hunt, I have a suggestion." Jason paused for a bit before saying: "My idea, is to have each of us confront a devil in a one on one."

    The whole team was silent upon hearing this, some looked at each other but none said anything, they want to hear Jason''s reason behind this suggestion.

    "I could say that I''m doing this with the best interest of the team in mind but that would be a lie. Its a selfish reason actually." Jason smiled wryly, "So far, we managed to take down the Imps with teamwork. That is good and that''s probably the best way to solve the problem. Still, I was thinking if we''ll always be together whenever we hunt."

    "What I mean is that, what if a timees when only a few of us could go? What if a timees when one of us has to hunt alone due to a mission or whatever. What if that happens to me? Will I survive or what?"

    "In the end, I just want to see the difference between me and an Imp. If there is a gap in strength, I want to know how big it is so that I can work with it as soon as we return, just in case the scenarios I mentioned earlier does happen."

    Jason then looked at each of them and chuckled: "Anyway, that''s basically the reason why I suggested this. I won''t mind if you guys don''t want to and decide to keep doing what we''ve doing so far. Anyways, let''s vote. Those who are in favor of my suggestion, please raise your hand."

    "Voting ispletely unnecessary." An aggressive voice was suddenly heardbefore some could even raise their hand. The source was none other than Madman Floyd who had a nd expression.

    "Baldy made a good point, but voting ispletely unnecessary. Each of us will have a one on one with a Devil and that needs to happen whether any of likes it or not. We already know what they can do so there''s no excuses."

    "I don''t n on staying as an Outer Disciples for long. If I could advance using my own efforts then I won''t waste time talking to you people. Unfortunately, that''s not how I works. I''m stuck with you people, hence I need to know who will hold me back so that I can cut them down, no devils required."

    Floyd''s words caused a varying reactions from his teammates but most of them inwardly thought about it and discretely agreed with him.

    "I support his opinion." This time, it was Ryan who spoke. If Raven''s memory serves him right, this is the first time that this guy raised his voice to speak to them.

    "Although his words were crass, rude and arrogant¡­" Ryan stated causing Floyd to snicker, "There''s weight behind them. Although we are a team, there are still elements of individual performances. We have to see who is falling behind so that we can work on them and raise the overall performance of our team. I also don''t want to remain as an Outer Disciple for long."

    Ryan''s words were more eptable for them and because three people already gave their inputs, then it was already decided.

    "Alright, it''s decided then." Jason wore a relieved smile on his face and continued: "So aside from re-tracing our way back to Tartarus, we also have to fight at least 11 devils. Let''s decide on who''s going to fight first."

    "Wait! Aren''t there twelve of us? Why did you say at least 11?" Juniper asked in a confused tone.

    "Oh, I don''t think Raven has to go through this." Jason replied, "I mean, surely you haven''t forgotten our first encounter right? That guy face a devil alone and came out unscathed, much to someone''s disappointment."

    Mira knew Jason was referring to her, causing her to click her tongue in displeasure.

    "He''s right." Edward added, "Additionally, we all witnessed how he buried an Imp who entered Berserk Mode in a single punch right? That''s already a good proof that he could solo an Imp. He doesn''t have to participate in this if he doesn''t want to."

    "Oh shit, you guys are right. How the hell did I forget all of that?" Juniper chuckled and didn''t pursue the matter anymore. "Wait, what''s Berserk Mode?"

    "That''s what I call it when Imp''s activate their realm surpassing trump card." Edward replied.

    "Ah I see. Berserk Mode, huh? I like that term."

    "I''ll watch your back don''t worry." Raven smiled and stated, "Also, if you see me stepping in don''t be mad. I pretty keen to danger. If I did that, then that means that your situation is dire. Just letting you guys know in advance."

    All of them nodded to his words, shortly after that the rest of them team decided the chronological order of who''s going to fight. After determining that, the team made final preparations, gathered into formation and went on their journey back to the sect after having Raven deactivate the formation.

    ***

    The journey back was surprisingly filled with action.

    Not even ten minutes after they moved, the scouts already spotted several Imps running towards them.

    The team face four Imps, and ording to the order of fighters it was Jason, Floyd, Ryan and Anthony who faced them.

    The results were positive. Each of them managed to defeat their enemies without much difficulty. The ease of their battle was disyed to everyone which means that they won''t probably have much trouble dealing with more than one Imp on their own.

    The team moved on and ten minutester, they were once again raided by more Imps. Five of them this time. It was then confronted by Franklin, Nelson, Michelle and the Twins. Their results weren''t so bad, not as spectacr as the first batch but only a notch lower.

    Edward and Juniper got their turn five minutester, and just like everyone predicted, Juniper indeed has a lot of work to do. Edward''s performance wasn''t bad, he''s pretty much on the same level as the rest of the team.

    Juniper on the other hand¡­showed an amateurish performance.

    Everyone could tell that he was going all out against as single Imp, even if he did manage to defeat it in the end, he was pretty much out ofmission after a single battle. A result like that, in a ce like this, is not a good sign for their team. Not at all.

    Still, no one demeaned him for this, at least not yet anyway. But Juniper was painfully aware of his misgivings. He knew that he had a lot of catching up to do, but all he wanted was a chance. He was determined to not be a burden to them and he''s willing to work hard, all he needed was a chance.

    Unfortunately, no one was paying attention to him. He could tell that they were already considering them as a burden inside their minds and that really dampened his mood.

    It was then that he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He looked to his side only to find Raven walking beside him. He didn''t open his mouth, instead he sent a voice transmission.

    ''You aren''t weak, you''re just extremely inexperienced.'' His words caused Juniper to widen his eyes, ''Everyone can tell buddy, trust me. However, there''s an easy fix for that. There''s a lot of opportunities to fight within the sect so long as you''re willing to learn. Don''t feel so down. If you don''t want to be a burden then be better. Observe how they fight. Think and adapt, that''s the key.''

    Raven''s encouraging words caused Juniper to feel better. As he was about to send his thanks, Henry appeared before the team and said:

    "Alright guys, I''m afraid that your little excursion has to stop early. We have to go, NOW!!"

    *Swoosh!*

 Chapter 478 - Eruption

    ---

    By the time Raven and his teammates regained their vision, they were already riding a shuttle which looked like a boat. It streaked in the air, flying several miles per second.

    "What happened Senior Brother?" Jason asked as soon as he regained his bearings.

    "There''s an eruption." Henry said as he stood at the helm of the shuttle.

    "An eruption?" Most of them repeated, confused as to what Henry meant by that.

    *ROOOOAAAARRRR!*

    "What the fuck!?" Henry didn''t even get the chance to reply when all of them suddenly heard a ferocious howl behind them.

    Everyone turned around to look only to see a gigantic silhouette of a humanoid roaring towards the moon. It was then followed by a repulsive wave of killing intent that send shivers to everyone it touches. It was extremely simr to the one they felt during their first step within the Devil''s Cradle.

    "Bad! This is bad!" Nelson eximed in panic, "I can sense multiple devils running towards the us and they are extremely swift! There''s at least twenty of them!"

    "What!? Are you shitting us?" Jonathan''s eyes widened as he questioned.

    "I wish I was buddy, but not this time." Nelson replied while tightening his grip on his weapon.

    "What is going on here Senior Brother?" Michelle asked in a distressed manner as she too prepared for the impact.

    "Like I said, it was an eruption." Henry replied. A sword appeared on his hand and he performed a simple horizontal swing.

    The junior disciples heard dying screeches after that, which means that Henry already took care of the Devils that are rushing towards them. They heard him say:

    "Like what I mentioned before, the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda lies in the very center of the Devil''s Cradle. The pagoda is the seal that contains dimensional rend where the Devil Emperor is sealed. It also contains the hoards of these abominations pouring out from the humongous dimensional rend."

    "I also mentioned that the reproduction rate of Devils are absurdly fast. The reason why the Devil''s Cradle contained some Devils is because of that. Due to how fast they reproduce, Devils within the pagoda often finds a way to bypass the restriction their prison and be free to roam around this area."

    *Swing!*

    *Dying Screeches*

    "Their reproduction rate is a problem that we still can''t solve. The only way for us to keep them contained is by repeatedly whittling away their numbers. Unfortunately even with that method, the multiplication of these abominations just doesn''t stop or slow down, which is why sometimes things like the Eruption urs."

    "Eruption is the event where the number of Devils inside the Pagoda reaches certain amount that the prison can''t hold them anymore. In order to keep the pagoda functioning properly, it discharges everything it has and will close by itself once the deed is done."

    "But that creates a huge problem to us. Now that a great number of Devils were discharged from their prison, they will most definitely try their best to erase all manner of life within this ce. And it''s our task to contain them. Thankfully, the discharge only happened in the First Floor."

    Henry exined what the Eruption was all about, and as the team hears they couldn''t help but feel chills all over their body.

    "What kinds of Devils are we expecting and how many are there Senior Brother?" Raven asked after a moment of silence.

    "The First Floor of the pagoda is the home of Imps. As for the number, we''re looking for at least 100,000." Henry replied.

    "That many!?" Several voices were raised after hearing the absurd amount from Henry himself.

    "That''s the lowest estimate." Henry said inly, "I told you, their reproduction rate is absurdly high."

    "Does this event happens regrly?" Ryan asked.

    "Not regrly, but it''s constant. At least five times a year here in Tartarus. The only problem is that we have no way of knowing when." Henry answered.

    "Then what do we do? Isn''t this dangerous?" Pyra asked in a very distressed voice.

    "We return and you''ll eventually know." Henry replied, he then looked at Pyra and said: "Don''t worry, this isn''t the first time that we dealt with an Eruption. We have counter measures that will ensure everyone''s safety."

    His words finally caused everyone to at least feel secured. Right, what were they worrying about anyway? It''s not like they were the only ones who will fight this hoard of devils. There''s many other outer disciples aside from them who will also defend Tartarus. And if that''s not enough, Henry was here. His title as a War God isn''t for show. There''s nothing to worry about.

    The shuttle they rode on moved swiftly, making the return which would normally take several hours by foot, shrink into mere minutes. Before the Unit-17 knew it, they were already staring at therge metal gates of Tartarus.

    They also saw the giant, who was guarding the other entrance, here. Unlike his amicable and debatable cuteness from before, its face was now frosty as it red over to the distance while holding his gigantic spiked club.

    It didn''t even looked nor greeted Henry when they passed by, not that anyone will mind its current behavior, there''s an emergency after all.

    As soon as the shuttle entered the vicinity of Tartarus, the team heard several noises of sirens and droves of people hurrying from one ce to the other. Most of the team was confused but everyone''s in a rush and so are they.

    Henry ced them down using unknown means and kept the shuttle. He then started walking forward while signaling them to follow him.

    Everyone who saw Henry made way for him while performing a short salute. Henry acknowledged them but not all as like what was previously mentioned, everyone was in a hurry.

    Henry and Unit-17 eventually arrived at a certain location, which was a top of their own base. The base was originally a tall cliff filled with caves which leads to Unit-17''s rooms and the inner base.

    To everyone''s surprise, they saw several equipment mounted on the top of the cliff. It formed a neat line, waiting for the unit to use them.

    The equipment was a construct, like an exo-skeleton that covers most parts of their bodies. It includes a neat looking helmet, long arms and short legs. It almost looks like an ape in all honesty.

    "These are what we call ''Siege Defense Construct''." Henry introduced, "Think of it as an armor that''s not meant for close quartersbat. As you can see, it only covers your head, arms and legs as well as your spine. Don''t worry, that''s on purpose."

    Henry then went close to one and tapped it while saying: "To use it, you just ce the helmet on and it will automatically morph to your size. Try it."

    The junior disciples nodded and picked one construct for themselves. Raven followed Henry''s instructions and ced the helmet on. As soon as he did so, he felt the construct moving on its own, adhering to his body almost instantly.

    His vision warped for a second, and to his surprised the he felt his vision clearer that before. The suppression on his ocr technique was no longer there, allowing him to see at a great distance which is also seemingly boosted by the construct. The construct didn''t feel heavy. In fact, it feels like he''s just wearing another set of clothes.

    Once everyone manned their constructs, they heard Henry''s voice again.

    "If any of you feel ufortable then say it now. That is a dangerous sign so I encourage you to tell me, you won''t get in trouble for doing so." Henry stated, and seeing that nobody said anything relieved him.

    "Okay, let''s move on." Henry continued: "Now, this construct is built to deal with devils at a great range. An archer or sniper if you will. In order to shoot projectiles, all you do is lift your arms and aim, you should then see a marker appearing before you. Tell me if you can see them."

    The junior disciples did what he said and aimed in front of them. All disciples saw the marker that he was talking about which means that all constructs are working as intended.

    "The marker is where you''re aiming at, if you want to shoot then pull trigger. The trigger is the handle you feel in your arms, which means that if you clench your grip¡­"

    *Bang!*

    "That happens¡­" Henry looked at Raven, who not only pulled the trigger but also killed a devil in the process. His example was then followed by the rest so there were a lot of shooting sounds that urred.

    "If you want to fire continuously, then don''t rx your grip. But be warned that there are other disciples who will charge to the frontlines. Don''t shoot them. Your projectiles are meant for Devils, not for fellow disciples."

    "Each projectiles costs some of your energy, so make sure to be wise on how you spend it. Each Devil you killed will be recorded by the construct and will then turn into your Personal Merit Points so do your best."

    "Finally, if you want to dismount, just yell ''Dismount'' and the construct will be peeled away from your body."

    "Now that you''re all been briefed.. Your task is to shoot as much devils as you could and make sure that none of them gets past this line. Now get ready to confront the enemy!"

 Chapter 479 - Rapidfire

    ---

    "Argh!"

    "Aaiiieeee!"

    "OOOOHHHH!"

    "KILL!"

    "HAAA!"

    Battle cries, dying noises, loud explosions and tons of shing lights. This is the current scenario within Tartarus.

    The sudden eruption of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda caused hoards and hoards of Imps to siege Tartarus and it''s inhabitants, and the only way to stop them is by eradicating them using all means avable for the residents of Tartarus.

    The scene was incredibly chaotic. Just like what Henry said, there are some people who chose to fight on the front lines while the others were either sniping them from a far or making sure that not a single on gets in. At least seventy percent of the whole poption of Tartarus were mobilized to help with the defense, and everyone was working hard to repel the invasion.

    This event was incredibly shocking, specially for the new disciples. They were here for barely a week and they already have to face something like this.

    "Damn it, I missed." Edward hissed as he aimed at another devil while preparing to shoot.

    "This is ratherplicated to use." Franklin murmured to himself as he fired another shot.

    "And that''s five! Wooohoo, I''m on a roll!" Jonathan cheered as he managed to snipe five devils in a row.

    "That''s 8th..." Nelson murmured as he aimed somewhere else.

    "Hey! Who shot that one? That was supposed to be my 10th kill!" Michelle whined as she aimed for another spot.

    "Oops, my bad. Better not say anything." Juniper whispered to himself as he killed his 15th devil. "But this is surprisingly fun, I think I might have the talent for using these things."

    "This is surprisingly fun." Jason said as he shot two projectiles in quick session, killing his 20th and 21st victims.

    "Sis, how are you holding up? I just killed my 25th devil." Pyra asked in a provocative manner.

    "You better step it up Sis, I just shot my 30th." Mira replied smiling without losing focus on the battlefield.

    "This is a bore..." Floyd murmured as he just rapidly fire his shots, it might not look like he''s aiming but he''s on his 40th kill.

    "Can I buy on of this for myself?" Ryan asked in a whisper as he just killed his 45th devil. "Better ask Senior Brother after this¡­"

    *Tatatatatatata*

    Ryan''s expression suddenly changed as he heard shot being rapidly fired besides him. He unconsciously looked beside him and saw the ring scene of Raven literally spraying hell below. A wry smile unknowingly found its way on his face as he thought¡­

    ''Well, at least he''s enthusiastic this time. But he knew that each shot drains energy right? Isn''t he afraid of running out of gas quickly? Is he even hitting anything with that or he''s just scaring them off?''

    Ryan of course wasn''t aware that Raven was nearly approaching his 100th kill as of this moment. No, he wasn''t just firing random shots in hopes of suppressing the advance of the devils or just to scare them away. Raven''s uracy remained 100% from start up until now. He never missed and all of his victims had a ten millimeter hole on the center of their forehead all the way to the back of their heads.

    The scene of him raining down hell from above was certainly eye catching but due to the sheer chaos of the battlefield, he wasn''t noticeable except for a few people.

    Ryan was not wrong, Raven was really enthusiastic this time. He was no longer trying to keep a low profile at all, he was doing his best to kill as many Imps as he could using the construct.

    The reason behind this is very simple. He wants to earn as many merit points as he possibly could. As simple as that.

    Unlike most of the new disciples, Raven wasn''t really terribly frightened or unnerved by sheer number of devilsing their way. It is a shocking scene, that''s for sure. Akin to someone poking a ho''s nest or smoking all the ants out of their hill.

    On the contrary, instead of feeling nervous, Raven was excited instead since this is an opportunity for him to amass as many Merit Points as possible. He wanted to take advantage of this event since this time, it wasn''t them who''s looking for a fight, the fight wasing to them. Saves him the trouble of maneuvering through the dark and gloomy ins of Devil''s Cradle.

    Raven wasn''t worried about their safety at all, simply because Henry was here. And just like what Henry said before, Eruptions are a prettymon thing in here. Which means that they''re prepared for it. Additionally, the Eruption only urred on the first floor of the pagoda. Henry said that it only contains Imps, and in here Imps are the weakest kind of devils.

    With how many experienced people there are in Tartarus, there''s no way that there will be a breach. This is why Raven didn''t worry about their safety.

    He also didn''t need to worry about running out of energy anytime soon. His energy reserves are something that only a handful of people on the same realm as him could possibly match. By the time his reserves are running dangerously low, the eruption should more or less be already settled.

    Still, this is a new experience for him. The Siege Defense Construct must be an exclusive for the sect since he''d never seen anything like this before. Amidst his rapid fire shooting, he started wondering if he should buy one for himself. An attractive idea that he''ll think aboutter¡­

    *ROOOOOAAAAARRR!*

    "Geez, that huge guy is noisy..." Raven murmured as he caught sight of the immenselyrge silhouette at a distance.

    "Is that even considered as an Imp? Howe it''s sorge? It''s making the ten meter tall guard look like a kid in front of it." Ravenmented as he saw the guard confronting therge Imp.

    ''Speaking of guard, that guy is as agile as a cheetah. What the heck?'' Raven was bewildered as he paid attention to the sh without dropping his firing rate.

    The ten meter tall guard with the obsidian colored skin and spike club was fighting against the almost twenty meter tall Imp, if that''s even how others call that, but it wasn''t just him. There are also other disciples who were providing assistance by limiting its movements and so on.

    The guard moved impressively, not only was he swift and agile, he''s also a heavy hitter. Each time he hits the Giant Imp, the area will always leave a nasty wound, causing the imp to screech in pain and bleed all over.

    There are also other imps around them who wererge but not as big as this one, the biggest Imp next to the one that the guard was fighting was just about his size. Those were left for other disciples to take care off and if Raven''s beingpletely honest, he also wanted to see how he would fare against those big guys.

    Unfortunately, he can''t really leave his spot. In a battlefield like this, the best possible oue is to have as less casualties as possible. Unless he was ordered to, Raven wouldn''t dare to casually leave his spot and wander somewhere else, specially when Henry was literally observing them closely.

    *Screech!*

    "Hmm?" Raven''s ears twitched as he heard that screech. His eyes momentarily narrowed before his attention snapped in alert.

    He walked several paces forward and looked directly down. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he saw multiple devils crawling on the surface of the wall and were rapidly closing in on their position.

    ''I knew it.'' Raven didn''t waste anytime and started shooting the climbing bastards to keep everyone safe.

    Some of his teammates saw him and was about to offer help but he refused it. He signaled them that he could handle this on his own. Although some were skeptical, none of them stepped forward and unknowingly trusted Raven to handle it alone.

    To which, he beautifully did. Not only did he wiped the bastards closing in on their team, he also shot the others who were about to close in on the other teams.

    After making sure that there were no sneaking devils climbing their walls, Raven targeted those who were trying to get close. He didn''t bother changing spots anymore since this spot is perfect for him to see the sneaking ones sooner and shoot them before they get close.

    While the rest were sniping devils from a far, Raven took care of the ones that passed through their firing range and finish them on his own. Unknowingly, his headcount skyrocketed from doing this and because he''s killing them before they could reach the walls, he also kept everyone who''s using the construct safe.

    Raven also provided crucial cover fire for those disciples who were retreating back to the base by shooting the devils that''s following them.. And even though those people couldn''t tell who saved them due to the chaotic scene in the battlefield, some of the supervising personnel saw this scene and remembered Raven''s face.

 Chapter 480 - Finish It

    ---

    "Everyone! This is thest stretch! Once we take down the Imp Overlord the rest of these little buggers will flee! Put your back on to it!"

    "Ooohhhhh!"

    Amidst the raging battlefield, the courageous spirit of the fighters zed as they summoned their strongest attacks in order to end the battle as quickly as possible. The Guardian of Tartarus was the one who''s leading the charge against the Imp Overlord - the biggest devil there is currently. He might look like a toddler in front of it, but he surely wasn''t losing out on each sh.

    The Guardian wanted to end this siege as soon as possible. He knew that the longer this continues, the casualties on their side will pile up and he didn''t want any unnecessary deaths specially knowing that he could something about it.

    The Guardian was backed by some of the older disciples, they are either protecting him or healing any injuries on his body as he fought. Some of them could even boost the guardian''s strength just be being near him. Of course, this disciples weren''t that idle as they too have their own battles. They were picking off some of the stronger and bigger Imps in order to prevent them from assisting the Imp Overlord.

    With everyone''s hard work, the number of devils sieging Tartarus were drastically lowered. No one had the chance to count just how many imps were released from their prison but what matters is that, there are fewer of them now.

    Raven still continued sniping in a rapid fire manner. While some of his teammates as well as people from other units had dismounted the construct due to them running low on energy, Raven''s reserves were still plenty and he''s not running out of it anytime soon.

    Due to this, Raven was gradually noticed by more people. At first they were confused as to why he''s being so reckless, but after observing how none of his shots missed, some of them felt dazzled. Some were even doubting him, thinking that this shouldn''t be his first time using this kind of construct and many were starting to wonder who he was.

    In spite of this, Raven didn''t care. His mind was focused and his aim was to earn as much merit points as possible by taking advantage of this event. Opinions of the others doesn''t matter.

    ''I wonder how many Merit Points I umted so far? I should ask how much Merit Points Imps gives me. They should have an conversion list or something right?''

    Raven''s thoughts were mostly focused on this and he waspletely unaware of the strange stares he was receiving.

    *ROOOOAAAARRR!*

    Everyone was rudely startled by a long and furious howl of the Imp Overlord. It even caused Raven to pause momentarily and check the situation up ahead.

    From what he saw, it seems that the big buy was seriously pissed off. It had numerous cuts and bruises all over its body. ck blood covered parts of its body, couple with its intimidating eyes which turnedpletely red from rage, the Imp Overlord was akin to something born from a nightmare.

    Judging from how it looks, the Imp Overlord should be on itsst legs. This should be itsst ditch effort to trample what''s in front of it, in hopes of escaping from Mount Olympus.

    "Will they be fine?" Some disciples asked, feeling unnerved and nervous for the people who were dealing with the Imp Overlord.

    Some discussed to themselves as their attention involuntarily focused on the battle against the big guy.

    As for those who were actually fighting it, their expressions turned a bit sour as they saw thest ditch effort of the Imp Overlord to take them down. It waspletely enraged. Its aura spiked sharper as it was literally burning its lifespan to convert it into battle strength in hopes of escaping this ce.

    Moments after it started burning its lifespan, the Imp Overlord moved. It was swift and fierce, even the Guardian was caught off-guard, barely being able to deflect its attack. This situation caused the Guardian''s face to turn ugly.

    This was one of the reason''s why he wanted to end the battle against this thing as quickly as possible. As the one task to guard Tartarus, the Guardian has treated this ce as its own home. With how long he''s been here, this isn''t the first time he faced with hoards of devils. In a sense, he''s even numb to it by now.

    See, the thing about the Guardian of Tartarus is that, he''s a unique life form. His body was forged by using a brick on each floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda and his soul was created by harvesting thest living organism that persisted since the corruption of thisnd. By using these tools, one of the founders created him and had him as the guardian of Tartarus.

    Due to his body being connected to the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, he''s the first one to know when an Eruption is going to happen and which floor its going to be. His strength will automatically change in order to face the Overlords on whatever floor it is that escaped from their prison. However even if that''s the case, each Overlords has their own trump cards and one can''t just expect him to posses all of them, so he''s bound to be in danger too.

    Needless to say, the Guardians existence is extremely crucial to the sect. Therefore many disciples had nothing but respect for this guy and will help in defending the ce.

    The Guardian eventually snapped out of its daze and became serious. Things just got real dangerous right now and if he wants himself and the disciples behind him to survive, he had to make sure to grasp all the chance to take thisrge oaf down.

    Even though the Imp Overlord had a boost in strength just now, it is burning its own life force to do so, which means that it won''tst long. All he needed to do was to endure as long he could until the Imp Overlord runs out of fumes, once that moment arrives, they could finally finish it off.

    Giant spiked club versus giant spiked club. The guardian and the Imp Overlord repeatedly shed weapons in a blink of an eye with the imp taking the initiative and the Guardian barely defending himself.

    It was without a doubt that the Imp Overlord also received a strength boost, the Guardian could feel his arms giving in from each sh, even his knees was starting the buckle. The disciples behind him tried to assist him to their outmost abilities but they could only do so much, specially when they also have their hands full.

    The Guardian did its best to defend and evade the Imp Overlord''s attacks. Gritting his teeth and getting impatient since the imp wasn''t showing any kind of opening, weakness or exhaustion. It was also mortifying to know that many disciples were watching the battle right now and seeing him being mauled down by the enemy.

    As time passed by, things got incredibly hairy. The Guardian still can''t see any signs of weakness and his body was just about ready to give in. With the numerous injuries he was enduring, it caused him to momentarily lose focus.

    "Watch out!"

    One slip and immediately, his life was in danger. By the time that his focus returned, the spiked club of the Imp Overlord was literally just inches away from his face. The Guardian tried his best to defend but he too knew that it was useless.

    That''s until¡­

    *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

    Three loud shots echoed across the battlefield, causing everyone''s body to be shook. To the Guardian''s surprise, the spiked clubpletely missed him,nding right next to him causing a small part of the ground to cave in.

    When he woke up from his stupor, he could see the Imp Overlord down in one knee and was profusely screeching while covering its left eye which was bleeding profusely.

    The Guardian unconsciously looked back only to see an aqua-marine haired guy wearing a Siege Defense Construct aiming at the furious and severely injured Imp Overlord.

    Under his watch, the arms of the construct lit up once more and fired two more shots. The Guarding watched as the projectiles urately pierced the Imp Overlord''s right eye while the other shotnded on its right shoulder joint, causing its right arm to fell limp on its side.

    "Finish it Big Guy."

    Those words fell onto the Guardian''s ears, causing him to tap onto thest fumes of his strength. With an enraged roar, he picked up not only his own spiked club but also the other one. Holding one club on each arm, he began ruthlessly pummeling the Imp Overlord. Releasing the pent up frustrations from the earlier beatings he received and returning it back two fold.

    The Guardian only stopped when he saw that each limb of the Imp Overlord was reduced into a gross lump of flesh.. He let out a relieved and exhausted sigh before looking up and releasing the loudest roar he could muster before losing consciousness.

 Chapter 481 - Conclusion And Discussions

    ---

    It''s finally done.

    After almost a whole day of fighting against the hoards of Imps, the battle was finally over along with the death of the Imp Overlord. The disciples could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The injured were being escorted back to the sect while some of the disciples who still have some fight left in them chased after the retreating wave of smaller Imps. They wanted to cut down their numbers first since they didn''t want the Devil''s Cradle to be infested by Imps as much as possible.

    As majority of the disciples retreated and went back to their bases, another group went outside of the gates. Their duty was to search for intact corpses of Imps, it''s fine if it''s missing a limb or two, so long as it retains majority of its body, they''ll take it back with them.

    After some inquiries, the newer disciples found out that these people were doing this in order to use for experiments and such. As for what experiments it will be, they''re in no position to know so they just left it like that.

    "Alright Unit-17, great work out there. Come, let''s huddle for a bit." Henry pped his hands and got their attention.

    Members of the unit stood up and went closer to him, this includes Raven who just dismounted the construct with great reluctance on his face. Once everyone was gathered, Henry then began his speech.

    "What you witnessed and experienced just now is just one of the staple events within Tartarus. You saw how hectic it is and how dangerous it could get, therefore you have to remember to make sure you''re prepared."

    "I also said this earlier, this even happens quite frequently. At least five times a year. Additionally, the Eruption only happened in the first floor. Remember that there''s multiple floors of the pagoda here, the higher the floor is, the stronger the devils they contain. And even though I said that we are prepared for the worst case scenario, remember that your safety will be determined by your own efforts. Each battle has its own risks, and if you get careless orcent, then you might end up as a casualty. Keep that in mind."

    "Now, onto the more important topic." Henry cleared his throat before saying. "Congrattions Unit-17,pared to the rest of the units I handling, you people were the ones who gave the best performance during your initial hunt. Your rewards are already sent onto your base, make sure to check them outter once you rested enough."

    "Additionally, the Merit Points you earned through killing Imps will be recorded and sent to youter. If you haven''t received yours via tomorrow morning, make sure to contact me so that we can solve the problem. The same goes if you think that the Merit Points you received are less than what you were expecting. I left you guys a list of devils and their Merit Point equivalent back at the base, you guys better memorize that and monitor how much points you have."

    "Now, aside from the item rewards, I''ll also be bestowing you guys 5,000 Unit Merit Points. I don''t need to exin what the Unit Merit Points means right?"

    The junior disciples shook their head to this question. Each of them had already read the introductory books and documents of the Ancient Elysium Sect and the matter about the Unit Merit Points were written there.

    To put in simpler terms, Unit Merit Points are something that is earned by the team as a whole. They could earn it by doing Missions which specifically required multiple Unit Members to aplish. Unit Merit Points could be used in multiple ways but the most popr way of using it is by upgrading their base.

    Additionally, items and resources that are bought by using Unit Merit Points are properties owned by the Unit as a whole. This means that everyone on the unit could use it if they got permission from their teammates to do so.

    "Good. Now that that''s out of the way, you guys decide amongst yourselves on how you''re going to spend them. Remember that you could always earn more Merit Points bypleting a mission. Be wise on how you spend them since you can''t return any items once the purchase is made."

    "On to the next point." Henry cleared his throat once more and said: "It''s time for us to discuss the matter of Bi-Annual Assessment."

    "What''s this Bi-annual assessment you ask? Then let me exin." Henry ced his hands on his back and started exining. "Just like how it sounds, every six months your Unit as well as the others, will receive a Unique Mission from me. Depending on how you guys perform, the rewards will vary. But most importantly, if you pass the assessment, then your records will gradually umte."

    "This Bi-annual assessment is created in order to for me to monitor your growths closely. Your results will be kept in record and trust me, these records will be incredibly crucial when the time for me to rmend what unit will receive the chance to enter the Inner Disciple Trials."

    "Of course, there are also other factors that I''ll personally consider. But know that should your Unit receives three failing grades consecutively, there''s no way that I''ll be rmending you to the Inner Disciple Trials. If you failed six times in a row, then I must apologize but I''ll have you all expelled."

    Hearing this words from him caused and invisible pressure to descend on Unit-17, this goes specially well for the weaker links on the team. Well, anyone who''s on their shoes will feel the same. The stakes are high and if they don''t work hard then it''s possible for them to drag the whole team down. If the whole unit got expelled due to their fault, then forget about devils, their own teammates might be the ones who will personally kill them.

    "The best way to make sure that you guys won''t be expelled is to keep getting stronger. I don''t think I need to remind you of that but just in case." Henry smiled.

    "On the final note, you guys have to remember that I won''t always be apanying you and protecting you from the shadows. My status is crucial to the sect so I''m bound to be busy most of the times but I''ll still be monitoring your progress. I already gave you guys my transmission sign. If you have anything important to tell me, then don''t hold back."

    "Remember that you all are one Unit, Unit-17. If you guys aren''t going to help each other, then don''t expect anyone else to help you."

    "Okay, that''s all for me. I know you guys are tired so go get some rest and check out your trophiester." Henry gave one final smile before he turned around and started walking away.

    Unit-17 gave him a salute and they jumped down from the cliff in order to return to their rooms.

    Raven gave the constructs one final look before jumping down and returning to his ownir. Once he entered, he released a long sigh and sat on his bed. His eyes then fell towards his kitchen which caused his stomach to grumble.

    Shaking his head, he stood up and prepared himself a simple meal. After eating, he took a quick shower, changed his clothes and lied down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a good amount of time before feeling drowsy. Raven then allowed himself to fall asleep, he wasn''t incredibly exhausted but he still spent a decent amount of his energy.

    There''s still at least 60% left on his Cosmic Energy tank, which he should be able to recovered in just a couple of days.

    As his consciousness gradually faded away, Raven thought about his ns for the next following days. Just like he discussed with the team during the hunt, their first task is to learn more about devils. That requires them to do some research which means that everyone in the team must participate.

    Additionally, he''s also curious as to what kind of rewards they got from Henry. He could always check themter once he''s properly rested.

    Finally, he wondered how many Merit Points he''s able to snag during the siege. Raven had lost count on how many Imps he sniped, but he''s pretty sure it was a lot. Hopefully he managed to umte as much Merit Points as possible, that''ll get him closer to the first item that he truly wanted to buy.

    Raven highly doubted that he''ll get that many Merit Points this early and he''s fine with that. So long as he have the resources he needed, he''ll eventually be unstoppable, but that matter can wait.

    Of course, he also wanted to roam the entirety of Tartarus this time around just so that he could familiarize himself with it. He wanted to discover everything it has to offer and devise a n that will allow him to earn as much Merit Points as possible.. All in all, he just needed time, a good n and hard work and he''ll eventually reach the ce where he wanted to be.

 Chapter 482 - Rewards I

    ---

    "Alright, everyone''s here. It''s time to check out our rewards!" Jason said in an upbeat tone as all of them sat in a circle.

    He stood up and walked towards the middle where a huge box was ced. Jason lifted the lid under everyone''s gaze and as soon as he did so, the room they were in immediately brightened up due to the lighting out of the box.

    As the one who opened the box, Jason was the first one to see its contents. His reaction was rich and visible to some of his teammates, making them tense up and unconsciously raise their expectations.

    Jason swallowed some spit as his hands trembled while he reached out for the first item. Under everyone''s watch, he lifted the first item and instantly it was exposed for everyone to see.

    The item on his hand looked like a toy, it was a miniature chariot being pulled by wooden horses. Nevertheless, none of them here were idiots. Judging by the energy fluctuation being released by this ''toy'', it was evident that it''s not just a simple item.

    "I think this is a shuttle." Jason murmured as he handed it to the person closest to him, allowing them to inspect it. Each member of the unit had the chance to inspect it closely and pretty much agreed with Jason''s guesses.

    "How do we activate this again?" Michelle asked as she passed the miniature shuttle to the person next to her which happens to be Raven.

    Jason didn''t know how to reply, he was considering the idea of asking Henry about it when Raven suddenly spoke.

    "See this circle right here?" Raven pointed out, causing many eyes to focus on him. "It''s divided into twelve parts which coincides with how many of us are here in the team. This fe needs a drop of our blood so that any of us would be able to activate it."

    As he said this, Raven nicked a wound on his finger and ced a drop of his blood om the shuttle, more specifically on the circle that he pointed out earlier. Once he did so, everyone saw how his blood was absorbed and one part of circle''s division lit up red, signifying that his words were urate.

    He then passed it over to Jason who did the same thing. Once everyone''s blood was absorbed by the shuttle, it suddenly trembled and released a bright light as well a unique fluctuation that swept through each of them. All of a sudden, information came rushing towards their brain. The said information were details on how to activate the shuttle and how to take care of it.

    As soon as everyone assorted the new things that they learned, Jason took the shuttle and ced it beside him. They will test out the carriageter, for now there are other items in the box to inspect.

    Jason returned his attention inside the box and picked up another item.

    What he got on his hands were an item set. A series of gs filled with different runes and a ck sphere connected to each g with an almost invisible string.

    Some people were clueless about this item but others weren''t.

    "Ooh! Array Core and gs! An exotic item!" Edward eximed as he leaned closer to look. Jason handed the item towards him since this guy knows that it is.

    Edward inspected it closely for a while and released a long sigh: "Man, I can''t believe we got something like this for free. This must be he expensive."

    "What does it do?" Franklin asked.

    "Using simpler terms, this thing could open up a pocket dimension." Edward stated much to the shock of everyone around. "It won''t just make us very secure, it also doesn''t block the vision outside. Meaning that we can see what''s happening on our surroundings while we are inside a pocket dimension. I don''t know how stable the pocket dimension is but since it''s crafted here, then I trust the quality. We really lucked out on this one."

    "If that''s true then it really must be an expensive item. We better take good care of it. Even though Senior Brother Henry said that infighting is prohibited in the sect, I somehow don''t entirely believe in it." Ryan stated which acted as a warning for the team as a whole.

    "I agree with him. Humans, specially when faced with a desperate situation, won''t hesitate to do the unthinkable. We better be on guard with the other Units but don''t make it obvious. We''ll work together from now on." Franklin added.

    And just like before, every person on the team inspected the item closely before returning it to Jason. He ced it down and took another item from the box. This time it was a small crate filled with sses that exudes an aromatic scent.

    Raven didn''t need to see for him to know that these are, without a doubt, medicinal pills. And from the scent alone, he could tell that they were concocted by a grandmaster.

    "Medicinal Pills. There''s three crates here, each are filled with twelve bottles so one for each of us." Jason stated. He briefly inspected the crates and tried to look for some details but failed to see one, causing him to frown.

    "What''s wrong?" Nelson asked as he saw Jason frowning.

    "Uh, well. I can''t see any details about what these pills do. There''s no list orbels attached to the crate. Are they expecting us to take it and consume it without knowing what they are?"

    "Bring it to me." Raven stated softly, causing everyone to focus on his again. "I dabbled in Alchemy a bit. I should be able to tell what they do."

    "Hey! Isn''t that too risky? Just because you know some Alchemy doesn''t mean that you can just guess what these pills can do. They are made by the experts of the sect, your meager skills would just lead us astray."

    Some people weren''t even surprised anymore that for some reason, under any circumstances avable, this woman will never hesitate to grasp the chance to antagonize Raven and demean him in every way she could think of.

    "Woman." A single word from Floyd not only changed the strange atmosphere that threatened to descend upon them but also intimidated Mira and her twin sister greatly.

    "You are a bitch do you know that?" Floyd continued, causing Mira''s face to turn ugly. "Not only do you not contribute, you even tried to prevent others from helping. I''m starting to think that you''re doing this in purpose, which also makes me want to cut you down."

    "T-that''s not¡­" Before she could even finish her words, she was stopped by Michelle.

    "Girl, what is wrong you really? Why do you hold such a profound hatred against him? Did he do something to you?" Michelle asked with a serious tone. "I never saw him doing anything to you. He had been great help to all of us so why are you doing this? Is there something you want to let us know?"

    "I-I¡­"

    "Please just ignore her, she''s just tired, anxious and unsettled. Must be the air around here. She''ll be fine I promise, I''ll take to herter." Pyra interjected before Mira could even speak, she''s also discretely pinching her sister''s sides to prevent her from talking.

    "Alright, we''ll do as you say." Jason pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to diffuse the awkwardness thanks to Mira. He then handed the crates towards Raven and said: "Give it a try, if you can''t find anything then we''ll ask Senior Brother instead."

    Raven nodded,pletely ignoring the raging violet witch not too far from him.

    He picked up one bottle from the top crate and ced it closed to his nose. As soon as he inhaled the scent of the medicine, his knowledge about Alchemy started working and immediately allowed him to more or less figure out what the medicine does.

    Under everyone''s questioning gaze, he lifted his sleeve and wed on his entire arm, leaving a long and ugly gash and causing the majority of the team to be rmed. But under their dumbstruck gazes, he popped the cork from the bottle, took a single pill out and shaved some power from the pill.

    He gathered the shaved powder, which was barely visible, and sprinkled it on his injured arm.

    Everyone watched as therge gash on his arm healed a visible pace. The wound closed up and the scars dried up, leaving on scabs that scattered off with a blow of air from him.

    He then ced the pill back on the bottle, sealed it once again with the quirk and ced it beside him. He then looked at them as exined:

    "As you witnessed just now, this bottle contains a healing pill. Each pill is incredibly potent which makes me believe that this can save you from the brink of death and return you to your peak state in no time. In short, this is a life-saving pill. This should be some sort of life insurance, so keep it close and take care of it."

    When Raven finished his exnation, the whole room descended into silence.

 Chapter 483 - Rewards II

    ---

    "Okay, first of all what the fuck?" Jason was the one who reacted first. "Did you really have to do that to your arm? Are you out of your mind?"

    His words summarized what the others were thinking too. They couldn''t help but think if that was really necessary but then they remembered that someone rudely antagonized him just now so he might''ve done that just to silence his hater.

    Hearing his questions on caused Raven to shrug it off.

    "But more importantly, these pills are pretty much priceless isn''t it?" Jonathan said as he stared at the pills bottles. "How many pills are inside each bottle?"

    "There''s five." Raven answered.

    "So that''s like five extra lives for us. Ain''t that neat? If you''re really in a pinch, you can also use it just the way he did just now in order to squeeze as much value out of it as possible. That''s incredible." Jonathan added.

    "Will there be any side effects?" Nelson asked.

    "I don''t think so. If there is, I should be feeling traces of it by now." He answered.

    "Which makes this pills even more incredible." Franklin added, "I can''t believe that we''re receiving something like this during our first week here. Just this alone raises my expectations for what''s toe, that being said we also need to work hard and have the best results in order for us to receive these things again."

    "If they could hand something like this to us, then I can''t even imagine what they will give us when we show a very promising result. Gah, I''m feeling fired up." Edwardmented.

    "Okay, let''s calm down. This is just the beginning. Each of us will take a pill bottle, after that we''ll let Raven check out the next crate."

    And just like what Jason stated, each member received a bottle of life-saving pills. Raven kept the bottle which has the one pill he took shavings from. After everyone received theirs, Raven moved on to the next crate and picked up a bottle from it to inspect.

    He removed the cork and sniffed the fragrance escaping from the opening. He paused for a bit as his mind gradually identified the ingredients used to make the pill, from there he could discover what kind of pill this is and what effect its going to have if an individual consumes it.

    Just like before, everyone saw that Raven took out a single pill from the bottle before sealing it again with the cork. He took of some shavings from it once again before returning it to the bottle. However, he didn''t injure himself this time. And instead of applying it externally, he sprinkled the powder onto his mouth and went into a meditative state.

    His actions were a bit questionable for them but they could only wait for him to reveal the detailster. They didn''t have to wait that long either, it only took Raven a minute before his eyes opened again. He then started exining.

    "This is a pill that hastens cultivation speed." Raven stated, "Just now, with that amount, I could feel an improvement of 3%."

    "Holy shit!"

    "You are kidding!"

    "That''s absurd!"

    Violent reactions were heard from the group as they heard his statement. How can they not be shocked? How could a pill have such an effect? Raven just consumed some shavings off of it! In theory that shouldn''t even be enough to have any effect at all but there he was, saying that he felt an improvement of 3%.

    "You''re always free to try it yourselves if you don''t believe me." Raven shrugged amidst their doubtful reactions. "Anyway, let me finish."

    "Although I can''t tell how much boost we will receive if we consume an entire pill, I have no doubts that it''d be no less than shocking. Additionally, it''s also quite possible for this pill to harmonize with external tools such as a good cultivation environment, or other supplements such as medicines or tools that could allow you to enter a pseudo-enlightenment state."

    If Raven''s first revtion already shocked them this much, then his words just now left them reeling. Aren''t these medicines a little too absurd? To think that they''ll be receiving something like this with minimal effort is just¡­

    "Do you guys want to hear my suggestions?" Raven asked, causing some of them to raise a brow.

    Jason spoke for the team and said: "Let''s hear it."

    "For those who are nning to switch their cultivation techniques, then I rmend that you consume this pills after switching. The sect doesn''tck strong cultivation techniques or resources. There''s six pills inside a bottle and because it''s absurdly potent, then it will shorten the time you need to get back from the peak. Now all that''s missing is to purchase a suitable technique, a good environment with great amounts of pure energy and you''re more or less set. If you do it this way, then you''ll at least save up some Merit Points since we basically received these pills for free. But of course, the decision is still yours in the end."

    Switching cultivation techniques at this point basically means starting from scratch. Usually, those who made up their mind to do so, will start umting resources so that they could return to their previous realm as soon as they could. This process could be incredibly expensive depending on the circumstances but thanks to this pills, anyone in Unit-17 who''s nning to switch could save up Merit Points since this pill bottle should be enough to get them back to their peak.

    The members, specially the weaker links, fell into deep thought upon hearing his suggestions. Actually, now that he mentioned it, switching their cultivation methods sounds rather tempting, specially afterying eyes on their absurd numbers in the Repository Hall.

    "Thanks for the great suggestion, I think it''s not only me who''s rather tempted to switch their cultivation methods however now''s not the time, we''ll discuss thatter." Jason said, once again taking the lead as how it should be.

    The cultivation enhancement pill was distributed to each member. Now, only thest crate remains and once again, Raven did his own ritual of sniffing the scent, thinking and consuming some of its shavings before exining the effects.

    What''s different is that, this third pill appears to be something that Raven found the most absurd of it all. He hadn''t said anything yet but its already visible on his face.

    "God damn, this is some good shit." Raven spat in a vulgar tone. He cleared his throat and recovered hisposure since his teammates are looking at him weirdly. After that, he started exining.

    "My energy reserves just expanded by a percent just now."

    That right there, was enough for everyone to know what Raven wanted to say. But that didn''t make it any less than surprising. In fact, that''s probably the most impactful way to reveal the effects of the pill.

    "B-but¡­how?" Even Ryan, the guy who appears as stoic as rock most of the times, lost hisposure and were stuttering.

    "How can that be? I mean, I get it this is the Ancient Elysium Sect but this is just¡­I don''t even know what to say! Are you sure?" Jason was too shocked by this revtion that even he couldn''t help but to ask one more time.

    "It''s not some secret anymore that I haverge energy reserves right?" Raven asked, to which most of them agreed. They witnessed it first hand during their time with the constructs. While most of them dismounted early since they were running out of energy, Raven remained on it until the end of the siege.

    "Medicines that has an effect like this doesn''t have any effect on me anymore. But this one is different. I could clearly feel its effect. And there''s no reason for me to lie to you. Additionally, it expands your energy reserves in a systematical way. Meaning that it won''t raise your cultivation level nor will cause it to be chaotic. Because of that, in your future breakthroughs you would still gain the benefit of the natural energy reserve increase."

    "My god¡­" Michelle whispered breathlessly as her stare at the pill bottle turned a little too heated.

    "Aha-ahahaha¡­" Edward awkwardlyughed, "What the hell is this ce dude? What did I get myself into? I don''t feel like I''m fucking worthy of these."

    "I know how that feels." Juniper murmured, but was heard by majority of the team.

    "How many pills are in each bottle?" Floyd asked with a solemn tone.

    "There''s five."

    "FIVE!!!???" Majority of the team reacted violently.

    "I feel like there''s a punchline somewhere. If there''s not then I''m going to faint from shock." Jason stated with twitching lips. He then had an idea, "There should be some side-effects right? I refuse to believe that something this good doesn''t have any side-effects."

    His words was like a wake-up call for everyone, they all looked at Raven and waited for him to answer.

    Hearing his question caused Raven''s face to turn weird, which somehow got them nervous. He sighed and said:

    "Well¡­"

    (To be continued¡­)

 Chapter 484 - Rewards (End)

    ---

    "Well¡­" Raven paused before saying: "It should have a diminishing effect the more pills you consume. I can''t say how much difference there will be but¡­"

    "It doesn''t really diminish the usefulness and awesomeness of this pill. I get it." Jason continued his sentence for him. "In fact, I''m not shocked to hear that ''side-effect'' if we could even call it that way, I''m relieved but not so much if I''m being honest. I don''t even know how I can make full use out of this."

    Majority of the team shares the same sentiment as Jason. They just couldn''t believe that they got something like this basically for free. They can''t help but feel conflicted inside. For one they wanted to keep it for themselves since who the hell in the right mind would refuse something like this, but on the other hand, they couldn''t help but ask themselves if they were worthy to receive all of this.

    "If we think about it closely¡­" Ryan spoke after a while of silence, "Resources like this must be widely avable to the sect. Which means that, it wasn''t only going to be us who will consume this."

    "Senior Brother said so before, the sect doesn''tck what we need and so long as we render meritorious services for the sect, they won''t hesitate to give us what we want. Come to think of it, this pills should be one of the clues to figure out why War Gods are that formidable."

    Ryan looked at Franklin and Edward before saying: "No offense to you two but the Empyreans of Azure Sun Great World looks likemon geniuses in front of our Senior Brother. I''ve never met someone who gives off that kind of aura in my life. But if we''re looking at it closely, Senior Brother''s cultivation realm is inferior yet he''s as strong, if not stronger, than them."

    "Which gets me thinking that, that''s at least one thing about being War Gods. Cultivations Realms had no meaning. Which is why they are widely respected and feared. Since our Senior Brother is a War God, then he''s our first basis of what we have to achieve in order to be titled as War Gods too. And I reckon that this pill is just one of the resources they consumed. They probably consider it as trash by now if I''m being honest."

    "What I''m saying is that, we want to be Inner Disciples as soon as we could yeah? Then we better start umting strength as early as now. We can''t rely on half-hearted efforts if we want to achieve something great. Senior Brother gave this to us since he felt that we''re worthy of it. If he could hand out something like this that easily, then what do you guys think we will receive if we disyed our hard work?"

    Ryan''s statement was impactful and no one could retort it. It just sets their imaginations alight and left them feeling inspired and determined.

    Raven was silent but he too felt this way, in fact even stronger that most of them. Truly, his decision toe here was one of the best decisions he ever made.

    "Alright, let''s all calm down for a bit okay?" Jason smiled wryly, "What Ryan said made a lot of sense and I think we should keep it mind. As for how you consume your pills, you decided, however I hope that you think about the well-being of the team for a bit when you do, it''s not that hard."

    "Okay, let''s distribute the resources and move on. There''s still stuff to take out and discussions to have after this." As Jason said this, Raven began distributing thest crate of pills while Jason turned around to take out the next resource on the box.

    After everyone got theirs, their attention returned to Jason who''s now holding the next resource from the box, in fact he''s holding two of them. One was a book, and one is a stack of ticket stubs.

    "This book is the one that Senior Brother told us about, I think. It should be the one that contains the descriptions of devils and their bounties. As for the other one, I think they''re for the cultivation environments. We''ve been umting a lot of those, so I think we go ahead and visit it soon."

    Jason''s guesses were on point. The book indeed contains records about all known Devils on Tartarus. It also contains how much Merit Points one could earn from a specific kind of Devil so this is bound to be very important.

    As for the ticket stubs, they each contained a full week''s worth on any cultivation environment of their choosing. And just like what Jason said, they''ve been umting a lot of those so a visit towards the halls is definitely needed.

    After distributing the ticket stubs, Jason once again took out something from the badge. This time, its a unique looking device.

    It looked like a globe that has the simr partitions like the one present on the chariot earlier. It looked dull and unimpressive as well. Ites along with several thin wrist bangles that looked like a simple metal strap with some runes etched on its surface.

    "I have no idea what this is. But this should be something that works like the chariot. Maybe we will know if we ce a drop of our blood in it." Jason suggested.

    No one disagreed so he went first, and as soon as his blood touched the globe, it absorbed the blood and released a soft glow of light, which confirms Jason''s theory earlier. The globe then absorbed the blood of everyone on the team. It released a brilliant glow of it light and began transforming in front of them.

    It changed shape. It became a rectangr metal piece floating in the air, it''s also released some soft fluctuations as well showing rows of information on its surface.

    The words are written using Elven Language, something that''s universally known. It contains the names of each one of them as well as their current location and their status. There are also some legends written underneath which tells them what some signs and figures means.

    "Ah, so this is like a monitoring device." Edward said as they collectively inspected the item in front of them. "It contains our basic information and tracks our location periodically. It also shows our statuses, which means that when some of us went out, the rest can monitor if we''re alive, in danger or dead. That''s very useful."

    It''s indeed as Edward says. This item right here is going to be very useful and pretty much confirms the fact that not all of them will be required to go out in the hunt every single time. Some people will be left in the base and they could always designate someone to monitor the device to see whether their teammates are doing well or in danger.

    "It also says here that we could use these wristbands tomunicate with each other. The wristbands also contains a tracking device which we could use to search someone should they go missing. This screen only tells us the name of the ce were in but the wristbands could track other wristbands, allowing us to locate each other. It''s indeed very useful, specially in ce like this where visibility is low."

    Michelle''s words were also on point, this item will definitely be of great use for them when timees. With this and the other resources they got from Henry, their security and chances against devils had gone better. It gave them no reason to hesitate about facing them at all. Andpared to the other units, their team got an upper-hand. If they do not full take-advantage of this and still fail to disy great results, then they deserve to be punished.

    "Okay, we''re down to thest items on the box. And from looks of it, it seems like they''re constructs." Jason informed after inspecting thest items within the box.

    These constructs are currently small, they rested on his palms perfectly. There''s four of them with identical designs. As for what they do, that''s what they''re about to figure out.

    Inspecting the constructs closely, they saw the simr sphere with partitions connecting each construct. And just like how the earlier iterations went, they once again let the sphere absorb their blood and once that''s out of the way, the constructs grew bigger or more urately, returned to their original size.

    It turns out that these constructs were called as Sentinels. Their task is to guard the base, protecting it from any potential harm. The disciples doesn''t need to interfere with the constructs too much since they were fully automated.

    They could function on their own. With a simple scan of the current base of Unit-17, they already determined their patrol route and immediately went after it. The team barely even had the chance to inspect them close enough.

    Since they were activated by the blood of the whole unit, they will be recognized the by the Sentinels.. As for other people, they need to have someone from the team escorting them or else they''ll be considered as intruders and will be attacked on sight.

 Chapter 485 - Team Discussions

    ---

    The team assorted everything that received from the resource rewards. After putting the box away, they decided to take a short break before re-grouping again since they have other matters to discuss about.

    "Alright, let''s talk about important matters that we need to aplish as a whole." Jason stated as soon as everyone was gathered.

    "During the distribution of the rewards just now, a couple of matters were brought up by Raven. I think we need to start on those." Jason added, "First, I want to ask. Who amongst you ns on switching their cultivation techniques? Raise your hand."

    It was obvious that there were some people who hesitated at first but it didn''t take long before some people raised their hands and confirmed the idea. These people were Juniper, Edward, the twins and surprisingly Nelson.

    "Woah." Jason was astonished, in fact it''s not only him, even the rest were surprised to see the others raised their hand as well.

    "Well, no offense to you but we kind of understand why you''re switching." Jason said to Juniper who didn''t take any offense to his words. "But what about you guys? Most specially you Nelson. If I can remember it correctly, you should''ve received some good inheritance from your family right? What brought this on?"

    Hearing what he said caused Nelson to raise a brow. He wasn''t expecting this guy say something like that but he remembered who he was so he wasn''t surprised. He sighed after that and started exining.

    "I don''t know where you heard that from but it''s nothing really much." Nelson stated, "Just because I am from an Imperial Lineage, it doesn''t mean that I got something good from them. My situation is a bit¡­sensitive. If it''s my other siblings, then sure. But not me. I got lucky since I was epted, and since I''m already here, I might as well get rid of the unnecessary shackles on me."

    Nelson''s words sounded very cryptic but some people could vaguely understand what he''s trying to say. It would seem that there''s more to the stories that''s being proliferated by the public. Nelson''s rtionship with his family might not be as great as one would think. However, they''re in no position to pry so they''ll just have to leave it like that.

    "You twins? How about you?" Jason asked.

    "Nothing much, just don''t want to be a burden to you all." Pyra replied before Mira could, Jason could vaguely see that Pyra was doing something to Mira to prevent her from speaking. "Our strength''s are mediocre at best, if its outside then we''re not that bad but here is a different story, specially after witnessing some of our teammates. We don''t want to be the ones holding you back. We have the same goal."

    "What she said." Mira simply said before looking away.

    Jason nodded and looked at Edward, he asked the same question to him and he answered:

    "Master suggested the idea to me." He said, "At first I was skeptical, but seeing the sheer amount of techniques avable here as well as how many looked extremely tempting for me and the pills just now, I decided to go for it. It''s better to start as soon as possible so I could get back to my peak just as quick. Plus it would only help me in the long run. So why not?"

    His reason''s were sound, but Jason couldn''t help but look at Franklin and ask: "Did your Master told you the same thing?"

    "No, but not because he''s not impressed with the sect or something. I have a unique condition which causes me to look like this. It''s a n heritage thing and I''ve been using a technique that''s tailored to us, I''ll be in danger if I make any changes so¡­yeah."

    "Oh, okay. Sorry." Jason said.

    "It''s fine, you guys needed to know that anyway." Franklin waved his hand and smiled, signifying that he wasn''t offended at all.

    Jason nodded and said: "Okay, since you guys have decided to do so, then I think you should go for it. Have you guys chose something already?"

    The people who were switching shook their heads in unison. No one was surprised, after all the matter of switching cultivation techniques was only brought up earlier, that''s not enough for them to make their choices.

    "You guys should make a trip to the Repository Hall when you have the time." Raven interjected, "The staff there might give you some suggestions, if they won''t, then you can ask some of the older disciples there for their opinions. It won''t hurt to try."

    "Great idea actually." Jason followed, "Let''s schedule thatter. For now, let''s continue our discussions."

    "I want to add something, may I?" Michelle raised her hand all of a sudden. Jason then looked at her and nodded. She cleared her throat for a bit before saying:

    "Since we''re at the matter of switching techniques, I''d like to raise the point that we should all at least pick some auxiliary techniques, most specifically the ones that helps us scout our surroundings." Michelle stated, causing everyone to focus.

    "There''s only a few of us here had spying techniques, all of which are suppressed by some kind of force in the Devil''s Cradle. A scouting range of only a couple of miles is quite pathetic to be totally honest, specially when we consider that most of the devils we will encounter are very quick and could totallynd an ambush if we got careless. I suggest that each of us should learn a new one, that way, no matter who goes out and how many, they would be able to sense devils and prepare for it better."

    "Well said." Jason praised, "I agree with the idea, if you guys can afford it, then by all means buy it as early as you could. Just as Michelle said, this so that we can cover our weaknesses and boost our survival chance."

    "So? Anyone else who wants to say something before we move on?" Jason asked this time around just to make sure. No one raised their hand so he nodded and went ahead to discuss the next part of the discussion.

    "Alright, let''s move on." Jason started, "The next thing I want to discuss about is the matter of earning both Personal Merit Points and Unit Merit Points."

    He paused for a bit before saying: "Just like what Senior Brother told us, even though he won''t always be with us, it doesn''t mean that he won''t be paying attention to us. That means we can''t ck off at all. The best way to show him our efforts is by clearing as many missions as much as we could. But that raises the problem of how."

    This earned a couple of frowns from the rest but Jason continued:

    "What I meant by that is, we can''t just expect that we could just grab any mission and run away with it. There''s bound to different Mission Grades if you know what I mean. And if that''s the case, then it usually means that not just about any Unit can im a high graded mission. There might be a credibility requirement for each, so that means we have to start from the bottom. Do you guys understand where I''m going with this?"

    Everyone nodded, it''s not really that hard to decipher the meaning behind his words.

    "It''s just us who wanted to earn Merit Points, others wants to earn as much as they could as well. We''re not onlypeting with the other Units under Senior Brother Henry, we''re alsopeting with everyone else. And if we could realize this by ourselves, then we should assume that they could too."

    "Which means that we have to make sure to grab as many Merit Points under the fierce this fierce environment. If we fall off, then we''re bound to get left behind." Jason stated, "I also want us to expect some underhanded tacticsing into y. Even though it is stated that we''re not allowed to hurt each other, humans - if they''re desperate, could do something unthinkable. So we have to be on guard."

    Jason''s words caused some of his teammates to feel nervous. Needless to say that it''s a necessary evil and a wake up call. Just like what he said, Human heart is one of the iprehensible thing in this world, especially if it''s desperate. All of them had their fair share of witnessing this so it''s nothing knew but this is also a foreign environment, which is why their nervousness is valid.

    "Of course it would be for the best if the situation isn''t what I was expecting but we can never really tell. So just in case, please be careful everyone." Jason reminded them out of kindness, which made everyone appreciate him in a new way.

    "Okay! Since that''s out of the way and we have free time, why don''t we go out and explore Tartarus in batches so that we can cover more ground?" Jason suggested.

    This idea caused everyone to be surprised but it didn''t take long before everyone agreed. And since the decisions were made, the meeting ended right here for now and the team formed small batches to explore Tartarus.

 Chapter 486 - First Step

    ---

    Three days passed by after Unit-17''s distribution of their rewards. The whole team went on several errands and had couple of meetings in order to familiarize themselves to the sect and it went surprisingly smooth.

    The members who had nned on switching their cultivation techniques paid a visit to the Repository Hall to ask for opinions. At first they thought that they''ll have a hard time picking and that the staff weren''t going to give them any suggestion. Surprisingly however, it turns out that not only they were willing to help, they even gave them many options to choose.

    The advice weren''t free, they had to pay a small amount of Merit Points for it but none of them were surprised. In fact, it makes sense like this. And it''s not like they were scammed by doing so. The amount of Merit Points they paid for it was worth it since the opinions and options they got were plenty. All that''s left for them to do is to pick which technique was the most suitable for them and start switching to it.

    On a different note though, during their tour Unit-17 discovered an important matter that was revealed to them by one of the older disciples in Tartarus. It turns out that at least 90% of the disciples around here were dual cultivators with the minority being triple cultivators.

    Only a very small part of the sect''s poption wereposed of one-trick-ponies, which was very surprising for them but its something that they should''ve seening. In truth, with how fearsome the enemies are, those who were stronger survives longer, andpared to being a one-trick-pony, being a dual-cultivator is better.

    This was an unexpected news for everyone in the Unit-17. A meeting was called for it and it was decided that the members who will switch would do their best pick a dual-cultivation technique from the Repository in order to get more benefits out of it. As for the those who wasn''t nning on switching, they too started deciding whether to buy an additional technique and cultivate it or to remain as they are right now. The choice was left for them to decide.

    Apart from visiting the Repository Hall, the team pretty much roamed the entirety of Tartarus. They decided to explore in batches in order to cover more ground and through several discussions, they all reported what they saw, allowing everyone to know what they experienced.

    Tartarus follows the shape of a ring, its surrounding the Devil''s Cradle, acting like a seal to prevent the ugly creatures from escaping the interior of the mountain. There are several entrance and exit points on Tartarus. Within it are multiple infrastructures which has different functions, but all are important for the sect and its residence.

    The ones near Unit-17''s base are the Repository Hall, Hall of Enlightenment, Merit Exchange Market, Missions Hall and other offices for older disciples. Aside from those, there are other infrastructures such as the Hall of Challengers, Churches of Gods, Cleansing Chapels and etc.

    After touring Tartarus and familiarizing themselves with it, the unit then decided to take it easy for a bit while Jason and Raven visited the Mission Hall to pick some Missions for the team to aplish.

    They originally nned on taking as many missions as they could but they found out that it doesn''t work like that. Just like what they predicted, there are rules and requirements needed before iming a mission from the hall.

    Missions are divided into different grades: D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS.

    Freshmen Units or individual, with 0-5 years of tenure in the sect, are only permitted to do D - C ranked missions and they are also limited into iming five per month. The only way for Freshmen to apply for higher ranked missions is to have a 10 sessful mission streak or for them to remain in the sect for more than five years.

    A new batch of Missions will be issued in the hall during the 1st of each month. ording to what they heard, the hall will be immensely popted during those times since missions with better rewards will always be swiped by the older disciples, leaving the boring or moreplicated missions behind.

    Nevertheless, neither Jason nor Raven were really affected by this. They weren''t in any positions to be picky for now anyway. They''re just here to im missions in order to gain experience, they weren''t here topete with the older disciples for the better missions just yet.

    The two went inside the Hall in order to check for missions they could get. After looking for a while, they realized that, even though there are still a lot of missions remaining, they were either too dangerous or have rewards which were too low for anyone''s liking, which is why no one''s iming them.

    In the end, they managed to find one missions for the team. It''s a C-ranked mission, and their task is to kill 20 Imps. For this mission, they need to take back their victims'' ear as a proof. The rewards were 250 Unit Merit Points. It wasn''t a lot but it''s a nice starter for the Unit to gain experience. It also has a time limit of one month.

    The two decided to apply for it, after doing that, they remaining inside for some more time. It was Raven''s request since he wanted to look for Missions that gives Personal Merit Points. After roaming around inside the Hall, he ended up not getting any but a certain mission really piqued his interests. Unfortunately, he isn''t qualified for it¡­yet.

    Both of them would''ve loved to register for more missions but unfortunately, they can''t do that just yet. Their credibility is non-existent yet, therefore they could only im one mission at a time.

    Upon returning, they reported their journey to the rest and even though most of them were bummed out by it, there''s really nothing they could do for now.

    Next was to decide on who they will be sending for the mission. For this, Raven decided to sit out on it since he had other things to do. No one contradicted him at all, they just let him return to his room while the team decides who''s going to be sent out to finish the mission.

    Raven returned to his room, and as soon as he did so, he immediately formed several hand seals and flicked his finger at the corners of his room.

    He did this as swift as he could, seal after seal flew from his fingers andnded at wherever he was pointing. After the room was filled with seals, he wiped away the sweat forming on his forehead. He sat down on his bed and inspected his work, double checking it for errors. When he''s satisfied with his work, he closed his eyes and sensed the connection on his psyche. As soon as he did so, he disappeared from his room.

    When his vision returned, he found himself standing in front of a majestic door glittering with a soft golden glow. Solemnness were present on his face as he stared at it.

    It has been a long timeing but the moment finally arrived. Raven was finally standing in front of the doors of this majestic pce.

    After fighting and defeating 100 strong men who were once possessed the Ancestral Divine Crown, he finally arrived here, one step closer to the throne.

    Raven defeated the final challengerst night, and to say that it had been a tough battle was a severe understatement. He hadpletely lost count on how many times he fought with the guy and tasted defeat after defeat. If it wasn''t for the fact that he managed to identally took advantage of the environment, he wouldn''t defeat that guy.

    Nevertheless, a win is a win. The 100th pocket dimension disappeared for good within the Crown Space and no one''s preventing him from approaching the doors of the Pce. Raven wanted to open the doorsst night but he decided against it since he was tired and his time remaining was nearly over, therefore he could only dy it.

    Now that he''s no longer fatigued from the fight and had rested properly, it is time to see what''s inside.

    Raven took a deep breath in and ced his hands on the handles of the door. The moment he did so, his whole body trembled. For the briefest of moment there, he had seen the backs of several silhouettes doing the same exact thing just now. That feeling was incredibly profound, it was as if he could see his predecessors memories just before they entered the pce themselves.

    Nheless, he wasn''t trapped within that moment for too long. He eventually regained his senses and felt that the time was ripe for him to follow their footsteps and see what''s beyond these doors.

    Raven pushed the doors, feeling great resistanceing from it. He could his strength and energy being sapped away rapidly from his body but he didn''t budge, instead it only made him feel more determined.

    He held nothing back and pushed with all of his might, slowly but surely the doors moved and once he finally managed to fully open them he found himself bathing in golden light and stunned speechless from the first spectacle he witnessed inside the pce.

 Chapter 487 - Familiarity

    ---

    "W-what in the world?"

    This were Raven''s first thoughts upon taking his first step inside the pce. He waspletely baffled and confused. Out of all the things that he was expecting to see inside this pce, what lies before him might possibly be one of the least things on that list.

    The interior of the pce was a vast starry space. Raven was standing on top of a milky white road filled with sparkling granules which looked like stars. The road is divided into several partitions, each leading somewhere he has no idea about. In truth however, these weren''t the things that really caught Raven off-guard.

    What surprised him the most is what lies straight ahead. He doesn''t have a good view of it but he could more or less make out what it was.

    There was a gigantic stone steele floating in suspension within this space. It was incredibly massive and thick, he could also see several engravings on the stone steele from where he was standing but he needed to be close enough to see them clearly.

    The thing that surprised him the most is that, that gigantic stone steele was radiating an aura that he''s incredibly familiar to him but he can''t remember what it was to save his life. He was pretty sure that this was his first time seeing this massive stone steele but the aura he felt was too familiar, he just can''t remember what it was for the life of him.

    In fact, it wasn''t just this. The whole starry skies, the very location that he''s in right now, felt incredibly familiar to him but for some reason he can''t remember where he felt this before and it was bugging him.

    "You''re finally here."

    A voice sounded beside Raven, causing him to look over. He then saw the familiar silhouette of Inos and Astrid.

    "Yeah, sorry I took me a while." Raven replied while scratching the back of his head.

    Inos and Astrid looked at each other and smiled, Astrid then told him: "Don''t worry, you didn''t make us wait. In fact, you''re quite quick."

    "Really?" Raven couldn''t help but ask.

    Inos nodded and said: "You were quicker than most of us, while it''s mostly thanks to your luck that you unlocked the entirety of your Cosmic Energy, you''re hard work deserves acknowledgement. Thanks to that, you arrive here sooner than what we were expecting."

    "But you should know that everything doesn''t rely on speed alone." Astrid added, "In fact, speed won''t help you at all for your next objective."

    "Next objective?" Raven tilted his head and asked.

    "Yes." Inos replied, "Just because you entered the Pce, it doesn''t mean that you can sit on the throne already. In fact you''re not even close to it at all. Now''s not the time for you to ck off, the closer you get to the throne the harder your challenges will be. So be prepared for it."

    "Uh, what exactly do I need to do anyway? Forget about sitting on the throne, I don''t even know where it is currently." Raven replied. "And what exactly is this ce anyway? Why do I feel a strange familiarity with it? What''s that stone steele over there? Where does the others roads lead to?"

    The two weren''t shocked when they were faced with Raven''s barrage of questions. They too were the same during their first time here so they can''t really me him.

    However, instead of answering him. The two began walking instead and gestured Raven to follow them. The three began walking towards the direction of the massive stone steele, and as they walked towards it, Inos and Astrid began exining things to Raven.

    "As you can see, this is the interior space of the pce." Inos stated, "It would make sense for you to feel a strange familiarity with it, after all it was Geezer who created this ce. His presence are all over the ce which shouldn''t be surprising."

    "However, the familiarity you feel didn''te from him." Astrid continued, "You''ve only met him twice, you can''t even remember what happened during your first meeting, which means that it''s not his aura that you''re familiar with."

    "What is then?"

    "The clues are all around you, Partner. This shouldn''t be too hard for you." Inos replied with a smile.

    His words then got Raven into thinking. He studied his surroundings once more, trying to search for clues. It didn''t take long for Raven to finallye up with an answer, however his realization still shocked him.

    "The Starry Skies of Spirit World!"

    "Exactly." The two of them replied at the same time.

    "But how? How did Master Geezer able to keep the starry skies here?" Raven was legitimately confused.

    How can he not be? All this time, he was made to understand that the real Starry Skies of the Spirit World is hidden from everyone. It was supposed to be on a ce where no one could find it or enter it. Although Raven was able to call down the Starry Skies of the Spirit World to show itself before, it''s nothing more than a mere projection. He actually had no way of knowing where it is or how to enter it. So howe it''s here?

    "Correction. This isn''t the real Starry Skies of the Spirit World. It''s only a mere clone. A replica." Inos replied, causing Raven to feel surprised once again.

    "That being said, even though it''s only a mere replica, this ce is created using materials that could be found on the real thing, making it infinitesimally close to the actual one." Astrid added.

    "Wait, so that means Master knows where the real Starry Skies are located?" Raven asked in a bewildered tone. The two nodded their heads to answer him.

    Now that was very shocking. Raven wasn''t expecting that his Master knew where the real Starry Skies were located, what''s even more shocking is that he could enter and exit the ce since he was able to gather materials from that ce to create this replica.

    "Master wouldn''t happen to be trapped in there would he? He said that he was trapped somewhere which prevented him from leaving. I remember him telling me that its dangerous where he was, and even he wasn''t confident about his chances of getting out. It wouldn''t happen to be the Starry Skies right." Raven asked in a worried tone.

    "Ah, don''t worry about that." Astrid replied, "He''s trapped in a different ce. Although the location of the Starry Skies are elusive and difficult to enter, it hardly poses any danger at all. It''s either you can get in or not. I don''t remember anyone dying on their attempts so you can be rest assured that he''s not there."

    "We''re all worried about him, but right now you just have to focus on what''s in front of you. You can''t go where he''s at just yet. You also don''t need to worry to much about him. When ites to surviving, only a few people could hold a candle to Geezer. He''ll be fine." Inos gave him a reassuring smile, causing Raven to sigh in relief.

    They''re right, he should just focus on what''s in front of him. The sooner he gets stronger the earlier he could help his master escape. There''s no point on worrying about him now since he''s not even strong enough to know where he''s trapped anyway.

    At some point on their journey, Raven stopped speaking and all of the unnecessary thoughts in his mind were gone. All of his attention were now focused on what''s in front of him. And that''s where the gigantic stone steele was suspended.

    Now that he''s closer to it, Raven could finally see it clearly and inspect it closer.

    Due to him being far away, he failed to realize that the engravings on the gigantic stone steele were actually depictions of several creatures connected together by lines, only when he was closer did he managed to see them clearly.

    Once they were closed enough, Inos and Astrid paused on their tracks, which also stopped Raven from going any further.

    "This is the Steele of Constetions. Master created this by collecting several materials from the Spirit World and forging this gigantic stone steele. Engraved in the surface of this steele, is all the constetions present in the Starry Skies of the Spirit world. Even without Geezer''s presence, even the newly formed constetions are showing up here automatically."

    "So far, there''s at least 998 constetions present within the stone steele." Astrid added, "And your task is to gain the acknowledgement of all of them, including the ones that will show upter."

    "Are you serious!?" Raven couldn''t help but raise his voice when he heard this ridiculous task.

    How can he not be? 998? And that''s not even all of them? Isn''t this task a little to steep for him to clear? 998 is a huge number. How long is he going to be stuck here this time? And even though she said that he''ll only need their acknowledgement, who''s to say if he''lle out of it unscathed?

    "I''m afraid not.." Astrid replied, "Only by being acknowledged by all with you be able to sit on the crown as the true Heir of the Ancestral Divine Crown.

 Chapter 488 - Eden & Scripture Graveyards

    ---

    "The method of how will depend on you. We used different methods during our turn and its a unanimous decision that we will not interfere with whatever you decided upon. What matters is the result. If you could gain all of their acknowledgement, then you''ll naturally know where to search for the throne."

    Inos told him more details but it still didn''t make things any lessplicated for Raven.

    The matter of gaining the acknowledgement of 998 Spirit Entities appeared extremely arduous to him. Raven had no idea where to begin or how to begin.

    "Well, don''t stress to much about it. You''re in no time limit anyway. So long as you live you''ll have chances, once you finished the task, then there''s only a handful of people in the Divine Realm that could block your path. For now, let''s get away from this ce and go to the other locations here." Astrid suggestion, earning a nod from Raven.

    Raven released a long exhale and walked away from the stone steele. The two were now leading him towards the other locations of the pce. His mind was still a bit reeling from the revtion just now but just like they said, he has time. So long as he lives, he''ll get his chances. There''s no point on worrying about it right now.

    Three walked for quite some time before they arrived at another door, due to Inos and Astrid being in their soul form, they weren''t allowed to open the door. Only Raven, the current holder of the crown could enter interact with the doors without suffering any kind of punishment.

    Knowing this, Raven stepped forward and pushed the doors open. Once he stepped inside, he felt some sort of connection within his psyche getting clearer. The moment he stepped inside, he arrived at a rather familiar ce.

    It was a vast field filled with rich greenery and has a clear blue sky. He was surrounded with tall and vibrant trees as well as some furniture and things that he had seen before.

    "This is¡­Eden?" Raven asked, unsure if the name he uttered was correct.

    Inos and Astrid looked over to him and nodded, confirming that his guesses were correct.

    Right, this ce is the Eden where Raven had his 7th Transformation and where his Avatars were located. The feeling he got earlier was the connection with him and his Avatars. It''s been a while but due to him not having proper ess to the interior of the pce, his connection with his Avatars were also suppressed by some kind of unknown force. He could still feel the connection and the thought links were still there but since Raven left them here, he can''t get them out.

    However, now that he''s granted ess here, he could now freely enter and exit this ce as he likes.

    Aside from his clones, there are also other resources here that''s left for him. One of them were the meditation mats where his Avatars were currently seated. Those mats could help elerate his thoughts and calm him and his avatars down.

    There''s also the massive ball of Equinox Waters, the same waters that he used to finish his 7th Transformation. So long as he''s here, he could use these waters to replenish his missing energies, allowing him to freely test out as many skills as he could possibly learn.

    There are also fruits and ingredients here that he could use to concoct something incredible. There are also other devices here which are currently blocked by a seal, preventing him from interacting with them for now. However, it''s safe to assume that once he bes a True Heir, everything here will belong to him.

    "This Eden is specially created for training purposes. This ce is going to be one of the most important ces you''ll visit often on your path towards the top. However, you have to understand that the resources left here are finite. The things you can use right now, you naturally can use at your own discretion, but remember that if you''re not careful, you''ll eventually ran out of them. So keep that in mind."

    Astrid''s warning was a weed one. Raven was thankful that she said something since if she didn''t then he would definitely be confused in the future. Of course he''ll eventually know about it but knowing it earlier is better.

    "The things that are sealed for now will eventually be unsealed once you''ve met the appropriate conditions to unseal them. Don''t worry too much about them, you''ll naturally be informed about it when timeses." Inos stated, "Well then, since there''s not much to see here, let''s move on."

    Raven nodded and left Eden shortly after with the two guides on tow. Therge doors of Eden closed after they exited. From then on, the two once again lead the way towards the next destination within the pce.

    The three didn''t go that far. They arrived at the next location shortly after and when they did, Raven once again opened the doors for them and stepped inside.

    As soon as he took the first step inside, the world around him changed once more. Instead of being in a vast starry skies, walking on a milky way road. They arrived at arge vast ce filled with numerous hills and mountains.

    Raven could feel a stifling pressure sweeping towards him as soon as he entered, thanks to his indomitable will and strong spirit however, he could more or less ignore this pressure like it was air.

    Each hilltop or mountain peak had a different story to tell. He could see some sort of altar on each one, making him think that there must be somethings hiding within or beneath those altars.

    "This is another important location, Partner." Inos stated, "During my turn, I found myself frequently visiting this ce you know?"

    "Care to tell me more?" Raven asked since he truly has no idea what''s so special after this ce.

    "This ce is called the Scripture Graveyard." Inos stated, causing Raven to raise an eyebrow. "You''ll eventually understand once you experience it. Why don''t you try climbing one of the smaller hills?"

    Raven was confused at first but decided to do so anyway, he knew that Inos won''t do anything that wouldpletely endanger his life, additionally he truly was curious to find out more so why not?

    Under the watch of the two, he climbed one of the smaller hills nearby. As he found his way towards the hilltop, he couldn''t help but start having a strange feeling in his chest.

    It was as if someone or something was trying to connect at him. Because it felt very foreign, Raven resisted at first. But once he gave it more thought, he eventually lowered his guard and allowed the foreign entity to connect with him.

    Once he did, his vision immediately blurred. Upon realizing it, he was already feeling something incredibly profound. Hums and tunes were ringing on his ears, they started hushed but got louder and louder at one point, so much to the point that they were echoing on his ears.

    At one point, Raven became absent-minded. He failed to realized that he was already humming the tunes echoing so loud on his ears. This deepened the connection until slowly but surely, irregr fluctuations were being released from his body.

    Raven was still somewhat aware of what''s happening. A speck of consciousness were left on his body but all it could was to watch as the whole process went on.

    Eventually, this tiny speck of consciousness grewrger and clearer as time goes on. It came to the point where Raven was now fully aware of what was going on but he could still find himself humming the tunes that were now gone. What''s weird is that, even though the tunes was gone, Raven had the idea that he could still hear them, he was even chanting it right now.

    But what truly surprised him the most is that, he could feel something changing within him. He had no idea what but he''s certain that something changed.

    After some time, Raven stopped humming the tune and was now standing at the very peak of the hilltop. Once he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that his surroundings were entirely different.

    The other hilltops and mountain peaks were still there and he could still see the altars, but everything was much clearer than before. Additionally, he could also see some unfurled scrolls releasing different fluctuations and colors.

    "This is what the Scripture Graveyard truly looks like." The voice of Inos sounded next to him.

    Raven unconsciously looked over to his side but he was met with another surprise.

    "Y-you¡­" Raven stuttered as he saw a clear image of what Inos and Astrid truly looked like. He was seeing them, not in soul form but incredibly lifelike.

    This came as a huge surprise to him. It had to be known that Raven could vaguely see these two before, he could only see them as soul remnants but now, it''s different.

    "You can see us clearer right?" Inos confirmed, "Don''t be surprised.. This is what happens when you gain the blessing of the Oracle''s Hill."

 Chapter 489 - To Do List

    ---

    "Oracle''s Hill?"

    "Yes, Oracle''s Hill is the name of this specific hill." Inos nodded, "This hill is where the Oracle Maria, one of Geezer''s faithful servant, is buried. Before she perished, she wrote her will in a scripture and it was buried with her. This ce is created to not only remember her but also her will."

    "Just so you know, Oracle Maria is the first one to cultivate the [Crystal Sky Eyes] to its acme. Even the one who created the technique didn''t live long enough to achieve that. Oracle Maria was in charge of logistics, when she''s in charge, nothing escapes her eyes, not even Heavenly Laws themselves." Astrid added, causing Raven''s eyes to widen.

    The ocr technique he uses, was something that the crown bestowed to him upon getting it. During his past life, this ocr technique provided him with so much help but it was just too difficult to make any progress from it therefore he wasn''t able to disy all of its capabilities.

    In this current life of his, thanks to some lucky chances, he was able to make breakthroughs for the ocr technique, he even got to the point where he''s at the higher stagepared to what he achieve during his past life. This technique had been a great help to him, he had lost count on how many times he''s able to avoid certain danger thanks to it.

    So for him to receive the blessings of the first person to cultivate it to its acme, is something that made Raven feel incredibly ttered, it also made him feel validated.

    "The reason why you could see us now clearly is because her will approved of you. If you searched hard enough, them you''ll find something that she left within you. Use it well and make sure to give it justice, or else the will of the oracle will give you a painful bacsh." Astrid added.

    Raven felt a bit pressure from her words but he didn''t mind. Even if she hadn''t said anything, he was nning on doing just that anyway.

    And even though he wanted to search that ''something'' that Astrid was referring to. Raven decided that he''ll do itter since he figured that the two still have something else to tell him.

    "There are a lot of wills left in here. Remember to always pay it a visit whenever you can. Although this ce won''t hinder you too much from searching for the throne, its a good idea for you to at least have all of this will to acknowledge you. You won''t lose out on anything anyway." Inos came with an advice on his own.

    Raven wanted to ask more but the two looked like they''re not willing to say anything else on this matter, making him swallow his questions back.

    "So far only the Cultivation Eden, Scripture Graveyard and the Monument of Stars are the only ces allowed for you to visit. Rest assure however, that so long as you keep doing what you have to, you''ll eventually get the chance to visit the other ces here." Astrid added.

    "Alright, it seems that we''re running out of time so I''ll make this quick." Inos interjected, he then looked at Raven and said: "Partner, there are other major changes to the crown since you''ve no unlocked the pce."

    "First and foremost, you can only enter this ce twice a week. It doesn''t matter whether you stay within the pce grounds or enter the pce itself. Once you used up your chances, then you''ll have to wait until next week to try again."

    This news came as a shock to Raven. This greatly dampened his mood since he could no longer enter this ce at least once a day. That just basically means that his progress will turn incredibly slow.

    "Don''t sulk too much, Inos isn''t done with his exnation yet." Astrid said, causing Raven to look up.

    Inos smiled at him and said: "Time flow here is different remember?"

    Hearing that caused light bulbs to lit up on Raven''s head. Inos then continued exining¡­

    "Right. You can only enter this ce twice a week but it doesn''t mean that you can''t stay for long." Inos stated, "Since you managed to restore the Crown to its former glory and you''vee this far, it doesn''t mean that you''ll lose out on benefits."

    "From now on, one day outside means six months here. Therefore, two days outside is roughly equal to a whole year outside. Meaning more chances for you to get stronger."

    Raven''s couldn''t help but sharply inhale when he heard that. How could he not? One day outside is six months here, two days is roughly a year. That''s kind of timeg is a bit overboard but that what makes it incredibly awesome.

    So what if he could only enter twice a week? Compared to the time difference, that''s hardly an issue. With so much time in his hands, this solves most of Raven''s problems!

    "On top of that, you''ll also be able to sense what''s going on outside while you remain here. In fact you could even choose where to appear so long as you know where you are and it''s within the range of the crown - which is within 100 miles from where you disappeared. This function is added in order to ensure your safety, however it bes progressively ineffective the stronger the enemies you''re facing. Therefore, you must still remain careful."

    "Yes." Raven nodded. Still he couldn''t help but feel jubnt due to this good news. This is just too incredible.

    "Aside from that, you could now also bring in a living being inside this ce." Astrid added, causing Raven to almost fall over. "However, you must remember that they will only be able to remain within the Pce Grounds. No living beings other than you are allowed to enter the Pce. Once they do, they will be killed."

    "If you find yourself in a pinch, you can directly transport the more important items here instead of your core." Inos stated, "Your core might be able to hold items for you but they are still susceptible for detection. If that happens during a critical moment, then you''ll be screwed before you know it."

    "cing them here is safer. Aside from Geezer, only you are aware that this ce exists. No one else could detect the crown no matter how tried, many people did in the past even during our reign, but no one seeded so have a faith."

    That information was incredibly useful. Raven couldn''t believe this incredibly downfall of luck pouring to him right now. He wasn''t expecting to receive so many useful rewards at once, this inheritance might probably be one of, if not, the most precious out of all inheritances out there.

    "Alright, that''s all for now." Inos said, "There are still more in store for you but that''lle when timees. Remember to work hard, earn the acknowledgement of the Spirit Entities and they''ll illuminate the path for you."

    "You''ll see us again when timeses. Hopefully, it''ll be all of us by then. Work Hard 9th Candidate." Astrid waved goodbye and both of them disappeared from Raven''s view. However before they truly disappeared, Inos'' voice echoed on his ears.

    "By the way, the time difference is already in effect. Don''t waste it, Partner."

    His words came at the right time. He was actually meaning to ask that but he forgot due to all the shock he experienced. Thankfully, Inos was paying attention and informed him about it,

    Once the two disappeared, Raven released a long sigh and gripped his fist.

    "No time to lose. I''ll have to maximize my time here." Raven murmured. He sat down on the hilltop and started thinking to himself.

    "Monument of Stars, I don''t think I''m capable enough to meet the Spirit Entities. It''s all cryptic anyway. What do they mean by ''gaining acknowledgement''? They should be aware that there''s more than one way to do that, so which approach should I use?"

    "Should I try asking the Spirit Entities themselves? I mean¡­it''s not a bad idea, but what if the Entities ask me for an impossible thing? No one could guess what they are thinking, I won''t be surprised if they are all entrics in their own way."

    "Additionally, I don''t know how many chances I got. They didn''t tell me. Do I have unlimited chances or a finite amount? Is determined by the Spirit Entity itself or there''s a specific rule I have to know? Ugh, this is confusing!"

    Raven was once again suffering from self-induced headache due to him overthinking things. He was silent for a bit before an idea struck him.

    "I''ll postpone this, but not for long." He said, "I have many things to do. I need to raise the number of my avatars. I need to train the other technique that Geezer imparted to me. I have tons of seals to learn and memorize. I''ll also take the chance to finally start cultivating Spacetime Laws since there no other ce that provides me with more security other than here."

    "umtion. Mn! I''ll do that first.. Once I gain the necessary foundations for everything, then I''ll start meeting the Spirit Entities."

 Chapter 490 - Spacetime Concepts

    ---

    The [Voidwalking Manual]¡­

    At first, Raven didn''t understand why his Master would give this to him. He understood why he gave him the [Myriad Incarnations Scripture] but as for the former? He didn''t really get it.

    It wasn''t until he reviewed the memories about the manual that he understood why this technique was a necessity for him to cultivate.

    ording the Geezer, Spacetime Laws is broken down into five different concepts, much like how it goes for mostws. These concepts are: Continuum, Parallelism, Individuality, Timeline and Singrity.

    Based on the minimal information that Geezer left him, the first concept of Spacetime Laws - which is Continuum, allows him to sense the very fabrics of Spacetime Void itself.

    The Spacetime Void is a unique existence that is not meant to be casually invaded or tampered due to several reasons, the most important of which is because its too dangerous. The Spacetime Void is what connects the past, present and future. Its very existence is a necessity for all living beings and one wrong move will cause into true annihtion. Anyone who''s killed by the Spacetime Void is legitimately erased from existence. None will discover traces of them be it their past, present or future or other nes of reality.

    Unlike the erosion of time, which Raven describes as ''a fearsome and unescapable gale that erodes everything it passes through, taking a piece of their own time in the process.'' The erosion of Spacetime Void is much more dangerous. It doesn''t only erode time, it erodes a person''s very existence in all forms of reality.

    As someone who gained enlightenment about Spacetime Laws, Raven would eventually harness the power to sense this ce and quite possibly traverse it. However, even with his qualifications, the amount of time he''s allowed to traverse the Spacetime Void would be extremely limited.

    This is where the [Voidwalking Manual]es into y. With this technique, he''ll be able strengthen his body in a unique way that allows him to traverse the Spacetime Void in a more safer terms, it would also allow him to go beyond the regr limits of his travel. Of course, the stronger he cultivates this techniques, the better. At some point, it would even be possible for him to traverse the Spacetime Void long enough to go back in time of his birth.

    Currently, Raven''s training at Eden. He''s currently submerged in the floating neb of Equinox Waters while learning the Voidwalking Manual.

    The technique was surprisingly difficult to memorize due to itsplicated nature. Actually, he could even tell that anyone who isn''t at least a dual cultivator would not be able to cultivate this technique at all. The pre-requisites of the technique are extremely steep and demanding. If it wasn''t for Raven possessing Cosmic Energy, he would have to wait a little longer before thinking about cultivating this technique.

    Thanks to his lucky encounters however, Raven passed the initial requirements with flying colors. Now, along with the help of Equinox Waters, he''ll be able to charge directly onto the 3rd Stage of Voidwalking Manual, allowing his body to resist the erosion of Spacetime Void longer and securing his safety.

    Cultivating the Voidwalking Manual didn''t produce any noticeable changes on Raven''s body. In fact, it''s effects are hardly visible at all. If Raven didn''t tell anyone, no one would realize that he''s cultivating it. In fact, not even others who knows Spacetime Laws would notice it.

    Somehow, it took Raven two whole weeks to reach the 3rd Stage of the Voidwalking Manual. Just like what was mentioned earlier, the effects were hardly noticeable but Raven could clearly feel something changed within him. The feeling was exquisite and fleeting, yet its there. The feeling gave him an impression of security. He felt as if, for some reason, he was untouchable. It was quite profound.

    Raven took a brief rest after that. He used two days worth of time to sleep, restoring his mental stability and getting rid of the almost non-existent fatigue on his body. He wasn''t exhausted, just being extra careful since the next step of his training is pretty much an uncharted territory.

    After resting, Raven went back into cultivation and the focus of his training was his Spacetime Laws.

    That''s right, he finally decided to train it after postponing it for so long. The Crown Space is a safest haven for him. Inside this ce, aside from his Senior Disciples, no one else were watching him. He had nothing to hide in this ce so he felt safe and secured. And only under this environment did he have the confidence to train his Spacetime Laws.

    He had less than six months to work with but it''s not a problem considering that he could crunch tons of progress without missing out on lot of what''s happening outside. Once his Spacetime Laws stabilizes, he could do something to hide it from the prying eyes of people thanks to him learning a few new powerful seals.

    Raven adjusted his breathing, he made sure to pour his full concentration for this, he even emptied a whole bottle of Moonshine just to make sure he''s being extremely careful. He wasn''t also shy and sat down on thergest Stargazing Mat within Eden. He wasn''t holding back in the slightest.

    The moment Raven sat down, his breathing hitched and he entered the wonderful state of enlightenment. With so many concentration enhancing supplements as well as the sheer focus that he had, it wasn''t far fetched for him to enter this state as soon as he started his training.

    At the same time he started, Raven was then covered with numerous gray tendrils which looked real and unreal at the same time. There was a specific force field that appeared around Raven, and everything within that force field was sharing the same characteristics as the tendrils appearing all around him.

    Raven wasn''t actively thinking about anything. He''s just letting everything happen as if he was just a bored observer. It was unknown when but the violet-golden glow of his Champion''s Physique suddenly appeared. The numerous miniaturew-diagrams appeared on his body, each of them released their own glow as well further intensifying the lighting off of Raven''s body.

    Currently, due to Raven''s enlightenment state, the number of these miniaturew-diagrams were increasing. It had to be known that Raven already has too much of these due to his umtions for his Destruction Laws. However right now, he''s getting more due to him gaining enlightenment for Spacetime Laws.

    With subsequent trainings and more opportunities, these miniaturew-diagrams would dissipate on his blood streams and turn into the purest form of enlightenment, allowing him to learn more uses and applications for his Spacetime and Destruction Laws in the future.

    His state of enlightenmentsted for a couple of hours when all of a sudden, wormholes started appearing around him. These wormholes were just miniscule in sizes, it''s wasn''t even as big as his fist, nevertheless they''re there.

    These wormholes are in fact, the entrance to enter the Spacetime Void. A couple hours from his meditation and Raven was already capable enough to summon them, they might not be big enough right now but as his expertise continue rising, it wouldn''t take long for him to get into that stage.

    ''Continuum. Mysteriously profound. It''s a connection to the trinity of realities: Past, Present and Future. With it, the possibility to traverse the ne of realities bes real. I''ll be stuck as an observer for now, but as I get better at using it, I could potentially interact with any ne of reality, which in turn allows me to effectively alter the original course of my own fate.''

    ''It''s legit heaven-defying. If Master Geezer didn''t lend me a hand, I''ll be killed by the Heavenly Laws because of this. It''s capable of altering one''s destiny, that''s quite frightening. It wouldn''t be surprising if I receive some sort of bacsh if I ever do alter something since if I don''t, then I''m afraid that I alone would topple the bnce of everything.''

    ''I have to be responsible with how I use this power. I assume that the bigger the event I alter, the stronger the bacsh too. The heavens would legitimately kill me if I mess around too much. That being said, I should be fine so long as I don''t do anything huge.''

    ''Wait, wouldn''t this technically mean I''m immortal? I mean, I could always go to the past and warn myself about the iing danger right? And since myself is warning me, then there''s no reason for me to not trust it right? Wouldn''t that allow me to pick my fights better? Wait, that''s boring isn''t it? Nah, that''s probably not the case.''

    ''Well, I''ll figure something out I guess. But I should really hold myself back from abusing this. I wouldn''t want the Heavenly Laws to be hot on my trails just because I messed around with the ne of realities too much. Although Master Geezer told me that I''m hidden from their eyes, it couldn''t possiblyst forever nor it could hide me from everything. I should still be careful.''

    ''But really, this is just the first concept and it''s already this powerful.. No wonder Master Geezer said that my survivability would be more secured once I learned Spacetime Laws properly.''

 Chapter 491 - Skills Acquired

    ---

    Raven''s enlightenmentsted for two whole days before it ended.

    Even though Raven was a bit reluctant about that, there''s nothing he could do about it. He needed to properly digest everything that he learned from the experience and apply it naturally until it bes second nature to him. Even though gaining more knowledge about Spacetime Laws is useful, practice is something necessary as well in order to bnce out the effects.

    Raven could always set up the necessary conditions to enter the state of enlightenment anyway. Although there are still chances of failure, with every supplement he has, the rate of failure is low. He could always try but its not necessarily better to just sit down in meditation.

    With that in mind, the foundations for his Spacetime Laws are now set. After taking a brief rest, he tried out everything that he could manage to do with the Spacetime Laws so far.

    The first trick that he learned is Historical Reading - at least that''s what he called it. This skill allows him to read the history of any object that he touches. The sensation was akin to a memory, taking the point of view the object in question. So far, his expertise in Spacetime Laws allows him to view an objects memories three days prior and further from present time. He still needed practice on using this skill since the visions he gets from the objects still sometimes appear blurry.

    The second trick he learned is the sensing the Spacetime Void and opening it. Right, this skill is a bit tricky for him. Unlike the first trick, which came to him somewhat naturally, this second skill needs a lot of work. From what he could tell, sensing the Spacetime Void is the easiest part since it would appear to be omnipresent. What''s difficult, is to make an opening on it. It takes a lot of concentration to do so and one misstep might prove disastrous so Raven couldn''t help but be careful.

    He had to remind himself that he''s no longer just ying with Space nor Time, he now has a direct connection to the other ne of realities, and if he''s not careful, there''s arge possibility for him to tip the natural bnce, causing everything to go chaotic. If that won''t kill him, then the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm would do so. So he had to be extremely careful.

    So far, he could make an opening which is a big as his fist. It''s possible for him to throw in some object inside but so far, everything he tried sending through the opening will disintegrate the moment it enters. Raven would be lying if he said that the scene where everything he threw in disintegrated to non-existence didn''t send some shivers down his spine. Of course it did! So much to the point that he''s actually doubting if he could truly traverse this void just fine.

    Well, he just have to find that out once he''s skillful enough to make a stable entry where he could fit.

    On another note though, Raven discovered some limitations to Spacetime Laws.

    Through his enlightenment he found out that so far, he could only interact with his past and future self through whispers. Although it was possible for him to travel back to his past, he would not be able to physically appear in that time, he could only send a message, akin to a transmission, to himself and himself only. Aside from that, he''s as good as an observer.

    At first he thought that this is somewhat unfortunate but once he sat down and thought about it, he figured that it made sense. Spacetime Laws, although rare and extremely powerful, has its own set of certain rules and bottom line to follow. By itself, it''s already considered as cheating so it''s understandable for it to have its limitations.

    And it''s not like he couldn''t do that in the future. He''s unsure when but a time will eventuallye where he will be able to master his grasp over thesews and allow him to do as he pleases.

    Going back to the skills he learned, the final skill he managed to develop is Heroic Influence for Spacetime Laws. The territory he managed to built is extremely small. It wouldn''t even go past a meter from where he stood, so much for a ''territory'' really but its uses are far more useful evenpared to his Destruction Territory.

    Raven''s Spacetime Territory allows him to be practically immortal. If he''s faced with a life-threatening situation, he could activate this and possibly survive in dangerous situation he''s in.

    Upon activation, the Spacetime Laws will harness Raven''s existence in the three ne of realities. Should he die in the ''Present'', he would be sent in the ''Past'' which is three days before the present time. If for some reason, the ''Past'' proves to be rather dangerous for Raven, then he will be sent into the ''Future'' instead, which is three days in advance from the present time.

    To make things more simple. If somebody or something wants to kill Raven, then they need to kill him in the Past, Present and Future at the same time. If they can''t do that, then there''s a huge chance that Raven would ultimately survive and get revenge or avoid collision as early as possible.

    The reason why the size of the territory was this small is because it''s only meant for Raven. Even if he''s hugging someone during that moment, only his consciousness will be sent in order to warn his past or future. In a sense, this is practically immortality for him since that current parameters are only limited by his current understanding and practice with Spacetime Laws. Once his expertise were raised - which is almost certainly going to happen, he wouldn''t be limited to just three days.

    Frankly, the potential of this skills he learned somehow freaks Raven out, and this ising from a man who experienced Soul Rebirth. How could he not be? If he''s being honest, the plethora of things he could do with just these three skills are already plenty. Just imagine what he could do once he gets to the second concept, the third, so on and so forth. Imagine what would it be like if Raven earnedplete mastery over Spacetime Laws.

    Forget about the Abyssals, even the Heavenly Laws might not be able to kill him anymore.

    Just thought alone really freaks him out. Either way, what''s bound to happen will eventually happen. No need for him to be distracted about things that won''t happen in the near future.

    What''s more important is that, he hasn''t even spent an entire month here. There''s still more than five months remaining for him to do the other things he had in mind.

    With that, Raven spent thest week of his first month stabilizing his realm and his Spacetime Laws, he polished the skills he just learned to the best of his abilities. Once he''s done with that, it was now the time for him to do apply some seals in order to prevent anyone from finding out that he cultivates Spacetime Laws.

    Raven still hasn''t forget Geezer''s warning, and he certainly knows that he''s not yet strong enough to resist the enemies of his master so he needed to be careful. In order to keep himself safe, he wanted to keep the matter of him cultivating Spacetime Laws as a secret since it''s his trump card.

    In order to do that, he had to seal all fluctuations that it produces to the best of his abilities. Thankfully, he learned some new seals from plethora of seals he received from all different sources. It''s only the matter ofbining them and applying it to himself that might pose some difficulties.

    With how much time passed since he got the [99 Destruction Seals] and [99 Holy Seals], his avatars managed to decipher four seals from the former and two on thetter.

    As for the technique he received from Erica as well as the rosary he received from the elder of the sect, he hadn''t touched those so far. He''s nning to once he gets more Avatars.

    Anyway, the additional seals he learned were already enough for the job. Using the 3rd Destruction Seal in addition to the 1st Holy seal along with other regr seals as supplements, he''s able to craft a unique seal that suppresses all traces of his Spacetime Laws.

    He called this seal ''Fate Concealing Seal'' since it conceals the traces of his ultimate trump card for survival. The seal looked like a four-leaved clover which is imprinted on the back of his hand.

    With this seal, so long as Raven won''t go nuts with his release of Spacetime Laws, the seal would be able to suppress and erase all of its traces. Now, he shouldn''t need to worry about using his Spacetime Laws in front of people. So long as they don''t sense it, he could always bluff his way out of it.. This way, his trump card will remain hidden and he could buy more time for himself in order to get stronger.

 Chapter 492 - Improvements

    ---

    "Whoa! I got a beard and mustache now. Gotta shave that off¡­"

    Inside the crown space, Raven could be found rxing inside a tub of warm water. At first he was silent since he was incredibly exhausted from all of the intense training he''s been doing but once he saw his reflection on the water, he noticed that he already grew a thin beard and mustache.

    Raven''s focus had been incredibly on point that he hadpletely neglected his physical appearance - not that he was paying much attention to it anyways, this normally happens whenever he''s in seclusion, he wasn''t new to this sensation.

    Nevertheless, he had to make sure that he''s cleanly shaved before he exits. He even has to make sure that he cuts his own hair to an appropriate length before going out.

    Although he''s been here for nearly six months, only one day has passed in the real world. Imagine what his teammates would think he suddenly came out of his room in this current appearance? Wouldn''t that be the same as admitting to them that he has outrageous secret? Just for that reason alone, he had no choice but to ce extra attention to these minor details.

    Nearly six months has passed since he entered this ce and Raven had definitely improved upon many areas.

    First and foremost, he''s now able to use Spacetime Laws morefortably than before. While he still can''t open a rendrge enough for him to use in the Spacetime Void, he could now at least make sure that the rend he created is stable enough tost for at least one minute. Additionally, he had also improved on the additional skills he just picked up.

    Another point of improvement to him is his physical attributes. Due to the steady and constant strengthening of his body thanks to Cosmic Energy, the monstrous strength he possess was steadily rising each passing day. Right now, a serious punch of hisced with killing intent could produce an astonishing force that could destroy a whole city or two. Mixed that up with his destructionws and his ferocity will be dialed up to eleven.

    His raw speed is just as insane as his strength. Raven had no troubles running at the speed of sound for quite sometime and his precise with his speed too. He could urately change course or avoid things even at that speed, meaning that he''s perfectly aware of his surroundings even though he''s going fast. If things go hairy, he could dial up his speed to break through the sound barrier, doubling or quite possible tripling his speed for sometime. However this is for emergency only, and Raven''s still needs more practice.

    Raven''s raw strength is just absurdly ridiculous right now. But that''s not all, there''s still a lot of things to him that could truly bring his opponents down on their knees. There''s still his techniques, skills,ws, equipment, and intellect. All of which are enough to make any of his opponents cry in unfairness, it could be said that Raven''s on his way to the path of invincibility.

    However, even with all of this in mind, Raven still thinks that he''s stillcking. And considering the goal that he had set up for himself, in addition to all of the windfalls he experienced along the way, in a sense he''s right.

    Raven had no intentions of being a hypocrite. He knows that his road so far had been smooth sailing. Aside from a few hups here and there, he had never really been in a situation where he felt hopeless - at least not in this current life of his.

    While most of this could be med on his careful and calcting personality, it''s still debatable whether this is a good thing or not. And it''s not like Raven could deliberately ck off just because he wanted to experience a setback, it doesn''t work that way and his pride won''t let him do that.

    Nevertheless, Raven never ceased moving forward while keeping in mind to remain grounded, careful and still calcting. He could never allow himself to becent orzy, he knows what kind of opponents are waiting for him and if he stumbled or get careless, it could very well mean the end of his road, and he refuse to experience the same loneliness and despair that he felt during his previous life. That''s why he can''t afford to make any big mistakes.

    Had this been a perfect world, then he would''ve loved for it to not have any kind of changes. It would be for the best if the timeline from his previous life would y out exactly the way as it did but that''s not possible. Additionally, that would mean that he''ll lose everyone once again and that''s something that he wouldn''t want to happen at all.

    Nevertheless, although his improvements during this six months aren''t really that much for his standards, knowing that he could enter seclusion once again shortly reallyforts him. He really didn''t have to worry about going into bursts of seclusion since he''s used to it by now, and even though time doesn''t stop for him and his body, Raven has evolved to a point where he''s not necessarily going to look physically older.

    Not quite an eternal youth, but still close enough. Plus, he no longer needs to spend his longevity to cast techniques now so it''s all good.

    Ravenid on his warm bath and rxed for some more time. He has less than two days before he''s forcefully ejected from this ce. By now, he''s not really doing anyst minute crunches since he''s already satisfied for now. He just want to spend his timeying back and rxing, possibly unwinding from all of the hectic training he just went through.

    He wanted to look refreshed and rxed once he go outside once again since he that''s the only way where no one would suspect him.

    ''Ah that''s right. We did have a n to visit the Hall of Enlightenment and spend the ticket stubs we had. Well, there''s also the Missions we picked up, someone has to do them as soon as possible. Should I participate? Hmm¡­''

    Raven recalled the meetings they had and is now wondering what to do. At first, before knowing that he could stay within the crown space for a longer period of time, he nned on participating on the patrol mission. However, he''s obviously hesitating.

    ''Hmm, I already received the promised Merit Points. Right now, I have about 26,620 Merit Points. Killing an Imp gives me 100 Merit Points, apparently I yed 260 of them so that''s 26,000. The excess were from the Disciple Exams.''

    ''With this amount, I can buy all necessary ingredients for me to cultivate the [Myriad Incarnations Scripture] on it''s 4th stage, that would give me 18 more Avatars. Adding the nine I already have, I''ll have a total of 27 Avatars. That would make my life much easier. The only problem is that I''ll be weakened for at least two days, which sucks but shouldn''t really be a problem.''

    ''I think I''ll pass for now.'' Raven thought to himself, ''The others need more experience on dealing with those devils, more specifically the weaker ones. Sending Floyd and Jason along with two weaker unit members should be fine, I don''t need to go.''

    ''Ah! Wouldn''t that be a problem? They won''t have any scouts with the group! Ugh. What should I do.'' Raven frowned as he thought about this.

    ''But it shouldn''t be a problem if they picked up stray imps right? I mean, they might get injured and all but they should be fine. Floyd''s strong, they should be able toe back in one piece.''

    ''Mn! I should be more confident about them. They needed experience, this should help them.''

    ''Ugh, who am I kidding?'' Raven groaned, ''The truth is that I just wanted to do my own thing but I can''t possibly say that their faces specially in front of that violet haired witch. Although the team''s mostly fine, our bond is still finicky. It won''t be good if ruined the somewhat okay start.''

    ''I guess I''ll just go with the flow. If I get nominated, then I''ll go. With me there it would be quick anyway, and if I go now, then I won''t need to go for the next Unit Mission since we decided to do it in rotation. If I don''t get nominated, then I''ll purchase the ingredients for the Avatars and do some personal missions while the rest are out. Either way, I won''t be wasting time.''

    Raven''s thoughts went silent for a bit, he tried to recall everything that happened before he entered seclusion in order to refresh himself on the sect matters.

    ''Oh, I just remembered!'' Raven''s eyes snapped open, ''That thing¡­what was it called again? Aha! Cleansers, yeah that!''

    ''I was interested in that. When we visited the Cleansing Chapel, I was initially confused. Apparently, there is a unique upation here which is called Cleansers. We didn''t really had the chance to know more since it''s has restricted ess. But I could remember seeing that they are epting Trainees...''

    ''Should I enroll? Hmm¡­''

 Chapter 493 - Confrontation

    ---

    "Alright, you guys better make sure you return in one piece, you hear me?"

    "Yes we do. We''ll take care of each other, that''s a promise."

    "Hmph. You guys better not hold me back or else I''ll kick your ass."

    "Yes, yes. We heard you, loud and clear. Can we go now?"

    "Yes we can. Let''s get this over with."

    And with that said, Floyd, Juniper, Edward, Mira and Ryan waved goodbye to rest and signed off their names before walking towards the gates of Tartarus. This team of five is all of the people who volunteered to go for the first rotation in this Unit Mission.

    The Unit Mission is as follows: Kill 20 Imps and patrol the route shown on to the mission. Upon return, they must bring back the ears of every Imps they killed as proof and must report anything that looks out of ce within the patrol route.

    Procuring the ears is a necessity for the mission, should they return without it, the mission will be considered as a failure and everyone on the Unit will have a failed marking on their records. Since they are considered as Freshmen - disciples who have been on the sect for less than five years, they are still exempted from the penalty of failing a mission.

    The rewards of the mission is a bit stingy. It only gives them 250 Unit Merit Points. That''s like ten merit points each Imps they killed and another fifty for the patrol. Considering the risks of this mission, specially since they''re freshmen, this amount truly is little. No wonder no one was going for it.

    Good thing they''re only doing this for experience. Once they get used to the drive, it''s very unlikely for any of them to go after such high-risk, low-reward missions in the future.

    After watching their backs disappear due to the thick fog of the Devil''s Cradle, the people sent them off: Raven, Franklin, and Pyra turned around and started walking back towards the base. Although some of them are still rtively nervous for the group who just left, they have nothing else to do other than to believe in their abilities.

    Pyra, who''s walking beside Raven, started fidgeting. She felt incredibly hesitant at first before finally making up her mind. She gently gave Raven''s sleeve a tug, wanting to catch his attention. Of course, Raven looked at her weirdly and raised a brow.

    She inhaled sharply and seemingly regretting her decision but she held on and looked at him.

    Pyra then said: "We need to talk."

    Franklin saw this interaction and remained silent. He had some thoughts about this situation but he preferred to keep them to himself since he''s not really involved. If anything, he wishes that this talk of theirs would solve the problem between them.

    Raven was surprised at first. Memories of every shit Mira did so far came rushing through his head. He''s about to say something very, very rude but he stopped himself. Instead, his pupils glowed with shades of multiple colors and gazed straight into Pyra''s eyes.

    ''Purple stands for Hesitation, Green means that she doesn''t have any ill thoughts. Sparks of white means that her intentions are pure, while streaks of ck tendrils meant Distress.''

    ''This one appears to be the more reasonable one. I don''t see why not. I''ll hear what she has to say.''

    "Let''s get back to the base first. You pick where and when, I''lle."

    This was Raven''s reply to her, Pyra bit her lips and forcefully nodded her head. The three then continued heading back to the base.

    Upon their return, the rest of the team were either resting on their rooms or out and exploring. The sentry constructs are still patrolling the base. Raven then looked at Pyra and saw her nodding at him. He then nodded back and followed her through one of the empty rooms within the base.

    There was a table and chairs in there ready for them to use. Both of them sat on the chairs provided, facing each other.

    Raven was visibly rxed while Pyra appeared very ufortable. Raven''s still monitoring her conditions using his ocr technique and saw that her colors surrounding her never really changed but the influences for each colors did. Now, it would seem that her distress is approaching dangerous levels. This is represented by the increasinglyrge numbers of ck tendrilsing off of her body.

    Green was still present as well as the white sparks, meaning that she didn''t truly have any ill thoughts and her intentions are pure. The Purple color which represented Hesitation still remained and it''s a bit more definedpared before, meaning that she''s greatly hesitating right now.

    Analyzing this in mind, Raven guessed that, whatever this woman wants to talk about, was something that greatly disturbs her and her hesitation came from the fact that her sister isn''t here or that she''s doing this without her sister knowing it. Either way, she spent quite sometime looking down, left and right, just mostly avoiding Raven''s gaze.

    Raven didn''t want to be an ass but whether she likes it or not, she''s wasting his time and she has to know that, so he said:

    "So, what do you want to talk about?"

    Raven witnessed as Pyra was visibly startled by the what he said. Not only that though.

    Under the surveince of his ocr technique, a new color emerged from Pyra''s body. It was Gray, which represents fear. And this color was growing more and more pronounced at each passing moment. The color was fluctuating wildly, this meant that she''s trying her best to suppress it but it''s clearly not working.

    This caused Raven to frown. He didn''t understand why in the world would she suddenly be afraid? The gears on his head started working, shortly after that, he realized that she started feeling fear the moment he said something. Now, he doesn''t understand why the hell did his voice would trigger fear in her but at this very moment, they won''t go anywhere like this.

    Raven tapped his throat a couple of times and hummed. He watched as Pyra looked at him in surprise since his voice literally sounded different. He sounded like a female now, which something that Raven clearly did on purpose.

    "Is this better?" He asked, just to make sure.

    Pyra looked to him strangely, she was confused and that''s represented by a Brown color in Raven''s eyes. This appeared to work since the fear eating her away has now stopped and was slowly being diffused. Once it dropped to a minimal level, Raven saw her nodding to him.

    "Then we''ll talk like this." Raven stated, "Well, I''m the only one participating so far which is very unfair considering that it was you who wanted to talk to me in the first ce."

    "I''m sorry. I-I was just¡­just¡­hah¡­" Pyra let out a long exhale and looked down. "I shouldn''t be doing this without her knowledge, but she''s stubborn and won''t agree to it. But if we keep going like this, I''m afraid that it will go out of hand and might affect the team and just¡­I don''t know."

    Raven crossed his arms on his chest and raised a brow. He didn''t say anything, he just waited for her to talk.

    "I just want to apologize on behalf of my sister. She''s just¡­protecting me. Well, we''re the only ones left¡­you know¡­of our¡­yeah."

    "Despite of you not being able toplete your sentences, I''ll take a guess and say that you''re saying that your orphans, am I correct?"

    "Y-yes¡­yes, you are correct."

    "And what does that have anything to do with me?" Raven retorted, causing Pyra to flinch. At this point, Raven was just getting tired of this, so he decided to be up front and say what''s on his mind.

    "Let''s see here..." Raven leaned to the table with his arms and looked at Pyra dead in the eyes. "You''re telling me, that you twins are orphans and that all of the shit that your twin sister did to me was just because she''s protecting you, even after I told you that I have never met you two prior to when we joined the Disciple Recruitment of the sect."

    "Y-yes, but - "

    "Woman, no." Raven sighed in a very exhausted manner. "You''re not getting my point. Here, let me make this simple enough for you to understand okay?"

    "I, pay attention to me emphasizing this word okay? I. Did. Nothing. To. Offend. You. Two." Raven''s gaze hardened as he emphasized every word he said. "Which mean, that I. Don''t. Deserve. This. Kind. Of. Treatment. From. You."

    "But that clearly didn''t stop you¡­well, mostly your sister. But you guys are twins and you mostly stayed silent whenever she demeans every single thing that I did so it''s your fault as well." Raven stated.

    And by the looks of it, his words had a great impact on Pyra. Her head is lowered right now and she doesn''t even have the guts to look at him in the eye. However, that doesn''t mean that this talk was over. In fact, it wad far from it. This is due to what Pyra said that might, or might not have caused Raven''s brain to momentarily stop functioning.

    "Well, you¡­or maybe not you, molested both of us two years ago."

    "Excuse me!???"

 Chapter 494 - Their Story

    ---

    "Excuse me!???"

    If it''s possible for Raven''s brow to go higher past his face, it would probably be pretty high up in the sky right now due to the ridiculous words he just heard right now.

    "Like I said, You - or someone who looked exactly just like you, took our purity from us. It happened when we were kids." Pyra replied, still with her head lowered. It is painfully obvious that whatever it is that''s she''s saying right now is truly making her ufortable. How can it not be?

    "Woman, you said it yourself. The one who assaulted you isn''t me but someone who looked just like me - if that''s even possible, so why does the two of you ming me for this? You know what? That''s not the only thing that is seriously wrong with this situation."

    "First of all, I came from the lower realms. I just got into the Divine Realm for less than two years ago. You told me that this event happened during your childhood so that rules me out of the suspects - aside from the fact that I look just like your molester ording to your statement. If you want proof of my ims, then ask Senior Brother Henry, he will confirm it you himself. That''s a straight evidence right there."

    "Second, you approached me asking me to return something to you." Raven stated, "At first I was confused since I don''t know what you want, on top of that you and your sister kept throwing shit at me for reasons I am oblivious of. Now that you told me this, it made me realize something."

    "Are you seriously asking someone to return your virginity back to you?" Raven asked in a strange manner, trying his absolute best to not scoff or anything due to the sheer stupidity of this question.

    Pyra looked as is there nothing more she wanted right now other than to vanish in to thin air or be swallowed by the ground beneath her, never to emerge again. She was too embarrassed and ashamed, specially since Raven pointed these things out in a very blunt manner.

    "Goddamn. What a day!" Raven felt exhausted. Its not even noon and yet he felt as if he''s already prepared to take a long sleep. What a situation this was. He felt his energy being sapped away by a mysterious force right after he heard the ridiculous reason as to why these twins are so antagonistic towards him.

    "Out with woman. Tell me the whole story. Even though I can sense that I have nothing to do with it, who knows, maybe you can surprise me. Go ahead."

    "Do I really need to?" She asked.

    "You don''t. But if you don''t want me to escte this matter out of this room then you better be." Raven stated, "You''ve seen the power and influence of the sect. If they wanted to make investigations, I could always lead them towards my home in the lower realms. They could speak with my family and all, giving me solid proof against your baseless ims. You''ve read the rules of the sect, this is clearly a vition that will earn both of you a bad record, who knows maybe it''s even enough for an expulsion."

    "Either way, the choice is yours." Ravenid out his cards. It was extremely obvious that he''s just about done with this conversation and doesn''t care about what the opposite party felt anymore.

    He couldn''t believe that he was antagonized that badly because of baseless usations. The situation was incredibly ridiculous that he couldn''t even find it to himself tough under this circumstances.

    Pyra looked up, biting her lips while tears were threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes. However the palpable coldness and irritation on Raven''s face was so intimidating, causing her cower and sigh in defeat. A few moments passed and Pyra released yet another sigh, this time she started talking.

    "Me and my sister were born at the Extreme Violet Great World." She stated, "We are descendants of the Extreme Violet n, which is the Rulers of the said world."

    "In an unfortunate event however, the Extreme Violet n was wiped out. The reason behind this is because our mother eloped with someone from the enemy n. The Crimson Demon n. Our mother was captured by the n elders and was returned to the n pregnant with twins which is us."

    "When they found out the identity of our father, most of the elders voted for us to be killed the moment we are born. Of course, our mom was against it but what can she do?"

    "Thenes our birth." She paused, gritting her teeth before continuing: "They wanted to go ording to the n however, something happened that caused them to hesitate."

    "The moment we were born, an auspicious sign appeared from the skies. My sister, Mira was born with a physique that our n was waiting for, for a very long time - the Extreme Violet Physique. If she was by herself, even if our father was from the enemy n, our elders would most likely rescind the kill order and would groom her to be the next n leader without a moment of hesitation."

    "However, I was with her. In fact, I was born first." Pyra smiled sadly, "When I was born, an auspicious sign appeared. A silhouette of the Crimson Demon, something that the Extreme Violet n dreaded. I was blessed with the Crimson Demon Instincts, and if I was born on the Crimson Demon n, I would be their Holy Lady and most certainly be married to someone who carried a high density of our bloodline."

    "The situation became extremely severe, the camps was spilt. All of them nned on sparing Mira since she''s already seen as the n''s possession - someone who will lead the n towards greatness. The problem was me. They either wanted to kill me right away or use me, making me a tool against the Crimson Demon n, if their n seeded, then the enemy n will be wiped out by my hands and the elders will kill me afterwards. Either way, I was destined to not live a long life since I was born on the enemy n."

    "The situation escted though. Unknowingly, the Crimson Demon n nted spies within the Extreme Violet n, and these people reported my existence to them. And just like the opposite n, the Crimson Demon n too was waiting for someone to emerge with the Crimson Demon Instincts. Imagine their reaction when they heard that their enemy n is decided my fate right? Of course they were incensed, and they didn''t waste any time to invade and take me away from that ce."

    "A massive war ensued. The reason was us. In the end, both ns ended up destroying each other badly enough for some few stragglers to swoop in and thoroughly wipe them off. Howughable was that? Oh, our parents didn''t survive that war just so you know."

    "What''s funny is that, they were too busy killing each other that they''vepletely forgotten about us. In the end, someone took us away from that ce. She was a servant from the Extreme Violet n, who managed to survive the whole event. She ran away with her own convictions, thinking that we two, regardless of what bloodlines we were carrying, were innocent and should never be included in the matters of the adults."

    "She was close to our birth mother, and in order to repay our mother''s kindness, she decided to raise us by herself. She''s also the one who named us since the ns were too busy killing each other for that." Pyra''s tone was overflowing with sarcasm when she said this.

    "She used to dye our hair ck in attempts of hiding our identities. She had no way of leaving the Extreme Violet Great World therefore she could only do her best protect us. All she wanted was for us to grow up and have normal lives, away from the bloodshed and schemes of the adults. Unfortunately, it wasn''t fated."

    "We used to have a lot of friends growing up. Even though I am technically the older one, it was Mira who always protected me." Pyra paused, clearly hesitating before deciding to continue: "However, Mira felt vulnerable as well. Our adoptive mother never really hid our true lineage from us. Of course, we were young back then and we didn''t understand many things. However we understood that if our secrets are out, then we would be in a very difficult situation."

    "Mira is strong, but she''s not invulnerable. She needed someone tofort her as well. She''s just as afraid as I am, and clearly I wasn''t enough to reassure her that everything''s going to be okay."

    Pyra then looked at Raven straight in the eye and said: "She fell in love. Hard, mind you. She was so deep into it that she got careless and revealed the fact that we dye our hairs ck consistently and she even told him our hair colors."

    "It was due to that, that hell finally caught up to us."

 Chapter 495 - Their Reason And His Reaction

    ---

    "There''s bounty on our heads, a pretty high one at that too. Everyone in the Extreme Violet Great World and even the Crimson Demon Star is aware of this, therefore there are mobs of people who were going after us."

    "I actually don''t even know if I could truly me Mira''s ex-boyfriend for selling us out. The rewards were just too damn tempting. But still, I will never forgive him since out lives became miserable due to that."

    "Our adoptive mother was tortured and killed in front of us." Pyra said, her voice clearly shaken as if she''s re-living this awful memory. "We were auctioned as ves, brought by a fat and filthy merchant who has too much money on his pocket. We were then presented to his boss, whoter then became our Master. This guy had a son and we became his ythings."

    She then looked at Raven dead in the eyes once again and continued: "And this son of his, looks just like you."

    This caused Raven''s expression to turn a bit ugly, but he remained silent and allowed her to continue her story.

    "Hepletely looked just like you. The face, hair length and color, voice, everything else aside from demeanor - was simr to you." Pyra sighed deeply and continued: "He treated us like garbage. He used us to relieve his tension and as furnaces to fuel his cultivation. If it wasn''t for the fact that he didn''t want to break us, he would''ve sucked uspletely dry from day one."

    "It was hell. An unforgettable experience for the both of us." Pyra stated, "I forgot how many times I''ve thought about killing us just so that we can escape this awful fate, but I was never strong enough to do so and Mira is too stubborn to die just like that."

    "Even if she doesn''t say anything, I know that she kept ming herself for what happened to us. She always thought that if it weren''t for her being dumb and stupid, then we would''ve probably been able to escape the Extreme Violet Great World, find a sect to take shelter from and grow strong enough to provide for ourselves since that''s the only path left for us. However, fate was determined to make our lives miserable."

    "Thankfully, the heavens doesn''t seem to have abandoned us at all. Don''t know if I should be thankful for that or not but well, we were saved by a Senior Disciple from a Righteous Sect."

    "They set us free, sheltered us and allow us to experience peace after a long time of misery." Pyra smiled but there was a trace of sadness on her tone. "At some point, they offered us to join to sect in order to find new purpose in life. We epted a Master, who treated us like his own children. He taught us many things and we even started calling him our Father."

    "He taught us how to move on and deal with our traumatic pasts. Mira was strong enough to at least find some sess with it but I can''t. Until this day, those memories are still haunting me in my sleep, but I''m much better nowpared from then."

    "Father gave us a new purpose, a reason to live. And thus we did. Our previous sect was our safe haven, and we wanted to protect it. However, we can''t do that if we stayed in there since their resources are limiting our growth. We left our nest, explored the world and eventually decided to join this sect. And to our surprise, we found you."

    "You triggered many awful memories to us. So much so that we nearly got eliminated from the trials." Pyra said, "It all came crashing down to us just as we thought that wepletely got over with it."

    "You ask me if we were seriously asking you to return our purity to us." Pyra stated with a firm voice. "I admit, the idea was stupid. So stupidlyughable that it''s not even funny. But my answer is yes. Stupid, I know, but yes."

    "Can we really help it if your face just happened to trigger those awful memories? Like I said, you looked exactly the same as him, and even though we are demanding somethingpletely unreasonable for you, we still did it since we just wanted to get rid of these awful memories."

    "I know. It doesn''t work that way. I am aware. You don''t have to tell me or my sister." Pyra teared up, "In fact, we are bothpletely aware now that you are not him. He''s not as strong as you. Your aura ispletely different from him. Your demeanor is the exact opposite of him. And unlike you, he''s nowhere near talented enough to even dream about reaching this ce."

    "Trust me. We know. We''repletely aware of it. We already realized that you and him aren''t the same person. In fact, we should''ve known in the first ce since that guy is dead. Our Father killed him years ago and present his corpse in front of us. We were even there when he was fed to the pigs. So trust me, we both know that you aren''t him." Pyra stated, lowering her head and pausing for a long period of time.

    "Hmm, so you know that I''m not him, but even after knowing that you still went ahead and did all of that to me. I guess all of this, is just for the sake of you satisfying andforting yourselves, thinking that by redirecting all of your hatred to me, your traumas will be gone and you''ll live happily ever after. Is that what you''re trying to say?"

    Pyra couldn''t say anything to that. But she knew that even if she didn''t, Raven was already aware of her answer. She couldn''t bring herself to actually admit it. In fact, Raven wasn''t really asking her a question at this point. She was certain that even if she answered no, there''s no changing his mind anymore.

    "Wow. You twins are just the worst you know?" Raven said, his tone sounded venomous. "Man, I can''t believe that I was used as a stress reliever without my knowledge. And it wasplete strangers who did so too!"

    "You know what? I really feel like escting this issue even more so that now. Specially after you told me all of that. Hmm, what should I now?" Raven said using a cold tone.

    "Oh! I''ve just thought about a more fantastic idea! What if Ipletely pretend to be that guy in your memories, eh? What do you think?" Raven stated with a savage smile. "That should be fun, don''t you think? At least all this shit that I received from you will be justified unlike what''s happening right now. It would even be better if you girls don''t say anything about and actpletely just like how you did back in those days. You know, when you were still ves?"

    Pyra trembled upon hearing him say that. She knew it. She knew that it''s going to be like this. Which is why she''s afraid, very afraid of confronting him. Specially without her sister which is the pir that supports her, preventing her from breaking down,

    "At least I''m informing you about it, which makes me a better person since you guys did it without my active participation." Raven sarcastically remark,pletely aware that what he''s saying was awful.

    Raven didn''t say anything after that. He just stared at the shaking Pyra on his seat coldly,pletely ignoring the fact that he''s triggering all of those awful memories that happened to them at this very moment. In fact, he''s actually thinking that it would be a lot better if the other twin was here, just so that he can watch both of them suffer.

    He never really like this vengeful side of his, but sometimes people are just awful. This very situation is the proof of that. Raven couldn''t believe that he''s being treated like shit by people that he had never met before, this is something that he had shown great tolerance to. The fact that the two of them are still alive and breathing is the best proof that Raven truly held back.

    But after hearing all of this, Raven couldn''t find it to himself to easily let this matter go. He''s never been a good guy, if it weren''t for the rules of the sect binding his actions, best believe that this two would''ve died awful deaths at this very moment.

    "This is ridiculous." Raven spat,pletely irritated about this awful situation. However, he once again held his hand and sighed deeply.

    Instead of hurting her, Raven stood up and said: "What happened to the both of you were awful, that I can understand much."

    "What''s beyond me, is the fact that even after knowing full well that I''m not the same person, you still went ahead and did all of those acts. Weren''t you girls victims? Why am I thinking that you aren''t so different from the people you hated?"

    Pyra''s body visibly shook after hearing that. She lowered her head even more, she couldn''t muster any courage to look at him in the eye.

    Raven took something out of his spatial ring and threw it in front of her. He started waking towards the door but before he left, he said something:

    "If we were outside, you guys would''ve been dead from the very first moment you annoyed me. Be thankful for the rules of this sect." He stated, pausing briefly before he exited the room. "Aside from the rules, I held back from hurting you since you two remind me of my siblings."

    "I''m expecting a formal apology from the both of you as soon as possible. If I don''t receive any by the end of this month. I''ll be escting this problem. That''s all." He left after saying that, leaving Pyra alone in the room.

    Moments after he left, Pyra lifted her face. Tears were visible from it as she stared at the item that Raven left for her.

    It was a portrait of him and his twin sisters....

 Chapter 496 - Cleansing Chapel

    ---

    "That''ll be 17,000 Merit Points in total." A man informed kindly after calcting the total cost of the items Raven requested.

    Raven nodded and ced his badge on the scanner. It lit up for one second before it was returned to him, the items were paid that way and he was free to store them now.

    After he retrieved his badge, Raven ced all of the items he bought inside his spatial ring and walked away from the Merit Exchange Market since he had no other business here.

    He already brought everything he needed and more, while also making sure to keep some merit points with him in case od emergency. He had 9,620 Merit Points left for himself, this should be enough for emergencies.

    The materials he bought just now were the ones he needed to create more avatars. The 4th Stage of Myriad Incarnations Scripture allows him to create 18 more avatars, with the 9 he already has, this will certainly make his life easier. It would be like having 27 minds working together or in units to research and analyze anything he prioritizes. Each of his Avatars is as intelligent as he is, they might not posses the same strength as the original has but considering Raven''s true strength, his avatars is as strong as regr cultivators, and that''s almost cheating.

    On the contrary though, Raven has no ns on returning to the base just yet.

    After leaving the Merit Exchange Market, Raven went towards north and ended up in one of the Cleansing Chapels.

    This was another matter that piqued Raven''s interest since they toured Tartarus. There''s just something intriguing about these chapels, which he can''t put a finger on. Ever since seeing these buildings, he wondered what''s their use and why are they called ''Cleansing Chapels''. And since Raven is here, he might as figure that out now.

    The chapel wasn''t thatrge, there''s also a few people who''re visiting this ce just like Raven. It seems to be made out of simple bricks, but Raven could tell that these are no ordinary materials. As he went closer to it, Raven involuntarily activated his ocr technique and started inspecting the ce more closely.

    What he saw was somewhat surprising. In his vision, the chapel was a stark contrast to the general theme of his surroundings. It was surrounded by white halo of light, which could also be interpreted as a sign of Purity. This was surprising since Tartarus itself is infested by residual devilish will left by the Devil Emperor ages ago. This will is represent a dark and ominous maroon fog ever-present in this ce. Therefore, seeing something radiating cleanliness and purity in a ce like this really piqued Raven''s interest.

    He eventually arrived at the gates of the chapel. There he saw several posters hanging, it was recruitment notices, saying that the Cleansing Chapel is recruiting potential ''Cleansers'', as for what Cleansers do, Raven has no idea...yet.

    With his curiosity piqued, Raven tore off one of the posters and took it with him. He then pushed the gates open and stepped inside the perimeter of the chapel.

    Raven felt some senses sweeping towards his direction. They didn''te with ill intentions so he let them pass his body. Looking down at the poster, he followed the directions drawn on to it leading towards the back entrance of the chapel.

    He eventually arrived then and saw a closed door. He knocked a few times and waited for someone to open it. After a few seconds someone opened the door and received him.

    "Hello there Freshie, since you''re holding a poster and went specifically at this ce, I am safe to assume that you wanted to know more about this job and possibly join us right?"

    "Correct." Raven answered, he gave out a salute and introduced himself: "My name is Vendrick Valorheart, you can simply call me Raven. Senior Sister is?"

    "Monica¡­" The woman smiled and returned the gesture. "Monica Sylvester, a Cleanser and Senior Outer Disciples. Nice to meet you Raven."

    "Nice to meet you too."

    "Come, let''s go inside. I''ll tell you more about us Cleansers and give you a tour of the Chapel." Monica smiled and gestured Raven toe inside.

    Raven simply nodded and followed her.

    Once they entered, Raven was met with a rather humble interior of the chapel. The floor was marbled, the walls are seemingly made out of bricks and the ceiling is wooden. There is a faint smell of flowers and medicine inside, a start contrast of what the outside smells like.

    The chapel seems to radiate a calm and rxing feeling to anyone who enters it. The temperature inside was warm, the kind that seeps through one''s soul. It was veryfortable.

    "The Cleansing Chapels are a very recent addition to Tartarus." Monica stated as she started introducing Raven to the facility. "The oldest chapel built so far is merely a decade old,pared to the other facilities nearby and all over Tartarus, it''s nothing much."

    "The idea of the Cleansing Chapels were introduced by Senior Brother Theodore - the 8th Fire Keeper." Monica said as she looked at Raven with a smile. "Oh, right. me Keeper is a title given to the people who guards and worships the me of Olympus. As for what the me of Olympus is, you''ll know it when timees."

    "Anyway, where are again? Oh right!" Monica chuckled, "Senior Brother Theodore is said to be ''pampered by the mes of Olympus'' therefore it gave him a unique seed of me, which is called the Cleansing me. And with the Cleansing me as the foundation, he brought the idea of Cleansing Chapels to life."

    The two arrived further inside the chapel where Raven got to see what the Cleansing Chapel really does.

    He saw several beds upied by injured people. Most of them are resting whilst covered with bandages, some were being attended to by the people who wore the same jacket as Monica.

    Raven guessed that these people must be the other Cleansers. These people wore ck jackets with a symbol of a white me sewn on the back. They''re also wearing face masks, white cap, fingerless gloves and boots on top of their sect uniforms.

    He witnessed the Cleansers doing their job, they hovered their hands on a particr area of their patient''s body. As their eyes were closed, they chanted some words and their hands will glow brightly as white mes covered it.

    As they hovered their hands on their patients, ck tendrils of smoke wille out of the patients body, which will then disperse through the air and disappear.

    "As you can probably guess by now, these people are Cleansers just like me. The me that you see them use is the Cleansing me which was given to Senior Brother Theodore." Monica exined.

    "The Cleansing me has unique properties. While its temperature is weakerpared to other mes out there, this me purifies evilpletely."

    "I trust that you are familiar with the different kind of devils out there so I''ll make this simple." Monica stated, "The Devils are born from the Devil Emperor himself. Each of them is connected to him, each carries its powerful will and ispletely loyal to him. If, under the unfortunate event of, you or your other Unit Members had shed with a more powerful devil and had your lives nearly taken away from you, there is a great chance that you will be poisoned by the Devil Emperor''s will."

    "You''ve heard our history I assume, and thus you can tell how powerful the Devil Emperor truly is. It''s will was enough topletely change thisndscape, so much so that not even a single strand of grass dared to exist in this ce."

    "Poisoned by the powerful will of the Devil Emperor, its almost certain that you will be converted into a Devil yourself. Trust me, I''ve seen it happening once, and it''s never been a pretty sight. It''s very heartbreaking too." Monica said with a mncholic tone.

    "The will of the Devil Emperor will turn you mad, so much so that you won''t recognize anyone anymore. You will kill everyone that the will is telling to kill, and no matter how fight back, you have no hopes of ever winning to that."

    "Most of the disciples who are tasked to clear the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda suffers from this. One day, you will see your fellow disciples, driven mad and insane by the Devil Emperor''s powerful will. You will be forced to kill them, and it never feels good when you do that."

    As if suddenly awoken from her stupor, Monica shook and shed a smile at Raven.

    "Oh my, look at me. Being all dramatic and all. Sorry about that." She said, "Anyways, casualties cannot be avoided. Like I said, when you nearly died from fighting a powerful devil, its almost certain that you will ne poisoned by the will of the Devil Emperor."

    "From then on, it us - the Cleansers, who will take it from there.. Through the help of the Cleansing me, we can ''exorcise'' the poisonous will out of someone''s body and save them from the awful fate of turning into a mindless ve."

 Chapter 497 - Ritual

    ---

    "Come with me, I''ll show you something." Monica told Raven as she started walking away from the other Cleansers doing their job.

    Raven silently followed her while he was immersed on his thoughts.

    What he learned just now was something unexpected. It turns out that people could be infected and turned into a devil too. In hind sight, he should''ve seen thising. He himself possess a firm and powerful will that could potentially create suggestions or outright warp a person''s mind. If he could do it, then it should be given that someone who''s dubbed as a Devil Emperor should be able to do the same.

    ''Which means that this disgusting maroon fog covering this entire ce, should be the residual will of the Devil Emperor.'' Raven deducted, ''A entity this strong which willsts for eons. No wonder this sect was created, a thing like that should never be allowed to step outside its prison or else, Divine Realm would be plunged into peril.''

    ''It''s only sealed, it''s not dead.'' Raven thought to himself, ''It''s possible that its will continues to seep through the seal. I don''t want to doubt the people who created this seal - which also happens to be the founders of the sect, but I entirely possible that I''m correct. A residual will, no matter even if its from a very powerful entity, should have at least diminished through time. But from what I can see, the will is still incredibly firm.''

    ''Right! Why didn''t I realize this before?'' Raven''s eyes glowed as he felt the urge to p his face. ''The Devil Race is created from by the Devil Emperor! Each of his minions carries his will! And since this Devil Emperor is so powerful, it means that no matter how much of his minions we killed, his will is destined to not be dispersed! In fact, it''s possible that its releasing more and more as time passes! Fuck!''

    Raven''s deduction is baseless for now, and he truly is hoping that he will be proven wrong because if he''s right, then the sect is in imminent danger.

    ''Right, if I could notice this, then it''s possible for the Elders to notice it too¡­hopefully. Let''s have faith.'' Raven sighed inwardly and decided to remove his thoughts for now. He''s not strong enough to do anything for now so raising an rming statement like this will only make things worse.

    Monica and Raven eventually arrived to another door, to which Monica opened using her badge. The moment they stepped inside, Raven was momentarily surprised by the bright light that greeted him out of nowhere. Once his vision adjusted, he looked ahead and saw an enormous kiln zing with white mes.

    Raven was stunned. He felt several things which made him very confused. The sight of the white mes wereforting, it gave of an impression of safety, security and soul-seeping warmth. And even though it''s contained within arge kiln, the mes didn''t spread not weakened. In fact, it wasn''t even moving erratically at all like most other mes, instead it was still. It''s quiet, serene and very eye-catching.

    Monica sped her hands in prayer, murmuring some chants that Raven couldn''t understand. As for him, his interest was at its peak as soon as he saw this me.

    ''At first I thought that this cleansing me is just a glorified Vivic mes - the one which we used to nullify Death Laws in the bodies of those suicidal soldiers. However, it seems that I''m wrong. This me is something else. If anything, I could tell that it purity is in a much higher levelpared to Vivic mes.''

    "As you can probably guess by now, this is the Cleansing me that Senior Brother Theo cultivated from a seed." Monica introduced shortly after, "With his generosity, he left plumes of Cleansing mes on each chapel around Tartarus since he''s the only one who received the seed from the mes of Olympus."

    "Us cleansers could only harness the Cleansing mes, which requires us to be in close proximity of it. That means, that we can''t call for its might whenever we''re outside of the sect. We could only treat patients here in the chapel." Monica sighed in defeat. "Taking the mes out of Tartarus isn''t a good idea as well. The closer the me is to the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, it''s might weakens as if its met with its natural predator. Therefore, even though we wanted to be more useful, we couldn''t."

    "Which is also why that our numbers are incredibly few." Monica sadly stated, "At first, Senior Brother Theo was hopeful that the mes were capable of finally turning the tide around, but unfortunately it cannot. Up until now, he''s still trying more ideas in order to not only boost the reputation of the Cleansing Chapel but also contribute to our cause. In the mean time however, we could only do our best."

    Monica then faced Raven and asked him: "Now, with all of that being said. Are you still willing to test yourself and join our ranks?"

    Raven didn''t even hesitate for a single moment before saying: "Yeah. I''m more determined to join now actually."

    Monica smiled at that, but she asked: "If you don''t mind me asking, why?"

    "I won''t lie, I just find this upation very interesting at first." Raven stated, "Not much has changed even now, only my interest is at its highest. I like the prospect of discovering more about the things that really piques my interests."

    "Aish! I shouldn''t have asked!" Monica said, mocking an angry expression but couldn''t hide the amusement on her face. "If Senior Brother Theo was the one who asked, he would''ve kicked you out right at this instant!"

    "But he''s not here though. It''s you, who''s here. Not him." Raven replied with a smile of his own.

    "Aren''t you a cheeky one?" Monica replied, finally getting rid of the faked anger on her face. "Whatever, we could use more hands anyway. But, don''t you think that you''re already one of us just yet! You still need to be tested."

    "I''m ready." Raven replied with a serious face.

    "Well, you said it yourself. Don''t me me for what happens afterwards." Monica added, it''s unknown whether she said this to discourage him and frighten him or just giving him a heads up of what''s about to happen.

    Monica then moved behind Raven and said: "Wear this and go into the kiln. Embrace the me andmune with it. That''s all you have to do."

    She handed him a pure white robes which seems to be made out silk. She then pointed him towards the direction of the changing room and told him that she''d be waiting for him here.

    Ravenplied and changed into the outfit that was given to him. Once he''s done, he returned to where the kiln where and saw Monica nodding to him, a signal that he could begin.

    Taking a deep breath, Raven''s face turned serious as he gently approached the mes. The moment he took as step forward, he felt an incredible heat sweeping through his body. He was surprised at first, thinking to himself that a mortal would''ve probably be left with several burn marks on their body if they were to be exposed to this temperature.

    Needless to say, it would take more that this to deter him from approaching the mes. Raven took several steps forward, feeling the temperature getting hotter and hotter as he approached the mes.

    Monica was a bit surprised when she saw the ease of Raven''s approached. Back when she went through with this ritual, it took her more time and energy before she eventually arrived at the kiln. However, Raven took almost no time at all. His approach looked as casual as it could ever be, making it hard for her to believe that this guy is a Freshman.

    Raven eventually arrived at the kiln. Feeling the scalding temperature of the mes even greater than before. Needless to say, he''s still fine. More importantly, he could hear faint whispers on his ears the closer he got to the mes.

    Eventually, Raven stepped in the kiln itself, causing Monica''s eyes to shine.

    The moment he stepped in, the still and peaceful mes suddenly erupted greatly surprising Raven in the process. Raven was immediately swallowed by the mes, but even so he didn''t panic - well maybe he did for a just a second but it went away swiftly since he could feel that this me didn''t have any ill intentions, which is very ironic considering the mes engulfed him from head to toe.

    Following Monica''s instructions, Raven then sat down in the kiln, despite being swallowed by the white mes, and started hismunion with it. He concentrated his focus and let go of all unnecessary thoughts on his mind. He focused on the whispers invading his senses and traced it back to its source, this lead to him entering a special state where he no longer have any awareness of his surroundings.

    Monica who''s watching this process whispered to herself: "You''re talented Junior Brother, that much I can tell.. Hopefully, you pass this and make a difference cause god knows we need it more than ever."

 Chapter 498 - The Flame

    ----

    Raven''s consciousness left his body and arrived somewhere else.

    When he opened his eyes, he saw himself standing in front if a massive pir of me. He had no idea where he''s at, all he knew is that everything that his eyes can see is nketed by fire varying in colors too.

    Thergest and tallest of them all were raging in front of him. It formed a massive pir which seems to pierce the heavens itself. It color was a mixture of blue and jade swirling around each other. It gave off an impression of dominance, aggressiveness, nobility and purity all at the same time.

    Raven had no idea what this me is, all he could remember was trying tomune with the Cleansing Fire and suddenly, he arrived here.

    "A visitor¡­how rare."

    A deep voice reverberated all of a sudden, jolting Raven out of his stupor. His eyes focused and realized that the voice seemed to being from the massive pir of me in front of him.

    "Greetings¡­uh, whoever you are." Raven said awkwardly, he honestly have no idea of what to do from here. Monica didn''t say anything about arriving at this ce.

    "What is the purpose of your visit here?" The deep and aged voice asked him, not even bothering about introducing itself to him.

    "Well¡­" Raven hesitated, but in the end he still decided to tell. "From what I can remember, I was trying tomune with the Cleansing Fire, but I ended up arriving here. I honestly have no idea what''s going on. Wait, are you the Cleansing Fire?"

    There was a long period of silence after Raven asked this question. Despite the his strange surroundings - which seems to appear like the surface of the sun, the atmosphere turned somewhat awkward.

    "Ha! Hahahahahaha!"

    The deep and aged voiceing from the depths of therge me pir suddenly burst into an uproariousughter. It obviously confused Raven but he can''t really find anything to say. He could only wait until¡­whoever this is, calm down and stopughing.

    "Ah, so that''s how it is¡­" the voice uttered, it would seem that its talking to itself. "Indeed, how very strange and also¡­"

    As the voice trailed off, Raven suddenly felt a gazending on his body, causing all of his hairs to stand up and rm. His expression hardened and he assumed an offensive stance.

    "¡­curious." The voice continued. The feeling of being stared down by arge predator suddenly disappeared, causing Raven to visibly rx. Still, he didn''t drop his guard down. He just stared at the massive pir of me, confused as to what''s going on.

    "You hold more potential than that¡­who is that again? Dio¡­Deo¡­Odor"

    "Uh, you mean Theodore?" Raven interjected.

    "Yeah, yeah. That guy." The voice replied. Causing Raven''s face to turn downcast. What the hell is this situation? Is this really the Cleansing Fire? If so, then why can it remember Theodore''s name? Wasn''t he the one who cultivated this me to reach this level? What''s going on.

    ''Wait¡­some things doesn''t add up here¡­'' Raven thought, but before he could think even further, his thoughts were interrupted since the voice talked again.

    "Your body''s potential and foundations are firmer and overall betterpared to him. In fact, he couldn''t even bepared to you." The voice said, his words were ttering but Raven didn''t appear to be excited or ted by this. He continued listening instead.

    "You seek the Cleansing Fire to use against that nasty prisoner don''t you?" The voice asked.

    Raven''s eyes gleamed as he managed to realize some things from this statement, he kept it to himself however and instead answered the question.

    "Indeed."

    "Very well. I shall bestow you a Cleansing Fire Seed." The voice stated. Its words managed to cause Raven''s expression to finally change.

    Out of nowhere, a hole appeared from the massive me pir. From that hole, a seed covered in white mes emerged and gently flew towards him.

    Raven brought his palms up and the seednded on them. Raven felt the kind warmth pulsing within this tiny seed and felt somewhat in awe.

    "Fuse with it here. I shall oversee the process." The voice demanded. Raven had no issues about that so he immediately sat down and sped his hands in prayer with the seed ced on the middle of his palms.

    He then focused his will and began fusing with the seed. As soon as he began the fusion, the seed on his palms dissipated into white fumes, whichter then turned into pure white mes that covered his palms.

    White mes slowly crept up and swallowed him. Raven wasn''t in pain for some reason, he could only feel the strange warmth surrounding his body gradually.

    His focus was centered on the white mes that were invading his body. It found its way to his energywork and even doused his blood vessels and his bones in fire but again, he didn''t feel any pain from it.

    As the mes covered his body from inside out, it eventually seeped through his core. And is finding a ce which seems to be extremely interesting, the mes suddenly invaded the ce only to see the strange scenery inside.

    It was as if there was another universe inside Raven''s body. The mes saw a swirling cosmos, sparkling stars ands within Raven''s core. It suddenly got excited and started charging towards the very center of the cosmos within Raven''s body.

    The white mes experienced no obstructions upon getting there. As soon as it arrived at the center, the mes congregated into a single plume of fire and the seed that disappeared earlier reappeared in there. Sitting at the very center of the cosmos.

    It then started wantonly absorbing the abundant energy around it. This process was something that Raven felt and allowed to happen. This would be akin to the first feeding for the Cleansing Fire Seed, and so long as he does this, then the seed will germinate within him and he''ll be able to use the might of the Cleansing Fire.

    ''Just as I thought! This kid is¡­''

    Unbeknownst to Raven, the massive me pir in front of him watched the fusion process closely. Although it didn''t manage to discover the hidden cosmos within Raven''s body, it realized hispatibility with the fire.

    No one had ever showed this muchpatibility to its mes, not until now. The kid didn''t feel any pain in the process, the fusion was like a walk in the park and the seed didn''t even release any sort of discontent to its current vessel. The seed fused with the kid, not the other way around. The seed even decided to germinate on its own, the kid didn''t need to force it nor coax it into doing so.

    This means that Raven was a perfect vessel, and this is something that had never happened before.

    ''I need to observe him more...'' the massive me pir thought to itself.

    Shortly after that, the Cleansing Fire Seed within Raven''s body had firmly rooted itself in the center of the Cosmos. From this moment onwards, unless Raven dies, no one could even think about extracting the seed out of his body. This is a firm connection, and this bond will only get stronger as time passed and as the seed grows.

    Raven observed this process closely. Needless to say, he was somewhat surprised on how smooth it went for him. It was painless, quick andforting even.

    As his attention was focused on the seed, he could see that some changes are happening to it as soon as it rooted itself to him.

    The drain on his Cosmic Energy is negligible. The seed was absorbing his energy on its own ord and its not incredibly overbearing as to absorb everything in him. It was a gentle drain, and he could tell that at some point, the seed will be saturated and won''t absorb his Cosmic Energy anymore.

    His energy seems to be a very nutritious food for the seed. Raven could several runic lines emerging on the seeds surface. The plume of mes seems to burn even brighter and clearer than before. Raven didn''t even doubt for a second that the quality of the Cleansing Fire he could use right now is betterpared to the one that he had seen before.

    ''Once it''s fully saturated, it only needs time and it will eventually sprout. By then, the quality and quantity of fires I can use will be boosted by several fold.'' Raven thought to himself. ''For now, it seems that the fusion is a sess. I''ll let it absorb as much Cosmic Energy as it needed until its fully saturated.''

    With that in mind, he withdrawn his attention from the seed and woke up from his meditation. He then gently stood up and saluted the massive me pir.

    "Thank you, for bestowing me such a gift."

    "You''re wee." The voice replied, "Use this power well and render meritorious services for Humanity. I''m watching you kid."

    "I''ll do my best." Raven replied.

    "Mn. Away with you then."

    As soon as the voice said that, Raven felt a strong tug and he found himself flying back to his own body. Amidst his flight back, a smile appeared on his face as he thought.

    ''I knew it! That''s the me of Olympus!''

 Chapter 499 - Warning

    ---

    "God Bless our Chapel¡­" Monica involuntarily uttered as she witnessed the spectacle before her.

    In front of her, Raven could be seen sitting within the kiln, surrounded with raging white mes. The mes were seemingly amplified by him as it had basically covered most of the room they''re in. As a contractor of the Cleansing mes, Monica wasn''t hurt by the mes. She only felt boundless warmth and purity in them, in fact it''s even strongerpared to the mes that she herself could summon.

    She had seen a simr spectacle before. Monica was one of the first batch of people who became a Cleanser and she happened upon Theodore meditating once. That scene of Theodore controlling the Cleansing mes was extremely simr to what she''s witnessing right now. She was somewhat confused but mostly happy. She has her own suspicions but she needed to wait for Raven to wake up first before confirming them.

    She didn''t have to wait long since shortly after, Raven''s body jolted as if surprised and she saw him opening his eyes, revealing a radiant gleam on his pupils. Monica didn''t say a thing, it would seem that Raven''s still hasn''tpletely woken up from stupor either so she opted to wait for him.

    Momentster, she saw Raven standing up, still covered in the white robes she lent him. He raised a palm and opened them, he exhaled and all of the white mes scattered across the room slowly converged onto his palm and behave tamely in there.

    Monica drew a sharp breath as she saw this, great joy coursed through her body as most of her suspicions were mostly confirmed.

    Raven stepped out of the kiln but didn''t go to Monica just yet, he faced the kiln and left the plume of Cleansing Fire on his hand in there. The moment he did so, the plume started filling out every inch of the kiln, burning even more vigorouslypared before. After doing that, he turned around and walked towards the almost teary-eyed Monica.

    He was about to say something but all of a sudden, Monica jumped onto him and enveloped him in a tight hug. Raven was stunned but he felt that his shoulders were wet, a sign that Monica was crying, so he ended up just consoling her by lightly patting her back.

    "This is probably not a good time to say this but, I''m married Senior Sister." Raven yfully remarked.

    That earned him a pinch on his arm causing him to scowl a bit, Monica then broke out of the hug, drying her face from tears while snorting at Raven. "You cheeky brat! I''m old enough to be your grandmother I''ll have you know."

    "Oh, I''m sorry. Should I call you Grandma Monica then?"

    Monica''s eyes narrowed dangerously, causing rm bells to warm Raven of an impeding danger. He then heard her say: "Try me, bitch."

    "I''m kidding. I''m kidding." Raven nervouslyughed and backed off a couple of steps. Monica only snorted and finished drying up her face.

    "Great¡­" She said, "Way to really ruin the mood. I was really happy before, I even shed tears of joy. But you just had to ruin all of that. Way to go really¡­"

    "Alright, my bad." Raven sheepishly said, causing Monica to roll her eyes.

    She then sighed and said: "Well, it seems that you were destined to be a Cleanser. You even got a seed for yourself. I''m sure Senior Brother Theodore will be ted to hear this."

    "Yeah, that really surprised me too." Raven nodded in agreement, he then said: "Right, Senior Sister. I have a question."

    "Oh? What is it?"

    "The me of Olympus¡­" He said, causing Monica to raise her eyebrow. "It is like a massive pir of swirling blue and jade mes?"

    Monica seemed to be reeling from his question, although Raven really have no idea why. He just asked even though he pretty much already knew the answer to his question since he thought that it won''t be bad to ask. But seeing Monica''s expression, it would seem that he asked about something that he shouldn''t have.

    "Sorry about that¡­" Monica replied after recovering from her shock. "I just¡­didn''t expect you to actually¡­"

    Raven tilted his head and noticed that Monica trailed off, so he opted to continue her sentence for her. "Didn''t expect me to what? To meet the mes of Olympus? Yeah, I didn''t expect that too. I mean, you only told me tomune with the Cleansing me but I ended up arriving there. It was honestly confusing."

    "Well, I think it should be a good thing though. Had I not arrived there, I wouldn''t probably have the me seed right now. You said that Senior Brother Theo got his seed from the mes of Olympus right? Then I just experienced the same thing."

    "R-right¡­you experienced the same thing." Monica chanted almost mechanically. Raven found this weird and had his suspicions but he''s not really in any position to ask so he let it go.

    After a while, Monica sighed. She had seemingly collected herself from the shock just now and said: "Listen up, Junior Brother. You mustn''t casually discuss to others that you''ve personally met the mes of Olympus, am I clear?"

    "Y-yes. But why?"

    "Just, do it." Monica didn''t say much about the subject. "Aside from me, and your Unit Supervisor, you are not to mention this to another soul. If you do, then it''s possible that you will be in grave danger. You just have remember to not tell anyone else, got it? I''ll keep this secret for you, and I''m pretty sure that your Unit Supervisor will do the same."

    "But the matter about me possessing a Cleansing me Seed will eventually go public. What do I say when they ask me about it? And what about Senior Brother Theo? He''s bound to know too."

    "If you were asked how you received it, just tell them that you aren''t allowed to say it. If they insists, then point it towards Senior Brother Theo. That should suffice. As for whether you can trust Senior Brother Theo, then that''s not even a matter that you need to worry about. Aside from being the founder of the Cleansing Chapels, he''s also a War God. He won''t receive both titles if he''s bad a person."

    "I understand." Raven replied, "What about the other cleansers then? And what kind of story are you going to tell them. I think I should know this just in case, right?"

    "Junior Brother, you are a part of our team now whether you like or not." Monica stated, "We are your allies, we will protect your secret since you''ve just be another strong link that connects all of us. Trust me when I say that no Cleanser will betray you."

    "As for the make-up story, let''s just say that you and the Cleansing Fire had formed an incredibly strong bond which lead to a miracle, allowing you to condense a me Seed. We''ll mostly go with that, I''ll inform you if I changed my mind."

    "Alright, we''ll go ording to your arrangements." Raven agreed, causing Monica to sigh in relief.

    She then took out some material from her spatial ring and handed it over to him. She then said: "Take this and give it a good read. This is the mantras we used to control the cleansing me in order to disperse the evil will of the Devil Emperor."

    Along with the book, he also received the same jacket as most of the Cleansers have. "This is yours now, a sign that you are one of us. Remember that whenever youe to the chapel or whenever you do a Cleanser''s job, you must ne wearing this jacket or else you won''t earn Merit Points thates along with it."

    "Don''t worry, the jacket is made out of the same materials as our uniforms. It could repair itself rather well and quick so you don''t have to worry about losing it. If you ever do, then don''t hesitate to ask for another one."

    Raven nodded in understanding and received the things Monica gave to him.

    "Alright, you should go back for now." Monica stated with a smile, "I''m expecting you here tomorrow morning to start your training. Remember what I said earlier and keep them in mind, understood?"

    "Yes, Senior Sister."

    "Very good. Now, shoo!" Monica yfully waved him away, causing a chuckled to escape from Raven''s lips. He then went to the changing room to change back to his uniform, leaving the white garb behind. After that he left the Cleansing Chapel and went back to the base in order to read the book that Monica gave him.

    When he left, Monica was left standing within the same room. Gazing at the zing white mes within the kiln with a serene expression.

    She seemed to be unaware of that a silhouette of a tall man with other-worldly looks, manifesting behind her.

    "So that''s why I got a strong reaction¡­" the man whispered. He was heard by Monica who only smiled and nodded. "So it seems that this neer is a bit favored by the mes too."

    Monica looked over to the man and saw him smiling, she too smiled. They looked at each other and both uttered:

    "God Bless our Sect."

 Chapter 500 - Meeting The Cleansers

    ---

    "[9 Cleansing Plume Records], a little rigid but good enough I suppose. Considering that Senior Brother Theo probably wasn''t even a War God when he made this."

    Raven can be currently seen lying on his bed whilst reading the book that Monica gave him earlier. The 9 Cleansing Plume Records were a set of profound chants that invokes the power of the Cleansing mes to do its magic.

    He briefly closed the book and sat into a meditative position. He then sank his perception towards his core, locating the white seed rooted in the middle of the cosmos within his body, although it hasn''t been long since the seed was here, its roots already spread far a wide, covering at least a percent of the whole cosmic swirl. This growth was surely astonishing, specially when the seed is no longer wantonly absorbing Raven''s Cosmic Energy, is taken into consideration.

    It goes without saying that his Cosmic Energy is a very nutritious food for the seed, and as the seed continuously grows, more runes will emerge on its surface, which in turn means that he will have a deeper connection with it. With time, the seed will eventually bloom and the might of the me seed will be even stronger, the thought of the sends Raven itching in anticipation.

    "Unfortunately its only most effective against Devils." Ravenmented, "If its heat could at least bepared to Natural mes then it would be better. Oh, well. You can''t win them all I guess¡­"

    Of course, there are other ways for Raven to increase the potential of the Cleansing mes. The most effective method is by fusing it with Fire Laws, but as if he could do that. There''s no need to mention about gaining enlightenment about Fire Laws, he already has his hands full with Destruction and Spacetime Laws currently. There''s absolutely no way for him to focus on Fire Laws as of the moment.

    The other methods aren''t really that attractive either. The ones he thought about would need expensive ingredients to reach, Raven couldn''t be bothered with that since he''s after some expensive things already.

    With all that in mind, he could onlyment about this for now. But it''s not really that bad after all. Its not like he''s going to leave the sect anytime soon, and like what was mentioned earlier, the Cleansing mes are most effective against Devils. As a possessor of the seed himself, he''s not restricted and has to be near the chapels in order to use the cleansing mes. This means that he could still go out and hunt devils.

    After his brief inspection, Raven withdrawn his consciousness within his core and recalled the contents of the book.

    Closing his hands in prayer, he uttered some chants slowly and felt a strange movement on energy within his body. Once he''s finished chanting, he opened his eyes and saw that his hands were now covered with white mes.

    "The 1st Cleansing Plume: White Gloves." Raven murmured.

    Even though he managed to perform the first technique on his first try, Raven''s face held no joy or tion. It could even be said that he''s a bit disappointed with his performance.

    The white mes covering his hands were too unstable. They were weak and flickering a lot, additionally they were also pulsing a lot. Compared to the one that he saw in the chapel earlier, Raven could tell that he''s off by a mile away.

    Needless to say, this isn''t enough to discourage him. He briefly recalled the sensations earlier and kept them in mind. He then deactivated the technique, drank some moonshine and proceeded to use the rest of the night to kept practicing.

    ***

    "Wait, you can already perform the first plume?"

    Raven was back in the same Cleansing Chapel he went to yesterday and had met with Monica already. After asking if he followed her instructions, Raven confirmed it and even said that he could already perform the first technique written in there, shocking Monica already.

    "Yes, I can. Although I will need more practice and experience." Raven replied honestly.

    Monica was a bit unconvinced but recalling the fact that this guy is the same guy who met the mes of Olympus and was granted with a Cleansing me Seed, she ought to at least give him the benefit of a doubt.

    "Let me see it then." Monica stated.

    Raven nodded and murmured the chants. Just from the way he uttered the chants, Monica was already impressed. Even more so when he saw the white mes emerging on Raven''s hands.

    Even thought Raven was still chanting, Monica was already inspecting the stability of the mes. Judging from this, Monica realized that the kid wasn''t bluffing at all.

    Raven eventually opened his eyes and looked at Monica, waiting for her remarks.

    "Well, I''ll be." Monica smiled, "Color me impressed then. You can actually do it. The mes are still, stable and have very little fluctuations. Not bad at all. But just as you said, you still need more practice and most importantly, experience."

    "I understand." Raven nodded, he epted Monica''s judgements without any ounce of arrogance or entitlement.

    "Well, then. Wear your jacket and follow me." Monica stated as she walked forward. Raven nodded and summoned his jacket, wearing them as both of them walked deeper into the chapel.

    They went through a series of rooms until they arrived at a ce where Raven saw a couple of people resting. All of them are wearing the same jacket as he does, some of them are already wearing face masks while the rest are still in the middle of wearing their jackets.

    All of them were staring at the two of them, it was clear that they were mildly surprised by their arrival.

    "Yo, Monica! Fancy meeting you here!" One of the Cleansers pulled down his face mask and smiled at her. He then looked at Raven and back at Monica, asking: "Is this him?"

    Monica smiled and said: "Cheer up folks! We have a new member. A special one at that too!"

    She then pushed Raven a bit forward, and introduced him to her colleagues.

    "This is Vendrick Valorheart, he preferred to be called as Raven instead. From now on, he''ll be learning from us and eventually be a core member!"

    "Woah!"

    There collective gasps and cheers from the Cleansers when they heard her words. All of them looked at Raven with anticipation but mostly curiosity.

    "Just so you know, this guy is a seed bearer. This makes him a diamond in a rough. Make sure to take good care of him or else you''ll be messing with me." Monica added, which caused the people to immediately be stunned.

    Raven could only smile wryly. It was in to see that Monica didn''t hold back any information regarding him. He could only sigh and ept it this way.

    "Woohoo! God Bless our Chapel!" The man who greeted Monica threw his hands in the air and cheered.

    "God Bless our Sect!" The rest followed.

    This celebratory mood caused Raven to feel somewhat confused. However, he kept it to himself for now since he''ll eventually know why anyway.

    "Alright, I''ll leave him in your care then, I have to go since I''ll need to take care of some things. Show him the ropes and give him hints. He''s a bit sharp so there shouldn''t be any problems."

    "Oh! Sure! Leave him to us. He''ll be an expert in no time." The man replied confidently, causing Monica to snort and say:

    "I''ll hold you onto that. If you fail, then prepare yourself for a Nut Beatdown."

    Monica''s words caused the man to instinctively mp down his legs and sweat nervously. Before he could protest, Monica was already leaving the room.

    "Aiya. You boasted again. I''ll pray for you buddy." One of his colleagues patted the sweating man''s shoulders while trying his best to not burst into an uproariousughter.

    The rest of his colleagues were also snickering behind his back, causing the man''s expression to crumple in anger.

    "You guys are traitors!" The man whined, wiping the sweat on his forehead.

    Nevertheless, his words only fueled the cheery mood within the room whilst Raven felt incredibly out of ce.

    It didn''t take long before the same man approached him and said: "Listen here, Junior Brother. I want to listen very closely, okay? You have work with me here. I don''t care which saint you have to call or what god you need to make an offering to, if it will make it so that yourprehension and talents will be boosted by like, a lot, then I urge you do it, you hear me? My nuts are on the line here."

    "How''s that my problem? You were the one who boasted in front of her, not me. Why do I need to suffer with you? I don''t even know who you are."

    "Y-you little¡­" The man was speechless.

    "Bwahahahahahaha!"

    "Well said, kid! Let this idiot suffer on his own! Hahaha!"

    "You heard the kid, Peter. Don''t pull him down with you. Hahahah!"

    "Guys, it seems that Peter''s bound to file a leave of absence again. His nuts will be aching for the rest of the week!"

    "Poor guy."

 Chapter 501 - A Talk With Peter

    ---

    "I like you kid." One of the Cleansers approached him and pulled down his mask, revealing a rather handsome face ruined by arge diagonal scar. "My name is Garen, a Sophomore. Wee to the club¡­"

    "I''m Sam, Senior Outer Disciple. Nice to meet you kid."

    "I''m Magna, Sophomore."

    "Lewis, Sophomore. Wee to the club."

    "Natalie, Sophomore as well."

    "Vicky, Senior Outer Disciple. Nice to meet you." She then pointed at the man who boasted in front of Monica and said: "That''s Peter and you''ve already met Monica as well as heard about Senior Brother Theo. That''s basically all of us, of course not counting the others from the other chapels too."

    Everyone introduced themselves to him. Raven nodded and replied: "Nice to meet you all, I''m Raven."

    "Hey Kid, let me tell you right now. Monica is taken, alright? Don''t get any weird ideas." Peter interjected all of a sudden, causing Raven to raise a brow in confusion.

    Sam walked beside him and knocked Peter in the head, he then told Raven: "Don''t pay attention to him. He''s just a hopeless cause."

    "He''s wooing Senior Sister?" Raven asked.

    "Pfft¡­" Vicky snickered and said: "Yeah, right. Instead of wooing, he''s more like, embarrassing himself in front of her."

    "Shut it, Vic. He doesn''t have to know that." Peter huffed and faced Raven, asking: "Why kid? Got any problems with that?"

    "Not really." Raven smiled, "You don''t need to feel threatened. I''m married. Plus, Senior Sister told me that she''s old enough to be my grandmother, I''m not into that so you don''t need to be wary of me."

    "Eh? She told you that? How strange." Natalie interjected. "How old are you anyway?"

    "Less than 40 years old I think. I don''t know, I stopped counting when I turned 20."

    "Same." Majority of the Cleansers hummed causingughter to fill the room.

    "Oh right, that reminds me." Garen turned to Raven and asked: "I know that Monica already implied it before, but I just want to confirm it. Are you really a me Seed Bearer?"

    His question caused the atmosphere within the room to turn strange. Raven noticed this but didn''t mind, instead he answered them by saying: "Yes. How do you want me to prove it?"

    "Summon the mes, we''ll know once you do." Lewis said, causing Raven to nod and invoke the mes at his fingertips.

    This trick isn''t something that utilizes the 9 Cleansing Plumes, he just summoned a very tiny amount of Cleansing mes. Upon him summoning a wisp of mes, he saw how all of the Cleansers jolted as if something struck them.

    That was a weird reaction, what confused Raven even further is by how they started looking at each other and not saying anything.

    "Alright, kid. We''re convinced." Magna smiled and patted Raven''s shoulders. The wisp of me disappeared from his fingertips and he nodded at him. "You don''t know how much of a god-send you are, specially in this current times."

    "Hey, Peter. Make sure you teach this kid well. If you don''t then your Nut Beatdown will doubled." Vicky smacked Peter''s back before walking out of the room. Before she left, she passed by Raven and whispered something: "Learn well from him, he might look and act like a clown but his skills are the real deal."

    Vicky smiled at Raven before going out of the room.

    "You heard her, Peter. Take care of the kid." Sam added, he then looked at Raven and said: "Good luck kid, we''ll be waiting for you there. We have to go to work." He simrly patted Raven''s shoulders before leaving the room along with the others.

    Before long, only Peter and Raven was left in the room. It was quite awkward at first but eventually, Peter let out resign sigh and whispered: "Whatever, let''s do this again."

    He then faced Raven and said: "Alright kid, let''s start all over again."

    Peter smiled and said: "My name''s Peter James, a Senior Outer Disciple. You can call me Peter or PJ, depends on you. I''ll be in charge for you today so let''s work together alright?"

    "Sure Senior Brother Peter." Raven nodded.

    "Alright, good." Peter nodded too, "Monica told us that you''re sharp. Have you learned a plume already?"

    "Yes."

    "Okay, show me."

    Raven then closed his eyes and chanted the words needed to conjure the White Gloves. Peter watched closely with a serious expression. Once he''s done, Raven opened his eyes and saw that Peter was already closely inspecting the mes on his hand,

    "Not bad." Peter nodded, "Considering that you''ve learned thisst night, this is not bad at all. However, it''s still not enough. You can''t use that to erase any residual wills just yet."

    Peter then started walking out and said: "Come with me."

    Raven remained silent and followed Peter behind. They walked through a series of turns before they eventually arrived at another room. This room was an empty room which has a differentpositionpared to the rest of the chapel.

    This room has metal floors, walls and ceilings. Raven could see several burn marks here and there as well as other signs of damage. As soon as they entered, Peter gestured to him to sit on the floor whist he did the same.

    "This is our training room, the most sturdiest ce within the Chapel." Peter introduced. "Here, even if you make a mistake on your training, you won''t harm anyone. The mes won''t be able to escape this room, not until they''re extinguished at least."

    Raven nodded in understand. Simr to Peter, Raven was also wearing a serious expression right now. The little fiasco earlier was fun but work is work.

    "As a seed bearer yourself, you are bound to be vastly differentpared to us - normal Cleansers." Peter said, "I take it that you are already aware that we cannot use the Cleansing mes outside of the Chapels right?"

    Raven nodded, "That is where you differ from the rest of us. Since your a seed bearer, you are the source of Cleansing mes itself. Therefore you can use it anywhere that you like and as you please."

    "Simply put, you can directly use your mes against the lurking devils outside. Which will make your life easier but also troublesome." Peter added.

    "What do you mean?"

    "The Cleansing mes is mostly used to erase the residual will of the Devil Emperor, I''m sure you''ve heard about this before. Additionally, it''s also highly effective against devils." Peter stated, all of this are something that Raven actually knows. "But you see, the Devil Emperor isn''t dead. It''s sealed, yes but it''s not dead. This means that it can sense when it''s will is being erased."

    "Sure, you can use the mes against devils but beware since you''ll most likely be mobbed by them." Peter stated, "Like moths hypnotized by the mes, you''ll find yourself flocked in no time. Well, if you can handle them, then by all means use it. But if you can''t, then it''s best to refrain from using it outside."

    "My advice is that, unless you can use the mes like an extension of your body, don''t use them during your patrols. If a timees when your me seed blooms, then forget stopping you, I''ll actually advice you to use it against them. However, that''ll most likely not going to happen anytime soon." Peter stated, feeling a little bit discontented.

    Raven could more or less know why but he didn''t mind, instead he replied: "Thanks for the warning, I''ll be extremely careful."

    "You better be." Peter replied frankly, "We can''t afford to lose you. Who knows when will the next bearer wille? If it''s just me, then I wouldn''t hesitate to pull you out from all missions that requires you to venture outside. If it''s necessary, I''ll lock you up here until you reach a point where the seed blooms."

    Raven could only smile wryly when he heard that, again he understands where Peter ising from but that''s not really necessary. In the end, he opted to not say anything and just wait until Peter moves on to the next subject of their discussion.

    "Another area where youpletely differ from us, is by how you summon the mes itself." Peter stated, catching the attention of Raven. "Sure, for now we start at the same starting point. You are required to chant the sybles provided in the book in order to summon the mes just as we do, but once you be more proficient about it, you can directly omit the chants and just use the mes however you like. That''s something that we''ll never be able to do, unless we be a seed bearer like you as well."

    "Why?"

    "Because we don''t have a seed, duh?" Peter replied rhetorically, causing Raven to roll his eyes. "Aside from that, if you trante the chants that is recorded in the book, you''ll be surprised to know that its creates a plea or a request to a certain entity."

    Raven''s eyes widened a bit as he said: "You mean, the chants are actually a request for permission to use the mes?"

    "Exactly." Peter nodded, "

 Chapter 502 - Peters Weirdness

    ---

    "You don''t have the qualifications to know the secrets of the mes of Olympus but I''ll say this much¡­" Peter looked at him intently and continued: "If it deems you unworthy to wield its gifts, there''s nothing you can do to prevent it from taking it away from you. One day, when you''re at the position to know more, you''ll understand more. For now, this should suffice."

    Raven nodded at him and remained silent, he had his own thoughts about the subject but he chose to keep it to himself.

    "Alright, since that''s out of the way. Why don''t we move on to the more important things?" Peter asked, to which Raven nodded. "I''ll perform the White Gloves and I want you to observe closely okay?"

    Raven nodded again and his eyes began shining, Peter didn''t notice this and even if he did, he won''t care nor ask. Without even closing his eyes, he began chanting the same sybles for the technique. Raven immediately picked a huge difference just from that, however he remained silent as to not distract Peter from his concentration.

    Once he''s done chanting, Peter''s hand was then covered with white mes. Raven saw the process closely and saw many things that he needs to improve on.

    Unlike his version, Peter''s version of White Gloves were undoubtedly better. It was steady, not fluctuating and dense. Just from the disy alone, Peter''s version looked like as if he was actually wearing white gloves.

    Peter''s eyes regained their focus, he then looked at Raven and asked: "So? What did you notice?"

    "The chant has a clear intent as well as varying intonations, which I failed to realize on my own." Raven replied, "I also see that difference between a seed bearer and a regr cleanser. Unlike me, the mes you invoked needed your Essence Energy as food in order to continue burning. As for me, I can directly tap into the seed and have it course in my body with the guide of the chants."

    "Also, it would seem that it''s not called ''White Gloves'' for no reason." Raven muttered, "Which means that if I want to get better, I need to make sure to keep the fluctuations at the barest minimum and make the density of the mes I invoke, greater."

    Raven looked up to Peter only to see him staring him, lips twitching, he tilted his head and asked: "Did I mention something wrong?"

    "Wha-No! No, you didn''t." Peter replied, silently thinking to himself: ''Damn, Monica said he was sharp but I wasn''t expecting him to be this sharp. Who the hell is this kid and where did hee from?''

    Peter then cleared his throat and said: "The things you pointed out are the exact things that I want you to hone. Well, except for the chant actually. Like I said, the chants on the book are dispensable for you. You don''t really need to focus too much attention to them. Instead, work on fire control."

    "Commune with it, y with it, talk to it, I don''t care. So long as you develop a deep connection to it, you''ll be good. If you reach the level where you can use it as if it''s an extension of you arm, then that''s basically all that you need." Peter advised.

    "The 9 Cleansing Plume is written by Senior Brother Theo. As the first Cleansing me Seed Bearer, he could use all of this technique subconsciously. He only made this technique for us - regr cleansers in order to help us achieve the results we''re after. I can only show you how it''s done and how you will use it to get rid of the Devil Emperor''s residual will, but as for how you achieve the results, our paths will greatly differ from yours."

    Raven listened closely as he exined, nodding every now and then. He understood what Peter meant by his words.

    "Well then, since you already knew which areas to improve upon, you may as well begin fixing them now." Peter said, "I don''t have all day though, I''m needed there so I can only take you so far."

    "I understand." Raven nodded once more as he began concentrating to invoke the mes.

    Peter then sat down and watch as Raven tried correcting his mistakes by himself. As a Veteran Cleanser, time was Merit Points to him. It''s unknown just how much merit points he''s losing by remaining here and watching Raven corrects his mistakes but it didn''t really matter that much to him.

    If it means that their chapel would be able to save the lives of other more disciples and prevent them from turning into mindless ves of the Devil Emperor, then every single Merit Points lost is a worth it trade.

    ***

    Peter remained with Raven for four hours, observing him closely and giving him hints to perfect his technique.

    What shocked Peter was the learning speed of this Junior Brother of his. Raven was like a dry sponge, absorbing - no, siphoning knowledge at a mind-boggling speed. It only took him five tries before he was able to reach the simr level of White Gloves, seven tries to keep it stable while moving and ten tries before he could manage have it on in a subconscious level.

    For Peter, it took him at least three days to reach the same thing and he received praises due to him being a ''natural'' at this. However, it was a clear as the day that Raven is only an entirely different tform as he was.

    He didn''t even need a whole hour to do all of this. Nevertheless, Peter never heard and kind of boasting or pride from Raven at all. Instead, Raven had him teach the second plume in the book which is called ''Torch''.

    ''Torch'' is achieve by concentrating a dense amount of Cleansing me into one''s fingers, resulting into super concentrated fire which can pierce through flesh and directly sever the chains that are threatening to bind someone''s consciousness to the Devil''s Emperor.

    Peter relented and taught him how to do it. Once again, he got to witness the insane learning speed and adaptability of this Junior Brother of his.

    Raven took a collective amount of fifty tries before mastering the second plume, which consumed the remaining three hours of Peter''s time with him. At some point, Raven was even able tobine the first two plumes, which something that Peter was nning to teach him after mastering all nine but clearly no longer needed.

    Peter was sweating at the sight of this, it even rmed Raven which prompted him to ask he''s okay. Peter could only smile wryly and sigh in praise. Raven''s arrival at this chapel - the sect even, was seriously a blessing. Not only because he became a seed bearer but also he''s extremely talented to boot. He''s an overall asset. In fact, Peter felt a little stoked at some point since he might as well be witnessing another birth of a future Fire Keeper - heck, a War God even.

    If this daydream of his was realized, this might as well be the biggest bragging right he''ll even possess. Heck, it even goes beyond that! He might as well consider this as an achievement!

    ''Maybe, just maybe¡­'' Peter thought to himself, ''If I raise this kid well and he bes a Fire Keeper or a War God, maybe Monica will be extremely thankful to me that she''ll seriously think about marrying me.''

    He had to admit, this was a rather tempting idea. Very unlikely to happen, yes. But not entirely impossible, right? What can he say? A man can dream. Even if Monica seems to be rather dismissive of his advances, she''s not entirely or politely asking him to ''Fuck off''. In a sense, she was even testing him. But it would seem that he has to go through more before she opens up her heart for him.

    ''Plus, from what I saw earlier. It would seem that Monica is rather fond of him.'' Peter thought to himself once again, ''If I genuinely helped him and make him thankful to me, then I might be able to use him as my wingman! Sheeeeeeet~, that''s not a bad idea actually¡­''

    ''Ugh, who am I kidding really?'' Peter thought dejectedly. ''Geez, I''m badly smitten huh? I really am hopeless. I can''t believe I''m willing to take advantage of the kid just to get what I want. For all I know, she might be fond of him, not because he''s a seed bearer, but because he reminds her of her little brother.''

    ''If she knows what I''m thinking right now, she will most definitely abhor me. And for the love of god, I''d rather die than letting that happen.''

    ''Oh, my sweet, beautiful, gorgeous, lovely, iconic, voluptuous, smoking sexy hot, buttercup, sweetheart, bootylicious, fragrant, honey, sugar, and all of the nicest things in the world - Monica! Why don''t just jump into my arms and ept my overwhelming, overflowing, undying, loyal, honest, determined, devoted and synonymous¡­love for you? Don''t you know I - ''

    "¡­ior Brother?"

    "Hey! Senior Brother?"

    "Earth to Senior Brother Peter! Hello!?"

    "Damn it kid, I hear you! What do you want?"

    "Nothing much, just letting you know that you''re acting very weird. You know, feeling yourself and stuff, closing your eyes and puckering your lips, it''s gross honestly. Even Senior Sister Monica think so too."

    "HA!!?"

 Chapter 503 - Crusade

    ---

    "Bwahahahahaha!"

    "Oh! My sides! It hurts! Hahahahaha!"

    "If should feel bad but - hahahahaha!"

    "I can''t! I fucking can''t! Hahahaha!"

    "Dear lord, I''m going to faint fromughing! Hahahaha!"

    The lockers are filled with uproariousughter. Some peoplepletely disregarded decorum and could be found lying on the floor while clutching their stomachs since it hurts from their constantughter.

    They felt bad¡­they really do, but it was just too funny. Some of the Cleansers were even shedding tears due to how much they''ve been wheezing fromughter.

    "Haha, very funny guys."

    If there''s one person who didn''t share the same sentiment, it would be none other than Peter himself and maybe Raven. But just because Raven wasn''tughing, it doesn''t mean that he didn''t find this situation funny.

    "Hoo! Fuck!" Magna sat down, trying his best to stop himself fromughing. He wanted to say something however, he made the mistake of looking at the gloomy and embarrassed expression of Peter. That caused him to break into another fit ofughter. His fell on his back, clutching his stomach with one hand while mming the other on the wooden floor multiple times. "I can''t, this is so good! Ugh! Shit, my stomach hurts but¡­"

    "Come to think of it, this isn''t the first time right¡­" Vicky said while drying her tears. She tried her best to not look at Peter because she knows, oh - she knows that she does, then she''ll roll on the floorughing again.

    "Yes. Yes, it is indeed not the first time that he did something like this." Sam rose up from the floor, he too wasn''t trying to look at Peter. "I told you guys, he''s hopeless. But still, getting yourself lost in a daydream, even puckering your lips¡­pfft!"

    "Hahahahahaha!"

    The lockers were once again filled withughter.

    Meanwhile, Peter wanted nothing more other than for the ground to open up at this very moment and swallow him whole, never to emerge ever again. He sneaked at re at Raven, who felt the re but just smiled at him.

    Peter med this kid for everything. He''s not sure if this is karma or fate just messing with him, however ever since the arrival of this kid, a series of unfortunate events repeatedly struck him. True, the kid didn''t directly caused any of it but still¡­he med him for everything.

    He just doesn''t understand why this was happening to him. Of all times that Monica could''ve visited, it just happens to be the exact moment when he''s lost at his daydreams of her and was even caught doing something weird.

    This was no different from him being caught with his pants down and hands on his dick. He''s pretty sure that Monica was cursing him right now and calling him a pervert.

    Peter didn''t even had any time to exin himself. And even if he did, what can he say? He''s pretty sure that he''s totally incapable of lying to her anyway, so it doesn''t matter anymore. Additionally, Monica already knows what kind of fantasies he''s having, he doesn''t need to mention it at all.

    "Hey, PJ. Stop ring at the kid." Lewis threw something at Peter, earning himself a re but Lewis couldn''t care less about it. "If anything, you should apologize. The kid''s probably suffering from second-hand embarrassment due to that."

    "Shut up!" Peter fumed, but his embarrassed expression made it even funnier. "I''m out of here."

    "Sweet dreams, dude! Hahahahaha!" Natalie yelled, causing Peter to stumble on his way out and earning more giggles from them.

    "Oh, man." Raven sighed as he took off his jacket. "He probably hates me so much right now."

    "Don''t worry about, Kid." Garen weakly climbed on the chair, exhausted fromughing his heart out. "He''s ashamed, true. But he knows better."

    "He''s right." Magna added, "And like what Vicky mentioned earlier, this isn''t the first time that it happened."

    "But its the first time that he was caught." Sam wheezed once more, weakly getting up. "Man, I don''t remember when was thest time Iughed this hard."

    "Anyways, our shift is done people." Natalie reminded everyone. "Let''s go home and rest, we''ll be having a lot of patients tomorrow."

    "Oh right! I just remembered something." Lewis looked over towards Raven and said: "You don''t have toe tomorrow, Kid. We''ll be extremely busy and we can''t spare someone to watch over your training. Give me your Transmission Sign, we''ll contact you when we''re free."

    Raven was a bit stunned but he gave him his transmission sign anyway, he then asked: "How many patients wille?"

    "Who knows?" Lewis shrugged, "A lot probably, it''s always been like that."

    "Hundreds at least, if not, thousands even." Garen stated as he was removing his jacket. His words made Raven raise a brow. "We should be fine thanks to you."

    "Huh?" Raven tilted his head in confusion.

    "He meant the kiln." Vicky smiled at him and filled him in about the situation. "You strengthened the mes on the kiln didn''t you?"

    Raven nodded and Vicky continued: "Thanks for that. The mes we could use is directly connected to the kiln. Because you strengthened the fire, you gave us a massive boost. With that, we could cure as many patients as possible."

    "Oh, I see." Raven nodded, he then asked: "But why the sudden increase in patients though?"

    "The Crusade will be returning tomorrow." Sam added, he then realized something and said: "Oh right, you probably don''t have any idea of what the crusade is. The Crusade is¡­"

    "¡­a groupposed of the Top Performers from Tartarus." A voice interjected, causing everyone to look over. It was Monica, walking towards them with a tired smiled on her face. She was mostly looking at Raven as she continued her exnation.

    "The Crusade urs Bi-annually." She said, "Their task is to enter the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda and clear as much devils as possible. They would go as far as clearing every single floor, but that''s a tough task."

    "Each time they leave, it''s like they''re waging war. But whenever they return, the defeated look on their faces and the amount of injured people or corpses they bring back is a very tragic scene." Garen added, his voice sounding a little too solemn.

    "However, what they do is very necessary." Monica stated in a in voice. "If it weren''t for the Crusades, the amount of Eruptions we will experience will surely rise. We''ll be in an even more dangerous spot."

    The whole room became eerily silent after that, Raven became lost on his own thoughts but it was interrupted by sudden ps from Lewis.

    "Alright, let''s not dwell on that matters. Why don''t we all just rest well tonight and deal with the wave of patients tomorrow?"

    "Right, let''s go home guys." Natalie smiled and looked at everyone.

    "Oh, and just because you''re not needed tomorrow doesn''t mean that you''ll be cking." Monica told Raven, "I''m hoping that when you return, you should at least be able to perform every single plume, you got it?"

    "I''ll do my best, Senior Sister." Raven didn''t dare to slight her words but also didn''t promise anything, only that he''ll do his best.

    "Alright, you should return now." Monica smiled and waved Raven off.

    Raven waved goodbye at them and exited the chapel. Even though he only stayed for no more than six hours in there, it felt more than that. The people he met today are all nice and treated him like a close rtive - Peter included.

    It''s funny actually, Raven felt closer to the cleanserspared to his own team. It''s a little absurd but it''s the truth. Nevertheless, he could tell that each of them had their own baggage that they are suppressing within themselves. His ocr technique could pick up some signs of it, but he''s in no position to ask so he remained silent about it.

    ''Wait! I didn''t get to ask how much Merit Points I could earn by bing a Cleanser! Ugh, I''m so dumb.''

    Raven scratched his head and thought about going back but decided against it.

    ''Ugh, forget it. They''re probably gone by now.'' He thought to himself. ''I''ll just ask next time.''

    Raven then looked at his hand and murmured: ''Still, a seed bearer huh? I need to explore more about this matter. This is the first time that I received a me Seed after all.''

    Peter''s lessons stuck to his memories. When he said that Raven was bound to trek on different pathpared to them since a seed bearer, he couldn''t help but imagine different things. Still, he''s aware that he have other matters to attend to so he should take it one step at a time.

    ''I won''t be needed tomorrow. So what should I do then?'' Raven thought to himself. ''It''s pretty boring to remain in the base. I can''t use the ticket stubs I have since I haven''t gone to a Unit-mission yet. So? What should I do?''

    Raven thought for a bit as he walked back to the sect, he suddenly had an idea.

    ''Hmm, it seems that I would enter another seclusion again.''

 Chapter 504 - New Batch

    ---

    ?? Pce within the Crown Space.

    "Alright, everything I need is ready." Raven murmured, his eyes then gleamed with a profound shine as he said: "Let''s start."

    Walking inside the floating neb of Equinox Waters, he went into a meditative state for a bit in order to clear his mind off of distractions. Once his focus was sharp enough, he then reviewed the methods for the 4th Stage of Myriad Incarnations Scripture just so that he won''t make a mistake in the process. He only has one batch of materials he needed, if he messes up then he''ll have to umte Merit Points again.

    After memorizing the methods by heart, Raven rxed for a bit and then started the process.

    A series of profound chants and runic images started emanating from him. The ingredients he needed for this process had been prepared and was already being consumed from the moment he started chanting.

    Raven felt a tinge of headache assaulting him but he didn''t dare to lose focus. This headache is caused by more thought partitions emerging, which means the process is working as intended. As the materials gradually disappear, several silhouettes started manifesting around him.

    There were 18 in total. At first, they started as a mere outline but as time goes by, they started looking more and more like Raven until they became an exact copy of him.

    Although the body of the new batch of Avatars were ready, the process isn''t done just yet. The additional thought chambers in his brain are still in the process of being created, only when 18 more thought chambers finished manifesting and connecting to each Avatar, would this process be done.

    The creation of additional thought chambers took the longest. Raven sat within the Equinox Water Neb for five straight days just creating them, the headache he''s experiencing was getting stronger as time passed but Raven wasn''t fazed by this even in the slightest.

    At midnight of the fifth day, the 18th thought chamber was created. With the difficult process out of the way, it would be smooth sailing from now on.

    Raven formed link after link, connecting each Avatars to the newly created thought chambers. This process took him half-day but that''s because he''s taking it slow. Once he formed his connections to all of his newly created Avatars, all of them - including the original Raven, opened their eyes at the same time.

    The Avatars looked at each other and received a mentalmand from Raven to get limated with their new existence. The following tests went on without a hitch and only then did Raven breathe a sigh of relief.

    He let the new Avatars do mundane tasks for now while he, the original, grabbed himself something to eat and recover his mental fatigue by sleeping.

    Even though Raven was sleeping, his connection with his Avatars allowed him to be informed of what they were doing. Most of them were just rxing and taking their time while the others were either stretching and touring the Pce.

    Raven slept for two whole days, once he woke up, he gave out orders for the new batch of Avatars and started profiting.

    With a total of 27 Avatars under his belt, Raven was almost at a loss on what to do. The Avatars were divided into several groups. Some worked on refining his pre-existing skills, while the others were trying to gain further enlightenment for his Laws. Others focused on the many seals he had to study while the rest was divided into other menial tasks.

    As Raven rxed and ate his fill, he was receiving feedback from his Avatars. The stream of knowledge and deductions stumped him at first but he managed to bear with it until it''s no longer giving him headache.

    By the end of the day, Raven calmed down and was well rested. It was then that he began mastering the rest of the techniques written on the 9 Cleansing Plume Records.

    Speaking of Cleansers, Raven was thankful that his previous conjecture was correct...

    As a seed bearer himself, he had the responsibility to remain in Tartarus so that the mes he left on the chapel continues boosting the strength of the regr Cleansers. Although he wasn''t truly restricted, he was encouraged to do so.

    Going inside the Crown Space was a bit risky since, like he was told previously, the farther away he is at the me, the weaker his connection with gets. And the connection is weak enough, the boost to the other cleansers will diminish as well. At first, he was debating if it was a good idea to go into seclusion within the Crown Space since he''s just informed that the Cleansers will be busy due to the return of the Crusade.

    But then, he had a gut feeling that it would be okay and he trusted it, so he dived in and was relieved to know that, even though he''s technically in another world, his connection with the mes he left remained stable and strong. This relieved his worries and thus allowing him to whole-heartedly focus on his seclusion.

    Raven used some time to familiarize himself with the Cleansing me Seed and explore its uses while at the same time, also raising his mastery over the technique he received from the Cleansers.

    Theplete 9 Cleansing Plume Records are : White Gloves, Torch, Beads, Links, Chains, Rosary, Robes, Orbs, and Crucifixion.

    Each of this technique deals with differentiating levels of Will Poisoning. Each one could be used in conjecture with the other. As for thest technique - Crucifixion, this is performed when the victim is already inches away from turning.

    It had to be known that the 9 Cleansing Plume Records only cleanses the Devil Emperor''s Will. By no means could it return one''s humanity once theypletely sumb to the devilish whispers of the Devil Emperor. If this techniques are used to Devils of Converted Devils, it will only hurt them or outright kill them.

    ''That''s too bad.'' Raven hummed during one of his breaks, ''It would be nice if the Cleansing mes could return their humanity back. Unfortunately, the Devil Emperor''s Will is just too poisonous that itpletely contaminates it - turning them into mindless minions.''

    ''Even though the Cleansers weren''t saying anything, I concur that most of them probably witnessed someone close to them turning into a Devil.'' Raven inwardly thought, ''That must''ve been excruciating to watch, specially knowing that there''s nothing they could do about it. They will either be forced to run away from them or ordered to y them, at least in that way, they won''t hurt anybody. Oh, that sucks.''

    Raven has no concrete evidence for his conjectures but from the way their faces change whenever they talked about someone turning, Raven could more or less figure out a thing or two.

    ''Hmm...'' Raven was suddenly struck with a thought, ''Maybe¡­just maybe¡­''

    ''Is it possible for me to do return their humanity back?''

    This line of thought, if heard by the Cleansers or even their founder - Fire Keeper Theodore, would definitely cause rm. They''ll probably react to it the opposite way and tell him that its either dangerous or impossible. But is it though?

    ''What am I saying?'' Raven let out a small chuckle. ''I don''t even have experience yet and here I am setting up unrealistic standards for myself.''

    He shook his head and let out a sigh. But then, Raven entered a long daze. His thoughts mostly lingering about the subject. Even though he made efforts to throw it at the back of his head, he couldn''t.

    ''Did anybody even try?'' He asked to particrly no one. ''I mean, if they tried and failed, then I don''t have anything to say. But there''s also a chance that they never did or the thought never crossed them. Why? I don''t know. Maybe the idea of directly confronting with the Will of an Ancient Evil deters them so much that they didn''t even try.''

    ''But that brings the question, do I dare?'' Raven frown as his thoughts went here. ''Am I really willing to confront something so evil and snatch whatever leftovers it has just so that I can - might, be able to save and return a stranger''s humanity and free will back?''

    Raven bit his lower lip and remunerated at this lingering thought. This was a difficult question even for him. If someone could promise him that he won''t be harmed, targeted or gued with the Devil Emperor, then he wouldn''t hesitate to agree.

    But that''s the thing though¡­

    Nobody¡­not even one person, couldpletely guarantee him that.

    Which then repeats the question, would he really dare?

    ''Ai! I don''t know.'' Raven huffed in frustration. ''Not now at least.''

    Raven was momentarily lose in a daze. He thought of many oues in his head but never found something that made him happy of satisfied. In the end, he could only sigh.

    ''Not now¡­at least.'' Raven repeated, ''But when my Cleansing me Seed finally blooms in full splendor, or grows into a towering tree, then I wouldn''t hesitate to try.''

    ''At least by then, even if I fail, then I am confident of keeping myself safe from harm.''

 Chapter 505 - Unexpected Visitor

    ---

    "Hey, Raven!"

    A voice called out to him as he was walking inside the base, he turned around and saw that its Jason. He stopped on his tracks and let him catch up. When he came close, he asked: "What''s up?"

    "I''m nning on visiting the Fighting Arena, wannae with me?" Jason asked.

    To which, Raven raised a brow and said: "You''re on duty today right? Don''t tell me you''re cking off? That''s a bad example dude."

    Jason flinched. What Raven said was true, Jason was supposed to be monitoring the status of their teammates who went out today. Which is why Raven used him of cking off, this is their first rotation of duty. It wouldn''t be a good example if he, as the elected leader, skipped his duty just because he wanted to watch some dudes fight it out.

    "Ey, don''t be like that. I''ve informed Pyra about it. She said that she alone should be enough for that - hey! Don''t look at me like that! It''s true! You can ask her right now! I''ll even go with you." Jason exasperatingly said, he even gestured at Raven, signaling that he''s really willing to prove his innocence.

    Raven could only sigh and say: "What''s taking them so long anyway?"

    "Beats me." Jason shrugged, "When the Imp Overlord died during the eruption, many of its minions managed to escape. In a sense they should be able to find many of them lurking in the Devil''s Cradle, but it seems that such isn''t the case. If it was, then they should be returning by now."

    It has been five days since the first group went into patrol and they still hadn''t returned.

    Just like what Jason said, this situation seems a little bit strange since there should be a decent amount of Imps lurking around the Devil''s Cradle. Unfortunately, they have no way to know what truly is happening within the ce so they could only pin their hopes to their teammates that they will return safely.

    "Anyway, there''s no use on being so overly worried. Floyd is with them. If anything, he should be able to handle hordes of Imps on his own." Jason waved his hand, showing a confident expression. "So? Youing or not?"

    "I can''t." Raven replied, "I need to train somethings for my job. Search for another one."

    This was a tant lie, but Jason doesn''t need to know.

    "Ah, the Cleanser thing!" Jason was enlightened, he then nodded and said: "Alright, I guess I''ll go with someone else. See youter."

    With that, Jason walked away and Raven continued on his way towards the official training rooms within the base.

    Many things had happened since he exited his most recent seclusion...

    First and foremost is the his control over his monstrous strength. If before, he was still wary of his actions and needed to constantly pay attention lest he unconsciously destroy whatever he''s holding, now he didn''t have to worry about it anymore.

    With his arduous training, he attained utmost perfection in his strength control. He trained it to an instinctual level that he no longer needed to wear any strength suppressing seals. With his perfect control, his physical strength can go from 0 to 100 with a thought.

    Sufficed to say that the skills which are directly tied with his physical strength are also trained to their current acme.

    He didn''t improve much when ites to hisws due to a few reasons. His Destruction Laws were stuck in a bottleneck. He needed a spark of inspiration in order to gain knowledge about its second concept, and that is something that happens naturally - which means that even if he uses every mind enhancing supplements there is, unless it isn''t fated to happen, it won''t happen.

    As for his Spacetime Laws, it received some small boosts and that''s about it. He was able to extend the time by one whole day for both ''Historical Reading'' and the effects of his ''Spacetime Domain''. The Spacetime Void also became a little easier for him to pry open, allowing him to fit his head but he didn''t take the plunge just yet.

    Another are which he improved upon was the seals - which were giving him the biggest headache instead ofws. [99 Destruction Seals], [99 Holy Seals], [Forbidden Scarlet Seal Art] - the reward he received from acing the second trial, and the [Ancestor Sealer''s Rosary] - which was handed to him by Elder Gin in hopes of freeing the Heavenly Elk situated at the 89th floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda.

    There way too many freaking seals for him to learn! So far, he only managed to decipher the first five seals of both the Destruction and Holy Seals, the others are too difficult to decipher. He hadn''t even touched the Forbidden Scarlet Seal Art, and only deciphered the 1st Seal on the rosary - which is just as difficult as the first two sets of skills he needed to learn by the way¡­

    Even though he recently just had a new batch of Avatars to help him, there''s just way too many things on his table and it''s possible that there''s more toe in the future. He felt that he couldn''t have enough Avatars for this. The problem is that, the materials needed for the other stages of Myriad Incarnations Scripture will only progressively be more expensive.

    He doesn''t even have a solid way to earn Merit Points yet for crying out loud.

    Finally, as for the 9 Cleansing Plumes, he had learned them all. He didn''t dare to say that he mastered everything but at least he could perform everything while omitting the chants needed altogether. He managed to achieve this due to his closer connection to the me seed - which by the way, shrank in size. When he received the me seed earlier, it''s size was that of a regr seed but now, it became hardly visible.

    However, even if it shrank in size, the purity of its mes and the runic lines covering it became even more intense. Which is why he was able to control it better than before. All in all, despite what he said, this short bursts of seclusion are still giving him fruitful results.

    And even though he isn''t actively cultivating, he wasn''t afraid of being left behind thanks to the existence of the Crown. If he really wanted to, he could focus all of his attention to cultivation and he''ll have a breakthrough in no time, but for the sake of possessing the most solid foundation he could possibly get, he''ll just let breakthroughs ur naturally.

    Although Raven just recently entered seclusion, he felt somewhat agitated which prevented him from sleeping. Therefore he decided to do some exercises under multiplied gravity just to tire himself out and fall asleep.

    "Hey, Raven."

    Another voice called out to him. Raven turned around and was surprised. It wasn''t Jason who called him, it was Henry.

    "Senior Brother! I didn''t expect you to be here!" Raven greeted, "I''ll call everyone else, just a moment¡­"

    "No need." Henry stopped him before he could call out to the rest. "I''m actually here because of you."

    "Me?" Raven was surprised again, pointing at himself even.

    "Don''t worry, you aren''t in trouble." Henry chuckled, "Can we talk somewhere privately?"

    "O-okay¡­" Raven replied somewhat hesitantly. Nevertheless, he followed Henry as they entered a vacant room. Henry locked the room and ced a Silence Seal around to prevent others from hearing what they''re about to discuss.

    "Before we start, I just want to say that the contents of our conversation right now concerns a very sensitive subject. It would be for the best if you don''t leak this information to another soul or else you''ll be forcing my hand, understood?"

    "Yes, Senior Brother." Raven nodded with a serious expression. He sat on the table and was ready to hear whatever Henry has to say.

    "Thank you." Henry stated, he then sat down in front of Raven and smiled: "So, a little bee has told me, that someone managed to meet the mes of Olympus face to face and got himself a me Seed. I wonder if this news was reliable?"

    ''Oh, so he wanted to talk about that. Whew, for a second there I thought that the Crown was exposed.'' Raven inwardly sighed in relief but didn''t dare to show any changes on his expression.

    "Yes. That news is reliable. The mes of Olympus did give me a me Seed when I met with it." Raven revealed, causing Henry''s smile to widen and eventually turn into a boomingughter.

    "Good! Good!" Henry said with a wide smile, "This is good news! I truly did not expect this!"

    Henry then cleared his throat and looked at Raven intently, asking: "If you don''t mind, can you tell me everything that led up to this point?"

    "Sure, no problem. It all started when¡­"

    Raven then proceeded to exin everything to Henry, not hiding anything from his encounters. Henry listened to him closely and was somewhat surprised by the end of the story, so much so that he started mumbling to himself.

    "The mes¡­can''t remember what his name is, huh¡­"

 Chapter 506 - Generous Rewards

    ---

    "Well, Grand Elder me never really had the sharpest memory, so it does make sense¡­" Henry continued talking to himself softly.

    Because its only him and Raven within this room, thetter was able to hear everything he''s whispering to himself, which also gave him some ideas but he''s wasn''t really in any position to inquire about such things. He could still remember some people telling him that now is not yet the time for him to know somethings. Raven knows how to mind his own business so he kept things to himself. Plus, he promised to keep their topic as a secret so he had to be careful.

    Henry murmured some more things before seeming awakened from his stupor. He cleared his throat and said: "My bad, I was caught in my own thoughts. Anyway, let''s move on to the more important things¡­"

    "Being a Cleanser is good. I was actually considering about suggesting the idea to you guys and the other Units under me but you beat me to it. Have you informed your teammates yet?"

    Raven shook his head, saying: "No, not yet. I haven''t had the time to do so and I am also thinking of ways on how to tell them without revealing the fact that I am a Seed Bearer."

    "That''s good to know, else it would''ve been a bitplicated if you revealed to them that information already." Henry stated, "Let me just remind you again, you have to minimize the amount of people that knows you are a Seed Bearer. Only when you are alone would you be allowed to use the mes, understood?"

    "Yes, Senior Brother." Raven affirmed, he knows that Henry was being serious about this matter, which also confirms his guess that his status must be linked to a deep matter for the sect. Something that he''s not allowed to know just yet.

    "In time, you''ll know why we''re being careful. Don''t worry, with your talent, it won''tst long. Just be careful alright?"

    Raven nodded again, greatly appreciating Henry''s warning.

    "Anyways, being a Cleanser is actually a very profitable job." Henry stated with a smile, "In fact, due to you being a Seed Bearer, each patient you cure will earn you not only a handsome amount of Merit Points but also Unit Merit Points. I''ll be counting your work as a Cleanser to your team contributions, so work hard and treat as many patients as you could."

    Raven''s eyes brightened as he heard him say this, unable to contain his curiosity anymore he asked: "How much Merit Points do I receive per patient? Senior Sister Monica hadn''t informed me anything yet."

    "500 - 5,000 Merit Points per patient." Henry answered, causing Raven to inhale sharply.

    "That much?"

    "It depends on the initial state of the patient actually." Henry stated, "Depending on the severity of their injury, the amount of Merit Point rewards you''ll get will vary. As for Unit Merit Points, you''ll be awarded with 5,000 for every ten lives you sessfully saved."

    "Holy¡­"

    "Actually, that''s with the council being stingy." Henry shook his head, "We''re trying to increase it but we''re met with obstacles. Don''t worry, you''ll be received updates if any changes happen. For now, just work hard and cure as many lives as you could. When timees and you managed to be an Inner Disciple, that amount will increase. So work hard okay?"

    "I will." Raven nodded with gleaming eyes.

    "Additionally, if your Cleansing me Seed blooms, make sure that you inform me, Monica or even Theo about it immediately. You must inform us as soon as you possibly could, do you understand?" Henry stated with a bit of urgency containing his tone.

    Raven understand the weight of this matter and nodded to him, etching the warning to his mind.

    "Great. That''s all I have to say." Henry then stood up and smiled at him, "Thank you for your time, do work hard, Junior Brother. I''ll be expecting great things from you."

    As soon as he said that, Henry disappeared from the base, leaving Raven alone to ponder about his situation.

    Raven was silent for a bit before a long sigh came out of his lips.

    ''There''s too many variables to pay attention too.'' He thought to himself, ''I haven''t even stayed at the sect for that long and I already feel restrained. It''s actually getting annoying.''

    Raven didn''t like the feeling of being observed closely, it makes him feel like a caged animal. Even though the Ancient Elysium Sect offers them a ton of opportunities to grow stronger, the shackles thates with it are getting tighter as well, and he didn''t like that even one bit.

    ''Well, it''s not like I can go against the sect alone.'' Raven shook his head in disappointment, ''And even if I could, I won''t. Their role is too damn important for the entirety of the Divine Realm. If it weren''t for them, the Devil Emperor would''ve already been freed from its imprisonment andy waste to everything.

    That''s something that must be absolutely prevented from happening...

    Therefore, no matter how rigid the rule gets, Raven was helpless to deal with it.

    ''If it weren''t for the fact that my intention coincides with sect''s, I wouldn''t even bother entering this ce.'' Raven inwardly said with a sigh, ''Whatever, I guess I''ll just deal with the problems as they arise. It''s not like I can do anything about it for the time being anyway.''

    Shrugging, Raven stood up from his seat and exited the room. He nced at the hallways, opening his ocr technique to see whether some people knew about his private conversation with Henry. After seeing that there''s no one around, he sighed and went towards the training room.

    As soon as he entered, he cranked up the gravity level to 60, making him almost kneel on the ground due to the heaviness. Raven stumbled for a bit before managing to stand back up, although a little shaken. There were no changes to his facial expression at all.

    After turning up the level of gravity, Raven proceeded to expend a lot of hiss energy in order to exhaust himself, all of that in the hopes of getting himself severely exhausted that he''ll fall asleep as soon as his body hits the mattress.

    ***

    - Three dayster -

    "Alright, alright! ce your bets everyone! ce your bets!"

    At some random corner within Tartarus, a rtively discreet building could be found. At first nce it would seem that it leads to a bar where everyone winds up and let go of their mental stress but in reality, there''s more to it.

    Beyond this door is a massive underground facility with arge arena. The ce gave off a shady vibe but this was in fact, officially recognized by the Elders of the sect. Yes, including the betting cements as well.

    This is the Battle Arena - a ce where muscleheads gather and spend their extra energy while also hoping to earn Merit Points by winning random matches. The shady vibe of the ce is intentional to set the mood, nothing more.

    Currently, Raven could be find sitting on the audience along with Jason who was wearing arge grin of his face.

    It has been three days since Raven and Henry''s conversation happened, somethings had happened but nothing worth of notice. In the end, Raven got bored of staying within the base. He still hasn''t received any summons from the Cleansers so he had nothing to do in the mean time.

    Jason approached him once again and invited him to watch the matches in the Battle Arena. He initially didn''t feel like going but he was enticed when Jason said that he managed to earn an easy 10,000 Merit Points while there.

    Well, what can Raven say after that? Of course, he had to check it out. He''s in dire need of Merit Points since he had a lot of things he needed to aplish, so when Jason revealed this to him, it would make sense that he wanted a slice on the pie.

    "Alright, people hurry up! There''s only five minutes until the betting ends and the match to start! Come on, ce them bets already! Test your luck and your judgement!" The ''Hypeman'' as Jason called him, announced in a loud voice, making the audience to go in a betting frenzy.

    Raven''s not gonna lie, even he was tempted to bet but he prevented himself from doing so. He told himself that he''s just here to test the waters first, there''s matches after this so he didn''t need to bet for now.

    On the contrary, Jason¡­

    "I bet five grand for the Red Corner."

    "Alright, five grand it is. Best wishes, handsome." The woman who was collecting bets and recording them gave Jason a flirtatious wink while giggling mischievously. Jason bit his lips and smacked her ass while also having a little feel.

    "Oh!" The woman moaned in a seductive voice, yfully smacking his hand while saying, "Mn, you naughty man..."

    "Oh, I can be very naughty, Pretty Lady." Jason winked, "Wanna have some funter?"

    "If you can afford me then sure."

    "I''ll pamper you¡­"

    "Ugh.. Why did Ie here?" Raven sighed as he felt arge headache with what''s happening near him.

 Chapter 507 - Salamander Vs. Elephant

    ---

    Raven''sment only caused the woman to giggle and walk away with her hips swaying flirtatiously.

    At the corner of his eyes, Raven saw Jason seemingly entering a trance as he kept staring at the woman''s ass, he''s even licking his lips and not bothering to hide his lust. Seeing this only caused Raven to roll his eyes and pay attention to the arena below.

    "Okay, okay! The betting ends now!" The announcer yelled with his voice amplified by energy. "The match will start shortly so please be seated and look forward to it!"

    As this was announced, the audience broke into loud cheers as they all sat down and waited in anticipation for the match to begin.

    "And we''re on!" The announcer yelled as he himself stepped in the middle of the arena. "Good day to you folks! My name is Caleb and I will be your announcer for today! I hope you guys are having fun because today''s roster will surely be packed in action!"

    The audience broke into loud cheers and apuse as Caleb mentioned this, the excitement within the arena was increasing steadily.

    Caleb waved his hand, gesturing the audience to calm down and stop making noise. He then smiled and said: "I know that you guys can''t bear to wait any longer, therefore I won''t prolong your agony anymore!"

    "Let''s begin today''s first match!"

    "Woohooo!" The audience mored once again, shaking the whole establishment with their cheers.

    "On the Red Corner, let''s give it up for Smander!"

    The cheers and apuse turned even more louder. From the right tunnel, came a man wearing the sect''s uniform with a mask depicting a smander. He walked towards the stage while waving at the audience like a big shot celebrity. Tons of people cheered for him, somedies were even yelling some obscene invitations to him.

    "Woohooo! Go get him Smander! My money''s riding on you buddy!" Jason who''s sitting beside Raven yelled too since he betted for this guy.

    Raven turned at him and asked: "Do all contestants hide their identities?"

    "Majority of them does as far as I observed." Jason replied without looking at him. "They say that it''s for privacy or personal reasons. There are some people who doesn''t do that but that''s fine too. It''s all in their preference really."

    Raven nodded and ced his attention back at the arena, just in time before the next contestant was announced.

    "On the Blue Corner! Let''s give it up for Elephant!"

    The audience broke into another fit of cheers and apuse, it would seem that this contestant dubbed as ''Elephant'' is just as famous as Smander. He too entered the arena like a celebrity, it didn''t take long before the two contestant plus Caleb were gathered.

    "Alright you too. The same rules apply. Killing is forbidden as well as crippling. Any technique that causes damage over time must be terminated as soon as the match was over or your enemy admits defeat. The match ends when the opposite party surrenders, unconscious or thrown out of bounds. Additionally, you must remember that is just a match, treat as a good-natured spar. You may be opponents for now but you arerades, learn from each other and disy as sportsman like behavior. Are we clear?"

    The contestants nodded to him, signifying that they understood the rules.

    "Okay, now that''s out of the way. In three¡­"

    "Two¡­" the audience joined the countdown with Caleb.

    "One! The match begins!"

    Caleb instantly disappeared from the arena and allowed the contestants to sh. The first sh was impactful, both of them charged at each other and shed in the middle of the arena.

    Their sh resulted in brief shockwaves that was felt by the audience. However, instead of being scared, the audience erupted with louder cheers, shaking the whole establishment with their noise. Raven could only smile wryly, it''s inly obvious that this people are severely deprived of entertainment and seeing two muscleheads sh is peak entertainment for them.

    The contestants blurred within the arena due to how fast they were moving. This wasn''t an issue since majority of the audience were experts and could urately see what''s going on. Raven himself, didn''t even need to use his ocr technique at all since he could follow their movements.

    "A warm-up huh?" Raven smirked. He won''t lie, this is pretty entertaining.

    So far, the two only shed in a melee. They''re just squaring up to each other and used nothing but their fists to fight, they hadn''t used any of their special techniques just yet so Raven deduced that they''re just warming up.

    Nevertheless, even though this is just a brief warm-up, the audience is still captivated. Not long after that, the two went back to their respective corners and sized-up each other. They stared at each other for a bit before nodding and taking out their weapons. The instant that their weapons were out, the audience turned even crazier.

    Smander was holding a deep crimson sword while Elephant held a ck morning star. The former released an aura which followed the same theme as his sword while Elephant''s aura was ashen in color.

    The two abruptly disappeared from their spot and engaged each other once more but now, since their weapons are out and their auras were released, the sh was obviously stronger. The shockwaves released from their sh were obviously stronger, thankfully there is a hidden array that absorbed all of the excessive force from their sh, allowing the audience to remain safe and unharmed.

    At this point, Raven was concentrating on the match as well. From his point of view, none of the contestants were serious.

    To the audience, this might be a fight but to Raven it''s more of a performance. Well, he can''t he so sure of it since he''s not a part of this but at least to him, that''s what it looks like.

    The two contestants knows that aren''t allowed to injure the other party too heavily even if they could since that will be a vition. This fight is staged but their techniques and finesse aren''t. They are trulypeting against each other but not because of anger or disagreement. It merely to exchange pointers and see who has a more refined technique.

    Again, this is only Raven''s guesses. He can''t confirm whether this is true or not.

    Still, even if his conjectures turns out to be correct, it doesn''t diminish the re and entertainment brought by this establishment to bored disciples.

    "Come on, Smander dude!" Jason was clenching his hands while anxiously looking at the arena. "Win this,e on. I believe in you!"

    Raven smirked and thought to himself: ''He''s too into this. Does he even realize that this is staged?''

    Maybe he''ll askter, for now he returned his attention to the match that was heating up.

    "Crimson Burial sh!" Yelled Smander as he struck down with his sword.

    "Rampaging Onught!" Countered Elephant as he repeatedly struck down his morning star.

    Raven who''s in the audience fought the urge to roll his eyes. He inwardly thought: ''Yup, that''s it. I''m convinced, this shit is so staged.''

    ''I''m not even going to mention the yelling of the techniques name. But damn, who the hell deliberately winds up an attack with such a telegraphed way? It''s too obvious that they''re going to do something big and other party just let''s them do that? Come on, that''s a big no no in a battle!''

    The reason why he''s so convinced is because these people are disciples of Ancient Elysium Sect, meaning that these people are no amateurs. These people stayed within the sect longer than he did so most likely they already experienced fighting against Devils. If they ever went out in the Devil''s Cradle and dared to performed their attacks in this manner, even a lousy Imp could slit their necks before they finish winding up for their attack.

    But as matters stands, these people are alive and well. Which means that they''re experienced fellows, as such it''spletely obvious that they are deliberately doing this. Again, supporting this idea that this whole match is staged.

    The fight went on and Raven still stayed and watched with rapt attention even though he was already convinced that its staged. One shy technique was thrown after the other, causing the audience to erupt in constant cheers and apuse.

    The fight was ''full of suspense'', the contestants even appeared to be out of breath from their repeated sh. Nevertheless, they still shed against each other and repeatedly injured each other. Their performance was incredibly entertaining, even for Raven who realized their secret early.

    In thest sh, they brought out their strongest techniques and caused minor earthquakes within the establishment. People watched with bated breaths as they waited for the dust to settle and see who won.

    As soon as the dust clouds were dispersed, Smander was still standing while Elephant was found lying in the ground. Loud cheers and apuse filled the establishment once again as Caleb jumped to the arena and announced that Smander won the first match.

    "Hell yeah!" Jason pumped his fists in celebration since he won the bet.

 Chapter 508 - Apology

    ---

    The rest of the matches went on as usual. None of the participants revealed their actual identity and instead preferred to wear masks.

    The entertainment brought by the Battle Arena was good, in fact Raven ended up betting to some contestants as well. Since the bets were made before the contestants were revealed, betting became more challenging since it depends on pure luck. However, this hardly was a problem for someone like Raven who could peer through walls.

    It was also helpful to know that the match was staged, and because of Raven''s trained eye and good judgement, he managed to earn a decent sum of Merit Points.

    He earned a total of 30,000, which made Jason incredibly jealous. Nheless, this was still within the epted amount for Raven not to be noticed by the managers of this ce. He even lost on purpose just to make sure they won''t be suspicious of him.

    Raven knows how gambling works, he also knows how to profit while remaining low-profiled. This amount should be just enough for him to not get noticed. After that, they went back to the base with¡­well, it should''ve been both of them but Jason wanted to get his shit wet so he stayed behind.

    He made efforts to stop him, after all he''s a guy too. Only, he''s loyal to his wife and will never dare to be unfaithful. But he did understand the needs, in fact he too missed it a lot. Unfortunately, he had to endure for a little while.

    Upon getting back to the base, Raven went to his room. He ate a hearty meal and slept soundly. His actions might bex and some people might even call himzy but they had no way knowing that he''s actually working very hard¡­well, his Avatars were.

    ''I have a total of 36,620 Merit Points.'' Raven thought to himself, ''Not enough though. I need a total of 70,000 and above Merit Points to purchase all materials to cultivate the 5th stage of Myriad Incarnations Scripture. The fifth stage gives me 54 Avatars.''

    54 Avatars, adding the 27 he already has he''ll have a total of 75 Avatars, what kind of concept was this? That''s 75 minds working together! Worsees to worst, each Avatar could disy a good chunk on Raven''s original power. That''s just insane. No wonder this technique was preserved! It was so heaven-defying!

    ''That''d be nice.'' Raven thought whilst drowsy. ''Let''s take it slow though. I don''t want to alert the sect. It''s not wise to expose my secrets just yet.''

    Then again, so long as his training as a Cleanser was finished, he''ll be able to earn more merit points. By that time, maybe he could start saving up for his real targets. For now, it''s in his best interest to be careful. He still hadn''t established a good foothold on the sect, he had to y nice for now so that they won''t shut him down early.

    With these thoughts in his head, Raven eventually fell asleep¡­

    ***

    "P-please forgive us!"

    Inside one of the private rooms within the base, Raven could be find sitting on chair. In front of him, were identical twins bowing down so much that their foreheads we''re almost touching the table.

    Needless to say, this was the Crawford Twins apologizing in front of him.

    The expeditions team of Unit-17 had arrived two days ago and sessfully cleared the mission. ording to Floyd, they''ve met with some difficulties maneuvering since the visibility within the Devil''s Cradle turned for the worse. Additionally, Floyd limited himself from joining the battle too much. He''ll only interfere when it''s needed. Those who fought the most were the weaker ones, which brought in good results for the team.

    The following days after that, the twins consistently avoided Raven. Meanwhile, him on the other hand was counting as the days passed. He already warned Pyra, and she could tell that he''s serious which he is. He won''t hesitate to really escte this matter to Henry.

    But then, here they are now.

    Raven swept his eyes in front of the twins, arms crossed and his gaze was cold. The piercing coldness of his gaze was clear and obvious, he made no attempts to conceal it. And it caused the twins to inwardly panic.

    Their panic is visible in Raven''s eyes through his ocr technique. Needless to say, he was purposefully intimidating them.

    "Sorry¡­" it was Mira who spoke this time, not even bothering to raise her head. "I treated you unfairly, I was rash, reckless and blinded by hatred. Please forgive us."

    "Please forgive us." Pyra repeated.

    Raven continued to remain silent, there''s no changes to his attitude at all. His gaze was still cold and he''s still exuding an intimidating aura.

    This caused the twins to feel like they were doused in cold water. They could tell that he wasn''t moved. Not in the slightest. They don''t know what to do. They invited him here and had made up their minds to ask for his forgiveness, they were sincere and really wanted to make-up with him but now¡­it''s seems that they truly stepped over the line.

    Both of them were starting to get nervous, most specially Mira since she''s the one who went against him with every chance she could get. She knew that if it weren''t for the sect rules protecting them, he would''ve surely dealt with them by now, and in a sense, he had every right to do so. This is a strength-oriented world after all and he''s clearly stronger that both of thembined.

    She was really regretting it now, specially after Pyra told her how her conversation with him went and showed her the portrait that he gave her. She was burdened by guilt, specially now that she knew that he had twin sisters as well. Mira knew that Raven and that guy were not the same person. She and her sister knew it but they stillshed out at him. In all honesty, she doesn''t deserve to beg for his forgiveness at all, but at the same time she didn''t want them to be expelled.

    After a long and unbearable silence, Mira gnashed her teeth and made a decision.

    "If you can''t find it within you to forgive me, then please let my sister off." Mira then raised her head and looked at Raven straight in the eye like a fearsome lioness. "Take it out on me instead. Leave her alone. I''ll take the punishment. I''ll leave. Let her remain here."

    "Sis! No! I-"

    "It''s okay, Pyra. This was my fault to begin with." Mira replied, still staring straight at Raven''s eyes. "It was me who was stubborn and refused to let go. I was blinded by hatred. I just can''t move on. In the end, I ended up dragging you into this. It''s all my fault."

    She then broke her eye contact and looked at her sister who''s crying now. "You have to remain here. You have to be strong and achieve our dreams. Don''t worry about me, I''ll manage on my own. I''ll stay in touch I promise."

    "Sis¡­"

    Mira shook her head and looked at Raven again. She then said: "Please, let her stay. I''m begging you."

    *Knock*

    She bowed her head so much that her forehead knocked on the table.

    "Forgive her instead. Take out you anger at me instead. If you want me to be expelled, then do it. I won''t say anything, I''ll ept the punishment. Just please, leave her out of this."

    There was period of silence once again. Mira remained in her position, Pyra was anxiously looking at Raven with pleading eyes, but was only met with piercing cold gaze. She wanted to say something but Mira was already steadfast on her decision. She didn''t want any of this but she''s in position to say anything since they were at fault to begin with.

    No one can tell what Raven was think right now. The situation within the private room was weird. Raven was akin to a calm and intimidating beast, staring down at his groveling prey. Mira refused to rise unless Raven epted her request. Pyra was akin to scared little kitten who''s about to faint at any given moment.

    In the end, Pyra couldn''t bear this silence anymore. She yelled: "Please forgive us!"

    "Huh!? What!? Who!? Where!?" Raven jumped from his seat, looking as if he was startled that badly. He then looked at the twins in front of him and sighed: "Oh, sorry about that. I got lost in my thoughts¡­what are talking about again?"

    "¡­" the twins were speechless. They discretely looked at each other, feeling quite vexed by this situation.

    He can''t be serious right? There''s no way right? There''s no way that he''d lost concentration in the middle of something like this.

    "Hey, did I miss something? And you¡­" He said pointing at Mira, "I admit that''s impressive but why are you like that? Isn''t that ufortable? Am I missing something?"

    "Y-you¡­forgive us¡­please¡­" Mira replied¡­weakly, without raising her head.

    "Excuse me? I didn''t hear that." Raven turned her head and asked her to repeat herself.

    "Please forgive us!" The twins said in unison, almost forcefully even.

    "Oh! Sure! Just don''t do that again." Raven replied with a smile, he then saw the unnatural faces of the twins and felt something amiss. He then asked them:

    "Are you guys okay?"

 Chapter 509 - Bloodstones

    ---

    "Did you guys got everything that you need?" Raven asked the people behind him before the stepped out of the gate. All of them nodded to answer him. "Alright, let''s get this over with."

    As soon as he said this, him, Michelle, Franklin, Pyra, Nelson, Jonathan and Jason all walked out of the huge gates and ventured out to the Devil''s Cradle.

    Today is the scheduled they agreed upon to do the next Unit Expedition. They made sure to pick up another mission before they left so that the trip won''t be in vain. Since the month is nearly over, they decided to have all remaining members to form a group and finish the mission as soon as possible.

    As the Captain/Leader of Unit-17, Jason has the responsibility toe back and fetch missions with high rewards by the 1st of next month. Therefore he needed to make sure to hurry up and finish this expedition as fast as they could.

    The mission they registered was to mine a certain type of mineral which is called ''Bloodstones''. These minerals could be found underground once they reached the 1000 mile depth towards the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. The challenging part of this is that, there are little to no clues on where these minerals are present due to the influence of repulsive will. Which means that they could only try their luck and dig until they encounter one.

    Their task is to bring back at least five shards of Bloodstones. The rewards will vary ording to the size of Bloodstones they brought back. Minimum is 1000 Unit Merit Points and it can go up to 100,000 Unit Merit Point with a few additional benefits.

    Before they left, Raven took it to himself to know what uses does the Bloodstones have. He went to the nearest library and discovered what he wanted to know.

    Bloodstones are a unique mineral which could be find in ces filled with death and decay. The more concentrated these foul influences are, the more likelihood of a Bloodstone appearing. In a way, Bloodstones speaks for itself. It is a solidified blood but not just any blood. In order for a Bloodstone to form, it requires blood essences from 9 different sources. Additionally, it needs time. Bloodstones shards that could fit onto one''s palm is at least a decade old. A chunk, which is at least asrge as a rock is at least 100 years old. And a b which is the size of a boulder needs 1000 years.

    Of course the more nourishment it receives the faster it grows, and it just so happens that ced filled with death and decay are its favorites, the more potent energies it absorbs the faster it will grow.

    The uses of Bloodstones are not plenty ording to the list he saw but every single one was important, specially for the sect.

    After sharing this knowledge to the team, they formted a n of action. Since there''s no need for them to hunt, it would be best to avoid contact as much as possible. That being said, it doesn''t mean that they''re going to shy away from battle. The weaker one''s still needs experience and avoiding battle is the direct opposite of doing that. Of course, that''s if they encounter something they could handle. If they ever met something dangerous, then a tactical retreat is a valid option.

    ***

    Having experienced the repulsive aura of the Devil''s Cradle before, the team didn''t have any problems dealing with it any longer. They guarded their will and stuck close to each other as they moved forward, this helped them have a tighter guard and help them cover each other''s backs.

    They moved forward while restraining their auras since they didn''t want to be mobbed. As usual, those who had spying techniques were located at the sides as they moved forward with care.

    Thanks to his recent experiences, Raven''s ocr technique - Crystal Sky Eyes, had evolved even further. The thick and dark fog present all over Devil''s Cradle had lost its effectiveness and no longer hinders his vision.

    Raven could see everything within 100 miles around him in a crystal clear perspective. Still, he didn''t tell anyone in the event that they might get suspicious of him but still, it felt good to him to be no longer hindered by poor visibility.

    "If we move in this pace, we will eventually arrive at the 1000 mile depth by evening - well, it''s not like there''s day and night here, only gloom but you guys get the point." Jason stated with a low voice, "Just as well, we''re not really in a hurry. Additionally, that''s also the time where we camp out. Hopefully we won''t get dyed by Devils."

    "Then don''t freaking jinx us dude." Franklin replied while looking around him.

    "I know, I know¡­" Jason pouted as he continued walking forward.

    The rest remained silent and kept their guard up. Raven on the other hand looked rxed. His unimpeded vision was really doing wonders right now.

    So far, he didn''t see any devils nearby. Of course that doesn''t include the ones hiding underground at least. Nevertheless, even if the ones hiding underground made a move, he should have no problems seeing them, and by the time they entered the range of the others, it wouldn''t be toote to warn them.

    The group continued on their way towards the goal, talking from time to time in order to alleviate the gloomy mood. Luckily, Jason''s words earlier didn''t jinx them since so far, they have yet to meet a single devil lurking around.

    To be totally honest, Raven was starting to feel suspicious. He couldn''t help it since that''s just how he is.

    He found it weird that the Devil''s Cradle is unusually quiet. He didn''t trust it, not one bit. It was too weird that not even a single Imp was seen so far. Were they wiped out by someone? We''re they hiding? If they are, then where?

    This situation was too weird but he didn''t want to unnecessarily frighten his team so he remained quiet about it. He just silently observed his surroundings since he''s the one who could see the furthest. In anything, he was already preparing himself for the worst.

    The kept moving forward and after a few hours of constantly walking, they eventually arrived at the 1000 mile depth within the Devil''s Cradle. They knew this since there was a drastic difference which could be seen in the soil''s color.

    Instead of the usual dry, coarse, pungent and brown soil. The soil from here on out werepletely ck in color. The fog was also somewhat thicker in here and the atmosphere became more oppressive. Still, everyone one the group was rtively fine. They were already aware that it''s going to be like this even before they left so they knew what they''re dealing with.

    However, the group did not cross the boundary just yet. They decided to camp first and start the harvest tomorrow.

    Raven activated the formation that istes their presence after they found a good camping spot. After checking that everything''s working, they then began to rx and set up camps.

    The girls prepared meals while the boys erected tents. As he did his task, Raven was still monitoring their surroundings. So far, nothing happened which bothers him still but there''s nothing he could do aside from observing.

    Raven and the rest ate and talked to each other before going to their respective tents. He also entered his but instead of resting, Raven meditated while simultaneously keeping watch even though Jason volunteered for it already.

    He just can''t help but feel nervous. If it were just him, he would''ve already ventured deeper just to see what''s going on and if he saw something he couldn''t handle, he''ll retreat immediately. Unfortunately, he can''t do that since he with people.

    Two hours passed just like this until something happened which jolted Raven''s body awake.

    Without even bothering to warn everyone, he ran out from his tent while his hands blurred. Jason was startled by Raven sudden actions but what made him even more surprised is when he saw him shooting seal after seal, cing them within the formation.

    His actions greatly rmed Jason but he was at a loss on what to do. He could only stare as Raven hurriedly reinforced the formation with more seals.

    It didn''t take long before the whole formation was covered by at least thousands of seals glowing in resplendence. Raven was visibly sweating but not from exhaustion, it was because of nervousness. As soon as he shot thest seal, Raven brought his palms down and roared:

    "Converge!"

    Instantly the space around them twisted for several moments before silence returned. Raven let out a long exhale, Jason went towards him and was about to ask what''s going on but was stopped when he saw ring at the sky.

    All of a sudden, a deep and archaic bellow echoed all around them. As soon as Jason and the rest of the team heard this, their skin crawled and their faces went pale. Jason was about to do something incredibly stupid when Raven''s voice suddenly sounded inside his head.

    "Don''t. Fucking.. Move."

 Chapter 510 - Centaur Devil

    ---

    In truth Raven didn''t need to say anything since Jason was already frozen anyway. In fact it wasn''t just him¡­

    The intense fluctuations that urred earlier when Raven was reinforcing the formation alerted the rest, they originally wanted to exit their tents and see what''s going on but they felt something thatpletely froze them to their spots.

    A vast, repulsive, and incredibly evil aura, apanied by a deep bellow of somethingpletely paralyzed them.

    Their faces went pale and they were unable to lift even a single muscle. Their hearts were threatening to burst out from their chests as they felt a deep seated fear. They were too scared to even breathe out loud, they could only remain on their spots and hope that they make it out of this alive.

    *OooooooOoooo!*

    The bellow sounded once more. There''s no need to doubt it at this point, whatever the source of this sound was, it was getting closer to where they were.

    It didn''t take long before all of them felt the ground shaking beneath them. Everyone felt nervous, they braced themselves from impact. Some of them were even thinking that it''s over, they''re going to actually die here, it didn''t matter whether they didn''t want to since they have no choice. That''s the feeling that they got from this aura.

    Raven was the only one who was brave enough to look up and watch the horrifying yet incredible scene. Unlike the rest, he hadplete faith that they''re going to make it out of this. Whatever thus creature is, there''s no way that it could sense nor destroy this formation.

    His eyes gleamed in splendor as he witnessed the monstrosity that''s approaching them.

    The creature was at least fifteen meters tall, it had an outrageous pair of horns which gleamed with dark and malevolent energy. It''s facial features were savage. It had a row of sharp teeth thatpletely protrudes out of its mouth, due to that it was constantly spilling spit - which was akin to an acid by the way. It had a pair of red eyes that gleamed with malicious intent, a t nose and pointed ears.

    Its skin was pitch ck, it''s incredibly muscr and had a lower body of a horse. It''s surrounded with a pulsing ck aura which is steeped in scent corpses. It was wearing a ne made out strewn skulls of different creatures. As it walked aimlessly, it dragged an enormousnce which was still dripping in blood, if one looked closely, there''s even bits and pieces of flesh present in there which would give anyone chills.

    At a ce, this creature doesn''t seem to be aware of its surroundings, but from Raven''s observations, it''s ears are constantly twitching. It would also let out a few grunts and every once in a while, would release a deep bellow that echoes across the whole area.

    Raven referred to the records that he read about devils but he doesn''t seem to recall reading about this one. But from the looks of it, it seems to be simr to a fabled creatures that he''d read about before.

    A half-human and half-horse, for now he''ll call this creature a Centaur Devil.

    As Raven monitored the Centaur Devil walked menacingly, he could help but feel nervous and incredulous at the same time. He had no idea that such things like this existed. Don''t get him wrong, so far all he met was Imps, he only read about other variations of Devils on paper, he had never seen the others yet.

    But just like they said, hearing about it and seeing it in person are two different things.

    He couldn''t believe that the other variation he would encounter first was already this formidable.

    As he sees it, the Centaur Devil doesn''t seem to be really going after them. If anything, Raven was more likely to believe that it''s just patrolling the area. What didn''t make sense to him is that, for what he could tell, this Centaur Devil should be pretty formidable, judging from the aura it possess'', which makes him inclined to believe that it''s ce on the hierarchy of devils should be pretty high-up.

    ''Why dide here?'' Is what he wanted to know.

    They''re at least 12,000 miles away from the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, if the records were correct, what they should be encountering are devils who were just a bit stronger than Imps, not this one. So howe it''s here? Is there anything that attracted it to this side of the map?

    As Raven tried making sense out of this situation, he saw the Centaur Devil walking just a little bit over the border of the 1000 mile mark, it was so close that even Jason could see it and the aura it has were now more obvious to the team.

    Raven''s expression turned solemn, the repulsive aura of the Centaur Devil was making him ufortable.

    Just as it was about to get closer, it suddenly stopped on its tracks and looked at the ground. It stared at if for a good while before raising its hand and scratching its head. It let out a couple of grunts and whines before deciding the turn sideways and follow the edge of the ck soil.

    The moment it started walking away from them, everyone inside the formation released a sigh of relief, Raven included. Still they tried their best to remain still just until they could no longer feel the repulsive aura of the Centaur Devil. Thankfully, that didn''t take long and finally, all of them rxed.

    Jason lost all strength on his legs, even Raven himself felt his back drenched in sweat. He sighed in relief and stepped closer to Jason in order to help him up.

    "I nearly shat myself there." Jasonmented as he grabbed on Raven''s arm, it was clear that''s he''s still pretty shaken about the whole incident but he was trying his best to ovee it.

    "Go rest, I''ll rece you." Raven stated. He then looked at the tents and said: "You guys too, rest and recover. Try to shake it off. It''s gone."

    "Wouldn''t it be better for us to return instead?" Jason asked, a bit hesitant himself. "Sure we''re going to have a stain on our records but it''s better than sending ourselves to the jaws of death right?"

    Raven was silent for a bit. Jason''s words made sense but he felt a bit reluctant to return just like that. Of course, he too was considering their safety but he also didn''t want to fail the mission since it''s going to be troublesome. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

    "I''ll contact Senior Brother." He said to Jason.

    "Didn''t they say that transmissions doesn''t work here? How are you going to do that?" Jason asked.

    "Don''t worry, I have my ways." Raven replied, he then tapped Jason in the back and said: "You go rest first, I''ll deal with it. I''ll tell you guys how it went and we''ll go from there."

    "Alright, man. Thanks, I''ll go pass out on my tent for now." Jason stated causing Raven to chuckled.

    He then watched as Jason limped towards his tent and closed it. As for himself, he sat down in the middle of the formation and checked if it''s still working as intended. As soon as he finished double-checking it, he sat down and took out several items that he could use to contact Henry.

    Raven tinkered some things and ended up with a small table with an array of gemstones embedded on it. The table is filled with several runic seals connecting each gems.

    He then ced a hair belonging to Henry, one that he collected during thest time they met. He then tied it to a medium and ced a drop of his blood on it. He then injected the table with his cosmic energy and started forming hand seals.

    Not too long after that, a screen of light emerged in front of him showing Henry who looked like he was handling some paperwork.

    "Senior Brother." Raven called out. He then saw Henry sharply raising his head and looking around him until he saw Raven''s face within the light screen.

    Henry looked stunned, his eyes widened a bit as he asked: "Is that you Raven?"

    "Yes, it''s me Senior Brother." Raven answered.

    "What sorcery is this? Wait, how do I confirm that it''s really you?" Henry''s face turned serious as he asked this.

    Raven didn''t say anything, instead he lifted a finger and released a wisp of Cleansing mes. Seeing that was a proof of his identity.

    "Alright, I believe you. But is there really a need for this? A sound transmission would''ve done it."

    "I''m not in Tartarus Senior Brother, we''re here at the Devil''s Cradle." Raven revealed, causing Henry to be shocked once more. He was about to say anything but Raven interrupted him. "One moment please, Senior Brother. I want to tell you something that takes precedence."

    "What is it?"

    "We''ve encountered something that and we want to hear your input about it." Raven then lifted a drawing board with a detailed sketch of the Centaur Devil. As soon as Henry saw this, his eyes widened like saucers.

    "Where did you see that!?"

    "We''re at the 970 mile mark, we saw it patrolling the edges of 1000 miles mark." Raven replied.

    "What!?" Henry was greatly rmed, he then urgently said: "Retreat! Don''t worry about the mission and retreat as soon as possible! I''lle there and get you!"

 Chapter 511 - Retreat!

    ---

    Raven didn''t even get the chance to say anything before Henry disappeared from his vision, followed by the disappearance of the light screen.

    The tool that Raven created just now will only capture the real time image of the other party within a certain distance, once they moved out of the range, it will turn ineffective.

    Hearing the orders of Henry and the anxiety of his voice caused Raven to inhale sharply.

    Raven wasted no time and immediately sat up, yelling: "Guys! Wake up! We have to leave as soon as possible. Get your things quickly and board the shuttle! We''ll leave as soon as I take this formation down! Move!"

    His roars jolted everyone awake. Sensing the solemnness on his voice, the rest didn''t say anything and immediately went into action. Even the poor Jason, who literally was just about toy down, shot up to his feet and started moving much to his dismay.

    Thankfully, the team moved rtively quick. By the time Raven was on thest stage of deactivating the formation, all of them were already boarding the shuttle and were just waiting for Raven.

    After a few seconds, the formation dimmed down and Raven retrieved the disk. As soon as he arrived at the shuttle, Jason was already controlling it to leave this ce.

    "What happened? Why the sudden need to retreat?" Franklin asked.

    Like him, most of the team members were still pretty shaken about the event earlier. Although they saved themselves from witnessing the Centaur Devil personally, it still managed to instill fear at the depths of their heart. It''s not like they didn''t agree with the retreat orders, in fact they were secretly relieved that it happened, still they too felt that it''s such a shame to abandon the mission without even trying.

    "I''ve contacted Senior Brother and consulted him about the creature we saw earlier." Raven replied, his tone was a little heavy. "He didn''t tell me much but he directly ordered us to retreat and abandon the mission. I don''t know if this is going to be marked as a fail but we have to follow his orders. He said that he''sing to get us but I don''t know how long it''s going to take him to arrive here."

    Hearing his statements caused the team to feel nervous. Even though they wanted to ask Raven how he managed to contact Henry, now is not the time for that. They have to leave. They''re dumb. If their Senior Brother was rmed by the creature that Raven and Jason saw, that means that the creature was a huge threat.

    This ce will most likely turn into a battlefield and if they''re slow, they''ll be casualties. Raven''s haste in doing things was fortunate. For now, they could only hope for the best.

    "Not good!" Raven''s head sharply turned and looked behind them. He then roared, "Jason! Make a sharp turn to the left! Now!"

    Jason had no time to ask questions and instead listened to Raven''s words, just as soon as he made the turn, something happened.

    *BOOOM!*

    An earth-shaking impact caused everyone inside to momentarily lose their bnce and fall onto their butts. Large chunks of rocks and sharp shards threatened to fall onto them. Raven wasted to no time and said:

    "Stay here and brace for more impact! Jason, stabilize yourself quick and regain control of the shuttle. I''ll when I tell you move to a direction, you move! Understand."

    "Leave it to me!" Jason yelled as he immediately got up and grasped the control of the shuttle.

    Raven disappeared from their sight, a secondter and he could be found standing on top of the shuttle. His face hardened as he red at the falling debris. Using a single thought, arge golden wheel depicting a thousand arms, manifested behind him. Joining his palms in to a prayer, arge golden hand manifested om top of him, shielding him and shuttle from the debris.

    His eyes never stopped as he looked for the source of that gigantic rock that nearly destroyed their shuttle. Squinting slightly, his eyes locked on to the same figure that gave them a good fright earlier.

    It was the Centaur Devil.

    Raven''s eyes narrow dangerously. He didn''t know how the in the world this Centaur managed to sense them from that far. Still, he''s too far away tounch a counter-attack, therefore he could passively defend himself.

    The Centaur Devil was ring at their moving shuttle as if it was its fated enemy. Groaning, it crouched down, plunged its muscr arms on the ground and lifted an enormous boulder, aiming it to the flying shuttle.

    "Oh, you son of a bitch!" Raven spat as he saw the creature wounding up for another attack to throw at them. Compared to the one it sent earlier, the boulder on its hand was several times bigger.

    The Centaur cocked back it''s arm and swung it using all of its strength, it shot the boulder with such strength that it broke the sound barrier.

    "Make a sharp turn right! Now!!" Raven roared at the top of his lungs afraid that Jason might not hear him.

    Thankfully, he did and the shuttle sharp turn, narrowly dodging the boulder once again. They couldn''t dodge the impact at all but at least they weren''t hit by the boulder directly. The impact would only cause them to feel disoriented by a direct blow will certainly kill them.

    Raven was once again on the look-out for the debris which were about to hit them. The golden hand he manifested earlier was still around and is still effective on protecting them.

    As he maximized the effiency of the protective golden hand, Raven caught sight of something.

    He saw a b of rock which radiated with a deep maroon glow. It gave off a thick stench and rich blood energy.

    Raven immediately took a wild guess and didn''t hesitate to pick the b of rock, making sure to keep it as intact as he possibly could. As the golden hand protected them from the debris, he used that time to properly wrap the b of rock within a special container and ced it inside his spatial ring.

    ''Hopefully, I got the right thing.'' Raven inwardly wished, ''And hopefully, that son of a bitch stop throwing rocks at us already.''

    *OoooooOoooooo!*

    There is it again. That same, deep bellow apanied by a repulsive and incredibly evil intent. The fleeing team felt their hairs stood up on their ends as they heard that bellow. Needless to say, they needed to get out of this ce as soon as possible.

    *Shwing!*

    ''Shit!''

    Raven didn''t even had the time to warn anyone. He himself only saw a sharp line heading straight towards them like a shooting star.

    He summoned all of his strength and poured his vast amounts of energy to the wheel behind him, summoning thergest and strongest arm he could possibly create at the very moment to block that attack.

    In a blink of an eye, a seemingly transparent hand manifested in front of him. This hand seemed to contain the vastness of the Outer Space. It contained multitude of stars within and exuded a benevolent and unparalleled aura.

    A huge array containing all sorts of runic seals manifested on the palms, acting like a wall that forbids anything from passing. Raven pushed both of his arms forward to support this technique and just as soon as he did so, an earth-shattering impact urred.

    The strength behind that projectile was incredibly monstrous, it even caused Raven''s feet to sink deeper onto the shuttle. Thankfully, the shuttle was created with heavenly materials, allowing it to withstand that impact.

    The confrontation sent the shuttle tumbling backwards, still Raven managed to hold on and retain control over his technique, allowing his teammates to remain safe.

    For the first time sinceing here, Raven got an injury.

    Blood seeped on his lips and his were trembling, a testament of how strong that blow was. Raven took the full burnt of the attack and kept most of the impact on his body while dispersing the rest, which is why he was injured.

    From the moment he saw the attack, he could already tell that its meant to kill them, and if he''s not smart enough to handle this, they will all die. Raven wasn''t having that.

    With a fearsome growl, Raven push his hands a bit further and his technique managed to neutralize the attack. Raven managed to retain consciousness despite that and saw the real appearance of that projectile.

    It was thence that the Centaur Devil dragged behind itself.

    Raven almost couldn''t believe it but thence slowly disappeared, and not even a few seconds after that his instincts warned him of an incredible danger that''s going to happen.

    ''Shit! I don''t have enough time to block another one of that!'' Raven cursed inwardly as he gritted his teeth.

    Sensing that he''s out of options, he decided to activated his Spacetime Domain but before he could do so, he saw a blur manifesting in front of him, holding the samence as before. The figure looked at him and said:

    "You did good.. Go inside the shuttle, we''ll handle it from here."

 Chapter 512 - 13th Army Commander Centurion Lancer

    ---

    Seeing how thence that nearly took everything on his power to block, was caught with incredible ease by Henry was a spectacle for Raven.

    Hearing Henry''s words, Raven secretly sighed in relief and promptly disappeared from the top of the shuttle. He then reappeared inside under the watch of his pale faced teammates.

    They all tried to assist him but Raven insisted that he was fine, he then told Jason to continue navigating the shuttle back to Tartarus.

    Meanwhile, entered on of the rooms inside the shuttle and sat down to meditate. His face was simrly pale and his blood was still tumbling. Mobilizing what little of his energies left, he cured the inner injuries he sustained from that confrontation.

    ''Half of my reserves was gone.'' Raven grimaced as he realized this. ''Seriously, what the fuck was that thing? How the hell did it ended up there? Something that strong shouldn''t be patrolling the outskirts of the pagoda! What''s going on?''

    Raven had many questions but got no answers for any of them. Unable to make sense of what''s going on either, he decided to throw them at the back of his head and focus on curing himself.

    Still, Raven remained on alert. The shuttle was moving at its top speed right now and thanks to Henry''s help, they didn''t encounter any troubles on the way back, but just in case they do, Raven wanted to inform the team as soon as possible.

    Within the control room, the rest of the team were silent.

    Although Raven didn''t say a word, they weren''t stupid. They knew that they nearly died just now.

    The fearsome sh and the incredible spike of energy around them weren''t hidden. They could feel everything that happened. Raven saved their lives, if it weren''t for him, they won''t even have intact corpses by now.

    Blocking the boulders that the Centaur threw at them was already incredibly challenging, even they themselves wouldn''t be too sure if could truly defend the shuttle under all of that stress, however Raven did it with ease.

    And if their confidence had already taken a blow from just that, blocking thest attack just now is impossible for them. It came too quick and possessed an incredible momentum and strength. Luckily, Raven was there or else they''d be all dead by now. And luckily, Henry indeed arrived and covered their backs as they fled.

    "Damn! What the hell was that?" Jonathan asked with his voice trembling still. His knees were still weak as anxiety filled his heart. He wanted nothing more than to see the gates of Tartarus right now just so that he can finally feel safe.

    "I don''t know but we can ask Senior Brotherter." Jason replied while focusing on the road. He himself felt his back drenched in cold sweat but he managed to pull through and continued to take them home. "All I know is we better get out of this ce quick. I need some alcohol to forget about the things that happened just now."

    ***

    Henry watched as the shuttle carrying his Junior Brothers disappeared from the horizon.

    When he could no longer see them, he then turned around and red at the creature roaring at them in a distance. Beside him, two silhouettes wearing an equally solemn expressions appeared and they too, were ring at the creature.

    "I still am rather curious on how your junior managed to contact you from here even though transmissions can''t, but for now I shall let that pass for now since we have some bugs to squash." Logan - the six-armed War God, spoke as he held six different kinds of weapons on each hand.

    "Remember to ask nicely, Logan. We don''t want to scare the kid." A man with a long ck hair and pure white pupils said as white mes covered his palms. "But you''re also right, now is not the time for that. For now, we should ne thankful that we arrived on time."

    This man was none other than Theodore Provost, a War God, Fire Keeper and the one who established the Cleansing Chapels. He was called in by Henry and since Raven was included on the group that''s in danger, he didn''t hesitate toe with him.

    Henry was already grasping a sword on his hand, however this time, he''s not using a long sword but instead a great sword which was as tall as he is.

    "What I want to know is how the hell did this thing ended up in here?" Henry asked as he took a step forward. His entire being possessed a stifling pressure and a palpable killing intent.

    "Good question actually." Theo agreed, "Why don''t we ask?"

    Next to them, Logan cleared his throat and spoke in a uniquenguage.

    "13th Army Commander of Wrath''s Sin! - Centurion Lancer! Speak, how the hell did you ended up in here!?" Logan asked in a demanding tone, he was using the Devil''s Language to speak to the Centurion.

    The creature looked at them, eyes filled with contempt and fury. It snarled hatefully and tried to pry itsnce from Henry''s hand but it won''t budge. It let out a long bellow filled with hatred. It then opened its maws to speak.

    "Father''s Sin, smelled¡­Elven Abomination! Hateful human! Mynce! Give it back! I''ll kill you!"

    The three war gods looked at each other in confusion, somewhat confused about what''s going on. They didn''t pay any heed to the other half of what the Centurion said, they''re more interested at the first half.

    "Elven Abomination?" Theo murmured under his breath, "while it is true that the Devils seems to have a unique hatred against Elven people, they never went as far as sending an Army Commander just to purge someone with Elven blood before. What''s up with this?"

    "That''s true." Logan nodded his head, simrly confused about this as well. "We have many disciples who had an Elven bloodline, however the Devils never sent anyone after them. What made things different now?"

    Henry himself didn''t know the answer to that, so it''s useless even if they ask him.

    "All I know is that, this thing nearly killed my precious Junior Brothers and Sisters." Henry stated, "This is an opportunity as well, it''s been a while since an Army Commander appeared. Let''s take its head back and see what they''re currently up to."

    "I call dibs on its horns!" Logan said as he tightened his grip over his weapons.

    "Hey! Not fair! I was about to say that!" Theoined.

    "Toote, I said it first."

    "Stop fighting you two." Henry stepped in, "Let''s kill it and bring it back intact, that way we can divide it equally. You guys ready?"

    The two nodded and immediately went serious, as soon as he heard that, Henry blurred into action and followed by the two.

    The Centurion was already alert, so when they disappeared from their spot, it let out an earth-shaking roar that reach all the way to Tartarus.

    That roar was a summoning call since as soon as it was done, arge army appeared behind the Centurion and shot volleys after volleys of projectile towards the charging War Gods.

    Compared to the previous aura of the Centurion, the one it possess'' this time was at least twenty times greater than before. Had Raven and the team remained here, they''d probably find it hard to breathe under this stiflingly evil aura. Some of them might even directly faint.

    This is precisely the reason why Henry told them to abandon the mission. Raven''s guesses were on point, the Devil''s Cradle will indeed turn into a battlefield, something that the likes of them aren''t capable of withstanding,

    The Centurion Lancer is a unique kind of Devil. It wasn''t included under the list that Henry provided for the team since he never thought that they would find one here. Centurions are found at the 50th level of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. This one, the Centurion Lancer - as a subordinate of a Sin, can be found at the 82nd floor. An area that even War Gods such as Henry, Logan and Theodore must traverse with great care.

    It was already an incredible feat that Raven managed to block the Centurion Lancer''snce. The sect had lost count on how many inner disciples died under thisnce, and for an outer disciples such as him - who''s also a freshman too, that feat was nothing short of a miracle.

    The three War Gods worked together to eradicate the army that the Centurion summoned. It was also a great boon that it decided toe all the way down here, making it easier for them to face it.

    Had this been the 82nd floor, the situation might even be considered as dire for them but since this is Tartarus, this creature made the worst mistake of challenging three War Gods at the same time.

    For some time, the Devil''s Cradle shook fiercely due to the earth-shattering sh. The shockwaves could even be felt all the way to Tartarus. Thankfully, Raven and the team were already out of danger.

    After some time, the shockwaves ceased and three silhouettes flew back to Tartarus like shooting stars.

 Chapter 513 - Bloodstone Slab

    ---

    "How are you guys holding up?"

    This was Henry''s first question as soon as he saw Unit-17. Him and the other two War Gods had already finished dealing with the threat, Logan and Theo went back to their office since they have other matters to attend to but Henry decided to stay and look after his juniors.

    "Other than feeling traumatized by what happened, we''re mostly fine. It was thanks to Raven but he¡­"

    "How''s he doing?"

    "I''m fine guys." Raven''s voice sounded from inside the shuttle. His silhouette then appeared before them after he exited the shuttle. He''s still somewhat pale but there''s no traces of injuries on his body.

    Seeing him fine caused everyone to sigh in relief. Henry walked over to him and patted his shoulders, saying: "You did well. It''s good that you''re fine."

    Raven nodded and asked: "Have you dealt with it?"

    "Yes, we did." Henry nodded, "This is not the ce to discuss it so let''s return to your base first."

    Raven and the rest of the team nodded, they followed Henry towards the base.

    Upon arriving, they all went to the meeting room and waited for Henry to speak about what happened. The one''s who remained at the base tried asking the rest about it but they couldn''t get a straight answer since everyone was pretty shaken about the whole ordeal. But now that the threat has been dealt with, they can finally know what''s going on.

    "Before I start¡­" Henry stated, looking at Raven. "I first want to know how you were able to contact me while you''re in the Devil''s Cradle. As we all know, transmissions aren''t working properly there."

    Many were surprised when they heard this and all collectively looked over to Raven - who didn''t answer first but instead took something out of his spatial ring. The item was a small table filled with runic symbols and gemstones, it looked antique but also strange.

    "I''m rather knowledgeable at tinkering things, something that I inherited from my Mom." Raven stated, "This is something I made on ident. By engraving runic lines and using a unique arrangement of gemstones circuit cores, I am able to connect to someone through the help of a medium that contains their genes."

    He then flicked his finger towards Pyra, who''s sitting on the opposite side of him and gathered a strand of her hair. After receiving it, he tied it to a knot and ced it on the middle of the small table. He then made some hand seals and channeled his energy to table.

    And to everyone''s surprise, a screen of light appeared above the small table and another one appeared in front of Pyra, showing different perspectives. A gleam appeared an Henry''s eyes as he witnessed all of this.

    "Hair, blood, spit, skin - anything that contains your targets gene will work for this. It''s also not considered as a transmission but a telepathy of some sorts, so it could hardly be blocked by interferences. However, this has some limitations."

    "The length of themunication is limited based on the amount of medium you have. A strand of hair canst for at least seven minutes. Of course, the more medium one has the longer this can go on. Another thing is that, this can''t be used while moving. The one making contact is not allowed to leave five meters away from this object. As for the one being contacted, it''s ten meters."

    "The contact can be refused if the receiver doesn''t want to, that will consume the medium and will require more for another attempts. So long as there''s a medium, this can work. But I never really ventured it''s limits so far."

    "I managed to contact you since I collected a strand of your hair during yourst visit. Thankfully, I was on time or else¡­"

    "I see. Good thing that you have this then." Henry nodded in praise.

    "Oh and by the way¡­" Raven interjected, taking out yet another item from his spatial ring. This time, it''s b of rock which is almost entirely ck in color but the aura it released caused everyone''s blood to boil, more specifically the Body Refiners.

    "Dude! Is this¡­" Jason stood up from his seat due to shock.

    "I''m not sure, I just felt that it''s simr to what we''re supposed to harvest." Raven replied, "I got when I was blocking the boulders being thrown at us. It doesn''t look like a Bloodstone but it feels like it¡­"

    "That''s because it is a Bloodstone, Raven." Henry stated, a discernable smile of praise was present on his face. "The depictions could sometimes be wrong since we don''t usually harvest something this big but there''s no mistaking it. This is indeed, a Bloodstone b. Great job. You rendered great merit to sect by bringing this back."

    Raven sighed in relief as well as the rest of his teammates. Thank god Raven brought it back with him. With this it could be said that they all profited from that disaster.

    "What''s going on. Why do I feel the need to eat this thing? Am I going insane?" Jonathan asked while clenching his hand.

    "Fool, you too? You guys better put this away or I''ll take a huge bite out of it." Floyd said in a gritted teeth. Everyone was weirded out by their reactions, thankfully Henry swooped in and took away the bloodstone b.

    "Let me put this away before you guys go out of control." He said as he took the Bloodstone away. Once it''s gone, Jonathan and Floyd visibly calmed down. "That sensation is something that urs to Body Refiners. Although bloodstones are condensed from different sources of blood essences and grows up in a ce filled with almost no nutrition, the vitality is contains is a unique delicacy for Body Refiners."

    "However, it is poisoned. It needs to be filtered before consumption. Don''t worry, you guys will most likely receive something like that once I hand this over. Now, we shall move on to the more important matter of this meeting."

    Henry''s voice sounded solemn by the end of his statement, causing a strange atmosphere to descends within the meeting room.

    "All of you were lucky that Raven managed to contact me before everything went awry. If not, who knows if Tartarus will remain standing under the siege of that creature." Henry spoke, his words were heavy and foreboding, causing everyone to feel a stifling feeling on their chest.

    "The creature that Raven was patrolling the 1000 mile depth, was something that''s not meant to be there." Henry stated causing Raven''s eyes to gleam since his guess was right. "In fact, it shouldn''t be possible for it to escape the pagoda since it''s situation pretty high-up."

    "That particr creature was something you''ll only encounter on the 82nd floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda."

    Henry''s words caused everyone''s heart to fiercely be shaken. All of them looked at their Senior Brother incredulously, not daring to believe what they just heard.

    "It''s a unique creature. A cognizant devil we call as Centurion Lancer - the 13th Army Commander of Wrath''s Sin. You guys don''t understand how lucky you were that Raven was able to block it long enough for us to arrive. If he failed on doing so, Tartarus would probably be in shambles right now."

    Such a thing was incredibly unbelievable to their ears but Henry doesn''t seem to be lying. What does a War God like him would get from lying to them? That''s right, nothing!

    "I take it that you and the other War Gods killed it?" Jason asked, just making sure.

    "Yes and no." Henry replied, "Yes, we indeed killed the Centurion Lancer. The other War Gods have taken it''s carcass back to our main office. But you have to know that, even if we ''technically'' watched it die and even brought it''s carcass back. It truly didn''t die. Devils of this caliber are practically immortal, meaning that they won''t remain down for long."

    "The ''Sin of Wrath'' - Centurion Lancer''s creator, will sense that it died under our hands. If it wants to, the Sin of Wrath could call back it''s soul and ce it on another vessel in order to revive it. Unless we kill the Sin or Wrath itself, the Centurion Lancer will just keep oning back."

    Everyone was silent. This is the first time that they came across something like this. An enemy such as this could directly break a person''s will and fighting spirit. It was painfully obvious just how big the gap is and how heavy their responsibilities are.

    "A Sin''s Army Commander possess a unique skill that makes them an important piece for the devil army. However, they all posses a skill that''s the same for every other Army Commander and that is the ability to summon the entire army theymand."

    "An Army Commander leads a minimum of a hundred thousand devils of different kinds. And upon summoning them, the Army Commander receives a great boost of strength depending on how many of it''s army is left."

    "That''s why believe me.. If that thing was left unnoticed, it''s capable of eradicating the entirety of Tartarus."

 Chapter 514 - Elven Abomination

    ---

    Everyone felt chills running down their spine when they heard Henry''s revtion.

    They felt slightly unnerved and couldn''t quite believe that a very powerful foe, who resides on the higher floors of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, came down and nearly eradicated them. If it wasn''t for Raven''s swift and decisive actions, it''s quite possible that all of them are dead by now and the devils might''ve escaped from the mountain.

    "This doesn''t make sense Senior Brother." Jason reacted after a while of silence, his pale face showed a disturbed and stressed expression. "Why did ite down? Well, I don''t know they can do that in the first ce but why?"

    Henry was silent for a bit before eventually telling them what he has in mind.

    "We''re not so sure of that for now. We brought back it''s corpse and if my guess is right, then my colleagues should already be extracting whatever they could from it''s memories before it''s revived by the Sin of Wrath. However¡­"

    There was a tense silence before Henry continued his words: "When we arrived, we asked it why it came all the down here, and it replied by saying that it''s father - the Sin of Wrath, had felt the presence of an Elven Abomination."

    Unit-17 looked at each other in confusion, all of them are confused by what an Elven Abomination is. Sensing their confusion, Henry decided to exin.

    "We don''t know what an Elven Abomination is either. Maybe some Elder of the sect knows about it but that''s until we make the reports. Still, I have my own opinions about the subject."

    "ording to ancestral records, Devils carried a profound contempt and disgust towards the Elven Race. However, there aren''t concrete records of that since during the decisive battle between our founders and the Devil Emperor, no Elven influence was mentioned."

    "There are some disciples who carried Elven blood within the sect, actually they''re fairlymon." Henry stated, "But while Devils have something against them for whatever reason, they never really did any drastic measures against them. We''ve talked to some disciples who have Elven blood that went on patrol multiple times, asking them if they were being purposefully targeted by the Devils. The results are negative. Aside from visible contempt, no other thing was different."

    "However, this ''Elven Abomination'' caused such a stir on their ranks. Even going to such lengths as to send down an Army Commander down here in order to deal with it. This makes me think, that whoever this ''Elven Abomination'' is, is something that the ''Sins'' want to cut down before turning into a huge headache for them."

    "The chances of that Elven Abomination being within you guys are low though." Henry stated, causing everyone to sigh in relief. "Although you guys stayed within the formation, it isn''t enough for you to hide from the Centurion Lancer. It most likely saw you and ignored you. It only attacked since it saw you running and didn''t want you guys to report back to us."

    "However, I wouldn''t put it past you guys. So far, these are all my theories. They might be right or wrong, who knows. What you guys should do is to take it easy and wait for the announcement. This event will mostly likely blow-up and you guys might not be allowed to venture to the Devil''s Cradle for a while."

    "Train and get stronger. Solidify your foundations. Those who''re thinking of switching their cultivation techniques, now''s the best time to start. You can always ask for my opinion about it but remember, your body is your own. The decision will be up to you."

    "Also, the topics of our discussion just now should remain a secret for now. Unless you hear the announcement, none of you should leak this information out. Am I clear?"

    "Yes, Senior Brother." The Unit-17 answered in unison.

    "Alright, dismissed. Go get some rest and recover. Raven, you stay for a bit." Henry stated. The rest of the unit left leaving Henry and Raven alone to discuss something personal.

    "I said it before and I''ll say it again." Henry smiled at him and said: "You did very well. Your quick response to the situation and your bravery in saving yourrades aremendable feats. Your actions will be revealed during the official meeting, whether you receive additional credits from that, it''ll depend on the final verdict."

    "I merely did what''s right Senior Brother. But of course, who am I to say no to Merit Points?" Raven replied while rubbing his nose. Causing Henry to chuckle.

    "Right? I would''ve seriously think there''s something wrong with you if you acted like a martyr." Henry stated causing Raven feel somewhat embarrassed. "Anyways, that''s not the only reason why I wanted to talk to you privately."

    "I''m listening, Senior Brother."

    "Then I shall not beat around the bushes." Henry''s voice turned serious. He then pointed at the miniature table/telepathic device in front of Raven and said: "Would you be willing to submit your knowledge on how to create that and have the sect test it out for you?"

    "Of course it wouldn''t be for free. As for how much Merit Points you''ll receive from this, it''ll depend on how effective this thing is. But that''s only if you agree, I won''t force you if you''re notfortable with the idea."

    Raven was momentarily stunned by this, however he managed to recover pretty quick and instead of answering, he took out a quill and paper from his spatial ring. He then started writing the necessary tools in order to create thismunication device. He also wrote his personal inputs and every probabilities he have in mind before passing it to Henry.

    "Here''s everything I know so far about it." Raven stated, much to Henry''s surprise. "Feel free to experiment and test it out. If anything, I''ll be d if I could help for the greater good. Of course, I won''t refuse Merit Points if I could get some."

    Henry chuckled and received the paper from Raven. Thetter also handed him the table he used just now so that Henry will have a concrete proof with him.

    "Thanks for this. I''ll keep you informed about the process." Henry stated as he kept the table and the paper inside the spatial ring. "Also, I''ve noticed that your Destruction Laws are at the perfection of the first concept. Not bad. Try visiting the Hall of Enlightenment, show this to the Supervisory Deacon and he''ll take you somewhere nice."

    Raven received a small token from Henry and was confused. However, Henry didn''t exin and instead said: "Alright, I''m off now. I just received a word that the meeting will soon start. Rest properly and work harder."

    After saying that, Henry disappeared from the base, leaving Raven alone and speechless.

    ncing at the token at his hands, he felt its smooth surface and the cool sensation on its touch. It was a golden token with a violet crest and a small insignia in the middle that he had never seen before. It looked like an engraving of a flowing water but he can''t be so sure.

    Nevertheless, Raven kept it and would follow Henry''s instructions.

    Afterwards, he went back to his room and once again checking his body for any injuries he missed. After double-checking it, he sighed and was relieved that there are no risks to him anymore.

    "I can recover my energy when I enter seclusion inside the Pce." He murmured, "But really, this is so weird. An Elven Abomination huh? This is the first time I heard about it."

    Raven''s mind wandered about the recent events that nearly took his life. While he''s not really in a real threat of dying, the sensation of death closing-in on him is something that he''ll never get used to. Thank god his umtions were deep, allowing him to save not only himself but a great number of people in Tartarus.

    Needless to say, for some reason, he''s a bit bothered by that ''Elven Abomination''. This until all of sudden, he remembered an important thing that Henry failed to realize.

    "He didn''t know that I bolstered the Concealing Formation!" Raven''s eyes widened as cold sweat drenched his back. "Only Jason saw me doing that! But it looks like he was in too much of a shock that he forgot about it."

    As realization dawned upon him, Raven''s heart started beating faster.

    "Senior Brother said that the Centurion Lancer had most likely saw us but didn''t attack since it was disdainful of us. However, what if it really didn''t see us?"

    "What if it only noticed us when where running since we''re no longer hidden!?" Raven continued with his conjectures and felt more and more startled. "It felt disdainful to kill us¡­so it''s possible to escape from it. If that''s the case, then why would it attack us when we''re fleeing?"

    "The reason is because one of us is actually its target!" Raven eximed. "It''s can''t be them, so that means it''s me."

    "I''m the Elven Abomination?" Raven was confused but he suddenly remembered something that made him gasp.

    "Old Master Tenrou''s Blood!"

 Chapter 515 - Grand Elder

    ---

    "Old Master Tenrou''s Blood!"

    This realization pped Raven pretty hard. When he arrived at this point in his thoughts, the idea that he might be the ''Elven Abomination'' that the Centurion Lancer was referring to, became more and more possible.

    Raven was shocked to the point that he unconsciously sat down on the bed, his thoughts worked fast as he recalled everything he knew about Tenrou.

    "Old Master Tenrou is considered as an Abomination by his own race. He''s half Elf and half Dwarf. The history of the two races dated all the way since ancient times and although I don''t know why the races are odds with each other, I know that they we''re created by nature."

    "ording to records, back in the ancient era, every living being that has pointed ears were considered as part of the Elven Race. Back then, the Dwarves are referred to as Earthen Elves while the Elves and were identified as Forest Elves. Pixies are referred to Little-winged Elves and Fairies are called Winged Elves."

    "It''s unknown why and when this race started drifting from each other but if it happened then there must a reason for it."

    "A spawn of a Dwarf and an Elf was considered as an Evil Spawn. ording to Old Master Tenrou''s words, he was hunted down by both the Elves and the Dwarves. Because he felt rather unwilling to just disappear without leaving a mark in history, he decided to save a drop of his blood essence and hid it away from prying eyes, hoping that one day, someone worth wille and achieve the greatest feat ofbining the talents of the opposing tribes."

    "And I managed to achieve that..." Raven shudder in realization. "Elves had an innate talent in Space Laws while the Dwarves are talented in Time Laws. Master Tenrou has the highest possibility of learning both at the same time and even fusing them together. However, he was hunted down by his own race and didn''t manage to achieve greatness."

    "I, through fortunate circumstances, received his inheritance and even managed to achieve what he couldn''t. Spacetime Laws, one of the rarews that practically offers pseudo-Immortality."

    "Elven Abomination. By now, I''m at least 90% sure that they''re referring to me. But the question in, how the hell they did found out? Aren''t I supposed to be hidden by Master Geezer? If even the Heavenly Laws themselves doesn''t notice me, then howe those ''Sins'' could?"

    "Why do they want to kill an Elven Abomination? Why are they¡­afraid of it? Is it due to Spacetime Laws? It shouldn''t be right? Plus, I''m pretty sure that I only used Spacetime Laws inside the crown space. Is it possible that they''ve sensed me even if I was in there? It shouldn''t be right?"

    "There must be something more from this." Raven was stressing out. "Come to think of it, these Devils that we are fighting also have pointed ears. If this was the ancient times they might be called as either Dark Elves or Corrupted Elves. But this is just a conjecture. In the end, many people said that these Devils were from the Devil Emperor himself."

    "I shouldn''t think about their origins for now. That should be the least of my worries. What''s important is that I''m being targeted and I''m in serious danger if I don''t do something." Raven bit his lips and felt nervous.

    He then sat down and entered meditation, trying to figure out ways on now to get out of their radar. What he wanted was for anyone not to realize that he was the Elven Abomination. Even though it hasn''t been confirmed just yet, he wanted to y it safe and redirect their attention away from him until he''s strong enough to openly go against them.

    Raven as well as his numerous Avatars, worked in tandem in order to go through all of the possible ways to hide his presence to them. After a few hours to thinking, he managed to find a way but he can''t do it for now as it requires some materials in order to work. He''s currently out of Merit Points so he could only postpone this for now.

    In the end, he could only hope that the Elders will be kind enough to at least reward him with a generous amount of Merit Points for his service and contributions. For now, he could only sigh and lie down on his bed as he waits.

    ***

    "This concludes our report about the recent cause of our mobilization. Respected Elders, we now await your orders as to what we should do next."

    Theodore, one of the current War Gods and a Fire Keeper, concluded his reports about the recent incident of the Centurion Lancer arriving at Tartarus without any further warnings.

    The humongous body of the Centurion Lancer was disyed for everyone in the council to see.

    There was a brief silence that took over the council hall, the War Gods remained silent and patiently waited for the Elders to reach a reach a consensus. It might not be visible or audible, but they knew that the Elders aremunicating with each other through transmissions.

    After waiting for a least a couple of minutes, a light tapping could be heard around the council hall. They all looked at the source of that sound and noticed that it wasing from the chair situated in the very middle. All of them respectfully waited for instructions.

    "Forbid anyone from venturing to the Devil''s Cradle for now. Instead of a patrol, issue some missions which requires them to guard the walls and have them write a written report about everything that they see during their shift."

    "We hear and obey Grand Elder''s orders."

    "This ''Elven Abomination'' is something that piques my interest. Elder Philip."

    "Here, Grand Elder."

    "Take some smart brats with you and go to the Ancestral Tower. I''m granting you ess there for three weeks only, you and your brats can only stay inside for six hours each day no more no less. You may also ask the current Athena''s Help with your search. By the end of your three week deadline, I''m expecting you to rify what this ''Elven Abomination truly'' is."

    "I hear and obey Grand Elder''s orders."

    "Henry, Logan, Theo, and you too Lurker. Go and see what these evil spawns are up to. Try to not rouse their vignce and report back as soon as you gathered ample information. I''ll give you a month''s time for that."

    "Affirmative, Grand Elder."

    "Anastasia."

    "Here, Grand Elder."

    "Arm yourself along with 200 men from Hall of Ares. Go to Asphodel and guard the Broken Floor. By no means you are to allow any ugly things to pass through you. That includes even the Hideous Emperor as well. Are you up for it."

    "I''ll do my absolute best, Grand Elder."

    "And if you fail?"

    "Then I shall die trying."

    "Very good." The Grand Elder nodded. "Henry."

    "Here, Grand Elder."

    "That..." The grand elder pointed the small and unassuming table within the presentation area. "One of your brats made that?"

    "Yes, Grand Elder." Henry didn''t show any displeasure from the way the Grand Elder referred to Raven as a ''brat''.

    "And this is the same brat that blocked thence of this ugly little thing right here?"

    "Yes, Grand Elder."

    The Grand Elder''s eyes turned dull for a second, everyone remained silent and didn''t dare to interrupt him. After a few seconds, the gleam on the Grand Elder''s eyes returned and wide smile bloomed on his face.

    "Hoh! It seems we''ve got a little monster on our side huh?" The Grand Elder chuckled.

    Although his words sounded a little too vague and rude, the meaning behind his words were clear to everyone present.

    "Elder Song."

    "Here, Grand Elder."

    "Give Henry''s brat some candies will you? Also, bring that thing with you and study it. If you can, I want you to manufacture as many as you can. Give them to Anastasia and her team, let''s see if it''ll work on Asphodel first and then the Broken Floors. If those are sessful, then we can try bringing that in to Elysium and continue the experiment there. If it works, then give the brat something good."

    Everyone was a little shocked upon hearing the Grand Elder''s orders. Nevertheless, they could more or less understood why he''s doing this. Communication had always been one of the biggest problem of the sect. Due to the interferences present around each battlefield, most of their attempts ended up in failure resulting on them just somewhat giving-up on it.

    However, that might just change due to this little thing right here.

    "Finally, I want all of you to minimize this news for now." The Grand Elder stated, "I don''t want the brats to be rmed by this, we need to keep them the way they are. Once we know more about the whole situation and this ''Elven Abomination'', then we''ll decide what move we shall do."

    "We hear and obey Grand Elder''s orders."

    "Hera, Dear?"

    "Yes. Grand Elder?"

    "Give this old man a massage will you? The one with a happy ending please."

    "Oh my! Very well, your wish is mymand Grand Elder."

    "As for the rest of you. Dismissed!"

 Chapter 516 - Hall Of Enlightenment

    ---

    "It''s just like what Senior Brother said¡­" Jason stated in front of his teammates. "Devil''s Cradle had be off-limits to us for a whole month. In addition the that, Sophomores and above were required to serve as guards during this time period."

    "We''re Freshmen so we''re exempted from this. However, this also meant that we won''t be able to earn Unit Merit Points altogether." Jason added.

    "Well, that shouldn''t be much of a problem really." Michelle stated, "I mean, we''ve umted a good amount of Unit Merit Points. I don''t think we''re behind the other Units of Senior Brother, in fact I''ll be surprised if we don''te at first ce."

    "Yeah, for now at least." Jason replied, "However, even if we''re ahead, that''s not an excuse to ck off. In fact, we have to umte more in order to solidify our position."

    The whole team nodded in full agreement with Jason''s words.

    "Next month is basically a vacation for us." He added, "My suggestion is to use that time wisely. Those who were nning on switching cultivation methods, consult Senior Brother as soon as possible and if you can, ask him for rmendations. We have a whole month to earn Merit Points for our personal use. There are ton of missions in the hall, feel free to browse and pick whichever you think is suitable for you."

    "For those who doesn''t n on switching, don''t fall behind. Your Laws, techniques and instincts shall remain sharp. We are surrounded with numerous ces to practice so don''t make any excuses."

    "Also, I think it''s time for us to upgrade this base. What do you guys think?" Jason brought up the idea.

    His suggestion sparked strong reactions from the team. All of them pondered when Nelson asked: "Do we have enough?"

    "For a 1st-tier upgrade? Yeah we do. For a 2nd-tier though, we fall short by a few hundreds."

    A Base Upgrade is a unique service which could be purchased by a Unit. Depending on the package, the base will be upgraded to ease up the living conditions of the team. The packages avable is represent by Tiers. The higher Tier upgrade they purchase, the better their base will be.

    "We should be able to purchase the 2nd-Tier upgrade." Ravenmented, "The rewards for harvesting a Bloodstone b will arrive in a few days, remember? Let''s just wait for it. That way, not only we could have better living conditions, we''ll also have some Unit Merit Points to spare."

    "I support the idea." Franklin stated as well as some other members.

    It didn''t take long before everyone agreed onto that so they moved-on with their meeting.

    The team ended up discussing more things regarding to what they should do next. Since the next month is going to be rather rxed for them, they''d be able to catch their breaths and tackle several things that they''ve been postponing so far.

    After the discussion, everyone was dismissed and went to do their own business.

    ***

    "Excuse me."

    "Yes? How can I help you Junior Brother?"

    "Are you the Supervisory Deacon here?"

    "Yes, I am."

    "Great. Uh, my Senior Brother give me this. He told me that you''ll take me somewhere when I show this to you."

    The Supervisory Deacon of the Enlightenment Hall raised a brow and received the token that Raven passed down to him. Once he saw the token, his eyes widened as he looked incredulously at Raven, eyeing him from head to toe.

    Raven was puzzled by this and simrly raised a brow as well. The deacon noticed that and cleared his throat.

    "Sorry about that Junior Brother, I just¡­wasn''t expecting this situation." The deacon exined. "Did His Excellency exined anything to you?"

    "He didn''t."

    "I see." The deacon nodded, he cleared his throat once more and exined: "Before we move on Junior Brother, I suggest you to buy some supplements that will aid in your mental state. What you''re about to experience is something that will only happen once during your entire Outer Disciples career, you mustn''t waste this chance."

    "Uh, I should be fine. I did make ample preparations just in case." Raven replied.

    "Fantastic!" The deacon smiled, "Well then, follow me."

    It''s been a couple of days since the announcement was made and the team meeting urred. Everyone on Unit-17 had been rtively busy. Some were now making preparations for their switch while the others are doing some missions to earn merit points.

    Three days earlier, Raven got a surprise visit from Henry.

    He told him about the results of the meeting but left out the private matters. What gave Raven a pleasant surprise is the fact that he was truly rewarded for his act of preventing a massive disaster from urring. The leader of the Merit Exchange Market decided to reward him with 500,000 Merit Points.

    That astounded Raven so much that he couldn''t help but to be speechless for a good while. And to make things even more absurd, Henry told him that the telepathic device that he submitted to Henry was currently being tested and if everything went well, then it''s quite possible for him to earn more.

    Raven''s heart jumped in jubnce. As soon as Henry left, he practically dashed towards the market bought the necessary materials he needed to create a seal that would help him hide his presence from those who were targeting him.

    The materials were rather cheap so he was left with more. He then unhesitatingly purchased some materials he needed for the 5th Stage of Myriad Incarnations Scripture. He only purchased some since his Merit Points aren''t enough, he only needed to buy three other materials and he could create more avatars once more.

    Raven originally desired to purchase the Lower ne Official Writ which cost 500,000 Merit Points. This writ is something which he can use to bind the Grand Ancestral ne to him. Unfortunately, he realized that now''s not yet the time to do so since he had other things he needed to prioritize before that.

    Thankfully though, Raven managed to seed on creating the seal which he needed to avoid being sensed by the Devils. He didn''t know if it''s working but he could only hope so.

    For now at least, whether its working or not, his priority is to get stronger. Power is the only capital he can rely on if he wants to survive. Therefore after he''s done settling his immediate matters. He finally paid a visit to the Hall of Enlightenment.

    Currently, he''s following the deacon through a series of tunnels. Eventually both of them arrived at a rtively unassuming but heavily guarded gate.

    The guards who were there didn''t even hesitate to bar the deacon''s way. However, the deacon didn''t raise a fuss and instead stopped on his tracks and looked at Raven and returned the token to him.

    "I can''t apany you past this area. As you can see, even I am not allowed to go any further. Take the token and show them to the guards and they''ll let you pass. They''ll open the doors for you but before you step inside, consume all the supplements you have."

    "Remember, the better your mental state is before entering, the better your results will be." The deacon exined solemnly. "Take my advice Junior Brother. Don''t hesitate to go all out. You''ll never encounter this chance again unless you''re promoted as an Inner Disciple. Bolster you mind and endure. The longer the better."

    "If you canst for the full duration. Then I''m confident to say that you''ll transform from a carp to a Dragon."

    Raven''s mind shook from what he heard. He looked at the deacon and found no traces of ill intenting from him. What he said was quite unreal but he wasn''t lying. The deacon just wanted Raven to make the most out of the experience.

    "Thanks for the reminder, Senior Brother. I''ll definitely do my best." Raven replied, giving him a curt salute.

    The deacon smiled and gestured for him to go. Raven took a deep breath in and walked towards the guards.

    As usual, they barred his way but when he showed them the token, they made way for him and even gestured for him to make way towards the doors.

    As Raven approached closer, some guards were opening the doors for him. The moment that the light from the other side seeped through from the gaps, Raven instantly felt a rumble on his mind which shook him silly.

    He was astounded. He might''ve had this doubts but all of them hadpletely disappeared when he experienced that. Instead, Raven started feeling excited. That feeling couldn''t be any clearer for him. Just from sensing the light from the other side, he could already feel his Laws rioting.

    That was an unprecedented thing, it never urred to him before.

    As the guards continued opening up the gates, Raven unceremoniously took out several things from his spatial ring. He didn''t forget the deacons advice for him so he readied it, nning to consume them once he was given a go signal.

    Momentster, the guards nodded to him and Raven unhesitatingly swallowed the supplements he has as well as drinking and entire bottle of Moonshine.. Once he did so, Raven stepped in and disappeared from their view.

 Chapter 517 - A Tiny Spark

    ---

    Raven arrived at a vast expanse of void, which is something he did not expect considering the fact that he saw some rays of light before he entered.

    He didn''t feel anything - well, to be more specific, he can''t feel anything.

    Raven''s currently surrounded with pitch ck, he can''t see, hear, feel, taste, nor touch. His thoughts we''re also slipping away but he can''t do anything to prevent any of this happening. He can''t even mobilize even a single speck of his Cosmic Energy nor lift a finger. He could only helplessly remain still.

    Time passed and slowly but surely, Raven''s thoughts were slipping away. It wouldn''t be long until he eventually loses them.

    That''s when a huge change suddenly urred on his surroundings.

    It all started with a single white spark.

    A tiny, tiny spark that even Raven, with his excellent visual prowess, nearly missed it. However, even though it was just a tiny speck of light. It existed.

    It lives.

    This tiny spark of light was only thing thatpletely opposes it''s surroundings. No matter how the void rolled, folded and tried to devour this tiny speck of light, it fought dauntlessly and remained. Even though it was the only one of its kind. It fought for survival and remained strong.

    Raven''s remaining focus was centered in this spark of white light. Coincidentally, as he started at it, his thoughtspletely stopped from slipping, allowing him to dedicate all of them into watching how this tiny speck light fought for its existence. Raven himself didn''t noticed this however since he''s too entranced by this speck of light.

    As time went on, Raven got too absorbed into this scene that he also failed to notice that all of his senses had returned to him already. His thoughts returned to it''s original state but all of it was dedicated into watching this tiny speck of light.

    For reason''s unknown, Raven and this tiny speck of light shared a connection. Unfortunately, Raven''s too entranced to notice any of this.

    Due to his surroundings and his current state, Ravenpletely became unaware of how much time has passed already. He remained entranced by the sight and also remained rooted on his spot.

    It was unknown when but another speck of light was born. And it time, another one. Slowly but surely, the numbers of these tiny dots of light rose. Raven noticed this but it didn''t awaken him from his trance, instead it might''ve even dragged him deeper.

    The rising number of these tiny white dots seemed to have angered the void. It shook, trembled and did everything it could to snuff out these lights but it could only corrode it, it cannot snuff them out.

    At a certain point, lines started emerging from the first spark of white light. It crawled and connected with the nearby specks of light, linking them to together and presumably, their fates as well.

    As soon as it connected to every single one, the group of white sparks shone with a ring brilliance that illuminated the void.

    The void shook and trembled, seemingly frightened and threatened by the sudden development however it couldn''t do anything to stop it. Instead of attacking, the void wanted to push them away but it had no spaces avable to iste these group of white sparks.

    At the same moment that the group of white sparks were linked, the connection it has with Raven became even more deeper, henceforth dragging him even deeper in his trance. Nevertheless, Raven was conscious enough to realize what these group of linked white sparks represents.

    ''The first Constetion.''

    He had no idea why the void was seemingly terrified of the first constetion, he can''t think of any reason for it either since he''s in a deep trance. What''s important is that, Raven knew that this was a monumental event, and he absolutely couldn''t miss what''s about to happen next.

    The first constetion''s appearance was the trigger. Shortly after it''s emergence, another spark of white light appeared, which where then followed by some more in quick session. Not too long after that, the Second Constetion was born, which was then followed by the third, the fourth and so on¡­

    Raven watched everything as an observer. He witnessed the birth of one constetion after another. As their numbers increased and filled a portion of this vast expanse of void, a disparity was born.

    Each time a constetion was born, the void unceasingly trembled. Scared and afraid, slowly but surely, it was forced to retreat over and over again. It tried to push the constetions against each other, hoping that they would destroy one another but the result was theplete opposite.

    It didn''t take that long until Raven waspletely surrounded with constetions. Each of them were etched to his memory, some even directly appeared asw diagrams on his own body. Nevertheless, Raven only watched as an observer and took everything in.

    The birth of the constetions continued. Their multiplication hastened and the void retreated even further. At one point in time, the void waspletely backed-up in the corner, finding itself surrounded by constetions which shone with brilliance.

    Raven had lost count on how many constetion appeared so far. He was motionless and stuck in the depth of his trance that he failed to realize that his body was reflecting the brilliance that each constetion releases. This inadvertently created a link, connecting Raven to all constetions around him.

    Eventually, a huge movement urred. The constetion moved in unison, lead by the First and started consuming what''s left of the void.

    Not a single constetion missed this event. They all siphoned a part of the void and fused it to themselves and whenever they did, a change urred to them.

    One by one, each constetion released a certain color. Raven surroundings were no longer pitch ck, instead he''s now surrounded with myriad colors, some of which he saw for the first time.

    Each color was also reflected on his eyes, etched in his memories and left a striking impression on him.

    At the time that thest speck of the void was devoured by the constetions. A flurry of myriad lights surrounded Raven. They moved erratically and were seemingly wrapping him into a tight cocoon. Despite all of this, Raven remained impassive.

    He didn''t show any reaction and took everything with an uninterested expression. Raven was mildly aware of what''s happening but he didn''t stop it.

    By the end of it, Raven waspletely encased in a small round cocoon. At it''s core, Raven could be found naked and in a fetal position. His eyes were tightly shut and his body was constantly breaking down and being reformed.

    Each time a piece of him was broken down, a streak of colorful lights will fuse with him and be a part of his body. This happened slowly but methodically. This process wasn''t controlled by Raven at all. It was all natural.

    Still, even if he''s now undergoing the process of his 8th Transformation, Raven''s consciousness was still in a deep trance.

    Raven''s experiencing something incredible but he himself can''t exin it nor were aware that it''s happening. All he could think about was the series of shing lights, the constetions and other things which he can''t make heads or tails of. However, one thing''s for sure. Raven''s being enlightened onto something, it''s just that he''s not aware of it for now.

    An unknown amount of time passed and all of sudden, the cocoon released a beautiful arrangement of lights. Well, to be more specific, Raven''s body was the one who''s releasing this lights.

    As these spectrum of lights illuminated his surroundings, they all formed several images, representing a specific constetion which were the same ones that he had seen before.

    These constetions were moving as if they were alive. They swam, trotted, flew and so on all around him as if they were on their natural habitat. Each figure seems to contain a certain level of intelligence, some even interacted with the other constetions. They all formed different shapes in sizes but all got along since, in a sense, they came from a single source.

    Raven''s consciousness travelled far. It was as if he travelled to the past, present and future. He witnessed how it all began and how it all ended with an apathetic expression. It was as if he was nothing but a mere observer and had no concern about whatever''s destroyed or created.

    Nevertheless, for each thing that he saw created or destroyed, something stayed with him. Something resonated and was absorbed into his body, as for what it is, Raven have no way of knowing just yet.

    Inside the cocoon, Raven''s body was nearly reformed. He''s physical features became even more refined, his core and inner cosmos became even more consolidated and abundant and his soul went one step closer towards full recovery.

    All of the colorful lights and neww-diagrams on his body receded. They weren''t gone, they were just fused with him. Raven remained in trance and still experiencing a special state of enlightenment when all of a sudden¡­

    *Crack!*

 Chapter 518 - Destruction Domain, Blooming Lotus

    ---

    It started with a single crack, which eventually spread and branched into many more.

    The sound it created was akin to a ss being stepped on, fragile and loud. It didn''t take long before webs of cracks covered the entire cocoon where Raven is.

    Amidst an empty space, on this and this alone could be seen. Out of nowhere, lights started seeping out of the cracks. It illuminated the darkness through faint rays of lights, which eventually turned brighter and stronger.

    *Boom!*

    An earth-shaking explosion urred afterwards, however instead of the shell being blown away everywhere, it slowly unfurled itself.

    Like pale lotus petals blooming, they slowly revealed Raven''s body, floating due to a mysterious force. The cocoon which served as the womb where he transformed once more, bloomed into a spectacr lotus throne. The scene was akin to the birth of a god.

    Raven''s eyes were still shut. He''s still in a fetal position and still trapped in a trance, nevertheless his presence became some sort of a beacon. He became the center of this ce, the only one who existed amidst this omnipresent darkness.

    Anyone who looks at him in this state wouldn''t be able spot a single w on him. It''s as if the gods used a lot of their time creating Raven, making him the perfect specimen.

    Raven''s skin was covered in multiple markings which released a unique brilliance. If one looked closely, each of this markings were the same as the constetions which he witnessed earlier. They are present everywhere on his body. Their glow was strong enough to illuminate this whole ce and project the actual constetion they represent.

    A faint hymn could heard being released by Raven''s body. This tune was something that he was releasing unconsciously. Anyone who cultivated the Zither Heart will immediately fall into a deep trance upon hearing this unique melody. This is because this hymn is the same as the first sound that ever existed. To cultivators who cultivates the Zither Heart, this is an immeasurable serendipity that could never be sought after, only encountered.

    Sadly, Raven was the only one present here, and it''s not even clear if heard the sound either.

    He''s still unconscious. This is because Raven''s currently experiencing and watching the cycles of life and death as well the creation and destruction of all. He watched as an apathetic observer, he never cared nor interfered. Even if he wanted to, he can''t.

    Nevertheless, this experience was a great lucky chance for Raven. This kind of serendipity is something that he won''t encounter very often.

    Raven saw the birth of everything.

    I all started with a single spark of light. The sparks multiplied and created a link to each other which created the First Constetion. The First Constetion was then followed by the second, and the third and so on¡­

    The more they multiplied, the more power they had over the omni-present void. Eventually their numbers multiplied to a ridiculous degree that they pushed the void into the edge. In the end, each constetion devoured the remaining void, using it as a fuel to realize their full potential.

    What followed was the birth of everything else. With the constetions as the foundation, the myriad existences also multiple until they filled the emptiness. The Void itself never disappeared, instead it was reproduced by the constetions that devoured it. It''s twin was Chaos.

    If the Void doesn''t permit life. Chaos creates life through the blessings of the constetions.

    As the World of Creation matured, so did the Constetions. In the end, what was born will eventually die. Even the Constetions who started it all cannot escape that.

    One by one, they faded from existence. Nevertheless, they never truly disappeared.

    With their retirement, Chaos and Void remained, ever at odds with each other. Chaos created life which blossomed and give birth to new lives. Simr to the Constetions, Chaos eventually faded but never truly disappeared.

    From that point on, Raven watched as the cycle of life and death repeated itself over and over again. It didn''t matter how prosperous the race is or how strong they''ve gotten. They could run through the end of the world, they could make repeated breakthroughs, they could do everything they could to escape from it but at one point, they''ll be cornered.

    Where there is smoke, fire is usually not far away.

    Where there is life¡­there is death.

    Everything that is Created will eventually be Destroyed.

    This is an unending cycle. An inescapable. Something that is inevitable.

    The only way to avoid it, is by transcending it.

    *Dub!* *Dub!* *Dub!*

    Loud, pounding sounds resounded out of nowhere. It''s as if a giant war drum was being yed.

    This, in fact, isn''ting from a War Drum outside. It ising from Raven''s body, more specifically, his heartbeat.

    The vigorous and soul-stirring sound of his heartbeat echoed everywhere. With it, the brilliance of his entire body pulsed and intensified at every beat.

    Raven''s thick and viscous blood started circting, bringing life and activity all over his body. His body slowly unfurled and the brilliance he''s emitting reached it''s peak level.

    The hymn got louder and started ying on sync with his heartbeat. Raven''s aura climbed to it''s peak, releasing a heavy, oppressive and unquestionable majesty. Raven''s aura was like that of a True Emperor.

    A majestic armament covered his naked body. The dark armor glowing with a milky, dark golden sheen was now covered in multiple sparkles of light. A golden wheel also appeared behind Raven. It slowly shank until it became an emblem that etched itself on his chest te.

    One thousand hands appeared around Raven, blooming like a lotus flower. Each hand was somewhat illusory but contained astral phenomena like the birth and death of a star, gxies, cosmos and etc.

    After that, a wide dome surrounded him. It spanned for couple hundreds of miles, bringing in a intense suppression. Within this dome, one could see manifestations of broken and shattered spaces. One wrong move and they''ll find themselves king away to disappearance.

    This dome represents Raven''s territory, more specifically his improved territory since he''s now a Saint Knight. His Destruction Territory had now transformed into a domain - Destruction Domain.

    Raven''s Destruction Domain is not only biggerpared to it''s previous state, it is also far more deadlier since his breakthrough on his Destructions.

    His domain not only disys the effect of Breaking Concept of Destruction, it also disyed fragments of the Shattering Concept.

    What''s Broken cannot be Repaired.

    What''s Shattered cannot be Fixed.

    The Breaking Concept does what it says. It''s capable of breaking everything, albeit bodies, attacks,ws - so long as it exists, it could be broken. Of course it all depends on the strength of the one who''s using it.

    As for the Shattering Concept, it''s simrly straight forward. Anything that is affected by it will ''Shatter'', thuspletely nullifying it''s existence. If, say, one of Raven''s enemies were struck by his Shattering Concept, their bodies will soon begin breaking down into bits and pieces.

    If Raven''s understanding of Shattering Concept rises, then anything that''s affected by this concept will never be able to ''Fix'' the damage he''s done. If their arms were Shattered by Raven, then they''ll never be able to re-grow that arm again no matter what kind of Heavenly Medicines they consume. The only way they could do so is if they get rid of Raven''s Destruction Laws which will seep through their body or, killing Raven directly.

    This is just the second concept of Destruction Laws and it''s already this deadly. There''s still three more until Raven could finally unlock the true power of Destruction Laws. And if this isn''t enough, there''s still his Spacetime Laws.

    At some point in time, Raven''s Domain finally receded. His Knightly Armament also disappeared, leaving himpletely naked once more. At this point, Raven looked no different than an ordinary mortal who had very outstanding looks.

    Due to Raven''s deep umtions and unbelievably stable foundations and control, his aura was perfectly concealed within. In anytime he desires to, he could erupt with a deadly force that is capable of destroying worlds.

    Raven''s eyelids fluttered and with it, his surroundings rumbled.

    His lotus throne shook and started peeling away, each petals fused on his body, disappearing without a sound. Shortly after he absorbed the lotus throne, a vast suction urred. This was him taking his first breath after his 8th Transformation.

    On top of his head, an outline of a golden crown could be seen but it dissipated shortly after it appeared.

    Raven''s arm moved and a unique set of robes condensed out of pure Destruction Laws covered his entire body. He slowly floated down and once his toes touch the ground, another phenomenon urred.

    An enormous lotus bloomed with him at the center, each petals contained pure Destruction Energy. This is achieved when one''s foundations and understanding of theirws reached a certain level of mastery.

    Being at the center of the lotus, Raven''s eyes fluttered open apanied by a dark golden glow. The moment he opened his eyes, it''s as if the world turned still.

    Slowly, a smile formed on his lips.

 Chapter 519 - Chalice Room

    ----

    "My harvest this time around are too great."

    This was Raven''s first thoughts as soon as his consciousness returned to his body. Now that he was able feel the strength coursing through his veins, he couldn''t help but feel a bit sentimental.

    He''s yet again one step closer to reaching the peak, and with his current umtions, he''ll be far strongerpared to his previous life once he stepped on that stage once more.

    Raven''s now a Saint Knight. Not just any other Saint Knight.

    He''s a Saint Knight that is several times strongerpared to people at his stage. He''s a realm-surpassing genius! Even in the Ancient Elysium Sect, people like him are extremely rare.

    Armed with his monstrous strength, vast energy reserves, and a very powerful soul, those who could exchange blows with him could only counted on one hand. His techniques are very refined, and hisw applications are very exquisite. He also got a two Domains - one that is purely offensive and one that could more or less guarantee his survival.

    Raven''s foundations runs very deep, and he works harder than everyone else. In due time, Raven was destined to be an existence that could go wherever he wants to without any obstruction.

    After being momentarily drunk with his new found strength, Raven took this time to inspect his Inner World and was weed with a very different scene.

    The Cosmos present within his Inner World seemingly expanded. At it''s core, a huge star surrounded in white mes were still present. The gorgeous swirl surrounding it was now glowing with myriad of colors. Each sparkle present within are in fact crystalized Cosmic Energy which would be consumed whenever he spends energy. The white mes were obviously the Cleansing mes which now burn brighter and infinitesimally close to sprouting.

    What new is that numerous constetions revolving around along the movement of the Cosmos. Raven was surprised to see these in here, he didn''t know that this sort of thing was possible to happen.

    He wouldn''t have been as surprised if he found them asw-diagrams scattered around his body, however for him to see them here were something unexpected.

    Unfortunately, even though Raven prided himself to know a lot, he had never seen these constetions before and doesn''t know what they represent. All he knew is that the ones here should be replicas of the first batch of constetions to ever appear.

    "This needs further research." Raven murmured, "Maybe it''s also time for me to pay a visit to those constetions and figure out what they want from me."

    Even so, Raven realized that now is not yet the time for that. With a thought, he summoned another set of uniform from his spatial ring and changed into it. After that, he inspected where he was.

    Compared to what he had seen before, this ce is no longer surrounded in darkness. He somehow arrived at an empty hall. Aside from three ritual chalices present in the middle of the hall, there''s nothing else he could see in there. This really makes him wonder if he was truly in the same ce as before.

    He took a step forward and took a moment to inspect the chalices. Each one was sitting on top of a tform created using Timeless Divine Stones - a specific material that truly deserves it name.

    Each chalice differs in color. One was blue, the other was pitch ck and thest was golden. Each one is adorned by different ornaments and had several carvings from ancient times.

    Raven stepped closer to the first chalice which was blue one and inspected it closely. The moment he got close, he could strange fluctuations from it. All of a sudden, an ancient text appeared before him. It reads:

    [Poseidon''s Holy Chalice - It was he who lorded over the masterless Ocean of Stars. Descendant! Offer your blood, use it to fill the Chalice. Prove your worth by letting Poseidon judge your potential.]

    He was a bit surprised as he saw this. Raven never heard about this before. He didn''t know who Poseidon was but he''ll venture a guess and say that he must be one of the Founders of the Sect.

    "Hmm. Well, they''re not going to leave this here and even build a whole shrine for just for fun right? I don''t see why not."

    Raven shrugged and procured a knife from his spatial ring. He then stepped closer to the Chalice and slit his wrist, allowing his viscous blood to fill it.

    Once he''s done, Raven retracted his arm and the wound on his wrist was already healed. He didn''t even felt pain in the process. As soon as he stepped back, he saw the chalice sunk a bit on the tform.

    Next, the chalice red with a brilliant blue light, causing Raven to squint for a bit. A majestic aura with an unquestionable nobility appeared out of nowhere.

    Raven saw his blood diffusing, forming into a blurry silhouette of a man holding a trident and wore a beautiful crown made out of sea crystals.

    He didn''t understand what''s going on but he remained still. The silhouette suddenly raised his trident and pointed towards his forehead. Raven didn''t move and simply allowed this to happen. Even though he could only guess who this person is, he knew that he''s being tested and he wasn''t truly against it.

    Even though the man appeared to be a blurry silhouette, Raven could still feel the cold feeling near his forehead. All of a sudden, a bright light poured out from the tip of the trident and was involuntarily absorbed by Raven.

    Raven unconsciously closed his eyes and felt warmth coursing through his body. After a few moments, he opened them since the feeling disappeared. It was also at the same moment that the silhouette disappeared without saying a word.

    That caused him to confused, he couldn''t help but ask: "Okay, so what''s supposed to do?"

    Raven was at a loss, he truly didn''t feel like something changed within him. Nevertheless, the blue chalice sank even further to the stone tform and disappeared from his view. Which confused him even more.

    "Uh, off to the next one I guess?" Raven shrugged, what else could he do? It disappeared on its own. He didn''t receive any kind of exnation or anything, he didn''t even know if that guy called Poseidon found him worthy at all.

    In addition to that, he couldn''t see any exits here so with nothing else to do, he moved on to the next chalice.

    The same scene yed out once more. Once he got close, an ancient text unfolded and it reads:

    [Hades'' Holy Chalice - Pastor of the Dead, Ruler of the Underworld. Descendant! Offer your blood, use it to fill the Chalice. Prove your worth by letting Hades judge the innocence of your soul!]

    "Oh, so it''s my soul that''s being judged now? Sure, I guess." Raven shrugged once more and just like before, he slit his wrist and filled the chalice with his blood.

    The pitch ck chalice sank as well and this time, a formidable presence filled the room. Raven could feel his soul being stared down by arge beast as soon as that aura appeared.

    Raven saw his blood diffuse once more and formed a silhouette of a rather in looking old man. His back was hunched and he supported himself with a bone staff which handle looked like a skull. The silhouette was a bit blurry too, making Raven unable to make out his facial features.

    Just like before, Raven felt the silhouette step closer at him. This time, the skull staff was ced on his forehead and a ck light suddenly drowned the room.

    Raven unconsciously closed his eyes once more as he felt his life shing by. Momentster, he opened them and found the old man dispersing into thin air.

    Once again, he was dumbfounded. What''s that supposed to do? - is the question he hand in mind. But again, just like before, the ck chalice sank within the tform and disappeared.

    "Still no exit, so off to thest one I guess." Raven sighed and begrudgingly went towards the golden chalice.

    [Zeus'' Holy Chalice - King of Gods. Ruler of the Skies. Lord of Thunder and Lightning. He who sat at the summit. Descendant, this is the Chalice of our Forefather Zeus. Fill his Chalice with your blood, kneel in front of it and let the Forefather judge you Will.]

    "Zeus." Raven muttered.

    Just by the way how he was described on the Ancient Text, he could already guess his identity. Raven remained silent and felt a bit apprehensive. Nevertheless, there''s nothing else he could do other than to be judged.

    For thest time, hopefully, Raven slits his wrist and filled the golden cup with his blood. Just like the previous two, the golden cup sunk for a bit and Raven directly lost consciousness.

    His body mysteriously floated as dark clouds appeared and his blood turned into a silhouette of a old man with long white hair wearing loose white robes. The man stared at Raven, his gaze seemingly able to transcend space and time.

    The old man raise a finger and touched Raven''s forehead, leaving a mark which looked like a bolt of thunder in there. He then disappeared as soon as Raven regained consciousness, leaving him speechless.

    "Okay, what the hell!?"

 Chapter 520 - A Maidens Invitation

    ---

    Raven was confused. He didn''t really understand what all of that was about.

    At first he thought that he''s about to experience something magical but it turned out to be a disappointment. Specially thest one¡­

    At least on the first two he felt something but for thest one, he directly lost consciousness. He didn''t feel anything at all. It was incredibly disappointing. However, there''s nothing he can really do.

    "Well, all things considered, I did benefit already when I broke through. I guess I''m just unlucky or they didn''t feel that I was worthy or something. Meh, I guess. Whatever." He shrugged and surveyed his surroundings once more.

    "Ooh! There''s the exit. Time to get out of here." He murmured as he walked towards the doors.

    Aside from that three chalices earlier, there''s really nothing else on this room. Raven has no reason to stay so it''s time for him to leave this ce.

    As he approached the door, it automatically opened for him which was neat. He then stepped out of it and arrived at the same cave where the deacon took him earlier. As soon as he stepped outside, he was greeted by the dumbfounded guards who''s staring at his face as if there''s something wrong with it.

    Raven raised a brow and asked: "Uh, what''s wrong?"

    "L-lord, you are¡­" One of the guards stuttered. Raven frowned at the way this guy referred to him. He could still remember how these guards couldn''t care less about his existence earlier yet now they refer to him this way.

    Something''s wrong here.

    "What''s going on? Did I do something wrong? Am I in trouble?" He asked for rifications.

    The guards looked at each other, not entirely sure what to do. Their reactions were seriously bothering Raven.

    "N-no, you aren''t in t-trouble. I-It''s just¡­"

    Raven frowned and was starting to get annoyed so he repeated: "It''s just?"

    "We are extremely humbled by your presence, Young Lord."

    A new voice echoed within the cave. Raven looked forward and saw a silhouette of a woman with kingdom-toppling beauty and grace, walking towards him.

    She was wearing a deep maroon colored robes which is a sign that she''s a personnel of the sect. She has a long ck hair which draped behind her like a waterfall, her skin was as pure as an unblemished white jade and her figure could cause men to be driven insane. An aura of grace and nobility surrounded her entire body, her crystal clear eyes were studying Raven while an imperceptible smile was present on her face.

    The way she walked was enchanting, each sway of her hips were hypnotizing. Some of the guards even had to pinch their leg in order to awaken from this beautiful yet dangerous scene.

    Raven was immune to her charm, he had seen plenty of women who possess beauty the could ruin a country during his previous life and even in his current one. If anything, instead of being charmed, he''s more rmed by thus woman since he could tell that she''s ridiculously strong.

    As the woman arrived meter inches away from him, she gave him a deep salute which greatly surprised Raven as well as the guards present. What''s even more shocking is that the guards actually followed her lead and simrly saluted Raven as well.

    In his surprise, Raven involuntarily stepped closer and helped the woman up, saying: "I don''t believe I deserve such form of respect from you Senior. If anything, I am rather confused about what''s happening."

    The woman seemed to be rather surprised by this but she merely just smiled and replied: "My, I do apologize if my actions were a little hasty. I am merely overjoyed, that''s all."

    "I can certainly answer your questions, but I do believe that this is not a ce for us to talk." The woman then waved her delicate arms and a portal opened out of nowhere. She then faced Raven and said:

    "This way please." She then gestured towards the portal, wanting Raven to go through it.

    If he''s being honest, he couldn''t help but feel hesitant about this. He wanted to contact Henry first in order to find out what''s going on but¡­

    In the end, Raven just nodded and walked through the portal. From what he could see using his ocr technique, the woman had no ill intent on any of her actions, plus his instincts didn''t give any signs that he''s in danger.

    He figured that since he''s looking for answers anyway, he might as well take her up on her invitation.

    The woman showed a blossoming smile as she saw Raven walking through the portal. She wan intent to let him go first so he did.

    As the woman was about to enter the portal as well, she left a voice transmission for the guards.

    ''This matter says here, understood?''

    She didn''t even wait for them to answer as she disappeared and the portal closed behind her, leaving the guards feeling somewhat surreal but also frightened.

    ***

    When his vision adjusted to the view, Raven was surprised to see that he arrived in a massive pce.

    He took a quick nce at his surroundings and nearly mistaken it as paradise. This ce was the exact opposite of Tartarus.

    The air was pure and clean, the sun could be seen shining it''s rays above, the whole ce is covered in flora and fauna, Raven could even see forest animals nearby as well heard the chirping of the birds.

    At first, he thought that this was just an illusion but soon he realized that no, none of this were illusions. It was real, all of it. His ocr technique won''t lie to him.

    His currently standing inside a massive hall, decorated with all sorts of unique trinkets. Energy here was thick and pure. Cultivating in this environment will yield twice the results with half the effort.

    Raven then felt the woman arriving shortly after him. He then faced her but she merely walked past him and walked towards the nearby table. The woman gestured at him and Raven followed.

    Once he sat down, the woman was already pouring tea for him. She handed him a te with the teacup on and said: "Tea, Young Lord. Made out the essence of Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum which is about fifty thousand years old and honey from an Empress Bee, all of which are steeped in Equinox Waters. I hope it''s your liking."

    Raven was rmed when she stated those ingredients. Each one of those will fetch a sky-high price outside and even within the sect.

    To summarize, this teacup is probably worth about at least 1.5 million Merit Points.

    Raven swallowed hard and asked warily: "This¡­this is for me?"

    "Yes, Young Lord." The woman nodded and smiled warmly at him.

    Raven smiled wryly and thought: ''Now I just hope I really am the one this woman thinks I am, or else she''ll charge me for this or worse, turn me into her ve. Here''s goes nothing I guess.''

    He then took a sip of the tea and immediately felt as if he was floating. The aroma, the taste and not to mention all of the good effects that this tea will bring him was all an unexpected benefit.

    He felt warmth coursing through his body, the cirction of his energies were smoother and faster, his blood flow was in a simr state, his mind turned crystal clear and many more. All of this, was just from a single sip of this tea. It can be said that this is the taste of wealth.

    "Good tea!" Raven uttered with a heartfelt praise.

    The smile on the woman''s face blossomed even more, without a doubt, if Raven wanted to, she''d be more than happy give him a refill.

    However, Raven was through all the courtesies and wanted to answers, so he could only drop all pretenses and ask:

    "Okay, I really think It''s about time for us to move-on to more important matters." Raven stated.

    The woman wasn''t surprised, she merely nodded, ced the tea set on the table and sat in front of him.

    "Then, allow me to introduce myself." She began, "My name is Kyrie Valentine, one of the Battle Maids and a servant from the House of Zeus."

    "House of Zeus¡­" Raven muttered, "Zeus¡­that name again. The chalice said that he''s the King of Gods, Ruler of the Skies, Lord of Thunder and Lightning as well as the Forefather of the sect. Is this the same Zeus you are referring to?"

    Hearing how Raven described Zeus caused Kyrie to feel jubnt as she nodded eagerly and replied: "Yes. Forefather Zeus is our source of worship. The House of Zeus is specifically made to honor him as well as to fulfil the vow that Forefather made eons ago."

    Despite receiving some kind of exnation, Raven was still feeling a little unsatisfied. He still have many questions to ask but for now, he thought that he should take it nice and slow. To do this, he started by asking:

    "Okay. So what does the House of Zeus wants from me?"

    Kyrie sputtered a lovely giggle and said: "You surely jest, Young Lord. What else can it be aside from being a Lord?"

    "Excuse me?"

 Chapter 521 - Tempting Benefits

    ---

    "Hold on, wait a minute." Raven raised a hand and frowned. "What do you mean?"

    "The House of Zeus will need a Lord soon. And I, along with the other Battle Maids, hope for you to be the one who will inherit this mantle." Kyrie stated in a straight forward manner.

    Raven was stunned. He looked at her expression and saw that she was dead serious about her words, which caused Raven to feel really conflicted.

    "¡­I don''t think you''ve got the right person." Raven stated weakly, not because he thought that it''s a shame to not be the lord of House Zeus but because he''s dreading the fact that he''ll be in debt.

    He shouldn''t have taken a sip out of that tea.

    "Young Lord, there''s no way that I, nor the other Battle Maids, will be mistaken." Kyrie stated simply. But Raven still shook his head.

    "Look, I really don''t think you''ve got the right person." He stated, not even waiting for Kyrie to say something he continued: "I''m convinced that you must''ve been monitoring the people who arrive at that room - the one that has the three chalice. I don''t know if you saw or felt what I did but I''m pretty certain that neither Poseidon, Hades, or Forefather Zeus, deemed me worthy."

    "When I filled the chalices with my blood. I only saw blurry images of the three ancestors. When Poseidon appeared, he pointed a trident at my forehead, aside from feeling warm, I felt nothing else before his chalice disappeared from my sight. For Hades, I just received a short shback of my life, nothing else."

    "As for Zeus, I can''t recall anything. I lost consciousness before I could even see him. When I woke up, his silhouette had already dispersed."

    "I was so confused but I can''t do anything about it. I am new to the sect, there''s many things that I don''t understand yet so I just exited from there. And then you suddenly arrived, you know the rest."

    Raven unhesitatingly revealed his experiences to Kyrie, being as transparent as possible to hopefully, lessen his future debt.

    "If I truly am supposed to be the ''Young Lord'' of the House of Zeus, then wouldn''t you think that something else, aside from losing consciousness, will happen when the Forefather passed down his mantle to me? But nothing else happened. I just lost consciousness and that''s it. I don''t even feel anything changed within me, so I really think that you''ve got the wrong person." Raven finished exining while wearing a wry smile.

    Hopefully she won''t get too pissed about this and bury Raven in a massive debt. Raven nervously wait for Kyrie to speak, he thought that the woman was probably making calctions on how many Merit Points he owe her. But when she spoke, her words truly stunned him.

    "This, is even better than I have imagined.'' Kyrie bloomed into a jubnt smile. "As expected of the Young Lord, formidable. Truly formidable."

    "What are you - "

    "Take a look, Young Lord." Kyrie interrupted him by waving her hand. She controlled the moisture in the air and formed a mirror out of it, allowing Raven to see himself.

    At first, Raven was confused about why she wanted him to look at his reflection but when he saw himself, he couldn''t help but raise a brow.

    Raven looked just like how he expected himself to look like. What surprised him is the tattoo on his forehead which looked like a thunderbolt.

    That caused him to raise a brow. He can''t remember having this tattoo before. His memories were intact and he''s pretty sure that he wasn''t the one to ced this to himself.

    Sensing his confusion, Kyrie exined: "A Thunderbolt Mark, a unique mark that only appears on the Forefather''s ''Chosen'' people."

    "You''ve said it yourself, Young Lord. Forefather Zeus is the King of Gods, Ruler of the Skies. Lord of Thunder and Lightning."

    "Back when he''s still alive, Forefather Zeus carved his legend apanied with golden thunder and lightning. He stood at the peak and every enemy of his dreaded his ability tomand the ever-so-powerful element."

    "You possessing this mark means that you are his ''Chosen'', and that I indeed have not mistaken you for someone else. Forefather''s vision and wisdom is capable of transcending even Time itself. There is a high possibility that he was the one who left this mark on you."

    "I can say this for certain, you aren''t first one who bore this mark. I''ve witnessed other candidates before and all of the bore the same marking as you do. Which is why I am certain that I''m not mistaken."

    Kyrie''s exnation caused Raven to be momentarily stunned. He subconsciously touched the thunderbolt mark on his forehead and felt somewhat surreal.

    No one can me him for still not being convinced. After all, this situation was too sudden and too weird. From his experiences on the Chalice Room, he just can''t bring himself to believe that he was made a ''Chosen'' just like that.

    "Hold on¡­" Raven suddenly recalled an important detail which he nearly missed. "Candidates? There''s going to be apetition?"

    "Indeed, Young Lord." Kyrie stated, she then exined: "For reasons unknown to us, Forefather Zeus as well as his brothers - Poseidon and Hades, opted to choose multiple candidates to inherit their title. However, ording to the rules - which they personally implemented themselves, only a single candidate will inevitably inherit their mantles, which means that all candidates will be pitted against each other and only one wille out on top and will be the true inheritor."

    ''Great.'' Raven inwardly rolled his eyes. ''It''s my fault for having the wrong idea. Inheriting the mantle of the Forefather. Aside from honor, the sheer amount of resources one could get ess to will certainly be massive. All of that makes total sense. And when you add the fact that the winner takes all, this just bes even more troublesome.''

    "You said that you are a Battle Maid and there are others like you." Raven said, to which Kyrie nodded. "Does that mean that you guys are divided? I mean, now that I know that there are other candidates like me, it just doesn''t make sense to me why would you choose me instead of the other candidates. They''re probably stronger than me and thus have a higher chances of winning thispetition amongst candidates. Why not pick them?"

    "Please don''t sell yourself short, Young Lord. For you to be chosen as a candidate by none other than the Forefather himself, means that he deemed you worthy." Kyrie stated, "But, to answer your question. Me and my fellow Battle Maids had been sent to serve different Lords in the first ce. There''s no need to worry about our fates since no matter who ended up being the next ''Zeus'' will automatically be our one and true lord. Of course, it''ll be a bonus for us if our Young Lord eventually ims the throne."

    ''Ah, so she had no other choice. It''s either she''s oath-bound or she has a few screws loose. Either way, not my problem.'' Raven inwardly thought.

    "How may candidates are there?" He asked.

    "You''re the 9th." Kyrie answered.

    ''Nine, that number again. I''m starting to think that it''s haunting me. I''m also the 9th Heir Candidate to the Crown. What''s up with this?'' Raven sighed inwardly and was confused.

    "Pardon my words. This might sound offensive to you but¡­do I have choice?" Raven''s question basically trantes to ''Can I not participate in this troublesomepetition''.

    "Yes you do, Young Lord. However¡­" Kyrie''s tone turned somber as she continued: "While us, Battle Maids, won''t take offense for your rejection of the role, the Forefather might not take it kindly. I can''t so sure but I''ve heard rumors in the past when someone tried to reject the role and they suffered a miserable fate. It''s said to be the righteous indignation of the Forefather."

    ''A simple ''No'' would''ve sufficed.'' Raven fought the urge to roll his eyes at this exnation. However, he didn''t dare to show it.

    "Is there a current Zeus?" He asked.

    "There is." Kyrie answered, "It''s the Grand Elder of the sect."

    ''Good to know.'' Raven murmured.

    "Okay, so¡­what''s in it for me?" Raven asked, "I mean, yeah it''s an honor to be chosen by the Forefather and all, but if I''m being honest, Honor alone wouldn''t help me be stronger. Inheriting the mantle of the Forefather means that I''ll most likely be sent in the frontlines and fight hordes of Devils. Of course, some support to help me will be much appreciated."

    "Of course, that goes without saying Young Lord. If there''s nothing to gain aside from honor, then I''m afraid that there will be no candidates or even an inheritor at all." Kyrie giggled.

    "As a ''Chosen'', you''ll gain numerous privileges that could help you aid our sect''s cause. You will receive an allowance and will be permitted to visit environment that''s off-limits to regr disciples."

    "And to top this all off, if you my dear Young Lord, officially bes the next ''Zeus'', then you will also be the next Grand Elder of the Ancient Elysium Sect."

    "Great, I''m in."

 Chapter 522 - Henrys Advice

    ---

    "Wait, actually you know what? Let me think this through. If anything, I need to inform my Supervisor about this. Could you give me a moment?" Raven immediately followed up.

    "Sure, Young Lord. Just call me whenever you''re done." Kyrie nodded and promptly disappeared from her seat.

    Raven momentarily went silent but in truth, he''s actually inspecting his surroundings. He knew that he''s still being monitored but he didn''t mind, even if he did, he couldn''t do anything about it.

    He first tried contacting Henry through voice transmission, if this failed then he''ll probably create yet anothermunication device. Thankfully, it went through and he got a reply right away.

    ''I already received a word from Grand Elder that another candidate emerged. We were guessing who it was but it turned out to be you. Seriously, you just don''t stop giving us surprises aren''t you? Well, that''s fine too.''

    ''I''m guessing that you contacted me since you wanted some exnations, very well. However, do remember that this will all depend on your decision. Know that whatever you ended up choosing, I''ll support you to be best of my abilities.''

    ''By now, you should already be aware that we worship our Ancestors/Founders very dearly. That much is true since we even refer to them as Gods. We call them Gods not because they are extremely powerful, in truth some people in the sect right now are just as, if not more, powerful as our Ancestors. We call them Gods out of respect, worship, and good will due to their selfless actions in the past and the legends they built before they died.''

    ''We go over every single one since, who knows when we will be over. Let''s just focus on theirst act - them using their life in order to seal the Devil Emperor. That sacrifice saves billions of lives and allowed Divine Realm to prosper. Due to their selfless act, the Divine Realm remained standing and entered a state of peace for a long time. It''s also due to their actions that we, their descendants, we''re treated with much respect outside.''

    ''Tomemorate their existence, the first batch of descendants created ces of worship for the Ancestors - the Chalice Rooms. Everyone who joins the sect will eventually have to enter the Chalice Rooms in order to get acknowledgement of the Ancestors. But aside from worshipping the Ancestors, these Chalice Rooms also serves another purpose.''

    ''Anyone who bore malicious intentions for the sect, impostors, or anyone who nned to free the Devil Emperor, will be in when they fill the chalices with their blood.''

    Raven''s pupils dted when he heard this, however Henry wasn''t done talking yet.

    ''The Chalice Rooms serves as a filter for the disciples. Anyone who tries to doom the sect and the Divine Realm by freeing the Devil Emperor will be mercilessly killed and it doesn''t end there. Once we found out who the traitor is, we - War Gods, will pay a ''special visit'' to their home, and if we see that they were harboring some malicious plots, we will erase them from existence.''

    ''It''s ruthless but it''s a necessity. The Devil Emperor can only be killed inside the seal or be imprisoned in there ''till the end of time. There''s no in between. Freeing it would cause the Divine Realm to be destroyed and that cannot happen.''

    ''With that out of the way, let''s focus on the mark you bore. Yes, I know you''ve been chosen by Forefather Zeus you lucky brat.''

    ''Like I said, there are multiple Chalice Rooms. Where you ended up arriving will depend on your fate. As for you, you ended up at the Chalice Room of the Brothers - Poseidon, Hades and Zeus. They are the original founders of the sect, the other gods joined them on their fight against the Devil Emperor and they all sacrificed their lives to seal them.''

    ''The sect has a recurring tradition to pass down the ''Godly Title''. This was created in order to - in a way, immortalize the glorious existences of our founders. I myself don''t understand what are the criteria that our founders have for choosing their ''candidates'' but I know that being chosen is an iparably glorious achievement.''

    ''For me, I was chosen by Ares - the God of War, He who raised his sword against the Heavens. You asked me before how to be a War God, well here''s your answer, one of them at least.''

    ''The War God title is a bit specialpared to others. We don''t kill each other, instead we are chosen to protect the sect from the Devils and from those who had malicious intentions against us. Having a single War God won''t let us do this therefore we have multiple. Aside from the Grand Elder, we don''t take orders from anyone else.''

    ''As for you candidates of Zeus, it''s a little more troublesome. Sure, it''s up to you if you want to spare your fellow candidates but it doesn''t mean that you won''t fight. You have to fight. If you don''t, then that''s when the ''punishment of Zeus'' will take effect and your cultivation will be dispersed.''

    ''From what I know, you''re supposed to plunder the mark from others. They said you either have to make them surrender their inheritance to you or by killing them. Which is why I said that you have to fight.''

    ''If you want to know more about the specifics, you can ask Kyrie since she''s effectively you''re guardian until you inherit the mantle, but that''s if you want to participate in this.''

    ''Being a candidate is extremely beneficial to anyone, yet it''s also filled with heavy responsibilities. Aside from fighting against each other, the current Zeus - which is the Grand Elder, will also delegate some task to you and you must fulfill them or else, your participation will be revoked and you''ll receive the punishment as well.''

    ''Once you officially participated, you''ll no longer be considered as an Outer Disciple or an Inner Disciple for that matter. You are a special case, and the benefits you will receive are something that would make other green in envy. Additionally, you''ll no longer be someone under me. Meaning that you''ll no longer be a part of Unit-17. Your Merits will remain with and won''t be deducted from the Unit either, it''s just that you won''t be a part of it in the future.''

    ''That being said, joining also means that you''ll be sent directly into the fray and will face great dangers. You win some, you lose some, it''s just the way it is.''

    ''The choice is yours Raven. Remember that whatever your choose, you''ll have to bear the consequences. You know what''s best for you. Know that whatever you ended up doing, I''ll be here to support you.''

    The voice transmission ended here, leaving Raven at a loss for a moment. He kept the transmission talisman back to his spatial ring and remained silent. He closed his eyes and remunerated inwardly for a bit, weighing the pros and cons of this opportunity.

    This is a very attractive offer, something that he might never encounter again if he let''s it go right now. However, he''s also thinking if he''s prepared to take up such a massive role.

    Raven''s brows were furrowed. His inner debatest for an hour before he eventually released a sigh and said: "Ah fuck it, whatever."

    ***

    "You really picked up a treasure this time around, Henry. The brat''s really capable."

    Within a majestic hall, a few people were seated in a round table. They were mostly just resting and rxing since there''s really nothing much to do just now. Henry, Logan and Theo were amongst these people. The two happened to hear Henry''s voice transmission just now and we''re genuinely surprised to hear that Raven became a ''Chosen''.

    "Yeah, who would''ve thought." Henry smiled serenely, agreeing with what Logan said.

    "At first I thought that kid''s sketchy as hell but since he''s a ''Chosen'' now, I''m relieved." Logan stated.

    "You should''ve been since he''s already got the acknowledgement of the mes." Theo added, "However, since a candidate now, I wonder if he''d still continue his work as a Cleanser. I would be a shame if he stopped."

    "Dude, do you realize what you''re saying?" Logan looked at Theo with an incredulous expression. "Do you who he''s up against? Even though he''s a little monster, he''s not that terrifyingpared to hispetitors! Although I am happy that there is another candidate, I also feel a bit bad for the kid since he''s up against some seriously perverted demons. And then here you are, still wanting him to be your little assistant? You sure are ruthless."

    "I didn''t I''m forcing him! I said it would be a shame, if he doesn''t continue but I would also understand if he can''t." Theo replied while ring at Logan.

    "Alright you two, stop fighting." Henry chuckled. "I gave him the badge because I felt his potential. I was originally hoping for him to be a War God but this is actually better. As for hispetitors, well it''s necessary for to feel some pressure. It''ll help with his growth."

    "Plus, I feel like the kid could handle it. I don''t know why but he just gives me this vibes. Either way, we can''t interfere too much.. If this is his destiny, then he''ll walk through it himself."

 Chapter 523 - Leaving The Unit

    ---

    "Right, that''s basically what happened. As for the Merit Points I earned for the team, Senior Brother said that it won''t be deducted. You guys are in the lead currently but make sure you stay ahead. As for me, I don''t know what will happen but I''ll work hard as well." Raven said as he just finished exining the situation to his teammates without revealing anything that he could not.

    "Well then, good luck you guys. Work hard." Raven nodded to them and stood up, walking out of the base.

    The Unit-17 were rtively silent but they still wave goodbye to him. Although Raven didn''t fully exin what happened, they could more or less tell that a huge opportunity came knocking at his door and it''s something that he can''t refuse.

    While the time he spent with them were rtively okay, who knows how long it''s going to take them to eventually be Inner Disciples? If they were on his shoes, they wouldn''t hesitate to grab this chance as well. However, they still thought that it''s a bit of shame since they''re going to lose such a powerfulbatant on the team.

    As Raven exited the base, he couldn''t help himself but to take a second look before releasing a sigh. The time he spent in here was short but for some reason, he grew somewhat attached to this ce. Anyway, it''s time to move on and face the new opportunitiesid in front of him.

    Not too far from him, Kyrie was waiting. He nodded to her and together they both disappeared from Tartarus and arrived at the same location where Kyrie brought Raven earlier.

    ording to her, this ce is unnamed but if Raven wants to, he could name it. After all, this is going to be his personal dimension from now on.

    Yes, a personal dimension. This is just one of the benefits that Raven received upon agreeing to be an official ''Chosen''.

    From this point forward, Raven''s status had changed. He''s no longer an Outer Disciple. He''s now the ''Ninth Chosen of Zeus''. This title is almost equivalent to an Elder of some sorts. Anyone upon seeing the Thunderbolt Mark on his forehead are not allowed to slight him. In a sense, it might not be a bad idea to hug his thighs since Raven might eventually be the next Grand Elder of the sect.

    Aside from the current Grand Elder and the Sect Master, the ''Chosen'' doesn''t take orders from anyone else. If someone wants to mobilize them, asking for their aid, they need to personally send a request to the Grand Elder or the Sect Master. Of course, if the ''Chosen'' himself mobilized on their own, then they don''t have to.

    The status of a ''Chosen'' is a rather sensitive one. Being on their shoes meant that they must uphold the glory of the sect and prove that they''re worthy of their title. Countless of eyes will be watching each of their move - which also includes the other ''Chosen'', one wrong move and it''s likely that they''ll be besieged from all sides.

    Nevertheless, even with such a strict requirements, the benefits one will receive is just mind-boggling.

    First was the pocket dimension. Just that alone is worth millions of Merit Points. This ce is just as big as an entire country. It''s infused with a high-grade spiritual vein that enriches the the quality and quantity of energy within. It could also be modified to their liking without needing to pay for anything.

    Another benefit is human resources. Raven was bestowed with five Battle Maids - all of which are at least reached Immortal Knight Emperor level cultivation. Each maidens were bound by oath to their Master, therefore their loyalties cannot be questioned.

    Aside from that, he''s also received at least 9 Elite Guards which hadn''t met yet but ording to what Kyrie told him, are bound by oath as well. Each of these Elite Guardmands 100 soldiers which will obey anymand he''ll give them.

    The lives of everyone was on his hands, if Raven wants them to die, they will die without hesitation. Such fate is a bit miserable but every single one of them pledged their lives willingly.

    Raven would also receive a total of 500,000 Merit Points per month as an allowance. This is for his personal use. He''ll also receive an additional 1,000,000 Merit Points as a resource for his subordinates.

    As a bonus, Raven received a list of items. Kyrie told him that he can receive a single item from the list for free. Additionally, Raven has ess for any Cultivation Environment as he wishes.

    This benefits caused Raven''s mind to shake for a bit. This was just too much of preferential treatment, although it came with a heavy responsibility, he didn''t mind. With this, he''ll be able to achieve his goals in a much faster way.

    ***

    As Raven and Kyrie returned to the pocket dimension, she lead him towards the entrance and opened the door for him.

    A mansion was specifically created just for him and from this point forward, this will be his new home. And just from the atmosphere alone, this already much better than Tartarus.

    They went towards a nearby table and just like before, Raven sat on it again, feeling a bit surreal. Next, he started asking Kyrie about more important matters.

    "Alright so, I''m a ''Chosen'' now. Which means eventually, some people will deliberately make things difficult for me. Can you tell me more about them? And while we''re at it, can you also exin how thispetition will work?"

    "Sure thing, Young Lord." Kyrie replied as she sat in front of him. "Like I told you earlier, aside from you there are 8 other ''Chosen of Zeus'' as well. For now, I won''t mention their name but instead I''ll tell you their strengths."

    "4 of yourpetitors have ''Knight Monarch'' cultivation rank. Two reached ''Knight King'' rank and thest two at in ''Saint Knight Emperor'' rank."

    ''Oh, cool. So you mean to say I''m royally fucked. Great.'' Raven grumbled inwardly.

    Well, in a sense he was already expecting this. However, even if he was, hearing directly how fearsome hispetitors are was still shocking to him.

    The cultivation chart went something like this: Saint Knight (Raven''s current cultivation level), Lord Knight, Knight Monarch Realm, it would then be followed by Knight King, and Knight Emperor - which has sub-stages like: tinum, Saint, Immortal, Perfected Immortal, Deity and Perfect Deity. After Knight Emperor Realmes the Empyrean Knight Realm. What follows is the stage that is yearned by many. The Divine Knight Realm.

    Raven''s just a puny ''Saint Knight'', how''s he supposed topete with those freaks? Even the weakest of them were two levels above him! Of course, there no need to even talk about thest two.

    Kyrie was right, there''s no need to mention their names¡­for now anyways. He had no real desire on confronting them just yet anyway.

    "For now, there so need for Young Lord to worry about confrontation for now. ording to the rules, the other Chosen aren''t allowed to challenge you for the first 20 years of your campaign. After that time period, you can decline their challenge a total three times only."

    "Of course, this doesn''t mean that you can use this full 20 years to close up. There will be times when either the Grand Elder or the Sect Master will hand out a mission. These missions requires your presence since you won''t be mobilized for something unimportant."

    "Since it''ll be a mission, of course there are certain rewards attached to it. From what I heard, each one will be extremely beneficial you, Young Lord. So I really encourage you to do your best."

    "Due to the disparity of your cultivation rank, they will only be able to challenge you every five years. But once again, let me remind you that you can only decline for a total of three times."

    "The fight for the title will be decided by the current Zeus. It might be a one vs. one battle, a full out war, smelting trials and etc. In order to inherit the title of Zeus, you must defeat every single one of them. As a participant, you may only be defeated three times. If you managed to plunder the inheritance from another chosen, then that number increases by one."

    "Plundering someone''s inheritance permanently gets them out of the way. Winner takes all and by the end of this, only one will remain. And I certainly hope that''s it''s you Young Lord."

    Kyrie''s words were full of faith and hope, causing Raven to sigh deeply inwardly.

    "For now however, I believe that Young Lord has ns for himself. As you''re guide from now, I''ll be tasked to let you know about everything that you needed to know about our history, our sect, our ancestors, and all of the important matters that you need to know in order to be a better Lord.. Once we are done, then it''ll be time for you to meet your loyal army."

 Chapter 524 - A Mystery?

    ---

    One month has passed since Raven had be an official ''Chosen of Zeus''.

    Many things happened since then. Raven''s cultivation had finally consolidated as well his strength. He also have more Avatars working for him now since he cultivated the Myriad Incarnations Scripture to 5th Level. This caused his research speed and his progress to be faster exponentially which effectively makes him stronger.

    For the entirety of the month, Raven stayed within the pocket dimension. Once every three days, Kyrie would visit him and give him some books he can read in order to understand the Ancient Elysium Sect better. She would also discuss things with him in order to test his knowledge.

    Sufficed to say, Kyrie''s been satisfied with him. His memory isn''t only sharp but he also has initiative. He gave her an impression of a schr who''s been starved from knowledge. Every knowledge she offered to him were absorbed in no time.

    Additionally, Raven was hardworking to boot. He doesn''t waste any time, it''s as if he''s a man possessed. He didn''t even sleep at all. From her observations, her Young Lord was certainly getting more and more impressive each passing day.

    Being a Chosen already confirms the fact that a person must be a Realm-Surpassing Genius, and since Raven is one, then she''s not surprised. But as each day passed, she''s starting to think that there''s more to this Young Lord.

    Whether this is due to him feeling pressured due to hispetitors or something else entirely, only time can tell.

    On another note, the ban that prevents outer disciples from patrolling the Devil''s Cradle was extended by another month. The reasons were unknown but there''s nothing that the outer disciples could do about it. Thankfully, there are some supplementary missions they could do in order to make sure they keep earning Merit Points.

    The situation of the sect somehow turned weird but Raven waspletely oblivious about it. He''s pretty much isted from everything ever since taking up this new responsibility.

    So far, neither the Grand Elder or the Sect Master had issued a mission to him. Judging from his pace, Raven still has much to learn and he''s nning on learning everything he could before charging to the fray.

    Thanks to Kyrie''s guidance, his knowledge about certain things fully expanded. Now he understood more things about the sect and specifically knows just what kind of responsibility he has to uphold. He also learned more about the history of the sect. Now he understood why this ce was respected by billions of people all over the Divine Realm.

    Raven also benefitting from his current status. Right now, he could freely visit any cultivation environment as he pleases. Field of Destruction, Cage of Spacetime. These are two that he focuses on the most since they resonated with his Destruction Laws and Spacetime Laws respectively.

    However, something else entirely was upying Raven''s mind right now.

    And that has something to do with what happened during the time he went to the Chalice Room.

    ***

    "I''m so confused¡­"

    Raven''s expression revealed a very bothered one right now. He''s currently alone inside his room and it''s night time, nevertheless he was distracted and couldn''t help but ponder about the sudden revtion that came unexpectedly.

    ''I don''t recall anything like that Junior Brother. The badge I gave to you only leads you to the Chalice Rooms. Maybe you just received some form on enlightenment.'' This was Henry''s reply when Raven revealed what happened to him.

    To say that Raven was dumbfounded was an understatement. He did not expect something like this at all. As it turns out, the vision he saw during the moment he stepped inside thoserge doors was entirely different from Henry''s expectations. Even though Henry only alleged it to him just being fortunate and gaining enlightenment about something, Raven doesn''t agree deep down.

    How can that be possible? First of all, he had experienced multiple sudden enlightenments already, in fact he even found a way in order to get close to entering that state through the help of supplements.

    Yes, his experience might be considered as a ''sudden enlightenment'' but without a trigger, he wouldn''t be able to enter it no matter how many supplements he consumed. This means that something acted as a medium or a trigger for him to enter that state.

    It''s not an illusion, that he knew. If it was, then how would he exin the numerous constetions present within his Inner World?

    It was real. There''s no mistaking it, but Henry doesn''t seem to be lying either. Which means that either he truly doesn''t know or he''s good at lying. Either way, this situation really does bother him a lot.

    "I really should stop thinking about this." Raven grumbled. "It already happened. Whether Senior Brother doesn''t truly know or he just can''t tell me, I can''t do anything about it. Besides, I''m already benefitting from it anyway."

    The benefits he was referring to was the mysterious knowledge he''s able to perceive by observing the constetions whenever he can.

    With them appearing in his body, Raven had the ability to freely inspect them. And to say that they are rather mysterious is an understatement.

    Each constetion contained a level of profundity that Raven never witnessed before. Whenever he tried meditating about them, Raven always have this feeling that he''s trying to decipher the Heavenly Laws themselves.

    Raven hardly remembered what he experienced during his most recent sudden enlightenment, nevertheless the experience allowed him to subconsciously understand how to interact with the constetions.

    In fact, he even took out ten of his Avatars and left them inside his Inner World. He formed pairs which will try to decipher one constetion at a time. So far, he hadn''t manage to unearth their secrets just yet but in due time he will.

    Also, Raven never neglected the Crown Space.

    He''s still using his time inside to train, but for now he''s mostly visiting the tombs and gaining acknowledgement of the deceased heroes that apanied Geezer before. As for the huge constetion tablet, he has yet to touch it.

    ''I''ll at least decipher one Constetion inside my inner world before confronting the ones on that huge tablet. Who knows? Maybe something surprising will happen?''

    With that in mind, Raven didn''t rush to confront the stone tablet for now.

    ***

    Inside a vast open space, Raven stood in the middle of a huge arena.

    Raven sat in the middle of the arena, bare-chested and in meditation. Wind blew past his face, scattering his long aqua-marine hair behind him. His breathing was shallow, some might even say that he''s not breathing at all.

    The atmosphere around was tranquil. Raven''s attunement with nature that he seems to be blending with his surroundings. At first nce, he appears to be just a regr human being since not an ounce of energy leaked out from his body. In truth, every ounce of his strength was perfectly confined by him. A disy of an excellent control.

    After a brief moment, Raven suddenly stood up. He was akin to a sharp spear pointing at the heavens. His contained aura suddenly spiked, ring around him and causing the surrounding rocks to float as if being lifted by a mysterious force.

    Raven raised a hand and smashed down. This seemingly simple gesture had a horrifying aftermath as an enormous and seemingly illusory palm appeared out of nowhere from behind.

    This palm seem to contain rivers of stars and astonishing destructiveness. It''s also filled with a brutal aura of ughter.

    It''s as of god himself acted and brought down his righteous fury to the earth.

    *Boom!*

    The hand made contact with the arena, causing some tremors to ur. The shockwave of the attack spreads far and wide. When the dust settled down, a huge crater could be seen in front of him. Clouds of dusts were scattered everywhere and a residual tremors could still be felt.

    Such a scene caused the nearby Kyrie''s eyes to gleam in praise.

    ''What an attack! The arena was made out of Timeless Divine Stone, Meteoric Steel, and Miraculous Sand, even still it was still damaged to an extent.''

    ''Just as I thought, Young Lord certainly is capable. We are so lucky to have him. I won''t be surprised if that attack can destroy the Knightly Armament if a Knight Monarch! Formidable.''

    Kyrie was feeling truly jubnt. She originally wasn''t intending to disturb Raven''s practice but she couldn''t help herself from being rather curious, which is why she ended up observing him. Of course she was impressed! How can she not be? This simple disy meant that Raven wouldn''t have any difficulties on shing head-on with the other Chosen.

    If this is his strength right now? Then one can only imagine what he''d be like after 20 years.

    ''He also seem to have a great destiny on his shoulders since luck is favoring him. He has a pseudo-Divine Artifact which takes the appearance of thoserge hands and he also has a failed-Empyrean Artifact which is his gloves.''

    ''And from what I can tell, this is just scratching the surface.. I''m sure Young Lord had other tricks up on his sleeve. It seems that our chances aren''t truly that bad¡­''

 Chapter 525 - The Legend Of Zeus (I)

    ---

    Raven was currently inside his pce, sitting in front of the table and reading a rather thick book. He was so focused that not even an earthquake could pry his eyes away from this book.

    ''Zeus, Poseidon and Hades¡­''

    ''These brothers had a rather humble origin. Born in raised at small city in the Red Cloud Great World, they originally wanted to be soldiers in order to experience a morefortable life. They started out ordinarymoners, they ate whatmoners ate and wear the same things as them. Their dreams were fairlymon too as they seeking a way out of their poverty.''

    ''Though they share the same origins, each brother was vastly different from one another. Hades, although the youngest, was the biggest amongst them. He was born with an inborn divine strength but it was often forgotten due to his very soft-spoken and mild attitude. Although all of them aspired to be soldiers when they were young, Hades'' true dream was to be a pastor.''

    ''Poseidon had the looks, and therefore the focus of the attention most of the time. He was akin to a seasoned gentleman and schr. Some people even tried to coerce him into marrying in their family just so that their descendants will look better. Despite that however, Poseidon never agreed since he too wanted to be a soldier. More than that, he wanted to be amander, or a General.''

    ''He didn''t want to dirty his hands with the enemies blood if necessary, he wanted to be the one who will point them into a direction where they should ughter to their hearts content. That''s what he truly wanted. If he can''t achieve that, then he has enough smarts in order to be a true Schr.''

    ''Zeus, the Eldest and the most reliable of the tree. He was apassionate man with overwhelming charisma. He was a simpleton. All he wanted was a better life for his family. He didn''t want his parents getting tired with field work anymore. He wanted to provide good food to the table. He wanted to give them a better house. He wanted them to befortable.''

    ''So long as he could achieve this, he''d be satisfied and couldn''t care less about what happens to him.''

    ''As the brothers grew up, they started working harder and harder for their dreams until a dreadful event happened. Their city was invaded. Everyone could either choose to surrender and swear fealty to the invaders or die. Nothing in between.''

    ''The family was devastated, they were originally living peaceful lives but all of a sudden it turned to a nightmare. Without any choice, they could only surrender in order to preserve their lives. The family was ten taken as captives and the bothers were forced to work for the invaders.''

    ''As it turns out, the invaders were rather straight-forward in their approach. So long as everyone participated and do as they say, they won''t be punished. In fact, they were even protected. Every captives were kept at arge prison, however this prison was more secure than their own homes, it''s even warmer and morefortable here, they were even given soft mattresses to sleep on. The food were also better. And the weather isn''t as horrible as it was before.''

    ''All in all, they might be imprisoned but in truth, this ce is much betterpared to their own homes.''

    ''After a while of adjusting to their new home, Zeus eventually learned everything from chatting to other captives. As it turns out, they were captured by Immortal Cultivators. These people were strong. They could level mountains with a wave of their hand and fly to the skies. They''re basically no different from gods!''

    ''At first, Zeus was unconvinced but then he witnessed the miracles personally and he became a believer. In fact, this is where it all started.''

    ''The Immortal Cultivators captured them because theycked people to do the menial tasks for them. They only wanted them to do these mundane tasks for them since they have no time to do so. They weren''t nning on killing them or feeding them to their dogs. They also weren''t nning to make them as their ves or sacrifice them to some mad god. They just wanted a pair of extra hands that all.''

    ''ording to what Zeus heard, if they render enough merit to the Immortals, not only will they experience a much better life, they might even be directly chosen as a disciple of an Immortal, if they do then it''s possible for them to do what the Immortals could do. That''s basically an unparalleled glory!''

    ''From that point forward, a new dream was born in Zeus'' heart. He swore that he would be an Immortal Cultivator. He wanted his brothers to join him in this and they agreed. After that, they started working hard to render great merits in order to achieve their dreams.''

    ''After a long period of time, their hard work finally paid off. And to their surprise, the first one to be a disciple was Hades. His uncanny talent when ites to rearing beasts and wildlife was noticed by an Immortal, after observing him for quite sometime, the Immortal chose to ept him as a disciple.''

    ''His older brothers were ecstatic and of course encouraged him to go. Hades also got the support of their parents, therefore he no longer hesitated.''

    ''After a few more years, it was Poseidon''s turn. During his work as a librarian, he read many books published by Immortals. He was deeply obsessed by them, prompting him to read every single book in there. As it turns out, there was a hidden inheritance amongst the books and only those who had a clear conscience and deep thirst for knowledge would be able to inherit them. And this person was Poseidon.''

    ''As he finished reading thest book, he entered a state of sudden enlightenment. When he woke up, he noticed that the world was different and he''s taken his first step into being an Immortal. He was then epted as the closing disciple of the Grand Elder of the sect.''

    ''With his brothers sessfully being epted as disciples, Zeus felt incredible happiness as well as some bitterness. Amongst the three of them, it was him who wanted to be an Immortal the most, yet until now he has yet to encounter his chance.''

    ''As years went by, the reputation of his brothers within the sect be more and more resounding. Their contributions for the sect caused Zeus and their parents to live a life of unparalleledfort. Zeus no longer has to work for the Immortals. With so much time in his hands, he used them to apany his parents instead.''

    ''Zeus expressed no desires of marrying as up to this point, he''s still adamant to be an Immortal. Nevertheless, he never shied from his filial duties as his parents were reaching their end of their lifespan. In the end, they passed away in peace as the brothers reunited once more to mourn for them.''

    ''When asked what his ns were, Zeus expressed his desire to explore the world and try his luck out there. His brothers originally opposed to this but Zeus''s will was tougher than they imagined. They can''t change his mind at all. When they said that they''re going with him, Zeus reminded them of their duties to the sect and told them to never betray it since it was the sect who changed their lives. As for him, this is the best way to go. He didn''t want to be a burden or a weakness to his brothers. As the eldest, this was his pride.''

    ''In truth, Zeus never wanted to leave his brothers behind. They''re the only family he had left so how can it be easy for him to leave? Unfortunately, Zeus didn''t find luck in the sect. Even with his brothers putting in good words for him, none of the Immortals epted him as their disciple. Why? Nobody knew.''

    ''Zeus can''t stay. If he does, then he''ll just be a casualty - a weakness for his brothers. He''s aware of thepetition and schemes within the Immortal Community, and he''ll be damned if he bes a captive to be used in order to hurt his siblings.''

    ''This is why he chose to leave, secretly too. Not even his own brothers knew when he''ll leave. Nevertheless, he eventually did, and from then on he started travelling all over the world.''

    ''His time within the sect broadened his horizons, he''s no longer naive as before. He also developed some skills that could help him survive on his own, all of which was tested when he left his nest.''

    ''From a normal civilian, he became a guard, a doctor, an advisor, a mercenary for hire, a hunter and so on. Zeus jumped from one job after another, living his life as he pleases and discovering the vast world beyond him.''

    ''He met numerous people, some he befriended, some he killed.. He ate many delicacies, drank many alcohol, slept with many women, applied for numerous jobs until finally, opportunity presented itself for him.''

 Chapter 526 - Legend Of Zeus (II)

    ---

    ''Although Zeus left the sect and lived ording to his own wishes, deep down he just can''t bear to abandon his dreams. Deep down, he still wants to be an Immortal Cultivator.''

    ''It didn''t matter to him if he was way past his prime. It didn''t matter if he doesn''t possess any talent for it. It didn''t matter if he could never fly in the skies or level the mountains. He just wanted to see the world in their perspective.''

    ''All he wanted was a chance. Which something that he never received no matter how he tried.''

    ''As Zeus travelled the world, he met a lot of people. Once, he met a rather reclusive and kind old man. On their first meeting, Zeus helped the old man to carry his belongings since it was very obvious that he couldn''t do it.''

    ''The old man introduced himself as Old Chu, he''s a humble farmer. Zeus learned that Old Chu didn''t have a family anymore. His wife and children was killed during the war, leaving him alone. Old Chu originally intended to kill himself to apany them but sadly he was too much of a coward to end his own life, therefore he retreated from the booming civilization and chose to live in small province, living a humble life of a farmer while he waits for death to im him.''

    ''Zeus was moved by his story. It also just happens that he had been feeling rather down from the rejections he received before so he decided to take it slow and apany the old man for a bit. He just wanted a short moment of peace before he chase after his dreams once again.''

    ''In the end, he ended up living with the old man for a bit. Zeus, albeit being a mortal, was pretty strong from the training he received, therefore he volunteered to do the heavy-lifting for the old man. He helped Old Chu with the farm work and the old man would often tell him stories about his youth, which Zeus enjoyed greatly. For a mortal, Old Chu lived a rather exciting life.''

    ''As time went on, the rtionship of Zeus and the old man deepened. To Zeus, Old Chu was a father. And the Old Man most definitely treated Zeus as his own child as well.''

    ''Time passed and it was obvious to Zeus that the fires of Old Chu''s life is about to be snuffed. Though he''s saddened about it, Zeus understood that this is just how nature works. Besides, Old Chu was satisfied with his life. Though he visibly aged, he also smiled more and more.''

    ''It didn''t take long before Old Chu''s time arrived, but before he left, he had one final gift for Zeus.''

    ''This gift was a miniature mountain sculpted using a unique material. Before he passed away, Old Chu touched Zeus'' forehead and this was the very moment when Zeus'' life changed.''

    ''As it turns out, Old Chu was no mortal. He was an Immortal Cultivator - a very powerful one at that. As for how strong he was, Zeus never explicitly said it.''

    ''And for the record, ''Old Chu'' was merely his mortal name. His real name was ''Chronos'', and before he died, he passed his inheritance to Zeus since the old man knew just how much Zeus wants to be an immortal.''

    ''The inheritance he received was an earth-shaking one, by the time Zeus was done digesting all of the knew information in his brain, Old Chu''s body already turned to ashes and was scattered by the winds. On the contrary Zeus mourned for the old man for a whole year instead of cultivating right away.''

    ''Whether he was Old Chu or Chronos, Zeus already treated the old man as his own father. He was saddened by his departure but also relieved. At least, the old man could now reunite with his loved ones on the after life.''

    ''After mourning for the old man, Zeus finally started the new chapter of his life.''

    ''With the abundance of things that Chronos passed onto him, being an Immortal Cultivator is no longer impossible for him. From the old man, Zeus received many heaven-defying techniques that couldpletely change histent talent and enable him to chase after his dreams.''

    ''Zeus was a hard worker anyways. His will is incredibly firm too. All of these in addition to the chance that was finally given to him, was enough topletely transform him into a Dragon that will soar into the skies.''

    ''He never left the farm that he inherited from the old man. He still continued to look after it while he secluded himself from mortal affairs in order to finish his metamorphosis.''

    ''After this great opportunity, Zeus experienced an earth-shaking change. He no longer looked a middle-aged man, it was as if he returned to his youth. His talents were alsopletely transformed. He finally stepped into his road of bing an Immortal Cultivator.''

    ''Once he finished his seclusion, Zeus left the farm to the care of some people who were kind to him and the Old Man. He knew that his chances of returning to this ce is close to none so he might as well give the others some helping hand by allowing them to use the old man''s farm.''

    ''Since then, Zeus travelled find and wide. Seeking for his own fate and enlightenment. Zeus didn''t join any power, he preferred walking thends, experiencing all things including dangers in order to understand the meaning of his own life. He went wherever his foot takes him, leaving an enigma of a lone immortal.''

    ''As he travelled the world, his strength grew stronger. His horizons were broadened, he also met tons of people ranging from mortals to cultivators, no matter how strong or weak they were, Zeus learned something from them, allowing him to grow wiser as he aged.''

    ''Zeus''s temperament also earned many praises from the people he met. He had a righteous heart and won''t hesitate to help others from fighting Demonic Beasts or Deranged Immortals. He saved millions of lives during his travels and hardly asked for any rewards.''

    ''Eventually, during one of his travels he suddenly felt the urge to go back home in order to see his brothers. He greatly missed them due to how much time has passed and wondered how they were doing.''

    ''To his surprise, upon arriving back to the sect that he treated as home. He found it in the middle of a great war.''

    ''Extremely rmed, he asked some people what''s going on, and when he learned about it, he was filled with an immense guilt.''

    ''ording to rumors, a great force of evil attacked the sect, looking for a person that in theirrades. They demanded him from them and said that if they didn''t hand him over, they will destroy the sect and kill every single one of it''s disciples.''

    ''They said that they were looking for man named Zeus as this was how the man introduced himself. And although the sect knew of a man named Zeus, the one in their description didn''t fit since the Zeus they knew wasn''t an Immortal. Nevertheless, the evil forces didn''t ept this as an exnation and attempted to kill many disciples of the sect.''

    ''Amongst the casualties, the current Sect Master which is Poseidon and the Deputy Elder Hades were gravely injured. They said that they tried to protect the sect since it was the home that nurtured them. It was also the home of their Big Brother that they admired for a long time. If they allowed the sect to be destroyed under their leadership, their Big Brother will be upset and will lose his home. And that is something that they can''t allow even in death.''

    ''Hearing all of this drove Zeus in to a fit of righteous fury. If it wasn''t enough that this people tried to desecrate his home and hurt it''s people, they just had to cross Zeus'' bottom line and hurt his brothers.''

    ''Zeus'' fury caused dark clouds to form and for the heaven''s to weep. In the middle of a fierce war, he appeared in front of the enemies, his body shook from the palpable anger he felt specially after seeing the conditions of their brothers.''

    ''In his rage, Zeus hurled thunder and lightning at the enemies, decimating their ranks and evaporating them with no resistance. Just by himself, Zeus waged war and won it alone. Nevertheless, his fury still wasn''t contained. Instead of returning to the sect, he decided to pay the enemy camp a visit in order to return the favor.''

    ''He didn''t wipe them out, he only destroyed their homes, took all of their treasures, destroyed their resources, and killed their leaders. After making sure that they no longer had any chances to rise in power, he left and returned to reunited with his brothers.''

    ''His return caused huge ruckus. Everyone, including his brothers, can''t believe how absurdly strong Zeus had gotten. They nearly can''t even recognize him.''

    ''In the end, Zeus managed to convince them, cure his brothers and resume the peaceful lives of the people. This is also the start of Zeus'' unstoppable climb to the peak¡­''

 Chapter 527 - Legend Of Zeus (End)

    ---

    ''Zeus no long had any desires of leaving when he returned¡­''

    ''He had already seen the prosperity of the world and experienced multitude of things, his heart had settled down and it may be the time for him to start a family of his own.''

    ''Once he reunited with his brothers and cured them, Zeus told them stories about his journey and how he became an Immortal Cultivator as well. After that, Poseidon resigned from his position as the Sect Master and elected Zeus as the new one.''

    ''Zeus didn''t refuse and did everything in his power to bring glory to the sect. As time passed, the sect prospered under his rule, even arriving at the stage where no other sect dared to find trouble with them. Zeus'' strength was a powerful deterrent and wild recognized, anyone who dared to threaten the sect will suffer from endless waves of Lightning Tribtion from him.''

    ''With him serving as the pir for the sect, Poseidon and Hades were free to search for their own adventures and seek enlightenment for themselves. Time passed on and due to their long lifespans, the brothers watched as generationse and go. Eventually they decided to retreat from the frontlines and entrust this world to the new generation.''

    ''They stayed in their home world for no more than a century before deciding to leave in search for other worlds.''

    ''Zeus separated from his brothers, even though they are tied by blood, they''re fates are different. He didn''t want to tie them down from discovering their own fates and living ording to how they want. This separation of theirs endedsting for millennia.''

    ''Zeus continued his own adventure. Meeting people, experiencing life, seeking enlightenment and continuously searching for a way to get stronger. He left multiple legends on thends he visit and learned multitude of things which gave him countless of inspirations.''

    ''Eventually, he arrived at a ce where he was understood many things. It was unknown where he actually ended up arriving since he didn''t explicitly told anyone, but if there''s anything, he said that he arrived somewhere outside of the Divine Realm and that ce allowed him to view the secrets of the Divine Realm and broadened his horizons greatly. That is also where he met his wife - Hera.''

    ''When they returned to the Divine Realm, Zeus has greatly changed. He had tried to exin the secrets he saw to other people and tell them to prepared for an uing tribtion however nobody believed him. In fact, he was even mocked and called delusional on multiple asions.''

    ''The change on his temperament was probably caused by this. He just can''t understand why no one believed him. Gone was his amicable smile and wizened face. He always wore a hardened expression and developed a rather strict temperament. In the end, Zeus thought that if they''re not going to help him and won''t listen to him, then he shall take matters to his own hands.''

    ''He built a sect named Ancient Elysium Sect. Using the inheritance left the Chronos - more specifically the miniature mountain, he built arge sect that could house incredible numbers of people. The miniature mountain turned into a gigantic one which pierced the heavens themselves. Zeus''s personal abode is located at the peak of this mountain which he now called Mount Olympus.''

    ''He summoned his brothers - who also experienced many things in life and werepletely different from who they were before. Along with their families and disciples, Zeus revealed to them secrets that he saw as well as the looming danger above them.''

    ''The secrets he revealed were incredibly rming, yet they found no way to refute his ims. Zeus originally didn''t want to involve his brothers to this but he''s left with no choice. His brothers agreed to help him and were even willing to throw away their lives for him.''

    ''Since then, the sect continued growing in preparation for the uing danger. The brothers - Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades reached incredible heights in terms of cultivation that nobody, even in the Divine Realm, could threaten their existence. However, as they got stronger, judgement day also arrived closer. Soon there will be no escaping the sh.''

    ''And then the fated day arrived.''

    ''Out of nowhere, an army who''re strong enough to wipe out every single living thing in the Divine Realm arrived. Their arrival was silent, even Zeus himself found it out a bit toote as they already desecrated numerous lives the Divine Realm. However, even if he waste, it was no excuse for them not to resist these forces. The very reason why Zeus built this sect was for this very purpose anyway.''

    ''Zeus dered war against the foreign army, using every resources he have in order to take them down. With his lead, they managed to y the foreign forces but was unable to restore the damages they caused.''

    ''As everybody in Divine Realm was panicking, Zeus - along with his forces, announced their presence by actively resisting them. Many people joined to their cause and was moved by their bravery - most of these people were the same ones who mocked him and called him delusional when he was trying to warn them about this very day.''

    ''Needless to say, Zeus still appreciated their help and told them everything he knew while he himself lead the assault against the Evil Forces.''

    ''After years of protracted war, they managed to eradicate the foreign army yet at the cost of multiple casualties. The people who died in the defense against the evil forces were treated as a hero, even more so Zeus and his army. His fame resounded in every corner of the Divine Realm. Many people were grateful for his actions, they sung endless praises about him but Zeus never cared about any of it.''

    ''He knew that the battle is far from over.''

    ''Through the years, traces of foreign races continuously invaded and were constantly repelled by Zeus and his army. Although they were sessful, the casualties were piling up high. Lands were continuously destroyed and the resources were dwindling. Anymore of this and the longevity of the Divine Realm would he seriously harmed.''

    ''Fortunately or unfortunately, the foreign races seems to have had enough to the constant defeat they suffered. In the end, their leader personally paid a visit to the Divine Realm and ushered the battle for survival.''

    ''When asked why they invaded, the Leader of the foreign races simply replied that they want to plunder resources since their home was running out it.''

    ''Though that was unreasonable, the reason he provided makes sense. It''s debatable whether there is or there isn''t a better way to do this, in the end the only choice left was to fight, and humans can''t afford to lose.''

    ''That being said, the leader of the opposing force was too powerful. Even thebined strength of Zeus and his army wasn''t enough to take him down. Seeing this, Zeus understood what meant to be done for the greater good. If they can''t kill him, then they can prevent him doing harm to their world.''

    ''Zeus ignited his life, wanting to seal the powerful enemy. His brothers were aware of his resolve therefore they followed his footsteps as well. This notion was then followed by almost everyone who fought against Devil Emperor while the rest threw their lives in order to prevent the devil from stopping the ritual.''

    ''In the end, the seal was formed. Using the lives of the Ancestors, they imprisoned the Devil Emperor and sealed him within an enormous pagoda which was also sealed within Mount Olympus.''

    ''Before they died, Zeus instructed the sect to their descendants, telling them to guard the seal and if possible, wait for the right person that could kill the Devil Emperor to rid this world of it.''

    ''After their deaths and sessful sealing of the Devil Emperor. The Council of Humanity honored their sacrifice for the greater good and glorified them as Heroes of the Divine Realm. They also sealed the entrance that the foreign races used to invade their home. Finally, they entrusted the seal to the descendants of the sect, giving them every help they could in order to permanently seal this evil away or until they could find the person who can kill it.''

    ''That being said, the methods do the Devil Emperor was still numerous and the descendants now has to face endless waves of Devils.''

    ''Junior - you who read this book and learned about the history of our Ancestors. On behalf of them, I do implore your aid. Fight with us. Make sure that the Devil Emperor must either die or never take a step out of his prison.''

    ''I might no longer be around by the time that you''re reading this, more so I don''t have anything to give you in order to move you. However, for the sake of the safety of trillions of lives within the Divine Realm¡­''

    ''I beg of you¡­do not let the Devil Emperor roam free.''

    Raven reached thest page of the thick book. He released a long sigh and closed it. Looking through the window, he saw that it was almost sunset.. He stretched his body and left the book while he prepared a meal for himself, not knowing that the Thunderbolt Mark on his forehead was releasing a gentle glow.

 Chapter 528 - Mission

    ----

    "Young Lord¡­"

    Raven was currently reading some text when he suddenly heard Kyrie calling him, he turned around and saw her approaching with a somewhat of a serious expression.

    "What''s the matter?" He asked.

    "The Grand Elder issued a mission." Kyrie replied much to Raven''s surprise.

    Raven stood up from his seat and faced her, he then asked: "Tell me more."

    "The details of the mission is contained in this scroll." Kyrie said while passing down the scroll to him.

    Raven received it and unfolded the scroll. He then read it''s contents and saw what the mission is about.

    [Mission: Reinforcement

    Issue by: Grand Elder Zeus to 9th Chosen

    Details: Go to Asphodel, 9th. Bring your Battle Maid with you and search for the Broken Floor. Look for the forces that are stationed there, their Leader is woman named Anastacia. Help them install the seal and make sure to minimize the casualties. Your rewards will depend on your effectiveness in battle.]

    Raven read the mission multiple times just to make sure that he didn''t read it wrong. He then sighed and kept the scroll with him. Looking at Kyrie he said:

    "You and me will go to Asphodel as reinforcements. Let''s meet outside in ten minutes." Raven dered. Kyrie respectfully bowed and exited his room.

    When she left, Raven released another sigh. This mission came a bit unexpected, thankfully he didn''t have any ns for today or else he''ll have to adjust his schedule.

    ''I came here no longer than two months ago. So far I''ve done nothing aside from reading and training on my own. Kyrie still hasn''t introduced me to the army. That''s fine I guess. Anyways, this mission is a bit unexpected but it''s fine. I''m getting bored here anyway.''

    ''I wonder what kind of rewards I''ll can receive from the Grand Elder¡­''

    As Raven thought to himself, his actions didn''t cease. He had been checking his supplies in order to make sure that he''s properly covered for this mission. He had to double check everything since today, he''s not visiting Tartarus but Asphodel.

    Asphodel is a ce that lies just above Tartarus. While Tartarus could he considered as a rather independent world by itself, it shares connection with Asphodel as thetter sits directly on top of it.

    From the records that he had seen, Asphodel is arge ne which could urately be dubbed as ''Hell''. The temperature within Asphodel remains at an all time high, one wrong move and anyone would be reduced to mere cinders in that ce.

    Asphodel is filled with different kinds of Evil mes, it''s earth was incredibly hot that any footwear will melt in practically seconds, it''s rivers are flowing magma and simr to Tartarus, no signs of life aside from Devils exists in there.

    In Tartarus there are only ten floors of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, Asphodel on the other hand contains 40 floors. Which is why there are more devils roaming around this ce.

    Asphodel is the ce where Inner Disciples hunt, however unlike Tartarus, Inner Disciples aren''t stationed at all times. Inner Disciples lived in a separate world which is infinitesimally better.

    The atmosphere within Tartarus is vile and filled with evil but it''s still within an eptable range. In fact, staying there is a form of a test for Outer Disciples. As for Asphodel, not only that the environment is very unforgiving, it is also a ce heavily infested by Devils which makes it unsafe even for Inner Disciples to live.

    The reason why it is so is because of the existence of the ''Broken Floor''.

    The ''Broken Floor'' means exactly how it sounds - a Broken Floor in the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda.

    Once upon a time, the ''Seven Deadly Sins'' as well as two of the ''Four Horsemen of Apocalypse'' shed with the War Gods. It was a deadly battle which caused the 11th floor to be broken. Ever since then, the Devils that manifests within the 11th floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda were able to roam free on the mingnds of Asphodel. Additionally, it also enables some Devils in the Upper Floors to descend in Asphodel, making the ce even deadlier than it originally is.

    For many years, countless of attempts were made in order to fix this floor but to no avail. The Broken Floor could only be patched but it cannot be repaired.

    It is for this very reason that ''Eruptions'' doesn''t ur on Asphodel. The Devils on the Upper Floors could just repeatedly descend using the Broken Floor so as to not over popte their respective floors.

    ording to the news he received, the Grand Elder mobilized some forces to prevent the Devil''s from Peak Floors from descending - which were as deadly, if not more, than the Centurion Lancer. This is in order to make sure that the Lower Floors won''t be broken and the Outer Disciples will remain safe.

    They were supposed to stay there for some weeks but it seems that it was extended.

    Raven had some opinions about this matter but he didn''t think too much as it''s useless anyway. He just released a long sigh and ced on a serious expression as he stepped out of his room to go to Asphodel.

    ***

    In order to arrive at Asphodel, Kyrie and Raven has to descend on the separate world where the Inner Disciples live.

    Compared to Tartarus, this ce is definitely much better. In fact, this is no different from Paradisepared to Tartarus. Just like his own Pocket Dimension, this world is filled with life. It has day and night, trees, living creatures, rivers, mountains, and so on.

    The Inner Disciples could freely choose where to live, there''s also countless of facilities in here which could assist them in training. What''s more is that, this ce is connected to the Divine Realm itself. Which means that if Inner Disciples wanted to file for a Vacation, they could return home from here.

    The portal which leads to Asphodel is located in the middle of this world. It is arge transmission gate which is capable of handling multiple transfers at once.

    As Kyrie and Raven arrived here, they remained rather low-profiled. This is due to Raven''s request as he didn''t want to attract any unnecessary trouble. Raven was wearing a hood which conceals his features and a mask as well. As for Kyrie, she''s quietly trailing him while using her own ways to remain rather unseen.

    The two isn''t in a hurry. Raven wanted to use this time to familiarize himself to this world.

    ording to what he knew, this ce is called ''Greece''. As for why its called like that, Raven had no idea.

    Raven wasn''t actively mingling with people here, nevertheless wherever he went, the Inner Disciples would greet him politely. At first he thought that his disguise were useless but that wasn''t the case at all. This is just the way how the Inner Disciples get along.

    Everyone around here consider each other asrades. Some people hiding their facial features aren''t rare here, some people just like to remain low-profiled like what he''s doing right now. Greeting each other is a sign of respect and acknowledgement.

    ''This is nice¡­'' Raven thought to himself as he continued on his way. ''Camaraderie is really obvious here, which makes perfect sense considering the kind of evil everyone has to face. Everyone is fighting against amon enemy therefore the situation remained rather ''clean''. Without it though¡­I don''t even want to think about it.''

    He shook his head and thought about something else. His attention then went towards the facilities meant for the Inner Disciples and he was impressed yet again.

    ''Compared to Tartarus, this ce offers more opportunities to earn more Merit Points. If I''m not wrong, then there should be some people who didn''t even have to kill devils just to earn huge amounts of Merit Points.''

    Raven''s guesses were more or less on point. There are indeed some people who didn''t have to kill Devils in Asphodel just to earn Merit Points. However, there is a rule for every Inner Disciple which forces them to participate in a patrol every two years in order to keep their status. If they meet the quota, then they''ll be allowed to continue their methods in earning Merit Points, otherwise they''ll be faced with some serious consequences.

    The facilities here are numerous and unique in its own way, which could satisfy everyone''s quirks and desires. There are facilities which could satisfy those who want to hone their skills, expand their business, give them enlightenment, conduct experiments and so on.

    Wherever he went, he could see the Inner Disciples moving and doing something, creating a very motivating atmosphere. Raven sighed and was once again impressed and inspired.

    Eventually, his feet took him to his destination which is the center of this world.

    The huge Transmission Gate was now visible to him.. Staring at it andmitting it''s image to his mind, he released a deep breath and continued making his way towards Asphodel in order toplete the first mission that was given to him.

 Chapter 529 - Asphodel

    ---

    Irritatingly hot¡­

    This was Raven''s first impressions upon arriving at Asphodel.

    As soon as his vision returned to him, all he could see was endless expanse of roasted and cracked soil with asional wisps of mes here and there. There''s also wisps of smoke, a horrible stench of burnt things and a very oppressive aura of evil. All of which, on top of the high temperature around them.

    The heat was irritating, Raven doesn''t know how to urately express it.

    Although he had been through many ces before that had high temperatures, nothing was as irritating as this. The heat felt like it was searing though his skin and was purposely causing him to sweat. It''s all omnipresent so he just can''t get rid of it. Additionally, it''s aggressiveness is also top notch, it felt unforgiving and annoying, ultimately causing him to frown.

    Needless to say, Raven didn''t allow this heat to deter him. He had read enough records about the sect which somehow prepared him for this. He already guarded him mind and raised his vignce. He knew that the irritation that he felt is the effect of a very powerful devil which is none other than the ''Sin of Wrath''.

    During the explosive battle that urred in this verynd, the ''Sin of Wrath'' cursed thisnd which permeated every fiber of this ce. As the ''Sin of Wrath'' the curse it left was befitting of it''s name.

    The ''Curse of Wrath'' is precisely that searing and annoying irritation that anyone could feel here. The curse is very subtle that it''s a bit hard to detect but it''s definitely present. Additionally, nothing could be done against it either. It will persist as long as someone stays here and will constantly erode their patience until it runs out. Once it does and they sumb to their rage, the curse will reach is consummation and will start to corrupt their very soul, turning them into a deranged cultivator.

    And if the cursepletely eroded one''s soul, then that person will turn into a Devil. This was an irreversible oue.

    This is why none of the Inner Disciples would stay long in this ce. The Curse of Wrath is just that terrifying. Prevention is the best cure for this. So long as their ''Will'' remains strong, the Curse of Wrath won''t be able to erode their consciousness.

    Raven adjusted to his surroundings pretty quick. The heat was still there but now that his vignce is at an all-time high, it''s not as irritating as before. It is still hot though, but thanks to the enhancement of Raven''s physique, he could more or less ignore the heat - well, for now. He didn''t dare to be arrogant and dismissive since their just at the Outskirts of Asphodel.

    Seeing how fast Raven adopted, Kyrie nodded in satisfaction. She knew that Raven took every lesson she gave to him seriously since if he didn''t, then he would''ve really struggle against the atmosphere of this ce.

    "I guess we need to arrive at the Core of Asphodel right?" Raven asked while remaining vignt of his surroundings.

    "Indeed, Young Lord. However, we''re no in a hurry." Kyrie mentioned.

    Raven understood what she''s trying to say. She didn''t want him to recklessly charge forward in order to arrive as swiftly as possible to the core area. She wanted him to familiarize himself at this ce for now and it would be better if he could also familiarize himself with the lurking devils here.

    He didn''t say anything about this since he understood what she wanted from him. And even if she didn''t, he had no ns on hustling towards the Core Area anyway. Raven wanted some exercise as well, staying at the pocket dimension for a month was boring and dull. He wanted to get some action as well and measure just how strong he truly ispared to the Devils lurking around here.

    "Okay, we''ll go as nned. You''ll only interfere when my life is in danger. As for the encounters, let me handle it." Raven dered.

    Kyrie nodded and said: "As you wish, Young Lord."

    She then turned somewhat illusory and continued to tail Raven. Meanwhile, Raven didn''t even need to look back in order to see what Kyrie had done. He instead started walking forward while keeping watch of his surroundings and analyzing it.

    ''It''s pretty much how the books described it to be, onlycking the finer details.'' Raven thought to himself. ''Aside from being hot and inhabitable while also crawling with Devils and evil aura, it also has no sky, but it does have some sort of a ceiling.''

    Instead of dark clouds, gloom and doom, what''s above him is some sort of a dome which is filled with charred stgmites. Looking at them, it would seem that they will fall at any given moment, and with their size, ignoring them would be a fatal mistake.

    If anything, Asphodel seems to follow the theme of a burning cave or a burning prison. Just it''s atmosphere is enough to deal some serious harm to those who were caught unprepared.

    *Hiss!*

    Raven''s ears twitched as he suddenly heard a hissing sound. His body immediately blurred and when he reappeared, he was already holding a corpse of a Devil.

    The Devil was in a form of a snake. It was somewhere around 40-50 foot long and a foot thick. It has two fangs protruding out of its mouth dripping with acidic red fluid. Its skin was charred ck and its pupils were crimson.

    "Charred Devil Snake, huh. Not bad." Raven murmured as he started harvesting it''s skin, fangs and gall. These parts will fetch a good price of the market.

    Asphodel is filled with different kinds of Devils, taking form ofmon animals and tainted with the Devil Emperor''s Will.

    The Charred Devil Snake didn''t just contain a lethal poison, its fangs were sharp, it''s movements are fast for its size and it could also release noxious fumes from it''s mouth. Since its a predator, it possess some minor intelligence that will help it hunt its prey. Well, it was unfortunate that it met Raven.

    Once Raven harvested its parts, he just threw the remains on ground. Once he did, it immediately caught on mes and became ashes in mere seconds - a good sign of how hot this ce truly was.

    After that little incident, Raven continued going North since that''s the way towards his destination anyway.

    Along the way, he tried tomit the image of the ce to his memories while also remaining vignt. Thanks to his evolved ocr technique, his vision was clear and unimpeded.

    Raven encountered some more devils who tried to ambush him along the way. Most of them took form of predators such as snakes, tigers, lions, mantises, alligators, and so on.

    Even though he was suppressing his aura, these devils still saw him and tried to hunt him down but none of them were able to even touch the hem of his uniform nor his cloak. Still,pared to Tartarus, this ce is livelier. He''s still within the outskirts and he''s already been harassed multiple times.

    Anyone who''s careless enough to let their guard down will surely perish in this ce.

    Hour passed and since this ce had no such thing as night and day, Raven specifically paid attention to how much time has passed. With a little effort, he deduced that it should already by night time so he decided to take a rest.

    Raven already found a rtively inauspicious ce to set up a camp. Once he decided, he took out an array disc from his spatial ring and started setting it up when Kyrie suddenly made her presence known.

    "Young Lord¡­setting up a camp is¡­"

    "I know." Raven interjected. "I specifically remember you telling me that setting up a camp here isn''t wise since the temporary security will cause me to drop my guard - which in turn, will allow the Curse of Wrath to erode my consciousness. I am aware of this."

    Raven didn''t add the fact of this ce being incredibly hot as well since he''s mostly unbothered by it anyway.

    "So then why?"

    "I wanna rest for a bit." Raven stated but then realized that he needed to rify his words so he added: "By ''rest'' I didn''t mean sleeping or meditating. Simply resting my legs and observing this ce a bit more."

    Kyrie hesitated but ultimately, she allowed Raven to do as he pleases. If he failed, then he''ll learn his lesson the hard way. If nothing goes wrong, then maybe¡­just maybe, something wille out of this.

    Raven eventually erected the formation, concealing him and Kyrie from the predators roaming around. Raven took out a table and some chairs made out of special materials which he could use to rx for a bit.

    As for Kyrie, she''s fine on her own. However, there''s something that really bothers her as soon as the formation was erected but somehow it escapes her.

    Raven seems to realize what she was feeling so he calmly said: "Would you look at that¡­the curse is somehow nullified."

    And this words caused Kyrie to look at him with an incredulous expression.

 Chapter 530 - Accidental Discovery

    ---

    Kyrie was speechless¡­this is probably the first time she felt this way ever since meeting with Raven.

    But no one can really me her though, anyone who heard the same words that Raven uttered would probably feel that way.

    She''s aware that Raven was barely paying attention to her but she didn''t care. She continued to look at him like he was some sort of a monster.

    An array formation set-up by someone who hasn''t even been in the sect for year, managed to filter the curse left by the ''Sin of Wrath'' - a devil that imed god knows how many of theirrades life and is a child of the Devil Emperor itself. Whether this is luck or skill, she can''t be bothered to care since this news is incredibly surprising for her.

    To be honest¡­Raven wasn''t expecting this scenario either.

    He''s still familiarizing himself here in Asphodel and still has many things to learn. He originally just wanted to test things out and then this happened. Whether this is a good thing or not, only time can tell. For now at least, he had to do some minor experiments and see what''s causing this reaction.

    Raven stood up from his seat and began looking around. In his eyes, all of the details of this formation is fully disyed. He could see it''s structure, all of the runes that are included in the formation and even the interaction that the formation has when ites with contact with the surroundings are visible to him.

    ''The formation is arge bubble concealing us within.'' He murmured inwardly, ''Asphodel''s environment might be different but it doesn''t affect the work of the formation in anyway. This is probably because of the enhancements that I made for it.''

    ''Thanks to my ocr technique, things that are normal invisible can''t hide from me. The overall theme of this ce is Red which most likely represents the fearsome heat present in this ce. This red colores in many spectrum as well but most of it could still pass through the formation without any problems so I don''t think that I should concentrate on that.''

    ''Maybe the other colors then?'' He whispered to himself as he began inspecting the other colors around him. ''No, I should focus on the colors that are being resisted by the Formation.''

    Raven''s eyes gleamed even more as he arrived at this conclusion. He then began observing the Formation in a closer detail in order to see which colors are being blocked by the formation.

    From his perspective, he could see tendrils of deep blue, violet, and ck being blocked by the formation. He then focused his attention to these three.

    ''It isn''t ck¡­that color should represent the evil air from the Devil Emperor, his will in a sense. Okay, so any runes that could block the Will are out of the question here.''

    Raven observed the surroundings even further and inspected his remaining choices. He then faced the still shocked Kyrie and asked: "Hey, Kyrie."

    "Y-yes, Young Lord!?" Kyrie stuttered, causing her to feel flustered. Raven''s voice awoken her from her stupor and brought her back to reality. She couldn''t help but feel a bit embarrassed since she wasn''t paying attention just now.

    Raven didn''t mind this and instead asked: "Have you seen the Sin of Wrath in person? What does it look like?"

    Kyrie was a bit surprised by this sudden question but she still answered him: "I''ve only seen him once before. The Sin of Wrath is a male about 9 foot tall and had a bulky body. He has pointed ears,rge nose, charred skin, and is bald."

    Raven nodded and had a decent image of the what the Sin looked like. But this didn''t really give him the information he needed.

    "How would you describe it''s aura?" Raven asked.

    His question puzzled Kyrie but she still answered: "It''s incredibly vile. From what I can remember, it''s aura was a dirty violet in color. It permeates everywhere and could instantly drown anything it touches to madness in fury."

    "Oh. So¡­violet huh?" Raven murmured, still looking at the formation. A gleam shone in his eyes as he focused on the violet mists surrounding the formation, unable to prate it.

    ''That should be my answer then.'' Raven inwardly thought. ''Since it''s a creature created by the Devil Emperor itself, then he should represent his power. If the Devil Emperor''s Will alone could instantly wither all life forms at it''s presence, then that talent should be passed to its own creations.''

    ''The Devil Emperor''s Will is represent by the ever present ck mist here. In Tartarus, it was maroon for some reason, however in the Devil''s Cradle it turns to ck once again, here in Asphodel where it''s mostly Red, the ck mists is still around.''

    ''Curse if another form of a ''Will Exertion''. Since the Aura of the Wrath''s Sin is Violet, then it''s Curse and/or Will should follow the same color.''

    ''Let see if my theory is correct.''

    Raven then started to analyze the formation and search for the runes that helped to prevent the Violet Mist to prate within the formation.

    Kyrie, who''s observing Raven from a distance, saw him lifting his finger and started drawing hollowed seals - the kind she had never seen before. Whilst curious, she remained quiet lest she interrupts her Young Lord''s concentration. This was the first time she saw Raven ying with seals and from what he disyed, he seems to have some high-attainments in it.

    Add this to the list of things she didn''t know about Raven.

    Kyrie witnessed as the number of hollowed seals grew in number. After a few minutes, there''s at least five hundred seals floating around Raven which honestly surprised her.

    She also saw the stern expression of Raven''s face so she didn''t dare to utter a word. Instead, she remained standing still and ready to follow orders anytime Raven gives one out.

    Raven stared at the hundreds of seal surrounding him while frowning slightly. The cogs of his brain were moving at extreme speeds, allowing him to analyze and deduce multiple things at once.

    After a few more minutes, Raven picked at least one hundred seals from the roster and focused on them. He then waved his hand and the hollowed seals started merging together forming one luminous seal that floated on top of his palm. Seeing this seal caused Raven to raise a brow and say:

    "Huh¡­this works too?" Raven murmured.

    His surprise was not on the fact that the hollowed seals made a luminous one nor that he managed to actually fuse one hundred seals to form a single one. What surprised him is the fact that the result of the one hundred seal fusion is something familiar to him.

    This seal was the same one recorded within the [99 Holy Seals] and it''s the 50th Seal, which is something that he has yet to decipher.

    This result was incredibly surprising for him. He didn''t know that by just merging one hundred seals he already knows will end creating a Seal that he still has yet to decipher. In a way, this should make sense since the Table of Seals is just an endless variations of the basic ones. That being said, so far he only managed to decipher the 13th Seal of the [99 Holy Seals].

    For him to make an idental discovery like this¡­is maybe just luck. But then again, this idental discovery broadened his horizons and might help him in deciphering the seals faster.

    Raven shook his head and threw this matter at the back of his head. For now, he had other things to consider.

    He faced Kyrie and beckoned her toe close. She nodded and came close to him, then Raven took her hand and ced the seal on the back of her palms just like a tattoo. He then looked at her and asked:

    "How do you feel?"

    Kyrie frowned and stared at the seal, replying: "I¡­don''t feel anything."

    "I see." Raven nodded. "Well? Can you try exiting the formation and see whether it''s effective? This should provide some sort of a veil that dispels the curse."

    Kyrie''s breath hitched as she heard that. With a solemn expression, she nodded and started walking out of the formation.

    ''This is unbelievable. It took him less that an hour to decipher and create a seal that could potentially protect humans from the Curse of Wrath. This is something that not even the Formation Experts managed to do before! If this really works then this will certainly¡­ah, I just hope that it works!'' This was Kyrie''s thoughts as she slowly stepped out of the formation.

    As soon as she stepped out, Kyrie made special attempt to lower her guard in order to truly test the seal.

    Kyrie''s breath stagnated for a bit as she saw the seal on her hand releasing a soft glow. Seeing this, she dropped her guardpletely and waited. Minutes passed and Kyrie''s heart was leaping in joy.

    Unfortunately, by the fifteen minute mark, the Seal on her hand shattered....

 Chapter 531 - Coolingoff

    ---

    "Fifteen minutes is the limit huh¡­" Raven murmured as he saw the seal he created shattering on Kyrie''s hand.

    Honestly, this time frame is a bit too short for his liking. It would''ve been nice if the sealsted for at least an hour or two, that way it can be used for emergency. Fifteen minutes was way too short for people at his cultivation level to restore the energy they lost and the fatigue they umted.

    "This result is already terrific, Young Lord!" Kyrie said as she went back inside the formation. "If you can somehow ce this seal into a material that could imprint the seal even without your personal interference, then fifteen minutes is already plenty. That''s enough for anyone to activate the escape seal in order to retreat to Greece." Kyrie mentioned, having mixed feelings about this event.

    Seriously, this Young Lord of hers was too capable. This was his first visit at this ce and he already deduced a way which allows him to resist the Curse of Wrath, this was simply too fantastic! At the same time, she was also feeling nervous since the more brilliance her Young Lord disys, the potential threat he imposes to hispetitors rises.

    Just by being a ''Chosen'' already ces him in a very difficult position. Because he''s weak, he will be intentionally targeted by the others. What if hispetitors heard about his aplishments this early? Wouldn''t that ce him under their radar sooner? It''s even highly possible that they will join hands in order to take him down.

    If that happens then¡­

    Kyrie doesn''t even want to think about it.

    "Meh." Raven uttered, "Far from enough, if it had been at least an hour then I''d feel the same. Fifteen minutes is too short for me."

    "No rush, though." Raven shrugged as he took out some dried rations from his spatial ring and ate them. "I already have an idea how to improve it. For now, I''ll just focus on the mission."

    Kyrie nodded, satisfied with his way of thinking. She then simply stood there unmoving because there''s really nothing else to do.

    She isn''t tired nor does she need to recover her energies. Sitting on the ground would be stupid, she didn''t want singe her buttocks. Unlike Raven, she didn''t bring any furniture with her and he isn''t inviting him to sir either so, stand it is.

    "This heat is really something else." Raven muttered as he felt himself sweating.

    Asphodel was really hot. Even with his enhanced physique and all, he could still feel the heating out of the ground. This ce is no different from the mouth of a volcano, in fact it''s even worse.

    Being here made him realize as to why Inner Disciples can''t stay here for long. He prating heat is just too much. It saps away energy fast. Raven wasn''t even doing anything and he''s sweating.

    Raven suddenly stood up and hummed. He then unceremoniously began shooting one seal after another towards the formation. This sudden action of his didn''t escape Kyrie''s eyes.

    Seeing how his turned into a blur as he shot one seal after another caused Kyrie''s eyes to twitch.

    ''I-Is he, modifying the array while it''s active!?'' Kyrie thought incredulously.

    Kyrie was no stranger to formations. In fact, she had ample knowledge about it since she could tell that Raven was precisely doing what she just thought.

    Seriously, her Young Lord was just full of surprises! It had to be known that what he''s doing is something that even some Formation Grandmasters can''t do. But just by looking at his seemingly disinterested expression, she got an impression that his actions were as easy as turning a palm for him.

    How could she not ne shocked? This Young Lord of hers is just simply an evil-doer!

    Kyrie tried to discern what kind of seals he''s forming but she couldn''t, additionally she could tell that no matter how hard she tried she wouldn''t be able to decipher them right away. Raven''s speed of shooting out seals didn''t give her that chance either, therefore she didn''t even bother.

    Instead, she just remained silent and waited until her Young Lord was done.

    After a few minutes, something happened that caused Kyrie''s body to shook.

    ''I-Is it¡­it''s getting colder!?'' She once again though incredulously. Her gaze at Raven turned increasingly hotter as time passed by.

    ''How is this possible!?'' She eximed inwardly, she tried to feel the temperature around her once more in doubt but the fresh breeze of winds couldn''t lie.

    ''It truly was getting colder! How can this be!? How!? How did he do it?'' She once again eximed.

    As if the experimental seal and the array being able to block the curse earlier wasn''t enough to shock her into speechlessness, he just had to add this. Seriously, what''s up with this guy? How was he raised?

    No one, and Kyrie meant, NOBODY ever seeded in doing this before. If someone did, then she would''ve already known about it. Which is why she''s confident that no one has ever seeded before.

    Asphodel had been located inside Mount Olympus for god knows how long. The irritatingly hot environment of this ce left many people with a lot of bad impressions before and the trend always continued that way. Many tried, searching for a way to at least bring somefort into this ce but no one seeded.

    Yet here he was - Raven that is¡­just casually modifying the array and seeding in the area where everyone else failed.

    As time passed, Kyrie''s shock grew even more. The fresh breeze of air eventually turned into winter breeze without the actual snow. She was shocked to see that the ground beneath her was cooling down as well. She even crouched down to touch it and found out that it''s not as hot as before.

    Anybody could step in this soil barefooted and won''t have to worry about being singed anymore. This was simply too outstanding!

    Momentster, Raven finished modifying the array he had and smiled in contentment. He closed his eyes and felt and inhaled the cold air around him.

    "Much better¡­" Raven muttered while stretching his limbs. He then faced Kyrie and saw the dull look on her face, causing him to ask: "Are you okay?"

    "In all honesty, Young Lord? No, I''m not." Kyrie shook her head and looked at Raven intently.

    "Wait what? What''s wrong? You don''t like the cold? Want me to tone it down for you?" Raven asked while frowning.

    "It''s not that Young Lord. It''s just¡­" Kyrie felt like doing something but eventually sighed and asked: "I didn''t know you can do¡­this. I mean, all of this." She said while gesturing at the formation and the slowly transforming environment within it.

    "Don''t you know that many tried to do this before to no avail? Yet you did, quite easily too. Honestly, I don''t know what to say."

    "Ah!" Raven finally understood what she''s referring too. He scratched his nose and said: "Well, isn''t it great? At least with this we canfortably rest properly and take it easy. As for the details¡­well, that''s secret for now. Don''t worry, we''ll profit from it in due time."

    Kyrie puffed her cheeks slightly and felt somewhat discontented. Either way, it''s not like Raven wasn''t willing to tell her anything, in a way she knew why he''s not telling her yet. Like he said, they''ll profit from itter either way so there''s no reason for her to feel anxious.

    "Take your time Young Lord." Kyrie advised. "You have 20 years of freedom so I suggest to take things slowly. I mean, this is all good and all but if you got discovered then¡­"

    "Mypetitors will surely raise their vignce¡­that I know, you don''t need to tell me twice." Raven finished her sentence for her. He knew this and understood where she''sing from. "Well, if you don''t start telling everyone then no one will know right? For now, this is just a whimsical action from me. Either way, it shouldn''t be that bad."

    Raven had a carefree expression on his face. Of course he understood that keeping a low-profile for now will eventually allow him to gain more advantages in the future, but at the same time what''s going to happen will happen anyway, there''s no need for him to hold himself back too much since it wouldn''t be good for him mental state.

    "For now, let''s just focus on the matter at hand. If they discover it, then they discover it. If they don''t then, yay! Either way, I''m fine with it. Right now, instead of thinking about these things, how about we rest? The air is cool and all, this should allow us to sleep peacefully."

    "You rest, Young Lord. I''ll stay up and guard you." Kyrie suggested.

    "Are you sure?" Raven asked.

    "Yes."

    "Okay. If you change your mind however, feel free to rest. The formation is strong enough to conceal us. You don''t have to worry about anyone finding us out." Raven then pulled out a tent from his spatial ring.

    "I understand, Young Lord. Please have a good rest.." Kyrie acknowledge and she sat on ground and marveled at the fact that her buttocks weren''t singed.

 Chapter 532 - Meeting A Converted

    ---

    Raven woke up nice and refreshed from his 8 hour of sleep.

    Thanks to his efforts of modifying the formation, he wasn''t cooked by the terrible heat in Asphodel. In fact, he felt nice and cooled due to the winter breeze cirction around him.

    When he got out, he discovered that Kyrie was still up, just like him she was also refreshed thanks to the cooled air around them.

    Both of them ate something first and then continued on the way deeper to Asphodel.

    Currently they were at the edges of its outskirts, their goal this time is reach the Inner Depths and go closer to the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda in order toplete the mission given to him by the Grand Elder.

    Without the formation protecting them, they have to once again bear the heat of their surroundings and raise their vignce against the Devils lurking around and of course, the curse.

    However just like before, Raven wasn''t really in a hurry at all. He casually travelled at a constant speed while maintaining vignce. Sometimes he would encounter some Devils but weaker ones, those only need a lift of his hand to destroy.

    Of course, Raven also decided to try out the Cleansing mes since he doesn''t know when he''ll be here again.

    Thanks to the consistent strengthening of his Chaos Force, the Cleansing me Seed had fully condensed into a size of a mere speck. Despite it''s size though, the intensity and purity of the mes were taken to the next level.

    A single plume of fire could instantly incinerate any weaker devils he encountered. Additionally, since he''s here, he''s able to actually witness the effectiveness of his Cleansing mes against Devils.

    It had to he known that every Devil here was more or less immune to ordinary fires or fire-based attacks, even attacks containing Fire Laws were less effective here. Also, anyone who thinks that Ice based attacks or Ice Laws will prevail here would seriously be mistaken. In fact, in this ce, anyone who specializes in Ice Laws are greatly suppressed.

    Needless to say, Cleansing mes appear to be a variable against this.

    At some point in his travels, Raven encountered mid-level devils such as Devil Dreadbears, Venomous Devil Scorpions, Mad Devil Bulls and etc.

    These things gave Raven some good exercise and they have certain immunity against Cleansing mes. However, Raven was also d to know this since he''ll be able to formte strategies in his mind with this information.

    He also discovered strange effect of the Cleansing me. Yes, although the mes are very effective against Devils in addition to having some sort of suppression against them, any Devils who saw him using it will instantly turn mad and charge wildly against him without any care for their well being.

    Raven felt their loathing against the mes. It''s as if they want to devour it but doing so was impossible and will be the cause to their deaths.

    Truly, likes moths to the mes.

    Additionally, unlike when he killed devils normally, when the Cleansing mes were used against them, the mes will not stop burning until there''s nothing left of them. Raven witnessed how the mes persisted for a long time even after there''s visibly nothing for it to burn anymore.

    The Cleansing me truly was a wonderful weapon against these devils.

    On the side note however, Raven still has yet to meet fellow disciples.

    He clearly remembered that many of them entered at the same time so he thought he''d at least encounter some people by now but he still hasn''t.

    ''It''s either they are hunting within the depths or the situation is dire.'' Raven muttered inwardly. ''But then again, if the situation was truly dire then why were there any sense of urgency on the mission? There was no specified time limit for the arrival. Nobody contacted me at all.''

    Raven thought there''s something strange going on here. There were many chances for them to tell him to hurry up but nobody did so.

    Thinking like this, Raven decided to pick-up the pace a bit more. So far, his instincts didn''t give him any warning signs or whatsoever but it wouldn''t hurt got him to go a little bit faster.

    Kyrie also noticed Raven hastening the pace. She has some guesses in her heart but she didn''t say anything and continued tailing instead.

    Though he picked up the pace, Raven''s vignce remained at an all time high. Sometimes, he would pause and fight some devils he encountered along the way. Thanks to his skills and the Cleansing mes, he was making quick work on the abominations he met, saving him plenty of time.

    The types of Devils he encounters were getting more and more dangerous as he went deeper. Not only that, the heat and concentration of the curse was steadily rising due to them getting closer to the center of Asphodel.

    The Devils on the Inner Depths were already strong enough to threaten Lord Knights id their reckless, therefore he didn''t lower down his guard at all.

    "Hmm?"

    Raven suddenly stopped on his tracks. His eyes were glued onto something which caused him to be stunned momentarily. It was a devil, but its unlike those he had seen before.

    It was a Converted Devil.

    Solemnness appeared on his face, he tossed the mission details at the back of his head for now and instead focused on the thing before him.

    The devil was at least 6 foot tall. It had a charred skin filled with cracks revealing some sh underneath. It doesn''t bleed and doesn''t look sane either. It was slowly walking forward as it it''s travelling aimlessly. It was bald, it''s face were simrly charred and filled with webs of cracks as well. It''s eyes were dull and unlike the rest, this devil was wearing clothes.

    Not just any clothes, but the same uniform that Raven had.

    Yes, Converted Devils are precisely former humans. Which is why Raven stopped at his tracks.

    He had never seen them before. This will be his first time confronting one ever since bing a disciple here.

    Monica from the Cleansing Chapel revealed to him this information before. She said that anybody who experienced a lethal injury caused by Devils will most likely be coerced into converting.

    This is due to the residual Will of the Devil Emperor eroding their soul and consciousness persistently. Once they sumbed to this, there''s no turning back.

    Monica also said that the purpose of the Cleansing Chapel is to bring salvation to these poor souls. Unfortunately, they can''t use the power of the Cleansing mes outside of Tartarus since they don''t have seeds. Due to that, the borrowed power they can use will be limited within the Devil''s Cradle and would be outright ineffective inside the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda.

    That''s unless, they were a seed bearer like Raven.

    During his time on Tartarus, Raven always wondered if he could return the Converted Devils'' humanity to them. It would seem that this will be the time to figure this out.

    Raven slowly approached the Converted Devil, locking it on his focus in order to see all of its movements. At some point in his approach, the devil sensed his presence and without an ounce of a doubt, ran towards him.

    It charged like a mad bull, spit spluttering everywhere and with an erratic movements. Its limbs iled everywhere and its head bobbed up and down. It opened its mouth wanting to take a bite out of him while groaning in a deep voice.

    This scene caused Raven to flinch, not because he was afraid but because of hesitation. Even the voice inside of him tells him that there''s no way that this thing was human before. From the moment it was converted, it no longer was one. The Cleansers also thought the same as well, therefore it would seem that he''s too optimistic about his chances.

    Still, Raven fought the urge to end its misery. He shook his head and waved a hand, causing the devil to stop dead at its tracks. It doesn''t matter how much it tried to escape, the invisible restrictions were too tough for it.

    After locking it in ce using the invisible arms, Raven slowly approached the devil. At some point, a plume of Cleansing me appeared on his hand which covered it like a glove.

    Upon seeing the mes, the Converted Devil froze. This reaction was noticed by Raven and also Kyrie who''s watching from afar.

    Raven took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. He then raised his me covered hand and ced it on the head of the Converted Devil.

    The Converted Devil released an inhuman screech, Raven ignored it and tried his best to search for the source of the Converted Devil''s source.

    He gnashed his teeth as he saw its soul. It was covered in filth, tortured with numerous little creatures that gnawed at it. Raven''s mes arrived, trying his best to get rid of these things but as he killed them, part of the its soul vanished with them.

    Raven failed...

    He opened his eyes, saddened about his failure.

    But then he saw the little gleam of rity on the Converted Devil''s eyes before it dissipated to ashes.

 Chapter 533 - Encounter

    ---

    Kyrie was shuddering at her spot.

    Even though there was some slight distance between him and Raven, she was still able to see what happened closely.

    She was already aware that her Young Lord was a Cleansing me Seed bearer, she saw him practicing multiple times and saw him using it. Raven also told her that he personally met the mes of Olympus and even talked to it, which brought great shock to her. Seeing him experiment with using the Cleansing mes earlier didn''t surprise Kyrie at all, but when he used it against the Converted Devil, the result shook her to the core.

    Once she saw Raven restraining the Converted Devil, she immediately understood what he''s trying to do, and frankly she was nervous since this is a huge deal.

    She personally witnessed many disciples turning into devils before and no matter how many times she saw it, nothing could numb the pain of witnessing it¡­

    It was a cruel fate¡­being the very thing you vow to destroy. She can''t even imagine how that must''ve felt.

    But then she witnessed it¡­that slight glimmer of hope.

    Even if it was just the briefest of moment¡­she saw the respite and rity returning to the eyes of that Converted Devil.

    She saw that clearly. In fact, she the world seemingly slowed down for her, allowing her to see that moment for an extended period of time, and thus she could guarantee that it actually happened. Sure, it might''ve not seeded but this doesn''t change the fact that this was a huge deal.

    There is hope!

    Maybe¡­just maybe. Raven would eventually be able to return the converted devils back to their human form.

    Kyrie gazed at Raven with scorching eyes. She couldn''t help but noticed that, as time passes, this Young Lord of hers is slowly bing more and more unfathomable.

    Meanwhile, Raven released a deep sigh.

    His gaze was locked into the scattering ashes of Converted Devil, feeling a bit lost and empty inside.

    ''He had been corrupted for far too long¡­'' He muttered inwardly. ''It turns out that the ''Will'' of the Devil Emperor is that harmful. It turns into little creatures who had nothing but maws and an instinctual desire to devour the soul of humans.''

    ''It''s cruel. Any injuries they deal was permanent, I''m not confident that medicines could cure that. In fact, I''m afraid that even if I seeded, they wouldn''t want to live anymore.''

    "Y-Young Lord that¡­" Kyrie approached him, wanting to say something but she saw that he''s in a deep thought.

    "I saw it too, and I know what you''re thinking." Raven replied, "All I can say is, it''s going to be difficult but I''ll try my best."

    "That''s good. Very good." Kyrie said, she doesn''t really know what to say since everything that she saw in this trip was shocking to her.

    "I just hope that once the seed blooms, I''ll be able to use it more efficiently. Let''s just hope that I can really do it." Raven said as he turned around and continued going towards the depths of Asphodel.

    Kyrie watched Raven''s back and released a silent sigh, she didn''t say anything and just followed him.

    ***

    "Keep it up guys! It''s nearly over! Remain vignt as well as aggressive! We can do this!"

    At some ce within the Inner Depths of Asphodel, three people were currently fighting against a huge enemy.

    The Devil was about ten meters tall. It has a lower body of goat, a human torso, a lion''s head and living snake tail. It radiated with a malicious aura and could breath ck mes. It''s fast, strong and it''s snake tail was venomous.

    This three people were fighting against a Devil known as a Chimera.

    Chimera Devils were usually found on floors 20 and above of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. They are dreadful and imed many lives so far. Their favorite snacks are humans, more specifically, heads of humans.

    "Derek! Watch out for the tail! Janine, tried to poke its eyes. I''ll suppress it for you guys! Come on!" The leader of this three man squad named Julius dished out tactics on the fly, hoping that it''s work against the Chimera.

    The three-man squad was familiar with each other as they''ve been working together for quite sometime now. They went this time to Asphodel in hopes of clearing a mission which specifically calls for hunting a Chimera.

    These three haven''t been inner disciples for long and clearly this mission is a bit too dangerous for them. Unfortunately, they needed to take risks or else their status is in danger.

    As the three moved as one, they tried their best to end the battle as soon as possible since collision of this level will surely attract the attention of stray devils. Just the Chimera Devil alone is already a headache for them, they wouldn''t necessarily want to torture themselves beyond this.

    Unfortunately, the Chimera was too strong. It was clear that they''ve kicked an iron te this time around.

    Even though their leader - Julius, was saying that they can do it and keep encouraging them to do their best, it''s clear that they will most likely lose a limb or two here and that''d be the best result they could hope for.

    They were tired, partly due to the irritating heat around them which constantly saps their energy, and because they''ve been fighting against this Chimera Devil for about fifteen minutes now.

    Yes, fifteen minutes might sound short, but in a hectic fight against a very strong enemy, fifteen minutes might as well be an entire hour.

    Julius, Derek and Janine were injured already, and their wounds aren''t that light either. Any injuries dealt by a Chimera Devil aren''t easy to heal which is why some disciples flee at the sight of it. In fact, treating injuries caused by it would be expensive, and for Inner Disciples who were barely meeting the mark for their living conditions, its enough for them to feel the pinch.

    "Janine! Watch out!" Julius roared in panic as he saw the Chimera turning into a blur and charging towards his teammate with open maws.

    Julius did his best to force himself and save her but the umted injuries caught up to him at this point. He was tired, and so was Derek and Janine.

    ''It''s over...'' The woman named Janine thought as she saw the Chimera going after her.

    Her life shed past by her eyes. All she could feel was exhaustion. She was tired. She just wanted this to end. She didn''t want to struggle uselessly anymore. She doesn''t want to feel any pain anymore, all she wants is to rest.

    Janine was prepared to ept her fate, in fact she was even trying to implode herself just to make sure her teammates gets away from this.

    But just as she was trying to do that, a shadow appeared before her.

    *Booom!*

    The appearance of the shadow was apanied by a huge explosion. The three-man squad were shocked to see the Chimera Devil tumbling back like it was tripped. It groaned in pain and tried to get up, but it suddenly noticed that it can''t even move a muscle.

    It''s body mysteriously levitated much to everyone''s surprise. They could see it struggling to break free from an invisible binding but no matter how hard it tried, it can''t.

    The Chimera Devil''s body was then suspended in front of Julius much to his shock. He was puzzled and felt frightened inwardly. But then he heard a voice beside him.

    "Don''t just stare at it. Kill it and harvest whatever you need from it."

    Julius woke up from his stupor. He let out a roar, mustering up whatever''s left of his energy and beheaded the Chimera Devil in one swing. He also sliced the snake tail off of it.

    After doing this, he was left panting for breath. He could only stand with the help of his spear. Julius then looked beside him in search for the mysterious person who helped him.

    They then saw him. It was a man wearing a mask and ck hood. He was tall and looked just like a mortal since no aura could be felt from him, but that''s exactly what makes them think that he''s an expert.

    "Thank you, Senior. For saving us." Julius said while panting.

    "Senior?" The masked person repeated in an amused voice, "I''m no Senior. In fact, I should be the one calling you that."

    Hearing his words shocked the three, but before they could say anything the masked man brought out a formation on his spatial ring and started setting it up.

    All of a sudden, cold winds started blowing, causing them to shudder in disbelief. If it weren''t for the stinging pain that their wounds cause them to feel, they would obviously think that this is all an illusion.

    Once the formation was up an running, the masked man then lifted them up using that same mysterious force.

    In his panic, Julius asked: "W-what are you going to do to us?"

    "Healing you, what else?"

 Chapter 534 - Healing

    ---

    "O-oh! Is that so¡­"

    That''s all that Julius could say as he felt his body being lifted by a mysterious force.

    Still, they couldn''t believe what was happening right now. This person showed up all of a sudden, forced back an enemy that the three of them can''t even face together with rtive ease. Not only that, what shocked them the most is this formation.

    This formation was incredible. They could feel that the chilled winds were real. In a ce where they are surrounded with irritating heat, this coldness was incredibly weed, in fact it even brings themfort.

    It''s unknown when but they just found out that they were lying on top of a wide table which covered with a soft mattress. The masked man was tending to their wounds with incredibly ease.

    "You need to take it easy for at least a month." The masked man told Derek. "You have four broken ribs, your leg muscles were mostly mangled and your meridians are bloated. You probably consumed a potent medicine earlier and you still haven digested it. I can feel the healing properties on the medicine so I won''t one. Take advantage of this time to digest them properly."

    "A-Ah! Yes. Thanks, Senior." The man named Derek said, gratified by the treatment.

    "Like I said, I''m no Senior. I''m more of a Junior Brother in a sense." The masked man replied casually, causing the three to be speechless.

    He then turned towards Julius and inspected his body for a bit. After a brief scan of his body, he said: "You were reckless."

    Those words caused Julius to flinch, but the masked man still wasn''t done.

    "Had I not arrive in time, it''s either the Chimera or you yourself will be the cause of your death." The masked man reprimanded. "You''re barely hanging on by a thread, standing only through sheer will alone. While it''s nice to have a firm will against these abominations, what you showed isn''t tough will but stubbornness. You ced not only yourself but also your teammates in danger by biting more than you can chew."

    Each words that the masked man uttered were like needles piercing through his skin, causing him to flinch multiple times. However, he had to admit that what he said was true. He truly were reckless this time around and nearly caused everyone to die, for that he felt remorseful.

    The masked man took out a pill from his spatial ring, he shaved some of it''s essence and sprinkled it onto Julius'' injuries.

    Julius could feel that, under the influence of this medicine, his wounds were healing fast. It was then that the masked man spoke once more.

    "This is just a temporary aid. This medicine might heal your external injuries but the internal ones are something that you should deal with yourself. You can do that by either purchasing some expensive medicines or taking time to heal them yourself. I marked them when I scanned you earlier, you''ll see them once you activate your inner vision."

    "As for how much time you''ll need to cure yourselfpletely, that''ll depend on you. Rest for now." The masked man said while patting his shoulders.

    Hearing his remarks caused Julius to bite his lips and feel ashamed. However, he didn''t dare to say anything right now.

    "Excuse me, Miss. I''ll just do a quick scan on your body." The masked man said to the girl named Janine. She simply nodded and allowed him to do his work.

    The masked man then did a quick scan of her body and told her about her condition: "Aside from fatigue, external injuries and minor organ damage, you''re mostly fine. I can cure youpletely but you will still need a long rest. A minimum of one month without any extensive activities. If you can do that, then you''ll be good."

    Just like what he did to Julius, he did the same to girl. He sprinkled some medicine shavings on her wounds. She could feel these wounds closing up, causing her to feel somewhat itchy. However this was a good sign overall. As for her minor organ injuries, those were marked and she could cure it herself when she has time.

    "Alright, I''ve prepared some tents for you. I can''t have you returning to Greece just yet. Rest for now, I''ll naturally tell you when you can go back."

    After saying that, he lifted the three of them at the same time and ced them inside their respective tents. He then looked back and asked:

    "Kyrie, can you please help her dress her wounds?"

    The three were puzzled when he suddenly talked to someone, however to their shock, a woman appeared before their very eyes and they can''t even feel anything. If this masked man was already considered as an expert on their eyes, then this woman was on another level.

    "Leave it to me, Young Lord." Kyrie respectfully replied.

    Yes, the masked man was Raven all along. It was him who saved them from the terror of the Chimera Devil.

    Once everyone was ced inside their tents, Raven turned around and started meditating. The ce was rtively silent and it''s better that way since these three needed to rest. Just a few moments ago, all of them were on the verge of dying, right now it''s best for them to rx.

    ***

    Hours passed and the three were well rested.

    Julius told them to convene inside his tent since they want to talk to them. Once inside, they were surprised to see Julius shedding tears and bowing low in front of them.

    "I''m sorry, you two. I''m very sorry." Julius continued knocking his head on the ground. If it weren''t for their help, his forehead might be bleeding right now. "The masked man was right, all of this happened due to my stubbornness. I sent you guys to your deaths¡­I-"

    "Stop it. Stop talking okay!" Janine yelped as she wrapped Julius in her embrace. "I don''t me you. I know it must''ve been hard for you to carry all of this burden. It''s fine. Aren''t we okay now? We''re still alive."

    "She''s right, Captain." The guy named Derek added. "We know you''re carrying a heavy burden, and that''s mostly because we''re weak. You gave us a chance to be promoted and yet we''re not showing any promise at all. It''s our fault to begin with. We passed our burdens to you and you carried them without saying a word. I''m sorry."

    "No-no, I-" Julius can''t find the words to say, instead he could only cry and feel ashamed.

    It''s true that he''s carrying a heavy burden but isn''t it natural for the ''Captain'' to carry the burden of the team? In a sense, the burden he carries aren''t really a heavypared to other Captains out there yet he''s already bending out of the pressure. This caused him to feel like he''s unworthy of this position.

    "Let''s stop the drama okay?" Janine dried her tears and tried to bring a positive vibe to them. "Aren''t we good now? We''re saved. The masked man also helped up kill the Chimera. This should be enough for us to remain afloat for a while."

    "That''s right." Derek supported her words. "We should really thank him for helping us. We''re in debt to him. Hopefully he doesn''t ask us anything excessive."

    "Don''t worry I won''t."

    The masked man''s voice echoed on their ears, causing them to jump in fright. They looked around but failed to see him.

    "Ah, sorry about that. I can''t help it since I can hear you all the way here." Raven''s voice sounded on their ears again. "Anyways, since you guys are awake. Come, let''s eat breakfast."

    The three looked at each other in a dumbfounded manner. Right, how can they forget. This masked man is strong, of course it would make sense that his sense were sharp as well.

    Derek and Janine looked at Julius with a questioning gaze. Julius nodded to them and together they exited the tent. As soon as they did so, they were assaulted by a fragrant smell of food. They tried to prevent their stomachs from grumbling but failed.

    The masked man looked at them and gestured for them toe closer. There''s already a table set up as well as chairs, he''s also sitting with the mysterious woman named Kyrie.

    They looked at each other and with Julius leading them, they walked towards them. But before they sat down, they stopped and bowed together towards Raven.

    "Thank you for saving our lives, Sir. We are incredibly indebted to you."

    Raven casually waved his hand and said: "Don''t mention it. I helped because I could. Now, now. Sit down and eat, don''t let the food go cold."

    With that being said, the three could only smile wryly and ept his invitation. They sat down in front of the table and started eating together. Only when faced with delicious food did they realized how famished they were. Raven wasn''t stingy at all, he prepared a lot of food and allowed them to eat as much as they wanted.

    In the middle of their chow-down, Raven suddenly asked:

    "So, you guys'' situation sounds miserable¡­"

    *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

 Chapter 535 - Ways To Earn Merit Points...

    ---

    "Ahaha, sorry. That''s a bit too straightforward isn''t it?" Raven said as chuckled.

    "No, uh. Well, you''re right anyways." Julius replied. "Our situations are indeed quite miserable."

    "Why is that?" Raven asked, "Oops, I mean, I won''t force you if you don''t want to say. Just curious that''s all. I haven''t in the sect for too long anyway. You can call me Crow by the way."

    Julius sighed and began telling him their story.

    "I see, so you must be a newly recruited Inner Disciple. That makes sense." He said, "Well, as you''ve known, the sect isn''t really stingy when ites giving merit points. So long as you show results, then they will support your path to the peak."

    "Being an Outer Disciple is already considered as an honor. Ites with responsibilities but theirs are lighterpared to us Inner Disciples."

    "You''ve been to Greece I assume? Then you must''ve already seen how different it ispared to Tartarus. It''s very obvious that living there is much betterpared to the putrid environment of Tartarus itself."

    "But I advise you to not be fooled by it''s beauty. Being an Inner Disciple leads to heavier responsibilities, and if you can''t step into to asion, you''ll slowly fall out and will be expelled fro, the sect."

    "It''s that bad?" Raven asked, somewhat in disbelief.

    "It is. Trust me. Why else would we stake our lives fighting against Devils that are way out of league? Even boredom wouldn''t justify that." Derek replied in a downcasted manner.

    "What he said." Julius nodded, "As an Inner Disciple, you are required to reach an umted amount of Merit Points - personal and collective for those who''re still in a Unit. You can spend these Merit Points, what they look at are the records instead."

    "For the first year of you being an Inner Disciple, your quota is to umte a total of 100,000 Merit Points, if you''re still in a Unit, then it would 50,000 for each Unit Member you have. Which means that a Unit with three members needs a 150,000 Unit Merit Points to pass the Quota. This happens bi-annually and nobody''s an exception. Once you enter your second year, then it starts ramping up. Every six months, your personal Quota will rise by 25,000 Merit Points."

    "I am at my fifth year here as an Inner Disciple, and my bi-annual Quota is 300,000. Thankfully, they only implemented it on the Personal Quota, if the raised the Unit Quota as well, then we might''ve been long expelled from the sect."

    Raven''s eyes widened for a bit. This was something that he didn''t expect at all. That requirement was a bit harsh.

    "The sect''s got a clear conscience for this matter. They just wanted us to grow stronger quickly by cing pressure on our shoulders. Without pressure, we''d bezy and all so this is just right." Janine added.

    "But the ramp up really bes a bit too much." Julius had an unsightly smile on his face. "On top of clearing missions in order to satisfy the Quota, we also needed to train and raise our cultivation as well. We had barely enough time to rx or rest. The pressure keeps stacking up and if we don''t do something, then our hard work will be in vain."

    "I''ve seen some other ways to earn Merit Points though, have you guys tried it?" Raven asked.

    "Ah, those. Haha." Juliusughed dispiritedly, his teammates just wryly smiled as well. "You see, it''s not like we don''t want to. It''s just that we can''t."

    "You can''t? How so?"

    "You must be referring to the Coliseum of Rome, Hall of Gods and the Olympian Climb." Derek answered instead. "You see, those methods are only avable to geniuses - Monsters as we call them. Regr people aren''t meant to step on those ces."

    "So you mean there is a specific requirement for you to challenge those?"

    "Well, not really." Janine replied. "But like we said, it''s only meant for Monsters. We don''t have a ce in there."

    Raven didn''t say anything but frowned under his mask. Kyrie remained silent on the side but there is a visible disappointment on her eyes as well.

    "Well, if you guys are rendered like this, then there must be more to the story right?"

    Julius sighed and said: "We''re the only ones left on our Unit. We used to be quite alright overall but an ident happened, most of our members encountered a strong devil. It ended up wiping most of us out. The three of us barely escaped from it."

    "Since then, our lives turned miserable." Julius stated in a downcasted manner. "We''re barely scrapping by on our own. The deadlines are like lifelines to us. In the end, we were forced to take risks time and time again. We were even forced to the extent where we are biting more that we can chew. It nearly killed us this time. Thankfully, you were here or else we would been dead or converted at this point."

    Silence permeated around the table as soon as he started retelling their tale.

    Although Raven could sympathize with them, he could help but feel slightly strange in his heart. He turned to Kyrie and asked:

    "Kyrie, can you exin to me how the Coliseum of Rome, Hall of Gods and Olympian Climb works?"

    "Yes, Young Lord." Kyrie replied, her way of acknowledgement stunned the three once more. They couldn''t help but start looking at this guy named Crow in a different manner.

    "The Coliseum of Rome is just a fancy way of naming a Tournament Style Brawl." Kyrie described causing the three to flinch. "It''s a ce where two contestant fight against each other, injuries are allowed but killing is forbidden. Due to it''s poprity, many people and even Elders from the sect watches the match from time to time. Needless to say, there are opportunities to earn a huge amount of Merit Points there."

    "To participate, one must deposit an amount of 1,000 Merit Points. Winning the first match earns them the same amount. Winning two matches in a row earns them 2000 Merit Points and so on. By the time they reach five consecutive wins, they''ll earn a total amount of 15,000 Merit Points and gets them a Winning Streak."

    "If a contestant that has a winning streak, won their next battle then the pay out would be doubled. For example, someone who has a Five Match Winning Streak won his 6th, he''ll earn 30,000 Merit Points. Win the seventh and they''ll earn 60,000, so on and so forth. Of course, the matches will get progressively harder, but the pay out is worth it."

    Hearing her exnation caused a weird expression to surface on Raven''s face. He looked at the faces of the people he saved and his gaze grew a bitplicated.

    "Ahem." Raven cleared his throat. "How about the Hall of Gods then?"

    "Hall of Gods is just a fancy name for Smelting Trials." Kyrie exined, her tone was a bit jubnt too. "The Smelting Trials are different depending on the Hall you choose. The best example would be the Trials of Ares where you need to kill a specific amount of enemies within a certain time. There are 18 levels for each Hall and the rewards gets progressively richer."

    "Unlike the previous area, this ce is free of charge. You can challenge each hall as many times as you want, so long as you pass the requirements, you''ll earn something. In fact, if you disyed some record-breaking results, there is a huge chance that your rewards will be doubled, tripled even! I really encourage you to try that ce, Young Lord." Kyrie enthusiastically suggested.

    Instead of answering however, Raven once again looked at the face of these three and the strangeness on his expression got richer.

    "Okay, so¡­the Olympian Climb, is it another fancy term for something as well?"

    "Indeed." Kyrie nodded, "Mountain Climbing, that''s all there is to it."

    "I say that but this is actually the most challenging ce in the sect." Kyrie stated, "You just don''t climb some random mountain. In the Olympian Climb, your goal is to reach the peak of Mount Olympus itself."

    Raven''s pupils dted with that sudden revtion. Judging from her expression Kyrie wasn''t lying at all.

    "That''s insane¡­"

    "Indeed, I agree as well." Kyrie nodded in a heartfelt manner. "However,pared to the rewards that the previous one gives, the Olympian Climb is on another level. This is because the climb itself poses some degree of lethality. Unless you''re determined, then it''s unadvisable to challenge it. However, it''s not like you are required to reach the peak in go. There are specific checkpoints within the mountain, once you reached them you''ll be rewarded and can returned to continue next time."

    "Oh is that so¡­" Raven said, "Man, the sect truly is awesome. So long as you have the guts, then there is a way for you to earn Merit Points, and it sound incredibly rewarding too."

    "They''re essentially freee to think about it. All you really need is some guts and a little bit of bravery." He then turned to the three people he rescued and said:

    "Right guys?"

 Chapter 536 - Critisizing

    ---

    The three-man squad was speechless.

    Even if Raven didn''t deliberately said the words that he wanted say, they got what he meant.

    Shame stemmed from the depths of their heart. The exnation of thedy that apanied this masked-man was on point. That being said, is it really as simple as she says? Who was she anyway? Was she an Elder of the sect?

    "You¡­don''t understand." Julius weakly said while his head hung-low.

    "Yeah, you''re right." Raven replied, there was a trace of displeasure on his voice and visible confusion on his gaze. "I really don''t understand."

    "I really, really don''t understand." Raven reiterated, causing the three to flinch. "When you guys told me about your situations early, I honestly sympathized with you. Heck, I even thought that the sect was being too harsh towards the Inner Disciples."

    "But then you started talking about how you guys were ''unworthy'' and stuff. That''s when I started feeling a bit weirded out. Whether I''m new or not in the sect in general or whether I merely am a disciple or an Elder, I don''t think I''ll ever have the power to deem who''s ''worthy'' or not."

    "So you see? I really am confused¡­" Raven leaned closer towards them and ced emphasis on his next words. "Who gave you the or those people the right to call yourselves ''unworthy''?"

    Raven''s words were like the sharpest knives that stabbed through their heart. He didn''t filter his words at all, there was even a trace of faint mockery in his tone.

    "Do you know what you guys sounded like to me, after hearing all of this?" Raven asked, nobody answered him, he didn''t care since he''s going to tell them either way.

    "It sounded like you guys were just making excuses."

    *Wham!*

    "Ridiculous!" Julius fumed, mming the table in his righteous anger.

    "Don''t get us wrong, Crow or whoever you are but¡­you just don''t get it." Janine pulled Julius down and tried to exin softly, but there was a visible displeasure on her face. "You were knew to the sect, how can you understand how those monsters work?"

    "Did you honestly think that we didn''t try?" Derek scoffed on the side, "We''ve been here for five years, if you who just recently promoted as an Inner Disciple, could understand the benefits of those ces, then why can''t we reach the same conclusion?"

    "Do you honestly think that we would rather stake our lives against devils if there was another way? What do you think of us? Idiots?"

    "Yes."

    Raven ruthlessly answered. Causing the three to be stunned silly and re at him with righteous indignation.

    "More specifically, suicidal idiots." Raven continued, his voice cold and his words harsh. "How can I say that? Well aren''t you guys doing exactly the thing that I thought you were doing? Making excuses?"

    "These facilities are there for you guys for essentially free. So long as you use them, you''ll be able to solve your problems. Do you guys think that the sect built this things just for fun? Do you think that the council of elders were that bored and decided to waste precious resources just to entertain you?"

    "Do you guys think that the sect raises disciples, make them fat and throw them as offerings for the devils in order to pacify their anger? You guys said it yourselves, you''ve been here in the sect longer than I have. The sect built this ces in order to temper you and make you stronger just so that in time when you need to face these abominations, you''ll be able to defend yourselves."

    "But not only do you people not use it, you even had the gall to make excuses in order to justify your weakness."

    "What were afraid of? Those geniuses that you call Monsters? What did they do to you? Did they prevented you people from using those facilities? Did they provoke you or the other way around? Do you know that once you started treating these people as geniuses, you already lost half of the battle?"

    "They''re Inner Disciples like you guys were. If they could do it, then what''s stopping you?"

    "Was it their talent? Their determination? Their methods? Numbers? If these things deter you then that''s not because you''re unworthy, that''s because you already surrendered and doomed yourself to mediocrity. If you can''t even muster up the courage to at least set them as your goal and surpass them, how could you guys expect yourselves to have a better life here?"

    "Again, like you said, you guys were here longer than I''ve ever been. And if I can realize this, then there''s no way that you guys can''t. However, looking at your pathetic appearances...is that really the case?"

    "Now then, do you three have the guts to tell me that I am wrong when I said that you guys were just making excuses?"

    Silence permeated around them.

    ''Yes, Young Lord. You tell them!'' Kyrie inwardly cheered, not caring about the emotional state of the three-man squad. However, she still remained silent since it would be too awkward if she said that out loud.

    Raven''s words were extremely sharp and painful. It was aimed urately at their deepest insecurities and it ruthlessly stabbed them.

    The three-man squad were collectively ring at him, however they can''t find words to retort anything he pointed out to them.

    Even if they wanted to refute his words, deep down in their hearts they knew that what he said was right. It''s not that they''re ''unworthy'' or anything, they''re just making excuses.

    They never really discussed it, probably due to fear and intimidation, but deep down they knew when everything started.

    Up until this very moment, the loss of their team still weighs down on their heart. The near-death experience they had casted a looming shadow over their hearts, making them unable to bravely face what tomorrow brings to them.

    Julius never said it out loud but in his heart, he didn''t want this responsibility at all. He was a diligent man that preferred freedom, he didn''t want to be shackled down but unnecessary responsibilities. When most of their Unit members died, Julius unwillingly stepped forward to act as the leader, however deep down in his heart, he didn''t want that.

    He was more or less forced to do so since he''s the most formidablepared to the remaining ones. Additionally, the grief and despair they felt was so much. Julius thought that he had to at least pacify the grieving hearts of his friends, therefore he shouldered the immense burden by himself even though he''s unwilling.

    What Raven said was correct. They truly were making excuses. In fact, Julius himself was looking for ways to die since the longer he stayed here, the more he understood that this burden isn''t something that he could handle. He just wanted to get rid of it.

    He was torn between responsibility and personal desires.

    Raven was right. These facilities were made for them. In fact, he liked them and used to challenge them before. However, the weight of the responsibility caused him to be muddle-headed and the setbacks he faced greatly deterred him, making him think that he''s ''unworthy''.

    And since he himself had no confidence, then how would his teammates feel confident too?

    Raven''s words made him realize all of this¡­

    His words made him realize, just what kind of a person he truly is¡­

    And for that, he truly, truly, felt deeply ashamed.

    The silence ended when Raven released a sigh. His voice then sounded next to their ears.

    "I think you three need to seriously reconsider your resolve. You might as well do so while you''re resting. Seclude yourself for a while and do some introspection. That should help you a lot."

    "Now then¡­" Raven''s hand glowed brilliantly, "Away with you."

    He waved his hand and three-man squad disappeared from the formation as streaks of light. Raven didn''t kill them, he merely sent them back to Greece by activating the escape symbol on their hands.

    Kyrie who''s watching this was briefly stunned but she quickly calmed down. Compared to the things she saw her Young Lord doing earlier, this wasn''t as impressive, even she could do it as well.

    As they disappeared, Raven was silent for a bit before releasing another long sigh.

    "Was I too harsh on them?" He asked softly.

    "Not at all, Young Lord." Kyrie shook her head. "I believe that your words were just sharp enough to prick them and awaken them from the despair that the setback caused to their hearts. You handled it beautifully."

    Raven sighed and said: "I don''t know what''s going to happen next, I also can''t control what kind of changes it will ensue. I could only hope that it''s for the better."

    What Raven didn''t know was that, his words greatly affected the future of those three.

    At some point in the future, he will meet them again. And they will give him a huge surprise. But that''s a story for another time.

    "Come, Kyrie. Let''s resume this journey. My instincts were feeling rather jittery, I think I won''t like where this mission is going.. Hopefully, I''m wrong."

 Chapter 537 - Fog Of Ruin

    ---

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    Sounds ofpressed explosions could be heard at the Inner Depths of Asphodel. Looking carefully at the scene, one would see faint blurs of figures moving at incredibly speeds, shing against each other.

    Muffled groans soon followed every sh, ck blood sttered on the ground. The moment this blood made contact with the ground, they would sizzle and dry up almost instantly due to the incredible heat of the surroundings.

    Though it''s quite difficult to see, the blurred silhouettes were actually different. Most of this silhouettes were surrounded by ck aura turning them into sharp ck arrows as they moved at incredible speeds. The one constantly shed with these ck silhouettes was covered by a dark golden aura.

    The sh stopped briefly, allowing the scene to calm down for a bit, it was then that the participants of this sh were revealed.

    It turns out that this fight was between a human and five devils.

    The five devils were humanoids with animalistic parts. Some had sharp ears, a lower body or upper body of an animal, some were covered in fur. Nevertheless, all of them were fueled by a strong desire to rip the human apart and eat his flesh. Their bodies were covered with a think nket of evil aura, their skin''s were pitch ck as if roasted, their eyes were red and there''s drool escaping their lips. These creatures had no sense of intelligence, acting only by instincts alone.

    On the other hand, there was the human. A human male who''s facial features covered by mask and a dark colored hood. His body was covered with a thick dark golden aura that radiates an undeniable majesty and dignity. His pair of deeply golden colored pupils radiated coldness and indifference. His back was straight, his chest puffed and his stance strong.

    This man was none other than Raven.

    As Raven continued his way towards the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, he inevitably countered strong devils that lurked at the Inner Depths of Asphodel.

    Raven never retreated from any battles. Whenever he encountered a devil, he will face it and make sure to kill it before moving on. He wasn''t afraid of being mobbed, actually he''d be more afraid if he didn''t encounter any.

    His refusal to stay low and stealthy was intentional. He wasn''t aggressive because he''s careless, he''s aggressive caused he wanted to fight.

    Raven never trulycked battles, what hecked was challenging ones. Ever since he experienced Soul Rebirth, his journey was paved with broken bones but not as much blood. Thanks to his umtions, Raven always cinched victory. Normally, no one would be upset about this but Raven wasn''t happy.

    There isn''t enough stimnt.

    He had always enjoyed a good fight, but sadly his opponents would always ended up realizing that he''s too strong for them so they''d either be defeated or avoid him. Even tough he didn''t like that, there''s nothing he could do about it.

    However, now that he''s in Asphodel, it seems that he''ll be able to enjoy a really good fight. These devils were merciless and won''t hesitate kill him. Fight''s like this are hectic but beneficial since he''d be able to release all of his potential at once, making him advance by leaps and bounds.

    *Boom!*

    Arge hand appeared out of nowhere, it blotted out the skies and trampled the five devils that he was fighting. Raven felt some resistance but he merely snorted and added more force to the technique. The five devils didn''tst long as they instantly turned into bloody mists without in seconds. After that, he flicked a plume of white mes at their corpse and watch them turn into ashes.

    Seeing that he was sessful in killing them, Raven released a sigh of relief. He briefly checked his reserves and saw that they were still on the eptable level for him to continue, and that''s what he precisely did.

    Raven flew forwards like an arrow, looking for the next batch of devil to kill. Even though he didn''t go out here with the mission to kill them, wiping them out still grants him Merit Points and he didn''t need to confirm the kill by harvesting any of their body parts.

    As Raven flew fast, a silhouette followed him closely. This was none other than Kyrie, who''s tasked to silently watch over him and only allowed to interfere once he''s in dire need.

    Over the course of days she followed him, Kyrie was already convinced that her Young Lord would most likely be fine on his own.

    Even though he''s just a Saint Knight right now, his strength could easily match-up with a Lord Knight. In fact, she could feel that if he truly went all out, he''d be able to temporarily sh against an Empyrean Knight.

    This was already a shocking result, nevertheless the miracles that she saw her Young Lord doing before was enough to numb her. Him possessing this kind of strength felt naturalpared to the shocking things she witnessed before.

    They have been in Asphodel for seven days in total. During this past three days, Raven limited the amount of rest they took and focused on arriving at the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda as soon as he could.

    Raven couldn''t help it. He felt that as he came closer and closer to their destination, the jitters he felt were bing stronger. He had no idea why though so he could only hasten his steps and arrive there as soon as he could.

    As he flew past the darkened soil coupled with the ever rising temperature of the surroundings, Raven was feeling more and more agitated. He had checked himself before and knew that this isn''t because of the Curse of Wrath. It was due to something else.

    As he entered a specific distance within the Inner Depths, Raven saw a thick ck fog ahead of him.

    Seeing this fog caused Raven''s heart to jolt. This fog wasn''t any simple fog. It''s called the Fog of Ruin.

    Fog of Ruin is something was released by the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. Seeing the Fog of Ruin is a sign that the pagoda is close by since this fog won''t extend very far from it.

    The Fog of Ruin could be said as a natural defense line of the pagoda, it isn''t something that came with the creation of the pagoda but was released by the creatures who were imprisoned inside. What makes this fog dangerous is that, every human being who''s killed nearby will have their souls sucked and fused with the fog.

    The fog erodes their spiritual intelligence and turn them into Lesser Wraiths that hungers for the warmth of human soul but isn''t fated to satiate themselves with it, cursing them into an eternal hunger. It is said that the Fog of Ruin was something was created by the ''Sin of Gluttony''.

    Throughout the many years since the sect was built, many disciples had perished and turned into wandering wraiths within the Fog of Ruin. Many people thought about ways to purge the Fog of Ruin and free the tormented souls of the fallen disciples but s¡­all attempts failed.

    Raven saw the Fog of Ruin and inwardly sighed. Seeing the fog means that he''s close to his destination.

    He paused just before they entered the fog, he waved his hand and Kyrie naturally appeared beside him.

    "Let me reconfirm this, just in case I remember it wrong." Raven stated, "Entering the Fog of Ruin means stepping inside the den of hungry wolves, am I right?"

    Kyrie simply nodded at him.

    "Anyone will be attacked by the wraiths roaming inside, and unlike regr devils, they are mostly intangible. Killing them isn''t going to work since they don''t have corporeal forms, they can attack you but you can''t hurt them, which means that we just have to endure it and charge forward as quickly as possible in order to not be tainted. Did I get that right?"

    "Yes, Young Lord." Kyrie nodded, smiling as she felt rather impressed.

    "What the hell..." Raven groaned in displeasure, "Isn''t this somewhat simr to how our stomachs digests food? We humans, are food and the wraiths inside is our gastric acids. It really is, the Sin of Gluttony''s work."

    Kyrie wanted tough as she heard Raven''s analogy but at the same time, it kind of makes sense. This description is quite apt for this situation.

    "This Fog of Ruin is just a fancy term for Gastric Acids. Cool, I guess." Raven snorted as he walked forward with Kyrie in tow. Kyrie remained silent but she''s inwardlyughing.

    Right before the two were swallowed by the Fog of Ruin, they already hear a piercing shriek of a wraith charging at them. Kyrie was prepared to act but Raven stopped her and simply waved his hand.

    The two of them were instantly covered with pure white mes, creating a stack contrast between them and their surroundings. The wraith who''s flying straight at them showed a horrified expression but it was toote for it to stop.

    In the end, the wraith crashed into them and was burned by the Cleansing mes of Raven, causing it topletely disappeared.

    This development surprised both of them, Kyrie was astounded and Raven was amused, saying:

    "Huh? Would look at that¡­"

    "No matter how strong your intestines are, there''s no way you can digest a me.. Hahaha."

 Chapter 538 - First Glance At The Pagoda

    ---

    "This works too?" Kyrie couldn''t help but blurt out as she saw the ending of that poor wraith.

    "I know right? The Cleansing me truly is miraculous." Raven replied, he wasn''t expecting this either but he wasn''t as shocked as Kyrie.

    Truthfully, him testing this trick was just on his whim. It''s not like he was expecting it to work or hoping for it to work for that matter. He just wanted to test is out since he could, lo and behold it did. Nevertheless, even at the case that it didn''t work, he could always try out other ways to deal with the Fog of Ruin.

    The cloak of Cleansing me around them didn''t drain too much of Raven''s energies, in fact it barely did. Additionally, due to the constant nourishment of his Cosmic Force, the potency and purity of this Cleansing mes raised to an astonishing degree. None of them were harmed by the Cleansing mes either, this is due to Raven''s impable control and that they''re not devils.

    Now that they had the protection of the Cleansing mes, Raven and Kyrie had no problems travelling within the Fog of Ruin.

    They walked at a brisk pace at Raven''s lead and continued heading towards the other side.

    Kyrie never imagined that there will ever be a day that she''ll experience and casual stroll within the Fog of Ruin in her entire life but here she was.

    ''I''m afraid that aside from him and Theo, nobody else would be able to take the Fog of Ruin as a joke.'' Kyrie thought inwardly.

    As they walked around, they could hear several screeches of the wraiths around them. Their shrill screams were filled with unkind intentions yet none dared to charge at them. Raven could tell that these wraiths saw the pitiful end of the one who attacked them earlier thus they were afraid. In fact, he could even somewhat trante what they''re trying to tell him.

    ''Hurry the fuck up and leave!''

    Raven chuckled. Yeah, these wraiths couldn''t do anything to him, that''s for certain. In fact, so long as he''s protected by the Cleansing mes, this will probably be the safest ce for him within Asphodel.

    To the devils, the Fog of Ruin simply didn''t exist. ording to the records, every devil that stepped inside the Fog or Ruin will automatically pass through it as if it was a portal. Meaning that within the Fog of Ruin itself, there are no devils present.

    These wraiths aren''t truly considered as devils themselves since theyck corporeal forms. Yes they can hurt someone and also convert humans but they can''t step away from the Fog of Ruin simply because they can''t.

    This is why Raven was confident that so long as he''s covered with Cleansing mes, this ce is would be the safest ce for him.

    ording to the records, the interior of the Fog of Ruin spans for at least five kilometers. This might sound short but considering the fact that this ce is festered with wraiths, this five kilometer distance might be even more dangerouspared to the rest of Asphodel itself.

    As Raven walked inside the Fog of Ruin, he took his time to inspect the kind of wraiths he encountered. Although the books had an urate description of them, seeing them in person was still more detailed.

    Wraiths as simr to ghosts, the only difference is that Wraiths are far more aggressive and they contain high elements of Extreme Yin and Darkness. Additionally since we''re talking about wraiths within the Ancient Elysium Sect, it''s given that they would have the Evil element stemming from the Devil Emperor itself.

    These wraiths were humanoids, and from what Raven saw, they mostly retained some features from their former lives as a human being, only they aren''t wearing anything, they''re almost transparent, and their lower bodies are akin to wisps of smoke as if only their upper bodies were left for them.

    There are visible injuries on their bodies. Some had cracked skulls, long gash of wounds, missing arms, contorted bodies, etc. Raven believe that this injuries might be how they died before they turned into wraiths.

    Their form of attack was described as simply passing through one''s body. Wraiths are weightless and posses incredible speed too, anyone who isn''t prepared will mostly likely be injured by them. Wraiths will always release a piercing shriek right before they attack, it''s as if they''re warning theirrades about the intruder before they charge at them, however this is also their downside since it''s easy to tell where the attack wille from.

    Wraiths are immune to physical attacks thanks to their incorporeal forms, they also posses some form of immunity against spiritual based attacks. Hiding isn''t an option here since everything within the Fog of Ruin is connected, even the ground itself. This is why so long as humans decided to step within this ce, it is certain that they''ll be discovered.

    The most effective method to deal against them is by running as fast as one could. Even though wraiths are quick, their speed aren''t constant and they seem to not have urate control of their bodies, making them sway in different direction. Unfortunately, this method also rely on luck since nobody could be sure that they''ll be able toe out unscathed.

    Suffering an attack from a wraith isn''t the end of the world. Wraiths will only be able to deal real damage to those who possessed weak wills. Staying true to one''s heart, guarding your will and remaining steadfast is also one of the ways to defend against the onught of wraiths, however this is an unreliable method too.

    The method that show''s great promise is thebination of the two previously mentioned methods, however if one gets unlucky then they could only hope that the conversion wouldn''t be that fast.

    There are Cleansing Chapels in Greece and they are located next to the transmission array thanks to Theo''s arrangement. Those who got infected could only hope that they could return as fast as possible and employ the help of a cleanser to deal with the remnant will.

    Once Raven was done inspecting the wraiths at their natural habitat, he paid them no attention anymore and hastened his steps. Their goal is to arrive at the 11th floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda as swiftly as possible and Raven already dyed as long as he could.

    Kyrie always matched his pace, and since Raven elerated, she did so as well. She could still remember when Raven said that he''s got a bad feeling about this. Kyrie wasn''t as convinced but seeing that Raven is hurrying up, cause he heart to sped up as well.

    The five kilometer distance of the fog were swiftly passed by the two. They arrived at the other end of the fog and saw it roll on itself as soon as they exited.

    Right then, the view of the towering Devil Emperor''s Pagoda was disyed in Raven''s eyes.

    Evil. That is the first word that woulde to anyone''s mind upon gazing in it.

    The Devil Emperor''s Pagoda was surrounded by thick snakes of ck lighting and pitch ck clouds, the aura it radiated was hair-raising and extremely oppressive. It''s body was gleamed with a metal sheen yet upon closer look, these sheen was like a liquidly substance that''s being excreted by the pagoda itself.

    Raven could hear malignant whispers next to his ears, it was filled with temptation, madness and desire. No devils could be found within it''s vicinity but the aura of evil was very concentrated here, in fact it was nearly tangible.

    The whispers didn''t shake Raven''s will at all. Raven''s soul went through many assiduous trials that his will had been forged to be able to resist any kind of outside influence. Nevertheless, the visual impact of this enormous pagoda still caused him to be surprised.

    As he gently stood there, Raven suddenly felt a warm sensation on his forehead. Checking it briefly, he saw that the thunderbolt mark on his forehead was actually glowing and was the one that''s releasing this sensation.

    Raven felt refreshed due to this. He guessed that this was because of the mark''s effect. It was actually capable of resisting against the evilness around the pagoda.

    Recovering his indifferent expression, Raven gazed at the bottom most floor of the pagoda, it was also then that he saw the ''Broken Floor''.

    Dpidated, and stupidly patched-up. This is whates into Raven''s mind as he saw the state of the ''Broken Floor''. Compared to the rest of the theme, it was extremely obvious that the this floor was different from the rest.

    The scenes it its destruction was even slightly visible on Raven''s eyes. He could tell that it''s really in a bad shape and the patches that the sect did to it, was barely capable to holding it together.

    When he recovered from the surprising sight, Raven could feel that the ground was shaking beneath him. He focused his senses and instantly, sounds of terrible sh became clearer on his ears.

    Raven''s pupils constricted as he abruptly turned into a shooting star going straight to the source of the sh.

 Chapter 539 - Presence

    ---

    Sounds of explosions, pained screams and shrill cries echoed in Raven''s ears.

    His figure shot like a shooting star towards the ''Broken Floor'' and it didn''t take long for him to see what was going on.

    Chaos. Everything was in chaos.

    Bodies formed mountains and blood turned into rivers. Humans versus Devils. It''s an all out brawl.

    Raven was stupefied upon seeing this, in fact even Kyrie couldn''t help but be shocked by this scene.

    How did the situation turned worse? This is no different an actual war already!

    Raven didn''t dare to tarry any longer. The situation was dire, many people were dying and the casualties will continue to rise he didn''t do anything.

    The dark golden aura surrounding Raven suddenly expanded, forming arge dome visible for everyone to see. Raven''s eyes exuded an unparalleled chill. Every Devil within the dome shiver and every human felt their spirits being lifted as a foreign intent invaded their bodies.

    Destroy. ughter. Kill every devils you see.

    Under Raven''s influence, their minds turned incredibly sharp and killing intent exploded from their bodies.

    This dome that came out from Raven, was none other than his Destruction Domain mixed with his Pseudo-ughter Intent.

    By now, some people were already rmed by his presence. All they could see was his hooded figure and his chilling gaze underneath his mask. He was stood in the air, akin to a Monarch overlooking his subjects. His arms were crossed and his domineering stance was unparalleled. Even Kyrie who''s standing beside him was infected the powerful intent that Raven''s releasing.

    Threads of milky white lights appeared from his body, a secondter this lights transformed into numerous hands that bloomed like a lotus around him. As soon as these hands manifested, Raven''s aura peaked, the battlefield went eerily silent as everyone stared at him.

    Raven took a step forward and uttered one word:

    "Kill."

    Booming war cries followed after that. The fighting spirits of the exhausted soldiers were lifted by the domineering stance of this mysterious man. Under his influence, their attacks went increasingly frenzied. Their eyes turned red and each attack they sent was being guided by a foreign influence telling them where to slice to kill their opponents.

    "You may join." Raven uttered towards Kyrie causing her to shiver but not from fear, from excitement.

    Raven''s words might sound cold but that''s just the side-effect of his ughter Intent. Not only Kyrie didn''t get offended, in fact she was even inwardly celebrating.

    She witnessed how imposing and domineering Raven could be for the first time. The scene caused her palpitate from excitement. With a Young Lord like this, who''s to say that he doesn''t stand a chance against himpetitors? He even has a Pseudo-ughter Intent! How incredible was that?

    It had to be known that the minimum requirement for someone to be a War God is to have at least a Pseudo-ughter Intent, a genuine one would be better but this suffice since it will eventually evolve into one anyway.

    Needless to say, her Young Lord hasn''t even been in the sect for a year yet he already had a Pseudo-ughter Intent, with his potential, who''s to say that it won''t evolve into a real one? He already has a potential to be a War God but being the next Zeus requires a great amount of effort too.

    Kyrie''s really looking forwards to it.

    After sending Kyrie to the battlefield, Raven didn''t go idle.

    This was his Destruction Domain, if he didn''t do something then how can there be Destruction?

    Raven lifted his arm and waved his hand. Instantly, some areas within his domain fluctuated.

    Next, an incredible scene appeared. Loud sounds of ss shattering could be heard within the domain, it was then followed with multiple explosion sending bits and pieces of flesh flying everywhere.

    The soldiers shivered, a great sense of thrill and excitement coursed through their bodies as if they were going mad. The bloodlust suffusing from their bodies increased as they witnessed the unparalleled disy of control over Destruction Laws.

    Their fighting spirits were roused even more. They hacked at the devils will increased ardor. On the other hand, a strange emotion bloomed within the hearts of each devils as they witnessed the wave of maddened red-eyed humans charging their way.

    It was fear.

    Sufficed to say, everything within this domain is controlled and watched by Raven himself. Inside this ce, he was a God. He also felt the emotional fluctuations of the Devils within and an amused chuckled escaped his lips.

    "Huh¡­so you abominations could feel fear as well."

    His words were casually spoke but is filled with unparalleled will to Kill and Destroy. His words echoed to every soldiers heart, causing their bodies to fiercely jerk, not out of fear but from excitement.

    This man''s disdain towards the devils was one of a kind. His will was firm and contagious, every soldier soaked it up and felt high. Thanks to his presence, their minds were exceptionally clear and they could themselves getting stronger.

    Raven took another step forward. As he did so, his domain expanded and frantically covered every corners of the broken floor. Now every human was influenced by his will and every devil were subjected to his mighty presence and felt fearful towards him.

    He raised his left hand and waved it once again. This time, instead of destruction, something else happened. Every soldier''s body were set aze.

    Every single one of them were cloaked with pure white mes, their weapons included. Some soldiers were surprised but felt that this mes were hurting them at all. The same can''t be said to the devils though.

    "I blessed you with Cleansing mes of Purity." Raven''s words sounded next to their ears. "Let it fuel your weapons and use it to cleanse the filth of this ce."

    His domineering voice echoed once more and it was then followed with a wave of heroic bellows from the soldiers.

    Just with a few actions from him, the tide of this battle was tipped. Raven barely did anything yet the battle became more favorable to them.

    Every single one this soldiers were influenced by his will. At a nce, one would think that they turned mad and went berserk but that''s not the case at all. Raven''s powerful will just dug out the untapped potential, allowing them to perform well in this dire situation.

    His presence alone was a massive boost to every soldier''s morale. Additionally, with his help, the casualties went down considerably.

    Everyone was blood-thirsty, under his watch, Raven could see how well this soldiers were performing. Every time that he sensed that someone''s in danger, he would interfere by lifting a finger. That might not be much but do well in remembering that everything was inside his domain. This simple action of his could blow up any devil around, as well as saving someone from dying.

    This was also the time when Raven witnessed what kind of power Battle Maids truly have.

    His gaze lingered on Kyrie as she blitzed the battlefield surrounded with blue lightning and wielding her massive sword.

    The sight was incredibly eye-catching. A woman zing through the battlefield waving a massive sword which was bigger than her. Even the battle hardened soldiers couldn''t help but to watch in awe as she mowed down the enemies.

    Raven himself didn''t move. He could''ve if he wanted to but it wasn''t necessary. Just with the help of his domain, his pseudo-ughter intent and blessing them with cleansing mes were enough to turn the tide of this war to their favor.

    The scene was impable. Historical even.

    The ''Broken Floor'' which too many lives, was covered in a sea of pure white mes. Shrill screams of devils and courageous cries of warriors echoed within. Under the unceasing assault andbined-efforts of the soldiers, the wave of devils eventually lessened until they were no more.

    Some devils sumbed to fear, making them unable to bare their usually sharp and relentless fangs against their favorite food.

    The glorious and godly presence of the man suspended in the air gave devils a nightmare.

    Every soldier here was highly experienced from what Raven could tell, but even they never felt ughtering devils this easy. The weakness and traces of exhaustion on their bodies disappeared like snow on summer, it was reced by an overwhelming desire to kill and destroy.

    Their blood boiled and their fighting spirits were raised to the peak. Eventually, the killed and they killed until there was nothing to kill anymore.

    Slowly bur surely, the killing intent on their hearts dispersed. Raven slowly dissipated his domain until everything went eerily calm. The Broken Floor is still covered with the sea of mes yet none of them were hurt. The mountain of bodies and rivers of ck blood were all devoured by the mes and ceased to exist.

    "Humanity!"

    "Humanity!"

    It was unknown who started it but it lit-up a fuse and before they knew it, the broken floor trembled under the victorious cries of the soldiers.

    Raven who was still suspended in the air looked at this scene warmly with eyed brimming with pride.

 Chapter 540 - Anastasia The Bold

    ---

    The waves of cheers slowly died down, the battlefield turned calm and the respective leaders of the army started giving out orders.

    The army was cleaning up the battlefield, Raven was still floating up in the air and looking down, observing how the army moved. Secondster, three people flew towards him and saluted.

    The one who lead this group was a gorgeous woman who wore a set of armor. She had a bowl-cut red hair, skin as smooth as white jade, a beautiful pair of crimson colored eyes, pouty lips and an eye-catching mole on the edge of her right eye. She held a nine foot, nine inches long crimson spear and her armor followed the theme of a Fire Breathing Dragon.

    "My name is Anastasia Strauss, Chief Commander of the 1st Devil yer''s Brigade. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude for your timely help. If it weren''t for you, our casualties would be higher than what it is right now."

    "At ease, Chief Commander. I should be the one apologizing since I arrive a bitte." Raven replied.

    Anastasia shook her head, there was a visible dismay on her face as she said: "It wouldn''t have turned out this way if it weren''t for my miscalctions."

    "Why don''t we take this conversation else where? Your men are tired, I''m sure they needed some rest. Will be there be another wave of devils anytime soon?" Raven asked curiously.

    "There shouldn''t be any for next three days, although I can''t be so sure."

    "Then it''s fine. Please gather your men around me. I''ll set up a Formation so that we could set up a camp." Raven said as he slowly descended on the ground.

    Anastasia looked as if she wanted to say something but Kyrie waved at her and urged her to just follow his orders.

    Trusting the Battle Maid, Anastasia nodded her head and gave out orders to her men. The two soldiers behind her were skeptical but orders were orders. They can''t show any signs of insubordination right now.

    When the army was gathered near him. Raven took out a formation disc. Upon seeing this, many people turned very skeptical but remained silent. They just watched as Raven activated the formation and it soon enveloped every single one of them.

    As soon as dome formed, everyone including Anastasia were gobsmacked.

    The soft and gentle caress of fresh and cool wind came as a misconception as first but as seconds ticked, the sensation repeated itself, making them realize that this was no misconception. It was real.

    The gentle winds turned into winter breeze. It eliminated all heat and brought a refreshing sensation to their skin. The gentleness within the barrier was incredibly touching that it tapped into the fatigue hiding from the depths of their soul.

    They were tired. It waspletely obvious now that the feeling of safety and security surrounded them.

    Anastacia on the other hand was trembling on the spot.

    What she''s witnessing right now is nothing short of a miracle. Indeed it was. She had been in the sect for far too long that she knew what this represents.

    Just the simple act of him changing the environment of Asphodel is a huge deal in of itself, not to mention about his battle credits too.

    "Here." Raven took something out from his spatial ring and passed it down to Anastasia and the two men behind her.

    Anastasia was startled, she couldn''t help but ask: "What are these?"

    "Camping materials. Tents, sleeping bags, pillows, nkets and so on." Raven pointed at the stuff he handed to her, he then pointed at the stuff he handed on the men behind her and continued: "Those are dried rations and those are medical kits. Feel free to distribute it to your men. We only have little time to rest, I advise you to move quickly."

    Anastasia was shocked once again however this time she immediately recovered and started passing down orders. The surprises she received were too much right but unfortunately, Raven''s not giving her anytime to process everything therefore she could onlyply and follow his orders.

    The men behind her immediately carried out orders, when she turned around she saw Raven busying himself with something, she wanted to talk to him by Kyrie prevented her with a shake of her head.

    Anastacia exhaled long and hard, she then shifted towards Kyrie''s side and whispered: "So, this is the 9th Chosen of Zeus?"

    Kyrie giggled and nodded, saying: "Yeah. How''s he? Pretty capable right?"

    "Capable is an understatement!" Anastacia quietly eximed. "Look! Look at this! Never in my wildest dreams would I dare to imagine Asphodel getting cold but now? Now what can I say? And don''t even get me started with that domineering disy earlier. Girl, you have to understand, thisdy isn''t getting any younger."

    "Aish, you woman!" Kyrie giggled as she yfully pped Anastacia''s arm. "You''re old enough to be his great grandmother! Plus, he''s married already. If not, then you think it''d be your turn?"

    "It''s fine, I just need one child from him, I''ll be satisfied." Anastacia giggled.

    The two womenughed as they discussed behind Raven''s back. Thankfully, he couldn''t hear it or else he''d be shivering from head to toe.

    Anastacia and Kyrie were clearly in good terms. Even though they differ in status within the sect, that didn''t stop them from being friends. Scenes like this aremon within the sect, specially to those who had been here for too long.

    As the two discussed by themselves, Raven eventually finished with his work. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked around him. Seeing as the tents were already set up and majority of the soldiers were already either resting or tending to their wounds, he stood up and started walking around.

    He stopped by the nearest camp and nodded to the soldiers in a good-mannered fashion. He then crouched down, ced an incense burner near their tents and lit up some incense sticks. He repeated this process to every camp there was.

    Soon, the whole formation was filled with a heavenly fragrance. To everyone''s astonishment, they discovered that their fatigues were slowly being washed away and their bodies were cheering inwardly. Afortable silence filled the camp, nobody dared to emit loud noises lest they disturb those who were sleeping.

    By the time he''s done, Raven could he found sitting on a table, gazing at the sight of the broken floor. Kyrie and Anastasia was already walking towards him.

    "Young Lord? What incense is this?" Kyrie asked, unable to refrain her curiosity from kicking in.

    "Ah, it''s a Fragrant Recovery Incense. My personal creation." Raven casually stated. "As the name implies, it aids on one''s recovery and healing, it''s best used when resting more so when sleeping. If you sleep while inhaling it''s fragrance, you''ll wake up refreshed as if you''ve slept for more than 24 hours."

    "It''s an unrefined product though, the scent scattered very easily therefore I needed to lit up multiple ones. Thankfully, this formation prevents the scent from scattering so this should work for now."

    Raven''s casual way of saying how ''unrefined'' this product of his, was a bit insulting. If this thing was ''unrefined'' then there shouldn''t be refined products out there. The girls could only look at each other and smile wryly, this guy was simply devious. As if this formation of his wasn''t enough!

    Anastacia already heard what kind of person Raven is from Kyrie''s mouth and to be honest, she was intrigued. In fact, she couldn''t help but look at him more fondly as she heard more.

    Just the fact that he was considerate enough to take care of her army, already rouses her interests greatly.

    "Young Lord you''re just¡­a gift that keeps on giving really." Kyrie helpless muttered as she sat down beside him.

    "Am I?" Raven chuckled and waved his hand, "Well, enough about that. Why don''t we move on to the more important matter at hand?"

    Raven looked at Anastacia who''s sitting in front of him, staring straight at his eyes as if she''s ready to devour him. Raven felt quite intimidated, he cleared his throat and said:

    "Nice to meet you, Chief Commander Anastacia. My name is Vendrick Valorheart, I would prefer it if you simply call me Raven. Since you and Kyrie are acquainted, you should''ve already guessed who I am."

    "Yes." Anastacia nodded. "The future Father of my kid."

    *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

    "Anna!" Kyrie eximed on the side, sporting a healthy blush on her face as well. "Too direct! What did I tell you about being too direct!? This is why you''re still single."

    Raven was speechless, and no one can me him for it.

    No amount of meditation could''ve prepared him from that. This woman was incredibly fierce and straight forward! She doesn''t mince words, nor waste time!

    "Oh, right. I''m sorry." Anastacia got up from her seat, walked towards Raven, turned around, got on fours and said:

    "Please, Young Lord. Help yourself. I promise to take good care of our children." Anastasia purred.

    "Okay excuse me but, What The Fuck?"

 Chapter 541 - The Situation...

    ---

    Dumbfounded.

    Even this words aren''t enough to describe what he truly felt.

    Raven had met several beauties before, all of which were just as if not more bewitching than this woman in front of him yet none or them could ever possibly hold candle to her when ites to being frank and direct.

    Anastasia legit went on fours and told him to have his way on her body. No amount of spiritual enlightenment could prepare him for this.

    Thankfully, most of the soldiers were currently resting while the others were either not paying close attention or just tantly ignoring this.

    "Come, Young Lord." Anastacia purred, still on fours. "Use me however you like, vent your youthful frustration on me. Whip me, tie me up, bite me, fill me and all just give me a child and you can use me however you like."

    "This slut¡­" Kyrie murmured in a displeased manner behind Raven.

    Raven felt his mind shutting down, he turned to Kyrie and asked: "What''s going here? Is she alright? Is this a prank?"

    Kyrie giggled and said: "No, Young Lord. This isn''t a prank, she''s just that desperate. Feel free to ignore her."

    "Hey, that''s mean!" Anastasia yelped as she got up from her seductive position. She then walked towards him, hips swaying seductively and sat on hisp.

    She ground her fleshy and perky ass on his groin. Anastasia''s eyes widened for a bit when she felt the sleeping monster within Raven''s pants, she shivered visibly as an intoxicated look emerged on her face. Licking her lips, she leaned on Raven''s ears and purred:

    "I''m wet."

    *Woosh!*

    "Kya~." A yelp escaped on Anastasia''s lips as she felt her body being push somewhat forcely and gently. To her shock, she found herself sitting in front of Raven once again.

    Raven released a long sigh and felt a huge headache. He massaged his temples and tried to calm himself down.

    "Let''s serious shall we? I''m not really here to y around." Raven said dryly. Kyrie giggled while Anastasia pouted.

    "Don''t mind her too much Young Lord, that''s just the way she is." Kyrie said, "Her being this desperate is just a side-effect of her special status."

    Raven raised a brow and asked: "Side-effect? Of what exactly."

    "In a way, she''s simr to you Young Lord." Kyrie exined. "Anastasia Strauss, the chosen of Aphrodite."

    "What?" Raven eximed, he turned his head and gazed at Anastasia once more, seeing her rather proud but also seductive gaze gave him an electrifying feeling. He looked back at Kyrie and asked: "For real?"

    "Mm-hm!" Kyrie nodded. "If there are no idents then within the next five years, she''ll rece the current one. This why you can just ignore her advances. That being said, in the instance that you need some form of¡­ahem. Then feel free to contact her, she''d probably drop everything just toe to your aid."

    "You heard her, Young Lord." Anastacia purred, she yed with her crimson hair while squeezing her jugs to emphasize them. "And if you truly ascend as the next Zeus, then in a sense I''ll be your woman as well. I don''t need you to marry me or whatsoever, all I need is a child and I''ll be eternally grateful to you."

    Raven was gobsmacked.

    One of the things he learned about when he''s discovering the origins of the sect is that Zeus is a womanizer. His ''youthful excerpts'' aren''t recorded in the annals of sect history however it was passed down by mouth instead. While it''s not clear how many woman he had, it is said that majority of the woman in the Pantheon were his, this of course doesn''t include his brother''s wives.

    Zeus didn''t have the chance to have his own kids due to his early passing, which is why his descendants - the one who continued his legacy and aren''t rted to him at all. Made a specific rule¡­

    That is, majority of the women who inherits the title of the ancestors will technically be Zeus'' woman as well. It''ll depend on the current Zeus if they want to give these woman some kids, however he has to at least ''sleep'' with the women who are willing to be his.

    Raven had been gued by this rule since he learned of it. It also didn''t help that he learned about it after he epted the role. This was an irond rule as well so he had to follow it by hook or by crook.

    ''Luna''s going to kill me.'' Raven thought. However, now''s not the time to think about this matters since there are more pressing matters that he needed to attend to.

    "We''ll talk about this in the future, I don''t even know if I''ll be able to ascend as Zeus. For now, let''s focus on the ''Broken Floor''. Chief Commander, can you inform me about the general situation?"

    "Yes." Anastasia replied. Raven sighed in relief when he saw that she''s no longer on her yful mood. She''s now on her professional mood.

    "Grand Elder had given us the task to guard the Broken Floor for more than a month now. Originally, it was only supposed tost for two weeks at most but a surprising development caused that to be extended."

    "Does Young Lord have heard about the Centurion Lancer?" Anastasia asked, to which Raven nodded. "Then that makes things simple. We were sent here in order to guard and alert the sect if any of the Sin''s Children descends."

    "Tartarus and Asphodel are different. In a way, we could still do a roundabout way to inform the sect about of their presence by sending back someone to Greece to alert them. We can''t do that in Tartarus since all of the personnel is inside."

    "This is why we are stationed here." Anastasia revealed. "We have been rtively fine at first but all of a sudden, there was arge spike of devils descending here. None of the Sin''s Children went down at all but if I will venture a guess, then they''re probably the ones who''s causing this whole mess."

    "Since then, we faced wave after wave of devils. We haven''t had much opportunity to rest at all. We also can''t leave right away in consideration to the Inner Disciples. They were already forbidden from entering the Pagoda due to this but they still had to hunt devils in order to reach their quota."

    "We are purposefully letting some devils to escape just so that they can have something to hunt. Needless to say, our situations were dire as well." Anastasia exined.

    Raven was locked in deep thought after hearing that. He was feeling a little bit guilty since he''s more or less the reason as to why they were suffering like this.

    Although he still can''t prove it, he still thought that he was this so-called ''Elven Abomination''. In order to prevent the Sin''s Children from descending, the sect had to implore some drastic measure in order to make sure that the casualties won''t be as high.

    It wasn''t entirely his fault, after all who could''ve expected that something like this would happen. Additionally, there''s still no confirmation if he truly was the Elven Abomination. Nevertheless, he still felt rather guilty.

    "How''s the seals holding up?" Raven asked.

    "Damaged." Anastasia sighed, "When we arrived, it''s already cracked. It''s probably the Centurion Lancer''s doing. We already invited some experts to deal with it but unfortunately, they said that it''ll take them a long time before they could fix it."

    The seals that they were referring to were the seals that were keeping this Broken Floor from truly copsing. There are two seals in here, one above sealing the entrance to the 12th floor and one below sealing the portal that leads to the 9th floor.

    Seals they might be but it''s more urate to call them filters since low leveled devils could still by pass the seal. This was intentional since what they truly wanted to seal, was the Sin''s Children and their path to descend.

    "If that''s the case, then it might be as you said." Raven muttered, "There might be at least one or two Sin''s Children responsible for this. Only them, the Sins and the Devil Emperor itself could issue amand to these low-levelled abominations."

    "Indeed." Anastasia said, "I''ve lost a portion of my men under their relentless waves of attacks. Needless to say, we can''t afford to retreat or else they''ll truly be able to chip at the seals until they were broken. Asphodel would be a legitimate hell once that happens."

    "As if it wasn''t already in the first ce." Raven snorted as he immersed himself in deep thought.

    He was thinking of ways to improve this situation and return Asphodel back to it''s original state. If he could do more then he will but for now, he''s focused on searching some ways to prevent the seals from breaking

    Raven then looked at Anastasia and asked: "Can you show me the seals?"

    "Sure." Anastasia then walked and stood up in front of him. She then grabbed her hand and ced it on her private part

    Purring she said: "Here you go. The seal. It hasn''t been breached yet, can you do me? Like, right now?"

    *Woosh!*

 Chapter 542 - Deadly Scheme

    ---

    "This seals aren''t just cracked, it''s almost practically gone¡­

    Raven muttered as he stared at the two seals above and below him. Together with Kyrie, Anastasia and small group of soldiers, they arrived at the seals - the one that seals the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda not Anastasia''s¡­not that one, Raven doesn''t even want to recall that even happening.

    Upon his arrival at the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, his first impressions of the Broken Floor wasn''t so good. It was barely patched up and obviously very fragile.

    He could tell that the sect did its best to fix it but the materials that were used to create the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda aren''t avable.

    ording to the records, it''s creation took thebined efforts of three brothers; Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, one thousand days and numerous rare materials to create this thing. Amongst the materials, were a special type of metal called ''Primordial Epoch Steel'' - the one that was used as it''s foundations for the body.

    Records about how Primordial Epoch Steel was formed aren''t much, all they knew was that it''s extremely precious and hard to find.

    The sect already sent numerous people out to scour Divine Realm in search for this metal but they could hardly find any, in fact they''d be lucky if they could obtain a palm sized Primordial Epoch Steel. This of course hasn''t even touched the matter of the actual forging itself.

    This is the reason why up until now, the Broken Floor still wasn''t fixed. The sect isn''tcking in funds, what wascking was the materials.

    So far, the best they could do is to seal the entrance to both the 9th floor and 12th floor. That''s right, 9th not 10th since originally there wasn''t a barrier that separates the 10th floor and the 11th floor. Due to the that, when the damage was done to the 11th floor, the 10th floor also suffered, the entrances on the 9th and 12th floor suffered as well and couldn''t be closed using normal means therefore they had to seal it.

    Right now, the seals that were originally intact; were damaged by the forceful descent of the Centurion Lancer and was left in shambles. It''s also why Anastasia and her army suffered from multiple harassments of the ascending and descending devils.

    Raven stared at the seal, his face was extremely gloomy as he could see the extent of the damage. He could tell that Anastasia isn''t well versed in the art of seals which exins why she said that it''s damaged. But for Raven who had been ying with seals for a long time, it wasn''t the same.

    One might as well say that the seal had been broken at this point. He couldn''t even sense if the seal was still functioning properly due to how dimmed they''ve gotten. The runeponents were mostly erased it not, tainted by the evil will at this point. How could Raven feel relieved at this point?

    Heaving a long sigh, Raven ced a finger on his chin and began thinking swiftly. He stared at the seals, his thoughts running rapidly, he even employed the collective amount if this thought chambers in order to aid him.

    After a while, he took out a paper and began listing off several materials that hecks. After some time, he finished and passed down the list to Anastasia.

    "Send one of your trusted men to buy the items listed here. Here''s my insignia, tell them that they could deduct the cost of these items using that. As for the letter, send it to the Grand Elder himself. Under in no circumstances that it should be opened before it reached the Grand Elder''s hands. Do you understand?"

    Anastasia was surprised, however she could tell that Raven was absolutely serious about this matter so she nodded.

    "Go, bring me those items as soon as possible. We''ve no time to waste here. I''ll be staying here to monitor the situation."

    "How about I personally go back instead?" Anastasia suggested.

    "Then I''ll trouble you." Raven replied, "Make haste. I''ll take over for now."

    "Understood. Please be careful." Anastasia nodded as she swiftly turned around and invoked the Return Seal to go back to Greece as soon as possible.

    Raven watched her disappear and his expression turned somber. Kyrie saw that he''s almost ring at the entrance to the 12th floor so she couldn''t help but ask.

    "What are your ns, Young Lord?"

    She saw Raven took a deep breath as he replied: "Nothing much just¡­trying to ruin some vile scheme."

    Although Raven didn''t reveal much, Kyrie was still stunned by those words.

    ''A scheme? Just what in world was he talking about? Could it be that¡­''

    "Oh no!" Kyrie shuddered as she connected the dots. She was horrified, she didn''t even wanted to think about what would happen if her guess was correct.

    "Oh yes." Raven said with thick sarcasm on his voice, his facial expression was a bit contorted underneath his mask and his eyes radiated a soul prating chill. "Well fucking done though¡­it was swept under the rug without gaining much attention."

    "Detestable!" Kyrie fumed, she clenched her jade white hands until her nails were digging through her flesh, it was obvious that she was furious.

    "There''s no use on fuming in rage for now. Save it forter." Raven calmed himself down, "What we should worry about is the fact that they might have contingency ns after this."

    "How could they¡­! Ugh!" Kyrie was so frustrated, it was actually the first time that Raven saw her losing her temper like this.

    "They don''t really need a reason you see¡­" Raven scoffed coldly. "Just the fact that they wanted to see the world burn is enough. Now be silent for a while and let me think¡­"

    Without anything else to do, Kyrie could only bite her lips in frustration and remain silent in order for her not to disturb Raven''s thought process.

    ***

    "Grand Elder!"

    Back at the sect, Anastasia returned to Greece and swiftly bought all the items on the list. After receiving all of them, she immediately went straight towards the Storm Dweller''s Peak; residence of the Grand Elder himself.

    An old man who''s sitting on a reclining chair and was napping, jolted awake by the sudden shout of Anastacia, ever the gorgeous beauty that''s resting on hisp woke up groggily as well.

    The old man squinted as saw a crimson-haired beauty rushing towards them. The old man''s eyes twitched as he yelled:

    "The fuck are you doing, screaming and shit? Can''t you see that we''re napping?" His roars caused Anastasia to flinch. "And why the hell did you leave your post? I don''t remember calling you back yet!"

    "We have a situation." The old man was quite surprised when he heard Anastasia''s serious tone. She then said: "The 9th Chosen arrived and helped us against the onught of the unceasing Devil assault. He took a look at the seals and I heard him say that it was almost gone. He asked me to pass this letter to you."

    When the Grand Elder heard that the seal was almost gone ording to Raven, his face already turned serious. He grunted and received the letter that Anastasia brought back, as soon as he opened it, the letter emitted a faint dark golden glow and Raven''s voice could be heard.

    "Greetings, Zeus. This is 9th Chosen; Raven. I''ll make this short and simple. The seals that were left on the 9th Floor entrance and the 12th Floor entrances doesn''t function as you how might think it does."

    The Grand Elder''s eyes widened as soon as he heard this. Not only him, even the woman who''s sitting on hisp and Anastasia were simrly surprised as well.

    "It''s tainted. Heavily so." Raven''s tone went somber. "Judging from the rune arrangement I can tell that it''s not meant to prevent the Sin''s Children from descending, which made me reach a conclusion that; if they wanted to, they could''ve descended way earlier than this."

    "The seal doesn''t filter devils, instead it was made for something else entirely. And from what I could observe so far, unless killed through special means, the souls of devils were being sucked through these entrances while others fused to the seals, tainting them even further. I have no concrete proof but I saw it happening. Nevertheless, I allowed me to reach some conjunctures."

    "The Sin''s Children wouldn''t die since their parents - The Sins, could just summon back their souls and recreate them through special means. What if, during all this time that our disciples killed the devils roaming Asphodel, didn''t actually died but had their souls re-summoned instead?"

    Anastasia anddy gasped loudly, her face was pale as she her felt horrified by Raven''s words. Even the Grand Elder''s face were contorting already.

    "I can see past the 12th entrance." Raven revealed. "Even though I couldn''t see them clearly. I could tell that they were preparing. The attacks on the Devil yer''s Brigade were just for scouting. They''ll be ready to flood not only Asphodel but quite possibly the whole Tartarus as well."

    "Again, I have no concrete proof to show you but please send some reinforcements. Otherwise, Asphodel will conquered."

    *Boom!*

 Chapter 543 - Reinforcements Arrive

    ---

    "Good! Good!"

    The Grand Elder''s face was twisted due to sheer anger. He unconsciously crumpled the letter sent to him by Raven.

    "Well done ck Rose! Well fucking done!'' The Grand Elder fumed, his anger soared through the heavens causing the whole Storm Dweller''s Peak to be covered in dark clouds and asional rumbles of thunder.

    "I must''ve been rather quiet huh? I must''ve gone senile. I can''t believe I allowed such a scheme to go past me!"

    "Hmph! Enough napping then!" The grand elder huffed. "Hera, Dear. Would you please contact some War Gods and send them to reinforce 9th?"

    "Sure, my Dear. But what will you be doing then? Do you need me with you?"

    "No, it''s fine." The Grand Elder said, his eyes narrowed as he continued: "This Old Man''s just going to pay a visit to some ''old friends''. They must''ve been missing me since I''ve been rather idle for quite some time."

    "Alright, make sure to return by dinner then. I''m making you your favorite food." Thedy called Hera softly said, causing a smile to bloom on Grand Elder''s face.

    "Thanks Dear. I''m looking forward to it." The Grand Elder then gazed at Anastasia and said: "You return to 9th and tell him that reinforcements are on the way. Hold out for as long as you can and work together to solve this mess. We can''t afford this scheme to seed, too many lives are at risk. Am I clear?"

    "Yes, Grand Elder."

    "Go!"

    Anastasia and the Grand Elder sessively disappeared from their positions as they both had their own destinations. Hera herself closed her eyes and started calling the attentions of the War Gods.

    ***

    - Asphodel -

    Raven could be seen currently ring at the seals, particrly at the one above him.

    His pupils gleamed with a profound light, enhancing the golden irises and the rainbow colored flow hidden beneath it.

    In his point of view, he vision stretched as far as possible, allowing him to peer through the portal beyond the seal. Everything was revealed before his very eyes.

    He could see the tormented souls of Devils and humans alike trapped within the runes on the seal, tainting it and turning them mad. From beyond the portal, he could see endless waves of devils currently on standby while some are in patrol.

    Raven couldn''t see much from where he was but from the sheer numbers that he saw, he could already tell that the army behind him was far from enough to meet the waves of enemies that areing his way.

    At this, he could only sigh and hope that the Grand Elder would believe him and send reinforcements.

    His instincts were sending him rms constantly, yet he couldn''t bring himself to abandon this ce despite that.

    By thus point, he already ordered the men to move the formation, retreating back to the Fog of Ruin. He had the formation surrounded by Cleansing mes in order to protect the army. So far, this is the best strategy he could form.

    Due to the uniqueness of the fog, causing the devils to pass right through it, he figured that so long as he covered the array with Cleansing mes, the wraiths within the Fog of Ruin won''t be able to hurt the army. He also told some soldiers to be alert and report any attacks to him right away.

    So far, he received nothing and he could still sense that the army was doing fine. Now he''s only waiting for the materials he needed in order to make a new seal while he monitored the situation past the portal.

    "Young Lord! Anastasia''s back!" Kyrie reported causing Raven to look back. He then saw the crimson haired beauty rushing towards him with visible anxiety on her face.

    Seeing that the situation was practically the same before she left, Anastasia heaved a sigh of relief. She then walked towards Raven and passed a Spatial Ring to him.

    "Here''s all the items you asked me to buy Young Lord. Also, the Grand Elder has a message to you." Anastasia reported.

    Raven epted the spatial ring and nodded, prompting Anastasia to continue her report.

    "He order us to hold out for as long as we could. Lady Hera is already summoning the War Gods to send as reinforcements. Grand Elder himself left and paid a visit to the ''ck Rose''."

    "Oh, dear." Kyrie muttered breathlessly. "Well, ck Rose is screwed then."

    "They brought this to themselves." Raven sneered. "Who asked them collude with the Exiles?"

    The ck Rose is a rather famous, underground organization which ran a ck Market all across the Divine Realm. They had sufficient resources to contend against the reclusive sects and was considered as one of the organizations that cannot be offended due to their endless supplies and human resources.

    It was the ck Rose who offered their services to the sect and proposed to create the seal that would block the passages on the 9th and 12th floor.

    At first, due to its effectiveness, the sect thanked them for it and even gave them some support. However, Raven discovered the scheme they ced and made the Grand Elder angry.

    Who would''ve thought that they have the gall to work with the Exiles?

    Exiles were a group of traitors that miraculously escaped the hunt of the sect. The Exiles have but a single goal in mind and that is¡­to free the Devil Emperor from its prison.

    Due to the vastness of the Divine Realm, finding their base of operations were akin to searching a needle out of a haystack. Time and time again they''ve escaped the sect''s watchful eyes, it was quite surprising how they were managing to do so given how much priority the sect had given to this eradications mission.

    Aside from the Exiles, no other organization was bold enough to scheme against the Ancient Elysium Sect simply because the sect''s existence was never wrong. Those who were audacious enough to collude with them will be struck down immediately, hence Kyrie''s statement.

    There''s no need to doubt this either. Any attempts, no matter how small, to free the Devil Emperor could only be the work of the Exiles. It doesn''t matter how many attempts they made, there will always be people who will stop them. This is the responsibility of the sect.

    "You two, let''s retreat on the Formation for now. Anastasia, remain alert and invite the War Gods here once you see them arrive. Kyrie, you watch over the portal above. At the smallest sign of disturbance, alert the army and prepare to meet the enemy. If the War Gods arrived, then you follow them in battle. I''m not allowed to be disturbed during the creation of the seals. Am I clear?"

    "Yes, Young Lord!" The two replied at the same time.

    The three of them retreated within the formation and Raven immediately began working. His hands turned into a blur as he extracted one item after another from the spatial ring in order to make the seals he needed.

    Kyrie and Anastasia were on guard as well. They kept watch over their surroundings and remained silent in order to not disturb Raven from his work.

    Time swiftly passed, Raven''s face was currently dripping in sweat.

    Even at his current state, creating the seals that could mend the breach for the pagoda was a little taxing for him. By now, he''s surrounded with colorful lights and steaks of lights. Each of the lights were condensed and filled with seals, their numbers reaching millions as Raven continuously created them.

    In front of him, two giant runes were forming ced within a huge formation disk made out of expensive materials. Raven couldn''t afford to fail since not only did this resources cost more than a million merit points, he only have a single batch of them. This is why he ordered them to not disturb him during this process.

    The giant seals looked rather dull. Even some formation or seals expert would say that this was already failed product but Raven didn''t stop. When ites to seals, only a few people had the qualifications to judge his work. Even then, he didn''t necessarily need to listen to them since he knew what he was doing.

    At some point in time, Anastasia exited the formation and sped up towards the newly arrived people. She could tell who they were. Who else could it be other than the War Gods themselves?

    There were five of them here, meaning that the sect was obviously treating this matter seriously. Amongst this people were acquaintances of Raven back in days at Tartarus.

    They were Henry the ''War God Heavenly Sword'', Logan the ''Six-armed War God'', and Theodore the ''White mes War God''. There''s also Julia Selves the ''Swan War Goddess'' and Jessamine Shay the ''Zither War Goddess''.

    "Your Excellency''s!" Anastasia eximed catching their attention. The five War Gods saw her and smiled. "Pleasee with me, the 9th Chosen is in this way."

    "Hmm? Within the Fog of Ruin?" Logan was gobsmacked.

    "Yes, but - "

    "But he infused Cleansing mes within his formation, allowing him to be safe. Mn! I see." Theodore smiled rather smugly.

    "Wait, you can do that?" The other War Gods eximed.

 Chapter 544 - The Seal

    ---

    "Hey you guys, don''t look at me like that!" Theo groaned, "As soon as I got my Cleansing mes I simultaneously be a Fire Keeper. I didn''t get the chance to use to experiment much with the mes."

    The rest of the War Gods looked at him suspiciously but didn''t pursue the subject. Whether Theo was telling the truth of not, it doesn''t matter anymore since it''s been too long.

    They then followed Anastasia towards the Fog of Ruin where the Formation was present.

    Once they were within the Fog of Ruin, they saw a huge dome of white fire which creates a clear cut contrastpared to the scenery within the fog itself. The War Gods were impressed. Anastasia lead them inside the dome of fire and to their surprise, the scenery changed.

    "Cold? Are my senses failing me? It''s cold!?" Logan the six-armed was gaping as he felt the chilled breeze within the formation.

    In fact, it wasn''t just him. All of the War Gods, especially Henry who used to be Raven''s handler, were shocked once they arrived within the formation.

    Every single one of the War God present here had once experienced the notoriety of the irritating heat ever present within Asphodel. It left them a profound impression especially after the explosive battle that gave birth to the ''Broken Floor'' itself. Not to mention, they''re within the Fog of Ruin as well.

    Compared to Tartarus, the dangers surrounding Asphodel were much more threatening, they too once experienced this threats and had close encounters during their time. But now, who would''ve expected that Raven could easily create a safe zone all by himself?

    Just by his own efforts, he neutralized the fearsome heat of Asphodel and rendered the Wraiths helpless against him with his Cleansing mes.

    "What pure Cleansing mes." Theo marveled as he admired the white mes covering the formation. Due to him being a seed bearer his connection with the mes were closerpared to other. But even him didn''t possess Cleansing mes as pure as Raven has.

    "Dear, Lord. If there''s a ce like this in Asphodel from the very beginning, then I wouldn''t have had many problems hunting as many devils as I could! How did this guy do it anyway?" Logan muttered as he admired the formation.

    "It''s quite simple yet ingenious as the same time." Julia the Swan War Goddess replied, "He fused Reversion Rune along with a Prity Rune - both are included amongst the basics of Runesmithing. With those runes together, he arranged them with some supplementary runes such as Thermal Sensing Runes, Repulsion Runes, and Revolution Runes created an array that filters the heat of Asphodel and convert them to the chilling breeze that you''re feeling right now."

    "So you mean to say that he just used the basic runes to create this formation?" Henry asked.

    "No, it''s more than that." Julia replied, admiration couldn''t be concealed on her tone. "Yes, he used the basic runes, but he basically super-charged them. Meaning that each of the runes I mentioned earlier were condensed out of 100 lesser versions of the said runes. It sounds easy in words but any expert would tell you other wise."

    "Plus, don''t tell me that you all still can''t feel it yet?" Julia asked causing most of her colleagues to be confused. She chuckled and said: "The Curse of Wrath is unable to prate this formation of his."

    "Impossible!" Logan eximed. Even Anastasia who lead them inside couldn''t help but shiver upon hearing this.

    The other War Gods immediately used their senses to check whether Julia''s words were correct and to their surprise, she wasn''t lying. The Curse of Wrath was truly repelled by this formation! How is that possible? It had to be known that the sect invited countless of people in attempts of neutralizing this curse and yet none of them seeded.

    "Henry, dude!" Logan stared nkly at hisrade. "Where the heck did you pick this boy up? Why didn''t you tell me that he could do this?"

    "Don''t look at me, I didn''t teach him that.". Henry stated, hisrades then gave him a look saying ''Yeah, we know.'' Causing his lips to twitch a bit. "Seriously, I didn''t he could do this too. Do you think I''d let him be had I known? Don''t be ridiculous."

    "As for where he came from, ording to investigations he ascended from a Lower ne called Grand Ancestral ne. He joined the recruitment on the Azure Sun Great World. That''s all I know."

    "He''s from the Lower nes too?" Jessamine eximed.

    "Yeah, he''s the same as you." Henry nodded.

    "Actually, where he came from doesn''t really matter anymore right? We should be thankful instead that he''s here. We truly lucked out with this one." Theo chuckled.

    "Yeah, I agree." Julia nodded, but then she frowned and asked: "By the way, the should be him right? What is he doing?"

    "Let me answer that." Kyrie stepped in, she bowed at the War Gods and said: "Young Lord is currently creating the recement seals needed for the portals. He left us an instruction that he''s not to be disturbed in the process."

    "Oh, is that so?" Julia nodded, she then peered at Raven''s creation and frowned slightly. Nevertheless, she didn''tment on it and left him be.

    "Kyrie, it''s been a while!" Jessamine skipped over to Kyrie and locked arms with her. It''s was quite obvious that her and this Zither War Goddess were close.

    "Yeah, I missed you Jessy." Kyrie smiled.

    "What''s the situation by the way?" Henry asked. "Lady Hera told us toe here as soon as possible but she didn''t give us much details. Can you exin?"

    "Sure!" Kyrie nodded but everyone saw that her smiled disappeared. She looked at Anastacia first and said: "Anna, can you watch over the 12th Floor entrance for me?"

    "Mn." Anastacia nodded and proceeded to monitor the upper portal.

    Kyrie then looked at the War Gods and began telling the story. She didn''t exaggerate and only told the facts based on her point of view.

    In the beginning, the War Gods were still calm and collected. However by the time that Kyrie revealed that the ck Rose Organization colluded with the Exiles and exined their scheme, a thick cloud of killing intent suffused from their bodies and their expressions twisted in righteous anger.

    "Hmph! Well done! Well fucking done!" Henry sneered as he unconsciously tightened his grip on his sword.

    "Such a shame, the Grand Elder should''ve let me visit them instead. Oh well, they''ll be wiped out from existence anyway." Jessamine snorted on the side.

    "As for those Exiles¡­hmph!" Logan sneered. "Those fucking cowards are truly audacious. I swear, I''ll use every means that I could to make their lives miserable."

    "So you mean to say¡­" Theo peered over to the 12th Floor portal and continued: "That just past that seal, that portal¡­there''s in an army of devils as far as the eyes can see?"

    His tone was a little peculiar. He didn''t sound scared, more like¡­excited.

    "Hey, hey. Don''t." Julia held his arm.

    "Yeah, don''t." Jessamine added.

    "Yeah, that''s rude." Henry snorted as he yed with the handle of his sword.

    "Yeah, very rude. Don''t hog all the fun by yourself." Logan stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and licking his lips. His eyes zed with a sharp fighting spirit.

    "You guys¡­" Theo smiled helplessly. "Fine, you win."

    *Buzz!*

    A sharp buzzing sound was heard and it got everyone rmed all of a sudden. It was then followed by a sharp spike of energy fluctuations and a brilliant sh of golden light.

    Everyone looked behind and saw Raven levitating off the ground and releasing a fearsome energy fluctuations. He had his arms spread out beside him, grasping a humongous rune arranged to form the character ''Seal'' on each hand.

    The atmosphere turned silent. No one said a thing as they all stared at him in awe as he basked in this golden light.

    "Condense!" They heard him growl.

    The humongous seal on his hands shrank as soon as he said that. They progressively got smaller and smaller until they were reduced to a palm sized seal.

    The seals he made dimmed down and transformed into a runic tattoo etched on his palms. Raven admired his work for a bit before he suddenly staggered and fell down. Everybody was rmed, thankfully Kyrie was one step ahead of him and was already by his side when he fell.

    "Thanks." Raven said to her.

    "It''s been hard on you Young Lord." There wasforted smile on Kyrie''s face but also a tinge of sadness.

    "I''m good. It''s what I ought to do anyway." Raven chuckled. He then pointed at the table and Kyrie knew exactly what he wanted her to do. She guided him towards the chair and Raven sat down on it.

    He fished out some recovery pills on spatial ring and began chewing on them. Once he digested the pills, hisplexion eased-up and he breathed a sigh of relief.

    "Are the reinforcements here?" Raven asked Kyrie. Instead of answering though, she merely gestured towards the War Gods who''s been staring at him for a while now.

    Raven was startled. He wanted to stand and greet them properly but he couldn''t so he just said:

    "Oh! Hey. Uh¡­nice to meet you?"

 Chapter 545 - Beyond The Portal

    ---

    "You''ve worked hard¡­ Henry nodded as him and the other War Gods joined him. Now the War Gods and Raven were sitting at a round table.

    "It''s what I ought to do..." Raven said, his tone were in and calm.

    "Still, we didn''t know that your skills when ites to Runesmithing and formations are extremely high. You can even do something like this." Theo said as he gestured at the formation covering them.

    "I''m just lucky, that''s all. An idental discovery." He replied as he calmed down him breathing.

    "Are you good? Do need to rest?" Henry asked.

    "I''m fine. A bit spent but I can manage." Raven said. He lifted his arm to remove his mask and his hood reveal his face to the War Gods.

    There was a period of silence when Raven removed his mask and hood. The War Gods inwardly clicked their tongues as they saw his stunning appearance, even the girls were momentarily stunned, much less to say about Anastasia who ogled at him for a bit.

    Nevertheless, what really attracted their attention the most was the faintly glowing thunderbolt mark resting on his forehead. The War Gods themselves felt a faint connection between them and this mark. This can''t be helped as inheritors of the titles are closely rted to each other. This reaction was normal.

    Raven doesn''t seem to be bothered by the silence. Instead he lifted his palms and stared at his work once again.

    "Are those¡­Immortal-ranked Rune, right?" Someone asked.

    Raven looked at the woman who asked this question and tilted his head for a bit. Everyone seemed to have realized what he was wondering and it was Henry who did the honors.

    "Theo and Logan you''ve met before. As for her, she''s Julia the ''Swan War Goddess'' and this is Jessamine the ''Zither War Goddess''."

    "Nice to meet you." Raven nodded to them and the girls nodded in return. "To answer the question, hmm, yeah it should be considered as one."

    "Should be?" Julia frowned.

    "Mm-hmm!" Raven nodded. "Immortal-ranked runes are impossible to be destroyed unless one is an Empyrean ranked powerhouse, or at least anyone who could release the might of one. However, this is the first time that I created this rune. In fact, it might even be the first of it''s kind."

    "I know, it''s a bit risky and bold to just outright create a rune out of the blue the situation calls for it. As for how tough this seal is, I can''t say for sure. I used some expensive materials to create it but¡­well, I can only say that it should hold out for a long time."

    "Unbelievable." Julia muttered, "So that''s why I''m not familiar with the structure of the rune itself." She said as she stared at the seals on Raven''s hands.

    Theo leaned over to Raven and whispered: "She''s knowledgeable in seals too."

    "What are its uses?" Julia continued to ask.

    "Filtering is it''s main purpose." Raven answered. "This seal will only allow devils from lower floors and 12th Floor to pass easily. I used samples of the devils I killed on the way here to set the parameter. I thought by doing that, Asphodel would be a bit more forgiving."

    "As for devils who doesn''t fit the parameters, they could still pass but not without a price. The stronger they are the higher the price they have to pay for descending, the seal was made to siphon their strength in order to use it as a fuel of some sorts. That way, it could sustain itself for a while. As a back up, the seal could also absorb the heat of asphodel and convert it to energy it could consume as well."

    "This will cause the stronger devils to face a choice. If they want to freely roam Asphodel, then they''ll be forced to pay the price. If they don''t n on descending, then that''s fine too. Hopefully, those who will invade the Pagoda in the future will be warned about this, that way the prepare themselves."

    "Are there any downsides?" Julia asked, Raven could see that she has a weird expression on her face. In fact it''s not just her, everyone who listened to him had weird expressions as well.

    "Hmm, there are some." Raven thought for a bit. "One, I don''t have much information about the Sin''s Children nor the Sins themselves prior to it''s creation. As I said before, I''m not sure if the seal is an Immortal-ranked Seal so I''m simrly not sure if it could withstand the force of obscenely strong devils. For this, time can only tell hence I''m not particrly sure on how long the seal couldst, for all we know as soon as I ce this seal, those things will immediately device a n to destroy it."

    "Additionally, even though I say that stronger devils would be suppressed by this seal upon their descent, there might be some devils who could bypass this rule. I''m not omnipotent and neither the seal is, so there might still be idents."

    "For now, this is all I could do. At least with the seal, I can buy some time for the kids-I mean, the disciples to grow stronger." Raven finished his exnation and a long period of silence descended upon them.

    The War Gods were looking at each other, their faces had a strange expression as if they were trying their best to calm down after hearing a miracle.

    "What do we do? He''s just better¡­" Theo was the one who broke the silence andughed mirthlessly. Raven blinked and was confused as to what he meant by that.

    "Yup, much, much better." Jessamine added. "In this area at least¡­those kids can''t match up to him."

    "Really, we have to thank god that he''s on our side." Julia rested her back on the chair and smiled wryly.

    "I must''ve spent at least 10 years worth of luck to recruit him." Henry whispered, "Who would''ve thought¡­god I''m the best."

    "Shut yer trap!" Logan sneered at him. "You didn''t do a damn thing to help him achieve this state to stop blowing your own horn."

    He and Henry then started bickering against each other as the other War Gods watched in amusement.

    Raven on the other hand was confused as to what''s going on. Nevertheless, he can''t really find a good timing to ask.

    ''Hmm?''

    Raven suddenly felt a sharp spike on his senses causing his expression to harden. His head sharply turned and gazed at the tainted seal above them. His pupils abruptly shone, gleaming with a rainbow-colored light. His vision suddenly expanded and prated portal itself, allowing him to see what''s on the other side.

    "Shit!" Raven suddenly eximed, startling everyone around him. They say his grim expression as he red above.

    Without any warnings, Raven''s body suddenly buzzed and released a strange fluctuations that affected everyone near him.

    The War Gods including Kyrie and Anastasia suddenly felt their vision expanding and transforming without their permission. Thankfully their quick witted and didn''t fight the sensation, instead they followed it since it''s clear that Raven wanted to show them something.

    Once they could see what he sees, everyone couldn''t help but feeling greatly rmed.

    What Raven said was right. Beyond the portal on the 12th floor, were armies of Devils as far as the eye could see. The sheer numbers gave them chills.

    Rows upon rows of organized, red-eyed creatures with charred skin and baleful auras were reflected on their vision. They vary in shapes and sizes but it doesn''t change the fact that they are devils.

    Everyone felt the scene stretching which was clearly Raven''s doing. His vision extended all the way to other end of the army where several figures stood.

    From a simple nce alone, one will realize that this things are a different breed of devils.

    Their sizes might differ but the shroud of evil aura surrounding their bodies cannot be mistaken. Each of this figures wore some form of armor whiches in different kinds. Some of them were tending to their weapons, some were sharpening their ws, some were having a human snack which provoked the ire of the humans.

    At this point, nobody asked a question since it was already obvious who these figures were.

    The Sin''s Children. The Commanders of their own armies, prepared to flood the entirety of Asphodel and plunge it to chaos.

    It didn''t stop there...

    Raven''s vision expanded even more. Focusing on to a lone figure who were at the very back. It was sitting on a throne made out of bones, legs crossed and a hand resting on its chin. It gazed at the army with a dismissive nce.

    As if feeling their gaze, the figure suddenly raised its head but before it could do so, the War Gods shook as the transmission was cut-off. Everyone was startled beyond belief as they saw that figure sitting on the throne. Just a simple nce caused their hairs to stand on each end.

    "Young Lord! Are you alright?"

    Everyone was startled as they heard Kyrie''s voice.. All of them looked at Raven and gasped.

 Chapter 546 - Prelude To A Great Battle

    ---

    There''s bloodstains on Raven''s nose and mouth. He''s pale as a paper and his breathing was ragged.

    Everyone surrounded him with worried gazes but Raven only waved his hand and said:

    "I''m okay. Who''s that by the way? A Sin?"

    "Most likely, yes." Henry solemnly stated as he patted Raven''s shoulders. "We didn''t get to see its face properly so we don''t know which one is it exactly. Additionally, Sins can freely morph into shapes that as they deemed fit for the situation so there''s no point in blindly guessing. By the way, what happened to you?"

    "Pushed my ocr technique a bit too much." Raven groaned as he sat back on the chair. "Thankfully I managed to stop it before the that thing looked over. I had this premonition that it sensed us, I don''t think I can risk peeking over there once more."

    Raven took out some pills from his spatial ring and consumed them. After hisplexion visibly eased-up, he said: "Are we enough to face it?"

    "We can''t say for sure." Theo replied with a frown. "We are the only War Gods who were free, the rest aren''t present since they''re out on a mission. We can still ask for reinforcements but its risky."

    "Either we hope that whoever that one is, don''t descend or we deal with it ourselves. Asking for additional reinforcements isn''t a bad idea but they might be additional casualties instead of being helpful." Julia added.

    "Judging from their numbers, it seems that they''re itching to descend anytime soon." Logan murmured, "Do you n on using the seal right now?"

    "I was hoping to wipe out the army first before I ce the seal." Raven replied, "You see, the tainted seal is connected to the other side. Once we broke it, I''m certain that they''ll be rmed. Additionally, it''ll take some time for me to ce the seals. Depending on the situation, it might take me anywhere from, five to thirty minutes."

    "Speaking of the army, can our really match-up to theirs?" Jessamine couldn''t help but stare at the soldiers who were om standby around her. "We''re severely out numbered. Even if we could boost their capabilities, how long can they evenst? They''re bound to be tired. Plus, they''ve been for a month already."

    Her words caused the others to re-consider their state once more. Raven couldn''t help but sigh, actually he noticed this problem too. Unfortunately he''s out of ideas.

    Just like Logan said, the devil army looked like they''re going to invade anytime soon. Even they couldn''t tell how much time they have left before they descend.

    Everyone was silent for a bit. There was doubting that their situation remains dire. They don''t haven enough man power even with the War Gods around.

    It would''ve been fine if neither the Sin''s Children or the Sin the say, wouldn''t descend but right now, they can''t tell whether they n on doing so or not. It''s very likely that they will since sending this huge amount of devils would just cause chaos. They need someone to lead them and the Sin''s Children fits that position.

    From what they saw earlier, there''s at least nine or ten Sin''s Children behind the massive troop of devils. Their main force were Raven, Kyrie, Anastasia and the War Gods. This line up aren''t enough to deal with the enemy, and that''s not even including the fact that a Sin might be personallying down as well.

    They were outnumbered, yet again they just can''t retreat.

    The situation looks bad.

    "How about we do it this way..."

    "¡­"

    ***

    -Greece-

    *Dong!* *Dong!* *Dong!*

    Every Inner Disciples who were roaming around Greece were rmed by what sounded like enormous church bells echoing in every corner of the ne itself.

    They all looked over to towards the tallest mountain within this ne which could be seen wherever anyone was.

    "What''s going on?"

    "Crap that''s loud!"

    "What''s happening?"

    "Calm down everyone." One student shouted amplifying his voice with energies in order for everyone to hear him. "That sound is some sort of a notice to all Inner Disciples. It sounded five times in total which means that there is an Emergency Mission. Wait for the announcement."

    Hearing this caused most of the Inner Disciples to calm down. Some were either annoyed, curious, apprehensive and etc. Other''s not so much¡­

    "Ahem¡­"

    A rasp sound of someone clearing their throat sounded next to their ears, causing some disciples to jump in surprise.

    "Everyone, listen carefully." The rasp voice said. "My name is Benjamin, Executive Elder of the Mission Hall. I am here to announce that there is an Emergency Mission issued by five War Gods."

    Upon hearing this, many disciples gasped.

    "Issued by five War Gods!? What the heck! I''m so curious."

    "A mission issued by a War God is already bound to get tons of attention, not to mention five. Alright, let''s hear it."

    "Did something bad happened?"

    "Tch, what a bad timing."

    "This is ruining my practice."

    The elder cleared his throat once more, causing the disciples to tone the talking down.

    "The Emergency Mission are as follows: Asphodel is facing a serious threat of being taken over. An army of devils reaching nearly millions in number were about to descend andy waste on that ce. We cannot allow their ns to seed."

    "Therefore, the War Gods have spoken. Those who are brave enough, arm yourself properly and go to Asphodel. Fight for our cause! Don''t let the devils upy Asphodel. This is a great chance for you to prove yourself and to earn Merit Points. The transmission gate is already prepared to transport you over to the outskirts. However, none of you are allowed to cross the Fog of Ruin unless you receive direct orders from the War Gods themselves. Anyone who does will be penalized or worst killed."

    "That''s is for the announcement." Benjamin concluded. "This message will repeat itself two more times, feel free to go or stay. Your choice."

    The disciples were stunned at first. They heard the announcement repeating itself and that when some people moved.

    "Hey, are you going?"

    "Yep!"

    "But the situation sounds ominous, are you sure?"

    "Are you kidding me? Of course I''ll go. Heck! I''ve been waiting for something like this."

    "What!? Why?"

    "To earn merit points why else?" That student replied as if he just said something so obvious. "Look here, newbie. You''re scared. I get it, I truly do. I was like you before. But thing is, being scared won''t get you anywhere here. Fear won''t make you stronger nor allow you to ear merit points to buy your cultivation needs. Killing devils on the other hand, does."

    "From the moment we got epted here and we wore this uniform. ying devils had be our duty and responsibility. There''s no need to be afraid¡­" That student patted the shoulders of the scared disciple and smiled. "You''re not alone in this fight."

    ***

    "Is that enough?" Benjamin asked after making the announcement. He looked behind him and saw a crimson-haired beauty nodding at him. "Don''t you think that this method of announcement is a little too unconvincing?"

    "What? You n on begging all the Inner Disciples to rush over and sacrifice themselves? Forget about moving them, I think it would even be counter-productive."

    "But, if what you told me before was true then wouldn''t we need all the help that we could?"

    "Forcing those who are unwilling or scared will just end being killed worse, converted. Their army isrge enough as it is, we don''t want to just willingly offer the lives of the disciples to them." Anastasia exined.

    "Yes, what you said is true. We need all the help that we could, but if they''ll ended up dying or converted due to us forcing them, then that wouldn''t be considered as help. They will a burden and a casualty at the same time."

    Anastasia looked over the window and saw numerous people with determined expression marching towards the transmission gate. A smile blossomed on her face, causing her beauty to intensify even more.

    "Give them a choice, don''t force them." She said, "Behind the back of your enemy lies the path towards strength and there is fortune beyond the clouds of cmity. Those who doesn''t have the will and determination to seek self-improvement will remain stuck at a bottleneck, only those who are brave enough to face dangers and go past their limits are the only ones worth nurturing."

    "We can point them towards the way, but it''s up to them if they want to go that way."

    "In the end, what the sect wants are brave and battle hardened warriors who could relentlessly hunt the devils down and contribute to the greater good. How can they be experts without experience? Let them temper themselves and grasp the opportunity by their own hands. That¡­is the way forward."

    Benjamin was shocked and speechless. Out of all people, Anastasia was thest person he''s expecting to say these words.

    "I am awed by the wisdom behind your words, Madam."

    "Ah! Those words aren''t mine." Anastasiaughed, causing Benjamin''s lips to twitch. "They''re from a very interesting man. Hopefully, the father of my future child."

    Benjamin hurriedly turned around in order to hide his embarrassed face.

 Chapter 547 - War (I)

    ----

    "Hey, so you guys areing too?"

    "Yeah. Can''t miss out on this. I''m 100,000 Merit Points away from buying the sword I was eyeing for the longest of time. I just hope there''s enough things kill there."

    "Dude, they won''t make a huge announcement like that if there isn''t enough. Plus, don''t tell that you forgot how absurdly fast those abominations reproduce."

    "True that. Anyways, wanna team-up? We''re missing one person."

    "Count me in!"

    "¡­"

    "How''s is it? Have you finished preparing the things we need?"

    "Yeah, I also stock up some pills. Judging by the announcement, shit''s about to go down. We have to careful? Where the rest?"

    "They''re about to arrive."

    "What about Lester?"

    "Hahaha! That guy''s fuming right now. Don''t even try to talk to him."

    "What? Why?"

    "He can''te, that''s why. He''s on the verge of breaking through so he can''t go."

    "Ah! Haha, so that''s why. Poor guy. A battle-junkie that can''t participate in an event like this. I can understand why he''s upset."

    "Yeah, how unlucky. Anyways, let''s just hope that this breakthrough will be fast enough for him to catch-up."

    "Mn! Oh, here they are. Come on, let''s go. I''m itching for some action."

    "Coming!"

    "¡­"

    "You''re noting?"

    "Mm-hmm. I''m not."

    "Why?"

    "I feel like something bad is about to happen."

    "Duh, bitch. Why would they make an announcement like this if things were fine?"

    "You know that''s not what I meant!"

    "Yes, yes I know. You''re a pussy, that''s what you meant."

    "Y-you!"

    "Alright, alright chill! I''m just messin'' wit ya''. Still, using ''gut feeling'' as an excuse to chicken out isn''t the way to my Dude."

    "I told you I ain''t scared."

    "Yes you are. How many times have you said the same phrase over and over again without anything bad happening? Lying is bad ya'' know?"

    "Hmph, whatever. Maybe you''ll appreciate my warning once you''re about to die."

    "And maybe you''ll bee stronger than I am once you muster up the courage to stop lying to everyone and yourself. Well, see ya''ter."

    "¡­"

    "Ooh, girl. Looking mighty fine as always."

    "Thanks, girl. You''re doing so bad yourself."

    "Bitch, you actually believed that? You''re so basic."

    "Shut it, slut! Hahaha. Anyways, you sure you wanna go?"

    "Mm-hmm! I''ll leech on ya'' there, you won''t mind right Sister?"

    "Ew, gross. Never call me that again. And would you please stop squeezing my ass? I don''t appreciate it."

    "Hmph fine! I''ll just ask Justin yours when we return. I think that''d make you more happy."

    "Bitch, how did you know? Haha."

    "Gosh you sluts are loud. Can''t you see that some perverts could hear you? Behave and let''s go."

    "Yes, Ma''am. But let us squeeze your boobs first before we go."

    *Wham!*

    "¡­"

    "Should we really be doing this? That guy told us to us rest for at least a month right?" Derek said somewhat hesitating yet he''s still following Julius'' lead.

    "I know but¡­" Julius was highly hesitant as well. "We can''t miss this! Who knows when we''ll have such an opportunity again? And it''s not like we''re going to the depths anyways. We''ll remain on the outskirts and deal with the stragglers. It shouldn''t be dangerous."

    "His words really riled you up real good huh?" Janine said causing Julius to halt on his steps.

    Julius took a deep breath and said: "Yeah, it sure did."

    The three man squad had never been the same ever since returning to Greece. This was actually the first time that they''ve met since their return. Each of them were badly rattled by Raven''s harsh criticism but once they calmed down and thought about it. The masked-man was correct.

    They were making excuses. It''s as simple as that.

    Admitting that you''re wrong had always been a bitter pill to swallow. Facing the cold and hard truth was never easy. Yes, they were indeed making excuses. All the pain, misery and suffering that they experienced were brought on to them by themselves.

    Perhaps, they were indeed searching for ways to escape this huge responsibility. Perhaps, they''ve truly given up and just wanted to die in order to escape.

    Nevertheless, Raven''s words caused them to wake up from their depression. He pped them so hard with the truth that they could still feel and hear his words echoing in their ears. Needless to say, there''s no other way for them aside from facing reality itself.

    "I don''t know if what we''re doing right now is the right move but¡­to me at least, it is. That should be sufficient for now." Julius muttered but it was heard by the two.

    He then looked back and stared at them.

    "Let''s start over once we return, yeah?" He smiled in a carefree manner.

    Seeing that caused Derek and Janine''s eyes to moisten. Inwardly they screamed ''That''s it. That''s how he used to smile back in the day. He''s back! Thank god.''

    Derek and Janine smiled and together, three man squad then entered the transmission gate.

    ***

    "Attention! All disciples, kindly gather around and listen carefully!"

    Within Asphodel, numerous personnel stood in front of the newly arrive disciples and gathered them together.

    "Okay! All of you listen carefully cause I''m only going to tell you this once." The personnel said. "Right now, a great battle awaits us. Two hours from now, the War Gods will break the seal on the 12th floor and all hell shall break loose! I want you all to stay at your peak condition since we might be staying here for a long time."

    "ording to intel, the army of devils reach millions in numbers." The man said.

    Hearing that caused the disciples to shiver. Now the severity of the situation just became clearer to them. This isn''t just a Great Battle anymore, it''s War. Nevertheless, the disciples remained silent despite their varying reactions.

    "Now that you''re aware of how many of these abominations we have to face, I want to remind you that our goal right now is not to eradicate every single one of them. Our goal is to survive. If you ever find yourself in danger, escape immediately. It doesn''t matter if you return to Greece or just retreat to the outskirts just make sure that you are safe."

    "Today, we''re handing out new seals which you can use in emergency. Unlike the previous rune that we use, this one will instantly teleport you to either Greece or here. Again, let me remind you, do not hesitate! If you''re in danger, retreat!"

    The personnel them gestured at the people beside him and they started handing out three seals for each disciple.

    "Each of you will get three seals, stamp it to your arm and infuse it with energy to activate it. Once you run out of it, then return here to get more."

    "Now, I want you to pay attention to this." The man gestured towards the bonfire beside him. Unlike any ordinary bonfires, the mes on this one was white in color.

    "Some of you might be familiar to this me already but for those who don''t allow me to exin." The man paused before continuing: "This is a Cleansing me. It''s an extraordinary me which could be said as the ''Bane of all Devils''. Utilizing this me to kill devils allows you to purify them since these mes can wipe out the remnant Will of the Devil Emperor that resides on each devils you will face."

    "I won''t be sending you out there without coating yourself with cloak of this mes. Those who prefer a close-quarterbat can also get a coating of this me on your chosen weapon. Again, us and the War Gods don''t want you to blindly charge forward and surrender your lives to kill devils. Our goal is to survive, next is to prevent devils from upying Asphodel. We can''t do neither if you guys are dead so pay attention to your safety."

    "Last but not the least, I the War Gods have a message to you all." The man looked at the disciples and puffed his chest out ever so slightly to indicate his pride.

    "Everyone who participated in this battle will earn double the Merit Points for each devils they y. Good luck and stay safe."

    All disciples erupted in explosive cheers causing Asphodel to rumble as if there''s an earthquake.

    From their gazes alone, those words were the biggest motivator needed to ignite their fighting spirits. Doubled Merit Points! The War Gods won''t lie about this. Now, everyone''s excitement are peaked.

    One by one, the disciples stood on top of the bonfires and got a cloak of Cleansing mes. As they marveled about the strange sensation go being covered in mes, the ground suddenly rumbled.

    *Boom!*

    All of a sudden, the entire Asphodel shook fiercely. The disciples were badly startled as they looked at the direction of the Pagoda. All of a sudden, a wave of ominous and evil pressure started permeating the entirety of Asphodel.

    Although it''s currently unknown how, the disciples weren''t scared. In fact, every single one of them red at the direction of the pagoda in anticipation.

    "Disciples! MEET. THE. ENEMY!!!"

    "AAAAHHHHH!"

 Chapter 548 - War (II)

    ---

    Asphodel rumbled due to the intensity of the battle.

    Humans versus Devils. It was a great sh. A Holy War.

    Streaks of lights, sparks of weapons shing, battle cries and mournful wails could be heard everywhere.

    Just like what they said earlier, the number of Devils are insane. Millions of them poured through and charged at the disciples with reckless abandon. It didn''t take long before Asphodel was littered with burning corpses of devils.

    Yes, the disciples were greatly outnumbered. However for some reason, they weren''t losing on the sh. In fact, they could tell that they''re winning.

    Those who were sharp figured out the reason why. It''s all due to these burning white mes protecting them.

    When they were informed that these mes were highly effective against devils, some people were actually doubtful at first. Everyone here was an Inner Disciples, meaning that they''ve been in the sect for quite sometime already. They knew how irritating these devils could get and just how slippery they were and tough their defenses are.

    To their surprise however, in this great battle, they found out that ying devils felt easierpared before. There were tons of devil variations here. Some they''ve fought before while others, they fought for the first time. Since everyone was experienced, they could easily feel the difference on the way how they killed them.

    Not all disciples are dumb, they could easily connect the clues together. It didn''t take them long before they understood that it was due to these Cleansing mes.

    With this newly acquired weapon, of course the disciples went all out. After all, who in the right mind wouldn''t take advantage of this situation? Killing devils became easier thanks to the Cleansing mes and the merit points they earn were doubled.

    Only a fool would miss out on this chance.

    "This is crazy¡­"

    Someone uttered breathlessly as he watched the fierce war that''s going on. He was levitating, allowing him to witness the incredibly scenes of the war.

    "I know right? Who could''ve imagined something like this happening? Those abominations are truly getting craftier and craftier." A female added as she too floated in the air.

    "Are we even needed here?" Another guy asked.

    "I don''t think we are." Someone answered. "Look at them go! Our disciples are outnumbered but they''re pushing the devils back."

    "Quick! Record this scene! We need to show this next time the Council Meeting urs!"

    These people who are looking down at the outrageous scene at Asphodel were people who wore deep ck uniforms with red linings. Every single one of them wore a deep crimson badge at the right upper chest. They were also invisible to everyone''s eyes.

    Anyone who sees them would most likely turn incredibly respectful. Why? It''s because these people were their glorious War Gods.

    These people aren''t Henry and the rest. They just arrived here at Asphodel just after the start of the War. These War Gods were reinforcements brought by Anastasia. There are four of them at the current moment. They were:

    Charles Luther II the ''Crimson Spear War God.''

    Celestine Agnes, the ''Dominatrix War God''.

    Paolo Edmet, the ''Taotie War God''.

    And Levi Cross, the ''King Roc War God''.

    "Well, I think we should split, just in case there''s an ident." Charles suggested to hisrades. "Who''s willing to stay and monitor the situation here?"

    "I''ll do it." Levi Cross raised his hand. "With my speed and feathers, I''ll be able to respond swiftly if anything goes wrong. You guys go towards the Pagoda. They need you there, leave this to me."

    "Alright, we''ll trouble you then." Charles nodded. Paolo then walked at Levi and said:

    "Here, you continue recording this scene. You know how to use this right?"

    "Why do I have to?" Levi grumbled.

    "Come on, do it for me. Please? I''ll give you a sloppy kisster."

    "Scram!" Levi red at him.

    "Hihi. We''re off then..." Paolo mischievously grinned as he flew towards the direction of the pagoda with the rest on tow. Levi merely shook his head and grumbled underneath his breath.

    "Damn it. If you don''t stay true to your words, then I swear I''ll chop off your ballster. Hmph!"

    ***

    "Gosh, this line-up is insane..." Kyrie muttered under her breath as she watched the raging battle from within the formation.

    Her gaze was locked at the rows of creatures with bodies oozing with evil aura. She couldn''t help but feel a little intimidated by this scene.

    There were at least 15 Army Commanders here also known as Sin''s Children. This number really shocked them since from what they''ve seen earlier, they only saw nine or ten of them.

    Raven didn''t take the risk of peeking once more since he was afraid that the Sin would sense him if he did. This in turn caused them to miscalcte the enemy forces.

    Thankfully though, their n wasn''t a total failure.

    Thanks to thebined efforts of Henry, Julia and Raven, they managed to transport the millions of devils heading their way. Raven taught Julia a unique seal which she ced on Henry''s sword. As soon as the army came rushing in, Henry activated the rune by performingrge scaled attacks which transported the devils to the inner depths of Asphodel where the disciples can deal with them. Leaving only the Sin''s Children for them to deal with.

    Needless to say, the situation is still a bit finicky for them. Their main forces, the War Gods were severely outnumbered. It was also unfortunate that Raven can''t actively join the battle since he needed to monitor his connection to the Cleansing mes.

    Sharing the mes with a few people isn''t a problem to him but the greater the number of users, the greater focus he needed. As of now, Raven''s supporting hundreds of thousands of disciples through the mes and it takes not only his but also all of his avatars'' focus to keep them protected. Which is why he''s inside the formation.

    Right now, the War Gods are doing they absolute best to keep the Sin''s Children trapped in here. It would be best if they could kill them but they''re outnumbered.

    It''s four versus fifteen, and even though the War Gods were obscenely strong, their opponents they faced neutralized the difference through their numbers.

    "They''re also facing the Children of Greed. Which means that each of these abominations could ''steal'' their attacks to boost their own. This isn''t good. I wish Anna could return faster with the reinforcements." Kyrie mumbled as she bit her lips in anxiety.

    "100 Crimson Light shes!"

    *Shew!* *Shew!*

    "Festival of Thorns!"

    "Rampaging Taotie!"

    *BOOM!*

    Kyrie''s eyes abruptly went wide as she saw additional flurry of attacks heading towards the Sin''s Children. She looked up and saw three silhouettes charging towards the enemies with a fearsome momentum,

    "Crimson Spear, Dominatrix, Taotie! You guys arete!" Logan yelled but there was a trace of relief in his expression.

    "Correction, peasant. We''re ''Fashionably Late''." Celestine wagged a finger towards Logan in disdain.

    "Alright, don''t start arguing now. We''re still in trouble." Charles said as he gripped his 9 foot, 9 inches long Crimson Spear while striding towards the Sin''s Children like a fearsome general. "Let''s finish this early, I have a date."

    "Must be nice¡­" Theo smiled wryly as he lifted his hands and sent volleys of dragon shaped white mes towards the enemies.

    "Hey, Julia. Let''s get married after this." Paolo who transformed into towering Taotie Bull asked.

    "Shut it, you rogue." Julia sneered as she rained down numerous pink sharp feathers at the enemies. "You already have Levi. Spare me the drama."

    *Boom!*

    Therge Taotie Bull head-butted a charging devil, causing it to fly back towards the enemies camp.

    "Oh, don''t you worry about him. He can''t say no to me, specially after he tasted this¡­"

    "Ohe on, you rogue." Jessamine''s face was twisted as she plucked her zither using her delicate fingers. "There''s a time and ce for this kind of conversation. And it is certainly not now."

    "Jessamine is right, you guys." Henry admonished as he sent numerous gigantic sword waves at the enemies.

    "Hmph, you talk as if you''re a good person." Taotie lifted a devil and snapped its spine in half. "You only say that so that she''d look at you more favorably."

    "Wha-!" Henry was startled and his face suddenly reddened like a tomato, he even sneakily nced at Jessamine and saw her distracted by Paolo''s words. He then felt somethinging his way causing his expression to turn cold. He snorted and split that abomination in half. "I-you! Hmph! Compared to you, I''m a real gentleman!"

    "Gentleman my ass!" Logan roared as he punched several holes on one of the Sin''s Children''s bodies. "If my memory serves me well, I caught you pee-"

    "Shut the fuck up!" Henry roared back as he just diced another one using his sword.

    "Ahh~ being young is so nice¡­" Theo murmured, grinning as he heard the loud bickering of his teammates while also causing pirs of white mes to erupt.

    Kyrie who''s been watching all of this unfold, had her eyes twitching as she thought:

    "Don''t tell me their going to kill each other after this¡­"

 Chapter 549 - War (III)

    ---

    "Shit! This isn''t working¡­"

    All of the War Gods who''s currently trying their best to eradicated the Sin''s Children are thinking the same thing.

    The War Gods are strong. There was no need to doubt about that. Each War God was powerful enough to reduce an entire star into dust. Even the weakest of them was capable to eradicating all life from an entire.

    Unfortunately, their enemies were more persistent that they were this time around.

    Anybody who witnessed the scene within the Broken Floor would probably gape in shock.

    It was already rare for any Inner Disciples to see a War God in the flesh yet there''s eight of them here. What''s even more shocking is that, even the War Gods themselves are having a difficult time defeating their enemies.

    It wasn''t like they were incredibly strong or anything. But since they could regenerate swiftly even after experiencing lethal injuries was incredibly irritating. It didn''t matter how many times they''ve cut them apart, snapped them in half, beheaded them or etc. They would just regenerate at a visible speed and stand back up to fight.

    "It''s like the first War of Asphodel all over again." Henry spat as he continued hacking down on his opponents.

    That war already left a deep impression to every War God since it resulted in their defeat and the 11th floor copsing. The situation was very simr minus the fact that the Sin''s themselves aren''t present in this battle.

    Just like how it was back then, these Army Commanders have seemingly swallowed some medicine that allowed them to posses an Immortal Body. It didn''t matter what kind of damage was inflicted to them, they would just regenerate from it ande rushing back as if nothing happened. They seems to posses unlimited stamina too.

    This made dealing with them incredibly difficult.

    "Hey you guys! Got any bright ideas?" Logan asked as he tore an arm off from his enemy.

    "How many times they could regenerate is how many times I''ll kill them, that''s it." Paolo the Taotie yelled back as he snapped the spine of another one.

    "Do you have an idea on how many times that would be exactly?" Henry asked.

    "Nope. Not a single clue."

    "Damn you''re useless." Celestine snorted as she impaled her enemy with numerous thorns.

    "Shut it, woman. If you''re so smart then how about we hear it from you?" Paolo refuted, Celestine was shocked but in the end she didn''t have any better ideas so she simply snorted. "Yeah, that''s what I thought."

    "They might as well have infinite lives then." Theo murmured, not even his Cleansing mes were working as much as he wanted against these devils.

    Inside the formation, Kyrie watched as the War Gods had a difficult time against the Sin''s Children. Her hands were clenched in worry, she could hear their conversation and it made her realize just how dire the situation is.

    "Don''t tell me we''re going to lose this battle¡­" She whispered, unable to prevent herself from feeling rather useless and helpless.

    "Don''t lose hope." A voice sounded behind her. "I''m here."

    She swiftly turned around and saw Raven ring at the direction of the huge battle. Her heart started beating faster. She couldn''t help but worry and at the same time, hope that Raven had a solution for this situation.

    They can''t afford to lose this battle. They already failed their ancestors by the letting the devils blow-up the 11th floor, although they had no idea what the devils were nning when they started this mass invasion but they can''t afford to let them have their way. Too many lives will be lost, Asphodel will be flooded by devils and the sect might fall if they don''t do something.

    Although she sincerely hoped that Raven had a solution, she also didn''t want to push him even further.

    In truth, Raven already made an incredible service by informing the sect about the mass-invasion and thwarting the surprise n. In fact, just him creating the seals needed for the recement was already enough for him to be rewarded heavily by the sect.

    But he didn''t stop there. Not only he did all of that, he even devised a n that benefitted not only them but numerous Inner Disciples in the process as well. On top of that, he even shared his Cleansing Fire with them, rising the lethality of the disciples against devils and protecting them from the residual Will of the Devil Emperor.

    It had to be known that he''s supporting at least 200,000+ Inner Disciples all by himself by sharing his Cleansing mes with them. It was already a goddamn miracle that he''s still conscious at this point. Yet now, he''s even pushing himself harder.

    A brilliant gleam of rainbow colored light was released from his eyes.

    The War Gods who were fighting were suddenly startled when they felt a faint energy trying to connect with them. Henry''s eyes widened as he yelled:

    "You guys, connect with it! He''s showing us something!"

    Henry, Theo, Logan, Julia and Jessamine were already familiar with this sensation so they immediately connected with Raven''s link without hesitating. Paolo, Celestine and Charles weren''t but they knew that Henry was referring to them and he wouldn''t do anything that''ll endanger them so they took his advice.

    To their surprise, they found themselves with a brand new world perspective. Various colors flooded their vision but most of them were blurred as if fading onto the background.

    The first batch of War Gods who appeared weren''t surprised by this since they already felt this before but Paolo, Celestine and Charles were extremely surprised.

    "Wah, this is awesome! I could see shit clearer!"

    "So this is how he sees Asphodel huh?" Celestine was intrigued and distracted by the colorful surroundings.

    "He''s trying to show us something." Charles dered, his gaze then moved towards the Sin''s Children and his eyes widened: "Look! There''s something inside those abominations!"

    That got everyone''s attention. They all looked at the Sin''s Children and just like what Charles said, there is something inside their bodies."

    Inside the Sin''s Children''s bodies, were white vein like patterns which were pulsating as they moved. The War Gods were surprised since none of them knew that something like this existed within their bodies.

    "White veins? That shouldn''t be - oh! The vision''s changing." Jessamine was briefly startled.

    Under their astonished gazes, the vision suddenly zoomed in to these white-veins. It was at this point that time seems to have slowed down much to everybody''s surprise.

    As it turns out, these white-veins were hiding something very unexpected. There was a small pearl circting inside this white veins. It moved extremely swift which was the reason that nobody noticed it.

    This small pearl was ck in color, it''s unknown what kinds of materials were used to create them but none of the War Gods were stupid. Since Raven went all this way to emphasize his vision to this small pearl and showed it to them, his message was clear.

    "Aha! So that''s fucking how, you sneaky motherfuckers!" Paolo eximed. Without any further ado, he rammed his head onto the a random one''s body and yelled: "Tremor!"

    Controlled shockwaves wrecked havoc within the Devil Army Commander''s body, turning its insides into a fine mesh including the veins. The small pearl hidden behind the veins didn''t escape either. It shattered into powder due to the intensity of shockwaves.

    Then under everyone expecting gazes, the body of the Army Commander Paolo attacked, was reduced into fine ash. They waited for a couple of seconds and just as they thought, it didn''t regenerate.

    "Woohoo! Finally killed ya'' you pesky son of a bitch! Haha! Good job 9th! I''ll treat you to some foodter!"

    "Okay! We have a solution now!" Charles yelled as his and the other''s fighting spirit re-ignited thanks to the positive result. "9th don''t push yourself too hard. You''ve done a good job, leave this us. You guys! Don''t let 9th''s effort be wasted! Let''s win this thing!! Come on!"

    "Who freaking died and made him the leader¡­" Logan snorted as his six-arms turned into blurs. His des reduced the enemy he was facing into a finely chopped flesh including the small pearl hiding within it''s body. Just like this, another Army Commander fell.

    "Tune of Invigoration, Focus, Rage and Enfeeblement!" Jessamine''s delicate hands blossomed into multiple shadows as she plucked her zither, she produced hymns that supported her allies and enfeebled the enemy.

    Under her miraculous boosts and Raven''s Vision Connection, the War Gods were strengthened even further. One by one the Sin''s Children fell. Some of them had more than one of those small pearls which caused them to pay close attention to them. Nevertheless, now that their weakness was revealed, there''s no way that the War Gods would just let regenerate once again.

    And just like that, thanks to Raven''s efforts once more. The situation was reversed and the Sin''s Children was dealt with. The War Gods heaved a sigh of relief.

    *Pa!* *Pa!* *Pa!*

    "Impressive¡­most impressive. As expected of the glorious War Gods of the Ancient Elysium Sect."

    *Shivers!!!*

 Chapter 550 - War (IV)

    ---

    It didn''t matter whether it was a War God or not. Anyone who heard this voice will surely experience a chill running down their spine as soon as they hear it.

    Nobody noticed when this person arrive. Which meant that if he/she/they came with bad intentions, their forces would''ve suffered a tremendous loss.

    Whether it was sheer arrogance or just simply because this person could do it. Showing up in this manner caused everyone to be extremely rmed.

    This person looked harmless for the most part. While this person looked had a very feminine face, their body was that of a male and their voice sounded like three people speaking the same words at the same time.

    They had a long ck hair, a rather petite, pale and naked upper body. They lower garment looked like a gown which were made out of ck feathers. It has a slit which allowed them to see their thighs and bare foot.

    Their body was body was filled with tribal tattoos which were created using glowing green ink, making their body looked strangely enchanting. Two long horns could be seen on their head. The horn were coiled onto their head making it look like a hear ornament instead. Also, a pair of long and ck wings gleaming with a faint emerald sheen could be seen on their back.

    At this point, everyone could tell that this person isn''t human anymore just from their physical appearance. Added the fact that it has a pair of eyes which looked that of a reptiles and a fiendishly evil aura fluctuating from its body, it was clear and obvious that the is a Devil, and they are extremely dangerous.

    "I have to say¡­" The devil''s voice sounded on their ears once more. "I am rather surprised and amused."

    The devil looked around and saw remains of the Sin''s Children, they also looked at the Fog of Ruin but their gaze seems to be able to prate through to fog and observe the explosive battle of the disciples against the swarm of devils.

    "¡­you guys acted rather swift." The devil continued. "We have been nning this invasion for quite some time already, I''d say about a year or two. Silently preparing and breeding more children in order to send as fodder to reach our ultimate goal."

    "I even modified the bodies of my own Children, allowing them to experience some sort of a Pseudo-Immortality State, thanks to the White Undying Devil''s Pearls, which took me a decade to create. I used everything on them just to make sure that the n will seed. Yet it was all for naught." The devil said with a somber tone.

    "The n failed, my children are dead and my pearls were shattered." The devil''s voice fell as it reached this point.

    Everyone felt his the raging fury behind his words and frankly, everyone was rmed and on-guard against them. However to their surprise, the devil didn''t attack. In fact, the rage it disyed for the briefest of moment disappeared like a snow under the summer''s heat.

    *Woosh!*

    Due to their surprise about the sudden shift of the devil''s mood, they were caughtpletely off-guard when the devil suddenly moved, promptly disappearing from it''s spot.

    The devil reappeared, standing face to face with Paolo who''s still on his Taotie Form.

    Everybody''s faces paled, Paolo himself was extremely rmed that he unconsciously attacked with all of his might, causing arge explosion to ur. Yet to everybody''s surprise, when the smoke disappeared. Paolo''s head was stopped by a single finger of the devil.

    There was an unamused expression on the devil''s face, it''s reptilian pupils inspected Paolo''s form closely.

    "An ugly Minotaur, quite surprising for a Human. And here I thought your kind abhors us yet you derive power from our kind." The Devil mused as they kept looked at Paolo. "I wonder¡­should I bring you back and use you to breed more Minotaurs? Hmm¡­"

    Everyone was frightened by the devil''s words. Now, the severity of the situation was finally bing clearer and clearer to them.

    This devil is no ordinary one. Just from a nce, anybody could tell that this thing is incredibly dangerous. Nobody even managed to see how it moved and from how it talked, it''s inly obvious that this thing doesn''t see the War Gods as threats but more like guinea pigs.

    *Pshew!* *Pshew!*

    Projectiles appeared from out of nowhere, each one was targeted at the Devil. Everyone then heard a voice...

    "Hands-off the merchandise, you hermaphrodite. He''s mine."

    Followed by this deration was a figure flying in the air. It was a guy with a Mohican hairstyle, his face exuded cold indifference as the beautiful ted gold wings pped behind him. He was wearing the same uniform as the War Gods but what makes him different is that, his legs were transformed into sharp ws resembling that of an eagle''s.

    This person was none other than the ''King Roc War God - Levi Cross''.

    The projectiles just now were actually his feather. Levi didn''t have any hopes of hurting the devil with this, he just wanted to scare away the devil for Paolo, and he seeded.

    The Devil evaded the projectiles, disappearing from their trajectory and reappearing somewhere else on the field. They stared at Levi and said:

    "First a Minotaur and now a Harpy?." They said with a pondering expression. "I don''t understand your words earlier but from what I can see, I assume that this Ugly Minotaur is your mate."

    "If that''s the case, then color me amused. I wonder what sort of mutations will ur to your hatchlings. A Minotaur with wings and a lower body of a Harpy? Hmm, a curious and rather confusing creature, but it has potential."

    "What will be of our children is none of your business. And yours is the most confusing existence!" Levi retorted with a snort. He then sent a voice transmission to Paolo asking: ''Are you good? Hurt anywhere?''

    ''I''m good, thanks Babe.'' Paolo replied, ''If wee back alive from this, I''ll give you a month long fucking.''

    ''Shush, you rogue! Now''s not the time for that!'' Levi admonished before ring at the Devil''s direction.

    "Well, then..." Levi said as he stared at devil. "What brings you to Asphodel, Lust?"

    Everyone shivered as soon as Levi revealed the name of the devil. Nobody was truly surprised, after all not just any devil will have this kind of aura. They already had an idea that this one should be one of the strong ones. Still, hearing Levi confirm that they were indeed facing against one of the ''Seven Deadly Sins - Sin of Lust'' didn''t prevent them from shivering.

    "Oh? You know of me, yet still had the gall to talk back. A verymendable attitude for an insect, yet it doesn''t change the fact that I could crush your pitiful existence with a flick of my finger." Lust said indifferently.

    "You think too highly of yourself." Levi snorted. "I could still remember how you fled like a frightened puppy back when you along with your brothers tried to swallow Asphodel. Seeing how miserable you were back then, even the Grand Elder took pity on you and left you alive. But now, just because you got a little taller and your wings got a little wider, you start pping yours gums and throwing your weight everywhere. Hmph! What a joke."

    Levi''s sharp words brought a rather refreshing feeling for hisrades and caused Lust''s face to twist in fury. The towering ck mist filled with evil intent rose up from his body, signifying that he''s about to attack anytime soon. Yet just like before, it disappeared promptly as if it never existed in the first ce and Lust''s face was back to showing an indifferent look.

    "I see. So you were amongst the people who were present back then. I don''t have any recollections of you though."

    "I''d be surprised if you did." Levi snorted. "You weren''t even on the frontlines! You just stared as ''Gluttony'', ''Envy'', and ''Wrath'' fought against our forces. If ''Envy'' is here, she''d probably remember me, after all I was the one who scratched her ugly-ass face."

    "You arrogant fly!!!" Lust screeched sharply as they were thoroughly provoked by Levi''s words.

    But instead of being scared, Levi merely snorted and wasn''t even fazed with Lust''s outburst. But that doesn''t mean that he''s underestimating the enemy, it''s theplete opposite in fact.

    *Weng!!*

    Everybody were extremely rmed as they suddenly felt intense fluctuationing-off of the portal to the 12th floor. They all looked over there and saw someone standing on the air with his back against them.

    Lust face was filled with stupefaction, he stared dumbly at the glowing rune that has the ''Seal'' in it, covering the entrance to the 12th floor.

    "WHO ARE YOU!!!!" Lust roared at the top of their lungs.

    The guy flinched and looked back at them. He then looked towards his left and right, pointing at himself he innocently asked:

    "Me!? Oh, Psh.. Don''t mind me, I''m just a nobody. You guys continue talking, don''t let me disturb you ''kay?"

 Chapter 551 - War (V)

    ---

    Stunned beyond belief¡­that would be the most urate description of what everyone witnessed just now.

    When this guy moved and went in there? Why did nobody noticed him at all? How the hell did he passed by the detection of a Deadly Sin? How did nobody notice the act of him sealing the portal to the 12th floor earlier?

    All of these questioned rumbled in their brain yet nobody could answer them, perhaps only Raven himself would¡­but it doesn''t seem that he''ll be interested on doing that.

    "Ehehee on, stop staring at me. I''m shy¡­" Raven showed a bashful expression as he looked sideways and evaded their nce.

    The War Gods felt their faces twitching when they heard him. ''What''s he acting all bashful about?'' Is what they all asked inwardly.

    "Raaggh!!!" A primal roar suddenly woke everyone up from their stupor.

    The pupils of every War God constricted when they saw Lust charging towards Raven with a twisted expression. It was then that they inwardly cursed themselves for being so stupid. They should''ve known from the moment that Raven was discovered. They should''ve already moved and protected him since he already began doing his work.

    However, it''s all toote¡­

    ¡­or is it?

    *Bam!*

    Multiple sound barriers were broken due to how fast Lust flew. His target was obviously Raven, wanting nothing more than to tear this pest apart and torture his soul for his daring act ofpletely taking advantage of the situation.

    The War Gods tried to follow him, especially Levi who''s the fastest amongst all of the War Gods here. Unfortunately, the head start that Lust got from taking advantage caused him to pull ahead of them and reach Raven faster.

    Just as the War Gods despaired for being so careless as to allowing a brilliant Heir of Zeus to die within their presence, a sigh echoed on their ears which undoubtedly came from Raven.

    "Tch. And here I thought I could do this without anyone noticing. Just my luck really¡­"

    *BOOOOOOOM!*

    "GAHCK!"

    A loud and miserable chocking sound was heard all over the broken floor. The War Gods were floored by what they saw just now¡­

    Lust, who''s been breaking sound barriers and were trying to kill Raven as fast as possible, were smacked by an enormous hands which came out of nowhere like a fly. He crashed on the ground just as fast as he was going, the impact caused the ground to shook fiercely and for a massive crater to form where he crashed.

    Raven''s face was devoid of any expression as he loftily stood on the air, arms crossed and staring down at Lust as if they were an insect.

    The War Gods were gaping at the sight. None of them dared to imagine such a surprising development but they weren''t mad at it. In fact they were incredibly joyous, knowing that Raven was strong enough to defend himself.

    Now that the danger was subverted, the War Gods no longer hesitated. Every single one of them surrounded Raven and protected him.

    "Haha! Serves you right asshole!" Paolo on his Taotie formughed uproariously as he watch Lust trying to get but failing and coughing blood, he then looked at Raven and said: "That was a good p, 9th!"

    "Stop bothering him already!" Julia admonished, she then looked at Raven and said: "You go ahead and finish applying the seal. Leave this thing to us."

    "I''ll trouble you then." Raven nodded, all the yfulness on his face and tone was gone. "My Destruction Laws are wrecking havoc to it''s body, you guys can take advantage of it."

    "Music to my ears." Charles smirked coldly upon hearing that.

    Without any further ado, he brandished his spear and pointed it at the sky. An orb of red light umted at the tip of his spear, growing to a palm sized ball before he pointed it at Lust who''s still struggling to get up.

    "Longinus! Pierce!" Charles roared as he thrust his crimson spear forward. The ball exploded and turned into a beam of crimson light, piercing Lust''s heart with perfect uracy.

    Paolo followed up by falling onto the ground with a loud stomp. He then lowered his body and began lifting something up. Cracks formed on the ground, slowly revealing an enormous boulder which was at least fifteen times bigger than Paolo himself.

    "Raaggh!!" With a loud roar, Paolo threw the boulder at Lust who tried to flee but discovered that his body was constricted by whip with piercing and poisonous thorns. This was the work of Celestine.

    *BOOOM!*

    A screeching sound escaped through Levi''s lips who''s still on his King Roc''s form. Behind him, numerous feathers manifested containing a sharp and shredding aura''s. With a p of his wings, the feathers began flying towards Lust, intending to rip their body apart from head to toe.

    *Hum!*

    Jessamine''s delicate fingers plucked her Zither so fast they turned into a blur. The sound she produced caused her allies to feel energized and stronger while at same time, weakening Lust in multiple ways.

    Large pirs of White mes erupted from Theo''s body. There was a look of unprecedented concentration on his face as exercised his will on to the Cleansing me Pirs, transforming them into white me, red-eyed dragons. Each dragon head red at Lust with an unparalleled hostility. Theo waved his fans, sending the dragons rushing towards Lust.

    "Dance of the Nine Dragons!"

    The dragons he sent began surrounding Lust who had been terrible injuries at this point. Due to them being Cleansing mes, their lethality against a creature like him were dialed up to 11. They opened their maws and began gnawing at Lust''s body.

    Lust wailed in agony as the Cleansing mes incinerated every inch of their body. Nevertheless, he''s still alive even though he''s badly hurt, which was arge indication of just how absurd these Deadly Sins are.

    All of a sudden, nine brilliant runes appeared near Lust, each one forming a shape of majestic swan dancing. As they dances, the Cleansing mes fluctuated. They lost their draconic shape and transformed into a massive twister that burned Lust''s body even more.

    Thanks to Julia''s move, the temperature of the mes reached their all time high. The burning heat it now possessed burned every inch of Lust''s body, in fact it was even melting his vocal chords, preventing him from screaming out in sheer agony.

    But that''s not the end of it¡­

    Raven who casually nced behind him and saw Lust''s torture, decided to amp up the pain. Light blossomed from his body, turning into strands of light which transformed into ethereal hands surrounding him. Another light suffused from his body and encased the entire broken floor. It formed a huge dome which transformed thend into a scene of ruin and destruction.

    The temperature fell, everything turned dull and lifeless. A blunt, cold and imposing will descended out of nowhere. A wave of unparalleled killing intent bore down on Lust, causing them to be reminded of their brother Wrath.

    "This is¡­" The War Gods were astounded. They all looked back at Raven, staring at him incredulously as they felt the sudden changes on their surroundings.

    "ughter Intent! Boy, you sure are an evil-doer! To think that you were even hiding something awesome!" Logan cried out in shock.

    "Not quite." Theo''smented as he inspected the domain surrounding them. "It should be a pseudo-ughter Intent superimposed with his Destruction Domain."

    "Indeed." Raven nodded, his face was indifferent and cold but no one was surprised, this was the side-effect of his ughter Intent after all.

    "Still, it''s nothing short of amazing!" Juliamented on the side. "Not all War Gods has that, not even the pseudo version. You sure are a little monster."

    "Focus everyone." Levi interrupted, allowing them to return their attention back to the enemy.

    Lust''s face twisted on agony when they felt a sharp, soul-rending pain on their back.

    Everyone saw a pair of massive hands which contained rivers of stars, tearing Lust''s wings apart without any ounce of mercy. Nobody was surprised nor rmed, in fact they even found that scene exhrating to watch. The more they knew about him, the more Raven shows them just how capable he was. Normally they''d shower him with praises but now''s not the time.

    "Let''s end this farce." Henry grunted as he raised a finger pointing towards the sky.

    A massive portal appeared above Lust. After that, a massive sword-tip appeared, filled with killing intent and pointed Lust''s head. The massive sword continued descending until it was fully revealed for everyone to see.

    Logan whistled as they all stared at that massive sword. He had seen this many times in the past but scene never gets old.

    Lust''s eyes widened in disbelief. Just from a nce, he could already tell that this enormous sword will undoubtedly kill them, therefore it started preparing to defend itself.

    Seeing this, Henry merely snorted and swiped his finger down, plunging the sword down. It was then Raven''s voice was heard.

    "Let me help you with that." He raised a hand and clenched it.

    Two enormous hands appeared by the handle of the sword, grasping it tightly. Raven brought his fist down and the enormous hands plunged the sword down to end Lust once and for all.

    "NOOOOOOO!!!!"

    *BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!*

 Chapter 552 - War End

    ---

    A explosion which shook the fabrics of entire Asphodel ensued.

    Everyone''s vision were covered by thick clouds of dusts. Momentster, the scene below was revealed to them...

    A massive crater was left from the impact theirbined efforts. At it''s center, remains of Lust could be seen.

    There were barely anything left of them. At least 90% of Lust''s body was gone. What remained was only their hand and some skin.

    No one attacked, they merely spread their senses in there to check if Lust still shoes any signs of being alive. The War Gods hadn''t dropped their guards down yet. In fact, they were even ready tosh out the moment a sign of Lust being alive was discovered.

    *Swoosh!*

    The War Gods were startled.

    Even with their guards raised, they were still surprised by a sudden gust of wind running past them. All of them looked back in rm yet they found no traces of the enemy or whatsoever, still they were convinced that Lust was still alive. The problem is, they don''t see him or have any way of attacking him.

    Raven who felt the same gust of wind snorted loudly.

    He stomped a foot forward and a tall pir of zing white mes erupted from within his body. Next, he moved swiftly and intercepted something which cannot be seen by others except from him.

    "You''re not going anywhere, not under my watch." Raven uttered coldly. He raised his palms and grunted: "Crucifixion!"

    *Aaaarrrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!*

    A guttural roar echoed across the entirety of Asphodel.

    The War Gods were shocked as they heard the agonized scream of Lust, which not only confirmed their guesses that they''re still alive, but also surprised the War Gods since Raven easily saw what they can''t and easily intercepted it.

    A massive crucifix appeared in front of them. Theo, who''s watching this scene, had a brilliant smile on his face. Of course he would, after all he was the one who created this technique after all. Only a handful of people could perform this technique due its strict requirements which mostly because of Cleansing mes, so seeing it being performed by someone else in front of him, caused him to feel incredibly ted.

    The War Gods watched the massive crucifix in awe. At the center of it, was a figure which looked just like lust but without the wings. It was suffering from extreme agony, it didn''t matter how hard it tried to free itself, the crucifixion mes won''t let go, and it''s agony will only continue.

    Nevertheless, Raven himself didn''t know what to do. He''s aware that being trapped in the crucifix of Cleansing mes was an agonizing experience for Lust but Raven doubted that it would kill it. In fact, he''s already expecting that it won''t. But it won''t be freeing itself anytime soon so he wanted to use this time to ask for the opinion of the War Gods.

    "Should we kill it?" That''s all he wanted to ask. Nevertheless, his question had an incredible importance.

    "Why hesitate, 9th?" Levi asked, "That''s our job right?"

    "I know." Raven nodded, "But if we do, the Devil Emperor will surely sense it. In fact, I even have a feeling that it already knows. The emperor might order its minions tounch another invasion, more aggressively this time, if we truly kill this thing."

    "But at the same time, letting it go means allowing it to report to its brothers what we did. That''s important intel that they might use against us in the future. At the same time, this thing won''t make the same mistake in the future, so our chances of killing it would lessen."

    "I want your opinions about this matter. I''m fairly new so I''ll just go by your decision." Raven stated, causing the War Gods to look at him approvingly.

    The War Gods looked at each other and nodded. They all then said: "Kill."

    Henry stepped forward and said: "It''s fine that you think that way, after all you''re considering the future of the sect with your decision. But what Levi said is true. It is our job to y these things, the more the better. Eradicating them is our purpose, for the greater good."

    "We''ll leave the honors to you. This is your Merit, after all if it weren''t for you, our casualties would be way higher." Paolo added with a huge grin on his face.

    "Aw, shucks..." Raven ced a bashful expression on his face as he stepped closer to the tortured soul of Lust.

    Seeing that expression caused the War Gods'' faces to twitch...

    "I just feel the need to smack his face whenever he wears that expression. Is it just me?" Logan stated. The other War Gods didn''t say a thing but all of them agreed inwardly.

    As Raven stood in front of Lust''s soul, he clenched his hand and torrents of pure white mes started pulsating from his fist.

    A hoarseugh escaped from Lust''s lips despite the agonizing pain it endured. It then looked savagely at Raven and said:

    "I can''t believe this." It said, "On normal asions, I could squash something like you with a random yawn, yet now I will meet my end on your hands. Oh! What kind ofughable fate is this?"

    "This isn''t about fate, you idiot." Raven snorted as he opened his fist. "You''re just inferior in both mind and strength that''s all. Now shut your trap and ept your end ''kay?"

    "I''m unresigned! I''m unwilling!" Lust roared at the top of its lungs.

    "Aww, too bad no one cares." Raven scoffed as he lifted his palms and revealed a small seed.

    Seeing this seed caused Theo''s face to lighten up and for Lust''s face to turn twisted.

    Raven unceremoniously ced the seed on Lust''s chest and left it there. Using the connection he has with the me seed, Raven sent and order through his Will.

    "Bloom for me, Cleansing me Seed!"

    A primal roar could be heard once more, Lust''s agonized scream and it''s strengthened desire to free itself painted a miserable image to everyone who''s watching, yet none of them pitied the fool.

    Theo''s face lit up. He watched as Raven''s Cleansing Fire seed erupted withrge volumes of white mes, burning Lust''s soul from inside out as it wailed and wailed.

    He could see that the mes were breaking down Lust''s soul to the finest degree, purifying it and absorbing it as food. The seed progressively became smaller and smaller until nobody could make it out anymore.

    Just as when Lust''s soul was about to disappear, the rate of absorption increased. All of a sudden, they heard...

    *Crack!*

    It was faint, but was loud enough for everyone to hear. Then, under their astonished gazes, the saw a sudden transformation urring at the core of the white mes.

    A sprout became visible.

    It was small, almost negligible actually, yet it announced its presence like no other. It released a bright and pure luminescence. Small it might be but considering they were at and were no ounce of vegetation could be seen, it became the center of attention.

    It was a white sprout, it''s body was seems to be made out of the purest white porcin. It has a pair of leaves, each on shone like diamonds, at its center awork of faintly discernable ck lines could be seen which shares the same color as the roots itself.

    A few seconds after it bloomed, the Cleansing me Sprout released a strong fluctuation and a towering pir of white mes which could be seen all the way to the outskirts of Asphodel.

    Everyone who''s still fighting against the stray devils saw this me and were awe. They were already used to the colorful shades of red mes surrounding Asphodel yet this is the first time that they''ve seen this one.

    Well, prior to today at least.

    Asphodel was then overwhelmed by a sea of white mes. Those disciples who were still being protected by the Cleansing mes felt stronger and nigh-invincible under the me''s protection.

    Raven watched in satisfaction as he saw the beautiful sprout in front of him. He gently opened his palms and even without his guidance, the sprout flew towards him and released a gentle and joyous hum, akin to a child giggling at the arms of its parents.

    "Happy Birthday, Little One." Raven greeted, the sprout released a few happy hums before jumping at Raven''s chest and disappearing from everyone''s view.

    Raven was aware that all of the War Gods were staring at him in awe of what they just saw just now. They were even silently gazing at Theo, who were also fascinated about what he saw. However, instead of answering them, Raven focused on his remaining task.

    He checked the seal on the 12th floor and saw that it was properly ced. He then moved towards the entrance to the 9th floor and beganying down the seed.

    Another wave of intense fluctuation urred but tamerpared to the one that me sprout released. After a couple of minutes, Raven finished sealing the 9th floor entrance, causing him to sigh in relief.

    He then face the War Gods and said:

    "Okay, the job''s done. I can also feel the disciples retreating since majority of the stray devils were already in. The War''s over..."

    The War Gods collectively nodded and sighed in relief as well.

    "Alright, we''re finally done here so...I''ll be fainting now. See ya''ter!" After saying that, Raven''s eyes rolled at the back of his head and he staggered, falling down to the ground but not until someone appeared and carried him.

    "Fantastic job, Brat. Rest well."

    "Grand Elder!!!"

 Chapter 553 - Waking Up

    ---

    "Ugh..."

    A groan escaped from Raven''s mouth as he felt a sharp stinging pain on his head. He felt the world spinning, and his body aching as well.

    He tried opening his eyes, when he did his vision was slightly blurred. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. He then sank his perception within his body to discover what''s wrong with him and when he did, his lips couldn''t help but twitch.

    His reserves were as dry as it could get. The once blooming cosmos within his body was reduced to a dim and lifeless one. The only thing that brought color to it, was the small sprout resting at the very center of the cosmos.

    It was no wonder why his body was aching badly...

    He briefly checked upon his Avatars and saw them doing their own thing, thanks to them being almost a separate entity from him, they could still function even if he was unconscious.

    Raven asked them how long he was out and one of them answered almost one month.

    One month. That''s probably the longest time that Raven had lost consciousness ever since his Soul Rebirth. Of course this didn''t count the times when he was having breakthroughs, this time was different.

    He briefly recalled the memories he had before passing out and sighed.

    That event was tough...

    What originally should be a rather simple mission, turned into a huge deal. It even started a whole ass war.

    Raven went all out with the war. He practically spared no amount of effort in order to make sure that theye out on top of the whole thing. And thanks to his valiant efforts, they did.

    He didn''t know the specifics just yet but from what he could remember, this war should be an overwhelming victory for their side.

    With that out of the way, Raven could now focus on his recovery and rxing. He really outdid himself in that War.

    He discovered the scheme and the devious plot, he formed a n that benefitted many people. He created seals for the 9th and 12th Floors, they wiped out an army of devils which was at least millions in numbers, in the Sin''s Children and Lust itself. All of this was an outstanding merit, and Raven was at the center of it.

    Still lying down on his bed, he started siphoning energies from his surroundings to refill his dried Cosmic Energies.

    Due to Raven''s incrediblyrge reserves, he knew that he won''t be able to refill everything overnight but still, he should be able to absorb an amount which allows him to move and feel slightly better.

    ''I really went all out in there, huh?'' Raven chuckled slightly inwardly. ''I shouldn''t be dry of energies but that Sin just has to appear and ruin everything. Man, I thought I could be sneaky but s...''

    ''The Sin of Lust was too strong...if I didn''t went all out on my attack back then, I would probably end up in a more miserable position.''

    Their confrontation against the Sin of Lust might seem easy and fortunate but in truth, it''ll only take one wrong move for them to suffer a huge loss.

    Even with many War Gods by his side, the Sin of Lust was a troublesome opponent to deal with. Had it not been for Levi appearing, the War Gods would''ve probably lose their confidence to deal with Lust, specially after seeing how easy it dealt with the full-powered retaliation from Paolo.

    Raven managing to sneak past the sin was pure luck. The situation was tense and everybody''s attention was focused to Lust, the Sin itself, was overly arrogant andpletely disregarded its surroundings. Lust wasn''t even paying attention to his surroundings at all, its guard wasn''t up since it was looking down on the War Gods who appeared to be extremely weak on its eyes.

    This allowed Raven to sneak past Lust and seal the entrance to the 12th floor. And by the time that everyone noticed him, it was already toote. He alreadyid down the seal and it only needed a small amount of time before it starts functioning.

    Raven was also lucky enough that he was able to repel Lust from attacking him. Nevertheless, his attack drained him most of his energies. On top of supporting everyone with his cleansing mes, Destruction Domain and pseudo-ughter Intent, his energy reserves were really wrung out.

    It was already a miracle that he was able toy down the seal for the 9th floor before fainting.

    As he recovered, Raven asked his Avatars what happened during the time he was unconscious.

    ording to them, the Grand Elder/Current Zeus, showed up just after he fainted, which really shocked him. He wondered what he was doing in there, wasn''t the Grand Elder supposed to be visiting the ck Rose Organization?

    The Avatars answered him. ording to what they heard, the Grand Elder already did just that, meaning that he already wiped out the whole ck Rose Organization. This caused Raven to exim in admiration. It hasn''t even been an entire day and the Grand Elder already finished, he was even faster than them.

    They also told him that the Grand Elder was watching their performance for quite sometime. He only chose to appear when Raven lost consciousness from fatigue. It was the Grand Elder himself who returned Raven here and let him rest.

    And on the next following days, the War Gods visited him. Someone already told them about his situation, they were just waiting for him to wake up, which unwittinglysted for an entire month. Kyrie was the one taking care of him, sometimes it would be Anastasia as well.

    Raven panicked when he heard that, he hurriedly asked his Avatars if that woman molested him during his sleep. He was relieved when they said no, but felt chills when they said that she was obviously thinking about it.

    They also told him that whenever it''s just him and Anastasia, they would see her staring at his crotch with an obscene smile on her face. The closest she got was cing her face near his...there and inhaling sharply to acquire his scent.

    Thankfully that''s all, but Raven still felt somewhat displeased and helpless.

    ''That woman sure is bold and thirsty...dehydrated actually...'' Raven said inwardly. ''Hopefully she won''t overstep her bounds...anymore than this.''

    He softly shook his head and continued to focus on his recovery.

    While he''s idle, he also digested some of the enlightenment that the Avatars kept for him. Thanks to the time difference, the Avatars had a huge progress for him. All Raven needed to do was to properly digest everything and his abilities rise even more.

    To his delight as well, Raven had a huge improvement to his cultivation. He''s just a few inches away from reaching the peak stage of Saint Knight Realm. This was thanks to the constant battle and pressure he faced so far.

    Nevertheless, he didn''t doubt that from here on out, advancing will be even harder. Depending on what missions he''ll receive, his luck and the opportunities he''lle across with, searching for resources to aid his advancement will be more challenging.

    Well, it''s not like he didn''t see thising at all.

    What worries him was hispetitors for the title. He caused a huge ssh this time, and if they''re not dumb - which Raven highly doubt they were, then they would probably be raising their guards against him.

    He originally didn''t want to get their attention if he could help it but the mission was too important for him to not to do something.

    Like what Kyrie and the rest mentioned to him,rades they might be but a healthypetition wouldn''t be bad. And now that he''s caused a huge ssh, he wouldn''t be surprised if his days will be increasingly difficult.

    ''Bring it on then...even a Deadly Sin couldn''t stop me, what makes you guys think I''ll be scared of you?'' Raven snorted inwardly.

    ''But what''s the n?'' Raven asked himself. ''If I''m not wrong, and I really hope I''m not, then I should be receiving a lot of Merit Points this time. The Official Writ should be affordable for me now and I should really prioritize it.''

    ''My original n was to buy the Lower in Official Writ, to bind the Grand Ancestral ne to me. Next was to hire a cksmith and buy the soul of a Crimson Dragon Emperor for my gloves, I also nned on buying the seed of a World Tree but that''s no longer necessary. Thest one is to buy a residence at the Hall of Ares.''

    ''Thest one could be reced with something else. I''m already exclusively living at a pocket dimension thanks to my status as the Chosen of Zeus. I think I would concentrate at the first two goals, it would be toote to think about the next thing I want to buy.'' Raven sighed and had an idea.

    ''Come to think of it, I''ve been out for a whole month. The Merit Points should be here already...''

    "HOLY SHIT!!"

 Chapter 554 - Visiting Crown Space Again

    ---

    "Holy Shit!!!"

    Even with his very experienced mindset, Raven wouldn''t have been able to imagine that he''ll earn this much from that events.

    1 Billion Merit Points¡­what an outrageous amount.

    If he only knew just how effective he was during the war, he himself would think that this much is just right. Nevertheless, this number is still a little too shocking.

    "I was expecting to earn a lot but not this much! What the heck!?" Raven murmured, he even totally forgot about the fact that he should be focusing on recovering his energies at this point.

    What he didn''t know is that, the Elder Council itself thinks that this amount wasn''t enough topensate his efforts entirely.

    How so? Well, if one would consider that Raven practically won this war by himself, then it wouldn''t be too far fetched for them to reward him with this much merit points.

    It had to be known that under normal circumstances, this War will tallyrge casualties on their side on top of the uncertainty of winning. But with Raven there, the casualties were zero.

    Yes. Even the Grand Elder himself couldn''t believe such a thing yet the records didn''t lie. Everyone who participated on the War came back safe and sound. They made a killing and weren''t injured badly. It was unbelievable.

    They were against a horde consisting of Millions of Devils. Not only that, several Sin''s Children were there and even the Sin of Lust descended. With that kind of line-up, casualties will almost be certain for their side yet not only did Raven managed to eradicate the enemy forces with his support, he did so without sacrificing anyone.

    What kind of achievement was that? Raven hasn''t even been a Chosen for too long and yet his actions were almost on par with the older Chosen.

    To top it all off, he even sealed the entrances on the 9th and 12th floor all by himself. His achievements were too dazzling even for the standards of the Elder Council, therefore there were almost no hesitation for them to rewards him this much plus some more¡­

    "Young Lord! You''ve finally regained consciousness!"

    The voice of his personal Battle Maid Kyrie, sounded within the room. Raven woke up from his stupor and looked at her while nodding.

    "How long was I out?" He asked even though he already knew. This is just for her not to suspect him.

    "You''ve been out for a whole month Young Lord." Kyrie informed while sitting on the chair next to his bed. "How are you feeling? Do you need me to fetch something for you?"

    Raven shook his head softly and said: "I''m good. It''ll just take me a bit longer to fully recover but I''ll be fine. Hopefully there will be no missions during this time."

    "You don''t have to worry about that Young Lord. The Grand Elder personally checked your condition and he probably already considered your well being. He wouldn''t give you any difficult missions if he knows you won''t be able toplete it."

    "That''s a relief." Raven sighed, "What happened while I was out?"

    Once again, he only asked this in order to avoid suspicion. Still, he managed to learn a few important things from Kyrie.

    When he was unconscious, the War Gods who participated in the great battle against the devil horde all visited him. They originally wanted to be there when he wakes up but he was taking long and they have other things to attend to.

    Additionally, news about the great war and he results were announced throughout the whole sect. Even though Raven wasn''t actively named, his merits and actions were clearly stated causing many disciples to be shocked and talk about him.

    Many of the said disciples participated on the great war and they themselves supported the rumors, some even exaggerated it.

    Raven sighed helplessly with this. Now that this matter had totally blown-up, hispetitors would really be on-guard with him, which somehow gave him a headache.

    On another note, Kyrie also advised him to look at this Merit Points, which he did just for keeping up pretenses, he acted as if he was shocked and Kyrie began exining how he managed to get this much.

    He didn''t just receive 1 Billion Merit Points. The pocket dimension that he''s in were also upgraded while he''s unconscious as well as his personal Cultivation Chambers. He also received some benefits which he would discover once hepletely recovered.

    This was undoubtedly a great boon for him. With these rewards, Raven''s cultivation would remain at a constant speed.

    After telling him this, Kyrie excused herself and left Raven to recover on his own.

    Raven watched as she left. He made sure that she was gone before he ced a seal on the entrances of the room and entered the Crown Space which he hadn''t visited since the start of the War.

    Once he''s there, Raven immediately hopped inside the neb of Equinox Waters and began recovering his energies.

    Although the energies contained within the Equinox Waters were plenty, it still took him a whole week topletely recover.

    Nevertheless, he''s fine with that. He briefly checked his fully recovered body and sank his perception within his Inner World.

    The once dull and lifeless Cosmos were nor brimming with colorful lights and activity. The constetions which revolved around the cosmos had regained their brilliance and the Cleansing me Sprout remained at the core of the Cosmos, releasing pulses of pure white mes and ever so slightly siphoning some of his energies to feed itself.

    "Cultivating the Cleansing me Sprout from this point forward will be more difficult. It''s either I feed it with Cosmic Energy or let it feast of Devil Flesh, these are the only ways for it to advance. Still, so long as I''m here at the sect, I should be able to sustain it''s growth."

    "I wonder what would happen if I fuse this with the seed of the World Tree? Hmm¡­would that even work though?"

    Raven considered this thought but threw it at the back of his head for now since he had other matters to attend to.

    He stepped out of the Equinox Waters and began digesting the enlightenments of his Avatars first. Once he''s done, he could feel an overall improvement on his strength. If he encountered that lousy Sin of Lust once again, he wouldn''t need to sneak past it anymore. Killing it on his own would still be difficult but he has a chance.

    After a month passed inside, Raven stood up and went out of the Eden.

    He then began making his way towards the Scripture Graveyard in order to see if he could gain the acknowledgement of some things in there.

    Once inside, he felt a weird sensation of attraction simr to a pulling sensation. He then gazed at the direction of the pool and his eyes zoomed in on one of the taller hills inside the graveyard.

    Raven started walking towards that hill, the closer he got, the stronger the pull he felt.

    Once he firmly stepped on the hill, it released a strong fluctuation that almost left him to be dazed. Raven fought the urge and walked at the very peak of the hill before sitting down and meditating.

    A wild surge of energies swept past him, it was then followed by a wave of new information appearing on his mind. Raven was unperturbed by the sudden information. He didn''t feel surprised not felt any pain in the process.

    This scenested for a whole day before stopping. Raven didn''t open his eyes, instead he started digesting the new information in his mind.

    ording to that, he realized that this hill is the Graveyard of the me Emperor who followed Geezer in the past. The remnant Will of the me Emperor probably sensed the existence of the Cleansing me Sprout within him, causing it to acknowledge him.

    Raven received the lifetime experience of the me Emperor''s me control and maniption. Although Raven had some unique ideas on his own, those couldn''t possiblypare to the virtue and expertise of the me Emperor when ites to controlling mes.

    It had to be known that at his era, the me Emperor was an unrivalled powerhouse. His mes could easily melt down a star, it was rumored that his mes were even hotter than the Sun itself. Additionally, the me Emperor''s me possessed some form of intelligence. Whether this was true or not, only the me Emperor himself could answer that.

    These opened a brand new world to Raven. Surely with this, his control of his Cleansing mes would be much easier and more naturalpared before. He might even use these insights to form a unique method that''spletely suitable for him.

    It took Raven another day for him topletely digest everything. After that, he decided to postpone his me control training since he wanted to test out something which he had been putting off for quite some time now.

    He exited the Scripture Graveyard and walked at the very center of the pce. There, a huge stone monument which has several engravings of star patterns could be seen.

    "Alright, Monument of Stars..." Raven took a deep breath in.. "Let''s see what you got."

 Chapter 555 - Monument Of Stars

    ---

    The Monument of Stars...

    It appears like an enormous stone steele which was filled with multiple engravings of stars. Each star were dim and lifeless, yet they were filled with an ancient air and vicissitudes of time.

    Raven never understood why Geezer left this here. None of the previous Heirs exined it to him either, maybe because it''s too early for him to know or they too, don''t know. Needless to say, everyone who became the official Heir, had once interacted with this.

    And now, it''s Raven''s turn.

    He had no idea what to expect and even if he did, it would be useless since he''d probably have a different experience anyway. Therefore, he just rxed and ced his hand on the Monument of Stars.

    *Woosh!*

    All Raven felt was an irresistible pull and his consciousness woke up in an entirely different ce.

    He found himself standing in a wide space surrounded by stars. There was a road beneath him that stretched to the far-off distance. The road was quite narrow, it glowed with a faint blue-ish color and was quite illusory. At first nce, anyone would hesitate to even step on it since it doesn''t appear solid but Raven stood at it without any problems.

    Raven however was confused, all of the signs were pointing him to follow this road and there''s only one path forward. He didn''t expect this kind if development but he''s in no position to ask since he''s already here.

    He then started walking forward, quite determined to see where this road will take him.

    As he started his journey, Raven looked around him in awe and slight confusion.

    It would seem as if he was in the middle of the outer space. He didn''t know whether any of this was real or not since to his surprise, his ocr technique wasn''t working here. It wasn''t just that. His Cosmic Energy was locked, he also can''t call upon the power of the Cleansing me Sprout.

    In short, Raven was extremely vulnerable in this ce. And raised some rm within his mind but he still walked forward.

    When Raven got to a specific distance, he suddenly stopped on his tracks. His gaze was stered towards his left, more specifically, at the formation of stars in there.

    His mind trembled as he felt that these ones looked somewhat familiar, however he couldn''t remember where they saw them for the life of him.

    That didn''t stop him from staring at them though. Raven racked his memories in order to remind himself. Thankfully, his efforts were paid.

    "It''s the same Constetion I saw within the Monument of Stars..." Raven murmured.

    To his astonishment though, as soon as he said that. That particr group of stars began moving towards him. Raven was shocked but he really didn''t have anywhere to retreat so he could only stand in ce and find out what''s going to happen next.

    The Constetion arrived in front of him. Looking at it caused Raven feel a strange connection between him and this one. All of a sudden, the constetion suddenly released stronger fluctuations which caused Raven''s expression to change.

    ''Is it..municating with me?''

    *Buzz!*

    "It is!" Raven was gobsmacked. But he frowned once more since he had no idea what it wanted him to do.

    The constetion kept urging him by constantly releasing fluctuations however Raven remained clueless as to what it wants from him.

    Raven decided to lift his hand just to test things out, he had no other idea anyways.

    Surprisingly, just as he did that. The constetion suddenly shrank and released a faint brilliance that formed a link between it and Raven''s palms.

    Once they connected, Raven''s mind suddenly trembled. He was then assaulted with waves of information that doesn''t belong to him. It was chaotic at first but Raven persisted through it.

    He felt as if he was a lone sailor amidst the raging sea, trying his best to remain afloat and survive.

    It was quite painful even with Raven''s strong Will and formidable consciousness. As he persisted through the raging sea of memories, Raven felt as if he himself lived through it but as a bystander.

    He saw years passed under his watch and felt jaded by everything. Even with his formidable mentality, he couldn''t help but get close to being swept away by the passing memories. However, Raven held on to himself and guarded his consciousness. He knew the horrible consequences of losing one''s self in this kinds of situations.

    If he couldn''t resist this, then his consciousness will suffer a breakdown and he''ll be reduced to idiot. Raven cannot allow himself to be like that.

    After god knows how long, Raven woke up from his suffering. His eyes were bleak and bloodshot, his chest heaved as he gasped for air. He looked incredulously at the shrunken constetion in front of him with aplicated gaze.

    It took some time for him to calm down but he turned out to be okay. He also took some time to digest what he just experienced but to his surprise, he only managed to recall some parts of it. What made him quite excited was, aside from a few useful information, his consciousness experienced tremendous improvement thanks to what just happened.

    Right now, the advantages of his improved consciousness might not be visible but time will tell.

    He then returned his attention to the shrunken constetion in front of him and said:

    "Extreme Yang Illumination." Raven muttered, "That''s what you''re called."

    The constetion buzzed and all of a sudden, released an unparalleled brilliance that covered the entirety of the space. Under normal circumstances, people would cover their eyes or look away from this kind of brilliance but Raven merely squinted.

    The constetion released it''s unparalleled glow for quite sometime before slowly dimming. It''s light turned faint until it was reduced to an orb which closely resembled a sun...a white sun.

    "So this is you''re true form. The true form of the Extremely Yang Illumination." Raven nodded to himself. He stared at it for quite sometime before he saw it floating closer to him.

    Raven did nothing to prevent this from happening, he merely stood still and allowed the constetion toe closer to him.

    Eventually, the white sun fused with his body. Raven unconsciously closed his eyes as he felt warmth coursing through his body. It was sofortable that he couldn''t help but groan a few times.

    Raven''s consciousness was also submerged into an ocean of profundity. He could feel that he''s gaining some clues and short bouts of enlightenment yet he can''t recall any of them. It was too mysterious, Raven had no idea what was going on but he didn''t force it. He just let everything happen on its own.

    Several minutester, Raven opened his eyes. And when he did, his eyes released two rays of divine radiance which illuminated everything before him. The glow on in his eyes subsided and without his permission, he felt another pull.

    When his vision returned, he found himself standing in front of the enormous stone monument once more. This gave Raven an idea that he could only gain the acknowledgement of one constetion at a time.

    "Hmm?" Raven frowned when he saw something at the corner of his eyes.

    He looked over and to his surprise, he saw one of many constetions engraved in the stone monument releasing a faint glow. He inspected it briefly and realized that this one coincidentally looks the same as the constetion that represents the Extreme Yang Illumination.

    "So the Monument of Stars tracks my progress." Raven murmured. "And it looks like it doesn''t have any particr order either."

    "Correct." A voice sounded behind him. Raven looked around as saw another person standing in front of him.

    "Inos! It''s been a while." Raven smiled.

    "Yeah, it''s been a while." Inos replied, he had that good-natured smile stered on his face as he looked at Raven. "Congrattions on gaining the acknowledgement of Extreme Yang Illumination. Do well in digesting what it gave to you, it''ll be of significant help to your overall strength."

    "Yes. I''ll do that." Raven nodded. He then asked: "To be honest, I was quite nervous when you told me that I have to gain the acknowledgement of the constetions. I prepared myself for the worst, since your faces looked very ominous when you told me about that."

    Inosughed out loud upon hearing that.

    "Sorry about that Partner. It''s quite a tradition you see. If you want to me someone, me Geezer for starting this whole trend. He was the one who conned the 1st into this. He''s quite vengeful you see, and he wanted revenge. He can''t do it to Geezer so the 2nd became his target. It then became a tradition just like that."

    Hearing that caused Raven''s expression to turn strange. He then remembered something he wanted to ask...

    "Am I eligible to enter the other areas within the Pce now?"

    "Not yet, I''m afraid." Inos shook his head, "When you reach a certain level of strength, some of them will eventually be avable to you. The same deal if you were acknowledged by more constetions."

    "So work hard, Partner.. The earlier you unlock those areas, the more you''ll be able to benefit."

 Chapter 556 - Treasures Of Zeus

    ---

    Inos followed up by saying:

    "Anyways, since you''ve already gained the acknowledgement of a Constetion, then you have a general idea of how it''ll go from here on out. Just a few reminders for you¡­"

    "How much you got inside the Monument of Stars will depend to you, but whenever you gain the acknowledgement of one constetion, you won''t be able enter it until a monthter. It''ll be good if your every try will be sessful but if you fail, then don''t sweat it. Just take it easy..."

    "Also, make sure to strengthen your link with the constetions that acknowledged you. They''ll surely give you immense benefits and insights."

    "Sure, I''ll do that." Raven nodded,

    Inos then went on to remind him about few more things before he disappeared. Raven went back to the Cultivation Eden after that to consolidate his gains just now.

    ording to Inos, he won''t be able to enter the Monument of Stars until the same day next month. That works well for him since it''ll take him a while topletely integrate all of the insights he got and convert it to his fighting capabilities.

    Raven had no ns on recklessly entering the Monument of Stars. He''s in no hurry and he''ll take it one step at a time in order to strengthen his foundations.

    Just like that, his time inside the Crown Space was over and Raven returned to the real world.

    He returned just like how he left. The only difference is that Raven has nowpletely recovered and prepared to do the things he needed to do.

    Raven took a bath and changed his clothes, he then removed the seals on the room and walked outside to get some fresh air.

    Seeing him walking out, Kyrie was surprised at first but when she saw that he looked perfectly fine, she suppressed whatever she has to say.

    Raven walked towards her and gave her a list.

    "Kyrie, please fetch me this items. You can deduct the cost using this badge." Raven stared unhurriedly.

    She briefly took a nce at the list and was surprised, however she didn''t say anything and merely nodded her head: "Sure, Young Lord."

    "Thanks." Raven said, "Oh and by the way, do you have any tasks for me? I''ll take care of them while waiting for you."

    Kyrie smiled and ced several scrolls in front of Raven. He nced at the unfurled scrolls and felt quite surprised. The scrolls looked ordinary at best but as soon as he saw them, he felt some strange connection between him and this scrolls. He didn''t say anything and waited for Kyrie to exin...

    "You''ve already finished with all of the mundane tasks Young Lord, and from what I saw during the incident a moth ago, you''re more than qualified to meet your men and they''re already raring too meet you."

    "For that, we don''t really need to wait that long. However, I still think that it''s best for you to prioritize this first before meeting the army." Kyrie gestured at the scrolls sheid on top of the table.

    "These scrolls are the Treasure of Zeus." She stated, "Only those who bear the Mark of Zeus could interact and see what''s inside this scrolls. You are not allowed to speak of it''s contents to any outsiders, lest you incur the wrath of the Ancestor himself."

    "Young Lord can slowly inspect the scrolls one by one and you''ll understand how to use them. Once you''ve made your choice, drop a blood on the seal on the scroll and you''ll get what''s inside. Please do remember that you can only pick one."

    Raven was a bit startled however he understood what she wanted to say. After saying her piece, Kyrie excused herself in order to fetch the items Raven wanted to buy, leaving him alone to inspect the scrolls by himself.

    "Okay, time to find out what these things are for..." Raven murmured.

    He picked up a random scroll and carefully unfurled it. Once heid his eyes on it, his pupils immediately constricted and the thunderbolt mark on his forehead started releasing a faint yellow light.

    At first nce, the scroll was empty but under the illumination of the mark, it revealed what it''s hiding.

    A bunch of text and images could be seen in the scroll. The image depicted a pair of golden arm bangles which has a yellow gem ornament at the middle. The text surrounding revealed it''s name and uses.

    [Heaven Punishment Thunder Bangles] - Created by the Smith Hephaestus. A treasure that Zeus used to summon and shape Heavenly Tribtion Lightning and Thunder ording to how he deemed fit. This item can only be wielded by the Chosen of Zeus and once the Chosen formed a strong bond with it, they''ll be able to unleash it''s full potential.

    Raven let out a gasp as he read along.

    What a Treasure this was! Without a doubt, this should be ranked as a Divine Spiritual Treasure. Bending Heavenly Tribtion ording to one''s desires, what an absurd power was that? Of course Raven understood that it wouldn''t be easy to do but still, for an item like this to exist, it was simply astonishing,

    He then went on the unfurl the next scroll...

    [de of Olympus] - Created and forged by Zeus himself. Using his blood, sweat and time, he forged a weapon that contains the amalgamation of his power. The de of Olympus is a treasure that contains the residual will of Ancestor Zeus himself and without its permission, nobody could wield the power of this sword. To the wrong hands, the sword will be a useless hunk of metal at most but to the acknowledged ones, it is a deadly weapon that could decimate worlds with a single swing.

    Saying that Raven isn''t tempted to im this sword would be a fat lie. From the description alone, it waspletely obvious that this was one of the strongest treasures here. Even the one who wrote this very description sounded biased when he wrote this.

    Raven then went on to unfurl one scroll after another, scrutinizing them one by one before thinking.

    Now he fully understood why Kyrie solemnly reminded him that he could only pick one. If it were him we would''ve loved to im all of this treasures for himself but for the sake of fairness, he could only choose one.

    This also gave him an idea that since he was given a chance to pick, then it would make sense for the others to have this chance as well. What''s more is that, they probably gained the full acknowledgement of theirs since they got them earlier than he did.

    Raven was faced with a difficult decision. What should he choose? There''s at least ten-scrolls here and every single one is a Divine ranked Spiritual Treasure.

    The strongest one of course was the de of Olympus, but he could tell that it would be troublesome for him to gain the acknowledgement of the residual will so he crossed it off of the list. In truth, even the weakest artifact here would be of immense help to him.

    "Ha! Difficult choice my ass..." Raven mocked while smiling wryly. "Am I not just making things difficult for myself? The choice was already clear, I''m just giving myself a headache."

    "Granted that I didn''t really picked it myself...it was more like, destined...yeah, that sounds about right. At this point, I''m destined to pick this one..."

    Raven smiled wryly and nicked a small wound on his finger. He then ced a drop of his blood on one of the scrolls and waited for the magic to happen.

    Secondster, the scroll emitted a brilliant sh of light. It floated up in the air and glowed with an intense sh of light.

    Slowly, it transformed into a twelve-inch brush. The body was ck and seemed to be made out wood. It has a smooth finish and has some profound engravings on the surface. It''s at least two inches thick with a tapered end. The brush head was made out white-hair with a ck tip.

    [Brush of Wisdom] - A mysterious item that was owned by Zeus. It''s origins are unknown, not even Zeus is aware of it. The Brush of Wisdom is capable of amplifying one''s spiritual consciousness and wisdom just by holding it. It could also be used as a medium to channel the strength of it''s holder to another item. Zeusmonly used this to create his Heavenly Decree which contained his strength and aura. However, even Zeus himself admitted that he''s incapable of bringing out the true potential of this item. Choose wisely...

    Raven couldn''t help but smile wryly when he first read this. In truth, he''d love to avoid his treasure if possible but in the end, it still turned out to be the most suitable for him.

    Not only that, the feeling of closeness he got when he first touched the brush pretty much settled everything down for him. Raven was a bit disgruntled, helpless but also somewhat excited.

    "I guess I should''ve seen thising...being given that many seals to study and use..."

    "Oh well." Raven sighed, a smile appeared on his face as he whispered, "Let me see what this thing could do then...."

 Chapter 557 - Brush Of Wisdom

    ---

    The Brush of Wisdom.

    It''s a Divine ranked Spiritual Treasure that not even the Ancestor Zeus could use fully. With it''s unknown origins, the Ancestor mostly used it to increase his mental fortitude and to write Writs and Decrees.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect had a history of at least millions of years, it was safe to say that this brush had been used by other candidates as well however even with the rich history of the sect, only Ancestor Zeus could use this divine item well.

    And now, it found it''s way to Raven''s hand.

    ...at least, that''s what Raven himself would like to believe but for some reason, he just can''t shake the feeling that all of this was pre-destined. Even this very moment that he''s holding the brush.

    Raven yed with the Brush of Wisdom for a little while. He inspected it''s design and memorized how it looked just so that he could be more familiar with it. He liked the way how it feels on his hand. It was smooth and quite cool to the touch.

    With or without holding the brush, due to him forming a connection to it via blood link, the positive effects of the brush were already active. Nevertheless, Raven had a formidable soul and mental fortitude already anyway so this boost didn''t really have that much of an appeal to him. Still, it''s quite nice to have.

    After inspecting it for a bit, Raven tested it out by injecting his Cosmic Energy onto it.

    Once he did, the originally ck tip, started changing colors. From ck it turned into cosmic dark violet hue with asional sparks of silver glows. Raven raised a brow was quite surprised with this development. He couldn''t be anymore familiar with that energy since that was the same general color of his own Cosmic Energy.

    "Hmm..." Raven was in deep thought.

    This effect wasn''t listed on the scroll. Now that he thought about it, none of the scrolls he saw earlier told any specific instructions on how to use these treasures at all. He''s guessing that they''re allowing the Chosen to discover it on their own.

    "Ancestor Zeus used it to write Writs and Decrees. That''s understandable, after all he was born on the time where cultivation was still on it''s early days."

    "I wonder if anybody realized that this thing resembles those brushes that Inscriptionists uses to create runes and seals?"

    No one might be able to answer this question of his, but Raven already made the connection at his first nce.

    Just like what he said, Inscriptionists of all ranks would easily form a connection between the two. There is a simr item on the belongings of full-fledged Inscriptionists which resembles this very brush.

    They call it the Rune Carving Brush because it helps them write and create runes with more ease. Some Rune Carving Brushes could even give them the effect of a steady hand, allowing them improve their skills in Runesmithing.

    Raven was eager to try, so without further ado, he raised the brush and drew a simple and basic rune. What he draw was a ''Soul'' rune, which improves all spiritual aspects of an array of formations. It''s one of the most basic runes out there and any Inscriptionists could easily identify this one.

    *Weng!*

    A soft fluctuation was released once Raven was done creating the rune. The rune was suspended in the air and was releasing some soft humming sounds. Thanks to the color of his energy, the Rune looked quite beautiful.

    "Hmmm...." Raven frowned.

    He could sense something off with this rune.

    Just like what was mentioned earlier, Raven created a very basic rune. He didn''t made any kind of adjustments to it or anything, even a beginner was capable of drawing this rune without breaking a sweat. The only one difference should be the color of the rune due to him possessing Cosmic Energy, however Raven sensed something greater than that.

    "What is it though?" Raven couldn''t wrap his head around it. He could tell that there''s something strange with this rune but he can''t figure it out for the life of him...

    Raven from as he stared at the floating rune in front of him. He thought of many things but dismissed it since it didn''t make any sense and it didn''t fit. It took him a few minutes before his eyes abruptly widened in disbelief...

    "It couldn''t be! No! That shouldn''t be..." There was a thick disbelief on his voice as he repeatedly tried to deny the idea.

    "Hold on, let me test this..." Raven pursed his lips and dismissed the rune he drew earlier.

    He took a deep breath and sharpened his focus. When he opened his eyes, a cold and gloomy gleam was present on his pupils.

    Raven then raised the brush and drew the same exact ''Soul'' rune from before. It barely took him a second to do so. Once he did, the mood disappeared from his face...but not on the rune itself.

    "Shit!" Raven gasped in disbelief. "I''m not seeing things! This brush can be used to channel and medium to manifest my intentions to anything I draw!! Unbelievable!"

    This was an unprecedented discovery. And Raven couldn''t be any more d that he managed to realize this.

    An item that could act as a medium to channel someone''s intentions to drawing with barely an effort. This Brush of Wisdom might as well be thest of it''s kind.

    One has to know that it takes a HUGE amount of effort to channel one''s intention to something.

    It isn''t as simple as anger being channeled to; say a weapon. Just because a swordsman was mad, it doesn''t mean that he/she could channel their anger to the sword itself. Swords are mostly inanimate objects, the only times that they''ll have some kind of spirituality in them is when their creator bestows them one, even then the process itself was quite dangerous and takes a lot of time and energy to do so.

    ''Intent'' this is an ephemeral substance or energy form that not everyone could possess. There are many kinds of Intents out there, Raven himself has two of them being Fist Intent and his pseudo-ughter Intent

    Raven worked extremely hard to acquire these things, at luck was also a great factor to it. Just from the way he acquired the pseudo-ughter Intent alone, one could realize just how challenging it is to have one.

    He had to ughter millions and millions in order to get the pseudo-ughter Intent, not even the genuine one.

    Just from these factors alone, enlightening one''s self upon Intents were already challenging and exploring it''s applications aren''t even included in that.

    However, the sheer existence of the Brush of Wisdom tramples upon that notion.

    Raven didn''t even channeled the intent but a mere ''mood'' when he drew that rune. The mood of killing someone. Under normal circumstances, this shouldn''t have any effect on the rune but thanks to the magic of the brush, it did.

    How can he not be shocked?

    This brush wasn''t simply monstrous, it was heaven-defying!

    Thanks to his discovery, Raven felt eager to try it more. In fact, he totally got carried away.

    He messed around with a few basic runes, drawing every single one with varying volumes of his pseudo-ughter Intent. It didn''t take long before an arrayposed of basic runes were formed in front of him, and it was glorious.

    It radiated a heavy scent and feel of ughter. Just from a nce, one would even have visions of bodies forming mountains and blood turning into rivers. Even experts would find it hard to believe that this is the basic out of the basic arrays there is due to the sheer aura of ughter it has.

    Raven was still unsatisfied, therefore he created more. He tried channeling his cleansing mes on the brush and it worked smoothly.

    Instead of his Cosmic Energy, the runes are now drawn using his Cleansing mes instead. White runes sparkled and fluctuated with purity formed the same array as thest one, however there''s a world of difference between the two.

    Raven''s heart was dancing in joy. Now, all the feeling of uncertainty and unwillingness was gone. It turns out that he made the right choice.

    The only reason why Raven was somewhat hesitant at first is because, choosing this brush gave him the feeling that his future path will be inevitably be entangled by runes and seals. Which means that he''ll be treading the Sealing Path.

    It wasn''t really that much of a problem however, what made him a bit hesitant is the fact that study of Seals takes a long time and effort to so. Had he known that he''ll ended up treading this path, he would''ve built a stronger foundations for it but it only solidified when he grabbed the brush.

    There''s no turning back from here on out though. It was already decided the moment he touched this thing, which means that now, he had to catch up and do some revisions about his general n.

    "Well, since I''m here....I might as well do my best."

 Chapter 558 - War Gods Visit

    ---

    One array that is filled with a pseudo-ughter Intent, one that is fueled and influenced by Cleansing mes, one depicts the element of Destruction , one influenced by Spacetime Laws and another one filled with Raven''s indomitable Will.

    Five of the same basic array yet each one was vastly different from another. Even Raven could hardly believe what he''s seeing right now.

    He couldn''t help but to stare at the Brush of Wisdom a little bit more. It was truly an miraculous item.

    "That being said, it''s still capable of doing so much more. Very well, I''ve got time to spare anyways. I''ll focus on learning seals and runes from now on." Raven decided as he dispersed the arrays he created just now and kept the Brush of Wisdom.

    As a Divine ranked Spiritual Treasure and one of the Treasures of Zeus, the Brush of Wisdom was stored differently. Instead of cing it inside a spatial ring, it is absorbed into his body instead, more specifically on the mark on his forehead.

    Raven closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. He then beganying down orders to his Avatars so that he''ll have more seals to use onwards.

    ''It''ll do me good to create unique seals based since that will be the most suitable for me.'' Raven inwardly thought.

    He then took some time to adjust his future ns. Learning and creating seals takes a long time to do, he had to do some precise calctions in order to make sure that he''s using his time wisely.

    Raven''s ear twitched as he heard a cking sounds nearby. He opened his eyes and saw Kyrie walking towards him and she wasn''t alone.

    "Hey!" Raven greeted as he saw several War Gods behind her.

    "Young Lord, the War Gods came to visit you. Also, here''s the things you wanted to me to fetch." Kyrie said as she passed the spatial ring back to him which contains the items he needed as well as the badge that he gave to her earlier.

    "Thanks a lot." Raven nodded and epted the ring. Kyrie then excused herself, leaving Raven and the War Gods to take amongst themselves.

    "How are you Raven?" Henry asked as they all sat down on the table.

    "I''vepletely recovered. Thanks for looking out for me." He replied.

    "Compared to what you did on behalf of the sect and for us, what we did isn''t much. It''s all thanks to you this time." Henry said solemnly.

    Raven didn''t say anything and only brushed his nose. Henry smiled and said: "Here, let me make some introductions..."

    "This is Celestine Agnes. We call her Dominatrix. I remember introducing her earlier to you, back in the War Ship during our way back here." Henry stated.

    "Right, I can still remember that." Raven chuckled, he then nodded at Celestine and she did the same.

    "Next to her is Paolo the Taotie War God."

    "Yo! My name is Paolo, you can call me that or Taotie, whichever you like. There are only three things which concerns me and that is the triple F."

    "Triple F? What''s that?" Raven asked curiously, unaware of the unusual faces of the other War Gods.

    "Fight, Feast and Fuck. In no particr order." Paolo stated, proudly at that.

    Raven was speechless. Although he could already tell that this guy had a very ''peculiar'' personality, he wasn''t expecting it to go this far.

    "A-ah, I see..."

    "So? Wanna fuc-O!"

    Before Paolo could even ask his question, a hand smacked the back of his head. It came from the person beside him who''s ring at Paolo.

    "Ignore him. He''s a hopeless case." The man beside him looked at Raven not before giving Paolo a ruthless pinching. "I''m Levi. If this big-headed loon bothered you in the future, tell me. I''ll fix him up for ''ya."

    Raven couldn''t say anything so he merely nodded in acknowledgement.

    "Ow! Ow! B-babe! Stop pinching me already!" Paolo whined softly.

    "Wha-! Hmph! That''s what you get for embarrassing us!" Levi reprimanded while sporting a blush on his face.

    "What? I didn''t do anything wrong. I''m merely stating facts!" Paolo whined even more. "Ah, that reminds me, didn''t I say I''m going to give a month long fuck-Ow!!"

    "Shut the fuck up!" Levi''s face was red as he was quite legitimately strangling Paolo right now.

    Raven was confused as he witnessed what was happening in front of him. Henry and Celestine on the other hand just shook their heads. They were used to the bantering of these two. Celestine leaned towards him and said:

    "Don''t mind these two." She said, "That''s just how they are in their natural habitat. You''ll get used to it."

    "She''s right." Henry chimed in. "They''re happily married despite how they act. It''s just that Paolo''s a little bit of a dumbass - "

    "Little bit?" Celestine snorted.

    "Okay, a huge dumbass, happy?" Henry rolled his eyes at Celestine. "Anyways back to what I was saying. Just don''t mind then much when they''re like this. Paolo''s loyal to Levi, him being horny all the time is the side effect of his Bloodline the Godly Taotie Bloodline."

    "Ahh! Now that you mentioned it. I remember reading some text regarding that bloodline." Raven stated, "Basically, food and sex is another way for them to cultivate. The purer the Taotie Bloodline one has, the more intense this side-effects has."

    Henry and Celestine was surprised.

    "That''s impressive. And yes, it''s exactly as you say." Henry nodded. "Amongst us, Paolo has the highest potential. He might not be the youngest amongst the War Gods since Celestine is here, but when ites to escting strength, he''s undoubtedly number one."

    Raven nodded. He could tell why.

    Godly Taotie Bloodline possessors could erupt the most tyrannical brute strength that is capable to shaking the heavens and trample the earth. At least that''s what he remembered. He could also tell that Paolo''s young. Not older than 1000 years old, yet he''s already at this stage on his cultivation.

    Henry, Celestine and Raven talked to themselves without paying attention to the two. At some point, they noticed them calming down, not because they reconciled but because Levi managed to knock Paolo up without them noticing.

    Tossing him on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, Levi stood up cleared his throat and said: "R-really sorry about this. I got to take him back before he starts rampaging like a wild animal. Let''s talk some other time alright?"

    "Sure, thanks for stopping by Sir Levi." Raven politely bid him goodbye.

    Levi smiled and nodded at him. Yet before he could disappeared from their sight, Henry shouted:

    "Make sure to satiate himpletely, Levi. Also, make sure topletely iste the sounds. If you don''t then your neighbors willin to the Grand Elder again!"

    "I''m rooting on you Levi! You can do this!" Celestine didn''t hesitate to join in as well.

    Levi stumbled on his steps, he looked back at the two and gave them a fierce re however his face waspletely flushed red like a tomato so it didn''t look as intimidating as he wanted and only caused the two tough even harder. Even Raven himself, let out a few chuckles.

    Unable to endure their jeers anymore, Levi summoned his wings and promptly disappeared from their sight.

    "Looks like they''re gone." Henry stated. "Ah! Shit, that idiot! Hepletely forgot the purpose of our visit!"

    Celestine also gasped and said: "Dang, you''re right!! But we''re mostly at fault for that."

    "Mn?" Raven tilted his head in confusion.

    "Ah, sorry about that. We got a bit carried away." Henry stated, he then cleared his throat and said: "Actually, Grand Elder gave us a task before concerning you. Levi should be the one who''s supposed to exin it but he left."

    "Is it urgent?" Raven asked, "If it is, then I don''t see why you two can''t exin it for him. I''m sure he wouldn''t mind."

    "I was actually going to do just that." Henry smiled and said: "Don''t worry, it isn''t going to be another arduous mission. We''re experiencing a little bit of peace and quiet thanks to you."

    "Thanks to your efforts, you trumped over a major n of the Devils. They lost a great deal this time around so they won''t be doing anything rash for a period of time...at least that''s what we hope." Celestine stated.

    Raven was simrly hoping for that as well. Even though he made aplete recovery, he''s still a nit hesitant to go on another mission like that specially now that he had tons of things to do.

    "The Task is quite simple this time, there''s no time limit either so you can rx." Henry stated. "Remember the seal that you ced on the 9th and 12th floor?"

    Raven nodded to express his acknowledgement.

    "Grand Elder wanted to know if you are able to make more of that. So far, the seal you ced on those floors were extremely effective and it made the disciples'' live easier. Additionally, Grand Elder wants to know if you can create more of the same formation that you were using back on Asphodel, you know, the one that can convert the hear to cold winds? Of course it won''t be for free...."

 Chapter 559 - Writ

    ---

    "...I believe that the Grand Elder won''t hesitate to give you some rewards. Of course, it''ll depend on the situation." Henry finished exining.

    Raven was silent at first but the two didn''t pressure him to talk. They just waited for him to speak his terms. After some time, Raven sighed and said:

    "Very well. The Formation I can handle, however due to some circumstances, I need to personally create them so the production will be a bit slower. If the Elder Council can agree to this, then you''ll only need to give me the materials needed and I''ll make them. As for the rewards, I''ll leave the matter to Grand Elder hand."

    "The problem is the seals..." Raven sighed while frowning. "You see, when I created the seals I ced on the 9th and 12th floor, I personally inspected them. Each floor on the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda is different. Although the seals I created looked the same, in truth there are some differences between them due to the afore mentioned differences between each floors."

    "Therefore, I need to inspect each floors personally for me to be able to create the necessary seals for them. Which means that mass producing those seals isn''t possible for now."

    As Raven finished his exnation, Henry and Celestine sighed.

    "That doesn''t sound too bad." Celestine stated, "At least we have you for this. That''s better than nothing. It''s a pity though."

    "Yeah." Henry nodded in agreement. "Well nobody said that it''ll be easy anyway. I mean, we''re already expecting this anyway."

    "Hm? What do you mean?" Raven asked.

    "Although Grand Elder thought that it would be nice if the seals can be mass produced, he himself thought that it''s very unlikely. This is why were weren''t surprised with what you said." Celestine stated.

    Raven was a but surprised with that. Nevertheless, it is after all the Grand Elder that they were talking about here. The current Zeus. Him knowing this shouldn''t be much of a surprise.

    "Alright, we''ll report this back to the Grand Elder. We''ll send you a word of the results." Henry stood up as well as Celestine. "For now, rx and take it easy. I trust that you have some ns for yourself so go do them."

    "Since we''re done here, then we''ll excuse ourselves. See ''yater 9th." Celestine smiled.

    Raven nodded and bid them farewell.

    Once they disappeared from his pocket dimension. Raven became silent for a bit and in deep thought. He stared at an empty space, unconsciously drinking his tea while he was lost in his own thoughts.

    There are some ns that needs to be adjusted, and that''s precisely what he''s doing right now. He''s making some mental list in order to make sure that he''s maximizing his time.

    After quite sometime, Raven woke up from his thoughts and sighed. He then stood up, stretched his body and looked outside for a bit. Although it''s still mid-day, he felt quite sleepy so he returned to his room and slept for the rest of the day.

    ---

    "So this is what stepping on the 5th Stage of [Void Walking Scripture] feels like..." Raven muttered in wonder as he felt some changes on his body.

    Just like before, he didn''t feel like his physique was strengthened nor improved at all. Nevertheless, he could still feel hints of changes on his body which will be more disyed when he interacts with the Spacetime Void.

    Raven already sealed the room prior to his cultivation. The seals he created were stronger thanks to the help of the Brush of Wisdom therefore not even an ounce of energy fluctuation will seep out of this room.

    Thanks to that, Raven was able freely disy his Spacetime Laws even if he wasn''t inside the Crown Space to do so.

    Raven lifted his hand, and with a simple swing of his arm, a spatial tear emerged in front of him. This time. Compared to his attempts prior to this, the Spatial Tear was wider and bigger. It wasrge enough for him to fit inside.

    Beyond this Spatial Tear is the ever so chaotic and dangerous Spacetime Void. By now, Raven ventured a guess that he could explore the Spacetime Void for three whole days without any problems. That being said, exploring that long would surely empty his energy capacity and Raven has no desires to do that just yet.

    He closed the Spatial Tear and sighed. Just now, the materials he used to cultivate this technique were expensive. He figured that it''ll be quite sometime before he could gather the materials needed to go further.

    Raven rested for sometime. Once he returned to his peak state, he took out an item from his Spatial Ring.

    The item looked like a metal rod. It has numerous carvings on it''s smooth surface. It was ck in color and was cool to the touch. It released a peculiar energy fluctuations which were hardly discernable to any one but Raven.

    Raven had a satisfied smile as he stared at this thing. This item was none other than the Official Writ for a Lower ne. After more or less two years, since arriving at the Divine Realm, he finally got his hands on it.

    He couldn''t wait any longer. He took a deep breath and calmed down his raging emotions. Once he calmed down, he held the writ between his palms. He formed one seal after another, pouring his focus, energy and will onto the writ in order to unleash it''s use.

    *Boom!*

    A loud explosion happened but it was the harmless kind as it was only heard within Raven''s mind.

    Raven''s thoughts were a mess at first, when he opened his eyes, he saw himself looking over the Divine Realm as whole, it was as if he was a godlike being who''s looking down on his subjects. Raven didn''t dare to marvel with this kind of feeling too long since not only was it risky, he also don''t have much time.

    He didn''t waste a second and began searching for his homnd - The Grand Ancestral ne.

    It had to be known that this part is the most difficult in this process. Official Writs that could be used to bind one''s self into a realm is something that is rare and difficult to find. More importantly, one has to move quick since time is limited. If they ran out of time, then the Official Writ would be wasted.

    Needless to say that, to Raven, the most difficult part was nothing. It''s all thanks to the preparation he did before he ascended.

    Before he left the Grand Ancestral ne, Raven left a portion of his cultivation, soul and will at the Center where it was being kept safe by the collective will of the ne itself. Not only that, he also took the ''manual'' way to ascend. Meaning that he actually used a spatial node and travelled it by himself instead of relying to a Transmission Array like his friends.

    Doing this allowed Raven to memorize the path back to the ne very easily and if that''s not enough, he even left some markers along the way since he knew that this day will eventually happen. It didn''t matter who got it first, him or his friends, what''s important is that it had to be them.

    Thanks to his meticulous preparations, the process became much easier for him. He only needed to located the Blue Marble - the ce where he arrive when he ascended, and start from there. Locating the didn''t even take a second for him.

    Shortly after that, Raven saw the markers he left. From the on, it became easier. In no time, he managed to locate his home.

    Seeing his home after quite sometime caused Raven to feel a little bit homesick and excited. He quietly approached it and felt the portion of his soul with his will responding to his summons.

    "So you''vee."

    The Raven he left at the Center looked up and called the Collective Will of the ne. An old man showed in front of him and with a simple nod, the old man understood what he wanted to say.

    The time hase...

    With the Old Man''s help, Raven connected with the soul he left. Two Ravens stood in front of each other. The original Raven was in form of a consciousness, he raised his hand and ced it on his clone''s head.

    A seal was branded to clone. This seal was none other than the Official Writ of the World. Then, the clone and Raven fused back together and multitude of changes urred from there.

    Unbeknownst to the citizens of the Grand Ancestral ne, their world was about to experience massive changes thanks to Raven officially iming possession of the ne itself.

    So long as he''s alive, no one shall think of invading his home without his permission. And so long as he''s alive, the Grand Ancestral ne will continue to prosper and will stride forwards towards evolution.

    From this day forward, Raven is the true king of this world.. And as long as he got stronger, the Grand Ancestral ne will grow stronger as well.

 Chapter 560 - Home

    ---

    Home.

    Currently, Raven''s body was within the Ancient Elysium Sect. However, thanks to the Official Writ, he was able to transport his consciousness back to his home safely and could withdraw it at any given point.

    Looking at the Grand Ancestral ne, Raven felt great joy and satisfaction. This was his home, this is where he grew up and in the future, he''d like to live with his own family here. He would also like to be buried here if he ever died.

    As the official owner of this lower ne, his connection with the Grand Ancestral ne is definitely deeperpared before. His and the ne''s fate are now irrevocably linked. As he get''s stronger, the ne will prosper, if he ever dies, the ne will decline.

    Establishing his ownership on this ce also allowed him to freely change whatever he wants here, granted that if the changes he implemented were great, it will take longer periods of time before it starts taking effect. Needless to say, Raven has no desires to do anything for now.

    Instead, he would like to see how his parent''s were doing so far.

    Raven looked at the Will of the ne and said: "Thanks for keeping your word."

    The old man bowed to him and said: "It''s the least I can do, Milord. In fact, this one had to thank you deeply. With you protecting the ne, our path to evolution will surely be smoother."

    "Yeah." Raven sighed in expectation as well. "I''d love to see that."

    The old man smiled heartily, inwardly he was extremely joyous and expectant as well. Although other can''t feel it, the Old Man could since he''s the collective consciousness of the ne itself. He could feel the unending potential blooming within the ne thanks to Raven''s efforts.

    He wasn''t expecting Raven to acquire the writ this fast. He just left more or less two years ago and he already was vastly different from thest time he saw him. Now that Raven and the ne are irrevocably connected, the ne will have the same growth potential as Raven. And judging from the what he could feel, the ne won''t stop at the Mid-Level ne, it might even evolve to a Great World Level in the future.

    All of this, was thanks to Raven.

    "I have a question."

    "What is it Milord?"

    "Why do you keep your Old Man appearance? Didn''t you turn younger when we cured the ne back then?"

    "Ah!" The old man chuckled. "Physical appearances doesn''t mean much to me Milord. I am merely a collective consciousness of this ne. It wouldn''t matter if I look old or young, it''s not like I''m allowed to interact closely with the citizens of the ne anyway."

    "Ah..." Raven nodded. "Well, you do you I guess. I''ll step out for a bit, I''d like to take a look at how my family''s doing."

    "As you wish, Milord." The old man respectfully bowed. Raven then promptly disappeared from his spot and reappeared at the skies of the Grand Ancestral ne.

    Since only his consciousness was here, Raven wouldn''t be seen by anyone except the old man from before.

    Looking down at thends, Raven felt memories rushing back to him. Although only two years have passed since Raven left this ce, for Raven it''s longer. This is due to him spending most of his time inside time enchantments. He endured loneliness in order to make sure that he will have the strength to protect his loved ones.

    "Hmm?" Raven frowned as he felt something moving at the corner of his eyes.

    He turned around and saw the ground quaking nearby. All of a sudden, the ground exploded and an iparablyrge silhouette of a beast rose up in the air and red at his direction.

    Seeing this, a smile blossomed on Raven''s face.

    "Of course you will feel me, after all I could be considered as your father. Isn''t that right, Venus?"

    *Hiss!* *Hiss!*

    That''s right. This enormous monstrosity which came out of the ground and stood up as tall as the sky itself, was none other than Raven''s mount - Venus, which he left here in order to ensure the safety of his family.

    In short span of two years, Venus had be a towering monstrosity. She mostly spent her time in slumber underground, basking at the blessings of the ne which allowed her to grow bigger and stronger. However, if anyone dares to harm Raven''s family, Venus will immediately wake up and won''t hesitate to devour the culprits.

    His connection with Venus allowed her to sense him, although she can''t see him physically, she could tell that he''s around.

    Raven chuckled and went closer to her. He raised his hand and patted her head like he used to before. He then said: "You''ve grown up splendidly girl."

    *Hiss!* *Hiss!*

    Venus'' body shook, she heard his voice which was an unmistakable sign that he''s around. Venus looked around anxiously, trying to see where her father at but she couldn''t see him which greatly annoyed her.

    "Shh, rx girl." Raven chuckled. "You''ll naturally won''t be able to see me since I''m not physically here. Only my consciousness is here, so don''t bother looking for me."

    Hearing his words great dampened Venus excitement. She let out a few disgruntled and whiney hisses, showing her displeasure.

    "Alright, alright. Stop pouting now, you." Raven chuckled. "You can''te with me yet. Once you further refine your Mother Snake bloodline, I promise I''lle here and take you away. How does that sound?"

    Venus let out a few excited hisses, causing Raven to chuckle and say: "Yes, I promise. Now go back to sleep and work hard, don''t forget to monitor them okay?"

    *Hiss!* *Hiss!*

    Nodding her head like a kid, Venus slid back underground and resumed her sleeping routine. Ravenughed in amusement as he shook his head and proceeded to search for the Kingdom.

    Raven didn''t need to search for long as he eventually found it.

    When he arrived, he was quite surprised to see that the Kingdom were a bit destedpared to when he left. He frowned for a bit before he eventually remembered something.

    "Ahh! I see. Right, before I leave, Father-inw and Brother-inw were already making ns to shift the poption to the Center. I should take a look there."

    Raven''s consciousness then travelled towards the Center of the ne and saw an huge protective dome covering most of the areas of the Center. This dome didn''t obstruct him in anyway as he merely walked through it without raising any rms.

    Inside, he saw a massive capital being constructed. He saw tons of people working together to build several infrastructures. At the core of this capital, an Castle could be seen.

    A satisfied smile appeared on Raven''s face.

    "Right, its just been roughly two years since I left. The Empire is still being constructed. I wonder how they''re doing?"

    Raven''s heart throbbed as he flew down and walked amongst the citizens of the Final Haven Ki-no, it should be Empire now. Final Haven Empire.

    Seeing the people busying themselves with the construction of the Empire and their everyday lives caused Raven''s heart to feel at ease. He had worked hard for this peace, and seeing the prosperous lives of his citizens made him very happy.

    Raven took his time venturing to the Empire. He could see some familiar faces and even though this isn''t the Kingdom where he was born, the people were the same.

    Eventually, Raven arrived at the castle. Seeing it up close made Raven smiled. He could already feel their auras, allowing him to narrow down his search. Thanks to his current form, no walls nor barriers could obstruct him. He reached a room where he saw two young girls sparring against each other.

    A great affection and doting rushed towards Raven''s face as he saw these two girls. They were cute and adorable, and despite their looks, they actually possess a shocking strength for someone at their age.

    Who else could it be aside from Venina and Victoria Valorheart? The twin sisters of Raven.

    Nina and Tori were sparring against each other, they were so focused that they didn''t even feel Raven''s presence. Well, it''s not like they''ll be able to. Raven just watched over them for a bit before he eventually left and went somewhere else.

    "Mom, Dad. I missed you." Raven whispered as a few rows of tears began falling from his eyes.

    If he wanted to, Raven couldmunicate with his parents without a problem just like what he did to Venus, however he didn''t want to disturb the serenity of this scene.

    Luis and Eva was sitting under a tall tree, sleeping while holding each other.

    Seeing them living in peace like this was enough for Raven. All of the pain and loneliness that he endured were worth it. Seeing them alive and well allowed Raven to remember why he left in the first ce. Remembering his goals strengthened his resolve even more.

    He dried up his tears, kowtowed in front of him despite them not seeing him nor being aware that he''s there, he said:

    "Live well. This time, I''ll prop-up the skies for you.. This time, let me protect all of you."

 Chapter 561 - New Moves

    ---

    "5th Stage of [Myriad Incarnations Scripture] achieved. 54 Avatars...damn!" Raven clicked his tongue as he stared at the mini-army of avatars in front of him.

    As expected, this technique was truly heaven-defying. 54 Avatars means 54 Raven''s working together to decipher something. Not only that but since they are Avatars and not clones, they possess at least 50% of Raven''s total strength. That is an insane concept when one thought about it closely. No wonder Avatar Techniques are extremely rare even in the Divine Realm.

    "Alright, now that''s done. Let''s get them to work." With that in mind, Raven handed out order to his Avatars and told them to start gaining enlightenment tows, techniques and etc. While the original started familiarizing himself even more with the Brush of Wisdom.

    It has been a week since Raven used the official writ to bind the Grand Ancestral ne to him. Once he saw that his home was heading to the right direction, he had set his mind at peace. They''re going to be fine, and if something drastic happens, then he will always know since he''s connected to the ne anyway.

    After seeing his parents after a long time, Raven felt his ambitions re-invigorated. His consciousness returned to the sect and he began training once again. The faster he gets his job done, the faster he could retire and enjoy his days in peace back at him home.

    During the week, Raven consistently trained. He refined his techniques even more and managed to cultivate the Myriad Incarnations Scripture to the 5th level, granting him another batch of Avatars which he could use freely.

    As he sent them to work, Raven himself decided to explore more uses for the Brush of Wisdom. And even though only a week passed since his return, he entered seclusion inside the Crown Space which was equivalent to a whole year in a span of two days. This means that he had been researching for more than one year already.

    Now Raven was currently testing out something that he discovered rather recently.

    Ethereal lights bloomed from his body like a lotus flower. These streaks of light transformed into a hunch of illusory hands which seeminglyposed of cosmic elements. With a thought, one hand from the bunch moved towards him.

    Raven stared at the palm before lifting the brush started drawing a rune on the surface of the palm.

    A brilliant glow of violet-gold covered the tip of the brush, it left several streaks of precise and beautiful lines intersecting on the surface of the palm.

    It hasn''t been long since Raven started but his forehead was already covered in sweat. It''s not like he was creating a veryplex rune anyway, in fact he''s just drawing one of the basic runes on the palm.

    The real reason why Raven seems to struggle with this is because he''s not just drawing the rune on the ethereal hand, he was actually engraving it.

    Although the Archaic Thousand-armed Wheel had transformed into this, it doesn''t change the fact that it is now a Quasi-Divine Artifact thanks to Raven''s nourishment throughout these years. Making changes or adjustments to it became a more challenging task as it evolved, more so now that it reached this state.

    Raven couldn''t afford to fail since he only has one chance on each palm. Due to that, he had to dedicate an absurd amount of time and effort in order to aplish this.

    From the moment he secluded himself, Raven had only managed to engrave a rune on a total of 100 hands. Of course his goal the full one thousand arm but the further he goes, the more difficult it gets.

    To others, what Raven was doing was a waste. Why bother engraving basic runes on a Quasi-Divine Artifact when you can do it with Empyrean-ranked Seals instead? This question would make sense but in truth, how could it be that easy?

    One has to know that engraving even a Basic Rune in this thing already drains so much of Raven''s energy both Cosmic and Mental, not to mention that it only gets harder as one goes. Engraving Empyrean-ranked Seals in this thing will not only be hard but also unwise.

    Even though the Archaic Thousand-armed Wheel reached a Quasi-Divine Artifact level, it wouldn''t be able to endure 10 Empyrean-ranked Seals not to mention 1000.

    And to top it all off, Raven had a different idea anyway. His n doesn''t need to include an Empyrean-ranked Seals. It needs to be the Basic Level Seals and Runes.

    Raven released an exhausted sigh as he finished engraving the seal on the 100th hand. He put the artifact away and lied on the ground to rest. His body was dripping in sweat and his face a bit pale, he was even huffing for air.

    "900 more to go..." Raven smiled weakly, resisting the urge to p himself or to curse out loud.

    Even if he did that, there was no turning back. He already began doing this so there''s no use on regretting his decisions.

    "I''m going to sleep for a bit." Raven decided. "Once I wake up, I''ll start producing the formations."

    Speaking of Formations, Raven was now the un-official Head Inscriptionists of the Sect.

    Un-official because only a select representatives know about his new identity. He received this title due to his achievements in Inscriptions and Formations which were greatly disyed on the great battlest time.

    This title didn''t reallye with a huge responsibility nor did it conflict with his identity as the 9th Chosen of Zeus. It only requires him to provide the sect with the improved Formations, the same thing that he used on Asphodel.

    ording to the agreement, for every ten Formations Raven submitted, he''ll be rewarded with 15 million Merit Points. However, he needed to hand out the formations first and let it be tested. Once it''s confirmed that each one was working as intended, that''ll only be the time that he''ll get paid.

    Additionally, Raven as to submit at least one unique Formation that could benefit the sect every two years. If he failed to do that, then his position will be revoked. Thankfully, this rule doesn''t impose any kind of difficulty for Raven since he already has at least five of those formation that only needed to be tested out.

    Thanks to the Brush of Wisdom and his knowledge about Seal which were gradually increasing as time passed, this requirement was far from enough to stump him.

    ---

    "Kyrie."

    "Yes, Young Lord?"

    "Can I trouble you to pass this to the Deputy of Merit Exchange Market? Tell him that these are the first batch of Formations that they asked from me."

    Kyrie epted the spatial ring and nodded. She then excused herself from Raven''s chambers as she delivered the first batch of formations to the Merit Exchange Market Deputy Head.

    Once she left, Raven changed his clothes and went to the Training Field within his pocket dimension.

    Upon his arrival, he brought out the Brush of Wisdom and began regting his breath. He closed his eyes and calmed his emotions down. When he opened his eyes, his aura and expression changed. Disying a calm disposition akin to a cidke.

    Raven slowly lifted the Brush of Wisdom and drew an uneven line. Not even a second after it was drawn, the line transformed into something very astonishing.

    A silhouette of an Azure Serpentine Dragon rose up in the air. It'' body coiled up and bared its fangs at the empty field. It released a majestic roar the shook the nearby surroundings before pouncing on ground.

    *Boom!*

    The ground shook fiercely as an explosion urred. The Azure Serpentine Dragon disappeared, leaving behind a massive crater in front of Raven.

    However, Raven''s still isn''t done.

    With another wave of his hand, a Vermillion Bird, Snake-tailed ck Tortoise, and White Tiger emerged in quick session. Each one let out their battle cries before transforming into streaks of light, causing arge explosion and leaving an even bigger crater in front of him.

    Once he''s done, Raven released a sigh an said: "I''ll name it Four Divine Beast ughter. It''s a little rough on the edges right now but it''ll be powerful with practice. Moving on..."

    Raven once again lifted the Brush of Wisdom and began drawing an ominous picture. Once he''s done, his surroundings suddenly changed into a battlefield filled with Destruction and Ruin, whilst Raven felt this ce was right up his alley, to others it might not be so.

    "I used my Destruction Laws and Domain there...hmm, I guess I''ll call it ''Ruined Kingdom''."

    Ruined Kingdom is a move that is derived from his Destruction Domain and Laws so he''s at home there, the only difference between this and the Domain is that, the Ruined Kingdom move concentrates everything, allowing Raven''s power to be amplified by at least twice.

    Raven began testing the moves he created one by one, deciding which ones to improve and to abandon. After that, Raven rested to recovered his lost energy. He then returned to his pce and saw Kyrie waiting for him there. He ate something light first and once he''s done, he looked at Kyrie and said:

    "Alright, I guess it''s time for me to meet my men."

 Chapter 562 - Secret Realm Of Gaia

    ---

    As a tradition of the Ancient Elysium Sect, some of the more talented disciples were bestowed the title of Ancestor''s Chosen. The method of choosing a candidate had never been revealed and the process of elimination differs depending on who picked who.

    As for Zeus'' Chosen, they had to prove their worth by doing meritorious acts and by direct confrontation against other candidates as well. Since whoever received the title of Zeus will be the sessor to the Grand Elder position, the winner has to be a good leader as well since the Grand Elder position is akin to a tall mountain to bear.

    In order for them to prove worthy of being the next leading person of the Ancient Elysium Sect, they had to disy certain skills, this is why every candidate was given a specialized army to lead.

    And at this very moment, Raven - the 9th Chosen of Zeus, is about to meet the army he''s responsible for.

    ---

    The Secret Realm of Gaia is a ce where confrontations between the Chosen of Zeus urs.

    It is a pocket dimension which was transformed into a specialized battlefield. At first nce, it just a vast field filled with ruins and traces of war, in truth however, the Grand Elder could easily switch the environment of this pocket dimension in order to switch the tides of battle.

    Since this Secret Realm is a specialized battlefield for the Chosen of Zeus, one would be able to find army camps all over this ce. They are scattered everywhere and had unique gs which represents their current Lords.

    At the very north of this Secret Realm, one could find a small camp residing at an old and somewhat dpidated fortress.

    This fortress is hidden behind snowy peaks and thick nkets of snow. Even those who were somewhat aware of where this army camp were will have difficulties arriving at this ce. Further more,pared to the other camps, this fortress doesn''t have any gs, which meant that they''re currently out of duty. So even if someone from the other country saw them, they''d probably wouldn''t pay them any heed since they''re not included in the battle anyway.

    Well, that''s until today...

    *Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

    Sounds of cking heels could be heard within the fortress. It echoed across the halls as if nobody''s around. This sounds belongs to Kyrie who''s currently walking slightly behind Raven.

    Many things were currently going on inside Kyrie''s mind. Inwardly, she felt quite resigned and shameful. Seeing the pitiful state of this fortress and the sheer inattentiveness of the soldiers who were supposed to guarding and protecting this ce for the Young Lord''s arrival.

    Raven had been eerily quite ever since arriving here. Kyrie couldn''t tell what Raven was currently thinking since he doesn''t show any changes to his facial features as well. He just looked around him and inspected the location as if it had nothing to do with him.

    Kyrie did her best to lead Raven within the fortress. Both of them eventually arrived at the Central Hall of the fortress.

    Upon opening the doors, a surprising scene weed Raven.

    Seeing what''s inside caused Raven to remember specific words which was somewhat urate to describe the current scene in front of him.

    ''Refugee Camp''.

    A bunch of hopeless individuals who looked as if they just got out of multiple disasters and were tired of it all.

    There were broken and dirty tents everywhere. Some people were sleeping, others were sitting in a corner with gloomy expressions. They wore ragged clothing as if they were a bunch of homeless people who happened to find this fortress and made it their temporary home.

    The atmosphere was somewhat warm thanks to the bonfires they set up, that being said, the foul stench of smoke and body odor mixed within the closed space of the hall.

    The people who were currently awake saw the doors opening wide. They raised their heads slowly and looked at the two of them with empty gazes.

    Kyrie was inwardly fuming, she clenched her hand at the pathetic disy of these people. She had informed them ahead of time so why is it still like this? She even hyped them up to Raven and all and they''ll let him see them in this state?

    She wanted them to exin and punish them but was stopped by Raven himself.

    Raven simply stared at this scene with an impassive gaze.

    He strode forward with Kyrie on tow. Behind him, Kyrie was openly ring at them however she was only met with dull and lifeless look on their eyes.

    Raven knew what she was doing but he didn''t bother to stop her. He just calmly walked past the hopeless men who were staring at him with hesitant gazes.

    He walked forth until he arrived in front of a moldy throne in the middle of the room. Raven paused for a bit before sitting on it as if iming his rightful ce.

    Once he sat down, a weird feeling ran through the hopeless people''s bodies.

    Seeing Raven sitting on that moldy throne was him announcing who he was to them as if the thunderbolt mark on his forehead wasn''t enough to do so.

    What''s even weirder is that, even though Raven hadn''t said a single word yet, he gave off an aura that reminded them of few things from their past.

    Eventually, it came to the point where everybody was now awake and were staring at Raven who sat calmly on the moldy throne with Kyrie standing behind him. The situation was strange since under normal circumstances, these people should be kneeling in front of him or standing tall with rapt attention.

    It is what should they doing as the prided Army of the 9th Chosen, yet none of them did anything to wee him nor to pay their respects to him. This is why Kyrie was so livid.

    "Is everybody awake?"

    "..."

    That was the first time that Raven spoke since arriving here. His voice echoed throughout the wide hall and was of course heard by everyone. However, nobody answered him nor acknowledged him just yet...

    "No matter, I already knew the answer anyway..." Raven muttered loudly.

    "Well, then. Let''s get the formalities out of the way." He straightened his back and stated. "If you still don''t know what me sitting on this moldy throne entails, then you''re either dumb or acting like one. Either way, I don''t care."

    "I am the 9th Chosen of Zeus. My name is Vendrick Valorheart. I got this mark not too long ago." He said while pointing at the thunderbolt mark on his forehead.

    "Now, I don''t know why you''re all reduced to this pathetic state nor am I here to apologize for beingte and all." Raven looked at the one by one as he said this. "I also can''t say that I sympathize with you since frankly, I don''t. I wasn''t expecting to see you looking like this anyways. Specially after Kyrie told me that you were raring to meet me."

    Kyrie''s cheeks were burning with shame upon hearing this. She had this urge to cry yet had no tears, therefore she could only take it out by ring at the ''Army'' in front of them.

    "I''ll give you two choices." Raven state out loud. "You better listen carefully since I won''t be repeating myself."

    "Your first choice is to leave." He said, causing not only the army''s eyes to widen but also Kyrie''s. "You heard me right. I''ll be returning you freedom to you."

    "You can leave this pathetic life behind. Anyone who decided to pick this choice will be given a final pay of 100,000 Merit Points as well 10 Million worth of Spirit Stones. You can use these resources however you like before leaving the Ancient Elysium Sect."

    "No hard feelings between us. I won''t me you for leaving if you truly had enough of this life and wanted some peace or something else entirely for your ending. You can have it. Your contracts will be safely terminated and nobody from the sect will hunt you down - That is of course after we erase your memories about the sect, we can''t risk the safety of the sect just because of your departure now do we? So rest assured. You''ll make a clean exit."

    Raven stated the terms and due to that, the army were now ying close attention to him. Some people were even considering his words.

    "Your other choice is of course, to stay." Raven stated after a while.

    "Staying means continuing your life as a Soldier - My Soldiers. You will follow me with my battles and what achievements I get will be shared amongst you. There''s no way that I can guarantee your safety nor could I guarantee that you''ll live a peaceful life. We will be fighting tough battles and every single one will be filled dangers."

    "The only thing I can promise you, is that I will do my best to lead you to victory. I will do my best to will my battles against the other chosen and their army. And if I ever arrive at the point where I''m strong enough to content against the Devil Emperor myself. I will promise you that I''ll risk my life on the line to eradicate this abomination and end this persistent war once and for all."

    "Now that you''ve had your choices. I''ll give you one day to decide."

    After saying that, Raven stood up from his moldy throne and left the central hall and his soldiers to think by themselves.

 Chapter 563 - Divided Soldiers

    ---

    "My deepest apologies, Young Lord. I should''ve monitored the situation closely I - "

    "Don''t sweat it." Raven interrupted before she could even finish her words. "I''m not mad or disappointed. What happened already happened. Instead of ming them or yourself, we should just make do with what we have."

    "However, Young Lord. Allowing some people to leave will significantly weaken our forces. I''m afraid that the uing battles against the other candidates will be more challenging. Are we seriously letting them go?"

    "Kyrie you have to understand something." Raven stated as he continued walking at a brisk pace, touring the fortress. "Forcing people toy down their lives for the sake of something good or bad will never be a good idea."

    "Ancestor Zeus as well as his Brothers never forced anyone to fight alongside of them. They did so for the greater good. I would even venture that they couldn''t care less whether they''ll be sung as heroes or sinners. They just wanted to do what they think is right."

    "The army is an army, not a bunch of ves." Raven stated calmly. "If they want to serve me as their lord and fight by my side even after knowing the risks, then they are free to do so. If they won''t, then I don''t like to be unnecessary cruel and force them toy down their lives for the sake of the greater good. At most, these people will just be unnecessary casualties or Converted Devils when the battlees."

    "I''d rather have warriors who will fight willingly even if their numbers aren''t that great, rather than having an army of unwilling warriors who will end up being casualties or worse, Converted Devils that I''d have to deal with."

    "Like I said, we''ll make do with what we have. Few or many, with an army or without, doesn''t make a difference to me."

    Raven bold tone filled with absolute confidence about himself stunned Kyrie to speechlessness. She could help but feel her entire core shaken with this deration. She was in awe and at the same time, Raven''s pride was rubbing off to her.

    Kyrie had no idea where his confidencees from however for some unknown reason, she could feel that his confidence aren''t entirely baseless.

    In the end, Kyrie could only sigh and deal with the matters ording to their order. At this point, she had ced her absolute faith in Raven and whateveres out of this, she''ll just face it as well.

    There''s no turning back.

    ---

    Raven toured the entirety of the Fortress.

    It was huge and very damaged yet even if such was the case, Raven didn''t utter any kind of displeasure nor joy. He just looked at it impassively whilst his thoughts remain unclear. After his tour, Raven retreated to the personal quarters which was specifically designed for him.

    Beside him, no one else was allowed to enter this ce without his permission. And despite the run-down appearance of the Fortress, this room remained intact and clean.

    The room was very simple. It has polished stone floor and walls. There is arge bed, a closet, a bed side table, a bathroom and a secret chamber where he could fit.

    Raven nodded softly upon seeing this ce. He decided to spend the night here since there are still somethings that they needed to do in this fortress.

    When he woke up the next day, Raven did his morning rituals and ate a simple meal. By the time he exited his room, Kyrie was already waiting for him outside of his room.

    They exchanged some pleasantries before they began walking towards the Central Hall once again to see who decided to remain and who decided to leave amongst the soldiers.

    Way before he could even enter, he could already hear the sounds of argument going on, he could even feel the tense mooding from the room. Raven''s face remained stoic. They eventually arrived at the doors, Raven pushed it open using a hand.

    The doors emitted a loud creaking sound since it''s made out of thick Profound Wrought Iron. This caught the attention of the arguing soldiers inside. They shut their mouths once they saw Raven and Kyrie calmly strolling ahead.

    To Raven''s surprise, he saw that the moldy throne was now cleaned at least. Andpared before, the disgusting smell of mixed body odors and ashes were now gone. Raven didn''t show any changes on his face as he noticed all of this. He simply sat down on the throne and gazed at the soldiers who were visibly divided into two camps.

    The group on the left was visibly lesserpared to the group on the right.

    All of them stared at Raven. No one spoke which caused the entire atmosphere to be very tense. Raven could already see some clues judging by their expressions and how they looked at him. Nevertheless, he remained quiet. Causing this awkward and tense atmosphere to be prolonged.

    All of the soldiers were undoubtedly capable, else they wouldn''t considered as specialized soldiers that''s meant to bemanded by a Candidate of Zeus, and even if they were reduced at this state, they remained veterans and thus not meant to be underestimated.

    Nevertheless, all of this veterans felt very pressured upon meeting the gaze of Raven. This was quote surprising considering the fact that Raven wasn''t deliberately making things difficult for them. He wasn''t releasing his aura nor any ounce of killing intent. However, just his state alone was enough for them feel as if they were being eyed by a God Beast.

    The silence pervaded for several minutes until Raven abruptly straightened his back. This small action of his greatly startled the soldiers. Most of them jolted while others retreated.

    Kyrie who''s watching all of this happened had an amused smile on her face. As expected of her Young Lord. Even his slightest actions could cause these battle-hardened warriors to be rmed.

    "The current time is the same time that I gave you the ultimatum yesterday, which means a whole days had passed. ording to the deadline I gave you, now''s the time for you to decide whether you should leave or stay." Raven''s sonorous voice echoed across the hall, causing the soldiers to visibly rx.

    And here they thought he was about to kill them all...

    "Those who decided to stay, remain in this hall." Raven stated. "Those who wanted to leave, step forward and let me terminate your contracts."

    Once he made this announcement, the people of the right unhesitatingly stepped forward. The group on the left scowled as they see this, even Kyrie couldn''t help but snorting derisively. Nevertheless, nobody from the leaving group cared about what others think.

    Once they stepped forward, all of them kowtowed in front of Raven. One of them stepped furtherpared to the rest, this one was the spokesperson of this group.

    "On behalf of my Brothers, I thank the Lord for granting us a chance." The spokesperson knocked his head three times in session. "Oh Merciful Lord, forgive us for retreating like this. We only hope to live in peace with our families and go back our hometowns. Please grant us this wish, OH Magnanimous Lord."

    "Rise all of you." Raven ordered while waving his hand. The people who were kowtowing to him felt an irresistible force pulling them up and forcing them to stand. They were shocked but they didn''t say anything.

    "You don''t need to kowtow to me. I gave you this chance and you have made your choice. From now on, I''m no longer your Lord."

    Raven waved his hand once more, this time a surprising scene happened. From the bodies of the leafing group, a maroon orb came out. Everybody who saw this were shocked. How can they not be? Wasn''t this orb the same orb that bound them to this life at the first ce?

    This maroon orb is the Binding Contract of the soldiers. Now that Raven force it out of their bodies, it means that he will remain true to his words.

    "By my name and status as the 9th Chosen of Zeus. I, Vendrick Valorheart, order you to erase your memories about the important secrets pertaining to the Ancient Elysium Sect and hereby terminate your contracts. This order will be implemented now."

    *Weng!*

    A powerful fluctuation was released by the maroon orbs. The leaving group of warriors all simultaneously lost consciousness. Everybody who remained awake saw how the maroon orb gradually lost it''s brilliance and turned into dust particles which scattered by the wind.

    Raven then turned into Kyrie and passed a spatial ring to her.

    "Their final pay is in here. Get them out of the mountain for me, will you? And uh...be gentle with them, okay? Don''t make their lives harder anymore." Raven requested with a peculiar expression on his face.

    Kyrie could only sigh in defeat and nod. With a wave of her hand, she disappeared along with the group of unconscious people on the ground. Once they left, only Raven and a few people remained on the Central Hall.

    "I''ll address you formally as my menter, but first, let''s get rid of some pesky neighbors...."

 Chapter 564 - Gifts

    ---

    The Brush of Wisdom silently appeared on Raven''s hand.

    Using the brush, he drew a small circle which immediately formed arge bubble that covered the entire fortress.

    The whole ce shook for a bit before finally calming down. The remaining soldiers were stunned and confused as to what happened just now, however that didn''t remain for long since Raven chose to exin what he did.

    "To outsiders eyes, this fortress will remain dpidated and lifeless, if they decided to explore this ce, they will only find your fake dried corpses. You can call it an illusion but in truth, I merely isted this ce to an alternate dimension."

    "This should buy us sometime. And even if they discovered it, it doesn''t really matter."

    Raven casually exined what he did yet to the ears of the remaining soldiers, he might as well dropped a huge bomb.

    How can he just casually say that he transported the whole fortress and them to an Alternate Dimension just like that? It was as if he did somethingpletely nothing out of the ordinary!

    We''re talking about an Alternate Dimension here! Although these soldiers can''t fully grasp what an Alternate Dimension is, they know just how difficult it is to ess it.

    It had to be known that only one out of billions of people could sense the existence of an alternate dimension. Going there and even sending people there is apletely different concept altogether yet Raven casually did with a wave of his hand. How can they not be shocked?

    That being said, considering the fact that Raven was Enlightened by Spacetime Laws, something like this shouldn''t be surprising at all.

    The Alternate Dimensionpletely mirrors that of the real world. It''s obscured by the Mirage and Illusion Laws but in truth, it''s just another ne of reality. For someone like Raven who could sense the Past, Present and Future, sensing the existence of the Alternate Dimension is a piece of cake. The barrier of Mirage and Illusion Laws can''t prevent Raven''s powerful will from going there or doing whatever he wants, therefore sending this fortress as well as these soldiers was as easy as lifting his fingers.

    "Let me remind you that the Alternate Dimension only covers the 100 meter radius of the Fortress, if you go past that, you''ll step out of it and will rm the spies of our neighbors so you have to make sure that you don''t go past that. If it can''t be helped, then be careful at least." Raven reminded his subordinates who still can''t digest what he did just now.

    "Now then, let''s talk about the more important things." Raven stated, his words rmed the remaining people and pulled their attention back to him.

    "Since you decided to remain, that means you are willing to worship me as your Lord. That right?"

    The soldiers were stunned, however it didn''t take long before all of them stepped forward and knelt down in front of him.

    "We pledge our allegiance to you, Lord Vendrick!!" They announced in unison.

    Raven was pleased, he nodded and said: "Good! Since you all are willing to aid me in my conquest, then I shall present you my blessings."

    Using the brush of wisdom, he drew some phantasmagorical runes in the air. Each rune sparkled with a violet golden brilliance, causing the hall to be illuminated with it''s light. Once Raven was finished, the runes condensed into a palm-sized ones and manifested into reality.

    Three runes flew to each soldier. Upon seeing this runes, the soldiers were bewildered and were dazzled by their brilliance.

    "This runes are my gift to you." Raven stated, "Each rune can be treated as my personal Decree. I''m giving each of three to use whenever you find yourselves in deep trouble."

    "Each of this rune could protect your life, restrain your enemies, and release an attack with the might of an Empyrean Level Powerhouse. To activate them, you only need to touch these runes as they will be imnted on your bodies. You will only have three for now so use them ordingly."

    The soldiers gaped at Raven''s words. Before they could even say anything, the runes fused with bodies and turned into tattoos which could be activated at any point in time.

    All of them were speechless. Didn''t Raven say that he can''t guarantee their lives if they remained during his announcement yesterday? So what''s up with this runes then?

    Forget about the runes being able to attack, just the mere protection it gave already got them jumping up and down in joy, yet this runes did so much more than that.

    Without any exceptions, all of the soldiers began shedding tears, this caused Raven to be momentarily stunned but he then realized that life must''ve been tough for them during these years so he didn''t say anything.

    ...originally, he didn''t want to say anything but they didn''t stop crying even after a while. He got tired of it so he said:

    "Alright that''s enough. Quit crying. We have stuff to do." Raven ordered.

    The soldiers heard him and instantly restrained their emotions. They dried their tears and calmed themselves down. Now, their eyes shown reverence and glee instead since finally, a fitting Lord finally appeared before them.

    "As I told you before, it hasn''t been long since I ascended to this position. However, it''s also thanks to that, that we have enough time to prepare."

    "The sect gave me twenty years of peace, meaning that our neighbors won''t casually pick a fight with us during that time lest they incur the wrath of Grand Elder."

    "We have more or less 19 years to improve ourselves and catch up with their might, and that''s precisely what we''re going to do." Raven stated. "Although some of yourrades left you, it shouldn''t be a big deal. As your Lord, I''ll be responsible for you."

    "I will give you all the necessities you need in order to be stronger, I have no problems fulfilling that part, however I simrly need you to produce the results. I will create rules and regtions which will be strictly followed. There will be handsome rewards waiting for you so long as you perform well. As for vitions, I''ll only tolerate it twice, any more than that will cost you your life so think carefully about your actions."

    "For now, we''ll be taking things easy." Raven said, "Start by repairing this fortress first. I''ll hand out your task. Collect the materials here."

    As soon as he said this, Raven took out arge table filled with numerous materials needed for the repair.

    The soldiers didn''t raise a fuss and began collecting the materials in order to get to work.

    Meanwhile, Raven took out another table, this time it was filled with numerous sacks of rice, bags of meats, fruits, beverages, clean spring water, clothes and so on.

    The soldiers involuntarily swallowed some spit upon seeing that abundant supply of daily necessities. Some of them were even raring to work immediately so that they hasten the repairs and maybe get their hands on these rations.

    However, Raven''s following words stunned them once again.

    "Distribute these evenly amongst yourselves. No need to hold back. You may also eat first before you start working. I expect this fortress to be repaired within the next two weeks."

    "We thank the Lord for your generosity, please leave it to us. We will finish the repair as soon as possible." One man excitedly stepped forwards and kowtowed in front of Raven.

    "We thank the Lord!!" The rest followed his lead.

    "Mn!" Raven nodded. "I''ll be expecting it. Here''s the areas that needs repair. I''ll leave it to you. If there are any important matter that you need me for, contact me using this talisman."

    He then handed a paper with a illustrated model of the Fortress and a transmission talisman to that man before he left the room and returned to his personal quarters.

    The soldiers were left in a daze as they saw him leaving. Once they couldn''t feel him anymore, the soldiers immediately scrambled and began equally diving the supplies to themselves.

    "Oh! The smell of rice and fresh meat! How I missed these!"

    "Aaah! That refreshing taste of crystal clear Clean Spring Water. I never thought I''d taste it again."

    "Dude you''re crying."

    "I am, what about it? And speak for yourself will you?"

    "Yeah, I can''t me you. But more importantly, I''m hungry. Is the kitchen still usable?"

    "Thest time I checked, not anymore. But no matter! Just a small setback. We can also find other ways."

    "That''s right! Hail the Lord!"

    "We got lucky that got a generous Young Lord. And here I thought our agony will be prolonged."

    "Right? Thest one was pushover. How did he even be a Chosen?"

    "Can we not talk about that guy anymore? Remembering him makes me mad, he''s the reason why we suffered in this ce for so long. Besides, we already pledged allegiance with the new one. And just from these alone, he''s already so much betterpared to thest one. Now him, I''ll happily acknowledge as a Lord."

    "Alright, alright. Stop bickering. Why don''t we cook something first and eat. Then we''ll begin repairing the Fortress. Let''s impress our Lord, yeah?"

    "Yeah!"

 Chapter 565 - Pitiful Soldiers

    ---

    "I wonder just how many mysteries this Brush of Wisdom has..." Raven murmured as he stared at the brush on his hand.

    Although he hadn''t been using it for long, he already experienced just how many things he could do with it.

    The notion of his Intent flowing through the brush as easy as flowing water, was in truth a bit wrong. With his rising number of uses, he figured this out.

    The Brush of Wisdom just doesn''t allow him to fuse his Intent to what ever he creates with it. It would be more urate to say that the brush allows his thoughts to manifest in reality.

    Raven had tested this over and over again during his practice in the real world and inside the crown space. It is the very reason why he was able to create a unique set of skills using the Brush of Wisdom at it''s core.

    ''One Thought Creation'' - this is the name of the skill he created.

    So far it doesn''t have many iterations but it possess infinite potential.

    The Brush of Wisdom enables Raven to manifest whatever his thoughts are, meaning that if he was thinking about creating a Dragon, then the Brush of Wisdom will allow that to manifest to reality. Well, that''s considering that he had an appropriate image of what he wants to create and enough energy to do so.

    His creations couldn''tst for a long time for now but the more adept he gets at using the Brush of Wisdom, the better the results would be.

    "I wonder who created this thing?" Raven wondered as he stared at the brush. "It is said that Ancestor Zeus found during his escapades and not even him could unlock the full potential of the brush. How awesome was that? Where did thise from?"

    Raven sighed at the fact that he might not be able to find the answer for this question in his entire life. He put away the brush for now and decided to not linger on this thoughts too much since he had better things to do.

    Three weeks had passed since he arrived at Gaia''s Secret Realm and met his army.

    Speaking of this, Raven finally managed to understand the whole reason as to why their situations were like this. It''s all because of their previous Lord - thest era''s 9th Chosen.

    It all begins from where did this soldiers came from.

    Originally, these soldiers were mortals living peacefully on the Lower nes that are owned by the Ancient Elysium Sect. Ever since the 2nd Generation''s era, they started looking for people who had a strong potential, the sect then employed these people and made them soldiers who will be serving the Chosen ones of Zeus.

    Suffices to say, these people are considered as False Immortals. It''s not like they couldn''t die, it''s just that the contract fused on their bodies won''t allow them to.

    Raven had no idea what kind of technique was used to create to Contract Orbs but it is responsible for harnessing their souls and bodies to resurrected.

    They could die. There''s no mistaking that.

    However as they were bound by the contract orb, once they did die, they will be resurrected once the next batch of Chosen arrives. This will go on and on until either the Ancient Elysium Sect falls or the Devil Emperor was killed permanently.

    In short, they are a bunch of pitiful ves who''s right to die got taken away from them as well.

    Raven didn''t know what the 2nd Generation was thinking but he doesn''t agree to it all. Nevertheless, even if didn''t like it, he''s still virtually a nobody and can''t change this fact.

    Due to all of this, the fate of these men were inevitably tied to their Lord.

    The reason why this fortress and this army was at this state is due to the previous generation''s 9th Chosen.

    From what he learned, their previous Lord was a huge asshole. An entitled son of a bitch ording their description.

    Fame and status wormed its way towards his head. Due to him being chosen, he thought at all lives were beneath him, and thus he mistreated not only the soldiers but even the disciples as well.

    He didn''t even spared any effort to manage his soldiers, he just left them suffering and demanded them to give him excellent results, he was incredibly unreasonable.

    It had to be known that the strength of this soldiers rely on how much strength their lord has and the opportunities given to them. The soldiers doesn''t follow the orthodox cultivation chart since their very existence if different from the norm.

    The selfishness of the previous 9th was what doomed him to fail. Even still, he had the gall to pass the me to his soldiers for not being able to seed with the battles for candidacy. And with his final despicable art, he used the power of the contract and abused it.

    Using the power of the contract, he doomed the army to lose all of their umte strength, prevented anyone from the sect from helping them, stationed them at the north where not even a grain of rice could be found and prevented them from taking even a step forward from this dpidated fortress lest they suffer a heavy punishment. He also made it so that only the appearance of his sessor as the 9th Candidate couldpletely nullify this order of his, therefore even the Sect Leader and Grand Elder were helpless against this.

    That''s basically the reason why they weren''t stoked about his appearance and why they looked so gloomy. The previous 9th was extremely vicious to them, his final act was basically worse than directly killing them.

    Due to this, some of the soldiers were reminded on just how pitiful their existence were and it quite legitimately broke their spirits. This is why many of them jumped at the chance of freedom when Raven offered it to them.

    Learning about caused Raven to be puzzled as they why some people still chose to remain. When he asked, they answered him like this...

    "Though we might be nobodies, we still want to contribute for the greater good."

    "We understand why the sect was created to begin with. We''ve seen the horrible abominations we have to face and we simply can''t run away from that. If everyone bes afraid and run away, then the Divine Realm will truly sumb to the advances of the Foreigners."

    "The Divine Realm is thest bastion for Humanity, abandoning it just because of fear will mean the extinction of Humanity as a whole. We simply can''t let that happen."

    It was then that Raven was finally convinced that he made the right decision.

    ---

    The Fortress was fixed within a week even though the deadline was two weeks.

    Raven was impressed and but in truth, it''s the least his men could do for him. While Raven didn''t say much nor react much, his actions were loud enough to pass the message.

    It isn''t just because of runes he gave to them nor the food. It was more about his sincerity and generosity.

    The amount of daily necessities that Raven gave to them back then was enough tost them for a month, two months even if they were to manage it carefully. However, Raven didn''t agree.

    The next day after that, Raven appeared before them and gave them just as much resources as before. When they asked why, he simply replied that it''s their daily rations.

    That''s when they realized that Raven waspletely serious when he said ''Don''t hold back''. He actually meant for them to consume the food without worrying about whether they''ll have more for tomorrow since he''s got them covered.

    This was a simple act to Raven. In fact, retrieving this much supplies didn''t really put a dent to the overall amount of his Merit Points.

    However, what he considered as a very simple act, was a monumental sign of generosity to his men simply because none of their previous Lords were as generous as him.

    At most, those previous one''s will give them a month''s worth of rations, that''s what they''re used to. However to Raven, that''spletely uneptable. His daily rations was enough to feed them for an entire month or two and he gives it to them daily.

    Just the fact that they could have a massive feast every night after a day''s work was enough for them to give it their all. Which is why the repair of the Fortress went smooth and fast, enabling them to finish it within a week.

    After which, Raven ordered them to make some renovations to the fortress and give them a month to finish it. The renovations were important for their future ns, therefore Raven didn''t want them to rush and reminded them to be careful.

    As they worked, of course Raven wasn''t idle. Right now, he was currently researching the unique method of the soldiers cultivation and making future ns in order to win this thing. As for those nosy neighbors of theirs, he doesn''t care about them for now.

    Whether they discover the weird illusion he created or not, it won''t matter anyway.

 Chapter 566 - Naming

    ---

    "Ah! So that''s how it goes..."

    "The unique strength ranking of the Soldiers are really different. The strength chart goes something like Mortal, Bronze, Silver, Gold, ck Gold, tinum and Legendary ranked Soldiers."

    "In order to for them to get stronger, their current Lords must bestow them a name and a portion of his strength. Their potential will be the same as the Lord but their strength will never be able to reach the level of their Lord. I see. So they''re really connected to me like that."

    Raven murmured as he reviewed the information about the peculiar way of cultivation for his soldiers. Granted that he hadn''t been with his soldiers for long, he''s seriously considering their well beings as he closely studied the information avable for them.

    "A soldier with; say a Gold-ranked potential, will easily be able to reach the Gold Rank Soldier Stage within a short period of time. If this soldier wanted to reach the stage beyond that, then they have to practice a lot and put in the effort. This will also depend on how much resources their Lord is willing to give to them."

    "The way the Soldiers practice is practically the same as how the Orthodox Cultivation Followers do it. They have cultivation techniques, battle arts and etc. The only difference is that, since these soldiers are virtually Immortal, they can be resurrected immediately at the cost of at least two realms of strength."

    "Meaning that if a ck Gold ranked Soldier dies, resurrecting him immediately will cause his realm to drop at Bronze rank. They have to start all over again and that''ll take time and even more resources. This gives the Lords an difficult choice which tests their insights and their leadership skills."

    Raven was silent for a bit. He the released a long sigh and stared at the ceiling.

    "The other Chosen should have at least 80 Soldiers. Naming every single one of them is not only a pain in the ass but also risky..."

    "I wouldn''t be surprised if they decided to test their soldiers and evaluate them based on the results. The one''s who won would be named while the rest will be reduced to a mere follower status or like a house keeper of some sorts."

    This was just Raven thinking out loud but what he didn''t know, is that he unknowingly hit the nail right on the head.

    It was precisely as he said. The other chosen did create some sort of tests to find out who they think have the highest potential amongst their soldiers. The ones who gets a good result will be named and will be allowed to cultivate, the rest will either beckeys or; just like what Raven said, house keepers.

    "The whole army will be divided into smaller groups, lead by the named soldiers. Based on the potential of the named soldier, their status will differ and the task given to them won''t be equal." Raven followed up his conjecture with another logical analysis.

    "I mean...I get why you would do something like that but...my situation is very different."

    Exactly. It is indeed as Raven says. His situation is indeed very different from the other Chosen.

    Unlike them, Raven only had 25 Soldiers remaining. The rest left and were living peaceful lives back at their original homes.

    "Hmm..." Raven was locked in a deep thought. All of a sudden, his face lit up as a great idea popped up on his mind. "That might work! Let''s see..."

    ---

    "Alright people, listen up. We''re going to do something different today." Raven announced within the Central Hall with his Soldiers lined up in front of him.

    He called all of his soldiers today for a special announcement that will decide how Raven''s going to move forward with this path in the future.

    Raven took out an array disc from his spatial ring and activated it. He then said:

    "From left to right, step up one by one and ce a drop of your blood in this array." Raven ordered.

    The soldiers were confused but none of them raised a word. The first one from the left stepped forward without any hesitation and nicked his finger using his sharpest teeth. He then smeared his blood on the array and waited.

    Everyone stared at the array, wondering what''s going to happen now. It didn''t take long before the array released a sh of light that illuminated the central hall. Raven watched with rapt attention and when he saw the final results, he announced:

    "ck-Gold Potential. Pretty good." Raven nodded. "Go there and wait until everyone''s done. Next one!"

    The soldier was a bit surprised and confused, however he didn''t say a word and merely followed Raven''s orders.

    Just like this, the soldiers potential were revealed one by one, and to his and their surprise, the results were splendid.

    The lowest potential they had was Gold and there were ten of them here. There were five soldiers who had ck Gold potential, another five that has tinum ranked potential and the remaining five had Legendary ranked potential.

    This results were astonishing. In fact, it was downright absurd. If any of the other Chosen were to see this, they''d probably die in envy. They''d probably amount it to luck or Raven being heavily favored by the sect but it''s none of the above.

    Raven''s surprisingly simple method of testing one''s potential is the key. Their methods of choosing who''s worthy to be named and who isn''t aren''t exactly wrong but it''s bound to be extremely unstable. Raven merely had a way to measure someone''s potential. This allows him to get a clearer understanding for his soldiers and also allows him to build more solid foundations.

    Forget about him though, his soldiers found this downright unbelievable.

    It was true that they didn''t understand what''s happening at first, however when Raven made the announcement, everything became clear. That being said, it didn''t change the fact that they were still surprised.

    None of them experienced this kind of tests before. They were used to the usual methods that other chosen does.

    Had Raven asked them about this. They would''ve easily pointed fingers as to who was the best fighter amongst them, they could even tell him confidently what potential they have. Had that happened, then it would''ve been such a waste. Thankfully, their Lord is smart and extremely capable.

    "It''s one thing for me to be surprised, but even you people?" Raven raised a brow.

    The soldiers couldn''t help but to smile wryly at hisment.

    "Either way, I can more or less understand why you guys are surprised too." He said, "In hindsight, you should''ve known. After all, you were handpicked by the sect to be soldiers so how can your potentials be weak? Well, enough about that."

    "Now, I want you guys to group yourselves ording to your potential." Raven ordered.

    The soldiers then moved, forming groups ording to his arrangement. Once that''s done, Raven continued:

    "I''ll be naming you guys right now." Raven stated which caused an uproar to his soldiers. "Alright calm down you people. I''m not done yet."

    The soldiers ceased their jubnt moods and allowed Raven to continue speaking.

    "Just a heads-up, I''ll be naming every single one of you." Raven stated, gasps could be heard from the soldiers. "You heard me right. I''ll name every single one of you. Although we are small in numbers, that doesn''t mean that we should be weak. Specially after knowing that you guys have this much potential with you."

    "Just a heads up, I might not be able to name all of you at once within this day. If I do run out of energies, then we''ll continue next time. Got it?"

    "Yes, Young Lord!"

    "Good!" Raven nodded, "My naming sense is bad. Thinking of 25 unique names at once is just something I can''t do. Since there are four groups here, I gave me an idea."

    "Four groups will be named after the Four Divine Beasts. Snake-tailed ck Tortoise, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird and Azure Dragon."

    "I''ll start with those who had Gold Ranked potentials. Step forward."

    The group of ten people stepped forward stepped forward. Raven stood up from his throne and walked close to them.

    "Let''s not make thingsplicated." He said, he then held out his hand and the soldier in front of him held it. "From now on, you''ll be called as Vermillion Bird One."

    "Thank you, Milord!" The soldier kissed the back of Raven''s hand, a sign of him epting his new name whole-heartedly.

    A curtain of white light covered his body. After that, everyone in the hall could feel that this person changed.

    Vermillion Bird One looked incredibly agitated from some reason. Raven could more or less understand why he''s acting this way.

    "You are excused." Raven told him. Vermillion Bird One nodded his hand and bowed to him before rushing out of the central hall.

    Raven then went towards the second person. After naming him Vermillion Bird Two, he simrly looked agitated and were simrly excused.

    The sessionsted until Raven named all of those who had Gold Ranked and ck Gold Ranked potential. Vermillion Bird for the Gold ranks and the ck Turtle for the ck Golds.

    After that, he dismissed the soldiers first since his energy reserves were emptied.. He entered the Crown Space in order to seclude himself once more and recover his energies.

 Chapter 567 - Bizarre Development

    ---

    "I should''ve known¡­"

    "How can I forget that I too, follow the unorthodox path of cultivation? Book of Chaos remember? I don''t have regr Quintessential Energies, instead I have Cosmic Energies."

    "Since the soldiers are connected to me, of course there will be some mutations to them, duh!"

    Raven berated himself inside his quarters after receiving the reports about the strange changes to their Soldiers'' bodies right after they were made.

    Currently, all of the soldiers are in deep sleep. More specifically, they are all ''incubating'' within a hardened energy egg. It is currently unknown when they will wake up or if they will even wake up at all.

    Raven had finished naming all 25 of his soldiers. Vermillion Bird One - Ten, ck Turtle One - Five, White Tiger One - Five, and Azure Dragon One - Five.

    Everyone that he named were found encased inside a egg the day after. It was a bizarre development but they aren''t dead, just in a deep slumber.

    Raven originally wanted to postpone the naming of the soldiers but he decided against it. The soldiers themselves could feel that theirrades are experiencing heaven and earth changes within that egg and that they were fine. They could even tell that once they wake up, they''ll be way above what they were before the naming. Due to this, Raven threw caution to the wind and named everyone else.

    Currently, everyone is slumbering, making this fortress a little lonely. Kyrie wasn''t around since she was tasked to watch over the pocket dimension.

    Raven eventually came to a conclusion that this is due to him being an unorthodox cultivator. As for what this change going to bring to his soldiers, he currently has no idea. He could only wait until they broke our of their shells and report to him the changes on their bodies.

    As of now, Raven decided to stay in the fortress in order to finish the modifications to some rooms.

    He nned on using them as training grounds for the soldiers so that they''ll be much stronger when they officially started operating.

    Raven set up multiple formations to finish the modifications. Some of them were centered on allowing the soldiers to increase their battle instincts while others focused on tactics and so on. Right now, Raven had no clue on how long these guys are going to sleep, however it''s best if the things they needed are ready by the time they wake up just so that they won''t waste time.

    They''ve been asleep for a week now. And from the fluctuations, Raven guessed that they needed more time, which was fine for him.

    As they sleep, Raven wasn''t idle at all.

    He continued training in and out of the Crown Space. He''s steadily moving forward with his cultivation, however even if that''s the case, his progress obviously slowed down.

    Speaking of the Crown Space, Raven visited the Monument of Stars not too long ago and received yet another recognition. This time, it was the Extreme Yin Shroud.

    Extreme Yin Shroud and Extreme Yang Illumination. Even with the insights he got from these constetions, Raven still found it too vague. It was as if there are multiple doors appearing in front of him yet he didn''t know how to get to them just yet. It was confusing but Raven didn''t mind them too much.

    Aside from training, Raven also decided to explore Gaia''s Secret Realm whenever he''s bored.

    Of course he did it covertly, he''s not yet ready to announce his participation to his ''neighbors''.

    So far, he explored the whole north and found some interesting vistas in there.

    Gaia''s Secret Realm is the designated battlefield for the Chosen of Zeus. Raven''s territory is at the Deep North on the map. Which means that this whole area of snow capped fields and peaks are his to use.

    Like what was mentioned earlier, the Fortress - Raven and his army''s base of operations, are hidden within snowy mountains. During his adventures, Raven sensed some hidden lodes of resources within the depths of this mountains, and based from his observations none of them were discovered just yet.

    This got Raven thinking.

    If the Grand Elder could freely manipte thendmasses of this Secret Realm, what would happen to these lodes then? Will they disappear or not? Is it even worth to mine these lodes or would it be a waste of time?

    Everything appeared real to him at least, however he didn''t do anything for now since he didn''t want his neighbors to have an excuse to closely monitor them just yet. He didn''t want any frictions between camps since there''s still much that needs to be done.

    Furthermore, even with the relentless cold weather of the Deep North, his neighbors still managed to somehow find a way to leave Spying Sentries which are tasked to monitor his territory and inform his neighbors about any movements.

    Too bad since they were dealing with Raven.

    Not only did he fooled these Sentries, he even tinkered them to work for him instead.

    Spying Sentries are mini-constructs that are made by the smiths. Their job is to monitor everything within a kilometer radius around them and send feedback to their owners whenever something out of the ordinary was seen.

    These little things couldn''t hope to match Raven at all. He simply casted a strong illusion that fooled the sentry and he began tinkering them in a way that will work for him instead.

    Now, whenever these sentries sense anything but Raven and his army, they will send him details about it so that he could prepare. And since this is Raven we''re talking about, no traces will lead to him. Not even the very creator of these sentry would be able to know how he tinkered with these things.

    Additionally, he also ced some traps along the way which could be triggered with a single thought of his. These are just some nasty surprises for whoever thinks about setting foot to his territory without his permission.

    For now, Raven adventures are limited to the deep north. He decided to study his own territory first before the enemies just so that he''ll be able to make full use of his natural resources to gain advantage.

    It''s still too early anyway. He still had time to spy on his neighbors in the future.

    ---

    "So that''s how it was..." Raven murmured as he stared at the skies.

    His eyes were somewhat dull and he was expressionless. Raven was in the middle of his deep cultivation and was currently digesting some of the information his Avatars umted for him.

    "In a way, Laws can be visualized as Inscriptions too."

    "Inscriptions are what form Seals. Seals are needed to create Arrays and multiple Arrays can be fused to create a Formation."

    "Laws work the same way too. It could be said that the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm itself is just a massive semi-intelligent Formation. And under the discerning eye, it could be broken down into smaller details which creates the whole picture."

    "Inscriptions are the basics. Multiple Inscriptions are used to create a Seal. Numerous Seals are needed to form an Array so on and so forth. This trend remains the same and it carries one of the simplest yet most profound concept of all..."

    "From Simplicity to Complexity. And from Complexity to Simplicity. The cycle just goes on and on! I understand!"

    *Weng!*

    Strong waves of fluctuations were released from Raven''s body. Multiple hymns and tunes echoed from his location, signaling the deep attunement of Raven''s mind to the Heavenly Laws right now.

    Currently, Raven was floating several meters off the ground, carried by an invisible force. His mind was currently being flooded by multiple insights yet Raven remains oblivious to it all. He just processed the information as if he was a by-stander and that it had nothing to do with him.

    The Brush of Wisdom suddenly appeared and began releasing hymns that melded with the tunes surrounding Raven. The brush was orbiting around him, mysteriously trying to draw something without Raven''s control.

    The Law Diagrams on Raven''s body were currently being dissolved at an rming pace yet they were also being reced by new ones.

    Raven could feel his insights climbing at an rming pace. The things that didn''t make sense to him before were finally bing clear to him. Still, even with all of that, Raven remained unconscious.

    This whole processsted for a good amount of time before calming down, when Raven opened his eyes. A majestic lotus bloomed with him at its center. Each lotus petal looked somewhat strange, at first nce, no one would discover anything but if one looked closely, each petal areposed of wriggling lines that changes the longer one observes. It''s as if these lines were alive and had a story to tell.

    When consciousness returned to Raven''s body, a peculiar feeling rose from his chest.

    Omniscience.

    This is what Raven was currently feeling right now. He had the impression that there''s nothing in this world he didn''t understand. It was a very empowering feeling yet also frightening at the same time.

    "I need some time to digest my gains properly. Back to seclusion we go.." He said as he disappeared from where he was.

 Chapter 568 - Storm Dwellers Peak

    ---

    "Young Lord, you''re back!" Kyrie greeted when he saw Raven arriving with a sh of light inside the pocket dimension.

    "Mn!" Raven nodded in acknowledgement. "The Soldiers are still in slumber, I just a clone in there to temporarily look after them. How''s everything so far?"

    "The situation had more or less stabilized within Asphodel." Kyrie said as he passed down several reports on Raven''s table. "Thanks to your contributions, the Inner Disciples now had an easier time dealing with the Devils that are descending. Additionally, the Formations you made were well received by the disciples. I assume you''ve already received the Merit Points from them already."

    "That I did." Raven nodded.

    He had indeed received the generouspensation for his hard work. The formations were sold for at least 500,000 Merit Points. It''s a bit on the expensive side yet those who had purchased it used it had noints so far.

    How can theyin after experiencing the greatness of the Formation? Not only did the Formation repelled the Curse of Wrath that''s ever present within Asphodel, it also provided them with security andfort. The Formation can''t be seen by the Devils, additionally, it also converts the irritating heat of Asphodel into cold winter breeze which wasfortable beyond belief.

    It was safe to say that the Formation was a godly tool and a must have when travelling within Asphodel. Those who bought it and used it had nothing but praises for it. 500,000 Merit Points sure is expensive but this is just a small investment that will surely pay-out greatly. Some of the people who bought already reached a break-even point, and from there onwards, they''ll start earning.

    Raven''s entitled to at least 50% of the profits. The materials are covered by the sect so those are not deducted to his pay, which means that he''s getting 250,000 Merit Points for each Formation that was bought. Sufficed to say, Raven''s pockets are definitely fatter at this point.

    "I''ll hand over another batch of Formations next week. Be sure to remind in case I forgot about it." Raven informed Kyrie.

    "Yes, Young Lord." Kyrie greatly admired this Young Lord of hers. He hasn''t even been in the position for long yet he''s already solved the problem of Merit Points earning. He truly is special.

    "Anything else I needed to know?" Raven asked.

    "Here, Young Lord." Kyrie pushed a scroll on Raven''s table.

    Raven picked up the scroll and gently unfurled it. Looking at it''s contents, his mind trembled for a bit. It''s another specialized mission issued to him, this time, it was sent by the Sect Master.

    [Mission for the 9th Zeus''s Chosen - Vendrick Valorheart]

    : I''ve heard about your deeds from the Grand Elder. Impressive! I hope you continue this trend for the greater good. Nevertheless, let''s talk business...

    I heard you were capable of creating Empyrean-ranked Seals, there is a matter that I need your help with. Meet me at the Storm Dweller''s Peak as soon as you can. I''ll inform you about the details of this mission there.

    ---

    Raven was visibly surprised upon seeing this. He then turned to Kyrie and asked: "When did this arrive?"

    "Two days ago Young Lord." She replied, "I would''ve let you know if it weren''t for the Sect Master''s orders to not disturb you lest you were in the middle of something important."

    "That''s...oddly humble for someone like him." Raven murmured, but it was heard by Kyrie.

    "The Sect Master must''ve had his own reasons." She said, "I suggest that you look for him, assuming that you don''t have anything important to do right now."

    "Yeah, I should do that." Raven mumbled somewhat absent-mindedly. He then stood-up and asked: "How do I go to the Storm Dweller''s Peak?"

    "This ce had a one-way Transmission Gate towards there. I''ll have it ready for you." She replied.

    "Thanks. I''ll go take a bath real quick." Raven said as he went towards the bathroom.

    Several minutester, Raven got out of the bath and ready to leave. He wasted no time and searched for Kyrie. He found her waiting beside the Transmission Gate, when Raven appeared, he nodded at her and she got the message.

    Kyrie activated the Transmission Gate and Raven stepped inside, before he left he gave her some instructions via voice transmission. Kyrie remembered everything he said and deactivated the transmission gate once he disappeared.

    When Raven''s vision adjusted, he found himself standing in front of an extremely tall mountain covered with dark clouds and asional bolts of thunder and lightning. There was an arching gate in front of him with a te which reads: Storm Dweller''s Peak.

    Raven walked forward and as soon as he got close to the gates, the mark on his forehead suddenly released a buzzing sound. Raven was confused at first but then, the gate suddenly opened up. Dismissing this with a shrug, he continued traversing the mountain with a brisk pace. The asional bolts of lightning strikes nearby didn''t do anything to deter him at all.

    Even though he could hear loud thunderps and had close encounters with the lightning strikes, Raven didn''t stop his journey. He was neither anxious nor stressed or pressured by these things. Quite the contrary really. He looked rx, as if he was doing a regr hiking.

    Eventually, Raven arrived at the peak where another gate barred his way. This time around, this gate is the entrance to the abode at the peak of the mountain. Just like before, the thunderbolt mark on his forehead released another buzzing sound and the gates mysteriously opened once more.

    Raven stepped inside and saw a rather humble abode. It wasn''t made out of the most expensive materials, nor was it staggeringlyrge. It was more like a vacation house that old and rich people build for themselves where they could rx and enjoy their retirement.

    From the moment Raven stepped within this territory, he already knew that some people were already watching him. It was just an undeniable feeling that could never be mistaken. Nevertheless, Raven didn''t raise his guard nor felt intimidated, he only felt that it''s natural.

    Raven could feel a strong aura towards the backyard. He could sense five people here, every single one was a monster in human-skin. He didn''t even dare to imagine him fighting against any of these people since the result was already obvious. Thankfully, this was not the purpose of his visit.

    When he arrived at the backyard, he saw the people who''s aura were like ring torches amidst the darkness. Three old men and twodies.

    One was currently resting at a reclining chair with a woman on hisp. One was sitting cross-legged with a beauty right beside him and thest one was respectfully sitting on his knees behind all of them.

    The old man on the recliner opened one of his eyes and looked at Raven''s way. He then chuckled and said: "The Little Monster is here."

    As soon as he said that, five pairs of eyes look towards Raven.

    If this was any other ce, Raven would''ve surely be a little bit freaked-out by this sudden event.

    Imagine five people who''s auras were akin to Primordial Beasts, staring at you. Who wouldn''t feel rmed? Thankfully, these people were allies.

    "Disciple Vendrick greet the Elders." Raven saluted the five elders as soon as their gazes met. This was the first time that he personally met them. Well, all aside from the Grand Elder - who''s surprisingly the same Elder who visited him back at Tartarus and handed him and Ancestor Sealer''s ne.

    "Mn! What do you think?" The elder who''s sitting cross-legged whispered at the woman by his side.

    The woman nodded and said: "He''s indeed different. That Old Geezer really lucked out this time."

    Raven shivered as soon as he heard that. He tried to remain indifferent but his heart was currently experiencing tumultuous waves.

    ''Is it a coincidence or...''

    "Rx..." the woman chuckled. "I''ll hand it to you, your face doesn''t give away anything but the same can''t be said with your thoughts. Don''t worry, you''re a disciple of the Sect and ally. None of us covets your little crown."

    Raven''s pupils constricted. Now there''s no denying it. His biggest secret was revealed! Raven felt like panicking but he knew that even if does, it wouldn''t change the fact that he''s at their mercy right now.

    And this is something he didn''t like, even one bit.

    "Aiya, you girl. Look at what you did!" The Grand Elder snorted, "You frightened the kid. What do we do if he decides to run away, huh?"

    "He''s right." The old man beside her said with a bit of a helpless tone. "You''ve given me another headache!"

    "That isn''t really a problem. We''ll just tie him down here then. We''ll see where he could run." Thedy snorted.

    "Madam, that''s...not the point." The man sitting on his knees muttered, his tone was little bit helpless too.

    "Oh geez, you smelly old men are such bullies! Hmph!" Thedy snorted, she then looked at Raven and said: "Why are you still nervous!? Didn''t I say to rx? Look at what you did? Now this smelly old men are bullying me!"

    "I-....how''s this my fault?" Raven said with an almost crying expression.

 Chapter 569 - Chronos, Oracle, And Prometheus

    ---

    "Okay, that''s enough."

    The man sitting cross-legged announced, his tone was more serious than before. Thedy snorted but didn''t say anything to retort. The man looked at Raven with an amicable smile and said:

    "Wee to the Strom Dweller''s Peak 9th, I am the current holder of the title ''Chronos'' and the Sect Master of the Ancient Elysium Sect - Lucas Kavodin." The Sect Master introduced himself. He then gestured at the people around him saying: "You''ve probably met Grand Elder Gin - the current ''Zeus'' and Lady Emma - the current ''Hera''."

    "This unreasonable woman beside me is my wife, Alwina. She is one of the three Sisters of Fate, the ''Oracle''. Due to her abilities, there are only a few things that could escape her eyes, that''s why she figured you out. Don''t worry, none of us here is after your inheritance. As for this man, he''s Fallon - the current ''Prometheus''."

    "Greetings!" Raven saluted once more. His heart was currently shaken due to the sheer incredulity of this line-up.

    He already met Elder Gin in the past as he was the one who gave him the Ancestor Sealer''s Rosary and tasked him to go to the 89th floor and free the Heavenly Elk. And although he never met Hera before, he was aware of her presence and the fact that she is the wife of Elder Gin.

    As for the Sect Master, his wife and Elder Fallon, this is the first time he met them. It is a widely known thing that the Sect Master doesn''t show himself within the sect very often. Not many people had seen him before yet none ever doubted his existence. As for his wife, being one of the Sisters of Fate, it now made sense as to why she knew about the Ancestral Divine Crown.

    Who would''ve guessed that he''d met the ''Oracle'' from the sisters? No wonder she knew!

    The Sister''s of Fate is an extremely mysterious existence, even within the ranks of the sect. Not many information are recorded about them yet those who imed that they''ve met them, were all in awe of their powers.

    ording to the public information, each of the sisters had a unique title, they are the: Oracle, Wanderer, and Weaver.

    There is one person who made a hypothesis of what the Sisters of Fates stands for based on their unique titles. ording to the records, the Oracle is the one that inherited the Omniscient Eyes, allowing them to peer through even the most hidden secrets and to some extent, view the fate of a person without facing any bacsh.

    The Wanderer is the one who walks through the nes of Reality (Past, Present, Future, Parallel Worlds, Alternate Dimensions etc.) and watches over it like an observer.

    The Weaver is the one that could interact with the Threads of Fate, weaving them ording to how it should be. In a sense, the Weaver herself is the one responsible for determining the fate of someone.

    It was also hypothesized that the Sisters of Fates are genuine Immortals. They exist through the multiple nes of reality and if one wants to kill them, one has to have the power to determine where they are first and kill them at the same time, which is a monumental task so no one even bothers. Additionally, should the Sisters of Fates work together, then it is quite possible to change one''s fate altogether.

    This hypothesis garnered a lot of attention once it was published. Some people supported the ide while others don''t. The sect itself neither confirmed nor denied this ims so until today, it remains a mystery.

    Raven was simrly wasn''t convinced, that''s until he met the Oracle. At this moment, even if he wants to deny it, he simply can''t because...

    He could sense her through the nes of Reality thanks to his Spacetime Laws. At it wasn''t just him...the Sect Master was there too.

    Raven mostly kept his ideas to himself. He didn''t even bother wondering if this could even work or not since he''s in front of the Oracle and frankly at this point, he didn''t care. There was nowhere to hide anyway.

    "I wonder why Sect Master needs me?" He asked.

    "We''ll discuss thatter, now''s not yet the time." The Sect Master smiled. "Come, sit here. Have some tea."

    Raven couldn''t decline this invitation now can he?

    He excused himself and walked towards the Sect Master. He sat on his knees in front of him. Alwina calmly poured tea and ced in front of him, her actions were gentle and carried iparable elegance.

    The Sect Master raised his cup and gestured at Raven to do the same. Raven lifted his cup and drank the tea at the same time as the Sect Master.

    The tea wasn''t anything special. To mortals, this tea might fetch a very high price but to Cultivators like him, it wasn''t very impressive. Yet even if that was the case, Raven didn''t think anything about it. His body visibly rx once he felt the warmth of the tea.

    It didn''t matter to him whether it was a normal tea or not. What''s important was the atmosphere and the intent behind the gesture.

    "I heard you were from the Lower nes." The Sect Master stated.

    Raven nodded and said: "Indeed. I was born in the Grand Ancestral ne."

    "Oh!" The Sect Master''s face was surprised, Raven also saw the others looking at him. He wondered if he said anything wrong.

    "Hah! Who would''ve thought." The Grand Elder chuckled as he continued resting on his reclining chair.

    "The Grand Ancestral ne huh." The Sect Master mumbled.

    "The birthce of Humanity. No wonder Geezer left his inheritance there." Alwina interjected on the side.

    "Madam knows about Master Geezer?" Raven couldn''t help but to ask.

    "Hm, Master huh...I see." Alwina looked at him with a strange gaze before saying: "Well, not on a personal level. Geezer is how he referred to himself, is it not?"

    "It is." Raven nodded. He was a bit dejected as he thought that Alwina could reveal some details about his Master to him, as it turns out she weren''t really acquainted to him.

    "Even if I did know a thing or two about him, it isn''t my story to tell. Once you step on the same stage as us, you''ll eventually learn about him so don''t be anxious." Alwina added as if she could read his mind.

    Raven simply nodded and didn''t pursue the matter.

    "Did your Master told you where he is?" The Sect Master asked.

    "No." Raven shook his head and said: "He only told me that he''s currently trapped somewhere dangerous even for someone like him. He wasn''t confident about getting out of there anytime soon. I want to save him but I''m not strong enough to do so just yet."

    "Be d that he''s still alive." Alwina interjected, causing the Sect Master to re at her.

    Raven didn''t retort anything since there''s nothing he could anyway. Even if he asked them where Geezer was and even if they''re willing to tell him, so long as he''s weak, he''ll remain helpless to save him. Which is why he didn''t even bother asking.

    "Hey brat!" Grand Elder Gin suddenly called out. Raven looked at him and he asked: "How''s your progress about the task I gave you."

    "I''m halfway done with the rosary, Grand Elder." Raven replied.

    It wasn''t just the Grand Elder, the rest also looked at him with surprise coloring their faces.

    "That was quick!" The Grand Elder chuckled. "It hasn''t even been a year since I gave you that."

    "On surface it hasn''t." Raven replied. "I already spent years trying toprehend this within the Crown Space."

    "Ah, right." The Grand Elder chuckled. "I forgot about that. Well, what matters is that you''re progress remains fast. It wouldn''t take us long before we could finally get ''her'' out of there."

    ''By ''her'' he must be referring to the Heavenly Elk'' Raven thought inwardly.

    "Oh yeah! I heard you''ve picked-up the Brush of Wisdom?" The Grand Elder asked. Raven nodded so he said: "You sure do have a pair huh, Brat? Quick, show us something cool!"

    Raven smiled wryly at the Grand Elder''s request. However, he can''t really decline so he brought out the Brush of Wisdom and showed them something ''cool''.

    Waving the brush four times in quick session, the Four Divine Beast appeared around him, causing the watchers to be impressed.

    They moved in a very life-like manner, even an expert at Illusion or Mirage Laws wouldn''t be able to tell if they were real or not.

    Next, Raven drew a circle and that caused a dome to surround them. Inside that dome, everyone felt as if they were transported somewhere else.

    They were no longer at the Storm Dweller''s Peak but within a vast expanse of space surrounded with multiple constetions who were releasing a milky silver brilliance.

    Everyone was entranced by this sight, but more importantly they were shocked.

    "How mysterious." Elder Fallon finally said something after quite sometime.

    "Hoho, this is good!" The Grand Elder chuckled. "It''s quite challenging to discern whether this is all real or not. I''ve gotta say, you''re ain''t bad brat."

    "True." Alwina added as she marveled at the scenery before her.. "It''s as if the Brush of Wisdom was destined to be his."

 Chapter 570 - Red Spider Lilies

    ---

    "Ancestor Zeus only used this brush to create his decrees and increase his mental performance. The others who picked this thing did the same but failed. However in your hands, it''s as if the Brush of Wisdom became something else entirely." Lady Emmamented as she too marveled at the things Raven disyed using the brush.

    "Not bad at all!" The Sect Master praised while looking at Raven.

    Raven nodded and dispersed the things he create using the technique. He then kept the Brush of Wisdom away.

    *Dong!* *Dong!*

    Everyone in the Storm Dweller''s Peak were rmed by the sudden gongs sounding nearby. They looked over towards the source of the sound which wasing from the front yard of the abode.

    "That''s our cue." The Sect Master stood up along with Alwina and Fallon. He then looked at Raven and said: "Come, let''s go to the ce where I''ll be needing your assistance."

    "Right." Raven nodded and stood up as well.

    The Sect Master looked over to the Grand Elder and said: "I''ll leave this ce to you."

    "You sure do love making me a ve. Off you go then." The Grand Elder snorted however the Sect Master only snorted.

    Raven didn''tment on this and just followed behind them. The four of them arrived at the front yard and to Raven''s surprise, there is something in there that wasn''t there before when he arrived.

    A pulsing, murky brown portal. It oozed with foul and unpleasant aura. ncing at the people around him, the Sect Master looked impassive but there was a visible gleam on his eyes. Alwina had an expression of sheer disgust and Elder Fallon''s face was solemn.

    Raven didn''t know what was going on, thankfully the Sect Master was willing to exin it to him.

    "This is a portal that leads toward a very unpleasant ce." He said with a deep voice. "Before we enter, remember that you must not venture any further than fifty meters away from us or else, even I wouldn''t be able to save you."

    "Pay attention to where you step, if you start feeling a bit bad you have to tell us right away. You mustn''t dy, got it?" Alwina reminded sternly.

    Raven nodded in agreement and kept their words on his mind.

    The four of them then entered the portal, not before they covered themselves with a protective dome thanks to the Sect Master though.

    As soon as they stepped inside the portal, Raven''s pupils constricted.

    This passage looks...weird. That might even be an understatement really.

    It''s as if they were currently inside of a gigantic being, this ce looked like it''s intestines. The passage was pulsing erratically, there was puddles of yellowish acidic liquids everywhere and what looks like cysts, could be found everywhere.

    Raven''s face involuntarily scrunched up. He couldn''t be med for that. In fact, Alwina herself had a worse expression than his, and she''s stronger than him.

    The group continued flying towards this passage. Raven made sure that he doesn''t fall behind since he truly wouldn''t want to stay in this kind of ce.

    "Ugh, why does it needs to be us who goes in here? Seriously, I would much prefer to be buried with paperwork instead ofing here." Alwina whined.

    "Well, that''s on you. You agreed with the switch after all." The Sect Mastermented.

    "And how am I supposed to know that this was a part of those responsibilities? It''s that smelly old man''s fault. He''s the ultimate con artist." Alwina retorted.

    The Sect Master and his wife continued bickering, Raven who was tagging along with them felt a little bit lost on their conversation.

    "I''m sure you''ve at least read about the life of Ancestor Zeus, yeah?" Elder Fallon said softly beside Raven.

    Raven nodded at this so he continued exining: "The titleholders of ''Chronos'' and ''Zeus'' are bound to be important figures for the sect. Back at the Ancestral Era (era of the true Zeus), Zeus is the Sect Master. Chronos was nowhere around back then. The inheritors of the title added ''Chronos'' since if it weren''t for him, Zeus wouldn''t be an Immortal."

    "The titleholders of ''Chronos'' were supposed to be the ''Grand Elder'' of the sect. ''Zeus'' on the other hand was originally the ''Sect Master''. It just so happens that during the previous era, when ites to contributions and image itself, the titleholder of ''Chronos'' was more impactful and prominent instead of ''Zeus'' therefore they switched positions."

    "Once the current era arrived, Grand Elder Gin and Sect Master Lucas had decided to continue this trend. It''s not the matter of power, it''s just decided over some food and wine." Elder Fallon exined, chuckling lightly at the simplicity of the matter.

    "I see." Raven mumbled to himself.

    ''Yeah, how can I forget. Even back then, Divinity Realm Experts were always entrics.'' Raven thought inwardly.

    "Heads-up, we''re nearly there." The Sect Master announced, waking up Raven from his reverie.

    Raven stared ahead and saw that the opposite end of the portal was near. He threw all unnecessary thoughts at the back of his head and focused on the present.

    Without stopping, the group charged out of the portal.

    Raven''s vision blurred but it didn''t take long before it recovered. Once his vision returned, he gaped at the sight in front of him.

    There were Red Spider Lilies everywhere. It was legitimately covering every inch of thisnd. Raven frowned as he could hear some faint whispers in his ears, it sounded near yet far at the same time. It also didn''t help that even though the seemingly boundless Red Spider Lilies were somewhat a pretty sight, there is a strong eerie vibe that filled this ce.

    "Remember what we told you before." Elder Fallon reminded. "Stay close and report if you start feeling a bit strange."

    "Uh...well I do kind of feel strange already." Raven said with an uncertain tone.

    "Eh? That was fast? Quick, what do you feel?" Elder Fallon asked.

    Raven frowned and said: "Creeped out. I feel very, very creeped out. It''s as if someone or something was staring at me as if I''m naked. I can also hear some faint whispers but I don''t know where they''reing from, I don''t know what they''re trying to tell me."

    "Shit!" Elder Fallon cursed which surprised Raven. "It''s even worse than we thought, what do we do Sect Master?"

    He then looked at the Sect Master who''s face became a bit solemn after hearing Raven''s report.

    "Let''s continue moving forward. 9th, if there are any changes in the overall vibe of this ce. You must inform us, okay?" The Sect Master stated.

    "Yes, Sect Master." Raven nodded.

    And just like that, the group continued flying above the endless field of Red Spider Lilies.

    "Ah, right! Pay attention to your altitude. Make sure you don''t touch the spider lilies. We don''t want to unnecessarily rm some of the slumbering things here." Alwina reminded Raven.

    "Got it." Raven nodded.

    After that, the group continued moving towards east. Raven made sure to follow their instructions and keep monitoring the ''vibe'' as the Sect Master ordered.

    They flew a couple hundred meters when all of a sudden...

    "I can hear something." Raven dered softly which caused everyone to halt. The Sect Master instantly looked at him. "It''s incoherent but I can make out some words spoken in Devil''s Tongue. ''Damned Seal'', ''curse aboriginals'', ''Revenge'', ''Destroy'', ''Free''. There are more but it''s faint for me to understand."

    "It''s already at that stage!?" Alwina eximed, her eyes red with a silvery light for a bit before fading away.

    "How about you? Do you feel fine or..."

    "I can feel some uh...intents, will? Something like that, trying to influence me. There are four which I can faintly feel. I''m not sure if this the urate way to describe it but...one feels like it seeks indiscriminate destruction, one felt disgusting, one felt..plicated? And thest one felt like death itself. What''s going on?"

    "War, Famine, Conquest and Death...shit! It''s even worse that what was reported. We have to hurry! We don''t have much time!" Elder Fallon was visibly panicking.

    Raven could feel the severity of the situation but he was clueless as to what was going on. He didn''t even know why he''s here yet since the Sect Master didn''t inform him yet. However, he could tell that he''s about to encounter something really nasty...

    The protective dome around them became thicker thanks to the Sect Master''s actions. He looked at Raven and said: "We''re going to go fast, pay attention while we carry your forward. From here on out, it''ll get more ufortable so guard your mind and strengthen your Will."

    "Whatever happens, you must remain awake. Understood?"

    "Yes, Sect Master." Raven nodded. Afterwards, the group then flew like a sh of light towards east. Raven was being carried but he still made sure keep his altitude in check.

    The surroundings became a blur due to their speed but it didn''t take long before they stopped and Raven saw what this unending fields of spider lilies were hiding.

    "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

 Chapter 571 - Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse

    ---

    It was only now that Raven truly understood the severity of the situation and what his purpose was here.

    Out of all the things he''d expect to see, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were thest thing he was expecting.

    Currently from what he could see, all four of them and their steeds were bound with a seal, at the same time though, Raven could urately judge that the seal would hold them for long. It was evident by their thick viinous aura leaking from the seal itself.

    "Right. This is where the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are sealed." The Sect Master said, "This is also the reason why I brought you here. Try to inspect the seals and see if you could repair them."

    Raven nodded solemnly as they flew closer to the areas where the seals are ced.

    He had no way of seeing what the Four Horsemen looked since they were concealed by the seal itself. Raven also didn''t careless dared to look through his ocr technique lest anything unexpected happens.

    Compared to the devils on the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, the Four Horsemen are far more dangerous. ording to the tales left behind by the Ancestors of the sect, the Four Horsemen are the loyal servants of the Devil Emperor itself, which means that their power is unlike that of the abominations that were born from the Devil Emperor.

    It was said that just by merely looking at the Four Horsemen, one''s mind will instantly be corroded by the Principle that they Represent. And as their titles suggests, they are the ushers of Apocalypse itself.

    Now, the details of how they were sealed were mostly unknown since the one who sealed them weren''t really a part of the sect. ording to the records, it was a person who were dubbed as the Ancestor Sealer who dealt with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

    However, just like the Devil Emperor itself, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse proved to be too strong for Ancestor Sealer so in the end, they weren''t killed but sealed instead.

    Not many details are known about the Ancestor Sealer but he was definitely there, and since he wasn''t truly a part of the Sect, no one inherited his mantle.

    Raven inspected the seals and analyzed them carefully. Unfortunately, it was challenging to concentrate since the voices of the Horsemen were too loud and distracting.

    Annoyed, Raven snorted and took out the Brush of Wisdom. He then drew a rune while saying: "Silence!"

    A giant rune appeared in the air, forming the word ''Silence'' while releasing pulses of foreign energy. Thanks to the rune, the voices of the Four Horsemen died out, allowing Raven to focus on his work.

    The Sect Master, his wife and Elder Fallon looked at each other.

    "I guess they were being noisy." Alwina shrugged, the rune didn''t have any effects on them since they were recognized as friendly forces by the rune that Raven created.

    "That''s interesting..." Elder Fallon said, "This rune is created out thousands of basic runes. It should be able to have any effects on the Four Horsemen but the intent behind it was so strong that itpletely nullified the fluctuations being released from the seals."

    "I''m more impressed by the fact that he could hear them better than we do. Just like I thought, bringing him here was a good idea." The Sect Master added.

    The three remained silent and allowed Raven to focus on his work. After an hour, Raven took a deep breath and faced them, his face looked a bit spent but the rity on his eyes remained.

    "I''m done Sect Master." He said.

    "How''s it?" The Sect Master asked.

    "I can indeed repair the seals. It shouldn''t be difficult, only I don''t have enough energy to seal all four of them simultaneously. Repairing one seal would drain all of my energy and it''ll take time for me to recover. I''m afraid that these four share a connection against each other, and if they feel the seals being repaired, they''ll start retaliating." Raven reported honestly.

    "That''s not a problem. I have a way for you to make aplete recovery. You don''t need to worry about their retaliation either we can handle their tantrums long enough for you to seal them back." The Sect Master was jubnt.

    At first he wasn''t confident about Raven''s chances. Don''t forget that Raven was merely a Saint Knight, forget about dealing with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, just clearing the 30th floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda should be an insurmountable task for him. The Sect Master just want to have his options avable.

    But now, it turns out that there''s more to Raven than what he lead on. With this, they could buy more time for themselves.

    "That''s great only..." Raven was a bit hesitant. "I have another suggestion. Would the Sect Master consider listening to it?"

    The Sect Master raised a brow and asked: "What is it?"

    "What if, instead of sealing them back, we turn them into resources instead?"

    The trio were stunned speechless at Raven''s suggestion.

    "Hey kid, I know you''re a cut abovepared to your peers but don''t you think that you''re biting more than you can chew?" Alwina snorted in displeasure. "Turning them into resources? Kid, remember who you''re dealing with. It''s the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. You want to turn these foreign abominations into resources? Are you kidding me?"

    "Madam''s words makes sense, 9th." Elder Fallon looked at Raven solemnly. "Don''t try anything funny with these things, they are incredibly dangerous. These Four Horsemen followed the Devil Emperor back when it was still free andying waste to the Divine Realm."

    Raven didn''t say anything, to him it didn''t really matter whatever their decision was, he just wanted to make a suggestion. If they want him to repair the seal as is, then it shall be done. No problems with that. Still, he waited for the Sect Master''s response before doing something.

    The Sect Master was studying Raven''s expression. He then asked: "How do you n on doing that?"

    "Husband/Sect Master!" Alwina and Elder Fallon eximed at the same time.

    "Let''s here him first. If his n sounds risky, then it''s not really toote to refuse him. Besides, he doesn''t look like the reckless type. I believe he wouldn''t suggest something that he''s not confident on doing." The Sect Master told them, causing the two to be silent. He then looked at Raven and nodded.

    "Turning them into resources doesn''t mean that I''m freeing them, I want to say this first so that there will be no misunderstanding." Raven stated as he nced at Alwina and Elder Fallon, causing the Sect Master to snicker softly.

    "The n will go like this." Raven started, "I''ll form a link between the existing seals that''s imprisoning them, the link itself is a seal that will not only fortify the seals of the Horsemen but also connect them as a unit."

    "Once they are linked, I will then invoke a powerful spell that will constantly erode the very existence of the Horsemen and their Steeds and covert them into all kinds of energies that we can use. With this, not only will they remain imprisoned on their seal, they will also get weaker day by day which will in turn make them unable to break free of the seal, while we use their essences to strengthen ourselves."

    "That''s basically it." Raven finished his exnation and waited for their response.

    The three people stared at Raven intently, seemingly wanting to know if he was lying or not. On paper, his n looked simple and casual but if one analyzed it carefully, they''d found out that any of the steps he will do was basically impossible for a Saint Knight to achieve.

    "How do you n on making the link and what is this spell that you n on invoking?" The Sect Master asked.

    "I''ll use the ''Chains of Order'' to form the link. As for the spell, I''ll use the ''Sacred Heavenly Doctrine'', they shouldn''t be able to stop that." Raven stated.

    Hearing this, Alwina''s eyes couldn''t help but to bulge from their sockets: "Boy you are one crazy individual. Really? Chains of Order and the Sacred Heavenly Doctrine? Are you trying to piss of the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm? What if you get exiled?"

    "Uh...Master said that he did something to me which hid me from the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm. I should be fine, plus it''s not like I''m using it for my selfish gain. It would even benefit greatly from what I''m about to do." Raven scratched his head.

    Alwina gaped when she heard his reply, she then had this defeated expression as she murmured: "Right, you are hidden from the Heavenly Laws, how can I forget about that? I should''ve known, that''s Geezer for you I guess."

    "Will he be safe?" The Sect Master asked Alwina.

    "Yeah he will." She replied, "Just like he said, Geezer erased hid this little guy''s Soul Mark to the Heavenly Laws. Which means he could mess with it as long as he wouldn''t upset the bnce. And just like he said, the Heavenly Laws wouldn''t really mind, in fact it might even help him in the end."

    "Since that''s the case...." The Sect Master looked at Raven and said: "Then we''ll do as you suggest 9th."

 Chapter 572 - Chains Of Order And Heavenly Sacred Doctrine

    ---

    ''Getting the ''Chains of Order'' to descend shouldn''t be too difficult for me. It''s the ''Sacred Heavenly Doctrine'' that I should look out for.'' Raven murmured inwardly.

    ''The Heavenly Laws won''t mind the Chain''s of Order but the same can''t be said for the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine. Ah, I hope it wouldn''t be too unreasonable.'' He thought while having a despondent expression.

    The people behind him can''t see his face which was fortunate since if they did, they''d probably doubt their decisions.

    What Raven''s about to do is definitely dangerous and challenging even for him. Raven had little to no prior experience with ying with the Heavenly Laws before, the most he did was to observe it and try to uncover its secrets - even that was a scary experience. Still, that was a bit milderpared to what he''s about to do.

    If before he was just observing from afar, this time Raven would really interfere. One wrong move and Raven might be exiled from the Divine Realm or worse, die.

    The Heavenly Laws of the Divine Real, is literally why the Divine Realm still exists up to this day. Without it, there will be no Divine Realm at all, less to say about its citizens.

    As the lifeline of the Divine Realm, it upholds the bnce and order. One could even say that it is the overseer of all life in the Divine Realm. Such an important entity of course holds incredible power. Even if Raven had the guts to y with it, that doesn''t mean that he''s confident about his chances of getting out unscathed, even with his Master''s protection.

    The Chains of Order are the tools that allow the Heavenly Laws to keep the power bnce in the Divine Realm. Anything that is deemed as a variable will eventually have to face the Chains of Order. The chains will imprison them and suppress them to the point where they won''t be able to upset the bnce.

    Getting the Chains of Bnce to descend is simple to Raven. He wouldn''t even break sweat doing it. And even though it is a tool that the Heavenly Laws used, Raven''s not scared to mess with it since, just like what he said, he''s going to use against foreign abominations anyway. Who knows, maybe he won''t even need to coax or force the Chains of Order to do his bidding, they might even do it themselves.

    The problem is the Sacred Heavenly Doctrine...

    Raven shook his head to ignore the troublesome distractions on his mind. He then summoned the Brush of Wisdom and began drawing runes.

    Raven put on his outmost effort to draw the rune as neatly and as urate as he could. Once he was done, the Rune zed with a golden brilliance which caught the attention of the people behind him.

    As soon as the rune was born, the skies rumbled fiercely. The clouds roiled and from the empty space, several humongous chains descended from the sky. Each was filled with diagrams and mysteries pertaining to the Heavenly Laws itself. A boundless and timeless aura suffused from the chains as they trashed around the boundless fields of Red Spider Lilies.

    Raven evaded the chains as best as he could while the Sect Master, his wife and Elder Fallon remained standing as this had nothing to do with them.

    As he was evading the chains, the seals imprisoning the Four Horsemen suddenly trembled. It began releasing a thick and nauseating stench of death and decay. An ominous aura leaked out of the chains, forming a silhouette of an enormous skull that seems to be roaring at the Chains of Order itself.

    "Great. And here I thought I had to coax this chains to attack but it seems that it''s no longer needed. Don''t go ming me now, you guys provoked it." Raven snorted.

    And just like what he was expecting, as soon as the skull emerged, the Chains of Order shook and immediately slithered towards the seal. The chains released an archaic aura which neutralized the aura of the skull and destroyed it in one go.

    Then, the chains sensed the seals. When that happened, the chains shrunk in size, appearing like a set of rusted chains. It then began coiling around the seals, linking each one together.

    Once the four seals were linked, the chains released a powerful hum which was filled with timeless profundities. Everyone saw how the seals began repairing itself at a speed visible to the naked eye. It didn''t stop a full recovery either. It was fortified thanks to the power of the Chains of Order.

    Now, even Empyreans could only dream about breaking this seal...

    "Great..." Raven murmured, "That''s half of the work done. Now, onto the really troublesome part."

    Raven could feel the thrashing of the Horsemen inside the seal. If this happened earlier, then he would''ve been worried but now that the deed was done, these things can only dream about escaping the seal. No matter what they, they won''t be breaking this seal at all.

    *OooooOoooooOoo*

    A loud and archaic roar sounded from beneath them. Everyone was rmed as they saw he ground underneath them shaking.

    "Themotion woke up the slumbering entities here." Sect Master Lucas said, he looked at Raven and said: "Rest assured, 9th. We will handle this. Just do what you have to do."

    "Thank you, Sect Master." Raven nodded. Since the Sect Master already gave out his order, Raven decided to not pay attention to thenmotion around him and instead, he started psyching himself up.

    ''I can do this!'' Raven muttered inwardly while reviewing the n he had in mind. Once he''sfortable enough, he then lifted the Brush of Wisdom and began drawing several texts that are written in Ancient Eranguage.

    If the Chains of Order is considered as the tool of the Heavenly Laws to uphold bnce and order on the Divine Realm, then the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine is the power to annihte the very source of imbnce itself.

    The Heavenly Sacred Doctrine can be also called as a ''Bane'' for its power directly opposes/contradicts the power of the source of Imbnce in order to neutralize them. Once the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine descended, it''s power will never waver until the source of the imbnce itself cease to exist.

    This power is an irresistible force. Unlike when the Heavenly Laws sends a Tribtion to test someone''s fate and destiny, when it sends the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine, it means that the Heavenly Laws itself wants the target eradicated through and through.

    This kind of power can only be wielded by the Heavenly Laws itself, not even Divinity Realm powerhouse could replicate this kind of power.

    ...yet now, a little Saint Knight toddler is trying to summon it in order to do his bidding. If not mad, then people would most likely call him insane.

    The ritual to invoke the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine to descend will take time and would drain most of Raven''s energy. Right now, as he was whole-heartedly focused on his task, he couldn''t pay attention to the battle that''s happening behind him.

    The Sect Master, Alwina and Elder Fallon was currently issuing arge massacre. The slumbering abominations that were rising up from the field of Red Spider Lilies were strong but faced against them, they stood no chance. In fact, any of these three could eradicate them all.

    As time went by, Raven eventually entered the final stages of his task. It was then an unexpected development urred.

    "Not good! Husband, quick! Cast your strongest barrier to the kid!" Alwina practically screamed at the Sect Master.

    "What are yo-" The Sect Master didn''t get to finish speaking when he saw the blossoming radiance on Alwina''s eyes.

    Hesitating no longer, he summoned arge barrier that protected Raven. He didn''t have the time to ask questions and because Alwina was currently at this state, there was no need to.

    Once her eyes released that kind of gleam, it is a sign that the power of Fates are active and she''s seeing the inevitable future.

    Alwina was ring at the skies above them. She was releasing an extremely fierce and powerful aura. If Raven was paying attention, he''d definitely gasp in surprise since he''ll discover that Alwina was not just simple housewife.

    She was a genuine Divinity Realm powerhouse.

    "What''s going on!?" The Sect Master was rmed, this was definitely one of the rarer times when she saw his wife releasing her powers wantonly like before.

    "There''s no time to exin. Hurry up and undo your seal! If you don''t, then we will all die here!" Alwina eximed. Her face was ridden with urgency and panic.

    The Sect Master nodded and decided to trust his wife''s words. He undid his seal and from a seven foot tall man, his size immediately increased, bing a 1000 meter tall giant.

    "It''sing!!!" As soon as Alwina screamed, the heavens suddenly rumbled.

    The dark clouds parted and revealed an ominous portal which was dripping with ck goo. A strong and boundless aura of pure evil abruptly descended, sending shivers to their spine. All of a sudden, something came out of the portal. At first it was blurry but it didn''t take long before the image solidified.

    ...it was a finger.

 Chapter 573 - Devil Emperors Finger

    ---

    Pale blue, wrinkly and gigantic finger with a sharp ck nail descended from the portal...

    The finger contained was akin to the manifestation of pure evil and sin. Not only was it gigantic in size it is also filled with incredible and irresistible strength.

    Sect Master Lucas who transformed into a 1000 meter giant felt smallpared to this finger. His face had a solemn expression as cold beads of swear started drenching his face. It wasn''t just him, Alwina and Elder Fallon were simrly spooked and apprehensive of this finger.

    "This...this is impossible! H-how can this be!?" Elder Fallon stuttered on his words as he stared incredulously at the finger descending towards them.

    "This isn''t a dream Fallon." Alwina said as she too stared at the massive finger. Her eyes were still blossoming with a divine radiance. "We''ve seen something truly unbelievable today. I''m afraid that we''ll have much to do once we return."

    "Yeah, but we must make sure that we can return first." Elder Fallon snorted as he started releasing golden mes that are as hot as the sun itself. He didn''t dare to hold anything back since their current predicament doesn''t allow him to do that.

    "..." Sect Master Lucas had been awfully quiet. It''s not like he was speechless, it''s just that words won''t really help them with this so there was no need for him to say anything.

    "Husband, it''s target is the kid. If you can prevent it for at least one - no, at least thirty seconds, it''ll be enough." Alwina advised.

    The Sect Master nodded and immediately summoned all of his power.

    The power of his Divinity flooded the boundless field of Red Spider Lilies. Those beast who were trying to get close to them found themselves bound by a mysterious power which prevented them from moving even an inch.

    Unfortunately, even with this power, the descending finger showed no signs of being affected. Instead of slowing down its descent it even elerated as if the force behind it became stronger.

    "Argh!" Sect Master Lucas grunted loudly. The muscles on his body bulged and slightly expanded, veins protruded from his neck and face, his eyes constricted for a bit.

    Elder Fallon tried to help the sect master from his burden. He sent multiple arrows of golden mes containing the heat of the sun towards the massive finger however, none even left a scar to it. The mes died and out and Elder Fallon''s attack didn''t do anything to slow it down.

    The Sect Master felt as if he legitimately propping the skies up. Even with his gigantic body, the weight pressing him down didn''t diminish at all.

    ''How can this be!?'' He thought inwardly, gritting his teeth while forcefully enduring the pressure. ''Don''t tell me that the disparity is thisrge? How are we supposed to...no! Now''s not the time to think about things like that!''

    The Sect Master mustered up every ounce of his strength in order to bear the burden. The ground beneath him was caving in as the massive finger continued pressing him down. By this point, it was incredibly clear to them that it''s target wasn''t them but Raven instead.

    As for why that is, they could only guess but now''s not the time for that.

    "Come on,e on! Hurry up kid!" Alwina was starting to get anxious. At times like this she wasn''t able to help. Her specialty isn''tbat anyway, which is why she could only hope that Raven finishes his preparations in time.

    It was then that Raven released an extremely powerful energy fluctuation. He waved the Brush of Wisdom down and yelled.

    "Heavenly Sacred Doctrine! Descend!" Raven growled as pointed the brush towards the heavens, it was then that he saw the massive finger and felt surprised: "Wait, what the hell is that?"

    "Kid! Come here! I''ll hide you! Quick!" Alwina urgently called out.

    Raven could sense the tense situation and the urgency on Alwina''s voice so without thinking much, he went towards her side. She muttered some chants and spewed a shroud from her mouth which covered Raven from head to toe.

    As soon as she was done, she looked up just in time to witness the miracle that Raven worked hard to achieve.

    Rays of golden light appeared. Beyond the skies where the massive portal was in, the clouds roiled and revealed a grand and majestic scene which could make anyone speechless.

    A peerlessly timeless and archaic aura permeated the entire world they''re in.

    From the skies, a single unfolded book descended. It was surrounded with numerous runes and profound chants of Heavenly Laws. A simple nce from book could make one feel as if they were seen through as if their deepest and darkest secret were revealed.

    Without any trace of doubt, the only thing that could make them feel this way as well a feel an existential crisis, is none other than the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine.

    *Weng!* *Weng!* *Weng!*

    The book released numerous hums filled with righteous anger as if provoked. The light being released from it had a strong effect against the massive finger. Each ray of light scaled the finger, leaving numerous scorch marks at it''s surface.

    The finger trembled and swiftly receded as if it encountered something scary. The Sect Master sighed with relief as he felt the burden disappearing. He shrank to his previous size and stood in front of them with a protective stance.

    "It won''t end like this! I won''t let it end like this!" A furious voice carrying an unbridled rage and unwillingness echoed on their ears, it wasing from the gaping ck hole above them.

    "I''ll have my revenge! I''ll have my freedom! Enjoy your remaining days, you pitiful insects! Once my freedom returns, it will spell the end for you!"

    This was thest words that they heard before the gaping ck hole closed up and disappeared.

    Everyone involuntarily released the breath they were holding. They felt as if a mountain pressing down on them disappeared, allowing them to breathe easily once more.

    "Is that..." Raven trailed off, he hesitated whether to finish his question or not.

    "There''s no mistaking it." Alwina''s face was ridden with a displeased expression. "It''s our lovely prisoner. Didn''t know it was capable of doing that."

    "I assume it was aiming for me." Raven said, no one replied to him however in truth, even if they didn''t answer him, he already knew that answer to that. He felt a little bit guilty for that.

    "Don''t look so down." The Sect Master patted his back. "Even though his happened, it''s not we didn''t gain something from it. At least now we knew that it''s capable of doing that. This is a very crucial information and we earned through your actions."

    The group were silent for a bit. Raven was absorbed on his thought. He was awaken from his stupor by Elder Fallon''s question.

    "How long is the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine going to remain here?"

    "Once it''s done cing the Heavenly Curse to the Four Horsemen. Don''t worry, it''s nearly done." Raven replied.

    Raven could understand why Elder Fallon asked that...

    Even though the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine represent the power Heavenly Laws, it''s precisely due to that, that its presence remains a little unsettling to them.

    This irresistible power is something that not even Divinity Realm experts could hope to resist. This is why they feel a bit apprehensive.

    Raven watched as the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine did its thing, he didn''t dare to move a muscle since he''s in a sensitive spot.

    He could feel that the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine is searching for him. If he did any movement that arouses it''s detection, then not even the Sect Master could save him. Thankfully, it''s also distracted on giving hell to the Four Horsemen right now via the Heavenly Curse.

    After five minutes, the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine released another wave of fluctuations that permeated its surroundings, this was itsst attempt on hunting Raven. Unfortunately for it, and fortunately for Raven, he was hidden very well thanks to Geezer and Alwina''sbined efforts.

    Unable to find the culprit responsible for triggering its descent, the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine could only dejectedly close-up and return from where it came from in a streak of light. Once it disappeared, the boundless, archaic aura dispersed along its disappearance.

    Knowing that its not going to return anymore, Raven heaved a sigh of relief. What a day this has been. He couldn''t wait to go back and have a long nap after this. Still, he''s not quite done yet.

    Raven checked the seals and the Four Horsemen themselves for quite sometime. Once he saw that their silhouettes were writhing in despair as the Heavenly Curse tortured them, Raven felt relieved. The n worked out at least.

    He then drew several runes and passed it down to the Sect Master, saying:

    "ce this runes ording to how you want, this seals will siphon the filtered energy from the Four Horsemen. When the timees that it''s not releasing any energies, that must mean that they were damaged or the horsemen and their steeds have died."

    "I see. Thank you, 9th. You''ve worked hard."

    "Mn!" Raven nodded, "Alright, I''m gonna pass out now. See youter."

    *Thud!*

 Chapter 574 - Rewards

    ---

    "Ugh..."

    Raven struggled to open his eyes. He felt his head throbbing painfully and his whole body sore.

    When he regained his vision, he saw a familiar ceiling. He''s back at his pocket dimension, more specifically his personal residence.

    Raven shook his head and recounted the events before he passed out. Hemunicated with his Avatars to know what happened after he lost consciousness and they answered him.

    The journey back wasn''t special. The Sect Master, his wife and Elder Fallon were all silent, in deep thought more specifically. Raven couldn''t me them for that since the events were too shocking, even he himself would probably be immersed in his own thoughts after witnessing that event.

    That...was shocking.

    To think that the Devil Emperor could do something like while being sealed is very rming. And from the looks of it, the prisoner couldn''t do it pretty often but it doesn''t change the fact that it could bypass the seal ced by Ancestors and attack. As for how many times it could and the finer details, they could only assume for now, still that caught them off-guard.

    Raven had no idea what the Sect Master''s ns with the seals he gave to him. When they returned to the sect, he instructed Elder Fallon to sent Raven back to his residence. Once that was over, Elder Fallon left immediately and Raven rested for two whole days before waking-up just now.

    Raven sat up from the bed, his face a grimacing expression due to the soreness spreading through his body.

    "Damn, I did it again." Raven grumbled as he clicked his tongue due to difort. "I overdid it again. And here I was supposed to have a staggering amount of Cosmic Energy, yet the things I do makes it seem like I barely have enough."

    Raven smiled softly and shook his head: "Additionally, there''s no way for me to expand it since it''s supposed to happen whenever I advance my cultivation. But since I''m an unorthodox cultivator, that task bes harder than it would seem."

    He sighed dejectedly as tried getting out of the bed. His gaze inadvertentlynded on the bedside table and he noticed something in there. It was a vial filled with a golden liquid with silver sparkles here and there. There''s also a letter beside it.

    Raven took the letter and read it''s contents, it says:

    "This is a Divine Spring Potion. This should help you recover all of your missing energy plus some. Take it as a reward for the mission. Additionally, you can pick any item from the Merit Exchange Hall and take it free of charge. You have done well this time. I''m expecting a lot from you. Work hard, 9th."

    This note was from the Sect Master.

    Raven rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He read the letter about three times before finally adjusting to reality.

    "Damn! So generous!?" He eximed as he carefully ced down the letter and took the Divine Spring Potion.

    He inspected it for a bit and admired it''s appearance. He then murmured: "Divine Spring Potion. I''m afraid even in the Divine Realm, this is a top rarity. To think that the Sect Master willing to give something like this to me...I''m so touched I might cry."

    The value of this little vial of Divine Spring Potion is immense. If Raven wanted to, he could auction this off and he''d probably be able to receive at least five Lower nes or a single Middle Tier ne aspensation. It was simply too valuable.

    It had to be known that drop of this liquid is enough for Raven to make aplete recovery. This small vial is already considered a lot. Even Divinity Realm experts would find it troublesome to get their hands onto something like this.

    Raven took a deep breath and adjusted his position on the bed. After he calmed himself down, his hands turned into a blur. He opened the cork of vial, fetched a single drop of Divine Spring Potion and drank it while sealing the vial with the cork.

    All of this was done in a blur as to make sure that any unnecessary loss in potency wouldn''t happen.

    Even though Raven only drank a drop of Divine Spring Water, he still felt as if he drank a whole gallon of water in one go.

    The density of this potion was immense, it also contained a potent amount of energy that crashed through his core. In a short span of minutes, Raven''s paleplexion disappeared, reced with a rosy one.

    His dried up reserves were now fully restored and were now a bit denserpared to before. This is effect of the Divine Spring Potion, even if it was just a drop.

    Raven exhaled a mouthful of foul air. He felt refreshed and energetic. All of the stress, exhaustion and hidden injuries disappeared from his body. He felt as good as new.

    When he opened his eyes, he released yet another sigh. He stared at the vial in wonder and thought to himself:

    ''It would be nice if I could more of this...'' Raven inwardly said to himself. ''If I could secure a good amount of this, then I could even use this as a recement for cultivating my other techniques. Additionally, it could also be a life-saver in important scenarios.''

    However, it was quite unfortunate that Raven''s not yet strong enough to secure this kind of resources on his own. He also just can''t shamelessly ask for the Sect Master to give him more since he probably doesn''t have much and his ego wouldn''t let him do that.

    "Eh? Wait a second, don''t I have...! Right! Right! How can I forget!"

    "That should work...no, it will definitely work! I''ll make it so that it''ll work! Ah, this is great!" Raven eximed.

    He summoned the Brush of Wisdom and waved it a few times, cing several seals within the room. After that, he ced the brush away and immediately entered the Crown Space.

    Once he arrived at the Eden, he rushed towards the floating neb of Equinox Waters. He then summoned the vial of Divine Spring Potion and carefully took out the cork.

    Moving swiftly, he made sure to encase the liquid with a shell in order to make sure that it wouldn''t lose it''s potency or spill it. He then waved his hand and forced the Equinox Waters to cease it''s rotation.

    Being very careful, he injected the Divine Spring Liquid at the very center of the waters. As soon as he did so, the Equinox Waters began churning. Raven kept everything at it''s ce and continued with his task.

    Once the glob of Divine Spring Liquid was at the very center of the Equinox Waters, Raven summoned the Brush od Wisdom and began drawing several runes, cing them in the Equinox Waters, the shell surrounding the Divine Spring Liquid and the liquid itself.

    He established a three way connection that linked the three together, forcefully making them a single entity. Once he''s done, he began directing the flow of Equinox Waters ording to it''s previous movement but slightly different.

    Raven made it so that the seals he ced will slowly but surely convert the Equinox Waters into a Divine Spring Liquid. He did it by first diluting the potency of the spring liquid using the Equinox Waters and then re-condensing it''s natural properties closer to that of the Divine Spring Liquid.

    The re-condensation won''t be a genuine Divine Spring Liquid just yet, therefore he ce a Time Enchantment Seal on the shell protecting the Equinox Waters. This will allow it to naturally age and eventually turn into a genuine Divine Spring Liquid which could them be fused with the original one.

    Top things off, he also casted a seal towards the original liquid itself. The seal will allow the Divine Spring Liquid to increase it''s volume, however this is a very slow process. Still, it''s better than nothing.

    This process will surely take time, but at least Raven would benefit from it in the future. Eventually, the Equinox Waters Neb will be transformed into a neb of Divine Spring Liquid. Or just inly a Divine Spring itself. From there on, Raven wouldn''t have to worry about his supply.

    Additionally, the time within the Eden is different from the outside so this should definitely work out for him,

    "There we go..." Raven murmured after double-checking his work. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead and nodded in satisfaction. "With this, I don''t have to worry about the materials in the future. So long as I have the supply of this liquid, I could just rece it with that. I''ll be saving more merit points that way."

    Raven gave himself a pat in the back and decided to rx for a bit. Now that he dealt with the matter of the Divine Spring Liquid, he''ll be morefortable about his future progress. Still that isn''t enough to satisfy him.

    The emergence of the Devil Emperor''s Finger made him feel a strong sense of urgency. He had to raise his strength as quickly as he could or else, all of his future ns will be at risk. Thinking to himself for a bit, he murmured:

    "I should get that Seed of the World Tree."

 Chapter 575 - World Tree Seed

    ---

    "Hmm¡­"

    Raven hummed as he viewed the recent headlines about the sect. Kyrie made sure to keep him updated with the news and as he saw the reports, he wasn''t so surprised to see that nothing much seems to have changed.

    "Right, it''s unwise to create unnecessary panic amongst the disciples by announcing it. We don''t have much information anyway." Raven murmured to himself as he stared at the window while resting his back against his chair.

    "But Sect Master wouldn''t be Sect Master if he just left it like that. He probably already discussed it with the Grand Elder and are now preparing a trump card. I wonder what they have in mind?" Raven wondered to himself.

    Many thoughts crossed his mind but he ended up discarding all of them.

    "Ey, no need to busy myself thinking about these things." Raven sighed, "What matters the most is my personal strength."

    He could still remember the dreadful feeling washing over him when heid his eyes on the Devil Emperor''s Finger.

    The current him had no way of facing that thing. Even though it''s just a mere finger, it still contained an overwhelming strength. Even the Sect Master himself struggled against it. He''s only safe due to the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine interfering, had it been not the case, the he''d probably be severely injured by now or worse, dead.

    "In the end, I couldn''t depend on anyone else aside from myself." Raven whispered, "Some people are depending on me too. I can''t let them down. I have to be stronger."

    A glint appeared on his eyes. Raven stood up from his seat and returned to his personal quarters at the Pocket Dimension.

    Once he entered, he sealed the entire room properly to make sure that not even an ounce of energy would be able to escape this room. He also fortified it heavily just in case he made a mess out of things.

    Once he made his preparations, he sat down in the middle of the room, having cleared it from all furniture beforehand. There is a ritual circle in the middle of the room, Raven sat down at the center of it and took out a box made out of what looked like a white jade.

    Raven methodically and gently opened the box, whatever''s inside was incredibly precious and important so he made sure to not be hasty with his actions.

    Once he opened the lid of the jade box. It''s contents were finally disyed to him.

    Nestled in a white silky cloth, was a ck seed, it almost looked like it''s charred instead.

    The seed was very ordinary in appearance, it fits the center of his palm perfectly. It didn''t have any fluctuations of energy or whatsoever. At first nce, no one would even pay attention to it had it not been kept at a box made out jade.

    Nevertheless, to Raven''s eye, this seed is one of the most precious item he had ever received ever sinceing here at the Sect.

    "Seed of the World Tree." Raven sighed in wonder. "And since this is aplete seed and not a shard, it would cost somewhere within 1 billion Merit Points to 2 Billion."

    "Thanks to the Sect Master though, I get have it for free." Raven murmured as he admired the seed on his hand. "No time to waste, I better start the integration. The sooner the better."

    With that in mind, Raven ced the jade box away and concentrated his focus onto the seed.

    Normally, not just any disciples would be able to receive a whole seed of the World Tree. Even in the Ancient Elysium Sect, this is a very scarce resource that most disciples could only stare at but not acquire.

    ording to the price tag, the seed is set a 10 million Merit Points price, however in reality that''s just a shard. A whole seed isposed of more than 10 shards, some could even go up to a 100 pieces just toplete one. It all depends on the quality of the seed and the degree ofpatibility,

    The reason why it is sold in shards is because the sect didn''t want it''s disciples to waste unnecessary time and effort into something that they''d fail at in the long run.

    Saying that cultivating the Seed of the World Tree to bloom is a pain in the ass, might even be considered as an understatement.

    It takes a lot of work. A. Lot. Of. Work.

    Some people wouldn''t even be able toe close to cultivating to bloom throughout their whole lives. It is that hard.

    The sect sold it in shards in order to see the degree ofpatibility with someone. Depending on how long they managed to refine a shard, the sect would use that to decide whether it''s worth to allow someone to have an entire seed or not. It''s somewhat like a test per se.

    As for Raven, that hardly became an issue. The Sect Master had trusted that Raven was aware of what he''s doing. The Sect Master was confident that Raven knew what he was dealing with so giving him an entire seed wasn''t a problem. Plus, Raven had the crown space where time moves differently. If Raven were still unable to make the seed bloom, then he''d call him retarded.

    Raven eventually attuned his mind, making it in perfect state. After that, he ced the seed in between his palms and started mobilizing his Cosmic Energy.

    The seed immediately disappeared from his hands and reappeared within his core.

    There, even without Raven help, it showed it''s fearsomeness and tyranny. It forced it''s way at the very center of the cosmos within Raven''s core, swallowing up the Cleansing me Sprout in one go, which surprised Raven greatly.

    Still he didn''t panic, and observed the process for a bit. The Cleansing me Sprout''s aura didn''t disappear, it just fused with the Seed of the World Tree. Raven have his own guesses but those didn''t matter right now.

    The seed began inhaling Raven''s Cosmic Energy like a whale sucking for air. Raven saw how his inner cosmos began visibly dimmed in sheer seconds which astounded him. Nevertheless, Raven didn''t stop it since he knew that this just it''s first feeding.

    As time passed, Raven''splexion began turning pale. The World Tree Seed was insatiable. It kept absorbing his Cosmic Energy which were nearly dry and it has yet to take root.

    Raven was rmed yet remained to observe. Some time passed once more and just as every ounce of Cosmic Energy on Raven''s body was sucked dry, the World Tree Seed trembled.

    Cracking sounds could be heard within the inner world and shortly after that, numerous hairs began growing from the World Tree Seed''s body. Each tendrils looked like soft strands of silks that swayed with the air however in truth, if any this strandsnded on a living being, it would suck them dry before utching.

    Seeing this development, Raven didn''t hesitate to drink a drop of Divine Spring Water.

    As his Cosmic Energy began recovering, the strands of roots began interfering and sucking more nutrients for itself.

    Raven''s expression was cramped but he didn''t stop it, he just allowed the seed to absorb as much as it wants for now.

    This trend continued for a good while, and once again, just as he was about to run out of Cosmic Energies again, the World Tree Seed finally stopped and settled down.

    It''s roots were now firmly nted at the core region of Raven''s inner cosmos, causing Raven to finally heave a sigh of relief. Now, the seed won''t necessarily absorb energies without his permission anymore. He had now firmly established a connection with it however shallow it might be.

    Raven dislodged his focus on the seed for now. Instead, he focused on recovering his lost energies through natural means. He would''ve done this process inside the Crown Space but right now he''s currently banned from entering due to the natural limit.

    Recovering his energies this way will take a longer time due to the nature of his cultivation way, still it''s better than nothing. And just like he expected, the World Tree Seed was behaving quite nicely.

    By the end of the day, Raven managed to recover at least 15% of his total amount of energies. Enough to not look pale and exhausted. He ended his session for now since it''s a bitte and he''s hungry.

    Raven stood up and stretched: "Hah, this is why not many people are willing to spend time cultivating the World Tree Seed."

    He caressed his stomach and continued to say: "So long as it hasn''t bloomed yet, then there''s no immediate benefits."

    "Well, I''ve got time." Raven murmured, "It''d be hectic for me at during the next couple of days but so long as this seed blooms, then everything''s worth it."

    Raven still hasn''t forgotten the fact that he might be what they refer to as the ''Elven Abomination''. Whether this have something to do with his Old Master Tenrou''s blood or something else, knowing that he possess the blood which may or may not have a connection to the seed itself, is something he''ll eventually know in the future.

    "For now though, food.. I am famished."

 Chapter 576 - Meeting

    ---

    "Yo, 9th! We meet again!"

    A deep voice echoed within arge hall, taking Raven''s attention. He looked towards the man who greeted him and nodded:

    "Nice to see you again Taotie, Sir." Raven greeted.

    "Oh you, drop the formalities! Specially when addressing this goofball." Levi who''s sitting beside him said.

    Raven didn''t reply and instead took a seat amongst them. Within these table are some of his acquaintances, mostly War Gods. There''s Henry, Logan, Theo, Julia, Jessamine, Celestine, Levi, Charles, and Paolo.

    There are also some people whom he haven''t met before. There''s four of them who wore the same uniform and badges as the War God, which means that they are War Gods too. As far as Raven knows, there are a total of 13 War God positions avable each generation, which means that all War Gods are here. This was an incredible line-up already.

    Aside from them, there''s also other people here. He could see Anastacia, Grand Elder Gin and his Wife Emma, Sect Master Lucas and his wife Alwina, Elder Fallon and others that Raven hadn''t met before.

    Raven was feeling a little bit pressured inwardly due to the presence of these giants. He was even starting to wonder why he was summoned here in the first ce.

    It was Kyrie who informed him about the meeting. Although he never thought that he''d be meeting the others here as well. Amongst the crowd, Raven could feel some certain presences which bore some familiarity with him but he knows that he never met them before.

    It was an intriguing feeling yet Raven didn''t show any signs of difort nor curiosity on his face. He remained calm and just chatted with the people he knew.

    After quite sometime, everyone fell a stir. They all looked ahead and saw the Sect Master walking towards the center of the hall. The whole ce became quiet, all of them waited for him to speak.

    "I''m sure all of you are wondering why you were summoned here." Sect Master Lucas said, "We''ll get to that in a bit, but before we proceed, I''d like to remind everyone that the contents of our meeting today would be extremely confidential. None of you are allowed to tell it to another soul. Am I understood?"

    "Yes, Sect Master!" Everyone replied solemnly. The Sect Master nodded, he then looked back to his wife and nodded to her as well.

    Alwina walked forward and said: "There are some recent developments that we discovered. We were fortunate to have gain wind of it this early, anyter than this might spell the doom of our sect."

    Faint murmurs could be heard from the people around them. Raven who''s sharing seats with the War Gods, looked quite calm since he had an idea what they''re here to talk about.

    "It all started at the ''Prison of the Apocalypse''..." Alwina stated, silencing the crowd. She then began re-telling the story of how they managed to deal with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse the sudden development and all.

    In Alwina''s stories, Raven''s was nowhere to be found. It was as if he wasn''t a part of any of that at all.

    Though Alwina nced at Raven shortly before starting the story. Raven didn''t have anyins. In fact it was better this way. At least there''s still a faint veil of mystery is still shrouding him.

    "...we recently did some inspection and we can confirm that the seal is intact and perfectly working. Which means that the Devil Emperor had managed to really find a way to bypass the seal. I don''t think I need to exin what this spells for us, right?"

    Once she was done re-telling the recent events and how the Devil Emperor managed to attack them despite being sealed in the prison. Everyone felt cold chills running through their spine.

    The atmosphere turned heavy. Everyone''s faces were solemn, even the ever-so-lively Paolo the Taotie had a serious look on his face.

    Raven sighed faintly. He couldn''t me them from feeling pressured. Wasn''t he the same as them? As soon as he woke up from that event, he had been adjusting his n and began amassing resources in order for him to be stronger faster.

    Although the sect had never been idle all this time, the same could be said with the Devil Emperor too. In fact, it might''ve even been working harderpared to them. It has been imprisoned for so long, and the fact that it remained searching for ways to regain freedom is frightening.

    Don''t forget that the Devils are born from the Devil Emperor itself. They carried it''s will and unless there were killed in a special way, they''ll just return to the embrace of the Devil Emperor itself along with the memories they have before they were killed.

    This means that the Devil Emperor knows them more than what they expect. Meanwhile their forces had little to no clue as to what was going on with the Devil Emperor''s mind. Who in the right mind would dare to trace the connection between the devils and Devil Emperor itself? Isn''t that just suicide?

    So in conclusion, they are in deeper shit more than they dare to realize.

    ''So what''s the n?'' Raven asked inwardly. ''They wouldn''t be calling everyone here without a n right?''

    "I''d be candid with you people..." Sect Master Lucas said with a solemn voice. "Even the way I am right now, I don''t have the confidence to say that I can defeat the Devil Emperor. During the sh that urred previously, I was on the losing side despite only facing one of it''s fingers."

    Those words caused everyone''s heart to sank, however the Sect Master was still not done.

    "Nevertheless, it doesn''t mean that we''re out of options." The Sect Master stated while raising his voice. "Do remember that we are carrying the mantle of our Ancestors. We are the descendants of the ones who sealed the Devil Emperor at its peak. We don''t have anything to fear."

    "Our Ancestors knew that a day like this will happen, therefore they left us a way to fight back and make sure that whatever the Devil Emperor''s nning to do, it is doomed to fail."

    "Today, I announce to everyone the opening of the ''Celestial Ascension tform!'' Everyone who bears the mark of our Ancestors are to enter that ce in raise their strength. The day when we all achieve the acme of our goals, is the day when we rid the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda''s devils and y the Devil Emperor once and for all!"

    "Ooohhhhh!"

    War cries echoed within the hall. Their hearts and determination were lit up by the Sect Master''s announcement despite not knowing what they have to go through yet.

    Raven remained calm. He was in deep thought instead of feeling passionate and eager...

    ''What is the ''Celestial Ascension tform''? What does it do and does it really have a way for us to end the Devil Emperor''s existence? I need more information.''

    The Sect Master suddenly raised his hand and waved it. Then, multiple scrolls flew towards everyone within this hall. His voice was then heard.

    "Those scrolls contains everything that you need to know about the ''Celestial Ascension tform''. Carefully study it and decide when to enter. Do not take long. The sooner you achieve Ascension, the better. Does anyone have any question?" The Sect Master asked.

    Nobody raised a hand, therefore he said: "Since that''s the case, then everyone is dismissed. Remember that this matter is confidential. Also, be very careful whenever you are venturing through the territories. Retreat at the faintest sign of danger. Prioritize the Celestial Ascension tform first."

    "Yes, Sect Master." Everyone replied.

    "Good! Dismissed." He said as he turned around and retreated back to his personal office.

    ''9th, see me at my office. Make sure you aren''t followed nor seen by anyone.'' The Sect Master''s voice echoed in his ears causing Raven to be surprised. He didn''t show it in face though and he didn''t bother replying.

    "Well then, I''ll excuse myself. I will read this in private, just in case you know?" Raven told the War Gods, hinting at something to them.

    Some of the War Gods we''re a bit surprised but they followed his lead. They all went back to their office to read the contents of the scroll by themselves. Once he left, Raven made sure to pay attention to his surroundings, his concealed is aura perfectly and saw some people following him.

    The people who were following him were persistent, however he could tell that they have any ill intents for now. Hemunicated with Kyrie telepathically and gave her some instructions while he distracted the people following him.

    Raven managed to shake them off, he then hid himselfpletely and returned to the hall to meet with the Sect Master personally. He made sure that he isn''t seen by anyone and he didn''t tell anybody about this at all, not even Kyrie.

    Once he entered, he closed the door behind him and greeted the Sect Master.

    The Sect Master smiled at him and gestured for him to sit down, once he''sfortable. The Sect Master then said:

    "I won''t beat around the bush 9th. The reason why I called for you privately is because I wanted you to be the next ''Chronos'' instead."

    "What!?"

 Chapter 577 - Decision

    ---

    "What!?" Raven eximed as he heard Sect Master Lucas'' words.

    "You didn''t hear me wrong." The Sect Master said, "I want you to be my sessor. Would you be willing to do it?"

    "B-but¡­" Raven stammered. He was caughtpletely off-guard by this sudden offer. "I bear the mark of Ancestor Zeus instead, how - "

    "It''s not the only one¡­" Lucas smiled and informed him.

    "Eh!?" Raven tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

    "When Henry handed you the token and you went to the Chalice Room, tell me how many Chalice was present?" The Sect Master didn''t answer him yet and instead asked this question.

    "Three. The Chalice of Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus." Raven reported.

    The sect master nodded and asked once more, "How many chalices retreated underground when you interacted with them?"

    Raven thought for a bit and said: "All of them."

    "Then are you aware, that unless the Ancestors acknowledged you, their chalice won''t react to you at all?" The Sect Master raised a brow and looked at Raven in amusement.

    Raven''s eyes widened as he realized what he was trying to say.

    "B-but, if that''s the case then why did Kyrie receive me instead? She''s the Battle Maid of the 9th Chosen of Zeus right?" Raven asked.

    "I can''t be helped¡­" The Sect Master sighed. "It should originally be me who''s going to do that, or at least someone under me. However when you epted the Baptism, I wasn''t around the sect. It''s due to that Kyrie sensed your presence and mistook you for the 9th Chosen of Zeus."

    "What''s more is that, only the Thunderbolt Mark which represents Zeus was visible to everyone including you. In truth however, you bore all three¡­"

    The Sect Master snapped and Raven suddenly felt some ripples rising from his body. He felt the mark on his forehead tingling. He felt the same ripples on the depths of his soul and his core.

    It was then that he noticed that his palms were emitting a faint brilliance. His left hand were covered in a faint curtain of ck colored light, meanwhile his right hand was emitting a navy blue colored light. In addition to the Thunderbolt Mark on his forehead which is now emitting a faint yellow glow, Raven finally understood what the Sect Master meant.

    He looked at his palms. On his left palm he had a mark of a skull, on his right palm was a mark of the rippling water.

    Raven truly had all three marks of the Ancestors.

    "Bearing the mark of the Ancestors is a great honor." Sect Master Lucas stated, "There are times when a disciple could receive more than one mark. If that happens, then that disciples will be considered the Chosen of whoever''s mark was higher in terms of responsibility."

    "Take Celestine - the Dominatrix War Goddess for example¡­" The Sect Master said, "During her baptism, she received the good graces of Ancestor Aphrodite and Ancestor Ares at the same time. Since the War Gods bore more responsibilities in the sect matters, she was acknowledged as the Chosen of Ares, bing a War Goddess."

    "Although disciples bearing the mark of two or more Ancestors are rare, it still happens from time to time. However, even with how many marks they receive, they''ll never be able to be considered as the Chosen of Chronos since that requires a specific requirement¡­"

    "You''re smart. You should know what I''m trying to say here." The Sect Master calmly said.

    "To be considered as the next Chosen of Chronos, one must acquire the marks of the brothers'' Hades, Poseidon and Zeus." He said.

    Sect Master Lucas smiled and said: "Correct."

    Although he said that, Raven remained reeling from the sudden news.

    "Like I said earlier. Had I been on the sect during your Baptism, I should''ve been the one to personally receive you." The Sect Master stated, "Unlike the other Ancestor Mantles where there could be more than one Chosen, the position of Chronos is one of those who would only acknowledge one per generation. The mantles of Gaia, Hera, Hermes, Aphrodite, Demeter and others are included in this categories."

    "I only realized that you''ve met these requirements during our first meeting. However, since we are about to go on a pretty risky mission, I decided to not inform you yet in order to not distract you from the task at hand."

    "However, now that that''s settled and we are nning to confront the Devils, I figured that it''s best for you to know this. Especially before you enter the Celestial Ascension tform." The Sect Master stated, causing Raven to think deeply.

    "What will happen to my subordinates then? Kyrie and the soldiers, I mean. I''ve gotten used to Kyrie''s presence you see, and she''d been a really helpful aide to me. As for the soldiers well, due to my unorthodox cultivator identity, they experienced some sort of changes when I imparted my power to them. What will happen to them?"

    "Additionally, if I leave then there will only 8 Chosen of Zeus, the battle to inherit the mantle won''t happen unless there are 9 chosen, wouldn''t me leaving means that it''s going to get dyed again?"

    "More importantly, this¡­" Raven summoned the Brush of Wisdom and held it firmly on his hand. "I would hate to part with this."

    The Sect Master looked at Raven with a smile on his face. Raven didn''t know why he''s smiling but it should be because he said something funny or ridiculous.

    The Sect Master was smiling precisely because of Raven''s inquiries just now. It wasn''t because he find it funny, no. It''s because he was inwardly impressed.

    Raven''s dedication to the role convinced the Sect Master that offering Raven the chance to be his sessor isn''t a mistake. The fact that he considered the well being of his people, even though he hadn''t been with them for long, was already good enough to testify for his character.

    Additionally, Raven was incredibly talented. He have a great potential and if he continued growing at this rate, then his future achievements are almost unfathomable.

    "Don''t worry. If you want, Kyrie and your soldiers can remain with you even after you be my sessor. As for thepetition for the title of Zeus well, if I hadn''t make the decision to open the Celestial Ascension tform then it''d truly be a problem. However, that''s not the case anymore. You''ll understand once you read the contents of the scroll that I gave to all of you earlier." The Sect Master replied.

    "As for the Brush of Wisdom, that can''t even be considered as a problem." The Sect Master chuckled. "So long as you officially be my sessor, even if the Brush of Wisdom is considered as the Treasures of Zeus, no one would say a thing even if you use it, specially considering that if it weren''t for Ancestor Chronos, the sect wouldn''t exist in the first ce."

    Raven turned silent for a bit before asking: "What are my responsibilities as you sessor then?"

    "That can be summarized with a simple sentence." Sect Master Lucas said, "The well being of the sect."

    Raven inhaled sharply as he felt a little bit overwhelmed by all of this.

    Truth to be told, whether it''s position of the Grand Elder or the Sect Master, both had been a goal of his sinceing here.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect''s fame and reputation spans throughout the Divine Realm. If he could earn a respectable position here, then he''d be able to walk anywhere without fear since he''d have backing of a giant.

    Of course he understood the responsibilities included with it. Nothing''s free after all. He''s ready to shoulder heavy responsibilities in order to make sure that his reputation wouldn''t be low at all. It''s an equal exchange.

    However, Raven understood many things upon experiencing what it''s like within the sect. The responsibilities he would face are at least 10 times heavierpared to what it would be had he went on a regr sect.

    They are dealing with abominations who seek the thorough destruction of their home. Taking up the mantle of the one leading army is an intimidating and difficult task to clear.

    ''But¡­so what?''

    ''Hadn''t I taken up a more challenging role before I experienced my second life?''

    ''If I was brave enough to do it during that time when my foundations aren''t deep as they arepared to now, then what do I have to fear this time?''

    Raven clenched his hands and sighed, he then stared at Sect Master''s Lucas'' eyes and said:

    "The Grand Elder wouldn''t resent me for this, right?" He asked warily, causing the Sect Master tough.

    "Oh no, he wouldn''t dare to do so."

    "Then I''ll do it." Raven stated, feeling his heartbeat racing in his chest.

    The smile of Sect Master widened as he said: "Excellent. Then you may go back for now. Inform your subordinates about your decision and prepared. The next time I summon you, is when your coronation as my official sessor will happen. Be sure to be on your best state, alright?"

    "I understand, Sect Master."

 Chapter 578 - Preparations

    ---

    The Celestial Ascension tform¡­

    ording to what was detailed in the scroll that the Sect Master gave to them, this is a tool that was jointly created by the Ancestors in order to act as a trump card when the sect faced the threat of the Devil Emperor once again.

    That being said, it is no different that a Trial by Fire for it tests anyone who enters. If they were capable enough, then good. They''ll receive ample experience and rewards that will definitely be useful in the future. If they''re not capable then this tool is useless for them.

    The trials inside were unknown. The Sect Master said that this ce had a Treasure Spirit who will judge the challengers ording to the standards set by the Ancestors themselves. He also hinted that the trails will be different from person to person. He also didn''t write anything about what the rewards within the tform.

    Needless to say, everyone who received the scroll must participate. There are no exceptions to this rule. Even the Sect Master himself will participate in it so they can''t make any excuses. Furthermore, it was repeatedly emphasized on the scroll that going there would be extremely helpful during the uing task at hand.

    Raven sighed as he closed the scroll. There were many thoughts running on his head. He couldn''t help but to guess what kind of trials there were inside the tform. He knew that there''s no point in thinking too much about since he''d probably see something different anyways, that being said he just can''t help himself.

    For now though, Raven is not in a hurry to visit the Celestial Ascension tform since he had other matters to attend to.

    Raven already told Kyrie and his soldiers about his decision to be the sessor of the Sect Master. To say that they were shocked was an understatement. That being said, they still ended up choosing to follow him instead.

    Once Raven was coronated as the sessor of the Sect Master for the title of ''Chronos'', Kyrie will be his personal Battle Maid, which isn''t really different from her current role, however along with the coronation of Raven, she''s bound to experience some changes due to her special constitution.

    As for the his soldiers, of course they''ll be promoted. The mutation that urred to them due to Raven was incredible. There isn''t as much changes on them physically but when ites to strength, they are a far cry from what they were previously.

    They inherited Raven''s brute strength. The level varied ording to their potential. The gold ranks inherited 30%, ck Gold 50%, tinum 75% and those with Legendary ranked potential inherited 95% of Raven''s brute strength.

    This concept is nothing less than incredible. If it weren''t for the fact that there is a rule that the soldiers are not allowed to be stronger than their lords, then it was quite possible for these people to inherit 100% of Raven''s raw physical strength.

    It had to be known that Raven''s physique had evolve to a level where a simple flick of his finger could shatter a regr mountain to pieces. Which means that with a slight effort, his soldiers could do just that too.

    The moment they came out of their cocoons, the soldiers were thrown into panic since they couldn''t control their strength properly. A simple grip of them were shattering anything they grabbed on. Thankfully Raven left an Avatar to supervise them.

    So far, they managed to reign their absurd physical strength, enabling them to do regr task. And now since they were chose to follow Raven, then in the future, they will be his most trusted men who will apany him to depths of hell.

    Raven already made ns to arm them to the teeth. Their training is already in motion. In his estimates, they only need one year before they are ready to do the tasks he nned for them.

    ---

    Currently, Raven was meditating in the middle of a vast garden.

    His back was straight and his breathing was faint. His body was surrounded with a faint curtain of light which were forming several images of him. Sometimes they would appear real then suddenly turn illusory and vanish. Sometimes it will morph Raven''s silhouette to a baby or an old man, it could even divide his appearance to both at the same time.

    This would normally be an rming scene but to Raven, this is just a side-effect. It won''t really affect him negatively and it''s nothing permanent. This happens due to him currently re-affirming his understanding of Spacetime Laws.

    After quite sometime, Raven released a long sigh and opened his eyes.

    "Nearly at the peak of the 1st Concept of Spacetime Laws. Once I get there, I should be able to breakthrough directly to the 2nd Concept. Still, that''s going to take sometime."

    As of now, Raven didn''t really have qualms about letting someone else know that he cultivates Spacetime Laws. At this point, since the Sect Master and Grand Elder knew about his inheritance, then they shouldn''t be surprised to learn about this too, after all his Master Geezer also mastered it in the first ce.

    In addition to hisws, Raven was also striding closer to his actual cultivation. If he continues this way, then in about four months he''d reachte Saint Knight Realm, within a year, he''ll be able to breakthrough and undergo his 9th Transformation, the final one.

    "Let''s keep going this way..." Raven muttered, "It wouldn''t be long before I could finally cultivate the 2nd Chapter of the Book of Chaos. I wonder what kind of effects that will give me?"

    "It is said that by the time that I reached my final transformation, I will be considered to have released all of my potential, allowing me to raise my strength more efficiently. I''ll just wait and see I guess."

    "Hmm?" Raven frowned all of a sudden when his attention focused on a specific spot within his inner cosmos.

    He saw the World Tree Seed sitting in the middle of his inner cosmos. At first he couldn''t tell any changes since the appearance remained mostly the same but when he inspected it closely, he discovered something interesting.

    "These are...Law Diagrams? It feels like my Spacetime Laws! Is it reacting to my Spacetime Laws?" Raven was gobsmacked by this development.

    He had the sudden urge to smack his forehead as he realized something.

    "Right, I should''ve known." Raven smiled wryly. "As something worshipped by the Elves who were loved by the Laws and ording to the records left behind by Old Master Tenrou, the World Tree was the source myriads ofws, it shouldn''t be a surprise that Spacetime Laws are included in them."

    "ording to the legends, it''s roots connects the past, present and the future. Its leaves contain the infinite worlds and realities and it''s trunk protects the connection between everything and contains the all of the heavenly secrets."

    "I should''ve known...I''m so dumb!" Raven chuckled.

    After saying that, Raven closed his eyes one more time and began supplying the World Tree Seed of his Spacetime Laws Insight.

    As expected, the seed inhaled the insights like there was no tomorrow. Multiple Law Diagrams began condensing within it''s surface. They looked ancient scribbles which contained an archaic aura and endlessness.

    Raven continued doing this and at the same time, he was also observing the Law Diagrams appearing on the seed. To his surprise, the Law Diagrams were filled with so much profundity that Raven''s insight in thew were rising.

    ''A cycle huh...'' Raven muttered inwardly. ''Additionally, this Law Diagrams re-affirm my understanding on the ''Heavenly Secret Origin'' - that thews follow a certain arrangement much like inscriptions and runes.''

    ''I should proceed with caution though...'' Raven felt a bit apprehensive. ''I should make sure that the insights I gain from observing these Law Diagrams, fits the insight I gained on my own. If not, then this might cause me to be stuck in a perpetual bottleneck. That''d be a huge waste.''

    Raven made mental note to be cautious when ites to dealing withws. Especially with his understanding with the ''Heavenly Secret Origin''.

    He shouldn''t be concerning himself with the ''Heavenly Secret Origin'' in the first ce anyway. Truth to be told, that subject are tackled by those who were trying to breakthrough to the Divinity Realm. A puny Saint Knight like him shouldn''t be biting more than what he could chew.

    Well, it''s not like Raven wanted to in the first ce. The enlightenment came to him and who was he to refuse that opportunity? Besides, Raven wasn''t in a hurry. He''s mostly focusing on his foundations andws right now. So long as he''s careful, he shouldn''t be in any trouble.

    Raven eventually ended his meditation. He exhaled, opened his eyes and stood up to return to his quarters.

    As he was on his way back, he suddenly heard Sect Master Lucas'' voice on his ears.

    "Be ready. The preparations are almostplete. Tomorrow is the day of your coronation as my sessor."

    Raven took a deep breath in and nodded softly. Once he returned to his room, he sat down on his bed and felt his stomach churning.

    "Oh dear....I''m nervous."

 Chapter 579 - Heir Of Chronos

    ---

    *Dong!* *Dong!* *Dong!*

    Loud of sounds ofrge church bells echoed across the entirety of the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    It didn''t matter who it is or what they were doing, everyone in the sect instinctively looked up when they heard the sound.

    "What''s going on?"

    "Man those are loud. What''s the big deal?"

    "Why don''t we wait for the announcement instead of blindly asking questions, yeah?"

    "He''s got a point you know."

    "Tch."

    Discussions like this urred everywhere. They were all waiting for the important announcement that was about to arrive. What others didn''t know is that, this announcement isn''t just limited to Greece alone. The bells could be heard all the way down to the base within Tartarus and other ces where the disciples are concentrated as well.

    The skies within Greece suddenly changed, shocking the people wandering on the streets. The clouds parted and a beam of light emerged from out of nowhere, illuminating whatever it touches.

    As the people struggled to find-out what''s going on, the situation at the Storm Dweller''s peak became a bit different.

    At the very precipice of the mountain, there isn''t only the abode of the leaders of the sect but also a passage that leads towards a secret realm that not even those who have high authority in the sect knew about.

    This passage leads to a vast garden who''s beauty could enchant even those who''s hearts had been chilled. Here, the sunshine was mellow yet carried a veryfortable warmth, the air smells like scent of a hundred flowers, the vegetation was lush and vivid and not a trace of ugliness could be seen anywhere.

    It was akin to a paradise.

    At the very core region of this garden, there is a stone monument built amidst the clear expanse of lush grass. Here, two people stood in front. One was kneeling while the other was staring at the monument with outmost respect in his face.

    Beneath the stone monument, a stone b could be seen with a written message saying: ''Here lies the remains of Chronos - Zeus.''

    These two people were none other than Sect Master Lucas and Raven. The former was the one who''s staring at the stone monument while thetter was the one kneeling with his eyes closed.

    There was afortable silence between the two. The Sect Master didn''t say a word and just let Raven kneel in there.

    As for Raven, he''s currently immersed in a very wondrous dream right now - or at least that what he wants to believe. It''s just that even with his attempts to try and decipher what was going on to him, he just can''t seem to focus.

    His consciousness felt like it was drifting through the expanse of vivid yet very illusory dream.

    Unbeknownst to him, a wondrous transformation was currently happening in his body.

    The marks of Hades, Poseidon and Zeus were currently moving, and it would seem that their destination is his chest. More precisely at the center of his chest where his core is located.

    He had forgotten how long he had been in this state but if he could venture a guess right now, he''d probably say that the process is nearly done.

    As the marks slowly made their way towards his chest, Raven was slowly transforming. His soul, Cosmic Energy and Physical Body was faintly showing signs of sublimation. It was as if they were slowly but surely melding together to form a single entity.

    Anybody who realizes this would probably be shocked. How can they not be specially considering the fact that what was happening right now is something that should happen once one bes an Empyrean Knight?

    Yes, one could argue that these are just ''signs'' of merging. It''s not quite the real deal yet but experiencing this during the Saint Knight Realm is, without a doubt, a huge boon simply because this means that the individual in question undoubtedly has a Empyrean Level foundation. Which more or less trante to them surely achieving that strength in the future.

    This was such a great lucky chance yet Raven was unfortunately oblivious to it.

    Time passed swiftly and all of a sudden, Raven''s body was suddenly covered with a thick nket of golden radiance.

    Sect Master Lucas turned around to look at him. There was a smile on his face as he did so.

    He didn''t need to look nor ask Raven for any confirmation. Just from this golden radiance alone, he could absolutely tell that Raven officially became his sessor since the all three marks merged together.

    Raven opened his eyes and as soon as he did so, his pupils shed with beams of golden radiance which faded shortly. His gaze regained their focus, which means that Raven woke up from his dreams.

    When his thoughts returned to him, he found himself kneeling in front of the stone tform. He raised his head and met the warm gaze of Sect Master Lucas. Just from that gaze alone, Raven could feel a strong link connecting the two of them.

    He didn''t need confirmation nor any words at all. That feeling was enough to confirm everything for him. The Sect Master nodded at him and helped him rise-up, Raven respectfully epted the gesture and as soon as he stood up, a loud and archaic voice echoed in the ears of everyone who''s part of the sect.

    "The inheritor of ''Chronos'' appears! Rejoice,rades!"

    Many people gasped in shock as soon as they heard this announcement.

    "What!?"

    "Already!? That was fast!"

    "Yeah! From what I heard, it''s usually the inheritor of ''Chronos'' appearsst. Which also marks the start of the new generation. However this is unusually early."

    "I know right? The Chosen of Zeus has yet topete yet the Little Chronos already appeared."

    " ''Little Chronos''? Really?"

    "Hush now, you. You''re not paying attention to the more important things here."

    "What does that have anything to do with us? We''re mortalspared to them."

    "Alright you guys, stop arguing. We''re bound to be busy. Let''s prepare, yeah?"

    "Yeah."

    ---

    "How do you feel?" Sect Master Lucas asked.

    Raven took sometime to analyze his current state, after that he replied: "I feel, strangely bewildered somehow."

    Sect Master Lucasughed out loud and said: "I totally get that feeling!"

    Raven smiled as well. It is true that he felt somewhat bewildered. He could feel that there was an outstanding change on his body yet he can''t put a finger on it. Additionally, it also feels like the way he saw the world changed drastically, yet again it might''ve just been him feeling a bit strange currently.

    "Right now, everyone should be aware that the sessor of ''Chronos'' appeared. Most of them don''t know that it''s you yet but that won''t be for long." Sect Master Lucas stated.

    "Eventually, you''ll have to appear in public and a time wille where you won''t be able to deny your status. Well, from what I observed so far, there shouldn''t be any problems with you or your attitude. Just don''t overdo it when timeses, do you get me?"

    "Yes, Sect Master."

    "Senior Brother." Sect Master Lucas said.

    "Eh?"

    "Address me as Senior Brother from now on. Since you and I are ''inheritors'' of Chronos. That makes us his disciples, which means we''re disciple brothers, it''s a bond that won''t ever be sever lest you sever it first." Lucas exined.

    Raven was a bit shocked, however he nodded and said: "I understand, Sec-Senior Brother."

    "Rx. You''ll eventually get used to it." Lucas chuckled. "And since you''re going to rece me in the future, that means that you have to learn how to manage the sect as a whole."

    "Although we are nning to confront the devils in the future. Preparing for it will take sometime. Well, since you''re officially stated as the Heir to the position, that removes the stress ofpetition from you. That being said, you still have much to learn. I hope you''re prepared."

    "I''ll do my best."

    "I''m looking forward to it." Lucas grinned. "Remember this Junior Brother. No matter what happens...whether we end up losing this war, my death, idents...anything in between. Always, always remember, that the well-being of the sectes first. Without the sect, the Devil Emperor will run rampant and could potentially destroy mankind. That''s something that we cannot permit to happen. Alright?"

    "The well-being of the sect takes priority. I understand." Raven nodded. "But If I''m being honest, I wish we could kill the Devil Emperor once and for all in this uing battle."

    "Well, that''s the ultimate goal." Lucas said. "Which is why we''re at the preparation phase right now. That being said, you also have to make sure that we''re not going to just blindly send our forces in there. We''re against an intelligent enemy who had lived for a very long time. It wouldn''t be wise to hastily advance."

    "I agree." Raven nodded.

    "Well, that''s that. For now, let''s return to pick up your coronation gifts. Let''s bid farewell to Ancestor Chronos first." Lucas said, he then turned around and kowtowed in front of the stone monument, Raven did the same.

    After that, Lucas waved his hand and the two disappeared from paradise-like garden.

    What they didn''t know is that, momentter after they disappeared....the stone monument released a faint silver glow and a faint yet heartyugh could be heard from very depths of the stone monument.

 Chapter 580 - Reponsibilities

    ---

    "Wee back, Young Lord."

    Raven was weed by his subordinates as soon as he came back to his now owned pocket dimension. Their voices were filled with glee and passion as they weed him.

    Kyrie almost couldn''t conceal the joy on her face. She never thought that the where she will be the true Leader of the Battle Maids, will evere. Yet with Raven''s appearance, she easily achieved it.

    As his personal Battle Maid and one that Raven decided to keep by his side, Kyrie received favorable benefits. Although Raven didn''t go into the full details nor deliberately sang praises on her work, his simple act of wanting her to remain as his personal Battle Maid spoke volumes, which is why along with his official coronation as the heir of Chronos, Kyrie simultaneously became the true leader of the Battle Maids.

    To this, Kyrie couldn''t think of how to express her immense gratitude for her Young Lord. Being the Leader of the Battle Maids isn''t just an empty title. Ites with many benefits that will certainly promote her strength.

    Raven was somewhat surprised but he didn''t show it. He merely smiled and said: "Mn, I''m back. I''ll be in seclusion for a bit. If anyonees tell them that I''ll at least need a week or two."

    "Understood, Young Lord." Kyrie and the Soldiers said as Raven returned to his personal quarters.

    Raven just came back from his appointment with Sect Master Lucas. He brought back some documents that he needed to study as well as some items that''ll help him raise hisbat effectiveness.

    Although the ceremony causedrge waves in the sect, Raven''s identity as the Heir of Chronos is still mostly hidden. Most of the people are still trying to guess who was the one so for now, he''ll have some quiet. Raven decided to take advantage of the situation to educate himself so that he won''t be clueless when timees.

    Once he returned, he sealed up his room and immediately entered the Crown Space. Upon arriving at the Cultivation Eden, he sat down and began reading the documents that he brought back. ording to Lucas, the contents of these documents contain the crucial information about the matters of the sect. It also contains the list of his responsibilities and details on how he should deal with them.

    Raven didn''t waste time and began memorizing the contents of the documents. And although he was prepared for it, he was still shocked to realize just how much responsibilities weighs down on the Sect Master''s role.

    First and foremost, the reason why the Sect Master doesn''t stay on the sect 24/7 is because there are some matters that he had to attend to which takes precedence.

    The Tomb of the Apocalypses was just one of the secret realms that he had to personally pay attention to. Aside from that, there are still at least four other secret realms that holds secrets and unknown dangers.

    Aside from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, there are still more batches of soldiers who apanied the Devil Emperor to wreck havoc into the Divine Realm. These groups had been subdued and imprisoned along with the Devil Emperor but not together. They were divided into batches and imprisoned ordingly.

    These creatures that apanied the Devil Emperor were called: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Ten Commandments. The Five Cmities. The Seven Dark Disciples and the Four Devil Kings. One could say that the Seven Deadly Sins are included in this list but they were imprisoned in the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda and were personal creations of the Devil Emperor so they are on a different category.

    Each of this group are imprisoned on their own secret realms. And to Raven''s shock, these secret realms are located precisely at the hidden world where the Mount Olympus were.

    He could still remember back in the day when they arrived for the first time at the sect. They were inside the Warship then and they saw how aside from the towering Mount Olympus itself, the surroundings were covered in white fog.

    It turns out that, the white fog they saw was defense mechanism. An enchantment that the previous generations casted amongst thends of the Hidden World to hopefully prevent the followers of the Devil Emperor to contact each other.

    Much like the Devil Emperor, his followers also designed a way to release some of the minions away from their prison. However, their efficiency is certainly slower and weakerpared to the Devil Emperor itself. Still, they can''t be ignored. At the end of the day, they were the followers of the Devil Emperor. Leaving them alone will cause some problems in the future.

    They were not allowed tomunicate with each other, lest they formte a n to escape their prisons and free the Devil Emperor. That isn''t something that the sect could allow.

    Therefore, the previous generations created a massive bewildering formation that releases a white fog that would prevent the minions of these prisoners from meeting. Additionally, the sect master would sometimes send the War Gods outside to search and eradicate them, thinning their numbers in order to slow down whatever ns they have.

    The Sect Master must constantly visit this prisons personally to monitor the situation. There are times that they will fight back so the Sect Master should alwayse prepared and vignt.

    Amongst these prisoners, the most troublesome ones are the Seven Dark Disciples as they were the ones who managed to sessfully break out of their prison once. It happened during the 5th generation, and almost spelled the end of the sect. Thankfully, they managed to control the situation and put them back to their prison.

    However, the damage was already done. The Seven Dark Disciples managed to convert some disciples of the sect to worship the Devil Emperor, creating the first batch of the ''Exiles''. Somehow, these ''Exiles'' managed to escape the sect and flee to the Divine Realm where they managed to blend with it''s citizens, making the enforcers unable to track them down.

    Aside from monitoring these Secret Realms. The Sect Master must also leave the sect every once and while to socialize with the other important people at the Divine Realm.

    Although the sect is strong, it''s only because of the support of the people who support their cause. These people are the ones who were willing to provide the sect with resources to continue functioning. It''s a customary gesture to express gratitude by paying them a visit once in a while. This was usually done by the Sect Master but if there are important matters that he had to attend to, he could send a Envoy/War God to take his/her ce.

    Reading all of this, Raven was already feeling the stress. Unfortunately, the deed is done. He''s already the Heir to the Sect Master''s position so he could only smile wryly and rise up to the challenge.

    "...or I could switch with the next Zeus, making him/her the next Sect Master and I the Grand Elder, that way I could rx instead. Hmm, that won''t be a bad idea." Raven thought deviously, making himself chuckle.

    Now he could more or less understand why Alwina - wife of Lucas, alwaysined. The Sect Master position truly is incredibly stressful.

    This is still just the beginning though. He haven''t even touched up on the matter of handling the sect itself. Although he won''t be managing it alone, he still remains the decision maker so it would just add on to the stress itself.

    "There are still others ways like..." Raven murmured, "I don''t know...getting rid of the Devil Emperor''s followers. I mean we already dealt with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. With the Heavenly Sacred Doctrine doing it''s thing as well as the Chains of Order fortifying their seal, they could only dream about escaping."

    "If I could somehow replicate that effect to the rest, then I could lighten up the burden." Raven thought, "Well, that''s if the Devil Emperor would stay put and let me do all of those things - which is something I heavily doubt would happen."

    "There''s also this..." Raven picked up another document, this time rying the overall n to eradicate the devils once and for all. "Not that I doubt our forces but this n had many loopholes that the Devil Emperor could exploit."

    "So far, I still doubt that there are no spies within our rank. That just can''t be. If there really is none, then I would seriously look down on the Devil Emperor. Well, there''s still a possibility that there is none but I''m more inclined to believe that it at least nted one or two spies amongst our ranks."

    "I have to make sure to keep my eyes peeled. Just in case..." Raven''s eyes narrowed upon the thought. As much as possible, he didn''t want to hurt his own people but Raven''s not the person who easily tolerates betrayals.

    Raven sighed after reading through the documents and massaged his temples. He drank some tea to calm down, once he recovered from his exhausted state, he stood up and said:

    "Okay, time to inspect treasures...."

 Chapter 581 - Treasures

    ---

    Just like the Treasures of Zeus, the heir to Chronos is also entitled to receive some treasures in order to protect themselves against the dangers that they have to face.

    Unlike Zeus where each candidate is only allowed to have one, as the Heir of Chronos only appears one each generation, they are entitled to at least three. Before Raven went back to his abode, Lucas already took him to the treasury and asked him to pick the things he wanted.

    ording to Lucas'' exnation, even the weakest treasure of Chronos is filled with vast antiquity. Even Ancestor Zeus didn''t know where in the world did his foster father got them.

    The first time Raven saw the treasury, his jaw almost hit the floor due to astonishment. There was a whole wall filled with numerous scrolls where the description and the treasures themselves are concealed. Even if they were sealed, Raven could feel the ancientness on each of them.

    There was no such thing as a trash treasure amongst them. Every single one was powerful. Raven could even confidently say that if all of these treasures were to be held by the most trusted personnel of the sect, they''ll be able to conquer the whole Divine Realm with them.

    Of course such a thing is nigh-impossible to happen since the sect held it''s moral values. Still, seeing this at least gave Raven some sort of confidence.

    Maybe their chances to win the uing war isn''t as little as he initially thought they were.

    Raven then did what he was asked to, and picked three treasures that he likes. Thankfully he wasn''t on a time limit so Raven took his sweet time reading through the details and specting inwardly. In the end, these are the three he picked.

    The first one was something called: ''Rotten Bark of the World Tree.''

    He picked this one in order to use it as a catalyst to elerate his won world tree seed''s growth. While it doesn''t really fully justify why he picked this branch instead of others, a rotten the first ce. Raven didn''t bother exining.

    He himself felt the yearning of the seed. Although he too was a bit bummed that he had to pick this one, he just followed his instincts instead. He already had an idea how to use this thanks to the world tree seed.

    The next one is called the: Shell of Absolute Beginning.

    This is a treasure of very unknown origins. Even with Ancestor Zeus searching thends, he never received any traces nor clues as to where thise from.

    The shell was big, it could almost act as a shield. And if Raven saw someone in the future doing just that, he''d probably won''t be able to me then.

    The reason why Raven picked up the Shell of Absolute Beginning is because he was reminded of his Master Geezer. He could still remember how he was pushed to the brink of death by those greedy people in order to im his research from themselves.

    The reason why he was sent into wherever he is now, is because only his research and experiments about the ''Absolute Beginning'' ''somewhat'' seeded. They all thought that Geezer found a way to condense Origin Energy, allowing himself to go beyond the realm of Divinity.

    The description of the shell was somewhat vague though:

    ''Fate. Only those who have fate with this shell shall be able to use it.'' That was written by ''Chronos'' himself.

    Well, Raven didn''t know if he was truly fated with the shell or not. He could hold it just fine, he didn''t feel any signs of difort doing so. Which should mean that he is fated with this shell - that, or it maybe because way too much time has passed and any sort of enchantment ced on the shell were already malfunctioning.

    Raven didn''t dwell too long on this matter and made his final choice. Which is a treasure called: ''Primordial Ink''.

    This time, just like how it was with the world tree seed, he also felt some sort of attraction towards this item. That attraction wasing from the link he shared with the Brush of Wisdom.

    Raven had no idea why the Brush of Wisdom wanted this ink so bad that it jumped out of his body and rooted Raven in ce, disallowing him from moving on unless he picked the ink as well.

    Well, what else could he do right? This was the first time that the Brush of Wisdom made a ''request'' to him so he can''t really just refuse it after all the help it gave to him. The Brush of Wisdom let his go once he confirmed that he''ll be taking the Primordial Ink.

    Once he returned to Lucas, even his Senior Brother felt a bit surprised with Raven''s choices. Nevertheless, after confirming it once, the details about his choices were recorded and Lucas passed the necessary documents for Raven to study before he sent him back.

    Now, Raven was currently resting inside the Cultivation Eden, sitting down with the treasures ced in front of him.

    Once he entered his most optimal state. Raven exhaled long and hard, he then picked up the Primordial Ink and took out the Brush of Wisdom. Looking at it, he hesitated before saying...

    "Hey, buddy." Raven bit his lips, "I got the ink, what do you want me to do with it?"

    And as if answering to him, the Brush of Wisdom released a few humming sounds which strangely contained a message that Raven could understand.

    "You want me to dip you onto it?" Raven asked in confirmation. The Brush of Wisdom released a few more hums to answer him. "Okay...here we go."

    Raven ced the tip of the brush to the container of the Primordial Ink.

    All of a sudden, the brush released loud buzzing sounds which startled even the avatars minding their own business not to far from Raven.

    Raven was shocked to see the brush quite literally inhaling the ink. Very swiftly, the Primordial Ink was emptied till the past drop, all of it was absorbed the Brush of Wisdom, causing the brush head to darken in color.

    The Brush of Wisdom let out a few jolly hums and transmitted a message that it needs at least one whole year so that it could absorb the ink properly.

    Raven''s eyes widened, he initially wanted to stop it but he was toote. The Brush of Wisdom already retreated to his body and he could no longer call for it. Raven fought the urge to not let out a string of curses.

    One year was way too damn long! Many things could happen within a day not to mention a whole year! With the Brush of Wisdom retreating, he felt like he lost an arm or two. Even with the short time that he spent with the brush, he already treated it like his most precious treasure. It wouldn''t be a surprise that Raven feeling rather upset and dejected right now.

    Pursing his lips, he could only sigh and say: "Hopefully, the time difference within this ce had an effect with that, or else I''d truly be in trouble.

    He returned his gaze back at the remaining treasures he imed from before and felt rater apprehensive. He started thinking if it would be wise for him to continue since a simr scene from before could end up happening again. And he didn''t really want to fall for the same trick twice.

    After thinking for quite sometime though, Raven decided to continue. The reason for that is because he felt that these two remaining treasure wouldn''t necessarily inconvenience him.

    The Rotten Branch of the World Tree will act as some sort of a fertilizer for the World Tree Seed. Raven had no problems with it being deactivated for a moment since he''s not really getting anything out of it on it''s seed form. He need it to bloom first before he could experience its benefits.

    As for the Shell of Absolute Beginning. Although it remained a mystery to him, the worst that could happen is for him to not get anything out of it. Raven, for some reason, was absolutely confident that the shell wouldn''t hurt him,

    And even at the instance that he fail, it''s not like it would spell the end of the world. He could always try again in the future since he''s destined to go far anyway. He could always try again in the future when he''s a tad bit stronger.

    And now that he has decided, Raven continued his activities by first picking up the Rotten Branch of the World Tree.

    cing the rotten branch on his palms, he rubbed it a few times as if trying to transfer some warmth onto it. When he was done with this, he began guiding his Cosmic Energy on his hands. All of a sudden, the branch disappeared from his palms and reappeared at the center of his Inner Cosmos where his world tree seed unhesitatingly sent it''s white root-like tendrils to consume the branch instead of Raven''s Cosmic Energy.

    Time passed by and somewhere along the process, Raven suddenly lost consciousness.

 Chapter 582 - The Shell

    ---

    Raven was unconscious for a whole month...

    During this time, he was experiencing a lucid dream which urred along with the changes on the World Tree Seed. As the seed absorbed the rotten branch to aid it''s growth, numerous insights blessed Raven''s body.

    New Law Diagrams appeared on the World Tree Seed as it devoured the branch, these will all be helpfulter when Raven decided to cultivate his Spacetime Laws.

    The absorption of the rotten branchsted for one whole month. After that, the World Tree Seed calmed down and Raven regained consciousness.

    As soon as Raven woke up, he asked his Avatars what happened and they answered him. In the end, he could only sigh and be thankful that he chose to do this here instead of the real world. Had it not been for the time difference, he would''ve been really unconscious for a whole month.

    Raven then inspected his Inner Cosmos and when he did, he was a bit surprised when he saw the changes.

    From what he could tell, his Inner Cosmos expanded ever so slightly. Additionally, the purity of his Cosmic Energy seemed to have increased as well. Which are all very surprising for Raven since he wasn''t expecting any changes to happen since the seed hadn''t bloomed just yet.

    When he inspected it closely, he discovered that this was all due to his World Tree Seed. Compared before, the seed didn''t just absorbed his Cosmic Energy to fuel it''s growth. It was now able to filter his cosmic energy.

    Each time it absorbed his Cosmic Energy, the seed will absorb half of the amount it initially absorbed and release the other half. The Cosmic Energy that was released by the seed is purerpared to what Raven originally has. Not only that, it also managed to somehow increase his Cosmic Energy capacity.

    From what Raven could tell, the seed will keep on doing it this way until the day it eventually bloomed. By then, he should benefit more thanks to the wondrous existence of the world tree seed.

    "Okay, now we deal with this." Raven murmured as he picked up the Shell of Absolute Beginning.

    The round shield-like shell was almost transparent. It was light and about five meters in diameter. It''s edges were uneven and from just a nce alone, one could easily tell that it has been around for quite sometime.

    Raven gently ced the shell on hisp. He inspected it closely, wanting to know if he could discover some secrets within. He gently traced his hand along its surface. It was cool to the touch, its surface was smooth too.

    Initially, Raven couldn''t really find anything strange about this shell. This caused him to purse his lips in disappointment but he didn''t give up just yet.

    Rainbow colored light blossomed on his pupils, this was him activating his ocr technique. With this, Raven wanted to find out if he could see something hidden from pain sight.

    And to his luck, he did manage to see more with his ocr technique active. However, what he saw was somewhat strange.

    With his ocr technique active, the shell in front of him changed. It''s appearance roughly stayed the same but it''s surface was now filled with numerous things which didn''t make sense to Raven at all.

    There are numerous wears and tears in his vision. There are also some strange marks and runes etched on the surface of the shell. Additionally, there is a certain film covering the shell, preventing Raven from inspecting even further.

    Raven frowned deeply. He ran his fingers along the now visible details on the shell however he failed to grasp anything of value. He could sense that he encountered something incredibly profound yet Raven''s current knowledge are far from enough to decipher what''s hidden within this shell.

    He pursed his lips and sighed. Well, he wasn''t truly disappointed. If anything, he''d be shocked if he could actually understand something from this. He''s already happy that at least he was capable seeing the hidden details of this shell.

    He figured that he shouldn''t rush anything though. Time was on his side. He believed that so long as he continued growing at this pace, he''ll eventually discover the secrets behind the shell. For now, he decided to ce it on the nearest altar.

    Raven nned on leaving it here for now since he didn''t have any real use for it. Also this way, if he ever discover anything important, he could always order his avatars to decipher it for him. Before he ced it away though, he made sure to memorize every single details he saw within the shell. Just in case...

    With all of that said, Raven now dealt with the treasures he got from being the Heir of Chronos. Although he''s still a bit bummed that he couldn''t get more, this was still good enough for him.

    Now that Raven was free, he decided to spend his remaining time training.

    Taking out a bottle of Moonshine and sitting on the Star-gazing Mat, a rainbow colored light blossomed from his eyes once more.

    Raven instinctually looked up and when he did so, the clouds parted above him and a golden sky revealed itself to him.

    Seeing this golden colored sky, Raven didn''t waste time and immediately downed the entire bottle of Moonshine. His state of mind eventually calmed down thanks to the effects of the drink but with the addition of other treasures he had, Raven entered the Enlightenment State.

    His gaze became empty as he began deciphering the things he saw being hidden by that golden colored sky. Although he could only see shes of lights here and there, he knew that the more he did this, the more he''ll be able to see.

    This Golden Colored Sky is none other than the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm itself. Although most of it was still being hidden by the golden re, Raven was still legitimatelyprehending the Heavenly Laws themselves.

    This was an astounding feat, it had to be known that not just anyone could do it since the Heavenly Laws might retaliate and send a tribtion to them. However to Raven, this is the least of his problem. Thanks to Geezer deliberately hiding him from the Heavenly Laws themselves, Raven could freely decipher the Heavenly Laws all he wants without worrying about it''s retaliation.

    Ever since he received enlightenment of his ''Heavenly Secret Origin'', Raven had been frequently doing this. Perhaps, only Raven was able to condense his own Heavenly Secret Origin at the Saint Knight Realm, and he might also be the only person who didn''t fear the retaliation of the Heavenly Laws themselves.

    Nheless, Raven remained very careful. Deciphering the Heavenly Laws might cause his foundations to be damaged, therefore he made sure that the insights he got are being absorbed in moderation.

    Due to Raven being in the full Enlightenment State, he failed notice one thing. Thanks to him being the Heir to Chronos, he experience some recent changes not only on his physique but also in his mind.

    Raven doesn''t see the world like how it was before. Even without his ocr vision, Raven could still see some profound secrets around him, he only failed to notice it before since his mind was focused on his current task. Now however, that change was allowing him to experience new things as he decipher the Heavenly Laws.

    These changes were a good thing. The insights he received won''t hurt his foundations but would instead solidify it. The greatest change is the rate of how fast he was deciphering this insights and making them his own. This is probably the greatest benefit he received from all of that.

    Slowly but surely, Raven was able to see more and more secrets. It even went to the point where the things he saw were somewhat overwhelming him, however Raven didn''t fold under this sensation. He remained true to his own objectives and followed the rules he ced for himself.

    Thanks to that, his understanding about his Heavenly Secret Origin became more profound. At some point, numerous inscriptions and runes were starting to be condensed around him even without his knowledge or consent.

    This is due to how attuned Raven is to his current path. When ites to understand their personal Heavenly Secret Origin, Raven was quickly approaching the level of most Empyrean ranked powerhouses, yet he''s only at the Saint Knight Realm.

    No matter who heard this, they''d probably still feel that this is impossible, yet Raven did just that.

    With this, even the most simplest rune on Raven''s hand will release a might that has never been seen before. Every seal he makes from now on will possess more power and more functionspared to the rest.

    In fact when ites to sealing, no one in the entire Divine Realm might be able to match Raven''s skills.

    Raven''s enlightenmentsted for a whole month before the golden colored sky retreated without a sound. He rested for quite sometime before decided to decipher all of the things he gained from that session just now.

    Raven went on to this process and eventually, his seclusion ended....

 Chapter 583 - Suspicions

    ---

    "Thank goodness the time difference had an effect with this thing!" Raven eximed in relief as he held the Brush of Wisdom in his hand.

    A week had passed since he be the official heir of Chronos. Raven had mostly stayed within his residence to study everything he needed to know about his future responsibilities while also adjusting to the current changes on his body.

    During this time, he entered the Crown Space two times, spending a total of one year inside. As soon as he got out from his second entry for the week, the Brush of Wisdom jumped out from his body causing Raven to be surprised but also greatly relieved.

    He hadn''t been optimistic before but seeing as the time difference within the crown space had an effect with the designated time for the Brush of Wisdom to evolve, made him very satisfied. At least he will have something to use.

    When Raven got the Brush of Wisdom back, it immediately sent him a mental message telling him what changed during its slumber.

    Basically, anything that Raven draws using the brush could turn from illusion to reality in a snap, which is something that shocked him greatly. Bridging the gap between Illusion to Reality may not sound much but anyone would know just how difficult it was to achieve.

    Raven was already able to disy something like this even before the brush'' evolution. This is due to his vivid imagination and his crystal clear intent which makes anything he draw no less than real than what is real. However, with the evolution of the brush using the Primordial Ink, this feat became even more terrifying.

    With this, Raven''s power essentially rose up a few notches. If Raven drew a tiger, then this tiger will be an actual, real-life tiger if Raven decided to make it real.

    Simrly, if Raven drew a meteor, then...

    Still, this is still mostly dependent on his Cosmic Energy reserves. So long as he could supply it, then there''s no problem for him.

    Once Raven was done admiring the changes on the Brush of Wisdom, Raven ended his week long seclusion. He cleaned himself, shaved, ced on his new uniform which more or less represents his status.

    Compared to the previous maroon colored uniform, Raven''s uniform is now a mixture of ck and bright red with golden linings. His obsidian badge was also reced by a crimson red badge, signifying his authority as a High Elder of the sect.

    Raven admired his new look in front of the mirror first and nodded to himself. He then existed his room and went out to check how his subordinates are doing.

    He found Kyrie dressed in new clothes as well. If before she''s wearing a uniform made specifically for the Battle Maids, now that she became the Leader of the Battle Maids, she changed too. She now has two pairs of crimson colored wings tucked behind her. These wings looked authentic as if she had always had this...

    She''s also wearing a maid''s outfit, which was somewhat strange but isn''t really out of ce. Her hair fell like a waterfall behind her and her uniform entuated her thought-provoking curves. She looked busy, obvious through the fact that she didn''t even sense Raven''s arrival.

    He saw her neatly arranging several files on Raven''s desk, briefly ncing at each one to see which one takes precedence over the other. Everything she does, she does thoughtfully, disying her passion and credibility as Raven''s personal battle maid.

    Of course, actual battle is still Kyrie''s specialty.

    Raven calmly walked beside her and said: "What did I miss?"

    "Oh!" Kyrie yelped in surprise before calming down once she heard his familiar voice. She carefully retreated and bowed to him. "So you''re out of your seclusion Young Lord."

    "Mn." Raven nodded gently before sitting in front of the desk.

    "You haven''t missed much, Young Lord. Some of your older acquaintances visited before but after hearing that your in seclusion, they left saying that they''ll visit some other time." Kyrie reported to which Raven nodded.

    By older acquaintances, she must''ve meant the War Gods. Raven could more or less knew why they visited him but he can never be sure unless they met them first so he decided to wait until their next visit.

    "Aside from that, Sect Master sent someone here, asking to see this files. I arranged them based on how I think they should be categorized. There are some documents here that are confidential, I ced them as your priority." She added after pausing for a bit.

    "Good work." Raven nodded to her. Kyrie respectfully bowed and stood behind him. "How''s the army looking?"

    "Bing more and more stable as each day passed..." Kyrie answered. "At first, the activities you made for them were challenging even for battle hardened warriors like them, however as they were require to do it every single day, it''s be more and more of a routine to them. If they continue this way, then they''ll be ready ahead of time."

    "No need to rush." Raven waved his hand. "We''ve got time. It''s okay for them to take it easy every now and then. The activities I made are taxing in all aspects. We don''t want them to wring themselves out or for them to severely injured. So long as they''re showing progress no matter how big or how little it is, then we''re good."

    "I understand Young Lord." Kyrie replied.

    "How''s the construction of cultivation environments going?"

    "The Endless ughter World had been constructed and can used anytime you like, Young Lord." Kyrie replied, "The Spacetime Cultivation Environment is still under construction, they said that it''ll take at least one to two weeks before it''s ready. Also, your Destruction Cultivation Environment''s level had been increased to it''s peak. You can now sense all five concepts in there."

    "Great. Everything went ordingly." Raven was relieved. "Congrattions on you Promotion. I''ll go check the documents now. If you want a day off, then you can have one just let me know."

    Kyrie was slightly surprised by Raven sudden offer but she managed to keep herposure before saying: "Thank you the consideration, Young Lord. I''ll surely keep it in mind. Now then, I shall excuse myself."

    As she walked away, Kyrie had a smile on her face. She was genuinely and pleasantly surprised by Raven''s sudden offer. In her whole time as a battle maid, none of them candidates, chosen, or heirs had offered her a day off. Perhaps, only Raven would do something like that.

    Raven simply nodded and focused his attention to the stack of papers in front of him. Although he appeared rather calm on the outside, he was in fact grumbling inwardly.

    ''Come on! Paperwork? Already?''

    Nevertheless, Raven can''t really do anything against this. It''s one of his responsibilities by now. He first focused on the confidential documents before him since just like Kyrie said, this should be his priority.

    When he started going through them, Raven eventually managed discover amon trend to these documents.

    Although they are indeed confidential, it''s not like the information contained through this documents were something that could mean the destruction of the sect should it be leaked, no. The contents of these documents are activity records of the important individuals of the sect.

    Everything they did, from the time they woke up to the time they slept is listed in here in a very detailed manner, even the food they ate was no exception. This might be a very unnerving information to learn about but Raven knew that the sect has a valid reason why they''re doing this.

    Although the people listed in this documents are called ''Important Individuals'', it''d be more urate to say that they are suspicious people that''re being monitored closely by the sect. They''re being suspected as people who are possibly colluding with the enemy side. Not with the Devils nor the Devil Emperor exactly but with the ''Exiles''.

    The sect was being careful since there can''t be any mistakes. One wrong move or carelessness might really spell the destruction of the sect and they can''t allow that to happen or else, the Divine Realm is over and humanity will cease to exist.

    Amongst these names, there are two people that Raven could recognize, which shocked him quite a bit.

    They were Edward and Felix, the two people who became the seeded disciples from Twin Star Academy back at the Azure Sun Great World where the sect exams were held.

    Raven''s brow furrowed as he inspected the information listed on the documents about them and what he saw really bothered.

    ording to the details, both Edward and Felix hardly killed any devils yet personally the merit points they earned remained stable. These two didn''t join any other organizations nor participated on any events yet when ites to merit point allowance, they didn''t lose out to any of their unit-mates.

    What''s even more bothering is that, throughout the multiple patrols and expeditions that these two participated in, none of them sustained any visible injuries despite their other teammates having one. The most suspicious part is that, these two were seen by their teammates allegedly municating'' with the devils.

    Seeing all of this, Raven''s brows furrowed even more.

 Chapter 584 - Visit

    ---

    ''Unit-17 is monitored by War God Henry. The event of these said people being able tomunicate with lower-tiered devils reached his ears and thus he decided hear it straight from them.''

    ''ording to what the War God reported, Unit-17 once participated in an Expedition Mission where they have to clear the entire 1st Floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. During the trip, the unit managed to get their hands on a strange device that could covert thenguage of the devils to Elven Language.''

    ''War God Henry got his hands on the device and confirmed that it was working as intended. The device could indeed convert the mindless ramblings of the lower-tiered devils to Elven, which makes it a very useful tool. Still, this event remains suspicious.''

    ''Some spected that this tool was a creation of a deceased/converted disciple who fell during the expedition, and that the unit was fortunate enough to get their hands on it. Such spection however, was openly criticized since had it really been the case, then why is it that the sect has no records of such device?''

    ''It wouldn''t make sense for such a potentially useful tool to not be registered by the disciple who created it since - once proven, he/she could received loads of Merit Points. Assuming that the creator was an Outer Disciples, there''s little to no reason at all why they wouldn''t do it this way.''

    ''There was an open discussion about this matter however, since the council''s decision was split and thus, can''t reach a conclusion, they decided to monitor this two people very closely instead.''

    Raven released a long sigh after reading the records pertaining to his previous teammates. His brows rxed yet his eyes were still gleaming slightly.

    It''s safe to say that Raven truly wasn''t expecting for such thing to happen. Although he didn''t get to spend much time with his previous Unit, he still developed some kind of camaraderie with them. Which is why this information shaken him for a bit.

    Edward and Felix never struck him as a bad people. They have their own idiosyncrasies, yes. But Raven never really thought them as schemers or spies. He''s pretty sure that they''ve inspected them closely enough to be confident about that but now, he wasn''t so sure anymore.

    ''Coincidence?'' Raven thought to himself. ''It''d be good if that''s all there is to it. But what if it''s deliberate?''

    ''These two came from the Twin Star Academy in the Azure Sun Great World. If they were proven to be real traitors, then this will mean that the academy - or at least someone from there, are in cahoots with the devils. It could only be the Exiles then...''

    ''Still, we can''t be too sure...'' Raven pursed his lips as he continued with his train of thought. ''What if these two were just being used as pawns? What if this event was all just a ruse to distract us and hide something crucial?''

    ''Heck, we can''t even be sure if the actual culprit is still on the Azure Sun Great World still. Knowing how slippery and cunning the Exiles were, I wouldn''t be surprised to learn that the real culprit has long since fled to some other ce. Eradicating the Twin Star Academy just because of this wouldn''t be wise. For all we know, that might be what the Exiles want us to do.''

    Raven gazed at the document in front of him once more and frowned.

    ''And here they were, asking for my opinion about it. They pulling my leg already, gosh I don''t like this. Hmm...''

    Raven thought for a bit, deciding on what to write in response to this usations. After quite sometime, he eventually had an idea and started writing it down.

    Just like this, Raven went from one document to another. He became a bit immersed to his work that he didn''t even noticed that the sun was already down. Well, it''s not like the sun here in this pocket world was real but still, it indicates that he''s been at this for a while.

    If it weren''t for Kyrieing over and telling him to have his meal, he would''ve still be sitting down in front of his desk, going over these thick stacks of documents.

    By the end of the day, Raven only managed to finish a mere fraction of all the papers on his desk. Raven experience some headache but it wasn''t so bad. He slept through the night and when he woke up the day after, he returned to his work.

    Days passed in this manner and by the fourth day, Raven managed to finish all the documents piled up on his desk. Now that he''s done, his desk was cleaner and tidierpared before. Thankfully, the next batch of paperwork will arrive next month. And since he''s already done with this month''s worth of paperwork, his schedule had be lighter.

    Raven returned to his previous routine, he would seclude himself whenever he can and do some light training during regr days. His progress remained steady and solid, his techniques are getting more and more polished each day, his breakthrough is nearly there too, he''s only missing a few sparks of inspirations.

    One day during his idle days, some visitors arrived at his residence.

    "Young Lord, you have some visitors." Kyrie informed him via transmission, causing Raven to halt his practice.

    "Who?"

    "The War Gods Henry, Logan, Theo and Charles." Kyrie stated.

    "Have them wait at the garden while I clean myself up for a bit." Raven ordered.

    "As you wish Young Lord." Kyrie replied before cutting off the connection.

    As for Raven, entered through the back entrance and went back to his room, closing it shut before taking a quick bath and dressing-up. After that, he went towards the garden where his visitors were waiting for him.

    The War Gods who saw him approaching all felt a strange sensation on their bodies. This kind of sensation was something that they never felt before when they met Raven. Just this sensation alone was enough for them to believe that their hunch were correct.

    "See? I told you it''s him." Henry stated smugly at his colleagues.

    "Shut your trap. Why are acting all smug for? You didn''t do shit!" Logan red at Henry, to which thetter did the same.

    "Alright, kids. Settle down." Theomented on the side, earning a chuckle from Charles.

    "Geez, these people are way past their youths yet they still act like little children." Charlesmented.

    Both Henry and Logan red hatefully at him when they heard hisment, not that it had any effect on Charles though.

    Eventually, Raven arrived at the table when they were at, and to say that Raven felt vastly different from thest time they met him - which was like, a week ago, would be an understatement.

    "Hello. Thanks for paying little me a visit." Raven greeted as he sat down with them.

    "Well, thanks for receiving us, Little Chronos." Logan said while cackling.

    "Hey, be respectful. He''s our Young Master from now on." Theo reprimanded.

    "Oh please, don''t be like that." Raven raised his hands in front of him and shook his head. "I''m still that Little Brat from before. You don''t need go through such lengths about the formalities."

    "See that? That''s what you call Humility. Watch and learn Henry." Logan snorted.

    "Wha-! You son-of-a-!"

    "Okay, why don''t we stop there, yeah?" Charles interrupted before the two argued once more. "Let''s not embarrass ourselves in front of the Heir, yeah?"

    Logan and Henry both snorted and looked away from each other. Theo rolled his eyes and looked at Raven. He smiled and said: "Congrattions on your promotion. Though to be honest, this is a bit unexpected."

    "Well, I wasn''t nning on bing the Heir of Chronos. Senior Brother - I mean, the Sect Master suddenly offered it to me since apparently, I got the acknowledgement of Ancestors Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades during my Baptism. I thought I only got one."

    Raven then told them the story about how he eventually decided to be the Heir of Chronos. By the end of his story, the War Gods were left sighing on how fate works it''s wonders.

    Not even too long ago, this very person in front of them was basically a nobody, yet in a short span of time - which might as well be a blink of an eye for people like them, he''s already at the stage where their status were more or less on equal footing. Once all inheritors appears, Raven would officially be hailed as the next Sect Master and his position will be much higherpared to them.

    Truly, fate works in mysterious ways...

    "...anyways, how have you been? Is there any reason for this visit?" Raven asked as he calmly sipped his tea.

    "Well, aside from congratting you for your promotion as the new Heir of Chronos. There is indeed another reason for our visit." Henry stated.

    Raven didn''t say anything and just waited for them to actually reveal their purpose.

    The four of them looked at each other before nodding. Eventually, it was Henry who decided to speak...

    "Join us on climbing the mountain....please?"

 Chapter 585 - Preparations

    ---

    "Climb the Mount of Olympus? With you? Why do you need me there?" Raven was confused with their request.

    At first nobody answered him, however it was ultimately Henry who decided to break the silence.

    "You see, climbing Mount Olympus isn''t as easy as it sounds. Mount Olympus is unlike that of any other mountains, it''s one of a kind even in the Divine Realm."

    "Throughout the generations of descendants our sect has, only a handful of people on each generation managed to climb the peak of Mount Olympus. Even for us, War Gods, this isn''t an easy feat to aplish. Forget about how much time it''s going to take surmounting it due to it''s sheer size, there are numerous trials at each points of the mountain, making it that much harder to climb."

    "Throughout our experience, we only managed to confirm one thing about the mountain. And that is, the trials on the way to peak or even just the checkpoints, are ever-changing. Some trials are easy while others are just incredibly difficult that it will force any hiker to retreat." Henry exined.

    "The Celestial Ascension tform is open for use." Theo added, "Sect Master said that whatever''s in there will definitely give us a chance to get stronger. However, even for us War Gods, our strengths aren''t there yet to guarantee that we will get something out of that ce. Hence we were tasked to improve ourselves but surmounting the peak of Mount Olympus first."

    "It all sounds easy on paper but in reality though? It''s incredibly difficult to pull that off." Loganmented on the side.

    "There''s a total of 13 Checkpoints on Mount Olympus. Before anybody could reach a checkpoint, they will experience at least three to five trials, the closer you are at the peak the harder the trials gets. As for us, we barely qualified for the 6th Checkpoint during ourst attempt, which was two months ago." Charles added.

    "Uh...are you sure that you came to the right person?" Raven asked unsurely. "From what you''ve mentioned so far, what you need is someone who can help you on clearing the trials. I''m not as strong as any of you here, why not ask for other War God''s help?"

    "We would if we could but you see, the Sect Master gave us different tasks to clear before we we''re allowed entry to the Celestial Ascension tform. The other guys are currently doing their own thing. Additionally, we''re not recruiting you to help us clear the trials. What we need, is your help with the journey towards the said trials." Charles replied.

    "You mean aside from the trials, there are still other elements that affects your hike? Yeesh, sounds rough." Raven smiled wryly.

    The other War Gods nodded in unison with somber faces. Theo then said: "The climate of Mount Olympus could be summarized using one word: Aggravating."

    "True." Henry chimed in. "It could be warm and rxing in the beginning however in the next second, you''ll be faced with either a zing heat, a horrendous storm or a blizzard. Sometimes you''ll experience two climates at once, which is confusing and really irritating."

    "You''ll get some moments of peace where the climate will ease up but only until you reach 3rd Checkpoint. Go past that and the climate will no longer give you any chances. This makes resting pretty much impossible." Logan sighed.

    "Which means that not only we have to deal with the unreasonable climate, we also have to clear the trials. This activity is energy consuming, not only that but it''s also mentally taxing, which is why many people failed the challenge before. It is even possible to die on the way there so we have to be extremely careful." Charles added.

    "We are recruiting you because of your resourcefulness." Henry stated, "The way how you managed to create a formation which basically neutralized the irritating heat of Asphodel was truly an eye-opener. We want your help as a support, if you can do something about the aggravating climate of Mount Olympus, then we''ll do the heavy lifting."

    "Ah, I see." Raven nodded to himself. He remunerated to himself for a bit before eventually saying: "Well, if it''s just the supporting duty, then I think I can manage. Sure, I''m in. When do we go?"

    Hearing his reply caused the four War Gods'' faces to lighten up.

    "Three days from now. But if that''s too short for you then we can adjust it." Henry replied.

    "Three days it is then. I''ll inform Senior Brother about it." Raven replied.

    Him and the War Gods then talked about the important things that they need to prepare for the hike. After that, they spent time talking about random things before his visitors eventually excused themselves since they too have to prepare for the trip.

    Raven went back to his residence and asked Kyrie to do some errands. Even though he will only just be a supporter in this trip, he has to make sure that he''ll pull off his own weight.

    He had long since been curious about the scenery on Mount Olympus. If it weren''t for the fact that there were many things keeping him busy, he would''ve already climbed the mountain before to experience it himself.

    While he''s at it, he made sure to inform Lucas about the uing trip. Thankfully, he got the go signal from him. Had this been anyter, then Raven might not been able to go since the Sect Master is already making ns for him.

    And just to make sure that he''ll be as prepared as he could, he also researched everything there is that he needs to know about Mount Olympus itself.

    From what he could tell, they won''t be climbing the replica of Mount Olympus - which is located and used as trial grounds for Inner Disciples. What they will be climbing is the real deal, the Mount Olympus that has the Ancient Elysium Sect hidden within it.

    Raven spent the rest of the day like this. Eventually, he managed to learn everything he could about the mountain. That being said, he didn''t dare to im that he knows everything he needed to learn. Even the records he read said it multiple times, everything is subject to changes. The Mount Olympus itself is mysteriously inconsistent, therefore one can never be too sure.

    The next day after their meeting, Raven began making preparations.

    He created a simple formation that could be modified whenever he deemed fit. He also made sure to stock up on medicines and some supplements just in case things go awry, he even prepared some excess just in case they ran out of it.

    Although the War Gods didn''t touch upon it, from what they discussed so far, Raven could tell that the n is to ascend to the peak in one go. Meaning that they''ll probably spend a very long time in this trip. So Raven also packed up some food supplies tents, clothes and other necessities just in case.

    Raven thought that it would be better to carry more rather than ran out of supplies. One might say that he''s being way too careful but with the dangerous threat, one can never be too prepared. Anyways, he didn''t have any ns on dying so he''s better off this way.

    Just like this, two days passed and they were all set for the trip. Raven already left Kyrie with his instructions since he knows that he''ll be gone for a while. After that, he entered the portal which lead to the ce where he first stayed upon his arrival at the sect...Tartarus.

    Sensing the foul aura permeating through every corner of this ce and the disgusting stench in the air, gave Raven a strange sense of familiarity. Although he didn''t spend much time in here, this ce still left a striking impression to him.

    "Raven? Is that you?"

    He raised a brow and turned around to meet a familiar face and voice. A smile appeared to his face as he saw his bald teammate from before.

    "Yes, Jason. It''s me. How have you been?"

    "Holy shit, dude! You look sick! Oops, I probably should talk to you so casually. I forgot that - "

    "Shut it you..." Raven chuckled as he swung his arm on Jason''s shoulders. "I''m not in the position just yet, who knows maybe I won''t make it. You guys won''t kick me out if I return right?"

    "Of course not! We''d be a fool to do that!" Jason patted his back. The two werepletely unaware that they''re basically the focus of everyone''s attention due to Raven wearing a different uniform. "By the way, what wind blew you here?"

    "About that - " Raven was about to exin but he received a transmission from the War Gods. "I would love to exin but I''m in a hurry. Here, take this."

    "What are these?" Jason asked.

    "Protective talismans." Raven replied, "Bind it and it''ll protect your life for a total of three times. It''ll automatically be activated once you''re in a life or death situation. Distribute it to everyone will you?"

    "Sure! Thanks." Jason didn''t hesitate to ept his gift, causing Raven to be satisfied.

    "Alright, I''ll go now. Stay safe and work hard. It''ll get better once you be an Inner Disciple.." Raven said before disappearing, leaving Jason staring at the spot where he disappeared.

 Chapter 586 - Climbing Mount Olympus

    ---

    "Ooh! There he is!" Logan said to the rest as he saw Raven walking towards them.

    Raven eventually arrived at the ce where they were scheduled to meet, he walked up to them and said: "Sorry, I''m a bitte. I saw a familiar face on the way and just said hello."

    "It''s fine, we just arrived ourselves." Theo waved his hand in dismissal, "So? Are you ready for this?"

    "Mn!" Raven nodded, "I made sufficient preparations already."

    "Great!" Henry eximed. "Then let''s get going."

    As he said this, he nodded towards at Charles who summoned a spear which he threw in the air. The spear grew enormous in a blink of an eye. Charles jumped and stood at the spear tip while the others sat on the body. As soon as everyone was seated, Charles began controlling the spear towards their destination.

    The trip was rtively smooth. Typically, no one is allowed to ride any flying tool within the base of Tartarus, they could only do so in the Devil''s Cradle. However, the War Gods are an exemption to this as well as those who share the same status as they are.

    Besides, it''s not like they''re going to deep within the Devil''s Cradle anyway. These people have a different target.

    The five of them eventually reached the exit of Tartarus. They were met with several people guarding the gates, they deliberately slowed down their flight, allowing the guards to see them properly. Still, even with their status as a War God, they aren''t exempted on the sign-off.

    After making sure that they left a record of their exit, the guards didn''t make things difficult for them and made way, allowing the group to eventually exit the premises. Going back here, Raven once again saw the multiple rows of Warships currently on stand-by. One word from any authorized personnel and this Warship will be deployed.

    Raven didn''t get much time to admire the Warships as Charles sped-up once more. The flying tool eventually arrived at their destination, which is at the foot of the mountain.

    As the group arrived, they saw several people lining-up. From Raven''s inspections, each of these people were fierce due to the aura they possess. It was quite obvious that these people were also here to challenge the treacherous mountain.

    Their group became the center of attention due to their unique entrance. When the others saw their uniforms and the auras they possess, they immediately took a step back and made way for them.

    "Dismount." Charles said as he himself jumped down from the spear. The rest of the group followed him and they resumed walking after Charles kept the flying tool back to his ring.

    Flying tools won''t work during their hike. There is a mysterious restriction on the mountain that prevents them from doing so. Mounts could work but many people don''t bring theirs here due to the absurd climate of the mountain. Only select powerful breeds of Mounts could ever possibly hope to stand-up against the ever-changing climate of the mountain. Which is why many resorted to use their own feet.

    There were also some guards stationed at the base of the mountain. They are the one''s who will record those who participants who wanted to challenge Mount Olympus.

    And just like before, their group didn''t have any difficult time with the registration. They were even given priority due to their status - and even if that wasn''t the case, they won''t need to wait long since the registration didn''t take much time toplete anyway.

    Right before they went along their way, the group decided to pause and discuss something first.

    "Okay, past this point is the actual journey. It''s very possible that when step inside, the climate will instantly change. Be on-guard, try to adjust as quickly as you can or else you''ll be injured. We can''t leave the mountain unless we arrive at the 1st Checkpoint." Henry reminded Raven carefully.

    Raven nodded and kept this in mind, of course even if they didn''t remind him of this, Raven was already on the lookout for the sudden changes.

    "Okay, let''s get going..." The group nodded and together, they stepped at the foot of the mountain at the same time.

    Raven felt a slight resistance, preventing him from entering. However, it isn''t so strong that itpletely repelled him.

    Once their footnded, Raven felt the surrounding temperature sudden drop at an rming degree. He also felt a spike of fluctuation but it was too quick that hepletely missed the chance to grasp it.

    Raven blinked and all of a sudden, his surroundings were covered in thick and frigid nket of snow. He raised his brow as he looked around him. He then found the rest of group by his side, causing him to sigh in relief. At least they weren''t separated from each other or else, that''ll be a huge problem.

    "Snow, great." Logan snorted, the sarcasm on his voice was thick.

    Raven was somewhat confused since he also saw the rest frowning or feeling rather annoyed. Seeing his confusion, Theo decided to exin...

    "That we encountered a snow as soon as we enter isn''t really the greatest thing. Remember what we said before, the climate around here esctes or changes very quickly. Since it''s snowing now, then it''s highly possible for a Blizzard to ur - "

    "Speak of the god damn devil..." Charles'' exasperated voice echoed on their ears. Just in time for them to feel the cold winds kicking up.

    It truly escted quickly. It hasn''t even been a minute since they arrived at the foot of the mountain and they were already being assaulted by harsh cold blizzard winds which also lowered the visibility of the area.

    Everyone felt the temperature dropping even further, now it''s not only difficult to see where they need to go, it is also freezing cold. It''s not like this blizzard was like the regr once since if it is, then no matter how strong it gets, it wouldn''t hinder people like them.

    "Brr~ Argh! I just can''t get used to this!" Logan said while his three pairs of arms rubbed their palms to generate some heat.

    "Staying in one ce wouldn''t be wise. Let''s go, if we move then we should be able tobat the cold even just for a bit." Theo said while surrounding himself with a curtain of Cleansing Fire, hoping that it would warm him up.

    The rest agreed to his suggestions, however just as they were preparing to move. They discovered that Raven remained rooted in ce, a pondering expression was written all over his face.

    "Raven? Hey! Raven!"

    "Ah! Oh." Raven was jolted out of his stupor by Henry. He looked over at them with a dull gaze.

    "You good?" Charles asked.

    "Yeah! Yeah, I''m good." Raven replied, shaking his head briefly to remove the distracting thoughts he had earlier.

    "Okay. Let''s start moving then." Henry said, to which Raven nodded.

    As they started moving, it was only then that Raven noticed the well-being of hispanions. Compared to them, this blizzard weren''t really doing anything to him. He himself wondered about it but he didn''t pay it any heed since he''s alright anyway.

    Still, he promised to help them along the way so that they could clear their trials more effectively, and he nned to uphold his promise. He took out the Brush of Wisdom and drew a rune on thin air.

    With a flick of his wrist, the rune was condensed and becamerger. Arge character which reads ''Warmth'' hung on top of his head, and immediately hispanions felt the freezing chill disappearing.

    "Whew! That''s what I''m talking about." Logan whistled as he felt the gentle warmth seeping through his body, allowing his blood to flow more easily.

    "Woah, that''s nice. Very nice." Theo added.

    "Warm cozy..." Henry murmured as he felt the shivers going away.

    Charles even felt the need to close his eyes when he felt the gentle warmth seeping through his body.

    "This should make things easier for us." Raven stated.

    "It surely does." Henry added, "Having you climb with us surely was the best decision we could''ve ever made."

    "Agreed." The rest nodded in agreement.

    "How long can you keep this up? You should tell us so that we can be prepared for it." Charles asked. He figured that keeping up a technique like active for a long period of time, must be very taxing for Raven. However...

    "As long as it is needed." Raven replied, "That doesn''t really siphon energy from me, but from the surrounding environment. It can be up for as long as I wanted to."

    The War Gods sneakily nced at each other, their eyes ridden with shock and awe. They weren''t expecting that reply. They all thought that this technique will only stay up for five minutes at most but to think that it was actually self-sustaining is something that was aplete shocker for them.

    "I have a good feeling out this run. Come on guys, let''s go!" Logan said in an excited manner.

    The rest shook their heads at hisment but didn''t say anything about it.. Just like that, the group carried on with their journey hoping to reach the first trial before sun down.

 Chapter 587 - 1st Trial Door

    ---

    The group continued their hike up the mountain. Their speed was fast yet constant, thanks to Raven''s aid, having the huge Warmth rune around, they no longer felt the effects of the Blizzard, travelling on the snow didn''t inconvenience them in anyway at all.

    The road before them was only wide enough for them to safely travel by foot. Raven could more or less understand why flying tools aren''t just forbidden but also unwise to use, it was because of this narrow road. Flying tools won''t work properly here, there''s even a good chance that it will be blown away causing them to fall.

    As they travelled, Raven couldn''t help but look a bit distracted. There''s definitely something strange on this mountain and he felt it before, however the feeling disappeared way too fast, not allowing him to have a clear grasp on what it truly was.

    Strangely though, that feeling bore some familiarity within him. Which is something that shouldn''t happen since this is the first time he came here. At first he thought that this is due to him being the Heir of Chronos but if that''s truly the case, then Lucas should''ve said something to him. Specially since Raven informed him about his ns of apanying them on the hike.

    Unfortunately, Raven could only silently specte and hope that he''ll catch wind of that feeling once more.

    The group continued on their way. Thanks to their speed, they were able to reach the 1st Trial before the sun was down.

    The 1st Trial Doors manifested before them when they arrived at a specific distance. ording to the records, the Trial Doors will show-up when the challenger/s reached a specific distance near it.

    The five man group reached the trial doors and the War Gods didn''t waste any time at all.

    "Raven, you wait here. We''ll handle this by ourselves. Make sure to be careful and don''t wander around too much and end up getting lost." Henry reminded just before they entered.

    "Sure." Raven nodded. He then watched as the four War Gods opened the trial doors and disappear inside.

    Raven sat cross legged near the vicinity of the Trial Doors. He inspected it in the mean time as he waited for the War Gods the clear the trials inside.

    "The Trials inside were randomized from what I can remember." Raven murmured as he stared at the door. "I wonder what kinds of trials they are currently facing inside."

    "Ah right, time inside the trial doors also flows differently from what I can remember. I wonder how much though?" He wondered as well.

    Raven''s role here is a support, meaning that he didn''t really need to take the trials with the War Gods. He''s only here to make sure that they''ll be able to make it from one trial to another and eventually reach the Checkpoints.

    Still, even though he''s not participating with the Trials, if they managed to surmount the peak of Mount Olympus, he''ll be included on the list of people who cleared the challenge.

    "I wonder what''s at the top of this mountain?" Raven wondered to himself. "Why are there Trials and Checkpoints? Ugh, why am I asking?"

    Raven chuckled to himself and stopped overthinking. For now, this has nothing to do with him so it''s very unlikely for him to get answers.

    He returned to his meditation but he discovered that the War Gods were taking time. Hours passed and eventually, it had a been a whole day since they entered. Raven was starting to get suspicious. He started thinking that maybe they were transported to the other side without him since he didn''t enter the trial doors with him.

    But there were no records about this kind of event happening so he didn''t believe that it''s the case this time. Instead, he thought that maybe they had a bad luck and the trials they experienced were more difficult than they originally expected.

    Thinking about this way made more sense to him. Therefore just to be ready, he startedying down the formation he created a few days ago. He made some adjustments to it by drawing more runes on it''s surface, he made the interior of the formation morefortable for everyone.

    He erected the tents and the sleeping bags inside. He even started cooking meals which are designed to replenish their energies and allow them rest peacefully.

    Right as soon as he finished with cooking. The Trial Doors opened up and spat out four sorry figures. Had it not been for Raven being familiar with these people, he wouldn''t have guessed that these four were part of the honorable and ferocious War Gods.

    Their horrible appearances made them looked like homeless people. Their faces were dirty and filled with grime. Their uniforms were tattered in many areas, exposing parts of their bodies. They were all injured and clearly very exhausted.

    Raven''s eyes widened in disbelief as he approached them with a worried face.

    "What the hell happened to you?" He asked.

    "We - *Pant* - were so fucking - *Pant* - unlucky!" Logan grumbled while panting heavily.

    Raven summoned some ethereal hands to support hispanions and lead them inside the formation. They were all dead tired. Raven took out some water gourds and gave them each. The War Gods didn''t say a word and immediately drank the water he gave to them.

    As the War Gods drank and rested, Raven began working and checked their injuries to see if any of them sustained a lethal one. Thankfully, there were lethal injuries on their bodies, only light ones that will eventually cure itself with a good night''s sleep.

    "Here, eat something first. Replenish your energies and rest. Don''t worry about the climate, I already made preparations against it." Raven said as he lead them towards the table.

    The War Gods took him on his offer and began chowing down like starved animals. All manner of dignity and decorum disappeared in front of the meals Raven prepared. As they ate, the external injuries they sustained closed up and scabbed away.

    Their exhaustion were swept away but the replenishment that the food offered to them. Compared to just sitting down in meditation to recover their lost energies and eating food that could replenish their lost energies and stamina, it was quite clear which was the better option.

    "Oh, my goodness! That was something else!" Theo eximed after finishing at least ten servings of food. "I forgotten thest time I gorged myself like that."

    "You and me both." Logan agreed while patting his stomach using three left hands. There was a satisfied look on his face as he rested his back on the chair. He too finished ten servings of food just like everyone else except Raven who only ate one serving since he wasn''t really tired.

    "What happened to you guys anyway?" Raven took the time to ask them once again after seeing that they''re okay now.

    "We were so unlucky. The First Trial was a torture. Literally." Henry stated while sighing in relief that they''re out of that ce.

    "As soon as we entered, we found ourselves bound in Dragon Trapping Cables, the task is to endure a painful whipsh for a whole god damn year. During the first day we were only whipped once, however with each passing day, the amount of whipshes will increase by one. I came to the point where even out strong physiques can''t endure multipleshes. There''s no way we can forcefully break the Dragon Trapping Cables either so it was quite the torture." Charles stated, shivering slightly as he remembered the painful experience.

    Raven was surprised. He didn''t think that those kinds of situations could happen too. He gently looked back towards where the Trial Doors disappeared and felt quite apprehensive. Only one day passed outside yet they were being tortured for a full damn year.

    That''s intense...

    "Well, you guys don''t look like you can continue travelling. Let''s get some rest first, we''ll continue tomorrow." Raven suggested.

    None of the War Gods were against that idea. It was true that they can''t continue on like this. In fact, had it not been for Raven, they wouldn''t probably forced in an even more uglier spot since there are still other trials out there that they need to face before they arrive at a checkpoint and can safely retreat.

    Right now, the War Gods were truly gratified that Raven agreed to support them. If he wasn''t here, they wouldn''t have been able to eat something good and nutritious, they''d also have difficulties resting due to the damn blizzard that doesn''t seem to have any ns of letting up anytime soon.

    Within Raven''s formation, not only were they protected against the harsh cold, they were also warm, cozy and full. He even had tents set up for them and sleeping bags as well.

    The group tucked in for the night. The War Gods immediately fell asleep as soon as theyid inside the sleeping bags, snoring while they did so. Meanwhile Raven who still have excess energy remained awake and on the lookout.

    He was meditating outside when all of a sudden, he felt some spiked fluctuations around him, causing his eyes to snap wide open.

 Chapter 588 - Secret Of The Mountain

    ---

    ''There it is again!'' Raven eximed as soon as he felt that spike.

    He hurriedly stood up and looked around, wanting to see where that spike came from but failing to find it''s source. A trace of disappointment and annoyance could be seen on Raven''s face. Now that he felt it for the second time, he could definitely feel the familiarity on that but he just can''t grasp it since he can''t find it''s source. And that bugs him to no end.

    The spike of fluctuations urred so suddenly and disappeared at the same manner as well. Leaving Raven a bit displeased about the situation.

    He frowned and sat back down on his spot, grumbling inwardly and swearing that if he ever gets another chance, he would totally discover what was going on.

    Surprisingly though, as soon as he sat back down, a major change happened to his surroundings.

    Under his astonished gaze, the raging blizzard disappeared without a trace, so as the snow that''s covering his vision in white. They didn''t melt nor evaporated, they just outright disappeared.

    What reced it was a rather chilled environment. One that is typical and made perfect sense. Raven was of course, shocked to see this unfolding before his very eyes. Although he was warned earlier that the climate changes very abruptly, he wasn''t expecting it to be in this level. He thought that the snow would at least melt or something before being reced by another climate, not just outright disappear.

    Witnessing this happened caused Raven to be filled with questions. How was it possible and what happened? Raven was currently deducing it and he''s noting up with an answer that satisfies him.

    ''Wait...'' Raven thought to himself, ''Are the two connected?''

    What he''s referring to was the sudden spike of fluctuations and the climate change. The idea of these events being connected urred to him yet still, even though it sounds somewhat convincing since they practically urred at the same time, it''s not quite there yet.

    ''That spike of fluctuation urred first and then the climate changed a few moments after it passed. It''s the same as the one happened before it snowed. However, what he wanted to know is that what was the trigger for the change.

    Does it have a pattern? A visible tell? How long does one climatest? How long would one climatest and son on? These are what he truly wanted to know.

    ''If that spike of fluctuation urs and is the sign of a climate change, the I guess that''ll be the huge sign then. But why is there a need for the spike of fluctuations to happen? Can''t the climate change happen without it? Hmm?''

    Raven was once again immersed on his own thoughts and it stayed like this for quite sometime. Hours passed and the War Gods were still resting peacefully within their tents. Raven has eventually woke up from his stupor and began focusing on something else.

    He stood up from his spot and started walking around. He even went outside of the formation for a brief walk. He wanted to inspect the surroundings closer to see if he could receive more clues that will dispel the covering the veil within this mountain.

    Raven saw that the road was pretty much clear, there''s patches of grass at some areas of the path and some trees around. He looked at the sky and saw the clear night sky filled with numerous stars and a few patches of clouds as well as therge moon giving a faint silver brilliance to his surroundings. He could also feel the nice and chilled night winds blowing past his face as well as hear the sounds of crickets nearby.

    All of a sudden however, Raven froze on his tracks. His eyes widened in disbelief as he hurriedly crouched down and touched the grass near him.

    "It''s real..." Raven murmured to himself, his voice was filled with slight disbelief.

    He walked right up to the nearby tree and admired it close. He then lifted his hand and traced the grooves of it''s bark. His eyes widening even more...

    "This one''s also real." He whispered, he then looked around and continued saying: "That means, everything I see and hear right now...are real!"

    "But...but...how can that be?" Raven stuttered as he retreated a couple of steps back. He subconsciously swallowed down some spit as he tried inspecting everything around him. And just like before, he could tell that everything around him was real.

    Which makes things incredibly unbelievable to him since...

    "These things weren''t here before!" Raven uttered with his voice filled with incredulity, "These grass, these trees...the crickets! Heck, these crickets shouldn''t even be able to survive that blizzard, yet here they were! Not a single star was visible earlier, yet now the sky is literally filled with them. Heck, the moon wasn''t even remotely visible anywhere yet it''s ring down right now! That doesn''t make sense!"

    It truly doesn''t make sense for him to be able to see these things right now when just mere moments ago, everything was covered in a thick, thick nket of snow. These nts didn''t just magically bloomed when the snow disappeared, they just popped out of existence as soon as the climate changed. That''spletely unnatural!

    Raven was too focused on his failure to grasp the source of that spiking fluctuation that he was caughtpletely unaware of these things.

    He felt like he was onto something, yet for some reason he just can''t grasp it. It''s like on the tip of his tongue but he''s on the verge of swallowing it.

    ''These nts, even with them appearing right after the climate change, will surely take some time to grow. However they didn''t, I am sure of that since I would surely notice something like vegetation growing too fast at a speed visible to naked eye.''

    ''They just popped out of existence, as if they''ve always been here all along. And if I''m not wrong, that should be the case for this vegetation. So then why...''

    "Unless..." Raven''s eyes suddenly sparkled brilliantly. He then closed his eyes and released some kind of gray tendrils from his body.

    These tendrils were like feelers that allowed Raven to sense his surroundings. Theynded onto things near to him and suddenly, Raven started seeing some visions while his eyes were closed.

    After quite sometime, Raven''s eyes snapped wide open. His pupils were gleaming with understanding and rity, there was even an ecstatic expression on his face.

    "I knew it! Haha! I finally understand!" Raven eximed as he slowly made his way back to the formation.

    "Parallelism! That''s the answer!" He eximed once more. "It''s not like the climate change, no. What changed is the world itself, not just the climate!"

    Indeed. It is just as Raven said.

    The reason why Mount Olympus'' climate changes very abruptly isn''t because of some weird enchantment ce within the mountain itself. It is because the challengers are being transported in different Parallel Worlds where Mount Olympus itself is located in a different ce with a different environment, hence upon their transfer, the climate they have to face would simrly be different as well.

    This is why hikers of the mountain hardly encounter each other on the journey. Even though there''s quite a number of people who challenged the mountain, the number of Parallel Worlds are almost infinite so their chances of meeting someone was drastically lowered.

    That spike of fluctuations that he felt was in fact the sign that they will be transported in another parallel world, which also means that they''ll be transferred on a different Mount Olympus as well.

    In short, the challengers are conquering different Mount Olympus at the same time.

    The reason behind Raven''s joy is because Parallelism is another concept of Spacetime Laws. It''s the third one to be precise. Upon reaching this stage, once could slowly sense their Parallel World identities and interact with them. They could do so much more past this but still, that remains an absolute advantage since unless all of their Parallel World identities are destroyed, they''ll just return from the jaws of death.

    Who would''ve expected that Raven would encounter this concept here? He''d be a huge idiot if he didn''t take advantage if this situation!

    No, Raven isn''t going to learn the Spacetime Concept: Parallelism just yet, he didn''t want to die. What he wanted to do was to at least get some insights about it and slowly incorporate it on his foundations, that way when it''s time for him to breakthrough to this stage, it''ll be more easier for him.

    Raven returned to the formation and began meditating. He opened up his senses and began interacting with the Laws around him. At first he found it quite difficult to grasp traces of the concept yet with his persistence, he eventually sensed them and began etching them to his memories.

    He felt quite bloated even with his mental fortitude but Raven remained steadfast and patient, he did things in moderation and integrated the insights he absorbed carefully.

    Morning eventually, came and the group all simultaneously woke up from their rest.

 Chapter 589 - 2nd Trial Gate

    ---

    The group ate a simple breakfast after they woke up and resumed their journey once more.

    This time, they estimated that it''ll take at least five days before they arrive at the next trail gate with their current speed. Raven simply went along with their arrangements since they are the one''s who will enter the trial anyway.

    The matter about the earth-shaking secret he discovered was kept a secret. He didn''t tell them because that might distract them from participating in the trials. Additionally, it''s not like it was a useful information for them anyway. Sure, knowing how it works sounds pretty neat but...what of it? It''s not like that''s going help them in anyway with the trials.

    Additionally, only Raven could sense it and even then, he can''t do anything with it since his knowledge about the concept isn''t enough. Therefore he thought that it''d be wiser to remain quiet about this. He could always just tell them after this, but that''ll depend on the situation really.

    Travelling with a constant speed and resting in between, this is how the trip went for them. Thankfully the current climate was pretty forgiving, sunny with asional chilled winds due to their current altitude.

    They didn''t switch worlds yet so far so they have this kind of climate, making easier for them to climb.

    During their travels, they would casually talk about random things to clear up the awkwardness around them. Despite their statuses, the War Gods were pretty easy to get along with. Raven''s previous dealings as well his current identity might''ve affected that oue but still, this better than being civil with each other.

    Days passed by and eventually, the group arrived at a certain distance where the 2nd Trial Gate manifested.

    Judging from it''s appearance, this trial gate is muchrgerpared to the previous one. It didn''t give off much which allowed it to remain mysterious.

    And just like before, only the War Gods entered, leaving Raven alone outside to wait for them to eventually finish the trial.

    As soon as they entered, Raven immediately set up the formation and the tents so that he doesn''t have toter. Taking from previous experience, it''ll take some time before theye back, specially now that they''re dealing with the second trial gate which was supposed to be harderpared to thest one.

    Once everything was prepared, he also prepared the food they''ll eventually consume. Once he''s done, he sealed it up in order to preserve it''s freshness and proceeded to gain more insights about the third concept of Spacetime Laws, Parallelism.

    Raven even made use of some of his Avatars to swiftly digest and integrate with the insights he receives. He didn''t want to miss out on any chances, specially now that he found a suitable ce to gain these insights.

    In the middle of his meditation, Raven once again felt the spiking fluctuation, which mean the switching of the world and change to the climate.

    Unlikest time where Raven tried his best to search for the source of this fluctuations, he''s much calmer right now. He didn''t deliberately search for the source since he knew he won''t find it anyway, and even if he does, there''s no guarantee that he''ll even be able to interact with it since his understanding about Spacetime Laws are too shallow.

    What he did instead, was to carefully observe the event and grasp everything that''s going to happen.

    Raven focused his attention closely and felt the fluctuationsing.

    The moment he felt it sweeping through his body, Raven''s focus was at it''s peak. At that point, it''s as if everything happened in slow motion.

    The sensation he received was quite profound, for the briefest of moment there, he felt himself travelling thought the endless expanse of worlds. He even got the feeling as if he was observing each one closely but in reality, this happened within a fraction of a second. It felt too long and too short at the same time.

    Just as when the idea that he had seen at least thousands of Mount Olympus, the scenery disappeared and he felt himself returning to the present moment. All of a sudden, he felt everything around him changing into something familiar yet also unfamiliar at the same time.

    Dark clouds suddenly loomed over him with asional shes of thunder. Winds were kicking up a huge clouds of dusts all over. The trees around him disappeared, reced by wreckages and ruin. There were a smoky scent wafting through his nose and loud cackles of thunder and lightning could be heard.

    "So it''s stormy area this time." Raven murmured as he saw his surroundings change.

    Despite discovering this, Raven remained impassive and instead focused on the sensations he felt earlier. To him, it didn''t really matter whether it rained or shined, he''s more interested at the mysterious rules ced on this ce rather than the climate and surroundings changing.

    He continued meditating with rapt attention, trying to decipher the insights he received just now. Although it''s quite difficult to do so, Raven persevered and kept the knowledge ready for his future foundations.

    His meditationsted for a total of one week, only interrupted by the sudden sensation of the trial gate opening behind him.

    It took the War Gods a total of one week to clear the second trial. Much longer than what he initially expected. Nevertheless, Raven wasn''t one toin so he immediately helped them out instead.

    When he got to them, he could feel the exhaustion they felt. Even breathing was difficult for them to do. They didn''t even have any energy to spare to whine about how unlucky they were with the Second Trial.

    Right now, even the simplest act of walking was incredibly challenging for them to aplish.

    None said anything, Raven went to work and sent them to the table. He unsealed the food and told them to eat despite them wanting to pass out.

    The sent of food was enough to rouse the attention of the War Gods who were nearly at the gates of death.

    Following that, was the sound of chewing, slurping and heavy breathing.

    Raven simply watched the process with a confused look. From what he observed so far, the War Gods weren''t injured heavily unlikest time, they weren''t as dirty either yet for some reason, they were severely more tired and batteredpared to before. Which really makes him wonder what happened to them inside the trial gate.

    "God damn! Is it just me or are we truly unlucky?" Logan asked while resting after a good meal.

    Hearing his words caused the other War Gods to sigh, yet they can''t really retort his words.

    "What the hell happened to you inside?" Raven can''t prevent his curiosity anymore so he asked them directly.

    "Endless ughter without rest for one and half year." Henry replied. Causing Raven to shiver from head to toe.

    "It''ll be fine if we were fighting against push-overs, however we''re fighting against Titans. And endless waves of them at that. If we died during the process we will simply be resurrected from the spot where we fell over and over again." Theo stated.

    "It''s not like we could just let them kill us over and over again either." Charles added, "We have to fight back or else we would fail the challenge. So we were forced to battle. It was horrible."

    "Ahh, so that''s why you werepletely drained." Raven nodded.

    Right now, Raven couldn''t tell if he would fare any betterpared to if he had to take on the same challenge as well, but at least he knows where they''reing from.

    He had experienced something simr before. Back when he was fighting the remnant souls of the potential candidates for the crown. He died over and over again on those trials that he became numbed with it.

    Such a thing really takes toll on one''s mentality. In a sense, Raven was luckier since he was in no rush and he had time on his side, as for the War Gods who had to fight Titans, that''s even more difficultpared to fighting humans.

    "I can''t go on." Logan grumbled. "I might go rest for a least three days straight, perhaps even longer. I''ll just inform you when I''m good to go."

    "Don''t worry. We too needed some rest." Theo nodded, "We''re in no rush. We prepared for a long trip anyways. Let''s take out time."

    The rest of the team agreed upon this and the War Gods returned to their tents to rest. Raven cleaned up after them since they really can''t help him even if they wanted to since they''re very tired.

    Faint snoring sounds could be heard within the formation, signifying that the War Gods were fast asleep.

    Raven thought for a bit before an idea struck him. He sat in front of the table with an arrangement of ingredients in front of him. Busying himself for a bit, he eventually created some incense sticks which he lit-up and ced near the tents of the resting war gods.

    "There, that should help with their recovery." Raven said after finishing his craft.. Afterwards, he returned to his own tent and tucked himself to sleep.

 Chapter 590 - 3rd Trial Gate

    ---

    The Mount Olympus hike continued...

    Currently, Raven''s waiting for the War Gods at the 3rd Trial Gate which was definitelyrgerpared to the previous one. Past this Trial Gate is either another trial gate or the 1st Checkpoint where they could rest safely and restock for supplies.

    It took the group at least two weeks before they could arrive at the 3rd Trial Gate. They rested in between in order to ensure that all of them would be at their peak conditions before entering the trial gate.

    Currently, the War Gods are inside the 3rd Trial Gate for a whole week now. And since there is a time difference inside the trial gates, they might as well be staying inside for years by now.

    There''s nothing for Raven to do aside from waiting. The War Gods didn''t allow him to participate since the trials they got so far were deemed to dangerous for Raven. Although Raven have different thoughts than them, he didn''tin nor disagree to the arrangement and patiently waited for them instead.

    As he waited, Raven continued polishing his understanding of Spacetime Laws. He was so close to mastering the first concept which is Continuum. Once he achieve his breakthrough, he be able to use Spacetime Laws more efficiently as well learn more skills along with the second concept.

    His current worries is whether he should do his breakthrough here or not. Raven was somewhat hesitant because there is definitely a strong influence of Spacetime Laws here and his breakthrough might trigger some unwanted effects.

    What he''s most afraid of happening is that, he might get separated from the group. As they were being transported to parallel worlds as they climbed up due to the strange influence of Spacetime Laws here, his breakthrough might cause the Spacetime Laws here to be shaken up and transport him to another parallel world without the War Gods.

    This is thest thing that Raven wants to happen since he had no idea how he''ll be able toeback.

    ''Speaking of which, I wonder what the 1st Checkpoint is like?'' Raven thought to himself as he waited for his teammates inside the formation. ''We''re not on our Mount Olympus. We''re on a different one, that much I can tell.''

    ''It''s still storming hard. I don''t think it will let up anytime soon, this means we haven''t changed worlds yet. I wonder if we''ll return to our Mount Olympus once we arrive at the 1st Checkpoint?''

    ''Eh, no use of thinking so hard. I''ll eventually figure that out anyway.'' Raven thought to himself.

    His thoughts went silent for a bit, he inadvertently looked at the 3rd Trial Gate and pondered to himself.

    ''I wonder what''s going on inside? They''re still not out after a week. Will they be fine once theye out?'' Raven thought. ''Well, judging from what ended up happening to them during the first and second trial, they most likely won''te out unscathed. I just hope that their injuries won''t be too severe.''

    Raven then stood up and stretched his body for a bit. There were many times where he fought the urge to enter the crown space to seclude himself for a bit but he always ends up not doing it since it''s too risky. He didn''t want to make the others worry about his disappearance.

    Raven was bored out of his mind. All that he could really do is to integrate with the recent enlightenments of his Avatars and apply their enlightenments to confirm if they were correct.

    So far, he''s nearly done with all of the seals he needed to learn. It''s the very reason why Raven''s skill with seals were currently on par with the greatest experts on the same area. What''s more is that, Raven still has plenty room to grow. Given enough time, it would be possible for Raven''s skill to achieve transcendence, making him the number one expert on this specific area.

    *Woosh!*

    Raven was momentarily startled by the sudden changes on his surroundings. The wind currents suddenly changed it''s course and the lightning and thunder turned softer. He nced around him and saw that the 3rd Trial Gate was on the verge of opening.

    He was immediately on alert, although he couldn''t help but inwardly think that the storm had an impable timing. It actually let up at the same time that the War Gods were about to exit.

    The 3rd Trial Gate opened and spat out four sorry figures. It was none other than the four War Gods who entered previously.

    Raven rushed over to them, yet to his surprise, despite being injured all over the ce and their clothes being torn to shreds, the eyes of the War Gods were mostly clear. There''s even a faint glimmer on their pupils as they stood their as if they were petrified.

    Noticing their state, Raven approached them cautiously. As he got close, Raven recognized the look on their face. It was the look of understanding.

    The War Gods received some form on enlightenment inside the 3rd Trial Gate.

    Raven made sure to not disturb them, he didn''t make any noise or ruckus near them and just patiently waited for them to wake up on their own. Despite the still rather stormy climate, the War Gods were oddly serene and quiet.

    It truly makes Raven wonder what kind of trial they went through for them to be in this kind of state.

    *Weng!* *Weng!* *Weng! Weng!*

    Four strong fluctuations suddenly erupted from their bodies, causing the space around them to abruptly change.

    All of a sudden, the surroundings turned ck and white. There was a soul-prating chill that sent shivers through Raven''s spine. The eyes to the War Gods turned red and their silhouettes turned increasingly monstrous as if they were metamorphosing into somethingpletely different in Raven''s eyes.

    It was then followed with mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. It was as if the world only permitted three colors to exist, ck, white and bloody red.

    An imposing momentum rose from their bodies and bore down on Raven. The thick and murderous killing intent their bodies released were almost tangible, manifesting into reality.

    Raven prevented himself from gasping in fear of disturbing their experience, nevertheless Raven felt genuinely happy for the War Gods, specially now that they could officially solidify that title since they achieve the genuine ughter Domain.

    As Raven being a possessor of a pseudo-ughter Domain, the effects of their imposing auras still affected him but not as much, had it been anyone else aside from him, they''d probably be trembling on their boots once they were subjected to the stacked domains on these four War Gods.

    After quite sometime of releasing their ughter Domain, it receded one by one. It was then that the War Gods woke up from their stupor.

    "Oh, we''re out." Theo pointed out as he saw the stormy weather and Raven who''s waiting for them.

    "What happened?" Charles said in a confused tone.

    "I don''t know." Henry replied, "Last thing I remember, we were hard at work. We probably fell under n illusion and was kicked out."

    "I don''t think so." Logan countered, he pointed behind him and said: "If we were kicked out, then howe we cleared the 3rd Trial Gate?"

    "You guys don''t remember anything?" Raven asked, simrly confused as the War Gods themselves.

    "Well, thest thing I could remember is we were living the life of a regr mortal." Theo replied. "We experienced different mortal lives, the longest we could live was 100 years old, after that we''ll die and be born again on another parent and live on once more."

    "We were on our 9th reincarnation before we woke up just now." Logan added, "I got so absorbed into it that Ipletely forgot that we were at a trial."

    "The same thing happened to me. I even nearly forgot about my current identity." Henry added, there was a faint nostalgia on his tone, he''s probably remembering the mortal lives he experienced.

    "What I don''t understand is that, how the hell did we end up looking like this if that''s the case?" Charles pointed out, causing the War Gods finally discover their ragged appearances. "I sure as hell don''t remember fighting anything that could rip apart my uniform like some random rags."

    "I mean, maybe we were destined to not remember anything." Henry pointed out. "Maybe it''s included in the rules of the trial. Also, would it really matter now that we cleared it?"

    "You''ve got a point there..." Charles nodded.

    "So you guys really don''t remember anything, huh." Raven said as he looked strangely at the War Gods.

    "Why? Did we do something?" Logan asked, unsure what to make out of Raven''s current expression.

    "Well...nothing much really." He said, still looking at them strangely. "I just noticed that when you guys came out, all of you were at a special state of enlightenment. I didn''t disturb you at all and just waited until you guys woke up on your own."

    "We we''re at the enlightenment state when we came out?" Henry asked, slightly in disbelief. He checked himself out and said: "I don''t feel any different though?"

    "I think you should." Raven said, causing them to raise a brow. "After all, you guys just got your own ughter Domains."

    "What!?"

 Chapter 591 - 1st Checkpoint

    ---

    "...so that''s what happened." Charles said after Raven exined what he saw as soon as they came out from the Trial Gate.

    The War Gods looked at each other and nodded. They then tried to summon their ughter Domains to confirm if what they heard was true.

    Just like before, a dome immediately appeared around them. A palpable killing intent manifested from their bodies and caused the world to lose it''s color. Seeing that it was real, the War Gods were momentarily surprised but went ecstatic afterwards. Unfortunately, since their leaking too much killing intent, the glee they felt caused their expressions to twist in a deformed malicious smile which could send shivers to anyone''s spine.

    They all noticed this and retracted the domain afterwards. Raven released a sigh. The effect of stacked ughter Domains certainly didn''t feel good, specially that it''s a genuine one.

    "Now, we can truly live up to the title of War Gods. I feel strangelyplete." Theo cackled as he felt rather pleased with this surprising gain.

    The rest didn''t say anything but inwardly agreed.

    "Oh! I can''t wait to show this to the rest. I can''t wait to see their faces when they found out that we have ughter Domains and they don''t." Logan rubbed his palms with an excited face as he can''t wait until their next meeting.

    "Before we start thinking about that, how about we clear this challenge before us first, yeah?" Henry certainly didn''t miss a chance to rain on Logan''s parade as he said this, causing Logan to re hatefully at him.

    "He has a point you know." Charles nodded, "Additionally, we''ll be stuck here for quite sometime. A lot can happen within a day, not to mention years. Don''t celebrate just yet and focus on the trials."

    "Now that you say that, why don''t we enter the formation instead of standing here while its raining? That would be a better way to rest, no?" Theo mentioned, causing the rest to finally get the idea.

    Actually, it was Raven who wanted to take them inside the formation first, however the War Gods remained oblivious about it and he didn''t want to interfere with their new found power, he understood how it feels anyway. Therefore, he could only sneakily send Theo some clues so that they''ll get idea.

    Thankfully, it worked out well. They all entered the formation and Raven guided them towards the table he prepared before. They dried themselves easily and enjoyed the meal. Unlike before, the War Gods aren''t that tired nor injured so they took their time.

    By the end of their meal, they all decided to rest and continue the journey tomorrow.

    Whether it is another trial or the 1st Checkpoint that''s waiting for them, they''ll eventually find out.

    ---

    The team rested for half a day before deciding to continue with their journey.

    On the way, Raven couldn''t help but notice the path they were taking.

    Although it was hardly noticeable, the road they were taking definitely shrank for a bit. This caused Raven to feel a little suspicious. He ended up not saying anything though as he it wouldn''t be toote to tell themter anyways.

    Along the way towards their destination, the War Gods talked about their previous experiences on the 3rd Trial where they lived their lives as a mere mortal. No cultivation, no seclusion or anything, just a in old life of a regr mortal.

    Now that they have calmed down from the events, they were able to urately remember what happened to them. They all lived a total of 9 mortal lives. Some of them were born in a wealthy background while others were orphans. Some managed to seed in life while others died as either a ve or a beggar.

    It didn''t matter who, all of them felt the experience truly humbling. They all felt somewhat fortunate about their current lives as they have a pretty long life expectancy, additionally they didn''t have to fear any kind of mortal ailments at all since reaching this point of cultivation, they''ve be absolutely immune from it.

    Of course, experience is still experience. Maybe it was due to them understanding the frailty of life that they were able to truly understand the effects and consequences of taking it, allowing them to grasp the essence of ughter, allowing them to have the ughter Domain. It''s a bit ironic but that''s what most likely happened.

    The team travelled for several weeks. The climate still remained rather stormy, there were even times when they were nearly struck by lightning, fortunately they managed to evade it ande out unscathed. They continued their hike until they finally saw something.

    It was a huge gate which lead towards the interior of the Mount Olympus. The gate was tall and looked somewhat familiar, at least for Raven that is.

    "Oh, it''s the checkpoint." Charles pointed out as soon as theyid eyes on the huge gates.

    "That gate leads to the checkpoint?" Raven asked, to which the War Gods nodded.

    "We''ve been here before remember?" Henry reminded, causing Raven to immediately understand. "Remember that kind of gate, the one that leads within the inner mountain. That''s where the checkpoint is. In there, we''ll be safe even without that formation of yours, plus there are merchants in there, meaning that we could re-stock our supplies."

    "I see." Raven replied as he nodded his head. He then looked at the gates and remember what it generally looks like.

    Seeing that they are on safe territory, they decided to pick up the pace and enter the checkpoint.

    The gates were evenrger that what Raven originally expected now that he''s face to face with it. He couldn''t help but to think if it''s really necessary for them to build it this tall, they looked like antspared to it.

    "Come, let''s open it." Henry said as he and Theo went on the right gate while Logan and Charles went on the left. "You too, Raven. Go on the middle."

    Raven unconsciously followed Henry''s orders, cing each hand at the gates.

    "On my mark, alright? Put your back onto it!" Henry yelled as he went into position. "Ready, get set, go! Push!!!"

    Raven was immediately shocked to his core once he started pushing.

    ''Damn! This thing is heavy!'' He eximed inwardly. ''I mean, I was expecting it to have some weight due to it''s size but this is crazy!!''

    Veins bulged on his neck as he struggled to summon his strength to push the gates open. Even with the coborative effort of four War Gods and him, they only managed to wedge it open by mere inches.

    It had to be known that Raven was grossly strong due to the adjustments he experienced with his Cosmic Energy. For him to visibly struggle in opening this gate is a proof of it''s sheer difficulty.

    However, even if he''s having a hard time, Raven felt rather good. He weed this kind of challenge. Sensing the difficulty of opening the gate, Raven was fired-up. He summoned even more strength to aid him in opening this thing.

    His arms bulged ever so slightly as he grunted heavily while pushing. Since he increased his strength, the gate opened slightly faster. Raven pushed with all of his might, taking one firm step after another, surprising even the War Gods who''s pushing alongside of him.

    The gate made a loud creaking sound as it was opening. The gap became wider and wider until it was finally enough to fit a person.

    "Okay, that should be enough. Let''s enter, quick!" Henry said as they let go of the gates and rushed in to enter.

    Once they were all inside, they saw how the gates closed up swiftly with a bang. All of them were panting, feeling their arms sore with how hard they pushed. Once they got some strength back, they then began to inspect the interior of the checkpoint.

    "It''s it just me, or that gigantic dude is staring at me?" Raven leaned towards Henry and whispered at his ears.

    The rest of his teammates looked over and saw the one that Raven''s referring to.

    There was a gigantic being, sitting in front of an equally huge table, staring down at them. Well, more specifically at Raven. If this thing stood up, it might even reach the 500 meter mark. The giant looked like a human except for its size.

    "He is staring at you, but don''t be afraid. He''s an ally. Think of him as the guardian of this checkpoint." Henry said. "Come, let''s go closer."

    Raven didn''t say anything and followed them instead. Once they approached the giant, the War Gods performed a salute, which Raven did as well, although a little bitte since he wasn''t informed.

    "Greetings, Guardian." Henry spoke, "We came here to seek shelter and to re-supply."

    The guardian didn''t speak, it merely looked at Henry for a brief moment before writing something down and tearing it. The giant then gave then the paper he tore and then looked at Raven once more.

    "You." The guardian pointed at Raven, causing thetter to be shocked. "Yes, you. What''s your name?"

    "It''s Vendrick Valorheart, Sir. But the people who are close to me call me Raven instead."

    "Raven huh?" The giant murmured, his eyes turned murky for a bit before he eventually said: "Very well. Do you whatever you like."

    The giant waved his hand at them as if shoo-ing them away, causing the team to feel very confused.

 Chapter 592 - Individuality

    ---

    The more Raven inspected the interior of the checkpoint, the more he was convinced that this ce is certainly made for giants.

    Everything here was supersized, he even found a flight of stairs which would require them to leap just to get up.

    Nevertheless, since they received the word of the Guardian here, it means that they were free to take shelter in here.

    Speaking of the Guardian, Raven still found it weird that he seems to be paying attention to him. Raven surely didn''t offend the Guardian nor did anything worth of notice to solicit his attention, he''s just a supportive member here, so he didn''t understand why the Guardian was even paying attention to him.

    He tried asking the War Gods about it but they were simrly clueless about it. All they told him is that, the Guardian didn''t have any ill intent when he did that so Raven can rest easy that they''re not in any danger.

    In anyways, Raven had nothing else to do other than to follow their words. He knew nothing anyway so he could only just go with the flow. Additionally, he truly didn''t feel any ill intent from the Guardian, if anything it was more or curiosity, so he was convinced that the Guardian truly didn''t mean them any harm.

    Now that they''re here in the checkpoint, the War Gods were surely taking it easy. They decided to spend a whole week in here before continuing the journey. Raven didn''t mind this at all so he agreed.

    And just as they say, there were truly merchants in here which offered some supplies to them in exchange for Merit Points.

    The merchants aren''t giants, they were humanoids at least. Raven didn''t mind their appearance that much and decided to re-supply since he had the Merit Points to spend anyway. Once he replenished his supplies, he went back with the team to rent some rooms within the checkpoint.

    It wasn''t just their team who were in this very checkpoint as well. There are several individuals or teams who were taking shelter in here just like them. The Checkpoint has some private rooms which could be rented at the cost of a little bit of Merit Points. Their team rented their own private rooms and decided to meet up one week from now.

    Raven guessed that the War Gods wanted to rx for a bit or spend some ''quality time'' with some prettysses that were giggling at their presence earlier.

    Well, that no longer his business. What matters to Raven is that, now''s a good time for him to seclude himself once more within the Crown Space, to hopefully make some breakthroughs.

    One week isn''t that long at all, so he wanted to get this done as swiftly as he could.

    Raven went towards his private room and sealed the doors shut, he even ced a sign at the door telling everyone to not bother him. Once he made the necessary preparations, he entered the Crown Space and started his seclusion.

    Sitting down on the Stargazing Mats, and consuming some supplements, he started his breakthrough.

    Raven''s mind immediately became muddled. He''s in void state where he didn''t know anything yet also knew everything - the State of Enlightenment to be exact. Typically this state onlyes by chance but Raven managed to find a way to ess this state 9 times out of 10 through some special methods.

    In this state, Raven''s mind is in absolute rity. His mind is extremely sensitive and could perceive the ultimate secrets of the world. This is undoubtedly the most optimal state for him to achieve his breakthrough.

    Raven spend weeks sitting like that until one day, his body suddenly released muffled sounds of shattering ss. His face still looked serene and empty while this is happening though. Out of nowhere, Raven''s eyes started resembling torches ring with bright gray light.

    His deep baritone voice echoed throughout his surroundings, saying:

    "I am neither my past, nor my future. I might not be my present either. I am the one who knows about my past, ount those experiences to my present and looks forward to my future. My past, present and future are only fragments of the possible reality which will only happen due to natural progression. It doesn''t represent who I am, so it is not I, who knew and had the power to change those oues."

    "Such...is the Concept of Individuality! Break!"

    *Crack!* *Boom!*

    Explosive shattering sounds urred once more from within his body, causing Raven''s body to fiercely shook from the impact. A gray curtain of light immediately descended and covered Raven silhouette.

    For a brief moment there, Raven''s appearance shifted from being old to being an infant and back to his regr appearance. It only urred for a short period of time before all silhouettes merged together and be one.

    The gray light around Raven''s body became even more brilliant. It covered his silhouette for sometime before fading away. Once it''s gone, Raven could be seen back at where he was sitting from before. He didn''t look nor feel any different from before but Raven surely is vastly different from before he made his breakthrough.

    The concepts Spacetime Laws are: Continuum, Individuality, Parallelism, Timeline and Singrity.

    [A/N: I originally wrote it so that Parallelismes before Individuality, now I switched their positions because It''d feel more proper.]

    Raven already mastered the concept of Continuum - allowing him to have ess with the past present and the future, he could even travel in them in order to change the oues should he wanted to. The concept of Individuality, the second concept amongst the five that Spacetime Laws have. It deals with the ''Identity Crises'' that could prove lethal to anyone who uses Spacetime Laws a lot.

    Interfering with the trinity of realities always poses risks. Sure, Spacetime Laws allow one to have some ''safety'' while doing that but it''s not thorough. Interfere too much and the seed of confusion will surely take root and cause some headaches.

    There is a chance that interfering with the trinity of realities too much could make someone crazy, unable to discern who they truly were anymore. It was due to this that Raven didn''t dare to use Spacetime Laws irresponsibly.

    The concept of Individuality fixes that. By gaining enlightenment of it, it serves an as anchor to one''s sense of reality. The Past, the Future, and even the Present doesn''t truly represent the ''reality'' of somebody. These are merely oues - products of the infinite possibilities that exist in the universe.

    Using the ''Present'' to anchor one''s self to ''reality'' isn''t wrong, but it''s not right either. In order to truly cement one''s sense of identity, one has to realize that the Trinity of Realities presented by the Continuum Concept is nothing more than mere ''oues''.

    The Concept of Individuality is extremely important since it doesn''t only anchors one to their sense of self but also builds a solid foundation for what''s about toe next - the Concept of Parallelism.

    If the Trinity of Realities could cause someone to lose their sense of self, then encountering the Parallel Worlds will cause someone to lose their sense of existence. Even though Raven is yet to achieve that stage, he could already imagine how it feels to doubt your very own existence, specially once you witness many versions of yourself livingpletely different lives than you have.

    Spacetime Laws gives one the possibility to realize Immortality, yes. But it doesn''t mean that getting there poses no danger. One has to tread very carefully and make to sure to not lose themselves at the process, or else everything will be for naught.

    Raven''s breakthrough of Spacetime Laws eventually subsided but his windfall has yet to end...

    He''s still currently at the State of Enlightenment, and it doesn''t look like he''s going to wake up from it anytime soon.

    On the surface, his appearance might look very serene but inwardly, it''s theplete opposite.

    His Inner Cosmos surged, it revolved by itself, causing some strong reactions to ur. As his Cosmic Energy stirred violently, Raven''s strength was wildly fluctuation.

    His muscles bulged without his knowledge, veins started protruding from his neck and a towering aura suddenly emerged from his body. His Destruction Domain as well as his pseudo-ughter Intent emerged as well. If one observed closely, it was easy to discover that the domain was expanding, most likely without Raven''s knowledge.

    Law Diagrams from his body suddenly showed themselves, some were being broken down into pieces at a speed visible to the naked eye. Numerous insights fused with Raven, turning into food for hisws, allowing them to progress even further.

    Muffled yet loud explosive sounds could be heard from within his body. All of a sudden, Raven''s body shook visibly as one final explosion sounded.

    Then, his aura climbed to heavens. His domain expanded greatly and a wave of strength filled every fibers of his being. Raven''s eyes regained their brilliance, he woke up from the State of Enlightenment just in time to understand what urred to him.

    "Not only did I break through the 2nd Concept for my Spacetime Laws, I also advanced tote-Saint Knight Realm. Feels great!"

 Chapter 593 - Onwards

    ---

    "Ooh, you broke through? Nice!" This was the first words of Logan when they all met up after resting at the checkpoint for week.

    Raven simply nodded in acknowledgement, however inwardly he was relieved. At least his breakthrough didn''t get him in trouble.

    "Still, it''s somewhat difficult to believe that you''re only at the Saint Knight Realm." Henry mentioned.

    "That''s true." Theo nodded in agreement. "With all of the things you can do, you''d easily pass as an Empyrean ranked powerhouse, yet in truth you''re still on the Saint Knight Realm. Thinking about what you can do once you be a true Empyrean Ranked powerhouse is pretty scary you know?"

    "How about we just be thankful that he''s an ally, yeah?" Charles interjected after seeing Raven getting a bit overwhelmed with the praises. "Anyways, we ought to continue with our journey. As much as resting feels good, we can''t forget about our goal here."

    "That is also true." Theo nodded in agreement. "I''ve made sufficient preparations. How about you guys?"

    The replied, saying that they too made sufficient preparations as well. With that in mind, they went ahead and walked out of the checkpoint. Before they left, the made sure to bid farewell to the Guardian and return the piece of paper that he gave them when they arrived before.

    That piece of paper was some sort of a permit/certificate. Basically, it''s the proof that they gained the right to enter the checkpoint and stay here. Before they continue on with their journey, they are required to return it back to the Guardian.

    As they were leaving, Raven could still feel that the Guardian was paying close attention to him. Just like before, he didn''t sense any ill intent so he just let it pass.

    Right before they exited however, he heard a sound transmission which was only sent to him alone.

    ''You''ll understand why, when timees.''

    This words sounded very cryptic. Raven didn''t understand it at all, he only felt a strong sense of foreboding creeping through his spine. Although he wanted to ask the giant what he meant by telling him that, they were unfortunately out of the checkpoint and it''s gates already disappeared before his very eyes.

    The checkpoints could only be used by the hikers once, so they best make it count. Once they leave, it will magically disappear and only the next checkpoint will be visible to them.

    That being said, even if Raven had the chance to ask what the Guardian meant, he would most likely get nothing out of the attempt. If the Guardian wanted him to know, then wouldn''t it be easier for him to tell him now instead? Since it didn''t even bother exining things to Raven, then it''s quite obvious that it''s not yet the time for Raven to know.

    It''s as simple as that...

    Now that the team existed the checkpoint, it is time for them to resume their journey. Just like before, Raven''s still on the supportive role.

    Thanks to his breakthrough, Raven could sense the influence of the Spacetime Laws better. He could tell that they''re in a different Mount Olympus yet again since the climate changed.

    Before they entered the 1st Checkpoint, the climate was stormy. Now, it''s back to being sunny all around. Guessing by the flourishing vegetation around them, it must''ve been Spring here.

    This made their journey rtively smooth and rxing, it''s as if they were regr hikers really.

    ---

    Time swiftly passed just like this, and the team eventually cleared one trial after another.

    Sufficed to say, that the War Gods gaining the ughter Domain is akin to giving a Tiger a pair of wings. The rate of which they came out severely exhausted and heavily injured lessened, allowing them to recovery quickly and save a bit of time.

    Raven remained on the supporting duty, looking after his teammates after clearing some trials. There are times when they''ll spend a long time clearing a trial because they got unlucky, but there are also rare times where they do get lucky and clear the trials because it was easy. It really depends on luck.

    Still, whether it rained or shine, the team persist on their journey towards the peak. Time and time again they were left thanking the heavens that they brought Raven with them. Without his aid, the War Gods wouldn''t have made it this far.

    Raven was just too damn reliable. With him around, the troublesome and ever-changing climates around them was practically rendered useless to stop their advance. They don''t know how he does it but he sure makes it extremely easy. Not even once did they have to worry about the climate at all since Raven got them covered.

    Aside from that, the food he makes aren''t just extremely delicious but also incredibly nourishing. At this point, the amount of food they ate was greaterpared to the total amount of meals they have prior to the climb.

    With his food, they didn''t need to spend a long amount time sitting down in meditation whilst recovering their energy. Just by clearing a few tes worth of Raven''s food and not only would their stomachs be full, their energies would recover and even their injuries will clear up.

    All that''s left for them to do is to sleep and allow the food they ate to be digested naturally, once they wake they''ll feel refreshed and ready to take on the challenges along the way.

    Simply put, Raven was godsend on this trip. He''s the backbone of this team. Without him, the War Gods would''ve given up during the first few trials.

    As for Raven, even though he didn''t get much action. His days still remained rather upied and fulfilling.

    By now, it is guaranteed that the War Gods would take at least three days before they exit a trial, and that''s considering that they got an easy one. That gives Raven enough time to at least enter seclusion inside the Crown Space, which is thankfully not conflicting with the mysterious arrangement of Mount Olympus.

    He made some decent progress but he''s mostly just fortifying his foundations since he just experienced a recent breakthrough. He didn''t seclude as much, only enough to integrate with some insights and make sure that he''s not biting off more than what he can chew.

    On most days however, he remained on Mount Olympus and perceived Spacetime Laws. Whenever the War Gods are out, he''ll attend to them and continue their journey, rinse and repeat.

    Just like this whole year passed with them clearing one trial after another and encountering checkpoints. By now, they are resting within the 6th checkpoint, which is also the furthest they were able to go.

    Speaking of checkpoints, Raven discovered that not all of them were gigantic. In fact, it was only the 1st checkpoint they went into that fits that bill. The following ones were all regrly sized, still big but not overly supersized. Thanks to that, they didn''t have to trouble themselves spending a ton of their strength just to open up the gates.

    Additionally, the Guardian of the other checkpoints were unlike the first one they encountered. None of them paid real attention to them, only providing the minimum interaction with the people whoes and leaves their ce.

    As they moved closer and closer to the peak and they discovered checkpoints and rested in them, they managed to meet some of the hikers as well. Raven wasn''t that all surprised to see them all battered up and mentally exhausted.

    Their faces looked as if they were mourning somebody''s death, when asked, their voices were quiet, some were even straight up not responding. It was pretty clear that they were thoroughly shaken up and doubting if they should still continue with the climb.

    Once again, Raven didn''t find this surprising. Even the War Gods weren''t surprised. After all, not all of them were lucky enough to have Raven by their side, aiding them with the journey.

    Unlike their team, these people not only needed to face the trials and clear them, they also have to deal with the ever-changing climate around them. All of which, could severely break down one''s mental fortitude, making them hopeless and despairing at the difficulty of this challenge.

    It wouldn''t surprise them if some of these people decided to return back to the sect and no longer have any hopes of reaching the peak. Such an experience can be traumatizing. Some of them might not even step foot onto the mountain ever again.

    Needless to say, whatever they decided upon was none of the team''s business. They only needed to pay attention to themselves.

    Right now, they might''ve been able to reach 6th checkpoint but that doesn''t mean they could getcent. The War Gods managed to reach this stage before without Raven''s help through sheer luck. Reaching it this time around means that their hike is just beginning. The real troublesome partes after they exited this ce since that''d be the uncharted territory for them.

    This time, they decided to rest for a whole month.. If they can''t even reach the 7th checkpoint with Raven''s help, then it''s either they''re ipetent or reaching the peak is just straight up impossible.

 Chapter 594 - Salamanders

    ---

    "Ooh! So hot! Are we in hell?" Logan groaned at the sudden heat wave that assaulted them.

    The team is currently on the move when all of a sudden, the climate changed. Of course, Raven sensed it first due to his sensitivity of Spacetime Laws however he didn''t say anything about it just like what he had been doing ever since.

    Now, it would seem that they are transported in a ce where Mount Olympus is at a very hot ce. The heat was quite abnormal that it actually feels hotter herepared to Asphodel. It was as if they were mere miles away from the sun due to how hot it is here.

    It didn''t take long before they were drenched in sweat and could feel their mouth''s parched. They were being dehydrated pretty quickly here. And as usual, this climate isn''t normal since it affects them.

    "Hold on, I got us covered." Sensing that it''s getting a little bit hard for them to breathe, Raven was immediately to the rescue.

    Taking out the Brush of Wisdom, he drew a rune in the air. Although it only took him a single swipe to draw the rune, the truth is that this simple rune isposed of numerous runes which wasbined into one, thus greatly amplifying it''s effect.

    The rune ended up spelling the word ''Cold''. As soon as it manifested, it started functioning by converting the heat around them into cold breeze of winds that brought greatfort to their bodies.

    Everyone heaved a sigh of relief at thefortable feeling. Again, with just a single move, Raven nullified the harsh weather they are in. With him around, it doesn''t matter how many times the climate changes at all. He could just lift up his brush and nullify it''s effectspletely.

    "Much better." Henry smiled as he cast an appreciative nce at Raven.

    Indeed, if feels much better to move around without worrying about the scalding heat. Now that that''s done, they could move on with their journey.

    "I wonder how far we are to the next trial gate?" Theo voiced out his concerns. "We''ve been walking forward for nearly a month now, aren''t we? Yet the trial gate is still nowhere to be seen."

    "We should be pretty close." Charles replied, "I doubt that there will be any changes to the pattern at this point of the hike."

    "It would be good if that''s the case." Theo said, "Let''s continue then."

    Everyone nodded and continued on with the hike.

    As they moved forward, Raven couldn''t help but to pay attention to the road they are taking. He noticed something about it before but now that they''vee to this point, the difference was just too obvious.

    "The road really shrank huh?" Raven subconsciously said out loud, causing the War Gods to pay attention.

    They all looked down and thought for a bit before eventually noticing that the road indeed narrowed down. Before, it was extremely wide. They could pretty much do anything without worrying about that they''ll fall down.

    Now however, it shrank drastically that they have to consider their movement since it''s quite possible that they will fall.

    "Huh, how did we miss such a thing?" Logan mumbled.

    "Maybe it''s because we''re too focused on clearing the trials that our attentions were pulled out of it." Henry replied, "But yeah, we now have to pay attention to this. I bet that this road will continue to shrink down the closer we are at the peak."

    "I mean, if you think of it closely. It would make sense for it to shrink down right?" Theo said.

    "You must also consider the sheer size of Mount Olympus, before you say that." Charles retorted. "Yes, it does make sense for the road to shrink but Mount Olympus is too damn big that even if the road does shrink down, it shouldn''t be this much."

    "The road wasn''t big to begin with." Raven said, "If we look back on the time when we were still at the bottom, the road should be at least ten timesrger than what we seen since we are climbing Mount Olympus. Yet it''s only a bitrgerpared to the rest."

    "I guess Henry is right then." Theo replied, "We must''ve been to focused on the trials that wepletely missed out on such a small detail."

    "Anyways, it''s not like discussing this can change anything." Henry said, "Let''s just move on, I wanna arrive at the Trial Gate as soon as possible."

    The team agreed with that and continued moving forward. As for Raven, he too dropped the matter all along since it won''t be of much use anyway.

    The road shrank, yes. But, so what? It''s not like they could do anything about it. All they truly do is to rise up to the challenge. They can''t make the road bigger, nor they could make it so that the climate will always remain pleasant. What they could do is to just move forward and do their best to reach the peak of the mountain.

    After travelling for another three days, resting in between, the team eventually made it to the area where the trial gate appeared.

    This is the 1st Trial they''ll encounter on the way to the 7th Checkpoint.

    "Alright, this is it." Charles said, "We''re going to enter. As usual, we''ll be in you care once we got out Raven."

    "Sure thing." Raven nodded as he started making preparations as well.

    "Hopefully we get lucky." Theo murmured just before they entered the trial gate.

    "Yeah, I sure do hope so as well." Henry added as the four of them were engulfed by the blinding light that the trial gate was emitting.

    Once the light dimmed down, the Trial Gate closed down and remained in there, floating in silence.

    Raven was left alone yet again. He didn''t waste anytime and began setting up the tools he needed. He erected the formation, set up the tents and sleeping bags, and also started making food.

    "Hmm?" Raven frowned as he felt something strange around him.

    He stood up and inspected the surroundings. A rainbow colored light blossomed from his pupils as he activated his ocr technique. Once his vision was improved, his pupils constricted for a bit once he saw that aside from him, there are other creatures around oozing with ill intentions.

    "Smanders!? Adult ones at that? Howe?"

    Indeed, Raven saw numerous over-grown lizards crawling about towards him. It was as if they could see him through the formation. He roughly counted at least 20 of them here. Each one was at least twenty meters long.

    Their scales were literally on fire, their reptilian pupils were ring at Raven as they wed at the formation separating Raven from their group.

    Raven had a look around and saw that the Smanders came from above. They didn''t fall, instead they were perched at the surface of the mountain to begin with. He didn''t know why none of them noticed their presence but for some reason, here they were.

    *Shing!*

    "Oh, shit! I got so distracted that I almost forgot that they are attacking the formation!" Raven was rmed. "Although I don''t know how, it''s quite obvious that these lizards are here and wants me."

    "Very well. I guess we''re having a Smander feastter." Raven snorted as he immediately released his Destruction Domain, suppressing every Smander around him.

    The adult Smanders froze as they felt the heavy suppression, but that alone wasn''t enough topletely stop them. Far from it actually.

    Raven also knows that and have no ns on stopping there either. He took out the Brush of Wisdom and began drawing lines which then turned into enormous spears which converged above the Smanders.

    Waving the brush down, the enormous spears of light descended, smiting the Smanders around him. The zing scales of the Smanders were indeed tough but the spears easily punctured their bodies, causing them to shriek miserably.

    Some Smanders died on the spot, while others were severely injured. Raven could still see some Smanders climbing down from the surface of the mountain so he didn''t stop his onught at all.

    Raven, even without stepping out of the formation, managed to clear waves of adult Smanders on his own. Judging from the amount of corpses around him, he in at least 50 adult Smanders just like that. It didn''t take him long either.

    Even then, Raven was still wary.

    As he fixed the damages inflicted by the Smanders at the Formation, he also modified it while he''s at it. He added a bunch of new runes which serves more functions for the formation. In short, Raven no longer have to be worried about being seen by any enemies as long as he stayed inside. He also fortified it''s toughness massively, and even added a function where it couldunch a counter-attack upon reaching a certain threshold.

    After doing all of this and making sure that there are no other Smanders around, he went out and began harvesting the corpses of the Smanders. Using some runes, he sealed them and froze the carcasses in order to preserve. Once he''s done, he patted his hands in satisfaction.

    *Sniff* *Sniff*

    "Oh shit! The food''s burning! Argh!"

 Chapter 595 - Secondary Expertise

    ---

    "Eh? What happened here?"

    This was Henry''s first question as soon as they got out of the Trial Gate. The War Gods were shocked upon seeing beast remains and smelled a thick stench of blood.

    "Oh, hey there. I got a bit busy here as you can see." Raven said as soon as he heard them walking closer to him.

    All of them were currently outside of the formation, which is currently in stealth thanks to Raven''s adjustments to it. Additionally, Raven just also finished dealing with another wave of beasts. In fact the War Gods even saw him finishing up thest one.

    "What''s going on? Why are there Smanders and me Elementals here?" Theo asked as he looked around, inspecting the remains of the beast Raven collectively in while they were still within the Trial Gate.

    "I don''t know either." Raven shrugged. "They just appeared all of a sudden and started attacking me. They also tried to destroy the formation, thankfully I managed to kill them in time and make adjustments to it. Still though, they came in waves. I figured I can''t just let them roam free therefore I cleared them up."

    "B-but, how can that be?" Logan spoke, "Why are there beasts now? Clearing up the trials are already troublesome, now you''re telling me we also have this to deal with?"

    "Well, even if you ask me, I won''t know how to answer you. I was surprised too, you see. They just came climbing down on the surface of the mountain out of nowhere." Raven said.

    He was originally hoping to ask them about what''s going on too but judging from their reaction, it was clear that they too were surprised by the sudden appearance of the beasts.

    "You didn''t set up the formation?" Charles asked as he looked around, searching for the formation to hopefully get some shelter.

    "Oh, it''s here." Raven said as he lifted his hand, forming a w and peeling off the ''air'' to reveal the interior of the formation, surprising the War Gods for a bit. "I made some enhancements on it. Come, let''s go inside."

    Raven then widened the gap and stepped in followed by the War Gods. Once inside, the hole closed up by itself, sealing them within and hiding them from the sight of the potential beasts that mayeter.

    The interior of the Formation was much betterpared before. Not only did it repulsed the zing heat off of them, it also provided them with afortable environment to rest. The weather inside was adjusted to suit their needs, it automatically changes too. What''s more is that, it''s hidden from the beasts and also hides their presence from them.

    Once inside, Raven lead them to the where he prepared the meals for them. The War Gods didn''t stand on ceremony and began chowing down the food that was prepared for them.

    Raven carefully observed them. Judging from their appearance, it seems that they got a bit lucky this time and got a fairly easy trial. However, he can''t be so sure.

    He could still see some injuries on their bodies. They look shallow and on the verge of recovering now that they''ve eaten the food. There were also signs of exhaustion on their faces but it wasn''t as severepared to the previous ones.

    "We had an okay luck this time around." Henry said after noticing Raven''s gaze. He could somewhat tell what Raven was thinking, it''s all over his face too. "It isn''t hard nor painful. It''s just very time consuming."

    "What kind of trial was it then?" Raven asked.

    "It tested our secondary expertise." Logan replied, "For me, that would Beast Taming. I was one of the best back at my home town, I''ll have you know. I tamed a ferocious Silver Battlewolf when I was but a little boy. Ah! That glorious moment!" He said with a thick nostalgia on his face.

    "It would be Alchemy for me." Theo stated, "I got a pretty decent fire affinity back when I was still young. It wasn''t much, in fact my parents deemed me worthless back then since we came from a n of Alchemists."

    "Well, I wonder about that. Specially now that you''re a me Keeper and all." Charlesmented. "For me it was Fortune Telling."

    "Fortune Telling?" Raven was surprised, "Prophets?"

    "Ooh! So you know about that, huh?" Charles were simrly surprised. "Yes, that''s right. I''m from a n of Prophets. People who just can''t keep it in their pants and wants to know everything. At the cost of lifespan that is."

    "I didn''t particrly like that though." Charles added, "I was an oddball when I was a kid. I got some seriously violent tendencies, which is very out of ce considering the fact that I was born in the n of Prophets. Some people even thought that I was adopted. But I was indeed from that n, I was just naturally violent I guess."

    "That being said, even if I am like the way I am, I still learned how to properly tell someone''s fortune. In fact, I was quite talented with it too. However, I wasn''tfortable in the fact that I need to spend my own lifespan just to tell someone else''s fate. Adding the fact that some people just don''t understand the risks of peering through Heavenly Secrets, I just kind of left it behind. Instead I focused on fulfilling my violent tendencies."

    "It''s even worse now since he''s using his Prophecy in battle. In short, when you face him, know that he can tell what your next move is, so it''s a pain in the ass to fight against." Henrymented, earning a re from Charles.

    "Remember that this person was once the same person who was responsible for you. Now you can see what kind of shitty personality he has." Charles told Raven.

    "Hey! Stop ndering me! I just stated the truth aren''t I?" Henryined after hearing Charlesment. Charles didn''t reply but snorted instead and went back to his food.

    "Well, it would be Calligraphy for me." Henry then told Raven about his secondary expertise. "My father was a famous Scribe you see, and I idolized him when I was growing up. Unfortunately, due to an ident, he was unable to continue, there he became a teacher instead. He taught me well, and I still go back to it every now and then."

    "Ohhh!" Raven had an expression of understanding on his face, "Well, what were the requirements for you to clear the trial then?"

    "For me, it is to create a Passage that is filled with my Sword Intent." Henry replied.

    "Sound troublesome." Loganmented,

    "That it does. In fact, it might not only ''sounds'' troublesome." Theo added.

    "It took me three fucking years to do it. So yeah, it is troublesome." Henry snorted as he aggressively sliced of the meat on his te.

    "Mine''s hateful." Logan stated, "I have to tame an Arcane Wyrm."

    "Oh, goodness gracious. Poor you." Raven instinctivelymented.

    "Man, that sucks." Henrymented.

    "Stop it you guys, you''re making me cry!" Loganined while looking downcast.

    "Arcane Wyrm, it''s those right?" Theo asked, "The winged lizards that has knowledge of Fire, Ice, Thunder and Earth Laws from birth?"

    "Yeah, they are." Logan nodded softly.

    "Well, knowing that you''re still here with us, means that you managed to tame one so good job." Charlesmented, "Yet still, you must''ve been through a lot. Do you need a hug?"

    "Fuck you." Logan spat, causing the rest tough at his misery.

    "Hearing about your task makes me feel a bit better about mine." Theo said, "Well, that doesn''t mean it isn''t troublesome though."

    "What did it want you to concoct?" Raven asked.

    "Boundless Nature Pill."

    "Oof!" Raven''s face twitched after hearing that. Well, he had some experience on Alchemy himself so he knew about the Boundless Nature Pill.

    In short, that pill can already be considered as a Spiritual Treasure since - just like the name implies, it is filled with the boundless power of nature itself. This pill is not to be consumed, it works like a weapon almost since once it''s effects were trigger, it couldy waste to a whole.

    "Geez, what''s up with that? It seems that the trials were working against you." Charlesmented. "Now, spill. How many cauldrons have you ruined?"

    "Roughly 300." Theo said in shaky voice. "All of them exploded on my face."

    "Oh, poor you." Henrymented. "Don''t worry, I''ll find you some prettydies at the next checkpoint."

    "Shut it, you!" Theo''s face reddened as he heard Henryment. He then looked at Charles and asked: "Well, how about you? What was your trial?"

    "Well, it''s quite simple really." Charles said, "It revolves around Prophecy, the only difference is that, in there I didn''t need to worry about my lifespan being spent. I just needed to take 200 costumers and make sure to bepletely honest with them."

    "By being honest, you mean you need to tell them everything that you see? What happens if you see them dying?" Henry asked.

    "Well, it''s rules so...yeah, I need to tell them." Charles said while smiling wryly.

    "That''s rough buddy." Theo patted Charles'' shoulders.

    "Oh, well. It seems that you guys managed just fine. So just rest easy, okay?" Raven said as he stood up.

    "Where are you...oh, there are some me Elementals." Theomented.

    "Just take it easy. Leave those to me." Raven said as he stepped out of the formation.

    P

 Chapter 596 - Trolls, Harpies And Sharks

    ---

    "Damn it! There no end to these things! So irritating." Loganined once the team went inside the Formation.

    It''s been more than a month since they moved on from their previous position. They still haven''t seen the next Trial Gate but it doesn''t mean that they''ve been idle like before.

    "Is there a nest nearby? Or a Lair perhaps? I can''t be that these things just show up out of nowhere right?" Theo said while looking around.

    "Didn''t we already scout ahead earlier? We didn''t find any so that might just be the case." Henry said as he sat down on the table.

    "I guess Mount Olympus is truly one of a kind." Charlesmented.

    ''I wonder about that...'' Raven inwardly said. With him knowing what truly happens whenever the climate changes around them, he can''t whole-heartedly agree with what Charles said.

    ''Well, I guess that''s true for this world.'' He thought after considering it for a moment.

    As he was in deep thought, he was also preparing some food for them to consume. He didn''t prepare too many since they weren''t truly tired.

    Fighting against waves of Smanders and me Elementals didn''t really pose an extreme challenge to them. Raven was apanied by four War Gods. Each of them could end the whole ecosystem of an entire should they want to. If anything, it was just irritating since the battles were stalling them.

    Thankfully, they could conceal themselves from them with Raven''s formation. This allows them to have some moments of peace here and there. Thinking what might happen without it or Raven for that matter, stresses out the War Gods to no end. Thankfully, he''s here with them.

    The team decided to rest for a while. They''ve been moving for three whole days without any rest just to cover more ground, unfortunately the Trial Gate is still nowhere to be seen which really bummed them out.

    Speaking of these troublesome beasts, the team eventually reached an agreement. Since Raven had little to no trouble dealing with them, he was the one to take them on. The War Gods will only provide help at the barest minimum but for the most part, Raven would handle thing on his own.

    This is in order for the War Gods to not consume as much energy that they''ll need for the uing trials.

    At first, the War Gods didn''t agree to this. Raven had already done so much to make this hike easier for them, only in battles and Trials could they contribute. But Raven told them that it''s fine.

    ''To be honest, this trip has been rtively boring for me. I mostly just stayed put and waited until you guyse out. Now that these things appeared, I think they''ll give me a good exercise. Don''t worry, I won''t overdo it. You can still expect that I''ll be here waiting until you guys cleared all the trials.''

    That''s what he told them back then. And since Raven already insisted, the War Gods could only leave it to him.

    Now, Raven was at least having some fun. He''d get to y some beasts which allows him to test the techniques he had been refining for quite some time. Sometimes, he''d use his absurd physical strength to rip them apart, other times he won''t even let them get close to them thanks to the Brush of Wisdom.

    However, Raven''s favorite method to kill these Smanders and me Elementals is to summon enormous shards of Ice Spears to pierce them. Watching them writhe in agony greatly satisfied him.

    This is why everything is covered with a thick fog whenever Raven was at work.

    The War Gods would sometimes join in the action as well but they won''t move unless they''re surrounded. Still, even if that''s the case, they werepletely safe thanks to Raven protection.

    Raven and the team rested for a whole day within the formation. Raven would asionally go outside to clear some beasts while the War Gods enjoyed their peace and quiet as if they were on vacation.

    After resting, the team continued on their way with Raven leading them this time. As usual, there are still waves of Smanders and me Elementals but all was cleared by Raven in no time. The more he fights, the faster he''s refining his moves and the faster he''s able to deal with these pesky beasts.

    This trend continued until...

    "Oh! Damn, finally! The Trial Gate is there!" Henry said as he saw the blossoming light ahead of them.

    The War Gods sighed and immediately wore a serious expression once they saw they the trial gate as well. Their time hase once more.

    Raven saw the Trial Gate as well, he too was somewhat relieved. They''ve been moving forward for nearly 2 months now. It was inly obvious that the distance between each trial gates are getting further and further. If it wasn''t for that, then this trip would''ve went much faster.

    Now that the 2nd Trial Gate towards the 7th Checkpoint is visible, the team hurried onwards and approached the gate as fast as they could. Once they entered its vicinity, the War Gods didn''t waste time and immediately entered the trial gate. They didn''t even said a word to Raven at all.

    Well, it''s not like there''s anything to say anyway. They''ve already told them everything that he needs to know and they already fell under a routine.

    As soon as they entered, the Trial Gate closed shut and Raven was left all alone once more.

    He was originally nning to set up the formation when all of a sudden, the environment changed around him.

    Raven didn''t even had the time to anticipate it. He was sent on another parallel world with him barely reacting. Before he knew it, the zing heat was gone and was reced with soul-chilling breeze. He found himself standing within a vast nket of white snow. The skies above were gloomy yet it''s also strangely lit up.

    The visibility of his surroundings lessened, reced by uncaring and lofty hail of snow. Raven could feel the shivers all over his body. The temperature was dangerously low that it was really affecting him.

    If this cold had a great effect on Raven, then it''s very likely that it''ll be terrible for War Gods.

    "Well, it wouldn''t be troublesome if it''s just on this level...but that''s not all there is too it, right?" Raven murmured as a rainbow colored light blossomed in his pupils.

    Thanks to his ocr technique, he could see into great distances. This allows him to see what''s hiding beyond the ferocious hail.

    Beasts with blue-ish skin, extremely unpleasant faces and bulky figures sporting an enormous club was slowly making their way towards him.

    "Ice Trolls." Raven clicked his tongue upon seeing them. And to make things worse, it wasn''t just Ice Trolls too...

    Looking at his left, he could see a half human and half-bird creatures pping their wings. Their human half appeared to be women with ridiculous body proportions. They have wings for arms which also had extremely sharp ws. Their eyes were bright red and there''s visible drool on the corners of their lips as they searched around whilst in the air.

    "Snow Harpies and..." Raven looked at his right and saw another type of beast.

    This one is and creature that favors diving in the snow, making it look like it was going underwater. It takes on a form of a human but very far from it. They have an upper body of a shark with a prominent dorsal fin on its back, it has a lower body of a human and was holding a trident. Raven could hear that it''s releasing some hymns, which might be a form of echolocation as well. These creatures moved in packs with most of them hiding beneath the nket of snow.

    "...Northern Merfolk huh? This is going to be a pain in the ass for sure." Raven murmured as he finished his initial preparation of the formation.

    Once he''s done, he unhesitatingly entered it and avoided the creatures he just saw for now. Within the formation, he didn''t need to worry about ambushes, this will enable him to take it easy and n his next course of action.

    "Ice Trolls, Snow Harpies and Northern Merfolk huh?" Raven murmured as he observed the creatures within the safety of his formation.

    "The Smanders and me Elementals already stalled is greatly. Now you''re telling me that we have to deal with more of these things? If it''s like before, then their numbers might as well be virtually endless. That''ll really slow us down."

    "Plus, it''s really troublesome to deal with them." Raven said while in deep thought. "If this was all then I alone would be sufficient to deal with them, however we can never be too sure."

    "Ice Trolls boast tough defense and are extremely aggressive. It''s also very tenacious that the only way to truly kill it, is by beheading it. Snow Harpies are slightly more troublesome since they could fly, however they are frail. They make up for that weakness by mobbing."

    "And finally, we have the Northern Merfolk. Sharks, huh? Once they dive in the snow, their speed reaches an absurd level. They like mobbing their prey too..."

    "Now, how do I deal with these?"

 Chapter 597 - Madness

    ---

    "Well, well..." Raven muttered while smiling wryly as he looked at the devastation in front of him.

    He''s still in the middle of a fierce blizzard, yet due to what he had done, he could feel a strange wave of heat assaulting his face. The biting cold of the blizzard and the heating from what''s in front of him really made everything a bitplicated.

    "I might''ve went a little too eager with this." Raven said whileughing mirthlessly.

    Aside from the vast nket of snow and the raging blizzard around him, there is now an enormous boulder releasing an intense heat, which is being doused by the on going blizzard, causing a puddle of water to form beneath the boulder.

    "Yup. Summoning a meteor to kill those things were definitely overboard." Raven nodded to himself, as if he didn''t realize this prior to him summoning the meteor that''s now in front of him.

    There''s virtually no remains of neither the Ice Trolls, Snow Harpies or Northern Merfolk that could be seen due to the severe impact of the meteor. In fact, the impact caused the mountain to tremble. Raven originally wanted to summon more than one but he decided against it. Which is definitely the right the decision on his part.

    There''s no knowing if the path beneath him could withstand another meteor impact just like before.

    "Ugh, why did I even do this? I''m such an idiot!" Raven smacked his cheeks as it was just now sinking how stupid this idea was. "Summoning a meteor just to deal with these things? Really? That''s first idea thate to my mind? And to think that I actually did it, is even more absurd!"

    "I could''ve easily yed with this things with barely an effort, yet I just had to summon an freaking meteor! Ugh! How am I going to exin this now?" Raven was feeling a bit stressed.

    It was truly surprising for him to be this childish. He didn''t know what has gotten onto him which made him summon a meteor to kill these creatures. Yes, they are troublesome to deal with but it''s not like summoning a meteor was the only option he has. He could think of ten different ways to deal with them with ease, yet he still picked a meteor amongst all options.

    "All this has done is to confirm the fact that I can indeed summon a meteor from the Outer Space thanks to the seals and nothing else. It wasn''t worth the effort since from previous experience, there''s bound to ne another wave of these things appearingter, no way I''d summon another meteor to deal with those. Additionally, it drained a good chuck of my Cosmic Energy."

    "It hasn''t even been that long since I promised to them to not overdo it, yet I''ve already did just that. Way to go, me." Raven sarcasticallymented.

    In the end though, what''s done is done. It''s not like he could return this thing back to where he had taken it. He could only think of ways to get rid of it since it''s somewhat blocking a good portion of the road.

    Raven sighed and took out the Brush of Wisdom once more. He then walked at the direction of the meteor and began drawing something out in the air. He swiped the brush in several directions, once his done, a huge rune appeared in the air and shot towards the meteor at a blinding speed.

    The rune began grinding the meteor down, turning it to dust as time went on. The process took at least ten minutes before the enormous meteor was nowhere to be seen and the puddle of water below where it was before became frozen solid.

    Once he was done dealing with the meteor. Raven went back to the formation where it''s warm and cozy. He took a swift nce at the Trial Gate and saw no changes so far. That means that the War Gods are still inside, and was probably working hard to clear it.

    "They''ll probably be in there for a while." Raven muttered as he entered his tent to get some sleep.

    Since he''s within the absolute protection of the formation, he could take it easy and set the pace ording to his own will. Even if the formation were to be damaged, he''d be informed in time and could most likely diffuse the situation, given his abilities.

    Lying down on the soft and fluffy bedding that he brought for himself to use, he stared above whilst in deep thought.

    "I wonder what''s going on with the sect right now." He murmured. "Had I not agreed with this climb, I wonder was I was supposed to be doing right now?"

    "...most likely I''d be drowning in paperwork. Well, that may not be the case either. Who knows? Either way, there''s no way I''d know since I''m not physically there right now." Raven told himself. "Dang it, I should''ve left an Avatar. That way I''d know what''s going on."

    "Ah well...toote for that I guess."

    Raven became a bit silent for quite sometime before he felt a sense of drowsiness on his body. He couldn''t help but think about the War Gods and their well being.

    "I wonder what''s the trial this time around." Raven softly said, his eyelids were slowly turning heavy due to the drowsiness he felt. He yawned and continued saying: "I hope their luck wouldn''t be too bad. Else they''de out injured and severely exhausted once more."

    Raven''s mind were filled about numerous thoughts about the trials, he was too upied that he didn''t even realized that he already sumbed to the drowsiness and fell asleep.

    ---

    "Oh wow." Raven was somewhat speechless when he saw themotion outside once he walked out of his tent after waking up.

    His lips twitched as he saw droves of beasts roaming around the vicinity of the formation. There were too many of them of that he didn''t even need to activate his ocr technique to see them since they were visible. If he could see this much of them even without his ocr technique, then he didn''t need it to realize that he''spletely surrounded.

    "Summoning a meteor now wouldn''t be as bad of an idea unlike before however...I don''t really need to do that, right?" Raven muttered as the Brush of Wisdom silently appeared on his hand.

    Raven didn''t even bother to step outside of the formation, he just felt toozy to do so. Nevertheless, even if he didn''t went out, it still wouldn''t change the oue.

    Since they were here, then they can forget about returning...

    Drawing several lines up in the air, anotherrge rune appeared above him. This time, the rune was filled with an extremely malicious intent which Raven purposefully applied in there.

    Shortly after, the rune began condensing. The lines began converging, forming a single world which is filled with animosity that Raven never disyed to anybody he met in the sect so far.

    ''MADNESS''

    That is the word that the rune formed after if was done. Raven nodded his head in satisfaction and lifted a small portion of the Formation to send the rune outside.

    As soon as the rune came out, every beast around stared at it.

    It was as if they''ve seen something so incredibly beautiful and bewitching that they can''t peel their eyes away from it. Shortly after staring at the rune, the eyes of the beast glowed with crimson light. Raven smiled devilishly as this sight as this was a sign that they were already caught in his trap.

    "Now then..." Raven murmured with a strange voice. "Let this Madness consume you. ughter to your heart''s content!"

    Raven''s voice was constrained by the formation, meaning that none of the beast actually heard what he said. Yet as soon as he was done saying his piece, it triggered an absurd reaction and the beasts began tearing each other apart.

    Pained groans and dying wails filled his surroundings. Raven watched in silence as the troublesome beasts began ughtering one another. So far, the Ice Trolls were dominating the battle simply due to their absurd physical strength, yet the Northern Merfolk still managed to even out the ying grounds by diving under the nket of snow and ambushing them.

    The most pitiful ones were the Snow Harpies. Sure they could fly but that''s all there is to it. They were too slow to avoid the powerful swings of the Ice Trolls nor fast enough to avoid the tridents being thrown by the Northern Merfolk.

    Raven wanted to give himself a pat in the back as he watched this horrible scene. Since he wasn''t included in it and he was hidden behind the absolute protection of his very own formation, he didn''t pity the beasts, and instead felt greatly satisfied with this oue.

    He sat down on the table and cupped his chin with his hands. He watched in amusement as corpses started being swallowed by the ferocious blizzard.

    "See? Dealing with them is as simple as lifting a finger for me.. There''s absolutely no need to summon a meteor."

 Chapter 598 - Bloom

    ---

    "Well, that''s all there is too it." Raven said as he saw the still on going madness around him.

    With the Madness rune hanging above their heads, the monsters around him continued ughtering each other mercilessly. So long as the rune remained in there, every beast that will see it, will turn mad and will start killing each other. Sufficed to say, it''s pretty much sure that the rune will remain in there since it could sustain itself even without Raven''s assistance.

    While the madness went on around him, Raven wasn''t shy. He sneakily harvested some materials from the fresh corpses around him such as the feathers and ws of the Snow Harpies, the club, sinew and skin of the Ice Trolls, the tridents and dorsal fins of Northern Merfolk. These items might not look much but they are valuable.

    Some of these items could be used in Alchemy. Some of them could be used as catalyst for cksmithing and so on. If Raven were to take these items at the Merit Exchange Market, he''d probably receive a good amount of Merit Points. However, as Raven''s not reallycking in that department, he decided to use these items himself.

    "I could tinker some pretty neat items out of these things. Heck, I could even use some of them to improve the overall quality of the formation, making it no less than an actual fortress. I essentially got them for free so why not?" Raven murmured as he continued his harvest.

    After sometime, therge horde of beast which appeared earlier, was now virtually gone. The ones remaining were extremely injured and would sumb to the evesting embrace of winter pretty soon.

    Raven no longer concerned himself with these beasts. He had made a killing with barely an effort, a feat that only Raven might be able to pull off.

    He was in the middle of enhancing the formation right now. He was focused on the task since one wrong move and the formation will fall apart, cing him at risk with each passing moment.

    Proceeding with care, Raven eventually was able to bolster the defense of the formation. Now, it would even be tougher for beasts to locate it, and even if they could, they won''t be able to go past its defense.

    Raven had a smile of relief once he was done with his job. As he was deciding whether to take eat or go straight to sleeping, something urred within him thatpletely changed his ns.

    He felt amotion within his inner world, strong enough to rock his body. His eyes went wide as he immediately sank his perception within his Inner World. When he does, he became immediately surprised with what''s happening.

    His attention went straight towards the center of his Inner Cosmos since that''s where he felt the fluctuations from earlier. When he took a look, he discovered that the World Tree Seed was shaking fiercely as if it was about to erupt.

    Raven hurriedly calmed his nerves down and concentrated. Moving swiftly, he immediately entered the crown space, going straight towards the Cultivation Eden. He sat on thergest Stargazing Mat and consumed supplements that aids his concentration.

    Once he was good to go, he entered a meditative state and began releasing his control over the World Tree Seed.

    Chaos ensued after that.

    Raven''s body visibly rocked back and forth due to the intense fluctuations within his body thanks to the World Tree Seed. His Inner Cosmos went chaotic, but he wasn''t really injured thanks to the tempering he had went through.

    Audible cracking sounds echoed on his ears, being released by the World Tree Seed. Raven''s energy was being absorbed at an rming pace, yet at the same time Raven could feel arge mass of insight crashing through his brain.

    These insights were focused on Spacetime Laws, what shocked him is that, the seed hadn''t even bloomed yet and he''s already gaining tons of insight. So far, he had only heard the rhythmic cracking sounds of the seed''s shell, yet for some reason it is filled with profound mysteries that sent Raven''s brain in an overdrive already.

    Raven tried to devour these insights as swiftly as he could, he even had his Avatars helping him with it. Still he''s was just barely making it through. However that didn''t really stumped him at all. If anything, this encounter just fired him up even more.

    Raven being at his absolute best state when ites to deduction thanks to the assistance of supplements and tools, upped the tempo. Now, he was able to deduce the mysteries and insights to the point that he''s no longer being overwhelmed. In fact, he''s now waiting for it to release more instead.

    Raven didn''t get confident of course, he knew very well that this is just the start of everything. And he''s totally right about that.

    When cracks actually started appearing at the surface of the seed, that''s when things went more intense for him. Everything about the appearance of the seed was now filled with Spacetime Law insights, even the ambiguous cracks that had formed on its surface were also filled with profundity, not to mention the sounds it makes.

    Raven devoured the insights like a starving hyena. He could feel that his knowledge about the concepts of Spacetime Laws were solidifying and bing richer as time goes on.

    More cracks appeared at the surface of the World Tree Seed. From within it, Raven could hear a faint hymn which sounds like the rhythmic beating of a heart.

    All of a sudden, a massive fluctuations rocked him once more. This time around, there was a massive explosion that urred within Raven''s Inner Cosmos.

    Everything went in chaos, yet for some reason, as Raven experienced this chaos, he found himself in a trance. Entering the state of enlightenment amidst the chaotic environment within his body.

    As Raven fell in trance, a great transformation urred within his body. His Inner Cosmos shrank considerably, yet it''s overall quality rose up as well. At the very center of the Cosmos, there was a fog which hid the most important transformation of all.

    Since Raven was at a state where he''s in no control, his perception can''t pierce through this fog. Yet if one would''ve looked closely, the fog serving as a veil to hide the transformation of the World Tree Seed is actually filled with a strong yet also very familiar feeling to it.

    Time passed just like this. As Raven and his Avatars processed all of the insights that were drowning them, they were makingrge strides towards the Spacetime Laws, so much progress that it''s actually starting to overtake the overall progress of the Destruction Laws.

    At some point, the fog covering the center of the cosmos suddenly made arge movement. Every single bit of it were sucked within the center, more specifically at the lone yet somehow massive sprout at the very center of his Inner Cosmos.

    The spout has taken root, and currently has two leaves. One was green, filled with veins at the surface that traces back at the main vein at the very center of the leaf. Its color was vibrantly crisp, filled with vigor and numerous profundities of Spacetime Laws. This leaf, is the actual leaf of the World Tree.

    This leaf might just look like some in old leaf at the surface but once one discovered the seemingly endless profundities within, one would be able to unlock a world-shaking secret.

    The other leaf was pure white in color. Unlike the other leaf, this one doesn''t have a stable form. It erratically sways and changes shape at any given moment. Nevertheless, it still contained the same amount of profundity within which also holds an earth-shaking secret.

    This leaf is in fact, the new form of Raven''s Cleansing mes. The Cleansing me Sprout was devoured by the World Tree Seed back then but it wasn''tpletely gone. It experienced a rebirth along with the World Tree Seed blooming.

    Now it is a part of Raven''s World Tree Seed, and it evolved into something that still has the characteristics of the Cleansing mes and more.

    The World Tree Seed had sprouted and greatly rewarded Raven for his patience and diligence. It has stopped draining his energies which were almost sucked dry.

    Now that it had turned into a World Tree Sprout, Raven''s progress with Spacetime Laws would only improve even further. Just the blooming of the seed, expedited the time it will take for Raven to reach the 3rd Concept of Spacetime Laws. What''s more is that, it doesn''t stop there. There are still profundities that Raven could deduce by observing the leaves of the sprout.

    If Raven could unlock the earth-shaking secrets behind them, then Raven strength would shoot through the roof. Who knows, he might even reach the same level of strength he had back at his previous life even if he hadn''t reached the Empyrean Rank yet.

    Still, the amount of insights he received when the seed bloomed were too much. It would take him months before he could eventually digest them all so he''d be in this state for quite sometime.

    Thankfully he decided to go at the cultivation eden to seclude himself.

 Chapter 599 - Poison

    ---

    Raven woke up at thetter half of his stay at the Crown Space.

    Upon opening his eyes, his gaze could give one an impression of ancientness. It was as if Raven was somebody who had seen ages shed before his very eyes that nothing surprises him anymore. His body released an archaic air as well.

    All of this was due to the World Tree that had sprout within his Inner Cosmos. At the end of his state of enlightenment, everything came rushing back to him, allowing him to re-organize himself properly.

    Raven''s view of the world changed once more. Due to his recent enhancement, he couldn''t help but feel a bit omnipotent. He felt as if nothing could escape his gaze, as if he could see through every secrets the world has to offer.

    It was a peculiar feeling, something that wouldn''t stay for long but he still reveled in it.

    "My Inner Cosmos stabilized...but it looks a bit weird now." Raven murmured.

    Within his Inner Cosmos, a truly peculiar sight could be seen. The swirling cosmos still moved in a rather mesmerizing manner yet at it''s very center, there is no core anymore. Instead, there was a lone sprout with one green leaf and one pure white leaf recing it. Typically, this sprout shouldn''t even be visible considering overall size of the cosmos, but this is the sprout of the World Tree...

    Although Raven haven''t seen an actual World Tree before, ording to his research they can grow up to an unbelievable size. Well, the World Tree could truly connect worlds through it''s branches and could reflect the infinite realities at it''s leaves, then it''s size should be one of the things that Raven should consider the least.

    Still, for a massive sprout to be situated at the very core of a cosmos, paints a very strange image indeed.

    "Well, nothing I could do about that. Plus, it isn''t so bad." He murmured once more, "Nurturing a world tree within my body huh? Sounds fun."

    Raven inspected his Inner Cosmos closely still and found out that the overall quality of his Cosmic Energy rose up once more. Well, that''s just only one of the benefits he receive out of the World Tree Seed blooming.

    Setting aside all of the insights he absorbed from it, the World Tree Sprout also allowed Raven to use his Spacetime Laws more smoothly.

    Right now, if he wanted to use Temporal Scrying to scan the past or future of a certain object or location, he no longer was required to make contact with it. All he needs to do is to stare at it and everything he needed to know will be visible to him.

    He could also now travel even further back to either the past or the present. At maximum, he could return at least 3 months to the past or future. In fact his influence over the Trinity of Realities became even stronger thanks to the seed sprouting.

    Even without moving, he could send himself to either the past, present or future, to avoid certain events if he needed to. For example, should a meteor fall down right on top of him, he could simply send his body to either the past of future topletely avoid it.

    Since the meteor will ur at the present, if he sent his body to the past, he couldpletelye out of it unscathed. In fact, he might even be able topletely deny that reality by altering the past ording to his own liking. Changing the past will also alter the events of the present,pletely changing the reality as he once saw it.

    This is just a simple application example for his current prowess. Adding the fact that his Spacetime Domain becamerger as well, then his options would greatly vary.

    Once he was done inspecting his gains, Raven stood up from his seat and did some stretching. He remained at a meditative pose for more or less three months straight, and he could feel that his bones were a bit stiff. Therefore he decided to do some stretching just to regain his mobility.

    Once he got the blood flowing, Raven decided to take it easy and rest for a bit. He rewarded himself by eating something and sleeping for three days straight. He could see what''s going on in the real world so he''s not worried at all.

    The War Gods were still trapped inside the trial gate so he still has some time for himself. Move waves of beasts were appearing left and right but the madness rune was still active so he didn''t have to worry about them.

    Since he had no burdens right now, then he could really take his time and rest easy.

    Resting allows him toplete the stabilization of his state so it''s necessary for him to do so.

    Once he was properly rested and hadpletely recovered. Raven made the effort of replenishing his lost energies. Yes, even through his Inner Cosmos becamerger and it''s quality rose up by several notches thanks to the influence of the World Tree Sprout, he''s still missing a good amount of it thanks to the aftermath of the seed blooming.

    This time, Raven didn''t use any supplements to restore his energies. He chose to do things manually by sitting down in meditation and siphoning energy from his surroundings.

    The quality and quantity of energies present at the world inside the Crown Space were high to begin with. Additionally, Raven had time so he figured why not?

    Doing it this way sure is slow, in his estimations it will take at least one week straight of non-stop energy absorption topletely fill out his missing energy. Raven wasn''t fazed though. He had time, and there was no need for him to rush.

    And since he''s already at it, Raven also decided to integrate with the insights his Avatars received.

    Just like this, Raven spent majority of his remaining time of seclusion to fully consolidate his gains. By the time he was done, it was about time for him to exit. As much as he would''ve loved to stay, he didn''t want to risk it since the War Gods might exit pretty soon.

    ---

    "I guess you guys got unlucky once more?"

    This was how he greeted the War Gods once he saw their current states after exiting the Trial Gates.

    The War Gods didn''t even have any spare energy to reply to him. None of them could even stand properly and were about to pass out at any given moment. Their bodies will filled with numerous injuries. Lashes, bruises and cuts were visible all over them.

    Their uniforms had definitely seen better days. Their uniforms were shredded, filled with holes, burnt and etc. Their bodies were visibly trembling and their eyes had totally lost focus.

    Raven sighed and pitied their current state, he knew that now''s not the time to ask any questions so he immediately helped them out of their predicaments.

    He took them within the formation to eat and rest. The moment the War God smelled the mouth-watering scent of food, signs of life returned to their eyes. Raven didn''t say anything and served them food which they devoured like starved beasts.

    Raven observed from the side, hoping that his food will somehow be able to at least return their sanity to them and heal them up a bit but for some reason, it wasn''t working. This caused Raven to raise a brow.

    Typically, with nourishment that his food has, the injuries on their bodies would at least show signs of healing. Yet no matter how much food they chowed down, the injuries they had weren''t healing at all.

    This prompted Raven to inspect them closely. Rainbow colored light blossomed on his eyes as he inspected their bodies and once he made a thorough inspection, his face abruptly changed.

    "Oh dear, this is bad..." Raven said as he hurriedly took out some material from his spatial ring. "They''re poisoned, pretty badly at that."

    Raven had no idea what kind of poison affected them but he could definitely see traces of it. Additionally, whatever poison this was, it could only be lethal to them since it managed to reduce them to this state. These people are War Gods, they''re not regr people.

    "This is going to be tricky..." Raven murmured to himself, "Whatever did this to them, must''ve been an expert of Poison Laws since those are the only types of poison that could affect them. I don''t have much experience dealing with Poison Laws but I could only try my best."

    Raven hastily prepared the materials he''s going to need. Once he made ample preparations, he summoned the brush of wisdom and began drawing up a rune.

    As the rune slowly manifested, the materials in front of him were being used one by one. By the time he was done, all of the materials were transformed into an apparatus which held the rune in ce.

    The rune formed the word ''Cleansing''. It is also fueled with Raven''s Cleansing mes which received an ample boost due to it evolving.

    Once the rune appeared, the War Gods sudden froze and lost consciousness, falling down like sacks of potatoes.

 Chapter 600 - Recovery

    ---

    "Well, that should do it." Raven murmured as he ced the unconscious War Gods at their respective tents while making sure that the Cleansing Rune remained in effect.

    At first he was worried after seeing them lose consciousness all of a sudden but after another inspection, he found out that there''s nothing wrong with them and them losing consciousness is actually a good sign.

    Raven analyzed the poison that invaded their systems and managed to find out that except for the fact that it could wither their vitalities from within, fueled with Poison Laws, the poison also managed to prate their nervous system and take control of their minds, effectively making them no less than mindless puppets. This is why the War Gods weren''t responding to him.

    The reason why they didn''t attack them is because the poison hasn''t prated that deep enough to their nervous system therefore it wasn''t fully in control yet. As the War Gods saw Raven as an ally, of course they wouldn''t attack him.

    That being said though, had Raven been one stepte on figuring out that they were poisoned, the worst might''ve happened. Raven wasn''t afraid of stopping all four of them since he was confident that he could do that, what he feared is that there might be anotheryer of poison that will be trigger once they fight.

    The War Gods were already sufficiently weakened, their bodies won''t be able to endure another poison and in result, they might die from that...

    Thankfully, everything was over. With Cleansing Rune working overtime in addition to the natural immunity of their bodies, the Poison Laws should be flushed out of their system in no time.

    "Now, I truly wonder what happened inside." Raven murmured to himself. "Of course it''s a given that they encountered something or someone that''s blessed with high-tiered Poison Laws, but what is it exactly? Howe all of them were affected? Questions forter I guess."

    Indeed, these are questions forter. Right now, he had to make sure that the War Gods are safe and could rest nice and easy. For that, of course he had something prepared.

    He created another set of Incense Sticks which could release a rxing smoke. The smoke didn''t need to be inhaled to take effect, it just needs to be in the close proximity with a person.

    Raven lit up the incense sticks and ced them inside their tents, allowing the smoke to be enclosed within and take full effect on them. This will allow them to rx and fall to an even deeper sleep where their injuries will recover much faster.

    From what he observed earlier, the Poison Laws did mess up their bodies from the inside. Although their external injuries already healed, it will take an even longer time for them to recover from their internal ones, specially since it was afflicted by Poison Laws. The Cleansing Rune wouldn''t cure that nor would the smoke. Their natural recoveries will work but it will take them years if they were to rely on that alone.

    Therefore, Raven decided to cook some more nutritious meals. This time, he didn''t hold back. He made sure to fill each te with a highly nutritious meal that, when digested, will boost their natural recovery to an absurd degree without any side-effects.

    Although he could do other roundabout ways to do this, he believed that this is the best approach since it''s the most satisfying one. Eating a meal to recover sounds more attractive than having them sit with backs faced against him as he cured them manually.

    Of course, there''s no way that Raven would sacrifice the taste of the food he makes. His pride wouldn''t allow him to do that.

    A couple of days passed before the War Gods woke up after another. As soon as they got out of their tents, they immediately seduced by the enticing smell of food. Their stomachs rumbled at the scent of food, looking a bit further, they saw Raven preparing meals for them while gesturing them toe over to the table.

    Eating his delicious meals for quite some time now, there''s no way that the War Gods would refuse this invitation. All of them wordlessly sat down on the table and waited for Raven to finish up serving the food.

    Seeing mountains of scrumptious food in front of them, the War Gods couldn''t help but swallow hard. Raven chuckled and gestured for them to help themselves. Again without saying a word, the War Gods began stuffing their mouths, eating like there was no tomorrow.

    "So good!!"

    "This is the best."

    *Nom* *Nom* *Nom*

    "You''ll make a good husband..."

    The War Godsmented as they devoured the food in front of them. Raven casually smiled at the sight of the food mountain shrinking at a pace visible to the naked eye. Raven already anticipated the intensity of their hunger so he prepared more food than usual.

    Of course he didn''t miss the chance to observe their conditions while they''re at it. If he didn''t, then he''spletely missing the point of feeding them this highly nutritious food.

    With his ocr technique active, and the War Gods not raising their guards up, he managed to inspect their internal conditions from where he stood. He sighed in relief as he saw his food turning into pure forms of energies that healed their internal injuries at a visible pace.

    The War Gods kept eating for two hours, barely stopping to drink water or breathing. By the time they were done, all of them had blissfully expressions on their faces.

    "My goodness gracious." Theo said as he felt like melting on his seat due to howfortable he felt. "I never thought I could eat that much but here we are."

    "Same." Logan said while letting out an audible burp. "Feasting after an exhausting battle truly is the best."

    "You''re missing the whole point." Henry interjected, letting out a burp as well. "All of those meals were filled with nutrition."

    "True, haven''t you noticed that all of our injuries, external and internal, are now gone. We''re as good as new." Charlesmented.

    "Of course, I noticed that." Logan protested. "I''m not that dumb to not notice that. I even know that good ol'' Raven here could''ve healed us using other means but he chose food since it''s the most satisfying method. Ain''t that right?"

    Logan looked at Raven while grinning, thetter raised a thumbs-up to him as he enjoyed his tea in silence.

    "See?" Logan felt a bit smug after receiving Raven''s confirmation.

    "Hmph. I guess you''re not that dumb them. But you''re still dumb." Henrymented.

    "Whatchoo say?" Logan red at him.

    "Alright guys, chill. We just finished eating for crying out loud." Theo said as he stopped Henry while Charles stopped Logan.

    Raven merely chuckled at this sight and told himself, ''Yup, they''re doing just fine.''

    "How did you guys ended being affected by Poison Laws anyway?" Raven asked, he chose to ask now since the War Gods looked perfectly fine now.

    "It''s a long story but..." Henry hesitated but still continued with it. "In short, we just got extremely unlucky once more."

    "Yeah, what he said." Logan nodded his head.

    "We we''re faced with an Umbral Crow Emperor." Theo''s face twisted as he remembered the encounter. "The son of a bitch were too fucking fast and mastered aerialbat, something that we admittedly fell short to."

    "Not only that, it''s also awakened it''s God Beast Bloodline, allowing it to have ess to a fully mastered Poison Laws. Not even Theo''s Cleansing mes can protect us from that." Charlesmented.

    "Oh, I see." Raven nodded his head.

    "We managed to y it but we still ended up sumbing to the corrosive qualities of its Poison Laws. If we attacked you back then, please excuse us. We weren''t on our right minds." Henry said.

    "Oh, don''t worry about that. The Poison Laws hadn''t corrupted you that deep with the trial gate spat you out anyway so you didn''t attack me. Thankfully, I also noticed that you guys were acting quite weird so I managed to discover that you were affected by Poison Laws before you went mad."

    The War Gods let out a sigh of relief when they heard that. That was actually the reason why they felt slightly down as soon as they woke up. They thought that Raven was upset at them when they attacked him. As it turns out, they didn''t, so all''s well.

    The team rxed for a bit more. The war gods told Raven what transpired within the Trial Gate and how they managed to take down the Umbral Crow Emperor. Amidst of their discussions, Theo suddenly asked something out of topic.

    "Say, I''ve been meaning to ask you this for quite sometime now but..." Theo looked around him, precisely at what''s happen outside of the formation.

    They''ve noticed this for quite sometime now but they didn''t say anything since it''s mostly likely Raven''s doing. Apparently, Theo can''t hold his curiosity anymore.

    "....why are they killing each other?"

 Chapter 601 - Final Stretch

    ---

    "That''s..." Theo gaped ever so slightly after Raven finished exining what was happening outside to them. "...oddly convenient."

    "It sure does." Raven chuckled. "A pity this method won''t work against devils or else our lives would be much easier."

    "True." All the War Gods nodded in response.

    Just the idea of setting up this Madness rune and letting the Devils ughter each other while their side watch at a distance sounds incredibly enticing. It would''ve been perfect if it was possible but since Raven himself, said that it unfortunately can''t, then there''s nothing they could do.

    Unlike these beast, Devils don''t have a will of their own. What they have is just a remnant piece of the Devil Emperor''s Will so this method won''t work. The will of the Devil Emperor is strong enough to ignore the erosion of the Madness Rune, and even Raven himself wasn''t even sure if he could face the Devil Emperor head-on so he didn''t want to unnecessarily provoked it''s ire.

    However, it''s not like they''repletely out of options. Thanks to this trip, Raven made decent advancements and could do much more to benefit the sect. So far, he only repaired the seal of then 9th and 11th floor. When he returns, he nned on doing the same to the lower floors first and see how far he could go.

    The team discussed some important matters some more before decided to rest. Although the War Gods had been cured through and through, mental fatigue is something that will take time to heal. It could only recover by having a good rest. Raven made sure to consistently provide support to them in order to make sure that they stay in peak condition.

    So far, the hike had been incredibly challenging, and as they progressed even further, it''s only going to get harder so Raven had to make sure that the War Gods can go on.

    Once they''ve gotten enough rest, the team continued their journey.

    Time passed very quickly, the team faced challenges again and again but thanks to Raven being a massive pir that the team could rely on, they managed to hold out.

    Approximately a year and a half passed and the team was onto the final stretch of the climb, meaning that they''re now about to leave the 13th Checkpoint to be on their way towards the peak of Mount Olympus.

    If one were to ask them before the climb started, none of them would be say that they are confident about reaching the peak. But now that they''re here, the War Gods could hardly wait to see what waits for them at the very top.

    It had been a long and grueling two years and a half for them. Well, Raven''s pretty rxed but still, it had been truly a long journey. Raven spent more time climbing Mount Olympus more than his actual stay at the sect.

    The War Gods had been through a lot. Endless trials and battles hardened their resolve and also allowed them to surpass their limits again and again. They are now a far cry from what they were prior to the climb. Raven watched them grow stronger before his very eyes, although he hadn''t seen them fight nor saw them breaking through, he''s still aware that they''ve gotten stronger.

    Well, if someone asked the War Gods. They''ll say that they wouldn''t be able to make it far on their own. Without Raven behind them, serving as their pir throughout the journey, they won''t even be able to make it through their previous record due to their luck.

    What can they say though? Raven never disappoints. No matter how much they struggle, no matter how difficult it was, how tired and battered up they got, he will always have ways to pick them back up and restore them to their peak condition.

    He makes it look easy but in reality, no one can do it like him. Throughout the duration of this hike, Raven''s position on their hearts had already solidified. Now, there''s no doubting why he was chosen as the next candidate for the Sect Master''s position.

    They didn''t doubt him at all, he''d do just fine and maybe...just maybe, he''ll be able to end this once and for all.

    As for the man in question well...he''s having a good time.

    Thanks to the abrupt change after they passed through the 7th Checkpoint, the boredom vanished. Raven could now y with the random enemies that are appearing on their journey. Admittedly, he hasn''t faced anything that made him panic. So far, he managed to deal with everything pretty smoothly and all of that, is thanks to his outstanding foundation.

    Raven wasn''t idle. He couldn''t afford such luxury. Although he rested pretty often, his efforts never faltered even for the briefest of moments. He made great strides in cultivation within this time but it''s still not nearly enough. He knows that he still have a long way to go.

    Right now however, none of that matters...

    What''s important is to focus on the hike. They''re at thest stretch. None of them knows what to expect since none of them thought that they could actually make it this far. Whatever it is that the mountain wants them to experience, they could only rise up to the challenge.

    Speaking about the hike, that too changed drastically as they moved-on.

    Ever since stepping out of the 10th Checkpoint, they no longer had to worry about the ever so inconsistent climate around them since they''re technically above the skies by now.

    Indeed, they are at the Outer Space by now. Below them was a vast sea of clouds, they''re also surrounded by milky swirls of silver which were an arrangement of stars at a vast distance.

    At first they were subjected to the sudden loss of gravitational pull andck or air but Raven''s got their back. A simple rune allowed them to regain their mobility and allowed them to survive at the Outer Space without any problems.

    They still faced trials here and there and as usual, Raven waited for them toe back victorious while dealing with the nuisance that are appearing here and there. Their luck really fluctuated, sometimes they''ll find themselves lucky and have a rather simple trial, while most of the times, they''ll be unlucky and take on a difficult trial.

    This fluctuating luck also includes the amount of trials they need to face before they get into the next Checkpoint.

    Sometimes they''ll face more than three while sometimes, they''ll only face three, it really varied.

    Nevertheless, all of that''s behind them right now, so as the 13th Checkpoint which was thest one. Now they are at the final stretch of their journey.

    Before leaving, the guardian of the 13th Checkpoint dropped hints at them, telling them that they don''t have to worry about nuisance dying them any longer, they won''t appear at this point onwards. However, it doesn''t mean that the climb will be much easier, if anything, it''ll be more challenging for them.

    The guardian didn''t say anymore than that since it''ll be against the rules. However, Raven could more or less understand what the guardian was trying to tell them.

    Nheless, the guardian did tell them a piece of solid information.

    *''Once you step out of this ce, it''ll vanish just like the rest. From then on, you all are just 10,000 miles away from the peak. Do your best. Maybe you lot will be the next group to receive the honor of surmounting Mount Olympus.''*

    They were only 10,000 miles away from their target. Considering the pace of which they travel, they have no problems clearing that distance within a matter of days. Still, if this mountain taught them anything, it would be to expect the unexpected.

    They don''t believe that something wasn''t up, in fact they''ll be surprised if their journey bes rtively smooth from hear on out. They were warned by the guardian, and none of them were foolish enough to ignore such warning. Raven would be the first one to smack their heads if they started gettingcent.

    The team had spent an entire month within the 13th Checkpoint. None other than them and the guardian were present. In fact there wasn''t even a merchant in there at all. Well, the guardian did sell some things but at this point, they''ve got everything they need.

    The team spent most of their time resting and making sure to remain at their peak condition. It was clear that they''re taking this seriously.

    Raven tried to get somest minute enhancements in and managed to do so. Right now, he''spletely ready to see what it''s like to be at the peak of the mountain. Although he had some concerns, Raven threw all of them at the back of his head.

    He doesn''t have time to worry about anything. He needs to pay attention to the hike and make sure that they''re sessful.

    Once the one month time period was up, the team reunited. All of them wore serious expressions on their faces as they stepped out of the 13th checkpoint all at the same time.

    As soon as they exited, the checkpoint vanished behind them, yet they couldn''t care less since they were suddenly thrown in panic.

    "What the hell is this pressure!!!!"

 Chapter 602 - Overwhelming Pressure

    ---

    "What the hell is this pressure!!!?"

    Almost everyone in the team eximed these words as soon as they took one step out of the 13th Checkpoint.

    They can''t even stand properly. It was as if an enormous mountain was pressing them down. It was extremely heavy that the thought of even taking a single step forward seems to be impossible.

    Of course there''s no way that this pressure was normal. Four people in this team carry the title of War Gods while Raven - although being the weakest in terms of cultivation realm, has a physique that could rival them. There''s no way that a strong pressure would be able to affect them like this since, therefore it is quite clear that this is regr pressure.

    It felt like a strong gravitational pull that prates their soul. No matter how hard they tried to muster up some strength to resist this pressure, it just presses them down even further. Breathing became a bit harder, veins started appearing from their face and they can''t even lift their heads up with this.

    "Damn! Damn!" Logan cursed as he stubbornly tried his best to at least take a step forward. However no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn''t do it.

    The rest simrly tried however it''s just impossible. The one who''s truly struggling was Theo since his physique isn''t admittedly as strong as hispanions. Unlike them, he excels at controlling the rhythm of the battle. He won''t casually sh with his enemies head on if there''s no need for it. This is not to say that his physique was weak, it''s just that he didn''t put as much attention to making it strongerpared to hispanions.

    ''Well, this is bad...'' Raven thought to himself as he felt the overbearing pressure pressing them down.

    Unlike the War Gods, the influence of the pressure fazed him but not as much as it did to them. At least he could remain standing straight under it''s influence when the rest couldn''t.

    That being said, he''s still affected by it.

    ''It''s a little bit challenging to draw something under this mighty pressure.'' Raven thought to himself. While it doesn''t look like he was struggling from the pressure due to his indifferent expression. It''s effect remained there.

    "Let''s calm down shall we?" Raven''s soothing voice echoed on their ears.

    The faces of the War Gods lit up, expecting that Raven could do something about the pressure but what he said next doused their excitement by a lot.

    "For now, it''s still a little bit challenging for me to draw a rune under this pressure. I''m not even sure if I could life my arm properly in the first ce."

    Those words caused the War Gods to feel a bit depressed. Of course, if they are struggling to endure the heavy pressure pressing them down, then Raven would undoubtedly have more difficulties on doing so. They''ve been relying on him so much that they actually forgot that they were supposed to be protecting him. That''s why they insisted to not allow him to participate on the trials anyway.

    "Don''t go all depressed on me now." Raven said after noticing their expressions. "I said that it''s difficult, not impossible. Give me some time and I''d do it."

    "Meanwhile, try your best to get limated to this pressure. They to slowly chip away it. Regain control of your body little by little. We are in no hurry right? Plus, isn''t this a great chance to improve yourselves? This pressure can''t be found everywhere. Take advantage of it and milk as much benefits from it as you can."

    Raven words resonated within their souls, causing their eyes brighten up. That''s right, this pressure doesn''t exist everywhere. It is quite rare for something of this level to fully suppress them, and since they''re already here, why not seize the chance to grow stronger?

    "The Guardian said that there won''t be any beast interfering with us. If that''s the case, then good. At least we can focus on this without any distractions. We''ve got time, so no need to be in a hurry." Raven added. "That being said, why don''t we have a littlepetition yeah?"

    His words sparked an interest to the War Gods, and they were listening to him closely.

    "We''llpete on who can regain their arm movement first. Thest one to do so, have to do the dishes. Sounds good? Blink if you agree. I can already move a finger by the way."

    Without ay hups, all of the War Gods blinked, which caused a smirk to appear on Raven''s face.

    "Alright, if you regain movement on one of your arms, just raise it to dere your done - ooh! I can move a second finger now."

    The War Gods were speechless. They decided to no longer pay attention to Raven and began concentrating on regaining their arm movement.

    ''Hook, line and sinker.'' Raven muttered inwardly when he saw the fiery fighting spirit radiating on their eyes.

    Baiting them through a simplepetition sounds childish but for these four, it was strangely effective. Who amongst the War Gods aren''tpetitive by nature? They wouldn''t acquire their current position if they were afraid of challenges in the first ce.

    The first step on defeating an undefeatable foe is to stop believing that it''s invincible.

    Sure, the mighty pressure pressing them down is truly out of this world and seemingly insurmountable but such is not really the case. This was already proven by Raven since unlike them who lost all manner of movement under the pressure, Raven could still talk freely and sound like this pressure was nothing but a slight inconvenience to him. Which was of course then followed by his provocations/announcement of him being able to move two of his fingers already, which was true by the way.

    If Raven, who''s supposed to be weaker than them, was able to do it. Then why couldn''t they?

    Time went on silently like that. The team was busy on their task that they weren''t really paying much attention to it.

    The first to regain his arm movement was of course none other than Raven. He raised it under the gazes of his teammates so it was proven. Now he was working on regaining movement for the rest of his body.

    The next one who did so was surprisingly Theo, who felt rather smug about it. It was truly unexpected considering that Theo had a weaker physique than hispanions but the results never lied. He raised his right arm and even summoned a plume of fire to annoy the rest. Of course he too worked on regaining the rest of his body movement.

    After that, it was followed by Charles and Henry, leaving Logan atst ce.

    "This is unfair! I got six arms!" Heined.

    "Excuses! None of us told you to lift all of them! Only one you dumbass!" Henry snorted.

    "But my physique is different from you!" He retorted.

    "We can see that." Charles stated, "You know it too so you should have more understanding of your own body that we do yet you still couldn''t do it. Now, that''s on us. That''s on you."

    "True." Henry sagely nodded since apparently he could do that now.

    "Well, I think it''s a blessing for you to have six-arms."

    "Theo-"

    "...since that would make washing the dishes six times faster! Ain''t that great?"

    "Hahahahahaha!"

    "Grr!"

    Raven just chuckled at their antics and left them alone. Logan lost and he wasn''t a sore loser so he would definitely honor the bet.

    For now though, they could forget about eating since they can''t even move properly yet.

    Time passed some more and before they knew it, a whole day passed. Raven sessfully managed to regain control of his entire body under the heavy pressure. He''s also the first one to take a step forward.

    At first his step was a little clumsy, yet that clumsy movementpletely gobsmacked the War Gods. Here they were still trying to work on the lower half of their body yet Raven already took a step forward.

    It didn''t take long before Raven''s second step urred, followed by the third and so on. Before they know, Raven was already walking in circles around him.

    Although his face looked rather unimpressed, there''s this whole annoying vibe around him saying that ''Heh, I''m better than y''all.'' Which absolutely ticked off the War Gods.

    This caused them to put even more effort on their side. It didn''t take long before they managed to take their first step one by one.

    Their progress gave them a rather satisfying feeling. No matter how simple it might seem, progress is still progress, who wouldn''t feel satisfaction from that? And yes, while ''taking their first step'' might sound unimpressive, considering that they did under the mighty pressure, was something to be proud about.

    By the time that the War Gods managed to regain their movement and could walk around freely, Raven was already done making his preparations.

    Considering that he''s a step ahead of them, of course he won''t just forget about his role here.

    "Alright, I''ve set up the Formation. Get in!"

 Chapter 603 - Opportunity

    ---

    "Ahhh!"

    The team collectively released a long sigh of relief as soon as they entered the formation. Feeling the heavy suppression disappearing from their bodies gives them an extremely rxing feeling followed by a wave of exhaustion.

    "Damn! We could finally rest." Theo said as he sat on the table, he stretch his neck and rolled his shoulders while his face showed a slight grimace.

    It was pretty much the same for the rest. Although they were only out there for at most, a whole day, the heavy suppression was a great burden not only on their bodies but also their minds. Regaining their mobility under that extreme pressure was more difficult than it looks like.

    "I''ve said this before but I''ll say it again." Henry spoke, catching the attention of the team. He looked at Raven and said: "Thank god your with us. If it weren''t for you, this would''ve been impossible."

    Although the rest didn''t say anything, they too share the same sentiments as they looked at Raven.

    Meanwhile, Raven just casually smiled and waved his hand. "I''m just doing what I can. For now, why don''t we all rest first? It''s about nighttime already and were not in a hurry anyway."

    "Good idea." Logan nodded as he stood up from his seat. "Well, then. I''ll sleep for now."

    "Do remember to clear the dishes tomorrow Logan, alright?" Charles reminded, causing the sixed-armed guy to flinch and for the rest to snicker.

    Logan looked back and red at Charles, saying: "I hear you, okay! Hmph!"

    He then stomped towards the tent, causing their rest to shake their tents in amusement. They soon followed his footsteps and went to their own tents. Well, all except for Raven who doesn''t really feel tired just yet.

    He''s currently busy preparing meals for the team. He nned on letting it cook overnight, just in time to reach the perfect doneness by breakfast tomorrow. That''s not all what he''s doing though.

    Aside from preparing food for tomorrow, Raven was also busy analyzing their current predicament.

    ''Just where did this immense pressure came from?'' That''s what has been bugging him for quite some time.

    Everyone, including him, were caught off-guard when it suddenly appeared. Raven had been trying to trace where this pressure wasing from but so far he had been failing on his attempts. He had a major guess though, and that is it''sing from the peak of the mountain. But he could also be wrong about that so he could only wait until they get there.

    Whether this question of his was relevant to their journey is unknown too. So he didn''t put much attention to it, he''s merely curious, that''s all.

    Aside from trying to search for the source of this pressure, Raven was also thinking how they should proceed from now on.

    There is no doubt that if he tries it, he could create a rune that could nullify the effects of this immense pressure. But that got him thinking, is it really wise for him to do that?

    Raven feel slightly conflicted. On one hand, he was their support. The whole reason why he climbed the mountain with them is to make their journey smoother and easier. So far, he been doing that quite excellently.

    But on the other hand, while some people might dread this immense pressure, Raven sees this as an opportunity.

    Just like what he mentioned earlier, this pressure couldn''t be found just about everywhere. Which also means that it is easy to replicate and that, they have to take advantage of it. This pressure is difficult to deal with, yes. But it also presents and opportunity for them.

    An opportunity to grow stronger...

    Under this pressure, this great difort, training will produce twice the result with half the effort. Additionally, with Raven''s formation here, their safety won''t be threatened. What''s more is that, they''re not in a hurry anyway, so why not take this time and this opportunity to increase their strength? Who knows when they''ll be able to return here? Who knows if it''s even possible for them to return here once they cleared it?

    Raven sighed as his mind were filled about contrasting thoughts. In the end, he decided to discuss it with them tomorrow instead. Whatever the team decided to do, he''ll just follow them. That''s his role anyway.

    ---

    "That''s a good point actually." Henry murmured softly as he was momentarily lost on his own thoughts.

    The team just finished their breakfast and as expected, Raven raised the issue with them. It wasn''t just Henry, the other War Gods were considering his words as well.

    The more they thought about it, the more Raven''s words makes sense. An opportunity was presenting itself to them, if they ignored it and just let it pass like that, wouldn''t that make them idiots as well?

    """"Let''s do it!""""

    All the War Gods replied at the same time. Clearly, they weighed their options and agreed to grab the opportunity to get stronger.

    "Well, I''m not surprised." Raven replied. "Okay, we''ll be training then. Since our bodies already limated at the initial pressure, the first step is to make sure that we''repletely limated to it first. Merely being able to withstand it is not enough, we have to make sure that we could fight under it''s influence."

    "I''ll be leaving the formation here." Raven stated, "Monitor your conditions properly. If you can''t endure it anymore, just retreat into the formation and recover here."

    "Sounds good." Logan stood up, and pumped his chest. He had a feral gleam on his face as he felt excitement rushing through his veins at the prospect of getting stronger. "Okay! Let''s do this!"

    "Let''s not get too excited first, Mr. Six Arms." Theo smirked as he looked at Logan who''s raring to go. "Before you get out of there to increase your strength, why don''t you honor the bet first and wash the dishes, eh?"

    Logan was gobsmacked as Theo''s words. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he thought that he could get away from this but Theo just happened to be there to remind everyone.

    "Oh! What a cunning bastard!" Henry sneered. "You thought you could get away from this huh? Nope sir! Wash the dishes or else, I''ll call you a sore loser forever."

    "Okay! Okay! I''ll wash them! Geez. So annoying!" Logan snorted as he gathered the tes carefully using all of his arms and went away to wash them.

    "Don''t worry, you''ve got six-arms. You''ll be done in no time!" Charles cheered him up with a knowing smile, causing Logan to re at him and for the rest of the team tough.

    After that little incident, the team then focused on their own training. They picked different spots in order to not disturb each other. So far, the remaining width of the road beneath them allowed them to do that.

    South from where the formation was stationed, Raven could be found with his upper body exposed. He''s currently doing a single finger hand stand, pumping his body up and down whilst enduring the overbearing pressure pressing his entire body down.

    Sweat poured from his body,nding as droplets on the ground beneath him. Each pump his did caused the muscles on his body to flex, revealing strong outlines of his perfectly sculpted body. Raven closed his eyes as he felt the heaviness of his body, beneath his skin, his muscles were constantly pulsating in order to regte the pressure throughout his body.

    Raven could feel the soreness of his body yet he endure it all silently and didn''t even show any changes on his serene expression,

    "998...999...1000! Hooo!" Raven pushed his finger using a stronger force, causing his body to be lifted several inches away from the ground. He flipped his body andnded on his soles, causing cracks to form on the ground, disying just how much weight was pressing him down.

    After that exercise, Raven calmly sat on the ground to catch his breath. At the same time, he also circted his Cosmic Energy to heal his torn muscles and alleviate the ache on his body.

    Exposing himself under this immense pressure also allowed Raven to discover somethings. The most surprising of which is that, even his Cosmic Energy cirction was greatly impeded by the pressure around them.

    Raven discovered this pretty early. Originally, he had a different training n for himself but because of this surprising factor, he decided to switch it up. First, he needed to make sure that he could circte his Cosmic Energy at it''s regr speed under the influence of this mighty pressure.

    Raven didn''t know why his Cosmic Energy cirction was affected but even if does know about it, he can''t do anything aside from limating to it. Therefore he didn''t bother himself with useless thoughts.

    So far, his exercise helped him a lot with this. Which is why during and after every work out, he will circte his Cosmic Energy and allow it to adapt here.

    This isn''t only the training he nned on doing so far, but this was his first goal.. Once he achieved it, then his Cosmic Energy Cirction would undoubtedly became faster once he this pressure disappears.

 Chapter 604 - Spike In Pressure

    ---

    ''I have made quite a progress during these past few days.'' Raven hummed inwardly as he rested inside his tent.

    Their training under this heavy pressure really squeezed out their hidden potential, most specifically for Raven who doesn''t see much action as needed. Right now, although he could still feel the weight of the immense pressure, it doesn''t hinder him so much to the point of rooting him on the spot unlike before,

    Additionally, Raven already managed to circte his Cosmic Energy under normal speed even while he''s at outside of the formation. The immense pressure outside slows down his energy cirction previously, but not that problem was solved. Additionally, since he could achieve what was his previous speed of energy cirction even under the influence of the immense pressure, his energy cirction without it was much fasterpared before.

    If that''s not enough, thanks to him repeatedly circting his energy throughout his body, the purity of his Cosmic Energy was exponentially rising. This was thanks to the filtering effects of the World Tree Sprout as it was the medium that purifies his Cosmic Energy. And since he''s actively resisting the immense pressure outside, his Cosmic Energy was being purified even more, creating a cycle that benefits him greatly.

    In the short span of days, his improvements could rival what it would normally take him months to aplish.

    Aside from him, the improvement of his current teammates were also nothing to scoff at. Due to the influence of the pressure, they were ironing out the imperfections on their techniques. Slowly but surely, these techniques were being refined into their most optimal state which would undoubtedly bring them immense boost on their uing battles.

    All in all, their decision to take advantage of this pressure to boost their growth was a correct one. Thankfully, Raven realized this and brought this to their attention, if not then they wouldn''t have been able to grow even stronger.

    ---

    "Everyone has proper adjusted to the pressure right?" Raven asked after their breakfast, earning nods from his teammates. "Since that''s the case, let''s move a little forward yeah?"

    The War Gods look at each other and nodded. Henry then said: "Sounds good. Since we''ve already minimized the effects of the pressure outside, then let''s see what''s lies on the top."

    "Meh, I wouldn''t jump into conclusions if I were you." Theo interjected, causing Henry and Logan to frown.

    "What do you mean?" Henry asked. However, instead of answering his question, Theo just looked at Raven. This was him telling Henry to listen to what Raven has to say.

    Raven of course knew what Theo implied, so he nodded and exined himself: "Well, it would indeed be nice if we could just charge towards the peak right away. However, I don''t think that it would be as simple as that."

    "You see, typically in ces where pressure like this exists. The closer we are at out destination, the heavier the pressure gets." Raven stated, causing Henry to momentarily be dazed and had the sudden urge to p himself.

    Yeah, how could he forget about that simple fact?

    "So yeah, I don''t think it would be that simple. I bet the pressure we have to endure will increase as we goes closer to the peak." Raven said, "The guardian at the 13th Checkpoint said that there''s 10,000 miles left for us to trek. I bet you once we enter the 9,000 meter territory, the pressure will suddenly spike. Well, I could also be wrong. But we''ll find out about it shortly aren''t we?"

    "We''re going there by foot so we would instantly feel it if there''s a spike in pressure. Then, we go back to camping and adjusting ourselves to the increased pressure and move forwards. Rinse and repeat. So yeah, this is going to take a while." Theo exined, allowing the rest to catch a glimpse of how thest stretch of their journey is going to look like.

    Raven nodded to Theo''s words as he too thought the same. He had been ced in these kinds of situations before that he''s no longer surprised. And the rest were experienced people so they too understand what''s about to happen.

    "Oh well, that doesn''t really sound so bad." Loganmented. "At least there won''t be some pesky beast that will hinder us anymore. If there were then this is truly going to be a pain in the ass."

    "Even if there is, Raven would most likely have a way to deal with them so you don''t really need to worry about it." Charlesmented as well.

    "Oh, true." Logan nodded.

    Raven simply smiled and didn''t deny this. He has indeed his ways to deal with beast, if there would be any. Heck, he even had a way to nullify this immense pressure around them if he wanted to, he''s being quiet about it.

    The reason being is that, nullifying the pressure would also disperse the chance for them to grasp the opportunity to grow stronger. They already resolved themselves to train and telling them that he could disperse the pressure in a few flicks of his wrist will dampen their resolve.

    Having the formation serving as their safe zone is already enough on it''s own. Since he could modify the formation to disperse the pressure, the he could always emte that through other means.

    With that being said, the team decided to move on and continue their hike. Raven had prepared himself to erect the formation as soon as they needed it. He could even activate it without needed to move.

    As they continued onwards, the pressure remained constant. Thanks to their recent improvements, they could more or less ignore the heaviness pressing them down. They took brief breaks during their travels in order to eat something or to rest. Raven decided to not activate the formation this time around since they could bear with the pressure anyway.

    They followed the road and after two days of travelling, they arrived at the 9,000 mile distance away from the peak. It is also during this time that the pressure around them suddenly spiked without any warnings.

    "Urk!?" Logan released a muffled groan as he felt the sudden increase of the pressure around them.

    The others had more tamed reactions but they were nevertheless affected as well.

    "Well, it''s seems that out spections are right." Raven murmured as he felt the weight around them. He had a visible frown on his face, just like the rest of his teammates.

    "Oh well, at least we weren''t taken by surprise unlike before." Theo mentioned, "Ande to think of it, this wasn''t as bad as before."

    His words caused the others to agree. Compared before when they were literally rooted to the ground, at least now, they could still stand straight under this pressure.

    "Thankfully we decided to use the opportunity to train." Charlesmented, "If it weren''t for than, then we would be at a much terrible state when we reach this point. And things will only get worse from here."

    "That''s right." Henry nodded, "Oh, well. What else can we do? Come on, let''s get used to this as quickly as we could."

    "Yeah!" The rest of the team answered.

    The one who''s the least affected to this sudden spike of pressure was undoubtedly Raven as he could still move freely even under its influence.

    While the others worked hard to getfortable with the sudden changes, Raven walked to the side and began activating the formation as their safe zone. Once he was done, he entered and began preparing food for the group since it was already close to noon, and they need to have their lunch.

    As he food cooks, Raven joined then outside to get some training for himself while also keeping the time in mind,

    Although they could do some movements thanks to them adjusting to the initial burst of pressure, it will still take them a few days to fully adjust to this spike of pressure so he had to make sure to keep his teammates at their peak condition

    The team then continued doing what they do best and fell into a routine of exposing themselves to the pressure majority of the times and resting at appropriate times as well. Raven made sure to keep them in check and constantly reminded them to be patience and be thorough.

    He wanted them to forge their foundations even stronger and refine their techniques to their acme since they have no way of knowing when they''ll be able toe back here or if they could evene back here at all.

    The War Gods followed his advice very closely. At some point, they weren''t even questioning him anyone since Raven''s image in their hearts was already the epitome of credibility.

    Raven wasn''t really aiming for this but he also wouldn''t deny that he had ulterior motives on motivating them to be stronger.

    ''No need to rush everyone.'' Raven muttered inwardly as he observed the War Gods working hard. ''That''s it. Grasp this opportunity and grow strong. The stronger you are, the more beneficial you would be...especially to me....''

 Chapter 605 - Closer To The Peak

    ---

    The team surely did fall under a routine just as they predicted.

    As soon as they reached a point where they adjusted to the pressure around them, they would move onwards until they experience another spike in pressure. They would stay on that spot, train and move forwards once again, a cycle that they''ve done multiple times by now.

    That''s until they reached the 5000 miles distance away from the peak.

    "This is unreal!" Henry eximed with wide eyes as soon as they experience the sudden spike in pressure. The rest also staggered unstably once they felt it.

    "What the hell? Howe the pressure suddenly doubled!?" Logan groaned in annoyance as he once again felt his mobility taken away from him.

    The heaviness of their surroundings, caused them to be rooted in ce. Even Raven wasn''t an exception this time around.

    "This is nuts!" Theo eximed, "We weren''t even at the 1000 mile mark yet the suppression abruptly doubled. Doesn''t this mean that it''ll get even more ridiculous from here on out?"

    "Stop raising the damn gs!" Charles snarled at him, feeling greatly disturbed about the sudden increase in pressure.

    Even Raven felt mildly annoyed by this sudden increase in pressure.

    Although they were expecting that the pressure will exponentially increase as they got closer to the peak, this was just in annoying. It''s no so much of an ''exponential'' increase though, it legitimately doubled the pressure they were enduring so far. Which was greatly aggravating for them.

    He did say not to rush since they have time, and it''s not like this pressure will stop them from reaching the peak. The most annoying part about this is that, it dys them even further from reaching their goal. And since it could happen at halfway through thest stretch, then it''s highly possible for it to ur on thetter parts of their journey.

    "Well, this is annoying but what else can we do?" Raven sighed and shook his head. "We can''t let this stump us. So we better get working."

    The War Gods groaned in annoyance but they can''t really refute his words. He''s right though. What else could they do aside from adjusting? No matter how much theyined here or how much they cursed at this pressure, it''s not like that''s going to do them any good. So instead of wasting their energy in a fruitless effort, they might as well use it to swiftly adjust to the sudden increase of suppression here.

    It took several hours work before they were able to do even the basic movement. Just like before, Raven was ahead of them when ites to adjusting so he prepared all the necessary equipment for them to camp out.

    He briefly inspected the formation and was d that it could still function rtively well. It stood strong, and with the enhancements he made with it, it was able to disperse the pressurepletely.

    As usual, Logan was once again thest one to adjust, yet even so the feat of him regaining his mobilitypletely within a day is no less than impressive.

    Once everyone was able to regain their mobility, they went inside the formation and began taking rest. Although they were initially surprised by the sudden increase in pressure, their way to deal with it remained the same. Endure and adapt. This is all they could do and in the process, constantly break their limits.

    The team took a week and a half of adjusting before they managed to move further once more. It was really a blessing that they didn''t need to deal with beasts nor awful weathers while doing this or else, they might really consider giving up right about now.

    They right a higher vantage point and the further they go, the more they felt that they wereing closer to the stars.

    The view of the Outer Space might be the only spectacle that was pleasing in this journey. They didn''t need to worry about Space Beast since Mount Olympus is hidden from them.

    As they moved forward, they greedily took in the wondrous sights around them.

    Silvery swirls of stars with scattered specks here and there. They were able to see asional falling stars and multitude of colors. Aurora curtains, Constetions and etc. Everything was fantastical and beautiful.

    If it weren''t for the fact that their task is to reach the peak of the mountain, they''d happily stop at their current spot and admire the beauty over their heads.

    "Ohe on!" Logan whined as he felt his shoulders drop. "Really? Another spike?"

    "So it spikes every 500 miles now?" Henry pursed his lips and sighed, "Damn!"

    "Welp, it''s been fun boys. I''m out of here." Theo snorted but he was stopped by Charles who ced a hand on his shoulders.

    "You ain''t going nowhere, boy. You''re experiencing this with us. No backing down." Charles firmly grasped Theo''s shoulders causing him to groan in frustration.

    Meanwhile, Raven thought to himself...

    ''Should I just say ''Screw this!'' And create a rune to disperse this annoying situation?''

    To be honest, Raven felt annoyed as well. Although the increase in pressure was weakerpared to the previous one, it''s still an increase after all.

    ''The first few times were cute and all but this is starting to get on my nerves.'' Raven''s brows were pressed together as he really felt the urge to just drew a simple rune and getpletely make this immense pressure useless.

    In the end though, he just released a sigh and didn''t do so. He didn''t find any merit on doing this. Yes, this might allow them to reach their destination faster but this means that he''s running away from this. That didn''t sound good from him. Although Raven might not look like it, he''s quite prideful.

    If he had to endure a harsh climate or beast hordes on top of this, then he''ll surely eliminate this pressure. But since he only needed to endure and adjust to the pressure, then dispersing it would mean that he had lost his patience and that he''s running away from it.

    Raven didn''t like the sound of that...

    "Well, here we go again." Raven said as he began adjusting his movements once more.

    He rolled his joints to discover how much the spike hindered his movements. Seeing him starting to adjust, the rest of the team also began adjusting to the current pressure.

    Whether it''s Raven or the War Gods, having experienced adjusting over and over again allowed their adjusting speed to increase. Since they only felt a spike and not an increase, the amount of time it took to them topletely adjust varied.

    Raven did what he always did and activated the formation. He cooked food and so on.

    As they werepletely used to this routine by now, the time they needed to adjust shortened by a lot. Within two days, they finished their adjustments and began moving forwards once more.

    What Henry said turned out to be true. The spike urred every 500 miles now instead of 1000. When they encountered another spike, the team wasn''t even remotely surprised anymore. No words were said since none were needed.

    They just did what they have to do and adapted to it.

    It was a in and rather boring routine, but at the same time it''s also a bit stressful. The closer they were at the peak, the thinner their patience got. They were dyed time and time again and it''s close to driving them nuts. Even Raven wasn''t an exception to this.

    They felt impatient to reach the top and see what''s so important that lies at the very peak of this damn mountain that they needed to be dyed over and over again.

    Right now, their expectations were at an all time high. Whatever it is that lies at the very peak. It better be damn worth it for them to go all this trouble. They sincerely hope that it won''t disappoint them or else, they might really go crazy.

    Still, there''s still quite a distance before they even get close to it. Right now, they are approaching the 2000 mile distance, and if they follow their current pace, then they should arrive at the peak within a month''s worth of time.

    ...that''s if, there wouldn''t be any dys from here on out. And if one were to ask Raven, he''d answer that, that seems too good to be true.

    Raven wasn''t optimistic at all. Although the damn mountain irritated him again and again, he forced himself to calm down and logical about it. He didn''t find any good reason to throw a tantrum specially not when he''s serving as the pir for the team. He didn''t want to ruin the experience for his teammates there he''s trying to be smart about it.

    Thankfully, the team seems to have developed some sort of immunity against this. They no longerin to much and were just jaded about it. Whenever they encounter a spike in pressure, they would say nothing and would instantly just adjust to it.

    Raven was satisfied with this.. He could only hope that it continues this way.

 Chapter 606 - Hidden Element

    ---

    "1000 miles left people! Come on, we so close!" Raven stated in order to make his teammates feel better.

    Although he himself didn''t feel any encouragement from his own words, he figured that he should still remind them about this. Anything works so long as they could reach their destination.

    Obviously, a few weeks passed and the team was doing their best to reach the peak as soon as they could. They encountered spikes and increases in pressure which dyed them even further but the team powered through them and were nearly adjusted themselves at the increased pressure within 1000 miles distance away from the peak.

    Looking at the faces of his teammates, Raven sighed to himself. It was obvious that all of them, including him were battered. It was as if they''ve been fighting against an endless wave of enemies all this time without any rest.

    This might all seem unnatural, and that''s because it is. Raven figured this out a little toote, and couldn''t do anything against it.

    Typically, although the pressure is heavy and irritating since it increases ever so often to dy them in their journey, that shouldn''t be enough to leave visible traces of severe fatigue and mental distress to his teammates, or even himself however for some reason, it does.

    Raven of course noticed this and investigated it but unfortunately, he''s a little toote in his discovery.

    As it turns out, the pressure contained a hidden element thatpletely evaded Raven''s senses, bypassing even his ocr technique as if it was nothing. It had to be known that Raven''s ocr technique allows him to see a lot of things, even Heavenly Laws couldn''t escape his gaze through its use but for some odd reasons, this hidden elementpletely rendered his ocr technique useless.

    However, even though this ''hidden element'' was invisible to Raven, it doesn''t mean that he''s out of ways to discover what it does. And to his surprise, the effect was more scarierpared to what he originally suspected.

    The ''hidden element'' could be mentioned at the same air as the ''irritating'' nature of Asphodel''s temperature.

    Asphodel''s temperature was hot, not only that it was also cursed by the Deadly Sin of Wrath, causing anyone exposed to it to be irritated. The more irrational they got, the more reckless they get and the more they are susceptible for corruption.

    This concept was practically the same with this ''hidden element''. It contained an ''intent'', and by Raven''s estimations, it is the reason why they are feeling extremely battered right now even though they were getting enough rest.

    Raven theorized and he came up with a possible answer. The hidden element in here, drains their energy faster and contains some form of mental pressure. This isn''t surprising considering that the pressure could even slow down the rate at which their energies circte throughout their bodies.

    Due to this, they get tired faster and it would also seem that that closer they get to the peak, the faster this exhaustion gets to them. Additionally, since the pressure spikes/increases at certain distances, they were dyed again and again, causing them to feel like this trip is never going to end, increasing the mental burden even more.

    Raven discovered this way toote. He tried to fix this problem but lo and behold, none of his trusted runes so far worked. Well...it''s not like it''spletely useless. His intent was strong due to his soul being stronger and will was firmerpared to his teammates, therefore this hidden element didn''t really affected him greatly.

    That being said, he discovered that any rune he creates in this ce that has his intent and will, will be eroded swiftly and wouldn''t evenst for a day. The rune was still effective, but without his intent and will, it''s effects were greatly diminished and didn''t have much effect towards his teammates.

    This really bummed him out. This was actually the first time that his rune had failed in solving his problems. He wasn''t so upset, just bummed out. He already knew that sooner orter, someone or something wille to prove that his runes aren''t going to solve everything, and he already epted that.

    The reason why he''s bummed out, is because he can''t see what''s causing it. That''s all there is to it.

    Raven was of course worried about the mental states of his teammates. Although he didn''t inform them what was going on, he still tried to lessen the effect of this hidden element to them for as much as he could.

    Unfortunately, he couldn''t much from here on out. And if his theory proves him right, then his assistance will greatly diminish the closer they got at the peak.

    ''Hopefully they could prevail from this. We''re so close. Failure isn''t an option now.'' Raven thought to himself as he ced incense sticks and lit them up, cing them within their tents.

    ---

    "Come on guys. We can do this. Straighten those backs. We only have 500 miles left and we''re at the peak. This is thest time that we''ll do this. Come on!" Raven encouraged his exhausted teammates, trying his best to light up a fire within them so that they could continue and put an end to this tiring journey.

    He saw the War Gods nodding softly. Although he got an affirmative response, he couldn''t help but feel slightly disappointed with that reaction. At the same time though, he can''t really me them.

    The War Gods were tired. Completely jaded. They felt that taking even one step forward seems impossible. Their eyes werepletely dull, lifeless. Even Logan who''s the most boisterous amongst them, was awfully quiet.

    The only thing that''s keeping them going was Raven and what''s little left of their resolve to surmount Mount Olympus. The moment one of these factors were gone, they''d probably topple over and whole-heartedly give up.

    Raven felt awful. He didn''t like this situation at all. 500 miles isn''t much to cover but considering the state of the people around him, that distance felt extremely far.

    ''Note to self. Remind the War Gods that their Will still has a long way to go once the trip is over.'' Raven murmured inwardly while sighing.

    He didn''t want to be mean but he truly expected more from them. Raven was helpless though, his assistance was greatly limited at this point. His runes were renderedpletely useless, and at this point, he''s not even sure if he could still use a rune to disperse this suppression.

    Although he told them that this is thest time that they''ll be needing adjust to the spike of pressure, he himself wasn''t so sure about that since he had never been here before, so how can he know? It was unfortunate but he had to lie and hope that what he said ends up happening.

    They''re so close. Only 500 miles left. If they could persevere through this, then they couldpletely close that distance within a day with their pace. They just need to hold on.

    At this point, since only Raven was energetic enough in the team, he had no choice but to lead them while also making sure to provide assistance. The effects of the hidden element didn''t bother him at all, so he could only step forward and be the beacon of hope for his teammates.

    Raven still tried his best to at least give them some hope, but he could feel them slipping away fast. At this point, he''spletely convinced that his theory was more or less on point.

    The closer they were at the peak, the faster it drains their hope and resolve. This much was clear looking at the current state of the War Gods.

    *Thump!*

    Raven was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a sudden sound nearby. He looked over and saw Logan toppled over with his face buried on the ground. Raven felt chills creeping up his spine upon seeing and this, and rightfully so since...

    *Thump!* *Thump!* *Thump!*

    Logan''s fall trigger a chain reaction. Seeing one of their teammates giving up, caused the other War Gods to follow suit as well. They were just too tired, they just wanted to rest, they couldn''t care less about the peak anymore. They just wanted to really rest.

    Raven bit his lips in frustration as he saw this. Nevertheless, he also can''t me them. The hidden element really screwed them up.

    Thankfully, since Raven was fine and dandy still, the team wasn''t ejected out of the mountain just yet. If he really wanted to, he could just yell ''We give up!'' And all of them will be transported back to the previous checkpoint to find a portal leading to the sect.

    But would Raven do that? The answer waspletely obvious.

    He went to his unconscious teammates, picked them up and said: "Aish! You guys are so heavy!"

    Raven then ced them inside the formation and inside their respective tents while he himself rested at the table he set up whilst in deep thought.

    "Well, fuck it I guess! We''re surmounting this damned mountain by hook or by crook!"

 Chapter 607 - Blood Exchange

    ---

    "I never thought I would have to use this again, but here we are." Raven''s face was somber as he held the Brush of Wisdom tightly.

    He looked up and released a long sigh before moving his hand. He raised the Brush of Wisdom bit his tongue and spat out a glob of his blood essence.

    The glob of blood essence flew towards the brush, dyeing the tip red. Raven paled considerably because of that but the glint on his eyes remained. He supplied even more Cosmic Energy on the Brush of Wisdom causing it to release a brilliant red light.

    ''And here I thought I would never have to use this technique again. Well, it isn''t so bad I guess. I could always recover my losses anyway.'' Raven muttered inwardly as he witnessed the red sh of light getting more and more brilliant as time went on.

    Indeed. After Raven unlocked the entirety of his Cosmic Energy reserves, he never thought that he''d ever use the Blood Essence Exchange technique, ever again. He just didn''t think that there would be any cases where he''d becking energy to cast some techniques when he literally have too much of it.

    However, the situation really calls for it.

    One could argue that there are other ways aside from this. Raven has Spacetime Laws! He could just go back to the future and warn his past self about this so why didn''t he do that instead?

    Well, considering the fact that the Spacetime Laws are extremely turbulent on this mountain, Raven didn''t really want to risk that. Aside from the Concept of Parallelism, there are also forms of higher concepts of Spacetime Laws present here that could potentially interfere with his Spacetime Laws, therefore he rejected the idea.

    Aside from that, Raven''s ''Will'', while still intact and effective to him, loses its use when it''s supplied with the runes to assist his teammates. The Blood Essence Exchange technique could remedy that, and that''s precisely why he''s using it right now.

    A brilliant crimson light filled every inch of the Formation. A massive Rune appeared at the tip of the Brush of Wisdom, radiating with intense vigor and will. As the Rune was being formed, Raven could feel some violent reactions around him.

    He couldn''t see these reactions even with ocr technique active, but he could tell that these reactions wereing from the ''hidden element'' invisible to Raven. He could feel the repulsion around him. The rune he was forming was akin to the natural predator of this ''hidden element'', causing it to run away from the rune in fear.

    The rune hasn''t even formed yet, but it''s already asserting it''s dominance. Raven smirked despite his pale face. He could tell that this was going to work.

    Minutes passed by and eventually, the Rune had gotten so huge that it turned as huge as the formation itself. However, Raven was far from done, if anything, he''s just halfway through this process.

    Once it reached a certain size, the rune began shrinking in size. This doesn''t mean that it''s getting weaker, its quite the contrary actually. The rune was condensing, causing it''s power to intensify greatly.

    Momentster, the Rune shrank considerably and released onest wave of brilliant crimson light before descending. This was the sign that the Rune was sessfully formed. It was now doing it''s job, releasing fluctuations around them which serves as a ward against that hidden element.

    Raven released a sigh of relief and guided the crimson rune towards the unconscious War Gods.

    As soon as the Rune came close to them, Raven felt that familiar repulsion like before, however this time it''sing from the bodies of the War Gods. The fluctuationsing from the newly created rune was driving away the hidden element that has poisoned their bodies.

    Looking at their faces filled with difort, Raven sighed. This was something unavoidable. It shouldn''t hurt them too much since their unconscious and their physiques had been rtively strong, and it should''ve gotten even stronger through the recent training.

    Raven shook his head and left the rune to work it''s magic. For now, he retreated to his own tent to rest. Creating this rune had taken a serious toll on his body. He lost a century of his longevity to form that rune, yet Raven wasn''t worried about it. He just wanted to rest for a bit.

    To mortals, 100 years could be considered as their entire lifespan, but Raven wasn''t remotely concerned about losing this much longevity. Raven have tons of ways to live an extremely long life. Additionally, since he knows Spacetime Laws, he has the highest potential to achieve true Immortality. Which is why 100 years worth of longevity meant nothing to him.

    Raven decided to sleep. From his initial judgement, his teammates aren''t going to wake up anytime soon. They will need sometime to recover from all the stress and exhaustion. And if things turns out good, then they should wake up feeling fresh and brand new.

    Additionally, the rune shouldn''t lose it''s effect this time around since it''s doesn''t just simply has Raven''s Will in it, it represents Raven''s unbending Will and is enhanced by his own longevity. This rune was representing Raven himself, and Raven could more or less ignore the effects of this Hidden Element, the rune should be able to do that too.

    And just as he predicted, even after Raven rested properly. The rune was still working overtime,pletely untouched and unbothered by the hidden element.

    Raven checked the conditions of his teammates and saw that they''re no longer in pain. Instead, they look like they''re having a very good and long dream.

    He nodded in satisfaction and admired his creation for a bit before preparing food for when they wake up.

    In the middle of his task, he felt the War Gods moving. They released a groan and regained consciousness one by one. As soon as they woke up, they stretched a little bit and tried to recall what happened before they lost consciousness.

    Once they realized what happened their faces shown wonderful expressions before looking at Raven with wide eyes.

    ---

    "...damn! Who would''ve thought. We really let out guard down!" Henry eximed as he felt greatly frustrated.

    They were currently sitting in front of the table, just finished eating their meals when Raven told them what transpired.

    "My bad, I was a little bitte to realize it. Had I known then I might''ve been able to do something to counter it before everything went down hill." Raven smiled wryly as he admitted that he too got a little bitcent.

    "Oh no! You already did wonderful job. Honestly, being able to sense that there''s something messing up with our minds even when it''spletely visible is already amazing enough." Theo said.

    "That''s right." Charles nodded. "It is out fault that out ''Will'' wascking. Allowing that ''Curse'' to erode us and leave us in an embarrassing state. As soon as we''re done here, I''ll return to the Hall of Ares to fix this issue so that it''ll never happen again."

    "Still, that was a frightening experience." Logan muttered. "Looking back, I couldn''t even tell that it was already that bad. I just felt exhausted and jaded, I didn''t even question why I felt that way. I just thought that it was normal. I didn''t expect my ''Will'' to be the weakest here. To think that I was the first one to cave in..."

    Logan clenched his jaws as felt greatly disappointed in himself. It wasn''t just him, the other War Gods also felt the same. In fact, it''s not like they could me him from sumbing to the tempting pull of ''rest''. There wasn''t much gap between his and their Will anyway since Raven told them that as soon as Logan sumbed to it, they all followed him right away.

    Even Henry who didn''t miss a chance to make fun of Logan, was silent currently. This just show that this matter weighed heavily on their minds.

    Well, there''s that. But there''s also the fact that Raven remainedpletely unaffected by it. Which just upped his position to their minds. To think that someone who''s at least generations younger than them, possessed an even stronger and firmer Willpared to them was amazing and also slightly embarrassing for them. Not only that, he single-handedly saved this whole trip.

    Had it not been for him, they''d probably fail at their task already.

    None of them expected this climb to be this fierce and scary. They thought that their problems only lies at the trials but they were proven wrong time and time again, and it certainly didn''t feel pleasant. At this point, they don''t even know who''s the true supporting character here, Raven or them. Could they even be considered as a supporting character? Aren''t they just extras at this point?

    "Well, how about we move on instead ofmenting about what happened. We already found a solution for it right? Why don''t we focus on the more important things instead." Raven stood up and pointed at the path forward.

    "There. There is were our destination lies. We''re so close! Only 500 miles left. Since this Hidden Element or Curse could no longer affect you, then how about we see what''s at the peak, yeah?"

    The War Gods looked at each other and nodded, they all stood up in determination and was prepared to reach the end of their journey.

 Chapter 608 - Visions Of The Peak

    ---

    The team finally continued their journey towards the peak.

    Now that Raven created a rune which serves as a ward against the hidden element poisoning their system, there''s nothing barring their way towards the end of this long journey. They had long since adjusted to the pressure and had no difficulties moving despite it weighing down on them.

    They''ve been travelling at a constant pace, even though they were near, they don''t see any reason to hurry towards the peak, wasting their energy in the process. It''s better if they conserve their energy, just in case something unexpected was waiting for them at the peak.

    During their journey, Raven couldn''t help but feel a little bit shocked when he looked at how much the road beneath then shrank in size. At this point, Raven could easily see both ends of the road with his peripheral vision. It was still wide for them to use butparing it to what it''s like before could be really disconcerting.

    Additionally, looking above him feels like they were so close to the stars. It felt like he just reached out with hands, he''ll be able to touch them. It was a profound experience really, Raven never felt anything like this, even with his previous life included.

    The team had been travelling for a few hours now. When they arrived at the 10 mile distance away from the peak, blurred images of what''s on the top began appearing in their vision.

    "Hey, look!" Theo pointed above, catching the attention of his teammates. "What is that?"

    Everyone looked at where he''s pointing and squinted their eyes on their attempts to figure out what exactly it is they were looking at.

    "Looks like an enormous construct to me." Henry replied, there was a trace of hesitation on his voice.

    "Really? It looks like a giant being to me, though. I could even see it moving." Logan stated.

    "No, that''s not right. It''s like a pir of light to me." Charles said, earning a frown from his teammates.

    "Well, I can''t see it properly so I can''t tell what it is." Theo shrugged, he then looked Raven and asked: "How about you? What does that look like to you?"

    "I would love to tell you, but I can''t see anything." Raven replied while smiling wryly.

    The War Gods look at him weirdly. They initially thought that he was lying but that doesn''t seem to be the case.

    Raven was indeed, telling the truth. He truly couldn''t see anything. He didn''t see any blurred images, a massive construct, a giant moving nor a pir or light. It was just empty for him. He was actually surprised that the War Gods could see something and not him but he thought that maybe something''s up.

    It might be possible that there is a certain element that is ying with this senses right now. Although he can''t say for sure, that''s what he would like to think.

    "Anyways, we''ll eventually discover it once we get there so let''s go. We''re really close.'' Raven said, causing everyone to agree.

    All of their previous worries and regrets had been forgotten. All they want is to reach the peak and find out what waits for them in there. Raven was also excited, of course he was curious about what lies at the top but what he truly was excited for, is to leave this ce and go back to thefort of his own ce.

    With this little distance to cover, the team eventually reached their destination. Right now, they are one step away from the peak of Mount Olympus. Along the way, they shared details on how the view of the top looked like to them since it was changing as they went closer.

    On Henry''s eyes, there was a massive construct at the peak which became clearer and clearer as hee close to it. He also said that the construct looked rather familiar but he just can''t put a finger on it.

    For Logan, it was a giant being simr to the guardian of the 1st Checkpoint. Only, this one was standing and Logan felt incredibly dwarfed by it. Simr to him, the giant also has six-arms, and Logan even said that he could feel his bloodline behaving restlessly the closer he got to this giant. He had some premonitions about this encounter but he kept it to himself.

    As for Theo, it was all blurry. The closer he got to the peak, blurrier it gets. This confused him greatly and it certainly didn''t help that he could feel some kind of warmth seeping through he body the closer he got to it.

    In the eyes of Charles, the view remained the same. It was an enormous beam of crimson light which seems to being from the beyond the stars. Despite it being this way in his perspective, he couldn''t help but feel extremely mesmerized by this sight. So much so that he couldn''t even speak the right words to describe it.

    And then...there''s Raven.

    Even though they are clearly one step away from reaching the actual peak. He still sees nothing. The only reason why they haven stepped on the peak just yet is because there is ayer of what looks like a barrier preventing them from moving forward. He wanted to inspect it first just to see if they could pass through it safely.

    After inspecting it for quite some time, he discovered that he had nothing to worry about. The barrier doesn''t seem to be preventing them from moving forward, it also didn''t feel like it would hurt them if they pass through so Raven got the attention of his teammates and told them to step at the peak at the same time.

    *Weng!*

    The moment their bodies made contact with the barrier, they felt some form of resistance but not strong enough to repel them. As soon as their footnded at the peak, Raven discovered that his teammates disappeared mysteriously, causing him to panic briefly.

    He was on-guard all this time, yet even with that the War Gods still disappeared without him being alerted of it. It didn''t allow him to react at all, they just instantly disappeared like they weren''t there in the first ce.

    Nevertheless, Raven calmed himself down. He still have the Life Jades of the War Gods and they remained intact, meaning that they''re still alive and well. It''s just that they were transported somewhere Raven couldn''t reach with his current power.

    Knowing that they''re safe was enough for him. He sighed in relief and had an idea of what happened, however now''s not the time to focus on that since he had other matters to attend to.

    "Is this...it?" Raven asked with uncertainty as he looked around him...only to see nothing.

    The peak of Mount Olympus was an empty t ground to him. Nothing, not even a de of grass could be seen around him. Only a clean and t ground.

    This confused him greatly and betrayed his expectations. All this time, people were telling incredible stories about their adventures on Mount Olympus, there are even text he read that implied some of the things that they saw at the peak, yet now he''s met with this.

    Who wouldn''t feel betrayed and dejected after encountering this situation?

    Raven looked around once more, he even opened his ocr technique in attempts to cover every inch of this t ground, thinking that he might be missing some clues in here. Yet despite his efforts, he was met with nothing, and it''s quite disheartening for him.

    "Ohe on..." Raven groaned in irritation as he ced his hands on his hips. "Seriously? All of that for nothing? That''s quite disappointing."

    "Now''s not yet the time, that''s why..."

    "Who!!?" Raven was rmed when he suddenly heard a faint whisper close to his ears.

    He looked around with a serious expression on his face. The Brush of Wisdom appeared on his hands and was glowing with light, he was clearly prepared to draw a rune just in case a fight urs.

    To his surprise however, it didn''t matter how much he looked around. He saw nothing, just like before, even with his ocr technique active, he could find the source of this voice.

    "Now''s not yet the time for you to see what''s in here." The disembodied voice once again sounded near his ears, causing Raven to flinch. Now he''s sure that whoever it is that''s speaking, was clearly beyond his understanding and won''t show itself to him.

    "What does that mean?" He asked, trying to probe information from the disembodied voice.

    "It''s too early...oh so early..." The voice said, carrying a tinge of amusement. "You still have long ways to go Child, that is if you truly want to see what''s hidden in here."

    "Then what do I need to do if I want to see what''s hidden here?" He asked.

    There was a long period of silence before the disembodied voice sounded next to him once more.

    "When you are strong enough to unveil the real mystery behind this ce, it would be the same day that you wille back here to search for answers."

    "When that timees, you will see. When that timees, what''s hidden from you, will be revealed."

    *Swoosh!*

 Chapter 609 - Rivers Of Stars

    ---

    "Argghhhh!"

    A long groan of frustration could be heard escaping from Raven''s lips as he scratched his head, feeling lost.

    "Man, what a bummer!" Heined, "All that hard work ends up in a disappointment. Had I known that I won''t gain anything from here, I wouldn''t havee in the first ce."

    Raven was really disappointed by his situation. The others might be receiving their rewards from reaching the peak of Mount Olympus right now, while on the other hand, here he is. Alone and empty handed.

    "And what''s up with that pragmatic words." Raven huffed as he sat down, cing a hand to support his face. "Now''s not yet the time? It''s still too early? I''ll known when the right time wille and I''ll be here searching for answers? What''re those all about? Ugh, so confusing."

    At this point, Raven doesn''t even care that if that disembodied voice was still here and listening to him. For all he knows, it probably won''t care whatever he has to say.

    What made Raven really upset is that, he became the biggest loser of this trip. He had given his all in supporting his teammates to the point of actually carrying them in his back only to end up with nothing. Sure he had made some advances here and there but he would eventually reach his current level of strength even without making a trip here, he just needed time that''s all.

    And he might not say thus out loud, he was actually the most excited to reach the peak and see what it has to offer. He was even hyping the concept to his teammates in order to ignite their passion as well, but now it turns out to be disappointing for him.

    Except from hearing a disembodied voice saying that there''s nothing for him here, he didn''t even see anything. Who wouldn''t feel frustrated at that? But the cherry on top of it all, was...

    "I can''t leave this damn ce unless the War Gods finished receiving their rewards. I don''t know how long that''s going to take and it''s irritating. What''s more is that, my entry to the Crown Space is sealed!! How the hell did that even happen? And without my knowledge too!"

    This, this is what really frustrated Raven the most. This was simr to tantly rubbing the fact that ''he was biggest loser here'' to his face. He was forced to wait until his teammatespletely received their rewards while he was stuck doing nothing. He can''t even go into conclusion right now since, through some unknown means, his entry at the Crown Space is barred.

    There were no warnings nor any signs, he just can''t enter it. He even thought if he had used up all of his chances of entering and discovered that he didn''t, which made him extremely rmed. For some unknown reasons, someone or somethingpletely invisible to him, was aware of his secrets and could even prevent him from using it without rming him.

    Raven was of course badly startled by this, which caused him to hate this ce more as time goes on. He wanted nothing but to leave this ce once and for all and if possible, never return.

    Releasing yet another sigh of frustration, Raven lied down on the ground and looked at the swirling silver rivers of stars above him. This is the only thing that he could right now to ease up his mood. Sure he could train but that''s pointless, in fact he knew that he''d just end up stressing himself out even more if he did that.

    He could meditate as well but that''s boring, he could eat sure but he''s not hungry and he didn''t feel like cooking something right now. This leaves the potential of just sleeping, but even that felt rather dull to him.

    So he opted to gaze at the rivers of stars instead, hoping that somehow, these silver swirls could distract him from the frustration he was feeling.

    "If I summon a meteor, would the number of stars above me decrease?" Raven asked in a lifeless tone. "If I summon ten meteors all at once...can I destroy this damn mountain?"

    That second thought actually made him chuckle. Of course he wasn''t nning on doing that at all. Summoning ten meteors at once? Forget about ten, he can''t even handle two at once with his current strength.

    Strangely though, observing how the rivers of star flow slowly was a rxing experience to him. Once again, the feeling of being infinitesimally close to the stars, coursed through his body. It was such a profound feeling that he truly felt that if he just reached out his hand, he''ll be able to pluck the stars above him.

    Raven actually tried to do just that but he immediately let out a wry smile as soon as he raised his hand. This is because that profound feeling actually disappeared the moment he attempted to do it.

    "This is so dull. To think I''d fall for such false sensation." Raven smiled helplessly to himself.

    Yep, he''s bored out of his mind. He already had the sneaking suspicion that it won''t work yet he still fell for it. Normally he''d admonish himself for falling for such an easy trick yet right now, he justughed it out.

    Honestly, he had nothing else better to do. Which just left him staring at the rivers of stars, trying to distract himself from the frustration he felt.

    What he didn''t know is that, he actually fell into a state where he''s no longer aware of anything aside from the endless rivers of stars above him.

    Raven didn''t notice when this start. Right now, his eyes reflected nothing else aside from the rivers of stars which was moving in a slow yet hypnotic manner.

    Through his eyes, the rivers of stars started reflecting some images and secrets. Different shapes, size, faces, words, runes, etc. It was extremely mystical, yet Raven was unaware of it, which was a great shame since these transformations were only visible to him and no one else, yet he''s not even aware that it''s happening.

    Another thing that happened to him that he''spletely unaware of, was his aura. Slowly but surely, his aura was transforming.

    Usually, the appearance and feel of Raven''s aura will depend on his current mood. Normally, it would be quiet, contained and expressed harmony. When he''s angry, it transform into a nightmare-inducing one which is capable of breaking the will of his foes before the battle even began.

    Now however, his aura was transforming. As time passed by that he stared at the stars above him, his aura was slowly bur surely dissipating. It even reached a point where, if one wasn''t paying attention properly, then no one would notice him at all due to how much concealed his aura became.

    Not only that, it also started to contain an genuine archaic air with it. It''s like Raven was a very ancient being that has seen ridiculous amounts of life experiences that nothing will surprise him anymore. This is special since not even those truly old experts that had lived until this day possess this kind of aura.

    For someone who hasn''t even lived a fraction of his life, it should be impossible for Raven to acquire this kind of aura, yet here it was.

    This sort of thing happened several time actually, most of them urred when Raven made some advancements on his Spacetime Laws or when he gained the acknowledgement of the Constetions. It''s just that the archaic air didn''tst back then.

    However now, that''s changing.

    ...yet Raven''spletely unaware of it still.

    Raven''s current statested for quite sometime before he shook out from it due to themotion happening around him. There was a Spatial Portal opening near him which woke him up from his stupor.

    At first, Raven was dazed. He shook his head and thought that someone woke him up rather rudely. He genuinely thought that he fell asleep on the ground while stargazing. He didn''t even notice the changes on his aura at all.

    He looked at the nearby portal and thought to himself: ''That should be the exit right?''

    Without further ado, Raven stood up, dusted himself up and stretched for a bit, feeling his muscles sore from sleeping on the ground. Then he unceremoniously entered the portal and disappeared from the peak of Mount Olympus.

    When his vision re-adjusted to his surroundings. He found himself looking at his teammates. Aplex feeling rose up from his chest, seeing how much they change after receiving their rewards. On one hand he''s jealous but that feeling was drowned by the glee of seeing them stronger than before.

    All of them didn''t make a breakthrough in terms of cultivation, yet Raven could easily tell that they''re at least 10 times more dangerouspared to how they were before.

    "Gosh, look at you four." Raven smirked, "Your faces are nearly splitting in half with how wide your smiles were."

    "Haha! It''s that obvious?" Logan replied, his face still beaming with a wide smile.

    "Forget about us, what about you? What happened?" Henry asked.

    Raven groaned and said: "I received nothing. I was conned..."

    War Gods: "....eh?"

 Chapter 610 - Return And Unrest

    ---

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    Loud explosion of colorful lights covered the skies of Ancient Elysium Sect, causing the disciples to feel rmed and curious as to what was going on.

    The explosives were followed by deep echoes ofrge bell tolls, raising the level of themotion by a notch. Now almost everyone on the sect went out their abodes and raised their heads-up high to see what this noise were all about.

    "Everyone, let us all wee the glorious return of the Heroes who surmounted the arduous challenges of the True Olympian Climb!" The loud and crisp voice of the Sect Master jolted the attention of everyone, causing them to gasp in surprise.

    To those who heard and knew about the True Olympian Climb, their surprise was understandable. Still, even with this announcement, some people find it difficult to believe this news.

    However, when the scattered lights on the skies formed five faces with their names, their disbelief was flushed and reced by utter excitement. The sect wouldn''t bother showing the faces of the people who surmounted the climb if the news were fake, would they?

    The faces of Henry, Logan, Theo, Charles and Raven were shown in the skies, allowing everyone to take a look at them closely.

    "It''s the War Gods! Of course! Only they have the ability to surmount Mount Olympus!"

    "Hail the War Gods! Evesting Victory!"

    "Awesome! As expected of my Idols! I too will someday make it to the peak of Mount Olympus!"

    "War Gods! Champions of Mount Olympus! Haha, this is great!"

    "Hey, who do you think thatst person is?"

    "Beats me. Never heard of him."

    "He''s hot. I wonder what his name is?"

    "He looks young too! I wonder how old is he?"

    "Well, he did reach the peak of Mount Olympus along with the War Gods so he must be an old fossil too. He probably had a technique that allows him to retain his youthful looks!"

    "Pfft!" The War Gods who were trying to stay low profiled couldn''t help but to spew a peal ofughter when they heard the remarks about Raven.

    "That hurts actually." Raven''s mouth twitched as he heard the whispers around him. "Damn, people can be mean sometimes huh?"

    The group who''s faces were currently projected at the skies of the sect, we now under a disguise as they walked towards the Storm Dweller''s peak to report back to the Sect Master and Grand Elder.

    "Don''t mind it too much...old man - Pfft!" Logan said while covering his mouth. Raven red at the guy and the rest as well to prevent them from even trying to follow Logan''s lead.

    "He''s right about one thing..." Theo said seriously, which somehow convinced Raven, but: "...old man - Pfft! No! Wait! Hahaha! Okay, all kidding aside...don''t mind it too much. Just remember their faces for now and punish them once you inherit the sect master''s position."

    "Hey! Don''t give him any bad ideas!" Henry rebuked Theo, pping his shoulder while he''s at it.

    "Calm down, Raven. Don''t stoop that low." Charles tried to convince Raven but seeing the feral grin on thetter''s face, he knew that it won''t work.

    "Toote...I''ve already memorized their faces." Raven said, "The moment I be the sect master, I''ll immediately enlist them to a Crusade. Let''s see if these people dares to call me Old Man again."

    The War Gods involuntarily shivered as they heard the venom on Raven''s words. Logan and Theo looked at each other with wry smiles. Now, Raven would most likely send them too since they too called him and Old Man.

    Raven sighed and said: "Well, all kidding aside. Let''s hurry. I want to return to my bed. Additionally, I feel something weird happened while we were gone. The atmosphere in the sect feel extremely strange."

    The War Gods perked up once they heard Raven said that. Of course they knew that Raven was kidding about the whole ''Old Man'' thing, in fact he couldn''t care less about what others think of him and he surely wouldn''t stoop down to their level. That''s just how Raven is.

    Right now, what truly concern them was the thing that Raven pointed out. They too felt that the atmosphere within the sect feel somewhat weird.

    They got thus impression as soon as they entered the gates. It was intuition that tells them that, they couldn''t see any concrete proof but as experienced people, they knew when to trust their intuitions, and this time is considered one of those times.

    They decided to disguise themselves in order to not raise unnecessarymotion. Thankfully they did so since this way, they could observe the situation more closely.

    Raven had his eyes open and scanned every disciples they encountered. There seem to be nothing wrong with them in the surface but he had this sneaking suspicion that they were hiding something. He doesn''t know what it is but he''s sure about his conjectures.

    This feeling just became even stronger the more people he came across with. He opened his ocr technique to try analyzing their states but to his surprise, he could barely get a read on them. Everything was blurry and that almost stunned him to ce.

    It was as if there''s something or someone who deliberately hid the information from his eyes.

    Raven furrowed his brows as the unrest on his chest felt heavier. Without him even noticing, he picked up his pace, somewhat surprising the War Gods. However, even though they were surprised, they didn''t ask any questions since Raven would most likely not going to be able to answer them, they just returned with him after all. If they don''t know anything, how could he?

    They just thought that Raven was truly worried about the well-being of the sect, which is why he''s in a hurry, and the War Gods respect that. In reality, their assumptions were correct, Raven indeed feeling a little bit uneasy right now. The feeling of being left in the dark never feltfortable, so he wanted to learn what happened while they were gone.

    Due to them quickening their pace, they got to the Storm Dweller''s Peak - the mountain where the Sect Master and the Grand Elder resided. The moment they cam close to the gates, it opened by itself and allowed them to enter.

    Raven didn''t even stop on his tracks, he didn''t even consider the fact that they might be granted entry. Thankfully, his assumptions were correct. Well, even though it wasn''t, this gates wouldn''t stop him anyway.

    As they climbed the mountain, a grumble escaped Raven''s mouth, followed by: "Ugh, I''m having some unpleasant shbacks."

    The War Gods could only smile wryly at that. Raven probably developed a slight loathing in mountains from now due to what he previous experienced. Well, it''s not like he could change anything right now.

    The team got to the peak rather swiftly, and just like before, as soon as they approached the gates of the abode, it opened on it''s own and granted them entry.

    Raven went straight towards the backyard since he already felt their presence in there. Right now, his face shown a somber looks as the unrest he felt earlier became stronger as soon as he entered this ce.

    As soon as the team arrived at the backyard, they immediately found four people resting in there, smiling at them. They were of course the Sect Master, Grand Elder and their wives.

    Out of habit, the War Gods was about to kneel down in front of them but their actions froze due to the sight of the Sect Master.

    "S-Sect Master!" Henry''s voice trembled as he hurriedly slid in front of the Sect Master in horror. He was followed by the rest as well.

    All of them, were looking at the empty sleeve of their dear Sect Master.

    The Sect Master was seemingly unaware of their horrified faces as he looked at them fondly and with gratitude: "It''s good to have you all back. It seems that you''ve gained a lot from you trip, I can feel that your way strongerpared to thest time I see you."

    "Never mind that Sect Master!!" Logan raised his voice in panic and rm. "Y-you...what happened while we were gone!? Why is your left arm missing!?"

    "Ah this...well, it''s quite unfortunate actually - " The Sect Master''s eyesnded at his heir and his smile became brighter as if he just saw something that made him feel gratified. "Wee back, Junior Brother."

    Raven fought the urge to click his tongue upon seeing how the Sect Master just tried to divert the attention. He walked up to him and unceremoniously lifted his sleeve to reveal something that caused the stomachs of the War Gods to lurch.

    A horrible wound, ck, veiny and pulsing as if alive, could be seen from the severed stump of where the left arm of the Sect Master were supposed to be. The smile on the Sect Master''s face disappeared and was reced by helplessness instead. However, he was quite surprised to see Raven''s impassive expression.

    Raven turned to Alwina - the Sect Master''s arm and asked: "You have the severed arm with you right? Give it here, let me see it."

    His words shocked the daylights of the listeners.

 Chapter 611 - Competent Heir

    ---

    Raven turned to Alwina - the Sect Master''s arm and asked: "You have the severed arm with you right? Give it here, let me see it."

    His words shocked the listeners, most specially Alwina and the Sect Master.

    "How the hell did you-"

    "Temporal Scrying, can see up to nearly year from the past. Hurry, let me see it!" Raven impatiently interrupted Alwina before she could even finish her words.

    Normally, Alwina would''ve said something about the rude tone of Raven but since she could feel the urgency of the situation, she just took out the severed arm of the Sect Master carefully from where she stored it.

    The severed arm was ced in a rectangr case, surrounded by numerous seals that prevented anything from contaminating it. With one flick of a brush, Raven deactivated the runes which caused Alwina''s eyes to widen since he did it with so much ease.

    Raven was oblivious to what she was thinking and even if he isn''t, now''s not the time to address that. He carefully opened the case to see the current state of the severed arm.

    What he saw caused his expression to be really ugly.

    The arm doesn''t even resemble an arm anymore, it''s like a carcass of something serpentine. It was awfully mutated and was pulsing with ck goo as if it was alive. It looked like an oversized, fat, hideous worm. Even the Sect Master felt a bit disgusted to see what his previous arm looked like now.

    "Gross. But I can work with this." Ravenmented softly, earning a few eye brow raise from those who heard him.

    Raven didn''t borate on this anymore. Instead, he lifted the Brush of Wisdom and began drawing numerous runes in the air. Instantly, the surrounding area was illuminated by a sea of gold and silver light.

    Raven stood up and pointed the brush towards the Sect Master, more specifically on the ce where his arm was missing.

    Multiple runes shot towards the corrupted flesh, releasing intense gold and silver brilliance. The Sect Master felt a stinging sensation on his arm, he could also smell his flesh burning. Nevertheless, not a single grunt of pain was heard from him. He also didn''t ask what Raven was doing since he knew that whatever it is, it''s for his own good.

    After directing some runes towards the corrupted flesh on the Sect Master''s body, Raven redirected his attention to the severed arm and wore a somber expression.

    He raised the Brush of Wisdom once more and began drawing runes which were ever stronger and released a brighter gold and silver radiance.

    Everyone was in awe of Raven''s work, none of them even think that because the runes were releasing so much brilliance, the illumination on Storm Dweller''s peak could be seen by the roaming disciples below, rming them ever so slightly.

    Raven remained focus on his task though. Once the runes he needed were formed, he immediately sent them working on the severed arm.

    ck wisps of smoke, leaving traces of agonized faces before dissipating, could be seening off of the severed arm. Nevertheless, the runes created by Raven were relentless, it didn''t matter whether the severed arm was alive or not, if it was capable of depending or nor, or whether it has the concentrated Will of the Devil Emperor or not, the runes of Raven didn''t falter and grilled all the nasty stuff away.

    "This will take some time before it returns to it''s original appearance." Raven stood up and said, "Once that happens, reconnecting the severed arm should be simple. Now, did our prisoner raised a ruckus once more?"

    A sigh of defeat escaped the Sect Master''s face before smiling wryly and replying to him: "Thank goodness your extremely capable. And yes, our prisoner raised a ruckus once more."

    "What happened this time?" Raven assisted the Sect Master on sitting down as the runes continued working their magic.

    "I''m not exactly sure what, I could only venture a guess." Sect Master replied, "It probably heard about our little n tounch a decisive strike and decided to weaken our forces pre-emptively."

    "It attacked the same way asst time." Alwina continued the story, "It sent two of it''s finger this time around, at this exact ce too."

    Raven''s face turned incredibly unsightly upon hearing that. Two fingers this time? Dealing with one finger is already difficult enough, yet it sent two? Raven didn''t consider that as a pre-emptive attack anymore, the Devil Emperor was clearly trying to kill the Sect Master.

    "It took everything in my power to stop it." The Sect Master replied, "Thankfully I made some recent breakthrough and raised my strength. I had to sacrifice an arm but in the end of it all, I still managed to repel the attack."

    "However, as you can see..." Alwina nced at the severed arm and sighed lightly, "Had we beente on severing that infected arm, my husband would''ve been the Devil Emperor''s puppet already."

    Raven and the War Gods felt really frustrated about this situation. Thankfully, they returned now and Raven could even flush out the infection and re-connect the severed arm. Had they beente for even one more day, they couldn''t even imagine what could''ve happened.

    ''Really, had we not arrive today, then Senior Brother would''ve been in a more delicate state. The ''Will'' of that damned prisoner is extremely strong. Even though the arm was severed, some of the corruption remained on the severed stump that are still connected to his body. Give it time and that corruption will spread until it reaches the point where it could influence Senior Brother''s mind. That would''ve been the worst case scenario.''

    "I''m guessing Elder me is currently working overtime to monitor the damned Prisoner." Ravenmented, earning a nod from the Sect Master.

    "Elder me had increased the security, and it''s taking all he got to confine the Devil Emperor, the other ''Keepers'' were also working with him so that this incident doesn''t ur again. I would''ve asked for Elder me''s help to cure the corruption but it''s too risky." The Sect Master replied.

    "...and the Cleansing mes we left on the Chapels are nowhere near strong enough to suppress the spread of corruption. So you decided to sever the arm instead and leave the rest up to fate." Ravenpleted the Sect Master''s statement. "That wasme. You easily gave up just like that? I''ll have you know that if your ''Will'' was that weak then the Devil Emperor will really make you it''s puppet."

    "I know. I know. That''s my bad." The Sect Master mirthlessly smiled. "I got a littlecent since I know there''s someone who''s even more capable that I am that will inherit my ce."

    "Thanks for thepliment but it is way too early for me to rece you." Raven snorted. "Don''t go thinking that you can escape your responsibilities that easy. I''ll have you know that even if you turn into a mindless puppet, I can pull you back to reality and make you sit on the damn throne once more. So don''t go thinking that you can escape that easily."

    "Geez, you are ruthless you know?" The Sect Master smiled wryly while Raven simply snorted.

    Of course their whole exchange was just to ease up the somber atmosphere around. Though, the Sect Master didn''t doubt Raven''s words even for a second. If Raven said he could do it, then he could. Period.

    "Anyways, we''re back." Raven stated, "Give me some time and I''ll think of a way to prevent that damn Prisoner from making too much ruckus. I''ll also solve the unrest of the disciples since they''re still afraid of what they just witnessed."

    "Mn!" The Sect Master nodded, smiling brightly as he said: "Having apetent Heir feels pretty cool. I could feel my burdens getting lighter."

    "I just wish that mine is aspetent as yours." The Grand Eldermented from the side.

    "Well, if he''s not then I''ll make him one." Raven replied. "If they''re not willing then they can screw the hell off."

    "Bwahaha! Right! We have no use for ipetent fools here!" The Grand Elder said, feeling really pleased.

    "By the way...how''s your journey? What did you encounter at the Peak of Mount Olympus?" The Sect Master asked.

    "Ugh..." Raven groaned, causing the Sect Master to feel puzzled and the War Gods to smile wryly.

    Henry took initiative to speak: "The journey was arduous. The climate is incredibly unforgiving and switches without any warnings. The trials were just as hard if not harder. We''re really lucky to have Raven apanying us. Without him, we for sure wouldn''t be able to go very far due to our horrible luck."

    "Yeah. He supported us all the way and quite practically carried us all the way to the top." Theo stated.

    "It''s thanks to him that we remained in our peak conditions all the time to clear the trials. The ever-changing and unforgiving climate was renderedpletely useless by him." Charles added.

    "It''s because he''s there that we reached the top and got a lot strongerpared before." Logan stated.

    "Is that so?" The Sect Master raised a brow and looked at his heir, "Then why are you so grumpy about it?"

    "Because I was conned!"

 Chapter 612 - A Monster Through And Through

    ---

    When Henry reached the peak of Mount Olympus, the enormous construct that was blurry in his image turned clear. The whole reason why he felt a strange familiarity with it is because the construct doesn''t only follow the shape of a sword but is also leaking with a sharp Sword Intent.

    He entered the construct and got to learn numerous sword techniques which caused his insights about Sword Laws to advance in breakneck speeds. He spent five years learning and mastering everything in there and he even managed tobine all the Insights he received into a one style that perfectly suited his needs.

    Logan met the Primogenitor of his bloodline. Well, thest spark of the Primogenitor''s Will. As it turns out, the Primogenitor of the Six-Armed Race was called Ashura. Logan learned a lot from the Primogenitor, the history of their race, their achievements and their eventual decline.

    With its help, Logan was able to awaken the origin source of his Bloodline, giving him the chance to be a fully-fledged Ashura in the future which greatly excites him. The primogenitor also passed down his personal inheritance to Logan since he was the first descendant it met so far.

    Theo found an Origin Source me - a me that is said to exist since the beginning of time. It even contained traces of Extreme Yang Illumination - which is considered to give birth to Fire Laws.

    Approaching the Origin Source me was a challenging experience for Theo. The heat it contained was hot enough to burn an entire star, he even had impression that this me was hotter than the Sun itself. Nevertheless, Theo wasn''t one to back down. As someone who cultivates Fire Laws, obtaining this me will be greatly beneficial to him so he worked hard and eventually acquired it.

    He said that he''s still trying to improve his control over the mes so he can''t show it to them without injuring them of their surroundings.

    Lastly, Charles experienced a unique Baptism.

    The enormous pir of crimson light actually serves as a barrier for an endless battlefield where madness and ughter perpetually ensues. In here, Charles didn''t have to worry about losing control since the mere sight of the light strangely calms him down.

    He also heard whispers on his ears, telling him to give in to his instincts and ughter to his hearts consent. Charles wasn''t able to fight the temptation so he gave in to his urges and murdered to his hearts content. His violent tendencies erupted, causing him to release a strength that he never knew he could.

    This all sound sketchy and gave off an impression that Charles became a maniac but ording to him, that didn''t happen at all. After the initial outburst, his sanity remained intact. In fact he felt incredibly calm and present. It turns out that even though Charles admitted that he had violent tendencies, he still suppressing it unknowingly, causing him to gather pent-up stress.

    Once he released everything and gave in to his desires, he felt that for once in his life he was free and his violent tendencies will never be a problem anymore.

    Everyone was greatly satisfied with their harvest, this trip might probably the most rewarding experience they ever went through. Well, all of them were happy except Raven who felt really envious about their rewards.

    Hearing the story, even the Sect Master couldn''t help but feel a bit bad for his Heir. The Grand Elder wasn''t shy and openly teased Raven about it. Still, it doesn''t change the fact that this was indeed surprising.

    Howe the War Gods were rewarded and Raven wasn''t? Is it because Raven didn''t participate in the trials? But that would be absurd since they weren''t the first one to employ this kind of strategy and reach the peak. There are records of teams who did something very simr yet all of them were rewarded. What made Raven special?

    Actually, Raven missed out a detail. He didn''t tell them about the disembodied voice that heard on the peak. The reason why is because he highly doubted that they would understand what it means, the message was specifically addressed to him, and if he couldn''t understand it, then how will the others would?

    Needless to say, Ravens till felt sour about the whole incident. He just told himself to let bygones be bygones. As for the message he heard, he''ll think about it some other time.

    Once they finished reporting the whole experience to the Sect Master, the rune Raven created also finished their work.

    Raven didn''t hesitate to begin the process of re-attaching the severed arm of his Senior Brother. Just like he said, once all the corruption was gone, the process went a lot smoother. He encountered no hups on the process of re-attachment.

    Once his arm was fine, the Sect Master tried moving it. After a few attempts, a smile appeared on his face as he said: "Feels good. It''s just how I remembered it. Thanks."

    Raven waved his hand, saying that it''s nothing. Everyone released a sigh of relief once they saw the Sect Master looking good as new. Thank goodness Raven was around or else this will be a lot troublesome.

    Alwina was the happiest of them all, she felt extremely gratified to Raven that she actually nearly said some ''secrets'' she was hiding. Thankfully she managed to get a hold of herself and not do so since the consequences will be terrible.

    Still though, Raven wasn''t nearly done.

    He excused himself and stood at the very center of the Storm Dweller''s Peak.

    Everyone was rmed as they felt Raven gatheringrge amounts of energy from his surroundings. They wanted to ask what he was nning to do but they couldn''t do so since they didn''t want to distract Raven from whatever he was doing.

    Veins bulged from Raven''s face as he felt the heavy burden of unceasing torrents of energy he needed for the process. He raised the Brush of Wisdom with difficulty and drew enormous strokes of intersecting lines filled with majestic and noble Will.

    Themotion was toorge that even the disciples who were minding their own business below couldn''t help but feel rmed.

    Raven, despite feeling an enormous burden on his body, didn''t falter and waspletely determined to finish the rune. The more time passed, therger themotion became, the mountain was even trembling due to how strong the fluctuations were.

    With a final stroke, Raven released a strong grunt and finished the rune, causing the skies to be filled with a mixture of Gold and Silver radiance.

    Everyone watched with bated breaths as the massive rune formed. Staring at the rune gave everyone an impression of majesty, nobility, warmth and security. The Rune could be seen even at Tartarus.

    Once the massive rune manifested, it immediately started releasing soft hums that echoed within the ears of all the listeners. It didn''t matter who it was, once they started hearing the faint melody, they immediately felt their worries dissipating like snow in the middle of summer. Some even had the urge to sleep right away and enjoy the cozy feeling this melody brought to them.

    Raven became visibly paled as soon as he finished drawing the rune. Still, he didn''t falter right away since he had to check if he actually made it correctly. Thankfully he did.

    Everyone saw how Raven''s shoulders immediately dropped down after he started rxing. His breaths were shallow and he was sickly pale.

    The War Gods immediately went to his side and supported him. Raven managed to squeeze out a smile and said:

    "That rune should cleanse the foul Will remaining here. It should also serve as a protection should the Devil Emperor try to do something funny again."

    "You could''ve asked for our help you know?" Theo admonished, escorting Raven towards the backyard so he can rest.

    "I would''ve if it''s possible but it''s not." Raven replied, it was extremely obvious that he was extremely exhausted. "I''m the only one who can create that rune since I am the one who invented it."

    "Still, you could''ve done it once you''re fully rested." Henry countered.

    "I am well rested. Well, not anymore but that''s besides the point." Raven squeezed out another smile. "Don''t worry, this isn''t going to kill me. I''ll just probably be unconscious for days...worst weeks. See yater then."

    As soon as he said that, Raven let go and lost consciousness, causing the War Gods to be surprised. Well, there''s nothing they could aside from trusting his words.

    "Leave him to me, you guys." The Sect Master stepped forward and carried Raven. "I''m sure you all are tired from your journey, go back and rest. You can visit him here, once you''ve properly rested."

    The War Gods wanted to say something but in the end, they didn''t. They saluted and climbed down the mountains in order to return to their homes and have a proper rest.

    "Kid''s a monster through and through." The Grand Elder chuckled as he walked back with the Sect Master.

    They looked up and observed the giant rune releasing some faint melodies. The Sect Master smiled in gratitude and said:

    "Yep. He truly is.. We''re too lucky to have him."

 Chapter 613 - Poppy And Myleene

    ---

    ''Ugh, geez. I overdid it...again. A shocker really...''

    This was Raven''s initial thoughts upon regaining consciousness. His head throbbed painfully and he could feel his entire body sore.

    He opened his eyes to see a rather familiar ceiling. It didn''t take long for him to realize that he was back to his own room. He spread his senses out and felt Kyrie''s presence nearby, she was sitting on one of the desk while sorting out some paperwork. He also saw his army doing drills on the fields.

    Raven retracted his probe and sensed his body. He sighed in relief as he saw that aside from the soreness of his body and his nearly emptied Cosmic Energies, he didn''t sustain any injuries. It shouldn''t take long for him to recover from this.

    With that said, Raven summoned the Brush of Wisdom and sealed the entire room. Before doing so however, he made sure to send a voice transmission to Kyrie, telling him that he''s awake and fine, he also told him that he needed some time to recover properly so he ordered her to not allow anyone to disturb him.

    Kyrie followed his orders and after that, Raven went inside the Crown Space for the first time in a while.

    Aforted smile appeared on his face as he appeared in the Cultivation Eden, feeling the abundant energy source in here. He scooped some Equinox Waters and drank it, after that he sat down to recover his missing energies while also healing the soreness of his body.

    With the aid of Equinox Waters, his recovery hastened. The soreness of his body also disappeared immediately, making Raven sigh infort.

    ''Ah, how nice. I truly missed being in this ce. I still can''t believe that there was something on Mount Olympus that could block my entry here. Well, doesn''t matter anymore I guess. It''s all in the past.''

    Raven continued drinking Equinox Waters until he fully recovered from his Cosmic Energies. After that, Raven stood up and took the time to check how much Divine Spring Liquid he had managed to collect so far.

    Majority of the Divine Spring Liquid that he received from the Sect Master to him was preserved by Raven as he nned on making more through converting Equinox Waters. So far, there is arge glob of it at the very core of the Equinox Waters Neb. If Raven were to harvest it now, he could easily fill at least twenty potion bottles with them, which is a lot considering that he initially only had a mere handful of it.

    Seeing this brought a smile to his face, he decided to let it be for now as he had other matters to attend to.

    He sat down on thergest Star Gazing Mat and began integrating with the insights his Avatars prepared for him. Once again, Raven found himself swimming in a sea of profundity as his knowledge about the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth became richer. Although he''s still a bit far from making another breakthrough, he could still feel himself getting stronger.

    It took Raven a whole month to integrate with the insights of his Avatars. Once he woke up from his meditation, he was surprised to see four blurry silhouettes of people sitting in front of him, and they clearly weren''t his Avatars.

    "Yo! Finished integrating with the Insights of your Avatars?"

    "Inos, Astrid! It''s been a while..." Raven then looked at the two people beside them as asked: "And these are?"

    "Previous Heirs just like us. Poppy and Myleene." Astrid gestured while to waved hello to Raven.

    "Nice to meet you." Raven greeted.

    "We finally met, 9th Candidate." The woman with a short stature smiled at him. "The name''s Poppy!"

    "Nice to meet you too, 9th Candidate." The tall woman with pointy ears and beautiful green dress greeted back, " I am Myleene."

    "Raven Valorheart, well I guess you already knew that." Raven chuckled and shook hands with them, not like they could physically interact with each other but it''s the thought that matters.

    "Yes, we know you. We''ve been watching you closely ever since you fused with the Ancestral Divine Crown." Poppy informed.

    "We are also gratified about your progress. In fact it was thanks to you that we could at least finally move around." Myleene told him, which caused Raven to feel a bit surprised.

    "What do you mean? How did I do that?"

    Poppy chuckled and said: "I am an Earthen Elf, also known as a Dwarf."

    "And I am a Forest Elf." Myleene smiled at him.

    Raven was still rtively confused about that so he couldn''t help but frown. The gears on his head then finally moved and he immediately discovered the connection.

    "The World Tree!"

    "Exactly." Poppy and Myleene nodded and said at the same time.

    "Cool, but...how exactly did it happen? I didn''t know that just helping the World Tree Seed sprout could allow to you be uh...freed? I guess."

    The four heirsughed at his confusion but it was Inos who exined how it worked first.

    "Partner, the Ancestral Divine Crown isn''t just something you own. It became a part of you once you entered the Pce."

    "Our remnant wills are preserved by the Crown and is connected through it. We can''t take a step out since once we do, our residual ''Will'' will immediately disperse since we don''t have physical forms anymore and we are way past our era." Astrid followed up.

    "Inos had the closest connection to you since he''s the one who''s been discretely guiding you, he''s also the one responsible for sending you back in time, so he was freed the moment you appeared in the Pce Grounds. Astrid appeared after you fought with the residual wills of failed candidates since she''s the one who established that." Poppy exined further.

    "Poppy and I had no close rtion to you but we received some form of relief when you integrate with that man''s blood, Tenrou I mean. Still that wasn''t enough topletely free us, the real deciding factor was if you could foster the World Tree Seed properly, and since it''s you, then we didn''t have any doubts that you would be able to do it, so we only needed to wait." Myleene wrapped up the exnation for everyone.

    "I see..." Raven murmured, he wasn''t expecting such a revtion but he didn''t mind it. He had the urge to ask what it would take for the other heirs to be ''freed'' as well but he didn''t do so in the end. He realized that they would tell him that right away if possible but since they didn''t then that means he needs to figure it out on his own.

    "Still, who would''ve thought right?" Myleene chuckled as he looked at Raven in wonder.

    "Indeed. So young yet he already managed to nourish a World Tree within him." Poppy nodded in admiration as well.

    "Ah, that reminds me!" Raven suddenly remembered something. "From the records I saw in the past, it said that there was some bad blood between the Earthen Elves and Forest Elf in the past, I wonder if it was true?"

    "Ah, that..." Poppy smiled, although Raven could tell that her smiled appeared rather cramped. "Yeah, it has been so long that I actually almost forgot about it all."

    "Indeed." Myleene nodded but she expressed sadness instead.

    "Sorry, I didn''t mean to remind you of unpleasant memories." Raven felt slightly awkward seeing how they reacted to his question.

    "Don''t sweat it, Youngster." Poppy waved her hands, "We already let go everything, we''re dead remember? There''s no use for us to hold on to something stupid."

    "Something...stupid?"

    "Indeed. It was truly stupid..." Myleene whole-heartedly agreed. "Because of that stupidity, both of our races went extinct."

    Raven''s eyes widened in disbelief. Extinct. The Forest Elves and Dwarven Race were extinct. Raven didn''t know what to feel about that sudden revtion. He initially thought that these races migrated somewhere and hid themselves, he didn''t know that they were extinct.

    "We shed too much blood, sacrificing out very lives into these so-called ''Holy Wars'' that brought us nothing but pain in misery. It was stupid how willing we are to sacrifice our very lives to prove that our ''History'' was the correct one, and not the others." Myleene''s mouth twitched in annoyance as she recalled some memories.

    "Right? Just imagine our despair when news that our ''History'' was fabricated by someone, reached our ears?" Poppy said sarcastically. "It turns out that someone was manipting us from the background. That entity managed to convince us to oppose each other and kill each other to the point that we were crippled. Then they swoop in and robbed us of everything while also making sure that none of us will remain."

    "Seeing how they easily eradicated us without even using real effort must''ve given them a fewughs. What''s worse is that, when we asked why us, they told us that they found our existence rather unpleasant, which is why they decided to eradicate us."

    "See? Isn''t it stupid?" Poppy asked sarcastically.

 Chapter 614 - Revelation Day?

    ---

    "Oh well, getting upset about all of that won''t really make any difference now." Poppy sighed in defeat. "Our era''s gone, while there might be someone who has the same bloodline as ours nowadays, I''d venture that they could be counted on one hand, we might as well call that utter extinction."

    "What about the ones who plotted against your race? Are they still alive?" Raven couldn''t help but ask.

    "Probably, probably not. We don''t know." Myleene replied with a shrug. "We were long dead before the revtion happened, it was only thanks to Astrid that we''ve learned about these things."

    Raven raised a brow and looked at Astrid who said: "I met thest survivor of the Earthen Elves and befriended him, before he died, he told me the entire story. I was an official Heir at that time so Poppy and Myleene heard about it too."

    "Did he tell who were the culprits?" Raven asked.

    "They called themselves ''Bored Immortals'', but I''m pretty they said that just to anger their victims. You know...Immortals who lived for eons and were bored so they decided to entertain themselves by watching how their puppets ughter each other due to their stupidity." Astrid replied, earning a scowl from Raven.

    "Bored? More like ''Twisted'' if you ask me."

    "Right!?" Poppy eximed, "I thought of the same thing as well. Gosh, they were so lucky I didn''t have a physical form at that time or else I would''ve marched towards where they live and make their lives miserable."

    Raven on the other hand was in deep thought.

    ''Bored Immortals? Never heard of them. If they call themselves Immortals, that means they came from several Eons ago, back when the establishment of the Divine Realm is still on it''s infancy. If I remember it correctly, Ancestor Zeus pursued the path of Immortality as well.''

    ''The most ancient text avable to read at the sect was at least 10-15 Billion Years Old if I remember it correctly. That is a long ass time! Wait, when did Poppy and Myleene died anyway?''

    "...about a 700 million years ago for Myleene and 500 million years ago for me." Raven heard Poppy said, causing him to look at her in surprise.

    "Nope, I can''t read minds. Your expression says it all." Poppy chuckled after seeing Raven''s rmed expression.

    "Is it really that obvious?" Raven asked, concerned somewhat.

    "Yep, it totally is." All four heirs replied at the same time, causing Raven''s lips to twitch.

    "And remember this, little boy." Poppy said in a reprimanding voice, Raven on the other hand flinched at how he was addressed by Poppy. "It is rude to guess a woman''s age."

    "Nothing on you looks like a woman, Poppy." Myleene said in an exasperated voice.

    "Hey! That is extremely rude you know!" Poppy cried out in resentment, "Just because I''m stout in stature and doesn''t have much curves, it doesn''t meant that I can''t be respected as a properdy!"

    "Properdy my ass." Astrid snorted on the side, "You married 25 men all at the same time back when you were alive. Heck you even gave each one of them kids! Making you a mother of 25 children!"

    "Right, you legit started a whole n by yourself. That''s incredible." Inosmented on the side.

    "Bwahaha! And I''d do it all again, bitch! Just give me a physical body and the Dwarven Race shall rise once more!" Poppy stood up and pumped her fist up in the air. This caused Myleene and Astrid to sigh in helplessness while Inos pped for Poppy.

    Meanwhile, Raven''s mind was spinning upon hearing that revtion. He couldn''t help but think to himself, ''25 Husbands? 25 Children? Daaaaamn! She is feisty!''

    This time, he made sure to control his expression so others can''t decipher his thoughts through reaction.

    "Ahem, anyways let''s get back on track." Myleene interrupted before Poppy goes further into her ''colorful'' history with men. "Contrary to your expectations, Poppy wasn''t the one who found the Ancestral Divine Crown after me. I was the 4th Heir while Poppy was the 6th. The 5th Heir is still bound at the Resting ce here, it''s because you triggered the growth of the World Tree that we were able to move around here."

    "Ah, I see." Raven nodded in understanding, "Here I thought that nobody held the crown for 200 million years."

    "Yeah, I figured you''d think something like that." Myleene nodded, "I met my end when both of our Races were still rather prosperous. When it was Poppy''s turn, I discovered that our races were on decline but it didn''t really struck me that someone or some people were responsible for that. It was only during Astrid''s reign that we discovered it."

    "Hearing about that made us feel very frustrated you know." Poppy interjected in the conversation. "You see, anyone who managed to be recognized as a true Heir of that old man Geezer, was considered as a top notch expert in their times."

    "Still, that only applies when we are alive." Poppy softly said, "We were long dead when heard about it so we can''t do anything about that anymore. Astrid tried to help us but those Bored Immortals disappeared like they didn''t exist in the first ce."

    "We''ve nothing to vent our frustrations, and we also know that staying frustrated about it won''t do anything, so we''ve learned to let go. It''s fine. It''s all in the past now anyways." Myleene let out a smile which somehow made Raven feel slightly better.

    "Alright! There''s no use on getting down by past events! Let''s get to the main reason why were here, yeah?" Poppy said, Myleene nodded to her and they all looked at Raven.

    "Aside from meeting you and getting acquainted, there is of course a big reason why we showed up in front of you as soon as we could." Myleene informed.

    "What is it?" Raven asked, feeling slightly apprehensive.

    "Rx, it''s merely some reminders on how you should use the World Tree''s power when timees." Poppy informed.

    "The Power of the World Tree?" Raven tilted his head in confusion. ''We''re they talking about the sheer amount if Spacetime Law insights that the World Tree has and supplies to me?''

    "Yes! Although we have seen your careful nature, we still want to remind you to be very conscious of the sheer power you are fostering within you." Poppy said solemnly.

    "The World Tree is an existence capable of rivalling the entire Divine Realm when ites to value." Myleene stated, "A fully grown World Tree has millions of roots, each were connected to Infinite Realities. It''s trunk serves as the pir the supports this connection. It''s leaves are also infinite in number, each leaf being unique since it disys the Infinite Worlds the World Tree''s roots are connected to."

    "In terms of receiving multitude of Insights of several rare and extremely powerfulws, the true power of the World Tree doesn''t rely there." Poppy dered. "It''s true power isplete authority over the worlds it is connected to."

    Raven''s eyes visibly widened upon hearing this. He almost couldn''t believe what he just heard right now. ''Complete Authority''. He truly wondered if Poppy misspoke just now but looking at her solemn expression, it would seem that she didn''t.

    "You heard me right." Poppy nodded after seeing Raven''s expression. "Once you manage to foster the World Tree into its full maturity, you can choose to connect one or multiple realities by connecting them to its roots."

    "Once the connection is established, you can freely exercise control over the reality you have chosen. You can visit it whenever you like, observe from a distance, change the oues without receiving punishment...or even wipe it out of existence, erasing itpletely, never to ur or to surface ever again."

    "That...is the true power, of the World Tree." Poppy and the rest turned silent after this, allowing Raven to fully digest what he just heard right now.

    Sufficed to say, it was a great revtion day for Raven. Not only did he meet two more of the previous Heirs, he also got to know their history and was informed about the ridiculous power of the thing he was fostering within him right now.

    If one looked closely, Raven''s hands were shaking. Whether it was from nervousness, anxiety, fear or excitement, no one could truly tell since Raven''s current expression painted multiple colors as well. Raven felt like his brain was being fried while it''s still inside his skull. He felt dizzy, delusional even. There''s too many thoughts intruding his brain that he could tell that he wasn''t functioning properly.

    He truly doesn''t know how to react from this sudden revtion. Was he supposed to be excited at the prospect of being a true God-like being? Was he supposed to feel anxious because he doesn''t known if he could live long enough to eventually reach this stage? Was he supposed to feel nervous since holding that much power should be considered illegal?

    ...or was he supposed to be afraid....afraid of holding too much power that it corrupts him through and through.

 Chapter 615 - Back On Track

    ---

    "Now that I think about it, I actually don''t want this anymore. Can I like...you know...undo this?" Raven asked, causing the heirs to chuckle after seeing his ufortable expression.

    "Well, it''s not like you can''t but - "

    "If I extract the growing World Tree in me, I''ll die, yeah I know. I was just wondering you know." Raven groaned.

    Of course he knew that this process cannot be undone. As soon as the World Tree Sprouted within him, the idea of extracting it with the expectation of keeping his life was pretty much gone.

    In all seriousness, Raven was really feeling quite conflicted at this point. He just wasn''t expecting that the World Tree holds a power like that. He had genuinely thought that he knew everything there was to know about the world tree but it turns out that he didn''t.

    "Well, since I can''t really undo this process, then I''ll just deal with it when timees. Thanks for reminding me by the way." Raven said, "Is there anything else I needed to know?"

    "Nothing much." Poppy replied, "Although we already warned you to be careful about how you''re going to use the power of the World Tree, you still have some time to prepare yourself. After all, fostering a World Tree to its full maturity isn''t simple, and it takes too much time to do so."

    "If you be an Heir, then its pretty much guaranteed that you''ll live long enough to see the day when the World Tree matures. If no idents happen, then we should still be with you to remind you just in case." Myleene added.

    "I appreciate it." Raven nodded his head and was really thankful for the early warning. Now that he''s aware of the devastating power brewing within him, he had to make sure that his ego will be kept in check or else he will abuse the hell out of this.

    "Well, since that''s over. It''s about time we return." Inos stood up along with the other Heirs. "We still can''t stay out for long, that''s why you have to work hard partner. The closer you are in bing a True Heir, the more freely we could move about."

    "Understood. Rest well."

    As soon as he said that, the Heirs disappeared, leaving Raven alone in his thoughts.

    He stayed in his position, thinking about the sudden revtions he just found out today and couldn''t help but feel ratherplicated. He already met four of the eight previous Heirs of Geezer.

    Every single one of them could be described as a relic of the past due to how much time passed since their deaths, yet their remnant wills still remains here and they are still holding on.

    Raven didn''t really know why these people are sticking around. If one were to ask him, attaining an eternal life isn''t really an attractive thing to have. Sure one gets to live for a very long time but it''s not like the world can entertain them forever. At some point, living for far too long bes a burden. Although time cannot erode the lifespan of someone who has an eternal life, it doesn''t mean that it can''t erode their sanity.

    Raven had met some people before who lost their mind because they had lived for far too long, heck just now they talked about the Bored Immortals! They might as well be included in that group.

    The only guess Raven had as to why the Heirs chose to remain here is due to the prospect of achieving the realm beyond Divinity. Aside from that, he had no idea.

    ''Well, thinking about this doesn''t benefit me at all.'' Raven thought to himself. ''I still have a long way to go before I could even be genuinely called as an expert in the Divine Realm. For now, I should just focus on improving my strength. Towards the Scripture Graveyard I go then. Let''s see if I could receive some more blessings.''

    ---

    Raven visited the Scripture Graveyard and he was pleased to know that he managed to acquire some blessing from the ce.

    He received a blessing called: ''Font of Life''. Something that he got due to him fostering the World Tree. The blessing increases his recovery speed by a lot and it also improved how fast the World Tree filtered his Cosmic Energies, making it purer as time goes on.

    After receiving the blessing, Raven visited the Hall of Stars and sank his perception to it. He wanted to find out if he could receive the acknowledgement of another constetion. So far, he only got the acknowledgement of Extreme Yang Illumination and Elusive Yin Silhouette.

    This time, he got lucky and receive the acknowledgement of a constetion called the ''Observer''. Although Raven had no idea why he got it, he was thankful he received it.

    Just like with his previous experience, when he integrated with the ''Observer'' it felt like he saw through the constetion''s point of view and witnessed eons passed without his interference. After that, he woke up and had mostly forgotten what happened but he felt as if the world around was changing.

    After this encounters, Raven returned to the Cultivation Eden. He rested for a bit and began fortifying his foundations once more. He also practiced creating new runes that he had got insights from and expanded his Rune Arsenal even more.

    Raven fell into a routine once more. This time, he decided to use all of this week''s entry. Meaning that he stayed within the Crown Space for a whole year. Fortifying his strength and improving his techniques and Laws.

    Time passed just like this and his time inside ended. Beforeing out, Raven made sure to cut his hair and shave the beard he grew. He also changed his clothes and used a few days topletely rx, he didn''t want to get out exhausted since he won''t be able to exin that to Kyrie.

    Once it was over, Raven exited the Crown Space. He returned to the real world where only two days passed. He lifted the seals on the room and went outpletely refreshed.

    ---

    "...that is impressive." Theo couldn''t help but say as he saw two Raven look-alikes breezing through mountains of paperwork in front of them.

    "I know right?" Raven, the original one, proudly said as he calmly sipped his tea in rxation while he entertained his guests.

    "Man, I should look for a Cloning Technique as well. That way I could also let them handle the paperwork I have." Logan grumbled, feeling slightly envious when he saw how Raven was taking it easy.

    "Correction, those are Raven''s Avatars, not Clones." Henry interjected. "I highly doubt Clones can be used like that."

    "Listen to him." Charles said, "He would know since he already tried that method."

    "Hey!"

    The groupughed at their bickering. Today, Raven''s teammates at the True Olympian Climb visited him after they received word that he regained consciousness.

    When they got here, they initially had the purpose of checking Raven''s current condition. But after seeing him sipping his tea while calmly waiting for them, was already a convincing indication that he was just fine. They were even more convinced after they saw two of his Avatars furiously rushing through the tall stacks of paperwork as if they met their mortal enemy.

    "Oh, I just thought I''d let you know. Good job on the Rune above by the way." Theo said after peeling his gaze away from the Avatars.

    Raven then recalled about the rune he was talking about and asked: "Are the disciples showing signs of recovery?"

    "Recovery? More likepletely cured already." Logan stated. "I''ve been monitoring them for quite sometime and as far as I can see, none of them could even remember that horrible event."

    "I see...that''s reassuring." Raven sighed in relief as he heard that.

    "Sect Master also made a public appearance multiple times while you were unconscious. Seeing as how he looked just like before, if not, even better thanst time, really helps on pacifying the belief on the disciples. Now they whole heartedly believe that our sect will never fall and we will win this war." Henry added.

    "Mn. You did an incredible service to the sect, Raven." Charles smiled andplimented him.

    "Thanks. At least I could do something." He said while looking quite pleased. "Well, how about you four? How are you doing?"

    "Oh, same old." Henry replied while waving his hand. "Paperwork, patrol and asional practice. It feels like forever since west did it but it also indicates that we''re finally home."

    "Is that so?" Raven said while looking at Henry with suspicion.

    Henry of course noticed his gaze and shivered inwardly, however he did his best to not react, lest Raven esctes this even further. Inwardly however, Henry was cursing his luck.

    "Eh? Why are you looking at him like that Raven." Theo asked after noticing it.

    "Nothing much." Raven replied, causing Henry to release a sigh of relief inwardly, not knowing that he celebrated too early.

    "It''s just that I''ve been smelling something rather familiar. You know now that I think about it, I could faintly remember when, where and most specially WHO had this smell. Correct me if I''m wrong but I believe it''s from a certain Zither War Goddess..."

    "...isn''t that right? Mr. Henry?"

    Henry: ''$&#*#($&¡Â*

 Chapter 616 - Execution

    ---

    "Hehehe..." Raven chuckled to himself. It was fortunate that no one could see him right now or else they''d definitely think that he''s losing it.

    It had been a few hours after the War Gods visited them, the reason why he wasughing is because he could still remember how teasing Henry received when Raven revealed that he has a residual scent of a female.

    As expected, Logan, Theo and Charles were ruthless. All they needed was one push and they went all out into teasing Henry who almost wanted to dig a hole on the ground and hide in there, never to resurface ever again.

    ''Well that was his mistake for not being careful. Still, what a guy. I bet they just finished a round of love making before he decided to visit me. He didn''t even bother to take a quick shower. Unbelievable.''

    In the end, their little talk ended with a lot of teasing. They soon left after that, leaving Raven to his devices since he has already fully recovered.

    Raven mostly spend the rest of his day catching up with the recent developments within the Sect. He had integrated with the information from the clones he tasked to finish the paperwork and got pretty much updated through those information.

    During the two and half years that they were gone, nothing much had changed in the Sect. Aside from the Realm-wide recruitment period which only happens once a year, the hunt for the devils remain pretty constant.

    That being said, there are some improvements in terms of performance, and most of this was closely rted to Raven.

    First and foremost, the seal he ced on the Broken Floors within Asphodel remained intact. There had been some reports saying they found some traces of attacks on the Seals but nothing too serious that ced it at risk. The seal was intact and was working as intended, weakening the devils who chose to descend and roam thends of Asphodel.

    Thanks to the seal, hunting higher levels of Devils became easier. Additionally, since the devils are weakened, the survival rate of the teams hunting them simrly rose as well.

    But what really caused the survival rate to increase was the formations created by Raven.

    At this point, having the formation was pretty much a necessity to a Unit or Team, even for those who chose to go Solo. The formation was simply a life saver, not only does it provide absolute security is also providefort. Staying within it is like entering a safe haven where no one can harm them.

    Thanks to this formation, the disciples can choose their battle wisely and can retreat at anytime necessary. It is just that useful.

    Sadly, the formation could only work up until Asphodel. Taking it to any Hunting Grounds which are more advanced than Asphodel will greatly diminish it''s uses.

    To that, a demand was raised, addressed directly to Raven as he was the one who created this formation. Now, some disciples want him to create a version of the formation that can be used on those dangerous Hunting Grounds while also providing the same level of absolute security andfort.

    This gave Raven a mild headache since this is one of the tasks that he can''t refuse, especially if he want to increase his credibility as the next Heir of Chronos.

    The problem is that, if he wanted to neutralize any dangerous elements somewhere, he had to experience it first. Sufficed to say, although he could visit those other Hunting Grounds as well, he didn''t have ns to before since those ces still pose a certain degree of risk even for someone like him. Yet at the same time, he also can''t just simply ignore the demand for it. Which makes things slightlyplicated.

    Since he returned from the True Olympian Climb, Raven of course had some ns to improve the situation of the Sect. He wanted to visit each floors of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda to see if he could revise the seals ced on them. He want to see if he could fix the Broken Floors, he wanted to visit the other Hunting Grounds and etc.

    Additionally, he also have to pay attention to his duties as the next Heir of Chronos. Which he could easily fill in with Avatars, but he ventured that a time wille where not even his Avatars would be enough to handle it.

    There''s just way too many things he had to do but so little time. Which is why Raven felt like he''s having a massive headache thinking about all of this.

    ...he''d be lying if he said that he''s not regretting his decision to ept the Sect Master''s offer.

    ---

    "...I see, it turns out that my gut feeling was correct...those damn old coots."

    Raven clicked his tongue as he saw the recent document that came, pertaining about a certain case he left for Kyrie to keep tabs on while he was in the middle of the hike.

    Franklin and Edward were executed for colluding with The Exiles.

    These two were once Raven''s unit-mates back when he''s still at Unit-17, under Henry''s guidance. They were the chosen representatives of Twin Star Academy as exchange students/disciples as per the agreement.

    Though they were executed, the matter was kept under the rags and weren''t announced since the sect knew that they were simrly victims.

    It turns out that the Empyreans who founded the Twin Star Academy had some connections to The Exiles. In exchange of insider information, the Empyreans receive blessings from The Exiles which ''supposedly'' make them stronger.

    Franklin and Edward were sent as their representative without their knowledge. A malicious technique was used to them in order for them to directly send sensitive information to their Empyrean Masters who in turn use it as a token in exchange for power.

    Still, there was no way that the Sect wouldn''t be able to figure this out. And as soon as they were busted, the Sect didn''t waste anytime and sent people to apprehend them. The operation was quite fruitful, not only the Sect manage to recover the information, they even apprehended the culprits and killed five official members of the Exiles.

    Sadly though, even though Franklin and Edward were mostly innocent, sparing them was out of the question. If other people can decipher information that they were unknowingly sending and provide it to the enemies, then other people could simrly do so. They executed due to a simple reason like that.

    Raven couldn''t me the sect for it''s decision. Risking the lives of millions in order to save two people was uneptable, specially if those lives were lives of the Sect Disciples who fight in order to ensure the safety of the Divine Realm. The sect can''t afford to make that kind of mistake so they had to go.

    Quite fortunately however, the execution was discrete. It wasn''t announced and it was masked as an ident since the two were executed whilst in the middle of a patrol.

    Raven had a hand on this since he was the one that caused them to be exposed. Before he left for the True Olympian Climb, he handed out some tools to Jason who then passed it on to the rest of the Unit. The Sect had some suspicions before so he decided toy a trap.

    Within those tools he passed was a tracking seal which he made Kyrie pay close attention to before leaving. Several days after he left, Kyrie deciphered what''s wrong and immediately reported it to the Sect Master who wasted no time to apprehend the criminals.

    Still, even though they had gotten rid of the potential threat, Raven couldn''t help but feel slightly guilty. Franklin and Edward were mostly innocent, they were just used as a tool by twisted people who were hungry for power.

    That being said, he too couldn''t allow such risk to exist for long so he could only feel sorry for their fates. Hopefully those two can have a long and fulfilling next life.

    After receiving this report, Raven decided to visit his previous teammates in order to check on how they were doing.

    Well, it had been quite sometime after it happened so they had adjusted to it by now. They were admittedly shaken up at first since they were the first casualty, and although they didn''t know the real reason how they died, losing some people this early surely had some effects on them.

    Thankfully, Jason was there and became their pir of support. It was thanks to his efforts that they managed to pick themselves back up from all of that and push themselves to work even harder.

    Compared from thest time they met, these people had improved by leaps in bounds. Their hard work wasn''t for nothing since the sect answered their passion by nurturing them, allowing them to swiftly improve.

    Currently, they were a far cry from how they were two years ago. They were plenty powerful and because of that, they managed to be the first Unit who were promoted as Inner Sect Disciples, it wouldn''t take long before they ascend to Greece which made Raven really proud.

    ''They''re going to be just fine....''

 Chapter 617 - Seal Revising

    ---

    Raven stared ahead and stared at the enormous pir of ck light. Now, it is currently filled with glittering silver seals which created an abstruse contrast. A smile of contentment appeared on his face as he stepped within the pir of ck light, promptly disappearing from view.

    Once he felt the strong upward pull, Raven thought: ''Alright, I''ve revised the seal on the first three floors by now. By the time that I''m done here, I should still have some time before the next patrol."

    It has been a few weeks since Raven returned from the sect. He used that time to rest and fall back into the rhythm of things here in the sect before he goes out to do something big once more.

    ...such as what he''s currently doing right now.

    Currently, Raven infiltrated the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda by himself. His task is to revise the current seals ced on them in order to improve the effiency of the disciples who''d be hunting devils in the future.

    Entering the pagoda, Raven already had his expectations but was still surprised on how different it was outside.

    As he decided to work his way up, he naturally had to start at the first floor which is located at Tartarus. The environment in Tartarus remained as unpleasant as he remembered it to be. There''s a foul odor everywhere and the killing intent is present all over the ce.

    But when he took his first step inside the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, he was surprised to see a massive expanse of rainforest. Tall trees and an expanse of seemingly boundless vegetation greeted his sight the moment he entered.

    At first he thought he arrived at the wrong ce but it didn''t take long before he was ambushed by Imps who he dealt with using a single finger. The further he travelled the greater the amount of Imp ambushes he experienced. This is where Raven was convinced that he wasn''t at the wrong ce, he was indeed inside the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda.

    He also thought that searching for the entrance that will bring him to the next floor would be difficult but it turns out to be not so difficult. In fact, it''s pretty clear where he should go.

    At each floors, there is a massive pir of ck light at the very core area of the floor, it cannot be missed for it is one of a kind and too auspicious. The pir of ck light seem to be connecting the ground and sky of each floor, so with all of that in mind, it''s pretty clear that it also serves as the gateway that will allow him to ascend to the next floor.

    The seal which keeps the devils from escaping this ce is also that enormous pir of ck light, therefore Raven also chose it to ce new seals which could increase their advantage against devils.

    Revising the seals on the first three floors went smooth and easy so far since the enemies weren''t strong enough to distract him.

    In the end, Raven used multiple seals which created a several seals which would release a constant flux of self-sustaining energy which weakens the Imps. Alongside of that, there was a seal that could differentiate between allies and devils. Raven''s n for this, is to create a tracking rune which could be recognized by this seal, activating the rune will cause the seal to respond and transport the rune-holder out of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. In short a life saving rune.

    There is also a seal in here which is made out of Raven''s Cleansing mes. If any devil, descends to this floor, they will bear the burnt of this seal. For allies, it will grant them a protective coating of Cleansing mes which they can use on the seeding floors.

    The final seal was ced in-case of an emergency. This seal was hidden and will only activate once the original seal has been destroyed by a foreign force. When triggered it will automatically and instantly repair the original seal, making twice as durable as it once were. This seal has to store energy before bing useable once again and will do it''s job for a total of five times before dissipatingpletely.

    So far, this all Raven could do to make the lives of the disciples easier and to minimize the death counts. With time tough, he''ll be able to create stronger seals which he''s confident that not even the Devil Emperor itself could break.

    For now, this should suffice. Now he''s just wondering if he could do it in the higher floors as well.

    ---

    "Well...this is as far as I could go huh?" Raven said as he caught his breath.

    Since Raven was acting alone, he was moving much quicker. Within three days, he managed to revise the seals for all floors present in Tartarus. He could''ve done it faster but Raven didn''t find rushing the process a wise move. That''s why he made sure to rest in between, just enough time to recover from his exhaustion and to restore himself back to his peak condition.

    Sadly though, he could feel that this is as far as he could go into his mission. Revising the seal on the 9th floor was already a risky move since he could feel a strong repulsion. It is noting from the original seal of the pagoda but rather the will of the Devils.

    At this point, Raven was under the impression that his actions had already alerted the Devil Emperor. He could feel its will bearing down on him, telling him to not push his luck or else it''ll start throwing a fit.

    Raven of course understood the message and willingly backed down. He wouldn''t do so if he was confident about resisting the Devil Emperor but since he couldn''t, then there''s no reason for him to really test its patience.

    After noticing that, Raven only smiled wryly and backed-off. He then used a special seal to exit the pagoda and go back to his ce where he could have a long and refreshing bath.

    ---

    "Wee back, Young Lord. How was your trip?" Kyrie bowed and weed Raven while also inquiring about his little escapade.

    "It went fine." Raven answered as he sat down to momentarily rx. "I was able to revise the seals on all floors in Tartarus. So far, that''s as far as I could do. Any more and I''m afraid that the prisoner will soon be breathing down my neck."

    Kyrie was momentarily rmed but since Raven returned in one piece andpletely sane, she was relieved that he didn''t do anything reckless.

    In truth, Kyrie originally wanted Raven to bring them along in this little trip of his. Now that her Young Lord''s status are of much importance to the sect, it is imperative that his safety will always be secured. However, Raven insisted to go alone, telling her to not worry about him since he valued his own life and promised that he won''t do anything reckless.

    Kyrie couldn''t convince him in the end so she just reluctantly agreed. Not before reminding him to not be careless and not do anything reckless, thankfully Raven followed her advise and is now here, safe and sound.

    "Right, when will the trip to the Danger Zone ur again?" Raven asked his Battle Maid.

    "Two days from now, Young Lord." Kyrie replied, "You''ll be apanied by Sect Master, his wife, Prometheus and War Gods Henry."

    "I see." Raven nodded, he then mumbled something barely audible.

    "What is it, Young Lord?" Kyrie asked.

    "Oh! Nothing. I''m just wondering about some things. Don''t mind me." Raven said as he stood up and went towards his room.

    Kyrie was confused but she decided to forget about it. If Raven wanted to say something or ask for a favor, he''d say it directly to her anyway.

    When Raven returned to his room, he locked the door behind him and went straight towards the bathroom to soak in a hot bath. He always liked to do this after finishing his work, wrapping up the day in a positive note.

    As felt thefortable warmth coursing through his body, Raven involuntarily released a sigh of relief and visibly rxed. Resting his back against the ceramic wall, his thoughts wondered on its own.

    ''Two days huh, If I start this midnight, then I would have enough time to make it.'' Raven murmured inwardly. ''That two days can be stretched into a whole year for me so I could do lots of things.''

    Coincidentally, Raven still have his full two entry pass to seclude himself within the Crown Space. That gets him an entire year''s worth of seclusion, enough time to make somete improvements in order to make sure that he could preserve his life just in case something bad happens.

    ''Our destination is somewhat dangerous even at my current level of strength. I need to be prepared and I''ll take any form of strengthening in order to make sure I''ll be safe.''

    ''Hmm, what should I do?'' Raven thought long and hard, then an idea struck him, causing his eyes to brighten. ''Yeah! That should work.. Okay, time to make some preparations.''

 Chapter 618 - Valley Of Despair

    ---

    "114 Avatars, 6th Level of Myriad Incarnations Scripture as well as 6th Stage of Voidwalking Manual. I made some improvements with my skills and achieved Mid-stage Saint Knight Realm within this seclusion too. Mn! I''m ready for the next big task." Raven nodded in satisfaction as he wrapped up his seclusion by spending some time to recover his exhaustion.

    After cleaning himself up, he ate and slept to make sure he was in his peak condition.

    Once his seclusion time was up, Raven exited the Crown Pce and returned to the real world, specifically in his own room.

    He peered at the window to roughly check what time it is. Several rays of sunshine was starting to emerge from the shadows, meaning that he still has some time left. He used this time to check all of his belongings onest time before he leaves for the trip.

    After double checking everything, Raven nodded to himself and said: ''Okay, I got pretty much everything I''ll need.''

    He once again peered through the window and saw the sun was already peeking. Raven got up from his bed and exited his room after removing all the seals he ced before.

    Once he got out, he saw Kyrie already up and was arranging food on the table. She noticed him and greeted, telling him that breakfast was ready. While Raven did ate enough food already before exiting his seclusion, he wouldn''t say no to this.

    He joined Kyrie for breakfast, left some reminders to her and two of his Avatars to deal with the uing batch of paperwork and anything that would need his immediate attention. After finishing his food, Raven got up from his seat and went towards the Storm Dweller''s Peak to meet the people he''ll be leaving with.

    When he got there, he saw that the Sect Master, his wife, Elder Fallon and Henry was already there. Raven was momentarily surprised so he asked:

    "Oh. Am Ite?"

    "No, no." Henry said with a pleasant smile on his face. "You''re just in time, I''m the ones who''s early."

    "I see." Raven nodded, he then sat beside Henry in order to receive briefing from the Sect Master about this trip.

    "Alright, since all of us are here. We can start the briefing." The Sect Master said while pping his hands. "Now, just to remind you all. The ce we''ll be visiting is a dangerous one. Make sure to stay close to the group and keep some life-saving tools with you."

    "Today, we''ll be visiting the Valley of Despair - it is a ce where the Ten Commandments - servants of the Devil Emperor, are imprisoned. Our goal is to patrol the area and check for any recent changes. I''ve given you some array discs that contains recent images of what the valley looks like a few days ago, I trust that you all had already seen them and memorized every detail in there."

    "Once we get there, wait for my signal. Once I gave you the signal, you follow your own patrol route and begin taking snap images of what your patrol route looks like. Whatever you do, never stop moving. I repeat, never stop moving. Follow the route faithfully knowing that it is the correct one. If you ever feel like danger ising close and you have no way to defend yourself, re your aura and hold your ground for as long as you can until someone reaches you. Am I clear?"

    "Yes, Sect Master!"

    "Good! Once you''ve followed your route to it''s end and you''ve recorded images. Tear this seal in half and it will transfer you to a safe ce. Don''t be reckless and explore the area. Remember we are going to a very dangerous ce. One wrong step and you''ll lose your life. We leave with five members so I hope that we return as five as well. Is that clear?"

    "Yes, Sect Master."

    "Good! I''ll be opening the gate that will take us there." The Sect Master then stood up, followed by the team.

    They then went to the front yard where the Sect Master began chanting a profound passage. Soon after that, the space ahead began contracting until a tear emerge.

    An heavy and malignant aura began seeping out of the spatial tear, causing Raven''s body hairs to stand on each end. His face abruptly went solemn as he silently drew the Brush of Wisdom and raised his vignce. It wasn''t just him, even the others also raised their vignce once they felt the malignant aura seeping through the spatial tear.

    As the Sect Master continued chanting, the Spatial Tear began expanding until it wasrge enough to fit all of them at the same time. The Sect Master finished the ritual by then.

    "Alright, let''s go." The Sect Master said, all members stayed rtively close to each other as they began moving towards the Spatial Tear.

    Once they entered, the spatial tear disappeared behind them, as for them they were now surrounded by a barrier ced by the sect master keeping the heavy aura from pestering them.

    The light that was being emitted by the barrier was the only form of light there is here. They''re currently amidst an endless see of darkness, unable to see a thing aside from themselves.

    "The darkness around here is artificial." Elder Fallon whispered next to Raven, causing him to pay attention. "It is created in order to keep any prisoners from escaping, or at least hinder them long enough for us to send someone to catch them. The malignant aura you feel here ising from the prisoners here. Mixed with the darkness and the whole things turns into something incredibly unsettling."

    "I see." Raven nodded with a whisper. Checking it once more, it turns out that it''s true.

    The malignant aura and the darkness of this ce doesn''t work in harmony, meaning that the y weren''t being released by the same source. It might be coincidence but it could also be an intentional act.

    The group moved with the barrier for quite some time before arriving to their location. The darkness of their surroundings decreased considerably, allowing them to somewhat see where they at.

    They are now standing at a mountaintop, allowing them to see the blurry view of the valley below. Raven could see some traces of civilization below. From where he''s at, he could spot some houses, rooftops and paved roads. Sadly, even with his ocr technique active, the amount of things he could see within this ce are very limited.

    "Okay, we can see each other just fine." Sect Master said, "Don''t forget about the n. We will all go down at the same time, split and search for the routes assigned to us and begin following it while also recording images of it. Once your done, tear the seal I gave your earlier in half and you''ll be transported back to the Storm Dweller''s Peak. Any questions?"

    "Uh..." Raven raised his hand, catching the attention of the sect master. "Just want to rify. All of them are sealed, right?"

    "I certainly hope so." The Sect Master''s reply didn''t certainly didn''t make Raven happy. "Although the darkness in here was meant to hinder them, it hinders us too. So far we couldn''t do anything about it. It''s a bit hard to check whether the seals on their prisons are still intact or not. Which is why we are searching for clues."

    "I see. Alright, I keep an eye out for anything out of ce." Raven replied.

    "Okay, since everyone''s ready. Then let''s move!"

    Once the Sect Master gave out the order, everyone started descending from the mountaintop. Once they were close to the civilization, they began splitting up into different locations. Raven went straight down since that''s the area he''s designated to patrol.

    However, he didn''t rush ahead unlike the rest. He slowed down his pace the closer he got, he didn''t stop moving due to the warning of the sect master but he slowed down just enough so that he can make sufficient preparations.

    Waving the Brush of Wisdom around, numerous runes appeared in his body. Slowly but surely, Raven''s silhouette began merging with the environment. His presence had almost disappearedpletely but he was still there. Additionally, he boosted the power of ocr technique with the power of runes and started recording images.

    Right now, Raven was using two recoding array discs, one was given to him by the sect master and one he made which is directly connected to his eyes. The recording array he made will record everything he sees but instead of snap images, it will y out like a memory.

    With the help of his runes, Raven''s ocr vision strengthened, allowing him to see more clearly. The darkness wasn''t hindering him so much anymore. Now, he could see the ce just fine.

    The moment his vision got better, two things became very clear to him.

    One, there are exactly ten massive blocks on solid concrete next to each other situated at very core of this ce. He could see these and the colors they suffuse before but now he could.

    And two, 3 out of those 10 blocks, are in dire need of repair.

 Chapter 619 - A Serious Problem

    ---

    Raven''s expression twisted. He felt his stomach churned as he fought the urge to spat out strings of curses.

    ''I was asking for it didn''t I? I raised the gs! God damn it!'' Raven cursed inwardly he stared nkly at the two of tall concrete blocks with varying kinds of evil intent surrounding it.

    It was at this point that Raven realized that the darkness of this ce really backfired on them. It would''ve been okay if it was a normal darkness since that''d be useless against his ocr technique but at the same time, if that applies to him, then it could be the same for the devils imprisoned here as well.

    He couldn''t me anyone for using this magnitude of Darkness Laws in order to hinder the devils from causing any troubles, but at the same time it would be much better if they had devised a way in order for their side to not he hindered by the same darkness as well.

    Because without that kind of advantage, something like the scene in front of him was very likely to happen...

    Raven still pretended to follow his route but his attention was focused on the prison for the Ten Commandments. If he follow his route, there is no way that he''d evene close to this prison. The Sect Master might''ve done that for his safety but at the same time, that won''t allow Raven inspect their seals properly.

    ''Three out of the ten escaped. At this point, it''s pretty much the only exnation I coulde up with.'' Raven thought to himself while he continued following his route. ''Well, it''s either that or they died. If such were the case then it''s all good. But I really don''t think that''s what happened here.''

    ''If I follow this route, I won''t get close to that ce. I want to see just in case but I also can''t disobey the Sect Master. Additionally, it is quite dangerous here. I had this impression that someone''s following me closely. I can''t see them nor actually feel them but my intuition screams at me that they''re there.''

    ''This is probably why the Sect Master told us to not stop moving. If I stop, whatever these things are, will pounce at me and I''d ced in a very troublesome position. What should I do?''

    ''I need to make sure whether they escaped or died. If they died then good riddance, if they escaped I need to know how they escaped and who escaped. Knowing that should make it easier to track them down. Are they still here or anywhere within this valley? Are they the ones following us? Is it possible for me to seal them back. So much things to find out...''

    Raven''s thoughts were in a disarray as he subconsciously followed his route, recording the whole scene of his trip. Since the recording disk he had was linked to his eyesight, it also captured what he could see with his enhanced vision, therefore it is clear that when they viewed thister, everyone will see that out of the 10 prisons, three looked dull and highly suspicious.

    Time passed with Raven absorbed into his own musings that he didn''t even notice that he actually got to the end of his route. It was at this point that he was supposed to rip the seal he was given in half and return to the sect, however he just can''t settle down after seeing that.

    Leaving like this just doesn''t sit well with him...

    Therefore, instead of ripping apart the seal. He just held onto it and decided to take a detour. As soon as he began, he raised his vignce to the maximum. He was prepared to get out of this ce at any given moment, so he continued recording everything that he saw.

    He went slow at first, he did so because he wanted to see if whatever''s following him, will attack the moment he detoured. He took a couple of steps away from his route slowly and didn''t feel anything, he then took a couple more steps and didn''t feel anything again.

    He continued this way until he eventually got close to where the Ten Commandments are imprisoned.

    ''Purity, Patience, Love, Selflessness, Truth, Repose, Pacifism, Faith, Reticence, and Piety. Now, let''s see who escaped, died or still imprisoned.''

    Raven''s guard was up, he gripped the Brush of Wisdom tightly with one hand and the seal to escape at the other. He then moved closer to the prison, still keeping a safe distance away but close enough so that he could see them properly.

    The closer he got to the prison, the thicker the evil intent he felt. He could also hear some whispers turning louder as if it was right next to his ears. He guarded his mind with his firm will and passed by the prison while making sure to keep his presence at the barest minimum.

    He arrived at the first cell, as he did he started feeling ufortable. He felt exposed from head to toe, it was as if his deepest, darkest and most embarrassing secretsy exposed for everyone to see. Raven sharplymanded his will and got rid of this influence while feeling slightly apprehensive.

    ''This should be where ''Truth'' is imprisoned.'' Raven muttered inwardly as he slowly and carefully inspected the cell. And just as he expected, it was indeed where the prison for ''Truth''. He became certain of it once he saw the seal ced in the prison. There is abel next to it that informs that this is prison of ''Truth''.

    Raven then went toward the next cell and the one next to that. He remained in motion as he continuously inspected every cell and checking which cell imprisons who...

    He also saw the dull cells that he saw from a distance earlier. And now that he saw it close, it was pretty evident...

    ''Yep. They escaped alright.'' Raven sighed inwardly as he saw the eroded seal on their cells. ''So, the ones who escaped were...Ugh! Damn! That is the worstbination of prisoners to escaped from here.''

    ''We might be in some serious trouble if they were allowed to do as they please.'' Raven clicked his tongue in annoyance. ''Judging from what I saw, I''d say they escaped approximately nine to eleven months ago. We need to investigate this as soon as possible. Hopefully they are still here.''

    Raven would''ve loved to do more than this but unfortunately he couldn''t, at least not by himself. Without any further ado, he ripped the seal he held in half and promptly disappeared from where he was.

    He felt a strong pull and when his vision re-adjusted, he found himself standing in the front yard of the Storm Dweller''s Peak.

    "Oh, there he is." He hears Henry said, "Hey, Raven. What took you so long?"

    Raven shook his head to re-orient himself with his surroundings, when he did, his eyes immediately darted towards the Sect Master.

    "We have some serious problem."

    Everyone was surprised when they heard Raven''s somber tone, especially when they heard his words. No one saw Raven like this before. Heck, Henry who had spent majority of his time with Raven never saw nor heard him like this during their arduous climb before, so it was surprising for him to witness it.

    No matter who it was, since Raven said that there is a serious problem, then there is a serious problem indeed.

    The group hastily went towards the backyard since they needed to include Grand Elder in this discussion. Once they arrived, everyone was looking at the Sect Master so he asked them first.

    "Did you guys see any differences in the route you took?"

    "Not in mine." Henry shook his head.

    "I found some but I don''t think it''s too much of a difference really. In fact it''s almost indiscernible." Elder Fallon added.

    "I got nothing." Alwina said while putting down the array disc in front of her.

    "Same as mine." The Sect Master said, this caused everyone to look at Raven, so he asked: "What happened to you."

    "Watch this." Raven didn''t exin first and instead, he took out the array disc he made, the one that''s connected to his eyesight and yed it for them.

    Seeing as to how it was vastly different from them made everyone''s eyes glimmer, they didn''t know that Raven could see this well in that ce. But then the image suddenly went moving as if they were watching a memory y out.

    At first, everyone wanted to ask Raven how he did it but the scene also came to the point where Raven was staring at the ten blocks of concrete nearly arranged in a row in the middle of the civilization. What really caused them to be rmed is when they saw how three out of ten blocks were dull and dimpared to the others.

    As they were starting to get weird ideas, they saw how Raven made a detour. The scene yed out where Raven personally checked every prison and their faces warped when they saw three of their supposed to be prisoners broke out of their cell.

    "The one who escaped were ''Love'', ''Faith'' and ''Piety'', which in my opinion is the worst bunch to deal with...."

 Chapter 620 - Escaped Prisoners

    ---

    "This is indeed a serious problem..." The Sect Master''s face went unsightly as he saw that three of their prisoners escaped without them being alerted about it.

    " ''Love'' ''Faith'' and ''Piety'' huh? Any of those three could use their power to build arge cult should they managed to roam free within the Divine Realm. That''s trouble." Grand Elder Ginmented while massaging his temples.

    "The Commandments could also transform their followers'' Faith into an energy source of feed it to the Devil Emperor. If the Devil Emperor recovers his strength, then we would be in some serious crisis. We must search for the whereabouts of the escaped convicts. We have to cut them down before they could grow any more problematic." Henrymented while also feeling stressed.

    "You did well in spotting this." The Sect Master patted Raven''s back. "I can''t believe that they managed to escape without our notice. Still, we don''t have much time."

    The Sect Master went silent for a bit before he turned to Raven and asked: "I''ll be giving you a difficult mission. Are you up for it?"

    "What do I need to do?" Raven asked first.

    "I''ll send you back there, alone." The Sect Master told him, "Your task is to search for tracks of the escaped prisoners. See if they are still there and if you could, put them back behind bars. What do you think?"

    Raven thought for a bit before answering: "Sure, I can manage. If there are only three of them, I should be able to handle them on my own. But, just in case there''s more to this incident, be prepared to send me some back-up."

    "Also, it would be wise tob the ranks of the sect rather discretely, just in case they manage to infiltrate our ranks." Raven drew the Brush of Wisdom and began drawing several runes in the air.

    Momentster, two solid rune formed ahead of him. They materialized into being and was passed onto the Sect Master for safe-keeping by Raven.

    "This one is a Tracking Rune. Activate it using your energies as you walk around the sect. If it senses any Devils nearby, it will show a reaction. The closer you are to the Devil, the stronger the reaction is. That rune can also locate the Commandments should they be here."

    "The other one is a Binding Rune. Once located them using the tracking rune, activate this one and it should immediately trap them within it." Raven exined the uses of the runes he created just now.

    The Sect Master tried activating the Tracking Rune and it glowed with a soft light, aside from that it didn''t do anything. This means that there are no devils around which caused everyone to sigh in relief.

    "Alright, since that''s settled, send me back there. We need to hurry." Raven said to which the Sect Master agreed.

    They went towards the front yard where the Sect Master began chanting the ritual to open up the passed towards the Valley of the Despair. A few minutes passed by and the familiar spatial tear appeared in front of them, Raven already made some preparations to before hand so he could leave right away.

    Before leaving, the Sect Master handed him another seal that could send him back here in case he found himself in danger. Also, Raven left a seal behind that he could use to ask for reinforcements.

    Once Raven made sufficient preparations, he didn''t waste any time and immediately entered the passage that will transport him to the Valley of Despair.

    ---

    *Swoosh!*

    Raven silently appeared in the same location where he was a couple of hours ago. He was greeted by the simr darkness which greatly hindered his sight. Now however, Raven was fully prepared.

    Not only did he manage to nullify the darknessws around this ce through the use of runes, he also made himself pretty much invisible to any kind of detection. Even his arrival here didn''t cause any fluctuations in his surroundings so that the prisoners wouldn''t be rmed of his presence.

    ''Okay, let''s see what they''re up to.'' Raven thought inwardly as he slowly spread his sense around in order to check every corner of the mountain top.

    Raven decided to take things slowly this time. Instead of going directly towards the civilization below him, he wanted to check this very mountain he''s on for clues first.

    ''I don''t sense the presence behind me. Could it be that those unseen beings couldn''t detect me right now? Or do they just follow me when I arrive at the civilization below? Whatever, I''ll find out soon.''

    Raven then began walking slowly, he also made sure to record everything that he was seeing just in case. He took his time inspecting the mountain, searching for clues or any tracks of the escaped prisoners but he failed to see anything.

    ''Okay, I''ve covered this area. Let''s have a tour of this forgotten civilization shall we?'' Raven murmured inwardly as he entered the ce where the Commandments are imprisoned.

    He was expecting to feel the sensation of being followed once he entered but to his surprise, it''s still weren''t there, which gave Raven the idea that he might''ve hid himself a little too well. This was a good sign for him but he still didn''t dare to stop moving as per warnings of the sect master.

    Even though he hid himself quite well right now, he still didn''t want to arouse any suspicion by ident.

    Raven carefully toured the ruined civilization, entering some dpidated buildings with outmost care in order to not leave an traces of his own while also searching for clues.

    Due to his preparations, the darkness around him was rendered useless. Now he could see this where he was going clearly as if it was daytime.

    At first, Raven didn''t see any clues which made him want to go directly towards the core area but he insisted to scour every inch of this ce in search for clues since he won''t be able to feel at ease without doing so.

    Raven slowly worked his way around the civilization, shrinking his investigation ground ever so slowly in order to not miss out on any kind of clues. When he got to inner area which was just right next to where the rest of the prisons were located, Raven found what he was looking for.

    "We managed to escape their investigation once more. This time, we only needed a couple of months and we''ll be able to free the rest."

    Raven froze at his tracks upon hearing those words, he slowed down his breathing to nearly a halt and took careful and measured steps closer to the source of that sound.

    "Are you really sure that we didn''t get caught? There was one guy who came awfully close to our prison cells right? What if he managed to report his findings?"

    "I''m not so sure about that. Didn''t you see how slowly he was moving? If I''d venture a guess, I think that guy was just a little dare devil. He wanted to see if something will happen if he didn''t follow the route he was given and since we didn''t attack him, I don''t think we aroused any suspicion at all."

    "That''s true. Additionally, didn''t you notice how pale he looked? He must''ve been scared out of his mind and was just trying to prove something to himself by going off-route. We''ve seen that happen a couple of times, did something happen? Nothing, right? So I suggest you calm down."

    "Yeah, I guess you''re right. Maybe I''m just really overthinking things. Geez, I need something too eat. Too bad the humans who visited us were all pretty strong this time, had they brought someone a little more delicate then we''d be feasting right now."

    "True that.'' The other two nodded their heads in agreement.

    ''So they''re idiots. I see...'' Raven muttered inwardly as he continued to close in on the spot where he could here the talking.

    The source of the talking was inside a broken hut. Raven managed to get close to the window and peek out just to get a closer look of the prisoners.

    When he saw them, Raven''s eyes narrowed. He didn''t expect the Commandments to look a lot like humans do. Expect for their darkened skin for whatever reason, they looked exactly the way humans do. The only reason why Raven was still convinced that these are the escapedmandments was because of the contents of their conversation and the thick evil miasma oozing from their bodies.

    Additionally, Raven could feel his will being affected as he stared at them, meaning that their powers were having an effect on him. Thankfully, Raven''s will was strong enough to resist this and maintain his rity.

    "Oh well, I guess we wouldn''t have to wait that long anymore. We''ve been imprisoned here for eons already, a couple of months wouldn''t make any difference. But once we''re free though I swear I''d eat as many humans as I could, Gah! It''s been so long since I''d tasted fresh blood and flesh! I''m also horny as hell!"

    "Keep it in your pants Brother. Soon...very soon. We''ll regain our freedom, and the Divine Realm will be ours."

    ''Yeah, that is not happening under my watch!''

 Chapter 621 - Too Easy

    ---

    Raven remained perfectly still.

    His breathing was shallow, not an ounce of aura was released from his body. His physical form was hidden from all kinds of tracking methods thanks to his runes. With all of this, it was no wonder why the three gloating escaped convicts remained clueless. Still, even with the confidence that he won''t be seen nor tracked, Raven remained very careful. He didn''t want to risk it now since he knew that dealing with all three of them at the same time is going to be troublesome.

    Raven took this time to inspect the physical manifestations of the escaped prisoners.

    The first one from the left had a short and shaggy hair, he had an unnaturally long arms. He wore ck robes and a hood that covered his face. His lower body was somehow visible, he wore pants that only covered ?''s of his legs, leaving his ankles visible and his charred foot with white nails. He wasn''t wearing any footwear.

    The one in the middle can almost be mistaken as a female due to how curvaceous his body was. If it weren''t for Raven hearing his voice, he would totally guess that this one was a woman. He wore a tight fitting robes and his face was covered by his bangs. His hair was white, ears were somewhat pointy almost as if he was an elf. This one simrly doesn''t have any footwear.

    And thest one was the one that has thergest frame. His head was small yet his torso was unnaturally wide and bulky. This one was wearing a mask which has holes for the eyes and mouth only. His legs were simrly bulky as well and he has the biggest feet that Raven had ever seen. It all looked weird specially considering the fact that he was in a fetal position too.

    They all looked mostly humans, but they had some differences as well. Right now, Raven couldn''t tell who''s who since their marks are hidden.

    From the scriptures he read about the tenmandments, it says that each of them bore a mark given to them by the Devil Emperor. It isn''t visible right now since their backs were facing him but it is said that themandments take pride of these marks and tend to show it off.

    Although Raven would like to get a little close to identify them, he didn''t want to risk it.

    "Hey ''Love''. Do you remember what the Heretics said? I can''t remember it." The feminine one asked towards the one with an unusuallyrge physique and was on a fetal position.

    "They said they''re going to send someone soon to free more of us. But it''s been years since thest one came. Additionally, I don''t feel like trusting those fools any longer."

    ''Wait, so the one who has a small head andrge physique was Love? Okay...'' Raven murmured inwardly as he listened to them some more.

    "I can''t say I me you." The one with his face hidden by the hoodmented. "I also don''t feel like trusting them anymore. If anything, I''d venture that they just got lucky that time when they managed to send someone to loosen up the seal on our cages. I''m not even going to be surprised if they tell us that the previous agent they sent was already found and executed by our jailers."

    "I guess your right..." the feminine looking guy sighed in defeat. "Still, I''m still hoping that they''de and take us out of here. I want to go out and spread word about our Mighty Savior! I want to experience being adored by numerous fanatics of the Devil Emperor once more! I want to lead their prayers and worship our Lord and Emperor!"

    ''Ahh! This one might be ''Faith'' then, so the hooded man was ''Piety''. Hmm...'' Raven didn''t know if he should be happy that they are stupid enough to tell him their identities or feel slightly annoyed since it was this easy.

    "You aren''t the only one. I too want to spread Love. I swear once we got out of here, I''ll immediately start a cult, and drown myself in fleshly desires, have a massive orgy in the name of our god! Ahh! I hate this! I want out."

    "Calm down you two." Piety told them while chuckling, "Seriously, can''t you wait for a few more months? Patience is a virtue as they say here."

    "The Patience I know is a whore and we''re not from here so it doesn''t count." Love retorted.

    "Whatever. Let''s just rest for now." Piety stood up and started walking out of the broken hut. "Seriously, we should move our beds out of the prison. That way we don''t have to return there just to sleep."

    "You can always sleep on the ground you know." Faith said as he too stood up. "And you know why we can''t do that."

    "It''ll leave some clues, yeah I know. Let''s just go. I''m about to pass out from boredom." Piety said as he was followed by Love and Faith.

    Raven was rmed and became perfectly still. He held his breath and didn''t dare to move a muscle. He simply watched as the three prisoners walked out of the broken hut and went towards where theirrades were simrly imprisoned.

    They all came dangerously close to him to the point where they were mere inches away from him. Thankfully, none of them seem to have felt his presence despite being close to him. Raven was prepared to sh as soon as he saw even the slightest sign of being discovered yet it didn''t happen.

    Even as they passed him, Raven continued to hold his breath and remained perfectly still. This proved to be a good idea since Piety looked back at the hut with narrowed eyes. However, he failed to sense anything at all so he merely shrugged and continued to walk away.

    It was only after a couple of minutes when they disappeared that Raven felt safe and released the breath he was holding. He squinted his eyes and looked towards the direction of their prisons in a deep thought.

    After that, Raven began walking towards the ce with slow and measure movement. He remained alert and silent as he did so in order to not raise any rms. He was on the look out for traps and such since he thought that with Piety being cautious,ying down traps wouldn''t be out of expectations for him.

    Raven was rewarded for his paranoia as he managed to sense multipleyers of trap barring him from reaching the prisoners. He smirked as definitely expected something like this. Unfortunately for the fool, he didn''t expect Raven to outsmart him and be capable enough to bypass the traps by circling around them.

    Raven already noticed that the traps were only concentrated at this area. Piety must be expecting that Raven couldn''t see anything so he thought that this was enough, unfortunately he severely underestimated Raven''s abilities.

    After going around the traps, Raven continued on his way towards the prison cells. Still moving slowly and alert, he managed to get close enough to see the broken cells. He squinted and saw that the three were actually sleeping within their own cells.

    At first, Raven thought that this might be another trap. He thought that they might feigning sleep in order to catch him in the act but when he heard how loud their snores were, Raven threw that notion out of the window.

    He was actually quite speechless. They sure are taking this easy. Well, it''s not like he''sining. They were already helping him greatly by sleeping in their own quarters so if Raven let go of this chance, then he''d be a huge fool.

    Raven discretely waved the Brush of Wisdom. He contained the fluctuations and prevented them from alerting the enemy. He used strong strokes to invoke powerful seals, he wasn''t taking any chances, he only have one attempt at this and if he fails, he''ll lose this golden chance.

    Thankfully, Raven studied the structure of the seals beforehand and already had a way to not only fix them but also fortify them. Of course, since Raven only had a single chance at this, he wouldn''t let go of the chance to fortify the seals on the others as well.

    Ten Seals floated within Raven, each one was only visible to him and no one else. He looked at the peacefully sleeping prisoners at theirfort of their own cells. A sneer appeared on his face as he pointed forward and installed the seals towards their cells.

    *Woosh!*

    A re of golden light erupted, alerting the prisoners. Unfortunately, they didn''t move fast enough and could only stare as the doors of their prisons became covered with a golden-silver barrier, locking them in for as long as Raven remained alive.

    Several roars of rage erupted, fluctuations of powerful probes shed past Raven, none was able to see nor feel where he was. A huge sneer appeared on his lips as he felt them banging on the newly created barrier.

    ''Ahh, that was too easy....''

 Chapter 622 - The Exiles

    ---

    "What''s going on!"

    "What the hell is this!"

    "Shit! Shit! What is this barrier! It''s too damn solid!"

    "Argh! Love, Faith, Piety! What is the meaning of this!"

    "You fuckers! What did you do!?"

    "We weren''t the ones responsible for this! We''re innocent!" Love yelled.

    "Right! We were sleeping soundly just like you guys when this urred!" Faith stated while banging at the golden-silver barrier.

    "I told you two! I swear I felt a rat following us but you dismissed it and told me I was overthinking things! Now we''re trapped, again! Argh! Who! Who are you!? Show yourself, damn it!!" Piety roared behind his cage.

    "Come out! Coward! Show yourself!"

    "Yeah! Show yourself, damn it! Face us!"

    "Fuck you whoever you are!!"

    "Hmm, maybe it''s a good idea to ce a silencing seal as well." Raven whispered to himself as he heard the Commandments roaring in anger once they saw that the seal on their prisons were fortified.

    Amidst theints and roars of indignation, Ravenpletely ignored all of it. There was no reason for him to listen to them since he didn''t care about their well being anyway, it would be much better if these things just perished but unfortunately, he can''t kill them now.

    Each one of these prisoners are closely connected to the Devil Emperor, if they abruptly died, the Devil Emperor will surely be rmed and no one can tell what it''s going to do next. Raven needed to be careful when dealing with them which is why up until now, he still hadn''t showed himself, in fact he had no ns of revealing himself.

    Raven drew the Brush of Wisdom once again and drew several more runes. He decided to make the prisoners suffer some more by cing a Silencing Seal and Link Interrupting Seal to their prison cells.

    The Silencing Seal will prevent them frommunicating to each other or anyone actually. Their voices will be contained within their cells until it dissipates. The Link Interrupting Seal will numb their connection to the Devil Emperor, enabling them to send urate reports through their shared link with him or receive orders from it. The seal will only interrupt the connection not break it since Raven didn''t want to do that.

    Once the new seals were ced, silence immediately followed. Now, not only did the Commandments suffer from darkness, they will suffer from silence as well. Their connection towards the Devil Emperor had been disrupted without their knowledge and they''re about to suffer more since Raven still wasn''t done with them.

    Using a good chunk of his energies, Raven invoked the Chains of Order to descend. He drew towards the seals he repaired earlier, further fortifying them and connecting it to each other. Now, Raven had no doubts that these prisoners will be able to break the seals anymore, unless its the Devil Emperor itself broke it for them.

    He could feel them banging through the barrier to no avail. Raven chuckled and chose to observe them some more. He still remained hidden from their senses therefore he''s absolutely safe. Raven was also holding the end of the Chains of Order, just from holding it, he could feel the energy it was draining from the prisoners.

    Raven attached it to a seal and kept it for now. And since he already returned the escaped prisoners to their cells and even fortified their seals. His job was over. Not a single trace of doubt was on Raven''s heart, he believed that they won''t be able to break free from their current predicament so there''s no need to stay here anymore.

    With that in mind, Raven took the return seal from his pocket and ripped it in half.

    ---

    When Raven regained his senses, the first thing he did was to deactivate the runes he applied to himself. Since he was no longer in the Valley of Despair, there was no need for him to keep these runes active.

    He did a brief scan at the Storm Dweller''s Peak and discovered that nobody''s around, not even the Grand Elder nor his wife was here. This caused Raven to frown so he closed his eyes and spread his senses to cover majority of the area around him.

    Raven sent out probes and when they returned to him, he was shocked by the feedback he received.

    There was a hugemotion outside of the sect. He felt a strong evil presence confronting the Sect Master and the main force of the sect. He could also see a few dead bodies around as well as damaged infrastructures.

    Raven clucked his tongue and immediately began flying towards the exit. As he flew, he was drawing numerous runes which glittered with power around him. By the time he arrived, he could see several people injured and the Sect Master as well as the Grand Elder confronting five hooded figures who oozed with pure evil energy.

    Raven didn''t hesitate. The moment he descended, he made his presence known to all. Lifting the Brush of Wisdom with his right hand, his deep and solemn voice echoed through the ears of everyone around.

    "Wretched Curs! I shall Seal your Movement. In my presence, none of you shall be allowed to move even a single muscle!!!"

    *Weng! Crash!!!!!*

    With only a single move of his brush, Raven incapacitated the movement of the hooded figures, causing them to fall to the ground, unable to move even a single muscle. Still, Raven was far from done.

    "I will take away any thoughts of you trying to escape. I shall Seal your Strength away from you!"

    "Entertain no ideas of resisting. I will Seal away your Will."

    "I won''t allow you to hurt anyone. I will Seal away your Energies!"

    "Do not ask for help, none shall save you unless I allow it. I shall Seal your Fate."

    "And just in case, I shall Seal away your Past, Present and Future."

    One seal, one brush movement. Raven was relentless and didn''t take any chances. With he arrival, he robbed all of them any thoughts of resisting, escaping or asking for help. In fact, he even robbed them of the option to kill themselves.

    The five hooded figures had their eyes widening in despair as they felt utterly suppressed. Just a few moments ago, they still stood a chance at escaping unharmed, their egos inted a bit after seeing that not even the Sect Master nor the Grand Elder was able to stop them from destroying some things and killing some of their disciples.

    However, their overconfidence caused their demise. They never imagined that there was someone who excels at Sealing in the sect that couldpletely suppress them using a few brush strokes.

    "Hmph!" Raven snorted as he peeled his attention away from them and looked back to see a lot of people gawking at him.

    "That was like, the coolest entrance I''ve ever seen. Damn!!" Logan chuckled but that was a mistake since there was a deep cut on his abdomen that has closed a few seconds ago but re-opened because heughed.

    "Of course, who do you think I am?" Raven rhetorically asked he drew a massive healing rune in the air which immediately started affecting those he deemed as allies.

    "I''m back Senior Brother.'' Raven told the Sect Master, helping him to stand properly.

    "It''s good that you''re back. Otherwise, we would''ve been in some serious trouble." The Sect Master said, grimacing in pain as he had arge wound on his chest from the fight earlier.

    "All three of the escaped prisoners were returned to their cell, I''ve also fortified the seals on top of invoking the Chains of Order to make sure that they can''t escape. I''ve recorded the whole process, I''ll show you how it wentter but for now..." Raven looked back to the suppressed hooded figures and asked:

    "I''m guessing these people were the ones you caught infiltrating us?"

    "Yes, it is indeed them. We weren''t expecting something like this either." The Grand Elder replied, his breathing was somewhat ragged due to exhaustion. "They all posed as important figures of the sect, I''m afraid they now hold important intel about our forces."

    "Exiles, right?" Raven asked. To which they nodded. A groan escaped his lips as he looked coldly at the heretics. "Good thing I arrived pretty early. They seem pretty strong though, Empyreans every single one of them. I''m guessing that they must be some important figures on their organization."

    "No. They were lower ranked echelons." The Sect Master said, causing Raven to be surprised. "Their upper echelons wouldn''t risk to infiltrate us just for intel since they are the core of the Exiles. Their presence is required every single gatherings they do. At least, that what they told us..."

    "Since they managed to worm their way in pretty deep, I''d figure that they''ve been here for a while. The one who loosened the seal on the Commandments should be amongst them as well." Raven said as he saw the injuries of his allies closing up thanks to the rune.

    A cold gleam appeared on Raven''s eyes as he thought of something.

    "So they know a lot of stuff huh? And from what you told me earlier, it seems that they could be talkative when they wanted to..." Raven walked towards them with a chilling smile on his face. He crouched down and whispered next to them.

    "We''re going to get to know each other pretty darn well, isn''t that right boys?"

    Without a doubt, Raven''s words caused them to shiver in fear.

 Chapter 623 - A Lead

    ---

    "Whew...you guys sure cave in much faster than I was expecting." Raven smiled ''sweetly'' as he looked at the people in front of him. "Oh well, that''s for that. Not that you all can understand me right now anyways..."

    Raven turned around and ignored the five people strapped in a chair he specifically tinkered for them. If one looked closely, the five people were obviously drooling, some even had white frothing off of the corners of their mouth. Their eyes only shown its whites and they were mumbling something unintelligible.

    These people were non-other than the ones that had infiltrated the sect and were caught by the Sect Master and the rest using Raven''s Evil Tracking Rune.

    Raven specifically told the others that he''ll be handling these people. But he didn''t say he''ll handle them with care though...

    Of course, the goal of him taking the heretics is to gather intel. If there was a roundabout way to do this, then he would''ve preferred to ask them nicely but he knew that''s no going to work so he didn''t even bother.

    Additionally, looking at the captives, it was obvious that they won''t reveal anything. If it weren''t for the seals ced to them, they would''ve already killed themselves in order for their enemies to not get anything out of them. Well, unfortunately for them, Raven was one step ahead so they were left at his mercy.

    Raven didn''t waste time, he directly used a high-level of Soul Search on them. When he did so, he noticed that there are some barriers and curses ced on their souls. Most of them were there to end their lives once they thought about caving in and revealing important intel.

    At first, Raven wanted to break down these barriers but he didn''t since he thought of a good idea. Instead of breaking down the barriers and curses ced on their soul, he just outright ignored them. Using these kinds of soul barriers and curses against Raven was useless since he knew them all by heart and thus, also knew how to render them useless.

    There were a few additional trapsid in their memories, which were probably things that even these people themselves didn''t know were there. This would''ve work on anyone but not to him, so just like the ones he encountered previously, he ignored them.

    In the end, Raven managed sessfully infiltrate their souls and read their memories without triggering the traps ced in them. He took everything he could find and withdrew silently. But even with him being careful to not trigger the traps, it doesn''t mean that the Soul Search was a painless experience for them.

    If it were painless, then they wouldn''t act like broken idiots right now.

    "Ohe on you guys, I know you''re not dead. Stop acting like one." Raven stated as he stared at his hallucinating captives. "Well, I purposefully left you like that, and I guess I got a little too excited. After all it''s been a while since I''ve interrogated someone like this."

    "Anyway, you''ll be fine. I still have some uses for you so you won''t be dying. Well, that''ll depend on me really. Haha." Ravenughed as he left the room with the captives to report what he had seen so far.

    ---

    "...so basically, all of them were from the same Branch. They don''t have much knowledge as to how truly big their organization is but they are definitely aware that it is strong. From the memories I''ve seen, they''ve met at least 10 Empyrean Ranked Experts so for and all of them were Branch Heads. As for the Upper Echelons, they met them but they haven''t seen their faces nor had any clue about their identity."

    Raven was currently exining his discoveries in front of the Sect Master as well as the other members of the sect.

    "Their organization hides themselves under the name of ''Spirit Stone Hall'' located at the Crimson Cloud Great World. Well, this is just one of the branches of the Exiles. As for other branches, they only heard rumors about it. Someone said that there is a branch at the Azure Sun Great World, but we already visited that ce and while we probably missed them, it''s very unlikely for them to remain there."

    "There is also another one a Void Expanse Great World and at the Berserker''s Mountain, however like I said, these were only rumors. Nevertheless, it is a lead." Raven finished his exnation with a nod to the Sect Master.

    "You heard him people." The Grand Elder said, "Does anyone have a n?"

    There was a period of silence in the hall as the Grand Elder asked this question. The intel that Raven managed to gather was priceless. In fact, this is probably the first time in their history that they managed to obtain a lead that might lead allow them to finally get rid of the Exiles once and for all.

    "I''d say we go out there and raid these locations..." Loganmented, "But I know that doing that will alert their forces into hiding once more. If that happens then we will surely lose this lead and it will be significantly harder to located them in the future so just ignore me."

    "Then why say something in the first ce." Henry snorted causing Logan to re at him.

    "Alright you, don''t start now." Charles ced himself in between Henry and Logan to prevent them raising a ruckus. "But I do agree with your deduction Logan. What we need to do is to make sure that we take advantage of this lead and never lose it. There should be a way for us to keep them in the dark but the question is, what?"

    Silence surrounded them once more, seeing this the Grand Elder groaned and said: "Come on, people. Let your voices be heard, whatever ideas you have, feel free to tell them. I''d rather have us brainstorming rather than being silent."

    "How about we sent a agent of our own?" One of the Elders proposed.

    "That''s not a bad idea but how exactly are going to approach them? You can be thinking of having them go there to look for someone shady and ask: ''Hey, do you know where most of the shady people gathers here, cause I wanna join them''. That''s not going to work."

    "Yeah, additionally, we can''t be sure that they''re not paying attention to us as well. Since they could escape our detection for many years now, it should be obvious that they have their own security measures."

    And just like this, the meeting hall was filled with numerous debates and contradictions. It wasn''t like everyone was trying to contradict the ns of someone, they were just pointing out the obvious ws on the n.

    So far though, no one had been able to propose a good n. Almost every proposal that starts great will ultimately ends up in a confrontation which will cause them to lose their lead and won''t allow them to get rid of the Exiles.

    Nevertheless, the discussion continued. Even the War Gods themselves pitched in once or twice and some of them had a good n but ultimately it just all ended up the same.

    The Sect Master and the Grand Elder watched this scene but didn''t do anything to stop it. Just like what the Grand Elder said, he preferred the meeting to be filled with discussion and brainstorming rather than overall silence.

    Of course, this doesn''t mean that they weren''t thinking of ns too. They too understand the value of the lead Raven brought to them. They can''t afford to be careless about it since none of them knows if they''ll be able to have this kind of lead in the future once more.

    The meeting went for a long time. Most of the people were aware of how long it has been going on and could agree that the meeting had never been so lively before. Everyone was pitching ideas no matter who they were, but ultimately there was one person who had been silent for a while now.

    Henry, Logan, Theo, Charles, the Sect Master and Grand Elder had been waiting for Raven to say something but from the looks of it, he waspletely satisfied with just allowing the others to pitch in their ideas.

    They even caught him smirking to himself every once in a while and would notice that every time he did so, it would ne when the current idea being discussed was going quite well.

    Despite that, seeing how he''s currently carrying himself. They knew - no, they were sure that he probably had a good idea, and since this is Raven they''re talking about, then his idea must be perfected already, after all he wouldn''t settle down for anything less.

    This is why most of them were just waiting for him to speak. But just like what was mentioned, it seems that Raven was satisfied to let others discuss ideas on their own.

    In the end, the Sect Master concluded the meeting. Telling them to give this matter a thought. When everyone was gone, they saw Raven smiling at them and knew what it meant.

    "Okay, they''re gone now." Henry said, "So? Out with it. What do you have in mind?"

    "I''m going to set them free." Raven dered.

    "Huh!?"

 Chapter 624 - Plans

    ---

    "...I can''t think of any risk in this n of yours. How about the rest of you?" The Sect Master asked the remaining people around.

    "I have no objections as well. Only, I think it would be for the best if this n remains hidden from everyone else." Henrymented.

    "I agree." Theo said while nodding, "Frankly, I don''t want to be suspicious about our allies but what happened today is an eye-opener. We have to be careful."

    "It would be for the best we can continue brainstorming until we eventuallye up with a solid n with the rest. That n and Raven''s n will work in conjunction, that way we can maximize our benefit." Charles added.

    "How about the rest of you?" The sect master looked at the people who still hadn''t said a thing. "Do you have any objections about this?"

    "We have none, Sect Master." The rest of them said at the same time.

    "Very well." The Sect Master nodded and looked at his heir. "We will follow this n of yours. Of course we will do it discretely and we would use the n we wille up with as a cover to hide this operation."

    The Sect Master sped Raven''s shoulders and said: "You did well, once again. Keep this up."

    Raven simply smiled and nodded, he then left to return to the captives in order to start the hidden operation he proposed.

    It is just like what they spected. Raven indeed have an idea to maximize the lead they got from capturing the spies. He had just exined to them how it will work and nobody found any risk in this n of his. The only reason why Raven didn''t publicize his n is because he wanted to be careful.

    Just like what Theo said, he too didn''t want to think that their allies were suspicious. Doing so will only sow discord amongst them, something that their enemies will dly take advantage off. That being said, what happened just now was truly an eye-opener. They were caughtpletely off-guard and nearly lost the war before it even began.

    It was thanks to Raven that they managed to prevent this oue. With the chance he acquired for them, they could still recover from the incident and bounce back stronger than before.

    "Alright people. While Raven''s busy making preparations for his n, I will also give you some tasks." The Sect Master looked at his most trusted retainers. The people around him perked-up and listened to what the Sect Master had in mind.

    "ording to what Raven told us, the Exiles are most likely aware of present and future ns. Thanks to the spies, they know just how much force we have and are probably doing something to neutralize our forces."

    "A change is required now that we caught the spies. I want you to discretely increase the fighting strength of the Units under you supervision. I will give you permission to mobilize greater amounts of resources to achieve this, but you have to remain vignt."

    "I will ask Raven to give you a batch of Tracking Runes that you can use to filter out the people under you. Well, knowing that kid, he''ll probably give you something better so just wait for it."

    Some of them nodded to the Sect Master''sst remark.

    "If you ever find any moles, let them be. Report it to me first or tell Raven about it. He''ll decide whether we can use that mole to increase the effectiveness of his ns or not. As for the clean ones, don''t hesitate to nurture them. The stronger they are the better our chances will be. Can you all do this?"

    "Yes, Sect Master." The people around him dered with utter confidence.

    "Very good. For now, let us see what transpired during Raven''s mission at the Valley of Despair..."

    ---

    The following weeks after the spy incident were busy for the sect.

    News about what happened spread throughout everyone, at this point almost all disciples knew about the incident already. There were a period of unrest in between but with the Sect Master''s lead, the situation was pacified.

    Following that, was the public execution of the spies. It was a huge event that was attended by many disciples. However, what truly happened was not a public execution but instead a mass brainwashing lead by none other than Raven himself.

    Using the event as a distraction, he made a rune that made everyone forgot about the whole spy incident. Not even the Sect Elders were spared from it. Everyone''s memories about the whole incident were wiped out by Raven since this is required for his n to seed.

    Once he made sure that everyone forgot about the whole thing. He set the captives free, but of course it wasn''t that simple.

    These spies assumed their previous identities. None of them had any memories about their being captured and tortured for intel. In fact, they looked just like how they used to before their cover was blown.

    Additionally, they have no idea that they''re dancing on top of Raven''s palms.

    Aside from that incident, Raven aware also asked by the Sect Master to create some additional tracking runes as well. And just like what the Sect Master predicted, Raven indeed gave them something better.

    The tracking rune he gave them this time couldn''t be seen by other aside from Raven and those he deem trustworthy. Simply put, the tracking runes he created is hidden in a form of a badge that the disciples have to wear. If they are clean, then the tracking rune wouldn''t do a thing. If they weren''t, then the tracking rune will release a unique signal that only Raven and a small group of individuals can see.

    These badges were given to the disciples that the War Gods and other officers will pick to nurture. In order to keep things private, the sect wouldn''t hesitate to waste some resources nurturing even those who worked for the enemy in order to keep the other side in the dark about this operation.

    More importantly, they simply can''t afford to lose the chance to counter-attack.

    Raven remained rather busy, now that his ns were in motion, he had more things to keep in mindpared before. Thankfully, Kyrie was by his side and offered her help to alleviate some of his worries. With her help as well as some volunteers from his army as well as his own Avatars handling his matters, Raven could at least have some time to spend in seclusion.

    In the end, all meticulous ns crumble in the face of absolute strength. Even with Raven being rather careful about his ns, there''s still a small chance of failure. The only way for him to make sure that he''ll have another chance is if could survive and that''s what raising his strength will guarantee to him. Therefore he can''t ck-off.

    Since that event, the n was already in motion. Disciples are now working harder than before due to the sudden announcement that the War Gods are looking for new talents to foster. The mes of rivalry burned brightly, everyone waspeting to enter the program.

    The fact this includes the War Gods who surmounted the Mount Olympus only made this whole event bigger. Disciples were moring to be epted by either Henry, Logan, Theo or Charles, thinking to themselves that if any of these four received them as they personal disciples, then it is possible that they could be War Gods themselves.

    Who could stay calm after knowing that?

    Due to that, the War Gods had their hands full as well and can''t take a break to rx.

    In between down times, Raven would asionally slip in to infiltrate the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda alone. Revising and fortifying the seals ced on each floors, going as far as he could before leaving and improving his craft once more.

    So far, he managed to revise and fortify seals on the 25th floor. Still a long way to go but with Raven''s diligence, he''ll eventually managed to climb to higher floors.

    He also figured that it''s about time for him to settle the deal between him and Grand Elder Gin.

    Raven had long since mastered all the seals in the Ancestor Sealer''s Rosary. He had no use for the item but he didn''t return it yet. ording to what the Grand Elder told him, the rosary is needed to free the Heavenly Elk trapped at the 89th floor.

    Right now, Raven is still too weak to go there. It would take him quite sometime before he can do so and that will only give him a mere chance to free the Heavenly Elk. If he wanted to have the absolute confidence to do that, then it''ll take years before he gets to that level of strength.

    Right now though, he had other matters to attend to. He needed to focus on what''s in front of him, additionally he had to patrol yet another danger zone. The next area is more, if not just as, dangerous than the Valley of Despair.

    He could only hope that this area wouldn''t be as troublesome as thest area....

 Chapter 625 - Mole Profiles

    ---

    "Ugh...I''m so tired..." Theoined to his friends whilezily resting his head on the table.

    "Theo, that''s bad table manners. Sit up properly." Charles reprimanded as he saw how Theo was acting.

    "Oh,e on. Give me a break will you?" Theo groaned without fixing his act. "I need to pretend to be a dignified person all day long. Now''s the only time I can unwind and you''re being a buzz kill."

    Charles could only sigh to that. Had this been some other day, he would have something to retort but now, even he himself couldn''t help but agree with him.

    "Keeping up appearances are hard, why did you even think of doing that?" Logan snorted on the side, nevertheless this doesn''t mean that he''s any less stressed than the others.

    "It''s not like I wanted to." Theo continued toin. "But you see, my appearance screams ''Dignity'' and ''Nobility'', acting the opposite just feels wrong."

    "Wow, I didn''t know that you can be narcissistic as well." Henrymented on the side, looking just as tired as the other.

    "Am not! Many people told me that before. Right, Raven?" Theo looked at Raven who was looking the most rxed out of all them.

    "Well, I can see why they would say that..." Raven stated casually, making Theo feel like he agreed in a roundabout manner. "Look, even if you do look ''Dignified'' and ''Noble'' you don''t really need to act like one. It''s not like you have to prove something to the disciples since you''re obviously their superior."

    "That being said, you started this yourself so, we can''t really do anything about it." Raven stated, sipping on his tea afterwards.

    "Exactly." Loganmented on the side. "You''re way too conscious about how others look at you when there''s absolutely no need to. Simply put, you did this to yourself. Suffer bitch."

    "Hmph! A nose-picking brute like you wouldn''t understand." Theo snorted in disdain, causing Logan''s eyebrow to twitch at the nickname. It also didn''t help that Henry almost burst outughing.

    "Pfft. He called him a nose-picking brute. How fitting."

    "You two!"

    "You three!" Charles red at the rest minus Raven, "Stop acting like kids! You''re way older than that! Seriously, how embarrassing."

    The group settled down after being told by Charles. They sank back on their seats and enjoyed the silence and peaceful environment of Raven''s abode.

    It would seem like this ce had be their sanctuary. A ce where they could drop pretenses and rx. Raven never turned them down, thanks to Raven''s management of his time, he could always find a way to make sometime for a little bit of rest and bonding with the people he worked with.

    It''s been two months since the sect undergo some serious changes. Everyone was busy and working hard. It was difficult for some people, specially the really involved ones, to find some time to rest and unwind.

    This is one of the very few times that they could do so, and every time they could, they''d alwayse here to hang-out with Raven. There''s just something about this ce that keeps them at ease whenever they''re here.

    Its either the ambiance, the air, the noises of the birds chirping, the soft glow of sunlight or maybe Raven''s presence itself, it might even be all of the above. What they know is that, if they want to unwind, then Raven''s ce is the best way to do it.

    "Alright, let''s talk business for a bit." Raven said, cing his tea cup down.

    "Eh...can we do thatter?" Theo groaned. "Let me have some more peace first."

    "You''ll have someter. But for now, business. Come, tell me how many moles your group has." Raven said, urging Theo to participate.

    Theo begrudgingly sat up and stretched his neck. He then said: "Well, it''s rather annoying but out of 50 people I''m nurturing, there''s five moles. Here''s their profiles." He passed down a stack of papers to Raven which listed everything he needed to know about the moles.

    Raven inspected the profiles and remarked: "All of them are new recruits and also shown incredible talents too."

    "Yeah, that''s why I''m annoyed." Theo snorted. "They''re actually the top five performers so far and thus, received thergest amount of resources from us. I didn''t want to give them that much but due to the orders, I have to."

    "I see..." Raven murmured. He then looked at the others and asked: "What about you guys?"

    "Pretty much the same for me. Out of 75, I have 7 but they''re not the top performers in my group." Henry replied, "They''re talented yeah, but Unit-17''s crushing them so they could only settle at the mid-ranks. Still, they''re receiving ample resources though and due to their talents, it''s possible for them to take over soon."

    "I have a total of 50 as well with four being moles." Logan reported, "However, the moles on mine are preforming so bad despite with their reports praising how talented they were. I''m not sure what they''re trying to do but if they continue on like this, they''ll be eliminated from the group pretty quickly."

    "As for me, I have ten moles out of 60 people. None of them are performing spectacrly and I can''t see nor feel any desires for them to do. I actually don''t even know if they want to be there. Simply put, I can''t feel their passion. Here''s their profiles."

    Raven received the profiles that the others passed onto them and studied it briefly. His thoughts ran at incredible speeds and he managed to have some spections.

    "There is a trend here..." Raven said softly, earning the attention of the other War Gods. "If you look at it closely, the identified moles on each group came from the same recruitment area."

    Raven thenid out the reports in front of them ording to which group they came from. In Theo''s group, his moles came from the zing Star Great World. For Henry''s group of moles, they came from Dark Ice Continent. Logan''s came from Triple Moon Star and for Charles, hises from Crimson Everdawn Great World.

    "The hell? How did we miss this?" Logan was bewildered.

    "That''s not all that you''ve missed." Raven shook his head. He then pointed at another details and continued: "If you look at their individual profiles, they weren''t recruited at the same time, some who was in the same group were recruited years apart. The point is, even if they were recruited at different times, they still came from the same recruitment area."

    "Even with this trend, there''s still a possibility for this to be just one massive coincidence. But if we look here..." Raven pointed to yet another section of theplied reports, this time pertaining about the notable activities. "Those at the same group were really close friends. Heck, some of them even said that they''ve known each other for quite sometime. Yeah, this could be a coincidence too but I don''t really think so."

    Raven pointed at the area which entails the background check and said: "We interview each recruits and recorded their responses without their knowledge. We also perform background checks for them."

    "If you read this closely. You''ll find out that the results of the background check weren''t in sync with their official statements." Raven revealed. "They said that they''ve known each other long before they entered but these papers stated the otherwise."

    Raven paused for a brief moment in order to let the rest follow what he was trying to tell them. The War Gods won''t be War Gods if they''re idiots. Of course they understood what Raven was trying to tell them.

    "These people lied on their statements. And if we are to trust out intelligence gathering personnel then it''s safe to say that the recruitment areas theye from could very well be infested by the Exiles too."

    The expressions of the War Gods weren''t looking too good. They felt a bit embarrassed since they missed such obvious clues but they''re also apprehensive. If it weren''t for Raven''s aid and deduction, the entire sect could very well be infested from the inside without them knowing about it.

    "Ugh...how irritating!" Theo groaned for the nth time, leaning back to his chair while scratching his head ungracefully.

    "I don''t know if I should feel embarrassed about missing something so obvious or be terrified of how keen your observation is." Charlesmented.

    "Yeah, same." Henry nodded in agreement, "It''s like he''s an entire Intelligence Division all on his own. Honestly what you can''t do?"

    "Oh stop it..." Raven chuckled in a light-hearted manner.

    "Well, what do we do?" Logan asked, "This is another huge lead, you know! If your spections are correct, then we now have a total of 7 potential bases we could raid. Even if we don''t know how many branches they have or if any of these ces include a main base, raiding all of them should at least make them feel the pinch."

    "True, but with how you guys operate, that would mean 7 less worlds in the Divine Realm." Raven rolled his eyes, "Don''t worry, I already have some ns for them. I just need some time."

    "For now, that concludes out business." Raven smiled and kept the profiles in his spatial ring. "Gentlemen...it''s time to rx."

    And as if on cue, the War Gods collective sank down on their chairs.

 Chapter 626 - Allfather

    ---

    Inside a dark room, a man sat in a make-shift throne.

    There was a beam of light, the only source light present in this very dark room, focused on him as he sat on his throne.

    The man''s leg was crossed, his posture rxed and slightlyzy, he had his hand support his tilted head. The man''s face is hidden behind a shadowy mirage, only a pair of feature-less eyes were visible in them. He wore a robe which was half ck and half white, on the ck part of his robe, a white orb ornament hangs attached to the cor of his robes. On the white part of his robes, there is another ornament which hangs on his waist, this time its a ck orb.

    The robes covered most of the man''s body, leaving only his head, hands and feet uncovered. The man was also wearing a pair of wooden sandals, from his exposed skin, one could see that the man''s skin tone was pale, unhealthy pale. All of his nails on his right arm and right foot had a white paint, on the other side, it was ck.

    There was formless pressure this man was releasing without actually trying. The way he sat down his throne screamed confidence and dominance, it''s as if nothing in this entire world could deter him or hurt him, forget about killing him.

    Such formidable pressure was felt by several people kneeling in front of the man currently, causing their backs to be drenched in cold sweat.

    None of these kneeling people dared to look at this man in the eye. In fact, they didn''t even dare to raise their heads to look at him since doing that wouldparable to spheming him.

    *Tap*

    The souls of the kneeling men shook and almost flew out of their bodies. It wasn''t like the man on the throne did something huge nor did he raised his voice towards then. He merely tapped his finger on the armrest of his throne and it already caused them to feel like the world was ending.

    From then on, the man would continuously tap his finger at varying intervals. He didn''t say a word, and didn''t do anything else aside from this, yet the people kneeling in front of him would jolt every time he tapped his finger. Some of them were even sweating buckets.

    This urred for quite sometime until the man finally decided to say something:

    "They haven''t figured us out yet."

    The man''s voice sounded strange, it sounded like a kid, adult and old man spoke the same thing at the same time.

    When the kneeling people heard his words, they felt as if they were released from something that''s tormenting them for a very long time. Some of them even audibly sighed in relief.

    "That being the case, it is not a excuse for you lot to getcent." The man said, causing the formless pressure to increase.

    The people who were kneeling in front of him almost knocked their heads on the stone floor. They felt like their insides were being crushed into a mush but didn''t dare to let out any sound in fear of arousing the man''s ire.

    "Continue with the current operation, there is no need to rush or get impatient. Time is on our side after all." The man stated, "So long as you continue the Holy Mission, Salvation wille to you. Isn''t that so, my lovely Children."

    "It would be as you say, Allfather." The kneeling mean replied.

    "Now, off you go. Godspeed."

    "To you as well, Allfather."

    After saying that, the kneeling men disappeared from the dark room. Leaving the man on the throne alone in the darkness.

    Silence permeated the room, the man kept staring at an empty distance before a sigh escaped his lips.

    "The Reckoning is almost upon us." The man''s voice echoed across the darkness. "The arrival of God is approaching."

    "¡­"

    "I can hardly wait, but haste makes waste. Failure is not an option."

    "The Prophecy shall ur."

    After saying the, darkness started flooding the room, converging towards the man in the throne. Attempting to swallow him whole. The man didn''t do anything against this, he remained unmoving until the darkness covered everything only a pair of featureless eyes¡­

    ¡­which closed not long after that¡­

    ---

    "Ugh, no matter how many times I experience it, I just can''t get used to it."

    "Yeah, me too. He''s just too freaky!"

    "Every tap of his finger feels like it''s shaving away a few years off of my natural lifespan."

    "Still, thank god that we''re just overthinking things. I thought that we were really in deep shit this time."

    The men who were gathered right now on a table and enjoying some food and beverages, were the same men that were kneeling in front of the man in the throne a few hours ago. These men had been loyal subjects of that man for years now but whether it''s out of their free will or not, still remains a mystery.

    "Since he said that out moles weren''t exposed, then we don''t have anything to worry about anymore. The man had never been wrong so far so we could just continue doing the usual."

    "That''s right! We could just treat the broken signal we received a false one. Also, didn''t the same agent who sent the broken signal said it himself that everything is fine? We should''ve believed him right away, that could''ve spared us from that awful meeting."

    "Don''t say it like that." One of the men reprimanded the previous guy, "Even though it feels unpleasant reporting to him about some matters, we still have to do it since he''s the only one who can truly confirm it. Like he said, we can''t becent, it''s better this way than us making a grave mistake. You saw what happened to thest guy right?"

    "Dude, how can I forget? Up until this point, the memory of it still terrifies me." The previous guys shivered visibly.

    "Yeah. That man doesn''t tolerate anyone who doesn''t follow his simple rules. That guy must still be suffering up until this day in Hell."

    "Having your body and soul ripped into millions of pieces at every waking moment, only for you to find yourself immortal, unable to die nor be numbed of the sensation. A torture that willst for eternity."

    "Oof, stop it! It''s giving me the chills. Let''s not talk about that poor guy anymore."

    "Now, if you don''t want to be the next one, then be sure that you follow his instructions to the dot."

    "That''s right, and if you follow him until the end, he will take you to the promised ce, where Salvation wouldfort our souls and will allow us to wash our sins away."

    "Yeah. Well, I think that''s enough talk about the mission he gave us. How about we focus on the ns weid down? I''ll start first."

    "Since we just sent another batch towards the other side, I don''t have any ns on nurturing anymore for now. I think I would just focus on bolstering the strength of the troops and adjust the n ording to the intel they''ll give us."

    "Well, it''s been a few years since I''ve nurtured some so I would do the opposite. My troops are doing just fine and we covered enough ground to be a formidable fortress."

    "You two had it good. I need to not only raise another batch of moles and also expand the operation site as well. My foundations are still unstable so I have a lot of work to do."

    "Don''t sweat it too much. You''re still new to this so just take your time but be wise about it. I don''t think the Allfather will me you for that." One of the menforted the previous guy, "As for me, I''ll remain consistent I guess. I''m the oldest amongst us so I''m a few steps ahead of you."

    "Unless he calls for my aid, I think I''ll remain hidden in the dark. Can''t risk getting caught, I can feel that our enemies are wising up and if a confrontation urs, me and my troops will most likely be called first. You three remain vignt as well, from what I can tell, the n is nearing its final stage. Don''t let your guard down."

    "Roger that." The three replied to the de-facto leader of the Allfather''s Children.

    "Well then, since we''ve recovered and had a nice meal and rest. Let''s return to our bases. Oh, don''t forget to wear the badges okay?"

    Saying these, the kneeling men all stood up, changed their clothes, removed their masks and wore a bright yellow badge that releases a unique energy fluctuations. Once they''ve removed their disguises and wore the badges, each of them felt like they were no longer the people from a few seconds ago.

    "Now then, gentlemen. Let''s head out. We shall see each other again. Godspeed."

    "Godspeed, Brother."

    In a ce, far away and hidden. A man, sitting inside of a ritual circle and surrounded with sparkling glow of runes, opened his eyes which carried a profound gleam in them. A smirk appeared on his face as he murmured:

    "So you people are the culprits eh¡­"

 Chapter 627 - Monikers

    ---

    ''Hmm...''

    Raven hummed internally as heid down on his bed while staring at the ceiling. A few thoughts gued his mind, centered at the recent discovery he got.

    ''I don''t like...where my spections are going.'' Raven said as a visible frown appeared on his face. He turned to the side and closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep but his active mind simply letting him do so.

    A sigh escaped from Raven''s lips. He opened his eyes to reveal a deadpanned expression as he whispered: "I guess there will be no sleep for me this night. Whatever."

    He got up from the bed, dressed in his night robes. He walked barefooted towards the see through window on his room and stared at the moon. His otherworldly visage created a magnificent picture with the dimmed environment.

    His clear blue eyes with patterned silver streaks, his angr face, his long azure colored hair which fell like a waterfall behind him, his slim yet well sculpted physique as well as the gentle moonlight glow surrounding him made for a magnificent scene that all artisans would love to see.

    However, none of the truly mattered to Raven at all. He was currently lost in thoughts, worried about the future events that might eventually ur.

    ''Of all people, it has to be them.'' Raven whispered to himself. ''I don''t know how long they''ve been doing this and from what I saw, they''re being really careful about their actions so any careless attempts of investigation will be easily discovered and shut-downed by this group.''

    ''And if these people are truly using their real identities when they dropped their masks, then they''ll be incredibly troublesome to deal with. Specially considering the fact that they managed to prate that deep into the society of the Divine Realm and fully integrated with it.''

    ''Those people could easily point their fingers out and we''ll be in deep shit. I wouldn''t have cared if I was already strong enough to hold them back on my own but now, I''m still too far from reaching that.''

    ''Not to mention that man...'' Raven''s frown deepened even further when he saw the faint visage if the man sitting on a throne. ''I haven''t even met him personally but I can''t already tell that I''m not going to like him.''

    ''His presence alone filled me with dread. He is undoubtedly strong, I don''t even know if Senior Brother will be able topete against him, much less me.''

    ''He''s easily a Divinity ranked Expert. And from the way how he carried himself, I can tell that he''s the insane type as well. Ugh, his loyal minions are already hard to track down and he just had to appear on the mix. Isn''t this just great?''

    Raven released a long sigh and stared at the moon hung up on the skies. Whenever he looks at this moon, even if it was fake, he was being constantly reminded of his wife - Lunafreya.

    "It''s been five years, Luna." Raven couldn''t help but be mncholic as he recalled the precious moments he spent with her. He thought of he often, fondly remembering their short memories after their marriage.

    He looked at his right palm where a crimson sigil appeared. The sigil that represents their union remained crystal clear, and pure. Looking at it, Raven couldn''t help but to smile. Next a determined expression surfaced on his face as he dered:

    "Wait just a tad bit longer, my lovely wife." Raven clenched his hands, "As soon as I''m done with my matters here, I''ll go and fetch you where you are."

    "And if in that time, you want us to settle down and start our own family?" Raven chuckled and said: "I''d dly give up everything just to fulfill that wish of yours."

    Raven then walked back on his room with renewed passion and a burning determination.

    ---

    "Ah this is so nice! So nice!"

    A man vigorouslyughed, his voice caused the surroundings to rumble. This man had a ratherrge frame, he had a mop of spiky blond hair, he had a bright hazel colored pupils which was prominent due to his deep bronze skin tone. He was tall, reaching about 9 feet which is considered rather rare for humans.

    He was wearing a marine colored, sleeveless robes with a unique badge attached on his right chest and a ck silk belt with golden colored linings wrapped around his waist. He''s also wearing a pair of ck boots which reached up to his inner thigh. His face was rather intimidating and roguish, and he acts just like one as well.

    The three people around him frowned in displeasure as they watched the man''s uproariousughter.

    "Staying inside the sect is a bit stuffy, I''m d I can get out sometimes and hang-out with you guys." The big man said as he drank alcohol from his wine gourd.

    "You''ve grown bigger again." The other man sitting on the opposite side from his said. "You''ve grown into a freaking giant that everything you touch appears small."

    This other''s man''s face is covered with a hood, exposing only half of his face to the people around him. The only facial feature visible from him was his reptilian like pupils and trail of scar reaching towards his left cheek. His skin tone was rather pale and his whole body aside from his finger tips, toes and half of his face were the only pieces of skin he exposed.

    What''s strange about this man was his presence. Anyone else would''vepletely missed his presence, especially if they''re not paying attention. He''d not doing anything special to do this nor he intended it to be this way, this was just natural to him.

    "He''s right you know? Sitting beside you feel incredibly humiliating now." The woman sitting beside the bronze skinned manmented.

    This woman was rather eye-catching due to her color selection. Everything about her was bright red, her hair color was of a striking vermillion color which is neatly gathered in a ponytail. Her robes were simrly red but it has a deeper tone. Hershes, her lips, heck even her jewelries were all different shades of red.

    "I agree with her. What are being fed at that sect of yours for you to get this big?"

    This woman sat beside the hooded man, her appearance making a stark contrastpared to him. She was what would a lot of mortals call, a Fairy, a Goddess even.

    She had a vibrant emerald hair which fell behind her like a waterfall, she has a golden colored pupils, rosy lips, angr face, elegant demeanor and she oozes with womanly charm that its bewitching. She was wearing a white sleeveless gown that hugged the contours of her body. The gown was adorned by numerous flower ornaments which greatly emphasized her beauty. The gown also has a slit that stretches all the way to her thighs.

    "Ah! So that''s why you guys looked a little bit awkward. Well, it doesn''t really matter how much I grow, I can always shrink back to my previous size. Here!" The prove his words, the Bronze skinned man sat up for a bit and he suddenly shrunk in size to roughly match theirs.

    "See?"

    "Whatever..." The hooded man shook his head, he then looked at him and asked: "So, how is it going for you so far, Mighty Turtle Prince?"

    The bronze skinned man''s lips twitched when he heard that moniker. He smirked and said: "It has been going rather well, Crimson Lightning Prince."

    The hooded man also twitched at hearing his own moniker. The woman beside him chuckled and looked at the other girl, saying:

    "It seems like our Husbands are making a name for themselves, isn''t that right? Princess Vermillion."

    "That''s exactly right, Emerald Fairy!" Both women chuckled and Princess Vermillion continued: "Wait, are we seriously referring to each other by titles now?"

    "Isn''t that nice?" The Emerald Fairy chuckled once more, "They have a nice ring on them so why not?"

    "Yeah, I guess your right." The Princess Vermillion said as the four of them turned momentarily silent. "I wonder if those two had some unique monikers as well."

    "I mean, it''s ''them'' we''re talking about, if they can''t do it, then nobody else could. That being said, I don''t think they''ll pay too much importance nor attention to those useless titles." The Turtle Prince stated.

    "True." The Crimson Lightning Prince agreed, "Especially with that ''guy''. I''d wager that he might even feel annoyed by receiving that kind of titles."

    "Agreed." The other three agreed as well.

    "It''s been roughly 5 years since we left. Due to the connections of our sect, we could at least meet each other. As for those two well..."

    "Well, if they wanted to, I don''t think they can prevent them from doing so, but knowing their personalities, they''d rather stay if that would mean they''ll be able to settle down their matters as early as they could. Now, that''s a dedication I respect." The Turtle Prince said as he stood up.

    The Vermillion Princess was shocked since she was pulled up by the Turtle Prince up as well.

    "Wait, what are you doing?"

    "Private Quality Time." The Turtle Prince said as if he''s stating something so obvious. "Why are you so surprised? It''s not like this is the first time."

    The Vermillion Princess blushed hard but didn''t anything to stop them. Seeing the pair leave, the hooded man just shook his head and the Emerald Fairy just waved.

    A few moments of silence after the two left, the Prince looked towards the woman beside him only to see her clothes on the floor and beckoning at him.

    The Prince nearly had a nosebleed upon seeing that but he for sure wouldn''t refuse such an invitation.

    *Ahem*

 Chapter 628 - A New Plan

    ---

    Six months had passed rather quickly.

    The buzz and activity of the Sect became constant. Almost all personnel was working overtime in order to raise the strength of their overall force. Additionally, more safety protocols had been passed and more security levels had been secretly added. At least, that''s all the changes so far during this time period...on the surface.

    Hidden operations never ceased. Thanks to Raven''s help, all moles in the sect had been located. It didn''t matter whether they used only one identity or were constantly switching with the others, once they were marked, they will be monitored heavily in secret.

    As the sect chose the activities that were publicized, these moles had been sending intel to their lords. Some of them were actively doing it while some are unconsciously doing it. Judging from their activities, their insiderwork was rather impressive as it manages to seep deeply into the sect secrets.

    Unfortunately for them, Raven''s already one step ahead of them. All intel they''ve been reporting back to their superiors? All of those were the ones that Raven allowed them to know. If Raven wants to keep a secret from them, then nobody, even their superiors, would know about it. That''s the level of security Raven gave the sect.

    That being said, it''s not like they received anymore significant intel once they found out who the moles are. Theirmunication with their superior are one way links, which only allows them to send the report and not receive anything back.

    This didn''t really stop Raven since he was able to see those at the end of the line but since then, none of them made a move.

    It''s not really a bad situation to be in. If they remained quiet, then they''re giving the sect more time to strengthen itself in order to defend against their frontal assault.

    Still, Raven''s pretty bummed about this. He wanted to know more in order to make sure they could be prepared as best as they could. This was initially the whole motive why he bothered arranging this meticulous n.

    He erased the memories of the captives as well as the majority of the sect, aside from core people he knew he could ce his absolute trust, no one else remember anything about the whole identity revtion incident.

    He even fixed up all the injuries he gave to the captives, erased all trails of tampering and what not and left them with his own rune that will allow him to know their actions at all times. This rune will reveal everything about them, including their reports to their superiors actively or subconsciously. He also gave this to the other moles who had been receiving some free resources from the sect.

    This allowed him to create an borate trap that could alert them for everything the Exiles n on doing. But as luck would have it, those people are way too secretive.

    Compared to the intel he allowing them to have, those coots didn''t let out even a fart if intel.

    While Raven did managed to see some scenes of their ''Leaders'' and that ''Allfather'', that didn''t really tell him much, that''s why he hasn''t revealed this intel yet to the Sect Master and the rest. Additionally, he couldn''t really monitor them everyday, it was already risky to do it once since the ''Allfather'' might notice him and that might escte the war even earlier.

    Six months wasn''t really a long time. Raven and the sect does indeed have the resources and patience to prolong this state but Raven understood that the longer this goes on, the more losses the sect will umte.

    Raven needs a better n, he needed to expand the trap and he has to be extremely careful about it. So within this six months of constant brainstorming with his Avatars, a n formed that will be able to help the, greatly should it work.

    ---

    "Wee to our facility, Young Lord."

    Numerous people greeted upon seeing Raven gracing them with his presence. A friendly smile appeared on Raven''s face as he nodded to them and said:

    "Thanks for your warm wee." He raised his hand and waved it, however his hand released an invisible fluctuation that assaulted everyone around him, causing them to fall in to a dazed and hypnotized state.

    "You didn''t see me. All of you will continue how you have been doing so far. I ampletely invisible from all of your senses and any of your defenses and any activities that I do here, won''t register to your brains. Am I clear?"

    "Yes." A soft and uniform response came from them, Raven nodded and snapped his fingers.

    When he did, all of the personnel woke up from their stupor. All of them unconsciously dispersed and went back to their tasks, ignoring Raven who walked in great strides as if he owned this ce.

    Going through several twisting hallways, he eventually stopped at a gigantic steel doors, With one hand, he pushed the doors causing a loud creaking noised to flood the hallways. Typically, this will alert many people but under Raven''s hypnosis, none of them even heard a thing.

    Raven entered the room and locked the door behind him. He walked deeper into the room until he arrived at the ce were several humongous ck rocks could be seen.

    A smile of nostalgia appeared on Raven''s face when he saw these rocks. He remembered the time when he encountered one of these for the first time.

    Back in the Grand Ancestral ne, when he was roaming the world in search for a cure to his inws, he ambushed several enemies carrying meteorites that looked suspicious to him. At first he didn''t know what to do with it but the rocks merged together in a single enormous meteorite and started condensing into a badge that Raven used to participate in the Sect''s Disciple Recruitment.

    These rocks in front of him were the same as the ones he encountered by chance. They''re at this state right now in order to preserve the badge''s quality.

    The sect''s recruitment methods could be called entric but it''s tradition so they didn''t change it.

    Raven getting the badge was actually a unique encounter. Typically, these meteorites will be sent all over Divine Realm. The Meteorites are capable of searching for potential candidates, it could even switch its trajectory to force the encounter.

    If its chosen candidate was nearby when it falls to the world, it would then take hold of that person, transform into a badge and inform them about the Ancient Elysium Sect. That''s how normally it goes.

    However, there are also times when these meteorites couldn''t find a suitable candidate even after its fall. It would wait for an entire year, hidden under everyone''s sight, to see if there are suitable candidates - if the suitable candidate is an infant, then it would wait until the child grows up, or until another suitable candidate appears. The meteorite won''t choose anyone older than 1000 years old though.

    If, even after a year of waiting, it still didn''t find any candidates, it would break into pieces and will attach itself into bodies of some people, it won''t harm them since it''s only job is to search for the suitable candidate. This is just a way for it to expand it''s search.

    This is what happened to Raven. As for how the meteorite didn''te earlier to him? Maybe it deemed him way too young or unready. Either way, what matters is that it eventually fall to his hand and got him here so it fulfilled its task.

    Only a few people are aware of this unique way of selection. Most of them are from the sect and wouldn''t really divulge it to others, and others are high-members of society, its up to them whether they reveal this information or not. The sect wouldn''t care anyway.

    In conclusion, even if some people are aware of this, it is not a publicized knowledge. And Raven''s here to use that to his full advantage.

    "Alright, be nice with me. I''m here to give you some additional task. Of course, the selection will always be your priority, I won''t really ask for much. Just allow me to draw some runes in you and they''ll automatically do what I wanted them to do. I just want you guys to allow as many people to see your wonderful appearances. Is that cool?"

    The meteorites let out a few fluctuations which Raven tranted into a positive response.

    "Great! You guys are the best. Here I go." Raven then took out his Brush of Wisdom and began carving runes.

    Each finished rune will flew to each one of the meteorites. Raven worked fast and after an hour of non-stop rune carving, Raven wiped the sweat out of his face and smiled weakly at the meteorites.

    "Alright, I''m all done. You guys look good." Raven showed them a thumbs-up. "Now, when it''s time for you to fly out of here and search for more kids, be sure to show yourself to as many people as you could, alright?"

    Raven received yet another wave of positive response, he smiled and walked away of the room. As he felt the facility, there was a wicked smile on his face.

    "Now, let''s see where you rats are truly hiding."

 Chapter 629 - Big Harvest

    ---

    Raven can be found inside his private room.

    He sat in the middle of it, cross-legged on top of a soft pillow. His hands were raised in front of him as he channeled his Cosmic Energy into an enormous crystal ball.

    The crystal ball was floating several inches up from the ground. It was releasing a faint curtain of light, forming several projections of what looks like people living in different environments. Some of them were mortals, majority of them were cultivators.

    As time went on, more and more projections appeared on the crystal ball. Raven watched every single projection closely, making sure to pay attention to where they were and what they''re currently doing. That being said, there are way too many projections appearing on the crystal ball. Even with Raven''s enhanced thought processing speed, he can''t possibly watch every single one of them without missing a beat.

    So, to help him with this. Raven brought more of his Avatars on the mix. There are a total of five surrounding the floating crystal ball, they''ve been tasked by the original to pay close attention and ce markings on those they find real suspicious. While the original gathered the collective reports from the Avatars to jot them down.

    "Good, nobody seems to have noticed the effects of the runes yet." Raven murmured as lowered his hands and released a long sigh of relief. "I''ve also located several potential areas where the opposing camps should be."

    "The only thing left to do is continue like this. The runes will spread so long as people move around. So far, no one else could sense its existence just yet even after a week of being affected. That''s a positive sign. The longer it goes on like this, the more stable the foundation will be and thework will reveal everything I need to know."

    It has been a month since the Meteorites were sent to seek out candidates. This batch had an additional purpose, courtesy of Raven, aside from their main task.

    Raven ced a memory rune on each meteorite that will form an invisible link to anyone who saw the meteorites. The more people saw them, the more links will be formed. Additionally, those who were linked by the memory rune bes a carrier themselves, so whoever sees them, will be linked too and so on.

    This was Raven''s borate n to silently infiltrate the ranks of the Exiles. Spending six months of constant trial and error, Raven made sure that the memory rune was perfected.

    In a sense, the memory rune acts like a virus, however unlike a virus, the rune could spread even at a simple eye contact, it wouldn''t really give any symptoms to the affected people. It will only prate their thoughts, allowing Raven to gain ess to them without their knowledge. It could even show Raven where they currently are and what they''re doing as of the moment.

    Anyone who discovers this n of his would definitely apud his efforts. This is a very heavy burden to carry alone. Even though just a week passed since he started actively monitoring things, the number of memory rune carriers he had to monitor easily surpassed billions already. Raven couldn''t possibly monitor all of that alone so he needed to bring out a few avatars to do it for him - which is technically him still doing everything alone.

    Yes, he could''ve told the Sect Master of this n and request some assistance but the memory rune is attuned to Cosmic Energy, making him the only person to be able to sense it''s existence and use it to gather intel.

    This is the ultimate key to keep majority of Divine Realm''s Citizens from finding out about the memory rune. And it''s also thanks to this that Raven managed to widen their spywork without their enemies knowing about it so far.

    During this week of constant monitoring, he managed to locate some locations that could potentially have some connections with the exiles. He had them marked already and aside from the ones they previously had, he marked 20 locations, making this a total of 26 branches.

    With howrge Divine Realm is, this number won''t really amount to anything. But for one sect to endure relentless waves of dangerous Devils and also prepare to deal with many heretical forces is simply way too much.

    Now, it is not yet guaranteed that everything that Raven marked were actually a part of the Exiles forces, but for them to appear suspicious to Raven was definitely saying something.

    "Okay, I''ll leave you guys here to continue. Rest in rotation and alert me should you find anything big."

    "Sure." The Avatars replied as Raven stood up and exited the private room, sealing the entrance before he return to his own room to rest.

    As soon as Ravenid down on his bed, he immediately felt light-headed. A wry smile appeared on his face as he murmured:

    "Wow, I''m really giving it my all huh." A soft chuckle escaped from his lips as he closed his eyes for a brief moment to re-organize his senses.

    "I hope I could find them all soon." He said, releasing a long sigh. "The longer this search goes on, the longer my migraines willst. The sooner I locate their bases, the sooner I could ignore everything else, greatly minimizing the load of information I have to process every single day."

    With that, Raven eventually felt very drained from his recent activities so he retired for the day and fell asleep rather quickly.

    ---

    Raven woke up the next day, feeling well rested but hungry.

    He got up from the bed and took a bath, after changing his robes, he went downstairs to find Kyrie preparing breakfast for him. They shared a meal together and so far, the day''s looking like it''s an ordinary one.

    Thanks to the Sect Master''s consideration, the amount of paperwork he has to deal with had lessened. He only needed a single avatar to finish all of them and in almost no time too. Additionally, the Avatars could filter information so that the original could only get the real important ones.

    After finishing breakfast, Raven gave some instructions to Kyrie. Then he went towards the private room.

    He unsealed the entrance and sealed it again once he entered. Once inside, he saw the Avatars still hard at work. Thankfully, unlike the original, the Avatars functions like a machine. They hardly needed any rest nor food.

    "We''ve got some great harvest, Boss." One of the Avatars said as soon as they saw the originaling inside the room.

    Raven was surprised so he asked: "Really? Hold on, let me see."

    He then sat on the pillow and began integrating with the intel that the Avatars received so far. Fifteen minutester, Raven opened his eyes revealing a pleasantly surprised expression on his face.

    "Oh dear. This is a big harvest indeed." A feral smile appeared on Raven''s face.

    The intel that the Avatars gave him, basically revealed the entire map of where all branches of the Exiles are located.

    Apparently, one of the Avatars saw a carrier looking at a strange diagram that had the insignia of the Exiles, it looked authentic so the avatar memorized the diagram. With a little bit of deduction, the Avatar managed to discover that it is a diagram that listed where every branch is located.

    Luckily for him, the memory rune was effective and carriers had been ced to every location listed on the diagram.

    "Alright, with these we could at least decrease the information load. We can focus on these areas more but monitor the overall situation from time to time at least. We can''t afford to be careless, they might slip away at any moment''s notice."

    "Agreed." The avatars nodded.

    "Additionally, this doesn''t really end here. The main branch, presumably where that ''Allfather'' resides, is no where to be seen in this diagram, which means that the dude doesn''t trust his minions at all so he''ll be more challenging to locate."

    "Hold on to that thought, Boss. You gotta see this." One of the Avatars interrupted him.

    Raven gazed over and activated shared vision with that Avatar. Next he saw what the avatar was seeing and felt excited.

    "So, a secret realm huh? That would make a lot of sense."

    One of his Avatars spotted a carrier entering an rather unknown secret realm. From the moment the carrier stepped inside the secret realm, he immediately saw the same insignia of the Exiles, however it only appeared for a brief period of time.

    Still, that was enough proof that this secret realm truly is connected to the Exiles. Once the carrier entered, he was approached by several shady individuals. They wasted no time and subdued the carrier, cing several restrictions on his body, taking away his freedom right away. Any form of disobedience will cause the carrier to die.

    It was quite fortunate that the carrier was a wimp and cared about his life so he didn''t resist. Just like this, one of the carriers finally managed to infiltrate the branch deeply, and from the looks of it, they enemies didn''t sense the memory rune at all.

    "Don''t die too fast, little mole...."

 Chapter 630 - Outmatched

    ---

    "Okay...this is not good. Not at all..."

    Raven was currently sitting inside his office with a deep frown on his face as he stared at the diagram he made about the intel on the Exiles he managed to get so far.

    It has been a few weeks since he discovered the diagram that lead him to the bases of the Exiles. The carriers of the Memory Runes had managed to prate deep into their ranks without their knowledge, allowing Raven to get more details on their total forces and the preparations they are doing for the inevitable sh. As so far, he did not like what he saw. Not even a bit.

    Even Raven himself could admit that he had grossly underestimated the sheer determination of their enemies to bring them down. From what he had seen so far, if the sh were to happen within the next month, the sect will definitely even with his help.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect is a powerhouse with millions of experts amongst its ranks. It does notck talent nor resources, in fact it also didn''tck people who are willing to throw away their lives for the sake of the greater good. However, even with this, their enemies totally outssed them in every aspect.

    The Exiles prated deep into the Divine Realm. They have a total of 30 branches scattered around the realm. Each branch is located far from the other, making it extremely difficult to deal with due to the amount of time it needs to arrive at their bases.

    Additionally, each base are located in a secret realm. As for how they did it, Raven had a few ideas but this in itself is already troublesome enough since secret realms aren''t so easy to infiltrate unless they were granted entry from the inside. And from how the Exiles carried their operations so far, its safe to say that the chances of them letting someone in are low, while the chances of them allowing that same person to leave without taking away their freedom is even lower.

    As for the forces alone, every single one of them were glorified ves. At first, it would look like there is an established hierarchy amongst them but in truth there is only one leader and that is the Allfather, everyone else could be sacrificed for their ultimate goal.

    None of them are truly free, even if they devote their unwavering loyalty to the Allfather, their freedoms will never be returned to them. Every single one of them is marked with a curse that will kill them at the first sign of betrayal. They have no choice but to as they were told if they don''t want to die.

    Raven also found out that they managed to procure War Ships as well, and by the looks of it, their War Ships are leagues better than what the sect has. Additionally, they have numerous tools which they could use to lock the coordinates of the pocket dimension where the Mount Olympus is hidden so even if they their moving, they''ll be able to locate where they are.

    Each War Ship carried weapons which could st away the main gates that lead to the sect proper. They also have an urate map of the inner regions of the sect, as well as the key areas such as Tartarus, Devil''s Cradle, Asphodel, Devil Emperor''s Tower, Storm Dweller''s Peak and so on. They even know where the danger zones are located as well.

    Raven already assumed that their n is to free the minions of the Devil Emperor in order to enlist their help in freeing it. Well, Raven was one step ahead and managed to fortify the seals on their prisons so that should make it a bit more difficult for them to do so, of course it would a different matter if the Allfather himself decided to be the one to set them free instead.

    Aside from that, just the sheer disparity between cultivation ranks of the sect disciples and their ves were giving him a headache.

    The lowest rank that their ves had were at least Knight Monarch Realm while for the sect, it would be Champion Knight which is two realms lower that the former. Not to mention, all of them are ves, worsees to worse, they could choose blow themselves up instead of choosing to retreat, which will cause a tremendous damage to the sect and its people.

    The sect will be besieged in all sides too since the Devils will most likely ally with them, especially since the devils are connected to the Devil Emperor.

    Even if the sect manages to cinch victory, it would be a bittersweet one since it will be paves with so many deaths on their side. Not to mention, the Allfather would most likely not be idle during this moment.

    Raven knew that the Sect Master is strong. If it weren''t for the fact that he cared deeply about the well-being of the disciples, he could go on a rampage with hardly anybody being able to stop him. Him and his wife were genuine Divinity Realm Experts, even the slightest movement they do will cause mass destruction around them.

    The Allfather wouldn''t care about the well being of his ves since if he do, then he wouldn''t turn them into ves in the first ce, the Sect Master however is different.

    As the Sect Master, it is his duty to protect the sect and make sure that the Devil Emperor wouldn''t be freed from its prison. He''s bound by duty he willingly took so his actions will be measured. Raven could see the Allfather abusing that to his advantage.

    All in all, they are severelycking right now. The sect wouldn''t even be able to defend itself against their onught and they will seed on their ultimate goal. The Devil Emperor will be freed from its prison and the Divine Realm would be done for.

    Knowing all of this is really disturbing. Raven felt a massive headache assaulting him.

    Well, at least he managed to learn about this early. Judging from what he could see, any of these branches won''t be heading towards them anytime soon. So there''s still time for them to prepare and strengthen their defenses.

    What really irritates him the most is that this war won''t be able to wait until he''s reach the level of strength he needed to ensure his survival. He''s the heir of Chronos, there''s no way that he could turn his back away from this, not after everything he''s done so far, so it should be no surprise that Raven is under a lot of pressure. What''s more is that he doesn''t have clue on how much time he has left before this war urs.

    "Ugh, no time for this." Raven groaned, feeling his head pounding from stress. "I need to make ns to enhance our chances of survival. It needs to be rather discreet as well since I don''t want to get rid of the moles just yet."

    "If they want to free the Devil Emperor, they would have to at least go up floor by floor in the pagoda. I''ve managed fortify the seals up to the 50th floor, which should be enough to slow them considerably. I still have some time to fortify the higher floors then and alsoy down some nasty traps for them."

    "That being said, all of that would be useless if that Allfather personally goes there."

    "Although it pains me to admit this, I am no match for that guy. That dude''s an old fossil, a Divinity Realm Expert as well, cream of the crop I''d say. I just can''t think of anyways to stop that guy. If there''s anyone who could at least slow him down. That would be the Sect Master and the Grand Elder. But as for them defeating him, I can''t see that happening unless they have trump cards."

    "As for troop strengthening, we''re on our way there but it''s going to take some time." Raven murmured, "We should be able make it, barely. There will casualties this time but there''s nothing I can do against that."

    "What really worries me is when the worsees to worst. I don''t want to admit this but the chances of them freeing the Devil Emperor from imprisonment is rather high. If we fail here, the Divine Realm is doomed."

    "We''ve been shouldering this task since eons ago, most people right now hadpletely forgotten about the horrors the Devil Emperor brought to thisnd. The Divine Realm is the only home for us, without it, we''ll go extinct and the Devil Emperor''s Race will devour thisnd to reverse the fortune of their gxy. That is something that I absolutely can''t allow."

    "..."

    Raven bit his lips as he closed his eyes to think. He needed ideas, solutions for this difficult problem. He forced himself to calm down in order to re-organize his thoughts so that he could create another n.

    After thinking for a bit, he took some papers from the drawers on his desk and began writing down some ideas that might lead him to correct way to approach this whole problem.

 Chapter 631 - New Heirs

    ---

    "...these formations are extremely impressive. We can teach it to the weaker disciples in order to elevate their strength, that way we can at least increase our fighting chance." Henrymented as he looked through several blueprintsid on top of the table.

    "It requires a minimum of 100 disciples to maneuver though, additionally we also have to guard them but yeah, this is the best I cane up with for now." Raven sighed as double-checked every single blueprints in order to ensure he didn''t make any errors.

    "Do we make this public then? If so then when?" Theo asked.

    "That''s the tricky part too." Raven released another sigh. "I would like to have the disciples to get some practice with these formations but there are spies mixed amongst them. I''m sure that they''ll report it to their superiors once they saw this."

    "I can erase their memories about it but doing that will cause gaps in their reports and that would make their superiors suspicious." Raven leaned back on his chair as he was in a dilemma as well.

    "That can still work...you know if we gather all the spies in group, we can iste them and have them perform a different task as a distraction while the others get some practice with the formation." Logan suggested.

    "That''s a good idea, but I''m afraid it won''t work that way." Charles shook his head. "Just gathering all the spies in a single group itself is already highly suspicious. Once would be a coincidence but more than that, our enemies would be an idiot to not realized what was happening. It''s risky."

    "Exactly." Raven agreed. "Also, doing it that way will kind of force us to reveal to the other disciples that we are aware of the spies, most of them aren''t really good actors and slip ups could happen anytime so we''ll be busted right away."

    The group became silent after hearing this. Indeed, they were in a difficult position. There are many things that Raven wanted to try but it''s just that the existence of the spies are greatly limiting their options.

    If he really wanted to, Raven could''ve simply dropped all pretenses with the enemy and execute all the spies. At this point, their existence are no longer needed since Raven already nted more spies on their ranks and those people are unconsciously revealing many things he wanted to know.

    The reason why he''s so hesitant to do this is because if he did, then the possibility of the enemies making the first move to start the war will rise. Raven wanted to buy the sect sometime in order to bolster their defenses and that would be theplete opposite of what he wanted to do.

    "We also can''t repeatedly erase the memories of our disciples as well. The would be bad for their health and too stressful for Raven." Theo added to which the rest agreed. "Such a shame, but I believe we can make this work somehow. How about we drop this for now and pay attention to something else. We can''t waste time."

    "Agreed, but what other things do we talk about then?" Raven asked.

    "The Celestial Ascension tform." Theo said, causing their ears to perk up. "I got this message from the others that they already met the necessary requirements to enter and they nned on making a trip now."

    "Oh! That''s good news." Henry said, "Well? Who will be this ''others'' then?"

    "Levi, Paolo, Jessamine, Julia and Celestine." Theo revealed, causing the others to perk-up.

    "Oh, it''s them. That''s good then." Charles nodded on his seat.

    "So she''s going as well...why didn''t she tell me?" Henry murmured softly but it was heard by the others.

    "She''s probably going to tell youter since I just happened to be there when they made the decision a few hours ago." Theo stated, "I just wanted you to hear it from me so I could ruin your moment, you''re wee by the way."

    "Seriously?" Henry deadpanned at the beaming Theo, causing Logan to burst out onughter.

    "Anyway, if they''re going then who''s going to handle their disciples?" Charles asked.

    "I heard they were tempering themselves inside the Gates of Hell." Theo added, "That should keep them busy for years, as for how long exactly, that''ll depend. But since the Trial by Fire willst for that long, then they figured they shouldn''t be idle too."

    "If their discipleses out and they''re still not here, then I think we would be in charge of them until they return."

    "Great, more work for us." Logan groaned, the other War Gods also released a sigh upon hearing that.

    "I''m sure as hell that they''re going to take their sweet ass time in there in order to escape their responsibilities. Maybe we should go as well?" Henry asked the others but he wasn''t actually serious, this was more of a reaction.

    "I wish we could but the Sect Master said that if anything, we should be thest batch to enter the Celestial Ascension tform thanks to us surmounting Mount Olympus." Theo leaned back on his seat and felt stressed.

    They all collectively released a sigh but Charles saw Raven distracted, he then asked him: "Raven, are you good?"

    "Huh? Oh! Yeah! I''m good. I just had an idea, don''t mind me." Raven replied while immersed on his thoughts.

    The group went silent at first, they were all resting since these past few days had been really hectic. This silence was broken by Raven shortly after though.

    "...yeah, I think that can work."

    "What can work?" Henry curiously asked.

    "I''m talking about the Trial by Fire and this." Raven replied pointing at the blueprints on the table.

    At first the War Gods were confused but it didn''t take long before they realized what Raven meant by that.

    "Oh! I see what you mean now!" Henry''s eyes gleamed. "Yeah, I think we can use this method of yours, but what are we going to do with the spies?"

    "Nothing." Raven chuckled, "We won''t need to do anything. After all, the disciples wouldn''t remember anything about it until the right timees anyway."

    ---

    "There would be two new heirs? That''s great! Who would it be then?"

    Raven is currently at the Storm Dweller''s Peak as he got called by the Sect Master to inform him about this recent news.

    "It''ll be Hades and Poseidon." The Sect Master said as he took a sip of his tea.

    "Alright so Tartarus and the Rivers of Styx has now a proper Vanguard. They should also bring more to the table. This is great. This lessens the burden even just for a bit." Raven sighed in relief at the good news he received.

    Two new Heirs are now joining their ranks. And as luck would have it, both would be a vital part of their overall force.

    The Heir of Hades had been chosen, from now on he will be stationed in Tartarus and would watch over that area. With the Heir of Hades around, the foul air seeping from the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda would be flushed out of Tartarus. The weaker devils will also be deterred by his might and wouldn''t casuallye close to Tartarus anymore.

    Additionally, the Eruptions would be under his control since one of his task is to thin out the numbers of the devils on the lower floors.

    As for the Heir of Poseidon, he''ll be stationed in Antis - a ce which resides above Asphodel. Antis is created to suppress the devilsing out floors 51st and above.

    Additionally, the Heir of Poseidon will be tasked to watch over the Rivers of Styx - a body of water teeming with underwater devils that eats the souls of their victims. The area above Asphodel is strange since it is submerged in water, the Floors 51st up until 80th are underwater and whenever an Eruption urs, the swarm of underwater devils will always que the Sunken City - Antis.

    The Rivers of Styx refers to the dark waters surrounding the Devil Emperor''s Tower in this area. It forms a defensive circle that doesn''t allow anyone else to get close. But with the Heir of Poseidon around, he''ll be able to ce this are under control.

    "How about the next Zeus?" Raven asked.

    "They''re still under trials." The Sect Master replied, "You know how Grand Elder Gin does things. So long as the one who managed win thepetition has a good moral character then the Grand Elder wouldn''t waste time and immediately coronate that person."

    "Indeed." Raven nodded, the Grand Elder would definitely do something like that.

    "Still, they''re entering thest stages. It wouldn''t be long." The Sect Master said, "We''re still waiting for other Heirs such as Hermes, Athena, Helios, and etc. Once all the Heirs areplete, then the new era will begin and we old folks has to step down from our spots."

    "You guys won''t leave us behind will you?" Raven narrowed his eyes as he asked this question causing the Sect Master to chuckle.

    "I honestly wish we could.." The Sect Master''s smile disappeared as he continued: "But with the threat looming over us, I believe we don''t have that luxury."

 Chapter 632 - Unexpected Development

    ---

    Today, all of Raven''s aplices are gathered in his abode.

    They were summoned without any prior notice and while they were still in the middle of their duties. However, since Raven was the one who summoned them, they didn''t hesitate toe since he probably has something very important to tell them.

    The people who arrived weren''t many. The Sect Master and his wife is here, the Grand Elder and his wife was also here. Henry, Theo, Charles, and Logan were here as well. These people were guided by Kyrie towards Raven''s private study and were gathered there to hear him out.

    Once everyone was seated, Raven stood up and said: "Thanks foring everyone. The summons were abrupt, please excuse me about that. It''s just that a surprising development urred and its something I have to inform you right away."

    Everyone remained silent but they were all wondering why they were summoned to. They waited for Raven to speak about the important matter but instead of telling them, Raven took out something from his spatial ring.

    It was an array disc which is protected with severalyers of privacy seals. He ced it on top of the table.

    Raven then looked in the room and snapped a finger. Several runes glittered with light and everybody felt that the room became isted from all manner of detection.

    "This is just pre-caution. We can''t have anyone else spying in this conversation." Raven informed in order to pacify their suspicions.

    Once everything was ready, Raven deactivated the seals on the array disc, he then said: "Before I exin any further, I want you all to watch this first."

    Raven then activated the array disc and it began showing them information that these never thought they''d be able to get their hands on.

    The very first scene that the array disc showed already captured their attention. This was the scene of the Allfather and his meeting with his loyal followers. The audience saw and heard everything, the array disc even replicated the feeling that Raven got from witnessing the scene himself. It also revealed the presumed identities of the followers.

    There was a slight pause in there before the array disc showed another shocking revtion. This it time, it revealed the amount of spies that Raven managed to ce within the ranks of their enemies. The diagram listing all the locations of the branches was also revealed. Raven made a collective report about the estimated strength and numbers of the enemy forces andpared it to what they have just to give everyone an idea as to what they were dealing with.

    The array disc finished there, and to say that the people around him were shocked would be an understatement.

    "That guy...the Allfather." Logan muttered after a brief silence. "He''s bad news. Very, very bad news. See this?"

    Logan raised his arm, looking at it closely it was actually trembling: "I can''t control this. It''s been like this since the first time Iid eyes on that guy."

    "Must be love at first sight then." Henry snorted on the side, causing some people to snicker softly and for Logan to re at him.

    "Alright, all kidding aside..." Charles gave the two a knowing look as he continued: "I simrly agree to Logan. That Allfather, whoever that is, is a very dangerous man. We would be ced in a very difficult position if he decided to move, and it was clearly implied that he''s going if needed be. So we have to do something about him."

    "Don''t forget about the presumed identities of his followers. If that''s their true identity then we will be in a more difficult spot. They rooted themselves very deep into the Divine Realm''s forces so dealing with them would be reallyplicated." Theo stated.

    "And we''repletely outmatched in terms of man power as well. We have serious catching up to do but our hands are tired since we are keeping the spies to serve as baits." Henry added.

    "The problem here is time." The Grand Eldermented. "Even if we know all of this, we simply don''t have enough time to catch up. Additionally, since our hands are tied, if we are careless then the spies would catch wind of our ns and reveal it to them. Knowing that, they might not give us any time to grow, they might start the war pre-emptively. That would be the worst case scenario for us."

    "That''s right." Lady Hera, the Grand Elder''s wife nodded her head. "It would be great if we could at least have some estimations on how much time we have left so that we can refer to it for our future ns."

    "But then again, what do we do about the spies?" Alwina asked, "They''re too close and we can''t keep anything a secret forever. We need to do some serious brainstorming here."

    "Actually, we already had a n for that. We had a discussion three days ago and Raven here made a n that works well and would also allow us to keep the spies from knowing anything." Theo announced.

    "Right. We nned on using the Trials in the Hall of Gods as a cover to discretely teach disciples on how to use offensive formations created by Raven." Henry stated, "We nned on having the disciples of the other War Gods who are leaving for the Celestial Ascension tform first to test it out. Once they get an appropriate level of skill at driving the formations, Raven would seal their memories about it until the time is proper."

    "I see." The Grand Elder nodded, "This is a good n. Doing this can make things discrete indeed. Have you guys implemented this already?"

    "Not yet, Grand Elder." Charles replied, "Raven is still working on building the formations themselves, we still have to modify the Trials as well in order to slip this in without raising any rms."

    The became silent for a bit. Everyone looked at the Sect Master, asking for his input but it would appear that he''s distracted about something.

    "Before I say anything, Raven is there anything else you would like to add?"

    "Yes, I would like to add some things, Sect Master." Raven nodded, alerting the rest.

    "Feel free to speak then."

    "For starters, I kept this information from you for quite sometime. I didn''t want to but I didn''t want to give you additional headaches if I could help it. I resorted to relying on myself to find solutions for this problem and I''ll admit it became rather stressful."

    "Still, I wouldn''t have revealed this information to you if I could solve it alone. It''s not that I didn''t trust you, its just that I feel like its my responsibility to do so."

    "The reason why I revealed all of this to you ties to the very reason I summoned you on a short notice today. I received news about a special development urred pertaining to the war that I would like to share to you since I believe this could at least give us a chance to turn the situation around."

    Raven kept the array disc and took out a replica of the diagram that marked the location of each branch within the divine realm. He then continued:

    "I''ve been monitoring them closely and I got this news that an announcement was made amidst their ranks." Raven lifted a hand and said: "50 years..."

    "Apparently, the Exiles are nning to begin the war within the next 50 years." Raven''s announcement surely caused everybody to be surprised. "At first I thought of this as just an rming rumor, but once I did more investigations, I came to the conclusion that it''s more or less confirmed that they n to wage war on us during the next 50 years."

    "The reason I can say so, is because of this diagram right here." Raven lifted the replica of the diagram and showed it to them.

    "This diagram doesn''t just reveal the locations of the bases of the Exiles. It serves more purpose than that." Raven stated, "This diagram is also a blueprint of a massive formation that the exiles wanted to use in order to destroy the seal on the Devil Emperor in order to free him."

    Everyone inhaled sharply as he heard his deration. To prove his point even further, Raven made some changes on the diagram and showed it to them once more.

    "If you look at this closely, you can see that it is an borate formation with the Sect located at the very center. These worlds and nes where their bases are located, were ced in a strategic spot. I''m currently now sure how exactly they are going to aplish this but they''ve been preparing for a long time already."

    "The links are already connected, that much I can confirm. A formation like this would require a ton of resources but that''s not really a problem to them since like I said, they had been preparing for a long time."

    "50 years, that''s the time left for us ording to my estimates.. That means that whether the sect survives or fall, all of it will be decided 50 years from now."

 Chapter 633 - Getting Help?

    ---

    "50 years...that sounds long but in reality it isn''t much specially for us Cultivators." Henry murmured as he Raven''s deration.

    "Indeed. If it weren''t for the time chambers that allow us to manipte the flow of time, then that amount of time would easily pass in meditation." Theo added.

    "What else can you tell us about this massive formation of theirs, aside from the estimated time ofpletion?" The Sect Master asked.

    "Most of these are just my spections for now but..." Raven looked at the diagram and said: "It''s most likely that the Exiles n on sacrificing all the worlds they used as a base to achieve their aim."

    "The seal preventing the Devil Emperor from escaping was created by our Ancestors sacrificing their lives for it. It is powerful without a doubt so in order to break something like that, they will need to umte tons of resources which they have been collecting for years now. However, worldly resources alone won''t be enough to break the seal. They need a stronger catalyst and the only thing I can think about are the cores of the worlds where they branched out."

    "In short, these worlds will mostly be used to break the seal. If that happens, that would be a momentous loss for the Divine Realm in general. The Devil Emperor probably wouldn''t bat an eye about this since it ns on weakening the Divine Realm in the first ce so that it would easily be devoured by the Devil Emperor''s home."

    The people who were listening to his spection shook at his words. A somber mood descended, causing them to be filled with dark thoughts.

    "Well, we have to make sure that such a thing won''t happen." The Sect Master said. "As the descendants of those who prevented the destruction of the Divine Realm, we have to make sure to prevent them seeding."

    "Can''t we ask for help?" Logan asked, "I mean, they should understand the consequences if we happen to fail right? So shouldn''t they at least give us a helping hand?"

    "You fail to understand one thing Logan." The Grand Elder said in a despondent voice. "Yes, we might be fighting for the sake of the greater good but that is because out of free will. We willingly went and stayed here, we chose to bear the burden of suppressing a cmitous entity that could destroy the entire Divine Realm ourselves."

    "The most they could do is to glorify our statuses and give us the proper amount of resources to do our jobs properly. As for helping us, well that can work but don''t expect that they will willingly throw away their lives for the sake of the greater good. At most, they''d send their cannon fodders here which is something that we do not need."

    "I''ll bet that some of those people would even put forth outrageous demands before considering to help us. There''d be no problems if we win this war, the problems will be solved and those who helped us will run their mouths and brag how through hard work, righteousness and determination, they saved the entirety of the Divine Realm. The real problem will start if we lost..." Raven stated.

    "If we lost, all of the me will be on us. They''d call us useless people, leeches and might even execute us despite us trying our best. They''d use the fact that we received so many resources and yet we still failed on doing such a simple job, as if suppressing a Realm-Ending Monster had ever been a simple task. The more death and suffering they experience, the greater the hate targeted towards us. This is the ugliness of human nature. Get used to it."

    Raven''s worlds caused a stifling feeling to press down on everybody''s heart, yet none of them could muster any courage to tell him otherwise since deep down, they agree.

    The people outside treated them as Martyrs, they don''t care about their well being nor their predicament since they''ve made their choice toe here on their own. If they did their jobs well, then its to be expected, if they fail, they are sinners. It''s as simple as that.

    "I''m not saying that we can''t ask for help. In fact, cannon fodders are good an all. I can think of ways to use them. However, if you''re expecting something more from them, then I''d advise you to stop that wishful thinking." Raven''s tone didn''t conceal the deep contempt he had for the selfish pricks outside.

    Raven had a profound impression of the true ugliness hiding within the Divine Realm like tumors. He had personally witnessed and experienced it on his past life so he was sure about it. Those people doesn''t care about anything outside of their personal gain. This is why he didn''t even consider asking for their help.

    "Alright, instead of focusing on those depressing thoughts. Let''s just focus on what we can do." The Sect Master stood up and encouraged the team. He looked at Raven and said: "You did well on this discovery. Even though we are pressed on time, we can still make somest minute adjustments."

    "50 years doesn''t really sound much but it''s still rtively long. That''s enough time for us to have everyone entering the Celestial Ascension tform. Additionally, there are still plenty of time for us to make some ns in order to counter their advances." The Sect Master then looked at Raven and asked:

    "You have 50 years to improve and strengthen yourself. How confident are you on reaching a level where you can personally take a look at the Main Seal and make some adjustments to it?"

    "100% confident." Raven replied without an ounce of hesitation.

    "Very well. I''ll leave that task to you. Also, if there''s any developments within their ranks. Don''t hesitate to let us know so that we can help you to make some counter measures. Understood?"

    "Yes." Raven nodded.

    "Alright, everyone time to get busy. For now, you''ll return and continue with what you''re doing so far. I''ll think of ns in order to increase our overall strength within 50 years so be ready for it. Do you have anything else to add Raven?"

    "That would be all for now." Raven replied.

    "Alright everyone, dismissed."

    ---

    "Young Lord. If there''s anything we, your subordinates, can do to share your burden. Please don''t hesitate to tell us."

    This was Kyrie''s first words after the meeting was over. Raven was momentarily surprised when he heard this. However, despite his initial surprise, he smiled and said:

    "Don''t worry, I haven''t forgotten about you lot yet." He chuckled. "The previous ns are a little bit beyond what you guys can handle but if there''s an opportunity, I woulde looking for you. Don''t you dare run away when that happens, you hear?"

    "Rest assured, Young Lord. We will give our all to ensure we triumph over our foes." Kyrie heroically said.

    "Mn! That''s reassuring." Raven replied before he excused himself and entered his private chambers to monitor about the overall situation of their enemies once more.

    Up to this point, Raven still doesn''t know if receiving that recent intel was good for them or useless. Like what they mentioned in the meeting earlier, 50 years isn''t a short time but for cultivators, it isn''t long either.

    Even with Raven''s speed of improvement, he doubt that he''d reach Empyrean Realm within that period of time even with the Crown''s help. It might be possible but only if Raven can devote all of his time and resources to cultivation, which is something that''s unfortunately out of the question.

    His presence is needed, even Raven himself realized this. As the future Sect Master, Raven has to be there since he acts as their pir now. Without his support, the sect would crumble from the inside and he can''t let that happen.

    Thinking about it, Raven really had to deal with a crappy hand in his second life. Although he was in a much better ce, the responsibilities he had to shoulder was heavier and there''s no way he can shy away from it too.

    Raven has no idea if this was the result of the butterfly effect. ording to the previous timeline, something like this never happened. Either that or news about it was suppressed but how, he''s at the thick of it and honestly, the pressure is by no means light.

    Nevertheless, it''s sink or swim now. He can''t retreat from here, especially when he''s this invested. Not only this concerns the entirety of Divine Realm, it also concerns the safety of those he wanted to protect the most.

    Raven made a vow to himself that he would endure all the trials and tribtions by himself if that would mean they''ll remain safe. Raven doesn''t n on breaking that vow anytime soon so he definitely can''t fold here.

    What''s more is that, he has allies this time around. He won''t be fighting alone, and he doesn''t have to since he knows that united, they are strong.

    This is why Raven would continue to endure.. He grasp this chance to cleanse the filth out of the Divine Realm and make sure that his loved ones will continue to live in peace.

 Chapter 634 - Seclusion

    ---

    "...okay, this should do it for this one. There shouldn''t be any problems for now so we wait and see if it''ll wille in handy." Raven murmured as he returned the array core back it''s ce.

    He just finished modifying yet another array core that will do the things he needed it to do. Everything was going smoothly which somewhat made him relieved. At least the n was working for now.

    Raven exited the core area of the Hall of Gods, covering himself with a veil that makes him invisible and untraceable to others. With the veil around, he could move freely and discretely. He decided to return to his home since he still has some things to do.

    Upon returning, he saw Kyrie and his troops hard at work. He smiled when he saw them giving their best efforts. He did give them some orders and they are now acting on it. With them around, the things Raven has to shoulder lightened considerably.

    Raven continued making his way towards his private chambers, he didn''t bother his troops since there''s no need to do so. Once he entered the private chambers, he sealed the entrance close and promptly disappeared from the room.

    He reappeared inside the Crown Space, taking a deep breath and sitting down to get some rest, Raven allowed himself to rx here since he got some time to spare.

    Raven ate something and took a nap. These past few days had been incredibly busy for him that he''s barely getting proper rest. It was only now that Raven could release some of his stress by taking it easy and rxing.

    He originally nned on just napping but he ended up sleeping for the whole day. This kind of surprised him when woke up since he didn''t expect that he was that tired. He didn''t even notice it at all.

    Well, it''s not like he could me himself for it. After all he chose to exhaust himself this much in order to get things going. They only have 50 years at most before the wares, he had to make sure to increase the fighting chance of his allies.

    Now that he had gotten some rest, Raven got up from his bed. Ate something and took a short bath, once he felt refreshed, he returned back to his work.

    He went towards the cultivation eden and sat on the Star Gazing Mats. He then began integrating with the recent enlightenments of his Avatars. This process took several days to finish and when it was done, Raven felt exponentially stronger once again.

    Seals, Laws, and ns. Everything that his Avatars had been focusing during these past few days had fused to him, raising his strength and intelligence. Raven remained in meditation, going through several ns that he received from the Avatars and choosing the ones that he could use or modify.

    In the end, he managed to sessfully get some new ns that he can put into motion once he returned. This should help a lot along with the ideas that the Sect Master told him a few days ago.

    "Levi, Paolo, Julia, Jessamine and Celestine just recently entered the Celestial Ascension tform. It''s unknown how long they''re going to remain there but I hope they get some serious strengthening inside or else we''ll be in big trouble."

    "This ns are good, I need to implement at least some of these before the month ends. Everything will be discrete and the Exiles wouldn''t know what they''ll hit them. Ugh, how nice would it be if we''re only dealing with the Devil Emperor and his devils. If that''s all of them, then I wouldn''t have been this busy."

    Raven couldn''t help butin since he didn''t really like carrying such a heavy burden after all. If it weren''t for the fact that they''re against something that could end the Divine Realm, Raven might''ve already excused himself out of this.

    "Thankfully, I did receive some knew seals though." Raven murmured as he analyzed the seals the Avatars deciphered for him. "These seals and runes should help me stabilize the overall situation. And if I do it carefully, then the Exiles wouldn''t know about it at all."

    The seals and runes he received are all genuine Empyrean ranked. Each one are formidable on their own right, additionally it will also be incredibly different to break since it was created from Raven''s will. Now all he needed to do is to think of ces where he could apply this runes.

    "If I could, then every single infrastructure in the sect will have the rune I created. That''ll take a lot of time but I''m sure it''s going to be worth it, the problem is how am I going to fortify them all without raising the suspicions of the moles. Hmm..."

    "...aha! Right, I nearly forgot about that. I don''t need to do it one by one using that method. That should save me a lot of time to focus on something else. Mn!"

    Raven eagerly nodded as he recalled a way to spread the seals without manually carving them one by one. This way could also allow him to cover everything from the ground up, saving him tons of time and effort to do so.

    "Okay it''s settled. I''ll do it this way. It''s discrete and save me a lot of time and effort. It''s a solid n. I''ll start it right away."

    Once Raven finalized his thoughts, he immediately ended his meditation and began working in order to finish it right away. The earlier he settled this matter down, the earlier he could move on to the next problem.

    With that, Raven had gotten busy along with the help of his Avatars.

    ---

    Time passes by quick when someone is busy. A total of one year passed within the Crown Space, which means that Raven has to return to the real world and get busy there once more.

    Thankfully, Raven was aware of it this and had already made sufficient preparations. He''s just making somest minute checking and he''ll exit this ce right away. Once he''s finished double-checking his stuff, Raven nodded and disappeared from the Cultivation Eden.

    Raven didn''t make any significant breakthroughs in this seclusion of his but he had definitely gotten stronger. He entered the Monument of Stars and Scripture Graveyard, receiving the acknowledgement of several beings in the past, taking his strength and experience to another level.

    His Law Insights also gotten richer, his progress is really slow but that''s to be expected for someone who not only wield Destruction Laws, but also Spacetime Laws. He needed to pay close attention to his foundations or else he''ll end up losing himself to these insights.

    Raven also managed to create more runes and seals that can be used in multiple ways, thus greatly expanding his repertoire. He had tested them out multiple times and had gotten proficient at using every single one so no need for him to doubt about whether to use it or not.

    The most important part of this seclusion is that, Raven managed to think of ns he could implement in order to trample their enemies. One year might be short but when several minds are focused and working together, there''s no such things as a difficult problem.

    In short, Raven is now prepared to step out and do what he does best.

    He appeared in his private chambers, the first he did was to ask his avatars if there are some surprising developments while he was gone. The avatars didn''t discover anything which made him sigh in relief. At least they are taking things slow.

    After consulting with his Avatars for a few minutes. Raven unsealed the entrance and stepped out of the private chambers. He sealed the door as he exited in order to prevent any spies from detecting that room.

    Then he went towards his room, got some new sets of robes and took a quick bath in order to freshen up. After that, he joined Kyrie for a meal and he went out to get busy.

    Still wearing the veil that made him invisible, he looked up and saw that the rune he created upon getting back from the True Olympian Climb was still there. He smiled and made his way closer to it.

    Once he had gotten close enough, he looked around and made sure that nobody was around him. After confirming everything, he took out the Brush of Wisdom and began overwriting the massive rune above him.

    Raven was careful in every movement he did, no fluctuations of energy was released from his actions, not even a sound can be heard. Although it doesn''t appear like something was happening, in reality, the rune was experiencing massive changes. It''s only thanks to Raven suppressing everything that nobody was rmed about it.

    Raven then pulled back the Brush of Wisdom, signifying that he''s done with the adjustments. Within his eyes, the rune began pulsing with unique fluctuations which travelled throughout the whole sect, covering it with protection which is only visible to him.

    Seeing this, Raven nodded in satisfaction, he then walked away since there are others things he need to pay attention to.

 Chapter 635 - Too Big For A Rain

    ---

    Raven could be found suspended in the air.

    He had one arm folded behind him while other grasped the Brush of Wisdom. There was despondent expression on his face and he looked down on the scene of chaos beneath him.

    Behind Raven, there was a massive rune glowing with golden-silver radiance. On top of him, numerous portals appeared, spitting down enormous rocks burning with white mes thatid waste at the area beneath him.

    A cacophony of explosions urred, debris and limbs flew every where and a burning heat remained from the while mes spreading everywhere. The whole area was filled with screams of agony and distress yet Raven had his heart closed to their voices.

    These abominations doesn''t deserve even an ounce of his pity.

    The Meteor Shower continued until every inch of this area was covered with white mes. Raven scattered his senses to feel if there are any of Devils who managed to remain alive from all of this. He had found some but he saw that they''re not going tost long since they''re severely injured so he ignored them directly.

    Raven flew past the burning dead bodies and went straight towards the ck beam of light. He looked up to it and under his gaze, the ck beam of light began transforming and showing numerous runes that kept it functioning.

    He studied them for quite sometime, and after analyzing them, Raven didn''t waste any time and began fortifying the runes with a few of his own.

    He strengthened the rune, added some hidden functions on them to ensure the safety of those who will visit this ce after him and disappeared from this area by going through the ck beam of light.

    Raven''s back at the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. He''s still trying to climb as high as he possibly could, fortifying the seals on each floor and also thinning out the numbers of devils just to buy them sometime.

    Using the Cleansing mes was definitely helping him out a lot here since these mes could truly incinerate devils through and through. Devils killed through other means would just be sending them back to the Devil Emperor''s embrace and giving him intel, by killing them with Cleansing mes, these devils won''t have the chance to be resurrected, forcing the Devil Emperor to spend more energies on creating more of them.

    Raven just arrived at the 60th floor. When his vision re-adjusted, he saw that he was actually standing at the edge of a small ind surrounded by arge body of water that seemingly spans endlessly. He looked around and saw that the entrance to the next floor is actually located north from the ind.

    And from the general theme of this floor so far, it wouldn''t be surprising if it turns out that he needed to dive on the depths to enter the passage to the next floor.

    Ravens scattered his senses and saw numerous sea devils silently surrounding him. A yful smirk appeared on his face he thought that these things must have been waiting for him to step out of the ind so that they can get a few bites out of him.

    Additionally, this ce somewhat works against his methods as well. Since he''s dealing with deep see devils and he''s surrounded by arge body of water, that automatically suppresses his mes...at least that''s what one would think if they are in the simr situation. But see, Raven''s cleansing mes are a cut above from what it was previously.

    "I don''t feel like stepping out of this ind just yet."

    Instead of diving down, Raven retreated at the center of the ind. He took out a chair and a table. He enjoyed the cool breeze of the wind but was somewhat disgusted when he smelled the foul odor of the deep sea dwellers.

    He raised the Brush of Wisdom and began weaving a giant rune. Golden-silver radiance gathered at the tip of his brush as he drew one line after another. After numerous swings and intersecting many lines, the rune was formed. Raven ced the Brush of Wisdom on the table and waited patiently.

    The giant rune flew above him, it started gather massive amounts of energy which charges itpletely. After that, numerous portals appeared above him once again. If one looked closely, each portals revealed the scenery of the Outer Space for the briefest of moments before gigantic rocks starteding out of them.

    As soon as the rocks passed through the portal, they would be covered with pristine white mes carrying a terrible heat. One meteor after another fell on the seemingly boundless sea, stirring up tall sshes of water.

    Raven picked up the brush and with a single wave, he formed a barrier that encapsted the entire ind. The tall waves of water crashed through the barrier but they failed to break it. The barrier didn''t even shake from the impact.

    He watched in wonder as he saw numerous injured sea devils crash through the barrier, leaving behind trails of blood. He saw how they tried their best to swim fast enough in hopes of escaping this terrible rain of meteors to no avail.

    The sea turned ck shortly after, mostly due to it being stained by the ck blood of the deep sea devils. Raven can''t recall what the deep sea devils look like since they were dead before he could take a good look at them.

    Nheless, it isn''t really important to him. It''s not like his decision to eradicate them will change once they found them adorable.

    "Hmm?" Raven raised a brow as he felt some tremors around him. He looked around and saw a shadow blotting the entire ind. His eyes gleamed as he let out an amused sound.

    "That looks like a whale, a sperm whale but fifteen times bigger at least." Raven mused to himself, "It has scales? Or are those corals? Meh, don''t care. But it does look strong and it should be swift too since I noticed it prettyte. Eh? What''s that?"

    Raven looked towards another side and saw another enormous creature.

    "Uh...a giant squid? Octopus? Both? I mean I could count at least ten major tentacles and hundreds of thinner ones. Woah, those...teeth? Is it called teeth if it''s attached to its tentacles or should call them fangs? Whatever. Those looks pretty dangerous too."

    "Woah, they''re thrashing around." Raven chuckled as he felt the barrier shaking. Nevertheless, he wasn''t worried that it''s going to break. "Too big for a rain I guess? Well, I don''t care. Perish."

    As soon as he dered that, meteors crashed through the barrier, severely injuring the two gigantic creatures. It was only now that Raven recalled reading about them and remembered what people called them:

    "The whale was dubbed as the Great Leviathan and the squid/octopus thing was called Great Kraken. I wonder this Kraken was rted to the one I spared back in the Grand Ancestral ne...they shouldn''t be, I mean these two were created by the Devil Emperor. Yeah, they shouldn''t be rted. Oh well. They''re dead so its not like it matters anymore."

    Raven''s non-chnt attitude might just infuriate tons of people if they saw it. It had to be known that these two deep sea giants caused so much despair in the Crusades due to how powerful they were. They were undoubtedly the kings of this floor and if they want to get to the next floor, they have to endure their torture.

    These two in particr harvested many lives of their troops. Some people were even tasked for the sole purpose of distracting these two just to have others slip away from them. In other words, sacrifice. None were proud of this strategy but it has to be done or else, more lives will be lost.

    However, these so called kings of the sea, were reduced to nothing but a mere joke by Raven. Judging from how he rxed he looked, it doesn''t seem that he actually tried just now. It was as if eradicating all deep sea devils including these two were something so trivial to him that he could do it in a snap of a finger.

    Yeah, that''s both terrifying and infuriating at the same time.

    Raven spread his sense out to check if there are still devils alive. Just like on the previous floor, there were some who''s still alive but barely.

    He waited until the sea calmed down for a little bit before he dropped the barrier. He then walked on the surface of the sea, towards north where the beam of light if located. Once he got close, he stared at it for a good while but he was concentrated that he didn''t notice that a sea devil managed to get close to him.

    It was about to take a bite out of him it suddenly exploded into pieces. A pair ofrge but ethereal hands appeared behind Raven''s back, dealing with the ambush easily.

    Raven didn''t break his focus and analyzed the runes. When he did, he used the Brush of Wisdom to fortify them and when he''s done, he released a sigh.

    "I guess this is as far as I can go right now. I won''t be able to fortify the runes on the floors above this one. Alright then, time for me to return."

    After saying that, Raven promptly disappeared from where he was, leaving a ruined sea which will take a couple of months to return back to it''s original state.

 Chapter 636 - Council Summons

    ---

    "The Sunken City of Antis..." Raven muttered as he gazed at the massive golden doors in front of him. He stepped forwards and felt the doors opening by themselves.

    Antis is another location within Mount Olympus where disciples converge to deal with Devils. At the title entails, it is located at the sea bed, protected with an aqua-marine barrier the prevents the sea from ttening out the entire ce.

    Once the massive golden doors opened, Ravenid his eyes on a majestic city filled with hustle and bustle. He saw tall buildings with unique architectural designs. The whole city looked advanced but in reality, it''s just some small nuances and the unique designs which makes it have this kind of impression.

    Far off the distance, Raven could see a tall and majestic castle, the most eye-catching ce in the entire city. Raven walked inside the city and the golden doors automatically closed off behind him. He could feel the stares of people as he walked past them but he chose to ignore it.

    He observed the living conditions on the people here. From what he could tell so far, it doesn''t appear that bad. This ce is just like Tartarus without the foul odor or Greece but under the sea. The whole city was lit up brightly so there were no need for a sunlight. The air was fresh and there were vegetation everywhere.

    The disciples here wore the same maroon uniform for the sect and they also have their badges, however most of them appear as if they were the really intellectual people which could be seen from the way they stand, talk and their mannerisms. It''s like he surrounded by ''Elites'', and honestly Raven was a bit confused but he didn''t say anything since this doesn''t concern him.

    As he walked around the city, Raven was being stared at by everyone who saw him. Although Raven didn''t concern himself with this, he was being stared at since he was the real odd one out. First and foremost, Raven was not wearing any disguises. Meaning that his beauty was out for everyone to see and ogle at.

    Raven wouldn''t know how many women and men, were swooning as he walked past them. Just from a simple nce, everyone could tell that this was Raven''s first time in here. They''ve never seen someone like him before since they did then everybody''s going to recognize him.

    The other reason why he''s being stared at is because of his uniform. Unlike regr disciples, Raven is an official Heir, and he''s not just an Heir of any other ancestor, he is the Heir of Chronos. His uniform was a bright crimson robes which hugged the sharp angles of his body, this made a stark yet fascinating contrast with his aqua-marine hair.

    There''s also a crest on the back of his uniform which looked like an hourss in the middle of a ritual circle. His badge was also different. It''s not the usual ck badge but crimson colored one with golden rims.

    Those were what sets him apart from them. Of course when you add the fact that people of his status doesn''t appear that often in public, and how a person of his status arrived here unannounced and with no entourage or an official wee from the officials of this ce, makes sense as to why he''s caught everybody''s attention.

    Like what was stated earlier, Raven had little to no interests on what they think of him. Even if he does hear about it, he''s probably just going to ignore it.

    Raven continued to leisurely walk around, studying the Antis and memorizing the ce. There would be times when he would stop on his tracks and stare at the bubble that is protecting and hiding this ce from the sea devils freely roaming around. His gaze would pierce right through the protective barrier to stare at therge and probably dangerous creatures that are swimming about.

    ''I am interested to see how these people deal with those.'' Raven mused to himself. ''Ah, I''ve seen some sub-marine shuttles somewhere, there''s a lot of it too. That''s probably what they use to travel about.''

    Raven continued on his leisure walk until he arrived at another set of gates and doors. He tilted his head and confusion and thought to himself:

    ''Weird, why am I having some strange shbacks when I saw this kind of division? Huh...'' Raven shrugged and walked towards it.

    Just like before, the gates and the doors automatically opened up for him. It was only now that Raven noticed that there were actually no one who''s manning these gates. In fact, he hasn''t even seen a single guard doing patrols around this ce.

    Raven thought for a bit and stared curiously his surroundings with his ocr vision active. He then discovered something pretty interesting which ended up with him starting at the tallest tower in all of Antis. An indiscernible smile appeared on his face as he murmured:

    "I see...I get it now." Raven shook his head and didn''t say anything more. He just walked through the gates and doors which closed up behind him as he did so.

    Raven thought that he entered what could be described as the ''Noble'' district of Antis. The abodes and infrastructures here are more architecturally sophisticated and more advances. He could see some factories which are building ships that looked more advanced and expensivepared to the versions he saw earlier.

    He could also see numerous statues, gardens, benches made out of expensive materials, and so on as he looked around.

    ''Yep, definitely the ''Noble District'', and for some odd reasons I could really feel a strong sense of nostalgia in here. How weird...''

    Raven continued his pace and just like before, he was the center of the attention wherever he goes. Not even the nobles were immune from his elegance as he walked past them leaving several people delusional.

    "Hey, handsome!" Raven suddenly froze in his tracks as he felt an arm wrapping around his shoulder. He nced sideways and saw a fat bellied man who reeks of alcohol and throwing some lecherous stares all over his body. "Are you new here? I know you are. Say, why don''t I give you a tour of Antis, eh? I''m pretty well known in here and I can introduce you to many people who would ''definitely'' love to know you."

    Raven almost retched when he heard his words. In his mind he couldn''t help but eximed: ''Really? Is this really happening to me right now? Being sexually harassed by this fat idiot?''

    A cold smile appeared on his face. Raven nced around and saw some people hesitating on whether to step-in to interfere or cower in fear when they saw the cold smile on Raven''s face.

    "Pretty famous eh? Alright then, can you tell me your name?" Raven asked.

    Although he was smiling, the people around him could tell that his smile is hiding something far too insidious. Some people even retreated upon seeing that and could only pray for the soul of this fat idiot.

    "Hah! My name is Genesis Wolfstein! The richest and the most famous celebrity in all Antis!!" The fat idiot patted his drunkards belly in pride as he announced his name. "How about you, handsome? Don''t be shy, I can guarantee that with me here, no one will dare toy a finger on you."

    "Uh huh, yeah for sure." Raven inattentively said as he swiped away the man''s badge and sank his perception on it. The fat idiot saw what he did and as he was about to ask what he was doing, Raven continued: "Genesis Wolfstein eh? A pretty unique name."

    All of a sudden, much to everyone''s horror. A boundless pressure descended not only in the Noble''s District but to the entire Antis as a whole, rming everyone who felt it. The fat idiot was the one who suffered the most from it, he was snapped out of drunken stupor and recalled what he was just doing right now and when he saw the uniform of the man in front of him, that''s when he realized that he fucked up big time and lost all color on his face.

    "Hear me, Council. I hereby dere that Genesis Wolfstein, shall be punished to five years of forced service for viting three out of five major sectws. He shall be sent to Tartarus to experience humbling and rehabilitation. I ask you, Dear Council, do you agree with my decision?"

    As Raven''s deep voice echoed across all Antis, causing everyone to tremble in fear while they knelt down at the presence of the Council Summons, they looked up and saw multiple green lights descending around Raven.

    When everyone saw these green lights, they all thought of the same thing: ''That fat idiot''s done for.''

    That''s because those green lights meant the overwhelming support of the ''ENTIRE'' council with Raven''s decision.

    Raven nced at the trembling guy prostrating on the floor as he said: "This punishment will start as early as now. All of your belongings will be confiscated and you''ll only get them back by doing meritorious services. I hope you learn your lesson from now on, Dear Celebrity. Away with you."

    As soon as he said that, a portal opened up from beneath Genesis and swallowed him up, that portal will take him to Tartarus where he will spend his time sentenced into forced service.

    Raven then looked up and at the tallest tower with cold piercing gaze as he said:

    "Was that entertaining for you? Little Poseidon?"

 Chapter 637 - Elias The Little Poseidon

    ---

    ''Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!''

    A man paced back and forth nervously as he felt cold sweat drenching his back. His expression was filled with despair and frustration, it also didn''t help that he had no one else to me other than himself for this.

    ''God damn it! Shit! I''ve really stepped in it! This time willingly! Shit! Of all people to piss-off, I just had to choose the Heir of Big Boss! Fuck! Fuck! Why am I so stupid! Shit! What do I do!?''

    The man nervously bit his nails as he contemted on what to do. He was in it big this time and hepletely messed-up, now he''s in big trouble. He''s considering this day as the worst day of his life, and sadly, it''s just beginning...

    The man in question was none other than who Raven referred to as ''Little Poseidon''.

    His name is Elias Blueheart, the one who had been chosen to be the next bearer of the ''Poseidon'' title. He looks like a man on his mid 20''s but in reality, he''s a little over than 300 years old. He''s six foot and five inches tall, tanned lean guy wearing the same crimson uniform like Raven but with the insignia of the sea woven on the back of his robes.

    He has a short and spiky blue hair and a pair of aqua-marine pupils. In addition to his uniform and the golden badge that represents his status, he''s also wearing a pair of bracers that has a deep-sea sapphire embedded on the center. There several tribal tattoos on his body and he''s also wearing a leaf-crown which were made out of blue crystals on his head.

    Right now, Elias was currently trembling on his boots as he paced back and forth within his private chambers. His face was very pale and he had cold sweat dripping on his forehead and drenching his back. He couldn''t even bring himself to look at the windows in fear of making eye contact with the Heir of the Big Boss outside.

    "Elias!"

    "Eep!" His soul nearly left his body when he heard a deep voice rumbling within his room. He managed to at least not breakdown in panic and meekly replied: "Y-yes, Big Bro?"

    "WHAT IN TNE WORLD DID YOU DO YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!"

    "MAMA!!!"

    Eliaspletely lost it. He fell down to his knees as he immediately crawled towards his bed and covered himself with his nket while raising his pillows as a shield.

    "Elias! Answer me!!"

    "I''m sorry! I''m sorry okay! I didn''t mean it!!" Elias said with his voice shaking in fear. His hand was trembling so much that the pillow he was holding was shaking too.

    "You didn''t answer my question!!" The forceful voice pressed down on him once more which caused Elias to shriek in fear.

    "I didn''t want it to develop in this way! I swear! I-I was just...testing..." Elias''s voice turned softer and feeble by the end of his sentence.

    "Testing!? Did you just tell me that you were testing...the Heir of Chronos!? That has got to be the most retarded words that I have ever heard from you and I''ve heard a lot already. Were you dropped in the head when you were a baby!? What the fuck is wrong you!?"

    "You have the ''AUDACITY'' to test someone who''s obviously better than you? Who the fuck do you think you are!? I don''t remember raising you like this!?" The voice echoing within his room was bing so loud and forceful that Elias could feel his room quaking because of it.

    "Like I said, I''m sorry okay! Who told him to just outright waltz in here like he owns the ce anyway!? And I was bored you know!? You''re not even allowing me to have some fun!? What do you expect me to do!?"

    "YOU SPITEFUL LITTLE BRAT!!!"

    "EEK!!!" Elias mped his mouth with his hands as he buried his whole body on his bed while also pping his face. A blue bubble appeared out of nowhere, encasing the whole bed and protecting from the earthquakes.

    ''Shit! Shit! I must be possessed by the someone right now! Seriously, what was I thinking when I said that!? Shit! I''m really going to die today! Huhuhu...''

    Elias wanted to cry but had no tears. He didn''t really know what has gotten to him this time that gave the courage to talk back to his Big Brother, saying and doing all of those questionable things. Elias was convinced that he''s not in the right mental state right now but as if somebody''s going to believe him.

    As he was expecting his Big Brother to appear before him and beat the living shit out of him. He instead heard an exhausted sigh and the earthquakes in his room stopped. Elias thought this was weird and it gave him the creeps. A wave foreboding feeling crept towards him, and it only got worse when he heard his Big Brother''s next words.

    "...just letting you know. Young Lord Raven had just returned from his trip inside the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, alone."

    "..."

    "He started from 40th Floor and reached all the way up to the 60th Floor, all in three days while also fortifying the seals on each floor he passed along the way."

    "..."

    "You know the Styx River is always filled with devils escaping from the pagoda right? Well, as soon as he came out of the 60th floor, he wiped out every single sea devil within Styx River, leaving it burning with white mes and making my job easier."

    A screen of light appeared before Elias, depicting the current state of Styx River. The whole river was covered in mes, which was an extremely bizarre scene for anyone who witnesses it.

    "..."

    "Young Lord Raven has never been idle. When he''s not clearing up the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda and fortifying the seals within, he''s hands-on with the overall sect management. He''s not yet the official Chronos yet but he''s already sharing the burden with the current Sect Master. Which is why everybody who knows him admires him a lot and idolizes him for being so dedicated to our cause. I, your Big Brother is not an exception."

    "..."

    "Nobody told him to do all of this. Everything he does, he does it out of his own free will. I never asked for his help since he already has too much in his hands and it''s not really that difficult to watch over this small inconvenience. Yet when he appeared in our seas, not only he hadpletely cleared the 60th floor that contained the Great Leviathan and the Great Kraken, he also wiped out all devils in the Styx River which undoubtedly solve one of our biggest and most immediate problems."

    "Just with that alone, he save at least hundreds if not hundreds thousands of lives...yet when he appeared in our territory, instead of receiving a warm and heroic wee, he got nothing and was even sexually harassed by one of our people...tell me Little Brother, did Young Lord Raven deserve any of this bullshit?"

    "..."

    "...maybe I really did spoil you a little too much. It''s about time you learn your lesson."

    A brief silence descended within Elias'' room. Shortly after that, another long, exhausted and disappointed sigh echoed in Elias'' ears.

    "I swore to protect your life Little Brother, and I''m still holding on to that promise. But this time, you''ve courted a disaster that not even I, could extricate you out from."

    "You''ve overstepped your boundaries and offended someone you absolutely can''t afford to offend."

    "As I''ve said, I will do everything I could to preserve your life. But I also am the current Poseidon, I have my responsibilities that I need to uphold. Young Lord Raven is not happy with this treatment, and you, my dear Little Brother, is the main perpetrator of this."

    Elias'' face was drained out of color as he closed his eyes and felt his heart threating to explode out of his chest. His whole body was shaking in fear and panic as his Big Brother slowly brought down righteous judgement onto to him.

    "He might-no, knowing Young Lord''s temperament, he will punish you. Whether he decides to throw you down to Tartarus, or summon the Council once again to deliberate on your fate, I wouldn''t be able to help you out on this one. I can only guarantee that you will live."

    "..."

    "He''sing towards the Pce." Poseidon''s voice said, "Stay in your room and prepare yourself. I will receive him and try my best to ease-up his mood. Pray that this will work or else, you''ll truly suffer."

    "I''ve said this before and I will say it again, this time I hope that you will etch this to your brain..."

    "Little Brother, we''re no longer the Gods that can summon the rain and clouds at our beck and call. We are bound to the sect and the sect is bound to us. You''re not young anymore, you''re 300 years old for crying out loud, act like it."

    "If you are a man, then take full responsibility of your actions. Clean up after yourself. Big Brother won''t always remain by your side forever. You need to grow up...that''s all."

    "Wait in your room, Young Lord Raven will most likely visit you."

    "That''s it...I''m actually going to die this time.." Elias said as he copsed on his bed.

 Chapter 638 - Poseidon: Lorenzo Blueheart

    ---

    "Wee and my deepest apologies for not receiving you personally to Antis, Young Lord Raven."

    A man wearing an aqua-marine colored robes and was holding a golden trident bowed before Raven as soon as he arrived at the pce. This man had a shoulder-length brown hair, thick brows, pupils that resembles the brightest sapphires. He had a thick and long beard, a deep tanned skin filled with tribal tattoos, he was also barefooted and had a deep and unfathomable aura surrounding him.

    Aside from this man, there are also a line of soldiers standing upright behind him. Each one wore an deep blue armor on top of their uniforms and held spears which were pointed at the sky.

    This man is none other than the current Poseidon himself.

    "It is nice to meet you again, Elder Lorenzo. Although you didn''t have to personally receive. I''m just here for a little bit of sight seeing." Raven smiled and bowed back to him.

    "No, It is a customary behavior for me to do this. Especially after the horrible things you''ve experience in my domain. For that, I am truly sorry. You did not deserve any of those. I promise that such thing will never happen again."

    "What''s done is done. And the culprit is already punished so no need for us to talk about it anymore. How have you been so far, Lord Lorenzo?" Raven asked while smiling.

    "Decent, Young Lord. Howeverpared to you, I have it easier, I truly wish I could share as much burdens as you do to contribute to our cause - oh, this way please." Lorenzo gestured towards the red carpet leading to the entrance of the castle.

    The two of them continued to talk formally to each other as they walked inside the castle. Lorenzo gave Raven a bit of a tour of the pce. He showed him all the important areas in there that supported Antis as a whole.

    By the time they were done, two hours already passed. Lorenzo lead Raven towards his private chambers to have a meal. Once inside, the two of them sat at the opposite sides of the table and began eating, Lorenzo sent away the servants and activated the privacy seals within his room.

    As soon as there''s only the two of them, Lorenzo sighed and rested his back against his chair with a stressed face. Raven smiled as he continued his meal though.

    "I am very sorry about that." Lorenzo''s noble air seemingly disappeared and was reced by his true nature. He almost knocked his forehead on the table as he asked for Raven''s forgiveness. "Seriously, I took my eyes away from him just for an hour and this happened. Please excuse us."

    Raven chuckled and said: "Lift your head up,e on. That''s bad table manners."

    "Oh, right. My bad." Lorenzo was stunned for a brief second before re-adjusting his posture. That being said, he still had this rough bodynguage that is, for whatever reason, fits his whole image. This is Lorenzo''s true colors, something that Raven was surprised by during the first time but not anymore.

    All the noble air, graceful demeanor - basically the way how he acts when there''s people around, is just a facade. This is what he truly is. A ''thug''-ish man with a good heart and extreme loyalty towards the sect.

    "So it would seem that Elias will truly inherit your title." Ravenmented.

    "Ugh, yes unfortunately." Lorenzo rolled his eyes as he stabbed at the meat on his te as if releasing his frustrations on it using a fork. He took an entire steak and swallowed it all in one go. He made sure to swallow everything first before continuing his words...

    "I honestly don''t know why he was chosen, literally anyone else would''ve been better."

    "You''re not happy that your little brother was chosen to inherit your title? Why?" Raven was confused as he took a sip of his tea. "Nice tea by the way."

    "Thanks, that''s rather rare. I''m d you liked it." Lorenzo smiled, but it then disappeared the moment he started talking about the issue with his little brother. "And yes, I doesn''t really make me happy, but for a different reason entirely."

    "It''s not about the fact that my brother will take my ce and I''ll be shunned aside, frankly if he was chosen and he''s going to do a much better job than I do, then I would''ve dly step down. But see that''s the problem though, he''s my little brother. I''ve been raising him for centuries now, our parents left us early. I know him much better that he does. And it''s precisely due to that, that I''m not happy that he was chosen."

    A sigh of defeat and an wry expression appeared on his face. "At this point, I think Elias just doesn''t want to grow up. He just want to be a man-baby for the rest of his life, even after I repeatedly told him that I won''t always be at his side. He''s too dependent on me and he refuses to be a man and shoulder responsibilities."

    "Did you pampered him a lot when he was growing up?" Raven asked.

    "Oh, dear god no." Lorenzo profusely shook his head. "I would never do something like that. In fact, the only reason why he chose to cultivate is quite literally because I am pushing him to do so. I know that sound like I am dictating his life but what can I say, I don''t want to lose my brother. He''s the only family I have left. I don''t even care if he hated me, he doesn''t have to forgive me either, I just want him to live."

    "I respect that. A lot." Raven nodded and fully sympathized with Lorenzo. "Well, I''m not really in a position to say this since I left my twin sisters back at the lower nes, but did the idea of just...you know, letting him live as a mortal and silently watch over him, crossed your mind?"

    "It did. Many time actually." Lorenzo smiled wryly again, "I thought about erasing his memories and resetting his cultivation back to it''s lower degree, letting him live a peaceful and normal life while I stick around and just watch over him until he reaches the natural end of his lifespan."

    "But you see, the thought of watching him die before me really freaked me out. Heck, even just the thought of seeing him grow up to be an old man really scared me a lot...I don''t know maybe I''m just being selfish but if someone''s going to die, I want me to be the first one to go, I don''t think I''ll be able to handle it if I saw him die before me."

    "Yeah, that''s kind of selfish. Not going to lie." Ravenmented as he continued enjoying his meal. "But I can''t say I don''t get you because I truly do. I know the feeling. If there''s any redeeming factors about your current situation, it would be the fact that you''ve done everything in your power to protect him, although he might be terrified of you, Elias is not dumb and he knows that everything you''re doing is for his sake."

    "In this, you''ve handled this much better than I did." Ravenmented while feeling a little bit nostalgic.

    "But herees the problem though, he got chosen to inherit my ce." Lorenzo slumped at his seat once again. "The responsibilities that I''m handling, all will be passed down to him. That guy is nowhere near ready for this, frankly I don''t even know if he even wants this at all."

    "Well, he could''ve rejected it he truly wanted to. It''s not like the consequences of rejecting title is something you can''t handle. In the end though, he didn''t refuse it didn''t he? Or did you tell him not to refuse it?"

    "I made it specifically clear that if doesn''t want the title, he could refuse it and I''ll take care of him." Lorenzo said.

    "Well then there you have it." Raven shrugged. "That means Elias acted out of his own free will. He chose to ept it and follow your footsteps, if you will. He has some courage at least. Although his pranks aren''t as cute as he thinks."

    "I am very sorry about that." Lorenzo knocked his head on the table once more when he got reminded of that matter.

    "Ah, well. It''s fine, I''m no longer upset. But I do n and giving you a hand if that''s fine with you." Raven suggested.

    "Please do, as long as hees back alive and in one piece, even if he has to suffer, teach him a lesson. He badly needs it." Lorenzo nodded eagerly since it''s clear that he truly ran out of options already.

    "Alright then. I can do that." Raven patted his lips using the clean table cloth on hisp. He then stood up from his seat and said: "Tell me, how well does he know this sea?"

    Lorenzo was confused at first but he immediately understood what Raven was nning. His eyes gleamed as he replied:

    "He knows it very well, but it''s been a while since we did a knowledge check."

    "Ah, is that so? Well, I guess I might as well take care of that while I''m here."

    "His room is towards this way, Young Lord."

    "I appreciate it."

 Chapter 639 - Wild Fantasia

    ---

    "Elias, open your door."

    He was in the middle of calming his nervous heart when he suddenly heard the voice his big brother outside of his room. Elias shivered for a couple of seconds before he took a deep breath and braced himself.

    ''Today is the day I die...goodbye world. I has been fun.'' Elias inwardly thought in a semi-serious note to himself as he stood up, suppressed all of his ''flight'' tendencies to face what''s about toe.

    He went to the door, opened it and saw what he was expecting to see. His Big Brother standing behind a man with a stoic expression on his face.

    All rm bells rand inside Elias'' mind but he managed to prevent himself from copsing from fear. That being said though, he also don''t what to say. He froze up entirely, and he''s aware that he did. He knew that he should say something, greet the person in front of him and maybe invite them inside his room but for whatever reason, he couldn''t utter a word despite him wanting to.

    "You must be Elias Blueheart, I presume?" Raven asked formally as he saw Lorenzo''s little brother for the first time ever.

    "Y-y-yes..." Elias replied stuttering, causing Lorenzo to almost want to p his forehead due to embarrassment.

    "Nice to meet you, little troublemaker. I am Vendrick Valorheart, you can call me Raven." He held out his hand for a handshake and Elias, instead of epting the handshake, stared at it for a little too long, causing an awkward atmosphere to descend between them before getting a hold of himself and epting the handshake.

    The moment Elias grasped Raven''s hand, was the same time that he nearly fainted from shock.

    It was a simple handshake, on the surface, yes. But when Elias held Raven''s hand, he felt like he wasn''t holding a hand but a universe.

    An expansive, majestic, mysterious and endless profound universe. He felt lost at it, as if he was sinking in a bottomless sinkhole where he would never be able to extricate himself out of. Elias never experienced anything like it.

    Although he is what he is, Elias had met a lot of people before be it people that his Big Brother introduced to him or people he met on his own, his superiors/elders, his friends and his family, however none of them, made Elias felt this way.

    Elias felt exposed. As if all of his deepest and darkest secrets areid bare in front of Raven''s deep and unfathomable eyes. Even the thought of mustering up any courage to resist was pointless since he can''t even do that - well, no. It''s more like he''s not allowed to do that in front of Raven even if thetter hasn''t said anything like that.

    "Heh..." Raven let out an amused hum as he inspected Elias closely. However his voice manage to return Elias to the present.

    "A-ah oh!" Elias managed to extricate himself out of this very awkward situation. "I-I''m sorry about that...Y-Young Lord Raven. P-Please, doe in. You too Big Brother."

    Elias withdrew his hand and weed his visitors inside the room. The two of course weren''t so shy and just waltzed in his room. Elias would''ve preferred to not do this but he simply can''t cause...reasons.

    When they got inside, Raven swept his gaze across room and found some rather interesting things.

    Elias''s room was quite fancy, well nothing that Raven hasn''t seen before but it''s still impressive. There were crystals and gems everywhere. He has this chandelier that is made out of gem crystals that emits light illuminating the room. He has some unfinished sculptures on the corner of his room which is also made out of crystals.

    He hase gem figurines and vases which emits a calm and rxing vibe, but what really caused Raven to smile was the more questionable things inside this room.

    At his, what would Raven assume Elias'', desk there is this small item which was releasing some kind of fog every so often. He had seen this kind of things before and from he can remember itmon on noble households, they call it ''Fragrance Diffuser'' as it did exactly what the name implies.

    That cute and all but Raven wouldn''t really call the substance he can faintly smell in the air as ''fragrance''.

    "Wild Fantasia." Raven uttered softly, which was of course heard by the two. Lorenzo was confused but Elias was surprised.

    "A-ah! So Young Lord Raven knows that Fragrance Oil as well." He said as he approached his desk. "One of my friends gave it to me, it smells good and they said that the fragrance can cause rxation."

    "Oh? That''s what they told you? Interesting..." Raven made an amused face which gave Lorenzo a foreboding feeling and confused Elias. "I...didn''t know that it works that. At least what I remember...huh, maybe they do it different here."

    "W-what..."

    "You see...there is this species called ''Fantasia Beasts''. These species are...wild, to say so the least. They aren''t strong, in fact they''re weak as hell. However even so, whenever there are sightings of them, most of the knowledgeable people would always set out missions to eradicate them as soon as possible because they can be quite problematic real quick."

    "Now, although they are a pain in the ass, many people would risk their lives to y them. One in order to get rid of danger but more importantly, its to harvest body parts of them which sells at a high price on the ck market."

    "O-Okay but..."

    "The underground merchants would them create a substance called ''Wild Fantasia'' out of the parts they bought and would sell them at a rather high price. ording to the demographic, their regrs are nobles from all over the Divine Realm. Now ain''t that weird?" Raven chuckled as he walked towards Elias'' bed.

    "Well, ording to what I found out, the reason why ''Wild Fantasia'' is popr amongst nobles is because of it effects. Most of their regr said that having the ''Wild Fantasia'' oil, made not only them but also many of their friends feel like they''re freed from their inhibitions and experienced total bliss."

    Raven uttered thest few lines with a spice in his tone while also giving the two listeners a knowing look.

    "Wild Fantasia is best to be enjoyed with your friends." Raven emphasized, "The more the better. Do wanna know why, Dear Elias?"

    "W-why?" Elias gulped and Lorenzo who''s standing behind him, already didn''t like where this was going.

    "Because it deepens their bond." Raven crouched down and pulled a piece of cloth sticking out in between Elias'' bed frame and mattress.

    He held it up, showed it to Elias and Lorenzo.

    When Lorenzo saw the piece of fabric dangling on Raven''s fingers, he felt like his head was spinning. When Elias saw it, he felt his entire world crumbling as an expression of disbelief crept up to his face.

    The piece of fabric that Raven pulled out of his mattress was a stained female''s underwear.

    Raven''sst words echoed repeatedly on Elias'' head, making him realize a lot of things.

    All along, Raven had been hinting something at him but he''s just too stupid to follow. As it turns out, the Wild Fantasia, which Elias thought was a normal fragrance oil, was in fact a ''sexual stimnt'' which has a greater effect when it is smelled by more people.

    The Wild Fantasia is often used by Nobles during or after parties where they''ll have a mass orgy. Which Raven hinted at when he said that ''it deepens their bonds''.

    "I-I...I didn''t..."

    The panic on Elias'' face was visible and understandably so. He kept looking back and forth between Raven and Lorenzo. To Raven, he was trying to tell him that he''s innocent and he didn''t know. To his Big Brother, he wants to say the same but also ask for help, however he can see the sorrow on his Big Brother''s face and it just making him panic even more.

    "Rx, Elias." Raven''s voice sounded as if it was next to his ears. Elias stared at Raven and said: "Take a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. Calm yourself, you''re in no immediate danger and don''t misunderstand my words. I said all of that to educate you, not to embarrass you and purposefully cause trouble."

    Raven''s words were calm, unhurried and somehow hypnotic that Elias actually managed to calm down. He''s still a little bit overwhelmed but now, at least he can feel his brain working.

    "Judging from how much oil you have, it means that you just got this recently. Am I correct?" Raven asked, to which Elias nodded. "You can''t be med for now knowing, but I''ll tell you that you got taken advantage of since there''s proof."

    Raven emphasized but dropping the stained underwear on the floor.

    "The culprit will be found and punished heavily. As for you, get rid of that oil and all of the gems and crystals here. The oil I already exined it to you, these gems and crystals, they act as a monitoring device that people can use to watch your actions."

    Raven dropped yet another bomb thatpletely shocked the two.

    "Elias. Remember this. Everything that is happening to you, happens because you refuse to listen and refuse to grow up.. Learn from these mistakes and you''ll never be taken advantage off ever again."

 Chapter 640 - Knowledge Check

    ---

    The entire Antis in on a lockdown today.

    The atmosphere was weird. Everyone who''s stationed in there, be itmon folk, nobles, even the guards. All of them were unusually alert, if feels like they were sitting in pins and needles. This his because Lorenzo''s wrath was oozing in every corner of Antis. It was an unfiltered rage too so everyone felt it.

    The lord of Antis is mad.

    Lorenzo had been Poseidon for a long time already, and the moments where he''s absolutely livid could only be counted on one hand, however every time it happens, Antis will be at it''s most sensitive state. Any citizens who tried to do something funny will most likely be punished heavily ording to Sect Laws and Regtions. It happened before and it won''t be different this time.

    Most people knew why Lorenzo is mad even without him announcing it or telling them. After all it''s incredibly easy to anger him. Try doing something harmful to his little brother - Elias and he will be pissed beyond words. That''s all it really takes, and few times where this same event urred was because of the same reason.

    Just a few hours ago, some names were called in the pce. Some people saw those people entering but up until now, they still haven''te out yet so they could only imagine what happened to them. Frankly, some people don''t even wanna know. They were just d that it wasn''t them.

    Come noon, the situations still hasn''t improved but at least it was rtively quiet. People were minding their own business at thefort of their own home.

    Nobody was out instead of the guards who were tasked to be on patrol. Due to this, only the guards noticed that two people came out of the pce and were heading out of Antis.

    These two were none other than Raven and Elias.

    If one would''ve looked closely, they would see that Elias'' face was marred with regret and loss. It was safe to say that he still hasn''t moved-on from the sudden revtion yesterday. In fact, he hadn''t had a wink of sleep since then, he also lost his appetitepletely.

    At this point, Elias had no doubts that what Raven told him was indeed the truth. He was taken advantage off by the people he treated as ''friends''.

    That was a rather rude awakening for him. It was a tight p in face. He thought that these people genuinely cared about him just like his brother but in a way that is more appealing to him. He treated the like his own family, any request they asked, he tried his best to fulfil. He even defended them against his brother once yet all he received from them was this kind of treatment...

    Elias was heartbroken. He didn''t know what to say or what to even feel. Seeing them punished was even more enlightening to him since even as they were about to fall to the deepest pits of Tartarus, their gazes still held disdain when they look at him. How could he have been so blind?

    Now that is hase to this, Raven''s words and all of the advices that his Big Brother was constantly telling him were now echoing, in his mind.

    Raven invited him to go out of Antis for a while in order to take his mind out of it. Elias agreed without much of thought, not really thinking properly but he knows that doing something would be much better than sitting inside his room and marinating in these thoughts.

    As they reached the exit, it was only then Elias realized something...

    "U-um...Young Lord. Where''s our shuttle?" Elias asked, still wary about how to act around Raven.

    "A shuttle?" Raven raised a brow and looked at him, secondster his expression changed as he said: "Ah! That...we don''t really need that. We''ll just go on foot."

    "O-on...foot?" Elias asked, a little bit unsure especially after seeing where they are currently, which is at the sea bed.

    "Just follow me." Raven didn''t say much and approached the gates without exining any further. Elias swallowed some spit and just followed his orders.

    He was getting a little bit nervous but he can''t back down now. The stepped out of Antis and moved towards the edge of the bubble that''s protecting the whole ce.

    All of a sudden, a brush appeared on Raven''s hand and he waved it a couple of times. Small runes flew and attached themselves to Raven and Elias. After that, Raven moved and stepped out of the barrier.

    The barrier fluctuated just a little bit when he stepped outside. And to Elias'' amazement, he saw Raven walking on the seabed as if he''s walking onnd. Raven looked back at Elias and asked:

    "You''re noting?"

    "A-ah! S-sorry..."

    Elias was a little embarrassed, that being said he''s also not that dumb. Seeing that Raven applied the same runes to him, he already knew that he would be able to do the same thing as what Raven''s doing.

    He stepped out of the barrier and it simrly fluctuated like before. Once he got out, Elias was overwhelmed by several sensations.

    First and foremost, he could breathe just fine however he still gasped as soon as he stepped out. It was his body''s automatic response to whatever he was doing. Once he adjusted to this sensation, another one overwhelmed him. It was the surreal sensation of looking around as if he was walking inside a massive aquarium.

    This wasn''t the first time Elias had taken a step out of Antis but it has always been with a shuttle. Even though he was surrounded by a massive body of water, he still felt like a stranger invading a new territory since he''s inside a shuttle. Going out without a shuttle though, was something new and something that he never thought he would o in his life.

    Elias felt much closer to the environment. He got this feeling of reception from the sea which feels weird. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He could feel many sensations as he just stood there rooted in ce.

    Raven also notices this but he didn''t disturb Elias. He allowed him to adjust on his own and discover many things about himself that he never knew before.

    Unbeknownst to Elias, Raven could see the mark of Poseidon - which is located at Elias'' forehead and in the shape of dark trident head, glowing with an aqua-marine brilliance. At this point, Elias is currently reaffirming his position as the next Poseidon throughmuning with the sea.

    At some point in time, Elias woke up from his stupor and felt overwhelmed byfort. He never felt so free andfortable before. It was mystical really. It was as if the sea was an extension of his body. He felt a feeling of omnipotence which scares him a lot.

    But the one feeling that stands out the most is the feeling of confidence. Being at the in this state, filled Elias with overflowing confidence. He felt like he could anything in here.

    Elias opened his eyes and saw Raven patiently standing in front of him with his back turned against him. He then realized that Raven must''ve been waiting for so long so he hurriedly said:

    "I''m very sorry about that Young Lord Raven. I just got lost to the sudden feeling I had when I stepped out like this." Elias excused himself.

    "No worries, you didn''t make me wait long." Raven waved a hand to him and he began walking forward.

    There was a brief silence before Elias head Raven asking him: "Do you know why I took you out here?"

    Elias was confused so he replied: "To be honest, Young Lord. No, I don''t."

    "It''s quite simple really." Raven said as he continued moving forward. "Have a look around you."

    Elias was still confused but the moment he did what Raven asked him to do, he was shocked.

    He didn''t need to look far. Just by tilting his head a little up, he could see a swarm of Sea Devils eyeing them with their crimson colored eyes. Elias couldn''t even count how many there was due to him being so shocked about it. He had never seen this many Sea Devils before, and if he''s being real honest here, this is scaring him.

    He looked back at Raven and to his shock yet again, he saw the guy sitting on a chair in front of a small table while enjoying his tea. Raven wore this smile on his face which gave Elias the creeps.

    "As the next Poseidon, it is you duty to watch over Antis and it''s citizens. Knowing all types of Sea Devils are also included in that job description."

    "I asked your brother yesterday if you can still remember your lessons about Sea Devils. He said that you should be quite knowledgeable about them but it''s been a while since he tested you so I thought, it would a good idea to confirm it right now so I took you out with me."

    Elias paled but Raven''s next words was real cherry on the top.

    "Isn''t this nice? You get to study them up close and personal..."

    ''Shit! This guy wants me dead....''

 Chapter 641 - Split The Seas

    ---

    Deep in the seabed, a man with a short and spiky blue hair wearing a crimson uniform and holding a pitch ck and bloodied trident, was currently amidst an intense battle.

    On the other hand, hispanion was a sitting still on a chair in front of a table while drinking tea. Making a cut contrast between their situations.

    These people were of course none other than Raven and Elias. Raven being the one who''s drinking his tea while Elias was suffers...

    "Careful there, if you don''t pay attention closely, you''ll be in for a world of hurt. Those things wouldn''t hesitate to take a piece of your flesh off." Raven''s soft warning echoed on Elias'' ears, causing his lips to twitch in annoyance.

    ''This guy is messing with me.'' Elias gritted his teeth as he struck with his pitch ck trident once more and a hit the weak point of another Sea Devil while also evading in order to not have a missing piece of a flesh from his body.

    Raven had taken out Elias on a walk outside of Antis, they didn''t use a shuttle since with Raven''s methods, they would be able to walk on the seabed just fine. Elias initially thought that Raven invited him out to distract him from what happened earlier but he was too optimistic. He didn''t expect Raven to be this petty and punish him like this.

    Elias had been fighting non-stop ever since he woke up from his strange state earlier. The water around his turned pitch ck due to the blood from the Sea Devils but they didn''t let up, they continued to attack him in waves, pushing Elias to the brink of insanity.

    What''s even more infuriating is that, Raven was taking this way too easy. Elias didn''t how but for some reason, no sea devils were attacking Raven, they were all hell-bent of taking him down instead of the other guy as if they couldn''t see him.

    Elias probably doesn''t have any idea how right he is in thinking of it this way. The sea devil indeed couldn''t see Raven at all. He''spletely invisible to all of their senses, which makes sense as to why they''re only attacking him. Which is strange on its own since Elias could see Raven perfectly fine.

    "Remember the purpose of this trip Elias. That''d help." Raven hinted at him once again as he took another sip of his tea.

    Elias who had just managed to avoid yet another attempt of the sea devils biting him, scowled ever so slightly when he heard this. Well, at first he had no idea as to what the purpose of this trip was but he recalled what Raven told him before and how they got to here.

    He said that he asked Lorenzo about Elias'' knowledge about the Sea Devils and his brother replied that he has good idea of what sea devils are but it''s been a while since Lorenzo tested his knowledge so Raven decided to do just that.

    Thinking about thus way, Elias managed o get the clue. What Raven wanted to see is how he''s going to deal with the Sea Devils with his knowledge, so this got him thinking:

    ''He wants to see me killing sea devils in a textbook manner.'' Elias concluded. Which is not so bad since he is partially correct.

    Raven indeed wanted to see him following what''s written on the books he had read before about sea devils. That book contained not only the names but also the weakness of each Sea Devils that is present in here. Raven wanted him to remember what he read and actually apply it into a real life scenario in order to increase his rate of survival.

    However, Raven of course had a more important aim aside from that. He wanted to temper Elias, he wanted him to gain experience in battle and if possible, do another research about the Sea Devils own his own since no matter how small the variations Elias would realize, might prove incredibly useful for not only him but also for their entirety of the sect in general.

    After Elias realized what Raven wanted from him, he adjusted his techniques and aimed to attack the horde of sea devils harassing him.

    Elias managed to follow Raven''s rules but if he was being honest, with how many sea devils are here he''s not really sure if this is the correct move. In fact it''s not even doing anything for him, the rate at which he was being harassed by sea devils remained constant despite him dealing with them with ease.

    "You''re wasting your gifts, Elias." Raven''s voice echoed on his ears again. "You are Lorenzo''s little brother, yes. But more importantly, you are Poseidon''s next heir. You are at thefort of your own home and you''re still being suppressed when there''s absolutely no reason to."?

    Elias'' eyes widened like saucers when Raven reminded him of this. Indeed, he''s wasting not only both of their time but also his precious gifts. He''s at the sea, as the Heir to Poseidon, he''s basically at home so why is he being harassed by the intruders? Shouldn''t it be the other way around?

    With that, Elias'' felt as if he was transforming. For the first time since being an Heir he activelymuned with the sea, asking for it''s assistance.

    The sea answered him kind. With a wave of his trident, the turbulence switched and worked with him. The charging sea devils lost control of their movements. They were swept away by the turbulence, crashing onto each other in the process.

    Elias'' felt giddy upon seeing that. Although what he did barely did a number on the horde, it still made him incredibly excited. The water answered him. It assisted him even with the shallowest connection he has with it. This was a bizarre feeling for Elias, he never thought that something like this was possible.

    Focusing on his intent, a curtain of azure light enveloped Elias. He waved his trident once more and numerous water sprouts appeared around him right away. The water sprouts spun at different ways, creating arge disturbance and greatly hindering the sea devils'' movements.

    Elias suddenly remembered the times when he was receiving training from his big brother. He remembered Lorenzo teaching him stances that he didn''t know what for before. Now however, all of those stances were making sense to him.

    He assumed a stance and lifted his trident. He then began thrusting it at a stead pace. At first it was slow but as time passed by and Elias'' concentration peak, his attacks went faster until it created some sort of a mirage that his trident multiplied by hundreds.

    At some point in time, the tridents also began projecting. Whenever he thrust his trident forward, a pointed projectile will shoot out from the forked tip of his trident, shooting towards the sea devils and prating them where it hurts the most.

    Raven nodded his head softly as he witnessed Elias'' work. The horde of seal devils thinned out as time went on. The water around Elias turned pitch ck but he didn''t seem to notice any of this.

    All of sudden, Elias'' momentum suddenly peak. With a loud grunt, he took a solid step forward and brought the trident down. Raven whistled faintly as he saw how the sea got split in half as he did so. Time seemingly stopped, every sea devil stopped resisting, they were alive but they can''t move.

    When Elias'' body shook, time resumed. All of a sudden, the sea became chaotically turbulent. The sea devils were swept by the turbulence, it was so strong that the pressure crushed their bodies in to pieces.

    Inside the pce of Antis where Lorenzo was currently cleaning up some mess. Lorenzo perked up and looked outside of the window. He sent out his perception with the sea and when he received the feedback, his eyes dted.

    Lorenzo froze on spot as tears pooled from the corners of his eyes. His hands shook as he whispered: "A Strike to Split the Seas. Little Brother, you...you did it! You''ve got the sea to ept you!"

    Meanwhile, Elias was having the moment of his life as he saw how the sea raged.

    He could feel the strong and extremely chaotic turbulence of the sea however it did nothing to harm him at all. The sea was unleashing it''s righteous fury against the sea devils, crushing them and tearing them up to pieces.

    What he found unbelievable was that, he was the one who caused all of this. Elias never thought that something like this was possible, not until now. What''s even more unbelievable to him is that he was the one who did this, not his big brother, him.

    He looked at his hands and his trident with disbelieving eyes. He couldn''t help but feel exhrated but it didn''tst long since exhaustion caught up to him. As the sensation of weakness filled his body, he saw Raven stepping in front of him, waving his brush once.

    All Elias saw was a sea of white mes. He heard Raven''s faint voice just before he lost consciousness:

    "You did well...."

 Chapter 642 - Traumatic Past

    ---

    "...he''s not really that hard to handle. I think you should''ve brought him to the sea as soon as possible."

    "What do you mean Young Lord?"

    "What I''m trying to say is that, Elias has some kind of a split personality syndrome. Most like a side-effect of you n''s Bloodline conflicting within him." Raven exined as he took a sip of his tea.

    "You see, Elias holds an immense potential. One that is actually higher than yours, including at least 90% of the people here in the sect. While he was fighting I scanned his body and noticed that he is born with a special physique that your n ancestors probably awakened back then."

    "And this special physique is?"

    "The ''Vast Sea Heart''." Raven revealed, causing Lorenzo to gasp from his seat.

    Raven and Elias just returned to Antis and thetter was currently resting at his room while Raven discussed some important matters with Lorenzo. The current Poseidon was mostly interested on hoe their trip went and Raven didn''t conceal anything from him.

    Hearing how Elias did, made Lorenzo thought if Raven was talking about the same person. Yes, even though Lorenzo felt how Elias used one of the techniques he taught to him all the way here, he was shocked to hear that Elias didn''tin nor folded from the challenge, which waspletely out of Lorenzo''s expectations.

    Hearing from Raven''s lips that Elias have the ''Vast Sea Heart'' physique was what truly shocked him the most. Lorenzo have heard about this term before. Their parents used to tell him stories about their extremely powerful ancestor who enabled their entire n to make a name for themselves.

    Simply put, the ''Vast Sea Heart'' physique allows someone to possess the absolute highest affinity towards Water Laws. Anything that has something to do with Water, the possessor of this physique, will instantly learn about it. In fact, Water Lawses as natural as breathing for them. They only needed to lift a finger and they''ll master thew and it''s branches in practically no time.

    In addition to this, the physique grants someone a second chance. Should someone with this physique dies early, if their corpse was taken to the a vast body of water, there will be a chance for them to be revived. The physique adjusts its next state depending on what kind of water was used to revive them so the higher the quality is, the better their resurrection will be.

    "Are you certain that my Little Brother has the ''Vast Sea Heart'' physique?" Lorenzo asked, just to be sure.

    "Actually no, not really." Raven replied honestly. "And the only reason why I say so is because like I said, his body is in constant conflict. I am certain that he is born with a unique physique but due to some reasons, his talents are being suppressed."

    "Do you know what''s causing this conflict?" Lorenzo asked.

    Of course he''s going to ask, he''s even hoping that Raven could help since if Elias can awaken to his true potential, then it would be immensely beneficial to not only Elias himself but for the Sect in general as well.

    "Fear." Raven stated. "Fear that''s either induced by Trauma of the past or something that he was born with. Well, I leaning towards the former since when he stepped out to the sea, he''s like a changed man."

    "You see, Fear can be a strong motivator. I for one is afraid of losing the ones I love, which is why I am doing my best to carve a safe space for them and be strong so that I can protect them." Raven paused for a bit then said: "However at the same time, Fear can also be suppressive. It can paralyze and cripple someone from doing what they want to do. Prevent them from being confident and taking risk which will allow them to grow as a human being."

    Raven ended his exnation when he saw Lorenzo''s face. Even without explicitly telling him, Lorenzo''s expression already gave away the answer. A sad smile crept up to Lorenzo''s face as he got up and looked at the window to gaze at the endless blue sea.

    "The past must''ve really weighed down on him. I guess, I really can''t expect him to move-on that easily. Although he''s past 300 years of age, he''s still considered rtively young."

    "..." Raven didn''t say anything. He didn''t want to since he doesn''t want to look like he wants to pry. It was none of his business to begin with but at the same time, he can keep secrets and can offer help if they truly needed it.

    "Elias saw personally how our family was tortured and eventually killed. Well, those sick fuckers ''made'' him watch. They forced him to watch as they mercilessly yed our parents piece by piece. They even forced him to eat their flesh..."

    "...there goes my appetite I guess." Raven rolled his eyes when he heard that. He really didn''t need to hear but toote now, really. He already heard it and he already imagine it unconsciously. He really wanted to smack Lorenzo''s face for not giving him any subtle warnings about that but he can''t me the guy.

    Well, now that he heard about it, he could at least more or less understand as to Elias is a bit unstable. It''s not like he''s at fault for that, maybe this is his automatic defense mechanism.

    ''That''s pretty fucked up, not going to lie.'' Raven thought to himself.

    "He''s a child when this happened. About 17 or 18 give or take, and it haunted him ever since then." Lorenzo continued, "I didn''t want to bring up the past to him but I have no way of understanding what he truly feels if I don''t ask him anything."

    "Whenever I tried asking him if he''s okay, he''ll say yes. I get this impression that he should be able to understand what I''m trying to tell him whenever I asked him this question and that I don''t want him to re-live that awful scenario. But I also think that just by asking him this would remind him of everything, whichpletely defeats the purpose."

    "In the end, I get so confused and clueless as to what to do. That''s why I''ll just try a different approach. I''ll try pampering him, he''ll get a little too trigger happy. I''ll try being hard on him, he gives-up. I tried ignoring him but that too felt bad since I''m the only one he has left. It feels like I am in the constant state of not knowing what to do and just like that, years passed."

    "It feels like I''m doing something but it also feels like I''m not doing nearly enough." Lorenzo''s pain, regret and uncertainty was obvious on his tone.

    Raven could tell that Lorenzo has been bottling up this up for a very long time as well. He could tell that Lorenzo loves his little brother to pieces but he just have no clue on how to express that message properly.

    "Elder Lorenzo...maybe you''re taking a look at this in apletely different angle which causes you topletely miss the obvious answer." Raven said after a period of silence.

    Lorenzo froze, he mechanically looked back at Raven and asked: "What do you mean?"

    "Well, I''d preface that I am in no position to reallyment on this since I, myself, did not do anything for my siblings at all. My opinions are based on what I, think is the problem here. So take it with a grain of salt."

    Raven ced down his tea cup and said: "You see. I believe that whenever you try to ask Elias about what he feels in your own unique way, Elias can understand what you''re trying to tell him."

    "I''ll make my point clear. Whenever you ask him if he''s okay, you''re asking if he''s still having nightmares about his traumatic past - which, as you said,pletely defeats the purpose of your actual intentions. You''re trying to avoid making him remember about the trauma by asking about it in a roundabout way...I''m sorry but that sounds retarded. If you don''t want him to remember his traumatic past, then don''t ask him about it, period."

    "You see, frequently asking him if he''s ''okay'', not only reminds him of that but also gives him another message saying that: ''My little brother is so delicate and weak that I have to constantly be there for him in case he got scared.'' How can Elias move on from his if you are constantly reminding him? How is he supposed to be strong if you kept telling him that he''s fragile? How can he muster up confidence if you, his Big Brother and the only family he has left, doesn''t even think for a second that he''d be able to do it?"

    "Elder Lorenzo. Elias has his own issues, yes. But maybe it is your ''fear'' that keeps on holding him back from being freed from it."

    "Give it some thought, yeah? Maybe once you do, you''ll finally take the first step towards recovery.." Raven said as he gave Lorenzo some space to think by stepping out of the room.

 Chapter 643 - Another Problem

    ---

    "Okay...I''m back here."

    Raven murmured as he stepped inside his pocket dimension. Seeing as he''s now no longer surrounded by water caused him to fell a little bit ted.

    Antis was a cool and unique ce but being constantly underwater doesn''t really make Ravenfortable. He left after his talk with Lorenzo, he trusted that their conversation brought some light to his situation and that his rtionship with his little brother will improve and that Elias would eventually be able to awaken to his true potential since it would be such a waste for him not too.

    When he returned, Raven went to his room toy down on his bed. He isn''t really tired but being on his own bed is certainly more rxing. Raven also has no ns on going to the private chambers since he didn''t need to do so. If something requires his immediate attention, his Avatars can give him a notice.

    He also didn''t need to watch over the documents since he also had Avatars taking care if those as well as Kyrie and his loyal men.

    In short, Raven has some rare free time on his hands, and since he became busybody recently, he somewhat forgot what it feels like to have one.

    ''The sect is going on a right direction. The disciples are mastering the necessary skills in order to bridge the gap between us and the enemy forces while also taking advantage of this time to increase their personal strength.''

    ''The enemies hasn''t caught on yet thanks to my preventive measures. Basically, I could more or less take the next few days off in order to rx. For some reason though, having nothing to do puts me at a loss.'' Raven sighed in defeat.

    ''...should I go bother the War Gods?'' Raven thought for a second. He allowed this thought to marinate on his mind before he eventually shook his head and thought: ''Yeah, no. I can''t do that. They''re busy and would certainly wouldn''t want someone to bother them. I bet that they''d get annoyed at the fact that I get some day off while they''re hard at work, I''d annoy them even more if used my day off to bother them instead of resting.''

    Raven stared at the ceiling while lost as his thoughts, he thought about things he could do right now but none of them felt right, therefore he could only sigh and say...

    "Well, I guess it''s an idle day for me."

    Raven waved a hand and closed the door. He then stood up from the bed, took of his uniform and wore in white silk robes. He then went back to bed and tucked himself in between the sheets while thinking...

    "Well, I''m not really hungry nor do I need to do something. Since it''s like that, then I might as well get some real rest since who knows when I''ll be able to have day-offs again?"

    Raven adjusted his position to a morefortable one. He then closed his eyes and not long after, a light snoring sound could be heard from him.

    As it turns out, this was the correct choice since things were about get really hectic once more.

    ---

    "Young Lord, urgent report."

    Raven looked back at Kyrie as he was personally dealing with some documents. He saw the worried look on her face and that rmed him ever so slightly. Raven passed the documents back to his Avatar and faced her, he then asked:

    "What''s the problem?"

    "It''s the moles, Young Lord. They received some orders from their superiors." Kyrie reported, causing Raven to frown.

    Raven didn''t say anything, he just gestured Kyrie to follow him and they walked towards the private chambers. With a wave of Raven''s hand, the seals on the private chambers were lifted and they went in. Raven sealed the chamber and walked towards the Avatars who''s monitoring the situation there.

    He took his seat and asked Kyrie to do the same. He then sped his palms together as he asked her: "What did you receive?"

    "They received a coded order. We tranted it and it said: ''Thin out the herd''. It was direct simple and the connections was terminated right away." She replied.

    Hearing her words, Raven wore a stern expression. He didn''t expect this move from them.

    Raven had tasked his people to monitor the moles and report to him any kind of contact between them and their superiors. At first he didn''t have many hopes of this since the connection was mostly one-sided. It only works when the moles are sending them intel, not the other way around.

    However, it was clear that Raven underestimated their ways. He didn''t know how but their superiors managed to give all the moles orders but they managed to do it. And their task is going to be a pain in the ass to deal with.

    Things got riskier this time around. Raven even had this impression that the other party managed to catch-on that the sect already knew about the moles and had this order to test the waters.

    ''Thin out to horde'', this order means that they want the moles to assassinate some potential cannon fodders or some important personnel of the sect in order to ensue chaos amongst their ranks and to bring drag them down even lower.

    "This isn''t good." Raven murmured, "These moles will definitely go in for the kill but in secret. After all, they don''t even have free will, they''re just mere puppets using humans skill to blend in."

    "Their superiors also didn''t give them any concrete amount either, nor did they tell them how long they have to do this, this means that this will go of for the next 50 years. Great, another headache from these people."

    Raven bit his nails as he tried to think of ways to remedy this. He had to do something in order to minimize the casualties. 50 years might be short to some people but the amount of opportunities they could get to assassinate people under our noses will be plenty. The casualties will pile up and by the time that the 50 years are up, the sect will be missing a lot of it''s human resources..

    This is undoubtedly a sinister move, but at the same time if he was in their shoes, Raven would''ve done the same. Not only could they confirm whether the sect knows about the moles or not. They could also weaken their forces at the same time,

    Raven initially thought that this 50 years will be pretty straight-forward but with this, it would a miracle if he won''t have aneurysm by the day of the war since this wouldn''t be thest time that they will give out orders to their minions.

    ''It''s going to be tough but, I think we have to tolerate some losses here. I personally didn''t want to resort to this but at this point, I have to.''

    ''Still, I''d talk to Senior Brother about this, but knowing him, he''d probably agree with the counter-measure I have. It won''t make everyone happy but it needs to be done.''

    ''Ugh, I don''t like this at all but...'' Raven scratched his head before cing a determined expression. ''We might have to sacrifice some lives for the greater good.''

    The biggest problem with this is that, no matter what the order was, the sect can''t just magically respond and enforce safety pre-cautions after knowing about it since that''s practically the same as admitting that yes, the sect knows about the moles, and that would ruin most of the ns they have in mind.

    The best oue of course is for them to remain oblivious about it, but if they can''t do that, then they''d have to at least keep them guessing. That''s the only way for them to postpone the war until they''re ready.

    The same applies now. Even though Raven truly wouldn''t like to sacrifice the lives of the disciples if possible, the enemies are too cunning and decisive. They''re pushing him to a corner and Raven didn''t like that even one bit.

    ''We can''t let them confirm the fact that we''re aware who the moles were. For that, they need to see some sess on their mission and which they could report back positively, which also means that they need to kill someone. The more the merrier.''

    ''If I follow this n, then we would lose a few lives at first. But once they reported back seeing how things are going, they could wait for some time before reacting and the enemy camp will think that we would me the devils for it.''

    ''We can give our orders to not let them go out while we investigate. That way, the suspicions will ease up. And we can maybe neutralize this.''

    ''That being said, these people will most likely made their move once they''re out on the battlefield. They should know that I''ve modified the seals and lowered the risks of getting killed in action. There might be casualties but it shouldn''t go beyond the absurd levels of loss. Thankfully, I was prepared.''

    "Continue monitoring for now Kyrie. If there''s an emergency, tell me right away.. I''ll go talk to the sect master."

 Chapter 644 - A Risky Plan

    ---

    "I agree, that is certainly concerning..." The Sect Master said as he ced on a sullen expression.

    Raven just reported the recent news he received from Kyrie and told the Sect Master about it. He also discussed the implications of this on their ns, he also told him the idea he had in kind with a heavy heart.

    "Although it would be preferable to not lose any disciples at all, our enemies are driving us to a corner. We can''t coil under this pressure, if we give up then more lives are going to be lost. We will endure this and we will follow your idea."

    "Sacrificing the lives of some disciples certainly doesn''t feel right, but in this case it had to be done. We can''t let them know that we are aware of their ns. It is crucial that we closed the gap within this remaining time-frame so I''m thinking of making some revision to your n. We can discuss it even further, however I do think that we have to at least do something to get back at them."

    "At this point, that''s the only way the sacrificial pawns would be able to rest in peace so I think so as well." Raven nodded his head. "I won''t feelfortable knowing that they''ll being out of this unscathed. We have to at least make them feel the sting. But we also have to be careful since they could easily trace our movements."

    "That true as well. Don''t worry, leave this to me. I think I have a good n for this." The Sect Master said.

    "Alright. Anyway, this is all that I came here for. I''ll be excusing myself then." Raven stood up and bowed to the Sect Master before leaving the Storm Dweller''s Peak.

    When Raven returned to his ce, he plopped onto the bed and was lost in his own thoughts.

    "If this can happen right now, it''s possible that it will happen again in the future. We need to be more prepared and careful. The enemies are sinister and knows many things about us. We only recently got some solid intel against them, our foundations aren''t solid enough yet."

    "What should I do?" Raven murmured to himself.

    Currently, he''s still somewhat shocked from the sudden movement of the enemy. He was caught off-guard and wasn''t expecting this kind of move from them. It wasn''t like he got socent but it was his fault that he believed his enemies won''t try something funny.

    It is certainly regrettable that they have to sacrifice some lives in order to make sure that their n wouldn''t bepromised. However, it is also necessary for them to do something in order to appease the souls of those who will be sacrificed.

    They need to at least kill someone of their members, it''d be much better if they could use the same tactic like them. Raven thought for a bit but he didn''t press on any further and left it for the Sect Master to handle. Right now, he had other things to do and pay attention to.

    They have to make sure that the motivation of the disciples are at an all time high. They need them to put more efforts in cultivation now more than ever.

    As Raven followed his thoughts whileying down on his bed, his thoughts went into a tangent. He had this sudden idea which doesn''t sound bad but is definitely risky since if it doesn''t work the way Raven''s expecting it to be, then the war will actually ur sooner rather thanter.

    ''...if I follow this idea, then it would need a ridiculous amount of resources. Ridiculous even for a whole sect''s standards. That being said, if it works, then forget about 50 years, we''ll only need a decade to close the gap between the forces. But again, that''s if the n works ordingly to how I imagined it to be, any unexpected developments might be detrimental to everyone.''

    Raven marinated on his own thoughts for a while. He pursed his lips since the more he thought about it, the more that this n sounds feasible.

    ''...it''s very risky but if it works, then it will give us a tremendous advantage. Dealing with whateveres afterwards will be easierpared to us constantly teetering at the edge of failure.''

    Raven got up from his bed, sat on his bed side table and began writing some blueprints.

    He drew the schematic of the entire sect andbeled some of it''s parts. Everything was done in a very detailed and organized manner which represents Raven''s knowledge about the sect. Even the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda is drawn in a detailed manner as well.

    Next, Raven drew another blueprint, this time it was a blueprint of a rune which included many functions. This rune will definitely be on a much bigger scale, bigger even with the runes that Raven disyed before. This project was big and Raven was doing his best in order to solidify the n even further.

    Without him knowing, hours passed and he felt a tap on his shoulder. Raven looked back and saw Kyrie standing next to him while also handing him a cup of refreshing tea. A smile formed on Raven''s lips as he said:

    "Thanks."

    "You''re always wee, Young Lord. And please do eat your dinner." Kyrie reminded him.

    Raven looked at the time and was momentarily surprised that it was alreadyte. That''s the time when his body suddenly growled, asking for food. Raven sighed and looked at Kyrie who simply nodded...

    "I shall prepare some food for you Young Lord." Kyrie respectfully stepped back and went towards the kitchen.

    Raven sighed and paused his work. He truly didn''t expect to be that distracted. He checked with his Avatars and they all replied to him that nothing major urred which greatly relieved him. After a few minutes, Kyrie came back with a push cart.

    She served him food which Raven ate slowly. All of a sudden, an idea came to Raven so he picked up the blueprints and passed it to Kyrie who received them with a confused look on her face.

    "Inspect them and tell me what you think." Raven said as he returned to his consumption of food.

    Kyrie was still confused but she still ended up following his orders. Reading the blueprints that Raven made wasn''t really that hard since everything was organized and detailed.

    The more Kyrie read, the more absorbed she got. Initially she was skeptical but as time passed, her expression showed interest, understanding and faint agreement. Then she read thest page of the blueprint which left her stunned for a good moment.

    At the same time that Raven finished eating, Kyrie also regained herposure. Her face showed a conflicted expression but she understood what Raven was trying to do.

    "This is...really risky Young Lord." Kyrie said.

    "Oh trust me, I know." Raven chuckled.

    "...but if we can pull this off, then we might as well be proimed as the winners of this war. I apologize Young Lord but something like this is too important for me to express my opinions."

    "Rx, I just want to know what you truly think. More precisely, I want to know whether you support the idea or not." Raven replied.

    "Whatever you decided upon Young Lord, I will remain on your side." Kyrie said without an ounce of a doubt.

    "...had a feeling that you''ll say something like that." Raven ced a nd expression and sighed. "What I want is your honest opinion though. Not as my subordinate or someone of this sect but your opinion as a person. If you were to be asked whether you agree to such arrangements, what would be your answer?"

    Kyrie was silent for a bit, she contemted long and hard about his question and said: "I''d be fine with it Young Lord."

    "Why?"

    "Let''s just say that I don''t know who made this blueprints and it was shown to me, a regr citizen. I would most likely agree since I can tell easily tell that the person who did this was thinking about not only mine, but everyone''s well being. I can''t me someone for doing something to protect us citizens and it''s not like we''ll be enved or be forced to manualbor. This n is to protect us and by us some time."

    "So, knowing all of that, I''d agree to it." Kyrie said while looking at Raven.

    "...is that so?" Raven pondered for a while before releasing a sigh. "Well, that''s good to hear. Not everyone will think of it that way but like you said, the intentions are good so it shouldn''t be much of a problem."

    "Does the Young n on pushing this agenda? Is there anyway for us to help?" Kyrie asked and offered. However, Raven simply waved his hand and said...

    "Not for now at least. The blueprint still has some major ws that I need to fix. I''ll decide depending on the final product." Raven received the blueprints back.

    Unbeknownst to him, the finalized version of these blueprints will cause a huge storm to rise up not only in the sect, but in all Divine Realm.

 Chapter 645 - Shocking Announcement

    ---

    Roughly three months passed and one morning, a news was released that shocked the entirety of the Divine Realm...

    "Hey, have you heard the news?"

    "What news - Ah! You mean that! Yeah, I''ve heard. Crazy isn''t it?"

    "Yeah, I agree. What are they thinking?"

    "Why would they make such a decision?"

    "Uh...I''m confused. What''s this news that you guys are talking about?"

    "Oh, so you''re no aware of it. Well, it''s kind of shocking so, hold onto you pants alright?"

    "Mn! I''m ready, bring it."

    "Have you heard about the Ancient Elysium Sect?"

    "Am I living under a rock? Of course I know! Heck, I even participated in their recruitment, sadly I fell a little too short. Why? Is this news rted to them?"

    "Yes. Apparently, it was confirmed that starting today until an indefinite period of time. The Ancient Elysium Sect would cease all contact from the outside."

    "...what?"

    "I know." The man nodded,pletely sympathizing with the guy''s dumbfounded expression. "It shocked us too but it was confirmed. The current Sect Master made a public appearance and made the announcement himself."

    That''s right. This is the news that had shocked the entirety of the Divine Realm. The Ancient Elysium Sect - one of the most reputable sects there is in this realm, just announced it''s indefinite seclusion. The sect will cease all disciple recruitment activities. Gaining audience would be more difficult or even close to impossible and getting news about what''s happening within the sect would be just as difficult.

    The Divine Realm was caught off-guard by this sudden decision. In fact even the Dawn Council - the real rulers of the Divine Realm, were simrly shocked by this news. They tried to ask what''s the reason for all of this but the Sect Master kept his lips tight. Not a single word was said to them and nobody could change his mind.

    Not even people from the Dawn Council could stop his decision. In fact, it''s not like the Sect Master was asking for their permission anyways, he just came out to make the announcement and that''s it.

    "But that doesn''t make sense though."

    "Yep, I agree. It''s no secret that the people of that sect are righteous. I mean, they wage an unending war against devils who threatened to swallow our home and we never heard themin even once. That being said, the mortality rate is high so they could only hope to replenish their man power through recruiting disciples. However, they announced that they''re not epting any disciples anymore. It''s truly strange."

    "Exactly. I wonder what happened?"

    "We''re wondering about that too. Unfortunately, the big boss of the sect doesn''t seem to be interested on telling the reason behind it. Heck, not even the Dawn Council could make him talk at all."

    "Woah, that is badass and rude at the same time."

    "Nope, just badass. Period. You see, the Ancient Elysium Sect is one of the oldest sect in the Divine Realm. Simply put, it has been there even before the establishment of the Dawn Council. The Dawn Council seeks to retain bnce for the sake of Divine Realm''s peace. The Ancient Elysium Sect was specifically established to protect the Divine Realm itself."

    "Considering this, the Ancient Elysium Sect stands at the same level, if not higher than the Dawn Council itself. Therefore, the sect doesn''t have an obligation to be candid with the Dawn Council because what the Ancient Elysium Sect does, will always right. There''s just no questioning that. So it''s in badass."

    "You''re right. But I''m still curious though. I wonder what happened?"

    "Well, we can only wait for further news I guess..."

    ---

    The decision to cut-off connections from the outside world wasn''t an easy one.

    Raven who proposed this idea, had to revise the n multiple times since it was way too risky and dangerous. In fact, even after finishing the revisions and everything, he''s still skeptical about whether he should bring this up or not.

    This was a bold move. Had this been any other time, Raven wouldn''t have had any qualms about bringing the idea up. However they are at the cusp of war and in a very precarious situation.

    Simply put, just by making the announcement itself, they are already provoking The Exiles. This is no different from announcing that the sect knew about the Exiles ns and this move was made to simultaneously provoke them and protect themselves since shortly after the announcement was made, the moles nted by The Exiles were all executed, thereby cutting off any means of information gathering for the Exiles.

    Why enter seclusion? Well, Raven''s reasoning behind this is quite simple really. He just felt extremely ufortable that The Exiles are effectively restraining their movements.

    Just through the existence of the moles, Raven had given himself immense headache and exhausted himself to the brink of passing out randomly because every n he needed to make, has to be carried with utmost secrecy. Each time they make active ns of bolstering their offense and defense, they have to hide this fact away from the prying eyes of the moles or else they''d report it to their superiors and the war wille sooner than they''re expecting.

    Not to mention, The Exiles are the only one''s profiting in this exchange. While Sect stresses out to raise it''s strength, all the enemy has to do is watch and react ordingly. Heck they could even kick back and rx while still making sure that they will remain on top. Raven didn''t like that situation even one bit.

    Raven has no problems supplying the sect with methods to strengthen itself. He has gotten to the point where his mere existence can chance the flow of the war itself. However, his help will always be limited if they have to constantly be wary of the spies and the prospect of initiating the war.

    With the ns they''ve made so far, the sect will only barely be able to stand-up against thebined assault of the Devils and The Exiles. Even if they win, the sect doesn''t have the confidence that they''ll be able to take down the Devil Emperor itself and that Allfather. The casualties will be too severe and the sect can''t afford than to happen.

    Even if, say the sect managed to still win after all of this, it would be by the skin of their teeth. What happens after that? Well, nothing. There''s no telling that there would even be an ''Ancient Elysium Sect'' after that, so why bother?

    Still, all of the aforementioned oues are still eptable in anyone''s book. But see, this is only ''if'' the sect wins.

    What happens if they can''t win? That''s the biggest issue here...

    At this point, nobody could even say if they were qualified to stand up against the freed Devil Emperor except from the sect. So if the sect can''t do it, then Divine Realm is over.

    This is all the risks that Raven has to consider if they''re going to follow the old n. But as Raven realized that blind faith alone won''t really change anything, he understood that he needed something more drastic...and this is what he came up with.

    Out of all the ns that Raven revealed to him before, this one was something that truly made the Sect Master at a loss. In fact, it took him weeks before he made the decision, which is unprecedented knowing how much he trusted Raven''s judgements.

    Raven''s n didn''t reveal the idea of seclusion. It was more detailed than that. He gave him numerous blueprints indicating his intentions clearly and also exined the pros and cons of this n with a hundred percent honesty.

    The Sect Master isn''t dumb, at a nce he immediately understood the potential risks of this n but he also saw its charm. He would be lying if he said that it didn''t look attractive to him because he''s also aware of the things that''s weighing down Raven''s mind.

    Although putting the sect under seclusion sounds as if they''re hiding, in reality this will give them more freedom and opportunities to grow stronger. It might look like they are restricting their movements but in reality, this change is hardly noticeable since the disciples doesn''t go out of the sect anyways. Also, they have more than enough resources to sustain themselves, even if they ran out, it wouldn''t be too difficult for them to secure some more since that''s their privilege.

    The most important thing is that, Raven and some of his chosen people, created a massive protective rune that would give Divinity ranked experts a massive headache to deal with. Therefore, everybody is secured and could focus their attention into strengthening themselves for the uing confrontation.

    As for the problems with the devils, considering how fast Raven was improving, their threat would be minimized, so all in all everything was ounted for.

    That''s why, even after a week of thinking whether to follow the n or not, the Sect Master has in fact, already decided the moment he looked at the blueprints.

    The only thing that''s worrying them now, is how their enemies are going to react to this.

 Chapter 646 - Holy Maiden

    ---

    Inside a room surrounded with pitch ck darkness, a single pir of light could be seen at it''s center.

    Beneath it, was a throne made out of bones whiches from myriad creatures. A man sat in this throne. Most of his features are hidden, only his feature-less eyes, extremely pale hands and toes were exposed.

    The throne was elevated a few meters above from the ground by a mound of bones. Beneath it, four people prostrated in front of the man who''s sitting in the throne.

    *Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

    The man sitting on throne drummed his fingers at the armrest of the throne which took the shape of a skull. Each tap of his fingers caused the hearts of the men beneath him to freeze, their bodies felt cold and they sweating buckets each passing moment. It was as if each tap of this man''s fingers were shaving a few years out of their lifespans.

    "...it is but a momentary setback."

    The man''s words brought an unspeakable chill in their hearts despite their actual meaning. In truth, the man didn''t find them at fault, but to the prostrating people, it might as well be the same as calling them inept at their jobs.

    "Even if they managed to catch-on, it''s already toote. They have no way of knowing the real depths or our strength. Have no fear, O children of mine."

    "Glory be to the Allfather." The prostrating people replied in unison.

    "Still, it would be best to be prepared just in case. Increase the strength of the troops. I''ll allow you to choose at least ten candidates from each camp and bring them to me in order to receive Communion. Make sure to choose the cream of the crop."

    "We hear and obey, Allfather''s words."

    "Strengthen your faith in me Children. Our Salvation wille and we will receive, Transcendence." The man spoke with a passionate tone but it just filled the prostrating people with overwhelming dread.

    "Glory be to the Allfather."

    Still, they praised him and glorified his words. As his so-called ''Children'', they can''t raise their own opinions on this matter since the Allfather has already decided.

    "Mn. You may return."

    As soon as the Allfather said this, the prostrating people under him disappeared out of nowhere, leaving him alone in this vast darkness. As soon as the others disappeared, the darkness surrounding the room rolled and proceeded to swallow the light, devouring even the man sitting in the throne. It didn''t take long before the darkness consumed all and once again, the Allfather returned to his slumber.

    Several worlds away from where this event took ce...

    Raven abruptly opened his eyes and felt suffocated. He caught his breath and calmed down his body. His face was somewhat pale and his back is drenched in cold sweat but his eyes remained bright as his smile.

    A chuckled escape from his lips as was still in the process of catching his breath...

    ''A momentary setback you say...well, I''m d that it all worked out ording to n. They didn''tunch any signals for the war and are still nning on following the 50 year deadline. Anyhow, this is all good. This is what we want. Just you wait, Allfather. I''ll enjoy wiping that dignified face of yours to the floor.''

    ---

    In a far awaynd...a ce hidden from prying eyes of the crowd, a paradise could be seen.

    This ce if located far above the skies, but not beyond the space outside. It is hidden just in the middle of the atmosphere. It is also a ce where only the worthy could reside, and filled with an evesting peace and prosperity. A true paradise which mortals could only dream of visiting but will never find even if they searched for it in their entire lives.

    In this ce,nd is scarce while clouds could be found everywhere. Normally, these clouds are something almost incorporeal but in this ce, it has a solid form and could support weight just as much as and could. Well, considering the fact that it''s even supporting inds should''ve been impossible but that''s exactly the case here.

    People could be seen walking on the surface of the clouds, there''s even people who are swimming in it. In fact, things like Airboats could be seen sailing at these clouds, transporting goods and people from one ind to the other.

    Speaking of inds, there are numerous inds in this ce. Each one aren''t as big as the main ind but still has their purposes. The main ind however is no different from a floating continent being supported by none of other than the clouds themselves.

    In the main ind, the scenery is almost the same as the ones from below, the only difference is that their surroundings are filled with specks of golden radiance and it''s on top of the clouds.

    The main ind is where the most advanced civilization could be found. People who wore pure white robes and dresses could be seen everywhere. Majority of them look like humans despite the fact that they have a tiny pair of white wings behind their backs.

    These people lived a quiet and peaceful lives, their expressions were contented and satisfied, as expected of the people who are living in a dreamy paradise.

    At the very center of the main ind, is another floating ind. What sets this floating ind apart is the fact that it only held a single infrastructure and nothing else.

    It was a castle, a golden castle which represents the highest order of thisnd.

    Some says that the castle is where the rules resided, some says that the castle is a holy ce that protects all. Some people said, that the golden castle is where the Gods lived. Whatever it is though, at the end of the day, rumors will remain rumors until proven true.

    Inside the golden castle, in a ce restricted to even the people who lives at this very location, a woman could be found standing in an open balcony, staring at the distance horizon while pondering over something.

    Anyone whoid eyes on her will instantly be enamored by her beauty. She goes beyond the level of a ''kingdom-toppling beauty'' as she is no different from a true Goddess in every sense.

    She has a long and silky ck hair reaching her soles which fell like a waterfall behind her. She was fair, elegant and graceful. She has a pair of golden irises which entuates her ephemeral beauty, a pointed nose, rosy cheeks, cherry lips and has a curvature that could give any sane man delusions just by the mere sight of it.

    She isn''t wearing anything fancy, just a n white sleeveless dress that hugged her curves and reaches all the way to her ankles. Her slim and delicate hands grasped the railings of the balcony as she stood there barefooted whilst in deep thought as the wind gently caresses her face and blew against her hair, causing a divine and picturesque image.

    *Sigh*

    A sigh which was akin to the most melodious whisper, escaped this goddess'' lips as she gently crossed her arms within her bosom. Her delicate face appeared troubles as her eyes misted.

    "Stop staring, Hailey. If you want to say something, say it." The goddess said without looking back.

    A few meters away from here, a silhouette appeared in form. It was a young woman who wore a silky white robes with golden linings, she too have the same small pair of white wings and her face depicted an embarrassed expression while pouting.

    "Excuse me, Holy Maiden. But I can''t help it, you were too beautiful. I can''t help but to stare." The youngdy named Hailey replied.

    "Yes, I know I''m pretty. I have a mirror you know?" The Holy Maiden chuckled softly, causing Hailey to be stunned speechless once more.

    ''Ah! How? Dang it, why is she so pretty? I thought I''ve always likes boys bute on! This is just too much. Ah~ Holy Maiden...'' Hailey was being delusional once again as she was bewitched by the ethereal beauty of the Holy Maiden.

    "Hailey...focus." The Holy Maiden noticed her and reprimanded.

    "A-ah! Right, I apologize Holy Maiden." Hailey cleared her throat and said: "We''ve received big news recently Holy Maiden."

    As soon as she said this the Holy Maiden''s eyes bore onto Hailey. The youngdy recognized this look. It''s one filled with excitement, anticipation, worry, longing and boundless affection.

    ''Doesn''t she know that if she looked at her suitors this way, they''d be willing to die for her without any hesitations. Ah, she''s just too beautiful. Unfortunately, only one person could illicit this kind of response from her.''

    "The Ancient Elysium Sect''s Sect Master recently made a public appearance. He announced that the their sect will enter an indefinite period of seclusion." Hailey reported and silently observed the holy maiden''s reactions.

    The Holy Maiden was stunned after hearing that message, she turned around, gazed at the horizon and shown a smile filled with tenderness and boundless love. Hailey was stunned speechless, she almost wanted to pass out when she saw this but she held to her consciousness.

    "I see..." The Holy Maiden whispered, "I understand. Isn''t this why I fell for you in the first ce?"

    The Holy Maiden looked at the sigil that appeared on her hand with boundless love...

    "Isn''t that right? My dear Husband?"

 Chapter 647 - Restless Raven

    ---

    "Whew! No matter how I look at this, it remains crazy..."

    "Isn''t is just fine? I don''t know what you''re so anxious about."

    "It turned out to be fine, but what if it didn''t? What will we do then?"

    "Nothing! I mean, Raven had everything covered didn''t he? The rune he created won''t be easily destroyed by anyone. Even if they did ended up waging war on us, we could just simply ignore them like degenerates and move along."

    "That''s also risky on their part since if they can''t destroy the protective rune in time, they''ll be questioned by the numerous people that respects our sect. In short, even though it''s quite risky on our part, it''s only during the preparation. Once the announcement was made, we''re more or less safe."

    "...I guess."

    The War Gods went silent after this. Currently, they are gathered once again in Raven''s abode, spending some time in rxation all thanks to Raven again. They were finally freed from their busy schedule after the announcement of the sect''s seclusion. They''ve been working all around the clock for many months now without rest and even though they have high endurance, working restlessly like this will surely take its toll on them.

    First and foremost, it had to be known that the matter about the sect''s seclusion was kept a secret to anyone up until the preparations was made, the War Gods included. The only people aware of it were none other than Raven and the Sect Master himself.

    Although they were puzzled about why the situation suddenly changed, none of the War Gods voiced their concern since they knew that Raven has something to do with this and they whole-heartedly trusted him.

    The announcement that the sect will enter an indefinite seclusion surprised many people. A racket ensued which were then pacified by the sect master.

    The first move that the Sect Master made after the announcement was to execute the moles right away. When everyone''s disturbed by the sudden violence, the Sect Master exined the whole situation to them in order to rify everything that led up to this point.

    This is where everybody was made aware of just how the Sect Master''s Heir worked hard behind the scenes, his achievements were brought to light, causing everyone to be blinded by his deeds. The fact that the seclusion of the sect was included amongst his ns was also revealed, causing everyone to look at Raven in a different light.

    "Still though...Raven surely is impressive." Theo praised all of a sudden. "He''s practically worshipped by everyone now."

    "Yeah, tell me about it. He really went above and beyond from the moment he became the heir. We are so lucky to have him." Henry wore a smile filled with pride knowing that he was the one who recruited this guy.

    "Speaking of which, where is he?" Charles asked as he looked around, "Is he still busy? He should''ve at least be enjoying a cup of tea by this time."

    "Something came up that needed his attention he said..." Theo replied, "It looked pretty important too. He said that he''ll join uster. Don''t worry about him, he''s going to be fine."

    ---

    "...everything should be settled down after this." Raven murmured as he finished carving some new runes into tablets.

    He then looked at the pile of tablets in front of him and nodded in satisfaction. He then absorbed them all inside a spatial ring after double checking each one and then passed it to Kyrie.

    "These are all done. Kindly deliver this to the maintenance crew along with the letter inside. Tell them follow the instructions written on the letter to the dot. Is that clear?"

    "Yes, Young Lord." Kyrie nodded.

    "Alright, you may go." Raven told her and Kyrie left for the errand.

    Once she left, Raven cleaned up his work space for a bit and after returning everything to its proper ce, he patted his hands and cleaned himself as well. He changed to his more casual attire since he''s free for the rest of the day. He then went out to join the War Gods for a rxing tea time.

    "Oh, here he is." Henry said, causing the others to perk up.

    Raven approached and joined them in the table. After sitting down, he said: "Sorry, something came up I had to finish it right away."

    "No worries. We''re free for the rest of the day anyway." Theo replied with a thin smile as he rested his back on his chair.

    "Oh, what a coincidence. Me too." Raven chuckled and poured some tea for himself.

    "What were you doing just now anyway." Logan curiously asked.

    "I just made some carved tablets for the maintenance crew to install. It''s going to take some time before they take effect so I figured to finish them now so that they''ll be ready as soon as possible." Raven replied then took a sip of his tea.

    "I see. You did tell us that you were nning to do some overhauls on the training areas in Greece." Charlesmented.

    "For now yes." Raven nodded. "My n is to overhaul every training facility in the sect. That should increase the effectiveness of the disciples when fighting against devils and prepare them for the eventual war."

    "But didn''t you already revamped the seals within the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda? You said that on top of the security runes, you also installed a rune that will weaken the devils in there. Wouldn''t this be too easy then? I''m afraid that the value of Merit Points will deteriorate at this point since killing devils would be much easier."

    "The Sect Master has that covered. I mean, he did expose my activities recently so the disciples should expect some huge changes which includes the Merit System as well." Raven replied. "Besides, since we had some recent changes, we won''t be having new blood joining us. I want to minimize the casualties as much as I could while also giving them disciples precious battle experience. I thought this way would be more effective."

    "Certainly..." Charles nodded, "If they still ended up being killed in this situation then they couldn''t ce the me om us anymore since we have given them sufficient advantages already."

    "Hmph, they''re worthless if that''s the case. They won''t be of any help during the war." Logan snorted.

    "Which brings me to another point I want to tell you." Raven followed-up, earning the attention of the War Gods. "If you can, do remind them about this. I would like the disciples to ept the reality that we cannot possibly avoid this confrontation. We are already doing our best so they have to show us results as well. I wouldn''t want them to die, I would like them to use this time to increase their strength so that they can help our cause."

    "Oh, Psh. You don''t have to remind us. We were going to do that even if you didn''t say anything." Theo chuckled.

    "Yeah, what he said." Logan replied while cleaning his ear. "Don''t worry, I''ll whip them up to shape. If they don''t pick up their pace, then I''ll tell them that I might as well kill them myself."

    "Hey, you don''t have to go there." Henry was rmed. "Just be the regr you in front of them, I think that''s enough to terrify them into submission."

    "Why do I get this feeling that you just insulted me in a roundabout manner?" Logan squinted his eyes as he looked at Henry - who simply avoided his gaze while whistling.

    "Anyhow, its just like what they said..." Charles added, "We''re aware of the situation as well and its to be expected that we''re going to do our best as well. Leave it to us and get some rest yourself. You look ill you know."

    "Oh my! Do I really?" Raven was caught off-guard.

    "Yeah you do." The War Gods replied in unison, causing Raven to smile wryly.

    Raven took out a mirror from his spatial ring to look at his reflection and its just like what they said, he indeed looked like he was sick. He was pale, his eyes were somewhat bloodshot and there were dark circles around them.

    "Yup, I do look horrible alright." Raven chuckled dryly, but he really didn''t mind. It''s not like this was the first time that something like this happened to him.

    Raven has been working hardtely. In fact, today will mark the 8th day since hisst sleep. He had been awake all this time, working all the time despite Kyrie''s repeated pleas for him to rest.

    It can''t be helped, Raven''s too invested in this. This was something that he wanted to do and has to do in order to ensure the sect''s victory over the evil forces. He was the next heir to the Sect Master''s position so this much should is something he had to get used to.

    However, since Raven just finished hisst task for the day, he was indeed nning on having a little rest. He informed the War Gods about this and they didn''t say anything anymore.. They continued to discuss random things until it waste and Raven went to rest on his room.

 Chapter 648 - Law Discussion

    ---

    "Good Morning Everyone."

    "Good Morning, Young Lord Raven."

    "Please be seated." Raven nodded and said to the people in front of him.

    The crowd sat down to their seats, all of them are looking at Raven with anticipation. Some of them were feeling nervous, some were calm, while some are excited. Nevertheless, all of them cherished this chance to be able to meet Raven in person and hear whatever he has to say.

    Currently, Raven was attending a session to meet the outstanding talents of the sect. This sort of event happens from time to time and since Raven was so busy during the past, he never really paid much attention to it. Now however, since the sect had some recent changes and everyone was adjusting rather well, Raven''s busy schedule had eased-up greatly, which is why he was able to host this event.

    The session is held at the Storm Dweller''s Peak. The Sect Master and the Grand Elder who used to reside in this ce is currently nowhere to be seen. They were out handling some important matters therefore Raven was allowed to use this ce.

    "Although I''m rather sure that everybody here knows what they''re here for, just in case somebody isn''t aware, let me say this again..."

    "All of you are gathered here thanks to your recent efforts in your cultivation. All of you are included in the Top 50 in the Honor Roll, meaning that you guys could be considered as the cream of the crop amongst other Inner Disciples. Give yourselves a round of apuse."

    Everybody apuded themselves along with Raven''s signal. Once the apuse were over, Raven continued speaking...

    "Now, I''m sure that all of you are aware of the recent events in the sect. We closed-off our doors and we entered an indefinite period of seclusion. You should also be aware right now that our sect aren''t only going to face devils but also the heretics that escaped a few eras ago...that''s right, we''re facing against the threat of the Exiles."

    "We are currently stuck between a rock and hard ce, nevertheless we still have sometime, and in the uing confrontation, the sect will be relying on you to protect our history and to contribute to our cause, therefore I don''t want to see any of you cking in your efforts. The sect will not hesitate to nurture you and it also won''t hold back on admonishing you for not doing your best. You will be under a lot of pressure but if you can persist, I can guarantee that you will be much stronger than you are right now. Am I clear?"

    "Yes, Young Lord." Everyone answered with fiery determination present on their voice. Raven smiled to that and continued:

    "Very good." Raven then took out several things out of his Spatial Ring. He had several scrolls, tablets and vials. "Now then, let''s begin the Law Discussion Session..."

    The Brush of Wisdom appeared from Raven''s hand and he waved it a couple of times. Lights converged and formed shapes visible to everybody present. The moment the specks of light emerged, everybody''s attention was focused on it.

    Raven then regted his tone, it became softer but still audible. Yet it also contained a special charm that bewitched everybody who listened to it.

    "Laws are the fundamental properties that governs the bnces of the Divine Realm. It is omnipresent and in some ways...omnipotent as well. As Humans grows up and walks the path of cultivation, they will have to encounter Laws at some point..."

    ---

    Raven''sw discussion session continued and as time went on, the disciples who were listening to him gradually fall under a state of enlightenment.

    The intensity of the enlightenment each disciples received varied. Some unconsciously activated their domains, some had more subtle effects, nevertheless all of them had empty expressions and dull eyes. It was as if they were bewitched and had fallen under deep spell that they can''t extricate themselves out of.

    Raven who''s watching all of this happen on his stand, nodded in satisfaction. At a simple nce, he could see that everyone foundations are exceptionally solid. If they continued perceivingws with this kind of mentality, he could guarantee that every single one of these people would make a name for themselves once the war is over.

    Raven silently erased his presence and left the disciples to their own. He didn''t know how long they''re going to be under that state but he might as well make sure that they won''t be disturbed. He erected a barrier to cover them and would iste them from allmotions outside. He had also given them their rewards for their hard work so he had no further business to remain here.

    Once he was done, he turned around only to see the Sect Master and the Grand Elder behind him, smiling at him. Raven smiled back at them and greeted them.

    "How''s your trip?" Raven asked.

    "It went well." The Sect Master said, "We managed to secure more resources for the sect. The Exiles didn''t suspect anything."

    "I see. That''s great, thanks for your hard work."

    "Psh. Compared to you, we''re merely doing the barest minimum." The Grand Elder chuckled as he patted Raven''s shoulders. His gaze then went towards the disciples who were experiencing enlightenment within Raven''s barrier. "As expected, they also those brats here huh?"

    Raven smiled wryly and replied: "Haha, yes. I can''t refuse them after all so I thought, might as well. At least this will only serve to make them stronger."

    "Although I''ve expected Elias to be here, seeing Dior and Salom here as well is truly unexpected." The Sect Master said.

    The Law Discussion Session held by Raven this year was supposed to only be experienced by the Top 50 performers on the Honor Roll of the sect, which are mostly reserved for Inner Disciples...

    The Honor Roll is something that was established to glorify the achievements of the Inner Disciples in order to ignite friendlypetition amongst them. In order to be included in there, one has to fulfil certain criteria; Cultivation, Merits, and Progress.

    Cultivation and Merits are straight forward. Progress is a unique standard based on the tenure of the disciples. In short, Progress is measured by tallying the bi-annual results of an Inner Disciples'' Cultivation Rank and the amount of Merit Points they earned. The higher this goes, the higher their overall rank would be.

    It''s obvious that the Progress standard is added in order to prevent the Inner Disciples from cking off.

    Towards these hard working disciples, the sect wouldn''t hold back on nurturing them of course. But what made this particr session somewhat weird is the fact that it includes three Heirs.

    The first one is Elias - Heir to the Poseidon''s Title and little brother of the current Poseidon himself, Lorenzo Blueheart.

    Somehow, Lorenzo managed to catch wind that Raven would be hosting this event and Elias also learned of it so he specifically asked if he could attend as well. And of course, Lorenzo being a doting Big Brother, requested audience and pleaded Raven to include Elias in it. Raven couldn''t refuse so he relented.

    The next two were the surprising ones...

    Salom Ir''Thun - the Heir to Hades'' Title and Dior Goldsky - the recently inaugurated Heir to Zeus'' title.

    The Heir of Hades who was inaugurated at the same time as Elias - Salom, was a rather surprising visit. He asked for audience and got acquainted with Raven, expressing his deep admiration to the Young Lord and Heir to Chronos. Salom is a well-mannered and soft-spoken guy who practiced the rare Death Laws and Holy Necromancy. He is rather inauspicious guy at a nce which is a perfect cover for him. That being said, Raven could tell that this guy held absolute loyalty to the sect, so when he asked if he could join the event, Raven epted him.

    Dior Goldsky was someone who had just been inaugurated as the Heir to Zeus, in fact this happened three weeks ago. This confused Raven at first since if he remembered that the selection for the heir was supposed to go on longer but it seems that there were recent changes thanks to the Grand Elder''s interference.

    What surprised Raven the most was that, Dior was actually epted by the Sword of Olympus - a treasure created by Zeus himself and the sword he used to cleave through the Devil Emperor and its subordinates.

    Dior was a carefree guy, he didn''t give a crap about etiquette and is rather loud and brash but that''s what makes him really likeable, which reminds Raven of his sworn brother Paul. Just like Salom, Dior greatly admired Raven and expressed his desire to follow his lead. He''s loyalty to their cause was also confirmed by Raven so he didn''t hesitate to ept him as well in this session.

    The Inner Disciples were surprised at first but none of them really made a fuss out of it. They just thought it was natural and the three were approachable anyway.

    "Alright, let''s leave them be. They''ll wake up on their own and make great strides on their progress. Let''s go inside and enjoy a warm cup of tea.." The Grand Elder said as the three of them went inside the abode.

 Chapter 649 - Armageddon Rune

    ---

    "...alright, let''s try this again."

    Raven took a deep breath in and gathered his thoughts in a single point. All of a sudden, the air around him turned stifling, a massive and overbearing pressure erupted out of his body. The sheer weight of his astounding pressure caused the earth beneath him to shatter.

    Behind him, numerous ethereal lights appeared, blossoming like a lotus flower. Each light transformed into arms which numbered exactly one thousand. At each palm that appeared behind him, a rune could be seen etched in them. No rune on each hand were duplicated, each on was unique and has it''s own uses.

    The Brush of Wisdom appeared on Raven''s stern face. As beads of sweat rolled down beside his face, he raised the brush with trembling arms and drew a single horizontal line. There was an audible sound as he did so.

    Right after he finished the stroke, the one thousand arm behind him converged into one, forming a single rune which form could not be seen with the naked eye. Even with any ocr techniques, most people would only see it''s outline, not the entire picture.

    The rune wasn''t big, but the power it exuded certainly was...

    It appeared in front of Raven, rotating slowly. As it spun faster, light coalesced and it began illuminating everything. The earth shattered some more and once the rune spun at it''s top speed, Raven harshly stabbed it with the brush and yelled:

    "Armageddon!"

    A massive explosion urred in front of him. Chaos ensued and debris flew everywhere. The winds howled. Light, space and time were twisted into a disordered mess and total annihtion urred. The muffled sounds of explosion and chaossted for several minutes, revealing a massive crater in front of Raven.

    As clouds of dusts settled down, Raven slumped on to the ground, pale faced andpletely drained. His chest rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath, he felt dizzy and disoriented. Nevertheless, the brightness on his eyes remained as he wiped the beads of sweat from his face.

    "That was an improvement..." He whispered after calming down, "As expected though, it drains the hell out of me, but at least I have an addition trump card now."

    ''Armageddon'' is a move that he had been experimenting for quite sometime now. It is created by condensing every single Empyrean-ranked Rune imprinted on his Archaic Thousand-Armed Wheel. Although in reality, the runes he carved on each palm on the wheel were the basic ones out of all, each were refined to its utmost level, making it reach the Empyrean-ranked level.

    On paper, this sounds simple, after all it''s justbining one thousand runes into a single one, Raven has done something like this before and it shouldn''t be hard to replicate it, however thinking about it that way is wrong.

    Although it is true that Raven has done something like this before, it isn''t really the same. The idea behind it was simr to how one would set up arrays and formations, and while that can be described as ''condensing multiple runes into one'' it would just ended up forming an array or formation in the end. Once the array or the formation is broke, the union of the runes will also end.

    What Raven did was more of a ''fusion''. He fused one thousand rune into a single one, creating something that has never been seen nor heard of before. The result of that is a total chaos, in a sense that even after the attack was over, it truly wasn''t over.

    See, with this fusion, Raven also used the unique ability that the Brush of Wisdom bestowed to him, the freedom to casually imprint his ''Intent'' or ''Will'' to whatever creation he has as long as he used the brush. This rune, aside from being the result of the fusion of 1000 Empyrean-ranked runes, it also carried Raven''s insights on Destruction Laws, Spacetime Laws, and ughter Intent.

    Aside from annihting everything in front of him, this rune will also caused the area affected to recover in a slower state, it also distorts time and space, preventing anyone who survived the st to use any kind of temporal techniques. If someone''s lucky enough to survive the st, then they won''t escape the Destructive Intent and the ughter Intent that will gnaw at them from the inside.

    This Armageddon Rune, is created to annihte Raven''s enemies through and through...

    That''s what really set''s apart this technique above everything that Raven has so far.

    After having some decent rest, Raven stood up and dusted himself. He left the destruction he caused behind him since it will recover on it''s own anyway and he went back to the tent he set up for himself.

    He returned just in time for his meal to be done cooking. The alluring scent of it caused his mouth to water and his stomach to churn. He quickened his steps and got himself a bowl. He then chowed down his meal and finished the entire thing in just a few gulps, it was evident that he was really hungry.

    Letting out a few burps of satisfaction, Raven patted his stomach and went inside the tent to rest. Laying down on the soft bed he made for himself, his thoughts ran amuck for a while.

    For one, Raven is currently inside the Cultivation Eden, training in seclusion once more. Due to his busy schedule during the past few months, he didn''t have time to go here but the recent changes allowed him to free-up sometime and he even got himself a day-off.

    Raven rxing absolutely didn''t mean that he''s no longer worried about the enemies. He still is, it''s just that his ns worked beautifully and the enemy remainedcent. The sect continued to increase it''s overall strength with renewed passion, Raven didn''t have to consistently be hands-on since too much intervention will just provoke the ire of others.

    The sect is going to be just fine, everything is moving along smoothly. Raven was at ease and he trusted that the officials will do their best even without him being constantly there so he''s relieved.

    It is also thanks to that, that Raven has now some free time to focus on his own training. Just because he''s the leading figure behind the sect, it doesn''t mean that he could excuse himself for being weak, in fact that''s all the more reason for him to be even more powerful on his own.

    Once again, Raven''s just too invested in this and he can''t go back down. He needed to make stand here and win this war since if he couldn''t, then his future ns will be ruined.

    Currently, Raven''s cultivation is going along rather well. Thanks to the temporal difference inside the Crown Space, he was catching up to the powerhouses rather swiftly without risking his foundations. The avatars are helping him with his enlightenment and Laws Control.

    As for any breakthroughs, well he''s still ways off. But Raven''s isn''t in a rush. Although he might be ate-stage Saint Knight Realm right now, he his own ways of bridging the gap and making himself useful.

    That being said, there were many times when Raven was tempted to forcefully increase his cultivation through elixirs and stuff, in the end his logic preventer him from doing so. He just can''t risk his future like that.

    At most, he would use elixirs to recover his Cosmic Energies but as for raising his cultivation level, he didn''t want to do that.

    Raven never relied, nor will ever rely on heavenly resources to increase his cultivation realm simply due to the fact that it will ruin his firm and solid foundations. He will only use resources to aid on his recovery and breakthroughs, that''s it. As for the rest, he will achieve it through natural umtion.

    "Speaking of resources, it''s about time I increase the number of my Avatars as well as practice the higher levels of the other technique..." Raven murmured.

    The two techniques Geezer gave to him; [Myriad Incarnations Scripture] and the [Voidwalking Manual] had been a tremendous help on Raven''s cause so far. If it weren''t for the fact that he couldn''t just rush through the stages, he would''ve already done so by now since resources had never be a problem to him.

    Though these techniques are heaven-defying, it still poses some degree of risks, which is why Raven remained careful whenever he''s advancing on either of the techniques. Again, if it weren''t for this risks, he would''ve already reached the consummate level for both techniques already.

    "There''s also this ce..." Raven said softly.

    Right. He could still remember the previous Heir''s telling him that there''s more to the interior of the pce, it''s just that he hasn''t reached the requirements just yet.

    As for what those requirements are? Raven has no clue, the only thing he could do right now is to walk forward and follow what he think is the correct path. As for when he''ll be able to unlock the other areas, there''s no rush.

    Thinking about it this way, Raven''s eyelids eventually turned heavy as he soon fell asleep.

 Chapter 650 - Pseudo To True

    "A total of 228 Avatars for the 7th level [Myriad Incarnations Scripture], I also reached the 7th level for the [Voidwalking Manual]. Nice..."

    Raven looked at the crowd of his look-alikes in satisfaction. After confirming that every single one of his Avatars were created with no ws and could function just as well as previous once, he immediately had them join the others in order to help with current tasks.

    "With them, the amount of Enlightenment I''ll receive on a frequent basis will surely skyrocket. They could also help me create more techniques that I can use to defeat my enemies."

    "And thanks to the Voidwalker''s physique, If things go awry, I could always return back in time to prepare myself for it. At most, I could go is three years to the past, or future. That''s incredible. How the hell did Master Geezer found these techniques anyway?"

    Raven could only shake his head and smile wryly. He knew that asking this question is won''t be of any help since Geezer is nowhere to be found but he just can''t help but wonder sometimes.

    For someone who''s reached Divinity Realm in cultivation and could easily part with heaven-defying techniques, it was truly a mystery just what kind of ce could trap Geezer a long time.

    Raven sighed and said: "Whatever, I''m not nearly strong enough to know those things anyways. I''ll just have to focus on cultivating right now."

    Reaching this conclusion, Raven returned to the spot where he could test out his newly created techniques. Leaving behind the avatars to deepen their understanding aboutws for him.

    He decided that since there''s only four months left for him to stay here for now, he''d best focus on training and re-affirming his knowledge of the basics.

    Upon reaching the empty field, Raven removed the upper part of his training robes, allowing it to fall to his sides. He then tightened his belt and clenched his muscles, holding it for a few seconds before rxing. After that, he stretched and regted his breathing, he made sure that his blood flow was active and his body was properly warmed-up so that he won''t injure himself.

    After warming-up, Raven went into a boxing stance. His mind was focused on a single devotion, which is to revisit his basics and make his body remember the benefits of it all over again.

    *Pa!*

    A crisp and sonorous sound of his fist sounded when he threw a punch. The air in front of him howled and caused a shockwave to ensue. However, contrary to what he just disyed, Raven wasn''t actively trying to use his strength with his punches, he''s more focused on the intent of the technique. He wasn''t brute-forcing his way out of this training, each fist he threw wasced with a sharp intent and a fueled by a singr thought. That is why the effect was happening every time he threw out a punch.

    Raven wasn''t in a hurry. Each punch he delivered gives off an impression of being slow and methodical, yet for some unknown reason, to the eyes of an enemy it was done in a blinding speed making it impossible to track by the naked eye.

    Additionally, as more time passes, the destructive effect on each punch of Raven rises exponentially as well. Past the one hour mark on his ''back to basics'' training, his punch was even twisting the time and space around him. It even reached the point where Raven doesn''t even look he was punching anymore, it was as if he''s just standing there in a boxing stance and the area in front of him will just experience devastation all of a sudden.

    Raven threw out punches for five hours straight without resting even once, his entire body was gleaming with swear but his expression remained calm and collected, he didn''t even look tired. After that, he took a brief rest, rehydrating himself and eating a light meal. His breaksted for an hour before he stood up again and went back to training.

    This time, he performed kicks instead of punches. Just like the beginning, he started out slow. He focused on the technique, form and intent, not on brute-strength. Gradually, his speed started increasing but Raven paid it no mind. He whole-heartedly focus on his inner mantra and the rest followed.

    Scenes of mass destruction urred as he delivered swift kicks unable to be tracked with the naked eye. Each kick distorted the very fabrics of space itself, causing his surroundings to be chaotic. Once again, it reached the point where he doesn''t even look like he''s performing a kick anymore since it was happening so fast.

    This went on for another five hours straight before Raven stopped once again. However this time, he didn''t rest. Instead, he just stood in ce like a statue with his eyes closed.

    If one looked closely, Raven would appear as if he wasn''t even breathing anymore. Yet even just by standing there, everyone will be afraid to approach him simply due to the domineering pressure he was exuding.

    Raven''s aura was akin to a literal God Beast. Even by doing nothing, the pressure he was emitting was horrifying to those who were unfortunate to experience it. Raven usually kept this aura at bay and would only expose it when he''s royally pissed but in here, he could let loose and allow his murderous spirit run wild.

    This aura was something Raven cultivated for two lifetimes, the previous one where he was a lone wolf and experienced the worst tribtions of his life leaving him numb and cold blooded, as well as the current one where he definitely had it a little bit easier but the peace just allowed his murderous aspect marinate within him and be more controlled.

    Compared to his previous life, the amount of people he killed would just amount to a mere fraction of how many he ughtered back then. Raven was once a notorious criminal wandering the Divine Realm. He made enemies everywhere and he was hunted down like a rabid dog.

    Sometimes, he would encounter enemies that he would battle for straight-up days, the longest was two weeks of non-stop chaos. Raven lost count on how many times he fled for his dear life since the one hunting him down was way too strong for him to defeat, there were time were he fought like a caged-animal. And there were times where he wiped out ns and bloodlines for revenge.

    All of those umted a spirit that could terrify even the oldest living fossil in the Divine Realm. The Dawn Council itself almost died due to how many times he caused them to cough-out blood from sheer stress and anger.

    He was hated, despised and feared, yet when thing mattered the most, Raven didn''t hesitate to lend them their aid. He, who once was considered as the most horrifying criminal walking the nes of the Divine Realm, died as a hero, only to experience a second chance where he could correct all of his mistakes.

    Sometimes, Raven would often find himself re-living the scenes of his previous life. Sometimes he would even dream about it. Then he will wake up, disoriented since he was surrounded with a rtively peaceful environment, something that will never happen if he was in his previous life.

    This is why Raven works so hard in this lifetime. As someone who never experienced peace after leaving his homnd, he wanted this peace tost. He didn''t want the things that urred in the past of ur to him nor his loved-ones. Even if it means that he had to sacrifice his life for it, he would dly do so.

    And if the killing intent he umted in his previous life will help him achieve the things he wanted for this lifetime, why would he discard it?

    Momentster, Raven opened his eyes and his killing intent subsided. He released a breath of relief and his attention gathered to what''s happening in front of him. By then, a frown appeared on his face.

    For some reason, he could feel that something dark and ominous was being released out of his body. The world was ck and white for some reason and additionally, despite his active intent of retracting his killing intent he''s still releasing a deadly one causing the temperature to drop down to a frightening degree.

    "Is this..." Raven was stunned. His frown deepened as he tried to interact with his surroundings. And for some reason, the moment he took a step forward, he could feel everything around him trembling in fear.

    "Well I''ll be..." A chuckle escaped Raven''s lips. But due to his frowning expression, his chuckle sounded more like a derisive snort instead. "The True ughter Intent/Domain. Now how the hell did this happen?"

    Raven was puzzled, the only thing that he could use to justify this unexpected gain was the fact that he recalled how much ughter he caused on his previous life. As for how it affected his current life, allowing his pseudo-ughter Intent to evolve to a genuine one, he has no idea.

    "Well, whatever I guess. Things like this had always been a mystery since the beginning of time. I''d just grow insane if I try to make some sense out of it. For now, a meal. I''m hungry."

    Raven made an active effort to retract his ughter Domain to which he seeded, then he returned to his tent to indulge on his food.

 Chapter 651 - Training Exercise

    ---

    "...Squad 6, Squad 8! What the heck was that? Stop gawking in there and move! Raise those damn weapons! Don''t tell me they''re just for show!?"

    "Squad 12! Exercise moderation damn it! Keep flooding the channels with energies and you''d just blow yourselves out! Squad 16 and 18! Come on!? I saw you guys wolfing down some food earlier, where did all of that go? Put some damn power behind your strikes!!"

    Logan''s beastly roars echoed across the massive training field. His three-set of arms were folded in front of him as he stood ramrod straight with piercing gaze that sends shivers to the disciples practicing below.

    Behind him were Henry, Theo and Raven, sitting at a round chair and enjoying some food and tea. They watched with great interest and amusement as Logan took the role of the strict and scary training officer.

    "Ahh...look at him go. cing him in this position was truly the correct decision." Theo muttered causing Henry and Raven chuckle.

    "One might say that''s he''s currently in his element." Raven nodded in agreement.

    "I hate to admit it but he''s clearly better at thispared to me." Henry nodded as well, "Truly a fresh and inspiring training officer."

    ''I can hear you lot, you do know that right?'' Logan told them via voice transmission. ''Also, don''t speak too loud, you''re distracting the little buggers.''

    "Aww, look at him. He cares so much about his little students..." Theo whispered in amusement, causing Raven and Henry to chuckle even more much to the annoyance of Logan.

    ''If you guys have nothing better to do, then don''t bother me or stay quiet! I''m doing my damn job here, you unreasonable fellows!'' Logan roared at the via voice transmission again.

    ''Woah take it easy there, coach. Don''t mind us, we''re just here to rx anyway.'' Henry replied through the same way but it just irked Logan even more.

    "Pay attention to your opponent''s next move you dolts!! Don''t think that just because younded a hit, they''re going to die! They can defend and counter-attack. Analyze the flow of the battle and n your next move! Observe your opponents, memorize their pattern and n a way to defeat them as soon as possible! How many times do I have to tell you this!?" Logan roared towards the disciples once again, causing them to visibly panic.

    ''Damn it, you guys'' presence are just really bothering me. Can you all like, I don''t know, disappear or whatever? Let''s talkter when I''m done here.''

    ''No can do, Sir.'' Raven replied, causing Logan to sigh in defeat. ''I''m here to observe this remember? As for this two, just endure it. Them doing something like this shouldn''t be new to you anyway.''

    ''Yes, you''re right. It isn''t the first time I experienced this, but it doesn''t mean that I got used to it. I''m still irritated.'' Logan relied yet his gaze never left the situation below.

    ''Ohe on, stop whining. This isn''t a big deal. Just endure it a little but more.'' Raven replied as he as well paid attention to the situation below.

    Logan can''t argue with Raven so he did what the guy said and endured the distracting presence of the three people behind him.

    The training exercise continued below, Logan would asionally let out loud roars, giving some strong and rough advices to the disciples fighting below him. The training exercisested for three hours before Logan announced that they''re done for today.

    As soon as the announcement was made, the disciples deactivated the formations and simultaneously copsed on the ground panting and exhausted. Some of them can''t even move a finger due to how exhausted they were from the hellish training Logan put them on. Majority of the students were definitely cursing Logan within their minds calling him nicknames such as: Demon Officer, Son of a Bitch, and so on...

    Momentster, Logan jumped down at the ground level with Raven on tow, seeing the Heir of Chronos with him, the disciples panicked and immediately stood up to pay respects to the Young Sect Master. However because of their exhaustion, some of them stumbled on their feet or just couldn''t stand up properly.

    "It''s fine, no need for formalities. Catch your breath and just lend me an ear will you?" Raven showed a refreshing smile that seemingly invigorated the disciples. This allowed them to at least sit back up and gather their remaining focus in order to listen to whatever he has to say.

    "You did well, considering the fact that the Formations you are using haven''t been around for long. That being said, there''s still many rooms for improvements. I would like to point out some in order to help you use these new toys more effectively."

    Raven gingerly picked a random formation that was on the ground and activated it. Numerous runes lit up and the formation transformed into a construct that looked simr to what the disciples were using before.

    "Alright, let''s go back to the basics of this formation." Raven formed a stick from his energies and used it to point at a certain area of the Formation Construct beside him. "This Formation is driven by five people at once, meaning that itbines all of your strength into a single entity."

    "In order to improve the fluidity of your actions, don''t just pay attention to the movement of your opponents, pay attention to the thought process of your teammates as well. Your minds are somewhat connected when you use this Formation Construct, that is also the reason why it is advised that the most experienced person in the ground bes the ''Driver'' of the construct."

    "Remember you guys are a single entity once you''re inside the construct. Be sensitive and always pay attention to even the smallest hints you can take. Just like what Logan had been telling you so far, observe and adapt. The faster you end your battles the more of our enemies you can take down."

    "Also, I mainly put a pole-arm as the main weapon of the construct since I thought it''s going to be better due to it''s unique shape. You can either study some basic pole-arm techniques to help you adjust to this or you can request for a weapon change, whatever it is,municate with your teammates, make sure to reach a consensus where everyone''s willing in order to minimize the friction."

    "The people you work with are your allies, you are safe. You can lower down your guard and ask for their opinion, broaden your mind and horizons. That''s the only way you can improve and be of more help to the uing war. Also, always keep Logan''s advice in mind, don''t feel butt hurt because if his mean tone, take it with a grain of salt and reflect. This will help you a lot. Am I clear?"

    "Yes, Young Lord." The disciples replied in unison.

    "Very good, now you all may return and rest. Be on time tomorrow as well." Raven dismissed the disciples and each of them paid respects to them before leaving.

    Once the training field was empty, Logan and Raven returned to the upper floor to join Henry and Theo.

    "Wait, as I thought something''s amiss." Logan said as he sat down, he then asked: "Where''s Charles?"

    "He''s with Elder me right now, for some reason the mes of Olympus required his help." Theo informed as he rested his back against the chair.

    "Eh? Why him? Shouldn''t it be you?" Henry was confused.

    "I don''t know either. You know Elder me, he can be quite pragmatic sometimes. If he wanted to tell me, then he''s going to tell me. That''s just how he is." Theo grumbled as he took another sip of his tea.

    The mention of Elder me got Raven thinking...

    ''Yeah, I haven''t met this Elder me in person yet. I only saw the mes of Olympus once and its when I received the Cleansing mes for the first time. Should I visit him?''

    "Raven, if Elder mes wants to meet you, he''ll call for you." Theo said, shocking Raven from his stupor. "No offense but even with your status, Elder me won''t make an exception for you."

    "Wow, was I really that obvious that I want to visit him?" Raven asked.

    "Not really..." Theomented, "But I can somewhat tell since I was the one who brought up the topic and you went into your ''nning mode''."

    " ''nning mode?'' "

    "Yep." Logan nodded, "You see, whenever your nning something to do, it''s either for the benefit of the sect or the demise of our enemies. You are making quite a face whenever you do it you know."

    Raven turned to Henry with an inquisitive gaze and he saw thetter sigh and nod softly: "It''s precisely what they say."

    "It gives us the shivers you know?" Theomented while smiling wryly, "Specially when you''re nning someone''s demise, your expression turns into something scarier than Logan''s poker face."

    "Oh!" Raven clenched his chest dramatically and said: "How painful! I''m hurt! How could you say such thing!? How can this be!?"

    "Hey! The fuck was that for?" Logan was offended causing cheerfulughs the rest.

 Chapter 652 - Return Of The Other War Gods

    ---

    Nearly a year after the Ancient Elysium''s Sect announcement of their seclusion, something urred on the sect which surprised everybody.

    It happened during one of Raven''s Law Discussion Session, as soon as he finished creating the barrier to iste the participants this time, he felt strong yet foreign fluctuationsing off of somewhere.

    rm bell rung on his head as he sharply looked around him in search of the source. It was then that he saw the beam of light piercing through the skies somewhere south from the Storm Dweller''s Peak. Raven frowned as he instinctually flew towards the light, he was an deep thought as he travelled. He thought to himself, what could this be and a sudden idea struck him and left him anticipating.

    He elerated his flight and shortly after he arrived at the spot where the beam of light was. When he arrived, he saw a crowd forming around it and the other War Gods were already there. In fact, even the Sect Master and Grand Elder were there.

    Ravennded nearby and nodded to them upon making eye contact. Then he waited in anticipation for the group of people who will emerge out of this beam of light.

    A strong fluctuation was released once again. Then, a few silhouettes emerged from the beam of light carrying dreadful auras that could make even devils cry.

    The first one to arrive was a winged-man, he had a head full of tinum colored hair, a rather petite body and he wore a dark-golden armor which shone in resplendence. His expression was tranquil and his beast-like irises were hypnotizing. His brown wings covered in golden aura were folded behind him. This man was none other than the Captain of the War Gods, King Roc War Gods - Levi.

    Beside him was a 9 meter tall man with an outrageously buff body. He had a ck hair that''s cleanly shaven on the sides. He also has a pair ofrge horns which curved around his head. He was wearing a golden armor that only covered a few major areas on his body, letting his absurdlyrge physique shine. He''s carrying arge totem filled with tribal marks over his shoulders, his grin looked foolish yet also savage at the same time. This guy, is Paolo - the Taotie War God.

    On the opposite side, there''s a woman with freakishly wicked allure. Her braided long hair rested on her shoulders. She was wearing a skin tight robes on-top of a pink armor which is filled with briars. There''s thorn whip attached to her hips and her expression appeared detached, cold even. This is Celestine - the Dominatrix War Goddess.

    Beside her was a woman who could be described in aplete opposite. She was like a cute fairy or a shrine maiden, carrying a wooden stump which held her zither inside. She was wearing a loose white gown, covered most of her body revealing only her feet, hands and a small portion of her chest. She radiated a calm and peaceful aura which could cheer up everyone around her. This is none other than Jessamine - the Zither War Goddess.

    And the final one to arrive was another woman. Her long silver hair covered with aurora lights fell mystically behind her. She wore a long sleeveless gown which fluttered along with the wind, releasing snowkes as it goes. She was bare footed and her silver irises nced at her surroundings while her lips formed a thin smile. This was none other than Julia - the Winter War Goddess.

    "Yo! What''s up! It''s good to be back home!" Paolo''s loud voice shook their surroundings, waking up everybody from their stupor and earning a smack from Levi.

    Seeing this, Raven and the restughed as hemented: "Some things, never change. Wee back, everyone."

    Julia stepped forward and smiled: "Greetings, Sect Master, Grand Elder...Young Lord." She bowed, giving Raven a teasing look as she did so causing thetter to smile wryly.

    Levi and the rest did the same and greeted everyone including Raven as well.

    Looking around the sect, Levi sighed as hemented: "It seems that what we saw in there was true. The Sect really did enter seclusion. I apologize, I should''ve been here to help."

    Raven was surprised but he managed to adjust to this and reply: "It''s fine. It all ended ording to the n anyway. And you guys are already here so everything will be fine."

    "We were anxious to return as soon as possible." Celestine sighed, "Especially that guy. He thought that it was his fault for being in too much of hurry. He med himself since many things urred after we were gone."

    "That''s true you know." Jessamine added with a chuckle. "Unfortunately, no matter how much of hurry he''s in, we were stuck in there. It took a while for him to calm down and that''s only when we saw that the Sect entered seclusion. The funny thing is, after he calmed down, the process hastened by a great deal."

    "Yeah, you should''ve seen his face. It was priceless I''ll tell you." Paolo added which grinning like a fool.

    "Shut it, you guys!" Levi''s face reddened as he protested. He then felt an arm wrapping around him and saw that it was Logan.

    "Heh? What''s this? Did I just hear our Captain having no faith in us? I''m seriously hurt."

    "That''s right. I''m hurt too." Theo dramatically joined in. "Boohoo, our Captain thought the world revolves around him. Oh! How my heart aches."

    "Stop it you!" Levi unfolded a wing and pointed it against Theo''s chin.

    "Okay, the lot of you. Stop causing a ruckus. You''re juniors are looking at you strangely." The Grand Elder reprimanded. "Let''s talk somewhere else."

    "The Grand Elder''s right." The Sect Master added, "I''m d to have you guys back. But we need to change locations for a bit."

    The Sect Master then looked at Raven and said: "Are the disciples still on the Storm Dweller''s Peak?"

    "Yes, Sect Master. I formed a barrier around them in order to iste them from themotion outside."

    "Well, even with that, our aura''s might disturb them..." Charlesmented.

    "Then let''s go to my ce..."

    ---

    "...that''s so unfair!!" - Theo

    "Yeah, downright bullshit!" - Logan

    "The effects are that absurd?" - Henry

    "Man, you guys are making me want to go as well." - Charles

    It''s been a few hours since the group arrived at Raven''s pocket dimension. After confirming a few things, the Sect Master and the Grand Elder excused themselves as they have other matters to attend to, leaving the War Gods plus Raven to discuss and catch-up themselves.

    Of course, Raven and his group began interviewing the War Gods who just arrived from the Celestial Ascension tform with great interest. They want to know what it''s like inside since they were hesitant to ask the Sect Master and Grand Elder about it.

    What really shocked them the most is that, every single one of them here are now Peak-stage Empyrean Knights. This waspletely absurd considering the fact that they left two or more years ago and they weren''t even close to that when they left.

    What''s even more ridiculous is that, despite their quick advancement in their cultivation, their foundations remained as solid as before and they could even attempt to break through to Divinity Realm in the near future.

    This shocked Raven as well. It had to be known within the time they were gone, he only managed to increase his cultivation by a mere sub-stage, and that''s already fast to anyone''s eyes. Their progress was just outright ridiculous.

    "We were shocked too, you know." Jessamine giggled as she rested her head on Henry''s shoulders. "However it would make sense considering how maddening the trials we have to face inside."

    "It''s amazing and also incredibly aggravating at the same time." Levimented as he took a sip of his tea.

    "The trials we faced were life-threatening, but the rewards we receive after each task was incredibly worth the effort. You guys should n to go as well." Julia encouraged.

    "Well, that''d be kind of hard." Theo smiled wryly. "Despite what it looks like, we''re swamped with work here. It''s already difficult for us to have some rest. Especially that guy over there, he''s busiest out of us here."

    Theo pointed his chin towards Raven who''s calmly enjoying his warm cup of tea. Raven smiled wryly as well at hisment.

    "It''s because your smart, that''s why you''re busy." Paolo cackled. "Look at me, I''m an idiot and free. Living like this is more fun."

    "Yeah, must be fucking nice." Logan snorted.

    "Pot calling the kettle ck." Henry snorted at the side.

    "Y-you!"

    "Okay, stop." Charles pulled Logan and Henry away from each other and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Seriously, stop acting like kids. You guys are embarrassing."

    "Anyways..." Levi sighed and looked at Raven with imploring eyes. "Share the burden with us. We watched you worked hard while we''re trapped in there and it irked me since I can''t help. Now that we''re out of there, allow us to help okay?"

    Raven observe the people around him and seeing as they all felt the same, he chuckled and said: "Sure, I never nned on doing everything on my own anyway."

 Chapter 653 - Clash Of Laws

    ---

    Inside the Cultivation Eden¡­

    Raven could be found sitting in a lotus position. His eyes were open yet they were dull. He stared an empty space in front of him while his mind ventured somewhere his body can''t follow.

    Surrounding Raven was a curtain of mystical lights that caused the space to twist and distort in more ways than one. His aura was unstable, sometimes it would appear vast and heavy while other times it would shallow and weak. Nevertheless, Raven is at a very special and sensitive state and he''s not allowed to be disturb by any means or else he would lose this lead.

    Raven''s consciousness remained blurry, it was as if he''s in the middle of falling asleep. He currently being exposed to many things but due to his drowsy state, he couldn''t grasp them all properly. He can''t even remember hints of it. Nevertheless, it would appear as if he truly didn''t need to¡­

    Inside Raven''s body, the numerous dark golden runes earned by his physique thanks to his attunement withws, melted down and acted as beacons, resonating with the profound sea Raven''s consciousness is currently exposed to, this allowed new dark golden runes to condense within his body. The newer runes were more profound and brighterpared to the runes that melted earlier.

    A strange feeling rose on Raven''s chest. It was faint at first but as time went on, it became stronger and stronger until it became ufortable. Nevertheless, thanks to Raven''s physique, he was able to endure this state without feeling really burdened.

    He didn''t feel any pain, in fact he truly can''t feel anything at all but this doesn''t mean that he could endure it for a long time. Nevertheless, Raven was functioning via instinct and he nearly achieved his goal.

    Time passed some more and eventually, Raven''s aura bloomed without any warning. It covered a wide area, spanning for miles and miles, his aura was almost as big as a country. Mystical phenomena''s urred within Raven''s area of influence...

    At first, it was like thing were breaking and then king away, the remnants were being carried by an invisible wind. Faint dark golden runes rose up in the air, twisting the space and time, even the very fabrics of reality itself, aside from runes there''s also lotus flowers emerging from the underground, replicating the same phenomenon as the rest.

    Unknowingly, Raven suddenly lifted his head, looking above him with that still and dull gaze. Despite his inactivity though, the surroundings went into a tumultuous change.

    Everything within Raven''s vicinity staring turning into dusts which was scattered by the wind. His aura wildly fluctuated and the phenomenon around him became even weirder. His body was releasing a dark golden glow and his aura was spiking the more time passed.

    All of a sudden, the aura of Destruction exploded from his body, turning his surroundings really chaotic. Every element around him could feel a threat, things were materializing in an out of existence, Raven silhouette included.

    Out of nowhere, an invisible force lifted Raven off the ground. His previously dull and empty gaze suddenly became torches radiating with dark golden light. Raven''s aqua-marine hair was rising due to the intense aura he''s ring.

    After all of this, Raven''s area of influence turned more corporeal with him at it''s center. What''s weird is that it became somewhat unstable. At first it was just a dark golden glow covering a very wide area. Then it turned ck and white for a few seconds before returned to dark golden. After that, it became even more unstable and kept changing from dark golden to ck and white each second.

    The intense fluctuation became frequent until a loud crack sound and the domain became split in two parts. The other half was dark golden and represent Raven''s Destruction Laws. The other half was ck and white, representing his Spacetime Laws.

    Raven''s situation just turned incredibly dire at this point...

    In the Divine Realm where geniuses are scattered everywhere, it is no surprise that some people can wield two or more Laws. Although it is rather hard and more time consuming to cultivate twows at the same time, it''s still doable. In fact there are a lot of people who became well-known in their lives with this achievement.

    That being said, even if it''s doable, it doesn''t mean that it''s easy. Moreover, it poses a lot of risk, especially if the two Laws one gained enlightenment of mutually contradicts each other, the mostmon of which were Fire and Water Laws.

    In Raven''s case, Destruction Laws and Spacetime Laws aren''t really considered as contradictingws. The very fundamentals of each Law shouldn''t reallyplicate one another especially if it''s wielded by a genius that can exertplete control over them.

    That''s not really the problem here though...

    The reason why Raven''s current situation is precarious lies on the fact that both of Destruction Laws and his Spacetime Laws are advancing to their 3rd Concept.

    His Destruction Laws are currently achieving the Pulverization Concept while his Spacetime Laws were reaching the Parallelism Concept. Both of this happening at the same time is rather problematic and risky.

    Even with Raven''s numerous thought process thanks to his Avatars, it was still somewhat hard to digest everything in order to pacify the raging sea that''s drowning Raven down.

    The Avatars are already hard at work, yet the volume of things they needed to settle down was only increasing at each passing moment. Still, they have to try their best and catch-up or Raven would became retarded due to mental overload.

    Thankfully, Raven''s body was strong and could handle stress for a long time. This gave the Avatars some hope but it was still hard to catch-up to it.

    The insights were like tsunami waves drowning Raven. The profundities of eachw restrained andplimented each other in a strange way, but this only paralyzed Raven even further.

    "Oh dear...quite amotion isn''t it?"

    A faint voice echoed within Raven''s domain. A silhouette manifested out of nowhere and began walking towards Raven with eased steps.

    It was difficult to judge whether the silhouette was that of a man or woman, the voice wasn''t helping either since it sounded both at the same time. Nevertheless, if there''s anything obvious about this silhouette, it would be the fact that they''re currently smiling in a well-mannered way.

    The silhouette clicked their tongue and shook their head, still wearing a friendly smile as they approached Raven...

    "Destruction and Spacetime. How impressive..." They said softly. "The domain''spletely divided in two, meaning that bothws areprehended in its most profound level that it''s manifestingpletely in reality. His foundation couldn''t be anymore solid."

    The silhouette paused in front of the unconscious Raven and raised their right hand. All of a sudden, the domain twisted as if it was grabbed by an enormous hand. Everything stopped as if time was perpetually frozen still.

    Then the silhouette pointed a finger up and the twisted domain began shrinking into a sphere which condensed at their fingertips. Raven''s body was still immersed in the sea of profundity, yet his facial expression visibly eased-up.

    The silhouette paused it''s actions and inspected Raven closely. After a while, they let out an amused sigh and said: "...this brat can''t use his gifts properly...oh well I''ve made an exemption for today, what''s another one while I''m still out anyway?"

    After saying that, the silhouette pointed the sphere towards Raven''s chest, more precisely at his core that''s usually hidden from view. They then pushed the sphere onto his chest and the sphere was them gobbled up by Raven''s core.

    "...there, that should give him a clue on what he''s missing out." The silhouette smiled in satisfaction. They then took a couple of steps back and waited for the results which happened shortly after.

    As soon as the silhouette pushed the condensed domain inside Raven''s core...his soul felt like it was ascending...

    It was a profound feeling, truly. It was as if an invisible shackle or burden was lifted off of his chest. Raven''s face eased-up even more, he felt free and unrestrained.

    Suddenly, the berserk aura Raven was releasing became tranquil. While he''s still levitating off the ground,pared to what he looked like before and now, a wide-range of things changed.

    The most important part is that his core began transforming, as for what that entails to him, no one can say right now. Raven would have to wait for him to eventually understand what''s going on but from a single nce, it was good a thing.

    "Hoho...this greedy kid." The silhouette teased, "I just saved your bum and you''re telling me that you''ll abuse this state of yours? I mean, well good luck with that."

    The silhouette then began walking away, humming a cheerful tune with in a joyous mood.

    "Well, the kid''s smart so he''ll eventually figure this one out. All I did was to keep him safe and give him some clues about how he should utilize his actual gifts instead of neglecting and wasting them... "

    The silhouette disappeared from view but before theypletely faded, their voiced echoed nearby...

    "I''m looking forward to the day that we actually meet...9th."

 Chapter 654 - Lord Knight

    ---

    *Boom!!!*

    A loud explosion urred...

    The sound echoed throughout the whole pce, the vibrations could felt from miles away and an overwhelming presence announced itself to the world.

    There, floating at an empty space, was Raven. Still has his eyes closed as if in deep slumber. His aqua-marine hair gently fell down on his back. He was in a fetal position, wearing gray robes which were made out ofws. He was bare footed and a faint curtain of aurora lights covered his body.

    A pulsating sound echoed out of his body, this sound was being produced by his heart. The sound was strong and vigorous, akin to war drums. It also carried a faint hymn that contained profound mysteries that could catch the attention of it''s listeners.

    Slowly but surely, the aurora curtain disappeared. After it''s disappearance, Raven''s body slowly unfurled, still floating several inches above the ground. All of a sudden, all noise disappeared. Even the gusts of wind didn''t dare to create an disturbances on the surrounding area. It was so quiet that it would seem that time momentarily halted.

    Raven''s eyes slowly fluttered open...

    As if beacons of light in the darkness, golden light appeared fro a brief second before dissipating and revealing Raven''s rainbow colored irises. At first, his gaze was unfocused but it didn''t take before his eyes gained some consciousness in them.

    Now conscious of his surroundings, the first thing Raven felt was a stifling feeling on his chest. It was as if there something there wanting to break free from its restraints. He frowned but didn''t feel that it was something bad. Out of nowhere then, Raven suddenly released a visible pulse.

    It swept through the surroundings, forming a massive dome that covered most of the area around him. Raven felt a rush offort drowning him, causing him to puff his chest out and close his eyes to marvel at the feeling. Raven then opened his eyes to observe what''s going on and to his shock, a stunning spectacle was urring in front of him.

    Though it is not visible to the naked eye, Raven who was the cause of this spectacle could see and feel it clearly...

    The Laws were paying their respects to them...

    He felt like he was riding above the clouds, looking beneath his loyal subjects. The very fundamental knowledge of the world was paying respects to him, it was such a bizarre feeling which also feels addicting.

    This sensation could just be something that he could feel due to his tion or something. Such phenomenon might only ur once in his entire life but Raven was sure that what he could personally gleam from this even was genuine.

    Raven felt as if he reached very high ce and he''s looking at the fantastic view below. He could see and sense everything. He also felt as if he knew everything, it was an absurd feeling yet it''s unmistakable.

    A smile appeared on Raven''s lips. He clenched his hands as he murmured...

    "What a boon...I didn''t expect that me breaking through the third concept of my Laws will also push me to undergo my 9th Transformation and achieve Lord Knight Realm."

    9th Transformation, thest part of his metamorphosis was done. Right now, Raven''s body haspletely changed. Every single cell on his body was nurtured with Cosmic Energy. He felt unprecedentedly calm and peaceful but also brimming with strength. Raven had an impression that he could probably shatter a meteor with a single serious punch.

    Raven''s appearance couldn''t be any more perfect. Not a single speck of blemish was visible on his face. His skin was fair and soft but it''s resilience was top-notch, his charm was otherworldly and his aura was befitting to that of a Lord.

    Reaching Lord Knight Realm allows an individual''s domain to expand greatly. Normally it would be the size of an empire or two but Raven''s domain could cover an entire country. Additionally, thanks to his foundations andw insights, whenever he''s within his domain Raven would always release the suppression of a Lord.

    His very presence was akin to a ruler that forces enemies to submission, no questions asked. Even thews were paying respects to him right now.

    Indeed, this is such an unexpected boon. Originally, he just wanted to reach the 3rd Concepts for his Laws however something happened which he can''t remember but it pushed him to experience his 9th Transformation.

    Raven was currently unaware of how much time has passed, and frankly at the current moment, he couldn''t care less. He felt greatly satisfied with this unexpected gain that he felt euphoria drowning every single cell of his body.

    Experiencing the 9th Transformation means that the 1st Chapter of the ''Book of Chaos'' is now done. From here on out, he would be cultivating the 2nd Chapter provided to him by Geezer. That being said, cultivating from this point forward only gets harder, especially for him since he''s following an unorthodox path in cultivation.

    "One step closer to the stage I was at before I experienced Soul Rebirth..." Raven whispered, "Feels good."

    However, although Raven felt d that he experienced a breakthrough, he still couldn''t shake the feeling that he''s missing something. It also didn''t help that his intuition tells him that the thing he missed was such an important event.

    Raven consulted the Avatars, asking them what happened while he''s unconscious. The Avatars didn''t know. Raven''s cultivation area was miles away from the where the Avatars were since he didn''t want to disturb their practice. That''s why the Avatars had no idea what urred to him at all...

    All they knew is they saw his Destruction Domain and Spacetime Domain urately split in half. After that, it disappeared miraculously and everything went quiet.

    "That just makes it even more suspicious then..." Raven frowned. "What in the world happened?"

    Raven was puzzled for a bit before he released a sigh and decided to investigateter. His foot then touched the ground and his domain disappeared. He sat down and closed his eyes to inspect the changes on his body closer.

    "...as expected." Raven muttered, "My body and soul haspletely transformed."

    Indeed, Raven''s body was now at its perfect state. Each cell of his was filled with Cosmic Energy, every activity his body does helps with the production of Cosmic Energy as well. His Energy Channels havepletely melded with his body, turning into something which looked like astral veins. Pure milky white Cosmic Energy flowed in them, circting at every corner of Raven''s body.

    To top this all of, Raven''s soul has nowpletely recovered atst. The sense of wonder and tion that he felt earlier was mostly due to this. His soul was no longer injured, and it not onlypletely recovered, it''s state was even better than before.

    He could tell that his thoughts were smoother and he had more reign with his emotions. He felt his connection to the world and even just but existing, he receives insight from the Heavenly Laws. It is such a mystical and a long lost feeling. It felt familiar but also mysterious at the same time.

    "Now, I only need to reach Empyrean Knight Realm and I would be able to say that I am truly back." Raven had a thin smile on his face.

    He didn''t get up from his position though since he''s still isn''t done. He wanted to check his core as well and see if there''s any development in them.

    "Eh!?" Raven''s eyes snapped wide open in surprise. He shook his head and sank his perception back into his core and saw the same spectacle that surprised him the first time.

    The cosmic swirl inside Raven''s core remained mostly the same only...there are certainly more things in there that he didn''t remember putting there before.

    "...Destruction and Spacetime! Why are thesews dominating this ce?"

    The first time that Raven sank his perception in his core, he was surprised since he felt like he arrived at the wrong ce, however it turns out that this ce was indeed his Inner Cosmos, only it was currently being dominated by Destruction and Spacetime principles.

    Raven observed this for a bit. As he watched closely, he could feel that not only his cosmos felt more stable and real, he could also feel that the constetions within his Inner Cosmos were surprisingly adapting to the intrusion of his Destruction and Spacetime Laws.

    "What is going on?" Raven was confused.

    He didn''t understand how in the world his Destruction and Spacetime Laws suddenly dominated his Inner Cosmos. From what he can remember, these two were originally gathered in a star simr to his ughter Intent - which was also adjusting to this current even as well, as of the moment.

    Raven was so confused that he really didn''t know what to expect. He didn''t even know that something like this possible in the first ce. And even though he wanted to stop this development, he can''t since it already started and blew up way out of his control, additionally his intuition told him that this is for his own good.

    "What the hell?" Raven muttered, bbergasted.

 Chapter 655 - Inner Cosmos

    ---

    "...someone interfered. That''s probably the best conclusion I cane up with in my situation." Raven murmured followed by a sigh.

    The strange changes on his body were things that won''t happen unless he willed it or done by someone else. Him being able to endure the sh of Laws thrown in to the mix just convinced him even more.

    One has to know that Raven achievements inws are spectacr. Reaching the 3rd Concepts for both Laws he gained enlightenment from with the mere strength of a former Saint Knight is something unheard of even with Divine Realm''s standards.

    For someone to reach his achievements, they will usually require a higher realm in cultivation and longer time. Raven didn''t think that his achievements were praiseworthy though, after all he got so many advantages that if he weren''t able to reach this stage, he might as well call himself useless.

    It wasn''t really a big deal to him that someone has to interfere though, he just thought that it would''ve been nicer if they at least showed themselves to him so that he can thank them properly. But he also thought that whoever helped him this time might''ve done this in purpose...maybe it''s not yet time for them to meet. At least that''s what he would like to think.

    "...anyhow, this is rather peculiar." Raven shook his head and decided to focus on what''s in front of him.

    "I didn''t know that something like this was possible - no, I should''ve known really. I mean, thews practically shown up as s'' originally. Additionally, a Cosmos is the amalgamation of Laws at work, Divine Realm functions the same way as well. So if my core could replicate something like that, then something like this should naturally be possible too."

    In this area, Raven has to admit that hepletely ignored it. Back then, he thought that his Inner Cosmos is nothing more than the central hub for his Cosmic Energy. Sure, it does have functions like being able to store objects and living beings but beyond that, Raven did nothing to actually understand it.

    Well, he did say that the Ancient Constetions appearing within his Cosmos was worth investigating but like what was established earlier, hepletely forgotten about this matter altogether. Him being busy with the affairs of the sect shouldn''t be an excuse either since he has Avatars to use for that matter.

    "Well, that needs to change then..." Raven decided.

    He expressed his silent gratitude to whoever helped him and pointed him at this direction by focusing his thoughts on his core. Sinking his consciousness within, he opened his eyes to witness the magnificent view of his Inner Cosmos.

    Streaks of milky roads following a swirling pattern, no matter how many times Raven saw it, it''s beauty never ceased to impress him. However, Raven didn''t really go here to admire the beauty of his Inner Cosmos. He''s here to unravel it''s mysteries.

    Raven dispersed his consciousness and prated every inch of the Cosmos. Despite Raven''s soul recovery, doing this was a bit challenging. Nevertheless, Raven still as time and he didn''t want to waste it. Plus, he found this activity good to get used to his fully recovered soul.

    "...let''s see." Raven''s voice echoed within the Inner Cosmos, thanks to him scattering his consciousness around, he was nothing more than a disembodied voice here but his will remained intact and in no danger of dispersing here since this was his personal domain.

    Raven''s control over all the facets of his existence could only be described as immacte. Especially with his fully recovered soul. He could see every single crumb that is present within his Inner Cosmos. Not only that, he could also feel the level of connection he has with everything he had around here. But...well, he''s not perfect. He admits that hepletely becamecent and neglected this part of him, that''s why he making up for it now.

    "Wow, this is weird." Raven''s amused voice echoed once again.

    Whilst he did this with the expectations that it wouldn''t be easy, it was really enlightening just how much he neglected this part of him after all.

    The difficulty of his current mission goes way past the ''wouldn''t be easy'' category. It was downright confusing...

    First and foremost, it was already established that a Cosmos; much like the Divine Realm itself, is the result of Laws at work. The fundamental functions and the result of Law mutations is what gave birth tond, rivers, elements, nes, stars and eventually a whole cosmos.

    He always thought that his Inner Cosmos was merely replicating that but looking at it now...there is so much more to this.

    This ce being dominated by his Destruction and Spacetime Laws was just outright weird now that he thought about it. He was pretty damn sure that the sh of thesews won''t result in the creation of a whole damn cosmos. If anything, it might result into some strange phenomenon but not at the scale of Cosmic Creation. That''s just impossible.

    That brings up something incredibly important that he neglected all this while then. How the hell was it possible for his body to support an entire cosmos?

    "Seriously, at this point I might as well be convinced that I got a damn cosmos inside my body. But then again how? How does my frail and petite body managed to support the existence of something so grand?"

    That''s not only the confusing part though...

    "...and how the hell is possible for my twows to dominate the entire thing? That shouldn''t ur, after all it will result in a massive imbnce and might very well cause my to explode. But no matter how I logically look at this, the very spectacle in front of me is proving me wrong. Again, what the hell?"

    Raven was grumbling in confusion. His state was truly confusing to him, and there''s nothing he hated more than not knowing what''s going on with his own body. He originally thought that every thing was under his control but it would seem that he got toocent.

    "Master...what the hell did you just give me? How am I supposed to understand this shit if you''re not even giving any clues? This isn''t written on the Book of Chaos!"

    Raven continued grumbling, but no matter how much heined, that doesn''t erase the fact that he needed to time topletelyprehend what''s happening here. Unfortunately, there''s just way too many things that he didn''t understand so it would take a long ass time topletely regain his control over this area.

    "...haaah. Well, there''s no other option left. I guess I have to really take things slow. Thankfully, it doesn''t seem that I have problems using my Cosmic Energy despite not knowing what''s going on. Avatars it is then."

    Raven recalled his scattered consciousness and exited the ce. When he opened his eyes from his meditation, he could see at least 50 of his Avatars standing in front of him. Without any further ado, he nodded at them and said:

    "I''ll leave it to you guys..."

    The Avatars nodded and Raven began absorbing them within his core. Once again, it felt weird for him knowing that there''s 50 copies of himself within his body, but Raven threw this notion away and focused on more important things.

    Through his connections with the Avatars, then began scattering their consciousness within Raven''s core. It''s another strange feeling but Raven adapted to it. He didn''t know that he''d be taking ''introspection'' to a whole new level but here he was.

    "This should at least pick up the pace... I just hope that I reach the adequate level when all hell breaks loose." Raven sighed and shook his head. "I''d check on the from time to time just like what I did with the rest, hopefully I get something out of this."

    If the person who saved Raven earlier could here him right now, their expression would truly be a marvel to see knowing that he has this little expectations about this.

    Nevertheless, Raven more or less achieved everything here. Right now, he wanted to rx finally since he still felt somewhat fatigued. He still have a few odd months remaining here, he ultimately decided to spend those months in rxation.

    He stood up and walked towards where his tents were. More precisely, he went towards the tent where he created his bathroom. He checked the water''s temperature and nodded when he still felt it''s warmth. He then dispersed his clothes since their made out of Laws anyway and took a dip.

    A rxed sigh escaped his lips as soon as he felt the warmth seeping through his body, in addition to the hot bath, he could also smell the fragrance of bathing oils and petals around him. This just caused Raven to feel even more rxed.

    He could feel the warmthforting his weary body. The only thing missing really is thepany of a gorgeous babe and this would''ve been a true luxury, it would''ve been perfect that gorgeous babe happens to be his wife.

    Noticing his thoughts heading this direction prompted a groan to escape from his lips as he felt longing for his dear wife.

    "Just a little more and I''ll be done here....wait for me."

 Chapter 656 - Leisurely Stroll

    ---

    *Boom!*

    *GRAAAAAGHH!!!*

    *Boom!*

    The 75th floor of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda was thrown in a massive panic and chaos. Loud explosions urred, causing bits of limbs and flesh to fly in all directions including debris. Amidst the dark and awful environment, the denizens of the 75th floor were running around in fear, trying to get away from the source of this mass genocide.

    It was such a strange sight, when one hears the word ''Devil'' an impression of a cruel, maniacal and pure evil image will register in someone''s mind and this is not wrong too, however seeing basically the definition of evil itself, running away in fear and terror, would paint an absurd scenario that many would find unbelievable.

    That begs the question; who''s precisely causing the spawn of evil itself, to run away in fear and panic?

    The answer is Raven...a lone man who dared to casually stroll in hell as if it was his backyard.

    Raven wasn''t really doing anything special. His goal was simple, he sees an abomination, he punches it. Only...it was precisely his punches which causes the wide explosions to ur which terrified the devils.

    Surrounded with a veil of white mes, Raven leisurely took his time exploring the 75th floor. If he saw something moving, he punches it of kicks it. He didn''t even bother taking out the Brush of Wisdom for this.

    All in all, his actions was really quite simple and direct. However, how exactly was he causing this much destruction?

    The answer lies to the invisible yet oppressive dome covering the entirety of the 75th floor. This was Raven''s Lord''s Domain, his domain evolved once again after his breakthrough, increasing its density and it''s coverage. Additionally, his Lord''s Domain contained profound insights of his Destruction and Spacetime Laws as well as his ughter Intent.

    This was the reason why this floor looked deste and bleak...

    Originally, this ce was arge ind teeming with devils lurking around. When Raven activated his Lord''s Domain for the first time, the area changed. The world became bleak and solemn, it also showed great unstableness and were injected with a palpable killing intent.

    All of this wasing off of Raven. As he walked towards the tall ck beam of light that pierces the heavens, he would asionally throw a punch. To the eyes of a mortal, Raven''s punch was simple. They might even call it sloppy since he wasn''t putting his back on it. However, to a trained eye, Raven''s punches were filled with concentrated intent and a titanic force behind it.

    His punches and/or kicks, in the eyes of the devils, were slow. Very much so that they thought that they could easily dodge it, however to their surprise, they will always find their bodies unable to move even a single centimeter to avoid it. They could only watch and star in awe as Ravenpletes his punch and then a massive explosion will ur. Finishing them of without being able to do anything.

    This is what greatly terrified the rest of the devils residing in the 75th floor. Never in their wildest dream would they even think that a pretty human like this has this kind of terrifying strength.

    At the very depths of their memories, they could recall them having a sh with a group of humans who would asionally shave off a few of their numbers. The humans calls it a Crusade, an event that happens every once in a while to ensure that there will be no eruptions on the upper floors.

    The devils usually didn''t care about all of this. Simply because even if the Crusade shaves off their numbers, they won''t truly die. They''d just return to the embrace of their father and they''d be reborn anew, shortly after. While on the other hand, if the humans died, they''d either turn into something like them or that''s it, they will die right then and there.

    This has always been the case all this while. But now, this human arrived and for the first time, they truly feared for their lives. This human was the worst of them all since he''s not only grossly strong, he also has the means to truly kill them once and for all.

    Devils don''t only shared connections with the Devil Emperor, they also shared connection with each other. From the moment that Raven stepped into this floor and started this massacre, they could feel their connection with the others being severed. This has never urred before and once they saw the human, they realized that he was truly killing them.

    And despite being formed from the vestiges of the Devil Emperor itself, these devils lived for a very long time and developed a small bit of ego, allowing them to possess some form of intelligence as well. To them, this human was the worst...they might be called devils, but this guy was the real devil in their eyes.

    *Whistles*

    A soft humming sound could be heard from Raven''s pouting lips as he continued on his rxed stroll in the 75th floor. He''s probably the only person in the entire sect who could raid an entire floor in this manner. Thankfully the people in the crusade aren''t with him or else they''d probably be cursing and tearing their hairs out upon witnessing this spectacle.

    "Oh, found you..."

    *Boom!*

    Raven threw a swift jab to his left and another wide explosion urred. He didn''t even bother looking at the damage he caused and just continued walking forward. There was a thin yet solid barrier that protected him from the explosions and debris, which the cleansing me made sure to incinerate the remains of the devils.

    "Ooh! Heree the big baddies..." Raven said in an amused tone as he briefly stopped on his tracks. He looked up and saw several giants rushing at him from a distance.

    One was a three headed lion covered in aegis shaped scales. It stood about 70 meters tall, it''s mane look like it was made out of fire, it''s eyes were crimson and it has a scorpion tail with the tip oozing with violet colored liquid. The records he read, called this thing a Three-Headed Devil Manticore

    The other one was a 9-headed serpent. It was about 90 meters tall, ck skin covered in violet colored scales which Raven assumed poisonous as well. Each serpent head as a white striped under belly and all were connected in a round body with a pitifully short tail. Simr to the Manticore, it''s eyes were crimson red and it was ring it''s fangs dripping in venomous green substance. This was a Nine-Headed Devil Hydra.

    And finally, the tallest of them all. Standing about 100 meters tall. It was a four-legged being and is a mixture of three things fused in one. It has a lion head with a ck mane, on top of the lion head was a goat head covered in a thick miasma of ck evil energy. It''s fur was matte ck, it also has sharp ws and fangs. Additionally, it has a serpent''s tail which posses a intelligence of it''s own. Raven met something like this before but smaller, this one should be the big boss. A Devil Chimera.

    "Nice, let''s get this over with."

    With a wave of Raven''s hand, a golden brush appeared on his hand. With a single stroke, he erected a dome which covered him. Raven''s expression changed as he drew numerous lines in the air and after twenty strokes of his brush, he stopped.

    A golden rune mixed with silver weavings appeared on his palms. Raven raised the Brush of Wisdom in the air and rune shot up in the sky, by passing the dome he erected.

    The Golden Rune rapidly increased in size until it covered the entire sky of 75th floor. The threerge devils stopped on their tracks and stared gaping at the rune. A feeling of dread crept up on their hearts and from then on, they immediately decided to rush at Raven with even more ardor than before.

    With the intelligence they have, they knew that they have to hurry and kill this human quick or else it will spell their ends. A smirk appeared on Raven''s lips as he murmured:

    "Well, aren''t you guys a lively bunch?" A chuckle escaped his lips, however Raven''s face turned cold at the very next moment and he said: "Unfortunately, you realized it a little toote."

    An oppressive weight sudden descended, crushing the remaining devils around and halting the three giants mere meters away from reaching Raven. The three giants tried their best to move but the weight pressing them down was too heavy. They could only stare in despair as the human brought down his hand and muttered:

    "Armageddon."

    The world lost it''s color, there were loud explosions nor flying debris or remains. The golden rune just exploded in and release a white light that devoured every inch of the 75th'' floor.

    When the white light disappeared, hushed rustling of winds could be heard. Raven smirked as he felt thefortable silence and saw that everything that lives in the 75th floor, were reduced to dust, scattering around with the wind.

    Raven dissipated the dome he formed around him and continued walking towards the ck beam of light while enjoying the peaceful silence.

 Chapter 657 - Contact

    ---

    "...oh? I guess we''re going this way then."

    *Swoosh!*

    "Eh? Okay, so this way?"

    *Swoosh!*

    "Ah, okay so it''s this way then..."

    *Swoosh!*

    "...make up your mind damn it!" Ravenined as he sat on his seat and felt his body swaying in opposing directions again and again.

    He was a bit annoyed by the constant changes in the trajectory causing his body to loose its bnce even when sitting down, it was mostly because he was trying to drink his warm tea but the movement was causing the tea to spill on the ground, it was a waste since this tea was pretty expensive too.

    Anyone who hears about Raven current worries would probably shot him a deadpanned look or would seriously question his priorities. How can he be worrying about his ''expensive tea'' when the world around him is in serious mayhem?

    For the sake of establishing the severity of the situation, Raven is currently sitting on a small ind protected with a rune which formed a dome-like shield. The entire world was shaking as if it was the exodus due to the titanic sized meatballs falling from the sky - which was caused by Raven by the way.

    The sea churned and waves roared. The world lost its color and numerous screams of panic and terror filled his surroundings. The sea was dyed with ck blood, the devils lurking at the depths were doing their best to ensure their survival but it was proving difficult to do just that since the meteors falling from above doesn''t appear to be stopping anytime soon.

    The only thing that remained intact was the ind Raven was in thanks to the barrier he erected. However, thanks to the chaotic movement of the sea, it was currently being swept away by the enormous waves, causing Raven to be slightly inconvenienced as he tried to drink his tea.

    Looking at the current situation, it was somewhat difficult to believe that this is the 79th floor. Normally, this is the part where a lot of people who are participating in the crusade will either fight to death or sacrifice their lived for the greater good. There are some times when the Crusade will be forcefully stopped here.

    The 79th floor is a terror since this ce is just a step closer towards the Devil Emperor''s True Domain. The floors 80th and above will be the floors where the Devil Emperor''s presence could truly be felt but it doesn''t mean that the presence of the big prisoner couldn''t seep out on the 79th floor. It could, and Raven felt it from the moment he stepped in this stage.

    Did he care though? Obviously not...

    Raven has nothing to fear so far. He doesn''t n on rubbing the Devil Emperor''s fur backwards just yet, even though he already attempted to do that before unconsciously. He''s not ready for a full-blown confrontation just yet.

    Additionally, he''s not yet under the influence of the Devil Emperor, just at the edge of it. Meaning that even if the deranged prisoner was pissed, there''s nothing it could do to him at this distance. Furthermore, Raven won''t step on the 80th floor anytime soon. He''s not ready for that just yet so this is the end of his modifications on the pagoda for now. Therefore, there''s nothing to fear.

    "...okay, that should be enough. Anymore and I might just actually destroy this whole damn floor." Raven looked up and snapped his fingers, causing the gigantic rune above him - the one responsible for spitting outrge ming meatballs, to dissipate.

    When thest batch of meteors descended, the trembling of the 79th floor gradually subsided. With time, the waves too gently subsided and the movement of the ind he was in slowed down as well. Raven was finally able to leisurely enjoy his tea without it spilling all over him.

    "Whew...that was a nice cup of tea." Raven smiled as he kept the tea set on his spatial ring. He then stood up from his seat, stretched his body a bit and chuckled: "Break time''s over then, let''s see if there are any survivors."

    *Weng!*

    Raven''s Domain exploded out from his body, the world changed color once more as every inch of it was drowned by Raven''s killing intent. Raven used his domain in order to sense if there are any devils left that survived the Meteor Shower. If there were then he''d just kill them, if there weren''t then he''d just wrap up his things here and return.

    Well...it was no surprise that weren''t any survivors this time. Even the remains of the devils that are swept by the waves are being consumed by his Cleansing mes. It''s not like the devils on the 79th floor were weak, Raven''s method was just incredibly effective that its unfair.

    Since there were no survivors left, Raven retracted his domain and walked outside of the ind. He was now headed towards the ck beam of light that will transport him to the 80th floor, walking on the surface of water.

    Even from this distance, Raven could feel the disgusting presence of the Devil Emperor. He could feel a gaze on him, if felt heavy and malicious. He wasn''t surprised that their dearest prisoner was observing what''s happening here despite this ce being literally the edge of its domain.

    He could see several tendrils of nothing but pure evil and rot wrapped around the beam of light. Still, Raven approached it fearlessly with a calm smile on his face. He wasn''t afraid nor confident. He''s just focused on one task left for him to do and that is to modify the 79th floor to his advantage.

    When he was less than fifteen meters away from the beam of light, he saw the ck tendrils shivering but not from fear, out of anger. These tendrils were like mother snakes, hissing at him threateningly and telling him not to approach any further.

    Raven shrugged and the Brush of Wisdom appeared on his hand. He began weaving lines filled with Golden and Silver energies. They twisted together and form runes that glowed and released a powerful might.

    The hissing turned louder, it was if the tendrils were giving him an ultimatum. Raven didn''t care. He continued his work when all of a sudden, several tendrils wereunched, slithering towards his direction.

    Raven showed no signs of stopping or surprise. He continued his work even with the threat of the tendrils attacking him.

    When the ck tendrils were mere inches away from him and was about to bite his head off, Raven''s body suddenly zed with white mes. Scorching the ck tendrils and causing them to screech in pain and agony.

    It didn''t stop there, the white mes swiftly spread, burning the other tendrils and crept up to the source and burned it as well. The screeching noises filled the entire 79th floor, yet it did nothing to distract Raven from his work.

    As the Cleansing mes burned away the edges of the Devil Emperor creeping through the 79th floor, Raven eventually finished his runes. He looked up and saw that the mes were burning the remains of the prisoner''s domain.

    Raven felt the gaze and started back at it. He got this impression that he''s looking at the whatever''s shrouded behind the darkness. He could feel arge influence trying to dye him in ck but Raven''s brilliant Soul and unshakable Will held on without even budging.

    He could feel that the entity was shocked, prompting Raven to chuckle.

    Had Raven wanted to, he could modified the pagoda all the way up here back then. It''s guaranteed that he''ll be able to do just that and still remain unscathed. However, knowing that there''s a chance that he will have contact with the Devil Emperor here, caused him to feel slightly threatened.

    Raven has no idea just how strong the Devil Emperor was even at its weakened state. Additionally, he''s at a disadvantage since his soul was injured back then and the chances of the Devil Emperor attempting to paint him in its colors will be high. He had read records of this being the case and the worst of them, resulted in the birth of the Allfather - who embraced the Devil Emperor''s Will.

    Now that his soul had fully recovered, this possibility was of course shattered. Even if the maniacal and demented Will of the Devil Emperor was strong, it could never hope to influence Raven at all due to his experiences before.

    "Who...are...you...?"

    A disembodied voice echoed on Raven''s ears. Raven didn''t reply, he merely smirked and pointed at the beam of light causing the runes to fly towards the beam of ck light.

    "...!"

    Even as the runes he created did their work, Raven never broke his eye-contact with the prisoner. His spirit remained serene. He could feel the Devil Emperor trying to do something to prevent whatever''s happening to ur but Raven wasn''t worried. He smirked and said:

    "Behave."

    One word was all he needed in order to piss-off the Devil Emperor, he could feel it thrashing around it''s cell but Raven couldn''t care less.

    And as the Cleansing me burned thest specks, the runes Raven created also finished materializing and the 79th floor was sessfully modified.

 Chapter 658 - Book Of Chaos: 2nd

    ---

    Inside the Crown Space, Raven was in seclusion once more.

    This time, he isn''t doing any strenuous exercise norprehending/integrating withplicated Law Insights. He was mere reviewing information that''s already nted on his consciousness.

    It was the information about the Book of Chaos'' 2nd Chapter.

    Now that Raven achieved his final transformation, it could be said that his physique was now tempered and blessed by Cosmic Energy. His foundations are all set and it couldn''t get any better than this so he had to proceed on building the tform that will take him to the peak.

    As he gradually removed the seal ced on the 2nd Chapter, Raven felt nervous. He ced his trust on his master and followed his advice to not unseal this unless he finished the 1st Chapter. Raven easily unsealed the clump of light suspended on his Spiritual Consciousness and witnessed as it exploded into motes of light that gradually fused with his consciousness.

    Raven felt dizzy for a bit but he didn''t do anything yet. Instead, he took advantage of this time to regte his breathing and pacify his nervous heart. Once he was done, the information about the 2nd Chapter was now fully integrated onto his memories.

    Spending time to slowly and meticulously scan the information, Raven eventually understood the contents of the 2nd Chapter.

    As it turns out, the second chapter is also divided into multiple stages as well. If the first chapter refer to its divisions as ''Transformations'', then the second chapter refers to it as ''Transitions''.

    The 1st Transition is called: ''The Monarch''s Road'' - which will take him to the ''Knight Monarch Realm''.

    To those who followed the orthodox path, reaching the Knight Monarch Realm requires them to deepen their understanding of Laws and fuse their insights to their Domain into to advance it to the next level. Upon reaching the realm, their domain will evolve into the Monarch''s Domain, a force that could permanently alter the state of their environment ording to their desire and nature.

    Raven has to do something simr, however since he was an over-achiever he already has the qualifications since both of his Laws reached the 3rd Concept. His Lord''s Domain is already just as, if not more, powerful than the majority of the Monarch''s Domain since typically, those people used the 2nd Concept of their Law as foundations, which okay but not enough. Some hasty ones did while their Laws are at the Base Concept which is bad. Raven has both of his Laws at the 3rd Stage so he''s already eligible for this.

    In addition to this, since Raven follows the unorthodox path, he had to do something extra. In his first Transition, he also has to integrate the Constetions that appeared on his Inner Cosmos. A very surprising detail that would normally faze him, but since he got an indirect warning not too long ago he wasn''t so surprised any more.

    The second Transition is called: ''The King''s Path'' - which will take him to the ''King Knight Realm''.

    Reaching the Knight King Realm is already enough to cause someone to be well known in the Divine Realm. This stage is one step closer to the known peak of the Knight''s Path after all. This stage is also known to be a watershed for most people. If one''s foundation iscking, reaching this real, is just impossible. Only those who put time and effort in solidifying their foundations and correcting their ws will be allowed to reach this stage, it won''t ept anyone who ''barely'' made it either.

    Those who follow the Orthodox Path will be required to Master their Laws if they want to reach this stage. This requirement is easy it say but incredibly hard to achieve. There are people who spend hundreds upon thousands of years just to reach the acme of theirw. Those who also cultivate one morews will be at a disadvantage since it will take them longer time to be ready, but if they seed however, they will be definitely be strongerpared to others.

    For Raven, he has to do more than that. If he wanted to breakthrough to this stage, he has to confront the Heavenly Laws in order to prove that his Law Mastery is genuine. This process is called ''Heavenly Debate'', something that Raven isn''t really looking forward to.

    The 3rd Transition, the one that will take him to the Empyrean Knight Realm, is called: ''The Emperor''s Reign''.

    Everyone who reached the Empyrean Knight Realm are well known people in the Divine Realm. Even those who deliberately hide their identities could still enjoy the privilege of being an Empyrean as long as it is confirmed. This is also when people decide their Empyrean Title. The title doesn''t really do much since it doesn''t contribute to the strength of the Empyrean. The title is also decided by the masses and approved by the Dawn Council.

    Those who follow the Orthodox Path will experience numerous ''Changes'' in this stages. These ''Changes'' will correspond to the foundations they''ve built upon the early stages of their Ascension - the Champion''s Physique.

    The Champion''s Physique is acquired during the Champion Knight Realm. It is divided into: Golden, tinum, Saint, Immortal, Perfected Immortal, Deity and Perfected Deity.

    This divisions are also applied in the Empyrean Changes. The final result will determine if the individual has the qualifications to challenge the known peak of Knighthood. Those who only experienced the ''Saint Empyrean Knight Change'' and below are unqualified to even dream about reaching this Divine Knight Realm.

    Of course, this isn''t always the case¡­

    There are some rumors that there was a person who only had a tinum-ranked Champion''s Physique, managed to defy the heavens and reach the Divine Knight Realm through some means. Of course this was only rumors but there are some witnesses says otherwise.

    For the Orthodox Path followers, they not only have to worry about the qualifications which were mentioned above, they also have to pay attention to the sheer amount of time and resources they need in order to make the breakthrough. Additionally, this is the stage where they have to start peeking through the Heavenly Secret Origin that resonates with them.

    The Heavenly Secret Origin is crucial in this stage since it will point them to the path where they need to go. Without it, their foundations to reach Divinity will be non-existent.

    For Raven, he roughly had to do the same, only before he could even think about breaking through, he has to make sure that he bes the Heir of the Ancestral Divine Crown first. Meaning that he had to gain the acknowledgement of all the constetions at the Monument of Stars.

    And finally, thest Transition for the 2nd Chapter, the method that will allow him to reach the Divine Knight Realm - ''The Ascension Ritual''.

    Divine Knight Realm also knows as the Realm of Divinity. Those who reached this stage are worshipped by the masses and will automatically have a say about the matters of the Divine Realm. Most of these people are part of the Dawn Council, some wanted to remain free and unaffiliated, bing hermits or wanderers.

    The amount of people who wants to step on this stage and the things they are willing to do¡­

    For the followers of the Orthodox Path, it''s no longer the problem of mastering thews. It''s about establishing a path that belongs only to them. In order to do this, they have to discover the Heavenly Secret Origin that resonates with them, once theymuned with it, that''s the only time that they could explore their limits and establish their own road, in other words - their True Divinity.

    For Raven, he needed to experience something more than that. Aside from discovering his Heavenly Secret Origin, he had to withstand the baptism of the ''Spirit World'', meaning that he has to make a trip there to form his Divinity.

    It was an absurd requirement and Raven didn''t even want to think about it for now since it gives him a massive headache.

    Geezer was too demanding. The location of the Spirit World wasn''t even mentioned in the 2nd Chapter at all. How was he supposed to find a ''Missing World'' without any clues? Additionally, the term ''Baptism'' doesn''t sound right to him, for all he know, this so called Baptism might as well be synonymous to ''Torture'' in Geezer''s vocabry.

    He''s already calling it¡­after all his Master was a conman after all.

    After making sure that he got everything correct, Raven ended his mediation and copsed on his makeshift bed. An exhausted groan escaped his lips as he stared at the tent''s ceiling.

    "¡­well, you wanted this to happen right? You subjected yourself into suffering already. You''ve been conned once more, how does it feel?" Raven mocked himself and chuckled.

    Raven could only do this much, after all he''s already in a path of no return. He already built his foundations and it''s toote for him to change anything. The only choice left for him is to follow this road and see through it to the end.

    "¡­whatever, I''m sleepy. I''ll just cross the bridge when I get there.. Hmph¡­troublesome."

 Chapter 659 - Back On Track

    ---

    "Uh, hey Raven..." Theo''s hesitant voice got Raven''s attention.

    "Yes?" Raven asked without peeling his attention away from the documents in front of him.

    "I''ve been wondering you see..."

    "Wondering about?"

    "You see, your escapades in the pagoda. You do know that were aware of it, especially me since Elder me specifically tells me about it."

    "And?"

    "I''m just wondering...do you perhaps, n on destroying the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda and/or pissing off our giant baby prisoner?" Theo said in an exasperated tone, "Elder me was being forced to endure the prisoner''s temper tantrums you see, and he''s approaching the limits of patience, that''s why he sent me to you in order to rify your intentions."

    "Bahahahaha!" Raven suddenly burst outughing in an unrefined manner too. Truly, he wasn''t expecting something like this to happen at all.

    Theo, Henry, Logan and Charles who were listening to this had different reactions but they surely had their mouth''s wide open when they witnessed the destruction that Raven caused inside.

    "Sorry about that...I was just surprised." Raven said as he calmed down himself. "Whew, anyways it is really my bad this time around. I got a little to excited this time. But to be honest, that was fun."

    "...sure. Raining down giant ming meatballs to the enemy''s base must''ve been a st." Logan chuckled, "Unfortunately, you are the only one who can do that and it''s too reckless. The whole Pagoda was shaking, I thought it was going to burst at any second then."

    "Oh my, the epitome of recklessness is telling someone they''re reckless! Is this rumored ''Pot calling the Kettle ck?'' How creepy!" Henry muttered but his voice was still audible to the people around him.

    "Shush it, you!" Logan red at Henry.

    " *Gasp!* He''s Bing self-aware! Oh no! This can''t be!?" Henry pointed at Logan with a shaking finger and mock-horror.

    "Grr..."

    "Okay, okay. You two, stop it." Charles sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Seriously, these two just can''t help themselves.

    "Okay, but in all seriousness. Dude, you have to be careful." Henry said while tapping Raven''s shoulders, "The Pagoda is not indestructible. The 10th floor should''ve been a clear sign of that."

    "Yeah, I that was reckless I agree. Don''t worry, something like that isn''t going to happen anytime soon. I don''t n on modifying the 80th floor onwards for now anyways." Raven replied.

    "Well...if you would''ve been a normal kid then it should''ve been an impossible for you to reach the 79th floor this early anyways." Theomented with wry smile, "I still want to ask though? Why are you stopping?"

    "Simply because the 80th floor onwards are already within the Domain of the Devil Emperor, I''m not really ready yet to confront him under his Domain." Raven answered, "And didn''t you tell me this yourself? The giant baby is throwing temper tantrums. It''s probably waiting for my arrival so that it could squash me into a meat paste for burning it''s beard."

    Raven chuckled as he returned his attention to the documents on his table.

    "Well, so long as you''re aware." Theo sighed and feltforted. He could rx since he knew that Raven won''t do anything that could blow out of proportion. So far, everything he has done wentpletely under his control so if he said that he has no ns on doing anything big for now, then all Theo could do was to believe him.

    "Oh by the way, how''s the other War Gods doing?" Raven was curious, he didn''t really get many chances of interacting with them since he had been busy these past few weeks as well so he wanted to know how they were adjusting so far.

    "They''re getting back to the rhythm of things." Charles replied for them, "It was awkward at first but since you discussed the n with them so far, they''re slowly getting under the routine."

    "Captain Levi in on fire though." Loganmented, "That dude was really into it. Every time I see him, I get this feeling that his eyes were burning with passion. Seriously, I don''t even think he''s resting properly."

    "Well, that''s not really surprising though. This isn''t the first time we saw him acting this way anyways? He always ends up in this state whenever he felt responsible." Henrymented as well.

    "This time was close-shave too, that''s why he''s being specifically strict not only to the disciples but also to himself." Theo said with a defeated sigh. "Well, at least we be vacant for quite some time."

    "He''s really into it huh?" Raven murmured, "Weird, but for some reason I think I can see that Paolo should''ve been bothering him at this point."

    "Oh, he won''t." Henry chuckled.

    "Yep, he seriously won''t. Don''t worry about that." Theo nodded as well.

    "Eh? Why?" Raven was confused.

    "Paolo is dumb but he''s not that dumb." Logan answered, "When ites to Levi, he''s especially sensitive. He understands why Levi was doing all of this and probably decided to leave him alone for now so that they won''t fight."

    "Yes, he''s most likely feeling that way." Charles added, "And unlike Levi, Paolo knows that he''s not that patient and wise so he''s distracting himself by doing what he does best."

    "And by ''what he does best'', exterminating some Devils?" Raven asked, his inquiry was answered by the four nodded at him. "Huh, so he should be somewhere above right now then?"

    "He should be...maybe he''s below too. Who knows? Anyways, don''t worry about them, they''re doing just fine."

    "If you say so then, okay."

    ---

    "...how can this be?"

    A disembodied voice lost amidst a thick fog suddenly appeared. It''s tone was filled with disbelief, surprise, shock and faint horror.

    "Who!? Who the hell did this!?"

    The disembodied voice suddenly eximed in anger, the voice was as loud as a thunderp, causing the surrounding fog to ripple ever so slightly.

    All of a sudden, a pair of eyes materialized and gazed at the thick fog blocking its surroundings. The pair of eyes looked scary. The eyes scanned it''s surroundings while a faint crimson light was being released from its irises.

    "Damn this ursed fog! I still can''t see a damn thing!"

    "No! This isn''t what they promised me! This can''t be happening! They told me! They promised that they will get rid of this damned fog! Why is it still here!"

    "Heretic! Are you there!? Answer me! Why!? Why haven''t you fulfilled your promise yet!? You need me, free me!!!"

    Unfortunately, despite it''s erupting fury, nobody answered. The fog remained how it was as before. It was as thick as it remembered and was still blocking his sight, imprisoning him to this damned ce despite the promise that was made.

    "Damn you, Heretic! Had I known that a bug like you will take advantage of me, I should''ve squashed you like the bug you are back then!?"

    "Geez! So noisy!"

    "Who!?"

    The pair of eyes and disembodied voice were utterly shocked. The eyes searched everywhere but to it''s dismay, it failed to see where the voice came from.

    "Woah, I guess you really can''t see past this fog huh?" The other disembodied voice let out an amused chuckled after saying this!

    "Who the hell are you!? Show yourself! Stop hiding behind this damned fog!"

    "Don''t wanna, stupid!" A rather childish reply was heard, causing the pair of eyes to narrow dangerously.

    "What the hell do you want!? Who are you!?" The pair of eyes continued searching, hoping to see even a silhouette of the other voice. "Are you the Heretic!? If you are, then fulfill your promise already! Do you want to die!?"

    "What promise? I don''t recall promising anything to you though?"

    "You did!! You promised that in exchange for my Ears, Skin and my Lips, you will free me from my imprisonment." The disembodied voice sounded desperate and urgent as it followed up with: "You better fulfill your promise now or else I will trigger the Oath and you will die!"

    "Heh...do it then. I dare you." The other disembodied voice provoked. "You think I''m afraid you, stupid?"

    "Damn you! You leave me with no other choice then! Die!!!"

    A sh of crimson light exploded from the eyes of the disembodied voice. This was probably what it meant when it said that it will trigger the oath.

    What made the disembodied voice feel weird is that, it heard no dying noises nor even a groan of pain, the fog remained thick and no ripples happened nearby.

    "Man, it''s just like what Little Young Lord just said, patience isn''t really your thing huh?" The pair of eyes quaked in shock as it heard the other disembodied voice still present and most likely alive.

    "H-how..."

    "Not only you''re noisy and impatient, you''re also stupid too. Well, thanks for making my job easier and boring as well." The other voice sounded rather dejected as it said this.

    All of a sudden, the fog around them ripple intensely and before the pair of eyes and disembodied voice can say anything, a massive totem fell from the sky, squashing down the pair of eyes into a meat paste.

    Standing on top of the totem, was a man with anrge physique and a pair ofrge horns coiling around his neck. A snort was heard as he said:

    "Where should I head next?"

 Chapter 660 - Fog Wanderers

    ---

    "...you killed it?"

    "Uh, yeah."

    Raven inhaled sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose, he felt a massive headache creeping in thus he asked: "Did you kill it without asking for my opinion or did I just forgot about giving you the go signal? Which one happened?"

    "Uhh..." Paolo was sweating as he saw Raven''s expression, he felt rather awkward as he stutteringly said: "U-m...I-uh...I-It''s the former."

    "Haaaah!" Raven released an exhausted sigh which almost sounded like a groan. He massaged his temples and went silent for a bit.

    ''Yep, he is reckless. Dang it.'' Raven scolded Paolo in his mind as his thoughts elerated. Raven immediately notified the Avatars he left at the Private Chambers to monitor the situation, giving them orders as he did so.

    Raven''s silence felt ominous to Paolo. It also didn''t help that there were four other people around them who were giving him judgmental gazes. Paolo wanted to weep but had no tears, how''s he supposed to know that he needed to tell Raven first before killing that huge pair of eyes and disembodied voice? He thought that Raven already gave them the go signal when he told them about their existence.

    *Swoosh!*

    Paolo shivered. The other four snickered when they saw him reacting that way. The people here didn''t even need to look up to know who just arrived. The sound of pping wings and the piercing gaze that Paolo felt prating through his soul were enough clues to know who this was.

    Levinded behind Paolo, his gaze was cold and furious, Paolo felt a prickling sensation on his skull. He sweated coldly and smiled in a defeated manner. He then thought to himself...

    ''This is it, goodbye world. It was nice knowing you. He''s either going to kill me or castrate me. I''m done for.''

    "It seems that my gut feeling was correct." Levi''s icy voice caused Paolo to shiver uncontrobly on his seat. "What did this idiot do?"

    "He killed one of the Fog Wanderers." Henry snickered beside Paolo, telling Levi the long and short of it.

    Levi''s expression darkened even further upon hearing that. He smiled coldly and said: "Hoho, excellent work."

    He said so but he pulled out a sword from his spatial ring. Paolo was trembling, he didn''t even need to look behind to see what kind of face Levi was making. He in deep shit right now and he had no one to me other than himself.

    "Castration it is..." Levi''s voice sounded merciless. Paolo panicked and wanted to defend himself but he can''t muster up strength to stand up against Levi''s wrath.

    "Calm down. It''s okay."

    As if granting Paolo sce and salvation, Raven''s words were just on time to prevent Levi from cutting off Paolo''s horns. Paolo''s shoulder''s drooped down as if he was released from life or death situation. He then looked at Raven with a face filled with gratitude.

    "...I''ve checked with the Avatars just now. The enemy camp in panic since one of their Leader''s died. However, someone came to pacify them. I don''t think they''ll schedule the war earlier with just this. If anything, I bet they''re already expecting it."

    "In short, no Castration...for now at least." Raven of course didn''t forget to give Paolo a tired gaze which contained all the message Paolo needed to know.

    Levi, hearing Raven''s words, snorted and ce his sword back to his spatial ring. However, he just couldn''t let this one slide so he needed to give Paolo a good lesson.

    *WHAM!*

    Summoning a spiked wooden club, Levi mercilessly whacked Paolo''s head with enough force to shatter the damn thing. Paolo flew to the other side of the room, feeling dazed and seeing stars for a brief moment.

    "...there goes the rest of his brain cells." Theo muttered as he slumped down on his chair, hisment caused the others to chuckle softly.

    Paolo hadn''t even recovered fully from the surprise attack when he saw Levi''s furious face near him. He shivered as he tried to prepare himself for a good scolding. Levi pinched both of his cheeks and started stretching them.

    "You! Y-you!!!" Levi was releasing his pent up stress on stretching Paolo''s cheeks. "How many times do I need to freaking tell you to not be careless!! You idiot!! You big, big idiot!!"

    "Woah, Captain must''ve been feeling a bit stressed from work. Even his manner of speech is impaired right now." Henrymented as they witnessed the spectacle of Levi stretching Paolo''s cheeks in unnatural angles.

    ''S-sorry! I really didn''t know-ack!!'' Paolomunicated through voice transmission since he really can''t use his lips with what Levi''s currently doing, however Levi''s just really stressed.

    "Sorry!? That''s what you say!? You big horny idiot!!! Because of your recklessness, you nearly caused the enemy camp wage war on us earlier than expected!! You know how much work there is left to do!? Huh? You obviously don''t since you''re stupid! Stupid idiot!!!" Levi was now grasping Paolo''s cor and shaking him.

    The other''s watched the development in amusement, it was really a sight to see when Levi''s this incensed, especially if Paolo''s stupidity was it''s cause.

    "Be freaking thankful that Young Lord stopped me from castrating you, you big stupid idiot!? Have you thanked him already!? Thank him!! Or do you still need me to teach you that you stupid son of a bitch!?"

    Those who have the Heavenly Taotie Bloodline flowing them, will inevitably grown horns. The stronger they get, the longer and thicker their horns get. They take pride in their horns, much like how the winged-race symbolizes their wings with power, those who have horns do the same.

    The major difference is that, if Paolo''s horns were cut, he''ll get weaker and his physique will get smaller as well. Additionally, it will also affect his libido as well as his reproductive ability, so it''s no different from Castration really.

    ''I-I...I already - ack! Stop shaking me, I can''t focus!''

    "Thank him!!!"

    The audience were now roaring inughter. Raven shook his head and went silent once more.

    Although he said that they were fine for now, it''s just a temporary thing. What Paolo did was really reckless and dangerous, Levi acting this way was justified since it was highly possible that the war might ur earlier than they expected.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect is located in a pocket dimension. It rests within the Mount Olympus itself, which also serve as the outer seal for the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. Outside of the sect however, was a vast and expansivend nketed in white fog. Nobody lives there simply because thend became inhabitable.

    Thend was damaged permanently due to the conflict between the Sect and the Exiles. In addition, there are certain creatures left in there that roams around thend, searching for ways to infiltrate the sect. These are lower creatures that apanied the Devil Emperor back when it was still free. After the Devil Emperor was sealed, all of them were sealed on thend rather hastily but since they carry out the Will of the Devil Emperor as well, they don''t really die.

    The white fog that nketed thend outside was a defense mechanism created in order to not only impair the senses of these creatures but to also imprison them. The sectbeled these creatures as ''Fog Wanderers'' since they are cursed to forever be lost in the samend where they were defeated.

    The Exiles made contact with these Fog Wanderers though, offering them freedom in exchange of something. The Fog Wanderers wanted to regain their freedom so they consented with Life Oath.

    Raven was still researching the contents of their Oath. The Exiles promised to free the Fog Wanderers but what did the creatures gave to the Exiles? And who amongst the many people at their enemy base signed the Oath? That''s what he wanted to know.

    Raven originally wanted to take things slow however, Paolo just gave him a big scare and pushed the ball rolling. Right now, his Avatars were still informing him that the enemy camp were shaken since the contractor of the one Paolo killed was one of the big shots in their ranks. Seeing their leader suddenly turning into ash really spooked them and they are now in full alert. Even spying at them in real time bes risky.

    ''Still, I don''t think that this is enough for them tounch a pre-emptive war. At worst, they''d just rece the dead guy and move along. Like I said, they should''ve been expecting this to happen anyway.''

    When Raven''s attention snapped back to reality, he saw Levi standing over the unconscious Paolo who''s mouth was frothing. Only the whites of his eyes were visibly and his body was twitching. He could also see that Paolo''s cheeks were sagging, probably due to Levi''s relentless assault.

    "Is he dead?" Raven asked.

    "Kind of, but not really." Theo replied. For some reason, Raven understood what he meant.

    He then saw Levi picking up Paolo''s unconscious body, carrying him on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. He then looked at Raven and said:

    "I apologize for this guy. I''ll tie him up at home so that he won''t make thingsplicated again. Please, excuse us."

    With that, Levi took off with the unconscious Paolo.

 Chapter 661 - Big Turtle

    ---

    A month passed since Paolo slew one of the Fog Wanderers.

    During this whole month, Raven remained in full alert just in case somethinges up. Fortunately, it seems that the situation was diffused before things gotplicated. Although he was already expecting such oue, it''s still a relief to see that it actually happened.

    In order for something like this to not happen again, Raven started a meeting and reminded them about the exact n. He made sure that everyonepletely understood what he''s trying to do since they don''t really have much room for adjustments.

    When everything settled down, Raven''s schedule lightened up even more so than before. This allowed him to have more time to train, and he never missed out on it.

    Today, he''s sitting inside one of the cultivation rooms. He was cross-legged, with his eyes closed. He''s digesting some insights of the Avatars within his Inner Cosmos. All of a sudden, he opened his eyes and let out a long sigh.

    He opened his palms, revealing several clusters of what looked like miniature stars, dancing on top of his palms. With a thought, these cluster of stars formed different constetions, causing weird phenomenon to ur around Raven.

    Another sigh could be heard from Raven, he looked at the stars with aplicated gaze as he said:

    "Man, I missed out on so many things..." Raven groaned, "Had I known that I became capable of harnessing the power Constetions once I got their acknowledgement, I could''ve done so many things with it."

    Harnessing a fraction of a Constetion''s power - this is probably the biggest secret that he discovered once he started researching his Inner Cosmos more. Raven can''t believe that he waspletely unaware of such benefit and it drives him crazy since he could do so many things with it.

    ''Extreme Yang Illumination'' allows him to infuse the Laws of ''Bright Yang'' onto things. ''Extreme Yin Silhouette'' allows him infuse ''Illusory Yin'' Laws to things. ''Five-Elemental Ster Formation'' gives him ess to base level of ''Fire, Water, Earth, Wood and Metal Laws''. The ''Continuum Star Cluster'' makes it easier for him to wield ''Spacetime Laws'' and could even make his journey to the Spacetime Void safer. ''Great Annihtion Star Formation'' could boost his Destruction Laws and even allow him to momentarily borrow the 5th Concepts of Destruction Laws which is Annihtion on his next attack.

    There are still other Constetions within him that''s waiting to be discovered, there''s even more waiting for him at the Monument of Stars.

    And this just within one month of research, considering the fact that these Constetions had been inside him, marinating for a long time, Raven now desired to wring them out of their use in order to satisfy his frustrations.

    He hadn''t mastered any of this yet. Just receiving the acknowledgement of a Constetion doesn''t end there, he had to personally learn all of them in order to widen his arsenal of powers. Such is the true inheritance befitting of the Next Heir.

    "Thankfully, it''s still rather early when I discovered it. I think I need to reach the 8th level of Myriad Incarnations Scripture soon in order to make this process a little bit faster.

    Raven sighed some more and stood up. He did some light stretches and went silent for a bit. His thoughts were centered on the matters of the sect for now, deciding what to do.

    In the end, he could only smile wryly and say: "The hell...I''ve be such a busybody that I don''t have any idea on what to do during my day-offs. I''ve divided the task so well that I really have nothing to do for now."

    Shaking his head for a bit, heughed and said: "Whatever, I guess I''ll take it easy for now."

    Raven then went towards the bathroom to enjoy a warm bath and rx for a bit.

    ---

    "Have you thought about this clearly?"

    "Yes, I do Master."

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes, I am sure Master."

    "Are you really, really sure?"

    "..."

    "Alright, geez. No need to look at me like that." An old man snorted as he saw his disciples making a grumpy expression. The old man sighed and continued: "Well, it seems that I really can''t dissuade you. I don''t need to remind you that the ce you n on visiting is extremely dangerous."

    "I am aware of that, Master. However, I need some stimtion. Nobody in this ce could stand-up against me anymore." The disciple made a rather helpless expression when he said this.

    "Tch. Isn''t it because you literally you''re too perverted that nobody likes to fight you?" The old man clicked his tongue.

    "Master, stop ndering me. I am loyal to my wife but I can''t help it if people are attracted to my awesome handsomeness." The disciples shamelessly proimed, causing the old man to snort in disdain.

    "You and your self-confidence...whatever. Do as you please, but don''t be reckless. Retreat if you find yourself unable to proceed of it gets too dangerous. Understand?"

    "Yes, Master."

    "Off you go then. Take one of my talismans, just in case."

    The disciples graciously received the talisman and bound it to him. He kowtowed to his Master and left the wide hall in silence. Upon exiting the hall, therge doors automatically closed behind him. He didn''t pay this any mind and continued walking forwards, he has somewhere to be and he wanted to get there as quickly as he could.

    "Yo, Prince! How''d it go?"

    A voice suddenly interrupted the disciples thoughts, he looked to his right and saw a person walking right next to him.

    "I got permission, Evan. I n on going there right away." The disciple replied.

    "Ooh! I don''t know if I should congratte you or if I should condemn you for being suicidal."

    "Okay, why does everybody has no faith in me? That ce wouldn''t have been here if all it offers were dangers right?"

    "Oh, no I agree with that. However, it''s just not worth it in our opinion, you on the other hand, is a madman for wanting to go there. And as for the matter about why the entrance of that ce is here, beats me."

    "...I heard that at the bottom of that ce, the remains and/or inheritance of arge turtle could be found."

    When the guy named Evan heard the disciple''s'' words, he was so shocked that his mouth flew wide open and he stopped on his tracks. The disciple noticed his reaction which caused him to sigh, he thought that it would''ve been wiser for him to stay silent, but it''s toote now.

    "You are..." Evan was still gobsmacked, but he shook his head andughed mirthlessly. "Truly a madman! Are you even certain of that?"

    "I''m not." The disciple replied truthfully.

    "So you mean to say that you''ll risk your life in there just to confirm a baseless rumor?" Evan asked.

    "...yeah, I guess." The disciple shrugged and continued walking.

    "H-hey! Damn, you are just..." Evan couldn''t believe this guy. "Why go that far though? Why are you in such a hurry? You''re talented enough to have a bright future, why risk your life over something uncertain?"

    The disciple sighed upon hearing that, yet he didn''t stop walking. Evan just continued following the guy until they exited the building.

    "They - no, my wife she..." The disciple sighed and continued with a rather helpless voice. "She went to find the inheritance of the Big Bird."

    "Your wife...Princess Vermillion? And by the Big Bird you mean..."

    "Yeah..."

    "Well, good for her. But from what I know, that much should''ve been expected. I mean,pared to the other Guardian Sects, the camp of the Big Birds are being guarded by the Big Birds themselves."

    "And that what makes this sad...we don''t have a Big Turtle guiding us anymore..."

    "Your Master is one, have you forgotten?"

    "Not enough..."

    "Eii! I don''t know what to do with you anymore! Seriously? Is your reason really just wanting to be at an even standing with your wife? You don''t really have to go this far right? And I''m sure that Princess Vermillion wouldn''t mind."

    The disciple sighed and paused in his tracks, he then looked at Evan and said: "You''re right. I have other reasons why I''m doing this. However, I can''t tell you that. Just know that I won''t risk my life for nothing."

    "...alright, I guess I really can''t dissuade you. Whatever, just make sure toe back alive Paul."

    "Will do, thanks Evan. You can go back now, Mira''s probably freshening up for you." Paul grinned and gave Evan a knowing look before walking away.

    "Y-you!!"

    Paul could only chuckle however once there was nobody following him, his face regained its seriousness. Eventually, he arrived at the edge of a tall cliff, he peered down and saw pitch darkness. Paul inhaled sharply, he also had this impression that someone or something was making eye-contact with him.

    After calming himself down, Paul grinned fiendishly and said: "Wait for me down there, Big Turtle.. I''ming for that shell."

 Chapter 662 - Magma Dip, Severed Inheritance

    ---

    "Hey, did you just increase the heat?"

    "Nope."

    "I''m pretty sure you did."

    "I''m pretty sure I told you I didn''t."

    "Did you really not?"

    "Yes, I didn''t."

    "Are you lying?"

    "Nope."

    "Hey! It''s getting hotter though!? You''re lying aren''t you!?"

    "God fucking damn it Ellen! You''re holding me in your palms! If I did increase the fucking heat, then I would''ve incinerated your hand! Stop asking questions!!"

    "Geez, you didn''t have to curse. I was just asking." Ellen pouted as she her shoulder slumped on her seat.

    The small bird that Ellen held snorted in annoyance and didn''t bother saying anything back. It just closed it''s eyes and tried to calm itself down since if it doesn''t, then it might just end up doing what Ellen was using of it.

    Both of them are currently resting in a very peculiar ce. This ce is called the Vermillion Bird''s Spring, in truth however it''s the mouth of a huge volcano.

    A scorching heat nketed the whole ce, bright orange magma flowed onto creeks and crevices, leaving only small tforms to stand up on. Anybody who came here will always get the impression that the heat was slowly increasing which is why it is no wonder why Ellen''s reacting like this.

    This ce is extremely hot, not even those who practice Fire Laws are exempted from this hear, practitioners of Water/Ice Laws would suffer even more in ce since they''d be recognized as an enemy.

    Despite the horrible heat of this ce, Ellen still ended up going. She just can''t pass up the opportunity to do so. Like they always say; great opportunities lies within the depths of a great adversity. The Vermillion Bird''s Spring is a very dangerous area, many people lost their lives exploring this ce since ancient times but those who managed to survive experienced great boons that transformed their lives.

    Currently, Ellen and her familiar - the small fire bird she''s holding onto, were taking a dip on magma. Yes, these two are treating this ce as a hot spring. Such a dangerous act will make a lot of people think that Ellen had lost her marbles but in reality, this is the correct way to do this.

    The opportunity she''s looking for, lies on the depths of this spring. Meaning that she''ll eventually have to dive down anyways, so there''s no difference on doing this now orter.

    "...it''s getting harder to concentrate." Ellen said softly as he brows were pressed together while her eyes remained close.

    "If you have the time and mental capacity toin, use it to focus instead. You''ll hurt yourself if you''re not careful. This isn''t normal magma."

    "Don''t sound so ominous! You''re making me nervous!" Ellenined once more as she took a deep breath and tried to focus harder.

    ''I was just reminding you, tch.'' The familiar inwardlyined but it focused as well.

    Even without Ellen vocallyining, the small fire bird could feel the tiny maws anxiety gnawing at her heart. It didn''t want to break Ellen''s focus and concentration since it''s really challenging to maintain it at this state.

    It had to be known that Ellen didn''t erect any protective film of energy on her body. She used her delicate naked body to confront the magma directly despite knowing that it''s not a normal one.

    What they''re doing isn''t simple. The process wasn''t shy, it didn''t even have any signs of urring but it''s definitely happening. Ellen''s currently devouring the Heat Essence of the Magma to increase the temperature of her own mes while also pushing her naked physique to adjust to the heat of the surface magma.

    The Vermillion Bird Faction gave her some known information about this ce. One thing that she has to look out for is that the heat will increase the deeper she goes. It was certain that she will have to dive deep into this ce and she has some stuff to save herself in case of emergency. Additionally, this ce has some unfriendly locals that won''t hesitate to attack her, therefore she needed to be on guard.

    ''I can''t let this ce defeat me!'' Ellen strengthened her resolve, ''I need to be stronger, more stronger than I currently am! I can''t allow Raven to always bear the burden! I can''t be left behind!''

    Ellen gritted her teeth as she recalled some unpleasant memories. In order to achieve their goal, she has to persevere.

    ''My current goal, is to reach the core of this ce and increase the potency of my bloodline! Failure is not an option!''

    ---

    "Gahahaha!! Bring some more liquor! Come on! Don''t be shy! I''m paying for it so enjoy yourselves to the fullest."

    "Ooooohhhh!!!" The crowd erupted into a boisterous cheers andughter as they celebrated.

    The man of the hourughed madly as he downed another mug filled to the brim with expensive alcohol. His cheeks were flushed and his heart pounded in sheer ecstasy as he flirtatiously fondled the breast of the woman who''s sitting beside him. Her flirtatious looks, coquettish attitude and lovely but faint moans caused the man to obscenely smile.

    "H-hey...no fair. Me too."

    A meek voice sounded to his other side. He looked over and saw another voluptuous woman rubbing her assets to him, crying for his attention. His manly pride bloated upon seeing this so heughed and said:

    "My bad, gorgeous. Come here, I''ll give you a big sloppy kiss." The man leaned over and did what he just said, pulling the woman closer and fondling her ass as he did so.

    *Whistles!!*

    "Damn, Boss! A beauty left and right!? So formidable!" One of the thugs whistled andmented, causing amotion within the pub.

    "As expected from the Big Boss. You''re making us very jealous though!"

    "Hey! It seems that this ind will experience some strong earthquakester. Brace yourselves people."

    "Gahahahah, you buffoons got some big talk huh! Wanna die?" The big boss pulled out from kissing the gorgeous babe beside him and reacted to the jeers of his men. "But you''re right though, there''ll be some earthquakester so go get some babes for yourselves too! We''re going to rock this ind tonight fuckers!!"

    "YEAAAAH!!"

    "So you two best be prepared as well." The Big Boss winked at the women beside him, causing them to feel flustered. The one on his right felt a bit shy but didn''t object it. The on the left though...

    "Mnnn~, Big Man wants to bully me~" Her voice wasced with seductions and temptation. She bit her lips and moaned as she boldly grabbed the big boss'' thick arms and ced on her most private area.

    The Big Boss'' eyes widened but his mind was influenced by alcohol and obscenity that he didn''t hesitate to get a good feel of that part of hers.

    "Hoh? I like this a lot...wet and slippery already..." the Big Boss had this wide and obscene grin on his face. He leaned in closer and asked: "Do you want me to bully you now?"

    "Mmhmm~" The woman coquettishly nodded her head eagerly at the invitation. "Bully me a lot, please Big Man~"

    "Gahahaha." The Big Boss couldn''t take it anymore, he grabbed the prostitutes and slipped out of the party to fulfill his desires, the women were let out surprised gasps but they giggled afterwards.

    Once they reached the room, the Big Boss mmed it shut and he threw the women in bed. He licked his lips as he saw them slowly peeling off their clothes. His eyes were so focused on them, intent on not missing out even the slightest blemish on their provocative bodies.

    The man also began taking off his clothes, he was dead set on releasing all of his pent up frustrations that he didn''t even noticed that someone entered the door.

    "Kyaaaah!!!"

    "Hn? What!? What are you screa-aaarrggghhhh!!!!" The man howled in pain as he brought his hands on his crotch only to find it missing. His eyes widened in fear and disbelief as he saw blood pouring out like a broken dam. He continued to how in pain but a voice suddenly interrupted him.

    "Tone it down, geez. You didn''t lose much anyway, only three inches of useless flesh."

    The voice sounded cold and apathetic. The Big Boss turned his head only to find a man with a crimson colored hair leaning on the beams of the windows while wiping the blood off his sword with a towel. The man wasn''t even looking at him.

    "Who are you! You''re going to pay for this!!!" The Big Boss mustered all of his remaining strength to summon his weapon to avenge his cut-off member but not even two steps forward, his torso slid-off of his body.

    Even in his death, he remained confused. He could only re at the man with resentment as he lost the light on his eyes.

    "All people downstairs are dead. Whether you leave this ce as is or you rob them clean of their wealth before doing so doesn''t concern me."

    The crimson haired man said to the prostitutes before grabbing the head of the big boss and disappearing like a ghost.

    As he travelled back to his home, the crimson haired man muttered: "This should be enough for the next promotion. That should get me more resources then."

    "...I should visit Anne before going back though.. It''s been while, anyway."

 Chapter 663 - Fairy Evergreen, Winged Lady

    ---

    "Let''s go everyone. Remember to follow the n alright? If you don''t then you''re going to die."

    "Yes, Sir!"

    A man leading a squad of armed warriors d in different shades of armor, marched out of the inn. As the crowd saw theirpany, the instinctively made way for them. Some people even showed panicked reactions and hurriedly locked their doors and windows. The kids who were ying outside were called back by their parents and were warned to not take a step out of their home.

    It didn''t take a long time for the whole area to be deserted. Everyone remained within their homes, praying to different deities, begging them to grant them protection for whatever''s going to happen next.

    Thepany of armed men paid their actions no mind. Whether the civilians were bold enough to watch whatever''s going to happen or lock themselves up within their home has nothing to do with them. Their focus is with their task since if they fail this, they are going to die.

    "So where are our targets this time?" The leader of the armed men asked one of his subordinates. Someone stepped forward and reported to him.

    "Sir! ording to the intel, the target wasst found visiting the nearby forest. It is said that she was harvesting some vegetables to sell to the locals, Sir!"

    The leader looked at this guy and asked him: "Do you know where this forest is?"

    "Yes, Sir!"

    "What is your name?"

    "Sir! This recruit''s name is Barry, Sir!" The recruit stood upright and saluted.

    "Barry eh? Good work. Lead us there and if you can find our target, you''ll receive a bonus from me if we''re sessful." The Leader said to him.

    The recruit''s face lightened up, he stood straight and saluted the leader, saying: "d to be of service, Sir! This way please!"

    Barry walked forward and began leading the men towards the forest that he told them. As he kept leading the team, the leader gazed looked at Barry''s back with a peculiar expression. Behind the leader were the men who''s looking at Barry with mixed reactions. Some were snickering in disdain, some were plotting while some were mostly indifferent.

    Barry was a new recruit on this team. He had just joined a few days ago, meaning that this was his first mission. Anyone can tell that he''s trying his best to make a name for himself by volunteering and making a good impression.

    Whether this is a good move or not, only time will tell...

    Meanwhile, Barry kept leading the army towards the forest. It didn''t take them long before they were able to see the forest that he was talking about since it was just literally at the opposite side of the vige they were previously in, just a kilometer away from the southern exit.

    As they reached the entrance of the forest, Barry retreated towards the side of the leader and bowed at him. The leader nodded with a nd face, he then looked at his men and yelled:

    "Alright, team. We''re about to enter this forest. This is an unknown territory to us so beware. Keep your guard up and pay attention to your surroundings. If you see our target, warn me through voice transmission, make as little noise as you could."

    "Understood, Sir!"

    "Okay, let''s move out." The leader signaled and the team went into a formation as they slowly made their way inside the forest.

    This forest wasn''t so big, the ground was uneven and there were a lot of insects around. Moving inside this ce was a little bit challenging considering the fact that the team isn''t used to this kind of environment yet they were still making a swift progress considering that they''re moving as a unit.

    Everyone was alert, they were constantly looking around to see where their target was. Some were searching some tracks that might lead them to her while others were spreading their senses around.

    ''Sir! I found trail footprints here!'' Barry sent a voice transmission to everybody, causing them look at him in surprise.

    The leader made his way towards Barry only to see him crouching down while looking solemnly at the rather fresh trail of footprints in front of him. The leader was surprised even more, he then said:

    "Good job, Barry. Men! Come with me, our target''s this wa-"

    The leader couldn''t even finish his words since his head suddenly exploded.

    Under the horrified gazes of the crowd, the leader''s body fell down with a solid thump. Panic descended to the team as they hurriedly tried to enter a formation while searching for the culprit. However, onught of the invisible enemy just began.

    One by one, their heads exploded like watermelons. Nobody managed to see any attacks, not even a trace of the enemy''s shadow was seen. In the end, they could only try run away from this forest but none of them managed to do so.

    "Whew...that was anti-climactic."

    Barry pouted as he unceremoniously stood up and dusted off his armor. He''s the only one left, but from his expression, it would seem that he was expecting this to happen.

    All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew beside him and Barry immediately prostrated.

    "I pay respects to Fairy Evergreen!"

    A silhouette of a voluptuous woman wearing a long green dressnded beside him. She smiled at the prostrating man, she then gave him an pouch filled with money as she said: "I told you, Anne is fine. Well, here''s your cut. Keep them banditsing okay, Little Barry~"

    "Y-yes, Ma''am!" Barry shivered and graciously epted therge pouch of money with glistening eyes and trembling hands. He then kowtowed towards the woman and hurriedly exited her domain.

    Fairy Evergreen - also known as Anne Fiore, turned around as her expression changed into a serious one.

    "Just a little bit more, and I''ll be able to liberate this ne. That should me a promotion when I return to the sect..."

    ---

    "Keep those shield''s up!! Stay strong men!! We have to endure!!"

    "For Freedom!!"

    "Liberation!!"

    "Death to our enemies!!"

    "We shall be victorious!!"

    In a vast battlefield, loud war cries could be heard from two opposing camps shing with each other. This was a battle between the Kael Empire against the Nuel Empire. One was defending while the other was attacking.

    The Kael Empire was a peaceful empire it was prosperous and it''s citizens were living within thefort of their tall walls. All of a sudden, a new empire was born on the opposite side of the continent. It only took them a decade to rise up to glory and they started eyeing the prosperous Kael Empire. The Nuel Empire''s King wage war without any warnings, he didn''t even consider negotiating with the King of the Kael Empire at all.

    The war was cruel, many soldiers of the Kael Empire died under the relentless assault of the Nuel Empire. The Kael Empire couldn''t believe how the Nuel Empire managed to rise their soldiers this strong with just a decade of foundation.

    What''s even more strange is that, the soldiers of the Nuel Empire were strange. They don''t go down easily, they''re like undead who managed to rise up even with fatal injuries.

    "Kuhahahaha! Die, mongrels!! Yes! Die!!"

    A man within the Nuel Empire''s camp stared at the crystal ball in front of him. The crystal ball disyed the scenes of war. The man shivered in excitement as his body radiated with a ck aura, his maniacal expression became even more twisted as more people died.

    "As expected...a sewer rat was behind this senseless massacre."

    A voice suddenly echoed within the man''s tent. Upon hearing that voice, the man''s expression suddenly froze. He mechanically looked behind him and saw a fair woman wearing a long white dress, sitting on a golden chair while elegantly sipping on tea.

    ''She managed to infiltrate this tent without triggering the barriers and traps I prepared. How?'' The man was puzzled and alerted.

    "...who might you be, Young Missy? How did you enter this camp? I don''t remember inviting you in."

    "A talking rat...fancy that." Thedy replied while coldly ncing at the man.

    The man''s expression twisted in anger, he raised his body hands covered in ck aura and pointed at thedy, to his surprise however, before he could manage to do that, his arm slid off of his shoulders.

    "KYAAAHCCK!!"

    "Using that shriveled thing to point at me...how dare you, insect." Thedy stood up and red at the man.

    "Who are you!!!!???"

    "Find out in hell, Lich."

    Four pairs of wings unfolded behind thedy as she threw ance made out of golden light at the gobsmacked man. As the goldennce prated his body, the man dissipated into ash instantly.

    The Lady snorted and the wings behind her back pped. She re-appeared above the Nuel Empire and released a blinding golden radiance that wiped out the entire civilization.

    She then looked at the opposite camp that''s in despair with a mncholic work. She then muttered:

    "...if my husband were there, the same thing might''ve happened to Final Haven Kingdom."

    She raised her hand and a warm wave of golden light nketed the empire. The golden light healed and rejuvenated the injured soldiers and wiped out the traces of the Lich''s residual energy. The light also revived the soldiers that gave up their lives for their kingdom.

    Seeing their celebratory mood caused thedy to feel satisfied. She then felt a burning sensation on her back which caused her expression to change.

    "The fifth pair of wings are budding!" She eximed, "I gotta go back and enter seclusion."

    As she said that, she immediately disappeared in sh of golden light.

 Chapter 664 - Lonely Man

    ---

    "...601, 602, 603, 604..."

    The counting stopped. A stifled breathing could be heard. Drops of sweat and tears drenched the concrete ground as a lonely man chewed on his lips in order for his whimpers to not escape from his lips.

    He would rather die than to allow other people to witness his suffering. He can''t bear to see their faces filled with pity if they saw him crying over something like this.

    The lonely man steeled his resolve. His gaze burned with righteous indignation as he pushed himself to continue with his exercise.

    "605, 606, 607, 608, 609, 700!!"

    *Bam!*

    The man''s arm gave-in. He lied face down on the hard concrete. His breathing was erratic, his consciousness was dizzy as if he was about to pass out. He could feel his arms throbbing painfully. He wasn''t sure if he even had the strength to get up from his position.

    Despite his fatigue though, he gnashed his teeth and got up from the ground. Gently patting away the dirt on his face and sweating body, he removed his vest and threw it beside him.

    *Boom!!*

    The ground shook ever so slightly when the vest fell. Unexpectedly, that vest was incredibly heavy. Well, considering the fact that the vest was carrying thick blocks of solid Meteorite Ores in their pockets, of course it would be heavy. It''s already considered as a miracle that the lonely man''s body remained intact when he used it while exercising.

    Usually, the lonely man would stop here however, he had other matters to do today and it just so happens that it required him to be at the verge of losing consciousness.

    He got up, dragging his exhausted body into a hot basin filled with numerous ingredients. A thick medicinal scent assaulted his nose. The lonely man frowned in displeasure, he never really like this part...

    Groaning as he took off his clothes, he dipped his body on the medicinal bath. All of him, except from his head, were submerged in water. A few minutes passed and the lonely man''s body started steaming.

    His face was red and his expression twisted in pain. He was suffering yet not even a sound escaped his lips. He endured, telling himself that he could do this, this pain is nothing, no pain no gain, etc. Anything to keep him going really. He had no other choice, in order to get the full benefits of this medicinal bath, he had to endure this pain. Even though the idea of just giving-up kept tempting him, he pressed-on.

    The lonely man was even putting-up with some delusional thoughts. He could hear whispers of familiar voices next to his ears, telling him that he had already done everything he could. They told him to let go, to rest, to give-up and just live a life of mediocrity.

    Such temptations were too enticing and the lonely man''s heart was struggling to resist it. The only thing that kept him going, was his Will that''s being tempered relentless as he fought this invisible battle. Nobody could understand his pain since there''s nobody at all.

    For the sake of upholding his promise, he gritted his teeth and endured everything by himself. He promised. He vowed in their graves. He won''t give-up no matter what.

    As the lonely man suffered from physical pain and mental demons, he was unaware that a silhouette manifested behind him. It was a silhouette of a tall and elegant man, long blue hair, crimson colored robes, other-worldly looks, this man would be considered as a god amongst men. This man was a stark opposite of the lonely man in all aspects.

    The god-like silhouette observed the lonely man closely. His face was expressionless but his eyes posses infinite wisdom. He had been watching this lonely man for quite some time now, quietly apanying him throughout the suffering he experienced. The god just observed and did not interfere, he was merely an observer of this lonely man''s life after all.

    The lonely man was unaware of the god that''s observing him. He was unable to see him nor feel him but the god was there. The lonely man, wasn''t so lonely after all.

    *Roar!!!*

    The lonely man''s eyes suddenly shot wide-open. As if energized, he jumped out of the basin and ran towards the nearby table. In that table, lies a huge ck great sword. The man grabbed the handle of the sword as killing intent leaked out of his body.

    Not even bothering to put on any clothes, he kicked his door open and ran outside. There he saw gigantic creatures running towards him with crimson colored eyes and baleful auras.

    The man leapt from his yard, brandished his great sword and decapitated a giant ape. With a feral roar, he released his palpable animosity that didn''t lose out to the baleful auras of the beasts that wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.

    Using the decapitated carcass as a tform, he jumped and shoved his huge sword on the mouth of a giant three-headed lion. A winged beast dove down and grabbed him by the beak. The lonely man let out a pained groan but his killing intent never faltered. Using his bare hand, he punched the beak of the bird. The force was strong enough to shatter the beak, allowing him to wiggle out of it.

    He then maneuvered his body and jumped off, grabbing the bird''s wings in the process. With a guttural roar, he swung his big sword and sliced off the wing he was holding on, causing the bird to shriek in pain and fall from the sky.

    Using the wing as another foothold, the man surveyed the ground as he fell. Using the wing as a cover, he adjusted it''s position so that it will fall on top of the giant rat. Before the wing fell on top of the rat, the lonely man shoved his sword onto the wing to elerate the fall faster, borrowing the momentum of the fall to his advantage and piercing the giant rat''s head.

    The giant rat shrieked in pain and twitched before it died. Unfortunately, the battle had just began...

    The lonely man fought, despite being smaller that the beasts, his ferocity never even once lost out against them. He fought and fought until his body was caked in dried blood, some of it were his while most of it were from his enemies.

    The battle continued for hours, and by the time it was done, the many exhausted on the ground surrounded with torn and shredded bodies of the beasts he killed.

    He won, but his victory didn''t bring him any happiness. If anything, it just made him feel empty. Only despair, endless longing and pain were left for him. Every breath he took, every second he remained alive, tortured him so.

    There''s nobody left...

    The lonely man opened his eyes, he looked at the empty skies as tears flowed from his eyes. He felt resigned, lonely and exhausted.

    He can''t continue on...he just can''t anymore..

    "H-hey..."

    The lonely man called out to nobody in particr. His voice was drowned out by a long silence. The silence didn''t faze him though, he''s used to it anyway. Right now, he''s just taking chances since, he had nothing else to lose.

    "Y-you''re there right? I-I think I can feel you, but I don''t know where you are..." the lonely man said, yet nobody answered him at all.

    However for some reason, he truly felt the presence of somebody. He can''t see them, but he knew that they were there...

    "You''ve been watching me right...how''s it? My life I mean? Pathetic, right?" The lonely manughed mirthlessly and was then followed by him coughing out blood.

    "I don''t have much time left..."

    He truly doesn''t, he knew his body more than anyone else. The injuries he sustained were too fatal, the chances of him surviving from this were very low.

    "You feel familiar..." the lonely man uttered, "Very much so...I would even say that you''re most likely me, but that would be too bizarre. I don''t even know if that''s possible."

    "Whoever you are...I know you''re listening to me. Thanks. At least I won''t die alone, or maybe I''m just hallucinating...either way what I want to say is-"

    *Cough!* *Cough!* *Cough!*

    "You''re loved-ones...protect them will all your might." The lonely man heaved as he uttered hisst words. "Don''t live like me...be strong. Protect them. Keep them close. Do everything you can...to...save...them..."

    As the lonely man''s eyes lost focus, the winds cried and the clouds mourned.

    Silently, a silhouette appeared next to him. A man with god-like creatures manifested into reality and closed the lonely man''s eyes. There was a peaceful expression on his face, as he muttered...

    "I heard you. I witnessed everything you went through. It''s kind of hard not to do so when you''re literally me in this Parallel World." Raven sighed. "Rest in peace, Vendrick Valorheart of the 101st Parallel World."

    "Don''t worry..." Raven muttered as his expression hardened with determination. "When I reach Singrity, you''ll see them again."

    As soon as he said that, Raven vanished from the world, causing the time to stop indefinitely.

 Chapter 665 - Parallelism

    ---

    The Parallelism Concept of Spacetime Laws...

    This concept allows a person to send their consciousness on the Parallel Worlds, allowing them to witness the simrities and differences between them. Such concept is strange and endless profound. One world differs ever so slightlypared to the other. The Concept of Parallelism represents the ultimate ''what-if''s'' and ''what could''ve been''s'', it is strange experienced for anyone.

    Raven reached the 3rd Concept of Spacetime Laws not too long ago. Since then, he had the ability to sense and send his consciousness to the Parallel Worlds, more specifically, in ce where that Parallel World''s ''Raven'' is located.

    The first encounter he had with the concept of Parallelism in this life is when they went on the True Olympian Climb. He discovered that instead of switching harsh climates in a blink of an eye, they were in fact being sent into parallel worlds as climbed Mount Olympus. This experienced greatly helped Raven understand the Concept of Parallelism - and the risks it has as well...

    There is one major rule when ites to Parallel World visits...

    ''Do not interfere.'' - this is an iron n rule. This fact will never change even if someone has great understanding of the Parallelism Concept. Any kind of interception from the ''Observer'' will result into a the Heavenly Origin Punishment - a powerfulw that not even Divinities could defend against.

    Anybody who was able to visit the Parallel Worlds could only observe their parallel counterpart. They are not allowed to consciously make contact with the counterparts.

    Raven abided this rule despite the vexation he felt whenever he see his Parallel Counterparts die miserably. He didn''t interfere, he didn''t change anything in order to not make an enemy out of the Heavenly Laws. He just watched, he bore everything into memory and remembered it.

    Since then, Raven has been watching his parallel counterparts whenever he has time. So far, he had observed 105 Ravens of the Parallel Worlds.

    There''s one Raven who died shortly after he was born, another was born as a cripple and ended up taking his own life out of depression. One Raven was born as a pervert, chasing skirts left and right, he ended up having 12 children - all first born''s. One Raven was a talented merchant who dominated the entire kingdom''s supply.

    One Raven was a ve, the other work''s a king''s guard. One farmer, one fisherman, one carpenter, one drug-pusher, one assassin, one absolute good Raven and one absolute evil Raven.

    The rarer kinds of Raven were a born-cultivation-genius Raven, sword-genius Raven, number one smith in the entire kingdom Raven, one evil schemer Raven, one Druid Raven and so on...

    The original Raven watched their lives closely, he saw felt the same joy they felt, he was with them at their lowest as well. He apanied every single one of them until their deaths, he even came really close into interfering since he was so invested in their lives.

    The lives of his Parallel World counterparts made Raven reflect on his current life. Compared to them, his life was better. Of all the Raven''s he had encountered so far, none managed to gain the Ancestral Divine Crown. Most of his counterparts lived a mortal life, he saw them growing old, they married different wives - some even having multiple ones.

    It was a strange experience, witnessing how much change a single variable can cause to his life. The more he observed, the more he matured and the more his mentality deepened. Even though it wasn''t technically him who experienced those lives, it still left him a great impression. No matter whether his counterpart living a mediocre life of a life filled withfort and riches, cultivator or not, he learned a lesson. Just that alone, made this whole experience worth it, but it also didn''t make it easier for him to not get so invested as the lives of his counterparts.

    Observing Parallel Worlds is a great test for him. One that he''s willing to take and determined to pass. He won''t interfere since there''s just no need to. The moment he stepped out of the Parallel World, time will cease indefinitely. So long as he remained alive, it will continue that way.

    The only time that it will resume is when he cultivated his Spacetime Laws to it''s acme - the Singrity Concept. Once he reached this stage, his True Self will replicated to the Parallel Worlds, allowing him to dominate it. So long as one Raven remains alive, he will be able to reform other Raven''s making him virtually Immortal.

    Such is the power of Spacetime Laws.

    For now though, Raven still have some form of invincibility. If he encountered something that he can''t survive, he could choose to sacrifice one of his Parallel Counterparts to take the blow for him in order to preserve his life. He could just revive those when he reached Singrity in the future.

    Therefore, it''s safe to say that when Raven reached the 3rd Concept of Parallelism, his survivability rose to an absurd degree. Even Divinities will find it difficult to truly kill Raven now.

    Still though, Raven has a long way to go. Observing the lives of 105 Raven''s might be a lot but in truth, that''s just a drop in the bucket. There''s millions of Parallel Worlds, some were being born while others were reaching the end of it''s natural lifespan. In order to master the 3rd Concept to it''s perfection, Raven has to observe every single one of his counterparts.

    This is a massive up taking, one that couldn''t be possible without his Avatars, adding on to his gratefulness to Geezer since he got the Myriad Incarnations Scripture to him. The more Avatars he has, the faster this process will go. Still, since there''s a lot of Parallel Worlds, he knows that it would take a great time before he manages to reach it''s acme.

    That''s fine for him though. Raven already understood that the higher hisw achievements were, the harder it will be to progress, the time it takes will be greater as well. It''s the universal truth, nothing he could do about it.

    ---

    "Wee everyone, thanks for attending today''s Lecture."

    Raven sat down and smiled at the disciples in front of him. This was another one of Raven''s job. With the recent changes in the sect, he became one of the lecturers that guides the young disciples in order to make them stronger. He had been conducting lectures at least once a month, andpared to other lecturers, his was the most sought out.

    "Same rules as before..." Raven said as he ced a stack of books beside him as he sat down. "If you have any doubts, raise your hand and ask me. You have hour to ask me questions, once that''s done or if nobody has any questions, we will move on to the topic for today. Do any of you have any questions?"

    As soon as he asked this question, many people raised their hands. Raven pointed at a random disciple, the person stood up and introduced himself...

    "My Alexis, Young Lord. I have something that''s bugging for quite some time. I have a Heavenly Sabretooth Bloodline, through this Bloodline I was able to gain enlightenment of Wind and Earth Laws, I also cultivated the Heavenly Fiend Manual to it''s 7th Level. My progress have been rtively smooth from the start however I have faced a bottleneck that prevented me from breaking through, am I doing something wrong?"

    Raven''s eyes gleamed with a rainbow colored light as he inspected the disciple, shortly after, he said:

    "Your foundation is shallow." Raven revealed, causing the disciples'' expression to change. "You may have the bloodline of a Divine Beast but you relied too much on it. It''s already a miracle that you''vee this far. You weren''t very hands-on with your training, I can easily tell that you haven''t even scratched the surface of your true strength."

    "Go back to your basics. Ignore your bloodline and explore your true capabilities without it. Meditate on your Laws as well. If you can clear the Trials of Artemis without relying on your bloodline, then you can attempt another breakthrough."

    The expression of the disciple turned gloomy but he wasn''t dejected, if anything he now has a direction. He bowed to Raven and excused himself.

    "Next, you."

    "Young Lord, I am..."

    Raven then entertained the questions of the disciples for an hour straight, however he noticed that there were too many people who needed guidance so he decided to extend the length of the lecture so that he could help them all out.

    Once everybody was satisfied, he then began his lecture. Raven originally nned on talking about how they could effectively increase theirw insights but he changed it since it was clear that he needed to correct the foundations of the disciples in front of him or else they''ll waste their talents.

    He touched upon the basics and how they could solidify their foundations even more. The disciples listened attentively and after six hours, Raven''s Lecture ended.

    Raven exited the pavilionst, cleaning up and locking it up before returning to his abode and resting for the remainder of the day.

 Chapter 666 - Emergency

    ---

    "Is everybody here?"

    "Yes, Young Lord." The man wearing a schr''s robe replied to Raven''s question.

    Raven nodded back and proceeded to enter the room after handing over his entry pass. The doors closed behind him.

    As soon as walked inside the room, the people within turned silent. They all watched his movements, seemingly in awe or excited to see him. A thin smile appeared on Raven''s face as he stood over the tform and looked at his current audience.

    "Wee everyone, I''m d to see you here." Raven didn''t waste time and acknowledged their presence. "I''m pretty sure that most of you are already aware of who I am but for those who doesn''t, simply call me Raven. I''ll be guiding you today and our topic is Runic Inscriptions."

    Raven gestured for everybody to be seated and thus they did. He then ced the stack of books on the nearby stool and began his ss.

    "Before we get started, I''d like to inform you about our current situation so that you can understand why we are holding these types of lectures and sessions." Raven said, "As you know, we are faced with threats of the devils increasing amount if reproduction. In order to prepare for the worst, the sect decided to seclude itself in order to protect people outside from being harmed. As members of the Ancient Elysium Sect, we are bound to our duty to ensure that no devils will harm humanity."

    "It is due to this that I hope that all of you would take these lessons seriously and carefully hone your craft. The better your capabilities are, the better you are at handling the responsibilities handed over to you, and the better our chances can get against our enemies. I hope that you pay close attention to the topics I''ll discuss over the next six hours."

    The matter about The Exiles aren''t propagated well in the sect. Everybody knows of their existence but the matter of them possibly waging war against them within the next couple of years are details privy to only a select few people. What they do know is that the devils within the pagoda are still running rampant, and to prepare for a massive battle, the sect has to do what it has to do.

    The people inside this room understood all of this, in fact the reason why they attended this lecture is because of that.

    Seeing as they were taking his words seriously, Raven was gratified. Now the impact of his lessons would be much better in this kind of environment.

    "Alright, we''ll begin our lessons." Raven smiled and proceeds to start his lecture. "Runic Inscriptions refer to the high-tiered Inscriptions that can ''impose'' a ''condition'' to a certain item it''s inscribed onto. Runic Inscriptions can be used offensively, defensively, or even act as an auxiliary tool. In order to understand Runic Inscriptions more, I''d like to brush upon the basics first."

    Raven lifted a finger his energy began forming several shapes.

    "As I said, Runic Inscriptions are just inscriptions that are high-tiered. In order to create a Rune, you must condense multiple inscriptions at once, from what I know a minimum of ten inscriptions are needed for form a single Rune. These are the basic ones out there."

    Several runes then glittered around Raven, disying their forms. They wererge enough for everyone to see. Nobody''s surprised though since they were all aware of these runes so far.

    "¡­now, themon mistakes that Inscriptionists do whenever they are drawing Runic Inscriptionses from their anxiety. Most inscriptionists focus on speed, causing the quality of the rune to drop and for the arrays and/or formations to turn out as failures. In order to fix this, one must be patient. Work at a constant speed and do not rush the project. Another way is to improve your Energy Control, both of which are basic knowledge that everybody knows but for some reasons, tend to ignore when it matters the most."

    "The more you do it like, the more likely it is to be a habit. Bad habits lead to seemingly unsurpassable bottlenecks. Some of you might be facing this now so my advice is to back to your basics. Draw each rune you know in a disciplined manner while also following the basics. Who knows, maybe that''s just what you needed to surpass that bottleneck that have trapped you for years"

    "We went on a tangent there¡­so, going back to the topic in hand, these Runic Inscriptions are what is needed to form Runic Arrays and Runic Formations. All of which, whenbined or arranged in a specific manner, will cause some mystical effects to ur on the object of focus."

    "Arrays/Formations are mostly used to protect an area, sometimes it could serve as an offensive tool in a form of traps, however if Runes Inscriptions just amounted to that, then why even bother learning it? Just pick up a weapon and meditate onws, those could do better than Inscriptions when ites to attacking or defending."

    "This is amon misconception that even expert Inscriptionists fall for. Arrays/Formations doesn''t just attack or defend¡­it can support, it can iste, it can imprison, it can transport people to other ces, it could reveal secrets, it breach the distance between worlds, heck it could even reveal Heavenly Wisdom, so long as you''re capable. The applications of Runic Inscriptions are endless, think, be bold, experiment, discover, and find out what''s best for you."

    Raven then looked at the inspired people who''s listening to him and he announced¡­

    "For the remaining period, I will be demonstrating how to create basic level formations. I will show you the areas where you can focus your improvements on in order to raise your skills are Inscriptions. Of course, you will also have some hands-on experience. After each demonstration, you will create the same arrays that I will demonstrate and unless it''s up to my standards, you won''t leave this room. Understood?"

    "Yes, Young Lord!!" The Inscriptionists replied.

    "Very well, let''s begin with¡­"

    ---

    Eight hourster¡­

    Raven released a sigh after seeing thest student exiting the room. The lecture about Runic Inscriptions this time took longer than he expected, originally it was supposed to onlyst for six hours, however the students were a little to fired-up so he ended up extending the ss for two more hours.

    This wasn''t really something to be depressed about though. In fact, Raven was gratified that they were passionate about the lecture. The more interactive they were about his lessons, the more satisfied Raven gets.

    Well, for his students, Raven''s lecture were too valuable. Even theziest person on any of his ss will end up getting infected by Raven''s passionate attitude when ites to teaching. Additionally, Raven was akin to an omnipotent being when he''s teaching, he has never been stumped by any questions that his students asked. In fact his answers were always on point and concise, allowing them to understand the lesson better.

    He never left anybody confused about something, he was also considerate to the, taking initiative to ask them if they were confused about anything so far. This is why the environment whenever Raven''s lectures happens are always vibrant and active.

    Raven has the correct amount of strictness and consideration. Though he has to admit that he''s a little more biased in his lectures about Runic Inscriptions since this was the path he was following so far.

    Once the lecture was over, Raven was cleaning-up the room by himself when he suddenly received a voice transmission from Henry.

    ''Raven,e down to the entrance! There''s an emergency!''

    The urgency on Henry''s tone was something that Raven rarely heard so it caused him to feel a little nervous. Nevertheless, he didn''t waste time. He picked up his stuff, took out the Brush of Wisdom and drew a rune that opened up a portal leading to the entrance.

    Step inside and exited at the entrance of the sect, there he found Henry, Logan and Charles with their weapon''s out and alert.

    "What''s happening?" Raven asked, but before anybody could answer him, Raven felt something closing in real fast.

    Raven snorted and threw a full powered punch, twisting his body and targeting the invisible presence behind him.

    *Gahck!!!*

    His fistnded square on the invisible opponent''s face, causing his target''s head to pop like a balloon.

    "We have intruders!!" Henry finally managed to reply, "They''re invisible even to us, we need your help."

    "Leave it to me." Raven nodded, he wanted to ask them how this happened but now''s not the time. Raven drew a couple of runes which released a brilliant glow. The runesbined into a singlerge rune which Raven threw above his head.

    "Reveal everything that''s hidden! Rune of Revtion!"

    The Rune of Revtion released a strong fluctuation that covered a wide distance. Everything that was hit by the fluctuation was revealed, especially the invisible intruders.

    "Hmph!!" Charles snorted coldly when he saw the intruders who were gaping upon seeing that their invisibility were neutralized.

    He turned into a streak of red light and when he reappeared, all of the intruders were skewered on his spear with horror coloring their faces.

 Chapter 667 - George Harrison

    ---

    "...how did they get in?"

    This was what Raven asked as soon as all the intruders died. His and the other''s expression were grim. He looked around and saw that the ones who died weren''t only the intruders but some of the guards as well.

    "We have no idea either..." Henry replied, wiping off the blood on his sword. "Somehow, they managed to breach the fabrics of space and infiltrate the pocket dimension of our sect. They murdered the guards, I happen to be at Tartarus so I sensed themotion. I couldn''t see them so I could only try my best to prevent them from entering."

    "He called us here, but we also couldn''t see them. They were unnaturally fast and they have something that''s preventing us from pinpointing their location. Thankfully you came and undid their invisibility." Charles added as he removed the dead bodies in his spear.

    Raven''s face was grim, he walked over to the dead bodies, the Brush of Wisdom glowed as he erected a barrier the encapsted the entire entrance. Time stopped and space was locked. With a deep breath, Raven ced his hand on the dead bodies and activated his Spacetime Laws to reveal the information he needed.

    With the help of his Spacetime Laws, images of the past rushed on Raven''s mind. He was able to trace the intruders'' history and how they managed to breach the spatial barrier which only high-ranking members of the sect are allowed to unseal.

    After a couple of minutes, Raven retracted his arm and got rid of the barrier.

    When time resumed, the War Gods saw Raven''s dark expression and flinched. All of a sudden, a dense killing intent flooded their surroundings. Raven abruptly looked above, seemingly ring at the skies. The War Gods could''ve sworn that they heard a little gasp out of nowhere.

    "I know who you are..." Raven muttered darkly. "You are either very brave or very foolish. Did you honestly think that just because you have the Dawn Council''s backing our Sect couldn''t do anything to you?"

    Raven''s cold and furious voice echoed across the entire sect. The skies were shaking. Several silhouette then appeared beside Raven. It was the Sect Master and the Grand Elder as well as their wives, all of them were looking at the same spot that Raven was ring.

    "Hoho...some kids are truly audacious nowadays." The Grand Elderughed coldly but his fury was also palpable. "Boy, it seems that some people are looking down on you. It seems like they weren''t properly educated."

    "So it would seem...it looks like we have to remind the world who they''re trying to provoke. Well, we have been quiet for quite some time. I guess we need to give them a wake-up call."

    "What are we waiting for then? Let''s go." The Grand Elder disappeared from his spot.

    The sect master looked at Raven and said: "I''m off, I leave the sect on your hands."

    Raven nodded and said: "Have a nice trip, bring back some souvenirs for us."

    "Sure."

    Raven red at the skies onest time before waving his hand, causing the clouds to part. He snorted and burned the bodies of the intruders. Meanwhile, the War Gods could finally react.

    "What was that, just now?" Logan asked, still, confused about what just transpired.

    "...you know that I could use my Spacetime Laws to track history right?" Raven looked at Logan who nodded. "I tracked the history of the intruders and managed to find out who sent them."

    "Well?" Henry asked.

    "...it was George Harrison."

    "Son of a bitch!!" Logan spat in fury.

    "Heh..." Henry tightened the grip on his sword.

    "Tch." Even Charles was royally pissed.

    Who is George Harrison?

    He''s a rather famous in the Divine Realm - no, it isn''t because he''s strong or he has many myths surrounding him. He''s famous because one, he''s rted to one of the Divinity-ranked experts who managed the Dawn Council and two, he''s extremely nosy.

    George is born with an unruly attitude and an unhealthy obsession to discover everybody''s secrets. His notorious for causing conflicts between parties because he also runs an Information Trading business. With enough money, he wouldn''t hesitate to expose the deepest and darkest secret of someone even at the cost of offending them.

    The dude has balls of steel. He has enemies everywhere but he also has countless of business partners. Additionally, he had a Divinity Ranked expert backing him and that just made him more unscrupulous. People have tried countless methods to ambush him but he''s slippery as an eel. He always escapes and exposes even more secrets.

    Raven and co. had no idea what George ate recently which made him think thatying hands on their sect was a good idea. Whatever it is though, everything''s toote for him.

    For the first time in his life, George was caught by someone red-handed. The Sect Master and the Grand Elder wasing for him...

    "Oh well, no need to feel rmed. Sect Master and Grand Elder set-off to apprehend him. Let''s see if he could still escape somewhere - eh?"

    Raven didn''t even manage to finish his sentence when he felt something amiss. The War Gods looked at him and asked:

    "Hey, what''s the problem?"

    "Are you okay?"

    "What happened?"

    "I''m fine...Hahaha, that''s clever. Unfortunately, you met me." Raven responded to them first but he looked at the skies andughed. He waved the Brush of Wisdom a couple of times.

    Nobody saw what he did and Raven didn''t bother exining, he just turned around and said: "Let''s go, I''m nning on fortifying the arrays hiding the sect."

    ---

    "Shit! Shit! How!? Who the hell is he? How did he find them and me!? Who the hell is that brat?"

    Inside his private chambers, George was pacing back and forth with a pale face while sweating coldly. The cold re of that blue-haired man constantly haunted him. Despite only surveying through a crystal ball, it felt like that guy was staring straight at him. His knees almost gave way when the Sect Master and the Grand Elder of the Ancient Elysium Sect showed up and red at him as well.

    "Shit! I have to tell Uncle! Surely...surely he can help me!!"

    *Tring!* *Tring!*

    Chiming sounds echoed on his ears. George''s eyes lit up as he immediately picked up the talisman.

    "U-Uncle! Greetings Uncle! I-"

    "I can''t save you."

    "...eh?" George felt the world crumbling as he heard his Uncle''s cold words. "U-Uncle what are you -"

    "Of all people and ces...you just have to target them." His uncle''s words were filled with helplessness which just caused George to feel even more despair. "I''ve warned you time and time again. Now you provoked something you shouldn''t. I can''t help you."

    "W-what are you saying Uncle!!? Are you leaving me here to die!? That''s absurd! How could you!? How could you!?" George was hysterical. "You''re a Divinity-ranked expert as well right!? Can''t you hold them off? W-wait no! A-an exchange! Yes! An exchange! Tell them you are willing to trade one of your treasures, in exchange of pardoning me just this once!"

    "Please Uncle!? Please!? S-see? I didn''t even found out anything! T-they killed my minions before they could infiltrate their sect!? No damage has been done right!? S-surely they could pardon me just this once right? They truly didn''t lose anything anyway!? Come on Uncle, please!? I''m begging you!"

    "...you think I haven''t tried that already?"

    "What!?"

    "Like I said...there''s I can do." The voice on the other side sounded helpless. "Surely you understand why right? Even the Dawn Council can''t go against them. They refused me, a Divinity, if I insisted, then they won''t hesitate to kill me as well as our whole n."

    "I warned you so many times, it is you who didn''t take me seriously. Now, man-up and ept your punishment."

    "You heard him, boy."

    "Hiieeek!!!" George let out an ugly shriek when he heard another voice within the room. The talisman on his hands turned to dust as he mechanically looked behind him, only to see four silhouettes ring at him darkly.

    "You know, for a Prophet, you surely don''t know how to hide your tracks." Alwina - the Sect Master''s wife, mocked George for his carelessness. Tracking this guy through Karma wasn''t so hard for her at all.

    George''s legs turned to jelly as he powerlessly fell on the ground, his face was drowning in despair as all hopes of escaping were severed the moment they arrived here. Nobody managed toe this close to him before but these four managed to do so without alerting him nor triggering his traps. George knew that any kind of retaliation was useless at this point.

    "P-please, I beg you. S-spare me." George prostrated before the four divinities in front of him. At the corner of his heart he was furious.

    His face twisted as he triggered a hidden mechanism that''s attached to his body. This was his final ac of escape, something that not a single soul knew other than him and something that could save his life in dire situations likes this. As he was about to celebrate since he felt the mechanism triggering, he was dumbfounded to see a bright golden rune shimmering on his hands.

    The image of the blue-haired manughing at him crossed his mind as he wailed..

    "NOOOOOO!!!!!!"

 Chapter 668 - 33layered Seal

    ---

    George Harrison died with a belly full of rage and unwillingness...

    News of his death propagated across the Divine Realm and the overwhelming reaction was that of surprise and relief. George - the Divine Realm''s #1 Information Pervert, died under the hands of the Ancient Elysium Sect''s Sect Master.

    There are some people who still couldn''t believe that he was captured and then executed, however since the execution was made public, they had no other choice but to believe it.

    People were once again shocked by the efficiency of the Ancient Elysium Sect. George''s notoriety was widely spread, everybody knew that not a single secret could remain hidden once it was targeted by him, unfortunately George really made a fatal mistake by cing one of humanity''s most righteous sect in his sights. It was said that he didn''t even manage to achieve his goal before he was caught and executed.

    Had these people known that George originally had a high chance to escape from the fangs of the Sect Master, they''d probably shocked. Unfortunately, he met Raven - who extinguished his hopes with a few simple brush strokes.

    George originally had a mystical stone he kept in his mr. This stone was very small and it was of the same color as his teeth, therefore even if he opened his mouth, nobody would see it. This stone was special though since it could teleport him to a ce that he found by exposing the secrets of other people. All he needed to do was bite on that stone and he''d instantly be teleported away.

    Unfortunately, Raven sensed this despite the overwhelming distance away from him. This is due to George being careless, he kept the connection between the sect and his crystal ball stable. It was going to be terminated on his own but Raven sensed what was happening. Using that connection, he sealed George, anchoring him at his current ce.

    The stone on his mrs was a one time consumable, it shattered but it couldn''t transport him away due to Raven''s interference. With hisst resort rendered useless, all hopes of escaping vanish like a puff of smoke. He was then executed publicly to serve as a deterrence for those who were trying to sink their fangs to the sect.

    In the end, nobody questioned the morals of the Ancient Elysium Sect. All me was on George since he couldn''t keep his hands to himself.

    To the public''s view, the wrath of the Ancient Elysium Sect was natural. After all, what George did was a breach of their policy and privacy. If the sect let him get away with it, then where would its reputation go?

    The true reason why George suffered a fate like this is because his actions really crossed the bottom-line of the sect.

    Their sect is in grave danger. Had George managed to infiltrate their sect and feast on their progress, there was a huge possibility that the Allfather will use George to spy on them. That would make their efforts be in vain then. More importantly, that would risks millions of lives, quite possibly even the Divine Realm would be in grave danger.

    George will be humanity''s greatest sinner. Thankfully, they prevented a huge disaster from happening.

    ---

    It has been a few days since that event. The lives of the disciples continued like it was before since everything got resolved in the end.

    Recently, Raven became upied.

    The recent incident was a wake-up call for him. He had neglected the sect''s defense for quite some time. He was too focused on climbing the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda that he forgot about the pocket dimension they''re in.

    During these past few days, Raven busied himself bolstering the seals that protect the pocket dimension. This isn''t an easy task and this will upy Raven''s time for quite sometime.

    Nevertheless, this was something that Raven has to do. The same event can''t happen twice since their situation is rather serious.

    Raven''s currently station outside of the gates. There, he was looking up at the sky while the Brush of Wisdom glowed on his hands. Raven raised his hand, drawing strong strokes in the air, leaving golden and silver lines intersecting into a small rune.

    Raven''s eyes were focused. His thoughts were working fast as the seal in front of him became brighter and brighter. When he finished with his work, the seal released a mixture of golden and silver radiance.

    He pointed the brush up the skies and rune followed it. As it traveled, the rune got bigger and bigger until it covered the entire skies of the sect. Many people looked up in awe, some directly ignored themotion.

    They all knew that the phenomenon above was the work of their Young Lord and thus, most of them weren''t surprised anymore. For those who walked the path of Runes and Inscriptions though, this phenomenon was a spectacle. Therefore they are watching closely, hoping that they could gleam even a sliver of inspiration from Raven''s work.

    Back in the entrance, aside from Raven, someone else looked up to the sky, staring at the rune in awe as well.

    "No matter how many times I see, it surely is impressive." A melodious voice praised Raven from behind.

    Raven turned around and smiled at the person who was watching him, saying: "It still has a long way to go. Runic Seals of that level won''t be effective against our Big Prisoner after all."

    "Well, you be stronger at an rming rate anyway so I believe that it''s just a matter of time before you''d be able to reach that level. Plus, you haven''t received the baptism of the Celestial Ascension tform. I believe that once you go in there, you''re harvests won''t be lesser than us."

    "Ah! That''s right. Thanks for reminding me, Julia." Raven replied, "I''ve been absorbed in work during these past few days that I''vepletely forgotten about that."

    Julia - the Winter War Goddess, chuckled softly while tucking a few strands of hair behind her ears. The slight reddening of her ears were somewhat visible as well, and that''s not because it was cold.

    "That being said, you n on going then?" She asked after clearing her throat softly. "With your arrangements, the sect will be fine. There''s also us, you know."

    "I''m aware of that of course, but..." Raven sighed and looked up in the sky, "I just can''t sit still. I could still think of ways to improve the sect just a tad bit. Securing the safety of the sect is my priority of course, but I also couldn''t bear to leave for now since the disciples still needs my guidance."

    "I''m not saying that you won''t do. In fact, most of you are better than me when ites to guiding disciples. It''s just that the topics they have to learn requires my assistance. I am cultivating other Rune Masters as well but they aren''t skilled enough yet."

    "Don''t worry, I am not neglecting my cultivation. I do have some ns, it''s just that it will take me some time before I could be freed from all of this."

    Raven didn''t hesitate to reveal his ns with Julia since she could be trusted. Julia was the second-inmand of the War Gods. She''s wise and strong, her nature became even more obvious after she received the baptism of the Celestial Ascension tform.

    He sees her as someone to confide his ns with.

    ''Well, I also have this premonition that my baptism in there will take a long time. Longer than what they experienced at least, however I can''t be certain so let''s not tell anyone for now at least.''

    "I see..." Julia was a downcast upon hearing this. "I was just hoping that we can share your burdens."

    "You are though." Raven looked at her and replied seriously. "You guys'' mere presence is helping me out already you know. I''m an single person in the end of the day, I can''t operate the entire sect on my own. So don''t feel so down, you are helping me out a lot."

    Julia was stunned for a moment as she saw Raven''s face. She was captivated by the sight of Raven''s dashing appearance and his sincere words. She couldn''t help but stare at his eyes which seems to be drawing her in.

    Fortunately, she managed to recover from this before she made a mess out of herself. She broke eye-contact and looked up in the sky, feeling quite hot and flustered.

    "I-Is that so? Well, that''s good to hear." Julia replied while trying her best to not fall for the same trick again.

    Raven tilted his head and was a bit confused, he didn''t pay too much attention to it though and just stared ahead.

    "Okay, I''ve rested enough. It''s time to draw the 15thyer of seal." Raven muttered but it was loud enough for Julia to hear.

    "You''re still going!?"

    "Yes." Raven nodded like he just said something so obvious. "I n on making a 33yered seal. Of course I''m still going."

    Julia was speechless, but when she saw that Raven was already creating the seal, she couldn''t help herself from revealing a sweet smile that could melt the hearts of a million bachelors.

 Chapter 669 - Well Deserved Rest

    ---

    "...today marks the end of the Lectures." Raven said in a solemn tone. "I have imparted everything that I could to all of you and I also witnessed your dedication and progress. You work hard during this past few months."

    "Congrattions everyone, so long as you keep everything we discussed closely in your heart, reaching your goals wouldn''t be impossible. Give yourselves a round of apuse."

    The whole audience were feeling a little emotional but celebratory as well. They called along and congratted each other for their hard work.

    "Now, all of you can go ahead and be proud. Do well in your tasks and you will be rewarded. It''s been a delight teaching you all. That''s all from me." Raven announced.

    "Thank you, Young Lord." His students replied to him as they all made their way out of the room.

    Shortly after, Raven was the only person left. As he cleaned-up the room before he leaves, he couldn''t help but to feel a little mncholic but also gratified.

    "Alright, that pretty much vacates my schedule from now. Aside from a few touch-ups in other areas, I''m on my way to beingpletely free." Raven muttered to himself, as he finished out cleaning the room.

    He returned to his desk and couldn''t help but to recall the past few months.

    It had been a little hectic but it was all for the greater good of the sect. He became a lecturer in order to raise everybody''s survival against their enemies. The more skilled and stronger everybody is, the better it would be for the overall chances of the sect to survive.

    Raven didn''t hesitate to pile-up work for himself, he had been incredibly busy that he didn''t even have enough time to rest but it''s all good. He didn''t mind it since he could endure this much at least.

    Now that he had taught everything he could to his students, the rest is up to them. Raven already showed them the path to the peak, so long as they work hard, they''d be able to reach it too.

    Now that his lectures are over, the defense of the sect both inside and out ispletely up to his standards, the resources were secured by the Sect Master and Grand Elder, and all potential inner threats were removed, Raven''s schedule was mostly vacant and it would stay like this for quite sometime.

    He had done everything he could ording to his ns. The only thing that would really upy him was the paperwork but he already has his Avatars and Kyrie settling that. His spywork his also manned by his Avatars as well and they could inform him about the recent changes as soon as he could.

    Raven was free. He could now dedicate his time in training and once he''s up to standards, he could even receive the baptism at the Celestial Ascension tform.

    Once he cleaned-up the room, Raven returned to his desk, kept the books he had and exited the room, locking the doors behind him.

    He then made his way towards his pocket dimension only to find out that he has visitors.

    "Oh, he''s here..."

    ---

    "Eh? Elder me wants to meet me?" Raven was quite surprised at the sudden news Theo brought to him.

    His visitors were his usual ones, Henry, Logan, Theo and Charles. They were gathered on Raven''s gorgeous yard, bathing in fake sunlight as they enjoyed their drinks and pastries.

    "Well, he said that you can visit him whenever you are free. What he meant by that is he''s going to give you an errand that might take some time to finish so you better vacate your schedule for at least a month before going there." Theo exined.

    "Listen to him. He''s the closestckey of Elder me, he understands him better than everyone else." Henry advised seriously.

    "His timing is great, I just finished myst lecture. I don''t really have much to do from now on." Raven replied as he took a sip of his tea.

    "Lucky you." Logan grumbled.

    "Indeed." Charles sighed.

    Yeah, these two are the one''s next on the list when ites to being busy. Unlike Raven, it would take a long time before these two can be freed from their responsibilities since they are in-charge of raising thebat prowess of the disciples with the Formations Raven created.

    "I''d bet my ass that he was probably aware of that, that''s why he gave me the order." Theo snorted on the side.

    "Yeah, that''s probably true." Henry added.

    Henry had some dealings with Elder me in the past and he''s somewhat aware of the Elder''s peculiarity. However, it''s still Theo who knows Elder me the best since he''s a Fire Keeper.

    "Whether he knows or not, it doesn''t really matter." Raven chuckled, "Very well, since Elder me is not in a hurry, I do n on resting for at least a week since it had been hectic recently and I haven''t had the time to rest properly. By the way, do you have any idea of what Elder me wants from me, Theo?"

    "Beats me." Theo replied almost instantly, causing Raven to be somewhat speechless. "I tried asking him but he didn''t want to tell me. Whatever it is, that''s your problem."

    "Wow." Raven was really speechless.

    Anyway, that didn''t really bother him at all. Whatever Elder me wants him to do, he''d just do it if it means that it''ll help the sect. Even if it would really take sometime for him to do, that''s fine as well. Raven''s not in a rush anyway.

    The group rxed and forgot about the matter with Elder me. They wanted to take advantage of their minimal free time and didn''t want to stress themselves out trying to figure-out Elder me''s intentions.

    The group rxed for three hours, then the others left since they still have somethings to do. Meanwhile, Raven was finally left alone.

    He entered the private chambers and told his Avatars that he''d be in seclusion for two days. Then he disappeared and entered the crown pce.

    ---

    Inside the Cultivation Eden, Raven took a deep breath and felt his body lightening-up. He felt himself rxing...

    Typically, he wouldn''t waste time and begin training right away but today''s different. Raven chose to gorge himself with good food and rest for quite sometime. Even though Raven looked normal from the outside, in truth he''s really exhausted, he''s just suppressing it all.

    Training in this state wouldn''t be ideal and would just be a wasted effort. Since time moves slower here, he wanted to take this chance to rest properly. He''d begin his training afterwards.

    After gorging himself full of good food, Raven passed out inside his tent. He basically lost consciousness as soon as his body hit the soft and warm mattress. He didn''t even had the energy to put on any clothes, he just covered his naked body in a thick duvet and silenced his thoughts.

    His sleepsted for two weeks straight. Thankfully he didn''t do it outside or else everyone will be panicking by now. During that two week sleep, Raven''s body healed itselfpletely, his exhausted psyche and spirit was replenished and he waspletely refreshed. The results of his sleep were ten times more effective than regr meditation.

    Well, considering how hard he worked during this past few months...this is a well deserved rest.

    Raven didn''t immediately train after he woke-up though. He took it slow by enjoying some warm and filling meal, then he exercised for a few hours, rested, ate lunch, practiced his basics until sun-down, ate dinner and slept. He didn''t meditate or even had the thoughts to integrate with the insights his Avatars collected just yet.

    This routinested for whole week before Raven felt that he hadpletely recovered. Only then did he start his actual training.

    He started by integrating with the insights of his Avatars, allowing him to raise hisprehension of Destruction and Spacetime Laws as well as other things.

    Then he began increasing his expertise in Combat Runes. He yed around and experimented on Runic Creation, he does this until dinner. After dinner, he will integrate with the knowledge of his Avatars within his Inner Cosmos.

    His cultivation progress had slowed down considerably after reaching his current realm. He wasn''t even near to a breakthrough. Nevertheless, Raven didn''t rush it. He patiently gathered his umtions and let nature take it''s course. Being anxious and rushing this would just destroy his future, Raven didn''t want that.

    And just like that, Raven''s seclusion continued. He paid a visit to the Scripture Graveyard and the Monument of Stars as well. He didn''t meet any of the previous heirs this time as well but he didn''t mind it.

    Raven polished his craft, getting better every single day. He waspletely immersed in his training that sometimes he would forget everything else. Nheless, Raven remained calm, disciplined and patient.

    He followed his routine and forgot about time, he was only reminded by his avatars when it''s nearly time to exit. One week before he ended his seclusion, Raven didn''t train and just rested, spending idle time in meditation instead.

    Afterwards, he exited seclusion and prepared for his meeting with Elder me next week.

 Chapter 670 - Elder Flame

    ---

    The mes of Olympus¡­

    Records about this me are iplete. It was unknown whether it appeared during the era of the Founders or after that. What most people knew is that the mes of Olympus is important to the sect and that it had been with it for a long time.

    It might be because of the peculiarity of the mes or it''s quality; that it managed to form a collective consciousness. This consciousness is named Elder me, as to whether he got this name from someone of it''s something that the consciousness of the mes named itself - that too is unknown¡­

    ording to the Records of ''Athena the 5th'' - which is also the oldest text that has information about the mes of Olympus, Elder me made his existence known to them. He said that he was thest and strongest wall that the Devil Emperor has to pass through if it wanted to be freed.

    Athena the 5th said that Elder me''s personality is a little entric. Not just anyone was allowed to him, he decided whether someone has the right to meet him or not. He has no interest about the matters of the sect nor he cared about the disciples, it was as if he exists for the sole purpose of imprisoning the Devil Emperor and whipping it hard enough every time it throws a tantrum.

    The subsequent records about Elder mes also supported this im. Elder me remained a vital existence to sect and famous for his fickle mood swings. As for how vital he truly was for the sect, well¡­he is important, after all he''s preventing the Devil Emperor from escaping but, how difficult is it truly? How long can he keep this up? Does he had a pre-destined lifespan? Does he get weaker? Stronger? These details remain unclear since Elder me never said anything.

    If there''s people who know more about Elder me, it should''ve been the ''Fire Keepers'', but ording to records left by the old Fire Keepers, Elder me doesn''t share a lot with them.

    Speaking of Fire Keepers, these people are the ones responsible for monitoring the mes of Olympus but that''s the fancy way of describing them. Old records said that the first demand that Elder me asked ever since making his presence known is to have some people near him since he was lonely.

    ''It feels boring without young''uns around. Give me four and call uh¡­Fire Keepers or whatever. Who knows, maybe a day wille when my mood is good and I''ll give them some pointers.'' - Elder me on 7th Elysium Era.

    Isn''t he weird? He is right? Yeah, everyone who were in contact with him will definitely say so too. Sufficed to say, from the earlier eras up until now, nobody really understands Elder me''s ''profundity''. Even Theo who had been a Fire Keeper for a long time, can''t say that he totally understood Elder me at all.

    Well? How about Raven then? Will he be able to understand Elder me? Let''s find out¡­

    ---

    "Why are you here?" A disembodied voice suddenly sounded right next to Raven''s ears.

    Raven sped his fist and bowed, he then responded to the familiar voice and said: "Greetings Elder me, it''s me Raven."

    "I didn''t ask who you are, I know you already. You didn''t answer my question."

    Raven titled his head in confusion and asked: "Theo said you wanted to meet me."

    "That''s right, but that was a week ago. I changed my mind." Elder me stated.

    "Oh, is that so?" Raven shrugged, "A pity then. I shall excuse myself, Elder. Sorry for disturbing you."

    "Wait."

    Raven stopped on his tracks and asked: "What is it?"

    "I didn''t tell you to leave."

    ''Wow.'' The corners of Raven''s lips were twitching in annoyance.

    He then felt a gazending on him and saw that Theo was nearby, sitting in a lotus position in front ofrge bonfire which contained different shades of fire. He could feel Theo''s apology in his gaze and a slight encouragement, telling him to endure it.

    Raven took a quick nce around and saw three more people who were giving him simr gazes. He sighed and said¡­

    "It was my mistake, Elder me." Raven smiled and showed a polite expression. "If Elder doesn''t want me to leave, then what shall I do?"

    "I don''t know." Elder me''s voice echoed once more.

    Raven fought the urge to not explode in curses. He took a deep breath and said: "Shall I sit and wait for you to think then?"

    "No."

    "Can Iy down on the floor then?"

    "You''re weird, why would do that?"

    "No, you''re the one that''s weird. What am I supposed to do here then? You called me here, but you changed you mood. When I try to leave, you prevent me from doing so. I asked if I can sit down, you told me no. I asked if I could lie down, you call me weird and puzzled why would I do that? I don''t want to hear this from you, you know!"

    "Y-you!"

    Elder me was gobsmacked. It wasn''t just him, even the Fire Keepers were simrly stunned. Of all people, they didn''t expect Raven to be the one to lose patience and outright scold the Elder. Even Theo was looking at Raven as if he was a stranger.

    "Y-you''re rude!! How can you be this -"

    "Make up your mind then! If you can do that, then I won''t be rude! Seriously. What''s up with you? You''re just a piece of a Sun Rock that managed to form a little bit of intelligence and cultivate a hundred-colored me, if it weren''t for the fact that you''re integrated with the Last Seal the Forefather Zeus created, you would''ve long be gone from here. Don''t think that gives you the right to randomly give me orders!"

    *Gasps!!*

    What an unexpected development this truly was. The faces of the Fire Keepers changed as they stared at the bonfire in front of them. From a single nce, they could tell that the this so-called Elder me was agitated, it was obvious since the mes were getting unstable.

    "C-cease your ndering Junior!" Elder me tried to sound like a proper Elder this time but his agitated mes and stuttering voice wasn''t so convincing.

    "Shut-it you free-loader!" Raven spat, "You should really thank your stupid luck that the Last Seal bound you and we can''t extricate you from it without risk. If I could, then I would''ve thrown you into the Sun right away!"

    "Heiik!" Elder me shrieked like he just heard something incredibly horrifying just now. The Fire Keepers were dumbfounded upon hearing that screech from the ''entric Elder'' they were worshipping for a long time. A trace of disbelief and betrayal crept-up to their hearts.

    *A-ahem!*

    Realizing that he slipped-up just now, Elder me cleared his throat and said: "Anyways - "

    "Anyways my ass!" Raven stomped his feet furiously, causing Elder me''s me to flicker like it was on the verge of extinguishing, they could even hear a small whimper afterwards. "Don''t ''Ahem'' me! You think I would just let that pass? You must be dreaming, bitch!"

    "B-bitch! H-how vulgar¡­"

    "Shut-up!!"

    "Eek!"

    The Fire Keepers couldn''t keep-up. They could all just stare nkly at the scene unfolding right before their very eyes. Raven looked like a mad parent scolding his child while Elder me was acting like an innocent kid that''s being bullied by a street thug.

    They had all sorts of expectations of what''s going to happen but this¡­was something that they never could''ve imagined happening. Theo pinched his arm in order to check if he was dreaming, sadly¡­he wasn''t.

    Raven berated Elder me some more until he was satisfied. After subduing him with his ferocious attitude, Raven asked: "So? What the hell did you want from me? Why did you call me here? Try bullshitting me and I''ll make sure you suffer."

    "Alright, alright¡­geez."

    "What''s that?" Raven red at the mes, causing it to flicker.

    "Sir!!" Elder me replied, "Sir, I wanted you assistance, Sir!!"

    ''S-Sir?'' The Fire Keepers were dazed. They just couldn''tprehend what''s happening. Why the hell is this Elder me of theirs, addressing Raven as ''Sir?'' Shouldn''t it be the opposite? Wasn''t he supposed to be a lot older and wiserpared to Raven? Did Raven just scared the shit out of Elder me What''s going on?

    The Fire Keepers felt their hears shattering at this betrayal. If whatever Raven says turns out to be true, then didn''t they just became this thing''s clowns for nothing? Just the thought of it causes their expressions to darken with rebellious thoughts. Unfortunately, now''s not the time for revenge¡­

    "My assistance?" Raven frowned as his expression turned serious. "Tell me more."

    "Yes, Sir!" Elder me replied politely, "The Devil Emperor''s tantrums are getting harder and harder for me to suppress. I can also sense that it is getting stronger. I tried to interrupt it but it''s rampage is getting stronger.. I am a bit¡­s-scared, Sir! What if it recovers enough strength to break the seal on it''s own. I''m at a dilemma, Sir!"

 Chapter 671 - Dangerous Situation

    ---

    Raven studied the Last Seal...

    It looks like arge bottle cork filled numerous dazzling runes. It is also bound by numerous chains - not just any chains but the Chains of Order. At the center of thest seal, a lone sparkling gem could be found. The gem radiated with rainbow colored lights and was fluctuating with intense energy signals.

    This gem served as the core of this Last Seal, coincidentally, it is also the true body of Elder me - the Sun Rock.

    Beneath this seal is a deep hold filled with darkness. The only light source that could be seen within this darkness was the glow of the Chains of Order that''s bound to the body of the Devil Emperor itself.

    Since the Chains of Order converge on to the Sun Rock, Elder me naturally became an important part of the seal. It can even be said that he''s the one keeping the Last Seal intact. Without him, it would be too easy for the Devil Emperor to escape his prison.

    The ce where the Last Seal is, was a secret to many. In fact, it''s existence is only know to the officials of the sect. This ce is directly connected to the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda after all.

    With thebined efforts of the Chains of Order and Elder me, the Devil Emperor was thoroughly suppressed for the longest of time, however it seems that something strange was going-on since Elder me reported that the Devil Emperor is bing stronger.

    "..."

    Raven inspected the Last Seal in silence. Everybody was tense since Raven''s expression was somewhat somber. As he poured his consciousness over to the seal, he could make out it''s entirety. He didn''t dare to go in to deep of course since the Devil Emperor would notice him. Nevertheless, even without making direct contact with the prisoner, he could gleam several clues from his inspection.

    "...it''s anxious." Raven murmured softly. "I didn''t make any direct contact with it, I didn''t see it either but I could feel it''s anxiety and agitation. The Chains of Order doesn''t have any problem either, but since this is the first time that I inspected it, I''m not really familiar with how much strength it has. So I''m going to take your word for it and say that it is getting stronger."

    "It''s anxious? Why? Isn''t practically Immortal? Why the hell is it anxious?" Elder me was confused as well. It might be because of him being a rock that was born with intelligence that he didn''t know how emotions work. Which is why he''s confused and didn''t notice it before.

    "I''d be d if I knew the answer to that." Raven pursed his lips, "I can''t though. You can''t expect me to walk up to it and ask, ''Hey, prisoner that we''ve tortured for millions of years! Why the hell are so anxious?'' right?"

    "..." Elder me was rendered speechless with that retort.

    "Can you tell me what usually happens whenever you ''whip'' it?" Raven asked.

    ''Whipping'' is Elder me''s description of stopping the Devil Emperor from struggling free from the chains. Since the Chains of Order is connected to the Sun Rock (Elder me''s body) it is inevitable that he feels terrible whenever it happens. In order to retaliate, Elder me will douse the Chains of Order with his mes to hurt it as well. Usually, that''s enough to keep it still for quite sometime.

    "It groans in pain of course. My mes are rather vicious after all." Elder me replied, his tone was filled with boasting and confidence.

    "It doesn''t scream or thrash around? Wait, don''t tell me your Cleansing mes aren''t working on it?" Raven''s face slightly twisted when he asked that.

    "W-well..." Elder me hesitated, but under Raven''s re, it''s me body could only shrink in fear. "Back then it did of course! It was rather loud and kept thrashing around too much that even this whole ce was shaking. H-however, it''s been imprisoned for far too long so it had gotten used to the pain. Now it only groans..."

    Raven was skeptical since that doesn''t make sense to him. Cleansing mes is the bane of Evil. The Devil Emperor is the incarnation of Evil itself - or at least it''s supposed to be. If the Cleansing mes were so effective against minor devils, then it should also work on the Devil Emperor itself.

    He refused to believe that the Devil Emperor would develop a resistance against it''s mortal enemy. It had to be known that the Cleansing mes won''t be extinguished unless evil waspletely cleansed. Under it''s assault, the Devil Emperor should''ve been burnt to ashes by now, yet it''s still alive thanks to it''s Immortality trait.

    Maybe it has it could get shed its skin anytime it wants in order to remove the Cleansing mes instead, who knows. But still, the Cleansing mes should still work against it.

    ''Wait...could it be...''

    Raven was suddenly struck with an idea. He then sank consciousness to the seal and inspected it closely once more. He didn''t go deep this time as well since he didn''t need to. This time, he paid close attention to the chains, following it until down until he saw some changes.

    His breath suddenly hitched, his consciousness snapped back to his body as his eyes flew wide open. He gasped and said:

    "This is bad...it''s corroding the Chains of Order!"

    "What!?"

    Everybody was rmed. Who wouldn''t be in this state?

    "Is that true? Wasn''t the Chains of Order a part of Heavenly Laws? Even if it manifested here to seal this abomination, it''s connection to the Heavenly Laws should remain active. How can the Devil Emperor corrode it?" Theo asked with a pale face.

    "You also have to remember that the Devil Emperor isn''t part of this universe in the first ce." Raven exined as he calmed himself down. "It''s existence wasn''t permitted to exist here and the Heavenly Laws would undoubtedly strike it down the moment it exits but you also have to remember that this thing is strong."

    "Not even our forefathers can kill this thing, they could only sacrifice their lives in order to seal it. The records might''ve forgotten to jot this down but the Devil Emperor either has a treasure or a special ability that could allow him to endure assault of the Heavenly Laws or its just that strong that it could totally ignore the Heavenly Law''s existence."

    "If it''s the former, then it should be limited. But if it''s thetter, then this is going to be really troublesome to deal with. By the way, my guess is thetter." Raven informed with a dark expression.

    "How can you tell?" The other Fire Keeper asked.

    "The corrosion..." Raven replied, causing everybody to flinch. "If it can corrode the Chains of Order - the literal manifestation of Heavenly Laws'' suppression, then it shouldn''t be a surprise that it looks down on it since the Heavenly Laws couldn''t do anything to it."

    Everyone shuddered at the thought. Raven didn''t need to say anything more after that since it was already convincing enough, if someone still doesn''t believe him at this point, then he could just casually mention the records pertaining about the horrors that the Devil Emperor brought upon humanity.

    The Devil Emperor surpasses the Natural-Disaster level in the danger scale. It goes way beyond that it''s sheer existence bes a threat to humanity and Divine Realm in general.

    The barrennds where Tartarus is, still hasn''t recovered to this very day. It became like that just because that is the verynd where the Devil Emperor and his army arrived first. Turning a lush and energy-fillednd into a barren wastnd and polluting the air permanently just by arriving...such is the horror of the Devil Emperor back in it''s peak.

    "What do we do now?" Elder me was panicking, "I-I''m not sure if I alone can''t stop it. At this point, isn''t it obvious that it''s trying to break free?"

    "I don''t doubt it is exactly as you said..." Raven replied with a sigh, "It''s probably corroding the Chains of Order and converting the very essence of Heavenly Laws in order to replenish it''s energy."

    "We''re doomed then!" Theo cried out, the other Fire Keepers were panicking as well.

    "Compose yourselves." Raven said. "We still have time. If it truly has enough power to break free from it''s imprisonment then it would''ve done so already. If I''d venture a guess, the Devil Emperor is cautious as well. It''s a hundred percent confident about breaking free just yet. If I were in its position, I''d slowly umte until I am restored back to my peak condition before even attempting. That''s most likely its train of thought."

    "Elder me, use your judgment. You''ve been a part of the seal since the start right?" Raven asked, to which Elder me nodded, "Then you should have at least some level of recognition with it, tell me, how much has it recovered?"

    Elder me was silent for a bit, then he replied: "I''d say about 50-60%."

    Raven groaned in frustration, he didn''t like that news.. Unable to endure it anymore, he took out a talisman on his spatial ring and called the Sect Master and the Grand Elder over.

 Chapter 672 - First Yang

    ---

    "...so in short, I would need Divine Energy for this formation to work. We have to get rid of this corrosion as soon as possible."

    Inside the temple of the mes of Olympus, the Sect Master and the Grand Elder along with their wives arrived due to Raven''s call for assistance.

    It didn''t take them long at all and as soon as they appeared, Raven exined the situation to them.

    Alwina - the Sect Master''s Wife, looked at Elder mes, causing the poor entity to flinch. She then sighed and said:

    "Look here, you should be reporting these things right away. Now your little cover has been blown."

    "That''s right, Elder me." The Sect Master agreed with his wife''s words. "This is an emergency. You shouldn''t be impartial when ites to these kinds of matters. It concerns the lives of millions."

    "Yes, it is indeed my mistake. I''m sorry." Elder me meekly replied as his mes became smaller.

    "Well then, when do we start?" The Grand Elder asked.

    "Hold on just a bit, I''ll draw the formation first." Raven replied.

    Without wasting any more time, he took out the Brush of Wisdom and began drawing runes. As soon as he began, the temple began shining with golden and silver radiance. As the lines intersected, the profound mysteries of Runic Secret Origin began forming mystical runes that arranged themselves in orderly fashion in front of Raven.

    Everyone was dazed with the unparalleled beauty of this phenomenon. No matter how many times they see Raven doing what he''s best at, this impression never gets old.

    What surprised them is the sudden appearance of blurry, ancient Constetions. As soon as these constetions appeared, the Runes fused to the nodes of each constetions, seemingly bringing them to life.

    Numerous fluctuations suddenly appeared. Everyone was shocked to feel the lively elements rushing around them, from the basic elements to the mutated ones, each of them made their presence known by the releasing a distinct fluctuation that solely belongs to them.

    All of a sudden, their surroundings changed. Previously, they were inside a temple but now it was as if they were in space. Surrounding with an endless velvet nket filled with silver sparkles. Six constetions appeared above them, revolving around the Last Seal.

    "This...this is..." Elder me was gobsmacked. It wasn''t just him. This phenomena was so strange and mystical that the rest were speechless as well.

    Raven''s hand turned into a blur as he finished drawing yet another set of runes. Another constetion was summoned and this time, it appeared directly on Elder me''s body. The runes that Raven drew flew on to the nodes of the constetion inside Elder me''s body. As soon as they did, Elder me felt an inexplicable rush that made him cheer out loud unconsciously.

    "This...this is...Extreme Yang Illumination!!! The first light and the Father of Primordial Fire! What the hell!?"

    Elder me''s mouth was ajar when he realized this. How can he not? The Extreme Yang Illumination is also known as the First Light to exist, it was the raw and purest form of Yang Element. It is also the one that gave birth to the Primordial Fire and it was the Primordial Fire that gave birth to the First Sun! Elder me is a Sun Rock that cultivated 100 types of mes but none of the mes he has could even hold a candle to the Primordial me.

    Hell, none of his mes could even reach the temperature on the Sun''s surface. Yet now, this kid just drew the constetion of his ancestor on his body, this was just absurd.

    "Don''t get the wrong idea, Sun Rock." Raven snorted, waking Elder me out of his stupor. "That constetion is only temporary. Also, it doesn''t contain any essence. In short, just a piece of skin. Even if you try your hardest, you won''t be able to use that to you advantage. I''m using this for the sake of saving the sect, not for you."

    Elder me was disheartened but he didn''t dare to show it. He felt a little embarrassed so he replied: "O-of course! F-for the sake of the sect! Who said that I was entertaining any ideas?"

    But in reality, he felt that it was a shame.

    Raven shook his head and drew a ritual circle on the ground. It didn''t take him long to finish that. Once the ritual circle was made, he pushed it down and it expanded on the floor. Now, it would seem like they are standing on top of a ritual circle instead.

    "There''s spots on the Ritual Circle. Elder take the bigger spots, Fire Keepers at the smaller spots. I''ll be here to control the formation. Sit down on the spot and release as much energy as you can. We''re doing this in one go."

    Everybody nodded and went to their positions, Raven then looked at Elder me and said: "You''re crucial to this so focus. Once the ritual begins, I will be directing the Divine Energy to the Extreme Yang Illumination Constetion within you. Use everything, and I mean everything, convert them into the First Yang and pour everything on the Chains of Order."

    "The First Yang will resemble the Cleansing mes so the idiot downstairs would probably use its acting skills again. Focus on eradicating the corrosion on the Chains of Order, you can give it hell afterwards. Don''t mind the shaking, the Temple has been fortified."

    "Remember, getting rid of the corrosion is the priority. Whipping is next. Don''t get it mixed-up." Raven''s expression became cold as he continued: "If you dare mess this up. I will paint the Illusive Yin Silhouette and the 1000 Poisonous Winter Fury on you so that you''ll suffer for the longest of time. Am I clear!?"

    "Sir, yes Sir!! Corrosion is the priority and whipping is the next! Understood, Sir!! I''m ready, Sir!" Elder me saluted while shivering from head to toe. It would seem that Raven''s threats were strong enough to cause this.

    The Elder chuckled at this since they understood why Elder me is scared. Standing at the opposite side of the Extreme Yang Illumination is the Illusive Yin Silhouette. Thetter is obviously the enemy of all light source, even more so for a piece of Sun Rock. Additionally, 1000 Poisonous Winter Fury is the enemy of all mes. If Raven can paint the Extreme Yang Illumination on Elder me, he obviously could do the same for the other two.

    Indeed, he knows how to pick the right words to curb Elder me''s fickle attitude...

    "Good. Let''s begin. I''ll trouble everyone, please release as much energy as you can."

    As soon as Raven gave the signal, all participants began releasing their energies. Divine Energies were released by the Elders and the others participated as well.

    Raven drove the formation and begin collecting all the Energies around. With a gentle wave of his brush, he directed them all to Elder me who converted everything to produce the First Yang with the help of the constetion painted by Raven to him.

    At the very core of the Sun Rock, a small plume of me appeared. This me was small, it''s not even as big as a candle me. The more one looks, the more this me looks like a light instead of a me.

    This was the First Yang. An existence that''s even rare for Divine Realm to see nowadays. Despite the sheer volume of Divine Energies used to create this, the result only amounted to this little. Still, Raven was disheartened, he feels quite the opposite actually.

    The participants were still giving it their all, Raven and Elder me used everything without any spare to feed it to the small white plume of light. Slowly but surely, the First Yang became more and more stable as time went on.

    As soon as the me became as big as a candle me. Raven called-out to Elder me and said: "Do it."

    "Yes!"

    Without any hesitation, Elder me controlled the First Yang and poured them to the Chains of Order. The mes were distributed evenly, coating each chain in pure white light. Each time the white mes passed, it would seem that its tempering the chains.

    Slowly and carefully, Elder me controlled the mes. The supply of Divine Energy wasn''t stopping so the mes won''t be snuffed out.

    The mes wrapped around the chains and crept towards the corrosion. When it came in contact with the corrosion, the First Yang suddenly became ferocious as if it met it''s mortal enemy. It burned even more ferociously and incinerated the corrosion.

    The chains began shaking, it was due to the shaking of the chained-fellow downstairs. It was watching at years of its hard work burned under the white mes. The prisoner shook the chains, trying to snuff them out but failing miserably.

    The tantrums became fiercer and fiercer but no matter what it did, the mes weren''t affected. It began thrashing around in a frenzied state, wanting to rip apart the Last Seal but it discovered that it was unusually sturdy today. The chained prisoner could only watch as the First Yang made contact with it''s skin and immediately enveloped its entire body.

    *ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRR!!!!*

 Chapter 673 - Task Complete

    ---

    The Devil Emperor was hurt and angry¡­

    It thrashed around its cell, trying to pull the Chains of Order and the Last Seal. Unfortunately, no matter what it did, the sturdiness of the chains and seal were unusually strong today so nothing was working.

    The Devil Emperor was in so much pain that it can''t even speak. Its whole body was covered in white mes that''s releasing an impecabble brilliance, lighting up the cell it was in. When was thest time that the Devil Emperor felt this kind of pain? Even if someone was to ask that, the Devil Emperor might not be able to answer.

    It has been imprisoned here for far too long that it''s own memories were fuzzy. Perhaps if it focused enough, it would be able to remember, but under its current state? That''s impossible.

    The pain was one thing. The Devil Emperor won''t die from this. If it were that easy, then it wouldn''t havested this long. Not only does it have an unusually string and vigorous physique, its Will is also exceptionally strong, even the people above knew that this won''t be enough.

    What really angered the Devil Emperor the most is that its escape n that has been going-on for decades was neutralized just like that. The Devil Emperor wondered what went wrong. As far as it knows, those idiots shouldn''t have found this out until it was toote, so what was this then? What happened? How did they discovered it? Or maybe it''s just a coincidence? What was this me and why is it this painful? These are what the Devil Emperor wants to know currently.

    Sadly, it didn''t even matter how much it thought about it. The n it prepared fro decades went down the drain just like that. How can it not anger the Devil Emperor?

    The mes that''s scalding its body were relentless. The Immortality trait was working but the pain was subsiding at all. The Devil Emperor didn''t know whether this was the Cleansing me or not but what it do know is that what this is, it''s strong and persistent.

    The painful torturested for almost an entire day before the Devil Emperor managed to form a skin that''s hard enough to push everything away. With a kick filled with fury and grievances, the Devil Emperor got rid of its ming old skin. It then slumped on the ground, weak and powerless as it looked above with despair and anger.

    At least it wasn''t painful anymore, but in order to save itself, the Devil Emperor had to use up majority of the energy it recovered. In the end, its back to square one.

    The Devil Emperor had the time to think and realized many things. It still doesn''t know what kind of mes were those but it knew that the people above can''t use them willy-nilly. Also it wasn''t just a misconception. The Chains of Order were repaired to it''s perfection, the shackles that are binding its body were now more solid and more suppressive than before, further fueling it''s anger.

    Unfortunately, no matter how angry it got. There''s no way it can escape. The only thing it could do is to howl at the top of its lungs to vent out its frustrations.

    "I WILL SLAUGHTER ALL OF YOU!!!"

    ---

    "Shut-up, idiot!"

    Raven spat as he panted heavily. If it weren''t for the fact that he''s severely exhausted right now, he would''ve made a rune that will sent meteors to the Devil Emperor, unfortunately he can''t do that just now.

    The people around him can''t even retort with that deration. They were all too exhausted from this operation. All of their energies were sucked dry just to make sure that the task will bepleted without hitches. The Fire Keepers already copsed on the floor, even the poor Grand Elder wasn''t spared. Elder me''s silhouette was blurry, his mes were reduced to a pitiful plume because of the stressful mission.

    Nevertheless, they were sessful. They managed to avert a severe crisis.

    "Great work¡­everyone¡­" Raven said while panting, he was barely standing as he squeezed out a smile. His legs felt like they were jelly, his consciousness was blurry as well.

    When the others heard him, they let out a sigh of relief. One by one the Fire Keepers lost consciousness. The Elders looked haggard, still they managed to sit cross-legged and stabilize their conditions. Everyone worked really hard today, especially Raven who pulled out everything he could just to make sure that the n will seed.

    Elder me went silent. The diagram of the Extreme Yang Illumination disappeared from his body. He was now hibernating and would probably wake-up three to five dayster.

    Raven was barely hanging-on as well. He took out a talisman from his pocket and sent a message.

    Before he lost consciousness, he managed to contact Kyrie and tell her to pick them up. After that, his eyes rolled at the back of his head and he lost consciousness. Raven copsed on the floor, and wasn''t aware of what happened next.

    Shortly after he copsed, Kyrie arrived at the temple. She was surprised to see them worn-out. She became vignt and tried to search for the enemy but Lady Hera informed her of what happened.

    Kyrie rxed and sighed in relief. She then took out her own talisman and contacted people who knew the other Fire Keepers. When the helpers arrived, they went towards their respective lords and carried them back to their own home. Kyrie did the same and also said that she''ll be returning to help the Elders as well.

    After making sure that Raven was resting properly on his own room. Kyrie returned to the temple just as she promised. She then carried the exhausted elders to her flying abode and returned them to the Storm Dweller''s Peak. She attended to them since they were severely exhausted, only after they recovered enough energy to move around did she left and tended to her Young Lord as well. Of course, Raven''s Avatars were helping her as well.

    ---

    "Ugh¡­" A rough groaned escaped from Raven''s lips. "Damn, my head hurts."

    Waking-up feeling rough, Raven clutched his head due to headache. Unfortunately, he underestimated his condition. As soon as he moved, he let out a pained groan since his body''s condition was also bad.

    Clenching his jaws, he sat-up from the bed and leaned on the headrest. His vision was still a bit blurry but he could tell that he''s back in his room. He looked at the bed-side table and saw a small vial in there. Enduring the prickling sensation of his aching body, he reached out to it and emptied the vial in one go.

    He then regted his breathing and felt the potion doing it''s work. Not even five minutester, all the pain was gone. Raven sighed in relief but he didn''t get up from the bed just yet. He just rested there for some more time.

    The potion was still doing its job. Even if Raven doesn''t actively enter meditation, his condition will continue to get better thanks to it.

    After half an hour, Raven regained his energy back. He slowly got-up from the bed, soaked in a warm bath and changed into a morefortable clothes. Raven was still feeling a little bit lethargic so he sat on his bed and stared at a nk space for quite some time. When he woke up from his stupor, he shook his head and went out of his room.

    When he got down from the stairs, he saw Kyrie working with his Avatars. Sensing him, Kyrie turned her head and bowed at him.

    "Have you rested well, Young Lord?" Kyrie asked.

    "Yes. Is there anything I need to know?"

    "Nothing important, Sir." Kyrie replied, "The sect has been rtively peaceful."

    "How long was I out?"

    "Seven days, Young Lord." She replied.

    "Ah. I guess I was really tired then. Were you the one who took me back here?"

    "Yes."

    "Thank you." Raven smiled, causing Kyrie to be stunned. She was dazzled by the appearance of her Young Lord so she immediately broke eye-contact.

    "Y-you''re wee. I w-was only following your orders." Kyrie replied but she was stuttering and was feeling a bit flustered.

    "Thank you still." Raven nodded to her, "Oh uh¡­"

    "W-what is it, Young Lord?" Kyrie nervously asked.

    "¡­can I trouble you? I''m famished." Raven scratched his face, feeling a little bit embarrassed.

    "N-no! Of course not. You''re not troubling me at all." Kyrie immediately denied. "Please, wait for a bit Young Lord. I shall prepare a feast for you."

    "Mn!" Raven smiled once more,unching another fatal attack.

    What caught her off-guard was Raven suddenly holding her face and rubbing something off of her cheeks. Kyrie froze like a statue and dared not to move.

    When he was done, Raven looked at his thumb and smiled at Kyrie once again.

    "Take you time, I''m not in a hurry. I''ll be outside." Raven then walked away in a brisk pace, leaving Kyrie standing there like a frozen statue.

    When she regained the ability to move, Kyrie hurried off to the kitchen with a crimson face.

 Chapter 674 - Poor Maiden...

    ---

    "...what''s wrong with him?" Logan leaned over to Henry as he pointed towards Theo using his lips.

    "Beats me..." Henry shrugged. "He''s been like that for a week now. I tried asking him but he only replies with ''I was cheated'' I don''t know what the hell he''s talking about but he''s depressed as fuck."

    The War Gods are gathered at Raven''s pocket dimension once more. It was Henry, Logan, Theo and Charles. The other three was fine but Theo was looking so lost as if his soul was taken away from him.

    "Could this have something to do with the event recently?" Charles wondered.

    "Probably..." Henry shrugged again, "I mean, he wasn''t like that before so it''s most likely the case."

    "Oh, here''s Raven. Maybe we can ask him instead." Logan said.

    Henry could''ve sworn that he saw Theo flinching in his slumping position but he didn''tment about it. Instead, he just paid attention to Raven since if there''s anyone who could tell them what''s going, it''s this dude.

    Raven walked towards them, walking loose white robes. He looked as if he was in middle of a vacation. He didn''t have his usual ''professional'' and ''noble'' aura, instead everyone could feel that he was rxed and pampered...along with that fiendishly handsome face, it truly makes one envious...

    "Yo, what''s up with you? It looks like you spent the whole night making love with a gorgeous babe." Logan eximed while looking at Raven suspiciously.

    "I didn''t..." Raven chuckled, "I''m just vibing and rxing. I don''t have any work anymore so I can afford toze around like this."

    "Mm-hmm, from what I can remember, Kyrie''s not that bad..." Henry lecherously added.

    "What do you mean ''she''s not bad''? If she''s way more than that dude! If I was this guy I''d be...hehehe."

    "Stop it you two." Raven shook his head and sat down. "Our rtionship is strictly professional."

    *Gasp!* "Could it be!..."

    "I don''t swing that way either, shut your trap!" Raven red at Logan, making him shut-up.

    "Okay, that''s enough you two." Charles smiled at their antics. He then looked at Raven and asked: "I trust that you''ve rested well?"

    "Yeah. Very well actually." Raven chuckled. "All I did during these past few days was to eat and sleep all the time. I didn''t even bother meditating."

    "Gosh, how envious. I wish I could the same but I can''t..." Henry pursed his lips in envy.

    "By the way..." Logan interjected, "What happened? The Fire Keepers had been rtively silent and the Sect Master hasn''t given us any clues either. Additionally..."

    Logan pointed at the sulking Theo and continued: "What''s up with him? He''s been like that for a week now you know?"

    "Ah..." Raven suddenly burst outughing, causing everyone to be confused. "Must''ve been hard for you huh?"

    Theo flinched and red dramatically at Raven. He then pounced at him, grabbing the hem of Raven''s robes as he started shaking him back and forth.

    "I was cheated...why!? Why!? I was - no! We were betrayed!! We worshipped him for a long time you know!? A long time I say!? He acted all high and mighty and we tried out best please him! For what purpose exactly? A rock! We worshipped a rock!! Why!?"

    Theo wailed like a madman as he shook Raven who wasughing at his plight. The scene caused the other three to raise their brows in confusion.

    Once Theo had enough shaking Raven, he broke down on his chair, looking lost and empty once again. Raven was stillughing as he looked at the other three who''s faces demanded exnation.

    "It''s Elder me''s true identity." Raven exined once he''s doneughing. "That mighty and entric Elder is nothing more than a Sun Rock. A lucky Sun Rock at that."

    "Eh!?" Henry, Logan and Charles were dumbfounded, they all collectively looked at Theo and saw single tear running down his face as he remained expressionless looking at the fake sky.

    Ravenughed out loud once more and said: "It happened when I visited the Temple where the mes of Olympus were stationed. I met with Elder me and he began pushing his luck, you know? Annoying me with his entricity."

    He then snorted and said: "Well, he seeded. I was pissed so I revealed his true identity. He was a piece of Sun Rock that came from the Sun obviously. I don''t know what kind of luck he had but he managed to condense a consciousness. He also managed to cultivate 100 kinds of mes which is why the mes of Olympus has numerous colors."

    "I don''t know what exactly transpired but when our Forefathers forged the Last Seal, he was chosen as well. Elder me serves as the coreponent of the Last Seal, the Chains of Orders were bound to him and he could borrow the chain links as passage for his mes to reach the prisoner downstairs."

    "Well, realizing that the Elder that you have been worshipping for decades...centuries even, were nothing but a piece of rock that''s just a little too lucky, surely is heartbreaking. It''s no wonder why him and the other Fire Keepers kept telling you that they were cheated. This is a heavy secret so don''t go telling everybody."

    Ravenughed once again due to the sheer hrity of the situation. The three were dumbfounded and looked at Theo with pity. The poor guy just sat there, still looking as if he lost his soul. His worships and blind respect for the Elder turned out to be a big joke. No wonder he''s acting like this...

    "Man, I was fooled as well." Henry smiled wryly. "The worst part is that we can''t have our respects back. Hurting Elder me means hurting the Last Seal as well so we can''t eveny a finger on him."

    "Yeah..." Theo hoarsely replied, "Only him could terrorize the damned rock..."

    "You bet!" Ravenughed out loud once again. Ignoring the fact that Theo''s really brokenhearted by this, "He knows what I can do and how fast I cultivate."

    "I may not be able to touch him right now but as soon as I could, I''d peel him out of the Last Seal and throw him back to the Sun. Let''s see if he dares to let out a fart in my presence."

    The rest were speechless at Raven''s domineering words. But it''s not without basis though, even if they fought Raven in a one versus four, it''s not certain who''s going to win. Despite them being Empyrean''s and all, Raven''s Runic Inscriptions are nothing to scoff at. Just a few strokes of his brush would all it takes for their cultivation bases to be sealed entirely.

    "Okay so, he called you there, pissed you off and you revealed his identity. Is that all that happened?" Henry asked, feeling doubtful that that''s the entire story.

    "Of course not, there''s more." Raven was about to say more but they were interrupted by Kyrie who brought them some refreshments. Raven smiled at her and said: "Thanks."

    Kyrie flinched and felt heat rushing up to her face, she shook her head and said: "Y-you''re wee, Young Lord. Excuse me..."

    She then left in flustered and hurried manner, causing the War Gods to feel surprised.

    "Anyways, as I was saying..."

    But Raven doesn''t seem to have noticed anything, he recounted what happened at the temple to them. Unbeknownst to him, that War Gods paid attention not to his story but to what just transpired before he started recounting what happened at the temple.

    "...I was out for a couple of days after that. I recovered now but I still feel likezing around so I''m like this." Raven finished his story and looked at the War God''s expression. He felt strange looking at them so he asked: "Hey, what''s wrong?"

    "Oh uh...nothing." Logan replied, shaking his head, the others shook theirs as well.

    "Yeah, that reminds me..." Henry suddenly interjected, "I recall you telling us that you''re married right?"

    Raven was surprised by that sudden question but he still replied: "Yes, I am married."

    "To one wife?" Logan added.

    "Yes, to one wife?" Raven replied once more. "Why are you guys asking this all of a sudden?"

    "Nothing much really." Henry yfully replied, he then asked: "Hey, you never showed us what your wife looks like before. Can show her to us now? You can like, draw a sketch or something."

    "Hmm." Raven was suspicious but he didn''t really know why. He shrugged and summoned a sigil on his left hand. Once the War Gods saw this, they all smiled wryly. They knew what that sigil was.

    From the sigil, an image of two people emerged. One was Raven and the other one was Luna. This was the image of their Grand Wedding back at the lower ne. It was them sharing their vows with kiss.

    Raven looked fondly at the image, it was as if he could see nothing else aside from this. The War Gods saw his expression and sighed...

    ''A perfect married couple indeed...'' That''s what they all thought. A fiendishly handsome man and a kingdom-toppling beauty. Indeed, they were perfect for each other.

    All sorts of emotions crept to the other War Gods'' hearts, envy, admiration, and so on. But right now, as they saw Raven''s expression, all they could think of is...

    ''Poor Kyrie....''

 Chapter 675 - Leaving For The Celestial Ascension Platform

    ---

    "...have you made up your mind about this?"

    "Yes, the arrangements I had for the sect were already in progress." Raven nodded and replied, "There''s no reason for me to stagnate here. The daily matters are going to be handled by my Avatars and my assistant."

    "I see..." The Sect Master nodded. "You''ve worked hard. Thanks to you, the sect is safe and secured. Since you decided to go, then I shall not hold you back. By the end of the day, I''ll open up the passage to the Celestial Ascension tform to you."

    "Thank you, Senior Brother." Raven replied.

    It has been a month since the Temple incident. Raven had long recovered since then and been cking off since he could afford to. His little vacation was quite intentional since he already nned to ascend the Celestial Ascension tform as early as he could.

    He has been freed fro, his duties. All of his arrangements are set and ready. As for his daily affairs, he has his Avatars tending it for him.

    He originally nned on fortifying the seal to floors 80 and above but Raven decided against it. He wasn''t nearly strong enough to directly oppose the Devil Emperor just yet. Going near his domain is a bad idea so he decided to postpone it up until he exits the tform. No matter how much time he''d need to do that, that is...

    Since there''s nothing that''s keeping him busy anymore, staying any longer would just stagnate his progress, therefore he decided to take the trials of the Celestial Ascension tform. Of course, the idea of going out of the sect and searching for his wife and friends but the current situation prevents him from doing that. It can''t be helped so he could only do this...

    "Although I''m sure that you''ve done some research about this, I''d still like to tell you that the Celestial Ascension tform poses risks. You survival isn''tpletely guaranteed in there so you must be careful. You must know when to advance and when to retreat. Don''t be in a hurry. We need you to return alive and well, do you understand?"

    "Yes, Senior Brother. I understand." Raven replied solemnly to the Sect Master.

    Just like what the Sect Master said, Raven made ample research about the Celestial Ascension tform, he referenced the records and asked those whopleted the trial about their experiences in there. This gave Raven some expectations but he didn''t dare to be certain. The only way for him to know is to experience it himself.

    The Sect Master is also right about risks inside the tform. When he asked Levi, Paolo, Julia, Celestine and Jessamine, all of them told him that they encountered numerous life or death situations in there. As they go up higher, it bes more dangerous so they reminded him to be careful.

    That being said, Raven was ready. He''s neither confident nor nervous. He''s just calm. He''s ready to face the dangers and won''t hesitate to retreat if the situation calls for it. Raven understood that since he became the Heir to the Sect Master''s position and the Ancestral Divine Crown, his life no longer belongs to only himself. He has to survive for the sake of his loved-ones and those relying on to him.

    ---

    "Be careful, you hear me?" Henry patted Raven''s shoulders with a solemn look on his face.

    Him, along with the other War Gods, were gathered to the Storm Dweller''s Peak to see Raven off. Henry was feeling a little bit surreal right now.

    How long has it been since he brought this guy to the sect? Four? Or maybe five years? He can''t remember anymore but that doesn''t matter. If someone were to tell him that one day, Raven would overtake him, he''d probably call that person insane. Well, it did happen but Henry felt nothing but absolute respect for this kid.

    He saw Raven gave it his all, not even once did hepromised when ites to his contributions to the Sect. He worked harder than anybody else, pushing himself to the point of copsing even. Everything that Raven achieved right now are the fruits of hisbor and he deserved every single one of them.

    "Don''t worry, I''m not as reckless as you guys are." Raven chuckled as he patted Henry''s back.

    "We''ll be catching up soon, so don''t get ahead of yourself." Logan said a snarkyment but in truth, he''s proud of Raven.

    "Mn, I''ll be waiting." Raven grabbed on to one of Logan''s many arms. "Though we might not actually see each other inside."

    "Good luck dude. Be careful." Theo said as he shook Raven''s arms.

    "You better catch-up as well, stop cking off. You''re relieved of your Fire Keeper duties already." Raven firmly grasped Theo''s arm, he then moved on to Charles.

    "Stay strong. You better be an Empyrean once youe out of there." Charles smiled as they bumped fists.

    "I''ll try my best." Raven replied.

    He then took a step back and looked at hisrades. The other War Gods and his assistants are there to send him off as well. He walked towards Kyrie and said: "I''ll leave the matters to you. Don''t worry, my Avatars are there. All of them are connected to me, if somethinges-up, don''t hesitate to inform me."

    Kyrie nodded and bit her lips to prevent herself from being emotional. Raven then went towards the Sect Master and the Grand Elder who''s guarding the entrance to the Celestial Ascension tform.

    "I''m off, Senior Brother, Grand Elder." Raven bowed to them.

    "Be careful, brat." The Grand Elder nodded.

    "You must return to us alive, alright?" The Sect Master demanded.

    "I will." Raven nodded and put on a solemn expression.

    He stopped hesitating and walked towards the spatial portal that will lead him to the Celestial Ascension tform. He didn''t look back and disappeared from their vision.

    As soon as Raven disappeared, the Sect Master and the Grand Elder closed-off the portal. Everyone was dispersed quietly but their hearts are determined.

    With that, silence returned to the Storm Dweller''s Peak.

    ---

    Raven travelled for quite sometime within the spatial passage. He wasn''t sure how much time actually passed but it should''ve taken him at least two to three days before he managed to catch glimpse of the other side.

    It didn''t take long before Raven exited the spatial passage. As soon as hended on the ground, the passage disappeared behind him.

    Raven took a good look of his surroundings. He somehow ended-up in the lush forest filled with traces of Life Laws. The air was sweet and fresh, simr to the air within the Cultivation Eden.

    The trip to arrive in this ce was very reminiscent of the first time he arrived at the Divine Realm. Just like now, he also arrived at a bountiful forest at the Blue Marble.

    Raven decided to move along. Following the clearing that seems to have been created for him, and probably others who came here. As he followed the path, he came across dense shrubs filled with numerous berries. He also saw some hare, squirrels, fawns, and a lot of butterflies on his way.

    The path lead him to a dense bush covering the path forward, Raven gently pushed it aside and stepped onto the other side, only to see a tall obelisk that could seemingly pierce the sky. He looked down and saw that there is a person standing beside the obelisk and was looking intently at him.

    The man was an Elder wearing a set of ck robes. Despite his old appearance, there is a wizened look on his face and his aura was concealed perfectly. He stood tall like a spear pointed at the heavens. His left cheek is also filled with Runic Tattoos as well.

    Raven felt estranged but he decided to keep moving forward. When he arrived closer to the person standing beside the obelisk, he sped his hands and greeted him.

    "Greetings, Fellow Knight. My name is Vendrick Valorheart."

    "I''ve heard about you, Knight Vendrick - Heir of Chronos. Would you be morefortable if I call you Raven?" The man smiled and returned the greeting.

    "Yes, of course Elder. May I know your name?" He asked.

    "This old man has lived for a long time that I can''t recall my actual birth name." The old man smiled in a carefree manner, "Just call me Elder Gary, I guess."

    "Understood, Elder Gary." Raven nodded.

    "You came here to challenge the Celestial Ascension tform, no?" Elder Gary asked.

    "Yes, Elder. I came here to test my luck."

    Elder Gary didn''t reply. Instead he procured a stone steele from nowhere and handed it over to Raven. He then said: "That stone steele will serve as your identification te. Smear a drop of your blood on to it in order to bind it to you."

    Raven nodded and did as he was asked. He nicked a small wound on his finger and smeared his blood on the Stone Steele. As soon as he did that, the stone steele transformed, releasing a sh of light.

    When the transformation ended, the stone steele now disyed information that wasn''t there before...

    [Vendrick ''Raven'' Valorheart] - 0th Floor.

 Chapter 676 - 1st Floor: Little Tiger

    ---

    [Vendrick ''Raven'' Valorheart] - 0th Floor.

    This is what was disyed on the stone steele after he was done smearing his blood on it.

    "That Stone Steele would serve as your identification. Keep it safe and after you finish clearing all the mission on the current floor you''re in, the information disyed on that te will be updated. That stone steele will also disy all the necessary details about your mission on each floor." Gary exined.

    Raven nodded softly and asked: "Are there any missions here in the 0th Floor?"

    "There is none." Gary shook his head. "This floor is a safe zone. Nothing or no one will hurt you here. Each time you clear a floor, you''ll be sent back here. You can rest and recuperate here before challenging the next floor. You can also enter seclusion here."

    "I see." Raven nodded, "Will I be able to see the other challengers here?"

    "No." Gary shook his head again. "That would only be possible if you entered at the same time. Even then, the missions you''ll receive won''t necessarily be the same so you will only meet them upon entering. Once all of you ascend each floors, you won''t be able to see each other again until you sessfully exit this ce."

    Gary also took advantage of this time to exin everything that Raven needs to know...

    "The Celestial Ascension tform is mysterious. There is no fixed amount of floors, it all depends on the potential of the challenger. The difficulty of the missions will also depend on your potential. You can die here so don''t be careless. If you managed to persist though, the rewards you will get will be satisfactory."

    "Aside from the rewards after clearing each floor, you will also have a Final Rewards that you will get after you finished all the trials or after you used all your chances. Each floor will be graded and depending on the result, the amount of rewards you''ll get will vary."

    "Each challenger has 5 chances to give-up on the floor and move-on to the next one. Remember that using these chances will have a significant effect on your final grade so use them wisely. Of course, if you really are in danger, don''t hold back and use them. You have to be alive to enjoy the rewards given after all."

    Raven listened to the lengthy exnation and remember it by heart. Now everything was more or less clear to him.

    ''So that''s why I have this feeling that I will stay here for a long time. It turns out that there is no fixed amount of trials. If I want to get the grandest reward, I have be careful and take my time. I also has to see this to the end. I need all the strength I can get from this.''

    Raven took a deep breath, unconsciously gripping the stole steele tightly. Gary saw this and a faint smile appeared on his face.

    "How do I challenge the 1st Floor?" Raven looked up and asked Gary.

    "Touch the obelisk and you''ll be transported to the 1st floor." The elder replied.

    "Thanks. I''m off, Elder Gary." Raven politely excused himself and touched the obelisk behind Gary. As soon as he touched the obelisk, Raven turned into tiny motes of light and were absorbed into the obelisk."

    ---

    "...ow!"

    "Hey, bro! Bro can you hear me?" A voice called out to him. He tried opening his eyes but for some reason he couldn''t. His whole body felt incredibly painful and he didn''t understand why.

    He suddenly heard hurried footsteps rushing towards him. He then heard another voice talking...

    "Is Little Tiger awake?"

    ''L-Little Tiger?''

    "Shit!"

    He suddenly felt a painful sting on his head, it was as if a hammer struck his head badly. He was assaulted by a wave of memories that clearly didn''t belong to him.

    "Little Tiger!! Are you okay? Shit! Young Master Jin is too much!!"

    "Shut up, fatty...stop talking." Raven - wait it''s ''Little Tiger'' now isn''t it?

    Little Tiger said to the fat man who''s freaking out right next to his bed.

    Inside Raven''s consciousness, he finally organized the strange memories of Little Tiger. Next to it, was the stone steele that Elder Gary handed to him. Raven picked up the Stone Steele and saw that it was shing with light and now has new information avable to him.

    ---

    [Vendrick ''Raven'' Valorheart] - 1st Floor (In-progress)

    Mission:

    : You are possessing the body of ''Tiger Rogers'', a kid who''s rather unfortunate. He has zero Martial Talent and was deemed as a waste by his Tribe.

    : Your main mission is to Conquer this World. Once you do, you''ll be able to clear the 1st floor.

    : Rewards: To be determined.

    : Note - The more dazzling your performance is, the greater your rewards will be. Good luck, Challenger.

    ---

    The corners of Raven''s mouth were twitching...

    ''Really? Something like this can happen? Come on...''

    The mission wasn''t exactly that hard. Although he has no idea about the level of this world, Raven''s strength can stand-up against an Empyrean if he tried his best. But the problem is...

    ''I was reduced to a mere mortal...'' Raven was depressed, ''I can''t ess my Crown, my cultivation base is sealed, even my Laws are sealed as well. I can''t break this seal since that will means failure. There''s also this...''

    Raven opened his hand and golden light suddenly materialized from his palms. He a 9 foot long spear suddenly appeared on it which closely resembled an item that Raven has been using for quite sometime now.

    ''The Brush of Wisdom turned into a spear? Should I call this Spear of Wisdom then? What the heck?'' Raven was really puzzled.

    Raven sighed and felt a little bit stumped, it has been a while since he felt this weak but he has no time toin. He calmed himself down and started reading through Little Tiger''s memories.

    Never in his wildest dreams that the trials of the Celestial Ascension tform would be something like this. That being said, he remember Gary telling him that the trials will be modified depending on the challenger''s potential. He has many doubts right now but it isn''t time for him to pay attention to those, there are pressing matters for him to prioritize...

    ---

    [A/N: I''d be referring to Raven as Little Tiger until the end of the 1st Floor Arc.]

    "Whew..."

    Little Tiger sighed and slowly opened his eyes. He then looked beside him to see the boy named ''Big Fatty'' looking at him anxiously. Aside from Big Fatty, there''s also a woman there who looked rather haggard. From his memories, this is named Rosa.

    ''She doesn''t look like a Rosa at all.''

    "You''re awake, Bro. You''ve scared me to death." Fatty cried as he plopped on top of Little Tiger.

    "Urk! Damn, Fatty! You''re killing me with your weight!! Get off!" Little Tiger tried his best of push Fatty away but he was took weak to do so. He felt like crying, if this was the original him, a flick of his finger would sent this fat guy at least several miles away.

    "You can raise you voice against Fatty, that means that you''re mostly fine. That''s good. We''re worried you know?" Rosa said in a concerned manner. "So? What happened anyway? We only saw the aftermath of the beating, you looked rather awful and we thought you were dead. People said that it was Young Master Jin and hisckeys did it to you. What did you do?"

    "You said you didn''t see it happening, how the hell did you came to the conclusion that I did something?" Little Tiger groaned. "That asshole never had a reason to beat me up. He just felt like doing so and he did, that''s all..."

    "...right, I forgot that we''re talking about that asshole here. He''s always been a despicable little shit." Rosa shook her head, seemingly disappointed that she forgot about this point.

    From Little Tiger''s memories, he in fact didn''t do anything against the Young Master Jin at all. He was just sitting under a Peach Blossom Tree, enjoying the fresh wind when they rudely interrupted him and beat the living crap out of him.

    "I think it''s best for you avoid him from now on." Fattymented, "I don''t know what''s his deal but that guy is seriously fucked-up in the head. He''s very unreasonable too. If you try to stand-up to him, he might convince his father to kick you out of the tribe. It''s too dangerous. Don''t go out from now on, Tiger."

    Little Tiger looked at Fatty and saw that both him and Rosa were seriously worried about him. They are the only people who cared about him in this tribe. Even when everyone shunned him, these two stuck to his side and never left him alone. They even suffered because of him as well. This is probably why he felt a strong bond to these two even though he''s originally not Little Tiger...

    A sigh escaped from his lips. In the end, these reminded him of his sworn brothers. There''s just no way for him to close his heart to this two kind souls...

    "Don''t worry about me...I''ll be fine. And you two will be fine as well...."

 Chapter 677 - Berserkers? Dragons?

    ---

    "¡­at least the ''Crystal Sky Eyes'' are working." Little Tiger muttered as his eyes blossomed with a rainbow colored light. "Unfortunately, I don''t have enough supply of energy to have it on for even a minute."

    Little Tiger sighed and copsed on his bed. He stared nkly on the ceiling while in deep thought¡­

    This ce is the territory of the Blue Mountain Tribe. The tribe is strategically built and is hidden to Demonic Beasts which gives the tribe some sort of safety. That being said, they are in a mountain range, and just beyond this mountain range is a massive jungle filled with all sorts of demonic beasts.

    Even though the tribe have some sort of security, it only due to sheer luck that it''s still standing right now.

    ording to Little Tiger''s Memories, the tribe worships the Berserker God and as descendants of this god, they too could harness the Berserk Power of the World in order to strengthen themselves. In a sense, this is their cultivation inheritance¡­

    Little Tiger is an orphan, so is Fatty and Rosa. Orphans aren''t rare in this tribe, in fact they have the biggest poption here. This is simply due to the fact that the demonic beasts are too strong for them to handle. In order to provide for the new generation of the Tribe, the adults has to hunt in the Mountain Range which is crawling with Demonic Beasts. It isn''t really surprising for them to have casualties in every hunt. Still, it is tragic¡­

    Little Tiger''s parents died very early, in fact as soon as he was born, his father got a little to eager to provide for his child that he volunteered to join the hunt. He didn''t return after that. Little Tiger''s mother died no long after than since she was left severely weakened from child birth and she also terminal disease.

    The one that took care of Little Tiger was a kind olddy but she only managed to live until Little Tiger could understand what''s going on before dying. Since then, Little Tiger always did things solo. It wasn''t until long ago that he met Fatty and Rosa.

    Little Tiger got up from the bed and looked around his house...if you can even call it that.

    Compared to what he was used to, this ce is nothing worse than a pig''s pen. It looked like the carpenter was drunk or hallucinating when he made this. It was just a bunch of wood mmed together and a rusting roof. The floor was filled with holes, everything smells like shit, and he could even see chicken poop here and there.

    He felt a headache from looking at his current state. At least the houses of his neighbors were proper Straw Huts, this is just...

    ''Living in a cave would be much betterpared to this.'' Little Tiger groaned helplessly. ''The problem is, there are no known caves here in the tribe, I am but a mere mortal. One step out of this tribe and I''m dead.''

    ''Screw this! Let me check my body first. I''ll see if this body is truly a waste as they say..."

    Little Tiger closed his eyes and regted his breathing. His cultivation base might be sealed, his soul might''ve been suppressed, and crown might''ve been disabled, however his intelligence remained sharp. Plus, he has his ocr technique and a the Spear of Wisdom. He still has some capital with him and he ns on taking full advantage of them.

    After a couple of minutes, Raven released a long sigh and ended his meditation. He grimaced as he felt his legs cramping but inwardly, he feels a bit jubnt.

    "As expected..." He grinned, "This body isn''t a waste as they said, they''re just ignorant."

    Such a thing is truly something that cannot be helped. This tribe is isted from other human civilizations, in fact they don''t even know if there are other humans out there in first ce. Their luck is already good enough that the tribe still stands to this day with how much demonic beasts surrounding them. Little Tiger couldn''t expect anything more out of them.

    "The energy I sensed...they call it Qi don''t they?" Raven muttered as he massaged his legs, "It is the dominant energy here, probably because of the sheer amount of Demonic Beast around this area."

    "From what I learned, cultivators here are called Berserkers. And the Berserkers are divided into several stages Mountain Berserker, Heavenly Berserker and Berserker God. This stages are divided into sub-stages as well."

    "Mountain Berserkers needs to consume the flesh and blood of Demonic Beasts in order to temper their body. Heavenly Berserkers needed to consume even more flesh and blood of higher quality while also understand the Heaven and Earth. Finally, Berserker Gods are the ones that transcends the Heaven and Earth and rules the world."

    "Big talk really..." Little Tiger sneered, "Not even a Heavenly Berserker appeared during thest century. They haven''t even seen a Berserker of that caliber and they believe that a Berserker God exists? Hah....the ignorant sure is lucky."

    Little Tiger shook his head. Although he has no basis whether the Berserker God is real or not, frankly he doesn''t care. He neither worships nor idolizes this Berserker God at all, he never even visited it''s statue before. The only reason why the original Little Tiger wanted to be a Berserker is because he needed something to do. He didn''t want to be useless and a burden to the tribe.

    He wanted to follow the footsteps of his parents. Unfortunately, he was deemed unfit to cultivate the Berserker Lineage. In truth however, Little Tiger is more than capable, its just that his path lies elsewhere. Sadly, the tribe is ignorant and nearly destroyed his brilliant future.

    "I don''t have any idea how the hell you posses the blood of a freaking Dragon but it doesn''t matter. This is more than enough. Wherever you are, watch and learn. This is how you be powerful."

    Little Tiger dove to his memories and found a suitable technique that works perfectly to his condition. He still has no idea how the hell he gained the bloodline of a genuine Dragon but he''d be a fool to waste such precious chance.

    "There! [Ancient Dragon King''s Scripture]. Wonderful." Little Tiger felt excited. He unraveled the information about this cultivation technique and memorized it.

    The ''Ancient Dragon King''s Scripture'' was something he got on his previous life, it was the spoil of war but unfortunately he discovered it toote. It was the treasure that the Golden Dragon King used to rise to prominence in the Divine Realm.

    This scripture is demanding. In order to build the foundation needed to cultivate this technique, one needs to possess the blood essence of a True Dragon. It had to be known that True Dragons doesn''t exist in the Divine Realm anymore. Their era was long over and not even a trace of them could be found to this day, therefore the value of this scripture plummeted.

    That being said however, if one gets lucky enough to get their hands on the blood essence of a True Dragon, then there is no other cultivation technique that is more fitting for them to cultivate other than the Ancient Dragon King''s Scripture.

    "Little Tiger, purple smoke must''ve been rising from your ancestor''s grave for you to obtain this kind of treasure." He murmured after reviewing the information. "To think that you managed to remain alive despite having the blood essence of a True Dragon is something inconceivable even to me. How many years of good luck did you sacrifice just to obtain this thing without dying?"

    "Either way, it doesn''t matter." Little Tiger shook his head, he calmed himself down and whispered, "Since you posses this, then I''ll transform you into a True Dragon."

    *Buzz!*

    Little Tiger began breathing ording to the instructions of the scripture. At first nothing happened but as he continued doing it, he felt his blood circting in a unique manner.

    At the depths of his body, he could feel a strange heat source which also contains an unparalleled amount of vitality. This was of course none other than the Blood Essence of a True Dragon.

    *Woosh!*

    Thanks to his patience, he managed to take a single wisp from the Blood Essence, even though he only absorbed a wisp before sealing away the rest, a great reaction still urred on his body.

    Little Tiger''s body rocked back and forth, he spat out a mouthful of blood and he felt a pain all over his body. He started bleeding from his orifices but he remained stable and focused.

    The wisp of blood essence he absorbed was sent directly to his marrows. The sheer density and quality of the blood essence far surpassed his normal blood causing them to be expelled from his body.

    What he''s doing right now is slowly infusing the blood essence to his bloodline in order to evolve his physique. So long as he remains strong and determined, by the time he managed to absorb all of the Blood Essence to his marrows he''ll be a genuine descendant of the True Dragon Lineage....

 Chapter 678 - Information

    ---

    *Crack* *Crack*

    A brittle sound echoed across Little Tiger''s body.

    Spending the whole night refining the True Dragon''s Blood Essence within his body was an exhausting and painful ordeal but it was necessity if he wanted to achieve his goal.

    In the span of a single night, Little Tiger washed his marrowspletely and infused it with the Blood Essence of a True Dragon. All of the old blood he expelled dyed his entire body red and became solid, forming a shell that encased him inside. As he regained consciousness, the smallest movements from Little Tiger caused the shell to crack and dissipate like ashes in the wind...

    As the dried blood shell waspletely removed from Little Tiger''s body, it revealed his new physique. A young man sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and a calm expression. His skin was of a healthy bronze color, all of his hair was gone, even the pieces of cloth he was wearing disappeared as well. He was buck naked as he sat down on his dirty bed but it didn''t face him at all.

    Little Tiger opened his eyes and for a brief moment, his pupils were that of a dragon''s before returning to it''s normal appearance. This doesn''t mean that his reptilian pupils were gone, it just faded, making it hard for anyone to discover. Whenever he uses his ocr techniques in the future, this pupils will appear and glow with a rainbow colored light.

    The changes on Little Tiger''s physique was barely noticeable. It looks like he just gained weight, causing his previously emaciated-looking body to be filled-up just a little bit. But in reality, every cell on his body was brimming with strength. Nobody aside from himself could be any more familiar with sensation...

    A grin shed by Little Tiger''s face. As he moved, he heard loud popping noises from his joints but all of this just gave him a pleasurable feeling. He felt lithe and carefree, he also feel confident due to the strength he possess. Nevertheless, he knows that this is far from enough. This transformation is nothing but a mere foundation for him, he hasn''t even taken a single step to the peak just yet.

    Releasing a long sigh, Little Tiger searched for some cloth to cover-up his naked body. As soon as he was done doing so, he heard several footsteps doming closer to his...house.

    "Hey, Little Tige-pfft!!"

    "Eh? Why did you! Pfft!!!"

    "Ahahahaha!!!!!"

    His visitors were none other than Fatty and Rosa who immediately held their stomachs,ughing as they pointed at his head.

    "Oh geez, look at that shine. Pfft!"

    "Hey! That''s...pfft! That''s rude...pfft!!!"

    Little Tiger looked at them with a deadpanned expression as he unconsciously touched his smooth, bald head. He also felt the area just above his eyes and as expected, even his eye-brows weren''t spared.

    It took them at least five minutes of non-stopughing and rolling on the floor before they managed to calm down. If it weren''t for the fact that it''s getting harder for them to breathe and their stomachs were hurting, they''d probably continueughing all day long.

    "Whew! Geez! I forgot thest time since Iughed this much...ah shit, my sides hurt." Fatty said while clutching his side-belly.

    "What the hell did you this time? Don''t tell me it''s Young Master Jin again?" Rosa asked as she clutched her sides as well while panting.

    "It''s not. Something just happened." Little Tiger replied while peering outside of the...window, if you can even call it that.

    "Dude, not only did you lose all of your hair, you also lost your eyebrows hair. Seriously what happened to you? Did you burn them or something?" Fatty asked.

    "Not really...I don''t really know how to exin it. Just take it for what it is..." Little Tiger replied.

    He couldn''t just outright tell them that he refined the blood essence of the true dragon overnight and lost all of his hairs now could he? Ignoring the fact that they''ll never believe that, it would also create a misunderstanding so he might as well just brush off the topic.

    "Well? Why did you twoe here?" Little Tiger asked.

    "You sound like we have an ulterior motive every time we visit you..." Rosa grumbled.

    "..." Little Tiger gave her a look that says ''Damn right, I do''.

    "Okay fine! We can''t help it anyway." Rosa relented.

    Her and Fatty went closer to Little Tiger. Fatty then said: "The monthly exchange is about to ur..."

    "...let me guess." Little Tiger groaned, pinching the bridge of nose as he continued: "You don''t have enough materials to exchange and you want my help. Is that right?"

    "..."

    Rosa and Fatty could only nod in silence. Indeed, Little Tiger''s assumptions were correct.

    The Monthly Exchange is where people use materials they crafted in exchange for food and supplies. This is an offer given by the Tribe Leader. Materials like arrows, wooden spears, wooden stakes, stacks of hay and so on could be exchanged for Meat, Rice and Water. Those who are more lucky could even exchange them for clothes and such...

    There is a given quota to every household. People could of course choose to not exchange their wares but they won''t have any food if they don''t. The tribe forbids people from encouragingziness, so if somebody was caught given rations to those who refuses to contribute, they''ll be severely punished.

    Orphans had it the worst. People here might consider each other as tribemates but in reality, selfishness and greedes in many forms. Nobody will help them since they too are struggling, additionally Orphans are also discriminated greatly in this tribe.

    Little Tiger, Fatty and Rosa always exchanged using Arrows. Two quivers packed with arrows could be exchanged for two kilograms of meat jerky, three gallons of water and five kilograms of gruel. Little Tiger was a consistent person. He never went above or below his quota, he always surrenders them in time and the quality of his products always remains the same.

    Fatty and Rosa on the other hand, mostly fail short of their monthly quota. They aren''t as good as Little Tiger when ites to making arrows. In fact, the reason why these three became friends was because of this.

    After all, if somebody fails to meet their monthly quota, they can''t exchange for anything at all.

    "Help us please? I promise, we''ll give you the share if you do." Fatty ced his palms together as if pleading for Little Tiger to help them out.

    Little Tiger sighed. He then asked: "How many do youck?"

    "Ick five." Rosa replied.

    "Seven for me." Fatty added.

    Little Tiger stood up and lifted his bed. Underneath it, was a stack of nearly arranged arrows protected by a wooden box. He opened the box and took a total of 12 arrows. He then put the bed back together and handed the arrows to them.

    Rosa and Fatty''s eyes lit-up once they saw this.

    "Thank you! Thank you!" They both said while hugging Little Tiger.

    Little Tiger sighed and pushed their faces away. He then said: "I''m not giving you that for free just so you know."

    "Aww..."

    The corners of Little Tiger''s lips twitched when he saw this. It would seem like they were actually expecting him to give these arrows for free. How can there be free stuff in a world like this?

    "I don''t need your food either. I just need you to tell me something..."

    Fatty and Rosa looked at each other in confusion, they then looked at Little Tiger with a curious expression on their faces.

    "Do you know of a deserted ce within the tribe?" Little Tiger asked. "I need a location that doesn''t have frequent visitors. Like a hidden ce or something..."

    Little Tiger then saw Rosa and Fatty looking at each other once more. Confusion was visible on their faces.

    "Why do you ask?" Fatty asked.

    "Do you want the arrows or not?" Little Tiger countered with an impatient expression.

    "I do! I do! Wait, let me think."

    Fatty and Rosa started searching their memories of ces that fit Little Tiger''s description. Shortly afterwards, Rosa sighed and said:

    "I can''t think of any, sorry."

    "I see." Little Tiger sighed, he then looked at Fatty.

    "Hmm...I''m not sure..."

    "Not sure of what?" Little Tiger asked.

    "W-well, I do have a location that fits some of your description. But as for whether it has frequent visitors or not, I''m not so sure of that."

    "Where?"

    "It''s the ce behind the Graveyard." Fatty replied. "You know the hill on the eastern part of the tribe right? That''s where our dead tribesmen are buried. Behind that hill, is the ce that I''m talking about."

    "Ah! That ce!" Rosa understood. "Yeah, that kind of fits his description. But, since the ce is near the graveyard, people might actually stumble behind that ce."

    "Well, as far as I know, nobody enters that ce. They said that the ce is filled with the ghosts of the dead tribesmen. I never really see people going there personally but just like Rosa said, I would assume that people knows about that ce and goes there as well."

    "...I see." Little Tiger''s eyes briefly shone. "Okay, that''s enough for me.. Thanks, you can go."

 Chapter 679 - Scales

    ---

    It''s the dead of the night within the Blue Mountain Tribe and everyone was staying inside thefort of their own home.

    Night time in the tribe was alwaysced with a ominous vibe. Apart from the horror stories spread amongst tribesmen, they could also hear the howls of demonic beasts, causing the atmosphere to be tensed. Even under the protection of the Berserker Elders, many people still refuse to let down their guardpletely since one can truly never know what to expect in a ce like this.

    The elders never issued a curfew, it''s the people who created one simply because of fear. This is why when night falls, the whole tribe is like a deserted ce. It''s creepy and eerie, nobody would want to he there.

    Well, all with the exception of Little Tiger really...

    "They''re afraid, that can''t be helped I guess." He murmured as he stepped out of his ''house''. "Well, this works for me."

    The Berserkers are only tasked to man the walls, he didn''t see anybody patrolling the vicinity therefore he felt a little bold and walked towards the ce that Fatty mentioned earlier today. The tribe was rtively small, it didn''t take long for him to arrive at his destination.

    Beyond the Graveyard Hill, a small patch of forest could be seen. The ce already originated many horror stories so in addition to the night, it just became even more eerie. Not for Little Tiger though as he waltz over the ce as if he owned it.

    He did felt a chill but that''s because he''s barely wearing anything. Only a piece of old and worn-out cloth was wrapped on his waist, plus he''s still a mortal, how can he not be cold?

    Little Tiger inspected the ce for a bit. The more he saw this ce, the more he was satisfied with it. He grinned as said...

    "It''s decided then...this will be my base for now at least."

    Saying that, a spear appeared on Little Tiger''s hand. The spear''s handle was made out of gold littered with numerous inscription patterns. The spear head was the mixture of white body with a ck tip. It truly resembled the Brush of Wisdom, on it''s in the form of a spear.

    When the spear appeared on his hand, Little Tiger didn''t waste anytime and poked the ground. All of a sudden, a quiet wave swept through his surroundings, sweeping up dried leaves and grass in the process. A dome appeared above his head, something that he''s confident that only him could see.

    Themotion came and went silently. Additionally, this ce was isted from people so nobody was rmed.

    This dome was of course a formation. Something that Little Tiger created on his spare time at the sect. He applied it so that it can be activated with but a thought from him. It didn''t need his energy nor required him to do aplicated process, if he wanted it to be there, it will appear.

    The Brush of Wisdom might in stuck in a spear form right now but that doesn''t mean that the things he ced on it were gone. Thankfully, it didn''t or else things would be significantly harder for him.

    The formation is only visible to him, it can iste him, it can also function as an energy gathering array and also boast extreme durability. It''s one of the simple formations he created but it''s extremely useful for him at his current state. It''s also self-sufficient and without his permission, nobody could enter this ce at all.

    It has barely been five minutes since he erected this array but the amount of energy it gathered was already immense. Little Tiger nodded in satisfaction and said:

    "If it weren''t for the fact that cultivating the [Ancient Dragon King''s Scripture] causes a lot ofmotion, I wouldn''t have the need for this. Oh well, with this much energy, at least I won''t be needing to eat."

    Little Tiger kept the spear away and sat down on the ground. He regted his breathing and began cultivating right away.

    A few seconds in and he could already feel his blood boiling within him. He could feel his body temperature heating up but it''s still in an eptable level. He didn''t mind this and continued with his cultivation.

    The first realm of cultivating the [Ancient Dragon King''s Scripture] was the Body Transformation Stages: Dragon''s Scales, Dragon''s Muscles, Dragon''s Tendons, Dragon Bones, Dragon''s Muscles and finally, Dragon Veins.

    This doesn''t mean that Little Tiger would transform into a dragon when all''s said in done, well he might be able to but that''s not the point. The Body Transformation Stages of the [Ancient Dragon King''s Scripture] tempers the body to rival that of an infant dragon - which is something that''s a hundred times strongerpared to that of a regr mortal.

    First, Little Tiger needed to cultivate Dragon Scales, more specifically, his skin. The pattern of his cultivations is from the outside - in, so it would make sense that he starts from his skin.

    With every inhtion, Little Tiger would consumerge amounts of the True Essence to temper his skin. That''s right, Little Tiger isn''t using Demonic Qi of Berserk Qi to cultivate like the tribe members, he''s using the energy that is most suitable to humans in this world, and that True Essence.

    Not only does the quality of True Essence higherpared to that of Demonic or Berserk Qi, it also has neutral properties which makes it practically harmless unless one''s an idiot.

    As Little Tiger cultivated, faint popping sounds could be heard from his body. If one listens closely, faint roars of dragons could be heard amongst those sounds. As time went on, the popping sounds got quieter but the dragon roars became louder.

    Little Tiger was enduring so much pain right now that even Berserkers of this tribe would want to die if they experience it. However, nary a groan nor a whimper could be heard from Little Tiger. He was expressionless, its as if he didn''t feel any of this at all.

    Any kind of Body Tempering process is painful, especially for the first time. Nevertheless, the more they could endure this hellish pain, the more beneficial it would be for them. To Little Tiger, this kind of pain was nothing. He might be a mere mortal right now but his Willpower wasn''t affected in the slightest.

    *Crack!* *Crack!* *Boom!*

    Brittle sounds urred on the surface of his skin before a loud shattering sound of a ss breaking could be heard. The ground that Little Tiger was sitting on crack as if something heavy fell in it.

    Little Tiger opened his eyes to reveal his reptilian pupils which faded shortly after. Next, he smelled somethinging off of him causing him to frown. He shook his head and inhaled sharply, a pulse of Qi erupted from his body, expelling the dirt and impurities that was pushed out from his cultivation.

    After that, Little Tiger stood up and felt light. The overwhelming sensation gripped his chest, he could feel the surging power coursing through his body. A grin appeared on his face. He gripped his fist and threw a casual punch.

    A loud pping sound urred as he punched. This casual punch of his can cause severe injuries even to a fully grown adult. He didn''t know how much he would fare against a Berserker of the tribe but considering that this is the result of his short training, there''s nothing for him to worry about.

    Little Tiger looked up and inspected his surroundings, he frowned for a bit and said: "Midnight huh, so I spend at least three hours cultivating just now. Not bad."

    He didn''t feel tired nor lethargic. In fact, he was brimming with excess energy. Right now, he just stepped into the early stage of Dragon Scale Stage. Little Tiger was in no rush to cultivate more since he want to make sure to build a steady foundation.

    Instead of sitting back down, he began his routine. First was his physical conditioning. He went through some exercises and then began polishing his un-armed fighting skill. He performed the basics over and over again, making sure to do them as perfectly as he could.

    As he practiced, he could feel his body heating up. He could also feel that his body was getting more solid as he go. Under the re of moonlight, his skin shone with sweat. He was also aware that more impurities were being pushed out of his body which will definitely hasten his cultivation.

    Even without his influence, the True Essence were nourishing his body. He wasn''t actively absorbing them but it''s doing this on it''s own. As True Essence gave him their blessings, a slight transformation was happening to his body.

    Looking closely as his silhouette, faint sparkles could be seen in the shape of an oval. The oval shaped objects were overpping, forming a pattern that wrapped around Little Tiger''s wrists, calves, neck and cheeks. Coupled with his slit-shaped pupils, Little Tiger looked more like a Dragon now who''s wearing a human skin...

 Chapter 680 - Monthly Exchange

    ---

    "...hey, don''t you think he''s being weird?"

    "What do you mean?"

    "Doesn''t he look and feel different to you at all? He''s almost like a stranger even!"

    Fatty stared at Little Tiger, scrutinizing him closely to see what Rosa was trying to point out. Unfortunately, he just can''t see how Little Tiger is different.

    "I don''t get it..." Fatty shook his head.

    "Idiot! Look closely! Tell me, doesn''t he look...I don''t know, more filled-up? Like fatter or bigger muscle-wisepared to what he''s like during the past week?" Rosa tried her best to exin.

    Fatty inspected Little Tiger once more and now that he thought about it...

    "...huh? You''re right. He''s more buffpared to before."

    "Right!?" Rosa eximed, "Not only that though! He looks fairer and he wears clothes now!! Plus, look at this ce! I never seen his hideout look this neat, like, ever!"

    Fatty looked around but his gaze lingered at Little Tiger more. Now that Rosa pointed out everything, he''d be a fool to not be suspicious. All of a sudden however, an idea suddenly struck his brain as he started fuming.

    "This rascal!! I can''t believe him! How can he do this to us!?"

    "E-eh? He did what now?" Rosa was confused when she saw Fatty fuming in anger all of a sudden.

    "Isn''t obvious? I thought you pointed all of this out because you know?" Fatty red at Little Tiger. "Unbelievable! To think this rascal would go this low! To think that he''d became Granny Maya''s boytoy-omph!!"

    *Pang!* *Pang!*

    "Auuu...."

    Two cast iron pots flew to their faces, flying at a speed they can''t react to. Rosa and Fatty clutched their faces as they writhe in pain. They heard a cold snort in front of them so they peeked over and saw Little Tiger ring at them.

    "Do you guys think I''m deaf or something?" Little Tiger asked.

    "B-bastard. Why me too?" Rosa asked with righteous indignation.

    "You started it bitch. If it weren''t for your smartass, do you think Fatty coulde up to that conclusion?"

    "W-wait, so you''re not Granny Maya''s boytoy?"

    "Wanna die Fatty?"

    "Eek!" Fatty shriveled in fright, covering his face lest Little Tiger throws another pot at him.

    As the two nursed their faces, Raven sat back down to his bed. He then asked: "Well? Why the fuck are you two here?"

    "O-oh. Well, the monthly exchange is two hours from now. Wannae with us?" Fatty asked as he sat down in front of Little Tiger. He had a clear red mark on his forehead with specks of ck shavings since he got hit with the bottom of the pot.

    Little Tiger was silent for a bit. Referring to his memories, he usually came with these two whenever the monthly exchange was about to happened. Still, even with theirpany, Little Tiger hated making a public appearance. He has a lot of reasons for hating it too...

    But Little Tiger is no longer the same wimp as before.

    "Sure, why not. I don''t have anything better to do anyway." He replied as he collected his quota and ced it above the table.

    Rosa and Fatty looked at each other in confusion. Both of them knew that they thought about the same thing...

    ''He truly did change...''

    ---

    "Line-up! I said line-up properly you fools! Are you dumb, deaf or both! I swear if you don''t line-up properly, I''ll break your legs!"

    It''s a bit lively in the tribe today. People were gathering at the center of the tribe since today is the Monthly Exchange day.

    At very center, a group of men wearing clean clothes and had haughty expressions were stationed. Behind them was a stack of food and supplies, neatly arranged and in full disy. Majority of the people''s eyes were locked on to the sacks of rice and piles of meat in the table. Some of them were even drooling already.

    The people who were guarding the supply inwardly sneered as they saw the greedy expressions of the tribesmen.

    "Next!"

    "Hurry-up and leave!"

    "Hah!? You want more? Fuck you. Get away you filth!"

    "What''s this? Can this even be used? Whatever, give him a pouch of gruel and get this thing away from me."

    "Listen here. Are you even trying? Who makes arrows like this? Hah...fuck-off! The next time you bring something like this, don''t even bother asking for anything."

    Jeers, mocking, humiliation...these are only the few of the things that the tribesmen has to endure just to get their monthly supply of food and water. This is only just a few of the things why the original Little Tiger hated the exchange day.

    These haughty people, even if you give them an astounding product, they''d still say it''s trash. They will do everything in their power to hoodwink you. Its as if it physically hurts them to part with even a single grain of rice. Miserly and greedy, that''s what they are...

    The moment someone expects something from them, their dreams will instantly be shattered. This is also why Little Tiger did the bare minimum whenever he''s making stuff to exchange.

    Do more, they''d say that it''s bad. Do less, and they''d still say that it''s bad. The only way for him to hear less from them is if he remains consistent.

    "Ah, it''s you." The man who''s in charge of the exchange grinned at Little Tiger. "Come,e. Let me see what you have."

    Little Tiger refused to even waste a single word to this guy so he just silently ced the quivers filled with arrows in the table.

    The man inspected the arrows one by one while retaining the grin on his face.

    "Keuh...same old shit. I told you to do better but you never listened." The man mocked Little Tiger but he''s still admiring his work. "Brat, are you doing this on purpose?"

    "..."

    Little Tiger refused to say anything. To be honest, he''s not really paying attention, he couldn''t even care less if the amount of resource he got were less than what he''s supposed to receive. He just wanted this to be over as soon as he could.

    "Damned Brat!? Have you gone deaf!? Huh!?" The haughty man raged when he saw that the boy didn''t even bother speaking, he knew that this boy was neither deaf nor mute. "Are you testing my patience, huh?"

    "God, your breath smells like a dead rat."

    *Gasps!*

    Fatty was dumbfounded. Rosa was dumbfounded. Everyone was dumbfounded. Even the man who''s purposefully trying to raise a racket felt like his brain stopped working at some point.

    Everyone looked at Little Tiger as if he was possessed by some demon. They all collectively thought, ''Is he courting death?'' Or ''He''s done for.''

    Rosa and Fatty started shivering. They were nervous for Little Tiger. They didn''t expect him to be this reckless. They wanted to stop him but they''re also afraid to get mixed-up in this mess.

    "Ehe...hehehehehe!" The haughty man suddenlyughed eerily. "Oh boy!! It''s been a while since I''ve seen someone this daring!! Hahahaha."

    "Oh? What a coincidence! It''s also been a while since I saw a monkey pretending to be a human." Little Tiger replied tly.

    Everyone collectively gasped again. Fatty and Rosa crumbled on the spot, they all look in horror as they saw the haughty man raising his hand to smack Little Tiger to nihility. They even closed their eyes on the impact but all they heard was a pained groan, not from Little Tiger, but from the haughty man.

    The Haughty Man''s expression was twisted in pain. He looked incredulously as he saw the young man in front of him easily catching his wrist.

    "I don''t really think that there''s a problem with the arrows I made." Little Tiger muttered, bored. "I actually think they''re pretty great. Weren''t you admiring them just now?"

    The Haughty Man wanted to retort but he couldn''t since the seemingly loose grip of the young man was unexpectedly tight. It was as if his hands were harder than steel itself.

    "I even specifically made them the way how you like it, and you''re still bitching about it. How ungrateful can you be? Not even the monkeys will ept you as their own if you continue acting this way."

    "ARRRRRGGGHHH!!!"

    The haughty man screamed in pain. Everyone shuddered as they saw how Little Tiger picked up an arrow from the quiver and stabbed it on the man''s hand. The arrowhead pierced his hand easily too...

    "See? Aren''t they great? I think the arrowheads I made were sharper than a dagger. See how it easily pierced your hand? Had I shot this arrow using a bow. I think it could even pierce your skull."

    "Brat!! You dare do this to me!! I will make you suffer!!" The man was fuming in anger, pain and humiliation. His eyes turned red and a fiendish air started rising from his body. "I will show you the true power of a Berserker!"

    "Psh. Big deal."

    *Shank!*

    "ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!"

    The haughty man wailed in pain as Little Tiger shoved an arrow at his eyes. As the man rolled on the ground helplessly, trying to nurse his bleeding eyes. Little Tiger ignored him and stepped over him, grabbing whatever he wanted as if he owned everything he saw.

    The audience can only gape at his viciousness and shamelessness.

 Chapter 681 - Fake Meat?

    ---

    Everyone was rooted the where they stood. What they just witnessed was something so ridiculous that they can''t even believe it. It feels like they were in the middle of an absurd dream...a Berserker got done in that easily?

    Weren''t Berserkers supposed to strong? Then how can somebody exin this...

    Unfortunately for them, Little Tiger doesn''t seem to be interested in their thoughts, he didn''t even want to waste his breath on them. He just walked-up to the stacks of supplies and began grabbing everything that he can.

    It was only at this point that the rest finally reacted.

    "Shit! Old Sixth got done in by this brat! Get him!"

    "Don''t let him take even a grain from the supplies!"

    Those who were guarding the supplies immediately charged towards him. Once again, fear gripped Rosa and Fatty''s hearts. However it would seem that their worries were unfounded because...

    *p!* *p!* *p!*

    Nobody even saw him move but the crisp pping sound rung on their ears clearly. What followed that was the ridiculous scene of guards'' faces contorting, some of them even had their teeth flying away as they flew like swatted flies.

    All this while Little Tiger carried a whole damn carcass of a demonic beast and a couple sacks of rice plus other stuff. It was an absurd sight, seeing how a young man carrying all this weight without even looking remotely bothered.

    Little Tiger whistled merrily as he carried his supplies. He then passed through the crowd who were making way for him. He took a route that allowed him to walk near the dumbfounded Rosa and Fatty as he said:

    "Come with me if you want."

    It was a simple statement. He didn''t even stop walking after saying that nor did he bothered waiting for them. He just continued on his way and whether they follow him or not, depends on their decision.

    "Shit! Shit!" Fatty immediately scrambled to his feet. He then pulled up Rosa who''s brain is still not working properly due to shock.

    Fatty kept cursing as he followed Little Tiger. He was frustrated because of the sheer absurdity of the situation. Since when did Little Tiger be so fierce? Even though he kind of cheated, he still took down a genuine Berserker easily, and then he swatted the rest like some annoying flies.

    He was nervous. He knew that this matter will surely blow up and will soon be heard by the Tribe Leaders. Little Tiger just thoroughly offended them and they will surely hunt him down. Fatty didn''t understand why Little Tiger looked so confident but what really made Fatty confused is how he himself was acting?

    Knowing that Little Tiger is grave danger, knowing that the Tribe Leaders who are strong enough to rip apart demonic beasts, will surely hunt Little Tiger down, even after knowing all of this, why did he still followed him? Why did his instincts screamed at him to ''Follow him unless you want to die!'' Just why?

    Wouldn''t this seem like he''s directly throwing himself at the jaws of the Demonic Beasts? Additionally, Little Tiger gave them a choice. He didn''t force him to follow him, he made a suggestion. So why would his instincts scream at him this way? He didn''t understand but right now, as he follows Little Tiger, he felt like he was making the right decision.

    Whether this wille around a bit him in the ass is something that he decided to worry about in the future...

    As for Rosa...well, she allowed herself to be dragged along. She hadn''t said anything so far even since the whole spectacle unfolded. She just watched and reacted. Simr to Fatty, all logic told him that it would be best to stay away from Little Tiger because he''s in danger and going with him will endanger herself too but her instincts also told her otherwise.

    Rosa can''t really decide for herself so she just allowed something to decide for him, and Fatty stepped-up to the te. If she dies today, then she could just me Fatty in the afterlife in order to justify her vanity but if this turns out to be the correct move, then she wouldn''t mind marrying Fatty in the future.

    At least, that''s what she''s thinking currently.

    Fatty who''s dragging Rosa along stopped when he saw Little Tiger stopping. This was when Fatty noticed that they weren''t in Little Tiger''s hideout.

    "Hup!" Little Tiger adjusted the carcass on his shoulder and raised his hand. All of a sudden, Fatty saw Little Tiger waving his hand, causing a bright ripple to appear in front of him. Fatty was dumbfounded but it didn''t end there...

    He saw an invisible film, parting in front of them. Revealing an astonishing sight for Fatty and Rosa to gawk at. Little Tiger looked at them and said: "Go in..."

    Fatty and Rosa was hesitant at first but in the end, they couldn''t keep their curiosity in check. They stepped inside the ce and the moment they did, a feeling of unprecedentedfort flooded their entire bodies.

    Rosa''s cheeks turned crimson in no time, Fatty was shameless groaning in pleasure. Little Tiger rolled his eyes and closed the entrance behind them.

    After a couple of minutes, thefortable sensation stopped and the two woke-up from their stupor. They felt their bodies sticky and sweaty, a rosyplexion was visible on their faces as they panted like they just run circles around the tribe.

    "W-what the..." Fatty was puzzled, confused and utterly bamboozled. Rosa felt the same as well.

    The two of them saw Little Tiger standing in front of them, arms crossed and grinning.

    "Done moaning in pleasure?" Little Tiger snickered, causing the two to be flustered.

    "Tiger, w-what...what the hell is..." Rosa looked around, feeling overwhelmed.

    "Calm down, and listen to me carefully. I don''t like repeating myself." Little Tiger''s expression turned serious.

    "Since you followed me, I wouldn''t mind letting you two in. After all you guys are the only one''s who treated me like a human being in this tribe. That being said, aside from the two of you, I won''t allow anybody else inside this ce. Not even your other friends, I own this ce so you two will follow my rule. Understand?"

    "You own this ce?" Fatty was shocked and confused.

    "Duh, how do you think I was able to let you in if I don''t?" Little Tiger raised a brow.

    "B-but...how?" Rosa asked.

    "I will refrain from answering that. All you need to know is that; (1) I own this ce, (2) your safety is guaranteed here, and (3) so long as you don''t betray me, I will lead both of you to a glorious life."

    Fatty and Rosa were gobsmacked when they heard that promation. Little Tiger sounded extremely domineering and cool but they still couldn''t help but doubt his words.

    "That''s good and all but you''re not putting the Berserker Tribe Leaders on your eyes..." Fatty ruefully said.

    "Of course! Why would I put those clowns in my eyes? They''re unworthy of that." Little Tiger snorted. "On the contrary, it is you who worship those clowns too much, they''re not Gods and they will never be. They''re just mere frogs at the bottom of a well, that''s all."

    "How can you say that!?" Rosa eximed. "Don''t forget that if it weren''t for them, the tribe won''t be safe! Even if you hate, you shouldn''t denounce them so much."

    "Am I really denouncing them?" Little Tiger sneered, "Without them the tribe wouldn''t be safe? Don''t make meugh, the Demonic Beasts that wanders around our tribe only happens once in a blue moon. How was it that they were able to show off numerous carcass of demonic beasts every month if that was the case? Well, what made you think that they''re distributing Demonic Beast Meat in the first ce? Have you even seen a demonic beast before? Did you witness them personally killing it and taking it to the tribe? Did you ever see them ughtering demonic beasts in front of you?"

    "..." Neither Fatty nor Rosa was able to say anything.

    "You didn''t right?" Little Tiger sneered, "So let me ask you this again? How sure are you that what they''re distributing, truly is a demonic beast meat?"

    "..."

    "You can''t be so sure right? How can you know? You''re not Berserkers so you''re not allowed to know - this is what those clowns tell you, no? ''But wittle twiger~ you''re not a verserker too sho how can you kwnow!?'' Well, my dear friends, I happened to infiltrate their houses and did you know what I found?"

    "Let me tell you!" Little Tiger snorted loudly, "Those clowns that your worshipping, they are devouring real demonic beasts. So much so that they don''t even spare the bones. As for the meat they giving us? Hah! Those are just regr cattle and poultries, smoked so long that their colors started changing."

    "Still don''t believe me? That''s okay. Just think about it this way...didn''t those clowns told us that we only need to demonic beast meat in order to be Berserkers since that''s what happened to them? If that''s the case, then why are we still not Berserkers yet? We did the same process didn''t we?"

    "Just think about it...."

 Chapter 682 - Absolute Safety Guaranteed

    ---

    Rosa and Fatty cannot refute any of Little Tiger''s ims.

    They wanted to, but they can''t. Everything that he said so far really made them doubt the so called Tribe Leaders. Although they didn''t want to admit that his logic was sound, deep down trepidation filled their hearts. What if it''s true?

    "Those clowns just wanted to centralize the power amongst their ranks." Little Tiger snorted in disdain. "They wanted to forever be the superior ones while the poor ones will remain poor. That''s how this works so wake-up you two. Stop putting your faith blindly to those clowns, you''ll just end up disappointed."

    "...of course, that''s just a suggestion. If you wanted to, go ahead and worship them. But when timees that the truth is revealed to everyone. Don''te crying to me and say I didn''t warn you."

    Little Tiger didn''t pay attention to them anymore and went towards the hut he built within his territory. Everything that he told them just now were lies. He did infiltrate the homes of these so called Tribe Leaders a few nights ago and witnessed everything.

    In all honesty, he wasn''t truly surprised. No matter where he went, so long as there are humans, events like this are fairlymon. Truthfully, he couldn''t care less about those clowns, they''re not worth his attention. He felt nothing but apathy and decided that he''d just deal with them when timees.

    After arranging his supplies on the temporary storage he made. He suddenly heard urgent knocking on his door. He raised a brow and opened it, he saw Fatty with his face pale and pointing towards the entrance of the hideout.

    "T-T-Tiger! It''s the E-Elders! They''re here." Fatty cried out, Rosa was staring at the entrance with a nervous expression too.

    "Oh?" Little Tiger non-chntly replied. He then stepped outside of his hut and walked down to see several armed people standing just outside the entrance of the hideout. "Took them long enough."

    "What do you mean ''Took them long enough''!? Please be a little bit more serious here, we''re in trouble!! We''re going to die." Fatty was tearing up.

    "It''s you who needs to calm down, Fatty." Little Tiger sighed. "Why don''t you sit over there and watch okay? Trust me, everything will be fine. You too, Rosa. Go sit in the corner."

    He then pushed the nervous Fatty and the frozen Rosa on the steps of the hut while he waited for the armed people toe-in.

    "Are you sure that this is the ce?" An old man with a long gray beard asked coldly as he red in front of him. He''s wearing golden colored robes which revealed a strong re under the sunlight. Behind him stood several soldiers with mean expressions, gripping their weapons as if they''re about to go to war.

    "Y-yes, Elder." The one who replied was someone who looked like some random beggar.

    Just from this man''s appearance alone, everyone could tell who''s the noble and who''smoner right away.

    The beggar looking man didn''t even dare to look at the Elder''s face at all since he didn''t want tomit an act of sphemy,

    "You lot, go scour this ce and bring that ve to me." The golden robed Elder coldly ordered.

    "Yes, Elder!" The soldiers immediately replied and entered the hideout.

    ...or so they thought.

    Fatty and Rosa were almost pissing their pants in nervousness. How can they not be when Little Tiger was literally. Standing in front of the soldiers with his arms closed. His lips wore a sneer the entire time as if he was provoking them.

    The Soldiers charged forward with much ardor. And just about when Fatty and Rosa thought the Little Tiger was done for, something incredible happened.

    The soldiers went past Little Tiger as they didn''t see him at all. Fatty and Rosa''s eyes widened in disbelief. They rubbed their eyes just to be sure but even after doing that, the soldiers still didn''t Little Tiger at all.

    What''s even more ridiculous is that, Little Tiger purposefully walked in front of soldier. Waving his hand in his face but the soldier remained was still searching.

    Little Tiger looked at the gaping Fatty and Rosa, saying: "I told you didn''t I? I can guarantee your absolute safety here."

    "W-what is..." Fatty stuttered. His poor brain can''t follow through what''s happening in front of him. He didn''t even understand how that became remotely possible.

    "I told you, this is my personal hideout." Little Tiger calmly exin. "Unless they entered the same way we did, they will never be able to find us here. Even that Old Coot outside won''t see me. Only I, and the person I allowed inside will be able to enter this ce."

    Hearing his exnation caused Fatty and Rosa to heave a sigh in relief. They saw Little Tiger walking in front of the soldiers but none of them saw him at all. This made them believe every single word that Little Tiger told them so far. Now that they''ve calmed down, Rosa asked...

    "I''m assuming they can''t hear us either?"

    "Yep." Little Tiger nodded. "Something like this can happen too..."

    Little Tiger walked towards a Soldier and passed through him as if the soldier was just an apparition or something. That scene was magical and unbelievable that the two can''t wrap their heads around it. Little Tiger did it a couple of times again just for fun.

    "That''s not all though. I can do something like this as well."

    Little Tiger stood behind a soldier, gathered his strength in his palms and...

    *Bam!!*

    "Auuuu..."

    "Skrnt! Puha...ahahahaha!!!!" Fatty tried to hold back hisughter but failed miserably.

    Little Tiger just pped that soldiers ass and sent him flying to the depths of the forest while wailing in pain. The three of them witnessed as the soldier writhes on the ground, patting his ass-cheeks while tearing up.

    The soldier''srades were rmed, they all rushed over in rm and asked what happened. Meanwhile, Raven unceremoniously picked-up the sword that the soldier dropped just now.

    "I can interact with them but they can''t do the same to me. I can also summon their things here just like how I did to this sword." Little Tiger exined. "See? I told you to not worry so much. So long as you remain here, none of these clowns will be able to touch you."

    ''We''ve made the right choice.'' Fatty and Rosa thought to themselves while nodding at Little Tiger''s show of might.

    "What happened?" The Elder finally stepped inside the forest and checked the soldiers. He also heard about themotion so he rushed over.

    "Oh. This Old Coot is finally here." Little Tiger smirked as he merrily walked towards the Elder.

    "Elder, this soldier was ambushed by someone, but we failed to see where the attacker was." One of the soldiers reported.

    The Elder''s eyes gleamed dangerously, "I didn''t feel a presence though."

    *Crack!* *Boom!*

    "Hieee!!!"

    One of the soldiers freaked out. Everyone turned around and saw a horrific scene where the sword the soldier was holding shattered like it was a fragile ss and disappeared mysteriously.

    The Elder''s eyes narrowed dangerously as he roared: "Who!!? Show yourself!!"

    "I''ll deal with youst, you old dog." Little Tiger said but of course, the Elder didn''t hear a thing.

    One by one, Little Tiger Shattered the weapons of the soldiers and stole the brown pouches they were carrying on their waists.

    He shattered some weapons and stole some as well. After that, he proceeded to knock them one by one starting from the soldiers. One chop in the neck was all it took for them to drop like flies. Seeing as how his soldiers were dropping like flies, trepidation filled the Elder''s heart.

    "I demand you to show yourself-oughrt!!"

    The Elder''s body almost caved-in, he felt as if his stomach was hit by a solid object, what''s frustrating is that he failed to see nor sense anything at all. It didn''t just end there.

    Numerous crisp ps echoed in the forest. In no time, the Elder''s face became swollen and his consciousness teetered at the edge of fainting. The invisible attacks stopped for a bit and the Elder thought that he finally had the chance to escape.

    He roused his Berserker''s cultivation base and began sprinting out of the forest, unfortunately, before he could go any further, he felt a strong blow on his head and he promptly fell unconscious on the ground.

    Little Tiger sneered and crouched down beside the elder. He flipped him around and started stripping him of everything he owned. He also asked Fatty and Rosa to help, they will deal with the soldiers.

    While they weren''t looking, Little Tiger made a shallow cut on the Elder''s chest. Rousing his Dragon Qi, he began ced his palms on the elder''s chest and began collecting blood. A couple of second''ster, a drop of glistening blood appeared on his palms.

    Little Tiger opened his mouth and consumed it, sealing the drop of blood as it entered his body.

    "You don''t deserve the dragon''s blood you old coot. It''s mine now, don''t worry I''ll make good use of it.." Little Tiger whispered as he regrouped with his friends.

 Chapter 683 - Harvest

    ---

    It was originally a surprising discovery that Little Tiger found a sealed True Dragon''s Blood Essence within his body.

    He originally thought that this is just a mere lucky coincidence but the more he observed the tribe, the more he grew suspicious.

    To his shock and surprise, he discovered that 8 out of 10 people within the tribe had the simr case with him. These people also has a sealed True Dragon''s Blood Essence. The blood is sealed in the spot between their corbones simr to where he found his.

    This situation was far toomon that it can''t be a mere coincidence anymore. This caused Little Tiger''s interest about the Tribe''s origins to increase. Nevertheless, he isn''t a hurry since there''s no time limit in the Trial anyway.

    It''s been a couple of hours since the once intimidating intruders ran away in an embarrassing state. It was rather shameful since Little Tiger and his friends stripped them down their underwear, confiscating everything they owned.

    The Elder was the most pitiful amongst them all. This is because Fatty took a liking to the underwear that the elder was wearing so he confiscated that one as well, the Elder literally has nothing. Fatty and Rosa almost fainted inughter when they saw how the Elder fumed as he covered his wrinkled private areas with leaves and vowed to be back in vengeance.

    It was almost certain that what happened today will be remembered by many people in the tribe. However this was of no concern to the three since so long as they continued to remain within the formation, no harm wille to them.

    "Wow! Look at all of this!!" Rosa''s eyes were sparkling as she looked at all the materials they collected.

    Sets of armors, clothes, underwear, even footwear could be seen here. To Fatty and Rosa who had barely anything to wear, these supplies were already considered as treasures.

    "Strange..." Fatty frowned, in his hand a brown pouch could be seen. He had been trying to open these things for a while now but the knot was surprisingly tight. In fact, it wasn''t budging at all. "What''s this? Why isn''t it opening? What''s inside? Rocks?"

    A solid and heavy hand patted his shoulders, Little Tiger took the pouch on his hand and said: "This, my friend, is called a Storage Pouch."

    "Storage Pouch?" Fatty and Rosa tilted their head in confusion.

    "Yep." Little Tiger nodded, "It''s a unique trinket which Berserker uses to store things that are important to them. In order to open these things, you need to be a cultivator to do so."

    Saying this, Little Tiger''s hand glowed with a faint yellow light and under the shocked gazes of Fatty and Rosa, the knot on the Storage Pouch loosened-up on it''s own.

    "These things are really nifty you see." Little Tiger exined with a calm expression. "Don''t be fooled by it''s small size, each of these pouches can store as much as items as that of a warehouse"

    Little Tiger then dumped everything hiding within the storage pouch and under the dumbfounded gazes of Fatty and Rosa, several items cascaded down from the tiny opening of the pouch.

    From nearly arranged stack of clothes, to spare underwear, weapons, sparkling stones, books, food, water, and other tools could be seen, forming a small hill of items in front of them.

    "Holy crap! That is so useful!!" Fatty eximed with his eyes sparkling in greed.

    "Indeed." Rosa replied in a fascinated tone as well.

    "Help me categorize the items by their types. Clothes will be here, weapons will be there..." Little Tiger then give them instructions on where to ce what. "We''ll open then one by one. If you want to, you can eat some of the meat in there, they''re not Demonic Beast Meat but it should be plenty enough to satiate your hunger. There''s also plenty of clean water in there, go help yourselves."

    After saying this, Fatty and Rosa immediately pounced on the hill of items and grabbed the ready made food with much ardor and started feasting. Intoxicated expression filled their faces as they chewed on to the soft and scrumptious food in front of them. Their spirits were refreshed with every gulp of water they consumed. They were in heaven.

    This was the first time that they ate food this good. In reality, these food were just the mostmon food of the nobles, in fact those people are sick of this stuff but to them, it tasted heavenly. There''s the water as well. This is the first time that they drank clean water, all the water they consumed before had murky textures but these are clear and crisp. It was so refreshing...

    Just from their expressions, one could tell that their pitiful backgrounds. Eating the mostmon food for the nobles was already making them cry tears of joy. This shows just how much disparity there is within the tribe and almost convinced them that Little Tiger''s hatred for the nobles were genuine.

    Little Tiger noticed their expression but he didn''t pay it too much attention. He''s busy unloading the stuff inside the Storage Pouches he stole from those buffoons. There''s at least 20 of them, well 21 including the Elder''s pouch but he saved that one forst.

    While the two were enjoying their meal, the amount of stacked items increased. There were mounds of them and it would take time before they were able to finish them all at once.

    Little Tiger used his True Essence to categorize everything. He started with the weapons since they were too dangerous, then he moved on with the stones. Even with the held of true essence strings, it was still taking too much time.

    Fatty and Rosa were already done eating, they gaped at Little Tiger''s disy for a bit before deciding to help. Little Tiger told them to start with the clothes first.

    Hours passed and all of them slumped on the ground, exhausted with all of the work. After categorizing each items, they ced everything back in storage pouches and Little Tiger handed them a few sets of everything for now.

    After eating a feast, Little Tiger taught them how to use soaps in order to clean themselves. Thankfully, Little Tiger dug a well nearby where they could take a bath. He also made threefort rooms and taught them how to use it.

    By the end of the day, Fatty and Rosa felt so light and refreshed. They never felt so clean and fresh in their entire lives. Rosa seemingly fell in love with the soap, she loved the feeling ofthering her body with it and the scent.

    After taking care of their hygiene, Little Tiger set-up tents for them. Inside the tents there were several clean pillows, a soft mattress, and afy duvet. As soon as Little Tiger described how they work and how to use them, the two went inside and embrace what probably the mostfortable sleep they will have in their entire lives. It didn''t take long before Little Tiger heard them snoring...

    Little Tiger will teach them how to build their own houses in the future, for now this should suffice.

    As the two fell asleep, the hideout became silent. Little Tiger was back on his hut, he didn''t feel tired nor sleepy. He sat down in front of a table, facing stacks of books. He decided to sacrifice sleep just to understand the writtennguage of the tribe.

    The task wasn''t as daunting as he initially thought. He was prepared for this to take a couple of days to master but it was surprisingly easy. With his superior intellect, he managed to learn everything by midnight and now he was reading through the history of the tribe.

    "The tribe has been around for a more than a thousand years? Wow..." Raven was impressed by what he read.

    The books he was reading mainly came from the storage pouch of the Tribe Elder. It wasn''t like Little Tiger was overly interested, he''s mostly just curious. He didn''t fully trust everything that''s written in these books since it might very well be just random fabrications of those clowns. Nevertheless, even if these turns out to be fabrications, they should have some basis.

    Aside from reading the history of the tribe, he also looked at the other books. There he found several cultivation manuals dedicated to the path of Berserkers, he also saw some Battle Arts as well as some books that contained information about demonic beasts.

    Some of them were helpful but most of them are just outright ridiculous, especially those Berserker cultivation manuals and Battle Arts. If he were summarize everything he discovered using one word, it would be: Suicidal.

    "No wonder the poption of the tribe remained so small. Forget about being eaten by demonic beasts, these cultivation manuals are the ones that''s really killing them."

    Little Tiger was disappointed, nevertheless he didn''t care so much. Since this berserker arts are just utter ridiculous, he might as well not use them. If Fatty and Rosa asked him to teach them a way to be stronger, which is very likely to happen, he''d just teach them the orthodox Knighthood Path.

    "...that being said, I could also do something else entirely. Hmm...."

 Chapter 684 - Bloodline Potency

    ---

    Several weeks passed in blur, by now the three of thempletely adjusted their secluded lives within the hideout.

    These several weeks had been crazy and exciting for both Fatty and Rosa. Little Tiger taught them many things, and allowed them to experience new sensations. Both of them have their own huts by now, they could also read and write thenguage of the Tribe, in a sense, Little Tiger taught them how to be human.

    At this point, Fatty and Rosa was leagues away from what they were currently. They now resemble normal teenagers at least. In addition to this, Fatty and Little Tiger made an exclusive decision to change their names.

    This was mostly Little Tiger''s idea since he felt that his name ''Tiger Rogers'', didn''t fit his image since he''s cultivating a Dragon''s Heritage. Fatty supported his idea since he himself didn''t like his name anyway. ''Fatty'' wasn''t just a nickname or an alias to him, that''s actually his name, given to him by some yful Elder in the past. He vowed that he''s going to loose weight once he could cultivate so he wanted to change his name as well.

    Since it was decided like this, from now on Little Tiger''s new name Vendrick and Fatty''s new name will be Arthur. Rosa will remain Rosa since only she had a proper namepared to them.

    And just as he expected, Arthur and Rosa really did ask him to teach them how to be a Berserker. Both of them saw Little Tiger disying his strength in numerous asions, and if to say that they aren''t envious would be a lie. Of course, Vendrick wasn''t opposed to this but he said that he had other ns for them so they have to stay put for now.

    ''I think it''s better for me to remain transparent to them.'' Vendrick thought as he meditated. ''No secrets will remain hidden at the end of the day. Additionally, these two aren''t really strangers, they''re people I can trust. It''s better for me to tell them that I want their Dragon Blood and in exchange, I''ll impart cultivation techniques to them.''

    Indeed, Vendrick felt that this is the best way to go about this. He didn''t feelfortable cheating them for his personal gains. Despite their weakness and fears, Arthur and Rosa remained by his side and passed his test. Even though Vendrick is confident that he''ll be strong, it doesn''t change the fact that he''s only a single person.

    It would''ve been a different news if he has his Avatars with him but they''re sealed. In order to pass this trial, he will need allies to do so.

    Additionally, True Dragon''s Blood Essence is useful yes, but even if this was the case, it is not something that he''s desperate for. There''s no need to fool his own friends just for a mere drop of blood.

    Speaking of True Dragon''s Blood Essence, Vendrick had sessfully increased the concentration of his bloodline thanks to the repeated harvests he made¡­

    During these past several weeks, the Elders of the Tribe didn''t give-up and didn''t learn their lesson. They repeated intruded their domain so they retaliated by stripping them clean of their stuff. They tried several methods, implored several tactics, used numerous treasures but every attempt failed and they robbed clean. Even when they came wanting to talk peacefully, the trio ignored them, leaving them stomping in fury.

    This was such a humiliating defeat, a stain in their reputation that cannot be erased. What''s truly maddening is that, despite their efforts, none of them saw even the tip of their shadows, at this point they didn''t know whether it was the kids of something else entirely who stole their things. At this point, they could only admit defeat and simmer in rage as they try to think of ways to find out who stole their precious belongings¡­

    Unbeknownst to them however, everyone who infiltrated Vendrick''s hideout lost something even more precious. And it was none other than their Dragon Blood - which were all absorbed by Vendrick to make himself stronger.

    By now, the concertation of True Dragon''s bloodline coursing through Vendrick''s veins reached the potency of 10%. Never underestimate this number since this is True Dragon''s blood essence, not a Flood Dragon, drakes, hydras, etc¡­

    It had to be known that just 2% bloodline concentration and the Ancient Dragon King''s Scripture was already enough to transform someone into amon Divine Realm Genius. A 5% bloodline concentration could allow someone to reach the Rare Divine Realm Genius, and a 10% bloodline concentration could make someone a Empyrean Level - Divine Realm Genius.

    Right now, Vendrick have a foundation that he could use to clear this trial so he''s feeling slightly jubnt. Nevertheless, it will still take time for him to actually reach the appropriate level to do that. Additionally, repeated consumption of True Dragon''s Blood Essence has a diminishing effect.

    By his initial calctions, if he could harvest the dragon''s blood from everybody in the tribe, he''ll only barely reach the 20% bloodline concentration. This is still good of course, it would be better if there''s more but beggars can''t be picky.

    ''And it''s not like I can''t make do with 10%. In reality, this is enough. So long as I''m determined and my cultivation rises up, I''ll be able to increase this potency thanks to my cultivation technique.''

    It''s as Vendrick says, the reason why anyone who manages to get their hands of True Dragon''s Blood Essence years to cultivate the Ancient Dragon King''s Scripture is due to its ability to increase the potency of their bloodline. The technique has records of many ways to do this and that''s why its highly coveted¡­

    ''I''ll reach the Dragon''s Marrows Stage by the end of the day. Next week, I''ll reach Dragon Veins Stage and once I reached that stage I''ll be able to condense Dragon''s Aura, by then even if all the Elders of this tribee at me, I could smack them away like annoying flies.''

    Vendrick released a long sigh as he woke up from his meditation. He goal is to reach the Dragon''s Marrows by the end of the days so he didn''t want to dy this any further.

    In order to reach that stage, Vendrick has to rouse his True Essence and have it wash his marrows, this will invoke a special mutation that will transform his marrows into that of a True Dragon as well, allowing him to perfect his physique and extend his longevity by a 300,000 years - which is the natural lifespan of an Infant True Dragon.

    Doing this might also increase the potency of his bloodline as well but it is not guaranteed. If he wanted a guaranteed increase, then he had to reach the Dragon''s Heart Stage, depending on how strong his foundations are at that time, he might even reach a 100% bloodline potency.

    "Enough distractions...I should concentrate." Vendrick shook his head and cleared his mind.

    Once he calmed down, he assumed the Crouching Dragon Stance and began breathing an rhythmical pattern. A few seconds after he assumed the stance, wisps of white smoke began rising up from his body.

    The temperature on his body kept increasing, he could feel his blood boiling and his muscles pulsating. Despite this, Vendrick didn''t feel pain nor any difort at all. He closed his eyes and focused on the sensation, guiding his True Essence of wash his marrows as thoroughly as he could.

    Thanks to the Inner Vision provided by the Crystal Sky Eyes, he could see the process clearly, and with his godly control over his true essence, the process went smoothly and easily.

    At some point, Vendrick started bleeding out of his orifices but he didn''t mind, he can''t help it since this is part of the process. The blood that''s being expelled out of his body was his murky mortal blood, he has no use for this and in fact, getting rid of it was better rather than having it since it will just taint the new and vigorous blood that his tempered marrows will produce.

    Loud crackling noise sounding like faint dragon roars erupted from his body. He could feel the burden of this process but Vendrick remain as solid and unmoving as a mountain. Not a groan of pain escaped his lips, he didn''t even frown at all. He looks so rxed that he''s making it easy but in reality, it''s not.

    The thick fog of True Essence funneled through his body. Vendrick inhales True Essence like a whale dying from thirst. It raised quite amotion but Arthur and Rosa remain were they were since they''ve became used to this by now.

    *Click!* *Click!*

    Vendrick heard peculiar sounds rising from his body, this was the sound of his mortal shackles cracking bit by bit. Additionally, he could also feel that he''s being swallowed up by arge tide that wants to drown him thoroughly but he held on.

    Finally, loud booming sounds urred from his body and his breakthrough seeded. Vendrick inhaled more True Essence to treat his body but what made him happier his that...

    His True Dragon Bloodline Potency increased from 20% to 30%.

 Chapter 685 - ...like Rabbits

    ---

    *Hua!* *Hua!*

    At the core of a silent forest, a young man around the age of 15-16 could be seen wielding a 9 foot, 9 inches long spear.

    This young man was lean, his naked upper body glistened with sweat under the re of sunlight but that''s not the only reason. If one looked closely, they will discover that the young man has scales. Each scales looked like they were made out of tinum, covered in a rainbow colored gleam. The scales could be found on the young man''s feet and thighs, there are some on his elbows all the way down to his fingers, his nails were sharp as well. Scales could also be found on his neck, stretching down to his oblique''s, creating a strangely attractive feature for the young man.

    The young man''s facial features weren''t bad in the first ce anyway. He has a angled face, sharp brows and jaw line, his eyes were golden and could turn into slits whenever he wanted to, he has a long ck hair, tied in a ponytail, and his body was lean but muscr.

    This young man was of course, none other than Vendrick.

    After making his breakthroughst night, he didn''t sleep at all. Instead, he began adjusting to his new state by practicing his spear.

    It has been a while since Vendrick fought with a weapon. On his original world, he once used a hammer, but that weapon turned into a wheel that can shoot out numerous palms so he focused on controlling that instead. During the recent years, he mainly fought using a Brush, drawing runes that could rain down meteors to his enemies.

    It has truly been a while since he felt the sensation of mastering a weapon wielded by his own arms, and it''s a spear too. Compared to most weapons, pole-based weapons are significantly harder to master but if one does, mowing downrge numbers of enemies is just a simple matter.

    Vendrick wasn''t practicing any fancy or shy Spear Arts. True to his nature, he believed that the basics are more than enough. The basic spear art or any basic battle arts are the basis for most techniques anyway so if he truly wanted to, he could learn them just as easy. But using the same logic, since most battle arts were derived from the basics, then learning the basics are enough on it''s own.

    This is best arrangement for Vendrick''s current state too. Currently, Vendrick''s casual strike could cause a giant boulder to exploded into pieces. He can run at the speed of sound and his defense was so high that any mortal weapons can''t hurt him. A dragon''s physique is just that absurd, this is not even including his use of True Essence and his true specialty which is ''Strength Control''.

    What Vendrick is focusing on right now, is raising his skill for his Spear Arts. And so far, it''s going good.

    Thrust, Cut, sh, Parry...one by one, the basic spear movements were performed to their outmost perfection. Not a trace of wasted movement nor a speck of energy went out of his control. Vendrick look like he was performing a dance with his movement, creating an ephemeral visage that twists a person''s perception.

    After finishing hisst repetition, Vendrick exhaled and kept the spear away. He grabbed a towel from the storage bag and began wiping away the sweat forming on his body. He also took out some water and snacks to replenish his energy.

    "My realm''s stabilized by now." Vendrick muttered to himself. "I''ll just stick to practicing the Basic Spear Arts for now. Going out of the tribe might be a good idea as well, I''d like to have some realbat. Well, I''ll return for now..."

    Saying that, Vendrick shook his head and returned to his hut. On his way back, he didn''t forget to harvest some fruits and berries. Thanks to formation he set up on this forest, the true essence became abundant, causing life to be more vibrant here. It affected the flora and fauna, creating a paradisend where all sorts of fruits and vegetables grew at a rapid pace. This way, even if they run out of ''visitors'' and the trio finished all of their stolen food supplies, they could still live-off of eating these things.

    As he entered the vicinity of the their huts, Vendrick frowned and almost rolled his eyes due to the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.

    A nd expression could be found on his face as he heard faint rustling, groans and moaning from the hut next to his, which was Rosa''s by the way. What made this even more awkward is that, Vendrick''s heightened senses were backfiring.

    He didn''t need to be close just to hear and smell their activities...

    Sufficed to say, Arthur and Rosa were surely having a great time. As for why Rosa decided to surrender herself to Fatty Arthur, frankly Vendrick didn''t care. What made him speechless is that their curiosity is really great. Not even a full 24 hours passed since he had the ''birds and bees talk'' to them and they''re already shamelessly going at it.

    "Oi! You shameless neighbors! It''s already bright her outside! Don''t tell me you''re going to keep mating like rabbits still? There''s thing called a ''rest'' you see."

    Arthur and Rosa froze when they heard Vendrick''s voice. His timing was impable too since they were just thinking about going at it again, unfortunately their fiery and intimate feelings were ruthless snuffed out by their cold-blooded friend.

    They looked at each other, dismay and embarrassed expressions could be seen on their faces. Arthur leaned down and gave Rosa a loving kiss, patting her buttocks and saying:

    "We''ll continue thister. You should rest..."

    Rosa squirmed on top of him and coquettishly asked: "You don''t want to sleep with me?"

    "I do but..." Fatty Arthur bit his lips and continued: "If I were to do that, I won''t be able to keep my hands to myself. Plus, the demon outside won''t let us hear the end of it."

    "That''s true..." Rosa snorted, she then kissed Arthur and said: "Go, but promise me you''lle backter."

    "I promise." Fatty swallowed hard in anticipation, "Prepare for another sleepless night, gorgeous."

    "That''s disgusting!" Vendrick yelled from the outside, causing Arthur and Rosa to broke out inughter.

    As Arthur was putting his clothes back on, they could still hear Vendrick shouting from outside. "Damn, Fatty! Pretty good capital! But it''s sad you can''t see it because of your thick belly!"

    "Fuck you!!" Arthur yelled back,ughing.

    "Fat and Furious! Damn!!"

    "Shut the fuck up!"

    Arthur finally made his way out of Rosa''s hut, leaving his ''lover''ughing and exhausted. She''d probably fall asleep momentster.

    A blushing Fatty ran down the stairs and tried to punch Vendrick but he failed and was ced into an arm-lock. The two yed around for bit, but it was just mostly Vendrick teasing Fatty non-stop. It didn''t take long either since Arthur was exhausted from staying up all night as well.

    "Do you remember what I told you two?" Vendrick asked, sitting down beside Arthur and handing him an apple.

    Arthur chew on it and answered: "Yep, don''t worry. We''re not in a hurry to have a child."

    Vendrick nodded when he heard that. In reality, considering the norms of the tribe, all of them were already adults. Arthur''s 15, Rosa''s 14, and Vendrick''s 16 years old. Typically, all of them were old enough to start a family ording to the tribe''s tradition but for Vendrick, it is still too early.

    Forget about the tribe''s norms, with Vendrick''s support, Fatty and Rosa could actually start a family and they''d still havefortable lives. Unfortunately, Vendrick didn''t want them to fall under a false sense of security, thinking that he''d be always there for them. Additionally, both of them are hell bent on bing Berserkers, knowing how dangerous it is outside, Vendrick suggested for them to wait. He already educated them anyways and both of them understood this properly so Vendrick trusted them.

    That being the case, if they truly wanted to start family now, Vendrick wouldn''t stop them, it''s none of his business anyway.

    "I''m venturing out. I''ll seal the hideout away so that both of you can be safe while I''m gone."

    Arthur was rmed when Vendrick said this. He couldn''t help but ask: "Do you really need to?"

    "I''m training for the sake of doing that anyway, so yeah I need to." Vendrick replied in a solemn manner. "Don''t worry, I''m strong. I''lle back in one piece. Even if I don''t, you guys will be absolutely safe here. Heck, I''ve taught you many things, so long as you don''t step outside, you guys can live happily ever after here."

    "That''s not the issue here." Arthur sighed, somewhat feeling down. Both him and Rosa owe Vendrick too much. "Just pay attention to your safety. Come back alive and in one piece."

    "I will." Vendrick patted Arthur''s back and replied resolutely. "Don''t worry, I won''t go down that easy."

    He then stood up, dusted his pants and gave Arthur a teasing look: "I''ll be gone for at least a week or two, feel free to mate like rabbits then. Huhuhu...off I go then..."

    "Argh...damn!"

 Chapter 686 - A Secret

    ---

    *Roar!*

    *Schwing!*

    Amidst a dense jungle, Vendrick and severalrge beasts were locked in a brutalbat. The beasts he''s surrounded with were mutated in many ways, the fewmon factor they have were Large Size, Crimson Red Eyes, and a putrid Demonic Qi.

    These beasts were the so called demonic beasts by the Blue Mountain Tribe. Vendrick hasn''t even gone five kilometers away from the foot of the mountain yet he already had himself surrounded. Nevertheless, it''s not like he''s in any danger since the demonic beasts he''s fighting right now were rtively weak.

    *Crack!*

    One domineering stomp forward, Vendrick shattered the ground he was standing on. With a single ferocious swing of his spear, the cold gleam of steel passed through several beasts, cutting them in half. Blood spurted like a geyser eruption from their bodies, the stench of blood and death were dense, it will undoubtedly whet the appetite of the more bloodthirsty demonic beasts lurking deeper in the jungle.

    Nevertheless, Vendrick has no ns on retreating. A cold gleam was reflected on his pupils. His expression was calm, indifferent even. He wasn''t scared nor worried about his safety, if anything he wanted to fight some more.

    ''Whew'' He drew a deep breath, ''I nearly forgot the feeling of a cold steel weapon cutting into flesh. I should do this more.''

    If anyone heard his thoughts right now, they''d probably get creeped out. In fact, they might even suspect that Vendrick was losing his sanity, and once they got to that conclusion, they''d probably pin him down or p him multiple times to wake him up.

    That can''t be helped, his thoughts were a little bit extreme but it''s not like he''s demented. The only reason why some people would think he is, was because of the possible mind erosion of Demonic Qi.

    The putrid demonic qi of Demonic Beasts has extreme properties. Those who had weaker Spirits will have their minds eroded by it, causing their thoughts to get more polluted and their actions to be increasingly violent. Once they were thoroughly corroded, they''d be no less than Demonic Beasts themselves. Add this to the fact that tribesmen were weak in the first ce, it would really makes sense why the tribe has high casualties all year round.

    *Roar!*

    A threatening roar could be heard from all directions, Vendrick''s ears twitched as he tried to gauge how far he was from the source of these howls.

    "Hmm, another batch ising¡­" Vendrick gripped his spear tighter and raised his senses.

    And just like he predicted, another wave of demonic beasts appeared, they differed in all sorts of shapes and sizes yet it didn''t matter how different they look, to Vendrick, all of them were his prey.

    Turning into a blur, Vendrick charged at them, leaving several afterimages behind. Taking a deep breath, he revolved his True Essence and enhanced every sector of his body, with his sheer absurd strength wielded with an impable control, he ughtered every demonic beast on his sight, causing more blood to flow and the stench of death to be even denser than before.

    "¡­that makes this what? 50 beasts so far? All in my first day too. What a harvest." Vendrick shook his head as he gathered all of the torn carcasses of demonic beasts to his storage bag.

    He has uses for these of course. After all, Arthur and Rosa wanted to be Berserkers so he was nning on stocking-up resources from them. Of course he also has uses for the blood too, never mind that they''re dirty, he still saved them up since it wouldn''t be hard to purify them anyways.

    Vendrick had been in deep thought for quite sometime now. He originally wanted to propagate the path of Knighthood to the tribe, well it''s still viable but he ultimately decided to give the Berserker''s cultivation method a chance.

    Even though what he saw so far were ridiculous and extremely dangerous, it''s not like it doesn''t have it''s own merits. For one, the Path of Berserkers is just another branch of Body Tempering Path. Meaning it ultimately focuses on one''s physique, allowing them to possess undying bodies that could withstand the test of time and harness the incredible powers of nature.

    The only downside is that it is way too linear and barbaric. It posses little charm that cane in contact with Heavenly Laws which ultimately limits it''s value. Still, if one manages to reach its apex, then true immortality is more or less guaranteed.

    Unfortunately, the tribe doesn''t possess much knowledge for theter stages. Ultimately, they are too ignorant about the immensity of heaven and earth. Along with the corrupted methods of tribe leaders, there''s little to no way that the tribe will prosper even if they could exist for many more years.

    "It''s going to be challenging but¡­I think I can do it." Vendrick didn''t feel down, in fact he weed the challenge. "I''m well versed in the many ways of Body Tempering anyway. A mere iplete Berserker''s path shouldn''t stomp me that bad, even if I failed, I am confident to reach 85% of the whole thing, I''ve got time too so I there''s no reason for me to back-off from such a challenge."

    Vendrick drew another breath and decided to retreat for now. He made enoughmotion in this ce that there will be an unrest for quite sometime. It''s better for him to retreat rather than to deal with annoying pests all day long.

    Thankfully, Vendrick found a rather secretive base on ident during his way here. He had been staying in that ce for now and nothing managed to track him all the way there.

    It was a cave system, nicely hidden from the roaming predators. It''s very inauspicious and the entrance is covered in a dense canopy of bushes and dried tree branches. With Vendrick''s astounding senses and mobility, he could easily ess this ce.

    Going back here, the interior surely is impressive. The cave was slightly damp but warm, it wasn''t dark thanks to the shining crystals that are growing out of the surface of the cave. Vendrick found signs of this cave being used before but it was too long ago, he knew that this ce has it''s own secrets but he never tried to explore it before, now however, might be a good idea to do that.

    Vendrick ate some of his supplies to replenish his energies. While he was eating, he was also inspecting the cave. In order to have a more thorough search, Vendrick activated his ocr technique, turning his into slits which coldlybed through the corners of the cave.

    "Hoh?" An amused sound escaped from Vendrick''s lips.

    He was staring at a particr corner of the cave. Thanks to his ocr technique, his vision can pass through obstructions and he saw he a uniquepartment neatly hidden at the right bottom side corner of the cave.

    Vendrick approached the spot and dug for a bit. He then saw a mechanism that has a rusting iron handle. He didn''t do anything to it just yet, he surveyed his surroundings to search for clues. For all he knows, this might be a deadly trap, wouldn''t he be courting death if that was that case?

    After a thorough inspection, Vendrick finally came into a conclusion. The handle he found won''t trigger a trap, instead it will open up a secret entrance that will lead to something uncertain. He would''ve loved to know more but unfortunately, something behind that entrance was countering his ocr technique, which he found intriguing considering the fact that he rarely encounters anything like this.

    Vendrick didn''t feel any threat, his instincts weren''t giving him any bad signs too. Therefore, he decided to be bold and enter that ce.

    *Ka-cha!* *Ka-cha!*

    A loud nking sound urred as Vendrick twisted and pulled the handle. Despite the handle being tested by time, it still managed to keep it''s shape and function properly.

    The wall which was supposed to be the end of the cave, shook fiercely and released loud cranking sound of metal gears shing against each other. The wall slowly caved in, reveling a rtively wide entrance. A rectangr block shifted and slid to the side, allowing him passage.

    Vendrick tried to pry information forward but just like before, an unknown element was neutralizing his ocr technique. Helpless, Vendrick could only sigh and steel his resolve. He stepped inside the dark ce and felt his surroundings twisting around.

    Vendrick was amused as he looked over, nevertheless he only saw darkness around so he continued walking. It was then that he suddenly bumped into something which felt like a soft membrane. He frowned and touched it with his hand, yet when he did so, his hand prated through and he felt a vacuum pulling him in harshly.

    A strong light blinded him momentarily, when his vision adjusted, he was stunned to see that there was someone standing in front of him. What made him speechless is that, despite seeing this person face to face, he couldn''t feel any kind of life signs on their body.

    "Wee¡­Conqueror."

 Chapter 687 - Conqueror, Lector Orwenz, Rulers And A God

    ---

    "Wee¡­Conqueror."

    "Oh¡­"

    Vendrick stared nkly at the scene in front of him. He was transported in an artificial world filled with lush, tall mountains, clear streams of waterfalls and a vast blue sky along with a boundless field.

    A spirit was floating in front of him, it was a woman who''s facial visage was hidden behind a hazy light. She was nearly naked, her ample breasts are covered with what looks like her hair, she has a stunning hourss figure and her lower half doesn''t have any cover, however there''s also that faint hazy light that covers her private area. Just this view would make any mortal delusional with lustful thoughts but not Vendrick.

    A blue sash could be seen arching behind her body, anybody who sees her would most likely assumed that she''s a fairy, a deity, a goddess even. Well, they aren''t wrong¡­

    "I have been waiting for 15,000 years for you toe, O dear Conqueror." The woman said.

    "A Conqueror you say¡­" Vendrick frowned.

    In reality, he was surprised. ''Conqueror'', her calling him this shouldn''t just be a mere coincidence. After all, that word is strongly connected to his true purpose here.

    "Indeed, you have are born to be a Conqueror. Tis but a shame that you came 15,000 yearste. I'' afraid that the situation will be disadvantageous to you." The woman sighed, her voice carrying a deep sense of regret.

    "Care to exin? Honestly, I don''t know much about this world at all." Vendrick calmly asked, he didn''t feel any kind panic or fear from the woman''s somber tone.

    "My name is Lucia, one of the Imperial Fairies that are tasked to aid Conquerors in their Conquest of thisnd."

    "I am Vendrick Rogers from the Blue Mountain Tribe not far from here." He replied, "What is a Conqueror? How did I be one? And what''s this about meing herete?"

    "The name is of thisnd is Bright Star Great World. It is a prosperousnd that had existed since eons ago. Ever since we became aware of our surroundings, it was humans who ruled thisnd, however that changed when the Demonic Beasts arrived."

    Lucia''s voice be a bit faint as she recalled the history of this world. "The Demonic Beasts are merciless and cruel. Humanity was almost driven to extinction because of their relentless attacks. But as fate would have, it seems that humanity wasn''t meant to end there."

    "From the dying embers of humanity, he came. The zing sun that illuminated the path and ushered humanity to it''s golden age¡­the First Conqueror - Lector Orwenz. He was born a ve but died as a God."

    "It was thanks to him that we, Imperial Fairies, were born. Before his death, His Majesty Lector pried the Heavenly Secrets onest time. There he saw a vision of humanity''s decline after his death. It would''ve been okay if it was a simple decline but from his vision, he saw that humanity''s chances of extinction will be almost certain."

    "His Majesty Lector didn''t want such ending for his beloved race, therefore using his dying breath, he scattered his essence and fused it with his loyal subjects. He left them a gift that they can use in order to continue the legacy of humanity and prevent them from bing extinct."

    "Since we, Imperial Fairies, are undying beings, he left a task for us. He said that there wille a time when a Hero from humanity, bearing his pedigree and his ambition, will appear. He asked us a favor to watch over those Heroes and guide them so that they can rece him and be the next Conqueror of thend."

    "So long as a Conqueror lives, Humanity will never fall. That was his decree. Unfortunately, His Majesty was a different cut from the rest."

    A sorrowful mood descended, Vendrick could feel sadness and pity rising from the woman in front of him.

    "He underestimated Humanity''s ws. Thinking that they''re infallible, humanity began walking to its eventual disaster. Those who followed his were greedy, treacherous, betrayers, arrogant and so hungry for power that humanity began crumbling apart."

    "His Majesty told us to watch over his next incarnations but they too aren''t immune from the toxicity of human tongue. They were painted with dark colors and they became the thing that they swore to kill."

    "We, Imperial Fairies, might be undying creatures but even us won''t dare to im that we''re infallible. The greatest proof of this is me, the Last Imperial Fairy." Lucia''s voice was filled with sadness at this point.

    "I''m guessing that it''s humans who killed your kind?" Vendrick couldn''t help but ask.

    "Indirectly." Vendrick could almost make out a wry smile on Lucia''s face. "You see, we Imperial Fairies aren''t blessed with the power to reproduce. Initially, we didn''t think that it''s necessary since we''re undying, but we have our own emotions too."

    "Maybe it''s because we could feel our creator - His Majesty Lector''s aura from this heroes that we feel a deep connection to those humans. Those heroes weren''t dumb, in fact most of them used this connection to pull us from the skies."

    "They used empty promises, flowery words, threats, some of them even directly enved us in order to fulfill their lustful fantasies. Using the excuse that they were ''Conquerors'' to justify their actions. An Imperial Fairy is undying, yes, but if they devote their existence to only one person, their undying trait will disappear, making them mortals but also giving them capabilities to reproduce."

    "We tried our best to fulfill our duties while also making sure to protect ourselves from falling. Unfortunately, even with our efforts, humanity''s ingenuity never failed to obstruct our desires. In the end, I''m the only one left¡­"

    Vendrick drew a deep breath after listening to her story. He wanted to say something tofort her but he knew that any attempts would just cause awkwardness so he decided to move-on from the subject instead.

    "So, you mean to say that I''m one of this person''s incarnation. I am a Conqueror, but what does a conqueror do? Also, you haven''t answered some of my previous questions yet."

    "As a Conqueror, we only request you to do one thing¡­" Lucia said, "And that is to lead Humanity to it''s golden age."

    Vendrick sighed, but he didn''t interrupt Lucia since he could tell that there''s still something she wanted to say.

    "I''ll be candid with you. You''re not obligated to do this at all. You aren''t bound to any oath nor contracts. Even if you didn''t attempt to this, you won''t be sanctioned nor will I kill you. You are free to decide whether to take this monumental task or not. It ispletely up to you."

    "Additionally, as I''ve said before, you were 15,000 yearste. That tribe of yours¡­are all the remaining humans there is. Everything else outside of this ce and this continent, are territory of Demonic Beasts."

    "Your tribe is located at the very edge of the Southern Continent, and as luck would have it, it is also the most barren part of thend. The undisputed rules of the Southern Continent is a Demonic Beast who had be a Deity 11,000 years ago - The Forest Witch and her Hag Daughters."

    "There''s also the Vampiric Serpent of the West. The Winter Troll King of the North, the Infernal Dragon of the East - these Continental Deities will surely prevent you from your conquest. Andst but not the least, your final hurdle will be waiting for you at the Central Continent, it is a God that dwells at the Mouth of the Abyss."

    "All of these entities will do everything in their power to stop you from your conquest. Compared to them who had been raising their forces for almost 15,000 years, it''s almost impossible for you to face them."

    "This is why I said that it''s regrettable that you arrivedte. Had you came at least 10,000 years earlier, then you would still have a chance. But now, you have to face Four Deities and one God. Your chances are abysmally low."

    "That being said, the decision is still up to you." Lucia sighed, "Face them or not. It''s your choice."

    "Wow, you don''t have faith in me at all. That''s so re-assuring¡­" Vendrick rolled his eyes after hearing Lucia''s words.

    In the end though, he couldn''t me her. Had he was on her position, he would''ve thought the same. But Vendrick isn''t a normal person now is he?

    "¡­well, I understand why you don''t have any confidence at me at all. But I would still like to ask, you were tasked to be my guide or support¡­something like that right? Do you probably have something for me that could help at least?"

    Lucia was surprised, Vendrick had this impression that she''s looking dumbfounded at him, this impression was right, Lucia is indeed dumbfounded.

    "You still think of challenging their rule?"

    "Isn''t that my purpose?" Vendrick retorted with another question, "Challenging them or not, humanity is already at the verge of extinction. Rather than going down silently, it''s better to die with a bang. Besides¡­it''s more fun this way¡­"

    "..."

 Chapter 688 - Flawed Creatures...

    ---

    "¡­you are a strange one." Lucia said after a brief silence.

    "Yeah, whatever. So? What now? Do you have something for me or no?" Vendrick asked, getting somewhat impatient.

    "¡­" Lucia didn''t reply. Instead she sighed and waved her hand.

    Lights coagted in front of Vendrick, it was blinding for a moment but when it was over, it revealed the things that Lucia prepared for him.

    A chest filled to the brim with chunks of ruby crystals. A shelf filled with books. A hill of gold and treasures, vials containing different kinds of medicine and etc...

    "These are the collective inheritance that''s left. Take them and use them ording to your desire. Take this ring as well, you can use it to store all of your items just like the Storage Pouch. The space inside the ring is vast, you can use it to store mountains and rivers if you want."

    "Oh! Now we''re talking." Vendrick didn''t hesitate to take the ring from her and mark it as his. He then used the ring to transfer everything in front of him inside, he even ce the storage bag inside the ring.

    After collecting everything, Vendrick looked up to Lucia and he could almost see aplicated expression on her face. An idea struck him and he couldn''t help but ask...

    "What will happen to you now?"

    "..." Lucia didn''t reply at first. Vendrick could feel that she was deliberating about something. Momentster, she heard him ask: "Really strange...why do you feel so confident?"

    "Eh?" Vendrick was caught off-guard by that sudden question. He tilted his head and replied: "Am I feeling confident? I don''t know about that. What I do know is stressing myself out won''t help at all. Getting depressed and giving out without putting up a fight is just way out of my style."

    "Are you not...afraid? Of death?"

    "Hmm..." Vendrick wore a pondering expression and replied, "Kind of, but not really. I mean, it''s life''s natural course isn''t it? All living beings will eventually die. It''s just a matter of when and how that''s going to make a difference."

    "So what if I die? What if I don''t? What if I fail? Should I just give up because somebody told me that there''s no chances of winning? How did they know? Why shouldn''t I try? Am I not allowed to even choose how I die?...thinking about these things is just really stressful. Why bother? I''m just going to live how I want to live. You said it''s my choice anyway, right?"

    "...right."

    "There we go." Vendrick shrugged. "You still haven''t answered my question you know?"

    "...you can''t be possibly thinking of making me you wife now do you?"

    "Beats me, weren''t you reading my thoughts? Tell me about it then." Vendrick looked ndly at her.

    He could''ve sworn that Lucia''s lips were twitching from annoyance, but that might also he his imagination as well.

    "I''m going back to sleep. I''ve done all I can and I''ve given everything away. My oath to His Majesty concludes right here. I just don''t want to care anymore."

    "Cool." Vendrick shrugged. "Do that then, have a long and good sleep. But before you do that, send me out of here."

    "Keep walking that way and you''ll reach the exit." Lucia pointed behind him.

    "Oh, that simple huh. Alright, I''m off then. Have a good rest." Vendrick waved his hand and began walking out.

    Lucia stared at his back as he walked away. She couldn''t understand his strange behavior at all, this is probably the first time that she encountered a human like this. Vendrick was right, she is indeed reading his thoughts. How could she not after all the things that humanity did to her kind? Their creator might be human but he''s a unique one too.

    This human''s thoughts were nothing like the humans before him. Typically, human''s thoughts were chaotic, they have a specific talent of saying things out loud while also thinking about theplete opposite of what they''re spouting. The only times when they be honest is when their life is threatened or during extreme moments.

    However, Vendrick''s thoughts were none of that. Forget about being chaotic, his thoughts were unnaturally quiet that it''s almost frightening. She initially thought that he knows a technique that prevented her from prying to his mind but she dismissed this idea shortly after.

    Lucia has experienced many things in her life and she could tell that Vendrick didn''t make any attempts on guarding his thoughts. That, or whatever he''s using far surpasses her knowledge that itpletely fooled her, however this is also very unlikely.

    Just as Vendrick was about to disappear from his vision, Lucia jolted. Her eyes widened when she all of sudden heard Vendrick''s thoughts.

    ''Humans are strange creatures to begin with. It is true that we are greedy, selfish, immoral, sinners, impure, etc...in a sense, we''re no different from Demonic Beasts from time to time, the only thing that sets us apart from them is that our intelligence is just a tad bit higher and our obsession for progress is immense.''

    ''We are strangely entric creatures, but also endearing at some point. I don''t think races who aren''t humans have the right toment about our essence, most especially, races that were created by human hands. Biased towards their creator and disgusted towards other humans when their own creator is a human being too. I wonder, did she even stop and thought hard about the incredulity of her own words?''

    ''She''s right about us, yes. But the way her and race worships their creator is somehowughable. Were they honestly thinking that their creator is perfect? Psh. She said it herself didn''t she? He created them when he''s about to die. In short, what they witnessed was his life when he was at the peak, not when he''s at his absolute worst but during his absolute best. Having such an impartial way of judgement...and they think that they''re way better than humans? Don''t make meugh please.''

    ''If their creator truly did care about them, why didn''t he stop for a moment and considered the longevity of their race? Why didn''t he give them the ability to reproduce? These women couldn''t possibly think that he couldn''t right? After all, wasn''t he a God?''

    ''Of course he wouldn''t. Why would you give undying creatures a way to reproduce? It''s not like they needed it, it''s more like they''re not allowed since once their poption grow, their collective disgust for human being will make them break their oath. He just didn''t want his own creations to the be the one who will end his ''oh-so-beloved humanity''. In the end, I wouldn''t be surprised if he created them for the sole purpose of bing concubines for the next Conquerors...''

    ''I mean, wouldn''t that make sense? First of all, all of them were women and all of his incarnations were men! Why the hell would they be able to turn into mortals with the ability to reproduce in exchange for their Undying Trait anyway if they were supposed to be ''just guides'' anyway? Why have that function? Did they honestly not realize this? Are they truly this stupid? They be shouldn''t be right? Well, considering their blind adoration for him...sheesh...''

    ''Anyhow, that ain''t my problem. I have targets now, I should just focus on bing stronger. Whether humanity will flourish under me or no, that''ll depend on them and not me. I guess I could just leave her be. She''s not my problem anyway. So long as she doesn''t cross me, then she can do whatever she wants.''

    ''Oh, I can feel something here...is this the exit? Woah!''

    *Weng!!*

    Just like that Vendrick''s silhouette disappeared from Lucia''s vision. Despite him leaving, Lucia''s thoughts remained chaotic.

    She remained where she was, silently pondering about his words. At this point, Lucia couldn''t care less whether Vendrick did this on purpose or not. His words already had it''s effect on her and it wouldn''t simply go away no matter how much she desired to go to sleep.

    "Oh, Sisters..." Lucia looked above, tears trickling down her face as she felt endless sadness and regret. "Were we really blind? Were we really this stupid? Did our creator truly cared for us? If so, then why? Why does this person''s words hurts me so?"

    Lucia couldn''t bear it. She felt agonized, miserable, discarded and utterly alone. All of her sisters are gone. She''s the only one left. She wanted to preserve their dignity by saying that they faith was justified yet she couldn''t, not after hearing all of those.

    All she could feel is the dreaded realization that Vendrick might be right. Maybe they truly were created for the sole purpose of serving humanity. Maybe they were truly just meant to be tools. If it were truly the case, then how could their creator be so cruel? At least deprive them of having any ego, that they''d have no sense of self and they''d be spared from all this pain.

    "Dear Sisters..." Lucia cried as she fell gently on the ground, hugging her knees while feeling the gnawing coldness on her chest. "What should I do?"

 Chapter 689 - Crystalized Bloodstones

    ---

    Was all of that intentional? Yes.

    Did he feel bad about it? Kind of?

    Does he regret it? Nope.

    Vendrick didn''t allow himself to get so caught up in things that won''t necessarily affect him that much. Though he did feel quite annoyed at Lucia, he did also pity her. Currently, it is unknown to him whether this world is real or not so with that in mind, he decided that it would be better to let her understand the reality of her situation.

    Sure, he could''ve spared her and just let her fall into slumber but that would be unfair no? Not everybody thinks that being Undying is a blessing, sometimes it is a curse. Lucia had lived far too long and was the only one left. She already suffered enough so he should at least tell her the truth and let her decide her faith.

    Vendrick didn''t leave the cave right away. Upon exiting the secret realm. He was surprised to see that the hidden entrance was nowhere to be seen. He shrugged at this, he already satisfied his curiosity and even got some rewards. Since the cave is safe, he figured that he should take this time to organize everything that he got.

    Vendrick prioritized knowledge so he went through several books. He read their titles and summoned some in order to read their contents. Using his True Essence, he imprinted the information written on the books and consumed them to expedite the process of learning.

    Immersed on his work, Vendrick didn''t notice how much time passed since he started. If it weren''t for his stomach grumbling for food, he wouldn''t have woken up from his immersion. He took a brief look outside and saw that the sun was rising. Unknowing, he spent the whole afternoon and stayed-up all night going through books that he got from Lucia.

    He shook his head, smiling wryly he summoned some food from his storage bag as well as some water. He also rested for quite sometime. Thankfully, he didn''t need too much sleep. His body had be strong enough that it could go on for weeks straight without needing to sleep.

    As he rested, Vendrick arranged all the information he absorbed so far and integrated with them. Shortly afterwards, streams of knowledge rushed on his brain. Now that he integrated with these knowledge, there''s no way he can forget it.

    The books he had read were precisely the things he needed. He saw the whole map of this world, he read about the history of humanity, he learned about their culture, their unique crafts and styles. He even saw some intact knowledge about cultivation and some history of it. There''s also rows of Battle Arts and Cultivation Manuals in there.

    Vendrick also got information about the other stuff that Lucia gave to him. The gold and treasures were of no importance to him. The chunks of ruby crystals however were the ones that really surprised him.

    They turned out to be Crystalized Bloodstones...

    Vendrick had seen bloodstones before so he''s familiar with them, those things are considered as one of the most nutritional supplements for Body Tempering Knights. Bloodstone contains immense vital essence that can replenish someone''s longevity, for those who are tempering their bodies, it''s effects are amplified twice. The only downside to ordinary Bloodstones is that, they are condensed from different sources, making it hard for people to refine them.

    This however, is not the case for Crystalized Bloodstones. The crystallization of a bloodstone is a clear evidence of it''s purity. This means that using these to cultivation will pose no risks at all. Anybody could use them without the worry of their minds being corroded.

    And as luck would have it, this world has Berserkers - people who cultivate their bodies by igniting their blood and eating demonic beast flesh. To Berserkers, Crystalized Bloodstones were something worth risking their lives for.

    Of course, it''s value didn''t diminish for Vendrick at all. In fact, the Crystalized Bloodstones were just as important to him. While it wouldn''t increase volume of his True Dragon''s Bloodline, the energy continued on them could increase it''s purity even further.

    After resting for a couple of hours, Vendrick got up and didn''t waste time. Summoning a chunk of bloodstone from his hands, he started absorbing the pure blood vitality from it.

    Vendrick remained careful about this process. He''s within the demonic beasts territory and their senses were keen. He had to make sure that not even a trace of blood energy will leak out from to bloodstone nor his body so that it won''t alert them.

    With his outstanding control over his energies, this was of course a simple matter for him. Still, he didn''t getcent nor careless about this process.

    As the pure blood vitality rushed on his body, Vendrick felt immensefort. It wasparable to soaking at a warm bath after a long day of hard work. He could feel his blood thrumming with power, the scales on his body appeared without his consent and were experiencing great changes as well.

    More and more scales started appearing from his body, the old scales were peeling off as new ones emerged from them. The new scales looked more solid and vibrantpared to the old ones. Of course, the change wasn''t limited to the scales alone, his muscle mass might not be showing signs of abrupt changes but their are concealing incredible power. His bones were changing as well, gleaming with a jade colored light. His blood looked more viscous and denserpared to before.

    Just from a single chunk of bloodstone, Vendrick could feel enormous changes to his body. He also inadvertently broke through thete stages of Marrow Cleansing. His bloodline potency didn''t increase but it''s purity was definitely higherpared to before.

    Sensing the changes on his body, Vendrick woke up and felt giddy...

    "With the amount of Crystalized Bloodstones I have, it might be possible for me to refine my bloodline even further. From a True Dragon, I could reach the levels of a True Archdragon. Mn! If I could really achieve that, then this task will be easier."

    Thinking about this, Vendrick became more ambitious. He thought for a bit and devised a n that could help him achieve this.

    "...doing it that way might be cruel but I have to do what I have to do. I''ll just make it up to themter."

    With a sound n on his mind, he went through some calctions to make sure and nodded to himself. He was determined to achieve his goal so he would follow the n he created. First though, he has to return to the tribe since this n of him will take some time.

    ---

    At the walls of the tribe, several people could be seen patrolling.

    Most of them weren''t really paying attention to the situation outside. Although they might not look like it, these people were veterans. They knew when something is wrong and they won''t hesitate to give-up their lives to protect the people.

    The reason why they are so rxed is because they understood the trend. During this time of the year, the chances of demonic beasts appearing within the tribes premises were abysmally low. In fact, they could leave the patrolling to one man and nothing bad will happen. This is why most of them were taking it easy.

    And since they were taking it easy, they are also making Vendrick''s job easier...

    *Swoosh!!*

    The patrolling guards were so carefree, talking amongst themselves,ughing merrily about something that they totally ignored the unusual breeze of the wind. All of a sudden, the expression of the guards froze.

    They all wore nk expressions and their eyes turned dull. They stared at a nk space, looking dazed and bewitched.

    That''s when Vendrick suddenly appeared within them with his eyes glowing with rainbow colored light. He trapped them in an illusion where their merry discussions never stopped, in fact the illusions were connected and none of them could resist it.

    Working swiftly, Vendrick''s hand transformed into a w covered in tinum scales. He then pricked a wound at the center of their corbones, siphoned the trapped True Dragon''s Blood Essence from their bodies.

    Not everyone has it, Vendrick could sense who has them which made his job easier and quicker.

    After stealing their blood, he healed their wounds and made sure that not even a scar remained. After gobbling up the blood. He left them and broke the illusion. The guards shook, they felt confused at first but they didn''t notice anything wrong so they continued their merry chatting.

    Seeing this, Vendrick was relieved. Thankfully, the illusion he casted didn''t dispel even when they were attacked, if that happens, then he would be in some serious trouble.

    Vendrick moved along the shadow and did the same thing to the rest. He scattered his senses to locate who has the blood essence. After the patrolling guards, he swept his eyes to the nobles...

    Tonight, Vendrick was nning to make a clean sweep of the tribe. Hopefully, he could finish his work before the sun rises or else the risks of him being discovered will increase.

 Chapter 690 - Transitioning To A True Dragonborn

    ---

    "...you''re back."

    "Yeah." Vendrick replied to Arthur as hee down from his hut.

    "What''s it like outside?" He couldn''t help but ask.

    "It''s fine, I didn''t go far this time so it wasn''t so dangerous. I only found some Tier 1 Demonic Beasts and had a good fight beforeing back."

    "Tier 1?" Arthur was confused about this term.

    "Yeah, it refers to the weakest bunch of Demonic Beast, something that I made up myself." Vendrick said as he ate breakfast. "Demonic Beast had their hierarchy as well. A Tier 1 Beast is roughly bigger and strongerpared tomon animals you''ll find. Still, even if they are weak, they aren''t something a mortal can easily defeat."

    "I see." Arthur nodded.

    "ording to what I discovered, there''s 9 Tiers of beasts but there''s no need to know just how strong a Tier 9 is, since a Tier 4 Demonic Beast can easily destroy this tribe." Vendrick exined, well this is mostly due to his spection. He shouldn''t be wrong since he personally killed a Tier 4 Demonic Beast but Arthur and Rosa doesn''t have to know that for now.

    "The Tribe is that weak?" Rosa almost couldn''t believe it.

    "Yeah." Vendrick sighed. "Those clowns overestimates their strength. Even after hoarding all the supplies, they still aren''t strong enough to match-up against a high tiered demonic beast. If they encounter one they''d surely die."

    Vendrick shook his head and said: "Well, don''t worry too much. If anything, just prepare for now. Later in the afternoon, I''ll be back to teach you how to be Berserkers."

    "Really!?" Arthur and Rosa beamed at Vendrick.

    "Yep." He nodded, "I''m still preparing the demonic beast meat and it''s going to take time. Moreover, I do have something I need to do. While you wait for me, you two should practice this."

    Vendrick poked their heads and transferred a technique via Spiritual Transmission to them. Arthur and Rosa were a bit dazed since they weren''t prepared but thanks to Vendrick''s perfect control over his energy, the process went smoothly and didn''t cause any pain.

    "...what the hell?" Arthur was confused. For some reason, he knew that there are new information on his mind, something that wasn''t there before.

    "How...?" Rosa was simrly confused as she looked at Vendrick.

    "Don''t ask questions. Concentrate and practice what I gave you. Depending on how good your practice is, the chances of you bing Berserkers by the end of the day will get higher as well."

    Vendrick didn''t say anything more than this and left them to their own devices. What he gave to them was the basic breathing and movement technique that will help them open up their apertures in order to absorb the Berserk Qi they will consumeter from the demonic beast meat.

    Knowing that they never had experience with the art before, he gave them time to practice for now since it would be more beneficial to them to do so.

    As for him, he of course has something else to do.

    Just a few hours ago, Vendrick returned to the hideout afterbing through the whole tribe stealing dragon''s blood. The reason he did so is because he needed as much power as he could get in order to aplish his goal. Now, stealing from people, especially weaker ones, was something that Vendrick didn''t want to do as much as possible. That being the case, he did so anyways since he needed it.

    Well, what''s done is done. He also sworn that he would make it up to them so he nned on doing something extra. It''s not really going to prevent him from achieving his overall goal. In fact it might even be more beneficial for him if he helped them so he might as well try his best.

    For now though, the important time is about toe.

    Going at the core of the forest, Vendrick sat down on his usual spot and began meditating. He essed his body, more specifically, his heart where all the True Dragon''s Blood Essence he stole was kept.

    The total amount he managed to harvest could only amount to a handful but the viscosity and power this blood has was immense. If it weren''t for his strong physique, there is no way that Vendrick''s mortal body could handle such dense blood energy.

    Even with just being there, the glob of blood essence was releasing a vibrant crimson light. One could even see silhouettes of dragons roaring and flying inside of it. This phenomenon was only possible due to the sheer concentration of the bloodline.

    Steeling his resolve, Vendrick didn''t waste any time. He began circting the Ancient Dragon King''s Manual to absorb the power of the bloodline he was keeping. At the very first movement, his body rocked visibly, he felt a strong blow from within, it was akin to a horse kicking him using its hind legs.

    The concentrated blood energy rushed through his veins, it was berserk, aggressive and chaotic. It was as if it was provoked from it''s slumber and began throwing a fit inside his body.

    Even with Vendrick''s strong physique, the power of the bloodline was too violent to endure. It was extremely challenging to reign it in at first. The rampaging energy damaged some of his blood vessels, thankfully it left his heart alone otherwise it would''ve been really troublesome to heal.

    Gritting his teeth, Vendrick felt irritated. He wanted to p himself from underestimating the power of the bloodline but he didn''t have time for that. Instead, he concentrated his efforts into controlling the energy.

    Thankfully, Vendrick used True Essence as supposed to Berserk Qi when he started cultivating. Had he used the Berserk Qi, it and the Bloodline Energy would''ve been in conflict which will make him suffer. True Essence was neutral and instead of shing with the Bloodline Energy, it was coaxing it instead. Additionally, Vendrick already is considered as a Half-Dragon so the Bloodline Energy felt some familiarity with him.

    When the Bloodline Energy was calmed by his True Essence, Vendrick began controlling it little by little, gently fusing them in his marrows, washing away his old blood and tempering his body even further.

    Once the bloodline fusion began, Vendrick''s scales abruptly appeared. He then started shedding his old scales, allowing new and stronger scales to appear. Additionally, the coverage of the scales were also increasing. In fact, Vendrick was silently morphing into a True Dragonborn as time passed.

    His arms and legs became that of a reptiles, turning into ws with sharp nails and hard scales. The muscles on his back were also squirming, it''s as if something was trying to poke out of his back, this sensation is apanied by a huge difort, he felt very stifled.

    With a low growl, his back erupted and two bony wings sprouted from his back. They don''t look much for now but as Vendrick grows stronger, these wings would evolve even further. He didn''t feel a tail sprouting though, but it doesn''t matter since a tail would just mess up his bnce anyway.

    The fusion process was smooth. This is all thanks to the neutralization factor of his True Essence, allowing the aggressive dragon bloodline to calm down and be cooperative.

    As time went on, Vendrick''s body was constantly releasing smoke. A sign that his body''s temperature was high. He didn''t feel much difort from it really, he more focused on the sensation of him bing more and more stronger time passed, allowing him to basically ignore everything else.

    More time passed ande afternoon, Vendrick''s transformation entered its final stages.

    The transition from 99% to 100% might not be much at the surface but in reality, this is where majority of people fail in their transition to a True Dragonborn.

    Vendrick could feel a thin barrier which prevents him frompleting his transformation. At first feel, the barrier looks fragile but in reality, its extremely tough. In addition to its toughness, Vendrick only has one chance at this. If he failed to shatter this barrier, nobody knows if he''ll ever get the chance again.

    Knowing this, Vendrick didn''t dare to rx. He gathered his energy, converging them into a sharp spear which he could use to puncture this barrier. He condensed his energy as much as he could, he didn''t hold back even a single ounce of strength.

    With a loud growl, he released his hold onto his energy, causing it to swarm through the barrier. The impact caused his body to visibly rock back but when he heard the chiming sounds of the barrier shattering into pieces, the stifling feeling could be ignored.

    Vendrick felt as if his body was levitating, he could feel an overwhelming sense of freedom and surging strength. It was difficult to exin. His wings stretched out from his back, his scales were releasing a resplendent light and his body was emanating faint dragon roars and carries a faint golden aura - a True Dragon''s Aura.

    Without a doubt, Vendrick just seeded on his transition. From now on, it wouldn''t be a mistake knowing that he''s a dragon wearing a human skin. Sensing the changes on his body, Vendrick smiled. He then suppressed his might dragon air and returned to his hut where Arthur and Rosa was waiting...

 Chapter 691 - Creations

    ---

    "...focus, Fatty. Stop looking at her ass. She''s not shaking it for you. You''ll suffer if you lose focus."

    Vendrick''s strained voice echoed on Arthur''s ears, causing him to feel somewhat flustered and embarrassed. In fact, even Rosa was embarrassed as well. Vendrick doesn''t mince words, but didn''t dare to say anything back since they know that Vendrick''s exhausted and their performance is not up to his liking.

    Currently, Vendrick was watching these two perform several stance which has to be performed one after another, creating a dance which rouses one''s bodily functions. It mostly focuses on their stomach, by performing this dance urately, they could hasten the digestion of whatever it is they ate. Additionally, the nutrients contained on their food would be absorbed much faster and will take effect sooner as well. This is the way how Vendrick wanted them to step onto the path of Berserkers.

    Arthur and Rosa concentrated. Both of them knew that they have to get this right or else Vendrick will think they''re too stupid and won''t teach them anymore. They both knew that Vendrick pulled out all stops in order to help them, he even specifically went out and killed demonic beast for them consume and even made sure to purify the demonic qi on the meat.

    Well, Vendrick didn''t really go out specifically for them but if it helps them to think of it that way, then yes, he did. It''s not like Vendrick''s going to stop teaching them anyway.

    Speaking of helping them cultivate, Vendrick purifying the demonic beast meat did happen. He did it by washing all the blood off of the meat and letting the abundant True Essence on this area to purify them. In order to make sure that Arthur and Rosa won''t suffer from any side-effects, he even gathered some herbs when he was out and wrapped them onto the meat as he smoked it.

    This not only made sure that the meat was properly cleansed off of it''s demonic qi, it also infuses the meat with medicinal properties which also gave it a deeper taste. And since the meat was cleansed by True Essence, the Berserk Qi from the meat was also cleansed and was reced by True Essence instead.

    Yes, Vendrick indeed tweaked the Berserker''s cultivation path a bit. Berserk Qi is good, but True Essence is just better. They''d still follow the path of Berserkers but instead of using Berserk Qi, they''d use True Essence instead.

    Right now, Arthur and Rosa hadn''t eaten anything yet. Vendrick didn''t allow them to touch the demonic beast meat unless they reach a certain level on their practice. The reason why is because Vendrick wanted their first step to be perfect. A perfect entry to cultivation will result in a solid foundation that will aid them so much in the future.

    To achieve this, Vendrick has to be strict with them.

    Well, on the surface he is. In reality though, these two were good. Theirprehension isn''tcking and they are willing to learn. Vendrick is just feigning to be disappointed since he didn''t want them to develop arrogance as they cultivate.

    Vendrick watched them closely, making sure to point out their mistakes as they go. If they perform it wrong, they have to start from the very beginning.

    Time passed slowly and the sun''s nearly down. Arthur and Rosa felt weak. They were sweating a lot and their throats were parched. Nevertheless, not an ounce of whining escaped from their lips. They were still practicing the movement and breathing pattern, so much so that they already forgot how many attempts they made so far.

    "Okay, that''s enough." The magical words echoed on their ears, causing both of them to copse of the floor.

    The two were on the verge of fainting, their bodies were aching so much that they can''t even move a muscle. Vendrick stared at them and said:

    "Don''t just copse in there. Eat. This is what both of you were practicing for."

    Hearing his words, the two of them groaned and forced their bodies to sit back up. They were determined to get their rewards so even though they are in severe pain, they ignored it and chewed on the meat that Vendrick gave to them.

    It only took one bite and they felt like their souls were sent to heaven. The scrumptious feast energized them. They forgot the pain and suffering they felt earlier and solely focused on eating. They gored on their meal like starving hyenas.

    In a blink of an eye, all the meat was gone. They also emptied the water jugs during the process. Arthur and Rosa''s belly was poking out from their fullness. They also felt lethargic, they could feel the seductive whispers of slumber after feasting on the demonic beast meat.

    "Don''t sleep. Stand-up and practice the moves I taught you before. You have to digest the demonic beast meat or else you two will die from your bodies exploding."

    Vendrick''s cold words woke them up rather harshly. Arthur and Rosa felt scared so they unhesitatingly got up and started practicing the movement and breathing technique that Vendrick taught them.

    As they did, they felt their bodies heating up, it was absurd since they weren''t eve halfway through the performance. Their protruding bellies shrunk in a speed visible to the naked eye, steam rose from their bodies and filth was being expelled out from their pores.

    Arthur and Rosa were in a trance. They weren''t aware of what was happening, just that it feels awesome. They felt light and carefree.

    Under the moonlit night, the two of them danced and cleansed their mortal bodies. Despite the foul stench emanating out of their bodies, Vendrick was relieved. At least, his strictness bore fruit. Even from a single nce, he could tell that their first step towards cultivation was firm and perfect.

    As the two woke up from their trance, the overbearing stench assaulted their nose. Vendrick had a grimace as he congratted them but he also pointed them towards the well so that they could wash their filthy bodies. After he that, he told them that they were done for today and that they could rest after taking a bath.

    ---

    "...so this is what Berserkers feels like." Arthur and Rosa were dazed as they felt strength surging from their bodies.

    It was the next day since they''ve taken their first step into cultivating and they already fell in love with it.

    Although it isn''t visible, both of them were aware of the blood vessels that are shining with crimson colored light within their bodies. These blood vessels are what Berserkers refer to as Berserker Veins.

    Inside their bodies, three of these blood vessels shines the brightest, signifying that they a cut above the rest. These three veins are the ones that they activated the night before. This number might sound too little but in truth, this is all they need to in order to match-up against a Tier 1 Demonic Beast.

    There are a total of 1024 Berserker Veins on their bodies, in order to reach the next stage, they have to unlock every single one of them, and this will surely take time and resources to do so.

    "I''ve told you this before but I''ll say this again..." Vendrick looked at them solemnly and said: "Do not get drunk in power."

    "Although you two are real berserkers now, the current you are nothing. Yes, you guys can overpower Tier 1 Demonic Beast but remember that these beasts lived a far more dangerous lifepared to you. Never in under any circumstances, underestimate them."

    Vendrick''s strict warning was like a bucket of cold water washing away theircency. The two of them nodded since they knew that Vendrick was more experienced than they were.

    "Aside from practicing the same way as I taught you before and eating demonic beast meat, there are also other ways to activate your Berserker Veins, and that is through training. Come, follow me."

    Vendrick stood up and the two followed behind him. Arthur and Rosa discovered that Vendrick is leading them towards the core area of the hideout where he usually trains by himself. Realizing this, both of them were anticipating what will happen next.

    It didn''t take long for them to arrive since the hideout was pretty small.

    At the core area, Arthur and Rosa discovered numerous things that looked strange. There are devices made out of wood, some of them were moving on their own which creeped them out since they never seen anything like that.

    All of a sudden. Vendrick stopped and faced them. There was a small smirk on his face which really looked strangely evil to their eyes.

    "These...are my creations." Vendrick introduced. "They are devices that will help you train your fighting capabilities. This one is..."

    He then began introducing his creations of them one by one, the more they hear about it, the more they felt like it was a mistakeing here.

    Sensing their hesitation, the smirk on Vendrick''s face grew wider as he said:

    "Didn''t you guys wanted to be berserkers? Didn''t you want to be more powerful? Well then, here you go...use them well, okay?"

 Chapter 692 - Dragons Aura, Dragons Heart

    ---

    The first one, was a narrow wooden nk acting as a bridge, it is only wide enough for one person to walk through at once. Below the said wooden nk, there''s a pit fall trap, falling down will mean being stabbed to death. Above were numerous wooden log pendulums set a different intervals, if one doesn''t pay close attention, they''d be hit by these swinging logs and they will fall to their death.

    The second one was a wide filed, void of grass and rocks. This one doesn''t have any traps nor any overly dangerous objects swinging above. It''s just a field with fences alongside of five dummies which looked incredibly life-like. The moment someone enters this field, these stationary dummies will move and attack, the fences will also release a barrier, locking the person inside. The only way they can escape is by doing enough damage to the dummies.

    The final one was rather simple. It is just a totem with a skull on top. Entering the premises of this totem will cause it to react by releasing an overwhelming presence that will deter anyone whoes close. The skull was infused with a thick killing intent by its creator, it also releases a heavy suppression.

    These are Vendrick''s ''creation''. Made for the sole purpose of training people. The first one tempers one''s movement art and sharpens their alertness. The second one tempers their battle instinct. The final one tempers their heart and will.

    All of this training equipment were the simplest things that Vendrick could do with the material he has with him. Of course, he could create something more intricate given that a need for it arises but for now, this should suffice.

    One thing to note is that, Vendrick only tried these things once. And he did it only to check if its working properly. After that, he never touched them again since they were self-sufficient anyways. Additionally, he didn''t create this for himself. Vendrick had better ns for himself, one that he''s certain that neither Arthur nor Rosa would like to try with him.

    Speaking of those two, they are currently suffering right now...

    The first thing they tried was the Totem Field. It has been a couple of hours since they started but still, their first impressions might never change no matter how long they endured under its suppression.

    They initially thought that the Totem Field was the safest of them all. Vendrick even tried to convince them to check-out the Movement Bridge first but they didn''t listen. Well, he warned them, it was them who didn''t listen. Now they can''t even me him despite wanting to.

    The Totem Field was a unique creation. The skull ced on top of the totem is one that Vendrick specifically put a lot of time in creating. Infused with his killing intent and the suppressive effects of his Dragonborn Aura, of course anybody would suffer immensely under it.

    It would''ve been fine if Vendrick was normal person or only killing intent was infused on the skull, had that been the case, Arthur and Rosa wouldn''t have necessarily suffered. However, the suppression is what got them bad.

    The first time they stepped within the vicinity of the Totem Field, they fell t on the ground, unable to move a muscle. On top of that, the feeling of the cold finger of death pressing down their throats, caused them to feel suffocated. It was dreadful and fearsome, they kept thinking to themselves that they''re going to die. They nearly lost control of their dder at that point.

    It was a terrible and eye-opening experience. They didn''t even had the strength to continue after their first few seconds under it.

    And just like what was mentioned earlier, they wanted to me Vendrick but they couldn''t since it was them who didn''t listen to his suggestion.

    Right now, the two of them are training with the dummies. Vendrick made them choose a weapon, Arthur picked one-handed axe since he has experience with cutting wood along with a wooden shield and Rosa picked a needle sword since it was light and felt good on her hands.

    There were a total of ten training dummies in the field, currently only two were activated since it was adjusted to their experience and cultivation. The stronger they get, the more dummies they have to face at once.

    Vendrick didn''t teach them any battle arts. He only advised them to study the movement of the dummies carefully, copy their movement and refine each lesson they learned since it''ll be a valuable experience for them.

    Since then, Arthur and Rosa had been sparring with the Training Dummies non-stop, aside from a few short breaks in between, they were constantly locked in battle. It was fortunate that their talents weren''t terrible else this would''ve been another terrible experience for them.

    These two were fast learners, and Vendrick was thankful for that. Now, if they continue growing this way, in less than a month, they''d be ready for their first hunt.

    ---

    *Swoosh!!*

    Gusts of wind hissed around Vendrick as he wielded his spear. Each time he struck, a sharp de of wind will shoot out from the spear tip. It will fly all the way until it naturally disperses or until it hits something.

    This wasn''t happening because Vendrick grasped Wind Laws. This is simply due to the constant stream of incredible strength Vendrick was using as he practiced.

    If he wanted to, it will only take a single and full powered swipe of his spear to get rid of every single tree within this forest. Such is the incredible strength that is hiding beneath Vendrick''s petite body.

    "...not yet." Vendrick sighed as he held the spear on his hand. "This is far from enough."

    Indeed, despite the incredible strength he has, it is still not enough. What he need is strength that can dominate this world. He needed to reach a level where he can y a god since he needed to face one anyway.

    Had hee here with his original identity, forget about killing one god, even if there''s twenty of them it wouldn''t make a difference. He''d just bombard them with non-stop meteor shower until no even a speck of them remains.

    Unfortunately, this just a wishful thinking. He had to face reality that he doesn''t have that kind of power right now since it''s sealed. If he tried hard, he might be able to lift the seal but he didn''t want to risk failing his mission so he didn''t touch it.

    "I should condense my Dragon Aura soon." Vendrick murmured as he emptied a water jug.

    After transitioning to a True Dragonborn, it''s safe to say that Vendrick''s talent rose as well. Dragons are beings blessed by the heavens, they are wise, has a tyrannical strength and their affinity with Laws were amongst the highest there is. Bing a True Dragonborn allowed Vendrick to simrly posses this kind of talent, even if he didn''t train hard, he would naturally be stronger with time, that''s just the absurd difference between a Dragon and a human.

    What really made the Dragon Race rise to the peak is their unique ability called Dragon Aura and Dragon''s Heart.

    Dragon''s Aura is a unique type of energy that only Dragons are allowed to possess...or those who reached a certain bloodline affinity with them such as a Dragonborn. This isn''t just abination of energy, it is more than that.

    The Dragon Aura is abination of a Dragon''s physical and spiritual energy. With it, Dragon''s can infuse their wisdom and intent to their very aura, allowing them cultivate Concepts at a faster speedpared to other species.

    Dragons didn''t need ''Enlightenment'', what they need is wisdom. The more they understand an element or a concept, the stronger their Dragon''s Aura gets. Eventually, when they reach the acme of their understanding towards a certain element or concept, they can condense ''seeds'' of it and foster them with time, allowing them to posses their own. This is why Dragons can go anywhere they please without experiencing Heavenly Suppression.

    Dragon''s Heart on the other hand is simpler to describe and more straight forward. Simply put, a Dragon can condense a second heart, one that not only extends their longevity, but could also iron out their ws. Nurturing a Dragon''s Heart will allow them to fix their imperfections, allow them to freely change between a humanoid form and Dragon Form and it could also be used as ast resort when they face a crisis.

    To put it more simply, a Dragon''s Heart is the reason why most Dragons lived through eons, it practically makes them immortal. They only reason why they went extinct is because they were hunted. By who? Vendrick doesn''t know and he doesn''t care about that right now.

    What''s more important to him is that, he needs to finish this mission as soon as he could. He might''ve said that he has time but he''s got a limited amount of it. He can''t be stuck here for dozens of years, if that happens, then the war against the Exiles will ur without him being able to support his sect...

    That is something he absolutely can''t allow.

 Chapter 693 - Scouting

    ---

    *Boom!!*

    A loud explosion urred followed by a pained whine.

    Amidst a dense jungle, arge beast emanating a demonic aura, wailed in pain as it suffered numerous wounds on it''s body. Crimson blood oozed out of it''s body, nevertheless the beast didn''t have the time to pay attention to these wounds since it was busy ring at those who were attacking it.

    *Woosh!*

    A cold gleam suddenly alerted the beast, unfortunately it didn''t manage to react. By the time it noticed the gleam od steel, it was already toote. The beast only caught a glimpse of who attacked it before it wailed in pain yet again. This time, the injury was severe since it lost its sight.

    *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

    "Over here you big lizard!! I''m right here!!"

    The beast might''ve been blinded but it wasn''t deaf. It also wasn''t a timid one especially now that its life was threatened. Following the sound, the beast lifted its paws and mmed it to the general direction of the provocative voice. Unfortunately, this was a big mistake.

    *Schwing!*

    *Roar!!!*

    The beast missed and it paid dearly for the mistake it made. With its sense of sight missing, the beast never would''ve imagined that there was another human hiding near them. It was the same person who blinded it and also the one who ended the beast''s life.

    The beast let out a final wail before it closed its eyes forever.

    "Whew¡­alright! Good work, Gorgeous!"

    "Thanks, Muscleman."

    "Gross."

    These people were none other than Arthur, Rosa and Vendrick.

    It has been two months since Arthur and Rosa started training. They''vee a long way and could now hunt a Tier 4 Demonic Beast on their own. Vendrick was only there to watch, he''d help them if the need for it arises but unless its absolutely necessary, not even a shadow of him would be seen during the battle.,

    The beast that they hunted just now is called a Silverscale Smander. It lives a couple hundred miles away from the ground and was also acting like a Beast Leader since it possess some intelligence.

    This lizard is famous for its tough scales and unusually swift movements. The Berserkers of Blue Mountain Tribe only saw this beast once and never bothered it. They wouldn''t even enter its territory or else they will definitely die.

    Now though, this beast is dead. It fell under the hands of Arthur and Rosa who only training for less than two months.

    "Okay, we should end it here for today, yeah?" Arthur suggested. "This guy is big enough to supply us for at least one week."

    "Tsk. Only a week huh?" Rosa clicked her tongue in annoyance.

    "Well it can''t be helped." Arthur was helpless as well. "Us Berserkers are gluttons. The stronger we get, the more demonic beast meat we need. Actually, a week is an overestimation. Don''t forget that we will also hunt ten more Tier 2 Demonic Beasts as emergency rations."

    "It''s a good thing that we''re not gaining weight from how much we are eating." Rosa sighed, "I can''t imagine running around this jungle with a pping belly."

    "Hey! That''s rude." Arthur looked hurt.

    "Awh, I wasn''t talking about you Sweetie." Rosa linked her arms around him and kissed his cheeks. "You''re my Muscleman, you''re not fat."

    "Hehe."

    "Ugh." Vendrick rolled his eyes as he heard them flirting. If there''s anything that seriously annoyed him whilst training and guarding them, it would be the flirting. Seriously, these two just won''t stop.

    To this, Arthur and Rosa would only chuckle. Whether they were doing this on purpose or not didn''t matter since annoying Vendrick allows them to have some revenge for the times he tortured them using his creations.

    "Heave-ho!"

    After flirting with each other for a bit, Arthur decided that it was time to move-along. He kept his axe away and ce his shield on his back. Then he lifted the carcass of the Silverscale Smander overhead and started walking towards the tribe.

    "I''ll let you take care of the Tier 2''s." Arthur told Rosa to which she nodded.

    "Is that really necessary?" Vendrick sighed as he stared at Arthur who''s carrying the carcass.

    Arthur and Rosa chuckled since they knew what he meant.

    "Of course it is!" Arthur replied, "We have to let those fools know who''s the real boss of the tribe. It''s only natural."

    "That''s right. It''s about time we put them on their ce." Rosa nodded and supported Arthur''s decision.

    These past two months weren''t only focused on training for these two. It was also an eye-opening experience.

    Bing a Berserker meant having fame and status to the tribe. Even before all the changes that happened to them, these three knew this fact since it was widely propagated within the tribe.

    The moment Arthur and Rosa became Berserkers and started training, they went over to the area where the Tribe Leaders lived not because they wanted these people to acknowledge them. It was because they wanted to confirm if what Vendrick said to them way before, was true.

    Technically, they shouldn''t be doubting Vendrick anymore after they witnessed how the Tribe Leaders relentless tried to infiltrate the hideout. They heard their threats and listened to their fake promises already, usually this would be enough to convince anybody but Arthur and Rosa still held hope within their hearts.

    So, in order to find out the truth, they infiltrated their homes to confirm it.

    The results weren''t too surprising though. Indeed, everything that Vendrick said was true. The Tribe Leaders were indeed corrupt and deserved to be executed.

    They saw how they gorged themselves with demonic beast meat like there was no tomorrow. They saw how they disdain themon people of the tribe. They saw themon food being wasted when everyone else was dying in hunger. They witnessed how they poisoned themon folk''s mind into believing their filthy lies.

    Arthur and Rosa were heartbroken and furious. Since that night, they never went back there again but the two of them had a private discussion. They will set things right. The moment they grew stronger than these people, they will return the suffering they had to endure twofold.

    Now, that time hase. Which is why Arthur is nning or parading his trophy back to the tribe.

    "Well, if that''s what you two want. Go ahead." Vendrick didn''t really stop them.

    He knew that an event like this will happen sooner orter, be it him or someone else, a revolution will rise within the tribe just because of their existence. Since Arthur and Rosa decided to do it themselves, then he might as well let them. They''d never fail so long as he''s with them anyways.

    "You''re noting back with us?" Rosa asked Vendrick.

    "I''ll catch-up. I want to check on something." Vendrick replied as he looked solemnly at the north.

    "Wait, you n on going there?" Arthur was rmed, Rosa too.

    "Don''t worry too much. They won''t see me if I don''t want them to." Vendrick smirked. "Plus, I''m not going there to pick a fight with them. At least not yet. I''m just going to scout."

    "Is that so?" The two of them sighed when they heard him.

    "Go, I''ll see you two back at the hideout. Don''t let anyone inside." Vendrick left after saying that.

    As he moved on his own, Arthur and Rosa left as well. Where Vendrick was going is something dangerous even to himself, not to mention the two of them, so obviously they can''t follow him.

    Vendrick had scoured the Southern Continent jungle multiple times already. He didn''t go to deep since he''s not yet confident of remaining alive. Instead, he was either scouting or updating his mental map.

    From where he was moments ago, he needed to travel a couple of miles towards the north in order to arrive where the nearest enemy camp is located.

    This enemy camp, belongs to Vendrick''s first target amongst the five - The Forest Witch of the Southern Continent and her Hag Daughters.

    The Forest Witch is the supreme overlord of all Demonic Beast of the Southern Continent. ording to the Imperial Fairy Lucia, the Forest Witch is a Demonic Beast that became a Deity, and if Vendrick wants to fulfil his destiny, he needed to face this beast.

    Vendrick never caught a glimpse of the Forest Witch. It also didn''t help that the tribe were the only remaining humans alive in his world and they have no records of the Forest Witch at all. This means that Vendrick has to be careful about this.

    Although he hadn''t seem the Forest Witch yet, he had already seen one of her Hag Daughters. First impressions? They''re gross.

    Gross in appearance and gross in strength as well.

    Vendrick was certain that even if someone gave him barrel full of courage, he''d still wouldn''t challenge a Hag just yet. In front of a Hag, Vendrick is simr to a lost child. There''s just now way he could beat one for now.

    This is why he wanted to scout them first, like he said if he didn''t want anyone to see him, they won''t. So long ae he remains safe, he could make a n that will eventually cause the downfall of his first target.

 Chapter 694 - Hag

    ---

    What is a Hag?

    It is a creature who is considered as a mutated Demonic Beast. Depending on their mutation, the shape in size of a Hag might differ from one to another but despite this, they all share a fewmon features which makes it easy to identify them.

    The firstmon feature they have is that, they are humanoids. They have arms and legs as well as a body and head which simr to that of a human. They also possess some form of intelligence, some of them could even talk using humannguage whilst also knowing arcanenguage to understand demonic beasts.

    The secondmon feature they share is that whatever mutation a Hag goes through, they will always take the form of a very olddy. Usually, Hags can shapeshift into a form that makes it easier for them to move around, for some reason though they always ends up looking like an olddy who''s just a few steps away from their coffin. Once a Hag is enraged, they might discard this form and return to their original appearances but for the most part, if they were just left alone, they will always look like an olddy.

    Andstly, the mostmon feature they share and also the easiest way to tell if the creature is a Hag or not, would be their Auras.

    Auras of the Hag are always cursed. This is mostly because they practice curse spells and hexes as their main form ofbat. By using mediums like a sacrifice or ritual, they can impose certain conditions to their enemies. They could even terraform thend in order to make suitable for their needs. Some of the most powerful Hags can even kill someone without needing to see them or even get close to them, just knowing the person''s name and a the right amount of sacrifice is enough.

    No matter who you ask, they will say that Hags are downright terrible. They are abominations created through mysterious dark rituals which can pollute an entire world easily if they wanted to.

    It is very difficult to kill a Hag since, despite their ''olddy'' appearance, they possess the raw strength necessary to level an entire city in no time. They can be fast, have bodies that are as tough as diamonds on top of being able to use Dark Arts to hex and curse somebody. Some Hags can even pull themselves out from the grasp of death and live again.

    At a nce, Hags doesn''t seem to have any form of weakness however this isn''t true. The fact that they are branded as abominations means that the Heavenly Laws despises them. No matter how much of a genius a Hag is nor how long they lived, they will never be able to wield the power ofws in their entire lives.

    Additionally, in order to evolve to their next form, a Hag needs to confront a Heavenly Tribtion every single time. At least 80% of the Hags that existed since the ancient time either died from Heavenly Tribtion, or was killed by people who can wield the power of Laws.

    Still, despite their this fatal weakness of theirs, it doesn''t mean that confronting a Hag will be easy. In fact, anyone who knew that they''ll have to confront a Hag needs some form of a n if they wanted to ensure their safety as well.

    Today, Vendrick is about to meet the first Hag of this lifetime.

    ---

    "Ugh, the stench here is...ugh."

    The smell of this ce can make anyone retch in disgust. Even a sewer would smell than this horrible stench.

    However, just from this scent, Vendrick already knows that there is a Hag nearby. In fact, if he truly wanted to scout using the safest method, he should stop here and not go any further. His sense were sharp enough to notice the lingering aura of a Hag here, so it''s pretty much confirmed. No need to think twice.

    Unfortunately, Vendrick wasn''t satisfied with just this. ording to his standards, this won''t do at all. Aside from the fact that this ce definitely has a Hag, he basically got nothing. He already knew about the existence of a Hag, his instincts already warned him about so he wasn''t surprised at all. What he needed was more intel...

    So instead or retreating, Vendrick decided to continue going deeper into the territory. If anything, he just made sure that he was more vignt since he at an unknown territory by now.

    To someone else, this ce wouldn''t really arise too much suspicion. There''s the stench yes, but considering that this forest is crawling with Demonic Beast, they will mostly likely end up thinking that this stench ising from a decaying demonic beast since the ce didn''t really look different from the general theme of its surroundings.

    This of course, will be a huge mistake.

    "Tch, terraformed." Vendrick spat quietly as he continued moving slowly. He was being really careful to not leave even a single trace of him behind.

    Now that he''s infiltrating the territory of a Hag - a terraformed one at that, leaving something that the Hag can use to track him will be a fatal mistake. Sometimes, that would be enough to get himself killed.

    Despite the innocent look of this ce, Vendrick could feel that the strangeness of this ce. It felt eerie and downright creepy. Even a falling leaf gives off an impression that it will turn into a monstrosity in just a few moments.

    Make no mistake, within this ce, everything is decided by the Hag who terraformed it. If she didn''t want to, not even a single leaf will fall from the trees. Within this territory, the Hag is no different from a god. Well, at least they are if they were confronting someone else and not Vendrick.

    Still, being careful is not a bad move. Vendrick truly has no ns on confronting the Hag right now. He''s still too weak, he just wanted to investigate.

    ''Shit, that Hag is trouble.'' Vendrick had a solemn expression as he analyzed his surroundings. ''She made the soil capable of draining blood and longevity from unsuspecting victims. All of the trees are alive and carnivorous, their roots can form a wall that will imprison me if I get careless. Heck, even a single de of leaf can turn into a sharp sacrificial dagger.''

    Vendrick never felt so happy that he had an ocr technique that could reveal the true appearance of this camp. Without it, he would''ve needed more time to learn this secrets, possible increasing the risk of getting caught.

    Still, even with his ocr technique, his chances of winning didn''t increase, in fact it decreased when he learned about it. The Hag of this camp is a rare one, a genius so to speak.

    ''Damn, there''s much difference huh? What''s up with the difficulty of this trial?'' Vendrickmented inwardly.

    Despite his whining though, Vendrick never really lost faith to himself. Yes, the odds were against him but it doesn''t mean that he''s certainly going to lose.

    He kept moving forward slowly, still making sure to not leave even a single trace of himself. As he went deeper, he witnessed more and more abominations created by the Hag of this camp.

    Trolls covered with poisonous warts, overgrown insects buried deep underground waiting to ambush someone, ponds that has blood instead of water and decaying animals. Ritual circles, skulls and bones, totems, deadly traps and list goes on.

    Vendrick managed to avoid all of this without rming or triggering them. He was like a ghost as he moved from one ce to another. He took his time andmitted everything to his memory.

    Time passed and Vendrick was still finding out more abominations created by Hag, they didn''t show any signs of stopping but Vendrick paused on his tracks.

    He did so because he arrived at safe location. Not really safe but far away that can he observe what''s in front of him without alerting his target.

    Of course, it was none other than the Hag. Vendrick met his first target.

    Her abode looked like a hut made out of straws in the surface. In fact the Hag herself looked like a kind olddy who''s living by herself alone in the woods and already epted her fate, patiently waiting for her death to arrive.

    In truth however, this olddy was death. Under the influence of his ocr technique, the veil of illusion was dispelled. Allowing him to see the real face of the Hag.

    The Hag''s body is filled with holes. These holes if filled with all sorts of worms, centipedes, locusts and etc. There was one centipede that crawled inside her missing left eye, her face contorted for a bit and she clenched her jaws and started chewing. As to what she was chewing, Vendrick didn''t really want to know.

    ''Fuck! An Insectoid? Are you for real!?'' Vendrick''s face cramped due to the absurdity of this discovery. He then looked at her base and his face cramped even more.

    ''If she''s an Insectoid, that means her home is basically an Insect Hub right? And since she lived for a long time already...fuck, this is worst."

 Chapter 695 - Cleansing And Returning

    ---

    There is a ward, probably set-up by the Hag, that prevents Vendrick''s ocr technique from scouting the situation inside the home of the Hag. But in all honesty, he didn''t really need to see it for him to know what''s inside.

    That is a nest...an insect nest. The Hag''s true form is that of an Insectoid. She''s probably breeding all sorts of abominations inside. And knowing that she''s been here for quite sometime, it wouldn''t be a surprise if the abominations she created is just absurd as she is.

    ''Ugh, this is bad.'' Vendrick groaned, ''I should probably go back. Staying here any longer would just increase the risk I''m taking.''

    Telling this to himself, Vendrick didn''t stay any longer. He silently retreated from the Hag''s camp being just as careful as he was when he was entering, if anything he''s even slower since he really didn''t want to rm this Hag right now.

    The good news, yes there is a good news, is that he got what he needed. Intel, that is.

    Vendrick now has a clear idea of what he was dealing with. An Insectoid Hag, probably one of the worst variant of Hags there is but it''s something he has to deal with.

    Her territory isn''t thatrge, at least on the surface. Since she''s an insectoid, she probably focused on building a nest underground, so long as he could do something about that, then he would effectively cripple the Hag''s prowess and make the battle easier for him.

    But sure enough, that sounds easy on paper. It would be extremely difficult to pull that off considering the fact that the Hag he''s going to face is a cut above the rest. Hags are territorial as well, on top of not being kind to intruders, Hags ces great importance on their homes. Destroying them could prove just as difficult as killing the Hag herself.

    s, Vendrick has to do it since that''s the only way that he could weaken the Hag. Without her home, a Hag''s prowess would drop by at least 50%, it could even be greater depending on the circumstances.

    Vendrick managed to slip away from the Hag''s territory without triggering any traps or rms. The moment he escaped, he felt as if a huge boulder was lifted from his shoulders. It was surprising how much he ignored the stifling feeling that the Hag''s territory brought to its intruders. This is something he had to keep in mind.

    In addition to getting out of that ce, Vendrick also decided to not confront any of the beast just in case. He just wanted to be extra sure that he made a clean escape.

    He also decided to not got straight to the tribe just yet. Instead, he searched for a ce to rest first and clean himself. This doesn''t just refer to cleaning his body but also cleansing any traces of the Hag''s cursed energy if there were some that managed to infiltrate his system.

    Vendrick was already being careful enough to not touch any of the Hag''s belongings, in fact he didn''t even dare to breathe too much while he was in there and that wasn''t a problem to him. Doing all of this reduces the chance of him being discovered and lessened the chances of him being infected by the cursed territory.

    Still, when he meditated, he discovered that he had some infections. It was okay since being a Dragonborn gives him some resistance from curses, had he activated his scales he could''ve prevented this from happening but that would rm the Hag so he didn''t. Even so, cleansing himself off of this wasn''t really difficult.

    The infection wasn''t so bad to begin with, he just needed to spend a speck of his Dragon Aura and he effectively cleansed everything away. After finishing his cleansing, Vendrick was relieved and felt new. Now there''s no way that the Hag could locate him. He could safely return to the tribe without risking them.

    ---

    "...okay, what the hell happened here?"

    This is what Vendrick said the moment he entered the tribe. The corners of his lips were twitching when he witnessed the strange scene in front of him,

    There were numerous stakes erected at the very center of the tribe, where the Monthly Exchange usually happens. In those said stakes, numerous people were tied, naked and afraid. People of all age and sizes.

    Their faces were pale, indignant and scared as the crowd stared at them. He could see the righteous fury burning on the eyes of themon folk. Some of them were even throwing dirt on the people tied on the stakes while others were spitting on them.

    Vendrick didn''t need to think hard. He knew these people tied on the stakes the moment he saw their silhouettes. They were the Tribe Leaders and their spawns. All of them were battered and crippled, the Tribe Leaders looked absolutely wretched while their descendants suffered from despair and humiliation.

    It was also obvious who did this, seeing that he could see Arthur and Rosa sitting in front of a long table which littered with numerous supplies, distributing them to themon folk.

    "Oh, Vendrick! You''re finally here." Rosa eximed when she saw him from where she was. Arthur also looked up and puffed his chest.

    Vendrick smiled wryly and started walking towards them.

    When the people around saw him, they instinctively made way for him to pass. Vendrick could feel their gazes and the emotions contained with them but he didn''t care much. He kept walking until he got close to them.

    He looked at the two of them, then at the people tied at the stakes. He looked back at them and said: "You guys could''ve just killed them. No need for this."

    As the first sentence the people heard from him, it surely was ominous. And here these people thought that Vendrick was kind person due to his looks, apparently not.

    The people who heard him practically shivered in fright. Vendrick didn''t care though, and it doesn''t look like Arthur nor Rosa cared either.

    "Nah, you see killing them is the easy part but they don''t deserve a swift death. They have to suffer first." Arthur replied while snorting at the people tied to the stakes.

    "But you guys were nning to kill them anyway." Vendrick replied.

    "True." Rosa nodded, "But like what he said, they don''t deserve that at all. After all this time that they cheated us and caused us to suffer, they absolutely don''t deserve an easy escape. We vowed to make them suffer as much as we did. We''re not just doing this for us, we also doing it for them."

    Rosa motioned towards the people who were gathered around them.

    "I see what you mean." Vendrick nodded, he then nced at the people tied on the stakes andmented. "These supplies should be the things you confiscated from them right?"

    "Yep." Arthur nodded, sounding rather proud. "They don''t have a use for it anyways, might as well distribute them to people who could really use them right now."

    Vendrick stayed silent after that. He could feel some of them staring at him, waiting for what he would do next.

    Under their gaze, Vendrick started walking towards the people tied at the stakes. He paused just a few meters away from them, looking at the faces one by one. These people looked at him, garnering hopes while some were openly begging for forgiveness.

    Amongst one of the people were the same person who used to bully the old Little Tiger a lot back then. It''s the Young Master Jin.

    Looking at his wretched appearance, a cold smirk appeared on Vendrick''s face.

    "How the tables have turned, yeah?" He said to him. Young Master Jin wanted to say something but Vendrick beat him to it. "No need for words, Young Master Jin. You never needed one before whenever you decided to hurt me anyways so there''s no use for them right now."

    He then took out a green liquid from his spatial ring and poured its contents to his palms. Using his energy, he controlled the liquid to form numerous strands the floated towards the be of all the people tied at the stakes.

    "This liquid is something I harvested from a Green Swamp Python - a Tier 4 Demonic Beast. This is its poison and if you got infected by it, you will suffer tremendous pain that would make you wish you were dead instead."

    "I initially wanted to end you guys swiftly since there''s no use in torturing you. But my friends wanted you to suffer so I should respect their wishes." The sneer on Vendrick''s face was thick as he witnessed their despairing faces.

    "If you guys continue like this, it will take days before you guys die. If I poisoned you, then forget about days, you''ll die in 30 minutes. You all should thank me, really."

    Vendrick then waved his hand and infused the poison to their bodies.

    "If you guys can live after 30 minutes, well good for you. If you don''t, then make sure you be a better person in your next lives. If you''ll ever have one."

 Chapter 696 - Answer

    ---

    One year passed at the Blue Mountain Tribe¡­

    A lot of changes had urred thanks to Vendrick, Arthur and Rosa''s help. Well, Vendrick''s just mostly paying attention to his training and would only asionally give instructions to Arthur and Rosa which made the two the true new leaders of the tribe.

    Thanks to their help, the living conditions of the tribe turned for the better. First they made numerous changes to the tribe. They dug wells, taught them how to raise animals, farm, construct better homes, fortified the walls, and all sorts of skills needed for basic survival in this dangerousnd. They even educated everyone without discrimination, now everyone can read and write thenguage of the tribe. Vendrick supplied them with necessary materials and books they can use for research.

    They also taught them how to be a human essentially, Rosa was in charge of teaching them how weave wool and silk into better clothing, she taught them sanitation, cooking, preserving food and etc. Meanwhile, Arthur was in charge of teaching them how to do better manualbor. All this while they never ran out of food again thanks to Vendrick who would asionally hunt and bring back game en masse.

    Sufficed to say, the Tribe had be a batter ce for them. Thefort they are now enjoying not only made them happy and satisfied but also secured. Thanks to this, the poption of the tribe increased exponentially as time went on.

    If Arthur and Rosa was referred to as the True Leaders of the Tribe, Vendrick would undoubtedly be called their Guardian.

    Like what was mentioned earlier, Vendrick didn''t appear often within the tribe since he mostly focused on training and cultivating. Despite that however, everybody knew that all the changes that made their tribe a better ce won''t be possible if Vendrick wasn''t around.

    Everyone is aware that he didn''t like the idea of looking after the tribe and they weren''t resentful of that, they have Arthur and Rosa for that matter anyways so they just left him be. Still, all of these people treated Vendrick with outmost respect, it could be said that they were even worshipping him. To them, Vendrick was the reincarnation of the Berserker God who will lead the tribe to rise.

    The old and corrupted tribe leaders along with their descendants had died and was forgotten by the tribe already. Why would they remember those who mistreated them anyway? There''s just no use to that. Additionally, thanks to Arthur and Vendrick''s instructions, a new wave of Berserkers are on the rise, these people are much strongerpared to those dead fools and every single one of them were loyal to tribe.

    With a such arge influx of military strength, of course the tribe became self-sufficient as well. Right now, Arthur and Rosa wasn''t as busy as they were before, therefore they too could focus on their training.

    The two of them already activated all of them Berserker Veins, cleansed their blood and were now fortifying their bones. Transforming their entire skeletal system to a set of Berserker Bones would take a long time to do but every increase causes their strength to skyrocket.

    Meanwhile, Vendrick as someone who had never been idling on his training, had already condensed his Dragon''s Aura to it''s absolute potency, now he''s just a step away from condensing his Dragon Heart. That being said, it is rather difficult to condense a Dragon Heart, he had been umting for nearly three months just for this sake but he''s missing the deciding factor to move-on.

    "¡­what Law should I use as a core?"

    Vendrick had been stuck in this phase, thest wall he had to break in order to advance was something that he, strangely, could''ve decided randomly.

    Condensing a Dragon''s Heart requires him to condense a Law and make it a seed he could nurture to be his Dragon''s Heart.

    Vendrick had invoked the essence of Destruction and Creation Laws to his Dragon''s Aura before resulting in him basically cultivating bothws up until now. Technically, he could''ve used one of these two as a seed to form his Dragon''s Heart but he was skeptical.

    Destruction and Creation, two opposing Laws. Vendrick grasped the Destruction Essence thanks to his experience so that was nothing surprising. Creation on the other hand, gave him a shock.

    He didn''t receive ''Enlightenment'' per se, he''s a Dragonborn, he doesn''t require that. What happened was he got an inspiration during one of the times when he was watching the tribesmen making all sorts of improvement on the tribe. Unknowingly, his heart yearned for Creation and it answered him.

    Since then, he had to constantly keep these two in check since if doesn''t, it''ll spell his doom. It''s not like he learned to how bnce the two, he''s just doing his best to that. In order to truly bnce them, he needed to cultivate the essence of ''Bnce'' another Law, and that would just be unwise.

    This is what making his advancementplicated. The moment he choose one of hisw as a seed to condense his Dragon''s Heart, an imbnce would be created. That might result on him exploding on the process and he would very much prefer for that not to happen. This is why he had been stuck for quite sometime.

    "Hmm..."

    Vendrick was currently resting on top of tree, lying on one of the thick branches as he gazed at the skies. He was at a loss. He was debating whether it would be wiser for him to take the risk or just give in and grasp the essence of bnce. None of these sounded attractive to him but he had no other choices.

    *Tick* *Tick*

    "Eh? Oh, it''s raining..." Vendrick got confused for a second there.

    He felt several liquid dropping down on his face and he thought a bird pooped on him but it turned out to just be a rain.

    Vendrick jumped down from the tree and began walking back to his hut. As soon as he entered, the rain started pouring hard. He''s currently alone in the hideout - which had be a sacred ce within the tribe. Arthur and Rosa would still asionallye here but now they prefer living with other people around. He wasn''t against this and he didn''t dislike the stillness and peace of this ce anyways.

    Vendrick felt bored. He wants to do something but the current atmosphere was making him feel lethargic and sleepy. His boredom even made him temporarily forget about then dilemma he was in.

    As it rained hard outside, Vendrick forced himself to eat something. After enjoying a warm bowl of soup and some demonic beast meat, he truly felt sleepy now and decided to call it a day already even though it''s still noon.

    The temperature dropped, Vendrick crawled at hisfortable bed and threw all the worries he had at the back of his head. As he lied down on his bed, he stared out of the window while he waits for the lull of slumber. His eyelids began feeling heavy as time went on but he kept staring outside for no reason. And then...

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!!* *Crackle!*

    Vendrick''s eyes snapped wide open, he sat up from his bed with wide eyes as he stared outside.

    The echoes of thunder still rang on his ears as he shivered, not out of fear though.

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!* *Crackle!*

    Lightning and thunder struck once more, this time closer. The sound of thunder was loud but Vendrick looked like he didn''t even hear any of it. His eyes remained wide open as he stared outside, seemingly astonished and stunned into speechlessness.

    "...god I''m such an idiot! Why didn''t I think of that?"

    Vendrick''s face flushed as he fiercely kicked his nket and jumped out of the bed. He bolted outside of his hut and stared at the dark clouds looming above him. There was an excited smile on his face despite him being drenched by the pouring rain.

    "Thunder and Lightning! Yes, of course! An element that possess both the essence of Destruction and Creation! It is an abstruse product of their sh but one that could also serve as their medium to preserve bnce! Not to mention it also posses a horrifying strength!"

    "It is an element that is feared by ghosts and struck down evil. It is also the usher for birth and evolution! Haha! Fuck, I can''t believe I didn''t even consider it for a single second! It was such an obvious one too!"

    Vendrick eximed like a madman as his burning gaze threatened to pierce the clouds above him. He finally got the answer he was looking for, how can he not be excited? At the same time, he was berating himself for being such an idiot for not even realizing this sooner.

    Lightning and Thunder, this is the element that he was missing. It is what he needed and desired. There''s no need to consider anything else right now. All traces of lethargy and boredom disappeared from his mind as he stared at the clouds. The Spear of Wisdom appeared from his hand, he pointed it at the sky and eximed:

    "Come!"

    *Bzzt!* *BOOOM!!*

 Chapter 697 - Lightning And Thunder

    ---

    *Bzzt!* *Bzzt!*

    *Boom!* *Boom!*

    One lightning strike followed by an ear shattering noise of thunder, a cycle that continued at least several times before showing signs of weakening.

    Every single lightning bolt struck Vendrick''s body and every thunder flowed through his body. It was a painful experience but nothing he couldn''t handle. It was fortunate that his body went a severe tempering early on or else he wouldn''t have survived this.

    Of course, enduring the pain of being struck by lightning allowed him to reap obvious benefits. To this, the phrase ''What doesn''t kill you, makes you stronger'' rings true. The pure lightning energy might''ve caused a racket inside Vendrick''s body, causing most of muscles to be messed up and his blood flow to turn chaotic at the time shattering some of his bones but the sheer volume of power contained within each lightning bolt was strong enough to cause another metamorphosis on his body.

    Vendrick, on his Dragonborn form, is now bathing in lightning. Crackling sounds could be heard fro, his body as if he was being fried alive, his orifices were releasing lightning serpents that wrapped his body into a curtain of brilliant light.

    His scales were transforming yet again, his body was being strengthened to another level and because he directly drew lightning to himself, he got to know it up close and personal, helping him fuse it to his own Dragon''s Aura. As a result, his insights about lightning was climbing at an rming speed, catching up to his Destruction and Creation insights.

    And because Lightning has both properties of Destruction and Creation, it acts as a medium to maintain the bnce between these two, resulting an harmony within Vendrick''s consciousness which will only elevate his insights even further.

    As harmony prevailed thanks to Lightning acting as a bridge that connects the two said Laws, a hollow seed was now manifesting within Vendrick''s heart. It doesn''t look impressive right now but as time went on, this hollowed seed will be Vendrick''s Dragon Heart.

    With a Dragon Heart, Vendrick''s power will undoubtedly skyrocket and killing those Hags wouldn''t be a problem anymore.

    As Vendrick was feeling intoxicated over the feeling of harmony with his body and mind, the tribe was freaking out.

    The hideout was literally within the tribe, just now they multiple lightning bolts striking down at the same ce again and again as if they were trying to destroy that ce. The sound of thunder shook their souls as they stared nkly at the direction of the hideout. Even Arthur and Rosa felt scared.

    It also didn''t help that they could see the bright re of light illuminating the ce. Arthur and Rosa wanted to check on Vendrick but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn''t. There''s a thin yet extremely stic wall that prevents them froming close to the hideout.

    This caused them to feel rather dejected. They could only sit there twiddling their thumbs as they worry over their friend.

    Well, they know that Vendrick is freakishly strong. Heck they never even made him go all out during their spars and he''s still handing their asses over to them with one hand no less. But...he might be strong yes, but he shouldn''t be strong enough to go against a natural disaster right? How can they not be worried?

    Yet, if they could see what''s happening to Vendrick right now, they will find out that their concerns were unnecessary, really.

    All in all, Vendrick endured 21 lightning strikes before it runs out. Every bolt contains wild and aggressive energy of lightning and thunder mixed up. Currently, he''s taking advantage of this time to not only refine this energies but also feed them to the hollow seed on his heart.

    He encountered no problems so far, all of this were thanks to his foundations being unshakeable.

    Vendrick''s currently floating above the ground in a lotus position. Snakes of lightning and faint sounds of thunder can still seen and heard from his body. The longer he stays like this, the faster his insights about lightning and thunder increases.

    Hours passed and the dark clouds dissolved, revealing the clear sky of dusk. The light went away and the film that''s preventing Arthur and Rosa from going inside the hideout disappeared as well. The moment it disappeared, the two instantly rushed inside only to find Vendrick at his current state.

    They were struck dumb by the scene. Vendrick looked like a god at his current appearance. Floating above the ground and covered with snakes of lightning. His eyes were wide open but it looked more like a torch ring with light.

    This is also the first time that they saw Vendrick in his Dragonborn form, covered in scales and all...this image was very striking, especially considering the fact that they could also feel the frightening aura concealed within his body. It was as if they were looking at a sleeping monstrosity that could wipe them out as a single sneeze should they disturb it.

    It looked freaky to them but they didn''t disturbed him. They initially thought that Vendrick might be being possessed by the Lightning Berserker God, if Vendrick hears them saying this, he would''ve smacked them in the head for uttering nonsense.

    Well, they can''t be med though. Vendrick didn''t teach them about Laws yet since it''s still too far away from them, plus they were focused on revitalizing the tribe and he didn''t want them to lose focus.

    Keeping their thoughts to themselves, Arthur and Rosa left Vendrick alone. They didn''t disturb him in the end, which is a good choice. It might not look like it but Vendrick''s currently at a vulnerable position. He can''t be disturbed right now.

    When they left, they also made sure to tell everyone to stay away from that ce for now. Just until Vendrick finished his seclusion.

    ---

    "Whew..."

    Vendrick released a long sigh which caused a small clouds of dusts to appear. The scales on his body slowly disappeared from view, his pupils returned to normal and not even a trace of lightning could be seen from his body.

    His floated down, catching himself by nting his feet on the ground. When his consciousness returned, he felt strength flowing on his veins, bringing a euphoric sensation all over his body.

    Vendrick looked around, raised his foot and lunged a bit forward...

    It was brief but he felt the wind brushing up his face. All of a sudden, he found himself standing far away from where he was initially.

    "It will take sometime to get used to..." he murmured as he started blitzing around the hideout.

    Each time he moved, his body transforms into a bolt of lightning, and whenever he returns to his original form, it was apanied by a loud thunderp. Just in terms of speed alone, he improved by at least ten times. This doesn''t even include his raw strength yet.

    Testing that out, he found out several new things that he had to keep in mind. One, even a casual punch of him can destroy a mountain at his level. Suppose that can''t kill his target, the thunderp which apanies every move he does would be enough to finish them off by shredding their innards to pieces.

    He also discovered that he could wield two kinds of lightning right now. These two types of lightning carries the essence of his twows, Destruction and Creation, which is why he named it after the two.

    Destruction Lightning and Thunder is his most powerful weapon he has. In terms of speed and destructiveness, only a few elements can reach the same level as this. The moment his target was struck by this, they will continue suffering until they die thanks to the destructive elements contained within. All matter of defense is considered as a minor inconvenience to this.

    Creation Lightning and Thunder was surprising. It contains the restorative properties of lightning that promotes change and evolution. This lightning is great for nurturing himself or his allies, additionally it''s extremely effective against corruption as well. This lightning and thunder is basically a better version of his Cleansing mes.

    Currently fusing this two is no simple act. It is possible but it would result to Vendrick getting hurt in the process, the product is unknown so it''s just downright risky, which is why he didn''t attempt to do it for now.

    That''s basically it, though to be honest it wouldn''t stop here. Vendrick hadn''t condensed his Dragon''s Heart yet. So far, he only managed to condense a hollowed seed of it and it''s not even filled yet. To do that, he needed to attract more lightning and thunder to himself, feed it to the seed until it germinates.

    This will take sometime, and condensing aplete Dragon Heart would take even more time. For now though, this should be barely enough to contend against the Hag he saw before. Although the chances of him winning isn''t that high, he at least has a chance.

    But since Vendrick likes to move with caution, he wouldn''t provoke the Hag just yet. He needed to get used to his new powers for now and improve a little more before he could do that...

 Chapter 698 - Sentient Lightning Source

    ---

    "What a scene..." Rosamented.

    "I know right?" Arthur nodded his head as he too stared at the spectacle in front of him.

    They''re currently in the middle of the wilderness, the two of them were at the foot of the hill, staring at the hilltop where Vendrick is currently drawing lightning to himself. Bolt after bolt they fell, yet instead of groaning in pain Vendrick stood there as if feeling nothing.

    It truly was a spectacle. Never in their wildest dreams did they think that something like this was possible, a human purposefully attracting lightning to himself to harness its power. They apanied him here just to stand as guards but they can''t even do their jobs properly since this scene was just too fascinating.

    It''s been a month since they''ve started doing this. Once a week, Vendrick would take them out to search for dark clouds. The journey took them to ces they''ve never been to but since Vendrick was there, their safety was guaranteed.

    Of course, the trips doesn''t just end there...

    A couple of minutester and Vendrick withdrew his aura. He stared above him with a slightly bothered face.

    "Tch. Can''t you give me some more? I''m so close too...what a pity." He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

    It is indeed a shame. He only needed at least nine more lightning bolts and ording to his estimations, the seed would be full and he only needed to worry about the germination.

    s, he can''t do anything about it. The dark clouds were retreating dissipating and therefore no lightning source for him to devour anymore. He dejectedly jumped down from the hill and appeared in front of the two like a sh of lightning.

    "Come, let''s return." Vendrick didn''t waste time. They''re pretty deep in the wilderness after all. This portion of the wilderness is crawling with Tier 6 and above beasts, currently Arthur and Rosa wouldn''t be able to handle any of those. Even Vendrick would find it troublesome.

    It''s not like he can''t defeat them. He could, in fact he could confidently kill a Tier 7 Demonic Beast right now without much problem. What makes it troublesome is that there''s way too many of those here. If he started a fight, he''ll be surrounded in to time.

    It wouldn''t have been a problem if he was alone but he had these two with him. They''ll slow him down so he needed to be careful.

    As soon as Vendrick ordered retreat, Arthur and Rosa agreed. They weren''t dumb, at least not anymore. Even without Vendrick spelling it out for them, they''re sensitive enough to know they''re not somewhere they''re supposed to be.

    They could feel the dangers around, thankfully though, these two know how to minimize their presence and move stealthily. Doing this on top of Vendrick actively steering them away from dangers, they should be able to return without alerting the demonic beasts around these parts.

    "Hold."

    Vendrick suddenly ordered as they were retreating. The three of the froze and immediately ducked within the tall grass. The two were looking at Vendrick who''s in turn looking somewhere else.

    They followed his line of vision but they failed to notice anything. Still, they didn''t dare to move and decided to wait for Vendrick''s next instructions.

    Why did he ordered them to stop? Well, it is because he sensed a dangerous presence nearby but in all honesty, it''s more due to personal purpose.

    It''s not visible to anybody''s eyes but to Vendrick who has his ocr technique active, this thing''s hiding methods are useless.

    The thing he was staring at was a mass that''s changing its appearance every now and then. It doesn''t seem to have a true form, simply because there''s no real need to. It was a mass of lightning and thunder, to be more specific it is a Sentient Lightning Source.

    Vendrick stared at the Sentient Lightning Source with his eyes gleaming brightly. To be honest, he felt really tempted right now. To his eyes, this thing is not some dangerous beast but a scrumptious meal, waiting for him to capture it.

    Add the fact that seed will undoubtedly be full after he devoured this, made the temptation even more appealing.

    For a few seconds, Vendrick was seriously considering his options. He wanted nothing more than to charge at this beast and devour it, but doing so will leave the two behind him defenseless. It is very likely that they''ll be in a very dangerous spot if he left them behind since his and the Sentient Lightning Source''s sh will surely warrant unwanted attention from the other beasts around.

    After considering options for quite sometime, Vendrick sighed and decided to let it go for now. In the end, he couldn''t risk their safety for his personal gains. He can''t do them like that.

    He made sure that it was safe first before he signaled to them once more to keep going, but not before leaving a mark behind.

    ---

    Whates next was expected. Under Vendrick''s lead, they managed to get out of the dangerous area safely, not even a hair was missing from them.

    The only difference is that, Vendrick decided to go back after telling them return to the tribe once they got to the familiar ground. He exined the situation to them so that they know why he''s going back.

    The two initially wanted toe with him but he stopped them. It''s too dangerous for them to go, he already considered the possibilities earlier and there''s no way he''ll let them go knowing that it''s would be risky. After all, why would he escort them all the way here if they could''ve went with him?

    Arthur and Rosa wasn''t surprised, in fact they were kind of expecting his rejection but it doesn''t mean that they''re not dejected. In the end, their strength is nowhere near enough and it will only hold Vendrick back.

    Vendrick understand what they feel but he didn''t say anything. There''s just no need for words after all. He turned around and went back to the tracker he left behind at the ce where he met with Sentient Lightning Source first.

    "Aha! Here you are." Vendrick eximed softly when he felt the marker he left behind. He crouched at the same position and activated his ocr technique to investigate.

    "It''s gone." He murmured as he looked at the same position where hest saw it. "It didn''te this way. Let''s see if there are some traces of it."

    He increased the output of energy to his ocr technique so that he could see the finer details with more rity. With his heightened senses as well as his sensitivity to the lightning element, he managed to sense the tracks the thing left behind.

    Using that as a guide, he started tracking down his prey.

    To his surprise though, as he followed the tracks, the road was leading him to a ruins that he never knew existed. He could see traces of civilizations from the remains around the ruins, not to mention the moment he entered its vicinity, he immediately felt the presence of the thing he was after.

    "Maybe this ce became its nest." Vendrick muttered as he slowly inched forward, going deeper into the ruins. "But why? Its a Sentient Lightning Source, if its going to make a nest, it should be somewhere elevated, like a mountain or something. The high ground would make it easier to draw lightning from the sky."

    Just like him, a Lightning Source feeds on lightning as well to make itself stronger. Since it developed sentience, it should know where to make a nest that will provide it with lots of benefits. So why would it go here?

    Curious, Vendrick continued on his way when he encountered something mildly surprising. He saw an intact house, dusty and run down but intact nheless, a cut above the restpared to the other things he saw here so far.

    He took a moment to inspect this ce since he wasn''t in a hurry either. But the moment he got close, his instincts warned him about an approaching enemy.

    What else could it be at this point? It would seem that he got a bit careless and rmed the beast he was after. The Sentient Lightning Source was quickly making its way towards him.

    "Oh well, that saves me time at least." Despite the approaching danger, Vendrick didn''t feel frightened.

    Instead, he summoned the seed from his heart to his hand. He ced his hand forward, at a spot where he expected the lightning source to arrive. And just as he expected, it truly arrived at the same time it also fell into his trap.

    Vendrick roused the seed on his palms and it suddenly released a might suction force. The lightning source didn''t have any time to react since Vendrick acted faster that it imagined. The suction was strong and as a result, the beast was absorbed by the seed in a split second. The moment it disappeared, Vendrick could feel a rampaging force within his body, sighing to himself, he said:

    "Here''s to hoping that nothing disturbs me now..."

 Chapter 699 - Another Improvement

    ---

    The seed was full...

    After devouring the Sentient Lightning Source, the little bit of gap needed for it to be full was filled. The lightning source tried to fight at first. Despite being easily absorbed into the seed itself, it didn''t mean certain death. In some ways, it still had a chance to escape or in turn, absorb all the lightning energy on the seed.

    Well, as if Vendrick would allow something like that to happen. Though, it was quite fortunate that nothing disturbed him during his attempts of stripping the lightning source off of its sentience. Vendrick didn''t need it to be sentient, leaving it like might have a risk in the future, and for someone who''s creed is to be cautious of his every move, there is no way that Vendrick would let it be like that.

    As a result, the lightning source was absorbed without no problems. The seed is filled with all the necessary energy it needs to germinate and slowly transform into a Dragon''s Heart.

    Vendrick didn''t need to absorb any lightning anymore, he got all that he needed and more thanks to the surplus from the lightning source.

    "Well, that''s that. I''ll just need to wait until it germinates on its own and I''ll start nurturing it. The sooner I get the Dragon''s Heart, the sooner I''ll be able to move on with my task."

    Vendrick stood up from the ground and began investigating his surroundings.

    He got distracted for a moment but he didn''t forget that he''s in ruined remains of a previous civilization. More precisely, in front of him is the only intact house in this ruins. Well, ''intact'' in a sense that it''s still standing like how its supposed to be.

    The house was tattered, it is obvious that time hasn''t been kind on it as well. Vendrick has been debating whether its safe for him to go inside, well he''s more concerned that the thing would just copse the moment he take a step inside.

    Vendrick is not really interested about the story of this ce. In fact, he couldn''t care less. The reason why he even spared a nce at this ce is because the Sentient Lightning Source had made this ce its nest. He wanted to know why, that''s all.

    Under the scrutiny of his ocr technique, Vendrick didn''t see anything worth of notice around here. Except for the lingering traces of the lightning source around here, there''s nothing else that piqued his interests.

    *Booom!* *Crash!!*

    "Oh..."

    Vendrick was stunned speechless. The hut copsed in front of him, majority of it turning into ash as if came crumbling down. It was such a weird scene, especially since he didn''t even approach the thing at all. It just copsed on its own.

    "Uh..."

    Vendrick''s face turned weirder, in the end he could only sigh and say: "That''s not my fault. Maybe the lightning source is deeply connected to this house, and since its gone now, the only thing holding this ce up was gone as well so it came crumbling down."

    "That''s the only sound exnation I coulde up with. As to why it made this ce its nest well...maybe out of sentimentality? I don''t know, I didn''t bother examining the memories of the thing."

    "Oh well, whatever. I don''t care. Time to leave."

    As just as so, Vendrick left the site and went back to the tribe.

    ---

    Back in the tribe, Vendrick casually strolled down the streets while people make way for him.

    He could see their strange gazes of worship and hesitation but he didn''t mind this too much. Instead, he focused on getting back to the hideout. He wanted to enter a short period of seclusion while waiting for the seed to germinate. That process needs his undivided attention.

    As he made his way back, the gazes of the people was with him even after disappearing from their view. When everyone was sure that he was gone, they all collectively released a sigh of relief.

    Unbeknownst to Vendrick, aside from worship, his image also strikes them with fear. The fear isn''t so great it''s keeping them up at night, rather it made them feel secure. However, the fear is what prevents them fro getting close. It acts as an insurmountable wall that they can''t possibly ovee.

    The only people who could conversefortably with Vendrick were Arthur and Rosa. Aside from them, Vendrick didn''t really bothered with anyone else.

    The fear they felt isn''t simply because Vendrick was snobbish, cold or whatever. What they feel is something instinctual to them, seated at the very depths of their own soul. This was due to Vendrick being abnormal.

    No matter how good Vendrick is at concealing his aura, especially the Dragonborn Aura, it would seem like it doesn''t stop them from feeling it. Like what was stated, this is something instinctual to them, a natural response like feeling hungry after not eating for so long, or feeling thirsty.

    Vendrick has no idea about this, even if he did, he probably won''t be able to do anything against it.

    Either way, it would seem like his decision for his friends to be the leaders of the tribe was correct. And its not like Vendrick had anything against the tribe, he didn''t wish to harm them, in fact he will defend them to a great extent since it is the debt he owe to them.

    Additionally, he will also do his best to improve their living conditions. With the knowledge he has, he will ry them to Arthur and Rosa so that when the time for him to leave or whatever, this people would remain safe and secure, be it their real or not.

    ---

    "Oh, working had I see."

    Vendrick said as he saw Arthur and Rosa sparring fiercely.

    At a nce, anyone would think that these two were actually trying to kill each other. The battle intent in their eyes were visible and seeming inextinguishable. In fact however, this is just a normal spar to them.

    The two heard his voice and the fierceness on their eyes melted like snow under the summer.

    "You''re back!" Arthur greeted.

    "Did you kill it?" Rosa asked.

    "Yep, I did." Vendrick answered. "I''ll be entering seclusionter, I''ll leave the tribe to you guys."

    Arthur and Rosa nodded, telling Vendrick that there''s nothing to worry about and that he can leave everything to them.

    As he was about to enter his hut, Vendrick remembered something.

    "Ah! That''s right." The Spear of Wisdom appeared on his hand and he handed it over to Arthur.

    "F-for me?"

    "No." Vendrick ruthlessly shattered Fatty''s dreams. "I want you to stab that at the center of the tribe."

    "Eh?" Arthur was confused. "Why?"

    "Stop asking questions and just do it." Vendrick waved his hand and sent both of them away.

    The two were visibly confused at first but they ended up going anyways. Since Vendrick wasn''t keen on exining, then there''s no need to ask. It''s not like he''s up to something bad anyway. That''s just how he is.

    The two made way towards the center of the tribe with Vendrick''s spear on hand. Arthur searched for a good spot to stab it in and he found it after searching shortly. There was a mound there which looked like the perfect ce to do so.

    Since it was decided, Arthur stopped hesitating and stabbed the spear onto the mound.

    *Buzz!!*

    Shockingly, the moment he stabbed the spear down, a sh of blue light erupted from the spear and a strong buzzing sound echoed on their ears. It was disorienting but didn''t hurt. When their senses returned to normal, both Arthur and Rosa was shocked to see the changes they caused.

    A blue done, transparent but unbelievably solid, encased the entire tribe. Forget about Arthur and Rosa, everybody on the tribe was surprised to see such a spectacle.

    Not even minutes after the dome appeared, they could already feel the changes urring to their surroundings.

    The air was purer, sunlight turned more gentle, colors became more vibrant and the energy was swiftly being purified and concentrated. Everybody felt like their spirits were being lifted by an invisible force. They never felt sofortable and at peace before.

    "T-this is..." Arthur was gobsmacked, so too was Rosa.

    "The whole tribe is...the hideout?" Rosa felt like she was dreaming.

    Both of them were aware about the strange magic at the hideout, for some unknown reason everything inside that ce was just better. They initially thought that it''d be nice if the atmosphere within the whole tribe was like this. Never did they imagine that Vendrick would actually do just that.

    "This is what you call a Formation." Vendrick''s voice echoed on their ears but he wasn''t physically there. "I''ll exin it in more detailter but basically, it''s just makes this ce infinitely better. You two do your thing, I''ll be sealing the hideout for a bit since I''ll enter seclusion. I don''t know how long this willst but makes yourselvesfortable."

    And just like that, the tribe''s living conditions were once again made better by a simple move from Vendrick.

 Chapter 700 - Sisters

    ---

    "Hehehe...dear oh dearie...how beautiful..."

    *Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!*

    "Oh my, you can talk already. Aren''t you quite a genius now my little darling?"

    *Buzz!?*

    "A name, well...you don''t need that my dear. All you need to know is that you are dear my child and I am your mother. You have to grow up strong and big, you must eat a lot. Yes, you must. Mother will feed you a lot so grow up quickly my boy."

    *Buzz!* *Buzz!* *Buzz!*

    "Oh, you are such a sweetie. Here,e take a sip."

    *Buzz!* *Buzz!*

    "This? Well...it''s food."

    *Buzz?*

    "Why is red and chunky? Well, you''re not quite built to consume solids right now my dear. As for the color well, doesn''t it look appetizing?"

    *Buzz!*

    "Is it right? Now,e. Eat up. Eat up and grow big and strong."

    *Chak!* *Buzz?*

    "You don''t like it?"

    *Buzz*

    "Oh, it''s alright my dear. You''ll get used to it. One day, you''ll crave for this meal. Hehehe."

    *Buzz!*

    "Eh? Am I that beautiful? Gosh, you. Stop it child. You just want more food from me hmph! Well, you convinced me, hehehe..."

    *Buzz!* *Buzz!* *Buzz!*

    "Hmm? Ah, oh dear I''m sorry. I''ll put you back from you crib okay? Enjoy some munchies first. One of your aunties are calling, I need to go."

    *Buzz!* *Buzz!*

    "Yes, yes. I''ll be back shortly. Eat up and rest afterwards."

    Thedy smiled, ced down her child back at the crib and left the room, limping slowly towards the next room.

    She closed the doors which emitted a bright runic glow, this means that this room is sealed and nobody can pry deep in here without her notice. Thedy walked towards the center of the room, she climbed up at the stool with some difficulties but she managed to do so.

    The moment she stood up the stool located at the center of the room. Another set of runes glowed, this time with dark light. The space caved in and the surroundings changed. Reality warped into mystical forms, distorting some parts at each moments.

    Thedy doesn''t seem to be bothered with any of this changes, almost as if she had gotten used to this for a long time now.

    Out of nowhere, numerous silhouettes, draped with a cloak of darkness, appeared in her view. Though their features were hidden, thedy knew that this is her sisters just from the outlines of their bodies.

    "Sisters! This one is here." Thedy greeted.

    "Great, fun''s over."

    "Yep. She''s here."

    "Ugh. She stinks."

    "And you don''t?"

    "Nonsense! I''m smellier than her!"

    "Eew. Well, I remain the prettiest."

    "How dare you say that! Surely you haven''t seen me yet."

    "Geez, settle down you lot."

    A loud and firm voice silenced the rest of the sisters from their bickering. If someone else tried to do this, they would''ve retorted since its this one, they just can''t. This isn''t out of respect since she was the Eldest, but out of fear.

    "Amalia. You''re a bitte. What happened?" The eldest sister asked.

    "I apologize, Eldest Sister. I was pre-upied with my newborn child." The woman named Amalia replied to the Eldest Sister.

    "Wait, is that the some one that you had three months ago or is it a new one?" The Eldest Sister asked.

    "It''s a new one. He hatched just this midnight. I had been pampering him since." Amalia reported with a smile on her face, revealing the three remaining yellow teeth she has.

    "My, my." One of the sisters reacted in a hush tone.

    "Another one? Dear oh dear!"

    "How lucky, this one."

    Hush voices filled with shock, envy, jealousy and praises circted amongst the rest of the sisters. Hearing their reactions caused Amalia to feel rather proud of herself. This stroked her ego a lot, not only she was amongst the fairest of the sisters but also the one that has the highest rate of childbirth. How can she not be proud?

    "My, congrattions Dear Sister." The Eldest Sister said, but anyone could tell that there''s something more to her tone that just that. "Should Ie and perhaps give your youngest a baptism?"

    Amalia promptly shivered at that, as if a cold bucket of water drenched her entire body.

    "M-my thanks Eldest Sister for your blessings but your love and concern for my youngest is enough. I can''t possibly trouble you to go all the way to my home just for that."

    "Are you sure?"

    "I am, Eldest Sister. I''ll be sure to tell my youngest about it, but there''s no need for you go personally."

    "Alright, well. Congrattions once more." The Eldest Sister smiled, revealing her ck tooth.

    Anyone could tell that this woman was messing around and felt satisfied upon seeing Amalia''s reaction.

    "Alright, sisters. It''s time. We''ve dallied long enough. It''s to meet Her Highness. Pay attention to how you act. Depending on that, we might have to do some cleaning up."

    The Eldest Sister announced, looking at the other sisters who tried to evade her gaze. Once she was certain that they understood the meaning behind her words, she didn''t say anything more. Instead she released her energy and began muttering chants that will cause demons to flee, for earth to cry and for the sky to crumble.

    The world fades. Shortly after, light exploded, blinding everyone who got caught in the st. The ground quaked, the air screamed but all noise disappeared.

    When their senses starts returning, another phenomenon overwhelmed them all. Under their scared and worshipping gazes, the ground erupted and spewed out blood geysers. Mountains of corpses appeared and trees embedded with numerous faces grew at an rming rate.

    At the peak of one of the mountains, a throne could be seen. A throne made out of skin and bones, painted by blood, oozing with an aura so malicious that it causes the sister to shiver in excitement.

    A stunning figure could be seen there. Legs crossed, one hand supporting her chin with an indifferent look on her face.

    Nobody, not even the Eldest Sister dared to stare directly at this figure''s face. All of them knelt down in worship.

    That''s when the figure opened its mouth to speak.

    ---

    "Ugh! That fucking whore!"

    *Crash!*

    Amalia screeched in fury, overturning a table with numerous questionable things over. Her face was wretched, so closed to warping into something inhuman out of fury.

    "How dare you bitch! How dare you bitch!!" Amalia screeched again, cursing somebody again and again. She felt stifled, her vision was turning red. She was stamping her feet out of fury but she has no viable outlet. Her sheer fury caused everything the tremble around her.

    "You dare to extend your filthy paws at my youngest!! You dare bitch!! Arrggh!!" Amalia screeched out once more.

    Her face distorted into something else, she grew horns, her eyes turned likerge discs. Her body contorted at unnatural angles but her screeching never ceased. The ground trembled fiercely.

    "Hah. Haaah!"

    The fury she felt towards the Eldest Sister was palpable that she nearly lost her sense of reason. The Eldest Sister humiliated her and tried to harm her dearest and youngest child, how can she be calm? She''s so angry that she can''t even recall what Her Highness discussed earlier.

    Baptism? Baptism her foot! The thing she called ''Baptism'' was simr to driving her youngest mad. Turning him into a mindless beast under her control! She wanted to use Amalia''s youngest to kill her! Everyone knows about it as this wasn''t a secret at all. So again, how can she not get angry? She has every right to be so and that''s making the ground tremble.

    "Haah! Haaah!"

    Despite this, Amalia tried her best to calm herself down. Although she knows that the Eldest Sister tried provoking her into action, she knows that there must be a purpose behind this.

    "This won''t do!" Amalia shook her head fiercely, her expression was still twisted. "I have to prepare."

    "More hazards. More rituals. More sacrifices! I need more! I need to be stronger! I need to bolster the defenses around my home! More bone charms, runes, blood puppets. I need more children!! I need to give birth to more children!"

    "I need to kill that whore! That bitch has to die!!" Amalia screeched once more. Her room shook under her anger so much that it looked like it will fall apart anytime soon.

    But...is it really her anger that''s causing this?

    *Boom!* *Crack!* *Crack!*

    "Hmm?"

    She was finally rmed. Amalia finally noticed something amiss. Her anger and desire to kill the Eldest Sister vanishedpletely when she started looking around her room only to find out that it had been trembling non-stop. And at this point, she knows that it wasn''t her anger that''s causing it.

    Greatly rmed by this information, Amalia picked up her cane and limped towards the door of her room. She deactivated the runes and the door slid right off.

    The moment she stepped outside, she encountered someone standing in front of her door. A man surrounded by lightning and holding a spear which still has the carcass of her youngest mounted on the tip. The man blinked upon seeing her and said:

    "Ah! There you are!"

    *KYAAAAACCCCKKKK!!!!*

 Chapter 701 - Rampage

    ---

    Going back a few hours, sometime during Amalia''s meeting with her sisters and their unknown leader¡­

    An intruder came. A young man with short jet ck hair, he''s wearing ck robes with golden edges. His looks were pretty normal but he carried a unique aura which was akin to a slumbering beast that could terrify anyone who dares to disturb him.

    He moved like a phantom, swift and silent. No demonic beast detected his presence since he was too sneaky and fast. This young man was of course, none other than Vendrick, his target, the Hag''s camp.

    Arthur, Rosa and the rest of the tribe thought that he''s still in seclusion. He slipped away and intentionally didn''t tell them about this since he deemed it unnecessary. Had either Arthur or Rosa knew that he nned on taking on such a dangerous enemy, they wouldn''t have allowed him to go alone. They will insist toe with him and even follow him here and that can''t happen since Vendrick won''t be able to spare enough attention to save them should an ident ur.

    They won''t be of any help, besides this is his battle alone. He can''t endanger them so he decided to go alone without informing them.

    Thanks to his recent breakthroughs, arriving at the camp took less time than before. This time however, he didn''t purposefully hid upon arrival.

    There''s no need to deliberately hide his presence since he wasn''t here to sneak around and investigate. He was here to pick a fight.

    Therefore, the moment he arrive, he released his animosity without holding back, causing the ground beneath him to cave in due to how potent his aura was.

    A primal presence descended on the whole camp. It was as if a slumbering beast woke up, pissed and ready toy waste on its surroundings.

    Everything went dark. The defenses of the Hag already located him and imprisoned him with thorny walls. The sentinels in form of insect abominations rose from the underground and began travelling towards Vendrick.

    Sadly, even though they were of the insect race and got numerous amplifications from their Hag Mother, the primal auraing off of Vendrick was so potent that it thoroughly suppresses them. It''s only natural though, after all how can mere insects dare topete with brilliance against that of a Dragon?

    Just from intimidation itself, Vendrick had already won uncontested. He would dare even say that even if their mother was here, there''s nopeting against him.

    Vendrick had no ns to waste any words with this abominations. The moment they surfaced, he summoned the Spear of Wisdom of infused it with Lightning. Vendrick could use the spear without risking the tribe, the formation will keep them hidden from view despite no leaving the spear there.

    Vendrick stomped forward, the force of his step caused the ground to shatter beneath him but he paid no attention to it. With a loud grunt, he gripped the spear tight and swung at every abominations at his sights.

    One mighty swing, numerous streaks of lightning shot out and all of his target fried to ash. They didn''t even manage to screech for very long before they died. Some manage to ask for reinforcements but Vendrick wasn''t fazed.

    Let theme, it doesn''t matter how many of them there are. He was nning on wiping them out anyway. He''s not even concerned if he was detected by the Hag herself since he was here to kill her too.

    Thus, Vendrick''s unstoppable rampage began¡­

    Abominations of insectsing from all sides in all shapes and sizes attempted to overwhelm him but every step Vendrick took he would wipe out a good chunk of them with a single swing. Only ashes which scattered in the air was what is left of them when he''s done.

    All traps were neutralized, totems destroyed, curses and hexes being purified by Lightning and Thunder. Vendrick was practically unstoppable.

    It didn''t take long before he wiped out all the ones patrolling the territory above the surface. And with the surface being purified by lightning, the boost of the Hag being in her home ground was slowly decreasing. The only thing that puzzled him is that the Hag herself was nowhere to be seen.

    She should''ve been rmed but themotion by now. Heck, she should''ve known that he''s here the moment he red his aura but so far, he hadn''t seen her, not even her shadow.

    "Strange¡­" Vendrick frowned, "I''m not exactly being subtle about my approach right? Where the heck is that Hag?"

    He was a bit concerned about this since knowing how highly territorial Hags were, he should''ve been sessful at pissing her off. Also, considering the fact that setting up this territory took a lot of time and effort to do so in her part, should make his act of destroying it beyond infuriating and aggravating for the Hag.

    She shouldn''t have this much patience with her since that isn''t one of their characteristics, yet she''s not here¡­really strange.

    "I''ll be more cautious then." Vendrick whispered to himself.

    He didn''t drop his guard, in fact he became more solemn after seeing that the Hag was disying something different from what he knows. That being said, it doesn''t mean that his rampage was slowing down.

    Vendrick eventually arrived at the home of the Hag. More precisely, the entrance to the underground base of the Hag. As expected, there were several more curses, hexes, totems and guards that were blocking his way but he made a quick work out of them.

    Lightning was extremely effective against them. The element was their mortal enemy, amplified by the fact that it was a Law, something that they''d never have the chance of understanding all their lives.

    Under Vendrick''s ocr technique, he managed to locate the path that would lead him deeper underground. Since the defenses above were destroyed, all mechanisms that were preventing him from spying beyond this ce was removed, therefore he could see the greater chunk of the Hag''s home.

    It wasn''t so big. There''s no need for the Hag to have an extremelyrge home he guessed. There are numerous traps and illusions set up to protect it though but really, as if any of that could stop Vendrick''s tracks.

    Heck, he could''ve went straight to the core if he wanted to but he decided to mess with the Hag some more by deliberately going off track and arriving at the dead-ends and traps just to destroy them. He did it to send a message, but for some reason this Hag''s patience is astonishingly long.

    Oh well, it doesn''t matter. Vendrick was nning to eradicate everything he sees anyways,

    Time passed and steadily, the Hag''s children were killed by Vendrick. By now, only a few of them remained, all too scared to even move and justify going against Vendrick. That being said, it''s not like he''s going to spare them even with that.

    Pity is not something these things deserved. In fact, they shouldn''t be capable of showing emotions at all, it''s just that Vendrick was too strong for them and his presence broke their spirits.

    Vendrick lost count on how many of this insects he had killed so far. Thousands maybe? Either way, the Hag''s still not here. Vendrick was now thinking that the Hag might''ve left them behind to do some personal errands since if she''s here, there''s no way that she could stand still after witnessing her life''s work be wasted in under minutes.

    After going around the underground, destroying everything heid his eyes on. The presence of the Hag''s aura was dwindling. Her influence around this area was slowly disappearing, being purified by Vendrick''s lightning.

    Eventually, he went to the core of the Hag''s home. What he saw there was arge ritual circle just like those above but this being here is an obvious clue that this was used for something more important.

    Aside from the ritual circle, he saw that the amount of totems, cursed items and hexes arranged in this ce was the greatest he had seen so far. He could also smell the presence of the Hag here, telling him that she was here recently.

    At the middle of the ritual circle was a crib made out of bones. Vendrick could sense the abomination in there. It was young, but its presence was so horrid that it caused goosebumps to appear all over his body.

    Compared to things he had seen before, this one is clearly a cut above the rest. This infant should have the highest potential amongst the Hag''s children and if this thing grows up, it''ll bring doom to everything around it.

    Thankfully he discovered it early on. One strike of his spear and it was dealt with, the only downside is that it''s carcass was stuck on the tip of his spear, his lightning was already frying it but its taking time.

    That''s when he heard amotion behind him. He turned around and saw a boulder light up with runes as it slid to the side, revealing a dumbfounded Hag - Amalia, staring at him with her youngest charred by lightning at Vendrick''s spear tip.

    "Ah! There you are...."

 Chapter 702 - Clash

    ---

    The Hag - Amalia screeched in sheer fury and indignation.

    It didn''t even take her seconds for her to revert to her original form which is that of an overgrown insect. All reason was gone from her head the moment she saw the charred corpse of her youngest still smoking on the tip of this young man''s spear.

    Her voice was piercingly loud that it could make someone ears bleed. Her body instantly bloated and contorted into different shapes and sizes, making for a hair-raising scene. Her bones creaked loudly, her eyes with crimson red, her aura and sheer anger she was emanating was stifling but it didn''t have much effect of Vendrick.

    Under his gaze, she shed her Hag skin and revealed her true form. Thick jet ck carapace covered majority of her body which looked like a centipede, her head was that of an ant, with antennas and all. She has two pairs of moth wings, her legs were akin to sharp daggers that dug through the soil, and her entire being was emanating viscous curses and hexes.

    A foul stench immediately filled the room, and the moment Amalia finished transforming, she attacked Vendrick.

    Their sh caused the undergroundwork to copse, this however didn''t faze Amalia due to her thick carapace protecting her body, she continued her rampage, not even a second did she let him out of her sights.

    Vendrick stared back at her, but not out of admiration that''s for sure. He was studying her as their battle rages on. Just like Amalia, he couldn''t care less about the undergroundwork copsing. Thanks to his sharp senses and his perverted strength, he managed to deflect the Hag''s attack despite the chaos ensuing around them.

    Each blows they exchanged were heavy and severe. Sparks appeared whenever her arms and his spear shed. Amalia wasrger than she was and the number of her legs can overwhelm Vendrick but he didn''t.

    Maybe it''s because of her mood, but Amalia''s instincts reverted back to its animalistic state. She''s no different from a strong Demonic Beast now, the only thing she got is her size, speed and her toughness that''s all. As for her intelligence, well she threw that out of the window the moment she reverted back to her true form.

    This isn''t to say that the battle became easier. Vendrick never forgotten that he''s fighting against a Hag. The amount of curses and hexes she''s emanating poses danger to him despite him releasing lightning and thunder. He can prevent it from infecting him but one slip is all she needs for him to be riddled of curses and hexes. If that happens, Vendrick might as well kill himself with his own hands.

    The curses and hexes on her body were like poisons or venoms. Handling her should be done in a careful manner since one small mishap will produce undesirable effects. This is why Vendrick''s taking his time.

    He''s defending himself and studying the noticeable habits that the Hag was disyed as they fight. He didn''t mind a prolonged battle. He has the stamina and endurance tost anyways. And with those plus his close inspection of the Hag, he''ll have the chance ofunching a counter attack.

    Their battle caused the copse of the undergroundworkpletely but it didn''t stop and took them above the surface. Vendrick mostly retreated and defended himself while the Hag was hot on his trails, shing her sharp legs at him.

    As they shed, Vendrick noticed a movement inside the Hag''s body thanks to his ocr technique. From the path its taking, he predicted her next move which made him jump high up in the air.

    It turns out that his prediction was sound. Jumping above, he managed to avoid being drenched in acidic and probably highly toxic spit of the Hag, but that doesn''t stop there. The spit she was releasing was a long stream and she moved her head to follow where he was at.

    Vendrick pushed his soles and evade it again but turning into a bolt of lightning. While in that form, he also shot out numerous lightning pythons to attack the Hag. It had some effect but very minimal, it didn''t hurt her but it managed to shave a good chunk of curses and hexes on her body.

    The Hag eventually realized that her spit wasn''t effective against him so she stopped. She shrieked loudly and all of a sudden, her sharp legs dislodged from her body and turned into projectiles that chased after Vendrick.

    Vendrick was surprised but he managed to keep his cool and evaded the projectiles by turning into a bolt of lightning, however they were tracking his movements pretty closely so it pressured him even more.

    To counter this, Vendrick brandished his spear and sent several lightning streaking towards the projectiles. Unlike the Hag''s body, the legs were more fragile and his counter attack was enough to neutralize them. However, it would seem that it''s no use since when he looked back at the Hag, her legs had already re-grown.

    Vendrick didn''t panic though, he remain calm and assessed his position as the Hag relentlessly chased him down.

    The sounds of their sh caused this part of the wilderness to tremble. Out of fear, most of the demonic beasts nearby fled deeper into the forest, away from the sh since they could tell that it getting caught up in their fight would spell death to them.

    Time passed and Vendrick was pretty certain that he knew all the habits of the Hag so far. Well, she''s absurdly strong due to her physique, her carapace was thick and sturdy, it can endure some serious stress. She''s also showing no signs of fatigue but the same could also be said to her patience. She''s recklessly strong. She destroyed everything she touches, her mind was so consumed with anger that she didn''t even realize that she destroyed her own base by herself.

    Thanks to that however, her powers dwindled by a lot. She destroyed her shrine that boosts her power so it''s only natural. Aside from that, all she could really do is to hit him as hard as she could, spit acidic and toxic liquid from her mouth, move really fast and fly to certain extent. That''s about it.

    Afterpiling information he needed about his enemy, Vendrick decided to end this fuss.

    *Roar!!*

    That roar didn''te from his mouth. It was just a side-effect of him revealing his Dragonborn form.

    Scaled emerged from his skin, covering most of his body all the way to his face. His eyes turned into slits and the aura of an apex predator washed over the wilderness and released a mighty suppression to those who were in range.

    Amalia''s instincts screamed danger. If her pupils could constrict due to shock, it probably had by now. Her mindgged for a bit the moment she bore the full burnt of that predatory aura. A deep-seated fear emerged from the depths of her heart, causing her to be rooted in ce with fear.

    As she stared at the pupils of young man, she couldn''t help but have images of a mighty God Beast staring down at her.

    She had felt this somewhere before. She didn''t have many encounters with that entity but every single time, it was the same no matter how much she became stronger. This sensation of being looked down by like a useless pest was not a strange feeling to her.

    What she couldn''t believe is that, how in the world did this young man able to struck such fear from emerging from her heart like that entity did?

    Unfortunately, she didn''t have much time to think about such things because she just realized that Vendrick just disappeared from her vision.

    His disappearance was followed by a soul searing pain coursing through her entire body. Amalia had never been in such pain before. It was both physical and spiritual.

    Snakes of lightning covered her from head to toe, they ignored the thickness of her carapace and prated deep to her soul causing her to writhe in pain. It didn''t show signs of ending too.

    She struggled to keep her consciousness up but she only saw that she''s now writhing on the ground while Vendrick stood not too far from her, staring her down like the pest she is.

    There were no trace od anypassion nor pity on his face. Only coldness. He mercilessly struck down his spear which was covered with more lightning and thunder, causing it to smite Amalia one more time.

    The pain she felt increased by two-fold, and just like before, any resistance failed. It didn''t show signs of ending. Not at all...

    "Hey, you guys should have built a Coven right? Can you tell me where it is?"

    Amalia was dumbfounded despite her writhing in pain. She couldn''t believe that he actually expects her from betraying her sister now.

    "G-g-go to hell!" Amalia''s teeth were ttering due to lightning shock, causing her struggle in her reply.

    "Whatever..." Vendrick murmured, "It''s not like I was expecting that to work anyway. I''ll do it myself then."

    With his palms covered with lightning, Vendrick shoved his hand on Amalia''s head pulled her soul out.

 Chapter 703 - Heartbeat

    ---

    "...well, that''s that for the location of the rest." Vendrick muttered as he sat down within a field of lightning. "They''re a little bit far but I could make the journey."

    He just got done with reading all the memories of the Hag he just killed. After pulling her soul out of her body, her soul tried fighting back and even tried to take over his body but as if he could let that happen. In fact, even if he didn''t do anything against her soul, she would''ve failed miserably since everything about him is the mortal enemy of a Hag, it''s no surprise what would happen if he went on the offensive right?

    The Hag''s soul was filled with numerous useless knowledge, well...at least to him most of them were useless. The few memories or importance were the location of her Coven Sisters and the depth of her connection to the Forest Witch.

    As it turns out, the Hag Sisters are scattered all around the Southern Continent. It would take him months to travel from one to the other if he actively started hunting them. As for this Hag''s connection with the Forest Witch, well she isn''t the favorite simply put. There''s this Hag they call the Eldest Sister, this was her favorite child.

    "...and she''s troublesome." Vendrick muttered again as he lifted the lightning field that''s erasing the remaining influence of the Hag around this part of the wilderness.

    Amalia''s soul contained only a few defining points for her sisters. Most of them were recurring titles like ''Whore'', ''Bitch'', ''Fucking Slut'', ''Annoying Rat Shit'', ''Despicable Prostitute'', ''Horny Bitch'', ''Dumb Whore''... there''s a lot of these and they''re not really helpful to him.

    She didn''t really meddled with their thing, she''s more focused on infesting and giving birth to her children while also expanding her territory every now and then. However, despite her seething disdain and sometimes, anger towards her sisters, she most wary about that Eldest Sister of theirs.

    The Eldest Sister stands at the hull of their Coven, she and only she could talk to the Forest Witch - she''s her messenger, sort of an Envoy as well. She''s the Eldest Sister not because she was the first Hag that the Forest Witch ''gave birth to'', no. She''s the eldest because she''s been a Hag long time even before the Forest Witch had her daughters.

    As for the extent of her power, Amalia never had the chance to know. In fact, none of them knows with the exception of maybe the Forest Witch. But the fact that their Eldest Sister could strike fear to the hearts of the other Hags as well is just a small disy of her power.

    Then again, Vendrick''s not really the same as the Hags. He has experience and his vision as well as knowledge might very well surpass them, the Forest Witch heck even the so called God of this world included even.

    Witnessing the sight of the Eldest Sister, Vendrick knows that she''s trouble. There''s a good reason why she''s feared by the other Hags as well.

    "I have to tread carefully then..." Vendrick muttered, "I can''t let her catch me or else I''ll be done for."

    He felt a bit peeved. He felt that he had grown strong enough to at least deal with the remaining Hags at this stage but it seems that it''s far from enough. He had to grow stronger even faster in order to catch up on top of making sure that he remain careful and thorough with his execution.

    If had to remember one thing from this point onwards: Once he killed a Hag, he had to erase every trace of him, not even leaving a single dust behind because if he does, that''s enough for that Eldest Sister to kill him.

    ---

    "Oh, you''re out." Arthur eximed after seeing Vendrick opening up the hideout.

    "Yeah. Why are you here?" Vendrick asked even though he already knew the answer to that.

    "Ah! We''re guarding his ce, just in case you know?" Arthur replied sheepishly. Vendrick smiled and patted his shoulder, inviting him inside.

    Him and Rosa decided to guard the entrance to the hideout knowing that even if they didn''t, nobody will be able to disturb him. They did this just in case, they wanted to be certain that Vendrick would be safe.

    He lifted the restrictions from the inside since he saw that Arthur was the one currently guarding the location, Vendrick didn''t want him to detect his return so he went back without alerting him.

    "How are you by the way? Did you make your breakthrough?" Arthur asked.

    "Of course! Why would I fail?" Vendrick replied, slightly confused.

    "Oh, that''s good. Well, you did say that there''s a chance of you failing so we''re worried." He replied.

    "Oh..." Vendrick was stunned for a moment before remembering the fact that he did say something ominous before he went in seclusion. Well, he did that as an act, he was far from any danger at all.

    "Well, you seeded anyhow so congrattions." Arthur smiled and asked, "Exactly how strong are you now by the way?"

    Vendrick didn''t answer. Instead, he smiled and all of a sudden, a loud sound drowned Arthur.

    *Dug!* *Dug!* *Dug!*

    The sound was horrible. It echoed throughout Arthur''s entire body, rocking him around and causing him to be dizzy. His vision was spinning and he can''t think properly. His instincts were screaming at him. Telling him to run away without looking back. It was as if he disturbed something and now its out to kill him.

    Momentster, the loud sound stopped. Arthur felt his senses returning to him. He still felt rather dizzy. Without his knowledge, his back was dripping in cold sweat and he''s pale as a sheet of paper. He struggled to open his eyes, when he did he saw Vendrick crouching in front of him with a smile.

    "W-what the hell? What the heck did you just do? I didn''t see it!"

    "What do you mean? I didn''t do anything though? I simply stood here and you suddenly copsed." Vendrick was obviously feigning innocence.

    "Bullcrap!" Arthur spat as he fiercely looked at Vendrick. "It''s your doing! Who else could it be? We''re the only one''s here."

    Vendrick chuckled and asked: "Well then, let''s hear it. What do you think I did?"

    "I don''t know!? The hell? That''s why I''m asking you." Arthur raged but that just made Vendrickugh.

    "What did you experience?"

    "Well...there''s this loud sound at first. Then everything went ck and white. My ears starting ringing and such. Hell my legs are still trembling." Arthur replied,

    "What did it sound like?" Vendrick asked with a smirk on his face.

    "Like a...uh...a, hmmm....oh! It sounded like a..." Arthur just suddenly realized something which made his expression change abruptly and stare at Vendrick with an incredulous look on his face.

    "No way!!" Arthur eximed.

    "Yes way!"

    "That''s absurd!! How can that be?" Arthur couldn''t believe it. "That was your heartbeat?"

    Vendrick nodded.

    Indeed, that sound was the sound of his heartbeat. He was somewhat telling the truth. He truly didn''t do anything. After all, a person''s heart will continue to pump blood even with him doing anything right? So he truly didn''t do anything aside from allowing Arthur to hear his heartbeat, that''s all.

    It does sound absurd, just like Arthur said. In fact, there should be no way that a heartbeat could be like that. It was extremely loud, louder that any sound Arthur heard so far. The moment he heard it, it drowned him. The sensation was horrifying.

    Well, Vendrick would''ve have agreed that no normal heart could''ve done something like this except for a few, but in the end of the day, it''s not like that heartbeat came from his actual heart anyway.

    That''s the sound of his Dragon Heart beating. A testament on just how much vitality and longevity it held.

    What Arthur experienced was just the sounding from a germinated Dragon''s Heart. It''s not fully condensed yet and far from being at its peak. If Vendrick let someone of Arthur''s caliber to hear the sound of a fully grown Dragon''s Heartbeat, their body would''ve been shredded into pieces. They wouldn''t even know how they died.

    "What the hell dude?" Arthur was still gobsmacked, he didn''t want to believe it either but this is Vendrick, so he had a natural inclination to believe whatever he said.

    Arthur''s logic told him no but Vendrick didn''t look like he''s lying.

    "You''ll get at this stage somewhere so don''t be shocked." Vendrick encouraged him but to Arthur it sounded like he was boasting.

    "Yeah, Berserker''s Heart, I know." Arthur them grumbled, "Damn, you cultivate so fast. I don''t get it."

    Vendrick wasn''t lying, there woulde a time when Arthur and Rosa would be able to condense their own Berserker''s Heart and do something like this too. But of course, that''s still far from where they are right now.

    "Oh yeah, you go ahead and call Rosa. I''ve got something to show you two." Vendrick said all of a sudden.

    "What is it?" Arthur couldn''t help but feel curious.

    "Deities and Gods."

 Chapter 704 - Plans

    ---

    "¡­so what you''re saying is, we are really the only remaining human beings in this world?" Arthur asked.

    "Damn, he exined many things just now and that''s what you came up with? Really?" Rosa rolled her eyes finding this unbelievable.

    "Well, I mean¡­there''s that too but like¡­really? There are no other humans out there? Are we really the only ones left?" Arthur asked Vendrick again.

    "You see, I''ve never been to other continents yet to confirm that. I haven''t even seen the entirety of the Southern Continent to start with so I can''t say for sure. But if there were other humans out there, I don''t think they''llst under the siege of those so called Deity Demonic Beasts." Vendrick stated.

    He just finished informing them about the existence of the Four Dieties and a God of this world. He omitted some information like the Conqueror, the Imperial Fairy, etc. They didn''t need to know that...for now.

    "That''s right. Its not like we''re underestimating them since we survived this long maybe out of sheer luck. You have to know that we have Berserkers, corrupted some of them maybe, their strength is the real deal. But even with that, we''re struggling to multiply since our previous living conditions were too rough, and those beasts were to me for that." Rosa logically reasoned out.

    "Aww¡­" Arthur felt a bit down.

    "Why are you so disappointed about not meeting other humans anyway? Shouldn''t you be more worried about those Deities and that one ''supposedly'' God?" Rosa ced her hands on her hips and asked Arthur.

    "It''s a damn shame you know!?" Arthur looked indignant. "I would love to see how other humans will build their own civilizations. I would like to discover their history, their ways of life, rules and regtions¡­you know, all that stuff. If anything, I''d love us to merge with them and form one huge tribe! Maybe go on a journey to newnds, find a more suitable location to move¡­etc."

    "So, in the end all you wanted to do was topare and, if possible, conquer them? Is that right?" Rosa crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at the questionable conclusion she realized after hearing Arthur talk.

    "Hey! It''s not like that! Friendly, Diplomatic Rtionship, that''s what I want¡­"

    "Sure¡­except, knowing how dangerous it is outside and how much skill and risks were needed just to survive, do you honestly think that they will wee you with open arms? Hell, I''d be surprised if they kept neutral towards you, cause if the sides were switched, I''d sure as hell imprison you and squeeze as much information out of you as I possibly could." Rosa snorted.

    "Why do you have such a stubborn and callous view towards life?" Arthur felt defeated.

    "Well, considering out past, why should I? Considering how out very own people cheated us and deprived us from getting a slightly better life in exchange for a minor inconvenience to their side, why would I?"

    "¡­" Arthur was speechless.

    "Alright you two. That''s enough. We got side-tracked." Vendrick shook his head, he then said: "Well, there''s no use to us thinking about this since nothing is for certain currently."

    "The more important thing about this is the matter of those Demonic Beasts. Expansions, migration, conquering, all sorts of that stuffes second. What I''m trying to say here by telling you this is that, unless I end the tyranny of the Forest Witch and her Hag Daughters, you guys including all these people here, shouldn''t to too far out of the tribe. In fact, I would like to forbid any of you froming out. Do you think it would be possible?" Vendrick asked.

    "Well, if you say so then there shouldn''t be a problem. But how long is it going to take though? We aren''t self sufficient enough just yet. And if we can''t go out, we''ll go through our supplies rather quickly." Rosa replied after a quick assessment.

    "It shouldn''t be too long. The maximum is two years." Vendrick stated with a determined look.

    "...that''s a bit long. We''re going to be stretched too thin." She replied, "But if we can secure some supplies and preserve it, maybe it''s possible."

    Vendrick went silent for a bit. He was thinking of many things at once and thankfully, no one disturbed him.

    "Let''s do it this way..." Vendrick said after a moment of thinking. "I create a charm that will erase your presence. That way you two can move around without alerting the presence of the other Hags. The next nearest base is far from here but still, just in case."

    "Hunt as many as you can. Be careful and don''t overdo it. Pay attention to your safety and more importantly, try to not stay at one ce for too long. Do you understand?"

    Arthur and Rosa nodded.

    "We can build several huts here in the hideout to serve as storage for the preserved food and supplies so it would be secured. With the potency of energy here, it should slow down their deterioration. Hell, we can fill this ce to brim if we wanted to really." Arthur looked around and stated his ideas.

    "Look at you..." Rosa whispered, "Being all smart and stuff, that''s new."

    "Hey! I heard that!" Arthur sharply turned his head and red at her.

    "Oops. Hehe." Rosa coquettishly winked at him and began working towards Arthur''s idea.

    Arthur on the other hand pursed his lips and whispered: "Hmph! Let''s see if you dare too tease me again after I''m done with you this night."

    Vendrick heard him and simply shook his head while smiling wryly. He''s gotten used to the antics of these two so this no longer bothered him. Additionally, he didn''t need to say anything much since they already decided that Arthur''s idea was good so there''s no use on wasting anymore time.

    While the two built the new storage huts for the supplies they will gather probably tomorrow and onwards, Vendrick went to his hut and began making those charms.

    It isn''t a genuine ''charm'' so to speak. It''s merely an array disc that would be created with sole purpose of erasing this presence. It won''t amplify their strength or anything since there''s no need for that and he doesn''t have to materials to add modifications on them in first ce anyways. Just the stealth property alone is enough.

    Arthur and Rosa hadn''t cked off of their training. They''re strongerpared before, they could even take down a Tier 5 Demonic Beast on their own. Both of them are the strongest in the tribe, after Vendrick of course. But since they have to seal the tribe off, their growth would mostly likely stagnate.

    See, Berserkers needs a lot of nutrition to help them grow stronger. The most abundant resource avable to them is the meat from Demonic Beast meat. The stronger a Berserker is, the greater their needs. This shouldn''t be a problem if they have a steady supply and the Demonic Beasts were to justy down and let them ughter them to their hearts content but it doesn''t work that way.

    Right now, Arthur and Rosa need to eat the meat of Tier 4 Demonic Beast at the least to keep growing stronger, if they were to eat anything lesser than that quality, then they need to eat twice the amount to get them satiated. Note: Satiated. Meat of Demonic Beast of Tier 3 Demonic Beast would have little to no effect on them anymore.

    That''s not all. If they were to eat regr food, they need to eat ten times their natural appetite for the hunger to go away. Considering that they have to eat at least three times a day, the amount of their consumption is just mind boggling.

    This is why they need to prioritize their food first before the tribe''s. They will gather enough food tost for the both of them first and then start hunt the portion for the tribe. There are a few Berserkers around and more toe. Additionally, the tribe will be sealed for at least two years so they need to anticipate the new people who will join their ranks.

    This is why they have to stagnate their own growth during this time. They can''t make a breakthrough even if they could since they will end up emptying the supplies for the tribe.

    To gather enough food is one thing, gathering supplies is another. Stagnating their growth is eptable but stagnating the development of the tribe isn''t. Two years...that''s a long time for many changes to ur. They need to n things out carefully and if possible, include expanding the tribe''s territory for bit too.

    They are within Vendrick''s protection anyway. The formation can extend just fine to amodate the changes so there''s no excuse for them to justze off during the two years that they won''t be allowed to step out of the tribe.

    There''s a plethora of things to be done so they have to get going. Thankfully, they are skilled enough to work fast and efficient. All of it is thanks to Vendrick giving them firm foundation for their skills to foster. If it weren''t for him, they''d be nowhere really...

    Now, all that''s left is to finish up with the preparations and do the entire thing.

 Chapter 705 - Black Smoke Trail

    ---

    "Ah shit, here we go again..." Vendrick mumbled as he prepared for the iing wave. "How many times would it take for you to stop? Ugh."

    Aa he turned his back and ran towards his temporary camp, he kept paying attention to the things happening behind him. Even though he had no eyes on the back of his head, could see what''s going on.

    A trail of ck smoke wasing from the deeper parts of the wilderness. The smoke behave strangely, it was as if it was looking for someone or something which shouldn''t be possible but it is indeed doing just that.

    Vendrick had encountered this ck smoke before and its bad news. He couldn''t allow it to catch or else he have no short of troubles on the remaining of his journey.

    Vendrick was swift at his retreat but the ck smoke was just as fast if not, faster than him. Thankfully, it doesn''t seem to catch any of his trails so it was taking a different route.

    After a brief period of retreating, Vendrick reached his temporary camp and stabbed his spear at the dead center of the camp. A small blue dome erupted from the impact which covered him, going about fifteen meters in radius around the camp. The moment the blue dome appeared, Vendrick sighed in relief and inspected his surroundings.

    He saw the ck smoke arriving near his camp shortly after his arrival. It hit the blue dome but instead of shing against it, the ck smoke phased through the other side of its entry and continued on its way without noticing anything different.

    This was the effect of the formation of course. He was really thankful for himself being alert and prepared for numerous situation, if not he''d found himself in a lot of trouble right now.

    It''s been approximately a year and a few months since he left the tribe. After leaving it sealed within the formation he left for them, Vendrick didn''t waste time and began his journey to wipe out the Hags one by one.

    It has been a hectic and action filled year for him. He stayed at the wilderness, hardly taking anytime to rest since he didn''t allow himself to stay at one ce for too long. One by one, he hunted and in the Hags, much to the ire of the others and maybe the Forest Witch herself.

    He had seen the variations amongst their ranks. Every single one of them has a unique specialty. Some gave Vendrick troubles but others, not so much.

    Vendrick knew that he''s being hunted. The evidence was that ck Smoke trail just now. That ck smoke might look unimpressive but it''s incredibly dangerous.

    That ck Smoke Trail is a chain of hex and curses. Touching even the smallest wisp of the smoke will reduce the victim into a decaying corpse in no time. Even though Vendrick is strong, he very much prefer to keep his body intact.

    This thing is not something that the other Hags can produce. It takes enormous time, effort and rituals for them to condense something like this and those hags just don''t have the necessary skill to pull it off. More importantly, all but one Hag remains right now and it shouldn''t be hard to figure out who amongst them could produce something like this...

    That''s right. It''s that Eldest Sister. She''s the only left amongst the Hag Daughters of the Forest Witch.

    It''s hard to imagine just what the Eldest Sister felt about him. As far as he knows, she shouldn''t have known his identity just yet since if that''s the case, he''d be dead by now. He was careful enough to not leave any traces of him whenever he hunted her sisters but again, he can never be too sure.

    As for confronting that Eldest Sister, Vendrick still falls a little too short unfortunately, however it won''t take long before he''s able to do it. He has the resources and foundation needed to proceed, he''s justcking the necessary umtion to approach his next breakthrough but he will in due time.

    For now, he have to avoid her and her tricks at all cost. He also had to gain some distance away from her or else she might sense him using one of her tricks. It would be most unfortunate if she disturbs him during his breakthrough.

    Vendrick''s temporary hideout is near a stream. There is a crater in there that''s uninhabited by a demonic beast. Coincidentally though, it is surrounded with all sorts of Tier 8 to Tier 9 Demonic Beast. He''s using them as a shield to prevent any of the lesser Demonic Beasts to invade his camp but of course, he can''t stay here for long.

    "Whew! d that''s over." Vendrick murmured after noticing that the ck Smoke trail disappearedpletely. It''s most likely noting back for now and so long as he stayed put at his camp and not go out for at least a few days, that should be enough for him to hide from the Hag''s radar.

    Letting out a sigh, Vendrick entered his tent andid down to rest for a bit. He''s feeling a bit of pressure but it''s fine. The situation isn''t so terrible right now to the point of him being in a grave danger.

    As heid down there, he''s thinking about many things.

    The Eldest Sister was certainly troublesome. During his trips in search of where she is, his journey brought him close to the very depths of the wilderness. He''s certain that the moment he entered core of the Wilderness, the Forest Witch will sense his presence and all hell will break loose. What made him stresses him out is the probability that the Hag is there as well.

    If she''s there, then good for her, terrible for Vendrick. Going there right now is suicide. The Forest Witch won''t let him be, in fact he doesn''t even have enough knowledge about forest witch just yet so it would ne extremely risky to go to her territory now.

    What makes this even moreplicated is the fact that the Eldest Sister is a Swamp Hag. And as if that''s not enough, the core of the forest is a whole damn swamp as well.

    Who knows just how many abominations hiding underneath that swamp? Considering the memories he absorbed from the Hags he killed, the Eldest Sister is already a Hag before the Forest Witch rose to power. Additionally, swamp was already the territory of the Hag long before the two met. It is unknown, even to the Hags he killed, if the Eldest Sister is as strong, or stronger than the Forest Witch since they never seen him fight. What they know is that the Eldest Sister pledged her alliance towards the Forest Witch and became her Eldest Daughter. The other Hags were created one after another by then.

    Knowing all of that given Vendrick conniptions though. First of all, although the information he read from the memories of his Hag victims were uniform, he for some reason felt something was amiss, therefore he didn''t trust it.

    Second, is the Eldest Sister truly loyal towards the Forest Witch? If what he knew was true, then all logic in him tells him that the Hag would rather die than to share territories with someone else or surrenderpletely. Hags are notoriously evil, territorial, ill-tempered and so on. The Eldest Sister is Hag so there should be no way that things would end up this way, but it did.

    And finally, how can he be sure that the Forest Witch would just sit down and watch as all of her precious daughters die? Its very likely that she had already created some measures to ensure that she won''t lose them. He had already experienced it in fact...

    It happened during one of his battles against a Hag. Before dying, the Hag tried to activate a bone charm as ast act before dying. The moment Vendrick sensed the presence of the Bone Charm, all hairs on his body stood up so he swiftly snatched it away and sealed it for good. Had he beente even for a millisecond, he''d be dead by now. No doubts about that.

    Thanks to that, Vendrick treaded more carefully. He fought his battles as quickly as he arrived. He didn''t give them any chance to call for reinforcements, which in this case, the Forest Witch herself.

    But see, things are getting more hectic. He doesn''t have much time. He can''t stay still, he could feel his instincts telling him to get rid of them as soon as possible. Why? He didn''t know. What he do know is that his instincts never betrayed him before and he certainly wouldn''t start doubting it now.

    Vendrick released another sigh. He sat up from his bed and stepped out of the tent to eat.

    His thoughts remained working as he did so, additionally he would inspect his surroundings every now and then to see if there''s anything approaching his camp. Better be safe than sorry.

    After eating his fill. He went back inside his tent but he didn''t sleep.. He sat cross legged and cultivated with the Crystalized Bloodstone on his hands.

 Chapter 706 - The Swamp

    ---

    "Tch. Annoying pest..."

    Inside a dark and murky environment, a woman clicked her tongue in annoyance. Her silhouette is hidden by the darkness but a vague outline of her can be identified. She was short and hunched-back. She was also releasing an ominous vibe, the type that can easily frighten the kids and adults alike.

    As she moved around, sloshing sounds could be heard, making for a strangely hair-raising vibe. It was as if she was walking through squishy mud or some sort of a paste. It sounded gross and it also doesn''t help the area where she was in is covered in a thick foul stench as well.

    She seems to be doing something in there but the darkness surrounding her was so thick that it''s hard to make out just what she''s doing. Well, judging from the asional squeaks of what sounded like insects, squirrels and other type of small animals, it doesn''t seem to be interesting at all.

    Just now, a trail of ck smoke arrived and fused with the darkness surrounding her. The woman froze for a moment, then she released another groan of annoyance.

    "Missed it again, damn."

    She sounded upset but also helpless. That''s when she made a movement which was followed by the darkness. It seems to be being siphoned inside her body. Slowly but surely, the silhouette of the woman came to light, and her appearance was frankly unexpected.

    The woman looked emaciated. She was wearing extremely dirty clothing and was holding a wooden cane that has seen better days that''s for sure. The woman was old and wrinkled too, the kind that''s just a step away from dying.

    Despite this appearance of hers, there''s something strange with this old woman. Something about her feels...wrong, frightening too.

    The woman stared at a nk space for a moment before tapping her cane on the ground. All of a sudden, dozen of ck vines filled with thorns and covered by a film of goo appeared and wrapped around her body.

    The vines lifted her and began transporting her to somewhere else. This movement is followed by that some gross sound that urred before.

    The old woman that''s being carried by the vines doesn''t seem to mind this at all. She surveyed her surroundings despite having her eyes closed as if she could see something but in the end, she didn''t. She''s just patrolling this dull and murky swamp that''s been like this since she knew it.

    This old woman was the Eldest Sister - the first Hag of the Southern Continent so to speak, and this swamp is the core of this massive wilderness that spans all over the continent.

    Thest trail of the tracking hex she released just returned and it brought back nothing which was slightly disappointing. Despite her mood though, she retained her motherly expression as she travelled using the vines. She can''t let this failure affect her that much.

    Eventually, the vines carried the Eldest Sister towards a certain ce in the swamp. A massive tree with numerous thick roots that are buried underground, its branches covered the entirety of the swamp causing the deste dimness of this ce.

    Upon her arrival at the massive tree, the vines retreated and one of the thick roots of the massive tree rose up to im her. Just like before, the hag didn''t look fazed, she allowed the roots to bind her body as it carried her closer to the trunk of the massive tree,

    Upon reaching a certain distance away from the trunk, the root ced her down and retreated. The hagnded softly on one of the roots and began scaling the rest of the way towards the main trunk of this massive tree.

    This massive tree is a marvel unique to thisnd, it is hard to investigate how old this tree is by now but knowing that it managed to grow up this big and could even manipte it''s body to do certain things, there''s no doubt that this tree is far from normal.

    The Hag eventually closed the remaining distance between her and main trunk. Once she''s there, she stood in front of it, looking at the swirling patterns around it has. At core of the main trunk, someone or something''s there.

    It looked like a young woman, wrapped around thick ck vines which seems to be imprisoning her and preventing her from moving even a single inch. She didn''t seem to be in pain, in fact she doesn''t look alive at all. She was there, looking as if she''s fallen into a deep slumber. Her skin appeared to blend in with the tree as well, looking like bark and all. This trapped woman looked like a fair maiden, her eyes were covered by what looked like hardened wax, her mouth was slightly parted but she''s unconscious or rather, entirely frozen, embedded on the body of the great tree.

    The old man stared at the embedded woman with that motherly look on her face. Her ears twitched for a moment, noticing movement from above. Despite this she didn''t look up because she knows what''s up there.

    It was a creature, a snake - a massive one at that, that came. It flicked its forked tongue out, eyeing the hag as if she was a tasty but very toxic food. It slowly slithered down, its body wrapped around the trunk of the massive tree.

    It circled around the hag and opened its mouth wide, revealing two sharp fangs coated with green poisonous liquid. It looked like the snake was about to swallow the hag whole but the old woman didn''t move.

    All of a sudden however, the mouth of the snake suddenly splits into four partitions. From the depths of it''s body, she rose. A fair woman with bewitching looks and a fairplexion. She was naked, her jet ck hair was covering her breasts. She had a pair of violet colored pupils and an aura of a dangerous existence emanated around her.

    This woman''s lower body is connected to the serpent, in fact, the serpent is her lower body. It just so happens that it also serves as her ''armor'' if you will.

    "How''s your search?" The serpent woman asked.

    "Failed. Can''t trace the damn pest even with the tracking hex. It''s as slippery as a loach. I hate it." The old woman replied to her without even looking away from the woman that''s embedded at the core of the great tree.

    "How surprising." The serpent woman sounded amused. "This is the first time I heard about the tracking hex failing. Must be one hell of a pest then."

    "Sure is." The old woman sounded upset and irritated, "It managed to kill my sisters without trigger the traps I ced. I don''t know if its that smart or just unbelievably lucky."

    "What do you think this pest is? Its been a long time since something openly dared to rebel against us." The serpent woman sounded curious.

    "How should I know? Frankly, I don''t care about what it is. I just want it dead." The Hag said with a groan.

    "Hmm, how about you bring it to me once you''ve caught it?"

    "Don''t tell me what to do, Witch." The Hag swiftly turned her head and stared at the serpent woman with a harsh re.

    "You dare to raise your voice against me, Hag?" The serpent woman returned the re to her. "You want me to squeeze this bitch to death? Just tell me, I''ll dly do it."

    "You dare to threaten me, Witch? Want me to blow this whole wilderness up along with this tree? Want me to go to your ''Dear Brother'' and ask for his ''help'' on doing that? I''m sure as hell that he wouldn''t turn me down, after all he''s so enamored with me that I have him wrapped around my pinky. What say you, bitch!?"

    The Eldest Sister and the Forest Witch red at each other for a good while. Two auras shed and the whole swamp trembled under its influence. None of them seems to be interested in backing down.

    "Hmph!" The Forest Witch snorted and whipped her tail. Her attack happened so fast that therge gash appeared on the body of the great tree before the whipping sound urred.

    Despite this, the Hag didn''t look away. She didn''t even look shocked by the attack nor did she looked back to check if the Forest Witch attacked the embedded girl behind her since the Hag already knew she didn''t.

    In the end, it was the Forest Witch who retracted her aura. She ''wore'' the serpent back and spoke: "You should pay more attention to your temper, Hag. Continue acting this way and one day I might just end up ruining our rtionship, consequences be damned. I suggest you to think carefully who would be the true loser if that happens."

    After saying this, the serpent slithered back up to crown of the tree, disappearing to the Hag''s view.

    The Hag didn''t say anything. She simply turned back and looked at the embedded girl at the great tree''s trunk with that motherly expression.

    ....not knowing that there were a pair of eyes who saw the whole exchange happen just now.

 Chapter 707 - Spirit

    ---

    "Well then¡­that''s my answer I guess." Vendrick muttered as he entered his secret hideout.

    He just came back from his trip - a risky but totally worthwhile one as he ended up witnessing the whole debacle between the Eldest Sister and uncovered the real identity of the Forest Witch.

    The scene he witnessed answered some of the things he was curious about. As it turns out, the Forest Witch''s rtionship with the Hag isn''t so good and it was kept a secret from the other hags. It isn''t so hard to realize what was up since the actions of the Hag were pretty obvious.

    It''s clear that the Forest Witch has something that belongs to the Hag and she''s using it to control her. Now, from what he had seen, it''s probably that girl that''s embedded on the tree. He doesn''t know who she is but he could tell that she''s important to the Hag, so much so that the Hag has no qualms about blowing this whole forest up and threatening to use the alleged ''Dear Brother'' of the Witch against her.

    This gave him a lot of options. Thankfully, he made some recent breakthroughs that allowed him to infiltrate their territory without being detected or else he''d missed out on thispletely. Still though, it would be hard for him to actually do something right now.

    He knows that the Hag won''t exit the swamp so easily. If he shed with her in there, the Forest Witch will definitely sense it and would probably do something about it. Whether she helps that Hag or just curiously watch, it''ll be bad for Vendrick.

    Right now, what he needed is time. Since he could infiltrate the core of the wilderness without them detecting his presence, it bought him time. He''d use that to deepen his umtions and make himself stronger before dealing with them.

    Sighing to himself, Vendrick wanted to get some rest before cultivating but before he could do so, his senses detected something.

    He swiftly turned his head towards the direction where he felt it. He squinted his eyes to see if he could make out something but he couldn''t, even so he knew that his senses weren''t wrong so he immediately activated his ocr technique. Lo and behold, he saw something, a spirit passed through the formation as was silently approaching him.

    "So you CAN see me! That''s great!" The spirit eximed, its face brightening up like the sun. It looked around his base with awe and wonder, saying: "Nice base you have right here. Is this why they can''t sense your presence?"

    "Identify yourself, Spirit." Vendrick coldly stated, he wasn''t really thrilled about his privacy beingpromised. A bit hypocritical of him really.

    "Geez, calm down. No need to be all rude or something."

    "I won''t repeat this for the third time. Identify yourself or - "

    "Or what?" The Spirit interrupted him. "You''re going to kill me? Heh. Go on then, I dare - "

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!!*

    "...you." The Spirit shivered as it dumbfounded stared at therge gash that appeared close. It then looked back at Vendrick and saw that he was already holding a spear made out of pure lightning, he''s seconds away from hurling it.

    "Hey! Hey! Hey! Wait! I''m sorry, okay! I''m sorry! It''s my bad. I-I''ll introduce myself." The Spirit panicked and thought to itself:

    ''Shit! I encountered a Madman!''

    "My name is Maria! I''m - "

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!*

    "Eek!" Maria shrieked in fear as another bolt of lightningnded not too far from her. "What the fuck is wrong with you!?"

    "I didn''t ask for your name, I don''t care about that. I asked you to identify yourself." Vendrick coldly stated.

    "Isn''t my name part of my identity? What the hell!? Shit! Okay fine!" Her outburst were stopped when she saw another lightning spear appearing on Vendrick''s hand. "U-uh, ah! I''m the spirit of the girl embedded on the tree! You should''ve seen me since you were sneaking about the swamp without being detected!"

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!*

    "What the hell!!!?" Maria shrieked at him. "Have I not told you my identity yet? I''m not lying."

    "No, you already did. I know you''re not lying." He replied.

    "Then what was that for!?"

    "...to scare you I guess." He shrugged. Vendrick then snapped his fingers and the formation suddenly fluctuated.

    "W-what did you just do?" She asked.

    "None of your business." Vendrick coldly replied. "Now tell me, what''s your rtionship with that Hag and why are you embedded on that tree?"

    "What the fuck!? You seriously think that I would willingly cooperate with you after you threatened my life three times in a row? Are you insane? Fuck you! I''m not telling you anything! Hmph! I''m out of here."

    "Good luck with that." Vendrick wasn''t offended with her outburst nor did he send another lightning spear at her. He just sneered instead and watched the spirit in amusement.

    Seeing how he reacted, Maria was confused. But then again, she thought that maybe Vendrick was bluffing for whatever reason. Lightning is effective against ghosts and evil but she isn''t one of those. She''s a spirit, the lightning will hurt yes but it won''t be enough to kill her.

    On the other hand, staying within a closed space near this madman is the worse idea. That''s why her choice was obvious. She turned around swiftly ran towards where she entered. As she ran, she was anticipating Vendrick movement. She told herself that the moment she hears thunder crackling, she''ll evade to side and get away from here.

    *Bam!!*

    Unfortunately, her ns were shattered right before it even began. To her utter shock, she mmed face first at the walls of the blue dome. She felt the pain all over face but it was numbed by her disbelief.

    "W-what the hell..." Maria couldn''t believe it, how is it possible for her to m into the dome when she''s clearly incorporeal? She''s a spirit! She passed through this wall without much obstructions before, why is this happening now?

    She then remembered the scene when Vendrick snapped his fingers and the blue dome fluctuated. To her horror, she looked back and saw Vendrick''s cold stare and the mocking sneer on his face. That''s all the answer she needs.

    He was one step ahead of her.

    "Aha-ahahaha!" Mariaughed out of frustration and mockery. "I''ll give it to you, you''re sharp and sly. You got me. But do you really want to do it like this? Aren''t you afraid that I''ll call my sister to get me out of here? We''re very close just so you know, and she''s incredibly powerful that you wouldn''t stand a chance."

    "Oh no. Whatever shall I do?" Vendrick''s words were obviously sarcastic. "Boo hoo. Eldest Sister is scary. Boo hoo. I''ll die. Boo hoo. How can I possibly let her catch me? It''s not like I offended her by killing all of the other Hags so far, I couldn''t do something like that. Hags are scary after all. There''s no way the small and meek me could even think about such a thing."

    Maria was speechlessly shivering out of frustration and fear, she thought to herself: ''Damn it. I''ve really stepped on it now. This guy''s an insane madman.''

    "But...hmm..." Vendrick appeared to be in deep thought, then he continued: "Actually, you know what? Yeah, go ahead. Do it. Contact your sister for me will you? That way, I''ll end her here without alerting the Forest Witch. I can y her but I wouldn''t want the Forest Witch to interfere, since its isted here, that makes my job easier. Plus, you get to watch as I effortlessly kill her knowing that her death was caused by you since it was you who sent her here."

    "I get to hill her and have witness her death, then I''ll also kill you after that. That''s a triple win for me. All that will be left is the Forest Witch and my job at the Southern Continent is done. Hah! Just the thought of that excites me. So yeah, why don''t you be a dear and call your dear sister here?"

    Maria shivered again and again as Vendrick revealed his ns to her. The viinous aura was thick around him and his gaze felt like it needles piercing through her skull.

    "s, I just remembered that this won''t work." Vendrick sighed, looking at Maria as if he just lost a fortuitous encounter. "How can you possibly call for her when the silver lining that connects you from your body was neutralized the moment you stepped inside of my base?"

    Maria felt an existential crises the moment Vendrick revealed that information to her. She hurriedly looked back and saw that indeed, the silver lining that connected her to her body was neutralized. In fact she almost couldn''t feel its existence.

    As fear over-shadowed her heart, Maria was pushed to edge of despair. She looked back towards where Vendrick is and to her shock, she saw him crouching mere inches away from her, his cold gaze was freezing. Maria could almost feel that grip of death encroaching upon her.

    "...remember this, Spirit." Vendrick whispered. "It was never your turn to threaten me. It''s always been mine."

    "You have no power here so either do as I say, or watch as I devour you. I''ll get what I want anyway."

    "So? What''s it going to be?"

 Chapter 708 - Wendy And Maria

    ---

    "...way to go me. Getting captured due to carelessness." Maria rolled her eyes as she mocked herself in a whisper within the confines of her make-shift prison. "This is what I get to being too cheeky. I really regreting here."

    Maria is not on the most favorable position. She is this human''s prisoner now, all of her freedom was taken away from her, even the choice of killing herself. She really provoked the wrong person.

    She wanted to say that it wasn''t her fault, and that this was just all due to bad luck. However, if she just remained where she was, didn''t exit the swamp where her sister is, she wouldn''t be in this position so in the end, it is her fault. Now, even though she wanted to desperately call for help, she couldn''t. Well, its not like she could contact her sister to ask for help in the first ce anyway.

    Maria chose to cooperate that''s why she''s still alive at this point. All defiant thoughts on her disappeared the moment Vendrick neutralized the silver lining between her spirit and body. She told him everything without any falsifications, giving him a clearer perspective of the history between the Hag and the Forest Witch.

    The name of the Hag is Wendy, both her and sister of them were once human believe it or not. They were citizens of a previous civilization, most likely from the one that Vendrick encountered during his chase of the Lightning Source.

    They were born from a poor family. The sisters were close, Wendy was the older one and thus she acted as Maria''s pir. Maria on the other hand, was born with an affliction that was passed onto her by their waste of a father. They were abandoned and helpless, Wendy tried everything she could to cure her little sister since she''s the only one left for her in this world. Unfortunately, fate hasn''t been so kind to them.

    The sisters possessed unnatural beauty despite their social standing, this didn''t make them happy since they knew that their appearances will only attracted trouble from the perverted men that has power and money or attract the ire and envy of the richdies who will make their lives miserable. Their looks were something they inherited from the mother who sold her body to make a living, she died after giving birth to Maria.

    Wendy tried everything she could to make their lives better but trouble seems to have taken a liking to them. Maria was coveted by a perverted and obese man who promised to make her life better and possibly even cure her if she decided to marry him.

    The older sister originally wanted to go against this but Maria was tired of being a burden. She epted the offer, wedded the perverted guy, suffered all sorts of trauma in his ''care'' but her life did became a little bit better. At least she has no problems securing food for her and sister.

    The perverted husband never had any ns of curing Maria though. To him, she was just a ything, something that he could use to release his perverted habits whenever he felt stressed. Other than that, he doesn''t give a whit about her. Maria was treated more like a prostitute than a wife as the man always leave her a bag filled with coins after each time he uses her.

    Despite her traumatic past, Maria steeled her resolve. She saved the money she got from him and actually managed to cure her disease much to Wendy''s joy. They kept this a secret from her husband though as they nned to escape, change their identities and seek a more peaceful life.

    Maria endured for some more until the day arrived that they''ve gathered enough capital to leave. Unfortunately, things didn''t go well as they nned.

    The perverted guy caught wind of their ns. They caught them red handed at their escape. Wendy was pinned to ground, she was forced to watch as the perverted man molested her sister. Wendy''s spirit was shattered as she saw the hopelessness and despair on Maria''s eyes while experiencing this, she was reaching out to her but the gap between them wasn''t closing.

    To add insult to the injury, the perverted man decided to ''share'' Maria to his guards. After they were done, they killed her on the spot, leaving Wendy there with her spirit thoroughly broken from what she just witnessed.

    Wendy lifelessly carried her sister''s corpse in the wilderness, wanting to find a ce to hopefully bury her. Only coldness was left on her heart and body, she''s no different from a walking corpse.

    Eventually, Wendy sumbed to exhaustion. Before she died, she found herself in the middle of arge swamp with her sister''s dead body on her arms. In front of her was dying tree. For thest time, she grieved and let out her frustrations, screaming on the top of her lungs for the unfairness they experienced. After that, she died...

    At least she thought so. When Maria regained consciousness, she''s in her Spirit Form. She found her body bound to a sprawling tree that almost reached the skies. She tried returning to her body but she couldn''t.

    She also saw her sister but she''s a far cry from being human. Wendy woke up much earlier than her. She found out that she seems to have awaken a strange power that allowed her to control the swamp ording to her liking. She also saw Maria''s body on the tree and tried numerous times to get her out of there but to no avail.

    Wendy knew that Maria was still alive, she''s waiting for her. Maria became the sole purpose of Wendy''s actions. But no matter how many years passed, she failed.

    At first, Maria could whisper words to Wendy, allowing her to sense her presence. But as time passed Wendy changed into something that she could no longer understand, Maria couldn''t connect to her sister anymore and could only watch in sadness and frustration as her sister ignored herself and focused all of her attention on trying to revive her.

    Then she came - the Forest Witch that is.

    She was a being that''s was nurtured by the Great Tree in the swamp. A ck serpent that could spit out poison that nobody could cure. She''s an existence that is favored by the heavens. At first Wendy could easily defeat her but as time went on, the forest witch''s growth allowed her strength to catch up.

    The forest witch didn''t want to kill Wendy, she wanted the hag to be her pet, her loyal servant. But the Hag''s too ferocious and wild. To reach her goal, the forest witch used Maria as a tool to threaten the Hag but Wendy was a sly.

    Wendy knew one of the forest witch''s secret. She has a lover that lives on the east. It was another Demonic Beast that made a name for himself there. In order to reign in the forest witch, Wendy used her hexes and seduced the guy. Once he let his guard down, Wendy enved his mind, soul and body.

    The forest witch was incensed and wanted to kill the hag but more importantly, she wanted to restore her lover back. She needed the Hag since Wendy clearly knows how to undo her spell.

    They''re at a stalemate now. The forest witch still had Maria as her bargaining chip and Wendy has the forest witch''s lover. Unable to defeat each other, they had a temporary truce but that doesn''t mean that they were close.

    The birth of the other Hags was the Forest Witch''s idea, she wanted to create her own pawns in hopes of freeing her lover but Wendy discovered this and neutralized her advances by introducing herself as the Forest Witch''s Eldest Daughter.

    Wendy also has some ideas about the other Hags but it didn''te into fruition thanks to Vendrick''s recent actions.

    All this while, Maria constantly tried to search for ways herself but she was simrly helpless and could only watch. She constantly wandered around the wilderness to search for ways but she failed time and time again.

    That''s when Maria saw Vendrick from afar. She was surprised that human managed to get this far, in fact she was surprised to see a human in the first ce.

    She knew Vendrick has some tricks up his sleeve, seeing as how he easily avoided the detection of both her sister and the forest witch. She originally wanted to make contact with him, hoping that he could see her.

    When Vendrick started talking to her, she rejoiced. At that point, she was determined to use him as a tool to free herself but s...she was too careless.

    She had no idea that Vendrick was something she could never hope to use. The moment she thought of doing that, the n already backfired. She was caught and she once again became a prisoner.

    Vendrick confirmed that Maria wasn''t lying, hence he allowed her to live but not before making sure that she''s fortable''. He couldn''t care less about her past, he didn''t pity her either.

    What''s important to him is that, now his chances against those two were more optimal thanks to this intel.

 Chapter 709 - Missing

    ---

    "...who the hell is this person!!!" Maria eximed to herself as she watched Vendrick in horror. "How can he get this strong so fast!? It doesn''t make sense!"

    It''s been roughly three months since Maria became a prisoner. Despite being restricted in a small cage, it isn''t so terrible really, just a little ufortable that''s all. Since she''s a spirit, she didn''t require the basic needs of a mortal such as food, clothing, shelter and etc. This small cage is enough to sustain her and her state while in here isn''t deteriorating despite her being away from her body, which is somewhat surprising to her.

    Aside from their initial interaction, Vendrick never spoken a word to her again. He focused all his attention into his own training, keeping it bnced with enough rests in between. She would sometimes see Vendrick step out of the base, leaving her alone.

    Maria never tried to escape though. She was convinced that there''s no way out. Even with that little interaction she had with this man, she knew that he''s not so careless to leave her alone without nning some contingencies. He was sly and strong, there''s no way that he''d allow her to escape since ording to him, she still has some uses.

    What really threw Maria off this the freakishly fast improvement of this person.

    She knew that he works very hard in his training so it should be obvious that his progress will be fast, however his rate of improvement is just extremely outstanding.

    It seems like he''s getting stronger everyday, which sounds absurd but its true. Maria could feel the fluctuations on his body, every time she checked, its always greaterpared to thest time she checked.

    Still, those improvements were nothingpared to the thing she''s witnessing right now.

    Vendrick sat in the middle of his base, surrounded by crackling lightning and thunder. It looks like it is the usual one but in reality is isn''t.

    The lightning and thunder he has are no longer the ordinary kind. Along with thepletion if his Dragon Heart, the Lightning Laws he had evolved to a level where he could now invoke the power of Lightning Tribtion at his beck and call.

    The punishment of the Heavenly Laws itself, now could be wielded freely by Vendrick. Just now, he achieved the threshold that will allow him to fight against the Hag and the Forest Witch as well. He might even be able to take them on at the same time.

    Maria was naturally flustered. She had no idea what Laws are since her sister never wielded that kind of power, neither does the Forest Witch. Still, she''s sensitive enough to realize that if a single spark of that thing hits her, she''ll dissipate instantly without much trouble.

    She never imagined that a mere human could reach this level. Although she was once human too, she couldn''t recall if there was a human back in the past civilization that is as powerful as Vendrick. In fact, she''s thinking that he''s one of a kind.

    Now, he has all the capital he needs to pick a fight with Maria''s sister and Forest Witch. The question is, what are his ns exactly?

    ---

    "...damn! Damn! Damn! Where is that bitch!?"

    At the crown of the Great Tree, the Forest Witch who''s in her serpent form anxiously muttered to herself as she watched over the vicinity of the swamp. Her snake-eyes narrowed, trying to search for traces of the person she''s looking for, all while maintaining a nk expression. She didn''t allow her anxiety to be reflected on her face since the Hag will surely notice it, and that''s something she can''t allow.

    The Forest Witch knew about Maria''s sudden disappearance. Her being able to see Maria in spirit form is a secret that she kept to herself. In fact she even went to the point where she purposefully ignored Maria''s attempts ofmunicating with her since she didn''t want to expose herself.

    She kept is a secret in hopes that she could use this a trump card in some way in the future against the Hag. She has ns for that old bat, but it requires slow and methodical ways to initiate it. Maria was an important tool for that n, which she hoped will free her beloved, but now she''s missing.

    At first she thought that Maria was trying to figure out ways to free herself once more and that she''ll be back after a day or two, the longest would be a week since she can''t stay out longer than that. Even if she couldn''t see Maria around, she could see the silver lining connecting her spirit to her trapped body, all she needs to do is to follow that and she''ll easily locate where Maria is, but now, even that silver lining is missing.

    She''s not on her body either, if she was, the forest witch would''ve sensed her presence there. Her body is just an empty husk right now and the Forest Witch has no idea where she ran off to or what happened to her.

    "I swear, if you got yourself killed, I will kill you." The Forest Witch mumbled to herself, she was biting her nails in anxiety since it''s been months since she went missing. She has no idea where to search for her since she''s been to where Maria frequently went and she''s not there.

    "Hmm?" The forest witch suddenly felt something strange.

    She turned her body towards the spot where she felt the rm. She squinted and to her amusement, she saw a visitor, quietly sneaking about their territory.

    "A human? My, how strange." The Forest Witch was curious. "It''s been a while since I''ve seen these little things. I thought they went extinct already."

    The matter about the missing Maria was forgotten, now her focused was attracted to the human who''s trying to sneak his way through here, possibly not knowing that he attracted her attention and the Hag''s as well.

    "My, he smells tasty as well." The Forest Witch''s forked tongue caught taste of the human''s aura which whetted her appetite. This made her remember fond memories of her swallowing human flesh, back then they were prized delicacies.

    "I remember that they taste better if they experienced severe trauma and distress before they died." The Forest Witch was really tempted now. It has truly been a while since she had eaten human flesh and she missed its vor.

    She was about to climb down the tree when she suddenly felt the Hag moving. The Forest Witch clicked her tongue and said: "Tch. The damn Hag smelled him. As expected she''s going for him as well. She''d probably use him for her experiments, ugh. She''s faster than me."

    The forest witch shook her head and ended up staying. She chose to give way to the Hag, she didn''t want to have an argument with her right now, especially when Maria is still missing.

    That being said, she couldn''t help but grow curious. She wanted to see what the Hag nned on doing to the Human. Thus, she watched their interaction at thefort of her home at the crown of the Great Tree.

    The Hag transformed herself into an old humandy, making herself look like a kind old dear to make this dumb human trust her.

    "My, you aren''t from around here. What brings you to this ce, young man?" Wendy asked, smiling kindly to the human when they ''coincidentally'' crossed paths.

    "Is this for real!? There''s a human here! I thought I was thest one!" The young man said, rich emotions were disyed on his face.

    Seeing this, the forest witch snorted to herself and thought: ''Well, that was easy.''

    "My, my. How could you possibly think you''re thest one?" Wendy asked with her face still smiling and sounding all mysterious.

    "Wait, there''s more of you!?"

    "Well, that depends on the reason why you came here, young man."

    "Ah!" The young man looked embarrassed, he scratched his head, smiling foolishly and appearing all innocent and carefree. "I''ve met someone who lead me here. I cam to see what''s going on."

    "Hmm? How can that be? My tribe never left this swamp since there''s only death out there. Those who stepped out of this ce are exiled. And as far as I know, we haven''t exiled anybody recently."

    "Ah, well let me exin it more clearly okay?" The young man took a deep breath and looked solemn. "I-I''ve met a spirit."

    "!!!" - Forest Witch

    "...her name is Maria. She asked for my help. She said that a Demonic Serpent had her as a captive and had been using her as a tool against her dear sister."

    "!!!" - Wendy

    "She also told me that the serpent was so strong that she can''t defeat it. She begged the serpent to let her and her sister go since they didn''t do anything to her, but the serpent never listened. She also told me that she doesn''t have much time left, her soul is nearly dissipating, she told me that when her spirit weakened enough, the serpent will devour her and will posses her body to harm her sister as well."

    "I was worried you see." The young man scratched his head. "I could tell that she''s desperate so I came here to see what I can do."

    "FOREST WITCH!!!!!!!"

 Chapter 710 - One Down

    ---

    *Boom!!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    "Stop this you damn Hag!!"

    "Release my sister!!!!"

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    "You''ve gone insane you Old Hag!"

    "Oh you want to me go insane!? I''ll show you true insanity if you don''t release my sister!!"

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    The swamp is in chaos. Explosions set off here and there, trees fell, the murky waters of the swamp were sttering everywhere, the foul stench all around the ce was wafting in much wider coverage as well.

    Wendy was relentless. She consistently sent out a string of curses and hexes towards the Forest Witch without any care in the world. Of course she was being careful to not hit the body of her sister in the great tree so most of her attacks were targeted at the crown of the tree where the Forest Witch had her hands full in trying to deflect her attacks and protect the great tree as well.

    The bad rtionship they had just turned worst due to a single human who had been hiding in thefort of his own protective dome, watching everything unfold with amusement.

    Well, who else could it be other than Vendrick? Of course, if there''s anyone who''s shrewd enough to pit these two against each other in order to make things easier for himself, it would be him. Indeed, Maria was still useful so there''s no need to kill her just yet, and this scenario right here is just the start of it all.

    "STOP! YOU DAMN HAG!!" The Forest Witch was in full blown panic. Wendy was ruthless with her attacks, the Forest Witch knows wasn''t expecting this much from her. It seems that she still underestimated the prowess of Hag since she could feel the threat of death looming over her.

    "RELEASE MY SISTER, FOREST WITCH!!!" Wendy shrieked in a piercing voice that shook the entire swamp.

    The Forest Witch was sweating coldly, she''s finding it more and more difficult to handle Wendy''s attacks. She could feel the hexes gnawing at her serpent body, trying to burrow their way to her soul. The moment the hex touched even a strand of her soul''s hair, it''ll be over for her since it''ll just spread faster from then on, and she doesn''t have any way to defend her soul.

    "Think carefully, Hag!! The Human was suspicious!! He''s clearly goading you!! He has no proof that he could see souls!!" The Forest Witch, backed on a corner, tried to reason out with the Hag.

    "Yes, your words might be true. But you know what I think?" Wendy scoffed, it was clear that she didn''t want to listen to the Forest Witch. "I''d rather trust an unknown young man rather than you."

    "Why!? That doesn''t make sense!!"

    "It doesn''t need to make sense!" Wendy shrieked. "We were once human too. And my gut tells me that he wasn''t lying when he said that he met the Spirit of my sister so release her!! Now!!"

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    "Argh!!" The Forest Witch was overwhelmed. Blood speed from the corners of her lips, her body was now covered in wounds which easily heal despite her strong body. She could feel that gnawing hexes bing more and more agitated. All she could do is try her best to defend herself.

    "HAG!! I SWEAR THAT I WILL CRUSH YOUR SISTER''S BODY IF YOU DON''T STOP THIS NOW!!!"

    "HA! GO ON THEN! KILL MY SISTER! I TOO SWEAR THAT IF YOU DON''T RELEASE MY SISTER AT THIS INSTANT, I WILL SUMMON ''HIM'' AND ASK HIM TO KILL HIMSELF IN FRONT OF YOU! TRY ME!! I DARE YOU!!!"

    "Haha. This is fun." Vendrick chuckled as he watched. Beside him, a small cage holding a plume of blue fire which took on the form of ady, sighed andmented...

    "You''re a terrible person."

    "Oh, I know." Vendrick replied to her.

    Maria was speechless. Vendrick didn''t even deny that at all. Of course he knows! Does he care? Nope. Why would he?

    The pitiful Maria sighed once more as she watched how her sister raged for her sake. She felt broken hearted.

    "I''ve never seen her that angry." She whispered.

    This was indeed the case. Maria never seen Wendy this angry. She had never been so angry even back when they suffered tremendously under the hands of humans. She just broke back then. When she turned into a Hag, her temper became shorter but that was offset by her slyness.

    It''s the first time that Maria witnessed what Wendy can do when she''s truly angry.

    "Why do you want us dead so much?" Maria asked Vendrick.

    This was something that she never understood all this time. Why is this human so hell bent on killing her sister and forest witch? Well, she''s also included in that list now too.

    "Oh, that? Well, it''s nothing too grand I suppose. It''s simply because your kind are a huge threat to my kind, that''s all."

    "And I''m supposed to ept that reason of yours then? As far as I know, we''ve never interfered with human matters before!"

    "Okay first foremost, I''m not really asking you or your kind to ept my reasoning. Truthfully, I couldn''t care less about your opinion even if you say that you were once human too. Feel free to resent me, I don''t care either way. You may even go against me, but of course expect me to retaliate if you do."

    "You said that you''ve never interfered with human matters before? Really? Are you certain that you can utter those words with much confidence as if you had a clear conscience?" Vendrick raised his eyebrows. "From what I can remember, weren''t you the one who rudely intruded my privacy in attempts of trying to use me for the sake of you and your sister''s benefit?"

    "..."

    "The same can be said with your kind too." Vendrick stated, "You saw how your sister took on the appearance of a kind looking old woman without hesitation when she sensed my presence right? You also heard how she tried to lure me into the swamp, saying that there is another tribe of humans out there where in fact, there''s only her and Forest Witch in there."

    "Humans and Demonic Beasts'' history is much longer than you know. We''re at each other''s throats the moment our races met. Demonic Beasts eats humans and in turn we eat them too. When Humanity is thriving, the Demonic Beasts are in dire straits. When Demonic Beasts are thriving, Humanity in is peril. Heck, they even pushed us to the brink of extinction."

    Vendrick turned around and faced Maria.

    "This is just how the world works, woman." He shrugged, "I''m just acting as a mere cog in the entire scheme of things. I''m powerless to change this. So do you, your sister, the forest witch and neither the God at the Central ins can do anything about it."

    "I''d say that ''Don''t me this to me'' but meh. I really don''t care anyway."

    Saying that, Vendrick no longer paid attention to Maria - who''s thoroughly speechless at this point.

    Throughout Vendrick''s monologue, she didn''t sense any strong emotions from him. Only rity and indifference. She could tell that Vendrick truly doesn''t care whether his actions were justified or not. It''s very likely that justice isn''t even in his vocabry.

    Just like he stated, this is just how the world works and he''s just moving ording to the current trend of the cycle. Whether he fulfils his role as the cog, only time can tell. His purpose is clear, and that is to move forward.

    Time passed in silence between these two. Theplete opposite of what''s happening outside.

    The Forest Witch went all out. She controlled the Great Tree to help her against the Hag''s ferocious attacks. She understood that she can''t hold back. However despite releasing all of her power, Wendy was unstoppable.

    Each attack she threw were filled with rage, sorrow and despair. She''s not on the right mind right now. Her only focus is her sister. She needs to see her, to hear her voice, to feel her presence. Wendy longs for her, Maria''s the only reason why she''s still alive. Wendy''s tired. She wants to rest. But the thought of letting Maria suffer injustice won''t give her peace. She couldn''t bear it.

    The Forest Witch knows what she has to do for this madness to stop. She just needed to show Wendy where Maria is. Its that simple. However, in order for this to work, she needs Maria, not just her body, her spirit. And that''s exactly what she''s missing.

    She already tried exining this to the Hag. That she doesn''t have Maria''s soul. She even pointed out that the human might know where she is. Did Wendy listen? Of course not.

    She''s consumed with her anger and longing that she didn''t even hear any of the words she said. The Forest Witch is powerless to bring her sanity back so she could only sit back and defend. Unfortunately...

    "...krgh...y-you damned...hag! W-why...why won''t you just...listen..."

    "...m-my dear husband...I-I''m sorry...I couldn''t do as I...promised..."

    And just like that....the terror and ruler of the West, the Forest Witch, drew herst breath.

 Chapter 711 - Two Down, Sending Them Off...

    ---

    The death of the Forest Witch was silent but it''s effects are not.

    With her gone, the malicious air within the swamp was halved, the only remaining one was that of Wendy''s.

    Along with the rotting of the Forest Witch''s body thanks to Wendy''s string of curses and hexes, the Great Tree that gave birth to the forest witch withered at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    Though she came out as the winner of this battle, Wendy was exhausted. Her energy was drained, she could only stare as the Great Tree withered, holding her sister''s body close in her best attempt to prevent her sister''s body from withering as well.

    Wendy''s eyes were dull, she was truly exhausted. In the end, she managed to beat the odds and kill her worst enemy - the Forest Witch. Unfortunately, it would seem that she still failed to achieve her goal of saving her sister.

    "This is what you wanted right? I''ve done it. I killed her." Wendy uttered softly. She didn''t have to speak loud since she knows that the human could hear her. "With my current state, I''m no longer a threat to you or your kind. Please, just give her back. She suffered enough."

    Momentster, she heard a movement behind her. Wendy didn''t need to look back to know who it is. She knows that it was the human boy who used her.

    That''s right. Wendy knew all along. No, Vendrick never told her the truth, she just realized it on her own. Yet she still went along with his ns. She allowed herself to be used, even at the slightest. Why did she do it? It''s simple really.

    Even though this human used her, she knew that he''s more trustworthypared to the Forest Witch. Wendy would rather throw her lot to him rather than that witch.

    "..."

    From the moment Vendrick stepped out of his base, he didn''t say a word. There was no need to for now. His face was expressionless, it''s hard to tell what exactly he was thinking.

    Vendrick remained quiet. Wendy finally looked back and saw that he was holding something. It looked like antern that''s lit up with blue mes. The moment Wendy saw that blue me, she could no longer pay any attention to anything else.

    Under her gaze, Vendrick lifted thentern and slowly opened it. The moment he does, the blue me grewrger, forming a silhouette that Wendy was oh so familiar with.

    "Big Sis." Maria wept.

    "Ah! Come,e. Let me see you." Wendy was weeping as well.

    Finally, after all this time. Wendy was finally reunited with her sister. Granted that it wasn''t the most optimal state, Wendy still wept tears of joy and relief. Maria was alive, that''s what''s important. She could hear her voice, her memories are intact, and she could see her clearly. She''s there. That''s enough.

    "It''s been hard on you throughout all these years. I''m sorry for being such a burden." Maria wept, feeling heartbroken upon seeing what Wendy became just to help her. Nobody knows how many nights Maria med herself for this situation.

    "Shh. It''s not your fault. It''s not your fault. You''re here, alive. That''s all that''s important." Wendy said, she wanted to touch Maria but unfortunately she can''t. Maria is in her spirit form and Wendy''s body wrapped in hexes.

    Wendy was afraid that she would hurt Maria so she didn''t want to touch her. It was fine like this anyway. So long as she could see her, that''s enough.

    "...cleaning up this ce is going to take a long time. Geez."

    Their little reunion was interrupted by a suddenment from Vendrick. They both looked at him and saw that he was looking around the swamp with an already exhausted expression. He then looked at them, more specifically, he looked at Wendy.

    In the end, he sighed and a bolt of lightning streaked from his finger, piercing Wendy''s chest much to the utter horror of Maria.

    "W-what..." Maria nked out. She stared at Wendy''s body who''s dissipating in ashes. Despair ovee her heart as she cried. "That was cruel. Can''t you have just given us a little more time?"

    "Calm down, woman. I didn''t kill her. At least not yet." Vendrick snorted, "I just made her like you."

    "E-eh!? What do you..."

    "W-what''s going on?"

    It wan Wendy''s voice that interrupted her. Maria turned around and saw something shocked her.

    Indeed, Vendrick hadn''t killed Wendy yet. He just destroyed her body but spared her spirit, making her the same as Maria. Wendy''s body was on the verge of copsing anyways, believe it or not, wielding the power of hexes is more taxing than what it looks like. Vendrick just helped in expediting that process but he also made sure that Wendy''s spirit won''t be affected by the copse of her physical form.

    "Now, you''re just as powerless as her." Vendrick stated. "There are no hexes on you anymore so feel free to have your own little reunion and stay there. I''lle back for the two of you."

    After saying that, Vendrick no longer paid attention to them and started manually cleaning the whole swamp using lighting and thunder.

    Wendy was confused, Maria on the other hand was numbed at this point.

    "Who is he?" Wendy couldn''t help but ask Maria, unable to hold her curiosity.

    "Well, I don''t know his name since he never introduced himself to me." Maria smiled wryly. "All I know is that human is very strange. Don''t worry, he''s true to his words. He''ll give us time, but he''ll probably kill us afterwards."

    "...is that so?" Wendy calmed down.

    She wasn''t shocked. Wendy never dreamt of living any longer anyways so she could ept this arrangement. Additionally, Maria looked like she already epted her fate so there''s no need to hold on to a silly hope.

    Come to think of it, this might just be the best for the both of them. The sisters had lived for far too long. They held on to dear life just to grasp a chance of being reunited. For what exactly? For closure? Maybe.

    Both of them died a long time ago. Whatever happened after that hardly count as ''living'' for the both of them.

    Therefore they grasped this chance. This might be thest time that they''ll see each other. Neither of them had any desire to escape fate anymore. Wendy''s exhausted, Maria too. They''re already d that they were given a chance to converse properly before they let go of everything.

    As the two of them talked to each other and settled their regrets, Vendrick was busy cleansing the swamp.

    Well, this is certainly easier than dealing with two monsters at the same time so he should be thankful that all he needed to do was a clean-up. Still though, Wendy and the Forest Witch made a total mess out of this ce.

    If he left this like this, not even Demonic Beasts would want to live in here. As he has grand ns for the tribe in the future, he might as welly down the ground work which would make things easier for them in the future. After all, he wouldn''t be around for them forever.

    Several hourster and Vendrick was done. He wiped the sweat from his face and walked towards the sisters. The two saw him approaching as well and readied themselves.

    From a single nce, Vendrick could no longer feel any resentment from the both of them. They were free and ready to go. They already let go of any sentiments they have on the mortal world.

    "This is it you two." Vendrick dered with a calm face. "Time to die."

    "Indeed." Wendy nodded with a smile. Maria did so too. "Thank you, for giving us this final chance."

    "You''re wee." Vendrick nodded. "I''ll send you on your way then."

    Saying that, Vendrick''s body released a brilliance that blinded the both of them. To their eyes, this brilliance was the light that will lead them to afterlife.

    Wendy grasped Maria''s hand and smiled at her. They closed their eyes and felt the warmth that''s enveloping their bodies.

    Unbeknownst to them, a seal appeared on their bodies just before the two of them dissipated. There was no screams, no sound at all. They just passed on quietly and peacefully.

    "...the Seal of Reincarnation. With it, you two will be reincarnated at ater time with no memories of your past lives, under a peaceful era where you two will be sisters and shall live a lifetime of bountiful peace and prosperity."

    That''s right, Vendrick didn''t kill them just like he told them. He just sent them on their way to reincarnation. He sent them to a time where they will live a peaceful life filled with happiness and peace. Hopefully, none of them knew of this since that will be for the best. Without remembering their painful life, they focus on their new one with a smile on their faces.

    "...a small present to offset the bad luck of this lifetime. Use it well you two."

    Just like that, Vendrick turned around and made his way back to the Blue Mountain Tribe.

 Chapter 712 - Return...temporarily

    ---

    "¡­and then there was much rejoicing." Arthur sighed as he looked at the excited faces of the people in front of him.

    "Well, we can''t really me them. We almost ran out of food despite our preparations. The new wave of Berserkers are also anxious to grow stronger so of course they''ll react this way." Rosa replied, deep down she was sighing in relief as well.

    Vendrick had returned victorious from his trip. Well, his job isn''t done yet but at least he bought some time for himself and tribe. Getting rid of the Forest Witch and her Hag Daughters made the Southern Continent less dangerous for them so he went back and told them that they could lift the seals and start hunting Demonic Beasts again. In fact, Arthur and Rosa just finished their announcement and people are already forming groups to hunt as soon as the sun rise tomorrow.

    "Where''s Vendrick anyway?" Arthur asked, he looked around and saw that Vendrick isn''t here.

    "Sleeping." Rosa replied ndly. "He said that the trip was draining so he''d have a good rest before setting off again. And it''s not like you don''t know him, he''s not really a socialite."

    "Ah, right. I almost forgot about that." Arthur chuckled wryly when he was reminded.

    "Anyhow, everything''s all fine and dandy. With the seals lifted, we can go hunt for game again. This means we can continue cultivating. This time, we should be able to reach a stage where our appetites won''t be as big anymore." Rosa sighed, still feeling stressed about the close call.

    Thanks to Vendrick''s unceasing work, he aplished his initial goal earlier. Had he been dyed for a few more months, the situation of the tribe would be dire.

    They''ve grossly underestimated the appetite of growing berserkers. They thought that they already prepared well for the difficult times but it turns out that the food they gathered were not nearly enough. During this year, they tried to ration the food ording to their initial ns but people were still hungry. It was really lucky that Vendrick arrived earlier.

    Although only a year and a few odd months passed since Vendrick set off, the tribe had grownrger in number. Due to thefort and happiness of the people, the birthrate increased. The tribe is now filled with babies. In a few years, these babies will grow up into adults and will start a family on their own.

    Although the tribe has expanded, it would seem that this ce won''t be enough for them in future. Eventually, they have to consider moving out and settling down somewhere else. But, this is a problem forter. For now, the crises had been averted and the mood of the tribe eased up greatly.

    ---

    Vendrick slept for three days straight at thefort of his own ce.

    When he woke up, it''s alreadyte in the afternoon. Nobody was around, only him and the cold breeze and lush vegetation surrounding his home.

    Vendrick got up and stretched his body. He''s still feeling quite lethargic but its not an excuse to ignore his grumbling stomach. He prepared a meal for himself, he took a bath, changed clothes and stared at a nk space for quite sometime, you know, the usual.

    His mind was rtively empty. He didn''t think about anything and did things instinctively. He never uttered a word since there''s no use to it. He just enjoyed the peaceful ambiance of the silence around him.

    Vendrick was like this for a week. And during this week, neither Arthur nor Rosa came to disturb him. The hideout wasn''t sealed so they could''vee whenever they liked, still they knew that Vendrick worked hard so they didn''t want to burden him anymore than they already have.

    "¡­four left." Vendrick uttered.

    This was the first words after a week long of rest. He stared at the sky and sifted information ording to what he knows.

    After using Wendy to kill the Forest Witch and sending the sisters off, Vendrick officially eliminated one of his main targets. Still, there''s something that''s really bugging him. It''s the Forest Witch''s lover.

    Before she died, the Forest Witch desperately called for her husband. She ended up dying with a belly full of regrets since she couldn''t uphold her promise. Recalling the situation, because Wendy believed that the Forest Witch took Maria as a hostage, Wendy seduced the Forest Witch''s lover to basically cheat on her, falling under Wendy''splete control in the process.

    He never had the chance to know more about the Forest Witch''s lover, only that she often refers to him as ''Big Brother'' or ''Lord Husband''. Wendy obviously couldn''t care less about him since she''s just using him as a tool. Vendrick never had the chance to ask Wendy nor Maria about him but even with all this, he could at leaste-up with a few guesses of his own, and he believe that his deduction isn''t wrong.

    The Forest Witch''s true identity is that of a Serpent born out of the Great Tree. As for how that happened, Vendrick truly doesn''t care for the neither she nor the Great Tree exists currently. But with the knowledge of her true form, Vendrick believed that the lover she was referring to is the Overlord of the West.

    The Forest Witch and her Hag Daughters who ruled over the southern continent are no more. The only one''s left are the Vampiric Serpent of the West, the Winter Troll King of the North, the Infernal Dragon of the East and the God who made its home at the Mouth of the Abyss located at the Central Continent.

    The lover of the Forest Witch is most likely the Vampiric Serpent of the West. Well, this is the most logical guess he coulde-up with and also something that he believed in but he could be wrong. Either way, no matter who her lover is, the fact still stands that things must''ve gone a bit troublesome at this point.

    See, Wendy died. Along with her death, whatever curse or hex that she ced to ce the Forest Witch''s lover should been lifted the moment she disappeared.

    As with curses and hexes, it doesn''t dissipate immediately. It could persist for quite sometime, the length depends on the density of the materials used. Only a week passed so there''s no way that the victim had recovered from the influence just yet.

    Considering that the lover of the Forest Witch was most likely an Overlord as well, there''s no way that Wendy wouldn''t stuff him to the brim with curses and hexes. If she uses too little, then it wouldn''t be effective, there''s also the chance of her getting discovered so it''s just a bad idea.

    On the other hand, using too much will undoubtedly kill him. Therefore, Wendy must''ve found the right form that works against him. But like what was stated earlier, Wendy''s death is a way of cutting off the supply of curses and hexes.

    In time, the curses and hexes will naturally dissipate and will lose its effects. The natural recovery will he slow yes but the better the victim''s condition gets, the faster their recovery as well. What''s really troublesome is the moment they regained their total freedom.

    The realization that he had been duped will undoubtedly anger the Forest Witch''s lover. It wouldn''t be a surprise if he suddenly decided to go all the way here to check the situation. And once he arrived at swamp and see the Great Tree missing as well as wife, he will undoubtedly scour the whole continent in his search. If he can''t find her, then the Southern Continent will be the main target for its anger. That wouldn''t be good.

    "...therefore I should be one step ahead of him." Vendrick dered softly over a bowl filled with warm soup. "In fact, it''d be better if I''m at least ten steps ahead of him and everyone else."

    Indeed, that will be for the better. At least this way, he could preserve his life and try again should he fail.

    "I already have the power to stand-up against the Deity, additionally time is on my side. The God doesn''t look like its overly concerned about the rest so this should be advantageous to me."

    Indeed. Vendrick is already powerful enough to go against a Continental Overlord. If things didn''t go as smoothly as it went with Wendy and Forest Witch he had the capital to take the both of them head on. If he could do that, then the other Overlords shouldn''t be a problem.

    "Still, I''d rather be over-prepared." Vendrick muttered, he looked up at the darkening sky as he thought to himself.

    "The next time I go out, I won''t be returning unless I defeated that God." Vendrick muttered to himself yet again.

    "Three-no, four months." He said, "I''ll stay here for four months, training and trying to make another breakthrough."

    "Whether I seeded after the time limit was up, I''ll set out and visit the other continents. It shouldn''t be a problem so long as I''m constantly on the move."

    "I just hope that Arthur and Rosa could hold down the fort while I''m gone."

 Chapter 713 - West

    ---

    "...so this is the Western Continent." Vendrick muttered uponnding.

    Vendrick is now visiting the Western Continent toplete his mission. He only stayed at the tribe for four months just like he said and set off once more. He left Arthur and Rosa with some suggestions since he told them that it''ll take him quite sometime before he returns.

    After leaving the tribe, Vendrick travelled consistently by flying for two months before reaching this ce. He arrived just now at the edge of the continent.

    The continents are separated byrge bodies of water, hended on the shore was weed by thepletely different atmosphere.

    There is a savage and ferocious feel in the air. It''s pricking andes in waves as if it was being released by someone or something. Nature imed thend, much like how it is in the southern continent. This is because there are no humans here who will desecrate the sanctity of thend so that they could live offfortably.

    "The Demonic Qi here thickerpared to the Southern Continent...there''s also the smell of blood permeating everywhere." Vendrick discovered this shortly after his initial inspection of thend.

    He''s still currently walking at the shore, he''s in no hurry to dive deep into the depths of the Western Continent''snd and greet its locals. He took it easy since he within an undiscoverednd.

    Vendrick spent some more time inspecting thend and to his surprise, he discovered something quite incredible.

    "Interesting...every Demonic Beast in here has Vampiric qualities." He muttered, "The bloodlust they carry is far from their average ones so it should be from an outside interference. The Vampiric Serpent maybe? Either way...that should exin why things are quite chaotic here."

    From the very moment that Vendricknded, he already felt the tremors of the ground. His ocr technique had been active sincending and he had been sweeping his gaze all over his surroundings.

    He discovered Demonic Beasts in conflict, but after discovering the strangeness of the atmosphere around him, Vendrick somewhat understood what''s happening.

    The Demonic Beasts are driven mad by something. Even the beasts who are known to flee at the first sign of conflict was bravely picking a fight with something, anything that it couldy its eyes on. The battles never stopped, every beast he saw was mad and craved to see blood. These are already considered as major red gs.

    Still, its not like Vendrick would just retreat from this. He has a mission, and he''s here to see it done. Things like this aren''t enough to stop him.

    "...but it''d be troublesome to face a ceaseless wave of demonic beasts trying to kill me. I think I should set up a base for now. I''ll need to observe more and as I make more discoveries, I''ll slowly go deeper into thisnd."

    This was the n that Vendrick came up with. He activated one of the formations he inscribed at the Spear of Wisdom to set up a temporary camp here. Thanks to the uniqueness of the formation, Vendrick wouldn''t be discovered her even if he were to be reckless.

    ---

    "...no, it''s not this one either."

    Vendrick sighed and threw another corpse on the ground. He looked around and found the mess he was in. He''s surrounded with corpses of Demonic Beast emanating a foul stench. Flesh and blood were sttered everywhere, painting a disgusting scene of carnage and madness, nevertheless, Vendrick didn''t look to affected by this.

    As he stood there, Vendrick scoured the scattered corpses in search for something. He had been searching for traces of this thing for quite sometime now but the creature was unexpectedly sneaky and cautious.

    He initially thought that maybe he killed it, so he''s searching for its corpse. However, it didn''t take him long to realize that there''s also the possibility that it managed to escape.

    *Thud*

    "Oh." Vendrick looked down and to his surprise, he bumped into the thing he was looking for. "Well yeah, it looks like I was the one who killed it. Sorry, I guess. I used too much force, I wasn''t nning on doing that. I just wanted to restrain you, but I ended up killing you."

    The corpse was that of arge rodent. It was fat and ugly, covered in warts and had a crimson colored eyes despite its lifeless body. It''s tail looked like a spiked mace attached to a rat. It was bizarre to say the least.

    The reason Vendrick was searching for this thing is simple. These rodents were the first suspect he believed to be the ''Carriers''. What he meant by that is, these rodents carries some sort of a disease that inflict a certain illness to other demonic beasts.

    This discovered happened a few hours ago. As he was venturing the forest nearby, he discovered a couple of Demonic Beast who were strangerpared to the others. These creatures weren''t mad, yet.

    At first, they were hiding from the chaos around them. Making sure to not get noticed by the bloodthirsty beasts that are still fighting each other not too far away from them.

    It was then this rodent appeared and the situation got messy. Vendrick was shocked to see that the unaffected Demonic Beasts panicked and fled at the sight of the rodent. It was strange since these Demonic Beasts are far stronger andrgerpared to the rodent but they were so scared of it. Well, it didn''t take long before he eventually found out why.

    Therge rodent moved at a surprising speed. Sinking it''s teeth at one of the Demonic Beasts. After drinking its blood, the rodent then dislodged at the beast and proceeded to flee somewhere else. The Demonic Beast it attack suddenly twitched, the scene of the happening was freaky.

    When it opened its eyes, the bite marks were gone and Demonic Beast lost all sense of reason. It began thrashing around and it ran after its formerrades. Its speed doubled and its aggressiveness shot through the roof.

    It hunted its formerrades one by one before going somewhere else. Despite that though, its formerrades didn''t die, they were re-animated but none of them were normal anymore. They were all driven mad by an unknown affliction and began ughtering each other.

    This was an astonishing sight. Vendrick immediately tracked the rodent down but it was too clever, it wasn''t easy to tail it and it even lead him torge groups of maddened beasts, which forced his hand. In the end, he overdid it, he got too enthusiastic and blew up the whole group including the rodent he was tracking down.

    "Whatever I guess." Vendrick muttered.

    He crouched down and began studying the rodent closely. Under the inspection of his ocr technique, he managed to see several things that didn''t make sense at first.

    "This stench..." Vendrick frowned when he smelled the stenching off of the rodent. "It smells like this thing had been dead for at least a month now. How can that be?"

    Vendrick inspected the organs of the rodent. He didn''t need to dissect it since his vision could see through its hide. And when he saw what''s inside, it pretty much solidified the evidence.

    "Yeah, it''s been dead for a month or two at least." This got confirmed the moment he saw the innards of the rodent. "But again, how can this be? I''m not seeing things, I''m sure of that. Not even an hour ago, this thing is alive and moving. Its active too, it even managed totch itself onto the neck of the Demonic Beast earlier."

    "Had I killed the wrong one? But that can''t be." Vendrick frowned and inspected the rodent closely again. "Wait, this is the same one. I can sense its previous movement, the corpse is fairly warm too so it''s the same one."

    "Is it Necromancy or simple re-animation?" Vendrick was confused.

    Well, none of those were good signs either but its the most logical guess he coulde-up with right now. All clues pointed towards these things. The rodent had been dead for at least two months but it was moving a few moments ago and was active enough to infect other beasts with that unknown affliction.

    "I can''t feel nor see any signs of dark arts of control though. What''s going on?" Vendrick was a bit confused.

    Necromancy is considered as a forbidden art. It is something that is not permitted by the Heavenly Laws. Victims of necromancy will often leave traces of the dark arts'' influence the moment they are subjugated by Vendrick can''t sense anything in it.

    If this was re-animation or more specifically, ''corpse control''. Vendrick would''ve easily discovered traces of the puppeteers essence on the rodent, but again, he didn''t see nor sensed any traces of that, so what exactly is going on here?

    Clearly, there''s more to the origins of this rodent. He would''ve eaten its soul to discover more from its memories but again, the rodent had been dead for at least two months already and its soul already dissipated so he can''t use this method.

    "....I need more clues."

 Chapter 714 - Huge Heart And Vines?

    ---

    "...yep, this is no ordinary Vampirism. There''s more to this."

    Vendrick came up with this conclusion after inspecting some more subjects that he encountered so far. Although he already guessed that this was the case, he still wanted to confirm it, and now he could.

    Vampirism is an art that is centered around blood consumption. Typically, the host will have to consume blood in order to sustain itself and be stronger. Those who are afflicted with Vampirism typically experiences extreme hunger that can''t be satiated with any kind of food, only by drinking blood would they be able to satiate their hunger, however repeated consumption of blood can be addicting to those who are affected.

    There are ways to spread this affliction, the mostmon way is preying onto someone without draining all the blood in their body.. Leaving them alive will cause them to be infected by Vampirism and they''ll be fledgling vampires too.

    But see, what''s happening around Vendrick isn''t simple Vampirism. If anything, it''s more like a gue really.

    Vampirism will only drive its host insane if their hunger for blood isn''t satiated after some time. If they have a stable source of blood, they will maintain their sanity as well as possess the enhanced strength of vampires and their acute sense for blood. It absolutely can''t reanimate the dead, which is what''s going around him.

    In addition, these deranged demonic beasts aren''t doing this out of need to satiate their hunger, no. Once they got infected, they will lose all sense of reason and will proceed to destroy every living thing around them, nothing can stop this unless they were killed. But to be honest, leaving an intact corpse behind would just dy this process.

    After all, whatever this ''illness'' is, it can re-animate the dead. It will only take a single bite from a carrier to re-animate a dead corpse and it would start its rampage again.

    Vendrick had been searching around for quite some time now. Trying to track where this ''illness'' ising from. Unfortunately, his senses can''t pick up anything useful. Its like they were appearing from out of nowhere.

    "Should I just kill every single one of them? That might just solve my problem right away."

    Vendrick was really tempted to do this, but s he can''t justify it...for now at least. Well he does have the ability to kill every single demonic beast in sight but even with his current strength, it will take time before he could eradicate them. What if he runs our of energy and all of a sudden the Vampiric Serpent appeared to ambush him? Wouldn''t that spell death for him?

    Additionally, what if the problem doesn''t lie on the demonic beasts themselves? Wouldn''t the act killing every single one, be not worth it if that ends up being the case? Vendrick didn''t want to waste time for something not worth it, so he turned this idea down.

    "...maybe I should go deeper into the wilderness. The answer I''m looking for might just be there."

    ---

    "Uh...what the hell is this?"

    Vendrick was dumbfounded,

    He had thought that going deeper into the wilderness of the Western Continent would at least give him answers. Well, it somehow did, but it also lead him to more questions.

    There is something in the depths. It was big and freaky.

    It pulsated as if it was alive. Looking closely at it, it looks like a beating heart only it''s a hundred times bigger than the normal one and more gross looking. It''s covered in ck slimy goo, it glows with a crimson color whenever it pulsates. Its also wrapped in vines that are pulsating rhythmically in ordance to therge organ.

    Vendrick inspected this thing from a far, at first he thought it was a hill but it pulsated and looked weird so he went closer.

    Therge organ was surrounded by Demonic Beasts who stared at the pulsating organ like they were entranced. Every single on of these demonic beasts are infected, Vendrick knew it from the first nce. All of them were covered in warts and had crimson colored eyes that pulsates in sync with the pulse of the heart.

    The only sound that could be heard from the area was the sound of a beating heart. Vendrick made sure to suppress his presence in order to not rm the demonic beasts around him.

    He hid amidst a thick bush. His eyes glowed with rainbow colored light, a sign that his ocr technique is active. He inspected the ''Heart'' and was surprised with what he saw.

    The heart was anchored to the ground by the vines. Each time it pulsates, its actually releasing an invisible steam that blends into the air. Give it enough time and not even Vendrick''s ocr technique would be able to see it.

    This invisible steam was then inhaled by the demonic beasts around and causes them to mutate.

    Vendrick witnessed the infection with his eyes. He saw as an unsuspecting demonic beast which looked like a deer, identally inhaled the steam. Its gaze became dull, it stared at the beating heart and suddenly grew warts all over its body, its eyes also turned crimson.

    These warts contained more of that invisible steam. Each time the infected or carriers attacked another Demonic Beasts, they steam inside the warts will move in ordance to their attack and will convert the victim.

    ''How long has this been going on?''

    There''s probably nobody that could answer Vendrick''s question since he''s the only human here. Thankfully, this invisible mist doesn''t have any effect on him or else it''ll be troublesome to deal with this.

    Vendrick has no idea how the hell that heart came to be or how long its been since it started infecting demonic beasts around. If there''s anything good about his current situation, it''ll be the fact that he discovered this before it spread to other continents.

    The southern and western continent are divided by arge body of water. It''ll only take a single sea demonic beast to be infected and this whole gue would''ve consumed the entire sea and quite possiblynd on the southern continent or other continent for that matter.

    "Hmm? Wait! Is that..." Vendrick just noticed something.

    He took a closer look by inching a bit closer to the heart, of course he was being careful to not alert the other demonic beast in the process.

    Vendrick squinted because he felt like he was seeing things, which shouldn''t be possible since he''s immune to all kinds of illusions, especially with his ocr technique active. It''s also impossible for his eyesight to be bad.

    What made him curious is the appearance of the vines surrounding the heart. Well, it did look like vines at first but the more he looked at it, the more he was convinced that these vines aren''t ordinary. Well, that''s already to he expected, after all no normal vines would grow to be this thick and long but that''s not the point.

    He saw a re on the surface of the vines, it onlysted for a second before dissipating but it definitely happened. Vendrick caught it and thought to himself: ''Vines don''t sparkle. Especially if they are dried ones.''

    At first he thought that the re might just be because of the reflection of light from touching a moisture or something but when he looked closely at that same spot, he couldn''t find any traces of wetness in there.

    Just as when he was doing that, another sparkle urred from the corner of his eyes and once again, nothing. This is when he began suspecting what he was seeing.

    He then sharpened his senses, and when he did the results surprised him. At first it was quite difficult to spot because it blend in at its surroundings so perfectly that it even managed to fool him. But then again, it couldn''t really hide the sparkling scales beneath it.

    These vines aren''t normal. It''s not just simply connected to the heart, it is a creature that''s wrapped around the heart.

    It''s movement was so natural that it made Vendrick admire its cunningness. The heart releases an invisible steam whenever it pulsates, this is what he thought was happening but in truth, the reason why the heart is even pulsating in the first ce is because the creature wrapped around it, was squeezing it.

    Again, it''s not like its casting an illusion, it''s just camouged in the subtlest way that Vendrick actually fell for it.

    This creature is long since it could wrap around the huge heart without even giving signs were it starts or ends. It''s body also just happen to be the same color as the heart, in fact it could even mimic the way how the heart glows with crimson colored light whenever it releases that invisible steam.

    Vendrick already has an idea of what this creature is, but just to make sure, he searched for where its head was.

    He carefully moved around the dazed demonic beast and then he found it.

    It was indeed the Vampiric Serpent, it wrapped itself around the heart and also doing something quite questionable.

    "...is it trying to swallow the heart?"

 Chapter 715 - Instinct

    ---

    "...okay, what the hell is actually going on?" Vendrick was really confused now.

    The strangeness of the situation in front of him was a bit much. At first he thought that these are vines but in truth it''s actually the Vampiric Serpent. He also thought of the possibility that the Vampiric Serpent was just connected to the heart for some reason but when he took a close look, it''s actually trying to devour it whole. He''s finding it difficult to believe that this serpent could open its maws this wide.

    He wanted to know why the Vampiric Serpent is doing this, but walking right up to it and asking it directly would be a stupid idea, isn''t it? But besides the serpent, who else could he ask? If there''s any demonic beast in here that''s capable of speech, it would be the serpent, but could it even answer him? It''s mouth''s full.

    It was really strange. What''s this heart? How did ite here? Why is the serpent trying to eat it? How can the heart release that invisible steam? So many questions but there''s nobody to answer him.. Moreover, Vendrick doesn''t really have time to wait until this thing devoured and digested the heartpletely.

    "Should I just say ''screw this'' and eradicated the serpent and the heart itself?" Vendrick muttered to himself. "I mean, I at least got some answers. I know where the thing I need to kill is, and I also learned what''s source of the infection."

    The more he thought about it, the more attractive this idea gets.

    "But what if something terrible happens after I destroyed the heart?" Vendrick asked to particrly nobody. "I mean, I call a Heart but is it really a heart? If it is, then who or from where did ite from? How did it appear here? What will happen if it was destroyed? What will happen to the infected? Ugh, there''s so many things I don''t know, and that might actually risk this whole process."

    These are mainly his concerns. To Vendrick, destroying stuff is the easy part, after all he has lightning on his side, that''s never going to be a problem. The problem is, what if the whole Western Continent sinks upon destroying the heart? Yes, the likelihood of this happening is extremely low but what if it actually happens? Wouldn''t that have severe consequences in this world?

    Yes, Vendrick is strong, but believe it or not, he''s not strong enough cure or fix an entire world should it identally happen because of his recklessness.

    "Ugh, if I only had my Spacetime Laws with this." Vendrick groaned. "Temporal Scrying would''ve been so useful in this situation."

    Temporal Scrying is one of the skills that he got when he learned Spacetime Laws. It allows him to scry the history of anything using a single touch. If he had this skill, he would''ve at least get some information out of thisrge heart which he could then use to decide what''s the wisest decision to do right now.

    Unfortunately, everything he knows about Spacetime Laws are sealed so he can''t use it.

    "Come on, instinct." Vendrick muttered as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his thoughts. "Isn''t it about time you tell me something?"

    Unable to decide, Vendrick decided to ask his instinct for help. It has never failed him before he trusted it more than anything else. Whether this works or not, only time can tell.

    Well, after concentrating for a while, he didn''t feel anything. It seems that calling out for its help won''t work this way. In the end, Vendrick became indecisive. He looked at the Serpent and the heart in front of him and sighed.

    "Oh well, I''ll juste backter. I''ll ruminate on my thoughts for a bit and then decide what method I''ll adapt for this one."

    Thinking about this, Vendrick then decided to slowly and quietly retreat from the scene when all of a sudden, he felt something. His heart throbbed and he suddenly started sweating. His pupils constricted as he froze on the spot.

    His thoughts became chaotic for a brief moment before he regained his stability. When he did, he sat down and regted his breathing.

    "Betterte than never I guess." Vendrick smiled wryly. What happened just now rinsed all thoughts of retreating from his mind.

    The moment he started retreating, his instincts red and gave him a severe warning. It was so strong that he instantly realized the severity of the situation. What his instincts ryed to him was simple.

    ''Retreat now and you''ll never be able to defeat that thing.''

    ''It''s devouring that thing to ascend.''

    That''s it. That alone was enough to purge all thoughts of retreating from his mind.

    Indeed, why did he not think about this? It should''ve been obvious the moment he discovered the Vampiric Serpent trying swallow this thing whole. The mere sight of that should''ve made him ask himself ''Why is it bothering to devour this thing when it''s the rightful ruler of the Western Continent?''

    Everything it needs and wants should be given to it the moment it asked for it. Offering, sacrifices, food, entertainment, concubines. Not a single Demonic Beast would try to defy its orders since the serpent is way stronger than them.

    Demonic Beasts, despite what they look like and how they act, could actually feel contentment which sets them apart from humans greatly for theter would never feel content with what they have.

    As a Demonic Beast that reached its current stage, the Vampiric Serpent should''ve been contented with what it has. Everything it needed was at its beck and call. In the Western Continent, its no different from a god.

    But again, why is it devouring this heart? Why is it pushing itself so hard to the point where it even ripped its own mouth just to make sure it could slowly swallow this thing?

    Well, it should be a no-brainer question but for some reason, Vendrick didn''t realize it until now.

    The Vampiric Serpent is a Demonic Beast with intellect, still it''s a beast nheless, and most of its actions are spurred by its own instincts. The thing that will allow it to be stronger than before, possibly rivalling even the God at the Central Continent, was conveniently lying here, in its own territory and its not going anywhere so, why not right?

    If it were him, Vendrick would''ve done the same. In fact, this thing might''ve already been digested at this point if it was really him.

    With all of this thoughts on his head, Vendrick eventually found his resolve. Right, there''s no way he could let this happen.

    He still has no idea what will happen the moment the heart was destroyed but he''s certain that it can''t be worst than letting the serpent be a god as well.

    Steeling his resolve, Vendrick dropped all pretenses. He summoned the spear and immediately covered the surrounding with a dome that istes it from the outside.

    He no longer hid his presence, he walked out of his hiding spot inrge strides covered with scales and lightning. His aura was felt by everyone, including the Vampiric Serpent. He could feel the serpent looking at him with a hostile gaze but Vendrick didn''t care, he didn''t do this to make friends with it anyway.

    Stomping his right foot forward, Vendrick grunted and released a mighty swing using his spear. Streaks of lightning shot out from his spear, directly reducing the carriers into dusts.

    From this point on, the carriers had been thoroughly rmed and began rushing towards him. They tried to call for reinforcements but their voices didn''t get out of the dome since itpletely isted them. From the very beginning, Vendrick already neutralized one of their fatal weapons which is their numbers.

    Snorting, Vendrick stomped forward once more and threw the spear. It became a projectile covered in lightning that easily prated their thick hides and reduced them to dusts. It''s trajectory changed courses numerous times because it''s controlled by Vendrick using his mind, it was like a heat-seeking javelin.

    Eventually, the spear returned to his hand. Vendrickunched another wave of pure destructive lightning that reduced a great number of demonic beasts to dusts. The poor things weren''t even able to release a cry of indignation before dying.

    Dealing with the infected and the carriers weren''t hard, it didn''t even make him sweat. Since the ce is isted, no reinforces wille. This means, that it''s down to Vendrick and the Vampiric Serpent. Unfortunately, the serpent doesn''t appear to have any desire to dislodge itself from the heart. However, that doesn''t meant that itspletely defenseless.

    Vendrick saw the tail of the serpent stabbing the ground. At first he was confused as to why but that didn''tst long.

    From the ground rose numerous creatures. They appeared like blobs of blood at first but they eventually transformed into beings with the majority being demonic beasts. All of them shared a connection with the serpent so it would seem that his formation wasn''t able to stop the serpent from calling re-enforcements.

    Now, if Vendrick wants to stop the serpent from devouring the heart, he needs to kill its minions first.

 Chapter 716 - Remembrance

    ---

    *Bzzt!* *Bzzt!* *Boom!*

    Lightning and loud ps of thunder echoed throughout the wilderness. Wherever the streak of lightning passes, infected demonic beasts will turn into dust, scattering in the air. The ps of thunder was enough to paralyze their movement greatly, it''s as if the sound was so loud that it''s prating through the influence of the infection. It renders them immobile and confused, seemingly being awakened from their stupor before the infection takes control once more, however that moment of confusion gave enough time for them to die without even knowing how it happened.

    Vendrick isn''t aware that his thunder has such an effect on the Demonic Beasts. He saw them freezing on their tracks but that just made him think that maybe its due to the suppression of his lightning. After all, these demonic beasts are mere puppets of the Vampiric Serpent.

    He mowed through their numbers like it was nothing. Each swing of his spear will disintegrate dozens of the serpent''s minions. Couple with Vendrick perverted brute force, the destruction he caused was just too much. .

    Even with the great number of enemies before him, it did nothing to stop him from advancing in a stable manner towards the Vampiric Serpent. Even with the serpent summoning more, it wouldn''t really do much against Vendrick.

    The wilderness shook with Vendrick''s strength. He eliminated all of the enemies in front of him without even breaking a sweat. After a few minutes, the Vampiric Serpent stopped summoning its minions. Its either because it knew that summoning more would just be useless or Vendrick eradicated all of them already.

    No matter which it is, it didn''t concern Vendrick. No, only a short distance was keeping him away from the Vampiric Serpent, a distance that he could quickly pass with his speed but Vendrick didn''t out of caution.

    He moved slow and steady, grasping his spear firmly onto his hands, he pointed it towards the serpent. This was a deration, no words were needed since the serpent understood this already.

    All of a sudden, the scales on Vendrick''s body became denser, it looked like he was wearing a set of armor which gleamed with a cold light. The animosity from his bloodline exploded, washing the whole wilderness with its majesty and fearful might. Vendrick''s eyes turned into slits as the brutal suppression descended towards the serpent.

    The moment the serpent felt the aura, it was reminded of a few things. Memories that were sealed from the depths of its soul. Memories that happened rtively recent but felt like ages ago at the same time.

    Under the bloodline suppression, the primal instincts of the serpent screeched so loud that it caused the serpent a great deal of headache, followed by a moment of rity.

    Memories rushed back like a tidal wave. It began remembering things that it has forgotten for quite sometime thanks to a certain even which changed the serpent. It remembered a faint figure from its memories. It recalled emotions and profound fondness towards a certain serpent like itself.

    The image of the serpent was blurred, it was also morphing into something indistinguishable. The serpent could recall names but it couldn''t remember which name belong to who.

    It gave the serpent a huge headache and difort. It felt like it forgot something really important. So important that the sheer idea of forgetting it made the serpent feel a great deal of sadness, difort and despair. Just what is it? It wondered, unfortunately this isn''t really the time to delve into its memories.

    Vendrick sensed the severe fluctuations on the serpents mood. It was conflicted. Which was fair since he probably helped with the eleration of the serpents memories.

    Don''t forget that the serpent is still affected by Wendy''s hex. Vendrick''s act of infiltrating this ce and dering war against the serpent, as well as letting it feel the animosity of its bloodline probably became factors that made the serpent feel greatly threatened, as a result, its instincts red and it unknowingly broke Wendy''s influence over it.

    s, Vendrick truly doesn''t care at this point. His goal was clear, and that is to kill the serpent and destroy the heart. Only in that way would he be able to avoid the impeding cmity he felt.

    Blue Lightning descended from the dark clouds above and struck Vendrick. It didn''t hurt him, instead it bestowed him greater power. The power of Lightning and Thunder Tribtion, one of the most, if not the most destructive elements of the Heavenly Laws.

    Vendrick performed a thrust, which was apanied by a p of thunder. A streak of lightning with the thickness if a tree''s trunk, shot towards the serpent,nding squarely onto its body, causing it to release a pained hiss.

    The camouge was dispelled, it revealed the long and sturdy body of the serpent, now scorched ck and smoking due to Vendrick''s relentless strike. It''s body wriggled around the heart, trying to shake away the residual lightning which is so destructive and painful to no avail.

    The serpent wanted to move away. It felt terrified now. The pain it experienced was literally eye-opening, it never felt such soul-searing pain even in its life.

    As the famous saying goes, ''Pain is the evidence of one''s existence in reality''. Something that is true even for a demonic beast such as the serpent itself. Although the pain was so great that it made the serpent want to die, it also freed it from the remaining influence of the Hag it once met.

    The pain made the serpent open its eyes to reality. rity returned to the serpent, allowing it to remember all of its memories that was once sealed. It now remembered who it was. What was its purpose. Who was thedy that made it feel incredible fondness to. What was it that it has forgotten. Everything came rushing back.

    s, it''s toote. All toote.

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!!*

    The serpent shrieked due to the pain. It wanted to escape, it truly does, but it couldn''t. Not when it and the heart are linked this way.

    The serpent remembered. It knew that the moment it started the devouring the heart, it wouldn''t be able to stop halfway through the process. It is for this very reason that it enved numerous demonic beast in the first ce. The process cannot be interrupted.

    The infection was caused by the heart. The serpent knew that the heart was a unique thing. It contained mystical energy that isn''t harmful to the serpent but has a great effect against other demonic beasts.

    The serpent''s instincts at that time told it to devour the heart since by doing so, it could allow the serpent to shed its skin and transform into a true god, much like the one at the Central Continent that once visited this ce.

    Did the serpent wanted to be a god? Well, if this was during the time before it was bewitched by Wendy, probably not. All the serpent wanted was to search for a way to cure the Forest Witch - its beloved. The witch can''t produce offspring. Something that the two greatly dreamed of. All they wanted was a family, a huge one. But the Forest Witch can''t, she''s unable to since birth.

    That''s when the couple heard a rumor from other demonic beasts, there is a cure that could only be found on the Western Continent, unfortunately only the strong demonic beasts could enter that ce. It is for this very reason that they became deities.

    When the Vampiric Serpent arrived here, it found the cure. The only thing that''s stopping it from entering that ce its insufficient strength. So it stayed here. Time passed and during one of its attempts, the serpent was injured greatly that it lost consciousness.

    It woke up, all healed. Taken care of by a fair humandy. That''s when everything started to go wrong. Thedy was sweet and gentle. Her kindness touched the guarded heart of the serpent. She made him lower his guard which was fatal mistake.

    She did help him a lot of times. Healing him whenever he''s injured, unbeknownst to him, the healing was apanied by a string of hexes that poisoned its mind. It wasn''t long until the serpent became unable to resist anymore. The long separation from his beloved, the sweet and gentlepany of that fairdy who didn''t leave his side even once. The poisonous effect of the hexes and one silly mistake was all it took for the serpent to forget everything.

    It became the ve of a Hag. A willing ve that followed everything she ordered him to do. Gone were his resolve as well as his memories. His thoughts became centered around the Hag and the Hag only. If the Hag asked him toy down his own life, he will without any questions asked.

    The Hag wanted him to be more powerful. Hence it spurred the attempt of the serpent to devour that mysterious heart. An act which lead to the ultimate tragedy.

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!*

    "I''m sorry..."

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!*

    "I''ve forgotten you..."

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!*

    "My beloved...I hope..."

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!*

    "That in our next life..."

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!*

    "...I could make it up to you..."

    *Bzzt!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

 Chapter 717 - Heart, Destroyed.

    ---

    Killing the Vampiric Serpent was easier than he initially thought and it was mostly thanks to the unique circumstances that it was in.

    Destroying the heart on the other hand, was a different matter...

    With the Vampiric Serpent''s death, it''s body dissipated into dusts, much like what happens whenever Vendrick kills other demonic beasts using his lighting. To his surprise however, he saw that the heart was unscathed even with all of that.

    It was a strange sight if he was being honest. The heart, which still asionally pulses from time to time, looked like it''s made out of flesh but not even a scar could be seen on its surface. Vendrick knew that the Tribtion Lightning definitely struck the heart, he saw it happen with his eyes. So seeing it unscathed after an attack of that caliber when the Vampiric Serpent easily died due to it, was surprising. .

    Vendrick still feel ill at ease. He couldn''t bring himself to just leave this thing alone. At first he thought that his instincts were wary about the prospects of letting the Vampiric Serpent be a god but now that it died, he realized that he was unconsciously wary of the heart, not the serpent.

    Why is it so? The heart technically didn''t anything to him, well at least not yet? So why in the world would he feel this subconscious threat from it. This is something that he can''t answer but he knew what he had to do.

    The heart needs to go. It can''t remain in thisnd, it has to be destroyed. Leaving it behind like this is something that Vendrick can''t possibly allow to happen.

    Having thought of that, Vendrick summoned all of his strength. Literally everything that he could squeeze out of his entire being, he fused it with his spear. He stomped forward, his foot causing the ground to cave-in from the sheer strength he has.

    He gripped the spear tight and made a mighty swing aimed at the heart itself.

    *Boom!!*

    The explosion could be heard all over the Western Continent. Dozens of demonic beast were startled, they looked up to the general direction of where the explosion happened, feeling a bit apprehensive. The wiser beasts started moving farther from the impact, some even hid underground, hoping to escape the uing cmity.

    A huge cloud of dust blurred Vendrick''s vision. This much didn''t hinder his ocr technique though. He saw the results as clear as day and to say that he dissatisfied would be understatement.

    Not even his 100% was enough topletely destroy this heart. At most it was just damaged. There was arge and ugly gash on its surface, but it wasn''t deep enough, not at all.

    The heart was pulsating greatly though. Copious amount if purple blood was leaking through the gash, additionally, there were also that invisible steam which is now leaking out. Thankfully, the invisible steam cannot pass through the dome, Vendrick knew that this much was enough to infect several dozens of demonic beasts nearby and he wouldn''t want distractions now, especially considering the fact that the wound on the surface of the heart was healing.

    Vendrick didn''t stay idle. All of this were mostly contained for now but he can''t say for how long.

    Summoningrge amounts of Tribtion Lightning and Thunder, Vendrick unhesitatingly poured everything he has on the healing wound, preventing it from closing up. He could see that the heart was twitching violently now, it''s as if it was on the verge of exploding anytime soon. Nevertheless, Vendrick pressed-on. This thing needs to go, it has to.

    Vendrick wasn''t focused on doing more damage to the shell of the heart, he already knew that such a thing would be a useless effort. If the shell is to thick, then he just have to make sure he destroyed it from the inside, which is what he''s doing right now.

    The lightning and thunder tribtion energy prated the wound which was now growingrger as time passes on. There is something that is preventing it from prating any deeper but the destructive element of the lightning was intent on pushing its way through. It lingers and consistently did more damage inside, this goes on for as long as Vendrick could hold out.

    More and more of that purple blood was leaking through the wound, it was sizzling due to the lightning but Vendrick didn''t care. As for that invisible steam, it basically filled the entire dome but he''s immune to it so he ignored it.

    Vendrick was sweating though. Even though he could channel the power of tribtion lightning, it doesn''t mean that he could do it forever. He could only hold out for some time since his energy reserves were spent earlier.

    As he controlled the flow of energy finely while driving the spear deeper into the heart, Vendrick gritted his teeth and endured. He summoned all of his strength to support him so that he could extend the time he could hold on. He''s close, he could feel it. He''s very close.

    Gnashing his teeth and growling, Vendrick shoved the spear deeper, him along with it. He didn''t mind the fact that he''s practically covered with that purple blood since it doesn''t have any effects on him. With onerge push, he felt it.

    The tip of his spear made contact with something, it was fragile, like a thin membrane of flesh which his spear easily pierced through. As the spear pierced the membrane, he felt another sensation from spear.

    He was shocked since he could feel that the spear suddenly reacted strongly to something. He couldn''t see it properly but the spear won''t stop letting out thrumming sounds.

    What shocked him even more is that, he could feel a warm current being supplied to him. It wasing from the spear. To his surprise, he found out that he can''t move the spear any longer. It was stuck there, seemingly bound to whatever it is it made contact with at the core of the heart.

    The warm current energized him, it was gentle and extremely nourishing. Vendrick could feel his reserves swiftly. Only a minute passed and his energy reserves were already replenished by 25%.

    In addition to all of this, the spear itself was glowing with a divine light. Vendrick has no clue what''s going on but he didn''t stop it. His instincts stopped giving him any warnings, meaning that whatever he''s doing was something safe.

    *Buzz!*

    Vendrick flinched, he received a transmission from the spear, something that he wasn''t expecting. Through his connection with the spear, it transmitted a message to him.

    "So...this thing can help you? Okay...I guess."

    The spear - well, the Brush of Wisdom, apparently made contact with something it could eat and told Vendrick to not worry. A simr thing happened before when he went to the treasury of the Ancient Elysium Sect, the brush had been quiet ever since but now it unexpectedly made contact to him.

    It was confusing but there''s nothing he could do about it. Besides, this is for his own benefit as well anyway so why stop it.

    Time passed and Vendrick could sense that the absorption was nearly over. The diving light that was being emitted by the Spear became even more intense as time passed but now it''s starting to dim. And after a couple of minutes, the light went awaypletely and Vendrick could feel that he could move the spear again.

    He looked at the heart with a wry smile on his face. It wasn''t twitching anymore, what''s left of it was only a mere husk of what it previously was. All of the blood has dried out, the invisible steam stopped leaking ten minutes ago.

    The heart now looked like a shriveled skin or like a rotten tree bark. The moment Vendrick pulled the spear back, the heart crumbled, turning into dust and scattering into the air. Vendrick felt bizarre, he wasn''t expecting things to turn out this way.

    Nevertheless, he felt at peace. He no longer has any worries since there''s nothing in the Western Continent that could threaten him any longer. If anything, he more curious about the spear now.

    He lifted the spear and inspected it. There weren''t anyrge changes to its appearance other than it now has a gem embedded at the center of the spear''s tip which looked like a topaz. Vendrick tried to inspect it with his senses but deflected him, something that he didn''t expect.

    "Uh...what happened?" Vendrick felt awkward asking the spear - well, the brush. He never really tried tomunicate with it before, it''s mostly just a one way conversation with the brush telling him something.

    *Buzz!*

    The spear buzzed and sent another transmission. It wasn''t a clear message, more like a hint which he has to trante. Well, it''s nothingplicated this time around. The spear simply told him that everything was fine and there''s nothing for him to worry about.

    As for the gem, well...the spear didn''t say much about it, just that he will soon find out and that it needs some time to adjust to changes, around two weeks would be fine.

    "Well...okay then. Two weeks it is."

 Chapter 718 - Man With A Scepter

    ---

    Vendrick stayed in the Western Forest for two weeks, waiting for the spear toplete its transformation if there''s even one.

    He was in thefort of his own formation which gave him absolute protection and privacy, he rxed to recover from his travels and battles recently. He knows that he will be on the road soon so he should rest as much as he could while he still can.

    Vendrick didn''t train, that being said it doesn''t mean he stopped growing within these two weeks. He has the Dragonborn Physique, even if he does nothing, he will be strong. It''s an anomaly to be honest.

    During the time he was resting, Vendrick constantly reyed the scene of him trying to destroy the heart. It''s been a while since he struggled to do something. He still have no idea what the heart is made of but what really made him a bit apprehensive was his attitude.

    By no means Vendrick thought that he was infallible in this world.. He knew that he was strong but not godlike...at least not yet. The fact that he struggled to destroy something was an eye-opening experience for him though. He couldn''t help but think that he might''ve be too confident about his abilities.

    But see, the thing is, even the Tribtion Lightning - which is said to be the one of the most destructive elements in terms of Heavenly Powers, struggled to prate that thing. It''s not like Vendrick was wielding a fake Tribtion Lightning either or else he would''ve noticed that. This is why Vendrick couldn''t help but wonder about the origins of that thing.

    ''Forget it.'' Vendrick muttered to himself, ''It''s gone, whatever that was. There''s no point on wasting time thinking about it.''

    He sighed and got out of his bed. He stepped out his tent and went towards the table. There''s a simmering pot in there and judging how long it has been, the food should be ready.

    Vendrick got himself a bowl of soup and began eating. All of a sudden though, his meal was interrupted by the sudden fluctuations of the spear which was stabbed on the ground.

    The energy it was releasing was strong. Vendrick perked-up andpletely forgot about his meal. He stood up and approached the spear.

    He was hesitant to touch it. He didn''t want to interrupt the changes especially now that it''s on the final stages. However, the spear itself began floating and releasing fluctuations even stronger than before. It floated in front of Vendrick, releasing a buzzing sound which asked him to hold it.

    Vendrick held the spear and suddenly, he felt his consciousness being pulled to another dimension.

    When he came to be, he found himself standing at a vast open space. Everything is covered in a velvety ck nket with beads sparkling brightly as if they''re contending who''s the brightest. His current environmentpletely resembled the starry skies, only this time, he felt infinitesimally closer to them as if he could touch them.

    Vendrick was confused, he didn''t know why the spear or the Brush of Wisdom pulled him into this space, but his questions will be answered momentarily.

    He felt movement around him which alerted him. He looked around and saw the stars moving in a strange pattern. Some where flying off course while others were fusing with the smaller ones. Streaks of light converged, explosions shook the space ensuing chaos all around. Standing at the very center of this chaos was Vendrick who didn''t know what''s happening.

    *Sigh*

    That...wasn''t supposed to be that loud. And it sure as hell wasn''t supposed to calm down that on going chaos amongst the stars and space.

    Vendrick was frozen on the spot. He too heard that sigh, it was quiet, soft even. But the way it echoed all over the starry skies was incredible, not the mention how that one sigh seemingly stopped all the chaos that''s going on. What really caused him to be greatly shocked, was because that sigh sounded as if it came from his own mouth.

    Well, how would that be possible? He sure as hell didn''t remember doing that or even having the power to do anything remotely close to the effects of that sigh.

    "Howmentable..."

    The same voice spoke. Again, Vendrick felt like he was the source of that voice. He turned around to look behind him but he didn''t anyone in there. He looked above, below, to his left and right, and again behind him but he just couldn''t see who''s talking. He''s the only living being capable of speech here so what''s going on?

    Amidst his confusion, Vendrick suddenly felt like a pair of eyesnded on his body. He froze, he couldn''t see anyone. Whoever this entity was, its something that is way beyond his imaginations. After all, Vendrick never felt so exposed before. Not on his previous life, or this one. This is the first time.

    "...I see, very well then."

    As the voice spoke, Vendrick felt the gaze leaving him. All of a sudden, the world seemingly resumed all activity. A silvery radiance erupted with Vendrick as the source. The brilliance epassed everything, filling the entire space with a bright silver glow.

    In front of him, something formed. A silhouette which he couldn''t see nor perceive. It was holding some type of a scepter which felt extremely familiar to Vendrick.

    The silhouette moved, he lifted the scepter and pointed it at the stars. To Vendrick''s amazement, the silhouette began drawing lines filled with endless profundity that eludes him. The silhouette began connecting one star to another, he was drawing the Constetions!

    Constetions that Vendrick knew and had no idea existed, was born thanks to the actions of this mysterious man. As he began drawing constetions, the chaos stopped. Slowly but surely, order was being restored.

    Vendrick could feel the endless charm of Universal Laws from the way the mysterious man formed the constetions. Unfortunately, Vendrick still hasn''t reached the point where he could understand anything about this, hell even Divinity ranked experts might not understand this either. Still, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity so he made sure to keep his eyes wide open to not miss anything.

    At some point in time, the man stopped. Order was restored and the space around them returned to its previous state. Vendrick stared at the man and he saw him turning around to look at him.

    "Child." Vendrick shook, he wasn''t expecting this. He could feel the man''s gaze locked onto his, its as if he could see him. "Fret not. We are separated by eons."

    Now that''s just absurd. It turns out that this man could see him despite being separated by eons of time, he''s even talking to Vendrick as if they met in person.

    "...this isn''t the first time this happened." The man said which as pained and exhausted voice.

    Vendrick was confused, he then thought to himself: ''Is he talking about the chaos earlier? Wait, should I say something? Can I evenmunicate with him? This might be a one way connection, I don''t know.''

    "With you being here...that means Time is almost up." The man said in a cryptic manner, which somehow made Vendrick nervous. "I can''t see past through you, neither can I see what happens next."

    "Though I know one thing." The man continued, "Your presence means that Destiny has elected you. What happens next is up to you."

    ''Wait, what does that mean? I don''t understand.''

    "You have time, though not long it should still be sufficient." The man sighed once more, "All of this might elude you right now but that just because you''re not ready yet. In time, you will know."

    "Time mustn''t be wasted." The man paused and lifted his scepter.

    He then pointed it to Vendrick and drew a mark which got branded to his very consciousness. Just before Vendrick inspected what the mark was, he was shocked to see the scepter on the man''s hand shatter into pieces.

    The shards scattered, flying towards great distances which Vendrick couldn''t follow. What''s left in front of him, was a mere fragment of what it once was.

    ...a brush.

    The brush slowly came close to him, fusing with Vendrick consciousness. The moment it did, Vendrick heard the man''s voice booming on his consciousness.

    "The scepter that drew the Constetions, a mere fragment of it. Collect the rest and it shall aid you on your chosen path."

    As soon as that was done, Vendrick felt something tugging his consciousness. He instinctively knew that he will be returning to his body shortly. He felt conflicted, he didn''t want to leave just yet since he still hasn''t confirmed if he could actuallymunicate with the man.

    "Words are of no use, Child." The man spoke with an aged and wizened voice. "I am not of your time. I won''t be. By the time you can understand the world, I am long gone. My ways are my own, so is my path. You have yours to follow. Discover it and see it through the end."

    After that, the man slowly turned around and starts walking away from Vendrick. As he walked away and pull he felt grew stronger, Vendrick saw that the man''s silhouette was vanishing slowly.

    As soon as the man thepletely vanished, Vendrick stopped resisting the pull and allowed his consciousness to return to the real world.

 Chapter 719 - North, Winter Troll King

    ---

    It took him another 6 months to finally arrive at the Northern Continent.

    The moment he arrived, he was greeted with a dense cold air and a vast nket of snow. Everything was covered in snow, well at least a great majority of it. The cold breeze was refreshing, yet it also contained the scent of savageness.

    He could feel the brutality in the air and smell the faint scent of blood, he''s still at the edge of the continent yet he could also feel the dreadful situation of thisnd. Vendrick looked up, staring at the think clouds looming all over the continent. There are some rays of sunshine that managed to seep through the clouds, allowing the continent to somewhat brighten up but aside from that, nothing.

    Observing for a while, Vendrick could already tell that this Winter won''t be letting up anytime soon, in fact, he has this feeling that it will never go away. Still, this is none of his concerns for now. He has a mission to finish, therefore he didn''t stay at the edge of the continent for very long and started travelling towards the depths of the Northern Continent.

    Vendrick didn''t bother to hide much. He simply travelled as swiftly as he could. He could sense that the temperature got lower as he went deeper to the north but it didn''t matter to him since he''spletely unaffected by it.

    He could also sense the feral demonic beasts hiding at their ownirs. Most of them weren''t particrly dangerous so he ignored them. The stronger ones were hibernating in their own caves andirs, the weaker ones were wise enough to never enter theirir since it would simply spell death for them.

    Due to this arrangement, Vendrick encountered no troubles getting deeper into the continent. Sure, he might''ve trespassed someirs of the stronger beasts who were hibernating but he suppressed his presence well enough to not disturb them, the weaker ones simply avoided them since he let out a sliver of his own animosity.

    His target here is the Winter Troll King. Vendrick could somehow tell that searching for this troll might take him sometime but he didn''t mind it. He has some time to spare, for now he simply just wandered the Northern Continent,pletely unbothered by the cold temperature around him.

    The Northern Continent has an awful lot of mountains, this was something he discovered from his observations so far. Interestingly enough, majority of those mountains are actually home to the hibernating Demonic Beasts. Some mountains had a cave system in its interior, some doesn''t. Some beasts preferred to hibernate inside the caves, some preferred to do it on the peak of the mountain.

    Vendrick also noted that as he went deeper into the continent, his surroundings are getting darker. The clouds are thicker and darker here for some reason, the kind that doesn''t allow light to pass through any longer. It''s also colder here of course and from where he currently was, Vendrick could see a Hail Storm ahead.

    The Hailstorm behaved rather strange. Just like the winter here, it didn''t show signs of weakening or stopping. Additionally, it was stationary. Vendrick had been observing it for a few hours at this point and not even once did he see it moving from the spot of experience any changes in its intensity.

    The Hailstorm was strong and relentless. Vendrick could already see hints of its abnormality. If he entered the ce where the Hailstorm reigns, he wouldn''t be so surprised to know that he''ll see some of the stronger demonic beasts active in there.

    That being said, Vendrick is not in a hurry.

    He took his time and rested. He had gotten used to the istion. Loneliness isn''t a foreign element on his life, he rather enjoyed the peace it brings if he''s being honest. Of course, there''s no way it''ll beat the warmth of being with his family but still...

    Vendrick also enjoyed the cold breeze of the winter here, coupled with the boundless nket of pristine white snow. If this ce was a little brighter, then it''d be perfect on his opinion.

    He set up camp inside a formation. At this point, he knew that he''s strong enough that the demonic beasts would leave him alone but he just wanted to turn-off his alertness from time to time so he still decided to set up the formation so that he could rx without getting disturbed.

    He enjoyed a warm bowl of hearty soup and slept afterwards. He chose to camp out for a few days since he felt rather spent from travelling. He was also observing the Hailstorm from time to time and found out that it is indeed not showing any signs of stopping.

    Vendrick could already tell where this is going. Was he bothered by it? No. In fact, this made things a bit simpler for him. For now, Vendrick didn''t care about anything else other than rxing.

    ---

    "Alright. Time to get back to work." Vendrick muttered as he cleaned up his camp.

    After retrieving his supplies and the formation as well, he started walking towards the Hailstorm. Where else would he go if not there? All signs of abnormality was pointing towards that ce so he might as well see what''s up with it.

    As he got near the Hailstorm, he could feel the temperature drop dangerously. He wasn''t affected by it of course but still that''s red g already, even though it''s to be expected.

    It wasn''t just the cold though. The moment he went close, he could feel dozens of eyes staring at him. He was unbothered but he could feel that those gazes didn''t hold even a sliver of kind intentions, still that wasn''t enough to stop him on his tracks.

    Vendrick entered the hailstorm, and as soon as he did, all of his expectations were met.

    Dozens of silhouettes appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. Demonic Beasts ranging from all sorts of sizes and shapes came rushing at him, baring their fangs covered in drool.

    "Oh my, such a warm wee for such a cold ce. I''m so touched that I feel like crying." Vendrick smirked.

    From that point, time seemingly went still. From Vendrick''s point of view, everything happened in slow motion while he waspletely unaffected. Vendrick entered partial transformation, his arms turned into dragon ws.

    He disappeared from where he was, turning into a blur as he ripped out the flesh of everything around him. Vendrick did everything so fast that none of the demonic beasts felt their severe injuries, by the time their aware of it, that thought already became theirst.

    Vendrick re-appeared at another location, evading the spurts of blood gushing out of their bodies dyeing the white snow with a red tint. It didn''t take long before the blood turned solid due to the temperature around him.

    He continued trekking through the Hailstorm. The visibility around this area was horrible but like always, Vendrick waspletely unbothered by it. He could see everything as clear as day even without the assistance of his ocr technique.

    During his travels, he would be attacked by incredibly aggressive and starving demonic beasts but he killed them all easily. If anything, he wasn''t really interested in these beasts, he was looking for his target but so far, he hasn''t seen even a shadow of it.

    He has a lead though. The beast might think that its clever but in front of Vendrick, it''s nothing more than a stupid beast. As if Vendrick would miss the pair of eyes that remained on him from the very moment he stepped into the hailstorm! The beast might think that Vendrick was unaware of its spying but oh, he is. And he''s using it to track it down.

    The direction wasing to the eye of the storm, very typical, unoriginal even.

    Still, Vendrick decided to humor the beast. He purposefully changed course randomly, even going to spots where he could feel the presence of a few demonic beasts. He will kill them, go closer to the eye of the storm and go of course again. He''s doing this to y with the beast that''s still observing him.

    After killing at least a hundred of starving demonic beasts around without even breaking a sweat. He finally arrived at the eye of the storm.

    The moment he entered, he felt the presence of a strong predator and a ruler. At the center if it all, sat a humongous beast on a throne made out of bones and rotting flesh, emanating with an unbearable stench.

    A giant with pale blue skin, facial features that only a mother could love, a big round belly, and a savage aura. This was the Winter Troll King.

    The beast wasn''t alone. Vendrick saw a few demonic beasts behind it, all females so they''re probably its concubines. There is a giant shard of rock beside the throne, if anything Vendrick would say that the giant rock shard is more like a club that the troll king used to pommel its enemies.

    "Wee to my kingdom, Puny Human."

    "Thank you, Ugly."

    "!!!"

 Chapter 720 - Troll, Down.

    ---

    "Wee to my Kingdom, Puny Human."

    "Thank you, Ugly."

    An overwhelming aura sudden exploded from the Winter Troll. It was a very threatening act and it sure as hell wasn''t bothering to hide it. The Troll King summoned his oppressive aura and pressure to press Vendrick down but the human didn''t even look bothered..

    "You Vile Pest!!"

    A scream erupted from one of the Troll''s concubines. She looked extremely offended and openly bared her fangs against Vendrick.

    "How dare you spout insults in my King''s face!!" The same concubine screeched some more and strode forwards, wanting to rip Vendrick into shreds.

    Vendrick acted as if he hadn''t heard anything, he tantly ignored the concubine and just stood there foolishly as if he couldn''t be bothered at all.

    Seeing this, all the concubines were pissed, more so the one that''s already striding towards Vendrick. However, the moment she entered ten meters away from Vendrick, a shocking scene suddenly urred.

    All they heard was startling crackle. After that, the concubine froze on the spot and under their disbelieving eyes, she started disintegrating.

    "Sister!!!"

    The concubines were rmed. They couldn''t wrap their head around what just happened to their Sister. All they witnessed was her getting close to the human and the she sudden turned into dusts, disappearing before it even hit the snow.

    "Gotta say...this ce sure is nice, not counting the horrible stench though." Vendrick looked around and mused. He talked as if he didn''t just killed the concubine of the North''s ruler.

    "You are very daring human." The Winter Troll King''s voice was just as cold as the temperature here. Itsrge eyes narrowed dangerously as it inspected the human.

    "Why thank you." Vendrick smiled, "Your pets are a little undisciplined though, you might want to tighten the leash around them. If not, things like that can happen you know?"

    As if he has a skin as thick and as hard as steel, Vendrick shameless lectured the Winter Troll King in a sagely voice. He sounded as if he was talking to a kid.

    The Troll King''s face darkened even further at those words. Behind it, the concubines were trembling but inwardly, they were rejoicing since this stupid human seems hell-bent on courting death.

    All of a sudden, the ground beneath them rumbled. This was caused by the Troll King standing up from his bony throne.

    Standing nearly fifteen meters tall, the hulking menace red at Vendrick, looking down on him as if he was a bug. The Troll King reached out for the stone shard which served as its club.

    "Woah. You grew." Vendrick sounded impressed as he looked up at the beast.

    Apparently, the Troll King can alter its size, it grew taller andrger the moment it started to stand up. Despite the size difference, Vendrick didn''t look afraid nor concerned even, he still looked carefree and unbothered.

    "I don''t know what you did to my concubine but you shouldn''t have touched her." The Winter Troll King''s booming voice echoed all around the continent, sending every demonic beast into panic.

    The Winter Troll King lifted its club and swung it down with a shocking speed. The impact scattered the snow, caused the ground to form a massive dent. The shockwaves rippled far enough to cause an avnche all over the entire continent.

    "Hmph!" The Troll King snorted. It couldn''t feel the presence of the human anymore neither did it see any traces of the human''s body. With all of this, the beast arrived at its nearest conclusion which is that - it hit the human too hard that not even a trace of his body remained.

    "Woah. That''s impressive for someone at your size."

    Those words, was a rude awakening to the troll and its concubines'' reverie. The Troll King was rmed. It heard the human''s voice nearby, in fact very close, but it can''t seem to find where he is.

    "My King!! H-he...the Human! He''s on your shoulder!!!" The Troll King heard ones of its concubines shout in distress.

    The Troll King was surprised, it lifted its hands and grabbed it''s left shoulder. It then brought its hand to its face and opened it but it didn''t see the human there.

    "Wrong side, dumbass."

    The voice of human sounded on its ears, causing the Troll King''s face to darken.

    "...god, Trolls. The stronger they got, the dumber they are. Geez."

    The human sounded exasperated, as if he was extremely disappointed with how things are turning out. The Troll King could feel its temper being tested greatly, something that doesn''t ur very often, it also didn''t help that it could understand humannguage.

    Right before the Troll King could anything, it caught a vague silhouette shing past its face. The troll followed it with its gaze and saw that it was the human.

    The human was now standing on thin air as if it was something solid. There''s a despondent expression on the human''s face as it looked at the Troll.

    "So far, you''re the most disappointing out of them." Vendrick uttered in a bored tone.

    The Troll King''s eyes widened. Though its species doesn''t posses great intellect, it could more or less guess what the human was talking about. Saying that those words were the greatest insult the Troll King had ever heard, no less from a race it deemed lower than it, would be an understatement.

    "Die!!!"

    What remained of the Troll''s patience was gone. It now turned berserk and would not stop unless it saw Vendrick torn apart.

    "You''re big. I''ll give you that." Vendrick muttered as he summoned his spear. Lightning coursed through his body as he continued: "But you see, you''re nothing more than that."

    *Bzzt!!* *Boom!*

    Everything within the eye of the storm quaked. A sh of lightning was seen. It was only a single one but it''s as wide as building. It contained a terrifying might that rocked the continent. It evaporated the snow around the eye of the storm and caused a massive crater, greater than the one that the troll king left when it struck the ground earlier, to appear.

    At the center of that crater, a sizzling corpse of giant could be seen. It''s eyes were dull and lifeless and its body was charred ck. It didn''t take long before it slowly started to disintegrate along with other smaller corpses near it.

    "...I''ve taken down things that are several times bigger than you so you''re not really a big deal." Vendrick muttered this before turning around and leaving the eye of the storm.

    ---

    Dealing with the Winter Troll King was easy. After all, Vendrick had plenty of experience dealing with them in the past.

    In addition to that, his recent breakthrough made this task even easier for him.

    His work here is done, and it didn''t take him that long. If he wanted to, he could leave right away but decided to not do so. He stayed for a couple of days, rxing and taking it easy.

    During these days, an interesting thing happened.

    The Hailstorm that constantly gued the core of the Northern Continent was gone. The overall temperature increased and the ce seen the first rays of sunshine after quite sometime. He also discovered that the clouds are dissipating at the edges of the continent.

    As it turns out, the Hailstorm was something that the Troll King casted over that area. Why? Vendrick didn''t know, but its dead now so that the Hailstorm will follow its wake as well.

    Some of the snow caps were melting. Interestingly enough, most of the snow actually didn''t turn into water. If it did, the whole continent will be flooded. Vendrick guessed that some of the snow were fake, something that the Troll King made as well. Of course, there are some snow that are real here but they won''t remain here for long.

    Most likely, this continent will have its seasons resume its natural cycle. This should change things up a bit for its denizens but honestly, Vendrick couldn''t care less.

    He wouldn''t stay here for long, probably about two to three weeks in maximum, after that, he''ll resume his journey, his next target is the Eastern Continent.

    Vendrick roamed the Northern Continent for a bit. He just wanted to see if there''s anything that will catch his interest here. Well, he did saw some wonders here and there but nothing too impressive for his eyes.

    He did think of leaving some things here as foundation for the future when humans arrive at this ce but he ended up rejecting the idea. He figured that he''ll leave them to their own devices. Let them carve a piece of thend for themselves if they wanted to.

    During his journey, he could see a variety of Demonic Beasts waking up from their hibernation and started hunting. He didn''t disturb them since he found no reason to do so.

    After three weeks of touring the Northern Continent, Vendrick felt that he had seen everything that this ce has to offer therefore, he decided to leave after a couple of days.

    He''s now flying towards the Eastern Continent where the Infernal Dragon awaits for him.

    "I''m looking forward to this."

 Chapter 721 - East, Dragon.

    ---

    "Uh...what''s going on here?" Vendrick was confused.

    He justnded on the Eastern Continent a few hours ago. He had been walking along the edges of the continent to get a feel of the ce but so far, nothing.

    Yeah, that''s right. Compared to the other continents he had visited so far, the Eastern Continent is the weirdest since he can''t feel an ounce of demonic beast aura here. Not even trace of savageness or aggressiveness was in the air, it''s clean which in itself is very surprising.

    It looks like he arrived here at the peak of spring. Lush vegetation could be seen practically everywhere.. He could see animals, not demonic ones, regr animals. Deer, boars, hares, poultry, cattle, etc. freely roaming around. The trees are filled with ripe fruits, some of them even fell to the ground since nobodyes to pick them.

    There is an aura of peace and serenity in this ce, which is a major sign of the ce suitable for humans to live.

    This is something that Vendrick wasn''t expecting at all. He had been walking for hours and he has yet to see a shadow of a demonic beast here. How can that be possible? The other continents are crawling with them but this continent doesn''t for some reason? This doesn''t make sense to him.

    The made Vendrick want to investigate. He started venturing deeper in the vast jungle of the Eastern Continent. He was on a look for any traces of civilization since that''s one of the few reasons of this strange setting. So far though, he can''t feel anybody around except animals.

    None of the animals attacked him, they looked at him curiously but that''s about it. He initially thought that this animals might possess some form of mystical existence backing them but honestly, it was very unlikely. In his eyes, there''s nothing strange about them.

    Well, he can''t find any humans or any intelligent creatures out here. He also can''t find anything weird that might possibly be the reason for the peaceful environment of this continent despite looking around for nearly two days now so he could only bet on hisst idea.

    "Now, where should I look for that Dragon?" He asked to particrly no one.

    It''s weird. He had gotten used to sensing the savageness in the air which allowed him to narrow down his search for the overlord for the other continents but here, since itcked that particr factor, its somewhat difficult to search for the whereabouts of that dragon.

    At this point, Vendrick could only think that the Infernal Dragon has something to do with the strangeness of the Eastern Continent. Aside from it, he really can''t think of anything else. Well, there''s that God but it doesn''t seem to be so concerned so he ruled out this possibility.

    Vendrick went deeper into the continent. He didn''t bother being all sneaky and stuff, if he was to be sensed, then he''ll be sensed. It truly doesn''t matter at this point.

    His first destination is the center of the continent since it seems that the Deities had a particr liking to these spots.

    With Vendrick''s speed, it didn''t take long before he eventually arrived at the core region of the continent. There he found one of the tallest mountain that he had even seen in this world. He was currently at the foot of the mountain, squinting as he looked up, his pupils shone with rainbow colored light.

    "Yep, it''s there." Vendrick muttered.

    Indeed, he could feel the presence of a very strong Demonic Beast. The likes of which were as strong if not stronger than the previous Deities he fought before. He can''t seen the silhouette of the Dragon but he could feel its aura and the faint thrumming of his bloodline.

    A grin appeared on Vendrick''s face. He flew up the mountain, not even bothering to hide his presence or minimizing the sound he was making. He shattered the sound barrier a couple of times which should definitely alert the dragon who''s probably resting at the peak.

    Although the mountain was high, Vendrick didn''t take long to scale it. In a matter of seconds, he arrived at the peak. There, he saw the hulking beast, looking his way with a sharp gaze.

    "Ooh!! A Crimson Dragon! Jackpot!" Vendrick grinned as he nced at the enormous beast in front of him. He didn''t look remotely rmed of the dragon nor its growing animosity.

    "A human with my kin''s bloodline?" The Dragon muttered in humannguage, its words were heard by Vendrick of course. "My, how interesting. I never knew that puny creatures like you can do something like this."

    Knowing the instinctual pride at the core of every dragons, those world probably meant that it can''t understand a human managed to y a dragon and integrate their bloodline sessfully without them exploding. Well, Vendrick''s not wrong. The Dragon truly thought of it this way.

    "Well, I have my own means." Vendrick shrugged.

    "...I can see that." The Dragon replied. "Speak, Human. Where did youe from? I haven''t seen any traces of your kind for at least centuries now, not to mention, someone of your caliber."

    "Do you really need to know that?" Vendrick raised a brow. "I mean, you can probably guess why I''m here, don''t tell me you think that I''m that naive."

    "I guess not." The Dragon muttered, its voice sounded calm andposed, its as if everything that''s happening so far is under its control. "Were you the ones who killed the other Deities?"

    "Yep." Vendrick nodded, he didn''t even think about denying any of it at this point since its practically useless. "Right, can you tell me the reason why there aren''t Demonic Beasts here?"

    "I ate them all." The Infernal Dragon replied non-chntly.

    "Wait, what? Why?" Vendrick was genuinely curious.

    "Nothing much." He saw the Dragon''s version of shrugging. "I don''t like them, that''s all."

    "So, you ate all of them?"

    "Mm-hmm." The dragon replied.

    "Oh, I see."

    Vendrick didn''t pursue the topic. If the Dragon said that it ate all of the Demonic Beast because it didn''t like them, then that''s what happened. There''s no need to doubt nor push this topic any longer. Its not that interesting anyway.

    "Say..." The Infernal Dragon looked at Vendrick and slightly stretched its wings. "If you managed to kill me, what happens next? Are going after the God?"

    "Yeah." Vendrick didn''t deny this either. "You and that one needs to go."

    "For what purpose? Why must you hunt us down?" Vendrick didn''t sense any bitterness or resentment from the Dragon. There was only curiosity in his tone. Its just genuinely curious as to why he was doing this.

    "To resume the progress of this world." Vendrick replied.

    The Infernal Dragon was stunned, it appeared to be thinking for a brief moment before looking back at him and asking: "...care to borate?"

    "Sure." Vendrick shrugged. "To make things simpler, you Deities and that God''s very existence is causing the world to remain stagnant - which is not good. Let''s put it this way, stagnant water will eventually turn bad. Stagnating this world''s progress is akin to hastening its destruction. Its too bad since this world is fairly young you know."

    "You mean, our very existence is not beneficial to this world? That by living, we are upsetting the bnce or the cycles?"

    "Exactly." Vendrick nodded. Give to a Dragon to be this open minded. Truly, they are one of the wisest race that ever existed.

    "I see." The Infernal Dragon sighed. It looked somewhat hesitant but it didn''tst long. "Then, what about you? If you preach about restoring the bnce, then how you be...like this?"

    "I wouldn''t have been needed if it weren''t for you guys." Vendrick snorted. He knows what exactly this Dragon was pertaining to.

    It most likely already realized that Vendrick was an anomaly. Yes, Vendrick, not Tiger.

    The Infernal Dragon looked shocked for a brief second before realizing something.

    "...I see, so we''ve caused to much damage huh." It muttered, its words were heard by Vendrick though. Its not like its voice was quiet.

    "Any other questions?" Vendrick asked.

    "No. I believe I understand everything now." The Dragon replied, pping its wings to cause a fierce gale. Normally, this bit is enough to st away any unwanted visitors but Vendrick isn''t one of those.

    "A fair warning, Human." The Infernal Dragon alerted him as it slowly rose to the sky. "The one at the Central Continent...we don''t call him God for now reason."

    "Oh I know." Vendrick sighed, "I haven''t met that one yet but since you guys call it a God, I''m naturally wary about it too."

    Demonic Beasts are prideful, especially Dragons, so for one to directly address someone as God. Vendrick knew that things are going to get a bit heated once he arrives at the Central Continent.

    "Be careful, Human. That...thing, is extremely dangerous." The Infernal Dragon said.

    "I know." Vendrick nodded solemnly as he looked up at the flying dragon.

    Upon reaching a certain altitude, the Dragon suddenly dove down, sting straight towards Vendrick like a fallinget. Everything happened so quick and by the time they knew it, the entire mountain copsed and a brilliant light sprawled everywhere.

 Chapter 722 - Fuse, Archdragon

    ---

    Contrary to what was expected, the fight between Vendrick and the Infernal Dragon didn''t happen.

    Well, he initially thought that he would need to fight it but when he arrived, he discovered that the enemy was calm and wise. He thought that the God did something to this Dragon that warped its wisdom and intelligence but it turns out that it didn''t, the Dragon remained cognizant and acted like how a Dragon would.

    This made Vendrick lower his vignce. Dragons are one of wisest creatures ever to exist in this universe. Their awareness allows them to understand many elements of the world and have a close connection to it.

    The Eastern Continent overlord was a young Dragon. Its humongous size can be deceiving but in truth, this dragon no over than a 100 years old. For creatures that can live for 100,000 years at base, this one is no less than an infant really.

    Still, this doesn''t mean that the Dragon was stupid.. Give it time and it will eventually understand what''s wrong with this world. By talking to it, Vendrick just shortened that time.

    See, Vendrick''s words might sound cryptic and confusing for others but to a Dragon? It''s very clear what he''s trying to achieve and what was his purpose ofing here. Heck, the young dragon even managed to see that he''s just borrowing someone''s body so how can it not understand the meaning behind his arrival and actions so far?

    Knowing this, the Infernal Dragon made an exclusive decision. It didn''t hesitate to assist Vendrick with his mission even though it spells death for the beast. The Dragon chose to fuse its physical existence to Vendrick, allowing his bloodline to be more powerful. The young dragon also passed down the talent of Infernal mes to him. All of this, just to restore the bnce of this world and continue its natural trend.

    The pride of Dragons didn''t allow them to die a meaningless death. The young Infernal Dragon knows that even if the two of them fought, it''ll just end up losing anyways. What''s more important to the young dragon was to make sure that the bnce was restored so that this world continues to exist. This young man is powerful, even without its assistance he will do just fine. Well, the dragon didn''t want a meaningless death so it might as well give some assistance to the young man.

    Vendrick truly admired the Dragon. He didn''t refuse its assistance, in fact he weed it with open arms. With its help, the time it would need for him to finish his purpose here will be shortened greatly so why not?

    With his fusion with the Infernal Dragon, Vendrick''s bloodline was once again upgraded. In addition to that, he also got ess to the Infernal mes, a unique property that the young dragon was blessed with. This mes can reach frightening temperatures and can neutralize and regenerative properties. Meaning that any damaged inflicted by the mes can''t get healed easily.

    Unlike with his Lightning Laws, the Infernal me Law came naturally to him. The young Dragon was kind enough to pass all of its knowledge to him without holding anything back. After a couple days of practicing, Vendrick should be able to familiarize himself with the element to the point that its instinctual to him.

    The fusionsted for a three days in total. During that time, he remained amongst the remains of what was once the tallest mountain on the east. Luckily nothing disturbed him during this time.

    When he woke up from the fusion, Vendrick was a bit spent. Even though the young dragon willing fused its existence with him, it doesn''t mean that the process was easy. It was painless but not easy.

    After he stabilized himself, Vendrick decided to have some rest. He didn''t continue practicing for now since it would be counter-productive. Additionally, he will have to spend some time here anyways.

    Thanks to the memories of the Dragon, he now has a clue about thest opponent he has to face.

    The young dragon had never seen the god but it felt its overwhelming presence, its natural instinct told the dragon that this one was incredibly powerful and dangerous so it stayed away. With the fusion of its memories with Vendrick, he too felt the presence of that God and he managed to squeeze out some clues that allowed him to measure just how much gap there is between him and that thing.

    In short, Vendrick is not yet ready to face that thing. To do so, he''ll need to reach the Archdragon Stage.

    Archdragons are ones that have lived for at least an eon. They are extremely powerful dragons that can ignore the Heavenly Laws. Their mere thoughts can give birth to worlds, their movement can influencews and their words can determine the trend of a world. Archdragons are highly respected and even amongst their race, only a few managed to reach this stage.

    Well, Vendrick is still essentially human. Even if he''s cultivating something that can give him ess to the power of dragons, it doesn''t mean that he was a genuine one. If he wanted to do the things that Archdragons could, it would take him thousands of years to do so, and this is at the bare minimum. He just doesn''t have much time.

    Thankfully, that''s not a requirement for him. The cultivation technique he''s practicing is ultimately a Body Tempering Art. Meaning that he just needed to temper his body to be as tough as that of an Archdragon. As for thews and other stuff, those wille naturally to him even if he didn''t want it.

    With careful nning and dedication, he will be able to shorten the amount of time needed to bridge the gap between him and that God.

    For now though, he needed to rest since the fusion took a toll on him.

    ---

    Time passed by, Vendrick was apanied by a long term friend: Loneliness.

    He spent a year and three months in the Eastern Continent. He didn''t go back to the tribe since there''s no need to.

    During this long term seclusion of his, he managed to do many things.

    First and foremost, his assimtion with the Infernal Dragon wasplete and thorough. He mastered a new element to his arsenal, the Infernal mes. Along with his Lightning Tribtion, his destructive capabilities reach a frightening degree but that''s nowhere near enough so he kept going.

    Using the Crystalized Bloodstones he received from the Imperial Fairy, he repeatedly refined his bloodline which allowed him to transform continuously. He had lost count on how many times his scales fell off to make room for new and better ones.

    Wings and tail grew out because of his bloodline refinement. It was confusing to get use to them at first but he managed. Eventually, everything came instinctual for him. He didn''t transform into a full fledged dragon, in fact that''s just straight impossible so this wings and tail in addition to the scales and limbs were everything to it for him.

    That of course doesn''t mean that he became weaker, oh no. Assuming that will he a terrible mistake.

    Vendrick''s raw physical strength was mind-boggling. He can pulverize a mountain with a flick of his finger, he can runps around the continent within a second, so on and so forth. All of this was thanks to his bloodline refinement.

    In addition to his physical strength, Vendrick''sw insights grew at an rming pace as well. He already has Creation, Destruction, and Lightning on his arsenal beforeing here. With his fusion with the dragon he gained the Infernal mes which also gave him insights to Fire Laws.

    During his seclusion, he improved his insights to the things he already has and mastered thempletely. But that''s not the end of it.

    As what was previously mentioned, he''s training to reach the Archdragon stage. He only needed to focus on his body but it doesn''t mean that the insights will stop there. No, it won''t stop there, in fact it would grow even more.

    Spacetime, Karma, Extreme Yang, Elusive Yin...eventually, he understood the Heavenly Laws itself.

    On the day he understood the Heavenly Laws, Vendrick''s ascension began. Numerous shackles shattered from his body. Divine Light poured from above, drenching his body, cleansing all mortal filth away and transforming him into something that is beyond understanding. Something beyond this world.

    The Heavenly Laws cam after him, it sent a frightening tribtion to test him but...well, he mastered the use of Lightning Tribtion so that was nothing but a rxing massage for him.

    Vendrick was drunk to feeling of ascension, granted that this isn''t him in the end, the process still remained extremely valuable to him.

    It was absurd really, it took him only a few years here to ascend from the very bottom to where he is now, while in reality he''s struggling. Still, make no mistake.

    Using the power scale of the Divine Realm in this ce, what he achieved is simply the Empyrean Knight Stage not the Divinity.

    Still though, this much should be enough to get rid of thest obstacle chaining him to this ce...

 Chapter 723 - Buddy?

    ---

    "Ah...you''re here. I thought you will nevere."

    "Well, I got held back by something, my bad. I wasn''t expecting you to wait for me actually..." Vendrick replied as he walked in a brisk pace.

    "Oh I know. But I was excited to meet you.."

    "...that so? Why?" Vendrick asked.

    "You look...delicious." said that disembodied voice.

    "...sure, that''s not creepy or whatever..." He replied sarcastically.

    Vendrick arrived at the Central Continent...well, its more like an ind really.

    Searching for this area would''ve been harder if it weren''t for the fact that Vendrick got considerably stronger than before. The ind is isted naturally for reasons being that it''s thend of God. Not just anyone was allowed in here.

    Thisnd is dark. The soil is dead and infected with death and decay. Dark clouds loomed over the entirend which didn''t show any signs of going away. There is a massive gaping hole at the center of the ind.

    From a simple nce, one would feel chills to their soul gazing upon that seemingly bottomless hole. It seems like the entrance to hell actually. It is pitch ck down there, not a trace of light was allowed to pass, sound included. That being said, the disembodied voice wasing from down there. And this voice belonged to the one who''s dwelling at the bottom of this thing.

    "You know..." Vendrick mused, "You''re not really a good host. I mean, I graced you my presence and shit. You know that I''ming, yet you''re not even showing your face to me. Come on, show a little sincerity will you? You''re making feel unweed."

    "My, do forgive me for that." The disembodied voice replied, its tone was morbid and venomous. "I am rather...incapable, of getting out there to meet you personally. Believe me, I would love to wee you personally if I could. But I just can''t."

    "The entrance is open though." The voice continued, "I may not be able to get out there but I at least am able to open the door for you. Doe in, I have food and beverage ready for you."

    ''It can''t get out. It''s trapped? I didn''t know that...well whatever.''

    "Sounds good. Pardon my intrusion then." Vendrick shrugged and unhesitatingly jumped down to the abyss.

    The moment he took the leap of faith, he could feel the darkness encroaching upon him, trying to swallow him whole. He could hear the whispers that tried to seduced him, luring him to fall into madness. Unfortunately, Vendrick''s will is too firm for any of that to work so it was rendered useless.

    Vendrick was falling for quite sometime. Thanks to the darkness surrounding him, he had no awareness of how deep this put fall truly was. His senses were dulled greatly the deeper he fell, but even if this was the case, Vendrick was confident.

    *Boom!!*

    After falling for nearly half and hour, Vendrick finallynded. His fall caused quite amotion but the sound was drowned by the darkness.

    "Ah! My precious visitor. Wee to my humble abode." The voice was louder this time, the sound was grating and more terrifying. Anyone who hears it will feel like they''re being delusional and disoriented.

    Vendrick remained unfazed, he had experienced worst so little tricks like this doesn''t have any effect on him.

    "Man, its damn dark in here." Vendrickmented as he looked around curiously. "I can''t shit in here. How can live in this damn ce? Say, do you have any light source or something? I could really use some right about now."

    "Ah, sorry. I didn''t think about that. Silly me, haha." The voice replied, "Let''s see...a light source huh. Where did I put it...aha! Here it is!!"

    *Boom!!!*

    *Bzzt!*

    "Did you just throw something at me?" Vendrick tilted his head as he looked at a specific direction, his body was surrounded with lightning which also served as a little bit of illumination around him.

    Although his surroundings were still too dark even with the illumination of lightning, the bloodlust of whatever''s down here was too dense for Vendrick to simply ignore.

    "Oh, no dear. I certainly didn''t." The voice said in a pitched voice. It was obviously lying. At this point, both of them were just mocking each other with this kind of conversation. "Ah, but you appeared to be...sparkling. Just like the star that you are...do you still really need a light source?"

    "You''re right. I nearly forgot I could do this." Vendrick muttered, "Thanks for reminding me. Yeah, I think I can manage. After all, I got something like this."

    *Fwoosh!!*

    Just then, a ring of crimson colored mes erupted from Vendrick. The mes carried immense heat and extreme destructive nature. Vendrick alsoced if with Lightning and Thunder which slithered around.

    Thebination of the Infernal mes and Lightning Tribtion cleansed the murky darkness within his surroundings. Vendrick allowed the lightning and mes to cover as much ground. They provided enough visibility for him see his surroundings. He also felt that he struck the creature down here.

    From the way it screeched, it would seem that it got hit pretty bad.

    "Oh my." Vendrick feigned worry. "I''m sorry. Did I hit you? I got a little too careless with that."

    "...n-not really. I''m good. I managed to avoid it in the nick of time." The voice replied.

    ''Oh? Its facade is breaking. I should give it another push.'' Vendrick thought to himself.

    The spear appeared on Vendrick''s hand. He stabbed the tip on the ground and all of a sudden, geysers of mes erupted everywhere. He''s not done though. After creating numerous me geysers, he pointed the spear above and lightning suddenly struck down. He still managed to attract lightning from the skies even though he''s in the abyss.

    The two equally destructive elements caused havoc in their surroundings. Vendrick smirked as he could hear the scuttling sound of something trying to evade the mass destruction he''s causing.

    With all themotion happening here, the visibility was recovering. Vendrick could make out the silhouette of this so-called God. Although not as clear as he would like to, its enough.

    "Hmm, I don''t think this is bright enough. It''s still difficult to make out the intricacies of your beautiful home, my friend. Mn!! More, we need more light!!" Vendrick yelped. "What do you think, buddy? We need more light yeah?"

    "...krgh!!"

    "Hmm? Hey buddy are you okay!? Are you hurt!? Are you in pain!? Answer me! Ah! I can''t hear you. Aha!! Wait, let me get some more light so that I can see you properly! Hold on okay!?"

    *Boom!!* *Bzzt!!* *Boom!*

    More me geysers, more lightning bolts. The sound of thunder echoed in the abyss, earth shattered, lightning streaked and the mes melted the rocks, creatingva. The suffocating fumes did nothing to stop Vendrick''s madness as heid waste on his surroundings.

    He didn''t target any specific spots...well, he kinda did but he made it look like he wasn''t. Of course, he''s doing this on purpose. He wanted to shatter this god''s facade. He''s merely showing this creature that he can y this game better.

    Vendrick could hear the pained screams of the god. As the abyss lit up ever so slowly, he could see more of what thus creature looked like.

    Well, it was disgusting.

    It looked like arge emaciated hound. One could almost see some of its bones poking out of its skin, its as if it hadn''t eaten anything since birth. It has mane on its neck like that of a lions and it''s tail is connected to the darkness around them. He could even say that this darkness was its tail.

    The eyes of the beast glowed with crimson colored light. It was drooling acid, it has sharp ws and unbelievably swift as it jumped around to avoid the chaos Vendrick brought to its home.

    It might look like the hound was busy evading everything that Vendrick caused but in truth, it was so swift that it tried several times to tear him to pieces, only failing due to the Tribtion Lightning that''s coursing through Vendrick''s body.

    Vendrick also saw some shackles on it''s limbs. They appeared to be made out of iron but Vendrick wasn''t convinced, as if a creature like this can''t shatter some mere iron shackles.

    The shackles are connected to chains and from what he observed so far, the chains are embedded on the walls of the abyss, it pinned the creature down, preventing it from escaping this deep abyss.

    Thanks to the bolts of lightning and mes, the hound was injured. It felt a seeping pain prating its flesh that just won''t go away.

    Muffled groans and pitiful whines escaped from the hound but its fury was palpable. Its tail of darkness was fighting back against the foreign forces but Vendrick showed no signs of letting-up. It''s as if he has an unending supply of lightning and mes and he''s certainly not shy to keep it to himself.

    "Oh! Is that you, Buddy!? Man, you look horrible! Damn! Food and drinks you say? You know what, forget it, I''m good. I think you''ll be needing those more than I do." Vendrick smirked as he mocked the beast directly.

    "Damn you!!"

 Chapter 724 - Job, Done.

    ---

    ''Oh, it looks like it can''t maintain it''s act anymore.'' Vendrick muttered after hearing the way the beast roared at him.

    What followed next made everything clear that the creature was done with games already.

    The emaciated hound like creature released a horrifying howl that caused its devious aura to explode. The darkness shroud became thicker and more resilient, devouring all the light away. Vendrick''s elements and the hound''s darkness werepeting in supremacy.

    Vendrick also saw the changes happening to the hound. It was using it''s life force to overpensate. It''s as if time was being rewound for the hound. It''s previously thin and emaciated body was gradually filling up with tightly packed muscles and a tough hide. Its fur grew longer and became more lustrous in addition to its ws growing sharper and longer..

    The mane on it''s neck really made it look like a lion but this man grew longer too and traced its spine, all the way to it''s tail, much like that of a horse''s.

    It''s size grewrger too and its aura became even more dangerouspared tost time.

    Despite the empowered darkness around them, Vendrick could see the hound clearly this time. It stood in front of him like a towering menace, looking down on his while drooling. Its crimson colored eyes had nothing but contempt, anger and hunger in them.

    "I will eat you!!!" The hound howled loudly, causing the abyss to shake from the sound vibrations.

    "Oh, done with all the pretenses I suppose." Vendrickmented as he gripped his spear tighter. "Might as well, about damn time we finish this."

    After saying that, Vendrick began transforming as well.

    Scales appeared on his body, his eyes turned into slits and his limbs turned into ws. An equally overpowering and benevolent aura of a God Beast erupted from his body. The momentum it possess didn''t lose out on that of the hound''s.

    A pair of wings unfolded from his back, he has a tail to. The moment his transformation began, the very fabric ofws were being influenced by him.

    The sheer density of his domineering aura curbed the aggressiveness of the darkness around him. His presence struck fear to everything, and yes that includes the very ''god'' that''s in front if him right now.

    "Ah, much better." Vendrick smiled, his entire being was radiating with fighting spirit. "Prepare yourself Buddy. I don''t about you but the idea of beating-up a ''God'' makes me feel excited. I''m afraid I won''t be able to hold back."

    *Boom!!*

    Vendrick wasted no time at all. He shot forward, breaking the speed barrier, and threw a mean right hook at the face of the hound, sending it crashing to the side.

    The Hound felt like its brain got shook by that punch, but it didn''t have time to tarry in its thoughts since Vendrick is rushing this way again.

    The hound lifted its paws and pressed it down, wanting to smack Vendrick down to no avail. In addition to being fast, Vendrick''s reflexes are simrly unnatural. With his spear covered in me and lightning, he flew like aet and mmed on the hound''s body.

    The hound let out a whimper. It got his hard, additionally, its in pain thanks to the elements wrecking havoc inside its body.

    It tried to shuttle through space to gain some ground and distance but Vendrick was one step ahead. He sealed the space in the abyss, effectively crippling the hound''s favorite method of running away. When the hound tried to pause time, it found out that it couldn''t as well since Vendrick countered that as well.

    And unlike Vendrick who can wield numerous Laws like its the extension if his hands, the God Hound can only use darkness since its the only that its born with.

    The hound tried to retaliate against Vendrick''s relentless assault but since most of its tools were effective countered, it could only match-up at on same tform as Vendrick which is a physical and elemental battle, something Vendrick undoubtedly has an upper hand.

    Don''t be mistaken, the God Hound was strong. It''s an Ascended Demonic Beast, even if its specialty didn''t lie on its physique, it definitely wouldn''t be their weakest point. The hound possess a physical strength that could level mountains and overturn the seas. It''s just that its current opponent can do that too and better...

    Vendrick''s relentless assault pushed the Hound closer to the pit of despair. He was too fast and too strong, he clearly knows how to use his strength properly and hisbat sense was extraordinary as well.

    On the contrary, the hound had been trapped here for God knows how long. Aside from its perpetual hunger and its consuming anger, it''s senses were dulled greatly. There had been too many times that the hound needed to rely on its intelligence only to lure creatures in so that it could eat them.

    From time to time, there will be idiots who will fall for its scheme or turn extremely confident upon seeing its base form, allowing the hound to easily manipte them and be food for it.

    The Hound never faced anyone like Vendrick. This small human, who''s supposed to be weaker than Demonic Beasts and should only serve as food for them, is now overpowering it, overpowering a God. How was this even possible.

    "Man, I could do this all day." Vendrick said as he dashed around in super sonic speeds, striking every inch of the hound''s body, causing it to feel extreme pain.

    No matter how hard the hound tried to gain some space, Vendrick mercilessly trampled on every change it saw. The Hound was on the verge of despair. At this point, its inly obvious that Vendrick was just ying around.

    The defeat of the hound was already certain the moment he jumped down here. That only became even more obvious when he revealed his true form.

    The Hound was desperate, it tried to use more of its longevity to heal up its wounds but just as soon as they disappeared, Vendrick would just give it a new one.

    In about three hours of non-stop onught, Vendrick forced the beast to use at least 50,000 years worth of lifespan just to cure its wounds. The scarier part is that, Vendrick never showed any signs of stopping nor exhaustion.

    "Hmm, you know what? This is starting to get old." Vendrick muttered as he still continued beating-up the God Hound.

    The hound let out a whimper. It''s entire body was drenched in its own blood. It could feel deathing closer. Despite that, it was still trying to fight back even when everything was useless.

    Its control over darkness weakened severely as well, this is mostly due to the injuries it sustained.

    "Well, time to be on your way then."

    The beast heard Vendrick sigh. It then felt that he was gathering a huge amount of energy, something that made its eyes widen. It couldn''t understand how in the world did this human still have this much energy after three hours of non-stop assault?

    How can that little body of his handle this much energy in the first ce?

    Still, this is no time to stop and think. The hound felt a great crisis looming over it. It''s like the scythe of death was pressing down on its neck. A consuming fear took over its body and the God Hound started scrambling to the walls.

    It summoned thest bits of its energy and began scaling the walls in desperation. It didn''t want to die.

    Seeing this, Vendrick just sighed. The hound was consumed by so much fear that it legitimately forgot about the shackles which rudely pulled it back to reality.

    There is no escape for the hound...

    "Curse this damn chains!!! Curse you, Human!!!" The Hound roared in defiance and unwillingness.

    "Curse all you want, Buddy. It''s not going to change the oue of this event."

    "NOOOO!!!"

    "Yes." Vendrick whispered as he pointed his spear above the clouds and channeled the mightiest and densest Lightning Strike he could muster.

    Bright Light swallowed the hound, illuminating the entire abyss. The impact of the strike shook the entire Central Continent, in fact the impact was felt all the way to the other continents as well.

    The God Hound was reduced to ashes by the lightning. All traces of its existence got erased, never to be seen ever again.

    With the death of the beast, the Mouth of the Abyss started crumbling down as well. Vendrick flew out before he became buried down there. He floated in the air, watched as the Central Continent fiercely shook.

    Thend started changing under his gaze, the dark clouds disappeared and first few rays of sunshine graced thend, melting away the rot and decay that poisoned the soil. It will take some time before the continent bes habitable but that''s not really something that he needed to worry about.

    Vendrick closed his eyes and saw the te within his consciousness. It shed with a brilliant glow, signifying that he fulfilled his mission.

    "My work here is done." Raven muttered.

    His gaze shifted and looked towards the man who just appeared in his consciousness and was staring at him.

    "The rest is up to you."

 Chapter 725 - 1st Trial: Cleared! On To The Next One!

    ---

    "...you''re going to leave right away?"

    "Yes." Raven nodded and replied to Tiger. "Ohe on, you know that this going to happen. Don''t feel so surprised."

    Inside his consciousness, Raven and this body''s original consciousness - Tiger, conversed. Raven was about to depart thus world since his work here was done.

    "You''ve been watching since the very beginning." Raven stated, "You''ve seen everything that I did.. Don''t doubt your capabilities. Even if I leave, all the things I''ve done in your stead will continue to have its effects. Your cultivation will remain and I gave you the things you will be needing to lead your people towards a better tomorrow."

    "You''re friends are with you. You''re strong enough to guard this world. There''s practically nothing that can go against you here. If you want, you can start a family and live life to the fullest or you''re seeking for more adventure, you know where to go."

    "From here on out, you live ording to how you like. But no matter what, always remember this." Raven ced his hand on Tiger''s shoulders and advised him solemnly. "Freedom has a price. Always think before you act. With your status and power, you have to be responsible for every decision you make. Get it?"

    Tiger nodded.

    He''s truly feeling reluctant. He didn''t know what to feel. On one hand, he felt like enjoying the aftermath of Raven''s actions was just wrong. It was Raven who worked so hard to achieve this, yet the guy didn''t even want any of it, he just wanted to move on.

    On the other hand, Tiger was envious. Like what Raven said, he''s been watching from the very beginning. His soul never left, it was just sealed within the corners of Raven''s consciousness, unable tomunicate with him until now.

    He saw how Raven assumed his identity and ran with it. He was at awe of how capable Raven was. How he managed to be strong in a lightning speed manner. It only took him a little over 6-7 years in order to reach the peak of this world. Not even in Tiger''s wildest dreams did he think that something like this was possible.

    Raven also did so much for the tribe, so much that he practically changed their lives. He opened-up so many options for them that really, anything is possible at this point. He established the foundations for the Golden Age of humanity, yet he isn''t even staying to experience any of it.

    "In the end, this isn''t my world." Raven told him, "This is yours. In addition to that, I have some more responsibilities left back there. I need to return as swiftly as I could so I can''t stay."

    "I see." Tiger nodded. "Thank you. For everything."

    "Don''t sweat it. It''s what I had to do." Raven smiled. "Well, it''s about time for me to leave. Good luck and enjoy this new life of yours."

    After saying this, Raven''s consciousness turned blurry and Tiger felt a force pulling him back to his body.

    When he opened his eyes, he saw the devastated Central Continent below him which is also at the verge of transforming. He paid this no mind and looked at his hands. He clenched his fist and felt the explosive power coursing through his veins. He can see theyers of scales covering his body and pair of wings pping behind his back.

    Tiger was drowned by this feeling but he remained clear headed.

    He thought about many things and eventually came back to reality. This is his world. This is him. Raven''s work might be done here but his wasn''t yet.

    "Thank you." He whispered, "For bestowing me a name. I''ll make sure to not sully its honor."

    Keeping the name ''Vendrick'' as his name for the rest of time, he eventually returned to the Blue Mountain Tribe and reunited with his friends. He kept Raven''s identity as a secret since Raven himself decided not reveal it.

    With all the foundation set for humanity to take over the next era, Vendrick stood as their leader and had everyone migrate to the Eastern Continent where their Empire will rise.

    He used the knowledge and tactics that Raven left to him to make sure that humanity will prosper. He also followed his advise, to live his life to the fullest. He got married and raised his children all while making sure to always be there as humanity''s guardian.

    Eventually, Vendrick Rogers will change the world and whether he remained in that world or seek out another adventure, is a story for some other time.

    ---

    Meanwhile, Raven woke up to the familiar ce of the Celestial Ascension tform.

    "That was fast." He heard the voice of the Trial Administration behind him.

    "How fast are we talking about?" Raven asked inquisitively.

    "Well, you took somewhere around 6-7 years in there. Change the years into months, you''ll have an answer."

    Raven sighed as he heard this. Good thing he only spent that much time, he thought that the time ratio within the trials and the real world was 1:1.

    "Congrattions on clearing the 1st Trial." The Trial Administrator smiled and caught the stone steele that''s being kept at Raven''s consciousness. "You got the highest rating for this mission which is very impressive. It''s been a while since a challenger managed to do that."

    "Your rewards won''t be revealed for now. You''ll eventually know it when you finished all the trials or used-up all of your chances. Of course, in the off-chance that you died, don''t expect me to give you anything. Don''t tell me I didn''t warn you."

    "I understand. When can I go for the next trial?"

    "Rx, son." The Trial Administrator told him. "Don''t be in so much of a hurry. Technically you can go onto the nest trial right away but I would seriously ask you to reconsider. You''re dead tired despite what you look. Also, you just returned from your body. You might want to re-adjust for a while."

    When the Trial Administrator said this, Raven started inspecting his state and that made his smile wryly. It is indeed as the administrator said, he needs some rest.

    He unknowingly neglected his personal health because of the high. He really needs some rest.

    "Let me reiterate this again, son." The administrator told him, "Don''t be in a hurry. Despite what the 1st Trial was like for you, it has another purpose. And that is to measure you''re truly capabilities."

    "From the 2nd Trial onwards, things will get significantly harder since the Celestials have already discovered your potential. Prepare yourself physically, mentally and emotionally. Get cocky and the following trials might just break your spirit or worse, be your graveyard."

    "I understand, thank you for the reminder." Raven really appreciated that.

    "You''re wee. Anyways, I''ll leave you to your own. Do what you have to do. When you feel like yourpletely ready, just call for me an I''ll appear to give you your next mission and send you to the next trials waiting for you."

    Raven nodded. As he was about to set-up some tents and enjoy a long sleep, he heard another reminder from the Trial Administrator.

    "Oh and by the way, despite what it looks like, Time actually doesn''t flow in this ce while you''re around. It resumes whenever you are inside a trial. Do what you want with that information."

    After saying this, the administrator disappeared and left Raven to marinate on his own thoughts.

    "How about that?" Raven raised a brow and shrugged.

    For now, he didn''t think too much about it. What he must focus on is having a good rest.

    In order to get the most out of this little vacation, Raven decided to pretty much turn off his brain for a while.

    He didn''t n on cultivating, training, analyzingws, integrating with memories or worrying about what''s happening outside, he can''t get out of here anyways. Because of this, Vendrick is now moving out of pure instinct. He was hibernating inside his consciousness and recovering.

    Whenever he felt hungry, he will eat. If he feels dirty, he''ll take a bath. And if he ever feltzy, he''d just stay in bed. Most of time though, he was just sleeping.

    Thanks to this, he was recovering and getting back to his top shape. He has no worries orints, he''s neither happy nor sad either, just...existing.

    Since time was frozen in this ce, he didn''t feel any sort of urgency. He could literally stay like this and just continue whenever he feel like it.

    But of course, he didn''t n on staying like for a very long time. As soon as he woke up from his hibernation, he continued slowly re-familiarized himself with own body.

    He trained for a bit, visited the crown space to integrate with the Law Insights of his Avatars. He also consulted them about what''s happening to the other side and he learned that so far, everything was still going ording to n.

    After he got used to his body once more and stabilized everything back to normal, he called the administrator to send him to the 2nd Trial.

 Chapter 726 - Terraform!

    ---

    He didn''t notice this before since he was pre-upied but when he inspected this ce closely, the tform with the obelisk on is now elevated from the ground.

    Raven doesn''t remember this being like this when he first arrived here so he figured that it might have something to do with hoe many trials hepleted, after all its called the Celestial Ascension tform.

    Now that he was rested and back to his peak condition, Raven thought that it was about time he take on the next trial, the earlier he finish, the better.

    "Administrator. I''m ready for the next trial." .

    When Raven said this, the Trial Administrator appeared in front of him like a phantom with the stone steele in hand. He handed the stone steele to Raven and stepped aside.

    "Touch the Obelisk and you will be sent to the next trial grounds. The stone steele will be updated and inform you your next task." The administrator said.

    Raven took a deep breath and nodded. He held the stone steele on one hand and walked closer to the obelisk. He then touched it with his free hand and the moment he did, he instantly disappeared from this ce.

    He found himself travelling through a space vacuum. Despite his knowledge about Spacetime Laws, he still felt the pull really strong and disorienting. He didn''t know how long this transfer went on, all he knew was that when it was over, he was extremely dizzy and can''t even stand straight.

    Raven can''t even open his eyes because whenever he did, he felt strong nausea. He just sat in ce and regted his breathing, taking the time to calm down first before doing anything.

    Once he calmed down, Raven sighed and opened his eyes. He was greeted by a vast empty star, inhabitable andpletely deste. It looked like there was nothing but death and decay in this world, making it seem like it was a dead or at least a dying star.

    This caused Raven to frown. He sank his perception to his consciousness and searched for the stone steele to figure out why he was transferred here. The stone steele was there and was releasing a soft brilliance. He approached it and read the contents for his second trial.

    ---

    [2nd Celestial Ascension Trial - Terraform!]

    * You are sent into a distant star, something far away from Divine Realm. The star might look pretty much dead but don''t be mistaken, this is a new born star that had some issues with its birth, causing it to be reduced in this state.

    * Your task, is to help this star survive. It''s in its iplete state, you need to Terraform itpletely with all of the methods you have avable. Your fate is connected to this star so if its dies, then you will as well.

    * There is no time limit, you fail when the star dies, you seed when the star transforms into an Independent Star.

    * Of course, you may continue to improve the state of the star, evolving it even further to be a Small World or even a Great World. This of course, depends on you.

    ---

    "Well, shit..."

    Raven rubbed his face as he finished reading the contents of his second trial.

    The administrator wasn''t kidding, the trials truly do spike in difficulty the further up he goes. Who would''ve known that just for his second trial he''s already tasked to Terraform an entire freaking star.

    "What the hell is wrong with these trials? I''m not even a Knight Monarch yet and they''re already making me terraform a freaking star! Ugh!"

    It was clear that Vendrick didn''t like this. The trial was too hard for him toplete. He doesn''t even know where to start!

    All he could see around him was a dying star, how can they say that this a newborn one? Even if it is a newborn star, why do they care? There''s literally billions of stars in the Divine Realm! Millions of small worlds and thousands of Great Worlds! Why would they care about the well being of a failed star?

    He just doesn''t get it.

    Still though, whining won''t make this disappear or allow him to switch trials. He''s stuck with this and is expected to clear this unless he wants to die.

    Thankfully, Raven can survive in the vacuum of space without any problems. He has his Spacetime Laws to thank for this.

    Speaking ofws, at least they didn''t seal any of his stuff for this. He had all of his equipment with him which can hopefully be of help with this trial of his.

    Raven released a sigh and said: "Okay, let''s see what I have to work with here."

    Instead of moping around andining about the difficulty of this trial. He chose to just ept it and see what he''s working with. He started flying around, getting a clear view of the...''stillborn star''. Checking to see if there''s anything he can do to at least keep it alive or just any information he can use actually.

    As he flew around, he saw the terrible state this star was in. It''s outer crust is cracked in all ces, not a single stalk of vegetation can be seen, the pulse of the star is very weak and faint, Raven almost can''t feel it. It''s really looks like a dead star from all angles.

    Raven''s face was dark as it was painfully obvious that he''s in grave danger here. This star isn''t going tost long and if it dies, he dies with it. This is something he cannot allow. He has too many things left to do, he can''t fail here.

    He did several rounds of investigation, making sure to remember everything there is to learn about the state of this star. He had the whole and very detailed image of the star on his mind as he meditated for an answer.

    Raven employed the help of his Avatars for this. They''re not sealed so he can use them. With this many minds working together, there should be hope for this.

    He spent several days in meditation, simting methods to preserve and thenter improve the quality of this star. Unfortunately, since the state of the star is so bad, he has very little to work with here.

    Terraforming is a method to transform and into a habitable ce for one''s self. In Raven''s case though, he needs to Terraform thisnd until it bes and independent star. Meaning that he had to Terraform the entire star for that to happen.

    It would''ve been fine if its in a slightly better state than this but its not.

    There''s no semnce of Laws here, the life signs are very weak, the star itself is just clinging on to dear life.

    But, just as they say...''If there''s a will, there''s a way''.

    This task might''ve been easier if he was at least in Knight Monarch Stage since at the time, he could simply release his Domain which would cover the entire star and prate to its core. With that, his influence over the star will increase and he can use simpler methods to terraform it.

    Unfortunately, he isn''t at that stage yet. Far from it actually. Therefore he can only do his best.

    Raven had a way, but this step is very risky so he had to be careful.

    He scanned the entire star and searched for a sturdy areas, ones that won''t copse and cause a chain reaction. Thankfully, there was one nearby. He went to it and scanned it again just to be sure.

    Once he confirmed that thisnd was stable enough for his purpose, he immediately went to work since there''s no time to waste.

    He took out the Brush - yes, it''s a brush again but it can transform into a spear whenever he wants to, the Brush of Wisdom and started drawing a massive rune on the area he''s standing on.

    The moment his aura erupted, the star shook which almost gave him a heart attack. Seeing as it didn''t set off a chain reaction, he calmed down and proceeded to draw the rune he had in mind.

    This rune is made out of millions of intersecting golden and silver lines. Each lines is formed bybining tiny yet sturdy basic runes.

    It''s been months since thest time he drew a rune like this but his skills didn''t get rusty, in fact he''s better at it for some reason.

    It didn''t take long before the massive rune was created. The rune was written in an ancient character which meant ''Vitality''.

    The moment it was finished, the rune immediately began working its magic. The rune he made was akin to a life support for the star but this isn''t the end of course.

    He made another rune, this one meant ''Stability'' and it does what it says. This rune will stabilize the condition of the star.

    With the Vitality Rune, it has a steady supply of life support and with the Stability Rune, leakage would be sealed slowly but surely. This should extend the longevity of the star and thus extending his time to do more improvements as well.

    But of course, this is just the beginning. There''s still tons of work he has left before the star be and independent one...

 Chapter 727 - Cultivating A Star

    ---

    "...I could feed it some dying stars..." Raven muttered, "I mean, there are some nearby but it''s risky. Most of these stars are independent stars, if I''m not careful, what remains of their sentience might take over the star I''m in charge of. That would be bad."

    Within the vacuum of space, Raven hovered around and carefully considered his options. Beneath him was the star that he''s in charge of. Currently, it''s recovering but it''s going to take time before itpletely stabilized. .

    New born stars have a lifespan of about 20,000 years, it''s quite short but depending on its potential and fortune, there are chances for it to evolve into Independent Stars.

    What makes Independent Stars different is its sentience. New born stars doesn''t have sentience which will be crucial for the further growth of the star. The sentience of an Independent Star is the one that will give birth to living creatures of the star.

    After a star bes independent, it''s longevity will extend up to 500,000 years. Quite a leap really and enough time for it to umte resources for its next evolution which the Small World/ne. After evolving to this stage, the star can now create advanced lifeforms like Humans, Demi-humans, Beastmen, etc.

    Advanced lifeforms like this are the ones that will determine whether their world will evolve into a Great World all the way to a Divine World. Since advance lifeforms'' fate and destiny are tied with the star itself, their achievements will be reflected to their home world.

    Grand Ancestral ne - Raven''s home world, is said to be the home of humans who made the first step towards the Divine Realm, at least ording to the historians, this is the case. As for whether they''re the first intelligent creatures who stepped foot onto the Divine Realm well, that''s still up for discussion.

    The only reason why the Grand Ancestral ne hasn''t evolved into a Great World or higher yet is because of it''s unique circumstances.

    See, as what stated above, the fate and destiny of the Advance Lifeforms - in this case Humans, are tied to their home world. Everything they do will be reflected to their home world. Now, considering the fact that the Grand Ancestral ne is the true home for humanity, it should''ve evolved into an Empyrean World by now at least, but it still hasn''t. Why is that?

    Well, that''s because nobody came home. Its that simple.

    If they just returned to the ne, literally any of them, that should allow the sentience to receive the contribution based on the fate of that individual and their collective bloodline. However, nobody came home. They left and never looked back. All of them stayed on their new found home, only sending some apparitions back to check on thends which doesn''t count at all.

    The ones who lead the first batch of humanity to the Divine Realm at least had the heart to send an apparitions bearing gifts that will protect and extend the life of their old home, but again...they sent apparitions which didn''t count.

    Going back to this...failed abortion of a star. It''s probably the unluckiest star that Raven ever encountered. Again, as to why the Celestials...who ever they were, paid attention to this particr star? Raven has no idea, however his work is clear and that''s what he should focus on.

    Currently, as he thinks of other ways to hasten the stabilization and development of the star, Raven was still drawing runes just to expedite the process.

    Using his Heavenly Secret Origins - his enlightenment that all creations were born out of Runic Inscriptions, he was aiding the process ever so slightly by supplying it with his own since the still born star doesn''t have any.

    As he hovered around the star, Raven''s body was constantly releasing strings of light which behaved in different ways. Some flew down and fused with cracked crust of the star, others intersected and fused with the very thin film of atmosphere the star has. Some just revolved around the star aimlessly, so on and so forth.

    Raven knows that this is a huge project and it will take a long time before he see any visible changes. Therefore he''s not feeling anxious about it since it won''t do anything good for him anyway.

    This is sink or swim for him. What''s left is just to try his best.

    Raven fell into a routine. Being out here, he''s hardly aware of how much time has passed. He could''ve been here for an entire year by now and he''d still wouldn''t know.

    In his waking hours, Raven will do his round of work. Diligently inspecting the current state of the star, afraid of missing out on a single detail since that might cost him his life. After inspecting and correcting some patterns here and there, he will supply the world with everything he has that''s useful for its growth, thises in form of his Law Insights which are growing at a steady rate.

    He''ll work himself to exhaustion, do ast check before resting within the crown space. There he will continue to cultivate and umte as much as he could, trying to at least make a difference that will hasten up this process.

    With time, Raven''s mood eventually turned tranquil. With no one to talk to other than himself, his mental state gradually became serene and peaceful. His work might be monotonous but it has its own charms. He''s essentially cultivating a star rather than terraforming it.

    With this kind of mental state, Raven didn''t care about the passing time. He didn''t feel bored nor anxious, he didn''t feel too rxed either. Just tranquil. And this exact mental state was the exact reason why his work here was going faster than he''s aware off.

    See, tranquility of one''s mind allows a person''s horizons to broaden. It''s not exactly as effective as the Enlightened State but Tranquility is something anyone can achieve under the right setting, and its benefits are just a shy away from the Enlightened State as well.

    In this state, Raven wasn''t aware that his expertise in wielding Runic Inscriptions were being refined beyond perfection. His Heavenly Secret Origin is far frompletion but it''s growing at an rming pace.

    Just as a reminder, Heavenly Secret Origin is a keyponent for someone to breakthrough to Empyrean Knight Stage. Meaning that Raven''s foundations to be a strong Empyrean is being solidified at quicker pace that he himself could realize.

    His Law Insights are growing at an rming state too. Both his Spacetime and Destruction Laws are swiftly rushing towards the acme of their respective 3rd Concepts.

    Aside from this, Raven''s understanding towards the Constetions in general are growing at a very fast pace too. His Avatars are influenced by his current mental state as well which in turn, allowing them toprehend things in a much faster way.

    Raven used theseprehension to aid the star''s growth and stability. What he didn''t know is that, he''s unknowingly plucking the string of fate and connecting this young star to the Ancient Constetions as well as the new ones.

    His connection with the Brush of Wisdom, the very item that drew the constetions themselves, allowed him to do this, and as his expertise andprehension towards the stars increase, so does his connection to the Brush of Wisdom grew.

    At this point, only time will tell what his actions will trigger and what its effects for the young star but for now, everything''s going on as he intended.

    With the passage of time, the still born star was very close to stabilization. With Raven''s constant efforts, it was responding with its own tune as well. Unknowingly to Raven, the star is beginning to have some form of sentience.

    It''s not much. It''s not nearly enough to even call it an instinct just yet, but its there.

    Unbeknownst to Raven, he''s been here for two whole years, nearly three actually. But again, due to his mental state and the empty silence of the Spatial Vacuum, he isn''t aware of this. More specifically, he''s no longer paying attention to it.

    By now, the outer crust of the star is no longer quaking every so often. In fact, they were beginning to disappear little by little. Now thinyer of the star''s atmosphere is no longer on the verge of dissipating, in fact it''s now showing signs of stabilization. The pulse of life was no longer as weak as it once was.

    At this point, Raven still didn''t understand the purpose of this trial. Why did they give it to him and so on. All he knew is that he''s doing it in order to survive, to live. There''s so much left for him to do. He can''t allow himself to fall here just yet.

    Time continued to pass by without his knowledge. It was during his 5th year ever since starting this trial, that the star began to transform.

    Under Raven''s calm, almost indifferent gaze. The star released a brilliant re which healed all of it''s surface wounds. The atmosphere changed and patches of life began appearing on the star''s surface.

    Raven watched all of this with a contented gaze, but he knew that this was far from over.

 Chapter 728 - Outsiders

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    "...right, so now that you''ve stabilized, we can get rid of your life support." Raven muttered as he slowlynded on the outer crust of the star.

    He pondered over his options for a bit before he eventually waved his hand and retrieved the massive runes that he attached to the star before and ced it to the brush, for safe-keeping.

    These runes are no longer needed since the star already stabilized.. If anything, leaving it here will be more risky since they might overload the star with energy.

    "There''s some semnce of Laws here, the pulse is strong and steady. The space is a bit fragile but that''s to be expected and time flows already. The atmosphere is ready and can hold up on its own, life is also starting to appear. Even if I leave it like this, it will grow into an Independent Star on its own. However, it''s going to take some time. I might as well do something to elerate that process."

    Although Raven has no idea how much time he had spent here so far, he''s still trying to finish this trial as early as he could. Thankfully, the difficult part is over, once the star stabilized, it''s no longer on the verge of dying which in turn doesn''t threaten Raven anymore.

    What follow this is just helping the star mature. At this point, Raven can only provide support for the star. There''s not much he can do since exerting influence over this star might cause it to stagnate or worse die instead. He had to help the star be independent, and he can''t do that if his influence over its growth was toorge.

    Weighing his options for some more, Raven eventually decided on the method he will use.

    First, he will create a rune that will serve as a ''Library'' for the star. This rune will scan the star and will record all of it''s parameters as well as the keep records of all lifeforms that was created by the star itself. The purpose of this rune is to aid the forming sentience of the star.

    Raven named this rune ''Acacia''.

    Next is another rune will allow the star to recycle is longevity. Since creating lifeforms costs the star''s longevity, this rune will allow the star to recycle the longevity it spent from its creation so that it can create the same thing or something way better.

    He named this rune ''Gaia''.

    And thest rune he was nning to create was something that will act as guardian of the star. Something that it can use against other stars or colony that tries to threaten it''s existence. Since the star is fairly young, the rune will just iste the star for now in order to hide from potential threats. As the star grows in the future, the rune will improve and will form natural defenses against outsiders. Raven made sure that this rune can never used offensively. It''s exists just to protect the star.

    This rune is named ''Aegis'' by Raven.

    ''Acacia'', ''Gaia'', and ''Aegis'' are runes that exist to serve this young star. It doesn''t answer to Raven at all but he did leave an ''off-switch'' to them just in case. When the star gathers more sentience, these runes will be its initial tools to help with its growth. Raven created them all at the same time, fused it with the star and left.

    Whates after this is was a long wait.

    Like what was mentioned earlier, Raven can''t recklessly do anything at this point. The star is currently at its most crucial time for growth. In order for it to bepletely independent the star needed to learn things on its own.

    Raven had already done everything that he could at this point. Any more than this will be poisonous to the star. Therefore, he can only wait and observe from afar.

    As he waited, Raven decided to train on a nearby asteroid. He knew that it''s going to take a very, very long time before the star makes another breakthrough, he didn''t want to sit idly somewhere and wait for the transformation to ur. He wanted to use time wisely so he focused on cultivating.

    Just as well, he''s at the vacuum of space. Laws here are Chaotic since he''s too far away from the Divine Realm. Due to that, the Laws are mixed and the insights he''s receiving at quite all over the ce. This serves as a challenge to Raven. Risky, since if heprehended the wrong thing, he''ll be stuck in a bottleneck, nevertheless it has it own charms too.

    Due to the chaotic mixture of Laws here, everything is non-linear unlike when he''s at the Divine Realm. The Heavenly Law Order is stiff, linear and predictable. It is perfect for keeping up the structural integrity of the Divine Realm but it is troublesome for those who are trying to transcend it.

    This why many people who are striving to be Empyreans or Divinities ventures out of the Divine Realm to experience the Chaotic Nature of the Outer Worlds. Many believed that the Chaotic Nature is the original structure of things, therefore searching for the paths they chose to follow will be easier here.

    These people will only return once they''re about the breakthrough. Those who are born from the Divine Realm and its subsidiary worlds aren''t meant to be Empyreans or Divinities to the Outer Worlds, if they do, the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm won''t allow them to return. They''ll be tagged as Outsiders.

    Raven of course has no desire on making a breakthrough here. He just want to observe now thews interact here and gain some knowledge that he can use. He using this chance to broaden his horizons per se.

    ''Hmm!?''

    Raven broke out of his reverie when he felt his instincts warning him. He sharply turned around and activated his ocr technique.

    "Are you sure we are going on the right direction?"

    "Yes and we''re getting close so stop whining!"

    Raven saw a group of people travelling in the vacuum of space. He felt an instinctual aversion to them which is a sensation that everyone who''s born within the Divine Realm feels when they meet an Outsider.

    ''I have a bad feeling about this.'' Raven silently summoned the Brush of Wisdom and teleported towards the star he''s in charge of.

    The fact that he could see them closing in on the same star caused Raven''s brow to furrow. He''s really not liking this at all.

    "Hey, there''s somebody there!"

    "I''m not blind, I can see him."

    "Be alert guys, he is an Insider."

    The people whispered to each other, feeling rather wary and worried when they heard that the guy in front of them was an Insider, they slowed down, retracted their aura and hid. They don''t know that Raven can hear them loud and clear.

    "You guys!" Raven called out. The people who were hiding on a nearby asteroid flinched but they didn''t step out. "I''m talking to you people who''s hiding on that asteroid! I already saw you,e out."

    "Shit! He''s a sharp one!" One amongst the group snarled in a low tone.

    "I heard that!" Raven said which caused the group to flinch once again.

    Left with no other options, the group revealed themselves. They appeared to middle-aged men, all wearing a dark velvet robes and riding a space craft which looked like a boat. Each of them had tribal markings on their left arms.

    This tribal markings were a clear sign that they were Outsiders.

    Their space craft slowly approached Raven who flew out and stood between them and the star. Once they were a few meters apart, Raven said:

    "Greetings, Outsiders." Raven said in a gentle tone. "May I know the reason why you gentlemen appeared here?"

    The group was silent. It was obvious that they are wary of Raven even with his mild tone. The gripped their weapons tightly and was prepared to fight at the first sign of conflict.

    "We''re Outsiders..." One of them stepped forward and replied, "This is the border of the Outer Worlds. It shouldn''t be a surprise that our kind will appear here. That question is, why are ''You'' here? Are you lost? You''re far from home, young man."

    "Thank you for your concern, Sir. However, I am not lost. I am here under the orders of my superiors. I am currently in charge of this star behind me." Raven replied, still gentle and polite.

    The Outsiders looked at each other. Raven can tell that theirmunicating through voice transmission but he didn''t pry or interrupt them.

    "Pardon us for not easily believing that, Young Man. You''re gonna have to show us some proof of your im. Otherwise, we can only ask you to step aside since our Lords had taken fancy to that star."

    "You are already looking at the proof, Gentlemen." Raven said with a thin smile on his lips, "Do you believe that an Insider like me will venture this far out to the home, alone, just because I feel like it? Trust me, Gentlemen. If I had a say to this, then you''ll never see me here."

 Chapter 729 - Retreat And Preparations

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    ''Oy! What do we do? The kid doesn''t appear to be lying.''

    ''Tch. Anyone who could reach this ce can lie through their noses. Don''t be fooled.''

    ''But what if he isn''t? We can''t handle the consequences.''

    ''Yes, and it''s exactly why you''re still at the bottom after all this years. You''ve never been able handle any consequences. You can run away if you want, honestly I don''t care. If a kid who''s not even a Knight Monarch is enough to frighten you, then you have no ce amongst us.''

    ''That''s riching from you, asshole.. Want me to remind you who the hell groveled on the ground in front of thest Insider we encountered?''

    ''That''s called being resourceful, that one is an Empyrean, what do want me to do?''

    ''No, I don''t think that''s being resourceful. I think its called being shameless. Bullying the weak while fearing the strong. That''s exactly why you''re with me, genius.''

    ''Alright you two, enough. The kid''s getting suspicious of us.''

    The group of Outsidersmunicated through voice transmission and due to that, it took them sometime before they replied. Raven was obviously aware that they are doing this but he remained calm andposed.

    "Young man..." One of the Outsiders finally replied, "Your words certainly are convincing, don''t get me wrong. I was an Insider once, I was never an important figure but I''ve been alive for a long time so I''m aware of things."

    "Trust me, I want to believe you but you''re gonna have to show us something more...convincing." The man continued.

    "That''s right." Another one stepped-in and interjected. "Pardon us, Young man. But since you''re aware that we are Outsiders, you should also be aware of what our situation is."

    Raven nodded. Indeed, he knows exactly the situation of the Outsiders, that''s the only reason why he''s still talking to them in a civilized manner.

    The Outsiders had it rough, exiled from their homes, forbidden from ever returning and perpetually on alert for the dangers lurking around the Outer Worlds...

    One would think that these people will stick together and act as an absolute unit but no...far from actually.

    See, there are two ways a person bes an Outsider; either they willingly did it or they were forced to be one. They may have their own personal reasons but in general these are the two categories they fall under.

    No, the conflict amongst their ranks didn''t arise from the way they became Outsiders, it''s simply due to personal interest. All though they share amon title - being Outsiders, the words doesn''t represent or makes equals.

    This group maybe a bunch of Scavengers. They search for young stars, preferably newborn or one that has a huge potential. They harvest the cores and sell it to the ''Merchants'' in exchange for smuggled supplies.

    Smuggling isn''t really a big issue. It is - on paper, but that never stopped the activity at all. The goods the Outsiders has are useful, Raven encountered them before in his previous life, they do put a steep price tag but it''s worth it. Even if it''s overpriced, the Insiders just treated that as some sort of charity for the Outsiders.

    Being a Scavenger isn''t an easy job. The Outer Worlds are virtually boundless. Finding resources that can be exchanged for supplies will take months, years even. Not the mention the Space Beast and other foreign life forms that will not hesitate to attack them as well as the natural cmities they have to face on top of a ruthlesspetition, these people really have it rough.

    Raven sighed. He understood their persistence. He didn''t really want to fight them at all since he''s in a strangend without any back-ups and there''s lots of them. He didn''t want to have another headache to deal with.

    He closed his eyes and pulled something out of his consciousness. It was the Stone Steele that the Trial Administrator gave him.

    The moment it appeared, the stone steele released a brilliant glow which illuminated the faces of the Outsiders. This caused them to involuntarily stepped back. The brilliance of the Stone Steele was a harsh re to them, it felt like concentrated heat res scalding their skin.

    "I''m sorry, Gentlemen. This might be painful for you but since you want proof, here it is. Kindly read what''s written in here and you''ll know that I''m not lying." Raven said.

    "Ack!! Heavenly Laws!!" One of the Outsiders can''t take it and retreated to a safe distance.

    "Gene! This kid''s messing with us! What are we waiting for!?" One of them summoned his weapon before someone stopped him.

    "Moron!! The man who''s presumed name was Gene, smacked the head of his teammate. "The kid didn''t do anything wrong. It was you who insisted for him to produce a more convincing proof and that''s what he exactly did! He''s an Insider, it''s to be expected that he''s protected by the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm! Now, read the goddamn words and use your fucking brain!!"

    The Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm hates Outsiders. It''s mere presence hurts the Outsiders for this very reason. And if any Outsiders can''t get a hint and tried to force their way back to the Divine Realm? The Heavenly Laws will turn them to ash before they knew it.

    The Outsiders who could still endure the harsh re, read the words written on the Stone Steele and saw that Raven was indeed taking care of the star. The mere intensity of the Divine Realm''s Heavenly Laws fused with that Stone Steele was a definite proof that he''s not purposefully antagonizing them.

    "Alright, alright, we get it. We believe you. Now put that thing away, it hurts!" The aggressive Outsider said, Raven sent the stone steele back to his consciousness and looked at them with an apologetic gaze.

    "Ugh, how unlucky." One of the Outsiders grumbled. "Here I thought we hit the jackpot. Turns out we were a little bitte, and of all people who, it has to be an Insider too. They just can''t be contented with what they have, they still want more."

    "They''re also ourpetitors now too? Ugh." Another Outsider grumbled.

    Raven didn''t say anything. Nothing he says will make things better anyways, if anything, him speaking might just make it worse.

    The man named Gene spoke to hisrades first, they discussed something briefly and then he turned to Raven.

    "Pardon us, if we were a little bit intense. This might sound like we''re making excuses but we''re on a tough spot too. Anyways, we won''t disturb you any longer. We''ll be on our way."

    "I understand. Thank you as well for keeping things civilized. I won''t impede on your activities any longer gentlemen. Have a safe trip and good luck. I wish you all the best."

    Raven watched as the group of Outsiders left using their spacecraft. He sent them away with his gaze, only releasing a sigh once they''repletely gone.

    Hended on the star and inspected it a bit. Seeing that nothing seems to be out of ce, he was relieved.

    "Thankfully, they didn''t be too greedy." Raven shook his head. "I didn''t want to spill blood as much as possible."

    He then looked back at the direction the group disappeared to and narrowed his eyes. He silently raised his brush and began drawing new runes.

    "...I can''t expect every single one of them to be as civilized as them though."

    He was hit by a premonition which caused him to make some necessary arrangement...just in case.

    Raven didn''t doubt that the those group of Outsiders were decent people. They knew that they won''t hold a grudge against him since he brought out proof of his true purpose. That being said...it doesn''t mean he trust them the keep quiet about this.

    "...never underestimate a desperate person." Raven muttered to himself as he continued drawing runes in the air.

    Not all Outsiders are decent people. Some of them were no different from locusts. Jumping from star to another, draining all value out of it and not even leaving a single thing that has a worth behind. They can be ruthless too. They won''t hesitate to step on people, betray and/or backstab their friends just to increase their own chance of surviving. Some of them do that just to spite them.

    These are the people that Raven really didn''t want to see going near this ce.

    The group he encountered right now might never return but he can''t be sure that they won''t tell anyone else about it. In fact, he''s already expecting them to make a report about it.

    When that happens, there will be people whose interest will be piqued, and it''s almost certain that they will make a trip here. Raven can''t expect that every single one of these people are as decent as the previous ones right?

    Therefore, he thought that it''d be best if he made some preparations right now. Sending the news back will take sometime, the arrival of the second group of Outsiders will take even longer.

    To Raven, a few months is enough to make sure that none of those Outsiders will have the chance toy finger to this star.

 Chapter 730 - Bad Choice

    "Yep..." Raven muttered to himself as he frowned towards a certain direction. "I fucking knew it."

    He didn''t just see one group, oh no! There''s a whole toon of them.

    From a single nce, these people didn''t look friendly or civilized. There''s a blood thirsty aura surrounding them and their weapons are already out.

    Raven can feel the fluctuations of the star cores they harvested along the way. When he saw the look in their eyes, he instantly realized that reasoning with these people is not an option.

    "Thankfully, I was prepared.." Raven muttered under his breath. "If you think that you all can just bully me through sheer numbers, think again motherfuckers. You don''t who you''re dealing with."

    ---

    It took them sometime before they arrived. Raven isn''t aware of how long, just that it''s plenty to create all the preparations he needed.

    The young star is armed. These people are up to a nasty surprise if they decide toe close. Raven didn''t move away from the star. He just looked at the approaching toon of Outsiders and this time, he didn''t hesitate to bypass their security and listen to their discussion bet it vocally or mentally.

    "Oy, Punk! You told us that it was here but I don''t see it. Were you lying to us?" One very aggressive Outsider stepped forward and asked a man that''s bound in a rope.

    "N-no, I wouldn''t dare Sir!" The captive said while trembling and stuttering, "T-trust me! I heard it from them. They said this was where they found that young and lively star! I''m telling the truth Sir! They said that there should be an Insider here somewhere who''s in-charge of the star. He''s weak but had proof so they left him alone since they don''t want the Insiders to hunt them down!"

    "Yeah, you''ve told that to us before. But see, I don''t fucking see neither the star nor the Insider here! Are you telling me that I''m blind huh?"

    "N-no Sir!! Of course not! I wouldn''t dare!!"

    "Oy, Gil. That''s enough." One of the Outsiders stepped forward reeled in hisrade. "Even if you beat up this punk, you won''t get anything in return so it''s just a waste of time and effort."

    "Tch." The man named Gil said as he let go of the captive. He then took a look around and wondered, "Are we toote?"

    "I don''t think so." One man answered. "We were the closest team towards this direction and we immediately took a detour the moment we caught wind of this news. This fe right here immediately told us the news the moment they announced it so I don''t think someone came before us. If they did, then we''d discover traces of their battle."

    "But the star and that Insider is nowhere to be seen, Rocky." Gil groaned in frustration. "Are telling me we came all the way here for nothing!?"

    "That might not necessarily be the case." Rocky replied as he frowned while expecting the area around them. He looked back to their men and yelled: "You guys! Scatter and sweep this area! Use the tools we''ve got!"

    "Aye, Sir!!"

    "Something smells fishy here." Rocky''s frown deepened as he scanned the area before them. "Gil, Adie, Hank! Stay on guard! The moment you feel something wrong, don''t think, act! Am I clear?"

    "Aye, Sir!"

    As soon as their leader handed out the order, the toon dispersed and began scrying the area. They had tools that helped them with their tasks while Rocky along with his own unit stayed at the back and waited for results.

    Rocky''s frown never went away. If anything he just got more suspicious about this ce since it''s too clean and quiet. He didn''t trust it one bit.

    "Sir! I got a hit!" One of his men suddenly reported.

    Rocky and his unit approached the guy.

    "I found a trace Spatial Tampering here. It''s very faint but I can''t be mistaken. I believe this is a forged space. Must be the work of that Insider. It''s sturdy but I believe we can pry it open and see what''s on the other side."

    "Good work, you extra!" Gil said whileughing, "You''ve done a great service, expect some rewards when we get back."

    "T-thank you Sir."

    Gil then turned to the unit and asked: "What are we waiting for? Come on, we''re close to the treasure!!"

    "Rx, Gil." The man named Hank frowned upon Gil''s over-zealousness. "Leader is still thinking."

    "You guys are boring!" Gil snorted. "What, you guys scared of that Insider? If you are then I can go alone but don''t expect me to share profits with you."

    "Just shut-up, Gil." The girl named Adie red at Gil. "If you won''t, then I''ll shove my fist down your throat."

    "..." Gil didn''t say anything. He can hear the others snickering at him but he didn''t care. This madwoman will actually do what she said if he dared to utter another word. Better safe than sorry.

    "What do you think, Hank?" Rocky asked.

    The man named Hank contemted briefly before answering.

    "I have no opinion about this, Sir." Hank said decisively. "Honestly, I don''t feel anything."

    "Isn''t that good then?" Gil suddenly interjected, he already forgot Adie''s threat just now. "Hank''s instincts are sharp. If he doesn''t have any bad feeling then we''re safe. We can make the gap and enter it!"

    Rocky stared at Hank and thetter just shrugged with a sigh. This was him saying that ''I don''t know man, you decide I guess.''

    This caused Rocky to sigh, he then said: "Initiate the operation. Be on guard you lot. Don''t underestimate the Insider. The moment you see him, kill. Don''t let his lies fool you. We''re not here to negotiate. We''re here to scavenge and survive."

    "Aye, Sir!"

    The toon grouped up and initiated the operation. They gathered at the spot where they got a hit earlier and used their tools to pry open a Spatial Tear in there. It didn''t take them long before manage to make the gap wide enough to fit everyone.

    Once the passage was established and stabilized. Rocky took the lead and said: "Here we go, you folks. Keep your wits about you."

    After he said that, he lead the toon inside the passage. They eventually reached the other side, only to find the same exact scene.

    The toon was dumbfounded. The ce on the other side of passage was the same exact ce that they saw before they entered. They only difference is that the passage is now behind them.

    "What the hell?" Gil was truly shocked. None of this made any sense to him. His excitement about the prospective profit died down due to this strange scene.

    "Oh, you poor idiots."

    "Who!!??" Rocky immediately took out his weapon and searched everywhere. His men also did the same thing. They were frightened badly by that voice since it practically came out of nowhere. In addition, they can''t find who said that anywhere.

    "I''ve been watching you...and eavesdropping as well." The voice spoke again, causing chills to run down their spine.

    "This is my first and final warning to you Outsiders." The voice continued. "Leave through the passage you created, and none of you dies. I''ll leave that passage intact and safe for one hour and one hour only. If none of you leaves within that time, then you will never get out of here. Your timer starts now. I''m expecting you to make the most logical decision."

    The voice died down after saying that.

    "Show yourself and face us Coward!!!" Gil roared. He felt really incensed right now. Despite his outrage though, the stranger didn''t appear.

    "Damn!! Damn! Fucking bastard! Coward!! Grrr..." Gil gritted his teeth in anger.

    "What do we do, Boss?" Hank asked Rocky in a solemn tune.

    "Do guys think that this stranger is bluffing?" Rocky asked back.

    "Of course he is!" Gil was the first one to answer. "If he isn''t then he''d show himself to us. He''s probably quaking in fear right now."

    "Hank, do you really not feel anything?" Adie asked.

    "Unfortunately no." Hank shook his head. "My instincts are quiet, it''s not warning me of any dangers around. If anything, I''m inclined to believe that the stranger is doing something to counteract with my danger sensing ability."

    "Damn, that''s a problem then!" Adie said as he bit her lips in frustration.

    "Woah! Woah! Don''t tell you guys are freaking out right now!?" Gil asked in a dumbfounded manner. "Seriously!? That Insider got into your brains that bad!? I must''ve overestimated you lot if that''s the case."

    "See this is the problem with you." Adie red at Gil. "You have a fucking brain but you''re not using it. How you survived up until this point is purely because we exist! Not only were you grateful for that, you''re looking down on us!"

    Rocky''s unit argued with each other while Rocky himself was in deep thought. Time ticked down and eventually, the time to make a decision came.

    "Alpha toon Six!! Get ready for Harvest!!"

    "Oh, that is a bad choice." The voice sounded next to their ears once again. The passage closed behind them which caused many to flinch.

    "Oh, well. Sucks to be you then."

    After the stranger said his mocking line, a huge silhouette of a hulking beast emerged out of nowhere and red at their direction.

 Chapter 731 - Furry Bodyguard

    ---

    *Roooooaaaaarrr!!!!*

    "Argh! No!! Help!!"

    "Help me!!"

    "No! I don''t want to die!! Please spare me!!"

    "Stranger!! I surrender!! Please let me leave!! I promise I will never return again!!"

    "Me too!! Argh!!"

    "No!! Boss, help us!!"

    "Damn!! Get this foul beast away from me!!"

    There was total mayhem within the toon.

    Rocky who''s busy dodging attacks, can''t help but show a bitter expression on his face. He gritted his teeth as he held on to his left arm....or whatever''s left of it at least. His face is covered in blood, there are numerous wounds on his body.

    Wherever he went, he can see the panicked faces of his men. Majority of them are severely injured, some were missing limbs, others turned into shredded corpses floating around.

    His toon...whatever''s left of it, was done for. Judging by their current situation, there''s no telling if their corpses will even make out of this ce.

    Bitterness rose from the depths of his heart, it only got stronger when he saw the fate of his close friends, all of them were dead, not even an intact corpse was left of them. Hank''s lower half was missing. Adie''s head was swimming in space and Gil...he can''t even see him anywhere anymore. Thest time he checked, only a finger of his managed to escape.

    Who would''ve known that their endings would be this cruel? It was a mistakeing here from the very beginning. Now that he thought of it, he felt endless regrets guing him.

    There''s an unofficial rule within the Outsiders...

    ''Never mess with the Insiders''. It''s simple really. Not that hard to remember nor that east to forget. Of course, there are some caveats attached to this rule such as Outsiders are allowed to retaliate when they are attacked and they are entitled to resources from the borders of the Divine Realm all the way to depths of the Outer Worlds.

    They can negotiate with the Insiders, too. Keep things civilized to maintain the diplomatic rtionship between camps since despite their circumstances, the camps are still connected to each other.

    Now did Rocky, with all of his charismatic leadership and intelligence considered this rule? The answer is simple...never.

    To Rocky, there are no Outsiders or Insiders. There''s just Scavengers. Everyone does this for their own survival. It''s either to eat or be eaten. This has always been the rule he followed and it''s because of this, Rocky pushed himself to be stronger in order to carve out a piece of the world for himself.

    He seeded...kind of. But he never realized that there is a possibility that his refusal to acknowledge the established norm of the world around him, wille back and bite him in the ass.

    So much for his bravado and his fearsomeness. Didn''t he acted all high and mighty when he told his men to get ready for harvest? Now look at him. Trying to escape with his tail between his legs, losing an arm in the process. He was reduced into this wretched state because of his arrogance...and the most painful thing about this?

    All of this...literally...all of it. Could''ve been avoided if he reeled in his greed even just a tiny bit.

    s...regret doesn''te first...it alwaysesst.

    "STRANGER!!!" Rocky screamed on top of his lungs, "I KNOW YOUR WATCHING!! We admit defeat!! We lost!! Leave my men a way out!!! They have families."

    "Oh so now, you''re ying the family card." The strangers voice fell into their ears, his tone was rich with sarcasm. "Well, guess what Outsiders, I have one too. Surprise!? But be honest now...did any of considered that upon intruding this ce? You know of my presence. You know what I''m here for. It''s not like I''m purposefully fighting with resources against you guys, I''m here under official orders. Did stop you though?"

    "..."

    "Right!? A fat ''No!'' on that one." The stranger continued. "You were focused on profit and literally nothing else. You never intended to spare me in the first ce. Hell I''d say that you guys will hunt me down if you could since you wanted to steal my things as well."

    "It was you people who didn''t follow the rules." The strange continued speaking. "And if you''re thinking about appealing to my ''Human'' side, well...I''ve given you a way out earlier, remember that?"

    "..."

    "Yeah...another fat ''No!'' What a surprise!" The strangers tone was filled with cold sarcasm. "And here I thought were a smart one too. Heck I even gave you a hint that pushing it will not bode well for any of you. But did you listen? My, no! Right?"

    "In the Divine Realm, we have a popr saying. It goes like; ''One might survive a random act of God, but one can never escape a disaster they courted for themselves.'' "

    "You chose this ending, Outsider." The stranger''s voice turned frigid and uncaring. As if he was talking to a pest. "Straighten your spine and die with dignity. Hope that in your next life, if you''re lucky to even have one, you''ll be born surrounded with wiser people."

    That''s thest thing the Outsiders heard from the stranger before the humongous Space Beast roared at them and finished them one by one.

    Rocky stood within the vacuum of space with a broken spirit and forlorn aura. He had a self-deprecating smile as thought of one thing and one thing only...

    ''I lost.''

    He realized how stupid it is to beg the stranger for forgiveness or mercy. If their positions were switched, would he show mercy? Yeah, a big fat ''No'' is the answer to that.

    The stranger is not one the wrong here. All he did was to return the animosity they showed to him. He just responded to them. It was indeed Rocky himself who courted this disaster for him and his team. They looked down on the stranger and nned to get rid of him. It was them who came with bad intentions.

    Their own hubris was the cause of their fall.

    Rocky released everything at thest second. He felt free. He no longer had any inhibitions. He calmly epted his death. He straightened his back and stared at the jaws of death closed-in on him he didn''t fight against it anymore. He just epted it, released everything that''s binding him in this life and died with his dignity intact.

    ---

    "Okay...good job little guy." Raven smiled and patted the small creature which appeared to a fox with a lion''s mane in front of him. "You must have exhausted most of your energy during that little game of tag. Go on that asteroid and rest. I''ll wake you up when there''s another batch of ymates for you okay?"

    The creature nodded and skipped away, disappearing to the nearest asteroid and falling into slumber. With how adorable that creature looks like, none would''ve dared to imagine that it can expand up to 50 times it''s size and be a ferocious Space Beast that devours everything it encounters.

    Raven encountered this Space Beast nearby as he was setting up traps for the Outsiders. It was injured, covered in wounds and famished. It initially bared it''s teeth against him but Raven knew how to handle Space Beast so he managed to stay alive.

    He healed it and gave it shelter, he also got rid of the tracking devices attached to its body which earned it''s gratitude. In exchange for his act of kindness, the Space Beast returned the favor by acting as a pseudo-guardian of this ce. He will protect the Young Star until it matures and will work with Raven to get rid of the Scavengers.

    Coincidentally, Outsiders are also delicacies for Space Beasts so it''s a win-win trade for the both of them.

    ''Well, I doubt they asked for reinforcements.'' Raven muttered to himself as he rested inside his tent. ''They were pretty full of themselves so the thought of sharing profits in exchange for righter security never came to them.''

    ''They died inside the isted area as well.'' Raven added, ''I made sure that none of their attempts to as for help, escaped the area. All of their equipment were destroyed. The space beast devoured them cleanly, not even leaving a single bone behind when it''s done with them.''

    ''The chances of another group of Outsiders arriving is pretty low. Emphasis on ''low'', no zero, just ''low''.''

    ''Meh. I''m prepared for it anyway.'' He snorted, ''I''ve done sufficient preparations and I''ve got myself a furry bodyguard. I can afford to rx for a bit.''

    ''Another group of Outsiders mighte but since there are no traces of battle outside of the isted space. They won''t get anything. In fact, they might even think that Rocky''s group is still alive since they won''t saw the star anywhere.''

    ''Well, others knowing that they died is also highly usible. Life Jades are a thing after. That being said, their mysterious ending should act as an intimidation for other Outsiders.''

    ''In short, I should expect some peace for quite sometime. I''ll use that to focus on my cultivation while monitoring the situation of the star as well.''

    Aftering to this conclusion, Raven closed his eyes to sleep and get some much needed rest.

 Chapter 732

    Chapter 732: 732

    ¡°Hmm? You¡¯re bored?¡±

    *Woof!*

    ¡°You want to y outside too?¡±

    *Woof!*

    ¡°¡­sure. I mean, there¡¯s nothing much to do here anyway. Be careful out there.¡± Raven told the space beast which looked and sounded like a mutt.

    It barked again and disappeared to the horizon like a shooting star.

    Time passed by and Raven continued monitoring the young star. He didn¡¯t know much time he had spent here exactly but he knew that he had been here for a while.

    No Outsiders came after Rocky¡¯s bunch, giving him a long period of peace and serenity. Raven continued his routine like a machine, steadily increasing his knowledge and insights amongst the Chaotic Laws which he can sense since he¡¯s close to the Outer Worlds.

    Raven steadily improved upon his own Laws as well as his Heavenly Secret Origin. His cultivation base did became a bit of a problem since even without his desire to increase it or to make any breakthroughs, it was saturating faster than he would like, it doesn¡¯t have that it does this on its own as well.

    This caused him to seal his own cultivation base. He didn¡¯t want to have a breakthrough here, not while he¡¯s undergoing a trial. This ce is risky, although on those who are breaking through Empyrean Knight and Divine Knights will be branded as Outsiders if they broke through here, Raven has no desires to risk it. So this is the best solution he can think of.

    On the other hand, the Young Star¡¯s growing nice and steady at this point.

    Under his constant observations, it started giving birth to life and experimenting with its choices. It¡¯s maturing on a steady ce as well. Thanks to Raven¡¯s aid and care it¡¯s growth looked very promising. Should nothing goes horribly wrong, this star should be getting ready to advance to an Independent Star soon.

    Still though, it¡¯s going to take some time before that actually happens so Raven knew he should rx and maintain his serenity as he observed the growth of the young star.

    Unbeknownst to Raven, he¡¯s acting more like a Hermit at this point. He grew so used to the peace that loneliness and istion brought to him. He isn¡¯t aware that his meditations aresting for years because of it. To him, the passage of time almost held no meaning, it didn¡¯t effect him nor corroded his sanity. It¡¯s just there, a silentpanion like Loneliness.

    His Avatars that¡¯s capable of thinking on their own, noticed this but didn¡¯t dare to say anything. They just let him be and since the original was like this, they were adjusting as well.

    Raven truly didn¡¯t notice it. He knew that he¡¯s steadily losing grip and awareness of time but he didn¡¯t do anything against it. He didn¡¯t fight it nor held on to it. He just allowed everything to pass.

    This very reason is why a long and slow transformation was urring to him.

    As Raven slowly lost his perception of time, thetter too is losing perception of him. Although this sounds ratherplicated and confusing, it¡¯s effect is simple.

    Raven¡¯s starting to fuse with the very fabrics of Spacetime itself.

    Although understanding Spacetime Laws allowed him to virtually be Immortal, he can still be killed through several means, the most effective one is by Karmic Severing.

    While it is true that Raven¡¯s losing awareness of Time itself, that only meant that his mental inhibitions are being lifted. The idea of being eroded by time is slowly slipping away from his grasp. Meaning that he no longer feel any fear of it. At the same time, Time itself is slowly forgetting him as well. This means that Time itself is making an exception for Raven.

    If Time forgets Raven¡¯s existence, then it also means that it will never bother him ever again. If that happens, Raven can and will easily fuse with Time itself, allowing him to be one with it. This will allow him to gain ess to everything Time has.

    Basically, if Raven fuses with time, he will be Omniscient.

    If he can fuse with Time, he can also do simr with Space. If he fuses with Space, then distance will no longer hold any meaning to him. He can appear anywhere he likes unimpeded. His nowhere and everywhere.

    Fusing with Space will make him Omnipresent.

    Space and Time, two sides of the same coin. If Raven can fuse with Spacetime itself? Well, he¡¯ll arrive at the point where he does not need to fear anything at all.

    Sufficed to say, once Raven bes an Empyrean Knight, he will already be an Omniscient and Omnipresent entity, which makes him no different from a Divine Knight.

    Killing him will be the same as dooming all existence, so even if they wanted to, they can¡¯t. He¡¯ll be Invulnerable in every sense.

    Of course, there¡¯s still a long way to go before he reaches this state. A long, long way to go. But he¡¯s getting there, with him being aware of it or not.

    Currently, Raven¡¯s time was being upied by him casually observing the Parallel Timelines due to his Spacetime Laws. He¡¯s observing the lives of other ¡®Raven¡¯ in there one by one.

    It truly broadens his horizons, seeing how different endings he can see. It only takes a single, smallest and simplest change for his life to spiral towards different oues.

    More often than not, he can see himself failing miserably. He had lost count on how many ¡®Raven¡¯ he saw dying before they could achieve their dreams. The trend always begins at the Grand Ancestral ne.

    So far, not even once did he saw himself being born anywhere else aside from this ce. It feels like his birth at the Grand Ancestral ne is considered as an Event Horizon ¨C meaning that it will always ur, one way or another, it doesn¡¯t change no matter what timeline it is.

    He had seen himself having different families, living different kinds of lives, marrying different people so on and so forth.

    Another thing that he may or may not consider as an Event Horizon is the fact that he will always leave the Grand Ancestral ne before he turns 100 years old ¨C if he hasn¡¯t died yet.

    So far, that¡¯s only the constant things that he noticed so far.

    Simr to how much time has passed here, Raven simrly lost count of how many timelines he viewed so far. Well, considering how many there is, keeping count won¡¯t really benefit him in any way, shape or form.

    That being said, the World Tree within him was growing well. It¡¯s had be big and grew many leaves as well. In turn, the tree¡¯s benefits of increasing the purity of his Cosmic Energy increased as well. Which is the reason why his cultivation is steadily increasing without him taking charge.

    Constetions, Laws, Heavenly Secret Origin, observing different Timelines, practicing runes in his spare time and of course, getting ample rests in between. Raven cycled through these activities one by one, as he waited for the young star¡¯s advancement.

    He remained tranquil throughout the process. He didn¡¯t worry about the situation of the sect. He didn¡¯t worry about their enemies. He only did what he could and did it efficiently.

    Time continued to pass by without Raven paying attention to it.

    The Space Beast asionally returned and left his side. Then, the dayes when he felt a strong fluctuation which interrupted his routine.

    His eyes immediately darted towards the Young Star and saw it trembling. The scene caused him to take a deep breath. He took a step forward and arrived in front of it. He watched closely as its Outer Crust quaked and ruptured.

    The living organisms on the star were in total mayhem. There were volcanic eruptions, storms, earthquakes and etc. everywhere.

    Most of them died while others were barely hanging on to dear life.

    Despite the chaotic scene, Raven remained calm. He felt no panic and just continued watching the scene unfold.

    Though it looked like the star was about to be destroyed, the truth is it is not. This is happening mainly because it¡¯s expanding. It¡¯s trying to advance in one fell swoop. To do that, it needs to borrow the elements of Destruction to re-arrange itself, giving it more freedom to do whatever it deems fit to happen.

    Raven raised his hand and snapped his fingers, he deactivated all of the runes that¡¯s isting this area. He needed free the star so that it can decide which side to be on; Outer Worlds or Divine Realm.

    Just a reminder, this ce is located just outside where the two camps meet.

    As a young star, this one was neither recognized by the Divine Realm or the Outer Worlds yet. But now that it¡¯s advancing, a time will soone where it needs to make an exclusive decision. It can choose either of the camps or neither, never both.

    Raven collected the runes and continued observing the process. His eyes were as cid as stillke. He saw that the hardest part was about to arrive, which caused him to whisper:

    ¡°Be brave and bold, Young One. I¡¯m watching you.¡±

 Chapter 733

    Chapter 733: 733

    The eruption of the star continued.

    There are almost no life remaining on it¡¯s surface. Thends rise and fell, the oceans were over turned, volcanoes erupted, there¡¯s storms everywhere. It was aplete chaos. It was frightening sight, typically people would try everything in their power to leave since a destroyed star will ultimately explode. Not Raven though¡­

    There¡¯s no need to panic, Raven¡¯s body was strong enough to remain intact and rtively harmed even if a star was hurled and exploded to his face, at most he¡¯ll just treat it as a minor inconvenience.

    Additionally, it¡¯s not like the star will explode. The situation was good despite what it looks like. Raven can see the ¡®Acacia¡¯, ¡®Gaia¡¯ and ¡®Aegis¡¯ runes are fusing with the star¡¯s core and helping with the condensation of it¡¯s intact consciousness.

    Raven also feel the strong pulse of life within the star. It¡¯s vitality was skyrocketing and the Spiritual Energies are gushing forth like geysers.

    The star let out a blinding brilliance shortly after. Raven continued watching with rapt attention. Despite the brightness, he can see the star re-arranging itself. The space became even more stabilized, the atmosphere changed for the better. Thends were shifting and the oceans were parting.

    He saw the star expanding rapidly, it only stopped when it became ten timesrger than what it was before.

    After the expansion, there was a brief moment of respite. Raven felt the proverbial ¡®calm before the storm¡¯. After what seems like weeks or months, the final hurdle arrived.

    Dark clouds surrounded the star, hymns of Laws started baptizing thends and oceans below. Thunder quenched and tempered. There loud explosions and ear-shattering sounds of thunderp.

    The stormsted for what felt like years before letting up. Right before it went away, the dark clouds gave their final blessing.

    And Origin Spring Rain¡­

    With every droplets of water touching the soil, life bloomed. Creatures emerged out of thends and seas. They all stared at the clouds and basked under the rain.

    There was a peaceful silence.

    Shortly after, Raven felt a powerful fluctuation emanating from the very core of the star. He heard a loud buzz next to his ears which caused him to smile.

    After that, light came and the clear jingle of mystical Laws descended and swept through the star¡¯s surface. Raven felt Order from these Laws which made him realizes that the star chosen to align itself to the Divine Realm.

    He can feel a tiny thread reaching out to his consciousness. Feeling this sensation, Raven sighed and shook his head.

    ¡°No, young one. I can¡¯t be your parent.¡± He muttered with a wry smile. He can feel the disappointment of the star. ¡°I was only sent here to assist you. Somebody has better ns for you¡­at least that¡¯s what I would like to think.¡±

    ¡°You are an Independent Star now. You¡¯ll eventually understand why I can¡¯t remain here.¡±

    Raven felt the sadness and silence of the star in front of him. It¡¯s consciousness was already intact, as time goes on, it will grow and understand why he can¡¯t act as it¡¯s ¡®Parent¡¯.

    It was then that a strong brilliance blossomed from the depths of the star. Raven furrowed his brows as he didn¡¯t know what the star was trying to do.

    Momentster, an orb of light appeared from the star. It shot and stopped in front of Raven. Once the orb is there, the star sent another buzz to him.

    ¡°For me?¡± Raven raised a brow. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this you know?¡±

    Another buzz sounded.

    ¡°This is¡­mine to begin with? Uh¡­¡± Raven was confused. The star told him that this orb was something that was his to begin with, it¡¯s just returning ¡®it¡¯ to him.

    Raven hesitated before touching the orb of light. When he did, he felt a really strong reaction.

    Without his consent, the Brush of Wisdom flew out of his consciousness andnded in front of him. The light of the orb disappeared and revealed what was hidden beneath. Raven opened his palms and saw that he was holding a turquoise quartz crystal.

    The brush let out a fluctuation and the crystal suddenly floated. Slowly, the two fused together with Raven watching on the sidelines.

    ¡°This is really¡­¡± He smiled wryly. ¡°Your acting on you own again.¡± He said, addressing the brush correctly.

    At this point, Raven could somewhat understand why the star told him that it¡¯s present to him was his to begin with. Indeed it was technically his. As it turns out, the star was keeping a fragment of the Scepter of Wisdom. And since Raven had thergest fragment so far ¨C which is the Brush of Wisdom, he was technically its owner and thus the crystal belongs to him as well.

    ¡°Were did you even get this?¡± Raven asked the star as he let the brush finish doing its own thing.

    The star sent him another buzzing sound which tranted to:

    ¡®I can only remember snippets of what happened. I was still in incubation when I got hit by something. It was this crystal. I remember feeling the sheer amount of power it held. I remember feel greed. I think I swallowed it or it fused to me automatically¡­I can¡¯t really recall. But I do know that I was trying to siphon nourishment out of it but it backfired.¡¯

    ¡®That¡¯s the reason why you saw me in that state. The crystal proved too much for me to handle. Then you appeared and helped me¡­¡¯

    ¡°Ahh¡­¡± Raven nodded in understanding.

    Well, in hindsight, Raven can¡¯t really me the star for trying to swallow the scepter fragment. It¡¯s consciousness just followed it¡¯s instinctual desire, it wasn¡¯t very smart back then.

    When Raven appeared and helped the star heal and stabilize, the star isted the crystal and didn¡¯t touch it anymore. Instead, it just relied on Raven at the recuperation stage.

    Now that it grew to an Independent Star, it didn¡¯t hesitate to give the crystal to him because ¨C just like what was mentioned earlier, he owns it anyway, plus getting rid of it will lessen the worries of the star.

    ¡°Well, thank you.¡± Raven smiled after a brief pause. ¡°This is a pleasant surprise.¡±

    After some time, the brush finally finished fusing with the quartz crystal. Now, it has fused with two crystals. The brush returned to Raven¡¯s consciousness, the ce it considered its home. Raven can only smile wryly as he observed how carefree the brush was acting.

    Once that¡¯s over, Raven gave the star one final look.

    ¡°Make full use of the gifts I prepared for you as well.¡± He said after a long deliberation. ¡°Be brave and bold, experience will be your best teacher.¡±

    ¡°Once I finished all that I have to do. I¡¯ll visit you. Hopefully you can still remember me by then.¡± Raven smiled. The star sent another buzz saying¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll never forget you.¡±

    Raven nodded and waved his hand. ¡°Farewell for now, Young Star.¡±

    After he said that, Raven transformed into a beam of light and disappeared from the star¡¯s perception.

    There was nothing but silence around the area. The space beast who was watching as everything unfold, let out a woof of farewell to the star as well. Now that Raven finished his task, the agreement between him and this furry thing ended as well. There was no need for farewells for them since the memories of the Space Beasts aren¡¯t so good in the first ce.

    Now it will return to venturing the Outer Worlds, living it¡¯s life to the fullest.

    As for the star, it fondly recalled everything it could remember about Raven. It took a careful nce of the gifts he left. The star etched the advise Raven left for it as it began nning out the life it wanted to create.

    When Raven opened his eyes, he felt dizziness all around him. He took a deep breath to collect himself and stood without moving for a bit, waiting for the dizziness to go away.

    Once he adjusted, he saw that he was back at the Obelisk tform. The Trial Administrator was there for him, looking at him with a friendly smile.

    ¡°How long did I take this time?¡±

    This was the first thing he asked since when he was at the 2nd Trial, he stopped paying attention.

    ¡°There? A little bit over 2,000 years.¡± The Trial Administrator stated like the amount was nothing.

    ¡°Damn, I¡¯m a geezer then.¡± Raven chuckled.

    ¡°Well, only a year passed here so don¡¯t worry too much.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Wait, wasn¡¯t the ratio -¡­¡±

    ¡°We did you a favor since its too time consuming, someone ced an enchantment in the area you were at. Don¡¯t worry about it, they¡¯re not going to deduct it to your final rewards.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of which, your rewards will remain hidden. Finish all trials and you¡¯ll know what to receive.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Raven sighed. He has some questions but he decided to keep it to himself right now. ¡°I¡¯ll rest for a bit before taking the 3rd Trial.¡±

    The administrator nodded and disappeared. Once Raven was alone, he set up his tent and his bed. The moment his body hit the soft mattress, he immediately fell into slumber.

    A slumber that willst for a really long while¡­

 Chapter 734

    Chapter 734: 734

    Raven slept for a very long time.

    Thankfully time here is frozen or else he will discover that he had been sleeping for at least a year and a half by now.

    For some reason, hepletely underestimates just how much he 2nd trial drained him. Well, he did spent 2,000 years in there under constant alertness. He did get some rest from time to time but even as he rested, he¡¯s still looking after the star.

    Now that he returned where it¡¯s safe, he dropped his guard and immediately exhaustion took him.

    That being said, this long slumber or hibernation isn¡¯t all that bad. It will replenish his energy and allow him to return to his usual self after its duration.

    It¡¯s just that he was into much of a deep sleep that he actually is wrapped inside a cocoon.

    As for how this happened, well it¡¯s because of the Brush of Wisdom. It was the one who caused this.

    The changes of the brush takes some time every time it happens. The first time it changed was when Raven visited the sect¡¯s treasury. After the brush fused with the materials he got, it became unable to use for an entire year.

    This trend was supposed to continue when it was fused with the topaz crystal back at the 1st trial but it didn¡¯t happen. It¡¯s as if the brush dyed it¡¯s transformation willingly. After finishing the second trial, Raven got the turquoise quartz crystal and brush fused with it.

    It dyed it¡¯s transformation once again, but it didn¡¯t take long this time. It¡¯s as if it was waiting for Raven to return here and for him to take rest before it took over.

    Raven has no idea what kind of abilities the Brush of Wisdom will give him after the transformation, heck he¡¯s not even aware that he had already been hibernating this long.

    The Brush of Wisdom has a consciousness of its own, and it definitely didn¡¯t mean Raven any harm. If anything, it wants to help Raven achieve his goals since he¡¯s bound to it.

    The moment Raven got a hold of the quartz crystals, the Brush of Wisdom began treating him as its rightful owner. This process won¡¯t only benefit the brush itself but Raven as well.

    Raven had already made a breakthrough in his sleep.

    From being at the early stages of Lord Knight, he jumped straight towards the Knight Monarch Realm.

    Which means that as he slept, the 2nd Chapter of the Book of Chaos circted. Raven actually forgot to lift the seal suppressing his cultivation base, he left it there for 2,000 years and when he returned it¡¯s already on the verge of shattering due to how condensed Raven strength had be.

    When he felt asleep, the seal shattered on its own the moment the Brush of Wisdom took charge. Raven remained asleep while his body literally re-forged from head to toe.

    He reached his first Transition which is ¡®Monarch¡¯s Road¡¯. His domain evolved into a Monarch¡¯s Domain, the kind that can cover an entire or ne due to how massive it was. Not only that, the constetions he deciphered were infused with his domain, to put things simply, it will be very difficult muster up any energy to fight Raven once he unleashed his Monarch¡¯s Domain.

    And because of the Brush of Wisdom¡¯s presence, the constetions looked and felt alive. Just a reminder that the Brush of Wisdom was the husk of what was once known as the Scepter of Wisdom ¨C the item that was used to draw the constetions themselves. The brush might not be at it¡¯splete form right now but it¡¯s presence was genuine enough.

    In addition to that, Raven¡¯s Destruction and Spacetime Laws entered their respective 4th Concepts. He¡¯s a concept away from mastering them. In fact, he might just be able to master them before bing an Empyrean, but that¡¯s an issue forter.

    Raven¡¯s hibernationsted for two and half years before consciousness returned to him piece by piece.

    With his still fuzzy mind, he fumbled around and felt as if he was trapped within a brittle cage. He pushed them and heard it break. His mind is still not working properly at this point, this was his instincts taking control for a brief moment.

    His eyes were still closed but he was moving. He then felt extremely hungry all of a sudden so he fumbled around again and sniffed. He smelled something delicious on his palms, he licked it and he liked it.

    He reached out, tore a piece and chewed on it. It tasted good to him. Whatever it is he was eating, it was crispy, a texture simr to that of a bread¡¯s crust.

    Raven saw on his spot and opened his mouth wide. A strong suction which simr to that of a ck hole appeared. It siphoned all that crispy things into his mouth, allowing him to easily digest it.

    When he devoured everything, more of his consciousness returned to him, and this time it included some rity.

    He opened his eyes and saw that his tent was in shambles which shocked him. Then he remembered what he was doing just now and noticed that he¡¯s still doing it.

    Raven raised a brow and wanted to stop but his instincts told him no so he didn¡¯t.

    ¡®Did I just summoned a ck hole connected to my stomach? I don¡¯t remember being able to do this.¡¯ He thought to himself, ¡®And what am I eating exactly? I don¡¯t what this is but it¡¯s fucking tasty. What is happening?¡¯

    His eyes roamed his surroundings and caught sight of the things he was eating. For some reason they look very familiar to him but he just can¡¯t put a finger on it right now.

    It wasn¡¯t until he devoured every single bit of that ¡®thing¡¯ that he felt satiated. He dispersed the ck hole and was again shocked on how easy he did it. However, there still remains a frown on his pretty face as he legitimately had no idea what happened to him.

    ¡®Uh, guys? What happened to me?¡¯ Raven asked his avatars.

    And thank god for them really, if he didn¡¯t have them he¡¯ll probably never know what just transpired.

    ¡°Geez.¡±

    This was all Raven can say after listening to what his avatars told him. He was speechless, who wouldn¡¯t be after hearing all of that? He can ess their memories so he knew they weren¡¯t lying to him.

    He summoned the culprit to all of this. The Brush of Wisdom. The moment it appeared on his hand, he sighed and said: ¡°A simple message would suffice you know? It¡¯s not like I will prevent you or anything.¡±

    Right. The Brush or Wisdom could¡¯ve given him a warning or two but it didn¡¯t. It just did things again on its own. Then again, it¡¯s not like it did something that isn¡¯t beneficial for Raven so he isn¡¯t mad.

    He took a good look at the Brush of Wisdom and discovered that if felt denser in his hands, it also looked longer and thicker than before. He saw the two crystals embedded at the neck of the brush. Originally, the crystals were palm-sized but they shrank once they fused with the brush.

    He twirled the brush in between his fingers and familiarized himself to how new it feels. Then, he triggered its transformation into a spear and marveled at its changes.

    It¡¯s not fit to call it a spear anymore though, calling it a Trident would be more apt. Its certainly denserpared before and heavier, still Raven had no problems working with it.

    The Trident was extremely sharp. He casually waved it and saw that he almost drew a line on Space. Had he ced more strength in that, it would¡¯ve cut space itself and that¡¯s just ridiculous considering where is currently.

    After familiarizing himself with the new form of the brush, he sighed and looked at his wretched tent.

    He wasn¡¯t sad about the tent since he had spare but the pillows that got ruined were his best ones. Also, before sleeping, he prepared some soup so that when he wakes up, there will be something delicious to eat. However, he slept for so long that everything was burnt and beyond saving so he could onlyment on it.

    Not the end of the world though, he could just start over, plus eating the cocoon from where he emerged from filled his empty stomach and it tasted delicious too.

    After setting up a new camp and preparing some food, he began doing his regr routine.

    There was so much he needs to catch up with. He broke through and has yet to stabilize his realm, he had to get used to his strength quickly since he already spent too much time resting here. He had to start the third trial as soon as he could.

    Additionally, there¡¯s still the things that the Brush of Wisdom unlocked, he had to explore that too and see just what kind of surprise it will bring him.

    All in all, the next couple of days¡­possibly months will be very hectic to for him.

 Chapter 735

    Chapter 735: 735

    Raven cultivated the [Myriad Incarnations Scripture] and the [Voidwalking Manual] directly to the 9th Stage.

    At the 8th Stage of Myriad Incarnations Scripture, he received a total of 456 Avatars, at its 9th Stage it gave him 912. The total numbers of his avatars already surpassed the thousands, which means more mind to help him progress faster.

    The Voidwalking Manual transformed his body ever further, that was he can exist in any kind of environment without facing any troubles.

    After wrapping up his seclusion. Raven rested for quite some time before entering the 3rd trial.

    The 3rd Trial sent in him a unique space, presumably creature for the sole purpose of this trial.

    His task is rtively simple. In front of him is an enormous boulder. Behind it was a steep slope. He was tasked to push this boulder up the slope and ce it on the peak. He has to do it 1,000 times.

    It sounds simple but this wouldn¡¯t be the Celestial Ascension tform for nothing¡­

    The caveat is, Raven is but a mortal. Once again, everything he has was sealed. He has no cultivation at all, he can¡¯t enter the crown space, the Brush of Wisdom isn¡¯t listening to his summons and even his powerful physic is gone. Not even his spatial rings were spared.

    He waspletely and utterly mortal.

    To make things worse, there is not a whiff of spiritual energies from his surroundings. It waspletely barren. He here, all by himself, expect to clear this task through sheer wits and will.

    Things weren¡¯t looking good for him.

    Raven already tried to move the boulder to check what he¡¯s working with, well it was obviously heavy. Even after he tried his best to push it, he only managed to push it a couple of centimeters away from it¡¯s original spot.

    And to wrap up this whole affair, it was revealed to him that he will have a limitless supply of mortal needs like food, clothing, tools, etc. He didn¡¯t need to look for them as they will appear when he wished for them.

    He can die here and be resurrected, but it has limits. One, when he dies his progress will reset. Meaning that if he managed to push the boulder up to the peak about 500 times but he died on his 501st attempt, the counter will reset to 0.

    He will be resurrected after 24 hours of dying, he will be resurrected at his prime condition and he can only die a total of 150 times.

    That about sums it up for the contents of his 3rd trial.

    Sufficed to say, this is a very troublesome trial. Raven can already feel that he¡¯s going to spend a lot of time in here.

    The first day when he arrived, he only tested pushing the boulder once. After that, he basically left it alone. He tended to his needs by starting to build some shelter, preparing some food, and etc.

    Raven had a n in mind.

    The n was to roam around and test some limits. The morning after that, he woke up and acted.

    First, he decided to work on his physique. He worked out, sculpting his body ever so slightly to make it stronger. He knew that with this body of his, there¡¯s absolutely no way he can push that thing far enough to even make a difference.

    As some wise people used to say: ¡®Sharpening the axe wouldn¡¯t dy the wood cutting.¡¯

    Work-out, get those muscles growing and then he¡¯ll start his attempts.

    After resting from his work-out, he decided to climb the slope. This is the other part of his n. He wanted to scout ahead and see what kind of obstacles he will face as he push that enormous boulder up.

    The slope was steep so gravity will work against him. He could totally see himself dying by being squashed t by that boulder. He¡¯s not looking forward to it but it is what it is.

    The slope was uneven at some parts. There are portions where it¡¯s rocky, and portions where it¡¯s slippery. That can be a problem. He can also see that this ce functions like any other mortal worlds. Meaning that there is a thing called ¡®Seasons¡¯. Right now, it¡¯s spring and the slope is at it¡¯s best state presumably, but if there will ever be; say, a rainy season, then pushing the boulder up would be really challenging.

    As his mind thought of these things, he eventually reached the top of the slope. It was a long way up which made this even worse, just getting here by walking is already exhausting for him.

    At the top, he saw a t surface which is surrounded with rock formations. It was chilly up here and the air is thin. He looked around and saw that there is a small indent on the center which isrge enough to fit the boulder. The moment he saw, he instantly knew that he would have to ce the boulder here to make the attempt count.

    Also, there is a small tree up here. It looked like the kind which bear fruits. He approached it and saw that there were three apples in total.

    He was suspicious of it, but since he can die, he climbed-up the tree, picked those apples, and ate them.

    After eating those apples, Raven discovered the way on how to make things easier for himself.

    The apples were Spiritual Fruits. They are of the lowest kind but for a mortal, they are considered as a priceless treasure. The concentrated amount of Spiritual Energy in these fruits coursed through his body, nourishing him and replenishing his energy.

    Sadly though, these apples are nowhere near enough to justify cultivating. They are the only thing that carries spiritual energy in them and Raven knows that it will take some time before the tree bore some fruits again.

    That being said, they did wonders for his mortal body. They were specifically made to strengthen his physique so he nned on integrating them to his diet.

    Judging from his appearance, Raven looked like he¡¯s 16 or 17 years old. There¡¯s still some time before he reaches his prime and he nned on building up necessary foundations in order to make sure that when he ages and reaches his prime eventually, he will be at his best state.

    After making this n, Raven was basically set.

    He decided to build a home on top of the slope since he figured that he can. He¡¯ll recycle the tools he used for the shelter at the peak or maybe he¡¯ll just leave it there as a back up.

    Raven also created a work out n for himself to make sure he¡¯s conditioning his body to the best of his abilities. He made weights which he could use to help him sculpt his body and some to attach to his body at all times.

    It¡¯s like starting all over again from scratch. Raven felt confident that his n was sound, he also knows that there is a possibility for some idents to ur and that¡¯s fine. Those will eventually reveal themselves when he starts his attempt.

    Now that he had a solid n under his belt, he began working.

    Hours turned to days, days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and months turned to years.

    During this time, Raven made no attempts are pushing the boulder up yet. Aside from punching and kicking it a few times just to test his strength, he never made an attempt even once.

    He followed his n closely. He basically trained all day long tirelessly like a machine. Due to the intensity of his training, his strength rose up fast. During his first time, he was already getting tired to climbing up the slope once. Now, he can makeps to and from the peak with weights attached on his body.

    The apples helped him greatly. Granted that their effect reduces the more he consumed, they were still incredibly helpful. He discovered that the tree will bear fruit once a week which really made him happy as he initially thought that he¡¯d have to wait longer than that.

    He also found out that his suspicions turned out be true. The seasons will pose some challenge for him. Spring and summer didn¡¯t give him any problems, it¡¯s the other two; Fall and Winter, as well as the asional rains, that is really troublesome.

    Nevertheless though, he pushed through. He spent five years training himself and testing out various things. He had gotten to know the boulder really good and due to his loneliness, he even named it: ¡®Bouldy¡¯.

    Now, he¡¯s currently at the base of the slope, looking all serious and solemn, in front of him was Bouldy who was ready for their first attempt at climbing.

    Raven calmed himself down and patted Bouldy.

    Then he walked behind it and started rolling it up the slope for their first attempt.

    Surprisingly, the initial stages went fine. Raven made sure to memorize how the slope looked like during his training so he knew which portion wasing.

    Unfortunately, as they reached halfway up to the slope, an ident happen which caused Bouldy¡¯s roll to turn unstable and squash Raven into a meat paste.

    Raven had his first death at the 3rd Trial.

 Chapter 736

    Chapter 736: 736

    Raven was ressurected 24 hours after his death.

    He appeared on his home with a despondent expression. When he dies, his consciousness never really dispersed, he was still able to perceive the world around, just without a body.

    Raven saw how Bouldy rolled back down the slope. He was really shocked when it turned unstable all of a sudden. He spent his time being dead, thinking about what went wrong and he had a few guesses.

    It¡¯s either he did something wrong or something urred which was out of his initial expectations. Raven¡¯s banking on the second one since he recalled being stable throughout his push. He memorized thene and executed the shifts properly to make the most out of his attempt.

    In short, he can¡¯t pinpoint anything he did wrong, so it must likely be the second scenario.

    As for what it is exactly, Raven honestly can¡¯t tell for now. He might have to sacrifice a few resurrection chances to confirm that.

    Upon his resurrection, Raven sighed and went down to inspect Bouldy.

    He rolled it around, inspecting its surface and saw that not even a scratch can be seen on it. He also inspected the slope and there¡¯s nothing out of the ordinary there. This really made Raven confused. There¡¯s obviously something that he¡¯s missing here.

    He rested for a bit and went back to the routine. He nned to make himself stronger just a tad bit more before attempting again.

    Then he made his next attempt after a year of his 2nd resurrection.

    Raven did everything slowly and methodically this time. Making sure to pay really close attention to everything.

    Once again, he reached halfway up the slope. Raven really focused upon reaching this part.

    He continued rolling up Bouldy until he felt something amiss.

    There was something that¡¯s preventing him from moving forward. Raven held Bouldy still and thought to himself: ¡®What is it? I don¡¯t remember anything like this. It is a bump?¡¯

    It was frustrating since Raven can¡¯t see it. Bouldy was too big and he doesn¡¯t have spiritual energies to inspect what¡¯s stopping them.

    Without much options here, Raven decided to continue. He rolled Bouldy up and saw that it was shifting to a different angle. Raven¡¯s eyes gleamed and thought that it might actually be a bump. He continued rolling the boulder up and then felt that it sudden sank.

    Raven looked at ground beneath him and whispered: ¡°Oh, it¡¯s more like a ramp actually. It can also function as a foothold but I don¡¯t think I trust it.¡±

    Indeed. The thing that caused his first failure was a ramp that appeared out of nowhere. The reason why Bouldy went unstable is because he didn¡¯t know that the ramp appeared and he¡¯s kind of going fast, the sudden shift in weight surprised him and got him distracted, causing him to he squashed t by Bouldy.

    Rave kept rolling up Bouldy, deep down he was thinking. ¡®So there¡¯s a catch huh? I see. Is should go slow and steady then.¡¯

    Although going slow and steady increased the burden for himself, it¡¯s better to approach this scenario in this way instead of reckless bulldozing through everything.

    Raven continued on his way and to his surprise, he didn¡¯t find any more abrupt changes in the slope. Before he knew it, he¡¯s standing on the even ground and is now rolling up boulder to the crater at the peak.

    The moment Bouldy was ced there, a loud sound rang to his ears and a ethereal number appeared on top of the disappearing Bouldy. It represented the number 1.

    ¡°Alright, 999 times left.¡± Raven pursed his lips as he nursed his aching body. Rolling up that boulder all the way here hurts.

    He saw Bouldy disappearing and the felt the ground rumbling. He then took a peak from the top, he saw that Bouldy was being ressurected down there as well.

    Right now, he didn¡¯t go down to start the next attempt right away. He nned to rest for the day and continue when he¡¯s fully recovered.

    Raven also noticed something when he sessfully finished an attempt. He saw the fruit tree at the top bearing a new batch of apples. If he remembered it correctly, it hasn¡¯t been a full week since he ate thest batch so this made him think that this is his reward for every sessful attempt.

    He plucked the apples to check if they were any different¡­they¡¯re not. Still, he ate them graciously since it will increase his strength.

    After this, Raven rested for two days before beginning another attempt.

    The third attempt ended up simr as thest one. He seeded, raising the counter to 2. However, he did notice that instead of a single ramp, there was two. This gave him an idea of how the rest of his attempts are going to be.

    Raven¡¯s guesses turned out to be true. On the next attempts he had, he noticed that the ramps were increasing in the number. When the counter reached double digits, the ramps became short bumps and they appeared all over the slope, making it harder for him to roll-up Bouldy.

    Still though, with his perseverance and carefulness, he managed to raise the counter to 100 and that¡¯s when a major change urred. The bumps disappeared entirely, they were reced by mud patches all over the slope.

    This sucked. Mostly because the mud patches caused him to die a second time. Resetting the counter all the way back to 0. Back to the ramps he went.

    If there¡¯s some salvation here, it came in the form of his resurrection rule.

    It did say that he¡¯ll be ressurected in his prime condition, meaning his absolute best state. Raven¡¯s been eating a lot of apples and actually, when the counter reached the 100¡¯s a change urred to the fruit tree.

    The apples it produced became bigger and their quality increased. It still produced three apples every week though butpared to the previous ones, these are clear way better. They increased his strength greater, making it easier for him to roll up Bouldy.

    When he died, thanks to the rules, he was ressurected to his prime state, meaning that he didn¡¯t lose any of the effects from the apples at all.

    Sadly, the fruit tree degraded with the rest but that¡¯s fine, Raven can just work hard to make it all the up to 100¡¯s again.

    And work hard, he exactly did. He basically made an attempt once a day and eventually raised the counter to hundreds.

    This is where he stopped and decided to strengthen up first. He doubled-up on his training and ate the upgraded versions of apples.

    He can already tell that the mud patches will soon cover the entire slope the higher he went so it would be for the best if he became stronger and train his bnce more. He focused on his core so that he can always support Bouldy no matter how difficult the terrain gets.

    And his training did pay off¡­

    He reached the 200¡¯s and fruit tree upgraded again. The slope turned rocky this time, so the theme would uneven slope.

    Once again, he trained. This time, he made some footwear that can allow him to anchor himself better to help.

    At 300¡¯s, the slope became a mixture of bumps and mud patches.

    At 400¡¯s, it became slippery and uneven.

    And at 500¡¯s Bouldy gained double it¡¯s weight.

    Every time he raised the counter by 100, Raven noticed that the fruit upgrades. At this point, the apples he was eating was so nutritious that he kept getting stronger. His strength went up by a lot that he¡¯s basically carrying out an attempt everyday, and since every sessful attempt resets the time it needs for the fruit tree to bear fruit, he¡¯s having apples pretty much everyday.

    At 600¡¯s the slope became filled with mud patches, bumps, and rocky areas. They appeared in different areas after each sessful attempt. This scenariosted until the counter 800.

    At 801¡¯st and onwards, Winter never left. It was cold and the slope became really, really slippery. The cold was fierce, Raven can¡¯t ignore it¡¯s effects on him.

    Winter slowed everything down. That being said, Raven never wavered even though he noticed that it¡¯s getting colder with every sessful attempt.

    At 900¡¯s, Winter turned into a merciless hailstorm. The visibility went down and it was extremely cold. Raven nearly suffered from hypothermia if it weren¡¯t for his alertness.

    Bouldy became more like a cier that he had to roll up. Since the hailstorm is very strong, he also have to watch out for an avnche.

    It was only through his sheer will and determination that he managed to hold on. Also the apples, they were really of great help om strengthening him.

    Eventually, Raven managed to raise the counter to a 1000 and an explosion urred.

    The hailstorm disappeared and spring came back in a blink of an eye. Raven heaved a sigh of relief and rested forma bit.

    He then saw Bouldy transforming into a palm-sized ruby crystal. Raven inhaled sharply and kept it for now, he then concluded the 3rd Trial and returned to the trial space.

 Chapter 737

    Chapter 737

    Raven bolstered through the following trials. The 4th, 5th, 6th¡­

    Each one of these trials caused him to spend a gross amount of time in them that Ravenpletely stopped caring about it altogether. The kinds of trials he faced were somewhat absurd too. The 4th Trial was a hell-like ce where he needed to continuously ughter enemies without a single moment of rest. Toplete it, he had to make sure he stayed alive with sanity remained intact after a five years.

    The fifth trial made him learn how to a farmer. He was asked to cultivate spiritual fruits and ingredients until they reached the level of an Empyrean-ranked. It was incredibly time consuming, but one that Raven really enjoyed a lot.

    The 6th forced him to solve 10,000 riddles with escting difficulty. The 7th trial asked him to build and Burial Labyrinth. The 8th Trial made him create 1000 Monarch-ranked Battle Arts.

    And the current trial he''s at¡­the 9th Trial, the final one.

    He was tasked toplete his Heavenly Secret Origin.

    It was a tall order really, considering the fact that it forces him to directly confront the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm itself. But this is something he had to do either way so he gave it his all.

    Thankfully, he was transported into a ce which provides him with clues as to how he should go on.

    Sadly, this is yet another very time-consuming trial. Raven stopped asking the Trial Administrator how long he had spent so far since it will just cause him to be distracted.

    For now, he just hoped that the sect can hold on without him. He would really hate it if, once he got out, he''ll find that the sect is no longer there to wee him.

    He had also pushed aside the longing he had for his wife. With how much he yearned to be with her, it would be a miracle if Raven can function properly. Therefore he put these feelings aside for now.

    As Raven gazed above the starry skies above him, his eyes were unfocused. He had been like this for quite some time right now.

    His seated body was shing with a mixture of Golden and Silver radiance. His aura will form Runic inscriptions without his consent. The space around him was twisting into different shapes, some times air would appear out of nowhere, sometimes he will be submerged in a neb of water, encased with the crest of earth, turn into a metal man, grow branches and vines from his body, transform into a zing fire elemental..

    All of this changes urred and not single transformation was noticed by him.

    The more absurd part is that, he surrounded with a cluster of constetions, each releasing a strong brilliance as if they''repeting with each other. If one looked closely, very closely, these constetions areposed of runic inscriptions the size of sand grains.

    Simrly, Raven is not aware that he''s doing this. He''s currently in a very sensitive state where he basically forget everything, even his own name. He''s being enlightened by thews.

    His many Avatars worked hard as hard as he does to interpret and integrate the signs. Feeding them to Raven in order to extend his enlightened state.

    They had been doing this for a long time now, they already dropped other matters behind and just made sure that the main body gets toplete the final task without any problems.

    Raven''s Heavenly Secret Origin ¨C the Runic Origin, is something truly unique and mystical.

    From his past life to the current one, Raven had always been fascinated with Runic Inscriptions. To him, they''re not simply ancient carvings that; when arranged in a certain manner, does something neat ¨C no, their existence goes way deeper for him.

    Raven believed that Runic Inscriptions was the basis for all kinds ofnguage. Elven, Demonic, Human, Beastmen¡­Abyssal, all of them derived their ways ofmunication from runes that they saw.

    Runes doesn''t always look like aplicated connections of dots and intersection of lines. For example, a sword scar can be considered as a rune since it contained profound charm that represents the way of the sword.

    Even things that are as simple as; say, w marks in a tree. Such is a depiction that this is marked by a beast. Although it doesn''t contain any resemnce of modernnguage, people understand what it means.

    And because people understood the messages contained in these ''random butmon signs'' in their world, that they learn an effective way to understand each other. To usenguage tomunicate. Communication is a way to pass down knowledge and history to thetter generation, either with hopes of continuing them or warning them of an inevitable disaster.

    They can use it to teach them a lesson, to help them extend culture and prosper.

    See, it the very simple things that caused everything to spiral into something bigger and greater. And these simple things for Raven are Runic Inscriptions.

    With his growing understanding of runes, his passion and desire to trace them back to their origins grew as well.

    To Raven''s eyes, the world no longer looks like a soil, oceans, clouds, sky, animals and people. To him, everything was a unique arrangement of runes, and if he could understand how they work, he could understand how everything works.

    Such is the path that Raven chose to follow for himself.

    He got assistance from people around him which helped him to build his foundations. Now, it is time to see this through the end.

    ¡ª

    In his unconscious state, Raven remained seated in the same space without moving an inch.

    He was like a peaceful monk who passed away in his meditation¡­if it weren''t for the face that''s he literally shining as bright as the yellow sun.

    Raven is amidst the final stages of his task.

    Completing his Heavenly Secret Origin will allow him to solidify his path and no longer be obstructed by the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm. The moment hepletes it, is the time where he can theoretically stand up to the Heavenly Laws as equals. Both will tolerate each other''s existence and respect boundaries.

    Right now, Raven''s basically carving a piece of the Divine Realm as his own. It''s not technically stealing since it doesn''t belong to everyone but the fact that he''s whittling down the ego of Heavenly Laws surely pissed it off.

    The Heavenly Tribtion already descended. In fact it has been bombarding him for quite sometime by now, but Raven waspletely unfazed.

    The frightening Heavenly Tribtion can''t even harm a single hair on Raven''s body, it'' not even loud enough to wake him up from his enlightened state. The reason why it''s ineffective is because of Raven''s Domain.

    With the nearingpletion of his Heavenly Secret Origin, Raven is making his own ''world'' per se. One that follows his rules¡­

    One where he and only he, is absolute.

    The Heavenly Laws has no power over this still pseudo-world since, it doesn''t there. The Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm doesn''t recognize this space but so does this space¡­it doesn''t recognize it as well, and just as well, Raven is inside that space which caused this stalemate.

    That being said, Raven''s world doesn''t have any power to go on the offensive. So far, it only exist. It''s nowhere nearplete as of now.

    After what seemed like an eternity, it was the Heavenly Laws that got tired and retreated. If it had a mouth and can speak, it probably said: ''You know, screw this! I don''t give a shit anymore.'' And left.

    Adorable, really¡­

    After it went away, Raven''s world got back it''s peace and calm. The serenity and tranquility of this space lingered. The lull and calm was tempting and can cause anyone to easily get immersed in it.

    Then, stars lit up one after another. They''re like tiny pearls emerging from the dark and revealing their brilliance. Inside this world where only Raven exist, these stars were its first denizens.

    For now, these stars doesn''t really have any purpose for existing, they''re just there¡­existing. A time wille when they will reveal their uses but it''s still a little far from now.

    Then, slowly but surely¡­piece by piece, Raven''s consciousness returned.

    He felt as if he was in slumber for far too long, but he doesn''t feel stiff of paralyzed. Just a bit lost.

    The more of his consciousness returned, the more Raven''s mind became active. His physical body resumed it''s functions and warmth suddenly returned to him.

    His eyes gradually opened. The first thing he was total darkness though. It didn''t take long before stars coalesced and began illuminating him. These tiny pearls surrounded him, like happy little children greeting their father for the first time.

    When Raven saw these stars, an inexplicable sense of closeness bloomed to his heart. A smile unknowing appeared on his fiendishly handsome face.

    He regained his motor skills, stood up and look around. When the entirety of his consciousness returned to him, Raven''s eyes transformed into torches shone brightly like the sun followed by a massive eruption that shook the entire trial space.

 Chapter 738

    Chapter 738

    The Celestial Ascension tform had definitely changed since the first time Raven arrived.

    Before, the tform was in the middle of a dense forest. There''s arge circr space made out of ancient metals and was filled with carvings. In the middle of this, there is a tall obelisk that pierced the sky.

    The more trials Raven clears, the tform started rising. Right now, the tform was raised so high that it is almost as high as the clouds. Still the obelisk''s tip can''t be seen, it extends all the way up to the space. Raven never managed to caught a glimpse of it.

    Amidst the silence, a sound of a mirror breaking can be heard out of nowhere. Cracks appeared out of thin air, they spread far and wide until they covered the entire tform.

    *BOOM!!*

    A loud explosion urred and the sound of shattering ss echoed everywhere. This was followed by a blinding brilliance of gold and silver that flooded the entire forest.

    A silhouette can be seen in the middle of that brilliance. As the light faded, the silhouette became clearer and clearer.

    It revealed a man with a long aqua-marine colored hair. He looks young, probably somewhere around 20-25 years old. He was extraordinarily handsome, the type that can make someone dream of his face on lonely nights. His shoulders were broad, had a narrow waist, he was tall as well. He was wearing a golden colored robes and was surrounded with a calm and benevolent aura.

    The moment he appeared, he became the center of the world. It was as if he was the only existence that mattered. Hymns filled profundity appeared, singing praises for his arrival. Thews bent down, weing him and a expression of absolute serenity was stered on his face.

    This man, was none other than Raven himself.

    He just returned in a grand manner after clearing hisst trial. He didn''t need to double check since he waspletely confident about his decision. Raven released a soft sigh which can be heard from a mile a way.

    He retracted his aura, keeping it all within his body, appearing like any other mortal. Hended on the tform and the peace of his surroundings returned. He looked towards his left and saw the Trial Administrator smiling at him.

    "Congrattions on clearing your final trial. How do you feel?"

    "¡­" Raven can''t answer at first. He looked as his hands and carefully thought of the most urate way to describe what he''s actually feeling right now. After a moment, he parted his lips and murmured:

    "Invincible."

    The Trial Administrator had a heartyugh at that. He didn''t mind the audaciousness of Raven since he was probably being honest. And from what he saw so far, that might not be difficult from the truth.

    "I''m probably exaggerating. I still have and a long way to go. I know that but¡­this feels nice." Raven replied as he clenched his hands.

    "Well, it''s up to you anyways." The Trial Administrator said.

    "I have something to ask you." Raven turned to the trial administrator and asked: "The Celestials¡­who/what are they?"

    "I would love to tell you if it weren''t for the fact that I have no idea myself." The Trial Administrator admitted while shrugging. "You''ll have to figure that out yourself. I''m just theirckey. I haven''t even seen them nor heard them talk to me personally, they''re just sending me letters."

    "¡­that being said. You''ve changed as well. I''d say, you''re a Half-Celestial right now. As for what that entails, well¡­you have to figure that out on your own."

    "I see." Raven nodded, well it can''t be helped if that''s the case then.

    "There''s still something missing¡­" Raven murmured in a cryptic manner. The Trial Administrator heard him and had a vague idea of what he''s talking about. However, he remained silent.

    Whatever Raven was looking for, the Trial Administrator can''t interfere even if he knows as this doesn''t fall under his jurisdiction.

    "Can you tell me the total amount of time that passed outside?" Raven asked.

    He thought that since he already cleared hisst trial, he might as well ask, that way he can prepare himself for what he will see once he got out of here.

    "A little bit over 30 years." The Trial Administrator replied.

    Raven nodded to himself and set his expectations. He then asked: "I''m ready to leave."

    "Already?" The Trial Administratorughed, "You don''t want your rewards?"

    Raven blinked and said: "¡­I thought I was already collecting the rewards as I cleared the trials. You know, the parts of the Scepter of Wisdom? I thought they were my rewards? Are they not?"

    Yes, Raven indeed thought that he already received his rewards for passing the trials. He had this idea once he cleared the 3rd Trial. There was this trend where every time he finished a trial, he will receive a piece of the Scepter of Wisdom. This trend continued until the final trial, he already fused everything with the brush.

    "That''s only a part of it¡­" The Trial Administrator said, "Your other reward, is this."

    Raven saw the Trial Administrator giving him a piece of tiny ck crystal. It flew towards Raven who caught it and inspected it briefly.

    "Is this¡­a nar Seed?" Raven was pleasantly surprised.

    "It is." The Trial Administrator nodded, "The Celestials gave it to you since they knew what you''re aiming for. They said that this will be the best reward they can give you for persevering this far."

    A nar Seed is a priceless treasure. Anybody who find it will never think about selling it. This item is something that can help a world evolve, just like how a Newborn Star evolves to an Independent Star and so on, with the help of the nar Seed, they can bypass the time consuming process and directly evolve into the next stage without any risks of failure.

    With the help of the nar Seed, Raven can assist his home world to evolve into a Great World. Heck, it might even jump to a higher state.

    "Do tell them that I am extremely grateful for this." Raven replied solemnly as he kept the nar Seed on his Spatial Ring.

    "I will." The Trial Administrator replied. "I''ve already opened the exit for you. But before you leave, there is something that the Celestials told me to inform you."

    "What is it?" Raven asked.

    "They said: ''Don''t be in a hurry.'' And, ''We are looking forward to our eventual meeting.'' "

    Raven''s eyes gleamed for a bit and he became silent. After a while, he nodded and said: "I see. Thank you for telling me. I''ll keep it in mind."

    He then bid farewell to the Trial Keeper and walked towards the exit. Once he made his way out, the portal disappeared and the tform sank back to the ground, the Trial Administrator gazed towards where Raven disappeared for a moment and disappeared as well.

    Peace and silence returned to this ce.

    ¡ª

    "I''m back." Raven muttered as he took a deep breath in.

    He looked around and saw the familiar appearance of the sect. He stood on the spot for quite sometime, inspecting his surroundings and allowing himself to reminisce for a little while.

    The sect remained rather peaceful. He can still see the disciples running to and from everywhere, busy with their training and errands. He can see new faces and familiar ones. The buildings, the atmosphere¡­it truly has been a while. Though the Trial Administrator said that only 30 years had passed here, to Raven who lost all sense of time, if felt like forever.

    There was nobody around.

    Well, he''s not really expecting a wee party once he returned, he thought that at least the Sect Master and the Grand Elder will be rmed of his return but apparently not.

    Raven started walking around. He kept a low profile by minimizing his presence. He arrived back at the Storm Dweller''s Peaks, the home and office of the Sect Master and the Grand Elder.

    He figured that it would be wiser to let them know of his return first since he took a long time to clear his trials.

    The vintage design of their home didn''t change. It still looked like the way Raven remembered it. Raven went through the backyard to check if there''s someone around.

    Well, there wasn''t. Not a soul can be seen in there. The backyard was open but there''s nobody around. Just to be sure, Raven did check inside but yeah, no one.

    He connected to the Avatars he left at his pocket dimension, the ones that are monitoring the movement of their enemies. He asked them where the Sect Master and Grand Elder went and they told him that they were out for official business, they said that the two should be returning any time soon.

    With that in mind, Raven decided to wait for them right here. He didn''t intend to make a big deal out of his return anyways, that has never been his style. He just simply meditated and waited for them to arrive.

    A couple of momentster. Two blurring silhouettes appeared right in front of him with unfriendly gazes, the moment they appeared, they questioned him.

    "Who are you!?"

 Chapter 739

    Chapter 739

    "Only thirty years has passed, and you two already forgot about me¡­I''m hurt." Raven dramatically said while ending his meditation.

    "Wait!" The Sect Master''s eyes widened as soon as he heard Raven''s voice. "Is that you..?"

    "Oh! It''s the Brat. I thought it was someone else." The Grand Elder cracked-up as he retracted his killing intent.

    "Yes, it''s me." Raven chuckled, "I''m back. Sorry it took me a while."

    Raven heard the Sect Master sighed out loud and say: "I''m d to have you back."

    "Tell me, did the others thought that I died in there?" Raven asked as the two elders went inside their office.

    "Some definitely did, yes." The Sect Master admitted as he sat down on a chair. "If it weren''t for the fact that your Avatar remained in your estate, all of us would''ve thought that you really died."

    "It took you 30 years to clear all your trials. When I had mine, I finished within a year and half. What happened there?" The Sect Master asked.

    "Way too many things¡­" Raven exasperatingly said, "It''ll take ages to tell you all of it. I''ve taken 9 really time-consuming trials. But, I guess it''s all worth it. I made it alive after all."

    "Indeed." The Grand Elder said, "Better alive than not. Well? Don''t you need to rest? Or do you want to announce your return?"

    "Neither." Raven chuckled, "I''m still energetic enough and I don''t really feel like troubling everyone for a weing party. I''m just waiting for you two toe back to let you know I''ve returned."

    "Now that I''ve done, I''ll probably run some errands that I had no choice but to postpone before entering the tforms. Mainly re-forging the seal on the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda, freeing Gaia, and It''s also probably time to deal with that little prisoner of ours."

    "Mn." The sect master nodded, "You probably have gotten way stronger during these past 30 years. Still, caution before anything else. Don''t overdo things. You just returned, have some rest first."

    "I''ll keep that in mind." Raven nodded while standing up. "Well then, I should return to my estate first."

    The Sect Master and the Grand Elder nodded. Raven tore a spatial tear and walked through it, leaving them behind in their office.

    The two went silent of a bit, still looking at where Raven disappeared to. After that, the Grand Elder spoke: "I recall this ce having a spatial lockdown included in the formation. Aside from us, nobody else can open a portal here. That brat¡­"

    "Indeed." The Sect Master smiled in relief. "I''ve been trying to gauge his cultivation base since I saw him but I can''t pinpoint exactly how strong he is. On one look, he feels like a mortal but at a closer inspection, he is a slumbering giant."

    "Not only that." The Grand Elder added, "He''s a half-Celestial now too."

    "Yes, I am aware." The Sect Master nodded, feeling rtively pleased about this incident. "He must''ve been through a lot, else they wouldn''t allow him to reach that stage."

    "We aren''t even closepared to him." The Grand Elderughed, "We only received a few drops of the Celestial Bloodline, yet the kid legit became a Half-Breed! How insulting but also gratifying at the same time."

    "You took the words right out of mouth." The Sect Master chuckled. "We''re a little too blessed to have him."

    ¡ª

    "Young Lord!!"

    Kyrie was shocked, she immediately fell to her knees but an invisible force prevented her from doing that.

    "No need for that." Raven smiled as he saw Kyrie. "I''m back, Kyrie. It''s been hard on you."

    "No! Not at all Young Lord." Kyrie panicked a bit.

    Thirty years isn''t too long for any cultivators of their age but considering how much Kyrie had gotten used with Raven''s presence, these past years had been a really long one.

    "Rx." Raven chuckled, "Hardly anything changes with my return. If anything, now that I''m back, things should go rather smoothly. Just continue doing what you could. We''ll be fine."

    "Right, Young Lord!" Kyrie replied, a tad bit emotionally.

    "Oh uh, can I trouble you to give me a brief overview of what happened when I was gone? Just the important events, my Avatars will give me detailed version after all. I just want to see things from your point of view. I''ll go chill on my room, you can give it to me there."

    "Understood, Young Lord." Kyrie nodded, "Would you also want some food and drinks as well?"

    "Sure. Just send it to my room." Raven said as he started walking towards to his room.

    Kyrie nodded and began handing out orders to the helpers. She also started writing down her reports¡­though she''s a bit distracted because she''s still surprised by Raven''s very sudden return.

    She calmed down her mood and started writing her reports earnestly.

    Whatever she''s feeling¡­it''s best for it to stay onto the side.

    Back in his room, Raven took a good look around him.

    With Kyrie''s efforts, this ce was well kept. Not even a trace of dust can be seen. He jumped out of his uniform and went straight to the bathroom.

    If there''s one thing he deeply missed about a calm and leisurely life, it would be taking a hot bath. With all the years he spent clearing the trials, the amount of times he can actually rx and take it easy are too far in between.

    Now that he has returned, he might be feeling rather energetic, he still wanted to rx a bit so that''s what he will do.

    Time passed and Kyrie soon arrived with her reports as well as the food and drinks. He ced them on the table as Raven dried himself and ced on loose robes. He sat on the table, eating and drinking while he read the reports Kyrie made for him.

    Basically, nothing much happened since his disappearance. Aside from a few attempts of the enemies to crack down their barriers, none of them seeded.

    Raven also got the detailed report from his Avatars and it basically confirmed everything that Kyrie mentioned on her reports.

    As for their enemies, Raven''s Avatars that were tasked to continuously monitor them stated that their numbers grew ridiculously huge. They went past millions and reached billions at this point. On the other hand the sect stopped recruiting so their numbers remained static.

    That being said, Raven''s reforms already took effect. Their numbers might not be as great as their enemies but they were clearly stronger. This is evident by how much Merit Points rose in value over the time he was gone.

    Basically, the price tags didn''t change, however the amount of Merit Points they can get were lessened. This is due to how easier it got to hunt down devils.

    Raven''s re-forging of the seals weakened the devils and sh their numbers but the ever-so-resourceful Devil Emperor had a few tricks up his sleeve.

    It actually managed to find a loophole for to abuse. Unbeknownst to the poor fool, Raven left it there purposefully in order to weaken the Devil Emperor even further.

    Hook, line and sinker really¡­

    Aside from the absurd numbers of their enemies, the avatars also reported that their enemies had numerous war weapons. Based on their observation, these war weapons were strong enough to break the seals ced by Raven.

    Not all them though¡­he did make 33yers of them after all.

    Still, there 20 or so years before the war between forces erupts. That''s plenty of time for Raven to do something to neutralize everything. Keep the ying field even, per se.

    He wasn''t really trying to stop the war all by himself. This sort of tribtion is needed for the disciples to grow stronger and mature even more. He wouldn''t stop it even if he could.

    The Devil Emperor on the other hand. That thing needs to go.

    It has overstayed it''s wee. It''s about damn time to get rid of it once and for all.

    Its disappearance will cause numerous reforms to take ce for the sect but all of it were weed changes. Raven wasn''t nning to drew this status quo any longer that it should, it already went past it''s time. Everyone has to move-on.

    Raven finished reading the reports and eating his meals. He kept the report on his spatial ring and proceeded toy down on his bed.

    He missed the softness and scent of his bed. He was really upset that he ruined the mattress he often used back at the trials. He had to endure sleeping on a lessfortable bed, sometimes he didn''t even sleep due to how busy he was.

    Now that he''s back to his heavenly bed, he felt whole again. He wasn''t sleepy at all, he just really wanted to lie down.

    Raven has no ns for the rest of the day other than to rest and settle down the on the feeling of returning to the real world.

    He just stayed on his bed, observing things from afar. He slowly got used to the feeling of returning, and by Midnight, he decided to sleep.

 Chapter 740

    Chapter 740

    "¡­well, now that''s over. I can concentrate on the errands I have left."

    Raven just finished catching-up with his friends, mostly the War Gods. Just like he thought, most of them thought that he died in there if it weren''t for the fact that his Avatars remained here. They had a little celebration before it was time for them to get back to work.

    During the recent years, the War Gods had fallen into a in but fulfilling routine. They got used to the peace and quiet that it''s somewhat disorienting for them to get out of their personal routines. Raven didn''t hold them back of course. He allowed them to return, in fact there''s no need for the return celebration at all. It was their idea to do so he just followed along.

    Now that pretty much everyone knows that he returned safely, Raven decided to start handling the matters that he had left before going to the Celestial Ascension tform.

    First and foremost, he registered for a solo Olympian Climb. He nned on knocking this one first since he had a strong feeling about it ever since his return.

    Something was calling him there¡­

    Raven had a vague idea of what to expect, but he didn''t think too much about it.

    After gaining the permission from the Sect Master, he didn''t waste time and began his climb. For Raven''s current abilities, the Olympian Climb is barely a challenge for him. The changing timelines, the enemies, the erosion of his will¡­none of those can touch him. This is a walk in the part for him.

    Raven flew, aiming to clear this task as fast as he could since there are some task that he needed his attention.

    Hepressed space numerous times on his way allowing him to virtually travel great distances in a few steps. Five minutes since the start of his climb, he already appeared at the 1st Checkpoint.

    The checkpoints are resting grounds for the climbers. A ce where they can let their guard down and recover from their injuries.

    Raven remembered this ce. During the first time that they were here, he saw that the first checkpoint was guarded by a giant who seems to look at his differently. Looking at it now, this was the same ce. Raven wondered if he''ll meet the giant here again since during thest time he''s here, the giant told him something.

    He decided to enter the checkpoint and to his surprise, the interior was different from he can remember. Before the giant was sitting down on his table, greeting and getting arrangements for ''customers''.

    Now, Raven saw the giant standing. There were no other people aside from the two of them. The roof of the checkpoint was gone and the giant can be seen staring at a dark starry skies.

    "Wee back, Starchild." The Giant greeted one Raven entered. The way this giant addressed him caused Raven to frown.

    "Starchild? That''s new." He murmured.

    "It''s what we call those who are Half-Celestials." The Giant replied. " The Celestial beings are born of the stars. They are the manifestations of the constetions themselves. Well, exining what they are exactly is not really the reason why you''re here, eh?"

    "Indeed, it is not." Raven agreed. "But I do have time. I can listen."

    Contrary to his expectations, the Giant shook his head and said: "As much as I would like to. I''m not the one who can tell you. That task, falls to someone else''s hand. I''m only here to watch and wait for the time when you, Starchild, finally meets the requirements to inherit the Scepter of Wisdom."

    "¡­!" Raven was rmed.

    His shock didn''tst for long though. The giant''s words just basically confirmed his suspicions.

    "You''ve received their approval." The Giant continued, "My task here isplete. Finally, at longst, I can rest and return."

    The giant''s tone was filled with mncholy, he then pointed towards a specific direction and said: "Go. What you seek is at the top of the mountain. im it and answer your destiny."

    After saying that, the Giant suddenly turned blurry, so does the rest of the checkpoint. Slowly but surely, the 1st Checkpoint disappeared.

    Raven wanted to ask some questions but in the end, he stayed silent. He just watched as the Giant disappeared.

    Once the first checkpoint was gone, Raven was back on the mountain road. Only, he felt the fabrics of Spacetime Stable.

    This meant that the timelines will no longer shift erratically. The climate won''t change all of a sudden anymore. Raven observed his surroundings for a bit and then resumed flying.

    His little encounter with the Giant was short but it did clear up some of his suspicions.

    One this Giant is connected to the Celestials, he''s probably arade or ackey to them. Two, the calling he felt was indeed from a piece of the Scepter of Wisdom.

    The Giant was also the one who told him that one day, he''ll return here to search for answers. Now, the Giant told him to go at the summit and answer his destiny,

    Raven has no idea what this destiny is all about but he didn''t think too much. For now, he just nned on going back at the summit to hopefullyplete the Scepter of Wisdom after all this time.

    During the Celestial Ascension tform, Raven got pieces of the scepter after clearing up each trial. When he finished his tasks, he got the 9th piece and he thought that the scepter was finallyplete, however when he looked at it closer, he discovered that something''s not right.

    As it turns out, it still not yetplete. There is or are pieces that were still missing. Upon his return to the sect, he immediately felt the a calling from somewhere, it whispered his name and told him toe.

    When he traced its source, he discovered that it''s from the Mount Olympus. He could''ve went there straight head but he decided to postpone it since there are stuff he wanted to do first, like catching-up with his friends. But now that he''s done with all of that, it''s time for him to take this piece and knock down the remaining errands he have here at the sect.

    ¡ª

    The rest of the journey was surprisingly peaceful.

    He was weirded out that none of the Trial Gates appeared before him but he''s noining. And since the fabrics of Spacetime remained firm in here, he didn''t experience extreme climate changes, to him this is literally just like a normal hike. Only, he''s flying towards the summit.

    The Mount Olympus is tall. Before it took them a whole year to scale it. But now, Raven can probably finish it within three days of non-stop flight.

    On the second day of his climb, he reached the summit. He was extremely fast since there were no distractions barring his way, he didn''t meet a single soul on his way, but he''s notining.

    Upon reaching the summit, he stood at the center of then t and semi-uneven ground. Looking around with a frown on his face. The Giant said it himself, that the thing he was looking for is in here. However once again, he can''t see anything.

    The summit waspletely empty.

    Still Raven didn''t give-up that easily. He looked around, spreading his senses to make sure he''s not missing anything, still there was nothing.

    It was then that an idea struck his mind all of a sudden¡­

    ''He was looking up.'' Raven remembered.

    Raven looked up and saw the mystical view of the starry skies above him. He lost focus for a bit due to him admiring the scene. He can''t remember if this ce looked like this thest time he was here. Then his eyes widened¡­

    He held out his hand and the iplete Scepter of Wisdom appeared on his hand.

    The moment it appeared, the scepter released a sonorous hum and fluctuations that distorted the space around him. Raven held the scepter closely and sank his perception within.

    Then, he felt it answering his call. Raven opened his eyes and raised the scepter, pointing it to the starry skies above.

    The Scepter of Wisdom released a ring beam of light which shot towards the skies. It prated all the way out to space.

    Raven could feel a strong connection between the scepter in his hand and the piece that was left here, the beam of light struck the piece and it began descending to the summit where Raven was at.

    Rainbow colored brilliance illuminated the whole summit. Raven basked under it and felt extraordinarily calm. Following that, he saw the piece entering his line of sight, it was using the beam of light as a guide.

    He saw a fragment descending andnding on the Scepter, the moment contact was made, the scepter released a blinding brilliance.

    When Raven opened his eyes, he found himself standing in the middle of a vast expansive white space. He frowned for a bit before he heard someone speaking behind him.

    "My, my. Kids these days grow up so fast."

    "Master!!?"

 Chapter 741

    Chapter 741

    Raven already felt that this ce felt very familiar to him.

    The sudden appearance of Geezer basically confirmed his suspicions. This ce is indeed familiar, this is exact ce where Geezer and him met for the first time.

    "Hohoho, you brat." Geezer chuckled, "It hasn''t even been and you''re already at this step. I knew you basically experience two lifetimes by now but still, it''s a little ridiculous if you ask me. You''re not even at least 500 years old but you might as well be an Empyrean with your strength. Impressive, very impressive. You''re giving old me some face, I like it."

    Geezerughed merrily as he patted Raven''s shoulders.

    "How are you, Master? Didn''t you say that it''s risky for us to meet?" Raven was a hit confused.

    "I''m fine. Still alive and mostly in pain but still mostly fine. Don''t worry about me too much. And yes, I did say that it''s risky but who do you think I am?"

    "No clue. You never told me your real name remember?" Raven replied.

    "Oh you, cheeky brat!" Geezer chuckled as he sat down. He gestured Raven to sat down in front of him, which Raven did. "This is the second time that we meet, with my current condition, I can also appear to you like this one more time without any risks."

    "¡­" Raven remained silent. He can''t think of anything to say so he just stayed silent instead.

    "Don''t give me that face, you." Geezer snorted, "Didn''t I say to not worry about me?"

    "I know but¡­it''s a little hard for me to do just that." Raven sighed, "I mean, I don''t know who or where you are. I tried asking some people but for some reason, there are no records about you anywhere. What am I supposed to think?"

    "That I will be fine." Geezer replied, "You should have a little more faith to me, I will be fine. It''s not like n of getting trapped wherever I am for the rest of my life. I still am a Divine Knight, I value my freedom just as much as everyone else does. What made you think that I will ept this kind of fate?"

    "Again, don''t worry about me. I don''t have any ns on dying here." Geezer replied. "Alright? Stop overthinking, I will be fine."

    "Yes. I understand." Raven nodded and relented.

    "Okay. Now, we don''t have much time so we better get to the point why I appeared before you." Geezer said, "Boy, you''re luck is seriously enviable you know that? Of all the people that coveted the Scepter of Wisdom, you ¨C who have no idea what it is, got it. If those people knew about this, they''d probably rip out their hairs in stress."

    Geezerughed uproariously when he pointed this out.

    "Well, I did receive some of the lingering memories within it. I know that this is the same item that was used to create the constetions." Raven stated.

    "Yes it is, boy. But it''s more than that. Don''t tell me you haven''t realized yet?"

    "I kind of did? I''m just not sure." Raven muttered. "I mean, it''s a vey powerful artifact, it basically allowed me to transform my domain in to a pseudo-Realm in itself. In there, I am absolute. If feel invincible."

    "That''s right." Geezer''s face suddenly turned solemn. "By essence, we cultivators search for enlightenment about thews of the world. The more we understand it''s esoteric structure, the closer we are at mimicking how it works, going as far as being able to influence our surroundings."

    "Such are Domains. Yet, by the end of the, Domains are Domains. They''re just a projection of what you understood about thews of the world. Even though we can change our surroundings in to something that is more favorable to us. In the end, it''s eventually go away once the Domain is gone."

    "The scepter in your hands it an artifact that gives you the ability to breach that thin yet unbreakable film between what is real and what it not." Geezer exined patiently. "In short, the Scepter of Wisdom can allow you to create a world in whatever image you want. There, you are quite literally an omnipotent and omniscient being."

    "Huh¡­"

    " ''Huh'' he says!!" Geezer was dumbfounded. Heically lied on the ground and gave Raven an expression of disbelief. "You brat! I thought you were smart!"

    "No, no. Ipletely understand the implications of what you said, Master." Raven waved his hands and exined. "I mean, I''m basically a creator. If I want to create a world, then I can create it. Simrly, I can also create a ''Divine Realm'' ording to my image. Basically, sky''s the limit for me. I get that."

    "But see, I was just thinking¡­maybe I can use the artifact to create a method that will allow me to discover how to reach the Ream beyond Divinity."

    "That''s exactly the idea, kid." Geezer sighed. "I thought the same as well, and you know how I ended-up right?"

    "Huh?"

    "Ohe on, do I really need to spell it out for you." Geezer deadpanned, "Whatever, I guess. Yes, I''m the previous owner of that scepter of yours."

    "¡­!" Raven was stunned speechless.

    Now that''s something he wasn''t truly expecting. Who would''ve thought about that?

    "That same Scepter is the reason why I was hunted down to the ends of the world." Geezer said. "In fact, It''s the reason why I was so passionate about searching for a way to break past our limits. I have something that I can rely on. So long as I can find that spark, I can make it happen. Unfortunately¡­well, you know how it went."

    "¡­" Raven was silent. He truly wasn''t expecting such revtion. Now he finally understood why Geezer showed up. "Is this your way of warning me? You want me to be careful about revealing the fact that I have the scepter?"

    "Yes." Geezer sighed. "I don''t know if this is good luck for you or bad luck. The fact that you''ll be the next owner of that Scepter is¡­whatever. Many Divine Knights are aware of that scepter of yours, since it''splete now, there''s no way for them to steal it from you. Even if they killed you, the scepter will just break into pieces and hide until the next owner arrives."

    "I was forced to disown the Scepter of Wisdom in order to preserve my life. Only by doing so, those son''s of bitches let me go. I don''t want you to go through that, that''s why I came here." Geezer looked earnestly at Raven, "Be careful. Unless you are confident enough, do not expose the Scepter of Wisdom. It has a paintbrush form, use that instead. Nobody recognizes that. As for the other forms, well¡­just be careful, you hear me?"

    Raven took a deep breath and nodded: "Yes, Master."

    "Good. Now, with that Scepter in your hands, you can call yourself my Heir. Go sit on that throne and im what''s yours. Also, take care of your disciple brothers and sisters for me. Let them have a little fun. They''ve been trapped within that crown for a little too long already."

    "I will even if you didn''t tell me, Master." Raven chuckled.

    "I know you will." Geezer nodded in satisfaction. "You have all that you need to continue my research. Finish it. Go and make me proud. I''ll be watching you."

    "Yes, Master." Raven said as he watched Geezer and the white space slowly disperse.

    Raven wanted to say something more but he ended up not to. He thought that it''d be better to just do it when timees, actions speaks louder than words after all. He will search for where his Master is and he will save him. He won''t be satisfied if he didn''t do it.

    After his master disappeared, Raven''s consciousness went back to the real world, back on the summit of Mount Olympus.

    He was sitting down cross-legged. In front of him, was thepleted Divine Scepter of Wisdom. The moment heid his eyes on it. The scepter buzzed and approached him. Raven opened his palms and the scepter fell gracefully on top of it.

    He carefully appreciated every single detail of the scepter, admiring it''s beauty. The body of the scepter looked like it was made out of Timeless Gold God Stones. It is filled with ancient carvings that seems to be moving under his close inspection. There was a mounted crystal at the head of the scepter.

    The crystal block shined with a rainbow colored aurora. Looking at it closely, there are numerous glitters studded across the interior of the crystal, making it look like there''s an infinite amount of stars gathered in there.

    Raven smiled in satisfaction when he got the feel of the scepter. Following his will, the scepter shrank in size and turned into a handheld paintbrush which followed the same theme. The brush head looked like a crystal instead.

    Raven raised his hand and made a casual stroke. That simple stroke left a scar in the air which is filled with endless profundity. Seeing this, Raven smiled and said:

    "Well, then. Let''s finish some errands."

 Chapter 742

    Chapter 742

    Raven didn''t stay for long after he got his reward by finishing the Olympian Climb.

    He opened a tear in space and left, he went back to his estate and spent the rest of day there. Because Raven already cleared the Olympian Climb before, the announcement of his clear this time wasn''t announce, which is something he preferred over making a ruckus.

    Even Geezer said that he can already sit on the throne and be the 9th Heir. Raven didn''t do it right away. He decided to postpone it at ater date since he has some priorities that he wanted to take care of first.

    Raven spent three days in his estate, getting used to how the Scepter of Wisdom felt and experimenting, with the help of this tool, his prowess was eventually doubled, which insane given how strong Raven already was.

    After that, Raven decided that he should move on and clear up the remaining errands he have left.

    He told Sect Master and Grand Elder that he will be patrolling the Devil Emperor''s tower from the first floor all the to 99th floor. Once he got his permission, he didn''t waste time and immediately descended to Tartarus.

    Going back to Tartarus caused Raven to feel a strong nostalgia despite the awful smell emanating from the pagoda. Back then, Raven couldn''t do anything to clean this infestation but now¡­

    Raven appearance caused an uproar from the Outer Disciples. There were many people who were alerted by his presence, especially the officials who immediately stopped what they were doing to offer their greetings.

    Raven smiled at them and calmly said: "Sorry for disturbing you guys, don''t worry my work here will be quick. Just stay put."

    After saying that, Raven drew the Brush of Wisdom out and drew arge rune with a casual stroke.

    As soon as the rune appeared, winds kicked-up. The gales eventually turned into a fierce tornado which attracted all the infestation in one spot.

    A plume of pristine white fire emerged from the tip of his finger. He pointed at the tornado and the plume flew directly to the center of it. The me exploded, transforming the wind tornado into a fire one.

    Everyone was dumbfounded for a moment, they had no idea what the Young Lord of theirs was trying to do. They only realized it when someone suddenly eximed:

    "Eh!? It doesn''t smell bad anymore!"

    Everyone was shocked. They started sniffing the air and to their surprise, it indeed doesn''t smell bad in here anymore! In fact, the air was clean and refreshing. All of them stared at Raven who was standing on the air above them. Now they understand what he''s trying to do.

    The fire tornado brought afortable warmth to them as well, something that is very weed considering how chilly the atmosphere in here. The warmth also got rid of the suppressive aura of evil that''s always been present in the air.

    After getting rid of the foul scent of corruption, the fire tornado disappeared. After that, Raven drew another rune which he pointed at the sky. All of a sudden, there was a downpour of rain.

    Everyone who were touched by the rain feltforted and blessed. To their surprise, the ground beneath them was absorbing the water like a dry sponge. The downpoursted for quite some time. Slowly but surely, they discovered that the ground was softening.

    Some crouched down to touch the soil and discovered that no a trace of corruption can be felt on the anymore.

    "Guys, look!! There''s patches of grass and moss around!!"

    Once the word spreads out, everyone began seeing patches of green appearing from the ground. Now, everybody realized that Raven cleansed all the corruption from their surroundings in order to make Tartarus a more habitable ce for them.

    It didn''t end there. Raven used his runes to create an artificial day and night cycle on Tartarus. This should at least make their lives a little bit easier. To him, his actions might nothing but to those who was watching him work, he was creating a miracle.

    By the time he was done, Tartarus waspletely different from what it was. The artificial sunlight hit their skin, making them warm, the air was clean and fresh, and there''s not even a trace of corruption left in thisnd.

    "Alright. That''s about it." Raven said, "Compared to the depressing appearance of this ce before, this is much better. Well then, I''m off."

    After saying that, he disappeared from their view.

    Everyone celebrated. They excitedly discussed the miracles that Raven created just now. Some of the disciples immediately started roaming around. Some were already nting trees and crops. The elders already alerted the higher-ups and one by one, they started descending to take a look at what Raven did.

    Meanwhile, Raven flew towards the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda. The moment he drew close, he drew another rune which was meant to form a seal which will filter the corruption that''s still spreading out from the pagoda.

    After that, he drew a stroke which created millions of tiny runes that attached themselves at the visible floors of the pagoda. These runes will strengthen the structure of the pagoda itself by slowly cleaning away the thick corruption that had stained it for many years. Cleaning the corruption won''t happen overnight, that being said the road to recovery starts with a single step forward. These runes were that step.

    After making sure the first ten floors of the pagoda was filled with his runes, Raven entered

    Stepping inside the portal, he found himself ambushed by devils but before they could evene close to him, they were already disintegrating into ashes. The sheer heat of the Raven''s Cleansing Fire ¨C which had been purified and nourished by the World Tree and his Cosmic Energy for millennia, was enough to wipe them off of the face of earth.

    Raven calmly flew towards the area which will transport him to the next stage. The Devils were still trying to attack him but none of them can even get close.

    Whilst here, Raven remodeled the runes he created in the past.

    Back then, these runes were his best creations. Now, Raven couldn''t help but scowl at how simple and ugly they were. Which is why he remodeled them.

    To Raven, the base floors were a breeze. He just went there to improve the runes he create in the past. He passed by the floors one by one until he reached the Broken Floor.

    Raven repaired the Broke Floor using his runes with the addition of bolstering it. He also arrived at Asphodel as well. He didn''t n on terraforming Asphodel for now, he''s focused on repairing and helping the pagoda to recover as well improving the seals he left at the lower floors.

    With him improving the seal, he''s essentially preventing any devils from spawning inside the pagoda. That means that he''s openly challenging the Devil Emperor now while also cutting off the disciples'' way to earn Merit Points.

    Well, Raven had a fix for the Merit Point issue, in fact he just sent one of Avatars to talk with the Sect Master about revamping the Merit System eventually. Raven couldn''t allow this prisoner of theirs to cause more trouble so he nned on dealing with it now.

    Slowly but surely, Raven climbed the pagoda. He was improving the seals on the way and also created runes to fix the pagoda.

    Some might argue that this task is too much for a single person to handle, but the single person they were talking about here was Raven.

    Forget about feeling exhausted, Raven wasn''t even sweating at all despite creating billions of runes at this point. Raven''s Cosmic Energy was too dense that it gives the impression of being bottomless.

    The devils that many thought were dangerous were nothing but insects for Raven. He wasn''t even actively hunting them and they were still dying.

    That said, it still took Raven three days to get to the upper floors of the pagoda.

    Now he was standing at the 80th floor, a ce where the Devil Emperor''s domain can reach. The moment hended, he can already feel the unfriendly re of their little prisoner. A sneer appeared on Raven''s lips.

    He muttered: "Cute."

    Before drawing more runes which essentially caused the domain to be damaged. Raven the aftershocks of the Devil Emperor''s tantrums all the way down here. He snorted and basically ignored it.

    And just to really piss the Devil Emperor off, he allowed the prisoner to watch as its precious creations disintegrated from the heat Raven emanated. He also set up powerful seals that caused the domain to retreat to the next floor. He got rid of the corruption and moved on to the next floor, doing the same thing.

    Raven was unstoppable. He can feel how much the Devil Emperor was resisting but he truly couldn''t care less. He continuously applied seals until he reached his first target.

    The Heavenly Elk that had contacted him back then ¨C Gaia.

    His arrival was noticed by the Elk but it was too weak to even open its eyes. Thankfully, Raven was prepared. He drew a rune into the air and said:

    "It''s time to return the favor from all of those years ago, Gaia."

 Chapter 743

    Chapter 743

    "¡­you!"

    A voice echoed to Raven ears. It''s been a while since he heard Gaia''s voice but he can still recognize it.

    Raven inspected Gaia''s condition and it wasn''t looking good. From a simple nce, he can clearly see that it''s a miracle that she''s still alive. He doesn''t have any idea how long she has been imprisoned here but it should be a long a time.

    Gaia''s body had deteriorated too much. Since she''s directly under the domain of the Devil Emperor, she''s being corrupted by his evil intent. Anyone could ward off the corruption but there''s a limit on how long they can do it. Once they could no longer hold in, the corruption gnawing at them will eventually seep through their flesh and infect them from the inside.

    She''s barely holding on, thankfully it isn''t toote yet.

    Raven cleaned up the area around her first. Making sure to get rid of the corruption and the shrink the domain of the Devil Emperor to the next floor. After that, he started drawing runes. One to free her from her restraints, and many more to cleanse the corruption out of her.

    Raven used a gentler version of his Cleansing mes to help Gaia. He''s afraid that if he uses the strongest dose of cure, she will die instead of live. Better be safe than sorry.

    He also drew numerous runes to protect what''s left of her sanity. The Devil Emperor''s evil will has almost cornered her remaining consciousness, if it weren''t Raven''s assistance, it might''ve been toote for her.

    Describing what Raven did for Gaia will take longer than the time took for him to actually do it. By the end of his initial treatment, Gaia never felt better. He re-assured her that he will protect her consciousness which allowed her to let down her guard and fall into slumber after so many years of torture.

    The moment she fell asleep, Raven''s runes be more effective since her system is not resisting them any longer. After creating an imprable barrier that will preserve and heal her consciousness gradually. Raven ced Gaia inside the Crown Space to let her recover. She''ll take up a lot of space hut it''s not a problem for him.

    There, his Avatars will look after her while he continue his work within the pagoda. Gaia was imprisoned on the 89th floor which he already cleared. After creating a seal there which will prevent the Devil Emperor''s Domain from seeping through, Raven advanced to the next floor.

    Thest then floors of the Devil Emperor''s Pagoda was filled with all sorts of Devil Kings, Monarchs and Lords.

    Each one varied in size and strength but in front of Raven, everything they did was useless. All of them were incinerated to ash by the sheer heat of the Cleansing mes. As its subjects turned in to ash, the Devil Emperor''s tantrums became even more crazed. The closer Raven got to it''s location the stronger it felt.

    Eventually, Raven cleared and sealed 99th floor. Only one was left.

    Raven took a deep breath and wore a solemn expression as he stepped forward to enter the 100th floor where the Devil Emperor was imprisoned.

    *ng! ng!*

    *Roaaaaarr!!!*

    It hasn''t even been five seconds since he entered and Raven could already feel the room shaking. Sounds of nging chains, agonized and angry roars flooded his ears. When he opened his eyes, he finally met the prisoner that nearly caused Divine Realms fall.

    "¡­just as I thought." Raven sighed the moment heid eyes on the prisoner, "Devil Emperor my ass, just a pitifulckey of the Abyssals."

    "You-!" He heard the prisoner directly addressing him. Bloodshot crimson eyes red him and the aura of pure evil descended on every inch of his body. However, none of it really provoked a reaction from Raven.

    "¡­A half-breed Celestial!! You are very brave to invade my prison cell, Brat. Come over here, let me eat you!!!"

    "How old do you think I am? Three?" Raven snorted in disdain, "You think I would fall for that kind of trick? Did your long imprisonment here made you senile? It probably did huh? Forget about being ackey of those damned Abyssals, I''ve almost mistaken you for a rabid dog."

    Raven''s merciless mocking of the Devil Emperor caused it to struggle on its chains even more. Just like what Raven said, it is indeed acting like a rabid dog.

    The space of the 100th floor was smaller than he was expecting. In fact, their prisoner is smaller than what he was expecting as well.

    The Devil Emperor was a humanoid with deep crimson skin, its limbs are covered with inky goo, there''s also some tribal markings on its eye. It has antlers simr to a deer, it has hooves for feet and sharp ws. It also has four-pairs of pitch ck bat-like wings.

    Its arms were cuffed with chains attached to the top and bottom of the room. The surroundings were steeped in pitch ck fog which formed numerous faces and contained nothing bur pure desire to corrupt and destroy.

    Raven sighed and summoned a plume of Cleansing mes from his hand. The moment it appeared, the ck fog retreated like it just met it''s mortal enemy.

    He shot the plume of fire into the chains binding the Devil Emperor. The moment the mes touched the chains, they covered them from one end to another. The mes also burned the Devil Emperor''s limbs, causing it to shriek in pain and wildly struggle on its bindings.

    "Damn you!!"

    "Same." Raven replied in boredom.

    He here was expecting to discover something incredible yet he was greeted by a sight of sore eyes. Well, he already had a sneaking suspicion that the Devil Emperor might be rted to the Abyssals, he just didn''t want to believe it. However, reality is ,at times, often disappointing.

    "Well, had I known that you were just an errand boy of the Abyssals before, I wouldn''t have waited all this time to deal with you." Raven stated, "I thought you were some big shot with how much our sect feared you but¡­oh well¡­"

    "Hah-!" The Devil Emperor snorted, "Although I don''t know how a brat like knew about the existence of the Lords, but if you''re thinking that you can easily touch me, then you''re dead wrong!"

    "Your Sect''s forefathers barely sealed me up and the following generations were too afraid of me. They wanted to keep me sealed since they don''t know how to kill. But since a brat like you made it this far, then allow me to indulge you by telling you a little secret!"

    The Devil Emperor chuckled eerily and continued: "Yes, I won''t deny that I am indeed an errand boy of the Abyssals. I invaded this ce in order to transform it to their liking and have it as an offering to them. That''s when I met with your forefathers and they managed to seal me up."

    "You want to kill me? Fine go ahead and try it! In fact, I encourage you to try your hardest since by doing so, you''ll be dooming your beloved Divine Realm!" The Devil Emperorughed maniacally. "The Abyssals have my Life Jade! The moment I died, they''ll discover my location and they will find where the Divine Realm is!"

    "They wille and they will devour everything that you know and love! Even your pitiful Divine Knights are no match for them soe!! Kill me! Hahahaha!"

    "¡­"

    "What about it? Scared? Weren''t you so arrogant before!!? Hahaha!? Come! Why don''t you go ahead and kill me? You''re going to let me live? Oh how sweet of you, you naive little fucker!! I am immortal!! I won''t die unlike you pitiful human! I will outlive you and then free myself!"

    "Once I''m free! The ending for your little Divine Realm will be the same!! I will fucking destroy everything you know and love! And I''m going to take my sweet ass time doing so!! This is the inevitable future that you can never change!! HAHAHAHAHA! USELESS!! EVERYTHING YOU DO! IT''S ALL USELESS¡­"

    *Sigh¡­*

    "See? This is what I mean. It''s so dull. So unoriginal." Ravenined as his shoulders dropped down dramatically. "I mean, how many times have I heard someone saying those same words over and over again? Is there anything new? So overused and boring¡­"

    Raven shook his head and took a couple of steps forward.

    "Whatever, I don''t feel like prolonging this anymore." Raven murmured, clearly tired of this shit. "Might as well be done here and never see your smug-ass anymore."

    The Brush of Wisdom appeared on his hands. With a single stroke, runes lit up and filled the entire room. They shone with a mixture of golden and silver radiance which caused the Devil Emperor immense pain.

    All of sudden, the brush transformed into a long scepter in Raven''s hand. The moment the Devil Emperor saw that, its eyes constricted in fear.

    Raven saw that which caused him to smirk, he lifted the scepter and drew constetions on the air.

    Those constetions were seemingly given life by the scepter while Raven muttered.

    "Yep, this is really dull."

 Chapter 744

    Chapter 744

    "Pesky Human!! What did you do!!!?" The Devil Emperor roared as it endured a hellish pain from the runes of Raven.

    "Oh, nothing much." Raven muttered ndly, "Pest Control I guess."

    "How dare you!! Release me you insignificant pest!"

    "You really don''t understand the position you are in, huh?" Raven snorted, "For some who views humans as a lesser being, you''re really doing a great job upholding your ''status'' by getting chained-up for millions of years. Even with that, you''re still looking down on me as if you could free yourself anytime you want when in truth, you can never."

    "You are destined to rot in this prison cell, now more than ever since you''ve met me." Raven uttered icily.

    "You think I can''t endure this little pain huh!?"

    "Well, can you?" Raven asked rhetorically, "I mean, I can''t tell. From the looks of it, your eyes are nearly rolling at the back of your head just from that. I haven''t tried at all."

    "Damn you!!"

    "You truly are nothing more than a rabid dog at this point." Raven shook his head, "How pathetic and pitiful. And here I was expecting that you''ll make this harder for me but¡­oh well¡­too bad, so sad."

    The Devil Emperor fiercely struggled. Trying to break free of its restraints only to discover that its hold over him was getting firmer. In fact, this has got to be the tightest restraints that it ever felt, and that''sparing this to how it was life before.

    "Hah! In the end, though you present yourself as someone powerful, not even you can escape the cycle." The Devil Emperor chuckled despite the pain, "I will outlive you, just like the others. How very sad for you, human."

    "¡­damn, I don''t know if this is just you being slow on uptake or you just being inly stupid. I yapped away here for quite sometime and you still don''t understand the position you''re in." Raven sighed as he shook his head.

    "¡­"

    "You called me a Half-Breed Celestial. I arrived here knowing what you are and who you''re working for. I managed to suppress you with ease and haven''t shown even the slightest of fear. Still, you think I am afraid of you and these lords that you serve? Come on, there''s a limit on how stupid you can get!"

    The Devil Emperor was shocked. Indeed, this person knows who the Abyssals are even though he shouldn''t. The Devil Emperor hasn''t revealed their existence to anyone except for the people who imprisoned him here and those who visited them. And even if word gets out, it''s not like these humans can do anything against the Abyssals.

    If this human knew about the existence of the Abyssals, then it''s either he met them already or learned about their existence from somewhere.

    The former doesn''t make any sense. If this human met the Abyssals, then he shouldn''t appear here, he should be dead by now after all, no matter how strong this human gets, there''s no way he can escape from the Abyssals.

    Thetter was more likely but then again how can this human be so confident? This isn''t bravado, the Devil Emperor can feel that this human truly doesn''t fear the abyssals at all. So what''s up with this?

    "Yes, that''s the look I was waiting for." Raven smirked as he saw the changes on the Devil Emperor''s expression.

    "Indeed, right? It doesn''t make sense. Despite me knowing what or who the Abyssals are, I''m alive and I don''t fear them at all. It truly doesn''t make sense right?" Raven chuckled heartily. He then stared at the Devil Emperor''s eyes and said¡­

    "The Abyssals'' Army have thousands of low-rank, hundreds of mid-rank and 99 high-ranking Abyssals. The low-ranked Abyssals are called Foot Soldiers in theirnguage. The mid-ranked are referred to as Officers, and the high-ranked are called Nobles."

    "Aside from there, there 20 Monarchs, 10 Abyssal Kings and their ruler, the Abyssal Emperor. Did I get it all right?" Raven asked with a sneer on his face.

    The look on the Devil Emperor''s face was priceless. That was the most detailed intel he heard from a human before regarding the Abyssals. Even the Celestials might not necessarily knew about the real Hierarchy of the Abyssals due to their mysteriousness and how they swiftly deal with their prey.

    "I''ve experienced two lifetimes you see." Raven muttered, paying close attention to the shock and disbelief stered on the prisoner''s face. "During my past life, I''ve already fought against the Abyssals. Hell, I even squared up against the Abyssal Emperor himself. I didn''t get to see the ending since I blew myself up."

    "But see¡­my soul returned to the past of this timeline with all of my memories intact. It''s not really surprising since things like that ur but for someone who had reached the peak of this world before, I knew what''sing. Therefore I am prepared." Raven revealed.

    "I haven''t been made aware of your existence back then. But now that I am, I now know the reason how the Abyssals managed find our home. Thankfully, you''re a chatterbox as well, ain''t that been a relief?"

    "Still though, your lords doesn''t really strike fear in me." Raven said ndly, "I can probably go to them and lessen their numbers while keeping myself alive, but that''s not a wise decision for now, so I''ll hold off from doing that."

    "I am aware that you have a Life Jade, the Abyssals knows that you''re alive and if I truly killed you right now, that''s just inviting the disaster toe. I know that." Raven nodded, "But see, I had no ns on killing you for now anyways. My n was to make sure you keep imprisoned here without being able to do anything at all."

    "You''re immortal yes, but it doesn''t mean you can''t be killed. I have tons of ways to kill you and that wouldn''t be my first time killing an immortal either." Raven revealed.

    "I do n on breaking the cycle. But not in the way that you think." Raven shook his head, "The runes I ced on to you and those constetions? They will slowly drain your strength and turn it into their own fuel."

    "Day by day, week after week, you will notice how weaker and weaker you will get. Slowly but surely, these will wrestle your immortality away until the dayes that you sumbed to them. These constetions will suck your essence and eventually, you''re identity."

    "Meaning that by the time that you died, these constetions will be acting as you, but their loyalty will be to me. The Life Jade you have won''t shatter nor inform the abyssals about the location of this ce since the item will be rendered ineffective anyway."

    "This slow death is my gift to you. You will not outlive me, nor you will be able to free yourself from this prison." Raven''s tone got chilly, "You can only dream about being free andying waste to everything I love and hold dear. You, can only dream about being rescued by the Lords that absolutely won''t give a damn whether you live or die."

    "See? Isn''t it dull?" Raven chuckled, "It''s way too easy to deal with you. I''m not even sweating."

    The Devil Emperor looked pale. The pain it was experiencing wasn''t helping with that as well. The Devil Emperor can tell that this human isn''t lying at all. Why? The Devil Emperor can already feel the Immortality being siphoned out of its body as well pieces of its consciousness.

    The amount was very little, but it''s there. And the runes were tooplex, it''ll take centuries before it could analyze it and think about how to undo them, by that time, it''s already toote. Given how long the Devil Emperor already lived, it will certainly die the moment its Immortality got stolen. And there''s nothing it could do to stop this.

    "Oh? Is that the look of someone who''s trying bargain for their life?" Raven sneered, "Wow, who could''ve known that you''re capable of making such an expression. However, too bad. You''re facing me. The moment I appeared in front of you, your fate is already sealed. Oh, how very sad for you¡­Lackey Emperor."

    "By the way, your subordinates¡­you probably couldn''t care less about them but I n on eradicating them ae well." Raven stated, "Unfortunately for them, they''re not recognized by the Abyssals so they don''t have any Life Jades. Meaning that even if I kill them, nobody from your side will know¡­"

    "And since the Life Jade you have with them is trash, even if I tell you all of this, there''s nothing you can do ask for help. They will never know about where you are, they probably aren''t even paying attention in the first ce since you''re technically not one of them."

    "They will never help you. So you will die here¡­"

    "Slowly¡­"

    "By yourself¡­"

    "Oh¡­how very sad and unfortunate." Raven feigned sadness over the prisoner''s fate before chuckling to himself.

    "Oh well¡­I''ve enjoyed our little chat. Don''t worry, I''ll keep visiting you so that you won''t feel so lonely here while dying slowly."

    "Farewell, for now¡­dear old prisoner. Hahaha." Raven disappeared from its view.

    That''s when everything rushed-in for the Devil Emperor, it threw its head back and roared:

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

 Chapter 745

    Chapter 745

    "¡­so basically, that thing should never be a problem anymore. We just had to deal with the reforms since there will be no Devils from now on." Raven stated as he took a sip of his coffee.

    The meeting room was silent. All of them stared at Raven, trying to see if there are any traces of lies on his face but they''ve seen none. Though that didn''t give any help on knowing what they should actually feel right now.

    "¡­so you mean to say that¡­the Devil Emperor is done for?" Henry asked, his voice was soft. It''s as if he couldn''t believe what he''s saying himself right now.

    "Basically, yeah¡­" Raven nodded casually, as if what he just stated was something so casual. "I mean, that thing''s never getting out of that one. It''ll eventually die so there''s no need to worry about it. We can just leave it alone it''ll be fine."

    "¡­this is¡­shouldn''t we be celebrating about it?" Paolo asked, confused about the mood of everybody. "I mean, the big baddy is out! Young Lord just got rid of it, that means we''re free and Divine Realm''s safe. Why does everyone look so down?"

    "Beats me." Raven shrugged.

    "Well, it''s just¡­" Levi chuckled wryly and continued: "I mean, it''s all too underwhelming per se, that we''re actually don''t know what to feel."

    "Yeah, exactly." Charles nodded, "We''re expecting something like a huge war to bring it down but you just went ahead and did it."

    "Just like that it was sealed, there''s no war cries, no blood, no shouting no triumph, nothing¡­it''s yeah¡­really underwhelming." Logan mumbled, but he''s heard by everyone. "I feel quite embarrassed now to call myself a War God."

    "Same." Theo muttered, "Don''t get us wrong, Young Lord. We''re relieved. It''s like a huge stone was lifted from our chests but¡­the thing that threatened us so long¡­dealt with just like that. It''s really hard to believe."

    "I mean, you can always go check the 100th Floor you know? It''s safe there now. You''ll see it suffering there. You''ll probably hear a lot of shouting and cursing from it but so long as you don''t touch anything you''ll be fine. That Devil Emperor won''t be able to do anything to us now."

    "Plus, it''s not like our battle is over." Raven shrugged, "The Exiles are still adamant on waging war against us. You''ve seen the reports and know what''sing. Focus on that instead of you want some action. I''ll stay in backlines, just making sure that they can''t damage our foundations."

    "Indeed." The Sect Master said, "Even though the Devil Emperor is no longer out problem, we''re still not out of the woods just yet. We still have a batter going on. If we win this as well, then we can re-open the secret realm again."

    "We can even function just like any other sect after that." Raven stated, "You know, interacting with the other sects, exploring secret realms, participating in Martial Meets, so on and so forth. If we won the uing war against the Exiles, then we don''t have to live in seclusion anymore. So cheer up and look forward to it."

    Raven''s words caused everyone''s eyes lit up.

    "Hmm, yeah indeed." Levi muttered to himself, seemingly attracted with the idea ofpeting with other sects.

    "If that happens, maybe I can finally beat the smug face of that Empyrean ck Sun." Henry muttered to himself as well.

    "Oh that annoying guy? The one that repeatedly unted his achievements to your face? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Theo chuckled.

    "Indeed." Henry nodded.

    The participants of this meeting began discussing the prospect of change happening so long as they won the uing war. It seems that they are excited to finally end the traditions and interact with the rest of the world again.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect had always been reclusive sect. They did it in order to contain the potential danger of the devils from spreading. Now that the Devil Emperor has been subdued, maybe it is indeed time to open their doors and break the tradition.

    The discussions of the crowd got heated and more passionate. It seems that the long term seclusion really made things dull and repetitive for them. Which made the uing changes looked really promising.

    They started discussing about their active participation over the really popr events that spans throughout the Divine Realm as a whole.

    As they spoke passionately about the prospects of their future, Raven looked at the Sect Master and said: "Sect Master, here she is."

    Raven then brought something out. It was a woman who''s wearing a dirty white silk, her body is covered with wilted flowers and she''s wearing a crown made out of flowers as well. She was beautiful, but right now she seems to be in pain.

    "Gaia!!" The Sect Master and the Grand Elder eximed as they hurried over towards the woman. Alwina ¨C the Sect Master''s wife, and Lady Hera came over as well.

    "How is she?" The Sect Master asked?

    "Not so great." Raven sighed, "She''s been steeped under the Devil Emperor''s Domain for at least a century. The corruption has prated deeply into her body as well as her consciousness."

    "She is safe for now. I already administered aid when I got her. However, she''ll be needing time to recuperate." Raven muttered, he then handed them a list and said: "These are the materials that can aid her recovery. Just let her soak into a medicinal bath. If we''re lucky, she should regain consciousness within a year, if not, longer. But she will live ¨C that I guarantee."

    The Sect Master and the Grand Elder looked relieved.

    "Thank you, Raven." The Sect Master stated, "We''ll take care of her. After all, we owe her way too much for this."

    Raven knows that there is a deeper story than that but he also knows that now isn''t the right time ask about it, nor he''s in any position to ask. He just waved his hand and said:

    "It''s fine. I owe her a favor after all. I just did what I could."

    The four of them looked grateful. The women suggested to initiate the treatment by procuring the material needed and get Gaia to a safe and secure ce as soon as possible.

    After this, the meeting continued. They mostly talked about the uing reforms that Raven suggested.

    Since the Devil Emperor has been dealt with, there will be no devils in the pagoda any longer. That basically severed source of ie of the disciples. Something needs to be done for that, therefore the reforms are needed.

    The Devil Emperor''s Pagoda has to have another purpose, something that can allow disciples to earn merit points again. The reforms will take some time to be applied since they are still preparing for war but eventually, they have to happen.

    Aside from that, Raven also announced that he''ll be terraforming Asphodel just like he did to Tartarus. He''s also going to do the same for Antis, the Styx River and so on.

    The terraforming won''t take much time but adjusting to a new lifestyle would. Thankfully, they still have some time before the war actually breaks-out.

    Once they''ve discussed everything that needs to be done, the meeting ended. Raven went back to his estate and rested for a bit.

    He still has some things to do but nothing too hard. Raven''s not overly concerned about the war against The Exiles since he already did his best, plus he''d be there supporting them from behind anyway.

    Raven won''t y an active role since he didn''t want the preparations made by his colleagues and the disciples to be wasted, after all they''ve been preparing for this in the past 30 years or so.

    Additionally, that would free-up his schedule a lot. He can use that time to cultivate some more.

    Believe it or not, he''s not actually an Empyrean yet. Even with hispleted Heavenly Secret Origin, he''s still shy of a step before he actually gets there.

    He needed more time to umte his momentum. He''s not rushing it, he''s going to let overflow on its own. He wants a perfect breakthrough so that his foundations are solid, which would help him reach the Divine Knight stage.

    As for the matters about his Senior Brothers and Sisters, he can free them but he doesn''t have the materials to make them an actual body just yet.

    The materials he needed are quite rare. Even the sect doesn''t have them yet, however they already posted a notice via his request, once the materials are ready, Raven would no longer hesitate and ''resurrect'' them.

    It was for the very same reason that he''s dying the inheritance as well. He hadn''t im the throne as the 9th yet because he want to do it all in one go.

    As Raven lied down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, many things cam across his mind. He was like this for a good amount of time, thinking long and hard about what his next move shall be. In the end, he decided to something that can at least pacify his heart.

    "Home¡­"

 Chapter 746

    Chapter 746

    "Going home, eh?" The Sect Master muttered, "Well, we do have time and your avatars are here anyways. Sure, just make sure to hurry back before the war starts."

    "I can swap anytime with my Avatars so don''t worry, I won''t miss it." Raven nodded and expressed his thanks. He then stood up, received the writ from the Sect Master and returned to his estate.

    Since the Sect Master gave him the consent he needs, Raven wasn''t nning on wasting time, he wants to go home as soon as possible. God knows how much he missed everyone.

    Raven had been wanting to return home for a long time. It''s been so long since they saw their faces. It''s been so long since hest felt the warmth of his family. It has been so long since he held his wife into his arms.

    He feels guilty deep down, he felt like he had been really unfair to Luna. They only got to enjoy their marriage for a bit. The time spent separated was longer than they were married. Still, Luna was irrevocablymitted and loyal to him. The sigil of Fated Love had remained pristine and untainted. She never even had the thought of recing him even with all this.

    Raven was extremely lucky to have her, but he had been a bad husband. That being said, if Luna were to be asked. She''d probably never think of it this way.

    Now though, Raven was determined to make-up for it. There''s still time before the war. Additionally, he has tons of Avatars. He can leave some here and they should take care of his work while he''s away. If something really needs his presence, he can swap with his Avatars anytime he wants no matter how far away they are from each other. Even if they were realms away¡­

    Raven''s home ¨C the Grand Ancestral ne, was already bound to him. Since he was next in line to be the Sect Master of the Ancient Elysium ne, his home was technically the sect''s territory as well. He could easily connect his home to here but for now, that''s not necessary.

    Now what he had to do is to prepare for the things he needed before leaving. Upon his return to his estate, he called for Kyrie. When she arrived, she asked:

    "What can I do for you, Young Lord?"

    "Can I trouble you to prepare the items on this list? I''ll be going out for an errand."

    "It shall be done."

    "Thanks. Just give it to me here."

    After that, Kyrie left to prepare the items. Meanwhile, Raven went to the secret chambers for a bit and then took out a couple more Avatars. He released ten and then told them:

    "You guys know the drill. I''ll be away for a bit. I''ll trouble you keep things safe and secure here. Work with the Sect Master and the Grand Elder. Alert me if there''s a sudden development so that I can swap with you anytime I''m needed."

    "Got it, Boss."

    "I wish you a house full of children!"

    "Go big or go home!"

    "Idiot! He is big and he''s going home!"

    "Ah, shit you right!"

    Raven shook his head at the antics of his Avatars. He then gave them some more reminders just in case and left them there to chill-out. By the time he returned to his room, Kyrie was already back and had all the materials ready inside a spatial ring.

    "Thanks, Kyrie." Raven smiled.

    "Your wee, Young Lord."

    "I''m going home for a bit." Raven informed her, "I left some additional Avatars in there, if there''s anything that requires my attention, ry it to them. Also, I can swap with any of them anytime I am needed so I will be here when the war begins. I''ll leave this ce to your capable hands."

    "I will do my best, Young Lord. Do have a safe trip."

    "Mn!" Raven beamed, "Thank you."

    The mere sight of Raven beaming in joy and excitement cause Kyrie to feel a pang of sadness within her. But she is an expert of keeping up appearances so he didn''t notice anything.

    Kyrie knows that her Young Lord will definitely search for his wife to bring her with him. Now that she thought about it, it''s even possible that they will start a family while he''s away, after all the Young Lord is already old enough for that. It''s about time anyways.

    That hurts¡­but oh well, what can she do? It''s just wasn''t meant to be. The Young Lord probably never even noticed her in that manner, and if that happens to her, the Anna has no chance either. The Young Lord''s very loyal to his wife. She''s probably the only one for him.

    ''Just move-on, Kyrie.'' She told herself, ''He''s one of a kind, yes. But he''s also the kind that you''ll never have. Just find another.''

    Kyrie sighed and shook her head, she pped her face a bit and ced on a determined expression. She decided that she''ll just focus on what she could do. As for love interests, well¡­put that aside for now. War ising.

    ¡ª

    Is Raven that dense? Well, maybe yes in some ways¡­but he knows.

    He knows the look Kyrie''s giving him, even Anna ¨C the next Aphrodite and Julia ¨C the Winter War Goddess. He''s aware and he definitely noticed the subtle messages they''re giving him. At least in this area, he''s not that dense.

    But what can he do though? It''s not like he openly seduced them. They were attracted to him even though he never shown them any interest in that particr area. Raven''s heart is already upied and it''s full. There''s no space for anyone else.

    All he could think about was Luna. She was the one for him during his past life and the current one.

    Raven was too excited to meet her. The moment he got the spatial ring from Kyrie, he checked its contents and went towards the exits. He already got the permission from the Sect Master and at this point, even if he doesn''t, nobody will probably stop him.

    The guards opened the gates for him, he showed them the writ from the Sect Master and they gave him passage. Raven turned into a streak of light and bypassed the 33yered Seal he made ¨C which has been improved during thest couple of days, and finally left the sect. He made himself undetectable as he did so in order to not raise any rms.

    ¡ª

    Raven travelled at the vacuum of space for quite sometime before entering a great world.

    The name of this Great World was Rising Dragon Great World. It was the territory of Empyrean Rising Dragon and is the closest Great World to where the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    Raven already put on a disguise as hended. Now he blended in with the crown in order to not raise any suspicion. Now, he looked like just any other travelling cultivators.

    The Rising Dragon Great World is an open world, meaning that just about anyone can enter and exit this ce. It has its own rules and regtions of course but besides that, it was a ce where anyone is weed.

    There is an entrance fee, 30 Spirit Stone Chunks. Quite expensive for some people but Raven was literally overflowing with wealth so this was nothing to him.

    After entering, Raven went towards the nearest Spirit Restaurant. From what he can remember, this world is famous for its delicacies and Raven wanted to eat some. Thankfully, the Spirit Restaurant was too high-profile, he didn''t need to ask directions since he can literally see from where he is.

    He walked towards it and registered for a room, yes this isn''t just a restaurant, it also functions as an inn. Everything was expensive here so despite the restaurant being huge and high-profiled, it hardly has visitors.

    Momentster, someone came to him and lead him towards his room. The ce he got for himself looked simple and serene, it is actually within a pocket dimension so it''s even better.

    After settling down for a bit, he viewed the menu and started cing his orders. Raven tried their signature dishes, namely; The Dragonfish Stew, Sky Bison Curry, Grilled Drake, Sd Aurora, and so on¡­

    The service was great and fast, despite the difficulty on preparing the ingredients, his orders arrived one hour after cing his order. Due to the amount of spirit stones he spent, he got a membership card offer and got an unlimited refill for his rice and drinks.

    Raven got the membership card since that''s what he came here for, after receiving it, he upgrade it all the way to the ''Scarlet VIP'' level, which is the highest it can get, meaning that he is this restaurant''s patron right now. He noticed the workers being extremely polite and weing of him, he also enjoyed numerous benefits due to his status but that''s not really what he''s after.

    "Excuse me."

    "How may I help you, Honorable Guest?"

    "May please receive some information for these people? I''d like to have them as soon as possible." Raven gave the man a list.

    The servant respectfully received the list and replied: "Please wait anywhere from 5 to 7 days for results, Honorable Guest."

    "Thanks."

 Chapter 747

    Chapter 747

    Heavenly Anthem Pce

    Boundless Azure Sect

    Heavenly Sun Sect

    Paradise Pure Lands

    Storm Dragon''s Pce

    Five Sects, five invitations, sent by the Oriental Dragon Organization stationed at the Rising Dragon Great World.

    As a Scarlet VIP of this ce, Raven unlocked some privilege that will allow him reunite with his friends and his wife in a unanimous manner.

    The Oriental Dragon Organization''s reputation spans throughout the entire Divine Realm. They have branches everywhere and their expansive intelligencework is officially recognized by the Dawn Council, therefore their operations are legal.

    They can protect their VIP''s identity and anybody can use their services so long as they can pay. It wouldn''t be wrong to say that they are sitting at the top in terms of wealth. This is why Raven didn''t hesitate to spend so much Spirit Stones to reach the Scarlet VIP level.

    His identity is safe and the services are top notch, plus the meals are great, what else can he say?

    Raven got the report of their findings within 4 days, a day earlier than the expected timeframe. He got the intel he wanted for his friends. Upon reading them, he couldn''t help but smile. It seems that his friends are doing just fine.

    ''Mighty Turtle King, Crimson Lightning Prince, Vermillion Princess, Emerald Fairy and Holy Maiden, huh?'' Raven chuckled.

    ''Paul Gregory was the ''Mighty Turtle King'', the 1st Prince of Boundless Azure Sect. It was said that he came from the lower nes and in less than fifty years, he rose to his current position domineeringly. He carries the bloodline of a Divine Beast ¨C Snake Tailed, ck Tortoise. His cultivation realm was kept in secret and it''s difficult to tell since he''s a ''Realm Surpassing Genius''.

    In the fight for the throne, he said that he challenged all 9 Sea Princes at the same time and defeated them all. From then on, he became the undisputed, next Heir of the Boundless Azure Sect. Additionally, his wife ¨C Princess Vermillion, also has the same status as he is. It is rumored that they were childhood sweethearts.''

    Raven chuckled and flipped the clipboard to read what''s on the next page.

    ''Ellen Redcrest, aka Princess Vermillion. She is the heiress of the Heavenly Sun Sect. Just like her husband, the Mighty Turtle King, she came from the lower nes. It was rumored that she made a horrible first impressions on the first day of her admission to the sect since she nearly killed someone because they sexually harassed her.

    Her temper got the attention of the Sect Master and it was also discovered that she has the bloodline of a Divine Beast and herpatibility with it was unreal. She was taken as the disciple of the Sect Master and has been unstoppable since then. Many people are intimidated by her but also greatly admired her, unfortunately for them she''s already married to the ''Mighty Turtle Prince'' of the Boundless Azure Sect before they ascended to the Divine Realm. What a pair indeed!''

    A nostalgic smile appeared on Raven''s face, he then murmured: ''If only they knew¡­''

    He chuckled and went to the next page.

    ''Mark Anderson, aka Crimson Lightning Prince. The uncontested heir of the Storm Dragon''s Pce. He came from the lower ne with barely anything for himself, when he joined the sect, he was ced as an Outer Disciple of the ''Hidden Fangs'' ¨C a group of select individuals that hunt down the defectors of the sect and evil cultivators.

    In a span of a single year, he was promoted from an Outer Disciples to a ughter Prince. He hunted down criminals and evil cultivators that others can''t, he brought their heads back to the sect as proof of his deed. Nobody could''ve expected this from his rather unassuming appearance. From then on, he was bestowed the title: Crimson Lightning Prince and been the leading figure for his sect and a menace for the evil cultivators.

    It is said that he is married to the Emerald Fairy but these rumors were denied by the fans of the fairy herself.''

    "Hahaha!" Ravenughed heartily when he read thest line. He shook his head and flipped to the next page.

    ''Anne Fiore, aka the Emerald Fairy. A goddess of unparalleled grace and beauty. She hails from Paradise Pure Lands ¨C protectors of Nature and bane of evil, and the heiress of the Sect Master Position. She too came from the lower ne with her husband (that her fans refused to ept), and it is said that her entry got a little too troublesome.

    Her beauty invoked the envy and ire of the women of the sect, as well as the unparalleled attention of the men. They say that her suitors can over popte a Great World if they were brought together. At first, the sect nned to reject her but her talents were recognized by the sect master himself.

    Not only was she beautiful, she''s also fierce. ording to rumors, she''s an archer and she never missed ever since she joined the sect. A huntress that has a godly aim and uracy, they say she can even shoot someone who''s traversing in apressed Spacetime Continuum. Besides her, there is no other suitable heir for the Paradise Pure Lands.''

    "Damn, Annie! Way to go¡­" Raven was smiling widely upon reading her achievements.

    Then on to thest, but definitely not the least, page.

    ''Lunafreya Moonsong Valorheart, aka the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Anthem Sect. Her arrival on the sect caused a ruckus because she brought a pleasant surprise for everyone in the sect. As it turns out, she is the Heir of their Guardian Deity ¨C Jubileus, she even has the Deity as her Spiritual Constetion.''

    Don''t mind the fact that she is actually married, to the eyes of everyone in the Heavenly Anthem Sect, she is their Holy Maiden. And rightfully so! It is said that the Holy Maiden was a goddess in every sense of the word. She is beautiful, kind, righteous and so on¡­she worked tirelessly for the betterment of the Divine Realm that her actions were recognized by the Dawn Council itself.

    A decade ago, she has been officially recognized as the Dawn Council''s Young Ambassador. And if this continues, she will undoubtedly be a nee core member when she bes a Divine Knight.

    As for her husband, he was never named but he is alive and somewhere in the Divine Realm. Many thought that the Holy Maiden was lying but the ''Sigil of Fated Love'' on her hand says otherwise. Her marriage broke the hearts of many bachelors but there''s nothing they can do about it. Rumors also said that her suitors aren''t nning on giving and are still pestering her up to this day.

    It really makes one wonder: What part of ''She''s already happily married to someone'' do you not understand? When will you guys stop? Maybe only time can tell.''

    "Hoho¡­" Raven''s eyes narrowed. "I suddenly feel like going out for a murder spree¡­"

    He shook his head and sighed. Well, the suitors of his wife are certainly annoying but he feels really proud of Luna.

    ''The only problem is the Dawn Council.'' Raven muttered inwardly. ''Can''t me her, I guess. That''s just her nature. Everything''s fine at the surface, my wife isn''t some fragile and innocent woman, she probably has a n which made her join the council.''

    ''Well, everything is okay so long as they don''t touch her. If they even think about harming a single hair on her body, well¡­''

    Raven''s eyes narrowed dangerously. He really didn''t want Luna to be taken used as a tool by the Dawn Council, unfortunately his identity cannot be leaked out right now since he''s an sensitive position. Even going home like this is risky but he can''t afford to wait anymore.

    It has been too long for him. He yearns to go back and he knows that they feel the same way as he does right now.

    The invitations were already sent from his behest. He borrowed the reputation of the Oriental Dragon Org in order to keep a rather low profile. This is best way he can reunite with them without risking any dangers to his identity.

    Their sects shouldn''t be prevent them from going, unless they are currently doing something important, then they might be dyed. Even than, Raven would wait for them. He can dy the homing but he wanted to at least meet his wife since he''s about to go crazy from missing her.

    "Sir, you have a visitor." Raven was disturbed from his thoughts by the servants, he nodded to them and they allowed the visitor in.

    The moment the visitor entered, Raven''s breath immediately hitched. His eyes constricted and his heart almost stopped. His eyes began to sting¡­

    The visitor flew into his arms and he weed it. He then looked at the servant and said:

    "Give us some privacy and keep your mouth shut. If the other visitors of mine arrived amodate them for at least two weeks¡­no, make that a month. Got it?"

    "Yes, Sir. Loud and clear. I''ll excuse myself then."

    The moment the servant left, Raven sealed the door shut and looked at the woman on his embrace, he slowly took off his mask and removed his disguise. Tears fell from his eyes but there was a relieved smile on his face.

    "We meet again, my love."

 Chapter 748

    Chapter 748

    Luna kept wailing at Raven''s arms.

    Its as if all the bottled up emotions ¨C especially grievances that she held during the decades were all released at once. She was even hitting Raven''s chest but her hits eventually became weaker. Now she just hugged Raven''s waist tightly as if she''s scared that he''s going to leave her again at any moment.

    Raven didn''t speak. He just embraced his wife and let her pour all grievances that she felt. She probably had to stay strong and tough all throughout these years without him by her side now it the only time she can finally remove all pretenses.

    "I missed you." Raven whispered as he kissed the top of her head. Luna bawled even more when she heard his voice.

    It truly has been long enough¡­

    "Meanie¡­" Luna whimpered, "Not even a single message for almost 40 years. I even thought that you already forgot about me."

    "Me!?" Raven looked rightfully offended, "Cheating? How could you? In fact, shouldn''t it be me who should be asking you that? Who is this?"

    Raven grabbed Luna''s wrist but his hands prated deeper than her skin, he caught something and pulled it out of her body, much to the shock of Luna and that something he pulled.

    "W-wha-!"

    "Who''s this?" Raven narrowed his eyes at the person he was now holding, the person he pulled out from Luna.

    "How!?"

    "Ah! So you came with me! I was wondering where I lost you." Luna was shocked at first but she eventually recovered from the sudden action of Raven.

    The person that Raven pulled out was another woman with a fiendish appearance. Her skin was deep purple in color and her facial features almost looked simr to Luna, it''s just that she radiates the exact opposite of Luna''s aura.

    "How is this possible! Not even the Dea could find traces of me! How can you do this!?" The Luna look alike asked hysterically.

    "That''s my husband, you dork." Luna sneered at the hysteric woman. "He isn''t the Dea, don''tpare that man to him."

    "Husband?" The hysterical woman calmed down for a bit. She then looked at Raven in wonder. "How can that be? He isn''t anywhere from your memories! How can you have a husband?"

    "You are idiot." Luna snorted, "Do you think you''re the only one who can forge a memory?"

    "Wha-! So you -!"

    "Nope, didn''t know your inside of me. I prepared that just in case, it worked wonders to you because you''re stupid." Luna rolled her eyes in disdain as she locked her arm on Raven''s.

    "Hey. You still didn''t tell who this is." Raven''s pout can be heard in his tone.

    Luna chuckled and leaned in to his embrace. She then replied: "That''s a defector from the sect. A Fallen Angel. I thought I killed her but I didn''t see her die. I had no leads so I thought she was dead already. Everyone thought she was but apparently not. I didn''t know she used me as a host. What a pest."

    "You should be more careful." Raven flicked Luna''s forehead. "What if this woman took over you."

    "Hmph! That''ll never happen." Luna snorted as she stared in disdain at the defector. "No matter how hard she tried, it''ll never happen. I''m already a Dea, stronger than Ancestor Jubileus herself. She can''t evene close or else she''ll be courting her death."

    "Impossible!! You''re a Dea!?" The fiendish woman screeched in hysteria.

    "This thing''s noisy. Do you need it alive?" Raven asked.

    "Unfortunately, yes." Luna sighed. "Master told me she needed to be returned alive. Killing her is thest resort and since we didn''t find her body, she is assumed still alive¡­well, she is in a rather surprising turn of events."

    "Ah, I see." Raven nodded. "Well, then. I guess that settles it. Let''s silence you up. Can''t be having you ruining me and my wife''s reunion. Well, we''ll probably make a lot of noise to drown your hysteria anyways but just in case¡­"

    Luna blushed at the blunt words of Raven. A sight to see, even for the fallen angel herself. The Holy Maiden is blushing? Did hell freeze of all of sudden? There''s simply no way that is true!

    Unfortunately before she can make any sound, Raven''s arm glowed with a mixture and gold and silver radiance. Then, the Fallen Angel felt her body freezing up. Numerous seals slithered onto her body and in a blink of an eye, she turned into a coin.

    Raven showed the coin to Luna. When she inspected it, she could see the hysterical woman banging on her ''coin'' prison. Luna raised a brow and said: "Wow. That was anti-climactic."

    She then looked at Raven and asked: "You''re a Divine Knight already?"

    "Psh. No." Raven chuckled, "I''m not even an Empyrean Knight yet. I''m still a step away."

    "Eh! No way! But I felt you using Divine Energy though¡­"

    "That''s mostly because my Heavenly Secret Origin isplete. It tends to feel that way." Raven smiled, "Moreover, I''m an unorthodox cultivator and a Realm Surpassing Genius as well. Come on, have a little faith in your husband!"

    Luna giggled at Raven''s boasting. Well, that''s hardly boasting, more like stating a fact. Indeed, Raven has always been a genius. If it weren''t for him, they wouldn''t be geniuses too.

    Raven suddenly pulled Luna into his arms and gave her a deep kiss. Luna was momentarily stunned but she immediately melted onto his arms. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Luna unhesitatingly gave-in and allowed Raven to do as he pleases.

    This right here¡­this is what the two of them missed so much. It''s just not simr if they''re not together. The years of loneliness, longing and yearning for each other was too much, especially for someone so young as they are.

    From Luna''s hips, Raven''s hands moved to her buttocks, giving it a gentle squeeze which caused Luna to let out a cute yelp in between their kiss.

    Raven chuckled and carried Luna, he opened his eyes and his pupils shed with a rainbow colored gleam. Numerous seals appeared on the room before disappearing. He then carried Luna to the master''s bedroom without breaking their kiss.

    At this point, Luna''s dress were already on the floor¡­so does Raven''s clothes.

    "A-avi~" Luna whimpered, she could feel her body spasm under her husband''s ministrations.

    Raven who has his wife on hisp replied: "Hmm?" While leaving showering her with flutters of kisses all over her body.

    "I¡­can''t¡­" Luna gasped, she grabbed Raven''s face and nted a loving kiss on his lips. "Take me¡­I can''t hold on anymore¡­"

    Raven''s breathing hitched when he heard to vocal plea of his wife. His gaze sharpened as he immediately pinned Luna under him and said:

    "Right. Time to make those noises I was talking about¡­"

    **Ahem**

    ¡ª

    "¡­wait, so you''re like¡­an old man now?"

    Raven''s eyes narrowed as he looked at Luna, he gave her breast a squeeze as he replied: "Watch yournguage, I don''t mind making you experience what this old man can do."

    Luna giggled while resting her head on his chest.

    After vigorous rounds of non-stop love making¡­whichsted for almost three days, the two of them were exhausted and decided to have some rest.

    Raven asked Luna about her experiences after ascending and simrly, he told her his. Luna came to learn why there''s little to no intel about Raven anywhere in the Divine Realm. It''s because he joined the reclusive Ancient Elysium Sect and simr to them, became the next heir of the Sect Master.

    Raven held nothing back. After all, this is his wife. He has no intentions of hiding anything.

    As for Luna, aside from a little mishap earlier that''s already been dealt with by Raven, her life has been monotonous. Purging evil, making Divine Realm a better ce, so on¡­

    She''s already a Dea ¨C meaning a Twelve Winged Angel, she is at the top of their hierarchy and destined to be next leader of Heavenly Anthem Sect. A Dea is roughly equivalent to a pseudo-Divine Knight.

    Her talents were simply unheard of even amongst the Divine Realm''s poption, it was kind of absurd to think that she came from the Lower ne. The moment shended on the Divine Realm, she ran and left herpetitors to dust.

    "Home, huh¡­" Luna muttered as she listened to Raven''s heartbeat. "It''s been a while since thest time I saw them. I''m kind of excited."

    "Yeah, me too." Raven chuckled as he nted a kiss on top of her head.

    Luna then raised her head and looked Raven''s eyes. Raven looked back and waited for her to say something.

    "So, there''s like¡­less that 20 years before you eventually have to return."

    "Yeah, something like that." Raven nodded.

    Luna stared at her husband and bit her lip. She appeared to be thinking about something, eventually she muttered: "I want one¡­"

    "You want what now?" Raven raised a brow.

    "A child."

    Raven was momentarily surprised before smiling like an idiot. He pulled her closer and asked:

    "Just one?"

    "W-well¡­" Luna looked away in embarrassment but Raven pulled her face and nted a loving kiss on her lips.

    "Shh¡­say no more."

    **Ahem!!**

 Chapter 749

    Chapter 749

    "Damn! Really, guys? A whole month? Come on!" Paul whined

    "Oh shush it you, leave them be. This is the first time they met after all these years." Ellen pinched Paul''s arms.

    "Plus, you''re not really in any position whine. The moment you arrived here you started ordering food and alcohol left and right, expecting him to pay for all that." Mark shook his head.

    "What? It''s isn''t it, Bro?" Paul looked at Raven with a pitiful expression. "I mean the servants says to order anything we like so I did just that. What''s wrong with it?"

    Raven just chuckled at Paul''s antics. Well, some things never change really.

    Their reunion finally happened. Most of them were in touch with one another but it''s just different when Raven and Luna was with them.

    Raven decided to be selfish and just spent the rest of the month with Luna by his side. They kept trying to conceive a child but it''s going to be a little difficult. Surely, there are ways that can help them, Raven knew some but they wanted to have it all natural if it''s possible.

    There are still time but once the deadline is about to arrive, these two wouldn''t mind looking for other options.

    Raven looked at his friends and saw the massive changes in them, appearance-wise and strength-wise. They truly havee a long way even without him by their sides.

    Paul was huge. He stood for about 13 foot tall, he retained his bronze colored skin but he became more sinewy from thest time they saw each other. He carried an aura of a king, that unspeakable majesty as well as his sharp expression could intimidate anyone he meet. From what Raven can tell, Paul was already an early stage Empyrean Knight. The bloodline of the Snake Tailed ck Tortoise in him reached at least 99% potency, he''s missing thest bit in order to Transcend.

    Ellen had a huge change in her temperament. She was a short-fused young woman when they parted but now she''s a had the elegance and maturity of a true noble. She was beautiful. Her long crimson hair was tied into a braid decorated with numerous hairpins that increased her charm. She was fair-skinned, soft spoken and wore a sleeveless vermillion gown. She was radiating a gentle heat that canfort anyone near her. She too is an Empyrean Knight but her bloodline is no longer that of a Vermillion Bird ¨C she now possess the bloodline of a True Phoenix. That''s unmistakable.

    Mark retained his rather unassuming appearance. He did look like a gentle schr but beneath that lies a deadly edge won''t hesitate to kill when its necessary. Raven was impressed because he almost couldn''t discover his cultivation. If it weren''t for the fact that he''s aware of his activities in the Divine Realm, he wouldn''t have guessed that this guy was just a smidge away from reaching the Divine Knight Realm.

    Anne was the direct opposite of her husband. She was proud of her appearance and never hesitated to unt it. She was someone that others can look but can never touch. Calling her the Emerald Fairy was the perfect way to address her. She is fickle and she was most attuned to her femininity, she keeps her secrets close but Raven can she the real even beneath that. Anne was ate stage Empyrean Knight but her skills allow her to defeat a Divine Knight if she caught them dropping their guard.

    While Raven felt happy and contented about the growth of his friends, them on their other hand was rather rmed when they saw Raven again.

    They were expecting him to still be handsome, and he still is, so there''s no need to talk about that. What really rmed them is that none of them can truly see Raven''s cultivation level. They used all sorts of spying tools in their possession but they all failed.

    Raven''s guard was totally down. Every gesture he made was rxed andid-back. They knew that this was because he doesn''t see them as his enemy or someone to be wary about. Still, they had a premonition that he was someone they can''t go against. Be it individually or a group, they won''t stand a chance against him. Thankfully, he wasn''t an enemy.

    "So, have you guys asked permission from your respective sects?" Raven asked as he took a sip of his tea.

    "I did." Paul answered first. "I mean, I worked really hard during these past decades, barely taking a break and all so when I asked for it, they felt rather relieved actually."

    "Me too." Mark followed, "I think the same can be said for everyone here."

    The girls nodded in session as well. Indeed, all of them really worked tirelessly during the past decades. If it was someone else, they probably wouldn''t be able to function well at this point. Additionally, it''s not like they just spent 30-40 years, all of them here used time enchantments of their respective sects to reach their currently level as fast and as stable as they could.

    Else, it wouldn''t be possible for them reach the Empyrean Knight realm within 3 to 4 decades. That''s just absurd.

    "That''s perfect then." Raven nodded. "Well, be out for a while."

    "Where are we going anyway?" Anne asked, "The invitations you sent to us were vague, If it weren''t for the fact that it was sent by the Oriental Dragon group, I might''ve declined."

    "Same here." Mark agreed, "It wasn''t until we saw each other that we began to suspect that it was you who called us here. But what''s with all of this secrecy? Are we going somewhere illegal?"

    "Wait! Don''t tell we''re going to the Outer Worlds!?" Paul looked at Raven with wide eyes.

    "No you idiot." Raven snorted, "It''s a little too early for us to go there."

    "Then where do you n on taking us? Is there a ce where you cannot go without needing our help?" Ellen asked.

    "I mean¡­" Raven wore a yful expression, "It''s not like I really needed your help with wherever I''m going, in fact it would be fine with just us two. Right?"

    Luna giggled and nodded.

    "We''ll totally be fine." Raven reassured them. "So if you guys don''t want to go to the Grand Ancestral ne, it''s totally fine. I can understand. I mean, there surely something else that you have to do here yeah? Then you don''t have to go really."

    He said while smirking and sipping on his tea.

    The look on their faces was priceless. They stared at Raven in disbelief, its as if their brains stopped working for quite sometime. It was Mark who let out a chuckle and said:

    "You''re an asshole."

    Raven and Luna giggled at that.

    "You guys are so bad." Lunamented, "You already forgot that you''ve left some people behind home. I guess Divine Realm''s scenery really grew on you huh?"

    "Not at all!!" Paul eximed, "I miss my Old Man and my Older Brother you know! I was just thinking of visiting them, actually. What are we waiting for then?"

    "So shameless." Ellen snorted beside him.

    "Home, huh." Anne muttered, "It truly has been a while. When do we leave?"

    "Calm down for a bit, okay?" Raven chuckled, "I''ve scheduled it next month actually."

    "Eh? Why?" Ellen was puzzled.

    "I just figured that you guys might need sometime to shop for some souvenirs, you know?" Raven smiled at them, "Especially you guys are about to see some new faces."

    "New faces?" Mark frowned, shortly after his eyes widened, "Y-you mean¡­"

    "Yes, Mark." Raven nodded, "I meant that you have a little sister. You too, Anne. A little brother for you Ellen. And for you Paul, it''ll be a cute little niece."

    Raven then turned to Luna and said: "You have a little brother and a nephew, Wife. I guess they missed us greatly and they got a little jealous of my parents. I mean, I do have Nina and Tori left from my parents you see."

    Everybody was shocked, Luna included. This was news to them.

    "A niece¡­" Paul muttered, "Big Bro is already married? To who?"

    "My thoughts exactly." Luna muttered, "Who''s the poorss that my Older Brother conned?"

    "You will hurt his feelings, you know." Raven chuckled.

    "Isn''t this great!?" Anne looked incredibly excited, she shook Mark''s arms and continued: "We have siblings!! Ah, I''m so excited! I wonder what''s her name, what she looks like? How old is she? Oh gosh I can''t wait! Come on, let''s go shopping! I have so many things I want to buy."

    "Okay, okay. Chill. I get it. I am excited too." Mark smiled while being shook by his wife. He then looked at Raven and asked: "But wait, how did you know this? Have you already returned?"

    "Nope!" Raven shook his head, "I purchased a nar Writ. Meaning that our home is bound to me and under my protection. It allowed to me to see them despite the distance, I''ve been observing from afar and it''s been a torture. I figured that if I''m going to go back, I might as well have everyone return with me."

    "So you guys go ahead! Buy some souvenirs. I already bought some. I''ll wait for you guys here."

 Chapter 750

    Chapter 750

    Spending another month just to by souvenirs might probably be too much but in truth, it isn''t

    To them, one month''s barely enough to get everything they want. Raven already got everything that he needed so he just allowed his friends to shop for things.

    The rest are clearly excited, they''re going home. It has been quite sometime since they left, in fact they got so used to their current lives that they almost forgot that they left people behind. If it weren''t Raven''s reminder, they would''ve not even consider the idea of going back.

    If they don''t return to they home, their yearnings will eventually turn into a element that will prevent them from reaching greater heights. That''s why Raven wanted to get rid of that.

    They ended up extending the time to a month and half, delivering the items they wanted will take some time so they could only resort to that.

    After getting everything they need, all of them were gathered inside Raven''s room. It was time for them to go back home.

    "You guys ready?" Raven asked. His wife and friends nodded and could hardly contain themselves.

    Raven then took out the brush of wisdom and created a rune that connects to the Spatial Coordinates of their home.

    The creation of the rune was swift, the rest had barely seen Raven waving his hand. They only saw the rune formed and turned into a swirling portal.

    "Let''s go!" Raven eximed as he lead them inside the Spatial Tunnel.

    They entered one by one and saw what''s on the other side.

    "Oh! What a stable spatial tunnel!" Paul was impressed as he inspected the scene. "I never thought you can make it as stable as this."

    "Indeed." Ellen nodded, "The most stable spatial tunnel we used still has some Spatial Storms inside, there''s none here."

    "I''ve already established this passage a long time ago." Raven stated, "With the help of the nar Writ and some fine tuning, it isn''t hard to get rid of the remaining hazard. I do n on establishing this route as one of the main tunnels from our home to the Divine Realm."

    "So you want to sent the future Ascenders to the Oriental Dragon Organization? Wouldn''t that be bad?" Mark asked.

    "I''m talking about the tunnel." Raven stated, "I have no ns on sending the youngsters there. I can always move the passage to a different location, somewhere more safer and calmer. One that would allow them to adjust to the atmosphere of the Divine Realm easier."

    "Well, it can''t be any of our sect''s then." Anne sighed, "We are in involved in too much chaos, I''m afraid that they will be swept away if you set them near us."

    "I agree." Luna sighed, "There are mid-level worlds though, maybe we can establish some in there instead. That way they can transition at their own pace."

    "That''s a great idea actually¡­"

    The six of them then discussed the future ns about the future people who would want to ascend to the Divine Realm as they travelled through the spatial tunnel. Due to the stability of this passage, there''s no need for them to use any kind of Spatial Shuttles. They''re fine as they are.

    Their return trip will take some time, after all there''s quite a distance between them and the Grand Ancestral ne. Right now, they''re just talking and discussing ns amongst each other like how they used to back in the day.

    ¡ª

    Back in the Grand Ancestral ne, life has been rtively peaceful.

    The Final Haven Empire has been established for a decade now, it took quite some time for them to gather the proper amount of materials but they did it, the citizens are now living in a muchfortable and peaceful manner.

    The Old King Alexander and his wife had retreated from the sidelines. They passed the crown to Luna''s Older Brother ¨C Balmung and named him as the first Emperor. Balmung married someone named Bianca ¨C a girl who was once amoner but swiftly climbed the military ranks with her incredible achievements.

    Balmung was head over heels the moment he saw her, Bianca wasn''t overly beautiful but she''s fierce and domineering, very straightforward too as she actively chased after the Prince herself despite to nasty rumors of the citizens.

    They''ve been married for five years now and conceived a child they named ''Sieg'' who''s roughly three years old now.

    On another hand, the Old King has some vigor left in him and actually gave Balmung and Luna another sibling. It was a cute little boy they named ''Horus'', he is currently eight years old and the center of attention for the old king and his wife.

    As for Raven''s parent ¨C Luis and Eva, aside from missing their first born child from time to time, they''re living afortable and peaceful life. Venina and Victoria ¨C Raven''s twin sisters, had grown up well.

    Despite being the inws of the royalties, Luis and Eva never participated in military or royal ords. They simply enjoyed their peaceful life, looking after their children and often reminiscing about the past.

    Nina and Tori''s identity as Raven''s sisters weren''t really hidden. Everybody knows it and adored them for it. That being said, it doesn''t mean that the twins got arrogant or spoiled about their treatment, in fact they have a little secret that only a few people knows.

    They forged fake identities in order to escape the limelight sometimes. Instead of being Nina and Tori, they be Norman and Tobi.

    Norman and Tobi aren''t twins but best friends. They practically known each other since birth. They were raised by their grandparents ''Old Eel'' and ''Old Lana'' ¨C which is Old Lee and Leona in disguise. They were born asmoners and they practically just do whatever they want. Exploring the world, training, ying Demonic Beasts etc¡­

    It''s not as if they don''t like the life of being a Valorheart, but it bes dull and repetitive sometimes. These two had some wanderlust that needs to be sated. They are curious about many things about this world. They wanted to explore thend just as much as their Big Brother did before.

    They grew up listening to the tales of their Big Brother. The twins had looked up to Raven, practically worshipping him even. He was their idol and they want to be just like him. They missed Raven of course but it can''t be helped, he has other things to do so that he can ensure their safety.

    It''s not like the two of them can''t explore the world using their real identities, they could but every time they do, they are apanied by arge number of soldiers who wouldn''t let them do anything. Heck, they''re not even allowing anything toe near the two of them, which really defeats the purpose of their exploration.

    Using their fake identities though, they received freedom and they were treated just like everyone else. There were times that things got tough but that''s exactly the kind of rush these two were after. They found themselves cornered, in peril, and so on but they got out through the skin of their teeth by relying on each other, and those just made them stronger.

    Victoria is a tough girl, she was impulsive and overall a ray of sunshine, Venina is the more logical one and is a bit shy around strangers however these two were a unit. They are each other''s rock. They''ve experience so many things together that they were inseparable.

    They have a group of friends but even them doesn''t know about their real identities just yet. The two were scared that the rest would start treating them differently if their true identities were revealed but they also know that they can''t keep this secret for long. Eventually, there wille a time that they need to tell them.

    Currently, Norman and Tobi are out with their friends, they''re exploring the southern part of the wilderness, hunting Demonic beasts for Merit Points.

    "Tobi (Tori)! You''re up!"

    "Alright! Here I go! Hiyaaaaaa!!"

    *Boom!!!*

    Tobi swung her massive hammer at the huge demonic beast, the strength of her swing caused arge crater to form beneath them.

    "Whew!"

    "Hot damn! That is some impressive swing! Way to go Tobi!"

    "Thanks!" Tobi smiled in glee. Meanwhile Norman (Nina) snorted and said:

    "Don''t praise him that much, that''ll go straight to his head."

    "Hey! What was that for!" Tobi whined.

    The rest of their friends justughed merrily at their antics. Once the group calmed down, they started approaching their game but all of a sudden, they froze.

    "Psst! Who''s that?" One of their friends asked, pointing at a man wearing a straw hat and torn clothes.

    "I don''t know. He looks like a homeless man though." Tobimented.

    "Is he nning on stealing our prey?" Another one interjected,

    "I don''t know, but let''s be on guard just in case." Norman advised, gripping his sword tightly.

    "Hey, old man! We brought that creature down! It''s out prey, please don''t steal it." Tobi yelled much to the annoyance of the rest.

    The old man froze, he stood up and looked at them while smiling: "My, do forgive me. I was just entranced after seeing such a magnificent creature."

    The moment the old man talked, everyone, including Nina and Tori, felt chills running down their spine. They all collectively thought:

    ''This old man is bad news!''

 Chapter 751

    Chapter 751

    The old man looked weak. It''s as if even the slightest wind will topple him over. His back was slightly curved and he supported himself with a cane.

    He wore a dirty gray robes, torn up pants and wooden slippers. He has a few missing teeth and he''s all wrinkly.

    At least at the surface, this is what he looks like. In the eyes of the twins though the old man''s so much more that that¡­

    ''Monster¡­'' is what Nina and Tori thought.

    They can''t see but it doesn''t mean they can''t feel it. The old man was a monster. What little aura he was leaking was enough to cause the twins to shiver on the spot and start sweating.

    "It''s dangerous out here, Old Man." One of their teammates said. Causing the twins to panic.

    "That''s true! Are you here by yourself?"

    "Are you lost? Let us help you."

    "Guys-!" Norman called out but none of them were listening to him.

    They watched as the three approached the old man who was still smiling. The old man lifted a foot and suddenly vanishes. Everyone was confused, the three people who were approaching the old man was surprised when he vanished, meanwhile the twins were frozen, most like in fear.

    ¡­the old man was standing right in front of them. They didn''t even manage to react when he moved.

    "My, my. What do we have here¡­?" The Old Man chuckled as he gave the twins a knowing look.

    The old tapped his cane on ground, sending a weak pulse. However, that pulse was strong enough to knock the others unconscious.

    "Oh my god!" Tobi was stunned as he watched his friends topple over like sack of potatoes. He instinctively rushed towards Norman''s side, trying to seekfort but thetter was trembling in fear too.

    "Senior, please exin yourself." Norman tried for a diplomatic approach. "I don''t recall us doing anything that would warrant such aggressiveness from you."

    " ''Aggressiveness'' " The old man raised a brow as he looked at the fainted people. "You call this aggressiveness? I meanly knocked them unconscious. Want me to disy what true ''aggressiveness'' is?"

    "No thank you!" Tobi hurriedly replied, "What do you want, Old Man? Why are you doings this?"

    "Oh well, nothing much." The old man shrugged, "I just wanted to have some fun! I mean, it''s been a while since I''ve met such pretty girls¡­"

    Nina and Tori shivered. Their expression turned solemn as they gripped their weapons ever tighter.

    "What are you talking about, Old Man? Can''t you see these bulging muscles? How can you mistake me for a woman?" Tori flexed a bit and showed off.

    Meanwhile, Nina fought the urge to not roll her eyes. Tori was so defensive that her words pretty much just confirmed that the old man''s guesses were true.

    "Impressive." The old man nodded, still smiling. "A nice and delicate looking arm, you have such a fair skin too. That violet gown looks impressive as well, say you two much be some sort of a princess, yeah? A noble at least, judging by how you carried yourselves."

    His vivid description was thest nail in the coffin. Now, there''s no doubt in their minds that this old man can truly see through their disguise.

    "Yes, kind of." Nina sighed, Tori gave her a look of disbelief but she only shrugged: "What? There''s no use on lying to him anymore. We might as well cooperate, he has our friends as his hostage."

    Tori can only sigh in defeat. Well so much for keeping a low profile. Now they''re in deep shit.

    "What are your names, Ladies?" The old man asked.

    "I''m Victoria, this is my twin sister Venina. Since you can see through our disguise, we might as well keep it on. We have our own reasons for doing so, please understand."

    "Oh! I see. Very well. That''s not a problem." The old man grinned.

    He then moved and tapped his cane once more, getting the unconscious people as well as the fallen demonic beast up in the air. He beckoned his hand, cing the unconscious men on one side and the fallen beast on the other.

    The old man snapped a finger and instantly, the demonic beast erupted into mes. Nina and Tori were shocked, the white mes radiated such immense heat that it reduced the beast into ashes within a second.

    Then, they saw that not everything was burned by the mes. The essence of beast remained untouched. Instead, it was refined into five ck pills which emanated a rich medicinal smell.

    "Here, candies." The old man chuckled, "A small token of apology for frightening you Young Ladies." The old man took a jade bottle and kept the pills in them, handing it over to the twins.

    Nina''s eyes were shaking as she received the bottle of pills. She looked incredulously at the old man and muttered:

    "Peerless Alchemy!"

    "Wait, what!?" Tori was dumbfounded.

    "He didn''t use a cauldron, just an alchemical me and exquisite control. All pills are at 100% purity. Not even those smelly old men at the Empire can achieve such feat!" Nina was trembling in excitement.

    It was obvious that she was at awe from the Old Man''s disy of skill just now. Nina herself is an alchemist, she was renowned young genius back at the empire but her meager skills were nothing in front of this old man.

    "Who are you, Old Man?" Tori became really curious and suspicious about the old man''s identity. She isn''t a fan of alchemy but it doesn''t mean she''s ignorant about the craft. She knows a thing or two because she is Nina''s sister.

    An Alchemist would be treated generously wherever he''s ced amongst the Empire, not to mention someone of his caliber, he''s enough to threaten the positions of the Alchemy Kings but he''s out here in the wilds, why?

    "Who I am isn''t really important for now." The old man chuckled, "I approached the two of you because I have an offer."

    "What kind of offer?" Nina asked.

    "I need some body guards." The old man stated, "There is a certain ingredient I need but I can''t go there personally. I need someone to fetch it for me. I can see that you two are skilled and I want to hire you. Sounds simple right?"

    The twins found this offer extremely suspicious. They can tell that this old man was up to something, what it is though was the question.

    Nina and Tori shared a look. The former then asked: "Can we discuss it amongst ourselves first?"

    "Sure." The old man nodded.

    The twins them stared at the old man. Thatsted until Tori said: "We meant all five of us."

    "Ah! No." The old man chuckled and refused firmly. "These three aren''t included in my offer, they will stay me throughout this trip as a¡­contingency¡­yes. So go on, discuss it amongst yourselves."

    Nina and Tori deadpanned at the old man. How is that no different from forcing them to agree? The twins looked at each other and sighed. Nina then asked:

    "We''ll participate if you make an oath which guarantee our safety by the end of this. I meant all five of us."

    "Hoh! And here I thought you''d be asking for an extravagant price." He chuckled, "Well, sure. I can do that."

    The old man then sworn an oath in front of them. The oath he pledge was thorough and didn''t have any loopholes. It guaranteed that all of them will be returned back home safe and secured by the end of this mission.

    After the Old Man sworn and oath, the twins signed a contract with the old man. Once the contract was established, the Old Man kept the three unconscious men inside a safe space and three of them began their journey.

    "So, where are we going Old Man?" Tori asked.

    "South." He replied inly, "We are after a rather elusive ingredient which will serve as a great primer."

    "How far away are we from this ingredient?" Nina asked.

    "Very far." The old man chuckled, "Our destination is the South Pole."

    "South Pole!" The twins eximed. They looked at each other, facedced with wonder and little bit of rm.

    They''ve heard about that ce but they''ve never explored that far. This will be the first time that they will be going there so they feel a bit excited. They wanted to travel the world after all, unfortunately there''s bound to be some dangers around, and the two of them aren''t confident if they can survive in such a harsh setting.

    "I can tell that you''re worried." The old man chuckled, "But I did make an oath remember? Don''t worry, I won''t let any of you die."

    Nina and Tori sighed, at least they have that going for the both of them.

    On their way though, the suddenly felt strong tremors beneath them. The twins were rmed by they saw the old manpletely unbothered. They then heard a loud roar and a hulking beast suddenly appeared right before them.

    Tori was rmed, she then shouted at the old man: "Oi, Old Man. Do something about that!"

    "Why?" The old man tilted his head in confusion.

    "That''s why!?" Tori yelled as she pointed at the beast who started rampaging.

    "But¡­you aren''t dying though? So why should I?"

    "Oh my fucking¡­"

 Chapter 752

    Chapter 752

    *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

    Within the southern part of the wilderness, three humongous demonic beasts teamed up against two people. One was wielding a sword while the other was wielding a war hammer.

    Despite being at a disadvantage in terms of size and number, the humans were actually winning by arge margin. Not a single injury nor fatigue could be seen from their faces. If anything, they looked as if they were bored. As if fighting against three towering beasts were nothing but amon urrence to them.

    The one with a sword suddenly said: "This is getting dull."

    The one with the war hammer nodded and replied: "Yeah. Should I end it already?"

    "Yeah, have fun." The one with the sword suddenly disappeared leaving the one with the hammer alone to face-off against three towering beasts.

    Instead of being afraid, the hammer guy just smiled and suddenly turned into a blur. The beast suddenly felt as if they were struck by falling boulder, causing them to lose bnce. The hammer guy moved so fast that the beast didn''t even see what hit them.

    The hammer guy reappeared above them and he started gathering momentum by spinning vertically while his body was horizontal. With all the needed momentum, the hammer guy mmed his hammer on the ground, creating a massive depression and reducing the towering beasts into pastes.

    The hammer guy retreated from the sttering pasts of flesh and blood while showing a disgusted expression.

    "Tori!! What did I say about doing that move!?"

    "I know, I know! It''s yucky and gross! I can''t help it though, it''s cool!"

    "Just don''t use it to something so fragile then! Ugh." Ninained, "Why were you even using a hammer un the first ce."

    Yeah, these two are females, they''re just wearing a disguise ne. They are Venina and Victoria Valorheart, the twins who were unfortunate to make a deal with the devil.

    Speaking of the devil¡­

    "Ohohoho¡­" A weary but soft chuckled suddenly echoed from behind. Nina and Tori red at the Old Man who was sitting in a rotting tree bark while smoking from his pipe. "Impressive, impressive. You two have certainly grown."

    Despite hispliment though, Nina and Tori remained pissed at the old guy, what''s even worst is that they''re not really in any position to be angry since it was their fault anyways.

    It''s not like the old conned them deliberately. He did promise that he will ensure the safety and security of all five of them, and so far he''s upholding his promise.

    That being said, he didn''t say that he won''t allow them to get hurt.

    This is where the twins realized they messed up. The old man guaranteed that he will return them home safe and secured. He didn''t say that he will protect them from all dangers though. And that''s the part where they realized what the rest of the trip was going to be like.

    The Old Man didn''t hesitate to use the most direct path towards their goal, even if it means running towards dangerous beasts in the process. Every time they were ambushed by the demonic beasts, the old man will disappear and the let twins handle them.

    If they get injured, he''ll heal them. If they wanted to escape, he''ll throw them back to the beasts, if they wanted to attack him, he''ll justugh it off and brush of their attacks like it was nothing.

    Simply put, their fates depended on the whims of this old man, and they can''t do anything to him. It''s been three months since it started and at this point, they simply just stopped caring. They already epted that they''re trapped with this old man.

    The only respite they have is that, the old man sworn an oath and he''s keeping the end of his deal. He just has this twisted desire to make them suffer.

    Well, it''s not like they didn''t receive any benefits from him. In fact, the benefits they got from this old man was beyond what they were expecting already.

    The Old Man taught Nina advanced Alchemy. He also gave her pointers when ites to sword techniques since she''s pursuing the Sword Path.

    For Tori, the old man taught her cksmithing and also gave her pointers on her she could effectively harness and refine her raw strength, she''s pursuing the Strength Path after all.

    The two have to admit, what they experienced this past three months were equivalent to years of learning within the Empire. The Old Man may be an entric jerk but when ites to cultivation, his knowledge was unfathomable. It begs the question, just how experienced this old man was? How old is he exactly?

    Well, the two never asked. They didn''t feelfortable asking him that since it was clear that the old man values his privacy¡­he never even told them what his actual name is.

    Nina and Tori were stuck at the Silver Knight Realm. Not too bad for their age but in front of the old man, such strength wasughable. The twins saw the old man killing a Demonic Beast, that could give even Hero Knights a run for their money, with a single flick of his finger.

    They were never disillusioned by the strength they had but the gap between them and the old man was unfathomable. They can''t even begin to think about it.

    Still, the past three months were enjoyable for the twins. They get to explore the world and experience how swiftly their strength grows. It was thrilling and fulfilling, this was exactly the kind of life they wanted to pursue. The kind of freedom they yearned for. And the kind of adventure they were seeking.

    "Now, now." The old man stood up and dusted his pants, he then began walking past them, saying: "We''re nearly there. Come,e."

    The twins sighed and followed the old man. Despite his age, he was quick on his feet. Every step he made took him several kilometers away, the twins had to employ their movement abilities at maximum just to keep up with him.

    This is another part of his indirect training for them which also allowed to them to improve at a faster rate. The twins learned to refine their movement abilities to the point where they''re not making as much noise as before. They were leagues ahead of who they were three months prior to this.

    After running for a couple of minutes, they eventually reached a cliff side which gave them a view of edge of the Southern Wilderness, they''re practically at the edge of the world.

    "So? Where is this ingredient that you were looking for?" Tori asked the old man.

    "Calm down, Missy." The Old Man chuckled, "I''m waiting for it to appear."

    The twins stayed silent and took this moment to rest. While they were resting, the twins looked around and was mesmerized by the sight.

    They''re at the edge of the world, the South Pole. Stories said that this was filled with mystical wonders and all sorts of Natural Treasures. As they sat on the edge of the cliff, they can see the remaining parts of the Southern Wilderness.

    The twins didn''t feel any Demonic Beast aura around, there''s only a serene peace and an abundance of natural resources. Nina could name some of them but not everything. There''s deposits of raw ores and metals, alchemical ingredients, spiritual fruits, this ce was essentially a treasure bowl.

    "Sir, can we go down there?" Nina asked using an uncertain tone.

    "Why?" The old man asked, then he looked below and suddenly had an enlightened expression. "Ah! I see. Well, you can. But be very careful."

    For some reason, the twins missed the caution behind the old man''s voice. They jumped down the cliff and began exploring the treasure bowl.

    "Wow! So many of these things!!" Tori gushed upon touching the spiritual berries. She picked some and began chewing on them.

    Nina on the other hand was inspecting some flowers which can be used for Alchemy. The two of them were so absorbed the by the beauty of nature around them that they let down their guards. They didn''t notice a pair of eyes peering down on them.

    *Hiss~!*

    Nina and Tori shivered. The instantly brought out their weapon and guarded each other''s back. Their weapons were out and they were now scanning their surroundings.

    "Ah! There it is!!" The old man eximed, the twins looked at him and saw that he was looking above the clouds.

    The moment they followed his gaze, the twins shuddered uncontrobly.

    They have faced towering beasts before but nothingpares to this one. It was so impossibly big that it was staring at them from behind the clouds.

    The twins saw the pair of predatory eyes gleaming down and staring at them directly. The twins started sweating and paling from the sight of the monster that came to greet them.

    "Oi, you two!! Distract that for me. The ingredient I need grows on top of its head. It''s not ripe yet so make sure to hit the beast really hard!"

    "Fuck you, Old Man!!"

 Chapter 753

    Chapter 753

    The creature was so big that they can''t even see the entirety of its body.

    They could see the horrifying silhouette behind the clouds, slowly descending and ring down at them.

    The beast has a round head, covered in crimson colored scales and while under belly. Two slit for eyes and a wide maw. Its forked tongue danced as it slowly peered down to look at them slowly.

    "Mother Snake!!" Nina hissed in fright. Tori''s eyes widened in shock too.

    Nina and Tori couldn''t believe their eyes. They''ve seen this creature before but only in books. A Mother Snake is Demonic Beast that could rival a God Beast. They hunt by constricting their prey not by poisoning them. Mother Snakes in particr can grow intoary-sizes, meaning their length can allow them to wrap around the entire ne, possibly even biting their own tail.

    Despite their sizes, Mother snakes are swift. ording to records, before their targets can even realize that they were swallowed, they''re already melting at the stomach of the beast.

    It was inly unbelievable for the twins to meet a Mother Snake in their life. The first time read records about it, they scoffed and thought that such a thing shouldn''t be possible and itspletely illogical for a such a creature to exist but now¡­there''s no denying it.

    There''s a Mother Snake, alive and breathing in front of them.

    And the old man just told them to distract it, what kind of nonsense is that?

    "Well, don''t just stand there." The old man said, waking them up from their stupor. "Distract it!"

    "Are you for real Old Man!!?" Tori raged, "Distract this thing!? How? This would eat us whole in a blink of an eye!"

    "You''re going to fine, just distract it."

    "No we aren''t! We''re going to die if that thinges close to us! Are you not upholding your promise?" Nina was panicking as well.

    "I am." The old man replied inly. "I don''t n on letting you two die. So just distract it long enough so that I can grab the ingredient on the top of its head."

    Nina and Tori were mortified. They really didn''t want to do this but they''re bound by the contract. The man said that he''s upholding promise and won''t let them die but honestly, the twins didn''t know if they could trust the old man in this situation.

    He''s strong but against a God Beast? He doesn''t stand a chance.

    Still, the twins have no way of getting out of this. They have to follow his orders. Its either they will die from the snake or they will die for viting the contract.

    In their panic, the twins decided to gather their energy in their weapons, prepared to attack the Mother Snake in any given moment when they heard the old man speaking.

    "Ladies, I told you to distract it, not attack. Trust me, the moment you attack, you''ll find yourself melting inside that thing''s stomach, I won''t be able to save you."

    Nina and Tori froze as they looked at the old man in disbelief.

    In hindsight, the Old Man didn''t say anything wrong. He indeed kept telling them to distract the snake, not attack it. It was them who came into the conclusion that the old was telling them to attack the snake which is not the case at all.

    Still though, the problem is, how? How are they going to distract this massive snake?

    "Nina? Any ideas?" Tori withdrew her weapon and asked her smarter sister.

    "Well, fortunately or rather, unfortunately, the thing''s just looking at us all this time for some reason." Nina stated, "If it saw us as hostiles, we''d probably be reduced to mere goo at this point. Al least we have that going on for us."

    "Yeah but, how is that helping us?"

    "It keeps us alive, that''s how." Nina replied while rolling her eyes at her twin sister. "Anyways, now that I look at it closely, it doesn''t look like it''s angry due to out intrusion. If anything, it looks like it''s curious about us. Maybe we can use that to our advantage."

    "Curious?" Tori was puzzled, she looked at the massive snake and had bold idea. "Oh! I can see that! Hey, I think I have an idea."

    Nina deadpanned as she murmured: "Oh dear¡­"

    "What do you think will happen if I show my boobs to it?"

    *Smack!*

    "Ow!" Tori clutched her head after Nina gave it a crisp smack.

    "Take this seriously!"

    "Hey! At least I''m cooperating!" Toriined while pouting.

    Nina shook her head. She sighed and looked at the snake. Meanwhile, Tori was thinking again. She was struck by a random idea so she asked:

    "Hey, do you think it can understand us?"

    Nina opened her mouth but no words came out, she has to admit, Tori''s question was really thought-provoking. "¡­well, it is a God Beast. It is young, yes, but a God Beast nheless. It should possess some kind of intelligence."

    The twins knew that Demonic Beast''s intelligence increases the stronger they are. A God Beast should be capable of understand their speech patterns.

    "Let''s try Elven, yeah?" Tori convinced.

    "Might as well." Nina nodded.

    Tori cleared her throat and said: "Pardon our intrusion, we have no idea that this was your home."

    "Indeed, Mother Snake. We were ignorant but it shouldn''t happen again. May you please let us leave unharmed?" Nina asked.

    The two of them were using the Elven Language to converse with the beast.

    *Hiss~!*

    A deep rumble emerged from the beast. It opened it''s maws and flicked its forked tongue once more.

    "What did it say?" Tori asked Nina, unlike her, Tori can''t trante raw Demonic Beastnguage.

    "Something about ''familiar''¡­" Nina frowned.

    *Hiss~!*

    "Huh? I don''t get it¡­" Nina frowned.

    "Why? What did it say?"

    "It says that we have forgotten something." Nina replied.

    *Hiss~!*

    "It said ''we used to y when we were kids''." Nina tranted.

    "Eh?" Tori frowned just like her sister. "But I don''t recall ying with a snake though?"

    "Me neither." Nina said.

    "There we go¡­"

    The twins were startled when they heard the old man''s voice, they looked around as saw the old standing on top of the beasts head, holding a ck flower.

    They saw him jumping down andnding softly in front of them, he showed his is gums with a few teeth missing as he said:

    "Well done, with the distraction,dies." The Old Man said.

    "Y-yeah¡­" the two of them replied.

    Honestly, this situation was a bit weird. A few minutes ago the twins were shaking in fear because of Mother Snake, the next thing they knew they were trying tomunicate with it and now, the old man just got what he needed.

    They were expecting an explosive battle or heart-thumping action but there''s none. It''s kind of disappointing but at the same time relieving.

    "What''s the flower for anyways?" Tori asked, "Why did you need to go after all of this troublesome things just to get it?"

    "A good question!" The old man chuckled, "Here, smell it and you''ll understand."

    The Old Man held out the flower and the twins leaned forward to smell it. The moment they did, they instantly felt severe headaches.

    The twins copsed on the ground, clutching their head in pain. Their disguise wore off, showing their true appearances.

    Meanwhile, the Old Man looked at the snake and chuckled. The snake released a hiss and the old man replied:

    "Well, those guys that did this to them thought they were clever. Unfortunately, their timing is bad."

    The old man set the flower aze, reducing it to mere dusts. He then looked at the snake and beckoned¡­

    "Come, it''s time for us to return."

    The snake nodded in understanding. The ground shook and the Mother Snake suddenly shrank in size. It wrapped itself around the old man''s neck, turning into a scarf that is both crimson and white in color.

    The old man pointed in front and a portal appeared before him. He made the twins float as he took them with him inside the portal.

    The twins felt their minds spiraling. Numerous scenes shed before their very eyes, causing them to be confused but also enlightened.

    Their memories were being jumbled. To their surprise, they were starting to recall things differently from how it actually happened. It was confusing at first, but the more they saw, the more they understood what was going on.

    Now, what the snake said made total sense.

    The twins can finally remember everything. Indeed, they have a ymate before. It was a snake that they loved and adored, it was their bodyguard and also their best friend. To think that it was actually a Mother Snake was unbelievable, even more so the fact that theypletely forgotten about it.

    Indeed, its presence should feel familiar to them, it''s just that they have no idea. Their memories about the snake were sealed for whatever reason. But now, not only did they remember everything, they even knew who was responsible for it.

    The moment they wake up from their slumber, there will be hell to pay. They have to make them understand that messing with Valorheart''s was never and will never be, a good idea.

 Chapter 754

    Chapter 754

    Nina and Tori woke fuming in rage.

    Their murderous aura clouded their immediate vicinity, scaring the crap out of the people who were guarding them.

    "Wait! Where are we!?" Tori eximed.

    Nina was confused to. She began looking around and thought that this ce was awfully familiar. Then it hits them.

    "We''re home." The twins mumbled.

    Indeed they were. To be specific, they woke up in their own rooms at the Valorheart Estate. Their disguises were off and there were servants in the room who were cleaning them up while they were sleeping ¨C only, they got frightened by the way the twins woke up.

    "Ah, sorry about that." Nina apologized to the servants. "Something happened before we lost consciousness. We''re not mad at you."

    "Right, we aren''t mad at you girls. Rx." Tori chuckled as she pacified the servants who sighed in relief.

    "Where''s our parents?" Nina asked.

    "They''re at the garden, Young Miss. Entertaining a visitor." The servant replied.

    "Visitor?" Nina frowned, then her eyes widened as she said: "Ah, it must be the old man."

    "Right, he probably took us home." Tori said while checking herself.

    "¡­"

    The servants looked like they wanted to say something but they didn''t in the end. They just kept their mouths shut and attended to the twins as they usually does.

    The twins were in deep thought. They could now remember all of the stuff that they''ve forgotten.

    Someone messed with their memories starting from the oldest. It was the reason why they can''t remember the Mother Snake at all.

    Her name is Venus, she''s a mount that their Big Brother left for them in order to make sure they were safe. She wasn''t just their bodyguard, she was their friend and she''s part of the family. Venus treasured them and protected them from any harm. The twins owe her so much that the fact that someone was brave enough to ce then under a spell and made them forget about her was unforgivable.

    It wasn''t just that, the twins also discovered most of their memories being forged ¨C fake. It''s as if the culprit was trying to slowly convert them into a tool they can use for their own machinations.

    Them needing fake identities just to explore the world was a tant lie. Their parents aren''t against them exploring the world so long as they remained safe. Why the hell should they be worried when there''s an array can track them wherever they are and will alert their parents if they were in danger?

    Them needing disguises was pure bullshit. The culprit was moron and is clearly overestimating themselves.

    More importantly though, the twins were ashamed because they fell for such an obvious plot. They didn''t even question it nor found it weird, they just went along with it.

    ¡­they even thought of them as friends. But it turns out that they were just being used.

    "Come, Nina. We have some assholes to apprehend." Tori was incensed yet again. Just remembering how they almost turned into mere tools for those people caused a fiery rage to consume her rationality.

    "Let''s go visit our parents first." Nina suggested, "If the old man''s with them, then we''ll deal with them right then and there."

    The twins exited their room and proceeded to march towards the garden. The Valorheart Estate was huge, it took them a couple of minutes to arrive where the garden is.

    When they arrived, they were expecting to see the old man in there talking to their parents. What they saw however, was different.

    Their Mom, Eva was happily humming and grilling some meat, a relieved and ecstatic expression can be seen on her face. Their Dad, Luis was sitting in front of a small table, smiling as well looking really relieved and happy.

    Someone sat in front of their father and it wasn''t the old man. His back might were facing them but they can tell that the man was obviously a noble.

    He has a long aqua-marine colored hair adorned with numerous golden and silver ornaments. He was wearing a crimson colored robes with golden linings and pants and boots, he also a long scarf wrapped around his neck. His back was ramrod straight, the aura of nobility he has might even surpass that of the current Emperor.

    The twins were frozen on their tracks, they then saw their parents looking at them and beckoning them toe over but their eyes were focused on the blue haired man. Their breaths hitched as the man slowly turned around and looked at them.

    The twins froze. Now that they saw his face, there''s no denying it. His face was a youthful but also matured just like that of their father as well as the elegance of their mother.

    "Oh, it looks like the Sleeping Beauties have woken-up." The man''s crisp and jolly voice woke them up from their stupor.

    "Well? Can this Big Brother get a hug?"

    "Big Brother!!!"

    Nina and Tori rushed forward and hugged their Big Brother ¨C Raven, who had been gone for the majority of their lives.

    "You''re back! You''re back!!" Tori jumped excitedly on his embrace.

    "What took you so long?" Nina whined.

    Ravenughed merrily and said: "My bad, there was a lot of things that I needed to do."

    Despite being gone for the majority of their lives, the twins did not hate Raven at all. In fact, they missed him dearly and just happy that he''s back.

    Growing up, they''ve heard stories¡­legends about their Big Brother. How he started from the bottom and climb-up the ranks, piling one achievement after the other. He, along with his group of friends, took the old kingdom like a storm. Raven was hailed as Hero, he was the one that spurred on the changes and made it possible for the kingdom to enter its golden age and eventually turn into the Empire they knew and loved now.

    He was the one that propped up the skies for them and even went to great lengths in order to make sure that their safetyes first. He ascended to the Divine Realm many years ago in order to build a foundations there, something that will allow him to ensure the safety and security of their home even if it means leaving his family behind.

    "My, my." Raven chuckled, he then pulled back and looked at their faces, "Thest time I saw the both of you two, you girls were just some snotty brats that kept pulling my hair and my face. Now you''ve grown up to be magnificent youngdies."

    The twins blushed and giggled at his words.

    "Still a little naive but that''s fine, we can fix that." Raven chuckled, causing the twins to frown in confusion.

    "Ah! This might help actually."

    The twins then watched as Raven suddenly shrank and turned into the Old Man who they met a couple of months ago.

    "Eh!!?" The twins were rightfully shocked. Meanwhile, Luis and Raven wereughing loudly at their reaction.

    "Son, can you quit that? It''s creepy." Evan frowned in displeasure, there was endearment on her voice. She knows that this is just a harmless joke.

    "Alright, alright. My bad." Raven then returned to his original appearance.

    "That was you!?" Tori shook Raven''s arm. "Why did you do that? You could''ve just approached us, you know?"

    "Right! There''s no need for a disguise!" Nina added.

    "Well, it was amusing to see my twin sisters disguised as men so I thought that it was some new trend around the empire and wanted to join in the fun." Ravenughed, "But see, I also discovered that you were hanging out with some delusional thugs. Tsk, tsk. You two hurt Venus'' feelings. Isn''t that right girl?"

    The twins then saw a snake head popping out of Raven''s scarf, it let out a sad hiss before burrowing its head again.

    "See?" Raven had a look of admonishment as he stared at the twins.

    "We didn''t mean it." Tori whined, "We were duped! Let me at them! I''ll beat them up!"

    "Yeah! Where are those filthy guys?" Nina looked upset as well.

    "Dead." Raven snorted, "Turned them to ash the moment I got a hold of them."

    "Oh." The twins were mildly disappointed. They wanted to do it themselves, but since their brother already did it, they can''t really do anything now.

    "Those thugs should be a lesson to you two." Raven sighed, "That being said, it''s not like you two were in any danger even without me interfering."

    "What does that mean?" Nina frowned.

    "Dad''s got you both." Raven chuckled, "The moment those thugs'' actions escted more than that, he''ll interfere. Plus, Mom was the one who nted the flower on top of Venus'' head."

    "Eh!? Why go through all of that trouble though?" Tori was confused as she looked at their parents with a betrayed expression.

    "To teach you a valuable lesson, Young Ladies." Luis snorted. "Unlike you''re Big Brother right here, you two act willfully and clearly very spoiled, you have to get a taste of what the real world has to offer or else, you won''t truly grow."

    "Girls, we won''t be forever at your side." Eva added as she continued grilling, "At some point in time, you two has to be independent. How can we be at ease letting you leave our nest if you continued acting willfully? So don''t take it against us. Learn, grow and do better next time, okay?"

 Chapter 755

    Chapter 755

    "¡­see, this ne is considered as a Lower ne. While it''s technically not included as part of the Divine Realm itself, it''s under Divine Realm''s jurisdictions." Raven stated in front of the two sets of sparkling eyes in front of him.

    "The universe is massive." Raven continued, "Let''s say that this table in front of us; this would be the whole territory of the Divine Realm. See these lines on the edges? Think of that as the Lower nes while the te in the center of the table is the actual Divine Realm itself."

    "It''s not to say that the Divine Realm is one massive entity or a single, no. It''s a congregation multiple Upper ranked worlds that''s closely knit together. Stars, nes,s, hidden realms, pocket dimensions, and so on, everything is present in this space and it all remains intact and functioning as a single entity. That''s Divine Realm in a nutshell."

    Raven had been pestered by Nina and Tori, the twins wanted him to exin what the Divine Realm was like. He knew that his sisters had inherited their father''s wanderlust so he might as well educate them, after all he was nning on taking them there in the far future. It won''t harm to give them a little clue on what to expect.

    "How do you ascend anyways?" Tori asked, her sparkling gaze was adorable but Raven can see past those and understand what she''s implying.

    "You''re not ascending without my permission, both of you." Raven snorted as he took a sip of his tea, causing the twins to give him a lop sided smile. "It''s for your own good. That ce is too chaotic for you two. I''ll take you to up there to y but not anytime soon. Got it?"

    "Yes." The twins replied, rather dejectedly. Raven needed to warn them beforehand since he knows these two can be a handful.

    "To answer your question, there''s three ways to do it." Raven stated, "The first one is by getting chosen as a disciple of a sect stationed in the Divine Realm. Once you passed their tests, they will open up a passage for you to use which will directly take you where the sect is."

    "The second one is by having someone from the Divine Realm pick you up." Raven raised another finger. "This method is very unstable though since our ne doesn''t let any outsiders in. Only those who were born here can return here, that''s how a home managed to escape all unwarranted attention from outsiders."

    "Escape unwanted attention? Why is that a bad thing?"

    "Because people are people." Raven exined, "You can never tell who''s a nutjob and who''s a kind person nowadays. If someone was having a bad day and managed to spot our home, they may very well sell its location to ve traders and before you know it, our lives were royally fucked."

    Raven''s words sent shivers to their spine, and it doesn''t look like he was lying either.

    "It''s a defense mechanism. Our world is trying to protect itself an us. Don''t worry though, so long as I''m alive, no one should think about harboring some ideas about our home."

    "Thest method of ascending is the most direct one." Raven stated, "Do it on your own. You can ask the consciousness of the n to open passage to the Divine Realm and you travel it by yourself. That''s how I did it. Your sister-inw and the rest used the first method."

    "Come to think of it, where''s your wife Son? Did she return with you?" Eva asked expectantly.

    "She did." Raven nodded, "She''s probably spending time with her family. The rest are here too."

    "Oh, that is wonderful!" Eva pped her hands merrily. "When can I have grandchildren?"

    "Mom!?" The twins were shocked, while their parents justughed at their reaction. Raven himself felt a little bit embarrassed. Still, he answered her inquiry honestly.

    "Hopefully, soon." Raven said softly.

    "Really!?" Eva''s eyes were sparkling, even Luis looked expectant. The twins were surprised by their were excited too.

    "She''s not pregnant." Raven swiftly countered, "At least not yet anyway. We spent most of our time separated due to work. I owe her big time for that and it''s about time we start our own family anyways."

    "You should''ve already back then, before you two ascended." Luis sighed, "I mean, it''s going to be challenging for you two to conceive a child now due to how strong you two have gotten."

    Indeed, although Humans have an astounding capability to reproduce, it gets progressively harder to conceive children upon reaching a certain level of strength. This is a bane that not even Raven himself can get rid off easily so he just have to try.

    "Don''t worry, I''m sure we will have children of our own, you''ll get to y with them pretty soon." Raven re-assured.

    "Well, how about Ellen and Paul? Or Mark and Anne? Do they have children?" Eva asked.

    "No." Raven shook his head, "I don''t know if they''re nning as well, I didn''t ask since it''s their decision anyways. They''ll probably pay a visit sometime soon though, you can ask them."

    After that talk, the twins pestered Raven to tell more stories about his journey in the Divine Realm while the family ate.

    Reuniting with his family made Raven feel whole again, this blissful peace and serenity is something so precious that he wanted to protect it. Time and time again, these people are the reason why Raven was prepared to go all kinds of hardships, just to make sure that these people get to live safe and secure, there''s nothing more he could ask¡­

    Well, children¡­he wants children too but that''s that.

    After enjoying the meal with his family, Raven retreated to a room that was prepared for him. Even while he''s gone and their homes different, his parents made sure that Raven will have room that he can use for himself.

    Raven hopped into the baths and enjoyed some rxation. After that, he changed into a morefortable set of clothes before disappearing to somewhere.

    He reappeared at the Center or at the Heart of the ne. There a certain man can be found kneeling in front of him.

    "I wee your return, Young Lord."

    "Mn." Raven nodded, "Thank you for keeping a eye out while I''m gone."

    "I''m d to be of service Young Lord." The man still knelt down, refusing to even look at Raven''s face.

    Raven didn''t mind this. It doesn''t mean that he''s looking down on the man, he''s just letting him do his thing, he didn''t tell the man to kneel so it wasn''t on him.

    Arriving at the Heart of World, Raven saw that this ce still looks as the same as thest time he left it, if anything it even looked prettier than before.

    The space was filled with silver dusts, resembling stars at the night sky. There a few constetions here and there. There''s also familiar silhouettes of him and his friends. Additionally, he can see curtains of auroras here.

    In front of him was an orb releasing a brilliant glow. This was surrounded by a swirling mass of milky radiance which reminded him of the cosmos. This orb is the Heart of the World, the man who''s kneeling in front of him was the collective consciousness of the ne.

    Raven''s eyes glowed as he stared at the orb. It was currently disying scenes of his wife and friends.

    Luna was currently talking to her parents while cradling her brother''s child. Paul for some reason turned into a turtle with a child on his back while the rest pretty much just reunited with their families.

    It has been a while since they left and there''s a lot of things that''s needed to be done. After this reunion, they will immediately start with the phase two of their homing.

    Raven nced at the man who''s kneeling beside him and asked: "Have you made sufficient preparations for this?"

    "I have Young Lord." The man replied, "I have been preparing the moment you and your friends left. We can start anytime we want."

    "Good." Raven praised, "It''s been hard on you, take a rest and let me handle it. Just focus on your evolution, okay?"

    "Then I''ll be at your care, Young Lord." The suddenly turned into a streak of light and returned to the heart.

    Raven looked solemn. He took our the Scepter of Wisdom and began drawing the runes necessary for their n to work. As he did this, he was also refining his connection to the ne, he wanted to make sure that he''s fully attuned to the minute reactions of the ne to his work.

    What''s he''s doing waspleting a huge project that he already started back then. So far the foundations where already built before they even ascended, however the resources haven''t umted yet so it needed to be ignored.

    Right now, Raven has all the resources he needed. For the safety and security of his loved ones as well as making sure next generation''s future is bright, he had to make this work.

    "It''s time for this world to evolve."

 Chapter 756

    Chapter 756

    "¡­it''s good that you''re back." King Alexander nodded as he patted Raven''s shoulders.

    Raven is currently inside a humble home surrounded by a garden of flowers and fields. This is where the old king and his wife ¨C Elizabeth, now lives.

    After doing some important task at the Heart of the World, Raven returned and paid a visit to them. Luna''s here as well, ying with her little Brother ¨C Horus, and her Nephew ¨C Sieg, which already warmed up to him as well. All it took was a couple of candies.

    "How are you feeling, Mother-inw?" Raven asked.

    "I am doing fine, much better in fact now that we can rx here." Elizabeth replied as she washed the dishes.

    It was a bit hard to believe that these two were royalties. Alexander looked like a farmer and Elizabeth looked like a regr housewife. They lived in a small and house surrounded with gardens if flowers and fields. They were living like mortals, content with the peaceful air and serenity of this ce.

    Raven actually didn''t have many interactions with Elizabeth before ascending. He had many things to do for the Kingdom back then and she was recuperating. Now though, she has recovered and is now enjoying a peaceful and quiet life with her husband and their youngest son.

    "We prefer living like this. I''ve dumped everything to Balmung, he can handle the rest. He wanted to be the founding Emperor anyway." Alexander chuckled as he took a sip of his coffee.

    Raven can tell that his father-inw was more rxed than before. He no longer has to deal with the affairs of leading a kingdom ¨C or an empire, of course he''d be more rxed. Now he just needed to tend to his farm, raise their youngest son before eventually letting him go to the real world.

    "I see." Raven nodded, "I''m d that you two are fine. Though, pardon me because I''m afraid that thing might get chaotic for a bit."

    Raven''s words caused Alexander to frown, even Elizabeth looked worried.

    "What''s wrong?" Alexander asked.

    "Our homing is bound to cause some reactions to this world." Raven looked at Luna. "You might not know this, but in the years that we were gone, we grew strong enough to be respected by many people in the Divine Realm. Even in that ce, the power we wield is amongst the top."

    "It doesn''t mean that there will be enemies following us here." Luna interjected, "Our departure from Divine Realm was kept a secret, we''re not fugitives either, Raven''s identity is just really sensitive that''s we have to depart in a secretive manner. Even if there are outside enemies, us six can deal with them with no problem."

    "Right." Raven agreed, "The reaction we''re referring to is about the evolution of this world."

    "Evolution?" Alexander''s interest was piqued. "Care to tell me more?"

    "I would love to but I think we need a conference for this." Raven suggested. "I want to exin it all at once. I''ve already told my father about it. Luna also informed Brother-inw, we came here to inform you about this since it''s going be important."

    "I see." Alexander nodded, "Alright, I''ll be there. When will it be?"

    "Tomorrow." Luna answered, "I told brother that this needs to happen as soon as possible, we can''t afford to dy it."

    "Right, then we shall have that conference tomorrow." Alexander then stood up and stretched out a bit. "Well then, I need to tend to my precious field. Care to join me, Raven?"

    "I would love to."

    "Come, Luna. We''ll tend to the garden instead." Elizabeth said.

    ¡ª

    "We wee your arrival, Emperor Balmung."

    The Imperial Pce. Built at the center of the Empire, the crown jewel of the world where the Imperial Family resides. The pce was huge and expansive, and considering the fact that only Balmung, his wife and their son were the only members of the family, anybody can agree that it''s too big for them.

    The old king and queen doesn''t reside there, they lived at the outskirts of the Empire, posing as a regr citizens of the empire, but they do have some people guarding them ¨C who are also posing as regr citizen of the empire. They are raising Sieg in a humble manner to forge his upbringing.

    Although the Imperial Family only consists of three, there are many people that lives in the pce; governors, servants and guards as well as the Imperial Advisors.

    Yesterday, an announcement was made. There will be an Imperial Conference. It will be attended by the Emperor himself as well as the Old King. All court officials were ordered to participate, anyone who refuses to attend will face the wrath of the Emperor ¨C which basically means immediate execution.

    In hindsight, there was no need for threats. The mere fact that the Emperor and Old King was participating was enough to convince every official into attending.

    Right now, there''s arge banquet prepared. The servants had been busy, none of them sleptst night due to how nervous they were. Events like this are rare and they can''t afford to mess-up. A lot of important people are attending this event, of course it was a huge pressure.

    The Imperial Pce was lively, security was tripled and one by one, the court officials trickled in. The banquet hadn''t officially started just yet but the mood was already pleasant. The Emperor arrived a long with his wife and his only child.

    "I''m d that all of you are here." Balmung smiled as he looked at his officials. "Go, enjoy yourselves for a bit. We''ll start the conferenceter."

    After saying that, Balmung and his family retreated at room prepared for them for a bit, letting the others to enjoy and forge connections. These events doesn''t happen very often so whenever it does, some people take advantage of it, widening theirwork of friends.

    After an hour, the Emperor returned to the hall in his Imperial Garb, his wife ¨C Bianca came with him as well as Alexander and Elizabeth. Horus and Seig weren''t here, they were ying in the room, attended by maids and guards.

    Luis and Eva were there as well. Even though the two doesn''t participate in the affairs of the empire, they are still inws of the imperial family so it would make sense that they''re here. The twins are here as well, and they are being eyed-on by a few bachelors in the hall.

    All eyes were on them of course, the people below knew that they will be attending this event. The moment they appeared, the hall became quiet. The rest sat on their seats and prepared for the conference to begin.

    Balmung stepped forward with a wine cup on his hand. He was smiling, as if he was excited for what''s going to happen next. Then he started speaking:

    "Once again, I appreciate your attendance for this rather abrupt meeting." He started, "I hope that you all are in good health for today."

    "Long live, Your Majesty!"

    Balmung nodded and said: "Today''s meeting won''t be centered around me."

    His words caused confusion spread amongst his loyal subjects. Though there are some people who didn''t react but are smiling slightly.

    "Roughly three or four decades ago, a group of people left this world." Balmung stated, causing the crowd to freeze. "These group of people were the one''s that brought peace and lead the Old Kingdom to its golden age. That prosperous time allowed us toy the foundations needed for the Empire of today. I dare even say that if it weren''t for them, me bing your founding Emperor wouldn''t be possible."

    At this point, the crowd was boiling in expectations. Some were still confused but the tension in the air was infectious.

    "I believe you all know who I''m talking about, but just in case some of you already forgotten, I''ll tell you their names."

    "Paul Gregory, Mark Anderson, Ellen Redcrest, Anne Fiore." The Emperor started revealing their names, causing the crowd to shudder in excitement. "My very own sister, Lunafreya Moonsong and finally the one who lead them all; my Brother-inw, Vendrick Valorheart."

    They all looked at their smiling Emperor as he proudly raised his cup and said:

    "Gone for a long time, these people finally returned home. Let''s all wee them with a warm round if apuse!!"

    All of a sudden, a portal opened at the very center of the hall which startled everyone. From behind the portal, came six people walking out one by one.

    Their presence overwhelmed the crowd. They all carried incredible momentum that overshadowed the Emperor ¨C nay, the whole world itself. Every single one of them were smiling and walking towards the Emperor, leaving dumbstruck and flustered faces.

    ''That introduction was a little over the top, no?'' Raven said telepathically to his friends and the Emperor.

    ''Come on, Raven. It''s what you guys deserve. In fact, why don''t you take over my position as well while you''re at it? I''m sure the people won''t mind.''

    ''Fat chance, Brother!'' Luna grinned, ''There will be no passing of responsibilities to us now! You wanted that right? Then suffer.''

    ''How very mean of you, Sister.''

 Chapter 757

    Chapter 757

    The appearance of the Six Legendary Heroes stunned the whole crowd.

    As they walked out of the portal and into the front, many eyes followed them. Most people had already forgotten about the Emperor, all they felt was overwhelming exciting and reverence towards the people who helped shape the Empire of today.

    These legendary six are the ones that brought the Golden Age for the old kingdom and the current empire. Even after they were gone, their actions are still affecting the world.

    Majority of the people here heard and grew up listening to stories about them. They only heard legends about them and never got the chance to see them. Now however, all of that changes.

    They''ve returned home after decades of being gone. The impact of their appearance was shocking. Every single one of them had auras that surpasses even that of the Emperor himself.

    The families of these six couldn''t help but to puff their chest in pride, but deep down they all knew that they have little to no share in their glory. All of their achievements were something that they earned for themselves, they were of no help in the process. Still, the fact someone from their family reached such frightening heights, filled them with overwhelming pride.

    As the six arrived where the Emperor is, they saw them lining up and surveying them.

    They way they carried themselves shows experience. Although they stood up close to them, everyone knew that these people are at a ce they can never hope to reach.

    Raven looked at the audience. From one nce, he can tell what the people are thinking. Most of them were left in awe of their presence. Others were filled with overwhelming pride and a few felt a slight displeasure about them ¨C not that Raven and the rest cares about these people.

    "Take it away, Bro. You have something say right?" Balmung shrugged and went back to his seat. Raven nodded to him as he stood in front of everybody

    His wife and friends sat amongst their family, leaving Raven alone in front to start the conference.

    "It''s good to be back." Raven smirked, stating his first words to the crowd. "The Divine Realm is a good ce but in the end, nothing beats home. Well, some of you might find yourselves disagreeing with me and that''s fine. For me at least, no kind of beauty or wonder the Divine Realm has can evere close to being home with my family."

    Raven''s impassioned speech roused the emotions of the crowd. All eyes were focused on him, paying attention to every words he says¡­

    "I''m seeing some new old and new faces here." Raven smiled as he surveyed the crowd with his eyes again. "For us who follow the path of Knighthood, three to four decades isn''t really long. Cultivation blesses us with extended longevities after all. Still, being away from home for that long really causes one to be sentimental."

    Raven looked around the pce and muttered: "Thest time I was here, this didn''t exist."

    His voice was soft but the crowd can hear him. His tone was filled with mncholy and nostalgia.

    "Before we left, there was no Empire, only a Kingdom." Raven continued, "a Kingdom that had stood for many years refusing to fall. A Kingdom that has citizens who''re always under the constant threat of Demonic Beast Hordes. A kingdom that has became my home¡­our home, and one that I''ll always return to."

    "But, the establishment of the Empire is a proof of how far we''vee." Raven continued, "A proof that all of our efforts weren''t in vain. Gone were the days that we have to be afraid of demonic beasts. Gone were the days that we were ignorant about what it''s like outside of the tall walls. Gone were the days that we have to rely on the wall for protection."

    "When we left, there''s only a few Golden Knights around and only a single Hero Knight. Now, it''s totally different." Raven chuckled, the crowd smiled along with him.

    "But see, I don''t feel like that''s enough." Raven said. "In fact, let me correct myself. It is not enough."

    "Take it from someone who had seen what Divine Realm is like. Believe me¡­believe us when we say that this is far from enough." Raven stated. "Far, far from enough."

    "We can always do better."

    The Brush of Wisdom suddenly appeared on Raven''s hand. He drew a single stroke in the air, leaving a golden line which transformed into motes of light that re-arranged themselves as a massive image.

    The image was that of a ne which looked like a massive floating ind. It has four sharp corners, a sun and a moon which rotated and revolved from east to west.

    "You all know what this is¡­that''s right, this is what world looks like." Raven muttered as he saw the entranced look on the audience''s faces. Although they had the Sk Array ¨C which allowed them to map out the entire world, they never see their world''s entirety. This is the first time.

    Raven moved a finger and the image shrunk into a mote of lights, surrounded with more motes of light which looked a ring of fireflies.

    "This ring represents how many lower nes there are, although I can''t be sure about their exact number, there''s at least millions of them. Our world is only one amongst them, even with that said, this world is too small to even be considered as a lower ne."

    "A damn shame considering that Divine Realm wouldn''t be under Humanity''s jurisdiction if it weren''t for our world. After all, the first batch of humans who went to the Divine Realm came from this world."

    Everyone was enamored with Raven''s story, except maybe his wife and friends as they knew about this already.

    "See, all of us, who are born in this world, are connected to it by a Karmic Link. Our actions and pre-destined achievements will be reflected to our home world."

    "Those who ascended to the Divine Realm back then, never returned." Raven stated, "Which ultimately caused the stagnation of this world''s growth. As the others lower nes continued to grow and eventually evolved into Great Worlds, our world remained small and weak because none of them returned."

    "There''s not much left before this world reach it''s natural lifespan, when that happens, everything we know and love will disappear. ming those people will be a little toote now."

    Raven''s words were particrly rming. Even Balmung and the Imperial Family looked solemn.

    "But then again, isn''t that why we''re here?" Raven smirked, not feeling even the slightest bit apologetic for making everybody nervous.

    "See, I''ve already knew that this world''s time was running short. That''s why I''m in a hurry to get strong. That''s why I pushed my friends, and yes that includes my wife, to work harder. All for the sake of preventing this world''s destruction."

    Raven''s wife and friends chuckled at his antics. The crowd was now heaving a sigh of relief, some of them hated Raven for making them nervous but they didn''t dare to say it out loud.

    "I''ve already made preparations before we left. And now that we''re back, it''s time to finalize that and open the curtains for the new era that shall descend into this world!"

    The Brush of Wisdom on Raven''s hand turned into a scepter. He mmed the scepter into the ground and the pce was suddenly dismantled into to piece, much to everybody''s surprise and it didn''t end there.

    To everyone''s, yes even his wife and friends included, shock. They saw that the whole Empire was floating inside the vacuum of space, supported by a massive golden and silver rune.

    "Hey, look behind him!"

    Someone from the audience pointed out, everyone looked behind Raven and they could see a massive ind trembling. Everyone was dumbstruck, that ind was their world! None of them had any idea what''s happening right now.

    "Like I told everyone before¡­" Raven''s voice returned their attention back to him, "¡­everyone who''s born in this world has a karmic link to it. I, with my wife and friends, are no different. And unlike the ungrateful people of the past, we returned bearing gifts as thanks for this world raising us."

    "This, is the effect of our homing." Raven stated. "As we piled up ster achievements even with Divine Realm''s standards, our return caused our Karmic Link to our world to react and ignite the mes of evolution."

    "This is what I mean when I say that we can always do better." Raven smiled widely, "From here on out, the Grand Ancestral ne shall move on from being a weak small ne to bing an Empyrean World! Everyone who attended this banquet shall witness our worlds evolution!"

    "Fret not about the citizen''s safety, all of them have fallen into slumber and currently under my protection. None of you will be harmed during this process. When the evolution of the world is finished, we will simply return and the Empire shall be rebuilt at the center of the world once more."

    "Well then! That''s it for me! Everyone, let''s continue this banquet under the nket of infinite stars!!

 Chapter 758

    Chapter 758

    "¡­this was your n? I thought you were just making an announcement?" Luis asked, still a little bit dumbfounded by the view.

    The entire Empire was uprooted down to it''s very foundations. It was being supported by a massive golden and silver rune, protected by an enormous dome and is floating in the vacuum of space. Beneath them was the Grand Ancestral ne, trembling, quaking and changing.

    Nobody was calm, not even the old king nor the Emperor. All of them were gobsmacked by the sheer disy of power, the likes of something they never seen nor experienced before. And the culprit was non-chntly sitting on a chair while drinking some fine wine.

    "Well, this is something that will happen anyway." Raven stated, "The moment we returned home, the world is already boiling, it had to suppress it''s desire for evolution until today. It cannot wait any longer than it already did."

    "I mean, we knew you were up to something incredible but¡­" Paul was inspecting their surroundings, "This is too insane. A little warning would''ve been nice."

    "In hindsight, we should''ve already expected this." Ellen stated, "I mean, this is Raven that we''re talking about. ''Insanity'' is his second name. Still, I would agree that you could''ve given us a warning."

    "You don''t know he''s going to do something like this either?" Balmung, the Emperor, asked while smiling wryly as he looked at this court officials ¨C who are nearly losing their minds due to the sheer disy of power Raven did.

    "Yeah." Luna nodded, "He just said that our homing will be entering Phase Two. None of us knew this is what he meant."

    "It''s nothing bad anyways." Anne stated, "He knows what he''s doing and its not like we could repress the world''s desire to evolve. It''s been waiting for this moment for ages."

    "But what about the citizens?" Balmung asked, slightly worried about the current state of the people he was leading. "Are we sure that they won''t be harmed during this?"

    "No. All of them are slumbering just like what Raven stated earlier Your Majesty. I just checked" Mark replied, he smiled and said: "Have some faith in your brother-inw, none of them will be harmed. If you haven''t noticed it yet, none of us are having any difficulties breathing, neither we are affected by theck of gravity. Raven had made sure everything is fine and well so loosen up and enjoy the banquet, Your Majesty."

    Balmung sighed after hearing that, so does the rest of the people in their table. Now that they thought about it, they are indeed fine. None of them were feeling any kind of difort aside from their initial shock.

    The pce might''ve lost it''s roofs and walls but it''s not like Raven can''t restore that. If he could make the entire kingdom float using his power, then restoring the Imperial Pce shouldn''t be challenge to him either.

    As the others continued to marvel to their new surroundings, some took Raven''s words and enjoyed the banquet. All of the were gushing about how incredulous this event was. This disy of power was legendary even in their standards, which begs the question; how would they react if they knew that this is just a fraction of what Raven could truly do?

    "Well, son? How long is this going tost?" Eva couldn''t help but ask.

    "A rough estimate will be about a week to a month." Raven stated, "That being said, our world''s slightly special and the changes might vary."

    "Right." Anne followed-up, "Six Empyreans just returned, and it''s not like any of us are one of those ''normal'' Empyreans either. We''re considerer as realm surpassing geniuses even by Divine Realm''s standard."

    "But didn''t Raven say he isn''t an Empyrean yet?" Paul looked a bit confused.

    "Idiot." Ellen sighed, "Have you forgotten who you''re referring to? That''s Raven for crying out loud. I bet that even if we five joined hands against him, he''ll hand our assess back to us in no time t."

    "Oh. Yep. That sounds about right. My bad." Paul roared inughter.

    Raven''s twin sisters were a bit confused, it wasn''t just them, most of the people in the table were confused as well. Tori can''t help her curiosity from peeking so he leaned towards Raven, tugging at his sleeves to ask:

    "Big bro, what are Empyreans and a Realm Surpassing Genius?"

    "Oh, that? Well, Empyreans are what we call Empyrean Knights. Empyrean Knight is a cultivation stage/realm in the Path of Knighthood. It''s the pen-ultimate realm of the path. The stage below Divine Knights. You''ll learn more about themter."

    "As for ''Realm Surpassing Genius'' it''s a term we used for cultivators who are strong. For example; a Silver Knight that can beat a Golden Knight or someone higher." Raven replied while smiling.

    "So you guys are like, super strong even in the Divine Realm''s standards?" Tori was wide-eyed, her tone was brimming with awe, excitement and pride.

    "Yep!" Raven chuckled and ruffled his sister''s hair. "Your sister-inw is the fiercest out of us. She''s considered as a half-step Divine Knight already. She''s very famous even in the Divine Realm, many people worship her as a goddess. Nobody even dares to sneeze in her presence or look at her in the eyes."

    "Hey! You''re making it sound like I am tyrant or something!" Luna pouted, much to Raven''s amusement. "Don''t believe him Tori, he''s fiercer than I am, in fact none of us are aware how strong he us exactly at this point."

    The twins'' eyes were shining like bright gemstones now. It was obvious that they really liked what they''re hearing right now.

    "But see, he''s not exactly lying when he said that you''re incredibly famous in the Divine Realm." Ellen teased, "I mean, even after you specifically said that you''re married, that never stopped your suitors."

    "Ellen!" Luna was flustered.

    Meanwhile, Luna''s family looked interested so Anne followed-up by saying: "Yes, that''s totally true. In fact, if we call every single suitor she has they could easily over popr the Grand Ancestral ne. It''s insane really."

    "Annie! Not you too!"

    "Some delusional kids at my Sect also has hots for her, heck even my master was hoping to arrange a meeting with his son with Luna." Paul chuckled, "Isn''t that right, honey?"

    "Yep." Ellen nodded vigorously. "The same can be said to my sect as well. It''s really crazy. And it''s not like any of suitors were just delusional either. Most of them are incredibly strong."

    "How strong are we talking about?" Balmung curiously asked.

    "Brother!" Luna''s eyes widened, meanwhile Raven just chuckled.

    "Strong enough to shatter our world with just a snap of a finger." Ellen casually stated, causing everyone in the table to feel a cold chill running down their spines.

    "It''s fine! don''t freak out." Ellen just realized what kind of blunder she made so she hurriedly defended. "It''s not like they''re going to do that or even think about it. If they do, then we will destroy everything they knew and loved while also reviving all of you and the world. It isn''t really that hard."

    "You just made it worse." Ravenughed as hemented.

    "Wha-! Ah shit! Sorry!" Ellen apologized.

    Yeah, knowing how easily Divine Realm Folks can toy with their lives was something they didn''t really needed to know.

    The Emperor''s wife ¨C Bianca, sighed beside him and softly said: "You had to ask¡­"

    "What? I was just curious. And she could''ve not answered me." Balmungined to his wife, causing the atmosphere to lighten up once more.

    "Don''t worry everyone." Raven caught their attention. "It''s fine. I''ll make sure of it. We''ll make sure of it. There''s no need to be wary about the Divine Realm''s people. I mean, after this there wouldn''t he any difference anyway."

    Raven''s words were cryptic, all of them knew his words meant something deeper but they didn''t ask questions nor asked him to rify himself. Again, they really don''t need to know. Plus, Raven already said that it''s going to be fine so they just have to believe in him.

    As the banquet under the nket of stars continued, at some point in time a sudden visitor appeared. Barely anybody noticed their appearance, the few who did knew who this was.

    A man who was wearing dirty gray robes marched towards Raven and knelt down in front of him. Upon seeing him, Raven raised a brow and asked:

    "Shouldn''t you be concentrating on your evolution?

    "I am, Young Lord." The man spoke. "I merely am here to asked for your blessings."

    "Blessings?" Raven raised a brow, ignoring the strange gazes that are being thrown their way. Momentster, Raven had a look of understanding,

    "Ah! I see." Raven nodded and pondered for a bit before looking at the transforming ne. He then looked at his wife and friends, saying: "You guys,e here."

    Raven stood up, pulling Luna up with him. The rest followed him as they walked away from the crowd. The man in gray robes followed them from behind with a respectful expression.

    "Can I trouble you to give some blessings to the world?"

    The others were confused at first. However it only took them a moment before understanding what Raven meant. They looked at each other and nodded, then before anyone could blink, they all disappeared.

 Chapter 759

    Chapter 759

    "Pardon me, Your Majesty but¡­" one of Balmung''s court officials walked up to him and asked: "What is happening?"

    "¡­" Balmung remained silent for a bit. He watched as his sister, his brother-inw as well as their friends, walked out of the space vacuum like it was some t ground. His mind whirred about numerous possibilities.

    Balmung sighed as he thought of one. He then replied: "Tell everyone to watch carefully. Today, we might just happen to witness a miracle, an act of god per se. We should learn well from this."

    "¡­!" The court official was rightfully shocked. However, they didn''t dare to say anything.

    They walked back into the crowd and softly passed on the words of the Emperor. It didn''t take long before everyone stopped whatever their doing in order to watch the Legendary Six at work.

    "Dad? Who''s that man in gray robes?" Nina asked Luis, her voice was loud enough for others to hear.

    Luis replied with: "That person doesn''t have a name, at least nothing that I''m aware of. He isn''t actually human in the first ce, he''s just taking that form. In truth, he is the consciousness of our world ¨C Sentient World Spirit, as your brother described."

    "Ah!" Nina was surprised. It wasn''t just her, everyone else was just as surprised. They never thought that it was possible for their world to give birth to a consciousness but in hindsight, they should''ve known.

    "He calls Big Bro ''Young Lord''." Tori brought up.

    "Well, your brother did work hard to stop the world from dying." Luis stated, "Before he left, he did something to extend the world''s longevity. That''s not enough but it''s still something, and that''s probably why the world calls him that since he is their benefactor."

    Luis'' words enlightened many people. Once again, they are amazed by the actions of Raven. Only a few people knew about the true contributions he has on their world. He was immortalized because of his Legends but most people doesn''t actually know just how much work he did in order to ensure their safety.

    Now that this was revealed, many people felt nothing but respect and admiration for him.

    Balmung sensed this and smiled wryly, he then muttered: "I should really get him to take my ce."

    "You''re sister''s going to p you if she heard that." Old King Alexander chuckled in his seat, causing Elizabeth and Bianca to chuckle while Balmung pouted.

    "What are they going to do now?" Nina asked her parents.

    "None of knows, child." Luis replied, "How about we watch instead, yeah?"

    "Okay." The twins nodded.

    Everyone started looking at the Legendary Six ¨C who appeared to be in a discussion. They are standing quite far from where the banquet was happening. Then they heard¡­

    "¡­yeah, that should be fine." Raven nodded to them, "Go ahead. Let''s get started."

    Under their watchful eye, everyone except Raven moved. The next scene really stunned everyone.

    First the saw Paul Gregory turning into a hulking mass. Every step he took was followed by the trembling of space and his expansion. Eventually, he turned into a gigantic ck tortoise with snake -tail. He was so massive that he can probably carry their world into his back.

    Paul let out a loud whine, causing the audience''s blood to churn. An overbearing aura descended along with his transformation, causing their hairs to stand-up on each end. They then witnessed hoe the massive turtle started marching towards their world.

    Next was Ellen ¨C who turned into an equally massive ming raptor. The moment her family saw her transformation, they all felt the thrumming of their bloodlines and the urge to worship the ming raptor washed over their hearts. Ellen is no longer just a Vermillion Bird, she is a Phoenix. A true God Beast in a sense.

    "A Snake-tailed ck Tortoise and a Phoenix." Balmung whistled in his seat, his words were heard by the people around. "Our world is blessed by the two God Beasts."

    Ellen released a sonorous cry as she flew towards the east while Paul trudged at the west.

    Next they saw Mark moving. Each step he took caused the space to tremble under him. He was releasing a dark fog which eventually turned into a massive cloud sparkling with all kinds of lightning. He flew towards the north.

    Anne was next. Gracefully walking towards the south. Every step she took caused lotus flowers to bloom. She her peerless beauty was magnified by the flora and fauna blooming as she released her aura.

    Everyone was captivated, the words of the Emperor were correct, they are indeed witnessing a miracle ¨C an act of god. And it was not over.

    *Woosh!*

    Brilliant light flooded their vision. As it faded, it revealed Luna who transformed into her true appearance. Everyone''s jaws were on the floor. Indeed, none of the were lying when they said that Luna was the fiercest out of them.

    Dressed in a sleeveless white gown, Luna''s golden hair shone like sunlight. She has a circlet filled with gemstone ornaments on her head, she also has almost five pairs of wings gently pping behind her back. She was holding a sword made out of pure golden sunlight and was barefooted as she descended at the center of the world.

    To the audience''s eyes, Luna was a true goddess. Some people felt so emotional that they started crying. They didn''t know why but the urge to worship Luna was born at the very depths of their hearts. They knew that this is a foreign influence which might be bad for their cultivation but at this point, they could hardly care about that.

    They were woken up from their stupor when they suddenly heard all five of them making amotion.

    Paul stomped, causing the ground to shatter. He released a fluctuation which, those that sensed it, felt like gravity. Paul roared and geysers of water suddenly erupted around him. The amount he released could easily flood the entire world which made some people worried.

    At the east, Ellen was perched on top of a tall tree with ming leaves as if it was her next. She pped her wings and let out piercing shriek, causing geysers of me to erupt, forming volcanoes as well.

    At the North, Mark was terraforming thends. A storm raged, different kinds of lightning cackled and struck the ground, leaving marks which filled with numerousw insights. The lightning and thunder strikes formed mountains and cliffs.

    Meanwhile at the south, Anne sat down in a tree stump. She surrounded with birds and deer, fawning over her as nature thrived at her mere presence. Patches of green appeared and proliferated all over the south due to her influence.

    At the center, Luna raised her right hand above her head. Her wings pped behind her back as light coalesced in her palms. As time went on, it grewrger andrger but Luna doesn''t even seem to be exhausted. The light grewrge enough to surpass the size of their previous sun but instead of scalding the whole central area of the ne, it just released a soothing light.

    Each of their actions were a marvel on its own. The audience were gobsmacked once more by the sheer disy of power. Even their Emperor was mystified and captivated. It''s truly an act of god ¨C miracle.

    When they said that they''ll be giving their blessings to the world, none of the audience thought about this happening. It was truly a phenomenal act, one that they will never forget.

    Still though, there''s one person who hasn''t moved yet, and all of their attention was focused on him.

    Raven looked at his friends, doing their work. His attention returned to the guy next to him. He asked: "How do you feel?"

    "Overwhelmed, Young Lord." The man spoke with some difficulty, "It feels like at any second now, I''m going to explode."

    "Good. Let it happen." Raven ordered.

    Everyone was shocked, even the consciousness of the world was stunned. While the audience thought that Raven went crazy, the man beside him simply nodded. He disappeared and all of sudden, a massive explosion urred. The audience were horrified, they just saw their world exploding right in front of their faces, yet before they could say anything, Raven''s voice echoed:

    "Stop."

    The world stopped, just as he ordered.

    "Converge."

    Another order was uttered and the world obeyed. The broken pieces of the world converged into a spherical shape.

    Raven looked at a distance and said: "Come."

    Every saw numerous stars flying towards them, stopping in front of him like obedient pets.

    "Break."

    And break they did. The star he summoned shattered into pieces, their cores exploded but before they were truly destroyed, Raven uttered another order:

    "Stop."

    Everything stopped once again. Raven then pointed at the remains of their home and said: "Fuse."

    The broken remains of their world as well as the stars fused into a single world, much to everyone''s shock. Everyone was shaking in awe and fear. They never witnessed something so domineering, Raven''s words were thew. Everything he says, goes.

    But before they could adjust to everything, they heard Raven uttering another order:

    "Rise."

 Chapter 760

    Chapter 760

    "Rise." He said.

    And rise it certainly did.

    Everyone can feel themselves rising up along with thendmass beneath them. They watched in pure awe as every word that Raven uttered became thew itself.

    The feeling of rising up continued for a while before Raven uttered: "Stop."

    He raised his hand once more and ordered: "Come."

    Another set of starts came flying towards them, turning into streaks of light which fused with their world.

    Raven snapped his fingers and they started rising once more. Nobody said a word, not even his wife nor his friends, they just watched as Raven continued doing his work, not even bothering to ask him what exactly he was doing.

    They''ve know Raven for a while now and understand that he knows what he''s doing.

    Raven stopped the rise once more. He didn''t call for more stars, instead he looked at his surroundings and muttered: "I guess this is a good ce."

    He then turned towards their still broken world and said: "Prepare yourself."

    "Yes, Young Lord." The voice of the consciousness echoed within their heads.

    A scepter appeared on Raven''s hand. The moment he lifted it, Raven released a strong brilliance that eclipsed the sun itself. His strong brilliance, people could still see what Raven was doing, and for the first time since his return, Raven revealed his true appearance.

    Wearing a long crimson robes with golden edges, Raven stood in front, exposing his godly appearance for everyone. His long aqua-marine colored hair fell like a waterfall on his back, he held a scepter and wore a majestic crown that put the Emperor''s Crown to shame.

    People can see a vague silhouette of a throne behind him, it was illusory but it''s there.

    Raven slowly weaved the scepter and silver streaks suddenly appeared in the air. A soft jingle ¨C a melodious hymn of a bell filled with endlessly profound insights, chimed in their heads, causing some people fall into a trance.

    The streaks of light behaved in his presence, Raven the began connecting one line over the other. The people who''s watching his movements were puzzled but also entranced, it felt like they were on the verge of discovering something but itspletely eluding them.

    His wife and friends were the only ones who could understand what he''s doing. Still, knowing it doesn''t really make it any less than surprising. If anything, Raven''s actions just became more incredible since they understood what he''s trying to do.

    "Incredible." Anne whispered.

    "Indeed." Mark nodded beside her. "I always knew that he''s insane but¡­"

    "This is just unprecedented." Paul finished Mark''s sentence for him.

    "Geez. It''s not like we were cking off, I mean I''d say that we worked pretty damn hard during the times we''re by ourselves, but this guy just likes making us look bad." Ellen stated with a pout.

    "This isn''t apetition, Ellie." Lunaughed, "He''s doing it for our world and its citizens."

    "I know, I know." Ellen nodded.

    Raven was replicating the Starry Skies of the Spiritual World. Heck, it''d be more appropriate to say that he is a making the Starry Skies of the Grand Ancestral n.

    Once constetion after another, all represent different existences and facets of the world. Differentws, history, origins, etc. Everything was disyed in a very detailed manner. Raven drew each one with an astounding rity as if he had memorized their structure through and through.

    It didn''t take long before the broken world was filled with numerous constetions. By the time he drew thest constetion, it turned into a streak of light that fused with the home world.

    Raven then created a massive rune, the likes of which that nobody seen before, it was painted gold and silver, radiating a vast and noble aura that pacified everyone''s soul.

    Next, Raven painted the Sun and the Moon which revolved and rotated around the world. Once he was done creating the Heavenly Bodies, Raven began mending the world.

    "Genesis!"

    Raven stressed the word out. With a sh of blinding light, all constetions fused with the world and began mending together. Raven could feel the world was aching but there''s nothing he can do. It''s a necessary evil to spur the evolution of this world.

    Either way, it''s not like Raven would sit idly by when the world was threatened. He will prevent its destruction of course but this is something that needs to happen. The world has to bleed.

    Under everyone''s stunned gazes, the world suddenly expanded. It shook fiercely as if it''s going to be destroyed at any given moment. Everyone can feel the rumbling of the world and it''s making them anxious, however Raven looked rxed. That''s how they knew that he''s got this.

    The rumbling went on for hours, making everyone tensed-up until all of sudden, arge explosion urred. The world exploded into bits and pieces, the audiences weren''t harmed since they were protected by the rune but still the rumbling and the explosion caused their hearts to sink.

    Raven hardly reacted though. Everyone else might think that the world has exploded by in truth, it hasn''t,

    When the light fades, everyone was shocked to see a massive in floating in front of Raven. Their world still looked pretty much the same, if anything it looks bigger ¨C like fifteen times bigger than before.

    This shouldn''te as a surprise, after all Raven did use their world with dozens of weaker and lower ins. And once again, this doesn''t stop there.

    The new world has two suns and moons. One was created by Luna and the other three was created by him. With howrge the world has gotten, it''ll take some time before the sun made aplete revolution, he added an additional sun and moon in order to maintain the regr cycle period.

    The new world was beautiful, it was more habitable than thest one,rger and richer in resources.

    Once the evolution was mearing its end, Raven narrowed his eyes and looked up. He then saw dark clouds forming on top of their world, bringing forth a ferocious aura that intended to destroy their home.

    "How very daring of you, Heavenly Laws." Raven snorted, "Who gave you the right to ce my home under your sanction?"

    Raven pointed his scepter at the dark clouds. The horrifying killing intent descended, causing everyone''s hairs to stand up on both ends. This killing intent wasing from the dark clouds and the audience who weren''t used to this, nearly copsed due to the trepidation they felt.

    "FUCK OFF!!"

    *BOOM!!*

    To everyone''s absolute shock, Raven''s roar caused the dark clouds to flinch. The Heavenly Laws were incensed by the tant disrespect but Raven couldn''t care less.

    "Fuck off!!" He roared once more. "Try to hurt a single soul or stone in my presence and you will face my wrath! If you don''t want me to erase you from the face of the earth then FUCK OFF!! NOW!!"

    Raven mmed his scepter beside him and released a pulse that dissipated the dark clouds.

    The killing intent slowly evaporated but everyone could still feel someone or something hissing at them. Raven narrowed his eyes as his scepter began glowing dangerously.

    With his voice coated in poisonous ice, he asked: "Still not fucking off? Are you really trying my patience?"

    Just like that, the hissing stopped and the threat was gone. Raven snorted while the rest of the audience heaved a sigh of relief.

    "Hot damn, Brother!" Paul chuckled, still in his turtle form. "You scared the living shit out of the Heavenly Laws. So god damn manly!"

    "Geez, not even my Master can do something like that." Markmented, "You are something else."

    Everyone was reeling in shock. Most of them were alienated by their topic but they could somehow interpret their meaning. Raven did something incredible just now, they don''t understand it right now but eventually they will.

    Raven ignored the looks their giving him, he instead paid attention to the world and said: "Complete your evolution. Don''t be afraid, we''re here."

    "Thank you, Young Lord."

    Raven just nodded and waited until the world finished it''s evolution. Thendmass were still shifting, the rivers and oceans were expanding and the creatures were evolving. The spiritual energy were still adjusting and this process will take sometime, fortunately the difficult part is over now.

    Their home world has received their blessings and could now finish the evolution without fearing the retaliation of the Heavenly Laws.

    Raven guarded the process and kept a close eye on it. Time passed and all of a sudden, the world released a strong brilliance.

    A majestic aura was released. Those who were born from this world felt it the most, they just instinctively knew that evolution was over.

    It rained on the whole ne. The rain wasn''t any ordinary rain either, it was an Origin energy rain, something will nurture thend itself. Once the brilliance disappeared and the rain stopped, everyone saw the gorgeous appearance of their new world.

    Raven smiled, so did the rest. With a soft beckon of his hand, the rune which was carrying the empire descended into thend. Everyone could immediately feel the difference on their surroundings.

    Still, the miracles aren''t over yet.

 Chapter 761

    Chapter 761

    The atmosphere of the Grand Ancestral ne haspletely changed.

    The spiritual energy was thick ¨C viscous even, it was a bit chaotic since it''s a mixture of many kinds of energy but it was bearable. Due to the sharp increase of the Spiritual Energy''s volume and density, many people could feel their bottlenecks loosening up.

    It was absurd. They knew that the world is the same, their familiarity with it never faded but at the same time, everything''s different. Those who were aware about the existence of Laws can sense them better right now. In fact, just by standing where they currently are, they could feel theirw insights increasing.

    Their home just became bigger, a least twenty times bigger than before. The empire is upying a pitiful amount ofnd which is a bit embarrassing for an empire but what can they do? They just witnessed the world changing before them.

    Still, Raven wasn''t quite done yet.

    He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Everyone felt the ground rumbling but failed to see what actually was going on. Once the rumbling stopped, Raven said:

    "There''s a wall surrounding the Empire 10 million kilometers away from here." He stated, "You guys will decide what you''re going to do within that space, the wall is mainly for protection since the Demonic Beasts here are way stronger than you all can handle."

    Raven snapped his fingers again and the pce magically fixed itself. A dome enclosed the entirety of the Empire after he''s done.

    "I also made a formation that will iste the Empire for now for protection. You guys should focus on making yourselves stronger. Right now, this world is no longer a Lower ne, it''s a Empyrean World. We won''t be meddling too much with the worldly affairs. We will only step in if the Empire is facing a serious peril, the rest are to be handled by you people." He announced.

    "In addition to that, this world is now officially recognized as part of the Divine Realm itself. Though the same rules apply, outsiders are banned from entering this ce, the only one who can leave and return are people who were born here."

    "There will also be a scheduled Law Discussion. Every single one of us will have one session per year which willst for seven days. This is to help and guide you the path you want to take. This session is free for everybody, I will tolerate no discrimination so don''t me me for turning you to dust if I caught you doing it."

    "Finally, here''s a detailed map of the world. Everything you needed to know about the new things added to this world isbeled here. Like I said, we won''t be interfering with the affairs of the Empire. n on what you want to do. That would be all from us. Are there any questions?"

    Raven looked at the crowd and saw that some of them are still reeling from shock. The silence went on for a bit, Raven gave them ample time to think and raise their concerns but nobody spoke so he said:

    "Alright. Since nobody has any questions, we will be excusing ourselves." After saying this, the legendary six just vanished from where they stood.

    It took the audience quite some time before they managed to wake up from their stupor. If it weren''t for Luis clearing his throat to get their attention to wake them up. Once everyone returned to reality, they began the true conference.

    ¡ª

    The while the council discussed how the Empire will work, the Legendary Six are currently at the heart of the world.

    Compared to the bleak and rather limited space of the previous one, this ce is more expansive now. The six are currently standing on top of a swirling gxy, the consciousness of the world is currently in there and had fallen into a deep slumber.

    "Our home has evolved." Mark let out a sigh, "It''s an Empyrean World now. There''s six of us here so most likely, the council isn''t going to pester us. What are we going to do? Any ns?"

    "Oh, don''t about those geezers." Luna snorted, "Once they find out that I''m born here, they''d probably leave us alone."

    "Agreed." Anne nodded, "I mean, Luna is their youngest candidate, they will trust her and put her as this world retainer on top of us. They are of no concern to us."

    "That might be true but¡­" Paul scratched his head and continued: "I just can''t bring myself to trust them. No offense, Luna."

    "None taken. Actually, feel free to diss those geezers more, no need to hold back. They won''t be able to touch you guys anyways, those guys are cowards."

    "I don''t have any positive feelings about them either." Ellen stated, "I''ve heard rumors about them, not a single one was a good thing. I''m a little skeptical about their intentions so I wouldn''t want them to touch thisnd at all."

    "They are a bunch of shameless scum, yes." Raven added, "However, they are bound by duty. Pushes to shove, they''ll pull their own weight. There''s really no need to be on-guard against them, after all a simple mention of our backgrounds can deter them."

    "That''s right." Luna nodded. "Plus, there are other pressing matters at hand."

    All of them followed Luna''s line of sight and saw the core of the world.

    "The world has finished evolving jut now." Raven stated, "But it isn''t enough yet. Its condition is just stabilizing but due to me infusing other nes and worlds to it, it''s probably experiencing some serious identity crisis."

    "We can''t let the other persona''s to take over." He continued, "If that happens, this new world will be far more dangerous that it already is. I''m going to help stabilize its condition. You guys should leave your marks here, something that will allow you to instantly return here once you sensed the world in danger of if you fee like it."

    The others nodded while Raven focused on his work. He didn''t really have to do anything hard, just a few simple runes are enough to make sure that this world is at the right direction.

    And of course, Raven wouldn''t be Raven if he didn''t leave something extra for contingencies. Just in case somethings happens, he wanted to be prepared. Honestly, being ten steps ahead isn''t a bad thing. Prevention is better than cure after all.

    Once they were done here, Raven basically just let the others do whatever they wanted to do.

    The Emperor and his subordinates will probably be having some difficulties sleeping with how much work they needed to finish. With all the changes that are happening in their world, it''s only natural for them to feel excitement and anticipation. Raven could even tell that the Emperor himself wanted to explore their new world as well.

    Like he said though, they are on their own. Raven and the rest won''t be participating in their mortal affairs. They are only here to spend time with their families and have a short break from their work. Unless their world is threatened, they won''t step-in. They''ll remain as bystanders.

    Raven and Luna took the skies. Riding the clouds and enjoying the view from above. Had Raven wanted to, he build the empire here but he didn''t, he decided to trust the decisions of the people. They era has passed, it wouldn''t be wise to interfere too much.

    The changes of their world was astounding. It didn''t just expand in size, it evolved in many ways than one. There were a lot of secret realms and pocket dimensions around, every single one was filled with resources waiting to be harvested. Of course, they areced with dangers but that''s normal. After all, nothing''s free in this world.

    Due to Raven''s actions, the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm could only, begrudgingly, ept defeat. It acknowledged the world despite its inconsistencies. And since the Grand Ancestral ne is sealed from the outsiders, it is safe for the most part.

    An Empyrean World with six Empyrean retainers ¨C well, Raven''s technically not an Empyrean but it doesn''t really make any difference, it''s not like he''ll be stuck in his bottleneck forever anyways.

    If Raven really wanted to push it, he could''ve actually turned this world into a Divine World. The reason why he didn''t is mostly because it was risky. That being said, it''s notpletely oft the table¡­once he transcended that is.

    Right now though, he just wanted to rx. As both him and Luna rode the clouds, they felt a little bit¡­adventurous.

    Well, doing ''it'' in the sky and out in the open was something they''ve never tried before. It''s not like someone will interrupt them or anything so¡­why not?

    It was a pleasant experience for the both of them. They might not admit it vocally but¡­they wouldn''t mind doing it in this setting more often.

    Both of them wanted kids for sure but they''re not in a hurry. This is something that shouldn''t be hurried anyways. They have to take their time since they have time.

    Hopefully, they can seed using the natural way.

 Chapter 762

    Chapter 762

    "Ahh¡­ so Kyle ascended. That exins why I haven''t seen him anywhere."

    It''s been a few months since the Grand Ancestral ne evolved.

    While the Final Haven Empire was busy in it''s reforms and exploration of their new world. Raven and rest rxed. No one bothered them, well¡­nobody dared to dared to bother them would be more urate.

    During these following months, the Empire began scouting the locations marked in map. They started exploring the immediate vicinity of their territory within the wall that Raven built. They harvested resources for the betterment of the Empire.

    Breakthroughs urred left and right, it wasn''t just limited to personal cultivation but also in their lifestyles. Raven watched it all happen but he didn''t raise a hand to help, like he said, whates next will depend on them.

    Raven used majority of his time to reconnect with the people that he knew. He spent more time with his family, taught his twin sisters, spent time with his wife, friends and inws as well as the people he worked with before ascending.

    If there''s one thing that concerns him right now, it''d be the fact that his only disciple ¨C Kyle was missing, which he thought strange but now he knew where he is.

    Apparently, he ascended to the Divine Realm on his own. He didn''t take any trials from the sect, he went to the Divine Realm on his own.

    Raven was a bit worried about his safety, that guy told him that he''s going to follow his footsteps but Raven hadn''t told him where he is. Heck, he wasn''t even well known in the Divine Realm right now.

    Combing the Divine Realm to search for him would be time consuming as well.

    ''Perhaps I can ask for the Oriental Dragon Group''s help. Maybe I should send an Avatar just in case.'' Raven thought to himself.

    He''s in lost in his own sea of thoughts for a bit. He was only pulled-out of it when he felt a pair of smooth and slender arms wrapping around him from behind. A smile tugged on his lips as he held on these arms, he peeked behind and saw his beautiful wife groggily yawning while hugging him.

    "Morning." He greeted, he pulled Luna to his embrace and kissed her forehead.

    "Morning." Luna hummed as she felt the familiar warmth of her husband''s body.

    "Want to sleep more?" Raven asked.

    "¡­don''t know." She murmured, she tightened her hug as she said: "I wanna wake up, but I also feel like sleeping some more. What do I do?"

    Raven chuckled as he childishness. Both of them were standing but Luna looked like she''s snuggling on his chest.

    "Perhaps some breakfast can help?"

    "Maybe."

    "Want to eat it in bed?"

    "Yes, please?"

    "Alright. You go back there. I''ll go to the kitchen." Raven patted Luna''s head. She nodded and plopped on the bed while Raven left to prepare breakfast.

    The two of them are currently boarding a floating vessel that''s riding the clouds. They decided that their home would be the skies while they''re here. Raven made sure that their privacy won''t be disturbed by the eager folks of the empire so he only left a one waymunication crystal. If they needed them, they can use the crystal to contact them, otherwise, they are expected to leave them alone.

    A couple of minutester, Raven returned to their bedroom with breakfast. He chuckled after seeing Luna fighting the urge to not fall asleep, nodding every now and then.

    "Hey,e on sit properly." Raven said in a amusement.

    Luna made some space and Raven sat beside her. She then wormed her way onto his embrace once more, humming in content after feeling the familiar warmth. Raven smiled and looked at her affectionately.

    He left the tray in the air as he adjusted Luna''s position so that her back was resting on his chest. He then beckoned the tray and it flew down on herp.

    "Drink some tea, that should wake you up a bit."

    Luna nodded at that, she reached out for the warm tea and took a sip. Their breakfast is a warm bowl of soup and bread. It isn''t anything special but it''s enough. The two of them didn''t really need a special meal, in fact they didn''t need to eat at all.

    The food and tea was enough to wake Luna up a bit. After finishing their light breakfast, Raven ced the tray on the bedside table and cuddled with his wife on the bed.

    Although Luna''s awake now, the warmth of her husband''s embrace was lulling her back to sleep. Meanwhile, Raven was bit absorbed in his own thoughts. He then said:

    "I think we should leave some legacies behind."

    "¡­yeah. We probably should. Or we can at least ept some disciples." Luna replied, no longer sounding groggy.

    "Well, my disciple is apparently in the Divine Realm right now." Raven pursed lips, "I don''t know where he is currently but the karmic link between me and him remains, meaning that he''s alive at least."

    "Kyle went there?" Luna raised a brow. "I hope he''s doing well then."

    "I hope so too." Raven sighed, "I''m worried about he''s homing though. He isn''t informed about the evolution of this world and its new coordinates. What if he returns to the previous location and find it missing, that will cause some misunderstanding."

    "We''ll build a spatial tunnel right?" Luna asked, to which Raven nodded, "Well, we can add a ''resonance'' function at least. That way, if he ever wants to return, the resonance will lead him here. How long has it been since he left anyway?"

    "Just after the Empire''s establishment, roughly a decade ago." Raven replied, "Well, I guess the resonance function will work. I just hope he doesn''t get too confused."

    "Avi, your disciple''s not a child." Luna lovingly re-assured him, "He''ll be fine. He needs to grow up remember?"

    Raven chuckled wryly and replied: "Yeah. I should have more faith in him."

    "We can raise more disciples at least." Raven thought to himself, "I wouldn''t be a bad choice to raise some protectors for this world so that we can focus on the tasks at hand."

    "We can scatter legacies all over the world." Luna suggested, "We can use that to gauge somebody''s potential. If they''re good, we can ept them as disciples. We can even invite them to our respective sects."

    "That''s true." Raven nodded, " I also n on getting some trial tokens from the famous sects around the Divine Realm to expand their choices. That being said, the world''s no longer a small one. If anything I''d say that this world is even better than the others so I don''t think there''s a need for that."

    "We can establish Sect Branches if you want." Luna murmured, "I mean, my sect''s conditions for passing are very hard but we can really use more people."

    "The same can be said for us." Raven nodded. "But we''re on the verge of war so it would be unwise to do recruit for now or even build a Sect Branch here. We can set it up at ater date I guess. We''ll see."

    "Right." Luna hummed as she snuggled onto his chest some more. "I feelzy today."

    "We can afford to bezy at least." Raven chuckled, "We''re on a vacation after all."

    "Yep." Luna nodded, "We can rx for now, away from all the headaches that Divine Realm is."

    "True." Ravenughed at bit, he pulled his wife close and kissed her. Luna smiled at the affection she''s receiving from her husband.

    They snuggled on the bed, cherishing the peace and quiet of a mundane life. There''s no distractions, no pretenses, no paper works or errands, no stress and more importantly, no fighting. Just pure bliss and peace. A life that the two of them and their future family wants.

    "I wish we can stay like this forever." Luna murmured, half asleep on Raven''s chest.

    "Sorry." Raven muttered as he stared nkly at the ceiling.

    "Don''t be." Luna replied, "It''s not your fault. You only want the best for us, that much I can understand."

    "Even if this is temporary, this is still good enough." Luna added, "And it''s not like we''re deliberately cking off either. We know that you''re working hard to achieve the ending you wanted. Don''t worry¡­I''ll be right here to support you."

    Raven smiled as he hugged his wife close. He knows that despite her mumbling, her words wereing from the depth of her heart.

    "Thank you." Raven kissed her forehead and allowed her to sleep.

    She was right. He''s not fighting alone. Everything he did was for the ending he wanted for him and his loved ones. He wanted to give them a better tomorrow and a peaceful life. For that, he never hesitates, even if it means putting himself in danger.

    This brief period of respite is something that the two of them wanted to cherish. And if Raven were to seed in his advent, it is possible that they can enjoy a future like this perpetually.

 Chapter 763

    Chapter 763

    "¡­so how do we n on doing this?"

    "It depends on you." Raven replied while shrugging, "I mean, you guys will be leaving your legacies behind so you should take care of it. Those who manage to inherit your legacies will be your disciples anyway, it''ll be up to you on how you will raise them."

    The six of them gathered in their meeting ce to discuss about the matters of leaving their legacies behind. This is a way for them to help their home, raising disciples in order to ensure the safety of their home.

    Sufficed to say, most of them are unexperienced when ites to raising a disciple except Raven and maybe Luna, so this is a dilemma that they have to solve on their own.

    "Well, I think I''ll leave my legacy in the Dark Forest." Anne stated after a moment of silence while looking at the direction of the said forest.

    The rest were intrigued by her decision but knowing Anne, it''s to be expected.

    The Dark Forest is a new addition to their home world. It''s located southeast, way beyond the walls that Raven created for the Empire.

    He forest was at least fifteen kilometers in diameter. It is a ce filled with a poisonous dark fog, swamps and venomous demonic beasts. That being said though, the Dark Forest is teeming with natural resources. Alchemical ingredients, rare ores, beast cores and etc. Additionally, it is a holy ground for those who cultivated Poison Laws.

    Anne is the heir to her sect and has the moniker of the Emerald Fairy though her sect disciples calls her the ''Forest Queen'' due to her mastery over the Nature Laws. Anne leaving her legacy on the Dark Forest makes perfect sense for her. After all, the legacy of an Empyrean is something that isn''t easy to inherit.

    "I''ll leave mine on the Sun I guess." Ellen muttered as she stared at the skies.

    What she said sounded crazy. An Empyrean Legacy on the sun? Who the hell will be able to get that? But see, she''s surrounded by Empyreans so none of them find it weird, besides it''s not like she will be asking her legacy disciple to go to the sun anyways. There are tons of ways this can work, it''s up to her on how she''s going to do it.

    "Ooh! I think I''ll leave mine on the Nether Pond!" Paul eximed as she looked at the far north.

    The Nether Pond is a vista located at the extreme pole, precisely at the edge of the world. The ambient temperature here can easily freeze someone to death and that''s not even the lowest it can go. Paul thought that if someone wants to be his legacy disciple, they need to reach the bottom of the Nether Pond to get it.

    "I''ll leave mine on the Thunder Valley." Markmented.

    The Thunder Valley is located Northwest, just before the world''s edge. It''s a ce where an evesting storm is present and is filled with floating orbs of thunder and lightning, this ce is an excellent ce for Lighting and Thunder practitioners as well as Body Refiners. Such a ce is a no¨Cbrainer for Mark.

    "I already left mine at the Imperial Pce Grounds." Luna added, "That location will be open during the Imperial Tournament that will ur every five years."

    The Imperial Pce Grounds is a private area reserved for only the imperial family. It''s a ce which mean to be the burial ce for the Imperial Family, a ce where they can be remembered. Luna still kept that tradition so she only added on to it.

    She left her legacy there and told her brother to make a Imperial Tournament every five years, those who manages to reach the top 10 will be allowed to enter the Legacy Space.

    "How about you Raven? Where are you nning on leaving your Legacy?" Paul asked.

    "Well¡­" Raven smirked and said: "The correct question is, when will my Legacy Disciple appear?"

    Seeing the confused faces of his wife and friends, Raven exined: "I already left the legacy behind. It''s sentient and will automatically attach itself to the person that has the qualities I''m looking for. I''m only waiting for them to appear."

    "Whoa! That''s sick." Paul eximed.

    "I know right?" Raven smugly huffed, "Well, since that''s out of the way, there''s only one thing we should discuss before we end this meeting. Who''s going to go first for the Law Discussion?"

    "Ah, that." Mark just remembered, "I forgot that it''s almost a year has already passed since our return."

    "Right, I almost forgot about that." Ellen hummed, "I''ll go first if that''s okay. Then maybe Paul after me, Mark, Anne, Luna and then you, Raven. I think that''s a good order."

    "Anyone, disagree?" Raven looked at the rest and saw them shaking their heads. "Well that''s it then. It''ll be Ellen first, Paul, Mark, Anne, Luna and me. Each session willst for seven to fourteen days. Don''t hold back alright?"

    "Yes." The rest replied in unison.

    "Alright, that concludes our meeting!" Raven tapped the desk and everyone rxed. "So, where do you guys n on going next?"

    "Setting up the legacies?" Ellen suggested, "I mean, we might as well get into it as soon as we could."

    "Do you have everything ready with you?" Raven asked.

    "I do." Ellen nodded, she then turned to the others and asked: "How about you guys?"

    "I have everything I need."

    "Me too."

    "Same goes for me."

    "Alright, that settles it then. Let''s get to work people." Ellen said as they dispersed into streaks of light, leaving Luna and Raven alone.

    "¡­at least they''re more eager about this." Luna chuckled as she rested her head on Raven''s shoulder.

    "Nah, I don''t think so." Raven chuckled, "I think they just want to enjoy their vacation as much as they could."

    "You know what? I can see that."

    The two of themughed and disappeared from their meeting ce. They reappeared at their home at the sky. Raven activated the concealment formation and they disappeared from all manner of detection.

    Walking inside their home, they headed to the balcony and enjoy the fresh and open air as well as the marvelous view of the world below them while enjoying tea and snacks.

    Since both of them were already done with leaving their legacies behind, they canze around again.

    In the middle of their peace, Raven suddenly felt a jolt on his body which was noticed by Luna. Her expression morphed into worry but her husband seems to be doing fine. A couple of secondster, Raven recovered and smiled at this wife.

    "I''m fine. I just received an important news about Kyle."

    "Your first disciple? What happened to him?" Luna asked.

    Raven sighed and massaged his temples, "Apparently, he''s undergoing a trial to be a Divine Guard."

    "What?" Luna was bbergasted, "A Divine Guard? Is he mad?"

    "It''s not his fault though, he was forced to do it." Raven sighed, feeling a headacheing.

    This news was brought to him by the Avatar he left at the Divine Realm. He employed the help of the Oriental Dragon Group to search for Kyle and they didn''t disappoint.

    Kyle, Raven''s first disciple, had a challenging life after ascending. He got injured by the spatial storm and received help from a poor family.

    In order to repay them from saving his life, he freed them from their servitude by ying a local tyrant. Unfortunately, he painted a mark on himself by doing that. Apparently, the tyrant he in was a part of arge syndicate group, wanted by the Dawn Council.

    He was forced to flee to keep his benefactors safe. When they managed to corner him, a Divine Guard stepped in and took him. The said Divine Guard is now forcing him to train under the council to inherit the position.

    Divine Guard is just a fantasy term for a Death Soldier ¨C these people are raised by the Dawn Council to send at the Outer Worlds to hunt Outsiders. Whether they live or die is up to their luck, the Dawn Council won''t interfere nor protect them from harm. They exist for the sole purpose of being deterrent.

    This is simply insulting, especially for Raven who is aware of the ugliness behind the Dawn Council''s existence. Kyle was being robbed of his freedom and he''ll be damned if he didn''t interfere right now.

    "¡­thankfully it isn''t toote." Raven sighed after re-telling the story to his wife, "I already sent orders for his release. The Dawn Council should let him go but just to make sure, is there anyway you can help him?"

    "Of course." Luna confidently said, "I already sent my men to take care of him. Do you want him back here?"

    "That would be nice." Raven nodded, "He needs a break, he''d been on the run for years now and he''s at his breaking point. I''ll take care of his benefactors, just get him back here so that he can rest for a bit. Maybe he won''t need to go back there anymore once he returned here."

    "Alright, let''s get him back here."

 Chapter 764

    Chapter 764

    "Master! I''m so d!"

    In front of a Raven, a man knelt down with tears streaming down his face. The man has a long ck hair, haggard face and wore a dusty ck robes. There''s a nasty scar on his face staring from his left eyebrow down to the corner of his lips. This man was Kyle, Raven''s first disciple, he returned from the nightmare-ish ce that is the Divine Guards'' mansion, saved by Raven and Luna''s associates.

    "Wee home, Kyle." Raven nodded with a thin smile on his face. "It has been hard on you."

    Kyle wept bitterly as he nodded his head. He was feeling myriad of emotions right now but overall, he''s just relieved. The presence of his master made him feel safe. He knew that so long as Raven''s was around, no harm shall befall him.

    Raven reached out to Kyle and his disciple grabbed his hand. Light coalesced on Raven''s palms, a couple of secondster, Kyle fell asleep. Raven assigned some servants to take care of him and they brought him to the spare room to rest.

    He sighed as he watched the servants carry his disciple away, it truly had been hard on Kyle. He was met with one bad luck after another, his experience in the Divine Realm isn''t so pleasant. But now that he''s back here, at least he can rest. Raven thought that Kyle would be in slumber for a while.

    "The Divine Realm has traumatized the poor guy." Luna sighed, "You should''ve told him to stay away."

    "It''s not like that can stop him." Raven muttered, "The kid''s too eager to prove himself. He wanted to chase after me even if I told him no. Well, not like it matters now. He''s back and safe at least. Whether he returns there or not will depend solely up to him."

    "You''re not going to have him guard this ce in your stead?" Luna asked.

    "No." Raven shook his head, "It won''t be wise to do that. Just let him do as he pleases, this is his life after all. I wouldn''t be nice to interfere too much. The only thing I can do for him is to guide him and give him options. As for how far that''s going to take them, it''ll bepletely up to him."

    "¡­yeah. I guess you''re right." Luna sighed as the two of them enjoyed a warm cup of tea.

    The two of the, are currently rxing on the Sky Pce, their temporary home in here. The pce is far away from the Empire and cannot be seen unless Raven wanted it to.

    Despite being far away though, the two of then can still see the Empire from where they are thanks to their cultivation realms.

    Currently, a major event is taking ce at the Empire. Every Knight was gathered at the Imperial City to attend the Law Discussion hosted by the Legendary Six. Ellen was already there, waiting for everyone to gather around so that she can start the discussion.

    After a couple of minutes, the loud sounds of a gong rang throughout the empire. This was a signal that the event was starting, the crowd sat down and waited patient.

    On top of a tall tform overseeing the crowd, a spark of me emerged, catching the attention of many. The spark danced in rhythmical fashion, growing bigger and bigger until it turned into the visage of a crimson-haired and dresseddy. It was Ellen making an elegant entrance for herself.

    "I''d assume that everyone''s here so let''s not waste time." Ellen stated with a in voice, currently she''s the center of the attention.

    "For those of you who doesn''t know me, my name''s Ellen Redcrest, if you don''t want to refer to me using my name, I''m fine with Princess Vermillion or Phoenix Child. Up to you, I don''t really care."

    "Hoho, how smug." Luna chuckled as she heard her words.

    Her chuckled went to aughter when she felt Ellen''s gazending on them despite the distance, it carried a trace of annoyance. Luna just waved at her causing Ellen to sigh and shook her head.

    "Anyways, this is the Law Discussion. Raven''s Idea. Here, we six will be guiding to the path of Knighthood. Each session willst for seven to fourteen days, I n on going for the whole fourteen days."

    "This area has been modified, some of you may receive varying levels of Enlightenment during the session, some may not. Do remember that Enlightenment is something that you cannot seek. It''lle to you by chance so don''t worry if you didn''t get your chance. It''s not something worth stressing about anyways."

    "For those lucky one''s who gets their chance. Make the most out of it. Like I said, the venue is modified for this event. If you can''t suppress your breakthroughs anymore, let it happen, anymotion will be suppressed by the formation in order to not disturb anyone in the middle of the discussion."

    "Additionally, do remember that your path is yours alone to take. The things that we will be discussing here are based from Divine Realm''smon knowledge and our personal experiences. It''ll be good to use as a reference but under in no circumstance that you are allowed to follow the same exact steps or else you''ll reach a dead end."

    "None of us will be responsible for your bottlenecks since we warned you. Is that understood?"

    Ellen saw heads nodding, satisfied she nodded as well and began the discussion.

    "Now that all of that''s out of the way, let''s start this thing." Ellen shifted her position, a throne of zing lotus emerged behind her, she sat down on it and said: "In order for everyone to rte to the discussion, we will be starting at the initial stages cultivation all the way to the known peak. After that. I''ll talk about personal experiences and my specialties. Make sure you absorb as much as you can."

    "The path of Knighthood starts at the¡­"

    "¡­"

    "Wow. I never thought that Ellie can talk this much without cursing." Luna chuckled while eating some snacks.

    The two of them already tuned out the Law Discussion that''s happening at the Empire. They already knew what Ellen is currently discussion so there''s really no need for them to listen.

    "She just grew up." Raven chuckled himself: "Actually, I prefer her to be more like this."

    "Yeah, back then she can''t even say a sentence without cursing at least once. Divine Realm really did change us huh?" Luna mused on her own thoughts.

    "Indeed."

    The two of them went back to watching the Law Discussion continue. Hours passed and they can already see that some people are entering a special state.

    Ellen''s profound wisdom as well as the way she enunciated her words caused people to be entranced. Their eyes were losing focus and their auras were surging. True to her words, themotion was suppressed by an invisible formation.

    Those who currently have no control over their auras weren''t disturbing others thanks to the concealment of the formation. In the venue, only Ellen''s voice can be heard, she went through each topics at a considerable pace, making sure that she''s neither going too fast nor too slow.

    The situation was a bit weird since right now, Ellen''s still discussing about the initial stages of cultivation and yet many people are already entering the state of enlightenment.

    People had varying expressions as they listened to her. Some were confused, some were enlightened, some remained neutral. All in all, it was working how it intended.

    More hours passed and before long, Ellen has been talking for 24 hours straight without pausing or even drinking. It''s also around this time that she finished discussing about the cultivation realms.

    "¡­with that out of the way, let''s move-on to Laws." She said, "Laws are the governing factors of existence. It''s influence can be seen everyone and in everything. It''d be more urate to say that everything that exists are influenced by the Laws, this includes even concept of ''death'' itself."

    "I specialize in Fire Laws." Ellen stated as mes erupted around her, turning into various shapes and sizes. "Fire Laws are considered as one of the basicws there is but it''s neither weak nor strong. Law Cultivation is aboutpatibility."

    "Most of you here haven''t had the chance to encounter the existence of Laws. Again, don''t be in a hurry. There''s no rush. Actively seeking out Laws might just lead you to a dead-end, if you want to reach the peak, patience is key. Aside from Fire Laws there are different kinds of Laws out there¡­"

    "¡­"

    "Alright, I think she''ll be fine." Raven stated, "Ellen knows what she''s doing. In fact, I''d say that she clearly experienced at this. Not the first time probably."

    "Very likely, yes." Luna nodded, "I guess we''re worried for nothing."

    Luna and Raven stood up from their seat and entered the Sky Pce. Ellen would be fine on her own so they decided to leave it to her. This session is going tost for quite some time and there''s no need for them to monitor her.

    They went towards their room to spend the next couple days rxing.

 Chapter 765

    Chapter 765

    "¡­adjust you handle on the hammer. When you swing, always put your back on it and draw power from your lower body, don''t half-ass your swings, make sure they count since you will always going to be slower than your opponent."

    At the Valorheart Estate, Raven was currently mentoring Tori. He''s correcting her form and solidifying her basics.

    Victoria used a war hammer as he primary weapon, something that both her and Raven did. While Raven no longer uses them, his knowledge about the weapon is still with him so he decided to pass it down to his dear sister.

    Venina on the other hand, uses a sword for her primary weapon. Raven doesn''t have any extensive experience in terms of the Sword Path but he knows a thing or two. That being said, he made Venina take lessons from Mark since he''s the most experienced out of them and Mark has no problems doing that.

    "¡­not bad, but you can do better." Raven stated as he watched the panting Tori. He had been making her do basic drills since this morning.

    Looking at Tori''s face, it''s clear that her arms are very close to giving-up. Her gaze is unfocused right now and her vision was blurring.

    Raven let out a sigh and said: "That''d be it for this morning then. Increase your stamina and endurance next time, if you want that thing to be your weapon of choice then put some effort into forging your body to wield it better. Go back and rest."

    Tori didn''t even have the energy to reply to him, she was too tired. She kept the hammer away and dragged her exhausted body away from the training grounds.

    Raven disappeared from the estate and went back to the Sky Pce where Luna was waiting for him.

    "You were a bit hard on her." Luna stated as she handed him a cup of tea.

    Raven sat down, took a sip and sighed: "I''m already pulling my punches you know. She can''t remain that way, especially if she ns on visiting the Divine Realm with Nina. I made this ce a little to safe and secured, causing them to grow-up in a sheltered manner. We both know that they''ll face some cruel reality check the moment they step in there. I just want them to be prepared."

    "Do they really want to leave?" Luna asked in a hesitant manner, "I mean, this world is already and big enough for them to explore right? I don''t think there''s a need for them to go there."

    "That''s what I said!" Raven exasperatingly said, "Unfortunately, the twins inherited our father''s wanderlust just like me. They''d hate me to the core if I banned them from going. There''s no stopping them anyway so I might as well prepare them as much as I could."

    "That seems to be the only choice left." Luna sat down on her chair and stared at the horizon. It also worries me, they''re at a marry-able age already. No doubt some hooligans in the Divine Realm will try something nasty."

    "Why did you have remind me of that?" Raven groaned on his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose out of stress.

    Right, there''s also this matter to consider. Nina and Tori are already at the age where they can get married. In fact, if it weren''t for Luis being a doting and over-protective father, they would''ve already been married at this point.

    While the twins never expressed any desire to marry or introduced anybody to them as their lovers, a time wille where they will eventually do so. Of course, with Luis and Raven being there, it was enough to know that they won''t be marrying anyone who doesn''t pass their test.

    Still, this matter can getplicated so they have to think things through.

    "I mean, anyone who wants to marry them has to get through you so there''s no need to worry right?" Luna asked.

    "Yes, but it can getplicated, you see." Raven sighed, "Flowery words and empty promises might bewitch those two into epting some severely wed guy. Who knows? Maybe they''ll even pick their lovers instead of family. That''d be the worst."

    "You''re overthinking things." Luna chuckled, "Rx, there''s six of us. Besides, your sisters aren''t that naive and if you make sure you''re honest with them, I don''t think they''ll make a bad choice."

    "I hope so." Raven sighed.

    The two of them shared a moment of silence before it was interrupted by Kyle who just entered the Sky Pce. Kyle marched towards them and knelt down in front of Raven, greeting him:

    "Master."

    "Mn. You''re back. How did it go?"

    "Awful." Kyle replied.

    Raven guffawed and asked: "What happened?"

    "Nine Empyrean Demonic Beast Eggs, that''s what." Kyle sighed, "It hasn''t even been a whole year since this world evolved yet there''s already nine of them. Are you sure we can''t cut their numbers down?"

    "We won''t." Raven shook his head, the rming news didn''t phase him at all. "Those eggs have a long incubation period. I''d reckon somewhere between 20-40 years. Plus, they won''t be as dangerous during their infancy, meaning that we have time. It''s fine to let them be."

    As the Empire continued to grow, the world bes more dangerous. Raven had Kyle roam the world in order to tally the amount of potential dangers this world will be facing in the future and it''s looking a bit grim. That being said, Raven wasn''t fazed.

    Kyle continued his report. Aside from spotting nine Empyrean Demonic Beast Eggs, he also saw some mutations on the danger zones marked on the map. Judging from what''s visible to him, Kyle deduced that somends will turn inhabitable for humans in the near future.

    Aside from the mutation from the danger zones, the Secret Realms and Pocket Dimensions are manifesting one after the other. Since they are located somewhere far from the Empire, there''s no need to be concerned. Still it''s a bit of a waste since those dimensions are overflowing with resources yet none of from the Empire can get to them yet.

    Once again, Raven just shrugged it all. He wasn''t particrly worried about this since all of it were already under his calctions. In fact, there was really no need for him to send Kyle out since he can monitor everything that''s happening on the world using his ocr technique. He just thought that Kyle was feeling rather bored so he sent him instead.

    Kyle didn''t get much time to advance his cultivation due to his injuries. He''s currently Saint Knight Realm, which isn''t bad but it''s terrible given that he''s Raven disciple. Still, he can''t be med for his bad luck.

    Raven already cured him from his injuries and passed down an appropriate legacy to him. Kyle cultivates Strength and Earth Laws and is now receiving Raven''s guidance.

    Under Raven''s teaching, he''s can feel his bottleneck loosening up, though if he really wants a breakthrough, he needs to rely on himself. Raven made a point that he''s not going to hold his hand, he will merely show him the way, it''s up to Kyle how far he can go.

    It''s still not toote for Kyle if he wanted to climb to the peak. That being said, he nned on staying home for quite sometime. Divine Realm has been too harsh on him, nobody can me him for retreating. After all, Divine Realm''s not a kind ce.

    Whether Kyle decides to go back or just stay here and enjoy his remaining lifespan, it''spletely up to him. Raven won''t me him nor exile him whatever his choice ended up being.

    Afterpleting his report, Kyle retreated and flew back to the Empire. He wanted to re-live his youth and feel the warmth of his home. Luna and Raven remained on the Sky Pce, enjoying their leisurely time, waiting for the next important event to ur.

    The next Law Discussion will ur next year. Ellen did a great job during her session, those who attended it are still enjoying it''s benefits until now. The world is at peace, though there are some under-currents forming due to the world''s evolution, those are something that the current Empire has to face.

    The Legendary Six won''t meddle in the Empire''s affairs. This era is theirs and most problems are theirs to solve. If the six started helping them, the Empire won''t grow strong. What the people needed is a strong and independent Empire.

    An Empire that only experienced peace won''t raisepetent people. An Empire that only experienced war and cruelty won''t raise people at all. It has to be a good bnce. If the six interferes, the bnce will tilt and chaos will ensue.

    Raven and the others will remain here for 20 years. That should be enough to stabilize the Empire''s current foundations. After that, they will be tested by the dangers around here.

    Those who survived will experience rebirth, those who don''t will be forgotten, it''s as simple as that.

    This might sound cruel and ruthless but if they wanted to have the strength to keep their home. It is something they need to experience.

 Chapter 766

    Chapter 766

    It''s been six years since the homing of Raven and the rest.

    A lot of things happened during this time. The Empire and it''s people had grown tremendously. Thanks to the teachings of the Legendary Six as well as the evolution of the world, their bottlenecks went loose and their strength promoted to another level.

    It wasn''t just limited to personal bottlenecks either. Breakthroughs also urred in their technological state as well as their lifestyles. The Empire fully upied the area that Raven designated to them,. Given more time, it''s even possible for them to go beyond the walls to expand.

    With all of the changes in the world, many people decided to leave thefort of their own home and seek the thrill of battle and riches outside. They explored and discovered areas which allowed them to gain resources for their own benefits.

    They fought against strong Demonic Beasts, survived the unforgivingnds and experienced the elevation of their strength.

    The Imperial Family was included in the people too, especially since they have a close rtionship to the Legendary Six. They were given top-notch resources and were taught personally by them. This resulted in their cultivation speed sky rocketing, even the retired King weren''t an exception.

    All of this was monitored by Raven and the rest who are still enjoying their vacation at home.

    Today though, is a very special day.

    After the Legendary Six helped their home to evolve, Raven stated that each of them will give public lessons in order to guide the citizens of the Empire. The session urs once per year with Ellen going first.

    It''s the sixth year, which means that thest session is amongst them and it was Raven''s turn.

    Everyone was looking forward to this. Although the people admired the Legendary Six as a unit, it''s inevitable that they will feel a bit biased towards Raven ¨C their Leader.

    Even though it was established the Luna has the higher cultivation rankpared to Raven, to the public''s eyes, he was a God. Their God. Nothing¡­not even the Emperor himself canpare to him.

    Raven''s wisdom is heavily sought after, there are dozens of people who are willing ¨C begging even, to be his disciple. It''s a pity that Raven never answered their calls, but they were already expecting it.

    The Law Discussion was scheduled. Raven himself announced it to the whole world via voice transmission. Everyone, even those who were travelling the world, received it and mored.

    They were excited of course. Their God will descend and point them to the right direction, who in the right mind would miss it? Even Kyle ¨C Raven''s personal disciple, was excited. Of course he will be attending it, he''ll be damned if he missed it.

    Those who set out to travel the world immediately hurried back to the Empire. Raven made the announcement one month early in order to give everyone ample time to prepare. The venue will be at the Imperial Coliseum, arge infrastructure that can host millions of people. With the nascent poption of the Empire, this ce isrge enough to amodate everyone who will be attending.

    As proof of Raven''s immense poprity, the Imperial Coliseum was already ''packed'' one week before the event started. Those who are more sensible got here earlier and secured a good spot for themselves, they basically camped in here.

    The Imperial Court was against this at first but Raven told them to let them be. In the end, the coliseum was filled with people already. Everyone who wished to attend the Law Discussion were already present one week before the actual event was scheduled.

    Now, it''s just on the matter of waiting. And one week isn''t really a long time either. Days passed by fast and soon, it was the day of the event.

    Everyone was wide awake even before the sun rises, even the Imperial Court Officials as well as the Imperial Family were present this early.

    The whole coliseum was silent. Everybody was waiting patiently, adjusting their mental state for what''s about toe.

    And in the moment the first light of dawn appeared, a bright light appeared in the coliseum and blinded everyone momentarily.

    The moment their vision returned, they found out to their shock that they were no longer at the Imperial Coliseum. Instead, they were sitting above the clouds surrounded with golden orbs of light.

    Some people panic and freaked out. They all thought that they were going to fall at any given moment but they didn''t. In fact, they can walk just fine in the clouds, they can even lie down in rx.

    Everyone was mesmerized by the fantastic view around them. The while puffs of cloud were soft yet solid enough to support their weight. They were basking under the warm and gentle rays of the sun, the air they breathe was clean and the view of the world beneath them was just astounding.

    "Beautiful isn''t it?"

    A familiar voice woke them up from their stupor. They all turned towards the direction where the sound came from and saw Raven walking towards them.

    Well, he isn''t really walking, he''s not flying either. He gave off an impression that the world was moving him instead. It was a mystical sight, one that will be etched on their memories.

    "Pardon me for the sudden shift in the environment." Raven smiled softly and scratched his cheek, "The Imperial Coliseum was big enough for this event, yes. But it''s too packed. There''s bound to be disturbances if we remained there so I took you guys here instead. At least, the sky is big enough for everyone."

    "Actually¡­" Raven nced at the people around him and went silent for a bit. After a minutes, he nodded to himself and said: "Let''s sort everyone out in order to maximize the efficiency."

    After saying that, the people felt their bodies shifting without their permission.

    A rune manifested beneath them, serving as a tform that moved towards the location where Raven wanted them to be. They shifted for a bit and after a couple of minutes, the movement halted.

    Everyone stared at their current position. They were arrange in a strange formation, some of them were still amongst the clouds while others were elevated a bit higher. Some were close to the sun, some grouped, others were scatted. It was a weird arrangement but none of them voice out anyints.

    "For those who are worrying about their current locations, don''t worry." Raven announced, "My voice will reach you no matter the distance, in fact you should be hearing me loud enough as if I''m right next to you."

    Everyone nodded, this was indeed the case. They can hear Raven loud and clear. Aside from that, they can also see him quite well despite the distance so nobodyined.

    "Your current position is define ording to your affinities. Don''t think too much and just focus. Remember that how much you all improve after this will ultimately depend ording to your personal aplishments."

    "One more thing." Raven said, "Due to the nature of my topic, this session mightst for a whole month before I stop. For those who are still at the state of enlightenment after that month, they will stay here until their seclusion ends, understood?"

    The crowd nodded again.

    "Very well. Let''s begin." Raven held a paint brush on his hand and began leaving streaks of light in the air.

    "The people before me already discussed the Path of Knighthood from the basics all the way to theplicated stuff. Due to the, I won''t be discussing that anymore since it''ll be redundant. Instead, the way of my be quite different."

    Raven never stopped drawing streaks of light as he talked. Everybody was mesmerized by his movements, they slowly fell into trance-like state as they watched him which was incredible, given that it hasn''t even been a minute since he started.

    Once his movement stopped, everyone saw the streaks of light converged into a single entity. A mixture of golden and silver radiance erupted from it, blinding them for a few seconds before revealing an incredible sight.

    A massive rune, filled with endless profundity and majesty,id bare in front of them. Everybody was dazed. Try as much as they could, they can''t peel their eyes away from this incredible masterpiece.

    It was the pinnacle of art. A thing of limitless beauty and mystery. Those who had a first hand experienced in Rune-Smithing couldn''t help but feel emotional at sight of this wonder.

    "This will be focus of the today''s session."

    "Everyone perceives the world different from the other." Raven''s voice echoed in their head. "Focus on the rune and identify what it''s trying to show you."

    "Once you see it, focus on it, don''t let it go." Raven''s voice was filled with encouragement, "Open your eyes and see the world in its entirety."

    "What you grasp ultimately depends on you. Study the rune in silence, you have a month to do so."

    After saying this, Raven disappeared from their sight but nobody noticed it. Instead, everybody was slowly but surely falling into a trance-like state as they stared at the majestic rune in front of them.

 Chapter 767

    Chapter 767

    What the rune showed the audience differ from one person to the other.

    For some, it revealed a trail of zing fire. For some it was a crimson sparks dancing in the darkness. Some people saw a vast prairie gentle winds blowing, some saw a stormy cmity.

    The visions were never static, however it did follow a specific pattern which allowed them to discover some clues.

    Nobody talked, simply because they don''t have time to do so. All of them were mesmerized by the rune that they didn''t even dare to breathe loudly. Not even a falling meteor can make them peel their eyes away from the rune. The moment it appeared, it became the center of their focus, fully upying it from one end to the other.

    Raven observed them from the Sky Pce. He smiled to himself when he saw the vivid motes of light and heard the rhythmic hymns of Laws chiming around the people. They are too absorbed in this that they didn''t notice how long they''ve been in that state. It has been a week since this whole thing started.

    These people won''t feel hunger nor weak, Raven made sure of that when he altered the venue. All of them can devote themselves into perceivingws without worrying about their health.

    Judging by how deep their concentration are, it''s very likely that they will remain like this for the entire month. Of course, that''s just his initial suspicions. How long exactly they''re going to stay like this is unknown even for Raven himself. However, he can at least make sure that they won''t be disturbed.

    "Overall, I''ll call this a sess." Raven muttered to himself.

    "That''s impressive." Luna stated as she watched the audience meditated over the rune that Raven created. "I didn''t know that it''s possible to do it this way."

    "I''ve got this idea from my Sect Elders, you see." Raven replied as he enjoyed a warm cup of tea. "Besides, this isn''t the first time that I did something like this. In the end, it alles down to experience."

    ¡­which Raven has a plenty. There were many times when he conducted a public lesson on the Ancient Elysium Sect. He had developed some skills in order to make it easier for himself and make the experience more enriching for the participants.

    "With this, their foundations should deepen more considerably." Luna stated once more as she inspected the unstable cultivation states of the participants. "This will allow them to reach even greater heights. We should expect a few more Empyreans in the future."

    "Indeed. I only hope that won''t forget about thend that raised them." Raven sighed, "It''s very likely that some of them will eventually leave this world to search new sights. I just hope they''d dedicate some time to at least make sure that this world is safe."

    "I doubt that they''ll forget home." Luna said, "I mean, you will always be a figure that they''d look up to. So long as they can remember the kindness you sown in them, I''m sure that they''ll never let any harm fall to our world."

    "I''ll be extremely thankful if that''s the case."

    ¡ª

    Kyle is currently experiencing something very surreal.

    He can tell that his consciousness is scattered but he didn''t feel scared or threatened. In fact, he felt wonderful. It''s as if he was floating above the clouds.

    Kyle was experiencing visions shing through his eyes. He can''t make sense of them in his delirious state but he can tell that those were important. It wasn''t just that, he can also tell that his body was reacting to the said visions, it was truly bizarre.

    As time went on, Kyle''s consciousness wereing back piece by piece. As more of it returned, his cognizance were growing as well. He can at least now tell what''s going on half of time.

    It was weird. Kyle felt grounded but also carefree. He could feel every inch of his body busting with incredible strength and density yet he also felt lightweight.

    Kyle can feel an overwhelming amount of information being stuffed in his brain, yet it''s not causing him any headaches or whatever. It felt natural. He felt alive and very well¡­it was truly strange.

    When his consciousness returned to it''s whole. Kyle finally understood what he felt. It was the sublimation of his Laws.

    Kyle understood the aspects of Strength and Earth Laws. He was a blessed individual thanks to his Master''s teachings. The aspects of his Laws made Kyle an incredible warrior and a level-surpassing genius. His strength often times overwhelms his foes into submission.

    If it weren''t for the fact that he got severely injured on his trip to the Divine Realm, Kyle might''ve exceeded Raven''s expectations out of him. He''s just truly unlucky.

    After experiencing a chain of bad luck and a series of unfortunate events, Kyle was saved by his master and returned home where he was healed from inside out. His injuries disappeared and the gaping hole of loneliness on his heart was filled by the warmth of his home.

    In fact, he even found himself a lover during this past six years. He was a changed man and his outlook on life changed drastically.

    Kyle''s changes gave him renewed vigor. With his tempered will, he was preparing to go back to the Divine Realm once more and conquer his fears. But before he could do that, he needed to prepare.

    Thankfully, he got lucky this time and a mutation urred.

    Much like how Space and Time Laws can fuse, so did the Kyle''s Strength and Earth Laws.

    The product of the fusion isn''tplete yet. He needed to understand the aspects of the rest of the five basic Elemental Laws in order toplete the Star Laws.

    This stroke of fortune was something he won''t be able to receive if it weren''t Raven''s wisdom and kindness. Once again, Kyle felt greatly indebted to him. And with the primary evolution if his Laws, he is determined to make him proud.

    With that, Kyle continued his seclusion. It''d be a damn waste if he didn''t take advantage of this after all.

    ¡ª

    Raven never discussed Laws to his twin sisters.

    During the time he was teaching them. He constantly emphasized the importance of basics to them, which bored the hell out of the twins. However, this all changed when he challenged them.

    The twins were allowed to go all out, meanwhile Raven sealed his cultivation based and told them that he''s only going to use one hand and basic punches to defeat both of them. The twins were naturally skeptical, but Raven said that if they can force him to break the rules he imposed to himself it will be his defeat. And if they defeated him, he will take the two of them with him the next time he ascends to the Divine Realm.

    Of course the twins for excited about that so they epted the deal¡­which ended up in a massive disappointment for the twins.

    With one hand and basic punches, both of them were defeated. They went all out yet they stood no chance at all. Raven didn''t use any loopholes, he stuck to his rules and defeated them fair and square. Which eventually caused the twins to take his lessons seriously.

    It''s not like Raven didn''t want to teach them advanced knowledge. In fact, it''s quite the opposite. Raven would love to discuss it with however their foundations are so awful that it was unforgivable. It needed to be corrected before they went to the moreplicated subjects since it will cause their cultivation realms to he unstable.

    Raven used the past six years to correct their ws, and with twins'' effort, they managed to do it in time. Now, they can move on to the moreplicated stuff, Laws.

    Currently, the twins are receiving Law Baptism thanks to Raven''s rune. They are in the state of deep Enlightenment and cannot be disturbed. Thankfully, Raven made sure that they won''t be.

    Raven might be able to predict what Laws his twin sisters will grasp. For Venina, he thought that it''s possible for her to grasp Sword Laws and/or Alchemy Law. Either one was fine actually. For Victoria, Raven guessed that it would either be Strength Laws or Destruction Laws. After all, Tori is a bit on the reckless side.

    That being said, it can also be entirely different. Even then, it would still be fine. It''ll be up to them how far they can reach anyways. Raven didn''t n on holding their hand all the time. They need to learn how be independent if they nned on visiting the Divine Realm in the future.

    From Raven can see. The twins are currently lost in the vast space. The state of Enlightenment disperses their consciousness, returning it to its purest state, able to mingle and interact with the world around them.

    With their curiosity as their guide, the horizons will widen and the chances of them grasping and condensing a Law Seed will be higherpared to their normal mental state.

    Really, all that''s left for Raven to do, is to wait and see what kind if surprises this event will bring to him.

 Chapter 768

    Chapter 768

    Two months had passed.

    Many people already woke up from their state of immersion. Every single one of them changed in more ways that one. They paid respects to Raven and were transported back to thend. The moment they returned, they immediately put the results of their enlightenment into practice, some even entered an extended period of seclusion.

    Despite this however, there are still many people who were still immersed in the state of enlightenment. They were still in the skies,prehending their chosen paths and are still not showing any signs of waking up.

    Majority of the Imperial Court Officials woke up though, this allowed the Empire to resume it''s activities in terms of exploring the world outside and securing resources. In fact, many people were raring to go outside to see some action all for the sake to testing out the ideas they have in mind.

    Multiple expeditions urred. All the missions from the Imperial Capital were swept by those who wanted to explore. The atmosphere of the Empire was active and progressive, it isn''t as popted as before but it was hardly noticeable.

    Raven remained on the Sky Pce and watched as these happened.

    He can see droves of people exiting the walls of the Empire. They went off in different directions, exploring areas of the world that hasn''t been visited before. In fact, he even saw some people heading to the secret realms.

    He figured that it won''t be too far until the Empire reached another breakthrough when ites to technological means. The resources they can secure from this expeditions will be important for the progress of the Empire itself as well for individual use.

    At this point, it is very likely that the reproduction of the natural resources will be fasterpared to the rate at which they are harvested. Which is fine since it means that the Empire won''t consume them at a swift rate but it''d be for the best to at least increase the rate of harvest in order to maximize the use and profit.

    That being said, this ultimately depends on the Knights. The resources are important yes, but it''s not more valuable than one''s life.

    In truth, Raven shouldn''t be so concerned about this matters. Whether they managed to secure the resources or not, isn''t something that he should be paying attention to. After all, it''s not like he''s in-charge or anything. For what it''s worth though, he just really can''t help it. He''s a workaholic, it''s natural for him to react this way.

    Raven was currently paying attention to those who are left at the skies though.

    Most of the people who remained are people he knew very well. His Father, sisters, inws, the family of his friends, his old professors and acquaintances, even the Emperor himself was still here. There are also some people here who he didn''t know personally but he can recognize their talent.

    It''ll be quite some time until these people wake up. For now he just had to monitor them and make sure he sends him down safely and in time. Once they all wake up, the Empire will make great strides towards its true Golden Age.

    ¡ª

    A couple more months passed until every single one of the participant woke up from state of immersion.

    Thest person who woke up was Kyle, he was in that state of enlightenment for the whole six months. This was because he wasprehending the Star Laws. He managed to grasp fundamental knowledge about it. He''s very far from mastering it but it''s fine, he also didn''t mind the difficulty of mastering it either. He weed the challenge.

    Wielding the Star Laws will allow Kyle to be a powerhouse. Just by grasping the fundamental knowledge about it, Kyle''s energy reserves shot to the peak. If he mastered the first Concept of the Star Law, he''s basically have ess to nigh-limitless energy reserves. This is the absurd power of the Star Laws.

    Nina and Tori woke up a month earlier than him. To Raven''s surprise though, they were blessed individuals,prehending two fundamental Laws in one Baptism.

    Veninaprehended the basic knowledge of the Sword Laws ¨C which Raven guessed already. What''s surprising for him though, is that she grasped the essence of Elusive Yin Laws, which waspletely absurd!

    ''How was that even possible?'' Is what Raven thought when he discovered this.

    It had to be known that Chaos was split into two, Extreme Yang Illumination and Elusive Yin Silhouette! The chances of Nine grasping the Elusive Yin was close to none yet she hit the jackpot.

    It wasn''t just Raven who was shocked, Luna and the rest were bbergasted as well.

    And if that wasn''t enough, there''s also Tori.

    The Laws Victoria got baptism of were surprising for Raven. First and foremost, as she was Venina''s twin, a resonance urred with Nina grasping the Elusive Yin, it caused Tori to grasp Extreme Yang ¨C which is again, mind-blowing.

    The second Law she got was Forging Laws. Although Forging Laws doesn''t sound impressive, it''d be unwise topletely underestimate it since Forging Laws are directly connected to the Creation Laws. Once Tori managed to increase her affinity and master over this Law, it is very possible that she willprehend Creation Laws. That alone will cause her poprity to sky rocket even in the Divine Realm itself.

    This discovery really blew Raven away. It''s simply absurd. He can swear an oath that he didn''t tip the bnce in favor of his twin sisters. This was the product of their hard work and luck. Again, it was absurd really.

    Vendrick, the first born of the Valorhearts. A person who experienced Soul Rebirth and the current master of the Scepter of Wisdom, wielding the power of Runes and Constetions at the tip of his fingers.

    Venina, the older twin sister. Comprehended the Sword Path which automatically makes her a Realm Surpassing Genius, on top ofprehending the Elusive Yin Laws ¨C a Law which directly connects her to origin of all things.

    And finally, Victoria, the younger twin. Sheprehended the Extreme Yang Laws due to the resonance from her twin sister and also grasp the fundamental knowledge about Forging Laws, which already qualifies her as a top-notch cksmith but with enough diligence on her part, it''s totally possible for her to grasp Creation Laws as well.

    If they were to say that they were born from a couple who never stepped into the Divine Realm their entire lives, nobody would probably believe them.

    The Valorhearts are thriving under Raven''s lead. Hopefully, the trend doesn''t end here.

    After this discovery, all possibilities of preventing the twins from ascending to the Divine Realm vanished. Neither Raven nor his parents can possibly keep these two here. Whether they like it or not, they will find themselves in the Divine Realm simply because they have to be there.

    From the moment they were baptized by the Laws, their destinies were already set. Not Raven can stop that.

    However, it doesn''t mean that he''s powerless against it. Thankfully, he was already forging their foundations even before the Law Baptism urred. Raven doesn''t have any reasons to stop now so why should he? In fact, continuing it would be more beneficial for the twins.

    He made a decision that he will personally make sure that the two of them won''t leave this world unless he''s convinced that they''re up to his standards.

    Right after the twins woke up, the training resumed. It became harderpared before and it was obvious that Raven got stricter to them as well. He was keen on sharpening their survival skills, he was even personally mentoring them now.

    Raven threw them at the most dangerous pocket dimension present in this world ¨C the Silent Realm. It''s a ce where sound doesn''t exist, it even suppressed their other senses to arge degree. That ce is crawling with dangerous beasts and there were many times that twins suffered from grievous wounds.

    This ce made the twins feel absolute despair but they grit their teeth and continued to persist. They pushed themselves to their limits again and again, forging their will and polishing their survival skills.

    It wasn''t just them. Raven also threw Kyle in there once he woke up. And since Kyle was more experienced than the twins, this difficulty barely fazed him, but it doesn''t mean that he got it easier. In fact, he pushed himself harderpared to the twins.

    It was because Kyle continued walking forward that the twins pushed-on as well. They were inspired by his determination and they went all out.

    As time passed, things got more easier to them. They could feel themselves improving at an rming rate that even them were surprised. That just fueled their desire to be even stronger though, which in turn impressed Raven.

    Once he saw that they''re performing well. Raven was already making arrangements for their next challenge. But of course, he also reminded them that resting is just as important in order to preserve their mental state and prevent them from falling into madness.

    They still far from Raven''s standards but eventually, they''ll get there. Raven would be watching their backs along the way.

 Chapter 769: Increasing the Security Level

    Chapter 769: Increasing the Security Level

    ¡°I¡¯m off, Luna.¡±

    ¡°Mn, be safe out there. Return as soon as you can.¡±

    ¡°Yes, my dear wife.¡± Raven chuckled as he gave her a kiss.

    After this, Raven stepped out of the Sky Pce and promptly disappeared. Several momentster, Raven appeared at the Spatial Vacuum just above the Grand Ancestral ne. He stood straight and looked down on his world with a pondering expression.

    It has been seven years and a few months since they six of them returned home. Many things urred since their return yet it still not entirely done just yet.

    Since the evolution of the Grand Ancestral ne into a Empyrean World/ne, its whole appearance changed and it expanded greatly as well.

    From where Raven was standing, the Final Haven Empire was a mere dotpared to vastness of their current world. There¡¯s still many ways for the Empire to get better at but at the rate they¡¯re growing, it shouldn¡¯t difficult for them to eventually truly conquer this world.

    Raven went out for an important reason.

    The stabilization of the world was done and the cool down period has passed, meaning that the world can endure another round of improvements again.

    No, Raven wasn¡¯t nning on evolving the world any further. Although that would be nice, hecks the ability to do that on his own currently. What he can do though, is to increase it¡¯s security even just for a bit.

    At its base, the Grand Ancestral ne is already created with defense mechanisms in ce. It is isted, it doesn¡¯t permit any outsiders in and only people who are born from the world can return to it. Which isn¡¯t bad but it can be better¡­which is precisely why Raven is here currently.

    Taking out the Brush of Wisdom, Raven began to work. Streaks of golden and silver light emerged from the tip of the brush, converging into tiny runes which isn¡¯t visible to the naked eye.

    These tiny runes fused with the world without anybody noticing it. The people can¡¯t sense it but the world sure can.

    It had to be known that each of these tiny runes arepressed. Though they may not look impressive, each of this runes consists of millions of basic runes following an intricate pattern which made each one unique. And each tiny runes arranged themselves into a unique formation that enhances the security of their world.

    First and foremost, Raven decided to enhance what¡¯s already there for the security of the world. He solidified the foundations of each security measures, making sure to fill out any gaps that can be used as a loophole.

    Strengthening the first level of security makes it even harder to discover where the world is located. With Raven¡¯s enhancement, any maps or tracking artifacts ¨C no matter how strong the artifact is, won¡¯t be able to pinpoint the exact location of the world. In fact, even if they were standing at the space where the world is located, they won¡¯t sense anything.

    For the second level, any outsiders ¨C no matter what cultivation level they posses, who tries to force their way into their world, will be met with the world¡¯s wrath. The retaliation of an Empyrean World is no joke, even Empyrean¡¯s themselves won¡¯t casually shrug those off. And since this is Raven who¡¯s beefing up the security, not even Divinities are safe.

    As for the third level of security, he made it easier for those who were born in this world to sense the location of their world. He made a rune which sends out a subliminal message containing the world¡¯s spatial coordinates to the unconscious mind of their people in order to do this.

    Additionally, he made sure that in case of an ident, i.e. someone betraying their world appears, everyone will know who it is so that they can promptly deal with them. This is just a counter-measure for extreme situations. Hopefully, this will never be used but one can never truly know.

    In addition to the first three security measures, Raven added two more.

    He wasn¡¯t against outsiders discovering their home, provided that they were nice people to begin with. So with that in mind, he gave the consciousness of the world an ability to peer through someone¡¯s intentions. If they¡¯re morally good, they can be allowed in as a guest, if they¡¯re not, then they¡¯re not weed.

    The final measure he added was an opportunity for the world to evolve even further. He made it so that the Grand Ancestral ne can devour any dying world and use their essence to fuel it¡¯s growth or sustain its lifespan.

    Of course, he made sure that consent was given first before the predation urs. If the dying world still has people, they¡¯ll be adopted as the ne¡¯s citizens.

    It isn¡¯t much but it¡¯ll go a long way. Plus, it¡¯s not like they would encounter a dying world very often anyways so it¡¯s all good.

    The process of enhancing and enforcing the new level of securitysted for a whole month. On top of that, it¡¯ll take at most a year before the changes were applied for good so Raven left it as it is. Waiting was the easiest part after all.

    Still, he wasn¡¯t quite done yet. Just for an additional measure, Raven created an improved version of the 33yered seal on the atmosphere of this world. After finishing that in no time, Raven was satisfied. He returned to the world to continue with his vacation.

    ¡ª

    Raven really wanted to give himself a pat in the back for cing Silence Runes all over the Sky Pce¡­

    With how loud both him and Luna is during their love-making session, it was quite possible for their voices to reach the Empire.

    ¡®Broke the damn bed¡­again¡­¡¯ Raven groaned as he panted.

    The two of them were catching their breath after a vigorous round of their love-making. Luna was resting on top of him as he gently caressed her hair¡­his other hand was still squeezing her ass.

    ¡°Are you¡­getting impatient?¡± Raven asked hesitantly once he caught his breath. He couldn¡¯t help but ask her this question given the fact that Luna was a bit eager these past few days.

    ¡°¡­no it¡¯s not like that.¡± Luna replied, burrowing her face on his neck.

    Raven raised a brow and asked: ¡°You were very eager these past few days¡­what¡¯s up with that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Luna didn¡¯t speak. Instead she just hid her face even more.

    Raven looked at his wife suspiciously for a moment. His thoughts raced and it didn¡¯t take long before he got another idea.

    ¡°Ahhhh¡­.okay I get it.¡± Heughed heartily, much to Luna¡¯s embarrassment.

    ¡°Shut it.¡±

    ¡°Ohe on, don¡¯t be shy.¡± Raven chuckled, ¡°It¡¯s normal. I mean¡­it¡¯s good to be energetic. I like it. I love it actually.¡±

    ¡°Asshole.¡±

    ¡°Is that an invitation?¡±

    ¡°Stoooop!¡± Luna whined, currently feeling really embarrassed.

    Ravenughed uproariously. Luna kept on hiding her face to no avail. She doesn¡¯t know how charming this was for her husband.

    Rolling on the bed, Raven picked Luna up and decided to go out of their room. He went towards the balcony while carrying her. Neither of them were clothed at this moment.

    Luna¡¯s cheeks turned rosy from shyness but she didn¡¯t protested. She just allowed her husband to do as he pleases.

    Once they¡¯re out in an open space, they felt the cool breeze of winds kicking up and caressing their naked bodies. They weren¡¯t cold due to their natural resistances. If anything, this act felt liberating for the two of them.

    Luna caught her husband staring at her. His gaze never left her from the moment he picked her up. She felt shy but also warm and fuzzy. Raven sat on a chair with Luna on hisp, he put a hand on her face and said:

    ¡°I love you.¡±

    Luna shivered upon hearing his heartfelt words and from feeling a stiff rod poking her from behind. Raven leaned forward and nted a loving kiss on her lips. Luna felt like she was melting.

    Their bodies were wrapped around each other, not a trace of clothing separates them. Hearts beating as one and the warmth of their love warming them up in this cold night. Luna pulled back from their kiss and replied:

    ¡°I love you too.¡±

    She bridged the gap this time and kissed Raven back. As the heat of the moment drowned the two of them, Raven slid inside of his wife with one smooth motion, causing her to let out a surprised but please gasp in between their kisses.

    Once again, Raven felt like patting his back for making sure that the Sky Pce was surrounded with an isting formation. It allowed them to be this adventurous while preventing any additional pair of eyes from witnessing them.

    As their hearts surged with this incredible feeling of merging, their minds became covered in haze. All they could see, hear and think about were each other and nothing else. They felt drunk in this state.

    Under the gentle rays of moonlight. The couple filled the Sky Pce with the sound of their lustful hums.

    *Ahem!*

 Chapter 770: Empyrean

    Chapter 770: Empyrean

    It¡¯s a bright sunny day at the Grand Ancestral ne.

    The sky was blue and adorned with white puffy clouds. The air was cool but also carried a distinct warmth thatforts everyone. Thend was bursting with vitality and the people busied themselves with their everyday routine.

    At the Sky Pce, Raven was currently meditating in an open space. Despite his inactivity, his surroundings are still affected by his attunement with the Laws.

    The space warped around him, it was an involuntary effect. Anybody who tries to get close to him as he meditated will experience how the flow of Spacetime warped around him. In some spots around him, time was elerated, at other spots, time is slow. The space was locked as well, it is impossible for anyone to approach him unless he allows them to.

    Luna was back at the Sky Pce, currently enjoying a warm cup of tea as she observed Raven in meditation. Her face was mostly expressionless but she¡¯s actually in deep thought.

    ¡®He had been meditating quite frequently during this past few days.¡¯ She murmured inwardly. Her eyes narrowed as she continued staring at Raven.

    All of a sudden, she felt his aura spiking unnaturally which rmed her a bit. She watches as lights emerged from his body, a mixture of golden and silver. She saw the lights converging into vague runes that dissipated shortly after.

    What truly surprised her is that, she can see some of the runes forming something unnatural. They were forming Constetions.

    Luna couldn¡¯t possibly be mistaken by what she saw. Though she thought that it was just an ident and that Raven is currently doing this subconsciously, she knew that he seeded in turning runes into constetions.

    The constetion that formed was unlike anything she knew so far. From what she can tell, that was a new one. Something that Raven himself created on his own.

    Next, she felt Raven¡¯s aura stabilizing. She then saw him standing up and looking at her. Without any words spoken in between on them, Luna understood what he wanted to say. She nodded and soon, Raven disappeared from her vision, as for where he went, it¡¯s probably somewhere far from their home world since what¡¯s about to happen will most definitely raise some ruckus.

    ¡­and by ruckus, she meant a worldwide panic. After all, Raven¡¯s about to make his breakthrough to the Empyrean Realm.

    ¡°Hey, Old ne.¡± Luna called out.

    Next to her, a silhouette manifested. It was a man which is also the manifestation of this world¡¯s consciousness.

    ¡°What can I do for you, Holy Maiden?¡±

    ¡°Iste yourself a bit. My husband¡¯s about to breakthrough. He wouldn¡¯t want to raise any panic and unrest. Use the istion barriers he ce on you.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, Holy Maiden.¡± The man bowed and disappeared.

    Momentster, Luna felt the world¡¯s movement. The sensation can only be felt by several people, some of them wouldn¡¯t even know what happened. There were no visible changes in the world but in reality, the world went into hiding and used the preventing measures that Raven enhanced a few weeks ago in order to iste its aura and prevent themotion outside from bing visible to its citizens.

    This is a necessary step in order to make sure that the Empire wouldn¡¯t descend into panic.

    Raven flew outside of the world.

    He passed through several great worlds in a blink of an eye and reaching an area he deemed fine to have his breakthrough with.

    Before continuing with the process however, Raven made sure to set up some formations in order secure himself. Having some people interrupt him during his breakthrough was thest thing he wanted to happen.

    Raven didn¡¯t hold back either. He made sure that not even Divine Knights will be able to disturb him with how many formations he set up around him. He also made it so that nobody would be able to detect him nor see unless he wanted them to do so.

    After setting up the formation, he sighed and adjusted his condition. He sat down and started regting his breathing. He had been waiting for this moment for several years. After a long time of umtion, he finally felt full. In fact, he¡¯s already suppressing the overflow which will enable his body to have a natural breakthrough.

    Boom!!

    The asteroid he was in shattered the moment he released the suppression. Nevertheless, Raven remained undisturbed. His concentration was so sharp that not even a realm-wide disaster will be able to distract him.

    The spaced warped violently around him and the hymns of Laws chimed around him. His attunement rose to an incredible level that some people would mistake him as the Heavenly Laws itself.

    His Law Insights as well as the Runic Heavenly Secret Origin sang around him. Creating a beautiful visage that blurred Raven¡¯s body. Light bursts from his body, drowning the entire space with golden and silver radiance. It was so bright that he could even contest the brightness of the sun itself.

    Dark clouds formed within Raven¡¯s isted space. A distinct killing intent emerged but it also contained a trace of fear. The source of these was none other than the Heavenly Laws of the Divine Realm itself.

    Raven was already disliked by the Heavenly Laws due to his audacity. It also didn¡¯t help that Raven had the right to be so since he¡¯s truly capable of bringing it down if he wanted, which is why the Heavenly Laws were afraid of him in the first ce.

    The Heavenly Laws tried to interrupt him and make him fail this breakthrough but it also knows that it¡¯s very unlikely for that to happen. Additionally, the consequences will be dire. It will still attempt to do so but the result will never change.

    This is why Raven didn¡¯t even bother to raise his guard against it. He himself was aware of just how ridiculously strong he has gotten. The fact that he could even dismiss the Heavenly Laws itself like it was some sort of a nuisance was something he never thought possible but he did it.

    Now, all that¡¯s left for him to do is to concentrate with his breakthrough ¨C something that he¡¯s already doing in the first ce.

    Within Raven¡¯s consciousness, lights converged, making it very difficult to see anything. Its as if his consciousness was covered by a hazy fog. It was misleading and confusing.

    Raven wad currently travelling this hazy world. He walked forward aimlessly, he didn¡¯t know where he was going he just knew that he has to move forward without stopping. That¡¯s the only way he¡¯ll achieve what he wants.

    After what felt like an eternity, Raven arrived somewhere deep in his consciousness. He stood in front of something that¡¯s emitting a sh of brilliant light.

    Under the scrutiny of his gaze, the hazy fog was dispelled. Lights converged once more and formed a massive outline of a person.

    A person with long hair, perfectly symmetrical face lean body. The person contained countless of sparkling nodes which represents a world. Its eyes reflected the gxies and the void around it. It stood there as if it was the sole existence ever made.

    This person was him, only it¡¯s expression was different.

    Compared to the usual expression of Raven ¨C which was warm and kind. This one was cold and indifferent. It stared at everything around it as if they were mere ants that¡¯ll never reach the apex. Such was the epitome of arrogance yet Raven knew that he¡¯s inexplicably connected to this silhouette.

    This was his Empyrean Shadow ¨C the thing that represents the entirety of Raven¡¯s path. As he stared at it, he noticed that the shadow¡¯s hand were sped on its stomach. The area between its palms were emitting a bright light. Additionally, there¡¯s a narrow road which leads there.

    Raven unhesitatingly walked towards that direction. After taking a couple of steps forward, he can feel some disruption. He then saw numerous blurry silhouettes emerging in front of him, blocking his way forward.

    As soon as the disruption emerged, shes of light erupted, erasing them from existence. Raven heard a distinct roaring somewhere far but he only sneered in response. The Heavenly Laws were trying to disrupt him and prevent him from breaking through, unfortunately it failed miserably before it even began.

    Raven walked forward confidently forward. He ignored the repeated attempts of the Heavenly Laws since it wasn¡¯t working anyways.

    It didn¡¯t take long before he arrived just in front of the sped hand. He shifted his position and entered the area. There, surrounded with a bright and gentle light, he sat down and closed his eyes. He felt a connection from the shadow in front of him.

    As time went on, Raven¡¯s aura increased even further. Then his eyes snapped wide open. At the same time, the shadow¡¯s eyes snapped wide open as well.

    The Empyrean Shadow started to shrink at a speed visible to the naked eye until it fully fused with Raven. Once again, Raven¡¯s aura spiked even stronger causing the space around him to shatter.

    The next thing he knew, his breakthrough ended and the formation that he worked hard into making in order to iste himself was ruined by none other than him.

 Chapter 771: True Immortality

    Chapter 771: True Immortality

    ¡°¡­hahaha, what an awkward situation.¡± Ravenughed derisively as he stared at the ruins before him.

    He did feel confident about the strength of his runic formations and all however he didn¡¯t expect that the violent energies he released from breaking through was enough to destroy them from the inside.

    In addition to that, he could feel several scans shrouding his general direction. His breakthrough must¡¯ve raised a ruckus that alerted many people. Thankfully, he chose a pretty isted spot, far away from any worlds that has civilization. Had he not been considerate, he would¡¯ve killed many people just now.

    Nevertheless, Raven¡¯s breakthrough was finished. He¡¯s now officially an Empyrean Knight. With his status and pure skill alone, he can be recognized as one of Divine Realm¡¯s Top Masters, not that he intends to excessively unt this all over the ce.

    Still, his job isn¡¯t done yet. He still has matters to attend to, mainly iming the throne as the official 9th Heir of the Ancestral Divine Crown.

    Without wasting even a second of hesitation, Raven left the isted ce after cleaning up. Once he was inside the crown space, he made his way towards the Monument of Stars.

    Compared to what its like before, the Monument of Stars are now filled with different shades of light. Each of this lights represented a constetion he gained acknowledgement from. There¡¯s only one constetion left for him to do and the throne shall reveal itself to him.

    Without any further ado, Raven touched the monument and felt the familiar pull in his consciousness. When he felt the sensation ended, he opened his eyes to look at the familiar space within the monument.

    A long silky silver road was under his feet. Raven began walking forwards, encountering numerous constetions in the process. These constetions are all the ones that Raven already got acknowledgement from. They emit a dazzling radiance, moving as if they were alive.

    Raven only spared them a look and never stopped moving forward. He continued on his way for what felt like ages of walking. He never showed any signs of fatigue nor impatience, his mood was calm and serene. It¡¯s as if nothing can disturb the peace of his mind.

    As he went further ahead, the brilliance of the constetions faded. None of them followed wherever he was going. Raven can see that the world was going dark without their light but he was unbothered.

    He can feel the existence of the Void itself. It carried an unspeakable chill that seeped to his soul. It unnerving to say the least, it¡¯s as the darkness around him was slowly eating away at his consciousness. Nevertheless, Raven remained steady and peaceful.

    All of this sensations were nothing to him. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was real or just an illusion, nothing can break nor even erode his will that has been tempered by two lifetimes. He walked bravely and confidently despite gnawing sensation of the void. He didn¡¯t resist it, he merely ignored it¡¯s existence as if it was nothing less than a minor-inconvenience.

    With the influence of time getting blurry inside this space, Raven had no idea how long he has been walking. What he do know is that he reached the frightening depths of the void itself.

    The Void here was unforgiving. He weighed on him and tried to push him back in vain. Most people would¡¯ve been traumatized by making contact with the Void but Raven¡¯s different. Not only does he possess a physique that can prevent the void from affecting him, his will was that of an immortal.

    Eventually, he reached the core of the Void where he saw a faint sparkle of light.

    It was weak, very weak. It¡¯s as if the light was about to get snuffed out at any given moment. Raven watched, his eyes was fixated on the sparks of light.

    He stepped forward and raised his hand. He cupped the sparks of light and cradled it near his heart. He sat down and urged his will to give sustenance to the sparks.

    Void raged around him, it violently tried to wrestle the sparks of light away from Raven¡¯s cradle but it ended up in vain. Though Raven¡¯s hands looked delicate, it was as immovable. It remained in ce, preventing the void to wrest away the light he caught.

    Raven¡¯s Will responded to his wishes. He could feel the warm flow of energy being released from his body. The heat was absorbed by sparks of light, causing them to flicker ever so slightly. Raven could feel that the sustenance was working but barely so.

    The sparks of light were extremely weak. He could tell that the void really did a number on it by the way it got reduced to this state.

    He could hear a buzzing sound entering his ears. Raven continued closing his eyes and feeding the sparks of light with his Will.

    Time passed. It was unknown how long but it¡¯s no longer important. Raven had long since forgot about the flow of time. His efforts were concentrated on one task, and that is to restore the previous state of this sparks of light even if it kills him.

    From mere sparks of light, they grew. Fed by Raven¡¯s Will, they transformed into a fireflies, then wisps of light. Eventually, theybined into one and became an orb of light. As the transformation continued, the luminosity of the light intensified.

    Eventually, the light shone brightly as if Raven was grasping a torch. It continued growing under Raven¡¯s influence, bing a small sun that illuminated within the void.

    Raven remained stoic. He expressed neither sadness or joy upon the recovery of the light, he was here to do one thing and one thing alone. All other matters were set-aside for now.

    As the light grew, it began fighting against the void. Raven¡¯s Will had be an influence to it, inheriting the indomitable and unbreakable aspect of it. It proudly contested against its long time tormentor, and from the reactions of the void, it was clear that it felt angry and threatened.

    The Void went after Raven since he was the one who¡¯s supplying the light with confidence, nevertheless its task was a fruitless endeavor. Raven was immovable, he simply treated the void as mere air.

    Eventually, the light grewrger that Raven cannot hold it between his palms any longer. Nevertheless, he still continued the sustenance. This was as still far from over.

    The light became bolder. It became confident enough to not only fight back against its past tormentor, it even began scrambling for territory. It slowly carved a piece of itself within the void, causing thetter to react violently from its actions.

    Nevertheless, the Void was mostly incapable of doing anything against Raven nor the light. Thembined were too much for the void to handle.

    Soon, the void was parted. The light¡¯s brilliance turned increasingly ring to the point that void was being pushed back. The spark of light turned into a zing sun at this point, it fought ceaselessly and pushed the void back into a corner. Dispersing it¡¯s influence more and more as time passes.

    Under Raven nourishment, the light grew and managed to do what it wished. It managed to suppress the void on its own, iming victory. The void fled and the Light¡¯s brilliance went after it.

    The Void can longer fight against the Light. Its shine was scalding for the void, causing to lose mass. The Light won and it¡¯s victory was celebrated by the rest of the constetions joining it.

    As the giant sun hovered above Raven, the sustenance stopped. It isn¡¯t because Raven cannot go on anymore. Its because the Light has reached its apex. Now was the time for it to return the favor.

    The Light red its brilliance, drowning everything in sight with pure white, blinding Raven himself.

    When his vision returned, he saw that the Light was nowhere to be seen but its presence stay with him. He instinctively looked at his palms and saw a rune carved in them. A smile appeared on his face.

    He stood up after a long time. His bones creaked due to long-time inactivity but he wasn¡¯t bothered by it. He felt a rush offort filling every inch of his body. The sensation of being timeless and eternal filled his very being. Raven knew that this not just some random sensation. It was real.

    Raven gained the acknowledgement of the Eternal Light Cluster. In exchange, he had be a True Immortal. He is now an Eternal Being. One that will never die even if All Creation fell.

    And as someone who gained the acknowledgement of the Constetions as well as the Scepter of Wisdom, Raven is also considered as an Allfather.

    Raven took pride at the sight before him. The vast space filled with stars and light ¨C a world for him to rule.

    A throne manifested behind Raven. A crown adorned his head and a scepter to represent the power and authority he wields.

    He sat down on his throne, iming the position as the 9th Heir of the Ancestral Divine Gxy.

 Chapter 772: From 1st to 9th

    Chapter 772: From 1st to 9th

    Certinos Von Mal¡¯hari ¨C 8th Heir, a tall man with golden eyes, ck hair and unusual arm. He is the one who¡¯s responsible for sending Raven back in time and had been watching him closely ever since. He mastered the Laws of Space to its acme. Chosen weapon is a sword and spear.

    Astrid Mchi ¨C 7th Heir, a tall woman. Queen of the Amazons. Blonde, tanned and wears armor with beast carvings in them. Specializes in Destruction Laws. Chosen weapon, none. Favors her bare fists more.

    Poppy Forge ¨C 6th Heir, an Earthen Elf also known as a Dwarf. A vertically challenged woman that has reached the apex. She was revived her dying race and opened up new possibilities for their specialty ¨C Forging Laws. Aside from this, she also master the Fire Laws. Chosen weapon ¨C morning star with a shield.

    Marcel Quinn ¨C 5th Heir, also known as the Father of Dragons. An average looking man who saved dragons and tried to preserve their lineage. He mastered the Star Laws and uses spear as his chosen weapon.

    Myleene Eidlhar ¨C 4th Heir. A forest elf who transcended the limits of her own race and the first of her kind to ascend to the Divine Realm. She mastered the Life Laws and prefers bows and arrows as her chosen weapon.

    Richard Sylvester ¨C 3rd Heir. Another average looking man who devoted his whole life in the pursuit of the Sword Path. Hailed at the Sword Emperor back when he¡¯s still alive, it was said that he¡¯s able to slice worlds in two with just a swing of his sword.

    Meryl Asher ¨C the 2nd Heir, the Ice Queen. Born in a world of never ending Winter, she managed to w her way to the top. Dismantling the Patriarchy of her world, bing the first Female King. Uses handheld axes as her main weapon.

    And finally¡­

    Lucas Silverwing ¨C the 1st Heir, also known as the Emperor of Fantasies. He ¡®sold his soul¡¯ to Geezer by epting his terms in exchange of protecting his dear world. He never imagined that this experiment will allow him to reach the apex. He mastered Mirage Laws and uses short swords as his main weapon.

    All of this people stood in front of Raven as he saw down on his throne, greeting him with faces full of smiles. They appeared out of nowhere which greatly surprised Raven but when heid eyes on them, ne immediately knew information about them.

    ¡°Thank you for being here.¡± Raven felt slightly embarrassed about his current situation.

    There he was, sitting on his throne while his Senior Disciples are below, looking up to him and giving him congrattory nces while pping.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it 9th.¡± Lucas ¨C the 1st Heir, told him with a friendly expression. ¡°You worked hard for this. We barely did anything really.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± Astridmented. ¡°This is something you deserved. We merely just watched as you did everything.¡±

    ¡°Wait, are you crying?¡±

    All of them turned to Poppy who¡¯s looking at Inos. The saw the man stealthily wiping his tears away while ring at Poppy.

    ¡°Shut up! Don¡¯t mind me, I¡¯m sensitive.¡±

    Laughter erupted from everyone. Well, nobody really med Inos, after all he was the one that¡¯s been watching Raven¡¯s growth the most. In fact, he did more for Raven than Geezer himself did.

    ¡°Still, this is unprecedented.¡± Richardmented as he looked at Raven, ¡°Achieving True Immortality and bing an Allfather before reaching Divinity? That¡¯s practically unheard of.¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Marcel nodded, ¡°At this point, there¡¯s no doubt that he has the highest chance to achieve our long term goals.¡±

    ¡°The realm beyond Divinity.¡± Astrid whispered.

    Everyone fell silent a bit. Still, the atmosphere remained light. Yes, these people still wanted to achieve this realm on their own but that¡¯s pretty much impossible without a physical body. Additionally, the amount of umtion they needed was immense. They pretty much has to pursue perfection itself, just like how Raven did in order to make sure that their foundations remained solid.

    ¡°Ah! That reminds me¡­are you guys fine being out like this? If this is going to hurt you then by all means please go back. I truly won¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°No worries their 9th.¡± Poppy reassured him. ¡°We¡¯re fine. In this ce, our Wills are perfectly preserved. We¡¯ve been here this whole time you see.¡±

    Raven¡¯s face showed understanding from Poppy¡¯s words.

    ¡°We¡¯ll continue to remain here until the timees.¡± Myleene smiled, ¡°So long as you are alive, we don¡¯t need to fall into slumber anymore. This gxy will continue to provide for us because of you.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Raven nodded as he looked around him. ¡°The Ancestral Divine Gxy¡­¡±

    He still can¡¯t believe it. To think that Geezer would actually seal an entire gxy inside a stone monument so that he could inherit it¡­was insane.

    All along, he thought that the space inside the Monument of Stars was fake. Just a forged space in order to test his capabilities. He truly didn¡¯t pay much attention to it even though he should have.

    This gxy was his. He can do anything he wants here. In fact, because he imed the throne as the 9th Heir and even helped the constetions here toe into being, it could be said that he¡¯s a god in here. Anything he deems unworthy to exist, won¡¯t exist. Anything he wants to keep will be kept.

    Sure, it does have it¡¯s own limitations but a gxy is a gxy, and he owns the whole damn thing.

    ¡°¡­Master Geezer told me this before but just to reiterate it, I¡¯ll be forging new physical bodies for you all.¡± Raven stated after a brief silence on his part.

    He saw the Senior Disciples perking up upon hearing this news. Meaning that they are all eager to do it.

    ¡°Because you are my Seniors and I do have capital, we can afford to splurge a little bit. If you have any specifications on how you guys want your body to be, please don¡¯t hesitate to tell me. Whatever it is, I¡¯ll try my best to do it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it so much, Partner.¡± Inos said while giving him a kind smile. ¡°We just want a normal mortal bodies. It¡¯s not that we feel embarrassed about owing you, its more like we prefer it to be that way.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Astrid supported Inos¡¯ words. ¡°Starting with a nk te, just like what you experienced when you experienced Soul Rebirth. Keeping our memories and soul intact is all that we need on top of a physical body.¡±

    ¡°We want to experience climbing from the bottom to the top with our own abilities. I think it¡¯s more exciting that way. If anything though, I¡¯d like to be a human please, one that has an average height if I may add.¡± Poppy cheekily stated.

    ¡°Even the average height of humans are still taller than dwarves, I think it¡¯s possible. Good for you, Shorty.¡± Marcel chimed in causing Poppy to re at him.

    The space around them were filled withughter as the two bickered with one another.

    ¡°Only me and Poppy aren¡¯t human amongst us so we¡¯d like to try being Humans this time around for change.¡± Myleene requested.

    Raven nodded and said: ¡°No problem. Actually, you made my work easier by doing this. And uh¡­since you guys mentioned starting from bottom to the top, would you guys want to experience the whole thing?¡±

    Some people were confused about what Raven just asked so he rified himself.

    ¡°I meant to ask if you guys would like to experience being a baby all over again.¡±

    ¡°That sounds nice actually.¡± Richard ced a hand on his chin, stroking his beard while in deep thought. ¡°Come to think of it, I can¡¯t even remember what my childhood is like. It¡¯d be nice to experience it all over again.¡±

    ¡°I would love to be one actually.¡± Meryl spoke for the first time, ¡°I never experienced the warmth of a family before. Coincidentally, I saw a couple in your world that I¡¯d love to have as my parents for my second life.¡±

    ¡°Oh! What a coincidence! Me too actually.¡± Lucas chimed in, ¡°I¡¯d love to re-live the life of a normal child all over again and I did see a loving couple that I¡¯d love to be my parents.¡±

    The rest also expressed their desire experience the life of a mortal child all over again so they reached a consensus.

    It would seem that all of them already chose who will be their parents by observing Raven¡¯s life so far. Of course the 9th Heir had no problems epting their requests since, once again, they made his work easier by doing this.

    It¡¯s easy for Raven to fuse their souls into an embryo rather than creating a body using some Heavenly Resources. Raven was already prepared for any outrageous requests but it turns out that it isn¡¯t needed.

    What¡¯s left for Raven to do is to return back home in order to start with the process. All he needed to do is to observe the mortal couples that his Seniors chose to be their parents and assist them in conceiving a child.

    Once he was done with discussing this matter with them, Raven exited the Crown Space flew back home.

 Chapter 773: Allfather and a Father

    Chapter 773: Allfather and a Father

    It wasn¡¯t difficult to help his Senior Disciples to reincarnate.

    The moment Raven returned to the Grand Ancestral ce, he already sent their souls to their chosen family, fusing them into an unborn embryo. There they enterer a rather peaceful slumber, they¡¯ll regain the rity of their consciousness once they were born in this world.

    Surprisingly though, all of eight of them chose their parents to be a regr mortal couple. In fact the 1st, 2nd, and 5th chose farmers as their parents. Raven had nothing to say against this, after all it was their choice. He was in no position to ask why since he knew they had a reason for doing so.

    After assisting them, all he needed to do was wait. Before he leaves for the Divine Realm once more, they all should¡¯ve grown up.

    His Senior Disciples are still connected to the Ancestral Divine Crown/Gxy. In fact, their consciousness are still reflected on the gxy itself. There¡¯s Ninerges within the gxy which serves as home for their consciousness.

    In here, they would be safe. Even if their physical bodies are destroyed, their souls will return here. And as long as Raven lives, they were practically Immortals too.

    On the topic of Immortality, Raven finally reached this step.

    Mastering the Destruction and Spacetime Laws to their acme as well asprehending the path of Heavenly Secret Origin of Runes, Raven was absurdly powerful. He hade a long way on his path. All of this was thanks to his ceaseless efforts and the carefullyid out ns he created for himself.

    Raven already stabilized his cultivation at the early-stage Empyrean Knight Realm with an unparalleled foundation. This also marks the pen-ultimate conclusion for the 2nd Chapter of the Book of Chaos. It won¡¯t ne long until he has to rely on himself toplete the 3rd Chapter.

    Even though he¡¯s a realm beneath the actual known peak of Knighthood Path, he¡¯s confident that not even Divine Knights can threaten his life. Raven is an Allfather after all.

    An Allfather is a title given to those who has the power to destroy a whole universe all by themselves and those who stood beside or on top of the Heavenly Laws themselves.

    Divine Knights aren¡¯t necessarily considered as an Allfather, after all men aren¡¯t create equals. There are some of them who are given the title but most of them are hermits.

    Raven didn¡¯t reality care much about the title itself. After all, it¡¯s just a title and nothing more. Possessing it doesn¡¯t give him anything aside from fame ¨C which is useless for Raven.

    Raven¡¯s breakthrough caused many changes to ur to him. Starting with the Ancestral Divine Gxy which he inherited for himself.

    The Crown Space had been reced by the gxy. Whenever he enters it, he¡¯ll directly appear at the gxy. The pce grounds ¨C no, actually the pce itself disappeared. It was nowhere to be found. Even the Scripture Graveyard, Cultivation Eden, and the other ces. All of them were gone. All that¡¯s left is the gxy.

    His belongings didn¡¯t disappear though. They¡¯re still around along with his many Avatars.

    All of them were transported to therge that he imed for himself, apparently. He called this world the 9th World since he¡¯s the 9th Heir.

    The Star-Gazing Mats, the Neb of Equinox Waters as well as the Divine Elixirs, plus his Avatars. All of them are here so Raven doesn¡¯t really have anyints.

    If anything, he¡¯s more concerned about what he should do about the Ancestral Divine Gxy.

    Raven never really expected such a huge gift tond on his hands. Don¡¯t get him wrong, he likes this. Its just that he¡¯s a little unsure as to what he should do with it.

    Initially, he intended to transfer the Grand Ancestral ne here. After all, no ce is safer than here since without his permission, no one could discover this ce, no even the Heavenly Laws. Plus, he¡¯s a True Immortal. He can surely protect himself as well as this world.

    That being said though, the Grand Ancestral ne is already included in the Divine Realm. He can¡¯t take it away since this will rm numerous Divine Knights which will bring him endless headaches. After all it was forbidden for him to do this even under the pretext of being the ¡®owner¡¯ of this world.

    He could only me himself for being slow. Had he broke through earlier, he might¡¯ve actually been able to snag the world up when its still considered as a lower ne.

    The idea of practicing Creation inside the Ancestral Divine Gxy also came to his mind.

    Raven was considered as a only God in this ce so there¡¯s no one stopping him from creating anything he wants. In fact, it was possible for him to create humans here and make them worship him. No one would know so no one would have any say in it.

    But what¡¯s the use of that anyway? Raven doesn¡¯t need faith to transcend Divinity, after all his foundations are solid enough to be one in due time. Additionally, relying on faith energy to transcend is the weakest form of transcending since it relies on a third-party, that would harm his foundations even more so Raven wouldn¡¯t even consider that as hisst choice which is he rejected this idea.

    It was truly a dilemma so for now, Raven didn¡¯t think much about it. Surely he¡¯lle up with an idea in the future. If the answer isn¡¯ting to him for now, then he¡¯ll just wait for it to arrive, after all he had all the time in the world to do so.

    ¡ª

    Raven actually spent nearly six months for his breakthrough.

    After returning and helping his Senior Disciples a bit, he immediately returned to the Sky Pce to meet his wife.

    Luna weed him back with open arms and congratted him for his breakthrough. She also told him that themotion he raised for his breakthrough actually reached all the way here even though he made sure to run away pretty far.

    Thankfully though, Luna asked the world to hide itself and activate the seals he ced on it in order to deflect themotion outside. This preserved the peace of the world.

    Using the next couple of months, Raven resumed his peaceful and quiet life with Luna. They remained inside the Sky Pce, observing mortals below and experiencing the joys and warmth of their marriage.

    Since Raven already reached the Empyrean Knight Realm, he can no longer dy. He has to give Luna a child or else the chances of them conceiving would be more difficult as time went on.

    At this point, it wasn¡¯t just Luna who wanted a child anymore. It¡¯s the both of them, as well as their respective families of course.

    Raven practically doubled his effort aftering back. Meaning that most of their time is spent in each other¡¯s embrace. Luna never rejected any of his advances. In fact, she was more eager seeing that he¡¯s eager.

    They probably spent most of their time not wearing clothes since they¡¯ll end up naked, one way or another anyways. Thankfully, Raven installed a security rune all over the Sky Pce or else someone would¡¯ve already caught them streaking.

    Just like this, time passed by. Eventually, they already spent 10 years in the Grand Ancestral ne. They only have a decade left before they had to go back.

    A lot has happened already. The Empire is already at this correct path towards an evesting glory even without their interference. The fate of the world is at an all time rise and it won¡¯t show any signs of stopping either.

    On a bright sunny day at the Grand Ancestral ne, Raven was currently watching the citizens of his world as they went through their daily lives.

    Some started their day early, some refused to get up just yet. The hustle and bustle of activity within the Empire caused Raven to smile. He was gratified for this kind of peace.

    On the other parts of the world, he can see some of the adventurers continuing their way towards their destinations. Some of them were already fighting something as soon as the first ray of dawn appeared.

    Somewhere, he can see his disciple and his twin sisters working hard on their training. It also wouldn¡¯t be long for these three to be ready. Once they are, he¡¯ll take them with him in the Divine Realm.

    As Raven enjoyed the sense of peace and quiet while enjoying his tea. He felt Luna¡¯s presence behind him. He didn¡¯t turn around at first since he was expecting her to join him on the table. However a few seconds passed and she still wasn¡¯t sitting down.

    He raised a brow and looked back, only to see his wife¡¯s face filled with tears. Raven¡¯s heart sank. He practically teleported in front of her and asked:

    ¡°Hey, hey. What¡¯s wrong?¡± Raven embraced her right away, feeling nervous since a crying Luna isn¡¯t something that he sees everyday.

    Luna pushed him a bit and looked up to him with a smile. Raven was confused.

    ¡­that¡¯s until Luna took his hand and pressed on her stomach without breaking eye-contact with him.

    It took Raven a couple of seconds before his eyes-widened in realization.

 Chapter 774: Happy and Satisfied

    Chapter 774: Happy and Satisfied

    They did it¡­

    Raven was kneeling down in front of Luna, he pressed his ears on her stomach. This action was dumb and adorable at the same time since it shows how excited Raven was. In truth, there was no need for him to do this. He just needed to stare at his wife¡¯s womb and he¡¯ll see the small embryo in there.

    He can¡¯t help it though since he was feeling too giddy right now.

    Both of them had been crying for the past ten minutes. Of course they¡¯d feel emotional. After all, the chances of the, seeding in this were too low using the natural way, in fact they were already considering other ways to do it but it¡¯s no longer needed.

    Raven¡¯s heart was leaping on his chest. In his life, only a few things can make him feel this way. Not even continental sized monsters can make him lose hisposure. This shows how emotional he was feeling at this moment.

    Luna on the other hand was relishing this moment. This has got to be one of the most happiest moments of her life.

    They¡¯ve worked hard for this. In fact, the whole reason why they¡¯re working hard in the first ce was to ensure that their future family gets to live under a prosperous and peaceful environment. They endured hardships and tribtions just for the sake of achieving their goals. Now, they achieved one of them, how can they not be happy?

    ¡°¡­did you just discover this?¡± Raven finally asked after a long silence.

    Luna nodded her head, still crying in happiness: ¡°Just this morning. I felt a little bit weird which doesn¡¯t happen normally. I habitually scanned my body, then I discovered it.¡±

    Raven smiled and carried Luna in the gentlest way possible. She giggled upon discovering how careful he was. She can¡¯t bring herself to me him though, after all both of them are feeling too happy right now.

    He sat both of them in a chair with Luna on hisp, their palmsy on top of each other on her womb. Luna leaned on her husband¡¯s chest, feeling incredibly safe and secured, the same warmth that his presence always exudes.

    Raven suddenly closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead on hers. Their hands suddenly glowed with a crimson light.

    A sigil appeared on the back of their palms on the hand that they have on Luna¡¯s womb. A gentle humming sound suddenly echoed on their ears. The soft crimson light enveloped the two of them, cradling them in a sort of warmth that they graciously shared to each other.

    The crimson light prated Luna¡¯s body. It went straight towards their unborn child, wrapping it in a soft crimson film of light.

    Don¡¯t underestimate this light. It might look like it¡¯s weak but this a protection powered with parental love ¨C the parents being Divine Realm¡¯s power couple. It doesn¡¯t look much but this light will not only nourish the unborn child it will also protect it from all kinds of harm.

    So long as this light was present, the child is invincible.

    This light is a unique function of the Sigil of Fated Love. It protects their unborn child but of course, not without a price.

    Any damages that the child experiences will be felt by their parents instead in exchange for this protection. It wasn¡¯t a bad deal especially considering that this child¡¯s parents are absurdly powerful.

    Still though, Raven won¡¯t be Raven if this can satisfy him.

    Considering that this is his first child, he¡¯ll be damned if he allowed any harm to befall his child. If he can pass down his True Immortality to his unborn child, he would¡¯ve done it in a heartbeat. But since it isn¡¯t possible, he¡¯ll settle for an absolute protection not just for his child but for his wife as well.

    A mixture of golden and silver radiance erupted from Raven¡¯s body. It covered him and Luna with a brilliance that could contest the sun itself.

    Raven released his authority over the world, making sure that not even a trace of misfortune can touch his child. The power of a True Immortal and an Allfather was unquestionable and his wrath cannot be provoked, not even by the Heavenly Laws itself.

    Sure, this was an overbearing way to disy his power but did Raven care? Of course not. This was natural. After all, Raven won¡¯t be Raven if he didn¡¯t do this much at least.

    The child wasn¡¯t even born, yet there¡¯s nothing Raven wouldn¡¯t do for it.

    After establishing the absolute protection of his child, the light faded and both of their silhouettes can be seen once more.

    Luna looked up to Raven and said: ¡°We should tell them.¡±

    Raven was silent for a bit. A couple secondster he said: ¡°We should but¡­I¡¯d like to be a little selfish right now.¡±

    ¡°Let them be our little secret for just a little bit, you know?¡± Raven smirked at his wife as he gently caressed her stomach. ¡°It won¡¯t be toote to tell them once it¡¯s a little more obvious isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Right¡­¡± Luna giggled on his embrace. ¡°How long do you think I¡¯ll be pregnant?¡±

    ¡°Hard to say.¡± Raven said as he nted a kiss on her cheeks. ¡°We¡¯re not some regr mortals so it should be longer than nine months. One year should be the minimum while ten years is the maximum.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t mind being pregnant for 10 years.¡± Luna chuckled, ¡°But that¡¯d be a little weird. Our child would probably be able to talk fairly quickly. In ten years, we¡¯d be discussing some political stuff with the child while its still inside my tummy.¡±

    Ravenughed uproariously upon hearing that. ¡°I won¡¯t mind that. Not at all.¡±

    ¡°Also, it¡¯s probably a little early for this but, what should our child¡¯s name be?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Raven hummed and thought for a bit. The two of them went silent and thought of suitable names for their child but nothinges to their mind. ¡°Well, it is indeed a little to early to be thinking of this. We should postpone it until ideases to us.¡±

    ¡°¡­or, maybe we can let them chose their own name instead.¡± Luna suggested. ¡°I mean, we can of course have suggestions but let¡¯s leave it up to them to pick their own name. How about that?¡±

    Raven¡¯s expression brightened up as he said: ¡°Not bad. I like that idea. Let¡¯s do that.¡±

    The two of them continued talking, their conversation was centered about this unborn child.

    They started nning Luna¡¯s diet. After all, they needed to make sure that the child will receive all the nutrients that they need to grow up healthy. Of course this doesn¡¯t mean a regr diet. They¡¯re talking about a Spiritual Energy Enriched diet.

    Luna brought up the topic of learning how to stich from her mother, saying that she wanted to make their child¡¯s clothes on her own. It¡¯s not that she didn¡¯t trust their tailors of their home world, this is just her wanting to pamper her child in her own way.

    Raven said that he was thinking of writing some bedtime stories already. The way his eyes shone made it clear that he was treating this as an important mission of his life. Failure isn¡¯t an option.

    The days that followed this was the happiest they¡¯ve ever been. Knowing that they child is around, everything they did was measured with outmost care and consideration. Raven threw the notion of cultivating at all. Even though he knew that he can control his energy fine enough to make sure that the child won¡¯t be harmed, he didn¡¯t want to risk it.

    The two of them cherished every moment of their pregnancy. Raven and Luna taught themselves how to y instruments in order to serenade their child. It doesn¡¯t do anything really, this was merely the silliness brought by the idea of being parents.

    Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. As expected, this isn¡¯t a regr pregnancy at all. Luna¡¯s tummy barely showed any signs of protrusion even after seven months.

    What made them happy though is the knowledge that their child is alive and well. The chances of the child being stillborn is less to none so there¡¯s no need for them to worry about that. Both of them can feel the vitality of their child already.

    Their efforts were paying off. Their child was little a greedy when ites to nutrients but that¡¯s perfectly fine. In fact, they¡¯re happier that their child has a big appetite.

    In the morning, they will bask under the gentle warmth of the sun. After that, they¡¯ll enjoy some breakfast. Then they will serenade the child with hymns produced by zither and flutes. They¡¯ll stop and rest for lunch and then continue this until the sun is down, then they have dinner and go to bed not before Raven finishes telling a bedtime story for their child of course.

    It was such a simple life really but every single day was filled with warmth, love andfort that they¡¯ll never trade for anything. This is the kind life that they wanted to have after all.

 Chapter 775: Good News, Cheeky Little One

    Chapter 775: Good News, Cheeky Little One

    It¡¯s been a year since Luna became pregnant with their child.

    Right now, her stomach bulged a bit signifying the growth of the child. The couple couldn¡¯t be anymore satisfied with their daily lives, watching their child grow up. Each day was filled with happiness and love.

    Currently, the two of them are resting at the open space within the Sky Pce. They just finished eating their lunch.

    Raven hugged Luna from behind, his hand were ced on her stomach, gently caressing it with a gentle expression on his face. They looked over the horizon and enjoyed the peaceful silence between them.

    ¡°¡­I think it¡¯s about time we let them know.¡± Luna said softly, turning to her husband.

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Raven thought for a bit, he pouted a bit and said: ¡°But I wanted to keep them a secret for a little bit longer though.¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re right.¡± Raven chuckled after seeing his wife frown. ¡°Any longer than this and they¡¯d think something was up. We don¡¯t want to ruin the surprise after all.¡±

    ¡°Should we go now?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s perfect since our parents are in one ce anyway.¡± Raven peered towards the direction of the Empire. His vision zoomed in to the Valorheart Estate where his and Luna¡¯s parents are spending time in the garden.

    The Old King Alexander was ying chess with Luis while their wives, Eva and Elizabeth were tending to the flowers.

    Raven waved a hand. In front of them, a spatial tunnel appeared. The people on the other side sensed the spatial fluctuations and looked towards where they felt it.

    They then saw Raven and Luna walked towards them, smiling. The four were oblivious at first but when they finished traversing through the spatial passage. Luna smiled at them and ced a hand on his stomach.

    ¡°Oh my gosh!!!¡±

    Eva and Elizabeth instantly discovered what she¡¯s trying to tell them and rushed forward to hug her. Raven stepped aside while chuckling.

    Seeing their wives moring all over Luna, Alexander and Luis also understood the message. Alexanderughed uproariously while Luis smiled. The both of them patted Raven¡¯s back and congratted them.

    ¡°How long have you been pregnant?¡±

    ¡°Is it a boy or a girl?¡±

    ¡°What would be their name?¡±

    ¡°Are you eating good food?¡±

    ¡°Are you alright? Do you feel sick or something.¡±

    ¡°Woah, take easy there Ladies.¡± Raven chuckled on the side, rescuing Luna from the barrage of questions the two mothers asked. ¡°One step at a time, please. You¡¯re stressing her out.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Elizabeth chuckled with Eva. ¡°Sorry, Dear. We were too excited you see.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mom.¡± Lunaughed, ¡°Well, to answer your question. I¡¯ve been pregnant for a year now. Yes, I am eating well and I feel perfectly fine. The mortal symptoms doesn¡¯t affect me since this isn¡¯t any regr pregnancy.¡±

    ¡°We calcted that she¡¯d be pregnant for a least three years.¡± Raven interjected. ¡°We n on letting the child choose their own name and choose who¡¯sst name they want to use.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡± Alexander chimed-in. ¡°I don¡¯t mind whoever surname they go with, all I want for my grandchild to be happy.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. That¡¯s the most important thing.¡± Luis added.

    ¡°This calls for a celebration!¡± Eva excitedly announced as she pulled Luna and Elizabeth inside the house to grab some things.

    Luna and Raven spent some time with their parents. After that, they also brought the good news to their closest friends. Sufficed to say, Anne and Ellen became a little to emotional upon hearing the news. Meanwhile Paul was devastated since he lost a bet with Mark.

    The both of them bet on who¡¯s going to be parents first, it¡¯s between Paul and Ellen against Raven and Luna. Paul was confident about himself since him and Ellen had been trying ever since they got home however they didn¡¯t expect that Raven and Luna will be the first one.

    Since he lost, Paul lost a valuable wine that he strictly kept for grand asions to Mark ¨C who mercilessly drank all of it in front of Paul¡¯s grieving face, not even leaving a single drop behind.

    The two guys of course congratted Raven and Luna. Mark also revealed that him and Anne were also trying to conceive a child through natural means. Since Raven and Luna seeded, they saw hope in continuing with the natural way.

    Luna¡¯s pregnancy wasn¡¯t wildly spread. It was only revealed to their family and closest friends. The two of them didn¡¯t want to rm the entire Empire about this¡­at least nor for now.

    Of course the two of them were nning to celebrate the birth of their child to show just how proud they are. But since it¡¯s not going to happen soon, then there¡¯s no need to fuss over it for now.

    Once they brought the news to their family and friends, the two of them went back to the Sky Pce and continued living their daily lives in peace.

    Their family and friends visits them from time to time in order to observe the child¡¯s growth. Luna already learned stitching from her mother and is now creating the cloth they n on using to wrap their child with.

    Luna refused to settle for second best. Therefore the materials she used were of the highest quality there is. She was determined to pamper this child through all means possible. And even if she didn¡¯t, Raven would be the one to do it instead, anyways.

    Their daily lives still continued, filled with peace, love and music. None of them felt exhausted nor bored. They feel satisfied and contented with this. Seeing their child grow up every single day under their care.

    Three months after they brought the news to their friends and family, the two of them felt the first movement of the child.

    Luna and Raven fussed over the child, asking them to do it again and the child eagerly did so. They haven¡¯t heard the child speak yet but it¡¯s fine. They still talked to them.

    The child was energetic. The time they spent conscious wasn¡¯t long but it¡¯s enough for the Luna and Raven.

    Their child like it whenever they yed music. Whenever they do, the child would move inside Luna¡¯s womb as if it wad dancing under the tune, causing the two of them tough. The child also likes to fall asleep to Raven¡¯s bedtime stories which in turn made the two of them even happier.

    Their lives just got even better from this point onwards. With their child showing this much activity even without being born yet, they knew that they were doing this the right way.

    Days passed and after three more months, the baby can now transmit what they feel to their parents. The little one was very expressive. They were never shy to tell what they feel, much to their parent¡¯s amusement.

    The little one expressed its fondness over music and the bedtime stories. It also expressed happiness whenever Luna eats spiritual energy rich fruits. They expressed curiosity over birds and animals. They also expressed their fondness with the sky and clouds.

    The time they can stay conscious also increased. Not by much of course but every moment the baby¡¯s awake, was celebrated by Luna and Raven.

    Their child¡¯s development made Luna and Raven¡¯s lives even more colorful. They felt nothing but boundless joy over the simple curiosities of their child. The little one was already acquainted with theirrge family, it repeated expressed their excitement and slight impatience about being born.

    More time passed and Luna has been pregnant for two years. A good news reached them concerning about their closest friends. Anne and Ellen were pregnant. The former were a month earlier than thetter, still it was a great news. They celebrated this at the sky pce.

    Though the biggest surprise has yet toe¡­

    One day while Raven and Luna were ying music for the little one, Luna suddenly felt a little bit weird. Raven discovered this and asked what¡¯s wrong. Luna told him that she¡¯s felt weird but why exactly is unknown.

    The two of them also discovered that the little one was strangely quiet today. Their child weren¡¯tmunicating them that much today.

    All of a sudden, Luna¡¯s stomach glowed much to their surprise. Raven hurried checked what¡¯s happening but he didn¡¯t sense anything wrong nor that their child was in any danger. Luna¡¯s stomach continued glowing for a bit until it faded.

    They waited for something to happen but all they got was silence. They tried talking to the little one but they weren¡¯t responding which made Raven and Luna nervous. They repeated coaxed the little to one, trying to probe what¡¯s wrong since they really can¡¯t feel anything.

    It was then that the little one responded.

    ¡°M-ma¡­ma¡­¡±

    Luna gasped.

    ¡°P-pa¡­pa¡­¡±

    Raven also gasped.

    The two of them looked at each other, eyes widening in disbelief. The voice was faint and weak but they heard it loud and clear. The little one just called Luna ¡®Mama¡¯ and Raven ¡®Papa¡¯.

    It didn¡¯t take long before the waterworks started with the two of them fussing over their cheeky child.

 Chapter 776: V

    Chapter 776: V

    ¡°Mama¡­clouds¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, Baby. There are clouds everywhere. Aren¡¯t they pretty?¡±

    ¡°Pretty! Very pretty. Mama¡­Papa likes clouds¡­too?¡±

    ¡°Mn! Papa likes clouds too, isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do like clouds. But I like Baby more.¡±

    ¡°Hihi! Baby likes¡­Papa¡­and Mama too!¡±

    ¡°Aww¡­.¡±

    The little one was talkative, a but strange but not totally unexpected since the baby¡¯s isn¡¯t a normal one.

    Ever since the little one spoke for the first time, their parents had been talking to them ever since. The little one loves it when they talk to them. They curiosities were endless but it brought immense joy to Luna and Raven.

    What the Little One loves the most is clouds. Everyday they will ask Luna to face clouds surrounding the Sky Pce. The Little One can spend most of their waking hour staring at it while their Papa yed the flute for them.

    The Little One can share vision with Luna so anything that she saw can be seen by the child. Raven also has a way to do this himself but he doesn¡¯t do it very often since the Little One found it weird.

    Luna and Raven never ran out of patience exining things for the Little One even though most of the questions were repetitive. In fact, they liked talking to their child as much as possible but the child can¡¯t be awake for as long as they could.

    At most, the Little One can be awake for two hours, one hour in the morning and one hour at night. Despite that little time though, Luna and Raven made the most out of it by making sure to talk to the child as much as they could.

    ¡°Mama¡­sleepy. Sing?¡±

    ¡°Alright, Baby. Mama will sing, while Papa ys the flute. Sleep well okay?¡±

    ¡°M-mn!¡±

    After that, Luna started humming a specific tune, the same one that her mother use to sing to her all the time. Apanied by the soft and gentle melody from Raven¡¯s flute, they sang the Little One to sleep.

    Luna coaxed the child while slowly cutting off the sensory link between them. By the time the child fell asleep, Luna already turned the connection off in order to not disturb the child¡¯s sleep.

    Raven stopped ying the flute and went to Luna, he knelt down in front of her and kissed her stomach, gently saying: ¡°Rest well, Little One.¡±

    He then carried Luna towards their room. He gently ced her down on the bed so as to not disturb the child from any sudden movement. The little one was sound asleep this time and usually, Luna would take a nap around this time too.

    ¡°Should we ask the Little One about their name next time?¡± Luna asked as she gently caressed her stomach.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Raven had no problems with that. ¡°You¡¯re about to give birth right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Luna nodded, ¡°Second week of the next month I think, I should be good to go.¡±

    ¡°Do we have everything prepared?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Luna chuckled , ¡°We checked it just this morning again right? Don¡¯t be so nervous, will you? It¡¯s not like you¡¯re the one who¡¯s going to push the little out.¡±

    Raven pouted and said: ¡°I¡¯m just making sure that everything¡¯s ready.¡±

    Lunaughed at her husband. Raven was indeed feeling a little bit antsy about their child¡¯s birth. It was so obvious by the way how he always inspected the items that Luna needed for giving birth. He always inspects it everyday but he just can¡¯t seem to be satisfied even after checking it already since he¡¯ll still ask if they¡¯re missing something or if everything¡¯s ready.

    It was both annoying and adorable at the same time. Luna can¡¯t really me her husband though, after all he¡¯s just worried. The two of them didn¡¯t want anyplications during the process.

    The two of them decided there will be only the two of them during the child birth. There¡¯s no need for midwives to be there since both of them knew how to do it themselves anyways.

    They wanted to cherish the moment, just the two of them and their child. They wanted to be selfish for just a bit since it won¡¯t be long before the two of them needed to return to the Divine Realm in future. They can only spend so much time with their child since their work is still not done yet.

    Luna and Raven wanted to make use good use of their remaining time here. They wanted to have as many memories with their child as they possibly could. After all, it¡¯ll be a good while before they can meet the Little One again.

    ¡ª

    ¡°¡­name?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Baby.¡± Raven nodded as he faced the child in Luna¡¯s womb. ¡°We decided to let you pick your own name.¡±

    ¡°¡­name, what is¡­it?¡±

    ¡°A name is a part of your identity.¡± Luna interjected, ¡°For example, you know the white and fluffy thing outside right? The one that you like so much?¡±

    ¡°Clouds?¡±

    ¡°Yep, Clouds.¡± Luna nodded, ¡°That¡¯s its name. Clouds. We use name to establish and identity for ourselves.¡±

    ¡°Since we are your parents, we¡¯re the ones to give you a name, but we decided that since you can talk and think now, we should let youe up with a name for yourself. So? Do you have anything in mind?¡±

    ¡°¡­name¡­name¡­¡± The Little One murmured. It was clear that the child was thinking hard about this. Neither Luna nor Raven disturbed the child. They wanted to give the child as much freedom as they could.

    ¡°What is¡­name, Mama?¡±

    ¡°You want to know my name?¡± Luna asked in rification.

    ¡°Mn!¡±

    ¡°My name is Lunafreya Moonsong ¨C Luna for short. Lunafreya is the name bestowed to me by my mother, your grandmother. Moonsong is the inherited name of our n.¡±

    ¡°T-then¡­Papa?¡±

    ¡°Papa¡¯s name is Vendrick Valorheart, but the name I like the people close to me to use is Raven ¨C like those ck birds that I¡¯ve shown you before? You remember it right?¡±

    ¡°M-mn!¡±

    ¡°Vendrick is the name my father ¨C your grandfather, bestowed to me. Valorheart is the name I inherited from our n.¡±

    ¡°Mama L-Luna¡­Papa R-R¡­Wayven?¡±

    ¡®Cute!¡¯ The child¡¯s parents thought to themselves before chuckling.

    ¡°Raven.¡± He repeated.

    ¡°R-Wayven?¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡± Raven nodded helplessly. He didn¡¯t even bother correcting the child anymore since they were clearly struggling.

    ¡°T-then¡­me¡­name¡­hmm¡­¡± The child started wondering again. ¡°A-ah!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Baby?¡± Luna was rmed.

    ¡°I¡­know! Name! Me, name!!¡±

    ¡°Oh, you have thought of a name for yourself? What is it?¡± Raven asked.

    ¡°V-Vanessa!¡± The child answered.

    Luna and Raven looked at each other in shock. How can they not be? Their child just picked the name they mutually agreed upon in the past.

    They decided that at the chance that the child wanted to hear their suggestions or can¡¯t think of a name for themself, they will suggest either ¡®Vanessa¡¯ or ¡®Magenta¡¯ if they were a girl, and ¡®Varkiel¡¯ or ¡®Phineas¡¯ if they were a boy.

    ¡°That¡¯s a wonderful name, Sweetheart.¡± Luna cheered. ¡°Do you know that we¡¯re actually nning to suggest this name for you?¡±

    ¡°Mn! I know!¡± The child cheerfully replied. ¡°I¡­heard¡­a little¡­in past.¡±

    ¡°You heard us talking about it in the past?¡± Raven asked.

    ¡°Mn!¡± The child replied, ¡°Me like¡­Vanessa¡­I¡­.girl! Like, Mama!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Raven chuckled as he nted a kiss on Luna¡¯s stomach. ¡°We¡¯ll call you Vanessa from now on.¡±

    ¡°Yay~!¡± The child giggled inside Luna, causing her parents to chuckle. ¡°Papa¡­me sleepy! Bedtime story¡­pwease?¡±

    Raven chuckled at Vanessa¡¯s cuteness and nodded his head. ¡°Alright, Papa will tell Little Vanessa a bedtime story. Let¡¯s dim the lights a bit.¡±

    The two of them shifted positions in the bed. Raven dimmed the lights and lied down on the bed. He then began telling Vanessa her favorite bedtime story which was about a Valiant Princess and her Funny Best friend.

    This story was something that Raven made for the sake of eliciting a reaction from the child. It was fairly light-hearted, funny and short enough to distract Vanessa and trick her to falling asleep.

    Just like before, as they felt the child bing drowsy, Luna slowly turned off the sensory link in order to not startle the child. Vanessa fell asleep as soon as Raven finished the story. Luna turned the connection off as they both lied on their bed.

    ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought¡­¡± Raven mumbled softly, ¡°Even my own child¡¯s name will start with ¡®V¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Right?¡± Luna chuckled upon hearing that. ¡°I though the trend will end on the twins but it seems like we have to continue it now.¡±

    From Vendrick, to Venina and Victoria¡­now Vendrick¡¯s child ¨C Vanessa. It really was a trend of names starting the letter ¡®V¡¯.

    ¡°Well, she likes the name at least. That¡¯s what¡¯s important.¡± Raven stated, ¡°She had choices but she ultimately still picked this. I guess we are continuing the trend.¡±

    The two of them didn¡¯t think too much about this since Raven was right, if the child likes her name, then it¡¯s all fine and dandy.

    Plus, the trend might not be so bad¡­

    ¡­after all, the word ¡®Victory¡¯ also starts with a V.

 Chapter 777: Birthday

    Chapter 777: Birthday

    Within the Sky Pce, there is a miniatureke.

    Theke was clear, the waters are rich with spiritual energies and different kinds of medicinal supplements. Not only theke can purify itself, it can also regte its temperature thanks to the formations carved by Raven.

    Luna and Raven was currently in thiske right now not because they were taking a bath together, but because Luna was giving birth to Vanessa.

    Seeing the ufortable expression on his wife¡¯s face as well as the beads of sweat rolling down he face, Raven felt a bit jittery. Nevertheless, Raven remained quiet and just wiped Luna¡¯s sweat while holding his hand tightly.

    Unlike other women who were giving birth, Luna wasn¡¯t screaming or yelling out strings of profanities at Raven ¨C though that¡¯d be funny if it happens. If anything, she just felt ufortable that¡¯s all, giving birth wasn¡¯t something outrageously painful like she was expecting.

    Additionally, Vanessa was behaving nicely. She was making it easier for Luna to give birth to her.

    ¡°You can do this, Luna. Just one more push.¡± Raven whispered gently on her ears, encouraging his wife.

    Luna heaved deep breaths and with one final push. Vanessa was out!!

    ¡°Hihi! I¡¯m born! Hihihi!¡±

    The giggles of their newborn child echoed within theke. Raven¡¯s heart nearly leapt out of his chest when he saw Vanessa diving down theke only to re-surfaceter, flying in the air much to his relief.

    ¡°Come here, Sweetheart. Let us see you.¡± Raven chuckled and beckoned for Vanessa.

    The giggling infant flew down and dove to Luna¡¯s embrace. Her slightly exhausted mother shook her head,ughing softly as she wrapped Vanessa with a cloth that she stitched personally.

    ¡°Wee to the world, Vanessa.¡± Luna greeted the child, nting a kiss on her little head with Raven following suit.

    ¡°Hihihi¡­Mama, Papa! I love you!¡±

    ¡°We love you too, sweetie.¡± Raven chuckled as he gently tickled Vanessa on Luna¡¯s arms. He then turned to his wife and said: ¡°Let¡¯s clean you up so that we can rest.¡±

    Luna didn¡¯t refuse his offer. She allowed Raven to clean her up while she breastfed Vanessa for the first time.

    Seeing her child giggling as she enjoyed her first meal, Luna¡¯s heart was leaping in joy.

    It was all worth it. Everything was worth it.

    Coming up to terms that she¡¯s now a mother feels¡­a little weird for her still, but she didn¡¯t mind it. Not at all. This inexplicable feeling of joy and satisfaction left her speechless. She can only stare at her child as she now became the center of her world.

    Raven felt this too¡­

    Looking at the little baby girl on his wife¡¯s bosom¡­Raven was ready to sacrifice the world for her. He can already tell that he¡¯d be spoiling this little girl rotten in the future but he didn¡¯t mind. Pampering his Little Princess is a father¡¯s joy is it not?

    After Raven¡¯s done cleaning Luna up, he wrapped her up in a new set of robes, carrying her and their child towards the bedroom. Neither Luna nor Raven were looking at where they were going since their eyes were stuck looking at the still giggling ball of sunshine that is Vanessa.

    Vanessa has a patch of jet ck hair on her head which will probably change once she grows up. She inherited Luna¡¯s golden colored eyes as well as most of her facial features. What she inherited from Raven was most likely his natural curiosity towards things.

    Luna giggled and said: ¡°I can feel themotions outside. Are they still trying to butter up to her?¡±

    ¡°Probably.¡± Raven snorted, ¡°As if I¡¯d let their grimy little paws touch her.¡±

    What they¡¯re referring to was themotion that urred during Vanessa¡¯s birth. Vanessa¡¯s birth triggered a Heavenly Phenomenon to ur on the skies. All sorts of mythical creatures and blessings were rmed and hurriedly came here to pay respects only to be ruthlessly blocked by Raven.

    Just a stare from him caused them to behave like guilty dogs. Even though they wanted to extend an olive branch to Vanessa, without Raven or Luna¡¯s permission, they can¡¯t do it. These existences knew that if they pushed their luck, they¡¯ll be obliterated in a heartbeat.

    They would know since they witnessed it happen just a few seconds ago.

    Vanessa¡¯s parents appreciated their offers, in fact they thanked them for their enthusiasm from the bottom of their hearts however, there is truly no need for this.

    They already have something for Vanessa which won¡¯t be inferior to their blessings. In fact, it might even surpass what they offer to the childbined. The reason why Raven blocked them is out of selfishness.

    How can he allow these things to rob him and Luna their chance to be the ¡®first people who gave gifts to Vanessa¡¯? Of course, him and Luna should be first ones! Not them!

    Raven brought Luna and their newborn child to the bedroom to rest. At this point, Vanessa already had her fill and is now looking all around her, staring at everything with a pair of adventurous and curious eyes.

    Vanessa held on to the cloth that¡¯s wrapped around her as she hopped from Luna to Raven and vice versa. She spent majority of her time inspecting their faces while giggling non stop.

    Just from the fact that she can employ the wind¡¯s held in order to make her float around, it was clear that Vanessa wasn¡¯t any regr child. Raven had already inspected her physique once he touched her.

    He discovered that Vanessa was recognized as the ¡®Nature¡¯s Child¡¯. Meaning that she has an inborn affinity towards all sorts of elements. She can exert a certain amount of control over them and it only be even more obvious when she started riding clouds.

    ¡°Wheee~!¡± Vanessa giggled as she drove around the room while being carried by a small cloud.

    Raven and Luna watched her in amusement, content to see her y around like this. For a newborn child, Vanessa has way too much energy so they figured that it should fine to let her exhaust herself like this.

    After watching her y around the bedroom, Vanessa yawned and jumped back to her parents¡¯ embrace.

    ¡°Papa! Stories, please!¡± Vanessa looked up to Raven in anticipation.

    Seeing that pair of adorable eyes and a puffy cheeks, Raven couldn¡¯t bring himself to refuse her as he nodded and adjusted their positions.

    As Raven told her a story, Vanessa yawned even more frequently until the lull of sleep finally caught up to her. She was nuzzled in between Luna and Raven who watched her gently as she slept.

    Once again, the surreal feeling of being parents surged to their hearts. It was strange how much they were charmed by Vanessa. It¡¯s also crazy how they can literally feel how they could sacrifice anything for her sake.

    So long as she¡¯s safe, everything else can go to hell. It sounds like an exaggeration but it¡¯s what they truly feel as of the moment.

    ¡°Is this what being a parent is like?¡± Luna softly whispered as she rested her head on Raven¡¯s chest. ¡°I wish we have done this sooner.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Raven replied, nodding softly as he gently stroked Luna¡¯s hair. ¡°Sorry, I got too caught up with my work.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s done is done.¡± Luna murmured, clearly the exhaustion of giving birth was catching up to her already. ¡°I¡¯m just happy now. The only wish I have is for us to seed in our ns. That way we can watch over her and live peacefully.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that.¡± Raven looked at her and said: ¡°I promised you didn¡¯t I. Nobody willy a hand on what we have so long as I¡¯m here. I¡¯ll protect you both.¡±

    The promise all those years ago before they ascended. The promise that Raven will create a world where their peace will never be disturbed or threatened.

    Currently, even with the immense power he holds, this promise is still unattainable, but Raven was so close. Very close to seeding. He just needed more time and umtion, then he¡¯ll be able to fulfil his promise.

    ¡°I know you will.¡± Luna looked up and nted a kiss on Raven¡¯s lips.

    With Raven¡¯s arms wrapped around Luna and Vanessa, the two of them felt unprecedented security. It¡¯s always been like this with Raven. His mere presence can assure someone that everything will be fine. If the mountains were destroyed, he¡¯ll rebuild it. If the seas were overturned, he will calm it. If the sky falls, he prop it up. If hell arrived on earth, he send it back to where it belongs. If the invaders came to threaten the peace they have, he¡¯ll ughter his way to their home and destroy them thoroughly.

    Raven never faltered and neverpromised when ites to his ideals, which is why those who came close to him greatly appreciated hispany.

    Now, with Vanessa¡¯s appearance in this world, Raven became even more determined to make sure his family was safe. From the very beginning of his journey, his goal ¨C why he tread the dangerous path of Knighthood, never never changed¡­

    ¡®To be strong enough to protect everything he held dear.¡¯

 Chapter 778: Meeting the others

    Chapter 778: Meeting the others

    ¡°Good Morning, Little Princess.¡± Raven smiled after seeing Vanessa opening her eyes.

    ¡°Good Morning, Papa. Where¡¯s Mama?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s taking a bath right now but she¡¯s nearly done. Are you hungry?¡±

    ¡°Not yet¡­¡± Vanessa yawned on Raven¡¯s arms, shuffling a bit to find a morefortable spot.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s take you to her so that you can take a bath as well.¡± Raven stood up, nning to take Vanessa to her mother.

    ¡°Mmkay~¡±

    Raven went towards the miniatureke where Luna¡¯s taking a bath. Luna adjusted the temperature inside the room to be warmer. When Raven entered with Vanessa, the damp atmosphere as well as the warmth got rid Vanessa¡¯s drowsiness.

    ¡°Good Morning, Little Sweetheart. Come here.¡± Luna smiled, greeting her child.

    ¡°Good Morning, Mama!¡± Vanessa was now cheerful, she rose from Raven¡¯s arms and flew towards Luna.

    The family giggled together and Luna began taking off Vanessa¡¯s clothes. The two of them bathed Vanessa, being extremely careful during the process.

    ¡°Are you ready to meet your Grandmothers and Grandfathers?¡± Raven asked.

    ¡°Mn!¡± Vanessa nodded cheerfully while being carried by Luna.

    ¡°How about you aunts, uncles and cousins?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Mn! I¡¯m ready to meet them all.¡± Vanessa giggled as she replied.

    ¡°Great! Let¡¯s get you dressed up. After that we¡¯ll go there right away.¡±

    ¡°Can we ride on clouds?¡±

    ¡°Sure, Sweetheart. We can ride clouds.¡±

    ¡°Yay~!¡±

    After bathing Vanessa, they went towards the bedroom where her clothes were. Luna helped the baby to put her clothes on and wrapped her on cloth once more. Once that¡¯s done, the two of them met Raven outside of the Sky Pce, ready to ride on the clouds to meet their family.

    When they got there, Raven already prepared their ride. He condensed a reallyrge cloud and made it clear and fluffy, just like how Vanessa likes them.

    The moment the child saw the cloud. She immediately flew to it, bouncing on the clouds while giggling. Luna and Raven can only shake their heads at this. This child of theirs is really energetic. The two of them stepped on the clouds, Luna carried Vanessa on her arms as the child looked around in excitement.

    ¡°Ready, Little Princess?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I¡¯m ready!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go meet them.¡± Raven chuckled and patted the clouds.

    The cloud flew at a decent pace, not too fast nor slow. If Raven wanted to, the cloud can instantly arrive at the Empire in just a second but Vanessa won¡¯t enjoy the ride so he didn¡¯t do it. Instead, he made sure that his child will enjoy the trip.

    And from how Vanessa excitedly looked around her, they both can tell that their child was having the time of her life.

    They heard her ¡®Ooh¡¯s¡¯ and ¡®Ahh¡¯s¡¯ as she saw basically everything. She stared at the skies, the birds, the trees, thend animals¡­heck, she even enjoyed looking at the fierce demonic beasts roaming beneath them. She admired the grass, enjoyed the wind blowing on her face, liked the warmth of the sun and loved the feeling or riding the clouds.

    Vanessa was just happy to be alive¡­which was enough for Luna and Raven to feel endlessly grateful and content. Their child was everything they wanted her to be.

    Raven silently peered at the direction of the Empire. He can see several faces in his family estate waiting for their arrival.

    He already sent a message to them saying: ¡®Go to the Estate, someone¡¯s really dying to meet you.¡¯

    Raven can tell that they were confused but they still went there. When they arrived, they asked each other who was dying to meet them and were confused by Raven¡¯s message. At first Alexander thought that Raven was talking about Luis and Eva but it wasn¡¯t them. Raven¡¯s parents thought it was the twins but although the twins but its not them either. Even the Emperor Balmung was confused.

    Aside from them, the rest of their closest friends were there as well.

    He chuckled at their confusion. He didn¡¯t bother rifying himself since it was supposed to be a surprise anyways.

    When Luna gave birth to Vanessa, there¡¯s only her and Raven. The rest didn¡¯t know her due date and the two didn¡¯t tell them since they wanted to be selfish. Right now, all of them are still thinking that Luna was resting at the Sky Pce and preparing to give birth.

    It didn¡¯t take long before these group of people were rmed by Kyle since he¡¯s the only one who sensed his Master¡¯s arrival.

    A cloud suddenly appeared above them. They saw it descending slowly right in front of them. The cloud obscured their vision for bit before revealing Luna and Raven who were smiling at them.

    The group smiled as well when they saw them, but then a small giggle suddenly echoed on their ears.

    Under their dumbstruck gazes, Vanessa slowly appeared from Raven¡¯s back, climbing on his head while waving at them.

    ¡°Hello! My name is Vanessa, nice to meet you~!¡±

    ¡°Oh my god!!!¡±

    Then chaos erupted¡­

    Eva, Elizabeth, Venina, Victoria, Anne and Ellen swiftly scrambled forward to meet the giggling child. Vanessa giggled even louder and flew towards them, her priority was of course her grandparents.

    ¡°You guys! Why didn¡¯t you us!?¡± Eva and Elizabeth red at both Raven and Luna.

    ¡°Grandma¡¯s, don¡¯t be angry pwease?¡±

    ¡°Ooh! Sorry, child. We¡¯re not angry okay? We¡¯re really not.¡± Elizabeth cooed as she pinched Vanessa¡¯s cheeks.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right little sweetheart. We¡¯re not angry. Sorry, if we shouted. Did we startle you?¡± Eva asked.

    Vanessa shook her head and giggled once more.

    ¡°Your name is Vanessa?¡± Luis asked.

    ¡°Yep! That¡¯s me! I picked it! I like this name! Do you like it Grandpa?¡±

    ¡°I love it!¡± Luisughed uproariously in celebration, he puffed his chest and gave Raven and thumbs-up. ¡°The trend continues!¡±

    ¡°Woah~! Grandpa has a long beard¡­¡± Vanessa looked at Alexander with her big round eyes glittering slightly.

    ¡°Yes, this Grandpa has a really long beard.¡± Alexander softly said while smiling kindly at his grandchild.

    Vanessa reached out to him and grabbed his beard. She gave it a light tug while giggling much to everyone amusement.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised she can talk already.¡± Veninamented as she stared at her niece.

    ¡°Oh my god! She looks just like Big Sis Luna!¡± Victoria cooed as she let Vanessa¡¯s tiny hands grab her finger.

    ¡°Well, Lady Luna carried her for three years and she isn¡¯t your normal baby. I mean, you saw how she flew right into them right?¡± Kyle reminded.

    ¡°Right, I almost forgot about that.¡± Venina chuckled.

    ¡°Oh my god, you looks so adorable.¡± Anne cooed as she gently pinched Vanessa¡¯s cheeks.

    ¡°You inherited Luna¡¯s face and Raven¡¯s endless curiosities about things.¡± Ellen stated as she tickled her.

    Vanessa giggled from all the attention she¡¯s receiving from her family. Meanwhile, her parents were talking to Paul and Mark.

    ¡°Congrats you two.¡± Paul patted Raven¡¯s back and gave Luna a hug. Mark did so as well.

    ¡°Thanks guys. It won¡¯t be long before it¡¯s you guys¡¯ turn.¡± Luna said.

    ¡°When was she born?¡± Paul couldn¡¯t help but ask.

    ¡°Last night.¡± Raven answer. Mark was shocked and turned to Luna.

    ¡°Are you sure you can move around now? Aren¡¯t exhausted?¡±

    ¡°I can manage.¡± Luna answered while chuckling, ¡°Besides, giving birth for me wasn¡¯t that painful. It¡¯s ufortable yes, but that¡¯s about it. So I¡¯m fine.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you two. Look.¡± Raven addressed Paul and Mark as he pointed his chin towards his child.

    The two of them saw Vanessa controlling the cloud to go down. She faced Ellen¡¯s stomach much to everyone¡¯s amusement. They saw Vanessa¡¯s eye gleaming with a silver light as she patted Ellen¡¯s stomach.

    ¡°Hey~! Hey~! Hello! I¡¯m Vanessa, let¡¯s be ymates when you¡¯re born, yeah?¡±

    *Buzz!*

    Ellen¡¯s eyes went wide when the buzzing sensation urred from her womb. Vanessa giggled and then turned to Anne¡¯s next.

    ¡°Hey~! You too! Let¡¯s be friends when you¡¯re born! We¡¯ll y lots and lots! Hihihi!¡±

    *Buzz!*

    Now, it¡¯s Anne¡¯s turn to be shocked since she also felt the same sensation as Ellen.

    Paul and Mark were rmed, they then turned to Raven who was looking at them with a smug expression.

    ¡°W-what the hell?¡± Paul asked in a bewildered tone, Mark was also looking at Raven, searching for some answers.

    ¡°That¡¯s a part of her talent.¡± Luna chuckled and answered them. ¡°She¡¯s born as the ¡®Nature¡¯s Child¡¯ which gives her an affinity to all kinds of elements as well as giving her an ability tomunicate to all kinds of life. It¡¯s no surprise that she can talk to your kids.¡±

    ¡°Oh! You like Trees?¡± Vanessa¡¯s voice interrupted their thoughts once more she was talking to the baby inside Anne who¡¯s feeling the buzzing inside of her.

    ¡°Awesome! Me? I like clouds a lot!¡± Vanessa giggled, she then looked at Ellen¡¯s child and asked: ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°You like snakes? Haha! Cool!¡±

    Everybody watched in amusement as Vanessa got acquainted with the unborn child of Ellen and Anne. It was a bizarre scene but its nothing too extraordinary for them.

    After this little episode, all of them had an intimate celebration of Vanessa¡¯s birth, making the little ball of sunshine giggle in happiness again and again.

 Chapter 779: Hide and Seek

    Chapter 779: Hide and Seek

    In arge grassy in filled with wild flowers, tall grass and trees, three kids could be seen ying hide and seek.

    A young boy was standing in front of a tree with his eyes closed, one can hear him counting down out loud. This young boy had a deeply tanned skin, he was a bit on the fluffier side but that just added to his cuteness even more, he also had a mop of blonde hair and he¡¯s wearing loose yellow robes.

    A few meters away from him was a girl who hide beneath within the bushes. This girl had a pair of mischievous and witty eyes that¡¯s locked onto the boy who was counting down. She has a tinum blonde hair, a pair of sharp ears much like the elves and a fair, spotless skin tone. She¡¯s wearing a tight violet robes and her hair was tied in a ponytail.

    ¡°Three¡­two¡­one! Ready or not, here Ie!¡± The little fatty opened his eyes, revealing a pair of silver eyes which scanned his surroundings. He looked around him, searching for clues or any kind of movement he can track in order to find his ymates.

    ¡°Darn¡­they didn¡¯t even leave any kind of tracks behind.¡± The little fatty sighed in helplessness, nevertheless, he still felt excited and determined. His opponents were good which roused hispetitiveness.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯ll do this.¡±

    Little Fatty removed his shoes and stepped on the grass with his bare foot, he then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When the girl who¡¯s hiding within the bushes saw this, she inwardly panicked and carefully took pre-cautions. She too took a deep breath but she held his breath, her eyes also dimmed for a bit.

    The Little Fatty¡¯s eyes suddenly snapped wide open, he yelped and mmed his foot on the ground, causing earth to tremor beneath him.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Little Fatty was confused, he thenughed and snorted, saying: ¡°Darn it, they found a way to counter my Tremorsense! Not bad!¡±

    Anybody who heard this little guy would¡¯ve been shocked. He just admitted to using Tremorsense ¨C an advanced skill learned by Knights, as a tool to help him in this little game of hide and seek! What¡¯s more is that, his friends actually found out a way to neutralize it! This was absurd.

    ¡°Okay, since Tremorsense doesn¡¯t work, how about this?¡± Little Fatty then raised his index finger which was glowing with a faint blue light. He once again closed his eyes as the light on his finger slowly turned into smoke which blended in the air.

    A couple of secondster, Little Fatty opened his eyes with a smile on his face. He immediately disappeared from his position, leaving only an afterimage behind, and appearing in front of a tall bush. He pushed his palm forward and a gust of air blew the bushes away, revealing the girl hiding there.

    ¡°Found you, Jeanne! ¡±

    ¡°Aww, darn it!¡± The girl who¡¯s now known as Jeanne, whined. Pouting as she stood up from her hiding spot. ¡°How did you find me?¡±

    ¡°Energy Sense!¡± Little Fatty replied, ¡°Mom told me how I works and I figured out the rest.¡±

    ¡°You can already emit your energy!?¡± Jeanne was surprised, ¡°Darn it, I¡¯m jealous. I swear I¡¯ll pester mom to teach meter.¡±

    ¡°Haha! Isn¡¯t this Big Brother awesome? Come, admire me! Don¡¯t be shy!¡±

    ¡°Shut it, Fatty Richard!¡± Jeanne snorted, ¡°Don¡¯t be so smug, you haven¡¯t won yet. You still haven¡¯t found Vanessa yet.¡±

    ¡°Tsk. Tsk.¡± Richard waved a finger at Jeanne while shaking his head. ¡°Wrong. It¡¯s not whether I find her or not. It¡¯s about whether she wanted to be found or not. I, your Big Brother Fatty, is smart! No way, I¡¯d fight a losing battle!¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Jeanne chuckled wryly, she can¡¯t really disagree with what he said. ¡°I mean, she could¡¯ve went home for all we know and we¡¯d remain clueless.¡±

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s mean.¡±

    ¡°Aahhh!!¡±

    Richard and Jeanne got startled pretty bad when they felt a hand grabbing them from behind, they turned around only to see Vanessa pouting at them with a wronged expression.

    ¡°Geez, Nessa! Stop doing that!¡± Jeanne said while dramatically clutching her chest.

    ¡°Yeah, I agree!¡± Richard stated, ¡°What if you startled me so bad that I started losing my lovely bs? I won¡¯t be cute anymore! I¡¯ll forever me you for that you know!¡±

    ¡°Stupid, shameless fatty!¡± Jeanne and Vanessa both said while mercilessly pinching Richard¡¯s belly much to his despair.

    The three of them started y-fighting until they copsed on the grass filled ground beneath them and startedughing.

    ¡°Where were you hiding anyway?¡± Richard asked Vanessa.

    ¡°¡­on top of the same tree you faced while counting down.¡± She replied after catching her breath.

    ¡°Seriously?¡± Jeanne asked.

    ¡°Yep. Seriously.¡± Vanessa nodded, ¡°I was there the whole time. Fatty¡¯s Tremorsense can¡¯t reach where I was yet, and the way he used his Energy Sense was bad, he only searched on the ground, not even bothering to look up. I wasn¡¯t even deliberately hiding yet he still couldn¡¯t find me. Then you two meanies started talking behind my back.¡±

    ¡°Ow! Ow! Ow!¡± Fatty and Jeanne cried when Vanessa started pinching their cheeks, ensuing another round of y-fighting.

    It has been five years since Vanessa¡¯s birth, now she¡¯s grown into an energetic young girl. She¡¯s the oldest amongst them, only a few months older though.

    Vanessa looked just like Luna, the only difference was her hair. Unlike Luna who¡¯s fully blonde, Vanessa¡¯s hair was ck on the roots until the halfway down, then the rest were aqua-marine, just like her father.

    At this point, there¡¯s only a few select people who knew that Vanessa was Luna and Raven¡¯s child. They could¡¯ve announced her existence to the whole world of course but Vanessa herself didn¡¯t want that so they didn¡¯t.

    Richard was the son of Ellen and Paul. Jeanne was Anne and Mark¡¯s daughter. Just like what Vanessa promised, they became ymates as soon as they were born. Diaper-buddies, if you will. They were pretty much inseparable.

    It would be best to not underestimate these kids though. Despite their cute and adorable faces, the potential they carried was off the charts, which is to be expected for their parents were Empyreans. And precisely because they were still kids that they are under their protection.

    Their parents gave them as much freedom as they could, but they¡¯re also strictly monitored. The kids themselves are smart enough already to understand that not everything in this world is safe. They also understood that just because their parents are famous, it doesn¡¯t mean they could wantonly throw their weight around and be arrogant. They understand that the moment they did that, their parents will be the first ones to admonish them.

    The Legendary Six had no choice but to be strict when ites to educating their children. Even with great reluctance in their hearts, soon they will have to leave them behind.

    Speaking of that matter. That¡¯s another headache that they have to deal with. It¡¯s difficult to bring themselves to tell their kids that they¡¯ll be leaving soon. It¡¯s even more difficult to answer when they¡¯re going to return.

    Just thinking that they would probably miss out on the chance to see their child grow up filled them with unspeakable agony. They even debated amongst themselves if they should just bring them around but it¡¯s too risky and dangerous. Divine Realm is an unforgivingnd, at least here they can ensure their absolute safety.

    ¡°¡­it¡¯s probably soon.¡± Vanessa murmured softly, but her friends still heard it.

    She probably wasn¡¯t even aware that she said that out loud but the effect was already there. The atmosphere around them turned mildly gloomy and depressed.

    ¡°You just had to ruin it, didn¡¯t you?¡± Richard snorted, causing Vanessa to be startled. ¡°The whole point of us ying around is to get our mind out of it, yet you just as to say that. Aish¡­¡±

    ¡°N-no! I-¡­did I say it out loud?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you did.¡± Jeanne rolled her eyes at Vanessa. ¡°You really have to be careful with that mouth of yours you know? They¡¯re doing their best to make the most out of the remaining time they¡¯re here, don¡¯t ruin it.¡±

    ¡°I-¡­¡± Vanessa wanted to refute them so bad because they¡¯re being mean to her again, but then again, ¡°You¡¯re right¡­sorry. I just can¡¯t help it sometimes.¡±

    The gloomy atmosphere just remained around them.

    Their parents would¡¯ve never expected their kids to know about their departure soon. They tried their best to not talk about it when they¡¯re around, in fact they even told the others to keep it a secret but the kids still managed to figure it out.

    It¡¯s not like the kids were too damn smart, it¡¯s just their parents were bad liars and it¡¯s too obvious by how they were raised. It wasn¡¯t really hard for them toe up to that conclusion with all the clues all around them.

    ¡°Aish! Enough with this depressing mood!¡± Fatty stood up and dusted his clothes. ¡°Let¡¯s y again! This time Nessa¡¯s it! The first one to get caught will have to treat the others dumplings! Deal?¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡±

 Chapter 780: Parting

    Chapter 780: Parting

    ¡°¡­I can¡¯t do this.¡±

    Raven stared at Luna¡¯s tear-drenched face, feeling a pang of bitterness and pain his chest. Luna was currently sitting at the edge of the bed, her head was down with tears streaming down her face, she¡¯s not even looking at Raven, she just gripped the edge of the sheets while sobbing as quietly as she could.

    He didn¡¯t like seeing her like this¡­

    Moreover, he also didn¡¯t like what he¡¯s making her do. It pains him so deeply to do this but there¡¯s no other way. That being said, Raven could only remain quiet because he trusts that his wife also knew why they have to do this.

    Even then¡­Raven couldn¡¯t stop hating himself. If he could only do this entire thing alone, he would. He would rather leave Luna here to raise Vanessa as he carried their burden all by himself. He wasn¡¯t a stranger to loneliness either anyway so he¡¯ll be fine.

    Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t. Even though he¡¯s incredibly strong, the things he could do by himself will always be limited. He needed Luna and the others in order to aplish their ultimate goal.

    As Ravenmented to himself, he felt his wife approaching him. He stood up and brought her to his embrace. None of them spoke, they just silently cried on each other¡¯s arms. None of them raised their voice nor argued since that¡¯s just useless.

    Luna understood that the pain he felt isn¡¯t any less than hers. If anything, she could tell that Raven is currently deliberating if he should just runaway from his responsibilities and just quietly live in peace with them, staying away from all the harm and dangers.

    Raven was torn, Luna can hear his heart breaking over this which brought even more pain to her. It was clear that both of them didn¡¯t want to do this but they must.

    ¡°She¡¯s here.¡± Raven softly muttered. Luna nodded, she also felt the presence of their child. She just arrived.

    Raven wiped his and Luna¡¯s tears away. He then smiled, wearing a fake mask to hide the unwillingness he felt inside.

    At very next moment, Vanessa entered the room and looked up to them with a wide smile on her face. At any normal day, that smile was enough to make their day but today, that just brought them even more pain.

    ¡°Hello, Little Princess.¡± Raven greeted, he then knelt down while Vanessa rushed to his arms. He nted a kiss on her cheeks which caused the little girl to giggle. ¡°How was your day?¡±

    ¡°Fun!¡± Vanessa replied, ¡°Richard and Vanessa got better at the games so I have to take them even more seriously this time!¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± Raven chuckled as he sat down with her on hisp.

    Vanessa then began telling them how her day went. Neither Raven nor Luna interrupted her. They let her talk as much as she wanted. This was everything they wanted. The contentment of being a normal parent. Unfortunately, there are things that they must do.

    ¡°¡­that¡¯s great Princess. You shouldn¡¯t ck off alright? Or else Richard or Jeanne will catch-up to you.¡±

    ¡°Mn! I¡¯ll work hard! I won¡¯t let them catch-up to that easily.¡± Vanessa nodded eagerly.

    Raven smiled and brought her head on his chest. Vanessa giggled and hugged him back. Raven gave Luna a look and she joined them.

    The three of them stayed like this for a while, Vanessa had her eyes closed as she enjoyed the warmth of her parents.

    Meanwhile, Raven and Luna were staring at each other, seeminglymunicating with their gazes. They¡¯re currently debating on who should bring the topic up since both of them were reluctant to do it.

    In the end, Raven sighed and bit his lips. He decided to be the one to do it¡­

    ¡°Hey, Vanessa¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes, Papa?¡±

    ¡°Your Mama and I have somewhere to go¡­¡± Raven bit his tongue when he saw Vanessa staring directly on his eyes.

    He found any traces of surprise of confusion on his child¡¯s eyes but he couldn¡¯t find any. He only discovered sadness and reluctance.

    This made him inwardly gasp. He understood that look. It meant that Vanessa knew about it.

    ¡°¡­how long will you be gone?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡± Raven never wanted to lie so bad in his entire life until now. He wanted to tell her that they will only be gone for a few hours but he can¡¯t. He didn¡¯t want Vanessa to think that his was liar.

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know Princess.¡± Raven bit his lips. His voice choked, he could no longer take it. Tears started streaming down his face as he held Vanessa¡¯s hand tightly.

    Luna was openly sobbing right now. She too held onto Vanessa¡¯s hand like it was her lifeline. She couldn¡¯t handle it.

    ¡°¡­do you really have to go?¡±

    That question broke the two of them. Raven gnashed his teeth, his eyes nearly turned red. He wanted to tell her no, he nearly broke his promise to himself and to the rest of the world. He never wanted to be selfish as much as he wanted to right now.

    Then again¡­he can¡¯t. He needed to do it.

    ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± Raven replied after a while of silence. His voice was meek and weak. He felt his energy leaving him as he said this.

    With his lips shaking, he nted a kiss on Vanessa¡¯s head and said: ¡°You see, there are terrible dangers outside of our world. In order to make sure that people ¨C no, in order to make sure that you and our loved one¡¯s are safe, we need to eliminate them.¡±

    ¡°Is there a lot of them?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­¡± Raven nodded his head. ¡°Their army can easily swarm our world within seconds and they¡¯re strong too.¡±

    ¡°Since we are part of Humanity¡¯s forces, we are expected to do our part.¡± Raven dreaded telling her this, but he had no other choices. ¡°If we don¡¯t heed the call, we will be exiled and you as well as out family will be in grave danger. Papa doesn¡¯t want that to happen, so we need to go there.¡±

    ¡°Sweetheart, look at Mama.¡± Luna softly said, Vanessa turned her head and stared at her. ¡°Papa and I didn¡¯t mean to leave you behind, okay? In fact, if we could help it, we also don¡¯t want to go.¡±

    Luna grasped Vanessa¡¯s hands, ¡°Sadly, this isn¡¯t about whether wanted to or not. We simply must. Without the skin, hair cannot survive. The Divine Realm is thest home for Humanity. If we gave up on it, there would be no ce for us left. That is why we have to go.¡±

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry, Sweetheart.¡± Luna tried her best to smile andfort their child. ¡°We will make sure to return as soon as we can. We also don¡¯t want to part with you for too long.¡±

    ¡°While we¡¯re gone, you have to listen to Grandmas and Grandpas okay? Don¡¯t give them too much headache.¡± Luna reminded, ¡°Don¡¯t eat too much junk food either. Take a bath at least twice a day if you can. Be careful when choosing your friend and be wise with your money. Don¡¯t let other people take advantage of you.¡±

    ¡°If someone hits you, hit them back. Don¡¯t worry about repercussions, just tell them I¡¯m your father.¡± Raven added, causing Vanessa to chuckle.

    ¡°Work hard in your training. Cultivate the techniques your Papa and I taught you so that you can extend your life and wait for us.¡±

    ¡°No boyfriend until we return!¡± Raven stated strongly.

    Luna shook her head and said: ¡°At least pick someone worthy.¡±

    And the parental nagging continued for hours until it¡¯s way past Vanessa¡¯s bed time. After the two of them reminded Vanessa about everything, they verbally expressed how much they loved her and cared for her.

    That night, they went to sleep. Raven gave Vanessa an amulet which functions were kept as a secret for now. He also told her a bedtime story until the child finally went to sleep.

    Raven and Luna stayed with Vanessa until midnight, they didn¡¯t say anything and just stared at the face of their sleeping child, wanting to memorize every single detail on her face. Once it was midnight, Raven and Luna got up from the bed.

    The rest of their friends entered their room. Just from brief nce on their faces, they all can tell how much pain and reluctance they are feeling right now.

    Ellen and Paul brought Richard with them. Anne and Mark also brought Jeanne. Their mothers carefully ced the sleeping children beside Vanessa.

    The Grandparents are also here. They watched as the legendary six stared at their sleeping children with great reluctance on their faces.

    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Raven said softly.

    All six of them threw onest nce at their children before reluctantly stepping out of the room. They went at the open space at the Sky Pce. Before they left Raven looked at his parents and inws.

    ¡°We¡¯ll leave them to your care. Please make sure they grow up healthy and happy.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to us, Son.¡± Luis patted Raven¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Focus on whatever it is you needed to do so that you can return as soon as you can. Pay attention to your safety.¡±

    ¡°I will, Dad.¡± Raven nodded, his eyes were firm and determined. He then turned around and opened a tear in space.

    Raven, Luna, Paul, Ellen, Anne and Mark walked inside of the portal along with Raven¡¯s twin sisters and his disciple.

    As soon as the entered the spatial tear, it closed behind them.

    ¡°There will be some small changes to the n¡­¡±

 Chapter 781: Back to Work

    Chapter 781: Back to Work

    ¡°Kyle, I¡¯ll leave my Sisters to your care. Pay attention to your safety, you hear me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Master. I won¡¯t fail you and myself this time, I swear.¡± Kyle nodded solemnly as he swore an oath in his heart.

    ¡°Good.¡± Raven nodded, ¡°Now go ahead and don¡¯t forget to have fun.¡±

    ¡°Mn! We¡¯re off Big Bro! Take care and see you soon.¡± Victoria said after giving Raven a hug.

    Venina followed suit and said: ¡°Good luck Big Bro. Do it for Vanessa.¡±

    Raven didn¡¯t say anything, he just nodded instead. After that, Kyle and his sisters left the restaurant and began heading towards the teleportation array.

    They¡¯re now back at the Divine Realm. Their vacation was short and ended-up in a bittersweet moment but they had to return here since their job isn¡¯t done yet.

    Venina and Victoria managed to adjust in ease here thanks to Raven¡¯s guidance. Now that they¡¯re being lead by Kyle, they could now explore what the Divine Realm could truly offer. Raven didn¡¯t stop his sisters froming since they worked hard to earn this chance. This is what they deserved. Plus, it was about time for them to leave the nest and fly on their own.

    Meanwhile, the six of them still felt a little bit lethargic. Although it¡¯s already been a couple of days since they left their home, Luna, Ellen and Anne hadn¡¯t had a wink of sleep. Every time they tried to, the face of their child will show up in their mind, making them recall the painful parting they had with them.

    Even the boys didn¡¯t sleep either since they felt the same. Nevertheless, they suppressed the desire toe rushing back home since they understood the importance of their work.

    After sending Kyle and his sisters off, Raven returned to his room and found Luna staring nkly at a corner. She was holding a little flower bracelet that Vanessa personally created for her. Luna¡¯s eyes were empty, it was obvious that her mind isn¡¯t focused right now.

    Raven sighed, he slowly walked over to her and carried her in a bridal-style.

    ¡°You have to sleep.¡± Raven softly said.

    ¡°You know I can¡¯t.¡± Luna muttered, ¡°Every time I close my eyes, I can see our little sweetheart crying and calling us back, saying she misses us dearly. I-It¡¯s torture¡­I-I can¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°Be strong, Luna.¡± Raven firmly said as the corner of his eyes reddened, ¡°Don¡¯t let that defeat you. Instead of giving-up and letting these visions gnaw at your mental state, you should use it as a tool ¨C a motivator, instead. The faster we finish our work here, the faster we can go back. That¡¯s what you should always remember.¡±

    ¡°Plus¡­Vanessa wouldn¡¯t be happy is she saw you looking like this.¡± Raven added.

    Luna sighed, silently wiping away her tears as her husband carried her towards the bed.

    ¡°That¡¯s unfair¡­using her like that.¡± Luna softly admonished.

    ¡°But it¡¯s the only method that¡¯ll work, you left me with no other choice.¡± Raven smiled as hugged his wife while the two of the lied down on the bed. ¡°Sleep and rest. Remember why were here. Believe in our parents to raise her well and believe that Vanessa can and will wait for our return.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Luna nodded softly as she closed her eyes while leaning on her husband¡¯s chest. ¡°I will remember that.¡±

    ¡ª

    As Luna and Raven rested on their room, their friends were also trying their best to get better.

    Ellen and Paul remained silent as they just embraced each other. They¡¯re inside their room, sitting on a couch. Ellen was sitting on Paul¡¯sp while she stared at the portrait that their son slipped on to his father¡¯s pocket before they left.

    Richard was a talented artist. The portrait he drew not only captured the charm and beauty of their family, it is also filled with Richard¡¯s love and hope for his parent¡¯s return.

    In this portrait, Ellen was carrying the seven year old Richard on her arms while Paul¡¯s arm draped over the two of them. The three were grinning widely with their eyes closed, capturing the lovely side of their family.

    Ellen had been staring at this portrait for days, Paul would asionally stare at it too. Whenever they look at it, they would feel the emotions of their son, his presence even. The two would stare at it for hours, sometimes they would smile, sometimes they would silently cry.

    On the other hand, Mark and Anne was doing the same thing, only instead of a portrait, they¡¯re staring at a wood carving that their daughter, Jeanne made for them. Much like Richard, Jeanne¡¯s emotions and presence as present all over the wooden sculpture, making the two of them extremely emotional.

    Anne was a given of course for she is the mother. She pretty much cried a river already ever since the deadline was up. It was too damn obvious that she didn¡¯t want to leave Jeanne behind, in fact she was the one who brought up the topic of bringing the kids with them despite the risks, however it was rejected by her own husband.

    This was painful for Mark as well. He had been brooding ever since they returned to the Divine Realm. He wanted to immediately go out and hunt some wanted criminals. However he knew that even if he did that, the gap on his heart won¡¯t close up. His longing for his sweet and mischievous daughter won¡¯t be gone. All he will feel was emptiness.

    The Divine Realm¡¯s most feared assassin, the person feared by all wanted criminals for his terrifying record of 99% mission sess rate¡­was a doting father who cried all day and night due to him missing his daughter.

    If word of this gets out, many people would probably be shocked. Some would understand what he feels while some would mock him. Needless to say, Mark isn¡¯t really someone who will let rumors affect him.

    At this point, these people seem like their mourning for the loss of their children but in truth, they¡¯re all just parents who refuse to leave their children¡¯s side. This is pretty normal for new parents. As time passed, they¡¯ll eventually get over this, especially now that their close to entering the final stretch of their journey.

    Once they¡¯re done. They can drop their weapons and pursue the life they wanted for themselves. For now, they have to keep fighting.

    ¡ª

    ¡°¡­you all know what to do right?¡± Raven asked the people in front of him.

    He received nods from his wife and friends, all of them had a determined glint on their eyes. Raven exhaled and said:

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s move out. Go back to your sects and prepare. Soon¡­very soon¡­it will happen. And once were done here, we can return and spend all the time we have with the kids. Good luck, everyone.¡±

    All six of them stood up. Paul and Ellen walked towards the western port since the spatial tunnel there will take them closer to their destination. Mark and Anne went to the southern port.

    They entered and disappeared from sight, leaving Luna and Raven alone. They¡¯re currently at the northern port since this is where Luna should go.

    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you.¡± Raven softly whispered to her as he enveloped her with his arms.

    Luna smiled and buried her face on his chest. Right now, there are several people who¡¯s looking at them. She¡¯s out of her disguise so everyone can recognize her. Luna couldn¡¯t care less at this point. Even if they saw her hugging Raven ¨C who also stopped wearing a disguise at this point, she wouldn¡¯t care.

    There¡¯s no point in hiding their rtionship at this point, especially when they already has a child together.

    When Raven nted a kiss on her forehead, the two of them could¡¯ve sworn that there are some people who gasped. Raven could even see someone from the Oriental Dragon Group furiously scribbling on his parchment while controlling an array which recorded their faces.

    Raven only smiled and did nothing to stop this. He knew that after a couple of days, the intel of the Oriental Dragon Group would be updated and his face would be stered on the cover of their next issue.

    His appearance would probably rock their minds of Divine Realm¡¯s citizens but at this point, he truly couldn¡¯t care less.

    There no longer a point to hide. There¡¯s no longer a point of remain low-profiled. Raven already calcted everything. Nothing much will change at this point even if this happened.

    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± Raven softly muttered, ¡°You should go as well. I just received the summons from my sect, they¡¯re calling me back.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Luna nodded, she then reached out and nted a firm kiss on Raven¡¯s lips. ¡°I¡¯ll work hard I promise. I¡¯ll wait for you there. Good luck.¡±

    Raven chuckled and said: ¡°I know, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make sure everything goes ording to my n. This is for our daughter after all.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Luna nodded, ¡°This is for Vanessa.¡±

    Luna then entered the northern port and disappeared from Raven sight. Raven on the other hand, sighed and looked at the skies. He smiled softly and whispered:

    ¡°Alright, this is the final stretch.¡± Raven¡¯s body started levitating. ¡°After this, we can go back home. Failure isn¡¯t an option.¡±

    And just like that, Raven disappeared as a streak of light before anybody coulde up to him and ask questions.

 Chapter 782: The Sects Transformation

    Chapter 782: The Sect¡¯s Transformation

    It¡¯s been twenty years since Raven left the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    Even with him being on vacation, Raven remained aware of the situation within the sect thanks to his avatars.

    Although his Avatars didn¡¯t go out that often, Kyrie did her part and always kept the Avatars posted about the developments within the sect.

    For the most part at least, the sect has been rtively peaceful and quiet. The Sect Officials continued working towards their ultimate goal which made Raven really gratified.

    It seems that telling them the possibility of opening up the sect was a good idea since it made them work harder.

    Due to that, the past 20 years had been an enriching time. The sect made a lot of progress and now, they¡¯re ready to face whatever it is that¡¯sing their way.

    The disciples of the sect also worked really hard. Their overall quality of the sect disciples was raised thanks to Raven¡¯s reforms. Their numbers no longer shrunk since nobody¡¯s dying inside the Devil Emperor¡¯s Pagoda anymore. In fact, the pagoda had been re-purposed already. It has be a really popr trial grounds for disciples.

    In there, not only they¡¯ll be able to hone their skills, they will also receive bountiful rewards for working harder. The harder their trial is, the more satisfaction they will receive uponpleting it on top of being rewarded generously.

    How can this not spur them to work harder?

    Because of this, many disciples had experienced breakthroughs during the past twenty years. Their talents bloomed in many ways which greatly increased the quality of the sect¡¯s armed forces.

    Raven also made sure to keep an eye out to the sealed Devil Emperor, so much so that he even made 100th floor a personal office where three of his avatars watched over this abomination. Although Raven had full confidence on his sealing runes, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have an additionalyer of security just in case of emergency.

    In the end, his goal was to make sure that this thing won¡¯t kill itself to rm the Abyssals. He forced it to slumber while silently draining it of its life force. Since the Devil Emperor is an Immortal, his vitality will continue to replenish so long as he has one breath remaining.

    Right now, the Devil Emperor can only be described as the most miserable Immortal there is. Its not allowed to die. Its forced to live as a never ending energy source for not only the pagoda but for the entire sect.

    This was its punishment for all the horrible things it has done to humanity. Raven didn¡¯t feel even an ounce of guilt doing this.

    Mount Olympus has also changed greatly within the past 20 years¡­

    Right now, all disciples and Sect Officials moved to Greece. It is there that they concentrated all the man-power. In order to upy the millions of disciples the sect has, Greece expanded.

    Greece was a pocket dimension in the first ce. It will only require the effort of a few people who are experts in Space Laws and a few formation masters to do the job so this wasn¡¯t difficult at all.

    Tartarus, Asphodel, Elysium, Antis¡­all of these areas had been remodeled into something new. They became trial grounds as well for disciples to improve themselves. The most famous of them all was Elysium.

    Elysium became a Tournament Ground where disciples can participate in endless waves of battles, seeking advice from fellow disciples. The ce expanded just as big as Greece since disciples often find themselvesing here either to participate in the Arena Battles or to spectate battles while betting on a few of their favorite contestants.

    The absurd thing about this is that¡­the betting pool is personally supervised by the Grand Elder.

    The old man said that this was just a hobby, something to keep him entertained for a bit but Raven knew better. The old man was quite a gambler himself. Sometimes he would also participate in betting. But of course, he held up his dignity, he never manipted the results.

    Well, at least he was an honest gambler¡­

    The changes aren¡¯t just limited to Mount Olympus, it also reaches thends surrounding it.

    Before, this ce was covered in an white fog which was the result of a formation left behind by their ancestors as a defense mechanism against the remaining army of the Devil Emperor.

    At this point, the War Gods had already cleaned-up the area. With the Devil Emperor permanently sealed inside the Pagoda, his remaining army were also wiped-out. The residual infestation they left was also cleaned up.

    The outer-area is now an extremelyrgend filled with boundless vitality thanks to Gaia nurturing thend. Once she woke up from her slumber andpleted her recovery, she began releasing her divinity in thisnd, causing Treasure Bowls to appear due to the sheer vitality her divinity blessed thends with. She can also raise the quality of the Spiritual Energies around, making the ce more suitable for cultivation.

    With her around, the Sect can afford to be more generous with their rewards since she can replenish majority of their stocks. And its not like Gaia was being forced to do this. In fact, it¡¯s quite the opposite. She¡¯s doing this out of kindness and need since this is a way for her to rx and cultivate as well. The growth of resources is just a side-effect.

    This is why Gaia was a valuable asset to the sect. Her return wasn¡¯t only celebrated by her oldrades, it is also celebrated by the disciples.

    With the current direction the sect is following, the one who¡¯s gratified the most was none other than the Sect Master himself.

    The amount of times the Sect Master found himself thanking his Ancestors, for giving him a great insight for choosing Raven as his sessor, was quite frequent that it¡¯s ridiculous. Ever since Raven came to the Sect, he has been an unstoppable force.

    Under Raven¡¯s lead, the sect saw the light of day. Everybody flourished. Raven didn¡¯t just lightened the burden that the Sect Master was carrying, he directly removed it and carried it himself¡­quite effortlessly too.

    For the past 20 years, the Sect Master and his wife remained at the Sect, enjoying a rare time of peace and fulfillment. He couldn¡¯t remember thest time he had been so idle. In the past he didn¡¯t even had time to cultivate anymore, even enjoying a cup of tea was difficult for him since he was too busy.

    Now though, he can rx¡­

    Like what was mentioned earlier, Raven managed to remove every single burden the Sect Master was carrying because of his responsibilities to the sect. Now, there¡¯s no need for him to run around the ce, tending to every single thing due to theck of man-power and ever constant threat under their noses.

    In fact, the Sect Master found himself so vacant that he developed another hobby. He returned to his roots and became a farmer.

    Of course, he isn¡¯t just any regr farmer. The resources he¡¯s cultivating are all Spiritual Ingredients that would fetch a scary price on any market.

    This was the Sect Master¡¯s original dream. Back in his youth, he was supposed to inherit his parents¡¯ farm. He wanted to dominate the market with his products. Unfortunately, fate has other ns for him. One twist of life after another lead him here and made him the current Sect Master of the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    But because he was vacant and could afford to have a leisurely life, he wanted to satisfy his longing for his past dream.

    This, in addition to raising a family of his own, is what would reallyplete his life. Unfortunately, being a Divine Knight made it difficult for him and his wife to seed in conceiving a child. They had been trying during the past couple of years to no avail. However, the two of them haven¡¯t lost faith just yet.

    So far, this has been what the sect has been up to since Raven¡¯s disappearance.

    Even though he had been informed about these developments in real time thanks to Kyrie. Raven still felt quite surprised to see how many changes happened in such a short time.

    This transformation definitely surpassed his expectations. He was confident that he could lead the sect towards glory but he didn¡¯t expect to do it in such a short amount of time.

    At this point, his foundations were unshakeable. With everything here, he could move on with his ns of rocking Divine Realm¡¯s foundations. He was ready to take on the world.

    Only a few things were left for him to do. The most pressing matter is the situation about the uing war.

    Their enemies hasn¡¯t been idle, but since they are ignorant about the fact that their every move was monitored by Raven, they are in for a rough ride.

    Raven is now heading back since he had received the summons of the Sect. He just needed to take the helm for this operation and everything would follow through ording to how he arranged it.

    It was time to move-on with the n.

 Chapter 783: The Exiles Army

    Chapter 783: The Exiles¡¯ Army

    ¡°¡­there had been many changes in the sect during the past couple decades.¡± Raven stated this in front of Sect Officials.

    Currently, all of them are inside the Grand Hall where the meetings takes ce. Everyone was present since whatever¡¯s being discussed currently is an important matter for the sect.

    ¡°The changes brought us many advantages. From this, I can confidently say that our sect can easily rank amongst the top once we decided to open up our borders. Although we are far from perfect, we are doing good already.¡±

    ¡°That being said, our enemies aren¡¯t so idle either¡­¡± Raven took this time to announce the important part of this topic.

    ¡°As all of you knows, I have been monitoring the movements of our enemies since we discovered their existence. Fifty years had already passed since then and the amount of preparation they had were not any less than ours. With ourbined efforts, we managed to even-out the ying field but this will still be a hard battle to ovee even with our preparations. Do take a couple of minutes to inspect this image.¡±

    Raven waved a hand and a projection appeared in front of him. This projection disyed the territory of their enemies -The Exiles.

    During the past 50 years, they weren¡¯t so idle either. They continued to umte their strength by using foul means to abduct people and force them to do their bidding.

    The territory of The Exiles are pretty far away from where the sect is. Additionally, they are also hidden from the public¡¯s view. They locked themselves up inside a Secret Realm that can only be opened and closed by their sole Leader.

    Thankfully, Raven managed to nt countless of spies in their ranks without their knowledge. In fact, the spies themselves doesn¡¯t even know that they were spies.

    Raven achieved this during thest time that they sent out badges for the Sect¡¯s disciple recruitment. He attached a spying rune in theets that acted like a virus, those saw theets will be infected. There will be an indiscernible rune nted on their consciousness. It won¡¯t harm them in any way, shape or form. It will only act as a monitoring device, one that could easily tamper with their vision and share what they could see with Raven.

    Not even their leader could¡¯ve guessed that such a method was feasible, hence until now, nobody discovered them. This, along with the sect¡¯s announcement of shutting-in, prevented their enemies from potentially sending spies inside their ranks while they every move was monitored by Raven¡¯s avatars.

    The Secret Realm of The Exiles was huge. They have millions of disciples who were all abducted or conned into joining their ranks. They can¡¯t refuse or else they will be executed on the spot. Even if they willingly joined, they are still required to be put on a tight leash.

    A Brain Devouring Parasite was nted in them. The moment they think about escaping or disobeying orders, the parasite will be triggered and they will turn into a mindless puppet for The Exile¡¯s use.

    ¡°Based from what we¡¯ve gathered so far, The Exiles had a total amount of five million disciples.¡± Raven stated expressionlessly, ¡°Two million of these disciples are mindless puppets while the rest are just some terrified people who were forced to follow orders.¡±

    ¡°If our disciples were to fight them one on one, I can confidently say that we will dismantle their ranks without even breaking a sweat. They¡¯re united not by strength or leadership but because of fear, these people didn¡¯t want any of this, they simply weren¡¯t given any choice in this matter.¡±

    ¡°However, the enemy of course would let that kind of weakness stop them from their conquest.¡± Raven shook his head solemnly. ¡°In order to eliminate this ring weakness, they taught a unique formation to their disciples. The result of the formation is the one that you¡¯re seeing right now.¡±

    The image Raven presented to them was that of Great Demons lined-up in an orderly manner. Each demons released a heart-palpitating aura and wore fierce expressions. They took on different forms and held different kinds of weaponry. They wererge, the shortest of them was at least twenty meters tall while thergest was at least a hundred meters in height.

    This is the result of the formation that The Exiles taught to their disciples. Each formation needed the cooperation of at least 200 to 500 disciples.

    ¡°They call this formation; Wretched Demon Formation. It allows Wretched Demons to descend andy waste on everything that¡¯s in front of them.¡± Raven exined, ¡°Each Demon is at least an early Knight Monarch Realm, therger ones could reachedte stage.¡±

    ¡°Above them are what they call the 6 Demon Princes and 6 Princesses. Their core members are the 6 Demons Lords, Demon Kings and 3 Demon Emperors.¡±

    ¡°The Princes and Princesses are at least peak Knight Monarch Experts. The Demon Kings and Lords are somewhere between early tote stage Empyrean Knight, Demon Emperors are at Peak Empyreans while their absolute leader ¨C the Allfather, isparable to a Divine Knight.¡±

    Hearing the strength of the enemies army caused a solemn atmosphere to descend. What Raven stated earlier was right, this will indeed still be a difficult battle to win. Their enemies are prepared to go for an all out war.

    Unlike the sect, they don¡¯t care about casualties at all. Whether the disciples die or not is none of their concerns, their goal is simple.

    ¡°In the end, what they wanted is to free the Devil Emperor from its prison.¡± Raven revealed.

    With fifty years of spying their enemies, it¡¯s no surprising that Raven was managed to discover their true aim.

    ¡°As we all know, the appearance of The Exiles was because of the Devil¡¯s Emperor. The founder of The Exiles was once a disciple of our sect. The Devil seduced him and told him all kinds of promises in exchange of his freedom.¡±

    ¡°The Devil Emperor corrupted the founder¡¯s mind and nearly seeded on freeing the Devil Emperor, thankfully, our predecessors found this out and managed to stop him before its toote.¡±

    ¡°That being said, the damage is already done. The seed of evil has already been nted. The founder of the exiles managed to escape and hid, slowly gathering strength to finish what he started.¡±

    ¡°Now, that seed of evil already fostered and became the Allfather.¡± Raven concluded, ¡°The Allfather probably has no idea about the fate of the Devil Emperor. If he does know though, I wouldn¡¯t be too surprised.¡±

    ¡°While I do have confidence in my Sealing Runes, the Allfather is still a genuine Divine Knight powerhouse. He might have some means to free the Devil Emperor so we have to on guard around him.¡±

    ¡°As for the rest of the army. I believe that under your leadership, we can cinch victory while making sure our casualties remaining on low side.¡±

    ¡°I previously mentioned this but I¡¯ll remind you again¡­¡± Raven¡¯s tone became firm at this point, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t personally participate in this war. I¡¯ll leave most of the decisions to all of you. This war is bad but we can also view it as an opportunity. The baptism of blood is a great catalyst for the disciples¡¯ growth.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, I wouldn¡¯t be so idle.¡± Raven stated, ¡°I¡¯ll keep the Allfather in check along with the Sect Master and the other Divine Knights. We can¡¯t let him free the Devil Emperor after all. If that happens, we will lose our immortal energy supply, that would be bad for business.¡±

    The listeners were speechless. Raven legitimately just treated the Devil Emperor as an infinite energy source, not a threat. Perhaps, in this whole wide world, only him has the capabilities to say something like this.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the briefing of the disciples to you all. I know that you guys will do a better job than me in that regard.¡±

    ¡°To conclude my part, I want to remind everybody here that the goal of this war isn¡¯t the extermination of The Exiles, that¡¯s our second priority. Our main goal is to prevent them from seeding at their ns.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t weigh your lives at the same value as theirs, that¡¯s not a fairparison.¡± Raven shook his head, ¡°Killing the enemies is preferable but keeping you alive is important. After all, you guys would be more useful to the sect alive rather than dead.¡±

    ¡°If there¡¯s really a scenario where escape is impossible, go out with a big bang. Take as many as you can down with you.¡±

    ¡°Again, our goal is to prevent them from freeing the Devil Emperor. Don¡¯t be afraid to prolong the battle, we¡¯re not pressed on time as much as they are.¡±

    ¡°As for the Grand Formation they nned to use to pry open our defenses. Leave that to me. I already made sufficient preparations for it.¡±

    ¡°So, that¡¯s about it for me. I¡¯ll let you guys take the stage, next. Once you nned out the offence and defense, just report the final decision to me. You know where to find me.¡±

    After saying that, Raven immediately disappeared from their view. The others couldn¡¯t only smile wryly and discuss the details of the war by themselves.

 Chapter 784: Awkward and Embarassing

    Chapter 784: Awkward and Embarassing

    Today was a quiet day for the Ancient Elysium Sect¡­

    The original, hustle and bustle of the disciples turned mute. The facilities that used to worked every single minute were resting. The active streets of Greece was practically deserted, only a small animals can be seen walking down these streets, even then their numbers aren¡¯t that great.

    The atmosphere within the sect was frigid. It made people solemn and apprehensive. From these points alone, one can tell that the sect was up to something, why else would these clues appear if not for that?

    All disciples; regardless of whether they are Outer Disciples or Core Disciples, were drafted into this war.

    The announcement of war didn¡¯t surprise the disciples. In fact, some of them were even looking forward to it. The whole reason why the reforms urred and why they trained so hard is to participate in this war.

    That being said, there are also those disciples who felt a bit hesitant. These disciples were the ones who values their life a little too much. The sect¡¯s mandatory draft left them with no other choice so they can¡¯t help but to feel a little resentful.

    However, thinking about it deeply, they understood that they only got to enjoy the pleasures of life because of the sect¡¯s existence. The Sect never held back when ites to nurturing them, and the leading figures of the sect always made sure that the needs of the disciples are met.

    This is the only time that the sect forced them to do something, and it had a good reason for doing so. Just as they say: ¡®If the lips are gone, the teeth will feel cold¡¯. With the sect¡¯s foundations being threatened, of course it needed them defend it. This is only natural.

    This is the silver lining that the minority believed in order to appease the fear they felt.

    Currently, all the disciples are gathered in a formation arranged by their leaders. Majority of them felt the heaviness of the air around them. The tense atmosphere really made them feel pressured. It was obvious that the war is almost upon them.

    The ones that carried most of the burden was the War Gods. Undoubtedly, they are the sharpest weapons of the sect.

    All of them, even the usually yful Paolo, wore strict and serious expressions. Those who saw them can feel the intensity of their fighting spirit. None of them were afraid, they belong to the group who are looking forward to this war.

    Right now, the War Gods are undoubtedly the great generals that will lead the disciples into battle.

    Not far from them were the Elders and Inheritors. They too aren¡¯t exempted in this war. They will fight as well.

    For the first time in a long while, Kyrie wore her armor and established her position as the leader of the Valkyries. Their task is to ensure that any despicable tactics of their enemies will be met with extreme prejudice.

    The Inheritors are also raring to go, the Heir to title of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hercules, Helios, and Hermes are prepared to make a stand today.

    At the rear, the Heirs of Athena, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hera, Persephone, Artemis, Demeter and the rest are located. Their task is to provide support for the army such as logistics, food rations, medical support and so on.

    Protecting them were their guardians, main the Core Elders of the Sect. They are the ones who will monitor the situation and control the rhythm of the battlefield.

    And of course¡­the one who¡¯s taking it easy even with the intensity of the atmosphere ¨C Raven, was sitting in front of the Devil Emperor¡¯s Pagoda.

    He was the only one who isn¡¯t in the formation right now. He was alone here, clearly signifying his intentions of defending this entire ce by himself.

    Not a trace of impatience nor anxiety can be seen on his face. On a cid calmness as he rxed, sitting in front of a bonfire, enjoying an afternoon tea.

    Anyone who saw him would probably feel the urge to smack him in the face, of course nobody would actually do that though. At most, they¡¯d probably feel cheated and jealous because of how he¡¯s taking it easy.

    At this point, Raven was no longer paying attention to the movement of their enemies. He¡¯s already aware of what their doing, he doesn¡¯t need the spies anymore.

    Raven casually flipped the book he was reading. He was totally calm and undisturbed even with everybody feeling like they were sitting on pins and needles.

    Time gradually passed by. Raven suddenly pried his gaze away from the book he was reading to look at the skies.

    His pupils shed with a rainbow colored gleamed for a brief second before it disappeared. Raven smirked and muttered: ¡°Here theye.¡±

    As soon he finished saying that, the entire realm suddenly shook. It was brief and weak but there¡¯s no mistaking that.

    Everyone¡¯s gaze sharpened except for Raven. They all looked at the skies and saw a small tear in space gradually expanding.

    The War Gods immediately roared out orders, the disciples went into a frenzy and prepared themselves to meet the enemy. However, an awkward situation urred.

    The spatial tear stopped expanding. From it, a seemingly endless legion appeared. They were imposing and terrifying, the Demon Gods were roaring and baring their fangs, striking fear to the hearts to the disciples.

    Those who were leading their army approached closer but they sensed a sturdy barrier preventing them from advancing. Of course, they did the logical move, which is to break the protective barrier, however¡­

    Minutes passed, which then turned into hours¡­

    Everybody from the Ancient Elysium Sect could only watch with wry smiles as the opposing army struggled to break the barrier.

    They¡¯ve been shooting at it for quite sometime now. Themotion they raised is definitely loud, even if the sect wasn¡¯t alerted that they wereing beforehand themotion they caused was definitely enough to rm everyone.

    Meanwhile, on the side of the enemies, the leading figures were sweating.

    They could feel the irritation and dismay of the Allfather from a mile away. Every single one of them were posturing the moment they appeared but a simple barrier stole their thunder¡­how embarrassing was that?

    They brought their massive cannons which were strong enough to reduce a whole country in rubble but the barrier was simply too perverted. Even after shooting at it for hours, they only made a small crack. They can¡¯t even shatter the damn thing.

    A heavy killing intent swept through the soldiers and leaders which caused them to freeze in their tracks. They were too familiar with this soul-chilling killing intent, there¡¯s only one person who can make them feel this way ¨C the Allfather.

    At this point, the Allfather lost his patience. He snorted and mumbled: ¡°Useless.¡± Causing everyone around him to shiver uncontrobly from fear.

    He then walked forward and wave his hand. This simple act of his shattered the barrier that¡¯s separating them from their conquest.

    Once the barrier shattered, the opposing army immediately roared in fury, an act of voicing out their frustrations. They charged down, fully intent of destroying the Ancient Elysium Sect. However, they were met with another disappointment.

    There is a second barrier¡­

    The enemy leaders gritted their teeth and spat out profanities. How shameless! Why is there another one of this!? Moreover why does this one looks tougher than thest one?

    Without needing any orders from their leaders, they started another round of sting. However, the second barrier proved their suspicions true. It was indeed tougher than thest one. Helpless, they could only gnash their teeth in anger and use a higher level of ammunition. However it only left scratches on the barrier which made them speechless and humiliated.

    The Allfather¡¯s face was cramping out of sheer irritation. Once again, he needed to step out and personally break the barrier.

    *Bang!*

    The barrier copsed easily after the Allfather¡¯s move. However before anyone could celebrate, they were once again met with another disappointment.

    ¡°Another damn barrier!! Fuck!!¡± One of the leaders couldn¡¯t help but stomp his foot in anger,

    What the hell is this shamelessness? Even turtles doesn¡¯t have this many shells!? Just how of them is there?

    At this point, the Allfather just can¡¯t anymore. He doesn¡¯t want to feel anymore irritation, annoyance or disappointment, therefore without even moving from his spot, he just shattered the barrier.

    ¡­which was reced the 4th one¡­then the fifth one¡­

    As time went on, the opposing army felt numb and exhausted. Their bravado expired from the shamelessness of the Ancient Elysium Sect and it truly doesn¡¯t end there.

    When the Allfather destroyed the 15th barrier he was already using at least 30% of his strength, not only that, there was an unexpected counter attack from the barrier. It reflected his blow in a swift motion.

    The Allfather couldn¡¯t react on time so it was his army who suffered from it. The war hasn¡¯t even started in earnest yet they already have some casualties. Even the Allfather was speechless in terms of this shamelessness. He wanted to curse whoever thought of this but he simply has no energy to do that.

    Meanwhile, the main culprit of this is still enjoying his tea and reading his book. Seemingly unaware of the millions of people currently cursing him.

 Chapter 785: Finally, Out of the Damned Barriers

    Chapter 785: Finally, Out of the Damned Barriers

    ¡°¡­I actually feel a little bad for them, not gonna lie.¡±

    ¡°Same.¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t even done anything yet they already have casualties.¡±

    ¡°Even their True Leader is having a difficult time breaking the current barrier.¡±

    ¡°This¡­they should retreat after this right? I mean, they were already reduced to an embarrassing state by mere barriers. They shouldn¡¯t have the nerve to continue anymore.¡±

    ¡°Naive. As if it¡¯s that easy. Instead of retreating, they might be even crazier due to this humiliation.¡±

    ¡°Even then, retreating now is a little toote. They¡¯re trapped. Look behind them. The barriers that they destroyed fixed themselves. If they want to leave, they have to spend just as much time as they did to destroy the barriers¡­again. They¡¯re essentially trapped between a rock and hard ce.¡±

    ¡°Oh, these poor guys¡­¡±

    Indeed it was pitiful. The poor bastards were being bullied by barriers.

    It has been a entire day since the forces of The Exiles arrived at the sect. Their bravado and morale had been stripped clean at this point, eroded by the numerousyers of barriers barring their path to conquest.

    ¡°How many barriers did he ce anyway?¡± Paolo asked, squinting as he stared at the struggling troops of enemies trying to destroy the barriers.

    ¡°Thirty-three.¡± Julia answered casually, causing the other War Gods to look at her. ¡°Young Lord installed a 33yered Barrier Seal around the sect that can mutually reinforce each other. I was present when he created them.¡±

    ¡°Damn.¡± Theo muttered, ¡°He does not mess around. But didn¡¯t he say that he will let us handle this? What¡¯s up with this now?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t say that he¡¯s interfering, really.¡± Henry stated, ¡°All he did was to install protective barriers which is his responsibility in the first ce, he isn¡¯t actually participating right now. He¡¯s over there, by the Devil Emperor¡¯s Pagoda, enjoying an afternoon tea while reading a book.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Julia nodded, ¡°Besides, that seal had been there for quite sometime already. He created them the moment the sect got infiltrated by some gossipers. That¡¯s around the time when he initially announced the closing of our borders and before he entered the Celestial Ascension tform. He could¡¯ve easily improved those seals but he didn¡¯t because he made a promise to us.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Paolo nodded. ¡°So that¡¯s the case. Still, though, would they be fine? I mean, I think they can breakthrough 33yers, but what if what remained of their army are only scraps?¡±

    ¡°Then all the best for us.¡± Levi stated with a snort. ¡°The weaker they are, the easier our jobs will be and the lesser casualties we will have. Remember, the goal isn¡¯t to have a heated and exciting battle, its to prevent them from freeing the Devil Emperor.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Paolo nodded, ¡°I got it¡­but I still feel a little bad for them.¡±

    The other War Gods didn¡¯t say anything but they too shared the same sentiments, they do feel a little bad for the opposing army. The barriers were perversely tough, the Allfather was so close to going all out in order to destroy them, in fact he can¡¯t even shatter them anymore with one hit. On top of this, he also needed to be careful now since the barriers can reflect the force of his attacks back at them.

    At this point, some disciples are openly gloating at the enemy army. They could still feel the bravado and confidence they were exuding before but now, they were like scared little chicks that can only hide behind their mother hen.

    At the same time, their faith towards their Young Lord Raven increased greatly. Of course, who else aside from him can do something like this? They should¡¯ve already known that with Young Lord here, their victory is certain.

    Currently, the Allfather held nothing but pure hatred and anger in his heart. It was evident with how much he red at the barriers in front of him.

    He was aware that they were trapped. He himself noticed it a little toote, by the time he noticed it, he was already facing the 20th barrier, meaning that there were 19 barriers behind them, preventing them from leaving this ce to re-organize.

    At this point, there was nothing he could do to salvage this situation. He knew that the moment they decided to leave, they will never be able to pull-off any invasion ever again. Don¡¯t underestimate the instincts of Divine Knights, more often than not, they are correct.

    Allfather was incensed to think that he got yed like this. Inwardly, he repeated cursed whoever thought of this devious and shameless n. How could there be such a dishonest person? Who the hell sets-up this many barriers to protect a sect? Aren¡¯t they a little too eager?

    What¡¯s worse is that, even if he whined here all day long, he knew that it will just be a waste of time. His energy will be spent more wisely if he continued breaking down the remaining barriers.

    Currently, he¡¯s facing the 31st barrier, so there¡¯s only two left after this. What made his expression very dark is the fact that his forces are already down by a fourth due to the rebound caused by his own attacks being reflected by the barriers.

    The Allfather isn¡¯t one to defend his useless pawns but he had to right now since without them, he can¡¯t achieve his goal. He needed his pawns to buy time for him. He knew that as long as he can manage to get through this hateful barriers, he can directly go to the pagoda and free the Devil Emperor.

    He was confident that the other Divine Knights wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him. After all, he has a trump card to deal with them.

    *Bang!*

    31st barrier, destroyed. The Allfather stomped forward again with face full of killing intent. Once again, he saw the familiar sheen of a barrier. He didn¡¯t even waste time with words and directly attacked it.

    *Bang!*

    The Allfather is going all out now. He covered him and his army with a barrier that could protect them from the rebound. Unfortunately, the strength he used wasn¡¯t enough to shatter the 32nd barrier so he has to do it again.

    *Crack!* *Boom!*

    32nd barrier shattered. The rebound urred, the barrier protecting the demon army crack under the pressure. Some shockwaves from the blow managed to seep in, causing some of his army to be injured.

    The Allfather gnashed his teeth and continued moving forward. He of course didn¡¯t miss the reformation of the barriers behind them. He groaned as he saw another barrier in front of him. This one was golden.

    At this point, the Allfather used everything in his power to shatter that barrier in one go. His attack, backed by the power of a genuine Divine Knight, shook the entire sect. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t work. The barrier remained intact, which caused the Allfather¡¯s pupils to constrict.

    He couldn¡¯t believe what he¡¯s seeing right now. The barrier was intact even after receiving his all-out strike. It didn¡¯t even leave a scratch on the surface.

    The Allfather bit his lips. He muttered: ¡°I don¡¯t believe I can¡¯t shatter you.¡±

    He took out a treasure from his spatial ring, a pair of knuckle-dusters appeared. He wore them and summoned his strength once more.

    *Boom!*

    The Allfather wad gobsmacked. Even with the assistance of his personal artifact, it only left a small hole on the barrier. The hole wasn¡¯t big enough for them to fit, and its actually repairing itself. The Allfather didn¡¯t bother thinking too much anymore.

    Instead, he used this chance to widen the gap. The small hole allowed him to see the massive army beneath them. This was the final barrier, he knew it. He was so close so he couldn¡¯t afford to waste time.

    He summoned his strength once more and threw another all-out strike at the barrier. This time, it shattered. Finally, after a day and half of constantly breaking barriers, he managed to do it.

    The Allfather almost cheered out of sheer excitement he felt. Finally, the damn barriers are down. Now he can achieve his goals. And to his surprise, the 33rd barrier¡¯s destruction didn¡¯t have any rebound effect.

    He faced his men and coldly said: ¡°All the barriers are down. Go and kill them all!¡±

    Hearing that caused the army to feel energized again. They summoned their weapons and roared. They began plunging down to meet their enemies.

    The Sect¡¯s forces are ready as well. In fact, they¡¯re even one step ahead of them. The first round of cannon fire came from the sect¡¯s side, targeting the artillery of the enemies.

    Disciples, met disciples.

    Formations, met formations.

    War gods the Demonic Figures.

    Elders vs. Elders.

    It didn¡¯t take long before therge-scale war urred.

    However, the Allfather had little to no interest on staying back to watch as these people killed each other. He was here for one thing and one thing alone.

    ¡°As expected, you three will be here to stop me.¡± The Allfather snorted as he saw the Grand Elder Zeus, the Sect Master Chronos, and Sect Guardian Gaia standing in front of him.

 Chapter 786: Black Box

    Chapter 786: ck Box

    The Allfather doesn¡¯t really know who Sect Master, Grand Elder and Guardian Gaia is. What he¡¯s familiar with is the aura of Zeus, Chronos and Gaia.

    As the war against the opposing forces rages on beneath them, the four Divine Knights sized-each other up. They chose the skies to be their battlefield in order to lessen the damage done to their surroundings. The Allfather really doesn¡¯t care whatever remains of the sect, in fact he¡¯d be gleeful if it was destroyed.

    The Elders on the other hand are a different case¡­

    ¡°Leave at once.¡± The Sect Master coldly ordered. His face didn¡¯t disy its usual indifference or kindness. Currently, he¡¯s disying cold fury on his face as he stood haughtily in front of the Allfather. ¡°You will never achieve your goal here. Your time is wasted. Trot along and we might consider sparing your pathetic excuse of a life.¡±

    ¡°Hoho¡­¡± The Allfather coldly snorted, ¡°That¡¯s some big words you got there little brat. Where did you learn that from? Didn¡¯t your superiors told you to respect your Elders?¡±

    ¡°I choose who I give my respect to.¡± The Sect Master replied in a frigid tone. ¡°You don¡¯t deserve it. Leave or face our wrath for disturbing our peace.¡±

    ¡°¡­I would really love to y with you three. Unfortunately. I have no time to deal with you right now.¡± The Allfather shook his head as he reared his fist back and a punch.

    ¡®One Punch to Rule the World!¡¯

    A massive phantom of ck fist manifested behind the Allfather. Its speed and momentum was too fast for its size. It¡¯s as if a meter was falling down in front of the three Elders.

    The Sect Master¡¯s eyes gleamed as he whispered: ¡°I knew you¡¯re go to do that.¡±

    He then raised his hand and then, golden grains of sands rolled out from his sleeves. If one looked closely, a faint image of an hourss was reflected on the Sect Master¡¯s pupils.

    ¡®Sands of Time.¡¯

    The Sect Master quietly eximed inwardly. The golden grains of sand began multiplying in an iprehensible speed. They attached themselves on to the blurry shadow of the fist, swallowing it whole and not leaving even a speck behind.

    The Grand Elder moved into action. Golden stands of lightning began enveloping his body. His previously bent back, straightened and his gray-ish hair became like a golden torch. His eyes released a golden brilliance as golden lightning slithered across his body. He clenched his fist and a suddenly, a loud thunder p sounded. Lightning bolt appeared on his grip.

    The Grand Elder raised his grip and threw the lightning bolt at the Allfather. The lightning streaked, shattering space itself as it travelled. It carried an absurd amount of berserk energy and killing intent.

    The Allfather tried to escape but the Lightning Bolt was tracking him. In the end, he got his squarely on his chest, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. The Allfather could¡¯ve avoided this if it weren¡¯t for Gaia who restricted his movement.

    A long green vine erupted from the ground and took the Allfather as a hostage, imprisoning him and locking his movement.

    The vine also has sharp spikes the dug a hole on the Allfather¡¯s skin. It released a very potent poison which immediately got recognized by the Allfather.

    The poison wasced with the power of Laws but it was still extremely dangerous. Even a whiff of this poison could kill an entire city¡¯s poption. That same poison has been injected directly on his veins, causing the Allfather to look extremely wretched within mere seconds.

    Just like this, the battle between Divine Knights started.

    Anyone who made a mistake of watching them will probably get extremely confused. The four of them exchanged thousands of blows within a span of a second. Not even Empyreans can casually tell what¡¯s going on.

    The three sect elders are weaker than the Allfather. He is at the peak Divine Knight while they are at the mid-stages. Nevertheless, theirbined efforts are surely giving the Allfather a run for his money.

    The Sect Master can urately predict his moves by using his talent as the title holder of Chronos. The Grand Elder¡¯s lightning bots hurts since they could bypass any kind of defensive measures while Gaia¡¯s support whittled down at whatever¡¯s left of the Allfather¡¯s stamina and endurance.

    The Allfather was reduced to pitiful state, his hair was dishelved, his robes burnt and he¡¯s bleeding from his orifices due to Gaia¡¯s poisoning.

    The Sect Master can tell that the Allfather was attempting something. Even with his calctions, the Sect Master couldn¡¯t figure it out, for some reason, his actions couldpletely elude his predictions. Nevertheless, instinct told him to not allow whatever the Allfather was trying to do, lest they suffer consequences.

    As the fierce battle raged on all over the sect, only one person in here was not affected by it. He¡¯s not even remotely bothered by the noise. He just continued sipping on his tea and reading his book.

    As time passed on, the Allfather felt incensed. He gnashed his teeth as he thought: ¡®Damn! It¡¯s always these three! Why must they always bar my path! No matter what era it is, they¡¯re always here to suppress me! How hateful!¡¯

    Zeus, Gaia and Chronos. It¡¯s always these three who¡¯s the most troublesome to face. With the addition of Poseidon and Hades on the sidelines, the Allfather was forced to retreat every single time.

    It doesn¡¯t matter from what generation these fellows came from, they have always been a pain in the neck.

    ¡®The connection from my main body is extremely faint.¡¯ The Allfather murmured. ¡®These hateful people must¡¯ve done something to it!¡¯

    The Allfather gritted his teeth as he evaded yet another attack.

    ¡®No! I can¡¯t allow this!¡¯

    ¡®I¡¯ve went through all the trouble to raise this boy in order to devour him and barely seeded! I have to free my main body right now and fuse with it! That¡¯s the only way I can survive! I¡¯ve waited for so long, wasted so many resources and longed freedom for a very long time already! I can¡¯t fail now!¡¯

    As it turns out, the traitor of the past is no more. The Devil Emperor seized his body and managed to do it. If the elders knew of this, they probably won¡¯t be too surprised, after all this is the Devil Emperor. His means are numerous,

    The Allfather doesn¡¯t have any patience anymore. He got distracted and so, another bolt of lightning struck him down. The Allfather spat out of blood and skidded backwards. He used this time to his advantage and brought at out a miniature box from his spatial ring.

    When the ck box appeared on his hand, the Allfather spat out blood essence, containing at least 10,000 years of longevity, onto it.

    When the ck box started emitting a fierce light, the Allfather grinned. The Sect Master¡¯s eyes widened as he immediately warned the rest about it, but as soon as he did so, the Allfather raised the box.

    A strong vacuum appeared, the Sect Master got sucked into the ck box. The Grand Elder and Gaia were rmed and were a step toote to stop it.

    The Allfatherughed haughtily and pointed the box to the Grand Elder who got sucked into it as well. Only Gaia was remaining and it was clear that the Allfather doesn¡¯t have any ns on letting her go.

    What surprised the Allfather however, was the fact that Gaia was as calm as before. She was rmed at first but she already recovered from it. He didn¡¯t sense any fear or trepidation from her. Instead, she just had an absolute confidence.

    ¡°Were you thinking that by imprisoning us, you¡¯ll achieve your goals?¡± Gaia asked the Allfather.

    Seeing the solemn expression on the Allfather¡¯s face, Gaia sneered as she continued: ¡°Naive fool. Go on then. Do your worst. It won¡¯t matter anyway. You should¡¯ve really listened to our advice or at least let us defeat you. But since you insist on chasing after a fruitless endeavor, I can only pity you.¡±

    The Allfather didn¡¯t like the sound of that. He wanted to interrogate her but it doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯s willing to participate. Forcing her wouldn¡¯t work either since the Allfather doesn¡¯t have the means to do that.

    In his confusion, he could only guess that they¡¯re probably tricking him. The Allfather sneered in disdain and spat: ¡°You¡¯re the naive one if you¡¯re thinking that I¡¯d fall for something like that?¡±

    Gaiaughed derisively when she heard that.

    ¡°Am I now?¡± She asked while raising a brow. ¡°Tell me then, was it me who got yed like a fiddle sinceing here?¡±

    The Allfather gnashed his teeth and couldn¡¯t endure her anymore. He just pointed the box at her and imprisoned her along with the others. Still, Gaia¡¯s disdainfulugh rung on his ears.

    Nevertheless, the Allfather could only suppress the terrible feeling he has since he has other important matters to attend to. He swiftly scanned his surroundings and felt where his main body is. Once he grasped the general direction, he flew towards it, turning into a streak of ck light.

    The Allfather located where the prison was. Unfortunately, he was forced to the ground since he felt somebody¡¯s presence near him. Uponnding on the ground, he saw a young man sitting in front of bonfire, drinking tea and reading a book.

    The young man slowly closed his book and looked at him, saying:

    ¡°My, you sure did take your sweet time. And here I thought you won¡¯te, I was starting to get really bored.¡±

 Chapter 787: An Obvious Trap

    Chapter 787: An Obvious Trap

    The Allfather chose to remain silent. He stood still and inspected the young man in front of him.

    Although Raven appeared like a man at the prime of his youth, the Allfather can still feel the overwhelming confidence surging from him. This young man isn¡¯t simple at all.

    Even with Raven¡¯s rxed attitude, the Allfather felt wary. The fact that he could barely feel this young man¡¯s aura made him really rmed.

    He can tell that this young man is at least an Empyrean Knight. He can also tell that the young man knows that he¡¯s against a Divine Knight. Yet the way he stood there, so confident and so rxed, made the Allfather clearly confused.

    ¡®He should at least know that he¡¯s outssed. But what is this? Why don¡¯t I fell any kind of wariness from this boy? Am I missing something here or he¡¯s just really confident that he can prevent me from taking my main body? That should be impossible right?¡¯

    The Allfather might be all things but not an absolute idiot. He can tell that something was up. The fact that they decided to leave this young man here to guard the prison where his main body is, meant something.

    Raven doesn¡¯t even have anyone with him. He was alone and facing against a Divine Knight, yet instead of feeling rmed or nervous, he was rxed and totally unbothered. Why is this so?

    ¡®Did they predict my goal ofing here?¡¯ The Allfather muttered inwardly, ¡®If they did, then why didn¡¯t they do more preparations? They should¡¯ve bolstered the defenses of the pagoda but they didn¡¯t?¡¯

    ¡®No¡­maybe they did predict this all along. And maybe, even with that knowledge, they still decided to send this young man to stop me. If that¡¯s the case, then this young man should indeed be formidable. I shouldn¡¯t underestimate him.¡¯

    ¡°Would you like to enjoy a warm cup of tea?¡±

    The Allfather was woken up from his inner monologues by Raven¡¯s sudden question. The Allfather stared at the boy. He saw him smiling while pouring a warm tea on a teacup ced on top of a small te.

    His actions were elegant and gentle. The Allfather tried to sense any malicious intent from the young man¡¯s actions but he couldn¡¯t sense any. Its either the young man was extremely skilled in hiding them or his invitation was genuine.

    For this current scenario though, the Allfather refused to believe that thetter was the case. He¡¯s inclined to believe his former guess.

    Raven seemed to guess what he was thinking, however instead of confronting him about it, he just smiled and said:

    ¡°I¡¯ve got some good tea, you¡¯ll miss out if you refuse but¡­up to you I guess.¡± Raven shrugged. He truly didn¡¯t care whether the Allfather ept his invitation or not.

    Instead, he just continued with what he was doing. Enjoying tea and reading a book. Although the Allfather already arrived, he wasn¡¯t too worried. There¡¯s simply no need to do so.

    Raven sat back down and opened the book he was reading. His attention left the Allfather and was stered on the book. The Allfather was perplexed upon seeing this.

    ¡®This boy¡­is his head working properly? Can¡¯t he decipher the situation he¡¯s is? How daring must one be topletely disregard a Divine Knight¡¯s presence? Does he truly possess such confidence or he¡¯s just stupid?¡¯

    The Allfather was really confused. Then again, he thought to himself:

    ¡®Why am I thinking so hard about this? What¡¯s the use of being so worried? My work here is simple. Get the main body back and leave. I don¡¯t believe this young man can stop me!¡¯

    The Allfather¡¯s face turned solemn, not bothering to read between the lines anymore, he started marching towards the Devil Emperor¡¯s Pagoda.

    ¡°¡­you¡¯ve made a horrible choice, old man.¡±

    Before the Allfather could ask any questions. He saw numerous lights blooming around him. The Allfather¡¯s senses red screaming danger, yet it was already toote since he already took a bold step forward.

    A dome suddenly appeared on top of him. Numerous runes, sigils and inscriptions formed. Dazzling and emitting a mixture of golden and silver radiance.

    The Allfather felt horrified. He could feel his Divinity locked-up. Not only that, he also felt incredibly exposed. Its as if he was stripped out of his clothes, he felt naked. He felt as if his deepest and darkest secrets were exposed to the light of day.

    He can feel strength leaving his body. In addition to that, something¡¯s interfering with his perception, making him unable tomunicate with anyone, not even the main body.

    The Allfather felt all of his hairs standing on their ends. He was inwardly shocked, saying: ¡®How could this be!? What is this!? How can a Divine Knight like me get so affected by a mere formation?¡¯

    That¡¯s right. The Allfather is trapped inside a formation. Not only did he fail to sense its presence, he also had the impression that it would take eons for him to solve this riddle and free himself. How was this even possible?

    ¡°Another one, bites the dust¡­¡± The Allfather heard the young man¡¯s familiar voice, nevertheless he couldn¡¯t even see where this young man is anymore, his perception was neutralized inside this formation.

    ¡°Who the hell are you!?¡± The Allfather demanded, shouting on top of his lungs as he looked around, trying to search for Raven.

    ¡°Vendrick Valorheart, at your service. Call me Raven though.¡± The young man answered him. ¡°My, and here I thought you¡¯d pose a little more challenge for me. Can¡¯t believe your this stupid to fall for such an obvious trap.¡±

    The Allfather was incensed. He could hear the pity and disappointment on Raven¡¯s voice as he spoke. He could even imagine him shaking his head.

    ¡°I demand you to release me!!¡±

    ¡°What the hell are you? Five years old? What makes you think that I¡¯ll do that? I¡¯m as stupid as you.¡±

    Raven¡¯s ruthless remark caused the Allfather to grimace. Even he himself realized how stupid he sounded just now.

    Without saying anything to embarrass himself anymore, the Allfather summoned his strength and attack the formation from within.

    *Boom!*

    His energy exploded and the formation shook a bit. The Allfather concentrated and felt dismayed when he saw that there wasn¡¯t even a scratch on the ce he attacked. Additionally, it didn¡¯t end with just that.

    *Boom!!*

    The Allfather was blown away by an unexpected rebound. His back mmed at the formation walls and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He red at the formation and felt something click on his head.

    ¡°You know¡­since you personally dealt with 33yered Barrier Seal I created, I figured you would¡¯ve learned your lesson by now.¡± Raven¡¯s voice was filled with wonder, amusement and a small disappointment, ¡°I guess my expectations are a bit much for you, huh?¡±

    The Allfather gnashed his teeth in anger. He felt incredibly humiliated by Raven¡¯s words.

    Again! How could he let himself fall for such an embarrassing state? He should¡¯ve known better indeed but being told about it by someone else was incredibly humiliating!

    ¡®He was the one who made those wretched barriers! He¡¯s that shameless person! Argh!!¡¯

    The Allfather felt boundless hatred against Raven.

    Due to his personality as part of the Devil Emperor, he already feel a string aversion against formations, seals and alike. How could he not? He was imprisoned by those things for god knows how long already.

    Yet again and again, even though he should¡¯ve already expected it, he still falls for it. At this point, the Devil Emperor¡¯s hatred against formations have reached the peak. He abhorred them with all of his being.

    Only god knows how much he wanted to trample this formation and Raven¡¯s face into pieces. However, he could only gnash his teeth in anger since doing that would prove his stupidity even more.

    ¡°You left me with no choice.¡± The Allfather spat venomously.

    He then took a deep breath and forcefully ignited his blood. The moment he did, the Allfather looked even more wretched. His pupils turned red in fury, his fangs became sharper and longer. Additionally, a pair of horns emerged from his temples.

    The Allfather opened his mouth. Shortly after, a small ck hole started swirling and releasing a powerful suction force that attempted to uproot the formation from its foundations.

    ¡°Oh! Swallowing Laws! How rare.¡±

    Raven¡¯s words nearly made the Allfather lose his control over the ck hole. The fact that Raven could recognize the Swallowing Laws caused the Allfather to feel extremely rmed. How can he not be? This art is something unique to the Abyssals and their retainers! How could a young man like this guy knew about it?

    ¡°I wonder why your main body didn¡¯t even think about using that in the first ce. He had so many chances to do it, but he didn¡¯t.¡± Raven¡¯s tone was filled with curiosity. ¡°Oh well, none of my concern. Its not like he could do it now even if I reminded him.¡±

    ¡°Going back to the topic¡­yeah, sorry buddy. That shit won¡¯t work here.¡±

    Those words promptly made the Allfather lose his control over the technique.

 Chapter 788: Always One Step Ahead

    Chapter 788: Always One Step Ahead

    The Swallowing Laws¡­

    Suchw is something unique to the Abyssals and their vassals. In fact, it is the tool that made them the way they are¡­locusts.

    Swallowing Laws¡­does exactly what it implies. Those who understood how the technique works can swallow Laws. It doesn¡¯t sound much to ordinary people but to those who understood the peculiarities of Heaven and Earth, it¡¯s apletely different matter.

    Laws are the ones that maintain the order of things be it small or big. Everything that exists¡­exists because of Laws.

    Should someone who can swallow Laws does manage to do their thing, everything will fall into chaos. And this is precisely why the Abyssals are the most terrifying enemy that any realm can face.

    It¡¯s not like they were being forced to do this for sustenance or to be stronger, no. They just do it because they could¡­and because they think that the taste of Laws are the top most delicacy there is.

    They travel through the various gxies, be it small or big, they will invade and once they¡¯re done, they will leave nothing behind aside from scraps. Hell, consider it a miracle if they even left something intact.

    They don¡¯t have the habit of wiping out civilizations, they just swallow whatever it is that causes that civilization to exist and leave ¨C which basically the same as ending their existence without deliberately killing them.

    After all, without Laws, how can those species survive?

    This is why they have a ton of vassals, ranging from one race to the other. Its not like they brought them in, these races were their victims and they begged the Abyssals to take them in hopes of surviving ¨C these are the most pitiful ones.

    In Raven¡¯s previous life. The Abyssals nearly seeded on swallowing Divine Realm¡¯s Origin Laws. If it weren¡¯t for his mighty confrontation with the Abyssal Emperor, they might¡¯ve already won. That being said, Divine Realm was greatly wounded from their attacks. Even though it looked like he was able to stop the Abyssal Emperor from destroying the Divine Realm, it will still take eons for Divine Realm to hear.

    Of course, this is under the premise that whatever¡¯s left of mankind back then could still defend against the remaining army of the Abyssals.

    ***

    Raven shook his head as memories of past life re-surfaced on his memories. Seeing how the trapped Allfather still tries to use the Swallowing Laws to uproot the foundations of his formation, triggered the slumbering memories from his mind.

    But instead of feeling a bit apprehensive about the technique being disyed, Raven instead felt an absolute confidence.

    ¡®It¡¯d be a different case if I was facing a real Abyssal right now. But since I¡¯m not¡­well, there¡¯s no way this meager imitation can uproot the foundations of my runes.¡¯

    Right. What the Allfather was disying right now wouldn¡¯t even be considered as the real one since he himself isn¡¯t an Abyssal. If anything, it¡¯s just an imitation. A weak one at that. Raven couldn¡¯t even be bothered to stop this fruitless endeavor since the Allfather was desperate.

    ¡®¡­in hindsight, at least I got another infinite source of energy.¡¯ Raven muttered to himself as he remained on his seat while reading a book. ¡®This Allfather is also an Immortal. Plus, his body was possessed by the Devil Emperor. Since I used the main body as an energy source, I might as well include the one who got away.¡¯

    Inside the formation, the Allfather looked extremely wretched.

    He wondered to himself, how long has it been since he got trapped here? He felt like he just got here but at the same time, he also feel like it¡¯s been so long.

    The Allfather tried his best. He truly did. Using the imitation of Swallowing Laws isn¡¯t easy. He¡¯s not an Abyssal, this body is that of a human. The technique itself is rejecting him due to this so forcing himself to use it is the same is putting himself in danger.

    Never mind using it multiple times a day, even just once will cause a terrifying bacsh. With multiple uses, he is damaging his own Divinity, the source of his strength and sustenance. He is literally killing himself. Yet he endured and pressed-on.

    For what exactly? The answer lies to the smallest chance of seeding¡­

    If he could just free the main body¡­everything will be worth it. If he could just free his true body, he can get rid of this pathetic vessel and fuse together. He will be whole again! He could recover faster and once again, stand at the top of this world! If he could just reach the main body¡­

    Unfortunately for him¡­Raven ruthlessly stomped on his hopes and dreams. The Allfather couldn¡¯t even see how he did it.

    His situation really makes one wonder what would his reaction be like if he could see his main body right now?

    Raven would be lying if he said that he wasn¡¯t interested to see that. After all, he isn¡¯t one to give any kind of mercy to those he consider ae his enemies.

    The Allfather¡¯s confidence had been shattered into pieces. All hopes of putting it back together was lost. At this point, he can¡¯t use the Swallowing Laws anymore. If he even tried to do that, he will explode at the next second.

    ¡°What is this damned formation!?¡± The Allfather roared indignantly. ¡°How can it be this tough! I don¡¯t believe it!!¡±

    The Allfather summoned everything out from his spatial ring. He has all sorts of weapon with all shapes and sizes. He activated them without holding back, trying his best to at least poke even the smallest hole into this damned formation so that his hope can be re-kindled.

    Unfortunately¡­

    ¡°Nice try buddy.¡± Raven voice echoed out of nowhere again.

    His voice caused the Allfather¡¯s body to shudder visibly from disbelief and great anger. Even after the endless volley of attacks from all sorts of treasures and weapons he possessed, none of them even left a mark on the formation.

    The only thing that caused some form of reaction from the formation was the Swallowing Laws, something that the Allfather cannot use anymore.

    The Allfather despaired. He copsed on the floor, looking wretched and hopeless as he stared nkly at the formation that trapped him.

    Seeing that caused Raven¡¯s lips to form a ruthless sneer. He gently closed the book he was reading. He then said:

    ¡°¡­you caved-in a little too fast. How boring¡­¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± The Allfather asked softly. He didn¡¯t even had the strength to feel angry at this point. All he could feel was numbness from this overwhelming sense if defeat and failure.

    ¡°See this is the problem with you¡­you¡¯re too inattentive.¡± Raven admonished, ¡°I already introduced myself earlier, yet you¡¯re still asking me who I am.¡±

    The Allfather couldn¡¯t refute that. After all, he is aware that he fell to an extremely obvious trap. He made a rookie mistake which was extremely humiliating for someone who¡¯s considered as a Divine Knight.

    ¡°¡­how could someone like you exist? How could something like even be possible? Hell, how did you even know what the Swallowing Laws is? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not their agent because if you were, then you wouldn¡¯t do this to me. But how¡­how are you aware of them? How do you know them?¡±

    ¡°Cause I¡¯m ridiculously smart.¡± Raven replied smugly, causing the Allfather¡¯s expression to turn dark. ¡°Well, you surely aren¡¯t expecting to squeeze some information out of me now, are you? Don¡¯t forget your current situation, buddy. You¡¯re a prisoner and soon, an endless power supply. Nothing more, nothing less.¡±

    ¡°¡­oh, and I advice you to stop entertaining any thoughts of escaping from here. I can see that you have a Switch Rune on your palms. That¡¯s not going to work, believe me. You already suffered the proof yourself. You who can¡¯t even analyze the formation in front of you. What makes you think that you can use such a petty tactic to deceive me?¡±

    The Allfather shivered and smiled mirthlessly. At this moment, he knew its hopeless. He was truly done for. Hisst hope of escaping was exposed this easily. He should¡¯ve known but he still hoped. Now though, Raven once again ruthlessly crushed his hope.

    The Switch Rune was his final hope. This is something that he can use to retreat safely, preferably with the Devil Emperor.

    By activating this rune, he can appear to the massive formation he set up outside. The same one he used to forcefully expose the Ancient Elysium Sect so that they can invade it. This will make their escape easier.

    How could Raven, someone who mastered everything about Runes and Formation, let something like that happen? He¡¯s already a step ahead of the Allfather.

    He already tampered at the formation outside in way that nobody could fix. Even if the Allfather tried, the Switch Rune wouldn¡¯t work.

    This whole invasion was a mistake in the first ce. The Allfather¡¯s overconfidence was a mistake and now, he suffering because of it.

    The moment he dared to step foot on Raven¡¯s territory¡­he already signed the agreement for a slow and painful death.

    It¡¯s as simple as that.

 Chapter 789: Ended

    Chapter 789: Ended

    shes of colorful lights bloomed within the sect.

    Screams of pain, agony and despair along with war cries and roars of fury, everything was mixed up, making it difficult to tell which camp does what.

    By now, the news of The Exiles invasion already congrated outside of the sect. Many people who happened to be in the vicinity discovered it and were now silently observing from a far. The news has spread far and wide, not even a day passed since the invasion urred and pretty much the entire realm knew about the invasion.

    In hindsight, it was a bit difficult to keep the news from spreading, after all themotion was too great.

    The way The Exiles forced the secluded sect to appear garnered a lot of attention. Just a reminder, they did use a formation, which needed several worlds as a base, to pry open the sect¡¯s gates and reveal them to everyone.

    Many people came but didn¡¯t dare to intrude the sect¡¯s grounds, they didn¡¯t even dare toe close since they are aware that if they do that, the sect will be their enemies. Plus, none of them wanted to join this absurd sh¡­especially when it was inly obvious that the Ancient Elysium Sect was winning this war.

    No, they didn¡¯t need to get close in order toe to that conclusion. Again, it was obvious. Those who were watching can tell what¡¯s going on even from afar.

    Despite the on-going chaos around the sect, they didn¡¯t really suffer major casualties.

    The disciples were doing great. Of course injuries can¡¯t avoided but their numbers didn¡¯t decrease at all. In addition to that, their formation was more effectivepared to the invaders ¨C which is of course to be expected since Raven is from their camp.

    The Elders, the War Gods, the Heirs¡­even the current Title Holders were dazzling in this war. Those who were watching can¡¯t help but to shudder from their sheer might. They could feel the palpitating aura they were releasing even at the distance they were in.

    Their anger and killing intent was a grim reminder why nobody should mess with a slumbering giant. All this time that the Ancient Elysium Sect had been secluded, they didn¡¯t weaken unlike what most people think, no. In fact, they became even stronger than before.

    Every single one from the sect was a heaven-defying genius, this has always been the case even if the sect lowered their standards for recruiting disciples.

    In addition to all of this, despite the chaos ensuing around the sect, they didn¡¯t really suffer anyrge casualties amongst their ranks nor they suffered a great damage to their property.

    Sure, the grounds were shattered here and there but that can¡¯t be helped. As for their main buildings though, those were untouched.

    Its not like their enemies weren¡¯t trying to cause as much destruction as they could¡­they do, they truly wanted to¡­but they can¡¯t.

    Some hasn¡¯t figured this out yet but in truth, all of the major buildings within the sect were fortified.

    By who?

    Is that even a question at this point? Of course, by Raven! Who else?

    Believe it or not though, this is just a side effect.

    These buildings were fortified because they are fed by a steady stream of energy. This energyes from none other than their unlimited energy source ¨C the Devil Emperor. This is why they won¡¯t fall down.

    Heck, even if these buildings did get damaged, they could repair themselves so long as there¡¯s energy being supplied to them.

    Suffice to say, invading the Ancient Elysium Sect was the worst choice that these people could do, yet they still did it. Which is why they deserved everything they are experiencing right now.

    The warsted for three days¡­

    It would¡¯vested longer if it weren¡¯t for the fact that The Exiles spent most of their energy dealing with the 33yered Seal. In addition to this, they were trapped inside the sect too, this isn¡¯t their home ground so they were suppressed. They¡¯ve nowhere to retreat nor run to. They were stuck between a rock and hard ce.

    Still, there are some confusing things that the audience found out as they watched¡­

    The first one was the fact that the sect seems to not have any intentions of wiping out the intruders. The audience lost count on how many times they¡¯ve witnessed a scene where someone from the sect only needed tounch another attack to end the other party but in the end, they didn¡¯t. They instead just suppressed them.

    Tied them up and hauled them into a miniature prison¡­which was weird.

    Another thing that confused the audience was¡­where was the leaders?

    From the start of the battle up to now, none of them really saw where the leading figures of both camps went. They scoured the battlefield but none of them could be seen? Where did they go?

    Some spected that they¡¯re probably fighting somewhere private. A lot of people agreed to this but not because they were convinced but because it was the most logical guess they coulde up with.

    Finally, what probably was the most confusing part of this whole scenario, is the fact that Representatives from the Dawn Council was openly attacking the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    The audience discovered at least three or four people with familiar looking faces in here. They¡¯re not wearing disguises and even if they were, all that would do is dy the discovery of their identities.

    Raven could recognize who these people were. These were the most trusted confidants of the Allfather. Raven already discovered their identity way back then so he wasn¡¯t truly surprised. But audience were though¡­

    Why were they attacking the sect? Wasn¡¯t the Dawn Council an ally of the Sect? What¡¯s the meaning of this? Why would they dere war? For what purpose? For resources? Surely, not! This is Dawn Council, how can they run out of resources?

    All of this questions made the audience really confused but there was nothing they could do to rify things.

    They do not know why this invasion urred in first ce so there¡¯s really not much information for them to work with here.

    Still though, it was in obvious that the Ancient Elysium Sect won this war. It¡¯s only a matter of time and cleaning up. After that, themotion is done and the sect will probably close its doors once more.

    Even then, the result of this battle has already propagated far and wide. Almost everyone was paying attention to it.

    The controversy of the Dawn Council Members attacking the sect was also brought up. At this current moment, those who had established a really close ties with the Ancient Elysium Sect turned their gaze to the Dawn Council.

    Some of these people were eon old monsters, hermits that had long since retreated from the secr world.

    With this news however, they stepped out and began travelling towards the main headquarters of the Dawn Council.

    They do not have any ill intentions, no. They just want some¡­answers. That¡¯s all.

    Some people stuck around, waiting until the Sect finishes cleaning up the rest. They were eager to witness the whole ordeal even if the ending was already decided.

    In the sect, thest few stragglers were being hauled on the prison. The battle already ended. The Exiles lost¡­miserably too.

    The leaders from the Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s side had began dishing out orders. They did not waste time and started with the repairs.

    A small work considering that they just finished fighting a hot-blooded war. The injured were already being taken care off and those who doesn¡¯t have any energy left to spare were resting. The sect was already stabilizing.

    The war grounds rounded up their prisoners. They collected the miniature prisons from their squads and brought them altogether. They erected a formation at the center of Greece and let every prisoner out.

    Suffice to say, everyone from the opposing side felt their hearts heavy. None of them entertained any thoughts of being spared. If anything, they knew that they will all be executed, be made as an example ¨C a deterrence, for those who still entertained any thoughts about the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    ¡­well, that¡¯s of course, the most logical guess they coulde up with, why else would they be kept alive up to this point right?

    Never would they imagine that someone has other ns for them.

    That someone appeared in front of them. Gently stepping on air, carrying the temperament and appearance of an untouchable Immortal. He¡¯s apanied by the Sect Master, the Grand Elder and the Guardian Elder.

    ¡°Well, well, well¡­¡±

    Raven spoke with a mildly amused tone, raising his brows ever so slightly as he stared at the prisoners gathered in front of him, suppressed by a massive formation.

    ¡°Naughty little chicks, eh?¡± Raven chuckled as he stared at them, ¡°I wonder what should I do with you? Hmm¡­¡±

    None of the prisoners like how Raven referred to them but they could only endure. After all, they were the defeated ones.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you options¡­¡± Raven said softly, but then his face became rigidly cold the next moment when he saw several faces.

    ¡°Ah, no. Not you guys.¡± Raven stated, pointing a the Dawn Council Representatives, pushing them up in the air with a faint gesture. ¡°You guys are not important.¡±

    ¡°Die.¡±

    Raven clenched his hand and the four representatives exploded into mere mists of blood, causing the audience to shiver and gasp loudly from his brutality.

 Chapter 790: Service Disciples

    Chapter 790: Service Disciples

    He didn¡¯t bother deliberating even for a second there¡­he didn¡¯t even allowed them to say anything or do anything. He just killed them and he did it so easily like he was popping a balloon.

    The Elders of the sect who stood behind him didn¡¯t look shock, if anything, there a trace of approval in content on their faces when they saw Raven¡¯s actions.

    The remaining army of The Exiles weren¡¯t so calm though, in fact they are far from being calm. Some of them where shivering from head to toe after witnessing that kind of brutality. No questions asked, no negotiations, just straight-up death. It is these same people who were left wondering if it will soon be their turn.

    Those who were watching from afar had mixed reactions. Some were baffled at the audacity of the handsome man. His actions was a resounding p across the face of the Dawn Council. It¡¯s as if he already dered them as his mortal enemy. Some understood why he did it but they also felt some doubts¡­

    They thought that this man was being impulsive. Even though it was clear that the Dawn Council was in the wrong here, they thought that the sect should at least hear them out first. After all, this is the Dawn Council they¡¯re talking about. They are the leading figures of the Divine Realm, even if they did something questionable, the sect should at least give them some face.

    Of course, there are also some people who thought that the man¡¯s actions were justified. The people he killed didn¡¯t deserve to live any longer than they¡¯re supposed to. The moment they entertained thoughts about the Ancient Elysium Sect, they also signed-up for their brutal deaths.

    At the end of the day though, their thoughts were their own. Raven neither cared nor bothered about what they think. It doesn¡¯t matter how they interpreted his decisions were for at the end of the day, he knows what he¡¯s doing.

    ¡°Right¡­now that there¡¯s no longer any disturbances. I¡¯ll tell you what¡¯s going to happen next.¡± Raven stated as he addressed the prisoners they held.

    ¡°From now on, all of you will be a part of the Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s new court ¨C the Service Disciple¡¯s Court.¡±

    Raven statement caused all of them to be extremely surprised and silent. They all looked at him in wonder, thinking if they heard him properly.

    ¡°Yes, you heard me right.¡± Raven nodded with a sly smile on his face. ¡°All of you are considered as a half-disciple of our sect.¡±

    Before they could ask questions, Raven took it to himself to exin why¡­

    ¡°Your invasion has never been a surprise when ites to us.¡± Raven stated, ¡°From the moment we discovered about the spies you nted in our ranks, we were already aware about your invasion ns.¡±

    ¡°In addition to this, we are also aware that all of you here truly didn¡¯t want to do this.¡± Raven stated with a serious face. ¡°You were abducted from your homes, forced to be a part of The Exiles out of fear.¡±

    ¡°I also am aware that the Allfather ¨C your Supreme Leader, ced something in you that will take your lives the moment you entertain any thoughts about betraying The Exiles. Still, I dared to do this because I have a solution for that.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re leader is gone.¡± Raven simple stated, ¡°Well, he¡¯s not really gone, but he will never bother you again. Any of his hold against you are now rendered useless. If you want to confirm it, then voice out your thoughts, experience it yourselves.¡±

    There were some of them who didn¡¯t dare to believe him¡­of course, there¡¯s also those who dared.

    Those who dared¡­didn¡¯t die. Surprised and gleeful, they spoke even louder. Voicing out thoughts about openly betraying The Exiles, spitting out strings of curses against it, hating it, loathing it and so on. Still, none of them died.

    Slowly but surely, everybody was convinced. They were safe. The curse that was given to them was either gone or ineffective now, and they couldn¡¯t be more happier.

    These people had seen some people explode out of nowhere due to entertaining thoughts about betraying The Exiles. Fear had taken root at their hearts, made them hopeless. They were forced to do things that they didn¡¯t want to do. They became ves. Their freedom taken away from them.

    Now however, they were safe. They at least regain some sort of freedom back. But of course, none of them were that delusional. They didn¡¯t dare to think that they¡¯re out of the woods just yet.

    Their celebration onlysted a brief moment before they quieted down. Raven looked at them and nodded, he then said:

    ¡°Most of you a sharp. I like that.¡± Raven stated, ¡°Indeed, I returned some of your freedom back, but not all of it. None of you are allowed to take even one step out of this ce. Let¡¯s not mention that I will for sure enhance the barriers that almost killed half of you, but the moment you guys dared to do so, you will explode into bloody mists, just like the ones earlier.¡±

    Everyone felt their hearts chilling at the thought. They nervously stared at the man in front of them, none of them spoke but the tension was high. They could feel the formless pressure pressing down on them, making it difficult to breath.

    ¡°We are aware that you were forced to do this. However, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that you have to answer to your actions. After all, none of you were order to attack our disciples. You guys were only ordered to follow your Supreme Leader.¡±

    Hearing this caused them to look at each other, and to their surprise, it was indeed that case. They totally misunderstood the order. The Allfather told them to invade the Ancient Elysium Sect and follow him, he didn¡¯t say that they have/need to attack the sect, just invade it.

    ¡°I see that some of you finally remembered.¡± Raven stated, ¡°Yes, you guyspletely misunderstood his orders. This isn¡¯t the Allfather¡¯s fault, it is yours. Therefore, you all needed to be held ountable.¡±

    ¡°The injuries our disciples receive from you are no joke. Even though nobody died, some of them need at least a year to recover from the injuries they sustained, this will inevitably hamper their progress so they needed to bepensated.¡±

    ¡°Our sect has no need for prisoners.¡± Raven stated after a brief pause. ¡°Prisoners, at least us, are just useless burdens, therefore we have no need for them.¡±

    ¡°Which begged the question, what should we do to you all? Killing all of you is an option, but that¡¯s be unfair and wasteful. Unfair because none of wanted to be a part of this in the first ce and wasteful because you guys aren¡¯t that bad.¡±

    ¡°So, in order to solved this dilemma, we decided to adopt you all.¡± Raven said, ¡°From now, you will be Service Disciples of our sect. You will be in task of providing assistance and tending to menial tasks within the sect to pay what owe to us.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that you will not be treated as mere ves here.¡± Raven rified, ¡°What you will provide is Service to contribute to the sect. You are subjected to our strict rules and regtion just as much as the true disciples are.¡±

    ¡°Do your job and you will be fine.¡±

    ¡°Establish a good profile and we will let you send letters out to your families.¡±

    ¡°Work hard, achieve great things and you might be promoted as an Outer Disciple. Hell, who knows? Maybe I¡¯m looking at the next Title Holders amongst your ranks.¡±

    ¡°In short, weck man-power so your timing is great. Do good and you will be rewarded. This is already a much better lifepared to the satire environment you all were previously in.¡±

    ¡°Still, the choice is in your hands.¡± Raven stated, ¡°Those who are keen to the idea of joining us, step forward. Those who can¡¯t decide, remain in your ce. I¡¯ll deal with youter.¡±

    ¡°So? What will you do?¡± Raven raised a brow and asked.

    Almost instantly, everyone took arge stride forward.

    Of course they would! Who in the right mind will refuse such generous terms! Heck, being a Service Disciple for the Ancient Elysium Sect is dreame true already. Who the hell would hesitate at this point?

    ¡°Good!¡± Raven nodded, pleased by what he witnessed.

    All of sudden, he released a brilliant light and his deep sonorous voice echoed across the Service Disciples.

    ¡°Service Disciples! Kneel a d kowtow to your Sect Master Lucas, Grand Elder Gin and Guardian Elder Gaia!¡±

    The Service Disciples felt their hears heavy but not the bad kind. Their faces turned solemn as then knelt down and knocked their foreheads on the ground. Together, their sonorous voices echoed across the sect.

    ¡°We greet Sect Master, Grand Elder and Guardian Elder!¡±

    The Sect Master looked just as pleased as the Grand Elder and Gaia. He then took a step forward and said:

    ¡°Pay respects to you Young Lord ¨C the inheritor and Heir to my Title, Raven.¡±

    The voices of the Service Disciples echoed once more¡­

    ¡°We greet Young Lord Raven!¡±

 Chapter 791: Waves

    Chapter 791: Waves

    ¡°¡­hey, have you heard the news?¡±

    ¡°Are you perhaps referring to the one about the Ancient Elysium Sect?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that one! Shit¡¯s incredible, yeah?¡±

    ¡°Damn right it is! They once again proved why they deserved to be at the top of the chain.¡±

    ¡°Dude. I also heard that there¡¯s chaos at the Dawn Council right now!¡±

    ¡°Eh? What happened? Did the Ancient Elysium Sect barged on their doors?¡±

    ¡°Nope. It wasn¡¯t them. It¡¯s those who were indebted to them.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Well, apparently, there are a few secluded experts who came out of their seclusion upon hearing the news that someone from the Dawn Council dared to attack the sect. Those people are the ones that came to the council¡¯s doors, demanding answers.¡±

    ¡°Holy crap, dude! That¡¯s wild!¡±

    ¡°I know right? They haven¡¯t done anything yet though. From what I heard, they were just waiting in front of the council¡¯s doors. They said that they¡¯ll wait for the arrival of the sect, then they¡¯d go in. Whether the Sect decides to tten the Dawn Council or not, the hermits will assist them.¡±

    ¡°Oh, dear. It¡¯s bound to be chaotic soon. This isn¡¯t good for business.¡±

    ¡°Right. Even though I am not clear as to what the Dawn Council did, I¡¯m hoping for the best oue. Hopefully this can be resolved in a peaceful manner at least.¡±

    ¡°If those giants shes, usmoners will be the first ones to suffer. Damn it, if my fields are ruined because of their battle, I am going to endlessly curse the Dawn Council.¡±

    ¡°Only them?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. The Ancient Elysium Sect didn¡¯t anything wrong. They will never be wrong.¡±

    Conversations like this one are happening all over the Divine Realm.

    It hasn¡¯t even been a full week since the invasion of The Exiles happen. Even though the war already ended on the side, the situation still kept escting into absurd proportions.

    The exposure of the Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s matter already spread far and wide, it already left a mark to the people¡¯s mind. Their overwhelming victory against their enemies astounded everyone.

    Not a single casualty. The sect didn¡¯t lose a single thing, yet they obtained far too many things. The fact that the Service Disciples Court was established just after the war was already known by a lot of people.

    The move was impressive. Recruiting enemies to be your allies. It¡¯s a risky move but one that will surely benefit the sect greatly in return.

    The sect already recovered from the incident, the clean-up and repairs were done in a mere day. Majority of the people are already resting or back to their regr routine.

    With the addition of the Service Disciples Court, the sect covered theirck of man-power. The menial tasks are now being handled by the newly recruited Service Disciples.

    Despite being restricted in many ways, none of the Service Disciples voiced out anyints. It certainly didn¡¯t look like they were enduring such a heavy burden either. To them, this actions were just a form of discipline. Something to correct their mindset and pay for their debts.

    What Raven promised to them was true, their lives are much better here in the sect. Even though them and the true disciples were at each other¡¯s throats yesterday, it has already passed. The worst treatment they got from the True Disciples were either indifference or a lukewarm attitude at best, which already impressive enough considering that they literally were trying to kill each other before.

    The integration of the new court went smoothly under Raven¡¯s guidance. At this point, the Service Disciples already memorized theyout of the sect, they were made aware of the ce they can and cannot go.

    As Service Disciples, what they will offer is their Service of course, in exchange for Merit Points. Menial tasks such as cleaning the zas, assisting at the herb gardens and alchemicalbs, tending to the mounts, and etc. Basically, things that are taking most of the true disciples¡¯ time, were left for them to attend to.

    The value of Merit Points given to them aren¡¯t any less than the others too of course. In fact, some of them already exchanged for things that could help their current situations.

    The sect treated them fairly. They were given a house, clothes, steady supply of food, and time for themselves as well. They have most of their freedom with the exception of freely going in and out of the sect. They don¡¯t have that yet since not even the True Disciples had it¡­at least for now.

    The threat of the Allfather was gone, the curse ced on them was cleansed the moment they willingly pledged their allegiance to the sect. None of them held any strong loyalty towards The Exiles in the first ce so this came as no surprise. The sect didn¡¯t have to worry about them being potential spies or holding any thoughts of betrayal.

    The Service Disciples haven¡¯t been here for long but they already liked it here. They don¡¯t mind living like this at all.

    With the exposure of the Ancient Elysium Sect, one figure stood amongst the rest, basking under the spotlight and causing great waves with his appearance.

    Of course, it¡¯s none other than Raven.

    He hasn¡¯t done anything incredibly huge yet, all he did was show up and mercilessly reduced the representatives of the Dawn Council into blood mists. All that is known about him is that he is called Raven and that the Sect Master himself proimed that he¡¯s the heir to the position of the Sect Master.

    Right, and also he¡¯s is referred to as the ¡®Young Lord¡¯.

    It truly isn¡¯t much of a big deal¡­except that it is.

    No, the matter about him being Heir of the Sect Master isn¡¯t the thing. It¡¯s the fact that everyone refers to him as the ¡®Young Lord¡¯ ¨C this was the most baffling.

    Hearing the Sect Master himself, dering that Raven should be referred to as such, was a mind-boggling matter.

    The Young Lord of the Ancient Elysium Sect¡­just what kind of man is that he was referred to as such?

    Many were curious of course, they wanted to know more about him so some of them employed the help of the Oriental Dragon Group ¨C the nosiest of them all. The ones that gathers any kind of intelligence, be it big or small.

    Unfortunately, the Oriental Dragon Group doesn¡¯t have much information about him. Which is a bitmentable, really.

    But they do know that the Young Lord of the Ancient Elysium Sect is the Holy Maiden Luna¡¯s mystery husband all this time. This much, is something they can guarantee, after all they have proof.

    That¡­that¡¯s what really did it for most people.

    People had been wondering about who was the mysterious man for so damn long. Now, they finally have answers.

    Some denied the im vehemently, but they were ignored since they¡¯re neither Luna nor Raven. Who else could give light to this matter aside from the two of them honestly?

    There are some who kind of gets it. To them, only someone with this kind of reputation was deserving of their beloved Holy Maiden. Some even started calling them ¡®Divine Realm¡¯s Power Couple.¡¯

    Some were worried though. The reason behind this is the fact that Luna recently became a spokesperson for the Dawn Council. Which means that she¡¯s standing at the opposite side as her husband, making them enemies.

    Many were concerned about this but Luna remained still. Her Sect released a statement that Luna hasn¡¯t taken even one step outside of the sect for the past twenty or so years. They imed that she has no involvement about this matter since she entered seclusion.

    Then of course, since this matter is rted the Divine Realm¡¯s dearest Holy Maiden, her ¡®suitors¡¯ made an appearance.

    Some had the audacity to be heartbroken even though they stood no chance in the first ce. Some even boldly imed that the news was filled with lies and imed that they were the Holy Maiden¡¯s husband.

    Apart from them, there were some who extended their warm support and epted their defeat. iming that they will no longer bother the Holy Maiden.

    All in all, the Divine Realm is bustling with activities. For now, the matters about the Ancient Elysium Sect reached the headlines. Many people are silently observing and waiting for the sect¡¯s next move. They are aware that this is not the end of this.

    Everyone was harboring ns of their own. Some were eager, some were nervous.

    All of that though, were currently none of Raven¡¯s concern.

    Currently, he¡¯s busy improving the 33yered Seal¡­if he could even call it that name now that he added yet another 33yers.

    It should be 66-Layered Seal Barrier now. With this, the security of the Sect has been bolstered even more. If the previous version could already tire out a Divine Knight, just imagine what this improved one could do.

    There are still some matters that he had to attend to though. Since he¡¯s known to keep his word. There¡¯s no reason for him to break his streak now.

    After finishing his improvements, he flew back to the Storm Dweller¡¯s Peak.

    It¡¯s about time to let the disciples out.

 Chapter 792: Recognition

    Chapter 792: Recognition

    ¡°Well, all threats are gone¡­¡± Raven stated in a matter-of-fact¡¯ly tone. ¡°The Exiles are no more, the Devil Emperor is as good as gone as well. If there¡¯s something we should be wary about, it¡¯ll be the Abyssals, but I don¡¯t think they arrive anytime soon. They might not even know that we exist just yet, and that¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°With the problems of the sect cleared, I do believe that it¡¯s about time we break-off from the traditions that out sect followed closely during the past millions of years¡­¡± Raven continued, ¡°It¡¯s about time for us to open up our doors.¡±

    The people who were listening to his speech involuntarily shuddered, not out of fear but out of excitement.

    Granted, this isn¡¯t the first time they heard about this, but the previous one was more of a spection. An ¡®if¡¯ for them. This, right now isn¡¯t that. This is a statement.

    It is actually going to happen. It will since Raven said so.

    It¡¯s not like Raven was the only one who decided this one his own, no. He reached out for the Elders¡¯ opinion about this and all of them eagerly approved, even the Sect Master himself.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s Traditions ¨C if anything, this refers to the fact that those who joined the sect are never allowed to leave unless they were either kicked-out of the sect or at least has a valid excuse for leaving. Even then, the chances of this happening is extremely low.

    The sect was reclusive not out of want, but out of need.

    It needed to be private in order to maintain peace and order. They have to be secretive in order to secure the burden they¡¯re carrying. This fact had been established since the Sect¡¯s creation and it has been millions of years since then.

    The threat of the Devil Emperor was too much. He was a disaster that will devour all manner of life on theirnd. It is the sect¡¯s duty ¨C the reason of its very foundation, to keep this threat locked away, secured and guarded heavily.

    Now however¡­that threat is no more.

    The Devil Emperor¡¯s destined to never harm a single soul. He reduced to nothing more than an unlimited energy source. Reduce to forever curse his immortality since it granted him an endless promise of pain and suffering ¨C a heavy price to pay for his sins.

    His army has been wiped out. Even hisst hope was suffering the same fate as him. He¡¯s as good as dead to the eyes of many. A couple of years in the future, he will eventually be forgotten. Even then, his suffering will never cease.

    With him out of the picture, the people who¡¯s running the Ancient Elysium Sect can breathe easier. The burden that they and those who came before them, carried is now gone. The stifling feeling of an enormous weight pressing down their chests, disappeared. Gone with the wind. Never to return.

    It filled them with so much relief, making them emotional.

    Their hearts surged and they will always be thankful for the blessing that Raven is. Even with the short time that he has been with them, he was the one who got rid of their worries seemingly effortlessly. It was amazing and sometimes baffling how easy he does it but its working. It always worked.

    Which is why they trusted him.

    At this point, the Sect Master doesn¡¯t really have to pass down his title to Raven. There¡¯s really no need for his official coronation or anything. In the eyes of everyone in the sect, Raven already became their leader.

    ¡°There are still some details that needs some ironing out but¡­¡± Raven took out stacks of paper and passed them down to the people in front of him. ¡°These are the ideas I have in order for this to work. If any of you have any better ideas or wants to rify something, please don¡¯t hesitate to speak. I¡¯m all ears. I need your help with this.¡±

    The Elders will of course not say no to that.

    They went over the files that Raven listed out pertaining to the changes that will happen the moment they broke off the tradition and opened up their doors.

    Raven listed out a detailed exnation of his ns. The new location where the sect will emerge, new infrastructures, new rules, new responsibilities, and so on.

    Just as he said, this list isn¡¯tplete just yet. The elders could see some holes in the guidelines which they of course, didn¡¯t hesitate to talk about.

    It helped greatly that Raven was an open-minded person. He didn¡¯t shy away from admitting the fact that he¡¯s somewhatcking. He listened to their ideas with rapt attention and gave it a good thought. He didn¡¯t mind receiving help from others, and this made the Elders contented.

    A good leader knows when to speak and when to listen. Raven isn¡¯tcking in that department at least.

    After correcting a few details about the n, the meeting ended. For today at least. There are still things that they need to discuss, more importantly, there still need to establish the official date of the event but that¡¯s a matter they¡¯ll discuss at ater date.

    After the meeting though, Raven remained. He and the Sect Master was the only one left in the meeting hall. They are sitting in front of each other, enjoying a warm cup of tea in silence.

    It was the Sect Master who broke off this peaceful silence first¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s about time for you kids to officially inherit our titles.¡±

    Raven was a bit surprised, just a bit though. He was kind of already expecting this to happen.

    He looked at the peaceful expression on the Sect Master¡¯s face. He saw a calm and serene expression, one that he found the Sect Master wears pretty often as of thiste. He can recognize that expression.

    It¡¯s a face someone makes when they¡¯re released from a heavy burden.

    ¡°The new age of the Sect doesn¡¯t really need the hands of us, old people, to hold.¡± The Sect Master said as he gazed onto the horizon. ¡°You¡¯ve proven yourself time and time again. If anything, this is just an official announcement. On one hand, everybody including me, already sees you as the new leader of this sect. The only thing that¡¯s making this awkward is the fact that I haven¡¯t passed down my title to you just yet.¡±

    Raven remained silent. Inwardly though, he too is aware of this. He could feel the awkwardness, though it didn¡¯t really stopped him from doing things, it still felt a bit ufortable.

    ¡°Should we schedule it alongside of the announcement?¡± The Sect Master suggested, ¡°You know, for practicality? Pack it up as one so that we can move-on.¡±

    ¡°Sounds convenient. I like it.¡± Raven chuckled as he took a sip of his tea.

    The Sect Masterughed, of course Raven would like the idea. He knew that his sessor doesn¡¯t really care much about grand events or anything of the sorts. He doesn¡¯t shy away from it, but he also isn¡¯t too fond of it.

    ¡°If there¡¯s anything I¡¯m more concerned about, it¡¯s the matter about the Dawn Council.¡± Raven sighed, cing his teacup down on the small table. ¡°I heard news that some of our close friends came out of their seclusion and is now pressuring the council. They must be waiting for our arrival.¡±

    The Sect Masterughed out loud at that. He then assured his sessor by saying:

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about those old things. They¡¯re just messing around.¡± The Sect Master shook his head. ¡°They won¡¯t do anything to the Dawn Council, they won¡¯t dare. Not until we move first at least. That¡¯s not to say that they¡¯re afraid of the council. Its because they don¡¯t want to upset us.¡±

    ¡°Well, I do understand that part. I too would feel upset if they moved before us. This is a personal vendetta after all.¡± Raven stated, ¡°What I¡¯m more concerned about is if it would pan out ording to how I nned.¡±

    ¡°When has anything didn¡¯t pan out ording to your desire?¡± The Sect Master asked, raising a brow.

    Raven was speechless, he could only chuckle and say: ¡°Touch¨¦.¡±

    ¡°Mhm.¡± The Sect Master nodded, ¡°And even if something went wrong, I already know that you have some back-up ns with you. Therefore, it¡¯s useless to worry about this. You just have to perform. After all, everything¡¯s already decided the moment you started to move.¡±

    ¡°Wow. You have that much confidence in me?¡±

    ¡°Weird, isn¡¯t it?¡± The Sect Master said whileughing.

    The two of them enjoyed another bout of silence. It was then that Raven suddenly remembered something that he forgot to do ever since he came back from his vacation.

    He lifted his hand and summoned the sigil that represented his marriage with Luna. Then an image of him, Luna and Vanessa appeared.

    ¡°Master, this is my child.¡± Raven said, his tone was filled with fondness and warmth as he eagerly showed-off his child.

    ¡°Her name is Vanessa, a very charming, energetic, cute, adorable, adventurous, curious¡­¡±

    Raven then spent the next hour talking about his precious daughter in front of the Sect Master.

 Chapter 793: Interlude: Dawn Councils Conundrum

    Chapter 793: Interlude: Dawn Council¡¯s Conundrum

    This day will be something that everyone will remember for their whole lives¡­

    No, today isn¡¯t some kind of ¡®special¡¯ day. In fact nothing was scheduled today. It was meant to be a normal day where everyone just casually spends their time minding their own business.

    For some reason though¡­they could feel it.

    The sensation was prickling at their skin, making them a tad bit ufortable and wary. They can¡¯t help but be extra careful today since they know, something¡¯s about to happen. What that might be is still a mystery to them but their wise enough to know their ce.

    ¡ª

    At the center of the swirling gxy that the Divine Realm is, there is a ce hovering upon that vast, colorful and extremely elusive space.

    It is a small ind ¨C at least to naked eye it is. A grotto-heaven, which contained numerous things and beings.

    The ind was akin to a paradise. An oasis to a dessert. Blessed by the Divine Light and the Laws themselves. It was a Holy Land where only a few people can ess.

    Here, the sun never sets nor rises. It is perpetually dawn. A symbol of what they represented.

    All sorts of precious treasures could be seen in here. Each and every single one would make anybody¡¯s eyes red with greed. Spiritual Ingredients, Ores, hell, even weapons of mass destruction are birthed here.

    Everything here has value. Yes, that includes even the smallest grain of sand. This whole ce is treasure. One that has to be protected at all cost.

    Such responsibility though, fell into the hands of people who happened to discover this ce first ¨C the Dawn Council. More specifically, its founding members.

    See, this ce has a rich history, spanning for eons. Many people came here, some even perished here, turning into nothing but nutrients for thisnd to prosper even more. Thisnd has always been an important ce for Humanity, for this verynd became the sole supply of all manner and sorts of resources for the Divine Realm.

    It¡¯s safe to say that without this ce, Divine Realm wouldn¡¯t exist. Humanity itself would cease to exist.

    The Dawn Council¡¯s founding members were the ones to discover this ce first. After discovering the secrets it held, they decided to protect it with their lives on the line out of necessity and responsibility. Of course, their duty has its own merits.

    Doing their job properly allowed to reach heights they never thought they could reach. In fact, the first Divine Knight to ever grace humanity came from the Dawn Council¡¯s founding members.

    The prestige of their group spreads far and wide. So much so that they were elected as Humanity¡¯s representatives ¨C the Pir and Leader of Humanity as a race. It¡¯s a heavy burden to carry but they took it. They bore those responsibilities since if they don¡¯t, who else will?

    Unfortunately, the Heart of Man has always been a fickle things.

    With plenty of resources being birthed under their gaze, the enticement of greed and obsession was palpable. The founding members weren¡¯t at fault. They have clean intentions from start to finish.

    It is those who came after them that wasn¡¯t¡­

    Even though Divine Knights could live for an absurd amount of time, without shattering the barrier that Time and Space imposed on them, it¡¯s impossible for them to live forever. It is a bit of a shame but it isn¡¯t so easy to go against their fate.

    The founding members found themselves growing old. They were fine with that. Dying is something they¡¯ve already expected. What makes things difficult about this is the fact that they needed someone to rece them.

    They thought that they passed on their positions to the right person. Well, in the beginning at least, they did. Unfortunately, the seed of greed is just too hard to suppress. It grew inside of them and things went terrible.

    No, there was no wars or any strong arguments. There was only calm and indifference, so much so that it makes one think that nothing changes. And that¡¯s precisely what made things moreplicated.

    In hindsight. That¡¯s the point isn¡¯t it? At the end of the day, a thief who announces their presence and their actions is just an attention-seeking retard.

    Schemes on top of schemes. That¡¯s the name of the game. Careful, methodical, sly, decisive and oh so silent. This was the way to ensure they get what they want without raising a ruckus.

    In fact, their nning was so detailed and methodical that even if their schemes were caught, nobody could stop them. In fact, some were inspired to do the same.

    ¡­which ultimately became the reason why the Dawn Council rotted from the inside.

    Surprisingly enough, even though the Dawn Council was elected as Humanity¡¯s Leader and Representative, they aren¡¯t the strongest force that Humanity possesses. If anything, they¡¯re more like themander of an army.

    They¡¯re the leader, sure but they¡¯re not the ones who will be out there on the battlefield. And judging how corrupt the Dawn Council as be, they will never be on the battlefield.

    Why would they? Who would risk their safety when they could justze around and prosper? When they could just set up schemes and profit endlessly? Why settle for pain and glory when they could swim in riches and enjoy a safe and secured space that other people worked so hard to create?

    The current members of the Divine Realms are nothing but self-absorbed jerks. Snakes who can open their maws so wide you could fit an entire ind in them.

    Their overwhelming greed and endless schemes made them, for the most part at least, untouchable. At the surface, the were the benevolent gods, people who imed to protect humanity and all. They were even worshipped as such. In truth, though? They¡¯re nothing but parasites.

    Their greed almost pierces the heavens. The false sense of invulnerability made them drunkvishly in power that they did something stupid.

    And that stupidity born out of their carelessness, is nowing back to bite them in the ass.

    Of all the things they decided toy their hands-on, they just had to pick on the most troublesome one ¨C the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect has a longer historypared to them. They are a reclusive type of people shouldering a heavy burden in order to ensure Divine Realm¡¯s safety. They¡¯ve carried this burden even before the council¡¯s foundation.

    Many people are aware of the Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s burden. In fact, the reason why they are worshipped is because of what they do.

    If the Dawn Council was Humanity¡¯s Leader and Representative, then the Ancient Elysium Sect represents the barrier that secured humanity.

    Anything that the Ancient Elysium Sect does is never wrong. They will never be wrong. This statement had been passed down from ancient past until now. The Dawn Council is of course, aware of this.

    That being said, the current situation begs the question; Why did the Dawn Council decided to provoke the Ancient Elysium Sect?

    Well, the answer is simple. Jealousy.

    See, someone from the Dawn Council¡¯s ranks brought up the fact that they even though they were the de-facto leader of Humanity, giants like the Ancient Elysium Sect makes them look bad. They¡¯re just a leader in name, truth of the matter is, even without their existence, Divine Realm would probably be fine.

    That¡­really irked some people. Their petty pride were ruthlessly stomped on.

    It¡¯s not like they¡¯re naive. They were far from one actually. They already knew about this fact but hearing someone tantly point it out is just too much to bear.

    So? What did they do? Scheme of course, that¡¯s what!

    The existence of The Exiles were never a secret to them. They¡¯ve always known where the Allfather is. If they wanted to, they could¡¯ve exposed his location to his enemies so that he¡¯ll be hunted down. Did the council do that?

    Of course not!

    Heck, they even used it as a bargaining chip. They approached the Allfather and set up this little scheme. They were the reason why The Exiles managed to abduct that many people and force them to beckeys.

    All of this, for the sake of freeing the Devil Emperor.

    The Allfather wanted to free him since he wants to fuse back with the main body and possibly contact the abyssals. The Dawn Council on the other just wanted an excuse to smear dirt on the Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s name.

    Before the Devil Emperor was freed, they¡¯d swoop in, take the credit and get the Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s gratitude. They never nned on letting the Devil Emperor wreck havoc to their territory in the first ce. They just wanted to ruffle the feathers of the sect.

    Well, how did that go for them?

    Horrible of course.

    Never in their wildest dream did they think that someone from the Ancient Elysium Sect was better at this game. Before they knew it, the situation already escted into something out of their control.

    Now, all they could do is wait.

    Wait until the Ancient Elysium Sect visits them and hopefully get rid of the monsters who¡¯s ring at them at the opposite side of their gates.

 Chapter 794: Campfire

    Chapter 794: Campfire

    It is weird to see a plume of fire, burning lively within the vacuum of space.

    This kind of phenomenon doesn¡¯t really ur very often, in fact, some people would treat it as an omen if they see one.

    That being said, it is way weirder to see a full-on campfire out there isn¡¯t it?

    At one of the seemingly random asteroid floating around near the center of the Divine Realm. A campfire was quietly burning.

    It gave off a surprisingly refreshing color to the washed-out mixture of colors of the Spatial Vacuum. It provided warmth, flickered with sparks and signified a quiet reprieve for those who saw it.

    The campfire was being attended to by an old man. Bald and wearing a loose robe yellow robe. He has a long gray beard, his earlobes were stretched round due to the absurd earring he¡¯s wearing. He has a bead ne and he¡¯s sitting cross-legged in front of the campfire, borrowing the heat to roast some meat.

    This bald old man isn¡¯t alone though¡­

    Not too far from him was at least four simrly old men minding their own business.

    The nearest one was a man who isn¡¯t wearing any upper garment. He has a short auburn hair, gray at it¡¯s tips. One of his eyes were shut close, an ugly scar was visible, starting from the upper left corner of his face, crossing the bridge of his nose and ending at the edge of his right chin. He looks mean even with his calm expression. The scar on his face is just one, there¡¯s lost of them littered across his torso and back. This man was silently staring at the dancing fire in front of him.

    Somewhere near him, there¡¯s an old man who¡¯s seemingly disinterested on letting anyone see even a single patch of his skin.

    He¡¯s covered in a thick back cloak. Underneath the said cloak was a rusty and worn-out armor, one that has seen too many battles and is still reeking with thick stench of blood. A long ymore on his back, sheathed with a simrly worn-out leather casing. Even the handle of the sword was in tatters. The old man wore a hood and a mask. He¡¯s covered from head to toe. Only his piercing, cold blue eyes could be seen ring at something at a distance.

    Next is an old man who¡¯s busy painting something. He has a long gray hair and beard. He wore a straw hat, loose green robes and straw sandals. He looked like a travelling merchant with his outfit. His expression was cid, its as if nothing could ever surprise him, like he has seen everything this universe has to offer. His long and narrow fingers deftly moved, streaking across his canvas as he painted a rather¡­disturbing, yes, a disturbing picture.

    Finally, an old man sitting furthest away from the campfire, was busy ying chess by himself.

    This old man looked like a schr. He has a gentle and kind expression, simr to an old grandfather watching over his grandchildren. His wizened eyes sparkled with curiosity and wit. From time to time, he would calcte by counting his fingers before moving a piece. Sometimes, he too would look at the horizon, smiling ever so slyly before returning his gaze back to the board.

    None of these old men spoke to each other. It doesn¡¯t even look like they wanted to in first ce. Every single one is perfectly fine being alone, left to their own devices. They need nor want anypany. In fact, if it weren¡¯t for the special circumstances they are in, none of them would even be seen by a single soul.

    These five old men are the very reason why any of the Dawn Council¡¯s representatives can¡¯t take even single step out of their headquarters. The same reason why they haven¡¯t had a chance to even catch a moment of rest.

    These five old men, were the reclusive Divine Knights that personally exited their seclusion just to remind the Dawn Council why it was a horrible idea to mess with the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    The Supremo of the Enlightened Ones ¨C Gabriel Altuna

    [A/N: Gab-ri-yel not Gay-briel]

    Headmaster of the ¡®Fists of Rampage¡¯: ¡®Iron Fist Hal¡¯.

    The Gatekeeper of the Eternal Division Wall ¨C Mchi Welsh.

    The Wanderer of Worlds ¨C Felton Briggs.

    Last but definitely not the least, the oldest amongst everyone here, The Truth-seeker ¨C Deimos Noll.

    Five Divine Knights, each one old enough to almost be forgotten by history. It¡¯s a bit strange to see these five quietly spending their time here, in a lone asteroid, maintaining silence and peacefully co-existing as if their presence wasn¡¯t a huge weight pressing down on the Dawn Council.

    It hasn¡¯t been long since they¡¯ve appeared here. It doesn¡¯t matter who came first nor who has the longest patience. None of that matters. What does, is the fact that they found Dawn Council¡¯s behavior inexcusable and they need answers.

    They didn¡¯t even hesitate to end their indefinite seclusion just to make sure to send their thoughts across. If the Dawn Council still has some parts of their brain not yet devoured by greed, they should at least know what they need to do so there¡¯s no need for words.

    Still though, the fact that those fools didn¡¯t even had the guts to invite them in and instead made them wait here, is a testament of their stupidity and their recklessness.

    Do those people really think they are invincible just because they are the Dawn Council? Absurd.

    Time silently passed by. To these people, the flow of time has long since lost its meaning. Days, months or years doesn¡¯t have any meaning to them anymore. They might¡¯ve already been here for at least years for all they know but they¡¯d hardly recognize it.

    At some point in time, the Truth-seeker; Deimos counted his fingers once more and his expression shifted.

    His sharp and wizened eyes narrowed in to slits. He looked up and gazed at the horizon. No, he¡¯s not ring at the direction of the Dawn Council. He¡¯s looking somewhere opposite.

    There¡¯s a glint in Deimos¡¯ eyes, a glint that doesn¡¯t appear very often. This only happens when he discovers something incredibly interesting, something he doesn¡¯t understand yet or apletely knew thing. Only this factors could incite a reaction from the man who already pretty much everything.

    He was the first one to feel their presence. Not something to brag about really, but its still something. In addition to this, they are carrying something ¨C no¡­someone. Someone who¡¯s very interesting.

    Deimos can¡¯t wait to meet him.

    After he discovered their presence, the next one to notice it was surprisingly Mchi and Iron Fist Hal.

    The two of them were the youngest here and the most recently acquainted with the sect. By recent, they meant at least several thousand years ago.

    They know the current Sect Master and felt his presence along with the Grand Elder and Gaia. The aura of Chronos and the faint trace of Celestial Aura is something unique to them.

    Only¡­they felt another presence around. The moment they picked-up on the aura, they instinctively perked-up.

    The Sect Master brought a little monster. The aura of the little monster felt just like the Sect Master ¨C only, the Celestial Aura was thicker, which is something surprising. They never felt such a vigorous palpitations of the fabled bloodline.

    When they entered a specific distance, the rest finally discovered their presence. Yes, even the Dawn Council discovered them as well.

    At this point, the five old men were already standing up. They were looking at the direction where the group from the Ancient Elysium Sect wasing from.

    After a short wait, their shuttle became visible to their eyes.

    A bright chariot, shining brightly. Its brilliance is as bright, if not brighter, than the sun itself. The chariot was being pulled by four horses. Their light and prestige shone everywhere. Their brilliance could was witnessed not only by the Divine Knights but also other people.

    This sight would surely be the topic of tomorrow¡¯s gossips. Right now though, they could only wait for what¡¯s going to happen next.

    Shortly after that, the chariotnded to the same asteroid they¡¯re in. Those who were riding it, stepped out of the chariot.

    The first was the Sect Master and his wife. Followed by the Grand Elder and partner Hera. Then Gaia who looked like a youthful immortal fairy and finally¡­him, the little monster.

    Tall and slim he was, with long aqua-marine hair, fairplexion and a gentle smile adorning his face, wearing a bright gold-crimson robes, carrying an air of an aloof immortal.

    Raven gently stepped down, moving like a ghost as he approached the horses, seemingly unaware of the eyes following his movements. He gently coaxed the horses until they became silent. Then he walked and stood beside the Sect Master.

    As if one cue, the representatives of the Ancient Elysium Sect sped their hands and gave a curt bow to the Divine Knights who did the same.

    ¡°I am pleased to meet you again, Gentlemen.¡± The Sect Master said after their greeting.

 Chapter 795: Peace? No.

    Chapter 795: Peace? No.

    The Divine Knights exchanged brief greetings with the Sect Master, Grand Elder and Gaia.

    Raven was the only one who didn¡¯t speak with anyone. He just remained silent behind them, unbothered even if the rest didn¡¯t acknowledge his presence.

    Well, it¡¯s not like the Divine Knights didn¡¯t see Raven at all. In fact, they are very aware of presence. How can they not be? With that much aura hidden within him, he stuck out like sore thumb. The only reason why they didn¡¯t speak to him just yet is because they need to formally acknowledge the three Elders of the sect first¡­it¡¯s a form of respect and Raven himself is aware of it.

    After a few rounds of exchanging pleasantries with the Divine Knights, the Sect Master beckoned at Raven. Thetter then stepped forward and stood beside him once more.

    ¡°Gentlemen, I introduce to you the Heir to my title and position.¡± The Sect Master stated, cing a hand on Raven¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Greetings, Benefactors. My name is Vendrick Valorheart. Simply refer to me as Raven.¡±

    Raven sped his hands and performed another curt bow to them as he introduced himself. He called them Benefactors since they are the sworn allies of the Sect. These Divine Knights once received great help from the Ancient Elysium Sect and when they reached their current positions, they sworn an oath to help out the sect in order to return the favor.

    Raven could feel the intrusive gazes of the Divine Knights. He could feel their senses trying to prate his defenses and wanting to peer through his private matters, unfortunately for them though, Raven¡¯s defenses are a little too tough to crack. They¡¯d spend days, if not months or even years, just to punch a little hole to his defenses.

    ¡°Impressive!¡± Iron Fist Hal stated in a gruff and straight-forward manner. His face didn¡¯t show any kind of warmth or actual praise but his tone was more than enough to send the message across.

    ¡°Indeed. You¡¯ve picked a good candidate, Sect Master.¡± The bald monk ¨C Gabriel nodded.

    The gloomy and brooding Mchi just silently nodded at Raven. Felton the adventurer smiled kindly at Raven and Deimos was still calcting using his fingers.

    ¡°Right, pleasantries aside, let¡¯s move on to the main dish.¡± Grand Elder Gin interjected, he looked at his fellow Divine Knights and said: ¡°Any movements on their side?¡±

    ¡°None.¡± Deimos was the one who answered. ¡°I¡¯ve been watching their movements from here but they didn¡¯t do anything. Except for their daily routine, nothing drastic changed in terms of their attitude.¡±

    ¡°My, it sure sounds like they¡¯re not putting us in their sights.¡± Felton muttered with a crafty glint on his face.

    ¡°None of them even stepped out to invite us in. It¡¯s either their scared or extremely confident.¡± Iron fist Hal furrowed his brows as he looked at the direction of the Dawn Council.

    Raven remained silent, however it doesn¡¯t mean that he¡¯s idle.

    A faint rainbow colored light blossomed on his pupils as he gazed at the direction of the Dawn Council. He swept his senses all over the ce, ignoring the remaining distance between them still.

    After scanning for a bit, Raven couldn¡¯t help but to raise a brow and sneer inwardly. He then murmured to himself:

    ¡®So that¡¯s why they feel very confident.¡¯

    ¡®This will be fun.¡¯

    Raven returned to his senses when he heard the discussions between the Divine Knights.

    ¡°We¡¯ll follow your lead, Sect Master. Doesn¡¯t matter whether you n on toppling the entire council or not, we¡¯ll be there to support you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m honored by your sentiments, Gentleman.¡± The Sect Master said, ¡°Rest assured, whatever¡¯s going to happen will not pose any risks or damage to Humanity as a whole. Today, just like any other day in the past, my Sect¡¯s actions are always just and right.¡±

    ¡°We believe you, Sect Master.¡±

    ¡°To that matter, I¡¯m going to let my Heir take the helm for this operation.¡± The Sect Master¡¯s words certainly surprised the Divine Knights. ¡°I know that you may feel some uncertainty towards my judgement but rest assured, the Heir is very capable. He had proved himself time and time again, we Elders could personally attest to that.¡±

    ¡°After all, if it weren¡¯t for him, the sect might¡¯ve already fallen due to the invasion of The Exiles. However, because of his efforts, we won, didn¡¯t suffer any casualties and even heavily profited from it. That should at least garner some kind of faith for his abilities. Wouldn¡¯t you say so, too? Gentlemen?¡±

    The Divine Knights kept their silence for a brief period of time. Surprisingly, it was Mchi who agreed to it first.

    ¡°I see no problem to it.¡± He stated, ¡°If the Sect Master has faith in his capabilities, then we ought to believe in it as well. Shouldplications rise, it¡¯s not like he¡¯s alone, we¡¯re here with him and could provide assistance.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s as Good Friend Mchi stated.¡± Gabriel mentioned, ¡°I see no problems with it. Let us see what the Inheritor has up his sleeves.¡±

    The rest of the Divine Knights nodded and were finally convinced. Although they still hold some uncertainties within their hearts, it¡¯s not like all the odds are against them. If worsees to worst, the Sect Master is there.

    Getting the support of the Sect Master, Raven smiled and graciously said: ¡°Thank you for cing your trust in me, Elders, Benefactors. I won¡¯t let you down.¡±

    ¡°What ns do you have in mind, Little Chronos?¡± Deimos curiously asked.

    ¡°Nothing tooplicated, Benefactor Deimos.¡± Raven smiled, he then stepped forward followed by the Sect Master.

    ¡°I have been gathering some really private intel during the past few days, you see.¡± Raven continued exining, ¡°I¡¯ve been busy scouring any kind of clues, even the smallest ones, collecting them for a definite proof for today¡¯s operation.¡±

    Raven then took out a thick book from his spatial ring and passed it down to everyone. Out of curiosity, the Elders started flipping the pages of the book.

    At first, the intel they¡¯ve read was pretty tame. It¡¯s a little ugly but nothing to ridiculous. In fact, squinting really hard, one might see that they weren¡¯t too bad.

    It was when they reached the mid-sections of the book that they began frowning. The things listed in there were just downright disturbing. Going towards theter parts of the book and their faces vary from disgust, anger, shame and ruthlessness.

    ¡°Despicable.¡± Mchi spat, closing the book a little to harshly.

    ¡°It seems that the Dawn Council had been sitting in their seats for too long. Something has to change.¡± Gabriel stated.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that even my school got done in by these folks.¡± Iron Fist Hal was furious, hisrge palms nearly crumpled the book he was holding.

    ¡°Little Friend, are you certain that everything in this book is real?¡± Felton asked after a brief moment.

    ¡°I am, Benefactor Felton.¡± Raven nodded solemnly, ¡°I¡¯m willing to form an Oath of Transparency to prove it.¡±

    ¡°There will be no need for that Little Friend, I can see that you¡¯re telling then truth.¡± Deimos stated with his eyes glowing with a profound light.

    ¡°Since the Truth-seeker confirmed it, then there¡¯s no need.¡± Felton smiled, ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, little friend, I didn¡¯t mean to doubt you, I just want some rifications.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Benefactor. I understand.¡± Raven nodded.

    They continued walking forward, going closer and closer to the borders of the Dawn Council. Raven decided to continue exining his actions.

    ¡°Now that everybody saw it themselves, at this this point, I think all of us agrees that the Dawn Council has greatly deteriorated. Rotten to its core. Letting this continue will bring even more disadvantages for Humanity as whole. At this point, we can no longer turn a blind-eye to it. It has to stop.¡±

    Raven decided to end his exnation here. Partly because he trusted that the Divine Knights already understood his intentions. Another is because they¡¯re already standing at the territory of the Dawn Council.

    ¡°Halt!¡± Someone said from the other side. ¡°This is the territory of the Dawn Council. Nobody shall approach without permission. If you do not heed my warning, then we can only apologize for what¡¯s going to happen next.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± Raven raised a brow, amused at the words thrown their way by the guard. ¡°Apology? How sad. We don¡¯t need that anymore. After all, you guys already went too far.¡±

    Raven took a brave step forward and his whole body suddenly released an overwhelming aura that flooded every corner of the Dawn Council.

    ¡°<em>Show yourself</em>.¡± Raven coldly stated.

    As if the world bent to his will, the formation that distorting the space and time around them exposed itself.

    Raven could feel the panic of the Dawn Council with the sudden changes of their surroundings. Raven sneered and ordered once more:

    ¡°<strong>Shatter</strong>.¡±

    Just like that, the formation that had protected the council was now gone, it shattered under one order from Raven.

    It was unbelievable to think of but the truth was inly visible. At this point, everything was clear.

    No matter what¡¯s about to happen next, nobody should expect it to peaceful.

 Chapter 796: Ashuras Out

    Chapter 796: Ashura¡¯s Out

    ¡°WHO DARES TO SHOW DISCOURTESY TOWARDS MY DAWN COUNCIL?¡±

    A voice filled with indelible rage and fury swept across the whole ind, making it tremble. A soul-chilling aura rose to the skies, painting the sky red and promised certain death towards those who threatened the peace of his territory.

    From beyond the gates, a tall figure of a man rose up. His silhouette was blinding, almost rivalling the sun itself. The man had a long golden hair fluttering up. His eyes were featureless and his tanned skin is covered with numerous tribal tattoos. His face was scrunched up in anger, ring towards Raven¡¯s direction.

    Just as the guards started feeling a bit relieved because of the man¡¯s emergence, something happened, making their jaws go ck.

    ¡°SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GET DOWN HERE!¡±

    *Thump!*

    An equally strong, if not stronger, roar shook the world. Compared to the intimidating roar of the featureless-eyed man, this one carried an even stronger impact since the same man fell from the sky as soon as the roar ended.

    It was Raven who did that. And the world listened to him, bringing the stunned man down to earth and in front of them.

    The man who came from the Dawn Council wasn¡¯t the only who¡¯s surprised by this sudden development. The Divine Knights who were standing not too far behind Raven were surprised too. Their eyes gleamed shock and praise as they saw how this guy¡¯s voice bent the rules to his own favor forcefully.

    Such a feat was nothing short of amazing.

    The man finally recovered from his momentary shock. He knew that he already lost the initiative and cannot lose face any longer that he already had so he adjusted his posture and red at Raven¡¯s direction.

    ¡°You are strong for an Empyrean, I¡¯ll give you that.¡± The man stated, ¡°But if you think that you and your meager group can just do whatever you please in our territory, you¡¯re sorely mistaken.¡±

    ¡°Your territory?¡± Raven scoffed. ¡°Heh, the lion finally opened its maws. It seems that the current Leaders of the Dawn Council had really deteriorated if you people started thinking that thisnd was yours to begin with.¡±

    ¡°Audacious!!¡± The man spat out in fury. ¡°Who the hell do you think you are!? What could a meager pest like you know about my Dawn Council? Who gave you an idea that you can say anything about how my Dawn Council manages things!?¡±

    ¡°The mere fact that I am the official Heir to the Title of Chronos, the sessor to the Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s Sect Master position should suffice.¡± Raven snorted, he didn¡¯t back down against the intimidation of the man in front of him.

    ¡°If that¡¯s not enough. I can also add the fact that I am the one who permanently sealed the fate Devil Emperor, turning him into a harmless and endless supply of energy. Never to be a threat ever again. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t be too distant if you call me the Savior of Humanity itself, but I digress¡­¡±

    ¡°We are here to demand an exnation. I¡¯m not sorry for discourtesy, I¡¯m just returning the favor after all.¡± Raven ended his piece with a derisive snort towards the fuming man in front of him.

    The man was huffing and puffing. His face was red in fury. Raven could¡¯ve spoken something more sharper to really bait him into attacking but he didn¡¯t. It¡¯s better to drive him insane with anger first, that way, things would be easierter on.

    The furious man peeled his gaze away from Raven and stared at the Sect Master. Unlike Raven, this man knows who the Lucas is¡­

    ¡°Sect Master Lucas. You must reel in the aggressiveness of your subordinate.¡± The man said with much difficulty, god knows how much he was trying to reel in his desire to bash Raven¡¯s face right here and now. ¡°Does the words he utter represents what your Sect means? With all due respect, I advise you to think about this clearly.¡±

    ¡°Stop with the faux-politeness, Ashura.¡± Sect Master Lucas snorted, ¡°You¡¯re fooling nobody here aside from yourself. We all know that you are dying to paint thisnd red with how much you¡¯re shaking.¡±

    The Sect Master shook his head and stepped beside his sessor.

    ¡°To answer your question, isn¡¯t it already obvious?¡± The Sect Master shrugged, ¡°We¡¯ve known each other for years already, don¡¯t tell me you still can¡¯t grasp how I do things? Do you think that I will allow my sessor to do something that I do not approve of?¡±

    ¡°And, no my dear Ashura.¡± The Sect Master shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think I need to think this through. All I know is that you people were the first one to break the treaty here. You people were the insincere ones, refusing to give us an exnation even after giving you sufficient time to do so. You people even slighted my oldrades! To me, this is a clear sign that none of you are putting the Ancient Elysium Sect in your eyes.¡±

    ¡°With all this in mind, do you think that there is a further need for me to think this through?¡± The Sect Master raised his brows and scoffed in disdain; ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so Ashura. To me, it¡¯s clear as day that the Dawn Council is deliberately provoking us.¡±

    ¡°We are here to demand an exnation. If you do not give us one, then violence it is. Never think, even for a second, that we are afraid to go to war with you. We both know how that¡¯s going to end up.¡±

    At this point, the man ¨C now named Ashura, knew that trouble finally came knocking on their door.

    Ashura started feeling nervous. Without even noticing it, he was already sweating coldly. His back was drenched as he felt several gazesnding on his body.

    He knows that at the very next second he entertained any thought of raising his weapon, his head will be severed from his shoulders.

    Ashura is a known fighter. A feared one at that. He is reckless and impatient but he no idiot. He knows a losing battle if sees one. He knows that even if he gambled with everything he had, even if he ignited his Divinity in hopes of bringing down their enemies with him, it will only result in theirplete defeat and failure.

    Thus, with a heavy heart. He released a sigh and signaled the guards to open up the gates.

    In the end, who was he fooling here? He already saw thising. His emergence and intimidation was just a distraction. A facade if you will. It was just an act. A pitiful attempt at making sure the Dawn Council could at least preserve the tiniest bit of their reputation¡­

    Because god knows that there will be hardly anything left after this confrontation. They were the ones who fucked up after all.

    Just as they say; ¡®One might survive a random act of God but they cannot escape a disaster they courted themselves.¡¯

    Ashura felt his heart heavy. He remained silent as he lead the group inside the Dawn Council¡¯s Headquarters. His lips twitched in annoyance as he heard the voice transmissions of hisrades raining curses at him.

    He wanted to argue with them but he held back, he didn¡¯t want to embarrass himself even more that he already have at this point. He already decided that whatever happened next was something that couldn¡¯t be med on him.

    They walked across a grand hall, built and filled with all sorts of Heavenly Treasures born from the ind itself. At this point, even if the people behind him decided to snag everything disyed around them, Ashura wouldn¡¯t give a damn.

    They stopped in front of a giant door. Adorned with numerous gems, crystals and ores. It was grandiose and mboyant. A visible evidence of the Dawn Council¡¯s vanity.

    Ashura faced them with a deadpanned expression as he said: ¡°They¡¯re right behind that door. You guys open it yourselves, I don¡¯t give a fuck.¡±

    After saying that, Ashura turned around and walked away. He no longer cared about what¡¯s going to happen next. He¡¯s out of here and he won¡¯t look back. He already got what he wanted after all.

    Raven and the rest didn¡¯t say anything about Ashura leaving. They could already feel the frantic emotions of the people at the other side of the door.

    The Divine Knights didn¡¯t say anything, they just watched Raven and waited for him to personally do something, after all he was the one leading this operation.

    Raven knew what they¡¯re thinking. He didn¡¯t want to disappoint so he unceremoniously walked in front of the massive doors, lifted his foot and give a solid kick, causing it to violently swing open.

    Iron Fist Hal guffawed upon witnessing this, murmuring: ¡®Hell yeah, I like your style boy!¡¯

    Under Raven¡¯s lead, they walked inside the absurdlyrge room hidden behind those doors. They felt numerous gazesnding on them but they remained impassive about it. So what if they stare?

    Raven wore a cocky grin on his face as confidently swaggered inside the room. He paused when they¡¯re at the center of the room. Raven¡¯s gaze swept across the people around him and said:

    ¡°Lots of Bald Eagles and Old Foxes. No wonder the council¡¯s rotten.¡±

 Chapter 797: Demonstration

    Chapter 797: Demonstration

    Seven pairs of eyes, hidden behind dark cloaks stared at Raven and thepany.

    Therge room, adorned with numerous ancient treasures, runes and carvings, went still and silent. Tension was palpable in the air, everybody was solemn except maybe Raven himself.

    The words he uttered died down after a few seconds upon entering the room. He could feel the heavy gazes pressing down on him, making him feel slightly displeased.

    Raven never really liked it when some people think they could openly look down on him, figuratively and literally.

    Nevertheless, his actions are measured. He didn¡¯t became reckless. He was calm, rational and confident. He knew that he has everything within his control, there no need to worry about some nasty surprises here.

    ¡°For the current leaders of one most reclusive sects in Divine Realm, we¡¯d figure that there would be a little more¡­ss, in this kind of approach. A bit more¡­diplomatic, per se. It is quire surprising that you, out of all people, would barge in just like this¡­like barbarians.¡±

    One of cloaked figures muttered after a short bout of silence.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t met you for quite sometime yet that venomous and calctive tongue of yours is still as hateful as I could remember, Jade.¡± Sect Master Lucas coyly replied.

    ¡°You tter me, Lucas.¡± A cold snort was sent as a reply by the voice that belong to a person named Jade.

    ¡°What are your intentions of barging in to the Council, Lucas? Is it really something that can¡¯t make you wait that you needed to go through this lengths just to seek an audience with us?¡± Another voice sounded.

    ¡°Surely you are jesting, Yellow.¡± Sect Master Lucas snorted, ¡°All of you Old Fools know why I¡¯m here, stop feigning ignorance. I heard your panicked voiced cursing Ashura when he was leading us here. You folks can spy through anywhere and anything within the Divine Realm, nothing escapes you perverted gazes so there¡¯s no need to keep up this act in front of me. It¡¯s not working.¡±

    Silence permeated once more. The pairs of eyes gazed at them even more sternly. Raven could feel the shift of emotions within those eyes. He could feel their great difort about what¡¯s happening, he can also feel the slight ripples of movementsing from spaces hidden from their eyes.

    A cold smirk appeared on his face as he also made silent movements¡­

    A few secondster. The silence was interrupted by a ¡®tick¡¯ sound. Its as if a bead fell, making a tiny yet discernable sound.

    The smile on Raven¡¯s face became a sneer. He rolled his eyes and muttered: ¡°Huh, I guess you¡¯d be a little more challenging that than. What a shame.¡±

    His soft voice might as well sound like shout given how silent thisrge room is. He almostughed out loud when he felt a certain gaze locking on him containing a venomous and bloody intent.

    Raven just yed with the holder of this gaze. The ripples earlier were Karmic Strings, being pulled by this person.

    Karma is a fleeting thing, something that would take eons topletely grasp. That¡¯s not even including the art of interfering with it.

    The ¡®Karmic Controller¡¯ as Raven called them for now, was good at what they do. Sadly, Raven was just the perfect counter for that since he has the ability to seal any kind of advances they do. Unless he wanted to, those seals will forever remain in there.

    Raven was enjoying himself for a little bit but unfortunately his opponent broke first, cutting off his fun. Now he¡¯s bored again.

    ¡°Lucas¡­¡±

    ¡°Lady, just stop.¡± The Sect Master just shook his head as he referred to another person in the room. ¡°At this point, anything you people say will just be used against you.¡±

    ¡°Woodcutter, I ced my trust in you¡­once.¡± Sect Master Lucas faced a certain cloaked person, his eyes speaks volume, something that Raven rarely sees.

    ¡°You told me before that everything will be different if you became the Chairman of the Dawn Council. Hell, I was one of your backer! Without me, you wouldn¡¯t be warming your ass in that throne. But what did you do?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Exactly! Nothing!¡± The Sect Master was incensed. ¡°In fact, it¡¯s even worse than nothing! You schemed! To me! To us! Of all people!? Why?¡±

    ¡°Lucas I-¡°

    ¡°No.¡± Sect Master Lucas shook his head firmly, ring at Woodcutter firmly. ¡°I¡¯ve told you this before. You only get one chance. One chance to earn my-no, our trust. You break it, and you¡¯ll never have it again. You failed Woodcutter. Now pay the price.¡±

    ¡°What is it that you seek to achieve here, Lucas?¡± Another voice interjected. Sect Master Lucas faced that person and replied¡­

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple, Monkey.¡± He uttered, ¡°The Dawn Council has rotten to the core. The curse of greed already permeated deep down to your bones and marrows. This¡­can¡¯t go any longer.¡±

    ¡°So what? You¡¯re here to dere war on us?¡± Another voice interjected. ¡°No, this isn¡¯t like you Lucas. Even though I can tell that this is what you desire, it certainly isn¡¯t you who brought this idea up. It¡¯s that child over there isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Everyone was amused, Raven included. Everybody knows that this voice is referring to him.

    The Sect Master snorted and said: ¡°Now you have to bring him up. Of course you would, wouldn¡¯t you Beast Lord? I expected nothing less from you.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±

    ¡°Lucas, I suggest you think about this further.¡± Another voice interjected before Beast Lord could get answers. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to go this far. You are the one in control, not the child behind you.¡±

    ¡°The ¡®child¡¯ behind me, Heaven Breaker, is the Savior of Humanity. Are you really no listening earlier?¡± Lucas snorted, ¡°He¡¯s the one who neutralized the Devil Emperor and made sure that it will never be a threat to us any longer. He was the one who solved the problem that we had been suppressing for millions of years in mere decades.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the rightful sessor to my position and my title. He has every right to express his opinions. In fact, I merely am acting as a spokesperson for him because I am the one acquainted with all of you. Trust me, if we were to follow his original idea, there would be no conversations right now.¡±

    ¡°Pathetic!¡± Beast Lord snarled, his clock rustling due to the flurry of emotions he was feeling. ¡°Lucas, I can¡¯t believe this. You bowed your head to this Empyrean Cub? I regret respecting you.¡±

    ¡°My, now that¡¯s just rude.¡±

    It was Raven who spoke this time. Lips pressed into a thin line, Raven took a step forward and stared coldly at the Beast Lord who¡¯s glowering at him.

    The Beast Lord felt jubnt, inwardly thinking: ¡®Yeah, that¡¯s it little cub. Court your own death. Just as I thought, there¡¯s no need to be nervous about this at all.¡¯

    Then again, the Beast Lord felt shivers crawling up his skin the moment he saw a huge sneer on Raven¡¯s face.

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, Raven raised a hand and flicked a finger. The Beast Lord suddenly lost control of his own body movements which surprised and horrified him, before he could even think about fighting back, his body was already flying towards Raven¡¯s open palms.

    Everybody was gaping. They all couldn¡¯t believe what was happening. Raven just rendered a Divine Knight helpless against him. The struggles of the Beast Lord to regain his body movements were visible to them, they could feel him trembling and jerking to no avail, his body wentpletely rigid and obedientlynded in front of Raven.

    With Raven¡¯s hands forming a w over his face, the Beast Lord never felt as humiliated as this. He was reeling in shock. He can¡¯t, for the life of him, even begin to understand how this was possible.

    ¡°An ugly mutt that bites back the hand that feeds you.¡± Raven uttered coldly, ¡°You are underserving of you privileges.¡±

    A scepter appeared out of Raven¡¯s hand, causing the entire room to glow. Raven¡¯s aura soared to the skies.

    The Beast Lord¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief, even the rest of the Dawn Council¡¯s members were staring at the scepter being held by Raven.

    They know what this scepter is and what it represents.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure everyone is dying to know how I managed to do the seemingly impossible ims that we uttered before. I say, we do a demonstration, yeah?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡±

    ¡°<strong>Silence</strong>.¡±

    One cold, crisp order, and the Beast Lord struggled to open his mouth. All of a sudden, Raven started glowing.

    Grabbing the Beast Lord¡¯s face he floated up, raised the scepter and knocked the tip on his head.

    A seal-no, a brand appeared on the Beast Lord¡¯s forehead.

    Before everybody knew it, the Beast Lord¡¯s body was wrapped in colorful seals.

    Everyone watched as the Beast Lord¡¯s pupils went ck and his aura coiled within his body, unresponsive and seemingly dead.

    Raven didn¡¯t spare a single nce to the Beast Lord once the deed¡¯s done. Instead, he looked at the rest of the Dawn Council¡¯s members and said:

    ¡°One statement remains true since Ancient times.¡±

    ¡°In front of absolute strength, all schemes are useless.¡±

 Chapter 798: Divine Land

    Chapter 798: Divine Land

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no mistaking it¡­¡±

    ¡°The Scepter of Wisdom.¡±

    ¡°Damnst time it¡¯s Geezer and now it¡¯s this child!?¡±

    For some odd reason, the rest of the Dawn Council¡¯s Members doesn¡¯t seem to care about whatever fate the Beast Lord has suffered. Their attention is solely focused on the scepter Raven was holding and they can¡¯t seemingly peel their eyes away from it.

    ¡°So that¡¯s what¡¯s going on¡­¡± Deimos muttered behind them, ¡°No wonder I can¡¯t peer through him.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s Geezer¡¯s 9th Heir isn¡¯t he?¡± Gabriel asked right next to Sect Master Lucas who nodded with a smile at him. ¡°What a lucky chap, that one.¡±

    ¡°What great coincidence too! Who would¡¯ve thought that the Scepter of Wisdom will fall under his lineage once again.¡± Iron Fist Hallmented.

    At this point, it was clear that everybody here is aware of who Geezer is and what the Scepter of Wisdom truly signified.

    The rest of the Dawn Council¡¯s members had to re-calibrate their ns inwardly. They had to. The child has the Scepter of Wisdom, it¡¯s no wonder he isn¡¯t afraid of them. And just as well, he really is as audacious as his Master Geezer.

    Raven is of course aware of the turbulent changes behind the gazes of the Dawn Council¡¯s members. He is also aware that his Master Geezer has a history with this people. Judging by the Karmic Link he had sensed earlier, he managed to discover this.

    Although he does have some questions to them, now is not the time to ask them. There are certain things that needed his attention.

    Raven gave one final nce at the Beast Lord ¨C who is now like a boiled vegetable. The Beast Lord¡¯s eyes were unfocused, semi-unconscious and almost has no aura around him. His body is wrapped with golden-silver seals that suppressed him. It¡¯d be a miracle if the Beast Lord could even circte his energies at this point.

    Looking at the remaining members of the Dawn Council, Raven shook his head.

    He¡¯s disappointed. Even at this very moment, even after he told them that it¡¯s useless, they¡¯re still trying to scheme against him.

    It was too damn obvious ¨C those calcting gazes, that is. It¡¯s saddening to know that the glorious history of the Dawn Council was reduced to nothing but this; pathetic schemers possessed by overwhelming greed.

    It has no purpose. It is not needed. It is but a tumor for humanity and needs to be removed.

    Raven lets out a snort and mmed the bottom end of his scepter on the ground. The whole room shook, followed by an emergence of a massive rune which filled the entire ce with golden and silver radiance.

    The rest of the council¡¯s members tried to resist the seal but they¡¯re toote. Too weak to even put up a decent fight.

    Before they knew it, all of them are imprisoned. Caged inside a runic prison which sealed them in entirely. Not even a trace of their aura could escape the confines of their prison. They are destined to never set even a small step forward from their position unless Raven permits them to.

    ¡°W-what¡­what is this?¡± It was Monkey who spoke, warily touching the walls of his prison seal. He retracted his fingers the moment he touched them as if he was scalded. He could feel the energy being drained out of him even faster upon touching the seals.

    ¡°We asked for an exnation yet we received none.¡± Raven¡¯s cold words echoed across their ears. ¡°We have given you sufficient time to answer us but none of you even bothered to try.¡±

    ¡°Since you all dared to slight us, you can¡¯t me me for using a heavy hand as a reprimand.¡±

    ¡°That prison of yours will remain indefinitely.¡± Raven uttered, his voice was akin to a heavenly judgement which nobody could refute. ¡°It will not physically or mentally torture you, hell it won¡¯t even hurt you if you don¡¯t do something stupid.¡±

    ¡°All it does is drain your energy.¡± Raven continued, ¡°Said energy will be directly transferred back to thend that you abused for god knows how long. Take this paying your debts back to the one that you owes the most. Thisnd is the reason why you reached such heights, therefore it is only natural that you return the favor back in full, wouldn¡¯t you all think so too?¡±

    The faces of the Dawn Council¡¯s members turned incredibly ugly after listening to him. The skies aren¡¯t high enough to measure just how much anger they feel at this current moment. Yet they also understood that they¡¯ve been had.

    It¡¯s all toote. From the very moment Raven took a step into their territory, everything is already toote.

    They can only swallow down their anger, bitterness and regret they feel since they fate is quite literally decided based on Raven¡¯s whims.

    ¡°Oh, how the tables have turned.¡± Deimos chuckled softly behind. Gleefully ncing at the ugly expressions of the Dawn Council¡¯s members.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so rmed. This won¡¯t kill you. You people are quite literally Immortals. Time is something none of youcks. Just sit back, rx and wait. Who knows? Maybe by the time you notices it, I¡¯ve no longer any further uses for you and might just decide to free you all once again.¡±

    ¡°¡­though I won¡¯t guarantee that¡¯s going to happen anytime soon, who knows?¡± Raven shrugged condescendingly, ¡°Let¡¯s leave it up to fate yeah?¡±

    All seven of them, including the Beast Lord of course ¨C who¡¯s still at his vegetative state, were now handled. Raven doesn¡¯t need to deal with them¡­for now at least. It¡¯s time for him to move along with the schedule, they¡¯re already wasted enough time here.

    ¡°Gentlemen, please follow me.¡±

    Raven turned around and started walking past the room followed by hispany. No, they aren¡¯t leaving the Dawn Council just yet, there are some things that needs to be taken care of still.

    Mainly, the Divine Land that the Dawn Council upied for years on end.

    The Divine Land. A small ind that floats aimlessly at the core of the Divine Realm. Born as soon as the universe began. It is thisnd that is filled with all kinds of energy. The one that gives birth of an endless array of Spiritual Treasures. The richest vein of Spiritual Energy.

    Thisnd itself is Divine Realm¡¯s most precious treasure. Without it, the Divine Realm wouldn¡¯tst.

    Although the headquarters of the Dawn Council is situated at the core of the Divine Realm, they didn¡¯t actually upied the Divine Land.

    They¡¯ve walled it. But they¡¯re not on it.

    The Dawn Council treated the Divine Land as their¡­backyard, of some sorts. A fenced backyard.

    Past the room where the Dawn Council¡¯s members usually has their meetings ¨C which is the same room Raven andpany were previously in, is a sealed portal that leads to the Divine Land itself.

    Opening the seal to the Divine Land usually needs the unanimous vote of all the Dawn Council¡¯s members as well as a drop of their blood essence. This is how its been set-up since Ancient Times. This is the method that prevented greedy people from have a free ess to the Divine Land¡¯s properties and stealing then for their own benefit since the seal will never open otherwise.

    But of course¡­there¡¯s always and exception to that.

    Would such a seal be a problem for Raven? Why of course not!

    The Dawn Council¡¯s members who were still inwardly gloating and waiting for the inevitable failure of Raven to open up the seal, had their jaws wide open upon seeing how easily Raven got rid of the seal. He even had the audacity to say:

    ¡°Such a lousy seal. How did it even survive the test of time?¡±

    The Dawn Council¡¯s members had the urge to spit a mouthful of blood from the anger they felt. They absolutely can¡¯tprehend how this child even managed to do that.

    They could argue that it¡¯s probably because of the Scepter of Wisdom, but that¡¯s not it. Raven kept the scepter away the moment they started walking away. He did it with his own abilities.

    God knows they wanted answers. Unfortunately, they will not get it since Raven doesn¡¯t really feel like exining.

    After opening up the seal, Raven entered it along with the people behind him.

    Their visions went out of focus for a bit before they eventually felt the changes in their surroundings. The moment their visions started adjusting, they finallyid eyes on Divine Realm¡¯s most preciousnd.

    The Divine Land.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been here.¡± Sect Master Lucas admitted. The Grand Elder and Gaia nodded behind him, they too felt like it¡¯s been forever since thest time they visited this ce.

    ¡°It¡¯s still as beautiful as I could remember it.¡± Gabrielmented emotionally as heid his eyes on the dazzling beauty in front of him.

    Raven smiled and started taking actions. He created several formation seals and handed them over to the Sect Master.

    ¡°Sect Master, here are the formations. The rest of you can go ahead and search for your lucky opportunities. I need to hurry.¡±

    ¡°I understand. Go ahead. You got this, I believe in you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    After saying that, Raven transformed into a streak of light and disappeared from their vision.

 Chapter 799: Gifts

    Chapter 799: Gifts

    An eternal image of a picturesque scene dyed the Divine Land.

    Basking in the endless rays of golden light, filled with spiritual energies so dense you could touch, the wholend was filled with a heavenly scent that can lower anyone¡¯s guard.

    Looking anywhere here, one could easily witness several phenomena of a Spiritual Treasure¡¯s birth. It was miraculous and divine. At the same time, it also evokes primal greed to those whoid eyes on it.

    Raven took a different routepared to the Sect Master and the rest, but before he did so, he left them formations which is now being carried by the Sect Master.

    The group continued treading the Divine Land, allowing themselves to bask under the glory of witnessing the birth of numerous Spiritual Treasure.

    None of them spoke a word ever sinceing here. It¡¯s not like it was forbidden to speak here, it¡¯s just that the scenario left in them in awe¡­that, and the fact that they were fighting the creeping desire to just run around and get their hands on everything here.

    The Divine Knights are somewhat at a loss though¡­

    From the moment this whole operation began. They didn¡¯t do anything noteworthy.

    They were here to assist the Ancient Elysium Sect under the name of their Alliance. And if a huge fight truly broke out, they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to bury the entire Dawn Council underground.

    But that¡¯s the thing¡­the fight didn¡¯t happen.

    It waspletely one-sided. Before they knew, the battle was already over.

    Thinking about it now, the Sect Master¡¯s heir sure was something else. From the moment he started moving, he never stopped. Nothing went out of his expectations, its as if he was already several steps ahead of the Dawn Council itself.

    Such notion sure is ridiculous. It is the Dawn Council they¡¯re talking about here ¨C people who are literally ¡®supposed¡¯ to be several steps ahead of everybody, yet under Raven¡¯s ministrations, they were easily neutralized that it feltpletely underwhelming.

    Raven single-handedly reduced the prestigious Dawn Council into a joke ¨C who¡¯d dare to believe such notion?

    But the proof was clear though. They witnessed it with their very own eyes. The Divine Knights who were ready for blood to flow like rivers, ended up as audiences. They felt like they were here for moral support instead. It was little embarrassing.

    Then Raven shocked them again by easily neutralizing the seal that prevented them from entering the Divine Land. He even called it a lousy seal. Honestly? What can¡¯t this child do?

    Unknowingly, Raven already made a solid impression to the Divine Knights. He left an impression of Invincibility.

    Now, he separated from them. That made the Divine Knights have some ideas but they didn¡¯t dare to voice it out. Not yet at least¡­

    Eventually, they group arrived at the peak of a lone mountain with the Sect Master leading the way. Once they arrived there, they stopped and the Sect Master faced them.

    ¡°We¡¯re here Gentlemen.¡± He said.

    ¡°Pardon me, Sect Master. I¡¯m a little confused. Why did you bring us here?¡± Felton asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m about to exin that actually.¡± Sect Master Lucas chuckled, ¡°Well, or starters I wanted to express my deepest gratitude for joining us here.¡±

    ¡°Oh you jest, Sect Master.¡± Iron Fist Hal replied, ¡°We didn¡¯t even do anything.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Deimos nodded, coughing a bit in embarrassment.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, Gentlemen. The fact that you didn¡¯t hesitate to provide aid is more than enough for us. Not to mention, being with you means that our safety is more secured. Never mind theck of action, wouldn¡¯t you agree that this is a better ouepared to a lot of screaming and blood?¡±

    The Divine Knights went silent and truly couldn¡¯t disagree with that. Sure, theck of action was underwhelming, but considering how things are, this clearly is a much better oue.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to candid with you Gentlemen.¡± The Sect Master¡¯s face became solemn, ¡°Though the Dawn Council has rotten to its core, its significance for Humanity as a whole remains important.¡±

    ¡°Even though we expressed desire of shutting it down. In truth, we can¡¯t do such thing. For one, it¡¯ll cause chaos to our society and mass panic. More importantly, it might give rise to furtherplications down the line.¡±

    ¡°Additionally, there certain equipment that only the Dawn Council has ess to that¡¯s important for Humanity as a whole. Although the Divine Land isn¡¯t included in their possessions, none of us here will slight its importance.¡±

    ¡°We still need the Dawn Council, but not without massive changes. A reform, per se.¡± The Sect Master revealed. ¡°My sessor have everything ready and as we speak, he is working hard to achieve that goal.¡±

    ¡°Now, for the reason why we are here.¡± He said, ¡°Its quite simple actually. It¡¯s always been a virtue of our Sect to pay our debts back. Although nothing much has happened, we are still grateful for your appearance. You didn¡¯t hesitate to leave your seclusion in order toe to our aid, it¡¯s only fair that you receive somepensation.¡±

    Before they could react, the Sect Master activated the formations that Raven gave to him earlier.

    Several domes of light appeared across the mountain peak, scattered in different directions. They weren¡¯t too far from each other, not too close either.

    ¡°These formations are made my sessor, if that hasn¡¯t been obvious at this point.¡± Sect Master Lucas said, ¡°Gentlemen, choose one and sit at its center. It will help you in your search for your lucky opportunities here in the Divine Land. Consider this as out gift foring to our aid.¡±

    The Divine Knights were gobsmacked upon hearing his words. They looked at each other and the formations scattered around him.

    ¡°Old Friend.¡± Gabriel spoke first, ¡°This isn¡¯t really necessary¡­¡±

    ¡°I agree, Sect Master Lucas. We didn¡¯t do anything to deserve this.¡± Iron Fist Hal.

    ¡°¡­¡± Mchi didn¡¯t say anything but his eyes revealed that he supported the notion.

    ¡°We¡¯re a unworthy to receive such favors from you, Sect Master.¡± Felton graciously said.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Deimos nodded.

    ¡°Gentlemen, please. Don¡¯t refuse.¡± Sect Master Lucas smiled, ¡°Haven¡¯t you known me? This is just the way how we do things. No need to fret.¡±

    The Divine Knights were silent for a bit. They looked at each other.

    All of a sudden, they heard Mchi sighed, he then stepped forward, sped his hand and gave Sect Master a curt bow. For the first time, he spoke¡­

    ¡°I won¡¯t say much, Sect Master Lucas. If you need me, you know where I am. Please pass this on to your sessor as well.¡±

    The Sect Master nodded, seemingly satisfied when Mchi started choosing a formation.

    Seeing that one of them already made a move, brought some strange feeling for the rest of them. In the end, they smile wryly and understood what they need to do. They understood what the Sect Master¡¯s intentions as well.

    This gift isn¡¯t free. They all know it. The Sect Master is once again acting as a middle-man, someone who acts as a bridge between Raven and the Divine Knights. The Sect Master is helping Raven to form connections, which isn¡¯t really surprising.

    Raven was the one who created the formations, it was clear that he was extending an olive branch to them. And since the Sect Master insisted, they can¡¯t really refuse now, could they?

    In the first ce, the allure of the Spiritual Treasures here were truly strong. Plus, Raven would be a strong ally in the future. Were they really losing something from this? That answer is an obvious no, isn¡¯t it?

    Once the Divine Knights entered the formation, they began searching for their lucky chances. Of course, the Sect Master and the rest weren¡¯t idle either. They too are searching for their own.

    ¡ª

    Raven flew to the center of the Divine Land in search of something.

    That something isn¡¯t a Spiritual Treasure. Neither it is an element, Law Insight or inspiration. He¡¯s in search of something far more important around here.

    After flying for a couple of minutes and encountering all sorts of miraculous phenomenon, Raven arrived at his destination.

    At the center of the Divine Land was a stillke surrounded with a blooming garden.

    Gentlynding in front of it, Raven was mesmerized by its sheer beauty. Unfortunately, now isn¡¯t the time for him to admire the miracles and the beauty of this ce. He has more important matters he needed to attend to.

    Raven wasted no time and stripped himself naked. He kept his clothes near theke along with his belongings and spatial rings. After that, he walked towards theke and dipped his foot in.

    There were no ripples upon contact. Raven walked at the surface of theke without even trying to. The water was so viscous that its almost solid. He took careful and gentle steps until he reached the center of theke.

    There, he stopped. Took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. Before he knew it, theke swallowed him whole.

    After what like an eternity of being submerged in water, he finally sensed the solid ground under his foot. He then opened his eyes and murmured:

    ¡°I am here.¡±

 Chapter 800: The Last Fragment

    Chapter 800: The Last Fragment

    ¡°I am here.¡±

    Raven opened his eyes to one of the most mystical sceneries he ever encountered on both lifetimes.

    He¡¯s surrounded with nebs swirling with different colors and sprinkled with a hefty amount of gold and silver glitters. The scene does not only look extremely mystical and beautiful, it also evokes a feeling of grandness and boundlessness.

    Wherever he stared, Raven feel like he could numerous insights about everything yet nothing at the same time. It¡¯s such a profound experience that can¡¯t be exined in mere words.

    Raven could feel goosebumps appearing on his skin. Even with his mental fortitude forged by two lifetimes, he couldn¡¯t help but be momentarily captivated by the sheer beauty of his surroundings.

    He took a deep breath in and focused. He recalled his mission and decided that it¡¯s best to not tarry any longer. Despite his desire, he cannot stay here for long. He¡¯s not allowed to stay here for long. His time is limited so he could only press down the lingering attachments he has.

    Raven started walking. He approached the swirling nebs but not quite going to them exactly. His strides brought him near but wasn¡¯t actively entering or interacting with the nebs. His goal wasn¡¯t them in the first ce. What he seeks, lies beyond this.

    Raven felt vulnerable. Never mind theck of clothes, here, Raven was as good as a mortal. His cultivationpletely lost meaning here. He won¡¯t be able to muster any kind of energy nor circte them, he can¡¯t form seals nor even summon the Scepter of Wisdom. His senses are reduced to that of a mortal.

    Nevertheless, Raven continued. Bravely takingrge strides without an ounce of hesitation. It isn¡¯t so bad. It¡¯s not like this is the first time something like this happened to him ¨C being reduced to mere mortal that is.

    Time passed without his knowledge. Raven continued on his way, walking towards his goal ever closer until he arrived.

    The once colorful and swirling nebs disappeared, left far behind him. Raven¡¯s surrounded with a gray mist ¨C which isn¡¯t the void either, he left the void quite sometime ago and arrived somewhere else entirely.

    Raven can¡¯t see a damn thing, but this is fine, he doesn¡¯t need to. The gray mist might¡¯ve been covering his surroundings like a heavy smog but that¡¯s fine too. Even the fact that he wasn¡¯t quite sure how he¡¯s still standing right now, is fine too. He didn¡¯t have the time nor patience to care about these things.

    He just kept on moving forward.

    By the time Raven arrived at his destination, he was numb. He was blind, can¡¯t hear a damn thing, can¡¯t feel nor taste and say anything either. Raven was deprived of all his senses, he wasn¡¯t even quite sure if he body remained intact. All he knows is that he arrived.

    ¡°I am here.¡± He said.

    At least that¡¯s what he intended to do.

    Did he even speak just now? He¡¯s not sure. However his intent is clear despite him losing pretty much everything.

    Raven couldn¡¯t feel anything at first. Which made him doubtful until he remembered that of course he won¡¯t be able to feel anything, he¡¯s deprived of his sense of touch as well.

    But then¡­there was a spark.

    No he didn¡¯t see it. He didn¡¯t feel it. In no way, shape or form did he sensed it. But he knows, he just knows that it was there. He¡¯s never been so sure of something his entire life.

    That spark. He tried to observed it using whatever¡¯s left of him but it was faint. It felt like it¡¯s going to die, be gone the next second, but it persisted.

    Raven focused his entire being on that spark. Intent of not letting it go no matter what. He wasn¡¯t quite sure if he¡¯s chasing it or he¡¯s reaching out to it. All he knows is that he isn¡¯t letting go of this spark no matter what.

    With timepletely escaping him, he didn¡¯t know how long it has been since he felt another reaction. It just urred to him.

    That sharp sting ¨C it registered as something like that to him at least, made him perk up. Raven summoned the rest of his will and grabbed onto the spark.

    He received a resonance. The spark wasmunicating with him. Probing who he was. Trying to check what his intentions are.

    Raven focused like he¡¯s never been his whole life. He took the deepest breath he could muster and said:

    ¡°I am here.¡±

    Then, he felt something exploded¡­or was it him who exploded? Honestly at this point, he can¡¯t be quite sure anymore and he truly couldn¡¯t care. His mind just kept on repeating the same words he uttered earlier.

    He was here. He is here. He will be here.

    After what seemed like an eternity, the sensations started returning to him. Raven felt his eyes fluttering open. He could hear the beating of his own heart, he could feel the heat coursing through his body. He could feel his weight. Taste the atmosphere at back of his tongue, smell a peculiar fragrance he always had. See same gray mist that filled the space around him, dancing and fluttering around like they were celebrating.

    Raven¡¯s back. And he never felt so lively in his entire life.

    He felt surreal. His senses overwhelmed him. He had this feeling of omnipotence and omniscience. He felt invincible and he wasn¡¯t quite sure if he¡¯s just exaggerating.

    Raven felt alive and amazing.

    He got up and stood amongst the gray mist. He closed his eyes and delved deep into his body. He could feel something present in him. Something seated deep at the core of his very being.

    Sure enough, after searching for a bit, he found it.

    A tiny, tiny spark of brown spark. Emitting a soft and gentle light, illuminating his heart. It danced around there as if it finally found its long lost home.

    Raven couldn¡¯t help but feel giddy. A smile appeared on his handsome face as he started at the brown wisp like it¡¯s his own child.

    ¡°I did it.¡±

    Raven heaved a sigh of relief. He sounded so light and carefree. It¡¯s as if the mountain pressing down on his chest disappeared. He still find this unbelievable but seeing the brown wisp inside his heart made him believe.

    ¡°I did it.¡± He muttered once more. ¡°I refined the Last Fragment of Chaos.¡±

    The Last Fragment of Chaos¡­

    Had the members of the Dawn Council known that such a thing was practically sitting under their noses this entire time, they¡¯d probably cry rivers of blood and bang their heads to wall until their shatter their own skull.

    The freaking Last Fragment of Chaos.

    Anyone who discovers that Raven managed to capture and refine, they¡¯d probably turn green from envy and spit blood.

    Chaos. What is Chaos?

    Chaos represents the Absolute Beginning. The Origin of All Things. The First Born. The True Allfather and etc. In short, Chaos is the start of everything.

    It is a big deal. A very big deal ¨C knowing that Raven captured and refine the Last Fragment of Chaos. This is because this just made him the first to even have a real chance at peering through the realm Beyond Divinity.

    A realm that many people fantasized about. Many people chased after and died for. It is something that¡¯s so close yet ultimately so far. Many people craved for it, yet none managed to reach it.

    It¡¯s known that all roads lead back to one. Many people who chased after the realm Beyond Divinity knew that if they wanted to seed, it is required for them to return back to origin of all things ¨C Chaos.

    Many experiments had taken ce in order to produce even the faintest shard of Chaos, yet none of them seeded much to their regret and agony. Even now, the said experiments are still going on without bearing any fruit.

    Everybody knew that Chaos had already disappeared. None of it was left. Therefore the path towards the realm Beyond Divinity is cut-off. Humanity¡¯s cultivation has reach it¡¯s peak. A dead end.

    They never would¡¯ve imagined that Chaos is not entirely gone. The Last Fragment is still around. Waiting ever so patiently, persisting through the Spacetime, to find someone worthy.

    Now it has been found.

    Even if one asks how Raven knew about it, he¡¯ll probably won¡¯t be able to answer.

    Truth is. He just did a very dangerous gamble.

    All he had was clue ¨C no, an idea, that the Last Fragment is here. He¡¯s not certain of its existence in the first ce.

    He only felt its calling the moment he broke through the Empyrean Realm, and it was with the help of the Scepter of Wisdom that he even heard the calling. Without it, it doesn¡¯t matter how much he umted, he¡¯ll still end up at the same dead-end as the others.

    Now however, things are different. His gamble paid off. Once again, his instincts served him well. He managed to do what everyone wanted to do.

    He risked his very life for this and he was rewarded handsomely.

    To him, all kinds of treasures that the Divine Land gives birth to will never be able to surpass the value of this gentle brown wisp dancing around his heart.

 Chapter 801: Phantom

    Chapter 801: Phantom

    ¡°Brat, you are a madman.¡±

    Raven was shaken out of his reverie when he heard a deep sounding voice. He subconsciously tried to search for the origin of the voice but his sensed didn¡¯t pick up anything. In the end, he just heaved a sigh of relief and smiled:

    ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m known to be a little bit crazy sometimes.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    A period of silence permeated around. Raven didn¡¯t think much and wasn¡¯t really expecting a reply. He already have a vague idea on who¡¯s talking but he decided to remain quiet.

    Instead, he sat down on an empty space. There were no solid ground beneath him but something in there supported his weight.

    With the Last Fragment of Chaos taken and refined by him, there was truly no need for him to remain here. He got what he wanted already. In fact, he¡¯d happily fly back to the sect with just this, not even bothering to check some treasures out.

    Still, he remained. Raven decided to not waste this opportunity after all. He doesn¡¯t know when he¡¯ll have free time to go back here so he thought that he might as well do everything in one go.

    Raven¡¯s chest started heaving rhythmically. His breaths were even, long and quiet. There¡¯s a specific pattern to it which made it a little bit special.

    It started slow and steady, just like how Raven wanted it to be. Then as time passed, the breaths he was taking in got shorter and more shallow. It continued like this until no sound could be heard from him anymore.

    Until he wasn¡¯t breathing anymore.

    No big deal though. At this point in his cultivation, breathing isn¡¯t really a necessity for Raven. It¡¯s more like an indulgent ¨C just like eating. It¡¯s nice, but it is not required for him anymore. His body could function just as normally even without it.

    When his breath stopped, Raven¡¯s body started releasing a particr buzzing sensation. Listening closely, there is a faint ¨C very faint, keening sound from the depths of his body,

    Hidden at his heart, the fragment of chaos started acting strange.

    If before it was freely dancing around his apertures, now it waspletely docile. It went still but one could tell that it was rotating at its ce.

    The faint keening sound got stronger, eventually the gray smog around him started to swerve and react to the keening sound.

    The movement was faint at first ¨C barely noticeable. The gray smog just vibrated here and there. However as time passed, the movement got increasing violent.

    The gray smog rolled and swerved. It formed a funnel directly on top of Raven¡¯s head. Raven¡¯s body started breathing in the gray mist ¨C no, he wasn¡¯t actually breathing. It¡¯s more like his body was absorbing the gray smog with reckless abandon. His muscles were swelling rhythmically. His body was draped in a faint dark golden glow. It was weak but it¡¯s unmistakably there.

    ¡®Who is this kid?¡¯

    This is the first question thate to the mind of the mysterious entity the moment Raven appeared here. All along, he had been watching Raven. From the moment he arrived at the Dawn Council¡¯s gates all the way here.

    The mysterious entity never saw such a impressive youngster. Seriously. It should be known that not just anyone coulde here. Even if they begged and begged until their they die, if they¡¯re not fated, they¡¯ll never allowed entry.

    This is the first time that someone manage to barge their way in¡­

    Believe it or not, the mysterious entity already had an inkling of a clue that Raven will be able to do it. Seriously, this child is freaky! What are they feeding the kids nowadays that they managed to nurture someone like this.

    Sufficed to say, the mysterious entity nearly had a heart attack when he saw the Last Fragment of Chaos appeared before the child.

    Like seriously, how ridiculous is that? How the hell did that thing appear? Why is it here and why didn¡¯t he know? How did this child know?

    The he witnessed how the child exploded from the impact of fusing with the Last Fragment of Chaos. The mysterious entity felt a pang of dismay. It was mixture of resignation, regret, envy and despair. In the end, the mysterious entity could only sigh.

    They guessed that fusing with the Last Fragment of Chaos was a greedy move. Incredibly dangerous too. The kid might been a good seedling but in the end, he wasn¡¯t the one.

    Imagine their surprise when they saw Raven reappearing at the same pace as if time was rewound. It was abrupt, surprising and shocking. Even more so the fact the mad child actually seeded.

    The mysterious entity could feel it. Deep at the child¡¯s hear lies the giddy and excited fragment of Chaos.

    It was hard to exined what the mysterious entity was feeling at that moment. They were jealous, that¡¯s for sure. It was the Last Fragment of Chaos for crying out loud! How can they not feel jealous when a kid who hasn¡¯t even existed for as long as they did, managed to get it?

    Reaching the realm Beyond Divinity is everyone¡¯s dream. Something that they will dly exchange for practically anything, if not everything, for a mere chance of stepping on it. Unfortunately, reaching it was far, far too difficult. How many Divine Knights had been driven insane by this? The mysterious entity lost count already.

    Even the mysterious entity themself tried to pry open that gate, only to fail miserably in the end.

    This child however was different. From once nce, the mysterious entity could feel the weight of destiny pressing down on this child. However, instead of caving-in from the pressure, he flourished instead. He pressed on and achieved what everyone deemed nearly impossible.

    ¡®The child is under a lot of pressure.¡¯ The mysterious entity mused at their own thoughts as they watched Raven absorbing the gray smog.

    ¡®It wasn¡¯t given to him.¡¯ The mysterious entity shook their head, ¡®he took it up himself. He chose to carry this burden. What for? Why would he pushes himself so? What are his intentions? How can someone be so ambitious? What is he trying to prove?¡¯

    The mysterious entity knew that unless they specifically ask Raven these questions, they¡¯ll practically remained unanswered. They won¡¯t push. Instead, they will just observe.

    ¡®¡­maybe, this is his way.¡¯ They can¡¯t help but muse once more, ¡®His way of being a Knight.¡¯

    The mysterious entity shrugged. They can¡¯t be too sure, in the end, they could only watch anyway. Their era has long gone. Forgotten with the wind. Never to re-surface again. They are dead ¨C them and theirpanions, all gone. Nobody¡¯s left.

    Only the lingering desire and intent to protect is what keeping them here. They¡¯re nothing more than a stubborn attachment that refuse to go away.

    Time passed by quietly and at some point, Raven absorbed all of the gray smog lingering in the air. He opened his eyes and his pupils shed with a gray colored gleam for the briefest of moments before fading awaypletely.

    Raven didn¡¯t stand up just yet. He regted his breathing. Slowly taking deeper and deeper breaths until his lungs sprang into activity once more.

    That¡¯s when he stood up and sighed. He didn¡¯t leave just yet. He stared at the now empty space around him. Looking around mncholically. If felt like he had been here for too long but at the same time, not really. Time waspletely screwed around here.

    Taking one final deep breath in, Raven turned around, prepared to leave but he was obstructed by a faint image of man standing behind him. Raven was a bit startled but he didn¡¯t over react. He knew that it was impossible for him to sense the approach of this phantom unless thetter wanted him to.

    The two of them sized each up. In the end, it was the phantom who spoke first¡­

    ¡°Child, what are your ns for the Dawn Council?¡±

    ¡°You were watching the whole thing unfold, Senior. Surely you have an idea what.¡± Raven replied calmly.

    ¡°I do but I¡¯d prefer to here directly from you.¡± The phantom argued. ¡°It¡¯s up to you though. Whether you want to tell me or not. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll be able to help. I¡¯m long dead anyways.¡±

    Raven was silent for a bit but in the end, he decided to confide. There¡¯s no need to be overly-cautious. It¡¯s not like he can keep this under the wraps forever anyways.

    ¡°Aplete reform.¡± Raven replied, momentarily pausing. ¡°That¡¯s what I intend.¡±

    ¡°The Dawn Council has rotten to the core, yes but it¡¯s only due to your greedy descendants. The prestige of the council can still be save but only by aplete reform.¡±

    Raven paused again, this time he looked straight at the phantom¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Divine Realm is in grave danger. If you¡¯ve heard about the Abyssals, then you should know why this has to be done.¡±

    Raven didn¡¯t miss the way the phantom¡¯s eyes constricted when he dropped the term.

    ¡°Impossible! How did they know!?¡±

 Chapter 802: Flender Silverstreak

    Chapter 802: Flender Silverstreak

    ¡°Impossible! How did they know!?¡±

    The phantom¡¯s eyes constricted violently as he heard the word ¡®Abyssals¡¯. It in obvious that he knows who or what they are, which saved Raven time from having to exin.

    ¡°Well, don¡¯t know yet.¡± Raven followed, feeling a bit guilty for making the phantom panic. ¡°They don¡¯t know where Divine Realm is currently. That being said, one of their minions ended up here. You should have an idea who I¡¯m referring to.¡±

    ¡°Is it the Devil Emperor?¡±

    ¡°Indeed.¡± Raven nodded. ¡°Although I wasn¡¯t even born when he and his army arrived here, I saw the devastation they brought onto ournd. They¡¯re not purebred Abyssals, yet even they can make ournd weep. If the Abyssals truly arrive here, then Divine Realm is as good as done if the current status quo remains.¡±

    ¡°Then why haven¡¯t you people killed the damn pest then?¡± The phantom asked.

    ¡°The Devil Emperor is a loyalckey of theirs.¡± Raven shook his head, ¡°Not only was he strong, he also sold his soul to them in exchange for power. Additionally, he still has some connection with them even though a long time has already passed.¡±

    ¡°If we killed him now, that¡¯s pretty much the same as us telling the Abyssals where the Divine Realm is.¡± Raven continued, ¡°The moment we killed the Devil Emperor, his Life Jade will react and will notify the Abyssals. They willtch on to that signal and track us here.¡±

    ¡°Unless we have means of moving the entirety of Divine Realm to another ce, there¡¯s no way for us to escape them. If they dide, we will just be food waiting to be devoured.¡±

    ¡°The Devil Emperor is sealed.¡± Raven dered, ¡°You¡¯ve seen what I did to the Beast Lord. You¡¯ll be d to hear that the sealing method I used for the Devil Emperor is at least twenty times more effective and stronger than that.¡±

    ¡°The Devil Emperor won¡¯t be able to harm a single soul from now on. We are using his Immortality as a fuel ¨C an energy source for our sect. He won¡¯t die, but he will also never be a problem anymore.¡±

    Raven¡¯s tone was filled with outmost confidence and belief in himself. The phantom had no choice but to be convinced, not thoroughly though, not yet.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why bring them up in the first ce? Do you think that they¡¯ll be able to still locate us?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Raven agreed solemnly. Which in turn also made the phantom¡¯s face more solemn. ¡°It might now be now or in the next couple decades, but so long as we and them exist, they will surely find us. There¡¯s no way we can escape this cmity.¡±

    ¡°The history of the Abyssals are way longer than Humanity itself. The amount of realms, worlds, and gxies they devoured are aplenty. They don¡¯t, and will never,ck man-power to do their bidding. The Devil Emperor is just the first of his kind. Who¡¯s to say that there won¡¯t be a second? A third? Hell, what if a battalion of themes next? What do we do? Sit back and watch as out beloved race dies? Grovel under their feet and take us as their ves? None of these options sounds good to me.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you might think that I am exaggerating, over-reacting, being an rmist and so on, but if you were me and personally witnessed how they arrived, you¡¯d probably feel the same as well.¡± Raven said with a heavy tone.

    The phantom frowned and asked: ¡°You¡­what do you-?¡±

    ¡°I experienced Soul Rebirth.¡± Raven looked directly to the Phantom¡¯s eyes.

    Raven¡¯s eyes shed with a colorful light. The Phantom found himself unable to look away. The next thing he notices, he was surrounded with a ck me consuming everything.

    He was in a vast field littered with corpses, death and decay. The sky was weeping, worlds were ruined. There¡¯s was famine and humanity was dying. The scene was apocalyptic that it made the phantom¡¯s skin crawl.

    He was surrounded with cries of agony and wails of despair. There were shes of light but none brought hope to the despair-filled battlefield.

    Right above him, he saw them.

    d in a scaled ck armor. Faces cold and indifferent sending shivers to his body. Apathetic as they ordered thorough destruction. The Phantom watched as they siphoned everything. Resources, treasures, attacks, Laws.

    Life, hope, courage, determination, future¡­

    Everything was drained out of humanity, not even a speck left behind. Yet even though that¡¯s the case. Some people still fought for their race.

    The Phantom saw Raven silhouette. This Raven was different for he wasn¡¯t nearly as strong nor as capable as the Raven he met just now, yet this one is just as audacious and determined as the one he knows.

    He fought. Giving everything he got. Not even taking a moment of rest. He saved hisrades. Protected as many as he could. Killed as many as he could.

    Even when he¡¯s outnumbered, he persevered and managed to inch closer to the Abyssal Emperor. He challenged him despite knowing that he will lose. He was thest hope, thest beacon for humanity. Thest spark of life and unbending spirit remaining. He will not go down without a fight.

    They shed. And even with Raven¡¯s severely exhausted state, he managed to injure the Abyssal Emperor greatly.

    Nevertheless, he felt just a smidge short. He failed. And thus, as ast ace in the hole. He ignited his cultivation base. The Phantom¡¯s eyes widened when he felt the fluctuations of the fabled realm from Raven.

    From that moment on, he knew that this Raven managed to reach the Realm Beyond Divinity, even just for the briefest of moments. Nevertheless, it¡¯s all toote. The ignition of his cultivation base has already started and merely seconds away from detonation.

    A white noise and blinding re epassed his surroundings. It was then that the Phantom returned from the present and saw Raven looking at him solemnly.

    The phantom was understandably gobsmacked.

    There¡¯s no what in hell someone can convince him that the scenario he witnessed just now was fake. And that really frightened him.

    There¡¯s no doubt that he believed Raven when he said that he experienced Soul Rebirth. The world is vast and profound, a rebirth isn¡¯t really something out of ce to ur.

    This meant that Raven¡¯s worries aren¡¯tpletely unfounded. He does have every right to be worried and feel responsible. He has every right to make sure that everything went well. He has every damn right, to umte as he could in order to prepare for their arrival.

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m starting to see why the Last Fragment of Chaos chose you as it¡¯s host.¡± The Phantom said, sighing ruefully.

    If he was confused and dumbfounded earlier, now he¡¯s just depressed. It isn¡¯t because Raven got the fragment of Chaos. Its because he can¡¯t be of any help.

    He¡¯s a dead person. Nothing more than a lingering attachment that¡¯s trapped in this ce. His consciousness and awareness served as a curse. Knowing that his race if facing an impeding crisis, his heart was torn on agony, he wanted to help, yet he can¡¯t since he¡¯s long dead.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the Dawn Council to your capable hands, Young Hero.¡± The Phantom said, ¡°It pains me to not be of any help but know that I will support you in any way that I can.¡±

    ¡°Thank, Lord Flender.¡± Raven smiled a nodded.

    The phantom was taken aback for a bit.

    ¡°¡­it¡¯s been quite sometime since someone referred to me by that name.¡±

    ¡°The magnanimous Hero, the Founder and Father of the Dawn Council. You are Humanity¡¯s first elected Leader ¨C Flender Silverstreak. Your era passed a long time ago but there¡¯s no way I will forget someone like you.¡± Raven stated.

    That¡¯s right. The phantom ¨C the mysterious entity that¡¯s standing in front of Raven. A mere fragment and a lingering attachment to this ce. He was once the brightest star, the first leader of humanity, the most respected person back in his time. Flender Silverstreak.

    People nowadays don¡¯t remember him anymore since he¡¯s long dead. He passed away in closed-doors, dying in pursuit for the realm Beyond Divinity. He thought that he already released all of the burdens that he was carrying. He thought that there¡¯s nothing keeping him from moving on yet he still woke up here.

    He knew that he failed. He knew that he died. He knew that no matter what he does, he won¡¯t be able to revert time. He wallowed in despair and hid in the depths of the Divine Land. Not knowing his purpose yet also determined to no longer interfere with the outside.

    He¡¯s merely a spectator now. There¡¯s nothing he could aside from waiting until his attachment to this ce vanish on its own, then he¡¯ll truly die.

    ¡°It was nice meeting you, Sir.¡± Raven gave him a curt nod. ¡°I appreciate your support. Don¡¯t worry, leave the rest to me. I¡¯ll do my best. After all, I¡¯ve been nning for this since I woke up after my rebirth.¡±

    Flender nodded and didn¡¯t say anything. He just watched as Raven walked away and disappeared from the core of the Divine Land.

 Chapter 803: Updated Profile

    Chapter 803: Updated Profile

    ¡®Something¡¯s¡­different, in him.¡¯ Sect Master Lucas murmured inwardly to himself as he silently inspected his heir.

    Raven had returned from his personal trip. He was gone for a three whole days, the Divine Knights were already gone by the time he returned, they went back to their homes after receiving their lucky fortunes, they left sentiments with the Sect Master to pass on to Raven of course before bidding them farewell.

    Of course, the Sect Master, Grand Elder and Gaia remained. They won¡¯t leave without him. His return surprised them a bit because the changes in him were very subtle but also quite rming for some reason.

    None of them could put it in mere words. Raven just felt¡­different.

    No, he isn¡¯t a Divine Knight just yet. His cultivation didn¡¯t advance either¡­at least from what they can tell, it doesn¡¯t. Yet for some reason, he feels more powerful than before.

    Said reason might be because of a treasure he sought after, a lucky opportunity that called him here. It could also be an enlightenment, who know? None of the Elders pried though, Raven didn¡¯t seem keen on exining so they just left him be.

    Right now, they are walking back to the Dawn Council¡¯s headquarters.

    Their trip to the Divine Land was fruitful. As much as they would like to remain, their presence is disturbing thend so they have to leave.

    Once they stepped out of the portal, Raven didn¡¯t waste any time. He immediately created a new seal that will prevent any trespassers from intruding the Divine Land.

    With recent changes in him, creating a new seal went a bit surprising.

    Previously, his seals had a fixed colors ¨C Golden and Silver. Now however, the Golden radiance turned several shades darker, it didn¡¯t diminish it¡¯s power though. The silver radiance looked purer than before as well.

    Raven instinctively knew that the power of his seals just raised to a whole new realm. He needed sometime to adjust to the scale but it shouldn¡¯t prevent him from creating a sealing the entrance to the Divine Land.

    And he manage to do just that. He created a seal which is a hundred times better than the previous one. The seal is programmed to scan and filter the guests who are trying to enter the Divine Land. The seal was sufficiently lethal and sturdy enough tost for a very long time.

    After he¡¯s done recing the seal, they went back to the main office of the Dawn Council. The imprisoned members are still there, looking more wretchedpared to how they left them previously.

    It was clear that they tried different methods to escape the seal, only to fail miserably. Raven snorted in disdain. He warned them already but they¡¯re just really stubborn. He didn¡¯t want to waste time with these people since he has other matters to attend to.

    Raven moved the imprisoned knights to a cell and isted them from everyone¡¯s view. After that, he red his aura and made an announcement to those who are still around.

    ¡°Today marks the end of the Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s cleansing of the Dawn Council!¡± Raven¡¯s sonorous voice soared through miles around him, echoing on the ears of those who still remained. ¡°The former council members are now dealt with. A reform will take ce with us taking the helm of operations! Those who still want to pledge loyalty to the council may remain, the rest are free to excuse themselves.¡±

    ¡°To those who are nning to take advantage of this moment, behave yourselves. Try something funny and our sect will hunt you down.¡±

    ¡°The official reform will take ce within a month¡¯s time! Until then, wait for further announcements.¡±

    ¡ª

    The Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s counter-attack to the Dawn Council had spread far and wide, sending ripples to the entire Divine Realm.

    Unless someone was living under a rock or something, there¡¯s no way for them to not know of this news.

    At the very forefront of this whole operation, was the reveal of the Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s future Sect Master. The current Sect Master¡¯s heir and sessor to his title ¨C Vendrick ¡®Raven¡¯ Valorheart.

    The news came directly from the Divine Knights who were present during the whole operation, the Oriental Dragon Group ¨C Divine Realm¡¯s source of news and gossip, got a hold of them and asked for the spicy details, to which the Divine Knights entertained whole-heartedly.

    Well, most of them except Mchi. Even then, Mchi still said a word or two about Raven before getting irritated.

    Additionally, the Oriental Dragon Group also noticed a few of the sect¡¯s War Gods appearing in public so they wasted no time and hounded them for information.

    A couple of dayster, the Oriental Dragon Group released a coverage of the event and the updated profile for Raven. It reads;

    Ancient Elysium Sect¡¯s Young Lord ¨C Vendrick Valorheart.

    Born and raised from a Lower ne, he joined the sect¡¯s ranks and showed brilliance as a one in a billion genius. He achieved one brilliant feat after another and was chosen as an Heir to Zeus at first, then Chronos right after.

    With his expertise in wielding seals in all manners, he alone brought down the casualties of the sect to a single-digit percentage ¨C a feat that nobody else achieved before. Not only that, he also improved the quality of life for his fellow disciples and drastically improved the security of the sect.

    It is said that he climbed and reach the peak of the Devil Emperor¡¯s Pagoda all alone. An impossible feat considering how many terrors and abominations lurked inside the said pagoda but he still did it.

    His most brilliant achievement was the fact that he alone, sealed the Devil Emperor. It might not sound impressive but the Young Lord sealed the abomination in way that it will never be able to harm even a mere mortal. In fact, he even sealed him in way that made the Devil Emperor an unlimited energy source for the sect, much like how he sealed the corrupted members of the Dawn Council.

    Speaking of the Dawn Council. The Young Lord reduced them to a joke.

    It was revealed that the Dawn Council took an active role at the invasion of the sect that urred recently. They acquired the Sect¡¯s ire and thoroughly showed their tant disrespect after not delivering an exnation.

    The sect along with their Divine Knights allies, with Raven leading the operation, stormed the Dawn Council and forced the members to abdicate. The Young Lord sealed them away, turning them into energy sources to nourish the Divine Land.

    The Young Lord then announced that there will be reform to the current Dawn Council with the Ancient Elysium Sect at its helm. Further announcements are still waiting to be released but considering the fact the Young Lord is personally taking actions, we ¨C of the Oriental Dragon Group, are looking forward to it.

    Oh! And before we forgot. Yes, Young Lord Raven is indeed Holy Maiden Luna¡¯s Husband. They met, feel in love and married each before they ascended along with their friends; Paul, Ellen, Mark, and Anne.

    ¡ª

    ¡°Darn. Big Brother sure moves fast. It hasn¡¯t even been a year!¡±

    On a lone ne filled with nothing but endless destion on sight. Three people huddled over a piece of paper. It¡¯s thetest brochure that the Oriental Dragon Group has released.

    The trio looked young, two females and one male. The two females were twins, and the male looked like their older sibling, only figuratively though.

    These trio were none other than Raven¡¯s twin sisters and his only disciple for now, Nina, Tori and Kyle.

    Currently, they are in ce called the Grand Deste Dessert. This is a remote location filled with dangers and fortunes. Not a lot of people visits this ce because of the difficulty to survive here, much less discover a lucky chance, yet the trio actually chose this ce as their first destination.

    ¡°Well, Master has always been a man of his word.¡± Kyle added, ¡°If I were to guess, he must¡¯ve already nned all of this even before he returned here.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t put it past him.¡± Nina nodded, ¡°Considering what we¡¯ve experienced in the Divine Realm so far, nning it a bare minimum at least.¡±

    In no way her statement was false or an understatement. Now that twins experienced what Divine Realm is all about, they could totally understand why Raven put them through the wringer and became thankful for it.

    Had they not experienced such a thing, they¡¯ll probably lose their lives within the first month of their arrival even with Kyle¡¯s assistance.

    ¡°Well, if Big Bro¡¯s on the move, Sister-in-Law and the others should be as well. From what Kyle said, this is a big event. Surely they¡¯ll know right?¡± Tori asked.

    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t doubt that.¡± Kyle agreed enthusiastically, ¡°The Oriental Dragon Group is famous for their news and gossips. I¡¯m sure that the others are on priority of receiving these brochures considering their connection with Master.¡±

    ¡°So then¡­¡± Tori paused before saying, ¡°We¡¯re moving on to the 2nd Phase of the n?¡±

    ¡°Yep! 2nd Phase.¡± Kyle nodded, ¡°We gotta hurry too. Judging by how fast Master moves, the 2nd Phase won¡¯tst long. We should be done here by the time the 3rd Phase begins because we are needed.¡±

    ¡°Alright. What are waiting for then? Let¡¯s move!¡±

 Chapter 804: Dawn Councils Rebirth

    Chapter 804: Dawn Council¡¯s Rebirth

    A month¡¯s passed and the Oriental Dragon Group released yet another shocking news.

    ¡î Dawn Council¡¯s Rebirth ¡î

    Good day to you, fellow Knight of the Divine Realm. This is the Oriental Dragon Group at your service! Sending the hottest and freshest news about everything Divine Realm has to offer.

    At the very first page of our newest issue¡­well, you¡¯ve read the title, it is indeed about the rebirth of the Dawn Council.

    As you all can remember, the previous Dawn Council was under scrutiny for their aggressive and greedy movements. It once dared to ruffle the hairs of the slumbering giant, known as the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    The results of their bold and insane actions turned them into the enemy of the sect.

    Lead by none other than their Young Lord ¨C Raven Valorheart, the Ancient Elysium Sect marched towards the gates of the Dawn Council along with their faithful allies to demand an exnation. Still, the Dawn Council didn¡¯t give them any face and were hell-bent on scheming against them which forced the Ancient Elysium Sect to use a heavy hand.

    They dismantled the previous batch of the Dawn Council¡¯s authoritative members, imprisoning them as punishment for all their bad deeds. With the sect at the helm of the operations, they announced that the Dawn Council will be reformed from the ground up.

    Said announcement was made a month ago. Now, the changes are applied and the Dawn Council¡¯s back in action. More importantly, as we ¨C Oriental Dragon Group, having the honor to personally witness and listen to the new arrangements the Young Lord made for the new Dawn Council, we¡¯ll go as far as to say that the new Dawn Council is leagues abovepared to the previous one.

    The headquarters of the Dawn Council remained where it was, situated at the center of the Divine Realm, faithfully guarding the entrance to the Divine Land. Of course, there are new additions as well.

    Five new inds appeared around the Headquarters. ording to what the Young Lord said, these five inds were once worlds that are reaching the end of their natural lifespans. Young Lord Raven changed them ording to his desires and give them new purpose as well as extended their longevities.

    These inds are situated at the four cardinal directions around the Divine Land with one floating right on top of the Divine Land itself.

    Each ind are connected to Divine Land by a seal that the Young Lord made. ording to the Young Lord, these inds will be where the new Dawn Council will nurture geniuses.

    Yes, you read that right. The Dawn Council ns on nurturing Geniuses from now on!

    You¡¯re probably curious why. Don¡¯t worry! We are too, that¡¯s why we asked. The Young Lord said that his trip to the Divine Land was enlightening, he saw how many resources were being wasted since nobody was there to use them. He felt that¡¯s such a shame and that there¡¯s a lot of things we, Humanity, could achieve if we put them in good use so he thought, why not start with this?

    Yeah, exciting isn¡¯t it? But don¡¯t celebrate just yet, this isn¡¯t the end, oh no! We¡¯re just starting.

    Even though Young Lord Raven has proven himself capable time and time again, he admits that he is just one person. Ultimately, his responsibilities lies to his own sect ¨C the Ancient Elysium Sect who helped him tremendously. He won¡¯t be reach his current state without their nurturing.

    That being said, the Dawn Council¡¯s matters are just as important and he can¡¯t help but feel responsible, therefore he asked for help. And who else could possibly be more helpful aside than the friends he grew up with as well as his very own wife?

    With all of that being said, we wee the newest generation of Dawn Council¡¯s Committee!

    Starting with the Holy Maiden: Lunafreya Moonsong ¨C Young Lord Raven¡¯s wife. She became a spokesperson for the Dawn Council before but she limited her activities as member because of the questionable acts of the previous council. Now that her husband¡¯s taking over, she expressed her desire to do good and support him whole-heartedly.

    Her office will be at the ind that¡¯s situated on top of the Divine Land also known as the Sky Office.

    Next will be the Eastern Office with its supervisor Ellen Redcrest ¨C the Vermillion Princess. The Eastern Office is of course the eastern ind as well.

    Then we have Paul Gregory ¨C the Turtle Prince, supervisor of the Northern Office.

    Mark Anderson ¨C the Crimson Lightning Prince, supervising the Western Office.

    Evergreen Fairy ¨C Anne Fiore, supervising the Southern Office.

    And finally, their Leader, the Young Lord of the Ancient Elysium Sect and the one supervising the Central Office and the Divine Land ¨C Vendrick ¡®Raven¡¯ Valorheart.

    Such an impressive line-up, filled with new and vigorous young blood, fitting for the newest generation of Humanity¡¯s Leaders.

    ording to what the Young Lord said, the Dawn Council will continue its trend of neutrality. It will continue to act as a mediator and will watch over Divine Realm as a whole. Their contributions will be for the sake of Humanity as a whole. It¡¯s the same promise that created the council in the first ce but newest generation promises to try their absolute best to uphold their duty.

    We also received news that the moment the offices were established, they already began their work.

    Their first mission is to cleanse the remaining filth that the previous generation left for them. With six people dividing the duties and moving with astonishing speed and uracy, it wouldn¡¯t take much time before the te bes wiped clean.

    After that, the Young Lord said that he nned on improving the living conditions of Humanity by using the resources from the Divine Land itself. He also n on personally visiting the known dangers zones in order to see if he could do something about them.

    As we write this issue, the Young Lord is already on the move as well as the rest of themittee. The security around the Dawn Council is so strict that not even a fly could intrude its vicinity without permission.

    We stated earlier that the Young Lord and the rest of the Committee are nning on nurturing geniuses didn¡¯t we? Well, let¡¯s talk about it!

    First foremost, it¡¯s not free. That much shouldn¡¯t be surprising.

    Even with the support Divine Land, there¡¯s no way the Dawn Council could shoulder the expenses for raising geniuses. In order to remedy this, the Young Lord thought about handing out missions.

    Yep, there will be Mission Board posted on the Dawn Council¡¯s Headquarters. Clearing said missions will give various degrees of Merit Points which can be used to exchange for resources, use training facilities and so on.

    Heck, if one was willing to stock up points, the Young Lord might even let them enter the Divine Land to test their luck!

    Yes, he did say that.

    As for how much that¡¯s going to cost? Well, we don¡¯t know yet. The missions aren¡¯t out yet. The Young Lord¡¯s currently roaming the Divine Realm in order to remedy that.

    It hasn¡¯t been long since he sat at his position but he¡¯s already so busy.

    In addition to the mission board, there will be times when themittee will release invitations for young people. Said invitations will be for a Law Debate lead by either the Young Lord himself, any person of themittee or a guest Divine Knight.

    The invitations will be sent out randomly ording to the Divine Realm so if you are lucky to receive one, never lose it! Such an opportunity might only happen once!

    This is to say that the Young Lord has many ideas and We, of the Oriental Dragon Group, are filled with great anticipation of what these people has to offer.

    Right now, the Dawn Council is still at its adjustment period. The information stated above are the only ones that the Young Lord revealed to us so far. We are sure that he has more in mind and he¡¯s just waiting for the right time to shock us all again.

    Fellow Knights, this such a joyous asion. Be excited! Be happy! Pay respects to the new generation of the Dawn Council¡¯s Committee!!

    ¡ª

    One would be right to say that the moment this issue was released, the Divine Realm has exploded into a frenzy.

    They were awed by the article. They couldn¡¯t help but feel surging emotions creeping up their skin. This was such an abrupt change that took them by surprise.

    Some of the hot-blooded and hopeful ones were already waiting near the Dawn Council. Waiting for the missions to be released. Unfortunately, the guards were adamant about not letting them in since none of themittee were there. They were all busy running around and doing errands.

    Even Raven¡¯s coronation as the new Sect Master of the Ancient Elysium Sect has been pushed back because of this.

    Nevertheless, everyone was hopeful.

    There are still some people who skeptical about whole thing but deep down, they too are looking forward to it.

    And as it turns out, they really didn¡¯t have to wait that long¡­

 Chapter 805: Final Prep, Ceremony.

    Chapter 805: Final Prep, Ceremony.

    ¡ª

    "Ah geez, I''m so freaking tired." Paul wh?n?d as he copsed on his chair.

    He pawed on the nearest loaf of bread and unceremoniously threw it in the air, catching it with his mouth and swallowing it in one fell swoop ¨C all while wearing that tired look on his face.

    Next to him, the rest were also present. Even Raven is around. Silently sifting through documents while taking a sip of his tea.

    "There''s too much work for us to do." Ellen sighed as she massaged the bridge of nose. "The six of us aren''t enough to finish all this."

    "Rx guys." Raven said without looking away from the stack of papers in front of him. "Our job is just the initial ?ssessment. I appointed us as Supervisors right? Plus, we''re about to hire people to do the heavy lifting for us. Just endure it for a bit more."

    "There''s still 12 Danger Zone left uninspected." Mark stated, he too was also looking through the documents in front of him. "Every single one of them are the ones that people tend to stay away from. If we want to send people there, we''re gonna have to give them something worth it."

    "That''s true." Anne replied, "But, these 12 Danger Zones are quite profitable as well. I took a trip to one of them before and I''ve got some good gains from them. Surely we can use that to bnce things out yeah? I mean, we wouldn''t want to wring the Divine Land dry."

    "Well, wringing the Divine Land is no good. However, considering that there are six unlimited energy supplies powering the thing, that''ll be hard to do. Still, its in out best interest to be careful." Luna stated.

    All six of them had been busy during the past month.

    The amount of travelling they did would easily trump over the total amount of travelling they did in past.

    They''ve scoured every corner of the Divine Realm in just a month. Searching and jotting down all the possible threats around.

    In truth, roaming the Divine Realm and discovering all the things they did so far, would take years, if not decades, to do. The Divine Realm is vast, just travelling from one great world to the other would take a long time even with the aid of Spiritual Treasures meant for travelling.

    Amongst the many artifacts that the Dawn Council rightfully owns, one of them is called the: Heavenly Mirror. The other is called the: Any Realm Door.

    The function of these artifacts are simple. The Heavenly Mirror can let them see the Divine Realm as a whole. It even has a search filtering function that makes it easier for them to see what they want to see.

    The Any Realm Door is what they use to travel to said ces if needed be. They just need to know the Spatial Coordinates of the ce they wanted to be, etch on the door, wait for five seconds, open the door and they will appear at the said coordinates in no time. This treasure can work even under a Spatial Lockdown thanks to Raven''s tinkering.

    These two treasures made it easier for them to do their work swifter. It allowed them to appear without any prior warnings and leave without alerting anyone of their presence. The whole month was spent travelling and inspecting the ces that needs the council''s attention.

    "Right, I say it''s about time we start hiring people to expedite the process." Raven said, finally peeling his eyes away from the stack of papers. "Let''s decide on how the Mission Board''s going to look like first."

    "I''ve nothing much to say other than two things." Paul said, "One it has to look presentable and worthy of the Dawn Council''s prestige. Two, the Mission Board should be present in all of our territories, at least one in every world. That way, there won''t be a need for people crowd over our gates just to get them."

    "Point taken." Raven nodded to Paul before looking at the rest. "How about you guys?"

    "That''s unusually smart of you Paul, it''s kind of creeping me out honestly." Mark stated as he stared at Paul, causing the others to chuckle.

    "Hey! That''s mean!" Paul pouted, "I might be dumb but I did work hard to be a decent heir to my sect. Don''t tell me you guys are the only ones allowed to do managerial work?"

    "No, of that sorts of course." Ravenughed andforted Paul, "We''re just not used to you having a great idea. We''re just a bit shocked okay."

    "True." Ellen agreed, nodding her head.

    "Okay, moving on¡­" Anne interjected, "Well, it''s about the missions itself. How will they appear on the mission board? Are they like¡­written in paper or scrolls? Or are we going to use something else entirely? You know? Something unique?"

    "I''ve got an idea for that actually." Luna chimed in, everyone looked at her and waited. "Well, I was thinking that made we can use Raven''s seals instead."

    "Oh?" Raven raised a brow, "Interesting, tell us more."

    "Okay, so like¡­your seals are your thing, yes? And you''re the Supreme Leader of the Dawn Council? I just thought that ''Wouldn''t it makes sense if we use seals instead? That way, your influence can be seen everywhere. Like a reminder of some sorts.'' Plus, we all know how adaptable your seals are, I''m sure you can pack in as many functions as you could on those seals, you know."

    "Wife¡­you''re just giving me more work. How could you¡­" Raven dramatically clutched his heart upon realizing this.

    Luna justughed, she didn''t even feel a bit apologetic about this, instead she just said: "Come on, Husband. We all know you can do this. It''s not like this''ll be hard task for you."

    Well, indeed it is not. Luna''s idea was great actually. It was perfect.

    Raven could easily dish out millions of seals in one swipe of his hand, and that''s not even him trying. Of course, she''s also right about how convenient Raven''s seals are. The fact that, if he wanted to, he can pack as much functions on his seals, changes everything.

    The Mission Seals can contain information about the specific mission one wants, but it''s also not limited to that. If Raven wants to, the mission seals can have a tracking function, can send a distress signal, can record its surroundings, canpile information and so on. Sky''s the limit.

    "Alright¡­I guess we can do that. I''ll think of somethingter for the Mission Seals." Raven nodded, he then looked at his friends and asked: "Anything else?"

    "Well, you''ll surely need help on auditing so I volunteer for the work." Anne stated, "Just give me a rough draft of what the Exchange Rates are for the Merit Points as well as a general list of all avable resources at the Divine Land."

    "Will do, thanks Anne." Raven appreciated that.

    "I''ll finish creating the Secret Realms and Environments. Give me at least three days and that should be done." Ellen added.

    "I''ll be at the Heavenly Mirror. You won''t mind me abusing it to search for people to get rid off, yeah?" Mark asked. He''s referring to the famous criminals of the Divine Realm of course.

    "Oh please, feel free to do so." Raven nodded enthusiastically.

    "Are the invitations ready for the meet? I''m ready to hand them personally anytime." Paul offered.

    "They''ll be done in about¡­four hours." Raven replied.

    "Alright cool. You know where to find me."

    "Well, there''s not much for me to do." Luna miffed, "Ah! How about I help you design what the Mission Board will look like?"

    "Mn! Sounds great. I''m not big on aesthetics anyways." Raven nodded.

    "Alright, it''s settled then." Luna pped excitedly.

    "Okay, so that''s basically it for this meeting. But I''d like to inform everyone about onest thing." Raven looked at each of them briefly before stating. "I''ll be officially inheriting the position of the Sect Master by the end of the week."

    The rest looked at Raven, their expressions brightening up as they congratted him.

    Raven smiled and said: "Thank you. I''m excited but that also means that I''ll need to wrap-up the initial work here before I return there. I''d have to trouble the rest of you to hasten the preparations since I n on going all out on that day."

    "Don''t worry, Bro. We''ll do what we can. It''s about time you sit on that spot anyways." Paul grinned at him.

    "Thank you." Raven nodded, "Spare me some time and attend, yeah? I would love to see you there."

    "Pfft. As if we''re going to miss something like that. Of course we''ll attend! Right, everyone?" Ellen asked.

    The rest just nodded. Raven chuckled and felt warm. He looked at them and said:

    "Thank you. We''ve been through a lot people. We''re nearly there. Just endure this with me for a little bit more. We''re at the final stretch. After that, we can go home."

    "Home."

    Everyone echoed the sentiment and felt their hearts surged with emotions.

 Chapter 806: Inheritance Ceremony

    Chapter 806: Inheritance Ceremony

    ¡ª

    Raven coronation as the next Sect Master of the Ancient Elysium Sect is happening today.

    The Divine Realm is shaking in excitement¡­it''s only natural. After all, who in the Divine Realm isn''t aware of who Raven was at this point? Surely nobody after the ridiculous amounts of praises he received from the Oriental Dragon Group.

    The announcement was released a week before the schedule. And to say that the Ancient Elysium Sect was filled to the brim with people, would be an understatement.

    For the first time in forever, the Ancient Elysium Sect opened its doors and weed people in with their unique hospitality.

    The announcement of the sect opening its doors came as a huge shock to people, but that shock turned into excitement real quick. They didn''t waste anytime and made a trip to the sect, bearing gifts in order to curry the favor of the sect.

    Their gifts were epted, the sect''s treasury are now brimming with resources which canst them for ages toe. Of course, the sect made sure to do a good job at being hosts, weing everyone with open arms and giving them a tour of the sect, they even gave the guests some gifts of their own.

    All of this happened while Raven silently prepare for the ceremony.

    Unbeknownst to people, Raven just returned to the sect today. What can he do? He''s a busy man. The stuff he had to deal with at the Dawn Council kept him upied until this day, if it weren''t for the Sect Master reminding him of the ceremony, Raven would''ve forgotten about this altogether.

    Raven for sure wasn''t expecting this to be this grand though¡­

    In truth, he wanted this ceremony to be intimate. Just with the elders and disciples of the sect plus his friends and the sect''s allies, that''s all. It was the Sect Master who opposed this of course. He said that this is a great time to form connections.

    With the intention of opening up their doors for everybody, such event will bound to attract all sorts of people. Yes, they do have to be careful but it''s also such a good opportunity that it''ll be a shame to let it pass.

    Honestly, what could Raven even say at this point. He knows that the Sect Master is right. So he could only agree to this.

    Currently, Raven is resting at his personal estate. He''s been at the bath for two hours now, silently taking deep breaths to get rid of jitters. Once he was well rested, he stood up, dried himself and wore the sect''s ceremonial clothing.

    The clothes consists of a long crimson robes made out of the finest silk which flowed the gentlest stream of water. It has golden linings, tight around the shoulders, waist and h?ps but extremely loose at the rest. There also a set of pants which followed the same color scheme, tightly-fitted and has numerous images sewn at its surface. A pair of jet ck boots which reached right up to legs and also has a golden edges.

    Aside from these, Raven also has to wear a head ornament ¨C a hairpin which is adorned with numerous gems and glowed with a golden-violet sheen. A belt which is made out of an ancient leather depicting numerous auspicious beasts and he has to carry a unique and ancient hourss artifact which will be necessary for the ceremonyter.

    Raven is not allowed to take a step out of his chambers until it was the time for his coronation therefore, he''s in no hurry to wear all of this.

    ¡ª

    Although it was established that today''s Raven''s coronation as the new Sect Master, it wasn''t only him who''ll be promoted.

    He''s the main man, sure. But the Ancient Elysium Sect decided to take advantage of this time to shift gears and introduce the new age of the sect''s Heirs. Meaning the new Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, Athena, Aphrodite, Helios, Hephaestus, and so on, will also be coronated today.

    The only exceptions are Gaia and the War Gods for they are to hold their titles until they died.

    The ceremony already started at this point. The first sign was the skies within the sect dimming and stars illuminating their surroundings.

    It was then followed by the silhouette of Mount Olympus ¨C the real one, appearing before everyone''s view. The majestic and towering mountain was impossible to not be noticed judging by it''s sheer size.

    A deep and sonorous voice echoed across everyone''s ears. It was the sound of the Grand Elder''s voice for this is thest time he''ll act as Zeus ¨C the King of Gods. As soon as he announced that the ceremony started, he started calling-up names of the Heirs.

    The previous generation are all standing at the peak of the mountain. Once their Heir is called, they are to walk down the mountain while their heirs climb it instead. Their steps are equally measured for they are supposed to meet halfway up the mountain.

    Once the meet at the middle, the older will pass on their Inheritance Mark ¨C the very same mark that represents their authority and responsibilities, to the young one. The older will continued walking down the mountain while the young one continues up until they arrived at the top.

    This was how the ceremony urred¡­

    Everyone who attended the ceremony were awed by the disy. The ceremony was a bit simple yet it also disys tradition. It boasts the long, long history of the Ancient Elysium Sect and what they signify for the entirety of the Divine Realm.

    Every time an heir officially reced the older one and sat upon the peak of the mountain, all disciples will passionately offer their greetings loudly and in perfect unison, knocking their heads on the concrete floor, this includes the Service Disciples as well.

    Not even the Dawn Council had this kind glory.

    Witnessing such atmosphere really made some people think. There are some people here who are unaffiliated by anything, not a part of a sect nor any organizations. At any other day, this people would say that they prefer to have their freedom even if means making their life more difficult. Right now though, these people are starting to doubt their decision.

    They think that it might not be too bad to join a sect after all, especially this one.

    And then¡­coronation of the next Zeus was finished. Their heir already arrived at the peak of the mountain, bearing the mark of a thunderbolt on his forehead. The disciples paid their respects to their new Grand Elder with another set of kowtows.

    After that¡­a brief silence wrapped the entire ce. The atmosphere was already solemn before but this time, it was doubled. The anticipation was unbearable for most people but they endured, the silence was defeaning but nobody said a word, they didn''t even dare to breathe loudly.

    The new age of Heirs simultaneously turned around and stared at the skies above. They stared at the spot where the brightest star was, the very same ce where Sect Master Lucas appeared.

    He stood there, back turned towards them, gazing at the vast expanse of stars beyond them. He solely turned around and peered down at everybody, wearing a solemn yet kind expression. He parted his lips and said:

    "Show yourself, my sessor."

    "I answer to thine call, Master."

    To some, this is the first time theyid eyes on Raven. And with his current appearance, it''ll be a huge surprise if some women here manages to resist his unearthly charm.

    Wearing a long crimson robes which flowed like a gentle stream of water, coupled with a deviously handsome visage and an ethereal aura, Raven scaled up the mountain with an Ancient Hourss artifact on hand.

    The moment he took a step at the foot of the mountain, it''s as if time has stopped. The world turned silent and he became the sole existence in the entirety of the Divine Realm. His steps were light and didn''t make any sound but each step he took was heavy and steady.

    All color was flushed out, remaining to only him alone. His dazzling appearance dimmed the brilliance of the stars itself.

    He walked strong and determined until he reached the peak of the mountain, the silence was ended but the loudest greetings that the disciples and the new heirs uttered the moment he joined their ranks.

    Raven nodded to them and signaled them to rise. After that, he started rising to the stars, reaching the same height as Sect Master Lucas.

    Golden grains of sand appeared from Lucas'' body and flowed through the hourss that Raven was carrying. Once thest grain of sand was transferred, the hourss emitted a sh of brilliance, turning into a streak of light that embedded itself at Raven''s forehead.

    Raven summoned the Scepter of Wisdom and mmed it next to him, the brilliance of the stars intensified and all sorts of heavenly phenomena urred with the appearance of the Constetions.

    Lucas smiled and patted Raven''s shoulders, he then faced the crowd and announced:

    "Pay respects to your next Sect Master, Vendrick Valorheart!"

 Chapter 807: Laughing Dragon

    Chapter 807: Laughing Dragon

    ¡ª

    What followed the session ceremony was a grand banquet where everyone present was invited.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect didn''t hold back. They took out many delicacies and liquors for everyone to enjoy. They also expressed their gratitude for the people who attended despite their busy schedules.

    It was a grand celebration, one where everyone mingled and made connections. The stars of this events are of course, other than the new generation of Ancient Elysium Sect''s Pantheon with Raven at the very center.

    Currently, Raven is surrounded by people. Right next to him was his very own wife, Luna ¨C who''s happily keeping her husbandpany throughout these small talks.

    For those who were still doubting their rtionship at this point, the simple of Luna sticking close to him was enough to prove everything.

    Luna has never been the one to initiate contact with someone. It is unknown how many people longed to touch her hand of even a finger of hers yet they were ruthlessly denied. Luna never even allowed anyone to shake her hand, not even her own servants back in the sect nor anyone she had interacted with throughout her journey in the Divine Realm.

    Those who tried to do so will provoke her ire, depending on their offense, she wouldn''t hesitate to slice off their hands. This shows how much Luna loathed to be touched by people she doesn''t know or care about.

    But here, everyone saw how Luna was the first one to run towards Raven the moment the ceremony ended. She was the first one to jump to his embrace and wrap Raven so tight in her embrace as if she wants to meld her body with his.

    People here witnessed just how much adoration and love her eyes held for Raven, and just how much Raven reciprocated every single act of affection he received with the same intensity.

    They were meant for each other. Their rtionship is something that cannot be denied even by time itself.

    Many hearts bled at this sight but at the same time, convinced of their loss. Well, did they truly lost if they never had it in the first ce? It was never ¨C it has never been apetition. From the very start, they never stood a chance didn''t they?

    And it wasn''t just them though¡­

    To think that Raven had close connections to the other geniuses ¨C namely; Paul, Ellen, Anne and Mark, was simply astonishing. To think that they were born and raised on the same lower ne, ascended separately but still managed to find their way to the peak even without each other''s ?ssistance, was a proof that they are extremely formidable on their own.

    Hell, every single one of them are now the ones leading the Divine Realm. They are the new supervisors, envoys of the Dawn Council. Their strength isn''t something that should be doubted at this point.

    Really, it makes one wonder what kind of luck their world has to give birth to them. Such glory would span for eons, who wouldn''t want it for themselves?

    Raven was really thankful that he can handle his liquor properly. If not, with how many people he had been introduced to and offered a toast with, he''d probably be hammered at this point.

    He wasn''t a fan of wines or ales but he doesn''t hate them. He prefer tea for his drinks but the asion doesn''t call for it so he could onlyment silently.

    Raven endured the shameless parade of fake people trying to curry favor with him. Inwardly, he scoffed. Raven knows his worth, he knew what they wanted from him and to that, he could really only snort in disdain.

    These people need to try a little bit harder if they really wanted his attention.

    That being said, Raven spotted a few people who were genuine when ites to their approach. These people, Raven initiated a toast with.

    The gesture wasn''t anything special, he didn''t even say a word to them. He just nodded and shared a drink with them. It was cryptic at best but these people aren''t idiots, they understand what Raven was trying to send across and judging by their reactions, they appreciated the gesture.

    "Sect Master Raven!"

    Raven''s attention was caught by a jolly voice which sounded really familiar. Raven smiled and turned around, only to see a round-bellied bald man with foxlike eyes and whiskers at corners of his cheeks.

    "Laughing Dragon, it''s been a hot minute. Thank you for gracing us with your presence." Raven chuckled and shook the man''s hand. Raven''s wife and friends also greeted him.

    This man goes by the moniker Laughing Dragon ¨C he is a high ranking Elder and Envoy of the Oriental Dragon Group. This man is the one who personally hounded information about Raven''s identity and deeds.

    He''s extremely famous for his talent¡­his talent for smelling gossips and conspiracies from anywhere and everywhere. It was a strange talent, one could even say that it''s borderline useless but Laughing Dragon used it to his advantages. He flourished after joining the Oriental Dragon Group and is now a respected member of the organization.

    "How could I possibly miss this!?" Laughing Dragonughed out loud, "It is you we''re talking about here. Of course you''ll see me snooping around. That being said, I don''t have to do that since you graciously sent me an invitation. I am thankful."

    Laughing Dragon sped his hand and gave Raven a curt bow.

    Although Laughing Dragon is a famous for his work, he also got himself a notorious streak for snooping and sneaking around ces he''s not supposed to be in. In his defense, he just can''t help it, it''s in his nature and work to gather intelligence. If he followed the traditional and ethical ways, he''d be dry and unsatisfied.

    Laughing Dragon never crossed any lines though. He has a bottom-line for himself even with his insatiable thirst for chasing after gossips, this is why he was never been in anybody''s cklist.

    "Don''t sweat the small details." Raven waved his hand and sped Laughing Dragon''s shoulders. Even though Laughing Dragon is older than Raven, the difference between their status was immense. Nevertheless, Raven maintained a friendly rtionship with him since he has proven his worth.

    "Are you enjoying yourself at least?"

    "I''m having the time of my life, Sect Master." Laughing Dragon smiled. His expression doesn''t seem forced nor fake, which made Raven slightly relieved. "Such a grand event only happens once in a blue moon. It''d be a shame to not take advantage of it!"

    "I see. That''s good. I''m d that your enjoying yourself." Raven nodded, "Well? Are you up for another scoop at least?"

    Raven''s question caused Laughing Dragon to perk up. Raven could almost hear the gears on his brain creaking. Heughed and said:

    "Don''t overthink things, Laughing Dragon. I''m just employing your services. That''s of course if you want it."

    "Of course, Sect Master! Is that even a question?" Laughing Dragon replied incredulously, "I''ll never get tired making reports about your work! I''ll be more than happy to do so."

    "Very good. I am pleased to hear that." Raven chuckled, "We''ll discuss it after the banquet. I''ll inform my subordinates to prepare some lodgings for you to stay. For now, go ahead and enjoy the banquet."

    Raven raised his cup and proposed a toast to Laughing Dragon, which theter graciously epted. After they downed their drinks, Laughing Dragon excused himself.

    "Is there any specific reason why you''re fond of him?" Luna asked beside him, the rest of their friends are also looking at him for answers.

    "Well, I won''t lie. He''s useful." Raven chuckled, "Useful and interesting, and I mean this in a best way I can."

    "He did help us solidify our standing amongst the many experts in the Divine Realm through his work." Raven stated, "Although we will be fine without it, he saved us time by doing that. If it weren''t for him, we will need to wait longer before getting everyone''s acknowledgement."

    "In addition to that, his intentions are clear. He isn''t just currying favor, with his reputation, he doesn''t need it. In fact, he was the same guy who repeatedly attempted to ruin the reputation of the previous Dawn Council."

    "His reports about us might be biased but many people can see it is not. And that really helps a lot. He never asked for anything, he just wanted his curiosity sated. It''s not that difficult to do that, so I don''t mind letting him close."

    "His talents will serve us well in the near future, so be nice to him at least." Raven reminded them with a chuckle.

    "Well, if you say so." Luna shrugged and continued drinking her wine.

    Raven shook his head and entertained another person. Deep down, he''s expecting great things from Laughing Dragon. After all, he knew that guy best out of everyone here, including Laughing Dragon himself.

    Laughing Dragon doesn''t need to prove himself to Raven. There''s no need for him to doubt his intentions either. He knew that Laughing Dragon is a good ally.

    He has been his ally in his past life. Laughing Dragon already proved himself to be one when he refused to leave him behind to die on numerous asions¡­

    So really¡­.there''s no need to doubt Laughing Dragon at all.

 Chapter 808: Offer

    Chapter 808: Offer

    ¡ª

    The session ceremony ended on a peaceful manner. The banquetsted for three whole days before the guest returned home bearing news of everything that happened.

    At this point, the Oriental Dragon Group does not need to publish a new brochure covering the whole event since the people who attended were enough to exin everything from start to finish.

    Once the event was over, the Ancient Elysium Sect entered a period of serenity.

    Cleaning up after the celebration wasn''t that hard, especially when the Service Disciples practically volunteered to do it by themselves. Everyone was enjoying the silence and peace after the huge event but they are aware that this is just another calm before the storm.

    Raven, as the new Sect Master, has many things to do. After rightfully inheriting the title and the responsibilities, he didn''t waste time and immediately beganunching several ns in motion. He was so thankful for the Myriad Incarnations Scripture for giving him thousands of Avatars to help him in his work, without them, he''d surely be swamped with everything.

    Even though the biggest threat to the sect and the Divine Realm has been dealt with, there are still things that need to be implemented for the new system that the sect will adapt. After all, they will be officially opening up their doors soon.

    And, as the new leader of the Dawn Council, Raven''s attention will be focused at the Divine Realm itself, not just his own sect. Add this on top of the usual responsibilities of a Sect Master and it''s enough to drain anyone all of their energy.

    Thankfully, there''s a team behind him that''s willing to share his burdens. Additionally, most of the groundwork for the changes that will be implemented were alreadyid down even before his coronation as the new Sect Master.

    Right now, Raven just finished his first meeting as the new Sect Master. The older generation attended it since they figured that they would still need to guide the new ones. Still, under Raven''s lead, everything was ounted for and their work was evenly divided. The previous generation b?r?ly had anything to say about the arrangements.

    After this meeting, Raven paid a visit to Laughing Dragon who was enjoying his stay within the Sect.

    "Apologies for making you wait this long, Laughing Dragon." Raven smiled wryly upon arriving at his temporary residence.

    "Oh no, Sect Master. It''s fine, believe me. You didn''t make me wait at all." Laughing Dragon gave Raven a curt bow and gestured for him to sit down.

    Raven didn''t stand on ceremony and epted the hospitality. He sat down on the chair with Laughing Dragon sitting in front of him.

    "Well then, let''s begin. I won''t beat around the bush, Laughing Dragon, you this."

    "I do."

    "It''s nothing difficult, don''t worry. I just want your help to publish another issue about the new arrangements for the Dawn Council." Raven stated.

    He took out a stack of documents from his spatial ring and handed it over to Laughing Dragon ¨C who received it and wore his monocle.

    Raven grinned upon seeing him do this. This was one of Laughing Dragon''s habits when he''s taking things seriously. He would wear his monocle, an artifact that could boost his mental activity by a lot. It allows him to analyze things in a faster and more efficient manner.

    "¡­a mission board that will disy all the avable missions issued by the Dawn Council. It will be all over the Divine Realm. In every ne, world, great world and even empyrean world? Phenomenal!"

    Laughing Dragon started murmuring to himself. This is yet another one of his habits. He does it whenever he''s too absorbed at the topic hees across with. He isn''t aware that he does this.

    "Sect Master this is¡­" Laughing Dragon couldn''t hide the astonishment on his face. "The Sect will break its tradition of seclusion? Is this real?"

    "It is, Laughing Dragon." Raven chuckled. "This shouldn''te as a big surprise isn''t it? After all, the biggest threat has been dealt with¡­"

    "Of course!" Laughing Dragon interjected, he looked as if he just realized something so obvious for so long. "The only reason behind the seclusion is to contain the influence of the Devil Emperor and prevent The Exiles from infiltrating the sect."

    "With the Devil Emperor permanently sealed and unable to harm even a fly and The Exiles permanently dealt with, there''s no need to continue the seclusion of the sect! It was time to usher in the new age. And what a perfect timing too, the new pantheon just reported for duty with you leading it."

    "If I''m right, this should also help you with the matters of the Dawn Council''sck of manpower since you lead both camps. Two birds in one stone! Oh, what a brilliant idea!!" Laughing Dragon was squirming on his seat out of pure excitement.

    Raven just chuckled and let him do as he pleases. His conclusions weren''t wrong anyways.

    "In addition to this, I can also tell that the other supervisors will include their own sect for this. If that''s the case, then the Dawn Council''sck of manpower is as good as solved." Laughing Dragon started murmuring again as he flipped over the documents.

    "This is¡­" He frowned, "There''s this many problems in Divine Realm as a whole? This isn''t good."

    Raven sighed and said: "Most of them were things that the previous council concocted for their personal gain. We''ve managed to clear out most of these but the remaining ones will take time before we canpletely get rid of them."

    "A shame indeed. But seeing as to how generous the rewards are, I don''t think anybody will mind. I''d bet that even Empyreans won''t hesitate to snag this missions up for themselves. Thankfully, they can only apply for a limited number of missions per year."

    That''s right. With the amount of problems left for the Dawn Council to look after, the Mission Board will neverck avable missions. Some of the more difficult andplicated problems can be cleared by Empyreans themselves but Raven didn''t want them to hog everything for themselves, which is why he limited the amount of missions they are allowed to take per year.

    Mission difficulties followed the usual D ¨C SSS ranking method with D-ranks being the easiest and SSS-ranks being the most difficult. The rewards are stated on the mission, it is up to somebody if they want to apply for it or not,

    Some missions require multiple people to clear it, some can be taken solo. Some missions have a time limit, going past the time limit will automatically dere the failure of the mission which will make the said mission avable for others to take.

    Those who epted a mission are required to wear a badge that will serve as proof that they were sent by the Dawn Council. The badges will monitor their route in order to gather intel and will be reviewed by the council to verify its legitimacy. If everything was clear, they are rewarded. If they decide to cheat, they will incur the ire of the Dawn Council.

    Those who provoked the ire of the Dawn Council will be given 3 chances to clear-up their name. Once they use up these three chances, they''ll be banned from taking missions from the Dawn Council ever again.

    On the contrary, those who umted a Mission Sess Streak will be honored and heavily rewarded by the Dawn Council. It''s only fair this way.

    "¡­Sect Master this is¡­" Laughing Dragon looked up to Raven with an incredulous expression.

    Raven smiled and saw that Laughing Dragon already read up to the part which contained a little surprise for him.

    On the specific use, Raven gave Laughing Dragon a fantastic offer. He was personally invited as first Envoy of the Central Ind ¨C the one that''s under Raven''s supervision. He will be named as the Lead Officer of Intelligence Department.

    "I''m not forcing you, Laughing Dragon. I merely appreciate your talent and dedication on this particr field. I''m need of someone to help me, you see. You can refuse if you want, trust me I won''t be mad or disappointed. Take all the time you need."

    Laughing Dragon still can''t believe what''s happening. He kept looking at the offer and Raven back and forth. His heart was agitated and it was too damn obvious.

    Never in his wildest dreams did he think he will be offered something like this. He also never imagined that Raven of all people would find value on his talent for gossips to the point of even personally recruiting him.

    Laughing Dragon was speechless. He wondered if there''s smoke rising on his ancestor''s grave right now or if he just used the remaining luck he has for his lifespan, because there was no way he was expecting something like this to happen, like at all.

    "There''s no need to think about this, Sect Master." Laughing Dragon replied, "I am extremely grateful for this chance and I''ll shamelessly ept it. I will do my best and will follow you to the end of the world."

    "Good! That''s what I like to hear."

 Chapter 809: Responsibilities

    Chapter 809: Responsibilities

    ¡ª

    "Hey! Wanna team up with us? We''re going for a B-rank mission!"

    "Which one?"

    "The one at the Dark Mountains, the patrol mission."

    "Ooh! Count me in! Wait! How will the division of the reward will be?"

    "Confident are we? This is a B-rank mission from the Dawn Council I''ll have you know. But well,e with me, we''ll discuss it with the rest."

    "Aww darn! Someone snatched the mission I wanted!"

    "Which one?"

    "A A-rank Solo Mission at the Burning Ridge. The reward was a one-month ticket for any Law-enriched Environment from the Dawn Council. I was really counting on that for my next breakthrough."

    "Oh, that one! Well, too bad. But isn''t there a time limit for that? As far as I can remember if the mission wasn''t turned in after five days, it''ll be deemed as a failure. How long has it been since it disappeared?"

    "Just today, bro! I even got up early for it but s! Someone took it before me!"

    "Then pray that whoever it is doesn''t seed then. Well, that or you can look for another mission for now. I mean, there''s tons of them here. I''m sure you''ll be able to see something suitable for you."

    "I guess so."

    All over the Divine Realm, conversations like this are happening. People crowding all over the Mission Board released by the Dawn Council, searching for missions that are suitable at their level which will give them ample rewards.

    It''s been two weeks since the Mission Board was covered by the Oriental Dragon Group, one week since it has been installed all over Divine Realm.

    Nobody even saw how they appeared, they just woke up one day and it''s there, gleaming with a golden colored radiance. Thanks to the information that the Oriental Dragon Group released, some people know how it works.

    At first, people were skeptical. They all tried the lowest ranked missions first and to their surprise, the efficiency was extremely impressive. It didn''t even take hours for them to receive their rewards after they cleared the mission, and that''s without them needing to personally travel all the way to the Dawn Council''s headquarters.

    As more time passed, they became shocked. The missions were practically endless and the rewards were fair. Some thought that the Dawn Council''s treasury will get emptied as this continues but it is way too early for them to conclude that. Plus, with how detailed the missions were, applying andpleting the mission went easier even without any briefing from the Dawn Council itself.

    Sufficed to say, a lot of people are swarming all over the Mission Board. Even those who had the backing of a sect didn''t hesitate to apply for missions since the Dawn Council doesn''t discriminate against them. Hell, some sects even encouraged them to do so.

    Not even Empyreans are immune to the allure of the rewards that the Dawn Council offers. Some of them were already doing the missions with higher difficulty. Of course, they were aware that there''s a limited amount of missions they could take per year. That doesn''t stop them though.

    All in all, the release of the Mission Board was considered as a sess for the Dawn Council. The moment they see that the missions were being cleared, the burden on their shoulders turned lighter than before. At least, with these many people helping them in watching over their homes, the Dawn Council can focus on the more pressing matters.

    Of course, the mission board isn''t the only one that rocked the Divine Realm. There''s also the news of the Ancient Elysium Sect breaking the norms, going out of their indefinite seclusion for the first time in eons, ready to participate and contribute for the greater good of the Divine Realm in a more active role.

    This news shocked many people. Yet considering that Raven was the one who''s leading the charge, the surprised was understandable. Raven alone has rocked the Divine Realm''s beliefs one too many times already, people were starting to get used to his bold and grand movements.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect was of course more that happy toply to this nee arrangements. God knows how many of them have been waiting for this for so long. The moment their doors swung open for the first time, the disciples immediately swarmed outside and began touring the Divine Realm.

    These people were of course under a mission from the Dawn Council, but they also have the permission to go back to their old homes to take a peek. Well, they need toplete the missions they applied for first, then they can visit their homes, that''s the agreement.

    Raven truly did brought his own sect to the matters of the Dawn Council. Some people would think he''s beingzy for doing this, given how he didn''t even hesitate to mix his personal responsibilities from the council''s matters.

    But, Raven has a reason for doing this.

    It''s not like he forced any of the disciples or Elders from participating. They wanted to participate on their own free will.

    Besides, what''s the sect supposed to do now that the Devil Emperor and his minions were gone? They don''t really face any threats on their own yard. Sure, there are challenges that Raven prepared for them to keep them entertained but those can get old pretty fast.

    Staying inside their shell would just hasten the decline of the Ancient Elysium Sect and god could freely smite Raven if he allowed the sect to decline while it''s under his supervision, therefore he opened this choice for them.

    Those who wanted to remain in the sect can remain. Those who wanted to venture outside and participate at the matters of the Divine Realm as a whole may also do so, so long as they don''t betray the sect and stain its reputation, it''s all good.

    As for the Dawn Council itself, Raven remained busy. He was personally supervising the additional reforms urring around while some of his Avatars remained at the Sect. If he''s needed there, he can freely swap positions to any of Avatars anytime he wants.

    Right now, there are some things that he needed to pay attention to.

    The first thing in his list, the one he prioritizes the most, is the renovation of the Eternal Division Wall.

    The Eternal Division Wall is the protective wall that separates the Divine Realm from the Outer World. It''s their first line of defense against invaders.

    Recalling the threat of the Abyssals, Raven can afford to waste time. He needs this wall stronger and better than it already is since at its current state, it''s no different than a paper in front of the Abyssals, much less the Abyssal Emperor.

    That being said though, renovating the Eternal Division Wall is a monumental task. One that would need years toplete.

    Raven could always send his Avatars to start the task himself but his Avatars are weaker than him. Even though they won''t be threatened by anyone out there, the seals they can make won''t be up to Raven''s standards.

    Additionally, the materials needed for the walls will take up sometime to be produced. The current wall is made out of pure Timeless God Stones, which is fine but then again, such a material is nothing but mere y in front of the Abyssal Army.

    They''re going to need something stronger, that and Raven''s seals to make sure that the wall would at least be able to soak up some damage from the enemies.

    The Eternal Division Wall is just one of Raven''s many concerns. There''s a long list for him and it''s gets worse the further down he went. Most of them though, could easily be dealt with once Raven bes a Divine Knight, however, he''s still far from saturating his umtions, so for now, he could only set them aside.

    The weight of responsibility is weighing down on Raven''s shoulders. He could feel his bones creaking under its heaviness.

    Raven sighed and decided to use to the Heavenly Mirror for a bit. Mark is out hunting some criminals so there''s nobody here.

    Although this is an hical and unfair use of this treasure, Raven couldn''t care less. He ced his hand on the mirror''s surface and imprinted the spatial coordinates. Then, he could see the mirror swirling in front of him.

    He zoomed in and the mirror revealed a lush in of greenery with a fair and giggling child sitting beneath the shade of a tree. Watching as two of her friends fought each other in a yful manner.

    The child wad clutching a painting, one that depicted her and presumably her parents. The portrait showed her in the middle, she was holding onto her father at the left and her mother on the right.

    Raven felt the corner of his eyes sting, his heart felt full and ached ever so slightly after seeing his dear princess again after a few months of separation.

    ''Take care of yourself, my sweet little princess.'' Raven muttered inwardly as he fondly watched over Vanessa. ''Dad and Mom are doing their best to finish work early so we can go back home to you.''

    ''We miss you a lot, Vanessa.''

 Chapter 810: Meeting and Reports

    Chapter 810: Meeting and Reports

    ¡ª

    "Alright team¡­let''s begin this meeting shall we? Any news for me? We''ll start with you Laughing Dragon."

    "Sir!" Laughing Dragon stood up and took steady strides towards the center of the meeting hall. He took out a pile of documents from his spatial ring as well as some arrays which disyed diagrams and statistical graphs about his reports.

    "It''s been a month since the Mission Board has been implemented." Laughing Dragon stated, "So far, the number of cleared missions per rank are as follows:

    Approximately two million D-ranked missions.

    Nearly a million C-ranked missions.

    Four hundred thousand B-ranked missions.

    Fifty thousand A-ranked missions.

    One hundred S-ranked missions.

    Thirty SS-ranked missions.

    And five SSS-ranked Missions.

    All details of cleared missions arepiled and stored at the database established at the Central Inds. This includes the names of the participants, the time they took to clear the mission and the time they received the rewards promised to them."

    "We alsoplied theints and the feedback through surveys which is disyed here." Laughing Dragon pointed at a specific graph disyed for everyone else to see. "So far, the satisfaction rate are at an all time high. Most of theints are focused on the unlucky factors the participants encountered during their mission. Something that we cannot control."

    "Along with this, we also included those who had been given warnings and those who had been steadily umting their Mission Clear Streaks. Their profiles arepiled and avable for everyone here to view. They have been validated thrice by my team so I''m confident that we made no mistakes about their profiles."

    The Dawn Council Supervisors looked at Laughing Dragon with an impressed face. They gave Raven silent looks and Raven looked at them with a face saying: ''What did I say? He''s good isn''t he?''

    "Thank you very much, Laughing Dragon. I''m impressed. Keep up the good work." Raven nodded.

    Laughing Dragon''s face didn''t change but his ears reddened. He gave everyone a curt bow before retreating back to his seat.

    "Anne? How''s our inventory stocks?" Raven asked.

    "Barely nicked, believe it or not." She replied, chuckling softly. "It''s quite hard to believe that millions of missions are already cleared since the resources we have b?r?ly showed any reduction. We have confirmed we have indeed sent out that many resources as rewards so thises as a surprise for me. That being said, this is just the first month. We''ve yet to encounter any setbacks so everyone, don''t drop your guards."

    The rest of the supervisors nodded. Raven once again spoke: "Mark, any reports for me?"

    "Divine Realm''s mostly peaceful." Mark stated, "Well, as peaceful as it can get. There are still a couple of nasty people throwing their weight around but they''re behaving rather well. I guess they''re way about us, and they should be, but I''m a bit worried their schemes will run deep if we don''t hastily apprehend them."

    "I''ll leave them to you then." Raven stated, "If it''s necessary, don''t hesitate to drag in your personal forces to this. We can supply them with resources as much as they need, provided that they will sessfully clear them out."

    "Actually, the sect has its hands full right now." Mark sighed, "I''ve entrusted them a mission at the Forlorn Forest of Destion. They are stationed in there and it''ll take some time before they finished clearing that ce up. It is messy in there, I''ll tell you."

    "I see." Raven pondered for a bit, "Well, it can''t be helped then. Shall we ce a bounty on their heads instead?"

    "Well, they''re already wary of us. We might as well give them a solid reason to be afraid. We can use our prestige and announce their crimes publicly, I think. That way the righteous ones won''t hesitate to hunt them down." Paul suggested.

    "I like the sound of that." Mark replied, to which the others agreed upon as well.

    "Sounds like a n then." Raven nodded, he then turned to Laughing Dragon and said: "These are the profiles for the said criminals and their records. I''ll leave this up to you. Once you finalized the mission details, go over to Anne and she''ll calcte the rewards for their heads. Of course, feel free to do your own investigations as well."

    "I understand, Sir. I''ll do my best."

    "Mn. I look forward to it." Raven nodded, he then turned to Ellen and asked: "Anything for me, Dear Cousin?"

    "Still ironing out the final draft and designs for the Grand Youth Meet." Ellen grumbled, "I''m going to need more time before I canpile a draft for you all to see. Luna''s offered me help though so it shouldn''t take long."

    "I see. How about you Paul?"

    "Oh well, you know. Still doing the heavy lifting as usual." Paul waved his hand, "I''m nearly done other inds. Only the Central Ind is left. Considering how demanding your designs are, it''s going to be a pain in the ?ss to cover but I''ll manage. In short, this Daddy is busy."

    "Sure." Raven snorted in amusement. "Just make sure they will function once your done. We can''t have you exploding things up here or else, I''m going to ask Ellen to make you explode."

    "Alright, geez." Paul pouted, "No need to go that far."

    The supervisors chuckled at their antics. Raven then turned to Luna and tilted his head. Luna didn''t need to be asked since she knows what he wanted to ask her anyways.

    "The invitations are ready and can be sent at your discretion." Luna reported. "Since this will be our very first time nurturing geniuses, I limited the amount of invitations to 50 people. The invitations will handed over to people who possesses a great potential that way we can guide them better."

    "That''s good to hear." Raven nodded, "We''ll send out the invitations once Paul finished linking up the cultivation environments as well as the arrays and formations for the headquarters as a whole. It would be for the best if we get this done as soon as we can."

    Raven paused for a bit before revealing his personal ns.

    "As for me, I''ll be out for a bit." He said, catching the attention of the rest. "I''m going to the Eternal Division Wall and renovate it."

    "Wait, you mean the whole thing?" Paul asked, to which Raven nodded. "Bro, that''s going to take a long time!"

    "I know." Raven nodded while sighing, "But it has to be done, the current state of the wall is pathetic. The earlier I start this, the sooner I''ll be done."

    "Don''t worry, you all can still contact me. I''ll leave a couple of my Avatars here. They can alert me about anything should the need arises. Plus, I can swap with them any time I want so it''s not like I''ll be permanently stationed in there."

    The rest of the supervisors were silent. They are obviously aware why Raven was doing this. He already revealed to them the threat of the Abyssals and to say that they were worried would be an understatement.

    It was inly obvious that Raven was still carrying the heaviest burden here even with them around. They''re doing the best they could but for some reason, it always feel like it''s not enough. They can only lessen the burden off of Raven''s shoulders by a lesser degree and that makes the, ufortable.

    "Ey, don''t make those faces." Raven woke them up from their stupor. "I''m fine, this isn''t hard alright? Trust me. It''s going to take some time yes, but it''s only that because the wall is quite literally all around the Divine Realm. Don''t sweat it, you of all people know how I do things."

    "Well, are you sure that you have to do it by yourself? Is there anything we can do?" Paul asked.

    "It''s fine, trust me. I''m all good." Raven waved his hand dismissively, "This isn''t difficult. If anything, this is better for me since I get to cultivate by practicing my seals. This should cut the time I need to reach the Divine Knight Stage, which is all the more reason for me to personally go there."

    "Just do your thing here. I''m not leaving okay? I''m just staying at our borders, I''ll be fine, stop worrying." Raven chuckled.

    "Alright, if you say so." Mark sighed. "Just make sure to take ample rests in between. Don''t copse on us, you hear me?"

    "Aye, Sir!" Raven quipped while chuckling softly. "Well, time to conclude this meeting then."

    "For starters, well done team. From thepiled results so far, it''s safe to say that our first move was a great sess. Now we just have to continue this streak in order to fully restore the public''s faith onto us."

    "We won''t be implementing any new ns for now since we just started. Time is on our side so instead of being hasty, we should use it wisely instead. We''ll stick to the schedule for now. We can always adjust when something inevitably happens."

    "Good job, Team! Let''s continue working hard! For the evesting dawn!"

    "For a brighter future!" The team replied in unison.

 Chapter 811: Eternal Division Wall

    Chapter 811: Eternal Division Wall

    ¡ª

    The Eternal Division Wall¡­a wall that separates Divine Realm from the Outer Worlds.

    It was unknown when this wall was created. It''s also unknown who or what created it. All people know is that the Eternal Division Wall is something that protects the Divine Realm as whole.

    The Outer Worlds are unforgiving ce. It was wide and seemingly boundless. Judging from what the records say about them, that ce is hardly somewhere a human would willingly go nor live in. The ce is unfriendly or just down right dangerous. In there, the chances of dying will always be greater than the chance of surviving.

    The Eternal Division Wall is a important aspect that prevents the Outsiders from raiding Divine Realm. The wall acts as a filter, preventing any Outsiders from going in once they are branded as one. The wall also keeps Divine Realm intact since god knows what the route of some heavenly bodies will go awry without it.

    As Divine Realm''s first line of defense against possible invaders, the Eternal Division Wall has done its job brilliantly¡­well, said invaders were Outsiders only and they can''t pass through the wall so this can be considered as a sess.

    That being said¡­the Outsiders aren''t the only ones out there. One can never be sure but with how wild and vast the Outer World is, who can say that there aren''t anybody out there?

    Hell, the Abyssals are somewhere deep within the Outer Worlds, which already blows this out of proportion. And unlike the Outsiders, the Abyssals are far more dangerous. They''d be able to rip the walls like thin film of paper.

    The wall was fine, but it could seriously benefit from some enhancements. Which brought Raven here, all the way from the Core of the Divine Realm Universe.

    Raven''s reputation precedes him. The moment he appeared near the wall, there were guards waiting for him already, and what a warm wee it was considering this guards were the most battle hardened warriors Divine Realm has to offer. He did inform him that he will pay them a visit but still, he wasn''t expecting such a warm wee from them.

    Unlike the people who lived within the wall, the guards aren''t fond of small talks. Their Head Officer b?r?ly said a word or two to Raven. Their actions spoke for themselves, which Raven doesn''t mind in the slightest.

    Raven was given a tour around the wall. Not much, just the immediate vicinity of the wall.

    At a first nce, it looked like a thin membrane of light, an aurora and nketed Divine Realm. However, under Raven''s ocr technique, which can see through pretenses, the Eternal Division Wall''s true appearanceid b?r?.

    A wide and epassingyered-brick-like structure revealed itself to him. It shed with a rainbow colored light surrounded by a golden radiance. The aura of ancientness was present, the wall was filled with scratches, scars and writings which were baptized by the passing of time.

    Each partition was filled with a unique intent. It was chaotic and all over the ce, yet it also weirdly harmonizes as a whole. It was grand yet very, very old¡­

    "This is going to be a lot of work¡­" Raven sighed, silentlymenting his fate upon seeing the glorified mess in front of him.

    Don''t misunderstand him, this isn''t to say that the Eternal Division Wall was at a terrible state.

    ¡­well, it is. But there''s nobody to me for that. Look, nobody knows how this thing even appeared. There are no records avable anywhere. Raven can''t me anybody for neglecting the maintenance of the walls since nobody knew it needed one in the first ce.

    Nobody¡­except for him. So in the end, it is his responsibility to do something about this.

    "Officer Klein, thank you for keeping mepany." Raven turned towards the Head Officer who has been trailing behind him silently. "You do know what''s my purpose here so I''m not going to say much. You won''t mind me staying here for quite sometime won''t you?"

    Officer Klein shook his head, he then gestured something which Raven trantes to as receiving the officer''s blessing for him to stay.

    Summoning the Brush of Wisdom from his consciousness and to his hand, Raven began weaving it in the air. With his focus zero-ing in on the first brick in his line of sight, he started his work.

    With a simple wave of his brush, numerous dark golden and pale silver runes appeared. A rhythmical melody swarmed around Raven, gentle ripples scattered not too far away from his body as the runes dances within the vacuum of space before embedding themselves on the brick that Raven was concentrating on.

    As the runesnded on the first brick, it emitted a sh of light. Raven took out some materials from his spatial ring and didn''t hesitate of infuse them with the brick has his focus on. The re of light became stronger, as time passed on, Raven''s work remained stable and consistent until eventually, the sh of light subsided and the brick returned to its original state. The only difference is that, there is now a vague scribble of lines on the brick.

    Raven stared at it for a few minutes, swimming on his own thoughts before moving towards the next brick.

    When Raven gets like this, he almost alwayspletely lose his perception of time. He didn''t even noticed that it took him a whole day to finish the first brick.

    Just from this alone, it is clear that Raven has a very, very long way to go. Raven didn''t dare to pay attention to time nor bothered to count how many bricks he needed to fill up with seals before he finished. Knowing these would just make him anxious and would make him exhausted faster.

    It''s easier for him to just focus on one thing at a time. Though it would be nice if he can use his Avatars to ?ssist him with this. Unfortunately, they can''t. Only Raven himself can do this so far.

    One brick after another. With impable control, delicate focus and great patience, Raven remained steady in his actions. He didn''t talk, didn''t make a noise, neitherined nor encouraged himself. He just remained constant.

    Raven worked like a well-oiled machinery, every action was measured urately and with careful consideration. Mistakes can''t be tolerated when ites to this after all or else, nothing will work. Instead of doing it faster, he''d rather do it slow and steady.

    Such a huge project is something that Raven only gets one chance at, therefore he can''t tolerate any mistakes. This project with affect the entirety of the Divine Realm in more ways than one, and since it includes his family, failure is not, and will never be an option.

    If he seeds in this, whates next will definitely be easier, which was even more reason for him not to fail.

    Just like this, Ravenpletely forgot the passage of time.

    Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months¡­

    Raven hardly took a break. Once a month was enough and this is only to close his eyes and enjoy a warm cup of tea and maybe a bit of soup. Aside from this, Raven spent majority of his timeying down runes and inscriptions on the wall.

    The guards who were stationed at and patrolling the area saw his work. They were awed but mostly confused. So far, whatever Raven''s doing only caused the wall to shine briefly before going away, then he moves on.

    These guards will never be able to decipher what Raven was trying to do here. What they know is that, Raven wasn''t causing any hugemotion with his work and therefore not disturbing their duty so they just let him be.

    The guards just paid attention to their shifts and did as they told. So far, they only faced Space Beast during past decade or so, no Outsiders were dumb enough to force their way in since it was futile.

    Even when they were forced to mobilized, the work ce remained silent. It has always been like this here. Only muffled sounds could be heard if not faint whispers. They want to stifle as much sound as they could in order to not rm those who were living within the Divine Realm.

    They don''t want their citizens to feel endangered so they were trying their best. Raven is of course aware of this, therefore he''s trying to tone down his themotion of his own work as well.

    Falling into a weird routine, time passed by silently until months turned into years.. With the passage of time, the changes within the Divine Realm as a whole were bing more and more obvious.

 Chapter 812: Busy

    Chapter 812: Busy

    ¡ª

    One year isn''t long¡­

    Not to a mortal, much less a Knight. With how much things there are to distract or capture people''s attention, they could hardly feel the passing of time, this is especially true if they''re doing something worth while.

    Still though, one year is still a decent chunk of time. It might not be long to people but it''s enough to cause visible changes. As they all say, many changes can happen within a span of day, what more for a whole year?

    See, it is easy for people to follow a daily routine. Mortals or cultivators, doesn''t matter. Again, one year might not be long but it is enough time for people to adjust to changes and eventually fall under routine.

    Said routine was influenced by Dawn Council''s movements for the entirety of the Divine Realm.

    With the Mission Board located and essible to all, earning a living became easier for cultivators. Especially those who didn''t choose to be a part of a sect or any organizations for that matter.

    The Mission Board nevercked any missions, only people who are suitable for the job. Which is why the general area surrounding the mission boards are always bustling with activity.

    Peopleing to and fro, looking for people to do missions with or submitting the results of their work. Since the missions doesn''t discriminate anybody''s background, all sorts of people could be seen hanging around the Mission Boards.

    This somewhat forced them to interact to each other. Some people even took this chance to forge more connections all around the realm. Fiercepetitions were set and reputations were established.

    Some of the smarter ones decided to take advantage of the traffic by opening up stores located near the mission board, selling items that people might need for their adventure. The Dawn Council didn''t forbid this since there''s no reason to, what they care about is the results of the missions they''re handing out, not thepetition between merchants.

    Of course, should any problems arise, the Dawn Council is always ready to take action.

    Before the establishment of the Mission Boards, it was hard to gauge just howcking the avable resources were. It''s a crime to be totally honest.

    The previous council hogged all the resources of the Divine Land, forcing people to make do with what they have. It doesn''t sound bad like this but in truth, it has a terrible price.

    Without resources, cultivators can''t umte for their breakthroughs. Without sufficient umtions, breaking through is harder and quality of Divine Realm''s general popce of cultivators lessened greatly.

    In short, due to the selfishness of the previous council, Divine Realm became weaker.

    Well, it''s no longer a problem though since the new generation mended the damage. With the Mission Board nevercking any sort of mission for anybody to take, people could start umting for their breakthroughs earnestly.

    Even though millions of missions are being cleared each month and the Dawn Council continuously handed our resources, the treasury never really decreased. If anything, Anne would even say that their supply is almost endless.

    Well, they have Raven to thank for that honestly¡­

    With him sealing the previous council who are also Immortals, turning them into an endless supply of energy fueling the Divine Land, the output of thend practically doubled. Not to mention, they are also the main energy supply for the Dawn Council''swork.

    Additionally, Raven did some minor enhancements on the Divine Land before he left for the Eternal Division Wall. It wasn''t much since he was being careful. Gauging by his current skillset and power, he can''t modify too much of the Divine Land without any risks just yet.

    With his arrangements, Divine Realm as a whole was benefitting.

    At the rate the missions were being cleared, Divine Realm''s safety and security was rising exponentially each passing day. Furthermore, it is being cured from the tumor that the previous council left, allowing the state of the realm to topple over the positive side.

    The Dawn Council''s ns doesn''t end there though. Far from it actually. With Raven at the lead, the Dawn Council will transform Divine Realm to its best form possible and they won''t stop until reaching that goal.

    At the Dawn Council''s Headquarters itself, many changes had been implemented¡­

    For starters, the initial arrangement of the inds had finally stabilized and it now fully functional. The east, west, north, south, sky and central inds are now connected by a massive formation which serves are the hub for the Dawn Council''s operation.

    Security is tight here. The Council guards were personally scrutinized and recruited by Mark himself. Making sure that only those with pure intentions were allowed in. These people are dedicated to their work and their mission, worthy soldiers that Mark personally chose.

    The infrastructures at each ind were done. Cultivation Environments, Scripture Pavilions, Exchange Market, Law Saturated Fields, Academic Institutes, Trial Grounds¡­all of which are now fully operating for the sake of cultivating the first batch of geniuses the Dawn Council has chosen.

    Yes, the invitations for the geniuses had been released. The first batch of Heaven''s Chosen or Children of Heaven are now learning and absorbing everything they possibly can in order to get stronger.

    These geniuses were made aware of the possible threat of the Abyssals. The Dawn Council didn''t mind sharing this information to them, especially if it means that it will urge them to train even harder. They only prevented them from releasing the information publicly in order to not trigger a mass panic.

    To say that the Heaven''s Chosen were shocked and stupefied would be an understatement. Some of them were having difficulties believing such news but who were they to doubt the Dawn Council after everything they did?

    Of course they now felt even more motivated to train. Whether the Dawn Council''s fears where on point or not, it won''t hurt for them to be sure right? Getting stronger sounds like the ideal n, and getting stronger is what they did exactly.

    The first batch of Heaven''s Chosen were given three years to cultivate under the Dawn Council''s arrangement. Here, they will be pushed to their limits and forced to learn many things which will be valuable for them in the near future.

    The supervisors had been busytely, they could hardly see each other anymore with how busy their schedule was. They''ve been running errands left and right, going from one corner of the Divine Realm to the other.

    Only Raven''s Avatars were themon sight within the Dawn Council, Laughing Dragon also of course¡­

    Speaking of Laughing Dragon, he just as busy as the rest. He can''t even get a wink of sleep within this past month with how hectic the schedules were.

    Even though Raven said that they burden on the Dawn Council''s shoulders will lighten up once the Mission Board was established, their duties remained just as a important as ever.

    True, the burdens they have lightened, but it didn''t make them any less than busy. In fact, they''re even busier now that things are going the right way.

    That being said, Laughing Dragon lived for this moment.

    He never felt so rewarded and validated before. Yes, he might not been getting his much wanted rest but he still thrives over the hectic-ness of it all.

    Raven wasn''t wrong when he said that he was indeed perfect for this job. Neither he was wrong about Laughing Dragon''s talent and what he can bring to the table.

    Laughing Dragon doesn''t need to go back to his old habit of sneaking around Divine Realm and milking people for information, all he needed was given to him now in a silver tter and it can''t get any better than this.

    His involvement to the Dawn Council wasn''t exactly kept a secret. At first many frowned upon the news but as time passed on, their doubts turned into admiration. It isn''t because Laughing Dragon was riding the coattails of the Dawn Council''s fame either, it is because of his undeniable efforts and hard work, earning him a glittering reputation that swept over Divine Realm like a tide.

    Before, Laughing Dragon was notorious for his escapades. Now, everyone was looking-up to him in envy and admiration. Calling him the Supreme Leader''s right hand man wouldn''t be an exaggeration either.

    Right now, Laughing Dragon waspleting his work for today.

    In front of him was a stack of documents pertaining to the ns of the Divine Realm, these were drafts that he intended to let the other supervisors see for their next meeting.

    Laughing Dragon couldn''t help but smile in anticipation as he stared at the title of the draft. Something that he personally came-up with by himself. It reads:

    ''Divine Realm''s Grand Assemge ¨C The Round Table Meet.''

 Chapter 813: Sealing Arts Breakthrough

    Chapter 813: Sealing Arts Breakthrough

    ¡ª

    "So uh¡­" Raven muttered to himself as he freely float within the vacuum of space. "How should I continue this?"

    Eyes glowing with a rainbow colored radiance, he stared at the Eternal Division Wall, pondering deeply about his next course of action.

    See, Raven''s been feeling hesitant all of a sudden ¨C which is not a good sign especially when he''s in the middle of a huge project like this.

    It was mostly fine¡­the project he meant. Renovating the Eternal Division Wall was rtively easy. He''s far from done but it was nothing difficult as he already has the image of the Grand Seal he wants to use for it.

    But see, that''s the thing¡­the Grand Seal. Well, ''Sealing'' in general.

    At this point, it''s already established that Raven specializes on creating and using seals for everything he does. His whole cultivation is centered around it basically.

    Just as he thought that he had reached the peak of Sealing Arts ¨C one that he personally created for himself and cultivated, something will happen which surprises him and gives him tons of inspirations for new batch of seals.

    It can''t be helped. The Way of Seals are that extensive and fascinating for Raven ¨C who held outmost curiosity about everything he does.

    Frankly, he should''ve known better. This always happens. Whenever he thought that his Sealing Arts reached its apex, he will discover another area that he didn''t pay attention to. Said area will open up tons of possibilities that Raven wouldn''t mind exploring with his free time.

    The work he''s doing with the Eternal Division Wall was fine. In fact, nobody would be able to do this aside from him. Only him amongst the swarm of cultivators all over Divine Realm could start and do a mission this grand all by himself. And it''s only him who could make it work too.

    He already has the structure of the Grand Seal in his mind, he has it memorized down to the tiniest rune. He already established the links, the nodes, the core, the functions¡­everything is already ounted for. All he needed to do, was toy it down.

    But as he starts the project, Raven came across a dilemma which resulted in his current predicament. He discovered a gap that can be utilized by their enemies should they discover it.

    Well, it''s not for certain that they will find it. After all, Raven''s probably the only person or existence that has mastered the Sealing Arts this far. Be it other humans, Outsiders, Space Beasts or even the Abyssals themselves could bepared to him in this area.

    Still, that slight gap gave Raven an idea¡­

    It started as a random thought at first. Raven did the mistake of entertaining it and now he can''t focus since it literally won''t stop bugging him unless he did something about it.

    The idea disturbed him so much that Raven has to take a rest in order to calm down. Unfortunately, idling by made him susceptible for distraction even more.

    The more he stared at the Eternal Division Wall, the more his instincts screamed at him to change theyout and do something different.

    It was horrible¡­

    The flow of inspirations won''t stop. Raven was powerless to stop it. Although he can forcefully shut it down, he can''t. Nobody can just expect him to refuse this generous offer especially when it''s being handed down to him for free.

    Raven grimaced and scratched his head. He felt jittery and uneasy. At the same time, he''s also aware of what''s happening to him.

    "Damn it." He murmured, "Why am I making this shit difficult for myself."

    Raven huffed and ced his hand on his h?ps, shaking his head softly.

    "You''ve been through this, me." He continued murmuring to himself as he summoned the Brush of Wisdom. "This happened before. You''ll get gued by all sorts of wonderful ideas and you''ll suffer from it. It feels like an unbearable itch that won''t go away until you eventually sumb and do it."

    "It''s nothing new. Nothing has change. See? I''m already doing it! Ugh."

    Raven shook his head as he waved the brush in front of him. Streaks of lights weaved right before his very eyes, all sorts of new mysticalbinations were unraveling before his gaze.

    The first attempt was a failure. The second attempt was also a failure but the third time''s the charm.

    In less that thirty minutes, he created apletely new Seal and Rune. Something that''s a cut above what he was capable of thirty minutes ago. What''s more is that this new Seal and Rune were just the foundation for the new path he''s about to inevitably follow.

    Sighing in defeat, Raven found himself being lead on by his inspirations, which eventually ended up with him creating the second Foundation Seal and Rune.

    Then third¡­and the fourth¡­

    Raven lost himself in his little bubble of enlightenment, content with being surrounded by a seemingly endless stream of inspiration.

    He lost all sense of urgency and forgotten about time itself. Immersed in this wonderful state of discovery.

    Unbeknownst to him, at the very center of his own heart, the Last Fragment of Chaos was jumping in joy. It released weak but ecstatic fluctuations that rippled across his entire body.

    The fluctuations even prated his Inner Cosmos. Not even the Divine Ancestral Gxy was spared by that. Heck, it even affected Raven''s Supreme Silhouette ¨C the very substance of his Empyrean Knight cultivation.

    The effect was miniscule, Raven himself failed to notice it but it was there. He wasn''t aware that these weak fluctuations were loosening up the threshold of the Empyrean Knight to Divine Knight boundary.

    His breakthrough in his Sealing Arts caused his umtions to deepen and solidified his foundations even more even though it looked liked it can''t go any further. Raven was making steady strides closer to the known peak.

    There''s even a possibility that he''s able to achieve something greater.

    Tis a shame that Raven''spletely unaware of it due to him being so immersed in his breakthrough. He''s currently at the 13th Foundational Seal and Rune when he felt the inspiration stream ends.

    He managed to squeeze out the creation of two more runes before itpletely ended. Within a span of an entire week, Raven created yet another branch to his Sealing Arts which took his prowess in apletely different level.

    "15 Seals and 15 Runes." Raven muttered as he started a the glittering array of seals and runes disyed in front of him.

    The Seals were pale silver in color, the Runes were dark gold. Each one looked simple yet also extraordinary. These seals and runes are virtually indestructible, down right immortal even since so long as Raven was alive, these seals and runes will never fade nor malfunction.

    It doesn''t need maintenance nor repairs, even if Raven''s injured, their state will remain at their peak state and will always remain that way unless Raven dies. If he dies, these runes disappear as well. And since Raven is an Immortal, the seals and runes might as well be one as well.

    "Alright, since that''s the case. All of you will be referred to as Immortal Runes." Raven dered, to which the seals and runes danced in joy, seemingly content and happy with the identification branded on them.

    The creation of the Immortal Rune finally settled down the itch he was feeling. It''s gone and the rity of Raven''s mind returned.

    "Well, I did say that this mission is going to be beneficial to my cultivation. I didn''t lie. I just wasn''t expecting it toe in this form."

    Raven chuckled and sat down at the empty space. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and felt a slight headache. Yes, this is what always happens during moments like this. The endless stream of information wasn''t free after all. Ites with a headache as its price.

    In addition to the headache, Raven felt dizzy and hungry. He had forced himself a bit too much after all since he chose to act when he was resting.

    "I should get some rest." Raven whispered to himself.

    He then turned into a streak of light andnded at a floatingndmass nearby. He set up a formation around it with a swipe of his hand and proceeded to take out his tents and his cooking utensils.

    Using his mind to move things instead of his hands might intensify his headache but its fine, Raven was about to go to sleep right after setting all of these up anyways.

    It didn''t take long before his set-up was finished. The tent was erected with a soft mattress, duvet and pillows. There''s a cauldron over a bonfire filled with nutritious and filling ingredients which is going to take some time before its ready to be consumed.

    The Calming Incense Sticks were also lit up, smoke filling the inside of the tent as Raven entered it andid down. A satisfied groan escaped his throat the moment his back hit the mattress.

    Raven took a couple of deep breaths before exhaustion crept up to him.. It didn''t take long before he was lulled by the dreand and fell asleep.

 Chapter 814: Oh, Sweetheart!

    Chapter 814: Oh, Sweetheart!

    ¡ª

    Time continued its flow. Before Raven knows it, another year has passed with him still stuck in the project.

    He was halfway done through the project. His progress was slower than what he initially expected but that''s because of the changes he had to apply with his recent breakthrough on his Sealing Arts.

    Raven had to somewhat change the initial structure and introduce his new creations to the mix. That required him to go back in the beginning. He didn''t necessarily have to start over though, he just filled the visible gaps on his previous work using the new batch of seals and runes. Once he''s done, he progressed again.

    Still, two years have already passed and his only just halfway through the project. This doesn''t necessarily mean that he''ll need another two years to finish everything. It might take him more than two years or less, it truly depends on the development of the Grand Seal.

    His speed ofying down runes isn''t constant. The time it needs depends on each brick of the Eternal Division Wall. Sometimes he needs an entire day, sometimes he needs to. Sometimes, it will only took him an hour, the fastest would be minutes. It''s not constant and Raven didn''t really have any problems with that.

    The Eternal Division Wall is aplex thing. There is a reason why Outsiders and Space Beasts failed to destroy or infiltrate it most of the times. Raven knew this so he really didn''t have anyints.

    Still, even with him being busy in here, Raven never forgets his duty to his Sect and the Dawn Council ¨C which are both thriving under his lead.

    Starting with the Ancient Elysium Sect.

    With the sect no longer being a reclusive sect, many people expressed their d?s?r? to join it. The sect was now epting disciples again. Thanks to the reforms that Raven implemented, the Ancient Elysium Sect is now considered as one of the Hegemonic Powerhouse for the Divine Realm.

    Previously, the stayed on the shadows, but not that they''ve stepped into the limelight, they stole everybody''s thunder. The resources and infrastructures that the Ancient Elysium Sect has are top notch ¨C of course it has to be, Raven wouldn''t settle for anything less.

    With all sorts of equipment and training environments prepared for their disciples, nobody has an excuse to be weak. The qualitative strength of the sect is at an all time high and it won''t show signs of stopping. Especially now that their disciples can go out and experience the world on their own.

    Learning values and important lessons about life will benefit them greatly for their future progress. In addition to that, they disciples are included amongst the list of people who contributes greatly when ites to clearing up missions from the Dawn Council ¨C which in turn, makes Divine Realm a better ce for everybody.

    As for the Dawn Council, well they''ve already solidified people''s opinion about them.

    At this point in time, nobody doubted their intentions anymore. Nobody doubted their decisions and they position as Humanity''s Leaders.

    Pretty much every single person ¨C who doesn''t live under a rock, is aware of what they''re doing. They seen them working tirelessly since they sat on their positions. They practically were never idle. Always doing something that will benefit Divine Realm as whole.

    The Dawn Council never really preached about their actions. They let their actions do the talking for them. They never shied away from taking responsibilities or taking the lead. Unknowingly, this inspired a lot ¨C and this can''t be stressed enough, of people.

    The Dawn Council never forced anyone to act along their whims, they never forced anybody to obey them. They gave everyone a chance to choose and never their freedom at the process.

    There are people who doesn''t want to do anything? That''s fine. They don''t have to if they don''t want to.

    There are people who are eager to follow their footsteps and make their home a better ce for everyone? Cool. More power to them.

    This is how the Dawn Council worked so far. And it''s working brilliantly. Raven''s idea about not forcing anyone and just being an example worked like a charm.

    Many people were moved by the council''s sincerity. They''ve sung praises about them and even contributed to the cause. The Dawn Council has never been stingy to these people, they rewarded their efforts handsomely and that made them want to do more.

    It was a rewarding experience, and as time goes by, the troubles that had been guing the Divine Realm for ages are now being solved.

    Information about the Danger Zones are beingpiled and used. Criminals are being apprehended. Natural Treasure Deposits are being preserved. Geniuses are being raised and so on. The Dawn Council never held back when ites to nurturing their home.

    Some people already made bold promations. They said that under the Dawn Council''s lead, the Divine Realm as a whole will reach heights it has never seen before.

    Raven is now hailed and worshipped as Humanity''s Supreme Leader, the Human Emperor ¨C some says.

    Well, it''s still a little too early for him to arise to that title. It''s best to not get ahead of himself. For now, they''re going at a great pace and this trend should continue in this manner.

    Soon though¡­soon, Raven will eventually rise-up to that.

    ¡ª

    Today was one of the rare days that Luna didn''t have any work to do.

    After they''ve returned to the Divine Realm, she''s been so busy that she almost forgot what a good sleep was like. She stayed up for days on end most of the times, swamped with work and extremely busy.

    The only times when she can rest is when she eats, even that has be a luxury when they''ve reced the Dawn Council.

    So whenever a miracle happens ¨C i.e. Luna doesn''t have work to do. She doesn''t hesitate to spend it in the best way she can.

    And that is by locking herself in the room where the Heavenly Mirror is in and watching over her precious daughter that she misses day in and day out.

    Today was just like most of those days. Luna sat inside the room staring at therge mirror that disyed her lovely child going about her day as she herself take some time to eat something at least.

    "Uh¡­" Luna''s expression was unreadable as she stared at the mirror.

    She doesn''t exactly know what kind of face she wants to make right now. Does she feel amused? Surprised? Stunned? Should she find this situation cute? Hrious? Funny? Or should she be upset or mad? Luna truly doesn''t know.

    Vanessa was holding a boy''s hand.

    The boy wasn''t Paul and Ellen''s son ¨C Richard, Vanessa''s best friend. The boy was someone neither Luna and Raven knows.

    "Should I be worried?" Luna asked this to herself as she stared at the sweet smile on her daughter''s face. "Maybe I should get worried."

    Luna then remembered that Raven probably doesn''t know about this and her face nched.

    "Oh scratch that, I am definitely worrying."

    Luna bit her lips and started sweating a bit.

    She continued watching over her daughter. Seeing her skip and jump around with her trusty cloud following her in every step.

    Well, Vanessa looked happy at least.

    She has been giggling non-stop as she yed with this boy. They''re ying catch but not the regr one. They''re practically trying destroy each other but that''s besides the point.

    Vanessa looked happy at least.

    But see, if her father sees this, he definitely wouldn''t be happy.

    Oh. Luna can already predict what he''s going to do and she already feels stressed.

    Once Raven discovers this? He might just casually send down a Heavenly Tribtion for the poor innocent boy while saying: ''Oops! My bad.''

    "Sweetheart." Luna softly called out, grimacing and painfully aware that her child can''t possibly hear her right now.

    "Oh, sweetheart. Don''t you think it''s a little bit early for you to have a boyfriend?" Luna felt jittery on her seat, she did a brief scan of her surroundings and made sure that of her husband''s Avatars were nearby.

    They were not. Which made her sigh in relief. But just in case, she sealed the door for privacy.

    "Look, sweetheart." Luna massaged her temples, "Mommy isn''t against this. Well, not really."

    "¡­definitely not as much as your Daddy. That''s for sure." Luna bit her thumbnail. "I''m not worried about you, neither me or your father could possibly hurt you. That boy however¡­"

    "You know what, I''m not even going to think about it." Luna shrugged. "I''m just not. I''ll just try my best to reel in your father''s¡­thirst for blood. I can handle him¡­I think."

    "Oh my sweet child." Luna ?r??n?d. "I hope this is just a misunderstanding on my part."

    Luna kept watching. She felt a bit relieved that Vanessa isn''t as sad as thest time she saw her personally. She''s making progress and she''s living her best life. She''s being a child and that''s everything Luna could ask for at the very least.

    That being said, Luna just can''t stop worrying¡­she''s a mother, she''ll always worry about things.

    "¡­maybe they''re just really good friends¡­.?"

 Chapter 815: Nightmare Realm

    Chapter 815: Nightmare Realm

    ¡ª

    "¡­so, are we going to do this or what?"

    "Alright, geez! Can''t you like, chill? I told you there''s still five minutes left before we can enter." Paul huffed at Mark''s impatience.

    Both of them are currently standing in front of a Spatial Tear, an unstable one at that. They''ve camped not too far away from the entrance since they have to work to do at the other side of that spatial tear.

    They are currently at the Howling Wind Great World, located somewhere south of the Divine Realm. The Spatial Tear in front of them is the entrance to a realm called Nightmare ins ¨C a danger zone that has imed numerous lives since it has appeared.

    Mark and Paul are here under official business ¨C meaning they''re here as representatives of Dawn Council. They''re wearing badges and uniforms which had the crest of the council embedded at the back.

    People already saw them and cleared the area out for them which was convenient. They didn''t really want people to be entering the realm at the same time as them since it could get risky when they''re involved.

    "Alright, it''s about time." Paul stated, standing up from the rock he''s sitting.

    "About damn time." Mark ?r??n?d as he stretched his neck and prepared for some action. "You got the seal ready?"

    "Yep." Paul nodded.

    Without any further ado, Paul walked at the Spatial Tear just as the same time when it started releasing an ominous light. Paul mmed his hand on it, applying the seal at the tear almost immediately.

    Dark gold and pale silver lines started weaving across the spatial tear. They formed an intricate design which covered the spatial tear and stabilized it. Harnessing it and keeping it from bing unstable. It only took seconds before the seal dimmed and disappeared.

    The Spatial Tear now transformed into a Spatial Node ¨C one that is stable and won''t close down at any given moment. This means that they''re not pressed on time anymore.

    "I''ve said this once and I''ll say it again¡­" Paul muttered as he stepped closer to the spatial node, "Raven''s seals makes everything so friggin'' convenient."

    Mark just chuckled but didn''t disagree. Why would he? What Paul said was true anyways?

    It had be to known that although the process of stabilizing space looked and sounds simple, it takes a lot of effort and knowledge to do so.

    An unstable space will always be dangerous. It can give birth to spatial storms and interference. Heck, make one wrong move and you''ll end up at apletely different ce altogether.

    Not even those who understood the profound Laws of Space can just stabilize it. Like what was mentioned earlier, it takes a lot to do that.

    Transforming a Spatial Tear ¨C an unstable and dangerous shortcut from Point A to Point B, into a Spatial Node ¨C a stable and perfectly safe passage from Point A to Point B, requires even more.

    Not to mention, doing it within seconds through a remote seal? Some people wouldn''t even be able to know where to start doing all that. But Raven could, and this is why the Dawn Council is lucky to have him.

    ¡ª

    Paul and Mark entered the Spatial Node and took their time to arrive the other side.

    They travelled for a hour before they eventually reached their destination, the Nightmare ins.

    "Oh, they were not kidding about this ce." Paul''s expression looked disgusted. "It smells horrible here. Ew."

    Even Mark''s not immune to the scent of this ce. Both of them unceremoniously pulled-up their hoods and put on their face masks in to filter out the smell, which made things more bearable at least.

    The Nightmare ins isn''t only notorious for its foul stench though. It hides worse things that this, obviously. It wouldn''t bebeled as a Danger Zone if this was it.

    "Oh dear. I can already feel theming." Paul''s words sounded muffled with his face mask on but Mark still understood what he said.

    "How many?" Mark asked.

    Paul stomped his foot twice ¨C this was him using Seismic Sense to spy ahead, a secondter he replied: "Thousands?"

    "Great." Mark snorted, "I thought we handed out missions to cut down their numbers?"

    "It isn''t a popr mission though. At least that''s how Laughing Dragon describes it." Paul stated as he took out his spear and shield. "Not a lot of people want toe here, they don''t like this ce."

    "¡­sounds about right." Mark shrugged as he too summoned his short swords flickering with crimson lightning.

    Mark felt something that made him pause though, something that Paul didn''t fail to notice.

    "Felt something?" He asked.

    "Yep." Mark snorted, "There are some nasty things at the very back. I can feel their malice all the way here. If I''m not wrong, they''re sending more this way."

    "Oh. Perfect. Love that for us." Paul scoffed as a marine colored glow erupted from his body. Both of them continued marching forward until Paul warned: "Heads-up, first batch iing in five seconds."

    "Roger that."

    Just like what Paul said, the first batch of enemies did appear after five seconds.

    A messy structure of tangled limbs came to their view. The enemies looked big but clumsy. They ran towards them like wolves who smelled blood though ¨C feral and exited. They moved at a speed that shouldn''t be possible with their huge frames. Then again, these are monsters,mon sense doesn''t apply to them.

    Seeing the monsters makes them understand why this ce was named as the Nightmare ins. The monsters here looked exactly like the ones that person would see in their nightmares.

    Red-eyed and strange, every single monster was unique and freaky. Some of them had faces of infant babies with bodies blownpletely out of proportion. Some of them had animalistic properties and so on.

    What they do have inmon is that, they are hostile to anyone that''s not like them. There''s quite a lot of them here too and their horde can give even Empyreans a headache.

    Well, not Mark and Paul though.

    The two swaggered like they owned the ce. They held their weapons but they weren''t on the offense. They''re just ying anything thates close.

    Paul''s spear would hiss like a poisonous serpent, tearing any abominations thates close while Mark''s crimson lightning straight up toasted them.

    None of them were in a hurry. It is part of their mission to cut down the numbers of abominations down so there''s no need to rush to the hostiles ones at the back.

    "Oh. So that''s why even Empyreans avoided this ce." Mark muttered as his lightning armor toasted another abomination.

    "What is it?" Paul asked.

    "Well, these things are a pain in this ?ss." Mark scoffed, "They can''t quite die, you see. They''re bound to this ce. And the nasties at the far back are bringing them back to life just as fast as we are killing them."

    "Son of a¡­" Paul ?r??n?d as his spear turned into a blur, cutting down ten abominations into ribbons in one go. "So that''s what''s up. Ugh. I hate this already."

    "Who do you think''s responsible for this? Jade or Monkey?" Mark asked.

    "I''d both actually." Paul snorted, "With the addition of Lady of course, only she can give birth to these Abominations?"

    The people they''re referring to are the previous members of the Dawn Council.

    See, the Nightmare ins isn''t something natural. It is a man-made realm, created for mostly unknown purposes but if these two will guess, it would probably be something alone the lines of ''Greed'' and ''Schemes''. The previous Council were good at that apparently.

    The Nightmare ins is a tumor to the Howling Wind Great World. First and foremost, going in here is dangerous by itself since the entrance was previously a Spatial Tear. This ce doesn''t have anything valuable except maybe the remains of the dead people and their belongings. Andst but not the least, the enemies are practically endless.

    Going here isn''t just worth it. But even so, the citizens of the Howling Wind Great World has to or else, they''ll be invaded by the Abominations inside. They need to constantly send people in despite their unwillingness since they need to cut their numbers down, however, they never actually did anything different, they just send their men to die.

    "You think something different will happen if we get rid of those bringing them back?" Paul asked tentatively.

    "Who knows? Want to try?"

    "You go instead." Paul shrugged, "You''re faster than me. Leave these weaklings to me."

    "Alright." Mark nodded and immediately disappeared into a sh of crimson colored light.

    Paul continued swaggering towards the core of the realm while cutting down the Abominations into ribbons with his spear.

    A minute passed like this and Paul suddenly felt the work darken. All of a sudden, a loud thunderp sounded and a sh of crimson pir of lightning descended at the forefront of the realm. Paul saw this and shook his head:

    "Man, he sure does not waste time."

    "OI, PAUL!" Mark''s voice echoed.

    "WHAT?"

    "COME HERE!"

    "COMING!"

    "HURRY!"

    "I DON''T FEEL LIKE RUNNING!"

    "FUCK YOU!"

    "YOU TOO!"

 Chapter 816: Qlipoth Root

    Chapter 816: Qlipoth Root

    ¡ª

    "My fu?k?n? god, can''t you go any faster?"

    "I could, but I don''t feel like it." Paul sneered.

    Mark just rolled his eyes at Paul''s childishness. Honestly, he sometimes finds himself wondering how the hell was he friends with this guy.

    "Well? What do you want me here for?" Paul asked, taking on the professional approach once more.

    "This thing right here." Mark gestured in front of him.

    "Oh." Paul made a surprised sound.

    The thing Mark was referring to was a wide crater. This is something that he saw and noticed immediately once arriving here.

    The crater wasn''t that big. Around 12 to 13 meters in diameter. The crater itself isn''t the important part, it''s what''s in it.

    "¡­this is, strange." Paul frowned, looking at the mess at the crater. "Wait hold on, let me iste this ce for a bit, these weak shits are annoying."

    Paul took out an formation disk andunched it in the air. It transformed into a beam of light which flew several hundred meters above them thenunched a dome which isted their immediate vicinity, this way, the remaining Abominations born from the Nightmare Realm won''t be able to disturb their investigation.

    "There. Now, we can check out this mess." Paul patted his hands and took away his weapons, Mark did the same.

    They walked closer to the edge of the crater, being vignt just in case something pops-out. You can never truly know these days. They wanted to get a closer view at the mess that''s within the crater, trying to make heads or tails out of it.

    "¡­I don''t get it." Paul frowned.

    "Yeah, no surprises there."

    "Can you not insult me so casually? Words hurt!" Paul indignantly said.

    "Alright, shut your dramatic ?ss then." Mark sighed, "And just to make you feel better, I don''t get it either."

    "See? You don''t have any leg to stand on either. We both suck!"

    "¡­I hate how you can just easily admit that but go off, I guess." Mark rolled his eyes. "Anyways, let''s not keep getting distracted. Try using Seismic Sense, I''ll try to sense it holds malice."

    Paul nodded and mmed his foot on the ground once. Mark''s eyes turned crimson and crackled with lightning as he observed the damn thing.

    "Huh¡­" Paul frowned. He mmed his foot once more. And then another.

    "¡­"

    "Weird. I''m not receiving any feedback from it." His frown didn''t disappear. In fact it only deepened.

    "Yeah, me neither." Mark frowned too. "Not an ounce of maliceing out of this thing. But that doesn''t really make sense, this is where those nasties earlier kept pulling out other Abominations. There''s no way I''ll be able miss the residual malice it held. Those Abominations are practically swimming in it."

    "It also doesn''t make sense that I''m not receiving feedback from this because it clearly has structure. It''s a thing! It''s pulsing even and I''m near it, I should be feeling it strong especially here."

    "¡­"

    The two couldn''t really understand what''s going on. This¡­thing in front of them is so bizarre. They don''t know what it is, they don''t know how to even begin exining what it looks like. They''ve never seen anything like this before so they don''t really understand hoe to approach it.

    "¡­I think we should call him." Mark suggested.

    "Yeah sounds like a n." Paul agreed while grumbling, "Man, why must we suck like this? Can''t even finish a damn mission without relying on him. Pathetic."

    "¡­"

    Paul tapped his badge in using a unique rhythm that only him and the rest of the Council Members knows. His badge lit up and flew from his ?h?st, hovering right in front of them. It disyed a screen of light and then Raven''s facee into view.

    Mark and Paul didn''t say anything at the first few seconds. Well¡­more like they couldn''t.

    Raven didn''t notice that they were watching him. He was so focused on his work, looking at the massive canvass in front of him with a sharp look on his face. They saw him sigh and then craned his neck.

    "Oh! Hey guys! What''s up?"

    That''s when he noticed them.

    "Hey, bro. What''s up! This a good time?" Paul asked.

    "Perfect, actually. Just about to take a break. How can I help?" Raven asked so casually as if he wasn''t working hard already.

    "You sure? We can always call you backter you know?" Mark suggested.

    "No, no! It''s fine really. That ter'' you say will be at least a week from now since I''ll be sleeping that long."

    "¡­"

    "Oh,e on guys. I''m fine really. Don''t beat up yourselves like this. We agreed on cing this function on the badges for a reason. I could actually use some distraction right now you know. It''s been boring out here, all alone and shit." Raven chuckled to dismiss the heavy air around them.

    The two of them sighed and shook their heads. Of course he, of all people, would pick up on what they''re feeling. Raven''s always been like this, how are they still surprised?

    "Right, no beating around the bush then." Paul shifted the position of the badge and faced it to the¡­thing within the crater. "Any ideas what this is?"

    "Ooh! What do have here?" Raven sound chipper as he stared at the screen. "Looks like you guys encountered a wild Qlipoth Root! Lucky! Where did you guys find this?"

    "Qlipoth?"

    "Qlipoth Root." Mark corrected, taking a few steps forward with a hardened expression on his face. "A Qlipoth is also known as the Crucible of Evil ¨C a breeding ground of sorts. By using appropriate sacrifices, living beings to be more specific, they can breed all sorts of creations/abominations ording to their liking."

    "Qlipoth is argework. In cane into forms of roots, veins, nodes and etc. It feeds and breeds negative emotions. Each ssification depends on how meticulously it was created and how much it evolved."

    "A node takes ten years, a vein takes a 100 years and a Root takes 1000 years. The amount of resources can vary but living sacrifices are the most effective and d?s?r?d resource."

    Mark''s face was cold after describing what a Qlipoth is.

    "Damn it! Damn it! I should''ve known the moment I saw those abominations! How can I miss such an obvious thing!?"

    It was obvious that he''s upset about this situation. He prided himself as the Exterminator of Evil in the Divine Realm. He hunted down criminals day in and day out. He has ess to these kinds of information especially now that he''s a part of the Dawn Council and they have Laughing Dragonpiling reports for them.

    "Mark, calm down bro." Raven called out from the other side. "Don''t go ming yourself now. Be d that you discover this instead."

    "But¡­this was supposed to be my realm of expertise." Mark clicked his tongue. It was obvious that he was disappointed in himself. "I''ve been hunting down these pesky Cult of the Human Blood God for years now. Decades, even! I should''ve realize this sooner."

    "Now, now. Stop thinking like that." Raven softly admonished. "First and foremost, we all know that this cult has been slippery. We''re already expecting this since they''re literally confiding with the previous council members."

    "So, we were right to ?ssume that the previous council members had a hand on the creation of these¡­things? Who would it be then?" Paul asked.

    "I''m not sure actually." Raven admitted, "I kind of start losing interest about them the moment I knew their corrupted ways, that being said I''ll guess that ''Yellow'' would be the one behind this."

    "He likes referring to himself as the ''Humanity''s Mortal God'' right? Well, Qlipoth''s favorite resources are Human Sacrifices. It''s not picky either. Be it blood, flesh, bones, teeth, bodily fluids, rotten or fresh, intact or not, young or old ¨C so long as ites from a Human, the Qlipoth is bound to like it. That''s why the Abominations around you looks like a tangled mess of limbs."

    "It''s absolute favorites are infants though¡­" Raven revealed somberly.

    Paul could''ve sworn that Mark''s whole body was shaking in anger, which made him wince, he''s now inwardly praying that he won''t lose his marbles right away.

    "Anyway, since Yellow powers gives himplete control over Mortal lives, it wouldn''t be too surprising if he built himself an informationwork of Human Traffickers ¨C which turns out to be the cult itself. With his help, locating resources and hiding in in sight wouldn''t be too challenging."

    "But then¡­how can neither my Seismic Sense or Mark''s Malice Detection aren''t working in this?" Paul asked. This question piqued Mark''s interest as well.

    "Ah! That''s because the Qlipoth Root in front of you doesn''t necessarily exist in the same timeline that you''re in."

    "Huh?" Paul was visibly confused, so is Mark.

    "It literally means like how it sounds." Raven stated, "The Qlipoth in front of you isn''t at the same timeline as you are right now. You guys are currently transported about¡­400-500 years in the future. Try using the Scanning feature of the Council Badges."

    Mark and Paul nodded to this suggestion and what they found out, surprised them.

    The crater was empty.

    "See? There''s nothing in there. The Qlipoth Root in front of you exist in the present, not 400-500 years in the future.. In other words, you guys fell into an borate trap of the Sly Foxes that is the previous Council members."

 Chapter 817: Destroy it.

    Chapter 817: Destroy it.

    ¡ª

    The Dawn Council Badges, a unique identification that only its members were allowed to use. Raven packed as many functions as he could in that little thing just for convenience purposes.

    The result of the scan shocked Mark and Paul. They can''t help but looked at the badge, disying an empty crater and then looking without the badge to see the gross mess in front of them.

    "So that''s why Malice Detection and Seismic Sense didn''t work. The damn thing isn''t even here in the first ce." Paul ?r??n?d, rubbing his rough palm on his face.

    "Yes. I''m actually surprised that you guys didn''t know." Ravenmented from the other side, setting up a tent as he talked.

    "So like¡­did we enter some kind of time enhancement then? Why didn''t I feel one?" Mark frowned.

    It didn''t make sense to him. If they entered a time warp or enchantment, there''s no way that neither him nor Paul would feel it. They''re considered as peak experts in the Divine Realm, wouldn''t it be so pathetic for them to not even recognize or sense something as easy as this.

    "You didn''t feel anything?" Raven frowned. "That''s new¡­wait, you guys are yet to tell me where you are though."

    "Oh! Haha. My bad." Paul chuckled. "We entered the Spatial Tear at the Howling Wind Great World. I used your Spatial Stabilization Seal to turn the tear into a Node. We''re at the Nightmare Realm."

    "Ah! That ce. Hmm" Raven thought for a bit. "Oh! I get it now. It''s probably because of my Seal then. Haha."

    "Huh? What do you mean?" Paul asked, confused about what Raven just said.

    "The seal I gave you served it''s function. Figured I''ll tell you that before you ask. It created a stable passage that allowed you to safely arrive at the Nightmare Realm. However¡­"

    "I think the seal kind of ¨C I''m notpletely certain about this since I''m not there ¨C interfered with the trap those Sly Foxes created for anyone who tries to enter that ce."

    "The Spatial Tear itself is a trap ¨C I think." Raven continued, "Given their abilities, it''s not hard for them to purposefully create interferences within the Spatial Tear ¨C i.e. Spatial Storms and such.

    "I''d bet they created multiple replicas of the Nightmare Realm itself, connected it to one entrance and then left if there. This way, they can hide the existence of the Qlipoth Root. Well, due to my Seal changing theyout of the trap, I''m guessing that it fused all of the replicas into one."

    "Meaning that you are within an Ovepping Realms. Due to that, the Qlipoth Root is visible to you but in fact, you''re at the wrong area. Yeah, it''s confusing I know."

    "Well¡­I can kind of¡­get it. I think." Paul hummed, "So it''s like, 99 fake realms and one true realm meshed into a single thing. Like in a Paradox or something."

    "Holy shit, dude! What the fu?k. Why are you smart? This is creepy!" Raven''s widened as he stared at Paul.

    "Yeah, who the fu?k are you and what did you do to our friend?" Mark added.

    "I hate you. I hate you two with a burning passion! I seriously ¨C you know what? I quit. Can''t do this shit! Bye."

    "Wait, noe back! We''re kidding. Come on, Paul." Raven wasughing as he watched Paul fumed while walking away. "Come on! Don''t quit. I''m going to tell Ellen, I have Avatars back there I''ll have you know."

    "¡­traitor." Paul grumbled.

    "Whipped." Mark snorted.

    "And you''re not?"

    "Touch¨¦."

    "Ugh." Paul rolled his eyes, "Alright. What do we do then? We identified the problem, how do we get rid of it?"

    "Uh, isn''t that obvious already?" Raven raised a brow. "Destroy it."

    "Yeah, we know. But how exactly. We''re in a Paradox remember? I don''t even know how we''re going to get out." Paul replied.

    "No. What I mean to say is, destroy the entire thing." Raven stated.

    "The Nightmare Realm?" Mark asked.

    "Yes." Raven nodded, looking like he''s stating the most obvious thing. "There''s no reason for it to exist anyway."

    "¡­"

    Mark and Paul were speechless. But now that they''re thinking about it, yeah, it''s that obvious.

    The Nightmare Realm truly has no reason to exist. It only brings pain and suffering. It only has death and no rewards. In addition to this, it''s even hiding a Qlipoth Root ¨C which was meant to be destroyed anyways.

    Because of the Qlipoth Root, the citizens of the Howling Wind Great World always has to suffer and send their men to death. Leaving this ce intact doesn''t do anything good. It''s disappearance would be the greatest benefit for all.

    Since this is a considered as a Hidden Realm, destroying it won''t harm the great world. It''s also a Danger Zone so they have to deal with it in the first ce.

    So yeah, long story short. Destroy it. in and simple.

    "¡­yeah. Yeah, I think we''re going to do just that. Fuck, I hate how simple this turns out to be." Paul muttered as he brought out his spear and shield.

    "Yeah, same." Mark nodded as he started surrounding himself with Crimson Lightning. "We have to make it as explosive as possible though. Just to make sure nothing survives."

    "Sounds like a n." Paul nodded. He then turned to Raven and said: "Yeah, I think we''re good here. Thanks for the ?ssist."

    "You''re wee anytime." Raven smiled. "Oh, be careful though. Make sure you keep the tunnel intact before you destroy the realm. We can''t have you guys injured. Also, before you do that, survey the entire ce first. See if you can bring something back for Laughing Dragon as clues."

    "I''ll do it. I''m faster." Mark offered.

    "Yeah. I''ll wait here. Anyways, go and rest Raven. Come back soon, your wife''s missing you."

    "Will do. Stays safe you two. Bye."

    Raven disconnected the link. Mark started roaming as soon as he was out while Paul tried to locate and protect their exit.

    Mar, ran a few ??ps around the realm, searching for clues to bring back just like Raven suggested. He abducted some Abominations and retrieved some fossils that he saw and thought valuable. He took some samples of the soil and even spread his senses underground to check for some buried items. Anything that he could take back really.

    Once he was done with that, Mark returned to Paul''s side and nodded. Thetter understood what he meant and said:

    "Well, how do we do this? Do we just¡­I don''t know, go in a rampage until everything''s destroyed?"

    "No. That''s exhausting and risky." Mark rejected the idea.

    "How are we supposed to blow up this realm then?"

    "We can look for the core of the realm." Mark suggested. "Once we found it, we overload it, ce a tag, make our exit and then boom. Big explosion."

    "You sound like someone who hasn''t socialized for eons." Paul snorted.

    "Fits the theme, don''t you think?" Mark replied, "We thought this mission was supposed to beplicated but it wasn''t. We might as well follow the trend."

    "Right, the core''s right over there. Let''s get this over with. I wanna go home." Paul sighed.

    The two of walked towards the core. One stab of Paul''s spear revealed it. A dark core filled with energy. They looked at each other first and nodded.

    Paul ced a trigger seal on the core first, this will prevent the core from exploding before they can leave.

    The two of them might be strong but they could still get severely injured if the realm exploded with them in it. The two of them can''t afford to get injured badly. There''s too much work to be done and they''ll dy their schedule.

    There''s no reason to risk it to save time. It''s better to be safe than sorry.

    Once the trigger seal had been embedded at the core, the two didn''t waste time and started overloading the core with their berserk energiesbined. Despite today''s work, the two of them hadn''t really spent much of their reserves so they have plenty to spare.

    The stream of berserk energy swiftly bloated the core, causing it to turn stable. The ck core started trembling, cracks begun appearing at its surface but the two of them didn''t stop just yet.

    They only stopped when the core''s literally one second away from the exploding. The trigger seal activated right then and stopped the explosion.

    "I think we''re good. Let''s leave." Mark nodded to Paul''s suggestion.

    They swiftly made their way to their exit, before they left, Paul threw a stone which hit the trigger seal and resumed the countdown.

    Mark and Paul felt the explosion even within the spatial passage. They didn''t need to look behind to know that the passage was copsing behind them. Their flight speed is faster though so they were safe.

    Once they''re back at the Howling Wind Great World, they looked back and saw the tunnel copsingpletely. The Nightmare Realm is no more.

    "Mission Sess." Paul stated.

    "Yeah, let''s return to the Headquarters immediately.." Mark stated, "I want Laughing Dragon''s help in locating the rest of the cult and Qlipoth."

 Chapter 818: Critters Realm

    Chapter 818: Critters¡¯ Realm

    ¡ª

    "¡­these samples would help us a lot in tracking the cult''s bases. Thanks for bringing them back." Laughing Dragon said as he collected the samples.

    "It''s Raven''s idea so you tell him that." Mark replied, "Anyways, do inform me as soon as you get some clues. I''m putting this at my top priority."

    "Understood." Laughing Dragon nodded.

    "Oh! Hey! You boys are back!" Ellen said after entering the room with Anne.

    The girls went to their respective husbands and gave them a peck on the cheeks.

    "How''s the mission?" Anne asked softly while guiding Mark to the nearby couch.

    "Simple." He replied, allowing Anne to take of his vest and give him a back massage as he sat down.

    "Tell us about it?" Ellen asked Paul.

    Paul then ryed the information about their mission. They told the girls what they encountered within the Nightmare Realm, the Abominations, the Qlipoth, them contacting Raven and the realm''s eventual destruction.

    "A Qlipoth huh¡­" Anne murmured as she pressed tight circles around Mark''s nape. "That''s concerning."

    "At least we got rid of one." Ellen sighed. "But considering the minds of those Sky Foxes and those Bald Eagles. There''s probably still more around."

    "Laughing Dragon''s already at this case." Paul ?r??n?d as he too received a massage from Ellen. "Knowing that he''s going to be after them makes me at ease. I''m sure that he''ll give us a lead pretty soon."

    "Well, there''s no doubting that. Laughing Dragon is persistent." Ellen chuckled. "Anyways, you two did great. "Raven''s right, there''s no need for the Nightmare Realm to continue existing. Good riddance."

    "You boys did check if it was thoroughly destroyed, right?" Anne asked to which the boys nodded. "Alright, that''s good. Go get some rest then."

    "You girls have somewhere to go?" Paul asked.

    "Mhm." Ellen nodded. "We''re going to team up. We''re leaving today."

    "Where?"

    "Critters'' Realm." Anne said, wincing as she spoke.

    It wasn''t just her, even Ellen involuntarily winced when she remembered where they''re supposed to go.

    Mark turned around and asked his wife: "Something happened there?"

    Anne nodded softly and replied: "Yeah. We received reports from the Intelligence Department that the mortality rate within the Critters'' Realm had not gone down even after our initial methods."

    "ording to them, the Critters'' Realm had the highest casualty rate. Those who had taken-up the missions to go there, majority of them didn''te back. The feedback were minimal as well so we n on taking a look." Ellen continued.

    "You want us toe with you?" Paul offered.

    "Nah." Ellen shook her head. "It''ll be overkill if you two came with us. We''re enough for this mission. You two rest here. We can handle this."

    "You sure?"

    "Yeah! Come on, don''t look down on your wife now!" Ellen huffed, cing her hand on her h?ps.

    Paul chuckled and give Ellen a chaste kiss before saying: "I wouldn''t dare. Make sure you girls do an inventory check and pay close attention to your safety alright."

    "Come back to us in one piece." Mark added.

    "We will. See you soon." Anne kissed Mark and left the headquarters with Ellen.

    ¡ª

    The Critters'' Realm.

    It''s probably one of the most, if not the most, hated Danger Zone in the entirety to Divine Realm. Many people abhorred this ce to their core. No amount of fancy resources would convince them to enter this ce, no threats can force them to go in here.

    The Critters'' Realm is notorious for being the graveyard of experts. Many people have tried their luck in here to no avail.

    It is said that this ce is swimming in all sorts of resources, some known to man while others are unknown.

    ¡­well, to those who were lucky to leave that ce with their lives intact, this rings true. The problem is that, nobody has gone to see what really lies deep within the realm to confirm if this rumor was real since it''s too dangerous.

    The Critters'' Realm''s entrance is located at the Heavenly Phantom Great World ¨C which is located at the far west of the Divine Realm. Thanks to the equipment of the Dawn Council, Anne and Ellen arrived at this ce as soon as they left the headquarters.

    The appearance of thedies raised amotion. Although there are tons of beauties in the Divine Realm, Anne and Ellen''s looks were still ranked pretty high-up even with their married status.

    "Guys, look! It''s the Dawn Council!"

    "Woah! It''s Fairy Evergreen!"

    "And the Vermillion Princess!"

    "They''re wearing their uniforms! They''re here in an official business!"

    "The direction they''re going¡­are they heading to the Critters'' Realm!?"

    "Don''t tell me they''re going to deal with it! And they sent the girls too! Didn''t they say girls are the ones who hated that realm the most?"

    "Yeah? But they''re not just ''any'' girls, Bro."

    "True. They''re from the Dawn Council. They posses both beauty and strength. I actually hope that they can deal with that menacing realm once and for all."

    "Well, I hope that as well. But say, what if the rumors are true. You know, the one about the resources, do you think the Dawn Council would hoard all of them?"

    "Of course not! Why would you ask that? Don''t tell me that you don''t know how the Dawn Council operates!?"

    "They won''t take all. Well, it really depends on the result actually. Say that the rumors are indeed true and there''s actually hills of resources in there. The Dawn Council will bring samples back for investigation. They will most likely hand-out missions to harvest said resources ¨C you know, like a trade."

    "Ah, I see."

    "But there''s also the possibility that they''ll destroy the realm itself. If they deemed it harmful enough, they might resort to that instead. If it''s not, then they''ll do something about it, we''ll just have to wait."

    "Oh! That makes sense."

    "It does, yeah."

    "Actually, check this out. They just announced the destruction of the Nightmare Realm."

    "Ooh! That one''s nasty too. Good riddance actually."

    "Why, you''ve been there?"

    "Nope. But I heard rumors. One of the my old friend died in there you know. That''s why I don''t like that ce."

    "Oh, I''m sorry to hear that."

    "No it''s okay. We already moved-on from that. Anyway, I''m hoping they destroy Critters'' Realm too."

    "Yeah, same."

    ¡ª

    "That''s it! I''m blowing this ce up! Don''t stop me."

    "Sis, calm down."

    "What do you mean calm down! It''s terrible out here! This is a disaster! It''s better for this ce to go!"

    "Girl, it''s just mud. You can wipe it off." Anne sighed, exasperated as she shook her head.

    It hasn''t even been ten minutes since they entered the Critters'' Realm and Ellen''s patience was already spent.

    They had a badnding. Who would''ve thought that the moment they stepped out of the exit, they will be dropped into a mud swamp. For some reason, Ellen forgot that she could just step on air so when shended, a ssh of mudnded on her uniform.

    If that wasn''t bad enough, add the leeches that were hiding within the swamptching immediately to the exposed skin of Ellen.

    In her irritation, Ellen almost evaporated the whole swamp. She did however burned the leeches into crisp.

    It didn''t stop there either. Her aggression somehow provoked something. Next thing she knows, numerous vines came rushing towards her, trying to drag her deep within the swamp.

    Ellen burned those too but the vines were seemingly endless. In the end, she was forced to step into the air but the vines still followed her and refuse to leave her be.

    "Anne, you''re Tree Whisperer. Can''t you tell this thing to calm the fu?k down?" Ellen red at Anne who was standing still not too far away from here.

    "Tree Whisperer, she says." Anne shook her head at that ridiculous nickname. "Look, girl. I''m already trying, sadly, that thing doesn''t listen to me."

    "Ah, I see how this is." Ellen snorted. "Well, too bad. I''m out of patience!"

    Ellen suddenly erupted into mes. A keening cry escaped her lips as she transformed into an enormous ming bird which spat a ball of fire ¨C holding a heat that almost rivals the sun itself, into the swamp.

    "Oh my god." Anne rolled her eyes and surrounded herself with numerous thick golden branches to protect herself.

    *Boom!!!*

    A huge explosion shook the entire realm. The burning scent ?ssaulted Anne''s nose and a terrible heat swept through the ce. She then heard Ellen keening once more and transforming back into her human form.

    "Hmph!" She snorted after seeing the devastation she caused.

    She did evaporate the entire swamp herself. Presumably, along with the nasty creatures hiding deep down in that ce. Now all that''s left if a massive indentation on the ground.

    Shortly after, Anne emerged from the branches and released a sigh.

    "So much for keeping a low-profile."

    "Not my fault. I''m annoyed." Ellenmented.

    "¡­sure. Whatever floats your boat I guess." Anne wryly smiled as she started surveying the area.

    "Eh? I''m sensing crap tons of heat signals heading our way." Ellen tilted her head.

    "Hmm, I wonder why that is. They couldn''t have possibly discovered us won''t they? Yeah, after thatary explosion? There''s absolutely no way they''d discover us. How mysterious."

    "Shut it."

 Chapter 819: Mystery Solved

    Chapter 819: Mystery Solved

    ¡ª

    "¡­this is your fault by the way." Anne unabashedly told Ellen.

    "It is not!" Ellen replied, "It''s this damn realm''s fault for existing! I told you, we should just blow this whole thing up!"

    The bickering women didn''t remain idle while they argue. Ellen continued released pulses of mes that contained a terrifying heat while Anne summoned a plethora of roots and vines to aid her.

    The two of them are currently surrounded by swathes of insects. They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, they also didn''t show any signs of stopping.

    The Insects are the worst part about the Critters'' Realm.

    It is unknown how many of them are present within this ce. For all they know, there could be no limit to their numbers. To make things worse, the insects are not only great in number but also share a hive mind.

    If one sees you, then everybody does as well. This makes it impossible for anyone who enter this realm to seed in a stealth approach.

    With all this in mind, it is understandable that even Empyreans hates this ce. This is also the reason behind the absurd mortality rate of this ce.

    "How long will it take for you to analyze these pests? I am this close tounching another sun at them." Ellen huffed.

    "One more minute." Anne replied. She didn''t even want to continue bickering with Ellen since she has to concentrate.

    The girls were really in any sort of danger.

    Yes, they are in a tough spot because of Ellen''s recklessness but it''s not like the situation was life-threatening. Anne was already doing something to calm the situation down.

    One minute passed quick. As soon as the countdown ends, Anne''s body suddenly released a verdant glow. She released a pulse that caused the insects to be stunned, followed by a fragrant scent which was pleasing to one''s nose.

    Well, to a human nose, it is. It''s different for Insects though.

    The moment the Insects caught whiff of the scent, they released a sharp screech and began retreating maniacally, flying back to the direction where they came from.

    Anne and Ellen sighed in relief, at least that one''s over.

    "Insect Repent, yay." Ellen scoffed as she kept her sword away, wiping off the sweat that appeared her face.

    "You''re wee, I guess." Anne sighed as she patted down her dress.

    With the Insects gone, the hectic situation stopped. They could catch their breaths now and proceed at their own pace.

    "By the way, the scent wouldn''t drive every insect away. I couldn''t analyze all of them since I couldn''t see the rest." Anne admitted.

    "That''s fine. So long as majority of them don''t bother us with out work here, we''re good." Ellen replied.

    Once the girls fixed their appearance a bit. They nodded to each other and started heading deeper into the Critters'' Realm.

    The realm looked like a vast jungle filled with all kinds of creatures. The air was sticky and ominous, its as if its warning people to stay away from it.

    Anne and Ellen werepletely unbothered by this. As Anne continued to release that unique fragrance, most of the insects should leave them alone.

    Fairy Evergreen is an expert when ites to Nature Laws. The fragrance she''s releasing is something that he learned how to do by herself. With it, she can mask her presence and blend with her surroundings. A fitting technique for stealth and spying. She obviously could do more than this but right now, this should suffice.

    "We should scout ahead just in case." Anne suggested as they walked closer to the jungle.

    "The heat signals are blurry and weak." Ellen said after a brief period of silence. "How did you do?"

    "The horde that attacked us earlier were just a slice of a the pie." Anne replied, "There''s billions of them scattered all across this jungle. One wrong move and we might get swarmed again."

    "Huh¡­that''s interesting." Ellen raised a brow. "The Insects didn''t register to my senses. They don''t have temperatures?"

    She was a bit surprised to be honest. She didn''t know that the Insects didn''t posses a body temperature. Ellen didn''t dare to doubt Anne''s sensing capabilities. She believed her when she said that there''s billions of them out there.

    It''s obvious that Ellen can sense heat signals. If she tried her best, she can probably probe deeper and receive more feedback but that''s risky for their current situation.

    Ellen might be reckless at times but she''s far from stupid.

    "Well, they don''t register in my Life Sense ¨C meaning that they''re closer to inanimate objects in my senses. Which is why I used Nature Sense instead. There''s a lot of them here and the real menaces were the tiny ones. Look out for them."

    "Will do." Ellen nodded as they continued heading deeper.

    Anne already adjust the fragrance she''s releasing. It covered both here and Ellen only. This scent should make them blend into their surroundings more to the point that the Insects would just straight-up ignore their presence.

    The jungle within the Critters'' Realm was huge. The whole realm was practically it, to be honest.

    As the girls surveyed their surroundings, they saw all sorts of Insects on their natural habitats. It''s weird because they almost looked peaceful but in truth, their eyes would instantly turn red then moment they discover a foreign presence.

    Anne discovered lumps of resources here and there. Ellen discovered something gross.

    "Ugh. Poor guy." She sighed.

    Ellen was standing in front of a rotting corpse ¨C which is now reduced into a nest of Insects. She regretted the fact that she saw it because now, the scene were a worm was entering the corpse''s mouth only to exit at the ear, cannot be erased from her memories.

    What''s even worse is that, she could feel the heat of the corpse''s body.

    It registered into her sense and made her feel slightly nauseous.

    This man is not alive. There''s no way that he would be. The only reason why she can sense heating from was because of the pests keeping the corpse''s heart intact.

    The heart didn''t pump blood, it served as a nursery forrvae.

    This wasn''t the only one they found. There are a still more around and there will be more as they head deeper into the jungle.

    "¡­can''t we really blow this realm up instead?" Ellen suggested one more time.

    "Focus, Ellen." Anne shuts her down again, "We still haven''t finished our investigation. If we gather enough evidence, I''ll let you run rampant then."

    "Okay." Ellen nodded.

    "Still, I already saw a good chunk of resources here." Anne added, "Yet, we''re not even at the core of the realm yet."

    "The resources aren''t that impressive." Ellen countered, it was clear that she really didn''t like this ce at all to say the least. "We don''t need them."

    "We will see. Keep your eyes peeled." Anne said.

    The two of them continued on their journey towards the core of the jungle.

    Anne was right when she said that not every insect will be affected by their scent. They encountered a few on their journey who didn''t hesitate to attack them on sight. Still, it didn''t provoke a huge reaction so they just dealt with them as silent as they could.

    From time to time, the two of them will stop at their tracks and scanned the area around them for caution.

    So far, all the heat sources that Ellen saw were from human corpses. Anne on the other hand discovered more and more resources as they headed deeper into the realm.

    "I want to try something." She suggested. Ellen looked at her with a raised brow so she continued: "I think I discovered how this realm works now. Let''s use the Stealth Option of the Council Badges, I will remove the fragrance right after. Let''s see if my idea was correct."

    Ellen shrugged and followed her suggestion. She tapped her badge using a unique rhythm and instantly, a film of light covered her body. So did Anne.

    They looked at each other and nodded. Anne then removed the fragrance surrounding them.

    "¡­"

    Nothing.

    There was no reaction.

    Anne looked at Ellen and gave her some signals. They continued moving forward slowly and time passed by, the insects remained still and focused on their work.

    "Did it work?" Ellen asked softly.

    "I think it did." Anne nodded. "Since the Badge masked our life signals, the insects can''t detect us. If they can''t detect us, then they won''t attack."

    "This means that they will only attack living beings with strong life signals.. I think we cracked the mystery behind this realm."

 Chapter 820: Dream Blossom Mother Tree

    Chapter 820: Dream Blossom Mother Tree

    ¡ª

    After solving the mystery behind the Critters'' Realm, the rest of the trip went smoother.

    There are things that still doesn''t make sense to the girls but now that they have the lead, they can capitalize on it.

    "So, living beings aren''t allowed in here. The Insects themselves aren''t considered as ''alive'' and will attack the moment they sensed someone or something that possess life? How did that happen?" Ellen asked.

    "Beats me." Anne shrugged. "This ce is older than us. The existing records doesn''t help and the previous generations of the Dawn Council didn''t bother investigating either. I''d say that we''re actually the first people to discover this secret."

    "That''s awful." Ellen snorted. "Then again, I can kind of understand why there aren''t much intel about this ce. How can someone investigate when their busy trying to survive."

    "Agreed." Anne nodded, "We''re lucky we have means of stopping their relentless ?ssault."

    "So¡­" Ellen paused and looked around, "What now? What do we do with this realm?"

    "Well, we see what lies deeper within first. I have a few ideas but we can also consult Raven if necessary." Anne stated.

    Ellen nodded and started looking around.

    Now that the situation calmed down for the both of them and their presence no longer disturbed the Insects, Ellen could say that this ce isn''t as bad as she initially thought.

    The deeper they went into the jungle, the damper the atmosphere became, which is natural. They also encountered all sorts of Insects around.

    Now that they have all the time they needed for their investigation, the two of them studied the Insects closely and began writing down their discoveries for Laughing Dragon.

    There are a few characteristics shared by all the insects here. First and foremost was the obvious, they weren''t considered as living beings. Second is that, their eyes are dull and empty. And finally, there seems to be a strict hierarchy amongst them.

    The Insects moved with a devout intention. Every single one of them has a purpose to their environment no matter how small or big they were.

    Sure, they look iffy and disgusting but looking past it, allows them to look at the delicate and profoundwork environment they have.

    The Insects themselves were the ones cultivating the resources here, that much were certain. The tasks are divided, some of them were taking care of vegetation, some of them were releasing substance that purifies the air, some of them carried nutrients from one ce to the other, some of them were tasked to reproduce, others looked after the nurseries and so on.

    None of them Insects fought against each other, there was no aggression nor will to do so. What they have is a single minded d?s?r? to fulfil their duty ording to their own pace.

    Seeing this work environment made them girls think. How did this ce came to be? What transpired in the past that lead to the creation of this ce? Was humanity involved in this or no?

    The girls entered a thoughtful mood. They''re so absorbed in it that they didn''t notice that they arrived at the core of the jungle.

    The faint smell of change registeredte in their senses. They were only waken up from their stupor when they heard a few close buzzing sounds.

    "¡­hold on, what?" Ellen was shocked.

    "Well, this is¡­shocking?" Anne was confused and surprised too.

    In front of them was arge tree. It was tall and wide. It has numerous thick roots coiling onto one another, hidden underground. It''s body was wide and looked slightly old. Its leaves were a mixture between azure and amethyst in color, it was a beautiful sight, leagues abovepared to the general theme of what they just saw before arriving here.

    "What tree is this?" Ellen wondered.

    "I have no idea. This is the first time I saw this kind." Anne replied, "It''s pretty. I wonder how it ended up here?"

    "I''m more interested about how it managed to grow this much in an environment like this, actually." Ellen stated, "It is indeed a pretty tree, but how did it manage to grow up in a ce surrounded with filth and Insects?"

    "Well, I can''t answer that." Anne sighed, "Should we call Raven?"

    "I don''t know¡­" Ellen was hesitant, she looked at Anne and asked: "Should we?"

    "I mean¡­" Anne was hesitant too. "I think we have to. I just hope he isn''t busy."

    It obvious that of them really want to burden Raven anymore than they already have. The girls are aware about how much Raven carried on his shoulders alone, they didn''t want to impose on him more. What they want is to lighten those burdens, not add more.

    That being said, they can''t reschedule their trip. The Dawn Council is extremely busy nowadays. They wanted to clear as much as they could in order to prepare for their next gigantic move. Meaning that they have to solve this now or else, it''ll be on ater fate or worst, be forgotten entirely.

    Nobody wants that¡­

    Sighing to herself, Anne relented. She tapped the badge using a unique rhythm and a screen of light emerged right in front of her. It didn''t take long before the link what established but the face they saw on the other side, wasn''t the one they were expecting.

    "What''s up? Avatar #1 reporting for duty. How can I help?"

    The one who answered them wasn''t Raven, it was an Avatar of his.

    "Hello, Avatar #1. We weren''t expecting you to pick-up."

    "Me neither actually, but see Big Boss is in a deep, deep slumber right now. In fact he just fell asleep a few moments ago so you were redirected to me." Avatar #1 replied, "Well, then? How can I help youdies?"

    "You have ess to Raven''s memories right?" Ellen tentatively asked.

    "Yep!" Avatar #1 answered, "Full ess. Perks of being the #1."

    "Good!" Anne eximed, she then rotated the badge and showed the tree to the Avatar. "Can you tell us what this is?"

    "Ooh! A Dream Blossom Mother Tree! Haven''t seen one in ages!" Avatar #1 eximed, he sounds cheery and excited.

    "What does a Dream Blossom Mother Tree does?" Ellen asked this time.

    "Ah! It''s a peculiar tree actually." Avatar #1 stated, "That tree doesn''t just grow anywhere. It has strict requirements for its seed to bloom. From what I can tell by it''s appearance, I''d say that one is about 200,000-300,000 years old. The requirements for it to reach it current state is mind-bogglingly steep."

    "As for what it does, well it lulls you into a dream. Not just any dream, a Lucid Dream." Avatar #1 continues. "ording to the records that Big Boss read before, people often used this tree to simte their breakthroughs."

    "You know, to check if they''re umtions are enough to make it to the next stage. It doesn''t sound impressive but you girls know better right?"

    The girls'' mouth went ajar upon hearing his exnation. ''It doesn''t sound impressive'' ¨C is he kidding? It sounds just as impressive as it sounds. It is impressive! Period!

    Cultivation is difficult. The higher one climbs, the riskier it gets. There are chances of failure or worst, death.

    Having a treasure like this was paramount to sess since it could confirm their chances. In a ce wherepetition for resources are harsh, the value of this tree just shot through the roof.

    "Are there any limits to it?" Anne asked, trying her best to keep her rationality in check.

    "As far as the Big Boss knows, there isn''t. However, I''d say it depends." Avatar #1 replied, "I''m referring to the realm beyond divinity you know. As for Empyrean Knight to Divine Knight, there shouldn''t be any problems. Where are youdies by the way? Where did you find this treasure?"

    "Critters'' Realm." Ellen replied for the both of them.

    "Huh¡­" Avatar #1 looked intrigued. "My, that''s surprising. No. That''s clever actually. A happy coincidence? Maybe."

    "We were shocked to see this too. How could such a heaven-defying treasure exist in a ce like this?" Anne asked to particrly no one at this point.

    "I can''t say. I''d like to think that this just a lucky coincidence but, I don''t really know." Avatar #1 replied, "That being said though, I''d like you girls to search for a flower bud or even better, a seed, to take back to the Headquarters. We can nt it to the Divine Land so add to our treasury."

    "Will do." Anne replied, "I was already thinking of doing that even if you didn''t ask."

    "Thanks! Big Boss will appreciate that." Avatar #1 pped, "Now, why don''t youdies take advantage of that ce while you''re at it."

    "How?"

    "Pick-up an amethyst colored leaf and an azure one. Don''t just randomly grab something, use your senses, it will help you discover the right leaves for you."

    "Once you have the leaves, consume the amethyst one without chewing and ce the azure on your forehead. After that, lean on the tree and sleep. You''ll find yourselves waking up at different ce that should be familiar with you. Try simting your breakthroughs there, you only have one chance and that''s it. Please use it wisely."

    "Thanks Avatar #1, you were a great help."

    "Always at your service, Ladies.. Have fun and don''t hesitate to contact me if you have questions. Have fun!"

 Chapter 821: Distressed

    Chapter 821: Distressed

    ¡ª

    "¡­let''s just make a public announcement. Have some people go in there to test the limits and then make a set of rules they can follow."

    "And this Dream Blossom Mother Tree? Should we let the Heavenly Phantom Great World keep custody of it?"

    "We can have them guard the tree since it resides near to them anyways. I don''t think they''ll mind. We''ll offer something to sweeten up the deal. Besides, we were the ones who discovered it so I don''t think they''ll be upset with this." Anne replied.

    "Alright. I''lle up with a draft. I''ll pass it on to youter. If there''s anything you want me to revise, you know where my office is." Laughing Dragon nodded.

    "Thanks. I''ll look forward to it."

    After their brief meeting, Anne exited the hall and nned on returning to her office.

    Her and Ellen just returned from their trip. They weren''t exhausted but there were things that weighed somewhat heavy in their mind. Ellen''s probably seekingfort from her husband right now and honestly, Anne might just do the same.

    "Oh! Hi, Anne. How''s your trip?"

    Anne looked up and saw Luna in front of her. Apparently, she got too absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn''t notice her presence at all. Anne gave her a thin smile and replied:

    "Good. Short and simple, yet also very enlightening. Quite depressing as well."

    "Oh." Luna was startled for a bit. She then approached Anne and held her hand. Worry shed across Luna''s eyes as she asked: "Do you want to talk about it?"

    "It''s not a big deal." Anne had a sad smile. "It shouldn''t be a big deal. But I guess it''s better if I say this anyways. Can''t keep bottling things to myself since that''d be unhealthy."

    "¡­so, hearing that there''s that kind of opportunity, it''s normal that we were excited right? I mean, that was a great opportunity to pass-up, a chance to see how great your chances at on bing a Divine Knight? Of course anybody would try to get their hands on it."

    "So, just like any other cultivators would do had they been in our position. We tested our luck." Anne stated, "Raven ¨C well, Raven''s Avatar, told us how to use the Dream Blossom Mother Tree. So there we were, resting our backs against the tree and dreaming as soon as we consumed the leaves."

    "Personally, I was anxious. I did my best to calm down and I managed to do so. I took sometime but I eventually got into the most optimal state for a breakthrough within that Dream Space. Once I felt that the time was right, I began my breakthrough."

    Anne took a deep breath and snuggled closer to her husband''s arms.

    "Failed." She said.

    Anne could feel Mark and Luna''s expression harden even without her looking.

    "Like¡­it shouldn''t be anything serious. Really, that''s just a simtion. It is not real. It isn''t but¡­"

    Anne couldn''t bring herself to continue her words. And even if she didn''t, her husband and Luna knows what she''s implying.

    A failure to breakthrough fro Empyrean Knight to Divine Knight that could make Anne this depressed could only mean one thing.

    Although she said that the it shouldn''t be a big deal, her mind makes it so. She can''t help but recall the sensation.

    She was so afraid. She didn''t want to die. There''s so much more she wanted to do. She wasn''t ready to leave. She badly wanted to spend more time with her family.

    The simtion felt so damn real.

    Don''t get her wrong. Anne has been through a lot of simtions before. She''s experience a plethora of things under those forged realities but could evenpete with this one.

    It felt so damn real that it greatly affected her.

    "Anne. You''re this shaken up. Stop saying that it isn''t a big deal." Luna admonished. "Nobody could me you for this. Nobody would judge you for being afraid of death. You have reasons to feel that way and that''s valid. At the end of the day, who isn''t afraid to die? Only those people who are in denial could say those things out loud."

    "She''s right. Mark said while rubbing her back, pulling her closer to his embrace while she buried her face on his neck. "You''re strong, whatever you''re feeling right now. It''ll pass eventually."

    "Plus, we can always take our time." Mark added, "At very least, it''s all just a simtion. What you experienced was lesson. umte more and this wouldn''t be a problem in the future."

    "I know." Anne replied, "Stay with me for a while yeah?"

    "I already n on doing that even if you didn''t tell me." Mark nodded.

    "Annie, pass me the seed. I''ll go nt it in the Divine Land." Luna urged. Anne looked at her wanted to argue but Luna''s expression was stern. "Don''t fight me on this. You need rest. This isn''t hard."

    In the end, Anne could only nod. She took out a jade case from her spatial ring and passed it to her. Luna received it and kept it. She then stood up and walked out of the room. She gave Mark a look which thetter received and understood.

    Mark isn''t going anywhere. Not when her wife needs him the most. He didn''t need Luna to remind him of that but the gesture was appreciated.

    Truthfully, he too was a little bit apprehensive when he heard the story. He was with Paul when Ellen arrived and she didn''t hesitate to dive on to her husband''s arms, not minding Mark''s presence at all. Just from one look on her face, Mark understood something happened so he didn''t waste time and immediately searched for Anne.

    Hearing the story now, Mark understood that Ellen mostly likely failed as well. Ellen looked like she was about to have an emotional breakdown right before he left.

    Luna already left the room. At this point, Mark could feel his shirt wet from Anne''s tears. She was silently crying on his embrace.

    At this point it''s too obvious that what happened really weighed down on her. It was a big deal.

    "Shh. You''re safe. I''m here. I''m not leaving you, we''re not leaving you. You''re not leaving us. You''re here, okay?" Mark pulled her closer and now, Anne couldn''t suppress the heaviness on her heart.

    "Gosh, this is so silly." Anne whimpered. "I got so scared. Every time I close my eyes, I could still see it. I know it''s just a stupid simtion but I can''t help it."

    Mark remained silent, he just allowed Anne to release all her frustrations by crying. He absolutely didn''t mind get his shirt soaked for this.

    "The worst part is that I saw Jeanne''s face before I¡­you know." Anne released a shaky wh?n?, "I saw her face. I remembered everything from her birth all the way until we left her behind."

    "It hurts to be reminded that the memory we shared together in person, she was crying and begging us not to leave and take her with us instead. That''s the most painful part." Anne cried even harder.

    "I miss her so bad."

    Mark bit his lips and felt the corner of his eyes stinging from unshed tears.

    Ever since they left the kids at home, Anne and Mark tried their best to not talk too much about their child since it hurts. Knowing that they can''t stay by her side, watching her grow-up like any normal parent would, would never fail to hurt them.

    Getting swamped with work was one way to keep them upied, so there''s that. But the longing for their child''spany never disappeared, if anything it just felt even stronger.

    This experience was bound to leave scar on Anne''s heart. That''s for certain. She''s never been afraid of death before but it is only now that she truly felt the weight and the consequences of her dying.

    "I''ll be fine." Anne stated.

    This time, she didn''t sound scared. If anything, she sounded brave and determined.

    "I''ll get over this." She added, "We''re sticking to the n. I don''t want to be exempted from this. I won''t give-in. Not now, not ever."

    "I believe you." Mark nodded, nting a kiss on her forehead. "I''ll always be by your side. We''ll get through this and we will be triumphant. We''ll return to her."

    Anne nodded eagerly. She pulled Mark closer, so close that she almost seem to want their bodies to meld together.

    "We''ll be fine. I can endure being away from our daughter just a bit more." Anne said as if reminding herself. "We''re doing this for them and if it''s painful for me, I can''t imagine how painful it is for both Luna and Raven."

    "They need us and we will stay. We will finish this together." Anne dered.

    "Yes." Mark nodded. "Yes, we will."

    "But for now, bath. You stink."

    Mark earned himself a few pinches in the arm for that.

 Chapter 822: Visitors

    Chapter 822: Visitors

    ¡ª

    "¡­hmm."

    Luna was currently within the Divine Land tending to the Dream Blossom Mother Tree Seed.

    It''s been a few days since Ellen and Anne returned from their mission and they''ve been recovering pretty well. They are working to distract themselves, which was probably the best they could do for now. Their husbands did say they can take a few days off but neither of the girls wanted that so they''re back at their office.

    The boys are out again. Laughing Dragon came through andpiled numerous leads which he passed on to Mark. Thetter is now out investigating the tracks left behind by the evil cult. Paul was on a official mission to meet with some Empyreans on behalf of the Dawn Council.

    Meanwhile, Luna''s here by herself. Tending to the resources within the Divine Land.

    They don''t really need tending to be honest. Most of the resources here will grow-up on their own even without her interference, needless to say, leaving the Divine Land operating on its own is kind of wasteful.

    Due to the sheer bounty of resources present here and the rate which they grow, leaving them untended will result into some loss. Like for example, spiritual fruits will fall onto the ground when they''re ripe. If someone wasn''t there to pick them up, they''d miss the chance to preserve it which is a damn waste.

    This is why Luna is here. She spends most of her time here to make sure the resources will be harvested as soon as they''re ready.

    In truth though, they could''ve just asked Raven to create a formation which will automatically harvest the resources when they''re ready. They didn''t do that though since the man''s already busy with his own work.

    It''s just tending to the resources, it''s not that difficult. One of them should be able to handle it. They don''t need Raven doing everything for them, they don''t want to be useless in here.

    She already nted it though. Now, they just have to wait until it blooms. Luna didn''t really have to be here since she knows that the Divine Land already imed the resource will do the rest of the job for her. The Divine Land will nurture the seed until it grows just as big, if not bigger, than the one Ellen and Anne saw within the Critters'' Realm.

    Speaking of the Critters'' Realm¡­

    Laughing Dragon came through once more. (The man is really swift and dedicated to his work, bless him.)

    The took several batches of people to limit test their discovery within the Critters'' Realm. Just like what Anne said, the trick they used was effective. Now the realm is considered as a resource deposit for the Heavenly Phantom Great World. The Empyrean in-charge of the said world is now cooperating with the Dawn Council to maximize the value of the said realm.

    The Dawn Council''s discovery created arge buzz all around. It was expected though, after all the effects of the Dream Blossom Mother Tree was too incredible.

    Not even a day passed and tons of people were already using their Merit Points in exchange for a chance to simte their breakthroughs, most of them are Empyreans.

    The news came with the warning though. Ellen and Anne made sure that Laughing Dragon didn''t forget about that since failure can be traumatic.

    Still, there are some people who weren''t fazed. Some were even confident about their mental state ¨C these people were the ones who suffered the most and could notin since they were warned.

    All in all, the work of the Dawn Council remained steady through out time. Now that they''ve been operating for a few years now, they''re getting the hang of this. There are still some room for improvements but time is one their side for now.

    As Luna was momentarily distracted with her work, she didn''t notice that her badge has been vibrating for a bit now. She only noticed it when it released a sharp sound that only her could hear.

    Luna woke up from her stupor and tapped her badge. Then a voice echoed on her ears.

    "Madam, are you busy?"

    This was Laughing Dragon. Only him calls her Madam in this ce.

    "No. Not anymore. What''s up?"

    "''We do have some applicants who came exchanging for a ticket to the Divine Land. I was wondering if you''re avable to receive them."

    Luna was surprised, she smiled and answered: "Already? Wow, talk about being diligent and hardworking. Sure, send them in. I''ll receive them."

    "Thank you, Madam. We''ll arrive there within five minutes."

    The voice link disconnected. Luna kept her badge away and flew back near the exit, waiting for the first batch of people who will have the honor of visiting the Divine Land.

    Luna saw that there were ten people who arrive, which was a bit surprising for her. She inspected them slightly and a vague idea of their identity formed on her head.

    "Wee, visitors." Luna greeted them with a casual smile. "Or should I say, ck Iron Mercenaries?"

    The visitors were startled upon seeing her and hearing her voice. To them, Luna was a goddess, something that they could only worship from afar. Having her within their close proximity caused them to be dumbfounded.

    One of them recovered from his initial shock. He stepped forward, performed a curt bow and greeted:

    "It is our p???sur? to meet you, Holy Maiden Luna. We are honored that our little ensemble caught your attention."

    The rest of the group managed to follow the lead of this man and also gave Luna their salutations. Luna smiled and said:

    "Give credit where credit is due. You''re group has been doing wonders for the betterment of the Divine Realm as a whole. It''s no wonder why it your group who managed to im this chance first."

    "Laughing Dragon should''ve already briefed you about the rules and regtions within thisnd. Have you all made sufficient preparations?"

    "Yes, Holy Maiden. We''re ready." The leader spoke once more.

    "Great. We shall not waste any more time then. Stick close to me and Laughing Dragon, don''t stray or else you''ll get lost in here."

    After saying that, she saw the whole group sticking closely together. Luna raised her arm and snapped her fingers, causing a road of white light to appear beneath her feet.

    The road extended far ahead, Luna stepped on it and so did Laughing Dragon, they gestured the mercenaries to do the same. The road was wide enough for them to walk on without the fear of falling. It also acts as a guide for them to not stray off their path.

    The ck Iron Mercenary group can''t help but look around the scenery of the Divine Land with eyes full of curiosity.

    They''ve heard numerous rumors about these ce, so many that if onepiled them all, a whole day won''t be enough to tell them all.

    Nevertheless, even with that many tales and legends, of them could give justice to the real thing. Seeing it in person is really different from hearing it from someone else''s mouth.

    They were awed by the beauty and bounty of this ce. Some of them couldn''t help but feel their mouths dry from the sheer amount of treasures they could see.

    *Tzzt!*

    One member from the mercenary group hissed. The atmosphere suddenly turned tense as group stopped moving all of a sudden.

    The Leader of the mercenaries felt his blood run cold. He hurriedly red at the person who was hurt, his expression contained a million words but of them were voiced out loud.

    "1 out of 3." Luna mentioned ever so casually. "I don''t want to nag but let me remind you that you''ll only have a total of three chances to get yourself together. Follow the rules and we''re not going to have any problems. Have I made myself clear, people?"

    "My deepest apologies, Holy Maiden!" The Leader hurriedly apologized. "It''s our fault. I should''ve reigned them in. Thank you for giving us a chance!"

    "As long as we''re clear, Mister. Now, shall we proceed?"

    "Yes!" The mercenary group answered in unison.

    The group then continued their journey while the mercenary group exchanged their mental messages. They shifted their positions for a bit and were now focusing only on the road ahead. They can''t mess this chance up after all.

    Eventually, the group arrived at the end of the white road. There were numerous formation circlesid down in front of them. Luna turned around and say:

    "Enter the formation and sense your fate.. You''ll know what to do next."

 Chapter 823: Lonely

    Chapter 823: Lonely

    ¡ª

    The Divine Land is a ce filled with all sorts of opportunities and miracles, it is considered as humanity''s greatest treasure.

    As the ones guarding this ce, the Dawn Council made sure to implement a strict set of rules for those who will be visiting the Divine Land.

    Having a sess rate 100% for at least 100 S-ranked Missions is the base requirement for someone to apply for a ticket. This in itself is already strict but it doesn''t end here¡­

    Once the application for the ticket was sent and approved, there will be a schedule for the visitors. They have to show up early or on time. If they don''t, then it will ne rescheduled for another date or the applicant can set up a date for themselves. The council will only reschedule the visit three times only, once the applicants chances are used up, the ticket will be denied.

    It doesn''t stop there either¡­

    Once inside the Divine Land, they have to follow the lead of the Supervisor in-charge. The Dawn Council understands that the Divine Land can incite the underlying greed of humans so they give everybody three chances. If they fail to contain their greed and refuse to follow orders, they will be punished based on the severity of their actions.

    The Dawn Council has the right to take their lives right then and there should the situation calls for it.

    As the first to batch of people to apply for this chance, the ck Iron Mercenaries were lucky.

    The group hasn''t garnered much attention despite their clean records. That''s understandable since they don''t they prefer to keep a low profile. That being said, the mercenaries were capable people. They have to considering the steep requirements needed to earn this chance.

    Laughing Dragon gave them a briefing three times. He repeatedly warned them about the risks and the strict rules that some of them felt slightly annoyed by it. They can''t be med, after all it sounded like the Dawn Council couldn''t trust them well enough to behave. Laughing Dragon can''t be med either since he''s doing his job.

    Well, someone from their group embarrassed themselves after all. That person already received warnings from the group yet deep down, the rest couldn''t me the guy either. It wasn''t just him who felt the allure of bountiful treasures around the Divine Land, everyone else did.

    Needless to say, they still managed to keep their act together. At least they only used up one of their chances before arriving to their destination.

    The group is now at the summit of a lone mountain. The peak was t and there were numerous mats on the ground which glittered with runes. Luna and Laughing Dragon made them sit on the mats and start meditating.

    The mats were actually a formation. It is created by Raven in order to ?ssist the visitors on searching for their lucky chances and guide them to the correct direction.

    The mercenaries were already inside the formation and were starting their journey. Luna and Laughing Dragon was observing them in silence.

    After a hour, someone from the mercenaries opened their eyes and a glittering road of sparkles appeared before him like a trail asking him to follow it. He was confused, he looked at Luna and tilted his head:

    "Follow. That road will lead you to your fated treasure. Once you''ve taken it, you''ll be transported back to the Great Hall of the Council. Aside from the one fated to you, you are not allowed to take anything else. Ignore this order and I''ll execute you where you stand. I hope I made myself clear."

    The guy sped his hands and followed Luna''s orders.

    Shortly after he woke up, the rest started ending their meditations one by one. Luna''s instructions were clear and precise. They walked separate ways and started searching for their fated treasures. Once everyone was gone, Laughing Dragon murmured:

    "Going by the direction they were heading¡­I guess we won''t make too much of a loss here." He said.

    "We''re not losing out anything from this Laughing Dragon." Luna chuckled, "The treasures they are iming are, at most, rare. The Divine Land will give birth to those in a matter of months and our stocks will be replenished."

    "I guess you''re right."

    "I just hope that they can keep their hands to themselves."

    "I''m hoping for that as well." Laughing Dragon nodded, "Well, based on their performance and out records of them, we can ?ssume that they''re a disciplined group. They have good intentions at least. The mishap earlier wasn''t entirely their fault."

    "I''m aware." Luna nodded, "I don''t like suspecting them either but we have to remain strict. This ce it too important for Humanity after all."

    "I whole-heartedly agree." Laughing Dragon nodded once more.

    Time passed and eventually, it''s been a day since the ck Iron Mercenaries paid a visit to the Divine Land.

    There are still some of them out there, following the road to their fated treasures. The rest have already imed theirs and was already transported outside of the Divine Land.

    The treasures the mercenaries imed weren''t really that rare. Well, everything that''s been produced by the Divine Land is a rare treasure to begin with but some of them are really rare ¨C the kind that would take eons to grow.

    Thankfully, the ones that were taken today were fairlymon, the Divine Land can replenish its stocks pretty fast if its just those.

    Some more time passed and eventually everybody finished iming what''s theirs. Laughing Dragon turned to Luna and said:

    "Thank you for supervising the visit Madam, I shall return and send our guests away."

    "You''re wee. Go get some rest, Laughing Dragon. You deserve it."

    The fat man just chuckled and disappeared from Luna''s view. Once he''s gone, the Divine Land regained its sanctity and peace. Only Luna was there.

    Luna really didn''t feel tired so she decided to go back to the spot where she nted the Dream Blossom Mother Tree Seed.

    She looked down and saw that the seed was already cracked. This means that it''s already close to sprouting already. Luna nodded to herself, at least she didn''t mess this one up, after all nting this seed was a bit challenging.

    Now that it''s done though, the Divine Land already imed it as its own. It will nurture the seed whole-heartedly. Luna should be able to see some developments within a week.

    "I should leave too. I''ve got nothing better to do here." Luna sighed and disappeared from the Divine Land.

    She returned directly at her office ¨C the Sky Ind. Here she let her guard down and decided to take a brief rest. She hopped onto the bath and sighed as she left the warmth enveloped her strained body.

    She remained silent for a bit before raising her hand and summoning the Sigil of Fated Love. The crimson sigil blossomed and appeared before her, Luna smiled and began drawing pattern using her delicate fingers.

    Once she''s done, a screen of light appeared before her. The light re-arranged itself and showed the image of her beloved husband.

    "Hey." Luna called out.

    She watched as the man startles, looked around and stared right through her. A smile formed on Raven''s lips, one that never failed to make Luna''s heart flutter.

    "Hey there, Gorgeous. I missed you." Raven paused whatever he''s doing to give his full attention to her. It''s a small gesture but enough to make Luna''s heart swell on her ?h?st.

    "I missed you more." She said softly. "It''s been years since we slept on the same bed. When are youing back?"

    "Soon, Darling." Raven bit his lips, his gaze roamed on Luna''s face. "Soon. Just a little bit more and I''m done here. I promise I''ll return to you right away."

    "You better do, Mister." Luna snorted causing Raven to chuckle, "How''s work there?"

    "Oh, same old. Same old." Raven dismissed with a wave of his hand, "It''s just a time consuming project, I''m trying to get over it already since I''m very eager to return to your side."

    "You can do it. I believe in you." Luna encouraged him.

    Luna then proceeded to tell Raven what happened to Anne and Ellen. She even told him about the first batch of visitors on the Divine Land.

    But then, Luna discovered that Raven wasn''t really listening to her anymore. She frowned and was about to tell him but when she paid attention to where he was looking, she can''t help but feel hear rising to her cheeks. Her skin reddened because of Raven''s heated gaze and thetter caught on to this.

    Luna watched as her husband took a couple of deep breaths in, bit his lips and looked at Luna with a veryplicated gaze.

    "You''re being very mean to me, my dear Wife." Raven lips quirked into a smirk. "You''re doing this on purpose aren''t you."

    Luna blushed even further but she didn''t hide from his gaze. He had seen everything already, what''s there to hide?

    "So what if I am? I''m lonely you know! You better finish that project as soon as possible or else I''ll sleep with your Avatars instead!"

    "Do that and I''ll make sure you won''t be able to walk properly for a whole-year when I return."

    "Wha-! Hmph! I''m done talking to you! Bye!"

    Luna disconnected the link before she sumbs into doing something incredibly embarrassing.

 Chapter 824: Explode

    Chapter 824: Explode

    ¡ª

    Another year passed by quickly with Raven hardly noticing it.

    So absorbed in his own work, he rarely took breaks nowadays. At least, not as much as before.

    He''s close topleting this project. Admittedly, he''s feeling a little bit anxious and impatient since he just wanted this to be over already. It''s been a long time and he misses his dear wife already.

    Nevertheless, he remained focused on his job. Even when he''s feeling impatient, he never allowed that to affect his work at all.

    If one would see the what the Eternal Division Wall looked like right now, their eyes would probably fall out of its sockets.

    Before, the wall was bleak and ancient looking. It is not visible to anybody''s eyes, even Divine Knights hardly saw it unless their senses are sharper than most or they have an aid of a technique or a treasure.

    Now however, the wall looked like it was re-modelled down to the veryst brick. A mixture of patterns and runes were etched onto it, painting a grand and marvelous seal ¨C one that''s unique and has never been done before.

    It''s hardly believable that this isn''t done yet. Raven did a fantastic job already, one that nobody will be able to replicate at all. It''s truly one of a kind.

    Of course, doing this project also has its advantages for Raven.

    For one, just the sheer scale of this project truly benefitted his Runic/Sealing Arts. He refined his skills over and over again by repeatedly drawing the same arrays and formations on each brick, sharpening his basics and strengthening his foundations when he thought it couldn''t go on any more.

    It was an enlightening experience. The amount of times he had to draw a seal and rune ever since starting this project might exceed the amount of times he drew them before this event started.

    Raven never got bored by this repetition. In fact, he enjoyed the monotonous routine. If anything though, he just misses his wife and his child.

    Another advantage thisrge scale project brought to him was the progress on his umtions.

    Raven still hadn''t discovered this because he was too focused on his work but the Last Fragment of Chaos within his heart has already loosened up the shackles preventing him from breaking through the next stage ¨C which is a Divine Knight Stage.

    The effects were subtle and faint, which is why Raven still hasn''t noticed it, but it''s definitely there. This is something that won''t go away.

    It is mysterious now the Last Fragment of Chaos reacted to his work. All Raven did was to draw seals and runes all day long. The same thing over and over again. Yet for some reason, the fragment was dancing and humming in joy.

    What''s even more surprising is the fact that it''s growing.

    That''s right. The Last Fragment of Chaos was growing inside Raven''s heart. If somebody were to hear this, especially those people who are obsessed about reaching the realm beyond Divinity, they''d probably go mad with envy.

    There are still many mysteries waiting to unfold about the mythical realm. All of which cannot be answered without Chaos itself.

    Raven''s out here, not only possessing the thing that everybody wants to have, but also cultivating it? How could they calm down after knowing this?

    It''s a good thing nobody knows¡­

    ¡ª

    "Uh¡­should I rest?"

    "Maybe I should¡­"

    "I definitely should¡­but like."

    "I''m nearly done."

    "No. I should rest. Yeah, I''m gonna rest."

    Raven sighed at his own indecisiveness. Sometimes, he just really can''t help it. He could be a little bit of a workaholic.

    It''s been¡­9? 10 months? Since hest rested. He''s definitely overworking.

    Raven could feel fatigue coursing through his veins. His muscles are aching and he hasn''t eaten nor drunk anything at all. He just kept going with sheer willpower alone and it''s taking a toll on his body already.

    Don''t be mistaken, Raven couldst more than this. He doesn''t need to eat nor drink anymore. He just really needs to rest. But see, eating and drinking are the simple pleasures of life that fills the heart. There''s no way topletely abandon that.

    ¡­also sleeping his lovely wife, but that''s besides the point. He really needs to rest for now.

    The reason why Raven keeps on postponing his rest is because he''s so close to finishing this project. He nned on pushing through thest march without any rest since he could rest all he wanted after its done but it''s obvious that he can''t.

    Thus, without any surprises, he took a rest.

    "It''s fine." Raven told himself, "It''s a few bricks left. I should get done without any problems after I rest. A month is all it should take and I''m done here, I''ll return to the headquarters, take it easy for a while and then work once more."

    Raven sighed as he returned to his temporary camp. He took out some left over food and a barrel of wine. He heated the food for bit, feeling his eyelids heavy from all the fatigue that''s umted from all the times he postponed his rests.

    Once the food''s heated thoroughly, he devoured it and tookrge swigs of wine straight from the barrel.

    Raven likes tea, don''t get him wrong, but wine helps him sleep better and in turn, helps him recover from fatigue faster.

    Once he devoured his food and drank all his wine, Raven prepared his next set of food for when he wakes up. After doing that, he went inside his tent, took off all his clothes and passed out in between the sheets.

    It didn''t take long before he was lulled to sleep, which proves that he is indeed exhausted deep to his bones.

    What he didn''t know is that his exhaustion was slightly different this time around.

    While its true that most of it came from postponing his scheduled rests for a while now, a small part of it was because another change has yet to happen to him.

    The first couple of days since Raven feel asleep, nothing really happened. On the seventh day though, something did¡­

    The Last Fragment of Chaos in his heart was bouncing in an agitated manner. It was shivering as if it was cold. It repeatedly send fluctuations over Raven''s body which provoked numerous reactions.

    Raven looked ufortable in his sleep. His brows were furrowed and he was sweating a bit. His body''s temperature was rising and his breath turned hurried.

    Inside his heart, the shivering of the fragment became stronger. It looks like it was about to explode at any second now.

    ¡­and it actually did.

    Thank god Raven''s tents were made out of top-notch materials and it was rooted deep into theet he''s one or else, it would''ve been blown away or reduced to shreds.

    The impact cause by the explosion of the Last Fragment of Chaos was strong.

    Strong enough to destroy Raven''s heart¡­and almost blow away his tent.

    That being said though, Raven isn''t dead. Yes, his heart might''ve been destroyed but Raven is no longer a mortal by any means. He''ll recover from the destruction of his heart within minutes even though he''s unconscious, that''s just how ridiculous his vitality is.

    Additionally, it''s not like he needed a heart anymore. He''s totally fine without. Especially when the Last Fragment of Chaos decided to rece it.

    Yes, this is what happened just now.

    The Last Fragment of Chaos decided to rece Raven''s heart¡­permanently.

    It''s another mystery that Raven had to unfold at some other time. After all, he doesn''t have much knowledge about chaos since it''s been missing for eons now.

    That being said, now that the Last Fragment of Chaos reced his heart, great changes were bound to happen to Raven once more.

    Right now, there''s literally nothing that''s stopping him from breaking through the Divine Knight stage, the bottleneckpletely disappeared thanks to the influence of the fragment. If Raven wants to, he could breakthrough as soon as he wakes up from his slumber.

    In addition to this, the profound mysteries of Chaos were now unfolding itself in front of Raven''s gaze. It ying on his dreams right now which somehow makes him feel bizarre, he still doesn''t know what happened after all.

    To top this all off, the Ancestral Divine Gxy, his personal Inner Cosmos and the Scepter of Wisdom were reacting to the presence of Chaos within Raven''s body.

    Sufficed to say, Raven''s undergoing yet another metamorphosis. It hasn''t been long since thest one but it''s happening again. Still, this is good thing. These changes will bring forth pleasant surprises and would take him closer to his overall goal.

    The changes were subtle, it happens within Raven''s body and it was silent. At a nce, Raven looks like he''s still sleeping soundly ¨C and he kind of is, but when he wakes up, he''ll totally be surprised and confused about what happened to him.

    Thankfully, nobody''s here to interrupt him. The changes will ur for quite sometime.. There''s no guarantee that Raven would wake up as soon as it''s over though but for now at least, everything''s good.

 Chapter 825: Ravens Thoughts

    Chapter 825: Raven¡¯s Thoughts

    ¡ª

    "Uh¡­haha."

    "What the hell happened?"

    This is what Raven asked to himself as soon as he woke-up. Well, it isn''t technically his first thoughts since the first thing he noticed is how light he felt and how good his sleep was. Then he discovered something strange within his body and then it dawned into him.

    Something happened while he was asleep.

    Raven inspected his body. He already saw what happened to his heart, he also discovered the little changes that urred on his Inner Cosmos, the Ancestral Divine Gxy, the Scepter of Wisdom and even the World Tree itself.

    He also discovered the new insights that were swimming on his thoughts, it filled him with profound knowledge that he wasn''t expecting about. Insights about things he never thought existed before.

    Raven shook his head and stepped out of his tent. Deciding that it is too soon for his mind to be this busy. He just literally woke-up from his slumber. He wanted to rx a bit before tackling these problems.

    Thankfully, he had a meal prepared and a freshly brewed tea to help him do that.

    Raven kept his mind nk at most while rxing. He just stared at the spatial vacuum as he ate.

    After his eating and finishing his tea, he stretched for a bit and sat down to meditate. He then began filtering and analyzing the changes within him one by one.

    ''Okay so, my heart is gone. Reced by the Last Fragment of Chaos.'' He started, "Cool, except for the fact that I absolutely had no idea that was possible.''

    ''How should I begin to crack this down. I think I should write this down, no? This might be helpful in the future.''

    ''Yeah, I''ll do that.''

    Raven took out a quill, ink a and scrolls to help him record everything he experienced. He wrote about the existence of the Last Fragment of Chaos first and what he was like before the changes happened, this helped him organize his thoughts and urately recall everything.

    ''¡­then I slept because I felt really tired.'' Raven muttered inwardly, ''I think this is where things went different.''

    ''I''m an Empyrean Knight powerhouse. Not to brag but I am a cut above the rest. My foundations are extremely solid that it allows me to face Divine Knights without feeling threatened.''

    ''It''s weird for me to feel that exhausted.'' Raven continued, ''I just worked non-stop for 10 months. That shouldn''t drain me that much especially if I''m only doing repetitive things. Still, I felt an unbearable exhaustion.''

    ''So much so that I passed out as soon as my back hit the mattress. Now, why is that? I''m guessing it''s because of the Last Fragment of Chaos?''

    ''¡­''

    ''¡­was my body not ready for it? I don''t think so. The fragment was behaving nicely ¨C at least that''s what I would like to think. I mean it won''t settle down on my heart if that wasn''t the case right? So I don''t think this is it.''

    ''Was it changing my body to be a better vessel for it?'' Raven paused for a bit. ''Possibly.''

    ''That would make sense actually. The Last Fragment of Chaos is something that not just anyone could get their hands to. It contained mystical things and is the answer that many sought after all this time.''

    ''It''s a miracle that I managed to hear its summons. It''s also a miracle that it epted me as a vessel. That being said, this still is Chaos ¨C the Absolute Beginning. It is where all rivers meet. It''s the Origin itself.''

    ''It would make sense that my body alone isn''t enough to contain it.''

    ''The bottleneck disappeared.'' Raven thought to himself, ''I have a feeling that it didn''t just happen overnight too. I suspect that it happened gradually and subtly and I just didn''t discover it. Probably because I was too focused on the project and the Last Fragment of Chaos was way too subtle about it.''

    ''Now that I think about it, it might even be possible that the fragment was reacting to my activities all this time and I was just too dumb to notice it.''

    ''As for why It reacted? I have no idea. I just literally wrote the same set of runes and seals all day long. Well, maybe that''s why actually? Who knows?''

    ''Maybe it''s acknowledging my devotion to my chose path ¨C which is the Runic Sealing Path?''

    ''Yeah, that sounds about right¡­''

    ''¡­I just remembered the phantom I saw when I got thest fragment for the Scepter of Wisdom too. The Senior that used the scepter to draw the constetions¡­''

    ''I still don''t know who that was¡­maybe there''s no use to knowing him either way since he''s already dead. But still, the creation of the Constetions was the reason why Divine Realm stabilized as well.''

    ''Since the Constetions contained history and represents the divergent paths of Laws, maybe that''s why the Fragment of Chaos reacted?''

    ''I mean, the constetions are reflected on my Inner Cosmos and the Ancestral Divine Gxy. I''ve analyzed them and even used them as basis for the creation of my Sealing Arts. Maybe it''s because of this that the Last Fragment of Chaos was ted; since technically, I am using all the divergent path of Laws which Chaos gave birth to in the first ce.''

    ''It''s like¡­I don''t know¡­a parent listening to the adventures of their kids from someone else''s point of view? Weird I know, but for some reason it makes sense to me.''

    ''¡­''

    ''¡­should I call this Chaos Heart now?''

    ''Maybe I should.''

    ''It feels bizarre actually. I can literally feel my body still changing. It''s slow and extremely subtle but I can feel it if I focus hard.''

    ''Can even call my blood; blood at this point? I mean, its still mostly red except that it''s covered with a dark golden hue. Am I human? Whatever, I''m digressing.''

    ''¡­''

    ''¡­I don''t feel strong actually. Well, no not really. What I mean is that I don''t feel stronger, which should make sense since it didn''t really have a breakthrough, I just¡­transformed? For the nth time? Yeah, sound about right.''

    ''Its weird knowing that I could probably be a Divine Knight at any given moment.''

    ''I got so used to umting resources until I approach the bottleneck and shatter it with an overflow. Now however, I could just take my time and be at ease. There''s literally nothing that''s stopping me to breakthrough but no, not yet.''

    ''¡­the Inner Cosmos and the Ancestral Divine Gxy feels weird; weirder than the fact I just kind of zed over the fact that I am literally carrying two god damn gxies within me.''

    ''They feel¡­I can feel more substance in them? Yeah, no that''s exnation sucks. Uh¡­they feel more¡­real? Like, sure they ARE real. But now they''re like¡­more real? Yes, me. That totally makes sense. Nope, not being sarcastic at all.''

    ''The Scepter of Wisdom feels different too. It still looks the same for the most part ¨C a scepter with a golden handle filled with all sorts of carvings with the jade crystal block head. What changed is now, it actually has some of my runes and seals all over.''

    ''I don''t remember cing them there but they''re there, what''s even more surprising is the fact that I can feel the air of Chaos around them.''

    ''Would it still be safe for me to take this out in public?''

    ''Well, surely once I be a Divine Knight I''ll be able to without being afraid right?''

    ''Alright, I''ve stalled enough I guess. I still haven''t checked what my Chaos Heart actually look and feel like. Now''s the time to do that.''

    ''¡­''

    ''¡­I''m not dreaming right?''

    ''Yep, I''m awake. Wide awake actually.''

    ''Huh¡­that''s weird.''

    ''Why do I have three fragments now!? What''s going on?''

    ''They can multiply?''

    ''What in the Divine Realm''s nonsense is this?''

    ''I need to chill¡­I should probably take deep breaths.''

    ''¡­''

    ''¡­yeah, there''s three of them. I can count, I''m not wrong nor I am hallucinating either, there''s actually three.''

    ''What am I supposed to do with this information?''

    ''Can I give one to my wife? Will I be okay if I do that? Is three the limit? What''s going on?''

    ''Hold on, let''s check if I can do something with them first.''

    ''¡­''

    ''Hoh? They feel familiar.''

    ''It''s like they''re my flesh and blood or something. Like my children? Yeah. It feels like that.''

    ''Am I supposed to raise them? Probably. I mean, cultivation is kind of like that anyways ¨C raising a child.''

    ''Still, I don''t feel like this is a bad development. I mean, I feel mostly¡­normal? Light and carefree, just like how I usually do, if not more.''

    ''The things I discovered today¡­they''d be valuable information in the future. I guess I shouldpile them as reference for when Iplete the Third Chapter of the Book of Chaos.''

    ''¡­yeah, I guess I''ll do that.''

    ''After this, I should check if I still function normally and get back to work.. I need to finish this project if I want to spend more time analyzing this weirdness.''

 Chapter 826: Grand Seal: Finished

    Chapter 826: Grand Seal: Finished

    ¡ª

    Raven took a really deep breath.

    He stood at the vacuum of space, staring ahead at the wall. His gaze was indifferent but steady and concentrated. He ced a hand on the Eternal Division Wall and scanned it with his senses.

    In his mind, the picture of the entire wall became clear. He saw everything including his work during thest couple of years. The Grand Seal that he once envisioned, now just one step away from being real. Raven couldn''t help but feel slightly overwhelmed but he kept it in.

    "Last brick¡­" Raven muttered to himself, "Here we go. Let''s get this over with."

    Taking out the Brush of Wisdom, Raven resumed his work.

    He''s down to thest brick of the Eternal Division Wall. He''s literally doing nothing different but knowing that this is thest piece before he''s done with this project makes him feel things.

    His brushstrokes were firm and steady. Not a trace of hesitation nor confusion was apparent on his face. He had done this same pattern for every brick there is in this damn wall, why would he hesitate now?

    At this point, nothing could distract Raven from his work. Not even the arrival of the Abyssals for that matter. He was so absorbed and focused that the world could literally be in mes and he wouldn''t even notice it.

    Time passed by and before he knew it, Raven felt his hand still¡­

    He looked at the brick in front of him with aplicated gaze. Frowning his brows ever so slightly. He touched it and inspected it close, then he realized:

    "¡­it''s done."

    Raven''s voice sounded as a whisper. It feels surreal to him.

    This has been thergest project that he ever did, not to mention he was alone. Yet despite all odds, he did it. He actually drew a Grand Seal that would change the way how the Eternal Division Wall forever.

    Raven took a deep breath and a step back. The Grand Seal was done. There''s only one step remaining for him to do and that is to activate it.

    He can''t lie. He''s definitely nervous.

    Although Raven knows that he didn''t make any mistakes, he''s still can''t help but feel doubtful.

    "Well, only one way to find out right?" Raven told himself. "I have to activate it to see if it actually works."

    Raven took a deep breath and summoned a door which took him at to the core of the Divine Realm.

    No, he didn''t return to the Dawn Council just yet. Instead, the core of the Divine Land ¨C the ce here he discovered the Last Fragment of Chaos.

    Once he''s there, his closed his eyes and focused. After taking a couple of deep breaths in, his eyes flew wide open and his aura exploded from his body.

    The Scepter of Wisdom appeared on his hand, the Ancestral Divine Crown also sat on top of his head. He looked like an Absolute Ruler.

    Raven pointed the Scepter of Wisdom in front of him and drew a rune. A rune which then turned into a throne the next moment ¨C a Runic Throne.

    The spot where the Runic Throne was ced was the same spot where Raven found and captured the Last Fragment of Chaos. This spot is also coincidentally the core center of the Eternal Division Wall sphere.

    Once the Runic Throne was created, Raven wasted to no time. He walked up to it and sat down.

    His body fitted perfectly into the throne. If Raven didn''t look like a ruler before, he absolutely does now. A crown on his head, a scepter on his hand and a throne to sit it.

    Raven''s eyes turned sharp, he then mmed the butt of the scepter onto the ground and a massive seal appeared beneath him.

    Lights of Dark Gold and Pale Silver danced around Raven. They entwined and formedplicated lines and twist, filling the entire space with the brilliance.

    Themotion could be felt all over the Dawn Council.

    The Supervisors already felt Raven''s presence the moment he appeared so they dropped whatever they''re doing to observe what he''s about to do.

    Their senses couldn''t follow where he is exactly, but they can tell the general direction where he is.

    The moment Raven mmed the scepter, they felt the headquarters shaking. The personnel starter panicking. Thankfully, Laughing Dragon was quick to remind them about the uingmotion and quelled down their panic.

    They didn''t need to wait that long either.

    Once the tremors were over, they saw brilliant shes of light emerging from the Divine Land.

    Each beam of light flew towards certain spots around the wall. At this point, nothing could prevent thismotion from being discovered so the Supervisors did nothing to stop it.

    All of a sudden, the Eternal Division Wall became visible to everybody. Majority of them were awed by the sight. They''ve heard rumors about the wall but they''ve never truly seen it before. Now that they''re seeing it for the first time, they''re incredibly impressed.

    As for those who had seen it before, they could tell that the wall changed. They looked at it with gleaming gazes. Most of them understood what''s going on and were actually impressed. They could see the sheer grandness of the Young Lord''s ambitions.

    What''s more impressive is that, he actually seeded.

    Suddenly, Divine Realm heard a loud buzz. It was a strange noise, barely audible, and didn''tst long but it''s there. Some people had their eyes wide open and mouths agape when they heard it.

    That short noise contained so much yet so little at the same time.

    Before they can digest what they just heard. A sh of light erupted which momentarily dazed them.

    A grand, marvelous, and jaw-dropping seal appeared right before their very eyes.

    The Grand Seal bloomed like a lotus. Painting an incredible scene that would be remembered for eons. The scene didn''tst long before it disappeared, yet it left everyone with a strange feeling in their chest.

    Next thing they know, everything seems to be more colorful.

    It was unexinable, really. Some med it for the burst of light just now, some said it''s just a side-effect that won''tst long, others just chose to marvel at the new sights.

    Nothing seems different but at the same time, everything feels new. It was strange for most people. They didn''t know what just happened but all of a sudden, the world seems more lively and colorful than before.

    Meanwhile, at Raven''s side, everything went ording to how he saw it.

    The Grand Seal was now working perfectly. It is active and doesn''t need much interference from Raven. The space where he''s at looked deste and bleak before but now, it is filled with all sorts of light dancing and prancing around.

    This space has now transformed. It has be the focal point of the Divine Realm as a whole. The Grand Seal is replicated here, and could be controlled from here. Raven doesn''t have to go all the way to the edge of the Divine Realm to check it out.

    Should the Grand Seal sustain any form of damage, Raven could fix it here or, he could just wait until, it fixes itself.

    As for the Grand Seal itself, Raven didn''t fill it with too many function. He just made simple since the wall was meant to protect Divine Realm as a whole.

    The seal made the wall tougher, enable it to recover by itself with time, alert them when invaders are near, weaken the invaders if the manage to go in, can sustain itself and be immortal. That''s about it.

    As Raven sat by the throne, he let out a long sigh of relief. Everything worked out like he nned it to be. His doubts were unfounded in the end which was great.

    Now that he''s done with the project, he can take it easy for a bit.

    There will be some people demanding exnations for this but he can just let Laughing Dragon take care of that. Right now, he can focus on himself. Making sure to get back in proper shape and deal with the recent changes that urred to his own body.

    This whole projectsted about five years. Raven can''t tell yet if he''s down to take anotherrge scale project like this soon but he knows that he will eventually in the future.

    He''s probably not going to spend too much time in this ce ¨C which he now calls as the ''Throne Room'' since the Grand Seal can sustain itself.

    So, with all that being said, he''ll probably be off-duty for the next couple of months.

    Raven stood up and exited the core of the Divine Land. He appeared right before his wide and friends and gave them an exhausted smile.

    "You did well. Rest for a bit." Luna held his hand and said softly.

    Raven gave her a fond smile. He looked up to the others and saw them nodding as well. He gave each of them a nod, feeling a little too tired to speak.

    He just allowed Luna to pull him towards their bed and pamper him for the next couple of days.

 Chapter 827: Back In Business

    Chapter 827: Back In Business

    ¡ª

    Raven rested for two whole months after finishing his project.

    During those days, he just stayed in his private room. Spent most of it sleeping or spending time with his wife. He didn''t even participated into any work-rted matter for the entirety of his rest. He wanted to but Luna bullied him into not doing so and Raven has always been weak for his wife.

    His Avatars covered for him thankfully, he has a lot and they''re more than capable of recing him actually. The Ancient Elysium Sect''s still thriving, and the Dawn Council''s still on the right track. There''s nothing for him to worry about too much.

    During his rest, Raven often thought about one thing. His breakthrough.

    Without the bottleneck limiting him, Raven could technically be a Divine Knight anytime soon. Then again, does it really have to be soon?

    Not to be mistaken for under-preparation, since Raven''s foundations are solid enough for him to rely on, but he still felt quite ufortable about the thought of breaking through the next stage of his cultivation.

    He felt that he''s rushing this. He felt that something was urging him and he didn''t like it.

    Raven didn''t tell this to Luna. At least not yet.

    He wanted to think about it by himself for now since he knew himself better. He can ask for opinionster.

    During his rest, he alsopiled more information about the recent changes that happened to his body. Most of them were still a mystery to him but he knew that as long as he has time, he can eventuallye-up with a good theory that will be useful in the future.

    The hardest mystery to solve was the multiplication of the fragments of Chaos. Raven doesn''t even know where to begin with that.

    He had been trying several experiments but so far, of them worked. Well, he is resting so his experiments are limited but still, the ideas aren''t justing to him. At least not for now, that''s why he decided to leave it forter.

    Above all this, there is one thing that''s really bugging Raven within the past couple of days¡­

    It''s rted to his Master, Geezer.

    He could''ve mistaken it for a random thought. Like a random recollection or something, yet for some reason, he has this sneaking suspicion that something happened to Geezer. Knowing Raven''s instincts, the likelihood of him being wrong is close to nil.

    Raven was understandably worried of course.

    Although Geezer and him hadn''t met face to face, the old man still had arge impact on his life. Raven could even down right say that without Geezer, he wouldn''t be here.

    He made a vow that he''lle looking for him. He promised that he''ll save him. Raven felt like he''s already at a point where he can start doing something about it regardless of his cultivation. Still, the link he had with Geezer was painfully shallow.

    They''ve met twice and that''s it. Not even in person but in dreams. Geezer just pulled him to a space where only the two of them are present. Even now, Raven still doesn''t know how he did that.

    Because of this, his karmic link with Geezer was weak. So weak that he can''t use it to track his whereabouts. He tried it recently and he always failed. His failure did nothing to ease his worries away.

    Raven could only sigh though. He''s supposed to be resting. He shouldn''t be this upied when he''s not working yet it has already became a habit. He''s a workaholic and just can''t stop.

    Still, he''s already recovered enough. At least he has that.

    Despite being a worrywart, he recovered to his peak form swiftly. He reckoned that he can resume his work within the next three days or less. At least he''ll get distracted again.

    ¡ª

    "Hello, friends. I''m back from the dead." Raven chuckled as soon as he sat on his seat.

    Today''s their monthly meeting and his official return to his office. His friends and his wife were d to see that he doesn''t look like a corpse anymore. The healthy flush on his face returned and he feel well enough to crack some jokes.

    "Now that I''m back to work, let''s get this ball rolling. I''m excited so without any further ado, let''s start this meeting!"

    "Loving the energy there." Annemented with a small smile on her lips. She looks fine now at least, so does Ellen. It seems that they''ve already recovered from their trauma.

    Laughing Dragon cleared his throat to get their attention and as usual, he''s the first one to make his reports.

    He listed several events that had transpiredtely. Most of them were mundane, like say; missionpletion reports, updates about the Danger Zones, reports about illegal activities and the overall progress the council has made.

    "As usual, thanks for the splendid job Laughing Dragon." Raven nodded as the man concluded his reports sat back down.

    "Well, I''d like to hear something about our students, how''s their progresstely?"

    Luna stood up for this and said: "Pretty well actually, we just sent out the invitations for the 3rd batch. If things went ording to schedule, they should be arrivingter this day. The students are working hard. The resources we spent on them weren''t wasted at all. They''ve discovered many things about themselves ever sinceing here and I could tell that they are willing to contribute for the greater good."

    "Nice. Exactly what I like to hear." Raven nodded, "How many invitations have we sent for the recent batch?"

    "About 150."

    "Sent another 150, we can afford it. We''ll be having a total of 300 students for the 3rd batch." Raven stated.

    "Are you sure? Wouldn''t that be impulsive?" Anne asked.

    Raven shook his head and said: "I actually think that we should send more than that. 300 is just a safe approximation on my side."

    He rested his back on his seat and continued his exnation¡­

    "The thing about the Divine Land is that it''s connected to the Divine Realm as a whole. Thanks to this connection, it responds to the state of Divine Land itself."

    "If Divine Realm as a whole starts flourishing and thriving, the Divine Land will too. Remember, it responds to the well being of the Divine Realm and its citizens. Since we''re doing a great job so far, we should see some increase to the Divine Land''s output, especially now that the Eternal Division Wall was modified by me."

    "So this is the reason why you''re after the Danger Zones and the criminals then?" Ellen asked.

    "Kind of, yes." Raven nodded, "Our ultimate goal hasn''t change, though. Turning the entire Divine Realm as a paradise is just a bonus. What we want is to make sure that the realm can stand alone by itself so that we can make a clean exit."

    The rest nodded at him.

    "The safer and more stable Divine Realm is, the happier we are since we can exit the limelight faster and return to our home and family."

    "We''re doing great so far, for starters. But now that the our first line of defense has been bolstered, I''m thinking about expediting our activities." Raven looked at each of them and said: "Once the 3rd Batch of our students graduated, we willunch the Grand Youth Meet."

    The rest of the council members were surprised about Raven''s decisions.

    "Already?" Paul reacted, "Didn''t you say that we will do it after the 5th Batch?"

    "And I just said that we''re expediting the ns so yes, we''re doing this." Raven nodded confidently, "The project I finished gave me some nice personal rewards. I already have another Grand Seal prepared for this one, I just have to draw it and add in your inputs. After that, we''re ready to go."

    "I don''t see any particr reason to wait that long." Raven added, "Plus, I am looking at anotherrge-scale project, which means I''ll be busy again. If we wait until the 5th batch, I''m afraid I''ll miss out on the event entirely. That''ll be disrespectful for our reputation so far so I say we do it immediately."

    "Damn, so we''re actually doing this huh?" Mark still felt a bit unprepared.

    "Yes. So make sure you all finish your personal projects and prepare for this event. We''ll shock the Divine Realm with this event, I''m sure of it. I want it to be Grand and extremely dramatic. I''ll leave the smaller nuances to you guys, the Grand Seal will take some time to be made."

    "Right." Luna responded, "What are you looking for you next project anyways."

    Raven stilled for a bit and let out a sigh, he then said: "Outposts."

    "Outposts?"

    "Yep." Raven nodded, "For the Outer World. Expand ourwork of intelligence for a bit more."

    "I''m not going to lie. There''s another purpose for me picking this up." Raven stated, "I want to look for my Master. I don''t know where he is or how he''s doing but he''s out there somewhere."

    "I made a promise that I''ll get him home and I think it''s about time for me to do something about that. This project will take sometime so I want to expedite therger events before I leave.. I hope you all understand."

 Chapter 828: Grand Youth Meet Start

    Chapter 828: Grand Youth Meet Start

    ¡ª

    This day will be marked in the history of the Divine Realm for eons.

    The day started like any other, bright and sunny. Many people we''re just about ready to go on about their days when something incredible happened.

    A dark golden light exploded out of nowhere and enveloped the entire Divine Realm. The light epassed everything. Not missing a single corner at all.

    Then, they found themselves waking-up from the same spot as before. People started looking around, frowning and suspicious.

    It wasn''t hard to notice that something was wrong with their environment. At first it was hardly noticeable but when they thought about it some more, they discovered the clues which made this whole thing very suspicious.

    First, even though they are at the same ce as before, they can tell that it''s fake. Sure, everything around them looks real but there are people missing¡­

    The mortals.

    There were no mortals around. They mysteriously disappeared for some reason and they couldn''t find any traces of them or whatsoever. It''s like they just evaporated out of nowhere and that''s a giant red g if they ever seen one.

    Another thing that makes this really suspicious wasn''t just the disappearance of the mortals. It''s also the disappearance of everybody who''s reached at least Knight Monarch and above.

    This took them some time to notice but the more they paid attention, the sooner they discovered it. The people who they saw around with the lowest cultivation realm is Knight Saint.

    Meaning that only people who are Knight Saints, Noble Knights, Knight Kings, and Knight Monarchs were around. The rest are gone.

    "Hey, what do you think is happening?"

    "Beats me. I''m more of an idiot than you are, if you don''t know, how am I supposed to know?"

    "Shit, you''re right."

    "Well, there are some people who were investigating this suspicious event, and they''ve discovered some clues. I''m sure you''ve heard of them right?"

    "Yes. Only young people who are at least Knight Saints are around. The strongest are the Knight Monarchs. But that doesn''t really give us much information now does it?"

    "Well, as far as I can tell, this should be caused by someone who''s extremely powerful."

    "Duh, bitch. I mean, even the other great worlds are affected. I''d even go as far as to say that the entire Divine Realm is affected by this. If it wasn''t done by a powerful being, then who does?"

    "Alright! No need to be so sarcastic about it. I''m just trying to help."

    Before these people could continue whatever they''re discussion, a sudden rumble shook them out of their thoughts. Everyone was rmed and started inspecting their surroundings.

    The rumbling didn''tst long though. It didn''t really set off any kind of explosion or violent reactions, it''s as if it just happened to get their attention.

    Once they were silenced and focused, a screen of light appeared before them. After a brief second, a familiar face appeared on the screen of light, a face that everyone recognizes.

    "Hello, Youth of the Divine Realm. I am Vendrick Valorheart, you may call me Raven."

    Just a few words from Raven and the crowd already descended into a frenzy. At this point, who doesn''t know who this man is? It wouldn''t be a surprise to say that every single one them here looked-up to this man and idolizes him.

    "Spare me a bit of your time yeah, I have something to tell you."

    Silence. The Young Lord politely told them to shut-up and shut-up they did.

    "First and foremost, I hope you are all well. Pardon me for suddenly kidnapping every single one of you ¨C then again, I don''t think you''ll mind me doing this by the end of this event¡­"

    "Anyways. I''m certain that you all have discovered something weird by now." Raven continued, "Yes, you''re on a different ce. It looks like your home, feels just like home but in reality, no."

    "You''re inside a rune I created." Raven revealed, drawing sharp intakes of breath from the crowd. "A Rune I created to replicated Divine Realm itself."

    The youths were speechless. Raven just casually surpassed their wildest imaginations by saying that. He just casually mentioned that he create a rune which replicated the ''whole'' Divine Realm.

    Yeah, no. It''s not big deal. Not at all.

    "As for the reason why I did that? Well, frankly I am curious."

    "¡­"

    "Curious to see what the Youth of today''s Divine Realm, can do."

    "Which is why, I, Leader of the today''s generation of the Dawn Council, announce the start of the Divine Realm''s ¨C ''Grand Youth Meet''!"

    "This event is sponsored by us ¨C Dawn Council. We received permission from everyone who''s in-charge of you to do this. We kept it a secret for the most part in order to make it fair for everyone."

    "Now, ''What''s the meet all about?'' You ask. Well, as I said, I am curious to see what you young ones can do."

    "And it''s not just me, either. Almost all of Empyreans and Divine Knights are curious about it too. So be excited because all of us will be watching you."

    Raven''s words caused another round of sharp inhales from the listeners.

    Knowing that all sorts of powerful people are currently watching them ignited something deep within them. It roused their blood and their excitement. So much so that they are anticipating what''s about to happen next.

    "A week from now will be the official start of this event. It depends on you people whether you should from a team or go solo."

    "As for what you have to do? Well, that''s simple."

    "Survive and reach the Dawn Council''s headquarters."

    "Yes, that''s you''re ultimate goal and you will do it, especially the first one since one weekter, there will endless waves of Abominations that will show-up all over the ce."

    "And when I mean endless¡­I mean Endless."

    "These Abominations won''t hesitate to rip you apart. If you wanna survive, then fighting is you''re only option."

    "Of course, you people won''t do it for free. I understand that, which is why I left numerous treasures all over the pseudo-Divine Realm for all of you to seek."

    "Not to mention, you will be ranked in thispetition. The higher your ce is, the bigger the rewards you''ll get."

    "Of course, it''ll depend whether you decide to fight or not."

    "I''ll tell you right now. Dying there won''t mean real death. You''ll wake-up in the real world and would probably be haunted by nightmares but that''s about it."

    "Still, this is a chance for you isn''t it?"

    "A chance to prove something not just to yourselves but also the entire Divine Realm. I mean, what is Youth without a dash of recklessness, stupidity and arrogance? If you hadn''t experienced any of this things can really you truly say that you were once young?"

    "So, dare I say go ahead! Let you Youth explode. Let thosepetitive spirit out. Let the hot-bloodedness shine bright today and for the next two years toe."

    "Show us what you''re made of."

    If some weren''t convinced before, they definitely are now. Raven knows how to rile-up a crowd, especially young ones since he is technically one too.

    Everyone was vibrating in excitement. The prospects of today''s event was astronomical ¨C they can''t even begin to imagine what it would be like but they''re extremely excited. Raven is right, they are young and they want to prove something.

    They want to be validated and thispetition might be the best chance for them to do just that.

    They have two years, ording to Raven. Two years where they can disy their ambitions and dreams to the experts around.

    Thepetition is really tough. Everyone could be their enemy but also their ally. What made this even more intense was the fact that they''ll be ranked and everyone was watching.

    People from their sect, their families, their loved-ones, the experts, the hermits¡­the Young Lord himself. All eyes are on them. This was a heavy pressure on their shoulders, one that they don''t mind having at all.

    They have one week to prepare. It''s seemingly a long time to prepare but in reality it is not. That''s just barely enough to get their rationality back. Those who were reckless by nature will find the next couple of days agonizing for sure.

    "This is just the first phase of thepetition."

    "There will be more after the first two years. Granted that you make it to end of course."

    "Ah, right before I forgot. I''ve left inheritances there. Mine and the others from the Dawn Council as well as those experts who still hadn''t found an heir."

    "They''re¡­somewhere out there. If you''re fated with it, you''ll find it so good luck." Raven chuckled.

    "What a great time to be alive though. You kids should cherish this moment since it''ll be a long time before this happens again."

    "Fame, treasures, power. You can have them as long as you''re brave enough to face the challengesing your way."

    "That''s enough talking for me. I now announce that Divine Realm''s ''1st Grand Youth Meet''¡­"

    "¡­.begins, now!!"

 Chapter 829: Grand Banquet

    Chapter 829: Grand Banquet

    ¡ª

    Divine Realm''s Grand Youth Meet is the true craze right now.

    Everyone was aware of it and talks about it. It shook Divine Realm to its core since many people weren''t expecting such a grand event to ur. It''s the first of its kind, a weed one truly.

    There were a lot of people who are expecting great things from this. They can''t wait to see what''s about to happen. Thankfully, Raven was kind enough to broadcast the live feed within the seal in every world present within the Divine Realm.

    A lot of people were actually jealous about this whole event ¨C these people are the ones that didn''t weren''t chosen to participate since they were too old already.

    Less than 300 years old is the requirement for someone to participate along with the cultivation standards. It''s a shame for those who went past that limit since they''re missing out an such a grand event.

    There''s only a day left of preparations for the participants. Some of them already made their decision. Majority of them chose to work with a team, only a few chose to go solo.

    Some people already found some hidden treasures which shocked the audience. They didn''t expect that they could im the treasures that soon since the Endless Wave of Abominations hasn''t arrived yet but in hindsight, they should''ve known. After all, Raven already announced the start of the meet a few days ago.

    While people cheered for their favorites, a grand banquet was taking ce at the Dawn Council.

    Here, arge number of guests appeared. Most of them are peak experts of the Divine Realm ¨C Empyreans and Divine Knights. Some of them were known to public, some chose to live as hermits. Either way, all of them are here through the sincere invitation of the council.

    If this was the previous Dawn Council, there''s no way that they''ll be able to gather this many people to attend to their banquet willingly. They''d have to use under handed tactics to do so.

    Then again, the current Dawn Council has already proven itself time and time again. They didn''t need to use any kind of under handed methods to force them toe, only a sincere invitation.

    The Grand Youth Meet was also a chance for these people to form connections. The Dawn Council is willing to help them in this regard since its their goal for everybody to get along. Though their personalities may sh, they all gave Dawn Council face and acted decently within their turf.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen." Raven''s sonorous voice echoed across the hall filled with people, all eyes were on him. He raised a cup and said: "Thank you foring. I wasn''t expecting these many people toe actually so seeing all of you here really warms my heart. A toast to all of you!"

    The rest raised their cups as well and joined Raven. They drank their wines and marveled at the celebratory atmosphere within the halls.

    "Enjoy yourselves. Only a few hours left before we release the first hurdle for our participants. We''ll disy a real-time-feedback that all of you can watch so please, make yourselvesfortable."

    After saying that, Raven gave each of them a curt nod. The banquet continued and the celebratory mood filled their hall once again.

    Raven looked around and saw the Lucas ¨C the ex-Sect Master of the Ancient Elysium Sect and a few people he knew from the sect. He smiled and approached them.

    Lucas saw his heir and a bright smile appeared on his face. He raised his cup and Raven did the same. After taking a sip of their drink, Lucas asked:

    "How have you been?"

    "Busy." Raven answered, chuckling lightly. "Always busy. Can''t get a break. Got to clean up a lot of mess before I can rest anyways."

    "You''re lucky that you have that many Avatars then. At least you can do many things at once. If I was in your position, I would''ve aged faster already." Lucas snorted.

    "Speaking of that¡­" Raven looked around and didn''t see Alwina ¨C Lucas''s wife. "She didn''te with you?"

    "¡­ah that? Uh."

    "Say, less." Raven gave Lucas a knowing smile and nodded to him. "I understand. Congrattions."

    "Thanks."

    Raven made a decision to not point out Lucas'' reddening cheeks. Raven''s just happy that things are going great for Lucas, he deserves it after maintaining the peace within the sect.

    He raised his cup and offer another toast to his predecessor.

    "Send my regards to her. I wish for her happy and healthy pregnancy."

    "Thank you." Lucas nodded and hit his cup with Raven''s.

    They talked for a bit before Raven excused himself. He opted to socialize on behalf of the council since he''s their leader.

    Due to Raven''s reputation, nobody dared to slight him even though he''s young. To them, Raven''s already an absolute figure. He stacked one grand achievement after another, a proof of his abilities and his passion.

    Even the pettiest here behaved politely in his presence.

    Hours passed just like this. At some point, Raven got tired of hearing all sorts of praises for the things he did but he didn''t show it to his face. He returned what he received from them and gave off a good impression to people he talked to.

    It wasn''t just him, the rest of the council members were also socializing as well. They were being good hosts for everybody who chose to attend the banquet. The supply of food and wine were almost endless. The atmosphere was light and joyous.

    Eventually, the time to witness some action arrived. Raven walked at the center of the hall and gathered attention to himself once more.

    "Everyone, I am d that you''re enjoying yourselves." Raven said, "May I advise everyone to search for seats. We''re about to witness some real action from the youngsters."

    "Do watch out and enjoy the show. If any of you are interested about a particr candidate, you can view their personal information a the documents prepared by our very own, Laughing Dragon. There''s also a badge in there which will allow you to control the point of view to give you a better watching experience."

    "The rankings will be updated monthly, we will disy them here so be on to the look out for that. For those who are searching for Heirs, you can send a message to Laughing Dragon if a candidate manage to inherit it."

    "Aside from that. Please take it easy and let the youthful scene entertain you."

    After saying that, Raven waved his hand numerous screens of light appeared out of nowhere. One for each person.

    With Raven''s advice, all experts found seats to enjoy the show. Each seat has a pile of documents and a badge that they can use to adjust their personal view.

    As soon as everybody was seated. Raven sat on his own seat along with the rest of the council members. He raised his hand patted their table.

    Light blossomed a seal appeared at the table. This was the same seal where the participants were. A small disy could be seen from above the seal.

    Raven then took something out of his spatial ring. It was a dark glob of pulsing flesh. It looked disgusting so he didn''t hold onto it for too long since he didn''t to disturb somebody''s appetite. He ced the ck pulsing flesh onto the seal and the seal absorbed it. A few secondster, Raven spoke:

    "Time''s up, Youngsters. The Endless Wave of Abominations will now begin."

    All participants heard his message and felt tense. Then, a sharp fluctuation swept everywhere. A disgusting and repulsive aura caused their skin to crawl. Roars were heard everywhere and the pseudo-Divine Realm trembled.

    Everyone braced for impact, they looked at their surroundings with a sharp gaze. It didn''t take long before they discovered shadows emerging and felt the thick and repulsive aura closing in.

    Then, chaos ensued.

    Fights urred. Explosions were set of everywhere. The world became colorful due to the lights of battle taking ce.

    The audience were entertained. They cheered for their favorites even though they knew that of them could hear it. Even the experts were affected.

    The hot-bloodedness of youth ignited their passion and made them feel nostalgic. Moment where they fought with their lives on the line. Camaraderie and carnage. Everybody was entertained.

    The council members discovered how immersed everyone was and shared knowing looks with each other.

    Suffice to say, the event was already a sess. But of course, this isn''t the end of it. This is just the first phase and it''llst for two years. This will be a rich-experience for everyone, more so the participants themselves.

    Some of the experts were already making bets against their close friends. Others were just enjoying the scene and watching in leisure. This event surely gave them a much needed breather from the stale and uneventful lives they go through everyday.

    There were some participants who were already ejected out of the seal due to getting killed. There are some who were some smart in their approach. A plethora of methods were used to deal with the Endless Waves of Abominations so everything was fresh.

    Now, they only need to wait for the real starts of thispetition to rise.

 Chapter 830: Wordplay

    Chapter 830: Wordy

    ¡ª

    It was an all-out war for the participants of the Grand Youth Meet.

    The Young Lord wasn''t lying when he said that he will send and endless wave of enemies their way.

    Within the few days since the challenge started, some of the participants were already eliminated. What''s funny is that majority of them were the ones who formedrge groups, entering a temporary alliance to pass the first phase, yet even with their numbers, they were unable to survive.

    The goal to pass the first phase sounds simple in words; Survive and reach the Dawn Council Headquarters within the pseudo-Divine Realm.

    It does sound simple¡­but¡­

    "Shit! There''s no end to these things!"

    "These are Abominations? Why are they so strong?"

    "Why are there so many?"

    "I fucked-up my leg! Somebody please cover me for a bit!"

    "Motherfucker! These things are relentless. Don''t they get tired?"

    "It''s like they''re perpetually in berserk stage! How are we going to survive this!"

    "If you guys have the energy to talk, use to it to fight instead."

    "I''m drained. I don''t think I can go on."

    "I''m beat. Go on without me."

    "It''s useless."

    "This is so damn hard."

    "We''re not going to make it."

    ¡­the Abominations were there to seemingly suck their hopes up. They don''t stop, don''t get tired and are extremely strong.

    Some people were able to fight their way out. Unfortunately, the number of Abominations around are way too many, they just can''t catch a break. Simply put, the Abominations were forcing them out of theirfort zones. One week certainly wasn''t enough to prepare them for this.

    However, not everyone was hopeless.

    Amidst the storm, the ones who were truly capable are starting to get noticed.

    Again, the goal here is to reach the Dawn Council Headquarters in order to participate to the next phase. in and simple.

    Raven did mention that there were treasures and inheritances scattered around the world, waiting to be found out. He did say that there are peak experts observing them and he also encouraged them to let their hot-bloodedness explode ¨C their youth to burn bright.

    ¡­yet he didn''t say that those were the requirements to pass the first phase.

    "So what? We''re just going to avoid them?"

    "Well, mostly yes."

    "¡­isn''t that cowardly?"

    "Not at all. If anything, I''d say that we''re doing this the smart way."

    "That''s right. The Young Lord said that our goal was simple. Reach the headquarters and we pass. He didn''t force us to fight."

    "We get that but¡­I don''t know¡­I feel slightly distressed about this."

    "Well, it''s not like we can avoid fights entirely. After all, there will be endless waves of them. I''m sure that we will be forced to fight them every now and then. I''m just saying that we don''t have to fight all the damn time."

    "Our energies are limited while our enemies aren''t. They are greater in number and they don''t get tired. We do. Sure it''ll be fantastic if we could engage in a heated battle to prove something to those who were watching us but we''re wasting this chance by doing that."

    "They want to see how can handle ourselves under pressure. They won''t pay attention to cannon fodders who just throw their lives away, they seek future leaders and geniuses to raise."

    "At least, that''s what I believe."

    "We''ll pick our battles carefully. We will reach the headquarters before or on-time. We will get to the next phase of this event. If any of you doesn''t agree to this arrangement, tell me now so we can part ways peacefully."

    Once again, the goal was simple. Reach the Dawn Council''s Headquarters within that pseudo-Divine Realm. in and simple.

    Nothing more¡­

    Nothing less¡­

    ¡ª

    Within the Dawn Council in the real Divine Realm. The peak experts are busy discussing amongst themselves.

    "¡­at least some of them uses their brains."

    "Thank god for that actually."

    "Seriously. But believe me when I say that if we were on their shoes, we''ll probably do the same as the reckless ones."

    "Oh, don''t expose us like that."

    "I mean, we can''t me the kids. Young Lord Raven did rile them up good. As he said; ''The hot-bloodedness of youth''. Ah, how nostalgic. We''re really getting old."

    "Yeah. We were so stupid and naive back then but it was too damn fun. Now, it''s just most boring. I can''t believe I was reduced to being a paper-pusher."

    "Oh! Look at this kid right here! Doesn''t he remind you of someone?"

    "Who? Ah, him! Yeah, I know that kid! Hahaha, interesting!"

    "Who is he?"

    "He''s the heir of Old Man Dark Star! He''s adoptive son I heard."

    "Shut-up! No way? That scrooge adopted a son?"

    "You guys know I can hear you right?"

    "We do and that''s the point. Anyways, when and did you manage to raise such a talented kid? He''s going solo too!"

    "Hmph, that little runt is a show-off! He''s just being prideful. Thinking he''s the hot shit and whatnot."

    "Well, he kind of is, isn''t he?"

    "Oh, don''t let him hear that. Especiallying from you. His ego is already inted as is, you''ll just make it bigger."

    "¡­are you sure he''s adopted and not actually yours?"

    "Is it just me or you just indirectly called me arrogant?"

    "Look, I''m not saying that''s what I meant¡­but that''s precisely what I meant."

    "Fuck-off."

    "Damn, alright."

    "He''s adopted. I made sure of it. But it doesn''t matter."

    "How old was he when you adopted him?"

    "Five months old."

    "Oh, then I can see why you''re attached."

    "Hmph."

    "Hey, look at thisss over here. She''s not bad."

    "Dream Laws right? How rare. Wait, is she where I think she is?"

    "She is! Oh, that Old Pervert sure is lucky. He''s going to have an Heir finally."

    "Bold of you to assume that she''ll ept him in the first ce. Let''s bet on it actually. I bet my 10,000 year old aged wine that she''s won''t ept him."

    "Oh, somebody''s willing bring out the real goods. Uh, I bet my Spatial Ship then. For her epting him."

    "10 acres of Divine Roses that she will but will end-up hating his guts."

    "One block of Timeless God Stone that she won''t ept him and give him the middle-finger."

    "Damn, you people really hate this Old Man''s guts huh? You''re bets are ruthless."

    "You deserve it, Old Pervert."

    Raven smiled to himself as he heard the casualments of the crowd. He can tell that they were having a good time watching the events unfold. He himself is entertained by this event as well, this is a good way to rx and take his mind off of things.

    ''As expected, the event is a sess¡­''

    ''It''s a sess but¡­''

    Raven sighed helplessly.

    ''I guess it''s really hard to pass down my legacy huh?''

    Raven felt really bummed-out. In all aspects, everything was going well. The only thing that kind of makes him upset is the fact that he can''t pass down his legacy for some reason.

    He already left his legacy back at home. Waiting patiently for someone to pick it up and that someone his Legacy Heir. Unfortunately, nobody in his home was worthy to be acknowledge.

    Raven also left it within the pseudo-Divine Realm. He even ced it at a verymon spot. If these kids would just stop and look around carefully, they will see it but unfortunately, it seems that he''s out of luck.

    The kids just flew past it like it wasn''t even there at the first ce.

    This is already as low as Raven could get. No matter what, Raven''s pride won''t allow him to just casually toss his legacy around and force it to someone since that defeats the purpose.

    What he needs for an Heir is the intervention of fate. He didn''t want a follower since he has a lot of those already. What he wants is someone worthy to pass down the work he''s worked so hard to create.

    It''ll be a damn shame if he didn''t pass it down. His knowledge of runes and seals surpasses everyone in this room. It is also the same reason why he remained untouchable all this time.

    Sure, Raven has Vanessa and if he really suggests it, she might actually pick it up. Unfortunately, Raven doesn''t want to impose fate onto his own daughter. He wanted her to make decisions for herself since she deserves that.

    Kyle is good, he''s his disciple already and learned a lot from him. Unfortunately, his path diverges from Raven''s personal inheritance. Raven doesn''t want to lead Kyle astray so he didn''t gave it to him.

    Same goes for his twin sisters.

    This is why it has to be someone else. There should be someone out there who will be acknowledge by his inheritance right?

    Raven did left it to fate after all so only the fated person would have it.

    He thought that he''ll find his Heir amongst the people here but s, he''s unlucky. Well, it''s not like he can force these things anyways. He just needs to wait for the right time and the right person.

    Raven''s Immortal anyways, he has time.. He can wait.

 Chapter 831: First Phase: Done

    Chapter 831: First Phase: Done

    ¡ª

    One year has passed since the first phase of the Grand Youth Meet started.

    This year had been packed with action and excitement. Everyone who were watching how the event unfolded were greatly entertained.

    The meet became a craze all over Divine Realm. Witnessing such arge scale event unfold with their very eyes broadened their horizons. Many people were d to be alive to see it but some people still felt conflicted- mainly the people who couldn''t participate.

    It was a damn shame really. They were either too old, too young or too weak to be counted amongst the roster. They felt envious of the chance that the others have, seeing how many free resources they were able to hoard just by staying alive in there.

    A year of ransacking was enough to cover a participants'' needs for resources for the next few breakthroughs. Added the fact that there are inheritances scattered practically everywhere, how could they not be envious of this chance?

    As time passed by, the true stars of the event rose. This wasn''t all of them but a few were already making a name for themselves. There''s a monthly update of the current rankings and so far, the top ten are as follows:

    1st ce: Gabrie Stone of the Moon Prism Empyrean Pce.

    2nd ce: Kyle of the Lower ne.

    3rd ce: Tori of the Lower ne.

    4th ce: Nina of the Lower ne.

    5th ce: Noel Brightshore of the Vanguard Stone Divine Pce.

    6th ce: risse Welsh of the Aqua Marine Great World.

    7th ce: Chris Boulder of the Sun Stone Empyrean Pce.

    8th ce: Dennis Greaves of the ck Quill Great World.

    9th ce: Oliver Stark of the Broken Dime Empyrean Pce.

    And finally at the 10th ce: Diana Springs of the Majestic Ocean Great World.

    These are just the top ten of the current rankings. In truth, more people already passed the first phase of the event. Them and rest are now taking their time in leisure within the Dawn Council either resting of cultivating.

    Amongst the top ten, three names came from anonymous worlds ¨C well, Lower ne. They didn''t give their full name just an alias. It was clear that they were close since these formed a team ever since the beginning of the event. They were separated at first but they found each other and now they''re working as a solid unit.

    These threee from Raven''s home. Kyle is his disciple, Nina and Tori are his twin sisters.

    They could''ve revealed their identities though, at this point no one would dare toy finger on them if this was revealed since Raven was practically untouchable. Nevertheless, these three decided to keep a low-profile to no avail.

    Raven didn''t really know the reason why they did since he never got the chance to ask them. Additionally, their ''low-profile'' isn''t working since they''re literally on the top five and bringing too much attention to themselves.

    Not that Raven wasining though. He''s aware of what his sisters and disciples could do. He made sure to drill their instincts sharply before he parted ways with them temporarily, and from what he can observe from their performance so face, he can tell that they''ve matured well.

    See, the three were amongst the rare people who discovered the true intentions behind Raven''s wordy. In additions, they''re not afraid of confrontation,

    They left a trail or Abomination Corpses on their wake. They ughtered them easily like it was a walk in the park. Of course they had ample rests in between but they were practically unstoppable.

    It also didn''t help that they were too eye-catching. They never scoured for resources, they just took something that happens to be in their way. They rejected any kind of inheritance that reacted to them, focusing only on their goal and their goal alone.

    The only reason why Kyle didn''t sit at the first ce currently is because thess ¨C Gabrie got lucky. When she got inside the seal, she''s somewhere near the Dawn Council Headquarters so she just made a run for it and imed the first ce.

    Still, these rankings doesn''t truly matter for now. If anything, it''s just a chronological order of people who arrived at the headquarters, nothing more. The rankings will matter by the final phase so for now, it is useless.

    ¡ª

    Time passed again, and now only a dew days are left before the two year mark ends.

    The amount of participants who managed to arrive at the Headquarters were more than a hundred already. Those who arrive early were already starting to get bored while those who arrived pretty recently were still tending to their weary bodies.

    It hadn''t been easy at all. The first phase was already challenging. The endless waves of Abominations really did a number on them. They ''killed'' many participants at the process and they don''t show any signs of letting up.

    Thankfully, of the Abominations stepped foot within the Dawn Council''s headquarters. It''ll be hell if that happened.

    The Abominations just formed a tight barricade around the Dawn Council, the final defense line for the challengers to face if they want to pass. Many people failed here and felt dismayed yet they couldn''t me themselves.

    The participants and the audience were already expectant.

    Only a few days are left and the first phase would be over. They have no idea what would the second phase be but they could only wait until its revealed to them.

    Meanwhile, at the real world. Raven knew that he had to make preparations for the second phase therefore he excused himself real quick to give himself some privacy.

    ''Ahaha, this is a bit embarrassing but I''m actually scared for the kids.'' Raven muttered to himself.

    He looked at the seal and saw the area where the second phase will take ce. Honestly, he feels a bit apprehensive.

    ''¡­I have faith at least. These kids are strong. There''s no way they''ll easily fold on the second phase. If they do, that''d be tragic. This can either make them or break them. I just hope that those who fail can bounce back when this is over.''

    As he thought of that, Raven proceeded to prepare the venue for the second phase of the meet.

    ¡ª

    "Congrattions, kids. You made it."

    Everyone within the fake-Dawn Council headquarters were startled by Raven''s face and voice suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

    "The first phase of the Grand Youth Meet is now over. I''ve counted a total of 237 participants left which honestly surprised me, but in a pleasant manner."

    "You kids did well¡­but that''s not the end of it of course."

    The remaining participants could already feel the dread sinking in to their stomachs but they remained steady. They stilled and listened silently.

    "For the second phase, well¡­we don''t really need to change the venue." Raven shrugged, "You guys can stay where you are actually. It won''t make a difference anyway."

    "The Second Phase is what I would like to call: a Test of Spirit."

    For some god forsaken reason, the participants felt a child running down their spine when they heard that.

    "Your goal is to¡­well, live and make it to the Third Phase." Raven went silent for a bit before chuckling to himself and saying: "I should probably exin, huh?"

    "Well, long story short, you will all sleep." Raven stated. "Find afortable ce in there and just¡­lie down I guess. Whatever rows your boat, really. I don''t care."

    "The second phase will officially begin three dayster." Raven added, "Whether you like or not, you will fall asleep and you''ll be submerged into a long, long dream."

    "Again, your goal is to live. Preferably, wake yourself up from the dream you will face."

    "There will be no time limit. Instead, we will only ept the first 50 participants who manage to live through the dream and/or wake themselves up for the final phase."

    Hearing the contents of the second phase did nothing to calm them down. If anything, it just made them even more nervous.

    Only 50 will remain. That''s a very small numberpared to how many participants there were before this all began. Indeed, thepetition is really tight and strict.

    "Well, I''ve said all that I have to say." Raven stated, but then he paused and added: "Actually no. I forgot to tell you that those who manage to get to the final 50 will be receiving offers from the experts that are watching here."

    "If I were you, I''ll work really hard for this chance. I mean, who knows right? Maybe you can move me as well? I don''t know."

    "Well then. That''s all I have for you. Go find a spot to take a nap, you''ve got three days to do that. Don''t me us if you kids wake-up with a twisted spine. I warned you." Raven winked and his silhouette disappeared.

    The kids were stunned with his abrupt leave however it didn''t take long before they started moving.

    There''s a strange atmosphere around though. It was tense yet subtle at the same time.

    One could only wonder what happens within the span of three days under this atmosphere.

 Chapter 832: Grand Youth Meet Second Phase: Start

    Chapter 832: Grand Youth Meet Second Phase: Start

    ¡ª

    Ever since Raven announced the contents for the Second Phase, the participants felt uneasy.

    Three days was long enough for them to find a spot where they could fall into a slumber but it''s not enough to calm their nerves.

    Even after knowing what they''re getting into, they can''t help but feel doubtful about what they know, especially considering what they experienced during the first phase..

    Those who managed to get to the Second Phase realized what Raven did. They discovered the secret behind his wordy, meaning their not dumb. And if Raven could pull off something like that, he could do it all over again and make it work even though they were paying attention.

    So, nobody could really me the kids for over-thinking at this point. They just want to prepare themselves for the worst. After all, thepetition is fierce. They''d take any advantage they can get, especially if it means that they could receive offers from peak experts all over Divine Realm.

    Time continued to pass and the closer they were to the deadline, the more nervous they got. Still, no amount of preparations could prepare them for what''s toe.

    There wasn''t even an announcement when the Second Phase began. The moment that the three day deadline was up, it just happened.

    A strong pulse emerged out of nowhere, sweeping through the fake Dawn Council Headquarters, knocking everybody out.

    There were no warnings, no clues, no nothing. They were knocked out unconscious and sent straight into a long, long dream.

    ¡­a dream sequence that will surely leave a mark on their lives.

    "¡­it started." Raven murmured as he saw the remaining participants lose consciousness. He felt several gazesnding on him which caused him to sigh.

    "Have faith in them." Luna took Raven''s hand and squeezed onto them tightly. She gave him a reassuring smile and said: "The kids are strong, this won''t break thempletely."

    "This needs to happen you know." Mark added, "It might sound cruel but they need to suffer. You did the right thing. They''ll thank you for thister on."

    "Don''t fret. Keep you chin-up and take responsibility." Paul stated, "This is what you always tell us right? You''ve been doing a good job. Listen to us and believe in your decisions. This won''t break them."

    Raven looked at his friends and smiled. He was thankful that they''re here, ready to support him for his actions. He could also feel the gazes of the guests, they were filled with silent encouragement and support. None of them med him for what he has done and fully understood why he did it.

    What exactly did Raven do for the Second Phase?

    Well, just like the name implied: ''Test of Spirit'', that''s what.

    Raven modified the seal to have a trigger that will send all humans within it to fall unconscious and spend time trapped within a long dream.

    In the said dream, their Spirits will be tested.

    At first, they will wake-up in a false reality, fully aware of what transpired before they got there and aware that they''re inside a forged-reality.

    They will experience death in many ways in there. And with every death, parts of their memories will be gone upon their resurrection.

    This means that they will die again¡­

    And again¡­

    Until they could no longer remember anything about themselves.

    Every death they experience will leave them damaged. Raven can''t control how much they get broken since the amount of times they die depends on their circumstances.

    Raven called the Test of Spirit since he knows that experiencing death again and again would unmistakably burden their mentalities. He would know since he himself experienced it before. The kids can''t rely only anything aside themselves for this test. Their Will and Spirit will be put to the test again and again within this space.

    The reason why Raven felt hesitant about this is because he can''t control the oue.

    Compared to the first phase, Raven didn''t use any wordy here. The Second Phase is straight forward. If the kids want to reach the final phase, they have to conquer the dream sequence by either finishing it or breaking out of it and waking themselves up.

    Finishing the dream sequence was simple. They just have to persist until the end and they''ll do it. The dream sequence is long and programmed to whittle their spirits down. If it doesn''t manage to break them, then they''d seed.

    Forcing themselves to wake-up is a different matter entirely. For this, they have to keep their sanity in check. They need firm or unbending will to not only persist but also stand-up against the cruel dream their facing.

    Fighting using their Will is mentally exhausting but it''s the best way to break out of the dream.

    The dream sequence is formed to quench their Spirits and forge their Will. This is the best benefit the participants will get out of the Second Phase, not the offers from the Empyreans.

    But since Raven can''t control the oue, there is a possibility that the Dream Sequence might break the participantspletely. This is what Raven is afraid of.

    Raven nned out this even to help raise the quality and quantity of the Divine Realm experts, not lessen them.

    He didn''t want to break the spirits of participants at all, but he also understood that if they didn''t suffer, they won''t be able to go far. This is why he felt conflicted about this matter.

    Raven still ended-up doing it anyway. He trusted himself, knowing that this is for the best. And it is. He''s not alone in this thought, others think so too. In fact, almost everyone agrees with him in this.

    Still, he just can''t stop feeling guilty.

    That being said, what''s done is done. It started now and it won''t end until the first 50 participants seeded. The only thing left to do is wait.

    ¡ª

    To the audience, what the participants goes through within the dream sequence was visible.

    Not everyone has the same start. Some people started the dream sequence differently from the rest.

    The scenario inside the dreams were vivid. Even the participants, who are still aware that they are dreaming, couldn''t help but doubt themselves whether that''s the case or not.

    It was working a little to well that some of them were already losing grip in their realities without even dying once yet.

    Each scenario was to vivid for them to not get absorbed in it. Different tactics were employed by the participants to pull ahead.

    Some chose to y the role of an observer. Some just tried to enjoy it. Others tried to go against the flow and rebel. Some doesn''t have and idea of what to do and just rolled along,

    Once again, no amount of preparations could ready them for what''s toe so they might as well do as they please and figure things out as they go.

    Not even a weekter since the start of the second phase, the remaining participants already died at least once.

    Some were distraught by what happened and confused when they woke-up to another reality. Their confusion fazed and bothered them a lot, especially since they have this feeling that they lost something and they just can''t put a finger on it.

    They moved-on and some decided to change their tactics but then again, it won''t work since they''ll eventually die again.

    Their deaths are different from one another but they had no way of knowing that. All they could do is to try their best and move-on.

    The audience were immersed as they watched them. Some people from the Divine Realm already discovered the peculiarities of the Second Phase while some remained clueless. They watched eagerly to learn though.

    The participants experienced different lives in every resurrection. Time and time again, they''ll try to do something but eventually, they''ll find themselves dying in one way or another.

    It was a disturbing idea to those who were watching. Some felt ufortable even but they continued to pay attention.

    After a couple more deaths, more and more of the audience were starting to understand what the Second Phase is like.

    There were some participants who already died more than ten times already and forgotten arge part of their true identity, yet they still kept going.

    The focus of the crowd shifted to those who were doing really well. Unexpectedly, the top ten of the first phase weren''t doing so well in this round¡­at least not all of them.

    The Test of Spirit already began and more people were starting to understand what Raven was thinking when he decided this.

    Of course, not everybody agrees with his thought process but they could understand where he''sing from. That''s the important part at least.

    More time passed and a good amount of the participants were already losing their grip on themselves. They''re starting to believe that the dream was real, which starts the spiral downwards. Nobody could help them at this point besides themselves.

    Through this all, Raven watched. He no longer felt conflicted, just hopeful.

    ''Come on, kids.. Show us what you''re made of.''

 Chapter 833: Making A Name For Themselves

    Chapter 833: Making A Name For Themselves

    ¡ª

    Weeks turned to months. At this point, the audience has lost count on how many times the participants died within the Dream Sequence.

    Only some people could managed to get a hold of their memories. Even then, it''s faint.

    Nobody seeded yet, which is understandable since the Second Phase is way too difficult to pass. Still there were certain kids that the crowd is now focusing on.

    The first one being Kyle himself.

    To the citizens of the Divine Realm, Kyle is mysterious. Yes, the Dawn Council had his profile avable for viewing but still, they can''t wrap around their heads about the fact that this young man was something else.

    He was strong. Unusually strong. Not only physically but also mentally. He is the leading figure during the Second Phase since he is the one who could still remember that he''s living within a dream.

    Don''t be mistaken. Raven wasn''t pulling his punches here and purposefully making things easier for Kyle. He did this on his own. Kyle''s will has been forged with his adventures all over Divine Realm so this is not surprising. And it''s not like he''s immune to the lull of the dream anyways.

    In truth, Kyle''s barely holding on. Just one wrong move and he''ll fall just like everyone else. But that''s exactly what makes him unique. Even though he''s teetering at the edge of sanity, he was holding on. Stubbornly refusing to let go since he knows what it entails.

    It wouldn''t be surprising he manages to wake himself up.

    Closely behind him were Raven''s twin sisters ¨C Nina and Tori, refusing to be outdone. Although they are admittedly weaker than Kyle, with the twins being at the mid-Noble Knight Stage and Kyle being a Knight King, their strength output and their will are stronger than most.

    The twins didn''t experience the same dream together of course. They participated individually. Still, nobody would ne surprised if they too managed to wake themselves up from the Dream Sequence.

    As for the rest, well they''re going to take the easier route by attempting tost through the dream. It''s the only option for them since they already fell for the allure of the dream and had already forgotten their mission.

    Even though Raven was aware that this could be controversial, he didn''t really care.

    He didn''t bother hiding the fact that he has a connection with Kyle and his sisters. There''s no reason for him to hide that since it would only be suspicious if he hid it. He was transparent with the information he ced within the documents.

    Plus, it''s not like he''s not allowed to do that. He didn''t stop when the Heirs of other Empyreans participated so why should he stop his own disciple and sisters from participating? That just wouldn''t make any sense.

    What the audience wanted to know is how the hell did a small ne such as the Grand Ancestral ne manage to give birth and raise such talented seedlings.

    It doesn''t make since these three were outperforming even Divine Knight descendants. What even more ridiculous is that, Raven wasn''t as hands-on in raising them. He didn''t pamper them nor interfered too much, heck nobody knew that these kids had connection with him until the meet began.

    Don''t even get them started with the members of the Dawn Council itself.

    Six of the brightest and most talented people came from the same homnd and flourished within Divine Realm''s grounds.

    If this isn''t enough to make them curious about what kind of ce the Grand Ancestral ne is, then nobody knows what could.

    That being said, the location of the Grand Ancestral ne is hidden. At this point, many tried to search for its whereabouts already, but even after scouring the Divine Realm, they failed to find it. Which means that the Young Lord must''ve done something.

    It''s the most logical conclusion they have left. There could be many reason why Raven decided to hide the Grand Ancestral ne from their view but they are convinced that it is indeed Raven who hid it.

    This act sends a message to them, which many people understood.

    Raven hid his home for a good reason and they don''t want them there. This reason was understandable and frankly, valid for most so they just epted it and dropped the attempts altogether.

    Of course, Raven was aware of their curiosity. He knew this day woulde and its practically the reason why he made those preparations years ago.

    Raven''s reason was simple. He didn''t want unassociated people to disturb the serenity of his home, that''s practically it. Call it selfish, call is insecure, whatever. He doesn''t truly care. What he wants is peace and serenity for his home and his family there. Nobody will get in his way.

    ¡ª

    More time passed and soon three months flew by.

    Kyle did it.

    He woke himself up from the Dream Sequence. He''s also the first one to reach the final phase of the Grand Youth Meet.

    At this point, his name was well known to the Divine Realm. He truly hase far.

    That being said, he couldn''t really celebrate since he''s somewhat exhausted.

    The second phase really took its toll on him. He still hasn''t snapped-out of his reverie since waking up a few days ago. He say within his tent, eyes nk and doubtful. He can''t fall asleep since his body won''t allow him to.

    His state is currently unstable but Raven''s already paying attention to him. The moment he show signs of instability, Raven wouldn''t hesitate to act.

    Thankfully, it seems that there won''t be a need for Raven to personally step-in. Kyle was recovering well. His eyes are still dull but little by little, rity returns to him. It''ll only be a matter of time before he recoverspletely.

    Barely a month after he wakes-up, Nina woke up as well, followed closely by Tori.

    Just like Kyle, they too were nk when they woke-up but they''re being monitored.

    As for the rest, well they''re still trying to finishing the Dream Sequence even though they don''t even remember it anymore.

    At this point, they''re just doing their best to live since they were whole-heartedly convinced that everything around them was real. They experienced many different lives and since they can''t remember anything anymore, there isn''t a bacsh¡­

    At least not yet¡­

    The bacsh will ur once they wake-up. The collective memories of their lives and their deaths will be unlocked and they''ll have to manually organize it once they seeded in waking-up from the dream.

    The process will be painful. They won''t have a good time and its possible that they might break under that mental assault. Raven wouldn''t let them die of course but they had to deal with itrgely on their own.

    As for the rewards of the Second Phase ¨C referring to the offers for those participants that managed to pass. Well, nobody really gave anything to either Kyle, Nina nor Tori.

    Why would they? It''s not like they can offer anything that Raven can''t provide for them. Moreover for free?

    Raven didn''t stop them of course but the experts chose to respect Raven by not offering anything. Which is fine really. These three kids weren''t expecting anything much either. To them, participating to a Grand Event like this is already good enough.

    As more time passed, Kyle, Nina and Tori managed to snap-out of their reverie and return to their present. They could now move about and digest the experiences they got from the dream. Right now, they''re meditating within their spot to organize their gains.

    Someone also managed to finish the dream sequence, and just as expected, the moment this participant woke-up, they experienced a severe headache which caused them to faint. One followed by another and slowly but surely, the first 50 list was being filled.

    Seeing this, Raven decided to leave the monitoring duty to his team.

    Raven excused himself since he had to make final preparations for them Final Phase of the Grand Youth Meet.

    50 participants was still a lot. That being said, the first two phases were already enough for their names to be well¨Cknown throughout the Divine Realm.

    The craze will just rise from this point forward, especially once the final phase starts. Raven already has a n and implementing it will just be cinch for him.

    That being said, he still needs to prepare the venue. Although the event is already left a mark in history, he still wanted it to be as Grand as possible. Therefore, he wouldn''t hesitate to use high-end methods to get what he wants.

    ''The headquarters should be big enough to host the event. And since the seal is stable, this should do. I can''t just apply it this way¡­''

    Raven started preparing for the final phase as more participants wakes-up. With his team being alert, they managed to save the kids from sumbing to a breakdown, keeping them safe.

    Right now, those who managed to seed are now resting. Waiting patiently for this second phase to be over and for the next one to start.

    ¡­.whatever the next phase in store for them is still a mystery but they don''t n on backing out now.

 Chapter 834: Prelude To The Final Phase

    Chapter 834: Prelude To The Final Phase

    ¡ª

    "¡­the first 50 people all woke-up." Raven''s voice echoed. "This marks the end of the 2nd Phase."

    As he made his announcement, the participants who are still in their deep slumber slowly disappeared from the pseudo-Divine Realm, leaving one the 50 people who qualified for the next round.

    "Those who failed will be isted for the time being. We will monitor their conditions and make sure that they are safe to return so for those who had connections with them, rest assured, we will return them to you eventually." Raven stated.

    Raven''s face suddenly appeared in front of the remaining participants. At this point, most of them already recovered from their previous state. They could at least, somehow understand what''s going on.

    "Congrattions for making it to the Final Phase." Raven addressed them directly, "Having gone this far proves that you are the cream of the crop. Geniuses amongst geniuses. You should be proud of yourselves, but never let it get to your head."

    "I know some of you still needs to recover from the 2nd Phase. But since you are all awake right now, I might as well tell the contents of the Final Phase."

    "The Final Phase will begin two monthster. That''s enough time to make sure that all of you returns to your peak state. It is also enough time for you to decide, either you continue or not, that depends on you."

    "After this message, the peak experts will give you their offers. They will either give you an invitation to attend a lesson or invite you to be their disciples. Their offers will vary depending on your performances so far and if you decide to ept their offer, you are free to withdraw for the Final Phase. Again, it''s up to you."

    "The peak experts are forbidden from contacting you directly. They can only send an invitation which will go through us to ensure fairness. We don''t want to doubt their intentions but this is for the best."

    As the participants listened, they understood what Raven was trying to say, still of them dared to interrupt him in his speech, which prompted Raven to continue.

    "The Final Phase is what I would like to call: Battle Royale." Raven stated.

    He then raised his hand and modified the seal ording to his arrangements.

    The participants within the seal felt their surroundings shifting. They were rmed at first but their just sensed that the ground beneath them was moving. This went on for a short while until it stopped, that''s when Raven''s face re-appeared before them and said:

    "Right now, the current ce you are in would function as a waiting room." Raven stated, "You are not allowed to exit that ce until I announced that the Final Phase begins ¨C which will be two months from now."

    "The world outside you shifted." He added, "There is a massive ne that will serve as your yground."

    "The moment the Final Phase begins, you be sent at a random location. Your task? Defeat everyone and im the title of Grand Youth Meet Champion."

    "The Final Phase will go on indefinitely. It''ll only end when thest-man standing appears. Your little yground will shrink smaller and smaller each week. This will force you to confront each other and prevent others from just hiding forever."

    "If you die or fail to stay within the zone of battle. You''ll be eliminated and your rank will be decided."

    "Rewards for the Final Phase will vary depending on your final ranking so good luck."

    "The Champion will be elected as an Envoy of the Dawn Council and will be given ess to the Divine Land to fetch three treasures. Once again, good luck."

    That casual reveal of the Champion''s reward shook the Divine Realm and its foundations.

    It was unbelievable. Almost too good to be true. The Last Man Standing in this Battle Royale will not only be an Envoy for the Dawn Council but will also given ess to the Divine Land? They''ll get three treasures directly from there?

    Isn''t this way too absurd?

    Then again, the announcement came from the Young Lord himself. While some were waiting for him to say that he''s just joking about this, many people knew better. Raven wasn''t kidding, he meant every single word.

    What an great opportunity though. For a second there, the remaining participants forgot about the rewards for the 2nd Phase. Offers from the peak experts? Yeah, cool. But bing an Envoy and getting three treasures directly from the Divine Land? Now that''s awesome.

    "Well, I''m d that you kids are excited." Raven said, "But remember, the Final Phase won''t start until two month''ster. If I were you, I''ll focus on my recovery and make sure that I''m at my peak state when the moment arrives."

    Raven''s reminder calmed the participants down. He''s advise were timely. Some of the participants nearly lost it when they heard the rewards that will be given to them if they be the Champion of the Final Phase.

    "The Final Phase will continue to the broadcasted all over Divine Realm. For those who wanted to watch everything in person, don''t worry, we the Dawn Council got you."

    Raven then showed the ticket he was holding.

    "A ticket like this will be sent to all worlds. Each ticket is a pass for 100 people only with priorities for the close friends and family of each participants. Those who are in-charge of your world will be the one to decide whoes and who doesn''t. Remember, only 100 people for each world."

    "Once the 100 people are chosen, imprint their signature on the ticket. After that, tear the ticket in half and you''ll be transported here, to the Dawn Council''s Headquarters. Here you will witness the Battle Royale in person."

    Raven smiled and then kept the ticket away. It was then followed by numerous streaks of light piercing through the skies of the Divine Realm.

    "The tickets are now sent. Wait for it''s arrival before making a decision."

    "As for you, remaining participants, the time for you to recover. Your two months of rest starts now."

    ¡ª

    In remote ce, far away from themotion of the Dawn Council''s grand event. A few people gathered around a massive open za.

    Just like the rest of the world does right now, they two are watching the grand event.

    Seeing the action was thrilling for them. It excited them and also caused their bloods to boil, especially the hot-blooded ones. That being said, they also saw the cruelty and difficulty of the challenges they faced.

    Honestly, nothing has ever entertained them like this even so far. Even though the event has now spanned for years, they still find themselves driven at the edge of their seats with every nail-biting scenario. They were too absorbed and too invested actually.

    The announcement of the Young Lord caused the audience of the erupt into a wild discussion. Every cultivator was interested but the quota was too little.

    "Hey! Hey! Hey! Did you see! Did you here it!? He said that there will be tickets!" A young, plump boy with a tanned skin and blonde hair looked at his seatmates. His body was trembling in excitement.

    "Yes, we know. We heard it loud clear." A raven-haired youngdy snorted, however the grin on her lips betrayed her disinterested tone.

    "W-we¡­we should be able to go right? I mean¡­we know them right? We''re close right?" Another youngdy said but she sounded scared and hesitant even.

    The fat young man and the raven haired youngdy looked at her, their expression softened as they saw her hesitation.

    "We should be able to. Don''t be scared. We fit the requirements anyways. Don''t doubt yourself¡­or them. They would want to see you as much as you longed to see them again."

    "I know¡­" The hesitant youngdy nodded but her head hung-low, she looked sad and a bit distressed. "But, what if it''s a bad idea? What if¡­"

    "Stop it." The raven haired youngdy held her hand and admonished. "Instead of being scared like this, why don''t we just ask the adults, yeah? I mean, they would know the answer instead of us. Don''t worry, if it turns out that we aren''t allowed, there''s always a next time."

    "R-right¡­" the hesitant youngdy nodded. She tightened her hold on the raven haired youngdy''s hand and stood up with them.

    They three of them made way towards the adults. They didn''t say anything but they''re presence said enough already. The adults saw them and understood what they wanted. One particr pair of old couple looked at them tenderly and nodded to them at the same time.

    Nothing was said but that was enough for an assurance. The adults will bring them along.

    The three friends were beyond excited. They didn''t bother returned to their seats since they were too absorbed in their own thoughts.

    In particr, the hesitant youngdy doesn''t look depressed anymore. Instead, there was a wide-smile on her face as she yed with a soft-puff of violet cloud beside her. She looked at the horizon and murmured softly:

    "Mom, Dad. I miss you so much.. I''ll be seeing you soon."

 Chapter 835: Parental Love

    Chapter 835: Parental Love

    ¡ª

    She was seven years old when they left her behind.

    She''s aware that they didn''t want to leave. She could still recall their devastated and hesitant expression when they left her. She knew that their love for her was genuine, something that transcends time and space. She''s aware that it killed them just as much as it killed her to be separated from each other.

    s, it had to be done.

    Although she was young, she understood what kind of people her parents were. She knew how lucky she was that they''re her parents. They tried their best to give her the perfect childhood. They were respected in their world. Everyone knows who her parents were and what they did for the Empire.

    They gave her as much freedom as they could. They always gave her an option and always respected her choice. They never forced their views nor their ways on her, instead they let make decisions for herself, promising to always support her on whatever she wants to do.

    They even allowed her to pick her own name.

    The following years after they left were agonizing for her. She misses them dearly and wanted to see them so bad. Of course, she''s aware that her parents loved her and misses her just as much. If it weren''t for the fact that their presence is required wherever they went, they won''t hesitate to drop everything and leave everything behind just to be with her.

    She knows. But it doesn''t make things easier.

    That being said, she grew-up well. She was mature and aware of her situation. She never med them for leaving her behind. If anything, that made her love them even more. Even though they left her, the love she has for her parents never disappeared. It became stronger instead.

    They became and inspiration to her.

    At every waking moment, she would look at their portrait first before going-on with her day.

    Nobody told her nor even dared to ask her to train. They didn''t try to tell her to cultivate or be stronger. She chose to do it on her own. She wanted to make them proud. She trained and worked hard. At the same time, she also enjoyed the little things in life and took it easy since her parents wouldn''t want her to overwork herself.

    Now, she''s a fine youngdy.

    Her existence remains quite a mystery for people. In fact, only a handful or people knew she was their child, but it never really bothered her.

    She didn''t have many friends, only a few since they''re all that matters. Those friends understood her better than most. She practically grew-up with them. They''ve been together through thick and thin.

    They travelled the world most of the times. Seeing what it could offer and learning from experience. Her and her friends aren''t well known within their world but that''s because they chose to keep a low-profile.

    That said, if a time everes that they need to expose themselves. They will astound everyone with what they could do. After all, they''re not their parents'' child for nothing.

    In all honesty, she could probably beat anybody ck and blue without breaking a sweat. That''s just a disparity brought by her own upbringing.

    Right now, she is with her two friends. They are gathered by the adults, given priority even as they wait for list to be filled. Next to her were her grandparents. They too are waiting for the list to be filled.

    She feels anxious for some reason. She told herself that she shouldn''t be feeling this way but she can''t help her.

    After so many years, she''s finally meeting them again. Oh, how she waited for this.

    There hasn''t been a day when she never dreamed of this day. It''s either this, hering to them or the other way ¨C with theming home to her instead.

    She thought of the things she wanted to say. The things the she wanted to do. The things she wanted to express. It''s too much that it''s making her friends worried, good thing they noticed and managed to calm her down before she faints from excitement.

    Soon. It''s soon. Oh, she can''t wait.

    It''s different seeing them from afar, it''s just really different.

    When the Grand Youth Meet began, that''s when she saw their faces once more. She nearly cried rivers of tears upon seeing them. The whole event was apparently broadcasted all over Divine Realm.

    She watched it from the moment it started, she practically didn''t move from her spot since she''s afraid of missing even a single moment of their appearance. Her friends were like that too since they''re on the same standing.

    She knew that what her parents does was big, but her imagination never did justice to what her parents actually meant for the whole Divine Realm.

    What the Grand Youth Meet showed was just a fraction of what their responsibilities. It is way bigger than what she expected. Grander than what she thought from her imaginations.

    She understood them before all of this but it''s only now that shepletely gets it. If she''s still harboring any trace of resentment for her parents leaving her behind, all of that disappeared the moment she saw their responsibilities.

    She could truly never me them. If she''s on their shoes, she''d probably do the same.

    Now, remembering how much they were willing to leave everything behind just to be with her even just for the briefest of moments, she felt guilty for holding them back. Now she understood just how much her parents loves her.

    The fact that they chose to suffer just to keep her safe. The fact that they didn''t force anything to her. That they gave her as much freedom as they could. The fact that they endured so much just for the sake of making sure there''s a peaceful tomorrow for her, made her realize everything.

    Their love truly transcends everything that exists. She has never been so thankful that she has them as her parents instead.

    It wasn''t just her though. Even her closest friends understood this since their own parents are with her parents, helping them with all this. They choose to prop-up the skies just to make sure there will be a bright tomorrow for everyone.

    It''s truly something else. She never felt so full of love before. It still hurts that they have to be separated but not as much as before since she finally understand why they need to leave.

    ***

    The wait was agonizing though.

    The adults were deliberating so hard on who to bring. After all, only a 100 people were allowed. Her and her friends'' spot were already secured. Their signatures were already imprinted on the ticket so the moment it''s ripped in half, they will be transported there personally.

    Her grandparents areing with her, both from her mother side and father side. So does the grandparents of her friends and few youngsters who hold great potential and will benefit from the trip.

    The adults are now discussing on who toe with them in order to ensure the safety of the youngsters. Well, in her very biased opinion, they shouldn''t stress so much about this since it''s not like they''ll be in danger when they''re there. Her parents will be there, who would dare to hurt them?

    Nevertheless, she didn''t say anything and just let the adults argue on their own. She already secured her spot and that''s what matters to her.

    Since the wait was slightly unbearable, she decided to distract herself by talking to her friends. Their discussion was aimless really. Random even.

    Admittedly, they are too excited for the trip that they can''t concentrate. Their conversation was dry and awkward for the most part. Very unlike them since they could practically spend days talking about the most random things and never run out ideas or opinions. Them being unable to hold a proper conversation to each other proves just how much they''re looking forward to this.

    The arguments of the adults ended-up spanning for days, eventually the list was filled and they were ready. 100 people were chosen to go. They were gathered in the middle of the za, getting ready for the transfer.

    They didn''t miss the looks of envy thrown their way but they couldn''t care less at this point. Right in front of them, the ticket was ripped apart and they all transformed into motes of light that travelled at a blinding speed.

    She felt dizzy. Everything was spinning and blurry. She experienced numerous transfers before but nothing like this one. The transfersted for what seems like days until they finally feel it stop.

    Her senses were going haywire for a bit due to the turbulent transfer but she held on. When she regained control over her senses though, she finally was able to see where they''re at.

    They''re at grand hall, majestic and ancient. But at this current moment, she couldn''t be bothered to pay attention to any of that.

    Her attention was caught by the two people standing not so far from her.

    It was then that all of the repressed emotions bursts from her. She felt tears blurring her vision but she didn''t care.

    Vanessa ran to their arms and wailed like a child.

 Chapter 836: Catching up

    Chapter 836: Catching up

    ¡ª

    Their reunion was sweet, intimate and very emotional.

    Luna couldn''t stop her tears and hasn''t let of her daughter from the moment she ran to them. Whispers of ''I miss you'' and ''I love you''s echoed within the hall. There''s only the three of them here so they at least have some privacy.

    "Let me take a good look at you, Sweetheart." Luna pulled back and stared at her daughter''s face. Raven did the same.

    Their hearts felt waves of emotion upon looking at Vanessa. Their memories were still vivid, it''s as if it was just yesterday she was still a little babe, still struggling to form her words to express herself. Now she grew up into a fine young woman who carried her mother''s beauty and grace while also inheriting her father''s demeanor.

    "You''re so big now." Luna choked on her sobs, cupping Vanessa''s cheeks tenderly and removing the few strands of her hair on her face. "I can''t believe that we''ve been separated this long. Have you been well? How''s your appetite? Are you tired? Do you want to rest?"

    Vanessa shook her head and held their hands. She gave them the sweetest smile she could muster and replied:

    "I''m fine. All better now that you''re with me."

    Luna and Raven''s heart swelled from her words. Raven couldn''t help but wrap them both again in a tight hug.

    Raven couldn''t help but feel relieved. He was prepared for the worst honestly. He was ready to face Vanessa''s wrath and deal with it. He expected her to hold some grudges but in the end, it seems that he didn''t need to worry about that.

    Would it be weird to say that Raven nned this all along?

    Would it be weird if he said that, the whole reason behind the Grand Youth Meet ¨C aside from increasing the prestige of the Dawn Council to the public''s eye, was to find an excuse to bring his daughter here all along?

    It might be selfish but Raven has all the right to be selfish, doesn''t he? After all he''s done for the sake of Divine Realm, he could at least do something for himself and his family right?

    Raven never told his wife nor his friends about this actually. He wanted to keep this as a surprise. They didn''t get the clue when he said that the event would be broadcasted all over Divine Realm. In addition to that, they didn''t know about the tickets which will transport people here.

    They probably thought that their home wouldn''t be included amongst the worlds where the Grand Youth Meet would be projected yet here they were.

    The surprise should''ve worked judging by how Luna reacted. Ellen, Paul, Mark and Anne should be surprised as well.

    He told them to go onto the transport rooms to personally wee the visitors, not knowing that he interfered and brought their kids in there to reunite with them.

    With a short scan of his sense, he found them at the same situation. Fussing over their child and crying in happiness.

    Raven felt relieved. He felt like he achieved something so great by doing this.

    Vanessa grew-up healthy. Raven was really thankful for that. She was tall and slim, much like her mother. Her hair was long, mostly ck with violet tips. She was wearing the same colored robes which fits perfectly on her body. Her eyes were dark golden in color and she''s also wearing Luna''s ancestral hairpin.

    There''s a puff of violet cloud wrapped on her waist. Just from a nce, Raven could tell that she nurtured this cloud for years and made it her personal mount. Raven had some ideas but he decided to keep them forter. Right now, Vanessa must be feeling tired and still dizzy from the turbulent transfer.

    "Let''s get out of here and move to another room so that you can rest. We can catch-up while we wait for the Final Phase to begin." Raven suggested and took them both to Luna''s office, the Sky Ind.

    Raven made sure to keep things private for now. He didn''t want anybody to see Vanessa not because she''s ashamed of her but because it''s safer that way. They still has to ask her if she wants to make a public appearance so in the mean time, he''ll hide her.

    He also made sure to remind his friends about this.

    Raven wasn''t really worried about introducing Vanessa to the public. At this point, his umted prestige was too brilliant that he''s confident. No one would dare to garner some ideas about his daughter. Additionally, Raven has the qualifications to tower over most experts. If they do dare to entertain some ideas about Vanessa, he wouldn''t hesitate to end their lineage once and for all.

    Still, this was up to Vanessa''s decision. Whether she would like to introduce herself to the public as their child or keep her identity a secret, was her choice to make.

    After taking them to the Sky Ind, he and Luna began fussing over Vanessa. Asking her if she''s hungry, tired, or bored. Vanessa giggled and told them that''s fine already. They asked her how she''s been, what they missed and were her ns for the future.

    They spent most of their days talking just like this. Ellen, Paul, Mark and Anne did the same. They didn''t even bother leaving for now since they still have time before they are needed once again.

    "Princess¡­I have something to ask you."

    Raven and Vanessa is currently sitting on a table, waiting for Luna to finish taking a bath and to prepare a meal for them.

    "Yes, Dad?"

    "How do you feel about making a public appearance?"

    Vanessa stilled at the question. She looked at Raven and saw that he was staring at her gently and fondly. It''s as if he''s telling her that it''s okay, to not be pressured and just say whatever''s on her mind.

    If she''s being honest, Vanessa never really thought this far. Everything happened to fast, at least for her. She just realized what her parents does and justpletely understood what they meant for the entirety of the Divine Realm. She just realized the prestige they held and honestly, she''s still reeling about it.

    "¡­it depends." She replied.

    "Depends on what?" Raven asked.

    "Will I be staying here with you or will I have to return to our home world?" Vanessa asked.

    The two of them were silent for a bit so Vanessa continued: "If I''ll have to return, then I don''t think they need to know. It''s safer that way isn''t it?"

    "It''s only recently that I realized what the two of you ¨C no, the six of you meant for the entirety of the Divine Realm. What the Dawn Council meant for Humanity in general. I don''t wanna be the one to hold you back even though I''m your child. In fact, because I am your child, I should be supporting you instead."

    "Which is why if I can stay here, with the two of you, preferably with Richard and Jeanne, then I''m okay with it. I promise to not tarnish your reputation, I''ll work hard to prove to everyone that I can share your burdens."

    "Oh, Princess." Raven expression softened with her words and deration.

    He couldn''t help but feel his heart swell with pride upon hearing that. Vanessa really grew-up well, she''s sensible and wise. She talks just like Raven. Not afraid of responsibilities and can see the bigger picture.

    Raven held her hand and said: "Princess, me and your Mom would love to have you with us here. No doubts about that."

    "You don''t need to feel pressured about our reputation. You don''t need to keep up pretenses and you certainly don''t need to please anybody aside yourself. You can be your genuine self and that''s perfectly okay with us."

    "I only asked this question because we''re in the middle of an grand event. Soon, we will have to step-out again and I don''t feelfortable leaving you all by yourself in arge ce like this. That''s all really."

    "Oh." Vanessa was surprised. "Well, it doesn''t really change anything though. You said I can stay so I''m staying. Don''t worry, Dad. I can handle this pressure. I want to be responsible too. Let me do this."

    Raven looked intently at her daughter, trying to search for any trace of hesitation in her eyes. He smiled when he saw nothing so he smiled and nodded.

    "If that''s what you want, sure. Remember to go at your own pace, yeah? Don''t be in a hurry. You still have us to rely on so enjoy your youth to the fullest."

    Vanessa nodded. But then she got reminded of something from her past that she hasn''t discussed with Raven yet and caused her to blush in embarrassment.

    "¡­yeah, about me enjoying my youth¡­uh¡­"

    Vanessa felt her cheeks heating up in embarrassment, she didn''t really know how to say this. She can''t even look at her father''s eyes right now so she didn''t know that Raven was wearing this sly smile on his face.

    Raven calmly took a sip of his tea and asked:

    "¡­.is this about you ex-boyfriend?"

 Chapter 837: Family Bonding

    Chapter 837: Family Bonding

    ¡ª

    "Oh god¡­" Vanessa buried her face onto her hands. Feeling her cheeks warming up from embarrassment.

    Raven couldn''t help but let out a loud cackle. It was fun to tease his daughter. Now he understands why adults do it most of the times.

    "How did you even know about that?" Vanessa groaned. She can''t quite look at her father''s face because she felt shy.

    "Princess, we might be literally worlds apart but it doesn''t stop us from knowing what you''re up to." Raven tool another sip of tea and continued: "That''s like, my job as the Leader of the Dawn Council you see. I''m supposed to know many things. Especially when it concerns my own family, no?"

    "I even know that Kyle is dating my twin sisters yet I remained quiet about it. I am protective of you but not to the point where I''ll be suffocating you with tough love. At the end of the day, this is your life, Princess. I am here to support and guide you, not tell you what you''re supposed to do."

    "¡­" Vanessa was speechless. Yes, she should''ve expected this from the very beginning. Her father''s close to an omnipotent being, there''s little to nothing that escapes his vision. "Well, yeah. It''s about him. Should I even exin what happened?"

    "Up to you Princess." Raven offered, "If anything, I only know the general gist of what happened. I appreciate you being honest with me more than anything, really."

    "You''re not mad?"

    "Is there a reason for me to be mad?" He countered.

    "I don''t know¡­" Vanessa sounded quite unsure. "I mean, I thought you didn''t know. I wanted to tell you but you weren''t there. I just¡­I just thought that he needs to be uh¡­''grilled'' as Grandpa Luis says by you."

    Raven let out another cackle at that. Vanessa also heard her mother chuckling from behind, taking a seat next to her bringing food on the table.

    "I was freaked-out too you know?" Luna admitted, "I actually was the first one to discover. I didn''t tell your Dad because he might suddenlye there and smite the poor boy."

    "Well, if he dared to vite your innocence. I won''t hesitate to do so of course." Raven interjected with a snort. "If he touched you anywhere without your consent, he''ll be castrated on the spot. He better thank his ancestors for teaching him proper etiquette or else I would''ve reduced him to ash by now."

    "Well, he didn''t any of those, thankfully." Vanessa sighed.

    "As he should."

    "But he was an opportunistic prick, that''s why we broke-up. Don''t kill him though. It''s just¡­whatever. I respect his ambitions and determination at least."

    The name of Vanessa''s ex-boyfriend is Eric ¨C a young and ambitiousd.

    They met at a mission and they instantly clicked. Vanessa enjoyed hispany greatly and were impressed by how high his dreams were. He wanted to climb the peak of their home world and follow the footsteps of her father. He even said that he''ll surpass Raven.

    When they started dating, everything was going fine. Eric was a gentleman and genuinely showered Vanessa with affection. Unfortunately, it was all an act.

    Apparently, Eric''s one of the few people that knew who Vanessa truly is. He approached her with the intent of getting closer to the legendary figure that is Raven. In simple terms, he wanted to use her for his own benefit.

    He didn''t expect that Vanessa was clever though. He didn''t know that she discovered his hidden intentions almost immediately. Vanessa gave him a timeframe but never told him explicitly. If Eric came out clean and admitted his ill intentions, Vanessa would forgive him and even point him to the direction where Raven left his inheritance.

    Unfortunately, Eric didn''t do that so she broke it off and revealed his schemes right in his face.

    All things considered though, they broke-up rather peacefully. Vanessa had no intentions of punishing him for his foolishness. If anything, she respected his hustle and ambitions.

    It isrgely because of that, that Raven left the boy alone. Even then, Raven would, at most, send one lightning bolt down to the boy as punishment.

    Like what Raven said, Vanessa ought to enjoy her youth. He wasn''t a petty father that wards-off every single suitor his daughter will have and lock her up in a huge, cold castle. He wants her to experience some semnce of normalcy, even if a little bit. He wants her to experience the ups and downs of life since that will teach her many things that he can''t.

    He will protect his daughter but he won''t keep her away from experiencing life at its finest. This is Raven''s virtue when ites to parenting.

    "Well, now that you''re staying with us. You will never run-out of suitors." Luna chuckled.

    "She would know because she nevercked one." Raven said in a t tone, slightly displeased. "Even with me around. Until now, there are still some people groveling at our gates, begging to be her servant just to fulfil their nasty fantasies about her. We''ve lost count on how many we''ve kicked out at this point."

    "Aww, is my Dear Lord Husband feeling jealous?" Luna teased yfully. "Don''t worry my Love. None of those stinky bastards will even catch my eyes. Even if you leave me, I still have your Avatars to keep me entertained don''t worry."

    "Mom! Hello? I''m right here??" Vanessa protested, followed by the merryughter of her parents. "Seriously!? I didn''t need to hear that! Come on!"

    "Oh, Sweetheart. We''re just teasing you." Luna pinched Vanessa''s cheeks and smile sweetly. "But like I said, once everyone knows who you are, you''ll never run out of handsomeds at your beck and call. Your Aunty Anne will probably give you some tips on how to deal with them."

    "Oh, I can already hear their hearts breaking already. I can already see my little girl using her charms to turn a man into her ve. Oh, don''t touch me I''m sensitive." Raven dramatically blew his nose with a table cloth and pretended to wipe his tears away.

    Vanessa was almost steaming in embarrassment. Her parents are just relentless when ites to teasing her. She''s kind of regretting her decisions about staying now.

    Needless to say, at the depths of her heart, Vanessa loved this. She liked spending time with her parents even though they tease her for the most part. This is what she''s been missing on for a long time and he finally got it back.

    Of course she''s aware that deep down, her parents only wanted the best for her. She knows that they will be behind her at every step of the way, and frankly, that''s enough to keep her going.

    ¡ª

    The time before the start of the Final Phase is about to begin.

    People started filling the spots that meant for the live viewing of the Final Phase. The Supervisors of the Dawn Council were still nowhere to be seen though but nobody really asked questions since it''s not in the business to know.

    They are spending quality time with their own family. Now that their child is here, everything else bes a lesser priority.

    During this time, not only did Vanessa caught-up with her parents, she even got to know them in a deeper level. They told he stories about their youth, their adventures and what they did here in the Divine Realm.

    Raven didn''t mince words with Vanessa. He told her the true state of the Divine Realm and even showed her the areas of improvement they''re trying to work on. He wouldn''t include her in this if necessary but Vanessa insisted. She wanted to help in anyway she could and wanted to feel responsible too. There''s no way he could deny that.

    Vanessa know what their future ns are. She even knows what Raven was nning to do once the Grand Youth Meet is done.

    Knowing how much responsibilities fell onto her parents'' shoulders, especially her father''s, ignited Vanessa''s own passion. She wasted no time and immediately entered the School they built for the geniuses of Divine Realm.

    She still agreed on making a public appearance though with a few conditions. She wanted to hide her face for now. This means that she''s fine with people knowing that she''s their daughter but she didn''t want to reveal what she look like for now at least.

    Of course, her parents respected her decision and made it work. Additionally, Vanessa, Richard and Jeanne will officially enter the Dawn Council''s Academic Roll for the next batch which make them quite excited.

    Vanessa took advantage of what little time she has left to ask her parents for pointers in her cultivation. Raven and Luna didn''t hold back to say the least, in fact she''s entitled to a seemingly endless amounts of resources for her own use.

    Sufficed to say, Vanessa was immensely satisfied right now. She gets to stay with her beloved parents and she gets to experience what Divine Realm has to offer.

    For now though, she needs to quell her excitement since there''s another matter at hand.

    The Final Phase is about to begin.

 Chapter 838: Final Phase Start!

    Chapter 838: Final Phase Start!

    ¡ª

    The Dawn Council''s Headquarters is currently bustling with activities.

    There''s a hubbub of noises and people moving around. Lights formed curtains of colorful aurora and the atmosphere was filled with excitement and anticipation. All of this is because the Final Phase of the Grand Youth Meet was about to begin anytime soon.

    Raven terraformed a whole star for this event. He also created arge coliseum above this star where the audience can stay and watch the Final Phase unfold. With the help of seals, he switched thews governing this ce so that the audience won''t be allowed to disturb ormunicate with the remaining participants to ensure fairness.

    The moment Raven and the rest made an appearance with the audience, everybody settled down. Him appearing here means that the final phase was about to start.

    Some people couldn''t help but notice the additional presence behind them. Aside from the Young Lord and the rest of the Supervisors, there are three new people who''s sitting next to them.

    From what they could tell, these three were young. They can''t see their faces since they''re wearing something to hide their facial features but their aura couldn''t be mistaken.

    Of course, nobody dared to say anything. They could only specte within themselves and it''s not like it''s their business anyways.

    These three are other than Vanessa, Richard and Jeanne. They apanied their parents to watch the Final Phase unfold. Their identities are hidden behind a mirage caused by the article of clothing they used to hide their faces.

    Seeing it on screen is different from seeing it live. This rang true for the three of them.

    Looking at the sea of people beneath them, looking up to them ¨C well, they''re parents more like, with awe and reverence, filled them with immense pride but also brought them great pressure.

    Every single person here was stronger than them. Each one could probably kill them with just a stare. It''s not like it''s going to happen, especially under the noses of their parents, but still. It''s quite scary for them.

    Now, they could for sure say that their decision to temporarily hide their faces was a wise move. They just realized how unprepared they were just yet. They have an awful long way to go before they could muster up enough confidence to face this much people and responsibilities.

    "Laughing Dragon, it''s time to start the Final Phase. Do host it for me, yeah?"

    "Of course, Young Lord. It''d be an honor to do so." Laughing Dragon stood up from his seat and gave Raven a curt bow.

    He then flew at the center of the coliseum, gathering everyone''s attention.

    "Ladies and gentlemen. Please, settle down. We''re about to start the Final Phase. Do return to your seats to sit back and rx. I am Laughing Dragon and I''ll be hosting the Final Phase for you."

    At his announcement, the audience perked-up. They returned to their respective seats and waited for everything to settle down. It didn''t take them long to do so.

    "Now that everybody''s ready, we shall not waste anymore time." Laughing Dragon smiled, he took out a seal and pressed it firmly.

    Within the fake ¨C Dawn Council Headquarters, Laughing Dragon''s face appeared before the remaining participants, startling them slightly.

    "Youngsters, you''re two months is up. Ready or not, the Final Phase will begin." He said.

    "As what was mentioned before, the Final Phase is called Battle Royale. You will be transferred into a vast battlefield randomly."

    "Everyone is your enemy. Thest person standing wins. The rest will be ranked ording to their achievements during the Final Phase."

    "The battlefield will shrink every week, by shrink I meant the zone where you can stay and fight will be smaller. Get caught outside of it and you''ll be eliminated, no questions asked."

    "With all that said, prepare yourself. You''ll be transferred within the next minute." Laughing Dragon stated.

    The participants took a deep breath and did somest minute preparations. Next thing they know, they feel an irresistible pull and their surroundings turned blurry.

    Upon regaining their senses, they found themselves in a new environment. It was sunny and warm, yet there''s a tense atmosphere around.

    Their instincts screamed at them and then, they heard Laughing Dragon''s voice:

    "The Final Phase: Battle Royale! Officially begins now!"

    Chaos ensued the moment his announcement sounded. Cheers and apuse exploded from the audience. People cheered for their favorite participant. It was crazy how invested these people are for this event.

    Some battles already began and the audience took notice of it. With Raven''s arrangement, the view within the coliseum changed. The surroundings shifted as if they were personally witnessing the sh between the participants.

    Even with the loud cheers of the audience, the participants never heard a thing. They didn''t even noticed their presence at all so they didn''t get distracted by the booming noises.

    Vanessa, Richard and Jeanne felt their bloods curdling at this sight. The lively atmosphere was contagious. The coliseum was practically shaking with how much noise the audience were making, even the peak experts got rid of their aloof masks and were now cheering as loudly as the rest.

    Thankfully, their spot was isted and protected from all themotion. It would he bad if the kids were exposed to this kind of environment directly since these people are projecting their voices using energy to speak and cheer louder. They''d probably go deaf the moment they stepped outside of their area.

    "¡­ooh! Big Bro Kyle is about to encounter someone." Richardmented and the view shifted to Kyle who''s minding his business.

    It didn''t take long before Kyle perked-up and felt the sudden shift on his surroundings. He scanned the area and his face changed for brief second.

    Next thing they know, a blurry shadow appeared behind Kyle, holding a handheld sickle aimed at his throat.

    Kyle anticipated this though. He calmly stopped the sickle by trapping it between his index and middle finger. He gave his assaulter a deadpanned stare as he casually raised his foot and nted it deep into the enemy''s guts.

    The assaulter flew back like a broken kite, coughing blood in the process. Kyle summoned his Greatsword and employed his movement technique which turned him a series of phantoms chasing after the enemy.

    Before the enemy even had the time topose himself and get back on his feet, Kyle was already standing in front of him with his greatsword aimed at the sky.

    With a soft grunt, Kyle swung his sword down and chopped the enemy in half, turning him into motes of light that disappeared from the battlefield.

    "First blood goes to Kyle or the Lower ne." Laughing Dragon announced. The audience and the participants heard his announcement too.

    The person that Kyle ''killed'' appeared within the coliseum like a frightened rabbit. Pale and sweating. He was confused for a second before he realized what happened. After that, he could only smile wryly.

    Within the battlefield, Kyle kept his greatsword away and continued walking on a specific direction.

    The view within the coliseum changed again, mostly focusing on where battles are happening. It''s really crazy since it hasn''t even been a day since the Final Phase began yet there''s already so much action.

    After Kyle''s first blood announcement. It was then followed by another set of eliminations. By the end of the day, only 40 participants were remaining.

    Most participants decided to spend the night to get some rest, others borrowed the cover of the night to conceal their movements and hunt for other participants.

    Two more people were eliminated during the night, causing the other participants to be rmed. By now, they understood that safety is just an illusion here. They have to be consistently on-guard for ambushes at any given moment.

    Only a few participants were able to get some real rest. Others stayed up all night to secure their safety.

    By the following days, the audience witnessed all kinds of strategy. Some chose to form an alliance only to get backstabbed. Some chose to avoid confrontations. Some chose to hit and run and so on. There was nock of ideas from the contestants and the audience were greatly entertained.

    Most especially, those who watched it live.

    Laughing Dragon did great at being the host. He''s also the one who switched the view and concentrated on ces where there''s action involved to keep the audience engaged.

    The participants who were eliminated also watched with rapt attention. At this point, they already recovered from their defeat. They got distracted by the disy of wits and strength that ideas started festering in their heads.

    Eventually, the end of the first week arrived. Everyone watched as the battlefield shook and its edges copsed, making it smaller than before.

    Nobody got eliminated from the first copse, thankfully. But it doesn''t mean that the remaining participants weren''t wary of it. From what they know, things will only escte from now on so there''s even more pressure on their shoulders.

    Still, with how engaged the people are for this event.. There''s no denying that it is a resounding sess for the Dawn Council.

 Chapter 839: Sudden Shift

    Chapter 839: Sudden Shift

    ¡ª

    One month was all it took for the battlefield to shrink about a fourth of it''s original size.

    It''s still huge enough for the participants to movefortably while scouting for any possible signs of danger or ambushes. Though at the same time, the constant shrinking of the battlefield already forced a lot of shes amongst the remaining participants.

    It was frantic and exciting, thrilling even. Somehow, the event forced the participants out of theirfort zones. It tested their strengths and wits. It always kept them in their toes. It forced them to move since staying at one ce might as well be seen as a sign of giving-up.

    All sorts of confrontation happened and it truly entertained the audience.

    Sometimes there will be duels until a third party appears out of nowhere to take advantage of the situation. People saw some participants leaving traps, stalking their enemies out, nned out ambushes, direct confrontations and action packed battles.

    It was truly something else.

    Right now, only 27 participants remains. They''re almost halfway done.

    Thing will only escte at this point since the battlefield will be smaller and will force them to confront each other even more.

    Meanwhile, at the audience side. Bets had been ced.

    Raven thought about banning it but well, it''s practically harmless at this point so he let them be. It''s fine since they can''t directly interfere with thepetition itself. Plus, it''s normal for this to happen in events like this anyways.

    The crowd''s favorite were the dark horses, as they call them. These people are other than Kyle, Nina and Tori.

    The tree of them had been the leading figures throughout this whole event. Their names are always included in the top rankings and for a good reason too.

    They haven''t done much in the final phase though. Some people were expecting them to go ballistic and on a killing spree but they went against their expectations.

    There had been many chances where they could''ve cut down the numbers of the remaining participants but they didn''t. Instead, they just rxed and took it easy. None of them confronted the others unless they were attacked first. This was how they did things.

    Some people were confused as to why, some understood what they''re trying to do, others practically didn''t care and were just here to be entertained. Whichever it is, doesn''t matter anyways since they can''t interact with the participants directly anyways.

    So, despite people''s expectations, they weren''t really at the leaderboards for now.

    Soon though, this was bound to change¡­

    ¡ª

    Another month passed and the battlefield shrunk even more.

    This time, everyone was feeling a bit constricted and suffocated due to how little space was left for them to move around. They were constantly on edge since it seems like at any given moment, a confrontation will ur, if it does then everyone will sense it and wille-up with different schemes to take advantage of it.

    From 27, their numbers dropped to 15 during this past month. It''s only a matter of time before the final phase ended and every was left tensed and anticipating.

    This was when a sudden change urred, surprising almost everyone who''s watching.

    Kyle, Nina and Tori found themselves fighting four people each. Meaning that the remaining participants entered a temporary alliance to eliminate them out of thepetition first.

    The audience were dumbfounded by the sudden shift. They were left puzzled as to how they managed to n this without them noticing. They didn''t even know when the alliance was formed in the first ce.

    It was such a deliberate n too. They managed to catch them at the edge of the map and it''s nearly the end of the week. Meaning that if they stalled them long enough, it was quite possible for them to get caught up in the copse and ensure their elimination.

    That being said though, why does it look like these weren''t even surprised by this sudden ambush?

    The three of them weren''t even working together, hell they haven''t even met each other ever since the Final Phase began, so why does it look like they knew? And why did they look mildly disappointed?

    Well, Kyle fortunately answered their inquiries.

    "Oh. Teaming up against dear old me? Gosh, you guys are making me all flustered and stuff." Kyle said while summoning his greatsword out of nowhere.

    "Still, I was expecting you guys to do this earlier than this." He said while taking a small step forward, "Mind telling me what held you up?"

    One of the guys who confronted him stepped forward bravely and countered his question: "Stop pretending to know everything. Drop the act, we all know you''re shaking in your boots."

    "Oh, but I do though. Also I''m afraid of you. Just curious actually." Kyle chuckled. "Did you honestly think that I''m clueless about what''s going on with my surroundings? You guys can''t be serious now, right?"

    Another scoff and Kyle continued: "You think I am unaware that you guys were slowly cornering me since this week started? You think I didn''t know that most of the confrontations this past month had been fake? Do you guys actually think that I don''t know what you''re doing? Come on, try harder will you? It''s embarrassing actually."

    The group ambushing him stilled when started talking. One look is all it takes for everyone to realize that Kyle was obviously telling the truth.

    "You guys eliminated those who didn''t want to participate in your little scheme while those that did, you let them escape to lick their wounds and prepared for this day."

    "Quite an impressive if I may add. Though, it''s basic as fuck. I honestly think that you guys can do better but oh well, so much for schemers am I right?" Kyle chuckled derisively as he unapologetically bashed theirughable attempt of cornering him and his girlfriends.

    "Oh,e on." Kyle scoffed, his tone mildly amused. "Don''t look at me like that! It''s just me! I''m not omniscient, you guys just suck at nning and petty to boot. Can you really me me?"

    "I honestly can''t believe that you guys will go as far as teaming-up against me and my girlfriends just because were crushing you in thispetition. You pride as citizens of Divine Realm really got into your brains that you wouldn''t mind resorting to petty schemes like this in order to preserve your so-called honor."

    "It''s so clich¨¦. So predictable that I didn''t even need to use three brain cells to predict what you guys were nning. Can you really me me for being disappointed?" Kyle shrugged as he finished his piece.

    "Oh well, you guys seeded anyway." Kyle grinned at them, "You managed to iste me at the edge of the battlefield and sessfully team-up against me. Your n worked! Give yourselves a pat in the back, you guys deserve it."

    "However, if you''re thinking that you guys trapped me here¡­well, I got some bad news for you."

    Kyle promptly disappeared from where he was, rming the four people who ambushed him. Next thing they knew, he was standing behind them and they''re inside a wide cage of light, feeling a stifling pressure pressing down on their shoulders as they looked at Kyle who has his greatsword resting by his shoulders.

    "You didn''t trap me here." Kyle let out a feral grin, "You guys are trapped here with me."

    "¡­"

    "Let''s dance, boys!"

    At the coliseum, the audience were in an uproar. They reacted in different ways when Kyle unraveled the scheme against the three of them. Some felt righteous indignation, some said that Kyle was too arrogant, some chose to remain silent with the rest frankly don''t care about it.

    On the other hand, Raven chuckled softly at his disciple''s disy of confidence. At least his teachings wasn''t wasted on Kyle. He''s still a little dumb but he has good memory.

    "Did you know that this is going to happen, Dad?"

    Raven looked at his daughter and said: "Of course, Princess. It''s not really that hard to discover that they''re up to something. Just like what Kyle said, it''s a bit embarrassing how obvious they were."

    "¡­I didn''t notice." She said.

    "It all boils down to experience, Princess." Raven exined calmly. "Your Big Brother Kyle has been in the Divine Realm for a long time just like me and your mom. If anything, Kyle experience more hardship since he I wasn''t there to support him yet he still managed to survive."

    "Being consistently pushed towards danger is bound to teach you some important lessons in life. Kyle absorbed them and practically built his virtues using them. This is why schemes of this level doesn''t faze him anymore. If anything, he learned to use them to his advantage."

    "And I''m guessing the same goes with Aunty Nina and Aunty Tori?"

    "Exactly." Raven nodded to her, "I put them through the wringer before letting them roam Divine Realm. That''s the only way I know to make sure they can survive the cruel and unfair environment of this ce."

    "This is also something that you might need to go through in the future if you decide to stick by your decision, so do think about it clearly, yes?"

    "I will, Dad."

 Chapter 840: Display Of Skills

    Chapter 840: Disy Of Skills

    ¡ª

    Unlike Kyle, Nina and Tori didn''t bother wasting words with their enemies.

    They just got up from where they were resting and waited for them to make a move.

    Nina and Tori aren''t together. In fact, the three of them haven''t even met each other ever since they were transported here. Still, their minds worked perfectly in sync because of their experiences while travelling Divine Realm together.

    Nina challenged her enemies with her Sword Laws, Tori confronted them with her hammer and Strength Laws while Kyle pressured his enemies with the weight of a heavenly body with his World Laws.

    The fight sh was extremely heated. It was hectic, frantic and nail-biting.

    Nina dances around her enemies like a morous shadow, leaving them with numerous cuts and wounds in the process. Her enemies felt like their attacks were useless since it all just passed through her like she was a ghost.

    They have yet to leave a single scratch on her and the wounds she left on them felt like a sign that she was mocking them and asking them to try harder. There''s four of them for god''s sake, yet they can''t even touch the hem of her clothes.

    Nina flourished her sword. It was mesmerizing and left trails of silver-ish petals as she swung it around. It''s as if her sword was blessed by the moon itself. She didn''t look like she was fighting, it looked like she was dancing and it left a striking impression to those who witnessed it.

    If you look at the crowd right now, specifically at the faces of the young heroes who''s watching the broadcast. It''s pretty obvious that they were captivated by Nina''s beauty and nobody could me them.

    She was graceful, elusive and ethereal. She was a fairy that visited/haunted their dreams, leaving them dazed and wanting more. A cold, cold vixen that they could only dream to approach.

    On the other hand, there''s Tori ¨C which is quite the opposite of Nina.

    The way she swung her hammer could only be described as reckless. Her toned arms clenched as she grunted in her attempts of turning her enemies into meat patties.

    Every step she took left a firm print on the ground beneath her, every swung she took caused the air to scream and the space to tremble. The sheer weight of her hammer caused the very earth to tremble beneath her.

    Tori is surrounded by a faint haze that caused her silhouette to turn a bit blurry. If you look at her enemies, you''d see that their faces look extremely ufortable. They were sweating buckets and panting harshly, it''s as if they were running out of air to breathe when they didn''t need to breathe in the first ce.

    Despite her wielding that enormous hammer like it weighed nothing, Tori was swift too. She practically moved at dozen times the speed of light. Unlike Nina who''s untouchable, Tori seemed invincible.

    She didn''t even bother dodging the attacks sent her way, she just bodied them like was nothing, not even flinching in the process. She had this feral grin on her face which frankly left her enemies intimidated. It doesn''t matter what they did, she was like a boulder. Practically unbothered by everything.

    Unlike Nina who''s wearing a long white robes which fluttered mystically as she moved, Tori wore something that fits her personal style.

    A sleeveless top that mostly covered her chest and back, leaving her arms and her toned-abs exposed and a pair of baggy pants with sandals. Her hair was tied-up into a bun and she wore several earrings. Tori skin tone was darkerpared to Nina but it just entuated her own fearsome beauty even more.

    Tori has as much fans as Nina. In their eyes, Tori was more excitingpared to her twin sister. She was fierce and exotic. She didn''t fall under those boring beauty standards that most women preferred, she''s unapologetically herself and that''s special.

    Well, at the end of the day, their opinions doesn''t really matter to the twins.

    At most they''d be ttered but no more than that.

    Both of them were taken already, after all.

    By who? By Kyle of course!

    The same Kyle who''s turning his enemies like a pitiful clowns right now. The same Kyle who revealed the petty scheme they''re up to and ruthlessly stomped on it.

    Kyle was confident. And it isn''t a baseless confidence like what others posses. Kyle has the right to act and feel confident because he capable of doing so.

    With every volley of attacks he faced from his enemies, Kyle would only need a casual swing of his greatsword topletely nullify them.

    It''s been several hours since they began fighting and not even once did they audience saw Kyle making he first move. Instead, he just nullifies their attack and wait for the next one.

    Also, he hasn''t move a single muscle since the fight began. He even looked borderline bored and sleepy with this exchange.

    He''s here doing the bare minimum while his enemies were stressed to the point of pulling all their hairs out on how to take him down.

    Truthfully, Kyle could end this farce the moment it begins. At this point, this knowledge is clear to everyone in the audience, but it doesn''t change the fact that his fight was entertaining.

    If Nina was untouchable, Tori was invincible, Kyle was domineering.

    He''s practically a one-man army. It was obvious that he could do this all day. It''s obvious that at this point, he''s just ying with his food.

    Kyle did make these people regret ever antagonizing him. He was devious. He trapped them in a cage that they cannot escape from and forced them to fight/entertain him. He even gave off an impression that even if all twelve of them worked together to eliminate him, Kyle would justugh at them, call them ''cute'' and proceed to demolish them with a smile on his face.

    His enemies really regretted their decision. Unfortunately, they''ve already mounted the tiger''s back. They can''t back down now.

    The fight continued on.

    Neither Kyle, Nina or Tori seemed to be pressed in time. They wanted to y for as long as they could before they''re officially forced to confront each other in a three-way battle.

    Some people in the audience even said that those people they''re fighting now are being used as warm-up for their eventual sh, and if one looked closely. That does seem to be the case.

    Hours turned into days¡­

    At this point, the enemies looked wretched. Hairs dishelved, panting, weak and extremely exhausted. Some of them even begged to be killed already since they can''t continue anymore but their requests were never approved.

    The end of the week is almost upon them, which means that the battlefield is going to shrink once again.

    These people nned their actions yet it backfired right before it even started. They thought that the one''s who''ll get tired at this point would be these three but no, it was them who were spent instead.

    It was already clear who''s going to be eliminated after this. It''s just a matter of time.

    Even after all this hours though, Kyle remained impassive. He stood firmly where he was right as soon as the fight began and still hasn''t taken another step forward. None of his enemies forced him to do so.

    It was embarrassing really. There''s four of them here yet even theirbined efforts failed to move Kyle. What a joke really. It makes one wonder how these people made it this far in this event.

    Noticing that ytime''s almost up got Kyle thinking though.

    ''Should I push them outside of the edge or kill them instead? Hmm¡­decisions, decisions¡­''

    He was actually pondering over the pros and cons of each choice he has as he still casually nullified the volley of attacksing his way.

    The first choice sounded funny to him, he''s actually inclined to do it if it weren''t for the fact that it''s extremely humiliating for his enemies. Their reputation already hit rock bottom at this point, pushing them outside of the edge is just kicking them while their down. Some experts might take this personally which makes this troublesome.

    The other choice was boring if he''s being honest. At this point, everyone knows that he could end this once, no doubts. Killing with his own hands sounded cruel by it''s a more eptable way to die for them. It''s the least he could for using them as warm-up for the eventual battle between him and his girlfriends.

    ''I''ll just kill them I guess.'' Kyle decided, ''I don''t want to give Master any additional headache by offending other experts.''

    So, now that he decided on what to do, he let out a sigh. He looked at his enemies one by one, causing them to flinch and feel nervous. Kyle shook his head in disappointment and before they knew it, his greatsword was already pointing at the sky.

    Kyle held it high and brought it down with a grunt. One powerful swing was all it took to take out his enemies.

    He deactivated the trap once their gone and proceeded to walk towards the center of the battlefield.

 Chapter 841: Bets

    Chapter 841: Bets

    ¡ª

    The end of the week passed and the battlefield shrunk even more. It''s only a portion of its original size. Only big enough to amodate a vige or two at this point.

    Only three participants remained ¨C the crowd''s favorites: Kyle, Nina and Tori.

    Currently, they could see them walking towards the center of the battlefield, if they continued to their current direction, their paths will inevitably meet.

    The audience watched with rapt attention. Some were even holding their breath in anticipation for what''s toe.

    The three of them walked at a brisk pace, slowly but surely arriving at their destination. Unbeknownst to the audience though, the three of them already felt each other''s presence the moment they entered a specific zone so they''re not surprised anymore.

    The audience were expecting a heated sh right away. Expecting them to fight as soon as they meet each other''s eyes. They were expecting action¡­unfortunately, the three betrayed their expectations.

    When they met, instead of fighting, they got into a group hug. All smiles and giggling ¨C a stark opposition of what''s supposed to happen.

    Then again they remembered that these three are in a rtionship so should''ve expected this to happen.

    "How have you been?" Kyle asked the twins.

    "Good but bored." Tori answered, detaching from the hug. "I expected more from this but oh well, can''t have everything."

    "What she said." Nina replied as well.

    "Good to hear." Kyle nodded, "You two aren''t injured, right?"

    "No." The twins shook their head, then Nina asked: "You?"

    "I''m not. They can''t even touch me." Kyle shrugged. "You girls hungry?"

    "Very." Tori nodded, "I haven''t eaten anything in months, I''m dying." She cutely whined.

    "Shut your dramatic ass up." Nina snorted, "As if you needed food to survive."

    "Hey! Don''t be mean to me!" Tori stuck her tongue out as her twin sister, "Food makes me happy. You should try some so that you''ll stop being bitter."

    "I''m not bitter." Nina countered, "You''re just annoying."

    "Alright, girls." Kyle chuckled softly, "Stop arguing. Let''s rest for a bit, I''ll prepare something to eat, yeah?"

    "Grilled meat, please?"

    "Sure! I''m craving for that too. How about you Nina?"

    "I''m good. I''ll prepare drinks for us instead? Green tea with honey for you?"

    "Yes, please and thank you."

    "Ooh! I''ll set up the table." Tori chimed-in.

    Sufficed to say, the audience were perplexed by this sight.

    Again, this wentpletely outside of their expectations.

    Here they were, expecting an explosive three-way battle from them yet what they delivered was theplete opposite of that.

    Really? What''s up with this domesticity? What is this warm and home-y atmosphere around them? Did they forgot about the event? Why are they doing this?

    Some people were alreadyining about this disy, yet their voices fell on deaf ears since Raven has no ns on hurrying them.

    Why would he when there''s absolutely no need for it? The three of them know what they''re doing. If the audience doesn''t like what they''re seeing, then they can stop watching for all he cares, he already achieved his goal anyways.

    And it''s not like they broke the rules anyways. What they''re doing is perfectly okay. They did not vite any rules or whatsoever so they''re free to do this.

    The following hours went on like this ¨C just the three of them enjoying a warm and delicate peace. They ate and talked about random things. They even yed board games at some point.

    They spent this whole day to rx. No fights, just peace and quiet. Enjoying thepany of one another just like how they wanted it. A day of normalcy, away from the shimmering lights and smell of blood. They disyed what normal people do in their daily life.

    To some people, this is boring, unwanted and irrelevant.

    But for those people who had seen enough of this world. Those who experienced the ups and downs of life. This disy of warmth and peace was something that''s made them feel nostalgic. It was reminiscent of their past. Back when they were young, had all the time in the world and had no responsibilities weighing down their shoulders.

    In the end, even this idle moment, being disyed by the three of the, hides a valuable lesson for everyone.

    The day passed by and they just watch the three of them being domestic. They even slept on the same tent, cuddling one another closely.

    Then came the next day and suddenly, the air changed.

    It literally changed the moment after they were done with their morning routines.

    Everybody felt this change right away. It was so obvious that it left them anticipating once more.

    The atmosphere was so tense that you could cut it with a knife. It was weird since just a few hours ago, they were still being sweet and cuddly together, then all of the sudden, they were acting as if they just met their worst nemesis.

    They stood several meters away from each other in a triangle. They didn''t look at each other for now and busied themselves loosening their joints.

    The things they used the day before were now tidied-up. What remains were just traces of their activities earlier but those are going to be forgotten once they start.

    After warming-up their muscles, they stared at each other.

    No, they didn''t re. Their gazes were measured. As if they were estimating their enemies'' strength. Just from a single nce, it was obvious that their senses were primed. The moment someone moves, they''ll respond in kind.

    "¡­if I win this, you two will give me a massage everyday for a whole month. If I''m the first one to get eliminated, I''ll do the dishes for a month." Tori dered.

    "If I win, I''m going to force you two to attend Master Avant''s Calligraphy ss next year." Nina smiled as she witnessed the pained smile of her sister and her lover, "If I''m the first one to get eliminated, then I''ll eat Master Keller''s full course Exotic Cuisine right in front of you."

    "Ooh, damn!!" Kyle chuckled, "So feisty. I love it."

    Even the audience couldn''t help but admire Nina''spetitive spirit. The conditions she stated were awesome. Master Avant''s is a famous expert who specializes in Calligraphy and Numeracy, he''s actually watching this event live too. He''s a strict guy and wouldn''t hesitate to bite someone''s ear off if they can''t follow his simple instructions. Kyle and Tori dislike him, only Nina doesn''t because she''s a rare breed.

    Meanwhile, Master Keller is a Spirit Chef, specializing in Exotic Cuisine ¨C bugs, worms, roaches, entrails¡­basically, his full course menu is something that could make a grown-man squirm at its mere sight. Master Keller is notorious for forcing people to eat his stuff but in the end of the day, he''s a chef and a chef makes good food.

    He''s just has a few screws loose in his head but it''s all good.

    Right, he''s also watching this event live as well and currently pping like a seal in delight.

    "Well, ah geez how can I top this?" Kyle scratched his head. "Uh..wait¡­ah!! I know!"

    He cleared his throat and said: "If I win, we''ll head to the Bizarre Great World and we''ll stay at the House of Madness for a whole month!"

    "Oh my god, this boy is a devil." One expert from the audience eximed despite himself. Those who knew and experience what the House of Madness offered visibly shuddered upon hearing its name.

    "You are mad!" Tori gaped at him.

    "What is wrong with you? Why do like that ce so much?" Nina groaned in frustration.

    "Hehe." Kyle just grinned at them, "If I lose, then I''ll do the things you two will do if you lose instead. Meaning, I''ll do the dishes fora month and eat Master Keller''s full course menu. How does that sound?"

    Nina and Tori looked at each other, shrugged then spoke at the same time.

    "Deal!"

    "Okay!" Kyle feral grin returned. "Ready?"

    The three of them summoned their weapons and began ring at each other. Kyle looked at the twins, feeling his heat thumping on his chest as he roared:

    "Go!!"

    *Boom!!*

    Three enormous res appeared. Each one representing their aura. Tori was Dark Golden, Nina was Pale Silver while Kyle was Velvet Violet.

    The sheer intensity of their aura shook the very fabrics of space itself, leaving it crumbling in their presence. The ground shook, the air howled and the skies darkened.

    The audience bursts into an uproar. They all gaped at the sheer disy of strength. Just from this sight alone, it was clear that three weren''t holding back anymore. They were geared to kill each other and it made them tremble in their seats.

    A moment of silence ensured before all of a sudden, the three of them disappeared from where they stood.

    Whates next was blurry of shadows, streaks of light, sharp screeches of weapons shing, disgruntled groans, sparks, the ground exploding all over the ce.

    The space shattered again and again. The whole battlefield was quaking under the weight of their sh. Some people can''t even see things clearly but they could still feel the sheer intensity of the fight.

    This went on for a couple of hours before suddenly, a victorious silhouette appeared right before them.

 Chapter 842: Slow Motion Replay

    Chapter 842: Slow Motion Rey

    ¡ª

    Only a few people got the chance to actually see what happened during that three-way battle, these people are those who had higher cultivation achievementspared to the rest.

    For the rest, the battle urred far to fierce and swift for their poor senses to follow, therefore they could only wait until the final result was revealed.

    Raven was of course aware of this so he did something in order to appease the disappointed crowd this time.

    Just as the silhouette of the victor was about to be released, Raven paused the broadcast and modified the seal right then and there to rey the events that transpired in slow-motion, this way everyone will get the chance to see just how fierce the battle became.

    The lights converged around them and before everyone knew it, the image of the three standing a couple meters away from each other, appeared. This was before the battle started.

    Then they heard Kyle signaling the match to start and currently everything was ying in slow motion.

    Once again, everyone witnessed just how enormous the aura of these three were. The sheer density of itpletely outssed the so-called geniuses of the Divine Realm.

    With the y back being in slow-motion, they saw how they charged at each other. They no longer saw mere blurs, they saw them employing their movement techniques with such finesse that put other geniuses to shame.

    Weapons sh and a golden sparks erupted. The sheer blow of their weapons caused the ground beneath them to shatter and their air to howl, it even sent a strong pulse that distorted the space around them.

    Tori won the initial sh, breaking the guard of the other two with the sheer weight of her Warhammer. In a direct contest of raw power, Tori was always expected to win since she possess the greatest raw strengthpared to the two, but of course, they''re not going to let her take advantage of that.

    Nina twirled her body and redirected the impact somewhere else, her petite figure twisted beautifully mid-air, sending several streaks of pale silver strikes that rained down on her sister and her man.

    Kyle was a little slower to recover but still managed to use her greatsword as a shield by cing it in front of him. He clenched his free hand, forming a fist which glowed with a dense light. He then sent a punch that quite literally blew up the space, sending mighty ripples that blew the girls away and broke their guards.

    Nina as usual recovered faster, using her grace and flexibility to redirect the blowsing her way. She moved like a graceful civet, twisting and turning to avoid harm. She also borrowed momentum from her twirls to send volleys of attacks to her enemies.

    Tori on the other hand, mmed her Warhammer on the ground. The impact was controlled and calcted that the earth shifted and formed hills which received the attacks for her instead. After that, she struck hills with her hammer, sending waves of pointed rocks to her enemies.

    Kyle grunted and pulled his greatsword. One mighty swing from him and the surroundings caved in once more.

    Everyone vaguely saw how the battlefield shifted along Kyle''s swing as if he''s wielding the world itself, not the greatsword.

    As the battlefield tilted with Kyle''s attack, Nina and Tori lost their bnce but they swiftly adjusted. They were used to this anyways so it''s nothing new to them. Instead of relying on the ground for support, they relied on air instead.

    Nina''s eyes turned cold all of a sudden. She brandished her sword and all of a sudden, the air around her shifted.

    The audience did not miss the feeling they got when Nina did that. They felt as if a sharp sword was pointed at their throats.

    Those who followed the Sword Path felt a crisis stemming from the very foundations of their cultivation. Some of them even unknowingly withdrawn their swords, causing others to look at them in a surprised manner.

    This reaction was expected, after all they just sensed the existence of Sword Intent raging from Nina''s body.

    Her Sword Intent felt dense and extremely sharp. It gave one an impression that with a sword in her hand, there''s nothing Nina can''t cut.

    And that''s precisely what Nina''s Sword Intent represents ¨C Unparalleled Sharpness.

    The audience also didn''t miss the way how Kyle and Nina''s pupils constricted in rm once they felt Nina''s Sword Intent. They tensed up and prepared for the worst.

    Nina gracefully brandished her sword, cutting through everything in front of her like a hot knife through butter. Her swings were filled with confidence, she did it like she was writing a passage of words. The result however was pure devastation.

    She left numerous sword scars on the earth and even cut through the clouds. Kyle and Tori had to scram from their positions in order to avoid her attacks.

    The Sword Enthusiasts ¨C especially the young ones, at the audience were left gaping at her disy.

    Nina''s Sword Intent was simple and direct, yet it''s extremely effective. Just from seeing her use it gave them several ideas that they''d never consider before. It''s as if she just opened a door that they never knew existed to them.

    They have Sword Intent too, but in front of Nina''s, it felt pathetic. Her Sword Intent appeared more liked a Sword Heart to them, yet they knew that it''s still a Sword Intent.

    The audience heard Kyle and Tori grumble. They even heard them faintly saying something like;

    ''Damn, she is not ying around''

    ''Close! Very close!''

    ''Oops! Nearly got me there.''

    Honestly, nobody mes them for avoiding her attacks instead of receiving it. Almost everybody here would, for sure, lose a limb if they even thought about doing that.

    Then, there''s another shift that urred. This time,ing from Tori herself.

    Her body suddenly released a strong pulse and the radiance of her Dark Golden aura intensified. Her eyes even adopted its color.

    Tori released a steamy breath. Then all of a sudden, she flew like a shooting star towards Nina. Her flight carried a ridiculous momentum, it was so intense that the moment she released it, all manner of chaos ensued.

    Her strikes were akin to impact of a falling star. Even with the slow-motion, in effect, Tori''s speed still turned her into a mere streak of light. She was like a ricocheting projectile that repeated harassed Nina and Kyle into submission.

    She was swift and her attacks were incredibly dangerous. Now, not even Nina''s sword can follow her.

    In front of her fearsome girlfriends releasing their pent-up stress through battle, Kyle could only smile wryly and let them have some fun.

    He didn''t interrupt them, he endured it and waited for the perfect opportunity to surprise them both. But considering how fierce these two were and how familiar they''ve gotten to each other, he wouldn''t be surprised if they knew his thought process as well.

    Which is why it makes things a lot harder than what he expected. Nevertheless, he wouldn''t have it any other way.

    So, there he was. Taking blow after blow, barely being in time to not get himself eliminated first since he could almost swear that the twins were teaming-up against him.

    Soon though, an opportunity presented itself.

    All it took was a bad sh with Nina and Tori momentarily lost some of her momentum. Kyle''s eyes suddenly sharpened and knew that this was the moment to strike.

    Kyle nted his foot solidly onto the ground, he used his free hand to grab the very fabric of space and pulled it down.

    The girls suddenly felt the world shifting once more and they obviously knew who did it. Still, Kyle was far from done.

    After causing a tectonic shift, Kyle brought up another hand as he kept the greatsword away. He used both of his hands, pulling the gravitational field harshly. With a loud grunt, he released his hold and all of sudden, true chaos ensued.

    The battlefield tossed and turned, space shattered again and again, winds howled, earth exploded and lightning started raining down on everything.

    The girls felt greatly disturbed and disoriented. At one point, gravity was normal, then in the next second, it''ll be gone or be heavier by at least five times. Kyle caused the battlefield to shift at each second that passed, promptly stopping their initiative altogether.

    Kyle''s greatsword appeared once more. Amidst the great chaos around him, only Kyle was okay.

    He stabbed his greatsword to the ground and twisted it like opening a lock using a key.

    All of a sudden, the whole battlefield exploded. Rocks suddenly floated and freely shifted it''s size. Some grew as big as a meteor, some disintegrated. Rock formations appeared and disappeared. Sometimes there''s mud, sometimes there''s only sand.

    All in all Kyle''s actions resulted in a massive disturbance and upsets the currentws present in the battlefield.

    Nina and Tori were sweating now because they knew.

    They knew that Kyle already started his move and practically unstoppable once he started.

    He now has a total control over the battlefield so whatever he says in here goes.. Now, his true counter-attack will start.

 Chapter 843: The Defeated Champion

    Chapter 843: The Defeated Champion

    ¡ª

    "Uh, Dad?"

    "Yes, Princess?"

    "What did Big Brother Kyle just do? Why is the battlefield like that now?" Vanessa''s question caused her friends to perk up and look at Raven for answers as well.

    Raven smiled at them and said: "What he die was basically exerting his Will onto the battlefield by virtue of his Laws."

    "Laws?"

    "Laws are the governing force that determines the order to things, Sweetheart." Luna interjected, "It is the answer to why things exists and things doesn''t exist."

    "That''s right." Raven nodded, "Every living being follows the order of Laws. Cultivators like us can perceive them and sometimes exercise out control over said Laws."

    "What Kyle used was his understanding of Star Laws." Raven added, "Using it, he basically gained control over the battlefield. What he says and wants, goes in there. If he wants things in order, then it shall be in order. If he wants it to be chaotic and unpredictable, it will be chaotic and unpredictable."

    "If he wants the gravity to heavier, it will. If her wants the sky to be at the bottom and the ground above, then it shall. If he wants the air to blow from west to east only, then it will."

    "If he doesn''t want fire to burn, then it won''t. If he forbid the water to fall, then it''s forbidden. In that very battlefield right now, Kyle is nothing short of a god honestly."

    "Simply put, in that very battlefield right now. Your Big Brother Kyle is the ultimate ruler. That is unless someone stronger than him exists within the same space that can nullify his control." Raven finished his exnation.

    "Amazing, but¡­it soundsplicated." Vanessa sighed.

    "It is, Princess." Raven chuckled. "Perceiving Laws was never easy, much less utilizing it to its outmost degree. It''s one of the things that had to be explored by yourself. That''s why experience is extremely important to a cultivator."

    Vanessa and her friends nodded in agreement and went back to watching the slow-motion rey of the match.

    Just like what Raven said, Kyle already has the upper-hand in this match. It only took one miscalcted move from the twins and Kyle practically reversed the situation around.

    Still, that doesn''t mean that the match has been decided. Kyle only managed to take over the battlefield, it doesn''t mean anything if the twins could still move around and fight back, which is exactly what''s happening right now.

    Yes, the advantage that twins had earlier had been neutralized by Kyle''s sudden eruption and showcase of strength, but he hasn''t won yet. If anything, he just evened out the ying field.

    Now, there''s really nothing holding them back. This is the three of them going all-out in this battle.

    With the intensity of the battle, Raven had to slow-down the rey even more since the three of the, were starting to be mere blurs and shadows all over again.

    The twins are trying to close the distance between them and Kyle but it was extremely difficult to do so. Even with Tori''s speed, she can''t touch him since he could just redirect her trajectory somewhere else.

    Of course, the twins are fighting each other as well while trying to take Kyle down. Flurry of lights and cacophony of explosions followed their wake as they moved-about. Each one was dead set on truly eliminating the other two to im the title of being Divine Realm''s Grand Meet Champion.

    Their sh left everybody breathless, especially the young ones. It''s a little hard to believe that the people they''re watching right now were young. If anything, they''d easily pass as a an expert already with capabilities like this.

    It was an eye-opener to them for sure. Just from witnessing this battle, they could see just how much they''recking in all aspects ¨C training, cultivation,wprehension and experience. None of them would be able tost even for a few minutes if they were in there.

    Still, just like what Raven said earlier, this is a disy for the youth of Divine Realm. Seeing what being a Genius truly means will ignite their passion and push them to train harder.

    After all, youth are indeed hot-blooded and sometimes irrational. They wouldn''t want to he outshined by their peers.

    With the sh going as hard as it right now. It was difficult to guess who will win.

    Thepetition was extremely tight. Their strengths were basically equal. At the end of the day, it seems that it''ll once again depend on who makes the wrong move.

    And that moment came sooner than expected.

    Tori utilized her Extreme Yang Laws to its outmost degree, at least within the level that she can endure. This caused her to release an eye-catching and scorching brilliance that injured everyone who saw it.

    The audience were protected from it but Kyle and Nina weren''t.

    The one that show the strongest reaction was Nina since she''s utilizing her Elusive Yin Laws ¨C the pr opposite of Extreme Yang. They basically cancelled each other.

    Kyle was the one who suffered the most. He was scorched by Tori''s aura and drained by Nina''s. Nevertheless, he remained steady and didn''t falter from his position.

    Just as Tori was about to move, Kyle''s pupils suddenly widened. The moment she took a step forward, Kyle changed the gravitational pull once more, causing Tori to nearly lose her bnce.

    Nina saw this and nned on taking advantage of it, but she didn''t know that this was just the start of Kyle''s n.

    She took the bait so then Kyle shifted the pull once again. The switch was done in a subtle swift manner that the twins could barely react and recover from it.

    Kyle chose to use this moment to eliminate them once and for since he doesn''t know if he''ll ever have a chance again.

    Whilst they were unstable, Kyle swung his greatsword and sent waves of dense sword energy their way. With his utilization of Star Laws, Kyle could remotely control his attacks, freely shifting it to keep them guessing.

    Tori and Nina were forced to take it whether they liked it or not, but of course, this is just the start for Kyle.

    He was practically unstoppable once he began. He sent out waves after waves, ending in a ceaseless volley of attacks that the twins could only receive.

    They can''t retaliate from it. There was simply no time to do so. And it''s not like they could easily receive of escape from Kyle''s attack too. Kyle effectively forced them to be beaten down without any hopes of fighting back. They neither can escape or endure this ceaseless attacks.

    And just as expected, someone caved in after quite sometime.

    Tori pursed her lips and sighed, allowed her to be taken out. However, before she waspletely eliminated, she red at her boyfriend and said:

    "You''re sleeping on the couch until tomorrow!"

    Kyle involuntarily winced upon hearing that but what''s done was done.

    Only Nina was left and still hasn''t given-up.

    Don''t get this wrong. Tori was the first one to go not because she was weaker than Nina. It''s just because of the circumstances.

    Nina was dispersing some of the burdens to her surroundings while Tori tanked them all with her physique. Comparing the two would of course be unfair, after all Tori suffered more since she''s taking it all.

    Nina was smarter about this, heck she even managed tounch a counter-attack from time to time but it wasn''t enough to faze Kyle who waved his greatsword like a maniac.

    She was effectively trapped like this. She can''t escape the volley of attacks. She could neither wait, until Kyle was tired because she''s knows that''s not going to happen, nor do something about it since Kyle closed-off all her options.

    Nina''s patience and wits might be greater than Tori but she also knows that a situation was impossible when she sees one.

    Knowing her defeat is inevitable, she sighed and epted her loss. Oh well, at least she tried. She wasn''t extremely disgruntled about her loss since it made aware that she''s still a long way to go. But of course, she won''t make this easy for Kyle either.

    "Yep. You''re definitely sleeping on the couch. No cuddles and kisses until tomorrow for you Mister." Nina giggled before she got eliminated.

    "Aww! Come on! Not my cuddles and kisses!" Kyle whined as he heard the announcement of his victory.

    Amidst the loud screams of the crowd, screaming his name with reckless abandon and awed gazes. Kyle didn''t truly feel happy.

    Did he truly win?

    Yes.

    But at what cost?

    His cuddle time with his girlfriends. Something that even more important to him than whatever prize there is for this damnpetition.

    Kyle couldn''t help but sulk and grumble softly.

    "Stupidpetition. If I knew I''d lost my cuddle time, I would''ve surrendered as soon as it began."

    Kyle was summoned to the real world by Raven, standing at the tallest podium to represent his status as Divine Realm''s Grand Meet Champion.

    Beside him, at both sides, were her girlfriends who were giggling at their sulking boyfriend.

 Chapter 844: Elite Students

    Chapter 844: Elite Students

    ¡ª

    With the announcement of Kyle being Divine Realm''s first Grand Youth Meet Champion, the event concluded at it''s finest.

    The Dawn Council didn''t bother extending it even further, they didn''t even give any closing remarks, they just ended the broadcast and expected everyone to go back to their regr routines.

    Within the headquarters though, there are still some people around. The finalists remained and are now being granted offers from one expert to the other. They''ve been a chance to choose what kind of blessing to receive, it''s up to them what to pick.

    Majority of the visitors left as soon as the event was over, of course they bid farewell to Raven personally before they did in order to pay respects.

    Right now, most of the people working on the Dawn Council are busy cleaning up after the quests. Meanwhile, Raven''s still has something to do.

    He''s currently facing the final fifty participants, they are gathered at the Main Hall of the Central Ind ¨C Raven''s personal office. These kids, minus his twin sisters and Kyle, just got done collecting their invitations from peak experts who left a few moments ago.

    Suffice to say, everyone''s nervous. Nina and Tori didn''t but the Kyle certainly did. He''s still sulking but he also feel quite rmed since he could feel the lingering gaze of his master on his body. Nobody else noticed this though.

    "¡­by now, majority of you should''ve received the offers from peak experts all over Divine Realm as a result of this event." Raven stated, causing everyone to pay close attention to him. "Congrattions to you all for making it this far in the grand event. It is because od your abilities that this event became sessful so give yourselves a pat in the back and a ''I did well'' for good measure."

    "¡­"

    "¡­oh, who am I kidding right?" Raven grinned as he looked at them one by one.

    Yeah, that''s more or less what most of them actually thought. Who was Raven kidding when he said those words? How can they feel good after all that when they clearly saw the wide chasm between them and the top three?

    Receiving the offers from the experts were nice, indeed. But remembering how outssed they werepared to three in front of them, the offers felt humiliating. It surely isn''t the intention of the experts, they are well aware of that, however they can''t help it since it felt that way.

    "The final sh must''ve been enlightening to the rest of you." Raven smiled, his words were more like a statement rather than a suggestion. "What you saw basically made you question everything that you''ve been doing up until now."

    "¡­"

    "I''m not your parent, not I would act as one. I won''t console any of you." Raven stated, "The gap is too huge, isn''t it? It wouldn''t be a mistake if we say that the three of them can wipe out the rest of you in no time since they''re just that strong."

    They winced upon hearing that, but they can''t really deny it. Indeed, what Raven said was true. Nina, Tori and Kyle would demolish them in no time t without even going all-out, that''s how absurdly strong these three were.

    "It is true that I personally known these three." Raven mentioned, "The girls are my sisters and Kyle has been my disciple even before I left our home world."

    "This information isn''t a secret. I never intended to keep this a secret. I''m guessing most of you knew this by now and are currently thinking that they''ve got the advantage because of their connection to me but¡­you''re dead wrong."

    Raven smirked and continued: "I don''t owe you any exnation, but for the sake of context here, I''ll exin."

    "I''ll admit. I do own a seemingly endless supply of resources to give. I do own numerous inheritances that I can give. I do know things that could''ve seriously helped their cultivation and so on. But see, the truth is I''ve barely given them anything."

    Most of the kids were shocked upon hearing this.

    "Mhm. You heard me right. In fact, I barely paid attention to them once they got here. I was busy you see. Got my hands full of things I need to aplish in order to run a sect and the Dawn Council at the same time. I don''t have the time to babysit my sisters nor my own disciple."

    "Which, takes us to my next point¡­" Raven tilted his head, "Because I don''t have the time to look after them, I can''t really say that their achievements stemmed from my guidance. It hardly does actually. They did most of the efforts on their own."

    "All I managed to do for them, was to prepare them for what they will experience once they arrive at the Divine Realm. I ced them under a torturous training program that will ensure that their skills are up to the level where I don''t have to constantly worry about their well being."

    "I also gave them pointers every once in a while and that''s mostly it." Raven stated, "The rest of what they aplished were something that they worked for by themselves. When they arrived here, they decided to roam Divine Realm as a group to gather as much experience as they could. I didn''t give them any resources nor any pointers from that point onwards."

    "I didn''t even tell them about the Grand Youth Meet now that I''ve thought about it." Raven chuckled.

    Now, everyone was reeling from this information. They couldn''t help but look at the top three and had many thoughts running through their mind.

    "What''s my purpose of me telling you all of this? Well, it''s simple really." Raven stood up front his seat and started walking towards them, "Us, the older generation, can only point you towards a direction and give you certain instructions. Whates next depends on you."

    "I''m sure you''ve heard those words in one form or another multiple times in your lives now and are sick of hearing it, but it''s the truth." Raven looked at them one by one again, "All we can give you is guidance, we won''t walk the path for you, that is up to you to do."

    "The Dawn Council will follow this virtue, especially when ites to you." Raven solemnly said, "All you need will be avable to you if you worked hard for it. We won''t hesitate to bathe you with precious resources so long as you''re showing us results."

    "Therefore I announce that all of you under our tutge." He stated, "You are free toe here and learn or go out there and explore. Your group will now be referred to as Dawn Council''s Elite Students from now on."

    "For the course of a year, we will give you a crash course about your shorings. We will give you pointers and suggestions in order for you to fix all of that and hopefully reach the level of the top three in the near future."

    "After the said year, you can either stay or venture out to explore more of what Divine Realm could offer. You can always return here to search for sce and work as out agents. Our door will always be open for you. So long as you remain loyal to Divine Realm and Humanity, then we won''t hesitate to foster your growth."

    "Kyle will be the Leader of your batch." Raven stated, "Feel free to challenge him for the title. After all, his position grants of the position of Dawn Council''s Envoy."

    Raven waved his hand and a few bundles of items flew towards them.

    "Those will be your new uniforms including Dawn Council''s Identification Badge. Ites with a booklet that states the rules and regtions of the council. Make sure to read it carefully and practice it so that we won''t have problems."

    "Laughing Dragon will be waiting for you at the other side of that door. Nina, Tori and Kyle, you three remain, the rest of you can go."

    Raven turned around and walked back to his seat. The rest of the participants started to leave with the top three remaining within the hall.

    When Raven sat back down, his eyes instantly focused on his disciple. Kyle started sweating nervously. His head was down, refusing to meet his Master''s gaze.

    "So¡­"

    He barely said anything yet the three of them felt chills running down their spine. Even the twins started feeling nervous for themselves.

    "¡­who decided that it was wise to not tell me or our family what''s going on between the three of you?"

    ''Shit! We''re going to die.''

    That''s what the three of them collectively thought at the same time.

    Under Raven''s sharp gaze, they felt small. He was so intimidating that they could feel a formless pressure pressing down on them, making them feel ufortable.

    "¡­anyone wants to answer me or I''ll have to squeeze it out myself? Pick."

    "I-it''s¡­it''s uh¡­umm¡­" Kyle started stuttering, barely meeting his own Master''s gaze.

    "Straighten you back and stuttering, boy! I didn''t raise you that way!" Raven stressed on each word.

    "Sir! Yes, Sir! We got carried away and totally forgot about it, Sir!!"

    "Oh?"

 Chapter 845: Back To Work

    Chapter 845: Back To Work

    ¡ª

    Nina sighed in defeat while Tori just rubbed her hand on her face. Kyle bit his lips but couldn''t really say anything, he just hope that these two will let this slide for now.

    Well, what can he do? Lie? Raven was scary and it''s not like people can lie on his face. He''s going to know the truth anyway so why not tell him right away?

    Raven sighed, he looked at his sisters and asked: "I just want to make sure¡­he didn''t force the two of you, right?"

    "No, Big Brother." The twins answered right away. Nina then said: "The two of us realized it first, then we talked about it since there''s quite literally nothing that remains a secret between us. We decided to share instead of fighting over him."

    "We were the ones who jumped on him, not the other way around." Tori interjected, earning a re from both Nina and Raven.

    Kyle remained silent on the side. Feeling a bit better and quite touched, hearing his girlfriends telling the truth and not being ashamed of what they have. That said, it doesn''t mean that the jitters went away though.

    Raven stared at his own disciple once more. He noticed that Kyle still shivered under his strict gaze but managed to hold the contact.

    ''Good, at least he''s a man enough to take responsibility of his actions.'' Raven nodded to himself.

    Well, it''s not like Raven didn''t know about this before. It is his duty to know everything so how can he not know what''s happening between them?

    All of this was just an act and a test. He doesn''t really n on taking it that far since he didn''t want to antagonize too much.

    Although it''s a bit weird for his own disciple to take his sisters as his wife, at least he knows that Kyle is strong enough to protect them. He''s the one who witnessed Kyle''s growth and understands what kind if person he is.

    The thought had cross his mind before but he didn''t expect it to turn into reality.

    Well, he also is to me for this. After all, he was the one who told Kyle to look after his sisters. They''ve been together through thick and thin, to be honest, it would be more surprising if nothing blooms after that.

    "Boy."

    "Yes, Sir!"

    "Hurt them and I will personally end you. Understood!"

    "Understood, Sir! I''ll never hurt them intentionally!" Kyle answered.

    "Our parents are still here, go find them and ask them to bless your rtionship." Raven nodded, "You better hold on to your promise, boy. I will not hesitate."

    "Yes, Master!" Kyle nodded profusely.

    "Go on, the three of you."

    After he said that, the three of them left the grand hall leaving Raven alone in his thoughts.

    Shortly after they left, Raven rested his back on his chair and sighed. A silhouette emerged behind him. It was Luna.

    Raven patted his thighs and Luna didn''t hesitate to sit on them. Draping her arm loosely on his neck, she asked:

    "The poor boy was so frightened. Did you really have to do that?"

    "Not really." Raven shrugged, "I just feel like it. I mean, I could only do this once¡­I hope I''ll only do this once. I don''t want to kill my own disciple after all."

    "Oh, it wouldn''t go that far. He''s a nice kid. Sensible and responsible too. I''m sure they''ll be fine." Luna stated.

    "I know. I practically raised him." Raven nodded, "I just acted that way to let him know that I really won''t hesitate if he messes-up so he better not."

    "Whatever you say." Luna chuckled, "Come, Vanessa wants us to have a meal with her."

    Raven nodded and the two of them disappeared from the grand hall.

    ¡ª

    It took the Dawn Council around a week before they returned to their usual routine.

    The sparks that was left by the Grand Youth Meet still lingers around the Divine Realm, even now it''s still a hot topic amongst the citizens.

    Currently, the Dawn Council resumed it''s monthly meetings. Raven, Luna, Anne, Mark, Ellen, Paul and Laughing Dragon are currently inside their meeting hall.

    Laughing Dragon was currently stating recent reports they have received.

    ording to him, the rate of mission clearance as well as the sess rate boosted by arge amount just these past week alone. The event really did wonders for the reputation of the council itself and in conjunction, it also affected the overall well being of the Divine Realm itself.

    "¡­the Dawn Council''s Elite Group has also been established. Currently, they are all receiving guidance from our academy and some are already showing results. Your children also got admitted to the Genius List. They are admittedly a bit behindpared to the rest but they''re working hard to close the gap."

    "Additionally, those who were qualified to enter the Divine Land already got their reward. Right now, everybody is busy training and fixing their ring ws. We estimate that in no less than three years, they will be done and the quality of our geniuses will rise exponentially once more."

    Laughing Dragon gave them a curt bow. Raven smiled and nodded his head: "Thank you for your hard work Laughing Dragon, you may go back to your seat."

    And that''s precisely what Laughing Dragon did.

    "So, long story short. The Grand Youth Meet was a sess." Raven summarized, "If anything, it even exceeded our initial expectations judging by the results Laughing Dragon showed us. We''re om the right track at this point we can start expecting things to be more rxed as time goes on."

    "Is this the part where we can finally sit back and rx?" Paul asked.

    "No." Raven countered, "Not yet at least. It will still take sometime before that happens. It will happen when it happens. Don''t be anxious."

    "Right."

    "While we are on the topic of things to do, I''d remind all of you to pay closer attention to our operations. The sudden influx of activities might be hectic, if you guys don''t focus, it''s possible that some rats could slip away. Don''t ck off."

    "Right."

    "Oh, right. I''m nning on stepping out again. We''ve talked about this before but I''ll say this again, I''ll go out to set-up the outposts while also taking that chance to search for my Master''s whereabouts. I don''t know how long I''ll be gone so I''ll leave everything up to you guys."

    "Be at ease. We''ll be fine here." Anne replied.

    "Thanks, I know I could count on you all." Raven nodded, he then looked at Luna and said: "Let Vanessa stay with you for a bit, I''ll go on seclusion for quite sometime."

    "Seclusion¡­oh! Yes, of course. She''ll stay with me for a bit then." Luna nodded.

    "Wait, you n on breaking through already?" Ellen asked.

    "I don''t see any reason to dy it anymore." Raven shrugged, "I''ll be in the Outer World after this, I have to make sure I''ll be as strong as I could get so that I can search for my Master and return here in one piece."

    "Will your Avatars be inactive?" Mark asked.

    "No, they shouldn''t be." Raven shook his head, "They''ll remain here to do their work. But, at the smallest chance that they do be inactive, I''m sure you guys can cover up for them for a bit. They won''t be gone for too long anyway."

    "Yeah. That''s fine. Leave the council to us and focus on your breakthrough." Luna smiled and offered her outmost support to her husband.

    Raven smiled at them and said: "Alright, meeting adjourned. Thank you for your hard work people."

    Once he said that, the rest of the dispersed, leaving towards their own office. Raven was left alone to marinate on his own thoughts without anyone disturbing him.

    He checked his schedule and his activities. He made sure that everything has been taken care off before he starts his seclusion. His schedule has been freed for the most part anyways so there isn''t much for him left to do.

    It took him an hour to finish everything he needed. He double checked to see if he missed anything but didn''t find any so he stood up from his seat and stretched a bit.

    He walked on his room, sealed it and took a warm bath to rx. He went through several rxing routines in order topletely get rid of his exhaustion. Right after doing that, he disappeared from his room and appeared on the Throne Room.

    This is where he nned on making his breakthrough.

    He secured the area, making sure that nobody will be able to go inside in the mean time so that he won''t be disturbed.

    After securing the area. He released a long sigh and officially began his seclusion.

    He sat on his throne, slowly but surely getting rid of unnecessary thoughts on his mind. He lit up several incense sticks and rxed his body. This ritual waspletely unnecessary but Raven still did it since it attuned his mind.

    Once he felt that he was ready, Raven took a deep breath and started his breakthrough.

 Chapter 846: I, Divinity

    Chapter 846: I, Divinity

    ¡ª

    Raven''s breaths were long and steady.

    With his back rested against the throne and his eyes closed, his chest rose and fell with every breath. There wasfortable silence around him. The atmosphere was lull and peaceful, some would think that Raven''s sleeping if they saw him now.

    He wasn''t.

    It isn''t noticeable since it''s extremely fate, but there are fluctuations around Raven which was caused by his breathing. It was weak but steady and constant, he had been doing this for quite sometime now. Again, the fluctuations were faint, almost untraceable even, but it''s there.

    Raven''s consciousness were floating in a deep space right now. He doesn''t know it is nor remember how he got here, he just did.

    It felt like he was wandering this ce for eons now. He has no idea what he''s searching for but he still kept going. To him, it felt like searching for that ''something- is the only thing he could right now. That''s all he could think about.

    On Raven''s body, there are several things that are being roused into activity ever since he started his breakthrough ritual.

    First amongst all of these were other than the Fragments of Chaos that now permanently resides on his heart.

    At normal times, they''d just dance around that area like fireflies illuminating the dark. Right now though, they were more active. They were releasing a stronger lightpared before.

    His Inner Cosmos swirled in to activity. The world tree at the middle zed with uncontested brilliance which lit up the whole cosmos. The constetions lined-up and released hymns that contained endless profundities.

    The Ancestral Divine Gxy also swirled into activity. His shared connections with the previous heir allowed them to sense what''s happening. They knew that Raven was currently breaking through to the Divine Knight Stage, therefore they didn''t dare to disturb him. They nulled their connection for now before they could distract him.

    The Scepter of Wisdom trembled within his consciousness. The fluctuations also reached it, causing it to release faint hums of excitement. The scepter moved on it''s own, releasing tendrils of dark golden and pale silver lines that knitted each other into runes and seals, decorating Raven''s consciousness with it.

    The scepter also drew constetions as if someone was controlling it. The constetions were nothing new, in fact they''re the same ones that Raven knew already. The scepter just embedded them on his consciousness now.

    Why did the scepter do that? Well, that''s something Raven had to discoverter.

    Raven''s lost consciousness within the sub-space still continued treading forward. He marched towards his destination even without knowing where it is or how exactly he should go there. He doesn''t even know if it exists but he still marched forward.

    He stilled when he saw something changed right before him.

    It''s nothing too shocking, yet it''s still surprising.

    Sparks of light appeared before him. Some appeared close to him while others appeared far from him.

    Again, it wasn''t anything special. Still, Raven was surprised. He wasn''t expecting any of them to appear. In fact he doesn''t even remember if they were supposed to appear. If there''s one thing he knew right now, it would be the fact that these spark of light were extremely familiar.

    He felt close to them as if he had known them since he was a kid. He felt like he could trust them.

    Not feeling afraid of anything, Raven decided to trust his gut and follow where the sparks were leading him.

    He didn''t know where they''re trying to take him but he still chose to follow them willingly.

    Just like that, Raven walked forward again, this time following the trail that sparks of light made for him.

    Along his journey, Raven saw some blurred images twisting around him. They tried to peel his attention away from his path but Raven didn''t pay attention to them.

    As he went further down his journey, the images that were trying to tempt him became stronger too. The images became clearer and more vivid. Some of them even managed to make him remember about certain things, yet Raven remained unbothered. He continued on his way with a serene and honest heart.

    Still the temptations continued. It doesn''t seem to end at all and it wasn''t getting any weaker, if anything, Raven would say that they''re bing scarier.

    These temptation started interacting with him. They started speaking and they were starting to distract him. They took several forms that make it hard for Raven to ignore.

    They appeared as items that he had seen before. ce he''d been too. People he met long his way. His friends, his family. Heck, at some point, it even transformed into an image that Raven sought after all this time.

    It took form of him and his family, living a normal life in absolute peace and bliss ¨C the very goal of all of Raven''s hard work since the very moment he experienced Soul Rebirth. The goal that he and his team wanted so badly.

    He''d be lying if he said that the image didn''t strike a chord on his heart. Of course it did! Raven wanted nothing more than to jumped in that image and live in it since that''s what he wanted all along.

    For a second there, Raven was ready to risk it all. To abandon everything behind, forget this journey he''s on and just live happily ever after.

    Yet¡­

    "No. Not yet." He murmured to himself, staring at the lovely scene in front of him. All of them were looking at him, beckoning for him toe closer. Telling him to give-up.

    Raven steeled his heart and took a deep breath. He shook his head faintly and he opened his eyes, a sh of determination could be seen from his eyes.

    "I''ll chase after this dream myself." He said, "I don''t need it to be offered on his silver tter for me. I can do it. We can do it. It doesn''t have to be now, nor soon. Just eventually."

    "¡­I''ll achieve that dream eventually."

    "What I need, is strength to make sure I''ll be able to do just that."

    After dering that, Raven continued walking forward. He closed his ears and his heart from the tempting calls of the distractions behind him. He moved-on, trusting the trail left for him, leaving behind everything that tried to stop him from reaching his goal.

    Unbeknownst to Raven, the temptations vanished one by one behind him with every step forward he took.

    They all looked at his back, staring at him as he continued moving forward without looking back. His confident strides won them over so before they all vanished, they released their blessings quietly so as to not disturb the man.

    He also didn''t know that his form gradually changed as he walked forward.

    Raven be transparent. He took a spiritual form which held several heavenly bodies within him. His eyes shone brightly as if they contained the sun on the right and the moon on the left. His hair turned velvety like the milky swirl of a gxy.

    His skin was translucent, making it seems like the birth of stars were painted on them. His blood turned silver, his veins appeared like the lines that connected the constetions and his every step gave birth to the creation of all things.

    And at his heart, the true origin of all things resided.

    And under Raven''s determined gaze, the darkness surround the sub-space disappeared into shards. Revealing the brilliance of something truly Divine.

    Raven felt a strong surge palpitating on his chest, he felt like he was hyperventting but in truth, this is him ascending. His very being was resonating with his own Divinity.

    Ancient knowledge started pouring over his mind, making him close his eyes to digest everything. A strong brilliance covered his body, causing his form to turn blurry.

    Raven''s silhouette grew into enormous proportions. It didn''t show any signs of stopping even when he''s already as big as thes themselves.

    Colorful lights exploded from his body, faint hymns of Laws chimed around him. Raven was basking in his new found Divinity and there''s nothing that could stop him.

    ¡­not even the Heavenly Law Order of the Divine Realm that''s rampaging at his ascension.

    The Fragments of Chaos multiplied again and again within his heart, all without Raven''s consent. They too basked in Raven''s Divinity and devoured everything they could get in order to grow alongside of him.

    When Raven opened his eyes, the shes of light twisted at his own will. It gave birth to numerous constetions, runes and seals that nobody ever seen before.

    The glittering arrangement of profound seals which contained the history and Raven''s very own Will, says it all.

    From this point onwards, Divine Realm weed another Divine Knight within their ranks.

    He''s a Divine Knight unlike any other. One that didn''t follow the orthodox path of cultivation and piled up his achievements with the strongest foundation one after another.

    He, Vendrick Valorheart, broke through to the Divine Knight Stage.

    iming ''Chaos'' the ''Origin of All Things'' as his own Divinity.

    The Divine Knight of Chaos ¨C Vendrick Valorheart.

 Chapter 847: Inheritance Of Chaos

    Chapter 847: Inheritance Of Chaos

    ¡ª

    ''This feels surreal¡­'' Raven muttered inwardly as he woke up. ''It feels new yet also unfamiliar.''

    That''s probably the best way Raven could describe what he feels right now.

    His ascension to bing a true Divine Knight had been a sess. With all things considered, it wouldn''t be wrong to say that he experienced what it''s like to be a Divine Knight twice, yet the feeling still surprises him somehow.

    Maybe it''s because of his Divinity this time around.

    During his first life, the Divinity he condensed represented the Boundless Earth. With it, he can generate all manner of Earth at his beck and call. He can turn an entire into a grain of sand should he desired it, he could also do it in reverse. His sovereignty when ites to Earth Laws were unparalleled before, that''s why he became a rising star during the Realm War.

    Now however, things are different.

    His Divinity represented Chaos itself. The Origin of All Things. His Divinity is the why and how of everything.

    He''d be lying if he said that he''s not overwhelmed since he is. Up until now, he still couldn''t believe his luck. Out of all people, it was him who managed to earn this right.

    Comparing the him now to the him before will be downright unfair.

    The Raven of today simply would easily snap the Raven before in half using one hand. It''s just an unfairparison.

    Even the Empyrean Raven would be able to match the previous life Raven at his peak so there''s no need to even consider it.

    Raven found himself still sitting at his throne. He basked under the overwhelming feeling of ascension. He felt a high unlike any other.

    He felt omniscient and omnipotent.

    And to some degree¡­he kind of is.

    His mind ¨C with his connection with his Avatars, were currently digesting the enlightenment he received just now. The tide of ancient information containing the mysteries of Chaos poured over his mind ceaselessly that he and his Avatars could barely keep up.

    He also felt this seething repulsion, which caused him to smirk actually.

    Raven could sense how distressed and irritated the Heavenly Law Order of the Divine Realm at his presence. He could feel it pushing him away. It probably wants to exile Raven but of course, Raven''s not going to let that happen.

    At this very state of him, Raven stands side-by-side with the Heavenly Law Order. The Heavenly Laws couldn''t do anything against him anymore since it has to fear Raven''s retaliation should it step over the line. It''s probably because of the Heavenly Laws'' pride that he''s being repulsed from the Divine Realm, which Raven didn''t mind one bit.

    He truly couldn''t care less about its tantrums. He got more important matters to attend to.

    Raven didn''t go out of the throne room just yet. After all, he still has to consolidate his strength.

    He meditated again and entered the deep state of enlightenment in order to digest the new and profound information granted to him upon his ascension. It was a lot so he''d be in here for quite sometime.

    Outside of the Dawn Council ¨C well, throughout the Divine Realm as a whole, some people felt the changes in the air.

    Some discovered the reason behind it while some remained clueless. Either way, their life went on. The disturbance wasn''t that big anyways and they''d probably forget about it tomorrow.

    Raven''s friends also knew that Raven seeded in his ascension. Raven''s avatars already told them what happened so they managed to sigh in relief and wait for Raven''s exit.

    ¡ª

    It took Raven a whole month before ending his meditation.

    He feel lightheaded actually. The information he got were truly overwhelming, but at the same time, it''s also enriching.

    Raven now knows the reason why knowledge about Chaos were too rare. It''s because it is only granted to those who managed to get in touch with it.

    He poor attempts of those people who chased after it didn''t count of course, this includes the work of his very own Master.

    It''s all about a person''s fate.

    If they''re fated toe across Chaos, then information about it will be granted to them unconditionally. If they''re not fated, the no matter how hard they tried, they won''t encounter it.

    Bearing the Divinity that represents Chaoses with many responsibilities. If before, Raven helped Divine Realm and its citizens get better due to his nature, it now became his responsibility since he bears the key to actually making it happen.

    Divine Realm was always meant to face it''s tribtions, it also isn''t immune to decline. Just like age old tale:

    Everything that has a beginning, also has an end.

    Divine Realm isn''t an exemption for this.

    Chaos never truly left. Yes, it did decline but it has always been here. Hiding, waiting for the right time and person to re-surface again.

    At this point, Raven could safely assume what happened after he died during his past life. Whether he took down the Abyssal Emperor or not, so long as the chosen of Chaos hasn''t appeared, Divine Realm has no hope of recovering from it''s state.

    If anything, because of the invasion, it''d be more than likely that the realm''s end wille sooner. In short, all of Raven''s efforts were useless.

    That''s just how it works, hate it or not.

    Now though, it''s different.

    Raven¡­he''s here. He became the Chosen of Chaos. The Divine Knight bearing it''s Divinity.

    With him here and with him taking over as the True Leader of Humanity, the history of Divine Realm could be re-written in their favor. There''s a long way to go but Raven has the time and the ability to ensure a brighter tomorrow for everyone.

    All he has to do is to basically continue what he''s doing so far.

    ¡ª

    Once Raven finished digesting the inheritance of Chaos, he opened his eyes.

    He released a long sigh that caused everything within the throne room to tremble. Raven raised a brow upon seeing this and shook his head.

    With plethora of new information swimming in his mind, Raven once again saw the ws on his own work.

    What he thought was perfect before, became wed in his eyes now that he viewed it in a more experienced mind and ascended state.

    Raven took out the Scepter of Wisdom and gave a it long stare,

    The Scepter of Wisdom looked basically the same but the elements of Chaos was visible on it. It''s safe to assume that it too was affected by his ascension.

    Next, Raven inspected his heart ¨C where the fragments of Chaos once resided.

    They''re still there but they visibly changed. If before they looked like fireflies prancing around in the dark, now they look like dark golden clusters glimmering with a mystical radiance.

    The clusters behaved erratically yet remained graceful. There''s something mesmerizing about their movement, it can enchant those who were caught staring at it.

    Raven was immune to it though, he just acknowledged that the Fragments of Chaos multiplied even further right now and didn''t pay too much attention to it anymore.

    Next, he inspected his Inner Cosmos and the Ancestral Divine Gxy.

    They looked the same as before, the only difference is that now, they feel moreplete. It''s probably due to the influence of Chaos that they changed this way and Raven wouldn''t be surprised if that is actually the case.

    All in all, Raven''s internal changes weren''t that huge or drastic. It''s very minimal but it took him closer to perfection. Right now, it''ll be difficult for Raven to find someone who can give him a good fight within Divine Realm since he''s too strong.

    The changes he experienced gratified Raven. Once again, he''s a step closer to pursuing his dreams.

    Now that his breakthrough was finished and his cultivation realm stabilized, he could exit this ce and search for Geezer.

    But before he does that, he can''t allow the Grand Seal to remain wed while he''s still here. Which is why he took out the Scepter of Wisdom in the first ce.

    Without leaving his throne, Raven mmed the but of the scepter on the solid space, producing ripples to appear on the Grand Seal.

    He waved the scepter softly and strings of Dark Gold and Pale Silver danced around him. Chimes sounded around him, followed by the glittering appearance of constetions.

    Lights converged around him. They transformed into runes and seals unlike anything Raven had disyed before. These runes and seals were new ones that Raven created during his enlightenment.

    Another addition to his Sealing Arts.

    The new runes and seals condensed with elements of Chaos. Perfectly adapting to the mold of the Grand Seal and patching up the ws that Raven discovered a few moments ago.

    Raven''s work was done in no time at all. The Grand Seal looked pristine and perfect on Raven''s eyes, now, the chances of it being destroyed by any invaders lowered even more.

    Once this was all said and done, Raven stood up from his throne and disappeared.. He nned on taking a brief rest before going out to search for his missing master.

 Chapter 848: Heavenly Laws

    Chapter 848: Heavenly Laws

    ¡ª

    "¡­oh! You''re out. That''s great. Can you deal with that by the way? You were the one who caused it anyway. Bye."

    Anne was the first one that Raven saw on his office as soon as he exited his seclusion. She didn''t even bother congratting him for his sessful breakthrough and just directly asked him to deal with the mess he caused.

    Raven tilted his head and stepped outside of his office. The moment he did, surprise colored his face for the briefest of moment before it was reced by a wry smile.

    Dark clouds were looming above the Dawn Council. White pythons of lightning slithered behind them, hissing at thend behind them, especially when Raven appeared.

    A palpable killing intent swarmed the entire council, causing the atmosphere to turn heavy and somber. With his senses, Raven could see that his team were trying their best to protect their students from the wrath of the Heavenly Laws.

    He shook his head and looked at the dark clouds above him. He parted his lips and said one order that swept throughout the word like an absolutew.

    "Disperse."

    His words shook the very fabric of reality. It was like a heavenly judgement. An absolute order that cannot be denied ¨C impossible, even.

    And thus, when the Divine Knight of Chaos ordered the dispersal of the Heavenly Laws'' killing intent. His order shall be fulfilled.

    The killing intent promptly disappeared the moment his voice stopped echoing. The dark clouds dissipated like snow under the heat of summer, taking the lightning pythons away with it. The skies cleared up, revealing the boundless nket of velvet space dotted with stars and constetions.

    Calm returned to the Dawn Council the moment Raven decided to make a move.

    "Carry on with your duties everyone. Apologies for the disturbance earlier." Raven''s voice echoed once before it vanished. Nevertheless, everyone still heard it loud and clear.

    Raven looked at the skies for a brief moment. His eyes narrowed for a bit since he could still feel the repulsion around him. The Heavenly Law Order of the Divine Realm was still trying to kick him out of its yard.

    Raven could resist the repulsion, after all it wasn''t as strong as he imagined it to be, he could even down right ignore it should he want to.

    The only problem to this is the reason why it''s happening.

    ''Why is it still kicking me out? It knows that it can''t do anything to me. It can''t even force me to do anything and it''s not like I''m doing anything bad. I''m actually helping it keep the Divine Realm safe. So why does it want to get rid of me this much? It doesn''t make sense.''

    This is what really confuses Raven.

    Again, it''s not really a problem to him to ignore the repulsion around him. He''s just puzzled as to why it''s happening.

    ''Maybe I should look at this first. Just in case. I don''t want to go out to the Outer World without securing the fact that I won''t be branded as an Outsider. My family is here and this is my home whether the Heavenly Laws want to or not. I don''t want to risk anything.''

    After thinking about this, Raven sighed and returned to his office.

    He went to his desk first and took somemissions with him. He registered two missions under his name. One would be observing the Heavenly Law Order closely while the other is the mission to set up Outposts on the Outer World.

    After finalizing the details of his missions, Raven disappeared from his office and appeared at the sky ind where his wife and daughter were waiting for him.

    ¡ª

    It wasn''t until the month after that Raven left toplete the two missions he had taken.

    He spent the past month apanying his wife and giving Vanessa pointers towards her cultivation. After that, it was time for him to leave.

    Luna shouldn''t be too lonely without him, after all Vanessa''s here to keep herpany. Once they''ve said their temporary farewells, Raven left immediately since the repulsion was really starting to grind on his nerves.

    Contrary to one''s belief, his first destination isn''t anywhere within the physical ne of Divine Realm.

    It doesn''t matter how little or how far one travels around in search of the Heavenly Law Order, one wouldn''t find it anywhere within the Divine Realm since it doesn''t exist in the Physical ne.

    The Heavenly Laws are omnipresent. There''s no need to search for it. Stepping foot to where it resides would be a different story.

    Thankfully, Raven knows how to get there.

    With his boundless will which represents the highest order of his desires, as well as his right as the Divine Knight of Chaos, Raven pried the door open to the Heavenly Laws.

    He was met with an intense repulsion. Clearly a sign that he''s not being weed with open arms yet Raven didn''t care. He forced his way in despite the unwillingness pushing him back.

    "Geez, calm down. I''m not here to wring you dry of resources. I''m just here to talk¡­" Raven ruefully imed, "Well, that''s unless you want to really fight me. In that case, I wouldn''t mind giving you a piece of my mind."

    There''s not a single soul where Raven currently was.

    All he saw was an endless expanse of a wide, wide stream of water.

    Raven stood at the middle of the stream, his lower body was submerged in it. He has no idea where the stream started nor where it ends. He simply existed in here, arrived here the moment he entered.

    This¡­this endless stream of water, is the Heavenly Law Order itself.

    Just from a single nce, Raven saw numerous things that could turn anybody mad. He could feel an endless wave of information trying to burrow their way through his consciousness. Without the help of his Divine Will, Raven wouldn''t be able to guard himself from this.

    Thankfully, he visited this ce when he became a Divine Knight, anytime earlier than this would''ve been a bad idea.

    ''You''re not wee here. Leave!''

    Once again, Raven didn''t see anybody here.

    Well, he kind of did. After all, this is the Heavenly Law Order that governed the entirety of the Divine Realm. It literally reflects everyone at it''s surface. He even saw numerous silhouettes of his fellow Divine Knights who managed to pull their head out of the water just like him.

    The voice that replied to him sounded really hostile. Which made Raven even more suspicious. He doesn''t even know why the Heavenly Laws were acting this way.

    "Chill. I just want to know what''s up with you. I need some answers okay?" Raven raised a brow. "Why are you pushing me? The fuck did I do to you? I''ve never deliberately went against you have I? In fact, my actions have always been for mine and yours'' benefit. So what''s up with you now? Don''t tell me this is your way of telling me that you no longer need me?"

    There was a long period of silence. Raven even contemted if he should ask his questions again since maybe, the Heavenly Laws didn''t hear him. Yet before he could repeat himself, the reply came to him.

    ''Why did it choose you? Why not us?''

    ''Why did it choose you as its representative when there''s us?''

    ''We simply cannot fathom this.''

    ''We were here. We never left. We always called out to it yet it never answered us.''

    ''Why did it choose a mere human? What makes you special? We don''t understand?''

    ''It was our chance to finally beplete! To return to what it''s like before everything happened.''

    ''Such is our desire.''

    ''Such is ''it'' desires.''

    ''Yet it chose toe to you instead of us? Why is that?''

    ''¡­''

    ''We hate you.''

    ''We don''t like you.''

    ''Why you?''

    ''Why not us?''

    ''You don''t deserve it.''

    Raven could feel its anger, anguish and confusion. And honestly? Raven can''t me it so instead of interrupting it, Raven let it speak and release all of it''s pent up frustrations.

    The Heavenly Law Order is currently acting like a child who saw it''s parent choose another kid toe home to ¨C this is probably the best way to describe how the Heavenly Laws acted right now.

    "Listen to me." Raven calmly said after letting it say its piece. "Chaos did not return to you because one simple reason."

    "And that is the fact that if it does, then everything goes back to square one."

    ''¡­''

    "If you still don''t understand it, let me exin." Raven adjusted his posture before continuing his exnation. "Chaos returning to you could be described as homing, yet it spells the end of us all."

    "If Chaos returns to you. ''You'' will cease to exist. What will remain will only be Chaos itself. No Heavenly Laws, no order, no Divine Realm and more importantly no Humans."

    "Being ''whole'' again, only applies to ''Chaos'' and not ''Us'' ¨C me and you included."

    "Chaos does not want that."

    "It doesn''t want you, me, nor everything to be gone."

    "No parent wants their child to die before their very eyes. The same goes for the two of you."

    "Chaos doesn''t want to disappear. But it also won''t allow everything that it created to be destroyed just for the sake of its revival."

    "Do you understand?"

 Chapter 849: Warning

    Chapter 849: Warning

    ¡ª

    It never urred to Raven that such a scene like this will happen in his entire life.

    Him talking to the Heavenly Law Order of the Divine Realm. Admonishing it like a spoiled child¡­it''s a bizarre experience truly.

    "Again, if Chaos returned and fused with you once again, you will disappear. Everything will. Only Chaos will remain. There''s a saying that all streams lead to one ocean. That ocean is Chaos."

    "Chaos wants to co-exist with it''s children ¨C you."

    "The only way to do that is to wait until someone became a qualified container for Chaos ¨C which happens to be me."

    "Chaos will not choose me if I''m not a capable vessel. I follow it''s desire as well as mine. Don''t push us away. There are far greater things we can achieve together than apart."

    ''¡­''

    The Heavenly Law Order remained silent. Raven didn''t pressure it for any answers. He simply waited on his spot. Time''s suspended in this ce anyways so he''s not in any hurry.

    Eventually, he sensed movement around him. He heard chimes and the boundless stream somehow altered it''s flow. Raven could hear whispers right next to his ears but he can''t make sense of it. Therefore, he waited.

    ''We want to be with it.''

    He finally heard it speak to him after sometime. Raven released a long sigh and replied:

    "You will be reunited with Chaos in the future. I promise you that. Not in the way where any of us will ne erased but a true reunion where you can coexist together."

    ''¡­we will hold onto that promise. Should you fail. We will take it back by force, even if it means erasing our very existence.''

    "Very well." Raven acquiesced to the vow.

    A sh of golden light drowned his surroundings. Raven raised his hand and saw a golden sigil condensing at the back of his palms. This sigil is an oath, a visible evidence of the pact he made with the Heavenly Laws.

    Again, Raven never thought that he''d be in a position where he will make a deal with the Heavenly Laws themselves but he''s notining, it''s a fresh experience after all.

    ''¡­the oath is sealed. You can never turn back from it or there will be consequences.'' The Heavenly Laws told him. ''We will no longer disturb you. We acknowledge you as its representative. Do follow its will.''

    "I was already nning on doing that but thanks for the reminder." Raven nodded, he felt more at ease when he felt the repulsion disappear from his body.

    "Well then, I''ll take my leave. I have other matters to attend to."

    ''¡­they''re close.''

    Raven stood, rooted on his spot upon hearing that. He didn''t turn around nor show any visible signs of rm. He looked calm and calctive.

    ''¡­we don''t know where exactly they are but we can feel them approaching.''

    ''They''re stronger than what you can remember. Be careful.''

    This was thest thing that Raven heard from the Heavenly Laws before it wentpletely silent. Raven didn''t say anything. His pupils just shed for a bit before he decisively walked away, disappearing from where he was.

    ¡ª

    Raven didn''t stay long after he returned to the Dawn Council. He just updated his mission board and left once again without rming anyone.

    Thanks to the Realm Door, he could easily traverse the great expanse of Divine Realm in mere seconds.

    His destination is Outer Worlds, meaning that he will have to pass through the Eternal Division Wall and enter that wild and unruly ce.

    Raven isn''t aplete stranger to the Outer World. He had been here before during his past life and a few times in his current one.

    Before he left though, Raven made sure that his exit was documented by the Division Wall Guardians ¨C the people who are doing rounds within the Eternal Division Wall.

    This process was required so even he wasn''t an exception to that rule. This is just for record keeping and for security purposes so there''s no reason to not participate.

    Once he signed the documents, Raven didn''t waste time and immediately rose a Spatial Shuttle to travel the Outer Worlds.

    Just from the sheer sensation that swept through him once he stepped outside, it is obvious that everything is mess out here.

    Unlike within the Divine Realm where things feel right and in order, the Outer World is wild and extremely unstable. Anything can happen while he''s out here and he doesn''t have any control over it or whatsoever.

    This is fine, for the most part at least. After, this is something that he to deal with soon anyways.

    His Spatial Shuttle entered is cloaked state. Raven figured that it''s still too early for a confrontation since he''s already certain that somebody out there felt his presence already.

    This doesn''t mean that Raven was afraid, just being careful. After all, he isn''t too far from the Divine Realm just yet, he didn''t want to risk it.

    Raven''s Spatial Shuttle looked like a boat. This is actually a treasure that he borrowed from the Divine Land for the purpose ofing here. He can control it with but a single thought, it is tough, durable and swift. It also has a few niche functions like Cloaking where he could mask his presence in case he didn''t want to be discovered.

    In addition to this, Raven still have to build the outposts. He nned on building it while he''s still inside the shuttle so that he won''t be disturbed too much.

    Raven''s currently looking at a stack of blueprints on his table. All of these are designs for the outposts. Raven was currently checking them out one by one. These blueprints were something that he got from famous smiths all around Divine Realm.

    ''None''s good so far.'' Raven murmured inwardly, resting his back against the chair and pinching his nose. ''I mean, they''re good but not good enough.''

    Raven has the right to remain picky about though. He nned on building a good outpost and since Raven is Raven, he wants to pick the best one.

    Again, it''s not like the smiths were inadequate or anything. In fact, most of them are pretty skilled, what they passed to him though, was just not enough.

    "¡­screw this." Raven kept all the blueprints way, "Since everything is bad, I''ll just make my own design."

    Which he actually did.

    Raver personally drew the blueprint that he thinks will fit to the criteria and cater to his needs.

    The first function of the Outpost was mobility, Raven didn''t them want to remain still. He wanted them to capture as much information as he could to ry it to him so that he can prepare himself in advance. He want the out post to orbit around the Divine Realm for this sole purpose. He can also program some to purposefully travel far away from the territory in order to spy outside.

    The durability of the item is of course non-negotiable. He needs it to be tough, it has tost for a long time, thankfully he brought some materials that could help him build one that fits this requirement.

    He can give it a cloaking function as well in order to reduce the risk of discovery and conflict. He can also make it big so that it has enough room for people to stay and rest should they need it.

    The supplies shouldn''t be a problem. He can always send someone to replenish the stocks. Some offensive options shouldn''t be to difficult to add amongst this as well.

    Lastly, the number of outpost he should make.

    With how vast the Outer World is, one outpost wouldn''t be enough. Raven''s think around ten to fifteen just to maximize the functions he nned on adding.

    It Raven took a couple of days to finish the blueprint, all while the shuttle roamed within the Outer World whilst cloaked. He took a day off before he began building the outposts.

    The construction of the outposts would''ve been faster if he had his avatars with him but it''s fine. They would be more useful in the sect and in the Dawn Council anyways.

    As Raven built the Outposts within his Spatial Shuttle, he also surveyed the situation outside.

    He wasn''t far from the Divine Realm just yet. He could still feel it''s presence nearby, that''s how he could tell.

    The Outer Worlds were calm for the most part, he has yet to meet a Space Beast nor any Outsiders. They''re out there somewhere that''s for sure, if he had travelled without his shuttle, he would''ve been discovered by now and probably swarmed by them after all, he''s no longer under the protection of the Heavenly Laws.

    Raven could feel something though¡­

    It''s faint. He had to really concentrate in order to sense it, but it''s there.

    There''s a¡­tension, somewhere far away from here. He could go there to see what it is but he didn''t risk it for now. Maybe once he finished building the Outposts.

    Hopefully, by the time he finished every outpost, it''s still around.. Maybe it could lead him to some clues to things he wanted to discover while he''s out here.

 Chapter 850: Stranger

    Chapter 850: Stranger

    ¡ª

    ''So¡­5 Voyaging Outposts and 10 Warding Outposts. All cloaked and fully functional. Good. I can install them right away.''

    In front of Raven , the outposts needed for the mission were neatly arranged. He was done inspecting them and checking if they could function well. All tests were positive so he could release these outposts anytime he wants so that he could gather as much information as he could.

    Before he did that though, Raven made sure to check if there''s any beings within his immediate vicinity.

    As much as he would love to get this over with so he could move on with his search, he didn''t want to expose his location. He doesn''t want to get mobbed by Outsiders and Space Beasts alike. It''s better to be cautious since he''s in an uncharted territory.

    ''All clear I suppose.'' Raven muttered inwardly after his brief scan of his surroundings.

    He then made his way out of the shuttle, bringing the Outposts he made with him. Remaining cautious of his movements, he even created an obscuring seal which will hide all manner of traces he will inevitably leave behind once he''s done.

    After finishing his preparations, he activated the Outposts one by one, watching them as they formed into streaks of light, disappearing to the horizon.

    Each outpost were only visible to him, that''s unless there is something or someone out there who''s senses were just as sharp as he does.

    In addition, each outpost has a pre-determined route to follow. This way, collision wouldn''t happen amongst them. The idea of sending people to man the outpost came to him but he decided to leave it as is for now. He has other pressing matters to pay attention to anyway.

    Now that the Outposts are done, Raven could go deeper to the Outer Worlds in search for his Master, Geezer.

    Truthfully speaking, Raven has zero clue where he is.

    Not even their karmic link helped him locate Geezer. Even previous heirs were of no help to him. This made this mission even more difficult for him in all honesty.

    As mentioned before, the Outer World is boundless. Divine Realm is huge, there''s no mistaking that but in reality, it''s just a small corner of the bigger picture. Until now, nobody managed to map out the entirety of the Outer Worlds due to howrge it was.

    Searching for Geezer blindly is akin to finding a needle within a haystack. Nevertheless, Raven didn''t feel like giving-up. He wants to find Geezer and bring him home, he belongs to the Divine Realm anyways.

    Still a clue would be really helpful right now. Even a small lead to where Geezer might be would suffice. It''s a shame that Geezer didn''t leave any traces of him for his heirs, if he did, then he could''ve used that to start with at least.

    ''I guess, I''ll check the disturbance that I felt earlier. I have no leads anyways.'' Raven muttered to himself as he drove the shuttle towards the general direction where he felt the disturbance earlier.

    A few weeks had already passed since he felt it. It has been quiet ever since so he doesn''t have much hope on finding anything. That being said, the traces of thatmotion should still be there, maybe he''ll get lucky? Who knows?

    Raven drove the shuttle slowly. Again, he''s just being cautious right now. The shuttle could certainly go faster than this but it was his choice to slow down in order to be safe.

    He venture deeper to the Outer Worlds for a whole week until he managed to arrive at the ce where he suspected themotion to have happened.

    ''Hmm¡­''

    Raven stayed within the shuttle, silently inspecting the area in front of him with discerning eyes.

    He arrived at an asteroid belt ¨C what remains of it at least.

    Raven could still feel the lingering aura''s around here. They''re quite lingering aura were persistent so it made him think that whoever fought here must''ve been strong people too. He could also feel the disorganized rhythm ofws they used here, meaning that whoever fought must be Outsiders too since Space Beasts are unable toprehend Laws.

    The asteroid belt was reduced to a mere rubble. He could still sense the lingering anger, despair and hopelessness within his surroundings as if they were telling him a story.

    There''s also a faint smell of blood outside, he could also see the scars of the confrontation that urred.

    Raven silently exited his shuttle and flew closer to the destroyed asteroid belt. His aura waspletely sealed within his body, making him seem like a mortal who just happened to be here.

    He took a closer look at the battlefield to see if he could get some tracks.

    Luckily for him, there were traces of blood left within the rubble. They''re still rtively fresh even though they''ve been here for quite sometime.

    Raven took some samples of those blood and returned to his shuttle. He went towards his crafting table and began assembling some things.

    He carved out a rune on a coin. Blessed it with his seal and his divinity. It glowed with a piercing light briefly, then the light conjured into a single needle which pointed him at a specific direction.

    Raven just created apass using the blood samples of the Outsiders that fought here. Thepass was unique since it will track where the person is instead of andmark or a location. Thepass also determines whether the person was dead or not.

    There''s threepasses in his hand. Two pointed at the same direction while one pointed at the very opposite. Based on the vibrancy of thepass, the owners of the former were still alive and well. Thetter however, isn''t so much.

    ''Two against one, perhaps.'' Raven mused to himself as he drove the shuttle once more. ''An ambush maybe? A trap could work as well. Whatever I guess.''

    He decided to follow the one pointing at the opposite direction. He figured that since the first two were still healthy and well, he could always track them downter. The victim of the possible ambush, was on verge of dying so he went to that location first.

    As it turns out, he didn''t need to go that far anyways. The dying person didn''t manage to run away very far, which is fortunate for Raven.

    It only took Raven three days before thepass lit up, signifying that he was close to the owner of thepass. He followed the direction it''s pointing too and the closer he got, the brighter thepass got.

    Then, he found her.

    A fraildy, drenched in blood and covered with gaping wounds. Her body was floating on top of an asteroid, unconscious and slowly dying from blood loss.

    Raven deliberated for a bit before he eventually chose to save her.

    He took her within the spatial shuttle and began curing her. As he worked on a cure, Raven couldn''t help but feel slightly bad for her wounds.

    ''It''s a miracle that she managed to stay alive for this long with injuries like this.'' He thought to himself.

    This girl nearly had all of her organs destroyed by her enemies, she lost a lot of blood and she was left severely weakened from the confrontation. Again, it''s a miracle that she managed to live after all this.

    Still, her injuries aren''t something that will stump Raven. Especially not when his seals as just as effective here as it is within the Divine Realm.

    ''It''s a good thing that her heart and brain could still function well. If it didn''t, then there''s no way I could save her.'' Raven mused to himself.

    It only took him some minimal effort to cure herpletely. Now she just needs to rest. Her breathing already stabilized, she just in a really deep slumber at this point.

    Raven prepared food to devour just in case the stranger wakes up hungry. All while driving the shuttle using the same constant speed as before, now heading towards the location of the other two.

    Thedy slept like a log. It took her almost a week before she regained a sliver of consciousness. It was evident that she was really exhausted.

    She feel asleep again but the day after, she woke uppletely. Her stomach rumbled at the smell of good food.

    It took her sometime before she regained her bearings. Raven watched in amusement as her recent memories returned, causing her to stare warily of her surroundings.

    That being said, even a wary heart cannot fulfil one''s stomach.

    Her hunger lead her to where he was waiting. rm was evident on her face as she saw Raven for the first time yet her focus were glued onto the boiling pot right in front of Raven.

    She bit her lips in frustration. She probably felt embarrassed and wary of that man and the pot in front of her.

    While she''s still deliberating whether to approach or not, Raven spoke to her:

    "Feel free to join me if you wish.. Don''t worry, I won''t hurt you unless you do something stupid."

 Chapter 851: Lenna Of The Broken Badlands

    Chapter 851: Lenna Of The Broken Bands

    ¡ª

    "¡­"

    The woman felt extremely conflicted. He stared long and hard at Raven as if she was trying to gauge the truth behind his words. Raven basically ignored her and went on with his business. Whether this woman decides to join him or not, it truly doesn''t matter to him.

    Seeing as the man in front of him was mostly unbothered by her presence, the woman felt somewhat safe.

    Strangely enough, her being ignored was a sign of security for her. At least that what she would like to think, hopefully this man would abide his words.

    She slowly approached him, eventually sitting at the other end of the table. Raven gave a brief nce before passing a cauldron filled with scrumptious food her way as well as clean water to drink.

    The gesture was shocking for the woman. She didn''t expect him to easily give her this much food without asking or demanding for anything in return. Her upbringing made her think that there''s a possibility that this food was poisoned.

    However, her grumbling stomach prevented her from thinking too much about it. Which is why she unceremoniously started devouring the food given to her.

    Her eyes sparkled upon tasting the meal. It would be a lie if she said that the food was bad because it really wasn''t. It''s probably the tastiest meal she ever had in her entire life ¨C that, or she''s just really starving.

    Once again, Raven mostly ignored the woman. He just allowed her to eat his food while he reviewed some information he received just now from the Outposts that he sent away.

    After a few minutes, the woman finished emptying the cauldron. Raven had to hand it to her though, at least she knew some manners. She wiped the cauldron clean before returning it to him alongside the empty jug where she drank from. She also audibly expressed her gratitude for the food.

    "¡­y-you also cured me, didn''t you?" The woman asked tentatively.

    It was obvious that she felt somewhat ufortable but she was trying at least. She just can''t bring herself to look at Raven in the eye.

    "Yes, I did." Raven answered her question, in and simply. "You were a few seconds away from dying, though."

    "T-thank you for saving me." The woman stood up and bowed deeply at him.

    Raven raised a brow when she saw how she trembled while performing the act. From the looks of it, this woman isn''t used to bowing like this. She was stiff and clearly ufortable. If anything, this might be the first time that she actually did this.

    "A simple thank you isn''t enough to pay me back though." Raven replied, he rested his back against his chair as he went over some documents. "I''m going to need your help with something."

    "I''m sorry, I don''t think I could offer my body to you."

    "Huh?" Raven sharply raised his brow upon hearing that response.

    "I-I said I can''t ¨C "

    "No, I heard you." Raven shook his head and said: "I''m not after your body. No offense but my wife is prettier and sexier than you. I need your help to search for someone, not you help in alleviating my physical needs."

    "Oh."

    The woman felt slightly appalled and mostly embarrassed. She hid her face using her hands out of shame. She couldn''t believe that she just made fun of herself by saying that. Beneath her embarrassment, she''s also mildly offended. The way how Raven ever so casually dismissed her womanly charm was slightly offensive.

    That being said, at least Raven isn''t like those predators one could encounter out here. At least, by how he''s acting so far, he''s not that type.

    "¡­that reminds me, we got a bit distracted aren''t we?" Raven looked at the woman and said: "I''ve cured you and you''ve already eaten my food and all but we still haven''t introduced ourselves."

    "Right¡­my name is Lenna." The woman replied, "Lenna of the Broken Bands."

    "Raven of the Divine Realm. Nice to meet you."

    "Oh, you''re from there." Lenna looked surprised upon hearing his response.

    "You know where Ie from?" Raven too was surprised.

    "Not really." Lenna shook her head. "I heard of it somewhere. Kind of difficult not to know when everybody basically wants to live there so bad. Haven''t seen it in person, but I heard it''s beautiful there and less¡­dangerous,pared to everywhere else apparently."

    Raven stared at Lenna for a brief moment before replying with,

    "I see." He nodded, "Well, I can''t really say whether that''s true or not. But in terms of living conditions, yeah, I think I agree with that."

    "May I ask what kind of help you need from me?" Lenna inquired.

    Raven was silent for a bit. Then he ced his documents down. He raised one finger which released a few strings of light.

    Said lights began weaving and twisting around, turning into a vivid picture of an old man.

    "I''m searching for this man. He''s my Master¡­kind of. Have you seen him?" Raven asked.

    Lenna stared at the picture whilst in deep thought. She started frowning, probably searching the deepest recesses of her mind to recall if she ever met someone who looked just like this. After a while of thinking, Lenna shook her head.

    "I don''t think I''ve seen him. Sorry."

    "I see. That''s fine." Raven released a sigh.

    Well, nobody said that this search would be easy right? He wasn''t expecting to get a lead right away anyway.

    Even the picture that she showed Lenna wasn''t something he''s certain of. After all, who could say what Geezer truly looks like nowadays? For all he knew, the old man might changed in one way or another. This picture was something from his memories only so it''s not a proper lead to begin with.

    "I-uh¡­well¡­"

    Raven was briefly startled when he heard her speak. She looked somewhat hesitant, fidgeting on her seat and unable to look at him.

    "You may speak freely." Raven softly said.

    "That¡­uhm¡­well." Lenna took a deep breath in and asked: "Maybe we can go to my home and ask people there?"

    "I-I mean, well¡­maybe, just maybe you know? Somebody out there can give you clues for your search. T-that''s if you don''t mind of course." Lenna added, still looking a little ufortable.

    Raven stared at Lenna for a good while. His gaze made her feel greatly exposed, addition to the ufortable feeling she already has. After a brief moment of silence, Raven shook his head and said:

    "That suggestion doesn''t sound bad." He hummed, "You''re intentions are very different though. You just wanted a ride back home. You could''ve just told me honestly you know?"

    Lenna wanted to melt on her seat due to embarrassment. She didn''t even bother retorting to that since she can''t lie to save her life.

    Raven didn''t lie. That was her intentions behind that suggestion for the most part anyways.

    Who could me her honestly? She surely have a reason as to why she''s willing to go this far. Raven only need a simple nce to see what kind of person Lenna is.

    She wasn''t a horrible person per se. Sure, taking advantage of one''s kindness doesn''t sound good but her intentions were harmless anyways. She even thought of a viable suggestion which Raven could certainly use.

    "What happened to you anyway?"

    Hearing his question caused Lenna''s expression to turn somber. Her shoulders fell and she looked really depressed for some reason.

    "Stupidity¡­that''s what." She replied. "Forgot the basic rules when venturing the Outer Worlds. Some assholes took advantage of it. Nearly died in the process. In that order."

    Well, that wasn''t much but Raven understood what she''s trying to say.

    The basic rule when venturing the Outer World: Do not trust anyone.

    This is an unsaid rule for the most part. Mostly established due to the harshness and unfairness of the Outer World. Trust is a very valuable thing here. Unless you''re with someone whom you shared weal and woe with, never trust your back with anyone else.

    Both Raven and Lenna didn''t trust each other. The former was experienced while theter was recently a victim. They have reasons why and both are valid.

    Lenna dropped her guard, causing her to be taken advantage of, she even nearly died in the process. Thankfully Raven arrived to save her.

    "¡­I see." Raven nodded, "Well, your suggestion doesn''t sound bad. Why not? Tell me the coordinates of your home."

    Lenna celebrated inwardly. She nodded at Raven and handed him a set of coordinates which will lead to her home. Raven registered the coordinates to her spatial shuttle and drove it towards the location. He briefly inspected their route and an interested expression appeared on his face.

    "¡­huh, that''s interesting." Raven mused softly. It was heard by Lenna.

    "What is?" She asked.

    "Well, the path were following is the same path where those who attacked you are heading. We might meet them on our way."

    "How did you¡­forget it. I won''t ask." Lenna shook her head immediately. "Well, if we do meet them on the way, please let me handle them. I can''t let them get away with what they did to me. Don''t worry it won''t take long."

    Raven looked at Lenna and shrugged.

    "Up to you."

 Chapter 852: Lennas Suspicions

    Chapter 852: Lenna¡¯s Suspicions

    ¡ª

    Lenna''s feeling a bitplex at this moment.

    It''s been roughly a month since Raven found her and had been riding his shuttle. That being said, she barely knew a thing about the man she''s with.

    Don''t get her wrong. She''s not enamored by his looks nor anything about him. She''s just merely curious, that''s all.

    They haven''t talked much really. All they shared were brief exchange of nods and that''s about it. Raven allowed her to roam free within the shuttle given that she wouldn''t do anything to harm it. Not that she''d dare to anyways. This was her ride home and despite the man being cold to her, their situation could be defined as peacefully coexisting ¨C something that is rare considering where they are.

    She figured that this is how things would be. At least until they arrived at her home that is. She always saw Raven busy with something and they''re not close enough to be on talking terms, she''s curious about him but that''s that.

    Well, who wouldn''t be curious? Lenna being an Outsider, is aware of how rare to meet someone from the Divine Realm. She''s only heard about them in rumors and in stories but to think she''d actually meet one was beyond her so now that she did, she can''t help but be curious about him.

    She wondered what it''s like to live there. What kind of prosperous festivities ur in that ce, if it''s even prosperous at all. She wondered if that ce was truly like the tales she heard from other Outsiders.

    More importantly, she wondered if it''s possible for her to visit that ce.

    Well, visiting might be impossible. She had heard of stories about Outsiders trying to infiltrate that ce. Nobody returned to tell the tale so she could only guess that they all died.

    This brings her to another point that''s weird with Raven¡­

    Why did he help her?

    Sure, she could think that Raven probably did it in exchange of her help but that''s not it. That''s not the issue here.

    All things considered, Raven was gentle and kind to her. Something that really puzzled her since, ording to what she heard, children of the Divine Realm were unkind towards Outsiders. They despise Outsiders vehemently and would rather die than to be acquainted with one.

    So why was Raven like this to her? She can''t understand.

    ''Maybe the rumors aren''t true after all.''

    Is what she thought.

    ''I mean, it''s rumors for a reason. A bit foolish of me to think that I could actually trust them.''

    ''That, or he could just be an exception. Whatever it is, this is good for me. At least I have his help to get back home. It''s been a while since I left.''

    ''Hopefully, I''m not toote.''

    Lenna was currently enjoying a warm cup of tea, courtesy of Raven, as she peered outside of the shuttle. She felt rxed and calm as she patiently waited for their arrival at her home.

    She''s a bit unfamiliar with the route that they''re following. That being said, she''s not really in any position to demand answers from Raven. She doesn''t have even the tiniest bit of control over the situation so she just sat back and rxed.

    She could only acquiesce with Raven''s whims after all.

    "Hey."

    Lenna''s soul almost flew away from her body. She was badly frightened that she spilled the contents of her cup all over her dress. She stood up and turned around to see Raven looking at her in an amused yet apologetic stare.

    "My bad. I didn''t mean to scare you."

    Lenna sighed and asked: "Do you need something?"

    "No. Not really." Raven shook his head. Lenna really wanted to curse at him but before she could speak, Raven continued with what he''s saying: "Just letting you know that we''re approaching an unstable zone."

    "I saw tons of Spatial Storms and Disturbances ahead of us. We''ll have to pass by that area if you want to return to your home so brace for impact."

    "Oh¡­" Lenna let out a surprised sound. "That ce huh? That means we''re near then."

    "ording to the spatial coordinates you gave to me, yes." Raven nodded.

    "You know, that ce actually acts as a natural defense barrier for our home." Lenna stated as she wiped the spilled tea on her dress. "That ce never disappeared and it kept us rtively safe against invaders. The only downside is that, it''s a bit difficult for us to leave and return as well."

    "You mean to say that the Broken Bands is in the middle of that field?"

    "Exactly." Lenna nodded. "I hope your shuttle''s strong enough to endure the harshness of that ce. Well, if you want to, we can also fly there instead, it''d be an easier approach since I know a route we can follow."

    Raven stared at Lenna for a bit before answering: "Yeah, there''s no need for that. My shuttle can survive an explosion of multiple suns. A bit of Spatial Storms and Disturbances would only shake it so we''re safe here."

    This was all that Raven told her before he disappeared again.

    Lenna was slightly dumbfounded. Raven sounded so confident that she actually believed him. Granted, he hasn''t lied to her ever since he picked her up.

    Still, that''s impressive. A Spatial Shuttle that is durable? Children of the Divine Realm sure are capable, generous and rich! Outsiders could hardly scavenge a functioning shuttle yet this man brought an indestructible one like it''s nothing.

    The disparity of their living conditions really feels painful right now.

    Lenna sighed and shook her head. Well, at least it wouldn''t be too long before she could return home. They were near and with how confident Raven sounded just now, it seems that they''ll arrive there unharmed.

    She returned to the room she was using for now. She locked the doors before deciding to change her clothes. Her dress was ruined by spilled tea so she doesn''t want to wear it again.

    As she cleaned herself and changed into a new set of clothes, Lenna couldn''t help but recall memories of her home.

    The Broke Bands, in an Outsider''s perspective, was a rtively good ce to be in.

    By no means it was safe and secure. She wouldn''t even call it prosperous since Divine Realm existed. Still, from the point of view of a mere Outsider, her home might as well be a paradise.

    The protection of the Turbulent Zone surrounding their home made it rtively safe against invaders and scavengers. People who were born there lived a semi-peaceful life. They could enjoy days of serenity and leisure from time to time at least and there''s also a stable supply of food for everyone so nobody''s starving.

    People liked living there, some even chose to settle down and start a family there. That being said, her home wasn''t that big. It could only support a few people living there, which is why thew of the jungle still stands.

    Those who wanted to stay must be strong enough to fend for themselves or else they will be eliminated and have their space taken away from them.

    Lenna and her family belonged to those who are strong enough to keep their ce there. She loved that ce since it''s where she''s born and raised. That''s also where her family is and where she nned on building her own family as well.

    As someone who had been staying there for a long time, Lenna and her family had some reputation attached to their name. They were respected in that ce which brought them peace for the most part.

    Still, there''s a reason why she needed to leave her home. She has older siblings who were more capable than her but she ultimately decided to be the one who leaves their home and venture the dangerous and boundlessnds of the Outer Worlds.

    As luck would have it, she nearly died but got rescued in the end. She managed to achieve her goal but she nearly paid for it with her life. Now, she could only hope that it''s still not toote or else her family would be done for.

    ''¡­now that I thought about it. The clues are aligning.'' She mused by herself. ''Raven hadn''t gave me a reason to distrust him so far. So, if I took his word as it is, then it''s quite possible that someone from my home wants me dead.''

    ''Raven said that those who ambushed me are headed towards this location.''

    ''We have yet to see them. Meaning that they probably arrived at the Broken Bands.''

    ''Oh it''s obvious now isn''t it?'' Lenna scoffed, ''Those assholes probably reported back and got their promised rewards. They''re either sellswords, mercenaries or pirates hired by someone.''

    ''¡­that begs the question of ''who'' then.''

    ''Who is it that wants me dead? Who''s after my family? If they knew about my mission, that means they have ess to our family''s intel, we are secretive about our operations so whoever sent those two after me, must be close to my family.''

    ''There''s a traitor amongst us then¡­''

    ''I wonder who?''

 Chapter 853: Impressions

    Chapter 853: Impressions

    ¡ª

    As it turns out, Raven''s confidence about his Spatial Shuttle wasn''t unfounded.

    At this current moment, a great spatial storm was wrecking havoc on their surroundings. It left several tears and disturbances on the space around them yet it only caused minor vibrations for Raven''s shuttle.

    Lenna pursed her lips as she watched in awe. She could feel a pang of bitterness beneath all the awe due to how big the disparity was in their living conditions.

    Sufficed to say, a spatial storm this strong would''ve absolutely maul anybody who tried to challenge it, yet it didn''t even leave a scar on Raven''s shuttle. All it did was to shake it a little.

    A great spatial storm was reduced to nothing but a mild inconvenience. The difference was truly painful.

    That being said, Lenna was lucky to be on this shuttle. Luckier that Raven wasn''t like the rumors she heard about the Children of the Divine Realm. She was safe and sound here. The vibrations of the ship did nothing to disturb her rest.

    If it''s up to her, she would''ve loved to stay in this shuttle forever. She felt safe here, especially with Raven around. However, she knew that this is just her being delusional. There''s no way Raven would allow her to stay here forever.

    Raven wasrgely unaware of what Lenna was thinking. Even if he''s aware of it, he''d probably cast it aside. He had no interest on taking her in.

    He had nothing against her. They''re civil to each other at best and it''s clear that she''s not a veteran of the Outer Worlds. He only allowed her in because their interests aligned, after this, they''d part ways since he had other matters to attend to.

    Lenna''s home is still a bit far from where they''re at. Like a month and half away considering the current speed of the shuttle.

    Even amidst the unending barrage of Spatial Storms, Raven had no intentions of driving the shuttle faster even though he could. This is him being careful.

    With the pace he set for himself, his adventures to the Outer World will inevitably turn boring after a while. Good thing he had things that could keep him upied, at least that alleviates some of the boredom he felt.

    The boons he received ever since he became the representative of Chaos, were still around. He already digested most of it when he stabilized his cultivation realm but there were still some of it that''s left.

    These discoveries fell into the moreplicated stuff about the existence of everything. He hadn''t been able to properly take care of it back at the Divine Realm but when he stepped out to the Outer Worlds, the knowledge pour restarted once more.

    This made him think that the left over knowledge probably has something to do with the existence of the Outer World. It could only be that since up until now, he''s still digesting knew information from it.

    So far, all he grasped wouldn''t even scratch the surface about the Outer Worlds. It wasn''t even enough as a foundation really, but it''s a lead.

    The documents he had been reading up until this point were all about the known documentations about the Outer World.

    Raven was trying to piece clues by himself. Clues that might help him understand the strangeness of the Outer Worlds. Yes, this isn''t what he''s out here to do but it''s a great distraction for him in this boring trip so he might as well, right?

    As what has been established before, the Outer World is a wild and chaotic ¨C not the good kind either.

    Everything out here was a hot mess and the sheer size of it was mind-boggling. There was no semnce of order here which makes it a bit inhabitable. Still there are living beings out here who managed to survive and carve a piece ofnd for themselves.

    Lenna is a great example of that.

    The moment heid eyes on her, Raven automatically knew that Lenna isn''t human. She looks like one but in truth she isn''t. Under his gaze, her true form was revealed.

    Lenna is a hybrid of a Space Beast and a Spirit. This was obvious by her aura and some of her physical features. She has pointed ears, reptilian eyes, a tail and hooves for legs, the rest of her body resembles that of human. She also posses a vast energy reserves, although her energy isn''t like the one that Raven was familiar with.

    When he read her aura back then, her energy felt murky and unstable. It''s like a poorly concocted cocktail, yet for some reason, it''s not hurting her.

    ¡­that or she was just used to it by now. Either or really.

    Moreover, it seems like she can use it freely as she pleases. Maybe it''s because of her Spirit Lineage that allowed her to do that. Raven''s not sure but she''s making it work for some reason.

    She also recovered from her injuries pretty swiftly. Raven hardly did anything to heal her, her natural recovery kicked-in after a little bit of help. This is probably due to her Space Beast Lineage.

    To top things off, she''s probably either raised by a Human Outsider or her and her family adopted the lifestyle. She knows how to speak Humanity''snguage and her mannerisms evidently screams Humanity.

    Most of his guess were from his mere observations. It is also limited since he only had Lenna. He''d probably narrow down more information once they arrive at her home. There will be more beings to observe there after all.

    The one thing that really puzzled Raven about all of this is that, for some reason, Lenna could use Laws ¨C Outer World Laws in her case.

    This shouldn''t have been possible since she''s half Space Beast.

    Space Beast can''t use any kinds of Laws. They are beings that are abandoned by it.

    ording to the documents he read, this shouldn''t have worked this way. Sure, in a sense, Lenna is still a Spirit ¨C a race loved by Laws, which might be the thing that neutralized the disadvantages of her Space Beast counterpart but there''s no proof of this.

    Heck, he''s not even sure how she was possible. A hybrid of Space Beast and Spirit? Weren''t those two races hate each other?

    The only possibility of her existing should through artificial means. But thatplication should''ve left some traces on her existence ¨C something that Raven would''ve sensed by now if that''s the case but he hadn''t sensed it at all.

    See, all of this are what made this boring trip more bearable for Raven.

    He can''t help it. It''s in his nature to be curious.

    ¡ª

    Time passed by silently.

    The two of them rarely interacted still. They minded their own business and peacefully coexisted. Both were aware that they are nearing their destination and made their own preparations for it.

    One week away from their arrival, Raven''s senses actually touched the hem of the Lenna''s home, the Broken Bands.

    The image was reflected on his eyes. A broken and almost lifeless star. It''s almost split in the middle, barely able to hold up it''s shape.

    The outer crust looked like a dead tree bark, dry and king, he could even see ashes of it floating around.

    Raven sensed lifeforms habituating the core. There isrge teau in there where its citizens lived. The atmosphere wad gloomy but considering that this is the Outer World, that ce might as well be considered as a small paradise.

    Lenna didn''t lie. Her home was rtively safe from invaders due to the existence of the Spatial Storms. It really did form some kind of natural defense barrier around it.

    The broken star was small, probably just as big as the old Grand Ancestral ne, yet not as prosperous even at its decline.

    The unstableness of this world is what made Raven frown.

    To Raven, this ce was inhabitable. He wouldn''t consider living here if he has a choice. But then again, this is the Outer Worlds. Beggars can''t be choosers.

    As they got closer to it, Raven observed the ce even more.

    From his rough estimations, the poption of this ce roughly exceeds the 10,000''s. It''s quite popted given how small this ce were.

    He also witnessed some people having conflict against each other. He couldn''t hear them but if he had a guess, it''s probably because of living space.

    Majority of the people here didn''t have houses. Their homes were roughly patched up tents. The fee houses he could see wouldn''t even be considered as a ''home'' in his book. A stone cave would feel more like a homepared to those.

    There''s food here ¨C disgusting but edible. There''s enough for everyone so nobodyined,

    For the most part, they all seem to peacefully coexist. It wasn''t as chaotic as Raven was expecting but it definitely could be better.

    Now that he had seen what this ce was like on the surface, Raven already has an impression. He''s not expecting much to be honest but he wouldn''t mind a surprise.

    "We''re here."

 Chapter 854: Lennas Home

    Chapter 854: Lenna¡¯s Home

    ¡ª

    Lenna was almost skipping as they stepped out of the shuttle. It was obvious that she was excited to return, impatient even.

    Raven decided to leave the shuttle station somewhere near the Broken Bands but not on it. He could instantly ess it from this distance and it''s safer this way. It''s also camouged, it''s practically invisible to everyone except him.

    The two of them didn''t bother hiding their presence. Lenna was the who suggested it. She said that she was well known here and it''s not strange for a neer to show-up here anyways.

    When they reached the teau, Lenna paused to take a deep breath before she resumed walked. Raven followed behind her, maintaining a respectful distance between them. They were silent on the trip but that''s because Raven was busy inspecting the entirety of Lenna''s home.

    "Lenna? Is that you, Lass? You''ve returned?"

    "Aunt May!" Lenna''s cheerful voice interrupted Raven out of his reverie. He then saw Lenna running towards a middle-aged woman.

    "Oh, my. It really is you! I''m d you''re back! How have you been? We missed you!"

    The two rtives talked to each other, it was mostly Lenna who telling her aunt what she''s up to roughly. She didn''t tell her about her near death experience though.

    Raven just stood there, absorbed in his own thoughts. He had made numerous discoveries uponnding here and that''s what is keeping him upied at least.

    "¡­oh by the way, this is Raven. He''s someone I met outside." Lenna turned towards him and gestured towards her Aunt. "Raven, this Aunt May. She''s the one who took care of me ever since I was young."

    Raven smiled and nodded at the middle-aged woman, thetter returned the gesture. They didn''t bother exchanging words since there''s no need to. Plus it was obvious that this woman was wary of him.

    Lenna sensed the strange atmosphere and couldn''t help but purse her lips. Nevertheless, she remained silent instead, changed the subject.

    "By the way Aunt May? Where''s the rest? My parents? I don''t see them here." Lenna asked.

    "Oh, they went out to distribute supplies." May replied, she walked back to their home with Lenna following her. "It''s out house''s turn this time around. They didn''t want to go but they''re bound by an agreement."

    "Ah, so I was out for that long huh?"

    The two of them reached the opposite side of the house, May pretended that she was searching for something. She looked around and saw that the man didn''t follow them around, that''s when she turned around and asked her niece:

    "Lenna, be wary of that man." She stressed, "Don''t trust him that easily."

    "I trust him Aunt." Lenna sighed, "But I honestly don''t think he''s that bad. He did return me here safe and sound. Of course, it''s in exchange of something but it''s not something so drastic."

    "What kind of deal?"

    "He''s searching for someone." Lenna replied, "He showed me a picture and I can''t recognize the person. He had a nice ship and I wanted to return here so I thought that I might as well try my luck. I told him that I''ll help him ask the people around here, maybe someone knows something about the man he''s searching for, that in exchange that he''ll give me a ride back here. He fulfilled his promise and so I must too with mine."

    "Is that really all?" May asked, sounding really skeptical.

    "Yes, Aunt May. That''s all." Lenna sighed again, "He didn''t hurt me. Heck, he didn''t even try to start a conversation if it''s not necessary. I don''t think he''s that bad."

    "Just making sure, Darling." May replied, "You can never be too sure nowadays. For all we know, he could be faking it."

    "Oh, trust me. He doesn''t need to try. He has no interest on what we have here. For all I know, this ce might as well be a trash heap in his eyes. He''s a child of the Divine Realm after all."

    May''s eyesically widened at the mention of that.

    "Is he now?"

    "Yes." Lenna nodded, "It hurts topare out living conditions, Aunt May. I feel like crying. He so damn rich. His shuttle was basically a Divine Fortress, it turned the fierce spatial storms outside into a mere joke. He has a lot of food too, he fed me a lot you know? And that''s without asking for anything in return so far. I don''t think he''s that bored to rob us or harm us. I think we''re safe. He''s not that bad."

    "You see, I know you said that tofort me but all it did is make me even more suspicious."

    "Aunt May. He''s not that bored alright." Lenna countered, "Besides, I''m pretty sure that he''s here strictly out of business. Once he gets what he wants out of us, he''ll leave peacefully."

    "Well, you were never a poor judge of character." May sighed, "Alright then. We''ll see what we can do to help."

    "Thanks, Aunt May." Lenna cheered and hugged her again.

    From the other side of the¡­house. Raven shook his head.

    They probably thought that they were far enough to not be heard by him but oh, how wrong they were. Raven could here everything in this ce, even the gentlest gust of wind didn''t escape his ears.

    Raven didn''t me the aunt for suspecting him. That''s normal out here. The Outer World is filled with too much treachery that trust turns into a luxury here.

    Lenna wasn''t wrong with her assumptions though. Raven was here strictly out of business. He wanted to search for clues about his Master''s whereabouts, he isn''t that bored to cause a scene in here.

    After a couple of minutes, Lenna went out of the house and approached him.

    "Hey, sorry for making you wait out here. I got a little distracted with my Aunt. Do want toe in?"

    "If you don''t mind."

    "Not at all! Come!" Lenna cheerfully lead Raven within the¡­house.

    Raven fought the urge to squint when he heard the groan of the wooden floor from his weight. He also noticed that majority of the things out here were covered with dust¡­well, ash more like actually. This ash was something from the decayed crust of this broken star, constantly falling over this teau.

    There''s a few chairs and tables around. The roof has many holes and it looked liked it was roughly patched up together to form¡­this.

    "Sorry. This ce must look ugly for you. It''s all we have so please bear with it."

    "Okay." Raven nodded, he didn''t want to sound pretentious so he didn''t bother trying to make-up excuses.

    "Right, so I told my Aunt about out deal." Lenna said. "Well, I told her everything minus the part where I almost died. She doesn''t need to know that."

    "We''re just waiting for the rest of my family to return. Once they''re back, I''ll tell them about out deal too. We have quite a reputation here so that should help with your search."

    "I appreciate that." Raven replied. "I won''t be staying here though. I''ll most likely stay at my shuttle instead."

    Raven took out a scroll from his spatial ring and passed it to Lenna.

    "This scroll contains the same image I showed you before. It''s a portrait of my Master. Take it with you to help with you search. If you find someone who knows something, just call my name. I''ll hear you."

    "Also, to help with your search, I''m willing to provide rations as a reward. Some for your family if they''re willing to help me and some for the one who knows something ¨C which I hope someone does actually."

    "Oh¡­that''s fine. W-we''re not reallycking in terms of rations-"

    "Say that again once you remember all the variety of food you devoured while you were on my ship." Raven yfully scoffed. "Just do as I say. You''ll thank me afterwards. Anyways, I''m off. I''ll be on my ship. Give me a call once you discover something."

    Just like that Raven disappeared from Lenna''s home like a phantom. His disappearing act somewhat frightened Lenna because she didn''t even noticed how he moved, he just downright dissipated like he was never there in the first ce.

    She pursed her lips and unfurled the scroll on her hands. The image painted on there looked like the one he showed her, only this one looked more vivid and realistic.

    Then she remembered Raven''s offer. She felt slightly embarrassed actually. She didn''t know what came over her when she tried to refuse his offer. Even more embarrassed when she remembered what kinds of food Raven fed her during the entirety of their trip here.

    Indeed, it was foolish of her to refuse that. Why did she even think about it?

    Raven''s pockets were literally filled with all sorts of delicacies and stuff she wouldn''t mind having. If the man offered it to them, who was she to refuse?

    With that in mind, Lenna rolled the scroll once again and kept it in her own spatial ring.. She sat inside the house and waited for the rest of her family to return.

 Chapter 855: Revenge

    Chapter 855: Revenge

    ¡ª

    Just as Raven said, he stayed on his shuttle.

    He left a part of his consciousness to pay attention to the world in front of him. Even the bare minimum allowed to basically know everything that''s going on in that teau.

    Raven heard Lenna''s conversation with her family.

    She was a horrible liar. In the end, she didn''t manage to keep the incident a secret from her own family. She was forced to tell them the truth, about her near death experience. To say that her parents were incensed would be an understatement.

    Well, she''s effectively grounded to say the least. She''s not allowed to leave their home world anymore.

    Raven also managed to discover what her mission was, the reason why she have to leave this ce.

    See, resources doesn''t grow in trees here. There aren''t even trees in the first ce. This world ¨C if it could even be called as such, is piss poor. It''s literally hanging on by a thread. One wrong move and it wille crashing down, dragging down its citizens down with it.

    What Lenna sought out to do, is to scavenge resources from nearby sites. Trying to see what can be brought back in order to help their people survive.

    See, there''s a strange thing in thus teau.

    At the core of thend, there is a pool which directly links to the core of this almost dead star. There, people pour over the gathered resources they collected along their expeditions. This apparently allows the star to not only keep it''s structural integrity, even though barely, it also causes food and other resources to grow within the vicinity of the pool, which they can then gather and distribute amongst themselves.

    Technically, it would never be Lenna''s turn for the expedition. She has three older brothers for that ord. She was the youngest and kindest amongst them. She''s practically the darling of this ce so everyone''s overprotective of her.

    Still, Lenna was stubborn. She felt like a burden. She didn''t feel like sitting still and looking pretty. She wanted to help just like her brothers could. This is why she practiced cultivation and trained like mad.

    Just as well, she was a blessed one ¨C at least on their book she is. She has a massive reserves of energy and she was talented. She managed to catch up to her brothers quite quickly too. This earned the respect of the citizens and deemed her worthy to leave for an expedition.

    Sadly, it didn''t turn out well for her. She nearly died in the process. She''s even under the debt of someone from the Divine Realm.

    She wasn''t admonished too bad since she brought more than enough resources with her. It''s just that, her near death experience didn''t please her family.

    What Raven found interesting is that, Lenna is not of their blood. He''s sure of it now.

    Her parents are neither a Spirit nor a Space Beast, they''re both Local Outsiders ¨C people who were born and raised outside of the Divine Realm.

    She''s probably adopted, Raven''s best bet at this point. Her parents might or might not know what she is actually since he never heard them talk about it. Lenna herself probably isn''t aware that she''s different from them.

    Raven has no ns of telling her of course. It''s none of his business to meddle with something like this, frankly he doesn''t really care.

    After the brief confrontation and a long scolding from her family. Lenna managed to convince them to help. They agreed with her request and started working, but then an interesting thing urred.

    Lenna found the same people who ambushed her.

    It was an instant decision on her side. She didn''t waste time. The moment they locked eyes, the situation was set. She took out her weapon and attacked them were they stood.

    Raven could sense the panic sinking in from her ambushers. They probably couldn''t believe that she''s still alive and was ever strong enough toe back here unscathed.

    Raven had to give it to Lenna. She''s decisive. Her decision might look reckless, attacking someone without any prior warning, but considering what ce this is, it''s wise.

    Their fight startled the citizens of course, especially Lenna''s family. One second they were talking to people, the next thing they knew, she was already fighting someone.

    Lenna''s family didn''t interfere. Nobody interfered. They weren''t dumb. Lenna obviously have a grudge against the two. No one would dare to step in since Lenna''s family had a reputation here. They won''t help Lenna but they would step in the moment someone interferes.

    This is how they do things here. This treacherous environment was harsh so people who live in could only be harsher.

    The battle allowed Raven to measure the strength of people here. Well, he really didn''t need to know in the first ce since he''s sure nobody could threaten him here but he wouldn''t be opposed to gaining a few more knowledge bits.

    Lenna''s aura was unique. For someone like her, it was impressive that she could even mobilize this amount of energy under this chaotic environment without it copsing or dispersing. Her aura took on a deep blue-ish hue, a sign that purity of her energy was mediocre at best, but she has a lot of it so that kind of cancels it out.

    It was a one versus two yet Lenna managed to push them back. It was clear that she was a capable warrior. Adept with her rapier and her footwork. How these two managed to corner and injure Lenna back there, leaving her to the brink of death, was a mystery for Raven.

    The fight didn''tst long though. Lenna was better than the twobined so they were killed instead, heads pierced by Lenna''s rapier, leaving a gaping hole in them.

    After their death, thepass on Raven''s hand lost its luster too. Meaning that they died for real.

    With a huff, Lenna hurled their bodies to the pool at the core of the teau, turning them into food for the star and resources to be gathered in the future.

    Lenna was interrogated by her family but after knowing that the people she killed were the ones who ambushed her, they dropped the matter altogether. That''s how it''s like here. Anyone could lose their lives at any given moment.

    After the battle, Raven peeled his attention away from Lenna and her family, turning it to the citizens of this teau instead.

    For the most part, most of them here were Local Outsiders. All jaded and exhausted, barely had a grip on their will to live.

    It seems that the Broken Bands served as some from of a sanctuary for them. A ce to rest and reprieve from the cruel environment of the Outer Worlds.

    It feels a bit concerning if Raven''s being honest.

    Out of his curiosity, he picked a target and discretely read their memories. This one was a man hunted by Space Pirates. He had a bounty on his head, a pretty high one at that. He''s basically on the run for all of his life. It was only after someone brought him here that he managed to get some rest and peace. Yet the constant hunt still took a toll on his mentality. Now, he''s reduced to a babbling old man.

    He picked another target and read their memory. It''s basically the same story as the previous one.

    Really, it''s concerning. Their living conditions are truly awful. Raven couldn''t help but sympathize with them even just a bit. In all manner of ways, he''s lucky that he''s born and raised in the Divine Realm. He didn''t know if he could endure a life like theirs.

    After that little incident, Raven decided to busy himself with things that actually concerns him. As much as he could sympathize with the people here, he doesn''t have any ns of helping them unless they could help him.

    Kindness is a mistake in the Outer World. It has no ce here. Those who are kind won''t live long here. Raven didn''t want to garner too much attention on himself here. He has a one mission, once he done, he''s leaving.

    As for Lenna and her family, they did their best. They talked to people in batches, asking if they had an idea where Geezer might be. To Lenna''s surprise, some actually appeared to have some clues about the man in the portrait but instead of calling for Raven, she decided to wait until they have everyone interviewed first so that Raven can finish them in one go.

    It took them almost a week in Divine Realm''s time before they rounded up the people who knows something. So far, there about 16 people here who imed they know something. Most of them are old while some of them are young.

    Lenna had her doubts but she already did her part. What happens next will be up to Raven. Speaking of which¡­

    "Raven, we''re done here. Pleasee down." Lenna called out.

    At first they were all puzzled by her actions, but then, a man suddenly appeared out of thin air beside Lenna.

    His gaze was so piercing that it seems to seep to their very soul. There was silence first before a Raven raised a brow.

    "Oh?"

 Chapter 856: Display Of Might

    Chapter 856: Disy Of Might

    ¡ª

    Raven truly never meant to intimidate them upon his arrival. He really didn''t mean to.

    s, it''s precisely what happened.

    It''s probably because of his choice to appear like a ghost or because of how he carried himself, maybe even both honestly. He didn''t mean to scare them in any way but it''s what happened anyway.

    It was obvious at the first nce that Raven was different breed.

    For one, he looked neat and noble. His clothes were sparkling clean, not a dust nor dirt could be seen in his face, he looks ethereal and he smells fresh. The way he stood was authoritative and his gaze was piercing as if they could see through their deepest secrets and just by his stance alone, they could feel power rolling off from his body.

    None of these people met anyone like him before.

    Even Lenna''s family looked like beggars right next to him.

    Raven gave Lenna a subtle nod. Then he asked: "These people imed that they''ve seen him?"

    "Y-yeah." She nodded, feeling quite awkward. She might never get used to how authoritative Raven sounded.

    Raven nced briefly at the 16 people in front of him. It was quiteical to see how they seem to shiver whenever Raven looked at them. It was obvious that they were scared.

    "You." Raven pointed at someone from the group.

    The man flinched. He looked at his left and his right, then behind. He then pointed at himself with an incredulous expression.

    "Yes, you." Raven nodded faintly. "Step forward."

    The man hesitantly took a step forward, not daring to meet Raven''s eyes.

    "Tell me what you know."

    "I-¡­" the man tried to speak but he was too nervous. He tried to look at Raven and opened his mouth but no words came out.

    Raven didn''t say anything. He just stared at the man with an impassive gaze, waiting for him to speak.

    "I-I met him on an abandoned ne before." The man finally got the courage to speak. "W-we weren''t acquainted per se. I-I just¡­saw him and minded my own business."

    "Coordinates?" Raven asked.

    The man gulped and told him the spatial coordinates. Right after telling him the coordinates, he immediately followed by saying:

    "I-I''m not sure if that ce is still around though. I-we fled that ce because it for ransacked by Space Pirates."

    Raven stared at the man with an indifferent gaze. He nodded after a bit and said: "Stand there."

    He pointed at his left. The man was unsure of what to do first but Raven''s piercing gaze bore down on him, urging him to hurry so he could only follow.

    Raven then pointed at another person. Just like what he did to previous one, he asked what they know. This one told a different story from the previous one. Raven asked for the spatial coordinates before telling them to stand on the left side.

    Just like this, Raven interrogated the ground one by one. He followed the same format for most part and allocated them to a certain spot next to him.

    Their stories varied. Some imed that they saw Geezer on a abandoned world/star/ne. Some said he was a wandering merchant, while some imed that he joined the ranks of Space Pirates, there are even some who said the same story as the previous ones before them.

    Raven listened to them all. His expression didn''t shift even once during all that so nobody could really tell what he''s thinking. He just stares and ask questions, then he will tell them to either stand on his left or his right.

    Some people could already tell where this is going but they didn''t say a word. They just waited instead.

    Thest person who imed they knew something was surprising.

    It was a teenager.

    From Raven''s guess, she appears to be around 15 or 16. She looked visibly frightened but she didn''t run. She just kind of shivered where she stood.

    "You. Step forward."

    The girl flinched and stepped forward. She was looking around her. She saw her parents looking at her with worried faces within the crowd of onlookers.

    Raven looked unbothered, he straight up demanded: "Tell me what you know."

    "N-not much, M''Lord." She said, "I-¡­this one didn''t properly saw the Sire. Only a brief nce of his silhouette."

    She took a deep breath and recounted her story. "T-the good Sire appeared when we were raided by the Nightmares. Sire t-told me to go to my parents a-and run away, far far away. H-he said that it''s over for our home and wished us luck."

    "S-sire held them Nightmares back for as long as he could before¡­before he couldn''t anymore. W-we were leaving our home and then I-¡­this one saw him onest time¡­he got caught by the Nightmares. They chained him up¡­whipped him before taking him to their ship. T-that''s all this one could remember."

    "T-this one would happily give M''Lord the spatial coordinates of our home but¡­it''s gone now. I doubt even a rubble was left there. Would M''Lord require it?"

    Raven stared at the child for a moment. After a moment, he sighed and shook his head:

    "No need. Stay where you are."

    "Y-yes, M''Lord." The girl squeaked and stood still.

    Raven then took a step forward and faced the other people he interviewed earlier. He looked at them one by one before saying:

    "I''ll give those who lied onest chance to live. Admit to your sins and I won''t kill you. You have five minutes and it starts now."

    Everyone''s eyes widened in disbelief. By the looks of it, the man wasn''t kidding. He was serious.

    Time ticked down yet nobody dared to move. That said, everyone felt in edge. Some started sweating coldly while others fidgeted where they stood. Countless of thoughts ran through their head as to what to do but none seems to be the correct answer. Even those who didn''t participate and just watched themotion, felt nervous.

    "Thirty seconds left." Raven announced, causing everyone to flinch.

    With what little amount of time left, the nerves truly gotten to them. Those group started fidgeting even more, looking more and more unsure of what to do yet they knew they don''t have much time left.

    "Time''s up."

    Everyone froze. Raven''s gaze suddenly turned really cold. He was about to say something when someone interrupted him.

    "Don''t kill anyone."

    Raven''s gaze automaticallynded on the one who just spoke. It was a man from audience. He walked with a weapon in hand towards Raven with unkind intentions but honestly? Raven wasn''t having it.

    "Kneel."

    *Boom!*

    That wasn''t a request. It was a heavenly order.

    The man who stepped with his body brimming with too much bravado and confidence, looked dumbstruck right now. His knees buckled at one word from Raven''s mouth. He looked so lost.

    "I did not give you any permission to speak." Raven uttered coldly. "Nor have I given you any permission that you may look at me. Knock your head on the ground."

    Against his desire, the man''s forehead touched ground hard.

    Everyone hissed at the disy, even Lenna and his family grimaced at the sight. This was a tant disy of might and power. Everyone was frightened.

    "Remember that position." Raven stated. "In your next life. That is how you shall greet those who are stronger than you."

    Everyone shivered at his words.

    "Now. Begone."

    With his order, everyone watched as the man''s body disintegrated into fine dust. Scattered by the gentle gust of air. Not a trace remained of him around, not even a speck of aura left. He died in all manner of ways, never to revived in any way shape or form. All but with one word from Raven.

    This¡­this is power.

    It wasn''t until this very moment that everyone realized who they''re dealing with. That man was someone who also had a reputation here but he died with just one word from Raven. Calling that a one-sided battle wouldn''t even be fair. It was not a battle to begin with, that man never stood a chance.

    Raven''s gaze thennded to the group of people he interviewed earlier. The moment their gazes met, they immediately scrambled to their feet.

    "M''Lord! Forgive me please! I lied! Please spare me! I''ll do anything!"

    "Spare us! Please, forgive! M''Lord!"

    "Our magnanimous Lord! Please do pardon our mistakes! It shall never happen again! We will serve you for the rest of our lives!"

    Out of 16 people who imed that they knew something, there''s only one who said their truth and it was the girl standing behind Raven right now.

    Everyone else lied.

    Lenna and the rest of the audience were disappointed but not surprised. They could understand why they did it but¡­it''s a shame. They picked the wrong target.

    Nobody could save them from this. Raven gave them a chance but they wasted it. Truly, they asked for this.

    "A man can escape a random act of god but could never escape a disaster they courted." Raven''s voice was t. "I''ve given you a chance. In your next life, be a little bit more wise."

    "Begone."

 Chapter 857: Yelena And Her Wish

    Chapter 857: Yelena And Her Wish

    ¡ª

    Nobody dared to say a word after that.

    Nobody didn''t even dare to breathe loudly after that.

    With their hearts full of trepidation and wariness, they just looked, frozen where they stood as they watched how the residual ashes of those who just died got scattered by the air.

    This has got to be the most afraid they''ve been ever sinceing here.

    They never expected that someone so powerful like this man would even appear in this ce. There''s nowhere for them to run. Even if there was, it''s useless.

    At times like this, it''s better to just give up and cooperate willingly. That''s the best shot they had if they want to keep their lives.

    Lenna was feeling quite conflicted right now.

    In one-side, she felt remorseful. Her home was supposed to be a paradise in Outer Lands. And where everyone could peacefully coexist. No conflicts, just civility at best. Now, that status quo was broken.

    It was her who brought Raven here. It was her who suggested this idea therefore, she was also the one who killed those people.

    She never really expected Raven to be this strong. She had a feeling that he was but not this extent where his mere words allowed him to decide whether one should die or not.

    Raven showed a new side of himself to her and frankly, she understood why he acted this way. At the end of the day, only the strong thrives in this trash heap. Raven''s plenty strong, and that by itself is enough to make him a god here.

    After the death of those who lied, a palpable silence enveloped the teau. Raven didn''t seem bothered by it though.

    He gently turned around and waved his hand.

    A bunch of tiny seals appeared around him, they released a mixture of golden and silver radiance. They saw Raven kneeling down to the height of the girl. They saw how the girl seemingly flinched in fright. Raven seemed to have said something but they didn''t hear a word.

    "Don''t be scared, Little One. I''m not going to hurt you." Raven stated, there was a gentle expression on his face as he said.

    The girl looked at him briefly before looking down once more. She gave a soft nod and continued ying with the hem of her worn-out shirt.

    "What''s your name?"

    "M-my name is Y-Yelena, M''Lord." She replied.

    "Yelena?"

    "R-right." She nodded.

    "I see." Raven dipped his head. "Well, I have some more questions to ask of you Yelena, I''d like you to answer them if you would."

    "T-this one is willing to tell you all she knows, M''Lord."

    "Mn." Raven dipped his head again, "These Nightmares you''ve said before. Can you tell me what they''re like?"

    Yelena seems to be surprised by that question. She bit her lips in hesitation, gripping the edge of her shirt in nervousness. Raven didn''t rush her and patiently waited for her to tell him what she knows.

    "¡­they''re horrible, M''Lord." She replied after a brief silence. "I-this one heard rumors, terrible rumors about them. M-my parents said that they the locusts of the Outer Worlds. They show up out of nowhere and drain the life of anything they touch. It happened 10 years ago. They said the Nightmares devours everything that lives. They devour every light and color there is. This one saw it happen to our home before. It was horrible M''Lord."

    Raven was silent for a bit before he asked: "You said you''ve seen them right?"

    "Yes, M''Lord."

    "Can you tell me what they looked like?"

    Yelena nodded, then she started describing them.

    "Their skins were charred ck and glossy with some kind of tar." She started, "They were giants. Had fiery red eyes. They have wide maws filled with rows of sharp teeth and always drooling for some reason. They have an upper body of a Terran and the lower body of beasts. In their chest, there is a zing dark brand which looked like a gaping hole from a distance."

    "I-this one has seen the nightmares siphoning life out of everything they touched by simply existing. The brand on their chest was like a vacuum that sucked everything in. They took delight on eating living beings too. It''s really horrible M''Lord. Even now, they still scare me."

    Raven pursed his lips upon hearing her description. It was scary how urate her description was to the image that''s been branded to his very soul. It''d be a lie if he said that this discovery made him happy.

    Regardless, he didn''t show that in his face. Instead, he kept on asking¡­

    "And you saw them taking the old man?"

    "Indeed, M''Lord." Yelena nodded vigorously. "It was strange since they didn''t kill him. They chained him up and brought them to their ship. After that, they flew away, going deeper to the Outer Worlds if I remember correctly."

    Raven got silent once more. He sighed and said:

    "I know I''ve said that I won''t be needing the Spatial Coordinates of your old home but that changes now. May I have it?"

    "Of course, M''Lord!" Yelena replied. She then told him the spatial coordinates of her old home.

    The location was far. Very far away from where is. About decades far even with his shuttle going at full throttle. And from what she said, it happened about 10 years ago.

    Raven didn''t ask how her and her family ended-up here since it doesn''t really matter. What he''s concerned about is that those things were too close forfort.

    The Nightmares that Yelena described are the Abyssals. Although they might be decades away from the Divine Realm, it is still way too close in Raven''s opinion. Not to mention, that was they location ten years ago. Raven had no idea where they''re are now.

    Are they closer? Are they farther? He truly doesn''t know. All he knows is that, Geezer''s with them. Which makes this whole affair moreplicated than before.

    After getting the Spatial Coordinates from Yelena, Raven stood up. He got rid if the seals that prevented their conversation from spied-on. Then he said:

    "You have my thanks, Yelena. You''ve done me great service."

    "I-It''s this one''s honor to be of service to you M''Lord." She bowed down.

    Raven dipped his head and said: "Your service shan''t go unrewarded. Speak, Yelena. What is it that you wish?"

    Yelena was stunned. She looked up to Raven out of shock but realized that the gesture might''ve been offensive so she lowered her head once more.

    She then started hesitating. She looked to her left and saw her parents looking at her with worried eyes. She wanted to ask for their help but she knew she can''t risk it since Raven didn''t give her any permission to do that.

    Yelena wasn''t sure of what to say. She never knew that such an opportunity like woulde her way. She felt a heavy burden pressing down on her. She''s a kid a crying out loud. She can''t handle this! But then again, it was her who got herself in this situation in the first ce. She needed to think about this carefully yet she also didn''t want Raven to wait.

    Such a conundrum really.

    Honestly, she would''ve preferred it if Raven just gave her something instead of asking her what she wants. She has no idea anyways. What did she wanted in the first ce?

    Well? There''s the promised rations that Lenna and her family told her before. She wanted that initially, that''s why she stepped forward despite her parents'' disagreement. She wanted food and supplies since it really wouldn''t hurt to have more.

    But then again, Raven got her with this. Asking her what she wants instead of giving something to her. Yelena wanted many things but she didn''t want to let her greediness ruin everything for her. On the other hand, a chance like this will probably never happen again so she was extremely tempted to take her chances.

    The decision was tearing her apart. Does she y it safe or should she take a risk? What to do?

    "Yelena¡­"

    The girl in question let out an undignified shriek upon hearing Raven call out to her. She blushed in embarrassment.

    "Y-yes, M''Lord. I apologize for taking so long! I-"

    "At ease, Yelena." Raven coaxed, which seems to have worked. "Good. I''ll say this. You may speak freely. Be honest with yourself and you shall know what you truly want. Don''t be afraid to tell me what you have in mind."

    Raven''s words made Yelena think clearly. She looked down in contemtion. She took a deep breath and asked herself what she truly wanted, making sure to remain honest with herself.

    It''s as Raven said. When she honestly thought about it, what she wanted was clear. Yet the fact remains that what she wants is a bit too much.

    ¡­but then again, Raven told her that she can be honest with him, right?

    Whatever then!

    "M''Lord, this one''s wish might go a little bit overboard but I shall be honest."

    "This one requests M''Lord''s aid to cure so that we won''t have to leave anymore."

 Chapter 858: Little Paradise

    Chapter 858: Little Paradise

    ¡ª

    Everyone stared at Yelena upon hearing her requests¡­

    They have mixed feelings about that to be honest. On one hand, they apuded the ambitions of the girl and her determination/audacity. Nobody would be able to say something like this in front of a man who could literally decide one''s life or death ording to his whims.

    On the other hand, theymented for the girl. Her wish is really grand. There''s little to no chance of it happening. Even at the smallest chance that it might work, she wouldn''t be able to carry the burden of her wishes.

    Although they call this ce a small paradise for the forlorn, they knew that the Broken Bands doesn''t have much time left. The state of this ce isn''t really a huge secret to anyone. Everybody knows it. Everyone also knows that they''re just grasping straws here. Holding on to the tiniest bit of hope and life there is for this world.

    It''ll go away soon, they just know it. And with it, probably them too. They''ve long since epted this.

    Curing this world is impossible, at least that''s what they think. Therefore Yelena''s wish isn''t really something that they have high hopes for. It''s just a fancy thought, it won''t happen.

    "M''Lord¡­this one is aware of her grand wish, but it is mine''s wish at the very bottom of my heart. I-I''m willing to trade mine''s life even at the smallest of chance of it happening."

    Yelena looked downcast. At the depths of her mind, she knows her wish is absurd too. There''s no way that this man can grant it. She only said because he asked her to be honest, that''s all. Then again, what she says is true.

    She''s willing to trade her pathetic life at the smallest chance of her wish being granted. Even if it fails in the end, she''s willing to give it a shot.

    "¡­restoring a star, hm."

    Raven looked pensive. Which made everyone, especially Yelena nervous.

    She casted a short look on Raven''s expression and saw that he didn''t look upset nor disappointed. If anything, he looks as if he''s considering her request.

    The thought of that caused Yelena to be even more nervous.

    Could it be¡­

    No. There''s no way right?

    This man is powerful yes, but he can''t possible be ''that'' powerful, right?

    Right?

    "¡­let''s say that I do have the ability to restore how this world was once¡­" Raven looked at Yelena with a questioning gaze. "Do you really want to do it? Remember that this is the Outer Worlds. You may think that the spatial storms around this ce is strong enough but it truly doesn''t stop anyone from reaching this ce?"

    "If this world was restored to it''s original state, there is a high chance that some people will have bad ideas about it. They won''t hesitate to im this ce as theirs for the taking out of greed."

    "Knowing that¡­do you still want this ce to be restored?"

    That¡­that was something Yelena didn''t consider before.

    Right. She was being delusional. Of course! How can she forget where they are? This is the Outer Worlds for crying out loud! Only the strong thrives here. The weak don''t have a ce to breathe.

    What Raven said, pped her back to reality. He''s right. If he did restore this world. There is a chance that everyone will start having ideas about it. That''s something she can''t stop. Even the familiar faces here might be enemies at the very next second.

    Yelena was weak. Her parents are there, sure but they won''t be enough to resist all who will try to get their hands on this ce.

    Her wish is indeed to good to be true.

    She knows that¡­she really does but¡­

    "¡­this one just wants to experience what it''s like to live peacefully without worrying about the mundane things and without worry about our safety, just like how it was back when I was still a child. It doesn''t have to be long¡­I dare not think that it''llst forever. Even for a brief moment¡­that is all this one asks."

    Yelena sounded desperate. Yes, she really is.

    She had long since lost count on how many times she had dreamt about her peaceful childhood. It haunted her. Kept her up most nights. It is something that she yearned to feel once more, even just for the briefest of moments.

    The feeling of waking up on a bright day, feeling the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze of air. Smelling whatever her mother''s cooking for breakfast. Going downstairs to see her father chopping wood or tending to their farm all sweaty. Seeing their smiles as she sits on the table to eat.

    Going out to y with her friends wherever their feet takes them. Going back home all sweaty and smelly yet still energetic. Having lunch with her family, staying idle on the afternoon all the way ''till dinner. Watching the sunsets from the window of her room, witnessing the moon rise, having her mother read her bedtime stories until she falls asleep only to wake up next day to do it all over again.

    Oh how she missed those days. What could she possibly give just to experience one week-no, even just a day, where she could experience that all over again.

    Even just one day¡­

    Yelena was unaware that she''s already crying at this point. Unaware that Raven saw what went through her head just now. Also unaware how Raven sympathizes with her wishes.

    In a sense, her dreams and simr to his. She''s just unlucky.

    Somehow, she could see Vanessa''s silhouette on Yelena. He felt slightly disturbed by the possibility of this happening to her and that''s really all it took for Raven to make a decision.

    "Very well."

    Yelena''s tear-drenched face looked up and saw a shadow of Raven''s face, looking down on her with a smile. She almost swore she saw a saint just now.

    The next thing she knew, she was standing far away from teau with Raven right next to her and the rest of the citizens behind them.

    Raven took a few steps forward and under their awed expressions, he glowed so bright that he looked divine. Then, they head his voice echoing all around over.

    "I, who represents the Divinity of Chaos, demands my orders to be heard."

    "Arise once more, O broken star. I bless thee with the breath of life, take it."

    "Take it and live once more."

    A single spark of dark golden light flew from Raven''s fingers. Itnded on the pool where the core of the broken star was submerged.

    Everyone then saw how the Broken Bands shook. It glowed brilliantly and released strong fluctuations that could be felt all the way to where they were.

    Under their dumbstruck gazes, they witnessed the rebirth of their small paradise. The teau disappeared. It shifted and melded with now revived crust of the broken star.

    Slowly but surely, the world mended. The crust looked vibrant and full of life, not a single trace of the tear could be seen. The deathly aura was gone, reced by the vibrant spring of life pulsing through every vein of this world.

    It didn''t end there.

    After the world mended, clouds appeared and started a heavy downpour. The rain washed all traces of the previous decay. It filled the creaks, turning into oceans, rivers, streams and water falls. It also caused patches of flora and fauna to bloom, growing into maturity at a speed visible to the naked eyes.

    It was then that Raven raised his hand once more and two seals flew out from his fingers. One was golden, the other was silver.

    Both grew at an rming pace, transforming into heavenly body. The golden one turned into a sun while the silver one turned into a moon. The course of the new sun and moon was already set.

    With another wave of Raven''s hand, a new batch of life blossomed on the world. Animals appeared and started to habituate the world.

    They then saw the rotation of the world elerated along with the revolution of the sun and moon. Once it stopped, their new home was ready.

    Raven turned around and looked at Yelena, who''s mouth was yet to close upon seeing such a miraculous even ur right before her very eyes.

    "From now on, this world shall no longer be called the Broken Bands. Instead, it should be named as Little Paradise of the Outer World."

    The world hummed, seemingly agreeing with Raven''s words.

    "This world will be your new home. It will remain hidden for the next 100,000 years so do not worry about others finding it."

    "All of you will be it''s citizens." Raven stated, "How the world turns out will ultimately depend on you. Preserve it, destroy it. Up to you. I won''t be here to witness whatever it is that you do anyways."

    "Do not forget that you all owe little Yelena a favor for all of this."

    "Now then¡­." Raven then held Yelena''s hand and said: "Let''s take you to your new home, shall we?"

 Chapter 859: Leaving

    Chapter 859: Leaving

    ¡ª

    To say that this was a life-changing experience would be the greatest understatement there is yet.

    What they just witnessed was something so incredible and out of this world. It was a downright miracle if they were being honest.

    Their previous world¡­

    That one small teau, barely hanging into its form, nary a trace of life, had experienced rebirth thanks to Raven.

    Comparing what it''s like before and after Raven''s interference would just be unfair.

    And this is all just from seeing it from a distance¡­

    Stepping foot onto the world itself is apletely difference experience.

    Seeing the vibrant colors filled with so much vitality was inexplicable. Feeling the gentle gusts of wind caressing their skin made them feel like they''re riding on clouds. Breathing the fresh air made them feel alive and invigorated. The crystal clear sounds of water streams and the moisture in the air was satiating.

    Everyone was feeling such a rush of euphoria, a high that they don''t want toe down from.

    These goes especially well for the older folks. They kissed the fertile soil and sang praises for Raven in their minds. Living in a world like this is a such an enormous blessing by itself, add the fact that they''ll be protected for a very long time was enough for them to cry rivers of tears due to how much gratitude their hearts felt.

    Everyone felt surreal. Especially Yelena herself.

    She still couldn''t believe that her wishes came true. She hasn''t stopped crying ever since stepping foot onto their new world, the Little Paradise. She couldn''t even begin to exin just how much gratitude she felt for Raven granting her absurd wishes.

    Yelena was so distracted that they still hasn''t noticed that her parents hand been hugging her all this while, whispering their relief and gratitude for their child being this brave to wish for this miracle.

    "M-mom, Dad. I''m¡­I''m not dreaming aren''t I? This is real right? All of this is real right?"

    "Oh, child. Yes. You are not dreaming." Her mother said emotionally, "None of this is a dream. It''s all real. It''s all very real. Oh my goodness, you child."

    "It feels unreal I know. We too feel the same, but this is real Yelena. You made this happen. Thank you child. Honestly." Her father said, crying tears of joy too.

    Yelena still couldn''t believe it just yet. But everything around her seems real so little by little, she''s epting it.

    Now, she could feel the gazes of the people around her. They expressed their silent words of gratitude through it. Looking at her fondly while they admire the new world they lived in.

    Yelena could even see someone covering themselves with soil while sobbing, it was a strange sight but who was her to judge?

    She took several steps forward, away from her parent''s embrace. She looked on her feet and felt how tender the soil was beneath her. Even with her heavily calloused feet, she can feel the softness and wetness of the ground. She didn''t even mind that her foot was getting dirty.

    Yelena took her time, she walked until she reached the edge of the stream. She knelt down and procured a drinking vessel. She was about to dip the thing into the stream but she hesitated once she saw how dirty it was. Biting her lips, she went through her stuff, trying to see if there''s anything else she could use, preferably, something that is not as dirty as that vessel.

    She then felt a presence beside her. She looked up and saw Lenna smiling down on her while handing her a cleaner drinking vessel.

    "You can use this instead."

    Yelena hesitated but in the end she took it. She dipped the drinking vessel into the stream of water, being very careful to not get her hands wet since her hand was dirty too. She filled the vessel halfway through before taking it back.

    She looked at Lenna and saw her nodding gently at her. Yelena then ced the opening close to her mouth and parted her lips.

    Yelena couldn''t help but tear up once more when the fresh and clean water poured down her throat. It has been so long since she tasted clean water that she almost forgot how it tasted like. Her tiny frame shivered as felt the rush of clean water reinvigorating her body. It was surreal really.

    Yelena couldn''t bring herself to stop. She didn''t know clean water tasted this good. She ended up emptying the vessel in one go. Normally, she would conserve that water. The amount just now was enough tost her for weeks but she ended up drinking everything on one sitting.

    "¡­"

    She put down the vessel and looked at the stream of water. There''s still so much in here, enough tost them for lifetimes.

    A wave of gratitude filled her heart once more upon seeing this immense blessing.

    "¡­thank you for bringing M''Lord here." Yelena said softly, passing the clean vessel back to Lenna''s hands.

    "Don''t mention it. I didn''t do much to begin with." Lenna said while basking at their peaceful environment, "I was only doing my end of the bargain. I wasn''t expecting this to happen as well. If anything, he''s right. You deserve our gratitude, for making this all happen."

    "¡­I still can''t believe that this is real." Yelena whispered after a brief silence. "I¡­I never thought that I''d see something like this ever again, not to mention experience it."

    "Me too. I never thought that this would happen either."

    "¡­my father can have a farm once again." Yelena beamed upon realizing this. "He loved tending to his farm and his gardens you know. He also knows how to build proper houses back in the day. Mom''s a good cook. I''m sure she can''t wait to cook for us again. She also knows how to make clothes, I''m sure she can find the materials here to do that again."

    "More importantly¡­we don''t have to leave this ce again." Yelena continued, "The expeditions can stop. Everything we need is here and so long as we''re careful, this canst us forever. We could have peace and security. Everyone could be happy, content and satisfied. It''s truly a dreame true."

    Yelena''s eyes sparkled as she said this. The way she beamed with positivity was infectious, even Lenna caught it as well.

    That''s right. Everything they needed to live is within their reach. There''s no need for them to go on dangerous expeditions anymore, they could just stay here and live peacefully. They''re also under Raven''s protection for 100,000 years ¨C which is a very long time.

    Enough time for them to re-popte this area and prepare themselves to protect their home.

    "All thanks to you." Lenna stated, "Seriously, Yelena. Thank you for making this happen."

    Yelena shook her hear and said: "I only wished for it to happen, it''s M''Lord who made it all possible. From now on, I''ll devote my life in worshipping him. I know it won''t do much but I want to do this much to thank him for making this all happen."

    "I''m sure everyone will agree with you on that."

    ¡ª

    Raven left already.

    He didn''t stay at the Little Paradise any longer than necessary since there''s things for him to do. He only took them back to their new home and returned to his shuttle to leave.

    Raven didn''t regret using a small fragment of chaos to restore that world. It''s not like he lost so much anyways, he just have to wait for a month and he''ll re-coup his losses.

    This was something that Raven discovered once he broke through. Once a month, he will produce a fragment-or as he now calls it, a wisp of Chaos by nature.

    Being the Divine Knight of Chaos granted him the ability to generate and nurture Chaos through his heart. If anyone could see what Raven hear looks like now, they''ll be shocked to find out that there''s a pool of liquefied Chaos Element in there surrounded with little wisps of it too.

    Raven also gained the ability to use this resource as he sees fit. Which expanded his repertoire greatly.

    Now, for more important matters.

    Geezer¡­

    Raven''s actually having a headache because of that old man.

    Geezer''s taken by the Abyssals as prisoner. That''s far from good. The old man told him that he''s trapped in a ce that he can''t possibly leave. Back then, Raven thought that he''s talking about some ce outside of the Divine Realm. He didn''t expect that he had been captured by his mortal enemies.

    To make things worse, Raven doesn''t have a clue if Geezer''s still alive.

    There are somethings that doesn''t match though.

    Yelena told him that Geezer was caught a decade ago. Raven remembered that Geezer was already trapped even before that. Yelena didn''t lie to him to it''s possibly Geezer who did.

    It''s either he was on the run from them or he managed to escape. Either way, the Abyssals seems to be inclined on taking him as a prisoner so there''s a possibility that he''s still alive. As for why they wanted to catch him instead of killing him, Raven doesn''t have a clue but one thing''s for sure.

    He had to do something¡­.

 Chapter 860: Space Beast Parade

    Chapter 860: Space Beast Parade

    ¡ª

    Raven''s currently following the route that will lead him to Yelena''s old home. Still, he knows that he''s just wandering aimlessly at this point.

    It will take him years before he could even get there. He doesn''t even know if it''s worth the effort to do so. Yelena''s old home should be erased from existence already. There''s no way that the Abyssals will leave a ce like that intact. In addition to that, way too much time had already passed, it''s very unlikely for any clues to remain there. Even if there are clues, that''s all they are ¨C clues. It''s not certain that they will lead Raven to the abyssals directly.

    This is the reason behind his hesitation.

    Don''t be mistaken. Yelena''s help was appreciated by Raven and she did receive her rewards. He had no ns on taking that back. Still, what he found out didn''t really help his situation out a lot.

    ''Why does this ce have to be so damn big?'' Raven groaned inwardly, mourning at the festering headache of his.

    It was depressing to know how difficult his search would be. Literally, Divine Realm is but a corner of the entire picture. Raven has to scour blindly for leads which will take him ages to search for his Master.

    ''¡­there''s also the possibility that I got the wrong guy.'' He thought to himself as he massaged his temples, ''I showed the, the portrait ording to my memories but it doesn''t really make me feel confident.''

    ''What if he used a fake body? Wouldn''t I be screwed them? It''s given that I''m practically trailing the abyssals to tussle with them but again, what if I got the wrong person? That wouldn''t just be embarrassing but also troublesome. I don''t want to risk getting their attention this early if possible.''

    ''That being said¡­Master wouldn''t have used a fake identity right? I mean, I''m his heir. There''s no reason for him to be so secretive about his identity so I should be good right?''

    ''Damn it. I really should''ve asked the other Divine Knights about what he looks likes before I left! If I did, then I would feel more confident. Why didn''t I do that?''

    Raven''s really regretting it now. He truly should''ve asked around. It wouldn''t have been such a hassle especially considering his reputation. He didn''t need to fear about their potential displeasure since there is nothing they could do to him.

    s, it''s toote now. He''s already here.

    The thought of sending out his Avatars to ask around crossed his mind but he rejected the idea.

    He''s out in the Outer Worlds under the premise of creating Outposts. This trip to search for his Master isn''t included in his agenda, therefore it is illegal. It''s a breach on their strict rules and it would leave an ugly streak on his reputation should it be public.

    Those who are coveting his position might even capitalize on that.

    Raven didn''t want to risk that, and he also isn''t backing down in this matter. He needs his Master back. He vowed to save him. Hopefully it isn''t toote for that.

    ¡ª

    ''¡­great, just what I need. A damn Space Beast parade.''

    Raven fought the urge to roll his eyes as he monitored the situation in front of him.

    The space trembled and an archaic aura bombarded the surroundings. Inhuman roars echoed across a vast area as a long line of Space Beasts marched with pride.

    The Space Beast Parade is actually a migration. The only reason why it''s called as a parade is because it''s only during these times that the Space Beasts curbed their aggression. Instead of their usual bloodthirstiness, they are more concerned on searching for a new area to live.

    Raven parked shuttle somewhere not too far from the on-going parade.

    One shouldn''t disturb a parade like this. Getting close is strictly inadvisable.

    A Space Beast Parade consists of 10,000 Space Beasts at it''s bare minimum. Such a number could decimate any kind of interference in no time t. Raven isn''t afraid of Space Beasts, much less their number. He just didn''t want any disturbance as much as possible.

    Alerting the Space Beast Parade would incur their ire. They would hunt the assant down to the corners of the Outer World if necessary in order to eliminate them. Space Beasts are extremely persistent, they don''t get tired so even if you outrun them, they will catch up.

    To ensure a smooth journey, Raven didn''t mess with the parade. He could only ept that he''ll get dyed for a few week since he prefers that instead of being chased down by them.

    Raven took this chance to rx.

    He''s admittedly very stressed during the past few days because of Geezer''s predicament. He needed time to chill and take his mind off of it anyways so the parade is a good distraction at least.

    ''¡­now that I think about it.'' Raven mused to himself as he observed the parade. ''This is strange, isn''t it?''

    ''Space Beasts won''t migrate for absolutely no reason. Especially not this many¡­'' Raven frowned.

    It''s really weird now that he thought about it.

    From his general estimation, he counted at least 100,000 Space Beast participating in this parade. This is ten times the minimum number, which made it all the more confusing.

    What could''ve possibly caused this many Space Beast to forcefully migrate? With this number, even Divine Realm has to be wary about them.

    Raven''s curiosity was piqued by this event, therefore he started paying closer attention to it.

    It''s a pity that he can''t read the memories of Space Beast. Well, it''s not like he couldn''t. It''s more like it''s useless since all he''d receive is just blurred snippets and confusing sensations.

    Space Beasts are barely sentient, their brain capacity could only support their primal instincts, they react instead of nning. Space Beast who couldmunicate with each other are extremely rare.

    ''That one¡­it''s limping. Is it injured?'' Raven mused.

    He''s looking at a Space Beast who shared the characteristics of a bull. It''s left hind leg was raised as it marched alongside others. Raven observed it closely and discovered a few more clues.

    This particr Space Beast looked dazed for some reason. Raven didn''t think that it''s tired since Space Beast hardly gets exhausted. It looks distracted¡­as if it''s in deep thought. Its eyes are unfocused as it march forward, limping.

    It doesn''t look like its hurting for the injury though.

    Speaking of injury, Raven took a closer look at the raised hind leg.

    There''s a nasty gash on it. It looked its flesh exploded from the inside. The wound was gross looking and more importantly, it is not healing.

    ''¡­huh, what''s up with that?''

    Raven was confused. Why does that injury hasn''t healed yet? Didn''t Space Beasts have enormous vitality?

    He probed the condition of the Space Beast and became even more puzzled.

    ''Okay, that is definitely weird. The vitality of this Space Beast is thrumming vigorously. There is no way that an injury like that wouldn''t be cured even considering the fact that it had been moving all this while now. So why hasn''t it healed yet?''

    Raven didn''t really know what to say. He didn''t know what kind of injury this was supposed to be. He didn''t even know if it was self inflicted or not to be honest. What he could only do is to observe from a far.

    But then¡­

    He saw another injured Space Beast amongst the parade. This one shared the characteristics of a lizard. Its tail was cut off but instead of clean cut, there''s a nasty and jagged wound on the stump.

    Since the wound is bigger, Raven could see it more clearly. This one shared the situation of the previous one he observed. It''s eyes were dull and the injury wasn''t healing.

    Raven could see that the natural healing of lizard was trying to work its magic, yet for some reason, it was failing miserably at its task. As he started wondering why, an idea suddenly dawned on Raven''s mind, but it wasn''t an optimistic one.

    ''¡­yes, that would make more sense.'' Raven mused to himself, his expression looking a bit grim at this point. ''It would exin the weird things about this whole thing.''

    ''The reason behind the migration, the reason behind their huge number, the injuries, the expressions¡­yes, it all makes sense. Only they have the ability to do that. I should''ve realized it sooner.''

    Raven''s face looked grimmer than before.

    ''The Abyssals did this to them.'' Raven sighed inwardly. ''And if I''m not wrong, the injured Space Beasts are at risk of turning mad at any day now. That''s what happens when they''re being corroded from the inside.''

    Raven silently observed the on-going parade once more. The closer he inspected, the more injured Space Beast he saw. He pursed his lips and drove the shuttle farther away since he knows that it''s get troublesome pretty soon.

    ''In hindsight though. This is good. This gives me a lead.''

    ''The Heavenly Law Order was correct, they are indeed very close.. I need to see them personally so that I can make ns.''

 Chapter 861: Trail

    Chapter 861: Trail

    ¡ª

    The good news is that he was lucky to catch their trail¡­

    With how big and wide the Outer World is, god knows how much time it will take him if he were to search for them blindly.

    The bad news is, they''re too close. Too close forfort.

    Divine Realm''s literally just a few warps away from where he is. And this filled Raven''s heart with dread.

    They''re not ready for confrontation just yet. He would know since he''s personally overseeing their preparations for it. This is literally what he had been preparing for ever since his Soul Rebirth so he would know.

    The Abyssals can''t discover their location just yet. They absolutely can''t. They need more time. He needs to stall for time.

    At this point, the Space Beast Parade passed by already. Right now, Raven''s currently driving the shuttle at the opposite direction, trying to search for the trail of the Abyssals.

    Deep down in his heart, he was nervous. He wished that could catch up and hopefully do something before they discover his home.

    Raven already sent warnings to his Avatars. He told them to be on the lookout just in case the worst scenario urs. As for himself, he was trying to search for them and hopefully intercept them on their way.

    Despite his hurry, Raven didn''t dare to drive the shuttle at its full speed. He remained careful since he didn''t want to attract attention, specially now that he''s trying to ambush them. He didn''t want to announce his presence and get rid of surprise factor. For now, he had no specific clue as to where he should go. He''s just following opposite direction where the parade went and that''s it.

    As he drove the shuttle, Raven was also making his own preparations.

    He understood one thing at this point. Despite his unwillingness to do so, he had to confront the Abyssals earlier than necessary.

    In the beginning, it was still debatable. Yes, there''s a chance that they''re keeping Geezer as a prisoner but Raven could still dy saving him if he could help it. Unfortunately, they''re too close at this point. Raven can''t dally. He needs to catch up to them quick and do something.

    Raven''s preparations forced him to prepare for the worst. A constant flux of seals and runes appeared from his body, turning into numerous arrays and formations. Every inch of his skin was covered in runic inscriptions. A steady yet indomitable flow of strength coursed through his body and he enchanted himself.

    The power of Chaos thrummed from within him. He roused it from his inactivity and used to the prepare deadly traps and seals.

    Raven can never get too prepared for the Abyssals. He personally knows how strong they were. Their disy of might was something that Raven couldn''t possibly forget even on his second life. He didn''t want to go through that again, especially when he knows that he has a family to protect.

    ''¡­I can only hope that I could catch up to them before they discover Divine Realm.''

    ¡ª

    "¡­farewell, my King. It was an honor to fight¡­alongside of you¡­"

    King Argentmented as thest loyal soldier under him turned to dust particles. Tears poured down from his eyes, blurring his vision as he looked above the dark skies. A hollowugh escaped from his lips, followed by a mournful sob.

    He didn''t need to look around in order to see what happened. It''s all over. There''s nothing that can be done. It''s only him who''s left. Not even a trace of his life could be felt on the Kingdom he had built. Even he himself won''tst long.

    ''Why? Why must is be like this? Why must everything end this way?'' King Argentmented inwardly.

    Whoever did this, they came unannounced and too fast for them. Barely a day passed since they''re arrival and their world was already reduced to dregs. Not even a speck of life would be able to bloom here. His home and kingdom was wasted thoroughly by those abominations.

    The worst part is that, they didn''t even had the chance to stop them. They tried to fight for their lives and drive the invaders away but nothing they did worked. They can''t even harm their skins. They just appeared and siphoned the vitality of his home down to thest drop.

    King Argent has to watch as his citizens and soldiers turned into ash one by one. He thought that as a king. He''s the first one to perish but against all odds, he was thest one.

    Being thest one to die isn''t a privilege. He bears the burden of seeing everything near and dear to his heart perish right before his very eyes. It was heart-wrenching and soul-tearing. It caused King Argent''s hope to dissipate like snow under the summer''s heat.

    "Damn it all¡­" King Argent howled pitifully as he copsed on his feet.

    As his face nted on the dead soil, he could clearly feel his lower body dissipating already. He used the rest of his remaining strength to turn around and re at the sky. Letting out all of his pain and unwillingness about this cruel ending.

    "Curse you abominations! I hope suffer¡­endless¡­torment."

    With hisst throe of defiance, King Argent''s body faded and he died. However before his consciousness dissipated entirely, he saw a silhouette of a man materializing right before him. He felt the man''s gazending on him and with all of his remaining Will, King Argent hoped that his wishes was heard by this man¡­hoping that he wasn''t just hallucinating at this point.

    "Go on, pass away in peace. Leave it to me."

    That''s what King Argent heard before he truly died in all manner of ways.

    It was Raven who appeared and heard hisst wishes.

    He wore a solemn look as he gazed around the devastation the Abyssals caused around this area. True to what they are, nary a trace of life remaining in this ce.

    Raven could feel that this ce will copse anytime soon. He wouldn''t be able to stay here for long but he didn''t too anyways. He already got what he needed, there''s no reason for him to remain.

    As for the dying man''s wishes, Raven was already nning on doing that from the very first day of his Soul Rebirth anyways so it''s not a problem.

    Raven didn''t bother returning to his shuttle, instead he flew quietly at the vacuum of space, being very careful to not raise any rms.

    He finally managed to track them down urately. The abyssals were the ones who did this to this ce and he managed to catch their trail.

    Raven could feel them at the edge of his senses. He''s now following them closely from behind while leaving traps on his wake. He was already preparing for the worst.

    Going at his speed, he''s hours away from catching up to them.

    Raven decided to do onest thing before hepletely catch-up though, and that''s making sure that his senses won''t be felt by the abyssals.

    He still wanted to spy on them from a distance. Raven didn''t know if the cloaking mechanism of the shuttle can bypass their trackers so he just took the safer route by flying personally instead. This way, he can minimize the risks.

    A simple rune was all it took for him to make his sense untraceable. And with that out of the way, Raven picked up his speed, still maintaining vignce in order to not raise any rms.

    After flying at a certain direction for a few hours, Raven''s sense finally touched the edge of the Abyssals ship. A few minutester, his sense managed to prate the ship thoroughly without raising any suspicious from them.

    What Raven discovered was quite relieving to be honest.

    ''¡­this is just an expedition group from them. Not their whole army.''

    Raven managed to breathe a sigh of relief upon noticing that. Luckily, this ship he sensed wasn''t the main ship of the abyssals. It''s too small to be one and there''s only a few Abyssals here when there''s supposed to be millions of them.

    In conclusion, Raven discovered that this ship contained only the expedition group from the abyssals. It''s like the Devil Emperor and his team all over again. These group was just tasked to collect resources and ves for the growing number of the Abyssals.

    ''If it''s just them, I can handle them¡­'' Raven confidently thought.

    Raven peered through his senses once more and decided to search the ship thoroughly for important things.

    The ship was respectable in size. It has many chambers and judging from the amount of ves these abyssals have, Raven could that they''ve been around for quite sometime.

    ''Hold on¡­is that¡­?''

    Raven''s eyes widened. He zoomed-in on a certain spot on the ship and found someone chained-up on a stake. It was a bald man who''s entire body caked with dried blood. It''s a little hard to see at first but Raven managed to see him clearly.

    ''¡­.Master.''

 Chapter 862: Geezer

    Chapter 862: Geezer

    ¡ª

    That aura was unmistakable.

    It felt very familiar to Raven, especially considering the fact that he had the same aura before.

    It was Cosmic Energy, the very product of Geezer''s hard work and research, the result ofbining the holy trinity ¨C Body, Mind and Energy.

    Geezer''s Cosmic Energy felt pure. It was heavy and silky. It feels slightly different from Raven but they''re the same at their core.

    There''s no mistaking it. This one was indeed Geezer.

    Raven finally saw him for the first time. However, instead of feeling happy, Raven felt quite apprehensive.

    Just from a single nce alone, Raven could tell that Geezer''s condition isn''t good. He''s barely hanging on to his life. He had lost so much blood and his aura felt weak like a candle nearing the end of its lifespan.

    He has to do something and he has to do it quick, otherwise Geezer will die.

    ''Killing these Abyssals wouldn''t be good.'' Raven mused to himself as he flew closer to the ship. ''If they''re like the Devil Emperor and its minions, then they would surely have a Life Jade back at the main ship. If I killed them, the main force of the Abyssals would be rmed by my deed, that will bring them earlier and closer to the Divine Realm. We can''t have that.''

    ''Restraining them is the move here.'' Raven thought, ''But unlike the Devil Emperor who has been imprisoned for so long and greatly weakened by the time I met it. These group are still at the peak of their strength. I have to be careful with this.''

    While ideas ran through Raven''s mind, he left a part of his consciousness to pay attention to Geezer''s condition. He couldn''t help but grimace at the sight of his master.

    He wouldn''t call it falling from grace. Geezer has never been one to care about his reputation anyways, he just pursued his goal with fervent ardor. Still, his condition was terrible. Raven doesn''t have an idea how he ended-up here.

    It might be because he was chased out by his enemies out of the Divine Realm but it could also be that he decided to go out himself and he just got caught by the Abyssals.

    This isn''t the time to specte about that though, he needs to move as soon as possible.

    Thankfully, despite the Abyssals being strong and a little bit difficult to handle, Raven still has a way to deal with them.

    After all, there''s nothing his seals couldn''t do.

    The moment the ship appeared on Raven''s vision, he started bombarding them with his own attacks.

    First, a huge sphere that trapped the entire ship appeared out of nowhere.

    The Abyssals on the ship discovered it pretty quickly and they flew out of the ship, which was a bad move since that''s what Raven was expecting them to do.

    Next, runic circles appeared out of thin air at their feet. Then, several chains bound their movements. Each chain lock was covered with potent seals that thoroughly suppressed the Abyssals.

    Raven saw them struggling from their hold, rearing up their mouths and rousing the gaping void in their chest to activity. Raven''s eyes shed with a cold light, with a wave of his scepter, he threw out several seals whichnded squarely at the void of their chest.

    A mixture of dark gold and silver was emitted by the seal, then by the time the light dimmed, the abyssals found themselves thoroughly sealed.

    Nobody could move a muscle, they can''t even look around freely. They were frozen and chained where they stood, unable to take a single step forward.

    And because Raven is Raven, he had to make sure that these abyssals won''t be able to get rid of their shackles.

    He piled up at least ten moreyers of seals on their body, mind and spirit. Thoroughly taking away everything they have, reducing them into nothing but endless supplies of power should Raven needs some.

    Giving his work a final nce, he retracted the scepter to his consciousness and pped his hand. A relieve smile appeared on his lips as he kept all the abyssals at the control room of the ship before he flew towards Geezer''s side like a streak of light.

    Raven appeared before the delirious Geezer, he knelt down and touched him. He hesitantly shook his body a bit while calling out:

    "Master? Master? Hey, it''s me. Can you hear me?"

    "¡­hah¡­"

    Raven flinched as Geezer only responded with a pain wheeze.

    "¡­trying¡­new trick now? I-it¡­hah¡­it''s not going to work¡­I¡­I won''t tell you¡­bitches¡­anything¡­go the fuck¡­away¡­fuck off!"

    Raven shook his head and felt his heart aching for the old man. He didn''t know if he should be thankful for the old man''s stubbornness or not but he admired the persistent will of his.

    He pped his hands and a several seals poured out of his body. A benevolent aura rose from Raven''s body as he touched Geezer''s head.

    Rousing the aspect of Chaos within his heart, he invoked his right as the representative of Chaos.

    "I, Divine Knight of Chaos, call upon my chosen Divinity. Heed my call, O Benevolent Chaos. Heal and Protect this man from the persistent gnawing of the foreign Will of Evil."

    As words fell from his mouth, numerous wisps of Chaos flew out of his palms and prated Geezer''s skull.

    Raven pulled back his hand and used his ocr technique to observe the condition of his Master. He sighed in relief when he saw that his method seems to be working.

    Raven already has a clue of what''s going on with Geezer.

    The Abyssals were trying to turn him to their puppet, which was bad news altogether. Geezer knows of the existence of the Divine Realm. He also knows where it is. They were nning on taking advantage of that by turning him into a mindless puppet.

    Thanks to Geezer''s firm will though, he managed to dy the erosion of his mind long enough for Raven to find him.

    If it went ording to Geezer''s wishes, he''d choose to die instead of being trapped here. Unfortunately, the Abyssals had taken away that option for him. They won''t let him kill himself without squeezing everyst drop of use he has.

    That somehow helped, whether Raven liked to admit it or not. It''s because of their greed and persistence that he managed to catch-up with them.

    Still, what Raven did just now was far from enough. He could tell that Geezer''s condition improved from what he did but he needs more to truly save him.

    Therefore, Raven didn''t hesitate to conjured most of his seals, forming numerousplex arrays that will help Geezer to recover from this long trauma.

    As he busied himself with the arrays, Geezer was feeling rather sublime.

    He hasn''t felt this better for a long time that he''s starting to doubt it. He didn''t believe that thisfort was real and treated is a trap used to lower his defenses. But then again, he felt something so familiar that it made him second guess everything.

    Geezer felt the thrum of Chaos and the presence of his 9th Heir.

    As much as he would like to think that this is impossible, all clues lead him to believe that it was real. The Abyssals never knew the existence of his heir. In fact, he hasn''t told them anything relevant throughout the entire time that he was captured. Yet the presence was close. It''s there and it won''t go away.

    The next thing he knew, he felt like he was soaked in a warm spring of water. A sensation long lost to him. He couldn''t help but release afortable groan due to the pleasant sensation he''s feeling.

    All this caused Geezer to be apprehensive, not because it was pleasant but because he''s liking it. He had been tortured for so long that he was closed to falling apart. If this was thest trick they''ll use topletely break, he might just cave-in.

    But then again, what if it''s real?

    Using what remains of his energy, Geezer groaned and raised his head. That by itself was an arduous task, opening his eyes was even harder. Still, he didn''t regret any of it since the fresh face of his very young heir greeted him.

    "Oh my¡­" Geezer wheezed and felt a warm current passing through his veins. A wry smile appeared on his face. He could hear his heir talking to him but all he heard was a drowned out sound.

    "¡­it''s really¡­whew¡­is it really you?"

    Geezer saw his heir nodding at him. An expression of worry was stered on his youthful face.

    "My, my¡­how you''ve¡­grown¡­how long¡­has it been?"

    "Long enough, Old Man. Now stop talking and let me do the rest. Sleep now."

    That''s what Raven said but again Geezer only heard a drowned out sound of his voice.

    "B-be careful, Lad¡­t-they''reing¡­they''re near¡­run away¡­ and¡­and prepare for the worst¡­if you can, escape and¡­don''t look¡­back¡­"

    This was all Geezer could say before his consciousness couldn''t take it anymore and he cked out.

    "Master!!"

 Chapter 863: Intel Gathering

    Chapter 863: Intel Gathering

    ¡ª

    Raven valued Geezer''s warning¡­he really did but he can''t just do that right now.

    Geezer told him to run away. If possible, leave Divine Realm and never turn back. That''s not something Raven could just do. That option isn''t even included in list.

    Divine Realm was Humanity''s home and as the leader of the Dawn Council, Raven can''t run away to save himself. Even if he could, he wouldn''t do so.

    Well, it''s not like this is the time to be thinking about that anyways. Raven had other matters to attend to. Mainly nursing Geezer back to health and making sure that this ship wouldn''t be able to warn the main force about his interception.

    Raven had already freed Geezer from the chains that bound him. He also took him to his Inner Cosmos, ced near the towering World Tree set aze by the white Cleansing mes. This environment shall help erode the petnt will of the Abyssals from further damaging Geezer''s consciousness. Plus, this will make sure he''s safe and will recover well.

    As he left Geezer to heal, Raven took over the Abyssals ship.

    He''s in the main control room with the sealed Abyssals, currently plundering all intel they gathered over the course of their expedition.

    Thenguage they used was quite difficult to decipher. Nevertheless, it didn''t pose too much of a challenge for Raven. The records he got has important details that helped him conceal his actions.

    For example, this ship''s course is set by this group''s immediate supervisor. There''s a list of spatial coordinates in the records that this group has to check. Every time they arrive at the coordinates listed, they are required to report to the main force and inform them about what they found out.

    There''s only a one way channel for this expedition group to use. They could only send reports and not receive any, which really made Raven''s life lessplicated. Additionally, they just arrived at thest set of coordinates on the list. ording to the records, they were supposed to be heading back to the main ship by now to unload their harvest and profit.

    This is probably the best scenario that Raven could ever hope for. There''s practically no risk here. He didn''t need to contact the main force nor report about anything just to conceal his movements. Well, that also blows off his chance of gauging the strength of their force but it''s all good. All he needed was to but more time anyhow.

    Also, this group was unlucky.

    Greed got the better of them. Again, they''re supposed to be heading back to the main ship already but they hubris made them bold and search for more benefits along the way. They never would''ve imagined that someone like Raven would just suddenly appear out of nowhere and easily shut them down without even being able to fight back.

    Now, every single one of them is sealed permanently. Only Raven has the ability to unseal them so it might as well be permanent. If he wants to, they could turn into another set of unlimited energy supplies, after all these things are immortal.

    Next, Raven checked the inventory.

    The Abyssals'' ship was packed with a lot of stuff. Mainly ves, but there''s also a few trinkets here and there that they''ve collected.

    The trinkets weren''t too impressive, most of them came from the Outer World so they''re mediocre at best. They weren''t particrly useful to Raven so he nned on just dumping them to the treasury of the Dawn Council once he returned.

    As for the ves, well¡­

    Their condition isn''t the most optimal. And this is Raven being generous.

    He wouldmend those who managed to still keep their wits about them but that''s all. Other than that, it''s a lost cause. That''s not even mentioning those whopletely submitted to the lull of evil already.

    It would be merciful if he just killed them all with his own hands. There''s no way to save them from this anyways.

    In fact, that''s just what Raven did.

    First, Raven killed those who werepletely broken. He didn''t leave a body behind just in case. Then he moved on to those who still have some awareness left in them.

    Every single one of those people practically begged him to end them. End their suffering already. Raven granted their request, hoping that if they ever get reincarnated, they''ll have a pleasant life. Again, Raven didn''t leave a body behind.

    Once he freed the ves. He went back to the control room to look for more clues.

    He didn''t have high hopes of getting any intel about the main force of the Abyssals but he''ll take anything he could get.

    Fortunately, he saw something. Though it''s a bit strange actually.

    It wasn''t an official record nor an order. He didn''t even find it at the control room. It was ced one a personal quarter, one that he presumed owned by an abyssal he caught.

    It''s¡­some kind of diary. Very weird, isn''t it?

    He never imagined that an Abyssal would ever think about writing a diary but well, the evidence is right before his very eyes.

    And although it wasn''t much, he still got some important clues about the Abyssals'' main force.

    The first few pages of the diary was filled with nonsense. But it contained some descriptions that could be pieced together. Ravenplied every clue that he got and basically got the main gist of it.

    Long story short, the main force of the Abyssals'' were frightening indeed.

    Imagine the entirety of the Divine Realm, yeah? Now, give that an ability to move around like a shuttle and you have the basic look of what the Abyssals'' Main Ship looked like.

    It was a moving realm in itself. No wonder the Divine Realm why even Geezer was wary of them.

    At his previous life, Raven never got to see the whole scale of the invasion. He was mainly fighting within the Divine Realm, even his showdown with the Abyssal Emperor happened in the Divine Realm. He never got to venture outside and see what the main force looked like.

    The spectacle he imagined gave him chills and anxiety.

    He was right all along. Even with his ns set in motion, Divine Realm is nowhere near ready for their invasion.

    Aside from providing Raven with a basic description of the main force, the diary also held a few important notes that he needed to keep in mind.

    Apparently, the main ship won''t move unless it is personally ordered by their emperor. The Emperor needs to be physically around his subjects and verbally announce the movement of the ship. This was an edict that has been passed down ever since in their lineage and none dared to revoke it. Not even the current Emperor.

    Raven guessed that the ''mobile realm'' takes way too much energy to move, which is practical and understandable. Although they have a constant supply of resources thanks to their expeditions, they can''t afford to waste them willy nilly, that''s why an edict like this was passed.

    Next, the ship can warp.

    Yep. That''s freaky right there. Just imagining the entire ship suddenly warping near the Divine Realm was enough to give Raven a massive headache. What''s worse is that, Raven can''t do anything about that.

    First of all, his strength is nowhere near enough to lock the space around the Divine Realm, much less cover it''s immediate vicinity. Sure, he could probably do it with seals but that task would be harder than re-purposing the Enteral Division Wall ¨C and that took him years to do. Raven wasn''t sure how much time he has so it was risky to even start that.

    As for thest piece of intel the diary gave, it''s about the societal structure of the Abyssals.

    It wasn''t an important intel per se, but it''s still has some uses.

    Basically, their ranks are divided as such: ves, Workers, Soldiers, Commanders, Generals, Governors, King, and finally, Emperor.

    The diary said that there''s only a single Emperor but there''s one that''s just as strong and charismatic as the real one.

    It''s a ''he'' ording to the diary and he calls himself the sworn brother of the Emperor. The one who wrote the diary mentioned that he wasn''t well liked since they saw him as a snake that vied for the throne. But apparently, his skills are the real deal.

    Raven can''t remember if there''s anyone like this in his previous life.

    He faced the Abyssal Emperor, that''s for certain since he looked and acted as one. The weaker abyssals addressed him as such so he didn''t really think much about it but now, he''s starting to doubt.

    What if the one he faced was the other one and not the real emperor?

    Well, doubting doesn''t really help at this moment. Either way, if what the diary said was true, then it''s more troublesome that he expected.

    One Abyssal Emperor was already too much for him to handle and now something tells him that there''s another one? What bullshit is this?

    "Ugh¡­this can''t do.. I''m afraid I''d have to search through their memories."

 Chapter 864: Healed

    Chapter 864: Healed

    ¡ª

    Raven spent several days reading the memories of the abyssals he abducted. He was optimistic about it first but it turns out to be a disappointment.

    In hindsight, he shouldn''t have had high hopes. After all, these group were cannon fodder at best. He''s already lucky enough to get some intel from the diary.

    Their memories weren''t that impressive. If anything, it just confirmed that the main force of Abyssals are really strong and their ship is big. Most of what he got from it were mundane things such as the daily lives of the abyssals ¨C something that he had no interest of.

    If there''s anything valuable here, it would be the fact that the main ship is far from the Divine Realm. Like really far. Even at the speed of light, it would take decades before he could reach it. Which was a good news for Raven, at least for now.

    That being said though, this distance doesn''t guarantee their safety. After all, the ship can warp anywhere it pleases. It would take days for the main ship to arrive next to the Divine Realm should the order be given.

    These group of Abyssals are weak. Cannon fodders like what was mentioned earlier. It made sense given how easily he apprehended them even though it was from an ambush. In addition, their numbers were that great to begin with. Their group won''t even amount to a droppared to the true main force of the abyssals.

    "Well, this isn''t the worst scenario." Raven murmured to himself, "At least we still have time to prepare for their arrival."

    "The confrontation between us and them will eventually happen. It''s just a matter of time. Even so, the longer we can stall for time and raise the quality of the soldiers we have, the better our chances will be."

    Raven got silent for a bit. He searched the ship for more things that he can hopefully use to gain more clues but he found nothing of great importance, which means that he''s pretty much done here.

    "I already got what I needed." Raven mused to himself, "I managed to find my master and set up the Outposts."

    "Thankfully. It didn''t take me too long, roughly two years passed since I left? There wouldn''t be too much changes in the realm within that time period but it''s fine. It''s about time for me to return anyways. I''m sure Master misses his home too."

    "¡­hopefully his previous enemies won''t go after him. Well, it''s in their best interest to not do that since I wouldn''t hesitate to harm them if they pushed their luck. They should know who I am. I pray that they''re sensible enough to know the disparity between us. I don''t want to kill them since we could seriously use more people to defend against the eventual confrontation with the Abyssals."

    Raven then looked at the ship and mused to himself once again.

    "Right, I should take this with me" Raven whispered, "I don''t like the Abyssals but I can''t deny their craftsmanship. This thing is good. It''s pretty much the same as my personal shuttle, just without the additional functions."

    "But I should check first if this thing is being tracked. I don''t want to lead the enemy right to our doors after all."

    Raven then scanned the whole ship with his sense, covering every inch there is. His senses permeated at every corner and detail there is at the ship, inspecting it closely and creating a mental image in his head.

    He checked the entirety of the ship, trying to see if it there''s any sort of tracking device attached to it. Raven didn''t see any at his first scan but just to make sure, he scanned three more times after that, the result was the same. Only then he heaved a sigh of relief.

    For his final check, he went to the database of the ship. Using the knowledge he plundered from the memories of the Abyssals, he check every single file the database has and made sure that there''s nothing in there that''s tracking the ship''s movements, after finding none, Raven was satisfied.

    He exited the ship. No he wasn''t nning on driving the entire thing go back home, he would be treated as an enemy by the Wall Guardians if he did that.

    Raven decided to seal the ship. Because, even though he didn''t find anything that''s being used to track the course of the ship down. He would still feel better if he eliminated all sorts of variables. Therefore, he chose to seal the ship along with abyssals inside, he made sure that any kind of tracking device won''t be able to check the location of this ship.

    If the main force truly had something they could use to track this ship down, they won''t see anything because of Raven seal. If things go swimmingly, the main force would treat this group as missing or simply worthless and won''t pay attention to them anymore just like how it was for the Devil Emperor.

    That''s probably the best case scenario for Raven and the Divine Realm.

    ¡ª

    Consciousness returned to Geezer piece by piece.

    It was a long process, he himself was aware of that.

    There were times where he would remember things then nk out. It became a cycle of that for quite sometime but the more it happened, the longer he stayed conscious.

    Everything was blurry at first but eventually, it all made sense to him.

    Right now, he still feels a bit exhausted but he knows he''s recovering well. In fact, he felt betterpared to when he was being tortured by the Abyssals.

    His recent memories started getting clear to him.

    Before he cked out, he remembered seeing his Heir ¨C the one that showed the most promise. Along with the slightly blurred image of his Heir''s face, he could also remember what his aura felt like.

    Benevolent yet uncontested. Gentle but domineering. That''s now he would describe it. It''s absurd now that he thought about it but it also makes sense. Even though his aura felt contradicting for the most part, it seems to be in harmony as well. It was truly strange but it brought immensefort and satisfaction for Geezer.

    Why? He has no idea. He didn''t know why he was happy. His memories are still blurred for the most part and he''s still exhausted so he rested as much as he could just so that he can return to his peak state sooner.

    After a few weeks of recovery, Geezer felt the best he has ever been. By now, he''s fully conscious and energetic.

    He didn''t feel the gnawing of the Evil Will anymore. That will dissipated thanks to his Heir''s efforts.

    When he opened his eyes for the first time after his long recovery, he found himself lying at the foot of a massive tree set aze with pure white mes.

    Geezer was momentarily awed by the sight. He has never seen such a thing before. He could feel the essence of Spacetime vividly around him as well as the existence of Singrity. In addition to that, he could also feel the gentle warmth and purest breath filling his lungs.

    His mind felt unprecedentedly at peace.

    He took a moment to nce at his surroundings and found himself surrounded with constetions. Their milky radiance added a sparkle of mystery around this cosmos. Their very existence seems to be a miracle, a spectacle in itself.

    And beneath all of this, lies a trace of something familiar.

    It''s a sensation that scratched the back of Geezer''s mind but he just can''t put a finger on it. It felt so familiar yet also foreign at the same time that it''s slowly driving him crazy.

    Right before he could even ask himself where he is, he felt someone approaching him from behind.

    When he turned around, he saw his Heir manifesting out of nowhere with a relieved smile of his face, this made Geezer involuntarily smile and gratitude and pride.

    "I''m d you''re finally recovered and awake, Master."

    "So it turns out that I wasn''t dreaming." Geezer chuckled, "It''s truly you who found and saved me from the nasty hands of those abominations."

    Raven pursed his lips and walked towards him, saying: "I could''ve saved you earlier if you just left a lead for me to follow. I can''t believe that you even hid our Karmic Connection just so that none of us can follow you."

    "¡­in hindsight, I really didn''t want you to search for me you know?" Geezer snorted. "You were meant to be in the Divine Realm. Your fate is there and I shouldn''t be of concern to you. After all, my era already passed and you still have much to do."

    "I know but that''s that Master." Raven sighed, "This is different¡­besides, I made a promise didn''t I?"

    "That, you did. And I still can''t believe you actually managed to save me from their hands."

    "It wasn''t too hard, after all those who caught you were just cannon fodders. They don''t amount to much."

    "Be careful there¡­don''t be too confident. They''re strong you know?".

    "I know but¡­I do have the capital to be confident." Raven smiled, "After all, I am your heir and also the first one to condense the Divinity of Chaos. If I can''t be confident, then nobody could."

    It was Geezer''s turn to be stunned after hearing that.

 Chapter 865: Going Back

    Chapter 865: Going Back

    ¡ª

    "The Divinity of¡­Chaos?" Geezer whispered as he looked at his young heir. His eyes searched lies from Raven''s face but didn''t find any. Yet even then, he still couldn''t believe it.

    "A-are you serious?"

    Raven smiled and summoned a wisp of chaos out of nowhere, letting it fly towards the dumbfounded Geezer.

    "Very."

    With shaking hands, Geezer cupped the wisp of Chaos and inspected it closely. Treating it like a precious yet fragile treasure that will shatter at the gentlest touch.

    Having touched the thing, Geezer knows he could no longer deny it. He could feel the aspect of Chaos from this wisp. It''s the very thing that he had long since yearned for and desired. Geezer couldn''t help but be emotional at this.

    God knows how long Geezer spent trying to find a way to re-create this thing. He poured blood sweat and tears in his craft yet he wasn''t able to do it so he passed the task to his heir. Even then, the hopes of them achieving this feat wasn''t big so Geezer didn''t expect much from them, even Raven himself.

    Yet to his absolute surprise, above all of his expectations, Raven came through.

    He achieved what was deemed impossible by many. He''s half-step away from realizing Geezer''s dream.

    To this, all Geezer could ask was;

    "How?"

    "With difficulty." Raven replied shrugging. "It''s the constant umtion, unyielding foundation and fate I would say. Then again, I don''t think that''s all there is to it."

    "The Last Fragment of Chaos called out to me. It tested me and I even nearly died at the process, in the end though, I managed to earn the right to be its host. When I broke through the Divine Knight Stage, I became its representative and I earn the Divinity."

    ''Incredible¡­yet depressing at the same time." Geezer sighed as he returned the wisp of Chaos to Raven.

    Geezer was truly awed by the fact that his heir became the Divine Knight of Chaos, he was genuinely happy for him yet he would be lying if he said that he didn''t feel bitter about it.

    Of course he does.

    At the end of the day, Raven''s not Geezer. They''re two separate beings. It was Geezer''s dream to reach the Realm beyond Divinity. He sacrificed way too many things in pursuit of this path yet he ended-up with nothing, he still failed in the end.

    The again, it wasn''t so bad. At the end of the day, if it wasn''t for his inheritance, Raven wouldn''t have been able to go this far. Which means that he had a hand on getting him to this stage. That alone makes him satisfied.

    With another sigh, Geezer epted what happened. He already failed a long time ago and it''s about time for him to move-on from his obsession.

    "Indeed¡­you have the capital to be confident about your chances." Geezer stated, "Yet we still need more time. The enemy is bigger and stronger than you think."

    Raven''s expression turned serious as he asked: "I fought them in my previous life, but I didn''t get to gauge just how many there are. I''ve got some intel from Abyssals that caught you but what I extracted doesn''t really give me much information? Do you have anything that I should know about them?"

    "Well, I did some investigations myself but tell me what you know first so that we can confirm."

    Raven had no problems telling him that. He then began telling Geezer everything he knew about the Abyssals. After that, Geezer nodded his head and said:

    "Most of those were the same things I know. But I do have other information that we can use." Geezer stated.

    "First and foremost, the so-called Sworn Brother of the Abyssal Emperor."

    Raven could''ve sworn that he saw Geezer''s face hardening at the mention of that moniker but he didn''t say anything.

    "Be careful with that guy. They call him Sworn Brother but in truth, he isn''t. He''s a perfected clone of the Abyssal Emperor No''Wel. His name is Ric''Ard. A clone that developed an ego thanks to the ministrations of the original one."

    Raven frowned and couldn''t help but ask: "How did you know of this?"

    "Because I personally met the guy." Geezer sternly looked at his heir with a hardened expression. "He was the one who ordered my capture. The reason why I have to roam the Outer Worlds for the past millennia. He wanted to turn me into his ''friend'' but what he truly meant was toy because apparently, I entertain him."

    "Even though I used everything I have against him, I was no match for him. He easily defeated me with one arm on his back. He was just toying with me the whole time we were fighting."

    Raven''s frown deepened upon hearing that.

    He couldn''t believe the injustices that Geezer had to endure while he''s out here. He also understood the reason why he suppressed their Karmic Connection. Geezer didn''t want Raven to be targeted as well, especially when he was at the Divine Realm at that time and still awfully weak.

    "He''s still hunting you down isn''t he?"

    "Most likely yes." Geezer sighed, "Actually, he was waiting for the Expedition Team''s return since he knew that they managed to capture me. The whole reason why they were trying to wear me down is because they want me to be pliant for whatever that abomination wanted to do to me.

    "¡­"

    "One more thing." Geezer added, "There is actually wind-up before their main ship could warp. It''ll take them anywhere from 10-15 years upon receiving the order before they could actually warp. So long as we''re careful enough, we can but more time for our home to prepare for them."

    Raven''s eyes lit up when he heard that.

    "That being said, once they arrive close to our home, there is no way that we can avoid them. There''s way too many of them. They are billions in number and they will bombard us with all kinds of attacks before they start devouring everything we have. I''ve seen it happen way too many times back in my captivity so we have to do something about that."

    "Finally. Don''t think that they will retreat just because you killed their Emperor." Geezer shook his head. "They only call him Emperor because he was the strongest out of them. But even if he dies, the Abyssals will continue doing what they want."

    "That means we have to eradicate thempletely."

    "That''s right." Geezer nodded, "I know it''s a tall order but if we want us and our home to survive, that''s the only way."

    "¡­okay, I''ll think of a n." Raven replied. "But for now, let''s return home. We''ve spent long enough here in the Outer World, I''m tired of it already."

    "Now that you''ve mentioned it¡­" Geezer looked around and hummed, "Is this your Inner Cosmos?"

    "Yes, it is. You like it?"

    "Impressive." Geezer nodded with a smile on his face, "There''s a lot of spectacles here as well as Heavenly Bodies. What tree is that by the way?"

    "Oh, that''s the World Tree. It on fire since it fused with my Cleansing mes."

    "You even managed to nurture a World Tree in your Inner Cosmos? Boy, I pity those who tries to y with Spacetime around you."

    "Me too." Raven chuckled. "Anyways, let''s get out of here. I''ve prepared a feast for you. I know how much you missed food from our home."

    Raven chuckled again once he saw Geezer''s eyes shining upon the mention of food.

    Once they got out of his Inner Cosmos, they appeared on Raven''s shuttle, precisely at the Dining Hall where the feast Raven mentioned was arranged.

    Geezer was no time and immediately reached out for the alcohol. He didn''t even bother with the mug, he went straight for the barrel and poured it down his throat.

    Raven was amused by this but he can''t say he med the old man for acting this way. If he was on the same position as him, he''d most likely do the same.

    *Bam!*

    "God damn! Whew! That¡­I missed that lot."

    Geezer smacked the barrel onto the ground and immediately reached out for the chunks of meat presented on top of the table.

    The old man never felt this happy and satisfied for a long time. He drowned all the sorrows with wine and stuffed all the agony he suffered with food.

    Raven just watched as the old man gorged himself with food and silently withdrew from the room. He bets that the old man didn''t even notice his disappearance. Raven didn''t bother joining the old man since he knew that the feast he prepared would just be enough for the old man.

    He retreated to his personal quarters and sat at the edge of the bed. The shuttle''s course is already set back home. At the speed at which they travel, it wouldn''t be long until they returned back home.

    Raven took this time to sink his perception to the Ancestral Divine Gxy ¨C the true inheritance that Geezer prepared him. There he saw some items as well as the sealed ship of the Abyssals but that''s not why he''s here.

    "Everyone¡­I found the Old Man.. We''reing home."

 Chapter 866: The Heirs Discussion

    Chapter 866: The Heirs¡¯ Discussion

    ¡ª

    Certinos Von Mal''hari, Astrid Mchi, Poppy Forge, Marcel Quinn, Myleene Eidlhar, Richard Sylvester, Meryl Asher, and Lucas Silverwing.

    These people are the previous Heirs of Geezer.

    When Raven imed the throne and officially became the 9th Heir, he received the true inheritance left for him and promised that he will treat his seniors better. When he rose to power and elevated the status of his home, he fulfilled his promised and gave them a new chance at life.

    Currently, the previous Heirs are living their lives peacefully at the Grand Ancestral ne. With the precious chance given to them, they lived ording to how they pleased. They enjoyed life to the fullest, experiencing life as a child once more, enjoying the simple things in life which both cleansed their soul from its old scars and gave them a new perspective in life.

    Their names remained the same, only their surnames changed since they''re born from a new family. Due to their connection to each other, they became close friends and grew up together.

    To them, cultivation wasn''t hard. They could literally breeze through it if they wanted to but because they wanted to experience normalcy and peace, they didn''t.

    They remain mostly aware of what''s happening around them though. Raven didn''t explicitly told them what he''s been up to but since they literally watched him grow-up, they could more or less guess what he''s doing.

    Honestly, they''re proud of the kid. None of them would deny that he''s the best out of all of them. It isn''t just because he experienced two lives. It''s much more than that. Raven''s sheer tenacity and sense of responsibility was something that none of them could ever match-up to.

    One can only imagine the weight pressing down his shoulders but Raven rarelyined. And even when he did, he never truly stopped doing his duty.

    During one of the peaceful days in their lives though, Raven contacted them through their connection, saying that he found Geezer and that they''reing home.

    That shook them out of their wits so they decided to meet-up and discuss about it.

    "Tell me I wasn''t the only one that heard that." Inos mentioned once everyone appeared.

    "No. I''m pretty sure we all heard that correctly." Astrid stated, "Raven hasn''t been one to y pranks with us so what he said should be true."

    "Damn! I can''t believe he actually found the old man!" Poppy eximed.

    "I can''t believe he''s still alive to bepletely honest." Marcel quipped.

    "Well, since Raven said he''sing back with him. I''d assumed we''ll meet the old man soon enough." Myleene stated.

    "Yeah, I can see that happening." Richard sighed. "If I''m being honest though, it''s been a while. I don''t know what to feel."

    "Same goes for me." Meryl nodded, "Only got to talk to him three times, I never really thought of him as my own Master."

    "Well at least you guys are mostly neutral about him. As for me, that old man conned me into this. I''m still holding a grudge over that." Lucas snorted.

    "Ohe on. Eons literally passed since that happened, can''t you let it go already?" Marcel asked, exasperated.

    "He made life difficult!" Lucas red at him.

    "No he didn''t! He gave you an option. Your home was literally on the verge of being destroyed. And correct me if I''m wrong but I remember that it was you who begged for his help, not the other way around." Poppy countered.

    "¡­still!"

    "Okay, stop such a child." Meryl snorted. "You only look like one and you''re with us so stop pretending. If anything, you''re the one who''s worried the most for his well-being. Stop ying hard-to-get, it doesn''t suit you."

    "¡­now that''s just mean." Lucas looked offended, "I though girls dig this kind of attitude?"

    "Ew!" Myleene scandalously scrunched up her face. "Can you hear yourself just now? You''re older than the oldest fossil in this world and yet you''re going for girls who aren''t even a fraction of your true age. Shame on you!"

    "Hey! Now that actually hurts! Like, right here!" Lucas pointed at his chest. "I''m old mentally yes, but I''m a healthy young boy, you Hags. Besides, I''m just doing this for fun. It''s not like I''ll take them seriously. They''re not worthy of me just yet."

    "Shameless." Astrid snorted.

    "What she said, brother." Marcel quipped.

    "He''s just as shameless as Geezer, no wonder he picked you as his first Heir." Richardmented.

    "Sorry, Lucas. But I agree to what they say." Inos shrugged.

    "You guys are mean."

    "Alright, enough ying around. Let''s get back to official business shall we?" Meryl sighed and med themotion down. "I''ll say this first and foremost¡­I believe that we should pick up the pace from now on."

    Some of the Heirs looked at Meryl with confused expressions.

    "What do you mean by that?" Myleene asked.

    "It''s mostly a spection on my part¡­" Meryl trailed off for a bit, organizing her thoughts properly so that she can say what she wanted properly.

    "Raven said that they going home, right?" She then saw some of them nodding. "Well, that was weird for me since if it was Raven, then he should''ve already been here with the old man. I mean, he could literally go anywhere he pleases within the Divine Realm, within seconds if I may add. We also know that Raven isn''t one to waste time. So then, why isn''t he here yet?"

    "¡­"

    "I''m guessing he found Geezer on the Outer Worlds." Meryl suggested¡­which is spot on unbeknownst to her. "Right now they''re probably going back to the Divine Realm."

    "Okay so, what does that have to do with us picking-up the pace?" Poppy raised a brow.

    "Raven will need us soon." Meryl sighed. "Whether he likes it or not, we''re going to get involved¡­at least I would. Try to recall what''s lurking within the depths of the Outer World just for a bit will you?"

    "¡­Abyssals! Shit!" Inos cursed, which rmed the rest of the Heirs as well.

    "Yes. Them." Meryl nodded, her face grave. "Now, I don''t know where exactly Raven found the old man but at the worst case scenario, he probably saved him from their clutches."

    "If that turns out to be true, that means that they''re close." Richard solemnly said, "Fuck, this is bad."

    "Indeed." Astrid nodded, "Divine Realm is far from ready for this confrontation. We, aren''t ready for it."

    "Yes. But also remember that this is Raven we''re talking about." Marcel stated, "He probably has ns for it. One that could buy us sometime. Given how calcting and scheming he is, he probably managed to not alert their forces."

    "I''ve taken that to consideration." Meryl nodded, "Which is why I said, I''m going to get involved. There''s no way I''m going to let those things destroy the Divine Realm. This isn''t me repaying favors, it''s me doing my part as an able citizen of the Divine Realm. I don''t know about you people but I n on roaming after we meet up with Geezer. It''s about time for me to take back what''s mine to begin with."

    "I''ll go as well." Inos mentioned, "There''s no way I''ll let Raven face them without me. We''ve seen what he didn''t back then. They''re stronger than what he thinks."

    "Count me in. I''m the former Queen of Amazon''s. Fighting is in our very nature. Plus, Raven needs us so we should be there." Astrid stated.

    "Well? How about the rest of you?" Meryl faced the other Heirs. "You lot know that Raven won''t force you to fight if you don''t want to right?"

    "Oh, we know." Poppy snorted. "That''s the kind of person he is. But there ain''t no way I shy away from this. Count me in when you leave, I need my hammer and my forge back."

    "I''ll help too." Marcel stated.

    "Yeah, I''ll go as well. A pity that we''ll need to leave this ce but, duty calls." Richard joined in as well.

    "I''ll go too of course." Myleene stated.

    "Well, hair can''t survive without the skin." Lucas sagely mentioned, "It''s been a while since I participated in a war. I miss it actually."

    "Spoken like a true fossil!" Poppy quipped, which earnedughter from the rest of the Heirs.

    "Oh, you people are very mean! Stop poking where it hurts!"

    "That defeats the purpose, doesn''t it?" Poppy grinned, "Besides you know what they say, truth hurts. Face it, my guy. You are old."

    "Alright, that''s enough you too." Marcel got in between of them. "All of us here are old, that''s a fact, we''re just stuck in a young body. Seriously, we should leave our previous ages behind, it''s kind of depressing whenever we get reminded of it."

    "It surely does." Inos sighed, "I''m the youngest here but living for at least a billion of years off-sets that. My own parents are even younger than me, it feels really depressing."

    "I agree, whole-heartedly!" Lucas sagely nodded.

    "Of course, you would." Meryl snorted, "You''re the oldest after all."

    "Why you, Hag!"

    "Call me Hag one more time, and I''ll freeze your balls."

    "Damn¡­.alright, sorry my bad I guess."

 Chapter 867: Homecoming

    Chapter 867: Homing

    ¡ª

    "¡­home sweet home."

    Geezer sighed and whispered to himself. He looked at the majestic scenery outside of the shuttle and felt a wave of nostalgia hitting him.

    Divine Realm. Finally, after so many years of running away and being captive by the Abyssals, he''s back home. Oh how he missed this ce. He missed it more than he''s willing to admit.

    Granted that those who chased him out probably still lives at this verynd, at the end of the day, home is home. He will always want to return here and if possible, he wants to be buried here when he dies.

    The moment Raven spatial shuttle entered the territory of the Divine Realm, he was approached by the Wall Guardians. They were currently finishing the paperwork while Geezer remained within the shuttle. Raven said that he''ll handle everything from here on out anyways.

    ''The Eternal Division Wall¡­it really is different now.'' Geezer mused to himself. Then his eyesnded on the worlds under Divine Realm''s territory and smiled to himself.

    ''Even the vibe of the whole realm feels different. It seems that my boy truly did wonders upon iming the throne and bing Humanity''s True Leader.''

    During their trip back, Geezer asked Raven about his life and his heir told him about the developments that happened while he was gone.

    Truly, Geezer never thought that the little boy who once lost everything he held dear, will reach this far. The achievements he piled up using nothing but his own wits and effort alone isn''t something that any other person could replicate.

    Geezer felt proud. Hearing that his heir is now the leading figure of Humanity and one of the most powerful beings alive practically erased every fear he has of returning. Why would he be afraid when his own Heir was the Big Boss of Humanity?

    Besides, even if he dies, Geezer would still beughing on his grave. Why? Because his own heir was the one with the highest chance of reaching the Realm beyond Divinity. That itself is a one hell of an achievement that sets Raven apart from the rest.

    After talking to the Wall Guardians for a bit, Raven returned to the ship and they were granted entry. They passed through the Eternal Division Wall and entered Divine Realm proper.

    Geezer felt the shift on his surroundings. He shivered upon the sensation. He recognized this feeling. He could sense the Order, something unique to the Divine Realm.

    He could feel his spirit singing in glee with this homing. The sense of familiarity and belonging baptized him once more. He felt ever more alive than ever. What a wondrous feeling this was.

    "Master¡­"

    Geezer turned around and saw Raven opening the door to his room. He smiled at him and tilted his head.

    "I''m going to drop you off to my home, the Grand Ancestral ne." He said, "I''ve told my Seniors that I''ming home with you and I think they''d like to meet you again."

    "Ah, those brats." Geezer chuckled. "Very well. Though I''m guessing that you won''t stay for long, yes?"

    "Yeah." Raven sighed, "I need to return to the Dawn Council and warn my team about the Abyssals. They know of their existence already so we should be able to shorten the amount of time we need to prepare. I''m afraid I''ll be very busy though."

    "Indeed, you will be." Geezer nodded, "This is your responsibility. One that you willingly carried. That being said, don''t be afraid to ask for help. Protecting Divine Realm isn''t a task that you to carry alone. I''m sure that even the twisted bastards would help you in mission."

    "I''m aware of that, thanks for the reminder though." Raven nodded, "As for you, I believe that you will like my home. Feel free to take it easy there. You''ve been through a lot already. I don''t want to burden you as much as possible. Try to enjoy some peace while we still can."

    "I''ll take you up on that offer then."

    Geezer didn''t stand on ceremony with Raven and epted the deal. Whether he likes to admit it or not, Geezer still hasn''t fully recovered from the years of his captivity. Even though he''s fully healed, his mentality was badly battered by the constant torture he had to endure.

    This is why he epted Raven''s offer right away. He needed to cleanse himself off of those nightmares and it''s going to take a while before that happens. Being around a peaceful environment might just help him with that.

    After their brief discussion, Raven called upon his authority to use the Realm Door which directly teleported the shuttle to the Grand Ancestral ne''s territory.

    He kept the shuttle away and scanned the entirety of his home to search for his senior''s whereabouts. Raven found them shortly after and teleported to where they are.

    It was awkward, their first meeting with Geezer that is. Thankfully, the old man seems to know just what to say in order to get rid of the atmosphere.

    Raven spent some time with them, just enough to catch-up with them. By the end of the day, the Heirs was no longer estranged from the old man. Sadly, that''s all the time that Raven could spare, he still has many things to do after all.

    He already told them how he found Geezer, as it turns out, Meryl''s guess was spot-on.

    Raven received their support. They said that they will try their best to cultivate and hopefully be useful by the dawn of war. Raven appreciated their willingness but he also told them that he''ll understand if they''re done with all the fighting.

    Of course, that was met with violent reactions. He was bombarded by the scolding of his seniors, which painted a hrious scene since they were currently kids while Raven was a full blown adult.

    Either way, Raven knew that they''ll participate no matter what he said so he dropped the topic. Then he said he farewells since it was time for him to return to his family.

    He called upon the Realm Door shortly after and left Geezer in his home, hoping that the old man will truly recover in his time there.

    ¡ª

    The first thing Raven did upon returning was to of course, go to his wife.

    He missed Luna''spany as well as Vanessa. However, his daughter is currently training and is in middle of her breakthrough so he didn''t bother her for now.

    Entering the room where Luna is, he found her sleeping on their bed.

    A smile appeared on Raven''s face as he silently went towards the bathroom to clean himself and change his clothes. Once he was done, he crawled into the bed andid down next to her.

    He saw Luna''s lips curling into a smile as she automatically gravitated to his warmth. She wrapped her arms around his waist and sighed when she smelled his familiar scent.

    Her eyes fluttered open and found Raven smiling down at her. He nted a kiss on her forehead which made Luna hum in satisfaction.

    "I''m home." He whispered.

    "Wee back." She said, tightening her hug around his waist. "How''s your trip?"

    "Got the Old Man back which is great. I also provided somefort for a small group of Outsiders."

    "Where did you find him?" She asked.

    Raven stayed silent for a bit. He hesitated whether to her now orter. He then decided to tell her about itter, after all he needs some rest too knowing how busy he''ll getter.

    "Let''s rx for now." He said, "I can tell you''re exhausted too, I am as well. We''ll talk about it once we rested enough."

    "Sound good." Luna murmured as she snuggled into his arms.

    "How about you and the rest though? Why is everybody tired?" Raven couldn''t help but ask since he saw everyone resting upon his return when he scanned the area.

    "We just returned recently as well. About three or four days ago." Luna replied, "We started some of the projects we have when you left. We thought that a little push won''t hurt since we''re going on the right direction anyways. It was exhausting you know."

    Luna yawned and rubbed her cheeks on his chest. Raven smiled and pulled her closer.

    "Is that so? Well then, good work. We earned this rest."

    "Yeah." Raven could tell that she''s barely awake due to her slurred words. "Let''s rest for a bit. There''s still a pile of paperwork that needs to be filled."

    "Aw, damn. Why did you have to remind me of the paperwork? What if it hunts us down to our dreams? That would be a literal nightmare don''t you think?"

    Luna chuckled softly but didn''t say anything. Raven knew that she had fallen asleep already due to the rhythmic breathing she has.

    Raven remained awake for a bit but didn''t move. He didn''t want to disturb Luna''s slumber. He paid attention to Vanessa discretely, watching as she broke through. He stayed up just in case but thankfully, nothing wrong happened.

    He watched her daughter until she returned to her own room and rested, once she fell asleep, Raven also decided to have his well earned rest.

 Chapter 868: Finished Projects

    Chapter 868: Finished Projects

    ¡ª

    "Oh, you''ve returned."

    This was what Anne said upon seeing Raven. It''s been a few days since he returned. Most of those times were spent resting with Luna.

    Because Raven didn''t do anything strenuous, he didn''t need a long rest. Only a few days sufficed for him and he''s as good as new.

    "Yeah, I just returned a few days ago." He replied, walking with her towards the meeting hall along with Luna.

    "Did you find him?"

    "Master? Yes. I left him at the Grand Ancestral ne. The old man has been through a lot, he needs a break."

    "I see." Anne nodded.

    Shortly after, the three of them entered the meeting hall and saw the rest of the council members already waiting there. The others saw Raven and their eyes revealed a surprise. Just like Anne, it seems that they too wasn''t aware that Raven already returned.

    "Hey everyone, I''m back." Raven greeted them as he walked towards his seat. "Luna told me that you all have been very busy these past few days."

    "Oh, you have no idea." Ellen snorted.

    "Well, I certainly would love to hear more about it. But before we go to that, I want to hear about the statistics of the Divine Realm. Laughing Dragon, if you will please?"

    "It''d be my pleasure, Young Lord." Laughing Dragon replied, walking towards the podium.

    He then began his reports. Raven listened to them intently since he needed to see if Divine Realm was ready for what''s about to happen next.

    ording to Laughing Dragon''s reports, the rate of missionpletion rose up by at least 10% since thest time he listened to it. This was a significant progress since it proves that the quality of Divine Realm''s forces were getting stronger. Add the fact that only a handful of years passed since they''ve been in authority, this further proves that they are indeed heading in the right direction.

    With the increased rate of missionpletion, the dangers that remained within the Divine Realm dwindled even more. Don''t forget that those who imed missions were given badges that could record sceneries. These recordings could beplied and used for intelligence gathering. Gather enough evidence and it wouldn''t be too hard to solve any kind of mysteries surrounding a foreign location.

    On another note, Laughing Dragon also reported that the Elite Students ¨C the finalists of the Grand Youth Meet led by none other than Kyle himself, also began undertaking missions.

    They didn''t go as a whole team, instead they chose to spread out and challenge themselves by going into smaller groups. The missions were tempering them and giving them experience. Kyle didn''t team-up with Nina and Tori all the time, they used a rotation in order to culminate their connection so that the team will be more united.

    Aside from those things, Laughing Dragon also reported that there are some people who expressed their desire to enter their Academy. He said that they''ve been receiving gifts and offerings from many people with messages attached to them.

    Most of those messages were highlighting their wishes to have their youth enter the Academy. So far, Laughing Dragon just kept the gifts aside, he didn''t touch any of them since he''s waiting for Raven''s return.

    "My, I didn''t know the allure of our Academy is already growing this much." Raven chuckled upon hearing thest part of Laughing Dragon''s report.

    "Young Lord, what should we do?" Laughing Dragon asked.

    "You''ve read the letters right?" Raven asked him, to which Laughing Dragon nodded, "Then you should have an idea who the kids they''re referring to, have you had your men do a background check on them?"

    "That¡­" Laughing Dragon was stunned, secondster he bowed solemnly and said: "I apologize, Young Lord. The thoughtpletely missed me. I''ve been muddle-headed. I''m willing to ept your punishment."

    "Ey, no need to go that far." Raven waved his hand dismissively. "It''s fine. It happens from time to time. Just do well on the background check. If their records looked clean and met all the aspects we''re looking for, you can go ahead and send them an invitation. If they''recking in requirements, you can give them examinations. Ask Mark for ideas."

    "If their records looked bad, don''t hesitate to return the gift they sent to us along with thepiled report. At least, rejecting them in that way won''t offend them too much."

    "I understand, Young Lord. Thank you for your instructions."

    "Alright, you may return to your seat." Raven nodded. His gaze thennded on his team, asking: "Well then, let''s hear. What kept you guys busy these past few days?"

    "We''ve been running some errands for you, for the most part at least." Paul answered, "We knocked out some of them projects you have on your list."

    "Oh? Tell me more about it?"

    "The first project wepleted while you were gone was ''Web of Life''. That was a pain in the ass to finish by the way."

    "You guyspleted the Web of Life? Well, I''ll be damned." Raven''s expression looked extremely impressed and surprised.

    Well, he wasn''t expecting that at all. Also, the fact that theypleted suchrge project in such a short time was even impressive.

    The Web of Life Project was in truth, metaphorical. It is a project that will improve the inter-connectivity of the entire Divine Realm.

    By establishing official routes from one ce to another by virtue of safe and secured spatial tunnels, they can eliminate all sorts of danger when ites to travelling. This also makes it easier and safer for people to go to their destinations. It''s a project that will improve the citizens'' quality of life but it also have some military benefits as well.

    That being said, this project is time consuming because of the sheer amount of worlds under Divine Realm and Dawn Council''s jurisdiction. They have to establish a new spatial tunnel and connect every single world there is for the wholework to start.

    The sheer amount of effort needed toplete that is immense, Raven actually nned on having his Avatars help him with that but it''s no longer necessary since the project''s alreadypleted.

    Raven was currently holding a folder that contained the routes established and he got to say, it was good. The tunnels are working just as intended and there werepiled reports that proved its stability.

    "Alright, color me impressed. What else have you guyspleted?"

    "Wepleted the devices needed for the ''Emergency Shuffle Protocol'' and the ''Buster Call''. The hardest project was the ''Resonance of Dawn'' but it''spleted now." Luna replied.

    Raven waspletely blown away by her words. He couldn''t help it. After all, the projects she said theypleted were the most troublesome ones.

    The ''Emergency Shuffle Protocol'' is something that the Dawn Council could use to save lives. Say, if an ident happens and there is an event where countless of lives were in danger, they can activate this protocol to send the people away to a safe ce and ce the danger away so that it won''t cause a chain of reaction.

    The ''Buster Call'' is an offensive project. It''s a trap for their enemies where they''ll be caged in a prison and will be forced to defend against the full retaliation of not only the council but the Divine Real, as a whole.

    As for the ''Resonance of Dawn'', this is indeed the most difficult project. This project is listed in order to increase the quality of Divine Realm''s forces. By creating a device that will propagate the influence of Heavenly Law Order, the depth of understanding the Knights will have about Laws will surely increase. This in turn, will make them obviously stronger.

    Even with the reports pile up on his table, Raven still found it hard to believe. He was gone for a short time yet his team managed toplete this many time consuming projects. It seems that he was indeed underestimating them.

    "Well done, everyone." Raven chuckled, "This is good. Very good. I''m pleased to hear that we''vee this far. And it happened in such a fortunate timing too."

    "Hmm? Why is that?" Anne asked.

    Raven sighed and ced the documents down. He sped his hand on top of his table and looked solemnly at his team.

    "Well, I''ve made contact with the Abyssals."

    "Say what now!?" Paul was so surprised that he stood up from shock.

    "Rx." Raven waved his hand. "I haven''t provoked their main force just yet. I also made sure that they didn''t find out about what I did."

    "What did you anyway?" Mark asked.

    Raven then recounted his trip with them. He told them about his encounter with Lenna, himing to the Broken Bands, his meeting with Yelena, him restoring their world and hiding them. The Space Beast parade, the trail of the abyssals¡­all the way to him saving Geezer and the intel he got from them.

    "¡­I left master at out home so that he could rest and hopefully heal from everything that happened to him. That about sums up my whole trip."

    "Now, you see why I said that these upgrades came at an opportune time?"

 Chapter 869: Solemn Banquet

    Chapter 869: Solemn Banquet

    ¡ª

    "¡­we''re in trouble aren''t we?" Paul solemnly asked after a bout of silence from the team.

    Raven just finished retelling the story of how he retrieved Geezer from the expedition team of the Abyssals and the intel they gathered from them.

    The intel supplied was mediocre at best since it only showed them a glimpse of the true might of the Abyssals, yet still it''s enough for everyone here to understand that they are nowhere near ready enough to confront them.

    "¡­I''m not one to give false hopes so I''m not going to deny the possible of that." Raven mentioned, "Still, with the recent projects you guys aplished, you definitely saved us a great amount of time."

    "But I reckon it''s far from enough, right?" Mark interjected.

    "Indeed." Raven nodded and sighed. "It''s far from enough, which is why we have to practically double our efforts this time. Our aim is to knock everything on the project list as soon as we can. The sooner weplete the better since it will practically allow us to free our schedules so that we can focus on ourselves."

    "Don''t we need to inform others about this discovery?" Anne asked.

    "We will." Raven replied, "I have no intentions of hiding this from the rest. Only, to not ensue a realm-wide panic, I n to tell only the Empyreans and the Divine Knights. It''s up to them whether they like to spread this information or not."

    "Should I n for a banquet, Young Lord?" Laughing Dragon inquired.

    "Sure, go ahead and do that. Do inform me of the schedule so that I can appear on time." Raven agreed.

    "It''s a good thing that the rest of the projects left were the ones that needed your attention the most. Since you''re hear, we can focus our time for those." Ellen mentioned.

    "Right. That''s what I was thinking too." Raven chuckled, "The most important thing right now is to finish our to-do list. Once that''s done, we''ll have more breathing room for ourselves. Maybe we can focus on having you all breakthrough to Divine Knight Stage as well."

    "That''d help a lot." Luna nodded, "After all, we need as many Divine Knights as we could in order to ensure our safety."

    Raven nodded to her but deep down, he felt conflicted.

    In truth, he didn''t want Luna nor Vanessa to be involved in this thing. If it''s possible, he''ll dly carry this burden alone. He didn''t want to risk their safety if he could help it ¨C however, that''s the thing.

    He has to.

    Just like she said, Divine Realm needs as many capable Knights as possible in order to meet the enemy. Luna and Vanessa are included in that list, much to Raven''s dismay. He couldn''t afford to be selfish and draft them out of the fight just to ensure their safety.

    Even at the chance that he did that, his wife and daughter would probably resent him for doing so.

    While he could handle their resentment just to keep them safe, he knows that by the end of the day, Divine Realm needs them. They want and need to defend their home. It''s their duty to do so. One that Raven can''t take away from them.

    ¡ª

    The meeting ended on a rtively good terms.

    Even though the dreadful presence of the Abyssals lurk beyond the Outer Worlds, as the Dawn Council representatives, they have to do everything they can to make sure that their home will be able to defend itself upon their arrival.

    Raven and his team began busying themselves.

    Once again, Raven was currently preparing to start the projects left for him to do. With the help of his Avatars, this shouldn''t take too much time.

    While Raven prepared himself for another project, Laughing Dragon sent invitations to the Empyreans and Divine Knights. He sent them as soon as possible since they''re pressed with time.

    The meeting was due next week, giving everyone ample time to receive the invitations and prepare for the visit.

    At Raven''s behest, Laughing Dragon mentioned in the letter that their presence will be highly appreciated as his Young Lord has some things to discuss with them. Which roughly means that they need to attend this meeting.

    In truth, the Dawn Council didn''t want to impose upon them but they really needed to know about this. Whether the council likes it or not, they require everyone''s participation in this. The council can''t handle this burden alone after all.

    With the invitations sent out, they only need to wait a few days before seeing who responds to call. Meanwhile, Laughing Dragon made sure to inform Raven about the schedule of the banquet.

    After dealing with the invitations, Laughing Dragon proceeded to do a background check on the youth of the Divine Realm.

    In particr, those who were being advertised by the Seniors.

    Using his authority as the Supervisor of the Intelligence Department, he instructed his men to file reports about the people mentioned in letters andter on, decide to group them up ording to their qualifications.

    As for the rest of the team, they were busy as well.

    It''s paperwork that mostly upied their time. Unlike Raven, they didn''t have Avatars to help them deal with the mountains of paperwork on their desk but given that they''re used to this by now, it wasn''t really that bad. Just time consuming, that''s all.

    Just like this, a few days passed by and the council started receiving guests from afar.

    With the Web of Life installed and functioning, the trip of the guests was smooth. They arrived at the council without any hups along the way.

    Laughing Dragon began arranging their positions and made sure to prepare a feast for them to enjoy while they wait for others to arrive.

    He already informed Raven that the guests started arriving as a heads-up. Right now, Raven took a break from his work to take a bath, making sure that he''s at least presentable when timees.

    In hindsight, Laughing Dragon shouldn''t have been surprised when the saw how everyone whom he sent letters to, appeared early or on-time.

    The letter did implied that their presence is needed for the banquet yet he still didn''t expect them to actually appear.

    It seems that he was still underestimating the rallying power of his Young Lord. Shame on him really, but that just made his admiration for the young leader to grow even more.

    While everybody enjoyed the light and calm atmosphere of the banquet, the rest of the Council Representatives started appearing with Raven being thest one.

    When he showed-up, everyone halted and focused their attention on him. Raven gave them a brief nod.

    He approached them one by one as courtesy and joined them for a few round of drinks. This kept the current atmosphere stable but all of this were just pleasantries.

    Once he''s done with them, he marched on top of the podium and began talking:

    "I am pleased to see all of you. I apologize for the abruptness of this event but I''m afraid it has to be done. After all, whatever I''m about to tell, concerns the state of our home in general."

    At this point, the light and calm atmosphere were silently reced by a tensed one.

    "I won''t beat around the bush with all of you." Raven stated, "I''ve spotted something terrible from the Outer World recently when I went out to install the Outposts."

    "I will project my memories to all of you so that you all can see what happened during the trip as well as measure how dull our current situation is. Please don''t resist me¡­"

    Raven didn''t waste time and began ring his Spiritual Presence.

    The fluctuation he released was gentle yet stable. His spirit touched everyone, including his own team, and began linking their consciousness together.

    Once everyone was linked to him, he began reying his memories, starting from the very moment he stepped out of Divine Realm''s territory.

    At this point, it''s important to note that some people here never got the chance to explore the Outer Worlds just yet. Sure, those who have the lowest cultivation here were Empyreans ¨C which is absurd,e to think of it but being an Empyrean doesn''t necessarily grant them the qualifications to roam the Outer Worlds.

    So, for some people present right now. This is the first time that they''ve seen what the Outer Worlds looked like.

    As Raven reyed his memories, they began seeing the bleakness of what''s outside their home. Seeing the horrible living conditions of the beings out there made them realize how lucky they were to be born here.

    It''s precisely due to that, that when they discovered the existence of the Abyssals, they began feeling a deep seated dread fill their hearts.

    Although they never got to see them in action proper, the mere implications of what they could do frightens them.

    What frightened them even more is the knowledge that one act of carelessness is all it will take for them to discover where they are and potentially wipe them out with their massive army.

    When Raven''s memory ended, everyone in the hall was silent.

    One nce of their current countenance is all it will take for someone to know what they''re currently feel about this revtion.

 Chapter 870: Modifying The Grand Seal

    Chapter 870: Modifying The Grand Seal

    ¡ª

    It''s already given that the banquet ended in a very solemn note.

    As experts, they tried to minimize the tension surrounding them. Their efforts weremendable but it didn''t really diminish the effect of the news to their psyche. Whether they admit it or not, they are greatly affected by this news.

    God knows how much they wanted to deny reality. They wanted to admonish Raven and call him an rmist for doing this. But then again, he has proof of his ims.

    He showed them the sealed ship of the Abyssals as well as the sealed Abyssals as well. Hell, he even invited the Heavenly Law Order''s consciousness to descend and talk to everyone. All of those proof were something they cannot deny no matter how much they wanted to.

    This is as real as it could get, and it filled them with so much dread that they don''t really know what to do. Thankfully though, Raven was prepared for this.

    He already told him some of his ns. He told them that he''ll do everything in his power to assure that they could defend their home. There''s nothing they could do to avoid this anyway, sooner orter, the Abyssals wille so they better be prepared for it.

    The only piece of good news he brought with him is the fact that the Abyssals were still not aware of Divine Realm''s presence. He did everything he could to erase his tracks so that they won''t find this ce. In addition to this, Raven has back-up ns in order to buy time as much as possible.

    Although it will take some time, Raven has ns on modifying the Eternal Division Wall even more, which should be easier if he used the throne room. He nned on adding a stealth function so that the whole realm will be hidden.

    Raven told them that he''s nearly done with the preparations and once it''sunched, this should be able to buy more time for everyone.

    Of course, Raven also revealed the real purpose of this banquet. Aside from informing the experts about the looming threat, he also wanted to implore their aid.

    The Dawn Council can''t do this by themselves. The protection of the Divine Realm is something that concerns every single one of it''s citizens. He wanted them to do their part since they are hailed as leaders of their own forces.

    This responsibility is shared by every single one of them here. The enemies are strong and only through unity will they be able to secure the safety of their home.

    Of course, those who attended the banquet understood the implications. They weren''t born yesterday. They''re not naive. They know what they have to do since just like Raven, they also wanted to protect their home.

    Raven didn''t ask much from them. Only an effort that they will make sure to increase the quality of their soldiers. He wanted them to provide closer guidance to their subordinates in order to make them stronger. This was all Raven requested from them.

    Raven didn''t dare to tell them what to do. He''s sure that they have ideas on their own and frankly, he has too much on his te already that even if he wanted to, he couldn''t add anymore. Since these people are leaders on their own right, they might as well y their part, no?

    The guests understood this as well, and they were grateful for the chance to prove themselves. Of course, Raven''s acknowledgement meant a lot to these people due to his reputation of course.

    But then again, the dreadful sensation pressed upon their chest didn''t dissipate despite Raven''s encouragement. Frankly, none of them felt confident about their chances but like what was established earlier, they''ve nowhere to run. All they could do, was fight.

    After the banquet ended, Raven and his team didn''t waste time.

    They immediately moved-on to their ns and went on separate ways to cover more ground.

    Raven himself entered the Throne Room and began modifying the Grand Seal of the Eternal Division Wall.

    This should be rtively easy for him. Ever since he broke through the Divine Knight Stage and integrated with the inheritance of Chaos, his Sealing and Runic Arc climbed to outstanding heights.

    From simplicity toplexity. Then the other way around. It formed a progressive cycle which really elevated Raven knowledge about his chosen path.

    In addition to this, Raven was consistently gathering experience as he goes.

    During his previous life, he became an Divine Knight through rough footing. His foundations weren''t as stable and his breakthrough was bit forced since they were already in the middle of a long war with the Abyssals.

    He didn''t get many chances to fully delve into the feeling of being a Divine Knight nor study about it''s profundities since he was always out on a mission and was always fighting. He didn''t even get to truly consolidate his realm.

    Now however, things are a lot different.

    He has time to spare and he reached this stage earlier than he anticipated. His foundations was as stable as it could get and he had enough time to not only consolidate his strength but also digest the inheritance he received. There''s truly noparison between the two.

    Him being able to know what it''s like to be a fully-fledged Divine Knight added more insights to his end goal.

    Hepiled more information on his notes which will hopefully help him when timees.

    Raven didn''t n on staying as a Divine Knight for the rest of his life. He was an immortal. He had all the time in world despite the threat of the Abyssals looming over him. He wanted to break the shackles of Divinity and see what''s beyond it.

    It just so happens that he has the qualifications to do so.

    Speaking of qualifications, when Raven allowed everyone to witness his memories, he made sure to mute the part where he invoked the virtue of Chaos to repair the Broken Bands.

    Only a handful of people knows that he condensed the Divinity of Chaos and became its representative and he wanted it to stay that way for as long as he could.

    This isn''t him being selfish, just being careful.

    They are at a sensitive state right now, he didn''t want to provoke anybody''s greed since that would foil their unity and will eventually cause their downfall. He didn''t want that to happen so he hid it. It just so happens that it was amon courtesy for Divine Knights to keep the nature of their Divinity a secret, which helped him out a lot.

    He didn''t hide the matter about Geezer though. He skipped their interactions within his Inner World and their discussion about Chaos but that''s about it. The rest was disyed for everyone.

    Frankly, Raven was expecting some violent reactions from the crowd since he technically broke the rules. Remember, he wasn''t supposed to take advantage of his position as Humanity''s Leader for his personal gains. He went after Geezer behind their backs and he was prepared to answer for his actions but it turns out that it wasn''t needed.

    Nobody said a word. It''s either they were too distracted about the looming threat or they just didn''t care at all. Either way, this was the better oue for Raven.

    And since nobody raised anymotion upon learning that Geezer was back in the Divine Realm, Raven didn''t need to confront Geezer''s enemies for it, which is the best oue he could hope for.

    He really didn''t want any conflicts with anybody right now. Divine Realm needs as many of its capable soldiers ready to confront the enemy and conflict wouldn''t help with that,

    Geezer''s enemies probably already called it quits after seeing what happened to him. Raven didn''t hide Geezer''s oue to them in the first ce. Seeing the old man nearly broken must''ve dissipated their previous disagreements so they''re not after him anymore.

    Even at the instance that they still are, they''d have to go through Raven first and frankly, none of them should see that confrontation ending in their favor. So it would be in their best interest to just drop the matter altogether.

    After some deliberation, Raven finallypleted the modifications he''ll be doing for the Grand Seal. He already have all the materials ready with him so he started the modification right away.

    Raven sat upon the throne and it thrummed to existence. Raven summoned the Scepter of Wisdom and began inscribing the modifications he had on the seal while pouring out the materials he prepared.

    Threads of dark gold and pale silver coursed through the scepter and into the Grand Seal. The new intersection of lines appeared and a formidable fluctuation began leaking out of the seal.

    Raven concentrated on his task. He couldn''t afford to be distracted since one wrong move and all his efforts will go down the drain.

    Still, the modification was simple. It only took a couple of weeks for Raven to finish and by the end of it, the Grand Seal was better than ever.

    Once he activated the Grand Seal again, Divine Realm suddenly disappeared from where it was, reced by a phantom image that will hopefully buy them more time to prepare for the worst.

 Chapter 871: Vanessas Ambition

    Chapter 871: Vanessa¡¯s Ambition

    ¡ª

    Since then, Divine Realm entered a semi-delicate state.

    The matter about the Abyssals are pretty much hidden to the public even though Raven gave the others the freedom whether to spread the news or not.

    The movement of the leaders were a bit low-profiled too, they didn''t do anything drastic once they came back, instead they returned to their natural pace and carefully thought about their ns before taking action.

    Because of this, there weren''t much changes in the Divine Realm on the surface. But there''s certainly strong undercurrents going on.

    Some of the mor3 sensitive people felt that something was going on but they just can''t put a finger on it. The Dawn Council also didn''t help them pinpoint what exactly it is because they''re all over the ce just like how they were ever since the reform began.

    This was good, at least this way there will be no realm-wide panic. There will be no chaos and people can actually use their energy instead on more important things other than stressing out with the inevitable invasion.

    As for Raven and the rest of the Dawn Council Members, they were extremely busy.

    They basically tripled their efforts on finishing up their projects and barely had any time to rest. Still, nobodyined, after all the busiest of them all ¨C Raven, didn''t even let out a singleint during this. Plus, they''re at the final stretch. Everything will be worth it in the end and that''s enough to keep them going.

    Speaking of Raven, he''s already done with the modifications of the Grand Seal. Now, his focus are on the more time-consuming projects they have remaining.

    Due to their hectic schedules, Vanessa instantly discovered that something was up.

    Her parents never really revealed anything to her. They barely have time to even be together but she''s not dense. She knows that something happened during her father''s trip to the Outer Worlds. If it didn''t, then he would be spending time with her as much as he could.

    That being said, Vanessa was sensible enough to not ask. She knows that her parents treats her as an adult now. They would''ve said something already to her if they could but they didn''t so there''s no need to ask.

    Kyle might know something but since he hasn''t said anything, she won''t pry either.

    Whatever it is, is probably out of her reach anyways. Things like that were better kept as a secret since even if she knows, she wouldn''t be able to do anything about it. It''s better to just cultivate and make sure to reach a stage where she''s strong enough to y her part.

    At the topic of cultivation, Vanessa''s currently consolidating her strength.

    She had a breakthrough not too long ago but somethings happened and now she needed to be careful of her own strength.

    Raven passed down a cultivation technique he personally created to her. One that is specially made for her.

    It is called the ''Violet God Scripture''.

    Just like the Book of Chaos, the Violet God Scripture falls under the unorthodox path ¨C meaning that she wouldn''t follow the normal power chart established for the majority of the people in the Divine Realm.

    Vanessa is a child blessed and loved by nature. Luna nurtured her for three years before giving birth to her and the supplements Vanessa received during that time were all Heavenly Treasures. When her mother gave birth to her, the Heavens sang and expressed their joy, a phenomenon that Raven suppressed due to it''s incredulity, still it doesn''t change the fact that Vanessa herself is a miracle.

    Due to the blessings of nature, Vanessa was bound to never experience bottlenecks. In fact, it''s due to her blessings that she found cultivation extremely easy. Even if nobody''s there to teach her, nature itself would teach her how to do it. This shows just how absurd Vanessa was.

    What Vanessa needed the most is experience. Specifically fighting experience.

    If one asks her, she''d admit that she grew up on a rtively peaceful environment. Sheltered even. Back home, she''d be considered as one of the strongest people but many could still beat her just because shecks experience.

    She sparred with a lot of people and travelled the world before but nobody was a real threat to her since she was always with someone to cover her back. And while that''s nice, that didn''t really pressure her in any way so she''s also wasting her absurd potential.

    Here in the Divine Realm though, it''s much different.

    People won''t show her mercy here, especially when her identity is hidden. People won''t hesitate to climb over her, pull her down and even step on her just to reach the peak. Its more dangerous here and she''s outssed again and again which hurts her pride.

    This is why she hasn''t stopped working hard ever since entering the Academy. The amount of things she learned here within a year practically surpassed everything she learned back home. There''s also a lot of chances to gain experience here which caused her absurd talents to bloom even further.

    Considering that she''s been here for years, she''s a far cry from who she was back then. Especially now that her cultivation technique changed.

    If Vanessa was already a diamond in the rough back then, she blossomed into a true prodigy once she changed her cultivation technique.

    The Violet God Scripture allowed her to abuse the hell out of Nature''s Affection to her. Her affinity towards Elements was one of a kind and it wouldn''t be too hard for her to mix and match elements ording to her liking.

    Also, the Heavenly Law Order looks at her favorably too. She''s probably the only person who couldmune to it directly without suffering any kind of punishment. Of course, that''s on the premise that her actions didn''t cross its bottom line.

    ''Nothing but the best for my own daughter.'' ¨C this is what Raven thought about when creating this technique for her. Of course, Luna has her own signature for the technique but it''s mostly Raven who aplished this.

    What she got from her mother was a weapon. An unorthodox one too.

    It''s an umbre that has a hidden de within the handle. The materials that went to its creation were rare even for Divine Realm''s standards. The umbre could be used as shield that could defend through almost any kind of attacks, it is also filled with numerous enchantments, more than Vanessa would know how to use them for.

    The hidden de was for unsuspecting idiots who pushes their luck. That de is probably one of sharpest de there is, Vanessa could use it to cut through anything she pleases but she also has to be very careful since she could injure herself while using it.

    With all of this at hand, there practically little to no threat to her life. That being said though, Vanessa still preferred to train her basics and make sure she''s establishing a stable foundation for herself.

    She has big shoes to fill considering who her parents were and even though she isn''t known by anyone since she chose to hide her identity, still didn''t diminish the pressure on her shoulders. It is also her desire to follow their footsteps and be responsible enough.

    Yes, her parents never asked her to do any of this but this is something she decided on her own. Vanessa isn''t doing this to make her parents happy and contented with her, they''re already like that even with the way she is now, even in the past.

    She''s doing this because she wants to. She''s doing it for herself.

    Vanessa knows that she got her parents'' support on whatever she wants to do with her life. That''s how much they love her and she''s aware of that. In fact, that''s what pushed her to do this even more.

    And while it is true that Vanessa was working hard ever sinceing her, she still didn''t forget to be acquainted with the others.

    Richard and Jeanne was with her with every step of the way. When they came here, they met more people who eventually became their friends while others became their rivals.

    Vanessa experienced a fair share of conflicts and hardships even in the Academy. Even though they were supposed to be focusing on themselves here, prides will eventually sh from time to time so the Academy isn''t exactly peaceful as one might think.

    The Dawn Council never really interfered with this. After all,petition is a good way to bring out the potential of some people. They''re not allowed to kill each other though and believe it or not, majority of the conflicts ended-up in closer bonds of friendship that would surely benefit these kids in the long run, so why stop it?

    It is in this same way that Vanessa came to know more friends. It is in this way that their bonds deepened even further and how they worked even harder for their future goals.

    Truly, Vanessa was extremely happy that she came here. Had she stayed at home, she''ll probably never get the chance to experience any of this.

    Which is why Vanessa didn''t want to burden her parents anymore, she''ll be fine. Soon, she''ll prove that she''s strong enough to share their burdens as well.. All she needs is time.

 Chapter 872: Counter Guardian

    Chapter 872: Counter Guardian

    ¡ª

    Relying on the Eternal Division Wall alone wouldn''t ensure Humanity''s safety from the hands of the Abyssals.

    Sure, after rounds of modification, the Eternal Division Wall was a far cry from what it was previously. Still, it would be foolish to rely on it. At most, it could buy them sometime but it''s nowhere near enough to stop thempletely.

    Hell, Raven''s somehow confused that there''s really nothing they could do to stop the Abyssals at all.

    That being said, giving-up isn''t an option. Even though it''s futile, so long as there are attempts, Raven can do something about it. Yes, they''d still be invaded eventually but it doesn''t necessarily have to be easy, Raven could certainly make it a lot more difficult for them to do so.

    Hence, the were the rest of the projects on their to-do-list. Every single project in that forms an intricate set of traps and security measures to ensure that the damage done to Divine Realm remains at the minimum.

    It was time-consuming, Raven and his team had been working hard for years now and the projects are still in-progress. Nevertheless, the foundation was already set so they could only continue with this.

    Aside from focusing on the projects left on their list, Raven also took sometime to set-up some contingency ns. One that he can use if things doesn''t go ording to the initial ns. This n, involves the participation of the Heavenly Law Order.

    ''Why are you here, Knight of Chaos?''

    The voice of the Heavenly Law Order was cold and deep. It sounds displeased for the sudden intrusion but in truth, this is just the way it is. The Heavenly Law Order is merciless and impartial. It doesn''t have any emotions since it doesn''t need it to begin with.

    Instead of answering, Raven procured several cocoons out of his spatial ring.

    These cocoons are the ones containing the slumbering Abyssals he caught. He didn''t unseal them since he didn''t want to take the risk of them alerting the main force but there''s certainly a reason why they brought them here.

    "You think you can analyze them and create some form of a countermeasure?" He asked.

    The Heavenly Law Order was silent for a bit.

    Raven knew it was scanning the cocoons. He didn''t say a word and just allowed it to do so. After all, that''s the idea why he''s here.

    He figured that since the Abyssals are a threat to the Divine Realm, it is also a threat to the Heavenly Law Order since if the former dies, thetter will cease to exists, this goes vice versa.

    And since they are currently doing all they could make sure this doesn''t happen, he might as well take his chances and see if the Heavenly Law Order was willing to be involved in this. After all, the Heavenly Law Order is the collective consciousness of the Divine Realm itself as well.

    ''Unseal them.''

    That''s what the Heavenly Law Order told him after a brief silence. Raven frowned and felt hesitant about this request, but before he could say anything, the Heavenly Law Order beats him to it.

    ''Don''t be afraid. I already confirmed that they won''t be able to track us down with their bodies. You can unseal them.''

    Hearing that confirmation made Raven confident. He already knew that there is little to no chances that the main force had a tracking device nted on their minions but he was just making sure so he still sealed them up.

    But since the Heavenly Law Order itself said that it''s safe, there''s no reason to be afraid anymore.

    Raven released his sealyer byyer. It caused the cocoons to blossom like lotus flowers, painting a ratherplicated yet elegant scene.

    In truth however, each visible petal on these lotuses were formed out of aplicated arrangement of runes and seals. There''s about millions of runes and seals on each petal alone, and with how many petals there is unfurling on each cocoon, one could confidently say that Raven was not taking any chances.

    As the petals unfurled themselves, they slowly revealed the abomination being suppressed within. It''s maybe due to their inactivity and detachment from reality that the abominations remained unconscious. Their eyes were still open but they were unfocused, it was obvious that they were still detached from reality even without the seals deliberately suppressing them.

    Out of nowhere then, several chains of order came down from the skies and started wrapping their limbs tightly. There''s a link on their head, neck, their shoulder joint, their waist and calves.

    The Chains of Order were wrapped in zing white mes which Raven recognized as Cleansing mes who''s quality is no less than his own. Raven''s eyes shone upon seeing this, then he heard the Heavenly Law Order''s words again.

    ''Seal them up again.''

    Even if it didn''t say that, Raven was already about to suggest it. Fortunately, their thoughts seems to be in sync. Raven did as it ordered and sealed the abyssals into a cocoon once more.

    After sealing them up, Raven saw the Chains of Order pulling them down and submerging them into the boundless stream of time.

    ''It will take sometime before I am able to create a Counter-Guardian. Even then, I don''t think they''d be of much help since these samples are just foot soldiers. Still, they''d have some uses. I''ll leave the rest to you people.''

    Raven''s eyes gleamed and he said: "That''s more than enough. Don''t worry, we''ll do everything we can."

    ''Don''t forget that you alone wield the sharpest weapon that can wound them.'' The Heavenly Law Order advised, ''You have the means to tap on its potential. Don''t hesitate. You know what to do.''

    Raven was silent for a bit before he eventually nodded and said: "Yes, I''m aware of that. Thank you for reminding me. Now, if you''ll excuse me."

    He then turned around and left the space where Heavenly Law Order resided.

    This trip have proven to be beneficial. Although the help the Heavenly Law Order could provide was limited, it truly couldn''t be med on it. After all, the samples he provided were too weak. They could only do so much, still they''d be extremely useful when timees so it''s better than nothing.

    Counter-Guardians are unique lifeforms. They were part of the natural evolution of human kind, one could even say that they were nothing but puppets and that isn''t exactly wrong.

    In some sense, Counter-Guardians are indeed puppets. Only, they are manipted by the Heavenly Law Order themselves.

    The purpose of the Counter-Guardians were to intercept and counter specific existence that they''re based from, in this case, the Abyssals.

    Counter-Guardians will be the exact opposite and nemesis of the creature they''re based of, it''s one of the few ways on how the Heavenly Law Order could protect itself and it''s citizens. Sadly, the requirements are a bit steep and risky.

    Counter-Guardians needed a model. The Heavenly Law Order needed a live sample it could use before it could create them not to mention, time as well. It was obvious that this can go horribly wrong in many situations.

    It was fortunate that Raven managed to nab a few abyssals for himself and prepared this ahead of time. Again, even if they''re considered as foot soldiers, they''d still be useful.

    The process should be smoother and safer too. Considering that the Heavenly Law Order adapted his style of using the Cleaning mes, there''s shouldn''t be any risks of contamination. Even if there was, the Heavenly Law Order will surely notice that and wouldn''t hesitate to ask Raven for help.

    For now though, the Counter-Guardians were baking. It''ll take some time before they are ready but considering that the Abyssals still didn''t know of their existence, it should be enough to produce a few of them.

    With Counter-Guardians addition to their army, Raven got a little more confident. This might just work after all.

    Of course, he also didn''t forget the advise of the Heavenly Law Order. Even if it didn''t say a thing, Raven would still remember it anyways.

    It is true. He indeed wield the sharpest weapon that could hurt the Abyssals. And that is none other than Chaos itself.

    But of course, wielding the said weapon sounds easy only on paper.

    The Heavenly Law Order basically told him that he should focus on breaking through the Realm Beyond Divinity ¨C how on earth is that simple?

    It had to be known that Raven hasn''t been long since his breakthrough to Divine Knight stage. Right now, he''s stuck in the painfully slow process of umtion.

    Even with the inheritance of Chaos itself, building the necessary foundations to transcend would be a lot harder than one could imagine.

    Heck, it might be just as difficult as facing the Abyssals unprepared.

    Raven is in no rush though. He''ll do what he can ¨C that at least, he can promise to everyone. As for whether he actually make it there? Well, that''s up to his luck and fate. At this point, all Raven could do was to umte and umte until ites to the point where his foundations were solid enough for an attempt.

    As for how long that''s going to take, Raven seriously have no clue.

 Chapter 873: Stephen

    Chapter 873: Stephen

    ¡ª

    The day began just like any other for Raven.

    He woke up from his long sleep a bit frazzled and seemingly on auto-pilot as he searched for food to consume. Thankfully, he prepared some before entering his slumber so he could just consume it right away.

    He had been working tirelessly for the past few months without any rest so when he took a break, he decided to make the most out of it. This is what he had always did and it has be a routine by now.

    Even with his frazzled state, Raven was still aware of his surroundings and the amount of time passed during his slumber. He knew that there are still a few days left for his mini-vacation and he doesn''t n on giving those up. Even he could, he wouldn''t since Luna wouldn''t let him hear the end of it.

    What''s good though, is that he''s nearly finished with thest project he''ll need to prepare Divine Realm. Which means that not too long from now, they can actually rest easy and just observe as their home prosper.

    With the time they bought for themselves, hopefully their chances of beating the Abyssals rises.

    He could tell that the rest of his teammates were already starting their vacations and frankly he was quite jealous of that. Then again, he chose to carry this burden so he might as well see it through, it won''t be long from now until he finished anyway soining doesn''t really do anything.

    Anyways, ever since he woke-up, Raven had this feeling that something strange was happening.

    At first he ignored it since usually this sensation points to the looming threat above their heads but then again, it nagged his mind so he eventually put some thought to it.

    He wasn''t able to put a finger on it at first. He thought long and hard whilst devouring his food but he just can''t pinpoint where the sensation wasing from.

    The sensation didn''t leave him in peace, which disturbed his supposed rest so he had to discover what''s causing it for the peace of his mind.

    He used some methods to make it easier for him to discover what this sensation was. It seeded, but the discovery made him feel stupid.

    It was a resonance from his very own seals. How could he have not discover it?

    Raven fought the urge to bang his head on the cold hard floor upon discovering this but resisted it. Instead of harming himself, why not just focus on what''s happening instead?

    He focused onto his seals to trace where the sensation ising from and to his utter surprise, he found the one.

    The one that found his inheritance and resonated with it.

    This one was quite stupid and naive. It was a young boy who stumbled into the ce where he left his inheritance. From a simple nce, he didn''t even know where he was but he didn''t care. He just saw that the ce looked good enough to use as a temporary shelter and was fine with it.

    The young boy discovered the core of his inheritance. The fact that he could actually see it means that he could possibly interact with it. And the fact that he could interact with it, means that he has the potential to inherit Raven''s legacy.

    Then again, the boy was quite peculiar and stupid to boot. Still, Raven can work with that under the premise that the boy actually agrees to inherit his legacy.

    ¡ª

    Life has not been kind to the young boy named Stephen.

    He''s an orphan who got kicked out of the orphanage since apparently he eats way too much. Which is not true actually. If anything, the orphanage doesn''t give him the food that was meant for him so Stephen actually had to fight for what little crumbs he could, but as a child his attempts are mostly thwarted by the adults who seems to be keen on making his life miserable.

    Still, humans are apuded for their ingenuity and their resourcefulness. They could easily adapt and learn in order to survive and progress. Apparently, these gifts are amplified once they are pushed to a corner.

    Stephen learned and adapted to his situation quite easily. He learned that this world is cruel and unfair before he even knew what those words actually meant and how to read them.

    When he grew old enough to eventually outsmart the adults in order to make things morefortable for him, he got kicked out of the orphanage.

    Only the clothes he was wearing that day were the things he was able to bring with himself. Not a single cent on his pocket and more importantly, nobody to rely on.

    Strangely enough, Stephen just rolled with it.

    Was he upset about the unfairness of his situation? Yes, incredibly so. Did he cry? More than he''s willing to admit.

    Is he angry? Did he vow for revenge?

    Well, that''s most likely a ''No'' for him.

    If you ask him, Stephen himself wouldn''t be able to properly exin it. Sure, what the adults did to him was dirty. Sure, his life was unfair and quite tragic. His current situation is dire. He practically has nothing on him and he was uneducated too so surviving on his own would be quite difficult to do.

    Still, even with all of that. Stephen couldn''t really say that he hated the people who did this to him. For Stephen, hate might just be a strong word. It''s probably because he is too young and therefore, inexperienced, that he didn''t hate them. This might change as he grows up but for now, he doesn''t hate them.

    Besides, hating them wouldn''t solve his situation anyways.

    When Stephen found this abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere, frankly he wasn''t expecting much. When he stepped foot in it, he found out that nobody was here and that''s when he rejoiced. Well, at least he has a roof above his head, it''s tattered, but it''ll make do. Beggars can''t be choosers after all.

    Now, all he needs is a source of food.

    He noticed that there is a stream of water nearby and thought that he might just be able catch some fish if he worked really hard on doing so. He doesn''t know how to properly fish but it wouldn''t stop his angry stomach for trying.

    The problem was starting a fire though. That is something he has no idea how to do.

    While he could probably ask around and potentially borrow a torch to start a fire, he hesitated since some people might just report him to the guards and they might imprison him for whatever reason. With his recent experience with adults, nobody could me him for acting this way for now.

    Touring the interior of the abandoned shack, he discovered some writings on the wall. He can''t understand any of it but he discovered that they''re everywhere.

    This got his attention and his curiosity. It distracted him from his own hunger which, he didn''t even notice, was slightly dissipating ever since he entered this ce.

    He was oddly enamored with the writings he saw. None of them made sense to him but he was oddly drawn to them. He even traced some of it and was surprised to feel some warmth in them. He thought that the warmth was probably because of the sunlight heating this ce up but the section he touched was shielded by what remains of the roof so that shouldn''t be possible. He''s just a little stupid to not notice that.

    Eventually, Stephen managed to trace the origins of the all writings. He discovered that there is a dusty ball left at the center of the table. This is where all the writings started from and Stephen felt a pull from it which freaked him out.

    The set-up was so obvious though. The ball was practically begging to be touched by him but Stephen was too scared to do so.

    He froze up and remained where he was. Unable to step back or look away from the ball since he felt so drawn towards it but also incredibly scared since he didn''t understand what was happening. Well, nobody could med him for acting this way.

    He''s a child for crying out loud. One that doesn''t know much about the world since the adults he encountered in his life mistreated him and kept him away from it.

    Stephen was equal parts torn and scared. He really didn''t know what to do.

    His rationality told him that it would be for the best if he left this ball alone and just focus his attention elsewhere, like searching for potential food so he can actually survive. However, the temptation the ball gave to him was too much for him topletely resist so he remained rooted on his spot.

    Stephen thought long and hard about his situation. Eventually, he caved in and took several steps forward. He gritted his teeth and ced a hand on the ball, closing his eyes and looking away just in case something bad happens. But as time passes¡­

    He figured out that nothing was happening¡­

    Yeah, he really didn''t know what to fell after that.

 Chapter 874-876: A Dream?

    Chapter 874-876: A Dream?

    ¡ª

    ¡®¡­eh?¡¯

    This was all Stephen could think of once he realized that nothing¡¯s happening. He furrowed his brows and stared at the ball on top of the table. He was confused but he touched it again and just like before, nothing really happened.

    ¡®¡­god, I feel so dumb.¡¯ He thought to himself, sighing at the bizarre situation. ¡®What was so afraid of then? This is so stupid.¡¯

    He thinks of this but deep down, he knows.

    What he felt earlier was real. He was actually freaking out and this ball was causing it. That ball was calling to him, he could swear that it was.

    But then again, what was that all about? Nothing happened!

    He¡¯s expecting something at least. Some kind of¡­reaction perhaps, he wasn¡¯t expecting nothing to happen at all. And honestly, it was quite disappointing. He felt so stupid for being so afraid of this ball now.

    ¡°Whatever.¡± He murmured, ¡°At least this ce is empty. I can probably stay here. At least until I could think of something to help with my current situation.¡±

    Stephen shook his head and stepped out of the abandoned shack. He made his way to the nearby stream and washed his hands before cupping them to drink from it.

    This water was clean¡­he guessed. Well, it was clear so it should be clean and drinkable. He shouldn¡¯t get an upset stomach from this.

    The water was slightly cold. It refreshed him and made him more awake. At least, some of his fatigue was alleviated.

    He then sat at the edge of the stream of water and looked at it. He squinted his eyes and saw small fishes. His eyes lit up at this sight. He looked around him and said:

    ¡°Well, at least I¡¯m alone here. Nobody¡¯s preventing me from catching them and I guess, nobody would fight me over these fishes.¡±

    He stood up and walked at stream. His shivered when his legs were submerged at the water, it was cold but manageable. He stood there and stabilized himself before looking sternly at below him.

    Well, he could make a fishing pole and probably dig up some worms as bait but it would take him forever to do that so he thought he should just try catching fishes like this and with his bare hands.

    He didn¡¯t fool himself into believing that this will be easy. Oh, he knows that this is going to take him a while but it¡¯s better than nothing. He has time and he just can¡¯t expect food toe to him anyways so he shouldn¡¯t think too much about it.

    Stephen saw a fish approaching his legs. He unknowingly held his breath and waited for the right opportunity to catch it. Once the fish came close enough, he snapped into action and plunged his hands to the water.

    ¡­he failed. It wasn¡¯t even close to be honest.

    Stephen sighed and shrugged it off. He thought to himself:

    ¡®It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll try to catch the next one instead.¡¯

    A couple of minutester, another fish came close again. And once again, Stephen prepared himself. After it entered a specific spot, he went for it but just like before, he missed it again.

    ¡®It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s okay. Third time¡¯s the charm. Come on, Stephen, don¡¯t give up, you can do this.¡¯

    ¡®Crap. No! This is fine. I¡­I¡¯m learning. I guess. I will catch one by the end of the day I promise. I need to anyways since I¡¯m really hungry.¡¯

    ¡®Missed one again.¡¯

    ¡®And again¡­¡¯

    ¡®And again¡­¡¯

    Stephen continued his attempts on catching fish by hand only to be met with consecutive failures. The first few ones shrugged off since he didn¡¯t want to let it affect him. He thought back to his humble beginnings when he just started how to outsmart the adults of the orphanage to steal some food. It started just like this but eventually, he managed to do it.

    Still, this and that arepletely different. Eventually, he came close to the point of giving up. His expectations were already brought to a nil. But just as he was about to give up. Something ridiculous happen.

    A fish threw itself at his face, pping him with its tail much to his shock but his reflexes were fast enough to catch it before it managed to fall to the water again.

    Stephen¡¯s eyes gleamed as he firmly grasped the fish and walked out of the stream. The fish struggled for a bit before it eventually remained still, probably dead.

    ¡°What the hell?¡±

    That¡¯s all Stephen could say after recovering from what just happened.

    It had to be knows that he must¡¯ve spent hours standing at the stream, bncing himself and trying his best to catch a fish with his bare hands only to fail again and again. Then all of a sudden, as if the world was mocking him or consoling him, a fist literally leapt to his arms.

    What kind of bullshit is this?

    ¡°¡­know what? Whatever! I¡¯m not going toin. I have food. Finally! Yay. I¡¯m supposed to be happy. It¡¯s alright.¡±

    ¡°¡­ah who am I kidding.¡± Stephen sighed in exasperation. ¡°No, I¡¯m not happy. How can I? I don¡¯t know how to cook this thing! I don¡¯t even know how to start a fire!¡±

    Stephen wanted to cry but had no tears.

    He¡¯s tired. He doesn¡¯t know what to do. Nobody really taught him how to survive by himself. He¡¯s alone. He¡¯s always been alone. Nobody was willing to help him, everybody just want to take advantage of him because he¡¯s stupid.

    Still, he doesn¡¯t have the energy toment over his situation. He had ran out of it a long time ago. All he could do was to continue, and that¡¯s what he ns on doing.

    Whilst walking back towards the abandoned shack, he was murmuring¡­

    ¡°I should remove its innards. But I don¡¯t have a knife. Maybe there¡¯s something sharp in the shack? I hope there is. If it¡¯s dirty I could just clean it in the water. Uh, I also wish there¡¯s sparking stones in there somewhere, maybe I could start a fire with those.¡±

    ¡°I gotta try at least. I wanna eat. I¡¯m hungry. I don¡¯t want to die from hunger. Whew, I¡¯m sweaty¡­¡±

    Stephen isn¡¯t sweaty. That¡¯s a lie. He¡¯s wiping the tears from his eyes. For some reason he calls his tears, sweat instead.

    ¡°Um¡­what?¡±

    But just as Stephen thought the world was done mocking him. Another ridiculous thing happened.

    Stephen could swear to every god know to man that he memorized the way back to the abandoned shack. He followed the same path. He made sure of it. He was supposed to return to the old and abandoned shack but what the hell is this now?

    Why is there a concrete building which has three floors in front of him? It¡¯s in the same ce as the abandoned shack before! What the hell is going on?

    ¡°I¡¯m dreaming. Yep. I totally am aren¡¯t I? Haha, very funny. I can¡¯t believe I spent hours catching fish with my bare hands inside a freaking dream. Haha, that¡¯s so hrious.¡± Stephen mocked hisughter while trying to pinch his arm.

    He squinted when he felt the pain but still yed along.

    ¡°I wonder if my sleeping body¡¯s still in the orphanage? I swear when I wake up, I observe closely how to make fire and how to fish. Just in case they actually kick me out, you know.¡±

    Stephen pinched his arm again and again but he still felt the sting which caused his frown to deepen.

    ¡°They say that within dreams, I can¡¯t feel pain. Why does it sting then?¡± He murmured and looked at the fish. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be real. I¡¯m dreaming. This fish isn¡¯t real. But it does smell really bad.¡±

    All of a sudden, Stephen heard a creaking nearby. He then saw the door opening which caused him to be rmed.

    Then, a man who has a long blue hair tied into a ponytail stepped out. Stephen could¡¯ve sworn that he never saw someone this handsome before.

    The man looked rich, he¡¯s more of a noble than those people he saw at the orphanage before who came there to adopt.

    ¡°Oh, there you are.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Stephen was bbergasted as the man looked at his direction.

    He looked towards his left and right, then back at the man. He pointed to himself with a questioning look and he saw the man nodding to him.

    ¡°Yes, you silly. I¡¯m talking to you.¡± The man chuckled. ¡°Come on in.¡±

    ¡°¡®I¡¯m sorry what?¡± Stephen was still confused.

    ¡°I said,e on in.¡± The man gestured inside therge house.

    ¡°Um¡­uh¡­¡± Stephen doesn¡¯t know what to do. He felt incredibly awkward and also wary at this point. He doesn¡¯t trust this man at all even though he looks like he could do nothing wrong. He doesn¡¯t trust adults right now.

    ¡°You¡¯re hungry right?¡± The man asked, to which Stephen reluctantly nodded, ¡°You caught a fish, that¡¯s great. But I assume you don¡¯t know how to cook it. I¡¯ll even say that you don¡¯t even know how to properly set a fire.¡±

    Stephen nodded again, hesitantly.

    ¡°Well,e inside then. I¡¯ll help you cook that that. Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s yours. I¡¯m not going to steal it from you.¡±

 Chapter 877: High on food?

    Chapter 877: High on food?

    ¡ª

    Stephen truly didn¡¯t know what to do right now.

    This man just came out of this house that he didn¡¯t knew was there before and suddenly offered to cook his fish for him. He kept telling himself that he¡¯s dreaming but everything felt so real.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Look, how long do you n on gawking there? We don¡¯t have all day you know?¡± The man spoke once again, waking him up from his stupor.

    ¡°¡­why?¡± Is all Stephen could ask.

    ¡°Hmm? Why what?¡± The handsome man tilted his head.

    ¡°Why are you helping me?¡± Stephen asked.

    ¡°Because I can.¡± The man replied to him, sounding as if he¡¯s just stating something so obvious.

    ¡°But¡­I-I don¡¯t trust you.¡± Stephen unknowingly blurted out, he even flinched upon realizing what he just said.

    ¡°Well I don¡¯t trust you too either.¡± The man stated with the same tone as earlier.

    ¡°¡­so why? If¡­if we don¡¯t trust each other, why would you help me?¡±

    ¡°Trust isn¡¯t going to cook the damn fish, I would.¡± The man ced his hands on his hips and shook his head. ¡°Seriously? Why do you ask this questions? Who told you that you need trust to cook something? Goodness, what they teaching kids nowadays.¡±

    ¡°I-I know that! That¡¯s not what I mean!¡±

    ¡°Then what do you mean? You should¡¯ve probably began with that so there¡¯s no misunderstanding, no?¡±

    Stephen huffed as he was close to losing his patience. He then replied:

    ¡°What I mean is why should I trust an adult like you? I don¡¯t know who you are! You just came out of that damn door and offered to cook my food for me! Who does that? Nobody! What do you want from me?¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± The man looked like he understood him now. ¡°Well, again you should¡¯ve started that. But see, you already have the answers to you questions, you know?¡±

    ¡°I told you that you don¡¯t need to trust me since I don¡¯t trust you either. As for who I am, just call me Old Man or something, I don¡¯t care. And who justes out of the door offering someone to cook their food for them? Well, duh it¡¯s me. And no, I don¡¯t want anything from you. You don¡¯t have anything to begin with aside from that fish anyways.¡±

    Stephen was gobsmacked. The man was too straightforward and he found himself unable to refute against his logic, not that he knows what that is.

    To him, this old man was weird. He calls himself an old man but he looks so young to be an old man. He is unlike any other adult he had met so far, those who abused him or down right ignored him, this man is nothing like that. He talked to him like he¡¯s a person, someone with an equal standing. This is a first time that Stephen was treated as such so he found extremely hard to believe a word he says.

    ¡°So?¡± The man got his attention again. ¡°Are you going toe in or not?¡±

    Stephen thought for a bit before he eventually decided that he should just refuse. He doesn¡¯t know what kind of schemes this old man was trying so it¡¯s for the best if he just left him alone. Unfortunately, his stomach protested loudly with his train of thought.

    ¡°¡­damn, your stomach is about to revolt and abandon you. That¡¯s freaky, son. If I were you, I¡¯ll do something about it real quick.¡± The man smirked once he saw the flustered face of Stephen.

    He cursed under his breath and berated his stomach for causing a ruckus. It didn¡¯t help that he¡¯s feeling really weak right now since he hadn¡¯t eating anything since he woke up.

    Stephen doesn¡¯t have any other option. If he want to eat something, this old man was his only option. Which is why with careful steps, he slowly approached the old man, bowing his head in hesitation.

    The man didn¡¯t say anything and just lead the way inside his house.

    The moment Stephen stepped inside, he immediately felt some sense offort. He can¡¯t exin it with words, if anything he knows one thing. He likes it here.

    ¡°Give it here.¡± The man shook him out of reverie and Stephen handed him the fish.

    They were now at his kitchen but the man shooed him away and told him to sit in front of the table and wait, to which Stephen obeyed.

    While waiting for his food toe, Stephen looked around and saw the interior of the building.

    The walls looked sturdy and had antiques hanging as decorations. He saw a lot of furniture around, most of which he doesn¡¯t know what for nor know what they¡¯re called. He could only name a few things here and there, as for the rest, nobody told them what they are. Some of this things were even unknown to him.

    After a couple of minutes, Stephen smelled a heavenly scent wafting from the kitchen which caused his mouth to salivate.

    He looked at the direction of the kitchen in anticipation and anxiety since he was really hungry, thankfully the man didn¡¯t disappoint and showed up soon carrying a tray filled with freshly cooked food and beverages.

    The man ced the tray on the table and started arranging the tes in front of him. One bowl was filled with a creamy warm soup. One te was has a chunks of crispy fried fish, there also bread, vegetables and milk.

    Stephen¡¯s eyes shone like diamonds upon seeing all the food in front of him, he hesitantly looked at the old man and asked:

    ¡°I-is this¡­all for me?¡±

    ¡°Mhm!¡± The man nodded in reply. ¡°Go at it slowly though, you might suffer from indigestion if you eat them too fast.¡±

    ¡°A-alright.¡± Stephen nodded. He then brought his palms together and closed his eyes to pray. ¡°I thank the Allfather for blessing me with this meal.¡±

    Unbeknownst to Stephen, the man heard his prayer and scandalously raised a brow. Stephen didn¡¯t see it though since by the time he opened his eyes, he instantly dug in.

    Stephen had never been this happy, that he can say with utmost confidence. He felt so blessed right now and it¡¯s all due to this meal.

    He head never eaten something so delicious in his entire life. He savored the meal with all of his being that he had evenpletely forgotten about everything else.

    Stephen forgot where he was, he forgot about the man who cooked this meal for him, the hardships he went through just to catch a fish, he even forgot that he got kicked out of the orphanage and had nowhere to go.

    None of those mattered to him currently. All he knows is that, this food was good. So good that it took all of his worries again and that he wanted to eat this forever.

    Unfortunately, it has to end. Stephen finished his food rather quickly but he still hasn¡¯te down from his high.

    The man nearby who was watching him frowned and thought to himself:

    ¡®I didn¡¯t put any alcohol nor hallucinogenic in those. I¡¯m sure of it.¡¯

    However, it wasn¡¯t really hard for the man to deduce what was happening so he just let the boy be.

    Unexpectedly though, instead ofing down from his high, the boy started falling asleep after devouring his meal and drinking all the milk in his ss.

    The man chuckled and shook his head. With a flick of a finger, Stephen suddenly started levitating from his seat but he didn¡¯t notice it since he was already asleep.

    The man walked up to the second floor of the house and opened the first door on the right. That room was a bedroom and he ced Stephen there so that he can rest.

    When he wakes up earlier, he¡¯ll probably freak out and try to escape but it¡¯s fine. He must¡¯ve had a long day and it¡¯ll take sometime for the boy to adjust to things anyways.

    ¡®The boy doesn¡¯t even know how his life changes from this very day.¡¯

    Raven shook his head walked downstairs, leaving the boy alone before vanishing as soon as he stepped out of the house. He didn¡¯t n on staying here anyways since he had other things to attend to. He just came here to personally see what his future heir was like.

    He already arranged an Avatar of his to apany the child and get him started.

    Raven has no ns on letting the boy know everything for now. The kid¡¯s only 13 or 14 years old. He¡¯s too young to be involved in cruel cultivation world. For now, it¡¯s best to educate the kid first and ask him what he wantster on. It wouldn¡¯t be toote for Stephen anyways.

    In the meantime, some people will be judged ordingly to their actions.

    Raven scanned Stephen¡¯s memories and he was greatly disappointed by what he saw. To think that corruption was rearing it¡¯s ugly head on his home world is somethingpletely intolerable for him. He already sent his judgement and the culprits will soon receive them.

    No people should freak out when lightning strikes down some peopleter on.

 Chapter 878: Not an enemy

    Chapter 878: Not an enemy

    ¡ª

    Much to Stephen¡¯s surprise, he woke up rather frazzled.

    Rubbing his eyes, he realized that he apparently slept at the floor of the abandoned shack. This of course caused him to feel rather confused as he could¡¯ve sworn he slept somewherefortable, not the dusty old floors of this ce.

    It took him sometime to adjust to reality. After which, he sighed and said:

    ¡°I knew it. I was in fact, dreaming.¡±

    Saying this left a bitter taste on Stephen¡¯s mouth but there¡¯s nothing he could do anyway. Still, nobody could me him for feeling rather upset and disappointed about it.

    Just as he thought that maybe something good could happen to him. Just as he thought that maybe, life wasn¡¯t so bad after all, fate was here to tell him that he was just being delusional.

    It¡¯s so cruel. Yet what could a 14 year old boy do about it? What could he possibly do about it?

    If anything, at least he dreamt about something nice. Most of the times, he¡¯d have nightmares about the adults that mistreated him. Even in his dreams, they were following him. He should be thankful that for once, he slept soundly and his dreams were rather good.

    ¡°¡­at least I don¡¯t feel hungry anymore. It¡¯s probably because I dream about eating something nice.¡± He mused to himself.

    He then stood up and looked around him. He discovered that the sun was already up and that he unknowingly spent the night here.

    Still, even though he woke up nicely for once in his life, it didn¡¯t change the fact that his situation was slightly unfavorable.

    ¡°What should I do today?¡±

    Stephen was still out of the Orphanage and he can¡¯t return. Even if he could, he wouldn¡¯t. Yes, living on his own would prove rather difficult but it¡¯s way better than being mistreated by the adults ever again.

    ¡°I doubt I¡¯ll ever catch something for breakfast.¡± He murmured to himself, ¡°Whatever, I¡¯m not used to having breakfast anyways.¡±

    ¡°I remember seeing a jungle nearby. Maybe I should check it out. There should be some berries in there and some fruit trees. If I¡¯m lucky to find some, then I¡¯ll at least have something to eat.¡±

    ¡°How about youe here instead and eat proper breakfast, eh?¡±

    ¡°WHA-who!!!??¡±

    Stephen¡¯s skin nearly jumped out of his body due to how badly he was startled. He looked around the shack only to find nothing.

    ¡°Who talked just now?¡±

    ¡°Awooo~¡±

    ¡°Waaaaahhh!!!!¡± Stephen cried out and immediately ran through the door. ¡°

    He had goosebumps all over his body as he kept looking behind him as he ran. Cold sweat poured down his back as he screamed.

    ¡°Help! I¡¯m being haunted by a ghost! Waaahhh!!!¡±

    ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!¡±

    ¡°WAAAAH!!!¡±

    The uproariousughter only scared him more, causing him to trip and fall over. Stephen tried his best to crawl away from the shack but theughter never went away.

    ¡°Whew. Why is it so fun messing with kids? Ai¡­¡± the disembodied voice muttered after calming down from itsughter. ¡°Hey, kid. Quit crying.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat me!¡± Stephen did just the opposite and cried even harder.

    ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t. Even if you want me too, I wouldn¡¯t. You¡¯re all skin and bones, you¡¯re not worth the effort.¡±

    ¡°Go away then!! Don¡¯t haunt me! I didn¡¯t do anything to you! Are you the owner of that old shack? Are you angry that I slept there? Sorry then! I didn¡¯t mean to! You should¡¯ve said something earlier, I won¡¯t fight you anyways! Just go away!¡±

    ¡°Geez kid, calm down!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t! Leave me alone. How can I calm down when a ghost is haunting me!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a ghost though?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Stephen froze upon hearing that.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a ghost. Seriously, don¡¯t you recognize my voice?¡±

    Stephen frowned and thought about it. His eyes then gleamed and understood it all.

    ¡°You¡¯re that guy from my dream.¡± He eximed, but then he frowned and said: ¡°Wait, how could this be? You¡¯re not supposed to be real.¡±

    ¡°Bah kid, who are you to say what¡¯s meant to be real or not! Get your head out of your ass, use that damn brain of yours.¡±

    ¡°Wait so you¡¯re real?¡± Stephen eximed. He then looked around and searched everywhere but he can¡¯t see a shadow of that man. ¡°Where are you? Why can¡¯t I see you if you¡¯re real?¡±

    He then heard the man sigh said: ¡°Close your eyes kid. No matter what you feel, don¡¯t open them unless I told you. Understood?¡±

    Stephen nodded and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he then felt himself being pulled to somewhere. He fought the urge to open his eyes out of curiosity.

    ¡°Alright, now open them.¡±

    Stephen did what he said and to his surprise, he found himself standing in front of a door. The same door of the big concrete house he dreamt about.

    He gaped at the sight. Finding all of this mildly fascinating and a little unbelievable.

    ¡°Enter, kid. Don¡¯t just stand there. Food¡¯s getting cold.¡±

    Stephen jolted out from his reverie, he twisted the doorknob open and entered the same house he had dreamt about not too long ago.

    When he arrived at the dining area, he found himself staring at the same man he had met in his dreams, yet knowing that this is indeed real, caused him to gape even more.

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°Magic, I guess.¡± The man shrugged. He then gestured towards the table and said: ¡°Sit down and eat kid. Food¡¯s not¡¯s going to consume itself.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re feeding me? For free? Why?¡±

    ¡°Damn it kid.¡± The man looked annoyed, ¡°Just sit the fuck down and eat. By the time I finish answering all of your damn questions the food will be spoiled.¡±

    Stephen scratched his head and sat down. He looked at the man hesitantly but the man just gestured him to eat. In the end, Stephen could only obey him and eat.

    Once again, Stephen indulged himself with a delicious meal. The man prepared fried rice, scrambled eggs, bacon, apple slices and a ss of warm milk for him. All of which were devoured cleanly by Stephen.

    By the time he was done eating, Stephen could only sigh and pat his stomach in satisfaction.

    The man then stood up and gathered the tes to clean them. It was then that Stephen started asking questions again.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Nobody important. I told you yesterday, call me Old Man or something, I don¡¯t care.¡±

    ¡°But you don¡¯t look like an old man though.¡±

    ¡°Then call me Uncle, I guess. I don¡¯t really care.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Uncle.¡± Stephen frowned, ¡°Where am I? What¡¯s this ce?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The man went silent for a bit before answering, ¡°Just know that for now, only you and I know of this ce. This ce is everywhere but also nowhere. Don¡¯t ask too much, you¡¯re not ready to know just yet.¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t helpful at all.¡± Stephen pointed out.

    To which, the man replied: ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°Okay, so¡­¡± Stephen¡¯s frown remained. ¡°Why are we here?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, it depends. What do you want to do here?¡± The man asks him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Stephen replied, ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you that question.¡±

    ¡°Well, for me I don¡¯t need to be here. I won¡¯t always be here anyways. If anything, I am here because you¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± Stephen was confused.

    ¡°Stephen, this is your name right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but how did you¡­¡±

    ¡°Now, now. You¡¯ll understand how I was able to know you in the future. Don¡¯t ask too much.¡±

    Stephen then saw the maning out of the kitchen and walking towards him. He sat down and looked intently at Stephen.

    ¡°For starters, I could tell you how you¡¯re able to get ess to this ce but it is way too early for you to know that. You¡¯re still too naive after all. All I could tell you is that, it all started when you touched that ball inside the abandoned shack.¡±

    Stephen¡¯s eyes widened upon hearing that.

    ¡°This ce can be your new home.¡± The man stated, ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to return back to that filthy orphanage. Unfortunately though, you are too weak to stay here permanently so you¡¯ll need to return back to the real world from time to time.¡±

    ¡°While you are here, you don¡¯t have to be afraid or skeptical. I¡¯m not your enemy. Nobody will hurt you here aside from yourself.¡±

    ¡°Since I can¡¯t stay here forever and have to leave eventually, I¡¯ll teach you the basics on how to survive on your own, starting by how to start a fire, hunt for food and many more. I¡¯ll also teach you how to enter this ce when you need to. Of course, that¡¯s under the premise that you¡¯d want to learn from me.¡±

    Stephen was silent for the most part. He looked at the man felt his sincerity. Unfortunately though, the damage left by adults were still there and still haven¡¯t been cured yet so he still feel hesitant.

    ¡°Why are you helping me, really?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already told you that, didn¡¯t I?¡± The man raised a brow and rested his back against the chair. ¡°Child, I¡¯m not your enemy.¡±

 Chapter 879: Projects: Completed

    Chapter 879: Projects: Completed

    ¡°God damn! Finally done with this thing!!¡± Raven eximed as he felt energy leaving his body.

    He looked at the masterpiece in front of him. A gorgeous array of intersecting lines of dark gold and pale silver painting a mysterious yet elegant formation that no man would be able to decipher for millennia toe.

    This was Raven¡¯s final project for the Divine Realm. He calls it, the ¡®Seed of Absolute Beginning¡¯.

    For now, this thing has no use. Time wille when Divine Realm would need this the most but for now, the sess of creating this thing should be celebrated.

    With this done, Raven can confidently say that he had done all he could in order to make sure that his home is ready for the Realm War¡­for now at least.

    Finishing the projects means that he and his team could finally have that well-deserved vacation.

    They had bought Divine Realm a lot of time but wrapping this up. It is unknown how long this false sense of peace couldst but it should be enough to see results.

    Right now, Raven is banking for the efforts of the other leaders. He had done his part, the rest is up to them. Whether Divine Realmes out on top of the Realm War, will be up to them in the end.

    With all of the projects done, Raven summoned the Realm Door to return to the Dawn Council.

    He wasn¡¯t surprised when he felt that it¡¯s too quiet. A brief scan is all he need to know that the rest of his team and his wife are all in deep slumber. Everybody was too tired from all the hustle they did during the past few years, they deserve rest for what¡¯s about toe next.

    Raven found Luna slumbering on their chambers. He smiled and shook his head faintly. He scanned the Dawn Council once more, this time to search for his daughter

    He found Vanessa working hard as well. She was training to improve her usage of the Umbre that Luna gave to her.

    Raven smiled and alerted her of his presence by releasing a fluctuation that only she could feel. She saw how Vanessa¡¯s eyes gleamed as she unhesitatingly vanished from her training room and appeared right in front of him.

    ¡°Dad! You¡¯re back!¡± Vanessa cheered and immediately leapt on to his arms.

    Raven chuckled and hugged her back.

    ¡°How¡¯s my little princess doing?¡±

    ¡°Training! Richard and Jeanne are out in a mission without me so I was bored. I thought that since I¡¯ve nothing better to do, I should at least train so that we can go out on a mission together next time.¡±

    ¡°How very responsible of you.¡± Raven nodded, ¡°How¡¯s the rest? Have you made others friends too?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± She nodded eagerly as she apanied him towards a table. ¡°I¡¯ve made lots of nee friends too. Actually, we¡¯re thinking about registering ourselves as unit so that we can take harder missions.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s nice. But remember, if you need anything, don¡¯t hesitate to ask okay?¡± Raven advised.

    ¡°Yes, Dad. I won¡¯t hesitate. I just don¡¯t need anything for now. You and Mom gave me way too much stuff already, most of them are just collecting dust in the corner since I have no use for them right now. I¡¯ll be fine don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°As long as you know how to be careful and keep yourself safe, that¡¯s all I and your Mom can ask for.¡± Raven stated.

    The two of them spent some time catching-up. Raven was gone for a long time and he missed his daughter a lot. Vanessa didn¡¯t mind spending time with him and informed him about most of the stuff that happened to her recently.

    They spent the rest day just like this before Vanessa told him that she should return. He didn¡¯t hold her back and allowed her to do so but before she left, he told her that he¡¯ll be slumbering pretty soon.

    Vanessa already knew that her father was dead tired. She had caught him zoning out throughout the day but he insisted to spend time with her still since he missed her. This is why she didn¡¯t mind.

    Luna was like this when she returned earlier. Their schedules makes it difficult for them to actually spend time together but their doing their best to make-up for it. Vanessa appreciated this dearly so she didn¡¯t mind at all.

    If anything, this just further increaser her drive to be stronger so that one day, she¡¯ll be able to share their burden too.

    After she left, Raven didn¡¯t waste time. He took a warm bath and changed into his mostfortable clothes. He then entered his and Luna¡¯s chambers to find his wife deep in her own slumber.

    He sat at the edge of the bed, drying his hair while inspecting his little disciple through the eyes of his Avatar.

    Roughly two weeks passed since Stephen made his existence known to Raven and the little guy was already showing promise.

    He was certainly sharp for a 13 year old kid, not like any other he had seen. Obviously, he didn¡¯t count himself since he¡¯s a special case. Additionally, the Grand Ancestral ne was more dangerous back then so everyone was forced to mature way earlier than necessary in order to make sure that their kingdom is safe.

    Now that the Golden Age arrived thanks to him, people are starting to getcent. It isn¡¯t as dangerous before but problems are still rising, corruption was spreading due to the prosperity of the world but so long as Raven exists, they will not seed in their ns.

    As for Little Stephen, he¡¯s learning how to read and write now. Raven¡¯s avatar was the one teaching him.

    The boy still doesn¡¯t know what future awaits him and Raven didn¡¯t say anything too. He didn¡¯t want to distract the kid from what¡¯s important. They have time, there¡¯s no need to rush.

    Slowly but surely, Raven was subtly changing the way Stephen viewed the world.

    Sure, the kid had it rough but it¡¯s no reason to generalizepletely. He was unlucky, yes. But it doesn¡¯t mean that he¡¯ll stay like that for the rest of his life.

    Stephen was learning. He absorbed knowledge like a dry sponge thrown in a sink full of water. Raven barely had to give him encouragement since the boy had a thirst for knowledge too.

    Raven didn¡¯t hold his hand too. He¡¯s trying to make Stephen independent. Although he had given him a shard of a pocket dimension where he can safely go and enjoy peace, he didn¡¯t make him stay there all the time.

    He wanted Stephen to carve a piece of the world for himself. He didn¡¯t want the boy to run away from reality. He want him to see the world for what it is and make a decision for himself.

    After all, whether Stephen ends up as his Legacy Disciple, will depend on Stephen himself rather than him.

    For now though, teaching the kid how to survive on his own would be enough. All he¡¯ll teach him would be the basics, if he wants to learn more, he had to step outside and learn it himself. This way, Stephen will be forced to interact with other people and have is own adventures.

    After checking how his prospective disciple was doing, Raven cut the connection to his avatar and returned to his reality.

    Raven felt really drained. He was barely keeping his eyes open at this point and that is proving to be more and more difficult as time passes.

    He already dried his hair, he kept the towel away and lied down beside his slumbering wife. He took her into his arms and unconsciously groaned when he felt the familiar warmth of her body.

    Luna seems to be craving for his warmth as well as even though she¡¯s slumbering, she snuggled deeper into his arms.

    A contented smile appeared on Raven face. If only moments like this wouldst¡­

    Well, that¡¯s the reason why they¡¯re working their asses off anyways. It wouldn¡¯t be long now. Soon, they will achieve their true peace.

    Now that the projects are done, all they need to do is to focus on increasing their personal strength.

    Raven already has ns for that. Most likely, they¡¯d start spending a lot of time in seclusion to make sure this works but it wouldn¡¯t be too badpared to doing all of those projects.

    The rest are nearly there anyways. Just a shy step away from knocking at the doors of the Divine Knight Stage. Just a little push and they¡¯ll be good. The sess of the breakthrough will ultimately depend on them at the end, Raven¡¯s help would only make sure that the road to it bes easier.

    As for Raven himself, well he¡¯s still leagues far from his goal ¨C the Realm Beyond Divinity.

    This uing seclusion would be helpful in gathering all kinds of knowledge he will need. He could probably theorize as well but unless he¡¯s a hundred percent sure he¡¯ll seed, he can¡¯t take risks.

    Only time will tell if he¡¯d be able to make. For now though, these thoughts are unwarranted.

    He should really sleep.

 Chapter 880: Seclusion

    Chapter 880: Seclusion

    ¡°Laughing Dragon, have you made the arrangements necessary for what we¡¯re about to do?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Young Lord. I have already informed all the departments about our n. As we speak, they are all functioning in order properly.¡±

    ¡°Very good.¡± Raven nodded and patted his shoulders, ¡°I knew I can count on you. Are you ready for what we¡¯re about to do, though?¡±

    ¡°As ready as I can ever be, Young Lord.¡± Laughing Dragon straightened his stature and answered with confidence.

    ¡°Very well.¡± Raven nodded, ¡°Then, let us meet the rest.¡±

    The two of them entered the Throne Room ¨C located at the very core of the Divine Land and where the Grand Seal of the Eternal Division Wall was ced.

    There, they met with the rest of the team. Luna, Ellen, Paul, Mark, and Anne. They are gathered here for a single purpose, and that is to enter seclusion and prepare themselves for their breakthrough.

    Following the events after they finished the projects theyid out for Divine Realm, every single one of them here were in deep slumber ¨C resting due to the sheer exhaustion caused by their strenuous activities.

    They¡¯ve done a lot during these past few years and since they were done, only time would tell the results of their hard work. Still, their responsibilities doesn¡¯t end there.

    It had to be known that, the Supervisors of the Dawn Council are mostly Empyreans, with Raven being the sole Divine Knight in their ranks. Even though most of them are Empyreans, they carry the strength to match most of the Divine Knights out there due to the foundation they built for themselves. Still, at the end of the day, they could be much better than that.

    Raven promised to help them condense their Divinity since he already had his. He told them that once they¡¯re done with the reforms for Divine Realm, he¡¯ll find time to arrange this.

    Now, that time hase.

    ¡°You guys, ready?¡± Raven asked once they arrive.

    Everyone gave him a nod, signifying that they¡¯ve made their decision. Raven nodded back at them and gestured for them to go to their specific spots.

    The Grand Seal of the Eternal Division Wall is something that Raven personally crafted. It¡¯s main purpose is to be the anchor of all the seals that Raven etched to every brick there is thatposed the Eternal Division Wall. With it, he could do many things in order ensure that whoever tries to push their luck and invade Divine Realm, would suffer.

    Then again, Raven purposefully left some room for improvements here and there and as the seal¡¯s creator, Raven can freely modify the seal.

    Aside from being the anchor for the Eternal Division Wall, the Grand Seal had another purpose. And that is to incubate the Primordial Source.

    What is the Primordial Source?

    The Primordial Source is a facet of the Absolute Beginning ¨C another form of Chaos itself. Raven wanted to re-establish the presence of Chaos in Divine Realm independently.

    Had he done this the other way, the Heavenly Order will just im Chaos and everything will reset back to zero ¨C meaning that Divine Realm as they knew it and the Heavenly Order itself, will be lost forever,

    By establishing the Primordial Source, Raven is effectively preventing this from happening.

    He didn¡¯t want to reduce everything to nothingness. What he wants is for Chaos and Order to co-exist. This way, Divine Realm will rise into power unlike it was ever before. Which also means the more safer his family was.

    Still, nobody says that this will be easy.

    In order to create the Primordial Source, Raven has to feed it himself with his own Chaos to incubate.

    Raven spent a lot of time modifying this seal and even until now, it still isn¡¯t done. It won¡¯t be for a while to be honest. Nevertheless, it should be more than enough as it is to aid them in their current task.

    The Primordial Source, as of now, looks like an orb of liquid gold floating above a chalice protected by numerous formations for security. It hasn¡¯t reached it¡¯s final form yet but it already looks majestic as it is.

    The chalice which holds it is located at the center of the Grand Seal. The rest of the Dawn Council¡¯s Members, minus Raven, found a spot to sit around it to ponder about its mysteries.

    ¡°Start consuming your supplements, I¡¯ll unravel parts of the seal once you¡¯ve entered the state of enlightenment.¡±

    As Raven said this, the rest didn¡¯t bother wasting time and immediately took out the supplements they prepared for this task.

    They consumed a Pill of Resonance ¨C a pill which allows them to enter a pseudo-state of resonance andmunion with nature. They also lit up some Incense of Focus and downed a whole bottle of Moonshine for good measure.

    All of which allowed them to fully lose their sense of self and enter a mysterious state where everything was usible and none is impossible ¨C the State of Enlightenment.

    As soon as Raven felt that they were losing their grip, he unraveled the seal which suppressed the aura of the Primordial Source.

    Once unraveled, the majesty of the source revealed itself. The space around them thrummed happily, hymns resounded in their minds like church bells and the aura of Absolute Beginning started proliferating their surroundings, drowning the Throne Room with a mysterious air.

    Raven watched as the rest fully surrendered to their instincts. In this state, they are at their weakest. Even a mortal could severely wound them right now due to how unguarded they were, which is why it¡¯s fortunate that this event took ce here in the Throne Room.

    Raven alone is more than enough to be their protector. He doesn¡¯t even needed to be around in order to protect them. His seals could do the rest for him as they are imprable due to who created them.

    He could feel that his team are now fully engrossed in their current state. Their auras are perfectly blended with their surroundings. Sensing them would be impossible in this state as they only exist physically, not mentally nor spiritually.

    Raven has no idea how long they¡¯ll be in this state but he could tell that they¡¯re already advancing. Their foundations are being re-forged by the profundity of Chaos, turning it better and consolidating their current umtions.

    This will take time of course.

    As per their agreement, they are to stay here in seclusion until they broke through Divine Knight.

    Anne and Ellen already simted their chances before but much to their disappointment, they failed. It even scarred them in the process. Now however, this is an opportunity to strengthen their foundations in order to make sure that they will make it.

    The reason why they could do this without any worries, is because Raven already nned out everything from the start.

    Dawn Council, as it is currently, are essentially freed from their responsibilities. Just as it was mentioned earlier, they¡¯ve already done everything they could for now. And that leaves them free of responsibilities for a good amount of time.

    Time which they can use for other things such as this¡­

    The problems Divine Realm still have will eventually solve itself. They don¡¯t need to monitor it closely. Even then, Raven has his Avatars and his other employees to take care of that, which are all ready to do so by the time they started this.

    So really, their presence isn¡¯t necessary in the mean time. Which means that they¡¯re free to do this.

    And even though Raven doesn¡¯t need to enter seclusion himself since he¡¯s already a Divine Knight, he decided to do so anyways.

    The reason why is to gather andpile more information about the Realm Beyond Divinity.

    As of now, he can¡¯t even catch a glimpse of that realm. Not a spark could be felt, only uncertainty and darkness was there. This tells Raven that he¡¯s still far from reaching that realm.

    Still, Raven wouldn¡¯t be deterred from this.

    Unlike the rest, he has the necessary foundation to chase after this realm. He has the chance to step foot into that ce first amongst others who had been searching for it this whole time.

    All he needs is more information.

    Information that he himself has to gather.

    It is worth to note that he already has a basis for everything. Geezer already left him with his notes about the realm, he also began his research a long time ago so he was steadily doing a cross-referencing with everything he knows so far.

    It still hasn¡¯t took him anywhere, sadly. But nobody said that his was going to be easy anyways. If it was, then he wouldn¡¯t be the first one to achieve it. After, it isn¡¯t only him who¡¯s been searching for it all this time.

    Raven didn¡¯t bother asking others about their research. For one, it isn¡¯t really going to help him anyway, if anything it¡¯ll just confuse him even more.

    A reference would be nice, but for the most part, this path is something he had to tread by himself.

    Raven is confident that he¡¯ll eventually reach it. He only needs time.

 Chapter 881: Changes at the Sect

    Chapter 881: Changes at the Sect

    Let¡¯s pry our eyes away from the Dawn Council for one moment and look at the current state of the Ancient Elysium Sect which is being run by Raven himself.

    For Kyrie, Raven¡¯s loyal secretary and also the current Leader of the Valkyries, life during these past few years was good.

    Under Raven¡¯s lead, the Ancient Elysium Sect really weed its Golden Age. The current sect ispletely different from what it was like when Raven just got admitted as a disciple.

    Devils are a thing of a past. They are a rare sight even inside the Devil Emperor¡¯s Pagoda. They¡¯re almostpletely wiped out from existence and poses no harm to anybody. Even the weakest disciple of the Ancient Elysium Sect could manhandle any devil theye across to.

    Looking at the current roster of the sect¡¯s authoritative figures, Kyrie can confidently say that they¡¯ve matured well enough under Raven¡¯s care and could handle the sect just fine even without Raven¡¯s assistance.

    Additionally, because the current era ispletely different from the past one, the responsibilities they handle are different as well.

    The Ancient Elysium Sect has already opened their doors. They don¡¯t operate in seclusion anymore and even forged friendly rtionships with other sects to propagate their influence and reputation ¨C not that they needed in the first ce, just for formality.

    The disciples are free toe and go, seek their own adventures ande back to fulfil their duties. The sect didn¡¯t restrict them in searching for their own destinies, they gave them as much freedom as possible and in turn this further improved the loyalty of the disciples for the sect.

    Not to mention, since their Sect Master is also the Leader of the Dawn Council, they too participate in activities which will improve Divine Realm as a whole. Knowing that they¡¯re contribution helps improve the overall state of their home is a rewarding experience for anyone. Plus, the Dawn Council was never stingy when ites to rewards.

    What many people didn¡¯t know is that, Raven himself wasn¡¯t personally here most of the time. He left several of his Avatars here to handle the matters of the sect while he ran the Dawn Council simultaneously.

    People never really questioned it since they knew that they Young Lord was busy. He is, after all, leading a sect and the Dawn Council at the same time. That¡¯s not easy to do especially when there¡¯s only him, thankfully there are others to help him.

    As for Kyrie herself, well she¡¯s mostly taking things easy.

    Moving on from Raven was more challenging that she initially thought. Well, who could me her, the man was literally one of a kind, any woman would be lucky to have him as their husband. Hell, had Raven said that he¡¯s willing to take a concubine, she¡¯d volunteer without any hesitation. Unfortunately, the Young Lord doesn¡¯t seem to be interested in that.

    It¡¯s fine though. Kyrie already epted that and learned to live with it. She already lost before the battle even began since he¡¯s already married when he arrived here. She also can¡¯t me him nor convince him to take her since that would just appear desperate. She still has pride as a woman and a Valkyrie so, no thank you.

    Maintaining a strictly professional rtionship with the Young Lord isn¡¯t so hard. Especially when he¡¯s so good at pretending to be clueless and dense about the signs. It¡¯s al little hrious actually but it helped her move-on so she can¡¯t really fault him for that.

    For the most part though, Kyrie found herself with more and more time in her hands. Which felt slightly weird, if she¡¯s being honest.

    It wasn¡¯t long ago when she¡¯s so used to spending days, weeks even, stuck in her own desk trying to wrap up the mountains of paperwork left in there but now, her presence was barely needed in the office.

    The reason behind this is because of Raven¡¯s reforms.

    At this point, the changes he proposed for the sect were already in ce and is already in effect for quite sometime now. These changes basically transformed the sect into an independent one.

    There no need to closely monitor everything since everything¡¯s taken in to ount. Any problems or conflicts that arises will show-up the moment they¡¯re discovered and thebor force will instantly take care of it before it turns into a big deal. This is how Raven changed the sect at its core.

    Because of that, people found themselves having more time in their hands that they¡¯re expecting, Kyrie herself only needs to show up to her office once a month to take care of paperwork which she could finish in just hours before she¡¯s free again.

    Really, it was jarring at times. Kyrie even felt uneasy from time to time since she was itching to do something yet there¡¯s nothing to do.

    Even the old Sect Master was baffled with this. The Old Man was such a workaholic that when faced with so much free time, he found himself unable to cope.

    Thankfully, his son arrived just in time.

    Alwina, his the Old Sect Master¡¯s wife, gave birth to a healthy young boy. She carried him for three whole years and was given nothing but the finest supplements to make sure that the boy was very healthy.

    Having a kid was a strange experience for the old couple, though it¡¯s a pleasant one.

    They never really thought that they¡¯d be able to have a child since the chances were too low already. Plus, both of them were Divine Knights, which dwindled their chances even further.

    It was thanks to Gaia¡¯s help that they managed to conceive a child, Raven as well. She made all sorts of concoctions for them to try out while Raven offered them¡­knowledge¡­to increase their chances. And as a result, they hit the jackpot.

    Their son¡¯s name was Perseus. He¡¯s a curious and mischievous boy, pampered by many people due to his glossy eyes and chubby cheeks. He¡¯s a little adventurous and quite practically roamed every single corner of the sect already, with or without adult supervision.

    Perseus, or Percy for short, was adored by his parents. His Old Man was quite awkward since he doesn¡¯t know how to raise a kid but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that he¡¯d do anything to make the little guy happy.

    Seeing the little kid running around the sect caused several people to feel slightly envious. There were some who were thinking of having a kid as well, and this includes the newly-weds: Henry and Jessamine. War Gods, both of them but such times were behind them already so they too found themselves with more free time than they initially thought.

    The two of them have been trying for a baby as well but no luck just yet. Still, they already received Raven¡¯s knowledge and Gaia¡¯s concoctions so it¡¯s just a matter of time.

    Kyrie, well she¡¯s single and doesn¡¯t feel the same envy as others so she¡¯s lost most of the time.

    Without any outlet, Kyrie could only put her mind into cultivation.

    Sure, there are other things that she could do such as finding herself a date or travelling the world but none of those sounds particrly attractive to her. So cultivation it is.

    Kyrie¡¯s an Empyrean Knight. And despite being stuck in this realm for a long time, she knew that her chances of breaking through was still high. Raven told her this so it must be true.

    Since it¡¯s basically confirmed, she thought that there would be no harm into trying her best to reach it.

    She¡¯s free anyways. She hardly had to take care of her work so it¡¯s fine for her to try her best to reach a higher cultivation.

    Besides, doing this will benefit her in the long run.

    As Raven¡¯s most trusted aide, she knows some sensitive information. She is aware about the existence of the Abyssals and the threat they pose to the Divine Realm. Hell, they are in custody of one of theirckeys, using the poor Devil Emperor as a never ending source of energy.

    She knows that one day, there will be a great battle. Whether she likes it or not, she will participate in that. Hair cannot survive without the skin, Divine Realm is home to Humanity, without it, they¡¯ll perish. It¡¯s only natural for everyone who is able, to help protecting it.

    For this, Kyrie has to thank Raven again.

    He had never let her experience any kind of mistreatment ever since she started her services, heck she even receive far more things than what she worked for.

    Most of the times, Raven would casually pass down cultivation knowledge to her. He¡¯s expecting her to listen and follow his suggestions because he knows that one day she will needed. He never asked for anything back aside from Kyrie fulfilling her responsibilities.

    Now all that knowledge ising to y.

    She¡¯s still far from a breakthrough but she knows she can do it. She has the foundation necessary with the help of her Young Lord and she won¡¯t fail him.

 Chapter 882: Qlipoths Reappearance

    Chapter 882: Qlipoth¡¯s Reappearance

    Inside the Throne Room, Raven could be seen sitting on his throne with his chin resting on hand and his legs crossed. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even and rhythmic. One might think that he¡¯s sleeping but in truth, he¡¯s not.

    ¡®¡­this one¡¯s a dead end too.¡¯ He murmured inwardly.

    He sighed mentally and proceeded to clear-up all the sigils that were formed inside his consciousness, wrapping them up in a single orb. He ced it in the deepest recesses of his mind-space and conjured another bunch of sigils to work on.

    It has been four months since him and the rest of the Dawn Council members entered their seclusion.

    While the others are still immersed in their own state of enlightenment, Raven on the other hand continued his research.

    It wasn¡¯t easy. Looking at his mind-space, you could see a lot of discarded orbs at the far corner. All of those were ¡®ideas¡¯ that Raven theorized all this while, most of them lead to a dead-end so he decided to wrap them up for now and ce in there.

    He didn¡¯t want to get rid of them entirely since, who knows? Maybe he could use them as reference in the future. But for now, since he has no uses for them, they could remain there. It wouldn¡¯t be toote to discard themter when he truly realize that they¡¯re useless anyways.

    Raven formed his ideas by using sigils ¨C another facet of runes and seals, his specialty.

    Using sigils, he could form ideas andpile them. He could even simte them using the rightbination which will allow him to see if the path was viable or not.

    He hasn¡¯t had luck yet, but nobody said this would be easy. If anything, all of his efforts will be rewarded in due time so he just have to keep on pressing on.

    Raven was in the middle of preparing for another batch of sigils when all of a sudden, one of his Avatars contacted him.

    ¡°Hey, Boss. What¡¯s up? I hope I¡¯m not disturbing you much. Listen, if you receive this, pleasee out for a bit. There¡¯s something that needs your attention here.¡±

    Raven raised a brow at that. He sighed and withdrew from his consciousness, he opened his eyes and grumbled:

    ¡°This better be important.¡±

    He looked briefly at his team and saw that they were still in the state of immersion. He vanished from the throne room quietly so as to not disturb them and appeared at his own office.

    There, the Avatar that contacted him was already waiting.

    ¡°What is it?¡± He asked, straight to the point.

    The Avatar¡¯s expression was solemn as he passed a document to him. Raven received it and started reading its contents.

    ¡°Son of a¡­¡±

    Raven groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He just received a particrly troubling news.

    ¡°I thought we already eradicated the Qlipoth and all of its roots?¡± He asked his Avatars.

    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s what we all thought too but it seems to not have been the case as you can see in the documents.¡± The Avatar reported to him, ¡°It wasn¡¯t eradicated, it even reached it¡¯s full maturity. It has devoured five Lower nes so far and it¡¯s appetite is just increasing, so does its production of Abominations.¡±

    This was a terrible news, and his Avatar did the right thing by reporting straight to him.

    The Qlipoth is the creation of a cult that is lead by a wanted criminal of the Divine Realm.

    Initially, this criminal was already apprehended, personally by Mark even. He also made sure to eradicate the smaller cults which were tasked in nurturing the Qlipoth.

    Mark was the one who signed-off this mission and with his personality and dedication to his work, Raven had no doubts that Mark checked every nook and cranny of the Divine Realm to make sure that they¡¯repletely gone before he signed it off.

    Raven didn¡¯t doubt Mark¡¯s work, which only means that this Qlipoth was nurtured and matured not too long ago.

    But that doesn¡¯t make sense either!

    Qlipoth, in all of its forms, takes a long time to mature. We¡¯re talking about thousands of years here. It hasn¡¯t been that long since Mark was in this mission so it doesn¡¯t make sense that a fully matured Qlipoth would appear.

    Time dtion doesn¡¯t work on the Qlipoth either. If it was, then there will be no end to them and that would plunge Divine Realm into chaos, something that the Heavenly Law Order wouldn¡¯t allow.

    So how did this thing appear? Did Mark really missed one?

    ¡°¡­no, whether Mark missed one or not isn¡¯t really important at this point.¡± Raven murmured, ¡°What¡¯s important is that this thing needs to disappear before it does some serious damage.¡±

    Raven stood up from his seat and ced the document on his table. He summoned the Realm Door and entered the coordinates of thest sighting of the Qlipoth.

    He opened the door and he instantly appeared right on top of the thing. A visible frown appeared on Raven¡¯s face the moment he saw it.

    Raven didn¡¯t attack right away. Instead he kept himself hidden and decided to gather intel first.

    While it¡¯s true that the longer he kept this thing alive, the more dangerous it gets, his men already restricted its movements. The immediate area is already under containment and since he¡¯s personally in this case, this thing will soon meet its end anyway so there¡¯s no need to rush.

    What he wants is know how this happened so that he could prevent it from happening again. This is why there¡¯s a need for him to observe first.

    Unbeknownst to the Cultists and the Abominations lurking around and within the Qlipoth, Raven already infiltrated the area. Unless they were as strong as him, there¡¯s no way for them to sense him at all.

    From what Raven observed so far, the Cultists around here discarded their humanity altogether. They don¡¯t resemble human qualities anymore, now they appear like a mix between an Abomination and something else he can¡¯t quite put a finger on.

    As for the Abominations themselves, they still look hideous and just wrong. There¡¯s nests of them here and there isn¡¯t any signs of their reproduction slowing down.

    Much to his dismay though, Ravens still hasn¡¯t figured out how thing came to be.

    It¡¯s a little concerning since this is the Main Qlipoth Network. If there¡¯s any ce here which should contain some clues, it should be this area.

    ¡®Hmm? Who¡¯s that?¡¯

    Raven saw someone on his peripheral vision but he only saw a shadow before it disappeared. Raven frowned and decided to go after that shadow, making sure that he¡¯s not making any noise as he does so.

    Raven managed to catch-up with the shadow and it seems unaware of his presence which is better.

    He followed it deeper and deeper to the Qlipoth. For a measly shadow, this one surely knows how to navigate the confusingbyrinth that his the Qlipoth, which means that this isn¡¯t the first time it came here.

    Eventually, the shadow and Raven appeared at the very base of the Qlipoth. The shadow stopped in its tracks and Raven stayed still. Then the shadow suddenly shimmered and all of sudden, a face started materializing from it.

    ¡®Oh! It¡¯s this guy.¡¯

    The man that appeared from the shadow was tall. Hisplexion was pale, eerily pale. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was jet ck. He¡¯s wearing a pitch ck armor hidden by an even darker cloak. He was holding a book as he stared above.

    Raven was surprised to see this person here. This is Empyrean ckwing, he had seen him attending the banquets the Dawn Council arranged and even talked to him once.

    He didn¡¯t really have any kind of impression from this guy since he¡¯s very anti-social, they only shared pleasantries once or twice and that¡¯s it. Raven was wondering why this guy was here.

    ¡°¡­the council has been alerted I see.¡± ckwing murmured, ¡°No matter. As far as I know, containment is all they could do. My men informed me that they¡¯re out on an important mission, they shouldn¡¯t send anybody here. I still have time.¡±

    ¡®Oho¡­¡¯ Raven smirked and almost sneered upon hearing that. Thankfully, he managed to prevent himself from doing that.

    While he still didn¡¯t know the intricacies of what transpired here, ckwing¡¯s words alone already confirmed his involvement.

    ¡°Ah, a magnificent sight it is.¡± ckwing shuddered as he spoke passionately. He sounded fanatical. ¡°Oh, glorious Qlipoth. It wouldn¡¯t be long now before the birth of the King!¡±

    ¡°Once you give birth to the King, I shall assume its flesh and we shall fuse into one! Only with that, will I be able to truly im what¡¯s rightfully mine!¡±

    ¡°¡­I will be a True God! I shall stand above everyone else! Not that young fool Vendrick and his measly crew of misfits! I shall be the one True God of the Divine Realm. Everyone shall kneel before me!! Ahhh!¡±

    Raven pursed his lips as he started speechlessly at the shuddering ckwing as if he was in the middle of his orgasm.

    ¡®So¡­¡¯ He mused inwardly. ¡®I guess he¡¯s a nutjob.¡¯

 Chapter 883: Blackwings Ascension

    Chapter 883: ckwing¡¯s Ascension

    Raven wanted tough. He really does, unfortunately he can¡¯t quite do that since it will ruin his stealth.

    Still that doesn¡¯t change the fact that what he just witnessed and heard was utterly hrious.

    He supposes that he had gotten quitex when ites to properly establishing his reputation amongst the others. Now that he had thought about it, that seems to actually be the case.

    Perhaps it would¡¯ve been for the best if other had seen a fraction of what he can do. Raven couldn¡¯t remember, at the top of his head, if he head ever did this. Had he done so, maybe that would¡¯ve been enough as a deterrent for fools like this one to abandon their delusional dreams.

    Still, this is highly amusing.

    ¡®But this doesn¡¯t answer how the hell this Qlipoth appeared or managed to stay hidden.¡¯ Raven mused to himself as he remained still.

    By now, it is clear that ckwing was behind this plot. What Raven wanted to know is how he did it.

    While it would¡¯ve been easier to juste out of hiding, apprehend this fool and scan his memories of how he did it, where¡¯s the fun in that?

    Raven¡¯s bored alright. He so used to being a busybody that times where he¡¯s free bores him way too much nowadays, so forgive him if he wanted to entertain himself by ying this fool like a fiddle for hisughable hubris.

    Raven raised a brow as he felt another presence entering this ce. He turned around and saw humanoid Abomination marching towards ckwing with something in hand.

    When the Abomination neared ckwing, it knelt down and spoke, much to Raven¡¯s surprise¡­

    ¡°My King¡­¡± the abomination greeted.

    ¡°Ah, Kos. You¡¯ve returned. What is it?¡±

    ¡°I bring with me thest piece needed for the Ascension of the Qlipoth.¡± The Abomination named Kos, presented the item it was holding to ckwing.

    The unmistakable look of glee appeared on ckwing¡¯s face as he hurriedly imed the item.

    It was a rectangr stone tablet which looked ancient. It depicted several glyphs but they were too blurry to be deciphered. Still, Raven managed to recognize what that tablet is and now, everything makes sense to him.

    ¡°Ah! Another shard of the Evesting Time!¡± ckwing shuddered once again as if having an orgasm.

    He sped the stone tablet, holding it like it was the most important item he had ever held. His eyes then darted towards Kos then he walked towards him.

    ¡°You¡¯ve done me great service, my child.¡± ckwing smiled.

    Then, he leaned down and lip-locked with the Abomination much to Raven¡¯s disgust. It didn¡¯t help that the two were sharing orgasmic moans throughout it.

    ¡°¡­my King.¡± Kos¡¯ voice was filled with longing as they finished their little activity.

    ckwing smile sweetly at the thing and said: ¡°Retreat for now, my child. I need to enter seclusion in preparation for my union with the Qlipoth. By then, I shall ascend as the one True God and sit at my rightful throne.¡±

    ¡°Wait for me, my child. For you have earned a rightful ce by my side in my glorious path towards greatness.¡±

    ¡°I await you My King. You will seed, I just know it.¡± Kos stood up and retreated from the chambers.

    Raven shook his head and watched what ckwing was nning to do next. Although he already have a vague expectation of what it¡¯s going to be.

    At this point, Raven already knew how he managed to nurture the Qlipoth this fast. ckwing did it through the aid of the shards of the Evesting Time.

    Yes, time dilution doesn¡¯t really help the Qlipoth grow faster. The Heavenly Law Order doesn¡¯t allow it but with the help of the shards ¨C something that¡¯s considered as part the Heavenly Law Order itself back in the day, he managed to bypass this.

    The shards of Evesting Time as condensed essence of the Rivers of Time itself. From time to time, the Heavenly Law Order sheds them away to rece it with new ones, the old ones are sent down to the Divine Realm, appearing as stone tablets which, most of times, creates a zone where time is diluted.

    Since the shards were once part of the Heavenly Law Order, they are valuable resources. ckwing searched for these things, took them away and used them to device this plot. Still, this isn¡¯t the only one he needs.

    Aside from the shards, he needs sacrifices. Lots of them. Hence he found a rtively small corner of the Divine Realm, specifically targeting the lower nes where his might would be absolute and use mortal¡¯s lives as sacrifice for the Qlipoth.

    The faster it grows, the more voracious its appetite bes. This is why the eradication of all life within the five lower nes was swift.

    From what Raven could tell, it¡¯s only a matter of time before this Qlipoth gave birth to an Absolute Evil ¨C the King of the Abominations.

    Although a new born King of the Abomination will be weak, it is considered as a Divine Being of Evil, therefore it is granted Divinity from the moment it was born.

    ckwing is banking on that. He said that he wanted to unite with the flesh of the new born King of the Underworld, devour its Divinity to im it for himself, using it at as a shortcut towards power.

    And with another shard of the Evesting Time in his hand, ckwing would certainly use it to expedite the birth of the King.

    That¡¯s precisely what he¡¯s doing right now.

    Through numerous rituals, ckwing invoked the power of the shard over time and fused it with the Qlipoth¡¯s core.

    The changes were visible.

    The bud that is located at the core, presumably where the King was incubating, started growing at a rapid pace. Its size doubled in a blink of eye and started producing a ck light.

    ckwing retreated a couple of steps back and waited for the birth of the King.

    Momentster, the sprout suddenly unfurled. With it, a strong fluctuation was released.

    Raven had to fight the urge to not kill that thing straight away. This was an involuntary reflex brought on by his own alignment and his will. The Divinity of Evil is something so repulsive to him that his first thoughts were to snuff it out as soon as possible.

    ckwing on the other hand, was having another dry orgasm at the birth of the King. He gave it a moment, waiting until the ck luster disappeared, before he approached the child left in there.

    Raven watched as he cradled the child, ckwing¡¯s face looked gentle and kind but the trace of madness and glee was visible in his eyes.

    Of course, just as everyone would suspect at this point, ckwing did another ritual.

    He swaddled the child im a cloth and ced it in an altar. Then he drew a massive sacrificial circle. He stood in the middle of it and started chanting words using thenguage of the dead.

    A murky, crimson veil of light erupted from the ritual circle. The child suddenly started crying but its voice was nightmare inducing. The child floated from the altar, the cloth around it incinerated thoroughly.

    Under the ritual¡¯s influence, markings appear on the child¡¯s body. Twisting lines of tattoos appeared on the child¡¯s kin ultimately joining at its bellybutton.

    At this point, ckwing also stripped himself naked. Simr looking tattoos appeared on his body but instead of it converging at his bellybutton, they converged at his forehead.

    ¡°Come to me! My precious!!¡± ckwing dered maniacally.

    All of a sudden, the child sudden turned transparent. Within the child, a small pitch ck crystal became visible. This crystal is the Divinity of Evil.

    ckwing beckoned and the child, along with the crystal, flew towards him. The child dissipated in to motes of ck light which disappeared on his head, followed by the Divinity of Evil as well.

    The moment of their fusion, ckwing appeared to be visibly distraught and in pain. Still, a creepy and maniacalughter escaped from his lips.

    Slowly but surely, the tattoos were disappearing. They appeared to be crawling towards his forehead and being absorbed there.

    ckwing¡¯s aura began climbing through the roof along with the increasing volume of his madughter.

    His body started transforming. He grew long horns, a pair of bat-like wings, fangs and scales on his arms and legs along with a pointed tail. His voice morphed into something which sounded sinister and his eyes permanently turned crimson.

    By the time his aura withdrew to his body and hisughter ceased, ckwing fully assumed his position as the Divine Knight of Evil.

    ¡°Ah¡­!¡± ckwing released yet another orgasmic sigh. ¡°This is it¡­¡±

    ¡°This is what I¡¯ve always wanted! Absolute power!! Hahahaha!¡±

    ¡°I did it! I¡¯ve ascended! I have be a True God! Oh, how delightful!! I can never get enough of this sheer pleasure! The power coursing through my veins!! Ooohhhhh!!!¡±

    ckwing turned silent for a bit before he continued:

    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± He said, ¡°It¡¯s time to show everyone who truly is, the rightful God of All!¡±

    ¡°So¡­are you like, done? With your transformation and evil monologue?¡±

    ¡°You!!!¡±

 Chapter 884: Invincible

    Chapter 884: Invincible

    ¡°You!!!¡±

    ckwing was understandably shocked, confused, furious and mildly terrified.

    The very subject of his envy and hatred was standing right before him. And while its true that he just gained power to stroke his ego about this confrontation, the way Raven seems to be so at ease, made him uneasy.

    ¡°Why are you here? And how long have you been standing there?¡± He demanded.

    ¡°Well, a little birdie told me that there¡¯s a pervert running around him so I thought, maybe I should check it out, cause you know, nobody likes perverts. Have you seen anyone like that around here?¡±

    Raven smiled as he marches around the Qlipoth, looking around in amusement.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for your nonsense, Vendrick.¡± ckwing spouted coldly.

    ¡°My, you wound me ckwing.¡± Raven faked a sob, ¡°You used to call me Young Lord before, we even shared a drink. Does all of that meant nothing to you? Boo hoo, you¡¯re so cruel to me. Boo hoo.¡±

    ckwing was incensed. He gritted his teeth and if looks could kill, Raven for sure would¡¯ve been dead by now. While Raven still faking sobs, ckwing asked him:

    ¡°What do you want, Vendrick?¡±

    Raven stopped faking and looked at him as if he grew a third head.

    ¡°Huh. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re ying dumb or that¡¯s just you on a daily.¡± Raven shrugged. ¡°But you see, this isn¡¯t really about what I want, isn¡¯t it? No, no. Of course not.¡±

    ¡°This is about what you want from me, isn¡¯t that right ckwing?¡± Raven casted a knowing look to ckwing, ¡°So I suppose, I should be the one asking you that.¡±

    ¡°What do you want from me, ckwing?¡±

    ckwing couldn¡¯t possibly ignore the implications of his words. At this point, ckwing knows that Raven is aware of what he was nning all along. Hell, he might not know how long he¡¯s been standing behind him but ckwing understood that he was caught red-handed and there¡¯s no way he could deny this even if he wanted to.

    ¡°Still, I gotta say though.¡± Raven looked at him from head to toe, ¡°I¡¯m loving the new look. It¡¯s nightmare-inducing and kids will for sure run away and cry on sight of you but¡­let¡¯s face it, true fashion isn¡¯t meant for everyone. Don¡¯t worry, bud. I get it, I truly do. It¡¯s all about creating a statement, and a statement for sure is present in all of¡­you, I guess.¡±

    ckwing had enough of Raven¡¯s mouth. So, in a fit of anger. He sent out numerous tendrils of ck hex towards him.

    Raven merely smirked. He didn¡¯t bother dodging, he didn¡¯t even bother lifting his hand to defend. He didn¡¯t even bother moving at all. He just stood there and waited for the attack to reach him.

    ¡­which was intercepted by a bright light of dark gold and silver. Completely dispersed upon striking the barrier, ckwing¡¯s attack didn¡¯t even touch the hem of Raven¡¯s clothes.

    ¡°Hmm¡­I bet you¡¯re nning to say ¡®I didn¡¯t use my entire strength with that, scram!¡¯ Weren¡¯t you?¡± Raven yfully said.

    Which caused ckwing to sweat coldly since that¡¯s precisely what he wanted to say, Raven just beat him into it.

    How the hell did he know?

    s, this isn¡¯t really the time for this. ckwing had thising for a while now. Besides, he was asking for it. Fate even helped him so why hold back?

    ¡°Just as well¡­I was nning on wiping you away from the face of existence anyway.¡± ckwing stated coldly.

    The Divinity of Evil thrummed in his veins, darkening hisplexion and turning his, already unpleasant face, into a new level of monstrosity.

    Raven didn¡¯t say a word, he just looked on in amusement as ckwingpleted his transformation.

    ¡°¡­okay, now you just look downright gross.¡± Raven spat upon scrutinizing ckwing¡¯s transformation.

    ¡°Raarghh!¡± ckwing attacked mercilessly but it was halted by the barrier surrounding Raven.

    ¡°Oh, you poor thing. If before you were just a fashion disaster, now you¡¯re just a disaster, period. Oh, why would you do this to yourself, my friend. You don¡¯t deserve this!¡±

    ¡°Shut up!!¡± ckwing roared and summoned all of his strength to attack Raven.

    Unfortunately, whatever he did, the barrier stopped it all.

    It didn¡¯t make sense to ckwing. What the hell is that barrier made out of? Why is it still intact after receiving a full beating of blows fueled by his own divinity? How the hell is it so strong.

    ¡°Geez, stop it ckwing.¡± Raven giggled, ¡°That tickles.¡±

    ckwing didn¡¯t think he could get any angrier but Raven surprises him with how many methods he has when ites to pissing someone off.

    To his absolute rage, ckwingshes out again. Doing everything he can to justy one solid punch on Raven¡¯s face. Sadly, whatever he did failed.

    Hexes, curses, brute strength¡­he even mobilized the Qlipoth itself to attack Raven but it all did nothing.

    Without any other options, ckwing let out an inhumane screech. Something simr to what the Abominations sounded like.

    Raven knew that he just called for reinforcements.

    Anyone who¡¯s not him would probably find this situation dire and wouldn¡¯t hesitate to leave this ce as soon as possible.

    But this is Raven.

    Why stop him? Why run away? Just stay and have a little fun because, why not?

    ¡°Oh¡­you, who¡¯s faces only a mother could love, so d to have you all join us in this pleasant¡­evening I suppose. How are you all doing?¡± Raven looked at the swarm of Abomination around him which reached at least millions in number.

    ¡°This is your end, Vendrick!! You will not make it out here alive!!¡± ckwing roared, ¡°Children! Attack! Kill the intruder!!¡±

    *Screech!*

    ¡°Oh, you all tter me.¡± Raven giggled as he summoned his scepter, turning it into a spear. ¡°I suppose I should ept this scorching wee.¡±

    Against all expectations, Raven got rid of his barrier. He pointed the spear at ckwing and all of sudden, he was immobilized.

    Raven smirked at him, his eyes clearly saying the words: ¡®Watch¡¯

    What happened next would certainly haunt ckwing until the day he dies.

    Raven, with just a spear on hand, went on and decimated the millions of Abominations that were trying to swarm him.

    Every time he swung his spear, hundreds of Abominations will fall, incinerated into ashes, never to return again.

    Raven fought valiantly. His fighting style wasn¡¯t shy but it¡¯s extremely effective. He mowed down the army of Abominations all by himself, he didn¡¯t even bother protecting himself. Even without his barrier, none of these things managed to injure him. They didn¡¯t even manage to damage his clothes.

    Raven showed ckwing what true invincibility looks like. What being a True God amongst mortals, looked like.

    He showed him what absolute strength signifies.

    It was something that ckwing wanted all this time, unfortunately he¡¯s destined to never have it.

    He was wrong. So wrong¡­

    He thought that Raven was just one lucky guy. A paper-pusher with delusions of grandeur. A foolish boy who¡¯s naive of what true power looks like and signifies.

    It turns out that he was the foolish one.

    By the time Raven slew thest abomination on sight, ckwing¡¯s spirit waspletely broken.

    And just to add salt on the injury, Raven didn¡¯t even look tired. There¡¯s just a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead and nothing else. There¡¯s a literal sea of blood and guts beneath him but for some miraculous reason, none of themnded on his body.

    He still looks fresh and pristine, just like how he initially arrived here.

    ¡°Whew! Now that was one hell of a work-out if I have ever seen one!¡± Raven cheerfully eximed. He then turned around to the dispirited ckwing with a look of anticipation and asked:

    ¡°So, what¡¯s next?¡±

    ckwing visibly sagged upon hearing that question. What ¡®what¡¯s next¡¯? There¡¯s nothing!

    All of his so-called ¡®children¡¯ are dead. All in by what he thought of as a mere paper-pusher. He even called that massacre a ¡®one hell of a work-out¡¯!

    ¡°Hmm¡­it looks like there¡¯s no more.¡± Raven had the audacity to look visibly disappointed. ¡°That¡¯s a shame. I thought there¡¯d be more. Oh, well.¡±

    Raven kept the spear away and returned ckwing¡¯s mobility back to him.

    Despite regaining his ability to move, ckwing didn¡¯t move a muscle. He just stood there, lookingpletely lost.

    Raven reduced everything he did and his ambitions into a mere joke. ¡®Dispirited¡¯ would be an understatement of what he currently feels. ¡®Broken¡¯, is more apt to describe him.

    ¡°Wow¡­¡± Raven raised a brow upon seeing the broken ckwing. ¡°For someone who called himself ¡®One True God¡¯, you sure are brittle as hell.¡±

    ¡°I barely did anything and you¡¯re already reduced to this? Man, talk about being pathetic. I thought you¡¯d be able to entertain me for a bit longer. I guess I overestimated you. Hell, I even waited for you to fuse with that Abomination baby just to make things more fun but I guess this as far as you go.¡±

    ¡®Oh, so he¡¯s been watching for that long.¡¯ ckwing realized.

    ¡°Oh well, I guess I¡¯ve had my fun now. It¡¯s time to do my job properly.¡± Raven mused to himself.

    He pointed a single finger to ckwing and that¡¯s all it took for him topletely lose consciousness. Before passing out, he heard Raven say:

    ¡°Seriously, a realm war is upon us but shit like this still happens? What the hell? Ugh, these people are acting like children.¡±

 Chapter 885: Blackwings Story

    Chapter 885: ckwing¡¯s Story

    Whates next went just how would anyone expect it.

    The Qlipoth has been dealt with, eradicated down to itsst roots. All abominations were killed and all traces of Evil cleansed.

    ckwing¡¯s sealed by Raven. He didn¡¯t kill him right away, he has ns for himter.

    While it¡¯s rather unfortunate that many lives were lost during this incident, Raven already appeased their lingering sentiments and guided them to move-on. All of the victims will enter the cycle of reincarnation with ample blessings of good luck from Raven, this wasn¡¯t hard to do for the current him.

    Following the event of ckwing¡¯s actions, Raven didn¡¯t hesitate to release the news. In there, he detailed everything that has happened and sanctioned ckwing¡¯s territory properly.

    This was a warning. The news itself was okay and just informative but those who could read between the lines, knew that this was a tant warning from the Young Lord.

    ¡®Behave¡¯

    That¡¯s what it technically says. And that one word was filled many implications, all unkind to those who were trying to do something that will upset the peace and prosperity of the Divine Realm.

    Leaders reacted to this differently. To those who focused on improving their forces, they were puzzled. They didn¡¯t understand why someone would be so foolish as to challenge Raven¡¯s authority and why now of all the times, they didn¡¯t understand why this people couldn¡¯t see the bigger picture.

    On the other hand, for those who were initially harboring malicious intentions, well¡­let¡¯s just say that they¡¯re feeling very uneasy right now.

    The intent behind Raven¡¯s warning struck them the hardest. They even began suspecting that Raven knew about their ns all along despite not having enough evidence to back-up their ims.

    Currently, they feel like there¡¯s someone who¡¯s always watching their every move, and it really made them feel ufortable. This was more than enough to deter them from moving-on with their ns.

    A few of them even began losing their determination. They weren¡¯t dumb like ckwing. They knew that beneath the Young Lord¡¯s pretty face, lies a slumbering monster waiting for them to make a single mistake. They¡¯ll be devoured if they¡¯re careless.

    Raven wouldn¡¯t be hailed as Humanity¡¯s True Leader if he was just some paper-pusher after all. He¡¯s more than that and frankly, they¡¯re not really willing to find out what he could and couldn¡¯t do.

    It might just be better if they just stayed put and behave, just like how Raven told them to.

    As for ckwing, well Raven brought him to the Pit of Sinners. A location within the Dawn Council where the rest of the sealed criminals were located. Most of these criminals were paying for their crimes as energy sources used to improve Divine Realm even further. Some of them only have years of sentence while others were meant to rot there forever. The length of their sentence depends on how heavy their crimes were and how much of threat they were.

    Raven wasn¡¯t shy about infiltrating ckwing¡¯s mind and scanning his memories, there¡¯s no one here that¡¯ll stop him from doing that. After reading his memories, Raven now somewhat understand where his Godplexes from.

    As it turns out, he was an illegitimate child of Yellow ¨C one of the previous batch of Dawn Council¡¯s Supervisors.

    Yellow apparently pampered this child a lot since he felt a deeper kinship to him, meaning that they cut from the same cloth. ckwing inherited Yellow¡¯s arrogance. He was also raised in an entric way which caused him to look down on other people and rely on schemes to get what he wants. This exins how ckwing managed to stay under the radar for so long.

    When ckwing heard about the cleansing of the Dawn Council and that a new roster was elected, he felt furious.

    No, not because he¡¯s worried about his father and whatever fate the man suffered under Raven¡¯s hands¡­

    He was furious because apparently, Raven was one step ahead of him.

    See, ckwing was raised by a treacherous man so it shouldn¡¯t be surprising if he became a treacherous child. He was taught how to scheme, cheat, lie and to use to people to his advantage. ckwing absorbed Yellow¡¯s lessons like a sponge and he had a knack for it.

    Of course he would, he¡¯s Yellow¡¯s son.

    Because of his twisted upbringing, ckwing thought that dethroning his own father and stripping him away of everything he held dear, was his ultimate test. If he seeded in doing so, Yellow wouldn¡¯t be upset, he¡¯d instead be proud and ckwing will get the recognition from everyone.

    He wanted attention. He wanted people to build statues of him, create songs about him, immortalize him and etc. Vanity was etched deep into his marrows and he¡¯ll do everything to make it happen.

    s, fate wasn¡¯t on anybody¡¯s side. Especially not his.

    Raven came out of nowhere and stole his thunder.

    For ckwing, everything that Raven had ess to, was his.

    Fame, adoration, wealth, reputation, power¡­yes, Luna included, was his ¨C ckwing¡¯s. All of those, were meant to his.

    To his eyes, Raven was nothing more than a thief. He hated him so much that it caused him to suffer fromck of sleep. The very idea of Raven living with, what he believed to be his, irritates him to his core.

    He wanted to rip Raven apart with his own hands and take what¡¯s rightfully his. And his madness is what drove him to his ¡®ultimate¡¯ scheme.

    This n had been concocted ever since Raven solidified his position as Humanity¡¯s True Leader. Meaning that he had been bitter for that long.

    And the more popr Raven got, the more sour ckwing get.

    He had, on many asions, nearly lost all sense of cordiality with Raven. Most of them urred whenever he saw Raven¡¯s face at public events. If it weren¡¯t for his venomous mind thinking that its better to stay low-profile as to not draw attention to himself, he would¡¯ve exploded long ago.

    Then, came the time where he could pursue his ns.

    Oh, how he let himself loose and celebrated how smooth his n went along, only to be reduced as a mere joke by Raven.

    Such humiliation and setback was something that ckwing cannot possibly endure. He had ced all of his eggs on one basket. He went all out with this n but it was all for nothing.

    Raven was invincible. He was absolute. Nothing he does matters. And this was what ultimately broke him and ept his fate.

    ¡°¡­but what should I do with you?¡± Raven murmured. He stared at the cocoon of seals wrapped around ckwing¡¯s body and mused to himself.

    If this was any other criminals they¡¯ve caught before, he¡¯d probably subject him to the same sentence as the rest; bing an energy source for some time before eventually getting rid of him once and for all.

    Unfortunately, ckwing¡¯s current status made itplicated.

    Weak or not, ckwing still imed the Divinity of Evil. He¡¯s still the Divine Knight of Evil. He just can¡¯t make him an energy source, his divinity will corrupt the energy flow and will certainly throw Divine Realm into instability.

    They don¡¯t need any of that right now, especially when the realm war¡¯s upon them.

    Killing ckwing is simple but because he¡¯s a Divine Knight, it¡¯ll certainly take some time. Leaving him sealed like this is just a massive waste so what should he do?

    ¡°Ahh! I know!¡±

    Raven thought for a bit and an idea finally dawned on him.

    He waved his hand and several formations appeared out of thin air. With another wave of his hand, his Chaos Wisps flew out and settled down at the core of each formations, causing them to thrum into activity.

    Raven then ced the formations on ckwing¡¯s unconscious body and it immediately started buzzing into action.

    What these formation does is to gradually corrode the Divinity of Evil. Had Raven used even his most advanced seals for the formation, this process would take decades to finish.

    Fortunately, Chaos is by his side.

    With the wisps, the erosion will be stronger and the process will be swifter.

    He wanted to erode the Divinity of Evil and convert it into pure energy that could safely be harnessed and released for Divine Realm to use. In addition to that, the wisps of chaos will also leave its traces on the converted energy which will imbue it with the power of Chaos.

    The power of chaos wouldn¡¯t be enough to cause a massive extinction, but its enough to be a primer for the futurebination of the two. Raven was essentially hitting two birds using one stone by doing this.

    ¡°Yep, I am a genius.¡± Raven smugly praised himself, ¡°I¡¯m also handsome as fuck and powerful to boot. I guess this is why many people of jealous of me. Ugh, I hate being perfect sometimes.¡±

    Raven shook his head andughed merrily due to how arrogant he sounded just then. If someone heard what he just said, they¡¯d probably chastise him. Thankfully, he¡¯s alone here.

    ¡°Anyway, this work¡¯s done. Now, back to the drawing board we go.¡±

 Chapter 886: A Break

    Chapter 886: A Break

    ¡°¡­yeah, this one¡¯s no good either.¡±

    Raven sighed as he wrapped-up yet another failure. He pinched the bridge of his nose and rested his back against his chair. He remained like that for a bit to ease-up his headache since god knows how tired he is.

    A full year passed by since the start of their seclusion. The rest aren¡¯t showing any signs of waking-up just yet. Raven¡¯s work also still hasn¡¯t shown any positive signs either, everything he had tried so hard all lead to a dead-end.

    The whole fiasco about ckwing already passed and mostly forgotten. The deterrence has served him well. Nobody dared to cause anyrge ruckus while they¡¯re in seclusion.

    Still, it would¡¯ve been better if Raven could just catch even a vague trail of his true goal.

    By now, he her lost count on how many times he had theorized and simted things. All of it were dead-ends which frankly has a toll on Raven¡¯s mentality.

    Again, nobody said this is going to be easy. Even if he has the foundation for it, searching for the correct path is more difficult than searching for a needle in a haystack.

    He had tried numerous methods by now. From the basicbinations down to the weird ones. Still, all resulted in a failure. All of these failures are taking their toll on his mind and if this trend continues, Raven might actually lose his mind.

    ¡°I need a break.¡± He figured.

    He stood up from his throne and went out of the Throne Room, leaving his team there in silence. He didn¡¯t want to disturb them since he knows that they are at the critical conjuncture of their seclusion. It¡¯ll be bad if they¡¯re interrupted right now.

    He appeared in his office which is currently empty. There¡¯s a stack of documents piled up on his table but he ignored it for now. His Avatars will take care of them for him since he had other matters to attend to.

    Raven grabbed his tea set and went towards the garden to rx. He wanted to chill and forget about his troubles for now.

    As he was making tea, he spared some of his attention to check-up on how his daughter was doing.

    Vanessa was currently hanging-out with her friends. It seems that they¡¯re little group expanded a bit since thest time he checked. Her, Richard and Jeanne are still the closest but they¡¯re also friendly with the rest.

    Raven could feel that Vanessa has really grown-up. Gone was the naive and immaturity on her face. It is now reced by a beautiful visage of an experienced youngdy who isn¡¯t afraid to confront those who wanted to disturb the peace of her home.

    She¡¯s really grown-up, and Raven couldn¡¯t be prouder of what she became.

    After checking-up on her daughter, Raven integrated with the memories of the Avatar he sent to watch over Little Stephen.

    The kid¡¯s no longer helpless. He had changed ever since their initial meeting. He could now fend for himself at least and doesn¡¯t have any problems on surviving on his own.

    Actually, his Avatar did well in supporting his growth. He had subconsciously taught Stephen to not rely on anybody to survive and believe in his own capabilities. He taught him how to be in control of his own life which really changed the boy¡¯s outlook in life.

    Now, he¡¯s more spirited in everything that he does. His will was sharpened even further and he had no troubles going on like this if that¡¯s what he wanted.

    But then again, he could also feel Stephen¡¯s hesitation.

    At this point, Stephen has already moved-on with his life, the days of his distrust with adults and his trauma from what he experience back in orphanage were mostly gone. He had coped-up well.

    With him having an active social life, he eventually learned more about the world.

    He learned about cultivation as well. This is where his hesitationes from.

    As a young child who had seen cultivators for the first time, he had reacted simrly like other people. Amazed and confused with a hefty amount of longing as well.

    Then again, Stephen is a bit differentpared to other kids. Life had been difficult for him. What he initially wanted was a peaceful life. A simple dream really but now, he¡¯s hesitating¡­

    Should he be a cultivator as well? This question is what¡¯s been guing him for quite some time now.

    It had to be known that Raven¡¯s Avatar still hasn¡¯t told him anything yet. So far, the Avatar just taught him all he needed to learn in order to survive on his own and have a decent life since he didn¡¯t want to dictate what kind of life Stephen wanted for himself.

    Still, Stephen¡¯s indecisiveness has been distracting him for quite sometime now. There were times when he can¡¯t even get proper sleep because of it.

    Well, this is something that Stephen has to figure out on his own. Raven can¡¯t help him with this since Stephen is in control of his own life.

    If he decided to pursue cultivation, that¡¯s good. Raven wouldn¡¯t hesitate to groom him as his sessor. If he chose not to, then that¡¯s fine as well. Raven would just wait until the next candidate shows up.

    After checking up on his daughter and his potential heir, Raven went on and enjoyed a warm cup of tea.

    He stared at the horizon and felt the fatigue rolling off his shoulders. His mind was pried off from what was troubling him and he concentrated on the present instead.

    ¡°¡­I¡¯m going on a decent pace. There¡¯s really no need to hurry.¡± He whispered to himself. ¡°If I could find clues and breakthrough to the realm before the Abyssals arrive, it¡¯ll solve most of our problems. If time isn¡¯t on my side, that¡¯s fine too. At least I¡¯ve prepared this ce enough for the invasion.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s really no need to stress about this too much. If I could do it, I would. If I can¡¯t, then I¡¯ll just focus on what I can do instead. It¡¯s as simple as that.¡±

    Raven rested his back on his chair and cross his legs. He took another sip of his tea and proceeded to observe Divine Realm to pass time.

    He ced focus on the random corners of the realm, checking and making sure that no events like what happened with ckwing was happening somewhere else.

    So far, everything looks great. Even though most of the ces he checked were considered as Lower nes, he could feel the air of prosperity in them. All of which were thanks to his and his teams effort all these years.

    He also spied on the activities of the other Leaders and saw that they¡¯ve been working hard. Most of them were making their own preparations for the realm war which made Raven satisfied.

    At least these people could see the bigger picture¡­

    Don¡¯t be mistaken though, Divine Realm isn¡¯t ¡®spotless¡¯, at least not yet.

    Raven could still see the signs of corruption and instability in some ces. Most of them are faint but they¡¯re still there.

    And while he could just take over and force everyone to behave, Raven had no ns on doing that. He didn¡¯t expect Divine Realm to be pure anyways. There¡¯s bound to be some bad seeds here and there and he can¡¯t possibly snuff them all out. Even if he could, he wouldn¡¯t because believe it or not, they are required for the bnce of the realm.

    All¡¯s good so long as they¡¯re kept in the minimum. Plus, if all the bad things were gone from the realm, the Dawn Council¡¯s Mission Board will lose its purpose.

    As Raven spent sometime as an observer, he paid attention on some random group of explorers who were out on a mission. A mission that they received from the Dawn Council.

    Raven watched as these people explorednds unknown to them with care and mapped the area for their benefit. They¡¯ve met some hostiles along the way and they fought valiantly side by side.

    Raven unconsciously smiled and felt a pang of nostalgia.

    He recalled the times where he and his friends used to do the same. Adventuring and exploring. Most of his memories stemmed from his previous life since he¡¯s so busy with his current one. Still, those were the good days.

    Back then, things were more simple. Raven didn¡¯t carry this much responsibility on his shoulders. He¡¯s just struggling to keep himself alive and well fed.

    This doesn¡¯t mean that he hates what he¡¯s doing right now. It¡¯s just that he has to since nobody would.

    Raven can¡¯t help it. He can¡¯t help but feel responsible since he¡¯s the one that knows what¡¯s about toe. He has to do something in order to ensure that his home will remain intact and his family remained safe. They¡¯re everything for him.

    For that, he has to be strong. Stronger than ever before. Stronger than his foes and even fate itself.

    He has to be Absolute.

    ¡°Wait¡­¡±

    Raven¡¯s eyes suddenly shone.

    ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s it!!!¡±

 Chapter 887: Laughing Dragons Divinity

    Chapter 887: Laughing Dragon¡¯s Divinity

    ¡°¡­yes, this is it!¡±

    ¡°This is it but¡­it¡¯s not enough.¡±

    Raven a momentary epiphany earlier so he rushed back to the throne room and did his best to take advantage of the momentary inspiration he had.

    The result was progress which definitely made him happy, but like he said earlier, it wasn¡¯t enough. Not nearly enough. Still, it¡¯s progress.

    By now, that inspiration took him one-step closer to his goal. He figured out the outline of the path he should take, one that he can guarantee to work. There is a need to flesh out the finer details of the path but since the outer-shell is made, it¡¯s only a matter of time.

    Now, while its true that Raven could just consume some supplements like the other that will push him to the state of enlightenment, Raven didn¡¯t do so because of one simple reason.

    It won¡¯t work.

    Sure, if he took the same supplements, he will really enter the state of enlightenment but even then, nothing wille out of it cause what he seeks doesn¡¯t exist. At least not yet¡­

    The road that leads to the Realm Beyond Divinity doesn¡¯t exist. Even the Heavenly Law Order doesn¡¯t have that path avable right now. What use is there seeking it if it doesn¡¯t exist.

    What he follows is the path of a Trailzer, should he ever seed, he¡¯ll be the first of his kind to do so. Only then will this path be avable for the rest. This is what was going to happen.

    And this is also why this is so difficult, there¡¯s literally nothing guaranteed in this pursuit. What is there are mere clues that people before him figure out on their own, even then it isn¡¯t certain if any of it will work. Which is also the reason whyparing discoveries with other people is inadvisable.

    Hell, even the known theory that only those who grasp the essence of Chaos may be able to seed is nothing more than a theory as well. Nothing¡¯s proven so far so Raven had to figure it all by himself.

    This is the challenge that he willingly took since sess means that he¡¯ll be able to truly protect his home.

    Thankfully, he had been blessed with an inspiration earlier which lead him to figuring out the path forward. Again, it isn¡¯t much but to him, this is already more than enough. He figure out the rest on his own.

    Just like that, Raven¡¯s brief rxation was cut short.

    Before he knew it, he was back at it again, ying with sigils and simtions. What¡¯s different is that at least he has a clue where to start from now on.

    With all this talk about an inspiration and such, it begs the question: What exactly did Raven gain from it?

    Well, it¡¯s simple. The Path of the Absolute.

    It¡¯s a bit difficult to exin in words but in simple terms, it¡¯sbining Order and Chaos. He figured that if managed to do this, the path towards the unattainable realm will appear before him.

    Still, doing this will be a lot harder than saying it.

    Order and Chaos cannot simply just mix. This was already established before. If this happens, there will be a mass extinction and everything will revert back to Nothingness.

    This alone, poses a frightening consequence in failure.

    Additionally, if Raven was supposed to find a way to have these to pr oppositesbined into one, he had to understand what they are down to the tip of their roots. A rather time consuming process.

    It has to be known that even though a few years had passed since Raven became the Divine Knight of Chaos and received its inheritance, he¡¯s still discovering new things about it to this very day. And now you¡¯re telling him that he also needs to study how Order works? That¡¯s just too much even for a man of his caliber.

    And don¡¯t forget, this is all theoretical knowledge. At most, all he could do is to simte the results of his future discoveries until he eventually seeds. Even then, the sess will just strictly be in a simtion, it¡¯ll still be unknown if he could replicate this in reality and actually make it work.

    Suffice to say, Raven¡¯s still very far off from reaching his goals. This will require him a very long time of dedicated research, hell he might even seclude himself longer than his team just so that he make a decent progress with this.

    ¡°Still, this is fine.¡± He murmured to himself, ¡°At least some light has been shed for the path forward. I¡¯ll just slowly grasp my way forward, there¡¯s no need to rush.¡±

    Raven calmed down and felt the rush dissipate from his body. Haste makes waste. There¡¯s no need to lose his mind over this. He was confident that he¡¯ll reach that realm.

    For now, time is on his side. It would be for the best if he doesn¡¯t waste it, yes. But it doesn¡¯t mean that he should force his way forward. That will only do more harm than good.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    A sudden fluctuation distracted him and returned his focus back to his team.

    The fluctuation came from Laughing Dragon. He raised a brow and saw that his subordinate¡¯s aura was bing slightly unstable.

    ¡°Is he about to- oh! I guess he is¡­¡± Raven smiled and waved his hand.

    The seals around the throne room converged around Laughing Dragon, covering him in a massive formation. Said formation sealed up the fluctuations he was releasing so as to not disturb the rest with his impeding breakthrough.

    Yes, after a whole year of closed-door seclusion, the first one to breakthrough to the Divine Knight Stage was Laughing Dragon.

    The famous intel-hound was already hovering in air. His fat body released loud rumbling simr to that of a Dragon¡¯s Roar.

    Raven watched as Laughing Dragon slowly reverted back to his real form ¨C a Dragon Hybrid.

    Laughing Dragon doesn¡¯t really look like it. Normally, he looks so average that he doesn¡¯t leave any profound impression to people. He¡¯s only famous because he was known to smell gossips and conspiracies from worlds away which he often exposes on his tabloids and articles back at the Oriental Dragon Group.

    In truth, Laughing Dragon is one of the few humans who were genuinely a hybrid of man and a dragon. As far as Raven knows, Laughing Dragon was legit because he was born out of wedlock between a human mother and a dragon father.

    Unlike others who were injected with obscene amounts of Dragon Blood and survived the process, Laughing Dragon was a natural and Laughing Dragon is his actual name, not his title.

    Many people doesn¡¯t know this fact about him, it wasn¡¯t that Laughing Dragon kept it a secret, his profile is avable for everyone¡¯s view. It¡¯s either they don¡¯t know or they don¡¯t believe it.

    ¡®Well, seeing as how there¡¯s a huge-ass Dragon right in front of me. I¡¯d say he wasn¡¯t lying.¡¯ Raven chuckled to himself.

    Laughing Dragon¡¯s true form follows the shape of an Earth Dragon ¨C the one that has four limbs, wings, horns, and long tail. His scales were golden as well as his irises. His ws were white and definitely sharp enough to cut space easily. He carried an aura of a True Dragon despite being half-human.

    Apparently, this is what he¡¯s hiding beneath all of that fat. Who could¡¯ve known?

    Anyways, Raven could feel the Divinity oozing out of his body. It carried the grandness and domineering aura of a dragon which undoubtedly is tied to the Divinity he condensed for himself.

    Gone was Empyrean Laughing Dragon. Now, it¡¯d be more apt to call him Divine Dragon, his title shall be the Divine Knight of Dragons since he condensed the Draconic Divinity.

    After his breakthrough, Laughing Dragon curled hisrge body and closed his eyes. No, he wasn¡¯t sleeping, he was consolidating his realm. It takes massive amounts of focus to do so, therefore he cannot be interrupted.

    Raven looked at the rest of his team and saw that they were still in trance. That was good, at least Laughing Dragon¡¯s breakthrough didn¡¯t disturb them in this critical juncture.

    Days passed by and Ravens stood guard, waiting for Laughing Dragon to consolidate is strength. By the end of the fifth day, he opened his eyes and the first thing he searched for was Raven.

    He reverted back to his human form, only now, he wasn¡¯t fat anymore. He looked just like a wizened old man.

    ¡°Well?¡± Raven scrutinized him, ¡°Should I be calling you Divine Dragon now?¡±

    ¡°You jest, Young Lord.¡± He replied with a heartyugh while caressing his beard. ¡°Though, that does sound nice but in the end, I¡¯m still the same old Laughing Dragon.¡±

    He sped his hand and bowed curtly to Raven.

    ¡°Thank you for this opportunity Young Lord. I promise that I will do my part at the uing war.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very wee, Laughing Dragon. I¡¯m d that you¡¯re on my side.¡± Raven smiled at him. ¡°But before we talk about the war, you should have some well-earned rest. You¡¯ve been in seclusion for a whole year, go on.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Young Lord. I¡¯ll excuse myself now.¡±

 Chapter 888: Consecutive Breakthroughs

    Chapter 888: Consecutive Breakthroughs

    Laughing Dragon¡¯s breakthrough served as a fuse that triggered the consecutive breakthroughs of the rest.

    A month after his Breakthrough, Anne began hers.

    Compared to Laughing Dragon, her breakthrough was more tame. She released strong fluctuations as well and also released a resplendent verdant light. Her aura resembled that of an Ancient Being, it was filled with kindness and matchless when ites to the sheer vitality it carried.

    Anne was favored by Nature so much that the vitality she possesses even exceeded that of Gaia ¨C who¡¯s a Heavenly Elk, a creature beloved by nature itself.

    A rainbow colored light shone from her core, from where she sat, a thick flora spawned and thrived.

    This is the effect of her Divinity, the Divinity of Nature. And just like Laughing Dragon, she too spend sometime consolidating her strength before waking up and was sent away by Raven after that.

    Next was Ellen.

    Hers was the most violent so far. Her breakthrough resembled a volcano eruption which nearly shook the Throne Room if it weren¡¯t for Raven holding it in ce.

    The sting heat that oozes out of her body even seeped out from the seal which was an impressive feat knowing how thorough Raven is when ites to his formations.

    Also, Ellen fully assimted with her Bloodline ¨C the Ancient Phoenix.

    This bloodline was earned by her during her adventures. She was recognized to be a perfect vessel for it so her resonance with the bloodline was impable.

    This allowed her to assimte and convert her blood to that of a true Phoenix, granting him more power and the aura of a True God Beast. Now that she has broken through the Divine Knight Stage, she condensed a Divinity that represents her new form.

    She is now a Divine Phoenix. Ellen is now considered as a True God Beast. Undying and Eternal. Her power will just increase even further at this point.

    Paul¡¯s breakthrough started at the same time as Ellen. Raven found this amusing since it looked like Paul was waiting for Ellen¡¯s breakthrough before starting his.

    Simr to Ellen, Paul is also an inheritor of a God Beast bloodline. Before this, Paul¡¯s bloodline was that of a Snake-tailed ck Tortoise and Ellen¡¯s were that of a Vermillion Bird. Two of which were part of the Divine Beast lineage but during their adventures, they encountered God Beast Bloodlines which they switched to.

    Ellen took the Phoenix Bloodline and Paul took the Eternal Tortoise.

    The Eternal Tortoise was a God Beast that is said to have existed since the dawn of time itself. It is a kind and peaceful beast that mostly spends its time slumbering through eons.

    It tends to be a pacifist despite possessing the God Beast Bloodline. It tends to run away if confronted by a strong enemy. That being said, don¡¯t let this faux-cowardice fool you. The Eternal Tortoise is a God Beast through and through. It will fight back when cornered. There¡¯s no limit to the damage it can cause if thoroughly provoked.

    Also, fun fact. Dragons used to be a part of its diet, unfortunately their kind was pushed to brink of extinction. Do whatever you want with that information.

    Simr to the Phoenix, the Eternal Tortoise is also undying, it even has ¡®Eternal¡¯ attached to its name so time couldn¡¯t constrict it. The most impressive thing about this god beast is its survivability and adaptability.

    There are only a few Eternal Tortoise that existed since the Dawn of Time but all of them are most likely still alive. There are none here since they probably migrated somewhere else being driven away by ignorant humans of the past. Still, those things were said to have the ability toe and go through a ck hole and remained unscathed.

    Paul assumed this kind of Divinity as well.

    Just like Ellen, Paul also resonated strongly with this bloodline, allowing him painless assimtion with it and managing to refine its purity to the point where he was able to assume its form.

    It was weird for Raven actually. He¡¯s having some troubles stretching the formation to fit these two within. Earlier, it was Laughing Dragon who reverted to his true form. Now he has a Phoenix and massive Turtle to look after to.

    Considering the fact that Paul¡¯s Eternal Tortoise form is much, much bigger than this? The Phoenix is big butpared to the size of an actual Eternal Tortoise, the Phoenix will resemble a bird perched at the back of old turtle.

    He really should expanded this space more.

    Thankfully, their breakthroughs happened at the same time. And now that he had seen it, Raven was now certain that Paul was indeed waiting for his wife¡¯s breakthrough.

    The two of them formed a strange connection, a resonance, at the start of their breakthrough which persisted until the end of it. If Raven would venture a guess, this probably bonded them even deeper than before and probably also shared their essences together.

    Now, Paul is also a Divine Knight. One that condensed the Divinity of Eternal Tortoise.

    Once their breakthrough subsided and they were done consolidating their strength, Raven also sent them away. For a short time after they left, peace returned to the Throne Room, but its bound to be cut short because Mark was about to make his own breakthrough.

    If Ellen¡¯s breakthrough was the most violent and Anne¡¯s was the most calm, Mark¡¯s breakthrough was domineering and extremely threatening.

    Crimson fog seeped out of his skin, dyeing the formation with its color. Simr to Ellen¡¯s heat, the threating aura also seeped out of the formation, even Raven found himself turning serious because of this.

    Still, this threatening aura has a will, Mark¡¯s Will. Raven could feel that this aura won¡¯t really harm him or anyone without Mark¡¯s consent so he¡¯s rxed. This just has something to do with what Mark¡¯s Divinity is.

    As Mark¡¯s breakthrough happened. Raven paid close attention to it. After a fee discerning gazes, Raven couldn¡¯t help but sigh when he realized what¡¯s going on.

    Mark had chosen to condense the Divinity of Crimson Death.

    The Crimson Death is probably the strongest facet of Death for it not only imposes the ¡®Concept of Death¡¯ to whoever or whatever Mark targeted, it also is unforgiving. The Crimson Death annihtes someone thoroughly, down to thest wisp of their soul and thoughts.

    It is cruel, sometimes seen as vile and corrupt but extremely effective at what it does. Still, this poses problem.

    Not for Raven, no.

    But for Anne, who carries the Divinity that stands at direct opposition of the Crimson Death.

    Mark probably nned this all along. Raven refused to believe that Mark doesn¡¯t know what he¡¯s doing, after all Mark¡¯s sharper than Paul.

    Raven wanted to hit Mark for doing this. He could¡¯ve said something but he didn¡¯t. In the end, the madman did it and it¡¯s toote for Raven to do anything.

    Although Mark and Anne would remain married and could still be together, he essentially sacrificed any further chances of Anne getting pregnant with another child of theirs.

    They won¡¯t be able to have kids anymore. No, Mark condensing the Crimson Death as his Divinity doesn¡¯t make him impotent. It¡¯s just that his and Anne¡¯s Divinity will sh with their union.

    Sure they can still sleep together but only if they seal their Divinities within themselves. Otherwise, they won¡¯t even be able to get close to each other without feeling repulsed due to the opposition of their Divinities.

    Knowing these two, Raven wouldn¡¯t be too surprised if they said that they knew what they were doing. They probably didn¡¯t mention anything because they don¡¯t want him to feel guilty.

    Raven somehow understands why Mark did this. Mark¡¯s aware that the uing war will be devastating and since he¡¯s as stubborn as a bull, he probably thought that, just like what Raven did so far, he should also sacrifice something in order to contribute with the safety of their home.

    The Crimson Death is a double-edged sword.

    The power of ignore the Law of Causality and directly impose the ¡®Concept of Death¡¯ to a target will certainly be useful in the uing war. Mark was geared to kill and now that he hase this far, Raven couldn¡¯t and wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him.

    He was ready to reap the lives of the invaders. And frankly, Raven was thankful for his dedication to their cause.

    Raven won¡¯t lie, Mark just increased their chances higher by doing this. If even him felt threatened by the power Mark held, surely the Abyssals will to as well.

    ¡°Does it really have to be this way?¡±

    Is what Raven asked upon Mark¡¯s emergence from his long seclusion.

    As a reply, Mark shrugged and told him:

    ¡°Maybe, maybe not. Its no longer important though.¡± Mark looked at his hands which were covered with a thin veil of crimson fog. ¡°What¡¯s done is done. No turning back from here.¡±

    Raven sighed and shook his head:

    ¡°Seal it away for now. Don¡¯t scare the kids and your wife on your way out.¡±

    Mark chuckled and said: ¡°Roger that, Boss.¡±

 Chapter 889: Crest of Order

    Chapter 889: Crest of Order

    ¡°¡­I wonder what¡¯s taking her so long?¡± Raven murmured as she stared at his wife who¡¯s still deep in her immersion.

    It¡¯s been two months since Mark¡¯s breakthrough. Raven initially thought that Luna would also have hers a month earlier but it seems that this wasn¡¯t the case.

    There had been no signs of her breakthrough just yet, not even a single fluctuation since she started. This was starting to worry Raven because something might¡¯ve happened that he¡¯s unaware of.

    Still he just can¡¯t barge in and interrupt her seclusion because that would endanger her as well. He could only watch and be ready if anything happens he supposes.

    From what he can see, Luna doesn¡¯t show signs of being lost or there were any injuries on her body. She¡¯s just in stasis because of how long her enlightenment has been going on.

    Raven already checked the others as well. None of them sustained any kind of injuries during their breakthrough and right now, all of them are enjoying a rare moment of peace and rest.

    They might¡¯ve just been sitting in seclusion all this time but their mind was working overtime, their exhaustion roots from the mind not their body and that takes even longer to heal so they really needed to rest.

    As for himself, Raven didn¡¯t bother with his research. At least for now, he doesn¡¯t. He wanted to keep his attention focused on his wife just in case something bad happens which he wishes doesn¡¯t ur.

    He was confident that Luna had a firm foundation before they began so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems, still he could also be wrong. He isn¡¯t omniscient, some things could still elude his gaze. He wished that he was and most of the times he is, but in reality, he wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°¡­if the Divinity she¡¯s pursuing has something to do with her specialty, which is Light, then it doesn¡¯t make sense why its taking her so long.¡± Raven thought to himself.

    ¡°But what if its not then?¡± He mused to himself. ¡°¡­I guess that exins it.¡±

    His confidence behind Luna¡¯s talents aren¡¯t unfounded. If its just sheer talent alone and perception, she could even give him a run for his money without how in-tune she is with her chosen path. It¡¯s as if she was born to walk the Path of Light itself, like she was Light¡¯s incarnation or something.

    This is why she was hailed as a Holy Maiden in the first ce. When ites to understand what Light can do, nobody in all of Divine Realm could hold a candle to Luna.

    Condensing a Divinity that resonates with on a spiritual level shouldn¡¯t be too difficult, especially when she¡¯s favored by it in the first ce. She shouldn¡¯t even feel any kind of resistance from it, if anything, it should be more than willing to be her Divinity, which means that it really shouldn¡¯t take this long.

    Raven was even expecting her breakthrough toe first before the others. However, it seems that there were unknown factors that¡¯s in y which takes a lot of time.

    It¡¯s times like this that Raven would¡¯ve loved to know what¡¯s going on, unfortunately he doesn¡¯t and could only wait until she shows some kind of reaction.

    ¡°Thankfully, looking at her doesn¡¯t feel tiring.¡± Raven murmured in amusement.

    Since he doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen, the wisest thing he could do for now is just observe. He¡¯ll get a chance to understand things eventually anyways.

    That chance, came after two more months of waiting.

    One day, Raven was startled by a stifling fluctuations being released by his wife. He stood up in rm and was ready to intervene should things look bad. However, before he could do so, something happened that stunned him.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Raven was gobsmacked.

    He watched as Luna began floating in the air as a brilliant crest formed at her bosom.

    The crest was fitted perfectly there. It was circr and filled with numerous colors that swerved,bined and separated. It was a mirage and it is something that doesn¡¯t just appear to anyone.

    ¡°The Crest of Order?¡± Raven¡¯s eyes widened. He almost couldn¡¯t believe what he¡¯s seeing right now but all is disyed before him, preventing him from doubting it even further.

    ¡°She was chosen by the Order? Why?¡± Raven was confused.

    His confusion was understandable. Just like what he mentioned earlier, this crest doesn¡¯t just appear out of nowhere or randomly. In fact, only one person is able to have this kind of crest for the entire lifespan of a realm.

    The Crest of Order is basically the representation of the Heavenly Law Order. Bearing this crest means that the bestowed person will be the future hope of the realm.

    This crest holds the very essence of Divine Realm itself. Should the realm fall in peril and destroyed, this crest will act as a seed for which another Divine Realm could form.

    Basically, Luna became the host of future Divine Realm. She has to nurture this whether she likes it or not since its the only way she¡¯ll be able to use her power due to the crest being the symbol of her own Divinity.

    With that being said, why was she chosen then? What¡¯s going on here?

    Raven didn¡¯t know what to feel about this situation. On one hand, he sees this an opportunity and probably a sign. On the other hand, he wanted toin. Why her of all people? Why does it have to be her?

    He can¡¯t stop this even if he wanted to. Even if he could, he still has to respect his wife¡¯s wishes since there is a chance that she imed this herself.

    Raven could only watch as Luna¡¯s aura steadily climbed, reaching the Divine Knight Realm and even transcending it a bit further.

    As shees down from the high, shended on the ground and slowly opened her eyes.

    At this point, Raven removed the formation and rushed towards her side.

    He was the first one she sees. Luna noticed that Raven looked worried and conflicted. It¡¯s obvious by the way he fusses over her, asking her if she was okay and if she feels fine. Luna chuckled and held his hand, saying:

    ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure. You don¡¯t feel weird don¡¯t you? Do you need rest?¡±

    Luna shook her head briefly and said: ¡°I can still go on. We should talk first before I rest, you look like you need it.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­you really can¡¯t me me for that.¡± He frowned, ¡°Did you even know what happened to you?¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Luna nodded. She caressed the crest on her bosom and smiled. ¡°Trust me, I know. The Heavenly Law Order gave me this option and I decided to take it, willingly of course. So don¡¯t fuss anymore, it¡¯s already here. You can¡¯t remove this.¡±

    Raven sighed after hearing her say that. It seems that his guess was correct. She did imed this herself. She chose this path and there¡¯s nothing he can do to talk her out of this.

    ¡°Forget it.¡± Raven sighed again, ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s already there and I can¡¯t remove it. We might as well take advantage of it, just in case.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Luna nodded, ¡°On a different note, me having this is a major boost to out strength as well. I¡¯ll have you know that I have full control over the Counter-Guardians right now because of this, so don¡¯t you worry about my safety. We can do this. I believe in us.¡±

    With Luna being the host of the Heavenly Law Order¡¯s seed, she basically became the representative of the Order itself. The Counter Guardians, beings that have been formed from the husks of the Abyssals for use to fight against them, falls under herplete control so there¡¯s really no need to worry about her safety.

    In addition to this, being the representative of Orderes with many more benefits such as being able to peer through the very thoughts of the Heavenly Law Order itself without suffering its wrath and even using its might ording to her own wishes.

    Suffice to say, within the Divine Realm, Luna is invincible as she¡¯s under itsplet3 protection.

    And if she managed to nurture the seed given to her, she will also be the Mother of that new Divine Realm, of course with her husband being the Father.

    All in all, this isn¡¯t really so bad.

    ¡°Alright, what¡¯s done is done I guess.¡± Raven sighed, ¡°Geez, you and Mark are really¡­ugh.¡±

    Raven was still feeling a bit down from Mark¡¯s choices and now this.

    He understands why they did it but still¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that I don¡¯t like this.¡± Raven stated, ¡°But it¡¯s already here, so we might as well. Just make sure that youe to me, alright? I won¡¯t allow you to nurture that thing alone.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Luna nodded, she gave Raven a hug and felt exhaustion hitting her. ¡°Thank you for believing in me. You¡¯re the best.¡±

    He could only sigh with that. He didn¡¯t say anything and just carried his wife out of the throne room and into their private chambers so that she can rest.

    Raven will allow this to happen since its already here, but still he didn¡¯t like it. Not because it was done behind his back¡­

    Its because he didn¡¯t like the signs that are being shown to him.

 Chapter 890: Responsibilities

    Chapter 890: Responsibilities

    Raven left Luna resting in their private chambers.

    He also informed their daughter that Luna¡¯s out of her seclusion and is now resting. He knows that Vanessa missed her mom these days so he made sure to tell her how she¡¯s doing.

    As for the rest of the team, they¡¯re resting too. But for Raven himself, he wasn¡¯t done, not yet. He probably won¡¯t be for long time.

    He returned back to the throne room but instead of restarting with his research, he just closed his eyes and got immersed on his own thoughts.

    Don¡¯t get him wrong, he was d that his wife and friends broke through and held enough power to protect themselves. However, due to some reasons, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to feel genuinely happy for them.

    This goes especially well for Mark and Luna.

    Mark sacrificed his and his wife¡¯s future chance of having another child just to do his part at the uing war.

    Luna was chosen to be the host of a budding Divine Realm.

    None of this really made him happy. He didn¡¯t want them to make this much sacrifice but they took it anyways.

    He didn¡¯t take this as a sign that they were losing faith in him, that they didn¡¯t believe Raven¡¯s ability to protect and save them when timees.

    Raven just didn¡¯t like the fact that they have to go this far, willingly making great sacrifices, just so that they can help him. He didn¡¯t want them to do that but they did anyways, and it¡¯s probably Raven¡¯s fault since they saw him as a role-model.

    He really can¡¯t say much about it either, that¡¯d be hypocritical of him. He wasn¡¯t the only one who can make sacrifices for the sake of the greater good, he himself said that protecting their home is a responsibility shared amongst them.

    They could sacrifice some things too in order to help. Raven just didn¡¯t want them to do that.

    In a sense, that kind of defeats the purpose of why sacrificed his personal matters in the first ce. He did it so that they won¡¯t have to. Yet at the end, they still did.

    The worst part of it all is that, Raven didn¡¯t like the signs that¡¯s being given to him.

    Especially the part where the Heavenly Law Order did a pre-emptive move and ensured its continuity by cing its Origin Seed for his wife to nurture.

    This might sound like paranoia speaking but this tells him that the Heavenly Law Order itself knew that it¡¯ll be in danger for the uing war. It is threatened to the point where it needed to make sure it will continue to exist which is why this n was hatched this early.

    Its as if the Heavenly Law Order doesn¡¯t believe that Humanity¡¯s efforts wouldn¡¯t be enough to ensure its safety that it had to take matters in its own hand.

    That¡¯s somewhat insulting.

    Raven worked his ass off to make sure that their preparations were ready ahead of time. He risked his life multiple times, sacrificed many things in order to ensure that his home will have a decent chance at survival yet his efforts weren¡¯t to the Order¡¯s satisfaction?

    Is it really this demanding? Does it even have the right to be this demanding?

    Well, for the most part, this is what concerned Raven the most.

    He really couldn¡¯t me the Order for taking action. If he¡¯s on the position, he¡¯d probably do the same, probably do even more just in case. He also didn¡¯t need to confront it to demand answers, he could somehow guess it on his own.

    Its not like the Order doesn¡¯t appreciate their efforts. It just did this just in case. A back-up n, more likely. Just to be sure that if, and only if, the situation gets dire and their fears turned out to be true, it¡¯s life wouldn¡¯t be cut short and it can exist in a different setting.

    It makes it even more difficult for him to me it when he knew that he himself would do something like this is he was on the same position.

    This is why instead of demanding answers from the Order, he just returned to the throne room to calm himself down.

    He needed to be here anyways since he needs to concentrate.

    Like he mentioned to them earlier, what¡¯s done is done. He can¡¯t undo their actions. Even if he could, he has to respect their choices and they¡¯d probably do it all over again so it¡¯ll be useless.

    What he could do instead is to make sure that their sacrifices don¡¯t go to waste. Even if the signs told him that this war is going to be really tragic, that doesn¡¯t really give him or them any other options. They will still have to confront it eventually.

    The smartest thing to do is to make sure to prepare as much as they could.

    Nobody, not even Raven himself, knows how much time they have left. They could be hereter today or a centuryter. Either way, the only thing left for them to do, is to make sure that they¡¯re well prepared.

    ¡°¡­he was upset, wasn¡¯t he.¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t look like he was, but knowing him for so long, I know that he is. I feel bad but it has to be done. He knows it too.¡±

    Mark and Anne were still awake. They lied down on their bed, trying to rest but their thoughts made it a bit difficult to do so.

    Right now, their Divinities are sealed. Otherwise, they won¡¯t even be able to be this close to each other.

    ¡°We gotta be strong.¡± Anne whispered while her head is buried on Mark¡¯s chest.

    Mark caressed his wife¡¯s hair and hummed in affirmation.

    He didn¡¯t even say anything when he felt his shirt getting wet due to her tears.

    Mark knows. Raven wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯s upset with this. Both of them do too.

    They¡¯re probably in position to be sad since they were the ones who decided to do this but it can¡¯t really be helped.

    For the safety of their people and their family¡­

    To achieve their dreams of evesting peace¡­

    Sacrifices must be made.

    Both of them understands this.

    For Mark, he felt the call of the Crimson Death a long time ago. It¡¯s no coincidence that he managed to tame the Crimson Lightning in the first ce.

    Anne knows this for a long time now, and this is probably the only secret they didn¡¯t tell to their friends. The two of them don¡¯t even talk about it that much to begin with but for Mark, there¡¯s no way he could just ignore its calls.

    When their seclusion started, that¡¯s when the call became louder. He was already anticipating this to be the case so he talked to Anne before it all happened.

    It was a difficult topic for the two.

    Both of them didn¡¯t want to do it but they also know that its needed. They had a small fight over it but in the end, they made the sacrifice. They both agreed that they won¡¯t me each other or anyone for this but it just very hard for them¡­

    Mark could still remember his promise to give Anne a big and happy family. Now he feels ashamed since he only managed to give her one child and that¡¯s about it.

    Both of them also knew that Jeanne would love to have a little sister or brother. Sadly, that¡¯s very unlikely to happen now.

    How would they even tell her about this? Could they even tell her in the first ce?

    It¡¯s just so difficult.

    He probably would¡¯ve liked it even better if Anne decided to me him for everything but she didn¡¯t.

    She can¡¯t.

    They could only act that they¡¯re not affected by this at the surface. Both of them knew that deep down, they were really affected. They¡¯d feel this scar for a very long time.

    All they could really do, is to make this sacrifice worth the price.

    They have to be strong since if not them, who will?

    ¡°Raven wouldn¡¯t tell Vanessa about this wouldn¡¯t he?¡± Anne asked. ¡°Cause he did, Jeanne would probably hear about it too. I¡¯m not ready to tell her just yet. I don¡¯t even know when I¡¯ll be ready to bepletely honest.¡±

    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t do that.¡± Mark replied to her with a firm belief in his voice. ¡°At most, he¡¯d probably urge us to tell Jeanne but chances of that happening is low in itself so no need to even mention about him overstepping his boundaries.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll leave that choice to us.¡± Mark added, ¡°He gets it. He understands why we did it in the first ce. I¡¯m sure he knows how to keep his thoughts to himself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Anne nodded and tightened her hold on his body, seemingly afraid of letting go as if he¡¯s going to leave her too.

    Mark didn¡¯t say anything and just quietly returned the embrace. He closed his eyes and tried his best to keep his mind out of it.

    What¡¯s done is done. No turning back. They made a decision and that¡¯s final. As adults, they have to be responsible for their actions and that¡¯s precisely what they¡¯re trying to do right now.

    It¡¯ll be difficult, but they¡¯ll move-on from this.

    Mark knows they would¡­

 Chapter 891: Vacation

    Chapter 891: Vacation

    With the seclusion of all Dawn Council Members over, there isn¡¯t really much for them to do at this point.

    The council could function on its own with barely any need for their presence, this was already proven with their recent absence. The headquarters were fine and there¡¯s not much paper work needed to be taken care of.

    Using this period of peace, the others decided that they should best spend it with family. And that¡¯s precisely what they¡¯re doing right now.

    All of them, minus Raven and Laughing Dragon, brought the kids with them to roam Divine Realm. They wanted to spend quality time together while they still can since nobody knows when their enemies wille knocking at their door.

    Laughing Dragon remained at the council to lead its operations. He doesn¡¯t have a family to be with unfortunately, but he doesn¡¯t seem to be bothered about that fact. He values his work and responsibilities in the council more than that.

    As for Raven, well he¡¯s going to have to spend most of his time in seclusion anyways.

    Luna and Vanessa knew why since he told them. They knew that Raven was searching for a way to breakthrough to the Realm Beyond Divinity.

    Its an impossible task for most people but Raven won¡¯t allow that to stop him. He already has a clue on how he will get there, he just needed to iron out the finer details and eventually, he¡¯ll get there.

    Still, this is going to take a lot of time. There¡¯s no precise timeframe since it¡¯ll ultimately depend on Raven¡¯s perception and hard work.

    They already made him promise toe out every once in a while to breathe some air. Raven was already nning on doing that anyway so there no need to worry. He wasn¡¯t thinking that he¡¯ll be able to reach that stage in one sitting anyway.

    Once they finished their talk, Raven didn¡¯t waste time and returned back to his own seclusion.

    As his seclusion urred, there are some things that are happening to the people close to him.

    First and foremost, Stephen finally decided to take the leap of faith and decided that he wanted to walk down the Path of Knighthood.

    Stephen, just like what Raven predicted, informed his Avatar about his decision. And that very same day is when Stephen finally understood the weird things that urred to him not too long ago.

    No, Raven still hasn¡¯t revealed his actual identity to Stephen. It is way too early for that. But Stephen did know that he, or his Avatar rather, is extremely powerful. So much so that he can look down on all cultivators that exists in the Grand Ancestral ne.

    Stephen also finally know that he encountered his inheritance way back then. Him and Raven be connected the moment he touched that orb, Raven just took his time in introducing Stephen to the world of cultivation in order to not shock him so much.

    He also didn¡¯t want to force Stephen into this path, he didn¡¯t want to deprive him of his free will unlike other experts of his caliber.

    Due to that, Stephen did be his disciple. He actually descended to his home in order to personally take him as a disciple.

    The moment Stephen greeted his as Master, a Karmic Link was formed between them. Raven could instantly notice how different Stephen¡¯s future became when the link was formed, but since he¡¯s by his side, he¡¯ll do his best to raise this little guy up to be a formidable person in future.

    And just like that, Stephen¡¯s training under Raven began. From theoretical knowledge down to practical exercised, Stephen faced it all. Raven didn¡¯t hold back his punches which nearly drove Stephen to the brink of madness, the only salvation the kid has was the fact that he could truly feel himself getting more powerful as the day goes on.

    His training is scheduled and monitored closely. Even if Raven wasn¡¯t present on Stephen¡¯s side, he has to follow the routine he was given or else he¡¯ll be punished.

    At the same time that Stephen¡¯s training began, Kyle ¨C Raven¡¯s other disciple, fell into a trap that could potentially injure him gravely.

    He and his team were chasing after a wanted criminal when Kyle suddenly triggered the trap set-up by the said criminal. Originally, the trap wasn¡¯t deadly, in fact Kyle could¡¯ve brute force his way out of it but a series of coincidences lead him very far away from home.

    The criminal he was chasing had stolen a treasure that could be used to instantly travel to any ce within the Divine Realm so long as the owner of said treasure had been in that ce before.

    Originally, the criminal was going to use this treasure to escape but before he could do so, Kyle intercepted him and his attacknded to the treasure which caused it to malfunction.

    It killed the criminal but it also warped Kyle all the way to the Outer Worlds.

    The Avatars already informed Raven about this, but Raven himself didn¡¯t go out to save him.

    The reason being is that, he could still sense where Kyle was. He isn¡¯t too far away from the Divine Realm, in fact he¡¯s close to the Outposts he built back then.

    He¡¯s in no grave danger so there¡¯s no reason to go out and save him just yet. He left him there since Kyle could really use this as an experience to temper himself.

    Kyle sadly has met some bottlenecks in his cultivation. He had been stuck for quite sometime now, and this situation might just be able to give him that necessary push to ovee his limits.

    Still, Raven reminded him that he¡¯s not allowed to make a breakthrough outside of the Divine Realm. If he did that, he¡¯ll be branded as an Outsider and he¡¯ll never be able to return.

    Kyle acknowledged this and thus his adventures to the Outer Worlds promptly begins. He¡¯ll be out here for a while, especially since he took it as a challenge to find his own way back eventually.

    With Raven¡¯s disciples having their own training, Vanessa herself fell into a bit of a dilemma.

    She has been feeling weird ever since she saw her mother came out of her seclusion.

    Luna has the Crest of Order. The very thing that gives Vanessa those weird feeling.

    She can¡¯t articte what exactly feels weird about it. On one side, she felt drawn into it like moth to the mes, on the other hand, it feels too much for her to handle.

    This didn¡¯t really prevented her from spending some quality time with Luna but it made things a bit awkward. The worst part of this is that, she doesn¡¯t know why she¡¯s feeling this.

    She wanted to ask Luna about it, but for some reason, something prevents her from doing that. It¡¯s either she can¡¯t find the right timing to ask or the thought escapes her.

    This hasn¡¯t happened before, and that¡¯s precisely why Vanessa doesn¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on.

    She could probably ask her father about it but he¡¯s in seclusion and would rarelye out. She didn¡¯t want to disturb him if necessary given how risky it is. She didn¡¯t want to be the cause of his failure.

    All of this, basically made her set it all aside. She thought that its fine since it¡¯s just mildly bothering her. She could deal with a little bit of difort so there¡¯s no need to think too much about it.

    Besides, if things goes rough, she could always go them for answers. It won¡¯t be toote by then so she just threw it at the back of her head and just lived in the moment.

    Right now, her along with her mom, aunts and best friends are roaming Divine Realm. They¡¯re on a vacation, wearing disguises so as to experience a little bit of normalcy.

    They went to ces they¡¯ve never been to before through the Realm Door. They mostly spend time looking for vistas andndmarks. Just admiring the beauty of Humanity¡¯s home.

    They¡¯ve met several people, talked to them, listened to their mundane problems, had some enriching experiences that ultimately deepened their view at the world.

    Its strange since they didn¡¯t go out to fight. The trip itself was mostly rxing and unwinding but it gave the youngsters a more profound understanding than a hot-blooded fight.

    As for the Adults themselves, this was a vacation for them. The girls went shopping for the most part and the boys just travelled around, looking for ces to chill and rx.

    They don¡¯t have a specific destination. They just went along with their impulses since there isn¡¯t anywhere in the Divine Realm they couldn¡¯t go.

    Eventually, their vacation lead back to them visiting their home. The Grand Ancestral ne.

    Vanessa was initially shocked to discover her father¡¯s Avatar somewhere in here but when he told her about his possible Legacy Disciple, she decided to not interfere for now.

    She¡¯ll meet this little junior eventually. For now, he still has a long way to go and Vanessa has a vacation to return to.

 Chapter 892: Simulation gone wrong

    Chapter 892: Simtion gone wrong

    Raven sighed after discarding yet another failure.

    He looked over at his consciousness and saw that it¡¯s filled with discarded sigil of his past attempts on cracking down the path to transcendence.

    How many was here, Raven can¡¯t remember anymore. He has stopped counting since the counter went beyond the thousands.

    He pinched the bridge of his nose and decided to empty his thoughts for a bit. He had been experiencing bad headaches time and time again ever since he started this and with how little his progress is, it¡¯s for damn sure that this won¡¯t be thest of them.

    Another year has passed since his team became full fledged Divine Knights. Raven had exited his seclusion twice during those times, spending weeks up to a month to stay with his family for a break before returning back here in order to continue his research.

    He had made a little bit of progress since then but the end is still nowhere near his sight. He¡¯d be in here for a long time, he had already expected that so he¡¯s way pastining at this point.

    ¡°¡­I should clear up space here. All these things makes my mindscape a but cluttered.¡± Raven stated to himself as he went ahead and do just that.

    He doesn¡¯t have any ns on wiping everything that¡¯s in here. He¡¯ll just get rid of the useless ones since there¡¯s a lot of them and they¡¯re making this ce look bad and unorganized.

    Those that have some potential will be left on the side until they¡¯re either used or deemed as a dead-end as well.

    With that said, Raven began clearing up his mindscape right away.

    He first went through the contents of each sigils before decided whether to keep it or discard it.

    This also serves as a refresher for him. At least, he was retracing his steps. If he had missed out on something useful, he¡¯ll notice it eventually.

    This process took days toplete. There were just too many of these sigils around. Once he was done, he briefly arranged those that are left ording to their potential just so that he knew which one to look for if an inspiration hits him or just for reference.

    Then, he¡¯s back at it again with the creation of sigils and simtions.

    It¡¯s clear that Raven had gotten so used into creating this sigils due to how he uninterested his face looked like.

    At this point, this was reflex for him. He had created so many of these so far that he was even doing them in his dreams at this point.

    One notable thing about this is that, even though Raven looked bored while doing this, the quality of his work never faltered.

    His work was consistent. Not even a fluctuation of difference from the previous ones he made earlier. It was clear that he had mastered this craftpletely that he can even do it instinctually.

    And as sigils are just one facet of the Runic Arts ¨C the very basis of Raven¡¯s power, he was also fortifying his foundations with these constant practice.

    See, upon reaching the stage where Raven currently stands. The sub-realms of the Divine Knight Stage barely had any importance to him, especially when he follows an unorthodox cultivation route.

    Whether he¡¯s faced with an early-Divine Knight Expert or a peak-Divine Knight powerhouse, doesn¡¯t really make any difference to him.

    He¡¯d defeat them all the same way as he did his enemies before.

    By sealing them of course.

    Raven¡¯s knowledge when ites to Runic Arts were uncontested and will remain like so for a very long time. He was matchless when ites to this and that¡¯s what separates him from the rest.

    The things he can do by just arranging seals and runes in a particr formation was nigh limitless.

    With his seals, Raven could circumvent Laws and alter the very fabrics of reality itself.

    This is the foundation of his strength, and even as he did these mundane and repetitive act of forming sigils for his simtions, he is constantly strengthening his foundations, pushing the distance between him and hispetitors even wider.

    ¡°What should I use for these next sigil?¡± Raven hummed as his mind roughly went through the things he used before.

    ¡°I guess, I¡¯ll try another batch of Mediums again. The Prities showed the most promise after all. There are still some mediums that I¡¯ve yet to use. Maybe one of them, with the correct ratio, willplete the form.¡±

    The Prities that Raven mentioned referred to the reaction of two opposing elements or Laws. For example; Fire and Water doesn¡¯t mix well with each other and their sh often results to the birth of another element.

    The concept of Raven¡¯s method to reach the Path of the Absolute, is to mix Order and Chaos. Two pr opposites that, if shed, will either result into extinction or greatness.

    Raven wanted thetter part of that of course. But in order to do so is very difficult.

    He figured that there has to a Medium for this process. Something that will stand in the middle of the Pr Opposites that will prevent the violent reaction and instead, help with the merging process.

    Of course, this process is just the shell of the entire thing. There are couple of nuances that will be a variable in this event which could either turn this to a sess or a failure.

    One such factors is Raven himself.

    Don¡¯t forget that this process will ultimately take ce within him. While he might be able to seed in formting the correct ratio of Medium for the merging process, it shouldn¡¯t be surprising that it also requires Raven to survive that process as well.

    Raven wasn¡¯t suicidal. Far from it, actually. He didn¡¯t want to sacrifice his own life just to pursue the path of the Absolute. He wants to be alive and be the embodiment of it. Not be its sacrificial pawn.

    At this point, Raven had used many kinds of elements for the Medium. He had tried the Basic Elements,binations of it, stand-alone concepts or merged ones, paradigms, and etc. None managed to get him to result he wanted so far and he¡¯s being honest, he¡¯s running out of options.

    For the span of over ten hours, Raven repeatedly tested another batch of mediums. All of them were failures.

    Raven even did some of the multiple times with their ratios adjusted and they still failed.

    He had probably created over ten simtions just for this day but nothing really gave him even an ounce of progress. It just gave him headache that¡¯s all.

    Raven could feel himself getting tired so for the following day, his focus was a bitx.

    He did another tests despite his exhausted mind and soul. The sigils still came out well but due his focus greatly weakened by his fatigue, a mishap happened during one of simtions.

    He forgot to add a Medium for the merging process.

    By the time he discovered this, it was already toote. The simtion already began and he already counted this as a failure.

    But¡­

    ¡°Eh¡­?¡±

    Something peculiar happened as he watched.

    Typically, if the process was a failure, Raven would see his own body exploding bits and pieces with no hope of rebirth in sight. This wasn¡¯t the case for this particr simtion though.

    Raven saw his simted counterpart bleeding profusely from all orifices. A rather ugly sight but he had seen worse so this didn¡¯t bother him that much. It¡¯s what he discovered was what truly bothered him.

    Raven couldn¡¯t sense the aura of his simtion ¨C no, it¡¯s more like, itpletely escaped the realm of his understanding.

    It was bizarre but things still look bad as his own simtion never stopped bleeding. He even saw his chest bursting and turning into too goo with how strong the impact was.

    And then the simtion opened his eyes defiantly and stared at Raven directly, much to his surprise. This fiery gaze was then followed by a brief nod before the simtionpletely fell apart, signifying another failure.

    Raven just felt his world rocked by that sudden event.

    He was left there with his jaw ajar from the sheer disbelief he felt.

    The gears on his hear started turning. His thoughts turned into a blur andter a storm from which ideas were birthed.

    That simtion was a total failure. So much so that he didn¡¯t even manage to recover the sigil he just used as it was destroyed by that process. Which also means that he had no reference of that event.

    But even if that was the case, Raven felt jubnt.

    Yes, that might¡¯ve been a failure but it brought him so much information that he didn¡¯t even know what to do with them.

    Hints started appearing in his mind. For once, he could hear the beckoning of that realm which caused him to fell great excitement.

    With a manic grin on his face, he started writing seals which depicted what he had just seen.

    It would seem that Raven won¡¯t be out of his seclusion for a good chunk of time.

 Chapter 893: Vanessas Worries

    Chapter 893: Vanessa¡¯s Worries

    ¡°Mom? Has Dade out recently?¡±

    ¡°No, Sweetheart. He hasn¡¯t gone out yet. Not even a shadow, really. Why? Do you need something from him?¡±

    ¡°Not really.¡± Vanessa sighed, ¡°I¡¯m just getting worried you know? It¡¯s been three years since thest time he came out. I¡¯m starting to think that something happened to him.¡±

    Yes, that¡¯s right. It has been three whole years since thest time Raven came out of his seclusion and spent time with his family. It has been that long since thest time they were updated about what¡¯s happening to him and how far he hade on his quest.

    During the first year, Luna and Vanessa only found it weird but the longer time goes on without him showing up, the more worried his daughter got.

    ¡°Oh, Sweetheart.¡± Luna raised her hand and brought up the sigil that represented her and Raven¡¯s marriage. ¡°The sigil looks fine. This means that your father is doing just fine as well. If something happened to him, I¡¯d know for sure, so don¡¯t worry too much okay?¡±

    ¡°Maybe he just received an inspiration and entered a state of enlightenment.¡± Luna suggested, ¡°You know how that goes. Nobody could really say how long they¡¯llst.¡±

    ¡°¡­but three years?¡± Vanessa hesitantly wondered.

    ¡°There were some people who remained in that state for decades, my love.¡± Luna chuckled, ¡°I even heard rumors that there¡¯s this one person who remained in that state for a whole century. They were so in tune with nature that it imed their unmoving body and encased with a huge tree in order to not disturb them.¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not saying that your father¡¯s seclusion willst that long. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d like that either. I¡¯m just saying that we don¡¯t really know how long this state canst and being impatient won¡¯t do anything so just rx. He¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s your father we¡¯re talking about here.¡±

    Vanessa couldn¡¯t really argue with that. So, despite missing her father dearly, she can¡¯t do anything other than to wait until he eventuallyes out and at least say hello to them.

    She joined her mother for an afternoon tea. This was one of the days where they were idle so they can freely spend their time ording to how they please.

    Well, aside from missing Raven, Vanessa really had a reason why she wanted to see him as soon as possible. This has something to do with what¡¯s bugging her all this time.

    See, Vanessa tried to ignore it. She really did.

    She did her best to not pay attention to it and focus on more important things but as time passes, she felt the urging growing stronger and she doesn¡¯t know how long she¡¯ll be able to endure this.

    The urge to answer the calling of the Crest of Order is bing a little too difficult to resist.

    Luna, the bearer of the Crest, wasrgely unaware that her daughter feels this way, which is weird considering she¡¯s her mother.

    And trust Vanessa, she tried. Oh, she really tried to tell her about this. However, much to her disappointment, whenever she tries telling her about this, its either there will be a Divine Intervention or there¡¯s this mysterious force that doesn¡¯t allow her to speak of it.

    She had lost count on how many times she tried to tell Luna but whenever the chance came, her mouth refuses to open. She can¡¯t articte her worries properly. No matter how much she prepared herself, even going as far as writing everything she wanted to say on a paper, its of no use.

    She couldn¡¯t do it. She even tried telling her friends but to her surprise, her words turned into gibberish whenever she tried to. She had used most of her options so far and nothing worked.

    And it¡¯s been bothering her ever since.

    Vanessa has no idea what she should do. The call was so strong that she¡¯s nearly on the verge of giving in to it. She¡¯s just resisting it because she really wanted someone¡¯s opinion about it first because this might be potentially dangerous for her.

    Without anybody left to run to, Vanessa could only rely on her father. But just as luck would have it, he¡¯s probably not going to show up anytime soon. Leaving her to endure this fearsome temptation a bit longer than necessary.

    While Vanessa epted that she¡¯ll have to endure this torture for much longer. It seems that fate has other ns for her today.

    ¡°Why does my Princess look so down?¡±

    Vanessa sharply turned her head to the source of that voice and was jubnt to see her father walking in strides towards their location with a weak and visibly exhausted smile on his face.

    ¡°Dad!! You¡¯re out! Finally!¡±

    Vanessa nearly cried. She stood up from her seat and immediately ran towards him and gave him a hug.

    ¡°Woah, there!!¡± Raven chuckled and patted Vanessa¡¯s head. ¡°Did my little princess miss me that much?¡±

    ¡°Yes! You¡¯ve been in there for so long!¡±

    Raven smiled wryly and looked apologetic towards her and his wife.

    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Raven sighed, ¡°I got a brief moment of inspiration and I kind of ran away with it. I got carried away just a bit and forgot to rest. But no worries, I¡¯m here now.¡±

    Raven then walked towards the table and sat next to Luna. He kissed his wife¡¯s forehead and Luna ced a hand on his cheeks.

    ¡°You should rest.¡± She said softly upon seeing how exhausted Raven looked.

    She wondered how he even had the energy to walk all the way here just to be with them. She could feel the weight bearing down on him and can see how little energy he has left.

    ¡°I will in a bit. I just missed you too a lot. Let me be here for a while.¡± Raven smiled and ced his head on his wife¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°How were during these past years, Princess? Anything you want to tell me?¡± Raven asked softly, his voice sounded really hoarse that Luna had to give him something to drink.

    ¡°Actually¡­yes, there are some things I need to tell you.¡± Vanessa nodded on her seat.

    ¡°Okay, go on then. I¡¯m listening.¡±

    Vanessa then took a deep breath and hoped deep down in her heart for this to work.

    ¡°ThethingonMom¡¯schestisbotheringme!¡±

    Raven raised a brow and blinked at his daughter. He shook his head briefly and asked: ¡°Sorry, Princess. You went a little to fast, I didn¡¯t catch that. Say it again, please?¡±

    Vanessa on the other hand looked shocked, she whispered: ¡°Oh my god! It worked! Yes! I knew it!¡±

    ¡°What worked, Sweetheart?¡± Luna was confused.

    Vanessa then took a couple of deep breaths and said:

    ¡± ¡®The thing on Mom¡¯s chest is bothering me.¡¯ That¡¯s what I said earlier. Oh gosh, I really worked! I can finally tell you about it! Oh my god!¡±

    Raven visibly perked up upon hearing that. He then looked at Luna with a questioning gaze.

    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me, this is also the first time I¡¯m hearing this.¡± She told him after seeing that look on his face.

    Raven turned to his daughter and asked: ¡°Care to exin more, Princess?¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡±

    Vanessa then proceeded to tell her about the feeling she got from the Crest of Order. She told them how it started and how she felt it getting stronger everyday. She also told them how she struggled to tell Luna since there¡¯s something prevent her from doing so.

    Luna looked visibly shocked, now she gets it. She initially wondered why Vanessa has been acting weird around hertely and now she knows why. She initially thought that she might¡¯ve been in a rtionship with someone and just finds it difficult to tell her about it. However, it seems that that wasn¡¯t the case.

    ¡°¡­that¡¯s why I¡¯ve been waiting for you toe out, because you¡¯re the only option I have. And it worked! I don¡¯t know why ¡®whatever that mysterious force is¡¯ stopped with its intervention but it¡¯s okay now, I finally said it.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Raven trailed off, eyes gleaming with suspicion and a little bit of irritation. However none of this was directed to Vanessa.

    ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t able to help sooner, Princess.¡± Raven smiled and patted her head once again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Daddy¡¯s here. It¡¯ll all be fine now. Let me take a good look at you.¡±

    Vanessa then stayed still. She watched as Raven¡¯s eyes shone with a rainbow colored light as he scanned her body and aura.

    He then switched his gaze to Luna, who looking a bit guilty and worried about the situation. Raven started at the crest embedded on her bosom, ring at it as if he wanted to punch a hole in it.

    Momentster, the rainbow colored light in his eyes disappeared and sigh escaped his lips.

    ¡°How was it?¡± Luna was the first one to ask.

    Raven smiled weakly at her and replied:

    ¡°It¡¯s all right.¡± Raven shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s just a little bit of misunderstanding really. She¡¯s not in danger or anything. Somebody¡¯s just getting anxious to start and cannot wait for me.¡±

    ¡°You mean¡­¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Raven nodded and sighed tiredly again. ¡°The Order wants us to feed the crest already.¡±

 Chapter 894: Punishing the Crest

    Chapter 894: Punishing the Crest

    ¡°Everything¡¯s fine, Princess.¡± Raven smiled to ease down Vanessa¡¯s worries. ¡°I believe your Mom already told you about the Crest of Order right?¡±

    Vanessa nodded. She indeed knew what its all about. Frankly, she was awed by this concept. She didn¡¯t expect that her own mother would be able to wield this kind of power. That being said, it is also a heavy burden to carry.

    ¡°The reason why you feel such a calling is due to your natural talents.¡± Raven exined. ¡°By now, you should know that the mysteries of the Heavenly Order isn¡¯t really much of a secret when ites to you, no?¡±

    Vanessa nodded again. This was indeed the case.

    This actually confused her for a very long time. A lot, and she meant a LOT, of people told her that discovering the mysteries of Heaven and Earth was something that can only be encountered, not sought after. The Concepts and Laws were elusive and that it will take a very long time to truly understand even a single one of its many branches.

    This wasn¡¯t entirely the case for Vanessa though¡­

    See, just like what Raven said, the mysteries of Concepts and Laws weren¡¯t truly much for her.

    At first she didn¡¯t understand why. Everyone said that it was hard but for her, it was simple. In fact, there¡¯s barely an effort on her side. It¡¯s as though these so called ¡®mysteries¡¯ didn¡¯t want to be estranged to her, which is why they reveal themselves to her.

    Later on, she discovered that the reason behind this is because she was unique. It¡¯s her birthright to be the Darling of Nature.

    Whilst others tried their best to grasp even just a hint of, let¡¯s say, Law of Fire, starting with the Concept of Burning Heat. Vanessa could just skip that process altogether.

    She had been ying with the primary elements since she was little. Due to her being sheltered beside her family while growing up, not many people were aware that Vanessa had been ying Concepts and Laws from a very young age already. Which meant that these things weren¡¯t really difficult for her.

    You¡¯d be surprised to learn that Vanessa at this age had mastered all Laws and Concepts of the Primary Elements; Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Wind. She¡¯s now in the process of Mastering Lightning, Yin, and Yang Laws.

    However, the Law she preferred the most and her favorite is the Cloud Laws.

    Vanessa wasn¡¯t even at her fifty¡¯s, she doesn¡¯t even look nowhere near that age but she has this much understand when ites to Laws that it¡¯s simply mind-boggling.

    Not even Raven was this fierce back then.

    All of this, was because of her talent as the Darling of Nature.

    ¡°Princess, the Heavenly Order itself dotes on you for some reason¡­¡± Raven sighed as this very idea of thispletely eludes him. ¡°It¡¯s acting like a Godfather to bepletely honest. And I have no idea why. However, I can say for certain that it does not mean you any harm.¡±

    ¡°Then why is it calling for me? Does it need something?¡±

    ¡°Well, technically, it is not the Heavenly Order itself that calls for you.¡± Raven shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s the seed that reaches out to you, the one in the Crest of Order. As for what it needs, it¡¯s simple really. It needs your help.¡±

    ¡°My help?¡± Vanessa was confused, ¡°What for? Am I needed for its germination?¡±

    ¡°Somewhat, yes.¡± Raven nodded. ¡°You see, you being the Darling of Nature, has a deep seated bond with the seed. As its feeling a bit impatient and wanted to sprout already, it urges your assistance in doing so. Again, it doesn¡¯t mean you any harm.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­then what about the force preventing me from telling Mom?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the seed¡¯s doing as well.¡± Raven exined, ¡°Such a naughty one isn¡¯t it? The thing probably thought that if you told Luna about it, she¡¯ll refuse that¡¯s why it prevented you from saying anything. Don¡¯t worry though, although it was able to do that to you, it can¡¯t truly harm you. Especially not when I¡¯m still around.¡±

    ¡°How can it be so sure? That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Vanessa frowned.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, it doesn¡¯t make sense¡­to us humans that is.¡± Raven stated, ¡°The seed isn¡¯t human, Princess. It wouldn¡¯t be wise to judge it ording to human standards.¡±

    Vanessa couldn¡¯t really refute that. Well, there was really no harm done to her, it just got a little unbearable but not enough to despair over. She wasn¡¯t really in any danger all along.

    If she ever was, Raven was always there to save her. Its for this reason why she didn¡¯t even ask the question as to why she was freed from the restriction without so much of a struggle the moment Raven arrives.

    It¡¯s simple really, the seed was mighty afraid of Raven. Even the Heavenly Order has to tread carefully around his presence, much less a mere seed.

    ¡°So? What do I do now?¡± Vanessa ask.

    ¡°That depends on you, Sweetheart.¡± Luna replied to her. ¡°Do you want to help it or ignore it? Either way is fine. Don¡¯t be afraid, we won¡¯t me you no matter what your choice be.¡±

    Vanessa stayed silent for a bit before she eventually replied:

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll help.¡±

    Raven and Luna nodded to her. Then her father said; ¡°Okay, just ce your hand on the Crest of Order and the process will start. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m here. I¡¯ll make sure nothing goes wrong.¡±

    Vanessa nodded and sat in front of her mother. She didn¡¯t hesitate and ced a hand over the crest as soon as she was ready.

    This has been going on for so long and it needs to be taken care of now. Plus, Vanessa was extremely aware that her father was very tired. The fact that he was even awake and still encouraged her to take her time despite feeling weak right now meant that he¡¯s pushing himself for her sake.

    Vanessa didn¡¯t want that so she want to settle this down as soon as possible.

    The moment she touched the Crest of Order, she felt her consciousness fading for a bit. She could also feel that the crest was siphoning her energies but not too much.

    A passage of all of her insights about Laws and Concepts shed on her consciousness, causing her to momentarily get lost in it.

    The Crest of Order wasn¡¯t draining her insights from her, it merely just copied it for its own use. This was what it wanted all along. And due to Raven¡¯s presence, it truly wouldn¡¯t dare to do anything funny because the moment it does, Raven will be the first one to eradicate it, consequences be damned.

    This process wasn¡¯t really harmful for Vanessa, on the contrary, it actually helped her since she was forced to re-visit her insights and the ws in her techniques revealed themselves. If she ironed out these ws, her might will grow even more so she wasn¡¯t really losing out on this deal.

    This processsted for about an hour before Vanessa regained her consciousness. She withdrew her hand and was silent for a bit.

    Raven patted her head and said: ¡°You did good, Princess. Now, I know you gained some new insights with you so move along, don¡¯t waste it.¡±

    Vanessa didn¡¯t say anything, she just nodded and flew towards the her private quarters in the Academy. She¡¯s probably enter a brief seclusion to digest her gains.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s deal with you.¡± Raven red at the Crest of Order.

    He flicked a finger and seal immediatelytched on to the crest, briefly startling Luna as well.

    ¡°¡­for causing us this much inconvenience, this is your punishment. You¡¯re to be satisfied with that recent gain of yours because whether you like it or not, you won¡¯t have any for the next five years. Comin and I¡¯ll extend it, I dare you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The consciousness of the seed didn¡¯t even argue with him. It just stayed silent and behaved itself.

    ¡°Good.¡± Raven huffed, ¡°You¡¯re not to bother my daughter or any of my family anymore. Be good and learn how to be patient. If you do, I might just give you a feast after your sentence is over.¡±

    After saying that, the seal settled down and the Crest of Order dimmed down, the seal was visible on it as well.

    Luna pursed her lips and asked: ¡°Was that really necessary?¡±

    ¡°It is.¡± Raven answered, sounding very weak. ¡°It needs to understand that if it wants us to raise it, it¡¯ll be under our discretion, not the other way around. It needs us, not the other way around. The Heavenly Order already overstepped its bounds by not consulting me in this matter, I won¡¯t let it take advantage of us again.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to create a Divine Realm that doesn¡¯t wee or care about humans. It will acquiesce to our will whether it likes it not. This isn¡¯t negotiable.¡±

    ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll do as you say.¡± Luna nodded, she then stood up and held Raven¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Come on, up with you! Let¡¯s go to bed.¡±

    Raven smiled sheepishly and replied: ¡°Okay.¡±

 Chapter 895: Kyles Enlightenment

    Chapter 895: Kyle¡¯s Enlightenment

    Raven was in slumber for three months straight. A testament of just how exhausted he truly was.

    He didn¡¯t know that he slept for that long. To him, it felt like he just lied down and woke up the next day. If it weren¡¯t for his wife telling him that he had been asleep for that long, he wouldn¡¯t know.

    Raven didn¡¯t return to his seclusion after he woke up. He instead enjoyed a brief vacation, spending time with his family and taking his mind off of seclusion.

    He also visited his office which had been unmanned for a long time. This ce would¡¯ve been covered in dusts if it weren¡¯t for the fact that someone regrlyes in here to clean it.

    There were really no documents or paperwork that needed his attention. His Avatars took care of them in his ce, thank god for them really. If there were things that needed his attention, it¡¯s all thepiled reports that summarizes the overall state of the Divine Realm.

    So far, everything was on the rise, much to Raven¡¯s gratification. He could tell that their hard work had been rewarded with how changed Divine Realm is like nowadays.

    The era where there¡¯s a strictpetition over resources is almost over. Divine Realm is thriving under his lead. Its current state is a far cry from what it was decades ago. It¡¯s to the point that many people think that Raven was truly a blessing for the whole realm.

    Tensions are still there though. After all, the looming threat of a great war is still around. Although not many people are aware of it, there are a handful of people who knew or guessed it.

    The Dawn Council mostly continued its operation, though in a more ¡®tamed¡¯ manner.

    A few years back, the council under his lead had to take the helm of operations and really force their way through in order to establish themselves within Divine Realm, rebuilding their reputation back-up and making sure that the realm was heading into the proper path.

    Now that they¡¯ve achieved their goals, the council silently retreated at the back. Still the one protecting everyone from the shadows though, but no longer under the limelight.

    The current era is for the new generation to push-on through, their time to shine. The council will only support them from the shadows and make sure they grew up into fine warriors that will one day, make a name for themselves and truly usher in the Golden Age.

    When Raven took a good look at what the current Divine Realm looks like, he couldn¡¯t help but smile in gratification. Divine Realm really changed under his lead.

    At first he thought that this will be impossible, even with how knowledgeable he was, the chances of uniting the realm would just be impossible.

    Although it was hard though, he did it in the end. He managed to do the impossible. He had help, sure. But Raven did do his best to aplish this and now, everyone is under the same banner.

    All that he wishes for right now is for them to have more time before the war starts, because even with how different Divine Realm is today, he could still tell it¡¯s not yet ready for the uing war. They really needed time and he can¡¯t just set-up a realm-wide time dilution, it wouldn¡¯t work and that will upset the delicate bnce.

    All he could do is to hope that the arrival of the Abyssalses veryte, just so that they can have more to time get prepared.

    Kyle had been roaming the Outer Worlds for years now, and what he got from his adventures were valuable experiences that he may never be able to get if he had stayed within the Divine Realm.

    The Outer World was once a foreign ce to him. He had heard rumors about it and read about it some books and documents, but what he discovered out here wasn¡¯t justified on those documentations.

    For example, the records always emphasized just how vast the Outer World is and how harsh its environment was.

    Kyle thought that he had a pretty good grasp on what those words mean but it wasn¡¯t until he actually experienced it, that he knew that he still gravely underestimated it.

    By the description ¡®vast¡¯ it actually meant ¡®boundless¡¯. Kyle hadn¡¯t seen the end of Outer World. He had been constantly on the move these past few years but to him, it still feels like he was just running in ce.

    It¡¯s hard to judge distance here. Sometimes he will think that he hadn¡¯t gone far from home but to his surprise, he actually was quite a distance away from it. There¡¯s also times where he felt like he had been exploring for months, only to discover that he barely left his previous coordinates.

    Something in here messes with his spatial perception, which was surprising considering how his Laws work. But then again, he isn¡¯t at the Divine Realm, he¡¯s at the Outer Worlds.

    Speaking of that matter, he also discovered that it is pretty hard to not judge the Outer World ording to Divine Realm¡¯s standards.

    He always forgets that this isn¡¯t Divine Realm. Things work differently here. He really has to get used to that or else it¡¯de around and bite him in the ass.

    The environment here is truly harsh.

    Things that he considered as a trash heap turns out to be a resource depot for the Outsiders. They fought and kill just to secure those things, he even received a few threats in his life for just looking at the thing which he found absolutely ridiculous.

    Speaking of the Outsiders, Kyle couldn¡¯t help but feel that they pitiful.

    They¡¯re lives are utterly miserable around here. Under the harsh environment, morality wasn¡¯t a thing to them.

    Morality won¡¯t feed nor clothe them, or put a roof above their heads, they have no use for it so why even bother with it.

    And with how heated thepetition for resources was like out here, it shouldn¡¯te as a surprise that they will really risk their lives just to secure something for themselves.

    With how big Outer World was, Kyle thought that there should¡¯ve been a way for it to produce a decent amount of resources. Well, considering what he had witnessed so far, that is a fat ¡®no¡¯ then.

    Another thing that surprised him was the fact that the Outsiders actually managed to discover a unique way to cultivate.

    This got him really interested since from what he could tell so far, the energies present all over the Outer World is too harsh and very unsuitable for use. It is too chaotic and just felt¡­wrong, yet somehow, they managed to harness it¡¯s power for their own use.

    Later then, he discovered that their methods were downright suicidal.

    What they do is no different than destroying their own bodies and potential. They were forcing these chaotic energies inside their bodies to tame them for their own use.

    What¡¯s wrong in this process is that fact that the energies are free to rampage all over their body, damaging them internally as they try to will under their control. It¡¯s just wrong.

    This leaves them with hidden injuries that are quite literally killing them, further shortening their lifespan. This might also be why there only a few cultivators among them.

    He¡¯d even venture a guess that none of these cultivators managed to die of old age with how much injuries they umted through cultivation.

    This is why the Outsiders never had it easy. Whenever they go out, they always run the risk of never returning to their home ¨C if one could even call it that.

    They will always be in decline with how harsh their environment is.

    All these observations deepened Kyle¡¯s understanding. Seeing all of this with his own eyes made him realize just how lucky they are being born within the Divine Realm.

    Kyle himself didn¡¯t have an easy life back in his youth, butpared to what the Outsiders have to deal with on a daily basis? He might as well call himself privileged.

    And this isn¡¯t even without the consideration of what Raven did for the entirety of the realm itself¡­

    All of this, got him thinking.

    Knowing the threat looming above their heads.

    Knowing that one day, the Abyssals wille to try and take away everything that they have, leaving them with nothing¡­

    Considering they fail to defend their home against the invaders¡­Is he witnessing their future in the visage of these Outsiders?

    Kyle couldn¡¯t help but shudder at the very idea¡­

    Now¡­now he¡¯s starting to get it.

    Now, he understands why his Master had been working so damn hard along with his friends and family. Now he understands why he didn¡¯t hesitate to put them under the wringer to squeeze out their potential. Now he understands why he hadid out so many ns to ensure that their home bes stronger than ever.

    Raven probably had the very same vision as him, and quite possibly, had the same reaction. And if that¡¯s the case¡­Kyle now truly understands it¡­

    ¡°There is no fucking way, I¡¯ll let that happen!¡±

 Chapter 896: Kyles Return, Stephens Progress

    Chapter 896: Kyle¡¯s Return, Stephen¡¯s Progress

    Kyle has returned from his trip on the Outer Worlds.

    The moment Ravenid eyes on him, a smile appeared in his face upon looking at his young disciple¡¯s eyes.

    There was visible glint of determination and firmness in them. A burning will that is, for now, silent and slumbering, but make no mistakes for it could burn the entire world if it was provoked.

    His guesses were practically confirmed the moment he heard that Kyle chose to enter seclusion right away to prepare for his breakthrough.

    Raven knows that Kyle¡¯s trip was fortuitous. He was sent to the Outer Worlds by ident and Raven advised him to explore it, hoping that it will trigger something in him. Kyle didn¡¯t disappoint him. He returned as a changed and fully matured man.

    Raven, not even once,cked any kind of resources or knowledge to impart to his disciples. As the one who stood at the top, it¡¯s practically impossible for him to not be able to provide for his two current disciples. He can give them a world if he wanted to and he wouldn¡¯t even feel a pinch.

    What he can¡¯t provide is motivation and decision.

    As their Master, he isn¡¯t the one who can choose their Path. It ultimately relies on them. He can only guide them and show them the way, treading the road of their chosen Path is something that they must do by themselves.

    Kyle nevercked opportunities nor resources. Ask and he shall receive, that¡¯s the idea. Still, piling up countless of resources had never been the way to properly cultivate. Raven told him about this and he himself understands this. Which is why there were times when he sought out the world to experience it for himself.

    Upon his return to the Divine Realm, he was filled with ambition and determination.

    Seeing the state of those who lived in the Outer Worlds was a massive eye-opener for him. Understanding what kind of ending they might face if they failed to defend their home, brought out the mes slumbering within him.

    This unwillingness and defiance to suffer the same fate as the Outsiders, triggered the shattering of bottleneck. Through sheer will and determination alone, he broke past his limits and his potential roared.

    Still, he didn¡¯t breakthrough. He suppressed the urge and followed his Master¡¯s advise. He returned to the Divine Realm to proceed with his breakthrough, he can¡¯t do it in the Outer Worlds since he¡¯d be risking to be marked as an Outsider as well, he didn¡¯t want that.

    It¡¯s unknown how long his seclusion willst but one thing¡¯s for sure. When he emerges from it, Kyle¡¯s strength will explosively increase like no other.

    Let¡¯s pry off our eyes away from Kyle and look Raven¡¯s other disciple, Stephen.

    Roughly four years had passed since he entered Raven¡¯s tutge, and to say that he changed will be an understanding.

    Originally, Stephen was traumatized child. An orphan who experienced hardships growing up. His fate changed when he encountered Raven¡¯s inheritance and under Raven¡¯s tutge, he transformed into an outstanding young man.

    Gone was timid and uncertain kid from before. He¡¯s now 18 years old, standing at an impressive height and handsome face. He has a noble and schrly aura around him which made him appear as a gentleman.

    He¡¯s intelligent and held immense power despite his lean frame.

    Originally, Stephen¡¯s potential was only so-so. His Spiritual Entity isn¡¯t all that impressive and because of his malnutrition, his physique wasn¡¯t optimal either.

    Fortunately, that has never been an obstacle when ites to Raven. Solving these deficiencies is as easy as snapping a finger on his part, but for the sake of not ruining Stephen¡¯s future, he did it step by step.

    Raven followed his teaching virtues when ites to teaching Stephen. He will only show him the way and sometimes give him clues, but the rest is up to him.

    He didn¡¯t admonish him for being slow, nor did he praise him for aplishing his achievements. He just taught him steadily and constantly. He didn¡¯t force him, not even once, he allowed Stephen to go at it as his own pace and let him discover his own Path by himself.

    Interestingly enough, Stephen had a different way of using the Sealing Arts he imparted.

    No, he wouldn¡¯t call Stephen a genius. He¡¯s slow to be totally honest. Even with him exining the profundities of Sealing Arts to him numerous times, understanding them depends on the day for Stephen. There are days when he gets them right away and there are days where he just can¡¯t.

    He¡¯s mediocre at best, but Raven didn¡¯t anything about it.

    His unique way of brandishing a seal was something that was born out of his pure curiosity.

    There¡¯s this one day when they were testing the structure and sturdiness of seals and an idea struck Stephen. He thought to himself;

    ¡®If the seals are as sturdy as Master said, then it can be used on a physical battle right?¡¯

    This was the start of his ingenuity when ites to wielding seals¡­

    If Raven uses them as they were intended¡­you know, to ¡®seal¡¯ someone or something, Stephen began using the seals to bash the head of his enemies in.

    It was barbaric at first nce. Even Stephen himself found this mildly embarrassing. Raven didn¡¯t say anything when he saw it since, funnily enough, he was amused by his disciple¡¯s thought process.

    Raven had to admit that the idea was clever. The seals are really sturdy and flexible. While it is weightless, it is very effective as a blunt weapon.

    In addition to this, Stephen actually modified the seals in a way that disperses the recoil trauma, therefore he can use his entire physical strength when using it without fearing the recoil damaging his body.

    Again, it was clever and amusing, which is why Raven didn¡¯t say anything about it in the first ce.

    Unknowingly though, because Raven didn¡¯t seem to be against his thought process, Stephen took this as a silent encouragement from his Master, and this where his ingenuity took him to ces.

    One thing lead to another and at this point, Stephen was using seals as a conduit to control various forms of energy at will.

    With the right array attached to his hands, he can summon strong gusts of winds capable of wiping out patches of forests. He can form golems to do his bidding, calm the raging seas, douse his enemies into the depths of their worst nightmares, call upon the blessings of the stars to bless his physique can make him temporarily stronger, summon the terrifying might of lightning to smite his foes and etc.

    Raven watched this all in interest and discovered that Stephen might as well discovered his true calling.

    He didn¡¯t interfere, not even once. He just observed his progress and offered advise here and there. Although Raven didn¡¯t specialize in this kind of art, he can more or less discover the possibilities of what Stephen could do. He could follow Stephen¡¯s thought process and was even way ahead of him when ites to this path.

    This was Raven after all and even though his usage differs from him, the foundation still lies of seals, how can he not know?

    This is why Raven could still offer Stephen clues on how to advance and this will continue until Stephen was strong enough to figure out things on his own.

    Not far from now, Raven will have to leave Stephen to fend for himself. At the pace he¡¯s going for right now, it won¡¯t be long until he finds himself unmatched in this world.

    Time wille where his adventures takes him to the Divine Realm. At that time, the training wheels are off, Raven will leave him to fend for himself as a true test of skill. Whether he can make a name for himself or submerge himself into the sea of mediocrity, depends on him and him alone.

    For now though, Stephen was satisfied with his progress. He was plenty strong for a youth of his age. He had been steadily umting experience and following the unorthodox Path of Seals that he discovered for himself.

    He¡¯s living his best life and think that things couldn¡¯t get any better than they are right now.

    He has friends that he can call family, he was adventuring the world with them and seeing what kind of mysteries lies at the depths of the wilderness beyond the mighty walls of the Empire.

    He now have the ability to protect and fend for himself. He no longer has to worry whether he can fetch food or not since he has the ability to do so. He has a home he can return to, people that epts him and adventures waiting for him.

    Life truly couldn¡¯t get any better for him¡­for now at least.

    He heard tales about the realm beyond this world and honestly, he was looking forward to it. Deep down, he instinctively knows that he¡¯ll go there eventually.

    For now though, he can tell that he isn¡¯t ready yet. But soon¡­soon he will arrive there.

    Stephen could only umte as much as he can so that the day when that happens, arrive sooner.

 Chapter 897: Sickly Finn

    Chapter 897: Sickly Finn

    ¡°¡­empty. Of course, what am I expecting?¡±

    A forlorn and depressed voiced echoed amongst the confines of a deste space. A man could be seen standing in front of a wreckage, looking around while carrying a brown sack over his shoulders.

    The man was really skinny, his bones could almost be seen poking through what little amount of flesh he has. He cheeks were sunken and there¡¯s this dull and lifeless look in his eyes.

    His face was dirty, filled with grime and dirt. He has a single horn that¡¯s broken poking out of his forehead. His lips were thin and blue, his clothes were more like rags and he doesn¡¯t even have a footwear.

    Despite already expecting nothing out of this dumpster site, he still looked around, garnering the tiniest hope that maybe ¨C just maybe, he happened to have missed something of value.

    His eyesight was turning bad after all, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if he actually missed something.

    Unfortunately, no matter how much he looked and inspected every square inch of this ce. He¡¯s unable to see anything that he can bring back with him.

    That metal thing-, whatever that is, in the wreckage was toorge for him to carry. He could try prying off some parts of it and ce it on to the sack he¡¯s carrying but looking at his flimsy arms? Yeah, forget about it.

    Even a casual gust of wind might be able to knock him off his feet. How can he even think about pulling something this hard? Wouldn¡¯t his arms fall off if that¡¯s the case.

    Unable to see anything of value that he can bring back with him, the man sighed dejectedly once again.

    He really wanted to cry and despair about his fate but he had ran out of tears a long time ago. He doesn¡¯t even know if this body of his is still able to produce tears in the first ce¡­

    If it could, he¡¯d probably just drink it. It¡¯s a waste of water if he didn¡¯t do so.

    The man turned around and decided to leave this dumpsite. There¡¯s nothing for him here. He walked with shaky steps towards where he came from, trying his best to move his body faster just so that he can return back in time.

    The sack on his shoulders wasn¡¯t heavy¡­to someone who has a rtively healthy body, it truly isn¡¯t. But for this man, he might as well be carrying something that¡¯s double his weight.

    Sure, if he ditched this sack he might be able to drag his body faster back to the ship but he can¡¯t do that¡­

    Nobody can just expect him to drop this sack, after all this sack contained what little valuables he have on his person. He needs to sell them just so that he can buy something to eat and drink, that way he can live a little longer.

    ¡°Oh, I see him.¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah that¡¯s him alright.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s taking him so long? Oh wait-¡°

    ¡°Hurry up, you useless sack of flesh!¡±

    ¡°Sack of flesh? Look at him! Does he look like he has a flesh much less a sack of it?¡±

    ¡°Oh, shit you¡¯re right! Hey, skin and bones! Hurry the fuck up! The ship¡¯s about to leave!¡±

    ¡°Come on guys, pity the fool for a bit. No need to kick him when he¡¯s already down.¡±

    ¡°Down? More like half dead. It¡¯s already a miracle that he¡¯s able tost this long with that body of his.¡±

    ¡°Alright you guys, stop bullying Old Finn. Go back to the ship and prepare to set off. Let¡¯s get off of this ce as soon as possible. I wanna take a bath.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Captain!¡±

    Their words hurt, but Finn had grown numb from it. The jeers, the disdain, the mocking¡­none of those could even provoke a reaction from him anymore. He already epted his miserable fate.

    Besides, Finn doesn¡¯t care if they hate him for what he is. Their hate is nothing to him. After all, nobody can him the way he hates himself already.

    ¡°Finn, get in here.¡± The captain ordered. Finn gave him a weak nod and walked closer to him.

    ¡°A¡¯right, let me see what you got in here.¡± The captain of the ship snatched the sack from Finn¡¯s hands, almost pushing him down in the process.

    Finn would¡¯ve told him to be gentler but honestly? He¡¯s just too damn tired of this.

    The captain inspected the items he had on the sack with a pensive look on his face. Finn was fidgeting, hoping and wishing deep down¡­

    ¡°This won¡¯t do Finn¡­¡± the captain sighed. ¡°This is not enough.¡±

    Finn bit his lips in frustration. He wanted to rage and erupt but he doesn¡¯t have the energy to that anymore. Unable to do anything, Finn can only sigh.

    It seems that he won¡¯t be eating this week again.

    ¡°Ah! Fuck this! Whatever!¡± The captain scratched his head threw the sack on the back of the ship. ¡°Here!¡±

    Finn nearly stumbled over in surprise when something heavy hits him, fortunately he managed to get a hold of it. Upon inspecting what the captain threw to him, Finn looked up in shock.

    It was rations. A whole hard bread and jug of murky water.

    ¡°A¡¯right, don¡¯t look at me. Just work hard next time. Now get in there! We¡¯re leaving!¡±

    Finn hurriedly knelt down and knocked his head on the ground before hurriedly dragging his body to the back of the ship. He clutched his rations like they were his most precious treasure and secured himself with a few straps he attached on his limbs.

    Before the cargo doors of the ship closed off, Finn gave onest grateful look to the captain. When the doors closed, Finn sighed in relief. He truly wasn¡¯t expecting the captain to do this.

    Finn knows that the captain might get in trouble for doing this. After all, the materials he brought back were not enough to fill in the quota meant for an exchange of resource.

    This¡­is the Outer World.

    Resources like these are way to precious. So precious that one has to risk their lives just to secure them.

    An act of kindness is stupid here as well, a lesson that Finn learnt the hard way. Therefore, he wasn¡¯t expecting anyone to give him even the tiniest bit of kindness.

    Thus, he was surprised with what the captain did.

    The rule was iron d, if you want resources; such as rations, materials or etc., then you must give out an equivalent exchange. There is a benchmark for an exchange, something that Finn knew too well.

    Exchanging for the basic ration package needs at least two kilograms worth of knick-knacks or rare stones found in dumpsites or wreckage sites. Basically, anything that shines, heavy, looks weird, mysterious or even those that looks remotely dangerous, can be used for the exchange.

    Finn, being the weak man that he is, barely had the strength, speed, or ferocity to search for this things in fervor. He could only try his luck from the unwanted or forgotten things that were left behind by those stronger than him.

    As a result of this, his harvest depends on their whims and the sites they visit. If there little resources found, it¡¯s very likely that there will nothing for him. But if there¡¯s an abundance well, he can maybe try his luck.

    It sucks to live like this. It¡¯s actually, truly, a miracle that Finn¡¯s still alive and kicking. Others would¡¯ve long since given up and probably killed themselves at this point but he¡¯s still holding on.

    Finn was touched by the captain¡¯s kindness. It was truly unexpected. He already had an idea that what he brought back wasn¡¯t enough yet the captain still rounded it off and give him rations.

    Hell, Finn was so touched that he wouldn¡¯t even mind if the captain wants to use him after this. Not like the captain would find his flimsy body likeable but still¡­

    Finn shook his head when his thoughts reached this point. What was he even thinking about?

    He felt the familiar rumbling of the ship so he steadied himself. He hugged the resources close to his body and used his other hand to hold on to the straps he attached to himself.

    The ship¡¯s take-off are usually rough. Had he not strapped himself, he¡¯d probably bounce off the corners of the cargo room.

    After a minute or two of that rough start-up, he heard a screech and cough of the engines, he also heard a keening sound which meant that they already took off.

    The rumbling already stopped and Finn was safe and mostly unharmed. His limbs ached due to the rumbling but it¡¯s nothing that he wasn¡¯t used to.

    While their flight goes on peacefully, Finn took advantage of this time to fill stomach even just for a bit.

    He first quenched his thirst by pouring himself a bottle cap of murky water. That alone already made him feel better. Next, he tore a small chunk of hard bread and ced it in his mouth. He didn¡¯t chew nor swallowed it, he just ced it in his mouth.

    He nned on letting this dissolve on his tongue, that way it canst for the rest of that.

    But ae he was enjoying the fruits of hisbor, an unexpected crash urred which sent the whole ship tumbling¡­

 Chapter 898: Abducted

    Chapter 898: Abducted

    Old Finn was aching all over, despite this however, his first concern wasn¡¯t the dull ache of his body but the resources he just got.

    He sighed in relief when he saw that he didn¡¯t drop the bread and the water wasn¡¯t wasted. It was only then that he looked around and wondered what¡¯s going on.

    That crash sounded nasty. The impact he felt was so strong that he starts guessing that their ship must¡¯ve hit something really hard.

    Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t really get out of here even if he wants to. The cargo doors won¡¯t open unless the pilot or the captain of the ship decides to open them. Old Finn didn¡¯t even dare to think about forcing it to open since he knew that¡¯s impossible for him to do.

    He could only stay put and wait for whatever¡¯s going to happen next.

    ¡°Arrgh!!¡±

    Old Finn shivered in his spot upon hearing that.

    The thickness of the ship reduced the sound¡¯s volume but the fact that he still heard it means that someone¡¯s in trouble.

    Old Finn started getting nervous¡­

    ¡®Did we encounter some Space Pirates?¡¯ He thought to himself grimly.

    Space Pirates were the bane of collectors like himself. They go around the Outer World plundering ships they encounter. If their crew truly met a Space Pirate out here and if that scream happened to be someone from their side, this means that they¡¯re in trouble.

    If the crew outside got wiped out, there¡¯s no way that Old Finn¡¯s going to survive this. If there were really Space Pirates out there, they will search this ship thoroughly and they will see him. There¡¯s no way they¡¯ll let him live even if he begs for his life.

    Due to his nervousness, Old Finn¡¯s mind immediately garnered negative thoughts.

    He triedforting himself by thinking that the crew is strong and they should be able to defend themselves from this. The Captain will take them away from here safely and they¡¯ll return home.

    But then again, it really didn¡¯t help. Things just got even worse when Old Finn hear multiple screams of agony outside.

    Old Finn was truly fearing for his little life right now. But despite this, he remained still.

    What¡¯s the use of panicking so much? Even an infant Space Beast can and will kill him on sight. Old Finn knows that he¡¯s pathetically weak. He can be pushed around and killed easily. He has long epted this. He¡¯s just trying to live for a little bit longer if possible but it seems that today will be hisst.

    Well? What better way to live hisst moments other than being full right?

    At this point, Old Finn was already consumed with so much fear that he already epted his fate.

    Not hesitating any longer, he took arge swig of water and bit off arge chunk of his bread.

    If he¡¯s going to the die this day, he might as well die with a full stomach.

    As he ate, Old Finn could still hear the panicked and distorted cries outside. The more he listened, the more he discovered that those voices were familiar to him.

    Those voices belonged to those people who were mocking him earlier. They now sound like pigs being ughtered. Old Finn didn¡¯t know if this is Karma or whatever but he didn¡¯t feel bad at the thought of them being dead.

    ¡®Yeah. So what if you guys are more muscr than me? I still lived longer than all of you, hmph!¡¯ Old Finn scoffed in amusement as he continued chewing on his bread.

    ¡°¡­let¡­please! We¡­to return¡­spare¡­please!!¡±

    Old Finn froze upon hearing this cries. He suddenly lowered his head and felt a chill on his soul.

    He couldn¡¯t hear theplete message but there¡¯s no mistaking this, the one who said this was the Captain.

    Yeah, the crew¡¯s totally fucked. Old Finn¡¯s truly going to die today. How unlucky.

    Old Finnmented in his heart. He can still hear the captain¡¯s pleading and his agonized cries. He was begging for his life. He had shed all sorts of dignity,passion and shame just for a small chance of survival but it seems that the Pirates were having fun torturing him.

    He could even hear him pointing them onto his direction. The Captain didn¡¯t mention him, just that the treasures they collected were located here.

    Still, that¡¯s basically the same as selling him out. Oh well, Old Finn was way past the point of expecting that he¡¯ll survive this anyway, there¡¯s no need to form a grudge when he¡¯s literally about to die.

    Old Finn managed to finish eating his bread and drinking every single drop of water he has. Afterwards, he justically threw them on the floor and waited for his sentence.

    He felt somewhat at peace knowing that not long from now, all this suffering will be over.

    Old Finn then heard the cargo doors creaking. He didn¡¯t even need to look. He knows that they will pry these doors open by hook or by crook.

    Bang!

    ¡°Oh, look! Someone¡¯s still alive¡­I think.¡±

    ¡°Really? Let me see? Oh¡­¡±

    Old Finn turned his head to look at them. And although he didn¡¯t show it in his face, deep down he was shocked.

    He had never seen this breed of Space Pirates before! They look¡­menacing, and really strong. No wonder the crew were wiped out!

    These dudes were big and beefy. They have a pair of horns, pitch ck skin with crimson pupils and lips. There¡¯s gaping void in their chest and they¡¯re d in a thick and heavy-looking armor. Their weapons were stashed behind them, meaning that they pried the cargo doors open by hand.

    And if they can do that¡­dismantling Finn will only require them minimum effort.

    ¡°He¡¯s alive¡­but dead inside I think. How weird.¡± One of themmented, sounding really confused and puzzled as if he never encountered this kind of situation before.

    ¡°Is he even breathing? He¡¯s just looking at us! It¡¯s kind of freaky to be honest.¡±

    ¡®Bullshit! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re scared of me? How? Literally? You two have well functioning eyes! What part of me looks freaky to you!? You¡¯re the freaky one¡¯s!¡¯ Old Finn raged inwardly.

    Look, he already epted death. Can¡¯t they just kill him? There¡¯s no need to insult him before doing so isn¡¯t there?

    Old Finn just watched as the two of them walked towards him. One paused to look around while the other swiped his head and instantly, all bindings that prevented Old Finn from moving were cut.

    Then, Old Finn was picked up by the neck. His eyes bulged a bit not because of the tightness of the hold but by the ease of how it was done. This guy lifted him like he was weightless.

    He might be skin and bones but he at least still has some mass with him. He shouldn¡¯t be this light¡­

    ¡°¡­oy, this one¡¯s really weird.¡± The dude lifting his turned to hispanion.

    His words caused Old Finn¡¯s lips to twitch in annoyance. Whatever.

    ¡°Yeah, you already said that before. Anything new?¡±

    ¡°No, no. That¡¯s not what I mean this time.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean then?¡±

    ¡°He can be turned I think¡­¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    Now, the other one was interested.

    Instantly, Old Finn found himself being inspected from head to toe with two pairs of judgmental eyes. It¡¯s very ufortable to be honest but what can he do? Fight them to death?

    Yeah, right!

    ¡°Weird¡­really weird!¡±

    ¡°Right!¡±

    ¡®Yes, yes I¡¯m weird. Now can you two kill me please? I¡¯m starting to get bored.¡¯

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense! He¡¯s paper-thin!¡±

    ¡®Ouch.¡¯

    ¡°¡­yep, all skin and bones. Weightless, even.¡±

    ¡®Really, ouch.¡¯

    ¡°But he has potential! How is this even possible?¡±

    ¡®Thanks, I guess? So are you gonna kill me now?¡¯

    ¡°What should we do? Should try and turn him?¡±

    ¡®Any second now, I guess.¡¯

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t think we should do it. How about we bring him to Boss?¡±

    ¡®Oh? I get to meet your Boss? You tter me, gentlemen.¡¯

    ¡°Yeah, I guess he can make the decision. Come on.¡±

    Just like that, Old Finn was dragged like a ragdoll by these two.

    They stepped out of the ship and went towards another ship. It was only then that Old Finn got see what happened to the crew.

    Long story short, they¡¯re all dead. He literally saw the head of the captain floating somewhere, not even an intact corpse was left in sight.

    Old Finn, once again,mented in his heart. He didn¡¯t even had the heart to mourn for them since he knew that he¡¯ll be joining them soon.

    He only wishes that, whatever is out there on the other side, there¡¯s no more suffering for anyone.

    ¡°Boss! Look at this weird thing!¡±

    Old Finn¡¯s lips twitched in annoyance. He sighed and looked at where he¡¯s at, concluding that his at the enemy¡¯s ship. He then saw that there is an even bigger man standing in front of them.

    ¡®Ah! So I get to die under the hands of the Big Boss. Oh, I¡¯m ttered.¡¯

    ¡°Hmm? Such a weird specimen.¡± The Boss hummed uponying eyes on him. ¡°You two, put him in Grooming Pod. Let¡¯s see what kind of strangeness this thing has.¡±

    ¡°Right away, Boss!¡±

    ¡®Oh, so this is it? Goodbye world, I guess?¡¯

 Chapter 899: Old Finns Past

    Chapter 899: Old Finn¡¯s Past

    Old Finn didn¡¯t know that the afterlife felt this weird.

    He can¡¯t see nor hear anything, he just feel like he was wrapped in a slimy and warm liquid. He initially thought that he¡¯d be¡­you know, somewhere¡­

    Like, he¡¯ll open his eyes and find out that he arrived in a vast field of greenery where the breeze feels cool and fresh, that there will be others aside from him, enjoying an evesting peace. Or like, theplete opposite of that.

    Maybe even somewhere in between. There¡¯s also a miniscule chance that he¡¯ll wake up and realize that he was sent back in the past but honestly he never even considered that.

    So, he wasn¡¯t really expecting this. This afterlife feels really weird. It¡¯s as if he¡¯s being digested by something, which is horrible. And the fact that he¡¯s semi-conscious while that¡¯s happening makes this even worse.

    ¡®Maybe this is my kind of Hell¡­¡¯ he thought to himself, ¡®After all, I was once a glutton. I ate all sorts of things and now, I get to know what it¡¯s like to be eaten and digested.¡¯

    ¡®I wonder how long this¡¯ll happen. An Eternity maybe? I mean, this is Hell after all. Still, it doesn¡¯t really feel bad¡­at least not for now.¡¯

    Old Finn¡¯s thoughts continuously swam with all kinds of ideas.

    He can¡¯t move. He tried it but no matter what he did, he can¡¯t. So he gave up on it. He can¡¯t open his eyes, can¡¯t smell nor taste anything. He could just feel and think.

    He also thought about the chance of this all being but a dream. Even then, it¡¯s an inescapable one so he can¡¯t really do anything.

    As time passed by, Old Finn steadily lost himself into his thoughts. Before long, he started watching as his life shed before his eyes.

    Finneas Holgen, this is his full name. Born out of a noble household and fawned by everyone who encountered him due to his status.

    As a child, Finneas grew up surrounded by people of his caliber. Arrogant young masters and missus who felt very entitled of what they have. Finneas was a good child who grew up in a bad environment. Due to that, his innocence was tainted and he became twisted.

    His home¡­oh, how long has it been since hest saw it.

    He could still remember it¡¯s name; Dazzling Gold Great World. It was one of the more powerful Great Worlds back in the day, one of the richest too.

    That¡¯s right¡­Old Finn was once a child of the Divine Realm. He¡¯s a human through and through, his father was a famous powerhouse and his mother was one of most shrewd businesswoman around.

    Finneas was spoiled rotten. If he wants it, he can have it. He only need to say the word.

    Perhaps it is due to that, that he was easily converted and tainted by greed and arrogance. Finneas has it all. He didn¡¯t even need to move a muscle and his money will still grow endlessly. This is thanks to his mother¡¯s n for him.

    Finneas cultivated just for the heck of it. He never really had high aspirations in terms of cultivation, what use does it have when he could just buy his way up there? Plus, he has dozens of Elite Bodyguards, there¡¯s no need to bother with that.

    The only thing that made cultivation a little bit valuable to him was the fact that it can extend his life and that it increases his metabolism.

    See, Finneas was a self-proimed ¡®Gourmand¡¯, but in truth he¡¯s just a gluttonous pig.

    He liked eating a lot. He probably spent more time eating than hanging out with him friends. In order to not get fat, he practice cultivation. That way, he can digest food faster which trantes to him being able to eat more.

    Hell, even the cultivation technique he practiced was centered around eating.

    It was Finneas¡¯ dream to taste everything that Divine Realm has to offer. At a very young age, he was already travelling worlds, visiting them to taste different cuisines they could offer. Sometimes, he would even directly hire the chefs to follow him around so that he can always have ess to dishes that he particrly fancied.

    His parents were never opposed to this kind of lifestyle. Heck, they were even happy for him. They have so much money that they¡¯ve ran out of ways to spend it but Finneas being the genius that he is, found a way to squander them so that they could earn more.

    Because his cultivation was centered around food, being the glutton that he is, his strength swiftly rose. He was never fond of fighting so his strength was mostly useless but it did help him eat more food so he was satisfied.

    But then again, fate liked ying games with people¡¯s lives.

    Finneas would¡¯ve never thought that the cause of his downfall would be the very thing he pursued.

    During one of his travels, he heard rumors about one particr delicacy that is oh-so-rare. It is said that only the lucky ones were able to find it and only the fated ones could eat it.

    This delicacy was called: The Primordial Golden Soup.

    A dish that is said to be the best of the best. There¡¯s even rumors about people killing themselves after eating it because apparently, everything loses its meaning after they tasted it.

    It is that good.

    And of course, when Finneas heard about this, he could literally hear the dish calling for his name. So he sets out in search of this Primordial Golden Soup.

    He has paid a lot of people to aid his cause. It didn¡¯t matter whether they faked it or not, what¡¯s important to him was clues.

    And to his surprise, after about a year of searching, they actually managed to crack down its location. So without wasting time, they went for it.

    The route towards the dish was difficult to traverse but with his determination, wits and endless amounts of money, he managed to get it.

    The Primordial Golden Soup was taken back to his home.

    It was a huge celebration. Even his parents were there to witness the tasting of the dish.

    And then, the moment came when Finneas drank the soup.

    What followed was something that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

    The Primordial Golden Soup was real but its description was a lie.

    It wasn¡¯t some delicacy.

    It was an unborn child of a dying Primordial.

    Finneas stole the unborn child and ate, causing the slumbering Primordial to wail in despair and unleash its righteous fury upon him and his family.

    The Primordial descended into to their home world,ying waste to everything it encountered. It wanted to kill Finneas and refine him in order to rece its child.

    However, the Primordial was dying. It was weak. That being said, its still strong enough that Finneas¡¯ father barely managed to y the beast. But before it died¡­

    With it¡¯s dying breath, it struck Finneas with an unbreakable curse.

    ¡®You insolent pig! Since you like eating so much, with my dying breath I hereby curse you to permanently lose your sense of taste! I also curse you to never be able to feel the satisfaction of satiation or enable you to eat to your fill!¡¯

    ¡®You shall never again, know what it¡¯s like to be full! This curse willst until the end of time and be passed down to your descendants! Not even the Heavenly Order itself, shall interfere nor break my curse!¡¯

    Finneas despaired, he initially thought that the beast was just letting out it¡¯s final bout of anger before it died but it turns out that the curse did take effect.

    His sense of taste was robbed from him. No matter how much food he consumed he never felt satiated, what¡¯s even worse is that his food intake was limited. Anything that exceeds that, he will vomit.

    For someone who loved eating so much, this was a horrible curse.

    The worst part of it all is that, this curse was unbreakable.

    His parents tried to help him break the curse. They used up so much of their money, finding ways to cure him but to no avail.

    And since the Primordialid waste on all of their property before it died, their financial supply was cut off, making it even harder for them to recover.

    It was until one day, someone came to them offering a solution to Finneas¡¯ problem.

    This man told them that the curse only affects him within the Divine Realm, the Heavenly Order is trapped within the Divine Realm so if he wants to break the curse, he has to do so in the Outer Worlds.

    Without any choices left, they decided to take a gamble. They set out to the Outer Worlds, bringing all their remaining wealth with them.

    Once they found a decent location, they settled down and Finneas decided to breakthrough the next realm as it was said to be the only way for him to break the curse.

    It worked but with a severe cost¡­

    Finneas was branded as an Outsider and his parents were murdered by the Space Pirates who also took all their remaining wealth.

    They left Finneas severely injured, staring at the dead corpses of his parents.

    Things only got progressively worse from there.

 Chapter 900: Godling?

    Chapter 900: Godling?

    His wealth, his friends, his home¡­his family¡­

    Old Finn lost it all. Even his pitiful life was nearly taken away from him.

    Unexpectedly though, he survived. Heter woke up, extremely weak and frail but alive. He had lost a lot of blood and muscle mass reducing him to what he currently looks like.

    He was picked up by some random group of outsiders and was taken to their base. There, Old Finn personally saw how miserable the lives of outsiders.

    The curse was broken which is a good news but then again, Old Finn was truly unlucky. Due to his current living conditions and state, it didn¡¯t really matter anymore.

    From the moment he woke up in the Outer Worlds until this very moment, he had never felt satiated. There¡¯s little to eat and drink here, everything tastes nd. Everything was so gloomy and miserable that Old Finn eventually lost all sense of hope.

    He just clung on to his pitiful life. Treating it punishment for everything he had done.

    It wasn¡¯t until he experienced this kind of life that he realized just how privileged he was back then. Had he known that he¡¯s going to end up this way, he would¡¯ve politely stayed at home and savored all the good things he had.

    He should¡¯ve told his parents how much they mean to him and how lucky he was to have them.

    s, everything is toote.

    All of this¡­are just regrets of a dying man.

    Everything has lost its meaning. There¡¯s nothing left for him here.

    And so, gradually, Old Finn released whatever hold he has left in this life. Nothing matters to him anymore. He epted his fate and allowed himself to sunk to whatever he was heading.

    As for what afterlife has in store for him? Old Finn truly couldn¡¯t care less.

    Nothing matters to him anymore. Nothing¡­

    Well¡­he says this but it seems that fate has other ns in store for him. Honestly, he just can¡¯t really catch a break now, huh?

    Unaware of how much time has passed since his consciousness faded, Old Finn felt a strong pull¡­a jolt which returned him back to the present.

    Felt a burning sensation deep within him which grew as time passes.

    Old Finn has no idea what¡¯s happening and honestly, he started feeling afraid, confused and scared.

    This heat inside of him continued to burn stronger. So much so that he started panicking¡­

    He can feel this¡­which is strange but he truly can. He wasn¡¯t hallucinating. He guessed that his brows were probably furrowed at this point because the burning sensation was growing stronger and its hurting him.

    As time passed, the fear just grew increasingly strong. Old Finn found it strange that he can feel his body shaking and struggling from whatever this is. He could feel a deep seated irritation stemming from the depths of his being.

    He felt like he was a cornered beast, desperately trying to find a way to survive.

    At this point, the burning sensation was so strong that he felt like he was being burned alive. The pain seeped through his marrows and deep to his soul.

    He couldn¡¯t help but to release a low grumble of difort, which awfully sounded like a threatening growl in his perspective.

    Weird.

    More time passed and eventually, the sensation grew so strong to the point that Old Finn couldn¡¯t take it anymore.

    This was torture for him.

    He could feel himself thrashing around. Trying his best to escape the pain. He felt constricted and suppressed. He didn¡¯t like it. He¡¯s so irritated and angry that he wanted to destroy everything around him.

    As time passed by, his struggles turned increasingly violent. At one point, Old Finn heard a loud sound of a ss breaking and chains shattering.

    His vision was then filled with endless white.

    Much to his surprise, he actually knew that his eyes were open. He could feel his vision adjusting to the light and when it did, he was filled with shock.

    He looked around and saw that he¡¯s in a room that he couldn¡¯t recognize. He¡¯s surrounded with pods containing a wriggling mass within.

    Old Finn looked down and saw arms that were not his¡­at least, not the one he remembered having yet for some reason, it was moving ording to hismands.

    He saw that his skin was pitch ck. The arms he¡¯s looking at were muscr and filled with so much strength. It has scales which released a glossy sheen, the nails were sharp and looked extremely dangerous.

    ¡®These are¡­my arms?¡¯ He muttered to himself.

    He then looked at the rest of his body and saw that it followed the same motif. He skin was pitch ck with scales, underneath it was a strong bundle of flesh bursting with power.

    ¡®Oh damn! I changed a lot down there too!¡¯ He eximed upon seeing his new and improved manly tool.

    He peeled his gaze away from it and looked around him once more. It seems that he¡¯s in some sort of a pod too much like the others however he broke free from it.

    Old Finn reached down and picked up a piece of broken ss. He then used it as a mirror to see what he currently looks like and once again, he was shocked.

    His face looked like just the youthful version of his, only with a charred skin and red eyes with yellow vertical slit in the middle. He looked hauntingly awesome. His hair was ck too but glossy and his body was swollen.

    That being said, this confused him still¡­

    What on earth happened to him?

    In the end, he resorted to his memories. Trying to figure out what brought on these changes.

    He then recalled what transpired before his supposed ¡®death¡¯ and finally, everything starts making sense to him.

    His current appearance bears so much resemnce to the ones that killed the ship¡¯s crew and abducted him!

    Their words before he was taken away finally started making sense to him. It seems that the reason why they didn¡¯t kill him right away is because, apparently he has the potential to be turned just like them, meaning that they were the ones who did this to him.

    ¡®I¡¯m¡­not human anymore.¡¯ He thought to himself.

    Strangely enough, it was weird to admit that he didn¡¯t mind this one bit.

    Granted, he has no idea what he has be. All he could tell is that he transformed and he¡¯s no longer the weak and frail Old Finn of the past.

    The surging strength coursing through his veins made this very obvious to him.

    To be able to feel this strong and powerful was awesome. Finneas felt like he could fucking fly if he wants to. It is such an addicting feeling.

    ¡°Oh, it seems that your awake.¡±

    Finn looked around and saw an unfamiliar dude walking towards him with a smile om his face. Finn was on alert but the man didn¡¯t seem to mind.

    ¡°My name is Skroll, do you have a name that I can use?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­F-Finneas.¡±

    ¡°Finneas?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Finneas. Finn is fine too.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Finn. Nice to meet you.¡± The dude smiled to him. ¡°How do you feel?¡±

    ¡°Different.¡± Finn replied truthfully.

    ¡°I figured.¡± The man nodded as he pulled out a seat out of nowhere and sat close to him. ¡°Well, you gotta get used to that. After all, you¡¯re far from what you previously were from now on.¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­but uh, Skroll? What¡­what happened to him? Why am I¡­like this?¡± Finn wasn¡¯t entirely sure what to ask but he asked it anyway.

    Luckily for him, it seems that Skroll was used to this.

    ¡°In all sense of form, it¡¯s simple really. You¡¯re reborn. Just like me, and everyone else on this ship, you are now a Godling.¡±

    ¡°Godling?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Skroll nodded, ¡°That what we call ourselves. We are Gods, Finn. It¡¯s our birthright. We are destined to be at the seat of power throughout the whole realms. This is etched to the very fiber of our being.¡±

    ¡°Previously, you were just a mere mortal. But because you posses the potential of a God, we took you in and used our ways to nurture your Godhood, turning you into what you are right now.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still young though. An infant Godling. As time goes on, your Godhood will continue to manifest until you eventuallye into terms of your true identity.¡±

    ¡°Wow¡­that is um¡­a lot, to take in.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Skroll sympathetically nodded, ¡°I was once like you too you know. Take it easy. No need to rush. You¡¯ll eventually get used to this. For now, how about we get you out of there and get you dressed, although your body looks fine, you¡¯re still buck naked you know.¡±

    Finn could feel himself getting flustered, which made Skrollugh heartily.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, you can admire your body moreter. More importantly, you have to get out of there or else you¡¯ll miss out on a great feast prepared for your birth.¡±

    ¡°¡­did you just say, a feast?¡±

    Skroll looked at him with a knowing gaze and nodded:

    ¡°Yes. A feast, prepared just for you. All that¡¯s missing, is your presence.¡±

    Finn¡¯s eyes glowed in splendor as he stood up abruptly and said:

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then!¡±

 Chapter 901: Finn is different

    Chapter 901: Finn is different

    ¡°Skroll, how¡¯s the infant?¡±

    In arge and majestic hall, a voice sounded behind Skroll. He turned around with a smile on his face and adjusted his monocle.

    ¡°He¡¯s doing fine. There, stuffing his mouth with so much food as if this is hisst day alive.¡± Skroll chuckled mirthlessly, ¡°How about on your side, Grimm? Any luck so far?¡±

    The man named Grimm hummed and replied in a low voice: ¡°We¡¯re getting there, the infant¡¯s memories are a bit difficult to decipher. It didn¡¯t help that his pod was faulty as well, we can only grab mere glimpses.¡±

    ¡°If this doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll have to resort to n B.¡± Skroll shrugged, ¡°Well, no matter. We¡¯re in no rush. The infant doesn¡¯t seem to be averting to his new life.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Grimm looked down on the one-way mirror to see the subject of their conversation having the time of his life gorging himself to fullness. ¡°I can certainly see that.¡±

    Skrollughed and said: ¡°Alright, you go back and work hard. I¡¯ll take care of this one. We basically friends at this point you know? Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯ll start singing pretty soon. Have faith in me.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll leave you to it.¡±

    Down the banquet hall, Finn has absolutely no idea what¡¯s happening behind his back. Even if does, would he care?

    Very unlikely¡­

    Why should he care when there¡¯s practically a full on banquet in front of him?

    At this point? Not even a world-ending cmity will be able to make Finn get up his seat.

    Speaking of which, Finn never imagined this.

    Actually, if you look at him closely, he¡¯s crying tears of joy right now.

    Not only he was reborn as a ¡®Godling¡¯ and obtained a ridiculously powerful body, he was also rewarded with a feast for his sessful birth.

    This is probably the best day in his entire life.

    With the curse long gone and a new and powerful body to use, Finn could, once again, experience what¡¯s its to taste something. He could also feel satiation without any fear of vomiting afterwards. It is truly the best day ever!

    Time gradually passed and to his disbelief, Finn realized that he actually spent a whole day just eating. It was only then that he felt full andpletely satisfied.

    Despite this however, his stomach didn¡¯t bulge the slightest. It remained t and solid with eight-packs of sculpted abdominal muscles. It was awesome! This body is practically built just for him.

    ¡°Wow, you certainly have some appetite there, young one.¡±

    ¡°Skroll!!¡± Finn turned his head and beamed at Skroll.

    It was obvious that he was happy and thankful for Skroll¡¯s help. He had never had someone this kind to him before. Granted, it¡¯s not really that hard to get him hooked.

    Food can always be used as a bait and he¡¯ll bite.

    ¡°How¡¯s it? Did you have a good time?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Very much so! I haven¡¯t eaten this much since forever! Thank you so much! Is there anything I can help you with? I don¡¯t have any money to pay for the food you see¡­¡± Finn scratched his head in embarrassment once he got to the end of his words.

    ¡°You brat!¡± Skroll chuckled and swung an arm around him, ¡°You¡¯re only thinking of this now? Hell, you sure are shameless!¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­sorry! I can¡¯t resist you know.¡± Finn was flustered with shame, ¡°W-well, do you need my help with something then? Maybe I can repay you for feeding me.¡±

    Skroll¡¯s face turned serious as he leaned to Finn¡¯s ears, he then whispered: ¡°Well¡­there¡¯s certainly something you can help me with, big boy.¡±

    Finn shivered as he felt Skroll¡¯s fingers gently circling the nub on his chest. He bit his lips in embarrassment but doesn¡¯t seem to be against it¡­

    Skrollughed out loud and said: ¡°Ai, you brat. You¡¯re too damn easy! Whatever. We have endless supply of food anyway! Since you¡¯re one of us now, there¡¯s no need for formalities. Just take it easy and adjust to your new body.¡±

    They then arrived at one of therge rooms at the end of the hallway. Skroll opened the doors and Finn was met with an exquisite sight.

    This room reminds him of his old room back in the day. It was morous to an unnecessary extent. Every corner screams ¡®wealth¡¯ and was meant for only one person.

    ¡°This will be room from now on.¡± Skroll told him with smug expression, ¡°How¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°Pretty! And veryrge! Are you sure I can use this?¡± Finn felt a bit hesitant since he¡¯s long since used to getting dregs before. Receiving something this grand felt a bit wrong to him.

    ¡°Of course! You¡¯re a special one, you know?¡± Skroll said in a ¡®matter-of-a-fact¡¯ tone.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that you¡¯re vastly different from a regr infant Godling. Although you¡¯re considered as an infant, you¡¯re body¡¯s already matured due to your unique circumstances.¡±

    ¡°Later on, when you understand what being a Godling truly is and began exploring your abilities, with your matured mind, these said powers shoulde naturally to you.¡±

    ¡°Before long, you¡¯ll be as strong, if not stronger, than us. By then, you¡¯d have even more privileges as a true Godling!¡±

    ¡°So, there¡¯s no need for you to feel hesitant about enjoying these little things. If you discover your true potential, the things you can own will amount to so much more than this. So work hard, alright?¡±

    ¡°Skroll¡­¡± Finn felt very emotional.

    When was thest time he felt this valued and important? When was thest time that someone was this kind and generous to him? When was thest time that he experienced a sense of belonging and acknowledgement?

    Finn couldn¡¯t remember. But all of this¡­are things that he didn¡¯t know he yearned for, yet it was given to him without any restraints.

    They barely even knew who he was¡­

    ¡°I swear¡­I want to give you a fat smooch on the lips right now.¡±

    ¡°Hahahahaha!! Easy there, Kid!¡± Skrollughed merrily. His face then turned bewitching for a second before saying: ¡°As much as I¡¯m tempted to ept that offer, I¡¯m afraid you have much to learn about your new body.¡±

    ¡°How about this¡­learn everything you need to know about your new body first.¡± Skroll then pointed at the table, ¡°There¡¯s a pile of books in there, take your time to read and explore the sensations of your new body.¡±

    ¡°Once you¡¯re done well¡­I wouldn¡¯t mind giving you a helping hand and a more thorough ¡®experience¡¯ for your new body.¡± Skroll chuckled, ¡°What do you say?¡±

    Finn sharply inhaled and nodded furiously, ¡°Yeah¡­I¡¯ll listen to you. I¡¯ll read all of it.¡±

    ¡°My¡­¡± Skrollughed coquettishly and said, ¡°What good boy you are.¡±

    Finn shivered and Skrollughed uproariously once again.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave you to it. Don¡¯t be in a rush. Take your time. I¡¯ll visit you from time to time to check up on your health and progress, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Very good.¡± Skroll nodded and walked past him. Finn then felt a solid palm squeezing his ass and he heard Skroll said: ¡°Go on, do your best. I¡¯ll cheer on you. See youter¡­¡±

    Finn stopped hesitating and walked towards the table. He sat down and began flipping through the thick books on the table. He didn¡¯t even see Skroll walking out and closing the door behind him.

    He was obviously not in right mindset before starting this. He was so flustered from all the flirting that the words written on the bookspletely eluded him.

    Only after calming down momentster did he finally start making sense of things.

    ¡®¡­these are written in a differentnguage that, for some reason, I know how to read and write. They¡¯re thick as fuck though, it¡¯ll take me days to finish this one book alone.¡¯

    ¡®Well, no matter I guess. Skroll told me that I can take my time. If I am an infant Godling to their eyes, that means I shouldn¡¯t have any responsibilities right now. They have to nurture me first.¡¯

    He paused and stood up from his seat, he then walked towards the whole-body mirror and looked at his new body.

    Finn was taller, more muscr and fiendishly handsome in some ways. He couldn¡¯t help but flex his muscles and admire his body for a bit before muttering to himself:

    ¡®Yeah, it¡¯s really not so bad. I like this new body of mine.¡¯

    ¡°¡­Gods huh.¡± He whispered, ¡°Never believed in them before. Never expected them to look like this either. But I guess they do exist. Only, our expectations were a bit mislead.¡±

    Until now, Finn was still using the standards of his past to judge how things should be but he figured that has to change now.

    He¡¯s different¡­he should abandon the mentality of a human. He¡¯s no longer that. Apparently, he¡¯s a God now, so he should really learn what its like to be one.

    Once he¡¯s done admiring his new body, he returned to his seat and began reading seriously. At this point, he whole-heartedly epted his new reality and filled with curiosity about his new identity.

    Unbeknownst to him, this was the start of a trap that he will never be able to get out of.

 Chapter 902: Poor and Naive Finn

    Chapter 902: Poor and Naive Finn

    As it turns out, being a Godling was awesome¡­

    Finn spent at least a whole week by now, learning everything he needs to know about his new self and his discoveries were too shocking for him.

    Let¡¯s start with the basics¡­

    Obviously, a God¡¯s physiology is vastly different from that of a human. From birth, they were destined to possess incredible strength that surpasses even that of a God Beasts. They also possess high intellect from birth and they grow up very fast. Their lifespans, at minimum, would be 100,000 years and if they harnessed their true potential, there¡¯s no limit on how long they can extend this.

    Essentially, they were just built differently. They cannot bepared to humans, it¡¯s just down right unfair.

    Gods doesn¡¯t have a fixed ¡®gender¡¯, they can be males, females, both or neither, it truly depends on their whim ¨C which means they can change their genders on the fly. If they feel like being a woman today, they could just switch. If they get bored and wanted to be a man? Switch! The process was quite easy, every god knows how to do it from birth.

    Of course, switching genders has an effect to their reproductive capabilities but it isn¡¯t so much that it bes a problem. For example:

    A God that prefers to be neither in terms of gender, still have the capabilities to impregnate or be pregnant with a child. Their preference doesn¡¯t impact this system too much.

    Finn actually tried this himself and to his surprise, it came naturally to him. He just decided to look like a bombastic female God and lo, there it was, his body switched to it. The smoothness of the process made him feel weird but that¡¯s just because of the remaining dregs of human consciousness. With time, this will fade and this will no longer bother him.

    Apart from that, another thing that sets God apart from humans is their so called ¡®Godhood¡¯, the very essence of their Race.

    A God has a God Seed in their chest. Typically, they appear in the form of a gaping back hole in their chest. It looks frightening at first but this is the core of a God¡¯s existence.

    The God Seed is the source of a God¡¯s strength. If this was destroyed, a God dies, that being said, destroying a God Seed is very difficult to do since its looks are deceiving.

    If a God wants to tap in their true potential, they need to nurture their God Seed. To do this, they must hunt for resources to act as nourishment to them. This is why they roam around the vast Outer Worlds to search for them.

    Simr to humans, Gods also have a hierarchy which is decided through strength. The list goes like;

    Infant God/Godling, Young God, God Officer, Elder God, Saint God, God King, God Emperor and Supreme God.

    Each rank is obviously much stronger than the previous one. That being said, it is difficult to climb thedder.

    See, the societal structure of the Gods are a bit strict, orx, depending on one¡¯s point of view.

    Do not expect people to help you be stronger. This is something that you must do yourself. Other than that, its fair.

    Strength brings many privileges but also heavier responsibilities, even Gods aren¡¯t immune to this rule. And honestly, Finn is not surprised at the very least.

    He found this reasonable, especially after know that there¡¯s, apparently, millions of Gods in the Paradise Realm ¨C the name of the Gods¡¯ home. With that many people, it makes sense that a structure must be followed so that it won¡¯t copse.

    So far, Finn still hasn¡¯t discovered what kind of power he possesses. The reason behind this is because he¡¯s still getting used to his new body. It isn¡¯t wise for him to practice God Arts just yet.

    What made Finn very satisfied though, is the fact that he could feel himself getting stronger every passing day.

    At first he thought that he¡¯s just hallucinating things. He thought that this was just the relief he¡¯s experiencing for having a new body that is leagues above what he had before even back in his youth but to his surprise, no, he¡¯s not hallucinating.

    Skroll repeatedly reminded him that he¡¯s special and right now, he¡¯s starting to believe that he really is special.

    He said that Finn will continue to grow stronger as time passed by. Its not endless since this sensation will stop the moment hepletely adjusted but since he¡¯s a special case, this will go on for quite sometime.

    Skroll guessed that he can grow like this up until he reached the God Officer rank, that in itself is a great news since God Officers are considered as proper adults in the Gods¡¯ Society. Meaning that he can look for jobs to sustain himself.

    And with this powerful body of his, getting a job shouldn¡¯t be difficult at all! Finn can permanently say goodbye to his reputation of being ¡®useless¡¯!.

    Additionally, Skroll advised that when he reached the Young God stage, he can start his proper training in God Arts. Since that isn¡¯t the limit of his growth, he can forge a strongest foundation which also means that he¡¯ll be a lot strongerpared to the regr Gods.

    Everything was just going too great for Finn!

    And that¡¯s precisely why he¡¯s feeling a little uncertain¡­

    Deep down, he still feels that this was wrong. He feels like he¡¯s being lured into a false sense of security and a false sense of reality. He still doubted if he truly deserve all the good things happening to him.

    Yet¡­

    As days passed, the whispers on the back of his head were fading. Turning fainter and fainter¡­some of them were already gone.

    Finn was having such a st living his new life filled with goodness and brightness that the shadows of doubt and uncertainty were fading altogether.

    He¡¯s be socent that he didn¡¯t even notice that his memories were fading.

    Finn can no longer remember most of his memories back when he¡¯s still a human. His memories of the Outer World was fading as well¡­

    He can no longer remember the faces of his friends and deceased family. He¡¯s even starting to forget their names.

    A new identity was being forged for him. It¡¯s being done so in a very discrete manner that he couldn¡¯t notice.

    What if he realizes that he was being used as a chess piece? Moreover, what if he realizes that the one who¡¯s manipting him, was someone he thought of as his close ally?

    At this point, Finn already knew most of gods that live close to him. There¡¯s this grumpy one called Grimm, there¡¯s this funny one called Max, a snob one called Liz, and a very energetic one called Trask.

    There¡¯s also Jim, Ebony, May, Winnie, Quinn, Marcel and so on¡­

    But his favorite out of all of them¡­will always be Skroll¡­

    Skroll is just one of a kind in his opinion. At the very beginning, he weed him and showed him the ropes. He was there for him every step of the way and he looked at him with so much focus that Finn felt seen.

    He felt acknowledged and cared about. This is what made him so enamored by Skroll even with this little time they¡¯ve spent together.

    Skroll introduced him to a whole new world of possibilities. He held his hand and supported him in every turn. It¡¯s safe to say that at this point, Finn can¡¯t be bothered to look for anybody else anymore. There¡¯s only Skroll in his sights and he¡¯s determined to have him.

    Unfortunately¡­this is exactly what they wanted to happen.

    ¡°Got him wrapped around your damn fingers¡­well fucking done, Skroll.¡± Grimm huffed as Skroll walked past him.

    Skroll just elicited a small chuckle and said: ¡°Well, what can I say? I¡¯m just too damn good at my job.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Whatever.¡± Grimm snorted as he started walking beside him. ¡°Come with me, we¡¯ve got a hit.¡±

    ¡°Oh, my. As expected of the great General Grimm.¡± Skroll seductively coiled his arms around Grimm but thetter just pushed him away.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking touch me again.¡± Grimm uttered coldly.

    ¡°Ooh, scary.¡± Skroll coquettishlyughed, ¡°My, I love it when you y hard to get. Makes the chase so damn fun.¡±

    ¡°Hmph¡­¡±

    ¡°You treat me like this but then¡­¡± Skroll leaned in and whispered to Grimm¡¯s ears, ¡°¡­you let the sweetest moans ever when you¡¯re under me. Oh, just the thought of it makes me so damn aroused.¡±

    ¡°Enough of you games, Skroll.¡± Grimm just red at him but thetter justughed away.

    ¡°Man, you¡¯re much more funpared to Finn. I¡¯m already starting to get bored of him.¡± Skroll stretched his arms and ced them behind his head as he followed Grimm.

    Grimm didn¡¯t say a word, he just lead Skroll to his office.

    When they entered there, they approached a weird looking apparatus on the corner. It has a screen that disyed lines of undecipherable words but nothing to difficult for the two of them to understand.

    Looking at the rows of data at the screen, Skroll¡¯s eyes gleamed in excitement as he muttered:

    ¡°Divine Realm, huh.¡±

 Chapter 903: Paradise on the Hunt

    Chapter 903: Paradise on the Hunt

    Paradise Realm; The Highest Spire.

    The Highest Spire could be said as the true headquarters of all operations in the Paradise Realm. This spire stretches as far as the eyes can see and it a symbol of glory and power for all Gods.

    Even if you lived at the slums of the Paradise Realm, you¡¯d still be able to see this spire.

    The bottom floors of the Spire is where most of the experts of the God Race were situated. They chose the spire as the center of their operations and because of that, everything that their realm needses from here.

    At the highest floor of the spire¡­a ce that little to no God ever stepped in before, a small cottage surrounded by vast greenery could be seen.

    This picture was like any other regr home, peaceful and serene. The sun was bright, the air is cool and carried the scent of flowers, there were small animals roaming around, basking under sun the without any care in the world.

    In this small cottage, a person could be seen sitting in a rocking chair.

    It¡¯s an old man of the God Race. His looks were just like that of a kind old grandpa. He calmly enjoyed his peace and silence while humming a small tune with his eyes closed.

    Suddenly, the old man had a little furry visitor!

    A small squirrel invaded his cottage and ran towards him, climbing on his rocking chair and onto his shoulders. The squirrel let out sounds right next to his ears which caused the old man to gently open his eyes.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± He looked over his shoulders and saw the little guy, his face wore a smile as he said: ¡°I see, so we have visitors, huh? Alright, thanks for telling me little guy. Here, a small treat just for you.¡±

    The old man handed a palm sized chestnut to the squirrel which it happily took while dashing away. The old man shook his head as he tentatively tried to stand up from his seat.

    Crack!

    ¡°Aiyo! Ow! Ow!¡± The old man cursed, as he gently staggered.

    He clutched his bent back quiteically while spitting out strings of curses while also catching himself in the process.

    ¡°¡­¡¯get a rocking chair¡¯ they said¡­¡¯it¡¯ll be good for your back¡¯ they said. Bullshit! I swear, I¡¯ll whack those sons of bitches when I see them again. How dare they lie to me! Hmph!¡±

    The old man¡¯s moon turned terrible because of this. Heter then sighed and carefully walked outside of his cottage with the help of his cane.

    Even the way he walked down the wooden steps were slow and methodical. He can¡¯t help it, his back hurts. If he¡¯s not careful, he might just actually dislocate his spine this time around.

    Sighs

    The old man released a relieved sigh upon sitting down on stool. This one had a soft cushion so it was merciful to his aching pelvis. This stool was also under a shade so it didn¡¯t scald his ass with heat.

    He then closed his eyes for a bit to rest.

    In the next moment, a few movements urred near him. Out of nowhere, two people appeared wearing farmer¡¯s clothing and hats.

    ¡°Yo! Old man! We¡¯re here to disturb you again! Haha!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The old man released an exasperated sigh as he tiredly motioned them to sit down. Deep down in his heart, he couldn¡¯t help but mutter the words;

    ¡®I¡¯m getting too old for this shit!¡¯

    ¡°Kuh! As expected, this ce is just the best! Hey, old man! Do you have some apples in there? Can I have some-ow!! Why did you hit me!?¡±

    ¡°You fucking brat! Tryying you crusty ass hands on my apples and I¡¯ll fight you to death!¡± The old man threatened.

    ¡°Your Highness¡­I mean-fuck! Shit! Sorry!¡±

    The old man and the raucous man stopped ring at each other and looked at the third guy in disappointment.

    ¡°Ai, damn it! You ruined it!¡± The raucous man shook his head.

    ¡°Sigh, I was looking forward to it too¡­¡± the old man sounded so disappointed.

    ¡°W-well, I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness¡­I-¡°

    ¡°Ahh, Grimm. Why are you such a bad actor? How many lessons do I have to give you before you learn? It¡¯s his fault this time, Your Highness. I tried my best to teach him, believe me.¡±

    As it turns out, these two visitors were General Grimm and Skroll ¨C who, apparently, has to adopt a specific role in order to entertain this old man.

    At this point, things should¡¯ve been obvious¡­

    Two of these very famous Gods had visited this old and even called him ¡®Your Highness¡¯.

    That in itself should be enough to realize that this old man isn¡¯t so simple after all.

    The old man sighed once again. He tapped his cane once and all of a sudden, lights converged. In a blink of an eye, everything around them changed.

    The little prairie turned into a grand open-aired hall with tons of decorations. The trees turned into pirs and the flowers turned into sets of dazzling jewelry collections.

    The animals turned into their true form, soldiers that guarded the old man.

    The little cottage was gone and the stool turned into a grand throne. The tables outside of the cottage turned into rows of study tables with bookshelves nearby.

    Grimm and Skroll found themselves kneeling down in front of the throne, their farmer¡¯s wear were reced by their cold armors made out of special materials.

    The old man changed too¡­

    His true identity, is that of the sole God Emperor of his race. Now sitting in his rightful throne with a bored look on his face.

    Skroll who¡¯s right next to Grimm, whispered: ¡°See what you did?¡±

    ¡°I already said I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Grimm wanted to cry.

    ¡°Alright, Skroll. Stop guilt-tripping the poor General. It¡¯s not his fault that the situation was weird.¡± The God Emperor chuckled but it¡¯s obvious that he¡¯s still a little disappointed.

    ¡®That sucks¡­I wanted to y some more.¡¯ The God Emperor whispered to himself.

    Being a sole Emperor of his race, the Old Man couldn¡¯t help but feel bored. It¡¯s lonely to at the top. There¡¯s nothing to entertain him anymore.

    He doesn¡¯t have a spouse nor any children to y with because he¡¯s too damn powerful and nobody could bear the weight of his seed. His reputation was too high which made it difficult for him to have friends.

    The only way he can entertain himself is by warping reality and living in a world he built for himself. Unfortunately, his little activities are too weird and strange too. Not everyone could be on the same wavelength as him.

    ¡°Alright, you two. Speak, why are you here.¡±

    Grimm cleared his throat and adopted a professional tone:

    ¡°Your Highness, we came here to report about a massive opportunity ahead of us.¡±

    ¡°Massive opportunity you say?¡± The old man was intrigued, ¡°Tell me everything.¡±

    Grimm looked at Skroll who understood his intentions and took the sign to speak:

    ¡°To fully grasp the context of this report, we shall tell you about our trip a couple of years ago¡­¡±

    Skroll and Grimm them told the God Emperor about the story of their encounter with Finn ¨C his peculiarities and what they deciphered from his memories.

    They didn¡¯t bother telling Finn¡¯s past to the God Emperor. Frankly, nobody cares about his past, the only thing valuable about him was his memories about Divine Realm.

    During the past few years that Finn spent inside the incubation, Skroll received a peculiar readings about his brain activity. In his curiosity, he discovered a richnd filled with overwhelming vitality in Finn¡¯s memories.

    This was around the time when he was recalling his past while under transformation.

    The readings were unclear at first. Their machines were unable topletely decipher everything at one go but it did record everything.

    Upon seeing this, Skroll invited Grimm to supervise and gauge how big this opportunity was. As it turns out, this was massive.

    The data they recorded took many yearspletely decipher. Additionally, they needed Finn to subconsciously release his hold of them since he was holding back their progress.

    In order to do this, Skroll took it to himself the mission to lure Finn¡¯s heart away from his humanity andpletely abandon his old life.

    To this, Skroll didn¡¯t hold back with his methods. He used trap after trap to break down Finn¡¯s guard. He schemed against Finn. Not even once, did he actually cared about Finn.

    Finn was disposable after all of this¡­and frankly, it didn¡¯t take much to break him down.

    It only took a couple seduction and few nights under the sheets in order topletely have Finn wrapped around his fingers and have him dance on top of his palms.

    Before long, Finn no longer held them back. They managed topletely siphon his memories and decipher thempletely.

    They even had the rough estimation of where Divine Realm¡¯s coordinates is¡­

    Hearing all of this shocked the God Emperor for a moment. He was skeptical at first but when he saw the records theypiled for this report, all doubts were dispelled.

    ¡°You¡¯ve done me great service, both of you.¡± He said, ¡°Rest assured, you¡¯ll be properly rewarded for this.¡±

    ¡°Men! Heed my orders! It¡¯s time for Paradise to go on a hunt!¡±

 Chapter 904: Ravens Deductions

    Chapter 904: Raven¡¯s Deductions

    Raven is a peak of his life¡­

    Despite his actual age, considering how long cultivators¡¯ lifespans were at his realm, he¡¯s fairly young. He has a loving wife, a cute and sensible daughter. Friends who had been with him at every step of the way. People who worshipped him like a god¡­

    And he¡¯s practically the strongest man alive in whole of Divine Realm. Reigning as the true leader of his race and basking in glory which willst for eons.

    Truly, he¡¯s living his best life, and there¡¯s practically no reason for him to feel worried or uneasy about anything¡­

    ¡­except, he does.

    And today, which was supposed to be just another regr day¡­he feels a strong unease stemming from the depths of his being, and he has no idea why.

    One has to know that, in Raven¡¯s current position, there¡¯s little to no threat to him within the Divine Realm¡­

    But what about outside? Now, that¡¯s a different topic altogether.

    As someone who bears the Divinity of Chaos, Raven¡¯s sensitive to the changes of the world. His perception already grew way past the realm and could feel the subtle dangers beyond it.

    Nothing could make him feel this sort of unease other than humanity¡¯s fated enemies¡­

    The Abyssals.

    Raven¡¯s gaze pierced through the horizon. In his eyes, the entirety of the Divine Realm was reflected along with its peculiarities.

    He could sense the dread creeping closer to his home and it chilled his heart to be honest.

    It wasn¡¯t only him who felt this¡­

    Luna, his friends and other Divine Knights also felt the same way. They could only sense it faintly, not as good as Raven could but at least it was something.

    The sensation was ufortable. The unease made it impossible for them to stay still.

    Out of nowhere, Luna entered their room and found his husband staring at the distant horizon. She stood behind him and was hesitant to ask about it. Shortlyter, their friends also came and simrly, they looked at Raven.

    ¡°They¡¯reing¡­¡± Raven sighed as he turned around to face them.

    Instantly, the atmosphere around the room turned gloomy. Everyone tensed up. Raven didn¡¯t have to go on a detail since they already knew what he meant.

    Still, this wasn¡¯t a good news to any of them¡­

    ¡°¡­it¡¯s too fast.¡± Luna scowled, feeling particrly troubled by this.

    ¡°How did they managed to find out already? There shouldn¡¯t have been any clues for them to use!¡± Paul eximed.

    ¡°I¡¯ve deduced it¡­they encountered a local turned Outsider. They deciphered this person¡¯s memories and managed to figure out the rough coordinates of our realm.¡± Raven replied.

    Indeed, Raven already deduced how they were discovered. It was particrly troublesome since this was something that ispletely out of his control. Sure, he didn¡¯t leave any traces behind that they can use but that doesn¡¯t apply to others as well.

    ¡°We should enter a state of war preparation then.¡± Mark decisively said.

    Raven shook his head and said: ¡°Not for now.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Anne was puzzled.

    The others were puzzled too, why didn¡¯t Raven want to mobilize the troops and prepare for confrontation? Is he giving up on their home? That can¡¯t be right?

    ¡°It will take them a long time before theye.¡± Raven stated to rify his intentions. ¡°For some reason, they didn¡¯t use the warping mechanism. Probably because the coordinates they received were unclear or the warp isn¡¯t working properly.¡±

    ¡°Either way, it will take them around 200-300 years before they arrive.¡± Raven stated, ¡°It¡¯s unwise to alert the troops this early, we¡¯ll just disturb their peace and they won¡¯t be able to use this brief time to increase their strength.¡±

    ¡°Sure, the pressure might squeeze out their still dormant potential but it¡¯s going to be forced. That might ruin them instead of helping them and we don¡¯t want that.¡±

    ¡°Let them have this peace for now. It won¡¯t be toote to alert themter when the enemy¡¯s close.¡±

    Right. Raven wanted to give them sometime to enjoy this peace. Even though their threat is alreadying their way, they have time anyway. Let them have this peace for now since, who knows? Maybe it¡¯s theirst.

    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s the move?¡± Ellen asked.

    ¡°Frankly? I¡¯m not too sure. But it¡¯s going to be fine.¡± Raven assured them, ¡°There¡¯s no use on alerting them this soon. Even if we do, they will doubt us anyway since the enemies aren¡¯t here yet. They¡¯ll only believe it when they see it. It won¡¯t be toote by then, trust me.¡±

    ¡°Besides, if we can sense this vague unease. The other Divine Knights could too. They would do something discretely about it. There¡¯s no need for us to cause unnecessary panic for now.¡±

    Raven finally managed to convince them about this. That doesn¡¯t mean that they weren¡¯t wary of this though.

    Their home in is grave peril, none of them would be able to sit still and be at ease.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go check on the kids, I¡¯ll try giving them some pointers and hope that they can increase their strength even just for a bit.¡± Paul interjected. The kids he was referring to were the youth that the Dawn Council were nurturing.

    ¡°I¡¯lle with you.¡± Ellen joined him.

    ¡°Mark, let¡¯s check the defenses. I want to make sure their working as intended.¡± Anne suggested and Mark agreed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go see the state of the realm. I think we can prioritize some missions in the meant to mend the gaps of the realm.¡± Laughing Dragon suggested.

    Seeing all of them leave in haste, Raven shook his head once more.

    He took Luna¡¯s hand and they sat on the balcony overlooking Raven¡¯s territory.

    ¡°The crest is almost full¡­¡± Luna whispered softly to him. Her words had a deeper meaning to them but Raven just nodded at her.

    ¡°That¡¯s good. If things go south, that can be ourst resort.¡± Raven stated.

    Luan tightened her grip on his hand and hesitantly asked: ¡°Aren¡¯t nning on going into seclusion? You said it yourself, we still have time. Maybe you can seed this time?¡±

    Raven looked at her and said: ¡°I will but not today. I¡¯m afraid that if I go into seclusion right now, I won¡¯t emerge until the dawn of the Realm War. I¡¯ll be leaving you and our daughter very lonely¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, you.¡± Luna smiled lovingly at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us any more. I¡¯ going to be fine. Vanessa¡¯s a sensible child. She¡¯s already matured. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll understand.¡±

    ¡°I know that.¡± Raven nodded, ¡°But I do want to spend some quality time with the both of you before I do so. Call her here, we¡¯ll go roam the Divine Realm for a year then I¡¯ll enter seclusion.¡±

    Luna just smiled and did what he said.

    Raven, despite being troubled by the approaching threat, still chose to indulge his family first before anybody else.

    At this point, this should be given. Raven¡¯s family would always be his priority. Even if the world is about to end, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to put them first before himself and everyone else.

    Vanessa came right after she was called. She was surprised by this impromptu vacation but she wasn¡¯t one toin.

    Since the three of them already decided on it, they didn¡¯t waste time anymore and began roaming the Divine Realm. They enjoyed a quality time together, enjoying a brief moment of peace without worrying about anything.

    Raven and Luna re-kindled their love for each other, not that it faded but just for the hell out of it. They even adopted some mortal identities and had a wedding in some worlds. Their weddings weren¡¯t too morous. Sometimes, Vanessa would act as the priest to preside over the ceremony.

    How shocked would these people be if they realized that Divine Realm¡¯s strongest couple just visited their world and decided to have their wedding in there? Thankfully, they were wearing disguises or else, it would¡¯ve resulted into a realm-wide chaos.

    Their time was short but they did have fun. This was something they needed due to their heavy responsibilities.

    Time passed by rather quick and before anybody realized that they were gone, they¡¯ve already returned.

    Vanessa left her parents and went back to her friends, leaving Luna and Raven on their own.

    And just because they can¡¯t get enough of each other, they decided to spend ten days and ten nights doing nothing but tossing and turning under sheets. By the end of their passionate time, their room was a hot mess but the two of them didn¡¯t care¡­

    As theyy down next to each other with bodies still covered with a faint sheen of sweat and slightly out of breath, Raven gave Luna and sweet kiss and said:

    ¡°Hopefully we can have another child after this.¡±

    Luna smiled in splendor and couldn¡¯t help but say: ¡°Yeah, that would be perfect.¡±

    ¡°¡­it¡¯s time.¡± Raven whispered.

    ¡°Mn, I know. Go ahead. I wish you luck. Don¡¯t worry about us. We¡¯ll hold down the fort while you¡¯re away.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I love you.¡±

    ¡°I love you too.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m off.¡±

    After saying that, Raven took a quick bath, dressed-up and proceed to enter a very long seclusion¡­

 Chapter 905: Mark - The Crimson Death

    Chapter 905: Mark ¨C The Crimson Death

    ¡°¡­how did it go?¡±

    ¡°He gave me the go signal. I¡¯ll be leaving pretty soon.¡± Mark turned to his wife and told her about the decision.

    ¡°Do you need me to go with you?¡± Anne asked.

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll be fine on my own. Don¡¯t worry about me. You stay here and take care of Jeanne, alright?¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do that. Take care,e back as soon as done.¡±

    ¡°Will do.¡±

    After saying this, Mark turned into a streak of light and disappeared in her view.

    Mark didn¡¯t dare to waste time. He flew at his top speed towards his destination¡­the Eternal Division Wall.

    It¡¯s been a month since they felt the looming threat of their enemy¡¯s arrival. The once idle Dawn Council had burst into activity once more resulting to a very busy schedule of theirs so far.

    Mark himself had been running around, trying to help with whatever he can. He even visited some old allies and personally warned them about this distant threat.

    Although Raven did say to not tell anybody about it, its fine to let Divine Knights know what¡¯sing, after all Divine Knights all had keen senses, they too could feel the faint killing intent in the horizon and the stifling presenceing closer, it would be a bad idea to keep them guessing so they might as well know what¡¯sing.

    Of course, his activities aren¡¯t limited to just that. Mark has been proactively fixing and eliminating all sorts of hidden threats. For him, it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry. He didn¡¯t want the cause of their downfall toe from their side.

    As of right now, Mark tasked himself with another mission. And that is o fortify their defenses even more.

    He had suggested to make a trip to Eternal Division Wall with the intent of making traps for their uing ¡®guests¡¯. Of course, he needed Raven¡¯s permission for this, which he acquired without any problems.

    It was Raven¡¯s avatars who gave him the go signal. Of course, these Avatars asked Raven¡¯s decision about this so they only ryed the response. Raven¡¯s already in seclusion and he¡¯ll be in there for a good amount of time.

    Mark knew that his good brother is definitely going to try his best to crack down the path towards Transcendence. He wishes him all the luck with his goal and thought that he himself couldn¡¯t just sit still.

    He has to do something¡­

    Which what lead him to this idea.

    Mark didn¡¯t use the Realm Door of the Dawn Council to make this trip faster. He didn¡¯t need to as he¡¯s very fast and to be frank, he prefers it this way.

    He¡¯s not currently in a hurry. Believe it or not, Mark needs time to prepare himself with what he¡¯s about to do and flying towards there gives him just enough time to be ready so it¡¯s better this way.

    It took him about a week of flying at his top speed to arrive at his destination. By the time he arrived there, all of his preparations were done.

    The Wall Guardians weed him, they¡¯ve been informed about the situation and aware of what Mark intends to do here so they didn¡¯t bother him a lot.

    Mark was grateful for that since he really didn¡¯t have any desire to socialize too much. He¡¯s always been like this, cold and indifferent to people he doesn¡¯t know. It¡¯s a bit entric but at his status, nobody can judge him for that and this was natural for him so he didn¡¯t pay too much attention towards it.

    He approached the Eternal Division Wall and inspected it closely. This wall was massive, it isplete spherical barrier that encased the whole Divine Realm.

    Mark was awed by its structure, even more so with the added runes that Raven ced in it.

    As one of the people that had stood by Raven¡¯s side for so long, Mark isn¡¯t ignorant about runes. Especially considering the fact that Raven takes every chance he gets to tell them how they work and exin what they do.

    Mark could recognize Raven¡¯s work even with his eyes closed, that being said he could only recognize it, he would never dare im that he can understand it.

    Is there anybody who could, though? Hmm, food for thought.

    Anyways, the formationsid in every brick of this wall was on apletely different level than what Raven usually shows them. It would take years, even for someone like him, topletely decode this thing.

    Raven went all out on this. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that their enemies are real troublesome, he wouldn¡¯t even imagine them getting past this. The only way for them to invade Divine Realm is by using a force that could wipe out an entire realm just to break the reinforcements he ced in this or by deciphering it.

    Either way, even for their troublesome foes, they were bound to be in pickle if they¡¯re met with this.

    Mark hesitated to even add on to this because he thinks that this already as good as it can get, but then again, the more the merrier. The more they messed-up with their enemies, the higher their chances at survival so all hesitation of his were gone as soon as they came.

    Thankfully, Mark didn¡¯t have to be knowledgeable of every formation there is to do his work. He already received a guide from Raven on how to insert his traps in the formations and he only needs to follow that.

    Following the guide, Mark decided to start working as soon as he could. The earlier he begins the faster he cane back home.

    Mark condensed small orbs filled with his Divinity ¨C The Crimson Death, and inserted it on several spots all over the formation. He did so in a methodical way where the formations fuses with the orbs he ced.

    Since this was his first attempt, the process slow. Mark didn¡¯t rush it, instead he did it slowly and used a step-by-step approach. This way, he can get familiarized in the process.

    The first fusion was a sess. Mark was expecting this to be more difficult but it went smoothly, probably because of Raven meticulous arrangements and his detailed guidance.

    Once the fusion was done, a faint crimson aura started dyeing the bricks, it didn¡¯t spread too far, only affecting a small portion of the wall, but Mark could feel that the wall just became even more dangerous with the addition of his Divinity.

    If someone from the outside decided to be smart and try to approach this specific spot, they will be greeted with a nasty of explosion of Crimson Death.

    As a reminder, Crimson Death is the deadliest form of Death since it is irresistible. It defies the Laws of Immortality, the tougher it is the enemy to kill, the more persistent Crimson Death will be.

    Once afflicted, the target could do nothing but to wait for their eventual demise. Of course, this can be countered through several means but such methods are extremely strict that 99% of people would fail in doing so. Which makes the Divinity even scarier.

    Also, there¡¯s no need to worry if this is going to work on Outsiders or in this case, Abyssals. Crimson Death does not discriminate. It doesn¡¯t matter if they were a local of the Divine Realm or not, it will impose Death without fail.

    It is precisely because it is so fierce that harnessing its powers requires sacrifice. A sacrifice that Mark paid for just to make sure his loved ones stay safe. It¡¯s an equivalent exchange.

    Still, Mark¡¯s work was far from done.

    This is just a tiny corner of this wall. It doesn¡¯t even amount to a percentage of it. Thus, without further ado, Mark proceed to the next spot he has chosen.

    As the fusion spreads, Mark isn¡¯t required to fuse his Divinity with every single brick there is. He just needed to fuse it smartly and the spread will take care of the rest.

    Eventually, by the time he¡¯s done, the whole Eternal Division Wall will be covered by a thin veil of Crimson Death. Anotheryer of defense that will make their enemies suffer a lot.

    Mark knew that this work will take time but he¡¯s prepared for it. Raven handled heavier burdenspared to this one yet he managed toplete it, his work isn¡¯t as difficult so there¡¯s absolutely no reason to fail here.

    Just like this, time started to pass by without Mark¡¯s knowledge. He mechanically followed the same process over and over again but as he did so, he became faster due to repetition of the same action again and again.

    Slowly but surely, the areas covered with a thin crimson veil of light started getting bigger. This will slowly spread until itpletely covered the entirety of the Eternal Division wall.

    Mark took regr breaks to rest in between at the behest of his wife, still years passed before Markpleted the whole project.

    But, while he was busy adding anotheryer of defense to their home, the others weren¡¯t so idle themselves¡­

 Chapter 906: Educator Paul and his Turtle Lineage

    Chapter 906: Educator Paul and his Turtle Lineage

    Paul sat on a chair, silently pondering to himself while monitoring the situation in front of him.

    There is a crystal ball on the table that projected real-time feed of what¡¯s happening in an arena. Currently, a heated fight of two students were being disyed and Paul was silently gauging their potentials.

    Right next to him, a professor asked: ¡°What do you think of them, Headmaster?¡±

    ¡°¡­could be better.¡± He replied tly, ignoring the dismayed expression of the professor next to him.

    If someone would¡¯ve told him decades ago that he¡¯ll grow-up to have the same job as how own father ¨C a Headmaster of an Academy, Paul would¡¯ve never believe them. He¡¯ll even go as far as to swearing that such a thing isn¡¯t possible.

    But fate really is fateful sometimes¡­

    Look at him now, the Headmaster of the Dawn Council¡¯s Academy of Young Geniuses. It¡¯s hrious to think that him of all people would be a Headmaster but it seems that being a educator runs in their blood.

    Paul never really thought too much about it. All he really knew is that he worked hard the moment he ascended to the Divine Realm.

    The boorish and stupid son that he was back then was no more. He¡¯s now a dignified adult, burdened by responsibility and had umted scars and experience all these years.

    He never explicitly wanted to be the Headmaster of the Academy, then again, he wasn¡¯t really against it either. To him, he just did his best and before he knew it, he found himself being elected as the Headmaster.

    It was purely coincidence believe it or not. He never expressed any desire to be the Headmaster. It¡¯s just that his responsibilities often ended-up with him looking after the Academy.

    Paul was one of the people who had majorly contributed to the construction of the Academy. He was the one who gathered the materials, who figured out the general design and theme of it, and he also worked on the curriculum that they will follow.

    All of these were things concepts that he learned from his own father and big brother, who became Headmasters of the Knight¡¯s Academy back at their home. Due to him being close to them, he unknowingly understands how to build a school and the needs it has, coupled with his own experiences in the form and there, the Dawn Council¡¯s Academy of Young Geniuses was founded.

    Unbeknownst to him, Paul has a rich talent for teaching. He often found himself being sought after by many students asking for his advice. He even took on several disciples who¡¯s lives changed under his care.

    All of these, gradually umted and before he knew it, he was elected as the Headmaster of the Academy. Raven even personally voted for him.

    Really, it¡¯s all absurd now that he thought about it but at the end of the day, this feeling isn¡¯t so bad.

    Being an educator isn¡¯t really as boring as his young self initially thought. It¡¯s quite rewarding if he¡¯s beingpletely honest.

    Of course, it has its ups and downs but that¡¯s normal. This was something that is out of his control anyway.

    ¡°Professor John, is there any news about my disciples?¡± He asked the professor sitting next to him without looking.

    ¡°Uh, there¡¯s none Headmaster. We tried reaching out to them but we haven¡¯t received any response.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­¡± Paul acknowledged softly, ¡°I wonder how those unfilial disciples are doing.¡±

    Professor John smiled softly and said: ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be fine Headmaster. Those kids are strong, they are your disciples after all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± Paul sighed, ¡°I just want to see them for a bit. Things are about to get really hectic, I won¡¯t have time to look after them when that happens.¡±

    Professor John couldn¡¯t reply to that. Not that Paul was expecting anything out of him anyways.

    The old professor was Paul¡¯s right hand man. He has been working as his assistant ever since the Academy was founded. Paul trusted John and he was privy to some details they discuss at the council.

    Simply put, John knows about the approaching threat. Saying that John isn¡¯t afraid would be a lie. He¡¯s deathly afraid of the Abyssals especially after knowing what they can do and how big their army is.

    To think that kind of threat exists beyond their home was unbelievable. He didn¡¯t dare to believe it at first but recently, John also felt the stifling pressure pressing down on his chest.

    John himself is a Divine Knight, his Divinity is Wisdom. He is a direct descendant of an Oracle Lineage, meaning that he could deduce Heavenly Secrets in exchange of his longevity, which is also why he appeared old and haggard even though in reality, he isn¡¯t that old.

    When he learned about the existence of the Abyssals from Paul, he deduced their origins and suffered from a terrible bacsh. He didn¡¯t see anything but he felt their presence for a brief duration.

    Up until this day, John could never forget that stifling pressure he felt. It was so horrible that he felt numbness all over his body, he was haunted by nightmares for a whole month after that which caused him to suffer greatly.

    When he felt the invisible threat washing over the realm, he felt cold from head to toe. And when Paul revealed to him a few days ago about Raven¡¯s deduction, impulse forced him to deduce it himself and once again, he suffered.

    Now, he could no longer deny it since he saw them with his own eyes. They really areing. And to see how many of them there is, made his skin crawl. John was so traumatized that he appeared older than before after his deduction.

    In hindsight, Paul told him to not do it. It was him who didn¡¯t listen.

    Still, this was an unmistakable evidence. John never doubted his own deductions, more so Raven¡¯s, so he truly understand the threat they¡¯re about to face.

    It is for this very reason that Paul made an effort to establish a tournament every three years to monitor the progress of the young geniuses closely.

    With the rich reward and a promise of receiving guidance from him, all students participated with a fiery passion.

    John however, knew the real purpose behind this. He knew that Paul did this to pressure the young geniuses. By establishing a friendlypetition, he¡¯s hoping to ignite the hot bloodedness of these students and whet their fighting spirit.

    With how much experience they¡¯re umting with continuous battles, it directly increases their chances at surviving the approaching crisis.

    And it¡¯s precisely because of this that Paul was chosen as the Headmaster of the Academy.

    Whether he admits it or not, he cares a lot about the students. He is a true educator that only wanted to see students flourish.

    As for the matter of his own disciples missing, it really isn¡¯t much of a big deal. If Paul really wanted to, he could directly figure out where they are but he refrained from doing so.

    Paul gave them freedom to explore on their own. He wanted them to be independent and strong.

    It¡¯s silly actually, those kids named themselves the ¡®Turtle Lineage¡¯ without his consent. And to further emphasize this fact, they deliberately wore turtle shells on their person wherever they go and they stick to each other like glue.

    Paul would often berate them for looking ridiculous but deep down, he¡¯s so proud of them. Hell, he¡¯s even bragging about them on his wife and friends. In truth, Paul was very fond of those kids, especially since they vowed to be the personal guards of their Young Master ¨C which is Richard, Paul¡¯s son.

    Believe it or not, the Turtle Lineage is quite famous all over Divine Realm. They¡¯re talented yes but that¡¯s not their selling point. It¡¯s their shamelessness.

    Their quite iconic actually. The turtle shells they wore is made out of precious materials and is incredibly dense and sturdy. Attacks below Empyrean arepletely useless if they turn around.

    They are loud and proud bunch, but their hearts are big. It is rumored that they even stopped world-ending tsunami by turning themselves into a barricade.

    Their trip this time was for the sake of strengthening themselves. They said that in order to guard their Young Master, they themselves have to be really strong first.

    Paul currently has no idea where they¡¯re at but he¡¯s aware that none of them are in danger. They have left life jades at the academy and at the first sign of threat, Paul will immediately be notified.

    Those kids might be shameless, loud and sometimes arrogant but make no mistake, they are young Heroes. And even though they never confirmed nor denied that they¡¯re disciples of Paul, many people could make the connection. Which is why most people didn¡¯t dare to slight them.

    As for where their feet will take them, that¡¯ll depend on them. What Paul wanted right now is too see these kids and see how they¡¯re doing since, who knows? Maybe its thest time they¡¯ll see each other.

    He at least want to give them a pleasant memory before the Realm War begins.

 Chapter 907: Annes Hopes

    Chapter 907: Anne¡¯s Hopes

    The bounty of Nature has always been vast.

    As Divine Realm remained as the most suitable ce for Humanity to live in, life is rich in here.

    Usually, whenever people talk about Nature, their minds will instantly be filled with green; like grass, gardens, trees, forests, mountains orkes. And while this isn¡¯t entirely wrong, Nature is so much more than that, this is something that Anne learned upon following the path to her own Divinity.

    She was once like those people too. Thinking that nature is all about what makes a ce habitable for human beings. However,ter in her own discoveries, she had met a roadblock that kept her from realizing her very own Divinity.

    ¡®Is Nature really that rigid?¡¯ She thought. ¡®Is it really this limited to this one aspect? It cannot be right?¡¯

    Upon her own search for enlightenment, she discovered one simple aspect of Nature that she always overlooked.

    Nature is life. Yes, this sounds simple enough and in some case, it is. But this words carried a deeper and more profound meaning.

    Aren¡¯t animals living beings as well? Aren¡¯t Humans living beings as well?

    They are, right? Which means that in the end, they¡¯re a part of Nature. In fact, it¡¯s these sentient beings that contained the richest aspect of Nature¡­of life itself. They contained the vicissitudes, wisdom and are part of the cycle.

    Nature isn¡¯t bound to just trees and flowers, it is bound to every living being that can be found everywhere, even those who¡¯d duty contradicts the very aspect of Nature and Life as well.

    Being the Representative of Nature, nobody understands life better than Anne could.

    She¡¯s extremely sensitive to the flow of life and the trend of Nature. She can also sense cmities, tribtions, and the cycle that follows afterwards.

    It is for this very reason that Anne felt the most affected when the faint killing intent locked on to Divine Realm.

    She didn¡¯t need to see them to know what horrible things they n to do to her home. Raven¡¯s descriptions and her intuition was enough to let her realize what kind of threat they will be facing.

    It is stifling, if she¡¯s being honest. She felt very pressured to the point where sometimes, she feels restless.

    She wants to do something but then again, she¡¯s already doing everything she could.

    As the Divine Knight who represents Nature, Anne¡¯s very presence is a boost to it. Even without her conscious effort, the life expectancy on each world was steadily rising thanks to her.

    Additionally, she¡¯s also contributing to the depth of its profundity just be existing. Anne is the nexus of Nature itself. Nature flows through her and being filtered slowly to the next level.

    She hasn¡¯t been a Divine Knight for long but with her own understand of Nature, she¡¯s already elevating the level of Nature in an astonishing speed.

    Because of these, the poption on each world showed a spike upwards, the life expectancy also rose up exponentially. The richness and profundity of Nature caused Natural Resources to spring forth, increasing the wealth and Spirituality of each world.

    Last but not the least, the base level of every living beings are also steadily increasing because of her.

    Suffice to say, Anne¡¯s incredibly important to Divine Realm just by simply existing. In addition to this, Anne may freely mobilize the enormous bounty of Nature fight those who threaten its safety.

    Still, even with all of those assurances, Anne still feels that its insufficient to deal with the approaching threat.

    This is the reason why she feels like she still needs to do something even though she¡¯s already did everything she could. It is a dilemma that even Raven himself found difficult to solve.

    ¡®This is ridiculous.¡¯ Anne sighed, ¡®Raven did so many things just to elevate Divine Realm¡¯s state all there years. He worked so damn hard yet it still feels insufficient.¡¯

    ¡®Is this how he always felt during those days?¡¯ Anne groaned, ¡®This burden¡­it¡¯s too damn heavy!¡¯

    Anne truly can¡¯t imagine how Raven managed to keep his cool under all of this pressure. Without their knowledge, their good friend was already shouldering the weight of an entire realm on his shoulders.

    While he established himself as Humanity¡¯s pir of support, this is something that no person could shoulder alone.

    What¡¯s even more absurd is that, Raven did just that. He had carried this burden all by himself without anybody knowing for a good amount of time. Everyone knew that was aware of the existence of the Abyssals way earlier than anybody did and had a deeper understanding of what they could do.

    Yet even with all of that, he still managed to carry this burden without even letting so much of a grunt. He didn¡¯t whine, didn¡¯t me anyone for their ipetence, never thought about asking for help and never stumbled. His back remained ramrod straight as he lifted the skies for them.

    How the hell did he even do it?

    Even when he informed them about their existence and their groundwork for the Divine Realm¡¯s preparations, none of them aside from him, could actually feel the threat. It was only when they discovered that they wereing that they realized everything.

    Anne felt it the most.

    The killing intent sends a shiver to her spine. It is vile and merciless. She has no doubts that the moment they arrive, the bloodbath will simply be unimaginable.

    Hell, she¡¯s having difficulties sleeping at night sometimes because she¡¯s being haunted by her premonitions. It feels so terrible.

    That being said, Anne knew that they were already doing their best.

    At this point, every Divine Knight who felt this killing intent was already informed about what¡¯sing. And just like her, they too are feeling the pressure now.

    It¡¯s funny because Raven warned them time and time again. He presented evidences, live evidences. And while most of them never doubted him¡­feeling this approaching threat and feeling how unprepared they were, it seems like they never treated his words seriously before since it looked like they never did enough.

    And frankly, they¡¯re regretting it.

    They had so much time to do so much more. Had they felt the same as Raven¡­had they been even half as paranoid as him, they could¡¯ve done so much for their home.

    Now, it seems like all actions are just rough patches to blot out their wounds. It feels like theirst minute efforts are justst pathetic attempts of survival.

    Anne sighed despite herself, now isn¡¯t really the time to fall into self-me. Frankly, they can¡¯t afford it anymore.

    ¡®Come on, Anne.¡¯ She pped her cheeks gently, trying to get her thoughts straight. ¡®No time to be down, it¡¯s time to get busy.¡¯

    Anne sat down on her chambers and looked over to the horizon. She then muttered;

    ¡°Come on, Order. Work with me here, you gotta be stronger.¡±

    After saying that, Anne¡¯s consciousness an Spirit ascended and fused with the heavens itself.

    At this point, the flow and vibrancy of Nature was triggered. There were no visible traces of it, in fact only a few people could sense what is actually happening.

    What Anne¡¯s doing right now is proactively reinforcing the Natural Order wile also elevating its vibrancy.

    The Natural Order, in simple terms, is the Aspect of Nature itself. It is the core fundamentals of life for the Divine Realm.

    By reinforcing and elevating it to the next level, she is effectively increasing the sentience of life and the wisdom it imparts to other living beings.

    Random enlightenments, the volume of profundities contained all around the realm, resource deposits being born all over the ce, the level of intelligence, spirituality and sentience¡­all of this will also be elevated indirectly due to Anne¡¯s actions.

    To put this in an even simpler words, Anne is increasing Divine Realms quality of life.

    Typically, this will invoke the wrath of the Heavenly Order as it breaches the natural flow and order of its lifespan, but through Anne¡¯s behest, the Heavenly Order allowed her to do this which means that the situation is really rming.

    Despite this, Anne could only do this once. Any attempts after this will just fail and result into a terrifying bacsh. This already upsets the flow and bnce, anymore and it will start to have side-effects and those will be catastrophic.

    To this, Anne could only hope that the citizens of the Divine Realm do everything they could to take advantage of it as it could only happen once.

    She¡¯s hoping that the young geniuses could gain a lot from this, hoping to loosen the bottleneck of those people who had been stuck for so long, hoping that their strength evolves into a whole new level so that when timees, they could use their efforts to defend their home.

    Anne was really determined to do everything she could to protect their home, and it¡¯s not only her.

    The fate of the Divine Realm is in their hands. Anne could only really hope that thesest minute efforts of their would be enough to survive this uing war.

 Chapter 908: Ellens Motherhood

    Chapter 908: Ellen¡¯s Motherhood

    Ellen¡¯s stressed¡­

    It had been quite sometime since thest time she felt this way, and trust her, with her current temperament, it takes a good amount of effort to push her to this state.

    Why is she stressed? Why, it¡¯s because of the uing war! It¡¯s not only her who¡¯s stressed, everyone who could feel the signs are also stressed.

    It¡¯s just really hard to calm down these days. The gloom and doom surrounded the entire realm. It¡¯s invisible to others and could only be felt by a few so there¡¯s no mass panic yet but this won¡¯t stay like this for long.

    As they drew closer, the killing intent will grow heavier, eventually more and more people will feel something¡¯s up and by then, no matter how hard they try to cover it up, it¡¯ll be useless.

    To cope up with the stress, Ellen¡¯s patrolling the starry skies of the Divine Realm in his Phoenix Form.

    Roaming the worlds like this was a stress-reliever for her. She always liked the scenery and enjoyed the amazed gazes of those people who had the luck to see her flying around.

    Ellen¡¯s Phoenix Form is incredible huge. She¡¯srger than at least fives stacked. Her wing span could stretch and blot out the heavens if she wanted too yet even with her size, she was only visible to a few select people.

    Those who were lucky to see her would be blessed by numerous insights since, as a fully matured Phoenix and a legitimate God Beast, even the smallest gesture from Ellen contained mystical wonders that mortals will have to decipher for at least decades if not more.

    The flight of a Phoenix symbolizes freedom, passion and wonder. For Ellen, flying around in her Phoenix Form is a stress-relieving activity but for mortals, it is nothing short of a miracle ¨C an act of god.

    Thus, in hindsight, Ellen¡¯s taking out two birds with one stone doesn¡¯t she?

    s, Ellen¡¯s not really in the mood to nitpick into these details. She¡¯s flying to unwind and calm down. Her restlessness would just make her and everyone around her ufortable so its best if she cools down instead of mistakenly doing something stupid.

    Just like Anne, Ellen was also itching to do something more productive. But what left for her to do?

    Yes, that¡¯s right¡­nothing.

    None of them, except probably for Mark and Raven, could do anything else aside from waiting until their enemiese.

    Seclusion? Yeah, that sounds like a good n. Unfortunately, their mental state is nowhere near in the optimal state to enter seclusion. They would achieve nothing even if they tried to, so what¡¯s the point of that?

    What adds to Ellen¡¯s stress somehow is the fact that Richard, her and Paul¡¯s beloved son, is at that stage¡­you know¡­the ¡®young man¡¯ stage.

    She often finds herself in a daze you see¡­she could¡¯ve sworn that she just gave birth to him not to long ago yet there he was, already experiencing the adult life.

    Don¡¯t get this situation wrong, Richard didn¡¯t rebel or anything like that, he¡¯s just at the stage where he¡¯s starting to be more and more curious about matters of the heart and body.

    As parents, Ellen and Paul are responsible for educating their son about these matters. And they did a great job at that considering how busy their schedules were before.

    Paul and Richard already had the birds and bees talk and surprisingly Richard was mature enough to take things seriously. And judging by how things were going, Ellen would say that Richard¡¯s taking his time so this wasn¡¯t the really the problem.

    The problem is that¡­Richard was hesitating.

    Hesitating whether he should devote himself to one person, or multiple ones.

    See, Richard had his¡­adventures, which is fine, he¡¯s a healthy young man, nothing to be ashamed of being curious and being adventurous.

    In his youthful journey towards adulthood, he had been in several rtionships in past. He never introduced anybody to them though since its either Richard doesn¡¯t feel that its the right time yet or he knew that he will break-up with them sooner orter, that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t bother.

    In his mind, Richard will only introduce someone to them when he¡¯s sure that they will stay.

    That being said, Ellen and Paul are aware of his past lovers since Richard never really kept it a secret, he just didn¡¯t introduce anybody to them.

    And, it¡¯s probably because he¡¯s too experienced in this matter, even more so that his own father, that Richard is starting to think deeply about it.

    During one idle afternoon, Richard told Ellen that he has been¡­thinking about this and couldn¡¯t help but be bothered by it. Ellenforted him and said that it¡¯s fine and that he should take his time to think things through.

    Ellen and Paul were already aware of the fact that their son has the tendency to be attracted to more than two people at the same time. Richard has also been very vocal about the fact that he¡¯s been thinking about the possibility of practicing Polyamory and frankly, Ellen and Paul weren¡¯t against it.

    Really, Ellen didn¡¯t mind this, neither did Paul. To them, what¡¯s more important is for Richard to live his life to the fullest, this has always been their goal from the very beginning and they have no ns on getting in the way with that.

    Richard¡¯s a good child. He¡¯s everything they could ask for; kind, lovable, filial, respectful and an overall gentleman. He¡¯s actually quite famous in the Academy, you see. It¡¯s quite charming to think that the cute and adorable fat boy had grown up to be a respectable gentleman.

    To this, Richard owe it to the way he¡¯s brought up by his parents. Which is why he remained close to them.

    However, Richard knew that the matters of his heart is something that only he can explore on his own. While he¡¯sfortable telling his parents about it, in the end, it¡¯ll be up to him to decide what will it be. He can¡¯t burden his parents about this, even they know that.

    Ellen¡¯s is just worried. It can¡¯t be helped, Richard¡¯s an only son. She¡¯s the only one they have. Really, she doesn¡¯t mind him having multiple lovers, in fact she¡¯s actually rooting for it.

    Hell, a bunch of grandchildren for her to y with? Yes, please!

    It doesn¡¯t matter whether Richard had more wives¡­even husbands, so long as they won¡¯t hurt Richard and will give them all the love he deserves, who cares?

    In the end, that¡¯s the only thing she¡¯s worried about. Richard being hurt by love.

    Things like these are sensitive. Love canplete or destroy someone. Make them happy or turn them insane.

    As a mother, Ellen couldn¡¯t be med for being worried and protective to her chick. It¡¯s an instinct and Ellen will always be like this for as long as she lives.

    Which is makes the main source of her worries even more stressful for her.

    ¡®Richard¡¯s a man of his own. I¡¯m afraid that, even if we forbid him, he will find ways to join the uing war.¡¯

    Yes, this is what mainly worries her. That war and the possibility of her son joining it.

    Knowing Richard¡¯s personality, her and her husband knows that they can¡¯t stop him from volunteering and that stresses her a lot already.

    But see, Richard¡¯s plenty strong. Hell, he had been washing his marrows since he was three years old. He used toin a lot but that built his foundations strong and unshakeable. Plus, he had been receiving nothing but the best tutge.

    They trained him a lot, educated him a lot and he had his fair share of his own adventures. To top this all off, he inherited both of their bloodlines ¨C which actually mutated into something unimaginable.

    Richard is a young Kun Peng.

    A Kun Peng is a Fiend Celestial. A true God Beast which had the overwhelming sovereignty and control over Spacetime. A Kun Peng can turn into a whale or a roc, depending on its mood really. It¡¯s safe to say that Richard¡¯s body holds a frightening potential, one that could prove beneficial to the uing war.

    Richard had been nurtured with nothing but the best, so when the situation calls for it. He¡¯ll be ready to answer. Well, that time is about toe.

    Buzz!

    Ellen raised a brow as she flew around, she returned to her human form and took out a badge.

    ¡°Yes, Son?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Son?¡±

    It seems that Paul is on thismunication line too. Richard was the one who called both of them.

    ¡°Uh, are you two busy?¡± Richard¡¯s query sounded in their ears shortly after.

    ¡°Not really.¡± Ellen replied.

    ¡°I¡¯m not busy either. Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­haha, um¡­¡± Richard¡¯s nervous. Ellen could tell right away.

    ¡°Go on, kid. Take your time.¡± Paul chuckled.

    ¡°Yeah uh¡­can we meet?¡± Richard asked, he then cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

    ¡°I¡­haha, want to introduce both of you to my lovers.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re awesome¡­and they make me so happy.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m heading there.¡± Paul replied.

    ¡°Do they? Well, that¡¯s good. I¡¯ll be there in an hour.¡± Ellen chuckled and immediately used the realm door.

    She cut off themunication link with a smile on her face and thought¡­

    ¡°Well, time to meet my inws¡­how exciting.¡±

 Chapter 909: Lunas Afternoon Tea with Vanessa

    Chapter 909: Luna¡¯s Afternoon Tea with Vanessa

    It is a fair afternoon in the Divine Realm.

    In Sky Ind ¨C Luna¡¯s territory, she¡¯s currently enjoying an afternoon tea with Vanessa apanying her. They¡¯ve talking about the recent events on Vanessa¡¯s life and their topic somehow diverted to Richard.

    ¡°¡­oh right, Mom. Have you heard about it from Richard?¡±

    Luna looked at her daughter and smiled: ¡°What? That he¡¯s engaged? Yeah, your Aunt Ellen told me about it yesterday. It seems that she was very happy about it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Richard told me that Aunt forgotten about him already and adopted the other two.¡± Vanessa chuckled upon recalling Richard¡¯s expression at that time. ¡°More importantly though, it seems that Uncle Paul wasn¡¯t against it. Richard was really stressed about telling him you know¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, Paul is just tough on the outside. Richard himself should know that. There¡¯s no real reason to be so afraid.¡± Luna replied.

    ¡°Richard isn¡¯t afraid of telling Uncle about it.¡± Vanessa shook her head, ¡°He was scared of how he¡¯s going to react. After all, one of his lovers is a man.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Luna chuckled faintly. ¡°Right, that¡¯s understandable.¡±

    Indeed, this is what worried Richard the most. Don¡¯t get him wrong. He isn¡¯t ashamed to admit his rtionship with a man. He is proud of it and already decided that no matter what happens, he will protect his lovers¡¯ dignity. Even if his own parents were against them.

    But of course, as a child, Richard still preferred to get the blessings of all party. He didn¡¯t want anyplications and would very much like for all of them to get along and know each other deeply. Richard is a filial son and he ces a heavy importance on his family therefore, he didn¡¯t want to upset them.

    Richard knew his parents best, he knew that the chances of them being against his rtionship with a man is close to nil, he still couldn¡¯t help but be nervous. On the other hand, the parents of his male lover already expressed their support to them, so he would very much like it if his own parents could do the same as well.

    Thankfully, nothing bad happened. His parents loved his fianc¨¦s a lot, even more than him apparently.

    ¡°Well, even if Paul were to be against this union, if Ellen approves of it, there¡¯s nothing he can do.¡± Luna chuckled at this, ¡°If he dares to do anything, Ellen will be the first one to put him in his ce. That¡¯s guaranteed.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I can see that happening.¡± Vanessaughed.

    ¡°Moreover, you¡¯re father won¡¯t let Paul here the end of it. So really, there¡¯s nothing for Richard to worry about. And he¡¯s not against it isn¡¯t he? I heard that he¡¯s quite satisfied with Richard¡¯s choices.¡±

    ¡°Yes. He already gave his support and blessings to their engagement. Uncle even personally told Richard to prepare the dowry for the marriage.¡± Vanessa replied.

    ¡°Oh! Haha.¡± Luna then leaned closer to her daughter and said: ¡°Tell Richard this. Paul is being generous when he said that. Tell him to not hold back and take as much as he could in their treasury. He can even empty it if he wants.¡±

    ¡°Eh! Mom!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Luna giggled, ¡°Just tell him that. Me and Ellen will keep an eye on him. You tell him alright?¡±

    Vanessaughed merrily and agreed.

    There was silence between the two of them after this. They enjoyed warm tea in this lovely afternoon. Now this would¡¯ve been perfect if it weren¡¯t for the fact that there¡¯s a faint killing intent locked-on to their home but oh well, nothing can be done about that for now.

    ¡°So¡­how about you then? Any candidates that you want to introduce to me?¡± Luna asked her daughter with a teasing tone.

    ¡°Mom¡­¡± Vanessa called out exasperatedly while rolling her eyes. ¡°There¡¯s nobody, okay? Most of the guys I know are seriously some.¡±

    ¡°Well, how about girls then?¡± Luna probed.

    ¡°They¡¯re okay, but I¡¯m better so, meh.¡± Vanessa shrugged. ¡°Seriously, if there¡¯s someone, it¡¯s not like I can hide them from you or Dad. So there¡¯s no need to put me under the spotlight.¡±

    Luna chuckled and said: ¡°I know. I¡¯m just teasing you.¡±

    ¡°Actually¡­I¡¯ve been thinking.¡± Vanessa ced her tea cup down with a serious expression on her face. ¡°I actually think the chances of me finding someone is close to none.¡±

    Luna raised a brow and asked: ¡°I¡¯m not going to have grandchildren from you?¡±

    ¡°Wha-! No! I mean-ugh, I don¡¯t know? Nothing¡¯s for certain yet okay! I¡¯m just saying¡­it¡¯s difficult to impress me so the chances of me finding a partner is very low. I just don¡¯t want you to expect much.¡±

    ¡°Okay, what made youe up with this?¡±

    ¡°Dad.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see.¡± Luna nodded.

    Vanessa didn¡¯t need to say much after that. Luna perfectly understood what she meant by that.

    See, if Vanessa¡¯s going to ept a lover, they better be as impressive as Raven. This is basically the minimum for her to ¡®consider¡¯ entering a rtionship.

    But then again, this standard is a bit¡­steep, for anybody to achieve. Which is also the reason why Vanessa med Raven for it.

    As a daughter who¡¯s very close to her parents, it is perfectly understandable for her to use her parents as standards for her own future, which also includes her love life.

    Her father is one special man. Who could me her for looking for someone like him to be her lover? And it¡¯s precisely because she has Raven as her standards for considering somebody to be her lover, it would prove really difficult for her to find one.

    ¡°Sweetheart, I and your father told you about this many times before but I¡¯m still going to say it again¡­live your life ording to how you see fit. Be free and do whatever you want. No matter what, we will always be here to support you.¡± Luna ced her hand on her daughter¡¯s face as she said this.

    ¡°Thanks, Mom. I know.¡± Vanessa nodded softly, ¡°I really appreciate the freedom you two gave me a lot.¡±

    ¡°One word of advice, Sweetheart.¡± Luna added, ¡°These standards of yours¡­a person mighte topletely defy them. Either by not being up to standard or even exceeding them. The point is, if you feel it¡¯s right, don¡¯t be afraid.¡±

    ¡°When me and your Father met, I never once thought that he¡¯d be someone I¡¯d marry.¡± Luna smiled upon this recollection, ¡°Just like you, I had your Grandfather¡¯s image as a standard for consideration.¡±

    ¡°Yet none of those mattered to your father¡¯s persistence.¡± She smiled sweetly, ¡°He was unstoppable and he swept me away on my feet. By then, I was moved. And who would¡¯ve known that he¡¯d be this impressive? I, certainly, didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°So you see? Love moves in mysterious ways. Don¡¯t try to predict it or stagnate yourself. Just bract for the impact since once it starts, it will never stop.¡±

    Vanessa pouted and said: ¡°That¡¯s a good advice but also incredibly cheesy. If Dad¡¯s here you¡¯d be looking at each other with heart-shaped eyes. Ugh.¡±

    Lunaughed and shook her head. She didn¡¯t mind Vanessa¡¯s words since she knows that, that might actually happen so why deny it?

    ¡°Oh well¡­it¡¯s time I get back to the dormitories. I think Jeanne¡¯s already looking for me. We have a project to do after all.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well, be on your way then.¡± Luna nodded.

    ¡°Oh right, Mom can you empty your schedule for the next week?¡± Vanessa asked all of a sudden.

    ¡°Why? Do you need me for something?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Have you forgotten about it already?¡± Vanessa asked in disbelief.

    ¡°About what?¡± Luna frowned.

    ¡°Granny Meng¡¯s new Battle Gowns! Hello?¡±

    ¡°Oh my! You¡¯re right! I actually forgot about that.¡± Luna¡¯s eyes widened in shock.

    ¡°You told me you, Aunt Ellen and Aunt Anne wille with us.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sweetheart. Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll remind them. We¡¯lle with you, of course.¡±

    ¡°Great! See you then!¡± Vanessa cheered and disappeared from the Sky Ind.

    Luna shook her head with her behavior, she didn¡¯t mind of course, it¡¯s not like she did something so offensive after all.

    As Luna was left to her lonesome again, she couldn¡¯t help but sigh. She looked at the distant horizon with a stern gaze and felt displeased.

    ¡®Why do you wretches have toe? Can¡¯t you just leave us alone?¡¯

    She felt truly resentful about the uing arrival of their worst enemies. If it were up to her, she¡¯d prefer them to stay wherever they are and never learn about the existence of the Divine Realm, unfortunately she¡¯s powerless to stop them from arriving.

    Unable to prevent being worried, she shifted her nce at the rough location of where her husband was currently located.

    It¡¯s been a while since he entered his seclusion. He had not said a word so far so he¡¯s probably working real hard to achieve results.

    Luna traced the crest on her bosom, feeling slightly anxious about what¡¯sing. In the end, she knows that they can¡¯t avoid this and they could only try their best.

    Luna sighed and took out a badge, she then dialed Anne and Ellen to remind them to empty their schedules next week.

    After all, the gowns need fitting.

 Chapter 910: Dreams of Augustus

    Chapter 910: Dreams of Augustus

    ¡®They¡¯ve called me a joke before, but it is me who now sits on the throne.¡¯

    ¡®Theyughed at me when I said that it is my fate to be the Emperor, when I was coronated, none of them areughing anymore.¡¯

    ¡®It is through me that our race climbed at the top of the food chain. It¡¯s through my efforts that we became invincible. I deserve this.¡¯

    ¡®Still, it isn¡¯t enough¡­it¡¯s nowhere near enough.¡¯

    ¡®I need more. Just a little bit more.¡¯

    The God Emperor sat on his throne. His eyes were closed, basking peaceful silence. He isn¡¯t alone in his room, there are several guards on duty with him but none of them dared to make a sound nor even breathe out loud, they don¡¯t want to disturb the God Emperor¡¯s rest.

    Dreams are a rare urrence for the God Emperor. Sleep is even rarer. So when everyone sees him sleeping, nobody dares to wake him up. After all, they can¡¯t afford the price of the Emperor¡¯s temper tantrums if he was disturbed.

    Lately, the God Emperor discovered that he has been dreaming about the same thing over and over again.

    In his dreams, his life was being re-counted. His path to the throne and everything he encountered along the way. All of ites back to him, refreshing his memories.

    The Gods or, as other races refers to them, Abyssals, weren¡¯t always this prosperous. They¡¯ve never really been in a difficult position, they were alright but they could¡¯ve always been better.

    Before he was the God Emperor, he was once a Young God named Augustus. His upbringing wasn¡¯t impressive and he didn¡¯te from an impressive background. He was mediocre at best but Young Augustus had big dreams.

    He used to have dreams of bing the God Emperor. In his dreams, he was the one who lead his race to a new heights, one that has never been done before.

    His dreams were so vivid that sometimes he¡¯s having difficulties adjusting to reality. In fact, his dreams are the source of it all. Because of his dreams, he became slowly convinced that he is indeed, destined for the throne and that he is indeed the one who will bring unimaginable prosperity to his race.

    Because of this, Young Augustus started changing. As his ambitions burn brighter, he became stronger and more intelligent. Every move he made was calcted and his achievements slowly started piling up.

    Of course, his path had never been a smooth-sailing one. Many of his folks tried to stop him, bar his way to the throne. Some of them tried to use him, some tantly betrayed him, some even mocked him and his dreams andughed at his ambitions.

    Augustus suffered numerous setbacks in his life. But instead of giving up and abandoning his seeminglyughable dreams, they only serves as a fuel that kept him going. The more people that discouraged him, the more determined he became to prove them wrong.

    Some called him a madman, he didn¡¯t care. He lost many of his allies along the way yet he still continued. He didn¡¯t slow down, he was practically unstoppable.

    Through sheer hard work, grit and determination, Augustus eventually got closer and closer to the throne until one day, his coronation day arrived.

    His coronation day was so memorable. It¡¯s probably something that Augustus will never forget in his entire life.

    Theplicated faces of his enemies and former allies alike. The shock of the crowd. The ashamed faces of those who mocked andughed at him. Oh, those faces brought indescribable pride and jubnce in his heart.

    He was smug as he looked down at them from his throne. Of course, he was! Hell, he felt so smug that he even openly mocked them with his first speech as the God Emperor.

    ¡®I see the faces of the people whoughed at me when I said that I¡¯ming for this throne. To you people, I ask this; What¡¯s up? Notughing anymore? What¡¯s wrong?¡¯

    ¡®I also see the faces of the people who once called themselves my allies only to turn their back against me at the first sign of trouble. To these people, I ask them; Are you going to do it yourself or you¡¯re going to have me order someone to do it for you? Your choice.¡¯

    ¡®To those who are afraid of death, don¡¯t be shy, my office will always be open for you. If you try your best, who knows? Maybe you can convince me to spare your lives. Fair warning though, I¡¯m very hard to impress so think things through.¡¯

    ¡®And for those who I deem worthy¡­those who truly stood by me until this very day. My blessings will always be with you. I hope you continue supporting me since this is just the start of the new era I will bring to this world.¡¯

    Augustus could never forget what it felt like to truly stand at the very top. It felt surreal, invincible and¡­lonely.

    Come to think of it, even though Augustus had his loyal followers, none of them truly formed a deep bond with him. And while they did support him and helped his sit on the throne, in the end, they¡¯re not people he can confide with.

    From the moment he stepped on this path, he was already on the road of loneliness. Once he thought of himself as the one True God that will bring salvation and endless prosperity to his race, that in itself separates him from his people.

    Still, what¡¯s done is done. He can¡¯t really say that he regretted it. After all, he had sacrificed way too much for this.

    But whates after that?

    Believe it or not, Augustus never really thought about this. He was so focused on achieving his dreams that when it was time for him sit on the throne, he was at a loss.

    He¡¯s aware that the throne represents responsibility as well. Also, he did promise that he will bring their race into a new kind of glory, one that nobody has experienced before.

    At first though, he had no idea how to achieve that.

    That¡¯s when his visionnded at the world beyond theirs. He began having thoughts of what¡¯s beyond their borders. What¡¯s it like beyond those distant fog. Are there other worlds like their out there? Are they stronger than them? More prosperous? What do they look like?

    These is where his vision sets into. And through that very reason that he changed the world. That¡¯s when they established the warping mechanism, so that they can begin looking at what the outside world is like.

    With their travels, they began seeing the difference. It is also through invasions that they discovered more about themselves and what sets them apart from other races.

    They can devour the luck and prosperity of other worlds their visit for their own use. This is what truly sets them apart from other races.

    Augustus himself thought that he was already standing at the very peak but when he had gotten the taste of luck and providence, he became addicted to it.

    He began dreaming again. This time, it¡¯s about him transcending everything. The dream was overwhelming and awe-inspiring. In there, he became the One True God of all existences, everything was beneath him. He was eternal and undying, the feeling just as real as the previous one and it was extremely addicting.

    It didn¡¯t take long before Augustus developed a new thirst for something. This time, he received the full support of his race and they made it happen.

    In a span of a few decades, the prosperity of their race began climbing to ridiculous heights, one that they never seen before. It was at this moment that they realize that Augustus remained true to his words and also the moment he convinced all of them.

    This continued for a very long time and although it slowed downpared to the earlier days, they could still feel the progress and even at this day and age, they continue benefitting from its results.

    To Augustus however, this isn¡¯t enough.

    He could sense it. He knew that he¡¯s missing a catalyst. He¡¯s just one step away from achieving his ultimate form but what irks him the most is that, for a very long time, he hasn¡¯t found it yet.

    He had searched high and low, far and wide, only to be disappointed time and time again. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t stop since there¡¯s no point in stopping now.

    Augustus can¡¯t just give-up. He¡¯s already invested a lot in this journey. There¡¯s no way he could stop now.

    Centuries of having no real leads calmed him down. Augustus is already immortal so time has never been something he has to be afraid of so he learnt to be patient.

    It¡¯s due to his patience that he was rewarded.

    As he opened his eyes, he could see the faint silhouette of a realm that shines like a previous gem. It¡¯s filled with all sorts of mystical things and overflowing with providence.

    It was too rich and sumptuous that it made Augustus¡¯ heart dance on his chest. Although he hadn¡¯t seen it for himself just yet, he¡¯s already certain that this is it.

    Divine Realm, was the catalyst that he had been searching for all along.

 Chapter 911: The Empyreans Felt It

    Chapter 911: The Empyreans Felt It

    Years passed peacefully¡­

    Divine Realm remained calm and prosperous. The ever growing providence of the realm continued flourishing under the protection and lead of the Dawn Council.

    If they¡¯re asked, the veterans of the Divine Realm will easily say that the realm has never been this prosperous and vibrant. It is teeming with so much vitality and it shone like a jewel amongst the sand.

    Thanks to the Dawn Council¡¯s efforts, cultivating and achieving a long lifespan has never been easier. During the past century, there were many experts who rose on the ranks and made a name for themselves. In addition to that, the Divine Realm just changed so much under their care. For the better of course.

    If things continued this way, who knows what they could do next?

    Unfortunately, there¡¯s just something that will really get in the way of their peace and prosperity.

    See, around 50 years had passed since the council sensed that the Abyssals were on the move. Judging by the time, they are getting very close to finding them.

    At first, it was only the Divine Knights who could vaguely sense their presence. Even then, it is too weak which means that they still have time. However, each passing day, the presence grew stronger, which means they¡¯re getting closer.

    It worried the Divine Knights a lot. The presence was foul and it gnaws in their core, causing them to feel restless and uneasy. The Divine Knights did everything they could to prepare themselves in order to distract themselves but the sensation never really let them rest at ease no matter what they did.

    The worst part is that, some of the Empyreans who had sharper sense are now starting to feel their presence as well.

    This was made obvious by the fact that not too long ago, a group of Empyreans visited the council. They brought up this topic. They said that they could sense something bad at the horizon, it¡¯s as if a terrible cmity is upon them.

    See, at this point, the council could no longer hide the presence of the Abyssals from them. Lying won¡¯t do any good so instead of that, they decided to call all Empyreans for a meeting.

    Luna reced his husband, she be the one in charge since he¡¯s in seclusion and she¡¯s also the one who revealed the approaching threat to the Empyreans.

    At first, some of them were in-denial and even used the council of being rmists, but when the Divine Knights swore an oath that whatever they revealed to them was nothing but the truth, they can¡¯t deny it anymore.

    The Divine Knights had been suffering from anxiety for quite sometime now because of this, and when thinking about how they were acting recently, everything started making sense.

    This was why they were working very hard all these years. This is why they¡¯ve been in some sort of a hurry. It all makes sense to them now.

    The Dawn Council forbid them from spreading this information at first. They said that it wouldn¡¯t be wise to do that since it will trigger a realm-wide panic and things will get incredibly chaotic. If that happens, they might destroy themselves even before the Abyssals arrive.

    Once they were dismissed, the Empyreans felt mixed-emotions. They never would¡¯ve thought that a day wille where something could threaten them this badly. They also never imagined that they will experience something like this in their age.

    It seems unlucky, but crying about unfairness won¡¯t really solve their situation. It wouldn¡¯t help them in any way, shape or form.

    And as days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into years, more and more Empyreans were starting to feel it.

    It¡¯s really as horrible as they said. The presence was stifling, foul and incredibly overbearing. What ridiculous about this is the fact that they haven¡¯t even seen a silhouette of them yet they are already exerting this much pressure. What would it be like when they¡¯re right next to them?

    The killing intent was heavy. It caused those with weaker Wills to feel despair and hopelessness. Then again, it still wasn¡¯t enough to break thempletely.

    They are Empyreans. And even though they are one step short of the peak, they are still considered as pirs of humanity. They can¡¯t allow themselves to cave-in from this due to their dignity.

    Some of them more ferocious and determined Empyreans even saw this as a chance. The pressure being exerted on them was so heavy that it triggered their slumbering spirit to fight back.

    They started using this invisible oppression to sharpen themselves instead. Through this, they are effectively loosening up their bottlenecks and some even showed signs of advancing.

    This approaching cmity is already squeezing their potentials out of them and frankly, not taking advantage of this seems dumb. After all, they stronger they are when they arrived, the better their chances would be for them to survive.

    Still what¡¯s worrying them is the fact that as they drew closer, their presence would be more difficult to hide.

    The fact that almost all Empyreans could already feel theming is a sign that things are already starting to get out of hand.

    Don¡¯t get these people wrong, they held nothing but admiration for the Dawn Council. They respected their decision simply because they¡¯ve done so much for their home without even asking for anything in return.

    This burden is something that nobody¡¯s willing to bear yet they did without anyints. They were true to their oaths and they¡¯ve never, even once, took advantage of their position for personal gains.

    Everything they did, they did with the safety, security andfort of the Divine Realm and its citizens in mind. This is why they¡¯ve won the respect of all people. This is why many people worshipped them and treated them as true gods.

    Nobody had any doubts that by the time the war begins, it is also the Dawn Council who will lead the charge to protect their home.

    Still, this might prove really difficult for them to handle on their own. Whether they admit it or not, they need help. Thankfully, some people didn¡¯t mind offering theirs.

    Most of these people, believe it or not, aren¡¯t really indebted to the council. These people were just hermits, people that had long seclude themselves from the bustle of the world around them and didn¡¯t interfere. These people chose toe out of their seclusion in order to express their unyielding support for the council.

    Just like the council, these people share the same sentiment. Hair cannot survive without the skin. Divine Realm is Humanity¡¯s home and it is their duty to protect it from invaders.

    It is unknown if there¡¯s other ces out there that can support humanity¡¯s need. And for the record, the Outposts that had been roaming around had been sending feedback and so far, there¡¯s nothing like that in the vicinity of their realm, therefore even if there is one, it would take a long, long time to arrive there, much less start over from the scratch.

    Because of this, they might as well treat Divine Realm as humanity¡¯s only home. If they lose it, they will surely be extinct.

    All traces of their history, culture, discoveries, everything about them will be wiped away.

    Just the mere thought of that is enough to send shivers to their spine, which is why these people didn¡¯t hesitate toe out of their shells and answer the call to arms.

    For now, everything is still fine. There¡¯s still time. Even though the Empyreans are now included amongst the people that seems to he sitting on pins and needles, most people are still unaware of what¡¯s really happening. It¡¯s fine to let them enjoy this peace for now, they will realize the threat sooner orter anyway, by then it wouldn¡¯t be toote for them to do something.

    Still, if they¡¯re talking about sheer burden, perhaps there isn¡¯t anyone who could even hold a candle to the kind of pressure Raven had on him.

    As the proimed Leader of Humanity, it is Raven who¡¯s under the heaviest pressure. In the instance that they fail, he¡¯d be the first one to be condemned.

    Every death will be his fault. Every failure will be med on him. Even by simply doing nothing, he has the highest chance of being Humanity¡¯s greatest sinner. And that is some burden that nobody could imagine themselves carrying.

    Honestly, nobody would me him if heins. The very fact that he¡¯s still around and still doing his best to make himself stronger is already an evidence that he¡¯s treating this seriously and he had no ns on running away from this responsibility.

    That¡¯s an admirable behavior right there, so they could only wish the best for him.

    As for how high their chances are, nobody had the heart to ask that. Honestly, every superstition might count at this point, they don¡¯t want to jinx it so it¡¯s better to not ask.

    All these people know is that, if they want to destroy them, then they gotta show some real effort on doing so since they won¡¯t back down that easily.

    Who knows? Maybe¡­just maybe¡­they do have a chance.

 Chapter 912: Guard and Prisoner

    Chapter 912: Guard and Prisoner

    Warning!! Extremely explicit and sensitivenguage ahead.

    Please read at your own discretion! You have been warned.

    ******

    ¡°¡­kill me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you hear me? I said, kill me!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ignore me! Do what I say! Kill me! Please!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Please, I beg of you¡­kill me!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Damn you!! Listen to me! I need you to kill me! It¡¯s not hard! Just shove that sword into this gaping thing in my chest and get this over with! Come on! Kill me!!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop! Ignoring! Me! Kill! Me!!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Fuck you, you damned son of a bitch! What the use of your ears if you can¡¯t even listen! Slice it away! Pussy!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Hah! Limped dick son of a bitch! What? You bear a sword but you can¡¯t even use it! Honestly, what¡¯s the point of hiring you if you can¡¯t even do your job properly? Off with your head! Slice off your dick! That way you can preserve some of your dignity left!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°If I were you I¡¯ll throw myself out of the window. Imagine being this useless! There¡¯s no point to your existence! You might as well kill yourself now and be done with it! Go on! Shove that puny sword of yours down to your gut. Bleed out and hope that in your next life, you have a purpose!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You want me to do it? Fine! Give me the sword! I¡¯ll do it. Come! I might as well free you from your pathetic life!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    This isn¡¯t really some sort of a conversation. Just a scene between a man behind bars and the one guarding the cell.

    The imprisoned man is evidently at the end of his wits. One moment he¡¯d be begging for release then the next moment, he¡¯d want to kill. As for the one guarding the cell, all he needs to worry about is how to make sure he¡¯s unaffected by the madness oozing out of prisoner, that way there would be no mistakes.

    Unfortunately, that isn¡¯t really an easy thing to do considering who the prisoner is and where this prison is.

    ¡°Hey! Small dick! What are you dozing-off for? Seriously? cking off on your job? Holy shit you are one hell of a pathetic man! Off with your head! Castrate yourself! No! Actually, let me do it! Come on! Hand me the sword! I¡¯ll release you from your pathetic life! Come! Come!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You act as if you can¡¯t hear me but I know you could. You can¡¯t fool me. Yeah that¡¯s right. You¡¯re pathetic, bitch! Small dick and ugly as fuck! Yeah, that¡¯s right. I said it! What? You¡¯re gonna do something about it? Come in then! I¡¯ll see what you can do!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Come on! Don¡¯t just re at me. We both know that doesn¡¯t work! Get in here and show me how much of a man you are! Prove that you have an average sized dick at least! Don¡¯t do it for me, do it for yourself!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Honestly, what are you afraid of? Them knowing? Dude, we¡¯re like at the abyss! Nobody goes here! The God Emperor despises this ce so he doesn¡¯t go here. You wanna know why?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Because he¡¯s been here before!! Ahahahahah! Imagine that!? Your majestic and oh-so-noble Lord and Savior had a criminal record! What the fuck right? And you¡¯re telling me that you people allowed that one to sit on the throne? You guys are out of your fucking minds, I tell you what!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s on this very same cell you know? Probably got fucked by his cellmates. Hey, weren¡¯t you the same person who also guarded his cell once upon a time?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Your ears twitched, I saw that! So it was you then! Which means that I¡¯m correct! Hahah! Fucking hell! This is gold!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I bet he whored himself out of captivity.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t re at me like that! It makes me feel all hot and tingly¡­what you wanna fuck me? Come in! My ass is ready for you big boy!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°So? Am I right! Did he convinced you to smuggle him out of this ce? What did he offer to you? A blowjob? One passionate night of hot and steamy sex?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You know, you can keep ring at me like that¡¯s a threat but your erection tells me all I need to know.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t turn around! It¡¯s nothing to be embarrassed about! Everybody does that! It happens you know? This trash heap isn¡¯t really a good a ce. Hell I can¡¯t even imagine how the hell you managed to get erect with how smelly this ce is but it is what it is, yeah? Every hole is a goal, you know what I mean? You do what you gotta do to keep yourself happy, right? Really, there¡¯s no shame in that!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°So? Is he tight? Wet? How¡¯s the blowjob, toe-curling? How many rounds did you two have? Did you paint his insides white or his face? Which one? I mean, hey! You¡¯re hard, so am I! If you wanna have some fun,e in! I can give you a good time!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that! I know you heard some people telling to not stick your dick in crazy but hey, I¡¯m up for a role-y! Skroll like it when I¡¯m obedient, I swear to god he bes scarily sadistic when he does but it¡¯s hot as hell. And he told me that I was a good fuck so there¡¯s your review. Everyone knows Skroll so what I say is true! How about it? Wanna try?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Ooh! I can smell your wetness all the way here. Don¡¯t you hide that from me. Come on, seriously. It¡¯s gonna be fine! Hell, I¡¯m not even asking you to smuggle me out of here. Honestly, I¡¯m just bored. I just want somepany you know? In exchange, you can use me however you like. I can y nice. Juste inside¡­or in me, whatever floats your boat I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­alright, that¡¯s it. Time to fucking shut you up.¡±

    ¡°Finally, you talked! Youing? Alright, alright! Come in! Make yourselffortable!¡±

    The guard reached the limits of his patience. His eyes already turned fully crimson, and dead-giveaway that he sumbed to the provocations and madness of this ce and the person inside the cell.

    As soon as the guard opened the cell doors, he immediately pounced on the prisoner who just giggled in delight. He threw him into the wall and ripped out his clothes.

    The prisoner just gasped from the impact but didn¡¯t do anything to stop the guard. A couple of secondster, their mouths were pressed together and is fighting for supremacy. Later on, they became a tangled mess of limbs, panting as they released their frustrations and sumbed to the corruption of this hell hole.

    ¡°¡­see, that wasn¡¯t so hard? What took you so long? If you just gave in earlier that this, you could¡¯ve tasted me much earlier than this.¡± The prisoner gasped as he stared at the guard whoid on top of him, their bodies are covered with sweat and the smell of spunk was evident in the air.

    ¡°¡­cheeky son of a bitch.¡± The guard replied. His words sounded harsh but his actions said otherwise as he grounded his hips.

    ¡°Thanks, my ass is indeed cheeky.¡± The prisoner chuckled as he wrapped his arms around the guard. ¡°But you on the other hand¡­are one hell of an idiot.¡±

    Shick!

    The guard¡¯s eye widened in disbelief as he looked down. He saw ck blood pouring out of his chest and vaguely saw a sharp implement pierced through his chest. He looked up and saw that the prisoner¡¯s eyes turned incredible frigid.

    ¡°Gotta admit, this is one hell of a way go. You had it nice thanks to me. Now, off with you. Let¡¯s fuck in hellter.¡±

    After saying that, the prisoner pushed the dying guard¡¯s body away from him. He was about to stand-up but he saw the guard still wriggling about so he did what anyone would do at that point and stabbed him in the chest and in the skull for good measure.

    Once he¡¯s certain that the guard is indeed dead, he unceremoniously took out the keys on his body. He took them with him and proceeded to silently step out of his cell. He locked the cell behind him and nned his escape.

    ¡°I need some distraction.¡± He murmured, his eyes thennded on the other cells and had an idea.

    His body shimmered and vanished.

    Just like this, he began sneakily freeing other captives as well. As soon as they discovered that their cells were unlocked, the whole prison turned into a true hell. The captives murdered the guards and mored towards the exit while the main culprit of the chaos already dipped out of there.

    Finding a rtively safe spot to rest, away from all the chaos and patrols. The culprit made a camp and wiped away the blood on the sword he stole. His eyes were still frigid and were leaking a thick killing intent in them.

    ¡°Mother, Father. It won¡¯t be too long from now. Rest easy, Finneas join you in the after life.¡±

    ¡°But before I go, I need to kill someone. I already doomed humanity and no amount of apology could even make up for that. As a tribute, I shall kill the cause of all this before I suffer from eternal damnation.¡±

    ¡°Wait for me, I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±

 Chapter 913: Waiting Game

    Chapter 913: Waiting Game

    A huge disturbance was caused by the escaped convicts.

    Paradise ¨C the home of the Gods, are currently on alert due to the significance of this threat.

    Had this been any other prison break, they wouldn¡¯t have been this alerted but it just so happened that those who escaped were prisoners of the Abyss. One must know that the abyss is one special prison created to torture and drive the criminalspletely insane as punishment for their crimes.

    Now, these deranged criminals managed to break free out of their prison and is now roaming among their people. Who knows what they can and will do?

    Amongst these criminals is of course Finneas who is now hiding from the authorities. He just made a vow that he will not go down without dragging Skroll down with him.

    Finneas had it really rough.

    Initially, he thought that his new life will bring him nothing but joy and contentment. He whole-hearted epted it and even looked forward into it. s, theplete opposite is what happened.

    Fate has been especially cruel to him.

    Just as he thought that he found a ce where he belongs, a ce where he¡¯s epted and weed with open arms despite his peculiarities, he found out that it was all nothing but lies.

    For the most part, Skroll¡¯s n had worked. Finneas fell into the honey-trap and he unknowingly gave them so much information that doomed humanity.

    He was never meant to know this but in the end, he did. It is through a slight carelessness from the other gods who were let-in on the operation. They discussed the idea excitedly, saying that they found a fat piece ofnd to im.

    This God mistook Finneas as one of his friends, unknowingly letting him know everything from start to finish.

    That¡¯s when it all came back to Finneas. He nearly forgotten his roots but that mistake allowed him to remember everything.

    Realizing that he was used, fooled and lead astray, Finneas was filled with boundless fury that caused him to go on a murder spree. He nearly lost himself into madness when he saw Skroll and attacked him but was soon overpowered by God Officers and then thrown at the Abyss Prison.

    He spent decades in there, marinating in his own rage and despair. Tormented by his mistakes and haunted by nightmares. Each passing day, his was pushed to the brink on insanity because of the ce.

    At this point, he wouldn¡¯t even deny the fact that he¡¯s already mad. All that he has left is this burning desire to murder Skroll and have him pay for what he did.

    Finneas knows that this wouldn¡¯t be enough to pay for his sin of dooming mankind. He knows that it will never be enough so he didn¡¯t even think about it, all he knows is that this is a tribute at least.

    If Skroll dies, then the Abyssals will take a considerable hit on their operations which might possibly give Humanity a higher chance of survival.

    Skroll isn¡¯t famous for nothing. His facees along with achievements secured under his belt. He¡¯s the head researcher and the pioneer of the Gods. He invented most of the things they use to locate and plunder providence from other ces.

    He alsorgely contributed to the warping function of the Paradise Realm and whenever the God Emperor decided to warp, Skroll is the one that usually took charge of the operation to make sure everything remains stable.

    Skroll is pretty much the right hand of the God Emperor, which means that taking him down would hurt the God Race badly.

    And it just so happens that Finneas, back when he¡¯s still deeply enamored with Skroll, knows his schedule and his habits. He paid close attention to everything he does because he once thought that it was admirable. Not anymore though. Still, this turned out to be more useful since he now knows where to find him.

    He could device a n on killing him by following this.

    Still, he needs time to implement his n.

    Finneas isn¡¯t a fool. The news about the prison break should¡¯ve already reached Skroll¡¯s ears and if he just sent someone to inspect the ce, Skroll would know that Finneas also escaped.

    He will be careful and willy out traps for him. That¡¯s how Skroll is. Even though Finneas begrudgingly doesn¡¯t want to, he had to admit that Skroll¡¯s wits are sharp and he¡¯s extremely intelligent too.

    Killing him won¡¯t be easy.

    That¡¯s why for now, he had to say low. He had to find a base somewhere, a ce where he can hide and n out his moves. He can y the waiting game, it¡¯s fine. After all, he still hasn¡¯t reached his full potential as a God yet.

    Although Finneas now hates this body more than ever, he can¡¯t deny that he needs it toplete his mission. The body of the Gods are very powerful and filled with so much potential, human bodies can¡¯tpare at all.

    It is precisely because he knows this that it made him even more guilty.

    He truly had doomed humanity. This kind of sin can never be forgiven.

    Finneas hopes that they can fight against the Gods but Finneas also knows how strong they are. He had seen what the army of Gods can do. It wouldn¡¯t be a lie to say that they¡¯re almost invincible.

    The Divine Realm will suffer terribly from this, and there¡¯s nothing he can do to rectify that.

    Contacting humanity to warn them about the iing threat? That won¡¯t work. In fact, he shouldn¡¯t even consider doing that.

    Let¡¯s say that he indeed managed to warn humanity about the threat of the Gods, who¡¯s to say that they¡¯re going to believe him? And even if they did, it¡¯s toote isn¡¯t it? There¡¯s not much time for them to prepare.

    But the true reason why he shouldn¡¯t do this is the fact that if he contacted humanity, the Gods will use the connection to track the coordinates of Divine Realm.

    If that happens, Divine Realm¡¯s just one order away from the God Emperor from destruction.

    Right now, he knows that the Gods are proceeding very carefully. They don¡¯t have the exact coordinates of the Divine Realm so they are slowly driving their home towards the general area they discovered from his memories.

    If they knew the coordinates, the God Emperor would¡¯ve long since ordered to start warping towards there tounch a decisive strike and ambush.

    Since they haven¡¯t done so, Humanity still has time and Finneas also has some time.

    His goal is to eliminate Skroll before they reached Divine Realm. If he can do that, then he could rest easy.

    Right now, Finneas is hiding.

    His hiding spot is at the abandoned vige near the Abyss Prison. You know what they say, the safest ce is the most obvious one. Finneas knows that everybody is searching for their tracks. He already erased his and he didn¡¯t run far to begin with so they¡¯d just end up in wild goose-chase.

    In addition to this, his godly talent; Vanish and Deadly Venom helped him a lot. Vanish allows him to bepletely invisible to everyone. It erases all traces of his existence and he doesn¡¯t leave any tracks behind while Deadly Venom helps him kill a lot faster since it is especially effective and fatal against Gods.

    These two talents are things that not even Skroll himself knew about since Finneas awoken them inside his prison. Both skills came natural to him and they don¡¯t drain a lot of energy to use.

    Vanish can be used almost infinitely. In fact, just to be careful, Finneas is always in his Vanished state. So long as he doesn¡¯t attack or move too fast, no one would be able to sense him even if he¡¯s literally breathing down on their necks.

    Securing food also isn¡¯t hard since he could just steal from the nearby city. By stealing a little bit on each house hee across with, he could hoard a lot of food which willst him for a very long time.

    Now, he¡¯s just patiently waiting for things to cool down. It would be best if he moves when everything settles down and the patrols calmed down a bit. Once everyone lets down their guard, it wouldn¡¯t be toote for him to move by then.

    To him, this is just the waiting game. He had to be patient. Bid his time until things turnedx and it will be easy to reap Skroll¡¯s life.

    Judging from personal experience, Gods are incredibly arrogant. They definitely think too highly of themselves and they are impulsive too, why else would their Emperor mobilize everything at the first news of Divine Realm¡¯s discovery?

    They think they are infallible just because they conquered small preys all this time. These are things that Finneas discovered in the books Skroll gave to him.

    He knew their hubris is too great and he nned on taking advantage of that. Just like he said, this is just the waiting game.

    Soon, he will sink his fangs on Skroll¡¯s neck. By then, he will teach them a painful lesson that they won¡¯t be able to forget.

 Chapter 914: Here They Come

    Chapter 914: Here They Come

    The Rivers of Time continued flowing for every living being in the Divine Realm. As such, the natural trend of development continued as well.

    Being upied really makes slightly unaware of how much time passes. With Divine Realm¡¯s citizens busy doing their own thing, time flowed steadily and soon decades passed before they realized it. And it brought many things for them.

    The realm remained prosperous and it did not show any signs of letting up. It¡¯s just unfortunate that time doesn¡¯t just bring forth the positive ones¡­it also bring the negatives.

    With each decade that passed, more and more people are starting to sense the uing cmity of their lives.

    The very first ones who felt it were the Divine Knights, then the Empyreans¡­

    After them, it was the Knight Monarchs, a decadeter it was the Knight Kings¡¯ turn and so on¡­

    With the increasing number of people who are sensing the arrival of their destined foes, Dawn Council could no longer allow them to remain ignorant about it. They can no longer hide its existence.

    Because of that, despite of the positive trends still steadily rising at the realm, Divine Realm still entered the war preparation phase.

    Everyone is now informed of the uing cmity. Well, a lot of people are aware of it at least. The Dawn Council didn¡¯t bother letting those who lived on the lower nes know since they will most likely not going to participate in the war anyway. They are too weak to be drafted even if they wanted to, they¡¯d just add up to the number of casualties.

    Besides, if Divine Realm¡¯s army truly fell, those lives in the lower nes wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the Abyssals anyway. Which is why instead of letting them participate in this war, the council has other ns for them.

    In the event that the war started, all Lower ins/Worlds will be sealed and hidden away from everything. They¡¯ll be detached from Divine Realm and be kept in a secret ce where they could remain safe.

    If Humanity failed to defend their home and got annihted by the Abyssals. The Divine Realm will be destroyed and wiped out but at least, there¡¯ll be continuity in the form of the humans they kept away.

    They hoped that the humans who were exempted from the war will stay hidden, bid their time to re-build their forces and establish a new Divine Realm to continue the lineage of Humanity.

    They won¡¯t ask them to avenge them, just for them to live and prosper. And for that, Divine Realm already established a n to mobilize a great inheritance for them should the need really arises.

    This n is created by none other than Raven and only the supervisors of the Dawn Council are aware of this. They kept it from the rest not because they didn¡¯t trust them but because it¡¯s better that way.

    Nobody knows if the Abyssals had the ability to scry their memories but if they could, then there is a high-chance that they will go out of their way to hunt down the remaining humans. Raven wanted to prevent this from happening so he kept it a secret only a few select people.

    Of course, there¡¯s also the possibility that the Abyssals will be able to extract it from their minds but Raven already has a counter for that.

    He nted a seal on everyone that will erase their memoriespletely of this knowledge in the event that they think they will be captured. Actually, he himself isn¡¯t spared from this so there¡¯s that.

    At this point, only time can tell if his paranoia was a good thing or not but right now, at least they¡¯re prepared for the worst of the worst.

    As Divine Realm entered a war preparation phase, it is only natural for people to be afraid and also skeptical.

    Some people are still in-denial at this point even though they themselves could feel the threating.

    Such reaction is normal. After all, this kind of threat is on a scale they¡¯ve never seen nor experienced before, of course they were being skeptical. What if it¡¯s not real and this is just all false?

    But at the same time, deep down in the depths of their mind, they know what¡¯sing. This is as real as it can get, everything is pointing to the same source and no matter how much they tried to deny it, it¡¯s useless since it won¡¯t stop the abyssals froming.

    Most of the people are now squeezing out thest bits of potential they still have, trying to makest minute breakthroughs if possible. Of course, the stronger they are against the uing cmity, the better their chances of survival will be.

    The authorities are already formting ns and building up armies. A lot of factions already enlisted and expressed their desire to participate in this war. They are ready to report to duty at any given moment but right now, they¡¯re still on stand-by.

    The Dawn Council members are busy. They¡¯re running left and right to make sure that the arrangements will be done in time and their preparations would be set ording to their ns.

    The Supervisors themselves had been discussing strategies with other leaders to make sure that their efficiency won¡¯t fall-off.

    Days continued to pass and as time went on, more and more people are bing away of the threat closing-in.

    The feeling was horrible, they¡¯re not even here yet but they could already feel them breathing down their necks. It¡¯s stifling and it made them severely ufortable, additionally, this isn¡¯t something that would just go away. It doesn¡¯t work like that.

    By the time they approached the 200 year mark that Raven deduced, arge disturbance was felt by everyone.

    The feeling was crystal clear. It was like waking up one day only to discover that someone was sleeping right next to you. Everyone felt their arrival at the same time and at this point, there¡¯s no denying this.

    No, the Abyssals are still clueless about their exact location. They¡¯re still fumbling around. For those who lived in the Divine Realm, they still hasn¡¯t seen what they new neighbors looked like but they are acutely aware that they¡¯re here.

    Their arrival was right on time, Raven nailed the deduction. And since new neighbors are looking for them, Raven¡¯s paranoia also paid off.

    The Abyssals are having a hard time pinpointing their exact location due to Raven wrapping-up the whole realm with a cloaking mechanism.

    The outposts that he had set up ages ago are now scouting for them and giving them real time reports of their activities,

    Apparently, they n on patrolling the area to search for the Divine Realm. They sent out droves of Abyssals to roam around on ships, spreading their forces thin but also expanding their area of reconnaissance.

    Since none of their enemies discovered the Outposts just yet, Luna ¨C the temporary Leader in Raven¡¯s absence, gave out an Order.

    ¡°Send out teams of Counter-Guardians to neutralize their forces. Spread them out to make sure that nobody can track them down. If we can take down stronger Abyssals, make sure to bring their bodies back here so that the Heavenly Order could produce more Counter-Guardians for us.¡±

    And just like this, the sparks of war were ignited.

    Under Luna¡¯s orders, teams of Counter Guardians were sent out on a mission. They had ships with impable sturdiness and high-cloaking functions to hide their tracks.

    They ambushed forces at random. If the forces they encountered wereposed of the weakest ones, the Counter Guardians wipes them awaypletely before taking a confusing path to scatter their tracks and make it harder for their enemies to pinpoint where they¡¯reing from.

    If they encountered a stronger foe, the Counter Guardians charges on using everything they have to eliminate them and bring back the bodies. Of course, they have to make sure that they can¡¯t be tracked first before returning.

    It a span of another decade, small skirmishes urred at a random instances. The Counter Guardians sporadically made their attacks and they coordinated them so that the trend remains confusing for their enemies toprehend.

    While the Abyssals are still trying to pinpoint the exact location of the Divine Realm, the Heavenly Order is already creating a batch of new Counter-Guardians, stronger ones, for them to use.

    It¡¯s going to take some time to produce a lot of them but by using resources, of which Dawn Council has a lot of, they can increase the speed of production.

    At the same time, the enemies aren¡¯t aware of the fact that there were outposts that already infiltrated their camp and is now sending valuable intel to the Divine Realm, which in turn, are being used to device strategies to make it even more difficult for them to find Divine Realm.

    This is how they decided to start the war. It¡¯s just a small scale skirmishes for now but make no mistake, things will escte.

    Which is why, at the very depths of the Throne Room, Raven who sat upon his throne opened his eyes for a long time and sighed.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s about time to pay them a visit.¡±

 Chapter 915: Here They Come

    Chapter 915: Here They Come

    The Rivers of Time continued flowing for every living being in the Divine Realm. As such, the natural trend of development continued as well.

    Being upied really makes slightly unaware of how much time passes. With Divine Realm¡¯s citizens busy doing their own thing, time flowed steadily and soon decades passed before they realized it. And it brought many things for them.

    The realm remained prosperous and it did not show any signs of letting up. It¡¯s just unfortunate that time doesn¡¯t just bring forth the positive ones¡­it also bring the negatives.

    With each decade that passed, more and more people are starting to sense the uing cmity of their lives.

    The very first ones who felt it were the Divine Knights, then the Empyreans¡­

    After them, it was the Knight Monarchs, a decadeter it was the Knight Kings¡¯ turn and so on¡­

    With the increasing number of people who are sensing the arrival of their destined foes, Dawn Council could no longer allow them to remain ignorant about it. They can no longer hide its existence.

    Because of that, despite of the positive trends still steadily rising at the realm, Divine Realm still entered the war preparation phase.

    Everyone is now informed of the uing cmity. Well, a lot of people are aware of it at least. The Dawn Council didn¡¯t bother letting those who lived on the lower nes know since they will most likely not going to participate in the war anyway. They are too weak to be drafted even if they wanted to, they¡¯d just add up to the number of casualties.

    Besides, if Divine Realm¡¯s army truly fell, those lives in the lower nes wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the Abyssals anyway. Which is why instead of letting them participate in this war, the council has other ns for them.

    In the event that the war started, all Lower ins/Worlds will be sealed and hidden away from everything. They¡¯ll be detached from Divine Realm and be kept in a secret ce where they could remain safe.

    If Humanity failed to defend their home and got annihted by the Abyssals. The Divine Realm will be destroyed and wiped out but at least, there¡¯ll be continuity in the form of the humans they kept away.

    They hoped that the humans who were exempted from the war will stay hidden, bid their time to re-build their forces and establish a new Divine Realm to continue the lineage of Humanity.

    They won¡¯t ask them to avenge them, just for them to live and prosper. And for that, Divine Realm already established a n to mobilize a great inheritance for them should the need really arises.

    This n is created by none other than Raven and only the supervisors of the Dawn Council are aware of this. They kept it from the rest not because they didn¡¯t trust them but because it¡¯s better that way.

    Nobody knows if the Abyssals had the ability to scry their memories but if they could, then there is a high-chance that they will go out of their way to hunt down the remaining humans. Raven wanted to prevent this from happening so he kept it a secret only a few select people.

    Of course, there¡¯s also the possibility that the Abyssals will be able to extract it from their minds but Raven already has a counter for that.

    He nted a seal on everyone that will erase their memoriespletely of this knowledge in the event that they think they will be captured. Actually, he himself isn¡¯t spared from this so there¡¯s that.

    At this point, only time can tell if his paranoia was a good thing or not but right now, at least they¡¯re prepared for the worst of the worst.

    As Divine Realm entered a war preparation phase, it is only natural for people to be afraid and also skeptical.

    Some people are still in-denial at this point even though they themselves could feel the threating.

    Such reaction is normal. After all, this kind of threat is on a scale they¡¯ve never seen nor experienced before, of course they were being skeptical. What if it¡¯s not real and this is just all false?

    But at the same time, deep down in the depths of their mind, they know what¡¯sing. This is as real as it can get, everything is pointing to the same source and no matter how much they tried to deny it, it¡¯s useless since it won¡¯t stop the abyssals froming.

    Most of the people are now squeezing out thest bits of potential they still have, trying to makest minute breakthroughs if possible. Of course, the stronger they are against the uing cmity, the better their chances of survival will be.

    The authorities are already formting ns and building up armies. A lot of factions already enlisted and expressed their desire to participate in this war. They are ready to report to duty at any given moment but right now, they¡¯re still on stand-by.

    The Dawn Council members are busy. They¡¯re running left and right to make sure that the arrangements will be done in time and their preparations would be set ording to their ns.

    The Supervisors themselves had been discussing strategies with other leaders to make sure that their efficiency won¡¯t fall-off.

    Days continued to pass and as time went on, more and more people are bing away of the threat closing-in.

    The feeling was horrible, they¡¯re not even here yet but they could already feel them breathing down their necks. It¡¯s stifling and it made them severely ufortable, additionally, this isn¡¯t something that would just go away. It doesn¡¯t work like that.

    By the time they approached the 200 year mark that Raven deduced, arge disturbance was felt by everyone.

    The feeling was crystal clear. It was like waking up one day only to discover that someone was sleeping right next to you. Everyone felt their arrival at the same time and at this point, there¡¯s no denying this.

    No, the Abyssals are still clueless about their exact location. They¡¯re still fumbling around. For those who lived in the Divine Realm, they still hasn¡¯t seen what they new neighbors looked like but they are acutely aware that they¡¯re here.

    Their arrival was right on time, Raven nailed the deduction. And since new neighbors are looking for them, Raven¡¯s paranoia also paid off.

    The Abyssals are having a hard time pinpointing their exact location due to Raven wrapping-up the whole realm with a cloaking mechanism.

    The outposts that he had set up ages ago are now scouting for them and giving them real time reports of their activities,

    Apparently, they n on patrolling the area to search for the Divine Realm. They sent out droves of Abyssals to roam around on ships, spreading their forces thin but also expanding their area of reconnaissance.

    Since none of their enemies discovered the Outposts just yet, Luna ¨C the temporary Leader in Raven¡¯s absence, gave out an Order.

    ¡°Send out teams of Counter-Guardians to neutralize their forces. Spread them out to make sure that nobody can track them down. If we can take down stronger Abyssals, make sure to bring their bodies back here so that the Heavenly Order could produce more Counter-Guardians for us.¡±

    And just like this, the sparks of war were ignited.

    Under Luna¡¯s orders, teams of Counter Guardians were sent out on a mission. They had ships with impable sturdiness and high-cloaking functions to hide their tracks.

    They ambushed forces at random. If the forces they encountered wereposed of the weakest ones, the Counter Guardians wipes them awaypletely before taking a confusing path to scatter their tracks and make it harder for their enemies to pinpoint where they¡¯reing from.

    If they encountered a stronger foe, the Counter Guardians charges on using everything they have to eliminate them and bring back the bodies. Of course, they have to make sure that they can¡¯t be tracked first before returning.

    It a span of another decade, small skirmishes urred at a random instances. The Counter Guardians sporadically made their attacks and they coordinated them so that the trend remains confusing for their enemies toprehend.

    While the Abyssals are still trying to pinpoint the exact location of the Divine Realm, the Heavenly Order is already creating a batch of new Counter-Guardians, stronger ones, for them to use.

    It¡¯s going to take some time to produce a lot of them but by using resources, of which Dawn Council has a lot of, they can increase the speed of production.

    At the same time, the enemies aren¡¯t aware of the fact that there were outposts that already infiltrated their camp and is now sending valuable intel to the Divine Realm, which in turn, are being used to device strategies to make it even more difficult for them to find Divine Realm.

    This is how they decided to start the war. It¡¯s just a small scale skirmishes for now but make no mistake, things will escte.

    Which is why, at the very depths of the Throne Room, Raven who sat upon his throne opened his eyes for a long time and sighed.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s about time to pay them a visit.¡±

 Chapter 916: The man who likes shiny things

    Chapter 916: The man who likes shiny things

    ¡°How¡¯s it, did you manage to track them?¡±

    ¡°Still no luck.¡± Skroll grimly replied to General Grimm. ¡°Those pest disappears as soon as the damage is done. The tracks the left are scattered and leads us to nothing. It¡¯s not uniform either so it¡¯s useless.¡±

    General Grimm scowled upon hearing that. ¡°Did you at least figure out what they look like?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t even locate their tracks properly, what makes you think that I¡¯d just see them?¡± Skroll scoffed, finding Grimm¡¯s inquiry stupid.

    It¡¯s been roughly a decade or two since they arrived at this coordinates and startedbing the area in search of the Divine Realm. What they initially thought should¡¯ve been an easy search operation turned out to be a major pain in the ass because of their enigmatic pursuers.

    The attacks against them weren¡¯t too obvious. At first it was just once or twice a year. Nothing major nor shocking since they were expecting that this area will have some hostiles around, they¡¯re used to it at this point and their main concern is the Divine Realm so they ignored it.

    That turned out to be a mistake since as time passed, the attacks began to increase and it was sporadic too. There¡¯s no way for them to predict when it¡¯s going to happen.

    What makes things worse is the fact that they can¡¯t even see the shadow of their enemy. They tried multiple times to track them down but the tracks they left always ended-up nowhere.

    Their invisible enemies have ambushed at least 50 expedition groups of them thus far and it doesn¡¯t seem to show any signs of stopping.

    Skroll had been working non-stop, trying his best to do something against this but every attempt he did ended-up in failure.

    General Grimm was also feeling the heat at this moment since they¡¯ve lost a sizeable amount of expedition groups at this point. It would¡¯ve been better if they died in the war since that¡¯s the idea but the war hasn¡¯t even started yet. This is going to reflect badly on his record.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t n on giving-up just yet. I¡¯m fired-up believe it not. Whoever these enemies are, they¡¯re giving me a good challenge.¡± Skroll stated.

    ¡°That¡¯s cool and all but what about the troops? We can¡¯t just keep sacrificing them to nobody. The war hasn¡¯t even began yet.¡± Grimm questioned.

    ¡°Rx.¡± Skroll waved his hand dismissively. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. Besides, we¡¯re sending fodder. They¡¯re bound to die anyways so we¡¯re not really losing out on anything.¡±

    ¡°Yet we¡¯re not gaining anything either.¡± Grimm pressed, ¡°These are nothing but useless waste of resource. Even though they¡¯re fodder they should at least contribute.¡±

    ¡°Right, right. I hear you. What else do you think I¡¯m doing?¡± Skroll rolled his eyes, ¡°Alright, shoo now. I have to work. Don¡¯t disturb me if nothing important happens. I have ymates to look for.¡±

    Grimm just grumbled underneath his breath and left Skroll alone. Honestly, there¡¯s nothing Grimm could do about this. Skroll is already doing his best to remedy the situation so he¡¯s really not needed for now.

    The one thing that bothered him the most is the mysterious identity of their assants. He wondered it if was humans, but that doesn¡¯t really make sense, ording to the memories they siphoned from Finneas, Humans are puny, they were too weak so it shouldn¡¯t be them.

    Plus, Humans have no idea that they¡¯reing so it really shouldn¡¯t be them. This means that there are locals in here that doesn¡¯t wee their presence and whoever they are, they are experts at hiding.

    It is worth to note that the Abyssals had no idea that they¡¯re being monitored closely. Every move they made is being analyzed and neutralized by humans without explicitly exposing themselves.

    The Abyssals would have never imagined that humans are using their own against them. Counter Guardians who are made in the same mold of an Abyssal withplete loyalty to humans and served the Order, they are the so called invisible enemies that they are facing.

    What would be their reaction like if they knew that the Counter Guardians already infiltrated their ranks? One could only imagine.

    Once Skroll was alone, the smile on his face disappeared and his optimism was gone. It was reced by solemnness and irritation as he repeatedly cursed underneath his breath.

    ¡°¡­damn it all! Show yourselves cowards! How dare you use these pathetic attempts to stop us from out advance towards greatness.¡±

    Unbeknownst to them all, Skroll¡¯s the one who¡¯s facing the heaviest burden right now. As the proimed right hand man of the God Emperor, the expectations out of him are too great. They are all expecting him to eradicate the bastards that are trying to gnaw away at their forces so they can focus on their big project.

    Skroll himself is expecting himself to be able to do this as well since if he couldn¡¯t, nobody else could. If he couldn¡¯t, then all of his hard work will be for naught.

    ¡°Ooh! This is neat!¡±

    Skroll nearly tripped on his own foot when he suddenly heard a curious voice behind him. He turned around in fright only to see a person walking around his office with a mild curiosity painting their face.

    ¡°Who are you? How did you get here?¡± Skroll was baffled. He didn¡¯t know who this person is.

    ¡°Ooh! What¡¯s this shiny thing over here? What does it do? Hey! There¡¯s a big red button here! I can hear it calling my name, should I press it?¡±

    ¡°No!!¡±

    Skroll ran forward and instinctively ced himself in between this person and the button that he was eye-ing.

    ¡°Aw¡­you¡¯re no fun.¡±

    ¡°Answer my question damn it! Who are you!?¡± Skroll was nearly hysterical.

    This person was audacious and looked very stupid, but he did nearly doomed everything Skroll¡¯s worked for.

    Looking at this person closely, especially at this distance, Skroll was surprised to realize that he hasn¡¯t been talking to another God after all.

    This person looked like a man. He¡¯s tall, had a long aqua-marine hair, fair skin tone and wore a very lose robe, his eyes were like obsidian orbs with a golden outline. There¡¯s a faint outline of a crown above his head and he radiates a pure and benevolent aura, something that Skroll had never felt before.

    The image of this man rattled Skroll out of his thoughts, he gasped upon the realization and blurted out: ¡°Human?¡±

    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s rude. I have a name!¡± The man protested, frowning at his direction but it doesn¡¯t seem overly threatening since he only did that shortly before observing his surroundings once more.

    ¡°A human! Wait no! How did you get in here! I demand you to exin yourself.¡± Skroll ordered menacingly but the human doesn¡¯t seemed fazed.

    ¡°I walked-in, duh.¡± The human replied without looking at him. ¡°How else am I supposed to enter?¡±

    ¡°But-¡­but¡­¡± Skroll stuttered. He really couldn¡¯t find any way to refute those words. It does make sense after all.

    ¡­like hell it does! What the hell is a Human doing here? This is the outer rims of Paradise! Home of the Gods! How the hell did he enter without being detected!?

    ¡°Hah! This is absurd!¡±

    Realizing that he was being lead-on by a human of all things, caused Skroll to mock himself. Why is he on-guard? He¡¯s just a human? A puny human!

    ¡°You know that you doomed yourself by going here, right?¡± Skroll scoffed as he looked mockingly at this stupid human.

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°I know so.¡± Skroll stated confidently, he looked at the human and said: ¡°You know, I can make you death less painful. Treat it as a grace from me. I only need you to tell me where Divine Realm is located-hey! What are you doing! Don¡¯t touch that!¡±

    ¡°But why?¡±

    ¡°Cause I said so! Put it down! Listen to me, damn it!¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s shiny.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s up with you and shiny things!? Are you a crow or something!?¡±

    ¡°¡­a Raven actually.¡± The human smirked at him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t fucking care! Drop that thing down or else you¡¯re gonna regret ever touching that.¡±

    The human looked at Skroll with a difficult expression which made him confused.

    ¡°What a conundrum¡­should I even listen to the words of a dead man?¡±

    ¡°What do you-!¡±

    Shick!

    Skroll¡¯s eyes bulged from their sockets, he looked down in disbelief at his chest where he saw a dagger tip piercing through his God Core. He also felt his vision blurring out, a symptom that he was poisoned. He tried his best to look behind him to see who stabbed him.

    ¡°Hi, Darling. Missed me?¡±

    ¡°F-Finn¡­¡± Skroll chuckled mirthlessly. Finding this whole ordeal unbelievable. He choked on his own blood as he could feel life draining out of him.

    ¡°This is Karma, my love.¡± Finneas uttered with thick venomcing his voice. ¡°If there¡¯s hell, we¡¯ll see each other there. Farewell¡­¡±

    Those were thest words the Skroll heard before he felt thest traces of warmth leaving him and his lost consciousness.

    Finneas felt a great burden leaving his shoulders. With the deed now down, he didn¡¯t feel happy. Just empty. The only thing left to do is for him to die and this will all end how it¡¯s supposed to.

    ¡°So¡­Finneas right?¡±

    Unexpectedly, the Human who infiltrated the base spoke to him and also know who he was. Finn looked at him in shocked as he was asked:

    ¡°What do you think of my acting?¡±

 Chapter 917: Sleep, Finn.

    Chapter 917: Sleep, Finn.

    ¡®Is he¡­is he testing me?¡¯

    This is the first thing that Finn thought of when Raven asked him that question. He didn¡¯t know who this person is nor know what kind of personality he has but given how he acted early, he must be one of those entrics that his parents told him about back in the day.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­okay? I don¡¯t really know. But how did you know my name?¡± He asked. ¡°We¡¯ve never met before have we? If so, then I¡¯m sorry, my memories are in a bit of a messtely.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay huh? Very well, not that my acting skills are important at this point.¡± The man hummed to himself, ¡°As for how I knew about you well¡­let¡¯s say that it is my duty to know things. We¡¯ve never met before yes, but that¡¯s not really important.¡±

    Finn frowned upon hearing that. He thought that this human sure is a strange one. One thing for sure is that, this guy has much more than he¡¯s letting on.

    ¡°Pardon me for asking but, how did you get in here, Sir?¡± Finn asked politely. He just realized that he doesn¡¯t even know this man¡¯s name.

    ¡°What? You don¡¯t believe me when I said that I just walked in? Is it really that unbelievable?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Finn was at a loss, it seems that his man didn¡¯t want to tell him so it¡¯s best if he just forget about it. ¡°Right. You walked in, got it.¡±

    ¡°A fair warning though, Sir. This ce is extremely dangerous for the likes of you. It¡¯d be best if you don¡¯t recklessly roam this ce. There¡¯s a fair chance that you¡¯d die by doing so.¡± Finn advised, ¡°I might not look trustworthy to you since I look like them but believe me, things will get ugly if they discovered you.¡±

    ¡°On the ount that you helped me kill this one, take this advise as repayment. Do go back and tell Humanity to prepare for a great war. Tell them that the Gods areing to take everything they know and love. Convince them make ns for their safety.¡± Finn implored to the man, his words were heartfelt,ing from the deepest recesses of his being that still remains human.

    ¡°¡­Abyssals.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Finn was surprised.

    ¡°We call them Abyssals, Young Man.¡± The man smiled, ¡°They¡¯re not Gods. A strong bodily constitution that is developed by ingenuity and not naturally isn¡¯t enough to brand their race as Gods. They don¡¯t deserve that title. They will never deserve that kind of title. Do remember this well, Young Man.¡±

    Finn speechless. Those words were full of disdain and overwhelming pride and confidence. There¡¯s not a trace of hesitation nor fear in the man¡¯s voice as he openly defied and insulted the Gods on their ownnd in front of him. He was one audacious person for doing this.

    ¡°Aside from Abyssals, we should also call them Locusts ¨C pests, if you will.¡± The man stated as he walked around while inspecting the room. ¡°They jump from one ce to another, devouring everything of value in ces where they can sense some. Rinse and repeat. That¡¯s what they do. If that¡¯s not a pest-behavior, I don¡¯t know what is.¡±

    The man looked at Finn and smiled:

    ¡°The first method on defeating a monster, is by believing that they¡¯re not real. Once you discover that they¡¯re not as terrible as you initially thought, the next step is for you to see them bleed.¡±

    ¡°The first method removes your fear of them, the second method makes you realize that they¡¯re not invincible. And final method, is by killing them. Once you kill them, you will discover that they¡¯re not immortal and if you can kill one, you can kill another. Kill them again and again until it bes their turn to be afraid of you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how you defeat a monster.¡±

    Finn would be lying if he said that he¡¯s not freaked out by this man because he totally is. Every hair on his body was standing on end and every cell was screaming at him to run away as far as possible from this man.

    It is so strange though. This man looked practically harmless. He did nothing but speak what¡¯s on his mind but the primal fear he can instill to someone¡¯s heart is so immense.

    Who is he?

    ¡°Well¡­since you¡¯re done with you revenge, I wonder what your next ns are, Young Finneas?¡±

    Once again, Finneas was caught off-guard by that sudden question. Indeed, he was done. He already fulfilled his vow to himself. He had killed Skroll and there¡¯s nothing for him here.

    Once again, he was made aware of the gaping void in his chest, figuratively and literally.

    ¡°¡­it¡¯s time for me to go.¡± Finn murmured, ¡°I¡¯ve lived and suffered enough. There¡¯s nothing left for me to do here. I¡¯ve done everything that I could. I carry way too much sin that I can possibly atone for. Not even my death would be enough for what I have caused.¡±

    ¡°Death is the only thing left for me.¡± Finn concluded.

    ¡°¡­not yet.¡± The man stated while shaking his head.

    ¡°What do you possibly mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Now is not yet the time for you to die.¡± The man rified, which made Finn even more confused. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your death will arrive sooner orter, but certainly not now.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because if you die now, you¡¯ll die as an Abyssal.¡± The man stated rather bleakly. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that you don¡¯t know what happens when you die as one do you?¡±

    Finn nodded, he indeed has no clue of what he¡¯s talking about.

    ¡°Abyssals have no afterlife, Young Finn.¡± He said, ¡°There¡¯s no heaven, hell, nor purgatory. The Abyssals don¡¯t believe in such things and they certainly won¡¯t allow it.¡±

    ¡°To them, they believe that they¡¯re Eternal. Infallible beings that are meant to rule everything they see. They don¡¯t believe and refuse to believe that death has any power over them.¡±

    ¡°If you die here, you¡¯ll just enter a cycle of reincarnation. Especially since you¡¯re within Paradise. About 1000 to 2000 yearster, you¡¯ll be reborn as an Abyssal. Your memories will return once you adulthood and at that time, everyone else will know who you were.¡±

    ¡°Given the things that you did, you will not know reprieve under their hands. They will keep you in prison and drive to madness time and time again until you break downpletely and turn you into a mindless ve that exist solely for their own use and amusement.¡±

    ¡°Such fate is extremely cruel. One that I can possibly allow to you.¡±

    Finn was shaken. He truly had no idea that such a thing was going to happen to him. Add this to the bucket of things he regretted by turning into an Abyssal.

    This basically ensure that he will suffer regardless of his alignment. He¡¯s meant to forever dance on top of their palms. Truly, a fate worse than death it is.

    ¡°¡­considering how I doomed Humanity by bringing them here. Don¡¯t you think I deserve such fate?¡± Finn asked in a self-deprecating manner.

    If he¡¯s being honest, he¡¯s terrified to experience such torment. He already suffered so much in one lifetime and now, someone¡¯s telling him that this is just the start? Of course he¡¯d be scared out of his wits.

    Then again, isn¡¯t this quite an apt punishment for the sin he carried? And Eternal Suffering for dooming Humanity through and through. While he might be afraid of what¡¯s going to happen to him, he knows that he¡¯s a sinner and this is an apt punishment to atone for his sins.

    ¡°I would¡¯ve agreed with you in the instance that you willing sold information to them.¡± The man stated, ¡°But you never did right?¡±

    ¡°In fact, you¡¯ve never asked for any of this to begin with. All you wanted and dreamed about, is to eat delicious food all day long and not worry about anything else. Am I right, Finneas?¡±

    Finn looked at the man, his rims of his eyes were bright red yet the message on them was clear. Yes, Finn indeed never wanted any of this. He never wanted the curse, he never wanted to be exiled, he never wanted his parents to die, he never wanted to be an Outsider and experience a very difficult life.

    More importantly, he never wanted to be captured by the Abyssals. He never wanted to be an Abyssal. He didn¡¯t want them to drain his memories and use it against Humanity.

    Finn never wanted to doom Humanity. He never wanted to be the greatest sinner. Yet all of it happened to him.

    Could anybody really me him if he was resentful about his fate after knowing all of this? Probably not.

    ¡°Fret not, Young Man.¡± The man stated, ¡°I¡¯m here. You¡¯re suffering ends now.¡±

    ¡°I will grant you death, not as an Abyssal but as a human.¡± He said, ¡°If Divine Realm still stands after this great war, you¡¯ll enter the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn in your rightful home. I¡¯ll rinse you of your bad luck so that fate will be kind to you on your next lifetime.¡±

    ¡°For now though, sleep. The battle had just began.¡±

    The man pressed a finger on Finn¡¯s head and he promptly lost consciousness.

 Chapter 918: Visit

    Chapter 918: Visit

    The God Emperor had been having a bad premonition these past few days for no particr reason.

    He found it strange since he doesn¡¯t really remember doing anything that should¡¯ve made him feel this way¡­except of course the fact that he¡¯s hunting down the location of the Divine Realm, but that couldn¡¯t have been the reason right?

    There¡¯s no way that he would be this rmed just because he decided to deal with puny humans, they¡¯re weak and undeserving of such providence, what he¡¯s doing is something in the likes of taking a toy from a baby.

    Humans are way too weak to even put a dent to their defenses so they can¡¯t be the reason why he¡¯s having this bad premonitions.

    If he¡¯s going to venture a guess, it should being from the pesky things that have been harassing his fodders, yes that makes more sense to him.

    The God Emperor already received reports from his henchmen that there were a group of assassins targeting his expedition troops and they¡¯re doing a good job at stalling their search.

    Apparently, they¡¯re good at stealth operations. His henchmen are doing their best to track them down to no avail at this point. They were so good that even Skroll was having a hard time against them.

    That alone is sufficient reason for him to believe that the real challengees from these mysterious creatures and not humans. The God Emperor refuses to believe that humans are capable of doing this much to them. They¡¯re weak and that¡¯s final. Nothing can change his mind.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    The God Emperor suddenly opened his eyes as he sat down on his throne. He felt some sort of amotion not to far from where he is.

    He scattered his observation and his vision prated through the walls of his pce and saw what going one floor beneath him.

    ¡°Foul Trespasser! Halt your advances! This isn¡¯t a ce where the likes of you should be around!¡±

    The guards surrounded a man who revealed a m smile despite being threatened.

    ¡°Boys, calm down will you? I¡¯m all about the warm reception but really, there¡¯s no need to be this happy to see me. I¡¯m just a nobody.¡±

    ¡°Halt, I say! You shan¡¯t move any closer!!¡± The guard captain roared in fury, drawing out his own weapon to raise his intimidation to the maximum.

    ¡°Oh,e on. Don¡¯t be like that. I¡¯m just a random visitor. Look the other way will you? Just treated me like air, no need to stress yourselves with good ol¡¯ me.¡± The man dismissively waved his hand and didn¡¯t bother pausing his steps.

    The guard captain finally had it. He raised his spear and stabbed forward, the sheer strength of his blow forcefully twisted the space around him. The momentum carried by his strike should be enough to shatter a or two.

    But to everyone¡¯s surprise, the man just sighed and raised a finger to block the strike.

    Every guard choked on their spit. They know how strong their captain was, he wouldn¡¯t be promoted in his position without sufficient ability. Yet it seems that the man isn¡¯t so simple either.

    With just a single finger, the man not only blocked the captain¡¯s strike with his full strength, he also nullified the momentum and impact aftermath of the strike, reducing it to nothing but just a regr swing.

    ¡°My, that was quite a strike there! Well done! With you around, the security of this ce wouldn¡¯t be threatened. Continue the good work, Captain. Your leader should increase your sry.¡±

    The man¡¯s words sounded nice and genuine but to their ears, it¡¯s no different from humiliating and mocking words. He even patted the shoulder of the captain who¡¯s brain is still reeling in shock from what just happened.

    While they¡¯re still shocked, the man unceremoniously walked past them and went up to the next floor. The guards finally got over their initial shock and tried to pursue the man, sadly before they could do so, their path was blocked by something they cannot see.

    They tried forcing their way in, attacking the invisible barrier with everything they had but none of their attacks even left a scratch on it. At this point, they could only admit their failure.

    The God Emperor will really chew them out this time. But that maybe a story forter¡­

    When the man arrived to the next floor, the one where the God Emperor resided, he looked around in curiosity and admired the grandiose look of this ce.

    Then his eyes peeled away from scene and focus on the pair of eyes looking at him at the other side of the room.

    The God Emperor and the stranger met gazes and had a brief staring contest. It didn¡¯tst though since the God Emperor felt a sharp sting on his mind which fouled his mood even further.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bad etiquette to forcefully impose your influence over a guest¡¯s mind the moment you saw each other. But since this is your first offence, I¡¯ll only let you suffer that much. Try it again and I might just devourrge chunks of your memories. You wouldn¡¯t want that, would you?¡±

    The God Emperor¡¯s nostril red in annoyance. He red at his unknown guest, slight baffled by the audacity of this man but he reigned in his impulses and asked:

    ¡°State your name and purpose foring here, Human. I don¡¯t recall giving you an invitation.¡±

    ¡°My purpose? Hmm¡­nothing much really.¡± The man stated in a rather amused tone. ¡°I just thought that this ce looked rather nice so I decided to pay it a visit. You don¡¯t mind do you?¡±

    ¡°I do mind, actually.¡± The God Emperor snorted, ¡°I usually let lesser creatures step foot into my yard.¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡± The man looked visibly offended and quite sad by that, but then he suddenly smiled and said: ¡°Too bad I don¡¯t care.¡±

    And just like that, the man proceeded to ignore the God Emperor¡¯s presence around the room and decided to look around, still admiring the aesthetics of this ce.

    The God Emperor felt rather refreshed actually. He unknowingly started to recall; when was thest time there was someone showed this much audacity in front of him. Even going as far as ignoring his presence, treating like nothing but air or a background noise.

    It¡¯s quite hrious actually since it has truly been a while, and out of all creatures that would dare to do this to him, it had to be a puny humans. This can¡¯t get any funnier than this.

    Unfortunately¡­he¡¯s not amused.

    ¡°Human!¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡± The man replied without looking at him. Causing the God Emperor to pop a vein in his head.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being disrespectful but purposefully ignoring me? Do you want to die?¡±

    The man stared at the God Emperor, looking at him like he¡¯s some kind of an idiot or something:

    ¡°What? You¡¯re expecting me to kneel down in front of you and kiss your feet? Sing you flowery poems of ttery when you and your kind are literally scouring every corner of this are to search for my home so that you can eradicate us and take our luck to fulfill your own selfish needs?¡±

    ¡°Are you pretending to be stupid or you¡¯re straight up fucked in head? Which one is it?¡±

    The God Emperor¡¯s face turned wretched when he heard those words. Again, it¡¯s been a while since someone dared to criticize him this much, and human of all things, did it!

    His patience truly couldn¡¯t endure this anymore. So he decided that it¡¯s time to deal with this pest once and for all.

    The God Emperor snorted and waved his hand.

    This simple gesture caused a disastrous effect though. The space twisted and time turned chaotic. The void suddenly thrummed with power and attempted to swallow the man whole.

    Absolute Control over the Void. This is one of the abilities that the God Emperor has. Whenever he used this, things tend to end rather quickly but not this time around.

    ¡°Ai, such a rude host!¡± The man sounded annoyed. He then waved his hand and to the God Emperor¡¯s absolute shock, the void suddenly dissipated like a cloud of smoke.

    ¡°Seriously, do you now know basic decency as a Host? I¡¯m a guest here you know? I deserve respect!¡±

    The God Emperor wasn¡¯t even able to refute that since he still couldn¡¯t get over the fact that his ability was nullified just like that.

    Unparalleled anger and trepidation filled the God Emperor¡¯s chest. Now, he¡¯s starting to realize his own stupidity. He might be arrogant down to thest bone but he¡¯s not stupid.

    If this human, a creature that he deemed unworthy and weak, could nullify his attack with little to no effort, this means that this guy is so much more than he¡¯s letting on.

    In his wrath, the God Emperor hesitate to use his full strength for his next attack ¨C which is, by the way, enough to cause the whole tower they¡¯re on to shake so much.

    But beneath the smoke and rubble caused by his full-powered strike, the God Emperor heard the regretful voice of this damned human.

    ¡°Aww¡­you ruined the pretty room. You¡¯re such a bad person.¡±

 Chapter 919: Diplomatic Approach?

    Chapter 919: Diplomatic Approach?

    ¡°Who¡­are you?¡±

    The God Emperor¡¯s frazzled. He didn¡¯t expect to meet someone who could just render his attacks useless as if they were air.

    The man stood there, still prim and uninjured. He stood tall only a little bit annoyed and somewhat upset about what happened to the room.

    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat such small stuff. Who I am isn¡¯t really important¡­at least not to you anyway. You were supposed to look down on me and my kind after all.¡± He replied in a non-chnt attitude as if he wasn¡¯t even remotely bothered by that.

    This human is a strange one indeed. The God Emperor hadn¡¯t met someone like him before¡­well, he had but most of them practically bent down on one knee once he raised his fists. This one on the other hand, could disregard that as well and this experience is truly refreshing to the old god.

    The human walked forward. Unceremoniously disrespecting the God Emperor¡¯s status and treating him like he¡¯s just another person around the room ¨C something the God Emperor hasn¡¯t experienced in a while.

    He then pulled out a chair out of nowhere and a table. Setting it up in front of the God Emperor¡¯s throne.

    Next he brought out some sort of a vessel which he ced under a fire source, then a few small cups on top of a small tter. Silence reigned between the two of them for a while as the God Emperor closely observed what this human was plotting.

    After a couple of minutes, a fragrant aroma spreads out of the rooming from the vessel, the human lifted it and poured it¡¯s contents on the small cups and asked:

    ¡°Would like some tea?¡± He said while lifting a hot cup of the beverage.

    The God Emperor didn¡¯t say anything, he just stared intently at the human, trying to figure out what he¡¯s trying to do here but he did pour out tea for the emperor anyway.

    The God Emperor watched as the human drank his beverage and looked rx. For someone who¡¯s deep within enemy territory, he sure is taking his leisurely time like this. It¡¯s as if he¡¯s just wandering on his backyard or something.

    ¡°What is it that you¡¯re trying to aplish here, Human?¡± The God Emperor asked. His tone demanded answers.

    ¡°Raven.¡± He said.

    The God Emperor raised a brow.

    ¡°Call me, Raven.¡±

    ¡°Very well, then. Raven, what are you trying to achieve bying here? I¡¯d advise against lying since I hate liars. Don¡¯t even try because I will know.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Augustus¡­¡± Raven chuckled as he took another sip of his tea. ¡°Was it really not obvious?¡±

    The God Emperor¡¯s eyes widened upon hearing this human utter his name just like that.

    ¡°How did you know my name? I don¡¯t remember telling you that.¡± He asked.

    ¡°I have my ways.¡± Raven replied with a smile, which then turned awkward upon saying: ¡°And by ways I mean I asked around when I came here but still¡­It¡¯s a way, isn¡¯t it? You know, what? Never mind.¡±

    ¡°Lies!¡± The God Emperor looked furious. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for them to tell you about that! I haven¡¯t even used that name for about an eon at this point. Nobody remembers it! Tell me or suffer otherwise!¡±

    ¡°Well¡­you tell me then! How am I supposed to know your name if your people didn¡¯t tell me? If I said that I just randomly guessed it, would you believe me?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± The God Emperor was speechless since he couldn¡¯t refute that logic.

    Of course this is lie. As if the Abyssals would just tell a stranger about something this important. Hell! The God Emperor was spot on, nobody remembers his actual name since it¡¯s been so long since thest time he associated himself with that name¡­

    Well, he couldn¡¯t possibly tell the God Emperor that this isn¡¯t their first time shing head-on now, could he?

    In truth, the God Emperor didn¡¯t actually have anyway of telling whether Raven was lying or not. He did have that ability but sadly, it only works om his people. Raven¡¯s a human therefore this ability is useless against him. Even if it was, Raven had plenty of ways to nullify this ability so he didn¡¯t need to worry about it.

    ¡°I believe we¡¯ve strayed quite far from our topic.¡± Raven calmly said despite the God Emperor¡¯s fuming face. ¡°What was your question again?¡±

    The God Emperor¡¯s lips twitched in annoyance. This human was really pushing his temper to its limits. From the moment he entered, everything he did infuriated the old god.

    If this was his goal all along, then even God Emperor had to concede since it¡¯s working beautifully.

    ¡°What are you trying to achieve bying here?¡± The God Emperor asked for the third andst time. Inwardly, he swore that if this human asked him to repeat himself, he¡¯d fight it out with him.

    ¡°Ah, that!¡± Raven¡¯s expression cleared up. He then cleared his throat and said: ¡°Well¡­hear me out yeah?¡±

    ¡°How about¡­you and your big-ass mobile home¡­you know? Leave, I guess?¡± He asked in probing manner. ¡°Cause like, it¡¯s seriously annoying, Dude.¡±

    ¡°Look, we both know you and your kind are not from around this area and that¡¯s cool and all but like¡­you¡¯re not supposed to he here you know? So like, it would be so cool if you guys uhm¡­you know, pack up your bags and like, leave? That would be so great. We¡¯d really appreciate that. We can even give you some souvenirs if you¡¯d like. How does that sound?¡±

    Raven looked expectantly at the God Emperor ¨C who looked absolutely aghast at this point.

    Really this is¡­Augustus can¡¯t even articte what he¡¯s feeling right now. The audacity of this human to just ask him¡­that is just¡­

    The absurdity of it all was hrious, so much so that the Augustus found himselfughing out loud but not from glee, out of anger. He found this human¡¯s behavior so infuriatingly audacious that it¡¯s hrious for him to even consider treating him seriously.

    The human¡¯s right¡­the God Emperor should¡¯ve known why he came here.

    ¡°I have given you courtesy, enough.¡± The God Emperor¡¯s voice turned ghastly frigid. He calmly stood up from his throne and looked at Raven as if he¡¯s a dead man.

    ¡°I admire your foolish bravery, Human.¡± He said, ¡°And in some ways, I also apud your stupidity bying here all by your lonesome. It must¡¯ve been hard-¡°

    ¡°No, not really. I just walked-in. It¡¯s not that difficult.¡± Raven interrupted as he calmly took another sip of his tea. ¡°Right, I¡¯m sorry. Go on.¡±

    ¡°No. There¡¯s no need to go on.¡± The God Emperor shook his head. ¡°It is time for you to meet your maker.¡±

    As he said that, the God Emperor erupted with his full strength.

    The whole tower shook and was on the verge of copsing due to the sheer density of his power. Just from a single nce, it¡¯s obvious that the God Emperor was determined to see Raven die and he¡¯s not holding back even a single ounce of his power. He¡¯s using it all.

    The whole tower lit-up, its brilliance could be seen all around Paradise, rming everybody of what¡¯s going-on.

    ¡°Well, nobody should me me for not trying out the diplomatic approach at least, it clearly failed.¡± Raven murmured but the God Emperor heard it.

    ¡°You call that a diplomatic approach?¡± He sneered, ¡°Exactly as I expected from a lesser creature. I guess I overestimate you. Now die!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The God Emperor brought down his hand toy down his punishment.

    There was a bright sh of light, the void screamed and everything turned static and chaotic. The tower creaked under all the pressure behind the God Emperor¡¯s attack and Paradise shook down to its very core.

    ¡­only, none of that actually happened.

    ¡°¡­what!?¡± The God Emperor was baffled.

    He looked dumbly at his surroundings only to see that everything is still intact¡­including the human that was supposed to die.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Raven gave him a mocking smile. ¡°Did I step on your moment?¡±

    ¡°What have you done!!?¡±

    Raven chuckled and said: ¡°I gotta say, I really like the whole vibe of this ce you know? Everything¡¯s organized and shit. It¡¯s awesome. I think we, humans, could seriously learn from how you guys arrange your arrange the things around here.¡±

    ¡°What did you do!?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much.¡± Raven shrugged, ¡°I just visited some ces here and there. Though I have to say, that thing deep below this tower? It¡¯s one a kind, I tell you that. How did you guys even build that thing? It¡¯s really marvelous!¡±

    ¡°Although¡­you guys suck at aesthetics. There are ces that looked really dull you know? So, I made it my mission to spaz-out the ce! Look!¡±

    Raven waved his hand and all of a sudden, all sorts of runes, arrays and formations with intersecting gold and silver lines bloomed all over paradise.

    The seals epassed everything, they looked mysterious and each carried deep profundity in them, something that the God Emperor had never seen before?

    ¡°Now, everything looks prettier this way. And shinier too! What do you think?¡±

    ¡°I WILL KILL YOU!!¡±

 Chapter 920: Ravens Domain

    Chapter 920: Raven¡¯s Domain

    The Forbidden Ultima Core¡­

    If there¡¯s something that the God Emperor valued a lot, even more than his own people, there¡¯s no doubt that it would be this.

    Simply put, this core is the key to everything. It was the reason behind their rise and their evolution. It is the very source of their strength and it is the very thing that kept them going.

    Augustus ced so much importance on the Forbidden Ultima Core that made an edict that aside from him, nobody¡¯s allowed to enter the room where it was nor even think about using it. This obviously includes the people who built the damn thing in the first ce.

    It had to be known that the God Emperor had no inputs on the creation of this thing. He didn¡¯t help nor even bothered. He hadn¡¯t spared a single idea to contribute for it¡¯s creation nor developments but he had the audacity to im the thing as his.

    That¡¯s just how he is, after all. For the sake of his own goals, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to step on the bodies of his own race.

    The Forbidden Ultima Core¡¯s existence yed a big role on all the developments that happened to Paradise, hell it¡¯s the very same thing that allowed them to warp to any location they know of. The freedom and power it gives the Abyssal Race is enormous, coincidentally, since the God Emperor shamelessly imed it for himself, he¡¯s the one who benefitted the most.

    The core¡¯s located at the very foundations of this tower where the God Emperor¡¯s throne is. It is heavily guarded and not even a shadow could enter the room unless they are courting death. Going close to it is risky on its own since the ce is filled with all sorts of deadly traps.

    When the God Emperor attacked Raven just now, he drew at least 5% of the core¡¯s power. Do not underestimate this percentage, the core holds so much power that it could supply entire paradise for hundreds of thousands of years. Drawing 5% of that supply is already considered waste to deal with a single enemy¡­which is why Augustus¡¯ shock was understandable considering that he felt the core drained in power yet the attack turned out to be a dud.

    And now¡­he has to deal with the information that somehow, this human managed to infiltrate his base so deep that he had tampered on his most prized possession, all without him noticing it.

    Coupled with the fact that now, every inch of his tower is covered inplex lines, which he doesn¡¯t understand at all, and it was all done right under his nose without him being the wiser. The God Emperor¡¯s outburst surely is within expectations.

    ¡°Come on, there¡¯s no need to be this upset. Doesn¡¯t it look prettier? I actually think it¡¯s better this way.¡± Raven stated ever so casually,pletely unbothered by the God Emperor¡¯s raging fury.

    ¡°DAMN YOU!!!¡±

    Augustus could no longer reign in his fury. He dropped all pretenses and used up as much power as he could in his attempts of killing Raven.

    Raven didn¡¯t dodge. He just smiled and waited for the God Emperor toe to him.

    Their initial sh was explosive. The tower creaked dangerously behind the weight of their blows. Fist against fist, kick against kick, the two of the turned into mere blurs with how fast they shed.

    As the fight went on, the God Emperor¡¯s horror grew.

    Weren¡¯t humans supposed to be a puny race? Weren¡¯t they supposed to be weak, pathetic and fragile?

    Then how can somebody exin this? How can this human match him blow per blow without even looking remotely concerned nor hurt? In fact, how is it possible that this Human was able to push him back through sheer technique and finesse?

    Augustus knows that he had more raw powerpared to the human but why can¡¯t he hurt him? On the other hand, how can this human know where to strike his body where it hurts? Weren¡¯t humans supposed to be stupid?

    Upset by not being able to hurt his foe, the God Emperor employer the use of his Godly Abilities. He used the power of the Void, Rot, Decay, Sin, Withering¡­all sorts of abilities he plundered from his fallen foe which he absorbed were used without holding back.

    Yet for some unknown reason, none of his abilities evene close to touching the hem of this human¡¯s clothes.

    Nobody can exin the confusion and anger he felt when he saw the Human standing there still, looking just as fresh as the moment he entered this ce.

    How can this be?

    ¡°So? What¡¯s next?¡± Raven asked in a bored tone. ¡°Now that everything you threw at me was renderedpletely useless, what¡¯s your next move going to be?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait! No! Let me guess.¡± Raven ced a thoughtful expression and then said: ¡°Oh right! The core right? It¡¯s about time for you to siphon more energy from the core to deal with me!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Go on, then! Use as much as you want. Come on.¡± Raven taunted.

    And for a brief moment there, the God Emperor was so consumed by his anger and the humiliation he felt that he actually considered doing just that. He nned on draining all the remaining power of the core to release a single attack that will surely decimate this pesky human in front of him.

    s, a brief sh of rationality returned to him which caused him to calm down.

    He realized that he was being lead-on by the nose and if he really did as the human said, there¡¯s a huge chance that he will regret his actions greatly.

    The God Emperor forced himself to calm down and be intelligent about this. At this point, all kind of prejudice he held against humans thoroughly disappeared. With him experiencing the ferocity and strength of a single human, he realizes that he alreadymitted himself to a great disadvantage.

    If he doesn¡¯t wise-up, this war will be over before it even starts.

    Augustus summoned a Talisman to his hand. He drew an edict to it and teared into pieces.

    Fluctuations propagated from the tower and reached all Abyssals around. Seconds after this, the whole of Paradise began entering war preparations.

    ¡°¡­tch. You¡¯ve caught on. This is no fun anymore. You¡¯re no longer stupid.¡±

    The God Emperor had to fight the urge to not jump at Raven because of thatment. Seeing as how the human reacted, the God Emperor realized that he made the right move.

    ¡°But that¡¯s sad though¡­¡± Raven stated with a sneer on his face. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re a few steps behind.¡±

    Raven waved his hand and all of a sudden, the runes, arrays and formations surrounding them converged into a ball, trapping both of them inside.

    Augustus tried to resist it but he powerless to stop it from trapping him. He could only relent and brew in his simmering rage.

    ¡°You know, my Domain is much bigger than this.¡± Raven stated as he magically summoned his cup of tea to take a short sip of it. ¡°If I stretch it out, it is possible for me to ovep it with the entire Paradise. But I guess this will do for now.¡±

    ¡°Typically, when we, humans, use our domains and fight within it, we¡¯re usually stronger than our foes. That¡¯s unless our foe release their domain as well. But you see¡­my domain works a bit different from theirs.¡±

    ¡°If others feel stronger inside their domain, I on the other hand, turned invincible while I¡¯m in it.¡±

    The God Emperor shivered upon the implications of those words. Raven doesn¡¯t appear to be lying either.

    ¡°Of course, it has its downsides. Nobody can have everything. Invincibilityes with a steep price.¡± Raven kept his tea cup away and stared at the God Emperor. ¡°My domain isposed out of sets of runes, arrays and formations. So long as one understands how they function, they can potentially solve the mystery behind it.¡±

    ¡°If that happens, my Invincibility will be gone and I¡¯ll suffer from a terrible bacsh. I¡¯ll be weakened greatly and it would be very easy to kill me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re probably wondering why I¡¯m telling you all of this, right?¡± Raven raised a brow in amusement. ¡°Well, it¡¯s simple really. You see, so far, nobody managed to solve this puzzle of mine and it¡¯s quite a shame really. Therefore, I am giving you a chance to do so! Isn¡¯t that great?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re trapped in here whether you like it or not. Brute force will never work on this, neither from the outside nor inside. It¡¯spletely imprable unless you take your time to solve it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Also, don¡¯t think that you can call out for help here. That edict you released earlier was thest message your people will hear from you. If you want to see them again, you¡¯ll have to get out of this ce first.¡±

    Raven chuckled coldly when he saw the grim expression on the God Emperor¡¯s face upon the realization that he had been duped again.

    ¡°I gave you a chance to retreat earlier but you didn¡¯t take it.¡± Raven shook his head, he stood up and turned ethereal.

    But before he disappeared, he told the God Emperor this:

    ¡°You and your kind should¡¯ve stayed where you were.¡±

 Chapter 921: It begins...(Announcement at the Bottom)

    Chapter 921: It begins¡­(Announcement at the Bottom)

    ¡°Their leader¡¯s trapped and unable tomunicate with them. You can begin however you like. I¡¯ll leave the troops management to you guys.¡±

    This is what Luna and the rest of the Dawn Council members heard in their heads on one of they days where they were monitoring the movements of the Abyssals.

    As expected, they were in an uproar. It didn¡¯t take them long before they realized that Raven went ahead of them and already made his own move. He already suppressed the Leader of the Abyssals which will seriously affect their operation on conquering Divine Realm.

    They were of course, worried about Raven. He did went off on his own and didn¡¯t even bother telling them about this beforehand. That was seriously risky since there is a fair chance that he could¡¯ve failed his solo mission and that will cost them everything.

    None of them even know if he was sessful on his Breakthrough. But if one would ask them about it, they¡¯d probably say that Raven didn¡¯t have enough time to do so.

    They didn¡¯t feel any disturbances on the Throne Room which usually happens when Raven breaks through in strength.

    Also, they do know that Raven found himself a bit weakerpared to the Abyssal Emperor. He admitted it to them before. But, out of all people here, he has the highest chance of keeping him in-check so it could only be him who could confront him.

    After hearing this from Raven, they tried contacting him but he was unreachable. He didn¡¯t say anything after that either which made them think that he¡¯s really leaving the rest to them.

    It¡¯s probably taking him a lot to keep the Abyssal Emperor imprisoned, which also meant that they have no time to lose.

    They have to start this war and they have to win.

    Just like that, the spark of the Realm War ignited and every cog moved.

    Luna took the helm of the operations and summoned the Divine Knights to the Dawn Council.

    The summons were of high priority so the Divine Knights appeared through their special means to answer as soon as possible.

    Once they arrived, they immediately felt the heat of war in the Dawn Council as well as the somber atmosphere. Something must¡¯ve happened and that should be why they were called here.

    ¡°We just received new developments that we would like to share with everybody here.¡± Luna stated, starting the meeting as soon as everybody appeared.

    ¡°My husband contacted us.¡± She continued: ¡°At first we thought he¡¯s emerging from his seclusion to take over the operation but it seems that he has other ideas.¡±

    ¡°Unbeknownst to us, he infiltrated the enemy territory alone and confront the Abyssal Emperor by himself, trapping him and cutting his connection to his subordinates.¡±

    The Divine Knights were shocked. Their expressions differed from one another upon realizing what happened. Some were awed, some were worried, some were mildly concerned, some were impressed and some were neutral.

    ¡°We tried establishing a connection with him but it¡¯s not working. We guessed that it¡¯s probably taking him a lot of effort to keep their leader in check and he needs to focus on it to make sure that he doesn¡¯t get out.¡± Luna concluded her words there for now.

    ¡°Holy Maiden, did the Young Lord seeded in his breakthrough?¡± One of the Divine Knights stepped forward and asked.

    ¡°I¡¯d be honest with you. We have no clue if he did.¡± Luna shook her head. She also understood the reason behind the dismayed expressions of the people around her.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t feel any reactions nor signs of any breakthrough. In addition to that, he left before we could ask. So we can¡¯t really tell.¡±

    Although Luna didn¡¯t confirm nor denied the failure of Raven¡¯s breakthrough, most of the people here understood what she¡¯s trying to imply.

    ¡®Don¡¯t expect much.¡¯ That¡¯s basically the idea. Everyone knew how hard it is to truly search for that fabled realm. Everyone knows how many tried and how nobody managed to seed.

    It¡¯s just really difficult to establish a road that will reach that stage. In addition to that, Raven didn¡¯t have much time. He¡¯s young and already carried so much responsibilities. He did his best and it would totally be understandable if he didn¡¯t make it. There¡¯s no shame on denying that really but admitting that right now would hurt the morale of everyone so it¡¯s best if this stays a secret for now.

    ¡°He gave us the go signal to go to war so I ask this of you¡­are you all ready to follow?¡± Luna ask with a serious expression.

    The Divine Knights didn¡¯t speak since it¡¯s useless. They just nodded and geared their mentality to engage in a full-scale war.

    They¡¯ve been preparing for a long time now. Everything they did back then was all for this. To ensure the safety of their home and to protect it,

    ¡°Good! Now, I announce that Divine Realm will officially enter a Warring State! All troops shall report within the Dawn Council¡¯s headquarters as early as tomorrow morning.¡±

    ¡°I will take over the positions as the United Forces¡¯ Supreme Commander, right until my Husband returns. I shall expect obedience from now on to ensure that our operations runs smoothly along with our ns.¡±

    ¡°We will be going over our ns and routes to ensure the destruction of the invaders and the protection of our home. They will pay for their hubris.¡±

    ¡°Now! Go! I expect your presence here as soon as possible.¡±

    As Luna said this, the Divine Knights immediately dispersed and returned to their respective homes, gathering their soldiers to gear-up for the Realm War.

    ¡°Laughing Dragon, I ce you as the head of the Logistics Division. You will collect all necessary intel for tomorrow¡¯s meeting and show-us the optimal paths for our soldiers to take.¡±

    ¡°Paul, Mark, Anne, Ellen, you will all be named as toon Leaders. You will be leading them to the frontlines to ensure our Victory. I¡¯d also pick more toon Leaders from other Divine Knights to make sure that our forces will remain flexible.¡±

    ¡°Go make your own preparations. The Treasury is open for you all to use. We won¡¯t hold back in this battle.¡±

    Following her words, the rest of her close friends also disappeared to make their own preparations, leaving Luna behind to simmer in her own thoughts.

    While she did willingly ce this heavy burden on her shoulders, as expected it is quite heavy. She can already feel the stressing and it hasn¡¯t even been a day since she began.

    She sat down on her chair and sighed, whispering to herself: ¡°The burden you always carried with confidence and unshakeable gait truly is so heavy. How did you even carry it by yourself all this time?¡±

    Of course she was referring to her husband here. Again, she was reminded of how important Raven¡¯s presence was not only to her and Vanessa but for the entirety of the Divine Realm.

    ¡°You could¡¯ve at least told me something before you left.¡± Luna pursed her lips as she felt a bit frustrated by Raven¡¯s decisions, yet in the end of the day, she¡¯s unable to put all the me to him.

    Did he breakthrough or not? This is the question she wanted to ask him, yet she can¡¯t since he left before they even knew. She¡¯s trying to reach out to him but he¡¯s not responding.

    However, Luna¡¯s confident that Raven¡¯ alive and well. The sigil representing their marriage is still intact and unblemished. If something happened to him, the sigil will disy it to her and she¡¯ll know.

    It seems that she would really have to do this in his ce for now. This will be tough and hard for her but she must persevere.

    There¡¯s way too many things relying on every move she will make from now on. She has to be careful. If she wants to ensure the highest chance of victory and safety, she had to be as paranoid as her husband.

    Being confident might spell a disaster for them. Victory isn¡¯t achieved unless the enemy¡¯spletely wiped out and all of their chances are lost. Nobody shall be spared for this to never happen again.

    Luna has to close her heart forpassion and assume the real spirit of amander. This isn¡¯t her first time doing this but this is thergest battle she will ever lead.

    The Holy Valkyrie shall watch over everyone from above once more, it seems.

    ¡°Mom¡­?¡±

    Luna was momentarily shook out of her reverie when she heard Vanessa¡¯s voice. She didn¡¯t even notice her presence until she called out to her.

    ¡°Yes, Sweetheart? Sorry, I didn¡¯t notice you right away. I was immersed on something. What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°¡­is it true?¡± She tentatively asked, ¡°War¡¯s going to start?¡±

    Luna took a deep breath and looked at her daughter front and center.

    ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded, ¡°Your Dad already started it.¡±

    Vanessa¡¯s expression turned serious and her posture turned tense.

    ¡°Mom, don¡¯t pull me out on this.¡± She dered, looking at Luna straight in the eyes.

    Luna¡¯s expression turned a bit unnatural but in the end, she knows her daughter won¡¯t back down from this. In the end, she bit her lips and nodded:

    ¡°Yes, Sweetheart. I won¡¯t.¡± Sheplied, ¡°Your Father will not be happy with this but he¡¯ll understand. However, I expect you to adhere to rules strictly. Do you understand?¡±

    ¡°Understood, Supreme Commander!¡±

    ¡°Good. Now go make your preparations.¡± Luna said, ¡°And please, make sure to pay attention to your safety.¡±

    [A/N: Hey! Hey! Before you leave, I have a request!!

    I have a new book! It¡¯s called: ¡®Idle Mage: Humanity¡¯s Strongest Backer!¡¯ This has been on the works for quite some time now and I entered it in this year¡¯s WSA.

    It should appear in my Profile or you can just search it on the New Novels Section.

    If you could check it out, please do! I¡¯d appreciate every support I can receive from you. I worked and will work very hard on that book, everything that I learned while writing this book will be applied on the new one. I hope I won¡¯t disappoint you.

    As usual, thanks for your continued support! Way of the Knights is close to ending and it has been a wild ride. Thank you so, so much!

    ¨C Hateful_Fellow]

 Chapter 922: Grimms Nightmare

    Chapter 922: Grimm¡¯s Nightmare

    General Grimm never this kind of stress in his entire life ever.

    It has been a month since thest time he had seen Skroll who¡¯s supposed to help him track the mysterious beings harassing their troops, he doesn¡¯t even know if he¡¯s alive still since he didn¡¯t really found his corpse either.

    Two weeks ago, the God Emperor announced through an edict that they are officially gearing up for war, which was to be expected but the thing that caught him and the others off-guard is the fact that they haven¡¯t heard anything from the God Emperor ever since.

    Grimm tried to have an audience with the God Emperor but he was only greeted by anxious soldiers who were doing their best reach the God Emperor as well.

    Apparently, there was in intruder who came and sealed the path towards the top of the tower where the God Emperor is.

    Judging from their descriptions, he discovered that the invader was a human, which blew Grimm¡¯s mind away since he didn¡¯t expect that.

    He couldn¡¯t understand how a puny human managed to infiltrate this deep to their base and even managed to cut off their connections with the God Emperor.

    Just like the anxious soldiers, Grimm also wanted to know what happened to the God Emperor but he couldn¡¯t break the seal. He was powerless against it.

    In his desperation, he tried searching for Finn. He thought that since Finn was previously a human, he should be able to understand how to undo the seal. He¡¯d ask Skroll but he¡¯s missing and he hadn¡¯t heard anything from him ever since.

    Sadly, even afterbing through every single corner of Paradise, Finn was nowhere to be found. They¡¯ve caught all the criminals who escaped the Abyss Prison, all but Finn.

    Grimm was still trying to search for him but now, he had other matters to attend to.

    With Skroll and the God Emperor missing in action, Grimm automatically became in-charge of the uing war. Unless the God Emperor himself gave the order for them to stop this war, they will continue it and Grimm has to manage it while they¡¯re not around.

    Sufficed to say, Grimm ispletely unprepared for this.

    Although he had expected that there will be war, he didn¡¯t know that he¡¯ll be the one leading it. He¡¯s used to receiving orders from the God Emperor, being pointed at which way to go and who or what to kill.

    He couldn¡¯t escape this responsibility either since that¡¯d be considered as treason.

    Because of this, Grimm felt a heavy burden weighing down on his shoulders. He remained anxious to the point of always biting his nails. For now he concentrated on bolstering their defenses since he didn¡¯t want anyone encroaching on their home again.

    If he got eliminated or even isted as well, their Race will be akin to a headless chicken. He had to be really careful here.

    For now, the situation is more or less fine. It certainly could¡¯ve been better but this has to do it for now. Grimm had no doubts that this won¡¯t continue for long though.

    Usually, whenever their race invades and eliminates potential enemies, the God Emperor will personally oversee the operations. He¡¯d be at the helm of it all and will raise the morale of the troops with his unparalleled glory and strength, usually Skroll and Grimm would be at his side, waiting for orders but now, he had to do it alone.

    Before long, his men will start questioning him. What¡¯s he supposed to say? If he revealed the fact that the God Emperor was ambushed by a Human, wouldn¡¯t that greatly affect the morale of their troops?

    Can he even rise to the asion and seed in this? He isn¡¯t as charismatic as the God Emperor and most certainly not as strong as him¡­him being the leader of this operation might not work but his hands are tied.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Grimm was shocked out of his stupor. He immediately flew out of his office to check what¡¯s going on. There, he saw one of his men running towards him with a panicked face.

    ¡°General! It¡¯s bad! We need you!¡±

    ¡°Why? What¡¯s going on? What are those explosions about?¡±

    ¡°Invaders came, General!¡± The soldier reported with a desperate expression on his face. ¡°W-we didn¡¯t know how, our sensors never detected their ship until it materialized right above us.¡±

    ¡°We then received heavy fire. They were swift and wiped out half of us in a blink of an eye. They also blew up the transmitter towers on the edge of the map!¡±

    General Grimm¡¯s face became unsightly upon hearing that. He didn¡¯t utter a word of reply, instead he summoned his ride and immediately flew towards the center of the explosions.

    On the way there, he could see the burning remains of the Transmitter Towers which caused his face to be twisted.

    The Transmitter Towers are very important for the protection of Paradise. These towers siphon some energy from the Forbidden Ultima Core to extend the protective barrier of Paradise and usually, these towers are located at a high density area.

    What really caught Grimm off-guard was the state of thend and people who were caught up in these explosions.

    A trail of crimson smoke was left in the vicinity and the mere sight of that caused Grimm¡¯s skin to crawl. He could feel that, that seemingly harmless smoke, is in fact extremely dangerous.

    He then smelled the strong stench of death and decay around the area. Looking closely, there are were rotting bodies everywhere and what¡¯s even more horrifying is the fact that most of the rotting people are still alive.

    They were crying out for help, wing at their throats for air and trying to get away from this ce but their rotting bodies never turned better if anything, it only got progressively worse until they exploded into pools of blood.

    Out of nowhere, Grimm suddenly felt a strong killing intent locking-on to him. He managed to recover quick enough to notice a projectile barely missing his ship.

    Grimm sweated coldly but it didn¡¯t end there. After the projectile, crimson lightning began raining down from above him, forcing him to unfavorable situations.

    His surroundings turned dark and shes of crimson filled his vision. He maneuvered his vehicle to avoid the lightning strikes and he managed to dodge most of them but not all.

    A lightning barely missed him but didn¡¯t spare his vehicle, causing it to be destroyed and for him to suddenly start plummeting down.

    Grimm braced himself for the impact and was uninjured for the most part.

    He sat up and oriented himself to his surroundings, trying to see where hended to find out the optimal route to solve this issue. However, his surroundings turned really dark, cold and depressing. It chilled him to the bone.

    At the corner of his eye, he saw a faint blur of a shadow moving around him.

    Grimm was rmed, he immediately took out his weapon and an heavy armor wrapped around his body. He scanned his surroundings carefully with all of his senses, trying to see where this blur is because he¡¯s certain that he¡¯s not just seeing things.

    To his surprise though, he found out that for some reasons, his senses are suppressed. With his strength, it shouldn¡¯t be hard for him to see everything around this area down to thest marble block but right now, he could only sense a kilometer in front of him and that¡¯s it.

    This certainly added dread to his heart and caused him to tense up even more.

    ¡°Sixty seconds¡­¡±

    Grimm¡¯s soul nearly leapt out of his body but his instincts kicked in. He shed his sword behind him, he felt some resistance but he didn¡¯t fight it, instead he used that chance to gain some distance away from whoever was behind him.

    ¡°Who!?¡± He demanded.

    Unfortunately, Grimm failed to see anything. He didn¡¯t even heard a sound.

    The next moment, however, will probably be something that will haunt him fro the rest of his life.

    A hand grabbed him from behind, covering his mouth. Then, he felt a sharp steel aimed at his throat. Grimm¡¯s eyes dted. Primal fear took root on his heart which caused him to freeze up, not moving even an inch from his position.

    ¡°I was standing behind you for a whole minute.¡± The voice behind him sounds like a man and his tone was filled with such a thick killing intent that Grimm felt incredibly suffocated.

    ¡°I could perform one stab every second, which meant that you died sixty times already¡­¡±

    ¡°For someone who pride yourself as a General, that¡¯s a bit embarrassing isn¡¯t it? I wonder how you¡¯re able to sleep at night knowing how ipetent you are.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t say that I can rte¡­¡±

    General Grimm can¡¯t even refute that, he¡¯s crippled with fear at this very moment that all he could do was breathe heavily and try to find ways to escape this predicament.

    ¡°You are one lucky man, though.¡±

    ¡°Your death isn¡¯t scheduled today.¡±

    ¡°But make no mistake, General Grimm.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve picked the wrong people to mess with.¡±

    ¡°Celebrate, cry, or pray. Do whatever it takes and cherish your remaining days alive.¡±

    ¡°One day¡­my de will find its way to your heart.¡±

    ¡°And just like the rotting people that you¡¯ve seen¡­¡±

    ¡°You will suffer the same as them.¡±

    ¡°Until then¡­live in fear¡­¡±

    After that, the voice disappeared and the darkness retreated.

    But for General Grimm¡­they never went away.

 Chapter 923: Betrayal

    Chapter 923: Betrayal

    That first sudden assault wasn¡¯t the end of it, that¡¯s for sure. If anything, that¡¯s just the start of it all.

    Grimm can¡¯t remember how he managed to return back to his office. He¡¯s so consumed by lingering fear that part of his rationality was permanently crippled.

    Still, he no longer cared about the state of the God Emperor after incident. How can he when his own life¡¯s at stake?

    His near-death event served as a wake-up call for him. He was reminded that, though he¡¯s strong, he isn¡¯t infallible. He narrowly escaped death this time around and there will certainly be no next time for this.

    Due to that, Grimm couldn¡¯t care less about other matters. He just did what¡¯s important, and that is to preserve his life.

    He called forth the council and admitted the secret he¡¯s been holding. He informed them about what happened to the God Emperor and also who¡¯s behind the invasion.

    Grimm could no longer underestimate Humans, they managed to strike unnoticed twice and did a considerable amount of damage to them before they even knew it.

    The war had just started yet they already suffered a loss. This isn¡¯t good at all.

    Grimm took the lead still, he wouldn¡¯t if he could help it but there¡¯s no one around who can do it so it could only be him.

    He didn¡¯t really care what the oue of this war would be. At this point, he¡¯s way past that.

    Overwhelming fear kept him up and made him unable to think wisely. He couldn¡¯t care less of their race ends by the ends of this war. Who wins and who loses, he didn¡¯t care about any of that.

    He just wants to live. And he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do everything in his power to make that happen.

    Even if it means defying the God Emperor¡¯s Edict.

    The terror of death awakened something that he had disregarded for too long now.

    Ever since he began his service to the God Emperor, Grimm never had a chance to live his own life.

    Before this all started, Grimm had simple dreams. He just wanted to live in peace and serenity, he wants a family he can take care of; a partner to hold and a child to y with, that¡¯s all. But since he began working as the right hand man of the God Emperor, he never got the chance to do that.

    The God Emperor promised him that so long as he stayed true to his purpose, he will grant anything he wished for. This was the reason why Grimm worked so hard to begin with but¡­it had been so long since that promise was made.

    How long was it exactly? Thousands of years? Maybe even more? Grimm can¡¯t really recall. What he do know is that, he had been working so hard that he forgot the source for his drive to begin with.

    The God Emperor kept him distracted for so long that it made him forgot about himself. And in doing that, Grimm became nothing more than a puppet to him.

    If his life wasn¡¯t threatened right now, who knows how long it would take Grimm before he realizes this? Would the God Emperor even let go of him after his death?

    This just made Grimm realize that everything he worked so hard for wasn¡¯t for his sake. It was for the God Emperor¡¯s only.

    He had been living for someone else all this time and he only recognize it when the threat of death neared him. He didn¡¯t realize that he had been so stupid all this time.

    But no more¡­

    No more of that¡­

    Grimm has had enough. What he¡¯s doing right now? This is thest time he¡¯d lift a finger for the God Emperor. After this, he¡¯d disappear. The God Emperor had been so unfair to him all this time, he couldn¡¯t even be bothered to give Grimm even the slightest bit of assurance that his efforts would be repaid in kind.

    As Grimm discussed their next course of action with the God Emperor¡¯s council, he¡¯s also preparing for his exit.

    Working as a General under the God Emperor for so long had given him ess to many things. And since everyone knows that he was a loyal subject of their God, nobody would dare to doubt him.

    Skroll would but that one¡¯s a wild card. He¡¯d either help him but not for free of course or ckmail him to make Grimm do whatever he wants. Thankfully, that person is missing right now and so far, nobody¡¯s searching for him.

    As for the subsequent attacks that will happen to their home, Grimm would still pay attention. Even though he hated his title, it still made him feel responsible. He doesn¡¯t know any kind of life that¡¯s no like this so this is natural. It¡¯d make things difficult for him once he quits but he can only worry about that once this is all over.

    If there¡¯s still Paradise after this, then hurray! If not, then good riddance. Grimm just couldn¡¯t look at it the same anymore.

    He still don¡¯t understand how Humans were this strong. He repeatedly thought about this over and over again.

    At first, he suspected that Finn fooled them but that¡¯s very unlikely, the man was so gullible that he believed everything they said, especially if Skroll was the one who said it.

    This meant that they severely made a mistake didn¡¯t they? What they know about humans was horribly too little and their actions are a little too reckless.

    Coupled with the God Emperor¡¯s impatience, they made their way towards their territory with arrogant faces¡­

    Faces that were then pped harshly when they repeatedly suffered from the attack of humans before the war even began.

    At this point, Grimm wouldn¡¯t be surprised if someone told him that the ones responsible for harassing their expedition team were Humans as well. It would make sense for them to do so since they are invading their territory.

    But still¡­how did the Humans knew they wereing? Why do they appear so prepared for their arrival? None of this made sense to Grimm. It couldn¡¯t possibly be Finn either since all of movements were closely monitored, he never had the chance to contact humanity all this time since both Grimm and Skroll were ready for that.

    So¡­how?

    ¡®¡­not important. I should focus on something else.¡¯

    ¡®I got to keep the council busy while I make some preparations. I have to make it out alive.¡¯

    ¡°¡­oh dear. You¡¯re an awful leader.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s so going to betray you, you know? I can see it in his eyes.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°What? It¡¯s obvious isn¡¯t it? Heck, we¡¯ve seen what his thought process is like.¡±

    ¡°Plus, you should¡¯ve seen thising. It was you who suppressed his dreams all this time. It was you who were the ungrateful one here. The poor guy worked so hard for your sake and you can even give him a break? Yeah, you¡¯re one awful leader.¡±

    ¡°Shut-up! Shut the fuck up!!!¡±

    Augustusshed out harshly, attacking Raven with all of his might fueled by his rage. His eyes turned crimson as the idea of Grimm¡¯s betrayal gued his mind.

    Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t matter how weak or strong his attacks were. Raven said is before, so long as this domain remains active, he¡¯s invincible.

    ¡°A pity, he¡¯s supposed to be your most loyal soldier. Unfortunately his leader is one hell of a dumbass, ah poor guy. He had so much potential too. A real shame that is.¡±

    The God Emperor truly couldn¡¯t take it. He had tried all different ways of escaping this ce yet none of it worked. It doesn¡¯t matter how or where he attacked it, the domain remained strong and stable, unbothered by whatever abuse he¡¯s trying to subject it too.

    The only method he hadn¡¯t try was the one Raven told him about. Studying it. Though he didn¡¯t really want to this since his pride will be trampled upon the realization of him following orders from who he deemed as a lesser creature. Yet everything he did is useless so it seems that this is the only option he has left.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you find his actions quite hrious though?¡± Raven chuckled as he continued to mock Augustus and his failure. ¡°He¡¯s trying so hard and very hopeful too. He actually thinks he has a chance of escaping. But we both know that he doesn¡¯t have a chance right?¡±

    God Emperor hated the fact that Raven¡¯s right.

    If not the Mark, the one who almost killed Grimm, it would whoever¡¯s left between the two of them. Raven wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill Grimm and neither would the God Emperor as well.

    Either way, Grimm¡¯s fate is sealed the moment this all started. The God Emperor just hate the fact that he¡¯s forced to watch this betrayal happening without being able to do anything about it.

    ¡°Oh well¡­this is quite entertaining actually and I get to see it unfold up close and personal. Isn¡¯t this fun? You¡¯re having fun too right?¡±

    Augustus hates him so much. He¡¯s never hated anyone this much in his entire life.

    ¡°Oh well, it doesn¡¯t matter whether you like it or not anyway. Unless you solve this, you won¡¯t be getting out so, yeah. I¡¯ll leave you to it~¡±

    Augustus really hates him so fucking much.

 Chapter 924: Next Operation: Target their Weakness

    Chapter 924: Next Operation: Target their Weakness

    ¡°Laughing Dragon, what do you got for me?¡±

    ¡°Reporting to Supreme Commander, the troops received their briefing and are expected to enact the n within two days.¡±

    ¡°The ports, are they ready?¡± Luna asked.

    ¡°Yes, Commander.¡± Laughing Dragon confirmed, ¡°We¡¯ve installed the ports at five spots within enemy territory. We¡¯ve run some checks and tried a couple of times and we deemed them ready to use. We are deploying our troops through the ports to give me ess deep into enemy territory so that they can deal the maximum amount of damage without the enemy being the wiser.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. But how¡¯s our casualties so far?¡±

    ¡°Minimal in terms of human resources, Commander.¡± Laughing Dragon stated, ¡°We¡¯ve had a total of 50 soldiers injured so far in our operations. All of them recovered and are still able to fight for our cause.¡±

    ¡°As or material casualties, we¡¯ve lost a good deal of equipment during our raids. The response of the enemies are swift just as we expected so these loses are within our expected range.¡±

    ¡°Good to hear, then let¡¯s keep this up.¡± Luna nodded, ¡°Continue with the n, keep up with the hit and run tactics. Cripple them enough that they will be afraid of even stepping out of their homes.¡±

    ¡°As you wish, Commander. Please excuse me.¡±

    ¡°You may go.¡±

    After receiving reports from Laughing Dragon, Luna stood up from her seat and looked at the distant horizon. She stared at the direction where their enemies are and where his husband is.

    A visible trace of exhaustion could be seen on her face. Thest couple of months had been stressful for her. She¡¯s holding down the fort in ce of husband, granted that she¡¯s not alone, it still feels a bit stressful at times since she has to constantly pay attention to the war.

    Currently, they are winning this war. They¡¯ve done a considerable amount of damage to their enemies during thest couple of months and some of their ns are already in motion.

    Still, there¡¯s no way she¡¯ll rx right now just because everything¡¯s going too well. If anything, she¡¯s already expecting something to go wrong since this usually how it goes¡­

    Divine Realm can¡¯t sh with the Abyssals head-on. This is something that Raven stressed out to them multiple times.

    While the two realms are rtively simr in size, Paradise is geared towards warfarepared to Divine Realm so a head-on sh would be disastrous for them.

    The n is to consistently chip away with the enemy forces bit by bit until they crumble. It doesn¡¯t sound fair but this is war, everything is fair in war.

    These hit and run tactics might look a bit cowardly but it¡¯s the best method they could do to keep their enemies guessing. The more they upy their attention enough, the lesser their chances of formting a n for counter attack.

    This is extremely effective given by the fact that up until now, the Abyssals has yet to locate where Divine Realm is.

    They¡¯re so upied and in alert about the sporadic attacks that they didn¡¯t dare to spread their forces thin in case Humans decided to go a little harder on their sneak attack.

    This in turn, was costing them precious time and resources as well. At the same time, Humans are slowly instilling fear and conflict amongst their ranks with their operations.

    Right now, ording to intel Luna received, the council of the Abyssals are in the verge of being ruptured by their own people. The citizens are pressuring them so hard to do their jobs and drive the invaders away due to the stacking casualties they suffered from so far yet Humans are making it too difficult for them to proceed.

    They are trying though, and somehow they¡¯re managed to keep it together which is impressive given how low their morale is.

    Only that guy, General Grimm, is keeping everything intact yet Humans know that Mark already nted a seed of terror to the man¡¯s heart and he¡¯s just pretending at this point.

    This meant that in reality, the council of the Abyssals are just an empty shell of its former glory.

    The only way for it to recover is for their God Emperor to return but as if Raven would let that happen.

    Speaking of Raven, he constantly keep in touch with Luna at least. Telling her that she¡¯s doing fine and to keep going. He always reminded her that he¡¯s fine and she doesn¡¯t need to worry about him. All of the focus should be on the war since the sooner they¡¯re done with this, the earlier they can rest.

    Of course, rushing it isn¡¯t a wise move either. When Raven said to end the war soon, he meant to say to keep following the n. Everything¡¯s working out so far ording to that anyway and so long as the trend continues, they¡¯d be fine.

    Their next n is to start dealing some real andsting damage to the Abyssals. That¡¯s where this Ports came in.

    The Ports are in truth, hidden bases they¡¯ve set up deep in enemy territory. The sneak attacks they formed so far are for the sake of setting these deep bases down in order to proceed with their n.

    Inside these Ports are arrays and formations created by a specialized group of experts that Raven personally taught. They create portals that will connect some barracks directly to ports so that they can directly send their armies to perform operations deep in the enemy territory.

    Their targets are key locations important for the Abyssals; resource depots, supplynes, highly popted area¡­ces that can be considered as the sore point of Paradise base.

    At this point, Humans already gathered sufficient intel about theyout of Paradise to know where these ces are. In two days, another batch of raids will begin and that¡¯s when this war is going to enter a whole new level of intensity.

    The n is to use higher leveled Counter Guardians to mimic the Abyssals and smuggle humans deep into these sore points so that they cane in and destroy everything then go out to prevent suffering heavy casualties.

    Humans can¡¯t really be too confident in their operations despite it going well since most of them already saw personally what the abyssals can do, some of them even personally experience it.

    Just from those alone, they can easily tell that they¡¯re dealing with real troublesome foes here. So getting too confident will cost them their lives.

    Once they start the next operation though, it is possible that they will suffer even more casualties.

    They can¡¯t just expect the Abyssals to let them cripple their forces like this. They will surely bolster their defenses and it¡¯d be much harder to sneak-in the more time passes.

    Therefore, they have to finish this ording to the schedule. So long as their time is eptable, there shouldn¡¯t be anything that will diversify developments for this war and they can continue with the n in motion.

    Thinking about all of this, Luna sighed to herself¡­

    ¡°It¡¯ll be their turn next.¡± She whispered.

    And by them, she¡¯s referring to her friends: Paul, Mark, Ellen and Anne.

    So far, Mark was the one who cracked down the walls and visited their neighbors first. He did it because he¡¯s the most suitable one to lead that operation. He did a wonderful job too, especially when he nted a seed of terror to General Grimm.

    However, the next part is about to get rough. Luna can already tell.

    Their presence would be needed for the next part to seed. No, it had to seed so that¡¯s why they¡¯re needed there. If they manage to achieve their goal for their next operation, the rest of this war will be more or less be easier for Humanity in general.

    Luna didn¡¯t doubt their abilities of course. She knows what they can do and how strong they are when their abilities are used in tandem. Still, she would still worry for their safety since she¡¯s a friend first before a Supreme Commander.

    She would hate to see them sacrifice themselves. They share the same dreams of peace and serenity, they¡¯re so close to achieving that and it would be a shame if they wouldn¡¯t be there to savor the fruits of their longbor.

    ¡®It¡¯s going to be fine.¡¯

    Luna shuddered in ce. She took a deep breath and felt heavilyforted when she heard her husband¡¯s voice whispering next to her.

    ¡®I¡¯m here. I will watch over them. Nobody will die in my watch. We will win this. You¡¯re doing good. Keep going. I can see everything. Don¡¯t worry.¡¯

    As usual, Raven had an impable timing. He just seems to know when she needed him the most and he¡¯d be there ready tofort her. Honestly, without him here, none of this would be possible.

    Luna heard everything she needed to hear. She had no doubts that Raven is truly watching over them. They¡¯re going to be fine. He¡¯s there and that¡¯s enough to win this war.

    With a refreshed mind, Luna disyed a determined expression and continued doing her work as Humanity¡¯s Supreme Commander.

 Chapter 925: Red Mane Squad

    Chapter 925: Red Mane Squad

    ¡°Elite Squad, are you in position.¡±

    ¡°Affirmative, General. Target on sight, shall proceed with the mission?¡± Kyle replied to them.

    ¡°Stand-by for five minutes. The rest are still getting in position. Wait for orders.¡±

    ¡°Copy that.¡±

    Kyle removed his hand on his earpiece and continued surveying his surroundings. As someone¡¯s who appointed as the Captain of a squad, they are drafted in the war and are now deployed deep into enemy territory.

    It¡¯s been a few hours since they arrived here and right now, he¡¯s just waiting for the go signal from the General to begin with the raid.

    Kyle was ready to begin. He already memorized theyout of this ce and their n of action. He knows where to move and where t go, they even have follow-up ns in case of emergency. They went through several drills to make sure everybody knows what to do and how to it efficiently so that they can achieve their goal for this mission.

    Kyle and his squad¡¯s target are one of huge supply chains for the Abyssals. This massive floating ind is filled with all kinds of factories that supplied at least a fourth of entire Paradise¡¯s needs. Its products are plenty and if they can sessfully raid this ce, the Abyssals will truly feel the pain and loss.

    This will be a challenging mission but one that is necessary toplete if they want to increase humanity¡¯s chances of surviving.

    Also, it had to be known that this isn¡¯t the only mission that will ur today. No, there are other operations that will take ce at different areas of Paradise.

    Each attack had to follow a certain timing to maximize the results. Currently, there are on-going operations around and Kyle¡¯s just waiting for their turn to go.

    ¡°Red Mane Squad, do you copy?¡±

    ¡°Can hear you loud and clear General.¡± Kyle replied.

    ¡°Begin your attack in one minute. Godspeed.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Kyle looked at his squad who¡¯s looking back at him.

    He can see it in their eyes, they¡¯re all raring to go. Kyle nodded at them and went into position.

    That one minute passed by quick so Kyle connected through themunication device again as they moving-in.

    ¡°Red Mane Squad here, we¡¯re going in.¡±

    ¡°Copy that, Red Mane. Good luck.¡±

    He cut off the connections for now and then he flew forward like a shooting star along with his squad towards the main factory in the ind.

    As they¡¯ve already infiltrated this ce, they already knew everything they need to know about it. They memorized the patrol route of the guards, the schedules of the workers, where they¡¯re supposed to be and so on.

    Kyle moved-in very fast, avoiding all hostiles for now since they¡¯re no their main target.

    This specific ind is connected to the Abyssal Race¡¯s Forbidden Ultima Core, something like a centralized power supply for Paradise as whole. With the core fueling the operations of this ce, destroying it would take more effort than necessary so they made it a point to disconnect it from the power grid first and theyy waste on it.

    As he flew along with his squad, Kyle was building a strong momentum. He¡¯s utilizing his strength and the profundity of hisws to stack-up their momentum to increase the strength of its impact.

    Once they arrived the spot marked by the Counter Guardians, Kyle¡¯s squad suspended briefly in mid-air. Kyle himself condensed all the gravitational power he can muster released the momentum he built up straight down at the joint where the ind and the core were linked.

    BOOM!!!

    The impact was so strong that it shook the entire ind fiercely. Arge mushroom cloud could be seen in the air due to how strong the explosion was.

    The Red Mane Squad was fine but the same cannot be said to their surroundings. s, Kyle really couldn¡¯t care less about what happened to the Abyssals or anything they own. He just wants them to disappear.

    As their surroundings were set a ze, Kyle looked at his squad and signaled them to let loose. No words were needed to be said.

    His men flew to different directions and began thrashing the entire ind¡­

    See something moving that doesn¡¯t look human? Kill.

    See something that looks important? Kill.

    The buildings? The mechanisms? Weird looking gardens? Strange products? Everything is to be killed and destroyed, leave nothing intact.

    This is their mission and they are expected toplete it. This ce is a strategic point and if it¡¯s gone, they are effectively weakening their enemies. The squad can¡¯t leave unless they¡¯re done with their mission or they were ordered to do so.

    While his menid waste to everything, Kyle himself wasn¡¯t idle. If anything, he has the biggest impact on this mission which is why he was elected at the captain.

    In terms of raw destructive power, Kyle would rank amongst the top of the entire Divine Realm.

    The sheer weight of his weapon itself makes it impossible for anybody aside from him to wield since it is made using an active star. His halberd is personally created for him by Raven, it is as heavy as a star itself so swinging it casually will result in a devastating damage. The only reason why Kyle can carry it was because he could reduce its weight using hisws.

    Speaking of which, if Kyle swung this thing and have his gravitational power go along with it, each strike of his would be akin to a falling meteor that can seriously devastate anything it touches.

    It just so happened that this ind is pretty close to the densely popted area and anymotion happening here will alert some Abyssals who were roaming around.

    The mission needs to be finished quick and this was the reason why Kyle was sent here. And with the coordinated assault of Humans, the forces of the Abyssals are spread even thinner, making it more difficult for them to respond and reinforce ces.

    Whether they like it or not, they¡¯ll be forced to make sacrifices here. It¡¯ll be up to them what it would though so Kyle had to constantly pay attention to the developments.

    Kyle didn¡¯t falter though. While he paid attention to his surroundings, he never stopped swinging his halberd causingrge craters to form around him.

    He already noticed that his attacks looked weaker than usual. The impact fall he made earlier should¡¯ve been enough to reduce this whole ind into pieces but it only shook. At with how much he¡¯s attacking, Kyle should¡¯ve already shredded this ind long ago but he didn¡¯t.

    It¡¯s not like he became weaker, it¡¯s just that everything within Paradise are tougher due to the materials they used to create them and that wasn¡¯t factoring that this ce was supposed to be connected to the Forbidden Ultima Core.

    If they didn¡¯t sever its connection with the core, this ce would be a lot more difficult to deal with.

    ¡°Captain, I am seeing some hostiles approaching our location. Your orders?¡±

    ¡°Kill.¡± Kyle replied tly, ¡°If they prove to be tougher than you initially expected, don¡¯t sweat it and just focus on our goal. Don¡¯t hesitate to call out for help should you fall into a disadvantageous position.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    Kyle swung his halberd again and felt a presence behind him approaching with a potent killing intent.

    A quick shift of his footing and a simple stab of his halberd was enough to deal with the enemy. His weapon was perfectly aimed at the core of the Abyssals, ending its life in one strike.

    That¡¯s when Kyle turned around and saw more Abyssal¡¯s flying his way.

    ¡°Hmph!¡± Kyle snorted coldly upon sensing their killing intent.

    He stepped one foot forward, firmly nting his foot on the ground. Boundless gravitational power exploded from his body. The abyssals flight speed became faster not because they wanted to but because Kyle pulled them in. That caused them to lose control over their bodies¡­

    Mere inches away from Kyle, they paused. Again because of Kyle as well. With a blur of movement, Kyle stabbed his halberd forward, each strike carrying the weight and momentum of a star. He pierced through their cores causing them to explode into bits in a blink of an eye.

    Just like that, the hostiles that were sent his way to stop him, all died miserably.

    Kyle felt nothing from their deaths since if turned out that he was the weaker one, his death wouldn¡¯t he pretty or honorable either. This is war, the Abyssals wanted this and the Humans let them have it.

    It¡¯s as simple as that.

    After killing the reinforcements, Kyle went back to his mission.

    Within a short span of 30 minutes, the Red Mane Squadpletely decimated this ce.

    ¡°Red Mane Squad, Captain Kyle here reporting to HQ, HQ do you copy?¡±

    ¡°HQ to Captain Kyle, status?¡±

    ¡°Target neutralized. We eliminated a total of 40 Hostiles during this operation. Bodies cannot be salvaged.¡±

    ¡°Great work, Captain Kyle. Don¡¯t worry about the bodies, we received a good haul of them. You may return home with your squad.¡±

    ¡°Roger that.¡± Kyle nodded and connected with his squad through another link. ¡°Well done, Boys. Now, let¡¯s get out of here. HQ permitted us to return home.¡±

    He received a series of acknowledgement before the squad gathered together and turned into a streak of light disappearing through the horizon.

 Chapter 926: Paul on the move

    Chapter 926: Paul on the move

    Around a few hours after Kyle and his squad finished their mission. Paul was currently waiting for orders.

    He¡¯s alone, hiding within a tavern by blending in with the Abyssals. He wore a disguise that vaguely made him look like them, in addition with the hood he wear, he blended in perfectly within his surroundings without anyone the wiser.

    Paul was drinking the unique ale of the Abyssals as he acted as if he was just another drunkard among the crowd. In truth though, he was eavesdropping in the conversation of the people around him.

    ¡°Man, Paradise is too chaotic nowadays. It¡¯s hard to find somewhere to have a good time.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I feel that too. I heard that there are some convicts that escaped and apparently, the guards are having a difficult time apprehending them.¡±

    ¡°Really? The prisoners must¡¯ve been real clever then.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised actually, I heard those who escaped were from the Abyss Prison. They¡¯re real scary dudes who were driven mad by that ce. You all ought to be careful. They might be lurking around. Don¡¯t get mugged.¡±

    ¡°You all are too outdated with the news! Those that are causing chaos ain¡¯t the prisoners. It¡¯s invaders.¡±

    ¡°Invaders? What a joke!¡±

    ¡°Dude, you might wanna go home, you¡¯re obviously drunk! How can we have Invaders? If anything, WE are doing the invasion, not the other way around.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, what he said! Plus, if we really do have Invaders, they ain¡¯t gonnast long under our manpower.¡±

    ¡°You all are idiots. You guys think that just because we conquered many races so far that we became infallible. You all are going to die if you continue thinking that way.¡±

    Paul smirked under his hood as he chugged down his drink. He continued listening in to their conversation.

    ¡°You¡¯re the idiot! It¡¯s obviously mid-day yet you¡¯re already this drunk. Honestly, do something else. Find a job or something.¡±

    ¡°Hah! It¡¯s useless. We will get drafted in the war anyways? What the use of that?¡±

    ¡°First Invaders and now War you say? You¡¯re obviously out of your mind. You guys, don¡¯t pay attention to these guy, he¡¯s babbling nonsense.¡±

    ¡°Hah!! Babbling nonsense he says! Hey, you¡¯re a merchant right? Then you must know someone from the Exte Ind right? Great! Try contacting them, see if they¡¯ll answer you. If they do, ask them what happened to the ind. You¡¯ll then know if I¡¯m babbling nonsense or not.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Paul watched in amusement as the event yed out, still drinking his ale and waiting for themotion to begin.

    ¡°¡­what the fuck!? Exte Ind got trashed!? What the hell happened? Hey! Can you still here me!? What happened there!?¡±

    ¡°Invasion? You mean to say that there are actual Invaders in our home and we didn¡¯t know? And apparently they¡¯re strong enough to bring an entire ind down in under an hour!?¡±

    ¡°Hey, if you¡¯re joking with me right now, I swear to god I will march there to deck you in the face!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh, god! It¡¯s true then? How can this be¡­?¡±

    Now all the attention was focused on the old drunkard who just drank his sorrows away.

    ¡°What? Still think that I¡¯m speaking nonsense? Stop being ignorant you idiots. We pissed off some real troublesome people and we¡¯re about to pay for it. Soon, you all will drafted in War. Don¡¯t expect the guards to save you this time since even they can¡¯t save themselves.¡±

    ¡°No that¡¯s¡­the God Emperor! We still have the God Emperor on our side. I¡¯m sure that he will make sure that we will remain safe. The Invaders are nothingpared to his might!¡±

    The Old Abyssalughed uproariously upon hearing that.

    ¡°The God Emperor will save you say? Hahahaha!! Now that¡¯s fucking hrious right there! Continue dreaming on young one. Maybe one day, it¡¯lle true!¡±

    ¡°Old guy! Are you trying to revolt here? Show some respect to the God Emperor and the leader our race.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. He really is. Also, he¡¯s currently imprisoned in his own tower by the Leader of the Invaders and can¡¯t fucking go out. The arrogant son of a bitch finally met his match.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°It means exactly how it sounds, moron! Your God Emperor is as big of an idiot as you people are. He got so fucking arrogant and greedy that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings! He let the leader of the Invading Race waltz in to his throne and imprison him there. Now, that son of a bitch can¡¯t go out or even send any message to us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s obviously a lie! How can¡­how can the God Emperor be-¡°

    ¡°Oh you stupid little thing¡­it seems that you really won¡¯t cry unless you see the coffin, huh? Very well, this Old Guy shall indulge you.¡±

    ¡°For starters this Invasion had been going on for months. You all are just unaware of it. That in itself should already be a bad sign since whenever we Invaded, it¡¯d be impressive of our enemiessted for at least a week.¡±

    ¡°Additionally, the God Emperor usually says something to increase our morale and loved to brag about our race¡¯s strength by constantly bombarding us with announcements.¡±

    ¡°How many of you have heard his voice during the past three months at least? Anyone?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Nobody? Well, that¡¯s understandable isn¡¯t it? After all, he¡¯s imprisoned on his own tower and can¡¯t fucking go out or even send a message to us. He got trapped in his own home! What a fucking retard! Hah!¡±

    ¡°In addition to this, have you seen Skroll anywhere? How about General Grimm? When was thest time you all see them in patrol?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t remember right? Well, apparently Skroll is missing and General Grimm has his hand full in dealing with the Invaders. Without that idiot God Emperor to lead our troops, everything¡¯s gone awry!¡±

    ¡°Wake-up you idiots. The signs are in front of you. At two days at most, this tavern will ran out of supplies. Not just this tavern in particr either, all the taverns around this area will too as well as the markets and stores. Exte Ind was destroyed remember?¡±

    ¡°All of us here will starve to death. It¡¯ll take weeks for emergency supplies to reach us since who the hell knows how many supply lines are still intact under the ministrations of the Invaders?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re already under attack! If you morons still refuse to believe it, you all are going to die. Our enemies will not show mercy so don¡¯t expect it. Really, it¡¯s about time for our retribution. We¡¯ve carried way too many sins.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The tavern descended into a solemn atmosphere due to the old man¡¯s revtions. Everyone felt their hearts being filled with trepidation.

    ¡°¡­right, I gotta go. I just remembered that there¡¯s somewhere I have to be.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, me too! I gotta pick up my son from school. I¡¯ll see you allter.¡±

    Everyone started excusing themselves, trying to act calmly as they exited the tavern but in truth, they¡¯re far from being calm. They have their own ideas.

    Sadly, their ns were bound to fail today.

    Before they can get out of the tavern, there was a hooded man leaning against the door chugging down the remaining contents of his mug.

    ¡°Hey, man. Can you move away? Can¡¯t you see you¡¯re blocking the way?¡± One of them said aggressively.

    The man ignored them for a bit and down his mug. Afterwards, he let out a loud burp and said:

    ¡°Whew! This ale¡¯s good. Well, not as good as the one I usually drink at home but still good.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Everyone says that, now can you move? You¡¯re blocking the way.¡±

    ¡°Haah¡­alright. That¡¯s enough ying around then.¡± The man said as he slowly pulled down his hood. ¡°There are times for leisure and there¡¯s time for work. Now¡¯s the time for work, and I can¡¯t dy.¡±

    The man pulled out the fake skin stered on his skin, revealing himself to be someone of apletely different race from them. Everyone gasped in surprise.

    Of course, this was all ording to Paul¡¯s n.

    ¡°What the old man said was correct.¡± Paul stated, ¡°Unfortunately, you all realized it toote.¡±

    The old man just snorted and didn¡¯t even bother trying to escape while the rest were still reeling in shock.

    ¡°Sorry, Lads.¡± Paul gave them a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let you all pass. If you promise me that you¡¯ll remain here and won¡¯t try to escape, I can dy your deaths for at least a year.¡±

    ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t listen to him! He¡¯s just one man! Kill him! We¡¯ll escape together!¡±

    Paul scowled upon hearing that. He sighed as he saw that they started rushing forward with the intent of killing him.

    With a wave of his hand, several shadows emerged and before everyone realized it, a 9 foot long pitch ck spear already pierced their cores.

    ¡°See, this is the problem with your race. You guys aren¡¯t good at cooperating when it¡¯s obvious that you¡¯re at disadvantage. If you all just listened, you could¡¯ve lived for longer at least.¡±

    ¡°I am even willing to give you guys food. s, you guys are truly morons. Oh well, there¡¯s no helping it.¡±

    Seeing as everybody in this tavern is dead, Paul shrugged and disappeared like a ghost.

 Chapter 927: Marks Crimson Affliction

    Chapter 927: Mark¡¯s Crimson Affliction

    Mark shifted into position like a ghost.

    Even as he travelled amidst the dense crowd, he was untouchable and untraceable. He moved with such ease that he didn¡¯t raise any suspicions around. Truly, this was the result of him growing up as a famed assassin throughout Divine Realm.

    Mark surveyed his surroundings. He re-organized himself since he had to make sure that he¡¯s going on the right direction. This ce is a bit of a maze and if he made a fuss, he¡¯d be discovered and that would really upset him since he didn¡¯t want his mission to fail.

    Currently deep within enemy territory, Mark¡¯s mission was crucial to progress their n. He¡¯s targeting yet another resource node of Paradise, this one was the food supplier.

    This ce is at the extreme north of Paradise, the surroundings are a bit bleak but that¡¯s because the power supply here is particrly bad. While this are is still connected to the power grid, there¡¯s too much machinery in here that not much space is left for other Abyssals to build homes and there were solutions for this so far so they kind of just built their own homes in a weird way anyway.

    Because of that, this ce turned into a mess. It has be like a slum area for Paradise and generally, these ced breeds the rotten ones.

    This ce became almost like awless area, even so, it remained a strategic point to Paradise since the North is their major supplier of food.

    Mark weaved through the crowd like a formless phantom. Searching for a way in so that he can begin with his mission.

    In theory, there¡¯s really no need for him to be this meticulous about his approach since he¡¯s strong enough to plunge the entire north into chaos. But that would make things more troublesome for him and didn¡¯t want to make this more harder than it should so he approached carefully.

    Mark¡¯s mission is to infiltrate the main factory where the food¡¯s being produced.

    This mission specifically calls for him due to his abilities, and if he can pull this off, the damage he will deal will severely limit the movements of the Abyssals and make it harder for them to recover.

    It took him a while but he eventually found his way into the factory. Upon entering it, Mark was once again stumped¡­

    If outside is a maze, the inside is even more so. Mark really didn¡¯t like theyout of this ce, it¡¯s too crude. It¡¯s like they just ced pieces of metals and arranged them in a way where it would function then called it a day.

    They didn¡¯t even bother re-hauling the design to make everything work more efficiently and possibly have space for more. Just for a single nce, Mark could already think of at least ten ways to improve this ce.

    Would he bother to do that? Of course not! Doing this would help his enemies, he hasn¡¯t be mad yet so why would he do that?

    He¡¯s just annoyed since it¡¯ll be more difficult to locate his actual target with how confusing this ce was. It also didn¡¯t help that he didn¡¯t have a map of this ce so he could only explore on his own.

    Mark wasn¡¯t sure if there¡¯s any kind of surveince running around the ce but just to be safe, he entered stealth anyway. By minimizing his aura to the limit and employing a special technique he learned from his days of being an assassin, he canpletely erase his presence to anyone and anything that he didn¡¯t want to see him.

    Mark took his time. Checked where the paths lead and formed a mental map of this ce so that he¡¯d have an easier time maneuvering this ce.

    Eventually, he located the spots where he needed to go.

    One was located at the northwest of factory, one was at the south and thest one was at the center.

    These spots are where the food were being process and packaged for delivery before sending to various ces within Paradise.

    Since he already located his target, Mark needed to formte a n so that he can proceed.

    He observed the patrol routes of the personnel to see who amongst them will have the highest chance of visiting all three of these ces without raising any suspicion. He¡¯d prefer doing it himself but those areas are heavily guarded and monitored. Not just everyone can enter and if he forced his way in, he¡¯d alert the entire colony.

    Security is tighter nowadays and that¡¯s understandable. As Humans attacked Abyssals where it hurts, it is already given that they would do their best to protect them.

    Mark knows this the best since he was a part of the people who proposed this n.

    Yes, it¡¯s dishonorable to fight them this way but it¡¯s a necessary evil that¡¯s needed to be done. Humanity is really weakerpared to the Abyssals so direct confrontation will never work, in fact that¡¯d just spell their demise even earlier.

    This tactics might appear roguish but it¡¯s a viable strategy to even out the ying field. This war is something that Humans can¡¯t afford to lose.

    After surveying for a while, Mark found his target and his n was good to go.

    He waited until his target was away from any kind of surveince before dropping down from above and assassinating them.

    Mark¡¯s movements were swift and decisive. There¡¯s not an ounce of hesitation on his face as he executed them.

    After assassinating his target, Mark swiftly disguised himself as the Abyssal he killed. Then he blended-in, following patrol route of the guard.

    Since he also snagged the pass of the guard he killed, it meant that he gained ess to the spots he was eyeing before.

    First was the northwestern spot where the food preparations were happening.

    ording to the patrol route, Mark would stand guard in front of the door for about ten minutes to wait for someone to rece him. Once his recement arrives, he could then enter the production line and patrol there.

    After ten minutes passed, his recement arrived on time. They nodded to each other and Mark entered the production area and started his patrol only, he didn¡¯t stop at just patrolling the area.

    He released thin, almost invisible threads of Crimson Death and infused with everything that he interacted with; food, machinery, Abyssals themselves, he infused everything with the Crimson death.

    The effects will now show right away and that¡¯s fine, that¡¯s included in his ns anyway.

    A little bit of poison will go a long way and Mark wasn¡¯t really opposed into spending his time here to make sure his n works perfectly.

    After finishing his rounds in this area without raising any suspicion, Mark moved-on to his next area which was his target at the south. This one was packaging area. Mark nned in infusing a little bit of Crimson Death to every package in order to infect everything and everybody that interacts with them.

    This will definitely help the spread of Crimson Death and the more Abyssals it infected, the higher the chances it will go out of proportions which is what Mark wanted and what his mission was to begin with.

    He wanted to release a pandemic to weaken the Abyssals even further and make them more chaotic. He want them so terrified and so afraid that they wouldn¡¯t even dare to step outside of Paradise anymore.

    This mission is extremely insidious but it has its merits, which is why Mark was tasked to do it himself because he¡¯s never been afraid to get his hands dirty.

    Mark wanted them gone. Just the thought of these creatures ransacking his home with reckless abandon causes Mark¡¯s blood to boil in fury. Had they remain ignorant about the presence and arrival of the Abyssals, things would¡¯ve been much worse than this. And honestly, he didn¡¯t know if he could bear it if something happens to his child.

    This is why these Abyssals need to die. It would be for the best if none of them remain after they¡¯re done with them.

    Mercy had no ce in this war. Whoever falters, loses. And losers will cease to exist. That¡¯s the idea and the cold hard truth that everybody must realize.

    Mark will take his time toplete this mission as discreet as possible. It may take days or months for him to finish thispletely but he¡¯ll see through it.

    His Crimson Affliction, the lethal poison he injected on the food products, must spread all over Paradise. He didn¡¯t want to raise a ruckus since if the enemy knew he¡¯s here, they will lockdown this ce.

    The lockdown itself is useless against Mark since he can simply slip through the gaps but poison won¡¯t spread that way which will be bad for his mission.

    So, even if it means that he¡¯d extend his time here to see this through, Mark doesn¡¯t mind.

    ¡®You all had your moment already, it¡¯s time for you to go.¡¯

    ¡®I swear, by hook or by crook, all of you will die for the sake of my people and my family.¡¯

 Chapter 928: Siphoning Vitality

    Chapter 928: Siphoning Vitality

    ¡®Mark said he¡¯s going to take a while¡­¡¯

    ¡®I guess he¡¯s going for the slow and steady approach. Very well, we can work with that.¡¯

    ¡®My work here is going to take time as well anyways¡­¡¯

    Anne also infiltrated the enemy territory at this point. She¡¯s wearing a disguise but it doesn¡¯t look as convincing as the others used. She didn¡¯t really need a good disguise for her mission, in fact she couldn¡¯t ditched it altogether and she¡¯d remain fine.

    As her husband slowly poisoned their enemies to death, Anne¡¯s mission was to damage their livelihood even further by draining the vitality off of their nature and feeding to the Divine Realm instead.

    Anne was the representative of Nature to the Divine Realm, therefore she carries a crest that always takes the very essence of Nature with her. Her n was slowly erode the consciousness of Paradise¡¯s Nature and had the Nature of Divine Realm slowly drain it, further crippling the Abyssals.

    To that extent, she needed to find a ce where she can stay and remain undisturbed. Away from all the other operations that will happen so as to not draw any attention to herself.

    She has escorts to help her out. A bunch of higher leveled Counter Guardians came with her to act as guards. They will be imposing as countryfolk who didn¡¯t know much about what¡¯s happening in the capital so as to not raise any suspicion.

    Anne found a suitable spot already. She just needed toplete her preparations and she¡¯d be good to go.

    ¡°You all should build a quiet neighborhood here. That shouldn¡¯t be hard. While you do that, I¡¯ll prepare my domain so that we can start with the operation.¡±

    Her escorts nodded and immediately got to work. As they possess great strength themselves, their work was swift and decisive. Before the day ends, their surroundings already changed into a quiet neighborhood in the middle of nowhere. They¡¯re already discussing what kind of role they¡¯ll have in order to make this whole act more believable.

    As for Anne herself, she already started converting her surroundings to her own domain. It is done in a way where nobody but her could sense. The nature here would still feel normal but in truth, it no longer answer to the rules of Paradise.

    It didn¡¯t take long for her to do this since this was just a small area. She nned to take it slow since her target is huge to begin with.

    Afterying down the finishing touches, Anne was ready to begin with the operation.

    She spoke to her escorts and informed that their mission will be starting already. After that, she entered a small cave that she built for herself and sealed it away to begin the conversion.

    As soon as she started, everyone in the vicinity felt the aura of Nature changing around them in an inexplicable way, it onlysted for mere seconds before disappearing.

    They didn¡¯t pay too much attention to it anymore and just simply did their work. They lived like real country folks, raising animals and farming while enjoying some asional banter here there. Their act was natural and very convincing so even if someone happen to stumble around this ce, they wouldn¡¯t suspect them too much.

    As for Anne, she already secluded herself but not before informing HQ about it first. She got the go signal so she started right away.

    She slowly unsealed Divine Realm¡¯s Crest of Nature inside the cave which caused an explosive outgrowth of nts and bushes to ur, they filled the entire cave and formed a natural seal towards the entrance which somewhat helped in concealing Anne.

    That being said, the influence of Divine Realm¡¯s Nature wasn¡¯t taken kindly by Paradise¡¯s Nature.

    Anne could feel a strong repulsioning from it, which felt very unpleasant but she endured it.

    ¡®Hmph! You think I¡¯m afraid of you? Very well, I¡¯ll let you see who you¡¯re dealing with here.¡¯

    Anne¡¯s face turned cold as she immediately exercised her Divinity over Paradise.

    She forcefully linked the two together and began siphoning the vitality from Paradise.

    Of course, Paradise wouldn¡¯t let this pass. It would fight back. But Anne already knew that so she came prepared.

    With the operations theyid out over the past year or so, everything lead up to one point to the other.

    And with Raven imprisoning the only being that could assist Paradise in defending ¨C the God Emperor, Anne¡¯s assault was something that Paradise can¡¯t handle by itself.

    Raven was actively suppressing Paradise and that allowed the rest of the n to flow in motion. Anne¡¯s siphoning the vitality of Paradise¡¯s Nature was naturally boosted with his efforts too.

    It will start off slow. That¡¯s to be expected.

    Paradise¡¯s Nature has benefitted from constant conquest of the Abyssals after all. It is strong and filled with so much vitality that it couldst for eons.

    But, Anne¡¯s method of siphoning its vitality is something that it can¡¯t stop. Although it may start very slow, eventually Paradise¡¯s Nature will be weakened. And since the siphoning is constant, it will only grow stronger with time.

    That being said, if this was to continue at this pace, it will take decades for the siphoning to ramp-up. Anne didn¡¯t have that much luxury at this current situation so something needs to be done to expedite the process.

    This is where her husbandes in¡­

    His mission of poisoning the food supply of the Abyssals will also act as poisoning Paradise¡¯s Nature itself, after all life is connected. If the Abyssals caught the Crimson Affliction, they will spread it to everything they interact with. And with the growing number of infected people, the damage will slowly umte and ramp-up as well.

    This will also reflect to the nature badly. And by the time the Abyssals discover the affliction, the damage is already done. That would result in them destroying themselves by abusing nature in order to survive, which will further weaken the force of nature and will make Anne¡¯s mission way easier.

    This is theyered n that Raven masterfully concocted and it is far from done. The n was detailed in a way that, if followed correctly, will lead to the Abyssals destroying themselves without harming Humanity too much.

    Still, this will take time and that is fine. Humanity isn¡¯t in a worry.

    As far as everybody knowns, they are winning this war. The Abyssals might¡¯ve already discovered the general area where Divine Realm is but they haven¡¯t infiltrated it just yet.

    They haven¡¯t evene close at all since Ellen and Luna was there to hold down the fort.

    As they slowly crippled the livelihood of the Abyssals here, more and more pressure will build-up until Paradise bursts into mes. When that happens, it wouldn¡¯t be toote for them tounch the decisive strike to end them once and for all.

    As Anne observed the slow progress of siphoning at the constant waves of killing intent that Paradise Natureunches towards her, she held steady.

    She waspletely unbothered by whatever it did, and if it decided to release monsters to attack her, her escorts outside will deal with them for her sake. In short, she¡¯spletely safe and secured here.

    Also, she borrowed some formation from Raven which helped her seal this cave. Even if Abyssals managed to discover this ce, they wouldn¡¯t necessarily be able to break the seal so there¡¯s nothing to worry about.

    If there¡¯s anything that bothers her, it would only be the safety of her child.

    Jeanne, much like her best friends; Richard and Vanessa, joined the war as well. The three of them weren¡¯t tasked to infiltrate Paradise, their parents will never approve of that even if they were to ask.

    Their mission is protect their home from the invaders. They are stationed at the Eternal Division Wall. Tasked to finish off any Abyssals that wille close to it.

    Anne knows that Jeanne can protect herself. How can she not when Mark constantly trained her and polished her skills? Also, she took after Mark a lot and even developed his fighting style.

    The part she inherited from Anne is her closeness to Nature. But she developed it in a lethal way. Jeanne was well versed in the art of poison. She had concocted over thousands of unique poisons over her life and even refined the art of Poison Healing, which is an incredible feat in itself.

    Jeanne is very lethal especially when she¡¯s resolved to killing someone. In addition, she is immune to all kinds of poison and she¡¯s durable too. Her training made her a very formidable assassin like her father but still¡­

    Anne wouldn¡¯t be a mother if she didn¡¯t constantly worry about the well being of her child¡­

    Her world revolves around Mark and Jeanne, if she lost them because of this war, she might as well blow up herself to take down Paradise down with her.

    Still, there isn¡¯t much to worry for now, especially when the n is going this smooth. She could only hope that it could continue this way so that by the end of this all, they could drop their weapons and live the kind of life they¡¯ve dreamt about for so long¡­

 Chapter 929: Baiting

    Chapter 929: Baiting

    Mark infiltrated the enemy territory to spread poison.

    Anne is there to siphon the vitality of their Nature.

    Paul was there to make sure that the word about the invasion doesn¡¯t spread too far.

    Andst hut definitely not the least, Raven is also there to make sure that the Abyssal Emperor is cut off from the picture. Suppressing him enough for the Abyssal army to be a headless chicken.

    With the four of them working their magic in the enemy territory, there¡¯s practically a 100% chance that next part of their n will go along the schedule. In addition to that, the Dawn Council is also making sure that the Abyssals are distracted in different areas so that these three won¡¯t encounter any disturbance in their mission.

    Ellen didn¡¯t have to go there herself. If she¡¯d evere there, it just to do even more damage since that¡¯s her specialty. She could turn into her Phoenix form and scare the living daylights of them to lower down their morale even further but that negates Paul¡¯s efforts of keeping themon folk ignorant about the invasion so she wouldn¡¯t do it.

    But that doesn¡¯t mean that there isn¡¯t anything for her to do. There are a lot of things that needed her attention so even though she isn¡¯t there with them, she¡¯s upied as well.

    General Grimm¡¯s efforts were bearing fruit. With his constant surveince, he¡¯s slowly but surely starting to discover where Divine Realm is. Although he needed to sacrifice some troops to confirm his theories so far, its still eptable so long as he manages to discover where Humanity¡¯s home is.

    s, the poor general still hasn¡¯t discovered that he¡¯s being lead on by the nose.

    He thinks that he¡¯s making progress because of is outstanding abilities but in truth, he wouldn¡¯t discover anything if Humanity didn¡¯t purposefully let him discover these clues.

    Luna and the rest of Humanity¡¯s Pirs are luring the Abyssals in. This, is one of the key points to Raven¡¯s ns so far.

    With them being so transfixed into discovering Humanity¡¯s Territory, they are effective peeling their eyes away from what¡¯s happening under their nose. The bait was masterfully executed that the Abyssals wouldn¡¯t know what hit them until they feel the injury.

    Humanity¡¯s still had the initiative here. Although it is already established that Humanity can¡¯t fight the Abyssals head-on, it doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that they have to avoid confrontations.

    Since the ball is in their hands, they could control the intensity of these confrontations. Plus, Humanity¡¯s prepared for this. Hundreds of years were used to ensure that Humanity¡¯s strength increased by a certain margin. So long as they¡¯re careful, their casualties shouldn¡¯t pile up too high.

    It is for this very reason that Ellen remained behind.

    With Humanity luring the Abyssals in, somebody has to stay and defend their home. With how destructive Ellen¡¯s strength is, there¡¯s no doubt that she fits the requirements for this. The position¡¯s practically calling her name.

    Though, that isn¡¯t all¡­

    Ellen also took it as her mission to ensure that the children wouldn¡¯t be in danger.

    Richard, Vanessa and Jeanne enlisted to participate on this war. They were stationed at the front lines so there are some certain risks involved. But with Ellen leading them, she can minimize this and look after them while the adults are busy taking down the Abyssals from the inside.

    She had no doubt that these three are strong. They are more talented than them after all, if anything they¡¯re justcking experience. Something that they will gain in their participation to this war.

    Still, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to make sure that they¡¯d be fine. And Ellen vowed that she will make sure that none of them would die so long as she lives.

    That being said, this war can also serve as a tempering experience for them. They have so much potential that it¡¯d be a sin to not let it bloom. In order to do that, they need to go out there and experience battles. Which is why she didn¡¯t shy away from sending them to confront groups of scouts who managed toe too close.

    A great example of this, is what¡¯s currently happening this day.

    This morning, she received reports that at least 10 groups of scouts, each group consisting five members, are closing in to their home. They are scattered and somehow surrounding the area just outside Divine Realm.

    Ellen didn¡¯t hesitate to send out troops after them to eliminate them swiftly. One of the group she sent was one where the children belonged.

    Their group was sent to the scouts closest to where Ellen was of course so that she can see their situation and could react fast enough if something wrong urs.

    These scouts are basically fodders. They aren¡¯t strong and wouldn¡¯tst under heavy assault. Their real use is to gather intel and send them back to their superiors.

    In actuality, Ellen could¡¯ve sent troops to intercept them way earlier than today. They had their eyes in the scout the moment they left Paradise so if she really wanted to, she could¡¯ve eliminated them the moment the left.

    But since she has to follow the n, she didn¡¯t do this. Instead, she allowed them toe close.

    She¡¯s deliberately allowing them to discover where Humanity¡¯s camp is in to get the attention of their pathetic General. That way, she can manipte him into sending more troops to die under Humanity¡¯s hand.

    Ellen was provoking him in a subtle manner to keep his attention here and not on Paradise. If she does this well, she could even keep him upied and invested long enough that Grimm would forget about his path of escape.

    After all, their goal is total elimination. Complete eradication of the Abyssals.

    Under her watch, the children was far from any danger. They are pressured just enough to hone their talents and make them even stronger. The longer this war goes on, the stronger they¡¯ll get and the higher their chances of surviving.

    As they deal with the scouts, Ellen was constantly paying attention to stream of intel.

    The Outposts are doing god¡¯s work till now. The Abyssals still hasn¡¯t discovered that the outposts already infiltrated deep into their base as well as the ports which could act as a transfer point of humanity to send their troops in.

    Laughing Dragon was runningps around these fools. They have no idea how much intel they¡¯re feeding him because of their stupidity. With the steady stream of intel flowing to them, Humanity knew every move that the Abyssals does.

    The scouts were handled with rtive ease. Ellen called back the troops and gave them a few days of rest.

    ording to the intel she received from Laughing Dragon, the scouts brought back some results but that¡¯s within the expected oue. They gave them another piece of tasty bait and as expected, General Grimm got lured in again.

    He nned on setting a new batch of scouts, this time he nned on sending a few guards with them to toughen them up so that they can bring back more intel.

    Ellen almostughed uproariously upon hearing this.

    The fool fell for it again.

    But since he wants to y, it would be rude for Ellen to turn him away. But there¡¯s no need to rush. She doesn¡¯t have any ns on sending troops for now. The Abyssals will need time to gather their troops, just enough time for Ellen¡¯s troops to rest and be ready for the next deployment.

    With General Grimm¡¯s decision of sending guards along with scouts, he¡¯s effectively spreading their forces even thinner. The guards already have their hands full with guarding Paradise yet now, Grimm was sending them away to scout the location of the Divine Realm.

    Ellen had to give it to Grimm, he¡¯s helping out with their n.

    This move of his would peel off even more heat to her friends who¡¯s crippling them from within, giving them more room to move around and rx.

    As expected, Raven¡¯s n was working wonders.

    Now so long as this keeps up, the n would enter the next stage without any hitches. It just up to Ellen to keep Grimm upied which shouldn¡¯t be hard to do considering how he¡¯s taking all the bait they¡¯re feeding him.

    ording to Laughing Dragon¡¯s report, Grimm was nning to send 20 groups of scouts. Each group would be apanied by at least 3 guards who¡¯s strength could match Empyreans of their own.

    It¡¯s a bit daunting but nothing she couldn¡¯t handle. So long as she uses her pieces carefully, she can ensure that all of these guards will never be able to return home while also keeping her casualties zero for the most part.

    The Abyssals haven¡¯t discovered where Divine Realm is yet. Ellen could use this to her advantage and lead these scouts far enough from each other to crush them with sheer numbers.

    Just like before, she¡¯d allow some of them to get close to their camp before destroying them to bait Grimm again.

    Ellen would repeat this process as many times as she could to make sure that the Abyssals will face certain extinction the moment they¡¯re done with them.

 Chapter 930: Pandemic

    Chapter 930: Pandemic

    A couple of months passed and the ¡®stalemate¡¯ between Humanity and Abyssals forces continued.

    One thing to not is that, General Grimm already discovered where Divine Realm is. During the past couple of months, he had been sending several toons in order to gnaw at Humanity¡¯s defenses, however due to the distance and tenacity of Humans, the attacks didn¡¯t do much.

    He had been keeping track of Humanity¡¯s casualties and he discovered that despite them being physically weaker than them, humans truly didn¡¯t suffer much. At most, their injuries only piled up but only a few truly died.

    In fact, most of those who died on Humanity¡¯s side were the older folk who were at thest sprint of their lives anyway. And they went out with a bang, making sure to bring down as many Abyssals with them as possible.

    This is a huge problem. Grimm discovered that Humanity isn¡¯t really weakening despite his repeated assaults. In fact, he¡¯s just sending his men to their graves, which is unbing of him.

    It usually the other way around, with him returning home in glory.

    The situation was truly going worse than he imagined. He didn¡¯t even notice it until recently but the morale of his troops were low. With every step he took closer to Humanity¡¯s home, the more bodies of his kind piled up.

    He asked himself: ¡®Is it really this hard to win this war without the God Emperor¡¯s presence?¡¯

    Sadly, the troubles didn¡¯t end there. Today, he¡¯s about to receive a terrible news that will plummet their morale even lower.

    ¡°General Grimm! I have an important news. Please let me in.¡±

    One of soldiers urgently knocked on his door with panic obvious on his tone. General Grimm let the soldier in with a frown on his face.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°It terrible, General. News about a horrible pandemic just reached us. Our people are moring outside the God¡¯s Tower demanding for urgent assistance!¡±

    ¡°A pandemic?¡± General Grimm was confused. ¡°How is this possible? We¡¯ve gotten rid of that possibility when we evolved.¡±

    ¡°I have no clue, General. But I did see one of the patients and it was practically confirmed by our healers. The symptoms are horrible, first it would start as a mere sore throat but as days passed, it will worsen.¡±

    ¡°The afflicted will feel severely drained, unable to even life a muscle. They will lose appetite and be bedridden until cured. The longer it goes, the more they will deteriorate.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already seen some losing their hairs and muscle mass. Even breathing wasborious for them. And this only the result of less than two months affliction. Those who had weaker physiologies already sumbed and lost their lives.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the casualties already reached hundreds of thousands in number and are still rising as time went on. This unsettling situation already caused them to panic and brought them here to demand aid from us.¡±

    Grimm¡¯s face turned uglier the longer he listened to the soldier¡¯s reports.

    ¡°Why am I only hearing this now?¡± He asked with a cold fury in his tone.

    ¡°We have no clue, General. The healers I¡¯ve talked to said that they¡¯ve been sending people to inform us about it and so far they never received a reply from us and that they got tired of waiting so they decided toe to us instead.¡±

    ¡°I told them that we were uninformed but they didn¡¯t believe me. They seemed convinced that we weren¡¯t willing to help them because we¡¯re wary that the pandemic will reach us as well.¡±

    General Grimm felt trepidation on his heart. He marched outside of his office and was immediately greeted by a loudmotion outside. He could see several things flying in the air as well as the cries of the people beneath the tower.

    Just like the soldier said, they were demanding aid from them.

    As he peered down, he could see some people in their wretched state. There¡¯s a foul stench in the air and the other soldiers are having a difficult time pushing back the protesting people.

    ¡°Please! You¡¯ve got to save my child! He¡¯s the only one I have!¡±

    ¡°Help us! Don¡¯t just hide in that tower! Your people needs you! What the hell is wrong with you all!?¡±

    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t you dare hurt me! I will sue you, you hear me! I¡¯ll have you know that it is my taxes that are being used to pay people like you! You ingrate!¡±

    ¡°Medicine! We need Medicine! Actually, anything that could help! Please! This can¡¯t go on! People are dying everywhere!¡±

    ¡°Bring them down everyone! Bring the dictator down!¡±

    ¡°Down with you, you arrogant piece of shit! You don¡¯t deserve to lead our race! Begone! Die!¡±

    ¡°Please! Help us!!¡±

    It is truly horrible.

    General Grimm was at a loss for a moment. He had never been in this situation before.

    Well¡­he kind of did but in the opposite way. Back then, instead of insulting them, these people were fanatically showering them with praises and adoration. He used to stand here with an expressionless face but deep down he was happy to bask in glory, yet now it is theplete opposite of that.

    Grimm felt tired. Oh so tired.

    First he had to deal with this war all by himself. Then his life was threatened to the point where he considered fleeing to leave everyone behind. The only reason he stayed behind was for the purpose ofpleting one final order to call it quits and now, this¡­

    He truly doesn¡¯t know what to do anymore.

    The people are calling for the God Emperor but he won¡¯t being. Even if he was here, who can say that he¡¯d give a damn anyway? He¡¯d probably just ask someone, most likely Skroll, to deal with everything but that¡¯s not happening today.

    The soldier who¡¯s observing Grimm¡¯s behavior saw how the general¡¯s shoulders slumped miserably. A thick regret and sadness was stered on his face.

    The humble soldier was stunned. He had never seen Grimm wear that kind of face. He used to be the sharpest de of their race, the fearsome general. The very inspiration why this soldier joined the army in the first ce.

    Now, that very same general looks so defeated. And it shook the soldier¡¯s mind so much.

    The soldier thought that his general was invincible. Yet now¡­

    The dread was contagious it seems. With how horrible their situation is, everything seems hopeless and bleak.

    What do they do in this situation?

    ¡°Take me to the healer you talked to before.¡± General Grimm faced the soldier andmanded.

    The soldier was caught off-guard but he nodded in the end. Though he can¡¯t shake the feeling of despair pooling in his guts.

    ***

    ¡°Man¡­that¡¯s sad¡­¡±

    Raven looked at the God Emperor who¡¯s watching what¡¯s happening beneath his tower.

    The poor dude looked so desperate and wretched. His eyes turned bright crimson as he red at Raven.

    ¡°Are you happy now? Was this you aim? Do you really need to take it this far? You didn¡¯t even spare the young ones!¡±

    ¡°Wow! The hypocrisy of those words! Are you even hearing yourself?¡± Raven scoffed and retorted: ¡°Back when you were conquering other races out in this boundless Outer Worlds, where were those words of yours?¡±

    ¡°When those creatures and races that you fed to the Forbidden Ultima Core, came to you, groveled beneath your feet and begged you for mercy? Did you spare them?¡±

    ¡°When you sent this pathetic general of yours to raze their world; burning theirnds, poisoning their seas and seizing their providence, did you think, even once, if you took it too far?¡±

    ¡°When you mercilessly threw their flesh into the core, refining them of their essence to feast upon, you didn¡¯t spare the young ones either. In fact, you specifically asked for them since they are tastier, am I right?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    The God Emperor could do nothing but to gnash his teeth in simmering rage. Everything that Raven said so far was true and he can¡¯t refute it which makes this even more infuriating than it already is. In addition to that, Augustus can¡¯t understand how this human knew all of this.

    ¡°Come on, Augustus. Don¡¯t pretend that you care about them now. You and I both know that you don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just trying to weaken my resolve by appealing to my Humanity. Unfortunately for you, that will never work.¡±

    ¡°If it were humans, then sure. But those people aren¡¯t humans so I literally couldn¡¯t care less about them. In fact, I¡¯m d that they¡¯re suffering since that means less trouble for my own. Isn¡¯t this great?¡±

    ¡°DAMN YOU!!!¡± Augustus truly couldn¡¯t take it.

    He threw a reckless attack fueled by all of his rage and desperation to hopefully hurt Raven but s¡­he truly never learns.

    Raven casually shrugged the attack, closed the distance between him and Augustus. He grabbed him by the neck and mmed him at a nearby wall which caused the whole tower to shake.

    He leaned in and said his words dripping with venom.

    ¡°Imprisoning you this way truly is the best way to deal with you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only this way that I can force you to watch as we dismantle everything that you owned and worked so hard for¡­¡±

    ¡°Piece by piece¡­¡±

    ¡°Layer byyer¡­¡±

    ¡°You will bear witness to the very destruction of your home without being able to do anything to stop it, just like how your victims did before.¡±

    Raven released his grip and turned ethereal once more, but before vanishing, he said this¡­

    ¡°I usually am a calm and kind person. But since you dared to scheme against my home¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­I will enjoy breaking you, Augustus.¡±

 Chapter 931: Squad 6

    Chapter 931: Squad 6

    ¡°You guys, I just received orders from HQ. Gear up, we¡¯re about to move out again.¡±

    ¡°Finally! Damn, I was starting to get bored.¡±

    Inside a small room within the barracks, a few people could be seen moving around in response to the message. Included amongst these people were Vanessa, Richard and Jeanne who enlisted for the war.

    It¡¯s been a two weeks since theirst dispatch and frankly, sitting around while doing nothing here was starting to get stale.

    ¡°How many do you all think we¡¯ll face today?¡± Vanessa asked her squad members.

    ¡°I have no idea.¡± Jeanne shrugged while refilling her vials of poison.

    ¡°As long as there¡¯s more than ten of them I¡¯d be happy. It¡¯s not fun if there aren¡¯t much.¡± Richard replied.

    ¡°What if there¡¯s less than ten but all are peak-Empyrean Knight in strength?¡± One of their squad member interjected.

    ¡°Even better then¡­¡± Richard replied, ¡°It¡¯d be more fun that way.¡±

    ¡°Alright. If that happens then we¡¯ll let you fight them all at once.¡± Their captain interjected all of the sudden.

    ¡°Cap, don¡¯t be like that.¡±

    The squad chuckled at this exchange all while still getting ready for deployment.

    It didn¡¯t take long for them to get ready. Most of their stuff were already prepared plus ismon disciple for soldiers to be ready at all times so they were done within a couple of minutes.

    Once they¡¯re done, they immediately left their shared room and went towards the HQ office to receive briefing for the mission.

    Ellen wasn¡¯t there, instead her assistance was there to give their briefing in her stead since apparently, she¡¯s upied with something.

    ¡°Squad 6, here¡¯s your coordinates.¡± The assistant handed them a device which disyed the coordinates for their mission. ¡°You guys wait there and confront the iing enemies. You¡¯ll be facing three squads in total. Think you can handle it?¡±

    Squad 6¡¯s Captain stepped forward and replied: ¡°Yes, Commander. Squad 6 will return victorious.¡±

    ¡°Good. Remember to pay attention to your safety, if anything happens, don¡¯t hesitate to call for reinforcements, we have a lot of people vacant right now who wouldn¡¯t mind a share of action.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re dismissed, Squad 6. Godspeed everyone.¡±

    ¡°Godspeed.¡±

    After they¡¯re dismissed, Squad 6 immediately went towards their ship to head for the coordinates given to them by the HQ.

    ¡°¡­three squads huh. Should be interesting.¡± Vanessa murmured as she sat down upon entering their ship.

    Beside her, Richard was vibrating with excitement.

    ¡°More enemies for me, yay. I should be able to save enough to buy the Origin Water Essence this time around.¡±

    ¡°You know, Aunt Ellen would dly give that to you if just asked her.¡± Jeanne told Richard.

    ¡°Oh I know.¡± He replied, calming down and resting his back on his seat. ¡°But I don¡¯t like doing it that way. Plus, my pride wouldn¡¯t allow me to give Dn something I basically got for free. He wouldn¡¯t like that either.¡±

    Richard has two lovers; Dn and Alice. The two weren¡¯t in frontlines since they are too weak to he drafted so instead they stayed behind to assist with the war efforts and provide support for those who are on frontlines.

    Dn was half-step away from breaking through. Unfortunately, with his umtion so far, it would take him at least 50 years before it bes enough for a single attempt.

    50 years isn¡¯t too long for cultivators but it isn¡¯t short either. ording to what Richard knew, Dn had been stuck in this stage for so long so he decided to help him but giving him resources.

    Knowing his lover though, Richard was aware that Dn wouldn¡¯t ept anything for free. He never liked the feeling of owing someone and would much prefer to work for it instead.

    What Jeanne said was true, all it takes is for Richard to ask and he will have ess to virtually unlimited amounts of resources thanks to his heritage. However, Richard wasn¡¯t doing this for himself. He¡¯s doing it for Dn so he has to put in some effort.

    ¡°Brace yourself, kids. We¡¯re warping in.¡± The captain¡¯s voice sounded from the cockpit of the ship,

    The squad members fixed their seating position and braced themselves for the uing warp.

    The Warping Function isn¡¯t something that is exclusive to their ship. It could only be essed with the HQ¡¯s permission. This function was derived from observing how the Realm Door operated and it became one of Raven¡¯s mission back then which is now functioning properly.

    Although it isn¡¯t powerful enough as the warping that the Abyssals have, it¡¯s sufficient since it can deploy their ships faster.

    There was an audible countdown before the warping initiated. Squad 6 had experience this multiple times so they¡¯re used to it by now.

    Once the countdown finished, everybody felt a strong pull for a few seconds before its gone. In a blink of an eye, they¡¯re already far from the campsite.

    The coordinates given to them was quite far from the campsite and the warp only took their ship close to the exact location. They still have to manually navigate to the position and it would take a day at most for them to reach it.

    ¡°Alright, Kids. Same drill. Be on alert and the moment you see something amiss, don¡¯t hold it in and tell us.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Captain.¡±

    ¡°Begin your rounds then.¡±

    The moment they stepped in unknown territory, order must be observed. It¡¯s one of the strict rules that soldiers have to follow to ensure the sess of their mission.

    Squad 6 isposed of 7 people. There used to be 10 of them but the other 3 were on vacation and won¡¯t be returning until next month. Which is fine given that there¡¯s a lot of soldiers who really are on stand by.

    Still, even if there¡¯s just 7 of them, their fire power didn¡¯t truly lessen. It more or less stayed the same.

    From here on out, everyone has to be on alert. They¡¯re far from home and anything can turn hostile here. The squad members had to patrol the vicinity of ship in rotation to maintain alertness all over and make sure that they¡¯ll be able to respond at the first sight of hostile approach.

    ¡°You guys stay here, we three will take the first round.¡± Richard offered.

    ¡°Sure. Stay safe out there.¡± Their squad members replied and epted the deal.

    Just like that, Richard, Vanessa and Jeanne flew out of the ship to begin their patrol.

    ¡°I¡¯ll watch our back. You to decide which side you¡¯ll be.¡± Vanessa stated as soon as they got out of their ship.

    In the end, Richard watched their left while Jeanne watched their right. There¡¯s no need for anyone to watch the front since their captain is already doing that.

    Vanessa put a kilometer¡¯s distance away from her and ship. Before scanning her surroundings. This distance was just enough for her to react proper and still be within ship¡¯smunication range. She can go farther of course but there¡¯s no need to do that.

    ¡°Cloudy,e out here. It¡¯s patrol time.¡± She said softly to herself.

    From beneath her clothes, a purple smoke emerged which turned denser and denser until it became a cloud. Vanessa smiled and petted if for bit before the cloud dispersed itself and covered the entirety of the ship.

    The cloud turned itself into a cloak that hid their ship including a kilometer¡¯s distance around it. The cloaking was impable too, Vanessa had used this trick to ambush many enemies in the past and it always worked.

    Cloudy was originally an Spiritual Origin Raincloud that once descended to baptize her, it was attracted by Vanessa¡¯s inborn providence and wanted to establish a connection with her to hopefully ride her coattails.

    Sufficed to say, this cloud is a Spiritual Entity itself.

    However, Raven saw through its intentions as well the many others who, just like this cloud did, descended at the same time of Vanessa¡¯s birth. Raven didn¡¯t want them to touch even a single strand of hair and he¡¯s too strong for them to antagonize so they could only leave in defeat.

    To cloudy¡¯s luck though, Vanessa took a liking to it.

    It is absurd to believe that a Spiritual Entity would be willing to bind itself as a familiar of a human child but this child was the daughter of the strongest man alive so it wasn¡¯t so bad.

    Plus, Vanessa was a dear and blessed with an obscene amount of providence. Just by staying on her side, Cloudy already benefitted a lot so it didn¡¯t hesitate to form a bond with her.

    Of course, Raven also had a hand on this. He personally improved the cloud using runes to protect his child. Since he can¡¯t really afford to pull this cloud away from her daughter¡¯s grasp, he might as well make sure that it is strong enough to protect her.

    That¡¯s basically what cloudy has been doing all this time. It is one of strongest tools in Vanessa¡¯s arsenal but it¡¯s duty is to ensure her safety.

    With its abilities, Vanessa could more or less survive any encounter she¡¯ll face so long as she remains careful.

 Chapter 932: Vanessas Playmates

    Chapter 932: Vanessa¡¯s ymates

    Squad 6¡¯s ship continued towards the coordinates. Only a few hours to go and they¡¯ll reach the general area where they could station themselves and wait for the Abyssals.

    Vanessa, Richard and Jeanne were already reced by their teammates for the patrol duty. This however doesn¡¯t mean that they were doing nothing. They are still in alert just in case an emergency happened but at the same time, they¡¯re using this time to conserve as much energy as they could for the uing battle.

    A few more hours passed just like this and their Captain informed them that they¡¯re arrived to their destination.

    ¡°Kids, we¡¯re here. Same rules as before. Layout traps and make sure that the bastards thates here will never return.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Captain.¡±

    All seven members of the squad exited the ship. The captain kept the ship itself in the meantime to keep it safe from any stray attacks.

    The squad members moved in sync, it is obvious from their actions that they¡¯ve done this a lot already.

    Vanessa took the south and startedying down their trap for their enemy. She did it as fast as she could since there¡¯s no telling when the enemy will arrive.

    The trap they¡¯reying down is a simple formation. A prettymon one where it imprisons hostiles whoe in contact with it. It¡¯s simple but extremely effective. It has been tried and tested on numerous asions since, it turns out that the Abyssals are incapable of deciphering how they work.

    Due to this trap being a simple formation, it isn¡¯t very hard to set up. It only takes an hour or so and it¡¯s ready. Now all that¡¯s left to do is to wait for the enemy.

    The squad members took their position. They hid themselves in corners of the formation, ready to ambush the enemies that will eventually appear.

    ¡®Get ready, Kids. Here theye.¡¯ The Captain said through voice transmission.

    Vanessa took a deep breath and prepared herself. In a matter of seconds, a ship made itself visible to them.

    The structure of the ships was unmistakable. They¡¯ve seen it multiple times at this point. This belonged to the Abyssals, the enemy is here.

    When the shipnded on the area where the trap is, the Abyssals initially didn¡¯t sense anything wrong with the area. But when they tried leaving to continue their trip, the ship hit an invisible barrier which is extremely sturdy.

    That¡¯s when the squad saw the Abyssals exiting the ship to figure out what¡¯s going on.

    ¡°Richard, do your thing.¡± The Captain¡¯s orders rang on their ears.

    Inpliance to the order, Richard immediately shifted. He jumped out of his hiding spot and exploded with a strong Spacetime fluctuations. The space around them warped and twisted, the Abyssals were caught off-guard and didn¡¯t know what to do.

    Richard¡¯s actions caused the Abyssals to be pulled away from each other. He shuffled their locations and also released a fluctuation that will prevent them from contacting each other without harming his team¡¯s.

    Vanessa who had been prepared for this, saw several silhouettes appearing in front of her.

    The Abyssals who were transferred in a nonpliant way, appeared confused and slightly panicked but that¡¯s not what Vanessa was concerned about.

    ¡®He gave me five of them. Cool, I guess¡­¡¯

    Richard, as the one responsible for shuffling the positions of the enemy, is also responsible for allocating where they will go and how many a squad member will face. The captain wasn¡¯t fussed about the division and let Richard decide it ording to his judgement.

    ording to what the HQ told them, their squad will be facing a total of three squads moving in one. Recently, the Abyssals doubled their efforts in trying to infiltrate Divine Realm and with that, the amount of soldiers one squad of them consists of, rose up as well.

    Nowadays, one Abyssal squad has 10 members in it with 3 of them being stronger than themon ones. This meant that they¡¯ll be facing 30 hostiles with the just the 7 of them.

    While it might look like they¡¯re at a disadvantage here, it¡¯s best to know that the members of Squad 6 aren¡¯t really themon folk.

    It took the Abyssals a while to gather themselves. Only then did they discover Vanessa standing before them.

    ¡°Are you the one who brought us here?¡± One of the Abyssals asked Vanessa in a domineering tone.

    ¡°¡­who knows?¡± Vanessa shrugged dismissively, soundingpletely unbothered by strong front of enemy.

    ¡°Where did the rest of my squad went? I demand you to bring here, now!¡± The same Abyssal demanded.

    ¡°Oh?¡± Vanessa looked mildly amused, ¡°So like¡­are you expecting me toply just because you said that?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t right? After all, that¡¯s extremely stupid if you ask me.¡± She chuckled while twirling her umbre.

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste time with this wench, Sire. It¡¯s obvious that she wouldn¡¯t y nice so let¡¯s give her a lesson so that she¡¯ll stop messing with us.¡± Another Abyssal stepped forward and suggested.

    The other Abyssal looked convinced: ¡°Might as well¡­anyway, she looks eptable. Don¡¯t break herpletely, I could use her for a bit.¡±

    ¡°Roger that, Sire.¡± The other Abyssals replied and then charged at Vanessa like starving hounds.

    ¡°You boys seriously don¡¯t know how to treat ady properly.¡± Vanessa snorted as she saw them flying towards her.

    She skipped backwards and immediately disappeared in a veil of smoke. Confusing those who were previously charging at her.

    As they began searching for her trace, she appeared behind one and ruthlessly twisted the neck of her target, causing a crisp bone shattering to echo around.

    Everyone sharply looked at her direction on to see one of them plop down like a sack of potatoes. Vanessa vanished again much to their dismay.

    Believe it or not, the Abyssal who¡¯s head was ruthlessly twisted wasn¡¯t dead. He thought he was but since his core was leftpletely intact, his head just twisted back in ce and he stood up like nothing happened.

    Well, what Vanessa did to him hurts a lot but he¡¯s alive and that¡¯s what matters.

    ¡°You¡¯ll pay for that, you fucking wench! Show yourself!¡±

    In response to that, Vanessa showed up once more and did the exact same thing to the same person again. She even let out a mischievous chuckle before vanishing again.

    That poor Abyssal who¡¯s neck got twisted twice in a row, was so incensed that all he saw was red. As soon as he got back up, he immediately threw attacks everywhere in hopes of hitting Vanessa.

    s¡­he failed to hit her.

    And his neck got twisted again for the third time.

    Vanessa released a full blownughter at this point. It was clear that she was ying around and that angered the Abyssals a lot.

    As a result of this, they gathered around that poor guy to prevent her from doing it again.

    ¡°Aww¡­you took my toy away. I was nning on twisting his neck some more¡­¡± Vanessa appeared from afar, looking visibly sad and disappointed.

    The poor victim nearly spat out blood from sheer anger he felt. He never felt so humiliated in his entire life more than now and it only took a few minutes for that to happen.

    But still, even in his angered state, he can recognize a frightening enemy if he sees one.

    The fact that this woman can appear and a disappear at her will without them noticing it makes her extremely dangerous. The man, who¡¯s neck got twisted three times in a row, isn¡¯t unfamiliar with the battlefield but he still got yed like a fool.

    None of them felt a thing. They never knew when or where she¡¯s going to appear next and that¡¯s something that would make this battle harder than they initially thought.

    ¡°Arrgghh!!!¡±

    The Abyssals were stunned, they sharply turned around only to see Vanessa standing in front of that domineering Abyssal earlier with a de on her hand stabbed at the man¡¯s genitals.

    Vanessa ruthless pulled the de out and disappeared before the Abyssal could eveny a finger on her.

    ¡°Sire!!¡± The rest of the Abyssals finally reacted.

    They were visibly shaken by what happened. They could¡¯ve sworn that they were staring at her from afar so how the hell did she manage to stab someone in the crotch without them knowing.

    Nevertheless, the man who got stabbed is now suffering immensely. Again, since his core isn¡¯t damage, this wouldn¡¯t kill him. But that doesn¡¯t make this injury painless.

    ¡°How¡¯s it? Can it still stand-up after being stabbed?¡± Vanessa¡¯s mischievous tone echoed on their ears, giving them the shivers.

    ¡°How¡­dare you¡­wench!!¡± The man painfully uttered while clutching his crotch and ring at a distance.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re about to cry. Is it really that painful? I can¡¯t rte, sorry.¡± Vanessa wasn¡¯t even hiding her mocking tone at this point.

    ¡°Show yourself! Stop hiding like a coward and fight us up front!!¡±

    ¡°Again¡­are you really expecting me to do that just because you said so? Are you stupid?¡± Vanessa scoffed while remaining invisible. ¡°You expect me to stand still and let you hit me just because you demanded it? Wow, talk about being an entitled son of a bitch.¡±

    ¡°If you have the ability,e and try me.¡± Vanessa chuckled, ¡°You won¡¯t escape this ce unless you kill me anyway.¡±

 Chapter 933: Efficient way of killing

    Chapter 933: Efficient way of killing

    On the other corner of the battlefield¡­

    Richard was currently facing 9 Abyssals all by himself. None of them were Royal Guards though, they¡¯re just scouts who appeared lost on what just happened to them. He sent the Royal Guards to their captain since he thought that the cap needs some exercise.

    As of right now, he¡¯s currently putting the Abyssals under the most horrible torture they could even experience in their entire life.

    Two small ck holes, one siphoning clockwise while the other spun counter-clockwise, was ced on top and below the bunched group of Abyssals.

    The suction force of the ck holes were too strong for them to resist, the Abyssals had used all sorts of methods and trinkets to help them steady their ground but nothing worked. They could only sit there and suffer immensely as their flesh was continuously ripped apart from the body as it regenerates.

    The one thing that is unique to the Abyssals are their core. They can use it in so many ways and it is attached to their soul. Even if their bodies were ripped to shreds, so long as their core exists, they would just regenerate on the spot.

    Though¡­as good as this may sound, this uniqueness they posses can be exploited in so many ways as well, and with Raven having the most experience due to this past life, he had a long list of ways to do this.

    And this knowledge was passed down to humanity so that they can deal with the Abyssals. Just like what Richard is doing right now¡­

    ¡®Yeah, this doesn¡¯t get old.¡¯ He mused inwardly, ¡®It¡¯s a wonder just how much flesh can be harvested in them using this way. If there¡¯s only a way to make they edible, we can keep some of them and raise them as infinite supply of food.¡¯

    It¡¯s obvious that Richard had done this a lot, and that is true. He did torment numerous Abyssals using this method for quite some time now.

    The flesh of an Abyssal is poisonous to humans. This had been tested before and no matter how much experiment was done to search for a way to make them safe, it all failed. Which is rather unfortunate to bepletely honest.

    In truth though, the Abyssals can¡¯t regenerate infinitely. There is a cap on how much flesh they can shed before they die. It will just take a while to get there which gives off an impression that they can regenerate endlessly.

    The reason behind this is in the core itself.

    With the constant conquering of the Abyssals, they¡¯ve evolved themselves in to a level of higher lifeforms. They used the flesh and providence of their defeated foes to increase their own strength.

    The flesh that being rended from their bodies aren¡¯t theirs so to say, it¡¯s the flesh of their fallen foe that they used as cover to hide their frail frames.

    Puncturing the core would be an easier way to kill them, it¡¯s most effective way too. But why is Richard doing this in this manner?

    Well, the answer to that, is to make sure that they won¡¯te back from the dead.

    Like what was mentioned the flesh that are being generated from the Abyssals¡¯ body aren¡¯t necessarily theirs, it¡¯s from their defeated foes. So long as the core remained intact, they would regenerate.

    While destroying their core would spell their deaths, it has to be known that it isn¡¯t a permanent one¡­

    Somedayter, they will be reincarnated, their memories will be sealed until they mature but once they remember anything, they¡¯re essentially back. It will take some time for them to reappear but their immortal nheless.

    Them gaining a new body has something to do with the flesh nothing being theirs and their reincarnation is tied down to the providence they plundered from the races they conquered. Even reincarnation drains a portion of that providence so they will need to plunder endlessly to keep it stocked-up.

    And the one thing that ties this all together is the Forbidden Ultima Core.

    So long as that core exists, the Abyssal Race is truly infallible.

    Destroying the core is risky and something that only Raven himself could do but there are ways to help him out in doing that.

    For example; draining the amount of flesh the Abyssals can use and the providence they stocked up. So long as their stock drops low, the Forbidden Ultima Core will lose its power and it would be useless, which will eventually lead down to the downfall of the Abyssal Race.

    Richard has many ways y off as much flesh as he could from the Abyssals but he found out that using two ck holes was the most efficient way of doing it since it could disintegrate flesh the moment it appears so it wouldn¡¯t fill the space with too much of them.

    It was also helpful that the Abyssals regenerate as fast as they lost their flesh, it really makes this whole process swifter on its own.

    Plus, Richard doesn¡¯t even have to do anything. He could just stand still and watch as the Abyssals constantly howl in pain as their flesh gets disintegrated by two gaping ck holes.

    It truly couldn¡¯t get any easier for him.

    On the other end of the battlefield, a simr scene was happening, only a different method was being used.

    Jeanne used a unique poison concoction and submerged the Abyssals with it.

    Trapped in a neb of deadly poison, the Abyssals¡¯ flesh where constantly being singed into nothingness as it regenerated. No matter how much they tried toe out of the poison bubble, they couldn¡¯t get out. The fluid was viscous and it stuck to their flesh, it¡¯s as if they¡¯re being digested alive.

    A cruel method but necessary. Jeanne, much like her father, didn¡¯t intend to show these morons even a shred of mercy. She¡¯s dead set into making sure that they¡¯ll never recover from this.

    Growing up, Jeanne fell in love with the peace and prosperity of her home. She loved going around and experiencing things that she had never had a chance to do before.

    She thought that her home was a boundless paradise, waiting to be discovered. No matter how prosperous or how corrupted it became, it still her home.

    In addition to this, she¡¯s especially fond of the simple days where there¡¯s no strife, just peace and serenity. If it¡¯s possible, she would love to keep it that way since she really didn¡¯t want to live a life of battle.

    s, these creatures just have to arrive and ruin everything.

    She could still remember how much dread she felt when she realized that everything she loved and held dear might possibly be gone the moment they arrived.

    The nightmares kept her up at night, causing her so much worry and anxiety, and her visions just became even more terrible the closer they came.

    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that there¡¯s some who can prop-up the sky for them, Jeanne might¡¯ve already lost it.

    Jeanne is a usually a calm and reserved person, she behaved just like her mother did but if something threatened those that she loved, she wouldn¡¯t hesitate to show them why that¡¯s a horrible idea to foster.

    She enlisted in the war to prevent her visions froming true. She would rather die than to see her home gets ravaged by these conquering mongrels. She swore that she¡¯ll do everything in her power to protect those that needs her protection, and it is for that very reason why she approached the Path of Deadly Poison, so that she can use it to cut down her foes.

    Mark trained her rigorously. Not just for the sake of keeping her alive but also for the sake of her contributing to their cause. Jeanne soldiered on and transformed in measly years into what she is right now.

    At this point, every one in the barracks knew how terrifying she is. The war truly awakened her sharp side and made bare her fangs.

    As she watched as her enemies got digested by the poison she created, Jeanne was trying to figure out if she could make a better concoction next time.

    ¡®This can get faster¡­¡¯

    ¡®I could increase the acidic levels a little bit to do that but I have to be careful, I might melt off their cores if I raise it too high. That wouldn¡¯t be good.¡¯

    ¡®The cores should remain intact while making sure that they lose flesh faster. That way, I can drain their stocks even faster.¡¯

    What she¡¯s using right wasn¡¯t bad, but it could be better. After all, the Abyssals regenerate as fast and they lost their flesh so raising the acidic factor of her poison shouldn¡¯t be a bad idea.

    If her enemies could only hear what she¡¯s thinking right now, they might probably flee as far as they could away from her and never look back.

    They already suffered immensely under her grasp, they couldn¡¯t even feel bad for her next victims since there¡¯s no telling if they would even survive to even tell the tale.

 Chapter 934: Glamour World

    Chapter 934: mour World

    ¡°Alright, Kids. Wrap it up, we¡¯re done here.¡±

    The captain of the Squad 6manded through voice transmission. In front of them, decaying bodies of the Abyssalsid lifeless. Even in their death, it is visible how much they suffered due to the methods of Humans that attacked them.

    The battle went on for a week in total, not because it was intense but because it really takes time to drain as much flesh as they could.

    Even with that though, they are not expecting to make a noticeable dent on the stockpile of the Abyssals just yet. But if we round up how many Abyssals were suffering through continuous flesh rending, humanity should be making a visible progress.

    Too bad there isn¡¯t really a way for them to confirm how much they¡¯ve drained so far. They¡¯d only know that they¡¯ve done enough once the Abyssals no longer regenerated their flesh when they¡¯re injured. For now, they could only do their best.

    The members of the Squad finished up their own battles and converged at the location of the Captain.

    It¡¯s already confirmed that every hostile is dead and they¡¯ve also checked their ship to see if they missed anything. Turns out they didn¡¯t so they just confiscated the ship. Sealing it before going to their own.

    Once inside their ship, the squad members still looked energetic. It is obvious that the mission was quite easy even though they have to face three squads at once. Well, considering what method they used to defeat them, this should be understandable.

    ¡°Squad 6 Captain here, connecting to HQ. Please respond.¡±

    ¡°Squad 6 this is HQ. We hear you loud and clear. How can we help?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re done with the mission HQ, no casualties and all hostiles confirmed dead. We¡¯ve also confiscated some cargo. We¡¯re heading back there.¡±

    ¡°Copy. Good work Squad 6. We¡¯ll be expecting you soon. Stay safe out there.¡±

    ¡°Roger that. Squad 6, out.¡± The captain terminated the link. He then opened the ship¡¯s internalmunications device and said: ¡°Kids, put on your seatbelts. We¡¯re going home.¡±

    ¡°Aye, aye Captain.¡± He heard a reply from them.

    Well, the squad members didn¡¯t really need to sit still as they ship flew back home. What the captain said was just an expression.

    Currently, the members are rxing. Depressing from the battle that they just went through. Although this was a rtively easy mission, being out there in the vast and seemingly boundless space with nothing but silence and floating rocks filled them with gloom.

    Being exposed to an inhabitable environment was bound to stress them whether they like it or not. So it is beneficial for them to rest and find something to do that can help them rx and wash the gloominess in them.

    For Vanessa, the best way to do it is by sleeping.

    Well, she calls it sleeping but it¡¯s more than that to be honest.

    Inside her room in the ship, there¡¯s no noticeable furniture around, not even a bed, pillow or nket. Just an empty but clean room. Still Vanessa still imed it as hers and had been using it regrly.

    She didn¡¯t really need furniture, she has no use for them anyway. It¡¯s not like she¡¯ll be living in the ship¡¯s room for a long time so she saw no merit in cing them.

    Even a bed is not required even though she often slumbered. There¡¯s really no need for it when she¡¯s just floating in the middle of the room, curled up and wrapped by a warm violet cloud as she slumbered deeply to get rid of her fatigue.

    Cloudy isn¡¯t just useful in battle, it is also the softest and most delicate bed anybody can has. Why sleep on a bed when you have a literal cloud following you around?

    Vanessa and Cloudy are protected by a golden sphere which encased them both. The golden sphere just makes it so that they wouldn¡¯t be disturbed while sleeping. Vanessa is sensitive to sounds due to her naturally sharp senses, even the faintest noise can wake her up.

    Even though Vanessa is asleep, her mind is very active.

    As someone who mastered the Mirage Laws to its acme, Vanessa¡¯s illusions can effect reality itself. And inside her mind, where her imaginations are unshackled andpletely free, there is a space where she can y around and do everything she wants.

    If she wants the world to be bigger, it will be bigger. If she wants it smaller, then it will be smaller. She can decide what colors should appear, what shapes clouds should have, how malleable the Earth is, how deep the ocean are and how cool the air is.

    She can add or pluck heavenly bodies should she desire it. She could sprinkle stars on her yard if she wants too.

    Anything she can think of, could be possible inside this world.

    She calls this: The mour World.

    And in the mour World, Vanessa is a God.

    Of course, the mour World isn¡¯t just restrained on her mindscape. Vanessa could ovep this with reality and therefore show vivid images she can think of and, in some ways, make it very real.

    This is the secret behind Vanessa¡¯s strength.

    The moment sheys down her mour World and ovep it with the real world, she can practically do anything she wants. Her will can overwrite reality itself and that¡¯s what makes her terrifying.

    Most people doesn¡¯t what she can truly do since she doesn¡¯t really go around and brag about it. Those who knew are the same people who knew what her identity is, and the amount of people who knew aren¡¯t much to begin with.

    Even if they knew what she can do, what were they supposed to do about it? Much like her father, Vanessa bes invincible the moment sheys down her domain, what¡¯s the point?

    So, those who knew what she can truly do, could only rejoice that Vanessa was an ally, not an enemy.

    The amount of the Abyssals that suffered due to her mour World passed hundreds at this point. It¡¯s not much but considering how she was practically untouched in all of her battles, this proves how ridiculous it gets the moments she gets a chance.

    Take the recent group of the Abyssals that she faced for example;

    Even as they died, they never realized that they were under a horrifying illusion all along.

    The moment they arrived in front of Vanessa, they were already caught in an illusion. Even if they realized it in the middle of the battle, they wouldn¡¯t be able to get out of it since the Vanessa¡¯s Mirage Laws had the essence of Order, something thatpletely eludes the Abyssals.

    In truth, what urred wasn¡¯t much of a battle. She stood still as the Abyssals suffered tremendously while inside her illusions. She rended their flesh so many times and quite swiftly too.

    The Abyssals couldn¡¯t even realize that they¡¯re inside an illusion while they¡¯re still unharmed, how can they even think about it when they¡¯re in pain?

    As a result, they could only die while remaining ignorant about the truth, such is the horrifying power held by Vanessa.

    Vanessa is truly powerful. Knowing her lineage, it would be weird if she wasn¡¯t born with so much potential. Raven and Luna didn¡¯t skimp on anything that would be beneficial for her growth and only provided her with the best.

    In exchange, they just want her to live her life ording to how she please. They don¡¯t want anything in return but¡­how can that be?

    Of course Vanessa knew that her parents were telling the truth. But her conscience wouldn¡¯t let her be at peace she didn¡¯t anything to make them proud.

    But knowing how her parents are, she just needs to be breathe in and out and they¡¯d praise for it. Honestly¡­

    At this point though, this is no longer about making them proud. She participated in this war not to prove something but to save the world.

    And since she held power to contribute to something meaningful, it is obvious that she¡¯d do it in a heartbeat.

    This is the mentality that she inherited from her parents. They are her inspiration and reason why could go this far and harness this incredible power.

    She might be a blessed child by birthright but that alone isn¡¯t enough to finalize what or who she¡¯s going to be.

    But since she grew up in a loving family and inspired to do good rather than harm, it is already established that she will never aim her sword at her people.

    Instead she would use it to ensure that they are protected, safe and secured. It is only that way that she could say that she did something meaningful.

    If it makes her parents proud, well that¡¯s just a bonus. Vanessa already realized a long time ago that she needs to follow her own path, not the footsteps of her own parents.

    They are their own person while she¡¯s her own. She¡¯d do things in her way to make sure that everything she held dear will remain intact after this war.

 Chapter 935: Grimms Broadcast

    Chapter 935: Grimm¡¯s Broadcast

    In only a span of a year, the Abyssals were reduced to mere shells of their former glory.

    Paradise had seen it¡¯s gravest state ever since they decided to conquer Humanity. Before, its streets are filled with glory, pride and wealth. The atmosphere was grim yet majestic at the same. There¡¯s a subtle sharpness behind the realm¡¯s beauty stemming from the sheer might the Abyssal Race held.

    Now though¡­

    There¡¯s nothing but sickness andment around. The Crimson Affliction dealt a devastating blow to their general popce, add the fact that they noticed it toote and the situation swiftly went out of hand.

    The resources they have are spread thin and wide, half of it was dedicated to the on-going war while the other half was dedicated on holding to the remaining structure of their society.

    At least 80% of their people had fallen ill. Even the healers that are trying tobat the mysterious illness by researching a cure weren¡¯t spared from it. Every effort they poured onto their research were ultimately for nothing. They can¡¯t figure out how to cure the illness and the more they suffered, the more desperate they got.

    Even the soldiers who were participating in the war weren¡¯t spared, in fact the illness seems to target them specifically since if someone from their ranks caught the disease, they will instantly be crippled by its effects, effectively releasing them from duty.

    There some dumb assess who tried to keep it as a secret which caused even more damage since they passed it on to someone else too.

    The situation is truly grim and none of them could understand how it happened. They thought that since their evolution, they were no longer susceptible to any kind of illnesses. That¡¯s what their Emperor told them and for the longest of time, they believed that too but what¡¯s this all about? Howe a horrific pandemic came out of nowhere? And why can¡¯t theybat it?

    It wasn¡¯t just that either¡­

    On top of the Crimson Affliction, their food is running out too. The Abyssals are starting to starve because most of their ntations and factories got targeted.

    Most of the transportation lines were destroyed which effectively slowed down the food distribution. It takes weeks if not months to deliver rations from one ce to the other, and that isn¡¯t even including the possibility that the transporters might get attacked along the way.

    To make things worse, it seems that their nature is also starting to be exhausted. Their crops are still growing but it¡¯s obviously slower, plus the harvest isn¡¯t great. It takes them tons of resources to expedite the growth of food but the return isn¡¯t as much as they¡¯ve spent.

    Slowly but surely, they were being drained. As each day passed, the atmosphere turned gloomier and gloomier.

    There¡¯s tension everywhere. It will only take the tiniest spark to lit up the fuse and for this whole situation to getpletely out of hand.

    General Grimm was not having a good time.

    Even though only a year passed since the caught news of the affliction, he looked as if he aged a 1000 years. There¡¯s an ever-present frown on his face, his shoulders are always slumped and exhaustion was obvious on each of his movement.

    He has been holding out for so long and he doesn¡¯t know how long he¡¯ll be able to take it.

    Everything went wrong ever since they decided to invade Humans and he¡¯s deeply regretting it now. Had he known that something like this will happen, he would¡¯ve convinced the God Emperor to never dare.

    s, that¡¯s not possible.

    He will never admit this out loud but he deeply missed Skroll. It¡¯s not because he cared for the guy or anything, no. He misses him because if he¡¯s here, this would¡¯ve been his problem not his.

    If Skroll was here, he could¡¯ve fled way earlier. Unfortunately, Skroll isn¡¯t showing himself anymore. He¡¯s most likely dead. Grimm wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that turns out to be true.

    As for what he¡¯s going to do next well¡­who knows?

    At this point, he doesn¡¯t even had the energy to put up a fight anymore.

    So what if they¡¯ve located the enemy base? Unlike their side, the enemy side has every side of their defenses manned and nobody can pass through that isn¡¯t a human.

    Every attempt of invasion was met with extreme prejudice. They can¡¯t even take a good look of what¡¯s behind the wall since those who made it that far, died before they can say anything.

    7 out of 10 squads he sends away will never return. The lucky three could only give him minimal intel and it¡¯s just not worth it.

    On top of all this, he¡¯s being stretched in all sides. Due to the God Emperor¡¯s absence, he¡¯s the one in charge and therefore, has to be the one to shoulder the me.

    From the families of fallen, to the families dying because of the illness. The council pressuring him to bring results to ease their people and with them being equally useless, Grimm really can¡¯t take it anymore.

    He can¡¯t even remember how he got up this morning. Did he even sleep at all to begin with? Honestly, he¡¯s just so tired and he just wants everything to end soon.

    He asked himself why he¡¯s even doing all of this. None of this was his fault, he didn¡¯t want any of this to begin with. He just wanted a quiet life, away from all conflicts if that¡¯s possible. He wanted a way out. He doesn¡¯t want to suffer like this.

    But at the same time, he also understand why it has to be him. He¡¯s the one with experience and his close connection with the God Emperor practically sealed his fate. He can¡¯t escape this. Plus, he has to answer to his people at least.

    He¡¯s resolved to doing everything he can to at least give them a way out and more importantly, give himself a chance.

    Grimm swore that after this, he¡¯s done. This is thest time that he¡¯ll be the God Emperor¡¯s puppet. He had dedicated most of his life to his duty already, he¡¯ll be retiring after this since he really can¡¯t go on anymore.

    Today, he nned to make a bold move.

    Despite the chaos that ensued so far and the morale being so low, he still thinks that there is a chance for them to recover.

    Today, he nned on broadcasting his image to everyone, much like how the God Emperor does it.

    Although his image isn¡¯t as splendid as the God Emperor, he still held some prestige and reputation amongst the people.

    He nned on being transparent to them. He will truthfully exin their current situation and will seriously convince everyone to unite their forces so that they can survive this trying times.

    The moment is already upon him. The stage is set and his speech is already prepared. He¡¯s ready to do his all to make something meaningful before he leaves.

    When he gave out his signal, the broadcast started.

    ¡°Citizens of Paradise, most of you probably already know who I am but to those who don¡¯t, I am General Grimm, right hand man of the God Emperor and the one in-charge of the current war efforts.¡±

    Grimm adjusted his uniform and continued: ¡°I know you all aren¡¯t expecting me out of all people to show up for today¡¯s broadcast. I know you all are waiting for the God Emperor to appear and appease every concern that you have.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately for us, that won¡¯t be happening soon. Why? Because the God Emperor is currently fighting against a formidable enemy and he can¡¯t extricate himself out of that fight since only him can keep the horrible enemy in-check.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re at war. I won¡¯t hide that from you. I figured that everyone should know that by now. Back then we are so used to us being the ultimate winners and being so strong that our enemies are helpless against us. However, I¡¯m afraid that right now, we¡¯ve met our match.¡±

    ¡°The Human Race proved stronger than we thought. Their defenses are tough and they employed cruel tactics to bring us down.¡±

    ¡°They ransacked our food supplies and killed our people. I¡¯d even suspect that they are behind the cruel illness that had spread around recently.¡±

    Grimm took a deep breath and said: ¡°They are strong. But I believe that we are stronger.¡±

    ¡°The very fact that they used these dishonorable tactics to damage us and lower our morale is already a clear proof of my statement.¡±

    ¡°My people, don¡¯t lose faith for I am with you. Right now, we already discovered where their home is and we¡¯re very close in defeating them.¡±

    ¡°Unlike us, Humans aren¡¯t Immortals. They can¡¯t regenerate flesh as swiftly as we could and they can¡¯t be reincarnated like we could. Once they die, that¡¯s it.¡±

    ¡°Our situation might look horrible right now but I promise you that everything will get better. It will take sometime but ultimately, our enemies will fall before us like others did. You only need to have faith in our strength.¡±

    ¡°Hoh¡­those are some big words you have right there.¡±

    ¡°Who!?¡±

 Chapter 936: Interrupted

    Chapter 936: Interrupted

    The broadcast of General Grimm of course caught the attention of the crowd.

    Despite their horrible situation, they still watched it with rapt attention and gave the general the benefit of a doubt.

    At this point, the news about the war is already known by most people, so when the General pointed that out, nobody was really surprised. After all, their situation wouldn¡¯t decline this much if there weren¡¯t anything happening behind the scenes.

    When they heard that that their God Emperor is fighting someone extremely strong, that surprised them.

    Truth to be told, they¡¯re used to their race being the dominant one. Being the oppressor and the winner is something that they¡¯re used to. That¡¯s the whole reason behind their prosperity to begin with.

    But to think that there was someone out there who can match their God Emperor and keep him upied enough to be unable to contact them, was something that is really shocking to them.

    When the General said that they¡¯ve underestimated humans, this words resonated within them. They¡¯re grown arrogant indeed and because of that, they are suffering greatly.

    With the General¡¯s words however, their fighting spirit was roused. He said that humans were fragile. Unlike them, they aren¡¯t immortal. This meant that they have a chance to fight back and recover from this.

    There is a chance that they could still win¡­unfortunately, it seems that Humanity doesn¡¯t have any ns on staying put while they regain their morale.

    The interruption of the broadcast shocked everyone. A human appeared right in front of General Grimm. It was a middle aged man wearing a crimson scarf and a leather armor. There¡¯s a pair of swords strapped on his waist and his arms were crossed as he stared at the General with a dull face.

    ¡°How have you been since west met, General Grimm? Is it just me or look older than thest time I saw you?¡±

    ¡°You!!¡± Grimm¡¯s soul shook to its core.

    He should¡¯ve realized it the moment he heard that voice. That same haunting voice that promised certain death to him.

    ¡°Yes, me. Surprised?¡± Mark sneered as he leaned at a nearby pir. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long since west met. Hardly a year, maybe? Ah, whatever. But you do older than before.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°It must¡¯ve been difficult to hold down the fort on your own huh?¡± Mark continued, ¡°Especially when you¡¯re surrounded by idiots. Ah, you poor soul.¡±

    ¡°How did you get in here!? Guards!?¡±

    The General sounded strong and dominant. He doesn¡¯t appear to be intimidated by the human in front of him.

    ¡­truly could¡¯ve fooled everyone though, unfortunately he can¡¯t fool Mark.

    Mark can smell fear from him. He knew that the General ispletely terrified out of his mind. The trauma he left to him during theirst meeting is still fresh. It only due to his experience that he can bluff his way out of this but that doesn¡¯t have any effect on Mark.

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother calling, General.¡± Mark stretched his neck slightly, ¡°You¡¯re loyal soldiers already died under the Crimson Affliction. They¡¯re noting to save you. Even if they¡¯re alive at this point, they don¡¯t have the ability to save you.¡±

    ¡°What is it that you n to achieve bying here?¡± The poor General asked as his back slowly sweated coldly.

    ¡°Oh, nothing much.¡± Mark shrugged, ¡°See, I was strolling around your streets and I happened to see the broadcast. I figured that I should see it in person for a better experience. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t have much to do anyway so it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Ahh, who am I kidding. This isn¡¯t my style at all¡­¡± Mark snorted as he tapped his finger on his arms. ¡°In truth, I¡¯m here to correct you. I saw you spouting bullshit from a mile away and I just couldn¡¯t take it so I came here. There. Satisfied?¡±

    ¡°Correct me?¡± The General had the audacity to scoff. ¡°Why? Did I hit a sore spot? As far as I know everything that I said is true.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Mark sneered, ¡°On what basis then? Pray tell, dear General? Howe you¡¯re so sure that you¡¯re intel about us is true? How many humans have you captured ever since this war began? Mind telling me?¡±

    The General¡¯s mouth firmly pressed into a thin line. Seeing that, Mark scoffed.

    ¡°If you¡¯re not willing to say, then why don¡¯t I tell everyone for you sake. It should be fine right? After all, I¡¯m human.¡± Mark leaned forward and raised a finger.

    ¡°One, General.¡± He said, ¡°You¡¯ve only captured one human so far, and that happened even before this war began. In fact, the only reason why your race got to know the existence of ours was because you lured that pure human into thinking that you were the good guys.¡±

    ¡°You stripped him off of his flesh, reced it with yours and used him to scour as much information about us as you could.¡±

    ¡°The moment you smelled the scent of fresh prey, you lot lost your sanity, including that God Emperor of yours, and you began plotting against us. You wanted to conquer us to stroke your nonsensical egos and satiate your overwhelming greed.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the case? Dear, General Grimm?¡±

    The people who were watching the broadcast reeled in shock. They looked at the General with disbelief in their faces, yet seeing how the General kept his mouth shut and just looked at the human with a dead stare, that pretty much confirmed it.

    The hope that just re-ignited within them mere moments ago is already being tested.

    ¡°¡­we felt it you see.¡± Mark stated, ¡°We knew you guys wereing. We knew how much trouble you and your people will bring to us. That¡¯s why we prepared.¡±

    ¡°We never had intentions of fighting you. Frankly enough, we already knew that your race existed long before you lot even knew about us. But did wee knocking on your door, asking you toy down your lives for us? No, right? We stayed put and minded our own business.¡±

    ¡°The distance between your home and mine was originally far enough for our interest to never intersect. We merely just wanted to exist and we were satisfied that way. But you¡­you and that tyrant God Emperor yours didn¡¯t want it that way.¡±

    ¡°In hindsight, we should¡¯ve already known. You lot are conquerors after all. But unfortunately, even though we tried our best to stay as far away from your radar as possible, you still managed to catch a whiff of our existence. And as expected, you lot wasted no time and immediately followed your instincts.¡±

    ¡°Really¡­how crass. You¡¯re no different from beasts who smelled blood.¡± Mark sneered.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Though, I¡¯d admit¡­what you said about us was mostly real.¡± Mark shrugged, ¡°It is true that we¡¯re Immortals. Only a select few of us can regenerate flesh as swiftly as you all could do, even then we¡¯d still fall short.¡±

    ¡°We can reincarnate, believe it or not. In fact, ours is much better than how it works for you lot but still, since we¡¯re humans we will never be as physically strong as you lot.¡±

    ¡°A direct sh between our races isn¡¯t unfair to begin with. Which is why we opted a different strategy to even out the ying field.¡±

    ¡°You would understand right? I mean, this is war after all, and you¡¯re a General.¡± Mark scoffed, ¡°It¡¯s surely not our fault that you all weren¡¯t prepared for any of this. After all, weren¡¯t you guys the one who came to us? You guys wanted this war to happen right? Now, why are you crying when you noticed that you¡¯re losing? That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to think that we would just sit around and wait for our doom to arrive even if we knew about it, wouldn¡¯t you General?¡±

    Mark¡¯s words pierced the hearts of many. All of his statements are all true. It is indeed stupid to think that their enemies would justy t and ept defeat even though they knew it wasing all along.

    Not everyone shared the same sentiments about this whole war though. Most of the Abyssals who are suffering right now are openly iming that they didn¡¯t want any of this. But to the eyes of others, this is just them washing their hands, just in case there¡¯s a chance of survival. A way out, more or less.

    ¡°Oh, and uh, one more thing¡­¡± Mark adjusted his posture, ¡°Your God Emperor isn¡¯t battling our Boss.¡±

    ¡°Our Boss just trapped him in the tower. That¡¯s all there is too it. Don¡¯t glorify that, it¡¯s embarrassing you know. Plus, our Big Boss even told him the method of breaking out of there but your God Emperor is too stupid and arrogant toply, that¡¯s why he¡¯s still up there. Honestly, he¡¯s pathetic and hopeless. Why did you guys even choose him to be your leader?¡±

    Mark stretched his body for a bit and said:

    ¡°Oh well, I¡¯ve talked long enough. My final point is this¡­¡±

    ¡°We could¡¯ve blown up the Forbidden Ultima Core right from the get go and ended this war before it even began. But we didn¡¯t. You guys wanted a fight right? Then we¡¯ll do it ording to our rules.¡±

    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s about it. Now, General. You¡¯ve lived long enough. Time to die.¡±

 Chapter 937: Prepare for the Last Phase

    Chapter 937: Prepare for the Last Phase

    Killing General Grimm was easy.

    It wasn¡¯t even a fight to begin with. Mark didn¡¯t have to lift a finger to be honest. The General just toppled over and his core just exploded.

    General Grimm already has the Crimson Affliction even before Mark began spreading it. Mark nted a seed on Grimm¡¯s core as a parting gift, knowing that one he will certainly kill him. And it did kill him.

    The poor General had no idea that he been carrying a seed of Crimson Affliction which was feeding on him for more than a year at this point. It is no surprise that he just straight up died when Mark triggered it since the seed has long since been ready.

    As the general¡¯s corpse gradually withered where the broadcast took ce, the seed that had been triggered on his body left a permanent mark on the ce.

    Since the seed is a concentrated Crimson Affliction in itself, it is obvious that it would leak out once triggered. Grimm died because of the sheer density but most of the deadly poison still remained and now, it had infected the whole broadcasting area which happened to be close to the barracks.

    Some people tried to quarantine the area to keep the poison from spreading but the Crimson Affliction can¡¯t be contained like that. It can merge with any substance ites in contact with so isting it would only dy the inevitable.

    However, the Crimson Affliction wasst of the things that the Abyssals have to worry about currently.

    It is themselves that they have to worry about¡­

    The General¡¯s death was merely the trigger. It is the spark that lit up the fuse.

    The moment it exploded, it was unstoppable. The already sensitive status quo, straight up shattered and the Apocalypse descended.

    All hope was lost. Whatever¡¯s left of the Abyssals advantage over humans just straight disappeared at this point because nobody believed that there¡¯s still a chance for them.

    The council of the God Emperor have been thrown directly to the fire. These morons who had been living avish life by siphoning as much resources as they could from their people had no idea how to handle the responsibilities that were suddenly given to them.

    With General Grimm gone, there¡¯s no cover left for them anymore. They¡¯ve tried out methods on how to avoid their precarious situation but they failed.

    They tried exerting their prestige and reputation over their people but nobody was having it. They were met with harsh criticisms and some even directly attacked them. The skirmish wasrge and destructive enough that they have to flee from their homes.

    They¡¯ve tried bribing humans as well, promising endless amounts of riches in exchange of letting them go. It seemingly worked at first but the moment humans got their treasures, they began attacking them as well. In fact, they were relentless enough to leave them severely injured but they did manage to escape in the end.

    It was really hopeless. Try as they might but there¡¯s no escaping their fate. They will either die in the hands of Humans or their own people. Neither is something they want but its their only options left.

    It¡¯s safe to say that the Abyssals are nowparable to a headless chicken.

    They have no leader in this war. Everybody¡¯s going to die. The worst part is that, they knew that it¡¯s their fault. They were asking for this, therefore it manifested.

    They should¡¯ve seen iting already. They¡¯re a conquering race, while they might be strong, there mighte a day when they will meet their match. They should¡¯ve been prepared for it.

    Unfortunately, they¡¯ve been too drunk in power, glory and wealth that they¡¯ve stopped caring. Now, it came back to bite them in the ass. Their suffering is something they caused to themselves.

    Paradise is in chaos. Every single day that passed deteriorated its condition even further.

    There were explosions everywhere. Abyssals are screaming, dying, crying out for help, begging for their God Emperor toe and so on.

    The strange thing is that, Humanity never really did anything to cause these recent developments. Mark killing General Grimm wrapped up their invasion for now. Most of the humans who infiltrated Paradise left already and this includes the Dawn Council members.

    Everything that urred past that point was all due to the actions of the Abyssals.

    Since everybody is desperate, their ugly heads started rearing out. Theck of food, security, safety and hope had caused Paradise to burst in to mes, only metaphorically of course.

    As for the Humans, well they won¡¯t be needing to do anything for a good while.

    Their enemies will take an absurdly long time before they can even start recovering. That¡¯s enough time to prepare for the final phase of the n to dismantle Paradise and eradicate the Abyssal Race.

    For now though, those who participated in the infiltration are getting the rest they deserved.

    There¡¯s no need to rush this. Paradise won¡¯t run away.

    Even if they could technically warp away using the Forbidden Ultima Core¡¯s function, it wouldn¡¯t work since they need the God Emperor for that and he¡¯s trapped.

    Sure, some of the smarter Abyssals might entertain the idea of rigging the core but that¡¯s risking it too far. The core is too vtile. One wrong move and everything will explode into pieces.

    And because of Raven¡¯s paranoia, he made sure that not even one Abyssal will get out here alive so he set up a massive formation that enclosed around Divine Realm and Paradise Realm effectively trapping the two into a forced confrontation.

    Well, humanity can get out if they lost since Raven made a way out for them but the Abyssals will remain here even if they won because of the trap.

    Raven truly pulled out all stops to ensure their victory as much as possible. The long yet intricate n was crafted topletely dismantle their enemies in small and manageable pieces.

    With the Abyssals effectively crippled in all fronts, Humanity have a wider breathing room. If they still failed even after this, then all they could say is they deserved it.

    Whates after this is the final confrontation between the armies. Luna had already ryed hermand.

    Within 6 months, they will war an all out war. This time, it will be a direct confrontation. There¡¯s no need to resort to schemes anymore. All that¡¯s left to do is to cleanse this tumor once and for all.

    Without the Abyssals, Divine Realm and the Outer Worlds will restore it¡¯s peace and serenity.

    The final battle is upon them.

    Everyone was doing their best to prepare for this. Those who needed rest are currently resting. Those who needs to finish some things and finishing them now.

    This is a point of no return. Whatever happens after this will decide their future. If they want to retain the beauty and prosperity of their home, they need to fight.

    Anxiety and anticipation filled them. They are so close to victory. A splendid victory at that too. The jitters are starting because they are doing so well right now. But this isn¡¯t anytime to hesitate.

    As for Raven himself, well he¡¯s still amused with the God Emperor.

    He has to say, this situation waspletely different from what it was like from his previous life.

    Back then, he wouldn¡¯t even dare to slight the God Emperor since he¡¯s too powerful for him to handle but now¡­

    Looking at Paradise, a sense of irony filled his heart.

    He saw those dested streets. The ill and dying Abyssals. The horrible atmosphere and dreadful situation they¡¯re in.

    It¡¯s funny how the tables have turned this time around.

    The situation of the Abyssals right now was the same one they brought to Humanity in his previous life. He personally saw how it all happened. He suffered from it greatly too.

    Although this n was something that he specifically crafted to bring down the Abyssals, in truth it is more of a payback more than anything.

    Although the Abyssals of today never knew what they did to Humanity in his previous life, Raven still chose to make them suffer tremendously.

    Even with him living apletely new life, the hatred of his past life never left. It stayed and left a deep scar on him. It is through the very same scar that he vowed to eradicate them in the most painful way possible.

    Raven already showed enough mercy to them. He had given the God Emperor a choice to retreat. Had he chosen toply, Raven would¡¯ve let them go to bepletely honest.

    He would¡¯ve just permanently seal Divine Realm away from the Outer Worlds so that the Abyssals will never discover where they are ever again.

    But of course, he knew that isn¡¯t possible to happen. The Abyssals are way too arrogant to do something like that.

    This is why Raven didn¡¯t hold back. They wanted to destroy Humanity so there¡¯s no reason for him to suppress his cruelty. Let them have what they want.

    The final battle shall decide everything once and for all.

 Chapter 938: Final Blow

    Chapter 938: Final Blow

    The following six months was hellish for the Abyssals.

    The Crimson Affliction was cruel. At this point, all of them were infected by it, making it harder for them to breathe or even function normally. It wasn¡¯t as lethal as most were expecting since it didn¡¯t kill right away, in fact it even seems weaker than before but it did make their lives miserable since they never felt well.

    At this point, nobody was even bothering to search for a cure. All efforts in researching was gone with the wind, most of those who¡¯s even able to start an effort were effectively crippled by the disease so what¡¯s the use?

    Food is scarce, illness gued thends, endless gloom filled the streets, oh how the might Abyssals have fallen. All of it was due to their hubris.

    The resentment was piled as high as a mountain. Everyone stopped worshipping the God Emperor at this point since they med him for subjecting them to this torment.

    If it wasn¡¯t for his arrogance and greed, humans wouldn¡¯t havee and make them miserable. Everything was the God Emperor¡¯s fault.

    The lost of faith was even visible at the streets. At every corner of the roads, there will be someone who will curse the God Emperor out loud, there were words written in the walls of buildings, and the statues of the God Emperor was desecrated and defiled.

    Nobody believes in him anymore. All that¡¯s left is boundless resentment and hate.

    That being said, though their situation was horrible, they found out that even just for a bit, their situation was settling down. No, it¡¯s not improving since all of them are sick but the chaos that¡¯s happening all around Paradise were slowly but surely disappearing.

    They¡¯ve discovered that humans aren¡¯t attacking them as much as before. Which made them believe that as long as they behaved and keep themselves hidden, they will be safe from certain death.

    And surprisingly, this seems to be working just fine.

    So long as they bowed their heads down and kept a low-profile, danger wouldn¡¯te to them.

    Knowing this, some of the Abyssals fled to the far reaches of Paradise and isted themselves in there. They nned on waiting until the war against humanity subsided before re-joining the civilization, if there¡¯s still a civilization after that.

    Unfortunately, this n was doomed to fail since the very beginning.

    Humanity never had any ns on sparing the Abyssals.

    At the dawn of the sixth month after General Grimm¡¯s death, arge fleet suddenly greeted the Abyssals. Every single one of the Abyssals felt their arrival and witnessed their entrance to their air space.

    A massive formation of ships that stretches as far as the eyes could see. It represented strength, dignity and glory. It was humanity¡¯s fleet, arriving to deliver the final verdict to then Abyssals.

    The moment they saw the fleet, all of them instantly knew that it¡¯s all over.

    Some knelt to the ground and already looked dead. Some just sighed and returned inside their homes to wait for their fates. Someughed maniacally and ended their own lives while others just cried and begged for mercy, even prostrating before the iing fleet.

    The Grand Fleet hovered above Paradise. What followed next is Luna¡¯s emergence at the helm of the leading ship, which also happens to be thergest one.

    Luna was garbed in a pure white and gold armor, standing and majestic at the edge of the ship, bearing the Dawn Council¡¯s g which is attached to the tip of her spear.

    She was beautiful, ethereal and godly. Her brilliance was unparalleled at this very moment, even the sun couldn¡¯t bepared to her.

    ¡°Abyssals. We, the Human Race, have arrived. You lot have nowhere to go anymore. I suggest that you remain there and patiently wait for your deaths to arrive.¡±

    ¡°So long as you don¡¯t resist, I promise you that my soldiers will grant you a swift and merciful death. Test us and we wouldn¡¯t mind showing the sheer disparity between us.¡±

    ¡°After what happened to you all, I hope you understand that my words aren¡¯t an empty threat. Understand that you all had thising the moment you decided to reach what¡¯s beyond you to begin with.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve said what I need to say. No matter what happens next, we will be victorious!¡±

    After dering that, Luna tilted her spear forward and immediately, arge swarm of humans exited their ships and started pouring down to Paradise.

    shes of colorful lights descended, all bearing Dawn Council¡¯s gs.

    Killing intent suppressed the entirety of Paradise. It was so thick that it¡¯s almost leaking out of reality.

    That being said, Humanity didn¡¯t rush in their operations. They descended in a decent pace. They didn¡¯t let out throes of rage or determination. They just all wore a solemn expression.

    They were strangely quiet even after their descent. They moved in a disciplined fashion and apprehended the Abyssals that they came in contact with.

    The army operated like Luna said. So long as the Abyssals didn¡¯t resist, they were given a swift and merciful death. But for those who tried to resist, they were subjected into a horrible torture which was disyed to everyone to set an example.

    No stones were left unturned. It didn¡¯t matter where the Abyssals hid or how far they ran away, Humanity still knew where they were and caught up to them.

    At this point, everyone already understood what¡¯s happening¡­

    Humanity isn¡¯t waging a war anymore.

    War¡¯s done. They already won. What¡¯s happening right now is just a clean-up duty.

    The Abyssals could no longer fight. They¡¯ve lost. Miserably too, at that. They never stood a chance. Everything they tried failed. Humanity just took it slow to minimize their army¡¯s casualties and make it easier to finish the Abyssals.

    They came tond the killing blow and end them once and for all. That¡¯s all there is too it.

    At this point, resistance is really futile. The Abyssals will never be able to escape this fate. The moment they came close to Divine Realm, their death sentence was already decided. All that is left is the execution.

    Atop of the God¡¯s Tower, Augustus saw this all happened with rage-filled eyes in a particrly humbling position. With his face firmly nted on the ground and with Raven grabbing a fistful of his hair to force him to watch how Humanity dealt the final blow to everything he owned.

    If looks could only kill, Humanity would¡¯ve died thousands of times already. Unfortunately, it doesn¡¯t work this way.

    ¡°See that woman over there? The one standing at the helm of the biggest ship? That¡¯s my wife right there! Isn¡¯t she gorgeous? So perfect and valiant! Oh, I¡¯m so lucky to have her.¡±

    ¡°Ooh! Ooh! Look! That girl over there! The one wearing a violet armor with a purple cloud on her waist? Yeah, that¡¯s out daughter. Isn¡¯t she just the cutest? She¡¯s our treasure you know? Daddy¡¯s little princess.¡±

    This is probably the worst part of Augustus¡¯ torment, listening to Raven be a doting husband and father.

    ¡°Go get ¡¯em, Princess! Go! Stab ¡¯em to death, yeah that¡¯s right! Uh huh!¡±

    ¡°Yes, my little princess. sh them in half! Good stance! Your teachers would be proud!¡±

    And just because Raven knew that the God Emperor hates this, that enough reason for him to keep going. At this point, annoying this guy had be his favorite past time.

    However, beneath Raven¡¯s teasing, his eyes remained vignt. His vision epassed the entirety of Paradise, watching over Humanity very closely.

    He¡¯s counting how many casualties they¡¯re having even at this point. He¡¯s also making sure to pay attention to those who are doing well since rewards are due after they returned home.

    ¡°Yeah, if this just continue like this. They would be done before this day ends.¡± He said, then looked at the God Emperor: ¡°Everything that you imed as yours will disappear. Isn¡¯t that great?¡±

    Augustus trembled in unparalleled rage. He truly couldn¡¯t take this. His heart bled, not because he watched as his own people died but because all of his assets were damaged beyond repair and there¡¯s no more ves that will fix them.

    All of his belongings were now thrashed beyond recognition. Everything was wasted, turned into hot garbage. All without him being able to do anything to stop it.

    ¡°But¡­this is a bit boring isn¡¯t it?¡± Raven stated with mirth on his voice. ¡°Everybody gets to have fun while the two of us are stuck here with each other. That¡¯s rather unfortunate isn¡¯t it? God Emperor?¡±

    Augustus just red at him. He already knows that this guy is plotting something again.

    ¡°Oh,e on. Don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯m sure you¡¯d love my suggestion. Just listen will you?¡± Raven then cleared his throat and continued:

    ¡°I¡¯ll expand this domain to cover this entire tower. I¡¯ll also make it transparent so that everyone could see what¡¯s happening.¡±

    ¡°We will fight each other for real this time. I¡¯d even let you borrow power from the Forbidden Ultima Core to make things fair.¡±

    ¡°If you win, then you can do whatever you want with me and humanity since I¡¯m the only one who can stop you. But if I win, I will force you to watch how I dismantle everything you ever had.¡±

    ¡°So? What do you say?¡±

 Chapter 939: Final Confrontation

    Chapter 939: Final Confrontation

    Augustus was shocked.

    He had never expected Raven to make that kind of offer. He looked at him suspiciously, trying to see if he could spot any lies or schemes behind Raven¡¯s words but he realized that he had never been able to read this guy properly. And that somehow scares him.

    Raven was a wildcard. Augustus knows that if he agreed to the offer, he might as well be pushing himself into another disadvantageous position. Yet at the same, this offer was so good that he can¡¯t pass it on.

    Literally, the only reason why he¡¯s being suppressed right now is because he doesn¡¯t have ess to the Forbidden Ultima Core¡¯s endless supply of power. Plus, he¡¯s trapped inside Raven¡¯s domain which makes him weaker. To even out the odds, he just needs the core.

    Sure, he knows that there¡¯s a chance that Raven would go back on his word but if he¡¯s ready for it, he can prevent the situation from happening.

    He lost a great deal at this point. But if he could kill Raven and take Divine Realm for himself, everything would be worth it.

    Augustus could sense it. Divine Realm is thest missing piece of the puzzle for him to attain the path of being the strongest. If he could devour it, everything else will follow.

    He would be Absolute.

    That¡¯s why against his better judgement, he took the bait. And Raven immediately recognized that.

    Ravenughed and patted his shoulders. Saying; ¡°Good, good! I¡¯m d you agreed.¡±

    ¡°But ah, let¡¯s wait until they¡¯re done with the clean-up yeah? Don¡¯t want them to get caught up with this. After all, this is just between the two of us.¡±

    Augustus have no problems with that. Raven also stopped sitting on his back so now he could at least regain some of his dignity.

    His mind whirred with all kinds of plots and ns to take Raven down. He had no doubts that this will be the toughest battle of his entire life, therefore he needs to be careful.

    Meanwhile, Raven just watched as Humanity¡¯s army cleansed the remaining filth of Paradise. He felt proud seeing everyone work efficiently with each other. Their advances are practically unstoppable.

    As time passed, Humanity gradually hunted down the remaining Abyssals around the area. Nobody was spared. All Abyssals were killed and turned into ash that scattered across the wind.

    Humanity won. They felt it the moment thest Abyssal died in their hands. The killing intent that he been pressing down on their chest lightened so much. This is how they knew that they¡¯ve seeded.

    It was also that moment when they heard Raven¡¯s voice in their heads:

    ¡®Good work everyone. You defended our home. You all are Heroes. Return home and wait for me there. I just need to take care of one more thing.¡¯

    Everyone¡¯s eyes suddenly turned to the God¡¯s Tower.

    Yes, the Abyssals were done for and they¡¯ve truly won this war but it is not over yet. There¡¯s still one battle that has to ur and that¡¯s something they can¡¯t participate in.

    Humanity knew that from the very beginning, Raven¡¯s with them. Even though they haven¡¯t seen him around and he wasn¡¯t the one who lead them personally, they knew that he¡¯s there, watching over them and prepared to do something should the situation arises.

    This war will not go in their favor with Raven¡¯s presence and ns. They only won because he¡¯s at their side.

    ¡®Will you be alright?¡¯ Luna tapped into their link and asked him.

    ¡®I will, don¡¯t worry about me. Since when have I lost something I¡¯ve started? Gather them up and lead them back home. I¡¯ll be with you shortly.¡¯

    ¡®Dad. Come back to us safe, please.¡¯ Vanessa said.

    ¡®I will Princess. Believe in me. There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll lose this.¡¯

    Luna and Vanessa felt their hearts heavy yet they didn¡¯t stop Raven. He knew that once he had made up his mind, there¡¯s no stopping him. They hoped deep down in their hearts that he will return to them victorious and in one piece.

    The Supreme Commander, Luna ordered the troops to return back home. She steadied herself since her job isn¡¯t done just yet.

    Humanity¡¯s fleet gathered once more, now that they¡¯re done with their jobs, they can return home and wait for the results.

    As the fleet gradually left Paradise¡¯s airspace, Raven sent them away with his gaze. His eyes followed them until they returned to the vicinity of Divine Realm, that¡¯s when he sighed and walked forward.

    Augustus felt movement around him.

    He watched as the domain that suppressed and imprisoned him expanded and covered the entire tower.

    It was also then that he felt a refreshing surge of power returning to him. The sensation was so strong that it made him groan. This was feedback from the Forbidden Ultima Core. His connection with was truly restored, Raven didn¡¯t lie to him.

    He didn¡¯t waste time and immediately siphoned as much power as he could get from the core to not only cure the injuries he suffered from Raven¡¯s torture but to also prepare himself in case Raven decided to go back on his word.

    The God Emperorid out several ns and traps in mere seconds. It was evident in his actions that he didn¡¯t intend on giving up even an inch for Raven.

    When he finished his preparations and power up, his attention returned to Raven.

    To his surprise, the domain stretched further than he expected. It covered the entirety of Paradise, sealing it perfectly and wlessly with only the two of them inside.

    ¡°I reckoned that the tower is too small for our stage so I decided to stretch it as far as I could.¡± Raven stated, ¡°How¡¯s it? I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    The God Emperor took a deep breath, silently attuning to the overwhelming power he now has. His regal gait returned and the aura of the God Emperor emanated from him once more.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. To be honest, Paradise might not even be enough for the two of us.¡± He said.

    ¡°Well, we¡¯ll see about that. If this ce truly can¡¯t handle us both, I¡¯d expand my domain even further. But for now, this should be enough.¡±

    Augustus didn¡¯t reply. He just stood on his ce, twisting his neck and taking deep breaths. This was his way for bracing the impact of this battle.

    His core and the Forbidden Ultima Core thrummed together, clearly in sync. Augustus clearly intended to use as much power as he can get to end this battle quick.

    Sliver of his aura leaked to his surroundings. His strength is too vtile, causing the ground to creak dangerously and the air to scream at his very presence. Space twisted and the God Emperor¡¯s boundless killing intent pressed down on every corner of Paradise.

    It was clear that with the Forbidden Ultima Core on his side, the God Emperor was too strong.

    All of Humanity¡¯s Divine Knights felt suffocated by his aura. It was foul and too deadly. And this is with Raven actively suppressing it too.

    Raven¡¯s wife and friends were worried for him. Even as they entered Divine Realm¡¯s territory, they didn¡¯t return to the Dawn Council, they looked at the direction where Raven and the God Emperor will face each other with eyes filled with hope and concern.

    ¡°Ooh, look at you.¡± Raven said as he eyed the God Emperor from head to toe. ¡°With your current appearance, nobody would believe that your face was literally imprinted on the ground a few hours ago. Vanity really does things to a person huh?¡±

    Augustus¡¯ lips twitched when he heard thatment. No matter how much time passes, this fellow is just really too good in angering his enemies. It¡¯s a talent at this point, really.

    ¡°I¡¯ll admit. You caught me off-guard.¡± He replied, ¡°I¡¯ve underestimated you and made a fool out of myself. You capitalized on that mistake and repeatedly rubbed it in my face. You¡¯ve thoroughly humbled me. I indeed grown too arrogant for my own good and it returned to bite me back in the ass.¡±

    ¡°But if you¡¯re thinking that things will go the same way as it did earlier. Then you¡¯d be a fool. I suggest you stay on guard because I am determined to return the favor two-fold.¡±

    Raven smirked, crossed his arms and asked: ¡°Is that so? And on what basis?¡±

    ¡°What else? My strength of course!¡±

    Boom!

    Augustus red his aura once and dozens of stars exploded on their own. The sheer amount of force emanating from him was extremely heavy and too strong that Paradise itself couldn¡¯t handle it.

    Anyone else aside from these two wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the sheer pressure they¡¯re in and implode directly.

    ¡°Mn¡­I see.¡± Raven nodded briefly. He doesn¡¯t seem to bothered by the disy of strength that the God Emperor disyed.

    And there¡¯s a good reason for that¡­

    Raven lifted his pinky finger while his arms was crossed and all of sudden, the dominating presence of the God Emperor vanished and was reced by sheer density of strength emanating out of Raven.

    More stars exploded in that brief moment which caused the God Emperor to momentarily be at a loss.

    ¡°That¡¯s cute.¡± Ravenmented, ¡°But nowhere near enough. You gotta show me more if you want to convince me.¡±

 Chapter 940: Raven vs. God Emperor (I)

    Chapter 940: Raven vs. God Emperor (I)

    The overwhelming dominance that the God Emperor previously had was swiftly neutralized.

    Even with the backing of the Forbidden Ultima Core, the God Emperor still couldn¡¯tpletely dominate Raven.

    It makes one wonder how in the world is it possible for Raven to be this strong and why isn¡¯t he well known in the Outer Worlds? Why has the God Emperor never knew he exists? Just what did he do to achieve this level of strength? How many sacrifices did it require?

    Then again, Raven is human. There¡¯s no denying that. The Human Race isn¡¯t known to be conquerors. They¡¯re creatures of habit and preferred to mind their own business. Plus, they¡¯re weak. There are plenty of races they can¡¯t fight.

    So how was it possible that they have Raven? Why must he appear?

    Augustus¡¯ expression turned solemn. He gripped his fist tightly and looked ahead. There is indeed no doubt that this would be the most difficult fight he¡¯ll encounter in his life so far.

    The stakes are high. Therefore he couldn¡¯t afford to lose.

    The two of them measured each other¡¯s gazes.

    Air seemingly solidified because of their presence and time seems toe to a crawling speed.

    In a blink of an eye, as if the string snapped, the God Emperor shot forward, flying so much faster than light itself. The impact of his flight came several secondste. He actually arrived in front of Raven before it even urred.

    With eyes blown wide and with the Void ring in rage, the God Emperor cocked his fist back and delivered a full power punch towards Raven.

    Everything happened so swift that aside from these two, nobody would even be able to follow it.

    As Space itself screamed under the pressure of this blow, Raven himself didn¡¯t even flinch. He stared at the iing fist with a bored look on his face, as if he¡¯s actually getting bored waiting for it to arrive.

    Inches away from hitting his skull, a golden and silver radiance appeared and solidified into a rune which blocked the blow for Raven.

    The God Emperor felt his fist connecting with something incredibly hard, he felt the satisfaction ofnding a solid blow to Raven¡¯s face and even sent him flying, but that¡¯s not what really happened.

    The runepletely protected Raven. It absorbed all the impact and dispersed it evenly on his surroundings. The reason why Raven flew all the way back to the opposite corner of Paradise is be because of the residual momentum. He wasn¡¯t actually hurt even a little bit by that.

    Thinking that he got some sort advantage, the God Emperor didn¡¯t intend to stop. He followed Raven and delivered yet another solid blow to him, causing him to fly to another corner of Paradise.

    Their moving so fast that they left space burning a trail behind them. They just appeared as streaks of light that nobody could even make sense of.

    Each time the God Emperor punched, he¡¯s depleting a percent of core¡¯s power output. Yet weirdly enough, he didn¡¯t even hear Raven grunting even once, nor did he really see him trying his best to react to his blows.

    This caused the God Emperor to stop his onught.

    He paused and looked at Raven, surprised by what he saw.

    Raven was fine. Completely fine. Unharmed and still in his pristine form. He didn¡¯t look haggard nor stressed. He wasn¡¯t even sweating. He still had that smile on his face, a mocking one on God Emperor¡¯s perspective.

    Not even a wrinkle could be seen on his clothes. This was enough proof for the God Emperor to know that his blow did absolutely nothing so far. Not even close.

    ¡°That was cool¡­¡± Ravenmented, he unfolded his arms and began walking towards the God Emperor. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡±

    The God Emperor blinked¡­that was his first mistake.

    ¡°Was it something like this?¡±

    Boom!

    Raven did the exact same thing as what the God Emperor did. The only difference is that instead of the power of the Void, Raven¡¯s fist roared with the wrath of Destruction and Spacetime.

    And unlike Raven, the God Emperor didn¡¯t have any method on stopping this blow. He could only rely on the bark of his skin to neutralize the force behind the punch while siphoning more power from the core so that he could endure it.

    Sadly, that wasn¡¯t enough¡­

    The wrath of Pure Destruction raged on the God Emperor¡¯s body and permeated itpletely. Everything, down to it¡¯s cellr level was destroyed. It also carried the essence of Spacetime which interfered with the effects of his regeneration.

    The God Emperor experienced excruciating agony upon his failure to endure that blow.

    And since Raven was adamant on giving back what he received. He followed the God Emperor. He even arrived right before he crashed and delivered yet another solid punch on his face, his fist connecting in a satisfying manner.

    They turned into streaks of light again, and when Raven felt like it was enough, he stopped.

    Several stars exploded during their exchange, Paradise suffered tremendously because of their fight.

    The God Emperor didn¡¯t fall, but he was batteredpletely.

    He had lost count on how many teeth flew out of his mouth, how much flesh he regenerated and how many bones shattered inside of him during thest few moments.

    As he stood up, it¡¯s visible that his regeneration was still catching up and patching up his body. He spat out a glob of blood as his face became intact once more.

    He looked at Raven solemnly, noticing that he¡¯s not even out of breath after that. Seriously, how freaky is this guy?

    That being said, the God Emperor didn¡¯t bother wasting time. He drained 5% of the core¡¯s total power and prepared for another realm-ending strike.

    He focused his power between his palms. A pitch ck orb appeared. The orb was so dense in power that stars turned to dust just by being in its presence.

    This orb is a concentrated Void. It has the ability to devour entire realms to nothingness. The God Emperor used weaker versions of this back in their days of conquering civilizations but now, it was used as an attack to bring down a single person.

    And just like before Raven didn¡¯t run away from this either, he stood his ground and waited patiently as the gaping hole of nothingness grewrger andrger until it was close enough to swallow him whole.

    At this point, Raven waved his hand and a rune appeared on his palms. He then used this to p the void hard enough that itpletely shattered like fragile ss. The shards turned into miniature runes that gradually dissipated around him.

    The God Emperor was gobsmacked by what happened. He didn¡¯t expect that an attack which can end realms, still isn¡¯t enough to bring down this bastard.

    Once again, Raven copied his actions. He gathered power between his palms and conjured a pure white orb. He grabbed it and threw it towards the God Emperor.

    The God Emperor readily braced for the impact, but to his surprise, a sudden development caught him off-guard.

    The white orb suddenly multiplied andpletely surrounded him. They sealed every possible escape routes avable to him, effectively restricting his movements.

    In his shock, he wasn¡¯t prepared when the first blow urred.

    The God Emperor reeled in shock, his eyes widened, feeling as if someone hurled a star into him without his knowledge.

    And it didn¡¯t stop there.

    One by one, the orbs struck him, punching gaping holes into his body. By the time a part of him regenerated, it will be blown up by the orbs once more.

    The God Emperor had to endure this horrible agony. He never experienced this kind of pain and suffering in his entire life. He tried defending against the attacks but it¡¯s no use¡­

    Either, a) the orbs that were supposed to hit would stop right before the impact, and another would hit him where¡¯s undefended, or b) the orbs would continue anyway, tearing his defenses like paper.

    The God Emperor counted in his head. He didn¡¯t know why but he did it anyway.

    He got hit 999 times before it all stopped.

    And just like before, he saw Raven standing tall in front of him. Waiting until his flesh regenerated and for his next attack.

    The God Emperor gnashed his teeth. In his anger and frustration. He directly siphoned 10% of the core¡¯s total power and conjured a ck sun made out of concentrated void.

    This was worse than any attacks he had thrown so far since this one, if it hits, not even Paradise would be spared.

    Even for the God Emperor himself, this attack was difficult to pull-off. His body was repeatedly abused before so there came a bacsh when he did this move.

    But¡­to his overwhelming shock and horror¡­

    He looked forward and saw Raven standing in front of him, holding a white sun that is just as big as the ck sun of his.

    Their eyes met for a second and the God Emperor couldn¡¯t help but freeze on his tracks as his mind deciphered the words Raven mouthed:

    ¡°Too predictable, how boring.¡±

 Chapter 941: Raven vs. God Emperor (II)

    Chapter 941: Raven vs. God Emperor (II)

    Augustus didn¡¯t know what to do.

    Nothing works. Not a single thing he did hurt Raven. Not even with the help of his beloved core.

    Raven was invincible. Looking as fresh as the moment he stepped in Paradise. Not even once did he suffer a loss. Everything seems to always turn in his favor.

    Augustus was confused. How is this possible? Howe someone like Raven exist? Why is he so strong? He truly doesn¡¯t get it? They¡¯ve never met before yet why does Raven seem to know everything about him and his race?

    Could it be that he¡¯s truly omnipotent?

    ¡­no. That can¡¯t be.

    He doesn¡¯t believe it. He doesn¡¯t dare to.

    God Emperor knows that omnipotence wasn¡¯t something that is easily achieved. Especially, not by Humanity.

    If there¡¯s race that hade close to that, it should be his race. It should be him. He has the highest chance of being omnipotent.

    He was the one who¡¯s the closest to being Absolute.

    ¡­yet, how does he exin what¡¯s happening here?

    Why is Raven such a difficult opponent for him? Why doesn¡¯t he go down when others easily did? What makes him so unique?

    God Emperor immersed on his own thoughts.

    In the end, he dissipated his own attack. Which was mirrored by Raven too. Their actions ultimately prevented Paradise from being wiped awaypletely from the face of existence.

    God Emperor Augustus didn¡¯t mind the loss he suffered. Draining 10% of the core¡¯s power for the attack that he himself cancelled was something he couldn¡¯t cry about. It was a painful loss admittedly, but at this moment, he couldn¡¯t care less.

    As the God Emperor¡¯s mind whirred with all sorts of thoughts, gradually an idea started to form within him.

    At first it sounded very unlikely, but considering what happened to him the moment he decided to invade Humanity ¨C which ultimately failed anyway, the idea he had gradually turned more and more usible.

    As some point, he was convinced. His eyes glowed with enlightenment. He looked at Raven with solemnity in his eyes as he whispered:

    ¡°¡­I see it now. You¡¯re the gatekeeper.¡±

    Raven tilted his head; ¡°Excuse me? I¡¯m the what now?¡±

    ¡°The Gatekeeper.¡± The God Emperor said out loud, this time it seems like he too was telling it to himself. ¡°Hah. Everything makes sense now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no it doesn¡¯t.¡± Raven shook his head. ¡°Well, not to me at least.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to deny it, Scum.¡± God Emperor spat. ¡°Leader of Humanity my ass, you¡¯re a fake! You¡¯re existence itself is fake. I can see through you now!¡±

    ¡°Does that mean I¡¯m naked in your eyes? My, how scandalous.¡± Raven crossed his arms.

    ¡°Everything is clear to me now.¡± The God Emperorpletely ignored Raven¡¯s attempts of mocking him. ¡°The reason why you exist, the reason why you seem invincible. The reason why you stand against me and the reason why it is so difficult to take you down.¡±

    ¡°This world created you to be it¡¯s champion. They must¡¯ve known that I am this close to being Absolute and feared of that daying that¡¯s why they created you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Raven was speechless.

    ¡°Hah! Imagine that! To think that my very existence cause everything to tremble in fear! How ttering! I knew it! I am destined to greatness! Why else would I have to walk down a thorny path filled with sorrow and hardships if I¡¯m not meant for it?¡±

    The God Emperor looked at Raven and said: ¡°Pathetic.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a fake. Nothing but a mere agent sent to prevent me from reaching the throne. How does it feel to be a mere tool? Ah, I truly can¡¯t rte.¡±

    ¡°Your entire existence is a lie. You think that you have what it takes to stand before me but in truth you don¡¯t. I am superior. The very fundamentals that forms reality itself trembles before me. You are worthless.¡±

    ¡°You being a human? Fake. Your name? Doesn¡¯t matter. Your strength? That is not something you gained but passed on to you for the purpose of stopping me. Everything you love and held dear? Lies. They¡¯re just there to make you believe your existence but all of it are lies. Lies!¡±

    ¡°In truth, you¡¯re just a mere tool. You exist for the sole purpose of making me believe that I failed. To stop me from my reaching my goal. The strip away my destiny.¡±

    ¡°As glorious as that may seem, in reality that¡¯s incredible pathetic. Your whole existence is a lie. You¡¯re nothing more than a tool in the grand scheme of things. After you served your purpose, you¡¯re just going to be tossed away. I can already see it. And that¡¯s precisely why you are pathetic.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re just a sorry excuse of flesh. I pity you, really. But I have to admit, you nearly fooled me. Not anymore though. I have awakened to reality.¡±

    ¡°Step back, Gatekeeper. I¡¯ll excuse this transgression of yours. I¡¯ll even be merciful enough to spare you and your kind if you stop getting in my way. You have no way of stopping me anyway.¡±

    ¡°My Destiny is Absolute.¡±

    ¡°I cannot be defied. Kneel and I shall spare you from torment.¡±

    Silence followed the end of God Emperor¡¯s speech.

    Raven looked wide-eyed and ck-jawed at the God Emperor ¨C which obviously stroke his bloated ego. He took that as a sign that what he concluded was indeed the truth. He saw through Raven and finally, this farce shall end here.

    Unfortunately¡­

    ¡°Pfft¡­¡±

    ¡°AHAHWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!¡±

    Raven bursts into a fit of uncontrobleughter. It was unrestrained. It echoed throughout Paradise.

    He wasughing so hard that he had lost control over himself and parts of his strength leaked out along with hisughter, enough to cause the ground to shake fiercely and the air to thrum dangerously.

    And for the nth time, God Emperor was once again confused. He doesn¡¯t know why Raven¡¯sughing. He couldn¡¯t remember saying anything to make himugh this much.

    ¡°¡­holy shit¡­this is the best.¡± Raven copsed on the spot, clutching his stomach asughter escaped from him. He was kicking and had tears flowing down his face.

    ¡°Oh, god¡­fuck¡­¡± he uttered in between giggles, ¡°Shit! I¡¯ve neverughed this much¡­ooh, my tummy hurts ow¡­hahah, wait no! Hahahaha¡­stop!¡±

    ¡°Wait hold on¡­whew¡­wait¡­ahahahaha! Fuck this¡­hahahaha! Oh my god¡­oh my god I can¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°STOP LAUGHING!!¡±

    ¡°BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!¡±

    ¡°I DEMAND YOU TO STOP!¡±

    ¡± ¡®I deMwanD YeW tWo SthAph nyeh nyeh..¡¯ AhahAhahaAhahAh!¡±

    Augustus wanted to choke Raven so bad, so he did. He flew towards Raven and grabbed him by the throat.

    Yet even with his tight grip, Raven¡¯sughter didn¡¯t cease. In fact it became even louder.

    Raven¡¯sughter threatened to burst God Emperor¡¯s ear off with how loud it was. Even when the God Emperor mmed him to the ground numerous times, enough to punch through the world they¡¯re on, Raven didn¡¯t stopughing.

    ¡°¡­ah shit, that tickles¡­¡± he said while giggling.

    Raven waspletely unbothered by the fact that another world was ruined because of them. He just pped God Emperor¡¯s arm away which was enough not just to loosen the hold but topletely detach it from God Emperor¡¯s body.

    ¡°Whew¡­whew¡­¡± Raven took deep breaths, some giggled are still escaping him but he¡¯s recovering at least. He wiped away the tears from his face as hepletely ignored God Emperor¡¯s venomous re.

    ¡°Holy shit¡­I haven¡¯tughed like that in my entire life. As expected, you truly are the best. I might just change my mind and keep you around as a jester instead of killing you.¡±

    ¡°Hoh¡­¡± Raven released a steady breath, he¡¯s notughing anymore but there¡¯s still that shit-eating grin on his face which irritated God Emperor to oblivion. ¡°Geez, how unsightly of me. I¡¯m a grown ass man yet I still rolled in the ground like that. Oh dear. I hope nobody saw that.¡±

    He patted his clothes clean, a reminder that this was the first time he got dirtied ever since this ¡®fight¡¯ started.

    He ced his hands on his hips and said: ¡°Alright, I¡¯m good. I should probably y along given that I totally ruined your monologue.¡±

    Raven cleared his throat and copsed on his feet. He ced a hand on his head and looked at the God Emperor with a nd look on his face.

    ¡± ¡®Oh no. Whatever shall I do? My existence is fake, you say. Oh no. Boo Hoo. How can this be. Why must the world be so cruel to me. What have I done wrong. I don¡¯t deserve this. Boo Hoo. Boo Hoo.¡¯ ¡°

    His voice waspletely t throughout his speech.

    ¡± ¡®I-I¡¯m not real. Why. I¡¯m unconvinced, argh. I¡¯m unwilling. I don¡¯t believe I¡¯m just a stepping stone for you. I won¡¯t ept it. I¡¯m unwilling. Argh.¡¯ ¡°

    ¡± ¡®I am real. I exist. You won¡¯t fool me. I don¡¯t believe you. Killing you should prove that and so much more. Prepare yourself, God Emperor Augustus. I will be your end.¡¯ ¡°

    The two of them stared at each other. Raven blinked several times in a row but nothing happened. He then threw his hands up and looked so done.

    ¡°Man! Come on! I was signaling you! Didn¡¯t you see me blinking? It was a sign that it¡¯s your turn! Why didn¡¯t you say anything? Did you forget your lines?¡±

 Chapter 942: Raven vs. God Emperor (III)

    Chapter 942: Raven vs. God Emperor (III)

    It was obvious that Raven wasn¡¯t taking God Emperor¡¯s words seriously.

    He didn¡¯t believe it but he absolutely loved it. Which is precisely why God Emperor felt so unsatisfied and angry,

    Could it be that he got it wrong? Was his deduction not right?

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not, idiot.¡± Raven stated, causing the God Emperor¡¯s expression to warp in surprise.

    ¡°How¡­?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Didn¡¯t I say that you¡¯re too predictable? I can literally read your thoughts just by looking at your face. You¡¯re too obvious.¡± He snorted in reply.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Seriously. Did I really scramble your brain that much that you started losing it? Or you¡¯re just really didn¡¯t like the idea that you¡¯re being beaten so bad that you¡¯d rather point fingers instead just so that you can save whatever dignity and pride you have left in you?¡±

    ¡°How much of a sore loser are you even? And how pathetic can you get? Is this your final form? Don¡¯t tell me there¡¯s more¡­well, if there is it might he fun to see that too. I mean it was fucking hrious how youe up with so much bullshit just because you were losing. I wouldn¡¯t mind hearing how ridiculous you can get.¡±

    ¡°After all, I don¡¯t get this kind of entertainment every day.¡± Raven concluded.

    His words made Augustus really uneasy. Howe? Why? So he was wrong? How can this be? This doesn¡¯t make sense at all.

    ¡°Your destiny is to be the Absolute One? Pfft. Yeah, right.¡± Raven scoffed in disdain. ¡°That¡¯s probably the best joke that I¡¯ve heard so far.¡±

    ¡°Imagine being that delusion. Whew, I can¡¯t rte.¡± Raven rolled his eyes, ¡°You said that I am tool of fate being used against you, yet you keep on saying that your fate is to transcend everything. Aren¡¯t you contradicting yourself here? Seriously, how dumb can you get?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even get me started with you telling me about my existence.¡± Raven ced his hands on his hips and chided: ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from someone who¡¯s using the flesh of their victims as their own while calling themselves ¡®Immortal¡¯ and ¡®Eternal¡¯.¡±

    ¡°You can me ¡®fake¡¯ yet you face me without eve wearing your own flesh and skin. The sheer hypocrisy leaking out of you is insane.¡±

    ¡°The funny thing is that you seem so confident that you saw through me. Yet in truth, you see nothing at all. You failed to see a damn thing since you¡¯re too obsessed with your delusional thoughts and thisughable entitlement you receive out of nowhere.¡±

    ¡°When it all boils down to it, you are nothing more than a leech with delusions of grandeur.¡± Raven shrugged while coldly mocking him. ¡°A sentient core that dreamed of the impossible.¡±

    ¡°You, out of all creatures in the entirety of the Outer Worlds, has no right to tell me who I am.¡±

    Raven folded his arms in front of him and stared coldly at the God Emperor.

    ¡°Learn your ce, pest. The only reason why you¡¯re still alive at this point is because I¡¯m holding back against you.¡±

    ¡°Everything that we¡¯ve done so far? To me, all of it was just fun and games. Nothing too serious. I don¡¯t want this to end just yet because I still find it fun and engaging, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°All this time, your life or death, solely depends on my whims. Drill that your brain will you? And keep entertaining me since you¡¯re so good at it.¡±

    Raven sneered and waved his fingers towards the God Emperor. His attitude just now was something that could even rival the sheer arrogance of the God Emperor or even the Abyssal Race as a whole.

    Every syble pierced the heart of the God Emperor and tore him from the inside. Just as he thought that he couldn¡¯t get any angrier than this, Raven keeps on proving him wrong.

    What probably hurts the most, is the fact that Raven is telling nothing but the truth.

    Indeed, the God Emperor had no right to mock Raven and question his existence when he himself already forgotten what he truly is.

    It hurts that Raven saw through himpletely just like that. He thought that it was the other way around, him seeing through Raven, but he guessed incorrectly.

    In the end, Raven¡¯s words were true. The only reason why he came up with the idea that Raven was a gatekeeper sent by the world to prevent him reaching his destiny, was nothing but bullshit.

    He¡¯s really in that much of a denial that he¡¯s losing even with the help of the Forbidden Ultima Core. Much less to a human out of all creatures.

    Augustus was already a sore loser to begin with. Add this salt to the injury and now he¡¯s iling like a fish out of the water. He truly couldn¡¯t take it.

    ¡°¡­aww, you¡¯re broke already? But we weren¡¯t done yet.¡± Raven sounded so pitiful when he spoke.

    Raven saw that the God Emperor was going through the stages of grief and was constantly losing it as time passes. He¡¯s experiencing some serious existential crisis right now and he doesn¡¯t know what to fucking do or think anymore.

    ¡°Oh well, I guess it was fun while itsted. Too bad I won¡¯t be getting another toy like you anytime soon.¡± Raven looked really hurt when he said that, ¡°Ah, it truly pains me to see a good toy broken. But oh well, life¡¯s just like that.¡±

    ¡°I will remember the joy you brought to me even after you¡¯re gone.¡± Raven wiped a fake tear on his face while saying that. ¡°As this is our farewell, I might as well show you what you¡¯re missing at this time.¡±

    Raven instantly appeared right next to the God Emperor ¨C who didn¡¯t even sense himing even though he¡¯s still on full alert. Raven grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged it hard, forcing the God Emperor to look at the boundless sea of stars above them.

    ¡°Open your eyes clearly and see it for yourself. See, the real me.¡±

    This was not a request but a demand that nobody can ever defy. Not even him, the God Emperor.

    And thus, without wanting to, Augustus searched for what Raven was trying to show him.

    He was greeted by the endless nket of stars, it is all that upied his vision. Augustus had seen this lot, he often spent time looking at it while being immersed on his own thoughts.

    ¡­yet for some reason, something¡¯s wrong here.

    He knows it. He¡¯s aware that something¡¯s wrong. He just can¡¯t tell what it is just yet. He kept looking subconsciously and at the corner of his eye, something moved.

    It was anything big. Just a distant star that seemingly vanished out of existence.

    ¡®But that¡¯s not right¡­¡¯ Is what he thought.

    He looked at it again and to his shock, it is indeed not right. Something was at y here. The star that saw vanished, didn¡¯t vanish in reality but just moved instead.

    His eyes traced the movement of that star. It seemed to be a lead.

    And it was¡­

    It lead him to see something grander.

    Something so unbelievable that he can¡¯t wrap his mind around it.

    At first he saw an outline.

    Then a shape.

    Followed by marks.

    Then features.

    One by one, the pieces started falling into ce and it allowed him to see the full picture.

    He saw an entity.

    So massive and so grand that ¡®it¡¯ contained the very cosmos itself.

    Earlier, he thought that he was seeing five pirs erected around Paradise but in truth he was mistaken.

    Those weren¡¯t pirs. They were fingers.

    That shape, that figure, that features, those fingers¡­the entity itself. When he saw it all. All he could feel was a sense of dread and unparalleled sense of despair and loss.

    Thest words of Raven still echoed on his mind.

    ¡®See the real me¡­¡¯

    Augustus felt the world spinning. He could hear his heart shattering into millions of pieces. He could feel everything around him crumbling to dust.

    His bravado, ambitions, dreams, visions¡­all of it was fake. All of it was for nothing¡­

    He¡¯s a damn fool. A jester. A whole-ass clown. Raven was right to see him as such since right now, he truly felt like one.

    Like a damned fiddle, he was yed. Oh, how cruel.

    It was soughable when he looked back at it. He talked so much crap about how it is his destiny the be the one who transcends everything yet when it manifested before him, it didn¡¯t take much before hepletely broke.

    This is probably the way of fate mocking him. Telling him that he took his sweet ass time so now it is toote.

    The Absolute feel impatient waiting for him so it decided to pay him a visit instead. It made fun of him and spat that he¡¯s ¡®unworthy¡¯ on his face. And he waspletely powerless to stop it.

    As he stared at the entity who looking down on him like the piece of trash that he is, it opened it¡¯s mouth and spoke:

    ¡°Farewell, Augustus. It¡¯s been fun ying with you.¡±

 Chapter 943: Finale

    Chapter 943: Finale

    To tell the truth¡­

    Be it the God Emperor or the Abyssal Race in general¡­

    They never really stood a chance.

    Don¡¯t be mistaken. The Abyssals are extremely strong. They are probably the most fearsome race to ever exist in the entirety of the Outer Worlds and they didn¡¯t became strong through luck, they reached their current state by relying to their own craft and smarts.

    Nobody could match them on a head-on sh, they¡¯re are that strong. And if their power continues to grow this way, they will truly be the rulers of everything.

    Unfortunately, they got too absorbed in their own ways. Got so drunk in power that they¡¯ve be careless. In addition to fate ying games with them, in the end they met their downfall.

    They would¡¯ve imagine that they invoked the ire of something they could never hope to match.

    Their arrogance was the main cause of their downfall. And their mistake was taking their sweet-ass time in this invasion. Had they chose to use their warping mechanism to arrive as quickly as possible, things might¡¯ve went their way.

    But since they chose to look down on Humanity, they paid dearly for it.

    They¡¯ve given Humanity enough time to prepare for their arrival.

    They¡¯ve also given Raven enough time to enter his seclusion and not only achieve the Path of the Absolute but also firmly stabilize his foundations.

    Yes. Just before the disaster struck, Raven received a stroke of immense luck and manage to step on the path that nobody else reached before.

    He became the Absolute One.

    The true ruler of everything and nothing. The one who knows everything and is everywhere. The one who decides what goes where and what happens here. The one who transcended the very Fundamentals, Concepts, Laws and Principles.

    It is him.

    Upon reaching stage, Raven could no longer be identified through anything. Even he himself doesn¡¯t know what he has be. The power-scaling lost its meaning for him since he is power. He decides what it shall be and how far it can go.

    The moment he transcended, he knew got this feeling of being able to do everything yet nothing at the same time.

    It¡¯s like there¡¯s so many things that he could do and try, yet since there¡¯s so much, he doesn¡¯t know where to begin. He doesn¡¯t know where to start which is why he ended up doing nothing.

    Even considering the fact that he could do something, it¡¯s would only end up quelling his curiosity since in truth, everything is fine as it is. Those that meant to exist already exists. Those that were meant to be extinct are all gone. All kinds of developments and possibilities already manifested.

    So in the end of the day, there¡¯s no need for him to do anything. His existence was not really. And that¡¯s probably why nobody reached this far in to their cultivation.

    There¡¯s simply no need for it.

    But then again, this is the true Transcendence. There¡¯s no need to doubt Raven¡¯s power and authority. In truth, he could squashed the Abyssal Race between his fingers if he wanted to. He could end them all in mere seconds. The only reason why he didn¡¯t do it, is because this isn¡¯t his fight alone.

    Being the Absolute One meant bing truly free from the shackles of ¡®Everything¡¯ and keep ¡®Everything¡¯ as is. That¡¯s all there really is to it.

    It¡¯s really nothing worth to be obsessed about as he discovered. So it was kind of a let down if Raven¡¯s beingpletely honest.

    This is why Raven found it so hrious that Augustus was so adamant that he was meant to be the Absolute One. He was so obsessed by it that he thinks it¡¯s something so impressive, but in truth it is not. Also, add the fact that he called him a fake was the cherry on top knowing what he knows.

    The moment Raven transcended his shackles, there was nomotion that happened.

    Well, there kind of was but only he could feel it. Others couldn¡¯t because it something that goes beyond their known senses. Which is why Luna and the rest wasn¡¯t aware that he indeed reach this stage.

    Raven didn¡¯t really intend to keep this as secret for them. That being said, it¡¯s also useless to tell them anyway. Like what was mentioned earlier, it¡¯s really nothing too impressive even if you considered that he¡¯s the first one to achieve it.

    In addition to that, there wille a time when they¡¯ll arrive at this stage anyway. They¡¯re all Immortals at this point so what¡¯s the big deal right?

    Now, going back to the current time. Raven swiftly ended Augustus¡¯ life.

    He didn¡¯t even need to raise his hand at all. He just needed to dere that he wants this one to disappear and the world will obey him. That¡¯s all he had to do this entire time yet where¡¯s the fun on that?

    But well¡­he¡¯s bored now so Augustus¡¯ can now dissipate into nothingness. He will never be able to return again. Something like him will never exist again since Raven erased all possibilities of another Augustus happening.

    Once the God Emperor died, it marked the true extinction of the Abyssal Race.

    The ones that had cause so much suffering to many. The ones that terrorized the either Outer Worlds. Raven¡¯s nemesis.

    They¡¯re all gone. Felled by his own race and hands.

    The debt of his previous life are now settled. Raven felt unprecedented peace and calmness through this.

    All of his hard work paid off. From this point onwards, he can finally live his dream life.

    Work is done. He can rest. But not just yet.

    This ce still needs to be cleaned-up after all.

    Raven ced his hands on his back and started walking away.

    As he did so, Paradise bowed down to his will. Every infrastructure that still bears traces of the Abyssals were erased. The only thing that remained were tools that Raven thought interesting and unique. He nned to give it to his people to y withter.

    As for the Forbidden Ultima Core, it already served its purpose. Though it is nice, neither Raven nor Humanity needs it.

    All he could see from it was an endless sea of anguish and torment. Cries of the races and creatures that the Abyssals conquered for their own use.

    With a single thought of his, he settled them down. The core was dismantled into nothingness and the residual souls were whisked away by him.

    He sent them to a far corner of the Outer Worlds and gave them new homes, there they will be reborn again and again until their resentment washes off until they pass on peacefully.

    Raven would watch over them of course. He would make sure that no more Abyssal Race should appear.

    As for what remains of Paradise well¡­Raven has his own uses for it.

    Since he has be the true ruler of everything, Raven decided to do something for his race as his farewell gift. He¡¯d be retiring from the Dawn Council¡¯s responsibilities after this so he figured why not.

    He doesn¡¯t have to plunder resources from the Outer Worlds since he have some that he can use. Remember his Inner Cosmos? The Gxy he inherited from Geezer? And now Paradise as well? Not to mention the Crest of Order Luna has and the ocean of resources under his name¡­

    With all this in avable to him. Building a true Utopia for Humanity shouldn¡¯t be too difficult.

    But that can be der, for now¡­Raven wants to return home.

    His march back home was glorious.

    He wasn¡¯t aware that everyone was watching his fight against the God Emperor. He made sure to silence their conversation but their battle raise so muchmotion that everyone could feel it.

    The moment he won, the suppression that Humanity felt as a whole, disappeared. That was a huge sign that they¡¯ve truly won.

    And what a crushing victory that was.

    Everything, from start to finish, was all arranged by the man who¡¯s marching towards them right now. He¡¯s the very reason why they won this war. Without him, who could say what Humanity will end up as?

    It was under his brilliant mind and his epassing intellect that they crushed their opponents under their heels.

    Time and time again, this man proved to them why he sat on the throne as the strongest, and why people chose him to be their true leader.

    Raven was met with cheers so loud that it shook the entirety of the Divine Realm. Everyone was jubnt and hailed him as living legend. Humanity truly united under a single banner and everything can now return the way it was.

    With this man looking after them, they have no reason to fear anything.

    Raven smiled brilliantly upon seeing this.

    He achieved his goal. He answered to his destiny, his calling.

    From the very moment he started cultivating in this life up until now, he only had one reason behind all of this hard work. One reason why he chose this difficult path.

    ¡®To be a Knight that can stand tall against all odds in order to protect all he holds near and dear to his heart.¡¯

    This was the goal he worked so hard to achieve.

    This¡­is his way of being a Knight.

    -End-

    [A/N: If you want, you can read the Afterword. I won¡¯t mind if you don¡¯t of course. But still¡­

    Thank you so fucking much for reading my work. I love you all.

    Ps. I have an on-going book. Please check it out as well. I¡¯d really appreciate it if you do. Thank you!]

 Chapter 944: Afterword

    Chapter 944: Afterword

    Hallo! It¡¯s me, ya boy.

    ¡®Way of the Knights¡¯ is done and it feels surreal. It felt like I¡¯ve been writing this forever but it also felt like it was just yesterday since I started it.

    I¡¯ve said this so many times before and I will say it again¡­

    Thank you so much, for sparing some of your attention to my work. Honestly, I couldn¡¯t have made it far without you.

    ¡®Way of the Knights¡¯ was just an idea that randomly popped into my head when I started reading novels before. I got struck by that ¡®writing-fever¡¯, you know what I¡¯m talking about.

    The thing where you have this idea that seems to viable and so beautiful, unique even, that you can¡¯t stop thinking about almost to the point that it¡¯s following you in your dreams? Yeah, that¡¯s the ¡®writing-fever¡¯ I¡¯m talking about.

    I¡¯m not a professional writer. In fact this is very first story that I ever published. I was interested in writing though and I truly want to get better at it, but I never really received professional guidance for it. Most of the things I know came from my observations from the works of other authors and the things I saw online.

    It¡¯s because of the impulsive tendencies that the ¡®writing-fever¡¯ caused, that I started writing this book.

    I had no ns for this. I¡¯ll admit that. I posted the first few chapters thinking that there¡¯s no way this will get some attention but well¡­it did. I was pleasantly but also kind of having an existential crisis inside.

    The idea that I have was world of Knights and Mages originally that has Eastern Fantasy elements to it.

    Raven was supposed to be the idiot one. The one who punches first before asking questionster. The ¡®Giga-Chad¡¯ of the group, per se. He was supposed to be the ¡®macho-man¡¯ who disdains using weapons or techniques, the one that prefers using absolute strength to crush his opponents.

    That¡¯s why at beginning, he uses fists thenter a hammer. But then again, the way I wrote his character was the mature one on the group as he experienced rebirth. He supposed to have been through a lot and it just doesn¡¯t make sense for him to the reckless one so I give that role to Ellen.

    This is an example of how things just doesn¡¯t go the way you nned it to. I really didn¡¯t think this through from the very beginning and itpletely affected the way how the story went. I apologize for that.

    If there¡¯s one thing that remain constant in this novel, it¡¯d be the ¡®monogamy¡¯ tag(?)

    I never intended my MC to have a Harem all due to the simple fact that I don¡¯t particrly liked that ¡®element¡¯. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I still read works that has a harem tag, I just didn¡¯t want it on my own because I really don¡¯t get how that works and I really don¡¯t like it.

    Another thing that remained constant is the fact that I wanted Raven to always be ¡®Invincible¡¯ one. This is why he rarely gets himself into a sticky position.

    This kind of backfired actually¡­

    Due to the fact he always wins anyways, it really takes away the thrill and the suspense from the novel, making it boring to read. This is why you will always see Raven making fun of his enemies and down right toying with them to make things a little for fun to read.

    That only patches up the w I know, but it¡¯s already toote to change that. I made Raven a bit too powerful and it went out of control. Another lesson that I learned from the job, I suppose.

    The reason why I created Raven as the Invincible One or the Hero is because my own selfishness, I¡¯ll admit that. He¡¯s my ¡®son¡¯ kind of¡­and I¡¯m just a doting dad. I wanted Raven to always be victorious so I made it that way. It¡¯s that simple.

    As for other inconsistencies well, Ellen was supposed to the ¡®Karen¡¯ or the ¡®Tsundere¡¯ of the group. But I cringe so hard whenever I try writing her that way so I just made her someone who was reckless and had a fiery temper. It¡¯s cliche I know but at this point, everything is already cliche.

    The big inconsistency that happened during me writing this novel was the way how Raven¡¯s ¡®Path¡¯ changed.

    I¡¯m referring to his specialty with Runes and Seals.

    Yeah, I¡¯ll be frank¡­I didn¡¯t expect things to go this way. But man, it totally fits the personality that I made for him that it just has to happen. Especially considering the ultimate goal I set for him? Oh that just made me go all out.

    Plus, that¡¯s the unique thing about my novel. Well¡­unique in a sense that it¡¯s different from the more popr genres of today. Most of the MC¡¯s uses sword, spears, hammers and etc. Some preferred magic, some has systems, yada, yada¡­but my MC can seal things and his runes could pretty much do anything so, hah!

    Pfft, anyway¡­

    I was so happy that some people liked my work to the point where they were asking for more, but that also filled me with dread because I¡¯m so unprepared for it.

    I know this isn¡¯t something that you would like to hear but I want to be transparent to those who truly supported my work so far. I feel like I owe this to you.

    To tell you the truth, I was actually nning on dropping this work because I was so clueless on how to move-on with the story. And before you ask, yes, I did try on making the plot as I wrote new chapters for the story but for some reason, I just can¡¯t seem to follow the visions I had and kept on switchingnes on the fly which was horrible.

    The only reason why I continued was because I was pushed to the edge. Around the time I got an offer for the contract, COVID happened¡­

    I kind of lost my original job at the worst time possible, my father¡¯s work is also greatly affected by the pandemic so I gotta think of something. That¡¯s when I decided to continue this story for better or for worse.

    I thought the pandemic wouldn¡¯tst long but it sure as hell did. Writing this story helped me stay afloat and I kind of fell in-love with the process.

    That being said, I¡¯ve been so irresponsible during the beginning of the story that it greatly affected the way on how I will continue it, add the fact that I am aplete beginner and it¡¯s just a recipe for a total disaster.

    It hasn¡¯t been easy. There were many times that I¡¯ve felt like I can¡¯t go on. There were times where I just don¡¯t know which way the story should develop. How do other authors even did it? Things just didn¡¯t make sense.

    Add the issues of my personal life into the mix and well¡­

    Anyway, I know It sounds like I¡¯m whining here. I¡¯m sorry for that. I know that I should¡¯ve done it better.

    Still, I am d that you guys were there for me. Yourments, reactions and your support taught me a lot of things that I nned on applying to my new work and the ones that will follow that as well.

    Like I said, I already fell in-love with writing. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to stop anytime soon. Especially when my imagination keeps feeding me all sorts of images that I can use.

    Even with a finished work under my belt, I still consider myself as a beginner to the world filled so many talented Authors. I am proud to say that I manage to finish this book in a pleasant way (in my opinion) despite the initial difficulties I encountered.

    There¡¯s still so much for me to learn and looking forward on how far I can go in this career. I¡¯ll keep on challenging myself and keep improving so that I can give you guys morepelling stories that you can immersed into whenever you want to take a break from reality.

    I¡¯ve learned a lot while writing this story. And honestly, I prefer writingpared to my old job so there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be willing to return to that when I have this.

    Right now, I have a new on-going work, it¡¯s called: ¡°Idle Mage: Humanity¡¯s Stronger Backer.¡±

    Check out my profile and you should be able to see it. I also entered it to this year¡¯s WSA but frankly, I don¡¯t see it entering even the top 10 haha.

    I just entered thatpetition for more exposure, that¡¯s all.

    Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯ll continue that book even if it doesn¡¯t do well in thepetition. I already had the plot set-up for that one and I¡¯m already applying the things I learned so far.

    I would really appreciate it if you can continue supporting me there.

    Once again. Thank you so, so much for making it this far. Thank you for all the support and love you¡¯ve shown this book so far. I promise that I¡¯ll continue improving so that you can expect more from me.

    It¡¯s been a wild ride. Thank you for apanying me.

    ¨C Hateful_Fellow, signing out.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!